Me: Hey everyone. Yes I'm aware that last chapter was pretty much a rip off the script from the Prime episode. And just a heads up, there will be a bit more. But I promise it will be a whole different plot and outcome of it all.
Takato: There better be. I don't want this arc to just be a rip off of a show. And why am I not involved in it?
Me: You ARE involved, Takato. This is gonna be your first major involvement in something since, When Many Worlds Collide.
But let's get rolling. I only own my OC's and the plot. So let's go back to Earth for a quick sec. And there will be ONE obvious reference to the episode. I just couldn't resist passing it up. You'll know it when you see it.
The AutoKnights VI.V: The Months in Between
Chapter 21: Vermin (Part 2)
(Earth)
Everyone had now re-located to the backyard of the Thorndyke house. And Teletraan was working together with Nicole to try and contact Iacon. But while that was going on, Amy and Sonic remained indoors because Amy was now demanding Sonic explain why he kissed her out there. And she wanted to know right now.
The two of them sat on the couch. The same couch GK and Mina sat on when GK told her off. Sure Sonic didn't want to explain to Amy, but he owed it to her. He just broke up with Sally like a couple hours ago. And then he just goes and kisses Amy. That NEEDED to be explained.
"Well….where do I start?" Sonic asked himself out loud.
"Just tell me why you kissed me. That's all I wanna know." Amy said.
Well….here goes nothing.
"It was weird. But that talk you and I had right after Sally dumped me, and then you being there helping me up when I was down, it made me think about something, Amy." Then Sonic got to the point. "Amy, even before you and I became friends, I can't remember a single battle I've been in that you didn't follow me to. You're devoted to me, Amy. And today, I almost got killed. You almost got killed. But you still remained by my side even though there was danger."
Amy was beginning to blush.
"I don't know. I guess I finally realized what you felt for me truly WAS love. And not just some crazy fangirl obsession. And what I do to you affects you big time. You tried to kill yourself because of what I said. I just…never realized I meant that much to you until now."
Now Amy got an anime sweatdrop on her head.
"Really?" she said. "NOW you get that? After HOW may hints I've dropped over the years, NOW you realize what they all meant?"
Okay. She had the right to be a bit angry here. But Sonic didn't want that. He wanted HER.
"What can I say except for, I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it?" he asked. "Amy, I know I just broke up with Sally just two hours ago, but that talk you and I had. Amy, maybe there IS a chance you and I can work. And I want to give it a shot. But if only if you do to."
Amy's eyes grew stars and her cheeks went as red as Knuckles.
"Sonic…..are you saying you….love me?" she asked hopefully.
"Um…no."
And it was right there Amy's heart shattered into a million pieces.
"But I DO want you to be my girlfriend. Maybe those words will come later. Give me some time."
And then it came back together just like that.
"Oh Sonic! Of course I'll be your girlfriend." She said. "But what will Sally think?"
"Let Sally think whatever she wants to think. If she doesn't like it, then it's not our problem."
Then Sonic had the urge to do what he did as Trailbreaker. And he took control of that urge. He kissed her again. He closed his eyes, she closed her own, and the two of them kissed one another. It wasn't their first kiss ever, but they considered it to be their first OFFICIAL kiss. And they liked it that way.
After that was done, they re-joined the others outside hand in hand. Usually if nothing was going on, the others would have asked about it. But that was gonna have to wait. Because right now there was a bigger crisis with their friends on Cybertron.
"Any luck getting through?" Sonic asked.
Teletraan and Nicole shook their heads.
"I'm afraid not." Nicole said. "Whatever is going on up there, it must be bad."
"It IS bad." Teletraan said. "The scraplets will probably make Autobot HQ their next meal if nothing is done."
"Okay man. You better start explaining now." Vector said.
"Yeah he's right." Takamon agreed. "Teletraan, I don't understand what the problem is. What the heck is a scraplet?"
Teletraan forgot to explain to them what scraplets were. He was the only one there who knew. So he produced a holo-screen with an image of a scraplet with its mouth shut.
