Ion: Well, now that it's been established, it seems like we'll be on the ball with this one.
Kicker: As long as we keep this up, we might get done soon.
Not likely, you two.
K+I: AAAAH!(jump) Where did you come from?
My momma's belly. And YOU? (They mutter) Alright, someone asked me how Ion doesn't end up flashing people when she flies. (lifts up the IVA's tunic to reveal white biking shorts) That's how. She has shorts on. (Ion pulls the tunic down, scowling and blushing)
Anyway, now that the setting's concrete, we can get rolling.
CHAPTAH!
STARTO!
If someone were to look up at the moon during that point in time, they would've had their jaws drop at the sight of explosions erupting all over the part where the moon base was located. Jetfire was wildly soaring through the bird-Terracons, firing at random while Kicker cheered him on.
"YEAH! You rule, Jetfire!" Cooper was scribbling like mad in the journal, and at some point it seemed like the paper would burst into flame from friction-burn. Kicker spotted another bird nearby. "We got another bogey at twelve o'clock!"
Jetfire launched a few shots at it, taking the bot down easily. Cooper stopped writing when Kicker forced Jetfire into a loop. "We got another one on our tails! Shake it Jetfire!" The jet responded by going into a huge loop, "Hang on!" and began to fire on the bird-Terracon as he got it in sight, blowing the bird into a crash landing. They sped off, gunning down several more Terracons. "Way to go, kid! You're one wicked wingman!" Cooper snorted as he wrote that down, along with a sidenote saying 'Say that five times fast.' Kicker frowned.
"Yeah, but we can't hold them off much longer! Where's Optimus?" Jetfire shot at a pair of oncoming birds, only to watch as the one left standing transformed and deflected almost eight shots in a row, before the Autobot flew past it, and the bird threw a Z-shaped boomerang at them. "JETFIRE! INCOMING!" Jetfire swerved to avoid it, but ended up rolling downward towards the surface of the planet. Kicker and Cooper muffled their noises of terror as they held on. Jetfire managed to stop spinning, and Cooper breathed slowly so he wouldn't hurl.
"Oh man, that was a close one!" Jetfire exclaimed, scanning for more Terracons. Kicker gasped when he saw the boomerang live up to its reputation and loop around back at them.
"DIVE!" The brunette shrieked, holding fast to the arms of his seat as Jetfire went downward, narrowly avoiding the weapon as it returned to the Terracon. "C'mon Jetfire, get in the game!" Kicker urged as they soared back, aiming for the bird. Two more joined the first, and Cooper looked backwards in horror at the three oncoming boomerangs. Kicker gritted his teeth as he spoke. "Oh, snap! Incoming from all sides!" Cooper finally stopped writing as he clutched his helmet and hunched down. Jetfire waited until the last second, before pulling upwards, letting the boomerangs hit several birds waiting to ambush them. One boomerang continued to chase after them, and Kicker noticed a few birds off to the side.
"Sharp left, Jetfire! And don't try anything fancy!" They twisted, banking towards the crpwd of birds. Cooper came close to screaming as they appraoched, when Jetfire gunned two birds down, let the third get close enough, and zoomed upwards as the boomerang collided with the Terracon. It spun against the bot's stomach, then sliced it in half before exploding. Cooper then gave a shriek, of victory, and slumped in his seat.
"Haha, you okay back there Cooper? It isn't too intense for ya?" The red-head gave an uneasy burp, and and sat up straight, Jetfire resuming his blitzkrieg on the birds.
"I can take it. For my parents...Uh, my stomach is hating my parents right now." Cooper slouched back down. Kicker laughed at the other teen, turning his head as his sensory nudged at him, and saw the space-bridge appear.
"Looks like the calvalry's here!" Kicker said to Cooper, who grinned and opened his notebook back up. Optimus called through the comm. link.
"Jetfire! Kicker! Give me an update!" Cooper turned his comm on as Jetfire hurried to avoid getting blasted.
"Optimus, sir, it's Cooper. They found the Energon! And they got smarter!" Jetfire chimed in after him. "Optimus! We'll handle the perimeter, you fly down and see if you can save the Energon!" Cooper was almost completely done with the journal.
"I'm on it!" Three red streaks appeared, heading towards the planet. A yellow streak broke off of one, and zoomed towards them, taking out a few birds along the way. Ion grabbed onto Jetfire's wing, clamoring up until she was standing on top of the cockpit, staring at the two grinning boys inside.
"Miss me, little IVA?" Kicker smirked. "Like a bad headache." Cooper chuckled.
