Rise of the Insecticons
And I'm back! Sorry for the inconsistent schedule, these stories usually take me 3 hours to write, so I have to find time to write if I'm busy. Anyway, I've also been trying to make my writing a bit better, so hopefully this one turns out a bit better than the other earlier ones. But lots of people seem to like the older chapters, so I guess it isn't all bad. Anyway, I'm probably distracting you, so go ahead and read.
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans or Transformers. I only own these stories and any OC's in said stories.
Deep in a cave, two scientists were hard at work, studying what lied inside the cave. The shimmering crystals that dotted the walls reflected the light coming from their flashlights. Water droplets can be heard at a distance, echoing through the cave. Studying caves may seem boring to most, but to them, it was their life. Mostly.
"Ah, the cave. Such a nice place to be. It's so quiet, easy for us to work here."
"Fantasizing about this place again? We've came here for several years. Man, we go to a city full of superheroes and all you think about is a cave, Robert."
"Cheer up, Mark. We study these caves for a reason." said the one named Robert.
"Yeah, because no one else wants to. Why can't we, I don't know, hang out somewhere other than here while at work? We could go down to that pizza place, to the coffee shop, anywhere but here." The one named Mark sighed, sitting down on one of the nearby rocks.
"But I love my job. How about this, after we're done collecting samples of the rocks here, we can go to that pizza place you want to go to?"
"Fine, but you better stop talking about this pla-" Mark was interrupted when the ground beneath him collapsed. Robert quickly turned to catch his friend, holding his hand to prevent him from falling into the darkness below. Mark climbed up next to Robert, both of them looking down at the deep chasm.
"Hey, I don't recognize this place. The more you know…" Mark said.
"Let's check it out! This is gonna be great!" Robert yelled in excitement. The two men grabbed nearby coils of rope and began their journey down in the darkness, headlamps attached to their helmets. They landed to find something out of the ordinary.
"Woah. What is all of this…" Mark wondered out loud. Giant, magenta crystals were scattered all over the bottom of the chasm. The crystals were all huge, grouped together in thousands. Robert took a small sample, examining it.
"Wow, I've never seen anything like this. It's like it's out of this world." Robert exclaimed. The two traversed through the maze of unknown crystals. They seemed to have been walking forever when they stumbled upon yet another discovery. Large, circular orbs dotted all across the ground and cave walls. They were all a translucent orange in color, with a metal bars outlining all of them.
"What is all of this? Why haven't we noticed ANY of this before? This is amazing, to say the least." Mark said. Both scientists seemed overjoyed at their miraculous discovery. Robert leaned in for a closer look at the orbs, seeing what seemed to be a metal figure.
"What did we even find? Did we find some sort of new species of cave dwellers?" Robert asked.
"I don't know. This seems pretty cool so far." Mark replied. The two turned when they heard something. Something scuttering in the distance.
"We aren't alone. Can't tell if that's good or bad." Robert said, backing away from where he was standing. Just then, a large insect-like creature leapt at them, landing right in front of their faces. The creature was massive, and seemed to be metallic.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Some squishies(1), I presume?" The creature said.
"Wait, you t-t-talk? What are you?" Mark said. There was a small hint of fear in his voice. Just then, two more insects flew in, hovering above the one they were pounced by.
"Oh, what's this? Is it something to eat, eat, eat?" one of the insects said.
"I don't know Shrapnel, let's find out!" Then, all three insects transformed into humanoid robots, the one in the middle leaning down towards the two scientists.
"Looks like you found some of my cloning pods. You see, these pods all carry thousands upon thousands of clones of the three of us that you see here. If you are wondering what all those crystals were, that would be Energon, our source of energy, or as you squishies say, food." One of the robots beside the one in the middle then walked up to speak to him.
"Bombshell, what shall we do with them?"
"Dispose of them. Then, get ready to release our horde." Bombshell responded. Bombshell then walked away while the two others advanced towards the scientists, who were running for the exit…
"Ugh, nothing at all. This is ridiculous!" Robin said as he slammed a fist on his desk. Several newspaper clippings and other items were flung off the surface of his him were several newspaper clippings attached to the walls, all related one way or another: they were about the Decepticons. The new enemy so vile that even the Justice League had looked into the threat. Robin was determined to use his detective skills to find out where Tarn was or what he was planning. So far, he was stuck. He was dumbfounded.
