"Zucky? Zucky, can you hear me?!" I heard the boy's voice calling my name from afar.
"Yes, of course! But can you hear me?" I answered.
"Yes! Yes we can! We're gonna get you outta there, you hear that?" The boy excitedly answered.
The humans cheered as the bots were elated, at least there's some progress in the right direction.
I was going to pick up the car to have a closer look, as it came a bit closer, but suddenly...
*CRASH!* There was this incredibly loud noise that came from behind me! It was as if there was a wall there and something ran into it with immense force!
*GASP!* I yelped loudly and jumped several feet ahead because of it, and the tiny vehicle zoomed into my direction in a hurry before hiding behind my form.
"WAAH!" Raf who was sitting right next to the dragon, trying to get through to her, got spooked when she yelped and fell over from fright.
"What happened?!" Ratchet asked frantically.
"I dunno, but something spooked her. Must be Knockout again!" The boy answered.
When I saw the car's reaction, it dawned upon me that this wasn't part of whatever this thing is supposed to represent. It seemed to be fearful of the loud noise as well. Which means...
*THUD! THUD! THUD-THUD!* "Uh-oh..." I hurried and snatched my possible new friend in whatever this place is supposed to be and bolted as fast as my human legs could manage!
"Zucky, what's happening?!" The boy hurriedly got up and continued. Zucky didn't answer. "Please, stay with me Zucky! Follow my voice."
I couldn't see what was going on behind that wall, but it could be no other than the crazed Con medic! As I was running, the tiny vehicle was trying to get out of my grip, so I let go and as soon as it landed, it sped up ahead of me before turning around.
["I've probably lost all sense at this point, but..."] "Follow you?" I asked.
*Beep-Beep!* "I'll just take that as a yes..."
When I got near enough, it turned around and disappeared behind what I can only assume was another wall. I followed suit just as the 'wall' that was taking a beating, seems to have given way to the pounding!
"Knock-Knock!" *CRASH* "Oh, Honey...I'm home." I hear the red bot say in a mock greeting, clearly laced with acid.
I could feel the color drain from my face again as my mind keeps jumping back to the merciless torture I've endured. My vision darkening, my blood running cold, my body sweating from the fear. I start trembling as I begin curling up again; I'm having trouble breathing. Holding onto the car tightly to prevent it from moving; its whirring sound could attract Knockout's attention after all.
Zucky was clearly beginning to develop a cold sweat, she was shivering now on that berth as she curled up around the car as her breaths became laborious.
"Zucky, please!" The boy pleaded with her. "Stay with us, please! Calm down."
"Oh, Are we playing a human game now?! This must be another round of hide and go seek, correct?" The Decepticon is stalking me now; it won't be any longer before he finds me. "Okay then...Fun and games..." he chuckled.
"Cause I would be happy to teach you the Decepticon version; 'Hide and go Shriek! He sneers as he starts walking around, probably searching for me. "Come out, come out wherever you are..."
Slapping my hands to my mouth to prevent him from hearing me breathe, I try calming my racing heart, as his pedes thump closer and closer to my location."You know; Games are only fun to play, when you're winning..." He says.
I shrink smaller and smaller as I can feel he's looming just over my hiding spot now. He stops, and I can hear his metal gears grinding and his armor plating flexing as he crouches down just behind me now "...and I think I'm warm..."
My eyes are closed shut so hard that they're starting to hurt, the purposeful silent pause he took after kneeling down drives me up the wall as my eyes start to leak because of the painful pounding in my chest. I was meant to take a careful, shaky, silent breath before holding it in again, but it came out as a whine instead.
Her pitiful whine struck a chord. He wasn't alone in this, though. Optimus's spark skipped a beat...all the while seeing what efforts the boy was pouring into this, Optimus was searching whatever wisdom was contained in the matrix, for some kind of way to turn the tables on the con.
As Raf balled his fists, the boy was feeling a never before felt anger building up...
"HA!" He announces as he grabs hold of me from behind the wall and stands up, leering at me. "You lose!"
"Leave her alone!" Rafael screamed so hard his voice squeaked a bit, but he didn't care, he was so mad at Knockout now!
My new friend suddenly jumps out and starts grinding its threads against Doc-Knock's faceplate, leaving it completely covered with track marks! "GAAAH! My faceplate!"
The red bot dropped me in the commotion, so I took advantage of the situation and grabbed my little companion and broke into another mad sprint for cover! "Quick thinking, Rafael!" ["Yep, I'm probably losing my mind if I'm starting to name hallucinations."] Not that I could see any in all this darkness.
