Disclaimer: Hey everyone! Shadow Katakura here with another chapter of Opposites Attract. I know you all have been waiting for updates from me for a while now so I'm going to try and get some in before school starts back.
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"Alright! Chores are done. Now can we do some dune bashing?"
Cliff and I shared a look before chuckling at Miko's question. The spirited teen and I had decided to accompany our guardians while they did some chores around base. Now that they were done, it seems like she needed something else to occupy her time.
"I don't know Miko." Bulkhead answered her question. "Last time I spent a week picking sand out of my articulators." At Miko's disappointed look, he quickly said, "But there's a monster truck rally in town."
"Isn't it nice to have a charge who likes to relax?" I looked up at Cliffjumper with a smirk.
"If by relax, you mean give me spark attacks on a daily basis, then I'd say you give me a run for my money at times." Cliff scoffed as we walked over to where Nexus was sitting with Ice, Jack, and Raf.
"You wound me." I fake pouted.
"Optimus," Ratchet called, getting all our attention in the process instead of just the big guy. "I'm receiving a signal on a restricted band. It appears to be coming from a starship inside this solar system."
Ice typed in a few commands on his laptop and said, "It's an Autobot identification - wait, THERE'S MORE OF YOU?!" He looked at the 'Bots in shock.
"The masses scattered to the galaxies when Cybertron finally went dark." Arcee explained. "But, 'Cons have been known to bait traps with false beacons."
"You didn't seriously think we were the only Autobots did you?" Cliff face palmed, causing me and Nexus to laugh.
"Let the party begin." Nexus said quietly as he nudged me in the side.
"Unknown vessel, this is Autobot Outpost Omega-1. Identify yourself." Optimus ordered.
"We've had warmer welcomes from Decepticon combat brigades."
Wait? We? Nexus and I shared a nervous look. Who was with Wheeljack? Was it another Wrecker?
"Wheeljack?" Bulkhead's optics widened in surprise before he walked up to the monitor. "You old 'Con crusher! What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Bulkhead? That you? What's with all the security?" Wheeljack asked.
"The rock we're on is crawling with 'Cons. How soon can you get here and even the odds?" Bulk asked.
"Sometime tomorrow." Wheeljack replied. "If I put pedal to the metal."
"Another 'Bot's coming here. How cool is that?!" Miko grinned excitedly.
"Wheeljack? I know of him by reputation only. Can you verify his voice print?" Optimus turned to Bulkhead.
"He's 1,000 percent the real deal Optimus." Bulkhead confirmed.
"Wait, you said we." Arcee interrupted. "Who's riding with you?"
"Nice to see you too 'Cee. Or hear in this case."
Arcee's jaw dropped, Ratchet looked ready to blow a fuse, 'Bee's optics widened, Bulk grinned like a maniac, Nexus's eye twitched, and I simply accepted the coming heart attacks and headaches. The voice of Asami from Legend of Korra came through the speakers and I knew exactly which OC I gave that voice to.
"Shadowstalker. It's been too long." Optimus greeted, the only calm one out of all of us.
"Surely has Optimus. Nice to see the gang still in one piece." Shadow said.
"We will send landing coordinates to you two. Safe journey." Optimus smiled ever so slightly.
"See you soon buddy. I'll make sure you get a proper welcome." Bulkhead said right before Ratchet cut the link.
"So am I the only one who doesn't know those two?" Cliffjumper deadpanned.
"Jackie and I go way back." Bulkhead explained. "We were apart of the same warrior group: the Wreckers."
"And Shadow is one of the Autobot's best spies. She was the apprentice of Prowl, may he rest in the Allspark." Arcee shook her helm. "Though sometimes, she's more trouble than she's worth."
"SOMETIMES?!" Ratchet yelled incredulously.
"Or maybe all the time." Bulkhead chuckled. "Both of them can pack a serious punch. The 'Cons won't know what hit them."
Bumblebee let out a series of beeps. I talked to Nexus about letting me understand him and he said using his "Prime magic" as he called it on my brain wasn't a risk he wanted to take, which I understood.
"What's a sparkmate?" Raf tilted his head.
WHAT?! I never wrote that in any of my stories! Nexus looked at me with confusion written all over his face. I could only shrug.
"A sparkmate is what you humans would called a wife or a husband." Cliff explained. "So basically Shadow and Wheeljack are married."
"HA!" Bulkhead threw his helm back and laughed. "Those two finally tied the knot! I thought 'Jackie would never ask her."
As the 'Bots started to talk about their newest additions to the team, Nexus and I slowly backed away from the group and sat on the couch. I turned to him and whispered, "What the frag?"
Nexus shook his head. "Apparently this universe is changing more than we thought. And it looks like there are some things we just can't control anymore. Your own OC's are changing before your eyes."