"These attacks, they're just so random! Seriously, they robbed a bank! What would they do with money?" Robin asked himself, frustrated at the results of his search. Starfire then came inside the room, having been watching Robin struggle to find the answer. The only other person that has been able to stump Robin was Slade. The criminal mastermind has tortured Robin for so long. It hurt her to see him like this.
"Robin, may you take a break to hang out with us? Rodimus said if you don't hang out he will paint your motorcycle orange." Starfire said calmly. Robin turned and got up from his seat, walking towards his girlfriend.
"Yeah, I'll come." Robin responded.
"Have you been able to get any leadings?" Starfire asked.
"No. All these attacks are just so random. Dreadwing robbed a bank, Soundwave and his cassettes just messed around at Cook's electronics, Devastator wrecked a construction site… The list could go on, and none of these attacks have any connections." Robin said. He quickly put on a smile when he walked into a new living room, one for the Autobots. Occasionally they would go into the old living room in their holomatters, but Robin decided to give them their own room.
"Finally, I was wondering when you'd be here! I even considered painting flames on your cycle…" Rodimus said. On the giant couch, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were playing video games. At a nearby table, Nautica and Raven were happily reading their books, ignoring the occasional insults that the four guys were throwing at each other. Windblade was just standing nearby, watching the game.
"Robin reminds me of Nightbeat(2). The dude was a great detective, still is, but he never gave up at all. No breaks." Bumblebee whispered to the rest of the guys.
"You got that right." Bulkhead added.
"Robin usually doesn't take breaks unless there's a crime going on that we have to stop. I was actually looking forward to the new paint job Rodimus was gonna give to the R-Cycle." Beast Boy said while trying to focus on the video game. Just then, the alarm went off on the Tower, getting the attention of everyone inside the room. Nautica and Raven put down their books, the four gamers paused the game, and Robin quickly rushed to a monitor to see what's going on.
"Trouble." Robin said. Everyone knew what they had to do. It was their duty after all. The Autobots transformed and the Titans followed, all of them going to the city.
The city was filled with nothing but the screams of scared civilians and the buzzing noise of insects. When the Titans arrived, they were shocked to see a horde of giant, flying insects feasting on anything standing in their path. Several were clung onto sides of buildings, munching away at the walls. Others were scavenging on the ground, eating hot dog stands, signs, and cars.
"Let me guess. Killer Moth." Cyborg said.
"Dude, he uses actual insects, not giant, metal ones." Beast Boy retorted.
"He could have decided to upgrade to something else…" Cyborg suggested.
"But mutating insects is his thing! Besides, I don't think he knows how to make robots." Beast Boy argued.
"Guys, are you not paying attention to the giant horde of insects coming at us!" Bumblebee yelled while simultaneously pointing at the feasting insects. Robin then noticed a familiar symbol on the metal insects: Decepticon badges.
"I think they're Decepticons. All of them." Robin said, pointing at the badge on a nearby straggler.
"It doesn't matter what they are. I say we smash 'em." Bulkhead said, activating his maces.
"Good point." Rodimus added. They all proceeded to attack the insects, blasting, slicing, and knocking them off buildings. Beast Boy morphed into a T-Rex and opened his mouth, chomping down on a mouthful of the Decepticons. Bulkhead just punched through most of them while Windblade swung her swords, slicing them to bits. The insects then stopped what they were doing when three others flew in. These three looked exactly like the rest the Titans and Autobots were fighting. The three insects transformed into three robots, all with Decepticon badges.
"Looks like the squishies are protecting their beloved city from my Insecticon horde. And I see they have some benevolent Autobots helping them as well." Bombshell said.
"Can I eat them, them, them?" Shrapnel asked Bombshell.
"I don't see why not. Actually, I will release the whole entire horde to feast on this city!" Bombshell exclaimed. He them took out a controller and pressed a button…
Out in the distance, in a deep, dark cave, the Energon crystals still glistened from a lonely headlamp, lying on the cold damp cave ground. On the other side, several cloning pods have already opened, sending the swarm that was currently running rampant around the city, devouring it slowly. All the pods were wired to a single machine, a machine giving them life, allowing the Insecticon clones inside to grow from simple protoforms(3) to full grown warriors. Suddenly, a beeping noise came from one of the screens on the machine. The machine glowed brightly, lighting the part of the cave around it. And soon, one by one, the pods hatched open…
"Okay, this is a problem! Where are all these coming from?" Rodimus asked as he fired two arrows onto a Bombshell clone, making it fall over where it died. Windblade was behind his back, slicing away at the oncoming Insecticons.
