Sorry for the long absence. It seems that the more time I have the less I write. Weird. I'm doing my best to establish a writing schedule for myself but its hard to get back into something like this. Also this chapter ended up being way longer than I originally anticipated but oh well. More to read I guess. I've also changed the cover art. It took me about an hour to Photoshop yesterday but discord seemed to think it turned out pretty well so I hope that you guys like it too.
In response to a couple of reviews/comments I've been getting, yes this book will be mostly ship-free but I'm planning on doing a series which I do have a few ideas for in terms of ships. So while this book may not include much of that stuff, some of the later ones probably will. Being more specific, Arcee and Hot Rod I've never intended on happening in this story, and her relationship with Springer is more in the past than the present (as in they used to be kinda a thing but aren't anymore, as a reference to G1 kinda). As for Arcee and Jazz I intended them to just be really close friends but I now realise that I've been unwittingly giving a bit of romantic subtext to their relationship. XD But I haven't finalized my plans for relationships yet so I'll probably end up doing what I feel serves the story best.
As for the guy asking about my preferred VA for Swoop. I just imagined the guy who voiced him in FOC doing him in this fic (seeing as they are pretty much the same here). So Mark Allan Stewart.
Please leave more reviews on this chapter and I hope you enjoy! ;)
"This is not something that I would often stoop to, but I am impressed Grimlock."
Shockwave's single red optic stared at the Dinobot from across the large circular chamber.
Grimlock did not respond, remaining still in his bonds, head hung against his chest.
Shockwave continued his monologue. "Of course most of your feats are a result of my modifications. You could have become a powerful ally to the Decepticon cause, but instead you chose to play to brute. How illogical. I should have kept you on a tighter leash, my pet."
Shockwave's audio receptors picked up a low growl coming from Grimlock, the Dinobot's ruby visit visible as he lifted his head upwards. Shockwave was expecting an outburst from the brute, a moment of futile rage before the scientist would be forced to put him to sleep again.
Instead the growl turned into a strange form of weak laugh. Shockwave was shocked. What did this lugnut find so amusing?
Grimlock spoke up in his gravely voice. "G-get fragged Shockwave. You're an idiot."
This was something Shockwave was not expecting. This steely and measured response was highly irregular, especially when compared to his previous records of violent outbursts.
Grimlock continued. "W-when I get out of here, this time I'll make sure too kill you properly."
Shockwave felt this strange sensation rising in his neural net. It was anger. Emotion was not something that Shockwave often gave in to, but this time he would make an exception for the arrogant Dinobot.
Shockwave brought his arm up and pressed a button on his built-in control panel. Arcs of energy flickered and flared around Grimlock, coursing across his body, causing the Dinobot to writhe in agony.
After a few painful moments for the prisoner, the torture stopped. Shockwave lowered his arm and stared back at his now exhausted captive.
"I-I-Is that all you got?" Grimlock taunted again, trying to push Shockwave further.
This time the scientist did not give in. "There will not be a next time for you Grimlock. Soon I shall use you to destroy everything the Autobots are." He turned to walk out. "I hope this brought back...memories."
The steel door slid shut, leaving Grimlock alone in the silence, with only his vengeful thoughts for company.
"The well of Allsparks."
Bumblebee and his team consisting of Arcee, Jazz and the newly recovered Swoop looked over the endless metal plains at the vast well, the one that lead to the Allspark in Cybertron's core, where all life on their planetbegins and ultimately returns. For some of them the well surfaced painfully fresh memories of Optimus Prime's sacrifice. Arcee and Bumblebee could still see the great Prime gracefully glide into the core, his life exchanged for the creation of limitless new ones.
Their attention was shiftedas several deafening roars echoed across the plains. Below, at the very edge of the well, two packs ofCybertronian beasts faced off. On one side were the Predacons: Predaking, Skylynx and Darksteel. The other group consisted of a metallic Diplodocus, Triceratops, and Stegosaurs.
"That's them!" Swoop jumped forward enthusiastically, pointing to the Cybertronian dinosaurs. "But, who are they fighting?" He asked, scratching his head.
Bumblebee set his jaw, eyeing the other group of primordial beasts. "Predacons." The last time Bumblebee had seen the three clones they had come to aid the Autobots' struggle in stopping Unicron from destroying Primus in Megatron's body. They bravely fought Unicron's undead legion of Predacons before being overwhelmed. Until now their fate had been a mystery and were presumed dead, having not been sighted in several months now.
