The Bond of Master and Servant
Author's Note: I GOT MY COOKIES BACK! \( O )/ *holds close* MY PRECIOUS! MY PRECIOUS! *gets slapped silly by a Plot Bunny* Ehem... Um, sorry about that. I get crazy if someone steals my cookies. Hehe... Oh if you're wondering about the Chevy Twins don't worry they're fine. Traumatized, but fine. On with the story now.
Ironhide: "You need help."
Me: *Holds a giant paintball gun and plays innocent* whatever do you mean?
Ironhide: "...Nevermind..."
Me: That's what I thought. (n-n)
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Transformers ain't mine. Jeez... If it was, I'd make Ironhide my slave.
Ironhide: "YOUR WHAT?!"
Me: Nothing!
Chapter 4: Surprises In The Dark
~Flashback~
(Thoughts)
=Speaking Cybertronian=
::Comlink::
It was late night when four vehicles sped on the highway towards an abandoned warehouse. A silver-black Lamborghini Aventador, a black Cadillac Escalade, a silver Mercedes-Ben SLS AMG that's a little large for its size and a Red Dodge Challenger speed down the highway. They arrived and entered the warehouse, which was big enough for them to transform. They transformed into their robot forms; three Mechs and one Femme. The red Challenger sits in a chair and groans.
=Alright, we're here. Where the hell's that perverted Seeker?=
The Cadillac Escalade snickers at the Femme and sits next to her. =Ruby why do you hate Starscream so much? He only has a big freaking crush on ya!= Next thing he knew he was socked in the faceplates by an irritated Ruby. He got up and rubbed his faceplates, putting on a hurtful expression. =That wasn't nice...=
=Who cares if it wasn't Stockade.=
Stockade got up and threw a bag of feathers he found at her. Ruby sliced the bag and growled when feathers rained on her. Stockade started laughing and pointing at her. =That's a good look for ya Ruby! Starscream will love snuggling on you!=
=OH THAT IS IT!=
Ruby tackles the laughing Decepticon on the floor and punches him all over. The black Cadillac tries to get her off of him only to receive a punch to the helm. He knocks her off and crawls away but is grabbed by the legs by a grinning Ruby, who throws him against the wall and proceeds to punch him in the chassis. =Stop! I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Lockdown help!= The Lamborghini known as Lockdown shook his helm and chuckled, walking to sit on a pile of crushed cars. He watched as Ruby beat up the younger Decepticon. =Careful Ruby, he'll break like that if you keep it up. And Stockade you were asking for it.=
=TRAITOR! OW! OWHOWW!=
Ruby kept beating the poor youngling with a smirk on her faceplates. =Quit whimpering like a little bitch and take it like a Mech!=
A long tentacle wrapped around Ruby and pulled her away from the dented Stockade. She yelled and glared at the owner of it. =Put me down Soundwave!=
=Negative. I'll release you only if you stop hitting the youngling.=
Ruby rolled her eyes and shrugged. Soundwave sat her down and removed his tentacle. Ruby muttered something about how much of a prick he is as she sat back in the chair. She glared at Stockade who was sitting far away from her and snickering through the pain. His armor will heal itself within a few hours. Lockdown yawned and pulled out a Data Disc containing a few Cybertonian books he liked to read. Suddenly everyone saw a black BMW i8 drive in and transform into a cat-like creature with one red optic. He walked over to Soundwave and nuzzled his hand.
