Chapter 14
"They turned into what?!" Wheelegad exclaimed as he stood before the three mechs in the Medbay.
"Giant creatures with razor sharp denta, not to mention the fact they can breathe fire." Jetpit stated as Ratchet did repairs on his wing that occasionally flinched from the pain.
"I think the word you're looking for is dinosaurs, Jetpit. Or at least that's what Paula told me." Little Brawn commented.
"And they are hard to take down, Yoshilock was able to do a serious number to my leg and I wasn't able to free myself because his armor seemed thicker in his dinosaur form." Jetstreak said as he was cautiously removing the armor off of his damaged leg.
Wheelegad remained silent as he placed his servo against his chin. It surprised him how Ganonwave managed to make the Dinobots extremely durable during battle, something he would be impressed with if it weren't for the fact the Decepticon Scientist did it against the against the five Cybertronians' will, forcing them through a painful process just for the sake of experiments. The other thing that puzzled the white mech was the fact how Ganonwave managed to convince the Dinobots to serve the Decepticons. He recalled how Peach noted that their optics were red instead of their usual blue and how the three mechs before him explained how Yoshilock strangely said nothing when in the past he was known as a Cybertronian that was hard to keep quiet.
"If only we can catch them, then I could take a look in their processors and figure out exactly what Ganonwave had done to them." Wheelegad thought out loud.
Jetstreak let out a snort before saying "Well good luck. If we want to defeat the Dinobots, then we're going to need something equal to their power."
Upon hearing this, Wheelegad's optics widened as he exclaimed "That's it!", startling the other mechs in the Medbay in the process.
Meanwhile Daisy out her tongue in focus as she frantically mashed buttons on her game controller, trying desperately to beat Luigibee at a racing game. When Jeff explained to the Autobots that she did not had a family and was instead raised by him and his father for a few years, Mario saw it reasonable to have the young girl live at the Ark where she could be kept under the protection of the Autobots and not fall in the Decepticons' grasp. They still weren't able to figure out why Vectorwave wanted to hand her over to Bowsertron, but chose not to pursue that curiosity for the girl's sake.
Daisy grinned wildly when the screen began flashing that she had won the race, prompting her to start jumping up and down with joy while Luigibee dropped his controller and crossed his arms in annoyance.
Noticing the mech's emotions, a sly smirk formed on Daisy's face as she taunted "And you thought I wouldn't win, well not everyone can be a great gamer like me."
"Why do I get the feeling you cheated with that strange ability of yours?" the yellow mech commented.
Upon hearing this the ginger-headed girl frowned before she went on to explain that she didn't use the ability, especially since she didn't know how to use it and it only seemed to activate whenever she made psychical contact with an injured Autobot. Another thing that confused her was the strange dreams she started having ever since she started living in the Ark. Every night she dreamed about being stuck in a strange glass tube, watching two robots fight viciously until one of them was ran through with a large sword. But when the victor tried to approach the tube she was in, a bright blue glow would fill the room and she would wake up.
"So you never had these abilities before?" Luigibee asked.
Daisy slowly shook her head before replying "I really don't know much about myself, Luigi. Dr. Andonuts always told me that he just found me one day, that's really it. I didn't start showing these abilities until you guys came along."
Luigibee frowned as he watched the young girl sigh as she began mindlessly pressing the buttons on her controller. He wanted to help his friend get the answers she needed but he couldn't help her if he couldn't understand the situation himself. All of the sudden, the mech shouted happily when an idea struck him. He figured that Paula could find out exactly what was going on with Daisy by using her psychic powers.
"We should go to Paula. With her powers she should be able to get inside your mind and find out what's going on." he suggested.
Daisy raised a brow when she heard the suggestion, a part of her thinking the plan wouldn't work while another part of her believed that Paula could truly find the answer for her mysterious ability. Deciding to at least take a chance, the young girl agreed to the idea. With her mind set, Daisy climbed into Luigibee once he had changed into car form. She couldn't prevent an excited grin from forming on her face when she heard the Autobot's tires screech for a few seconds before taking off with a great burst of speed.
Back in the Command room, Wheelegad explained to both Mario Prime and Peach-One about his plan to counteract the Dinobots by pitting Swoopdo and Snarldile against them.
"Ganonwave had performed all the strength and defense alterations on the entire team which would mean Swoopdo and Snarldile should be able to easily take down Yoshilock and his team. Then once we have them in our custody, I should be able to see what Ganonwave had done to their processors and reverse the effects." he stated.
Peach shuttered her optics in thought as she said "That does sound like a good plan, Wheelegad. But the Spacebridge here needs to be finished in order to bring Swoopdo and Snarldile here. I couldn't risk taking them through the Decepticon base back on Cybertron in order to reach the Spacebridge my troop and I used to get here because I didn't want to fail Yoshilock by having the two teammates he had sacrificed himself in order to insure their freedom get captured again. Having them remain on Cybertron was the best decision I could do for them at the time."
Mario rested his servo on the femme's back before saying "It's alright, Peach. I would have done the same thing in your position. Now what is it that we require to build the Spacebridge?"
