Brides of the Monster

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Chapter 2: Departure

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Ultra Magnus stepped into Grimlock's path as he tried to board the shuttle home, the Dinobot leader in robot mode carrying a femme in each arm. Behind him Sludge had the sparkling on his shoulders. He'd seen the three first as Snarl had evacuated them from the residential area of the base, and later they were still with the Dinobots. But until the actual point of boarding, he'd not realized that Grimlock had intended for the liberated slaves to come with him.

"Him Skyblast going to kill them. But Me Grimlock rescue them."

"Yes. But they're free to go now—to lead their own lives," Ultra Magnus explained.

The Dinobot leader set the pair down, and the two moved behind him, where Sludge placed the sparkling in the lavender-crested femme's arms. The two were painted very similarly in shades of teal and lavender, giving them the appearance of twins. "But Me Grimlock look after them. Keep them safe."

Ultra Magnus nodded his head. "Yes, you did a good thing by protecting them. And that's very kind that you want to take care of them. But they'll be fine on their own."

"But they now in Dinobot's care. Me much better than Skyblast."

Ultra Magnus sighed. "They've been freed. They can look after themselves."

Grimlock refuted this, and the dialogue continued through several rounds of the same circular debate until Ultra Magnus' patience gave out. "Kup! You talk to him! I've got other matters to deal with. Tell him he can't keep them."

Kup, having been standing with Springer off to the side, the two snickering at the completely humorous scene, approached.

But Kup did not talk to Grimlock. Instead he addressed the two femmes, obviously former pleasurebots, the two standing nervously in Sludge's shadow. Compared to the Dinobots they were quite small and frail looking, only about half of Grimlock's height. The sparkling had already fallen into recharge in the arms of the one. "You were Skyblast's slaves?" he asked.

"Yes," replied the teal-crested femme. The lavender-crested one nodded in confirmation.

"The Autobot faction does not take any new slaves, or perpetuate old slavery contracts. Quite the opposite. You are free to go with the death or displacement of your master under current Cybertronian law."

"Yes . We realize that."

"So if Grimlock told you that you had to stay with him, you don't have to."

"He wants to look after us," the teal one explained.

Kup chuckled. "I know he's the protective sort when it comes to weaker mechs in trouble, and so he probably felt that rescuing you entailed more than just the rescue."

"Me Grimlock feel obligated," Grimlock piped up.

"But you can go where you want."

"Skyblast began destroying everything when it became clear that the base was about to fall... all his records and his property."

"He killed Firedance and Shortline. He was about to kill us when Grimlock and his team showed up!" blurted the other. The teal-crested femme turned to comfort her.

"Me Slag find dead femme and dead sparkling. Slave femmes not lying," supported the aggressive Dinobot. "Him Grimlock save the rest of Him Skyblast's slaves."

"Look, ladies. What I'm saying is that I know you were in some dire circumstances there, and you're probably feeling grateful. But that's our job. You don't have to stay with them."

"We don't have anywhere else to go though."

"No home cities? No family?"

"All destroyed, and long before we were taken as Decepticon property," said the teal-crested one mournfully.

"Grimlock offered his protection and his home to us," whimpered the other.

Kup put his hands on his hips. "So you really want to stay with him? I assume you saw what he is."

The two nodded shyly, but with conviction on their faceplates.

"What about the sparkling?" he asked, pointing at the child, still in his first frame.

"He's mine," answered the lavender-crested one.

"Well..." Kup looked them both over once more. "All right then. Get on the shuttle. And Grimlock..."

"Yes?"

"You're responsible for them. You have to make sure they're fueled and maintained out of your team's provisions, and that sparkling will need a frame upgrade at some point down the line."

"Me understand."

"And if they decide at some point that they don't want to stay with you, you have to let them go."

"Me understand," he repeated.

"Good. Then you can keep them."

The femmes smiled and rushed to Grimlock, who took each by the hand and led them triumphantly up into the cargo bay of the shuttle, followed by the rest of his team.

