Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

8. Decepticons Attack!

A/N: How're things going, everybody? I'm back once again with a new chapter for your reading pleasure! That said, I don't think there's any need for any long-winded preamble, so why don't we just dive right in? Prepare for battle, because this is…

Chapter 8: Decepticons Attack!

…..

There were times in his life that Izuku could say that he was terrified, but at least he knew that things would be alright. After all, Villains were known to attack almost every single day, but a hero would always be there to help save the day. …That and of course the daily bullying from Kacchan, but he preferred not to think of that. If there was one thing that being an admirer of All Might's work taught him, it's that keeping a positive attitude in the face of adversity could help you get through any challenge. And while that philosophy DID have its flaws, Izuku still strived to stay positive about most things that came his way, even if his nerves still got to him. And even then, he was trying to work through that last part.

…Here, however, in this situation, positivity was hard to come by. Because at that very moment, he, Bumblebee and Optimus were being stared down by a pretty intimidating Cybertronian. Starscream was unlike any Transformer Izuku had seen, at least in terms of size and power. He had to at least be as tall as Optimus, if not a smidge taller. But even then, his wings gave him a silhouette that made him look much taller. Shatter and Dropkick had been pretty intimidating, but they didn't compare to Starscream, who flew in front of them with a sinister yet confident air to him.

The Decepticon Air Commander lowered himself down to the ground, his landing making the ground beneath him shake. He gave a small snicker as he stepped forward, raising his arms as Optimus and Bumblebee took defensive positions. "Now, now, let's not be too hasty! That little lightshow was simply to get your attention."

"Zrkt—That looked a LOT more—zrkt—like you were gonna—zrkt—DESTROY US!" Bumblebee fired back through his radio.

"Oh, hah, my apologies. Old habits die hard, I guess." Starscream waved off before mumbling to himself; "As can other things as well…"

Optimus narrowed his optics as he stood up, bringing out his Ion Blaster to aim it at the Seeker. "Starscream, I'll give you exactly one cycle to tell me what you're doing here on Earth!"

"Ah, Optimus Prime!" Starscream gave a theatrical bow in greeting. "And here we in the Decepticon upper ranks thought we would never see you again!" He wrung his hands together eagerly. "Lord Megatron was very cross with you when you left Cybertron and disappeared, you know. But, given it's been three hundred stellar cycles, I'm sure he must've calmed down by now…" His red optics went over to Bumblebee to address him as well. "And B-127! I see that you managed to survive Redwing's pursuit all those years ago."

Bumblebee jumped up onto the boulder and jabbed a thumb to himself. "Yeah well—zrkt—if it wasn't OBVIOUS—zrkt—he tore out my—zrkt—VOICE BOX!" The yellow bug swiped his arms out for emphasis. "Zrkt—And I am NOT happy!" He pointed straight at Starscream to make his final point. "Zrtk—Oh, and the name's—zrkt—Bumblebee!"

Starscream stared in silence at the little yellow bot… for all of two seconds before he let out a boisterous laugh. "BAH-HAHAHA! Bumblebee?! Wha-What kind of name is that?!" The Autobots and Izuku glowered at Starscream as he put his thumb and forefinger together. "Did you just find some sort of Earth insect and just decide; "Ah, yes, THIS is what I wish to be called! It's perfect for a bot of MY stature"! AHAHA!"

Izuku pursed his lips and gave a frustrated grumble before standing up, making his presence known. "Hey! Stop insulting his name! My friend and I gave it to him, just so you know!"

"Izuku!" Prime whipped his head around and pointed to the boulder. "Get back down, now!"

However, it was too late. Starscream had seen him. "Ooh, and what do we have here?" He watched as Bumblebee scooped Izuku up into his hands, though the greenette didn't take his eyes off Starscream for a second. "Hmm… ah, why yes! I recognize you! You were with the impudent younglings who DESTROYED one of my Vehicons!"

"…Oh, uh…" Izuku rubbed the back of his head, feeling his confidence dwindle at the mention of the incident. "Y-Yeah, uh, well—"

"I must say, your comrade's tactics were brutal and efficient." Starscream commended, clapping his hands much to Izuku's shock. "Well done, well done indeed. Even Lord Megatron was taken off guard when I showed him."

That made everyone do a double take. "…Megatron?" Optimus whispered. "He is here?"

"Oh, no, no, no, he is not on Earth, Prime." Starscream assured, though he visibly rolled his optics. "Seriously, do you expect a pompous blowhard like HIM to set foot on a backwater world such as this when he has us do all the dirty work for him?" He waved off the Autobot Commander before shifting his focus to Izuku. "That said, given you and your comrade's impressive and grotesque offense, little human, Lord Megatron has actually deemed this planet a viable threat, so congratulations! Earth is now a prime target for the "Emperor of Destruction" himself." Starscream made sure to put air quotes around that title for good measure.

All of the color faded from Izuku's complexion at those words alone. "…Crap, we got the attention of the Decepticon Leader thanks to us killing that Vehicon."

But Optimus was quick to bring up another point. "Well, if that is the case, then why has he not come to the planet?" He narrowed his optics at Starscream, who simply stood with his arms crossed and a smirk plastered across his face. "Surely he must want to oversee the invasion of the planet."

Starscream rolled his optics with a scoff. "Psh, you and I both, Prime. However, after seeing what these organic creatures are capable of, our esteemed and wise Lord Megatron instead saw it fit to keep our presence on this planet a secret for the time being…" He raised his hand up and waved it nonchalantly, sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Something about wanting to make sure that we could counter the beings of this planet should they prove to be a viable threat or what have you." The Seeker clenched a fist in ire. "Bah, if you ask me, it just gives him more excuses to be lazy and sit in his ivory tower back on Cybertron while WE do all the work."

"Zrkt—You always DID have a problem with him." Bumblebee pointed it out.

"That's putting it mildly." Starscream admitted before raising a finger. "BUT… I believe that I have come up with a solution that will fix that problem."

Optimus raised an optic ridge. "This isn't another one of your scrap-brained schemes to overthrow Megatron again, is it?"

Starscream pouted and snapped his finger to the Prime. "Hey, the bomb WOULD have worked if it hadn't gotten caught on Mudflap's face by mistake… the poor sap." He shook his head as he got back on track. "But no, THIS time, my plan to usurp Megatron will work… namely because I will have your help."

"What?!" Optimus' grip on his gun tightened as he aimed it at Starscream's head. "Starscream, you must be living in a stasis dream if—"

"Now, now, Optimus, I think we can all say that we're tired of fighting this war." Starscream interrupted. "I know you are, and I know for certain that I am. For three hundred stellar cycles, my crew and I have done nothing but go from solar system to solar system searching for Autobot stragglers and taking them out just because Megatron said so, all in the attempt to finally find where you are located." He outstretched his arms to emphasize his point. "And now that I've found you, I think we can find some common ground. After all, it's obvious that you are here to locate the lost Ark, and we ALL wish to see Cybertron returned to it's former glory, don't we? Well, the only way that'll happen is if Megatron is out of the picture." He extended a hand with an inviting grin. "So, what do you say? My Decepticons and your Autobots team up, we find the Ark, bring it back to Cybertron and then go directly to Megatron and take him out. Sound like a plan?"

There was a long, silent pause, with Bumblebee and Izuku glancing at one another worriedly while Optimus simply stared at Starscream's hand. However, it didn't take long for the Autobot leader to glance up to the Air Commander skeptically and ask; "What's the catch?"

Starscream blinked before balking at the notion. "BAH! Catch? What catch? There is no catch!" But Prime's skeptic stare didn't let up, to which Starscream sighed and rolled his optics. "Alright, fine, perhaps I WOULD like to have a position of power or three in the new age of Cybertron, but—"

"No." Prime refused without a second thought. "Starscream, I would never agree to such outrageous terms in the first place, but a Cybertron under YOUR leadership would likely be MUCH worse than anything Megatron could ever do."

"Oh, come on!" Starscream whined. "Surely you can't possibly think that I could do a worse job at leading the Decepticons! Megatron may have conquered Cybertron, but he refuses to do ANYTHING with the rest of the universe until you are eliminated!" He pointed to Optimus in contempt. "Meanwhile, I've been saying that we should move on from Cybertron for eons now and find the other colony worlds to conquer THEM as well!"

"Er… you DO know that you basically outed yourself right there, right?" Izuku pointed out. "I mean, I had a feeling you were lying to Optimus before, but—"

"SILENCE!" Starscream raised his Null Ray and fired at Izuku and Bumblebee, only for the latter to scoop the human up and dive back behind the boulder. "You know what?! FINE! Enough with the pleasantries!" FWOOSH! The Air Commander took to the skies again, his rocket feet propelling himself into the air. "I tried to be the better bot about this, Prime, but you have left us no choice!"

