HERE IT IS PEOPLE! STUNTIKIDS 2!

Finally, after months of hard work at college and finishing my sophomore year, I'm going to be able to get some good fanfics in. With how the Transformers storyline is moving, especially in Robots in Disguise and the IDW comic series, I'm going to be able to have a plethora of good stuff to go on.


The Tormentor presents...

STUNTIKIDS II: BATTLE FOR EARTH

Last time on Stuntikids, the Decepticons were taking a series of victories over the Autobots. After the Battle of Hawaii, the legendary Warrior Elite Sprawl returns to the Decepticon forces on Earth, leaving behind a trail of carnage that left the Dinobots defeated and broken. While the Decepticons grow in numbers, an army of darkness gathers in space, ready to strike at their enemies and mark their own in the war for Earth.

Now, get ready for a new battle...

...

Chapter 1: The First War

Cybertron, over 70 million years ago...

"We're nearly there, Galvatron! Hold the line steady! We must not let the beasts of Onyx get through the Citadel!" Nova Minor roared over the blaster fire, the screams of war across the battlefield were nearly deafening. The war between the Thirteen Primes had escalated into planetary civil war, and now their disciples were paying the ultimate price for their blood-feud. Nova Minor and Galvatron had led their army to the Citadel of Light, where a rumor had circulated that there lay a secret to stopping the world-consuming war.

Nova Minor's forces were diminutive compared to the likes of Onyx Prime's bestial creatures or the Headmasters of Nexus Prime. But numbers didn't stop them there. Assisting Nova was Galvatron of the Darklands, who had come to end the civil war not out of necessity for the survival of his race, but out of rage; Galvatron hated the Headmasters, and therefore Nexus Prime, more than anyone. After he had cut a swath of destruction across Cybertron to rid the planet of the Headmasters and the other beasts of Cybertron, he had meet with Nova and his army at the Battle at the Citadel.

Galvatron cleaved a Headmaster in two, laughing as he did so. His battleaxe, soaked in energon, sprayed the life fluid across the battlefield. "If only these creatures were as powerful as Nexus bragged on about! Clearly these beasts don't know when they face extinction!" Galvatron was skeptical about the Citadel and even more so about supposed "secrets" but if there were abominations to kill, Galvatron would be there.

"Dammit! We've got Predacons incoming!" One of Nova Minor's soldiers yelled out, pointing her finger at the huge swarm of flying metal beasts soaring towards them.

Galvatron grinned. A challenge had finally come. "Nova, take the battle to the Headmasters! The Predacons are mine!" And with that, Galvatron transformed and burst through the decaying armies of Headmasters towards the Predacon fleet. Nova watched as his new friend zoomed towards the beast, almost seeming suicidal.

"Is he going to be okay, Nova?" One of his soldiers asked.

"He'll be fine. Trust me." Nova replied and fired at a Headmaster that got too close. But as the body died, the head transformed and lunged at him, but Nova was quicker and tore the creature in two. Nova could see that his forces, small as they were, were tearing through the lines of the Headmasters with ease. The Citadel seemed untouched by the battle, a sign that this was the final beacon of hope on Cybertron.

Galvatron, some distance away from the battle, transformed out of his huge tank form and bellowed at the sky.

"FACE ME, BEASTS OF ONYX! FALL LIKE YOUR CREATOR DID BEFORE YOU!" The barbarian whipped out his battleaxe and pounded it against his chest as the mighty Predacons landed with powerful slams against the war-torn grounds. Galvatron smirked as the leader of this posse, a dragon colored blazing orange and jet black, hoisted a sword made of fire. Flanking him were four other beasts, each one of different size and strength.

"I see the Great Cataclysm hasn't halted your evolutionary processes, servants of Onyx." Galvatron spat.

"And I know who you are, Galvatron of the Darklands." The leader spoke up. "I, am Predaking. And the Citadel is of Prima's domain, not yours. The Predacons are the rightful inheritors of the palace, and of it's secrets! Now, face your doom, servant of Megatronus! Skylynx, Darksteel, kill him!" Predaking ordered his two foremost minions with the point of his sword at Galvatron.

"Let's gut him like a newt, Darksteel!" Skylynx rushed towards the barbarian, his companion smiling a twisted grin as they prepared their claws to tear apart Galvatron.

