Chapter 38: Knocking on Heavens Door
Unknown Location…
Wheeljack took an unsteady step back, looking at the dozen or so Vehicons and Dreadwing surrounding him. Really he should have seen this coming. The wrecker had been raiding con Energon mines for months now, it was only a matter of time before the cons decided to actually do something about it.
From the moment he'd started his raid, blowing up a crate of raw Energon and incinerating a half dozen miners, he knew something was off. There were too many guards, too tense, as if they'd been expecting him. More likely Team Primes own raids had made the cons more nervous. Given who they had on their side, this didn't surprise him.
He'd heard rumors from the cons before off lining them, rumors about how dangerous Jack and his sister were. Or as they'd started to be called, Superboy and Supergirl. The wrecker inwardly smiled, during his little excursion to the alternate dimension he'd been given that nickname. Seems that it decided to stick.
"Any final words wrecker?" Dreadwing demanded, interrupting Wheeljack's trip of nostalgia.
"Just one," Wheeljack grinned, "Catch!"
The wrecker flung a small cylindrical towards the cons. Dreadwing, being a demolitions expert himself, immediately recognized it, "Get back!" he ordered.
It was too late, the explosive detonated in midair, melting the optics of those cons closest and blinding the rest. Wheeljack took his chance and darted away, jumping behind a large boulder near the entrance of the mine. He shifted his right servo into a blaster.
"Really should have considered get an alt mode." he growled to himself. With his own ship the jackhammer to get him in and out in a snap, it hadn't seemed necessary, especially since the humans knew about them.
Dreadwing's cannon fired, blasting a chunk of his cover away. Now he was paying for not getting one. "Oh well. Guess I've got to make do with these." he rolled out from cover, firing back at Dreadwing.
His blaster shots pinged rather harmlessly off the seekers navy blue armor, only making him angrier. Wheeljack jumped to the side to dodge a cannon shot and fired again, this time striking Dreadwing in the elbow joint. It did no permanent damage, but it distracted him for a moment.
Wheeljack grinned and turned tail, heading back to his ship. He needed to get out of here, and fast. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side today, "Going somewhere Wrecker?"
Red armor flashed by and Knockout transformed in front of Wheeljack, his staff held at the ready. Wheeljack groaned, "Look priss bot, I don't have time to scratch your paint job today."
The mech huffed indignantly, "Priss bot!? Do I look like a femme to you!?" he demanded. He whirled his staff around, letting the end spark dangerously.
Wheeljack chuckled and drew both his swords, "Certainly act like one."
Knockout's let optic twitched and he roared, charging forward and swinging his staff around in a blur of motion. Wheeljack backpedaled, putting some distance from the crazed medic before jumping up and swinging his pede around, kicking him square in the faceplate. Knockout stumbled back into a tree, letting out a grunt of pain.
He brought a servo to his faceplate, and felt a scratch in the paint, "GAH! Not again!" he screamed.
Whirling his staff, he charged at Wheeljack, and the two enemies exchanged blows. Wheeljacks twin sword allowed for greater mobility, but Knockouts staff gave him reach. It was enough to compensate for wreckers superior fighting skills anyway, and the two fought back and forth.
Wheeljack twisted around a tree, which Knockout unintentionally stabbed with his staff, leaving a burn mark in the bark. Growling, he ripped it free and spun it in his servos before charging once more.
Wheeljack ducked under the first swipe, then the second, then the third, and finally rolled around Knockout, bringing both his blades parallel across the red mech's back. Knockout arched his back and let out a yell of pain.
"Piece of scrap!" he snarled.
Wheeljack laughed and took a few steps back, "What's the matter Knockout? I thought you were used to mech's pounding your tail pipe?"
Knockout looked like he was about to pop a valve, " Knockouts personal interests aside." Dreadwing said, stepping on top of a large boulder, "You will not escape, not this time wrecker."
He pointed his cannon at Wheeljack's spark chamber for emphasis. Wheeljack smirked, "I've been in a lot tougher situations." he said rather casually.
Two dozen Vehicons transformed from above and landed in a circle surrounding him. He crouched, swords held at the ready, "This is definitely up there though."