"This is a scraplet. Countless of them exist on Cybertron and they are a form of vermin not to be taken lightly. They travel in large swarms and their size is probably that of Cheese the Chao. Truth be told, I am also afraid of them and so are the other Autobots." Teletraan said.
It was strange to hear an AI admit to a fear. But he soon got back on track.
"I don't know. It looks kind of cute to me." Mina said.
"At first they do." Teletraan said. "That's mistake number one."
Teletraan snapped his fingers and then the image changed to a scraplet with its mouth wide open. And everyone got a little creeped out by it.
"Scraplets have only one desire. And that desire is to devour anything it comes in contact with that happens to be made of metal. And LIVING metal is the special dish on their menu. Or in other words, robots."
Robots. And right now, ten of their human friends were trapped on a planet inhabited by them
"But what danger does this pose to Optimus and the other knights?" Chuck asked. "They're not robots."
"True. But let me give you a lesson." Teletraan snapped his finger again.
And then an image of Ratchet in his AutoKnight suit came on the screen. It was a random pick from Teletraan.
"See, if the AutoKnights turn off their suits and remain in their normal human forms, they'll be fine. The scraplets will leave them alone." Then he got to the danger part. "But if for some reason they do take on their AutoKnight forms, their suits will be a fresh snack for the scraplets. All of their suits are made from a special metal nearly indestructible. Which is why they don't tear so easily or get holes when they get shot at."
"That's true." Sonic agreed. "When I was Trailbreaker, Bludgeon got in a few lucky shots. That suit was body armor."
He looked at his ring. He was thankful for it. He was happy and proud to be an AutoKnight. But he was now worried for the safety of his new team.
"I'm sure they would have figures out to turn off their suits by now." Espio said. "But it still doesn't explain why you nor Nicole can get in contact with them."
"It's my guess that the scraplets have probably already chewed their way through the communications grid." Teletraan said. "I just hope they don't get to anything else important."
"What about security cameras?" Nicole asked. "Does Autobot HQ have cameras you can hack into?"
Teletraan nodded liking where Nicole was going with this.
"Let's see if they're alright."
Teletraan and Nicole took each other's hand as everyone gathered behind them to watch the screen and many more appear next to it. Then live footage of the hallway security cameras came into view. And they saw each human paired off with one Autobot. But the thing that got to them was this.
There were ten humans on Cybertron. But they could only count nine on those screens.
"Hold up." Takamon knew who was missing. "Where's Takato?"
"I…I don't know." Teletraan said. "Something's wrong. Why isn't he there?"
"Let's try searching the entire city of Iacon." Nicole said. "Maybe he just went out."
It was highly improbably Takato would go out into the city on his own, but it was still worth a shot to look. The screens showing the kids and the bots vanished as the Sky Spy above Iacon began to transmit multiple views of Iacon. And for the first time ever, some of the Mobians were getting their very first good look at the last Autobot city. It was gorgeous. And there were so many robots walking around it was ridiculous.
But there was no sign of Takato.
"I can't find him anywhere." Teletraan said.
"Maybe we should….wait a minute. Did you see that?" Nicole asked.
"See what?" Teletraan observed the screens for anything strange. "I only see Iacon."
"Hold on." Nicole began to switch some screens around.
She did so a few times so she could make the others see what she saw too. But then she locked on. But it was only for a split second everyone got a glimpse.
It was a streak of silver colored light. And it was going super fast.
"Did you see it now?" Nicole asked Teletraan.
"Yes. I saw. I'm locking on to it now."
Teletraan began to adjust the angle of his Sky Spy's camera to get a good look. And then the screen showed footage of a tiny streak of light rushing through the city.
"Zoom in on that thing." Tails said.
Teletraan did just that. And when he did, the source of the streak of light was finally seen. And no one could believe it. It was Takato. But right now he was Jazz. And he was skating really fast just like Shadow with his goggles over his eyes.
"It looks like someone made Jazz some new shoes." Takamon observed.
"Cool. Now there are THREE AutoKnights who can go fast." Sonic liked the sound of that.
