Chapter 12: Corrosion

"What did that oggling curvalicious techno organic do to my laboratory?" a humanoid figure made of acidic liquid and cloaked in a somewhat disco-inspired suit hissed to himself as he looked about it from the computer console he was at. Meltdown hung his head pathetically and shook it. It appeared as though a war happened in it. "All my work...all my progress...all ruined! Because of those stupid ungroovalicious transformers!!!" "I hope you don't count me," said a dark voice from the door leading to the halls of the facility, "Especially since I'm offering to help you."

Meltdown looked curiously as a purple motorcycle drove into his once glamorous base and transformed into a tall humanoid robot. "Depends what kind of help," the acidic human muttered crossing his liquidy arms over his chest and glaring at the intruder, "I've already had previous "help" turn rather catastrophically on me in the end." "Were they people that were actually willing to help you?" At this Meltdown just rolled his eyes and took a step towards Sideways. "It seems that there are many that have something against the Autobots on this island and in the city nearby." "Probably," Meltdown hissed as he walked up to Sideways and looked up at his face, "They've been nothing but trouble to a lot of people since the day they made themselves known."

"Well what exactly is your deal with them?" Sideways asked and looked at the computer monitor Meltdown had been viewing before walking over to him. There were pictures displayed on the screen of the Autobots that normally patrolled the city. "They ruined my life and keep me from completing my dreams," Meltdown replied. "Which are?" "To make a completely organic transformer!" Sideways looked down at Meltdown with an odd look. He certainly was insane. "Well alright," Sideways said shrugging his shoulders, "Not like it hasn't been done before, and besides, I know exactly the bot you'll be wanting."

"Listen, I can explain," Sentinel Prime hesitantly said as he looked back at the ruined Space Bridge he had caused. "Then explain," Optimus Prime ordered as he crossed his arms over his chest plate. After the battle with Waspinator and Sideways everyone besides Ratchet had rushed back over to Sumdac Tower where Optimus had dropped their human helpers off at. Professor Sumdac had immediately rushed downstairs upon hearing the news to check on his daughter and her friend. Optimus hadn't expected to find his old Autobot Academy partner there waiting for them at the top of the tower though, who had apparently repeated Sideway's actions by cutting off access to Cybertron from the Space Bridge.

"Your big chinned buddy here just came outta nowhere and wrecked my Space Bridge boss bot!" Bulkhead yelled from behind the control console for the high-tech machine. "You think I just destroyed it for no reason?!" Sentinel yelled back. "Then what was the reason?" Optimus asked. "Well I..." the large blue Cybertronian mumbled hesitantly, "I...I needed to stop the people chasing me from catching me!" "Who'd be chasin' you dawg?" Jazz asked curiously, "Yous is the head of the Elite Guard." "Was," Sentinel corrected, "The Elite Guard no longer exists." "WHAT?!" Jazz exclaimed. "And the people chasing me were the Autobot Council's personal guards." At this all the Autobots gave surprised reactions.

Optimus had known for quite some time that Sentinel wasn't really the best choice to be a member of the Elite Guard but he never imagined him getting in serious trouble with the authorities, no matter how big his ego got. "And why would my dear old big Sentinel be getting in trouble?" Blackarachnia commented making her way to the front of the group. Instantly Sentinel Prime backed away almost falling off the edge of the tower in the process. "Why are you here?!" Sentinel exclaimed fearfully receiving a glare back from the female transformer, "I saw you get caught in the transwarp blast with the other freak when I visited that stupid island!" "And here I thought you might actually be grateful about me saving your sorry exhaust port back then."

"Sentinel," Jazz interrupted to continue on the more important matter at hand, "Why were you in trouble with the Council?" "It was because of the boys," Sentinel Prime told him, his sad memories of his two disciples overcoming his fear of organics for the moment, "They....they might be offline." "What?!" the ninja-bot exclaimed looking taking a step forward, "How?! What happened? I thought those two cool cats could handle anything!" "Not what I might have sent them up against..." "But how does this have to do with you getting in trouble with the council?" Optimus asked, "They're used to loosing troops." Jazz looked at the earth Autobot leader rather coldly at his ignoring of the Jet-twin's fate. "Because of what happened with the boys I looked too deeply into things," Sentinel told him, "Things that the Council wanted to keep a secret."

"What are you talking about?" Optimus asked confused. "Optimus," Sentinel said walking towards him, "You know of the Autobot Council and how sometimes things don't really make sense to us with what their decisions are." "Even Ultra Magnus had a few problems with them," Jazz added. "Well there are some things that the Council keeps secret," Sentinel told them and looked at the ground, "Some...dark things, things that not even Magnus knew about. Things that they don't want revealed." The entire group looked at each other with odd expressions. "Everyone!" Issac Sumdac exclaimed bursting through the door to the top of the tower in a panic, "Sari and Bumblebee are missing!"

