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CONSTANT PATH

Decepticon Base

Thundercracker paced nervously in front of two large metal doors while he and Skywarp stood guard with orders to prevent any other Decepticons from entering until they were told otherwise. Skywarp was leaning back against the wall next to the doors with his arms folded and a bored expression on his faceplate. Both he and Thundercracker had been pretty much kicked out by Starscream as the air commander (as usual) went to take all the glory of returning with an Autobot prisoner for himself.

Skywarp didn't care though, mainly because it meant Starscream had to explain the presence of the 'other' Megatron as well. So the purple jet decided to just kick back and relax and wait to see what happened. Well he would have been but the frantic pacing of his wing-mate was slowly driving him crazy.

'TC! Would you relax already, let Screamer handle it.'

Pausing mid-step Thundercracker turned to stare at his comrade in astonishment.

'How can you be so calm about this?! How can there be TWO Megatron's and how in Primus name did I let Starscream talk me into bringing him back here?!'

By now rumour had spread throughout the base about the 'other' Megatron and most were keen to avoid the potentially hostile situation by staying as far away from their leader as possible for the time being.

Skywarp just shrugged and smirked at the blue seeker who quickly resumed his worried pacing, and leaned his head back against the wall, shuttering his optics.

This day was getting more interesting by the minute.

Behind the closed doors Megatron sat and regarded the mechs before him with an unreadable expression. Starscream had informed him about what had happened at the space bridge, and had this been any other time he would have raged at the seeker for failing at such a simple task. But instead he found himself transfixed by the dark presence of the mech his second in command had brought back with him.

He knew it was true. That this mech was indeed himself even though his processor demanded that it was illogical and premature to think such a thing.

So to satisfy logic he ordered Soundwave to scan the mech for injuries but communications officer caught the look in his leader's optics that told him that it was just an excuse for him to examine the strange mech more closely. So he complied.

The other Megatron stood rigid and glaring at the dark blue Decepticon with the battle mask and red visor while he scanned him under the pretence that he was simply checking for damage. Ha! What sort of idiot did they take him for? But since he knew he would be required to offer some kind of proof to his theory and that being scanned was the easiest, if slightly invasive, way of doing it so he allowed the blue mech to continue.

'Detected: Traces of unknown radiation.' Informed the expressionless Decepticon.

Starscream glanced at Soundwave curiously.

'Explain.'

Soundwave was silent for moment, continuing his scan of the dark mech before replying.

'Radiation is similar to that emitted by the space bridge but not identical. Suggestion: radiation may be the result of an outside influence on the space bridge power matrix.'

From his throne Megatron stared at the Comm. Officer, suddenly intrigued.

'What do you mean Soundwave? What kind of influence?'

The Comm. Officer finished his scan and turned to answer his leader.

'Theory: A source of immense power could overload space bridge safety protocols and cause targeting trajectory to extend beyond normal space.'

The other Megatron froze where he stood next to Soundwave.

The Allspark!

So it was the Allspark that had brought him here. The second Allspark fragment that had started the overload had caused the space bridge to send him beyond normal space, out of his own universe and into another. He shuddered inside. He somehow knew the moment had encountered the seekers that he had landed in an alternate reality, but still. Now that he knew for certain it suddenly seemed much more real.

Turning to Soundwave he asked the question that had plagued his processor since arriving at the Decepticon base.

'Is it possible to recreate the circumstances that caused the space bridge to malfunction, to reopen the vortex?'

Soundwave stared at him as if uncertain and glanced at his leader before carefully responding.

'Re-creation: Unlikely. No known energy source with the necessary power to produce a stable vortex in existence.'

Megatron clenched his fists in anger and resisted the sudden urge to lash out at the covered faceplate. No! He refused to accept that he was stuck here! There had to be some way of re-creating the vortex, the space bridge technology already existed so all he needed was a power source strong enough to cause an overload. He smiled inwardly. That shouldn't be too hard considering it had only taken two fragments of the Allspark to create one in his own world. Although, Soundwave's answer worried him greatly because it seemed that the Allspark was unheard of in this reality. Still, he only needed a fraction of the power of the complete Allspark, and on a planet like Earth where raw energy was abundant it should be possible to produce a similar amount of power.