"I DO NOT BOW TO PRIMES!" Galvatron roared and swung his ax against the two Predacons, nicking Darksteel's armor but cleanly slicing through Skylynx's chest. While it wasn't enough to kill the Predacon, it was certainly enough for the big brute to falter. While Skylynx held back to clutch the wound that Galvatron had given him, Darksteel had covered the distance between him and the barbarian and began his assault. The Predacon's massive claws slashed across Galvatron's chest, in rebuttal for what he did to his brethren. With a cry, Galvatron smashed the end of his ax at Darksteel's face and smashed his right optic like cheap glass. Yellow fluid exploded out of the damaged optic as Darksteel tried to regain his composure.

But Galvatron would have none of it. Darksteel's forearm was immediately lopped off by a sudden swing of Galvatron's ax, and the Predacon would have meet his maker as Galvatron swung his ax down on Darksteel's head, but was stopped by the sudden reintroduction of Skylynx slamming into the barbarian. The impact slapped away Galvatron's weapon and Skylynx went to town on him, whaling blows on his large purple chassis, inflicting huge amounts of damage. Suddenly Galvatron grabbed the arm that was about claw his armor and crushed it, and at the same time he slammed his antimatter fusion cannon at Skylynx's shoulder and fired, utterly obliterating the extremity. Skylynx howled in pain and rage and tried to regain the fight. Darksteel slashed his claws at Galvatron's side, knocking him away.

"I'll tear you apart!" Darksteel snarled out viciously and lunged at Galvatron, only for the barbarian to swiftly kick the Predacon aside, grab his battleaxe and make a beeline for the wounded Skylynx, who was caught by surprise. The unfortunate Predacon could only watch as Galvatron cleaved his head off with a mighty swing, felling the Predacon. Predaking watched in shock as his soldier was slain by Galvatron, but soon turned to horror as the barbarian rounded towards Darksteel and began to hack the Predacon to death.

Energon and pieces of protoform splattered across both Galvatron and the land around him as he finished his bloody mess by ripping off Darksteel's head and tossing it towards Predaking. The mighty Predacon leader stared down his brethren's decapitated head and leered at Galvatron, unwilling to show his sudden fear to the barbarian. But as he came to attack his aggressor, he saw the forces of Nova rushing to help their ally. The Headmaster army, once awesome in number, had fallen to Nova's soldiers, and now they were coming to finish their job on the small Predacon posse.

Knowing that he and his brethren would certainly die, Predaking swallowed his pride and turned to his troops.

"We're leaving this battle."

"But Predaking! Our brothers, Skylynx and Darksteel-!" One of Predaking's minions cried out, surprised that his king was ordering them to flee.

"We will join them if we stay here! Now leave, and do not question me again!" The Predacons were quick to escape the incoming wrath of Galvatron, but Predaking stayed just long enough to shoot a killer glare at Galvatron. "This isn't over, barbarian." And with that, the dragon took off back to where they came from. Galvatron peppered the air with cannonfire, but was stopped by Nova.

"Let them flee, Galvatron. We have won this battle, and we will win that one soon enough." Nova put a hand to Galvatron's cannon, and the barbarian relented his weapon down. Seeing that they were victorious, it was time to investigate the Citadel of Light and find out just what this secret was all about. Nova led the way to the massive bronze double-door, and opened it with a heavy shove. The doors themselves creaked loudly, as if they hadn't been used in eons.

As Nova, Galvatron and the others entered the Citadel, they couldn't help but awe in sight of what lay before them. Utterly untouched by the war outside, the Citadel shined brightly inside, illuminated by the lights that glimmered on the floor. Massive engravings made entirely of gold stood proud on the walls of the Citadel, telling tales of old. Each of them seemed to show a Prime, a member of the Thirteen, holding something up to the sky, were it the Requiem Blaster for Megatronus, or the Forge for Solus Prime. Nova's troops were entranced by the imagery, but Nova and Galvatron wondered if there was a reason behind all this glorifying. Right in front of them lay an energon fountain that still functioned, to which Galvatron stayed to grab a handful and sucked down greedily. After all, he needed some refreshment.

"It's like the whole war skipped this place over." One of Nova soldiers gushed out, forgetting his place and laying a hand on the engrave. "This is beautiful."

"And we saved this damn place. I hope they got a bar or something, I'm parched." Another one of Nova's men rasped out, clutching a broken rifle.

