Nightmare

by Beloved Shadow of Light

Bumblebee didn't think his teammates hated him so much, but was Starscream right? Was he really a worthless glitch not worth anybot's time? All he ever wanted was to prove himself and show them all. Why was a Decepticon the only one willing to tell him the truth? What was this strange sensation in his spark?

16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Transformers: Animated and everything related belongs to the rightful company Hasbro. I am in no way shape or form making money off this.

Author's Note: Are you ready for another chapter? Yes? No? Maybe so? Well, here it is anyway! So glad everyone is still enjoying this as am I, 'cuz now we're getting to the plot! I really deviated from the series big time without realizing it but hey, my story, my rules. The poll results haven't changed much but here are the rankings so far:

Prowl: 20

Starscream: 16

Optimus Prime: 5

Other: 5 (Bulkhead: 1; Skywarp: 1; Sentinel: 2)

You know, with Ninja in the lead I should write some more interaction between him and Bee… (thinks about it) Enjoy the chapter!

"Nightmare"

Written by: Beloved Shadow

Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger

Cyclonus said nothing as he flicked his blades free of the fluids, looking at the yellow scout calmly. "Lord Megatron has requested your presence, carrier. It would not be wise to keep him waiting."

The Autobot was shaking and he could feel his system glitching, trying to make sense of what was happening but he was dimly aware that he was struggling to get free from Skywarp's grip, reaching out for the fallen mech groaning on the ground, screaming over his comm link for help to anyone who could hear him. His nightmare, was slowly becoming a spark-breaking reality.

No. No no no no a million times no! This was not happening! He was suppose to be safe here; nothing bad was suppose to happen! But still Bumblebee struggled against the seeker, ignoring his attempts to calm him down. "Sk-Skyfire! Get up, please!" he shouted at the larger mech.

The shuttle groaned, fighting back his processor's demands for an emergency shut down. His stabilizers twitched, failing to respond to his internal commands. System errors and warnings filled his HUD, but still he forced his helm up and looking at the much smaller mech before him. He was in danger, he needed to protect him and his sparkling. He could feel his servos slowly moving and managed to get them under his frame, pushing himself up, more than prepared to crawl to the yellow mech but he cried out in pain as a ped kicked him with enough forced to badly dent the plating along his side, causing him to fall back onto his backstrut, gasping wetly in pain. More warning filled his display, this time indicating a cracked fuel pump that was leaking internally. But he refused to give up as he tried to sit up, growling lowly in his chassis.

"You will not-" he began to growl but it ended with a sharp cry pf pain as the mech who attacked him lunged forward and pinned his wings to the ground, the sharp blades having pierced the armor plating, slicing through wires and disabling his flight capabilities. The pain increased a hundred times more and this time he could feel his systems shutting down in an effort to preserve his lifecycle but he forced the words past his derma plating. "Y-You will, n-n-not… su-suceed-d-d-d…"

"You are wrong, shuttle," Cyclonus said coolly even as he stood over him, pulling his swords free, watching as the light from the optics dimmed. "I will see his glorious descent. You will not." He raised his sword, prepared to pierce the spark chamber but a blast of electricity hit him unexpectantly, nearly causing him to fall over his own peds. Hissing angrily, he turned to his attacker. "Insolent bot!"

"Frag you!" Bumblebee shouted at him, glaring at him with so much hate but it didn't stop him from standing between the Decepticon and the shuttle, stingers still sparking. He was surprised he was able to injure the powerful seeker but he was not going to let him offline his friend! He ignored the worried call from Skywarp as the grayish mech approached him but Bee immediately knelt down and clung to the shuttle, purposely digging his digits into the gaps of his plating. He didn't know if he could save him, but he wasn't going to leave him here to leak to death!

"Let him go, carrier."

"No!"

"B-Bumblebee, please listen," the violet seeker whispered, wings hitching.

"Shut up! I'm not leaving him!" he said stubbornly even as he clung to the shuttle as tightly as he could. He could faintly hear Skyfire's spark in his chassis so there was a still a chance that he would survive this! He felt servos on him, trying to pull him away but he growled lowly himself, clinging to the larger mech like a starving scraplet. He couldn't help but flinch when he heard a threatening growl above him, wincing as sharp digits scratched at his plating but he refused to let go. There was no guarantee that the grayish seeker wouldn't harm him and claim it was necessary but he could hear yelling and jumped when he felt somewhat familiar and gentle servos on his backplates.

"I'm sorry," Skywarp whispered and in a ripple of air, the four mechs were gone.

---

Nothing was making sense, and with the added disappearance of now both Slipstream and Ramjet, it was taking everything the Autobots had not to panic. Even Sari was trying to stay calm but everyone was worried and confused. How on Earth could several building tall robots just suddenly go missing into thin air?

"Haven't you found anything yet?" the techno-organic asked once more, looking at the screen in the communication center.

"For the last time, no I haven't found anything so quit asking!" Ratchet snapped, trying very hard not to turn around and hit the organic. No, that only worked on other bots and with the way his oil pressure was rising he knew he could end up hurting her badly.

"What are you doing, playing video games? We gotta find Bulkhead, right now!"

"Listen you, I'm doing the best I can and hearing you stating the obvious is not helping!"

"Then look harder!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Psyche nearly bellowed, going so bold as to grab the human girl into her servo and shoving the medic back, putting herself between them. "Prowl! Get in here!" she yelled before pointing to the communication screen once more. "Ratchet, keep looking."

"That's what I've been doing for the past mega-cycle," he growled but turned his attention to the screens. The cyber ninja entered the main area and before he could ask what was wrong he was handed the still yelling organic.

"Take her and calm her down," Psyche ordered. He looked confused and Sari was still yelling up a storm but seeing the stress in both the femme and the CMO he wordlessly nodded and headed for his room to try and calm his organic friend down. Finally, the factory was quiet as the neutral returned back to the terminal. "Never saw you lose your cool that bad before."

"I'm doing the best I can. And her asking the same questions was getting on my last circuit," he grumbled.

"I'm worried about him, about everyone, but we can't lose focus on what's important." Psyche didn't want to add she hadn't heard anything from Skyfire in a while but tried not to let her own worries override her own logic. "Okay look, so far we've seen the Constructicons in these areas," she pointed out as she brought up a map of the city.

"Yeah. And this is where we've been running into those Decepticons as well," the medbot pointed out as he highlighted more areas. "And this is where Bulkhead had his signal last."

"So, what are we missing?" The femme stepped back, looking at the screen. There was something missing, but what she couldn't be certain. "Okay, run by me what they stole again?"

"A bunch of raw materials the organics use in their buildings. But I don't think Megatron is interested in building them a tower." He had been puzzled by that but still he brought up a list and items that had been taken, going over the list once more. "And even if they were building something, where could they be hiding it? And why even build it for that matter."

"Away from the inhabitants, for one thing," Psyche murmured, tapping a few buttons on the console she began zooming in on the areas they had highlighted. It appeared when the Autobots chased the Decepticons closer to the outskirts of the city, reinforcements arrived to provide a long enough distraction for them to escape. "What's on the outside of this cityscape, anyway?"

"Beats me. Best bot to ask would be Prowl." The medic clearly didn't care about that but as he went over the items they were stolen he was trying to figure out why everything seemed so familiar. He vaguely waved his servo in the femme's direction when she said something, too focused on the task at hand.

Psyche made her way to the rooms, pausing when she passed Bumblebee's room and wondered how he was doing. 'I'll send a comm to them later,' she thought and knocked on the door to the ninja's room. "It's Psyche, may I come in?" she asked. She could make out talking but the door opened and she entered. She found the Cyber Ninja sitting on the floor across from Sari who was still looking upset. Moving over to them she slowly sat down. For several tense kliks no one said anything but the neutral decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry for yelling, but Ratchet and I are doing the best we can," she began slowly. "I haven't known Bulkhead very long, but I know he has a warm and soft spark under all that plating and I'm positive that the Decepticons have not harmed him."

"How can you be so sure?! You don't know them like I do!" Sari snapped angrily.

"No, I don't. But why take him away if they were going to destroy him? Why haven't any of them tried to contact us to brag that they eliminated him?" She could see the girl was ready to argue with her but nothing came out and eventually, she closed her mouth. "Sari, I chose to stay out of this war for personal reasons, but that doesn't mean I care less about anyone. Do you understand?"

