Autobots, Assemble!
One-Shot: How to Train Your Predacon!
Predaking lay coiled in a decent-sized underground cavern far outside the city of Iacon where the Autobots were hard at work with the Vehicons rebuilding what little remained standing of the formerly glorious capital of Cybertron. With Iacon being so close to the Well and the Nemesis, it would be some time before they expanded their reconstruction efforts further afield. Darksteel and Skylynx were currently absent, both Griffin Predacons searching far and wide for the one thing Predaking considered far more precious than a steady supply of Energon and relative solitude, something that even those two boisterous brawlers considered important enough to find as quickly as possible that they hadn't argued with him: Predacon sparklings.
With Cybertron fully alive and functioning once again there was no further need for Shockwave to continue with his cloning project. Life and hope for the future emerged from the Well of Allsparks in a near constant rainbow of colors, visible to Predaking even at his current distance from it. On the clearest of nights the sight was truly spectacular, far more brilliant than an aurora and ten times as colorful. The normally dark, star-studded sky of his homeworld was turned into a glowing, vibrant tapestry each night. And it was breathtaking.
A low growl came from the cave entrance and Predaking got up to investigate, his powerful olfactory and auditory sensors already attempting to identify whoever or whatever was at the entrance of his den. Scraplets didn't growl so logically this had to be another Predacon; however he didn't recognize it as belonging to Darksteel or Skylynx. When he reached the entrance he was shocked and rather humbled to see Onyx Prime himself waiting for him. Gingerly clasped in his jaws was a small, winged, inky black reptilian form with luminescent pale silver splotches on its wings and body. Its large optics were closed, but they slowly opened to reveal their pale green hue, their paleness due to the optics still developing, not because something was wrong with them.
Predaking reverted to bipedal mode, stunned and gladdened at the sight. "You found one already?"
Onyx nodded, placing the tiny black Predacon on the ground. It sniffed at the air and blindly stumbled in Predaking's general direction, emitting a faint purring-gurgling noise. Predaking shifted back into beast form and softly screeched to give it a noise to follow. In reply the little sparkling chirped and re-directed itself towards him, cutely tumbling into his front claws.
"He told me specifically to give this one to you. A...thank you if you will. For helping defend the Well." Onyx explained.
The smaller Draconian bowed his helm.
Onyx contented himself to watch the clone interact with his newest charge. Despite Predaking being a fully grown mech, technically he wasn't a true adult – physically he was, but his mentality was that of a youngster, not to mention he had a bit of a temper to boot. And there was the blatant issue of him having been cloned solely for warfare. He was used to acting rather than waiting, and raising a sparkling required a lot of patience.
"If you ever need help..." he offered.
"I'm fine." Predaking insisted stubbornly.
While Predaking's attention was focused on the sparkling, Onyx bade a quiet retreat into the distance, taking to the skies to continue his search. He had faith that if Predaking got overwhelmed he would swallow his pride just long enough to ask for assistance.
Darksteel and Skylynx had separated in order to better cover a large area, the former heading towards Vos and the latter heading towards Kaon. They kept in constant radio contact as instructed by Predaking, for even a planet that had been essentially comatose for millennia could still support life – of the vermin variety.
The main reason for their haste in finding these sparklings was the ever-looming risk of Scraplets finding them. Sparkling armor was so soft and malleable that it rendered them highly vulnerable to the metal-eating vermin that dotted the planet. Such a threat was actually being dealt with by Cybertron itself, however. Acid rain on Cybertron was not only highly acidic – it was also very cold. Scraplets, being much smaller than Cybertronians, were more affected by the acid rainstorms, the cold acid effectively killing them. But such inclement weather also unfortunately affected the sparklings as well, even though they were slightly better protected and had the instinctive sense to seek shelter.
Darksteel flew over the ruined city of Vos about a hundred feet or so from the ground, sharp yellow optics scanning the ruins below for any signs of movement. Above him, dark clouds were forming, warning of another acid rainstorm brewing. He clacked his beak in annoyance. He'd have to find shelter soon.
A slight movement caught his attention. One of the piles of rubble below had shifted as something beneath it had moved. He tucked his wings in and landed next to it. A frightened squeak told him he'd found one and that it was scared. He shoved some of the debris away and found a tiny frightened femme who plainly had an avian alternative form – an Earth eagle from the looks of her – and her pale silver optics searched blindly for him. Darksteel squawked in what he hoped was a reassuring tone, telling her he was a friend and there to get her to safety.