"Nova! Over here!" Another soldier called out, this time pointing towards an open hallway that they accidentally skipped over. "You have to see this!"

Nova entered the hallway, only realizing now that the soldier was talking about what lay beyond. Inside the Citadel lay a massive library, each archive must have reached over a hundred feet tall at the least, filled to the brim with untold information. Huge ornate decorations covered the library's ceiling and floor with stars, planets and galaxies of swirling colors. At the foremost of the library after at least a dozen shelves was a huge telescope, pointing towards the pale orange sky of Cybertron's sunset. Small, X-shaped drones littered the air, some carrying datapads and others just going about their business. One of Nova's soldiers reached out to touch a drone that had gotten close, but was stopped by Nova grabbing her arm.

"Careful." He chided his soldier. "We don't know if they possess offensive capabilities."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that." A voice, soft and gentle, rang out inside the library. Nova's troops pointed their weapons in all directions, not knowing where the voice had come from. Nova remained calm. This voice had no malicious intent and seemed too meek to issue any sort of threat here.

"Who are you?" Nova asked the voice.

"The real question is, who are you?" The voice rebutted.

"I am Nova Minor, Commander of the Free People of Cybertron! We have come seeking the key to stopping the war and ending this needless bloodshed." Nova told the voice. For a few moments of silence, footsteps could be heard from one of the aisles. Nova pointed his cannons to where he could here them coming closer. His soldiers did the same.

The source of the footsteps finally made himself known. The mystery mech was small in stature, about three quarters of Nova's height and far thinner. This mech was clearly a librarian or some sort of office worker. His chassis was colored a rich red-purple with gold inlays that were engraved with cyberglyphs and other sorts of imagery. In his hands was a small stack of datapads that he was probably going to put away but was interrupted by his new guests. On his back was a short cape, colored a deep black with gold trims. His yellow optics shined brightly towards Nova, probably relieved that it were fellow Cybertronians that had intruded his study.

"My apologies, Nova Minor." He bowed slightly downwards as a sign of respect. "I had to take precautions in case of any true enemies of Cybertron coming to steal our secret. I know I can trust you." The mystery mech's soft voice was smooth on Nova's receptors.

"How so?" Nova asked.

"You asked to end the war to stop the killing. You made no demands for me to hand it over, and did not specify that you were going to use it to vanquish your enemies. Rather, you would use it to stop the bloodshed and save as many people as you could." The mech explained with great vigor, fully trusting Nova. The commander himself seemed overwhelmed with the mech's honest attitude. "Oh, where are my manners, I haven't even introduced myself."

The mech cleared his throat. "My name is Apocrypha, head librarian of the Citadel of Light. I welcome you here, Nova Minor, for you have come to seek what shall end this war." The newly named Apocrypha spoke to Nova.

"This had better be worth it librarian." Galvatron made his presence known to Apocrypha, who seemed unperturbed by the barbarian's rude behavior. Galvatron had just arrived to hear the librarian's name being announced after he had washed his battleaxe in the energon fountain. He was totally unimpressed with Apocrypha's frail physique and was quickly losing patience with both the librarian and this quest. Were he in charge, we would have preferred to have taken the "secret" and use it to hunt down the remaining beasts on Cybertron.

"It shall, Galvatron of the Darklands. Please, follow me." Apocrypha bowed and walked off, no doubt going to where the secret lay. Galvatron outright ignored the fact that the librarian knew him beforehand. Before following Apocrypha, Nova had one more issue to command.

"Galvatron, you're with me. The rest of you, stay here. If we don't come back before the moons of Cybertron rise, then you have my permission to burn this place down and take the secret." Nova ordered his troops, who nodded in response. He went to follow the strange mech, Galvatron right behind him, and came around a sharp left where Apocrypha was pushing aside a fake archive, revealing a secret door. A quick twist on the triple-dial lock and the door creaked open.

"Apologies again for the secrecy, Nova. I had to make sure that the enemy forces of the Primes would not be able to track you." Apocrypha explained as he took a torch, brimming with blue fire, and began to walk in the deep dark of his hidden place. "With most of Primes fleeing Cybertron after the death of Nexus, and by your own hands Galvatron, most of their forces went on the offensive to safeguard their legacy. Cybertron suffered for their violence. When my hidden treasure was leaked, I feared the worst was to come. Apparently, Primus was indeed on my side."

"We were simply better." Galvatron huffed, trying to divert the conversation away from anything too religious.