"What's the plan Bee?" Bumblebee heard Arcee ask.
Jazz saw his opportunity to make a bad joke. "Whoa slow down Arcee. We haven't even tried plan A yet."
Arcee just rolled her eyes and huffed. "You're an idiot."
Bumblebee shook his head at his teammate's antics but remained focused on forming a plan. The Predacons' allegiances were currently a grey area, and while Bumblebee knew that they now despised the majority of the Decepticons, he remembered Predaking begrudgingly conversing with him once. Perhaps he could try and appeal to him again. Bumblebee sighed. For the millionth time he found himself thinking: What would Optimus do?
"Uh. Bee?" Jazz asked the bot, distracting him from his long train of thought.
Bumblebee straightened and turned to face his team. He had something of plan. A risky plan nonetheless, but it was still better than nothing. "Ok. I think I have something." The other bots fixated on him, waiting to hear his grand scheme. "You three, take these vials." He withdrew three needle-like vials of liquid from his chassis; Ratchet's cure for the Dinobots' animalistic behaviour, and held them out to them other Autobots. They each took one in their hand. "You need to get close enough to the other Dinobots to inject this." He pointed to the vials. "Try somewhere soft. I suggest the neck." They all gave him raised eyebrows, silently asking him questions. Bumblebee did his best to answer them. "I'll go and try and distract them, which will hopefully buy you enough time to get close."
"That sounds a little too risky to me. You sure you can distract them long enough?" Arcee asked.
Bumblebee shrugged. "We've been through worse."
Arcee smirked. He was not wrong. If Bee could kill Megatron then this should be a walk through the Six Lasers' amusement park.
The four of them stood in awkward silence for a moment before Jazz vocalised everyone's thoughts. "So, are you gonna say it or should I say it?"
Bumblebee silently cleared his vocal processor before uttering the famous phrase. "Autobots, transform and roll out!" He said it with as much gusto as he could muster but the words still felt stolen to him, alien. He shook off the strange feeling and followed the others to the cusp of the Well.
Bumblebee hid himself behind a large chunk of debris left by the Nemesis when it had crash landed by the Well. The Decepticon warship had remained untouched since Unicron's defeat, mostly due to the fact that the Autobots did not yet have the necessary equipment to move it. But Bumblebee, among other bots thought that it should stay as it is; a sort of memorial to the war, and to symbolise that it was finally over. At least that is what they hoped.
He was only about a hundred metres away from the beasts now. Close enough that their thunderous footsteps and ear-splitting roars were borderline deafening. A few hundred more metres to his left, he could see the other three get into position behind the Dinobots, also using the Nemesis' debris as cover. Jazz gave him a friendly smile and encouraging thumbs up, they were now waiting for his move.
"Ok Bee." He said to himself. "Let's do this."
Without thinking twice Bumblebee jumped out from behind his cover and ran straight into the fray.
He immediately regretted the idea as soon as Predaking's beastly yellow optics set themselves on him. 'Oh scrap.' He thought. "Hey!" He called out to them loudly, this time catching the attention of all of the giants. Bumblebee stepped back instinctually. "Uh. Why are you attacking these Autobots, I thought we had a truce." He yelled over, internally wincing at his words, which were loaded with half-truths.
Predaking eyed him again, growling lowly, but he sounded more confused than anything else. The Predacon transformed, altering his body until a large bipedal form towered over the Autobot. "These are Autobots?" He asked incredulously. "If there truly was a truce in place then they would've not attacked us first, and endangered the lives of countless unborn Cybertronians." He swiftly gestured to the very edge of the well.
Now that he was closer, Bumblebee could see it. Around the circumference of the well, half submerged in the ground lay tiny little metallic creatures, curled up like a foetus. Protoforms. Their shiny grey skin was so thin that their sparks could be seen underneath, glowing and dimming as they beat in different hues.
"Oh." Bumblebee was not expecting this. He knew life would return to Cybertron at some point but this seemed too soon. They were not ready to bring up a new generation. They could barely manage their own. Bumblebee felt his mouth curl upwards into a smile. Optimus did it.
He was about to say something back to Predaking when the Dinobots began to get impatient. They all roared at him, focusing on their interruption. Oh scrap. Did he not buy enough time?
