The techno-organics

Chapter 14

Nikolai was just about to finish the test round for his new set of saws he made. As he tested them, he envisioned a swarm of these babies cutting and slicing metal and flesh like butter, leaving corpses wiggling like fishes. It sometimes scared him that he had such a morbid fascination with gore and violence, but judging by how he grew up, it didn't really surprise him. On the bright side, it did make it easier for him and his sister to enjoy horror movies. He was struck with the feeling of several sharp points penetrating his skull and it made him lose concentration so one of the blades sliced him in the shoulder. He hissed at the pain before watching as the wound quickly healed and groaned at the sight of his destroyed clothing. He called his blades back and put them on his workstation before taking of his coat and examining the damage closer. His wound had closed up nicely but everything that stood in its way payed a price. His coat, his vest and his white shirt was stained with blood. His attention wandered over to his arms and the lightning looking scars that covered his white skin. Another reminder of their past, and of what in the end saved him. Both Nikolai and Anastasia had went trough the same procedures and experiments but Nikolai didn't develop powers that could measure up to his sister's. They deemed him a failed experiment and shoot him in the head. Anastasia was protesting violently, biting, scratching and punching, but the thing that Nikolai remembers best is the desperate screams that came out of her. Begging and pleading and crying for her brothers life was what she did. What more could she do? She was powerless back then, they all were. But the bullet didn't kill him, instead it was like he got paralyzed and all his senses got numb. The hysterical weeps of Anastasia was muffled, his mouth was coppery and wet, his vision blurry and liquid red filled his vision. Yet he was still conscious. Soon a stinging feeling of electricity spread trough his body and concentrated itself in his wound and made the blood seep right back as he rose up with cracking joints. His head was always lowered during the unfamiliar process and he noticed the gray patterns that had spread over his skin. The first time his powers was used and since then all sensation of pain had been dulled down remarkably to the point where stab wounds felt like faint pressure. The sound of the door opening pulled Nikolai out of his memories and he quickly turned around with his arms behind his back.

"How's it going?" Knock Out greeted as he entered the room, but soon noticed the red stains on the floor. Nikolai saw this and was quick to explain

"I just tested the newest prototypes and got distracted." He tilted his head closer to his shoulder. "But I healed up all right." Knock Out, who already seen the length of his healing powers, was not worried at all for Nikolai but instead saw how he seemed to hide something behind his back.

"What are you hiding?" He asked, suspecting the boy.

"Nothing," Nikolai answered perhaps to quickly. "It's just something I don't want people to see." The Decepticon medic saw his chance to manipulate the boy.

"But you can trust your father, can you?" He talked like he was having a conversation with a little child. Nikolai thought about it for a moment before he gave in. Knock Out expected him to hold some sort of weapon or device and was surprised when Nikolai showed him his arms, covered in gray scars that stretched all over his arms like roots from a tree. Knock Out grabbed him and ran his metallic fingers over the scars fascinated.

"Did you get injured while you were working? Why aren't you healing then?" He asked as he was just about to take closer look, but Nikolai had enough being studied and took his arm back.

"No, I did not sustain it from work." He hissed and Knock Out jerked surprised at the boys sudden change in mood. "The humans that made me did this to me." Nikolai turned his back to his original and pulled down the sleeves of his shirt. He didn't like anybody seeing them, not even the other techno-organics, just Anastasia who also had similar scars. Knock Out felt a twitch of sympathy for his "son" but also fury against the humans that did that to him. Nikolai felt a weight on his shoulder along with a voice.

"You know," Knock Out started and showed the lightning looking pattern on his arm. "They share some similarities to my paint job." He showed his arm and the white pattern that looked similar to a tattoo. Nikolai pulled up his sleeve and compared the two patterns. He chuckled at how alike they looked and laughed even more at the idea that the scientists may have been so desperate for him to look like his original.

"I'm not gonna lie, when I first found out that you and your sister was made from my CNA, I was quite..."

