They say never judge a book by its cover. Well, you'd be more than dead if you tried to judge me by my appearance. I maybe small, but I pack a mean punch if you mess with me and my team... Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude... hey there! I'm Windswept! And boy, have I got a story to tell you. Well, what are you waiting for?! Get over here and get ready for my adventures on Team Prime!
Possibly the last update for 2019? And this decade?! Not too sure yet, but you never know.
If there are no more chapters before the end of this year, I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has remained by my side throughout the last decade. I first published my very first story on back in 2014... and boy I would not recommend going back to that one in a hurry. My writing style has certainly changed over time, but if you really want to do a wee flashback to my very young writing days, then that's your choice for putting yourself through that pain. ;)
Thank you to HeroicGlobe1998 for following and favouriting this story, and to TF Freak Out for following. And a special thanks to Angelwings2002 for once again reviewing. Hope I keep delivering for you!
- Transformers Prime does not belong to me. All rights go to the people and brands who were able to create this show.
- Windswept and the other OC's belong to me.
Chapter starts in Windswept P.O.V
(Chapter Title: Opposite's Attract)
Driving into Autobot base, Carly and I knew immediately that Bulkhead and Miko had not yet arrived. The main room sounded very quiet as we were coming into the tunnel. The idea of having the base in a peaceful state for a little bit sounded marvellous to me - I wasn't saying that I dislike Bulkhead or Miko's rowdy personalities considering I've hung around Aquastrike for a while before. It's just been a long time since the base was quiet the way it sounded like it was now. Ratchet's probably be enjoying it!
At first, I thought Ratchet was the only one here, monitoring the computer screens high above us for any activity. But no sooner had I thought of that, Arcee and Jack appeared out of one of the hallways leading to the training room. And then Sunburst soon appeared behind her, leading me to think that he and 'Cee had been sparring in the training room with Jack watching.
Skidding to a stop, I waited for Carly to remove her helmet and hop off me before I transformed.
"Afternoon all!" My charge cheerily greeted everyone, pretty much skipping over to Jack to greet him with a kiss.
I stuck my tongue out at the couple while Sunburst appeared to my side, looking anywhere away from the pair. He was still feeling a little agitated having to watch Carly and Jack be all lovey-dovey with one another while his loved one remained in space somewhere out there. I was unable to relate with my brother-in-law's pain as I was yet to bond with someone I loved. However, I could relate in a sense as the person I did love was not on this planet... that I knew of…
Yes, this femme does have feelings in that capacity! ...Another story for another time.
"A vehicular form is approaching," Ratchet reported to us suddenly.
"Decepticon?" Arcee asked.
Ratchet zoomed in on the map on the big screen, showing us everything that was going on surrounding the entry/exit of our base. Upon closer inspection, the vehicle approaching the base was a white four-door car. When Jack and Carly groaned before us, I immediately had a hunch that none of the team recently acquired a new vehicle form.
"Mom," Jack face-palmed.
"Again?" Arcee questioned teasingly.
"She worries."
...Maybe a little too much…?
Miss Darby's car drove into the base, parking nearby Ratchet's workstation below the Groundbridge controls. The driver's side door opened, revealing the woman in her nurse scrubs. "Hi honey!" She greeted happily, walking over to her son.
"Hey," Jack greeted back awkwardly as he was hugged by her.
"Finished my shift early at the hospital. So I thought I'd swing by," The elder woman told her son before looking at her son's girlfriend, "Good afternoon Carly." After receiving a grin from my charge, she looked behind her at Ratchet. "Good to see you again, doctor." Getting a nod of greeting from our medic, she looked up at us. "Arcee, Windswept…" She paused and looked at Sunburst with a worried expression. "Sun...shine?"
I giggled quietly to myself with a half shrug, "Close enough."
"It's Sunburst, Miss," Said mech corrected the woman politely.
Miss Darby only nodded at the correction with a small embarrassed smile. Then she began looking around suddenly, "So... where's Optimus?"
"On a scouting mission with Bumblebee, Aquastrike and Starlight," Ratchet replied, barely looking over his shoulder at us, "Sorry to disappoint."
"And I wore heels and everything."
Uhmmm, what?
"MOM!" Jack yelled at her, a freaked-out expression on his face. Even Carly looked at her boyfriend's mother was a grossed-out expression.
Arcee, Sunburst and I shared looks of confusion and a little bit of concern. I didn't exactly know what Miss Darby had in mind with Optimus, but honestly, I don't think I want to even know...
"That's odd." Ratchet's small comment brought us out of our silent discussion. I looked up at the green screens to find something odd that the medic must have been looking at. "This is an extremely unusual magnetic flux. For any planet."
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Ratchet wasn't the only one to recognise the unusual magnetic flux. The silent Decepticon known as Soundwave had also picked up the large signal and made haste in immediately showing his master - Megatron.
"I recognize this magnetic signature, Soundwave," The Warlord realised, "And it would be unfortunate to have a Decepticon invention such as this used against us."
"I will secure the weapon, Lord Megatron." Megatron looked over his shoulder at the Decepticon who had volunteered himself.
Rebecca went to snort at Breakdown's attempt to talk Megatron into allowing him to regain the Decepticon invention. He had been taken down by humans, simple humans whose agenda it was to pull him apart to gain the newest technology! And he had the proof that the human organisation got what they wanted based on the newly-fitted eye patch that he had received from Knock Out. But the noise she attempted to make never eventuated as Megatron scoffed at his soldier.
That was what she thought was why she didn't anyway…
Slipstream glanced at Breakdown from the corner of her optics slightly. Megatron had refused to give the recovered Decepticon any clearance to go out onto the field because of his ordeal with MECH. Why would he give him clearance now?
"Breakdown? If you can be bested by mere humans, what chance do you have against the Autobots?"
"Allow me to redeem myself, master," Breakdown pleaded to the Warlord who was walking away from him, "What I have lost is a constant reminder that I must never again fail you."
