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: Same as last time so… new chapter, continuing off and the poll results are the same. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!
Prowl: 21
Starscream: 23
Optimus Prime: 5
Other: 5 (Bulkhead: 1; Skywarp: 1; Sentinel: 2)
Rankings are more or less the same, but I'll post the results next update. Enjoy!
"Nightmare"
Written by: Beloved Shadow
Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger
The portal glowed with an eerie light, a kind that even those not familiar with Space Bridge technology were wary of and began backing away slowly. All, save for Megatron who was gloating over the fact that he was certain that he had finally won. The Autobots, though badly damaged, were worried but not for the reasons one would think.
Bumblebee tried to speak but winced when his vocalizer gave a sharp burst of static, unable to form words he instead switched to a private comm link they all had. ~Bulkhead… why, is it so strong?~ he asked.
~It's too much power,~ he answered back even as he struggled to sit up. ~It doesn't have any set coordinates, so whatever goes through there's no way we can bring it back. But it was never suppose to be powered by the AllSpark.~
~But why?~
~Look around you,~ Prowl spoke up, watching as more rocks was being sucked into the portal, little things that was easily unnoticed except for those that were watching. ~The Space Bridge is trying to draw everything in.~
~That's not the worse part. Look.~ Optics turned to the portal and they watched as it actually swelled in size, growing larger and soon more was being pulled towards it. ~If that continues, it's not gonna stop until it takes in everything.~
~You mean… all of us?~
~More like the entire area, like New Detroit.~
The Autobots tried not to panic but they were badly damaged, most of them still wearing stasis cuffs, and not only were they overpowered and outnumbered, they were all in danger of being thrown into the growing Space Bridge and being scattered across all parts of the galaxy. They had lost.
Prowl once more tried to concentrate, to try and see if he could use the processor-over-matter technique once more but the ped holding his head down would increase just enough for his pain sensors to activate and ruin his concentration. Part of him wondered if the Decepticon ever studied Circuit-Su training to be preventing him from escaping once more but if he kept this up he was going to crush his helm into the ground and there would be no way to stop them or save Bumblebee.
No. No, as much as he did not want to admit it, there were several bots who would lay down their sparks for his safety and have proven it several times before. His optics darted behind his visor he looked over at the yellow seeker called Sunstorm who had not bothered to tend to his damaged servos after his brief battle with Cyclonus. He remembered being told he had an unusual ability to absorb the energy of his opponents and direct it back out in a bright burst of light. A handy ability indeed but even so they were badly damaged, both Primes were offlined and Skyfire was in emergency stasis. And with Bumblebee carrying and unable to transform, that was one chance he did not want to risk for anything. They needed a miracle.
Primus must have been listening as multiple explosions hit the outside of the mines, shaking the walls and causing some rocks to come tumbling down. Everyone was taken by surprise, some of them ducking for cover (i.e. Mindwipe) but the others watched as the ceiling was blown apart and they saw a massive ship hovering in the air.
"Who dares to open fire on us?!" Lugnut demanded angrily.
"H-Hey… isn't that, our ship?" Bulkhead whispered but he couldn't be certain.
On the bridge of the Autobot vessel Teletran-1, Ratchet focused the screen down below and he felt his optics widen. "They got a working Space Bridge… and it looks like it's growing outta control!"
"Ratchet, we got bad news and worse news. Bad news, we have several casualties down there and Bumblebee is among them," Psyche quickly pointed out as she zoomed in to where their teammates and allies were at, looking worse for wear.
"Slag it! What's worse than that?" To answer his question the ship gave a violent lurch, nearly knocking everyone off their peds or outta their seats.
"The Decepticons are trying to knock us out of the sky," the femme said and tried very hard not to think about her tanks rolling.
The warlord was growing increasingly more and more upset, that no matter how far he had succeeded those infernal Autobots were there thwarting his plans and making his own army looks like those pathetic fleshy organics. Well, some more so than others. Turning to the mechs he snarled angrily at them. "What are you fools waiting for?! Destroy that ship and those on board!" he roared at them.
