Knockout exited a space bridge portal he took from the newly built Universal Transport Center at Iacon Station and planted his pedes on Earth. He didn't even notice the portal closing behind him as he took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the backwater mud ball that he has actually grown quite attached to.

"Ah, good to be back on the old war grounds," Knockout said to himself, gazing at the bright blue sky and endless wilderness. "Now, to find Bee."

Being careful as to where he steps, Knockout makes his way down the hillside into the forest below. He seamlessly navigates the maze of trees and bushes, not realizing that he has no idea where he's going and instead is completely distracted by Mother Nature. So distracted that he is, Knockout didn't notice himself exiting the forest and walking out into the middle of the road.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Knockout didn't have time to react before something slammed into him and sent him crashing into a tree on the opposite side of the road. He was still conscious, but he gritted his jaw and squinted his optics in pain.

"Ow… that hurt," Knockout muttered, slowly lifting himself into a hunched, sitting position. The red mech rubbed his aching helm with one servo while the other rested in his lap. He then looked over at whoever hit him.

A little further down the road, upside down against a broken tree, was a blue/gray, jeep-like car, its frame covered in cracks and dents. Knockout didn't notice a driver, and was unsure of whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

I highly doubt there was a human, which is good, because if there was one, it would either be dead, or somehow survived and would tell others about me, which would be bad. Then there's the other option: it's someone like me. I don't have to worry about hiding, unless it's a bad guy, then that's something to be concerned about.

In both cases, it was 50/50, but no matter what way he looked at it, Knockout knew there was at least one thing he couldn't ignore.

Regardless of who or what it is, I have to help. They're damaged, and I'm a medic. No time for me to be too picky.

"Uh, hello? If you're still… conscious… answer me."

Knockout was already nervous, and the feeling only continued to grow as he waited for a response. He vented and moved closer, being careful not to injure himself further, or worse, startle the other injured party.

"Hey, are you still..?" Knockout asked, reaching his servo out to touch the damaged vehicle.

"Alive?" Someone responded, scaring Knockout and causing him to retreat to his own crash spot. The vehicle began to rumble and shift, parts moving to different places. It was in the process of transforming.

"Oh… thank Primus for that!" Knockout said, relief flooding over him as his fear of it being a human subsided.

It took longer than normal to transform, – for obvious reasons – but the robot managed to complete the process, and now Knockout could see who he was dealing with. It was a beast-like mech, resembling an Earth wolf, with yellow optics and spiky, blue/gray armor. He had long, pointed ears, as well as long, razor sharp claws, and a tail with a red stripe near the tip. He appeared to be around the same size as Knockout, if not a little bigger due to him having a somewhat bulkier build.

"Never seen you around here before," the Lupicon said.

"You wouldn't have, since I just arrived on Earth not that long ago," Knockout replied. "By the way, sorry about that. I more or less did the exact same thing the other day to a friend of mine. They told me to watch where I was going..."

"Something you clearly forgot to do."

Knockout didn't get mad at the interruption. He just laughed nervously and continued to rub his helm, embarrassed by his actions.

"Yeah. I guess I can get a little distracted by… oh, scrap! My paintjob!"

The red mech just noticed all the damage to his frame and started complaining. Not wanting to stick around, anxious that the vain bot might attract unwanted attention, the injured mech decided to leave. However, as he got to his pedes and started walking away...

Knockout stopped fussing over himself when he heard a thud and looked over to see the other mech lying on the ground.

"Scrap!" Knockout cursed. He stumbled to his pedes and rushed over to the downed mech. "Hey, are you alright?"

"Does it look like I'm alright to you?" The Lupicon snarled. "Just leave me alone."

"Sorry, sorry, but just hear me out! My name is Knockout, and I'm a medic."

The Lupicon snickered.

"Seriously? You?"

Knockout wanted to snap, but knew this was not the time to lose his temper. He vented, and calmed himself down.

"Yes, I am. I can do some minor fixes here and now, but the rest will have to be taken care of in a med bay with the proper equipment."

"Yeah? And how do you plan on doing that? Unless you have one set up here on Earth, which I highly doubt, you are not getting me back to Cybertron."

The Lupicon paused.

"You don't have access to a space bridge, do you?"

The injured mech sounded tense when he spoke, but Knockout paid it no mind.

"Unfortunately, no," Knockout answered. "However, I bet a stack of Energon cubes that my friend Bumblebee and his team have one. I mean, it'd be pretty stupid of them not to have one. All I have to do is comm. him and..."

"NO!"

With a sudden burst of strength, the Lupicon shot forward and tackled Knockout. The medic was startled by the outburst and had no time to defend himself. He was forced back and pinned to the ground, his servos being held in a vice-like grip.

"What is wrong with you? I'm trying to help!" Knockout snapped, struggling to get free.

"I have no qualms about you treating me, doctor, but for the love of Cybertron, I am not going to sit and heal in the Lieutenants base!" The Lupicon snapped back.

Wait, he knows Bumblebee? Knockout thought, ceasing his evidently useless escape attempt. He was just about to ask the injured mech how he knew Bumblebee...

"STEELJAW! LET KNOCKOUT GO!"

Knockout and Steeljaw - as he now knew the name of - looked over and saw Bumblebee and his team surrounding them, weapons out.

"Back away from the captive, 'Con!" Strongarm demanded, pointing her Decepticon hunter at Steeljaw.

Knockout could feel how tense Steeljaw was right now. He was injured and trapped. A very dangerous combination. He scanned his surroundings, taking in his situation, trying to figure out a way to escape.

Suddenly, he collapsed on top of Knockout.

"Woah!" The medic exclaimed as he felt the added weight press against his smaller frame. He looked over at Bumblebee's team, at least the ones he could see from his current position. "Hey, are you going to just stand there or are you going to come over here and help me?"

Bumblebee and his team stifled their laughter and walked over to where Knockout and Steeljaw were. Grimlock transformed from dinosaur mode to bot mode and grabbed Steeljaw, swinging his unconscious, battered body over his shoulder.

"Hey, careful, he's hurt!" Knockout snapped, much to everyone's surprise.

"But, he just attacked you!" Sideswipe stated.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure I struck a nerve when I told him that I was going to call Bumblebee and ask if I could use his med bay in order to properly fix him. Based on his reaction, not to mention your own, I can only assume that you all have a bad history with each other."

"Bad doesn't come close to describing it," Drift said.

Knockout vented.

"Listen, I don't care what your feelings are regarding Steeljaw. He is injured, and I am a medic. He wouldn't even be in his current condition if it wasn't for me. As both a medic and an instigator, I am responsible for his well-being. Everything else is irrelevant to me. Understand?"

The other bots stood in silence, unsure of how to respond. Then they saw Bumblebee signing them behind Knockout's back, telling them to just go along with it.