Autobots, Assemble!

Part 2

Chapter 26

Wasp was the first to react. In less than a second she changed from her typical optimistic, cheery self to a veritable Herald of Unicron himself. She flew at Megatron in a murderous rage, blasting him with bio-electric shots stronger than she'd probably ever managed before. The warlord seemed more than a little surprised at the rapid transition in character, and the stronger blasts were clearly irritating him.

At last tired of playing target dummy, Megatron raised a clawed hand and swatted the enraged size-changer hard. From the pained cry he knew he'd broken a fair few bones, but she refused to stay down and vainly struggled to get up, only to collapse in a heap, tears streaming down her face.

This brutal assault stirred the Autobots into aggressive protective action. They all charged in unison while Ratchet jumped down and began tending to Wasp as best he could, using his body to shield her from the chaos.

Two of her ribs were broken and she was bruised in over a dozen spots. Her grief appeared to be drowning out her physical pain, but the occasional gasp as she held her chest told him otherwise. The medic felt his spark wrench painfully in his chest, seeing her like this. Normally so energetic and outgoing, the little female had been reduced to an emotional wreck, and her injuries weren't helping her state of mind. He faintly registered his team being thrashed about – their anger was impairing their combat skills, as expected. The Avengers were more than happy to take over attacking Megatron and Starscream, though the Seeker seemed more focused on Prowl than anyone.

Starscream's inattention allowed Thor the chance to charge up Mjolnir. Ratchet hadn't been there on the day they'd first met Knockout in New York, but he had a hunch that this electrocution would be far more painful than Knockout's. If there was one thing Thor disliked more than tricksters it was cowards, and Starscream was the biggest coward ever built by Cybertron. So in short – the Asgardian was about to have a field day with his hammer.

The Seeker's agonized howl told him that his hunch had been correct. He collapsed to the ground unconscious, little arcs of lightning dancing around on his immobile frame. The overload of electricity occasionally made his wings or hands twitch spasmodically.

"Be grateful I did not end you as I should have, Decepticon," The Asgardian growled to the unconscious Seeker. "Cowards are treated with the lowest respect among my people."

He tried to zap Megatron to instill the same warning and was shot down before the hammer could even begin charging up. The warlord was ready to stomp him flat when two things happened at once.

"MEGATRON!" A new voice shouted from behind and he whipped around to try and find the source. That was the first thing. The second was a sharp, horrendous pain piercing right through his spark chamber. When he looked down he saw the tip of the Star Saber jutting out of his chest, dripping with Dark Energon. There was only one 'Bot who could've attacked him from behind so expertly and who wouldn't have aroused his suspicion…..

"You took my voice," The new voice continued, its owner's air intakes slow and deep as it tried to steady it. "You will never rob anyone – of anything – ever again."

It was a voice Megatron firmly believed he would never hear again, and now he was hearing it as each of his vital systems fell offline one by one. If it weren't for his instinctual fear of oblivion he would've appreciated the irony. The one Autobot who had managed to survive an interrogation with him back on Cybertron had just shoved a relic of the original Thirteen Primes into his spark chamber, killing him in one fell swoop.

His motor control systems went offline just before his optical sensors did. The last thing he registered was the blade slipping out of its living sheathe, and himself tumbling off of the platform towards the body of water sixteen thousand feet below. Then everything went dark.

Thor got back to his feet with a look of utter and complete shock on seeing who had done the deed. And from the looks on everyone else's faces, he wasn't the only one who was surprised beyond belief. Wasp not only showed surprise but deep, heart-felt relief.

"Bumblebee!" She cried. Ratchet had to put his hand around her to keep her from flying towards the scout. She seemed to have forgotten she was even injured in the first place.

Hawkeye blinked as he realized something blatantly obvious. "Wait….I understood what he said," He turned to his friends. "Did you guys understand him too or am I going crazy?"

Each Avenger confirmed that they had indeed understood every word the scout had just said, though they were a little abstracted and delayed in their responses due to their watching in fascination as the gaping holes in the scout's chest sealed up as if by magic.