"I… I think so… but, I'm just really worried about him," she admittedly quietly. She tried not to let the tears fall but it was no use as they raced down her cheeks. She was startled when she felt someone pick her up but cried into the chest plates of the femme, whispering that she was sorry for yelling earlier. Psyche cooed softly, being carefully to stroke her back with the tip of her digit she turned to the ninja.

"Prowl, I came to ask you about the outskirts of the cityscape."

"Oh? What about them?" he asked.

"Ratchet and I believe the Decepticons are building something, what we don't know but it has to be far away from the organics that no one would notice and certainly no place an Autobot would think to look."

"Hmmm, well there isn't much out there. The city is surrounded mostly by organic plant life, but I would think the Decepticons would prefer to find somewhere they can hide and stay low," he thought aloud. "I can download the maps of the surrounding areas and see if perhaps there is something they can use to hide in."

"That's the best option we have right now," Psyche said but jumped when she heard the medic shouting for her. Cradling the techno-organic to her chassis she got up, followed by Prowl, and ran into the main room to the communication center where Ratchet was staring at the screen with large optics. "What is it?" she asked.

"I know what the 'Cons are building! It almost didn't make any sense, these are materials we don't really use on Cybertron, but they found replacement components," he began in a rush. "Looking at everything they stole it makes sense—they're trying to build a space bridge!"

"What!?" Things had just got from bad to worse in a matter of kliks. Psyche didn't hesitate into moving to the console, rapidly typing in something even as the two mechs tried to understand why their enemy was trying to recreate a space bridge. Sari was confused, she remembered hearing something about it before but no one ever bothered to explain it.

"What's a space bridge?" she asked the femme who's shoulder she was now sitting on.

"Just what it means," she said shortly, pulling up the Cybertron DataNet for some research. Glancing at the child on her shoulder and seeing the confused look on her face she vented and struggled to calm down and explain it simply. "It's a way to transport forces and supplies from one planet to another by using transwarp space energy and it happens in a split astrosecond. The thing is, this technology is known only by Autobots and the Decepticons have tried to get the information for countless vorns."

"Sooo, it's like teleporting?"

"Yes. I think. But that's not all, it takes more than materials to make a space bridge, they also need a technician to help maintain the bridge or the smallest miscalculation can cause irreversible destruction to your planet, maybe even your solar system."

Sari's eyes grew wide. She didn't want to think what kind of damage could be done if the 'Cons managed to build something like that, and regardless of it working or not everyone was doomed because of it. "But where could they be building something like that? Someone's bound to notice it no matter where they're hiding!"

"Because they can hide it in the open, the last place anyone would think to look," Prowl spoke up as though realization just struck him. "New Detroit is surrounded by woods, but there are also several caves and mountains in the area that would act as the perfect camouflage."

"Hey, my dad owns a bunch of mines! He owns a lot of stuff but no one has used them in years, I bet he ever forgot he had them!" Sari was quick to point out.

"What kind of mines are we talking about?"

"I dunno, but the factory where we found Bumblebee was where everything that was mined was processed."

"Carbon deposits. That's why we can't get a fix on their signal!" Ratchet said as he slammed his fist into his servo. "The carbon dust from the coal cloaks their signal and makes them invisible under our own radar! The more dust there is, the stronger it cloaks them." Lifting a servo to the side of his helm he immediate sent out a comm link to their team leader. "Prime! Listen up, we think we know where the Decepticons are hiding out!"

"Tell them to meet me outside the city and I'll lead them to the mines!" Prowl yelled out even as he transformed and raced out of the factory, his police siren blaring loudly.

"But, they don't have anyone who knows how to work a space bridge, so why are the 'Cons bothering with it to begin with? Don't they care that they can destroy themselves in the process?" Sari argued.

"Oh they have someone alright… someone who had no choice but to help them or face being offlined in the most painful way possible," Psyche spoke lowly. "According to this, there is to record only one bot who has a perfect score on space bridge schematics and he's currently here on Earth." Tapping a button the screen revealed the bot behind said score which filled the screen.

"Bulkhead!?"

---

"LET ME OUTTA HERE!" Bumblebee shouted as loud as he could, repeatedly striking the locked door. There was no way out despite how much he looked around, not so much as a crack he could exploit to his advantage. As soon as Skywarp had teleported them to some caves (the Decepticons' secret base) he was forced off an offlined Skyfire and "escorted" to a look with a room with a signature lock that only a code could open from either side. And he wasn't "escorted" as much as he was "dragged kicking and cursing up a storm." Before he was locked away though his stingers and his comm link were disabled but it didn't stop him from trying. When that failed he went back to beating at the thick door as hard as he could, straining the joints. Angrily he slammed both his clenched servos into the metal before slowly sliding down to his knee joints, optics shut tightly but it did nothing to stop the sobs from breaking free. When did everything go so horribly wrong? Starscream was gone, the seekers apparently joined forces with Megatron, Bulkhead was also missing, and now the Dinobots and Skyfire were all badly hurt because of him. It was enough to make him want to scream in pure frustration with no small amount of hurt. He fell into a fitful recharge against the door, praying to the ancient deity for help.

The Autobot carrier did not want to get out of his sleep mode but the indicators that he was dangerously low on fuel kept showing up which meant not only was he hungry, so was his still growing sparkling. But even so he doubted the 'Cons would be willing to give him anything unless he begged for it. Maybe. But he seriously doubted it. Still his optics opened and he blinked as he saw a cube of energon sitting in his line of sight on a small table. Concern and hesitation halted his movements for a split astrosecond before he quickly sat up and went over to it, grabbing it and began drinking. It never tasted so good and he could feel some of spilling as he tried drinking it all in a hurry but he didn't care. Too soon the cube was finished and the low fuel indicator was gone but he knew it would take more to get his levels at full capacity.

"Better?"

Bee whirled at the voice, optics widening as he stared at the seeker who was sitting on a chair just off to the side. He didn't move except to slowly sit up from where he had been sitting with his elbows on his knees, chin resting over folded digits. His wings gave the lightest of twitches but otherwise remain motionless.

"Starscream? You-You're here? I-I thought you just left, not joined Megatron of all mechs! Where's Skyfire? Is he alright? What about the others like-like Skywarp and everybot else? And where am I for that matter?" he demanded, looking around the room he realized it was very plain with no other entrance except for a door that still looked locked, a small table and a chair the seeker occupied, and a berth he was sitting on. A berth, that was most certainly not his own. "Whose berth is this?"

"This room, belongs to Megatron and it's the only one with a lock," the red-violet seeker said, optics narrowing slightly. "He ordered us not to have anything to do with you either, even deny you any fuel."

"… so, you are working for him?"

"Bumblebee-"

"Just answer my question."

"… yes-" Had he not been watching him so closely he might not have noticed the empty cube being hurled at his helm where it shattered as it hit the wall behind him. He quickly got to his peds and tried reaching out for the smaller mech but the scout was already moving off the berth, looking at him angrily. "List-"

"No! You-You sold me out. I thought-I thought you cared about me, or at least cared about the sparkling, your sparkling! I didn't have to keep her, I didn't have to trust you, I could have just never said anything and not be treated like like like some unwanted glitch! But you go and do this to me, betray me to Megatron of all bots?"

His words hurt, each accusation like a laser scalpel piercing his spark chamber, but the seeker could also feel anger starting to boil. If only he could understand he was doing this for the sparkling! For the both of them! He tried to move around the berth but the scout kept moving, refusing to stand still. "Will you-" He moved but the scout kept mirroring his own steps in a game of keep away. "-just listen-" He tried to trick him out by moving to the side then quickly back in order to catch him but he had forgotten how fast he was. "-to what I-" He quickly raced to the other side of the berth only to growl when Bee managed to climb over it to the other side. "-what I have to—stop moving!"

"Frag you, Deceptiscum!"