"Come on Bumblebee," Sari moaned as she dragged the sluggish boy through an alleyway, "We gotta keep moving!" "Why are we doing this again?" Bumblebee asked grinding his feet to a halt and yawning. "Because if we don't you won't have a choice to be a human, they'll just turn you into your old transformer self the next attempt they get!" Sari told him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "You do want to be a human still right?..." "Well yeah of course I do!" he stammered blushing as Sari's face knelt towards his, "But...but they're our pals Sari! We should be able to trust them!" "What about when I had my key taken away?" Sari asked. "I was telling them you should keep it," the boy told her. "I know," Sari replied, "You always thought about me."

Nervously Bumblebee tried to back away but Sari's arms pulled him in tighter. "Ever since you got to this planet you've been my best friend, the only real one I've ever had," she told him closing her eyes. "What about the others?" "Yeah, you all became my friends," she mumbled back and opened her eyes again, "But you were the first, and you've remained my favorite and best one no matter what's happened." "Well you've been my favorite earth friend since I've been here," Bumblebee told her with a smile and she bonked her forehead lightly against his. "I'm the only one you guys have ever hung around." "Well still," Bumblebee stammered blushing again, this time more in embarrassment than anything else, "You're my best friend also I mean."

"I am?" she asked raising an eyebrow, "Me? A girl that's only been alive for around a decade is the best friend to a being that's lived for possibly thousands of years?...and now I feel really creeped out since I'm technically doing the things I do with a guy that's over a hundred years old." "You said it yourself, I'm not that old mental-wise in human years," Bumblebee laughed, "so it works out fine. And yeah...you are my best friend." "What about Bulkhead?" "Well yeah, me and him'll always be buds," he said and smiled at her again, "But...you're special to me." "How?" Sari asked.

"Well...well you see, back on Cybertron, not that I'm not cool or anything, but...none of the bots ever really noticed what coolness I was always giving off. Not a single spark ever paid attention to me, no matter what I did. And when I got to Autobot Boot Camp, it was even worse when Wasp and the guys made fun of me. Of course they were probably just jealous of my awesomeness, but still, it stung and made it even worse than when I was being ignored. Luckily that's when me and Bulky met and he was always there to back me up, even if he wasn't the best guy to have as a partner social-wise." "Was Wasp the-" "Yeah," Bumblebee sighed remembering Waspinator's attack earlier, "That WAS Wasp. Anyhow, then we came to earth and we met and...for the first time I had someone that actually thought I was awesome. You."

Sari smiled pathetically at Bumblebee and pressed her lips against his. She knew that Bumblebee was always one to try and get attention. She hadn't ever known though how much of an act it all was that he put on. "You don't have to try to impress me you know," she told him as the kiss ended, "I'll always love you no matter what. You having been a robot is awesome in itself. Not to mention you're the only thing that's an actual match against me in video games that I've come across." Bumblebee smiled and nuzzled his nose against hers. "I don't try to act out around you as much as the others," he told her. "Good," she whispered, "Cause you're not that good at acting."

"Alright, let's take this from the top," Optimus Prime said with his hands behind his back as Sentinel Prime, Blackarachnia, and Scrapper stood in front of him in a room that was a giant machine lift in Sumdac Towers, "We need to get this whole mess cleared up right now." "But Prime, what about Sari and Bumblebee?" Bulkhead asked hesitantly, "Her dad says they left a note saying they were running away." "Jazz's on it," Prime responded looking at the three bots before him as he began to pace the room and eye them curiously. "And Wasp?" "He's back at your little factory locked up as tight as possible in my room you forced me into," Blackarachnia muttered to the green Autobot, "Hopefully though I can have a bit more fun with him and finish my experiments successfully for once."

"Prime, why don't you just slag this abomination already?" Sentinel asked pointing to the spidery fem-bot, "She already hates what she is and she shouldn't exist anyway!" "Sentinel, just shut your mouth," Prime responded before Blackarachnia could make a remark of her own. "Prime, I outrank you! You dar-" "Yes," Prime said cutting the ex-Elite Guard Member off, "You need to keep in mind though that you're no longer on Cybertron. I run things on this planet Cybertronian-wise, so you either do as you're told or we'll put you in stasis-lock, especially in these conditions." Both Blackarachnia and Sentinel looked at Optimus at a loss of words. They'd never seen him talk to either of them like that before.

