Summary: Have you ever noticed that almost all the members of G1 gestalt teams have something wrong with them? Whether it's a phobia, recognizable disorder, or an over exaggerated personality trait. They each have a unique processor fluke that makes them stand out in your mind. With each chapter of this story you will see an example of them exhibiting their issues for all of us to enjoy. Long live the gestalts!
Author's Note: Here is the second chapter of Gestalt Quirks. I'm sorry for all the grammar and spelling errors. I tried my best but I have never been good at that. This chapter is about poor Silverbolt. If you are a Silverbolt fan you might also like the story A Wing and a Prayer by Atalan. Go check it out!
Acrophobia: An abnormal and persistent fear of heights.
Attempt #1
Silverbolt walked over to the edge of the cliff. Today was going to be his first attempt at learning to overcome his fear. After a disastrous mission earlier that week in which his fear of heights had caused Skydive to be injured, Optimus Prime had suggested he try to work through his problems with a little exposure therapy.
So that's what he intended to do. His issues had always held his team back a little but now they had even caused one of his brothers to be injured. It was time to take action and become the leader that the Aerialbots deserved. He would do this and come out stronger for it.
That was what he told himself on the way there anyway but now looking at the cliff he was going to have to jump off of, he wasn't feeling as optimistic as before.
Silverbolt had flown many times and jumped off cliffs even larger then the one he was currently standing near. All of those times had been in the heat of battle though. When he had needed to forget his issues and be there for his team.
He was terrified to discover that this was very different. Without that rush of fuel in his lines that triggered the fight instinct in his processor there was nothing for him to focus on but the cliff in front of him. The very large cliff in front of him.
He cycled air through his vents and even tried taking a deep breath as a human would do. He took another step towards the edge of the cliff and looked down.
He let out a little squeak of fear and stumbled backwards. One of his pedes hit a rock and he fell back landing hard on his aft. He fans were roaring and if he had been human he would have started to hyperventilate. That cliff had been higher then he had expected.
He sat there for a few minutes and waited for his systems to calm down. Once they were all back to normal he slowly got to his pedes. His frame was a little shaky but he was sure that would pass in a few minutes.
Silverbolt glanced back over at the cliff he had just been standing next to. He debated whether he should make a second attempt today or try again some other time. The Concorde's fans started to whir again so he took that as a sign that he had had enough for one day.
He turned around and walked back to the Ark. Silverbolt told himself that he was walking back because he wanted to enjoy the scenery. It had absolutely nothing to do with not wanting to fly back. Nothing at all.
Attempt #2
Silverbolt was back at the cliff and he was ready to try it again. He had spent the last three days trying to come up with a way to make jumping off of it less frightening for him.
He hadn't been able to come up with many things but he had decided to crawl over to the cliff this time instead of walking. That way he would be less scared of the cliff giving way underneath him since his weight would be distributed. It would also reduce the height he would have to look down at.
Silverbolt got down on his servos and knees about two hundred feet away from the cliff. After cycling air through his vents he started his slow crawl over to the edge.
It was an uncomfortable and time-consuming journey. It gave him a little too much time to think about what he was doing. All of the horrible things that could happen started to run through his head. He even started to imagine what the cliff would look like once he got to the edge.
The spikes at the bottom hadn't been there the last time he was here but his processor seemed almost sure that's what he would see as soon as he reached the edge.
He heard the noise of a rock falling somewhere of to the side of him. He paused and his fans started to work even harder. Was the cliff breaking? Had he not distributed his weight enough?
He slowly dropped down until his chassis was lying on the ground. He really wanted to quit but he only had a few feet left and he wanted to see this through.
Silverbolt dragged himself the last couple yards and offlined his optics as soon as he reached the edge.
He took a few deep breaths to steady himself and then waited a minute for his fans to calm.
Silverbolt onlined his optics and looked down. Well there wasn't a spike pit underneath him. He let out a small sigh of relief and then looked around some more. He was doing a lot better then his first attempt and he was very proud of himself.
His optics traveled over to the road he could see near the other end of the canyon. It was a few miles away and he had to adjust his optics to see what was happening over there.
As soon as he zoomed in enough to see the scene on the road he wished he hadn't. There were human fire trucks and ambulances surrounding a large blue van. The van was flipped upside down and appeared to be on fire.
That van had obviously fallen from the cliff on the other side of the canyon.
Silverbolt wondered if that's what it would look like if he fell. His optics immediately looked towards the bottom of the cliff he was lying on.
He gasped and started to crawl back away from the cliff. As soon as he was clear he got to his pedes and started to run.
Silverbolt decided he would try again on a different day.
Attempt #3
Silverbolt had returned to the cliff a third time. It had been a month since his last failed attempt here. During that month he had tried a new tactic.
He had gone to some smaller cliffs and practiced taking off from those. He had been mostly successful and now felt that he was ready to face this cliff again.
Silverbolt walked over to the edge with a confidence that was very unusual for him. He was almost positive that today was finally going to be the day that he jumped from this cliff.
His biggest challenge would finally be conquered.
Silverbolt smiled a little when he reached the edge and looked down. He felt no fear. He was sure he could do this. This was his moment. He was finally going t…
"Hey Silverbolt, what are you doing over there?" Bluestreak shouted from a little ways behind him. He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't heard the rumble of the Datsun's engine as he approached.
The sound of another bot's voice startled him though. He stumbled a little in shock and turned to see who had shouted. His turn displaced a few rocks and caused him to lose his footing on the edge. Silverbolt fell backwards off the side of the cliff.
He immediately started to panic as he felt the air flowing past him. Silverbolt tried to transform but the energon in his lines wasn't flowing properly and he couldn't get his T-cog to work.
His vents were roaring but their noise was nothing compared to Silverbolt's scream as he flipped over in midair and saw the ground rushing up to meet him.
His landing was horribly painful but he had just enough time to be grateful he was on the ground again before blackness claimed him.
Silverbolt onlined to find himself in the medbay. His first thought wasn't about how he had ended up there but about how uncomfortable the metal berth was on his wings.
He shifted a little to try to get comfortable but the movement only alerted him to several other pains. He groaned and went back to just lying there.
Silverbolt heard a chuckle from across the room. He onlined his optics and raised his head up to see who else was there. Ratchet was standing across the room at a counter wiping off medical supplies.
"I see you're finally awake." The medic said.
"How did I get here?" Silverbolt asked him. Ratchet laughed a little more and then stopped to give him a stern look.
"How do you think you got here? You were jumping off a cliff for some strange reason that probably only makes sense in that fragged up processor of yours." Ratchet shook a wrench at him as he said this. "Now I know your team is annoying and all but that is no reason to attempt suicide." Ratchet glared at him and waited for an answer.
"I wasn't…" Silverbolt started to try and explain himself but then thought better of it. "Oh forget it." He dropped his head back to the berth and offlined his optics.
Ratchet only laughed again and went back to cleaning his tools.
Silverbolt decided that he was done with exposure therapy. Especially if every failed attempt would expose him to Ratchet.
Thank you for reading. There is a poll on my site to vote for the next mech to be featured in this story. Go check it out and please review!
-Rel