"But how do we get in contact with him? Maybe he can help." Nicole asked.
That was the killer question. The communications array was now churning inside the many stomachs of those scraplets. But there just had to be another way to contact him.
"Oh no! He's going too fast!" Cream observed the screen.
Jazz was indeed going fast, but he seemed to be in control. But Cream was looking at what was ahead of him. Jazz was headed right for a bluish silver colored river that was at least twice as wide as the widest part of the Nile River on Earth. There was a bridge leading over the river, but there was a tanker boat passing through and it was lifted up and split similar to those on Earth. But Jazz wasn't stopping or slowing down. If anything he was going faster.
"Is he going to try and jump that river?" Sally asked. "That thing is too wide. He'll never make it!"
"Not only that. That river is crude energon. The most volatile and dangerous form of Energon." Teletraan lectured. "If he falls short, he's toast. And I can't contact him to tell him to stop."
"Well then I guess there's only one thing we can do." Vector said right before doing his idea. "Come on, Jazz! Conquer the river of death!"
Shout support for Jazz like it was a sporting event wasn't exactly the BEST idea. But given the circumstances, it was the best anyone could come up with.
"You can do it, Jazz! Just keep straight and focus!" Sonic shouted.
"Fly, Jazz! Fly!" Blaze added in.
Everyone was cheering for Jazz even though they knew he couldn't hear them. And then Jazz leaned over more and turned up the power on his new hover skates. He then finally reached the bridge and took off.
All was silent. And time seemed to slow down. It was kinda like watching Evil Kenevil or something like that. Except there was no motorcycle. But there was a river of cruse energon that would burn Jazz like a marshmallow if he came up short. But it was right there Teletraan figured out a way to contact Jazz.
Jazz was now suspended in the air and began to twirl around with aerial acrobatics. But he wasn't even close to being halfway across when he started to make his way down. And that's when the panic started up again. But Jazz had planned for this. He maneuvered his body in the air to the right angle. And then he turned on his shoes at near full power. They acted as rocket boosters and they gave him the extra lift he needed to make it across to the other side.
He landed smoothly on the ground and began to skate again. But a few hundred more yards down the road, he slid to a stop and powered off his shoes. Then he brought his goggles to his forehead.
"OH YEAH! THESE SHOES ARE BITCHIN!" Jazz shouted at the top of his lungs.
Just then, something began to beep and it was coming from Jazz. It wasn't his communicator arm. It was coming from his hip by the sound of it. But what did Jazz keep attached to his hip? He snapped his fingers when he figured it out.
He reached down into a little compartment on his hip and brought out his gold and red D-Arc Digivice. It was beeping. But why was it?
"Guilmon isn't here. So what's going on with this thing?" he wondered.
"Jazz, can you hear me?"
A circle shaped screen appeared above the actual screen of the D-Arc. And a clear image of Teletraan's Mobian form was seen.
"Jazz, it's me. Teletraan. Are you there?"
"Y-yeah. I hear you loud and clear." Jazz said. "How did you even get in contact with my Digivice?"
"That's….not really important right now." Teletraan said knowing it would take too long to explain. "Jazz, we have an emergency."
Jazz thought about this the wrong way.
"Takamon is the one on Earth, Teletraan. Not me. I can't do anything to help him." He said.
"No you moron."
Takamon came in and literally pushed Teletraan out of the screen so now he was occupying it.
"Jazz, the emergency is on Cybertron. The emergency here has already been taken care of." Takamon said.
Then Teletraan shoved Takamon away and resumed his position. Then he proceeded to explain to Jazz exactly what was going on back at Autobot HQ. And needless to say, Jazz was horrified. But not because of the incredible dangerous bugs that were infesting his temporary home. No sir. He was scared because Rika was there with them. But Teletraan explained to him that as long as she remained Rika and not Chromia, she was fine.
"I gotta get back there and help them." Jazz said.