"Either way," Blackarachnia eventually said, breaking the silence, "If you want me doing anything Prime I've already told you I don't know exactly how all the technological stuff is set up for the equipment I used to use." "That will be a bit of a setback," Prime muttered rubbing his chin, "But Bulkhead here works on Space Bridges so I'm sure he'll be of some help." "I'll need Meltdown's knowledge to do everything like how it should be done," Blackarachnia told him, "And for that I actually need him, and we know what happened to him when he tried to make me into an even more warped being." "What kind?" Sentinel commented, "Can't get much worse than what you are now." "A completely organic transformer," Blackarachnia told him with a smile. Sentinel Prime nearly had a seizure at the thought.

"We'll get that sorted out later," Prime said, "In the meantime, I sent Ratchet to the factory before we came here to keep our insect-like friend company." "Alrights, now how does I fit into all this?" Scrapper asked sitting down in the corner and stretching, "As far as I can sees, you got all the talkin you need between those two bickering bots you're dealing with right now." "I need you because we need to talk about Sideways." "Side-who?" Sentinel asked curiously. "Sideways," Optimus Prime told him, "A purple transformer that wears a dark horned helmet most of the time that told us he was a secret Council agent only to double-cross us earlier today after stirring up trouble in our group to distract us from what his plans were."

"Purple Trans...for..mer..." Sentinel muttered, "A purple transformer with that helmet?! That's the guy that I was trying to stop from coming to earth!" At this everyone's heads rose in shock. "Well, we'll get to that in a bit," Optimus assured as he turned to Blackarachnia, "First, we need to start with who we think saw him first." "Um, hello Optimus," Sentinel said, "He came from Cybertron, I'd have seen him first." "I don't think that's what the order of events exactly was," Optimus replied, "Now Blackarachnia, please start." "Alright," she muttered shaking her head, "As you both know, after the little mishap with Waspinator he had a buildup of an immense amount of transwarp energy.

"Eventually, I somehow made it back to my old base I fought you and big boy there in," she said pointing to Sentinel Prime who turned his face away, "And that's when I took your brat in for my next experiment." Optimus's face sunk a bit. "Then you all came and rudely interrupted the process and drove me deeper into my lair. After you left I trudged back out to find the place in ruins and Sideways there to greet me. Since then, he's been operating everything I've done." "I see," Optimus muttered, "And that's why you said you didn't have a choice when I asked about fixing Bumblebee? You needed to check with him first?" Blackarachnia nodded closing her eyes. "Interesting...well, that's where we first know of him popping up. Now, Sentinel."

"Thank you," the egotistical Autobot muttered, "A few stellar-cycles back, after doing a bit of investigating that resulted in the Jet...twins...you know that part. After their...fate, something happened. Megatron and his lieutenants, Shockwave and Lugnut, were broken out of prison." "What?!" Bulkhead and Optimus exclaimed. "Weren't you informed?" Sentinel asked with a shrug. "No," Prime responded shaking his head, "Sideways told us that everything was pretty much fine on Cybertron." "Oh, well that makes sense," Sentinel confirmed nodding his head, "Since that purple-bot was the one that freed those Decepticons!" "Primus," Optimus muttered. "He obviously didn't want any unneeded attention. But what makes you say he was on earth before he got to Cybertron?" "Because," Prime responded, "We were there when Sideways came to earth, and the stuff with Blackarachnia must have happened before his arrival from what we've come to know." "Then that means he's the one that used the Space Bridge originally!" Bulkhead announced. "Exactly," Optimus said.

"And now I suppose yous wants me," Scrapper mumbled stretching again as he got to his feet. Optimus nodded and the Constructicon looked over the group. "Well you know when me and old double-face met," he said, "You were there when he first went all psycho killer on me and Snarl." "We didn't mean to-" "It's alright man," Scrapper told Prime, "I know you guys aren't really bad, it's just that whack-job that was the problem. Anyhow, the first real time he talked to me afterwards he told me about old spider-legs there and how she was a Decepticon as was he in disguise as an Autobot and told me that you were going to slag us once we had stopped being useful to you guys."

"We'd never do that," Optimus assured the Constructicon. "I never thought you would," Scrapper replied shrugging his shoulders, "Until he showed me you trying to apparently kill Snarl when you were playing fetch earlier." "So that's why he was really there," Optimus muttered, "And that's why you acted the way you did." "One of the things Sideways ordered me to do was do whatever the Constructicon told me to do," Blackarachnia informed, "And sure enough, this fellow showed up at my door trying to rush me out of your factory earlier." "I was just trying to protect ya lady," Scrapper muttered folding his arms over his chest-plate, "I save the people that I know are in danger." "And Sideways took advantage of that trait," Optimus added.

