Disclaimer: Transformers: Animated and everything related belongs to the rightful company Hasbro. I am in no way shape or form making money off this.
Author's Note: First, I would like to thank you all for not only sticking around this long and for being so patient with my almost non-existent updates, but for coming to my defense when someone left a very rude/crude review on this story. I don't know why they did that, or for what reason, but I was touched when I read my defenders responses. So, to those who are still here, still reading, still enjoy, thank you. I hope you all enjoy this belated Christmas gift.
Poll updated as of 12/6/2020:
Prowl: 26
Starscream: 28
Optimus Prime: 5
Other: 5 (Bulkhead: 1; Skywarp: 3; Sentinel: 2)
Rankings haven't changed much but if I'm wrong please le met know. Enjoy!
"Nightmare"
Written by: Beloved Shadow
Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger
Sari struggled, trying to use her newly enhanced strength to get free, but she was trapped. Skywarp was still out, grounded, and Bumblebee was pinned to the table like a specimen ready to be examined. She had tried to hurl an electrical blast at the machinery but her hands had been covered by what looked like a pair of rubber-insulated oven mitts. She felt ridiculous, but she glared at the computer screen and the one behind this.
"You don't know what you're doing! Decepticons don't work with humans, they hate anything organic! They'll just use you like everything else!" the young techno-organic yelled at the screen, once more struggling against the pinchers but they refused to give.
"I know. How do you think Soundwave was able to extract his revenge?" the hacker pointed out, opening a smaller window that looked like it was spying on the younger Sumdac and her friends, clips of them interacting then shifting the attention to Soundwave as he left her and walked about the city, interacting with Megatron for the first time, and growing until he became the bot he was today. "I may be human, but I could really care less for humanity. And we both have the same end goal: revenge on Sumdac. He has a personal vengeance against you, not that I blame him, but mine is against your father."
"But why? We haven't done anything to you!"
"... haven't you? I could tell you everything, maybe even hope that you would understand but for what reason? You are a selfish, spoiled freak that expects everything to go her way, to have everyone due what she says but when someone says no you throw a tantrum. You don't think about others, and if you do it's for your own selfish gain. You don't love anything; you barely give a damn about anything. You want this and that, but as soon as the latest, newer model comes around, you immediately discard the previous original like its trash. You refuse to open your eyes and see that the world does not revolve around you, Sari Sumdac. The only reason those Autobots keep you around is because even they know what would happen if the government found out what you really are, taken away and dissected."
"That'll never happen. The Autobots are my friends! They-They would come and rescue me!"
"Or maybe they would come to eliminate you and all information gained. They've already seen what reverse engineering has done with these simple drones; would they really risk Earth becoming a techno-organic world of their beloved Cybertron?"
"That's-That's not true! You don't know anything!" So why did it hurt, why was she second guessing her friends?
"Don't I? Isaac did the same thing to Megatron, so why shouldn't you suffer the same fate?" The hacker paused, regarding the now silent girl, waiting for an answer but when there was none, he merely closed the window. "War happens, lives are lost, and in the end there are no true winners. As long as I can accomplish my revenge, everything can just burn to the ground and wipe the slate clean."
Bumblebee heard everything and he knew his friend had been hurt by those words, no doubt now second-guessing herself but he couldn't call out to her as the contractions would increasing with every klik. He tried overriding the program, but while he couldn't put stop it or even pause it, he could delay it for a little bit. Long enough to see if he could get some help. Pushing his alerts aside and ignoring the pain he was in, he sent out a comm link to the first bot he could think of.
::S-Slipstream, we could really use your help!::
::Oh really? Well, why don't I just drop everything I'm doing and help you out! Quick, send me your coordinates and I'll be right over!::
:: I don't have time for your sarcasm right now, not when my systems decided that now would be a great time to eject my sparkling and I'm already at 44 -frag it!- 47% dilation and, oh yeah, we're being held prisoner by Soundwave's partner! Who happens to be some human!::
::You try ordering a buncha dim-bulbs who can't tell the difference between diminutive "toys" and seekers they are suppose to be fighting with, who are trying to cause my neutral processor to overload from their sheer stupidity!:: she snapped back. Laser fire split the air tearing through the seemingly endless army of Sound Wave toys, the mechanical dinosaurs tearing up the streets and causing a great deal of collateral damage as parked cars were either turned into melted puddles of metal or smashed flat, and the famed Autobots who were called the protectors of New Detroit were adding to the chaos as they fought against the flying jets and dinosaurs, not caring about the damages they themselves were causing.
"Will you glitches watch where you're aiming?!" Slipstream yelled as she narrowly avoided a blast of fire but like the last several times, the Dinobots continued to ignore her. Her brothers were also having difficultly themselves, fighting against the Autobots—and failing miserably. It was times like this she wished their "esteemed creator" was here but she didn't have time to dwell on things. Her optics shuddered as she finally registered what the minibot said. ::Wait, you're having the sparkling now!?::
::Trying really hard not to!:: Bee let out another sharp keen of pain, only able to lift part of his upper frame up from the table but the restraints kept him from trying to rub at his swollen belly. He wanted to cry, to scream, to be anywhere at any moment of time that wasn't now, but he had to concentrate and help his friends as much as he could. ::A-Aren't the Dinobots helping?::
::If you call nearly being trampled by them helpful or getting in the way when we think we have a clear shot!:: Yelling wasn't help but it was either that of panic that there was no one to help the carrier out.