"You can't." Teletraan said back. "Hot Rod locked down the entire base from the inside out. You can't get in and the scraplets can't get out. Besides, this is an opportunity, Jazz. You're the only AutoKnight on the outside. You can go get help."
"If what you just said is true, Teletraan, getting more Autobots to come to the base will be completely meaningless. I'd just be feeding them to the scraplets. I don't care what you think. My friends are in there and I have to get in."
"I just said you can't!" Teletraan was shouting now. "Don't you get what the phrase, lock down, means? There is NO WAY for you to get in!"
"I don't care. Rika is in there! And I know her! She's gonna wanna fight back! Which means she might turn into Chromia! I have to get back inside before that happens!"
"Jazz….!"
Jazz cut him off right there and returned his digivice to his hip. His goggles were over his eyes again and he began to skate back to HQ.
Speaking of HQ, the hunt for the bugs was still fruitless so far. There were nine teams of two and they each went off to search a different part of the building. Rika liked being around Ultra Magnus. Even though Hot Rod was in charge, Ultra Magnus looked more like he should be leader. It was something about the way he looked. It was like he resembled someone they knew very well. They couldn't really figure out who.
But what Rika didn't know was that Magnus was chicken when it came to Scraplets. She was walking on front of him. She was armed with a small metal pipe while Ultra Magnus had a sidearm blaster.
"You know it's kind of ironic." Rika said. "You could easily crush me underneath that big foot of yours and yet here I am guarding you from a swarm of killer cannibal bugs."
Ultra Magnus was too scared to even think about what she said. But he did hear her.
"Yeah….ironic." he whispered.
But then the lights in the hallways they were in went completely out.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
That voice sounded like a female's. But it regrettably wasn't. As the lights came back on, Rika looked at Ultra Magnus with a face that was both confused, and concerned.
"Did you just scream like a little girl?" Rika asked hoping it wasn't really Magnus.
"Um…..no." Magnus lied. "Come on. They might be close."
Rika decide to just let it go. No use getting into an argument that would probably lead to nowhere. As they continued on, Magnus remained in a timid state of mind. But Rika remained firm. Just like Renamon taught her to be. A tough girl who doesn't back down. But her touch spot on her heart wasn't there right now. Because although she was happy he was outside and safe, Rika kinda wished Takato was there with her. But she knew her boyfriend very well.
"He's probably figuring out a way to get back in here." Rika thought out loud but very quietly.
"What was that, Rika?" Ultra Magnus asked.
"Oh. Nothing." Rika muttered back
But let's transition to another pair. Hot Rod was trying his best not to look scared. Why was he doing that? Because he was paired up with Trevor. He wanted to show Trevor that the leader of the Autobots was still as strong as the leader of the AutoKnights. But Trevor was still up in front of him and he had a crowbar with him that was at least half his size.
"You doing okay back there, Hot Rod?" the human asked just to be sure.
"I'm quite alright, Trevor." Hot Rod said. "What about you?"
"I'm okay. The scraplets aren't hungry for flesh." Trevor responded.
"And for that you should be very thankful." Hot Rod said.
But then something began to crawl up Hot Rod's back. And the Autobot felt something back there. And he knew what it was. He began to panic and Trevor looked back. There was one stray scraplet on Hot Rod's back. But it managed to fall off and the bug started to make its way back to the bot. But it came short because it was smashed by the giant crow bar Trevor had.
"Well…one down. And a few thousand more to go." Trevor said a bit doubtful. "There are so many of these things and you guys are afraid to fight them. How are we supposed to get rid of them all?"
"We'll think of a way, Trevor. You may be a human but on the inside you and your friends are Autobots. And fraggin good ones too." Hot Rod said. "What did I teach you when you were training?"
Trevor remembered that day.
"You said, "Never fear danger. Embrace it and become it." The human said that with a chuckle.
"Exactly. And you and your friends have done so well with that. I'm scared, Trevor. But that won't stop me from saving this place and all my friends who are trapped inside." Hot Rod said.
"Then let's get going. There's bound to be more of them SOMEWHERE around here." Trevor said.