Nova had turned his headlights on to see the way while Galvatron stuck close to the librarian. At the end of the hallway, there was a door covered in cobwebs. Nova and Galvatron looked at each other skeptically. If there was a secret, then there was no telling how long it had awaited being used. Apocrypha said nothing as he yanked the foremost knob and opened the second secret compartment; a very open garden of various flora that once existed all over Cybertron, ranging from the smallest flower to the tallest tree. In the middle of the garden was a femme, larger than her mate, who was decorated in bright blue armor and white stripes reaching down her arms and legs. Her crimson optics shined dully, contrary to her brightly colored body.

But at her side stood a mechling. He seemed to be very young, barely into his coming of ages. He was far stranger than the femme that stood beside him, holding his hand as she talked to him in a hushed whisper. His angular, jagged body was entirely chrome, with some spots made of the deepest black and stainless steel. Large white biolights shined on his body, small as it was, which reflected his colorless optics. Nova could only guess to what the mechling transformed into.

"Chronix, we have guests." Apocrypha said to the femme. "Nova, Galvatron, this is my wife Chronix, timekeeper of the Citadel and head gardener."

"A pleasure." She bowed before the two. "Such an honor to meet the mech leading the Free People of Cybertron, and the great barbarian." Nova nodded with respect while Galvatron basked in his own glow. Chronix giggled as she saw how the barbarian was readily soaking up the attention. "Oh, you two must be here for the "great treasure" as my husband calls it."

"Yes." Nova said.

"Then you shall have it." Chronix said. "And here he is." The gardener gestured with an open hand to the young mechling, who was currently rummaging through a crate to grab a telescope and set it on one of the moss-covered rocks. Nova raised an optic ridge, while Galvatron let out a heinous snort.

"The treasure is a child?" Galvatron scoffed. "Then we have come here for nothing."

"Oh, my son is more than just a child. Dear, would you come over here to meet our guests?" Chronix turned the chrome mechling, who said nothing as he put away the telescope he had set up not a minute before and walked over. His bright optics never blinked as he focused his attention on Nova Minor. The commander found himself staring back into those optics. He could feel something within this mechling that he hadn't felt in a long time. He stood there by his creator's side, silent as the grave. Nova knew that the child was waiting to be talked to, rather than being shy.

"Tell me mechling, what is your name?" Nova bent down to get a better angle on the face of his new treasure. The mechling stared at Nova for a while, pursing behind a black mouthplate, and finally spoke in a crystal clear voice.

"My name is Sprawl."

...

Earth, present day...

"So how many relics are there on Earth in total, really? I mean, there's gotta be at least a couple dozen here on Earth. And who's to say that there isn't any more across the galaxy? So far all we've found are some neat gadgets and knick-knacks that we can only use once." A clear female voice said.

"True, but we gotta get what we can, right? Can't leave Earth for the Autobots to snatch up everything." A male voice responded back.

It was here that the Decepticons called home, the Nemesis. The gargantuan warship was their home away from home when the war for Cybertron took the planet to beyond destruction and further into death. Now, their war reached beyond their own system, stretching beyond the stars that once littered the skies of Cybertron. Here, on Earth, is where the war was now focused, for the green and blue world had more to it than meets the eye.

And it was here that the Decepticons, the Autobots, and the war itself changed forever.

Ethan and Samantha, two of the five human Decepticons that called themselves the Stuntikids, were currently discussing the values of chasing after the relics that had been hidden on their own world for so long.

Ethan Bain, the team medic and grade-A New York City apostle, was the most affected out of the Stuntikids due to the war. In the early days of enlistment, he lost his left arm in a battle between his guardian and some of the Autobots. And while it was one of the most traumatizing things to ever happen to him, he took advantage of his new-found disability and used it to help create his signature feature; the robotic arm that housed all of his medical supplies. The boy was spunky, kind and was never one to back down to any challenges that life had thrown at him. He was quick to make friends on the warship, especially with Samantha.

Samantha Bono is the Stuntikid scouter and the fastest human on the warship out of the five. Unlike Ethan, she never lost any limbs in a battle. She was too quick to be caught in the crossfire. A lifetime of running track and field along with heavy cross-country in her home state of Texas built up Samantha's stamina to astonishing levels, impressing her guardian with her seemingly endless speed. When she wasn't running, she was racing, a former underground street racer at that who made friends with anyone she meet with her jovial attitude and deep care for her friends. Her appetite for speed gave her plenty of friends on the warship, including Ethan.