"At once, oh mighty Megatron!" Lugnut said as he immediately transformed and took to the skies, soon followed by Blitzwing and Cyclonus. Mindwipe, staying true to his own self-preservation, chose not to join his comrades in the sky but he also knew if he tried to abandon them, their leader would not hesitate to turn him into a pile of scrap. So he hid instead, waiting for the perfect moment to flee.
Up in the air Omega was trying to stay elevated but it was becoming increasingly difficult as the constant bombardment of missiles, bombs, and laser fire damaging his outer plating. Before he or his passengers knew it, one of his engines was hit hard that it exploded and he was starting to go down. "There's too many of them! I-I'm not ready!" he said with obvious fear in his vocalizer.
"You can do this, old friend! We believe in you!" Ratchet told him but it seemed as though his words weren't having the same effect as they did earlier, everyone watching as the ship continued the rapid descent towards the caves.
"That makes one of us!" Sari shouted worriedly, eyes widening even as she clung to the medic's shoulder plating as tightly as she could.
"If we don't do something, none of us will survive the crash or the impact!" Psyche shouted back even as she struggled with the controls, trying to divert power to the remaining engine.
"Deploy your emergency defense mode. Codename: Omega," the medic quickly ordered.
"I-can't!"
"Don't you give up on me, soldier!" A white fist slammed down on the console and it seemed to do the trick as he and the others were taken below deck. Psyche barely had any warning as her seat disappeared from under her and she fell a short distance before landing on somebot who grunted at the sudden weight.
"Hey! Watch the servos!"
"Then get off my lap!" Ratchet snapped. The lights came on and both bots blinked as they looked at each other then at the small techno-organic who thought it was the perfect moment to take a picture of the two.
"Kodak moment?" she offered weakly.
"If we survive this, remind me to get you later for that," the femme mumbled lowly as she got up from the veteran's lap. "And ask what in the Pitt is a Kodak."
"Sari, Psyche, see if you can divert some of the power from the fragments to power him up while I try and loosen up some of his joints," the medic said even as he reached out for the controls before him.
"Joints? This ship has joints?"
"Wait and see, kiddo." The two females did what they were told and in the chamber the fragments began to glow even brighter. Outside the ship seemed unable to slow down but the tale tell sound of transformation was heard and before everyone's optics the ship's bulky parts began shifting and turning. Soon in a matter of mere astroseconds, hovering in the air before the stunned Decepticons was a massive Autobot with the same color scheme of the ship they thought was on the verge of crashing. Instead they watched as it landed, faceplates visible on a red-tinted screen.
"I am, Omega Supreme!"
Down below even Megatron was stunned to see the massive newcomer, and his small army was now wondering if they had enough firepower to take something that big down. "Easier said than done," Oil Slick muttered to himself under his vents. He didn't know how they were going to take that bot down, it could easier step on them if it wanted and they didn't have nearly enough Decepticons to even think of taking it down together—or did they? Smirking he turned to face the prisoners, lifting his arm up he felt the twin canisters begin to fill up. "Time to even the odds in our favor," he smirked as he pointed at the two Autobot seekers.
Sunstorm didn't know what the strange fluids were going to do but he was not going to give the motorcycle a chance to find out. The stasis cuffs made it nearly impossible to move, though it did nothing to damper his unique ability. But he needed to get his attention first. "Is that a new type of energon? How kind of you to share it with your always grateful prisoners," he smirked.
"Not quite, but I do wonder, if you clones are the byproduct of cloning of Decepticon CNA, how would my Reverse Evolution virus work on somebot who already claims to be one of us?"
"I'm simply astonied by your brilliance!" The yellow-schemed seeker waited, watching intently, feeling every circuit in his system sparking in anticipation as soon as he saw the cables in the arm tense he knew he only had a fraction of an astrosecond to react. :Cover your optics now!: he ordered. His brothers and sister immediately offlined their own and Skywarp quickly covered Bumblebee's optics with his servo. The others, wondering what was happening, were quick to follow their example and just in time as a brilliant flash of light filled the area so much, even those not looking in their direction were momentarily blinded but the prisoners could still see.