"What? So this guy's just one big puppet-master?" Sentinel asked irritably. "I don't know for sure," Optimus replied and began pacing again, "But I know he's not just some other transformer and I'm actually pretty...worried about what he might have planned now that we know how much he's influenced things in the past few stellar-cycles. It's obvious that he's not done yet." "What do you mean he's not just some other transformer?" Sentinel asked, "sure he's skilled, but he's still a transformer, I saw him in vehicle mode!" "You didn't witness what we did," Prime told him, "I tore an entire half of his face-plate off in our last battle and it repaired itself in just a few seconds." Now it was Sentinel's turn to be a bit shocked. Not even on Cybertron were there transformers that could heal themselves, especially not that fast.

Just then the alarms to the tower began going off. "Autobots!" Professor Sumdac yelled over the intercom, "Emergency in the city!" "What kind of emergency professor?" Optimus asked, "We're sort of in the middle of something." "Fanzone is reporting major losses of his troops," he replied, "Something very destructive. They haven't been able to spot exactly what's causing all the destruction yet, but they need you out there!" "Perfect," Optimus muttered, "Alright everyone, and I mean EVERYONE. Let's transform and roll out now!" Immediately Bulkhead did as he was told and their lift lowered to the ground floor. The others were hesitant but as they saw the two members begin to drive off they followed in the transforming and took chase after them.

"Look Bumblebee, we're on our own now, we can't just stop every minute or so," Sari told the boy who was scraping his feet behind her. "But I'm tired..." he moaned, "I never had this problem when I was an Autobot but for some reason I feel like I could just fall asleep right here. Sari rolled her eyes and looked up. It was rather late out, undoubtedly past midnight. She too felt rather sleepy, but they had to keep going. They couldn't just let the Autobots find them. If they did, there was no way they were ever gonna let the two humans out of their site again.

Lazily, Bumblebee slung his arm around Sari's neck and leaned against her back with his eyelids half closed. "You really are ready to crash anywhere aren't you?" she asked receiving a nod from the half-asleep boy. After letting out a sigh Sari looked around at their surroundings. They had eventually wandered into a park where she, him, and Bulkhead had once seen a mime performing. Her eyes opened a bit and spotted a play-set in the distance that kids always swarmed about on during the daytime and began walking towards it. "Where are we going?" Bumblebee murmured, his arm still around the girl's throat, "I don't like walking pillows." "Well, if we're going to get some shut eye we need a proper place for shelter first," she told him pointing to the play-set.

As soon as her finger had directed his attention to the structure Bumblebee's arm left her throat and he began running towards it at full speed. With a smile on her face Sari shook her head and followed him. "So this is our new house?" he asked with his hands on his hips as Sari came up alongside him, "Where'll the T.V. go?" "This is just where we're sleeping tonight," Sari laughed grabbing his hand and interlocking her fingers with his, "We don't have a place to call home anymore." "Whoa whoa whoa!" Bumblebee exclaimed backing up and staring at Sari, "When you told me about this running away thing you never said we weren't going to have a home!" "Well, it's sort of obvious," Sari told him shrugging her shoulders, "And it's part of growing up anyhow, learning to be more independent."

"But what about television?!" Bumblebee cried grabbing the horns of his yellow hat in desperation, "What about the video games?! What about the movies?! What about the robots that prepare things for you?!" "Um...you remember how we went camping in the woods?" Sari asked with an embarrassed smile. "Yes..." Bumblebee muttered glaring at her, "And do you remember how that turned out?..." "Uh..." "You do know how to run away from home correctly right?" "Well of course!" Sari exclaimed blushing, "It's just like camping!" "So...you saw it in a movie...." "Well yeah!...Probably..." Sari mumbled poking her pointer fingers together nervously.

After a few seconds of silence Sari turned to look at the play-set and pointed to a tube connecting two parts of it together. "There," she said confidently, "That's the perfect place for our bed." "Are you sure?" Bumblebee asked scratching his head as he too looked at it. "Of course!" Sari told him turning back around with a big smile, "It's obviously how all run-away kids would take up shelter." "If you say so," Bumblebee said with a shrug and began climbing the steps to the upper floor of the set, "Did you bring a sleeping bag?" For a few moments there was silence and he turned around to look down at Sari. She was biting her bottom lip. "Sari..." "Um..." she stammered, "I sorta forgot...but I got a blanket!" "Hopefully the plastic isn't too hard," Bumblebee sighed and continued making his way towards the tube as Sari now began climbing the steps.