::So, they're doing what they believe they were programmed to do. Look, Megatron created them, so the only thing those three ever knew was that cars and robots that turn into cars are bad, and they should destroy them.:: There was silence on the link and for a klik, Bumblebee thought he had lost her. ::Slipstream?::
::… all they do, is destroy…:: Shuttering her optics she allowed a smirk to come to her derma plating. ::Just try to prolong the emergence as much a possible!::
:Wha-:: But the connection was cut. The femme seeker had a plan, and while it wasn't on the top of her list, it was better than nothing. But a small part of her hoped, prayed, that this would work for all their sake.
In virtual New Detroit, the Autobots struggled to get themselves free but the electricity coursing through their frames was overwhelming their systems. They felt as though their very circuitry was going to fry at this rate. Matters became even more complicated as the "servo" they were standing on seemed to melt and they found themselves sinking into it.
"W-We have to, escape!" Optimus grunted as he pulled, struggling to break free but even though he knew this world wasn't real, the danger itself felt very real.
"No kidding! Tell us something—we don't know!" Sentinel snapped but it didn't stop him struggling as well, trying very hard to fight back the panic that threaten to shut down his processor. "Anybot got any brilliant ideas to get us out?"
"Skyfire! Can you break free?!" Psyche called out, trying to channel the electricity herself but she couldn't make sense of her own system logs.
"I'm—trying!" the shuttle said. He wasn't sinking as deeply as the others, but no matter how many times he tried to activate his thrusters it wasn't working. Soundwave, who had been silent, sent another powerful charge at them, making all of the Autobots cry out even louder in pain.
"You will never escape." His digits began closing in on them, slowly blocking out the light, watching as their struggles began to lessen the deeper they sank into the malleable metal.
Jetstorm felt his spark racing within his chassis, struggling to activate his thrusters but nothing was responding. He looked over at his twin, trying to project calm to his side of the bond, but panic was quickly settling in. Memory files of their time working at the energon refinery began playing, both watching and sharing their perspective with one another, but it was the explosion that nearly took them offline permanently that cause the panic in Jetfire to suddenly surge. "Brother!" the blue-gray seeker called out but it was too late. The metal trying to submerge them began to bubble, becoming so hot even the others were getting burned from the heat. The pale yellow was so hot, he was practically glowing like white-hot.
"You is not beating us, Decepticon!" he shouted and flames erupted around him. No one knew what to expect, even as the servo seemed to melt, enabling them to move, but suddenly the titan-sized Soundwave seemed to flicker and he vanished from sight. Unfortunately, it meant the group was suspended in the air before dropping to the street below. Everything seemed to happen so fast, even the fliers were unprepared and they all landed with a heavy crash in the snow and debris covered streets. All was quiet and still, but low groans of pain were heard and slowly, carefully, they began moving.
"Ah… Autobots… s-sound off," Optimus called out, slowly trying to push himself up as his systems tried resetting.
"… I-I'm fine… I think, I'm fine anyway…" Bulkhead said somewhere to his left, rubbing his aching helm.
"I is, being okey dokey, Optimus Prime, sir," Jetfire said, laying in a large puddle of steaming water that had previously been a large snow bank. He was still warm but otherwise fine. Everyone else sounded off, winded and dinged but no lasting injuries. Even with Ratchet once more complaining about being too old for this nonsense, they watched as the virtual world seemed to flicker around them.
"I is thinking I land on helm hard," Jetstorm said, rubbing at a small dent he had gotten when he hit the ground. "Why is cityscape, glitching?"
"The simulation has been corrupted. I don't think Soundwave took into consideration Jetfire's unique abilities," Psyche said, giving her systems a final run before clearing her HUD. "He's off-guard, and I believe it interfered with whatever program he uploaded into our processors."
"… what does that mean?"
"It means for the time being, we have what the humans call, "the upper hand"," Prowl explained. "However, we still do not have access to our real bodies, nor do we know what is happening out there."
"So, what's to keep him from wiping the data slate clean and making sure this doesn't happen again?" the dark blue Prime grouched, feeling his oil pressure rising.
"We don't. But if this is a program, then we need to find the original program's interface, and in this case it's Soundwave. Or rather, the virtual version of Soundwave."
Jetfire groaned softly as he slowly sat up with his twin's help, venting deeply but shuddered his optics when he noticed a vehicle racing down the street. It wouldn't have been unusual, if not for the Decepticon symbol embossed on the hood. "I am thinking Soundwave is finding us!" He struggled to get to his peds, Jetstorm trying to pull him up but strong servos wrapped around them as they were taken into the air, watching as the car drove right through. Neither wanted to think about the damage they would have sustained had it connected even in this virtual world.
"He knows we're onto him," Skyfire called out, watching as the black and red Scion xB continued speeding off, racing down the street. "We'll keep an optic on him from the skies." Without waiting for a confirmation, he released the twins, allowing them to transform before doing the same and the three jets took off.
"A-Autobots! Transform-"
"-and roll out!"
Any other time, it would have been slightly comical to hear the two Primes try to order everyone over the other but there was no time to argue as they all transformed into their respective alt forms and sped down the streets. They followed the seekers' comm/directions, realizing that the avatar was leading them near the outskirts of town before cornering him in the parking lot of a run-down drive-in theater. The pavement was badly cracked, the lamp posts broken, and the speakers were all gone. What's more it was enclosed by a still standing but warped fence and the Autobots were blocking the only way in, and out.
"Give up, Decepticon! We have you surrounded and there's nowhere left for you to hide!" Sentinel called out, engine revving deeply.
The car didn't do anything, it didn't even turn around to face them. Up in the air the fliers were looking down at their friends, wondering what was going on but their scanners were suddenly picking up multiple signatures. But it wasn't just on the ground, it was in the air as well. But before they could warn the others, they felt rippling pain over their frames.