Bumblebee was sure he was done for when he heard the Dinobots roar again, but this time at something else. They were reeling back, attempting to shake something off each of their backs. Looking closer, Bumblebee could see a figure mounted on each of them, struggling to inject something into the neck of each. A few more moments of struggling and the Dinobots all fell to the ground, almost simultaneously. Bumblebee saw Jazz leap off the Triceratops, Swoop dismount the Stegosaurs, and finally Arcee slid down the long neck of the Diplodocus.
"Wouldn't it have been easier to let Swoop deal with the big one seeing as, y'know, he can fly up there?" Bee asked Arcee as she walked over to him.
Arcee shrugged. "I like a challenge. Hope we didn't keep you waiting."
"If I didn't know any better, I would say you enjoy cutting things ridiculously close."
"Hmm. So what do we do with these three?" She gestured to the fallen Dinobots.
"Wait for them to wake up I guess. You recognise any of them Swoop?"
The Dinobot studied his sleeping allies for a moment before answering. "This is Slug." He said, pointing to the Triceratops. "That's Snarl." His finger moved to the Stegosaurus. "And this is Sludge." His digits rested on the Diplodocus.
Jazz looked confused. "Wait I thought Sludge was offline. I found him in deep stasis-lock beneath the sea of rust."
"Yes, he was offline for a time. But we managed to find him and bring him back from the brink after the exodus. That was not long before, well, we lost control."
"I see that you are like us, but you are not Predacons." The growl of Predaking's voice came from behind Swoop. The giant approached the conscious Dinobot, curious to know more.
"We're not." Swoop clarified with a slight hint of passive aggression towards the Predacon. "We're Dinobots and unlike you we weren't born like this. What you see before you is the result of Shockwave and his twisted experimentation." Swoop's fists clenched at his sides.
Predaking was now deep in thought. He never really hated Shockwave like he did some of the other Decepticons. Maybe that was due to the fact Shockwave gave him life in the first place, but this didn't make him blind to what horrors the scientist was capable of. "Hmm." Was Predaking's simple response. "Your allies seem to be struggling to control their beast forms. We...can assist you with that problem as we have also had to overcome that particular boundary." It felt strange offering another help for nothing in return, but his spark knew that it was what he should do. These 'Dinobots' may not be Predacons but like them, they were outcasts because of their nature and Predaking always felt he had a duty to his people.
Skylynx cut in from behind. "Yess. They are very powerful as well."
"They would make excellent spar if we ever needed to let off steam." Darksteel added.
"Consider my offer Dinobot." Predaking told Swoop, who nodded back gratefully. "We'll be here should you choose to return."
"Wait. What do you mean?" Bumblebee asked the titan.
"We're staying here, to guard the next generation of Cybertronians and welcome them into the world." Predaking was secretly hoping that more Predacons will be born from this new generation. Perhaps the noble Prime somehow influenced Primus' will when he entered the Allspark, but for now these were only hopes for the lonely Predacons. "Especially seeing as others have not come to do so."
Bumblebee thought the last jab was a little unfair but also true. The Autobots had been far too preoccupied with other tasks to even check if the well had begun to produce new sparks yet. Even if they had known they certainly didn't have the resources to monitor and nurturethe protoforms as well as they had been able to before the war. Bumblebee just shrugged it off and smiled at Predaking. "Thank you Predaking. I'll try and get some bots up here to help you out but our resources are stretched quite thin at the moment." Predaking scowled slightly. He needed no help, but these sparks were just as Autobot as they were Predacon so he decided to let it slide. "I trust you'll do your job well and I hope that this can be the beginning of a strong new relationship between Autobots and Predacons." As a final sign of good faith, Bumblebee outstretched his hand to Predaking. The clone hesitated for a moment, but after swallowing his pride he took the Autobot's hand and shook it, allowing a smallsmile to creep acrosshis faceplate. He wouldn't outrightly admit it, but he hoped so too.
For those of you wondering why Bumblebee is so surprised that new life is coming already, I changed the ending of Predacons Rising slightly. Everything is the same apart from the last bit with all the sparks shooting out the well. Optimus just disappeared and that was it here. To be honest, that final scene was mostly so the show could go out on a pretty and happy note which isn't really necessary here. So that answers that particular riddle for you.
Next time we'll be going back to the Decepticons so I hope you Combaticon fans are ready! I'll try not to take any longer than two weeks, and as always please review it usually helps me write faster if I know that people are enjoying this stuff. ;)