"Disgusted," Nikolai suggested and Knock Out scratched his neck nervously. "Repulsed, revolted, sickened... I don't blame you for feeling that way, I get it." The Decepticon was surprised of how well the hybrid took it.

"But..." Knock Out added. "I like that both of you are so pretty. It proves my good looks are natural as well." Nikolai raised an confused eyebrow at his original.

"Did you just compliment me while also complimenting yourself?" He said as he pointed at Knock Out who smiled cheekily.

"Now I know where I get it." A muffled echo was heard moving in the air vents in the walls before a panel was removed and Anastasia crawled trough.

"I just hope we agree, brother, that I'm the prettier twin." She said and threw her hair in the air before putting the panel back.

"Where have you been?" Nikolai gasped and put on his coat.

"I was bored and took a walk around the ship. Easier said then done, but I learned my way around."
"How did you not notice she was gone?" Knock Out snapped at Nikolai. If Megatron knew any of them had been walking around the ship without permission Knock Out could risk getting punished.

"I guess I was too occupied with my job to notice." He excused and noticed Anastasia had already grabbed one of the saws. Finally she could do her part of the job. She pulled up the sleeves of her blouse, activated the saw and had cut right trough her hand. Knock Out made a disgusted sound and stepped back but Nikolai stood unfazed and waited for her opinion.

"It works alright but if you want to make these even better, I recommend making the blades thinner to make the damage less messy and more precise." She said as her wound closed up and the blood seeped right back into her system. Nikolai sighed loudly and threw his head back in an exhausted manner. They heard the sound of the doors opening again and was frightened to see that Megatron had decided to join them. He walked steadily towards them but with an air of danger around him that scared the twins.

"Could you two answer a question I have had on my mind?" He asked in an dangerous tone as he towered over them. "Did these scientists create a techno-organic of my own?" His voice got somewhat louder and it scared the twins to almost be stiff as pokers. Of course he would have suspicions but why ask now suddenly.

"Don't know." Anastasia lied and proceeded to try acting as normal. He can't know about Freedom, there was no telling what he might do if he found out about her.

"Really," Megatron spoke unconvinced. "Because the dark energon within me has been acting strange. It's like it's sensing someone else with the blood of Unicron on board the ship." He explained and Nikolai, confused at first, remembered the strange purple liquid that they forced into Freedom. She had described that it felt like she was carrying a fragment of someone else's life force, and that she for a moment could hear the thoughts of that someone as it settled in.

"You can't fool me," Megatron claimed and the twins facade broke as they looked up anxiously at the warlord. Almost pleading with their eyes. Megatron let out a disgusted sound and spoke into his com-link.

"Soundwave," He called, "Scan the ship after alien lifeforms and send the troops to search after intruders." As he turned around to leave the sister grew desperate and tried to convince the warlord to do otherwise.

"We're sorry we lied, but she's not a threat to you, none of them are." Knock Out walked forward and grabbed Anastasia by the wrist but she broke free and ran towards the gladiator. "They are probably just here to save us, if you just let us talk to them they'll leave without causing trouble." She grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him, but he pushed her away and she landed roughly on the floor.

"Never attempt to touch me again." He hissed like a poisonous snake and kept walking. She quickly rose up to her feet and tried to run towards him again but the doors closed right in her face and she desperately pounded on the button that was supposed to open the door but nothing happened.

"Don't let anyone enter this lab until I give the order." He commanded the Vehicon guards and walked away and let the dark energon guide him to find his missing piece. It disgusted him all the way to his core that these human pests had dared creating another lifeform using his own CNA. That they had the nerve to mix a part of him with their inferior genetic code to create this repulsive being. And now that being was walking on his ship and it too had the blood of Unicron running trough them. This creation was a disgrace to the warlord and it irritated him by its mere existence. The dark energon inside him was going to help him find it so he could destroy it himself.

