A/N: For this, I'm skipping "Sick Mind".
10:45 AM
At the Autobot Base, the residents were reeling in from a lot of events that had happened in the last couple of days. One of which was the revealing of Jack Darby as Spider-Man, and the Bots and humans were reacting to it in different ways. Arcee felt betrayed about it and was pretty much ignoring him every chance she could. Optimus had been mostly silent, but there were faint hints of disappointment in his quiet demeanor. Bulkhead seemed upset by the revelation as well, and kept giving the teen suspicious glances whenever he walked by. Bumblebee appeared to be the most shocked by it, but let the others know that he found it kind of cool that Jack had powers, making the sixteen-year-old's spirits lift a little. Ratchet, well, he was mostly just baffled by it, with him and June examining the boy's abilities the day after the events.
And speaking of June, before she and the CMO inspected him, she laid into him good how she was angry that not only had he kept a secret as big as this from her, but also that he was risking his life night after night fighting crime. Her words had been akin to what Arcee had said to him, but she was much more emotional about it. Shouts could be heard to anyone passing by the room they were in, but eventually things quieted down a little. The Darby matriarch tried to make her son promise her that he would stop his activities, but he seemed very conflicted by it, and decided to let him think on it. Though not without promising to keep her eye on him from now on.
Raf and Miko, after being told by the others, had the same reactions as Bumblebee did, but Miko's was mixed a little with jealousy. Adding to her envy was the fact that, for the time being, Jack and his mother got to stay at the base. However, she wasn't bitter about it, and understood their situation.
And all that was just two days ago.
Yesterday, the Bots had another eventful time with not only chancing upon the location of the Decepticon war ship, but also a distress beacon from a downed Autobot ship. Optimus and Ratchet went to investigate, only to find that only had the ship been there for some time, but also that the Autobots inside were dead from a virus; a virus that sadly infected Optimus not long after being touched by diseased energon. The CMO ordered a bridge back and managed to get the Prime to sick bay, but unfortunately the illness proved to work fast. Cybonic Plague is what the medic called it, and explained that it was a biological weapon created by the Decepticons during the War on Cybertron. And the group's sick leader weakly confirmed that there was no known cure for it.
However, after some discussion and input from Jack and June, they realized that there was a likelihood that Megatron would've created a cure in case he himself got infected with the disease. But with the leader of the Decepticons dead it didn't seem likely they would get the answer from him. Despite that, they had a lock on the Con warship, and it was decided that Arcee & Bumblebee should venture there to find information on the remedy they needed.
Using the ground bridge, but to Autobots snuck on board & while initially they didn't have any success in finding what they were looking for in the Con database, they came across a most shocking site. Megatron was still alive, albeit, unconscious and hooked up to life-support, but still alive nonetheless. Arcee was ready to kill the downed Decepticon warlord once and for all, but Ratchet convinced her not to because the cure might be somewhere in Megatron's mind.
Ratchet then quickly told them of a Decepticon experimental procedure called the cortical psychic patch. While the doctor had never performed the procedure himself, he had read up on all the theoretical literature, and knew that with it they could enter Megatron's brain and find the medicine they sought.
Arcee was hesitant about the whole thing, but Bumblebee volunteered to be the one to search the warlord's mind. After setting him up, the scout periled into the mind of the Autobots' worst enemy, and not long afterwards came face-to-face with Con leader's main consciousness. While he was there, everyone at the base saw everything he did, & could see what made the monster he was. After some careful wording, Bumblebee tricked Megatron into showing him the cure. Then Arcee immediately pulled him out.
After that Ratchet used the ground bridge to bring both Bots back to base, but not before the femme made a shot at Megatron's life support because they had gotten caught by Starscream.
When they got back to base, a couple things happened. The first was that Ratchet immediately got to work on making Optimus' cure and healed the Prime. The second was that Jack felt his spider-sense go off around Bumblebee. Initially he thought it might just be some temporary after effect from the scout having been in Megatron's mind, but as time passed into the next day, the sense wouldn't stop going off around the yellow Bot, even when he wasn't doing anything particularly suspicious.
And now, Jack was worried. As he sat down on his bed in the room the Bots had given him for the time being, he contemplated aloud.
"Okay Jack, think. The last time the sense went off in the base was when the fake Wheeljack came in. And now it's going off around Bee, yet nothing about him screams why. The only thing that makes any sense is his time in Megatron's head…but I'm no scientist, so I don't fully know how that works. The only one here who does have a clue is Ratchet, but…how exactly do I explain it to him?"
Thinking further about it, he realized that it would probably lead to mentioning his being quiet during the Wheeljack/Scraplet incident, which he knew would put him in even more hot water than he already was with not only Arcee, but Bulkhead as well. Bumblebee was out of the question given the situation, so that just left Optimus and Ratchet. The Prime would be the most likely to hear him out, and the medic was an "if" at the most.
Then he wondered if he could tell his human friends. His mom was a no-go because that'd probably add fuel to the fire of her being mad at him. Raf and Miko would most likely tell their respective guardians. So that just left Steve. The super soldier had already known his secret and had given him the benefit of the doubt by waiting for Jack to come forth and say it until that mess with M.E.C.H. a couple days ago. That tidbit currently had the good captain on thin ice with the boy's mother, along with the fact that he'd been hiding his own secret from her all this time. The teen didn't know how that problem would get resolved, but he knew he needed to focus on the more urgent one.
With that in mind, he got up and left his room and wandered about the base, searching for the only two people who would help him best.
11:07 AM
In the medical bay of the base, Ratchet was giving Optimus a final test to see if he'd recovered.
"Follow the light," said the medic as he moved the said light around the Prime's optic. The Autobot leader did as he was told without problem, making the CMO smile happily. "Good, good. I wouldn't advice anything strenuous, Optimus, but it appears that your systems have fully recovered from the Cybonic plague."
Getting off the berth, the Prime smiled slightly and said, "Thanks to your medical expertise, old friend."
"It was your scout who braved unknown territory to locate the cure," corrected Ratchet as he turned and gestured towards Bumblebee, who stood there in the room with Arcee. In response, the mute Bot only buzzed and shook his head and hands in a "think nothing of it" motion.
"Lucky for us, Megatron was still alive," said the blue femme, who got a questioning buzz from the yellow Bot beside her as a result. "Yeah, I actually said that."
"What matters is that you are on the mend, Optimus," started Ratchet, "while Megatron-"
The yellow scout interrupted him with another buzz, finishing the CMO's sentence for him, shrugging to the blue femme beside him.
"Bee's right," agreed Arcee, "Did my best to finish Megatron's story. Just couldn't stick around long enough to see how it ended."
As she was talking, Optimus noticed Bumblebee suddenly become stiff and walk out of the room in a very peculiar manner. He wasn't the only one, as two of the base's human residents did as well when they came in, with the younger of them flinching as the scout came close and went. As the yellow Bot passed them, the two strolled into the area. Ratchet was the first to see them.
"Ah, Captain, Jack, what brings you two here?" asked the medic, turning away from them and making sure his equipment wasn't malfunctioning…again. Arcee didn't say a word to either of them, and just took one glance before leaving the room.
"We were hoping we could talk to Optimus," answered Steve, looking up at the Prime, "Jack had something he wanted to talk about with you and me."
"And what might that be?" the Autobot leader replied. Glancing quickly to Ratchet, Optimus let the medic know to take his leave of them. When it was just the three of them, Jack answered.
"Ok, as you guys now know, I have spider-like powers-and again I apologize for hiding that. But anyway, one of them is sort of like a sixth sense-a spider-sense if you will; one that alerts me to immediate danger."
"Yes, Ratchet told us about that," said Optimus.
"And I've seen it in action when you fought M.E.C.H. and Airachnid," added Cap. "But why are you bringing this up to us?"
"Because…" started the teen before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "…it's gone off a couple times in the base."
Both the super soldier and the Prime widened their eyes/optics when he said that.