Bumblebee stood where he was, looking around at all the different faces – Cybertronian and human – staring at him. He hadn't heard Hawkeye's comment due to his audios still recalibrating.

"What? Why is everyone looking at me?" He demanded. "It's not like my voice suddenly started work –" His optics dilated as realization hit him and a hand rose to his throat. "My voice…." The special helm addition he'd used to conceal his mouth retracted – it was a bit like a smaller version of the battle-masks that Optimus and Wheeljack used.

Ratchet was completely unprepared for the scout to flying tackle hug him the way he did. And even more embarrassing was the fact that he steadfastly refused to let go. Even still he couldn't keep the smile off his face. Embarrassing perhaps, but right now he could deal with it.

Bumblebee finally let go of him, the ecstasy on his face being half-way replaced by confusion. He was trying to figure out how his voice box was suddenly working again, and probably how the heck he was alive right now. The sound of the Iron Man armor's propulsion powering up indicated he might have an answer in one form or another. Though why didn't he just activate the external speakers and amp them up so everyone could hear?

"I'd bet the Arc Reactor in my chest that you're all fixed up and alive thanks to the Cyber-Matter in the Lock. It acts a bit like a healing factor in mutants except much more potent, and that the stuff only works on metal targets, inanimate or otherwise." Iron Man stated.

"That is the only logical explanation for this result." Ratchet concurred.

Starscream whined and moved as his systems came back online slowly and painfully. Knockout hadn't been joking when he'd claimed that Asgardian lighting was more painful than a thrashing from Megatron.

In a bizarre repeat of their encounter with Knockout in New York, Hawkeye readied three electric arrows and fired them at the grey Seeker. With his systems still trying to recover from his first jolt, they weren't strong enough to redistribute the shock of three arrows, and he went down again.

"Want me to drag him to the brig?" Wheeljack offered. "Leavin' him here has 'Bad Idea' written all over it."

He got a nod of acceptance from Optimus and Magnus, both at the same time.

"Soundwave is still outside the bridge doors, so be careful. He may have let us pass one time but I am uncertain whether he will do so a second time." The Prime warned just before the white Wrecker reached the doors.

"Hey for all we know he might let him. With 'Scream's domineering manner and Soundwave's vow of silence, I'd hazard a guess those two don't get along anyway." Bumblebee said. Oh, he would be talking for hours non-stop now.

Knockout supplied the confirmation to this statement. "No, they never got along. Screamer's terrified of him for good reason. It was thanks to Soundwave that he got beat up so badly that one time – Soundy tattled on him. And a load of other times, too. Soundwave's the biggest silent snitch you'll ever meet. He even tattled on me! The nerve of him!"

Wheeljack was already up and out thanks to Vision remotely jacking the lift controls for him, and at the same time letting everyone else back up as well. The unconscious drones were missing so Wheeljack could only assume members of Ghost Recon had popped in and shooed them into the nearest holding area after seeing to it than none were damaged beyond simple repair. Considerate of them, but personally he would've liked to see a good portion of the drones incapacitated permanently so they wouldn't be a problem later.

That was just his personal opinion though, and telling it to any of the others would probably get him a smack upside the head and a firm lecture from the Prime. His experience as a Black Ops soldier had hardened his way of thinking over the years. Bulkhead had been with the Wreckers too, but he had always been a little softer on the inside than anyone else. Bulkhead would have argued that the drones could be useful in the rebuilding efforts back on Cybertron – many were laborers and miners before the War started up.

He made his way down to brig as quickly as he could without accidently waking the grey Seeker. He didn't have his missiles but his blasters were undoubtedly still in working order. The zap Thor has given him coupled with the relatively minor shock of Hawkeye's arrows seemed to have rendered Starscream's motor functions completely useless. He would be unable to aim his guns accurately without access to his limbs – they would be hanging limply by side until his weapons systems recovered.

Without a word he unlocked the brig and tossed the Seeker Captain in, and in doing so spotted a large amount of drones gathered in one spot listening to the silly chatter of a transparent purple Seeker. Oh well. If Skywarp kept the guys from trying to break free by telling stories, who was he to argue with the results? The teleporter was doing a damn good job of it.