Needless to say, the two were best of friends and stuck to the hip.

"You never know what we'll get next, E." Samantha said as she playfully punched his shoulder. "It might be a laser death-cannon, or a teleporter!"

"Or just another trinket, like the polarity gauntlet that we risked our lives for, only to realize that the thing had a dead battery." Ethan sarcastically replied with a roll of his eyes. He had reason to be salty about the "relic race", as he called it. Many times he and his guardian would venture to the wilds of Earth and return with either it being stolen from the Autobots or something entirely not useful towards the war.

"Just because you found a Cybertronian sex toy in one pod, one," She accented her point by pointing a finger at him, "doesn't mean that this whole thing is bogus." Samantha argued.

"Do you know how damn awkward that was between me and Wildrider?! Granted, I knew what it was and so did she, but we had to bring that thing to the Decepticons because the Autobots didn't even want it!" Ethan shuddered. "God, seeing those stares that the Autobots gave us makes my brain wrinkle. And then Wildrider made it worse when she tried to attack Broadside with it and that was... hmph." Ethan shook his head, trying to forget that cringe-worthy memory.

"We've made off with other relics before, right?" Samantha asked. "And some of them are pretty cool."

Ethan was silent, but then shrugged. "Yeah, the tesla bomb was pretty rad."

"See?" Samantha nudged him playfully. "It ain't so bad. You gotta be lucky."

"Someone said lucky?" The two turned their heads to see their guardians smiling down at them, leaning against a wall.

Drag Strip, the former Ibex 5000 champion, is a member of the Stunticons and the fastest Decepticon on wheels. A lifetime of racing against some of the most brutal racing challenges has fine-toned his racing skills. Samantha and him have a relationship based on street racing and other means of speed against the law. He doesn't mind letting her take the wheel every once in a while, but prefers to drive himself. Drag Strip, because of his need for speed, chose the fastest land vehicle he could find; a Formula-1 race car. He is also the second in command of the Stunticons.

Next to him was Wildrider, the sole female of the Stunticons. She was the team medic, in training of course. As crazy as they come and with a love for thrills and spills, how she found herself as the medic was not her doing; rather Megatron forced her to take the mantle after a few too many biting remarks on the current CMO Flatline, who she was now working under as an apprentice. Ethan and Wildrider are incredibly close, with an "older sister, younger brother" sort of relationship. To keep up with her antics of being a bit of a psycho and keeping her eye-catching curvaceous form together, she had chosen the Ferrari Laferrari, because it looked cool and sounded funny.

"Yeah, me and E were talkin' about the relics that we found." The young girl said as the two Decepticons joined in on the conversation.

"Pft. You call that luck? That's pure timing." Drag Strip bragged, while Wildrider gave him a look that said otherwise. "Oh, and by the way, Megatron was looking for you two. It seems we've all got something to get now that Soundwave's got us a whole slew of new scrap to get." Drag Strip and Wildrider transformed and opened their doors, and their respective charges got in, and they speed off to the bridge.

...

The Nemesis flew steadily over the harsh oceans of the Pacific, undeterred by the weather that was happening around it. The large viewing screens at the front of the bridge gave anyone in the room a glance outside, which was covered in gray storm clouds and the occasional flash of lightning. It was here that most of the Decepticon commanders were often seen, either going about their business by managing whatever they could in their time. Many of the drones and soldiers were typing away on the consoles behind the elevated walkway, which lead to the command module, where Soundwave himself was seen typing the coordinates for the next set of relics awaiting to be captured.

Behind him stood Turmoil, the huge brown and silver tank-former who had arrived on Earth not too long ago with his own cadre of troops. He had been promoted to second in Command of the Decepticons here on Earth when he had arrived, outranking the now Air Commander Starscream. The latter, of course, threw a fit but was relieved that he was still in charge of anything in the air. Speaking of Starscream, he was talking to the rest of the flying troops of the Decepticons.

Among them was Thundercracker and Skywarp, who had come when Megatron issued the call for reinforcements over three years ago. Standing with them was Dropkick and Fearswoop, who came with Turmoil. Dropkick was Turmoil's second in command plus a very skilled marksman, and Fearswoop was a Predator, and an expert in stealth technology.