=Ra-Ravage... Reporting M-Master...=
The scientist turned around to greet him. =Hello my pet. Did you let Reedman do his job?=
The Mechanimal Jaguar nodded. =Yes... Soon w-when the A-A-Ark ap-proches... w-we s-s-strike... Virus s-s-still act-active...=
Soundwave let a smirk cross his faceplates. Out of all his Symbiotic Mechanimals it was Ravage he cared about the most. After the Battle of Egypt he grabbed his remains and reactivated him using a shard of the Allspark he hid from everyone. Then he reformatted his body and made him larger than before. Ravage is stronger than ever and more vicious, something Soundwave loved about him. (AN: Who know he could love? xD) He petted him as Ravage nipped his fingers playfully. The Jaguar suddenly growled and looked at his Master in the optic. =W-when do I g-g-get to kill that d-damn panther? S-s-she m-makes me sick!=
=In due time Ravage...=
The Jaguar snarled in frustration and bit down on his Master's hand. Soundwave didn't mind, the bite didn't draw any energon and he knew how angry his pet was. Who could blame him? Soundwave let his pet naw on his hand when Stockade, who was watching asked a question. =Why do you let him bite you so much? Ever since you reactivated him he's become more hard to control.=
=I do not mind it Stockade. He knows who his Master is so he won't get out of hand.= Ravage let go of his hand and licked it. He then walked toward Stockade and glared at him. The Cadillac scooted away in fear and held his hands up. =N-nice kitty...= Ravage kept glaring at him, then sat down next to him as he nipped his feet. Stockade jumped at the touch and went to sit next to Lockdown, who was paying more attention to his book than to the youngling. Ruby started laughing and went to pet the Mechanimal. =You scared of him wimp? Hey Ravage, I'll give you a treat if you can bite the scrap out of him.=
=I'm not a wimp!=
Ravage just looked at her and yawned, beginning to groom his bladed tail. Ruby frowned and took out a Energon snack from her subspace, waving it around his nose to get his attention. Ravage sniffed the treat, swiped it from her hand and ate it. He went back to grooming as Stockade laughed. =Haha! It didn't work!=
=Oh shut up...= Ruby sat next to Ravage and scratched his ears, he seemed to like it when he leaned into her hand. Lockdown glanced over at them and went back to his book. =The reason he didn't listen to her is because he only listens to Soundwave. I thought you knew that.= Stockade shook his helm. =Nope. Didn't know that.= The huge screen in the middle of the room suddenly turned on and the face of Starscream appeared. The Seeker looked around the room and smiled when he saw Ruby.
[Hello everyone, I'm glad to see you all made it on Earth safely. And Ruby you look stunning as ever my dear.]
The three Mechs in the room tried not to laugh as how she was glaring at him. Ruby put up her middle finger, disgusted with how he looked at her. =Fuck off Seeker.= Starscream started laughing at her cute act of defiance. He wiggled a finger in a 'no, no' gesture. [Don't be like that Ruby. Now on to business. Soundwave told me that the virus Reedman planted worked successfully. Is the Energon Locator the humans have not working?] Soundwave nodded in agreement. =Yes Lord Starscream. Not only are they inactive but the 3 satellites in orbit are unable to record movement. We were all able to land without the Humans or Autobots knowledge.= Starscream smiled, showing his shark-like teeth. He was glad that his plan was working out. Now all he has to do is lure his foes out. Off screen he pressed a button that stopped the scrambling of N.E.S.T's signals, making it so any Autobot can locate them. [Soundwave, send Ravage out to N.E.S.T Base. I think it's time for him to "Play" with Zephyr.] Ravage looked up at the sound of the other Mechanimal's name and started growling deeply, he wanted to go and fight the other feline badly. Soundwave glanced at his pet and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. Ravage roared and transformed into his black BMX i8 alternate mode and sped off out of the door. Stockade whistled at how fast the Mecha-Jaguar was speeding.
=He's pissed. What's with him and this Zephyr person?=
=She's the Weapons Specialist's Mechanized Panther. Those two hate each other with a passion. You weren't created yet when they met.= Said Lockdown.
=Wow. Makes sense why he was roaring earlier. Hey Starscream? When do we attack the Autobots anyway? I'm itching for a fight!= asked Stockade.
=I want to know too. Me and that bitch Arcee have a score to settle.= Said Ruby. She cracked her knuckles to make her point.
Starscream chuckled as a second window popped up on screen. It showed the blueprints of the Autobot ship the Ark. [We'll all go to battle soon. First let's discuss the plan.]
...