A low hum echoed through the woods as the Vehicons charged their blasters. He would take a few hits, but maybe, just maybe, he could make it out alive. Two of the Vehicons were far enough apart that if he made a break for it, he could get through with little or no damage.
The wrecker felt his legs tense, coiling like a spring. When something completely unexpected happened. And given what Wheeljack had been through, that was saying something.
A bright light shone in the middle of the group, floating down and mesmerizing all who looked at it. The armor on the Cybertronians reflected the light, making the area unnaturally bright. Then, as if waiting for this moment, a beam of light lanced out, slicing through the visor of a Vehicon.
The con barely hit the ground before the same process repeated itself on every Vehicon, leaving smoking dead cons. The remaining individuals watched the light with stunned interest as it descended. The light began to warp and move, taking on a new shape. When it finished, a man roughly eight feet tall dressed in elaborate armor with two large wings of energy stood, or rather floated before them.
Knockout took a step back, trembling slightly, "YOU!" he screamed accusingly.
The man turned his near empty hood on the con, "Me." he said in agreement.
He held out his hands and a two clouds of mist gathering around his gauntlets formed into a sword and shield. He took a fighting position, his wings flared.
"Autobot, are you unharmed?" he asked.
Wheeljack blinked as he realized the figure was talking to him, "Ugh, yeah… Thanks. Who are you?"
"Explanations will come later, for now you may call me Malthanis." Malthanis replied.
"Okay then." Wheeljack readied his swords, "So you want to take Knock bot or the seeker?" he asked.
Malthanis directed his gaze at Knockout, "That being and I have unfinished business. You may fight the other." he pointed his sword at Dreadwing while his gaze rested on Knockout.
"Oh frag this!" Knockout yelled and took off in the opposite direction.
"Knockout you coward!" Dreadwing yelled after the con. He would have said more, except that a large white wrecker distracted him by trying to separate his helm from his shoulders.
Dreadwing bit back a growl as the sword left a small niche in his chest armor. Quickly resealing his cannon on his back, the mech pulled his sword off his back instead, letting the blade assemble itself before attacking Wheeljack with a furious roar.
"That's it, finally a challenge." the wrecker said. They're blades met with a shower of sparks as the two swordsmen engaged each other.
Knockout on the other hand, made it about 300 yards before a trail of mist shot forward and in front of him. Malthanis reappeared in front of him, his armor glowing a faint red. Knockout skid to a stop and the angel pointed his sword at the mech.
"Last time I let you live at the insistence of Kal-El." He stated plainly, " He is not here to save you this time."
Knockout snarled at him, "I don't need some brat to save me!" he yelled.
Swinging his staff, the con stabbed down at the angel. Malthanis evaporated and the vapor raced towards Knockouts optics. Remembering what happened last time, Knockout knocked his arms up, dissipating the mist.
Malthanis reformed on a tree branch at optic level with the con, "That won't work twice." the con informed him. He whirled his staff, the arching electricity creating a whirlpool effect. The angel looked at him unimpressed.
"You are but a coward, hiding behind your vanity and weaponry. Take that away and one would only find an empty shell." His sword and shield evaporated and reformed into a spear which he promptly pointed at the con, "Killing you is a mercy!"
"Kill this!" Knockout yelled swinging his staff at the tree. The large tree shattered under the impact and groaned, falling to the side. Malthanis flew off it as it fell, charging at Knockout.
The two engaged blades, both delivering strikes and blocking them. Despite being smaller and faster than Knockout, Malthanis found that most of his blows only left minor scratches in the cons armor. It took a direct blow to leave any permanent damage on him. And leaving scratches only made the cons attacks more frantic and angry.
Knockout on the other hand, was seriously getting peeved. This self proclaimed angel was a pain to hit, he was so small. It was like fighting the Kryptonian, though with less dismemberment and heat vision. For now.
His sour mood though, was quickly extinguished as his staff slammed into Malthanis side, knocking him clean through several trees. He crashed into the ground, leaving a large mound of dirt at the end of the gash he'd left in the earth.
The angel groaned and pulled himself off the earth, chunks of dirt falling from his armor. He winced and looked down at his side to see a mall split in his armor. Pure white ichor dripped from the wound. Clasping a hand over it for the moment, Malthanis summoned his spear, glaring at Knockout.
The con laughed, "Not so tough now, are you?"
