Author's Note
Chapter 3 of 6 posted today
This chapter has some characters coming that some of you have been looking forward to. I took some liberties with history and stuff that I hope you guys are okay with.
Go onward and enjoy!
Prehistoric Allies
The lobby is in chaos when the elevator opens up, another war that's being fought all over the world in S.H.I.E.L.D. facilities just like this one. People have taken sides and are shooting at each other, friends and partners and trusts broken irrevocably.
The stairwell door bursts open, Steve and the others spilling out into the chaos.
Clint looks around at it all, overwhelmed. "Who're the good guys and who're the bad guys?"
The ground shakes, the marble floor cracking. "I do not think it matters," Thor says. "We are about to have company."
They watch as the cracks in the floor spread, gunfire puttering out as agents stop to watch. Ari wants to warn them, tell them to run, but would they even listen?
The floor splits open, metal fingers slipping through the fissure.
It's too late anyway.
"Ari?" Bucky says with a thread of panic. "Which way to the Seed?"
"This way!" Ari shouts, following the red dot on her phone. "I got it! Everyone else, get out!"
"I don't think so, kiddo," Will says, chasing after her with Rob right beside him. "You ain't trapezing through Hydra agents without backup."
Ari rolls her eyes, fighting a smile. "Fine, whatever, just keep up."
"No, you go faster!" Rob demands, concrete and marble flying everywhere as the first of the Stingers climb out of the giant whole they made.
They enter a hodgepodge of hallways and offices, zigzagging their way towards the Seed. There are less people back here, probably because this is more of an administration section of the building, so there's not really any fighting. Anyone working back here probably had the sense to get out when the shooting started.
Ari skids to a halt when she's right on top of the dot, Will and Rob running into her back. She shushes them, pressing a finger to her lips and pulling her gun out with her other hand. They nod, holding their guns at the ready as well. Rob moves to the left of the door she nods to, Ari to the right, and Will stands steady right in front of it. At his nod, Ari turns the nob and shoves the door open, following Will and Rob into the room with guns raised and orders for anyone in the room to freeze.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot, don't shoot!" someone shouts shrilly, making them blink. A bald man with glasses and a rumbled suit sits cowering in the corner of the room, a large canvas bag leaning against the wall beside him. His hands are raised, fear widening his eyes and shaking him from head to toe.
Definitely not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Or a Hydra agent, for that matter. It takes Ari a second to recognize him, but when she does, she lowers her weapon. "Joyce?" she says in bewilderment, motioning for Will and Rob to lower their guns as well. This guy's completely harmless. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was taking possession of the Seed," he stammers, clutching the bag close to his side, "but then everything went freakin' crazy with shooting and shouting and an alien taking over my robots!"
A rumble shakes the building, the walls and ceiling visibly vibrating with the force of it. That was definitely a lot closer. They really don't have time for this.
Ari takes a deep breath. The short version, then. "So, basically, you've been working for Hydra, they wanted to use your robots to kill a bunch of people and take over the world, but we stopped them before they could, and then Megatron took over your robots before we could stop him."
She looks to Will and Rob and they shrug their shoulders. "Yeah," Will says, "that sounds about right. So we ready to go?"
"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Joyce protests, pulling the bag away when Ari moves to take it from him.
"Look," she says, starting to lose her patience with every rumble that moves their way. "That thing you're holding there? The Seed? That's what Megatron and his robot army are after. So you've got two options here. Give us the Seed and stay here, hoping the Hydra agents and robots leave you alone, or come with us and maybe live through this day."
He gulps heavily, neither option probably sounding good to him. It's one dangerous decision or an even more dangerous decision. But it's a choice he has to make and Ari stares at him hard until he gets to his feet, hoisting the bag over his shoulder.
He nods, shakily at first, then more firmly. "Alright. I may very well have started this apocalypse so...I'll go with you. And not dying sounds great right now."
She's pretty sure there's a Terminator joke in here somewhere but a crash down the hall has her biting her tongue and ushering them all out the door. They've lost a lot of time. She can feel whatever head start they had dwindling fast. She takes the lead again, following her bond with Sideswipe to find the lobby.