As he headed back to the bridge he didn't notice Skywarp pause in his story and look at his retreating form. His audience paid no heed to his smile since they believed it to be a side-effect of the funny tale he was telling.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooOooooooooooooooo

The bridge was peculiarly dead to Knockout. He was so used to seeing Soundwave and dozens of drones manning the flight controls and other systems of the mighty warship. Ratchet, Tony and T'Challa were busy minutely examining and readying the Omega Lock and all its controls to ensure Shockwave hadn't put any malicious coding in to prevent them from using it.

From the looks of things he had begun to do so, but no doubt Predaking's arrival in the lab had prevented him from completing it. Huh. Guess Predaking had a thank you coming whenever they found him, or whenever he decided to show up again. His hissy fit had stopped Shockwave from completing his malware coding.

Even still, a semi-complete malware program was still a malware program, and Cybertronian coding was downright nasty compared to human. From the tattered remains of the incomplete coding they were able to determine it was some form of fail-safe that would only allow a 'Con to activate the Lock. The remaining few bits told of a stasis lock signal that would attack and render a non-Decepticon immobile – alive and capable of thinking but unable to do a thing. But with the coding incomplete they didn't need to worry about the fail-safe triggering.

Ratchet was able to shred the coding into harmless bits of data quite easily.

"Hey! What's this thing do?" Hawkeye wondered aloud. He was exploring the massive array of controls and switches on one side of the bridge. The bold Cybertronian text next to one control had gotten his attention.

"Function: Control Decepticon Spacebridge." An eerie monotone voice informed him. "Advisement: Do not touch."

The sound of blasters charging filled the bridge.

"Armed resistance: unnecessary. Soundwave: not threat. Wish to surrender: accepted?" Soundwave continued coolly. They were just barely able to pick up an almost undetectable undertone of pleading in his last statement…question…whatever it was. It was hard to tell with someone who had no emotion in their voice whatsoever. Even Shockwave was readable in that sense.

Optimus nodded. "It is accepted Soundwave. Your experience regarding the ship's systems would be much appreciated."

The faceless Communications Officer seemed grateful that he wouldn't be getting shot today. He made his way over to his usual post and began typing away on the holographic keyboards, fingers ghosting over keys and controls so quickly they were more or less a blur of deep purple.

The 'Bots gathered in a loose huddle around their leader, puzzled as to why he'd allowed Soundwave a free pass so readily, while their human friends didn't seem to mind one way or another and quietly watched the mech work.

"Boss? You sure letting him pilot the ship is a good idea?" Bulkhead whispered. "What if he double-crosses us?"

The Prime gave him an odd smile that left the mech baffled. "He will not."

"What makes you so certain?" Ultra Magus demanded. "Soundwave's first loyalty was always to Megatron. He might see this as an excellent opportunity –"

Optimus cut him off before he could continue. "Soundwave's loyalty to Megatron is precisely why he will not double-cross us. With his leader offline and Starscream locked in the brig, he has no one to follow aside from Shockwave, who I believe is still in the lab recovering from Predaking's assault. With no one to assist him in such a takeover, he will not attempt it."

This seemed to calm his team somewhat, though they were still clearly uneasy to trust Soundwave fully. The humans on the other hand were going out of their to be friendly to Soundwave, and the mech was himself was being surprisingly gentle with the injured Wasp, sometimes offering a little tap on her head, other times just lightly scooching her away from a key he needed access to. Ant-Man and Panther were doing their best to keep her still and tend to her as best they could.

"Well they seem okay with him," Bumblebee noted. "And he hasn't done anything to harm anyone so far. Look how careful he is around Jan – he's avoiding hurting her accidently. He knows she's hurt."

"Bumblebee makes a good point," Cap agreed. "Would someone still one hundred percent loyal to the Decepticons be currently attempting to keep Wasp still while Hank and T'Challa see to her injuries? Because that's exactly what he's doing. Keeping her in one place is a feat not many people can manage. Trust me, we've tried."

Wheeljack grunted, "True that." He tried to suppress a grin as the Communications Officer caged her in under one hand while continuing to type with the other, allowing the two other Avengers time to get up off their knees for a few moments.

