Chapter 11

Sorry for getting this late, but when your brother has the computer all day for...well most of the week, giving you little time to use it, its hard to do write a chapter.

Also, the mystery girl's identity will be revealed in this chapter.


Jump city news station


"Breaking news!" Yelled a news reporter in a news station. "A giant robotic monster is out rampaging across the city! No one knows how this monstrosity appeared or its reasoning for doing so, but we can be certain that destroying our beloved city. Currently, the Teen Titans, the hero Soundwave, and the police are fighting the beast as well as evacuating the civilian population to safe locations. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, the monster is still rampaging the city with no signs of stopping. We can only hope that other heroes will come to save the day or that our own heroes can stop it before there's no city left to defend." As the news reporter rambled on, a police car was speeding its way to Jump City, ignoring all the cars that were evacuating the city in a haste to survive. The sole occupant, a pale girl, just struggled to not throw up. The constant swerves and quick turns to avoid crashing into people were upsetting her stomach. She hoped that they would get to the city quick and that there was a trash can nearby for her to throw up in. Thankfully, the car soon stopped in the cities' outskirts. It then allowed the girl to get out, who did so with relief. As she tried to catch her breath, the car soon transformed into a robot that looked at her.

"Will you be able to fight?" Asked the robot as it looked at the city, hearing the sounds of battle and the roars of a monster.

"Yeah." The girl said as she raised her hand. "Just give me a minute." After catching her breath, she turned and glared at the robot. "I hate it when you go so fast, especially after I eat."

"Suck it up." The robot said before readying his arm-mounted guns. "We got a gestalt to stop." The girl simply sighed before her hands were engulfed in some sort of red energy.

"Whatever." The girl said. "Could use the practice." With that, the two left to face the gestalt rampaging through the city.


Deeper in the city


Beast boy let out a yelp as he dodged a car being thrown at him. Checking to see if he lost any limps, he let out a sigh of relief before complaining.

"Man, this thing is tough. Any suggestions Soundwave?" Asked Beast boy as he turned to Soundwave, who was opening fire on Monstructor with some sort of machine gun. He was also at his full size, knowing it was necessary to fight Monstructor.

"I told you already. Target the weak spot on the chest. With enough amount of power, It'll force him to disassemble to his component parts." Soundwave then dodged as Monstructor threw a lamppost at him.

"Easier said than done!" Cyborg yelled out as he fired at the chest, something that Monstructor ignored as his shields absorbed the hits. "Things got some impressive shield tech. Can't get a hit through." Just as Monstructor was about to throw a car at Cyborg, he was suddenly hit by a large slab of concrete to the face, surprising him. Turning to where it came from, he received a barrage of star bolts and rocks to the face. Shaking its face, Monstructor let out a roar before trying to swipe at Starfire and Raven, who just moved out of the way. "Any ideas to disable them." Soundwave just looked around them, hoping to find something that can help them. Gestalts, unfortunately for them at the moment, usually had shielding and armor that was graded for starship hulls, which was the reason they were a force to be reckon with on the battlefield along with their strength and heavy weaponry. Usually to beat gestalts, one needed a formation of tanks or air support and that usually with heavy casualties unless they got lucky and hit the nerve center for it. From what Soundwave could remember there was never any confirmed report of anyone beating a gestalt on foot before ever. So, he was kind of at a loss of what to do against Monstructor. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have any weaponry with him aside from his sheer power. And Monstructor, being one of the oldest of gestalts, didn't have any shielding. Just strong armor. Thinking quickly, he looked at Cyborg.

"If you can disorient him for some time, we may be able to have enough time to target his chest. Can you do so?" Cyborg just looked at his cannon and nodded. He then looked at the battlefield and began to think up a strategy. It only took him a few minutes until he had a plan.

"Beast boy!" Upon hearing his name, Beast boy looked at Cyborg. "Go help Soundwave and Raven with distracting that thing. I'll try and get to higher ground without that thing spotting me." Seeing Beast Boy nod, he sprinted toward Starfire.