There's a fragging massive hole in the middle of the floor. And no agents in sight. That isn't really surprising. The possibility of the end of the world must make fighting each other seem unimportant.
Blaster fire sounds from outside, making them all duck instinctively. Speaking of the end of the world...
Ari runs for the door, just as Sideswipe and Optimus work together to finish off one of the Stingers. Sideswipe pulls his blade out of the bot's middle, looking Ari up and down while asking, "You alright?"
"Yep," she says cheerily, even though all of this is so far from alright. But none of them are hurt yet and that's what counts. She jerks her thumb back at Joyce. "You ready to do some running? We've got to get this Seed out of here."
"Getting it out of here isn't going to mean much if we don't stop these Transformers. There's dozens of them. They could easily tear the city apart just by themselves."
"Then it's time to call in some reinforcements," Optimus decides.
Ari frowns. "But there's no guarantee another N.E.S.T. team is anywhere near here. They probably won't get here in time, even with Autobots driving. And even if they could get here, they're probably dealing with their own Hydra agents right now."
The thought that anyone in N.E.S.T. could be Hydra sets Ari's teeth on edge, like a horse biting at the bit. She doesn't want to believe it. But, seriously, the odds are insanely high that there are just as many Hydra agents inside N.E.S.T. as there are in S.H.I.E.L.D.
"I was not talking about Autobot reinforcements," Optimus says mysteriously, piquing Ari's interest. "There are others we may be able to call on for aid, but I will need your help, Ari, in getting them."
She hesitates, not liking the idea of leaving while everyone else fights. Not to mention, she doesn't trust Joyce not to just run off with the Seed the moment their backs are turned. But she trusts Optimus knows what he's doing, and they really could use the help. "Alright. Where are we going?"
"Back to the ship," he says, transforming into his alt mode, door swinging open for her.
"You guys be careful," Will says, pulling Ari in for a quick hug. "And hurry. The sooner this all ends, the better."
"We'll be fine," Ari says before turning to Sideswipe, already seeing the decision in his optics. She shakes her head at him. "You can't come with us, Sides."
Defiance pushes against her along the bond. "And why not?"
"I need you to stay with them." She waves her hand at Joyce and the Seed. "I need you to make sure the Seed stays away from Megatron. They need the backup more than we do."
An argument builds up in him, about to boil over, but she pushes calm at him. And urgency. They don't have time for a proper debate. "Not a damsel, remember? I can take care of myself. Plus, I'll have Optimus with me."
He jerks his head in a nod, not liking it but accepting. She doesn't need him to be her bodyguard, and he knows that. Still, he bends down, pressing a lingering kiss to her lips and asking, "Are we ever going to keep our promise of fighting together?"
No accusation, not in his voice or the emotions over the bond. Just…frustration and a sense of foreboding. It still stings, though, knowing that she's breaking that promise again. The universe just seems to be against them lately and she doesn't see any other way around it.
"Sides, I'm sorry, I—"
He shakes his head softly, nuzzling into her hand when she lifts it to stroke the side of his face. "I know. I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. Just…you better be careful."
"You know we will." She pulls back reluctantly, hoisting herself up into Optimus's alt mode. "Don't worry," she says aloud, giving him one last, reassuring smile. "We'll be back before you know it."
And, hopefully, with help.
Despite Sideswipe's worries, it's relatively easy to get back to the ship. They meet almost no resistance. All of the fighting is still around the river, where the Triskelion is, though it's made it to the shore by now as Joyce, the Avengers, and N.E.S.T. get the Seed further and further away.
That Seed is like a shining beacon, bringing all of the Transformers right to it. Along with Megatron.
They don't have much time. Because it doesn't matter how fast they are. They'll need to stop eventually, and when they do, they will be found.
Optimus skids to a halt, barely waiting for Ari to get out before transforming into his bipedal form. They race up the open gangplank of the ship, Optimus leading her to the hold with all the cages, including the one he was held in.
And all the ones that are still occupied.
"What are we going to do with all of them?" Ari wonders aloud, seeing at least a half dozen different species of alien just in this room. There could be even more hidden away somewhere.