"That is it!" Blue optics widen as the seeker ignited his thrusters and flew at him over the berth, ready to tackle him but Bumblebee immediately threw the sheet on the berth up, causing the seeker to get tangled into it and crash into the wall in an undignified heap. Turning he ran to the door, cursing when he found it still locked but it didn't stop him from pounding on it.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" he screamed as loud as he could, even going so far as to try and pry the door open with his digits. He vaguely heard the sheet being torn to shreds, of thrusters activating until he felt servos wrap around his chassis and pulled him from the door. Bee didn't go down fighting as he clawed at the plating, even grabbing the arm mounted gun and ripping it free. There was a flurry of movement and before he could do anything he found himself flat on his backplates, one of his stabilizers trapped beneath the seeker's, and his servos pinned down at either side of his helm. While he couldn't move it didn't quell his anger as he glared up at the seeker. "I hate you. I hate you!"

"… I wish it didn't have to be this way." Using his greater mass, Starscream shifted the yellow servos up so he could hold both of them over the scout's helm with one servo and reached down, trying to locate the latches to his chassis. He growled when Bumblebee began to struggle more, but this time in an effort to get away instead of fighting him.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Oh Primus, he was going to kill him, he was going to crush his spark! "Please, don't do this!"

"Be quiet," he growled and heard the all too familiar sounds of transformation and watched as the plating folded back until he could see the frantically pulsing spark pulsing just below him. It was still as lovely as he last saw it, but he forced the plates to stay open as he gave the internal command to open his own. With no warning, he leaned down and felt the energies of their sparks merge.

Both were bombarded with memories and most importantly emotions they had been experiencing since their last merge. Most of it was pleasant, thinking about the future with their sparkling, deciding on designations and wondering who she would look like more, what personality she would develop. But the seeker now felt the anxiety he had put the minibot in when he was gone for long periods of time only to return without saying where he had been, of him trying to ask his clones where he might have gone only for them to answer that they didn't know. Then it was followed by the intense worry when the seekers began to go missing one by one without a trace and the anxiety grew. Starscream couldn't help but feel terrible at the stress he was causing him and wanted to explain everything but instead he decided to show him.

He showed him the first time Megatron proposition him into rejoining as his second-in-command, the threats against the two of them, even being confronted by his clones he refused to tell them where he was going but made them swear to protect them in his place. Then orders came to capture Bulkhead and bring him here; he had thought if he obeyed without question, that if he didn't fight or try to oppose Megatron that Bee and the sparkling would be safe. The seeker's last thoughts were of sneaking into the room, carrying him to the berth and watching as he recharged, of how sorry he was for hurting him and how he wished there had been another way. Slowly, he pulled back, feeling his spark doing the same, plates closing. He removed his servo and watched as the plates closed before looking at the dark silver faceplates.

"Now do you understand? Everything I have done, was to protect the both of you," Starscream spoke lowly, slowly releasing his servos but resting his own on either side of his helm, leaning over him.

"… you're a glitch," Bumblebee whispered, still upset but he had seen everything during the merge. Slowly, he drew his servos up and wrapped them around his neck cables, pulling himself up as he hugged him tightly. "I-I should be mad at you, I'm still mad at you… but, I get it, you didn't have a choice," he murmured against his audio receiver.

"Bumblebee…" Primus, Starscream knew he was going to get it later but he didn't care as he slowly sat up and wrapped his servos around him, holding him as tightly as he could. He shouldn't even be in here, that walking trash bot said Bee wouldn't be here if he obeyed each and every one of his orders and didn't try to usurp his seat as the Decepticon leader; that he would leave him alone. "I swear by the shattered remains of the AllSpark, I will get you both far from here."

---

When Optimus received the message from Ratchet about a very possible location of the Decepticons, he and Sentinel immediately sped through the streets of New Detroit as fast as they could. It was slightly hindered by the humans and their non-sentient vehicles slowing them down considerably but the rapid arrival of Prowl with his siren blaring loudly encouraged them to quickly move out of the way. Sentinel immediately called for both Jetfire and Jetstorm to fly ahead and report anything suspicion. They had responded immediately, thrusters on full power as they flew ahead.

"How much longer until we arrive, Prowl?" Optimus asked the ninja as their tires tore up the dirt road, resisting the urge to increase his speed and go around him.

"Not much further, but we need to make sure we don't let them know we're coming or they may try to stop us," he responded.

"Right."

"So what's the plan when we find their hideout? We don't exactly have any backup and even if we had a direct comm link to Cybertron it'll take them too long to send anyone to help," Sentinel brought up, for once thinking reasonably.

"Ratchet and Psyche both believe that the reason they may have captured Bulkhead is he is the only one who knows how to properly work a space bridge, and if that's true, he no doubts wants to bridge enough of his army here to conquer earth."

"But why this primitive planet? Couldn't he take it over with the glitches he has now?"

"I don't pretend to know how Megatron's processor works, and I don't want to. But regardless what his plans are we can't let it happen."

"We're approaching the mines, everyone quiet your engines!" Prowl quickly hissed as he quickly tapped on his brakes, the firetruck and snow plow following suit. With barely a hum they practically crawled followed and they could make out the opening of an old mine facing a creek. It looked innocent enough except for the numerous tracks and large prints that clearly did not belong to any human. Stopping out front they wordlessly transformed and the two Primes looked around but the Cyber Ninja knelt and studied the prints. "This is the place."

"Are you certain, Prowl?" Optimus asked even as he quietly knelt at his side, looking at the marks in the dirt.

"Affirmative. These prints are fresh, and certainly not made from any technology here on Earth," he said and looked at the inside of the cave. "There's no telling if they have any traps set up but the more time we spend out here the more danger Bulkhead is likely in." Optimus frowned but he agreed completely.

"Scrap. Jetstorm, Jetfire, report," Sentinel called over his comm but frowned when he heard static playing back. "That's an order, you two. Report." Nothing but more static even as he lowered his servo from his receiver. "The jettwins aren't answering. They may be annoying but they always respond."

"We have to assume the worse and go in," the red and blue Prime said as he slowly stood, optics narrowing. "Prepare for anything and keep communicate as need to know. We do not separate. I repeat, we do not separate." Hearing agreements he slowly walked into the cave followed by Prowl and then Sentinel.

The tunnels were large enough that they could walk straight and they could see rusty remains of rail tracks on the ground as well as broken carts, a few still standing filled with chunks of coal. The urge to turn on their headlights was strong but instead they adjusted their optics, letting them navigate better in the darkness. Soon they entered a large cavern that was massive. Looking up they could see that while it was still being mined ledges had been carved out and there were even more caves leading deeper inside. The Autobots looked around, silently wondering which one they should take when they were forced to scatter or risk getting blown up.

"Foolish Autobots! You dare to trespass what Lord Megatron has claimed?!" Lugnut bellowed angrily from above them. "I will gladly present Lord Megatron your sparkless frames!"

"Not before I get to play medic," Oil Slick smirked as he appeared from another cave, smirking down at them. "No outdated medbot, huh? Too bad, so sad. But I'll be sure to thank him for sending me more patients to experiment on."

"I think we lost the element of surprise, Optimus 'ole buddy," Sentinel said lowly but he didn't waste anytime in activating his Skyboom shield and just in time as it protected his helm from getting smashed with a sudden flail. Knocking it away he also summoned his battle lance as the toxic green and black mech jumped down to his level.

Lugnut tried to drive the other two Autobots into the ground when he landed, but all he managed was to create a small crater but it didn't stop him from charging at the other Prime, swinging his massive fist. "Glory to the Decepticons!" he shouted proudly.

Optimus was not going to underestimate the dark purple and green 'Cons, and no amount of talking was going to help, but if they kept making so much noise the others would find out and the element of surprise would be lost. He tried to get at him from behind but for such a large mech he was able to move swiftly and deterred him. Soon he and Sentinel were forced backplate to backplate, doing their best to keep from getting trashed. Looking around he was surprised and shocked to see Prowl slumped against a far wall, his chassis heavily dented. "Prowl!"

"This shall be the glorious day of triumph for Decepticons galaxies over!" the overly proud warrior shouted, ready to activate his most treasured weapon and eliminate the two Primes.

"Hurry up and do it already!" Oil Slick snapped, feeling his processor ache from all of this glitch's "overly loud praises" he failed to realize an engine was revving all around him that he looked and noticed about ten motorcycles having surrounded them. "W-What the frag?!" he shouted. The motorcycles began racing around them in a circle, kicking up large amounts of carbon dust, blinding the mechs being surrounded but the chemist failed to realize his chain had been lifted from his frame and that only one motorcycle was carrying it as he drove around them in a tighter circle.