Optimus zeroed in on Starscream and aimed his Ion Blaster skyward. "You are misguided, Starscream! I believe that we could work together to bring peace to Cybertron, but your lust for power clouds your… us?"

Starscream's smirk increased when the Prime realized his wording. "Indeed! Oh Barricade! Please show our little yellow friend and the fleshling a good time!"

From off in the distance, the group heard a loud police siren begin to rapidly approach them, and from down the gorge's path, a black, white and dark grey Datsun Fairlady Z300 police cruiser came rushing at them. And it was headed straight for Bumblebee and Izuku. "With pleasure!" Barricade said before his two guns popped out from his hood, and he began raining down laser fire upon the duo.

"Bumblebee, get Izuku away from here!" Optimus warned with a swipe of his arm. Bumblebee didn't have to be told twice as he transformed into his Beetle form and drove away, much to Izuku's dismay.

"H-Hey! Bumblebee, wait!" Izuku pounded against the glass window in protest, but Bumblebee didn't give an inch. "We can't just leave Optimus back there! He needs help!"

The Autobot scout was quick to reassure Izuku the best he could, even if he too was nervous about the whole situation. "Zrkt—Don't worry—zrkt—the Ground—zrkt—bridge will open—zrtk—in just a few seconds!" BOOM! One of Barricade's lasers suddenly struck the ground directly next to them, causing Bumblebee to lurch up on two wheels from its force. Izuku held on to the seat and let out a fearful scream while Bumblebee regained himself as fast as possible, hitting solid dirt on all four tires. "Zrkt—I hope."

"Get back here you little bug!" Barricade bellowed, pursuing his target with great speed that he increased by the second. Unfortunately for him, Bumblebee was able to match his speed and keep ahead of him, which frustrated the officer to no end. "Gah! Come on! How the pit are you staying ahead of me?!"

"Zrkt—Sheer determination!"

Barricade put on the brakes and screeched to a halt, flipping over in his vehicle mode as he transformed. The rear of the Datsun unfurled and rotated to form his legs and feet while his arms came out of his undercarriage, the doors opening up to form a pair of wings on his back. The front of the car became his chest and his head popped up from his hood, an immediate scowl forming on his face as he took out a laser rifle and aimed it at Bumblebee. "Well let's see where that gets ya!" PEWPEWPEW! Barricade unleashed a volley of laser fire, which created several plumes of smoke when they hit the ground before finally…

BLAM! A pained buzz came from Bumblebee as he was shot in the rear bumper, the impact making him once again lurch up onto two wheels. Unfortunately, this time there was no stopping his momentum as he was flung forward, first onto his hood and then his roof. He slid to a halt and transformed into robot mode, his head spinning while Barricade stalked his way over.

"Hahaha! How's that determination working out for you NOW, Autobot?"Barricade mocked before holstering his gun… only to pull out a much more threatening weapon out from behind his back. It appeared to be some sort of hand-held buzzsaw weapon, one that sported a mostly red and black color scheme with some gold detailing throughout. In particular, the circular saw itself was mostly black, but its sharp edges were all colored blood red. Bumblebee's optics widened as the saw buzzed to life in Barricade's hands. "Say your prayers, Auto-bum!"

The Decepticon officer took a swing at Bumblebee, but the yellow bot was able to roll out of the way at the last second. With a flick of his arm, Bumblebee transformed his hands into his stingers and began firing energy bolts at his opponent, only for Barricade to sidestep and dodge them. With a mighty battle cry, Barricade once again closed in on his target, bringing his saw weapon down to cleave him in half. But Bee was still a step ahead, bringing out both stingers and crossing them to block the saw and knock it out of the Con's hands.

"Gah! Oh, you did it now!" Barricade brought up his shoulder cannons and blasted Bumblebee straight in the chest, the scout buzzing in agony again as he was knocked onto his back. The black and purple Decepticon swiftly rushed up and slammed his foot into Bumblebee's chest, kicking him over onto his front side before slamming his foot down on his chest. "HA! Good try, Autobot!" Barricade brought out his laser gun and took aim at the back of Bumblebee's head. "But I think it's time that you and that little human friend of yours be…"

However, Barricade trailed off the moment he saw Bumblebee smirking underneath his mouthguard. And it was only then that he realized… he hadn't seen the human since he blasted Bumblebee the first time. With a scowl forming on his features, Barricade lowered himself down and pressed the barrel of his gun to Bumblebee's head. "You have exactly ten astro-seconds to tell me where your little organic friend is, or I'll—" TWONK! "What the—" TWONK! "Agh! Stop that!"

Bumblebee's head snapped around to see Izuku standing several feet away from their location, and he was throwing rocks at Barricade's head. "Get away from my friend!" he shouted with a waver in his voice. "I-I'm warning you!"

Barricade blinked his optics a couple times… and then broke out into laughter. "Hehe… Ahahaha! AHAHAHA!" The Decepticon held his forehead as he erupted in an uproarious guffaw that left Izuku stunned and scared all at once, though Barricade was quick to regain control of himself. "Ahaha… oh, by Primus, that was rich. If throwing ROCKS is the best that you can do, fleshling, I've got news for ya! Maybe it's time you get a load of what a Decepticon is capable of…" Barricade set his sights over to his fallen buzzsaw weapon and… spoke to it. "Time to take some initiative little buddy!"

Izuku's face scrunched up, perplexed by what Barricade was saying. "What? "Little Buddy"? What're you talking abou—" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! The young Quirk Inheritor cut himself off when he heard that familiar conversion sound, seeing Bumblebee's eyes widen in terror. Shakily, Izuku moved his head around, and sure enough, he saw the hand-held saw… begin to transform.

The sides of the weapon popped out to form a pair of arms, while the main bulk of the weapon unfurled into a pair of legs and a torso. Said torso, oddly enough, had a big cavity in the center of it, though that spot was immediately filled when the saw blade folded into it, the sharp edges sticking out of its chest and back. Finally, a small, blocky head popped out from the top of the torso as the astonishingly small robot landed on its feet. Though using the word "small" was in relation to the other Cybertronians, because this one was just a bit bigger than a common human. It had blocky limbs with red shoulders and legs with black painted forearms and thighs. His main body was black, though there were some gold details on his pectorals, and of course the black and red buzz saw that protruded from his chest.

His gleaming red visor focused right onto Izuku, all while a manic grin overtook the small Decepticons' features. "Nyeh-hehehe! With pleasure, partner!" he said as he popped his metal knuckles. "Been a while since I've been able to CUT LOOSE! AHAHA!"

Izuku's eyes had dilated to the size of peas at the sight, trembling with fear as he stepped back. "W-W-What?! B-But… how… what… who—"

"All very fine questions fleshy! AHAHA!" the diminutive Con cackled as the buzzsaw in his chest began to spin. "But to make a long story short… I'm a Mini-Con! My kind usually partner up with bigger bots to help give 'em a little power boost! GYAH!" Izuku let out a scream and ducked to the side as the crazy Mini-Con lunged toward him, narrowly avoiding being sliced by the buzzsaw. "Oh… and the name's FRENZY! AHAHA!"

"Zrkt—Izuku—zrkt—RUN!" CRACK! Bumblebee let out another sound of anguish as Barricade stepped on the small of his back, all while he watched Izuku make a break from Frenzy and toward a narrow path through a crevice not too far away. The scout balled is fists in anger as Frenzy gave chase and set his optics back down to Barricade, who merely scoffed at him.

"Psh, don't act so brash, Auto-scum." The officer pulled up his laser rifle again and aimed it between Bumblebee's optics. "Once I'm finished with you and Frenzy takes care of your little human friend, we're gonna find the rest of your Autobot friends, put them in chains and then present them to Lord Megatron. Hopefully then we can get this war done and over with so we can—" ZZZZT! "HHRRK!"

As Barricade was talking though, Bumblebee had brought his stinger back out and hit him in the foot with it, paralyzing him from top to bottom. The yellow bug slunk out from beneath the con and stood back up, and while he was still shorter than Barricade, he couldn't help but smirk at his handiwork.

"Zrkt—You talk too much." With a good kick to the leg, Bumblebee knocked Barricade onto his face and transformed, driving in the direction Izuku and Frenzy took off in.

…..

Izuku meanwhile, wasn't having such a good time. He had made a break for the narrow crevice path hoping that the stone walls would be too narrow for Frenzy to pursue him in. Unfortunately, though… "Come out, come out, wherever you are!" …That wasn't the case. Frenzy hummed to himself as he searched for Izuku, which only served to frighten the young man more as he hid behind a nearby boulder. He could practically hear Frenzy's buzzsaw revving up as he drew nearer, his cackling making Izuku shiver. "Hehehe, don't be scared little human, I won't hurt ya… MUCH!"