"So...who goes in first?" Bumblebee asked as he arrived at the tube, "You're the run-away expert and all." "I'm thinking," Sari replied and set down her backpack, "And I'm thinking...you." "Alrighty," he yawned and crawled into it. "Sort of a tight fit," he told her as he got all the way in and looked towards the opening. "I'm sure it's big enough," she assured as she now began crawling in next to him. Bumblebee blushed, a lot, as Sari struggled against his body to get all the way in with her blanket. "Comfy?" Bumblebee asked as she draped the blanket over their bodies and squirmed about. "With you?" she yawned and nuzzled her face into his neck, "Always."

"Hello sir," Arcee greeted as she opened the door and stepped into the metal room beyond, "Long time no see." "You don't need to call me sir anymore," Ultra Magnus responded as the door shut and she sat down on a stool next to him, "I'm no longer the leader." "That's just silly sir," Arcee responded with a smile, "The Autobot Council is reinstating you as leader now that our newer Magnus has disappeared." "Who was in my place while I was not functioning?" "An Elite Guard member," she told him, "one of yours. Sentinel Prime." "He disappeared?" "That's what's been reported," Arcee said. "And what if I chose not to take up my old position?" Ultra Magnus asked from his slab of a bed, "What will the Council do then?" "They'll have me working even more with you," Arcee explained, "I'm here to be your psychiatrist sort of. Anything that you have on your processor I'm here to record and get you back up to your old self."

"My old self can be slagged for all I care," Ultra Magnus told her closing his optics, "With how the Council runs things nothing will ever get done correctly." "What do you mean sir?" Arcee asked shaking her head doubtfully, "Are you sure you aren't just-" "I'm sure," Magnus said plainly and opened his optics back up to look at her, "My optics are now open to the whole picture. I now understand things that should be done that won't ever get done because of the Council that we have in place running Cybertron." Arcee looked oddly at her old commander. "And what would those things be?" "The purpose of us Cybertronians being fulfilled," Ultra Magnus told her, "Understanding of the universe, things that make me wonder if Megatron was even really all that bad." "Well we certainly do have a lot of work to do," Arcee muttered quietly to herself.

"Now then..." Meltdown muttered as he walked through Detroit's streets, "Where did that purple guy say my sleekiliscious test subject was?..." "Right here!" Blackarachnia exclaimed leaping down in front of the rest of the group as they came up on the supervillain. "I guess we now see how so much damage has been caused," Bulkhead muttered as the rest of the Autobots transformed into their robot modes. "Well well," Meltdown laughed looking at his new opponents with his hands on his hips, "If it isn't the group of ungroovy bots that nearly wiped me out last time. I see a few new faces but most of you I recognize. However spider, I hate to break it to you, but we just weren't meant for each other."

"What?" Blackarachnia asked confused. "Well you see, you were a great test subject and all, don't get me wrong," Meltdown explained as he turned back around and continued to walk away, "But I've found a new specimen, one much less...intelligent." "And who would that be?" she hissed as Bulkhead got out how wrecking ball. "One that looks more like a wasp." Optimus's eyes rose in surprise at the statement and signaled for Bulkhead to put the wrecking ball away remembering how deadly Meltdown's skin was, even to them. "How did you come back?" Optimus asked trying to keep the villain's attention away from his goal, "Last we saw you were destroyed when you were-" "Hit by the Genetic Modifier?" Meltdown finished and turned back around to confront his audience, "Yes, that did sting but it didn't destroy me. You didn't stick around to see my great return."

"Bulkhead," Optimus whispered as the deadly being continued to go into even greater length about how he survived the blast, "Get back to factory and warn Ratchet, now!" "Roger," the green Autobot replied and morphed into vehicle mode. "And that is how I survived," Meltdown finished as Bulkhead backed out of the scene, "Now then I have a rather unique patient I need to give special attention if you don't mind." "You'll have to go through us first!" Optimus yelled charging forward and swinging his ax at Meltdown. "That shouldn't be too hard," he said shooting a glob of his acidic body straight into Prime's leg causing him to trip head over heals as the spot it hit immediately broke down into shards from the corrosive material.

"Optimus!" Blackarachnia cried and began running towards him. "Aw how cute," Meltdown laughed to himself, "The female has a crush on her savior." "Blackarachnia look out!" Optimus yelled and shot his grappling hook into her chest to knock her out of the way from Meltdown's next blast. "What is he?!" Sentinel Prime whispered to Scrapper as Snarl backed up in fear of his memories from Meltdown's touch. "No idea," the Constructicon muttered, "But he's scarin' the slag out of Snarly." Optimus hadn't realized just who he had left himself with when he sent Bulkhead to warn Ratchet. None of the bots that could actually think, besides him and Blackarachnia, had had any experience with Meltdown.