She visibly calmed, letting the Griffin Predacon pluck her out of the debris in his beak and plod off towards a ruined building just as the first few drops of acid rain began to fall. It was no fully covered den, but it would do for now.
He lay down in the ruined structure, tucking the small bird-former under his wing and close to his frame. It didn't take long for the rhythmic pattering of rain outside to make the sparkling drift into recharge. Once she was out he contacted Skylynx and then Predaking, informing them of his success.
[Good. Stay where you are until the storm lets up. Then bring her back here.] Predaking requested, though it sounded more like an order.
[Gotcha, boss.] He replied over the private comm. link so as not to wake the dozing sparkling.
Predaking sighed in irritation. He'd had this discussion with them about a dozen times but the words never seemed to really sink in. They saw him as a boss and not a king and addressed him as such all the time. But he was so occupied caring for the sparkling under his protection that he didn't bother correcting Darksteel. He simply severed the link.
Darksteel clicked his beak amusedly at this and then went back to listening to the rain and observing the peacefully recharging sparkling at his side.
Skylynx had had good fortune on his side during his search, having discovered a sparkling almost right away in a large ruined plaza in Kaon long before the acid rainstorm began. His found sparkling – a beige mech with an obvious equine alternative form that he had reverted to – hadn't been scared at all and had actually tried to pick a fight with him even though he could barely walk. Fortunately his tiny kicks and punches hadn't really done much. A very spirited personality all-around he seemed.
"Hey! That's what I'll call you!" Skylynx exclaimed in happy realization, looking down at the tiny beige stallion trotting rather clumsily beside him. "Spirit!"
Spirit seemed to like his new name and bucked in acceptance, whinnying happily. Skylynx grinned at his enthusiasm and boundless energy. This one was going to be a handful. He could tell that already.
With a determined glint in his pale crystal blue optics the little robotic stallion charged in the direction of Predaking's den where the dragon mech himself was busy with another sparkling. Skylynx watched in wonder as the paleness of his optics vanished, revealing rich sky blue ones that burned like a bonfire, and his previous clumsiness disappeared, replaced by surefire determination and a steadiness in his four lanky limbs that hadn't been there before.
Predaking greeted the little robotic stallion by bumping him with his snout. In response, Spirit whinnied and reared back on his hind legs, placing his front limbs on Predaking's snout, using it as a sort of balance to keep himself from falling backwards.
"Aw. He likes you." Skylynx smiled.
Predaking rolled his yellow optics at him in a silent "Oh do shut up." He then turned his attention back to the little black dragon coiled beside him in recharge, forcing Spirit to drop down on all fours again.
Upon spotting the little black dragon sparkling, Spirit whinnied in delight and pranced around it merrily. In response, the black dragon sparkling opened its pale jade eyes and let out a sound similar to a feline mewl as it slowly woke up. Spirit accidentally got a bit too rowdy and stepped on the sparkling's delicate tail fins. There was a surprised and somewhat pained sounding squeak and then the sparkling flat-out disappeared from sight. Both adult Predacons stared in shock at the empty space. In a few moments the air shimmered and the black sparkling reappeared in bipedal mode, revealing it to be a femme. Her bright green optics were as round as they could possibly go.
She glanced up at them with an expression that said: "Whoa! Did I do that?!"
"Get outta here! She's a cloaker?" Skylynx cried in amazement.
Predaking reverted to bipedal mode himself. He actually smiled. "Well, I think I know what to call her now. What do you think of the name 'Phantom'?" he asked her.
Phantom smiled and nodded eagerly, rushing forward and giving Predaking's legs an adorable embrace. Predaking could almost feel his spark melting in his chest. Through the sparkling's light armor he could feel her life force calling out to him and his own replying back. Ancient protocols and coding long dormant began flare to life with a vengeance, his first instinct to take the sparkling inside and hide in the familiar safety of his den, away from all the dangers that were rapid-firing through his processor.
Skylynx approached her. Predaking's reaction was swift. He reverted to beast mode and growled aggressively, his resurfacing Guardian protocols interpreting the action as hostile towards his sparkling. Skylynx held his hands up and backed away.