'This is bad, I need an escape plan…' Izuku thought to himself, furrowing his brow as he considered his options. 'Let's see, I can probably throw some rocks to distract him first. As for potential escape routes, climbing is out of the question since he'd see me immediately. I can't go back the way I came since Bumblebee is still dealing with Barricade. So that leave me with—"

"Ah-HA!"

"AAAAAAAH!" Izuku screamed, whipping around to see Frenzy having hopped up onto the boulder with his crazy grin. "H-How?! How did you find me?!"

"You were MUMBLING yourself!" Frenzy declared. "Thinking of ways to escape, are we?!"

Izuku couldn't help but feel his gut drop at that. 'Betrayed by my own bad habits…'

With his rather manic grin sending chills down the boy's spine, Frenzy cackled some more as his buzzsaw began spinning. "Hehehe, so what'll it be, short stuff? Ya want the quick way of goin' out…" He lifted his arm and his hand retracted into his wrist, only to be replaced by a metal shock rod that began surging with electrical energy. "Or ya want the more excruciating way?! …Eh, ya know what? Why not just go with both?! BAHAHAHA!"

"AAAAAAH!" Izuku began scrambling away from Frenzy as fast as he could, the red and black Mini-Con's feet pattering along the ground before bursting forward as well. And unfortunately, he proved to be faster than his target, catching up with him in no time. And what made matters worse… was that the crevice had come to a sharp end, the stone walls coming together and leaving Izuku with nowhere to run. "N-NO! Please, no!"

"How about YES?!" Frenzy said in delight as he raised his shock prod.

Izuku's legs shook beneath him, realizing that his options were exhausted. 'I have no choice, I HAVE to use One for All.' With his teeth grit and a scowl plastered on his features, Izuku raised his hand and readied his fingers for a flick, channeling One for All into them. "You want me, Frenzy?! Well come and get me!"

Frenzy started forward immediately. "With pleasure! AHAHA!" He made to slam his prod into Izuku's midsecond… only for a sudden bright light to shine from behind him and make him halt. "Huh? What the… ah!" A gasp escaped from both him and Izuku at the sight of a Groundbridge portal having opened up… and from out of it came seven faces that Izuku was relieved to see.

Kyoka, Momo, Tenya, Ochako, Denki, Eijiro and Mina all came sprawling out of the portal… and all of them felt nauseous upon landing on their feet. "Oh… oh god!" Eijiro covered his mouth, his complexion growing slightly pale. "I don't feel so good!"

"Ergh, yeah, goin' through a Groundbridge will do that to ya." Kyoka affirmed. "You'll get used to it… hopefully." The punk rocker snapped her head up and smiled at the sight of her best friend. "Izuku! There you… what the hell?!" The others all looked up as well and were taken aback by the sight of the human-sized Cybertronian in front of them, and Frenzy seemed none too happy at their presence either. "…Uh, who's the shrimpy guy?"

Frenzy grimaced and pointed at her. "The name's Frenzy! An' who're you callin' SHRIMP, skinny femme?!"

That made Kyoka's eyes widen in anger immediately. "SKINNY?! Why you little—"

"Kyoka, get back!" Izuku warned. "Do you NOT see the buzzsaw and the prod?!"

"Oh, I see it." Kyoka smirked. "And I think WE can deal with it!"

Frenzy balked at the suggestion. "Bah! Don't make me laugh… though admittedly, that ain't hard! AHAHA!" His maniacal grin came back and he started charging at the other humans. "Ah well, the green guy can wait! Let's see how he likes it when I KILL all of you! HAHAHA!"

"Mina, how about we play a game of "The Floor is Lava"?" Kyoka suggested.

Catching onto the idea, Mina's eyes brightened up and she pumped a fist. "Ooh! Good idea! He should get a kick outta this!" The pink girl extended her hands and an instant burst of acid came shooting from out of her palms, aimed right for Frenzy's path. "Surf's up, Frenzy!"

"Huh? What're you on abo—AH! AH! AH! AH! It burns! IT BURNS!" The Decepticon Mini-Con started dancing around from foot to foot the second he stepped in Mina's acid, and even when he got out of it, there was still an intense burning feeling in his feet. He glowered at the team, fighting through the pain as he continued his charge with his buzzsaw on full throttle. "Ooooh, you're gonna pay for that!"

It was then that Izuku got an idea of his own. "Kirishima! Can you stop his buzzsaw?!"

A smirk came to the spikey redhead's features as he hardened himself up. "Oh, I bet I can!" With a determined roar, Eijiro charged right back at Frenzy and rammed himself into the bot's midsection, bringing him to a halt while also taking the brunt of the buzzsaw. However, after getting a good grip on it, Eijiro actually managed to stop the weapon. "HA! How'd ya like that, Chuckles?!"

"Ooh, interesting!" Frenzy admitted. "But futile!" He raised his prod over his head and made to bring it down. "Bet your little power can't counter THIS!"

But just as it was about to hit Eijiro, Denki rushed up and grabbed the prod, absorbing its electric energy with no trouble. "Maybe his can't, but for an electric-type Quirk user like me, this is nothin'!"

"What?! Impossible! I can't believe you—GYAAAAAH!" Frenzy felt a sudden surge go through him as his knees gave out, courtesy of none other than Kyoka jabbing him with her jacks.

"Sorry dude, but you were starting to get on my nerves." Kyoka set her sights onto Ochako, Momo and Tenya with a nod. "Guys, mind wrapping this up?"

"Gladly." Momo nodded before bringing her hand up and activating her Quirk, creating a quick-drying glue-like substance from her hand that shot out toward Frenzy, sticking his buzzsaw in place along with his hands. "Ochako, use your Quirk!"

The brunette rushed forward and raised her hand. "Already on it!" Ochako's finger tips touched Frenzy's shoulder, and he began floating up high in the air instantly. "Iida, do it!"

"H-Huh?! What the?!" Frenzy had managed to recollect himself and tried moving his limbs and buzzsaw, only to find that both were stuck. "What the heck is this stuff?! A-And why am I floating?! Let me down you little pests!"

Tenya prepped himself for a long jump as the engines in his legs powered up, narrowing his sights onto the floating Frenzy. "Apologies, but that will not happen! Let's see how YOU like being tormented!" FWOOSH! "Take THIS!" WHAM! With a burst of speed, Tenya rushed forward and sent a powerful kick into Frenzy, making the Mini-Con grunt in pain as he was sent flying backward toward the crevice's dead end… where he was met by a rather vengeful Izuku Midoriya, the greenette having raised his hand once more.

With the power of One for All flowing into his fingertips, he faced his tormentor head on and said; "Sayonara, Frenzy." With a flick of his finger, Izuku created a huge burst of wind, sending the weightless Mini-Con screaming up high into the air… before Ochako released her Quirk and sending him careening back down to them.

Frenzy landed in a heap before them, and while he was still online, he was too heavily damaged to continue. "You guys… SUCK. Urk."

As Frenzy slipped into unconsciousness, the students all stared at him with wide eyes, a feeling of dread beginning to overtake them. "Crap… crapcrapcrapcrapCRAP!" Izuku's hands flew up to his head as he began to panic, his focus diverted from his now broken finger. "I took it too far! I took it WAY too far!"

"Woah, woah, relax Izuku!" Everyone whipped themselves around as Windblade stepped through the Groundbridge, followed closely by Arcee, Jazz, Bulkhead, Strongarm, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The Cityspeaker strolled over to Frenzy and scanned him, smiling as she came to her conclusion; "He's just slipped into a brief stasis. He should wake up within the next few cycles."

Izuku and the others let out sighs of relief, the Quirk Inheritor placing a hand to his chest. "Oh, phew! Hah… I'm glad that's the case. …Also, OW!" He balled his hand with the broken finger up into a fist, all while Kyoka took a closer look at it. "Hmph, I hope what Optimus has in mind for training works ou—OPTIMUS!"

"Oh shit, that's right!" Kyoka realized as well. "Where is he?"

"A-And where's Bumblebee?" Ochako added.

But, as if to answer her question, the group heard a car horn come blaring out from down the crevice path, and soon enough, Bumblebee came revving up to them in his vehicle mode. With a happy buzz, he transformed and sprinted the rest of the way, picking Izuku up in a hug which he was more than happy to receive. "HAHA! Bumblebee! You're okay!"

"Zrkt—You betcha!"

"B-But what about Barricade?" Izuku asked. "How'd you get away from him?"

Bumblebee winked and brought out one of his stingers. "Zrkt—I sting like a bee!"

However, Strongarm was quick to take note of the name that Izuku mentioned, and her metal brow quickly furrowed. "Barricade? HE'S on Earth?! GRAH!" With a hard punch, Strongarm slammed her fist into the crevice wall, cracking it and shocking everyone. "Blast it! Why did HE have to come here?!"

The humans all eyed one another confusedly before Tenya piped up. "Um… Strongarm? What exactly is the issue with Barricade? Is he a particularly brutal Decepticon?"

