Chapter 3: Cyclones of pain

Whirl flew through the skies of the wasteland planet known as Zepheron. It was one of the many neighbouring planets of Cybertron, and it used to act as a prison for Autobots when they became prisoners of war for the Decepticons. Now, the planet is a barren wasteland, full of dead Autobots and dried-up Energon mines.

To say Whirl was disturbed beyond belief was a massive understatement. She had never seen death before in her life, so to see it at this velocity was traumatizing to the young bot.

"It's like a small-scale war of attrition happened here… I can't believe we used to fight like this. It pains me to see all these dead Cybertronians…." Whirl spoke with pain in her tone as she transformed into her robot mode.

"I need to conserve as much Energon as physically possible. If I run out, I won't make it back to Sigma-17 in time," Whirl stated, her optics narrowing as she tried to spot the Decepticon who was in trouble. It would be easy to find him in this vast sea of red and grey.

She had only travelled around a kilometre away from the ship, but because of her last time flying far away, she knew not to overwork herself when it came to rescues. If she had another accident like the one back in the forest, where she nearly offlined, she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

As she focused on the area in front of her, she had completely forgotten to check behind her. Because had she done that, she would've noticed something stalking her.

In the distance, behind Whirl, there was a figure marching, their hands dripping with Energon as they lumbered forward. Their cracked black armour and their fractured Autobot insignia, along with their wobbly stance, showed that they were once a normal functioning robot.

However, due to the many years trapped on this Energon deficient planet, they slowly turned insane and became animalistic in nature. It now roamed this deserted planet like a predator, constantly searching for prey.

These are the characteristics of what is known as a Zombicon. A Cybertronian that had been reduced to nothing but a husk of their former self, retaining only the bare intelligence needed to survive and hunt.

Its beady grey optics spotted Whirl as they widened. New prey was in its midst, and it wasn't going to let up this chance to feast.

The once noble Autobot turned beast made a beeline for the distracted Whirl, its mouth filled with ragged and sharp teeth as oil dripped from its mouth, acting like saliva.

"More… Energon… MORE ENERGON!" A scrappy-sounding voice shouted as Whirl quickly turned around to see a black armoured Autobot jump out at her. Its optics were cracked, its armour full of holes, and its hands as sharp as daggers. The beast lunged at her, ready to cut her to pieces as she stared with wide yellow optics.

"AH!" Whirl shouted, transforming into her helicopter mode to avoid the attack. "Hey! What gives!" Whirl shouted down at the Autobot, who looked up to face her. There, she saw its beast-like face more properly. She could see the lust for Energon in its eyes. Clearly, it wasn't mentally stable anymore.

"More… Energon… need more… Energon… Other bots… full of Energon… MUST CONSUME!" The rabid Autobot shouted as it transformed its hand into a blaster, aiming it at Whirl. Before she could react, the beast-like Autobot fired its blaster and made a direct shot on the side of Whirls vehicle mode, causing her to spiral out of control.

Due to her inability to control her now spiralling alt-mode, she only knew one way to get herself out of this situation, despite the many risks it would cause.

"AH! Scrap, I gotta transform if I want to survive the crash!" Whirl shouted as she transformed into her robot mode. Her back rotors had been completely trashed as smoke came rising off of them.

She clutched her back as she winced. Removing her hand from her back, her optics went wide when she saw the pink liquid dripping from her hand.

"S-Scrap, I've been hit… badly!" She muttered as she saw the figure approaching her at a fast speed. Its crazed eyes stared at her, almost as if it was locking onto her presence, like a sharkticon smelling its injured prey.

"ENERGON!" The crazed Cybertronian shouted as Whirl had no choice but to run. She was not trained to attack rogue Cybertornians at all, not to mention she was badly injured, meaning that even if she could fight, she would be in no shape to do so.

The crazed monster bot raised its cannon again and fired another shot, this time missing, but it was able to cause enough of a distraction to get Whirl to trip and fall face-first into some sharp, jagged rocks.

The impact was enough to crack her right optic, making her vision blurry. "Gah!" She screamed, clutching the right side of her face as Energon fell out of the cracks, streaming down the injured side of her face.