"What is going on?" one of the twins shouted, trying to shake off whatever was clinging to him but there was nothing they could do. Even the shuttle was affected. The army of Sound Wave toys seemed to have appeared straight out of their cargo bays without warning, forcefully peeling back plating to not only yank out important wires and cables, but they even climbed out onto their wings and were doing the same, causing their thrusters to lose power, forcing them to land. The Autobots were taken back and were prepared to help their friends, but they soon found themselves surrounded by multiple Soundwaves, slowly closing in on them.
"Autobots! Trans-argh!" Without warning, the bots found the inside of their cabs filling up with dozens upon dozens of the reprogrammed toys. Like a plague they quickly overwhelmed them, even going so far as to pull back paneling and ripping out wires.
"H-Hey! I—can't transform!" bulkhead said, trying to shift gears but found himself stuck. "I can't move, either!"
Ratchet cursed as one of the toys reached under his steering wheel and ripped out several wires and cables, making him curse up a storm. "You little—I needed that!"
"Everyone, it's not real! It's all in our processor!" prowl tried to tell them but even he was affected despite not having an interior cab. The miniscule robots had even grabbed ahold of his wheels, locking him in place.
"It certainly—oww!—feels real to—stop that!—real to me! Fragging little slaggers!" Sentinel cursed, rocking heavily on his axels but the toys clung on tighter than a horde of scraplets. "I'm starting to remember why I don't like organics!"
As the Autobots continued to struggle, the movie screen lit up only to show Soundwave, except of his usual electric blue armor plating or the off-white plating when he was a titan, this time it was a coal black finish with red accents and biolights. "Resume Operation: Autobot Reprogram. All will obey Soundwave." The screen began to zoom out, revealing him to be holding a black and red keytar in her servos, digits moving over the keys as he playing. "Autobots obey. Sound is your last hope. Autobots obey. Soundwave is your last hope."
"Don't listen to him! He's using music to rewrite the program!" Psyche warned them, struggling to offline her audio sensors but she could no longer access any part of her systems. She continued to struggle, falling back on her training but she felt a foreign presence in her processor; someone was trying to hack into her processor like that glitch Mindwipe had tried, but this one was different. "G-Get outta my—processor!"
"There is no hope for you or your friends. It'll be so much easier if you just give in. We can erase everything and you can start anew."
"I'd—rather—rip out my—spark!" she hissed.
"… the choice is yours."
Slagging right the choice was hers, and the femme was determined not to give in or stop fighting even as Soundwave continued repeating himself, playing that hauntingly hypnotic song.
While it wasn't exactly as planned, the substitute Autobots were finally pushing the reprogrammed Autobots back. There had been an initial moment when one of the twin jets suddenly burst into flames, catching everyone off-guard and melting a majority of the toys, but as quickly as it happened it stopped and the mech went offline.
"Hmph! Me Grimlock, breathe fire, too!" the Dinobot exclaimed and was prepared to unleash a burst of fire, only for a thin wisp of smoke to emerge instead. "Huh? Where fire go?!"
"You used it all up, bolts for processor!" Slipstream snapped. As handy as the fire-breathing had been, the last thing she needed was for her or her "brothers" to have their wings melted right off their frames. She kept trying to go after the one calling the shots, but he had several mini drones, and they were much more advances than the miniature versions of the Decepticon. She flew in low, locking her targeting systems but was forced to bank upward as a two-ton mass came barreling down the street. "Watch it!"
Snarl said nothing as she continued charging forward, her attention on the white medbot but Ratchet unsheathed his magnets and directed the power at her. Even as she was lifted into the air she struggled only to go flying through the air, finally landing in a thick snow bank. "That no hurt," she growled as she rolled onto her peds, ready to charge once more.
"I didn't feel a thing," Ramjet groaned as he slowly pulled himself from the freezing cold. He really enjoyed this planet and its different temperatures and constantly changing weather. And he certainly didn't mind having the two-ton femme slammed into him and nearly flatted him into the street, either. Oh no, this was so much fun, he hoped it never ended!
The Earth-created Decepticon despised the planet and its organic lifeforms. Far inferior, they reminded him or those pests the humans were forever trying to rid themselves of. What was the term? Yes, "cockroaches." Filthy vermin, but for each one eliminated more spawned in its place. But they were easily dealt with, their organic "minds" powerless against the army of replicas. The same, unfortunately, could not be said of the Earth-created Autobots or the traitorous seekers. Shifting his stance, he played a tune and watched as the large aqua blue femme raised her weapon high above her helm, then slammed it towards on the ground but it never touched the street; instead, it sent an electrical surge that shocked the bots they came into contact with, causing them to suffer system crashes. "Resistance is futile. Destroy them."
Psyche slowly made her way to where Ramjet was still grounded, lifting her hammer above her helm she was prepared to swing it down but froze. Her servos clutched at the handle of her hammer so hard they began to shake, her optics began flickering from red to blue-green and back. Soundwave frowned and played another chord, the femme tensing but the hammer was swung down-
-and struck the street with enough force to create a small crater, electricity crackling the broken asphalt. That seemed to set a chain reaction among the other Autobots as Prowl threw his shurikens to deflect Bulkhead's wrecking ball from trying to cave Sunstorm's helm from behind.
"Autobots obey Soundwave," the musically inclined Decepticon ordered, but each time he tried to control on of the bots, the others were going against his orders. It didn't take him long to realize that even with his creations, he was unable to control them all at once. He needed assistance if his plans were to be fulfilled. "Soundwave requires assistance."
"I can see that," the hacker said with a frown, going over the computer screen he could tell that the programming was being corrupted from the inside. He tried rewriting the code but before he could finish another error would pop up, delaying his work repeatedly. But luckily, he had prepared just for this emergency. "Your assistance will be arriving soon, but for now change the frequency for mid-range."