Breakdown needed this chance. He needed to prove his worth to the Decepticon cause. Megatron thought little of him now because he had been attacked by those little than him. This was his chance to show his leader that the human organisation known as MECH would not stop him in his quest to help the Decepticons defeat the Autobots.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The atmosphere around the base certainly changed when Miss Darby arrived. Jack and Carly had started to keep their distance from one another so the former's mother would not make comments on their 'PDA' in front of us. All they did was snuggle up to one another during a private chat, Jack resting his forehead on Carly's shoulder before Miss Darby was commenting that two better be careful before they were thinking about getting more snuggled…
Something told me that I didn't wanna know what that meant either…
Bulkhead soon skidded into the base, his doors swinging open to reveal Miko and Raf, the latter having to be picked up by the green mech because Bumblebee was away on the scouting mission Ratchet had mentioned earlier. The two were giggling like they had a good trip on the way here with Bulkhead.
So they hadn't noticed Miss Darby's vehicle parked up nearby yet...
"Did you feel the Gs on the last turn?" Miko asked excitedly as her guardian transformed behind her, waving her arms around, "Bulkhead's an animal!"
Then they noticed Miss Darby talking to Jack… their mood soured quickly.
"Remember when this used to be a secret clubhouse?" For some reason, that statement felt so identifying given the tone of the base right now...
Raf just ignored his older friend as they walked up to their friends at mine and Arcee's feet, "Uh, don't worry, Miss. Darby. We were wearing seatbelts."
"I'm sure you were, Rafael," Miss Darby nodded before turning to Miko with a bright expression, "Hi, Miko! How's school going?"
"Why? What did you hear?" Miko immediately questioned.
Arcee bumped my shoulder, holding up the rope equipment she had grabbed, "Let's do this thing, 'Swept. Jack, Carly, you guys coming?" My partner sounded like she didn't want to be around Miss Darby anymore than we already were. And to be honest, I was kind of glad she decided to take the opportunity now to pull us away from the woman.
I do genuinely like Miss Darby, seriously I do. But she's only been here two weeks and it already feels like she's getting waaaaaaayyyy into everyone's business.
"But I just got here!" I heard the woman protest behind Arcee and me, "I brought sandwiches…"
"This woman, jeez…" I heard Sunburst mutter quietly. I gulped - Sunburst got agitated at anyone rarely these days. He must have been feeling how the rest of us were feeling.
"Mom…" Jack trailed off in frustration.
"Miss Darby, Jack and I really need to help our friends test their upgraded tracking system," Carly told her simply.
Miss Darby placed a hand on her shoulder, "Carly, you know you can call me June. And about the 'tracking system'... well, just be careful."
While I paused in my steps to wait for Jack and Carly, Arcee continued walking, "There's nothing to be careful about. It's a routine diagnostic."
"Are you sure you need Jack and Carly for that?" My friend paused mid-step with a sigh of annoyment, and I could already feel the air tensing up even more.
"Uh-oh," Bulkhead, Sunburst and I muttered.
Arcee was ready to blow.
"Bulkhead, I need you back in the field to investigate an odd magnetic disturbance." Thank goodness for Ratchet interrupting the tense atmosphere.
"I'll go with!"
I thought this kid learnt her lesson by now...
Miko was already running to the Groundbridge to be ready for when it opened. Bulkhead put up his servo, making her run into it and stop what she was doing. "Whoa! Stay put, Miko."
Miko only growled in annoyment and stormed away from her guardian. Right back to the curious Miss Darby...
"Why aren't you going with him?"
"Someone thinks it's not safe," Miko replied, looking over her shoulder at her guardian.
"But it's safe for Jack and Carly to go with Arcee and Windswept?"
Arcee crossed her arms and looked at me with a glare of frustration. Thankfully the glare wasn't directed at me as such, but it was mirrored. She wasn't the only one who was slowly becoming a ticking time bomb...
"Mom!" Jack huffed, walking up to his mother, "Totally different."
"Oh how?"
"Mother knows best, Jack," Arcee simply told him before looking over at Bulkhead, "Wait up, Bulkhead!" She chucked the rope away from her as the Groundbridge swirled to life. "I'm going with."
"Sunburst and I will join you!" I decided, grabbing the wrist of my brother-in-law and practically dragging him into the Groundbridge.
There was no way Arcee was getting out of this on her own. I was gonna go stir-crazy with Miss Darby still questioning our ways of looking out for our human friends. And I knew Sunburst was gonna go a little stir-crazy being on his own with Ratchet to deal with the humans. Think it's just best for some of us to get some clear space before the timers on us went to zero...
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Jack could only stutter in disbelief as his guardian and three of his other Autobot friends wandered through the Groundbridge, leaving him behind to deal with his mother. At the thought, the boy glared at his mother...
"What? What did I say?"
...Who didn't have a clue that she had just annoyed his guardian out of the base.
"How on Cybertron I got stuck 'overwatching you' I will never know."
Breakdown only ignored Slipstream's complaints as he overlooked his scanner, which pointed to the direction of where the Decepticon invention Soundwave had uncovered before him. Surrounding it was a large pile of desert rocks.
Regardless, Breakdown was still happy about the fact that he found the location. "Jackpot!"
He walked up to the large pile, transforming his hand into his hammer. Behind him, Slipstream activated a missile at the ready of any enemy that could be nearby. With her teammate now with a slight disability being down an eye, she knew she couldn't take any risks with him no matter what. Breakdown was going to need someone at all times to help with his sight. Especially since he seemed to have no knowledge of the words 'silent' and stealthy'.
The noisy hammerings of Breakdown smashing his weapon down onto the rock pile only confirmed that. The rocks crumbled into tinier pieces as a small object was soon spotted by his lone eye. Brushing away the broken rocks, Breakdown picked up the object as more rocks continued to fall off the treasure he had found.
Slipstream looked over her shoulder to see what her teammate had picked up. And what they had found was something she recognised instantly, "I've seen that weapon before…"
The sudden sound of scuttling grabbed the pair's attention Breakdown activating his shoulder cannon and Slipstream aiming her missile on her arm at the direction of the sound. Then the sounds of digging in the rocks had the pair confused on where to look. Realising that it was coming from behind them, the two spun around in time to find a Cybertronian with long limbs sprouting from her back holding her up on the large boulders.
Airachnid simply chuckled, using her limbs to push her down towards the two Decepticons, immediately landing hits on Breakdown. The hits made him quickly lose his grip on his just-discovered weapon, sending a few feet away from the trio of Cybertronians.
The spider Cybertonian was quick to scale over to it, immediately picking up the weapon, "For me? You shouldn't have."
