12:01 PM
"Remember boys," said Cap to Jack and Raf as they tiptoed their way past the scraplets crawling on the floor, "we're not metal, so they can't hurt us."
The two boys nodded quietly as they made their way through with the WWII veteran in the lead. The eldest of the two youngsters was carrying an old tool box with some portable welding equipment.
Because of the truth in Cap's statement, Jack's spider-sense didn't go off. Since the Cybertronian vermin didn't eat anything organic that meant they didn't register as a threat. But he still didn't think it was a good idea to attack them directly, or they might actually harm the three.
'What're we gonna do?' thought Jack, 'the second we get the ground bridge up, that Makeshift guy is probably gonna bring in an army of Cons. And the Bots are in no shape to fight at the moment. Steve would no doubt put up one, but Makeshift would more than likely overpower him in no time, and Optimus and Arcee don't have a lot of time left. I should use my own powers to help out, but I can't risk revealing myself to the others. Though maybe I should try it in a not-so-obvious way…'
As the sixteen-year-old thought about how to help out more than he was, he noticed that Cap was without his trademark shield.
"Hey Steve," whispered the teenager.
"Yeah?" answered the super soldier.
"Where's your shield?"
"It's locked away in my room on the other side of the base. Couldn't risk it getting eaten, even with the metal it's made of."
"And what might that be?" asked Raf.
"It's an alloy made from two rare metals; adamantium and vibranium."
"Don't think I've heard of those…" pondered the preteen.
"You wouldn't have, Raf, they're classified from all public records," explained the super soldier.
"Why? What's so special about 'em?" asked Jack.
"Adamantium is the toughest metal on Earth, and vibranium bounces back anything with a lot of force."
"Whoa!" muttered Jack and Raf in unison.
"But even with those metals, I'd rather not risk it getting eaten by these things. So I left my room locked, assuming they didn't eat their way through the door."
"Let's pray they didn't," added Jack, before looking at the large pipeline on their right and spotting something, "There's the breach," he said, pointing towards the area near the floor where liquid energon was flowing out from the enormous piping.
"Come on!" ordered Cap as he and the two boys huddled over the leaked area, "We have to work fast! Miko and the Bots are depending on it."
Jack and Raf nodded as they pulled out the tools.
12:35 PM
After little over half an hour later, the super soldier, teenager, and preteen finished welding a cover on the fuel line breach.
"Finally," sighed Jack. However, as soon as he said that, the scraplets all began to fly through a hole in the ceiling, making drilling noises as they did.
"They're getting ready to feed!" worried Raf. With that, the three males ran as fast they could all the way back to the main area, where they found Makeshift still clutching Miko, and Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee still on the floor recovering from having nearly been eaten.
"Well?!" demanded the Con infiltrator.
"All systems go, just put Miko down!" pleaded Jack.
"Not yet human," said the fake Wrecker ominously, before typing in coordinates on the ground bridge console and pulling the lever. The familiar vortex of swirling green and blue energies lit up the short tunnel, and the Con walked in front of it with the Japanese girl struggling to get out of his hand. The Bots and other humans couldn't do anything but glare at the spy as he literally held their friend hostage. "Let's get this party started!" he stated in a mix of both taunt and preparation for what he thought was coming through.
Then, a few seconds later, a grunting sound could be heard, and they all turned to see a mech nearly identical to Makeshift's disguise trying to run through. The white bot came to a stop, looking at Makeshift, then to the terminal before frowning.
"Seems I wasn't too late to the party after all," he said, glaring at his counterpart.
The con sneered at him, "Out of the way Autobot!" he ordered.
The apparently real Wheeljack just shook his head, "See, bit of a problem there. I don't usually listen to orders." he reached behind him and pulled out two curved swords, each one shining in the bases light, "Especially from ugly con scum like you."
"Isn't that funny, considering that I took on YOUR appearance," growled Makeshift, who tossed Miko into the air to retrieve his own sword.
As the Japanese girl fell to the ground, Jack ran fast to catch her in his arms.
"Whew!" said the fourteen-year-old in relief, "That was close!"
Jack nodded and put her down as they looked back to the two Wheeljacks. One was holding one sword and clutching his side whilst the other was struggling to maintain a stance and hold two swords. It was fairly obvious that neither Wheeljack nor his look-alike where in the best of condition, but from the looks on their faces, neither one gave a damn.
