JMJ

FOURTEEN: THE CLOAK OF THE KNIGHT

Sparks flew upward in a dazzling display lighting up Knock Out's contented smile as he tried out his electro staff for the first time. It was a mini lightning storm at his disposal as it should be, so that the next time he had a fight with thing one and thing two or any other creep he would now prove what a fighter he could be.

"And it comes with a few new features too," he explained; though he doubted Ratchet was really listening as he was still working diligently since their failed attempt at getting the bridge going.

Even still Knock Out wanted to see the demonstration if no one else did. He pulled a slot ring in the middle of the staff like a cocking of a gun, and at the opposite end from the two prongs came out a glinting spear, which could also send out an electric pulse though not quite as strongly as the pronged side. Now he had an electric zapper and a blade, two weapons in one. With another cock of his staff he could also make it extend suddenly on either side of his choosing so that the enemy would be unprepared. Three weapons in one, actually, because as always he could still use it like a bo, which he often had in the past. Closing up both sides he could wield it with the dexterity of a ninja. To prove his point he swung it a little, perhaps a little ostentatiously, but he was only being enthusiastic, and found that he had lost no skill in his time since losing his old electro-staff.

"I'm a true medic combatant; I can break all the parts of your body while naming them. Now this is what I call a weapon," he said quite satisfied, and he glanced at Ratchet not in the least sharing his enthusiasm.

In fact, as he already knew, Ratchet still had his entire focus on the bridge. He only noticed Knock Out's wielding because the motion had caused Ratchet to fear something breaking, but when nothing was, Ratchet returned to his work.

Knock Out smiled broader and after shrinking his staff down to a safe and compact state he slide it behind him along his back in a special hold.

"Take a break, Ratchet," teased Knock Out then. "You're going to drive yourself into a wall like that."

"Every minute wasted is a minute too much," retorted Ratchet. "Come over and help me now that you're done with your weapon. Even if we do fix it on our side, the stronger side that will make the bridge safe to use is on Cybertron."

"Yes, I know," Knock Out shrugged and made his way over. "It won't take long for you to communicate with the others on how to fix it properly once you can open it from our side enough to reach them."

"That is the idea," agreed Ratchet.

Knock Out felt much more himself now, almost as if his attack from the kidnappers had not happened, except of course for the civic that would need a change soon even if he did already change his color from the ghastly silver-green to red again and added his flame job back. He leaned over where Ratchet was working over the open wires and cables, and he said casually, "I still think you should step back a moment. You're getting extremely flustered. That's when people start making mistakes."

Ratchet let out a huff, straightening himself. He eyed Knock Out queerly.

"That's what Dr. Proxima always said to Dr. Perceptor," Knock Out remarked.

"You knew Perceptor?" said Ratchet doubtfully.

"I was a trainee under him, you might say, before the you-know-what," said Knock Out pleasantly. "You're a lot like him, actually. It makes it kinda like home. I could fluster his plates by just standing in the same room sometimes, and as a young Cybertronian it didn't make any sense to me. Why? Did you know him?"

"Not well personally, admittedly," said Ratchet. "But everyone knows he was very good at what he did."

"He was," replied Knock Out. "The best, as long he remembered to take his breaks in between his work. I mean, I'm glad you weren't working on me in such a state as you are now."

"Is that so?" demanded Ratchet with a skeptical brow.

"I know you have the 'gift', as they claim, most of the time, but I understand completely. You're worried about the children and you don't like the company and you're eager to get this show on the road," said Knock Out with a shrug. "How 'bout a drive. Clear your head. I'll take over while you're gone."

"You will?"

Knock Out grinned and lowered his lids so they were almost closed upon his optics. "Don't you trust me?"

Ratchet sighed. "Alright," he murmured. "Fifteen minutes. Then I'll be back. And I don't hate your company, by the way."

"Oh, well, that's good to hear, but I didn't say 'hate'," said Knock Out watching idly as Ratchet made his way to the exit.

Ratchet paused. "Thank you, for helping."

"I believe that's why I'm here," said Knock Out brightly.