"They probably have a secret cloning facility somewhere. Where that place is, your guess is as good as mine." Windblade answered. A Kickback clone leapt at her and tackled her. It was about to bite off her head when Rodimus quickly smashed it's face open with his bow. The clone's brain, eyeballs, and other parts soon fell off the distorted face. Windblade was covered in fluid.
"Yuck, cranial fluid. Did you have to aim for the head?" She asked, wiping off the cranial fluid from her arms and chest.
"Well, it was kinda the closest body part to me. Hey, be thankful you aren't Insecticon chow." Rodimus answered.
"Yeah I guess. Thanks for the save." Windblade said.
"Mmmm, this one's heavy on the electrons, electrons, electrons." Shrapnel said, eating a car in insect mode. Kickback was right beside him, feasting on the car as well, tearing off chunks of the metal.
"Yes, it is heavy on the electrons." Kickback agreed. He leapt off the building he was munching on and ricocheted off another before landing a kick on Bumblebee, knocking the poor Autobot down and creating a shallow dent in his torso. Bumblebee lie weakened and injured at the mercy of the Insecticon.
"Y'know Bumblebot, only the largest and strongest insects survive. Smaller ones like you become dinner for ones like us!" Kickback said. He then transformed into robot mode and took out a rifle, pointing the end of the barrel at Bumblebee's head.
"Nighty night, Bumblebot."
"Better look behind you…" Bumblebee whispered weakly. Kickback turned to see a rampaging Bulkhead, smashing Insecticon clones out of his way to get to his friend. Kickback opened fire at the large, green Autobot, but the bullets hardly even put a dent into his armor. Bulkhead tackled Kickback into a building, sending him crashing into a bunch of mannequins displayed at the front window. Bulkhead then got up and ran to his injured friend, picking him up.
"Alright buddy, I got you. Let's go."
"I'm fine, just pinned down by an oversized grasshopper, that's all." Bumblebee replied. Bulkhead walked him over to Nautica, who was using her wrench to kill several advancing clones.
"Nautica, can you fix his injury?" Bulkhead asked.
"Yeah, but I'll need some time."
"I can make you some time." Bulkhead answered. He then leaped into the air and came crashing down on more clones, squashing them all paper thin. Meanwhile, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg were fighting more clones emerging from the outskirts of the city.
"Man, these things keep on coming! We'll never be able to clear them up, not at this rate!"
"There's got to be a source somewhere. Judging from how these things are coming from outside the city, we should start searching there." Raven suggested, pointing at the direction of yet another wave of Insecticons. She then sat down, legs crossed, and hovered above the ground. Her eyes were closed, and her hood was down.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" Raven chanted the three word phrase slowly, ignoring all the chaos going around her.
"Dude, now's not the time to meditate! I'm being eaten alive by giant bugs!" Beast Boy exclaimed, morphing into a Stegosaurus and swinging his tail at more Insecticons. The spikes pierced through some of their armor, leaving large gashes on their chests and abdomens.
"I'm trying to see if I can track the source of these clones. If I can do that, we can find a way to prevent them from making more clones of themselves, and then all we would have to deal with are the clones still running around the city." Raven explained.
"Alright, then I guess meditating right now wouldn't be so bad." Beast Boy added.
"Rodimus, this is getting out of control! Everytime we destroy some clones, more keep on coming!" Robin shouted through the communicator. Rodimus was holding his communicator with one hand while using one of his orange Energo-swords with another. He cut one clone in half on the waist before answering.
"I get that. Cyborg just called and said Raven's trying to find out where these clones came from." Rodimus answered. Another Insecticon snuck up behind him. As if he knew what was to happen, Rodimus swung his sword behind him, stabbing the poor clone through the center of it's face. The dead body slid right off the sword, crumbling next to Rodimus' feet.
"Alright. But even then, there's still gotta be thousands of Insecticon clones in the city. We won't be able to clear them out fast enough without them devouring this city with us in it."
"Well, we could call for backup. You had all those teams you were talking about. Call them." Rodimus said. Robin nodded in agreement and hung up.
"Windblade, how are you doing with your side?"
"To be honest, not so good. But if you want a positive answer, then pretty good." Windblade answered honestly. The two Autobots were being swarmed by Insecticon clones, one wave after another, slowly overpowering them. Rodimus could feel himself start to struggle to fight against what seemed to be an endless horde. He looked towards Windblade to see she was struggling as well.