She could taste her own Energon as it dripped into her mouth. "Ow… why… why me…" She muttered, her pain doubling each time she tried to stand up. Even though she knew running would get her nowhere, she was still determined to get up and keep moving.

She kept trying to get up from the spot that she found herself in, and the moment where she felt like she was about to finally will herself to move, the young rescue bot felt a sharp pain in her leg. "AGH!" She screamed once again. Whirl turned her head to see a piece of jagged metal wedged into her leg, Energon leaking from the wound as her functioning optic went wide with alarm.

She wanted to scream again in the hopes that someone would try and help her. She came here to rescue a Decepticon named Cyclonus, not here to die trying. So with that, she screamed one last time in the hopes of anyone possibly being able to hear her. "SOME BOT, PLEASE HELP ME!"

"More… Energon… must… Consume… you won't… feel a thing…." The rabid Autobot spoke as Whirl closed her eyes. This was it. She was done for. She shouldn't have run out to do this rescue on her own. 'I'm sorry… everyone…' She thought as she accepted what was to come. There was nothing she could do to fight back.

She felt a claw dig into her back as she screamed again. She didn't want to look. It was too painful, the pain searing through her body as she felt her very life force fade away. The Zombicon tore out chunks of steel and wires as it began stuffing its mouth with its finally captured prey. "Hmm… yes, must… consume… must-"

The ramblings of the rabid Autobot were stopped when the sound of blaster fire could be heard ringing out in the area. Whirl slowly lifted her head to see a figure in the distance, although she could barely make them out. Just before she passed out, she saw the figure reach out to her, then… her body forced her into an emergency stasis lock in an attempt to save her life.

For all his failings as a Decepticon sweep, Cyclonus knew a bot on death's doorstep when he saw one. He stared down at the heavily damaged bot in front of him. He felt his spark skip a beat at imagining the amount of pain the bot must have, and still is, going through.

"Young one… you do not deserve such a cruel fate…." Cyclonus spoke softly as he gently picked the bot up from the floor, their near lifeless body slumping in his hands. He glared at the destroyed Zombicon as he snarled.

"Such a cruel monster, picking on a kid. Then again, its brain chip was fried due to the insanity it endured. I almost feel bad for the pitiful creature," The Decepticon sweep muttered as he scanned the area. "I can detect a ship nearby. Did this young bot hear my distress call? They must've. To risk one's life for me… is almost saddening," The Decepticon said as he began to run for the ship.

"The bot will go offline in a singular megacycle if I don't make it in time. I hope they have a repair bay on that ship. If not…" Cyclonus muttered as he ran. He could see the ship in the distance. The young bot didn't travel far till that thing attacked them. It ground his gears that someone would take advantage of a young and clueless bot such as this one.

Cyclonus ran towards the ship, checking to make sure the coast was clear. He didn't have enough Energon in his system to transform, so he would have to make the trek on foot. After thoroughly checking the surrounding area, he made a mad dash to the ship.

"I must hurry if this bot is to make it back to where they came from alive!" Cyclonus spoke with determination as he ran as fast as he possibly could. "I won't let you go offline on me, young one. You risked your life for me. I will repay the favour," Cyclonus said as he finally made it to the ship.

He raised his hand to the door, turned the handle, and opened it. A staircase formed from the doorway as Cyclonus entered the small ball-like ship. He took a quick glance around the ship, and much to his chagrin, there was no med bay—"Such an impractical design," Cyclonus said, worry in his tone as he placed the young bot on the floor.

Energon covered his hands as he grimaced. "With that much leakage, she's lucky to be alive. For a femme-bot, she is very brave," Cyclonus stated as he walked over to the controls of the ship. Pressing a button that said 'travel log,' he noticed that the ship's previous location was Earth. He hummed to himself amusingly. "Earth? Is this bot an Autobot?" Cyclonus asked before shaking his head.

"That is irrelevant… her safety is what is at stake here…" Cyclonus stated, walking over to the door of the ship, slamming it shut as the compression kicked in. His arm transformed into a scanner. A bright green light that came from his index finger scanned over the bot. "Her vitals are at 34% and dropping rapidly… I need to go. She needs medical attention, stat."