[A[B[C]D]E]
"They just keep coming!" HotShot snarled, blasting at the cat-type Terracons that tried to surround them. The Z-boomerangs were destroyed upon impact with the shields created by the Energon stars, but they did nothing to protect them from the cats. Optimus fired off a shot.
"Okay men, the Energon mine should be just up ahead." Ironhide turned with his fists pumped. "I'll go, sir! Cover me!" Optimus nodded to the younger mech. "Alright Ironhide, but remember: don't rely too heavily on your Energon. And be careful."
The bot nodded, "Yessir!", and took off. He waited until the path was cleared, and began to charge past the Terracons, his shield blocking the shots fired at him. "Gimme your best shot, you useless Terracons! You can't stop me!" A shot touched down beside him, nearly blowing off his leg. "Woah! Okay, maybe I take that back." He got to the entrance of the mine, seeing a few broken mechs laying on the ground. "Okay, this is it..." He began to walk carefully, staring at the carnage around him. "And boy, what a mess!" He crept along, stopping when he saw a large door, closed up and dirtied from battle. "This has got to be the elevator shaft." He wrenched open the doors-
And stared down into a long, dark, and creepy stretch of space. He steadied himself. "Well, it's now, or never." He jumped. "YAAAHOOO!" He screamed, flying headfirst down the mineshaft. At the bottom, several cats were munching away at the Energon deposits embedded in the ground. The resulting CRASH! from Ironhide's descent caused them to stop and growl. Ironhide stood up as the dust cleared away, trying to appear imposing. "Sorry boys, but you're trespassing." Unknown to the mech, his Energon Star began to flicker. The cats began to corner the bot, causing Ironhide to become defense. "Hey! Another step and you'll get blasted!" The cats transformed.
'Oh, great...' Ironhide thought as he took in the newly transformed Terracon-cats. They pounced and began to slam into him, and succeeded a few moments later in knocking him down. "HEY!" They began to pummel him with the morning stars from their tails, and so caught up in being beaten, Ironhide never noticed his Energon Star disappear.
[F[G[H]I]J]
Outside, Optimus roared as he blasted away a large amount of birds. While still suspended from the ground, he watched in confusion as his Energon Star completely faded away. He landed, watching the area around him for attacks, before calling to HotShot.
"HotShot! I've used up all my Energon!" The yellow mech turned to respond, but was distracted by the fading of his own Star.
"I'm tapped too, sir. This doesn't look good." He was distracted by Jetfire landing nearby, Ion jumping off of his wing. "Sir! It's Jetfire, Kicker, and Ion!" The glass-top came up, and both Kicker and Cooper popped up.
"Hey guys! Doesn't look like there are too many out here." Cooper put his notebook into his pack, along with his pen, and jumped out after Kicker, allowing Jetfire to transform. They ran over to Optimus and HotShot, who nodded to them.
"But what about under the surface?" Jetfire shrugged. "No clue, but I'm gonna find out." He turned and ran towards the entrance of the mine, the others following at his heels. "Right behind you!" Optimus called. Cooper gave Kicker an excited grin. "It's like a flash mob, but with giant robots!" Kicker snorted, almost tripping on his feet, and Ion rolled her eyes.
[K[L[M]N]O]
Inside, there was a huge pile of Terracon cats, and Ironhide burst out from under them a moment later, after having been weighed down by the cats. He kicked at one, punched another, then froze when he realized they had boxed him in. He charged at them, knocking them away. "You pint-sized pains are gettin' on my nerves!" He yelled, swinging his arms around. "And even if I'm outta Energon, you're still going down!" He stared at the cats who were unconcious. "Now, who wants a piece of me?" He asked, jumping from one mound to another, coming to a stop in front of a cat. He knelt down and reached for the star on its back, when Kicker flew out of nowhere and slammed his foot against the ground. The human looked up to see Ironhide about to touch un-processed Energon.
"Ironhide!" He shouted. Startled, the mech flinched while turning, causing his hand to brush up against the Energon. Ironhide's hand lit up with a lethal green glow, he screamed and was then forced backwards. He lay on his back, unconcious. "That was dumb. He knows that only Omnicons can handle Energon!" Kicker said as Cooper landed beside him, rolling forward and onto his stomach.