"Well, isn't that just Grand?!" I heard the pissed off Con snarl.
This was followed by some thundering stomps that caught up to me quickly as I was once again lifted up in his grasp! "Did I say grand? I meant;" He snatched the tiny vehicle from my hands and crushed it effortlessly in his free servo. "Totally rude!" He growled.
"Rafael!" I cried out. "No!"
"Zucky? Zucky, I'm still here! Can you still hear me?!" Rafael called but no reply...they lost her...again. "Grrr! I wish there was a way we could see what was going on in there!"
"What I don't understand was how he even got in there in the first place?" It was June's turn to ask questions. "I mean, really...If it's so difficult to make a connection between a human brain and a cybertronian brain module, then how on earth did Knockout do it?"
"Last time me and Zucky discussed this problem, it seems that he somehow accessed her subconscious. Zucky told me how she was able to overpower Knockout in her dream. I didn't want to believe it of course, because none of it made sense; but according to her, in the 'dreamscape' as she called it; nothing makes sense. The laws of physics, logic and what-have-you don't apply, and the person dreaming, is able to manipulate the 'reality' of that dream, if they have a strong sense of imagination and willpower." The medic remembered.
"So, what you're saying is that he's probably done it again?" Jack asked. "But this time it's made worse, because he's the one calling the shots, in there?"
"Precisely." Ratchet confirmed.
"That's ridiculous...you can't just jump into people's dreams like that." The nurse said.
Then it struck Optimus...he remembered that dream Zucky told him about when she was helping him clean up his cabin.
"Perhaps it is not as far-fetched as we believe; She had once told us of a dream she had where she felt like she had switched places with Knockout. She was aboard the Nemesis, and she could only describe his demeanor as calm, as if he was partaking in a practice known as Meditation." Optimus chimed in.
"Oh, I remember that; she went all creepazoid mode on us." Miko held up her hands like creepy crawlies.
"She sketched the Nemesis with inhuman accuracy down to the last detail...even going so far as to label each are and respective rooms in Cybertronian!" Rafael said.
"She also pinpointed locations for vials of energon... from Knockout's fuel lines. The autobot leader continued.
"Of course...She and Knockout share the same energon signature, which is why he was able to track her and Optimus down in the woods, but also her being able to read Cybertronian without previous knowledge of the language in any capacity, somehow must have made it possible for Knockout to establish a remote connection to her brain." The medic explained. ["Almost like being bonded..."]
"That's how he was able to jump into her dreams." June trailed off.
"The fact that she is still organic is impeding her from fully absorbing the energon into her system properly. If she was a Cybertronian, it would have been reformatted to match her energy signature and whatever connection Knockout had in the past to it, would have been lost." Doc-bot continued. "But right now, he's invaded her mind through meditation.
"Which is what is precisely what I have to do as well..." Optimus said. "Ratchet, connect me to the cortical psychic patch..."
"Cortical...? What good is that going to do?! We can't connect an Organic to this thing!" Ratchet argued. "We just established that!"
"No, but you CAN connect ME to it." Prime responded.
"Which is all well and good Optimus, but how do you expect to get in there?" Ratchet pointed to Zucky's head. "You don't share a direct connection to either of them."
"Correct..."The Prime climbed onto a seperate berth so Ratchet can connect the patch. The medic was thoroughly confused, but sighed in defeat and did what was ordered of him anyway. Prime had a funny way of often leaving him in the dark, but he's gotten used to it at this point and learned to trust that his friend knows what he's doing...hopefully. He didn't forget what Zucky had told him about dabbling in such practices;
{"I don't know...but he's dabbling in some dangerous practices, I know that much."
"So, what you're saying is, that he's going to lose control of his own processor if he keeps at it." Ratchet tried understanding.
The dragon nodded. "I warned him to stay out of my head, but I have a feeling he's not going to, even after what I put him through last night."
"I'm afraid you're right, kid. Decepticons rarely ever listen to reason." Ratchet confirm her suspicion."}
["It was almost as if she knew..."] The medic thought as he prepared Optimus for the procedure.
"Wait...you can meditate?" Miko asked the prime incredulously.
"Quite regularly in fact... whenever I converse with my fellow primes, before me." Optimus simply answered as he was preparing.
The girl still didn't get what the prime was trying to say.
"Look it's a very long explanation, so just chalk it up to Prime being a Prime and you're good to go." Arcee was getting a bit impatient, the longer they took; the more Zucky would lose the battle.
Optimus requested silence, closed his optics and concentrated.