"Suggestion: Contact Avengers paramedic Jane Foster," Soundwave offered. "Groundbridge status: Waiting for location input."

Ratchet stepped up to assist him, wirelessly contacting the paramedic's cell phone, telling her to await transport just outside the hangar. He got a surprised sounding, "Wait, what?" from her before he cut the line.

Less than a minute later the paramedic walked in through the swirling groundbridge with her kit. She was quickly scooped off the floor by Ratchet and placed next to Soundwave's little capture.

To say she was unnerved by the faceless mech may have been an understatement. With no face to read emotions from, it was impossible to tell what he was feeling or thinking. Nevertheless she approached the hand he was currently trapping Wasp under and was more than a little surprised when one finger lifted to allow easier access to her patient.

"What did you say her injuries were?" Jane asked Ratchet. The medic responded with his scan results from earlier about the broken ribs. She was able to see the extensive bruising herself. With the way Wasp was acting it was more likely those ribs had merely been cracked, not broken – the medic's scanner may have been amped up too high. She said as much as she riffled around in her kit for some powerful pain killers, special stiff wrappings to keep her chest from moving too much, and some ice for the bruises.

"There. That should help," The paramedic finished, and then turned to address Bumblebee and Soundwave. "I'm counting on you two to keep her from moving too much. The last time I had to treat her she insisted on watching horror films. And of course a still evil Vision decided to show then, too."

"Don't worry. We'll make sure she stays put. We may have to force her to stay at the hangar. Speaking of which –" The scout turned to Soundwave, "Can you open another 'bridge to the hangar for us, Soundwave?"

Soundwave nodded once and remotely triggered another groundbridge, lifting the hand he was using to keep Wasp in place in order to let her hop into Ratchet open hand.

"Is there any way for you to come with us?" Ant-Man asked.

"Soundwave's presence: Not mandatory. Will continue to pilot Nemesis until transport is requested." The mech answered. He didn't doubt the mech's ability to fly the warship on his own, but it seemed wrong to just let him stay here with all the prisoners. It was the same as rubbing in his face the fact that his side had lost.

Tony exclaimed something unintelligible and whispered something in Soundwave's audio receptor.

"Suggestion: Acceptable, but issue regarding upload found – Nemesis will reject it by default." The faceless mech argued. "Iron Man remains here until issue resolved?"

The inventor agreed readily and landed on the console next to him, leaving his friends to debate what exactly he was trying to upload into the Nemesis's mainframe as they filed through the groundbridge back to the hangar.

OoooooooooooooooooooooOoooooooooooooooooooo

The returning teams were swarmed by an over-enthusiastic Miko, while Wasp was cornered by a very concerned June Darby who had noticed the extensive bruising on her body. Raf and Jack rushed over their respective Autobot friends and demanded answers from them.

"Where's Iron Man?" June wondered. No one seemed upset or anxious so that meant he was safe and unharmed, no longer held by Megatron.

"Oh, he's trying to upload something into the warship's mainframe, but Soundwave said there would be a problem with that so he stayed to help figure it out. Well, more like Soundwave requested he stay." Wasp chirped. "Oh! And something else really cool happened! Come on, come on, show her 'Bee"!

The scout was too busy chatting to Raf to notice the request immediately. The tween had heard it though and eagerly repeated it again to his best friend.

"Show her what little Wasp?" Bumblebee joked. He stifled his laughter at the Nurse's loud gasp, instead grinning from audio to audio. He could only imagine what Peter's, Logan's, Xavier's, and Murdock's reactions would be. That would be fun to see.

The Avengers exchanged glances with one another and then began laughing themselves. Even Vision was laughing along with them. Team Prime joined in too, with the exceptions of Ratchet and Ultra Magnus. They apparently didn't get what was so funny.

"Would it honestly kill you two to laugh? Just once?" Bumblebee scolded them.

The two older mechs eyed each other and shrugged before replying:

"Yes."

Author's Note: This isn't the last chapter before the movie. There'll be an epilogue with all the individual goodbyes and such, plus a little fun ;) And again, I know, this one's late in coming, but these first two weeks of school have been controlled chaos.