Chapter Twenty-five: Paradigm Shift
As soon as Jacquelyn left the base, Raf started to pace around the human area of the base in worry. "Hey, Raf, you ok?" Miko asked as she looked at him from the couch. "Honestly, I don't know, Miko." The boy said to her as he looked at the Asian girl in confusion. He was able to make sense of almost anything, but the way he felt as soon as they carried Jacquelyn away made no sense to him. He felt sick but also fine. The paradoxical feelings made Raf want to punch a wall because he hated not knowing what to do. He sighed and shivered. "No lagrimas, Raphael. Tu tiene diez y ocho años." He growled to himself. Miko was not a Spanish-speaking person by any stretch of the imagination, but she did pick up two words that puzzled her: diez y ocho "eighteen" and años "years". Raf then let out a long sigh and began to spill his guts to Miko about his strange feelings he was feeling. The girl grinned at him. "Awww…that's so sweet! You're in love." Raf's jaw understandably fell off its hinges.
Back on the battlefield, the bots approached Jacquelyn in a mixture of bewilderment and a mild amount of fear. She grinned at them. "I'm far from defenseless. My world's Airacnid taught me to fight." She explained to them. This got a raised eyebrow from Ratchet. "Are you two…Sparkmates?" He asked. Jacquelyn fought a gag. "No! She's my foster mother!" Jacquelyn glared at the old medic. Then, she realized why he thought what he thought and looked at him. "I'm sorry. It just took me by surprise." She said with a sigh. Optimus smiled. "It is about time to get back to base. Let's roll out." He said as he, Ratchet, and Jacquelyn transformed. June climbed in Optimus' cab calmly. It took the girl a moment to remember that Optimus was no longer the Decepticon she thought of him as.
As they rode back to base, Knockout armed himself with his prize weapon and smirked darkly as he imagined the pain in the aft techno-organic going offline while his Sparkmate bleed out of Energon, and the Sparkling became raw material for a new batch of experiments to duplicate the fusion of organic and Cybertronian biology into a single organism. That would be his crowning achievement. It would also provide a unique way of conquering Earth. Knockout chuckled. Today will see the end of the Autobots and the rise of a new race. Knockout thought as he let out an evil chuckle that echoed through his medbay and around the ship. "The first to fall will be by my own servo." He said with a twisted grin as he walked to the Groundbridge Nexus and activated one that locked on to the new Energon signal.
Suddenly, Jacquelyn saw a car rushing toward them in her mirrors. Her optics widened as she looked on in shock at the gentle medic she knew that rapidly approached them. "Knockout, is that you?" She said with a surprise in her voice. "Do I know you, beautiful?" The tone Knockout used made Jacquelyn shiver. He was acting like Ratchet the Mad Doctor. The evil medic always hit on her in a sickly manner that made her regularly stay awake before Airacnid recued her. The voice of Optimus tore through the air. "Autobots, defend!" Optimus and Ratchet turned their weapons on the approaching car and open fired. Knockout dodged and swerved the blasts. Then, he transformed and struck Optimus with what appeared to be an average Energon prod. Once the Prime fell under the effects of the prod, Ratchet ran at the Mad Doctor.
Before Knockout could strike Ratchet down, the sound of a Groundbridge opening reached his audios. "Ah, the human dwarf…" Knockout said with a dark grin. "You won't touch Ratchet or Jacquelyn!" He yelled as he jumped into the way of the prod. As the prod connected, Raf yelled in pain. The electric shock threw him back. Surprising everyone but Knockout, Raf recovered easily and landed on all fours. Raf glared hard at Knockout as his brown eyes flickered back and forth to blue optics. The Mad Doctor laughed. "My experiment seems to be a success!" Raf smiled, jumped up and gave Knockout punches so strong that the Mad Doctor was thrown back by the first punch and to the ground by the force of the second. "You will NOT harm my friends!" Raf growled as he landed on Knockout's chassis. Knockout smirked as he watched Raf start to teeter. "Be careful, little gnat." He said with a dark laugh. Ratchet picked up Raf as Jacquelyn started to beat Knockout. Optimus looked at the femme. "Retreat, now!" Optimus said authoritatively. Jacquelyn reluctantly listened and pulled back into the open Groundbridge.