"Alright then, time to distract a large robot." With that, Beast boy turned into an eagle and roared towards Monstructor. Monstructor was about to make a grab on Raven when Beast Boy landed on top of him and suddenly turned into a gorilla. With a roar, Beast boy began to punch into Monstructor's optics. Though they were reinforced to a degree, the punches to his optics made Monstructor roar out in anger. He attempted to grab Beast boy, but the shapeshifter just turned into a bee and flew away, narrowly avoiding being crushed by Monstructor's talons. Growling in confusion at the sudden disappearance of Beast Boy, Monstructor was unprepared when Raven engulfed him in energy. Gritting her teeth, Raven forced Monstructor to the ground and trying to hold him in place. This only lasted a total of 15 seconds before the gestalt broke out. When he did, Raven slumped to the ground as holding Monstructor in place drained a significant amount of her energy. Seeing the weakened prey, Monstructor was about to crush her with his foot when he suddenly was hit with a rocket to the back of his head. Turning around, he was suddenly hit with another rocket, this time to his face. Taking a step back, Monstructor nearly crushed Raven when Beast Boy saved her at the last minute. Shaking his head, Monstructor just growled before roaring in anger upon seeing Soundwave with a missile launcher. Firing one last time, Soundwave transformed into his alt mode and charged right at Monstructor. Readying itself, Monstructor was about to slam his fists onto Soundwave when suddenly hit with a massive blast of sonic force to the side of his head. Though it didn't harm him much, it did disorient him enough that he couldn't see for a few moments, more than enough time for Starfire to come and hit him in the chest. Upon registering the hit to his weak point, Monstructor slammed his own chest to stop enough from targeting it.

"Eek!" Squeaked Starfire before moving out of the way of the fist.

"Nice try!" Yelled Monstructor as he tried to grab Starfire to no avail. He then slammed his foot into Soundwave who was getting away from Monstructor when the plan didn't work. He was sent flying away from the battlefield, but he just transformed back into robot form, checking his systems for any major damages. "But I won't go down that easily." Looking around, he eventually spotted Raven slumped next to a car with his scanners. Going for his weakened prey, Monstructor charged at the titan, who was too weak to do anything against Monstructor. Beasty boy, upon seeing this, transformed into a jaguar and tried to get Raven out of there. Unfortunately, Monstructor detected him coming via his radar and just slammed his fists at Beast Boy, who managed to dodge the fists, but not the shockwaves, which sent him sprawling to a store window, breaking it and knocking him out when he hit a fridge. Upon seeing this, Starfire rushed toward Beast Boy to see if his condition was critical. With both their flyer and shapeshifter out of commission, Monstructor marched toward Raven, ignoring the sonic blasts from Cyborg. When he got close enough, he raised his foot and was prepared to bring it down to Raven, who was staring wide-eyed at the foot, too weak to do anything. Soundwave was trying to get to her but was suffering some damage to one of his legs, making him unable to move until his systems repair the damage enough that he can move again. He could only watch as it got closer to her. Everyone expected Raven to be a stain on the pavement in a few moments but that never happened as Monstructor was hit with a crimson bolt of energy to the head that was soon followed up with a car. Shocked at the turn of events, Monstructor soon fell down to the floor. As everyone watched in shock at this, a girl's voice yelled out to them.

"What are you guys waiting for!" A girl then flew over to Raven and helped her up. "Got a giant robot monster here that's going to get up until we hit it in the chest!" Before anyone could respond, a police car raced past the girl and went to Monstructor who was getting up, glaring at the girl. Then, before everyone's eyes, the car transformed into a robot, which drop-kicked Monstructor in the chest, denting it, before throwing something on the chest that stuck. It then jumped over Monstructor to Soundwave. Monstructor tried to grab the robot before the object on his chest exploded, causing damage to his components, though they held together. As Monstructor was trying to recover, Soundwave looked at the bot, disbelief filled him as he saw the bot was someone, he never thought to see again.

"Barricade?" Said Soundwave. Though he couldn't see it due to the headgear, Barricade let out a small smirk.

"I see you're finally talking again, Soundwave." Said Barricade as he examined his fellow Decepticons damaged systems. He then brought out a small Energon cube and gave it to Soundwave, who immediately grabbed it and injected its contents to his systems. Once the extra Energon was in his systems, Soundwave's repair protocols began to repair his damages, primarily the ones in his legs. Getting up, Soundwave looked at Barricade.