"Hopefully, Thor and Loki can use the Bifrost to get them home," Optimus says, moving to one of the cages to peer inside. "But I was thinking we could free four of them today."
"You're not serious, are you?" a voice says.
They turn to see Darcy step out of a corridor, tazer held warily in her hand. Her and Jane were left behind on the ship with Phil watching over them. They're supposed to be hiding.
"Heard you come in," Darcy says, answering before they can ask. "Just wanted to make sure you weren't, you know, Decepticons or Hydra agents or anything."
"Where's Phil?" Ari asks, wondering how Darcy managed to convince him to let her go instead of checking it out himself. He's supposed to be protecting them, after all, though she can imagine Darcy putting up a fight at that thought.
"He's making sure Jane doesn't electrocute herself. Or send all of us into a black hole." She shrugs her shoulders with a casualness that's somewhat disturbing. "Really, there's about a thirty percent chance of either happening."
Ari's almost afraid to ask but she forces herself to anyway. "And why is that?"
Does she really want to know? And how can Darcy say that with such certainty? Is this a common occurrence?
"Come on, I'll show you." Darcy turns back the way she came, Optimus and Ari sharing a troubled glance before following. They don't have a whole lot of time but...this might be something they should consider stopping before they leave.
The potential for a black hole is never a good thing. Though she'd think Phil would have stopped them from doing something so dangerous.
They find Jane and Phil in a room down the hall, huge machines taking up most of the space and humming with sleepy life. It looks like some kind of engine room, maybe even a dark matter drive.
And there are parts scattered about everywhere that probably shouldn't have been taken out.
Muffled cursing floats towards them, barely audible above the humming. They follow it to where Jane's sitting cross-legged on the floor, using something that vaguely looks like a wrench to poke at an unknown piece of alien tech in her hand.
Ari levels a dead-eyed stare at Phil, leaning against the wall behind Jane. "What in the world are you letting her do?"
"She had an idea to help," he replies stonily, his calm a bit reassuring, but he can be calm in the middle of a warzone. He'd probably still be calm if they were all about to be blown up.
"Is this something she should be doing? Darcy mentioned something about a potential black hole?"
"Dr. Foster reassures me she knows what she's doing. And I trust her work. Besides," he heaves a heavy sigh, "do you really think there's any stopping her?"
They all stare down at Jane, muttering to herself as she uses another tool to splice some wires poking out of whatever she's working on. Her hair is completely disheveled, like she's pulled at it with her hands, and something that might be grease coats her jeans.
Okay, yeah, Jane is in full mad-scientist mode. There really isn't any stopping her when she's like this. At the Tower, the only way would be to shut everything down and forcibly remove her from the lab.
And they can't take her out of the ship, what with everything going on.
"Right." Ari takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, crouching as close to Jane's side as the scattered machine parts allow her. "Jane?"
The only reply is a gruff grunt, but it's better than nothing. It means she's at least listening.
"Jane, what in the world are you doing?"
"I'm making a mini worm hole device," she says simply, never looking up as she twists some wires together.
Ari rocks back on her heels. "You mean a Bifrost? That's basically what the Bifrost is, right? It makes a worm hole through space to transport you from one place to another?"
"Yep."
Optimus blinks. "I thought you could not make a Bifrost yet?"
"I can't. At least not a fully-functioning one." She sets the device down, wiping her hands on her jeans and getting more gunk on them. "The worm hole part, however, the actual transportation part? That's easy. I figured it out ages ago. I just don't know how to open a worm hole and make sure you go where you actually want to go."
"It's like putting the Tardis on random," Darcy explains, drawing on their shared love of Doctor Who. "You'll travel through time and space but you won't know where you'll end up."
"Sort of," Jane hedges, tilting her hand from side to side. "Anyway, we don't need to worry about the destination part, not right now. Not for what I want to use it for."
"And what do you want to use it for?" Ari asks, afraid of the answer because there is a seriously mad gleam in Jane's eyes.
"For blasting crazy robots off Earth and across the universe."
"You can do that?" Optimus asks, faceplates slack at the thought.
