Authors note

I better tell you that I have lots of school work so I won't have as much time or energy to write as I did before. I won't be uploading as frequent as I did before but I will still be writing when I can.

The techno-organics

Chapter 26

"Why do I have to go home?" Wasp whined as Rock ended his call to Canary. The older boy sighed before kneeling and petting Wasp on the head.

"Because it'll soon be bedtime, and all cute little insect have to be in bed or they won't have any more sweets for a week." Rock said and Wasp quickly shut his mouth. Rock chuckled before standing up again and waited on the portal.

"But at least you got to play with Bumblebee today. Isn't that good?" Wasp didn't answer and just nodded cheerfully, not putting his candy chances at risk. Rock couldn't say that he was as happy as Wasp. From their first meeting, Bulkhead had been a disappointment for him. Sure, Rock thought at first that he was good since he seemed more accepting than the rest, but he soon realized Bulkhead was nothing like he had imagined. He was loud, had loud hobbies, would rather let his fists talk for him, he was careless, and not a bright thinker; to put it mildly. Aside that they both had green metal it was hard to believe they were related.

A dark portal opened in front on them, pulling Rock out of his displeased thoughts. Wasp waved goodbye before skipping trough, and then it was closed. Rock sighed and put on his white hood again before making his way back inside the base. Rock really didn't like elevator rides. The small space was no problem but the feeling of the machine going into motion that disturbed him, and he especially didn't like elevators that went as fast as this one. Rock always started to feel sick and lose his footing as soon as it started to move. The good thing was though that it was a short ride. Rock breathed out as he let go of the handle on the wall. Nothing seemed to have changed since he was gone. Bulkhead still sat on the exact same spot and drew the formula, and Ratchet logged down all his finished equations. The only difference was that Miko and the other Autobots were gone. Maybe that was good, maybe it gave him a chance to talk alone with his original. He may not be what Rock wished for, but he's better then nothing. The techno-organic walked forward and leaned over the railing, trying to get a glimpse of what he wrote. Bulkhead didn't seem to notice him, the Autobot just kept mumbling on about the formula. Maybe starting a conversation would get his mind of the work for a moment.

"How much is left of the formula?" Bulkhead didn't respond. "Aren't you getting tired, shouldn't you take a break?" Bulkhead seemed to ignore him as he kept mumbling. Ratchet came and took the metal board he finished. Bulkhead kept writing and mumbling, not giving any signs that he even acknowledged Rock presence. The techno-organic slowly hung his head as he disappointed made his way to the couch. He didn't know exactly what he expected, but not this. He thought Bulkhead was more accepting of his existence, and yet Rock is being treated like a ghost. He thought about calling Canary and going home, as he didn't seem very welcome here anymore. Rock was suddenly startled by the sound of a guitar and stood up, when he saw that Miko was the source, he sighed and massaged temples in an annoyed manner.

"Aah! What is that?!" Bulkhead exclaimed irritated.

"Metal. You love this song."

"I'm trying to concentrate."

Miko leaned her head to the side and groaned before continuing, "You're starting to sound just like Ratchet!"

"Who?" Bulkhead asked, making Rock and Miko share the same worried expression. The human turned towards Rock, trying to see if he knew anything; but was met with the same expression. They silently agreed to ask Ratchet and walked over to his work station.

"Ratch, I think Bulk's losing his mind." Miko said, but when the doctor didn't answer a heavy realization came over both of them.

"You...already know." Rock said with worry in his voice. Why didn't he tell any of them of something so serious?

"We didn't want to frighten any of you." Ratchet explained gently.

"But rest assured, Optimus has a plan." He said more optimistically this time, having full confident in his leader. It didn't make the two any less worried though.

"Optimus isn't Bulkhead's doctor. I just need to know, when Bulk's done spitting out that formula, he'll go back to being regular old Bulkhead, right?" Ratchet didn't answer. A tear fell down Miko's cheek as Rock fought the anger and frustration and despair that grew inside him. What kind of cruel irony was this? Was Rock gonna lose his original right after finding him?