"When!" asked the Autobot leader; though it came off as more of a command than a question; a feeling that the teen got right away.
"Well, remember when Wheeljack came to visit and turned out to be a Con in disguise? That was the first time." Noticing the Prime's gaze turn a bit darker, the sixteen-year-old quickly added, "B-But the reason I didn't say anything at the time was because I wasn't sure. I didn't know if something was really off or if it was just a crazy headache that just happened to pop-up whenever I got close to that faker. And by the time I did know, he'd already revealed himself and took Miko hostage." Jack lowered his head, ashamed that at the time he didn't act sooner.
Seeing this, the Prime responded rather calmly, "Jack, while I am disappointed that you didn't share this information with us earlier, I can understand your uncertainty. I myself have dealt with it on a number of occasions, especially when I first became a Prime."
"Really?" asked the teen.
"Even with the Matrix of Leadership, no one is fully confident in their decisions, Jack, as there is always room for doubt. And I'm glad you've finally come forward with this to us. I only ask that you be more informative about that kind of issue from now."
The sixteen-year-old nodded, smiling just a touch.
"Wait," interrupted Steve, "you said that there was another time that your…spider-sense…?" The teen nodded, and he continued, "Right. You said there was another time it went off in the base?"
"Yeah…" said the teen as he scratched the back of his head briefly, "…the other time was…when Bumblebee came back with Arcee yesterday."
Once again, both the super soldier and the Prime widened their eyes/optics at what he told them. The latter was the first to speak, "Explain."
"Basically, when the two of them got back, my Spider-Sense has been going off whenever I get close to Bee; even when he's not really doing anything suspicious. The only thing that I can think of that might possibly explain it is the fact that he was in Megatron's mind."
"You saying that the Con leader's brain somehow messed with Bee's?" asked Steve.
"Possibly, but I honestly don't know," replied the teen. "What I do know is that whatever's making my sense go off registers him as an immediate threat. And the only thing that makes sense is King Con's head messing with Bee's somehow."
"Whatever is causing this," interrupted Optimus, "we must find out what it is and soon."
The other two nodded and they all proceeded to discuss how they would go about doing the task.
1:36 PM
"Basketball, by way of Cybertron!" declared Miko, making herself the referee of the game. She stood up on the living area platform while Jack and Raf sat down in front of a ventilation shaft. The game itself was between Bulkhead and Bumblebee, who were using the former's lobbing ball to toss into makeshift basketball hoops.
The oldest of the kids was there to keep an eye on the mute Bot, as he, Cap and Optimus agreed to take turns in doing so, and report back to each other in case something happened. The three of them didn't tell the others because they knew it would make things more difficult than they needed it to be.
"Let the games begin!" continued the Japanese girl before blowing her whistle.
The yellow scout spun the globe on his finger before throwing it up in the air. Bulkhead subsequently jumped up and caught it before chuckling and tossing it back and it landing in his own hoop.
"Yeah, go Bulk!" cheered the exchange girl as her guardian picked the bouncing metal sphere back up. Turning back to face his beige-colored friend, the green Wrecker challenged him.
"Come on, best two out of three!" Then he tossed the ball at the young Bot, with the latter catching it and maneuvering past him, preparing to jump up and shoot the metal sphere into the hoop.
"Bee! You're in the clear!" cheered Raf, "Dunk it Bee!"
However, before the golden-armored Autobot could make the suggested action, he stopped right in front of the hoop and just froze. This left Jack worried and the others confused, going on for few seconds before Bulkhead decided to intervene.
"Bumblebee, quit hogging the ball," said the olive-colored Wrecker jokingly. His yellow comrade turned and through the metallic globe at him. Hard. And when it came close, the bigger Bot gave a, "Whoa!" before ducking and letting it collide with the rocky wall behind him. The sound of Miko's whistle could be heard as she slid down the ladder to the platform.
"ENGH!" she said, making the sound of a game buzzer, "Flagrant foul!"
"Dodgeball by way of Cybertron," joked Jack as he tried to play along. Inside though, he was still concerned, and knew he should tell this to certain two people in the base as soon as possible.
The Wrecker scratched his head and said, "Bee, hoop's over there," then pointed to where said goal of the game was. The yellow Autobot buzzed apologetically to his friend, shrugging as he did so.
"Bee?" interjected Raf, "You ok?"
The preteen's guardian buzzed assuredly with his thumb up, and then held up his other three fingers.
"Yeah, three out of five," agreed the spectacled twelve-year-old, though with a bit of uncertainty in his voice.
"Yeah, you guys do that," said Jack, getting up and shooting a web line at the ceiling, "I've got some stuff to take care of." The teen swung from the shaft and around the large computer before letting go of the line and landing gracefully on his feet, all the while trying to ignore the mistrustful look Bulkhead was giving him. Turning back, the dark-haired boy waved and said, "Catch you later."
Raf and Bumblebee waved back while the Wrecker continued his distrustful gaze, and Miko tried to start the game up again as she attempted to hide her envy at Jack's abilities.
As the sixteen-year-old walked down the hallway, he looked for Steve or Optimus' room for about ten minutes before coming across the room of a certain Autobot femme, with said femme inside it. At the moment, she was doing what appeared to be some training via letting out some kicks and fists on a large chrome cylinder that hung from the ceiling. She'd obviously been at it for some time, given the amount of dents and scratches on the object of her aggression. Though her movements had a certain grace to them, with fast precision and the like.
The young Darby continued to watch unnoticed for a moment until he made the slight mistake of saying "Wow!" out loud, getting her attention. The femme glanced at him briefly, with a slight hint of anger in her otherwise emotionless face, before turning away and resuming her treatment on the "punching bag" with new vigor.
Jack felt like he should say something, but was uncertain as to what and how. Then, after a few seconds, he sighed and stepped in, the femme not acknowledging his presence in the slightest.
"Arcee…listen, I just want to say that…I know what I did was wrong, me hiding my…abilities from you and the others. And I understand that you don't trust me at the moment, and rightfully so, but the thing is…I was going to tell you."
When he started the blue femme just kept her focus on the training object, but when he said that last bit she stopped almost immediately. Straightening, she turned to look at him, her faceplate hardened as she did so.
"When," she simply said, though it was more of a command than a question. A feeling that her former partner got right away.
"Right before I found out that M.E.C.H. kidnapped Mom."
"Doesn't change the fact that you hid this from us for months; and that you also put yourself in danger behind our backs."
"I know, and…I'm sorry." When she didn't say anything, he continued, "Arcee, when I first got my powers, I hid them out of fear and uncertainty. Uncertainty about what to do and how to go about doing it. Now that doesn't excuse what I did do, but I hope that explains it."
After a moment, the femme nodded, her features softening just a little.
"Also…have you noticed anything…odd…about Bumblebee by any chance?" he dared to ask.
"No, why?" she asked sternly, not sure what he was getting at.
"Well, it's just…that a few minutes ago, he tried to take off Bulk's head in a game of basketball."
Her optics widened briefly with concern, "Why would Bee do that?"
"I honestly don't know." When she gave him a suspicious look, he defended with, "Seriously! I don't know!" She backed off a little before the phone in Jack's pocket buzzed. Pulling it out, he opened the device to see a text message from Steve.
"My quarters. Now," it read.
Looking back up he said, "Well, I just wanted to say that I was sorry. Got to be somewhere at the moment. See you around." With that, he walked back towards the room opening, Arcee staring at him until he disappeared through it. As he did, she turned back to her beaten up cylinder and thought to herself.
While she was still royally ticked at him for hiding what he did from her, she began to wonder if maybe she was being too harsh on him. After all, he didn't really betray her or the other Bots in terms of selling them out or anything like that, and he did try and use his abilities to help people. Regardless, a lie by omission was still a lie, and he would have to do something big to get her trust back.