"Uh, what happened?" The red-head questioned, seeing Ironhide knocked out and Terracons everywhere. Kicker shook his head. "Our so-called hero's a zero." He leapt down from the ledge, Cooper following closely. They got to where Ironhide lay, when a low threatening growl erupted from behind them. A cat was perched on the ledge, staring at them with sharp, narrowed optics. Cooper backed himself between Kicker and Ironhide. "Uh, Kicker? Where's that protection you promised?" The red-head muttered nervously. Kicker jumped onto Ironhide's chest and kicked the bot's cannon sideways, letting it fire at the cats. Cooper crawled up onto Ironhide's middle, breathing hard, only to be pushed off as Kicker pulled on Ironhide's chest plate and flipped the bot over, creating a shield of sorts. The cats were blasted away, and the human boys crawled out to see Optimus and Hotshot.
"Ironhide, are you alright?" The Prime asked. Kicker and Cooper got up, sighing in relief. "Don't bother Optimus, He's fine, but he can't hear you right now." The brunette stated flatly. Both of the mechs standing holstered their guns. "That's a relief." Optimus said, before they were all distracted by a swarm of cats running across the ledge above them. Ion was in hot pursuit, waving to Optimus and the others as she flew by.
"Need a little HELP here!" She shouted. Jetfire took off after them. "I'm on it! You're not going anywhere, creeps!" He chased after them, aided when Ion created a tether of light and wrapped it around the mech's arm, pulling him along. HotShot darted over to where Ironhide lay, Cooper nudging the bot with his foot. "Ironhide! Are you okay?" The bot seemed to finally come back online at the sound of the older mech's voice. "I'm fine, HotShot, I just...had a little accident." The bot said, embarrassment lacing his voice. HotShot gave him a confused look.
[P[Q[R]S]T]
Back on the surface, Ion and Jetfire had chased the cats out of the mine, where they proceeded to climb out of the crater and flee. Jetfire stopped as he got out, Ion halting a few feet away. They watched in horror as the cats launched themselves upwards and latched onto several birds flying nearby. "Oh nuts! They're coming outta the woodwork!" Jetfire groaned. Ion gaped, before her eyes glowed.
"They are NOT getting away." She said, her hands filling with energy. She formed a large whip, which split at the end into several sections, and launched it at the birds, catching a few and causing the bots to explode. Jetfire gave her a look as she settled down. "Kid, sometimes I need reminding of how strong you really are." She answered with a grin. They looked up as a giant purple cloud appeared, and after a second, realized it was a space-bridge that the Terracons passed through. Jetfire huffed while Ion threw a bolt of energy at the ground angrily. "They got away."
Back on Earth, the space-bridge for them opened up, and the four mechs landed with equally loud bangs. Jetfire opened the hatch and allowed Kicker and Cooper to get out, before transforming. Ion yawned as she sat on Prime's shoulder. She looked over and saw Ironhide crouched on the ground.
"Just hang in there, Ironhide." HotShot tried as he put a servo on the younger mech's shoulder. When Ironhide did not perk up, they knew something was wrong. The mech's voice was filled with guilt as he spoke. "It's my fault we lost the battle." HotShot sighed. "It was NOBODY's fault. Now get that through your head." Cooper frowned, and flipped backwards in his journal. Ironhide sounded close to crying. "Thanks HotShot, but I know I screwed up the mission, and I can't help but blame my-" He was cut off by Kicker growling.
"Ragh! Wouldja chill out already?" Ironhide continued his self-beration, as though Kicker never spoke. "How could I have been such an idiot and just touch the Energon without even thinking first?" Cooper was now scanning the pages, his eyes flickering from word to word. "Yeah, well, you work that out." Kicker said, starting to walk away. Optimus called him back.
"Kicker!" The brunette turned. "What!" Optimus stared at him scoldingly, like before. "I ordered you to team up with Ironhide. Or did you forget that?" Kicker scoffed and turned his head. "Aw, gimme a break!" Optimus glared. "If you ignore my orders, then I have no choice but to send you back to your mother!" Kicker felt his blood run cold, at the same moment his face went red. "You wouldn't." The brunette said, staring at Optimus wishing the bot would spontaneously combust. Ion was busy laughing at him loudly, and Cooper was still reading through his notebook. Optimus stared down at him, and Kicker had a feeling that if the mech had a mouth it'd been curled in a condesending smirk.
"Try me." Ion literally fell on Jetfire's helm laughing, and Kicker wished combustion on her. He sighed irritably." Okay partners. I'll go talk to him." He then walked over to Ironhide, who was still crouched on the ground. Kicker snapped his fingers, and the bot looked upward at him. "There's a reason it's called a mistake." Ironhide blinked at him. "Because it means you'll know NOT to do it next time. And there's ALWAYS a next time, ya got that?" Cooper yipped in triumph, making the other boy stare at him.