["I barely ever ask anything of you and I know you prefer not to interfere in our affairs, but this particular one has gone on long enough. Of all the horrible things my brethren have done in the past...I believe you agree with me that this one has gone too far.
We would like to bring an end to this torture, with all our sparks... But we cannot do this alone... I require your assistance..."]
Once Ratchet had made sure everything was running smoothly, Ratchet created a communications downlink, so they could monitor what was going on, but from Prime's point of view.
"Okay, here's how this works...We'll be able to see what Optimus is seeing, but we cannot interact with him, alright?" The medic explained.
The children nod and look at the screen. "There's nothing there, though..." Jack pointed out. "The screen showed a blank screen but the screen looked like they were looking into the sun itself, and all they could hear was pulsing frequency. It did not hurt their ears, but it was very loud.
Ratchet checked again... "Everything seems to be in order, though...it must be very bright where he is at the moment." ["That sound though...it's familiar, but I cannot put my digit on it. I know I heard a similar sound before..."]
Optimus after a few short moments after being patched in found his conscience was transported to a different place. One that felt familiar to him, but that he's sure he's never been to before. He found himself floating in mid-air in a brightly lit up space. There were lights of all over the visible spectrum dancing all over the place, fading in and out slowly and spinning in a calming motion like soft pillars all around him.
There were also flaring bright ones going off from time to time, but they could not be so easily differentiated, because the whole space was just so blindingly bright. There was this warmth enveloping him. There was this loud, yet gentle frequency pulsing all around him.
"I humbly require your assistance..." he calmly said. "For the sake of our organic ally, I need to find Knockout and put an end to his madness." He heard the frequency skip a beat and then continued pulsing at its normal pace.
"I understand...you prefer to not intervene. However if I don't do this, she will cease to function. I refuse to let the decepticons keep snuffing out innocent lives. These creatures were unfortunate to have been caught in the crossfire, but I will do anything I can to keep them safe and sound." The Prime implored.
The frequency skipped a few more beats in a particular pattern that only Prime could understand at the moment.
"I understand...and I am grateful for this... Thank you...Great one." Optimus answered.
Optimus' voice could not be heard over the loud frequency, all they could see was his servos moving into his vision every now and then, after a moment or two of that visual, the bright lights died off and Prime was left in a very dark area, alone.
Shortly after, Optimus heard voices.
"Awww...Your wittle fwiend go bye-bye?" The Con Medic mocked me.
"What is it you want with me?!" I screamed.
"Zucky?" Optimus asked out loud.
"Ah, yes. I almost forgot why I came here in the first place, besides getting back at you for all the horrors you put me through, you little monster!" He roared. My poor ears were left ringing after that.
"Of course...anyone who can pull off such stunts without even trying, can make for some formidable additions to the Decepticon cause." He thought out loud.
"Knockout..." The prime said in a grim tone as his mouthplate closed over his intake.
"What?!" I couldn't believe my ears.
"Was I thinking out loud again?" He chuckled.
Optimus decided to follow the voices to the source, which was easier said than done, considering the place had a noticeable echo to it.
"YOU are out of your mind if you think I'm going to turn on my friends!" Where this sudden bravery was coming from, I had no idea.
"Gasp! I thought you were smarter than that, not by much but still: don't disappoint me." Knockout said.
"I don't care what you think, I'm NOT doing it!" I snapped.
His sparkbeat going faster and faster the more he heard Zucky struggling in Knockout's grip.
Knockout just shook his helm and surprisingly placed me back on the ground...gently? ["What's he planning this time?"] I backed away from him and he tracked me with his optics.
Placing his servos on his hip-joints, he began; "Listen, Sweet Spark...it's only a matter of time before this;" He lifted one of his servos and made a beckoning gesture. In response, my body grew stiff and started walking back towards him.
"Spills over into the real world...Oh, wait; that's right...It already has!" The con leaned in closer emphasizing the last three words to get the point over. Letting go of my movements, he stood back to full height.
It took some doing, but Optimus' optics were finally picking up two figures in the distance. He went into stealth mode, so not to spook Knockout into driving away with his victim.
"But I'm not a completely terrible bot...So, either you make it easier on yourself and do whatever I tell you to, or I can always take over and MAKE YOU obey my will. We're connected after all, you know? Up to you, my little Spark plug." He cooed as he bent over to poke the gash on my chest.
It still stung badly. My blood started boiling after that. Swatting his servo away from my chest I start yelling: "NO! NO WE ARE NOT! Like Ratchet said; Just because I have your energon coursing through my veins, doesn't mean I'm a Con at heart!"
Prime stopped. He listened...