1:58 PM
Jack swung from web lines down the hallway until he reached his destination. That being the room of the resident super soldier, Steve Rogers. Getting on the ground, the teen stepped in and saw the older man sitting on his military-grade bed with his hands together and looking in the boy's direction.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," said the teen as he scratched the back of his head briefly, "I would have come sooner, but I had to take care of something real quick."
"Gotcha," acknowledged the blonde-haired man. Then he got up before continuing. "Sit," he stated while gesturing to the bed and walking to the other side of the room. When the teen did as he told him, he said, "Listen, Jack, we need to wrap up this situation with Bumblebee as soon as we can."
"Yeah, I realize that, but why're you saying this to me Steve?"
"I got a call from Fury not too long ago."
"The head of S.H.I.E.L.D.?" asked the sixteen-year-old again.
"Yeah, he's got a mission for me somewhere else, and he wants me on it ASAP."
"Really? Where?"
"Gotham City, New Jersey," the super solider simply
"Why there?" Steve gave him one look and the teen instantly knew what it meant. "Oh, classified."
"Yep, and like I said, Fury wants me there soon. I've told him about the issue with Bumblebee and he's given me a couple days until it's time to go, so we've got to figure this out fast."
"No pressure," remarked Jack. The sixteen-year-old went on to relate the events of the game between the yellow scout and the green Wrecker from earlier.
"Is Bulkhead ok?"
"Yeah, he ducked thankfully. I haven't seen or heard anything else since then, you?"
"Can't say I have and no word about it from Optimus either."
"And to be frank, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing at the moment," admitted Jack. The super soldier nodded and was silent for a moment before the teen changed the subject, "So, how're things between you and Mom?"
"Well, currently things are still a little rocky. She's pissed at me for my secret, but your Mom does understand that it's something neither of us can help."
"That's a start," added the dark-haired boy.
"Unfortunately, she's not talking to me much at the moment, so I'm giving her a little space."
The young Darby nodded; his mother was a strong-headed woman, and when she felt hurt, you knew right away. Then a thought occurred to him as his mind drifted to something he hadn't thought of earlier.
"Hey, Steve, now that Megatron's gone, what do you think will happen to the Decepticons?"
"Most likely Starscream's trying to establish his place as their new leader, if he hasn't already, given what the Bots told me about him."
"Yeah, I remember seeing him in that video where you, Optimus, Bee and Stark killed that big green Con. Honestly, he seemed like more of a pushover compared to what you showed us of Megatron."
The super soldier chuckled at that before responding, "I'd say that's true to some extent, but I've been told he's something of a sneaky opportunist, so he'll probably find some way to cause us trouble."
4:17 AM
Speaking of Megatron's former second-in-command, he was on board the Nemesis feeling full of himself, as usual. When no one else was around, he went into the med bay of the ship and visited the now comatose body of his now ex-leader. According to their ship's medic, Knockout, the ex-leader's body was physically fine, but upstairs, no one was home.
With mischievous glee, Starscream began to tap his fist on Megatron's head, as if knocking on a door.
"Knock, knock." He continued after another two taps, "Is anyone in there? No? Oh well." Walking away from the slab, he said, "Seems I possess the only thing that would allow you to rise off that slab and walk again, my dearest Megatron." The former SIC pulled out from behind his back a glowing, purple, crystalline shard. Dark Energon. "The only scrap left on this planet," he flipped it in the air briefly, "plucked from your very spark chamber."
The reason the Decepticon leader had had the shard in such a place was because he put it there in the hopes of being able to control reanimated bodies of Cybertronian corpses who were infused with the substance. And for the most part, it seemed to work. Unfortunately, his attempt at bringing an undead army through his space bridge failed due to the efforts of the Autobots and their human allies, resulting in the bridge and his army being destroyed. Starscream had initially assumed that there was no way their leader had survived, but after some insistence from Soundwave, the intelligence officer, the SIC reluctantly went out to search for the body, finding it. The scheming Con attempted to snuff his leader's spark by pulling out the Dark Energon shard, but before he could do anything else, Soundwave found him, and they brought their leader back to the Nemesis and placed him on life support. Rather than disposing of the shard, Starscream kept it in case he ever found a use for it.
"But," he continued as he held the substance, "it cannot restore your mind. The Decepticons need a leader, not a decorative centerpiece."
Unknown to Starscream, someone had entered the room quietly and was watching him as he ranted.
"And I will convince them that I am the true heir to your throne, with a plan so epic-!"
"Not even the mighty Megatron could've conceived it?" a voice behind him finished. Turning around, the schemer saw Knockout leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a smug look on his face.
Chuckling nervously, the former SIC answered, "That was the idea, Knockout." Glowering, he asked, "How long have you been there?"
"Long enough," replied the medic, getting up from the wall and bowed while saying, "and it's 'Commander' Knockout to you, once and future Lord Starscream." That left a sinister smile on the new Lord's faceplate.
"So, Commander Knockout, do you have anything to show for your new position?"
"Yes, actually, a newly discovered ND7 Energon deposit."
"How is that useful?! It's unmineable!"
"Well…it was…"
"What do you mean 'was'?"
"Apparently, someone beat us to it-but thankfully not the Autobots."
"Well, if it wasn't them, then who was it?!"
"Not entirely sure, but we do know is that whoever it was didn't move it far from where we got its signal. The coordinates indicate both this obtainer and the Energon to be in arctic area of this planet."
"And how do you propose we acquire the Energon from this third party?"
"Oh, I have some ideas."
"I'm listening…"
9:47 AM
There were lots of good reasons for Jack to hate M.E.C.H.; such as kidnapping his mother, attempting to turn his old friend into their superfast assassin, trying to axe off and dissect the Bots, and unmasking him in front of said allies and doing some considerable damage to his relationship with them as a result. Another one to add to that list was that S.H.I.E.L.D. had basically confined him and his mother to the Bot base, putting them on house arrest there since the two of them couldn't go back to work or school.
And now, as if to add insult to injury, he had to be subjected to something possibly even worse than high school; home school. At least when he was at the former he had people to talk to that weren't the teacher or his mother. Now, said mom was attempting to help him with his troubles in Art History class by forcing him to read and take notes on just about every page that had information on it in his textbook. He may've been given super-spider powers that got him out of many bad situations, but none of them could save him from his mom's demands when it came to doing better in school.
"Jack, focus!" said June as noticed her son dozing off for a second. He was sitting on the couch at the platform with a lap desk on his thighs, the textbook at his side and his notebook on the lap desk with a pencil in his hand.
Snapping to attention, the teen responded, "I am."
"Then why are you trying to sleep every five minutes?" she deadpanned.
"Well, we've been at this for like an hour. And it's not the most riveting of subjects."
June sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose before saying, "I just don't want you to fail, Jack. And if doing it this way helps you not do that, then this is what we'll do. When I was your age, your Grandma May wouldn't leave me alone until I finished all of my homework and got it right. I didn't like it either at first, but it helped me a lot later on, especially when I got into nursing school."
Jack was about to comment when the ringtone on his phone went off. Pulling it out of his pocket he saw who was calling and looked back to his mother, who had her arms crossed with fierce suspicious gaze.
"It's Raf," he explained. But before he could answer, June took the cell from his hand and answered it for him and put it up to her ear.
"Hello Rafael," she said in a nice voice. "I'm sorry, but Jack can't answer you at the moment, as he's a little busy with some homework now. What's up?" Jack couldn't hear what the teen said precisely, as it only came out as electronic garble from where he was. "Bumblebee didn't pick you up…and you can't reach him on his comm.…no, I can't see we've seen much of him here…alright, I'll ask the Autobots where he is and see if maybe one of the others can get you to school, ok?…Good, take care." Ending the call, June closed the phone and handed it back to Jack. "I'm going to go see the Bots about getting Raf a ride. When I get back, I expect at least another page written out, got it?"
"Yes, ma'am…" the teen sighed, looking back to his notebook and the other three and a half pages of notes he'd already written out.