"What the slag?!" the chemist cursed as he stumbled back, resetting his optics but it was no use. The fortunate thing was that the glare had been slightly decreased by the transparent material covering his helm but not enough that he didn't see the attack coming until he felt something sweep his peds out from under him and the brief klik he was airborne, another strike to his chassis had him flying through the air where he went through a stalagmite, cracking not only the dome over his helm but the impact badly cracked the canisters on his arm hard enough for the virus to begin leaking. "S-Slag it!"
Psyche didn't like the condition that Skyfire was in and she knew she had to go in and do some immediate repairs if he was going to see the next solar cycle. "I'm going down to assist the injured," she said, her processor made up. "Omega, I need to get out!"
"Affirmative."
"Are you insane? We're in the middle of a battle!" Ratchet snapped.
"Hasn't stopped either of us before." The floor opened up beneath her peds and soon she was gone, sliding down a darken tunnel and before she knew it she was outside. The CMO hadn't been kidding when he said they were in the middle of a battle right now but the longer she waited the less time Skyfire had at a chance for survival. Luckily, she wasn't too far off the ground that she didn't fear turning into a pile of busted scrap, but it didn't stop her from transforming and gunning her engine as hard as she could. Her tires spun rapidly and she skidded a bit once she touched the soft terrain but once she was able to gain control she was off, shifting gears along the way. Maybe she should have picked an alt-mode that was built for all terrains but she could worry about it later as she raced for the entrance. Naturally the mine's mineral deposits kept her from comming anybot or accessing her GPS, but she could focus her audio receivers and follow the sounds of fighting. Before she knew it she found herself in the main chamber of the mines where a functioning but highly unstable Space Bridge looked over everybot in the area. Transforming she found herself trying to fight the effects of being drawn towards it. "Last I check, those weren't supposed to do that."
Prowl, who had managed to slip out of his cuffs, was having difficulty dealing with so many Decepticons at once, even if the Constructicons were far clumsier than teaching Bulkhead to move like a Cyber ninja, but he looked up to see that the femme was here. "Psyche! Get out of here!"
Reaching into her subspace the femme withdrew her hammers, bringing them together they began to transformed into a familiar hammer that looked like a smaller version of the Magnus Hammer, it even gave off a similar electrical charge but that didn't stop her from charging into the fray. She didn't bother to slow down as she swung her hammer, catching an unknown Mixmaster in the side and sending him flying, the electrical charge shorting out his motion relays. Jumping up she brought her weapon over her helm then down, nearly flattening Scrapper's helm like a weak aluminum can. Lifting her hammer she gave the shocked ninja a small smirk. "I think I can take care of myself. I can polish my plating, too."
"I never said you couldn't—get down!" He ordered, leaping over her while throwing out his shurikens, causing Oil Slick to miss with a curse before engaging him full on. The femme blinked and would have continued to help her friend when she skidded to a halt, nearly running into a gray frame that was as big as her sire but he had burning red optics instead of blue.
"You know… you look completely different from the data reports," she said even as she held her hammer before her. "Got some frame work done?"
"Your hammer… where did you get it?" Megatron demanded with narrowed optics.
"It was a creation gift. But you strike me more as a fusion cannon type of mech," she said. She knew there was no way she could fight him one-on-one but seeing him lift his cannon she reacted and swung her hammer out, badly damaging the end of it so it sparked but when she tried striking him he reached out and gripped the staff tightly. "Hey! Let go!" she shouted, refusing to let go herself.
The warlord smirked, not seeing the femme as a real threat. "Make me, Autobot."
Blue-green optics narrowed, the electrical charge was building so fast sparks were being emitted from her seams and even her optics, making them positively glow. "I. Am. Not. An AUTOBOT!" she snapped as loudly as she could and let the charge flow from her system directly into the hammer. It was like being in the heart of an electrical storm as heavy bolts of electricity flowed into the leader of the Decepticons, causing his own system to malfunction, overloading his processor and disrupting his sensors, he was thrown back where his backstrut crashed through a thick stalagmite before hitting the ground, struggling to reset his relays so he could tear the femme apart. Psyche, however, was still charged up but telling the others to hold still gave her hammer a low swing, sending out an electrical charge that made their servos tingle but the stasis cuffs let out a series of rapid beeps before clicking open, falling to the ground with circuits smoking. They were free but the femme immediately went to the fallen shuttle, attaching her hammer to her backplates she immediately began working on his repairs. She really wished Ratchet was here but she was surprised when clawed servos reached down to help her clamp off a still leaking cables. Skywarp said nothing even though his wings gave a slight tremble he continued clamping off the other cables and tubes without being told.