It was early morning at N.E.S.T Base. Ironhide was outside in the firing range training his new weapons. His new Plasma Cannon shot through the targets like it was nothing. He would be happy if he wasn't so pissed off at the moment. The Mech had a scowl on his face as he remembered what happened last night.
~ "You mean to tell me... That four Decepticons landed without our knowledge all because of a virus in our systems?" asked Optimus.
Ironhide and Jazz nodded. Everyone in the room was shocked about the news. To think that searching for Zephyr would lead up to something like this. Optimus slowly shook his helm and stared at the two Autobots. "How long have they been on Earth?"
"Only for a week sir." Replied Jazz. "The virus isn't letting the Energon Locator trace Cybertonian signals. It may look like it's active but trust me, it isn't. You could say it's frozen."
Wheeljack started stuttering and waved his arms. "Who planted the virus?! I mean-How could they have access to our Locator at NASA?! I designed that Vortex Barrier to be able to withstand ANY virus attack! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!"
"Calm down Wheeljack. Yelling won't get us nowhere." Said Ratchet.
"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN?! THOSE FRAGGERS FRAGGED UP MY FRAGGING INVENTION! THE ONLY GOOD ONE THAT FREAKING WORKED! OH WHEN I FIND OUT WHO DID THIS I AM GONNA MUR-" Suddenly he felt a slap on his faceplates. Arcee slapped him to calm him down and looked at him with a blank expression. "Feel better now?"
Wheeljack took a few deep breaths, even though he didn't need it, and calmed down. He looked at the Femme with a sheepish smile. "Yes I do actually. Thanks."
"No problem." said Arcee. Bumblebee and the Chevy Twins snickered at Wheeljack's outburst while Ratchet rolled his optics. But he did bring up one point, how did the enemy find out about NASA's Energon Locator? The Autobots scrambled all transmissions so only other Autobots plus a few select humans have access to it. It just didn't make any sense.
"What about the virus? Is it still active?" asked Optimus. "Yea... still active. However it's makin' the machine act like it's working when it really isn't. I put an anti-virus program in it and alerted the people of NASA." Jazz turned around and brought up the video feed of the satellites stationed in the outer atmosphere. "It'll take at least a few minutes for everything to be normal. The Tracker Satellites been hit too so it'll take longer for them to reboot themselves."
"What do we do now? We don't even know where on Earth those Decepticons landed." Moonracer crossed her arms as she stared at the big screen. "Jeez, this pisses me off."
"Come to think of it, who exactly landed? I saw Soundwave but I don't recognize the other four." asked Sunstreaker.
"I'll enlarge the picture. You'll see who it is." Jazz opened up a new window on the screen and brought up another still picture of the four Decepticons. One of them was Soundwave, (who could miss him landing?) while the others were a little hard to recognize. Arcee walked up to the screen and took a closer look. When she saw the red armor she groaned.
"Oh frag no! It had to be HER! Dammit!"
"Who sis?" asked Flareup.
"That dumbaft Ruby! Why the Frag is she here?!" Arcee had a bit of a history with the Decepticon Ruby. During the early days of the war on Cybertron she fought against her. Ruby was known as the best fighter and gunslinger on Cybertron. She was also known for playing dirty, doing anything she could to get what she wanted. Her and Arcee were evenly matched whenever they fought. Moonracer and Flareup looked at each other then back at her. They could feel their oldest sister's rage towards the Decepticon Femme. Sideswipe grinned and put his hand on her shoulder. "I think the reason you hate her so much is because of what happened between you, her and that Mech."
"Oooohhhh! I smell drama! Sideswipe what happened?!" Asked Mudflap.
"Tell us! Tell us!" Asked Skids.
"Nothing happened, shut up!" yelled Arcee. The Chevy Twins could've sworn they saw a purplish tint on her faceplates. Whatever happened between them must've been embarrassing. Ironhide would laugh if he wasn't so upset. "Nevermind about that, there's two others you all need to see. Especially you Prime."