Hot Rod and Trevor got back to doing what they were doing.
But all the while on Earth, everyone could only watch and hope for the best. But none of the other pairs were doing any better. It was like that for a full hour. Ella was kind enough to make them all a few snacks as the whole group watched this like it was some sort of thriller movie. It had all the elements of a flick. Humans, robots, crazy insectoid creatures ready to devour the innocent robots, it was the perfect horror flick. But…this wasn't a movie. This was really happening. To people they knew.
"You think they're gonna be alright?" Cosmo asked Tails.
"I haven't seen any of these human knights fight before. And I haven't seen a real scraplet either." Tails replied. "But I'm sure if these guys are even half as strong as Tak is when he's Blurr, everything will be okay."
"Speaking of strong." Takamon looked over at Sonic. "That was quite some power you displayed fighting Bludgeon. I think Team Ninja might have a third member if you want in."
Sonic smiled at that.
"Sure. Why not? You me and Jazz would make a great trio now that he has some speed on him." Sonic said.
"Speaking of Jazz." Teletraan decided to see exactly where the human ninja knight was.
He was able to lock on to his energy signature from his spark and brought up a holo screen to view. Jazz was trying to scale the side of the HQ building to try and find a way inside from the top. Jazz was never the best climber. But Rika was in there and that was all the drive he needed to actually start climbing.
"Well I'll give him this. He sure is determined." Espio said.
"How is he even climbing that huge thing? It has to be nearly impossible." Saffron said.
She was saying that because Teletraan had accidentally zoomed in a bit too far and Jazz's whole body was not seen. Half of his arms were only seen.
"Oh. My bad." Teletraan zoomed out a bit.
And that's when Saffron's answer came to her. Jazz was using his nunchucks like a pair of climbing hooks. He struck the side of the building with one and then pulled himself up to that level. Then he repeated over and over with the other one. He was just lucky the chucks were able to get into the wall solidly enough to hold him up.
But he was not even halfway up the building yet. He was on Cybertron. And buildings here are ten times bigger than they are on Earth. So if he was ever going to get up there, he was going to find a faster way. He began to search the systems of his suit to see if he could find anything that could help him out in the least bit. But then he did find something.
"I didn't know I had one of those."
Jazz put away his right nunchuck and got his right arm free. Then his right arm began to transform as his sleeve revealed mechanical parts. They locked into place and then a metal four pronged grappling hook popped out.
"You know, it'd be nice to know what you have inside of you BEFORE you put on the ring."
Then the silver knight began to look around for something he could shoot that hook at. And this was Autobot HQ. He found multiple antennas sticking out almost everywhere from the building. He fired his hook for the nearest one and it wrapped around it and held tight.
"Alright ninja skills. Let's see if I still got it."
He got himself ready to swing down like Spider Man or something. Then he pulled out his other chuck and quickly put it back in his suit. He actually screamed as he swung down because he was so close to the wall and getting closer. Then he got an idea. He turned on his hover shoes and began to side skate along the wall. When he began to go upwards, he turned the shoes up in power and he began to raise more. When he was ready, he made the hook release itself from the antenna and then he was in the air and turned off his shoes. He then quickly fired the hook again and it wrapped around another antenna. This one farther up. Then Jazz pulled hardly and he jerked forward. Then he retraced the line again. Instead of swinging, he landed on another side sticking antenna and bounced off of it when it sprang him into the air. He was able to maneuver himself over to other antenna as he sprung his way up the building. After a few more jumps, he landed on a place on top of HQ where it was level enough to walk.
"No problem."
Then the young ninja proceeded to look for a way inside while unbeknownst to him, all his friends on Earth were still in awe at that little acrobatic show he just gave them.
"The kid's a freak." Espio was a ninja himself and even he was impressed.
Back on the inside, with Kari and Bluestreak, they were just turning the corner of a corridor. And Kari still felt bad for what happened earlier.
"Bluestreak, I'm sorry for what happened to Prowl's leg." The girl apologized.