"As soon as I'm done with this, yeah." She picks the device back up, selecting another tool around her. "The technology on this ship is awesome. I should have something rigged up in, oh, fifteen minutes. It'll be fully portable, too."
Phil arches a brow at them. "Does that sound worth the potential for black holes?"
Ari nods, kind of afraid of Jane at the moment. "Yeah. You just…keep doing what you're doing. Let us know when you're done and we'll help you find some robots to zap."
Jane just grunts again, fully focused on her work and tuning everything else out. Ari stands, backing away slowly so she and Optimus can get back to doing what they're here for.
Jane is definitely very scary sometimes.
"So, Optimus," Ari says, heading back to the hold, "who was your idea for backup?"
"Them," he says, moving to a grouping of four cages larger than all the others.
Ari peers through the bars of one of the cages, stepping back abruptly when the prisoner growls at her, like an animal. Green optics stare back at her, primal and wild and hungry for freedom. This Cybertronian is bigger than any single bot she's ever seen, even bigger than Optimus. But there's something off about him. He has a bipedal form, and yet he seems almost...animalistic. More so than she's ever seen before.
"What happened to them?" Ari whispers, afraid of spooking them, like they're tigers held in poachers' cages for far too long. The other three are the same as the first, a bit smaller and with different armor, but with that same feral air. Even their armor seems wild, all jagged edges and unpainted silver. What do their alt modes look like?
"I was hoping you can tell me," Optimus says, kneeling down next to her to get a closer look. "I spoke with them, before you rescued me. They understood our Cybertronian language but didn't respond. However, I do not recognize them from Cybertron. Whoever they are, they were captured before war broke out."
"Let me take a peek," Ari says, already moving her mind towards her hallway of doors. The AllSpark shows her the way, pulling her through a door hidden deeper than she usually travels.
Because, she realizes, it's a part of Earth's history she's never had occasion to look at.
"These Cybertronians are old," she gasps, closing her eyes to better focus on the images playing out in her head. "So old. Older than mankind, older than you. They're almost as old as Cybertron itself."
"How is that possible?" he asks incredulously. "Jetfire was the oldest Cybertronian I have ever known to survive the war, and even he eventually perished. Are you saying they are even older than him?"
"Yeah. They were created before the seven original Primes fought, and soon after they got the rest of the Cybertronian race started. While the Primes scoured the universe looking for suns to harvest for energon, they sent the newly-created Cybertronians out as well, looking for uninhabited planets to detonate Seeds on. To make more Cybertronian protoforms, they needed more metal. But then they stumbled upon Earth."
She can see a Seed falling from the Cybertronian ship, a ship that looks a lot like the one Lockdown flies. Actually, she'd say it's exactly like it. Meaning his ship was originally an exploration ship, reoutfitted to carry prisoners.
But what was with the pedestal and all the swords? What did that have to do with their exploration? She files the information away for later, instead focusing on what the AllSpark is trying to tell her.
"A Seed detonated on the planet millennia ago," she continues, horrified as she watches the Seed erupt metal for miles and miles, charging like a tsunami, coating everything and freezing it instantaneously. It reminds her of when Han Solo from Star Wars was frozen in carbonite, but this time, everything isn't just coated in metal. It became metal, right down to a cellular level. "They didn't know the planet was inhabited. Humans weren't around, not yet. But dinosaurs were.
"It changed them, making them into a hybrid of animal and Cybertronian. Part alien, and part of Earth. It's why they have an understanding of your language and have a bipedal form. I'd say, they can even transform. But they're still mostly animals on the inside."
"Forever changed into something they were never meant to be," Optimus murmurs, awe and sadness turning his voice deeper than usual. "I never knew this about our history. The Primes and the originals of our race. Our beginning."
"There's no records?" There's no records of human early history either, but that's because humans didn't have a way of keeping records back then. She would have thought Cybertronians would have had it a lot easier, considering how advanced they are.
"None. I was an archaeologist before the war started, studying ruins scattered across Cybertron, along with the AllSpark."
Ari's chest clenches. None of the Autobots talk about their lives before the war, not even Sideswipe. Honestly, it's hard to imagine them being anything other than soldiers, that they had jobs and normal lives that never involved fighting.