"…And for being on our side in this, Knock Out," Ratchet added, and Knock Out's smile faded and looked with interest. "Don't think we don't appreciate it. There were a lot of Decepticons towards the end that Optimus tried to convince to abandon their cause—to stop the destruction of our race when what they originally were fighting about can hardly matter anymore and only stubborn pride could really be holding them back when they themselves were obviously growing weary or mad from how long the fighting went on. Although, I won't lie, I did not think you were after anything but a free ride at first after so many betrayals and disappointments. We had just recovered from trusting the new appearances of our own, really; and just your overall attitude about it the whole thing did not seem trustworthy. I know it must have been a hard choice to make and a hard change to live out especially now, and…"

Knock Out's smile stretched out almost Cheshire Cat-like and his optics pleasantly lowered as he replied happily, "You're welcome. Ratchet." He bowed slightly but rather gallantly even still.

Ratchet nodded, looking somewhat sheepish again as he blinked at the ground with a small smile for a few seconds, but after turning around he let it go. He was just about to transform to take his leave too when suddenly his communicator went off.

"Hey, Ratchet, you in?"

Ratchet was taken aback, "Wheeljack?"

"We're coming in for a quick landing before we get those humans back," Wheeljack said.

"You know where they are?" gasped Ratchet putting him on the main computer instead of his personal communicator.

"On board the Knight, which we happen to have a fix on for now," said Wheeljack. "Bumblebee and Bulk insisted on being the diversion to keep Lockdown busy. We're gunna need you as our ground base by order of the president, and we're wondering if you could spare us Knock Out."

Knock Out brightened immediately.

"I'm willing to be spared," said Knock Out.

Ratchet looked at him with a frown, but before he could speak, Wheeljack said, "Great, come out then and we'll pick you up, and we'll explain on the way back."

"Is this plan well thought out?" Ratchet demanded.

"As well thought out as it can be," said Wheeljack. "We might not get another chance like this. We got a lock on Lockdown's ship, and the longer we wait, the longer we risk Bumblebee's diversion going sour."

Knock Out was already prancing for the door like a freshly matured hatchling ready without the knowledge of fear.

Ratchet spun around. "Ih, ip, ip, where are you going?"

"Ah, yes, of course, how hasty of me to forget my promise," said Knock Out turning to face him with a smile. "Do I have my doctor's leave to regain my honor after losing the humans? I feel in top form again and have myself a proper weapon with which to fight the enemy properly."

Ratchet rolled his eyes. "I tempted to say 'no', since if this does go 'sour' there's no way you should be put in a fight against anything more than Lockdown's guard dogs, but given the—"

"Relax, Ratchet," said Wheeljack. "Is he okay to come or not?"

"He can," said Ratchet with a sigh.

"Thank you, Doctor, for your understanding," Knock Out said and continued out the door.

Ratchet shook his head and indeed flustered a little to himself before turning to the screen again, but Knock Out could hear him on the Jackhammer's computer soon enough as he quickly hopped aboard the hovering craft just outside the base.

"Is Bumblebee sure about the distraction?" he asked.

"As soon as Knock Out's got the humans we'll bring them back to you," said Wheeljack already flying the ship out to space again. "Then us three will go help Bumblebee and Bulkhead."

"I still don't like the sound of this," Ratchet could be heard muttering.

"No worries, Ratchet," Knock Out butted in, his weapon already majestically over his shoulder. "So far everything seems just as sound as a plan of old, if I recall them…on either side."

"Except we don't have a Prime on our side," said Ratchet, and it was a warning on his part not mourning.

#

Swindle gasped. "We've been infiltrated!"

"What?!" demanded Dead End over the sound of the alarm. "How? We're supposed to be cloaked, and I thought these Autobots were stranded anyway, how—"

"Who cares about 'how', just send the Raptors!" cried Swindle pounding the correct button with a fist after shoving Dead End out of the way…

There was no hope of not being detected aboard the Knight. The security system would have taken weeks at least to figure out how to trick it, but that was why the rescue had to be quick. The computers were alerted as soon as it was infiltrated. Then it was Wheeljack, Jetfire, and Knock Out to slip inside while Quickshift took care of the Jackhammer for the trio's quick getaway.

Although fast and deadly, the Raptor-bots were not fast or deadly enough get past Jetfire's laser hand or Knock Out's electro staff. Their enthusiasm was not the greatest either even if their rage seemed to make up for it, but Knock Out did not heed this so much as he felt satisfied that he and Jetfire made an excellent team.

Swindle and Dead End were still fighting amongst themselves too about what should be done when suddenly they were quite interrupted by the entrance of Wheeljack. With their hands around each other's necks they blinked at him optics wide as with a smile he offered them a small grenade.

"IIAAAAH!" they cried and scrambled out of its way as fast as they could, but Wheeljack's aim was more for the controls than for the idiots. At least for the first round.