Malthanis pointed his spear at Knockout, "You talk too much." and a burst of light energy slammed into the con, who went careening through the forest.
The angel floated off the ground in Knockouts direction, determined to finish what he had started. Knockout groaned as he regained his composure whilst lying on the ground. He blinked once as he realize Malthanis stood on his neck, a spear pointed at his faceplate.
"Anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu?" he asked.
Malthanis stuck his spear under the cons neck, "Be silent, or I will end your miserable existence."
If Malthanis was going to keep his word, no one would ever find out. The angel instead took a blast to the chest from Dreadwings cannon. Grunting, the angel spun end over end before stopping in mid air. Dreadwing heaved Knockout to his pedes and pointed at a ground bridge swirling to their left.
"Go, we will return with reinforcements." He ordered and threw Knockout forward. The two cons ran through and the bridge closed behind them.
Malthanis landed on the ground, resting against a tree, and heaved a sigh, still holding a hand to his side. Wheeljack slowly came into view, a few cuts on his armor but uninjured besides that. The wrecker looked at the angel.
"Care to explain what the frag you are?" Wheeljack asked.
"One moment." the angel replied. Standing, he held his hand a fair distance away from his wound. The palm of his hand began to glow brightly, shining on the wound with a warm light. His armor creaked and then the edges began to seal together, the crack welding shut.
Malthanis let his arm drop and flexed his side. There was no visible damage, not even a weld mark over where he'd been damaged. He looked up at Wheeljack.
"As I said, I am Malthanis, Seraphim and apprentice to Tyrael the aspect of Wisdom."
Wheeljack crossed his arms, "You say that like it should mean something."
"In this world it means little. In my world though, it means much." Malthanis replied.
Wheeljack arched an optic ridge, "Your world? Are you from another planet or dimension?"
"The latter. In what you would call my dimension, there are three factions. My faction, the Angles of the High Heavens who stand for all that is good, our enemies the Demons of Hell who stand for all that is evil, and in the middle are the humans, angel demon hybrids capable of both great good and great evil."
Wheeljack looked at Malthanis, his faceplate blank. Finally, "That's… quite a story there."
"Do you think I am lying?" the angel demanded.
"No, just a lot to swallow is all." The wrecker looked back in the direction of the Energon mine, "Besides, I have something more important to worry about." he started forwards. Malthanis, having nothing better to do, lifted into the air and followed.
The duo quickly made their way back to the mine, a large hole that sank deep into the ground. Raw Energon crystals were scattered about the premise, along with some basic mining equipment. No trees were in the immediate vicinity, leaving the area relatively clear minus said equipment.
Wheeljack scanned the area, "Normally the cons mining operations have some decent defenses." he started.
"But this time, it was too good, as if they were guarding something." he knelt next to a pile of rocks and began shifting through them. Malthanis watched from the air.
"What if it was simply them strengthening their defenses due to Autobot raids?" he suggested.
Wheeljack waved a dismissive hand, "Nah, not this big an increase at least. It would have been smaller. Ol'buckethead doesn't have to resources to strengthen all the mines like this."
Part of the rocks came tumbling down and Wheeljacks optics, "Hello, what have we here?" he said wonderingly.
A large white container with blue engravings lining its side sat in the rubble. It was about the size of a human, slightly taller, and about twice as thick. Wheeljack ran a servo over the container, finding a small little hand hold in the top of the container.
"It's a Cybertronian relic." he finally said.
"Why would a relic from your world be here?" the angel asked, landing beside the wrecker.
He shrugged, "All kinds of reasons. Near the end of the war, bots were losing pretty bad to the cons. Higher ups were afraid of what would happen if the cons got access to the relics. So they sent them all over the galaxy to keep them out of reach."
Wheeljack gripped the handhold, "A few managed to even find their way to Earth."
There was a low hiss as Wheeljack twisted the cap and tossed it to the side. He reached in and pulled out the relic. His optics widened in shock and horror, "No, no way. Why in the pit would the higher ups let something like this remain functioning!?" he growled.
The device in his hand was circular, being thicker in the center and thinning out at the edges. Elaborate designs covered its blue surface similar to the container it had been trapped in. Unlike the container though, the lines were hard and the colors harsh.
"What is that?"