"We didn't, Airachnid." Slipstream had heard the rumours, the Autobot chatter Soundwave had picked up and played for her weeks ago. She kicked her in the torso, sending her away from the Decepticons with the weapon in hand. Slipstream knew exactly who this Decepticon was, "I heard rumours of your return."
Airachnid only hissed as she regained herself.
"How about we hog-tie you and haul you in?" Breakdown offered, racing up to Airachnid with his hammer weapon.
Airachnid leapt away from the swings. "Huh. The primitive type."
Breakdown charged towards Airachnid once again, swinging his hammer at her. But once again, the Cybertronian spider was much too quick, leaping up onto the large boulders above.
"Not much for depth perception anymore, are you?"
"Well, not much for looks anymore," Breakdown snapped back, activating and firing his shoulder cannon at Airachnid.
The shot missed the Decepticon spider, hitting the rocks just below her. But it was enough of a threatening hit for Airachnid to scuttle away from where she was just standing.
Slipstream narrowed her eyes, "Where did she go?"
The sounds of drilling caught their attention, discovering that the drilling was occurring underneath their own feet. Before Slipstream knew it, Breakdown was being pulled below the ground by Airachnid. The move caught her off guard, unable to do anything but watch in disbelief as her teammate disappeared into the rocks below.
"Son of a-" Slipstream interrupted herself when she also felt herself being dragged into the desert ground below. And despite her initial resistance, she simply allowed Airachnid to dig her into the ground, knowing very well that she would find a way out of the mess she and Breakdown were now in.
Airachnid eventually dug herself out of the grave Breakdown and Slipstream were now in. Satisfied, she picked up the weapon that the Decepticons had found and chuckled, "It was a lovely burial."
She began walking away with her prize, listening to the grunts and groans the Decepticons she had buried were making, "Sorry. Can't quite understand you."
Breakdown roared angrily, breaking through to the surface of his grave with his hammer. Hearing the noise, Airachnid spun around and found the Decepticon now free from the burial site. The two charged at one another with battle cries, ready to continue their battle.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
It felt extremely satisfying to be out of the base and away from Miss Darby. Arcee, Bulkhead, Sunburst and I were free to be able to do what we needed to do without having our motives questioned by the woman. But it, unfortunately, didn't stop Bulkhead from trying to convince Arcee not to let Miss Darby get to her.
"Don't take it so personal, Arcee. Jack's mother's just…protective."
"Well, I protected her son for months before she had a clue. Suddenly, she wakes up to reality and I'm not enough."
"No kidding!"
I was ready to put in my thoughts about the situation when we were heard those words. Looking at each other, we realised that it wasn't any of us that spoke. Rather it was the person who was behind us.
Ughhh Miko...
"Can't we ban her from the base?"
"Miko, how did you...?"
"I tried to stop her!" My eyes widened in frustration as my own charge suddenly appeared from the rocks behind Miko. She rushed up beside her friend and began puffing from the lack of energy. She glared at her friend angrily. "What happened to learning your lesson?"
Good question Carly.
"Ratchet, we need a bridge," Arcee requested in the comlink.
"Wait! Don't send us back to helicopter mom!" Miko began pleading to us. Arcee gave her a look that asked her to explain her reasoning, and that's what the girl did, "It's just that…I miss the way things were."
I looked at Carly, who looked like she was guilty about something. Maybe she was also feeling the same way about the situation and felt bad considering that it was her boyfriend's mother we were all talking smack about.
"Strike that, Ratchet. It's only recon." I guess Arcee felt that she could relate to Miko. "They're safe with us." With that, she spun around and wandered away with Sunburst in tow.
"Sweet!" Miko cheered as she and Carly leapt onto Bulkhead's servo. He raised it over to my shoulder for Carly to jump on before he allowed Miko on his own, "Crank up track seven, Bulk!"
"Track seven?" Arcee repeated in confusion as we continued our walking.
Sudden heavy metal music began blaring out around us from Bulkhead's chest compartment. I cringed at the noise. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. I was used to the rock music Carly had been listening to lately. Something about the early 2000's era of rock music being the best era for music, in her opinion. I couldn't help but agree.
"Don't you think that's a little loud for recon?!" Arcee questioned Bulkhead, obviously unhappy with the noise. At the 'telling off', Bulkhead turned his music off, causing Miko to pause in her dancing around and moan in disappointment, sitting down on her guardian's shoulder. Arcee, however, was still glaring at them, "A scout should be silent but deadly."
Bulkhead and Miko gave one look at each other and started cracking up in giggles of laughter. Even Carly shook a little before also letting out a few giggles of her own. I was confused, but regardless, I still smiled at my charge now seeming to brighten up her tone. Poor Arcee looked confused, but she wasn't the only one.
"What? What did she say?" Sunburst questioned.
"'Silent, but deadly' means something completely different on Earth," Bulkhead answered when he had stopped laughing.
"Bulk! Let's get our recon on!" Miko decided as the two moved forward in our group.
"Come on 'Swept! Let's do this!" I couldn't help but grin as Carly cheered with excitement. I sped up my walking to join Bulkhead and Miko. I was happy that Carly had now perked up now that she wasn't be constantly watched by Miss Darby.
"I always take point," I heard Arcee begin to protest.
"I know, but Miko and Carly like to be upfront so they can see." I raised my eyebrow at Carly when Bulkhead said that. She only giggled at the reaction - she goes out on recons without me?
"So much for being my human friend." I rolled my optics in fake disappointment.
Carly laughed as the four of us continued following the signal, "I'll always be your human friend, 'Swept."
Arcee's small mutter behind us caught my attention, "No matter where I turn, I'm the third wheel."
"Join the club."
I immediately felt bad. Arcee and Sunburst were both struggling with recent events and inner turmoil. Both of them were already feeling a tad useless as it was. Bulkhead, Miko, Carly and I were pretty much rubbing it in their faces that we were happy with things the way there were. Well… in certain aspects I was. But that wasn't the point… I felt like I was being a lousy person allowing them to feel left behind as they do now.
"Looks like Ratchet's magnetic flux is coming from-"
The sounds of fighting caught our attention and stopped Bulkhead from speaking. Immediately, we ducked for cover as we spotted Breakdown and Airachnid fighting a hard battle. Instantly, I noticed the eye patch Breakdown now had over the optic he had lost a few weeks from MECH. I wonder what Moonlight was looking like now without her winglets on her back. I cringed at the thought of having my winglets torn off my back. I'd miss them, that's for sure.