BOOM!

#

"What is it, Soundwave?" Megatron demanded.

Soundwave pointed out the damaged cloak of the Lockdown's ship on screen in front of them, and he replayed the explosion on his visor screen from just seconds before.

"Someone is attacking the Knight!" Starscream hissed the obvious before Megatron could respond.

"Then by all means, Starscream," said Megatron lightly as he straightened himself and leered at his once first lieutenant, "make yourself useful and do something about it."

"But—!" gasped Starscream and then shook his head and smiled nervously. "We have no idea how many there are, Lord Megatron. I have no Vehicons to command as you have explained to me yourself, and why should it matter to us if the Autobots—er, the misguided Cybertronians, have taken it upon themselves to destroy Lockdown? It is a befitting distraction that they waste their energon on him rather than on us, isn't that so, Master? Besides, Lockdown does not care about loyalties, why should he feel betrayed if we aren't around to monitor his ship? That is not part of our agreement."

"Nevertheless, I am not willing to take the risk of them overtaking the Knight, one of the greatest warships ever built. However much Lockdown has modified it to fit his purpose, it can easily be put back to its original use," muttered Megatron in a tone that sounded unconcerned which made Starscream all the more uncomfortable, as though Megatron was ordering him on a suicide mission on purpose to get rid of him.

"I am ever loyal to you, Master," insisted Starscream with a hurried bow.

"Not 'ever', Starscream," said Megatron, his temper showing just a little.

Starscream was taken aback. "But you know how I've learned my lesson!" he whined.

"Then get down there!" Megatron was almost on top of Starscream with his last snarl, but he stopped suddenly as he noticed the bow of Soundwave.

Starscream looked too, his optics still wide and his teeth clenched. Then Megatron turned back to Starscream and backed away from him.

"You will accompany Soundwave and Skywarp, and there will be no further discussion. Get them out of the Knight by any means necessary."

"Thank you, Lord Megatron," Starscream heaved in relief.

"Thank Soundwave," returned Megatron

Starscream tried to hide his pout by further bowing his head.

Soundwave showed the humans on his visor to ask Megatron what was to be done with them. Everyone knew that was what the attackers were after.

"We can keep them from being rescued if possibly," said Megatron rather carelessly again. "They might be some use, but don't make it top priority."

With that he motioned the trio to make themselves scarce.

Together with Skywarp who had been rather motionless up until this point, Soundwave and Starscream exited the lunar base via their own newly fashioned bridge built by Shockwave and reappeared in the Knight.

#

"There!" exclaimed Knock Out quite pleased with himself.

His scientific background had enabled him to get the doors to shut without their authorized access to the Knight. The raptors were growling and hissing on the other side trying to open it again as Knock Out jammed it. They snarled at each other in broken words that they could not allow the intruders into the main holding bay.

Knock Out brushed his hands together and smiled. "That should hold them for a while."

"But not for long," grumbled Jetfire, and without warning he began pulling Knock Out with him through this upper corridor.

"Whoa! Hey!" Knock Out called, but he was soon hurrying after Jetfire, whose longer strides had Knock Out trotting to keep up.

"You know," said Knock Out after a moment, "you're pretty spry for almost rusting up like the last elder not too long ago."

Both of them stopped as they saw the opening to the main holding bay. Even the size of the ship had not quite prepared them for the massiveness of this hold, nor the zoo it held within. As they stood for a moment at the edge of the outreaching platform, Knock Out leaned over the rail in wonder at the cages and creatures in that place.

An assortment from all over the universe. Some were bigger than Megatron, and the small ones were an assortment of body types, colors, and cries, which seemed all the stranger bathed in atmospheric light and surrounded in echoes. Some swam in what looked like acid, as well as water and bubbling goop.

"How are we supposed to find the humans in that!?" Knock Out demanded throwing his arms out in front of himself.

"Don't give up so easily," retorted Jetfire. "You sure are an excitable little ground rover, and I thought I knew some excitable flights. We just go to where the newest ones are kept."

He thrust a curved talon-like finger out across the holding bay where dull screens actually did flash dates across each section of otherwise seemingly disorganized cages in clear and legible standard Cybertronian.

"Ah!" said Knock Out holding up a finger of enlightenment. "How clever of you." He grinned.

"Not really, just observation," Jetfire muttered, for apparently the joke was not funny enough to play along with.