She wonders if it's hard for them to imagine, now, too.
"What were you able to figure out?" she asks, drawing Optimus away from memories that only make him sad now.
He blinks, focusing back on her. "It's as you say. We traveled throughout the universe, looking for resources to perpetuate our race while also simply…."
"Exploring?"
He smiles. "Exactly. The universe is so big and so beautiful. Our ancestors wished to see as much as possible. But then something…happened. Something that I never found any specific record of, but it was something that endangered all life. Whatever it was, it was stopped, but at much sacrifice, enough to where those who came after had no memory of it."
Ari tries to take a peek, just out of curiosity. The history of the Cybertronians has always fascinated her. The door is easy to find, but when she touches the knob her mind is forced out, pushed away by a gale of wind that leaves her mind spinning.
She groans, pressing her hand to her throbbing head. But with an image.
Purple optics, malicious and calculating.
"Ari," Optimus places a hand on her back, steadying her on her feet. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she murmurs, brow furrowing as she tries to focus on that glimpse she got, those optics, trying to bring the rest of the face into focus. The harder she tries, the more it all fades into the fog. "The AllSpark won't let me see."
"But it is a part of our history. Why would having the knowledge matter?"
Ari's stomach twists, like it only ever does when something big is coming. Like it does with Unicron. "I get the feeling it's not as stuck in the past as you think it is."
This is part of everything. What happened to her at the sword pedestal, Death's warning, Unicron's return. It's all connected. She knows it.
But that's for later, much later. Unicron isn't here yet, while they still have a disaster to deal with right now.
They find the controls to the cages, opening the four they want. All four Cybertronians growl in anticipation and then burst out of the cages as soon as the bars are clear. Optimus snatches Ari out of the way of stampeding feet, watching as they tear out of the ship as fast as possible.
How long were they stuck in here?
Optimus follows them outside, Ari propped on his shoulder. They parked the ship in the middle of a field just outside the city, far away from roads. Ari's suddenly grateful for that, watching warily as the feral Cybertronians stalk back and forth, eying them like hungry tigers.
What did they just unleash?
The biggest one turns towards them, fists clenched and ready to charge.
"Optimus?" Ari whispers, suddenly not feeling so good about this plan.
The Cybertronian staggers as he charges, practically tripping over his feet. Optimus quickly sets her down and takes the brunt of the attack, shoving with his arm to push the bot away.
He falls to his knees, only to get back up again, fighting like his life depends on it. It probably has, all his life, since they were first taken. Even before, living out in the wild. But it doesn't have to be like that. Not anymore.
The Cybertronian prepares to charge again and Optimus spreads his feet, ready for a fight. But Ari steps in his way. "Let me."
"Are you sure?" he asks, optics flitting to the feral bots uneasily.
"Yeah, I am. I've got this."
Instincts guiding her, she reaches for the power of the AllSpark just as the Cybertronian begins another charge, sparks flowing down her arms with crackling energy. She raises her arms, hands pointed towards the bot that means to trample her.
The sparks shoot out at him, enveloping him in her power and stopping him dead on his feet. He fights against the energy, panicking, but she uses the AllSpark to create a temporary bond, connecting their minds together so that he can understand.
He feels so lost and confused and scared. No one ever explained what happened to him and the others. They just know that at one moment they were one thing, and then the next there was pain, and then they were turned into something else. They hardly remember the animals they once were, but the animal is still inside them, wishing to be free. Wishing to live.
But how can they live when they don't even know what they are?
"It's okay," she tells him softly, soothing him with her voice and with the AllSpark. He continues to struggle, writhing, trying to break free, but he looks at her, the wildness fading from his optics a little. "It's alright. I know you're scared. But you don't have to be anymore. You've been alone and confused and hurting for so long, but we've got you now. We can take care of you and help you. We can explain everything. You've just got to let us."
He stops struggling, hope beating down at her in desperate pulses. The other three look on in curiosity, and she can't help but wonder if they understand what she's saying.
But she can help them understand.
Closing her eyes, she moves one arm so the AllSpark energy can flow to encompass the other three Cybertronians as well. They accept the power willingly, connecting to her and, through her, the AllSpark.
