Shadescribe - There is indeed a reason, but it's all for the Quints forwarding of whatever plan they're doing. With how fast Maria is putting two and two together, I doubt that the Quints are actually going to be able to make any use of the Cybertronians at all - or, at least, other than putting them in certain areas.
Speaking of which...
Chapter 10
They weren't able to hit all of the locations at once, and considering that they had to drive instead of use a Ground Bridge in order to get to them that meant they couldn't waste time considering who was going where.
The final plan was to split into twos and head to four different locations, leaving behind some to watch the base. Bumblebee and Strongarm were going to Minnesota, where a rogue police car had been spotted patrolling the roads and not answering the radio. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were heading out to the area in Virginia where a plane had been spotted circling randomly above areas where very few humans were living – mostly because they claimed their Jet Judo was rusty and they wanted to get back into the swing of things. Wheeljack and Megatron were heading up to Oregon to look into what the locals were calling a "cryptid sighting," and Maria and Jazz were heading south to New Mexico, where temperatures had recently been climbing unusually.
Maria knew what that meant, and so did the others. She would have insisted in going on alone were it not for the fact that she was small and could have easily been grabbed and crushed underfoot if left alone.
Bumblebee moved around on the road, shifting between lanes on the highway and moving around cars as he tried to get closer to the police car that had gotten the attention of the local Twin Cities police forces.
"I still don't see why you didn't want to tell the local law enforcement everything," Strongarm commented from behind Bumblebee. "I know that the Quintessans shouldn't be talked about very much to the locals, but telling them that Prowl is a troublemaker?"
"I made it sound like there was something wrong with his processor and they took it," Bumblebee replied. "Humans still don't know how we work and honestly we'd like to keep it that way for a while. Making it sound like he has a virus or something like that is easier than telling them that there's an alien race that wants to conquer the rest of the universe and they're starting with us. We don't want to make the human civilians panic."
"Right." Strongarm would have hit herself for having forgotten that. The humans may be aware of Cybertronians and some of what they were capable of, but there were still some things they were keeping secret from the organics for the safety of both their species.
Bumblebee had said he didn't want MECH happening again, whatever that meant. Since he had been on Earth before, Strongarm decided that she'd follow his lead on interacting with humans.
It didn't take the two of them long to catch up to Prowl. The police car vehicle mode was going the speed limit exactly, with a perfection that humans wouldn't want to hit – they always wanted to go faster, which Strongarm thought was ridiculous and unsafe in ordinary conditions.
But the fact that Prowl hadn't even put a holoform in the driver's seat was very unwise.
Strongarm's academy instincts took over. "Pull over!"
"Strongarm!" Bumblebee yelped in alarm. "Don't—"
Prowl swerved as he turned backwards, putting himself in reverse to face the two of them before a pair of blasters shifted out of the doors on his sides.
"Oh scrap," Bumblebee cursed.
The blue laser blasts that followed had them swerving all over the highway as cars and trucks swerved to get out of the way. Bumblebee would have flinched at the crashing sounds that came up behind them if he was in a bipedal form, but as it was, the holoform sitting at the driver's wheel – which looked like his Pretender form – did all the flinching for him.
"We have to get him away from the civilians!" Strongarm yelled over. "Where can we push him off the highway?"
"We do that here, we're going to end up in the town!" Bumblebee swerved to avoid another laser as they drove over a bridge that went over a street lined with gas stations and fast food joints. "We have to get back out into the country, or else who knows what's going to happen!"
"Right!"
Strongarm and Bumblebee lunged forward, engines revving loudly as they caught up to Prowl as he continued to shoot at them. A few laser blasts tried to take them out and nearly did.
"Prowl's an unusually poor shot," Bumblebee noted. "Something's definitely up."
"Do you think it's the Cerebro Shell?" Strongarm responded.
"Probably. Strongarm, we're in farmland. Blast him into that cornfield over there!"
"With pleasure!"
Strongarm surged ahead and slammed into Prowl's right side, sending him swerving into the next lane. He tried to turn in order to correct himself, but Strongam slammed into him again and sent him careening off the road and down into the corn field.
Bumblebee turned sharply and drove down after Prowl, Strongarm following after him.
Bumblebee transformed before Prowl did, the black and white Praxian standing tall. Strongarm followed suit moments later, bringing her fists up and ready for a fight at a moment's notice.