"Affirmative." Doing as told, Soundwave found he was able to control more than one of the Autobots for a short time but it still was not enough. As the fight continued one, many of the Sound Wave toys that were not busy keeping the humans under hypnosis were converging onto the area but they were also clinging to one another, wires and circuitry melding into one another until soon there were two additional Soundwaves in the area: a white version with dark yellow green accents, and a black version with bright red accents. Both wordlessly their servos in the air as two of the flying drones flew towards them, transforming into musical instruments as well. "Continue Operation: Autobot Reprogramming."
"That's not fair!" Sari yelled, watching everyone via the large screen but the hacker ignored her as he continued typing away. With three Soundwaves, each playing that dumb song, the seekers and Dinobots were getting their afts handed to them. 'I-I have to help them! They're not just my friends, they're… they're my family! It's my turn—to protect them!' Her pale blue eyes glowed with an unearthly light, her spark pulsing strongly in her slight frame, she lifted her hands down just as energy blades transformed from her arms, shredding the rubber mitts but also cutting herself free. "W-Whoa!" Now free, the young techno-organic managed to land in a slight crouch but she couldn't stop staring at her arms. "I have weapons? Now there's no way they can tell me I can't fight!"
"There's a difference between your so-called "training" and war, Sari Sumdac," the hacker said as the laboratory's alarms blared, doors opening up to let in the tower's security drones. "The one who is left alive is declared the winner. Eliminate the threats."
Sari would never admit to squeaking in surprise as she threw herself to the side, narrowing missing being shot at by the security drones, but she would go on to regale her friends with how fast she moved on her brand-new energy skates. But for all her speed and weapons, she was unable to get close enough to free Skywarp or Bumblebee. She found herself, literally, backed into a corner.
"Come any closer and I'll cut you all down to size!" she yelled at the security drones, holding her arms in front of her.
"Give up, Sari Sumdac. You have no hope of saving yourself, just like how you have no hope of saving your friends." A powerful and deadly looking drill suspended from the ceiling was humming with power, the tip slowly gaining speed as it began to slowly lower towards the Autobot still bound to the laboratory table.
"B-Bumblebee!" She began cutting her way through the drones but there was too many of them between them.
Said minibot struggled with all his might, once more trying to activate anything that would help. "I-I don't know what your problem is, but if you offline me, you'll end up offlining my sparkling!" he cried out, ignoring the stress and warnings shooting across his HUD, willing to rip off his own servos if it meant he could get free fast enough. "Please! Don't do this!"
"There are no innocents during war, only casualties." Just before the rapidly spinning drill could continue a feral roar was heard and pieces of badly damaged drones were being thrown across the room. The hacker looked surprised and slightly taken back as the seeker savagely tore through the security forces, his claws tearing through the metal as though they were made of paper, tearing a direct path to where the Autobot was tied down. "Stop him!"
The seeker only snarled, flexing his claws he teleported to the middle of the room, standing on the table he dug his claws into the rotating drill. There were sharks and some of the digits were snapped clean off, but it didn't stop him from pulling at it until he tore it completely free where it hung. "Stay away from him!" he roared and hurled the drill into the largest batch of security drones, nearly taking out a portion of the wall in the process. Skywarp hissed and continued slashing at the remaining drones that dared to come near them, ripping them apart with one of his wings fan out to the fullest, the other hanging limping from several wires.
The techno-organic wanted to help, she wanted to get her best friend the medical help he desperately needed, but she blinked and moved towards the console instead. Something was telling her that she could help, but not with fighting. "I don't understand, but I'll do anything to help my friends." Holding her hands out, her fingers transformed into what she could only describe as smaller fingers. She watched, amazed as she began typing away at the console, hacking into the systems and finding the trail the hacker had left behind. "Now to find out who you really are."
On the other side, the hacker was frowning. Whatever Sumdac was doing was moving much more rapidly that he could keep up with, destroying the firewalls one by one, deleting the rewritten lines of code. At this rate she would be able to find him no matter how hard he tried to hide. As much as he wanted them to pay, he knew when to cut his losses and wait to fight another day. Fingers flew across the keyboard, leaving several nasty and self-destroying viruses along the way, permanently locking down everything behind as well as wiping out everything. "This is far from over, Sari Sumdac." Hitting the final keystroke, he relinquished control of Sumdac Tower back to her and sent one final message to his partner. "We've been compromised. Retreat."
In downtown New Detroit, Soundwave was not pleased about the incoming message. "Negative. Operations will continue," he declared, playing louder, the other two "replicas" following suit. For a few moments, things seemed to going well, they had the fliers and mechanical creatures struggling against the combined assault, but things took a turn for the worse when the two identical jets merge into one and unleashed a funnel of super-heated air at one of the clones who tried vainly to play something, but the dark yellow-orange guitar melted as well as his servos and most of his upper stabilizers.
"Error: Sunder eliminated. Error-" the black and red Decepticon clone said, stumbling back but it didn't manage more than a few steps until it was stopped by a pair of large light gray servos grabbing him from behind, then literally, ripping him apart.
"One down," Skyfire said calmly, watching as Safeguard melted down the remains.
The white and yellow green replica was having similar problems and made the mistake of trying to use his keytar as a weapon, raising it high above his helm but a large wrecking ball came flying through the air, crushing him on impact, scattering the broken pieces all over the streets. However, the keytar transformed back into a black and dark gold bat, angrily shrieking at them.