Megatron calmed slightly at the thought.

Upon his throne, the Decepticon leader studied his counterpart with new interest and looking over at his second in command he found that Starscream was also staring at that darker mech intently.

A power source of that magnitude would win the war for the Decepticons both on Earth and Cybertron. Although judging by the mech's reaction to Soundwave's answer it seemed that this power source didn't exist in their world but that didn't concern him.

If by chance they could somehow recreate the vortex that brought the other mech here then he would simply send his Decepticons to retrieve the power source for their cause.

He had to admit that when Starscream first presented the mech to him that even he found the other's appearance to be a little………intimidating. Who knew that dark armour could give such an effect. He also discovered to his irritation that the mech was slightly taller than himself, which only seemed to add to his already menacing visage. Apart from appearance however he discovered that he and the other mech were very much alike. Powerful, strong willed and very sharp minded. He idly hoped that the last characteristic didn't interfere with his plans.

Fixing a pleasant smile on his faceplate Megatron addressed his look-alike.

'Rest assured that I will do everything within my power to return you to your own reality and in the mean time I would like you to consider yourself our guest here.' The Decepticon leader said smoothly and looking at his second in command, he gestured to the other Megatron with a casual wave of his hand.

'Starscream, make yourself useful and show our guest to some suitable quarters.'

The red seeker sputtered indignantly about being treated like a servant but a threatening look from his leader made him comply and he lead the other Megatron out of the room, if somewhat unhappily.

Megatron sighed as he thought of how to proceed with the situation. When Soundwave returned to his leader's side Megatron finally spoke though he didn't look up.

'What of the Autobot? Who is he?'

The comm. officer turned to gaze down at his leader before replying.

'Constructicons were ordered to take the Autobot to the holding cells. According to the…..'other' Megatron the Autobot's name is Prowl.'

Megatron looked up at him then in surprise.

Prowl?!

The last thing he needed was another Autobot tactician second guessing his plans. However, as he thought about it he couldn't help but wonder. Considering the differences between himself and the 'other' Megatron, he was curious to know whether it was the same with the 'other' Autobot second in command.

'Interesting. Depending on what he knows we may be able to use him against the Autobots in our own reality.' He smirked as he thought of how best to interrogate the Autobot.

'Caution Megatron: before Starscream returned I received communication from Cybertron. The space bridge malfunction occurred there as well and an unknown Autobot appeared.'

The Decepticon leader frowned and stared at Soundwave expectantly.

'And Shockwave?'

'Shockwave was unable to capture the Autobot and he is now loose on Cybertron.'

Megatron growled in annoyance.

So far, only the Decepticons knew of what happened with the space bridge and their unexpected visitors. But the appearance of this rogue Autobot could alert the Autobots in their own reality to what was going on and so take away any element of surprise.

But still…..

The Decepticon leader smiled and an evil glint lit in his optics. Rising from his throne he made his way out the door and down to the holding cells, Soundwave following close behind.

At least now he had a prisoner to play with and a potential bargaining chip should the little rogue get help from the Autobots on Earth.

Cybertron

Bumblebee had been running for what felt like ages when he finally reached his destination. Darting behind a pile of rubble when he was less than twenty metres away, the little bot took stock of his surroundings. To his surprise he actually recognised the area. Back on his own Cybertron the whole surrounding area was the Cybertronian Intergalactic Space Port. How ironic.

Peeking out from his hiding place he spotted the shuttle in the middle of the landing platform and examined it closely. He couldn't see any markings on the hull nor could he see anyone in the immediate area. Deciding to take a chance he made a break for it and ran towards the shuttle all the while sticking close to the shadows of the surrounding buildings.

'Prowl would be proud.' He smiled at the thought.

He still had to find a place to hide. The shuttle looked similar enough to the ones on his own Cybertron that he was confident that it had the same basic design and, he was hoping, the same flaws.