"Do you remember the time you watched Wheeljack lob his only grenade into the Decepticon heat exchanger?" Miko said to Bulkhead who didn't even look at her. Rock felt powerless, there was nothing he could do while this human tried her best to save Bulkhead's memories. Although he found her loud and annoying, they still both cared about Bulkhead.

"Who?" The green Autobot answered.

"Wheeljack!-" Miko growled and showed a picture on her phone. "Your best bud?! Besides me, of course." While Bulkhead looked at the small screen, both the human and the hybrid looked at his face, searching for any sign that he recognized the 'bot on the picture. Nothing. Miko grew worried and groaned frustrated.

"Oh! Do you even know who we are?"

"Of course. You're..." Bulkhead really tried for a few seconds to recognized them, but soon ignored it and focused on the formula again. Miko walked away as Rock rested his head in his hands. This couldn't be happening, he was going to lose his original. He didn't even get to know him, they never had a real conversation or done anything together. Rock couldn't even do anything to help, just stand by as his original lost his mind to parasitic data. Suddenly the groundbridge opened and Miko ran over and took the mop from Bulkhead's hand. Miko ran down the stairs and stopped in front of the groundbridge. Rock followed and grabbed Miko by the arm.

"What are you doing?" Rock asked irritated. This was the second time this girl had run trough a groundbridge, and it hasn't even gone two days yet.

"I'm trying to save Bulkhead. Maybe we can stir up some memories by taking him somewhere he likes."

"We should wait for Optimus. He's out there getting the cylinder, remember?" Miko looked up and saw Bulkhead getting closer. She looked at Rock before dashing trough the groundbridge. Bulkhead followed as Rock stood and mumbled to himself, "I hate that girl". He then ran after them and let the groundbridge close behind him.

"Look! You love monster trucks. Remember when we snuk in here after the show last week?" Miko tried to make Bulkhead remember as he wrote on a wall.

"Do you have any idea how much danger you're putting us in?" Rock hissed, as he about had enough of Miko's reckless behavior.

"Hey, he's my guardian. We don't know how long it'll take before Optimus return with the cylinder, and by then, who knows how much of his memory Bulk will lose." Miko defended, which was the last straw for Rock. The human girl got to witness a rare moment were Rock got truly mad.

"He might be your guardian, but you forget that he's my father! I have been dreaming about meeting him for years, and now that I have finally found him I'm not gonna lose him to your reckless behavior." Rock leaned closer over Miko as his eyes turned an intense blue. Miko backed away as she felt Rock's anger flare. She was reminded that despite how friendly the hybrids seemed, they were killing machines and criminals. They killed their creators and who knows how many more aside those thugs. But he was not gonna kill her, right?

"Oh great, another techno-organic." Miko immediately recognized that voice and turned around to spot Knock Out and Breakdown. Rock cursed as Miko lead Bulkhead away from the 'cons.

"Not like Bulkhead to run from a fight."

"I'm afraid our friend has had a little too much to think." Knock Out said and took a step forward. The hybrid grew to his full size and drew back his hood, revealing his half metallic face. The two Decepticons stopped in their tracks and was hit with a feeling of terror and repulsion at the sight of Rock's face.

"I know I look weird, but that's no reason to make such expressions." Rock commented. Breakdown growled as he turned his hand into an hammer, and Rock responded by turning his left hand into a mace.

"You'll be the warm up before I take on Bulkhead." He taunted and ran forward, swinging his hammer at Rock who blocked it in time with his mace. Before Breakdown could think of anything, Rock hit him with a right hook. Breakdown grunted but quickly answered with a hit in the stomach that made Rock fall backwards into the arena seats. Knock Out saw his chance to find Bulkhead and ran to the parking lot. Rock saw it and raised his right hand which started to glow an intense blue and sent an energy wave that made the gate collapse and fall to pieces as dust filled the air. Breakdown swung his hammer towards Rock's face, but the hybrid successfully jumped out of the way. His mace grew large spikes as he hit Breakdown in the back with it. He fell down stunned by the pain and grunted heavily as he tried to rise to his feat. Meanwhile, Knock Out was done climbing over the fallen gate and jumped down to the parking lot where Miko and Bulkhead was hiding. Rock saw it and was about to run after him when he was hit in the back of his head. He fell to the ground as the world turned blurry.