"Ah, now on to the newbies," Meltdown sighed seeing that Optimus was now preoccupied with helping Blackarachnia back up and limping on his damaged leg, "None of you look the slightest bit interesting to my plans. Oh wait, I remember the triceratops." "Listen you abominable organic blob," Sentinel Prime said stepping forward and sticking his lance in the villain's face, "I already don't like the normal creatures on this planet but you are a whole different story. I'm going to stamp you out of existence!" "Really?" Meltdown snickered and put his hand on the weapon melting the tip of it, "And just how will you manage to do that?" Sentinel backed up a bit as he was effortlessly disarmed by the much smaller opponent.

"Like this!" Blackarachnia yelled wrapping her webbing around Meltdown and slammed him into the side of a car before he had the chance to break out. "Sentinel," she said with her arm supporting Optimus as Meltdown began to recover from the surprise attack, "We need him alive, don't flat out destroy him." "Would he even be able to?" Scrapper asked while Meltdown emerged from the now smoking and melting vehicle. "Either way I'm sure gonna try and no half organic freak tells me what to do!" Sentinel declared and charged at Meltdown.

"Alright sir," Arcee sighed putting a hand to her forehead, "I think I need to take a break." "I told you you might not be ready to hear what I told you," Ultra Magnus muttered, "No one ever is on this Cybertron." "Sir, it's just...what you suggest flows so perfectly with our history but...it just can't be! The Autobot Council would never allow for that kind of stuff to happen." "Exactly." The pink Autobot looked at her patient. She hadn't expected such a challenge when she received her assignment, she just thought it was going to be another chit chat session. Now she didn't even know if she could change her patient's processor at all. "Look sir, I'll be back later, we can continue our session then." "Do you want to?" Ultra Magnus asked sitting up.

Arcee looked away and got up. "Wait," Ultra Magnus said grabbing her arm, "you still think of me as a commanding officer right?" "Well sir but-" "I need you to do something for me," he told her. "What sir?" "You remember Omega Supreme I hope." "Well yes sir," she replied, "He was what I came back to Cybertron on." "Well the Autobot Council has him in storage," Ultra Magnus told her, "And you should still have clearance to those sectors of the Fortress Maximus. "And what do you want me to do?" "I need you to take him back to earth with some of the things I told you about," he said sternly. "But sir-" "This is your new mission Intelligence Agent Arcee," Ultra Magnus ordered.

"Are you alright Sentinel?" Optimus asked as he and Blackarachnia carried him behind Scrapper and Snarl, "Sure reminds me of old times." "Can it Optimus," Sentinel coughed leaking a bit of oil out of his mouth. He hadn't expected such a beating from a small organic creature, even if it did have such a dangerous touch. His leg had nearly gotten as badly banged up as Optimus's had and he had suffered a severe burn to his chest plate revealing part of his Spark chamber. After having had his lance completely destroyed Meltdown had simply left the Autobot to topple over and wandered off back towards his destination. "Shouldn't we pick up the pace a bit?" Scrapper asked and hopped onto Snarl's back for a ride, "I mean, at this rate he's sure to beat us there."

"I already informed Captain Fanzone that he was headed to our base and they've set up a perimeter around it," Optimus told him, "Feel free to go on ahead and help them, but we can't really move much faster with how badly me and Sentinel are damaged." "You heard him boy!" Scrapper exclaimed digging his heels into the Dinobot's sides causing it to rear up and charge, "Hi ho Snarl!!!" Scrapper always loved the rush that came with the rides he got from his mighty companion. Everytime was its own adventure to him as the wind whizzed past his face and objects along the sides of his vision blurred into a mesh of colors.

He ducked to avoid a suspended road as they rounded a corner and zoomed down a road. With each turn Scrapper hung onto Snarl's horns for dear life feeling the emergency in the movements. This was the kind of life he wanted. Complete excitement all the time, always experiencing a new surge of energy and being useful while doing so. Mix had never been one to get involved in things when he was given the option, nor was Scrapper, but Scrapper always was at least a bit more inclined to do things and take action. He looked down as they turned again to see the cars and people along the roads and sidewalks as nothing but a mix of warped colors staring back at the duo as they swept forth in the night air.

Finally, Snarl leapt over a fence and came to a halt as he landed skidding along the dirt on the outside of the factory. "About time you machines showed up!" Fanzone yelled through his megaphone as Scrapper's face hit the ground from Snarl's sudden stop and he toppled forward in front of the police chief, "eh, where are the other guys?" "A bit of a holdup," Scrapper replied jabbing his thumb over his shoulder, "That goopey guy managed to give em quite a thrashing." "Tell you the truth this is the only guy our size that I've seen actually beat up one of yous guys," Fanzone told him and spread his arm out to present his troops which were currently making a barrier with their bodies around the factory, "But we're ready for whenever he might come. Now I never seen you before a few days ago so you gotta know something. Don't touch that freak's skin, his suit is where you'll wanna hit if you wanna keep all your body parts intact."