"There's no need for apologies, Kari. You had no idea that thing was really a vicious bug ready to tear us Autobots to pieces." Bluestreak said back. "I made the same mistake when I first encountered scraplets."
"Really? What happened?" she asked as she got a firmer grip on her very big wrench.
"I ran into a group of three or four of them on another planet called Technar. I thought they were harmless and tried to pat them on their heads. But then they opened up their mouths and started to chomp away at my finger. I was lucky enough to get clear of them and blast them to pieces."
So Bluestreak had already had an unfortunate encounter with scraplets before. But it didn't make Kari feel all that better. She still brought one up to the main level and accidentally let it loose on Bluestreak's brother. It made her feel like crap.
But her feelings got put on hold when she heard the familiar tapping of the scraplets legs. But there were many more of them. Bluestreak heard them too and prepared his pistol. But then he felt something fall on top of his head. It was only a loose chunk of metal, but the Autobot didn't know that. He pointed his gun upwards and fired it letting loose multiple giant cables that fell on to him and covered him.
Kari just widened her eyes at the sight. Bluestreak was squirming while the cables just moved around him. But there were no scraplets anywhere.
"Okay. Now I've seen everything." She said to herself. "Bluestreak, relax! It's some cables! No scraplets!"
Bluestreak froze in his place and opened his eyes back up. Then he saw that Kari was right and realized his stupid he just looked. He got hold of one of the cables.
"Right. Cables. I knew that."
He pulled on one of the cables making it detach from the ceiling. But then some small metal balls fell down on him and many more followed. And when he looked closely, he saw that some of them were stuck to his arm and they had purple eyes.
Bluestreak let loose a scream as he began to shake all over. The scraplets were starting to make their way into Bluestreak. And Kari rushed for him and began to swat the bugs off of him with the wrench.
Steve and Wheeljack were in another corridor. Wheeljack had his own small blaster and his shoulder mounted missile launcher was armed. All Steve was carrying with him was a big screwdriver. But Steve was the human who was the most scared. His left arm was metal. And that's what scraplets eat.
"Um…Wheeljack?" he needed to know. "My arm is made of metal. Won't the scraplets come after me too?"
Wheeljack had an answer for that.
"No. Not as long as you wear that glove. Scraplets only go after metal they can see. They can't detect metal covered by clothes or something. So you're safe."
A huge wave of relief came onto Steve. But then he too heard that tapping. Then he looked over at the wall. And there were hundreds of scraplets coming out of a hole in the wall. And then all of those bugs spotted Wheeljack and opened up their mouths. Then all of them jumped and they headed for Wheeljack. But not on the ground.
"You never said those bastards could fly!" Steve shouted.
Wheeljack turned the other way and ran. Steve was right behind him. Wheeljack ran into an open room. It was a storage room and it was completely empty and rather large for a storage room. But going in there was a big mistake. Because now there was no way out and the door didn't hold for that long because the scraplets made quick work of that. Then they soared for Wheeljack. He was able to blast a few of them but then rest of them bombarded him and he fell to the ground on his back.
Steve rushed over and began to whack the bugs off of his friend's giant body. But for every one he got, two more took its place and chomped away. But if that wasn't the worst thing that happened, everyone else and their Autobot friend came into the same room. Red Alert and Ultra Magnus were helping Bluestreak.
"Wheeljack, get your patch kit. Bluestreak got assaulted by….WHOA!" Prowl ut short when he took a good luck at the things occupying that room.
All those scraplets came right for them and began to sink their teeth into the bots. The humans made quick and got to work swatting the bugs off of the bots as they screamed in pain and fear. And everyone on Earth was just watching in total shock.
But Jazz was the only one who didn't have a clue as to what was happening in there. And he couldn't contact any of his friends because they weren't in their AutoKnight forms. So he had to think of something else. Then he did. He took out his digivice and tried to make it get into contact with Rika or Henry. He preferred Rika. But he had no idea how to make it work. All he really knew what to do with that thing was swipe cards through it. But unless there was a special card that could teleport him in there, he was screwed. He spent probably half an hour trying to get that thing to work. But all the button pressing got him absolutely nowhere. So he actually started to talk to the device.