I fiddled with my glasses before turning to look at Team Prime. Only time would tell how much our presence here would change things. I just hope nobody got hurt along the way.
"Wheeljack's ship is approaching the landing zone." Arcee announced.
I sat on Cliff's shoulder while Nexus stood by the railing with Jack, Miko, and Raf. Everyone was watching the monitor where Ratchet and Ice were tracking the JackHammer.
"You think they're here to visit?" Raf asked.
"Maybe they'll stay." Miko smiled before a thoughtful look crossed her face. "They'll have to find their own humans though."
"I think you guys are more than enough for us." Cliffjumper chuckled.
Ratchet pulled the ground bridge lever. "Ground bridge cycling up. Gah!" The ground bridge controls started sparking. He slammed a fist down on them and they went back to normal. "Blasted scraplets! Equipment hasn't been the same since the infestation."
Jack turned to Boss Bot. "So Wheeljack and Shadowstalker are going to land half way around the world and then you'll bridge them here?"
"We can't risk revealing the location of our base just in case the Decepticons are tracking Wheeljack's ship." Optimus explained.
Jack nodded in understanding. Miko ran over to the other side of the railing where Bulkhead was pacing back and forth. She exclaimed, "Dude! I've never seen you so stoked!"
"Oh you're gonna love Wheeljack! We were like brothers. Shadow was like my little sister. And tonight? We are gonna party!" Bulkhead grinned.
"Sweet!" Miko was clearly excited.
Alarms sounded from the monitor. We all turned in that direction and saw the red dots closing in on Wheeljack and Shadow. Arcee narrowed her optics and confirmed, "Bogies! Closing in fast on Wheeljack's position."
"Con scum!" Bulkhead swore.
"Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Cliffjumper, get ready to go aid Wheeljack and Shadowstalker." Optimus commanded.
"Be careful." I warned Cliff as he sat me down beside Nexus.
"Always am." Cliff smiled.
He used to take my warnings in stride, but now that he knows I helped him cheat death, he actually has started being less reckless in battle. If not for his sake, then for mine. I really didn't want to think of my life without Cliff. He'd become such a big part of it in such a short time.
"Open the bridge Ratchet. We're missing all the action." Bulkhead said impatiently.
"I'll prepare sick-bay." Ratchet informed as he opened the ground bridge.
Bulkhead laughed. "Who for? The 'Cons? This is a Wrecker power couple we're talking about."
The four 'Bots ran through the ground bridge. Nexus walked up beside me and said, "Well things are certainly about to change around here."
"You said it." I agreed.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind. If Wheeljack and Shadowstalker were both here, who would Makeshift impersonate? And how would he grab one of them if the other one was there to watch? I was about to turn around and tell Nexus my thoughts, but the ground bridge came back to life. Our 'Bots returned with Wheeljack and Shadowstalker. I guess I would just have to stay on my guard until I figured out who got switched.
"Jackie, come here! Meet my other best buddy, Miko." Bulkhead introduced his charge. "She can wreck with the best of us."
"Hiya." Miko greeted with a smile.
"You keeping Bulkhead out of trouble?" Wheeljack asked.
"I try. But trouble finds us anyway." Miko said with a laugh.
"We're gonna get along just fine." Wheeljack promised.
I turned to the femme who I thought was just a work of fiction. She hugged Arcee and the two started catching up. Shadow's paint job is mostly black with pink highlights on the crest on her head and the bracelet like things on her wrist. She has purple and gold streaks running along her winglets and two steaks on each arm and leg. Strapped to her back were duel swords that were given to her by Wheeljack. Or at least that's what I wrote. There's no way of knowing how she came across them in this timeline.
"You must be Shadowstalker." I said as I walked up to the railing and looked up.
"In the metal." She smiled. "So you're humans. So tiny."
"Well everybody can't be kick-aft Cybertronians." Nexus snorted as he walked up beside me.
Heavy footsteps announced the presence of Team Prime's leader. Optimus walked up to Wheeljack and Shadow who, of course, had to look up at him. 'Jackie said, "Optimus Prime. It's a privilege."
"Long time, no see Optimus." Shadow grinned.
"Likewise soldiers. What have you to report from your long journey?" Optimus asked.
"Been bouncing from rock to rock with my femme." Wheeljack wrapped an arm around Shadow. "Searching for signs of friend or foe. Now I find both."
"We are few, but strong. We have suffered losses, but we have grown." Optimus proclaimed. "And we would relish welcoming new members into our fold."
"We'd be honored." Shadow and Wheeljack shared a look and smiled.
"Then let's get this party started!" Bulkhead exclaimed. Wheeljack pulled away from Shadow and the two friends chest bumped.
"Oh joy." Ratchet grumbled sarcastically.
"Lighten up Ratch'." Shadow smirked. "You have me here."