"Brutal is definitely a word that can describe him, Tenya." Bulkhead affirmed.

"Along with "traitor", "lawbreaker", "snitch", "killer", "dishonorable" and—"

"Okay Strongarm, they get it." Sideswipe said with a roll of his optics, making Strongarm glare at him. He set his eyes on the kids as he explained further. "See, Barricade used to be a high-ranking officer in the Cybertron Police force back before the war broke out."

Sunstreaker jumped in at that moment. "But just before things broke down between the Autobots and Decepticons, it was discovered that Barricade's methods weren't as truthful to the law enforcement code as everyone thought." The yellow bot shook his head. "He was a crooked cop, and when the Decepticon's began their initial assault, Barricade sided with them."

Sideswipe jabbed a thumb over to Strongarm. "And let's just say that Miss Rules and Regulations didn't take that too well."

Strongarm pursed her lips at that, but nonetheless raised her fist in ire. "HE'S the reason why I lost one of my closest academy friends. He led an assault on the Iacon Police headquarters and we were separated in the blaze… I never found her after that."

The teens all wore sympathetic expression as Momo placed a hand over her chest. "Oh my gosh… Strongarm, I-I don't know what to say."

"It's okay, Momo… that happened a long time ago." The cadet grimaced as she turned around toward the opposite end of the crevice. "But let me assure you, if he's back there, then he WON'T be getting away from us!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Strongarm transformed into her Jeep Gladiator mode and her sirens began blaring as her tires spun. "Let's roll!"

"W-Wait, Strongarm!" Arcee implored, but it was too late. Strongarm had zoomed off down the crevice path and toward the battle, the pink femme sighing and shaking her head. "We need a plan! Optimus needs our help more than anything!"

"She's right." Izuku affirmed, his and Bumblebee's features etched with seriousness. "He's dealing with Starscream right now, but we're not sure how well he's doing."

Jazz placed his hands to his hips and nodded toward Izuku. "Well, then I guess we'll have to help turn the tide! Autobots! Transform an' start your engines!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! All at once, the Autobots all converted into their vehicle modes, ready to roll out and join the fray. But before they left, Jazz spoke to the humans one more time. "You cats stay here an' watch over Frenzy. We'll take care o' things from here, ya dig?"

"You got it, Jazz." Kyoka gave a thumbs up. "Good luck!" With that, the Autobots all began driving after Strongarm, leaving the teens by themselves with the unconscious Mini-Con.

Izuku felt his legs give out from underneath him and he collapsed to the ground, his hand going to his forehead. "Man, this day really didn't turn out how I expected it to be, that's for sure."

"Yeah, you're tellin' me." Denki agreed, taking a seat on Frenzy's leg. "I mean, first Sunstreaker tries blasting me to keep me on my toes, then a random Decepticon attack happens? Insane…" He received questioning glanced from the rest of the group, with Kyoka in particular looked rather perturbed. Denki raised his hands defensively and added; "I-I mean, that's not to say the REST of you didn't have a tough time training, it's just—"

But Eijiro cut him off with a wave. "Relax dude, we get it." He crossed his arms and craned his head skyward. "I just wish we could do more to help is all…"

Immediately, Tenya began chopping the air with his stiff movements once again. "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, people. We've done quite enough already in dealing with Frenzy here." He snapped his arms over toward the direction of the ongoing fight. "The last thing we need to do is interfere in a battle where we don't belong, right?"

Momo nodded at that. "You're right, Iida, there's no need to throw ourselves into even more danger than we already… wait." The raven-haired beauty trailed off and scanned her eyes across the group… and took notice of a certain someone missing. "…Has anyone seen Mina?"

Everyone was at attention the very next second. "W-What?! She was standing right next to me just a second ago!" Ochako spun around in search of her friend, calling out to her. "Mina?! Mina, where'd you go?!"

"Crap…" Izuku stood up and sent a worried gaze down the crevice path. "You don't think she actually followed the Autobots, did you?"

"That's impossible!" Tenya denied. "To do so, she'd have to be even faster than me!"

"Unless… shit!" Kyoka balled her fist in frustration. "Mina might've climbed into Bulkhead instantly after he transformed! She could've slipped in as his doors were closing." She turned to the rest of her group and pointed toward the battle, relaying a new plan. "Okay, change of plans, we're going after them and getting Mina outta there!"

As she thought, however, Tenya was quick to object. "Now wait just a moment! The Autobots gave us direct orders to stay here and guard Frenzy. If Mina really did sneak off with Bulkhead, he's bound to notice her inside him sooner or later, and I have no doubt he'll protect her."

Kyoka raised a brow right back at him. "Okay, and if he DOESN'T notice she's in him? What then? She could get seriously hurt!"

Izuku stepped up and got in between the two. "As much as I hate to admit it, Iida, Kyoka has a point. We should at least warn Bulkhead about Mina being with him." By Tenya's disapproving stare, he could tell that he still wasn't a big fan of the plan, but Izuku had a solution. "We won't interfere anymore than that, okay? We'll stay as far away as possible and just relay the message to Bulkhead, that's it."

"…Hah, very well." Tenya sighed relentingly before pointing to Frenzy. "But what about him—ah!"

"Way ahead of ya, Iida!" Much to everyone's shock, Eijiro had hardened himself up and started hefting the large, clunky body of Frenzy over his shoulder… albeit quite awkwardly given the buzzsaw. "Hehehe, don't worry guys, this guy ain't THAT heavy compared to what I usually lift. I got this in the ba—AG!" CLUNK! The group watched as Eijiro lost balance, falling face first to the ground as Frenzy toppled over him. "…Maybe I could use some assistance."

…..

Back out near the river, Optimus could feel himself slowing down considerably. The fight between him and Starscream had been going on for several minutes now, in which they went hand-to-hand, blasted at each other several times, and much to Prime's chagrin, it wasn't getting them anywhere. And to make matters worse, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was starting to get exhausted. Granted, fighting Starscream was no easy task, but at the same time, it was worrying since he had noticed the same thing had happen when he battled Shatter and Dropkick. His energy levels were much lower than usual since he had woken up, and it was beginning to show considerably.

"Oh, Optimus… feeling a little rusty, are we?" Starscream noted as he reached up to his right wing, pulling off the top section that unfolded into a long sword that lit up with a vibrant purple energy. "It would seem that your time in stasis has taken its toll on you. When was the last time you were fully energized, hmm?"

"…That does not matter, Starscream." Optimus retorted as his hand retracted, allowing his Energon Axe to spring to life. "No matter how tired I am, I will still fight you!"

Starscream scoffed at that. "Hmph, heroic to the bitter end. You Autobots are always SO noble… it makes me sick. GRAH!" With a sharp battle cry, Starscream raised his blade up and began charging at Optimus, ready to finish the fight. "Now die, Prime!" But Optimus still had a considerable amount of fight left in him, which he used to counter Starscream's sword with a powerful axe swing. Starscream kept at it, but Prime managed to counter every strike that the Decepticon Air Commander sent his way, which only frustrated him all the more. "ARGH! Why! Won't! You! Go! DOWN?!"

Prime blocked another axe swing and narrowed his optics at Starscream. "Because the safety of this planet is worth fighting for."

"Pathetic!" Starscream raised his leg and kicked Optimus in the midsection, sending him staggering backward before he slammed back first into the nearby mountain wall. The second-in-command raised his arm and aimed his Null Ray at the Prime, who stood shakily up to his feet. "You know, you really should've taken my offer, Prime. At least when I inevitably would've stabbed you in the back, it would've been MUCH quicker than this…"

"Commander Starscream!" The Seeker's head snapped up and around to see Barricade come lumbering toward him, the officer's legs wobbling as he ran. "We've got a situation!"

"Barricade?! What are you doing here? I ordered you to dispose of Bumblebee and the human!"

The Decepticon cop came to a halt, his hands resting on his knees as he explained. "Well, yeah, about that. I dispatched Frenzy to take care of the human, but the bug managed to paralyze me with his stingers before goin' after them."

Starscream rolled his optics and sighed. "Ugh, well, at least you gave Frenzy an appropriate mission. If anyone can dispose of a simple human, HE can…"

Barricade's hand went to the back of his head nervously. "Uh, yeah… well, that's actually not the end of it, sir." He pointed downstream and said; "See for yourself."

"Hm? What could you possibly—WHAT?!" Starscream's optics snapped open as he saw Bumblebee come rolling back onto the scene… along with Jazz, Windblade, Arcee, Bulkhead, Strongarm, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. The eight Autobots transformed and pulled out their weapons immediately, taking aim at Starscream. "…Scrap."

"Took the words right outta my mouth, Screamer!" Jazz agreed, his Subsonic Repeater aimed directly at the Seeker. "Now hands where we can see 'em an' step away from Prime!"