"I'll speak to you later after we beat Monstructor and Slade, but for now know that it'll be a long conversation." Barricade just nodded before the two saw Monstructor glaring at them. "You have a plan for him?"

"I'm guessing your plan was to attack his nerve center and hope to do enough damage to force them to disassemble, right?" Soundwave just nodded. That was the plan, but it seemed they didn't have enough power to puncture the armor.

"Okay, we just need to keep pounding on the chest until they do. Have any rockets left?" Soundwave just held up three fingers. "That'll do. I'll get him to go for me, the rest of you aim for his chest." Barricade then just transformed and raced toward his legs while Soundwave contacted the Teen Titans and informed them of the new plan.

"You'll pay for that!" He then charged at an incoming car, leaving his chest exposed again. Barricade just stayed silent as he got closer and closer to Monstructor. Just as Monstructor was about to slam his fists to him, Barricade activated his thrusters to boast him off the ground and onto Monstructor's arms when his fists touched the grounds. The moment he landed, Barricade transformed and fired his gun, which was a shotgun into Monstructor's head. Monstructor tried to grab him, but Barricade just jumped out of the way and threw a grenade at his face, which exploded with a big white flash, blinding him temporarily. As Monstructor tried to recover himself, Cyborg was aiming for his weak spot. He only had enough power left for one more charged shot, so he had to make it count. As Monstructor was about to recover, he was suddenly hit with a star bolt via the back of his head. Turning around, he was then hit with a large crimson battering ram which was followed with even more star bolts. Unprepared for the battering ram or the barrage of star bolts, Monstructor fell down on his butt from the force, which was something that Cyborg was waiting for.

"Got ya." Cyborg then fired his last charged shot at Monstructor's chest. The chest's armor held for a moment before it started to crack under the pressure. Eventually, the armor broke and the sonic blast nearly hit the nerve center for the entire gestalt. The components felt the force and it almost caused them to disassemble. But they held on through sheer will power. When the blast ended, Monstructor was still in one piece, though barely. Cyborg gritted his teeth in frustration at that. Having used up most of his remaining energy in that last attack, he was forced to not do anything or else his systems will shut down until he recharges.

"All up to you guys to take this thing down." Thought Cyborg as nonessential systems shut down in order to save power. He watched as Monstructor got up, albeit shaken up and holding his chest. He glared at Soundwave who was aiming his rocket launcher at Monstructor before firing two rockets at his head. Dodging those two rockets, Monstructor growled before running toward Soundwave, one hand on his chest to protect his now vulnerable weak point. After firing one last rocket on Monstructor, Soundwave was grabbed by the gestalt with his free hand. Gripping Soundwave in his free hand, Monstructor glared at the Decepticon with hate in his eyes. Starfire was about to intervene when suddenly the mysterious girl held her back, telling her that its under control. Before she could protest, the girl pointed at Barricade and told her to trust him. Reluctantly, Starfire decided to trust her and backed off.

"Even if we get sent to the scrapyard after this, it'll be worth it if we take you with us. Any last words?" Growled Monstructor, not caring that no one was attacking him. Soundwave just looked at Monstructor, seemingly unphased at the fact that he was being held by a gestalt.

"Yes, in fact, I do." He tilted his head a bit before speaking. "What I had to do to you was a mercy, both to you and the Decepticon cause. If I hadn't, a lot more Cybertronians would have died. All because you wanted to sate your ego, you fools." Upon hearing that, Monstructor roared out in anger, tightening his grip on Soundwave and putting pressure on the lower half of his body. He then brought out his fist and was about to bring it down on Soundwave's head when suddenly a loud bang was made. This was soon followed up with Monstructor's chest being hit with a bullet and sparks coming out of it. As more sparks flew out of his chest, Monstructor let go of Soundwave and began to screech out loud in pain. Soon, he began to disassemble into his core components, who all fell to the ground unconscious. Soundwave, meanwhile, just landed near them. He tried to cushion his fall, but he suffered some damage when Monstructor squeezed his lower half, temporarily shorting out his thrusters, so he crashed into the ground instead. Recovering from the crash, Soundwave looked at the unconscious bots that made up Monstructor, the Pretender Monsters. Looking away from them, he looked for the Teen Titans, wondering if any of them died.