Back to the battle; Airachnid shoved Breakdown to the ground, racing towards a hand-held object a few feet away. She was grabbed by the Decepticon by her extended limbs, about to be thrown around like a rag doll. But she then kicked Breakdown to try and gain the upper hand once more.
"Airachnid," Arcee growled.
"And Breakdown," Miko recognised, looking at her guardian, "Both yours and Arcee's arch enemies! And they're mashing it up!"
Breakdown had the object in his servo, a sudden orange field vibrating around his lower arm. Airachnid clambered over him try and grab the weapon, but Breakdown was too quick, throwing her off of him and continuing their battle.
"Over that!" Bulkhead mentioned about the object.
Arcee agreed, "The source of the magnetic disturbance."
"I think I know what that device is!" Sunburst realised beside me with a jump.
"Oh good. Then you can tell me what it is before I go and retrieve it for dear Megatron." My Energon boiled with anger at the voice. I spun around quickly, discovering Slipstream standing with a smirk. "And you brought friends for me to take to him too! It must be my lucky day!"
"Like hell it is," I snarled, allowing Carly to jump off my shoulder as I stood to full height.
Miko gasped behind, "Ooooh, it's Windswept' arch enemy!"
Slipstream only kept the smirk on her face as she leapt up and over the group of us, going to join the battle below.
"Oh no she doesn't!" That was all I could manage out of my gritted denta before I pulled a dive bomb move on her, tackling her away from where Breakdown and Airachnid were fighting.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
After seeing her guardian dive towards her enemy, Carly knew immediately that this recon mission she had chased Miko to was a mistake. This simple recon mission had quickly turned into a survival one. Her friend, however, was yet to think so...
"Alright. What's the plan?"
The next thing Carly knew, Miko was joining her on the ground with her arms folded, an angry look on her face. Her guardian had decided that the mission had gotten much too dangerous for his charge to her to be involved.
"Miko, Carly, don't move," Bulkhead instructed with a sigh, pointing towards Miko, "I mean it."
Ignoring Miko's moan of disappointment, Bulkhead joined Arcee and Sunburst, activating his wrecking ball weapon. Sunburst slowly and carefully pulled out a battle axe from behind him and Arcee activated her small blasters. They had already come up with a plan - with Slipstream already distracted, Bulkhead and Arcee were going to go in and attack their arch-enemies while Sunburst was going to sneak in, grab the weapon and escape back to the two girls hidden.
With a small nod at another, the trio began sneaking towards the battle.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I dodged a punch from Slipstream, following it with a quick roundhouse kick to knock my enemy off her feet and away from me. She smashed into the rock face nearby, looking like she was knocked down for a little while.
"Arcee." Airachnid's voice gained my attention. I spun around to find her and Breakdown looking up at Arcee and Bulkhead. "And look. You've brought another partner for me to snuff."
"That would be Bulkhead," Breakdown told her, rising to his feet.
"Who asked you?" Airachnid snapped beside him.
Wait… where's Sunburst?
Bulkhead held out his servo for Arcee, who immediately stepped on it before she was launched into the air, firing multiple shots on Breakdown. After landing, she and Breakdown went to charge at one another, but Airachnid was quick to leap in front of him.
"No! She's mine!" She charged after her enemy quickly after that being said.
"You know, Windswept." I spun around at Slipstream's voice, looking at her intently. "Standing around not gonna make life easier on you. Just ask your dear sister, hmm? Standing around and curling up to that pathetic lump Sunburst got her wiped from Cybertron."
How dare she say that about my family?! HOW DARE SHE!
"Where is she, now Windswept? Where is Whirlwind?" Slipstream continued taunting, "Is she dead?"
I growled and activated my blasters, firing shot after shot at her as I charged up to her to give her a real beating. No, I had no idea where my sister was, but there was no way I would ever think that she was dead… She just couldn't be...
"I hope she's dead. It would give me one less person you love to ki-OOF!" I paused in my charge as Sunburst suddenly tackled her from completely out of nowhere and began throwing punches of rage at her.
I slapped my forehead with my blaster in frustration. Sunburst must been around in time for her to say those things about me and my twin sister. And he was already feeling agitated about missing Whirlwind as it was. Slipstream was just fueling his fire. But with the distraction, I got the chance to see if I could find the weapon Breakdown just had in his servos a few minutes ago.
Breakdown had just gone flying onto the ground when I had turned around, Bulkhead obviously having gained the upper hand in their battle. Nearby him though, was the small servo-held object that had caused the large magnetic signal. This was my chance to grab it while I could. So I sprinted into a run just as Airachnid toppled over Breakdown once more.
But as I went to get closer to it, I was tackled from behind by Slipstream, landing hard onto the ground. She gained the upper hand, grabbing my throat and pinning my arms with her servo and a knee.
Well scrap...
"Do you even know what that does?" Airachnid's screech forced us to look at Breakdown, who had activated the handheld object. "It's not a toy!"
Airachnid went scampering away from the scene, but that wasn't my worry. My concern was trying to get Slipstream off me before she attempted to decapitate me from the neck first. But a blaster shot quickly forced her off of me, flying over to a rock face a distant away from me.
With her now down for the count, I went to stand up near Bulkhead, who was activating his servo into his wrecking ball weapon. Breakdown suddenly activated the weapon he had towards us, knocking us over with a sudden force and pulling us towards him. I attempted to dig my nails into the ground, but this magnetic pull that was drawing us closer to Breakdown wasn't going to allow my fight against it.
"HEY!" Bulkhead cried out when he realised that he couldn't stop himself from the pull.
Arcee and Sunburst were next to pull towards us and Breakdown as we all pretty much circled before him. Suddenly, we were lifted into the air when Breakdown lifted his arm further. He chuckled and muttered something to himself before pressing a button on the weapon. And the next thing we knew, we were slamming into something behind us. Hard.
"Megatron's gonna love this." The sounds of transforming told me that Breakdown was driving and Slipstream was flying away from us.
"Windswept!"
"Bulkhead!"
I groaned as I opened my optics to the very bright sun shining down from above. Awh man, that sun's bright...