Strongarm took up an energy crossbow in her hands and aimed it square at Barricade. "And Officer Barricade, you are under arrest for SEVERAL crimes against the Iacon City Police Force. Both of you get down on the ground, NOW."

"Optimus!" Windblade and Bumblebee rushed over to their leader, helping him stand up. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Hah… n-no, Windblade." Optimus assured. "Just… a bit low on energy is all. I hadn't realized how low I actually was, really."

"We need to get you back to base and have Red do an energon infusion." Windblade concurred. "You need it, badly."

As the Autobots chattered, Starscream felt his optic twitch and he whirled back around to his subordinate. "Grr… BARRICADE! Can't you do ANYTHING right?!"

Barricade glared back and snapped; "Yeah, well maybe if you were more focused on what was goin' on instead of just Optimus, maybe wouldn't be IN this situation!"

"What do I think I have YOU for, fool?!" Starscream grumbled before putting his attention back onto Jazz. "And as for you, lieutenant, I would suggest not counting your protoforms before they hatch!"

But Sideswipe just shook his head. "Pfft, please. Do you NOT see that we outnumber you nine to two?" However, right as he said that, a sudden flash of light erupted not too far away, followed shortly by a Groundbridge portal opening up. Every Cybertronian set their eyes onto the portal… and immediately, several dark, wedge-shaped aircraft came flying out of it. They almost appeared to be wheel-less cars with forward-swept wings, all of them flying upwards into the sky before transforming and falling to the ground. In an instant, the Autobots were faced with at least six Vehicons, all of them aiming their blasters at them. The team all eyed Sideswipe with irritated looks. "…Me and my big fat vocal processor."

"Yeah, not your best call there, kiddo!" The bots were all surprised to hear another voice come from the portal, and the very next moment, a slender green, tan and orange femme came waltzing out of it. Her black-painted lips were curled up into a grin as she kept a single hand to her hip, her yellow eyes zeroed in on Sideswipe. "Ya might wanna reevaluated the numbers here, huh?"

Windblade's jaw dropped at the sight of the female Decepticon. "SWIFT?!"

"Hey, if it isn't Windblade!" Swift raised a hand in greeting. "Last I saw ya, we had a little spat in Kaon! It's been WAY too long, lemme tell ya."

"Not long enough." Windblade's wings sprung out from her back as the VTOL fans began to glow blue. "Didn't think YOU'D be on this team of cons."

"Yeah, well, Lord Megatron's a convincing talker…" Swift's optics went over to Starscream and she gave a laugh. "Hehe, but hey, SOMEONE'S gotta keep Screamer here in line, right?

Starscream grumbled as he shook a finger at her. "Swift, normally I would be VERY cross with you for interrupting! …However, given the situation, it's rather fortuitous that you came!" He wrung his hands together eagerly as he and Barricade stepped over with the other Decepticon goons, ready for a counter attack. "Now we have an even advantage! Everyone, feel free to inflict any damage you see fit, just make sure that Optimus Prime remains alive!"

"Sounds good to me!" Swift agreed as she balled her fists up, her focus locked onto Windblade. "So, Windy, I see ya managed to survive so…" Just then, those same fists began to glow with an intense green energy as Swift's smirk increased. "Let's fix that, shall we?"

"Bring it." Windblade accepted.

With his hand raised and his finger pointed toward the enemy, Starscream gave his order; "Decepticons, ATTACK!"

Prime stood tall and exchanged his Energon Axe for his Ion Blaster, choosing to stay at long range for the time being. "Autobots, engage the enemy!" With simultaneous battle cries, the Autobots surged forth, each taking on their own Vehicon while Windblade and Swift closed the distance between one another.

…..

As for Strongarm, she zeroed in on Barricade immediately, transforming into her vehicle mode to ram into him. But before she could, the bad cop jumped up and actually landed on her roof, gripping his hands onto her before kneeing her in the tailgate. "HAHA! Nice try, cadet! But there's a reason why you never graduated the Academy, so I suggest you—GAH!"

Strongarm suddenly lurched to the side and made herself tumble over, throwing Barricade into the nearby river as she transformed again. She took out her crossbow and aimed it directly at him. "Yeah, and that reason was you DESTROYED it before I could!" She fired a couple of times, but Barricade was able to get to his feet. But just as he was about to reach for his own laser rifle, Strongarm charged right at him and delivered a swift kick to his chest, making Barricade fall to his back and allowing her to plant a foot on his chest.

But all the same, Barricade couldn't help but laugh. "Bahaha! Yeah, that was great. Prowl's face was PRICELESS wasn't it—URK!"

"You killed so many bots that day!" Strongarm admonished, her voice beginning to crack. "Stakeout, Fixit, Red Heat, Sea Watch… Nightra." Her grip on her crossbow increased as she took in a shaky breath. "And all for the sake of your jealousy of Sergeant Prowl! I'm going to make sure that you do the time for EVERYTHING that you've done!" It was then that she heard a dark chuckle escape Barricade's vocal processor, and she sneered down at him. "What's so funny?!"

"Ah, nothin'." Barricade answered with a smirk. "It's just… those names brought up so many memories. Especially Nightra's… hehe." He raised a metal brow to Strongarm knowingly. "Ya know "Regs", that friend of yours? I like to think that she an' I weren't so different in terms of our view of the law. I like to think she would've joined me if given the—" CLANG! "AUGH!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Strongarm barked as she pulled out a pair of stasis cuffs. "That's it! You're going dow—AAAAAUGH!" Before she could take another step, Strongarm was suddenly engulfed in purple electricity, which was coming from a small device that had been planted on her foot.

Barricade now stood up on dry land, smiling proudly as he held a remote control in his hands. "Heh, I still kept some Electro-capacitators from way back when." He watched as Strongarm fell to her knees in the water, which didn't help her one bit. "Now, maybe you'll be a good little cadet and remember where your PLACE is—" CRASH! "ACK!" Barricade fell to the stone bank as Bumblebee collided into his back, the VW Bug transforming into robot mode to stomp on the remote the moment it fell out of the cop's hands. "W-What?! How?! We sicked a Vehicon on ya!" Bumblebee buzzed happily as he pointed behind Barricade, right toward the paralyzed Vehicon that laid convulsing on the ground. Barricade facepalmed and shook his head. "I dunno what I was expecting."

Bee rushed over and removed the Electro-capacitator from Strongarm's foot, helping her up at the same time. "Hah… hah… thanks for the assist, Bee." Strongarm gave her friend a small fistbump before taking up her crossbow again. "Now c'mon, let's bring this Con to justice!"

…..

As that was going on, Windblade and Swift were engaged in close-quarters combat, the Cityspeaker doing all she could to keep up with the green femme's quick and violent strikes. "GYAH! RAH! HYAH!" With every swipe of her glowing green hands, Swift was countered with swings of the Stormfall sword, her metal fingers scraping against the blade and making sparks as the energy collided. Swift jumped back with the aid of her propellers and rolled her shoulders, loosening up her joints. "Gotta admit, Windy, you've gotten better!"

"Three-hundred stellar cycles of roaming the cosmos will do that for you." Windblade countered before bracing herself against the ground. "But I've got a few other tricks…" VWOOOM! From the fans in her wings, Windblade unleased twin blasts of wind energy, which struck the ground directly in front of Swift.

But right before they did, Swift jumped again, her propellers aiding her. "Funny, because I have a few of my own! But I DO have one thing that you don't…"

"Oh yeah? And what's that—" PEWPEWPEW! "AAAAUGH!" As the Null Ray blasts struck her in the back, Windblade fell to her knees as Starscream loomed over her.

"Ahaha! Well done, Swift!" Starscream praised. "You always were good at causing distractions."

Swift came in for a landing… though she failed to notice a certain bot sneaking up from behind. "Yeah, well I probably could've handled her myself, but I figured since YOU started this whole thing, you should—" BLAM! "Augh!" From out of nowhere, a blue laser beam struck Swift in the side and sent her careening downward… and she ended up crashing into Starscream.

"ACK! Swift! You incompetent fool, get out of my—"

"WHAT did you call me?!" Swift barked, her glowing hand flying right up to Starscream's face.

Starscream quickly put on an apologetic grin, raising his hands in defense. "Erm, I mean, my wonderful assistant! If you would be so kind as to remove yourself from my person."

Windblade shook off the paralyzing feeling of the Null Ray just in time for a blue hand to offer her assistance. She glanced up and Prime standing there, keeping his Ion Blaster aimed at the duo. She smiled took his hand, allowing him to hoist her up. "Thanks for the assist, Prime. I have no idea how Starscream managed to sneak up on me like that."

"No problem at all, Windblade." Optimus assured, readying his blaster again. "Now, shall we take care of both of these two?"

Windblade took up her sword once more with an eager grin. "Took the words right out of my mouth."

…..