"Prime! Fire your grappling line, now!"

"Prowl?" He couldn't see anything due to the coal dust but it didn't stop him from lifting his arm up and firing his grabbling hook out. It managed to grab one of the wooden frames at a tunnel above them he wasted no time in grabbed Sentinel's arm. "Hang on!"

"Wait what-?" Anything else was lost as he screamed (shouted, he would later argue, in surprise) as he was lifted into the air and immediately wrapped his own arms around the other mech, suddenly feeling his peds leave the solid ground to which his tanks churned at the prospect of being very high off the ground and unable to see what was going on. He grunted as he felt the rough terrain of the cave's walls scratch at his plating but he didn't dare try and rub the organic material from his optics leave he fall to what would surely be his demise. "What's going on? What's happening?" he demanded and winced as he heard the sound and felt the vibrations of a slightly muffled explosion echo through the massive cavern. "What was that?"

Prowl transformed into his root mode, looking with satisfaction as the sight of both Lugnut and Oil Slick entangled in the chemist's chain, both clearly offline due to the P.O.K.E. having been used against the both of them. It had been risky, and there was a slight dent on his chassis just below his holo-projector was situated but thankfully it was still functional. He looked up where both Prime hung from the grappling line and strongly resisted the urge not to grin at the sight of Sentinel having wrapped both arms around Optimus' waist, his stabilizers around his as though he was held over the entrance to the Pitt itself and the other mech was his saving grace.

"It's alright, the two Decepticons won't be giving us anymore trouble," he called out to them.

"Prowl? Is-Is that you?" Optimus called out, reaching up with one servo he managed to wipe away some of the dust from his optics but he could see a somewhat make out the black and gold frame. "But… I thought you had been offlined by Lugnut," he said even as he lowered the two of them down, wincing as the gears strained under their combined mass.

"He nearly did but I fooled him at the last moment with a hologram of myself to make him think that as I hid in the shadows. When I saw they had the both of you trapped I created several more to confuse them. In the ensuring confusion I took a hold of Oil Slick's chained flail and ensnared the both of them once I told you to use your grappling line."

"I see, and the explosion?"

"Lugnut failed to retreat his weapon of choice and it detonated between the two of them. There's no telling if the other Decepticons heard or if the massive cavern and multiple tunnels managed to break up the noise, but we had better hurry," he said and offered his Prime a cloth.

"Thanks. Quick thinking on using your projector, but I still wish you would tell me your plans beforehand," he said, carefully wiping the rest of the dust away from his optics. Once he could see clearly, he looked down at Sentinel who was still clinging to him like a scraplet. "… Sentinel, you can let go now."

"What?" he didn't believe him but slowly reaching out with one ped he discovered he was actually on the ground and took the offered cleaning cloth into his servo and rubbed the black dust away. Sure enough they were on the ground and he still had one servo clinging to that of the other Prime. He quickly scrambled to his peds and busied himself with cleaning the rest of the dust off his frame. He had heard what the two were talking about and seeing the defeated 'Cons he was impressed.

'I think I underestimated this team of maintenance bots,' he thought to himself. He tossed the cloth into his subspaced and followed after the two Autobots. Reaching up he tried contacting the jettwins but all he could hear was static. "I still can't reach Jetfire or Jetstorm."

"I, too, had difficulty sending either of you a private comm link even though we were all in the same cavern," the ninja quietly admitted.

"It could be due to the interference of the coal in the mine itself. Remember, we do not separate no matter what," Optimus explained. They could hear talking and motioning to be quiet they crept closer and peered around the corner. What they saw made their optics widen at the site before them.

In a massive cavern the Constructicons and their missing comrade Bulkhead were busy working on the structure of a space bridge, slightly smaller than ones the Autobots used for their own ships but it was real. Watching it all happening was Megatron himself and he looked immensely proud of himself.

"I don't believe it… the Decepticons have an actual space bridge…" Optimus vented quietly, trying not to believe it but the proof was right in front of them.

"But, it won't work! Only the best scientists know how to operate it!" Sentinel hissed at them. "It won't work!"

The captured Autobot pulled back, checking the schematics he knew by spark and vented quietly, once more offering an apology to his friends and teammates. "W-We're done with the space bridge," he said, unsure if he was doing the right thing but what other choice did he have?

"Is that so?" The tyrannical warlord looked at the massive machine, frowning slightly but turned to look at him. "What are you waiting for, Autobot?"

"Right…" Slowly the green hostage made his way over to the control and hesitantly, pushed a large button. At first nothing happened but after a few kliks the machine hummed as power was fed through the cables. Optics watched as the power was directed inside the machine, energy crackling as it began to form until there was a pulsing sphere of energy in the center, the power was enough to cause the entire cave it was house in to tremble and shake. The Decepticons had a working space bridge!

Megatron let out a deep chuckle before it escalated into a full-blown laugh that sent chills down the spinal struts of the Autobots and even his own mech. "Finally! At long last I will be able to lead my troops back to Cybertron and reclaim what is rightfully mine!" he declared, pleased that the fruition of his plans was coming together. A sudden explosion behind him caused him to turn and watched as his most hated enemy and his team raced into the cave, ready to fight.

"You're not leading anyone anywhere, Megatron!" Optimus declared, holding his axe tightly. He was taken back when the Decepticon leader smirked but realized it too late.

Mindwipe onlined his optics and let out an audio piercing shriek at the Autobots. They fumbled, clearly taken back but it was enough for Scrapper to charge at Sentinel and slam him into the wall of the cave, nearly knocking him offline. Optimus and Prowl made to help him but Mixmaster transformed his servo and sprayed them with enough quick drying cement that the two found themselves trapped, unable to move. The same was done to Sentinel as soon as Scrapper moved out of the way, trapping him as well.

"Optimus Prime. I knew you would be coming, I even made sure to have a warm reception waiting for you," the warlord smirked. "You even brought guests of your own. I am glad I had enough of my men to be prepared."

"O-Optimus!" Bulkhead made to go to his team but was halted by Scrapper and Mixmaster. "I'm sorry, they gave me no choice. It was either build them a space bridge… or, they were gonna use a Headmaster unit and use my frame to attack the city."

"It's alright, Bulkhead. We will find a way out of this situation," Prowl said calmly.

"He's right; you'll never succeed, Megatron! There are other Autobots out there and we will defeat you!"

"Is that so? Do you mean these Autobots?" There was movement in the shadows and the slightly battered and dented forms of Jetstorm and Jetfire were brought into the light by Starscream's clones, both of them sporting a pair of stasis cuffs binding their servos. Both looked surprised but also apologetic as their optics dimmed.

Sentinel groaned, optics flickering, he moving around but came online fully when he found himself pinned with the same quick drying cement as the others. "J-Jettwins-s-s…"

"S-Sentinel, s-s-sir!" Jetstorm stuttered but the cuffs were messing up his system. "We is-s sorr-r-r-ries-s…"

"We is-s-s not coming go-go-go-od…" Jetfire stuttered, trying to remain standing on his own peds.

"S-So right… least, you two are still online…"

"I see Autobots continued to care about others instead of their own sparks, but can the same be said for someone who refuses to align himself with either fraction?" Giving an unseen gesture Blitzwing and Cyclonus walked out of the shadows behind him, dragging a larger frame between them. The mechs were tense and they swore they could feel their sparks dropping into their tanks as the two 'Cons stopped just behind the warlord, their servos the only thing keeping the badly injured shuttle from hitting the ground. The mech did manage to lift his helm when he heard the worried cries from the twins, optics very dim; Skyfire didn't appear very coherent, but there was another concern on the Autobots' processor. If the large neutral and the cloned seekers were here, then who was watching over their sparked friend? Optics turned as they heard ped steps coming from another tunnel and they could feel their sparks sinking further into their tanks as Starscream wordlessly and slowly walked out of the tunnel, his servo curled around the shoulder of a bright yellow mech who held his cuffed servos over his swollen midsection protectively. Upon seeing his friends captured Bumblebee tried to go to them but was halted as servos gripped his shoulder joints firmly.

