Chapter 10 - "Monster"
by Skillet
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The sun beat down on the dusty blacktop as I drove along it, gazing out across the barren Nevada landscape. I didn't have to think about the roads to take to base anymore since I was spending so much time there. I would drive myself most days since being picked up by an Ambulance every day wasn't exactly normal but every now and then I would see Ratchet parked somewhere along the street at night.
It was nice.
Looking in my rearview, I could see green and yellow vehicles starting to gain on me and I grinned when I recognised them. Soon enough, Bulkhead was right behind me and Bee had moved into the opposite lane and was inching his way up next to me. I laughed, revved twice and then pushed it down steadily. The thrill of speeding down the road with my friends was exhilarating. I couldn't help but yell out in mock-offence as Bumblebee took over me and swerved cheekily from side to side, giving Bulkhead room to zip past me as well just as we were coming up to the massive butte that hid their headquarters.
I turned right straight after the tunnel opened up and parked behind the command centre like usual with a shake of my head. It was never boring with the Autobots around. As I came around front, I saw my guardian shrinking back from the sparking ground-bridge panel and my smile dropped.
"What just happened?"
"I'm... not sure." Confusion and worry marred his features as he tapped away at the monitor but it was quickly replaced with grim resolve. "Bulkhead! Bumblebee! Here, now!"
Their clanging footsteps trudged towards us and I could see Bulkhead's irritation before he even spoke. "You can't boss us around just because the boss is out."
"I need some heavy lifting. The ground bridge is down." Bee whirred in concern but Ratchet waved it off. "Optimus and Arcee made it through just fine. It's bringing them back that concerns me. Now, remove those panels - chop-chop."
The two bots shot each other a look and, with a grumble from Bulkhead, they bent down and started to heave the seams in the floor by Ratchet's foot open. With a grunt, they wrenched the panel up and carefully leant it against the ground-bridge terminal. Ratchet knelt down and began poking at whatever was in the hole. I walked closer and stared at the massive computer chips within.
"Woah..." I leant forward to try and get a better look at it all: some of them looked burnt - were those bite marks? - but suddenly I was being pushed backwards by a large, metal finger. I gazed up at the retreating appendage as it went back to rest on Ratchet's knee.
"Don't get too close." His optics were focused on the circuit boards but he quickly flicked them to me before going back to his task. I blinked. With a look back at where I had been standing, I realised that I had probably been leaning over the gaping hole a bit too much and smiled to myself.
Worry wart.
The lights flickered and for a split second, everything was dark. I heard Jack yelling about something and when I looked, him and Miko were heading towards us. Wait, where was Raf? Ratchet picked up one of the damaged chips and turned it about. "We most definitely have a problem. But what could have caused it?" Another flickering of the lights.
"Or that?" Bulkhead asked.
"Might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction-"
"Hey guys! Look what I found!" came Raf's cheery voice. I turned and saw him standing a few feet away with a small, round... thing in his arms.
"We're busy- Aah!"
Utter chaos broke out.
The Autobots jumped to their feet quicker than I thought possible and before I knew it there were giant blasters taking aim. Jack, Miko and I moved in front of Raf, yelling out to try and calm them down.
"Scraplet! Scraplet!"
It was terrifying to see them like this- so scared. "What's a Scraplet?" Raf asked in confused fear.
"The most dangerous vermin to ever crawl across the face of Cybertron."
"...I'm sorry, what?" was my eloquent response. Are they for real?
"This? Are you kidding me?"
"You're giant robots. Scrappy here is... teeny."
Bulkhead shook his cannon for emphasis: "You have no idea what that teeny thing can do!"
I could feel the dread creeping back over me. I put my hand out in a placating motion, "Okay, seriously guys, you've had your fun now cut it out. You're really starting to freak me out."
"Yeah, he wouldn't hurt anything."
Without warning "Scrappy" sprung to life and launched itself at Bumblebee. I could only stare in abject horror as its face opened up to reveal rotating rows of sharp teeth which began to chomp down on the poor Scout. He flung it towards us and I jumped back as it landed by my feet. I yelped and kicked it; it went skidding across the concrete and before it could get back up, it's head was being bashed in with a crowbar. Jack gently gripped Raf's arm as he went in for a final blow and took the tool away from him. The poor kid was panting and looked horrified as he ran over to his guardian. The other two humans and I all looked at each other.
"I did not see that coming."
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I gripped the worn shovel in my hands as I swept my gaze around the main area of the base. After discovering the scraplet trap and realising that thousands of them were now loose in the base and had not only caused the ground-bridge to malfunction but the comms as well, everyone was on edge. Jack and I were standing guard before Ratchet as he worked at the ground-bridge's systems, trying to get it back up and running so we could get Optimus and Arcee back from the Arctic.
"Carmen."
I turned to face my guardian, although I was kind of his guardian at the moment. "Yeah Ratchet?"
"I need you over here for a moment." I jogged over to stand in front of him and he pointed down at something in the floor. "One of the clasps on this last chip is stuck and I-... I can't get to it." Though he tried to mask it with annoyance, there was a worried tinge to his tone. "I need you to go down and unstick it."
I peered over the edge into the deep rows of computer chips. It wasn't the depth that concerned Ratchet, I knew, but the fact that even though all but one were now replaced, many of the damaged ones had been "leaking" electricity and the medic had already been zapped a few times. If that kind of voltage hit me, well.