Several feet away, the other Autobots were all engaged in their own fights against the Vehicon forces. Some such as Jazz and Sunstreaker had chosen to stay further back and take a more ranged approach while Sideswipe and Arcee had taken up the exact opposite mindset; getting in as close as possible to their opponents and use their hand-to-hand skills to dispatch them. Sideswipe in particular was being a bit of a show off with his feat of acrobatics, kick flipping off of one Vehicon's head in order to bring another one to the ground with a big slam. "Ha! You Cons seem to be a bit rusty! Has floating through space dulled your fighting skills or something?"

"GRAH!" A particular Vehicon surged up from behind and went to tackle Sideswipe, snapping indignantly; "You'll pay for that kinda talk, Autobot!"

"See, that's kinda what I'm talkin' about." With a quick swivel, Sideswipe's shoulder-mounted missile launcher rotated around and aimed right at the Vehicon, taking it off guard just long enough before… FWOOM! BOOM! A huge cavity was blasted through the Vehicon's chest and it fell over, effectively deactivated. "If you were SMART, you wouldn't announce your presence like that in a sneak attack."

"Sideswipe, quit showing off, would you?" Arcee admonished lightly as she gave an upper cut to another Vehicon. "I think you've proven your point."

"Yeah, ya might wanna get your head in the game before YOU get taken off guard." Jazz agreed while shooting another Con in the shoulder. "There's plenty of times I could name where YOU were on the opposite end of where you are now."

But Sideswipe simply waved them off. "Ah, that's all in the past. I've gotten a lot better at being aware of stuff around me, right Sunstreaker?"

"Can't talk!" The yellow bot dismissed while firing more shots from his solar-flare gun. "Kinda busy making sure that I don't—" PEW! "GYAH-HAH!" Sunstreaker yelped and jumped as he felt a laser brush past his shoulder, his hand snapping up to cover the spot that had been grazed. "Ah! AH! Please don't be bad, please don't be bad…" He removed his hand… and felt his insides wretch. There, right before his very optics… was a black burn mark from the laser, seared into his beautiful paint. "AH! NOOOOOO! My paint! WHY?!"

The entire group deadpanned at the melodramatic bot… which distracted Sideswipe long enough for a Vehicon to get the drop on him. CLANG! "AUGH! H-Hey! What the—AGH!" Sideswipe found himself on the ground grappling with the Vehicon, its claws going right for his optics. "H-Hey, c'mon man, can't we talk about this?!"

The Vehicon reeled one of its hands back and was about to claw Sideswipe's optics out… but thankfully, Bulkhead arrived just in time to smash the Vehicon off of the younger bot. The big green Autobot had the end of his arm transformed into his signature mace, the huge weapon being even bigger than any one bot's head. He eyed Sideswipe with a smirk and offered him a hand. "What was that about "being more aware", Sideswipe?"

Sideswipe pouted and crossed his arms. "…That one didn't count."

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure it didn't. Now, if you'll excuse me…" Bulkhead transformed his other wrist into a large laser cannon and turned to face the Vehicons, who had since regrouped. "Let's WRECK and RULE! GRAAAAH!" BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! As Bulkhead ran with surprising speed, he unleased a volley of laser fire on the Vehicons, which while they attempted to counter, several of them ended up falling to the large blasts. The moment Bulkhead close enough, he actually jumped, taking the Vehicons all by surprise before he landed right in the middle of their group. From there, Bulkhead began bashing his mace into even more Vehicons, battering them around like rag dolls and slamming them into one another. He even blasted some at close range as well, creating clean holes through their bodies. With a strong kick, he knocked one of the cons down to the ground before slamming his foot on its chest. "Ba-hah! You cons really don't learn, do you? Bess with the top dogs, you get bit."

"BULKHEAD!"

The Autobot warrior's head snapped up at the sound of a collective shout, his sights snapping around to see the teens all coming toward him. Much to his surprise, Eijiro and Tenya were carrying Frenzy with them. "What the—what're you kids doing here?!" Bulkhead waved his hand to try and ward them off. "Get away! It's not safe here!"

Kyoka and the others ducked behind a pile of nearby rocks before the Earphone Jack user called out to him again. "We know! But we thought we should warn you… you may have a stowaway!"

Bulkhead's face scrunched up, more perplexed than ever. "What?! What're you talking abo—" But then he cut himself off when he noticed the number of teens… and that a particular one was missing. "Wait… where's Mina?!" KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK! Bulkhead's optics widened and he craned his head down, his chest panels shifting to open up his personal storage space. Sure enough, from out of it flopped Mina, thankfully in one piece. The pink girl breathed hard as her upper body limply hung out of the storage space, much to Bulkhead's disbelief. "…MINA?!"

After a few more breaths, Mina glanced up to Bulkhead apologetically. "I heaved on your floormats. Sorry! Bleh."

As Mina fell over once again, but she had no time to relax as several of the Vehicons came back, shooting at the two partners and taking them off guard. Bulkhead removed Mina from her chest and advised; "Hold on!" before charging at them once again, slamming his mace into one's head, caving it in. He then rammed his shoulder into the other one and shifted his mace for one of his cannons, shooting its arm off and subsequently it's laser. He set Mina down quickly before rushing up and grabbing the Vehicon by its throat. "Mina, turn away!"

"But—"

"TURN YOUR HEAD AWAY!" Bulkhead repeated before reaching his hand out to tear straight into the Vehicon's chest. From there, he tore out several wires, internal systems and lots more twisted metal as he practically gutted the Con, much to Mina's amazement.

"Woah…" As Bulkhead finished his handiwork, Mina plopped down onto her rear and let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! Okay, lesson learned; I'm never doing that again."

"You shouldn't have done it in the FIRST place!" Bulkhead shouted, much to her surprise. "What were you THINKING, Mina?!

The other Autobots had also rushed up as well, with Arcee in particular wearing a disappointed expression. "You could've gotten yourself KILLED!"

"I… I'm sorry, I just… I wanted to see an awesome fight and—"

"And you just thought it was a good idea to climb inside me and tag along?!" Bulkhead continued, making Mina bite her lip as her head fell. "What would've happened if I had gotten run through, huh? What then?!" As the other teens moved over to them, Bulkhead could see that guilt was already beginning to wash over Mina, so he sighed and dismissed it for now. "We'll talk about this later, understand?"

Mina swallowed hard and got up to her feet, thanks to Kyoka and Momo helping her up. "…Yes."

Jazz shook his head and tried to get things back on track. "Okay, so aside from this whole incident, I think we've taken care of most of the Vehicons…" The lieutenant scanned the area and took note of what everyone else was doing. "Bee and Strongarm are handlin' Barricade, an' Prime an' Windblade are takin' on Screamer an' Swift."

Izuku stepped in at that moment. "How're they all doing?"

"Lookin' pretty good, but we should still lend a hand." Jazz resolved. "Prime's low on energon as is, so let's prioritize that fight first."

"Woah, wait, hold up." Denki said concerningly. "Optimus is… low on energon?"

"He's been hiding it." Sideswipe explained, watching as Prime continued to fire his blaster from a distance. "Pretty well, but still, it's very noticeable. He's usually able to get in a fight more, but here, he's being pretty standoffish."

Eijiro grit hit teeth, both in worry and at the fact that he was still carrying Frenzy. "Aw man, that's bad! We gotta get him outta there and someone's gotta take over for him!"

Sunstreaker held up a finger to the redhead. "Uh, correction, WE need to get him out of there. After that little stunt Mina pulled, you all are staying right here and—"

"Wait, hold up…" Kyoka interrupted as her jacks went up, her eyes closing as she focused. "Does anyone else hear something?" The others all perked their ears and audio receptors up as well, and before long, they heard the same thing she was.

"Yeah, it sounds like… rotor blades." Momo deduced, only for her eyes to widen in alarm. "Oh no! Someone's coming!"

That put everyone else on alert, the Autobots craning their heads skyward. "Civilians?! Why would they be coming this way?" Bulkhead asked.

"W-Well, helicopter tours of the gorge aren't unheard of, but—" Izuku started, only to be cut off when a loud voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire area… and it was VERY familiar.

"To all Decepticons! This is Agent Jacob Burns of Sector Seven!" Autobots, Decepticons and humans alike all set their sights upward and saw a black helicopter with the S7 logo on it come flying out from over the tree line. Specifically, it was an AH-64 Apache Longbow that was decked out with weapons, with sets of missiles on both flanks while a gun emplacement was under its nose. Inside the cockpit, they could make out the silhouette of Agent Burns along with Agent Fairborne sitting next to him, the former's voice ringing out once again. "I'm going to give ya three seconds to leave peacefully and get off out planet, or else I'm gonna give you all everything this bird has to offer!"

The group stared up at the chopper in disbelief as Kyoka facepalmed. "Of freaking course."

…..