To his honest surprise, all of them lived. Starfire was currently bringing down Cyborg to the streets, him being too low on energy to do it himself. The girl that came with Barricade just flew over to them with Raven in hand while Beast Boy was walking towards him, a hand on his head. Barricade, meanwhile, walked up to the unconscious Pretender Monsters and began to cuff them with stasis cuffs. Why he would have them and so many is beyond him, but Soundwave didn't care right now. What he did care was getting Robin back and capturing Slade. As Barricade was cuffing them, the girl that was with him looked at Soundwave, having gave Raven over to Starfire.

"So, your what my friend has been fussing over recently." Said the girl as she observed SoundwaveYou'reour pretty awesome to look at, you know." Soundwave just looked at the girl. If he could, he would have raised an eyebrow at that. She just smirked at him before pointing to the Pretender Monsters, who have all been cuffed up now. "Don't worry about them. We'll get the Justice League to take care of them." Soundwave was surprised to hear that. The Justice League was getting involved now. Just great.

"How long until they get here?" Asked Soundwave, knowing he'll have a rough time in the next few days.

"When I call them." She then pointed to Barricade as he makes his way to Soundwave. "Or he does it." Barricade just nodded before speaking.

"Had to make contact with the Justice League when they discovered me. They're decent folks, even Batman, though he was paranoid when I explained everything to him, but I can't blame him for that. You'll have to meet with them as well, Soundwave, especially after this." Soundwave just nodded at that, knowing he was right. All of this would undoubtably catch the League's eye and they'll want to interrogate him on what happened and what he is. Though from what Barricade said about the league, they seem to accept him and allow him to live freely on Earth, so perhaps they'll do the same to him. Naive thinking but considering the moral grounds these heroes seem to have, anything is possible. But enough of that, they had to focus on Slade right now as well as finding Robin.

"Barricade, before we faced Monstructor, we were going after a Chronotron detonator that a villain named Slade was using." Upon seeing Barricade tense up at that, Soundwave held his hand and continued. "Let me finish. On our way to acquire the detonator, we got separated from the Teen Titan's leader, Robin. He ordered us to go ahead and, at the time, I thought he could handle himself. But we were wrong. When we caught up to it, we realized that the detonator was a fake. It was a diversion to get us away from Robin. We were about to go for him when Monstructor came and you can guess the rest." Barricade just looked at the destruction and nodded his head.

"Any ideas on how to track Robin?" Asked Barricade. It was Cyborg that gave the answer on that.

"Yeah." Said Cyborg as Starfire held him. He was low on energy, but he can still talk. "There's a tracking device on all of our communicators. If Slade hadn't disabled it and Robin still has it, I should be able to pinpoint Robin's location." He then brought up his arm and activated the tracking device on Robin's communicator. Within a few seconds, he found the location and gave the coordinates to everyone else's communicators. "The coordinates are in your communicators. Go on. I can't do much until I recharge." Soundwave just nodded before looking at the rest of the team. Though Raven, and Cyborg were unable to help out, Starfire was able to help him with finding Robin. There was also Barricade and that girl he was with as well.

"Alright. We'll go and find Robin." Said Soundwave, looking to see Starfire and Beast Boy were ready to go. Though he still had a headache, Beast Boy was willing to go help his leader and friend with whatever problems he's having. Seeing that they're ready, Soundwave looked at Barricade and the girl. "You two fine with going to help?" The girl just smirked.

"Heck yeah, love. Just lead us to where we need to go and we'll do what we can to help." Barricade just nodded, agreeing with her. Grateful for the help, Starfire looked at her communicator and told everyone to follow her.

"Come! We much find Robin now!" With that, she flew to the hole that Monstructor. Everyone else that could, followed her.