As the two circled each other though, Bulkhead tried to get up and move in to join them. Wheeljack put a sword in front of his friend, "Rest up Bulk, Ugly's mine," he stated.
At that moment, Makeshift lunged with the tip of his sword, aiming to impale Wheeljack. The wrecker used his left sword to deflect the blow, and twisted around Makeshift while slamming the pommel of his right sword to hit him over the helm.
"I'm not sure which one's which!" worried Miko.
Jack, however, knew which, as whenever Makeshift got closest, his spider-sense tingled a little, but the sixteen-year-old said nothing.
Meanwhile, Ratchet struggled to get to his feet, and managed to deactivate the ground bridge before collapsing face first on the ground due to his injuries.
The Wheeljacks were still at it. Makeshift charged again, and this time managed to leap over the Wrecker before attempting to slice him in the back. But the white Bot was in better shape than his Con double, and the infiltrator's blade screeched off his own, sending sparks everywhere.
Wheeljack twisted on his heel and slashed both blades at Makeshift, buffeting him with the hard hitting move. The con stumbled and nearly fell before catching himself in time to receive a spinning kick to his midsection. The blow caused Makeshift to fly across the room before slamming hard into the wall. Despite his near exhaustion, the Con tried to get up before the Wrecker put a swordtip in front of his face.
Bulkhead chuckled, "That's my Jackie!"
The white Wrecker looked back at the downed Bots and asked, "Any Bot here mind telling me what the pit happened?"
"Scraplets…" groaned Bulkhead.
"Huh?" asked Wheeljack, looking at the other two Bots and humans, all of whom nodded.
"That's not all…" a tired Ratchet managed to say, "…two our own are out in the arctic…we need to bridge them back…but we need to send the scraplets out there as well…"
"But the thing is…" added the green Wrecker, "…when we get the ground bridge up…do we send the creepy crawlies out…or bring our Bots back in…?"
"Optimus and Arcee will be fresh meat…" realized the CMO, "…if we bring them in, the scraplets will have no reason to leave…we'll need bait…"
"Where're we gonna get bait?!" argued Bulkhead, "The scraplets already helped themselves to everything in here!"
Before Ratchet or anyone else could reply to the green Wrecker, a loud sawing noise was heard from above. Everyone looked up to see a huge swarm of scraplets burst out of every ventilation shaft. Cap ushered the kids to a corner of the room while the Bots tried to duck to avoid being seen.
The CMO then pushed himself up and typed in the coordinates for the artic before pulling the lever falling back down.
'Man is he beat!' thought Jack as the vortex lit up.
Wheeljack looked from his evil doppelganger to the ground bridge and then to the scraplets. One could tell from the look on his face plate that he had an idea formulating in his head.
"Bait, huh?" said the white Wrecker. Then he grabbed Makeshift and held the weakened Con up in the air by the waist and back. He waived the infiltrator around, catching the attention of the scraplets just before taunting, "Ready for the main course?!" The flying metal vermin began to converge on him as he continued, "Come and get it!"
With that, the White Bot ran through the swirling vortex with his counterpart in tow, along with the scraplets in hot pursuit. Soon, they all disappeared, leaving the four humans and three Autobots staring at the ground bridge, wondering what would happen next. After about two minutes, they all finally saw three figures coming through. Once they got closer, it was revealed to be Wheeljack supporting Optimus and Arcee back into the base. Everyone sighed in relief.
1:13 PM
Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Wheeljack were laying down on healing births, hooked up to some monitoring equipment while Optimus and Ratchet sat down. Their four human companions remained vigilant as they helped make sure the whole of Team Prime was making a steady and full recovery. The white Wrecker had explained that after he lured the scraplets out into the cold zone, he attached a grenade to Makeshift that was set to blow not long before Wheeljack helped the Prime and femme back to base.
"Report bio-circuitry status!" ordered Ratchet, looking at Jack.
"Levels are rising!" replied the sixteen-year-old. Being the son of nurse, he had a very good idea how some of this equipment worked.
"Excellent," said the CMO, then he looked at the other three, "Keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro-pulse monitor. Miko, check Bulkhead's interface patch. Captain, full report on Wheeljack's progress."