Wheeljack scowled, "This, is a Decepticon WOMD. Weapon of Mass Destruction." He looked back down at the relic, "The spark extractor."
He stood, holding the vile device in his servos, "AoE, roughly two thousand feet. Any bot or con caught in the blast goes gunmetal grey."
His free servo clenched tightly, "Millions of good bots died because of these. Some were my friends."
"Such power… such destructive power." Malthanis looked at the spark extractor. Even without a face, the horror and disgust was obvious in his posture.
The angels hooded head looked at Wheeljack, "Can you destroy it?"
Wheeljack shook his head angrily, "No, the cons built these things to go off if someone tampered with them. Only way to deal with them is to put them into a storage chamber lined with thick shielding. That way if they go off, the radius is too small to hurt anyone."
The wrecker looked westward, the direction of the Jackhammer, "I don't have the equipment to deal with something like this. But I know some bots who do."
"Team Prime." Malthanis said simply.
Wheeljack looked at him, a hint of surprise on his face, "You know them?"
"Not personally, but I have met the two Kryptonians, Kal-El and Kara Jor-El." the angel replied.
A smile split his faceplate, "Well, you wanna tag along? Say hello?"
Malthanis thought for a brief moment. He had yet to meet Team Prime, but he knew those two well, Kara especially. The girl had made his life interesting every time she showed up. Perhaps seeing her again wouldn't be too bad an idea.
"Very well, I'll accompany you." he said.
Wheeljack put the WOMD under his arm, "Alright then, let's get a move on before the cons come after us again. Ships this way."
The two started off in the direction of his ship, Wheeljacks metal pedes thudding rather loudly through the forest. Malthanis stood or appeared to stand, on the wrecker shoulder pad. If he was bothered by this, it didn't bother him.
After several minutes of near silence though, Wheeljack was quickly finding himself bored with the lack of talking. Finally, he decided to break the silence, "So… how do you know the super twins?" he asked.
"Heh, super twins. Gonna have to save that one for later Jackie." he thought to himself.
Malthanis looked at him, "When I first arrived to this world, I explored the town they inhabited. I encountered Kara there as she was distressed. She and her guardian had had a conflict."
"Kid's got a guardian now?" Wheeljack asked, amazed.
"Yes, a femme by the name of Voidwalker."
"Huh, wonder what she's like?" Wheeljack mused. Earth needed more femmes, and one on the bots side? That was an added plus.
"She's a pain in the aft is what she is." Knockout said, slamming his staff into the tree where Wheeljack had been standing a moment ago. Now he and Malthanis stood a few feet away, weapons drawn.
Knockout whirled his staff in his servos, "We're baaack!" he announced.
The roar of jet engines sounded overhead, and two dozen or so Vehicons lead by Dreadwing landed on the other side of the two. In the direction of the Jackhammer.
Wheeljack kneeled down slightly, "Any chance you can do that fancy light trick again?" he asked.
"I can only do that on rare occasions, once a day at the least." He readied his shield and sword, "This is a fight that we must use physical force to win."
"My favorite kind of force." Wheeljack said with a grin.
Dreadwing spied the spark extractor tucked under Wheeljacks arm, "The relic, hand it over and we may consider sparing your lives." he threatened.
"Or not, I could really go either way." Knockout said, twirling his staff casually.
Wheeljack grinned, "Of course you could Knockout." he ignored the prissy bots huffing, and looked to Dreadwing, "Tell ya what Dreadwing. You let us go, or I set off the spark extractor and kill us all. Minus his holiness here." he said.
There were murmurs of worry from the Vehicons, and Knockout took a few steps back. Vehicons may not be technically alive, but they were intelligent. Self preservation was a part of their programming.
Dreadwing narrowed his optics, "You wouldn't, you would die as well."
He shrugged, "If it means taking down over two dozen cons? Worth it in my book."
"No way, you won't he's bluffing! He has to be!" Knockout half yelled half squealed.
"But are you willing to take that risk?" Malthanis asked.
The Vehicons and Knockout looked around nervously. Dreadwing simply glared at the two. Neither side moved, fearing what the other would do.