"Leaving so soon? I thought you would use this opportunity to find out what happened to your comrades." Breakdown swung his hammer, intent to smash Rock's head in. The hybrid was quick though to turn around and send another destructive wave from his right hand. Breakdown was thrown backwards but was able to dig his feet into the ground and make himself stop.

"Where are they? What have you done to them?" Rock growled in a way that was unlike him. He remembered the last time he saw Freedom and how she with heavy guilt helped the Decepticons.

"Relax, they're alive. We wouldn't risk losing such valuable specimens like them. Besides, Megatron seems to be having fun toying with Freedom."

"And what about Valkyrie and Anastasia? What have you done to them?"

"Valkyrie is held captive, but Anastasia is being used for information. Hopefully Knock Out will be able to trick her to fight for us soon. It will be hard for the Autobot's to touch us when there is a storm in the way." Breakdown taunted him, buying time for Knock Out. His grin disappeared though as Rock raised his right fist. It was glowing again with that radioactive blue and pounded with destructive energy. Amid his rage, the hybrid was able to take a deep breath and calm himself enough to let go of the destructive energy that was concentrated in his fist. The glow disappeared and Breakdown smiled faintly, thinking he had escaped a death sentence. He took the opportunity to shoot Rock with his shoulder cannon. Rock was able to catch the missile, but as he was distracted with that, Breakdown saw the opportunity to shoot him with another missile. Rock wasn't able to catch the second one and it exploded at contact. Rock laid unmoving on the ground, seemingly dead. Breakdown chuckled before climbing over the fallen gate where Knock Out waited on the other side.

"There you are." The con greeted his partner. "Did you get rid of the hybrid?"

"I hope so. Those things are hard to kill."

"Well, you would know." Knock Out turned on the scanner which started to beep and point in Bulkheads direction.

"Time to play seriously." He purred and moved towards Bulkhead. Miko hid under the monster trucks and tried to contact the base again with no luck. Knock Out was now looming over Bulkhead's vehicle mode, the rapid beeping of the tracker confirmed it.

"I think I'm warm." He purred and Bulkhead suddenly transformed.

"En3 divided by the square root of the propulsion factor equals... " He rambled like in a trance and wrote an equation on Knock Out's frame.

"You painted my paint job! Prepare for surgery!" The Decepticon growled and Breakdown punched Bulkhead in the head, knocking him unconscious. Knock Out leaned down and grabbed Bulkhead's head, tilting it in order to get better access to his neck.

"Heads, you lose." Knock Out sang and activated his saw. A sick gleeful smile came over his face as he brought the saw closer. Miko screamed in horror. She grabbed something from the ground and desperately tried to chase them away, but she tripped and banged into Bulkhead's head. Suddenly a buzzing sound seemed to come from Bulkhead, he opened his eyes which was glowing red. Red light shot out of Bulkheads eyes, making the Decepticons shriek and take cover. Meanwhile, Rock was waking up to see the rays of light shoot towards the sky. Fearing the worst, he got up and ran in its direction. He quickly climbed over the collapsed gate, and once he was at the top he could see where the red lights came from.

"Bulkhead," He shouted and the two Decepticons turned in his direction. Rock jumped of the wreckage and ran towards them. Knock Out and Breakdown looked at him for a moment before transforming and driving away. Rock stopped and watched them disappear from view. He then turned to Bulkhead and Miko who was crying beside him.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He's not waking up," She said and kept crying. Rock widened his eyes, fearing the worst. Just then a groundbridge opened and the Autobots leaped out. They all stopped and watched Bulkheads unmoving body and listened to Miko's cries.

"The data has been fully expelled, but Bulkhead remains completely unresponsive,"

"Because the energy took Bulkhead's mind with it, heavenward, lost to the stars," Miko dried her nose with her arm.

"It's my fault you'll never know the rest of the formula, and it's my fault Bulkhead's gone forever."