"Come on, already! My girlfriend might be in trouble or dead and I have no other way to reach her. So will you please stop being a pain in my butt and just work with me here?"
That little command believe it or not, did the trick. The digivice began to send a signal to Rika's.
Down in the room in HQ, Violet knocked the final scraplet off of Warpath and killed it. Then all nine Autobots moaned in pain. All over their bodies there were gnarly chew marks made from the creepy crawlies. And they were all very weak. Just then, Rika's digivice began to beep. She pulled out her blue D-Arc and pressed a button. And then Jazz appeared on a screen.
"Rika! Oh I'm so glad you're okay." Jazz said relieved.
Everyone got behind Rika as she conversed with her boyfriend.
"How do you even know what's going on?" Rika asked.
"Teletraan called my digivice and told me everything about the scraplets. Are the others okay?" Jazz couldn't see behind her very well.
"We're all okay, Jazz." TK answered. "But the Autobots…not so much."
TK explained to Jazz what had just went down in the base. But then Fry asked a question.
"So…does that mean we got em' all?" he asked anyone.
"No." Red Alert was the one who weakly answered. "These were just scouts. There are still more of them left."
"Is there any place in this base that's safe from them?" Violet asked.
Hot Rod gave an answer.
"There is a room not far from here we built especially for an emergency such as this." He moaned. "It's made from a material you humans call…cement."
"Scraplets will only eat metal and nothing else." Wheeljack explained. "The concrete will protect us."
"Well then we have to get you there." Henry said. "But the problem is, there's only one way to do it."
Everyone knew what he meant by that. They were going to have to take on their AutoKnight forms if they wanted to get their robotic friends to the safe room. But lucky for them they had a knight that could create force fields. After they all transformed to robot mode, Ironhide placed a golden force field over herself and all of her friends. The knights helped the bots stand up and then they all walked down the corridor.
They found the room and everyone got inside of it. Then Ratchet sealed the door and locked it, then the knights turned off their rings. But there was something strange going on.
"There were a lot of robots out there just a minute ago." Julie-Su observed from Earth. "How come none of the scraplets charged for them?"
That was a very good question. Teletraan and Nicole began to use the base's infrared scanners to locate the scraplets. They soon found the whole freakin swarm digging through the base. But they were going down.
"Why are they going that way?" Mighty wondered. "Is there anything down there?"
"Oh no." Teletraan froze up for the very first time experiencing the emotion of fear.
"Teletraan, what's the matter?" Nicole asked.
"The scraplets. I know where they're headed." Teletraan answered.
"What's the white face, Teletraan?" Takamon asked. "Where are those things going?"
Teletraan looked back up at him.
"They're headed straight for the server room."
The Autobots began to gasp.
"If those little pests devour the mainframe for this building, Megatron will take us all out in a sparkbeat." Wheeljack said.
"They're not headed for Iacon's servers." Teletraan corrected with even more fear in his voice. "The scraplets are going for MY server room."
Now all the humans gasped too and so did everyone on Earth. Except for Vector and Fry. Those two were the only ones who didn't know how bad it was now.
"Wait. What's going on now?" Vector asked.
Teletraan slapped his forehead and then dragged his hand down his face.
"Listen very closely, Vector." Teletraan almost sounded like he was mad. "I'm an artificial intelligence unit. I'm a supercomputer. And my systems run on multiple, COUNTLESS servers and mainframes. And they're all stored in one room. As soon as the scraplets reach it….I'm finished."
The scraplets had decided to first snack on Teletraan's servers before helping themselves to the Autobot main course apparently. And now everyone was afraid for Teletraan's life. But there were now only ten people who could do something about it.
Tai activated his ring. And the power of Jetfire took form on his body. As he started to walk off, Trevor grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Whoa there, cowboy." He said. "Where do you think you're going?
"Where do you think I'm going?" Jetfire said back. "I'm going to stop those stupid bugs from eating Teletraan."