"Mechs… I…" His vocalizer failed him, briefly shutting his optics tightly he flinched and pressed himself into the seeker behind him when the warlord let out a dark chuckle. He could feel the red-violet 'Con tensing behind him even as the clawed digits curled around him in a protective manner.

"What you have failed to realize, Optimus Prime, is that you have lost," the dark gray mech proclaimed even as he stood before his activated space bridge, his enemy trapped all around him, powerless to stop him. "There is no one else to save you or stop me. No one."

---

"C'mon start up!" Ratchet growled under his vents, turning on every button he could think of but it was no use. Nothing was responding. Staring at the console he lifted his servo and slammed it down as hard as he could, cursing everything in his anger. But as quickly as it came it just as quickly left and he gently stroked the panel he had struck in rage. "I'm sorry, old friend… but we, we need your help now more than ever."

Sari looked over at the grumpy medic and once more she wondered who he was talking to. She had tried asking once but he had been so vague, and now, well she didn't have the energy to ask. As soon as Prowl had left she and the two medics had raced to the docks and "borrowing" a large barge, sailed to Dinobot Island as fast as they could. When they arrived, they saw evidence of a fight and found three badly injured Dinobots, but no sign of either Bumblebee or Skyfire. That didn't settle well for any of them but they repaired the Dinobots to the best of their ability even if they had to leave them behind with a promise of bringing their friend back. Now they were on the ship the Autobots had crashed landed in, trying to start it up with no success.

Psyche looked at the mech, worry, concern, and a sad look of understanding in her optics. She silently moved to his side and hesitated for a moment before she reached out to cover his servo. "Ratch, it's been a long time… what, what if he's no more?" she asked quietly.

"You don't know him… now like I did," he said quietly, still looking down at the console. "He's in deep stasis… perhaps, he just doesn't want to wake up…" Would it so wrong to let the titan rest like he always wanted? The smaller servo atop of his squeezed and he found himself gripping it tightly, seeking strength from it.

The techno-organic watched them and more than anything she wanted to help. There had to be something they could do. 'Think Sari, think! This is the only way to rescue Bumblebee and Skyfire but it won't start up. What can we do to start it up?' she asked herself, frowning deeply as she tried to think of something before a proverbial lightbulb went off in her mind. "What if we jump-start the ship's engines?" she offered.

Psyche looked over at the tiny femme, frowning slightly. "Jump what?"

"Jump-start. We give the engine a boost of power to get it working again. People do it all the time when their cars won't start!"

"But, we need an exceptionally large power source to even generate enough power to power the engines and last long enough to work. And being here on an island in the middle of Lake Erie doesn't give us a lot of options."

"… jump-start…" Ratchet whispered to himself, his optics slowly brightening at the thought process. "Energy source… strong enough to… to jump-start, his engines…"

"Ratchet?"

"It, just might work," he said to no one before turning to facing the confused femmes. "It really might work!"

"Okay…?"

"Ratchet, we don't have enough power to try-"

"We do. It-It may not be a lot, but…" He paused and quietly left the command room without saying a word. Both femmes looked at each other, confusion clearly etched on their faces but soon the mech returned and he was carrying a large container. He set it down and opening it revealed several glowing shards that gave an unearthly light. "It's not a lot, but if a single AllSpark fragment can give Earth-based vehicles a spark, then maybe these will be enough to re-activate a Cybertronium that already has a spark."

The shards looked almost miniscule in the medic's servo, but it was true that because of it there was the "birth" of the Constructicons, and Starscream's clones. "Win or lose, it's better than doing nothing," Psyche said with a nod. "Go and let me know when they're in the spark chamber."

"Right." Turning he quickly ran from the command room, praying to Primus for this to work, for them not to be too late. The halls seemed too long and even though his vehicle mode wasn't built for speed it didn't matter for as soon as all four wheels touched the floor he was going as fast as he could.

"Sari, I'm gonna need your help," the femme said as she began moving around the command panel, constantly on the move. The human didn't stop to ask why, zipping through the air doing what she could. Soon they could hear Ratchet's vocalizer through the comm system that he was ready. "Brace yourself," she called back as she moved to the console once more and felt her vents stall. "Please work."

"C'mon old friend, we need you more than ever," he whispered under his vents, watching as the shards began to glow softly. "I swear, once this is done I'll let you slip back into stasis if that's what you really want, but we need you for one last mission." The medic found it hard to believe in Primus having seen too much to even believe the ancient deity existed but if they ever needed a miracle as the humans would say, now was the time. His optics widen as he watched the glow increase, filling the chamber his audios picked up the sounds of engines starting up, sputtering briefly before roaring to life. He stumbled slightly when he felt the entire ship rumble slightly and found himself smiling as he heard Psyche confirm everything.

"Systems are completely online! You did it, Ratchet!"

"Not yet!" he shouted as he turned his attention back to the chamber. "C'mon buddy, I know you can do this… focus on my vocalizer," he said as gently as he could, feeling his vents stall. "Please…"

"… ra… ratchet… is, is that you…?" The voice was a deep bass and the ship rumbled with it but it brought a smile of relief to the white and red medic. There's… There's Decepticons everywhere! I don't think I'm going to make it-"

"It's alright, friend. War's over.

"It… it is? … Did we win?"

The medic let out a chuckle as he walked up to the chamber and gently rested his servo on the protective plating. "Yeah, we won. Thanks to you." Whether he realized it or not the two femmes on the bridge were listening in. Psyche was smiling softly but Sari looked just as confused as ever.

"Wait, the ship can talk? It's alive?" she asked in disbelief.

"Technically, the big mech hasn't been "alive" for over two million stellar cycles," the fembot explained as she tried pulling up vitals on the main screen. "He's the reason the Autobots won the war and ended up sacrificing his spark for it but Ratchet fought not to have him melted down in the end so he was placed in this modified stasis ever since."

"There's, so much I-I can't remember…" the deep voice said, sounding worried and concerned.

"'m afraid we're gonna have to catch up later. Right now, we need your help."

"I-I don't know if I can, Ratchet.. I…"

"Trust me you will with the help of my friends we'll have you, if you forgive the pun, ship shape in no time." Looking at the comm systems he didn't bat an optic as he knew the femmes had been listening. "Psyche, I need you to have a look at his memory core data banks and see what you can do."

"I'll be right down," she said.

"I can help! Or I can try, just tell me what to do!" Sari said before the femme could run out of the bridge.

"Even I can't deny your help," she smiled and gestured for her to follow. It didn't take them long to get down into the chamber where Ratchet was still speaking to the ship. "Hey big guy, I wish we had more time for introductions but I have to be quick. I'm Psyche, this is our techno-organic friend Sari, and we're gonna see about repairing your memory core data banks," the fembot said even as she opened a panel at the back of her panel.

"O-Okay… but, why can't I see?" he asked even as a panel on the wall opened to reveal a data cable which the femme took and plugged into her helm.

"That's because your optic sensors are still buried in rock," the mech explained as he moved around the room. The three of them were working together, reassuring the ship that he was with friends and everything was going to be alright. "How's it looking, Psyche?"

"Badly. He's got a lot of missing data that's not making sense but it could be during the last war or during stasis," she said with a frown. "But, the banks that control his functions such as flight are good to go."

"Does that mean he can still fly?" Sari asked hopefully as she finished pushing in the last data bank back into place.

"And more."

"You hear that? We've done all we can but now its up to you," Ratchet told the ship. "You have to pull yourself out from the side of the cliff!"

The ship didn't answer with words but there was another rumble that shook the entire ship. Outside the engine's thrusters were warming up even as they slowly roared to life. The ship seemed to tremble and everyone was bracing themselves. "I… don't… think… I… can…!" the deep voice grunted, struggling to free himself from his earthly prison.

"Don't worry, I'm-" he paused when he felt a slim servo grip his and looked over at the fembot as she stood next to him, looking intently at the chamber which continued to house the AllSpark fragments. "-we're right here with you," Ratchet told him as encouraging as he could.

"Give it everything you got!" Psyche encouraged as well, tightening her servo around the mech's.

"You can do it!" Sari shouted to the ship.

The engines rumbled even louder, more rock tumbling around them outside but slowly, the massive dark yellow-range ship pulled itself free and was soon flying away from the island. Inside the spark chamber the trio let out cheers of joy. They had all done it.