And standing at the very center of it all, was the femme who started it all. Megatron, Empress of Destruction, Master of the Decepticons, her empire of purple raging across the stars in her name. It was until recently that Megatron revealed that she was in fact a femme in disguise, spurred on by a rather personal talk between her, Soundwave and one of the Stuntikids. This sudden revelation didn't change much in the Decepticons, but there was still no word on how the Autobots were taking this information. And she probably didn't care. Megatron was too concerned about winning the war than be worried about how the Autobots would react to her revealed gender.

She turned her head towards the sounds of roaring engines to see that Drag Strip and Wildrider have arrived on time, and opened the doors to reveal that Ethan and Samantha had come along as she had ordered. Good. Their commander, who was standing aside with the two others, watched on as they walked over to their group.

Bridgette Ramsey, leader of the Stuntikids at twenty years old, is a woman that is driven by the power of success. For years she has lead the Stuntikids with her "Never Say Die" attitude and unwillingness to give up, and for that she has earned her spot among the Decepticon army. Decked out in total punk outfit, from the baggy cargo pants, the loose tank-top and the purple-colored mohawk on her head, her appearance, her strength and her temper has kept the Stuntikids in line and formed them to who they were now. Without her, they would have probably been dead or gone. Her skills as a mechanic also put her on favor with the Stunticon leader Motormaster, who viewed his charge as an impromptu niece.

Standing beside her was the charge of Breakdown, Holly Griffin, the team bruiser and one of the most vicious people on the Nemesis. Growing up as a street fighter, Holly was also an excellent pyrotechnic. The scars dazzling her face showed that her time as a brawler hadn't come off easy. She always kept her hair short, never once allowing any sort of advantage to her prey. Her usual attire was something out of eastern Europe, with black and white tracksuits usually seen on her. She and Breakdown were pretty close, telling each other stories of their times as fighters. Respect between the two was very high.

Lastly, the final member of the Stuntikids was Zoey Cordovas, a Puerto Rican raised in Mexico who was from an incredibly poor family who spent what little money they could on booze, sex and frivolities. The situation between being abused by her mother and brother, and ignored by her own father, was too much to bear for the now pre-teen. But, as fate would allow it, she was given a second chance in the name of the resident nihilist Dead End, who found her and coaxed her into joining the Decepticons. Since then, Zoey and Dead End have with each other ever since. Many speculate that Zoey reminds Dead End of his daughter, who he lost during the first years of the war, which turned him into a fatalist mope.

"My Lady." Both of the newcomers spoke and bowed at the same time.

"What do you require of us?" Samantha asked.

Megatron huffed, "The next set of Iacon relics have been decoded. Soundwave has been gracious enough to provide us with a plethora of fortunes waiting to be found."

"So let's get 'em then." Ethan said, trying to back up his own ego. He wanted to find something useful for once. "It's not like the Autobots haven't thought of the same thing."

"Take heed, boy." Megatron said again. "While there is a good amount of relics to be found and contained, we cannot be rushing off to secure them. We must use tact and efficiency, something the Autobots also have." Megatron nodded to Soundwave, who then typed in something on the keyboard. "The first three relics have been uncovered, their locations scattered across the globe and will require our forces to divide and conquer."

Suddenly, the main viewing screen blinked twice and a holographic scene of the whole Earth was on. Each of the Decepticons were busy eyeing the sudden start of their missions, their optics open and eager.

"The first is located in this region," The massive screen zeroed in on the South American continent, with the indicator pointing at the heart of the Amazon. "Based on earlier scouting parties, the jungle here is too dense for anyone of our size to fit. So, boy, this is where you and your friend come in. Ethan and Samantha, you will be dropped here in this Amazon forest by Sprawl once he is repaired. You are to find wherever the relic is, secure it and bring it back. If you encounter any Autobots, you radio for Sprawl and he will deal with them, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." The two saluted.

"Excellent. Turmoil you and your team are assigned to this location here." The globe turned up and pointed at the island of Nova Scotia, where the indicator was pointing at the shoreline. "Given that you're more experienced, I have faith that you will not fail me."

"Not at all, my lady." Turmoil bowed.

"Good. Finally, Wildrider and Airachnid." The two other femmes in the room looked up. "The last relic is hidden somewhere in this city." The screen pointed to the city-state of Hong Kong, located in Southeast Asia. "Thanks to the intense human population you will have to enter this in disguise. Wildrider, you will scour the ground while Airachnid will see to the air. I don't care how long it takes you, find this relic and bring it back to us. Understood?"