After making his statement, he walked over to the control center and pressed a button labelled 'Return to Last Destination.' The ship immediately began to start the lift-off sequence as he walked over the young bot and picked her up. Despite being in stasis lock, a bot's sense of touch was still active. Holding on to her would let her know that, even in her darkest moments, someone was there to comfort her.

Walking over to the chair where the driver sat, he slowly sat down with her in his arms. The ship took off, a space bridge opening just in front of it as Cyclonus could feel small fingers wrap around his own. A warm smile came to his face as it soon hardened. "Do not worry, young one. Rest easy. Help is on the way," Cyclonus spoke in a hushed tone as to ease the young bot. It was around this time when he was able to see the insignia on her shoulder, and upon seeing it, his optics widened.

"A Decepticon? This young? I'm shocked. On top of that, Decepticon's are never this compassionate. Then again, look who's talking… ha, it's ironic. Ever since my friend's passing, I've become soft…." Cyclonus said to himself as the exit of the space bridge was near.

The ship passed through the space bridge as the ship started descending to the ground. As Cyclonus stared through the window, he realized that the location as to where the ship was landing looked an awful lot like an academy. This caused Cyclonus's determination to see this bot live increase. If she was just a school bot, then she needed to live because there was no doubt a bright future was ahead for her if she made it.

He could see several bots standing at the landing pad of the ship's destination. He only recognized two. Laserbeak, and Shockwave. However, the rest looked foreign to him; however, he noticed their Autobot insignia's, which confused him. 'Autobots and Decepticon's working together? How long have I been stranded on that blasted wasteland?' Cyclonus thought as the ship landed.

There were smaller robots, which Cyclonus assumed to be her friends, standing in shock at seeing him. He made sure that the bots couldn't see her till he stepped out. He wanted to make sure that they all saw the same result he did.

Outside of the ship, Boulder stared in shock at seeing another Decepticon. When he awoke, he had to admit that seeing Shockwave scared him until he told all of the Rescue Bots about the truce. While his spark did skip a beat at seeing the Decepticon sweep, he was calmed when he remembered what Shockwave said.

"Great, now there's another Decepticon to worry about…." Hot Shot spat as Wedge smacked him up the back of the head.

"Watch it. Remember, Whirl?" Wedge stated as Hot Shot huffed.

"Yeah, but that Decepticon better not have hurt her, or I swear to Primus, he's getting scrapped," Hot Shot said angrily as Wedge grew concerned.

Medix and Hoist both looked at each other, preparing themselves to see what was on the other side of the door, as were the other Rescue bots, as well as Shockwave and Laserbeak.

As the doors decompressed, and the first footstep was heard, all of their expressions, minus Shockwave, whose only form of expression was his optic, showed horror, upset, and fear as they stared at the Decepticon's arms.

The lifeless body of Whirl laid in his hands, a look of sorrow on the con's face. "Her vital's are low…" Cyclonus started, looking back up at the rest of them. "If she gets to a med bay and is put in immediate life support, she has the chance of living. Shockwave, I trust you to take care of her, as well as any other medics in this little team. I owe this bot my life, and I will see to it that she lives, no matter the cost," Cyclonus finished as Shockwave approached him.

Taking her from the Decepticon sweep, he turned around and marched to the med bay. "I-I'll help, so will B-blades…" Medix stammered out as he ran to catch up with Shockwave, as did Blades. All the while, Hot Shot, Hoist, and Wedge could only stare, optic's wide at the amount of Energon that had fallen to the floor, and that was on the Decepticon's hands.

"How." Heatwave growled as Cyclonus stared at the red bot, optic's focused on his face as Heatwave's stare intensified upon seeing his face.

"She was ambushed by a Zombicon when she came to rescue me. We were on Zepheron, and it had ambushed her when she was looking for me. The only reason I was able to get to her was that I heard her screams. Had I been even a meter further away, she would've become that thing's meal," Cyclonus explained as Boulder was on the verge of breaking down. Chase tried to comfort him but to no use.