Freedoms veins was burning and itching under the surface of her skin, in the similar manner as when she was injected with that glowing purple liquid. Their creators had let her lock herself into her quarters as the substance settled in. She was twisting, screaming, whining and crying, and her nerves was burning so intensely she thought she would go blind. Now, as she was on enemy ground, that acid feeling was returning but in a different manner, like it was communicating with someone else or, reacting to someone else with the same substance inside them. It must be her original, he must have the same strange material running trough his body and it is probably making him aware of her location. All of a sudden a loud alarm filled the ship and the whole group covered their ears at the loud noise.

"They know we're here." Freedom exclaimed and Alabaster quickly put her hand on the ground. She tried to paint the mental map again, but the blaring of the alarm made it to difficult to differ the sounds and vibrations.

"I can't see anything." She growled frustrated and waved the group to run, but Freedom instead ran in the opposite direction. Wasp called out to her and they all stopped.

"I think the Decepticons can track the strange substance in me. I can't explain how I know but hopefully they'll follow me instead." She explained quickly before running away. Alabaster was about to protest but reminded herself that they had to concentrate on the mission, and that Freedom could contact Canary if she needed to retreat. The rest of the group kept running in the direction Canary had given them without knowing what stood in their way. Without warning a missile was shot their way but was successfully avoided so it hit the wall behind them. When they faced the direction the missile came from they were faced with Breakdown waiting for them. The weapon on his shoulder was still hot and smoking and he had a crocked smile on his orange face.

"Keep going," Valkyrie said, ready for battle and knowing she was facing her original. She was almost grateful, she had missed the rush of battle and she had dreamed of one day fighting her parent.

"You're Valkyrie." Breakdown rather stated then asked. "The twins mentioned you, and it seems they were right, you and I surely look alike." He chuckled darkly as he readied his own hammer. Valkyrie, on the other hand, dropped her weapon to the side and started cracking her knuckles as a smug smile crept over her dark lips.

"I don't need help defeating you." She said and Breakdown ran forward with his hammer raised in the air. Valkyrie avoided being hit when it came down towards her and gave him a hard uppercut right in the jaw. He learned something from that, his opponent was far stronger then he first anticipated. He responded to that attack by hitting her hardly in the gut. She gasped but that was not nearly enough to knock her out. They kept this going, hitting and kicking in order to defeat their opponent. But Breakdown had made a serious mistake in judging Valkyrie, she was a lot stronger and lot more skilled then he expected of a creature who's half human. Valkyrie growled like an animal as she fought and was tempted to use her hammer after all, but despite having been slammed in the head with his hammer a few times already; she wouldn't give in. She hit Breakdown hard in the gut and made him slide backwards until he hit a wall and Valkyrie jumped forward in an attempt to hit him again but he reacted quickly, rose up and caught her fists. Now they both tried to wrestle the other person down with none of them seeming to lose or win.

"What is it, can't handle me on your own, you bestial she-male?" He tried to provoke. She let out an even more predator like growl that seemed to originate all the way from her chest and her face twisted in fury.

"Too bad, this is what you got, arschgeige." She spoke like thunder was coming from her mouth and headbutted him so he lost some of his hold and it gave Valkyrie opportunity to tackle him to the floor. She raised her fist and was just about to hit him when the weapon on his shoulder activated and she got hit right in the head. The blast made her fall numb to the floor and Breakdown rose up victorious covered in dents and leaking energon. He raised his hand towards his jaw that she had punched in the start of their battle. He moved it in circles, feeling it clicking and remembering the intense pain she had caused him. He soon noticed she was still breathing and he was impressed at how much damage she could take, and how much damage she inflicted.

The Autobots was startled by the sudden blare of the alarm and quickly scanned their surrounding after sign of Vehicons coming their way.

"Well," Arcee started, "How are we going to find them?" Optimus didn't answer and ran his gaze after any leads the techno-organics might have left. He quickly noted a strand of long white hair that was stuck to the wall.