Optimus looked at the screen as it enhanced some more, his optics went wide when he recognized one of them. "Lockdown..." Everyone in the room froze at the name. Lockdown was known as a famous Bounty hunter even before the war. He'll do anything to get money. He was also the one that Botnapped the Dinobots and planned to sell them to the highest bidder. Everyone in the room save for Bumblebee and the Chevy Twins had fought with the Hunter at one point. Last time they heard about him some Dark Energon Drug lord had a bounty on Optimus's head. Let's just say they never heard from Lockdown after that battle. Optimus was shocked to see him. "I thought he was offline."
"Obviously not. And the runt with them is Stockade. Of course you all know what he does for a living now..." Stockade was activated during the Battle of Mission City when Sam Witwicky dropped the Allspark, causing a nearby Cadillac Escalate to activate and transform. Of course Starscream grabbed the youngling before the Autobots could and brought him on their ship; the Nemesis. There he and Barricade taught him how to design bombs and other explosives. Since then he's been with the Decepticons and didn't want nothing to do with the Autobots. Bumblebee fought against him before and couldn't care less about the brat. He used his radio to make his point.
[He's nothing but a prick. A damn prick!]
"I agree Bee'." said Ironhide. "Since Jazz already alerted the humans at NASA we should quickly find them before they act up."
"Oh man... most of the humans stationed here are on vacation now. They won't be back for two weeks." said Sideswipe. "Only at least 10 humans are on base."
Ratchet crossed his arms. "This is troublesome indeed... We're shorthanded and we don't know where the Decepticons landed."
"Ironhide have you heard anything from Zephyr?" Optimus suddenly asked. Ironhide shook his helm. "No sir... Something is messing up our communication lines. I can't contact her at all." Optimus could tell that he was worried for his friend. He placed his hand on his shoulder and looked him in the optic. "Don't worry my friend, I have a feeling Zephyr will find us soon. She's just like her Master is all." The black Mech chucked at that and smiled a little. "I know sir, thanks." Optimus nodded and turned to look at everyone in the room. "Since we have no idea where they could be hiding I want all of you to be prepared just in case they attack. In the morning we alert the humans of what we found, then me and Wheeljack will go to NASA to fix up the Vortex Barrier. Dismissed everyone." The Autobots did their traditional salute and returned to their rooms. Ironhide's cannons spun slowly in anger, he wanted to shoot something so bad. Ironhide put his hand where his Sparkchamber was, his spark was aching for his beloved pet. He felt a hand on his arm and turned his helm a little to look at Optimus, who had a worried expression on his faceplates. "You okay old friend?"
"I will be Prime. Just tired from everything."
The leader nodded. "Get some rest then. You need it." He walked ahead of him and out of the room, heading for his room. Ironhide looked back up at the computer monitor where it said "ANTI-VIRUS ACTIVE. REBOOT IN 25 MINUTES." He turned around and headed to his room. (Please be safe my pet...) ~
Ironhide grumbled and powered down his cannons. He rubbed his chest and felt his Spark pulsate in a painful way. His Spark was hurting badly from missing his pet. Ironhide closed his optics and tried to calm himself, but every time his Spark pulsed it hurt. He unintentionally let out a painful whimper that caught the attention of one solder passing by.
"You okay Hide'?"
Will Lennox was passing through when he saw his Guardian holding his chest. He got worried when Ironhide didn't answer for a few minutes. "Hey! Ironhide!" The Mech slowly opened his optics and nodded. "I-I'm fine Will..."
"You don't look fine..." Will walked closer and put his hand on his leg only to feel him shaking. He looked up at his faceplates and saw that his optics were shut tight. He heard the huge Mech groan in pain as he held his chest. Will tried getting Ironhide's attention but all that could be heard was him softly whimpering. Ironhide's Spark was demanding that he find his Servant and bring her to him, but the demand was so strong he nearly doubled over in pain. Will was scared. He never seen his best friend and Guardian act like this. He looked around in a panic and saw Moonracer rolling on her wheels when he called her over.