"E-Everyone, I'm flying!" the ship said joyfully. Free from the cliffside his sensors were completely open but he was confused at the scenery all around him. "But this doesn't look like Cybertron."

"I know, it's a long story," Ratchet sighed, feeling the femme vented softly and leaned into him, whether she realized it or not. 'I just hope we make it in time.'

---

Things were looking bleak for the Autobots and even now sitting on the floor of the massive cave, they were all bearing stasis cuffs and what was worse was Oil Slick and Lugnut had been located and released from the chemist's chain. Neither were happy being mocked for having been duped by three Autobots but the warlord threaten frame crushing damage if they did not silence their vocalizer.

"With your Elite Guards currently preoccupied with the Decepticon uprisings at the rim of the galaxy, I will use my Space Bridge to lead my Decepticons into the heart of Cybertron itself and take over," Megatron smirked as he gazed at the pulsing blue energy. "I will also be able to gain complete control over the Space Bridge Network and will then be able to transport all Decepticon anywhere I desire. And it all thanks to your expert Space Bridge technician. Your fate is sealed now, Autobots."

Bulkhead ducked his helm down, now wondering if he shouldn't have just continued to refuse to build him the slagging machine in the first place.

"Wait, Bulkhead build that?" Bumblebee asked in disbelief and turned astonied optics to his best friend. "Where on Cybertron did you learn to do that?"

"I had a lot of time to study space bridge schematics back on the energon farm. I just had a knack for 'em, I guess," he explained quietly.

"Oh, well, that's great. So the one thing you're good at is going to hand Cybertron over to the Decepticons," he snarked but instantly regretted it at he hurt look in his optics. "Sorry, Bulkie."

"You're right, but its not that easy. The Space Bridge is pretty much useless without a receiving code and you need to have somebody already on Cybertron," he said smugly. His smug grin fell when the warlord's smirk grew. 'I got a really bad feeling 'bout this.'

"Are you by chance referring to me?" The Autobots blinked and looked over at a communication screen as a slight fuzzy image appeared, the silhouette of mech they had never seen was vaguely seen before the image cleared up.

"Lo-Longarm?" Bumblebee whispered, optics widening as his spark began to race painfully in his chassis. No, no it couldn't be…

"Wh-What is the meaning of this-s?!" Sentinel demanded as he struggled to his knee joints. "Why is a Primeme communicating with Megatronn of all mechs?!"

"I never understood why the High council named you to be a Prime, everything just seems highly—illogical." The bots watched in shock as his plating began to fold back, literally transforming as his faceplates revealed a narrow helm with a single bright red optic. "However, in order to gain a position as the head of Cybertron Intelligence I had to deal with inferior glitches such as you and your "seekers"."

"Shockwave, is the Space Bridge operational on Cybertron?" Megatron demanded.

"Yes, Lord Megatron. But I am afraid my cover may have has been—compromised." There was a small window of opportunity for the plan to succeed but he was determined not to fail. "Ultra Magnus has become increasingly suspicious and it is only a matter of time-"

"Why are you telling me this? Deal with the matter quickly! And for your sake, it had better not interfere with my plans," the gray mech warned and turned to the rest of his troops as the undercover spy bowed and ended communications on his end. "Decepticons! Prepare for our conquest of Cybertron!" All around the cave the Decepticons began cheering loud, seeing victory just within their servos.

"What's a Cybertron?" Scrapper asked the other Constructicon as he scratched his helm in confusion.

"I have no idea, he lost me at "Your fate is sealed now"," Mixmaster admitted.

Bumblebee couldn't believe it, Longarm had been lying to him since he first met him, and while he wasn't his best friend he thought he could still count on him. Did Longarm ever exist? He let out a soft keen of pain as he gripped his chassis tightly, feeling his spark pulsing even more painfully. Was everything he knew, was it all a lie?

Slipstream, who was the closest to him, quickly knelt at his side, looking at him worriedly. "Bumblebee, are you alright?" she asked quietly, feeling the concern of her brothers over the bond they shared but they were afraid to move. He tried to tell her no, that he was far from okay but instead he let out another painful keen, wishing he was anywhere but here.

Megatron glanced at the minibot and sneered. "Silence that infernal whimpering, or I will," he threatened darkly.

The femme frowned and wrapped her servos around Bee, trying to get him to calm down but he couldn't stop keening, even as Skywarp came to his other side, gently rubbing his own servo down his backplates. Starscream looked at him quietly, a somewhat pensive look on his optics but he knew there would be no going back after this. But he would do so with no regrets.

"No."

That one single word silenced the entire cave, the hum of the Space Bridge's mechanics the only noise as well as the pained keens that continued to come from the carrier. Megatron froze for an astrosecond before slowly turning to face his SIC. "What did you say?"

"… I said no. You obviously can't see that he is in pain and you don't care about his well-being or that of his sparkling," the seeker coldly pointed out, wings arched high on his backplates, twitching angrily.

"He is only good for one thing, why should it matter if all that he thought he knew was a grand lie," the warlord said dismissively with a lazy wave of his servo. "The only thing he should know is how to please his new master and produce strong, worthy sparklings until his usefulness has ended."

In the past the seeker would have been in a similar thought process, that the minibot was only good for a good frag, to fulfill his dark desires; the sparkling was an accident, pure and simple, and he had been of a mind to have it terminated but it went against his programming as much as he hated to admit it. Then, he got to know the minibot, see the qualities he originally thought of as flaws were now quirks and strengths he hoped the sparkling would inherit.

A sparkling he helped create.

His sparkling.

His. Mate.

The AllSpark fragment pulsed strong, wings snapped open to their fullest, digits curled to emphasize the razor-sharp claws, and thrusters igniting even as he rushed at his commanding leader with such force and speed he slammed him into the console of the Space Bridge. Claws dug deeply into the gray and red chassis, trying to rip it open as his optics burned brightly.

"You will never harm my mate!" he shrieked, attacking the warlord with a fierce intensity it left everyone stunned even as he pulled back, aiming his arm-mounted gun at the other mech's faceplates with the full intention to attack. But Megatron was quick to get over his shock and gripped the arm tightly, forcing it up and away from him, the gunshot firing into the ceiling and blasting a rather impressive hole. Rocks rained down on them but it may as well been dust as the two continued to grabble with one another.

Megatron grunted as he managed to grab the other arm and used all his strength to keep the enraged jet from clawing his spark from his chassis. He was dimly aware that the laser fire could have blasted a hole at least the size of his own fist straight through his helm had he not forced the gun away and he never knew his traitorous SIC to be this strong; he wondered if he was being influenced by the fragment that glinted in the middle of his forehelm. Grunting he pushed at him far enough that he was able to lift a ped and kicked him off, breaking the faux glass of his cockpit. The jet went skidding back and nearly hit the opposite wall from the force had he not flared his wings and dug his servos into the ground, tearing it up; he hissed angrily as he held a servo over his damaged chassis, wings now vibrating in pure rage. Turning to his pitiful army, who continued to stand there like processor damaged glitches, the warlord roared at them angrily, "Stop him!"

Cyclonus was the first to move, unleashing his swords he ignited his own thrusters, charging at the seeker but instead he clashed with the hissing form of Sunstorm, who smirked as he boldly grabbed the blades themselves and absorbed the dark energy that he had built up. "You cannot win this war, I have seen the outcome and you are all doomed," he growled lowly.

"Is that right? Thank you for such insightful views, I'll be sure to pass it along," he grinned and tightened his grip over the blades, ignoring the sharp edges that cut deeply into his servos. He could feel the dark, foreign energies being filtered by his systems but he pushed on, refusing to let the other jet any closer.

Blitzwing managed to shake himself from his stupor and leveled his guns down, originally aiming for Starscream but as though a silent command was given the other seekers charged forward, attacking the other Decepticons with such intense fury it made Hothead seem almost tame. He tried to freeze them in place to even the odds in their favor but they moved so fast it was beginning to make him angry. His faceplates shifted and he growled as he felt his guns heat up. "Hold still so I can blast joo!"

"Aim better!" Slipstream taunted, nimbly avoiding the fiery blast.

Ramjet barrel-rolled as he dove down, opening fire on the triple-changer. His laser fire scored several hits but he winced as he tried banking up only to have a blast of fire scorch his under carriage. Forced to bank sharply he transformed as he hovered in the air, glaring at the other mech. "Nice try, but you missed me by a megamile!"