"Take it easy, boss. I wasn't gonna do anything to her." he said.
This seemed to calm Predaking. With a hiss of muted aggression he plucked the black sparkling off the ground and vanished inside his den. Skylynx had a strange, almost reverential look in his yellow optics, for he knew what was happening between Phantom and Predaking – a Guardian Bond. Cybertronians didn't have parents. Rather, sparklings were cared for until maturity by Guardians – mechs and femmes who looked after them until they were old enough to strike out on their own. A Guardian Bond was a sacred thing, so strong that only death could break it. It allowed for the Guardian to know and feel whatever their charge felt, enabling them to better care for them to start with. Eventually the free exchange of emotion would vanish, leaving them with an acute sense of the other's presence.
Skylynx looked down on hearing the sounds of transformation. At his feet, Spirit stood in bipedal mode with a confused expression on his face, no doubt wondering if he'd done something to upset Predaking.
"You didn't do anything, Spirit." he said. "They'll be back out in a bit. In the meantime, what do you think about a race, huh? Let's see how fast those little legs of yours are before that storm in the distance hits us."
Spirit grinned fiercely. "Kay!"
And just like that the determined little mech shifted to beast mode and galloped off, leaving Skylynx to bound after him and wonder at his rapid progress. Being able to transform and talk so soon after his sparking? That was impressive. This little guy was certainly special.
Darksteel must've slipped into recharge himself because he awoke with a start on hearing that the acid storm had stopped and the sensation of tiny hands shaking him in an effort to get him to wake up faster. A pair of big silver optics mere inches from his face was the first thing he saw.
"Hmm? Wha?" Darksteel groaned as he stretched his stiff joints in a manner similar to an Earth cat.
"Stranger." the sparkling bird-former told him, pointing to the entrance of their temporary shelter. She looked both scared and fascinated. He could sense her emotion too, informing him that a Guardian Bond must have developed between them while they were both in recharge and unaware of it.
Darksteel got to his four feet and went over to the entrance of the ruined structure he and his bird-former charge were occupying, claws retracting in case of trouble. He hissed a warning to whoever was outside and received a short, curt growl in reply. It was a sound he recognized as coming from Onyx Prime. His cautiousness vanished altogether and he screeched softly to tell her it was alright.
"So I see you have a connection with this one." he purred in beast mode, taking note of the little femme hiding behind the Griffin's back legs, peeking out at him with her big shining silver optics. "Hello there little one."
She darted back behind Darksteel shyly.
Darksteel had been puzzling over what to call her from the moment he'd found her, but now he thought he had just the one to fit her perfectly. "Darter, it's alright. Onyx is a friend." He sent out a pulse of reassurance.
She poked her head out and tilted it to the side curiously, examining the great dragon mech with awe in her optics. "Friend?" she repeated hopefully, coming out of hiding inch by inch to get a better look at him. Onyx gave a low, melodic growl of confirmation.
"Friend!" Darter cried out joyously, rushing forward and wrapping her slender arms around his thick snout to the best of her ability. Onyx carefully lifted his head up, making Darksteel chuckle at the sight of the sparkling dangling off his snout. Then he craned his neck around and placed her on his back.
"Come with me. Predaking expected you back by now and he is growing anxious."
Darksteel nodded acceptance and took to the skies with Onyx Prime ferrying his sparkling on his back. Darter appeared anxious at first about being just out of reach of her Guardian, but soon enough the Predacon Prime had her shrieking in laughter as he performed careful aerial stunts and dives. He kept this up all the way to Predaking's den where a memorable sight was waiting.
Skylynx and Onyx must've gotten busy immediately after the acid rainstorm had passed. The entrance to the cavern den positively roiled with energy and activity and life. Over two dozen sparklings clambered over the dragon mech's frame, laughing and giggling and shrieking. Predaking had a harassed look on his face. It was the look of someone thinking: "Please oh please make it stop...I'm sorry for whatever I did wrong, just please make it stop!"
Onyx chuckled as he landed and let his avian passenger off to join the playful torture of Predaking. Skylynx apparently hadn't decided to call the little ones off him and give him a respite – he was more occupied in playing along with them. Predaking grunted in reproof and turned to look behind him. He lifted his tail up to find a small silvery-grey wolf that had its jaws clamped down on his tail, chewing away on it. Not even a disapproving snarl convinced the robotic wolf to loosen its grip, nor did it convince any of the other sparklings to lay off him.