"Moonracer!"
"Hm?" She looked over at the firing range and saw Will. She smiled and waved at him but noticed Ironhide was kneeling on the ground. Her smile faulted when she realized that he was in pain and rolled over to see what was wrong. "Ironhide? Ironhide answer me!" She looked at the solder and saw him looking panicked. "Will what happened to him?"
"I don't know! He was clutching his chest and started moaning in pain! Is he having some sort of heartattack?!"
"I don't know..." Moonracer scanned him, her medial scanner wasn't as advanced as Ratchet's but she saw that he was in pain. But didn't know where. She commed Ratchet and told him what was happening. 'Ratchet! Come out to the Firing Range, hurry! Something's wrong with Ironhide!'
Ratchet was in his Med Bay updating his medical files when he heard Moonracer on his com-link. 'What's wrong with him? Did he damage his arms again like he always does?' The respone almost made him lower the volume on his Audio Receptors. 'NO YOU LUGNUT! Ironhide is clutching his chest and litterally crying! CRYING FOR PRIMUS SAKE! PLEASE GET OUT HERE! WILL LENNOX IS SCARED OUT OF HIS MIND!'
'Oh slag... I'll be there shortly.' Ratchet quickly got up and made his way outside where he saw Ironhide laying on Moonracer's lap groaning in pain. When he got closer he saw tears running down his faceplates. Ratchet did a medical scan and when he did he sighed. Will and Moonracer gave him worried looks. "Is he gonna be okay Ratch'?" asked Will.
"Yeah... Dumb fragger is missing Zephyr so much that his Spark is trying to call out to her."
"Wait, I don't understand, he's just missing his pet?" asked Moonracer.
"Yes but it's not just that. Ironhide and Zephyr share a special bond, if that bond gets disturbed in any way they'll both feel pain from it. Like Bondmates. Except its more painful, their Mechanimal is like part of their soul."
"Their soul?" asked Will. Ratchet nodded and carefully picked up Ironhide, Moonracer helping to carry him, and made their way to the Med Bay with Will following. They carefully laid him on the berth as Ironhide winced in pain.
"R-Ratch'... It hurts...
"I know it does..." He put his index finger near the cables in his neck and a part of it opened to reveal a needle. "The pain will stop soon so just get some rest." Ratchet stuck the needle in Ironhide's neck and injected some medicine that'll stop the pain in his Spark and allow him to recharge. Ironhide slowly closed his optics and went into recharge, the pain slowly disappearing. Ratchet withdrew the needle and replaced it in his finger. Will and Moonracer were worried if he'll be alright. "Um... Ratch'? Is he okay?" asked Will.
"Oh yes, he's fine now. Being apart from your Servant for that long will take a toll on anyone like that. He'll recharge for some hours before activating."
"Oh thank goodness..." said Moonracer.
"What did you mean when you said his pet was a part of his soul?" Will asked.
"Well first off Mechanimals are special. There's an ancient legend I heard of back on Cybertron that states Mechanimals were originally a part of each newborn Spark, the Wild side of Cybertronians. Those with that wild animal instinct were called Maximals: beings with the power to transform into a Mechanimal and a Cybertronian. How our Wild side escaped us I don't know, but Mechanimals were a part of us for some time before they gained their own sentiance." Ratchet explained.
"Is that why Ironhide and Zephyr are alike so much? Did they originally share a Spark?" asked Moonracer.
"Possibly. That I am not certain of. Mechanimals are strange creatures, there's not much infomation about them unlike Earth's organic animals." Will groaned, making the two Autobots look at him. He was confused and didn't understand any of it. "I still don't it. I never met his pet before but how can it be that they act the same?" Ratchet glanced at the sleeping Ironhide and chuckled a little. "It all depends on what kind of personallity the Mechanimal has. For example a Femme with a shy temperment will bond with a Mechanimal of the same nature. If someone like Ironhide tried to form a Master Bond with one of the opposite nature, it wouldn't work. Mechanimals are drawn to Cybertronians that have the same personallity as them."