"I did not! I blasted joo outta ze air!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!" Faceplates shifted to that of Random who just could not help but get the final word in. "Times infinity!" he cackled but stopped when he realized the white jet-former smirked at him and growled angrily. With no warning he transformed into a tank and tried blasting the pathological liar into melted scrap.

Thundercrack hissed as he raked his claws over the walking glitch Lugnut's faceplates, managing to destroy two of his optics on the side of his helm but he was quickly pulled into a frame crushing embrace. "R-Release me this instant!" he commanded, struggling against the mech but sadly, he was much stronger than he. "Do you realize who I am?!"

"I will crush your spark in your frame and present your helm to our glorious leader!" Lugnut declared, tightening his arms around him. Metal was beginning to give way under the pressure but the blue-violet seeker refused to give up or shut up for that matter. Even Oil Slick and Slipstream were involved in a deadly dance that would have been memorizing and awe-inspiring had the others not been fighting. The Chemist was not above using the other 'Cons as a launching pad to hurl himself into the air, bringing him close to the violet/turquoise femme but she was quick to evade him and more than once knocked him into the ground. She smirked as she watched him crash land onto the seeker-wannabe who seemed to prefer hiding than fighting.

"Nice catch!" she taunted sarcastically, hovering in the air high above them.

"Get off!" Mindwipe complained, grimacing as the other 'Con pushed himself up and continued fighting against the femme. He looked around and saw that Megatron and his former SIC were still fighting, trying to blast one another with their weapons. The Earth-sparked Constructicons were actually running from the one he had heard be referred to as the most cowardly of the seekers except this seeker was acting like some enraged, wild beastformer, snarling at them and swiping at them with his clawed digits. Looking around he saw that the minibot had overcome his despair, his own cuffs laying on the ground and was now trying to remove the stasis cuffs from those of his teammates. 'I think not, little carrier.'

"Almost there—got it!" There was a soft click and the stasis cuffs shorted, clicking open they fell to the ground. "You okay, boss bot?"

"Y-Yeah, help me free the others." Optimus said, rubbing his servos to try and get the energon flowing again. Nodding Bee moved to Prowl, looking over occasionally to where Starscream was trying to gouge out the Decepticon leader's optics. He moved over to free Sentinel when he felt a dark presence in the back of his processor. "…!"

'I know what you truly desire… you are not as noble as you claim to be.'

"Y-You don't know me," he hissed and tried to focus.

"Optimus?"

'Oh but I do! Who knows you better, than yourself…'

Servos faltered but no matter how hard he tried they would not stop shaking. "Shu-Shut up," he growled lowly, optics flickering but the dark voice continued.

'This is your chance. Take back what was taken from you, get revenge for those that betrayed you, submit and give yourself over,' the dark voice purred, poisoning his processor. 'Give yourself over to me… you know you want to.'

Sentinel was concerned when he saw the red and blue Prime twitch, servos fumbling to deactivate the stasis cuffs but he watched as they became still before slowly pulling back. He looked up at him but his helm was lowered and his optics were very dim. "Hey, are you alright?" There was no response but the helm slowly lifted and he watched in shock and fear as bright red optics started at him hatefully. "Op… Optimus?"

"… I am Nemesis Prime." A servo shot out and delivered sharp and powerful uppercut to the underside of his oversized jaw, causing the dark blue Prime's helm to snap back. The shock and force of the impact was so intense the mech was completely offline before he hit the ground. Nemesis slowly stood and made his way to where the minibot was struggling to remove the ninja's cuffs.

"C'mon! Why aren't they coming off?" he hissed, trying very hard not to panic but he couldn't focus, not with the way Prowl was humming. "You're not helping!"

"I'm trying a processor-over-matter focusing technique to try and remove these cuffs," he said lowly, trying not to draw attention to them.

"Wow. I didn't know you could do that!" Bulkhead exclaimed in surprise.

"It's only a theory since I have yet to complete my Circuit-Su training."

"Right now I'll take all the help-" Bumblebee froze when he saw a large shadow cast over him and slowly turned, looking up at the tall, slightly broad frame of his team leader but the glow in his optics was causing his spark to pulse erratically in fear. That was the same look he had given him when he tried to kill him. His entire frame began to tremble so violently his plating was rattling.

Nemesis Prime said nothing as he looked down at the yellow bot, remembering how it felt as he took him, how he longed to do it again. He reached down and grabbed an arm, ignoring the weak cry he let out as he pulled him off his peds, how he struggled to get free but he did grunt in pain/surprise as a brightly colored ped shot up and kicked him right in his grill. His optics burned brightly as he looked at the smaller mech with a rumbling growl that was steadily growing louder.

Bee blinked at the threatening growl only to gasp as the other servo came up and painfully wrapped around his neck cables, blunt digits digging painfully into wires. All too soon the other servo joined the first and he found himself being choked once again, but this time his friends were here and were unable to help him. 'N-Not my best—idea!' he thought to himself even as he clung to the servos holding him up.

"BUMBLEBEE!"

Starscream froze when he heard the worried shout and turned only to freeze at the sight of the annoying Prime currently strangling his mate, slowly trying to kill him. He had to help him, he had to protect him! He turned and made to charge at the mech, to tear him apart circuit by circuit but in his haze of protective anger he turned his back on his opponent who didn't waste a single moment to strike.

Megatron, having lost his fusion cannon to the crazed seeker, quickly unsheathed his trionium sword and struck. The smooth blade easily cut through the frame work, severing wires, slicing through plating, watching as the helm fell to the ground, optics flickering; kliks later the helmless frame fell to the floor with a loud crash, wings flickering slightly before going still. All of the fighting suddenly stopped but the warlord said nothing even as he quietly strolled over to the fallen bot. Pausing for a klik he reached down, forcing the chassis to open and stared down at the irregularly pulsing spark that continued to pulse in the chamber.

"… so it continues to live," he muttered mostly to himself.

"Oh course I still live!" Starscream's helm shouted, trying to right himself up but the sword had severed him right in the neck cables. He heard a chocked gasp and watched with wide optics as Bee's struggles were beginning to lessen. "Let him go!"

"You seem to forget Starscream, I give the orders around here," Megatron said as he slowly stood from examining the downed frame but not before giving it a swift kick, sending it rolling off to the side. "Mindwipe!" he barked loudly, startling more than one mech but all optics turned to the bat-like former who was staring at Optimus with brightly glowing optics.

The burgundy mech flinched as his name was yelled for a second time and turned his leader. "Y-Yes, Lord Megatron?"

"I require the Autobot carrier to still be able to function."

"Yes, of course, my Lord." Looking back to Optimus his derma plating moved but no sound came out. Instead everyone watched as the Prime's servos abruptly released Bumblebee who immediately fell to the ground, gasping for air and coughing up some energon. Parts of his throat were nearly caved in and more energon ran down his chassis from broken lines but he was still alive. The seekers had abandoned their own fights and were prepared to go to the minibot's aid but like their creator, they turned their backs on their opponents and now found themselves all of them on the ground, wearing stasis cuffs stolen from the Autobots. They had failed but their basic programming was still running hard beneath the surface.

The warlord turned, ready to continue with his plans when his designation was called. "Now what?" he growled lowly. He had had enough of these interruptions.

"I understand why you require the carrier, but do you still require the other prisoners?" Seeing the warning look he was being given he quickly explained himself. "I-I mean, would it not be better if we were to eliminate the prisoners here and now instead of waiting?"

"… if they are to believe I still exist, then I will need those the council have appointed themselves." He glanced over at the still out and hypnotized frames of both Primes who have yet to move. "What better way to break the trust the mechs have in their council, then by offlining their precious Primes right before their optics."

"Yeesss… but, that would mean the others are no longer of further use, no?" Vents halted, all mechs waiting but at the slight nod sparks fell. The slender mech bowed with a flourish and once more turning to the Prime said something.