Knockouts blood red optics flicked nervously from Wheeljack to the spark extractor. He didn't want to offline, he was too young and handsome to offline! Especially like this. He always thought if he did offline, it'd be due in some small part Breakdowns efforts. Since the con was dead though, dying in peaceful recharge was his preferred way to go. Not having his spark torn out of its spark chamber.
Dreadwing on the other hand, never let his optics leave the pair. If he was able to get that relic from the two, the war would be that much closer to ending. But on the other hand, what would really happen if they killed the Autobots with the extractor? The Kryptonians would still live.
If the Autobots were killed, the fury of those two would be unmatched. Dreadwing had seen what the two could do. If they were angered, there would be no survival of the Decepticons.
"Stand down." the SIC ordered, "Let them leave."
The Vehicons lowered their weapons with relief and Knockout let out a not so subtle sigh of relief, "That was way too close for comfort."
"Decepticons. Fall back." Dreadwing ordered, before transforming and flying off. The Vehicons did the same, falling the SIC.
Wheeljack and Malthanis looked at Knockout, "Ugh… hehehe, I'll be going now." he said and transformed. His tires squealed and jets of dirt kicked up before he took off in the general direction as Dreadwing and the others.
Wheeljack smirked, "Cowards, the whole lot of them." and turned back in the direction of his ship.
Malthanis flew up next to him, "That was a bold move Wheeljack." he stated, "You would have made a fine Seraphim."
The wrecker raised an optic ridge, right as his ship came into view, "What is a seraphim?" he asked.
"Seraphim are the best of the best, the most elite that the High Heavens have to offer." Malthanis explained, "When all else failed, the Seraphim would not."
"Sounds like you guys had your own version of the wreckers." Wheeljack said, a smile on his faceplate.
"Though most of us couldn't fly." he added.
Despite himself, a small chuckle escaped the angel, "No, I suppose not."
Wheeljack pulled a remote out of his subspace and pressed a button. A hiss sounded from part of the ships lower hull, and a ramp slowly lowered, allowing them access into the bowels of the ship.
The duo stepped inside, Wheeljack carefully setting the spark extractor in a chair next to the pilots seat, "Can you watch that? Make sure it doesn't bounce around too much while I fly?" he asked.
Malthanis nodded and touched down next to the spark extractor, if it went off during the flight, well…
Wheeljack pressed a series of buttons on the panel and grinned as a low rumble echoed through the starship, "And away we go!"
The Nemesis…
"YOU LET THEM GET AWAY!?" Megatron roared.
Knockout cowered before Megatron while Dreadwing only flinched. Starscream suppressed a chuckle as the two were chewed out by Megatron. To say he was not happy with what they'd done…
"Lord Megatron, please let me explain." Knockout started.
"SILENCE!" he roared, "Do you have any idea what the ramifications of your actions could be? With the spark extractor in their grasp, the Autobots need only leave it on our ship and set it off for our entire cause to be ended!"
"Lord Megatron." Dreadwing said, stepping forward, "If I may explain."
The warlord glared at Dreadwing before closing his optics and sighing, "Very well Dreadwing, explain."
He bowed quickly, "Of course master. The call was ultimately mine to make. The wrecker threatened to use the spark extractor on us, even at the cost of his own existence. Had he, Knockout, the Vehicons, and I would not be standing before you."
"Yet the Autobots would be short one of their elite troops." Megatron growled.
"Yes, but even if we had managed to get the extractor away from Wheeljack master, what then?" Dreadwing's question caused Megatron to pause.
"Explain yourself Dreadwing." he ordered.
"What could we do with the extractor? Used it on the Autobots?" the seeker asked, "That would only eliminate part of our problem. We would still have two very real threats to our cause."
Megatron let out a growl, "The Kryptonians."
Dreadwing nodded, "Exactly, and if we were to kill the Autobots that way, we risk earning their full attention."
King Con looked at Dreadwing with a hint of approval, "Ordinarily I do not praise retreat. But in this case I'll make an exception. You may very well have just extended the life of the Decepticon cause Dreadwing. Well done."
He bowed, "I aim to please my lord."
Knockout rolled his optics, "Kiss aft."
"Knockout!" Megatron suddenly said. The con straightened out like a board, "My lord?"
"I want you to resume your work with Dark Energon. Dreadwing has brought up an excellent point."
Knockout tilted his head, "He has?"