And using the AllSpark, she gives them the information they need. Languages, history, the knowledge of what they are now and how it was done. She also tells them of what's going on now.
"We want you to live here," she tells them, feeding them her own hope, "with us. But there is a threat to our existence here. There are people just like you who want to destroy this planet we call home. Please, will you help us stop them?"
By way of answer, they transform, each of them shifting their parts until they take on the forms of the animals they once were: a Triceratops, a two-headed Pteranodon, a Spinosaurus, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. They roar their agreement, huge beasts ready to fight for what they want. The life they want.
Ari grins, pulling the AllSpark power away so they can use their new knowledge. "So, what do we call you?"
"Grimlock," the T-Rex grumbles, fire—real, fragging fire—shooting out of this throat as he roars again.
"Slug," the Triceratops replies, while the Pterosaur says, "Strafe," and the Spinosaurus replies, "Scorn."
They have names for themselves. They were captured and tortured for who knows how long, but they managed to keep at least this for themselves.
"It's nice to meet you. Now come on, we've got a world to save."
"Are those real dinosaurs?" Darcy calls out from the gangplank of the ship, Phil and Jane standing behind her, dumbstruck. A weird device rests heavily in Jane's arms, like an oversized paintball gun. "And are they friendly, 'cause I kind of want to pet the T-Rex."
"Don' worry, that's just Darcy," Ari chuckles, looking up at the dinosaur Cybertronians as they shift uneasily on their feet. Her mouth screws up at that thought. Dinosaur Cybertronians is a mouthful, even in her head. They need a name, like Autobots.
Dinobots. Yeah, Dinobots sounds cool.
"So are they?" Darcy asks, the three of them stepping cautiously closer, Jane looking two seconds from darting back to the ship.
"Yeah, they're friendly," Ari reassures, not sure if she's talking about the Dinobots or Darcy.
Grimlock lowers his head to the ground, sniffing at Darcy curiously. Darcy, completely unfazed, reaches out a hand to pet his snout. She grins ecstatically. "This is so going on Facebook later."
"Please don't," Phil replies tiredly, giving her a withering look. "I will break out the NDAs if I have to."
"Oh, you're no fun," Darcy pouts, giving Grimlock one last pat before placing her hands on her hips. "So, did someone say something about saving the world?"
"My worm hole gun is finished," Jane supplies, hoisting the device higher in her arms. "It's not my best work, but it should still work."
"Should?" Phil asks, sounding a bit worried.
"I'm about eighty-five percent positive it won't blast us into a black hole."
Ari can't tell if she's joking or not, but decides not to ask. Better not to know.
"Right," she says, looking over the Dinobots questioningly. "Can you give us a ride?"
"What?" Phil deadpans, but Optimus doesn't give him the chance to argue. He picks the agent up while straddling the back of Grimlock, mounting him like horse. Ari moves to Slug's side and he lowers himself to the ground, making it easier for Ari, Darcy, and Jane to scramble onto his back. Ari sits near his head, Jane behind her with her device, and Darcy bringing up the rear.
Jane looks down at the ground as Slug gets to his feet again, licking her lips nervously. "Wouldn't a car be, you know, safer?"
"Probably," Ari chirps, slipping her fingers between gaps in the armor for handholds. "But this is faster. Alright, guys, let's roll out!"
Author's Note
So, yeah, liberties with that Dinobot history.
Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about the Dinobots, just what was in the movies, and even that isn't very good since the Bayverse is crap with continuity. So I just took what I knew, took what I changed of the Cybertronian's history already, and made it work. Hopefully it makes sense.
Got some hint-hints towards the knights and Quintessa. Primus, I can't wait to actually get my hands into all of that.
And the stuff with Darcy and Jane is thanks to...okay, I don't really remember who gave me the idea (so sorry about that) but it was a reviewer who mentioned something about Jane being able to control black holes or something in the Lego video game? I really wanted Jane and Darcy to be a part of the fight (considering Thor Ragnarok, I don't really see them just sitting it out) and I remembered that review and it just...spiraled from there. But I kind of like it.
Hope you enjoyed, PLEASE REVIEW, and see you all next time!