At base, Ratchet worriedly looked over the boy. Miko glared at Raf. For once, she was the voice of reason. "What were you thinking, Raf?!" She asked as she walked up to the medical berth. Ratchet glared at the girl, but Optimus was the one to speak. "Now is not the time for interrogation, Miko." He said solemnly. Miko nodded but shot a glare at Jacquelyn which confused the femme. Miko then walked off as Jack and Arcee came back from a supply mission with Crystal. Jack dismounted from Arcee and walked over to the medical berth with worry in his eyes. Arcee joined her Sparkmate by the berth as they looked at the boy in worry. Miko sighed. "Lover Boy went all heroic and took a blast from Knockout's new weapon. It turned him into a techno-organic." Miko said calmly with a sigh.
Raphael sighed and groaned as he sat up. "What truck hit me?" He asked quietly. "You were turned into a techno-organic by Knockout's latest weapon." Ratchet said calmly. Optimus glared at the Groundbridge. "We have to stop him. I was a fool with Skyswipe because it took her being unwillfully Bonded to make her see the light. I fear Knockout will not turn. He took down Raphael without a moment's pause." Optimus' chassis shook with anger. "Today, this will end." He said with rage hiding under a very thin layer of calm. "Mom, will you watch Crystal?" June nodded. "Please, be careful." June said calmly as she looked at Optimus with worry and looked at Jack and Arcee. "Take care of my son, Arcee." She said calmly. "I always will, June." Arcee said as Jack activated his suit, and together the entire force of Autobots, minus Ratchet to keep an eye on Raphael's condition, marched into the Groundbridge locked onto Knockout.
Knockout was in the middle of a street race. Optimus normally would have objected to Arcee and Trickshot joining the human illegal race, but it was the perfect shot to take the head of the snake once and for all with an ambush. Knockout almost instantly recognized the Autobots in the lineup. "So…Optimus is going slack on the rules?" Knockout taunted with an unseen grin. "No, this is a plan." Arcee said coldly. "A plan, you say?" Knockout scoffed. "Yes…" Trickshot growled with a glare as he slammed into the side of Knockout's door. "Why…you little…" Knockout laughed from inside his alternate mode. "This wouldn't be over that little former human. Would it?" He asked with amusement in his voice. Trickshot ran into the back of Knockout and sent him down a gorge. As he tumbled down to the bottom of gorge, Knockout transformed and, with a metallic screech, landed on his peds just in time to be sent flying as a massive black fist with green armor.
The Decepticon was still reeling from Bulkhead's punch when he was punched in the back as he heard beeping. "Ah…Bumblebee…what's wrong?" He asked with a calm smile. Optimus walked up and glared at Knockout. "You are going to go offline, Lord Knockout." Optimus said coldly before he lunged at the 'Con. Knockout rolled out of the way of that attempt at an attack just to receive two peds to his back as Arcee and Jacquelyn. Knockout looked at Optimus and smiled as he wiped Energon from his lip with a smile. "What, Optimus?" Knockout asked the Autobot leader with a cough. "No peace talks like you would with Megatron?"Optimus glared harder. "Talks of peace evaporated when you almost killed Raphael. At least Skyswipe had the decency to leave the human children be. You have no such redemption." Optimus said as his blade engaged and he ran Knockout through. "No…" The 'con groaned. "…my finish! You damned...slagerrrr!" Knockout growled as he fell off Optimus' blade, and Knockout's optics slowly dimmed to black. "It is done." Optimus said solemnly. "Ratchet, the Decepticons are headless. We require a 'bridge." Ratchet was too stunned to speak but did activate the portal before Team Prime returned, finally victorious.
As the bots walked through, Raf groaned but instantly brightened when he saw Jacquelyn. She smiled. "I'm glad to see you are doing well." Jacquelyn said as she walked over to Raf. Raf smiled as his eyes flickered to optics and back. "I guess I'm doing ok considering Im now only half human." He said with a shiver. "At least you're still part human." Jacquelyn said quietly as she looked away. Raf put a hand on one of her digits and smiled at her. "Hey, it's not all bad. You have us." He said with a grin as he added in his head, …and you have me. "Thank you, Raphael." Raf shook his head with a smile "Please, call me Raf." He told her with a smile as Miko snickered and started humming "K-I-S-S-I-N-G".
Please Read and Review. This will most likely be the last chapter for this story. Let me know if you want more.