Bulkhead groaned nearby, causing me to look over at him where Miko was climbing up the rocks to get to him. Carly meanwhile was racing towards me, slowing to a walk when she saw that I was awake. Out of the corner of my optic, however, I spotted something yellow. Sunburst kind of yellow. I must have landed on my brother-in-law's back thanks to that very very strong weapon Breakdown had used against us.
"You okay Sunshine?" I asked him gently.
"Mmmm, oh! Yeah, great. Just fantastic." ...I'll take that as a no...
"The 'Con's getting away! Hey! My phone!"
Miko began grunting like she was attempting to pull something off of somewhere. I blinked quickly in an attempt to get a better look at my surroundings. I saw Miko was attempting to pull something off Bulkhead… something pink…
Her phone?
"It's stuck!"
But the phone wasn't Bulkhead's concern. And neither was mine, to be honest. "Where's Arcee?"
Miko groaned in frustration, "Why don't you just marry her?!"
"I'm right behind you."
"Where?" Bulkhead asked when he looked around.
"Let's just say, she's got your back," Miko told him, taking a look at his backside.
Bulkhead spun around in search for her. And I nearly jumped up in disbelief.
Arcee was now stuck to Bulkhead's upper back.
And boy did she looked pissed…
I attempted to sit up so I could try to get some clarity about my surroundings. But for some reason, I couldn't pull myself up. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn't moving except for my arms and legs. It was like something was keeping me down on Sunburst' back…
Or keeping me stuck to him…
Uh oh…
"Uhhh, heeeyyyy Sunburst?"
"Mmmmm?"
I tried to be as gentle with my words as possible, "Could you try and stand up for me please?"
Sunburst did so slowly, climbing up to his knees first and then eventually on his feet. I blinked my optics in frustration at the realisation. Just like Arcee was stuck to Bulkhead, I was also stuck to Sunburst.
Arcee meanwhile was grunting and groaning, trying to pull herself off Bulkhead with all her might. But she eventually gave up, slamming her fist on Bulkhead's back, "Scrap."
"Hey Windswept? Where'd you go?" Sunburst asked innocently as he began spinning around in search for me.
I only sighed and closed my optics at the predicament we were now in…
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Meanwhile, driving down the highway was Breakdown. He had been successful in the mission he had practically begged Megatron to let him out for. And he didn't even need Slipstream to help him, let alone watch over him like the Warlord had insisted her too.
"Breakdown here. I'm gonna need a bri-."
Breakdown was interrupted by a large boulder suddenly rolling onto the road before him. Barely dodging it, he was unable to brake in time before he was suddenly wrapped up sticking webbing. He transformed and attempted to free himself from the webbing, barely being able to move a single limb. He grunted in frustration of his as he realised that he was stuck in the webs.
Having seen her teammate become entangled in the webs from Airachnid, Slipstream lowered her aerial form down, watching and waiting for Airachnid's next move...
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"You've been magnetized? Together? And so have Windswept and Sunburst?"
Yes Ratchet, unfortunately, that was our predicament. No matter how hard Miko tried, she was unable to pull Arcee off of Bulkhead's back. And the same could go for Carly attempting to pull me off Sunburst'. It was like we were magnets stuck together.
The girls eventually gave up, "They're inseparable." The teens turned and looked at each funny when they said that at the same time.
"And the device that did this is on its way to Megatron," Bulkhead added just as Arcee and I sighed in frustration.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
"A polarity gauntlet," Ratchet realised, leaning his arm over the railing. He looked at Raf, Jack and June, who had taken seats near the human computers, "A deceptively simple but diabolical creation."
"I had hoped that the relic wasn't that, Ratch," Sunburst huffed, "Alpha Trion had warned me about that weapon once. I spotted it during battle on Cybertron."
"Just tell us you can unhitch us, Ratchet," Arcee simply requested, obviously uninterested in anything but getting free from Bulkhead.
"It may simply be a residual magnetic charge providing your current…attraction," Ratchet answered, struggling to come up with a term for the situation his teammates had found themselves in.
"They're not attracted to each other!"
"'Swept and I did tell you we're pretty much siblings, right?"
Ratchet only rolled his optics and continued, "But I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet is our surest bet for reversing its effect. Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet…"
"He'll be using it for a whole lot more than attaching notes and family photos to the fridge," Jack finished in realisation, looking at his mother and Raf.
"Jack, I'm not following," June stated nervously.
"Madam, we are forged of metal alloy. If Megatron could repel us at the flick of a switch, we might never again have a shot at him," Ratchet explained.
"Instant force field," Raf simplified.
"Worse yet. He might use it to meld us all into a scrap pile," Ratchet told them before looking up at the monitors, "The good news is the gauntlet hasn't travelled far."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"I would strongly advise pursuit."
So that was our best option? Pursuing Breakdown and Slipstream? I mean, yeah they haven't gotten very far, but they could be anywhere waiting for us. And don't forget Airachnid. Giving our current states, that doesn't bode well for any of us combined.
"We can catch up faster on wheels," Bulkhead decided, punching his fists together and rising to his feet.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" Arcee began protesting as Bulkhead and Sunburst began walking, "And snap me in half?"
"Riiiiiight," Bulkhead remembered.
"Sweet!" Miko cheered in front of Bulkhead and Sunburst, "Carly and I'll take point!"
"I think it's time you two head back to base," I decided. I didn't want to take any more risks with Breakdown, Slipstream or Airachnid still possibly nearby. Slipstream caught me out the first time, another time like that and she might actually get away with taking another friend away from me. "It's not safe out here anymore."
"What? But Arcee said-!"
"That was recon!" Arcee snapped, "This is war."
NO ONE'S P.O.V
"I'm not risking your well-being just so you can hit your daily adrenaline quota. Ratchet, Miko and Carly need a 'bridge."
"Coming up," Ratchet nodded as he headed to the Groundbridge controls.
"ARGH! You think Jack's mom is bad? You sound just like her!"
Upon hearing Miko's complaints, June immediately turned to her son worriedly, "Is that such a bad thing?"
"Wh… uhhh…" Jack sighed, trying to figure out what to say, "I'm gonna go over here." He walked away towards the railing to wait for his girlfriend and their friend to appear through the soon-to-be-opened Groundbridge.