Will understood most of it but felt stupid for wanting to ask what a "Master Bond" was. Luckly Moonracer asked for him. "I've never heard of a Master Bond. Is it like the bond of Symbiotes?"
Ratchet shook his head. "No. Completely different. Unlike the bonds we know of, The Master Bond is when a Mech or Femme wishes to have a Mechanimal and use the creature as a weapon. To do this, the creature itself must accept that person as their master and open up a special link with them. Then the Cybertonian draws a mark somewhere on it's body with their own Energon Blood."
"Damn... That's crazy." Muttered Will.
"I agree." said Moonracer.
"It may sound crazy, but its considered the norm among Masters. Now after thats been done the same mark appears on the soon to be Master's body in the same area. The Mechanimal becomes submissive and now belongs to that Cybertonian, who can modify their bodies to become whichever weapon they choose. That is the bond of Master and Servant."
Will Lennox and Moonracer took a moment to let that info sink in. They never heard of such a thing before. Moonracer knew some of her kind kept pets but didn't know that there was much more to it. Will looked up at Ratchet and figured out why Ironhide was in so much pain. "So because of that, they're like one in the same. Right?"
"You got that right. Zephyr and Ironhide are alike in every way. Stubborn, trigger-happy, gun loving, reckless, short-tempered fools." Ratchet sighed a little, remembering how many times he treated the both of them for their recklessness in battle. The thought made him smile a bit too. "Is that like how Optimus and Grimlock are? I noticed Grimlock listens to everything Optimus says, and that Dinobot never listens to anyone." The blue Femme was curious about that topic so Ratchet explained it to her. "It's the same for them. Grimlock has the same personallity as Optimus. Both of them are leaders and often times they do butt heads. Grimlock, no matter how stubborn he is will always listen to our Prime. The other Dinobots don't have Master's yet but even they listen to him. Amazing isn't it?" Moonracer nodded as the CMO looked at Will Lennox who was watching the black Mech recharge. "Don't worry Will Lennox. He'll be fine."
Will nodded, looking up from a platform he was on and frowned a little. His best friend was in pain and he couldn't do anything. He found out who Zephyr was from Optimus when he told everyone on base what they found out last night. The solder sighed, he'll just have to wait for Ironhide to wake up. Ratchet waved at them. "Alright, out. I'm busy here and I'll call you when he wakes up. Shoo!" Moonracer gently picked him up and walked out of the Med Bay, leaving their friend to rest up. Will looked back and hoped his friend wake up soon. "Get well soon buddy..."
...
Zephyr was in her alt form when her spark felt like it was being squeezed and ripped apart. She had to pull over and park somewhere to calm herself down. Zephyr knew her Master was in pain from missing her, and she was too. It pained her to know her Master needed her so bad to the point where it hurt him. She was determined to find him no matter what. Using her front vents, she 'sniffed' the air and found his scent. She drove off and kept following the scent until she reached a deserted beach. Transforming, she looked out on the horizon and mewed softly, opening up her com-link to try to contact him.
::Master... Please answer me... I miss you...::
::Z-bttzzz-Zephyr...::
She gasped and looked to her left where she could faintly see something out on the horizon. He was there! Her Master was over there and calling out to her! Roaring, she ran towards the ocean and jumped in the water. Good thing she knew how to swim. Using her twin-tails, she activated her cannons and propelled herself through the water. Nothing was going to get in her way, she needed her Master and he needed her. (I'm coming Master Ironhide! Please hang on!)
Unknown to her, Ravage was swimming through the water towards the same location. The one red optic in the middle of it's face glowing with fury as it made it's way towards N.E.S.T base. The MechaJaguar growled in the water, he could smell his prey moving to the same place and couldn't wait to strike.
(Soon... She'll be dead... Along with the fleshings...)
AN: Gonna leave it at that for now. Next chapter will have a huge cat fight! These kitties have claws and are not afraid to use them! R&R Please! (^u^)