"Still don't need help?" Onyx asked innocently.
Predaking glared at him. "I'm fine." he growled testily. Did Onyx really consider him so incompetent that he couldn't deal with two dozen hyperactive sparklings? He was the one who had defeated two Wreckers in a cavern trap subtly laid by Shockwave with relative ease. Two dozen sparklings he could manage just fine.
Maybe.
Probably.
Hopefully...
Onyx gave him a knowing look through his white optics and took off again with a mighty roar, landing on the top of a ruined structure nearby to keep an unobtrusive watch on them. A little lion sparkling with red optics tried to mimic the sound and only ended up giving a rasping squeak that made Darksteel smile. At least the little guy was trying.
Predaking's two dozen charges continued to playfully torture him until Skylynx decided to call a ceasefire and distract them, giving the dragon mech some breathing room and some personal space. Predaking found himself feeling acutely satisfied as he watched the energetic bundle of sparklings absolutely mob Skylynx, drowning him in a wave of happy noises, wings, and limbs. He noticed that Phantom was jumping around after a little spec of light on the ground, determination in her bright green optics as she darted around after it. A simple investigation showed the light was coming from sunlight reflected off the armor of one of the tussling sparklings.
"What are you doing, Phantom?" he rumbled.
She jumped on the light and it scurried away again, stopping in her hunt just long enough to reply: "Pouncing."
Despite his recent playful harassment, he slunk forward with a devious glint in his yellow optics directed first at her, then at Darksteel. "Let an old pro show you how it's done..." he growled suggestively.
Darksteel was busy with his chosen sparkling, and then he released her to go play with the wolf that had clamped down on the dragon mech's tail earlier, a content look on his face as he watched Darter hop around in bird mode with her new friend.
"Darksteel, would you turn around?" Predaking requested with an eerie amount of innocence in his voice.
The metal Griffin shrugged nonchalantly in beast mode and turned his back to him. Both clones did in fact hold Predaking in a certain amount of respect, mainly due to his brute strength rather than his name and self-imposed royal nature. They were alright taking orders from him in the same way they had been alright taking orders from Shockwave. Predaking went very low to the ground, his belly almost brushing it, gesturing with his front paw for Phantom to mimic his position, and she eagerly did, her tail swishing in anticipation.
"Stay low to the ground." he growled quietly. "Stay very still. Movement makes noise."
Phantom went as low as she could, shifted her haunches, and went very still. Predaking nodded approval.
"What's going on back there?" Darksteel wondered curiously, glancing behind him.
"A pouncing lesson." Predaking replied lightly, lifting his head up and raising his voice above the low whisper he'd been speaking to Phantom in.
Darksteel seemed to take this statement fine at first and turned back around. Then he did an abrupt double take. "Pouncing?! Oh no, no, no, no. Boss, come on..! Why me?! What'd I do?!"
Predaking twirled a clawed paw in a gesture for him to turn back around. Darksteel groaned but complied nonetheless. At least he was teaching the little dragon femme a valuable life skill at his expense, and it wasn't like Phantom could actually hurt him or anything. She was too small to do any significant damage, her claws still too dull.
"Try not to make a sound." Predaking continued, his whispering voice barely audible. "Use that cloaker before you start moving forward. Drop it only after you have made contact."
Phantom nodded. She shifted on her haunches and shut her optics as she focused, trying to activate her cloaking ability that she'd unwittingly used when Spirit had accidentally stepped on her delicate tail fins. After a few moments her sleek black form shimmered and disappeared.
Darksteel glanced behind him again, suspicion in his yellow optics. "What did you tell her?" He saw that Phantom was nowhere to be seen. He looked around for some hint of her. Nothing. "...Phantom...?...Kid...?" His wings tucked closer against his body anxiously.
He was suddenly knocked onto his side when an invisible force cannoned into him with a considerable amount of force. The air shimmered, revealing Phantom standing proudly atop him with her white-splotched black wings flared out. She leapt off, giggling, and scampered back over to her elected caretaker, who was laughing heartily.
"That was very good!" he praised. "Now this time..."