Slade's base


Relief filled Robin as he saw the monstrosity of a robot disassembled to smaller, but still large, machines that were unconscious when they fell. When he first saw that beast, he was shocked to see such a beast, which later turned to horror when he saw it begin to destroy Jump city and attacking his team. It was during this time that Slade began to threaten him to become his apprentice. If he didn't, then both Jump City and his team will be destroyed. At first, he didn't answer, but when he asked a 2nd time, he attacked him. Unfortunately, Slade anticipated this and defeated him in two simple moves. He then held him down and forced him to look at his team trying to beat Monstructor and failing. His heart nearly stopped when he saw Monstructor endured the team's final attack plan and then proceeded to incapacitate Beast Boy and went for an exhausted Raven. It was then that Slade chuckled to himself and told him that it was his fault for not joining him. As they expected Raven to be smashed by Monstructor, they were in for a shock when another giant robot coming in to save her along with a teenage metahuman. With their arrival, the team managed to finally bring the monster down, meaning Slade's bargaining chip was gone. Relieved that his friends are out of danger, Robin hit Slade with the back of his head, ignoring the pain from hitting the helmet he wore, and got out of his grip when Slade's grip slackened from the impact. Jumping a few feet away from the supervillain, Robin glared at Slade with hate for all that he did just to get to him.

"Its over Slade." Said Robin as he got into a fighting stance. "Both your bargaining chips are gone, and my team is coming soon to back me up. Its over." Slade, though angry that things went this way, just looked at Robin with narrowed eyes.

"Its not over until I say its over Robin." Said Slade. "I won't stop until you've become my apprentice." Robin just narrowed his eyes at that. Even after he lost his bargaining chips, he was still stubborn to have Robin become his apprentice. Well, he's going to be sorely disappointed.

"I'm going to say this once, Slade." Said Robin as he tried to calm himself down, remembering his training with Batman. Fighting with just rage will just give an experienced and disciplined foe an advantage and Slade was certainly a disciplined fighter, one that knows how to take advantage when someone is fighting with just rage and no skill. "I'll never join you, Slade. Never willingly, anyway. As long as my friends are safe, I'll keep fighting you until you're in jail." Slade just narrowed his eye before coming at Robin. Dodging a punch from Slade, Robin tried to throw a punch at the man's mask, but that was caught and Robin was once again underneath Slade in a strangle hold.

"I don't understand you Robin." Said Slade as he held the boy, getting close to his face. "If you join me, you'll have it all. Money. Power. The fear and respect of people. You could even surpass Batman with all that I can give you." Slade then began to yell his next sentences, his anger coming out. "But instead you only care about your friends and the people of Jump City! Why do you not see I'm giving you an opportunity of a life time!" Robin just gritted his teeth as he tried to get free. He then bit his tongue when Slade began to put pressure on his right arm, threatening to break it. "Tell me why you refuse to join me?!" Robin just spit on the floor, not willing to give Slade an answer. Seeing his display of defiance, Slade was about to break his arm when a wall in his lair suddenly exploded. Looking to the source of the commotion, Slade saw Robin's team, Soundwave, and those two unknowns moving in on him. Upon seeing the situation, Starfire glared at Slade, her eyes glowing as well as her hands.

"Let. Him. Go." Said Starfire with an eerily calmness. The others were either aiming guns or were surrounding Slade. Realizing that he only had one option, Slade let go of Robin and held his hands in the air. Upon seeing Robin free, Starfire rushed toward him and got him away from Slade. Once he was safe, he thanked Starfire before glaring at Slade.

"This is why, Slade. My friends are the reason I don't join you. They're willing to forgive me past actions and risked their lives to save mine, even though I betrayed their trust in the past." He then pointed to a video feed showing police officers, once the commotion was over, helping the remaining Titans with recovery as well as helping citizens that didn't escape the carnage. "That's also a reason. If I'd joined you, I'll only hurt people and only care about myself. That's the opposite of a hero. Of what I want to be. That's what he taught me and inspired me to be." Upon hearing that speech, Soundwave and Barricade looked at each other. His speech…it reminded them greatly of what Megatron used to preach before the war that destroyed their world. What he said will happen when they win the war. And what will happen when Megatron had his way. Upon seeing each other's expression as well as Robin, they remembered how much their leader had fallen from his glory days. Shaking their heads, the two looked at Slade, who was analyzing Robin.

Upon seeing no break in Robin's stance and his conviction in his eyes, Slade finally realized that he'll never gain Robin as an apprentice. He was too embedded in the ways of his mentor and the Justice League to ever change. Clenching his fists at this wasted endeavor, Slade brought out a remote detonator and pressed the button. Once he did, the whole place began to fall apart. With everyone distracted with this, Slade made his escape. Just as he was about to leave, Slade looked at Robin.