"As if that's any better." Ratchet snapped, causing the femme to laugh.
I grabbed Nexus and, ignoring his confused look, dragged him over to Cliff. My guardian looked down at us and I said, "Let's take a walk Cliff."
Cliff was confused. But he didn't let it show, nor did he question me. He simply picked us up and sat us on his shoulders. He walked down the hallway towards his quarters. Once we inside and the door was shut, he sat us down and asked, "Shay, what's wrong?"
"One of those 'Bots is an impostor." I explained. At Nexus's startled look, I said, "Don't worry. He knows."
"You told him?!" Nexus looked about ready to pop a vein.
"She did. Nice to meet you in the flesh. Or should I say metal, Nexus Prime." Cliff smirked.
"So you know." Nexus grumbled. He turned to me and asked, "Does anybody else know?"
I shook my head. "Nope and let's keep it that way for as long as we can."
"I couldn't agree more." Nexus sighed. "But back on topic. There's no way of knowing who Makeshift decided to impersonate. And how he managed to do it without the other noticing, for that matter."
"Both of them have to be impostors." Cliff stated. At our confused stares, he explained, "Wheeljack and Shadowstalker are sparkmates. They have a sparkbond. They can... sense each other, for lack of a better word. So if something was even the slightest bit off..."
"They'd know." I finished.
"But that doesn't make any sense." Nexus said, frustrated. "Makeshift is the only shapeshifter that appears in the show."
I felt like I was forgetting something important, but I couldn't figure out what. I simply shook my head and said, "We just have to be careful and make sure nobody gets hurt."
"So out of my room and back to the main room we go." Cliffjumper said before picking us up and sitting us on his shoulder.
We left Cliffjumper's quarters and headed back to the main room. Right before we turned a corner, we heard Wheeljack ask, "What are you guys talking about?"
"Let the show begin." I whispered to the guys.
"I was just telling the guys about you and me." Bulkhead answered slowly. "At the Battle of Dark Mount pass."
Things were going according to the show, which means that whoever is impersonating Shadow hasn't given anyone a reason to be suspicious. Either that's really her, which is unlikely, or we've got another shapeshifter on our hands.
"That's a heck of a story." Wheeljack commented.
"Yup." Bulkhead agreed before narrowing his optics at the 'Bot. "Tell it."
"Talk, talk, talk." Miko rolled her eyes before suggesting excitedly, "How about after we go off-roading?"
"Miko, stay out of this." Bulk snapped.
"Bulkhead, easy." Arcee tried to calm the mech down.
"Better put us down Cliff. Things are about to get ugly and fast." Nexus muttered.
Cliff nodded before slowly sitting us on the ground. Nexus and I walked over to join the kids. Shadow stepped forward and snapped, "What's your problem Bulk?"
"Easy babe." Wheeljack held her back. "Bulk, I'm not sure I..."
"Tell it!" Bulk interrupted him.
"Fine. You want to live in the past Bulkhead?" Wheeljack hissed. "The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and a smelting pit. 'Cons were vicious, baring down on us with everything they had. Me and Bulkhead engaged the enemy and left them for scrap. Then I made us a way out, using the back sides as stepping stones across the molten metal. Isn't that how it happened?"
"Yeah. That's exactly how it happened." Bulk said slowly. "Except for one little thing." The look on Wheeljack's, now confirmed as Makeshift, face was priceless. "I wasn't there. I had already left The Wreckers to join up with Optimus. But you wouldn't know that if all you did was access Wheeljack's public service record."
Nexus walked forward to stand beside Miko. I scowled once I realized what he planned to do. Stupid Prime and his hero complex. It makes him more trouble than he's worth.
"Bulkhead, what does that have to do with...oof!" Miko grunted as she was pushed out of the way by Nexus, who was picked up by Makeshift instead.
"Nathan!" Cliff cried out.
Shadow suddenly had a sword pointing at Nexus and said in a voice that was definitely not feminine, "Stay back or you'll be receiving your human back in little, tiny pieces." A Scottish accent? Wait...
"Sadistic much?" Makeshift asked in his real voice.
Makeshift didn't change back into his original form, just like in the show. But the person impersonating Shadow did and when the mech was revealed, I felt like throwing up.
"Oh dear God." I mumbled.
The mech was black with orange and red streaks. His optics were ruby red and the sword in his servo changed into a sickle that looked suspiciously like Hanzo Hattori's from Samurai Warriors 3. And I clearly remember making him an OC.
"Wheejack, what are you doing?!" Nexus asked, trying to keep up appearances.
"Oh you good guys are so dense." Ash rolled his optics. "Why would the real Wheeljack be attacking you?"
"Decepticon cowards!" Cliff growled. "Let him go and face me!"