June looked at Raf worriedly, who could only give her a comfortingly smile in response. Why was he always ending up in the middle of a conflict?
"It fits!" Airachnid cheered as she grabbed the polarity gauntlet from her enemy. She had now trapped Breakdown and Slipstream behind an old gas station, leaving him wrapped up in nothing but webbing. "You know, a girl can never have too many accessories."
"Sometimes girls prefer to be without them, you know." Airachnid ignored the blue and purple Decepticon who had attempted to perform a surprise attack on her. For Slipstream to be wrapped up in webbing, her attempt had obviously failed.
"You were a Decepticon once. We can bring the prize to Megatron together," Breakdown attempted to reason with the former Decepticon.
"Go back to that mostly Boys Club?" Airachnid scoffed, "I struck out on my own because I don't like to share." She held up the weapon. "This will provide the perfect repellent against 'Bots and 'Cons alike."
Breakdown could only watch as Airachnid flaunted her just acquired weapon around. Maybe he wasn't exactly ready to be able to go on missions with his lone eye...
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
With the girls now back at base, they weren't around to feel the tense atmosphere surrounding the four of us. After Miko had snapped at Arcee and pretty calling her Miss Darby, Arcee had gone silent and had not spoken a word since. She did nothing except for just hang around on the back of Bulkhead.
Actually, that was what both she and I did.
It was weird not being the ones to walk around for once. The boys instead had to pretty much carry us. I hope they weren't gonna complain about how heavy we are. Arcee and I were only little!
"Never had eyes on the back of my head before," Bulkhead commented, "Or blasters to cover my rear. And you get a built-in shield." The sound of him punching his chassis with his fist told me he was trying to get Arcee to talk.
"You guys don't really think I sound like June, do you?" Arcee asked us nervously.
"Um…" Bulkhead didn't know what to say.
"Erm…" Neither did Sunburst.
"Eh…" Yeah, I didn't have anything to say either. Arcee doesn't sound like Miss Darby as such. I guess they have different ways of looking out for the people they care about.
"She's overprotective. I'm just…protective," Arcee tried to make her point.
"Totally different," Bulkhead nodded.
"Mm-hmm!" I hummed in agreement. Then I let out a sigh. I felt bad about squeezing Arcee and Sunburst out earlier when Bulkhead and I had our charges with us. I hadn't said anything about it, but I felt like I had too. "Arcee, Sunburst… I'm sorry about before. Leaving you out like Bulk and I did. We didn't realise just how much you guys were feeling left out."
"Everything's changing, 'Swept. You know I don't cope well with change." Very true. Sunburst has struggled with situations changing in the past, especially with the 'bots who came and went in Iacon. Maybe Raindrop's death gave him the extra push to go find my sister.
"Change can sometimes be a good thing," Bulkhead tried to reason with Sunburst.
"But most of the time, it's a bad thing." Ahh, good ol' stubborn Sunshine. Convincing him that change can sometimes be a blessing in disguise would take the rest of our lives and longer…
"Having June around makes me question how I treat Jack sometimes," Arcee blurted suddenly beside me, "He isn't a child, but he isn't exactly an adult either. And I know he can take care of himself. But June keeps questioning everything we do and I don't know what I can do to stop her from letting me do my job as being his guardian."
"Maybe you should talk to her about it. Tell her it's bothering you," I suggested, "I think it's your best bet."
Arcee went silent again. Nothing more was said when the scanner Bulkhead was carrying started beeping. That could only mean one thing.
"The gauntlet's close."
"Tell us what's going on," I whispered to Sunburst. It was a little hard for Arcee and me to see what was going on, given that everything we could see, Bulkhead and Sunburst would've seen it before us.
"It's quiet… too quiet." I rolled my optics at that statement from Sunburst. "Anything Bulkhead?"
I could hear Bulkhead activating one of his weapons. Something must have been around that he felt threatened by. Arcee and I activated our twin blasters just in case. I felt a sudden pull on my back like someone was trying to pull something out from between mine and Sunburst' glued backs.
"Damn it!" Sunburst whispered in frustration, activating his blaster, "You're glued to my axes!"
"Well, that's not m-"
"Shhhh!"
I instantly closed my mouth at the sounds of grunts and groaning nearby. I tapped Sunburst' back to let him know that Arcee and I wanted to know what was going on.
"Breakdown and Slipstream are trapped in Airachnid's web. She must be nearby. And armed with the gauntlet."
Not good.
"I assume Arcee isn't far behind." Oh yeah, Airachnid's here alright...
"You might say that," Bulkhead smirked.
"Blaster hands in the air and turn around," Airachnid instructed.
"Whatever you say."
Sunburst and Bulkhead deactivated their weapons. The next Arcee and I knew we were coming face to face with Airachnid. We fired multiple blaster shots at her, making the spider-con scuttle back in fright. Obviously she hadn't been expecting that we weren't as far behind as she thought. One of Arcee's blaster shots managed to hit Airachnid's servo, knocking the polarity gauntlet out onto the ground.
The weapon suddenly activated from the hit to the ground, an orange forcefield circling around it. And once again, anything that was metal, including us, we're all attracted towards it. Sunburst was knocked off his feet, Bulkhead too beside us. The force of the magnetic pull was really strong this time. It even managed to pull Slipstream and Breakdown out of their webbed traps and they were wrapped up in those tight!
Breakdown managed to get a hold of the weapon and deactivated the magnetic pull, sending us tumbling over towards Slipstream. Bulkhead and Arcee rolled over on the former's feet and between Breakdown and Airachnid.
"Still up for that truce, muscles?" Airachnid offered.
"Only because I hate Bulkhead more than I hate you," Breakdown agreed.
"Quit the flirting and destroy them already!" Slipstream spat out
As Breakdown swung his hammer and Bulkhead, Arcee and Airachnid began fighting behind him. Slipstream meanwhile was charging towards me, her fists ready for a fight. I curled my servos into fists and prepared myself. With me still stuck to Sunshine's - the mech throwing the odd blaster shot towards the bad guys behind me - back, I was a bit unsure of how this was gonna go.
Slipstream swung punches left right and centre quickly like blaster fire. I dodged all that I could, but the ones that did only hit my shoulders and sometimes my chest. I threw a couple towards her, ending the small melee with a rather large kick to the stomach and sending her flying a few feet away.