Then he leapt over the rail with impressive grace in spite of his still aged appearance, and Knock Out jumped after him, landing with at least equal grace and purposeful solid landing. Except that when he landed he apparently startled a rather gruesome, slimy looking beastie that snarled angrily at him.

Knock Out let a little cry escape himself, but he soon straightened again and was looking about casually from cage to cage as Jetfire skulked ahead of him. They made their way to the newest arrivals.

"I wonder what he keeps so many alive for," thought Knock Out out loud. "I thought he was more a trophy hunter, not this."

"It's difficult to say," said Jetfire. "Some of them may still be wanted for their heads, but not all of them."

"Yeah, that doesn't explain the whole zoo. Perhaps he wishes to breed more challenging quarries to hunt," suggested Knock Out with a shrug. "Or maybe it's just to confuse his enemies."

Jetfire eyed him curiously a moment before cocking his head to a small sound.

Then Knock Out heard it too.

"Knock Out!" the voice called. "Is that you?!"

"The humans!" both Jetfire and Knock Out said not entirely together, but they saw the cage together as they turned.

It almost looked like a hamster cage with clear walls and a couple strange tubes through which a human-sized hamster might crawl. There were four compartments to which the tubes led and were not cut off to the prisoners; though in one of the two bottom compartments the humans stood side by side, Jack, Miko, and Raf, with their hands upon the clear walls.

"There, safe and sound!" said Knock Out straightening.

"We're so glad to see you," breathed Jack as the two Cybertronians approached.

"Are you Jetfire?" asked Raf politely of Knock Out's new companion.

"Jetfire, at your service, little humans, but we don't have time for pleasantries," said Jetfire.

"Are those real wings?" asked Miko. "Finally we have someone who can fly! The bad guys can't be the only ones with wings!"

Knock Out tapped his chin as he examined the cage. "Hmm, now how do we remove you without having you suffocate…ah! The central orb is removable, I see, and is equipped with its one oxygen supply and recycler."

"The release is to the left," said Raf, as quickly the humans hurried into the ball.

There was a flat platform on the lowest sixth portion to protect the ventilation to the oxygen flow coming from beneath it, and Knock Out saw almost before he was told the small release to the bottom left so that it shot out smoothly towards him and sealed itself sharply closed as it detached from the tubes of the cage.

Just as Knock Out had them in his clutches too they heard a violent metallic sound from above and a screeching followed by growls.

"They're getting through," said Knock Out turning quickly to Jetfire.

"Scrap! I'll hold them off. You find the first entrance we saw earlier," said Jetfire.

"And then get to the rendezvous point," Knock Out chirped. "Right. Can't risk anything happening to the charges."

And there they parted ways. There was more than enough space for Jetfire to transform into his Cybertronian jet and fly right through the tunnels towards the raptor-bots.

"So what's the plan?" Miko asked. "Is it just you guys?"

Knock Out grinned and then started quickly forward in the opposite direction from Jetfire.

"No," he said, "We're dropping through a rendezvous point where Quickshift will pick us up, aboard the Jackhammer. Wheeljack apparently is knowledgeable about this ship."

"I bet he escaped from it before! I can see him with a bounty on his head!" exclaimed Miko. "Where's Wheeljack now!"

"He's around somewhere taking care of the gatekeepers," said Knock Out.

He could see the main entrance up ahead, and he beamed at their success.

"Alright!" exclaimed Miko pumping her fist. "Let's join him, and get those two punks!"

"Well, she's obviously been okay," teased Knock Out, and though his tone did not change much, he said with more serious purpose, "I hope you two have been fine."

"Let's just not talk about it," said Jack.

"Sounds good," replied Knock Out lightly.

They were just about to exit the zoo of angry animals, beasts, and perhaps sentient life forms hidden among them, but a shadow suddenly blocked the lightened corridor on the other side of the door. It took only a further second to see who it was. Knock Out stopped so violently that he almost dropped the orb. The humans cried out, but he almost did not notice.

"Soundwave!" he gasped.

Quickly, Knock Out got back into gear, but he did not get far before a portal was suddenly thrust in front of them. Soundwave leapt right behind them. With another gasp Knock Out clutched the orb to his chest. He knew that the only reason why he was not in excruciating pain or offline already was because Soundwave did not want to risk killing the humans if he could help it. The portal, now behind him as he turned to face the silent and deadly adversary as stolid in his stance as a lifeless machine, moved steadily after him, forcing Knock Out towards him with the portal, and as he clenched his teeth and winced, Knock Out had nothing to say.