5:18 PM
Later that day, after writing more pages of notes than he cared to remember and his hand could write out, Jack, Steve, Optimus, Raf, Ratchet, and Bumblebee found themselves in the CMO's laboratory where they yellow scout was put into power-down mode on the main berth. As the five saw the scout's eyes turn dark, the medic explained the situation to them.
"Bumblebee's complaining of intermittent visions, waking nightmares, if you will."
"But you said Bee was fine when you checked him over," said Raf as he looked from his guardian to the CMO.
"Physically, but the experience he endured seems to be having a temporary effect on his psyche. This induced power down should force Bumblebee's mind to rest and recover."
Optimus, Steve, and Jack all exchanged glances. This confirmed what they had suspected; that whatever was affecting the scout had something to do with him having been temporarily inside Megatron's head. But they still weren't quite sure what the nature of what was happening to their friend was, let alone how to fix the problem for that matter. Sure, Ratchet said that what he'd done should do the job, but a quick glance from Jack told the Prime and the super soldier his sense was still going off around the scout.
Before anyone could say anything further, a beeping noise came from the console in the main room. Walking there, the five were joined by Arcee as they found it to be a call from Fowler and answered it.
"Prime, do the Cons have a death wish?"
"No Special Agent Fowler," replied the Prime in a confused and slightly tired tone, "Why?"
"Cause they're causing a ruckus up at the North Pole, and I was hoping Captain might explain how bad an idea that is to you."
All eyes and optics turned to the super soldier, who explained it in a matter of fact tone.
"An alien known as Kal-El lives in the artic, and is probably one of the most powerful beings on the planet."
"And just who the pit would that be?" asked Arcee, hands on her hips.
After half a moment, Jack went wide-eyed and said, "You don't mean...?"
"Yep, Superman," confirmed the super soldier.
"If you're lucky he'll just turn the cons into pretzels and we won't have to worry about them anymore. That said Uncle Sam asked to me forward the news just in case."
"Agent Fowler, aren't you exaggerating a little?" asked a disbelieving Ratchet. "If the Decepticons could be beaten that easily, someone would have done it a long time ago."
"Do I look like I exaggerate!? Nonetheless, I doubt cons have ever met a Kryptonian before," Fowler said flatly on the last part.
"Pfft, I'd like to see that happen," scoffed Bulkhead, no more convinced than Ratchet that one being, no matter how powerful, could defeat the Decepticons.
Fowler turned and waved them off, "Then spin up your bridge and see for yourself."
Glancing back to his troops, Optimus said calmly, "Regardless if what Agent Fowler says is true, we must investigate this matter for ourselves. Bulkhead, you and Arcee will come with me. Ratchet, you stay here and make sure Bumblebee recovers." He looked briefly towards Cap and Jack, silently telling them to stay and watch the scout as well. The medic nodded to the Prime before stepping towards the ground bridge console, typing in the coordinates, and pulled the lever. When the familiar green vortex spun to live, Optimus activated his mask and said, "Autobots, roll out!" With that, the Prime and his two subordinates ran through the bridge.
6:23 PM
"So I blow past the finish line. Then my other sister, Pilar, asks how I got so good at racing games. And I told I know a guy who knows cars," said Raf to the unconscious Bumblebee.
When Prime and the others had left, the preteen went to check on his guardian, hoping to keep him company even though the Bot was out of it. He'd been sharing stories with his yellow friend for about fifteen minutes now, and Jack and Steve had joined in on the conversation about five or seven minutes in.
As Raf finished his last statement, Ratchet walked in on the four.
"Rafael," said the medic, getting the boy's attention, "I'm afraid Bumblebee can't hear any of you in power-down mode. It's getting late, why don't I bridge you home to your family?"
"Because I told Bee I'd stay," said the preteen assuredly, looking back to the out cold scout. "He's family too."
"Don't be ridiculous!" scoffed the CMO, "You're not even the same species!"
"That's being related," corrected Steve.
"Not really the same thing," added Jack. "You don't have to be one in order to have the other."
"Yeah, I'll show you," continued Raf, pulling out his phone and showing a picture of him and a group of six other people. "This is my family."
The other two humans and Autobot medic leaned in to see the pic, with the former two being surprised at how many were in it while the latter wasn't really interested enough to be impressed.
"Yes, that's very nice," muttered the CMO in a non-caring way.
"Very large!" stated the preteen.
"I'll say!" agreed the sixteen-year-old.
"Yeah," continued Raf, "sometimes I can shout and no one hears me."
"Yes-yes-yes," muttered Ratchet again, still clearly not giving a damn. This caused Jack to look up at the Autobot with a hard glare.
"Ratchet, you are one cold Bot, you know that?"
"What?" responded the old Bot, not understanding what the human meant.
Raf went on as if they hadn't said anything, "But Bumblebee always listens." Hearing this, the CMO was taken aback a little before giving a slight smile, while Jack had already given a more noticeable one, happy for his younger friend. "And I can understand him," he looked back up at the unconscious scout, "Not sure why, but I do."
6:29 PM
"Lot different than our last polar visit," Arcee remarked snidely as she and the two mechs walked across the still frozen landscape. "Feels like summer."
"I'm pretty sure that here that's a bad thing," added Bulkhead.
The three of them had been traversing across the icy plain for roughly over an hour and had yet to find the source of whatever was giving off the heat, or the Decepticon war ship. However, when they turned around another corner of ice, they finally found what they were looking for. And boy were they surprised!
Before their eyes, about four miles to be precise, was a battle unlike what they'd expected. Various Vehicon flyers were out in the air above a crystalline structure, and lots of them exploded as a vaguely red blur went through them. The Cons were still flying out of the war ship, but it was pretty easy to see that they weren't holding their own against whatever the blur was. As that happened, the ship itself was firing multiple cannons and lasers at the structure, the heat of which explained why things were warmer than they should have been.
Then the object stopped moving in midair above the clouds of smoke it'd made from the troops for a moment. Zooming in their optics, the three Autobots saw that it was in fact a dark-haired man dressed in some strange outfit. He wore an armor-like blue suit with his hands out in the open, his forearms bright red, and a belt, boots, and cape of the same color. On his chest was some kind of sigil; a yellow-ish diamond-shape outlined in red with a hieroglyph over it that resembled the human letter "S." He stayed up there for a few moments more, as if scanning everything around him.
"No way…" muttered Arcee, optics wide.
"Guess the humans don't call him 'Superman' for nothing…" added Bulkhead, equally as astonished. He was past starting to think he owed Fowler an apology for what he said earlier.
Optimus just remained quiet, moving his optics downward from Superman to the ground, where he saw Breakdown attempting to smash his way into the crystalline structure with his hammer. The Wrecker and the femme noticed it as well, and were about to move in when their leader got their attention.
"Autobots remember the end run on Polyhex?" asked the Prime.
"That any place I know?" said a voice from behind them. Turning, the three Bots saw that it was in fact the very same other alien they witnessed moments ago tearing the Cons a new one. Superman floated there a few feet above the ground at optic level with them, his arms crossed and his gaze fierce. The three just stared blankly at him, uncertain of what to say.
"Uh…" started Bulkhead.
"Just what're you and your buddies over there doing trying to break into my house?" demanded the Kryptonian.
"They're no friends of ours!" Arcee corrected harshly, snapping out of her stupor at his unintentional offense. Her outburst only resulted in the other type of alien raising his brow.
Optimus raised his hands in a calming motion and chose to explain things, "We are the Autobots-"
"Yeah, I know. I heard you say that about a minute ago," interrupted Superman, receiving a reaction mixed with surprise, confusion, and a slight bit of irritation. "I have a really good ear."
"What I mean to say is, we are not here to cause you trouble, we are here to help you with the Decepticons," continued the Prime, pointed to the pile of dead Cons and their war ship, as well as Breakdown battering on the crystalline "house." The Kryptonian put his hand to his chin and rubbed it for a moment before responding.