"It's steady," answered the preteen.
"Looking good!" replied Japanese girl with her thumb up.
"Everything looks fine here Doc Bot," answered the super soldier.
"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, Old Friend," suggested Optimus with a faint smile, "You saved quite a few lives today."
"It…wasn't all my doing," admitted the Medic, looking back at the four helping humans, "We're just fortunate that this infestation happened…on a Saturday."
"Our human friends may be small," added the Prime, "but they are strong."
Not too long after he said that, everyone heard the shrilling noise of Miko's high-pitched screaming. Jack, Raf and Cap ran to her, holding pipes and crowbars at the ready.
"Scraplet?!" asked Jack, searching the area.
"SPIDER!" shrilled the fourteen-year-old, before jumping around out of the room and saying, "Is it on me?! OH-OH-AH-AH!" Then she ran/jumped out of the room, leaving everyone to look in her direction incredulously. Her continuous screaming down the halls only encouraged that response.
"Did she just scream like a little girl?" pondered Bulkhead aloud.
'She's scared of spiders, yet she doesn't mind a guy called Spider-Man saving her?' thought Jack.
7:38 PM
That night, after Jack came home, he placed some orders for the material he would need for his suit using some money he had saved up. Originally, he was going to use that money to buy himself a motorcycle, but upon Arcee coming into his life, that coal was rendered moot.
Once he was done shopping online, the sixteen-year-old got to designing the overall theme of his suit. Taking a pencil and paper, he started making suit look after suit look. Each time, he found that he didn't like what he saw, with his bedroom floor soon finding itself covered in wadded up scraps of paper. Finally, he found a design he liked, and made plans for the other parts would come in.
12:16 PM
The next day, the Bots had all healed up, and they and their human allies decided it was worth celebrating that and their victory over both the scraplet infestation and Makeshift's failed infiltration. Ratchet, however, didn't feel like joining in on the festivities, and instead chose to work on fixing their equipment.
Miko pulled out her guitar, hooked it up to some speakers, and began playing with her instrument. While the tune did sound a bit random, it wasn't hard on the ears at all. But before she could continue, Bulkhead and Wheeljack made some noise of their own.
"Come on, Jackie!" said the green Wrecker, "Show me what you got!"
And before anyone knew what hit them, a large ball made of welded metal flew across the room towards the green Bot, who managed to catch it. The force of the ball, though, caused him to skid across the floor. The green Wrecker just chuckled.
"Nice lob!" then he spun around before tossing it back to Wheeljack, who skidded when he caught the ball and threw it back to his green companion.
The two engaged in this game of back-and-forth while Jack and Arcee just stood back and watched everything. Arcee just leaned back against the wall beneath the platform while the sixteen-year-old stood next to her.
"So…what's that about?" the teenager asked his femme guardian.
"It's called lobbing, a favorite pastime on Cybertron, especially among the warrior class," explained the blue femme.
While they were watching the two Wreckers play their game, Miko was busy playing her guitar and jumped around in a dance of sorts.
"Come on Raf!" the Japanese girl demanded of the preteen, "Show us some moves!"
"Oh, ok," grumbled the twelve-year-old as he got to his feet. He stood still for a moment, and then moved around like parts of his body were stiff. Bumblebee looked down at his charge with intrigue.
"Of course, the robot," remarked Jack as he and Arcee see the preteen dance.
Bumblebee soon began to follow Raf's movements exactly, earning an irritated sigh from Ratchet, who went back to his work.
Jack looked around and asked, "Where's Steve and Optimus?"
"Prime went for a drive, and Cap went to talk to S.H.I.E.L.D.," said the femme. When Jack looked at her confused, she added, "Primes don't party."
"Comin' at ya!" exclaimed Bulkhead, before throwing the lob ball back Wheeljack. The ball almost flew over the white Wrecker, but he jumped up in time to catch it.
"Nice lob, Bulk," complimented the white Bot before giving a throwback.
Bulkhead caught it and chuckled, "You know Jackie, now that you're part of Team Prime, we need to pick out a vehicle mode for you. I have some ideas if you wanna see 'em." Then he tossed the ball back to the other Wrecker.
Once he had the ball, the white Bot looked a little uncertain, "Uh, about that, Bulk. Once my ship's repaired, I'm…itching to know…what else I might find out there."