"I got it! I got it!" Bulkhead shouted, trying to swing his wrecking ball around to hit it. Unfortunately, all the screaming was affecting his aim. "Hold still you annoying glitch!" He winced as the bat continued screaming at everyone, nearly making their audio sensors burst but an even louder screech caught the mechnimal off-guard. Swoop, who had been out of audio range, dive-bombed towards the small drone and caught it within his talons. Wingthing never stood a chance as it was ripped apart. "Uhh… I mean, Swoop's got it."
"Give it up, Soundwave. We have you outnumbered," Ratchet said as he and the others began closing in. Dented and only slightly injured, the Autobots and alias were more than ready to teach the Earth-created Decepticon a lesson about being used as his puppets.
"Negative. Soundwave will be victorious." He continued playing the keytar in his servos, he looked behind them as the two Autobots still under his control struck them from behind. Changing the frequency had helped in controlling both primes, but he had to constantly change it to adjust when one of them began to waver.
Despite the combined efforts the bots were no match for the two Primes, even the Dinobots' incredible strength was used against them and the seekers, who were otherwise running low on energy reserves, were not much help. The Autobots themselves, now free from the virtual program, found their systems lagging long enough for them to be dispatched one by one.
"For two such fine Autobots, they work together seamlessly," Sunstorm praised despite having been thrown into the very talented Cyber Ninja.
"The reprogramming has tapped into their Elite Guard training," Psyche groaned as she forced herself up but all she could manage was to get her servos under her frame. "Optimus, stop!"
But the red and blue mech didn't listen as he advanced towards damaged Slipstream, her thrusters clogged with fire retardant, but being caught and then slammed into the ground hadn't helped her stability either. He stood over the downed seeker, slowly raising his energy axe high in the air.
"Autobots must be destroyed," he said calmly. Everyone shouted at him to stop, struggled to get back on their peds, to do something, but help came in the unexpected form of a flying energy lance nicking Optimus' unprotected side and knocking black and pale lavender-white keytar from his servos. Sentinel grunted as he charged forward and body-checked Optimus with the help of his Skyboom shield, sending him crashing to the ground, his axe skidding away.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that," the navy blue Prime muttered, slowly straightening.
Slipstream hissed as she managed to get to her peds, shaking some excess foam from her thruster even as she scowled at her rescuer. "You slagging glitch! Were you waiting for him to cut me in half before stopping him?!" she yelled, resisting the urge to claw at him.
"I was having trouble overriding that noise the organics call music! And you're fine!" he snapped back, turning to look at her but a warning made him look forward in time to see Soundwave charge at him with enough force to slam him into the ground. Luckily, he still had his shield activated, but it didn't stop the enraged Decepticon from trying to rip out his spark.
"Autobot inferior. Soundwave will eliminate you permanently."
The keytar immediately transformed into that of a bat and joined the others in the air. What remained of the mechnimals were causing even more havoc, purposely keeping the bots away from helping Sentinel. One of the birds, one with black plating and yellow accents, began firing lasers from its optics, strong enough to actually singe plating it forced everyone to scatter, hiding behind the wrecked cars and whatever could withstand said lasers. Optimus, having regained his bearing, was confused to what was going on and his processor was aching something fierce, but even so his battle protocols were on high alert. Rolling onto his front he searched for his energy axe, wanting his weapon but was forced back as lasers tore the ground between them, nearly taking off his own digits.
'Adapt to the situation. If you lose your weapon, find a suitable alternative.' His training was running in the background of his processor, keeping him calm and focused. His optics narrowed as he watched one of those blasted drones swoop down, attempting to claw a slightly disoriented Prowl's faceplates off he shot his grappling line out, watching as it locked around one of the legs tightly. 'Now!' Standing quickly, he pulled on the line as hard as he could, making the bird squawk. "Hey Soundwave! Heads up!"
Said bot looked up and was immediately smashed in the faceplates by a still squawking Laserbeak, knocking him off Sentinel. He was disoriented, visor badly cracked and part of his battle mask dented, but he was still able to function. Getting to his peds, he lifted his servo into the air, catching Ratbat as he transformed. "Obey Soundwave. Obey. Obey!" he ordered, using his own upgraded speakers and sonic signals to try and reprogram the Autobot to do his bidding.
"I—don't think so!" Having his own servos full of the mini drone, Optimus pulled Laserbeak down and forced him to transform into a guitar. He didn't know the first time about playing anything, but he had better learn quickly. Remembering what he had seen on those extremely loud television shows about music, he began playing. The sonic waves from both instruments slammed into one another, disrupting and nearly erupting the bots' audio sensors, shattering any remaining glass in the area as well, but it didn't stop either of them. But despite being created for music, despite the upgrades, despite being far superior to the organics and their simple machines, Soundwave made his own error as he faltered. It only took an astrosecond, but it was enough for the Autobot to come charging at him, Laserbeak held tightly in his servos.
"Time to change your tune, Soundwave. Operation: face the music!" He didn't waste anytime in attacking the Decepticon, smashing the guitar into him, creating dents that forced the plating to break, forcing him back step by step. A particular brutal strike to his chassis forced him back several steps away but enough space for the prime to jump into the air and brought the make-shift weapon down with so much force, Soundwave shattered under the lethal blow, Ratbat suffering the same fate as his creator. A massive city-wide sonic wave was released and all the remaining Sound Wave toys immediately began to malfunction, some of them exploding but the end result was the same: all of the brain-washed humans were freed, and they were all confused by the state of the city and all the damage done.
Back at the site of the battle, all that remained of the musical 'Con was what appeared to be a human hand-held radio with the purple emblem on the front. "All obey Soundwave… All obey Soundwave … All obey-" A simple touch of a button and the radio stopped speaking.