"Don't fret. Plenty of fighting to come." Makeshift promised.
"Is there a real Wheeljack and Shadowstalker?" Jack asked.
"Oh indeed." Makeshift smirked. "And I expect Lord Starscream is making sport of them."
"Now here's how this is going to work." Ash said. "Doc over there is going to finish calibrating this bridge or the human loses a view limbs. Or dies. Whichever you prefer."
Nexus struggled in Makeshift's servo but Makeshift only squeezed tighter to make him stop. Cliff and I stepped forward in unison and scowled. Nexus shook his head, telling us to stop. I looked over at the ground bridge and saw that it was almost finished calibrating. I gulped. Either the real Shadow and Wheeljack were about to storm through the bridge or a whole Decepticon squadron would.
"Finally." Makeshift breathed as he flipped the switch. The ground bridge roared to life. The two 'Cons slowly started to back towards it.
"Well it's been nice Autobots." Ash gave us a lazy smile. "But getting caught up in this crossfire isn't on my bucket list."
Two forms, one smaller than the other, started to appear in the ground bridge. I grinned when the real Wheeljack and Shadow flew through. Wheeljack kicked Makeshift in the back and Nexus flew the air.
"SCRAPPPPP!" He screamed as he flew towards the ground.
CLANG!
I chuckled when Nexus opened his eyes to see he landed in Bumblebee's servo. He flopped down with a sigh of relief and said, "Thanks 'Bee."
"I'd hate to break up the reunion but you might wanna close that bridge before 'Scream sends his whole army through." Shadow spoke up.
Ratchet did just that and I knew he did it just in time. On the other side, Starscream had probably just given the command to go through the bridge and, just like in the show, it closed in their faces. Makeshift and Ash stood up to face off against their respective enemies. While everybody was focused on trying to keep up with the real Wheeljack, Nexus and I watched Shadow and Ash.
Their fight was like a deadly dance. Shadow sliced at Ash with one of her swords and he wrapped the chain of his sickle around it before it could touch him. She kicked him away from her and got her sword back. She quickly ran up to him while he was disoriented and flipped behind him. She swung her sword to the front of him and held it up to his neck.
"I win." Shadow taunted.
"Holy mother of Mars." I breathed.
"We've got our work cut out for us if she stays." Nexus face palmed.
"Open the bridge Ratch." Shadow ordered. "Time to send these scum back where they belong."
"Couldn't agree more babe." Wheeljack smirked from where he had his foot planted on Makeshift's back. He turned to Bulkhead and said, "All yours buddy."
"Lovely best friend, would you like to do the honors?" Shadow turned to Arcee.
"Don't mind if I do." The two-wheeler grinned.
Wheeljack clipped a bomb on Makeshift like in the show. But I noticed Shadow merely walked Ash to the front of the bridge. Seems we'll be seeing him more in the future then. Bulkhead lobbed Makeshift through the bridge with a battle cry. Arcee took a running start and roundhouse kicked Ash right after him.
"Nice lob."
"Nice kick."
The two sparkmates looked at each other before laughing. I couldn't help but smile. Writing the relationship between these two was always fun, but watching them actually end up together in the end is nothing short of amazing. I heard an engine and we all turned towards the entrance of the base to see Optimus driving up. He transformed and took in the looks on our faces. He raised an optic ridge and asked, "What happened?"
We all looked at each other before looking at the Prime. This would certainly be interesting.
Everything else turned out as planned. Wheeljack and Shadow both decided to go back to travelling the stars. With promises to return eventually of course. I knew those two wouldn't be back until the whole Orion Pax fiasco was over and done with though.
"You don't happen to have any more OC's we need to worry about, do you?" Nexus asked as we curled up on the couch with Avengers: Infinity War playing on the television. It was finally on Netflix!
"Nexus, do you know how many OC's I created in my time as a fanfiction author?" I sighed. "How are they even here? I made them up! They're supposed to be works of fiction."
"Maybe your presence here is changing this world more than we know." Nexus tried to offer an explanation. "Whatever it is, we need to stay on guard. Them being here could change the storyline more than we ever could."
"Being the key to Cybertron's survival isn't sounding so adventurous anymore." I grumbled.
"Hey." Nexus cupped my chin and made me look at him. "We'll get through this together. I promise."
"And you never break a promise." I repeated the words he had once told me.
"Exactly." Nexus smiled. "Now let's watch the movie! Thanos is about to make his grand entrance!"
I laughed at his excitement and turned to face the movie. My OC's deciding to make some appearances would most definitely complicate things, but I knew that with Nexus by my side, I could get through any challenges this world throws at me.
And that ends another chapter of Opposites Attract! Shadowstalker and Ash have made their appearances and poor Shayla and Nexus have their work cut out for them in the chapters to come. Stay tuned for more. Shadow out!