"Okay. 'If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again.' Yup." He closed his book, then went red-faced when he realized everyone was looking at him. "What? Inspirational quotes were my dad's forte. Plus, the situation called for it." Kicker shook his head. "Understand, Ironhide?" He asked the mech, who sighed in response. Kicker felt agitated again, and swung his foot into the side of Ironhide's helm, making the bots head twist almost demonically.
"Did you just kick me AGAIN!" The mech snarled, his head rotated upwards. He twisted it back into normal, staring at Kicker. Cooper couldn't decide to laugh or stare in horror at how creepy that was. Kicker, meanwhile was avoiding eye contact with the mech, still unsure of his vision, which had been more voices than images. Ironhide snarled when Kicker gave no response to him. "How would you like it if I kicked you back?" The response that got was a foot to the chest, dinging his armor a bit. Kicker turned away and a sneering grin appeared on his face. "Looks like you're back to normal, Ironhead." He laughed airily, even as Ironhide snarled and shook his fist at the brunette. "You're gonna pay for that!" Kicker darted away, and Ironhide followed after him, intent on maiming the boy. "OKAY! I've had just about ENOUGH of you, kid!" The bot screamed, Kicker's response a loud peal of laughter. Cooper watched them with a bemused look, before he pulled out a camcorder and aimed it at the two, who were now racing each other around the deck. Ion floated down by him, and the red-head paused in his recording to look at her.
"I would ask if Kicker will be okay, but after what I've seen him do..." Ion shrugged grinning like the Chesire cat. "That boy can be as good as anyone when he wants to be." Optimus was also watching them, torn between horror at Ironhide's behavior, and amusement at their current antics.
"Well, it looks like things are back to normal again." He finally commented. Someone spoke up behind him. "So, Optimus, what happened on the moon?" He turned to see Demolisher, away from his guarding post once again. Jetfire jumped in, halting demolisher. "If I were you, Demolisher, I'd show little more respect to your leader." Demolisher scoffed in disgust. "Sorry, but you're still Autobots to me, Jetfire." Turning to the Prime, Demolisher's face gave a small show of concern. "Cyclonus was working on the moon. What's his status?" Optimus went still as his processor worked over-time. Had they even seen the crazy mech to begin with? HotShot came up and answered for his stunned leader. "We...never saw him." Demolisher had a pained look on his face as he responded in a frenzy. "What? Serious! You mean to say that there was no trace of him OR Tidal Wave?" Optimus was taken aback by the panic in the ex-Con's voice. It clicked for Jetfire, who answered next. "To be honest, we never got the chance to search for them." Cooper was secretly listening in with Ion, both pretending to watch Kicker and Ironhide.
Demolisher slumped; it was amazing how small he looked. "No way...we have to go back." Optimus thought for a moment, before inspiration struck. "Wait a minute." Jetfire looked towards the leader. "What is it, sir?" After a moment, Optimus shook his head. "Nevermind." Ion stared at him, those gold eyes cold as she felt the disturbance as well.
[U[V[W-X]Y]Z]
Far away, in a dark clouded place, the space-bridge had opened up, allowing the Terracons to throw the Energon into a wide open space. A crazed maniacal laughter resounded inside the large structure, and at least three different voices began to respond.
"So, what is it that Optimus Prime is thinking? A penny for your thought, Autobot?" A calm, smooth voice asked to no one in particular. A second voice, heavily laced with insanity and unbalance in its tone, spoke next.
"I think I know! Maybe he's starting to smell the stench of a great Decepticon army, rising from the ashes to challenge his authority!" The second voice laughed insanely at the end of its declaration.
"But don't let me get ahead of myself. He still has a new enemy to deal with." A third gruff, angry voice snarled. Inside the room where it was, a glowing erupted from the ground around it. "An enemy so powerful, it'll make the Decepticons look like mere children's play things."(1) A huge machine began to rise from the coils of wires and cables that littered the floor.
The first voice spoke as the mech tore itself free from the ground. "Allow me to your new advisary, Optimus Prime. An entity so powerful, you won't know what hit you."
The second voice actually shook in excitement. "Oh joy! I can hardly wait for the games to begin!" It erupted into a fresh round of crazed laughter, as the mech, which resembled a scorpion, shook the last dredges of slumber from its conscience, and waved its tail threateningly in the air.
[1[2[3]4]5]
Millions of light-years away, Kicker bolted upward from his bed in shock, gasping for air.
READ AND REVIEW! Seriously people, you can favorite this story and put it on watch, but I need review so I know to continue! Otherwise I'm going to stop after the next chapter.
(1): Is that a reference to the toy line I see thar?