"Yep. We won't let ya' down." Wildrider answered, and Airachnid merely shrugged.

"See to it that you don't. You are dismissed, Decepticons." And with that, the bridge emptied out most of the Decepticons, retreating back to what they were originally doing. The only ones who had stayed were Megatron and Soundwave. The warlord stared into the stormy skies of Earth, silent in front of the raging storm. Soundwave instantly knew, plus with help from some minor telepathy, that she was thinking heavily about something.

"The Decepticons are changing Soundwave." Megatron finally spoke, albeit softly. "I... we are changing. I can feel it. We're becoming something more than just an army, and the others are now looking at me without vicious distaste or fear." She clutched her fist. "I don't know why, but it pleases me to have an increase in loyalty among the troops. I am Lord Megatron, and the fear that I used to rule the Decepticons with is being replaced with respect. Is it because of my gender, or is it because of... the humans?" She guessed wildly. Truthfully, she didn't know just what was causing the increase in morale and probably hoped Soundwave would provide an answer.

"FEAR... REPLACED..." Soundwave replied via playback. "RESPECT... INCREASE."

"I understand that Soundwave." Megatron said. "I want to know why."

"My Lady." She turned to see Flatline standing behind her, clutching a datapad. "It's Sprawl. He's awake."

...

"How long was I out for, Knockout?"

"Give or take a couple days or so. Frankly, I'm surprised you were still in one piece when you got on the warship, those dastardly Dinobots and their pets nearly tore you apart. That is, until you decided to turn the tables."

Sprawl tilted his head.

"Oh come on, Sprawl. Surely you remember laying a total smackdown on Grimlock, don't you?" Knockout laughed as he took a sip of energon. "It's all over the warship on the local hub." Knockout waved the datapad that he was holding up and down. The Warrior Elite looked away in mild amusement. Leave it to his fellow Decepticons to take a small victory and overblow it. From the way Knockout said it, it had sounded like he had beaten Optimus Prime in a game of arm wrestling.

Sprawl would have commented on the matter were it not for Megatron to enter. And while he was still on a berth to tend to some of his more grievous wounds, he still tried to make sure to salute her, only to realize that he couldn't move his arms. They had some sort of connector tubes lined to a large machine that was being tinkered on by Shockwave. Sprawl gazed at the device and shrugged. He knew what Shockwave was doing; hijacking some of the blueprints of weaponry that he stored in his head.

"How are you feeling Sprawl?" Megatron asked.

"I'm feeling better, my Lady." Sprawl answered, and unplugged himself from Shockwave's machine. "When is my next mission?"

The warlord chuckled. Always ready to put himself on the front lines, she thought. While he was rather eager, it was probably him being cooped up in the med-bay for so long that he wanted to be out on the field, doing something other than sitting down. The black and chrome Decepticon stood high as he awaited his orders, looking down at Megatron.

"You are to transport two of the Stuntikids towards the next designated target. The Iacon relic-"

"Pardon me, my Lady," Sprawl interrupted and holding up his hands, "but don't you mean Stunticons? Surely Motormaster could just initiate-"

"I know what I meant Sprawl." She said more fiercely, stopping the Warrior Elite's talk. "Allow me to introduce two of our newest attributes to the Decepticon armada; Ethan and Samantha." Megatron gestured downwards to the floor, where Sprawl saw two humans standing beside her, a male and a female. Internally, he groaned. He was just about done with Earth's dominant species and wasn't in the mood to deal with any more of them, considering the most contact he ever had with humans was with the Dinobrats, and they weren't so kind to him. That, and considering he hadn't even told Megatron about the DJD rescuing him and their own human army.

He could tell her later.

Before Sprawl could say anything, Megatron spoke. "I understand that your past relationships with humans is less than stellar, but they were Autobots. These are our own troops, as Decepticons. They are your allies." It was apparent that Sprawl was having none of it. After all, he had been tortured by humans days ago and for far longer when he was an Autobot prisoner.

"They all look the damn same." Sprawl said quietly, but full of displeasure.