"Remember what we're going after," Bumblebee said.
"Right." Strongarm prepared herself, ready to leap into the fray at a moment's notice.
Prowl moved.
Bumblebee yelped as Prowl lunged at him, claws extended. He was barely able to get out of the way in time, although the fact that he had one of his doorwings clipped caused him to stumble and yell in pain.
"He's fast!" Strongarm ducked a swipe, then lunged at Prowl herself in order to get him to stop moving. She tried to tackle him, but he sidestepped and dropped an arm on her back, forcing her into the cornfield and covering her in still-unripe ears of corn. She grunted at the impact and started to force herself to her feet, but Prowl planted a foot on her back and pushed her down again.
"Blur would be a good help right about now," Bumblebee muttered, thinking back to a faster bot who could shoot past everyone in sight. He activated his blasters and started shooting at Prowl, forcing the mind controlled mech to get off Strongarm and start towards Bumblebee.
Strongarm scrambled to her feet as Bumblebee dodged away from Prowl again, being careful to move his doorwings out of the way before Prowl could slash at them again. As he did, Strongarm noticed the bug-like device secured to Prowl's back.
"I see it!"
Bumblebee ducked a punch from Prowl and shot again at the mech, but Prowl dodged, forcing Strongarm to move as well in order to avoid getting stung. "Then hit it! I'll keep distracting him from this end – you go ahead and knock him out!"
"Got it!" Strongarm activated one of her blasters and aimed it at Prowl's back as Bumblebee kept shooting, trying to keep the Cybertronian in place as best as possible while also keeping him distracted.
Unfortunately, Bumblebee's distraction didn't prove to be enough. The sound of Strongarm activating her blasters caused him to turn sharply before a pair of rocket launchers suddenly activated on his shoulders and aimed at her.
"Scrap!" Strongarm started to move to dodge, but the cornfield they'd chosen as a battlefield didn't offer her very good footing, especially considering that the vegetation and loose earth weren't meant to hold up a Cybertronian very well.
The rocket launchers prepared to fire, but Bumblebee moved first by firing a shot of his own at Prowl's back.
Brzzt!
Prowl stiffened suddenly as Bumblebee's stingers hit their mark, the rocket launchers powering down abruptly before Prowl fell to his knees.
Bumblebee lowered his blasters and breathed a sigh of relief. "There we go. I was worried for a minute there that he'd end up getting us instead or something."
Strongarm deactivated her blaster. "We'd better get that thing off him before we relax."
"Right." Bumblebee gained a determined expression and approached Prowl from behind, keeping one of his weapons active just in case he would need to shoot at Prowl or the Cerebro Shell that was still stuck to the back of his neck. "We'll have to tear it apart and drop it off in a junk yard, somewhere that the humans will never find it in one piece and figure out how to put it together."
"Agreed." Strongarm looked at Prowl and the blank expression he had, optics dark. "If anyone back at the Academy heard about what happened to Prowl, I'm not sure what my classmates would have thought."
"Because he's being controlled by monsters that we fought against before and during the war and he's not acting like himself?" Bumblebee zapped the Shell again, causing it to let go of Prowl with a loud shriek before he hit the more vulnerable underbelly with a couple shots, fusing up the inner wiring.
"Well, that and the fact that the two of us were able to take him out." Strongarm frowned. "Prowl is…is supposed to be an excellent strategist. If we were able to take him out so easily, then does that mean we're better than him or—"
"Not in the least." Bumblebee looked at Strongarm with a serious expression. "Prowl is among the smartest Cybertronians I know. If anything, either the Quintessans were forced to suppress that so that he wouldn't break free himself, or the Cerebro Shell did something to his processor that kept him from staying up on the ball. I didn't expect him to be so fast, though." He chuckled nervously. "Kinda makes me glad that I never got on his bad side on Cybertron!"
Strongarm smiled a little at the idea of getting on Prowl's bad side, but then his head dropped and she moved suddenly into a more defensive position as Prowl started to move again.
Bumblebee quickly pointed his stinger at the Cerebro Shell as its legs started to twitch in the air, looking for something to grab onto. He shot it multiple times, causing it to start smoking and die with an unhappy squealing sound and Prowl to shoot upright and look around sharply for the source of the noise, about ready to pounce on the two of them himself.