"Bulkhead! Would you stay still?!"
"My bad." Guess the 'attraction' between Bulkhead and Arcee, if there had ever been one, no longer existed. "Need a hand?"
"No! She's mine!"
Slipstream began charging up towards me again, but I had another idea in mind.
"Sunburst, your turn!" Sunshine did as he was told, swinging around to give Slipstream a face full of fist.
I managed to get a look at the scene before me. Bulkhead was now attempting to fight Airachnid, which wasn't really going so well. Breakdown however, worried me. He had been knocked down and was now activating the gauntlet again. And we all know how that ended last time...
"Two bots. One stone." A crane nearby was suddenly pulled apart by the magnetic pull of the weapon in Breakdown's servo. And pieces of it were flying towards us.
"Bulk! DUCK!" Arcee yelled out.
"DOWN SUNSHINE!"
While Sunburst did as he was told and leapt onto the ground face first, being the silly mech that he was, Bulkhead rather turned around instead of doing what he was told. He was smacked in the front by the crane part, knocking him onto the ground with Arcee pinned underneath him.
"Bulkhead... GET OFF!" I heard Arcee grumble loudly.
I turned my head to find Airachnid pinning my friend down further to the ground.
"Pinned like a bug. Of course, I can think of one permanent way out of your predicament." Airachnid raised her sharply-clawed limbs towards my friend, the latter attempting to slip her way out from underneath Bulkhead's back.
"I'll take topside," Breakdown decided, going to swing his weapon towards Bulkhead.
Scrap! My friends were about to get killed and here's me being unable to do anything because I'm still glued to Sunburst' back!
"Show's over 'Swept." I looked up ahead of me, finding Slipstream preparing to shoot her missile from her arm. "We had a good run, you and I. A shame it has to end."
I closed my optics, preparing myself for the final blow. There was nothing I could do. If I try to fight back, we get blown up. If I even activated my weapons, we get blown up. If I did anything, we'll get blown up! There was just no way to win here!
"Don't touch my sister!"
I was suddenly flung away from Slipstream. I landed on my stomach hard, taking the energy I had out of me. I lifted myself onto my arms to watch Slipstream went flying from the sudden attack from Sunburst, joining Breakdown and Airachnid nearby who had also been knocked to the ground.
Wait… Sunburst?! Without me on his back!
"I'm free!" I wasn't the only one cheering. As I got to my feet, I saw Arcee and Bulkhead standing up and readying themselves for a fight.
Yes! None of us were stuck together anymore!
With our Decepticon enemies now back on their feet, the four of us charged towards the three of them. Sunburst started the attack on Slipstream, swinging one of his now-free battle axes to her. I fired multiple shots at her while I looked around in search of the polarity gauntlet. Arcee and Breakdown were fighting. Bulkhead and Airachnid were charging towards one another… Ahh, there it is, right behind Bulkhead…
I deactivated my blasters and went sprinting towards the weapon. I couldn't allow the 'Cons to get their hands on it again leave us all in a big pile of metal.
Just as I was about to scoop the weapon up in my servo, I was suddenly flung away from it. I landed a few feet away, watching as Airachnid scuttled over to it on her extended limbs. I attempted to get up to try and fight it off her, but I soon realised I couldn't. I looked down at my leg, which had been covered in Airachnid's sticky webbing and was pinning it to the ground.
"Let's leave the boys to themselves." I looked up at Airachnid's voice, activating the gauntlet towards Arcee and pulling her away from Breakdown. Her servo grabbed onto the weapon, being trapped there by the weapon. Airachnid couldn't help herself but comment at the maneuver she had pulled. "That would be the 'up close and personal' setting."
Knowing that fighting the webbing was pointless, I looked around to try and see what I could do to help the others. Airachnid and Arcee were deep into yet another fight and so were Bulkhead and Breakdown. I bit my lip, trying to search for Sunburst and Slipstream. But when I found Sunburst, I knew it wasn't good. He had been knocked down already and was struggling to get up.
"Watch your back, 'Swept!" I looked over my shoulder and found Slipstream flying down to nosedive on me. I quickly rolled onto my back as she transformed, landing with one foot over each side of my torso. I transformed my servos into blasters and went to fire at her, but she stepped on my left blaster and aimed her missile at my other blaster. "Cause Sunburst isn't here to take care of it now."
Well scrap.
"This is it, Windswept. Face the facts." She bent down so that she was almost face-to-face with me. "It's over. You're over."
No! This wasn't over yet! This is not how my fight ends!
I headbutted Slipstream, knocking her out of balance. With both blasters free, I powered them up to fire at her, but she was suddenly knocked over by a flying Airachnid, sending them a distance away from me. I looked behind me to find Arcee now with the gauntlet in her servo, an orange force field surrounding it.
"Opposites do not attract," she smirked.
As we climbed to our feet, I looked over at Sunburst to see if he was okay. Based on the fact that he was climbing up on his feet from his servos and knees, I presumed he was. He looked a little disoriented, but okay nonetheless. The sounds of a battle cry caught my attention, finding Bulkhead and Breakdown charging at one another with their servo-held weapons ready to swing. When they swung at each other, some sort of barrier appeared between them, I don't know what it was, but it pushed the two away from one another.
Breakdown fired a missile from his shoulder at Bulkhead, who had his servos ready to catch it. However, it bounced off him and headed straight back to the one it fired from. But it also bounced off him and up into the sky where it blew apart in orange flames and black smoke.
"We can't touch metal," Breakdown realised.
I gasped, "We're polarized!"
Sudden webbing appeared from around Arcee's servo where the gauntlet was. She gasped as it was ripped out of her servo and into Airachnid's. "Always leave on a high note." She transformed into her helicopter form she had gotten from Agent Fowler two weeks ago and began flying away.
I looked over at the direction she was heading and spotted Sunburst closest to her,"Sunburst!
"The gauntlet!" Arcee yelled at him when he looked up.
Sunburst looked at Airachnid's helicopter form and looked back down at the building Breakdown and Slipstream were pinned to a while ago. He climbed up on the building and leapt from it towards Airachnid, grabbing her helicopter form as she soon spun out of control.
"That weapon's going straight to Megatron!" Oh, shut up Slipstream. I turned and found her about kick me away. With us still being polarized, I simply watched as her attempt failed, bouncing off and away from me over towards the gas station.