"So long as the Kryptonians live, the Decepticon cause is in jeopardy." he turned around, his arms crossed behind his back. The platform overlooked a large view screen that showed the planet Earth as it passed by overhead.
"We need a weapon to turn the tide."
Autobot HQ…
The base was relatively peaceful, for the first time in nearly a week. There was no more switching of genders, no more over the top pranks, and no immediate crisis to deal with. In fact, the entire week had been slow, much to the joy of the Autobots and their organic companions.
Well, it had been slow for the humans and Autobots. Not so much for Jack or his sister. The two had become public icons, their popularity growing as the two saved lives all over the world from crimes and natural disasters, ranging from robberies to earthquakes, high speed chases to tsunamis, or even fires to hostage situation. Every time one of them stopped something, they became more well known, as the Superboy and Supergirl.
This meant that when they weren't saving lives, they were on the run from their fans or the paparazzi. Sometimes both. Though today, Jack and Kara were both actually working on a project. A secondary base, built in a undisclosed location should something similar to the Waller were ever to occur again.
Though this left Arcee relatively bored as the two worked, claiming that they were simple repaying the favor for the Autobots putting up with the mischief the two caused. Didn't make Arcee any less upset that Jack wasn't around.
At the moment she was sitting atop the base, watching the sunset. A favorite pass time of hers, even before she'd met him. Though for some reason, her processor couldn't stop focusing on the teen, or memories of him.
She shook her head, "Snap out of it Cee, you're acting like a femmeling again. You'll see Jack when he's done with the base for tonight."
Arcee sighed and looked at the sun, her optics polarizing from the glare. It truly was beautiful to look at. Hard to believe that that little orb of life was responsible for the two most powerful beings on the planet.
She mentally slapped herself, "You're doing it again!" she scolded.
Suddenly the lift opened behind her. The femmes head snapped to see the entire base was standing there. Even Jack and Kara! She stood, confused.
"Is there something I missed?" she asked.
Ratchet looked at his arm, a panel having slid open, "We got a communication from Wheeljack. Apparently he found a relic that he believes we can store properly. Wouldn't say what it was over the comms though."
Bulkhead laughed, "Who cares!? Jackies coming back! Man, we've got so much catching up to do!" he said happily.
"Don't expect him to stay." Void pointed out, "Wreckers rarely stay in one place for too long."
Bulkhead glared at her, "I said rarely."
Jack walked up to Arcee, ignoring the exchange, "Hey." he greeted.
"Hey." she greeted in return, smiling lightly at the use of their old greeting.
Jack smiled up at her, dressed in his civilian clothes, "Sorry I haven't had as much time to spend with you lately Arcee." he said, placing a hand on her pede.
The femme kneeled down, ignoring most of the chatter from the rest of Team Prime, most of whom were listening to a war story from Bulkhead. She smiled, "It's fine Jack. Sure I miss the time when you weren't always out saving the world, but hey, you're out saving the world. Long as you come back to me, I'm okay with that."
"Still," Jack said, "We need to get out sometime, just you and me. I've been working nonstop lately, and you and I deserve a date where something doesn't go wrong or try to kill us."
"Jack, you ask the impossible." she joked.
He shrugged, "Guy can dream, can't he?"
The low roar of Wheeljack's ship sounded overhead and everyone looked up to see the Jackhammer descending. Wind, dust, and other debris were kicked up as it landed, everyone keeping a respectful distance away.
Once the ship finally landed, the hatch hissed open, and the familiar white form of Wheeljack walked down, holding something under his left arm.
"Hey folks, did ya miss me?" he asked jokingly.
"Jackie!" Bulkhead rumbled, letting out a booming laugh, "How ya been!?"
He shrugged, "Oh you know, kicking aft, taking names. Usual Wrecker criteria. You?"
"Pretty much the same, it's been pretty chaotic at base." Bulkhead replied.
Miko ran up to him, "So are you going to stay this time? We could always use another fun bot around base." her eyes flicked to Void, who remained stoic and silent.
He shook his head, "Sorry kid, just came to drop off this relic. Prefer not to get tied down to one place for too long."
"Yes, about that." Ratchet said, "You never mentioned what it was you found."
