Chapter Forty Eight- Back to Sender

When Kickback came back online the first thing he saw was Ratchet standing right next to him.

"Good morning, Insecticon." Ratchet greeted sinisterly.

"What?!" Kickback expressed as he tried to get up, but he saw himself trapped by chains on an operating table.

"If you're looking for your phase shifter, finders keepers." Smokescreen said as she showed that he was the one who was wearing it.

"Enough prattling, Smokescreen." Optimus Prime said entering the room. "Hand me the final Iacon relic, now."

"Yeah, I can't really help you. That's the only one I was packing." Kickback said referring to the phase shifter.

"Blaster." Elita said.

Blaster showed on his screen the codes morphing together.

"You got the wrong guy, chief. That maybe look similar, but Soundwave's the one who can decode the Iacon database." Kickback said.

"Ah, but you misunderstand. The Iacon database was from Autobot origin, and no one is more familiar with it than I." Optimus revealed.

"The final entry has been decoded by us. And according to our findings, it would appear we do indeed have the right guy." Elita continued as Blaster showed Kickback's image.

"The question is what is it that you're still packing?" Ratchet said before he placed an x-ray panel above Kickback, and it revealed that he was carrying an Omega key inside. "Why! Hidden treasure, of course!"

Meanwhile in the Decepticon base, everyone was still debating about the most recent events.

"Kickback must have been taken aboard the Autobot warship." Starscream started.

"Tracing his signal through its shielding will be impossible." Soundwave reported.

"Continuing monitoring all frequencies, Soundwave. Far more than Kickback's fate may be at stake." Megatron instructed.

"I don't get it. How can Kickback be an Omega key?" Breakdown asked confused.

"Perhaps he isn't the key, but its container." Knock Out deduced.

"The other Iacon relics were sent to Earth in pods. Why not this one?" Airachnid asked.

"When our forces stormed Iacon, The Fallen took advantage of the chaos to sneak behind the enemy lines and secure all the relics of the Iacon Hall of Records. But maybe when the Autobots decided to search them for personal use, it might have been too late for The Fallen to launch the final Omega key. Fortunately a few of his memories that Kickback carried with him when he left the sea of rust revealed that my master managed to keep one key with him when he escaped there. And that he managed to introduce it into an ancient high security system that would insure its remoteness from enemy hands and to approach it to any possible ally, before his disappearance." Megatron explained.

"So, Kickback assumed that everything went black because he was hit by Autobots." Flamewar started.

"But The Fallen's trap was the thing which actually turned out the bug's lights." Knock Out finished.

"It stands to reason that my mentor did not want Kickback to know what he was carrying. In the event of capture." Megatron said.

"And with a mobile relic, The Fallen couldn't possible supply fixed coordinates." Shockwave continued.

"So the great Con slipped us a clue instead. Kickback's mug shot!" Breakdown said.

"The Autobots got to Kickback first. I fear they have decoded the same clue." Starscream expressed.

Back to the Ark, the Autobots saw the image of the Omega key inside Kickback on the screen.

"Yet another of these identical relics?" Elita asked.

"It seems that way, dear. Remove it swiftly." Optimus instructed.

"With pleasure." Ratchet said turning his hand into a torch. "I prefer to do this kind of things by my own way. Now Insecticon, stay still, this will not last long. Although it may hurt a little." He smirked.

Ratchet moved his torch closer and closer to Kickback, who constantly flinched. But at the last second…

"Wait doctor!"

"Smokescreen! Why you interrupt my work?"

"Because maybe I can offer a faster and safer alternative." Smokescreen said as he turned on the phase shifter. Next he put his arm through his own arm. "Impressive." He said before stomped on the floor, but didn't fall through. "And intuitive."

"Interesting, proper grounding ensures that its user won't phase through the floor." Ratchet analyzed.

"I said swiftly." Optimus repeated a little impatient.

Smokescreen inserted his hand inside Kickback's torso.

"Get your stinking hand out of my gears." Kickback protested.

"And…gotcha." Smokescreen said pulling out the Omega key from Kickback.

"Tell us the function of these relics." Elita demanded.

"Door stop, shavers, bling? Beats me." Kickback replied.

"Hmph. A pity this little gadget won't allow me to just reach into his brainpan and pluck out the info." Smokey said admiring the shifter.

"Fortunately, we possess a device that can." Ratchet smirked.

At the same time, inside the Harbinger…

"Individually, each one of these so called Omega keys is useless. Yet, possessing even a single one grants me tremendous negotiating power with either Autobots or Decepticons." Grimlock examined. "Still, imagine if I managed to acquire the other three."