"Alright, but first I'd like you to tell me just what you and those guys are doing here."
"What about your house?" asked Arcee, pointing again to the scene taking place at the said location.
"The fortress can self-repair almost automatically, so we have time."
6:35 PM
Back at the base, Raf was still at the unconscious Bumblebee's side, playing on his laptop as he did so. Jack was watching some TV nearby while Steve was off trying to talk things over with June. As for Ratchet, the only other Bot in the facility and still conscious, he came up to the preteen boy with a broken tool of his that the yellow scout had broken earlier.
"Rafael," said the CMO to twelve-year-old, "I'm going to the supply vaults to see if I can find parts to repair this." Holding up the device to show his meaning, he then continued with, "You know what that means."
"Don't touch anything," answered Raf with a small smile before reverting his attention back to his computer. Ratchet nodded before walking off.
However, not long after he did so, Bumblebee started to power up with his optics glowing again, and the irises narrowing down. They started moving around a bit before focusing forward.
"Wait till you see this new laptop I'm saving up for Bee!" said the preteen, who then heard a steaming sound. He looked up and asked, "Bee?" right before the yellow scout's feet walked off the berth and out of the room. "Bumblebee!" the boy yelled as he ran after his guardian, "Wait!"
In the living room, Jack was watching a movie just as he felt his spider-sense go off. Getting up, he saw the golden Bot walk into the room, eyebrow plates furrowed and a determined expression upon his face.
"Bumblebee…?" the sixteen-year-old whispered as he saw the scout walk up to the ground bridge console and type in coordinates and pulling the lever. As the vortex powered up, the teen heard Raf come into the room after the Bot.
"Bumblebee!" the younger boy called as the oddly acting Autobot walked into the portal, with Raf stopping as he reached it. Jumping down from the platform and running up beside his friend, Jack shared his voiced his curiosity.
"What was that about?"
Before Raf could answer, Ratchet, June, and Steve came up behind them.
"What did you do?!" asked the medic accusingly toward the boys.
"Ratchet, we didn't do anything!" stated Jack.
"Bumblebee just got up and-" started Raf as he tried to explain what happened.
"He was in power down!" interrupted the CMO disbelievingly.
"So how did he get up and walk away?" asked June, adding her own two scents to the mystery.
"And just where does he think he's off to?" continued the Autobot medic. When the vortex evaporated, he thought for a moment and said, "Maybe the ground bridge console can tell us something."
With that, the four humans walked up to the platform near said console and watched as Ratchet examined what the scout had typed in. After a moment, he spoke with uncertainty in his voice.
"These are the coordinates for the site of our previous battle with Megatron's undead…"
"M-Maybe we should call Optimus," suggested Raf nervously, causing June to put her hands on the boy's shoulders comfortingly.
Ratchet shook his head, "Optimus is busy preventing the Decepticons from tearing up a polar ice cap. We need to handle this on our own." With that, the CMO pulled the lever and green portal came back to life. Just as he was about to walk into it, someone else came out from it. That being the scout they'd been concerned for, with the angry, determined expression still on his faceplate, and some glowing purple substance in his right hand. "Bumblebee…? What've you been doing?" asked Ratchet as the portal closed. The scout seemed to ignore him and continued walking before Ratchet grabbed his arm to halt him. Unclenching his hand, the golden Bot revealed the substance to the medic. "Dark…Energon?" wondered Ratchet aloud before finding a fist hitting him hard in the faceplate.
"Bee! What're you doing?!" asked Raf as the Autobot came scarily closer. June, Steve, and Jack pulled him back and got a good distance away before Bumblebee came up to the console and typed in another set of coordinates. "Bumblebee, please! I know you're in there! You have to fight whatever's making you do this!"
"I'm not sure Bumblebee can hear us right now," said June, making certain that they were all out of the Autobot's reach.
Said yellow Cybertronian finished typing and pulled the lever again, running into the portal almost as soon as it came alive. Once he went through, the vortex vanished again.
The other Autobot groaned as he got up, getting the attention of the four humans.
"Ratchet, are you okay?" asked a worried Raf.
"I'm fine," he answered, "but more importantly, is Bumblebee? I fear the time spent in Megatron's mindscape is causing him to think like a Decepticon."
"Bee's not a Con!" stated the Preteen in defense of his friend.
"Agreed, but we need to find out exactly what Bumblebee intends to do with that shard."
"But the only one who knew of the shard was Megatron," added Steve.
"You're saying Bumblebee has Megatron's memories?" asked the worried preteen to the super soldier.
"Worse!" corrected Ratchet as realization came to him, "Megatron is occupying Bumblebee's mind!"
"What!" said Raf in shock.
"But how's that possible?" asked Jack.
"How could I have been such a fool?!" the CMO chastised himself. "The cortical psychic patch acted as a two-way conduit! When Bumblebee returned to his own mind, Megatron followed." Looking at the coordinates typed in, he continued, "And now Bumblebee-Megatron has bridged to nearly the same coordinates Optimus used." He was about to pull the lever again when Steve spoke.
"Hold on pulling that lever Doc. I'm coming too."
"So am I," added Jack, a determined look on his face.
"Jackson Benjamin Darby, you are not going into a fight with the Decepticons!" ordered June, her fierce gaze out for all to see.
Sighing, Jack stood his ground, "Mom, I know you're worried, and you're right to be, but now, me and Steve are the best ones qualified to help Ratchet with Bumblebee at the moment. I've got experience fighting Cons as well, so I'm doing this." When it seemed his mother wouldn't budge, he sighed again and added, "I have the power to help set things right, and it's my responsibility to do so, Mom."
"But why does it have to be you?!" she demanded. "Why can't it be someone else's responsibility?!"
"Because…I knew something was off about Bumblebee," he admitted with a sigh, earning a shocked reaction from his mother, Raf, and Ratchet.
"You…you knew?" asked the preteen, with more than a hint of hurt in his voice.
"Not exactly," said Steve, stepping in to explain things for the teen, "Jack told me and Optimus that that sixth sense of his went off when Bumblebee came back to base with Arcee. The three of us weren't sure what was going on so we decided to keep quiet until we were."
"And now we are," stated Ratchet, "and we'd better hurry if we plan to stop Megatron from doing whatever he's planning."
"Right," agreed Jack, who then looked back to his mother and the upset Raf. "Listen, I know that my keeping quiet was probably not the best decision, but I promise, we'll bring Bumblebee back."
"Then we'd better suit up," said the super soldier, motioning for Jack to follow him.
6:57 PM
In the arctic, Superman had presumed fighting off the Vehicons, seemingly not worn down by how many there were. This stirred more than a little ire in Starscream, who turned to the now sheepish Knockout with a sour expression on his faceplate.
"Remind me, who's idea was this!?" the Decepticon leader asked.
"I-In my defense, Lord Starscream, we didn't know who we'd be up against."
"Yes, clearly! And the only reason that I can fathom that we've practically lost half our troops is because this this one's power was not properly researched!"
Before he could say anything further, he heard the sounds of engines revving loudly. At first he thought it might be the car Vehicons, but upon turning, he saw dark-green truck speeding its way towards Breakdown, followed not too long afterwards by a blue, driverless, motorcycle.
"Autobots!" he hissed.
"Please, Lord Starscream," said Knockout, getting his attention, "might I suggest a more combative approach to this whole dilemma?"
"You mean…them?" he asked with venom in his voice, already getting what his second-in-command was getting at. The ones they referred to was a group that had only recently come to Earth after the destruction of the space bridge. And while this group were in fact Decepticons, they had proven to be difficult to work with. This was due to them being a bit reckless as well as being disrespectful to Starscream's authority because, as far as they were concerned, he may've been the new leader, but that didn't mean he had what it took. After a nod from the medic, the new Con leader continued, "…are you certain they can pull it off…?"
"Mm-hmm."
"…Very well."