He broke out into hearty laughter at my outburst. "That old Rust bucket of bolts? He's probably gone senile at this point, so whatever he told you, would probably make for a good Berth-time story for Sparklings!"
*GASP*
"Oooooh..." Miko said in a painful tone as she covered her face and peeked through her fingers at Ratchet.
The Autobot medic had a dangerous glare in his optics when he heard what Knockout had said. ["I'm gonna kill em..."] he thought as he crushed the datapad in his servo.
"Woah! Didn't you need that, Doc-bot?" Bulkhead innocently asked.
The medic shot him a killing glare that rivalled even the horrors found in the pits of Kaon itself.
Bumblebee has never seen Bulkhead move as fast as he just witnessed him do just now. As fast as lightning the Green Autobot flew out the door to avoid the Medic's wrath!
Everyone else just remained quiet and melted into the background to avoid aggravating Ratchet even further, considering they were basically trapped in there with him.
That's it...that was the last straw! No one insults his best friend and gets away with it! He dropped his stealth and started charging the rest of the way.
"Can it, Thread Face! I don't wanna hear it, and NOTHING you say will change my mind!" I was steadfast on my decision. ["Who does he think he is?!"]
'Thread Face' reminded him of the little yellow pest's handiwork. This creature's real piece of work, isn't she? and what's worse; she knows exactly how to push all of his buttons. "Oh, is that so?!" He growled as he ground the remainder of the toy car into the floor.
"You better believe it!" I answered.
"Fine with me, I can do this all day!" He snatched me off the ground and tightly secured his grip around my form. Some of my ribs snap and I howl at the top of my lungs, but because of these new injuries every time I breathe it feels like daggers slicing into my body! It's a vicious cycle that I can't stop.
This prompted Optimus into transforming, charging at his target full throttle ahead!
The venomous smile returns to his faceplate as he sees me suffer. "You know? I remember you've made a promise about this situation in the past... something about If you ever found me poking around inside you brain again, that Lord Megatron's own ire wouldn't be able to top whatever you had planned for me..."
Through my teary eyes I try killing him with my glare as he mocked me in my weakened state.
"Don't make promises you can't keep fleshling." He pinched my face.
"Besides, you have no idea what you're talking about..." His tone darkened.
He then dropped me on the floor, prompting another scream of agony from me, as he started puppeteering me. "Come to think of it...I've witnessed just a smidge of my lord's wrath, because of you!"
With his target closing in fast, he could see how the con dropped an already injured Zucky on the ground and how she screamed in agony because of her broken ribs. Steaming mad, and with his horn going off, he expected to run Knockout over with all his fury, but ended up hitting an invisible wall, so hard, it knocked him right back out of his vehicle mode!
He got me to stand up on my legs, they were trembling because my chest was screaming at me for moving it around so much.
"You made me slowly chip away at the nerves of Lord Megatron just by toying with me, just like I am doing to you right now." Knockout made me flail about uncontrollably for a bit just to aggravate my wounds and then proceeded to tell me how I managed to ruin his day..
Neither of them realised what just happened.
"It warranted me another day locked up in the quarantine chamber, but it wasn't enough for you to ruin my day, no...you had to play 'Cat and Mouse', didn't you? or was it 'Cops and Robbers'?" He started making me take random walks around. "I already had so much to do still, and you just thought it funny to make me walk away from it all, didn't you?"
I could barely breathe now from the pain and just shook my head the best I could at his question.
"I ended up in strange locations all throughout and I never remembered walking there in the first place!" He snarled. "I was busy doing my job! I was NOT messing around in your brain! But you think it's funny to make me run out the Medbay for no good reason, storm down the hallways, knocking down several other decepticons on my way, just to have me walk all the way back?! Have you any idea how big that ship is?!"
I shook my head.
"NO, OF COURSE YOU DON'T DO YOU?!" He roared. "Well, let me give you a taste of what that's like, shall we?"
"N-he...N-NO! Please..." I struggled to plead.
Optimus was Knocked out for a moment and came back to his senses when he heard Zucky struggle to speak. Shaking his helm a bit and rubbing it where it hurt, he tried getting up, supporting himself against the invisible wall before him.
"Too late!" Knockout made me run several excruciating laps with my aching ribs, to get his point across. "All this kept repeating several times over throughout the day in the middle of countless procedures of all kinds!"
Prime started banging on the obstruction over and over again, gave it a few good punches and even kicked at it as hard as he was able, but nothing worked! He was getting tired of hitting the wall and vented as he watched from the other side. His processor was working on overdrive trying to figure out what was going to help him break through.