It wouldn't be pretty.
I sucked in a big gulp of air and let it out. I met his bright optics. "Tell me what to do."
He continued to stare back at me for a few seconds, as if searching for something, before he gave a minute nod and, slowly, laid his hand down for me to climb on. I tentatively moved towards it but paused. I'd never actually been picked up by him before. I'd seen Raf and Miko on their guardians shoulders all the time and even Jack could be found leaning by Arcee sometimes but Ratchet and I still weren't that close. I could see it in his optics too that he realised the gravity of this in regards to our partnership. And he wasn't taking it back.
I took the last step and pulled myself onto his hand-...
.
.
.
-and he lowered me down into the floor.
I readjusted my grip on his thumb as he shifted his hand to get it as far into the pit as possible. He gave a not-so-gentle shake to not-so-subtly tell me to get off. With a thud, I dropped the last 2 feet down to the base of the computer chip and marveled at how big it actually was. "Alright, now. Do you see that lever on the side of the chip's base?"
I carefully stepped over a thick wire and balked at the melted, half-chewed clip. "Since when could scraplets melt things?"
"Since never. The electrical discharge caused from the damage done by those vermin melted the clasps to their release mechanisms. Normally, just lifting the chips upwards unlatches them but-"
"But they can't do that when they're all fused together. Right." I tugged at the tattered gloves, thankful that I'd put them on so as to not get splinters from the shovel. They were definitely about to come in handy. "Okay." I breathed out and positioned my shovel next to the clasp. "Let's get digging." I chipped away at the mess of melted metal, stopping occasionally whenever Ratchet's scanners detected a surge so I wouldn't get electrocuted. Seeing bolts of electricity dance across a circuit-board right in front of my face was awesome, no doubt about it, but it was also scary as hell. Strands of my hair were gently floating up due to all of the static electricity down there and I could feel it itching across my skin.
Finally, I got through the last clump connecting the chip to the release mechanism and, with a little push it broke free and was suddenly raised up out of the hole. "Woo! Go Carmen!" I heard Jack call out from somewhere up above. Metal digits wrapped around my upper half and I held on tight as I soon came face to face with my guardian. A smile was in his eyes and his mouth twitched.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
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"How's it going over there?" Jack chimed. It'd been a few minutes since we'd replaced all of the computer chips and we'd been watching our surroundings in silence since.
Ratchet let out an aggressive rush of air. "I've repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits, but the ground bridge still won't receive power!"
"Maybe it's something else then? Something-" My thoughts halted at the soft sound of metal clinking together. My eyes darted to Jack and I followed his eyeline up to the opposite wall and took a step back towards the Autobot at my back. "Ratchet..." I cautioned.
A mass of scraplets were crawling out of a vent near the ceiling, dozens upon dozens and they just kept coming.
In the blink of an eye, they were swarming in the air: teeth bared and sights set on a big, orange target.
"They can fly?! You never said they could fly!"
Sparks rent the air as my shovel made contact with the robotic devils. I cried out in a panic as they pelted themselves at Ratchet and started swinging with wild abandon.
"Quick! The fire extinguisher!"
And in no time at all, waves of cold foam blasted over me. I coughed and covered my mouth with my left arm for a moment before I continued my tirade against the scraplets. As the others came back to the main area with both Bumblebee and Bulkhead looking worse for wear, I rolled my shoulders and shifted my grip on the shovel.
Is there ever an end to these guys?!
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Safe to say, it would be entirely too soon if anyone ever saw another scraplet again. It'd taken an agonising hour of smashing scraplets before they'd managed to fix the ground-bridge and swapped the remaining hoard with Optimus and Arcee.
"Report bio-circuitry status."
"Levels are rising."
Now, in the wake of everything, the human kids were taking stock of all the bots' injuries and helping them get back up to health.
"Rafael, keep a close watch on Bumblebee's electro-pulse monitor. Miko, check Bulkhead's interface patch."
"It's steady."
"Looking good!"
Carmen stepped back from where Ratchet had instructed her to place some electrodes on his shins and gave him another once over. He had "mesh wounds" covering him like snail trails dragging over his armour. She checked the readouts on the small, digital display next to her before catching his gaze.
"We're keeping an eye on things, Ratch. You need to relax, you've been through the ringer today too."
The older mech went to protest but Optimus spoke up from his other side. "Carmen is correct. You should get some rest yourself, old friend. You saved quite a few lives today."
Ratchet stuttered out an embarrassed huff and Carmen turned away with a smile to check on the others. The medic observed her and the other three children as she joined them with a thoughtful look on his faceplates. "It wasn't all my doing. We're just fortunate that this infestation happened... on a Saturday." Optimus nodded.
"Our human friends may be small, but they are strong."
His optics flicked to his friend, his leader, before slowly finding their way back to his young charge. She was pointing at something on one of Miko's screens which earned her a cheerful slap to the back. Her laugh bounced across the metal and when she turned to face him, he noted the various scratches and marks now scattered across her skin. She threw him an awkward half-smile.
"That they are." He murmured and didn't catch the Autobot leader's soft look.
"That they are."
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Need a reminder to take a break? If you need a sign to stop before you stay up too late, this is it. I'm glad you're enjoying it though! Take care.