"Hey, big guy." Sprawl looked down to see that the human female, the one with the golden hair, was talking to him. "We haven't done anything wrong to you. How about a better introduction, hmm? I'm Samantha, Samantha Bono, to be precise. I'm a Stuntikid. The dude next to me is Ethan Bain, also a Stuntikid. We've been with the Decepticons for about three years now, pushing our fourth. Sprawl is your name, right?" Samantha stuck out her hand for Sprawl to shake, and the giant Decepticon leaned down to catch it with a single finger. This seemed to please the Warrior Elite.

"It seems that some of your kind is redeemable." Sprawl admonished to Megatron. "They are well behaved, and clean, unlike the Dinobots human pets. And I am to believe that the Stuntikids are a joint branch of the Stunticons, or is it something else?"

"We work with the Stunticons because they're our guardians." Ethan spoke up. "My guardian is Wildrider, and Samantha's is Drag Strip."

"Fitting." Sprawl nodded. "So, the mission? I am to transport these creatures to where?"

"The Amazon." Ethan said, and continued. "A huge rainforest in the middle of Brazil. Apparently there's a relic in there somewhere. I think you're connected to our internet, you should look it up."

And Sprawl did. The first image that was brought up was the scale of the forest as seen from space, which seemed to cover the entire upper half of the South American continent. He couldn't believe the scale of this gargantuan forest, just how were two kids supposed to find anything in something that immense was beyond him.

"And don't worry, we have a general idea about where it is." Ethan waved off Sprawl's concerns.

"I have to worry; I'm transporting fellow Decepticons to whereabouts that I have never visited."

Ethan and Samantha chuckled at Sprawl.

"I'm serious."

...

Turmoil leaned over the terminal where Dropkick was currently pulling up all of the information that he could about Nova Scotia; the weather, human populace, anything that could be of use. Unlike the Stuntikids and Sprawl, who were going in head-first, Turmoil was being a bit more tactical by collecting information. It would help in the long run when he would encounter Autobots, and he knew that he would. No doubt that they have the same relics in mind.

"This Nova Scotia seems pretty ordinary, Turmoil. There's a somewhat large human population on the island, but where we're going we probably won't encounter anything. And since the spring season of Earth is in effect, it's going to be nice and cool up there." Dropkick explained carefully.

"Good work Dropkick. Call for Skywarp and Breakdown. They'll be useful on this mission as well."

"Whatever you say, Commander."

Turmoil turned to leave, but remembered something else. "And tell Breakdown to bring his human pet. I want to see if they really are as hyped up as they say."

...

Airachnid would never say it out loud under pain of death, but she was rather happy to be on a mission with Wildrider. Having to deal with all sorts of trouble from her male comrades and just the general atmosphere of the Nemesis, going to a human city with her good friend was too enticing to pass up. Sure, the Stunticon was utterly batshit insane, but she was fun to hang around with. Plus, Wildrider was excellent at playing decoy, baiting out the enemy and leaving the spider to pick up the victory. Wildrider didn't mind, as long as the Decepticons won at the end.

Speaking of the Ferrari, she was currently discussing something with her buddy Breakdown in the open hanger. The two of them were in front of the ground-bridge control, Wildrider screaming at Breakdown's face.

"And Sprawl's going to take care of them, right? You better make him cross his spark that he'll protect my little dude or else-!" Wildrider seemed slightly livid that her human boy was going on a mission without her, and Breakdown was the one who was being chewed out.

"They'll be fine, alright?" Breakdown reasoned. "I'm not the one you should be yelling at! Sprawl's the one who's going to help them, and I'm going with Holly on a mission with Turmoil. You don't see Drag Strip having a hissy fit."

"That's because he doesn't care about Ethan like I do!" Wildrider screamed and threw her arms up.

"Trouble in the family, Wildrider?" Airachnid spoke, alerting the two that the spider was nearby. "I heard that a certain Warrior Elite is getting some human help."

"It's so stupid!" Wildrider raged and gripped her horns. "Why can't he come with me? Ethan and I always go on missions together!"

"Perhaps it's time for your precious little bro to be a big man and do something on his own for once? Let me be clear, I don't exactly care about any of the Stuntikids but I see over-protectiveness when I see it." Airachnid said, and the Stunticon she was talking to felt her mouth drop to the floor. "I suggest you give Ethan some breathing room and let him go solo for a little while, okay 'Rider?"

Wildrider was finally starting to see reason, and huffed out a quiet, "Fine."

"There we go." Airachnid cheered. "Breakdown, be a dear and open the ground bridge for us? We've got a relic to secure."