"I don't believe it," said Springer, rejoining Kup.

"Don't believe what?"

"That a couple of pretty, delicate things like that would actually want to stay with Grimlock."

"Eh, they're probably still in shock. Having been snatched from Mortilus' claws would probably make them devoted to whoever saved them."

"Damn... I wish my team had been sent to Skyblast's home. Did you even notice how attractive they were?"

"Of course I did. But did you notice how scarred up they were? Things obviously weren't exactly cozy under Skyblast's ownership."

"We all heard he was a sadistic creep regarding his underlings, but harming your pleasurebots? That's just sick."

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The flight back to Cybertron was a long one, but certainly not a dull one. The Autobots aboard spent their time recharging, discussing Grimlock's acquisitions, or observing the Dinobot leader interacting with his acquisitions. If approached, Grimlock would proudly introduce them to the curious, pointing out Affinity's talent with her electroharp, the one thing she'd salvaged from the ruins of Skyblast's house, and Fusion's dancing skill. Though not twins or even sisters, they had been trained and purchased together as a set.

The Dinobots also devoted themselves to the burnishing out of the scars in the femme's plating, and Affinity and Fusion were soon both nearly silver in color. Fresh paint and polish was promised on their arrival on Cybertron. The two femmes also liked to play rollback with the other mechs on board and taught the Dinobots to play as well. The sparkling, named Skyline, became a favorite among some of the crew, many of whom were hoping to start or restart their families at the end of the war and interacting with the child was a glimpse into a hopeful future. His sire, obviously having been the fallen Decepticon commander, was never mentioned, and over time it seemed as if Fusion had created Skyline from the budding of her own spark.

The relationship between Grimlock and his two femmes deepened, despite the attempts of some of the other Autobots to woo them away. At the beginning of the trip the two pleasurebots would recharge curled together with Skyline in a corner of the hold. But as their plating turned silver they began sleeping curled up against their savior. And within an orn they were frequently seen kissing and nuzzling the Dinobot leader.

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Ultra Magnus stomped down to the hold of the shuttle. "What's up?" Kup asked, noting the irritation in the commander's voice.

"I summoned Grimlock and he refused to come, saying he was busy," huffed the tall mech.

"Maybe he is."

"What? Playing rollback or polishing the paint off of the two femmes?"

Kup shrugged and followed.

And on reaching the corner of the hold the Grimlock currently called home, Ultra Magnus found his passage blockaded by the other four Dinobots. Skyline was playing happily in a distant corner with Blurr and a set of dolls someone had fashioned for him from coiled wire and canvas. When Ultra Magnus tried to pass, Sludge stepped in front of him. "Him Grimlock busy," drawled the huge mech.

"Busy enough to blow off my summons? I need some information from him."

"Come back later. Him Grimlock not want to be disturbed," Swoop explained softly.

Ultra Magnus was about to shove his way past the uncooperative brothers when he realized he could hear both Fusion and Affinity giggling and cooing from behind a row of crates. He paused, listening, and then heard Grimlock grunting his way through what sounded like...

"I see. Never mind." Ultra Magnus inhaled deeply. "Tell him to come see me when he's done."

"Him Spike have wife. Now Him Grimlock have wives," Swoop told him.

The Dinobots all smiled smugly.

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The End

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Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.

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Author Notes:

The Title – A play on the title of the Ed Wood film "Bride of the Monster."

"The Sisters" – This is my third fanfic to feature a pair of very close women, and there are some similarities in their incarnations. In Kachina, the injured, hypothermic, and waterlogged protagonist is aided by two Navajo women, cousins living together. In Heart of Darkness, the protagonist rescues one of a pair of sisters from a river, and the two become his secret girlfriends. In this TF story, the two femmes are effectively sisters, having been placed together as a pair, and are saved from doom by the protagonist and his team.

Kup – I need to write more using him. He's the voice of experience and practicality. And he's great for stories or flashbacks if you need something from one.