"Great. I defeated a giant combiner, but now I'm about to become insect food." Rodimus thought to himself. He struggled to slice another Insecticon. When all seemed lost, he saw that they were falling apart. No, not falling apart. They were being pulled apart. Rodimus looked up to see a person he didn't think he would see.
"Need a hand?"
"Alright, it should be around here." Raven said. The three Titans had left their spot to find the source of the cloning. They were in a dark cavern, lit up by a sliver of sunlight that had managed to creep out of the crevices on the cave. Cyborg saw several things were scattered around the cave. A coil of rope, flashlights, and some capsules with rocks in them were some of the things he saw, scattered on the moist cave ground.
"Looks like someone's been here." Cyborg said.
"Dudes, check it out! This hole's gotta be at least several feet deep." Beast Boy said, peering down into a chasm below.
"I think, I think the source is down there." Raven said.
"Well, creepy cavern, here we come." Cyborg said. Beast Boy morphed into a pterodactyl and Cyborg held onto his legs. Beast Boy flew him down into the chasm while Raven flew down there herself. Small panels on Cyborg's shoulders opened to reveal small flashlights. When he pointed down, he could see tons of large crystals, all clustered together on the bottom and the sides. They eventually flew into a small area, an area filled with translucent, orange pods surrounding a giant machine. The machine had several computer monitors, most likely used to keep track of statistics on the clones. The three then landed on the machine, admiring the huge size.
"Well, we found it. Let's start to disman-" Cyborg was cut off by a screen turning on, revealing a pre-recorded message from Bombshell.
"Attention. If you happen to be an intruder planning to destroy this device, I must warn you: destroying this machine will release every clone down here. There are some down here reserved as a last resort. These ones are faster, stronger, smarter, and crazier. Good luck trying to shut my operation down. I'm have one of the smartest minds on Cybertron, so you most likely will have no such luck. Anyway, since you came here, some guards should be on their way to kill you. Goodbye." The screen then went black. Suddenly, appearing from behind the machine, three humongous Insecticon clones emerged, slowly walking towards the three Titans. There was one that resembled Kickback, another for Bombshell, and the other for Shrapnel.
"Um, guessing those are the bodyguards?" Beast Boy said worryingly.
"Hey, but look at them! They're more bigger than the clones!" Cyborg pointed out. The Bombshell clone slammed one fist down where Raven was standing. Luckily, she leapt out of the way just in time.
"We're gonna need backup." Raven said.
"Windcharger?" Rodimus asked. The Autobot outlier was recognizable by his red color scheme and his magnetic abilities. He was short, about the same size as Bumblebee.
"The one and the only." Windcharger replied with a grin.
"Oh, well, how'd you find us? Why did half the outliers find us?" Rodimus asked, the last question he whispered.
"Well, I was found by some other people with Trailbreaker and Skids, and they're somewhere else on this city. I decided to say hi to you while I was here, something about you being the leader?" Windcharger answered.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that…" Windcharger pulled several other clones apart, their body parts neatly separated from one another. While Windcharger was taking care of several more clones, Rodimus got a call from Robin.
"I called Titans East and North. North is taking over for Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. East is helping us here." Robin said happily.
"Great to hear. Windcharger is helping out me and Windblade." Rodimus said. He then walked over to Windblade and pulled her out of a large pile of deconstructed Insecticons. She stood up, stumbling for a few seconds before standing straight. They smiled at each other before being interrupted by Robin.
"Hey, I just got a call from Cyborg that they found where all the clones came from. They also mentioned a problem." Robin said.
"Alright, I'll send someone." Rodimus answered before hanging up. He then turned towards Windcharger, who just got done dismantling another group of Insecticons.
"Hey Windcharger, can you do a small favor for me? It'll be quick"
"Sure, what do you need?" Windcharger asked, curiosity written all over his face.
"Some of my teammates are in need of help. Here, take this. I'll send you the coordinates on here." Rodimus explained. He then proceeded to hand a communicator to Windcharger.
"Sweet. I'll be right there." Windcharger said. He then transformed and drove off to the set coordinates.
"Dudes, these guys are pounding us. Literally!" Beast Boy shouted. The giant Kickback clone transformed into a grasshopper and used it's powerful legs to kick Cyborg into a cave wall. As Cyborg slid off the wall, a dent shaped like him was formed from the impact on the wall. Raven levitated and threw several cloning pods at the guard. The pods smashed easily against the Kickback clone, but hardly injured it. She was then zapped out of midair by the giant Shrapnel, who's horns had electrical outlines surrounding it. Beast Boy morphed into a gorilla and punched the giant Kickback aside, knocking it over. This didn't do much however, as the Kickback clone simply jumped up right. He was then kicked by the giant Bombshell.