"I thought humans called this a silent night," Ratchet grumbled, reaching down to pick up said item but he was unprepared as a black and blue-violet snatch it from his servo and flew off, along with the remaining two, including a badly damaged Laserbeak. "G-Get back here!"
"There's no time! Bumblebee needs help cycles ago!" Slipstream shouted, immediately transforming and taking off with her brothers. The others quickly followed suit, praying/hoping that their friend and his sparkling was alright.
The drones flew over the city, never being noticed by the confused organics below until they swept low, heading towards a lone human standing atop the rooftop of what appeared to be an old apartment complex. Wordlessly they swooped in low, the dark colored bird dropping the remains of their creator into the person's hands. Fingers caught it, looking it over intently.
"Operation: Ruins didn't go according to plan. I told you the program wasn't 100% reliable, but I was still able to download some interesting information," he explained even as he tucked the radio into the backpack, next to a still complete Sound Wave toy and different items, including a metal mask molded to resemble the facial structure of a human skull, covered in various wires and gears. "Our plans are merely on hold. Afterall, the Sumdacs aren't the only ones who have wronged me." He stared out at the skyline of the city, watching as the darkening sky was slowly starting to light up, bringing about a new day. "… Laserbeak, transform." The badly damaged bird did so and he wordlessly caught it, attaching a strap and slinging it over his shoulder. "Sunder, Garboil, continue with your surveillance. Record everything and upload it to me." Both birds didn't say anything but flew off. The figure watched them go, hands tightening over the straps as the sun slowly began to peak over the horizon, lighting up the city and all its snow-covered glory.
Moments earlier, the rather large and anxious group of Autobots, seekers, and Dinobots charged Sumdac Tower, some of them taking the elevators as other who couldn't be bothered to wait took the stairs, all heading to the level where the laboratories were located. Those too big to fit were forced to wait down in the lobby, along with those forced to keep an optic on them, and they were none too happy about it.
In the demolished room, Sari was trying to get Bumblebee to control his venting but he was in too much pain to focus. Ratchet and Psyche both didn't waste anytime in hooking up to the minibot and found that he was at 98% full dilation and his frame was trying to prepare for the emergence, but with the size of the sparkling his systems immediately put a halt to it. Skywarp, who was still in full-blown protection mode, nearly attacked the medics and anyone else as they stormed into the room but his first concerns were to the carrier. Even now he refused to move, refused to be treated as he stood at the head of the table, holding the minibot's servos and letting him nearly mangle his injured servos with his unyielding grip.
"This is not how I wanted to deliver this sparkling," the veteran medic growled, glad he had sanitized all the necessary tools ahead of time.
"None of us did," Psyche murmured, cursing when she realized that were no time to put the minibot completely down, not this far along but she did what she could. "Bee, listen. Remember when we talked about delivering your sparkling?" He nodded and made to speak but she quickly shook her helm. "No, don't talk. Just focus on cycling your vents. Well, its like we thought. She's too big to emerge on her own, so Ratchet is going to have to go in and remove her himself."
A look of blind fear made his optics lighten to the point where they were almost white and his servos instinctively curled even as he tried curling his frame into a protective ball but he found he could move his stabilizers. His nightmare immediately sprang to his processor, of watching helplessly as Waspinator cut him open and killed his sparkling right before him. He let go of Skywarp's servo and reached down to curl around his swollen abdominal cavity, struggling to protect but another servo reached out and caught it, holding it firmly yet gently. His frighten gaze shot up and locked onto the concerned gaze of the cyber ninja.
"I know, Bumblebee. I know you're terrified, but no one will hurt either of you," he spoke softly, trying to protect his calm EM field into his. He winced as it brushed against his, frantic, terrified, full-blown flight-or-fight response, but he never looked away. "I told you before, I am here for you. For both of you." It was several tense moments, but slowly he nodded and allowed the ninja to slowly pull his servo back but not once did he let go.
It didn't take long for the dilation to hit 100% but by that time everything was ready. Although the Autobot scout was unable to deliver the sparkling that way his frame was originally intended, it didn't mean there weren't other ways to do so. Ratchet needed his steady servos more than even as he slowly and carefully cut through the malleable plating, folding it back then did the same through each of the layers, eventually reaching the softer and more delicate protoflesh. He paused, making certain that all the necessary pain sensors were still offline due to the burst of medical coding, and continued cutting. The light from the gestation tank was so bright, it could be seen even with the final layer covering it but as much as their optics stung looking at it, no one looked away. The laser scalpel moved slowly, carefully, separating the final layer before being set down. Digits moved beneath the plating and reached in, using the acute sensors to seek out the tiny lifeform inside the tank.
"Vitals?" he called out, focused completely on what his servos were telling him.
"Steady. Bee's spark reading is elevated but that's to be expected. Sparkling is strong," Psyche responded, watching just in case something happened, Primus forbid. She risked a look and watched as the medic continued searching for the tiny form, watching the protoflesh ripple. "Anything?"
"No… you think she would be easier to find considering how big-wait." His tone made everyone freeze, fearing the worse but his digits carefully wrapped around what he was looking for and slowly, began to pull it out. "Get the clamps."
"Ready." Despite not need to breathe, everyone in the room halted their vents as the sparkling was slowly and carefully removed, as though she was made of spun glass. The sparkling was indeed big, compared to her carrier, but still so small. Her optics were dark, offlined but that didn't stop the femme from reaching in and began administering the necessary clamps that continued to connect the new protoform to her carrier. Once they were secured the lines were cut one by one, which left Ratchet to turn and move to another table off to the side.