Onyx continued to watch from his perch nearby. His connection with the core was what enabled him to locate sparklings so rapidly and easily thanks to subtle psychic nuances the planet would send him as a kind of GPS system, and right now he wasn't receiving any, giving him a break from his near constant searching. Of course, he wasn't the only one doing the searching. Optimus's, Elita's and Grimlock's squadrons were all doing their part as well. For all he knew the core had simply switched who he was actively sending the nuances to in order to give him a breather, because deny it as he might Onyx was still somewhat weak after millennia of inactivity.
The sight in the near distance warmed his great spark. Predaking was proving himself a worthy caretaker of the rambunctious little beast-formers despite his mental youth and rather short patience threshold.
Onyx opened a comm. channel to his fellow Prime to report the clone's excellent progress, but then decided it would be best if Optimus could see this with his own two optics. That is, if he wasn't occupied at the moment.
"Optimus?" he inquired into the channel.
There was a moment's silence. Then: [Yes?]
"If you are not currently busy there is something I would very much like you to see." He sent his current coordinates but refused to explain further in order to feed the former archivist's natural curiosity. Being vague was the most surefire way to get the mech's attention – something Alpha Trion had figured out pretty fast and had exploited quite often.
[Very well.]
Onyx waited patiently until the red and blue mech's airborne form finally came into view and that rapidly drew closer. Below him sped a blue and yellow racecar. It was no surprise to him that Smokescreen had tagged along beneath him. He was practically Optimus's avid shadow, taking any opportunity he could to follow him around wherever he went. The Predacon Prime joined him at ground level, silently gesturing with his head to the spark-warming scene nearby. Optimus spotted it right away and a broad smile bloomed on his face.
"Heh. Daddy Predaking. Who woulda thought?" Smokescreen grinned.
Predaking took note of the observers and gathered the sparklings towards him, growling something to them. In an instant each and every sparkling turned and fixated on them with their big optics. It was equal parts unspeakably cute and utterly terrifying.
"Uh-oh. Onyx? What did he tell them?"
Predaking gave an odd barking/roaring noise, effectively unleashing adorable hell. All two dozen sparklings charged over in beast form and pounced on the smallest and therefore easiest target they had – Smokescreen. It was a tidal wave of killer cute that knocked the racecar mech over and subsequently made the three cloned Predacons break out laughing.
"Ack! Help! Mad sparkling attack!" he laughed as the little beasts happily squirmed all over him whilst making all sorts of adorable, gleeful sounds. "Get them off! Somebody! They tickle!"
Neither of the Primes made a move to help him. They simply stood there enjoying the sight to the fullest. Sensing he'd made his point, Predaking called them back over to him with another of his barking/roaring noises. In a second storm of cuteness they all bounded back over to him – all except for one: a sparkling that bore a striking resemblance to an Earth greyhound pup. It sniffed at his face curiously for a moment and then lightly clamped his tiny jaws over the mech's helm bridge.
"Ohmygosh! Even his bites are cute!" It sounded like Smokescreen was trying very hard not to squeal and embarrass himself in front of his idol.
The metal greyhound's tail began wagging and he removed his jaws in order to relentlessly run a smooth, warm, metal tongue over the young mech's face, resulting in more laughter and several playful attempts to remove the sparkling – all of which failed. Eventually the greyhound sparkling decided he'd licked him and bothered him enough and bounded back over to the waiting forms of Predaking, Darksteel, and Skylynx with a happy bark directed at the young racecar mech behind him.
Smokescreen had always thought Predacons were downright terrifying no matter how old they were, but…slag were they cute like this! Having two dozen of the little biters tackle him to the ground had been hilariously adorable, and their gleeful noises were just – Gah! Everything about them screamed: "I'm flippin' adorable! Love me!"
He'd already dealt with a good number of non-beast sparklings back in Iacon (as had every other member of the three teams), so the cute was something he was supposed to have been used to by now, but these little guys were right up there with them in terms of sheer cuteness factor. If anything, the whole animal motif made them even cuter than the "normal" sparklings. It was literally taking every ounce of willpower not to rush over and grab one and just cuddle it like a human would a puppy or a kitten.
"I see he has everything more or less under control." Optimus noted, glancing at Onyx. "And here you doubted him, Onyx." He scolded lightly, tapping him reprovingly on the snout. "Shame on you."
Onyx chuckled and did his best not to look guilty.