"He wan- *bzzt* hel'," Bee forced himself to say, carefully kneeling down next to him.
"Good. But you are not fighting and I'm not hearing another word," she ordered to which the minibot slowly nodded in agreement. The other seekers though didn't hesitate to join the fray, taking to the skies they took out their aggression on the flying Decepticons but Slipstream and Thundercracker immediately opened fire on Megatron who had just gotten to his peds before he was blasted back, grunting from the impact.
Once they were free the Autobots who were able to move got up and tried to help as best they could. Jetstorm and Jetfire didn't hesitate to merge into Safeguard once they were free but they immediately went after Mindwipe who found, to his horror and dismay, could not control their processors as they were of two minds and not one. And he clearly was not prepared for battle, especially when blasts of heated air came at him, scorching his plating that it seemed to melt and expose his vulnerable protoform beneath. The Constructicons, who looked very unsteady on their peds, were of a similar mindset to save their own skidplates but not before taking as much oil they could carry. It backfired when a stray laser shot from one of the seekers hit one of the drums, causing it to explode and set off a small chain reaction.
"That's it! No body messes with my motor oil!" Mixmaster yelled angrily and he fired large globs of sticky material around anyone in his sight, regardless of their fraction. Mindwipe who was one mech who was unfortunately caught by it. Thundercracker sneered as he opened fired at the Earth-created mech and could not resist getting in his own opinion.
"Fool! A mere construction-bot is no match for my superior firepower," he taunted.
"Oh, really. Well, you know where you can stick it?" He fired another large volley and grunted in satisfaction as it struck the seeker in the wings and clogged up one of his thrusters.
"Impossible! You cannot defeat me! You are not worthy! You are inferior! And your joke stinks!"
"Ah shuddup already!" Another shot hit the seeker in the chassis, flying into the miserable mess that was Mindwipe. With two fliers struggling to regain some sort of control they failed to realize they were being sucked into the energy of the Space bridge and before anyone could say anything, they were gone.
"No! This was not how it should be!" Cyclonus snapped, lashing angrily at the Autobots he activated his thrusters and flew straight for the pitiful purple seeker who was still trying to repair the fallen shuttle. "Nothing will stop his glorious descent! All will perish before his might, none shall be spared! The Emperor of Destruction shall-"
"Enough already!" Slipstream screamed, flying towards him she flew at him, using her speed she managed to knock him off-course so he missed the small group by a thin margin but the femme also shot out his thruster and unable to control himself, he spiraled out of control and ended up flying into the unstable transwarp energy but there appeared to be a powerful explosion that caused such a powerful influx of energy it knocked everyone onto their afts, the surrounding shockwave forcing the fliers to the ground. Even Omega stumbled but he forced himself to remain standing; the force of the bridge was increasing so much nearly everything was now being drawn in, including the Cybertroniums themselves.
"T-The bridge is getting stronger!" Bulkhead pointed out, clinging to the stalactite to keep from getting sucked in. "We gotta get outta here, like now!"
"Autobots! Move out now!" Sentinel ordered, tires spinning on the ground, fighting the intense pull. Around him the Autobots were doing as ordered, gathering the downed Skyfire and Optimus to be transported. The seekers hated the fact that they were all grounded but they could not risk being sucked into the swirling energy. The ever loyal Decepticons were torn between finishing the Autobots off or saving their own plating from being sent to different parts of the universe. All save for Megatron who refused to leave with empty servos. Activating his own thrusters he flew for the one mech he knew his enemy would never fire upon. He had the satisfaction of seeing the shocked look on the carrier's faceplates as he wrapped his arm around his neck cables, holding him tightly to his chassis.