"This way." He ordered and ran down that direction. The Autobots followed their leader trough the dark hallways of the spaceship. The alarm kept blaring and the lights in the ceiling had turned red. Just as they was going to round a corner they were attacked by a group of Vehicons shooting in their direction. They blocked the way they needed to go and left no option but to fight. Of course, the Vehicons were was not known for putting up good fights. They charged forward, ready to fight their way trough. Arcee jumped into the air to land a punch at impact but before she could hit anyone a black portal opened and swallowed her whole. With out wasting a second the portal moved forward and swallowed the rest of the Autobots. The Vehicons stood still and stared at the portal before deciding to shoot at it, and it responded by turning horizontal and fly towards them. When the portal touched them, it was like they were cut right trough with the sharpest blade possible. This unknown force splitting their molecules from each other, the poor bastards had no time understanding what was happening to them. Before the Autobots could process what had just happened, they had been transported from the hallways to another room. Canary was waiting for them with a smug smile on her black painted lips and floated above the ground like a ghost.

"You really did follow us." She signed which Flash in turn translated to the Autobots. "I really didn't expect this after how you treated me and my friend." Her smug smile turned upside down and she glared sourly at the Autobots. Optimus walked forward to share his thoughts.

"We are all terribly sorry, and you will have a proper apology, but for the moment we have to set our disagreements aside for the sake of your comrades." He said. "If you bridge us to their coordinates then we will be able to help you in their quest." Canary thought about it for a moment without letting her expression change. Different from his soldiers he seemed to be the most trustworthy and he seemed to already had established a parental relationship with Alabaster. The other Autobots didn't need to agree with what he was doing, they just had to follow orders. She answered by letting on of the corners of her mouth rise cheekily and raised her hand, just about to open another portal when Flash decided to intervene.

"Wait," He said and gently grabbed the wrist of the floating girl. "I will not be that easy to persuade. I'm still angry over how you treated us." Bulkhead sighed annoyed before stepping forward hoping to get this over with.

"Look, I'll be the first to apologize, I'm sorry. Are you happy now?" They couldn't see but Flash was rolling his eyes behind his visor. As he did, he got this feeling in his arm that felt like a needle poking his nerves, telling him he had to act out a tick. Flash repressed that sensation and a knot formed in his belly. As he was hiding with Canary he had let out all his stored up his ticks. It was like a balloon needing to release air before it explodes, and now he had to store it up again.

"I don't care about you, you idiot." Flash insulted before pointing. "I'm talking about her." It was Arcee he was pointing at who started to open and close her mouth a number of times without saying anything. Bumblebee beeped something that Flash did not understand, and he did not care.

"I have wanted to meet you for so long, while in captivity I spent hours imagining how my original would look like and how they would sound and act. When I found out I had a mother, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. I spent all day and night trying to figure out what I would say once I met you." He rubbed the back of his neck before continuing. "I mean, I have a mother. Can you imagine my joy? I had learned that mothers were the most loving and caring creatures on the planet, and when I see the humans take care of their children, to me it's so heartwarming that they just shower their kids with unconditional love and guidance. I realize now I was foolish to expecting you to show me any of that. You basically avoided me and wouldn't even talk to me, all that preparation I did was for nothing and the only one to show me any acceptance was your friend, Jack." As Flash was done Arcee opened her mouth again to speak but did not know what to say other then making stuttering noises. She felt so horrible, but she didn't have a clue at what do.

"I..." She started meekly, "I just don't know how to be a mother. I want to be that to you, but I'm not a human, I don't have parental instincts and I don't want to let you down." Flash's tense posture softened and he leaned closer to the two-wheeler.

"All you need to do is to be my friend." He said and for Arcee it felt like a weight had been lifted, to finally know what to do in this strange situation, to be given a chance at be what this poor boy desired.