The moment Burns appeared in the scene, Optimus felt both a sense of relief and apprehension. On the one hand, more backup was much appreciated… but on the other hand, Burns had made a harrowing mistake with that ultimatum. If there was one thing that Decepticons liked to do, it was calling an enemy bluff. He reached for his commlink, attempting to tune in to the copter's frequency. "Agent Burns, take your aircraft and fall back to a safe dist—AH!" The Prime felt a hard kick impact him in his side, sending him clattering to the ground.

Without wasting a moment, Starscream was over him with his sword drawn and one of his Null Ray's aimed at his head. "Oh, Prime, you really shouldn't get distracted so easily. Otherwise, deary me, look what happens!"

"Optimus!" Windblade broke off from Swift and charged at Starscream, only for the Seeker Commander to spin around and block her sword strike with his own. "You get away from him right now!"

"Hmhm, I think not! Swift! Finish her for me while I deal with Optimus…" But, after a few seconds of waiting… Windblade was still there pushing against him with no sign of his lieutenant. "…Swift? Any day now!" Starscream lifted his head and saw the green femme… and she was just staring up at the helicopter. "…Ah, yes, of course! Just SCAN something in the middle of a fight! Pay ME no mind!"

But Swift just waved him off. "Ah, don't get yer crankshaft in a twist, Screamer, I'll be there in a sec." She smirked wildly as her optics became green. "This'll only take a sec!" From there, two beams of light came bursting out of Swift's optics and she scanned the Apache Longbow, the aircraft's schematics working its way into her processor and integrating them into her systems. Finally, with the vehicle scanned…

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk!

The cockpit in the center of Swift's chest folded up and over her head while her shoulders rotated inward and unfurled, forming the main body of her new alt mode. The pectoral panels on her chest meanwhile moved out to the side to from the stabilizer wings on the sides of the copter, while her forearms folded up and back to form a pair of air intakes on either side of the as well. Her orange propellers splayed out and took on the usual helicopter position while her legs came together and formed the copter's tail, the fins on her knees folding out as another set of stabilizers. A set of missiles appeared from her front stabilizers while a gun emplacement came out of the nose, completing her transformation.

"HAHA! Alright! Aerial superiority; achieved!" Swift declared as she flew up toward the other Apache, intent on taking it and its occupants down.

Windblade gasped and cried; "NO!" before transforming into her jet mode, flying after Swift as fast as possible.

…Which left Starscream to do as he pleased. "Ha! Well, now that SHE'S out of the picture, perhaps we can—" But his voice disappeared the second he turned back… only to be met with Bulkhead's face inches away from his. "Uh, hehe… hello there—" THWAM! "AUGH!" The green Autobot immediately smashed Starscream in the head with his mace, making the Decepticon stumble away.

"Prime!" Jazz exclaimed as he slid next to his leader, helping him up with Bulkhead's assistance. "You alright?"

"Ugh… as alright as I can be, Jazz." Optimus reassured. "But… Izuku. Where is he?"

"I-I'm down here, Prime!" The Autobot leader set his optics downward, seeing Izuku and, much to his surprise, the other humans as well. And what's more, he saw that Eijiro and Tenya were carrying an unconscious Frenzy. "And we're all okay."

Ochako wore a proud smile as she jerked her thumb toward Frenzy. "Plus we took out this little guy!"

Optimus' metal brow rose up even more once he heard that. "All of you… managed to defeat Frenzy?"

"Yep, and without killing him this time, too." Denki smirked, rubbing his finger under his nose. "I think it's safe to say we learned from last time, huh?"

"Indeed, impressive job, children. Now, we should get you all away before—INCOMING!" Optimus lifted his head up just in time to see Barricade come charging their way, the officer bellowing in rage as he plowed through everyone. The Autobots and humans all managed to get out of the way, but Optimus still raised his Ion Blaster toward the renegade. "Barricade, stop—"

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Strongarm hollered, the cadet and Bumblebee sprinting up to the group with their weapons raised. "I've had enough of your tricks, Barricade!"

The Decepticon spun around and narrowed his optics at her. "And I've had enough of your insolence, cadet." he spat back. "Which is why I'm leaving! I just had to get something…" He lifted up his hand… revealing that he had scooped up Frenzy. "…Or rather, someone important before I left."

Eijiro and Tenya both did a double take, the duo gasping the moment they realized they no longer held the Mini-Con on their shoulders. "Ah! That foul miscreant!" Tenya exclaimed with his usual stiff arm-chopping. "He absconded with our prisoner!"

Barricade raised his finger up and it opened up, revealing a tiny taser attachment. He pressed it against Frenzy's head and a small jolt was delivered, one that made the Mini-Con wake up suddenly with his head snapping from side to side. "GAH! AH! W-What happened?! Where am I—wait, Barricade?! How'd I get here?" Frenzy paused the moment he noticed he couldn't move his arms… and he yelped when he saw what was preventing that. "Ah! And when the heck is on my arms?!"

"Not sure, but—" CHOOM! CHOOM! Barricade ducked out of the way of several lasers before transforming, with Frenzy landing in his cab. "We'll get that gunk off of ya later. Right now, we need to book it!"

"Oh no you don't!" Strongarm went to give chase, but was held back by Optimus and Bulkhead, much to her frustration. "Agh! Prime! Bulkhead! He's getting away!"

"I'm well aware of that, Strongarm, but you must take stock of the whole situation." Prime pointed toward where Barricade was retreating to… and Strongarm finally saw that Starscream had gotten back up, aiming his Null Ray directly at them.

"Oh no, please, do let her come closer, Prime." Starscream implored with a smirk. "I promise I won't bite. Besides, if anything, you have bigger things to worry about…" He nudged his chin up toward the sky. "Your human friends are in a tight spot, after all."

The Air Commander spoke the truth, for in the sky above, Swift had made it up to her target's level. The two copters hovered in midair face-to-face before Swift spoke to them. "So! You like bettin' your life on vague threats, do ya?!"

In the Sector 7 chopper's cockpit, Agent Fairborne eyed Burns irritably. "Nice going, Burns. NOW we're in for it."

But Burns gave her a reassuring wave. "Don't worry, Fairborne, I make due on my word!" He pressed a few buttons and yelled; "FIRE!" before all of the missiles on the copter fired off and flew toward Swift, with the gun emplacement on the front unloading its own ammo as well. However… something unexpected happened. Swift was able to out-maneuver every single projectile that came her way, dodging the missiles which went straight into the mountain instead. She also out sped the gun as a pair of jet boosters activated near her rear… which also allowed her to close in on her target unexpectedly quick. "…OH CRAP!"

"Get away! Get away!" Marissa urged.

But it was too late. Swift closed in, flipped around so she was flying upside down, and then transformed once again. As she came down, her hands glowed green and she clawed at the S7 chopper's rotor, taking it clean off before grabbing the now falling copter immediately. As they fell, Swift reached in and grabbed Jacob and Marissa, pulling them out with a snicker. "Hehe! All too easy—" CLANG! "AUGH!"

Unfortunately for her, Windblade came flying in, transformed, and kicked Swift right in the head, forcing her to let go of Burns and Fairborne. Without missing a beat, Windblade reached out and grabbed them as she transformed back into jet mode, securing them while the chopper fell to the ground. "And THAT, my friends, is how you pull off a successful rescue." She didn't receive a response as both Jacob and Marissa just stared into space, both of them visibly shaken. "…Guys?"

"GYAH! NO!" Starscream exclaimed before the chopper crashed into the mountainside. "NOOO!" At that moment, Swift also came falling down near him, though she was able to use her propellers to hover in the air and land on her feet. "You fool, Swift! How could you have been blindsided like that?!"

"Hey, not everyone's perfect, Starscream." Swift snapped back as her hands glowed green once more. "But let me tell ya, this fight ain't over by a LONG shot!"

"Uh, might wanna make an addendum to that." Barricade said as he came revving up and transformed, with some still living yet heavily injured Vehicons hot on his trail. "We're out numbered and our soldiers who AREN'T dead are in need of some heavy repairs. I suggest a tactical retreat until—"

But Starscream just got right in his face and poked him in the forehead. "I'm sorry, but who died and made YOU commander, Barricade?!" He pointed toward the Autobots as Windblade came down and opened her cockpit hatch, allowing Burns and Fairborne to get out. "Send for more Vehicons if you have to, we ARE continuing this battle!"

As Burns and Fairborne got out, they were met by the teens, who gathered around them worriedly. "Agent Burns, Marissa!" Momo reached up and helped Marrisa down, the older woman giving her a grateful smile. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Hah, n-no Momo, we're fine." Marissa said. "Just… a bit shaken." At the sound of retching, though, the others were quick to see Agent Burns rush over to the nearby river, where he unleashed the contents of his stomach. The teens all cringed as Marissa made an addendum. "Well… maybe some of us more than others." It was then that she noticed Ochako and the others all gathered up as well, giving them a greeting smile. "Oh, and you must be the new kids on board, right? I'm Marissa Fairborne of Sector Seven. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Mina returned. "But uh… sorry that your plan didn't really go the way you thought it would."