"Thanks for the heads up," Scrapper said with a smile before pointing to the police group, "But do your men there know that?" "Of course they...do..." Fanzone replied slowly as he turned around and saw the acidic liquidy humanoid enter from a hole he had melted in the fence around the factory. "Fire!" Fanzone yelled through his megaphone, "Don't let that monster through!" "You're too kind dear captain," Meltdown muttered as the police began shooting. With each blast Metldown's structure simply filled back in the holes that were made in his body as the shots that hit his suit bouncing off mostly. "Ah I see a rather familiar face in the audience of this concert," Meltdown laughed as he began to walk towards Snarl who backed up shivering, "Now then, I believe you remember what your old master would do to you if you didn't do as he said. So...destroy these pests for me and I may let you live."

"No way!" Scrapper yelled and sent his foot flying right into the chest of Meltdown's suit causing him to smash right back through the fence he'd come through, "Especially not now that I know that you used to order Snarly around!" "Nice kick..." Fanzone muttered and looked at the two Transformers next to him. Hesitantly, Snarl looked up at Scrapper and then at Meltdown, then back at Scrapper again. "I'm here for ya boy," Scrapper told his companion with a smile, "You aren't just some pet, you're my pal. You aren't owned by anyone." "What are you waiting for?" Meltdown hissed as he stepped back into view, "DESTROY THEM!" Letting out a vicious roar the Dinobot charged, but at Meltdown.

"Just as dumb as when we first met I see," Meltdown laughed to himself holding out an acidic hand to the oncoming beast. Right before the liquid touched Snarl's body though, the Dinobot leapt over the humanoid, transformed into his robot mode in midair, and slammed his flaming club into Meltdown's back knocking him clear across the desolate sand-covered back lot of the factory. "You miserable little..." Meltdown muttered as he got back to his feet, "I'll just have to get rid of you all myself!" "Fire men!" Fanzone yelled again and the shots blazed about viciously trying to stop the oncoming threat.

As Meltdown got closer and closer to the factory though Scrapper and Snarl both began to run at him. "This is for cruelty towards Dinobots!" Scrapper yelled as he tried to land a punch on the smaller opponent only for it to miss as Meltdown stepped to the side and placed his hand on the transformer's fist. Instantly Scrapper was rolling on the ground screaming and Snarl rushed over to him. The Dinobot however was also crying in a matter of seconds as Meltdown sent a swift jab of his fingers into his knee. "Leave them alone!" Bulkhead yelled as he smashed through the side of the factory and launched his wrecking ball into Meltdown's back. The green Autobot began to drag the blunt object back in as the humanoid struggled back to his feet with lasers constantly swarming him. "Kid stop!" Ratchet ordered emerging from the broken down wall, "You need to stay in here!"

"Stay down!" Bulkhead yelled thrusting his wrecking ball again. This time however, Meltdown leaned backwards beneath the large sphere and grabbed ahold of the cord that connected it to the Autobot's arm. "Hey get off!" Bulkhead barked trying to reel the wrecking ball back in on the decomposing cord, "Do you know how irritating it is to have this thing re-attached?!" "I personally don't care if it takes all the boogalicious night," Meltdown replied as he swung onto the Autobot's chest-plate and the cord snapped, "Cause you're gonna need a lot more fixed than just that construction utensil." "You stay off him!" Ratchet yelled and blasted the liquidy humanoid with his EMP Generator sending him flying back into the sanding ground outside.

"That's it!" Fanzone yelled angrily and grabbed a gun from one of his men before running towards Meltdown himself, "This has gone on long enough! You're through ya freak!" "Oh please..." Meltdown hissed as he got back to his feet once more and launched a blast of his acidic material at the captain. "What's Fanzone doing?!" Optimus exclaimed as he and his two companions finally made it to the arena. "Relax Prime," Ratchet told him with a smile as Fanzone rolled beneath the attack and slammed his fist right into the stomach of Meltdown's suit, "I'm pretty sure the captain can hold his own against this guy." "But he's Meltdown!" Bulkhead yelled as he saw Meltdown grab the collar of Fanzone's shirt. "But he's Fanzone," Ratchet replied as the human ripped the collar of his shirt and swung his legs into the thighs of Meltdown's suit knocking him to the ground, "And I'm pretty sure you haven't seen what all I've seen that that guy is capable of."