It took Prowl a moment before he relaxed, Strongarm and Bumblebee following suit. He looked around more slowly then spotted Bumblebee. "What is the meaning of this? We are not on Cybertron."
"Nope." Bumblebee shrugged. "It's a bit of a long story; help us find a junkyard and we'll talk about it on the way?"
Prowl inclined his head at Bumblebee's request, raising an optic ridge. "Why a junkyard?"
"Well, we gotta get rid of this thing." Bumblebee held out the smoking Cerebro Shell, which caused Prowl to take a step back in surprise.
"Where did you—"
"It was on your back, Prowl." Bumblebee looked somewhat worried. "That's what we have to talk about."
Space Break - Oregon
"I don't see why we thought it was a good idea I should come up here with you," Wheeljack grumbled. He ducked under a tree branch and considered letting it whack into Megatron's Pretender form, but decided against it. "Can't exactly fight too well in close spaces like this."
"While that may be the case, I assume that you know how to fight in close spaces like this moderately well."
Wheeljack looked back at Megatron as the branch settled back into place behind them. Megatron's Pretender form was just the sort of thing you'd expect from a mech who'd led the Decepticons and had been a gladiator before that. He stood tall and muscular, short gray hair on top of his head. He wore a leather jacket and jeans, and the jacket was open to a dark purple shirt underneath.
Overall, he looked like the kind of human who could walk into a bar, start a bar fight, and walk out without a scratch on him.
Not that Wheeljack claimed to have any experience in that type of thing.
"I do, but the humans are picky about their trees. If they find out I chopped down some of these, they're gonna get pretty annoyed – maybe even try to chop off my head." Wheeljack shrugged. "I mean, I get that they're good for their environment and all, but when it gets into your vents and causes everything to clog up after a while, it can get to be a bit of a nuisance."
"It would create an interesting arena to meet opponents in…."
Wheeljack shot Megatron an odd look. "What are you talkin' about?"
"Sparkseer was a gladiator before the war began," Megatron said casually. "Some of those instincts will still be there. In fact…."
Megatron paused at the edge of a clearing and pulled Wheeljack back by the collar of his jacket, causing the Wrecker to let out a yelp of surprise.
"I think he already is aware of the fact that we are here."
Wheeljack shot Megatron an odd look, but the others red, purple-tinted eyes were scanning the clearing intently. The Wrecker frowned, then started to look around as well.
Somewhere in the distance, trees groaned, but there wasn't a strong enough wind today to do more than ruffle branches.
Megatron grinned a wide grin, almost looking crazed. "He is coming, and he has chosen this place as our arena. I look forward to seeing just how difficult the Quintessans will make it to beat the sense back into him!"
"Uh, don't you mean 'rip off the Cerebro Shell they stuck to his back,' Megs?" Wheeljack asked as the sound of trees snapping became much more prominent.
"That would be too cowardly, not to mention break any honor gladiators have between each other." Megatron looked at Wheeljack with an almost dismissive expression. "You can remove it from him when he is subdued enough."
"Wait, how do you expect me to—"
The trees parted as a tall, blue-armored Cybertronian mech with a gold spear stepped out of the forest and into the clearing.
Megatron stepped forward and seamlessly shifted up to his full Cybertronian form, grinning widely as his red optics flashed. "Sparkseer! It is good to see you are as prepared for battle as I am." Megatron's melee weapon – a large sword, hidden under his arm-mounted cannon – and he motioned for Sparkseer to come at him. "Come! Let me see how much you have improved since we last faced each other for a spar!"
Sparkseer didn't move for a moment, then he lunged forward, bringing his spear's point towards Megatron's chest – and his spark.
Megatron parried, pushing the spear away as he dodged the barreling mech. Wheeljack was startled to notice that the two of were of equal height – the fact that most Cybertronians weren't that tall usually really said something about the size of the two of them.
"Giants among giants," Wheeljack muttered.
Megatron swung his sword at Sparkseer, but the other mech moved back and hit his spear against Megatron's chosen weapon. Megatron's sharp grin only seemed to get wider, and then he started moving faster.
Wheeljack found himself standing as a spectator to a fight that looked like it was supposed to be in an arena back on Cybertron before the war and not here on Earth out in the middle of nowhere.