The femme commander nodded her helm in understanding before placing a chip in the control panel, bringing up the blueprints for the Spacebridge on the screen.
Wheelegad carefully planted his servos firmly on the control panel as he studied the blueprints carefully, trying to figure what materials would be required to build the Spacebridge. That was when he recalled Dr. Andonuts and how the Deceptions actually managed to acquire the necessary materials from the scientist. Knowing that was they're best chance to get the materials without drawing attention from the humans or the Decepticons, the white mech immediately activated the communicator and tuned in on Cliffalcon's frequency so he could inform Jeff of the plan.
Back at the Decpeticon's base in the ocean, Jetdark raised an optic ridge as he examined his surroundings, wondering how the ship managed to crash into the ocean in the first place.
"So what exactly brought you guys to this planet anyway? I would think you would all be trying to get back to Cybertron as quickly as possible with that Spacebridge you mentioned." he asked out of curiosity.
"We're only here for the rich energy contained on this planet." Skyreala answered, "By using the Spacebridge we can drain this planet of all its energy and use it to restore Cybertron to life. The only one of us who's remotely interested in the organic pipsqueaks living on this planet is Thundernights over here. Heck she even threatened to offline me after I demolished one of them like a Space Barancle."
Thundernights snarled in anger but chose not to act upon it since she knew that fighting her comrade wouldn't do any good when she needed to save her energy for the battle against the Autobots.
As soon as Skyreala finished his sentence, Jetdark formed a slight frown on his face. While he did want to help defeat the Autobots so they could make their planet one where no one would be forced into classes by corrupt figures, the thought of slaughtering creatures that had nothing to do with their conflict didn't sit well with him. He believed that the humans should be left alone to worry about their own lives and conflicts while they took the necessary energy to save their planet.
Deciding to push away those thoughts temporarily, the orange mech turned toward his leader and asked "So what's the next course of action concerning the Dinobots?"
Bowsertron's red optics glanced over at the three Dinobots that stood still, not moving an inch or showing any once of emotion on their faces. He did want the Dinobots to face against Mario Prime, but he wasn't sure if the Autobot Leader would show himself if he sent the Dinobots out to attack another fuel source site, believing that he would instead to choose to send out more of his troop to try to take down the threat. He knew if he wanted the Prime himself to appear, he needed to raise the stakes to make it irresistible for the Prime to charge into the battle field.
"Hmm, Prime has shown that he has grown fond of the humans during his time on Earth. He even went out of his way to rescue two children that I had buried under rubble in order to insure my escape. Perhaps the key for him to reveal himself is by rather than having the Dinobots attack the fuel source, I should have them directly attack the humans." he suggested.
Thundernights optics widened before she exclaimed "But the humans will get killed! Why should we have to sacrifice innocent lives in order to draw out Prime, why can't we just have the Dinobots attack the Ark directly?"
Bowsertron narrowed his optics, prompting the blue femme to flinch upon being gazed upon with his hateful glare.
"Thundernights, may I remind you where your loyalties lie." he started in a dark and threatening tone as he grabbed her by neck and harshly pinned her against the wall. "Because if you dare question my orders again, I won't hesitate to have you branded as a traitor. You joined the Decepticon cause so I suggest you remain true to that cause."
Without another word he released Thundernights' neck, causing her chassis to loudly smash against the ground.
Jetdark stared in surprise as he watched the femme force herself onto her servos and knee-joints while releasing a static filled groan due to the fact the Decepticon Leader had partially damaged her voice box. He glanced over at the femme's seeker comrades, seeing them both snicker and grin amongst themselves at the sight before them.
Bowertron ignored this as he kneeled down and grabbed Thundernights by her chin, forcing her helm up where he could make contact with her hateful and partially frightened blue optics.
"So with that said, will you ever speak up for the humans and defy my orders?" he asked with his voice still lingering with a threatening tone.
Thundernights clenched her denta tightly before sighing and replying "No, of course not, Lord Bowsertron."
Satisfied with the femme's answer, Bowsertron released her head, allowing her to once more drop onto her servos before standing up and turning toward Vectorwave to locate the perfect coordinates to attack the humans.
Seeing he was no longer concerned with the femme, Jetdark slowly walked over to Thundernights and grabbed ahold of her arm as he helped her up, ignoring Skyreala who rolled his blue optics at the sight.
"Let's see if we can do something about that voice box, I'm no medic but I can try to see what I can do." he suggested.
Thundernights nodded her helm agreement as her free servo rubbed her neck which was now covered in small tears and dents.
But as he guided the femme to the Medbay, Jetdark thought back to the scene he had witnessed and began to wonder if Bowsertron was still truly the noble leader wanting to bring glory back to Cybertron or that during his quest, he managed to allow himself to become just as corrupted as the council he conquered millions of years ago.
Meanwhile in the city, Daisy gasped before jumping up and down in her seat, causing Luigibee to be startled and immediately slam on his breaks.
"What, what is it? Are we being attacked by Decepticons?" he asked as he frantically looked around, searching for any sign of danger.
"I just realized that I can finally go eat at a Burger Joint I've always wanted to eat at from seeing the commercials on TV now that I'm no longer stuck in Dr. Andonuts lab!" the young girl exclaimed happily.