I looked back at Sunburst, who was guiding Airachnid over to where Breakdown was, who was trying to outrun the flying Cybertronians. But it wasn't enough as Sunburst' strength allowed him to through the helicopter towards him, knocking them over and straight into the gas station Slipstream had just landed on moments ago.
The dust cleared, revealing the polarity gauntlet just sitting at Arcee's feet. She picked it up and looked at us with a grin. We got the weapon AND we were no longer stuck together. That's what I call a successful mission.
"Let's finish this," Bulkhead decided.
"And risk becoming twins again?" Arcee asked him rhetorically.
I shook my head with a laugh and took a few steps away from them, "As much as I do love you guys, I think we've gotten a little too close today."
Sunburst nodded as we all began to walk away from the scene, "Yeah I think I've had enough of Windswept for one day."
I rolled my optics at him sarcastically. That definitely, absolutely, one-hundred percent hurt my feelings...
We safely managed to return to base without getting stuck to one another; even with the worry of when Bulkhead asked to look at the weapon and promised not to touch any of the buttons. So we were relieved when he handed it over to Ratchet for him to store somewhere away from anything metal.
"Souvenir," Bulkhead stated, "But..."
"We don't advise indoor use," Arcee finished.
"Ewwww," Miko groaned, "They even finish each other's sentences."
"Miko, check it out. New battle scars." The girl's cringing soon disappeared as she opened her phone and began taking pictures of her guardian.
"Arcee, hey!" I looked down at Jack and Carly walking up towards us.
Miss Darby grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "Let the adults talk." She quickly began walking over to Arcee, "Arcee, I think I owe you an apology."
"You do?" Arcee questioned in confusion.
"I worry. Especially when I feel like I can't control things…which, with a teenager is all the time," Miss Darby began explaining, "Jack and I have always been close, especially after his Dad left. I guess it's hard to accept that all that's changing." She paused for a moment before looking back up at Arcee. "I mean, I knew it would someday. But you're not quite the type of girl that I thought Jack would be ditching me for, which surprised me as he doesn't spend as much time with Carly as I thought."
I kinda couldn't help but shrug my shoulders slightly at that last statement. It was kind of true, but kinda not. Jack spends a lot of his time at the base when he isn't at school and base, and when he's here or at school, Carly's normal here or there. But I suppose Jack does get to spend that extra time with Arcee as she is his transportation vehicle now.
"I guess we've all been a little guilty to staying attached to the way things were."
It kind of went without saying that all of us have had a difficult time adjusting with Miss Darby now knowing about us. It wasn't such a big deal the first time around as when Jack, Carly, Miko and Raf first found out, we didn't know what to expect with them, and they're not even legal age yet. With Miss Darby, it was definitely different. She was an adult and a mother, so of course, she's going to have opinions like she talked about.
I looked at Sunburst beside me, who's shoulders had slumped at the discussion of change. I rubbed his arm comfortingly, causing him to look at me with a sad smile. I only mirrored it with a reassuring one. Sunburst did struggle with change and it was hard for him to accept that not everything was the same as it was. And with Jack and Carly in their relationship now, that was also difficult for him to accept that they had each other and his other half was somewhere out in space. But while he's struggled with those changes, he's also managed to deal with them and move on. I had a funny feeling that this time was going to be no different.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Slipstream and Breakdown had eventually returned to the Nemesis, both battered and bruised from their unsuccessful mission in bringing in the polarity gauntlet. Slipstream knew Megatron was going to be very unhappy, especially as he had ordered her to make sure that Breakdown was able to perform the mission successfully. But as she thought about what had occurred, maybe he wasn't going to be as angry as she suspected.
"Breakdown, Slipstream," Megatron growled in greeting, having realised that none of them was carrying a weapon in hand, "You dared to return empty-handed?!"
"No master." Breakdown spun around, turning his back towards Megatron.
Slipstream snorted. He would've turned his back towards his master had he not had a passenger on board.
"Airachnid," Megatron greeted in surprise, "It has been some time."
"Lord Megatron, what can I say? It's good to be back."
Slipstream snorted once more: as if Airachnid even had a choice.
And that's it for another chapter... again, possibly for the year. I'd like to get another out before New Years, but it'd mostly like be just after it that something new would come out... (unless, you know, a review spurs me into it, right?)
So, I guess you could say see you next year...?
...Huh, wow... 2019 has been an up and down year - finally scored my first job, but even that little road was a difficult one. Still is, actually. I definitely have some big decisions I need to make throughout the next few months to this time next year. What does that mean for this story, you ask? Well, I can't see myself giving up this joy in a hurry; it's my safe haven and the place I go to when my mental health does a little 180. Plus, I've got some big goals I want to tick off before my birthday next year. So at the moment, I think this story is safe.
And let's not forget that I have some crazy storylines for this series coming up which I'm excited about. I've been having a big think about what I originally had planned going into Season 2 (for those wanting to know, I'm still currently writing drafts for the first few chapters of the sequel) recently and because of the iffy timeline in the series, some of those won't be going ahead. Maybe in the future, I'll let you guys know what those were, but I can't tell you yet 'cause those would probably spoil what's coming up (I wouldn't say no to any theories in the reviews though).
I can tell you this - the start of the prequel will go alongside the debut of the sequel's first chapter. Both of the first chapters and their following chapters will kind of come at similar times. Then, because I'm not intending for the prequel to be that long (I'm thinking 30 chapters at the most/least), it'll get updated now and then while Season 2 progresses. Wishful thinking says the prequel will end when Season 3 does (the movie might be a separate entry, but unsure).
Of course, as we all know, there was a loose sequel to TFP titled RID2015. Will I be diving into that one post The Windswept Chronicles (still not quite settled on this title; wanting to add a little bit more to it somehow?) ...It is a work in progress, I'll say that now... * insert frustrated sigh here * It's a difficult one because it's so different from Prime's atmosphere - to keep it within the tone of this series would be a tall order. But I like a challenge so, at the moment, we'll call it a work-in-progress, and leave at that.
Once again, thank you so much, everyone, for following this story for the last two years (early November to be exact). I cannot wait to see how the next one goes. Let's make 2020 the big one for this series!
Thank you for reading.