Next Grimlock imagined Cybertron restored in his mind.

"I could revive Cybertron and seize the throne as Grimlock the First, supreme overlord and emperor of destruction." Grimlock proclaimed laughing, until he stopped. "Oh, but unlike Prime, I lack the necessary resources to achieve that. No warship, no army! Only my meager laboratory finds, a ground bridge remote control, a single remaining dose of red energon and you, old friend." He said looking at his dead clone. "But I would all too gladly trade this simply to be restored to my former glory and recover my great prehistoric power."

Meanwhile…

"While I am unfamiliar with the lore of these Omega keys, The Fallen knew many secrets. And the ancients possessed technology that has long been lost to what we consider modern science. Whatever their function, this much is certain: we cannot restore Cybertron without all four Omega keys in our possession. The future of our home world depends on it." Megatron told to the other Decepticons, but Optimus was there too listening, so it was not real, but merely a memory that he was seeing inside Kickback's mind by a cortical psychic patch.

The other Autobots were watching it through a video feed before Ratchet went to disconnect Kickback's cable first.

"Thanks for the info." He said disconnecting the cable, waking him up.

Next he went to disconnect Optimus, waking him up too.

"The power to remake Cybertron as I see fit." Optimus remarked.

"Dear, we have not had an opportunity like this for a long time, we cannot miss it." Elita said.

"Indeed. I will pry the other two keys from Megatron's lifeless fingers. We must find the location of the Decepticon base. Patch in and tear apart Kickback's mind if you must." Optimus instructed.

"Me?" Ratchet asked surprised.

"Indeed, old friend. You're the only one who I can trust to realize such difficult task, because you're our best scientist. I will seal this key to the vault which contains the other one while you give the good news."

"Understood." Elita nodded as they went by separated ways.

"Smokescreen, I need to go for a couple of things. You better start preparing everything for the next patch." Ratchet said leaving the lab.

"It seems that it is only you and me now, bug. I'm curious to try this on my own." Smokescreen said as he approached Kickback.

"No! Not again! Stay out of my head!"

Smokescreen chuckled. "No no. You'll only make things worse for yourself."

But when he was really close, Kickback took the chance and activated the phase shifter.

"Worse how?" He smirked.

Kickback managed to phase through his chains trying to recover the phase shifter, but Smokescreen wanted it too, so they were locked in a game of tug-n-war. They continued struggling until they passed through the wall, and Kickback tripped, but he had the phase shifter. Kickback started to laugh when he saw Smokescreen stuck in the wall.

"Well. Aren't you the clever one." Smokescreen said as he tried to break free, but with no use. "Why are you so cheerful? This ship is miles in the sky and swarming with Autobots. Do you really think you can escape?"

Kickback put the shifter in his wrist and activated it. "Who says I'm looking to escape?"

Kickback left, leaving Smokescreen alone trying to get free. After a while passing through walls he finally spotted Optimus Prime, with the Omega key on hand. He deduced that the room in front of him was where the other Omega key was. So he deactivated the shifter and ran towards Optimus.

"Think fast." He said as he grabbed the key and disappeared through the wall.

"What?!" Optimus shouted before he opened the door and saw that the other key was gone too, which made him roar in anger. "Elita, the Insecticon has escaped and has stolen the Omega keys."

She received the message through her com-link. "Turn on the alarm! All troops, search for the Insecticon and recover the keys!"

Immediately three Autobot heavy soldiers blocked Kickback's path, and other three came from behind him, blockading his exit.

"Oh, this isn't the way out?" Kickback asked.

The soldiers fired their guns at him, but surprisingly all the shots went through him thanks to the shifter's effects, killing themselves. Kickback continued his path, even passing through an Insectobot, leaving it confused. Finally he managed to reach the ship's roof, but he saw Elita and Optimus with a lot of Autobot soldiers in front of him.

"The keys." Optimus demanded as the soldiers aimed at him.

He took a couple of steps back before he looked that the ship was in the air.

"So what are you going to do now?" Elita asked.

"Oh, I don't know. How about getting out of here?" Kickback said before he jumped off the ship.

The Autobots went to the ledge of the ship and saw Kickback falling before he transformed and continued flying far from the ship. That was noticed too in the Decepticon base.

"Kickback's signal, it's back online." Soundwave registered.

"He escaped the warship!" Knock Out yelled happy.

In that moment, Kickback tried to contact his comrades.

"Kickback to base. I can really use a ground bridge." Kickback asked while he continued flying in bug form.