Putting a finger to the side of his helm, medic said into the comm., "This is Commander Knockout speaking. Send in the Combaticons."
7:04 PM
Inside the Nemesis, a ground bridge vortex came to life, and out of it stepped Ratchet, and Jack and Cap, both of whom were in their respective suits. Raf wanted to come with them, but the three and June had refused, as he wasn't as capable of defending himself as they were. He had argued that Bumblebee needed him, but they countered with Bumblebee would want him to be out of harm's way, which he wouldn't be if he came to the ship. With that, June agreed to watch over him while they went into enemy territory, though it took a little more convincing for her to let Jack go. The sixteen-year-old left with the others promising to bring Bumblebee back.
"The Decepticon war ship?!" gasped Ratchet upon realizing where they were. As they looked around them, they saw the bodies of fallen Vehicons strewn along the floor and hallways. It wasn't hard for the three of them to figure out what had happened.
"While this would normally be a good thing, I can't help but think its bad news," said Spider-Man. Turing to the medic, he asked, "What do you think Ratchet?"
"I fear that Megatron's mind is now dominant," the CMO answered with much worry in his voice. "And clearly he came here for one purpose; to use the Dark Energon to revive his own body."
"Let's hope Bumblebee's strong enough to prevent that," said Cap.
"Yeah," agreed the Spider-Teen, "After all, if that wasn't it, I'm pretty sure Megatron would've killed us back at the base."
"I can only hope the both of you are right," added Ratchet. And with that, the three of them began their search for their possessed comrade.
However, about a minute or two after their search, they heard a sound coming down one of the hallways; that being the sound of heavy metallic feet. Glancing around the three quickly ran around a corner and slid up flat against the side of the wall. Keeping quiet, they listened and saw five Cons run past their corner. Strangely, these weren't Vehicons. Rather, they more bulky and individualized than the regular Con grunts. They each had features strongly hinting at what they changed into; a grayish-green missile truck, a tank of the same color, some kind of gold jeep, a rusty red helicopter, and a caramel-tinted rocket of sorts. Spider-Man and Cap wondered who they were, but Ratchet just stared at them with wide-eyed shock.
Once the five Cons disappeared around another corner, the CMO gasped, "It can't be…"
"Who are they Ratchet?" asked Spidey.
"The Combaticons, explained the medic, "a Decepticon special forces unit who we fought with in the War for Cybertron. They possess the ancient ability to combine with each other into a much larger Cybertronian form."
"They…combine?" asked the wall-crawler.
"You never mentioned that Cybertronians could do that," added Cap, being just as new to this concept as the teen was.
"Well, according to our holy writings, the ability is as old as Cybertron itself. One of the ancient Primes, Nexus Prime, was a combiner," said Ratchet. "But the Combaticons shouldn't even be here. From what I'd heard they'd perished a long time ago."
"Apparently not," Spider-Man deadpanned. "Anything else about them we should know?"
"It was rumored that they could fuel themselves on Dark Energon." Shaking his helm, the CMO stated, "We'll deal with them later. Right now we need to find Bumblebee."
The two humans nodded and resumed their search. After a few more twists and turns, the three of them had found the medical bay, where Bumblebee/Megatron was busy attaching a striped purple and black cord to the back of the helm on the former Decepticon leader's body as it lay on a slab. The Dark Energon shard was still in his hand.
The CMO charged with the web-slinger calling, "Ratchet, you can't hurt Bumblebee!"
"That's not Bumblebee!" he yelled back before swinging a punch at the possessed yellow Bot, who dodged to the side before landing an uppercut that send the CMO flying into a wall. The medic landed on the floor with a groan.
Bumbletron then held up the shard to his faceplate and was about to move to the side of the slab when he suddenly felt a disk-like metal object hit his helm from behind him. Turning back, he saw that it was the super soldier who had thrown it, and was about to shoot him with his blaster when two lines of webbing got his arm and yanked it to the side. Glancing he saw it was the wall-crawler on the wall pulling the strings. Yanking back, the possessed Autobot threw the web-slinger to the other side of the room.
Thankfully, Spider-Man caught himself in midair and shot another line of web before swinging around and hitting Megabee in the faceplate, though not enough to leave a dent. Big mistake as it turned out, as the possessed Bot only got aggravated further and moved fast enough to swat the wall-crawler to the side again.
Again, Bumbletron felt the WWII veteran's shield hit him on the helm after it flew through the air. Turning, he caught Cap charging towards him and jumping into the air to grab the flying shield before hitting Megabee in the forehead with the round side of the metal disk, knocking him back a little. The possessed Bot then felt the shard yanked out of his hand by something. Looking up, he saw that was the web-slinger again, who used his webs to toss the Dark Energon to the floor. Before pick it up, he felt two lines clutch onto his forearms and pull at him from behind. Glancing around him, he saw that it was Spider-Man again.
"Come on, Bee! You gotta fight through this!" the web-slinger urged while pulling with as much strength as he could muster. Not a split-second later, the possessed Bot used the web lines to his advantage and tried to swing the wall-crawler. What followed was him getting hit against the wall and ceiling several times with grunting in between words, "Don't-ugh-make us-ah-have to-ugh-hurt you!" That last part came with a final throw that slammed into Cap, who was preparing to make another blow, causing both humans to knock into a computer's wall monitor.
Looking back to the slab, Megabee saw that Ratchet had gotten up and was now pulling at the large, life-support cord in Megatron's chassis.
"Farewell Megatron!" declared the CMO as he yanked the cord off in one heave, leaving a large gaping hole where it was. The result was a power down of the system, meaning that former Decepticon leader's body would soon perish. What followed that was Bumbletron running up to the medic and, in one swift move, tossing him to where the humans were, though thankfully beside them and not on them. Grabbing the shard, Megabee began walking towards the right side of the slab when Cap called out.
"Bumblebee, we know you're in there! Fight him!"
The possessed Bot turned around to face them. When the two humans and CMO saw his expression, it became abundantly clear that their friend wasn't calling the shots anymore. Their enemy was now.
"AGH!" grunted Spider-man as he got up, "As much as we want you leave Bumblebee's body, we can't let you go back to your own!" As he said that, he shot another web line and swung up into the air before landing on and grabbing a hold of the striped cord that connected the yellow Bot to the Con leader's body. He tried to climb up it to the scout's head, but the possessed mech just shook him off.
Once that was over, Bumbletron walked over to the side of the slab, held the shard over his head like a dagger, and stabbed it down into the chassis hole in such a manner. As he backed away from the slab, the shard disappeared into the body, with the aperture in the chest healing itself until it was non-existent. The optics on the silver body opened, glowing blood red as they did. The cord in Bumblebee's helm clicked out, with the scout shaking himself, and his eyes reverting to their normal state.
Both Autobots and humans backed away as the shadow of the Con leader loomed over them. At that very moment, as he finished getting off the slab, five Vehicon troopers came in and stopped in shock at what they saw. Megatron was alive and well, and ready to offline anyone that stood in his way.
"Decepticons," he called out in his deep, raspy voice, "your rightful lord and master has returned!" Glancing to the horrified humans and Autobots, he commanded, "Finish these pests. I have my own extermination to perform." As their lord left the med bay, the Vehicons transformed their hands into blasters and began firing, with the Autobots and humans heading for cover behind some of the larger equipment.
"Well," said Spider-Man, "at least we got Bumblebee back."
"But right now we've got to get out of here somehow," added Cap.
7:21 PM
Back outside the Nemesis, things were intense. Arcee and Bulkhead were dealing with Breakdown, and Superman was handling another Con altogether, one a lot bigger than the Vehicon troopers and the muscle-type that Breakdown was. This Decepticon was the combined form of the Combaticons; Bruticus Maximus, a roughly seventy foot tall monstrosity that dwarfed the Bots and the Cons. Though he was still about a third the size of the Nemesis, he was testimony to the old phrase, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall."