Approaching the shuttle from the back he made sure to keep out of sight of the cockpit just in case there was someone inside. Upon reaching the shuttle he ducked underneath and crawled forward until he was just behind the rear landing gear. Reaching up he felt around the plating behind the left wheel and was relieved when the panel slid away to reveal a crawlspace that was only slightly smaller than himself where maintenance bots would crawl up into the fuselage to repair damaged components. Before enlisting Bumblebee had shared a building complex with one of the maintenance bots that worked on the shuttles at the Space Port and they would often share stories about their day. One that Bumblebee remembered in particular was about when the authorities had found an escaped prisoner trying to leave the planet by hiding in one of the maintenance crawlspaces just like the one he was now planning to stowaway in.

Lifting himself up into the small space Bumblebee carefully turned around and slid the panel back into place before settling down, trying to get comfortable while being mindful of his injured leg.

He knew he was taking a huge risk. He wasn't even sure if the shuttle was going to Earth but from what he had read on the monitor it seemed the most likely destination. He hoped.

Minutes went by as he lay completely still while listening for signs of movement outside and jerked slightly when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the shuttle.

Outside Jazz turned to his fellow mechs as they reached the shuttle, each Autobot carrying a container loaded with supplies courtesy of the femmes, and activated the controls for the cargo hold door.

In exchange for badly needed energon the femmes had agreed to help with the Autobots supply problems so every now and then a small team of Autobots were sent on a supply run to their home planet. The Autobots themselves didn't mind the trips one bit for it was a chance for old friends to see one another and for the homesick to just go home again.

The current supply team consisted of Brawn, Mirage, Cliffjumper and Tracks with Jazz as team leader. Blaster was their designated pilot for the trip and had arrived to retrieve them an hour before their rendezvous as planned. The communications specialist waved at them as they boarded the shuttle after stowing the supplies and continued what he was doing, scanning through his music collection.

Door closed and everyone seated Jazz made his way up to the cockpit and leaned forward to rest on the back of the pilot's chair.

'So…..what's the plan?' he asked with an easy smile before taking his seat next to their pilot.

As Blaster fired up the engines he leaned forward and plugged a cable from his own speakers into the shuttles intercom before sitting back and grinning at Jazz.

'I was thinkin' maybe a little rock, a little pop and a whole lota heavy metal.' The comm. specialist replied lazily and gunned the engines as they cleared the planets' surface.

Leaning back in his seat Jazz placed his hands behind his head and listened as the sounds of rock music began to reach his audios from the ships' intercom. He heard a collective groan from the bots behind him and chuckled lightly.

'Cool man, cool.'

In the crawlspace Bumblebee listened in interest as he caught the faint sounds of music coming from above. It didn't drown out the sound of the shuttle's engines but he tuned into the soft vibrations and found himself drifting off into recharge before he realised what was happening.

Coming online with a jolt he discovered to his horror that he had been recharging for nearly six hours. All was quiet outside, but where was he? As quietly as he could Bumblebee shifted around so he could slide the access panel to one side and when he saw solid ground below he chanced a peek.

He was in a hanger with a large sliding door at one end for the shuttle and a loading bay to one side with a closed door next to it. Dropping down from the crawlspace he scanned the area from the relative safety of the shuttle.

No security cameras, but on closer inspection he noticed that the closed door had code operated security lock. That was no good. Even if he zapped the thing he was sure it would trigger an alarm somewhere.

Bumblebee sighed in frustration and started moving around the hanger, looking for a way out. After minutes of searching he was seriously considering just banging on the door when he caught sight of something behind a storage crate. Pushing the crate aside he found what he was looking for. A ventilation outlet.

'Score!'

Digging his fingers into the edges he prised off the cover and lent it next to the opening. It was a tight fit but more than enough room for him he thought with a grin.

'Ha! Make fun of my size now!'

Feeling thoroughly pleased with himself Bumblebee dropped down and started to crawl through the vent. Moving slowly so he didn't damage his injured leg further the yellow mech carefully made his way through the ventilation system.

Wherever he was the only thing he could think was that the place must be huge!

He crawled for good hour and more than once he was forced to stop when he heard the sound of approaching voices and footsteps. To his annoyance he discovered that all the outlets were at floor level giving him a limited view of the outside. He still had no idea where he was or whether the mechs outside were friendly or not.

Bumblebee stiffened as another wave of pain shot up through his leg and was startled when a warning message suddenly appeared in his field of vision. He was running low on energy. Damn it! Decepticons or not he needed help and for a moment he forgot about keeping quiet as he began moving faster through the vent coming to a stop next to another outlet and peering nervously through the grate.