The Autobots still couldn't make out where he was saying but they could only sit there and watched as Optimus began moving, moving past Bumblebee he moved to Prowl and with no warning, struck the ninja across the faceplates with a clenched fist but it didn't stop with one. He kept at it even as plating began to slowly give way under the pressure. The mechs shouted at him to stop, asking why he was doing this but he ignored them as he moved from the knocked out ninja to the green mech, ignoring his pained cries for him to stop as his fists created sizeable dents and even tried ripping plating open. Skyfire, who was still trying to fight off emergency stasis, was the only mech not wearing stasis cuffs but the Decepticons believed him to be of no threat. But he was still a seeker and he had the same programming as the others. He couldn't move swiftly, his thrusters and wings were too badly damaged to fly, but even so he was a large mech, slightly larger than the Prime and possibly Megatron. He had to try, or more mechs would continue to suffer.

Forcing his frame up the neutral charged at the Prime, slamming into him and sending them both to the ground. "These-se are your-r fri-ends, Op-ti-mus!" he shouted, pulling his servo back he brought it down, striking his faceplates even as the battle mask slid into place but he pulled the other fist back and struck him hard in the center of his chassis, shattering the glass in his windshield. Skyfire brought both servos together and lifted them high over his helm but screamed in pain as a blue servo reached out, grabbing at sensitive wires that had been left exposed by his earlier injuries and ripped them out. Energon was running faster than before, warnings and critical errors filling his HUD but the larger white seeker still brought his fists down, warping the battle mask in the process. "Lis-ten to me-me-me-me!"

"He'll only listen to me, neutral upstart!" Mindwipe growled lowly. "Get rid of that mech, my puppet!"

Nemesis stiffened but once more his servo dug into the injury, grabbing at more wires and cables, pulling hard enough that Skyfire had no choice but to grab his servo to keep him from pulling any more out. It left him open to be struck in his abdominal plating, further aggravating his internal injuries. Having distracted him, the controlled Prime knocked the massive mech off him, sending him rolling onto his front but he didn't stop there. He stomped down on the deep slash Cyclonus delivered to him earlier, making the mech cry out in so much pain his vocalizer was beginning to break up. The dark voice was encouraging him to keep it up, to make the mech an example. Digging his ped into the nearly exposed spinal strut he reached down, grabbed at the badly damaged wings, and began pulling. Everyone, including the 'Cons themselves, all winced at the audio splitting shriek the seeker let out as wires snapped and sparked, energon running freely and coating the floor. The possessed Prime faltered for a bit, optics flickering but the dark voice ordered him to continue, to prove to everybot here he was more than worth to be called a Prime-

~Stop it!~

No. He was going to make this mech an example, he was going to rip this seeker's wings off and then he was going beat those worthless mechs into scrap.

~Optimus, please don't do this! This isn't you!~

Who was this annoying voice calling him such? He was Nemesis Prime. He was going to take what should have been his in the beginning and no one was going to stop him or get in his way.

~Please, boss bot… don't do this… we're-we're your friends! We need you!~

Of course they needed him, everybot needed him. And he had no use for friends… didn't he?

~Optimus… boss bot… p-please…~

"… … nngh…!" His processor felt like it was splitting, that a ragged spike had been driven deeply into his forehelm and was now being ruthlessly being shaken side to side. Why, why did that seem so familiar? Didn't, didn't somebot used to call him that?

"Bo- *zzrt* b-bo- *crackle* …" Bumblebee was still on his knees, keeping himself up with a servo on the floor and the other wrapped around his throat cables. His optics were very dim and kept flickering but they were pleading with him, begging him to remember.

"… B… Bu… Bum-ble… Bumble-bee…?"

The minibot wanted to cry even as he coughed wetly, ignoring the energon and oil dripping past his derma plating, but he did give him a bitter sweet smile. ~Y-Yeah… it's me, boss-s-s bot…~

"B-Bee… I—urk!" The sharp pain increased and he stumbled off Skyfire who had slipped into emergency stasis, wings barely hanging on by a few wires and cables. His servos came up, gripping his helm tightly but the pain was increasing.

"Vhat is happening?" Blitzwing asked but the other 'Cons looked just as confused.

"I think the Prime finally lost it," Oil Slick said though he noticed that Mindwipe was glitching slightly, his wings flickering and jerking.

'What are you doing!? Obey me!'

"N-No!"

~Boss?~

'Obey me!'

~Optimus, please fight him!~

The voices kept arguing and yelling, he literally felt as though he was being pulled in two separate directions. The split kept widening and growing, his optics rapidly flickering from red to blue and back, something even remaining purple. He stumbled around the cave, not able to hear the worries shouts of his teammates and friends but it was too much. There was an audible crackle followed by a sharp snap and his entire frame went tense. Everyone watched as optics dimmed completely and he fell forward with a heavy crash. His processor couldn't take the stress and suffered a massive glitch that knock him offline and into emergency stasis.

"O-Optimus!"

"No… is-is he…?"

"Is, not knowing…" All hope was looking lost. Megatron, who had been watching everything silently walked over to the fallen Prime and regarded him with a quiet intensity. Reaching down he gripped the downed mech by the back of his armor and dragged him to the still working Space Bridge.

"W-W-Wait… th-the co-ordi… nates-s, have-haven't been set…" Bulkhead moaned, one of his optics badly cracked but he could still see.

"Do you think I would send my troops through without properly testing the Space Bridge?" the warlord asked as he stopped before it. "You are sadly mistaken. My mechs still have their uses, but how I chose to use them is my decision."

"Y-You *zrrt* nee' the- *bzzt*," Bumblebee said brokenly, unable to do much and struggling not to give into his systems urge to shut down.

"I lied." He lifted Optimus up and was prepared to hurl his offlined frame into the portal but he halted when he heard a shout and turned to watch as two items zipped past him. The shurikens sliced through the power cable of the bridge and with a low groan and no power to support it, the portal died out. Megatron could feel one of his optics flickering as he sneered, angrily slamming the downed Prime into the floor even as he whirled around. "Now what?!" he demanded in a tone that would not stand for any excuse.

"Forgive me, my lord. The ninja fooled us into thinking he had fallen into stasis," the light grayish-purple jet explained where he stood over Prowl, one ped firmly keeping his battered helm to the ground and applying enough pressure to show he was not above crushing him like a piece of aluminum.

"Make certain he stays down, or it will be your helm under my ped!" he snarled angrily. With no power the Space Bridge would not work and they did not have time nor he the patience to fix the severed cables. But looking around he found he may not need it after all. "Scrapper!"

"Y-Y-Yeah?"

"Do something useful for once in your pitiful existence and plug this into the console," he snarled as he tossed him Starscream's severed helm. "Now!" The terrified Constructicon didn't waste any time as he opened the top panel and cramped the cursing helm into the wires.

"I swear Megatron, you will-" Any threats the seeker was going to screech at the warlord was lost as his AllSpark fragment lit up and an incredibly powerful surge of electricity raced through him. The pain was unbelievable but he was trapped and forced to endure every agonizing klik of it. With a new power source the entire console lit up and power was once more building but the portal was much larger than before, rumbling so much parts of the cave were starting to crumble around them, including the ceiling.

"Wa-Wa-it! You-u-u ca-can… n't do tha-a-at… t-t-too much po-po-power…" Bulkhead tried to warn them but no one seemed to be listening. He noticed that the machine was being overloaded to dangerous levels and the portal itself was becoming highly unstable. A wind was picking up and debris all around the cave was being sucked into the portal. If he didn't find a way to stop it soon, no one was going survive this.

Author's Notes: Well, I think this is the most action I've written in a while. And yes, you may remember a lot of these lines from the TFA episode "A Bridge Too Close to Home" but I needed help. Work has been kinda crazy and since I'm going in again tomorrow (I miss weekends…) I figured lemme try and finish this and post it up.

Originally this chapter was going to be longer such as the remainder of the fight but like the previous chapter I didn't want to add too much to it. At 28 pages this is a pretty long chapter.

Next chapter will be the conclusion of the whole space bridge and a rescue attempt by Ratchet, Sari, and Psyche. What else? No idea, I'm playing with this little by little. So everyone, I really hope you enjoyed this and I hope you will continue to stay with me to the end. Sorry for the long wait, but little by little I am determined to see this story to its end.

On another note, I am working on and off on several other TF fics and so far one of them has 2 chapters done but I'm wondering if I should post it or wait until I have more chapters completed. And for those of you who are still wondering, yes I am still working on "Slutty Bee". It's going slowly but I'm still working on it. G'night y'all! :D