Marissa simply waved her hand at that. "Ah, it's no biggie. Besides, we've still got quite the amount of backup coming…"

"Woah, really?" Izuku questioned. "I-Is Agent Fowler coming or—"

"AH-HAHAHA!" Everyone let out a collective gasp as their moods brightened up considerably. They knew THAT bombastic laugh anywhere. Sure enough, a powerful gust of wind came blowing through the entire area, one that took even the Decepticons off guard. And with it, came the Number One hero himself, his incredible landing being the cause of it. "Decepticons! You've picked the wrong people to mess with today!" All Might proclaimed, his unrelenting smile present with his hands on his hips. "Because I am here to put an end to this!"

"ALL MIGHT!" the kids chimed in.

Optimus sighed and smiled beneath his faceplate. "Excellent timing, my friend!"

All Might gave them a thumbs up over his shoulder. "Of course! The moment that Fowler told me about what was going on, I got changed and came as fast as I could." The Symbol of Peace set his focus onto Starscream, the Decepticon glowering right back at him. "So, if I were a betting man, I'd say you're Starscream, eh?"

Starscream wore a cocky smirk and placed a hand over his chest. "Indeed! And who exactly are you to address the great Starscream so casually, worm?" Behind him, Swift and Barricade rolled their optics, the former slapping her forehead.

"I'm glad you asked!" All Might jabbed a thumb toward himself. "I am All Might! The Number One Pro Hero in all of Japan, as well as the World's Symbol of Peace!" While his smile was still unwavering, All Might lowered his voice to a more warning level. "And just so we're clear on that, that means your trespassing is twofold; you're on my world, and you're in my country. And I would very much appreciate it if you leave, NOW before things get ugly."

"Hmph! So, THAT is how those costumed people refer to themselves, eh? "Heroes"?" Starscream scoffed. "How droll. Next you'll tell me that the ones that they fight against are "Villains", right?" All Might raised a brow at him, and that was all the answer that Starscream needed. "Oh, why am I not surprised? To think that I actually EXPECTED something more out of these people. In any case, All Might, you do not intimidate me. Lord Megatron may be wary of you, but I… I think of myself MUCH higher than that. I actually recognize our race's superiority and am willing to prove it!"

A look of panic etched into Swift's face at that. "Uh, Starscream? The pit are you doing?"

"Hush, Swift, I'm on a roll!" Starscream smirked before setting his attention back to All Might. "To clarify; Megatron believes that the right powerset can take a Cybertronian out… but I just think that your planet is all bark and no bite."

All Might raised a hand and made a "come at me" motion. "Is that right? Well then, would you like to test your theory against me? Let's see if it holds water or not."

Barricade and Swift immediately tried to hold him back, but Starscream was far too quick. "With pleasure!" FWOOSH! The Seeker's rockets kicked on and he thrust forward as bursting speed, enough to make even Swift and Barricade stagger. Starscream's Null Rays began lighting up as he aimed them forward. "Now DIE, hero!"

Arcee reached out and called for the pro to stand down. "All Might, get back! You don't know what you're—"

"Arcee." The pink femme snapped her head down to see Izuku, the young man wearing a confident grin on his lips. "With all due respect… All Might's got this."

The Autobots and humans watched as All Might widened his stance, balled his right hand and pulled back his fist, ready to deal the one and only blow he would need. "TEXAS… SMAAAAAASH!" BWHAAAM! Just as Starscream had gotten within a meter of him, All Might brought his fist forward and punched the air in front of him, creating a massive wind tunnel that blasted forward and struck Starscream directly in the gut.

"GYA—AAAAAAAAH!" Swift and Barricade were left stunned as they watched Starscream get blown back, his own jets working against him as his legs were forced forward by the force of the blow itself. They had to dive out of the way as the Air Commander was sent hurtling backward and slammed back-first into a massive boulder not too far away, hitting his head in the process. There was now a massive double wing-shaped dent in the stone as Starscream fell down, his optics rolling in his head. "Ooooh… why yes, Lord Megatron, I WOULD like to pilot the Purple Griffon, thank you…"

The two Decepticon lieutenants were left slack-jawed as the surviving Vehicons stared at their fallen commander… and that's when All Might spoke up again. "Would anyone ELSE like to test their luck?"

"Gah! Th-That won't be necessary!" Swift assured as she and Barricade quickly moved over and took up the disoriented Starscream, with a Groundbridge opening up for them a second later. The Vehicons all ran through the portal while the duo hobbled the fallen Seeker over to it. "We'll just be taking our leave, if that's alright with you." Swift added with a nervous grin.

"Thanks for your time, beat ya later!" Barricade said with finality as they hopped through the Groundbridge, which closed behind them.

However, it was then that Sideswipe brought something up. "Uh… you sure we should just let the bad guys get away? Kinda seems counter-productive."

"Don't worry, punk, I actually thought of that." Strongarm smiled victoriously as she brought out a small device, which appeared to be some sort of tracker. "I stuck a nano-tracker on Barricade back during our fight. Soon, we'll know exactly where they are… hopefully."

"Hah, excellent thinking, Strongarm." Optimus commended as he steadily got to his feet, his optics moving over to All Might, who was being surrounded by the children.

"All Might, that was fantastic!" Izuku cheered.

Kyoka punched the air in front of her with a smirk. "Ya really sent those Decepti-Creeps packing!"

Tenya bowed to him in appreciation, along with many others. "We owe you for helping ward them off in such a manner. Otherwise, who knows what could've happened?"

All Might saluted back to the children with gusto. "Think nothing of it! After all, it IS my duty to protect you kids from the Decepticons with our Autobot friends." He shifted his focus over to Optimus, tilting his head curiously. "And what about you, Optimus? You seemed rather sluggish back there…"

Prime raised a hand to him with a sigh. "Yes, well… let's just say that there's been something I've been putting off for quite a while. At first, I thought it was nothing to worry about, but now after this, I can see that it's more concerning than I thought." He crouched down and offered All Might his hand. "But we can discuss that back at base. For now, I owe you much, All Might. Thank you for your assistance in this battle."

"Of course, my friend! Always here to help." All Might raised his hand and coughed into it awkwardly. "Ahem, uh… although, we may want to take care of a little something before we head back…" He gestured to the forest around them… and the group immediately noticed all of the small fires that had resulted from the attack. "Because remember; only WE can prevent wild fires! AHAHAHA!"

…..

A/N: Haha! Ah, All Might, always able to lighten the mood when it's needed. But yeah, quite the battle to kick off the Autobot/Decepticon conflict on Earth, huh? We had unexpected arrivals, intense fights with grudges coming to light, and even the humans getting in on the action a little bit! …Maybe a bit TOO much in Mina's case. If you couldn't tell already, yes, her relationship with Bulkhead IS mirroring the one that Miko Nakadai had with him in Transformers Prime, though I will admit, some things will probably divert a bit more as Mina becomes more experienced in being a hero. After all, while it is Bulkhead's job to protect her, she will probably have to get more involved in a battle at some point later down the line.

But, on the topic of unexpected arrivals, FRENZY! Indeed, the crazy little Mini-Con minion has arrived on the scene, and here, you can probably garner that he's a hybridization of his more famous incarnations. He has the overall appearance of G1, but he has the alt mode of a buzzsaw weapon in reference to his Timelines Arms Micron toy that came WITH Barricade, which in and of itself was a reference to 2007 Movie Frenzy. And to cap it all off, I gave him the shock prod of his Aligned Continuity incarnation. If I had to give him a voice… it'd probably have to be Josh Grelle, a.k.a. the voice of the insane maniac, Tyrian Callows from RWBY… as well as Class 1-A's very own Fumikage Tokoyami. …Guess who didn't know that until he looked up Josh Grelle on Wikipedia. Yeah, this guy. Crazy, I know.

In any case, yeah, we had a lot go down in this chapter. Starscream made his mission statement known (along with, of course, his burning ambition to betray Megatron at the drop of a hat), Swift got her vehicle mode, we got to know a little bit of Strongarm's past with Barricade (believe me, THAT will be explored a lot more down the line), and All Might came in to save the day like the hero he is! Plus, the Decepticons didn't even find out about the energon, so huzzah! But, with all that said…

And now, The Preview! With the Decepticons beating a hasty retreat, Optimus, Bumblebee and a few others return to the base with the humans to treat their wounds while some other Autobots stay behind to mine energon. Once there, they discuss what happened and what could come about with the Decepticons being on Earth… before Optimus takes All Might and Izuku off to the side to speak about One for All. How will the Symbol of Peace take it? What exactly does Optimus have in mind for Izuku's training? And what do the Decepticons think of this first loss? Find out next time in; After the Battle. Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you next time! Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!