"We'll meet again, Robin." Said Slade before making his escape. Soundwave and Barricade were about to pursue when the pale-skinned girl told them to get out.

"Got to go, loves! Place is about to go down!" Said the girl before flying out through the whole they made. Looking at each other, the two Decepticons saw she was right and transformed and made their escape, racing past Beast boy, who was a Cheetah.

"Come on! Last to go!" Thought Beast Boy as he was the last to leave before the lair collapsed on itself.


The next day


" Are you sure, mayor?...I understand. We'll get ready." Said Robin before hanging up. He then sighed before looking at his team, Soundwave, and their visitors. "That was the mayor. He said that the Justice League is sending someone to help with construction of the jail cell for that monster's pieces. And to…check on our progress as a hero team." The Teen Titans looked at each other nervously at that. Wanting his question answered, Beast Boy raised his hand.

"Uh, does that mean they'll disband us if we're not up to their standards?" Asked Beast boy, not wanting to be separated from his friends. Robin just shook his head at that.

"Not really. I'm sure they're just here to see if we don't need any pointers or advise." Said Robin, though he agreed with Beast Boy's concerned. The Justice League could see them as not ready and disband them until they are. And Robin didn't want that. Satisfied, Beast Boy looked over to Barricade and the girl he brought.

"So, what about them? Are they staying or what?" Upon hearing that, the girl spoke up.

"No way, love. New Zealand is where we belong." Said the girl. "We're just here to satisfy his curiosity." She pointed at Barricade when she said that. Everyone looked at her curiously. She was obviously a metahuman as her silver skin wasn't normal. Her black hair had red bangs in it and was spiked. The dress she wore was black up until her waist, where she had a red skirt with black stripes. She also wore long, black sleeves and black boots with a bit of red coloring on the bottom. Lastly, she had a small 'A' tattoo on her chest, and her eyes are red with black pupils.

"As my ward said, we only came because I saw Soundwave on a newspaper that I managed to procure in New Zealand. Upon seeing that another of my kind was here, I decided to take the long trek from New Zealand to here. I had to take my ward because she had no one else to take care of here." Upon hearing that, the girl glared at him.

"I don't need anyone to take care of me. And I came on my own free will." Barricade just shook his head at that.

"Yes, Argent, and not because you would have felt lonely or missed me." Said Barricade sarcastically. Upon hearing that, the girl flushed and engulfed her hands in red energy. She was about to yell at him when Soundwave coughed, getting everyone's attention.

"Moving on to more serious matters, I need to explain myself and my association with the Pretender Monsters, the group that formed the beast we fought yesterday." Upon hearing that, everyone nodded.

"Yeah, can you explain everything. For starters, what are you and why you're on Earth." Said Cyborg with Robin nodding his head at that, wanting to know that information as well. Soundwave just nodded, having already made several stories to give them. All with only the bare minimum of what actually transpired. They'll either learn the rest through time or not at all if he had his way.

"Of course. For starters, I'm what is called a Cybertronian and so is Barricade. We're a techno organic species that hails from a planet called Cybertron." As he started, everyone that didn't know listened in, wanting to know much about their new hero and, possibly, friend. Argent, having been given the information already by Barricade, just began to doze off. "To keep a long story short, there was a terrible war that caused our planet to become inhospitable for us. So, the survivors all left the planet in search for new homes. I, with a warship of battle-hardened soldiers, found a world that we could colonize. Unfortunately, the opposite side of the war found it as well, so we began a long war of attrition to claim the planet. During a routine patrol, I stumbled on an artifact of my people, long thought to be lost. As I was recovering it, I was ambushed. I fought to the bitter end, but during the battle, the artifact activated and…well I came to be here. The rest you can figure out yourselves." Once finishing, he saw the looks of the Teen Titans.

Some, like Beast Boy and Starfire, were horrified on the concept of a war that made a planet inhospitable. Starfire, however, held sympathy also, something that got the curiosity of Soundwave. Cyborg and Robin's reaction were horror and grim sympathy as well, though they still wanted information as well. Raven held sympathy but also a need for more information as well. "If you want more information, then ask me later. For now, I want to know how you got here Barricade and how you found this girl." Barricade, upon hearing that, sighed and began to explain how Argent found him.