"Retrieve the Omega keys! Quickly!" Optimus demanded as he grabbed and threw an Autobot soldier overboard. And next another one.

The first was an Aerobot, so he changed to his alt mode and started chasing Kickback, but the other one was a regular soldier, so when he changed to his car form he could only scream.

"Flyers. I need flyers with me!" Elita shouted, making the remaining Aerobots to jump and transform to join the chase.

Meanwhile…

"Setting coordinates." Shockwave said analyzing Kickback's signal. "Strange."

"What's the problem?" Flamewar asked.

"Kickback's telemetry data doesn't make sense. We can't lock onto his position." Shockwave explained.

In a few moments Kickback noticed that the Aerobot was firing at him, so he secured the keys grabbing them by his secondary pair of legs and speeded up his fall evading the shots. Next, still in his bug form, he activated the phase shifter before he spread all his limbs to slow down and pass through his chaser, so then he blasted the Aerobot in pieces.

"I've isolated the problem. Kickback is in free fall." Starscream reported.

"Kickback, opening the ground bridge directly below you." Soundwave reported him by the com-link before he saw the portal appearing.

Knowing what was going to happen, Kickback turned off the phase shifter. "Brace yourselves. I'm gonna make an entrance."

But suddenly he heard an engine noise above him. He looked up and saw Elita coming in her alt form before she tackled him, pushing him away from the portal.

"He's…off course!" Soundwave saw.

"You missed?" Airachnid asked in disbelief.

"Open another one! Fast!" Breakdown yelled.

But Kickback saw the floor very close, so he looked to the phase shifter and decided to take a chance.

"I hope proper grounding on this doesn't apply to actual ground." Kickback said before he turned on the device.

Kickback speeded up, followed by the Aerobots, toward the ground expecting that somehow he would survive. Surprisingly he passed through the ground, while the Bot simply crashed and exploded, including the Autobot soldier who was falling behind them, except Elita One who dodged it. That was registered in the base too.

"No." Shockwave said, believing that Kickback was gone.

Elita One transformed and landed near the crash site, two Aerobots joined her.

"Scourer the wreckage! I want those keys!" Elita demanded.

While the Autobots registered the wreckage, Kickback passed through a rock wall of a ledge below them.

"Hey Soundwave, I can still really use that ground bridge." Kickback asked by the com-link, making everyone to relieve.

Moments later, Kickback was in the base with the two keys next to him.

"Did I tell you? Destiny. The Fallen knew someone like me will keep it safe." Kickback said proud.

Airachnid sighed in defeat. "Nice work, pal. And, sorry for what I told you before you disappear. I should not have been too hard with you."

Kickback was still a little upset for that, but inside he was glad that she apologized. "Apology accepted. Besides, I think I needed that, after all it is what prompted me to fulfill my duty up there."

Airachnid felt praised, so she and Kickback 'high five' with their claws.

"(Hold on. One, two. You only found two.)" Stinger counted.

"It was the only key in Prime's vault." Kickback replied.

"Then three keys are accounted for." Megatron said taking the keys.

"Then the fourth is still somewhere on the Bots warship." Knock Out deduced.

"Unless Optimus never had it to begin with?" Flamewar suggested.

Then the computer showed something, with an image of Grimlock.

"A high frequency signal. With an embedded message." Soundwave reported.

"Grimlock." Breakdown groaned.

"I have obtained something of interest to you which seem to be of no practical use to me." Starscream read.

"It's gotta be the Omega key." Breakdown deduced.

"He's the one who blind-sided me!" Kickback pointed as he roared a little.

"What else can Grim be referring to?" Airachnid asked.

"Wait, there's more. Bring medical kit. I only ask for the surgical replacement of my T-Cog in return." Shockwave finished.

Knock Out laughed. "Like we're gonna give Grim back his jaws."

"Without the missing key, Cybertron will remain devoid of life." Starscream reminded.

"Broken record, I know. But, it could be a trick." Airachnid pointed.

"It is possible Grimlock does not yet realize the significance of what he holds." Megatron said.

"And we do know that he has been incapable of change to his dinosaur form for some time." Shockwave added.

"The stakes are too great for us not to consider Grimlock's proposal. However, we will take precautions." Megatron explained.

The Decepticons opened the ground bridge in a clear area inside a forest, where they were supposed to meet with Grimlock. Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Breakdown and Knock Out came out while Soundwave, Airachnid, Flamewar and Kickback waited in the base. The Decepticons advanced with their weapons ready until Starscream spotted something.

"There."

Grimlock was sat on a rock a few yards away from them.

"Grimlock, show us the Omega key." Megatron demanded.