"I promise to better our relationship as soon as this is over," She started and spotted the contours of his eyes under his visor." But for now, please open the portal so we can help your friends." Flash exhaled before turning to Canary and nodded. She raised her hand again and opened another black portal leading to the techno-organics location. The Autobots quickly jumped trough but the children stayed behind.

"Aren't you following?" Canary asked and Flash took of his helmet and shook his head in order to air himself and his dreadlocks flew around as he did. His eyes were greatly similar to Arcee's, pale blue with hints of pink that gave it a purple-ish hue. But his were blinking out of control, another tick of his.

"I can't," He ticked in the form of a scream but buried his mouth in his arm to muffle the noises he made, "I have to be here with you in case something happens." Tick.

"At least you have something else to look forward to when this is all over." Canary said before Flash put on his helmet that covered most parts of his head except the lower part of his face and the back of his head.

"While we are here, why don't we look trough the database and see if we can find the others originals?" He proposed and turned to the computer. Canary put on her black mirrorlike mask.

"I thought about the same thing," She said and made the sign that meant "laughing". "I would really like to know how Widows original might look like. Do you think they have extra arms too?"

"Really?" Flash chuckled in disbelief, "You're more interested in Widows original then your own?" He tapped playfully on Canary's mask and she made the sign for laughing again.

The techno-organics were hiding from the Vehicons firing at them. Now that they are split up it were only Alabaster, Wasp, Rock, Toni and Widow left. Despite the dangerous situation the children did not consider nor care. To them the foot soldiers were merely something they wanted to get something fun out of.

"Okay, who would like to take them out." Rock asked to the group calmly.

"I want, I want." Wasp cheered and waved his arms to be seen.

"No," Alabaster protested. "I'm better equipped for these kinds of tasks." Toni couldn't take it, she gave Widow's arm a reassuring squeeze, but just as she took a handful of her knives, the attack stopped. They all peeked around the corners and saw the Autobots with bodies laying at their feet.

"Come on," Toni sighed disappointed and received a comforting pat on the shoulder from Widow. Alabaster flew forward and stopped right in front of Optimus who put away his cannons.

"You really did come?"
"Of course we did." He answered and stroked Alabaster on the cheek, but as he looked up at the other children he noticed there was someone missing.

"Where is Freedom?"

"She left shortly after the alarm went."

"She said that the Decepticons could locate her, but she wouldn't explain how she knew." Widow added and forced her jacket on tighter. Optimus hummed thoughtfully as he wondered what could have happened to her.

"She can take care of herself," Toni said and twirled a knife between her fingers, "Right now, we have to find the twins so we can get out of here." Alabaster put her hand against the wall but the alarm was still blaring too loud for her to see anything.

"I can't see anything," She growled and pressed the palms of her hands against her ears, "Won't someone turn the alarms of!" Alabaster shouted almost like she was in agony and a few tears started to slip by. Optimus wasted no time and started to shoot at specific places on the roof and the alarm somewhat died down. It could still be heard in the background but not too loud so it bothered her.

"Better?" Optimus asked gently as the Autobots held their distance from their leader. Alabaster slowly took her hands away from her helmet and put them against the wall. She could hear it now, the humming of the engine, the stomping of everyone on the ship and the faint echo of their voices. She had to find their voices, the twins, she had to find them before she could start looking for Freedom.
"No," She heard Anastasia cry in despair. She focused on her voice to hear clearer and find out what made her cry like that. "We brought them here, if anything happens to them it'll be our fault. We even let Megatron know about Freedom, he will find her and we don't know what will happen to her." She cried and could be heard seeking comfort in her brothers arms. He did not show his anxiety like Anastasia did, but his heartbeat said otherwise. There was a third person in the room as well but he was unimportant for the moment.

"Who's Megatron?" The Albino asked the Autobots.

"How did you learn his name by just leaning against a wall?" Bulkhead asked confused.

"I heard Anastasia, she was crying, she said that someone named Megatron was after Freedom."