This room was large. Larger than most of the others he had seen and was full of examination tables and work benches with strange equipment. His optics widened in terror and his overactive imagination supplied him with images of a Decepticon torture chamber even though he had never actually seen one, while Ratchet's story about his encounter with Lockdown replayed in his CPU.

'Oh yeah, this was really helping!' he berated himself furiously.

Unwilling to stay there a nanosecond longer Bumblebee was about to move on when suddenly he detected movement from within the room. Looking back through the grate he smiled and felt all his worries disappear in an instant.

It was a human. That meant he was on Earth!

Even at floor level the little human was easy to see and Bumblebee found himself leaning on the grate with both hands to try and get a better look.

The human was male, with brown hair and looked to be in his mid to late forties. He was dressed in casual work clothes and held a toolbox in one hand. He appeared to be talking to someone but before Bumblebee could wonder who and pair of white feet suddenly stepped up beside the man.

Bumblebee turned his audio to the grate and tried to pick up their conversation, never noticing the grate slowly loosening beneath his hands until……..

(CRASH!!)

Landing heavily on his front he was momentarily stunned by white hot pain emanating from his leg and shuttered his optics to try and ride out the agony.

After a few moments the pain receded to a dull ache and dared to uncover his optics.

He froze in shock.

The human stood less than ten metres away but what made him freeze was the tall, boxy red and white mech standing next to him. Both appeared as shocked as he was and for a moment no-one moved.

The human recovered first and turned to look up at the mech standing next to him.

'One of yours?' he asked quietly, pointing at Bumblebee where he lay prone on the floor.

The white mech didn't respond except to shake his head once. No.

Optics never leaving the mech on the floor Ratchet immediately noticed the damage to his lower left leg, which was sparking furiously but forced himself to remain still. The little bot was obviously in pain but going by the look of increasing panic in the wide blue optics, any movement from him was sure to make the other mech bolt.

Realising that Ratchet going to stay where he was Sparkplug decided to make the first move. Moving slowly, Sparkplug lowered his toolbox to the floor before approaching the little yellow mech who had yet to move so much as an inch from where he had landed on the floor. Though remaining where he was the little bot began to shake slightly as the human approached and when the bright blue optics widened in fright Sparkplug stopped and held his hands out so as to appear non-threatening. But Sparkplug was frowning inwardly. He may not be a giant alien robot but even he could see the plain fear on the little bot's face and it both confused and worried him. Glancing back at Ratchet he realised that the medic could see it too judging by his uncharacteristic reluctance to go to the injured mech.

Bumblebee's processor was racing a mile a minute as he watched the human stop a few feet away from him. Deep within his CPU a logical voice was desperately trying to get his attention but he was too panicked by the white mech in front of him to notice and when he accidentally let slip a pain filled cry, said white mech suddenly move toward him and all logic abruptly went out the window as the spell that held him was suddenly lifted.

Jumping to his feet he darted to the side, around the approaching medic, heading straight for the repair bay door. Ratchet made a frantic grab for the little mech as he ran by but missed him by millimetres and turned just in time to watch the yellow minibot disappear out the door.

Wasting no time Ratchet activated his internal comm. link.

'Ratchet to Optimus Prime.'

He didn't have to wait long.

'Go ahead Ratchet.'

'Prime we have an intruder loose somewhere on the base. I tried to catch him in the repair bay but he slipped past me.'

A short pause.

'Is he a spy?'

'I don't know, the little guy spooked before I even got near him but he appears to be injured.'

There was a long pause as the Autobot leader thought of the next plan of action.

'Alright, see if you can catch him without injuring him and I'll send some others to help you. I'll tell Prowl to lockdown the Ark until he's apprehended……'

The Autobot leader trailed off and Ratchet smirked when he heard the older Autobot sigh in resignation.

'……… Red Alert is going to have a fit when he hears about this.'

To be continued………………………

Well, there it is. Good grief! This chapter was really fiddly to write. I'm ashamed to say that it was also a bit rushed so I hope it reads ok.

Let me know what you think.

Next chapter coming soon.