When the Combaticons came out of the ship and Combined, Superman at first thought that he try and beat at the individual components that made up the gigantic Cybertronian. However, upon further inspection, he found that there was something about this mechanical opponent that proved unbeneficial to the Kryptonian's health. When the man of steel flew in close, Bruticus just hit him away into an ice formation with a loud, meaty smack. The man from Krypton, as a result, found himself feeling weak and bleeding a little from that, which was unusual for him. The only substance Superman knew of that would affect him so was Kryptonite, which there clearly wasn't here, so it must have been something else. The only question was what it might be, but that would have to wait until later.
For now, the man of steel realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere with a direct attack, and instead resorted to long ranged ones. One of which he was using at that current moment; an ice formation roughly the size of a car created by his super breath. Getting within distance, Superman flew behind the mechanical behemoth and tossed the ice at his helm. Turning around, Bruticus found himself being hit with the Kryptonians heat vision, causing lines of brief melting to appear along his faceplate and helm. This caused the combiner to roar out in pain and anger before reaching out to hit at the smaller opponent.
Thankfully, as was seen earlier, one of Superman's other abilities was his unearthly speed. So he sped up about a quarter of a mile away, making the gestalt Cybertronian come after him, though due to his size he was rather slow in his movements. This proved advantageous for the Man of Steel, as when Bruticus made it about a third of the way, he took in a large breath of air before blowing hard and, within a half minute, encased the combiner in a thick, chunk of ice. The Kryptonian let out a sigh of relief at that.
However, it didn't last long, as Bruticus had within about a quarter of a minute already begun breaking out.
"I'll say this about him," the man of steel muttered aloud, "he's resilient."
On top of the Nemesis, overseeing everything was a very displeased Starscream and an even more sheepish Knockout. Looking out at the scene again, the latter made a vocal observation.
"Don't the Bots seem understaffed?"
It was then that the two of them heard the sound of a revving truck, and turned to see that it was Optimus driving hard and fast on an ice formation. The momentum took him so far that when he came off the high edge, it sent him high into the air before transforming into his robot mode and landed on the back of the unsuspected Bruticus' head. The combiner took notice and reached back to knock him off, only for the Prime to stab him with an arm blade right where the head met the neck. The Dark Energon-empowered behemoth roared in pain and again tried to grasp the Autobot leader, but Optimus had managed to swing himself around in time to the gargantuan Cybertronian's face, where he transformed his other hand into a blaster and shot in the giant Con in the left eye. It came again as Superman again used his heat vision on the combiner's upper back.
"GAGH!" yelled the frustrated Starscream. "Is everyone around here incompetent?!" he screeched before transforming into his jet mode and flying straight at Optimus. The flyer collided with the Prime and sent the latter off into the air before smashing into another ice formation and sliding to the ground. Superman tried to fly in and help, but Bruticus finally caught him and began to squeeze him in his large hand. The self-appointed Decepticon leader flew high above before coming down in a nose dive, again aimed at Optimus. "Megatron's greatest mistake was ever allowing you to live, Prime!" he shouted, and was about to let loose a missile on the grounded Autobot when something unexpected happened.
A large, Cybertronian jet collided hard and fast with Starscream, carrying him all the way back to the topside of the Nemesis. This caught nearly everyone's attention, as they all stopped what they were doing and recognized who it was. Optimus was the first to say what they all thought.
"Megatron!" stated the Prime.
"He's back…" said Arcee, concern in voice. Internally, she chastised herself for failing to offline the king of the Cons when she tried. She had the chance and took it, but in the end it proved fruitless.
"MASTER…" bellowed Bruticus. His surprise caused his grip on the Kryptonian softened just enough for the flying man to get free, albeit, rather weakly due to whatever made the Combiner's presence so unhealthy to him.
On top of the Nemesis, Starscream had transformed as he slammed into the ship's topside, turning and looking up to see what had brought him there. Much to his shock and horror, it was none other than his predecessor, who changed into his robot form and immediately stood over him, anger the most evident emotion on his faceplate.
"Lord…Megatron…" he said as he searched for the right words, hoping to weasel his way out of whatever bad situation he might be in. "You…are…you're healed! Praise Primus! It is a miracle!"
"Oh it will be a miracle alright Starscream…if you survive what I have planned for you!" the founder of the Decepticons declared in his raspy voice.
Panicking, the former SIC tried to get away by changing into his jet form, only for Megatron to grab him by the tail. The thrusters on Starscream produced flames, but this proved ineffectual against the warlord, who just withstood the fire and spun him before tossing him into a spire, landing back in robot mode again. As he tried to get up, Megatron just jumped nearly all the way to where he was and began walking towards him. Trying to think of another way out of his predicament, he looked down at the ground and pointed.
"Uh…But, the Autobots, Optimus…right there!"
"My 'greatest mistake'? I've made a few. But there is one I do not intend to repeat!" he stated as he grabbed Starscream by the faceplate and dragged him, all the while ignoring his former SIC's screams for mercy. Stopping briefly, he looked down and accessed his comm., "Bruticus, pull yourself apart and fall back. We're leaving."
"YES, MASTER…" said the Cybertronian behemoth, whose parts then proceeded to shift and disconnect before transforming into the five Combaticon warriors, who had all sustained some damage and were each leaking a glowing purple fluid.
"Soundwave," called Megatron on the comm. again, "make sure that you round the Combaticons, Breakdown and all of our fallen up. They may be offline, but they can still provide a service to us."
With that, numerous ground bridge vortexes opened up from underneath the bodies of the dead Vehicons, making them disappear within moments. Breakdown made a clean run for a portal before Bulkhead and Arcee could do him any more damage, as did the Combaticons with Superman's ranged attacks. Then, the Nemesis began to fly away from the icy landscape, exiting through a massive portal leading to who-knows-where.
Optimus stood up, with Bulkhead and Arcee gathering behind him. Putting his finger to his comm., he called, "Ratchet, we need a bridge."
"You are not the only ones," said the voice of the medic, surprising the three Bots as he, Bumblebee, Cap, and Spider-Man came out from behind a large bit of ice.
"What're you guys doing here?" asked Arcee.
"It's a long story," replied Jack.
"One we'd all like to hear," stated Bulkhead.
8:26 PM
After discussing what the two Bots and humans were doing up there, they all returned to the base via Superman carrying them in a line dangling from the sky. Once back, the Autobots, humans and Kryptonian entered before being greeted by June, Raf and Miko, the latter of whom was surprised and excited to meet the Man of Steel. While the Japanese girl ran her mouth with questions at the base's visitor, the CMO took the scout to the med bay and immediately examined him to see if anything was still wrong. Megatron had left the yellow Bot's mind, but they had to be sure that the Decepticon leader didn't leave anything behind.
On the human end, Raf had thanked Jack for keeping his promise of bringing the preteen's guardian back, as well as forgiving him for being quiet about his suspicions earlier. After questioning the almost weary Superman, Miko was brought in on it as well, both surprised at it and glad that everyone was alright. She asked if the man of steel if he was staying, and naturally drooped in disappointment when he said "no," though he spirits brightened when he said he'd help the Bots whenever he could.
During the time they were away, June had spent it not only consoling the worried Raf, but also silently coming to terms with the fact that both the men in her life, her son and her boyfriend, were superheroes. Okay, maybe not so much that, but more of the fact that there wasn't really much she could do about it. Steve was Captain America, and as such, she had no control over the things he had to do. Jack, on the other hand, was Spider-Man, and she did have more say over what he did. But…she had begun to wonder if she should. True, she wanted what was best for him, and wanted him to live as normal a life as possible, as well as wanting him to do the right thing. What good mother wouldn't want that for her kid? However, with the Autobot-Decepticon war coming into their lives, as well as Jack's becoming the wall-crawler, and the fact that there were powerful people out there that had a strong effect on their lives, was there really any room left for normal?