Luigibee groaned at the girl's answer, wishing that he was in his bipedal form just so he could slap his servo against the crest of his helm. Knowing that his friend would keep bugging him about the subject, with a small sigh he asked for the address before driving once more. It wasn't long until they reached the Burger Joint as Daisy swung the car door open wide, unintentionally making Luigibee hiss in pain from how hard the young girl swung it open.
He was surprised that the young girl was strong enough to cause such pain but decided to ignore that thought when he saw the young girl grunt as she crossed her arms.
"I just realized I'll have to go in alone. You'll be alright out here alone will you?" she said.
"Who says I can't get in?" Luigibee asked with a chuckle.
Within seconds Daisy gasped when before her very eyes appeared a young Italian-American man wearing a yellow jacket and black pants.
Seeing her stunned face, Luigibee rolled his blue eyes before commenting "I can't believe you forgot that in order to hide from humans we adopted holomatter avatars or holoforms for short. So I'll still be able to keep an optic on you. Also if anyone asks, my name is Danny Wells."
The young girl raised a brow in confusion before asking "Why Danny Wells?"
The holoform sighed in annoyance as he stuffed his hands into pockets of his jacket before muttering "Well I wanted the name Charles Martinet, but Mario already took that name for his holoform."
Without another word Daisy shook her head with a small smile before darting into the Burger Joint with Luigibee following behind her while being careful not to bump into anything otherwise he would frighten people from seeing his holoform phase through solid matter. Using the money she had carried with her, the young girl had ordered herself a burger combo with a large drinks and fries. She could barely hold in her excitement before dashing over to an empty table and began greedily biting into her burger.
Luigibee tilted his head partially out of confusion and interest as he sat down across from the girl. While he didn't understand why humans weren't able to drink energon like Cybertronians, it did catch his intrigue at what the food possibly tastes like despite the fact he couldn't consume it himself.
The two sat in silence until they heard the sounds of screaming fill the air. Daisy glanced out of the window and her mouth dropped open in horror when she saw none other than the Dinobots attacking in their dinosaurs forms, breathing fire at the fleeing humans. She firmly planted her hands against the glass window, unsure what to do. But when she turned to ask Luigibee for her answer, she managed to catch the last glimpse of his holoform vanishing from sight before the sound of a revving engine reached her ears.
The yellow mech sped his car toward the attacking Dinobots, doing his best to avoid the fleeing humans. Using his top speeds, Luigibee managed to smash against Yoshilock's leg, causing the robotic T-Rex to topple over from the force.
Yoshilock roared in rage before he blasted a stream of fire at the Autobot.
The yellow car swerved out of the way of the fire, but unfortunately this allowed Klag to ram into him, his horns piercing his side.
Daisy's heart nearly stopped in fear when she saw Luigibee changed back into his bipedal form while holding a servo over the wounds he had received before the robotic T-Rex smashed his foot down on his chestplates and began crushing him, causing the mech to start crying out in pain. Her hands clenched tightly as she watched the scene unfold before her; she didn't know how much she could do but she knew she was bound determined to help her friend. Without any second thoughts she grabbed ahold of the napkin dispenser from her table and ran outside.
"Hey, leave him alone!" Daisy shouted before throwing the napkin dispenser at the Dinobots.
The dispenser lightly clanked against Klag's head, not even leaving a dent. The robotic Triceratops slowly turned his head and narrowed his red optics at the girl before he began dragging his foot along to ground, getting ready to charge.
"Daisy, run!" Luigibee yelled with a grunt as he began desperately trying to shove Yoshilock's foot off his chassis.
Unfortunately it was too late, the young girl didn't even have time to so much as flinch before the Dinobot charged toward her and slammed one of his horns into her torso. Daisy didn't make a single sound as her body was sent flying from the impact before painfully smashing against the wall of the Burger Joint and slumping lifelessly to the ground.
Luigibee's optics widened in horror upon seeing his friend that he had agreed to protect lying lifeless on the ground. At that moment rage began surging through his entire systems, prompting him to change one of his servos into his stingers and fire directly at the Yoshilock's optics.
The Dinobot roared in pain as he felt his optic shatter, causing him to go temporarily go blind on the left side. He lifted his foot off of the yellow mech, no longer concerned with the Autobot as he rapidly shook around his head, trying to get rid of the burning pain caused from his smoking and broken optic.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Luigibee immediately darted over to Daisy's body, hoping that she was still alright. But when he reached her, his spark nearly stopped pulsing as his chassis froze both out of shock and disbelief.
Daisy groaned as she slowly opened her eyes, noticing the Autobot standing before her as he stared with the frozen expression of shock painted on his face. She was confused by this until she glanced down at her torso. She felt an eerie cold wash over her when she saw a large tear in her torso but instead of blood and torn muscle, the tear revealed circuitry with energon leaking from her wound. The ginger-headed girl began taking in frantic breaths and her body shook as she tried comprehend this discovery.
Finally she tilted her head upward with tears streaming down her face as she asked in a weak and frightened tone "Luigi, what am I?"