Before the disheartened green Bot could say anything, Miko did it for him.
"Wait, you're leaving!?" the Japanese girl said/whined as she and the boys walked up to him, "Why?"
Wheeljack gave the kids a sympathetic look before Bulkhead answered for him.
"Well, because some Bots never change," remarked the green Wrecker, before chuckling and coming over to Wheeljack.
Deciding to be nice, Jack spoke next, "Well, you're always welcome back in my book."
The white Wrecker smiled at the teen before getting a rough pat on the back and chest plate from his green friend.
"Jackie never stays," said Bulkhead heartily, "but he always comes back." The two Wreckers bumped each other's fists at that.
5:03 PM
The next day after Wheeljack's announcement that he would be leaving, the white Bot finished repairing his ship. The kids and their guardians had all gathered around him at his vessel to see him off. Noticing how saddened Bulkhead looked, the white Wrecker made an offer.
"There's room for two, Bulk, even with a backside like yours," he said, "Who knows who we might find out there? Some of the old crew, perhaps?"
Bulkhead exchanged a glance from his war buddy to Miko, who hung her head sadly at the thought of her guardian leaving. Jack put a hand on her shoulder while Raf gave her a sympathetic look. The green Bot looked back to Wheeljack.
"Sounds like fun Jackie, " he chuckled, "but…my ties are here now," he looked back at the others, "With them," he glanced at Miko, "with her." The Japanese girl brightened up at that.
Wheeljack nodded understandingly before joking at the girl, "Anything happens to my favorite Wrecker, I'm coming for you."
"I'll take good care of him," replied the fourteen-year-old before pulling out her phone, "Now, say 'cheese'!" She flipped out her phone and took a snap shot of the two Wreckers.
9:08 PM
The evening of the day following Wheeljack's departure for space, Jack had received his packages and equipment. They consisted of two padded bodysuits, one oxblood red and the other navy blue, two pairs of gloves that were each the same color as the suits, and a pair Asics track shoes that were the same shade of red, along with some black cloth to sew in. The materials for the mask, he already bought the previous day when he wasn't at the base.
Using a pin to put his design picture on the wall, Jack went to work cutting and stitching the pieces together. It had taken him almost two and a half hours before he was finally done, but in the end, it was worth it. The design of the suit mostly consisted of the blue on his pants, sides, and back, and with the red trimming on his shoulders that led down to his wrists and stomach with a sort of "belt" patched around his waist. His feet and forelegs were red too. The gloves were navy, but with red stitched into the back parts, and the wrist area was open for his web shooters to do their thing. The blue areas were mostly plain, but on all the red parts, including the forelegs and shoes, was a black webbing pattern. On the chest area, there was a large black spider emblem whose four front legs pointed up while the bottom legs extended all the way down to his waist, and the same emblem was on the back, only in red. The mask was all red with a black webbing pattern that was centered in between his eyes. The eye holes themselves were triangular and had one-way mirror pieces covering them.
All in all, Jack was pleased with what he had created. There were areas that seemed a little amateur, but he felt that the overall suit would do its job; hide his identity and protect him.
Donning the suit for the first time, Jack managed to sneak out of the house through his bedroom window. He made sure to be quiet whilst he moved around the back, as he might get Arcee's attention. Once he made it to the street, he ran as fast as he could to town. As he got there, he climbed a two-story building, and when he reached the top, he shot a line of webbing at one of the taller buildings. Not knowing how long the line would last, he decided to take a leap of faith and swung. Before he could hit another building with his face, he shot another web line just in time as he let go of the other. He repeated this again and again, and as he got further into town, he thought to himself.
'I hope I know what I'm doing!'
A/N: Well, that's the chapter. Sorry to make you wait so long, and I do feel a little guilty for it being so short. Hope you liked it though.
Quick shout-out to Rapidfyrez for helping on that fight scene between Wheeljack and Makeshift; thanks man.
BTW, when I said that I wanted some suggestions on Jack's suit, I was looking more for practicality than nostalgia.
Anyway, the next chapter picks up where this one leaves off, and we also get introduced to my version of M.E.C.H. and a classic Spidey villain, though you'll have to wait to find out who it is.
As always, leave a critique in the review, and PM me with any suggestions or questions you might have.