But he didn't respond. The Decepticons advanced more near.

"Give it up, Grim." Breakdown said, poking him with his hammer, but his body fell down dead.

"We're too late. The T-Cog won't help him now." Knock Out saw.

But as they started to scan the body, something went through the ground bridge. With hyper speed Grimlock entered the base; he saw that everything went slowly around him.

"It would seem I have the run of the place." Grimlock observed before he approached to Airachnid. "How easy it would be to gut you." He said pointing his finger close to her eye, but he pulled away before looking at the rest of the Decepticons. "To gut all of you, but first things first. Where does Megatron keep his key ring?" He asked as he started to inspect the base, searching the storage areas. "Not here. Nope. No." Then he stopped when he saw where Sandstorm was trapped. "I was wondering what happened to that traitor." He said before he continued searching. "Do they think I have all day?" He groaned, until he found them. "Ah, there you are."

Meanwhile, Shockwave was scanning Grimlock's clone lifeless body.

"Curious. Grimlock's been deceased for quite some time." Shockwave saw.

"Well how's that possible if he just sent us a message?" Knock Out asked.

"Besides, this is not Grimlock's truly form, only his oldest. The last time we faced Grimlock he looked different, more like a knight." Breakdown remembered.

"We have been deceived." Megatron realized.

Grimlock destroyed the door charging with his shield, as he saw the pieces move slowly. The Decepticons felt the impact force.

"What was that?" Flamewar asked.

Suddenly the emergency fire-hose self-activated.

"(What's going on?)" Stinger asked.

"Ah! I hate water! And I don't know why!" Kickback yelled.

"Soundwave, close the ground bridge now." Megatron ordered by the com-link.

Soundwave slowly pulled the lever up while Grimlock returned with all the Omega keys in hand.

"Now that I have your trinkets, I'm free to enjoy slitting your…" Grimlock started when he saw Soundwave closing the ground bridge. "But as I appear to be pressed of time."

Grimlock went through the portal before it closed, emerging in front of the other Decepticons.

"Decepticons, maintain positions." Megatron instructed, very slowly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Grimlock asked before he made funny sounds imitating the way he listened Megatron as he passed through them normally. "You Decepticons think you're so superior, but you know what you really are? Slow!"

Then Megatron looked like he heard something behind him and aimed his fusion cannon at Grimlock.

That made Grimlock laughs nervously. "The red energon wore off, didn't it?"

"That's the one! The real Grimlock!" Breakdown recognized.

"And he has the Omega keys!" Starscream noticed.

Grimlock reacted grabbing a big rock and throwing it at them, gaining time to run.

"Come on!" Grimlock groaned as he grabbed his remote to call his ground bridge.

The Decepticons fired all their weapons trying to stop him, but the Dinobot managed to reach the portal before it disappeared in front of the Decepticons.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Megatron roared in anger.

"We'll get them back." Knock Out said, trying to cheer up.

"The keys can be of no use to Grimlock while he scrounges in the wild like some scraplet." Shockwave said.

"There must be something that we can offer him in exchange." Starscream added.

"The fate of Cybertron now rests in Grimlock's hands. Whatever his intentions." Megatron said.

Meanwhile in the Ark, everyone saw what happened to Smokescreen.

"I'm going to take a few instruments and pass this in my absence?" Ratchet asked in disbelief.

"Well, it could be worse. He could get stuck just in the main energon processor." Cliffjumper said, making laugh all the Autobots, except Optimus, Elita, Ratchet and Ultra Magnus.

"Not funny! I beg you, my liege. Release me from this absurd predicament!" Smokescreen begged.

"No. You shall serve as a constant reminder to those who dare fail me." Optimus declared before he and the other leaders left.

"Don't worry Smokey. We'll come to visit you every day." Bulkhead said.

"Besides, we do not want to lose this interesting sight." Bumblebee smirked.

"We cannot allow Megatron to be the one to revive Cybertron." Optimus said nervous.

"Don't worry dear; we have more resources and progress to achieve that." Elita said putting her hand on his cheer. "In the end, we'll locate the Decepticon base, invade it, and retrieve the Omega keys."

"Been there, done that." Everyone heard, and they spotted Grimlock in the bridge, what made Optimus angry. But instead of looking for fighting, he simply bowed. "Please, pardon my unannounced visit, lord Optimus Prime."

Ultra Magnus pulled out his shoulders' turrets and the Forge of Solus Prime, but Optimus stopped him as well Elita stopped Ratchet.

"But I've come bearing… peace offering." Grimlock said showing all four Omega keys.