Bumblebee immediately struggled to sit up but was gently held down, optics slightly dim but watching the back of the medic. "Wha… happ-enin'…" he tried to ask, ignoring the tingling sensation as Psyche began to laser stich the metal together, taking absolute care.
"It's okay, its routine to check the sparkling and make sure she's fine. You'll be holding her soon enough," she murmured softly, carefully folding the wires and plating that had been cut until she was done. Bringing out a roll of Cybertronium medical tape she had the two mechs carefully sit Bee up she wrapped up the fresh welds, murmuring how it was to help keep out any and all infections. By the time she was done and the carrier was laying back, Ratchet returned with the small bundle wrapped in a thermal blanket.
"She should be onlining any moment, just hold her close to your spark so hers can resonate with yours," he explained, carefully placing the sparkling on the yellow chassis. Bumblebee didn't say anything, he could stare and watched as the little one began to stir. She was a soft gray color, the typical color of protoforms, but there were also shades of darker gray on her stabilizers, but as she continued to shift the biolights began to glow a soft red, slowly brightening. The tiny wings on her back twitched, no doubt unused to the feeling of being bound; her optics were the last to online and they immediately focused on the soft blue gaze of her carrier. She shuddered her optics and the seams of her frame pulsed, but she snuggled into the yellow chassis she was laying upon as yellow servos continued to hold her close. "Congrats, kid. You did it.
"Y-Yeah… I guess, I guess I did," Bee said softly, shutting his optics tightly as he gently rocked his sparkling to his chassis, listening to her quiet clicks as she tested her very limited range of motion and systems for the first time.
"Have you thought of a designation?" Prowl asked softly as Psyche went to tell everyone who was forced to wait outside the room the good news while Ratchet finally got started on repairing Skywarp who refused to be moved too far away, staring at the tiny new life with focused optics.
"…" The Autobot didn't say anything, looking at the ninja he shuddered his optics but checking his chronometer he smiled as he gazed down at his recharging sparkling. "Dawnbreaker… Dawn for short…"
It didn't take the ninja long to get the correlation between the name and time of day, but he had to smile. He carefully sat next to him and slipped his upper stabilizer around the scout, letting him lean into him and carefully wrapped his servos around both carrier and sparkling. "Merry Christmas, Bumblebee."
Shuddering his optics, the yellow mech looked up at him and smiled, leaning his helm against his chassis even as servos instinctively held Dawnbreaker as tightly as he dared, as though afraid to let go even for a moment. "Merry Christmas, Prowler."
New Detroit would remember this being one of the most confusing but exciting Christmas eves ever, even with all the citizens under the hypnosis of the latest toy craze, there was no denying that the city had been the battlefield of an epic showdown. Cleaning drones immediately sent out to begin clean up, especially the broken toys that scattered the streets. It didn't take everyone long to realize just what had happened, and despite his claims that he had nothing to do with it, a recall was issued including the toys that had been preordered and had been delivered out of the city. Porter C. Powell was not only facing bankruptcy, his reputation was ruined as well. Isaac Sumdac knew it was wrong, but he couldn't be happier with the results.
Once Bumblebee had been stabilized, the group headed home back to the warehouse where they were introduced to the sparkling one by one. As soon as the seekers each saw the tiny seeker fledgling, their own protective protocols onlined in less than a klik, some of them showing a more aggressive nature than Skywarp, not even allowing the jettwins near the sparkling since they didn't recognize them as full seekers and refused to allow Skyfire into the room itself due to his large size. The Dinobots were confused and couldn't quite grasp what was so important about such a tiny frame, but they knew it was still their duty to protect the yellow car, and therefore knew they now had to protect the tiny newspark.
Even though it was Christmas day, the Autobot still managed to celebrate the remainder of the holiday together as a family, which also included the Dinobots and seekers, as well as Sari and her father. Bumblebee was still adjusting to being a carrier and would fret and worry constantly whenever Dawnbreaker was out of his visual view, hovering ever so slightly when someone was holding her, but that was to be expected. Though the most surprising part had been when Sentinel was allowed to hold the ne spark. The poor Prime had looked absolutely terrified, even resorting to hiding behind the Sumdacs despite his dislike of anything organic, but holding the protoform cradled in his servos, she looked even smaller. He watched with large optics as she shuddering her own up at him, but he seemed to melt as she tried to wrap her tiny digits around one of his own, letting out soft clicks and whirls.
'She may have Decepticon coding, but that's all it is. Coding.'
Night had fallen and the entire city seemed to be sleeping, no doubt exhausted by the excited that had happened, the Autobots (and alias) were no exception, each one turning in early but not before doing an extensive search of the factory just in case there were any other surprises laying in wait. The elevator to the basement was temporarily sealed off, just to be safe, but come morning everything would be removed and investigated further. It was also too late to transport the Dinobots back to their island so the plan was to take them back just before light, the less likelihood of anyone seeing them. All was quiet, and yet one bot was awake but for good reason.
"Shh I'm here, sweetspark, I'm here," Bumblebee said softly as he picked up his daughter, holding her close to his chassis. Her whimpers quieted even as she curled into her charrier, digits latching onto seams for a secure hold. Smiling, Bee reached down for her thermal blanket and covered her with it, slowly walking around his room but when she wasn't relaxing his figure a change of sight would be ideal. He stepped out of his berthroom, making certain to be extra quiet, and walked into the main living quarters. Although the warehouse was tight on space, they managed to find sleeping arrangements for most of their company, utilizing an empty warehouse close by so the bots wouldn't feel like they were sleeping atop one another. So, the carrier had the large room all to himself. Sitting on the couch he shifted as his chassis gave way and he unspooled a feeding tube from inside. Holding it to the sparkling derma palting, he smiled as she began sucking at it, wing numbs flickering as she fed. It was during quiet moments like that that led to some serious deep thinking, something that usually made his processor hurt but he had a lot of thinking to do. not only did he have his own spark to worry about, he had a new spark to worry about as well.