Megatron and Sparkseer bounced back and forth with their attacks, attempting to spear and parrying it away without breaking a sweat, as the humans said. There was almost something graceful and powerful about their movements that made Wheeljack somewhat envious.
And then Megatron whacked Sparkseer's head with the flat of his blade, momentarily stunning him. "Wheeljack!"
Wheeljack shook his head before realizing what exactly it was that Megatron was yelling his name for. "Oh! Right!" He ran out into the clearing, covered in gouges in the dirt from Megatron's and Sparkseer's movements as he moved up behind Sparkseer, shifting to his Cybertronian form and glaring daggers at the Cerebro Shell on Sparkseer's back. "All right, you nasty little bug. Time to get squashed!"
He grabbed the bug with a bare servo and pulled.
Sparkseer arched his back and screamed as Wheeljack yanked the shell off his back, causing him to stiffen at the sound and Megatron to step back in alarm at the sound of what would have been metal scraping on metal to human ears.
Wheeljack moved back a couple steps in surprise, looking between the Cerebro Shell and Sparkseer as he collapsed to his knees. "Whoa. Ratchet didn't do that."
"Because you didn't stun him first," Megatron replied. He motioned with his sword to the Cerebro Shell in Wheeljack's hand. "Let us see to it that it is destroyed before it moves to take over one of us."
"Right." Wheeljack frowned at the device, the legs wiggling in the air like it was trying to grab onto something. He looked over at Megatron, then mimed throwing the device up in the air.
Megatron looked at Wheeljack for a moment, then grinned and retracted his sword as a low whine started to come from his cannon.
Wheeljack threw the Cerebro Shell in the air, and Megatron fired.
The resulting explosion of mechanical parts in a purple flash of laser fire caused Wheeljack to grin widely.
"You would'a been a good Wrecker," Wheeljack said approvingly as Megatron lowered his cannon.
Megatron raised an optic ridge in a doubtful expression as Sparkseer groaned at his feet.
"No, seriously – a lot of former gladiators or people lookin' for more thrills joined up with us. I mean – Shape-Change was a part of our group in the war, and when she got into a fight…" Wheeljack chuckled. "Well, we didn't call her Arsenal for nothing."
Sparkseer started to push himself up to his feet, running a hand over the back of his neck where the Cerebro Shell had been moments ago, grimacing. "…what just...where…"
Megatron offered him a hand, and Sparkseer looked up, blinking in surprise. He took the servo offered, and Megatron pulled the other up to his feet.
"Where is this place?" Sparkseer frowned. "I…I wasn't in a forest before."
"Welcome to Oregon," Wheeljack replied dryly, causing Sparkseer to turn and look at him. "You've been running around for those five-faced jellyfish for a while."
Sparkeer blinked, and his optics widened as Wheeljack's words settled in. "…Quintessans? How? After what happened to—"
"It is apparent that they decided to try again, despite what happened on Cybertron and then on Aquatron," Megatron replied grimly. "There are others who are in the same state that you were; we are presently rounding them up." He grinned. "And I would like to see how well you've managed to improve since you last sparred in the ring. Fighting you here did not give me enough of an understanding on how it is you've improved."
Sparkseer blinked a couple times, then nodded a little. "I should think that…a spar could be arranged – who else has been taken?"
"Jazz, Sunstreaker, you, Ratchet, Prowl, and, as far as we know, Starscream and Wildfire, too." Wheeljack frowned. "At least, those are the ones we can find. Pretty sure there're others too."
"Wildfire…?" Sparkseer looked between the two of them, worried. "If she's taken, then how do you expect to gain her back? I doubt that fighting a Cybertronian with her abilities will be—"
"We aren't sending a Cybertronian after her." Wheeljack grinned. "Not in the normal sense anyway."
Sparkseer looked at Wheeljack, and understanding crossed his features. "She…she's back? She's finally returned from—"
"Indeed she has," Megatron confirmed. "But she is not the same person that you will recall."
"I do not doubt it." Sparkseer looked at Megatron. "Where is it that you are located, then?"
"Come on back to base and we'll get you settled in before Maria and Jazz get back," Wheeljack replied with a grin. "First Aid'll be glad to see you, let me tell you!"