"I think not," he growled, brandishing one of his trionium swords up it was taking all that he had to fight off being sucked into the swirling vortex behind him. Part of him was disappointed that the Autobots didn't even attempt to open fire upon him but they were clearly more worried about his hostage he was currently holding. "You foolish Autobots think you have won, but I have waited vorns to take my rightful place as Cybertron's true ruler."
"Le- *bzzt* go, sla- *bzzt* -eap!" Bumblebee forced out of his damage vocalizer, struggling against the arm but froze when he felt the blade press much too close to his midsection than he would have liked. He grew tense and so did everybot else.
"What do you want, Megatron?" Prowl demanded. His holoprojector was still damaged but even so they were all having difficulty fighting off being pulled into the Space Bridge that just continued to grow.
"My mechs and I will take our leave, but the carrier comes with me," he said simply. "Don't worry, you may see him again. When you are all hailing me as your new ruler and he is carrying my sparkling."
Starscream was surprised the console hadn't been sucked into the Space Bridge but he could hear the metal groaning. But he also heard what the tyrannical warlord said and even with the AllSpark fragment (and his helm) still wedged into the machine, he refused to let him win. He was not going to let him use the minibot as he once did, and he was not going to let him deactivate his sparkling. Despite being only a helm he struggled to get free, even tried to get his helmless frame to move but it was no use.
'No! I vowed—I would protect them! Both of them!' There was another painful groan from the console, there was not a great deal of time before he ended up being pulled into the vortex but he could not let that insane warlord get away with this. The fragment embedded deep in his forehelm glowed.
"MEGATRON!" he screamed a lot, the lower half of his faceplates transforming as his mouth plates converted into a sonic blaster. The powerful blast cut through the air and struck the leader of the Decepticon in the backplates with enough power to actually harm him, breaking through the thick plating and damaging sensitive wires and part of his protoform. It was the last thing he saw as the console was ripped free from the ground and he was transported far far far from the blue and green organic planet.
The Autobots were stunned at what they had just seen, but they were quick to move as the war mongrel released their friend but not before he turned and quickly snapped a pair of stasis cuffs on him. They watched as their greatest foe was sucked into the portal and disappeared from all scans but if they didn't hurry, Bumblebee would suffer a similar fate. He was clinging to Megatron's sword that he had managed to bury into the ground as deeply as he could but even that was beginning to come loose. If they didn't try and stop that Space Bridge, the entire state of Michigan was going to transwarped into another galaxy. But just as all hope was lost, help came in the very unexpected form of Omega Supreme as he purposely placed himself in front of the portal, vainly trying to keep his friends from being dragged into it.
"Save yourselves, Autobots. I will absorb the transwarp energy," the titan remarked even though he struggled with it.
Ratchet's optics widen when he realized what his friend was trying to do and he did not want it to happen again. "No! I didn't bring you back to life just to watch you self-destruct!" he yelled out, anger and fear in his vocalizer.
"I'm sorry, Ratchet." Similar with Psyche, a trapdoor opened between the CMO nd the techno-organic, ejecting them from the lower half of his stabilizer. The medic shouted for him even as he fell but his servos instinctively curled round Sari, protecting her even as he hit the ground and tumbled a bit. Dented, but otherwise the two were fine.
"I am programmed to protect… and sacrifice as necessary." To the Autobots' horror, they watched as the massive mech stepped back directly into the Space Bridge itself, his power cells rapidly absorbing as much energy as they could, making it shrink down but in the process Omega was being drawn in. He was clearly trying to fight it, grabbing at the supports but it was futile as he was sucked in. the portal shrank down so it no longer possessed any kind of threat, but the result left behind resulted in a powerful explosion that echoed loudly around the caves, setting off a chain reaction that threaten to bring the entire mining system down on their helms.