'I think, all of this could have been avoided if I had just stopped and sued my processor for a klik instead of rushing ahead. I mean, I get it, we're at war no matter how hard the High Council tried to hide it and I guess they had their reasons, but still…' He looked at the blinking lights, watching as they flickered from red to green to white and back again, watching as the shadows dance as a result. "… everything happens for a reason, whether it's the will of Primus or just by chance." Shuddering his optics slowly he looked down and smiled as he watched his sparkling looking up at him with large optics, the festive lights reflecting off her protoflesh. "But despite all the hardship, I wouldn't give any of it up because it would mean you would have never existed." Gently withdrawing the feed tube and letting it retract under his plating, he held her close and gently tapped her back until she let out all the air pockets she had developed in her tanks. Still holding her close, he lifted his peds up and set them on the edge of his seat, laying Dawn back so she was reclining against his bent stabilizers, also making sure her wings weren't in the way. He smiled, watching her his biolights pulsed softly in time with her spark, knowing it was in sync with his own. Cradling the back of her helm in one hand, he reached out with the other and felt her reach out and grip his firmly. She was so big, he knew that anybot else wouldn't believe him if he told them that he was her carrier, but the shape of her optics was just like his own, some of her darker colored plating was just like his, she even sported a tiny pair of sensory horns on her helm in just the same position. The rest, that was her sire through and through.
"I don't know if you're going to remember any of this, or what's gonna happen in the future, but I know that your sire loved you very much," he said softly, stroking the back of her servo with a digit, her lip plates opening and closing, still testing her range of motion. "If you remember anything I'm saying, remember this. You, are Dawnbreaker. You carry the coding of an Autobot and a Decepticon, but that doesn't mean you have to pick one fraction over the other. You, decide who you want to be, and don't ever let anybot tell you otherwise, he said firmly even as he continued smiling down at her, optics diming. "Your carrier, Bumblebee, that me, and your sire, Starscream, love you so much." Bringing her forward he pressed a kiss to the crest of her helm, his smile growing as she let out a soft yet happy squeal and settled her against his chassis, draping her blanket around her. She squirmed, obviously trying to find a comfortable position judging by the way her wings would twitch and flicker before they stilled. He didn't have to know she was deep in recharge as he carefully wrapped his servos around her, keeping her close to his spark. Looking at the tree he exvented softly and allowed his own optics to offline, slowly slipping back into recharge himself.
'Merry Christmas, Starscream… wherever you are.'
images2 imgbox com 95 ce 3R17enD5_o jpg
Author's Notes: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Yes yes I know, Christmas has come and go, believe me I know! I won't bore you with the details, I won't spin the same story I've been giving but I was trying very hard to get this chapter out on time. But I managed to get it down before the New Year so yay? (weak cheer)
I'm hoping this link works so allow me to explain (clears throat) I follow JazzTheTiger and I absolutely love her art, its amazing and I wish I had the creative talent she has. I also follow her on , to which as a thank you for my support asked what I would like to see drawn from her. Well, I had been wanting to do something sentimental for the holidays and asked her to draw up a scene where Bee is sitting before the Christmas tree at the Autobot base with his sparkling already born and this is the end result. After seeing it my heart just melted at the sight. Now before anyone starts complaining about the size issue, take into consideration this: according the size comparison chart found in the TFA: the Complete AllSpark Almanac, Starscream is easily twice Bumblebee's height. So, I'm guessing if Bee had a sparkling from say another minibot or similar frame, the sparkling would be a lot smaller. Like, slightly smaller than Sari when she's first introduced. Now, Dawnbreaker is composed of two completely different frame types so there is a 50-50 chance of adapting either frame. In this case, seeker coding won out. Plus, JazzTheTiger had done some earlier sketches of what Bee's sparkling would look like and so I ran with that concept. Also, I had originally wanted Bee to be able to deliver the baby the way babies are born, but giving the size of the little one, yeah I know this is fiction but again remembering the original concept sketches, I think a C-section was a safer bet (shrugs) it may be a fiction but I'm kinda a stickler for as much realism as I can get.
Again, I took liberties with the whole VR environment and the fighting because I made the error of throwing in so many characters during the Christmas fight (mental note: don't do that again!) so that was a challenge but after writing, and rewriting, and re-rewriting, and asking a dear friend of mine on her output, I managed to pump it out.
On another note, I think some of you got confused as to who was who in the VR word so lemme just explain real quick. I am terrible when it comes to names, I tend to use names I am familiar with or use names that are closely related to those I know, like family. Not necessary a bad thing but in this case I figure why not just use the names of the voice actors of said TFA characters? I.e., the voice actor who played Optimus Prime is David Kaye and so on and so on and so on. Skyfire though, I got his name from the original voice actor from the original TF, Gregg Berger. But for Psyche (aka BlueStar Lotus, Lotus for short) is an OC of mine but voice wise I used my favorite voice actress as inspiration: Linda Ballentyne, who is one of the nicest and funniest people I have had the pleasure of meeting.
Oh yeah, before I go, I would again like to thank those of you who came to my defense in response to someone who left a very rude and crude review on this story. I don't know what brought this on, but it was very immature and a waste of time. Those of you that spoke up, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It shows that you not only enjoy reading this, but that you also respect my written works. I'm posting this for fun, no profit, no gain.
Next chapter will be moving on as the team on earth get some bad news from Cybertron. Until next time, good night and in case I miss it, Happy New Year to one and all!