These questions lingered on in her thoughts as she stood along with everyone else in the base as they stood in the med bay, watching as Ratchet finished examining the scout. On the berth, the equipment holding Bumblebee let him go as the CMO made his announcement.
"Everything's back to normal," he said with relief. After a nod and a few beeps from the yellow bot, he added, "Well, normal for Bumblebee."
"Jack," said Optimus, looking towards the teen and inclining his head towards the patient. The sixteen-year-old nodded and walked up onto the berth. After a moment of his spider-sense not going off, the boy smiled, nodded again, and turned to everyone else.
"He's good!" the dark-haired teen declared with a thumb up.
That got a spread of relief out of the others. As Bumblebee got off the berth, he kneeled down towards Raf and Jack. Then he gave off a few beeps that the preteen, of course, understood.
"It's okay," the younger boy assured his guardian. Another bit of beeping and the twelve-year-old said, "Of course I was." He beeped again, only this time to Jack.
"What'd he say?" the teen asked.
"He said, 'thank you.' Me too," the boy answered with a smile.
Looking up, the spider-teen said, "Anytime."
"Jack, you mind stepping out with me for a moment?" asked Arcee, already walking towards the hallway. Sighing, the boy complied and headed her way, but not before getting a word from Bulkhead.
"Kid, you did alright," the Wrecker stated with approval as he gave a slight tap to the teen's backside. It was meant to be a pat on the back, but it still nearly knocked him over. Giving the green Bot a thumb up, he continued on down the passage, catching up with Arcee, though neither of them stopped until they reached her room. Going inside, the femme sat on her berth while Jack sat close to her on the floor and leaned against the wall.
"Listen, Jack, what you did on the Con ship–" she started before getting interrupted.
"I know, I know, reckless, stupid, and probably could've gotten myself and the others killed."
"I wasn't finished," she said with a hard gaze, shutting him up. "While I agree with what you just said, I'm actually glad you did it." Seeing his confusion, she continued, "You didn't stay quiet about it, for the most part, and you acted when it mattered. For that, I forgive you." She bent down a little and picked him up, with them pulling a similar hug to when he told her about his dad. "But, don't think this means that I'm not still royally pissed at you for not telling us about your alter ego earlier."
"Oh yes, I can understand that," he answered quickly, meaning every word. Pulling away, the two were quiet for a moment before he broke the ice, "Speaking of my other self, what exactly are we going to do about that?"
"To be honest, I'm not really sure. Do you still want to do it?"
"Actually, after much thinking, I feel I have to. If I don't, I'd probably get some guilty reminder somewhere down the line telling me that I could've used my powers to help someone but didn't when I had the chance."
"You really think so?"
"Yeah, because from what I've gathered in some of the conversations with Steve, most superheroes can hardly go a day without finding some situation where they need to step in and help."
"That bad?" she asked.
"Uh-huh, though for a while normal people usually went their entire lives without seeing a crime where they'd need to step in and help. Unfortunately, it's gotten more common these days with all the supers popping up, both good and bad."
"I see."
"But what do you think on this?"
"Truly, I'm mixed about it. On the one hand, I'm supposed to be your guardian and keep you out of harm's way. On the other, you've proven to be helpful when you act and do the right thing. Plus, from that stunt you pulled on the Nemesis with Cap and Ratchet, it doesn't look like I can stop you. So, really, I don't know how to feel about it."
Jack glanced away solemnly before she spoke again.
"But, perhaps we can work this out together…Partner?"
"Really?" the teen asked, surprised and hopeful that she meant what she said.
"Only if you promise not to hide any other important things from me," she stated.
"Deal!" he said and went in for another hug.
8:55 AM
In the morning, Jack, Steve, and June all met up on the platform in the main area of the base. The woman had called the teen and the super soldier there to discuss with them. The sixteen-year-old looked worried while the WWII veteran braced himself for whatever she might say.
"Guys," June started, "a lot's happened in the last few days, and admittedly, I'm still trying to catch up to speed with all that's gone on. It happened so fast; that incident with M.E.C.H., learning about the Autobots and the Decepticons, and finding out that not only has my son hidden the fact that he got spider powers and has been going out at night fighting criminals," Jack hung his head guilty when she said that, "but also that my boyfriend for nearly a year has been Captain America this whole time." Now it was Steve's turn, only his was slighter than the teen's. "I'd really love for things to go back to the way they were before all this occurred…but I understand that right now, there's not much of a snow ball's chance in Hell of that happening." Both males raised their heads and looked at her. "And I also understand that with some of the stuff going on now, I'll have to adjust my comfort zone a little."
"What do you mean, Mom?" asked Jack.
"What I mean is, both the men in my life are superheroes, and while I'm still royally pissed with you for hiding this from me, I'm not going to yell and scream about it. Rather, with all the stuff that's going on now, with us being caught up in the middle of an alien war and all the super-powered people out there, there's one damning thing that'll help me forgive you."
"And that is?" asked Steve.
After a moment, she sighed and said, "…I think I can live with it." This made both the teen and the super soldier widen their eyes in surprise. "As crazy as that sounds, that's how it is." She pulled both into a hug and whispered into their ears, "Just as long as neither of you hides another damn big thing from me."
"I don't think I have anything left to hide," said Jack as she let go of him and Steve.
"Not sure I do either, aside from what Fury hides," said the super soldier.
"Speaking of which," said the teen, "didn't you say he had a mission for you as soon as we cleared up that mess with Bumblebee?"
"Yeah, and now that that is settled, I have to head out today."
"Where to?" asked June.
"Gotham City, New Jersey," Jack answered for the man.
"On the East Coast?" the woman asked, earning a nod, "But why out there?"
"Unfortunately, June, that's classified."
She sighed, "…When do you think you'll be back?"
"Hopefully in a few days or less, depending how big this turns out to be." 'Not to mention who I have to partner up with. Let's hope this Batman's more willing to work with me than Thomas was.'
A/N: Boy did that take forever, so sorry for the wait. And what's this? Cap's heading to Gotham, and Thomas Wayne was once Batman?! What could this mean? We'll find out in the next chapter.
Honestly, this introduces Superman earlier than I intended, and I hadn't originally intended for the combiners to be in this at all, but I hope it worked.
For those of you who were hoping to see the X-Men in this, well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but they won't be making an appearance here. At all; and one of the reasons for that being that if they were going to appear, they would've been mentioned by the already established characters by now. Plus, while I admit I used to find them appealing, as I got older the less interested I was in them. And another reason is that…well…it'd be more characters than I could write into this, since there's like a billion characters in that area of Marvel alone. Also, this little quote/rant from Linkara on Atop the Fourth Wall spoke to me:
"But the more I think about the X-Men, the less sense they make. Hell, ignore the science of the X-Men and mutants alike, they don't make sense in the Marvel Universe at all! What, super soldiers made by the U.S. government are okay, but mutants aren't?! The Fantastic Four (won't be appearing either) get mutated in space, but they get a free pass from hate and fear?! Hell, a lot of the dumber events in the Marvel Universe can get traced back to the X-Men."
Yeah…that was quite a bit. Now I know some of you might be thinking, "He should remember that it's just fiction," or something like that, and no doubt a majority of you are probably thinking of ways to defend the X-Men being included and the like. But, as Linkara and a certain friend of mine agree, they don't fit in, at all. Now, perhaps if the X-Men and mutants were in their own separate universe, I could be ok with it. Otherwise, not happening here folks.
However, in fairness, I might reconsider if somebody found a good way to introduce both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men that is coherent with what I've written so far. But, I make no assurances on that, as I'm not one for making promises that I don't know if I can keep. After all, I'm using characters from Marvel, DC, and Transformers. This means I need to avoid this trope:
Loads and Loads of Characters – when a story has more characters than it is able to focus on, develop, or the audience is able to keep track of
I hope that doesn't discourage you from reading this story, as I've got big plans up ahead that you'll want to see.
As always, read and review people, and PM me with any questions or suggestions you might have for future chapters.