"Miko, your quick thinking prevented the formula from falling into Decepticon hands." Optimus tried to comfort her.

"If anyone would have backed that play, it's Bulkhead." Arcee said with a sad voice. Rock looked at Bulkheads unmoving form on the berth. Was this really the end? When he finally got the chance to get to know his original, he loses him. First his sisters and now his original. Rock's shoulders started to shake as he held back the tears that he wanted to shed. Ratchet saw his reaction and tried to comfort him.

"It's simply too early to know the extent of his condition. Something as simple as a familiar sight or smell, perhaps even a sound, could trigger Bulkhead's awakening." Rock and Miko both got the same idea of what might wake Bulkhead up. Rock helped set up her speakers and she plugged in her guitar. The sound of her guitar echoed and they all waited for a reaction. Miko looked at Bulkhead, waiting for him to wake up. But when nothing happened, she lowered her head in defeat. Rock turned away, covering his mouth with his hand as a few tears was able to break free from his hold. The machines started to steadily beep as Bulkhead opened his eyes. He groaned and caught everybody's attention.

"Bulkhead?" Miko said, hope filling her voice. Rock whipped around in time to see his original rise up and imitate the sound of Miko's guitar. Rock quickly grabbed Bulkhead and crushed the wrecker against him.

"Careful, it's not worth much anymore but I need that head," Bulkhead chuckled amused before Rock let him go.

"Sorry," He said and dried his eyes.

"You had the data in your grasp, and you still managed to lose it again!" Megatron yelled at Knock Out and Breakdown. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't terminate you both."

"We know we failed you, lord Megatron. But I have acquired information that will interest you," Knock Out said desperately. Megatron seemed to calm down and gave Knock Out opportunity to speak.

"Before we deployed for the mission, Anastasia informed that the organization known as Mech, might be involved with the group that created the techno-organics."

"The group of humans that dissected Breakdown?" Megatron snarled disgusted and threw a glare at Breakdown who looked away in shame.

"Yes, and she also told that two other techno-organics was shipped to Mech, for what reason she didn't know."

"That would mean that two hybrids might be under the control of Mech." Megatron pondered, disliking the idea that these pests might use the hybrids they have against them.

"May I say something, lord Megatron?" Arachnid walked forward. "I must protest that statement. I was allied with these humans for a short period in order to take revenge on an Autobot. Their goal is basically to capture us in order to then use our biology for weapons. They had several opportunities to use their hybrids to capture either me or the Autobot I was hunting, but they didn't." Yes, that didn't make sense. Why acquire super soldiers if they didn't use them.

"The techno-organics we have already encountered escaped captivity, what if those two did the same," Knock Out suggested.

"If that's the case, Mech might still have information about the group." To Megatron humanity was nothing more than insects. Something to not even think about, to mercilessly get rid of if it decided to annoy him. Well, these insects did not do only that, but stalked him and his army, and insulted them by using them for their disgusting experiments. He could not risk any of them being alive, he had to investigate any leads he could find.

"Knock Out, Breakdown, I will spare you both. But you won't leave here unharmed."

The two cons expressions quickly got worried and they heard the sound of footsteps making their way towards them. They turned around and Freedom stood there with a wicked yet sweet expression on her face. That smile was filled with painful and sadistic intent, no matter how friendly she tried to make herself. She lifted her gaze towards Megatron and spoke, "How far can I go with them?"

"Just make sure they'll still be alive and functioning when you're done, or until I say it's enough."

"Wait," Knock Out interrupted. "Why is she delivering our punishment."

"I asked," Freedom's eyes turned blood red as she grabbed Knock Out by the neck and threw him into the opposite wall. She then turned to Breakdown, grabbed him by the face and threw him into the floor and send a cloud of bright red fire onto them. She had wanted to do that for a good while. No one tricks her or family and leaves unharmed. Screams were heard trough the bridge. Energon was splattering the floor and metal was scratched with silvery claws. When she was done, Freedom whispered into Knock Out's ear, "I told you I would see the color of your blood if you deceived me", before letting him go. Badly beaten but still conscious and functioning.