"You… how do we know… you aren't lying…." Hot Shot spat, pointing up at the con, a clear look of pain in the young bot's optics and facial expression as Cyclonus let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Believe what you want to believe, young one. But that does not change what I saw first hand. If you excuse me, I will see to it that she is repaired back to full. I owe her my spark," Cyclonus stated. However, as he took another step forward, he fell to his hands and knees.

"Now hold on you, we're getting you to the Energon refueler. That is more important than your nobility," Heatwave said as he helped the Decepticon up. "As much as I hate to admit it, you saved Whirl's life. I owe you one, big time," Heatwave stated as Cyclonus's Optic's widened.

"Whirl… I knew a bot named Whirl once… but that was so… so long ago. To know that someone named her after such a prestigious Autobot warrior… one that I respected… I can see it. Her bravery finally makes sense to me now…." Cyclonus spoke as Heatwave let out a breath of sorrow.

The remainder of the Rescue Bots stood firm at the launch pad as Chase coughed into his hand. "I'll… clean up the mess. You young bots take the day off. After seeing that, you'll need rest…." Chase explained as the younger ones complied, trudging back to their dorm rooms as Boulder coughed.

"That was… brutal… to see her in such a state is… is saddening…." Boulder said as Chase nodded in agreement. His hand transformed into a suction device as he began to clean up the Energon residue on the floor, leading into the ship. He tried to keep the image of Whirl's mangled and trashed body out of his head as he cleaned.

He could only imagine the pain she must have suffered, the despair she must have experienced, and the realization that she could possibly die. After her reawakening, she would need therapy and lots of it.

The speed at which Shockwave, Medix, and Blades hooked her up to a stabilizer pod was impressive. Energon quickly filled the pod as healing boosters were sprayed into the liquid to increase the speed at which Whirl's systems healed. Several spark, Energon, and vital monitors were plugged into the pod as each beep echoed in their heads.

"Her vitals are slowly rising. But the damage is already severe enough to the point where she'll need a new form. Her T-cog has been ripped out, as well as several processors that allow her to move. I'd have to perform not only a Spark transfer but also a brain chip transfer," Shockwave explained to the two medic's in training as Medix tried to hold back his emotions.

"In other words, she'll become… useless if this procedure isn't done…." Blades explained as Shockwave nodded.

"Unfortunately, yes. Reformatting could also work, but it is risky. Reformatting can repair damages, yes, but it also changes their appearance and alt-mode. But it also has a higher success rate," Shockwave explained as Blades jumped at this.

"Then we'll do that! Optimus has a reformatter. We can just ask him, explain to him the situation, and he'll be more than willing to help!" Blades exclaimed as Shockwave hummed.

"That is logical. Rescue Bot, contact Optimus Prime, get him on the closest ground bridge, and tell him to bring his reformatter. I will configure the settings for her new form, as she is my sparklet," Shockwave stated as Blades flinched.

"Yes, Shockwave, and my name is Blades, please call me that next time," Blades asked as Shockwave nodded. The Rescue Bot flyer ran off to the report room as Medix looked down at the floor.

Shockwave had never seen such a pitiful sight before in his long life. It wouldn't have helped that he was stuck in his lab all day back on Cybertron, but to now see other bots express their feelings and emotions was… interesting.

"Are you alright, young Autobot?" Shockwave asked as Medix hiccuped.

"I'm supposed to be the medic for my team… yet I can't help Whirl in the slightest…." Medix said as Shockwave knelt to his level, placing a hand on his shoulder. This caused Medix to flinch.

"I may not be good with emotions, Autobot, but you shouldn't doubt yourself. Ratchet and I used to be lab partners before the great war. I learned a lot from that old bot. You are lucky to have him as an Uncle. Take pride in knowing that one day, you will be great, just like him," Shockwave said, making the young Medix nod with a fierce determination.

Shockwave stood up, staring at Whirl's vitals. "45%... Whirl, out of all the most illogical things to do, you risked your life to save Cyclonus. I must say, that is brave of you… I am glad to call you my sparklet," Shockwave stated as he stepped out of the room to wait for Optimus and the reformatter.

-To Be Continued-

Poor Whirl, she just cannot catch a break, now can she? Next chapter, we will finally be able to have normalcy… maybe? Who knows, I'm unpredictable. Sayonara, see you in the next one. Peace.