"Man, these guys hit hard." Cyborg said. He activated his sonic cannon, firing at the three large clones to no avail. As the clones walked up to them slowly, they were levitated and thrown across the cave, landing on some more cloning pods.
"Nice save Raven. Just in time." Cyborg said. He put his hand out, a common gesture for a high five, but Raven was more focused on what had happened.
"Um, I didn't do that." Raven replied.
"Yeah, because I did it." Everyone turned to see Windcharger on top of a floating metal sheet.
"Oh, well nice save. Windcharger, I'm assuming?" Cyborg asked.
"Yep. Wait, did someone already tell you about me?"
"Yeah, we were gonna search for you after this. Guess someone beat us to it." Cyborg replied. He then turned around to face the machine, climbing onto one of the computer screens.
"Alright, let's shut this thing down. Since I'm too small, I'll need you to do everything I say, got it?"
"Well, okay I guess. Please don't say you're one of those people that talk nonstop, cause I have a low attention span." Windcharger said uneasily.
"Don't worry, we just need to manually shut this thing down and-"
"How about I do this?" Windcharger asked. He used his magnetic abilities to pull off a panel on the side of the machine. Cyborg then looked around inside it, before knowing what to do.
"Alright, I found the emergency trigger for this machine, so we need to pull it off gently. It's that small thing that looks like a hourglass." Cyborg explained, trying to describe what the part looked like.
"Okay. Here goes nothing." Windcharger slowly disconnected the machine part, one wire off at a time. He had to be careful not to trigger the alarm that would open up the rest of the pods, or else Jump City was gonna end up on the menu.
"Got it!" Windcharger exclaimed, levitating an hourglass looking part to his hands.
"Booyah. Now time for the best part: destroying this thing." Cyborg then activated his sonic cannon and opened fire on the machine, creating a small colorful explosion.
"Woah, this is enough Energon to keep us energized for months. Can't believe the Insecticons found it first." Rodimus said happily. In the distance, Large crates of pure Energon was being hauled to the surface for the Autobots.
"Something's still bothering me though. After all these victories against the Decepticons, something's still bothering me." Robin said.
"I know. I couldn't find a connection to any of the battles either. Some of them were all so spontaneous and random. As if they pretty much gave up and decided to do whatever they wanted." Rodimus said. Robin looked at him, confused.
"Okay, just because you're the "master detective" here, doesn't mean I can't try it too." Rodimus said, slightly offended. This made Robin chuckle.
"I guess we have to wait and see. Whatever Tarn is planning, I hope we're prepared." Robin said.
"Finally. It's complete. This world filled with rich energy. Energy that could help the Decepticons, give them a winning advantage. Would that be good? Yes, yes it would! The glorious Decepticon empire shall rise. And the Autobots will fall. Finally, the spacebridge is complete. The one thing we need to transport a whole entire army to Earth is complete." Tarn monologued.
"I guess it's impressive, but we still have those brats to deal with." Starscream said.
"Yes, but I have gathered information on them. We should be ready in case they will come." Shockwave answered.
"Yes, but they most likely won't come to us. We've kept our plan pretty hidden. Unless they had a tip off, they wouldn't know until it's too late." Tarn said proudly.
"When did Megatron say he would send in a squad?" Overlord asked.
"He said he still needs to gather several troops." Soundwave answered in his monotone voice.
"The time has come, my fellow Decepticons. The time has come, for the reign of Megatron has reached the far end of the galaxy. This world will soon know what peace through tyranny really means…" Tarn said. And beneath the mask, beneath the mask that shows his patriotism for his affiliation, a smile formed on his face. The world was about to experience peace through tyranny, whether it was ready for Tarn or not…
The End?
(1): Squishies: A nickname for humans often given by Decepticons.
(2): Nightbeat is an Autobot who has amazing detective skills, according to many sources.
(3): A protoform is basically a young Cybertronian that isn't fully mature yet.
And now all that's left is the final chapter. The final confrontation with Tarn. Will Tarn succeed in bringing the Decepticon army to Earth? Or will the Titans stop him just in time? Find out on the two part finale of season 1! Be sure to review and thank you for reading.