"You can't go down there as Jetfire." TK said. "The scraplets will get you too."
"He's right." Henry added. "You'll just be serving yourself to them on a silver platter."
"Jetfire think here." Trevor said.
Jetfire pushed Trevor's hand off his shoulder and looked him dead in the eye.
"Listen to me. Teletraan isn't just a computer or some sort of device anymore. He's much more than that now. He's my friend. He's a friend to all of us. He's helped us all throughout this whole war and he's as much a member of this team as any one of us is. And now for the first time, HE needs our help. Are you really going to stand there and tell me that you're not going to do anything to save him? After all he's done for us, are you really going to let our friend DIE?"
Everyone was waiting for Trevor to give Jetfire some sort of answer. But for ten seconds, he just stood there staring back at Jetfire's gaze. Then his right fist clenched. Jetfire thought he was going to throw a punch but he didn't move. But he was wrong. Instead of punching Jetfire, Trevor joined him and his ring powered on and turned himself into Optimus Prime.
"Teletraan's indeed a friend." Optimus said. "And I will do everything in my power to save him."
"Don't forget us." Steve said as he and the other seven powered on their rings again.
The AutoKnights were all set and ready to go. Even though they were still short one guy. And on Earth, Teletraan was smiling bigger than he ever had before.
"Thank you all….so much."
"Don't sweat it, Teletraan. Anything for a friend." Bumblebee said.
"What's the other AI's name?" Optimus asked.
"My name is Nicole." She answered.
"Alright then. Teletraan, I want you to help guide us down to your server room." Optimus said. "And Nicole, I need you to scan every square inch of this building. There has to be a secret way out somewhere."
"But why do you need that?" Nicole asked. "Are you planning on running?"
"No." Optimus looked back at his team. "I just know we can't do this with just nine. We have to find some way to get Jazz back in here."
Chromia took out her D-Arc from her suit. Jazz was still on the line with her.
"Jazz, did you hear all that?" she asked.
"Yeah. Teletraan's server room, gonna find a way in for me, I got it all." Jazz replied. "I'll keep looking for a way in too. You guys just get your butts down to that room and stop those bugs from eating Teletraan. And try not to get eaten yourselves."
Chromia nodded.
"Don't worry. We'll be careful." She put away her digivice and then the nine of them began to make their way out.
"Be cautious, AutoKnights. The scraplets may be small but they are many. Exercise extreme caution." The downed Hot Rod said.
The nine of them nodded and then Optimus' faceplate rose up over his mouth.
"We will."
The nine AutoKnights then left their Autobot friends in that room and sealed it. In the corridor, Teletraan began to guide them. First they needed to get to an elevator and get down into the level of the room. While they were there, everyone began to let some of their own fear show.
"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Sideswipe asked.
"What kind of question is that?" Ratchet asked. "Teletraan needs us. You're not going to turn your back on him. Are you?"
"Well no. But if I was ever going to get eaten by anything I always imagined getting chewed up by a giant dinosaur in the past or something."
Everyone just eyed Sideswipe strangely.
"There is definitely something VERY wrong with you." Chromia remarked.
"Whatever." Sideswipe came back. "Either way, I'm scared. You all saw those things tear the bots to pieces. What if that happens to us?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, Sideswipe is right." Jolt added. "This is a whole new level of danger."
Optimus and everyone knew how he felt. They witnessed a full size Autobot get literally eaten from the inside out by a whole swarm of these things. It was gruesome. But Optimus remembered that lesson Hot Rod gave him. And he repeated it for his team.
"Never fear danger. Embrace it and become it."
That was a good line. And he borrowed it from Hot Rod. And it was just the thing his team needed to hear.
"Let's go save our friend." Ironhide cocked her twin cannons.
That seemed like a capital idea. But Jazz was still on the outside and the others were on Earth. All they could do for now was hope and pray for the best.
And Teletraan only feared for his life. So did Nicole. She didn't want to lose the only friend she had who also happened to be an AI.
But his fate was in the hands of those kids. They just needed to be fast enough.