Ratchet was frozen where he had landed, still staring at the spot where his friend had sacrificed his own spark for their safety. He wasn't aware of Sari calling out his name nor of Safeguard getting him to his peds. During the confusion the Decepticons had taken off but the Autobots didn't have time to go chasing after them and neither did the seekers. Instead those that could transformed and took off as fast as their engines could go, the seekers helping carry the injuries out as well as Bumblebee. They made it out in time for the caves to collapse behind them. Anything the Decepticons had of value inside was gone and with Megatron somewhere lost in space, they were not considered a threat. Once they deemed to be a safe enough distance away the mechs transformed and once more Psyche made sure Skyfire was stabilized before turned to the old medic. Walking over to him she could see he was in deep turmoil. She wasn't sure what to say but she slowly reached out and slipped her servo into his. He said nothing but his digits curled around hers tightly, taking the comfort he so desperately needed right now.
Bumblebee looked at the remains of the mines, still remembering what Starscream had said, what he ahd shown him, and even how even when he was just a helm had tried to protect him. And now… now he was gone, and his sparkling would never know her creator. He jumped when he felt a servo gently brush over his shoulder guard and rubbed at his optics.
"I-I'm f-fine *bzzt*, re-really-y-y" he said quietly, his self-repair trying to repair as much damage as it could. He was not going to break down in front of the mech but he didn't fight it when he was pulled into an all-too familiar embrace. It wasn't the same, but Bumblebee just clung to the ninja as tightly as he could, letting his optics offline, hiding his faceplates into the black and gold chassis.
Prowl said nothing but continued to hold the minibot close. He wasn't sure if anything he could say would be anything the minibot carrier wasn't to hear, and he had seen the earthlings comfort one another in a similar fashion. His own emotions were twisted up inside but now was not the time to act on any of them. 'I will do whatever I can to help you both. I swear this,' the ninja vowed, his servo gently stroking the back of Bee's yellow helm.
Megatron silently vowed to get back at all of those that had wronged him, starting first most with the Autobots and ending firmly with Cybertron. But first that would require him to remove these infernal stasis cuffs that annoying minibot placed on him. "the next time I see him I will use these same cuffs on him and see how he enjoys them," he growled to himself as he floated aimlessly with no set direction and no access to his thrusters or his fusion cannon (were it not still broken).
"Over my sparkless frame!" came a somewhat high-pitched and very annoyed declaration.
The warlord growled and looked at the floating helm just across from him, their scowls mirroring one another. "I thought I had achieved that repeatedly."
"And yet I'm still here. Any other mech woulda made sure I stayed offlined!"
"Something I assure you will not happen again." Silence for a few blessed kliks and then- "And stop staring at me."
"No. You stop staring at me!"
"Do you think I actually want to spend the rest of eternity gazing at your unsightly visage?" the larger mech growled.
"Trust me: your visage is no picnic either. And your face is ugly too!" the frameless seeker replied snrkingly.
"Oh, someone just take me offline now..." Megatron groaned, offlining his optics. Surely Primus was punishing him for his past actions.
"What do you think I've been trying to do for the last four million stellar cycles?! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It's funny, really, when you think about it. Tragic, but funny! AHAHAHAHAHA!" It was official, the seeker had finally lost it as his cackled seemed to echo all around them as they continued to float aimlessly in space.
"Oh, shut up." Oh yes, he was certain Primus was out there, laughing his aft off as his predicament.
Author's Notes: Hmmmmm (thinking hard) … this, has to be the shortest chapter I've ever typed up. Now I'm starting to wonder if maybe I shoulda just kept the other chapter to myself and kept typing until I was done. Oh well (shrugs)
I thought it was gonna be more, but rereading the fight scene from the previous chapter and this one, I realize I had way too many characters in it and that in turn affected my writing. Yes I've been following the episodes and using a lot of lines from it into my story, but having so many characters made the fight scene one giant mess that just gave me a headache for the longest time and I think I've been sitting on this for too long. So, here it is my fellow readers. The next chapters will gloss over what happens to Team Prime such as Masterson trying to get revenge on the Autobots, a new Constructicon by the name of Dirt Boss, and of course bee's due date is getting nearer and also, what lead to Shcokwave's disguise being compromised on Cybertron. So hopefully everyone is still reading and still enjoying. Bye for now! (waves)