The wreckers faceplate grew grim, "I found this while raiding a con Energon mine." He reached under his arm and presented the relic for all to see. There was a collective gasp from several of the bots. The organics just looked confused.
"What?" Miko asked, "What is it?"
"That is the Spark Extractor, a horrifying device designed with the sole purpose of ripping the very spark from a Cybertronian." all eyes and optics snapped to the direction of the voice.
Kara's eyes widened in shock as Malthanis strode down the ramp, his large wings of energy gently swaying back and forth, "Malthanis!?" she and Jack said in unison.
"Who?" everyone else asked.
"He's a friend." Kara quickly explained, "He's the one that saved us from Knockout when he had the Dark Energon staff, and found me during the Waller incident."
"I also was there to help Kal-El during his battle with that metal monster." Malthanis added.
Jack blinked in shock, "You were? I don't remember that, all I remember is a lot of pain."
"I was the one who rallied the crowd to your side." the angel clarified.
"You…" Jack stopped and thought for a moment, "That… actually makes sense."
"Okay, can someone explain to the poor confused humans who this guy is?" Miko demanded.
"Actually, I believe what Miko means." Optimus clarified, "We all would like to know."
"Of course Optimus Prime." Malthanis said, bowing his head, "As I told Wheeljack, I am Malthanis, Seraphim and apprentice to Tyrael, the Aspect of Wisdom. I am not from your world or 'dimension'. I am from a different world where the battle between good and evil is fought between angel and demon, not Autobot and Decepticon."
There was a stunned silence as everyone digested what he said. Arcee looked at her boyfriend, who shrugged, "I didn't believe him at first either. But he's legit."
"That. Is. AWESOME!" Miko shrieked, jumping up and down excitedly, "So you're like, a combat angel? Can you actually fly and shoot fire and teleport and-"
"Miko." Kara said.
"Hmm?"
"Shut up."
"I…okay." she said, rather sheepishly.
Jack leaned over to his sister, "Why does she listen to you, but not me?"
Kara's response was to stick her tongue out at her brother. Jack rolled his eyes, "And yet you're the older one." he muttered.
"Back to the more serious subject at hand." Ratchet said, gently taking the Spark Extractor from Wheeljack.
"Thank you for bringing this to us Wheeljack." Optimus said, "We will ensure that it is kept well out of Decepticon hands."
The wrecker nodded, "I'm gonna hold you to that. If I die because of that thing, I'm haunting you all for the rest of your lives." he started towards his ship, before stopping and turning to look at Malthanis.
"Hey, wanna tag along? I could always use a little 'holy' protection." he said.
No one noticed, but Kara looked from Wheeljack to Malthanis, a look of longing on her face when she saw the angel. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she really hoped the angel decided to stay.
Malthanis nodded, "I would be honored to accompany you Wheeljack." he turned to the others, "It was a pleasure to meet you all. If you ever need my assistance, you need simply call Wheeljack, and I shall arrive as soon as I am able."
Optimus nodded, "Thank you, your help would be much appreciated in the possible battles of the future."
The angel turned and followed Wheeljack into his ship. The hatch sealed shut with a hiss and the ship lifted off the ground into the air, buffeting all those around it. Then, with a burst of speed, it took off into the sunset.
"Wish he'd stayed." Miko pouted as everyone began heading back down into the base.
Jack put a hand on his sisters shoulder, noticing the sad look on her face, "You alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine Kal." she said, though her voice suggested otherwise.
His face softened, "Alright, but if you want to talk, I'm here for you." he said.
She smiled sadly, "Thanks Kal." and walked down into base, leaving Jack alone with Arcee.
He looked up at the femme, who was kneeling next to him, "So about that date."
A/N: And we're back, that's right folks AToA is back in my focus! Why is this? not for the reasons you'd think. I saw Man of Steel again, simple as that. But anyway, what did you guys think of the chapter? Was it good, bad, meh? All this and more you can tell me in the reviews below! Anyway, a few details. Firstly, I do plan on having part of a chapter dedicated to a date with Arcee and Jack. Question I'm asking you is where should they go, what should they do? Another thing, I am still looking for that person willing to draw/paint/model that picture. Details will be posted on my profile, PM me if you're interested. Or even better, PM me with questions or ideas about the story, I don't bite, I swear! Anyway, bye!