"You have the right to remain silent!" Fanzone told Meltdown as he pulled the suit's sleeves to their limits and wrapped them in a knot around each other before starting with the legs, "Break that right and you'll probably bore me to tears so keep your trap shut!" All the transformers other than Ratchet just looked dumbfounded at the scene before them. Captain Fanzone, a human, had just subdued the most one of the most deadly earth opponents they had ever gone up against with barely any effort at all. "Told you he could handle it," Ratchet told them as the captain began walking the criminal back towards the perimeter of police. The sun had begun to rise. "Guys!" Jazz's voice called as he stumbled through the fence in front of his fellow transformers rather battered, "Guys...I found our little helpers...need help!..."

"I really hope I'm doing the right thing," Arcee muttered to herself and her fingers clicked viciously away at various keys in the large ship's bridge, "Halt!" she heard the authorities on the outside of Omega Supreme yelling amongst various other phrases, "Step out of the ship with your servos in the air! We have you surrounded!" "Can not comply with your request unfortunately," she said as she activated the cannons of the ship causing explosions to occur around the vessel. "That should buy me some time," Arcee said as her fingers continued to click the keys, "Just need to get the coordinates right and...there!"

Eerily, the large space craft hummed to life and numerous monitors across its interior began to light up and illuminate the rooms around the pink Autobot. "Come on..." she moaned desperately as the explosions began to subside and banging could be heard echoing from the entrance, "Work..." Suddenly the banging started to fade as Arcee saw a blue light begin to swirl around the windows of the ship. "Transwarp sequence activated," Omega Supreme's voice boomed, "Destination: Earth." With a rather processor-piercing low frequency noise the outside surroundings of the windows vanished and were instead replaced by a clear bubbling expanse of sand and underwater plant-life.

Sari yawned as her eyes flickered open from the rays of dawn glaring into the tube on her and her bed buddy. Bumblebee just mumbled something sleepily and wrapped his around Sari's body tighter than they already were. "Hey Bumblebee..." she whispered and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Time to get up sleepy-head." "In a few stellar cycles," he muttered and turned over in the tube taking Sari around his body with his arms still wrapped around her. She just blushed and smiled as she felt their bodies interact and began trying to squirm out of his grip. The boy though, didn't seem to want to let go as his limbs constricted around her tighter and tighter with each attempt she made to try and get free.

"Bumblebee," Sari said again nuzzling her nose against his, "I wanna spend more time like this also, but we need to get up. Gotta keep moving." "What's the hurry?" Bumblebee asked with a yawn as he stretched and opened his eyes. "We're running away..." "Oh yeah, that," he grumbled and looked out of the top of the tube, "Couldn't we just stay wrapped up in here a bit longer?" "Doubt it," Sari replied yanking the covers off them and sliding out of the tube, "there's no telling when kids'll start coming here to play." "Fine," the boy sighed and slid back out behind her. "But we continue later," he told her wrapping his arm around her waist from behind and kissing the side of her neck causing her to giggle.

"Fine fine," Sari laughed and turned around returning the kiss, "But right now we keep moving." "And where exactly do we go?" Bumblebee asked as Sari shoved the blanket into her backpack and strapped it back on her arms. "Where fate takes us," she replied hopping to the ground with the boy tripping down in the mulch behind her. "Hopefully its not somewhere harder than this," Bumblebee's muffled voice said holding up a piece of the mulch, "Cause this already hurts bad enough." "So you two need a lift?" asked a voice from a nearby tree. The two humans looked up to see Sideways leaning against it with his arms folded over his chest-plate.

"Now where are they?" Optimus asked as he leapt into robot mode with Jazz the second they got to the park, ignoring his bad leg. "They were near the amusement place dawg," the hip Autobot replied pointing weakly towards the play-set where they had slept. Right next to it the two Autobots could see Sari Sumdac clinging to a tree with tears streaming down her face. "Sari!" Optimus exclaimed running towards her, "Sari! Where's Bumblebee? You two-" "That purple guy," she cried looking up at Optimus Prime, "the one that's the motorcycle, he took him! He took Bumblebee!"

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And here ends the latest chapter of The Worth of Life, a Transformers Animated fanfic. Sorry this was on hold for a while, hope the chapter's not that bad. I just wanted to squeeze one more chapter in before the big meaningful one takes place and was sorta running on empty for ideas so I remembered that Meltdown was the one to originally inhabit Blackarachnia's lab and worked from there =) Might see Revenge of the Fallen soon but I'm not expecting anything great (wasn't really impressed at all by the first live action so meh). Anyhow...hope this is alright!

And the winner of the contest from the previous chapter is brave kid! Brave kid either communicate to me somehow through an email, a review, or some other way to tell me what u want me to illustrate

And for this chapter's illustration, the cover of the story!

warahi(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/The-Worth-of-Life-127673456

Now this next chapter, get ready for, cause it's gonna be big!