"So Ratchet, what was your problem earlier?" Optimus asked while Ratchet checked his medi-pack supplies.
"I didn't and don't have a problem."
"War wounds still acting up?"
"Still not wanting to talk about it."
"Well you know you can. Anytime. Ya know? Just man to man. You and me. If there's anything you wanna—"
"Are you done yet or am I gonna have to sew that mouth shut for ya?"
"I'll just be going now." Optimus walked off to watch the news with Prowl, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead. "So what's going on out there?"
"I found this news about that mystery man of yours. Apparently there are power outages where ever he goes. The police have been unable to even see him clearly," Prowl told him.
"Any more info?"
"It's live."
"Right, Autobots roll out!"
*************************************************************
An explosion caused some rubble to drip off the ceiling and onto Ratchet's shoulder.
"It's getting too hot above ground," Ratchet concluded, "Better move somewhere safer." Ratchet looked around and saw a tunnel entrance. "Looks promising," he said sarcastically. He picked up Arcee and held her on his shoulders. Just then, he realized he was being followed. He looked back to see a shadowed figure keeping in pace behind Ratchet.
"Who are you?" Ratchet finally turned around and asked.
"Oh it's not important who I am so much as who your friend is there, Autobot," the man answered. Then, Ratchet confirmed that this guy was no ally.
"You're not gonna touch her," Ratchet growled.
"And you plan to stop me?" he laughed, "How you gonna pull that off?"
"Like this." Ratchet used his magnetizers to yank the ceiling down on the stranger. When the smoke cleared, all that remained was a pile of rubble. Ratchet started to walk onward, but an explosion from behind knocked him down. Ratchet looked in horror as the man emerged from the rubble.
"Now I'm upset." The man stepped into the sunlight. The bald man had tattoos all over his face. He had some chest and shoulder armor with spikes. Just then, Ratchet saw that he was wearing a brace on each leg, both of which had probably been badly snapped, and had two mechanical arms. He fired his right arm like a rocket. Ratchet used his magnetizers to rip the arm apart. He then charged at the tattoo-man who, even with one arm, still managed to easily force Ratchet to the ground and pin him down.
"I was gonna just grab the girl and get gone," the man said, "but you're just a huge pain in the neck. So now, you're coming with me."
"And how you plan on pulling that off?" Ratchet mocked before attempting a kick to the man's face. The man grabbed Ratchet's foot and threw him across the tunnel to the wall. The man kept Ratchet pinned to the wall with his foot.
"Like this," the man repeated before punching Ratchet in the eye. Then all went black…
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"Hey Ratchet didn't you hear Optimus?" Bulkhead nudged the elder Autobot on the shoulder, "We gotta go. We're going after that blackout guy." Ratchet pulled down his hand when he realized he was rubbing his tingling scar.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming."
"You could always just stay here and monitor if you're not entirely up to it," Optimus suggested.
"I said I'm fine!" Ratchet insisted, "Let's move!" He followed the others onto the Auto-Rover.
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Optimus followed the man into an alley.
"Alright! We can do this the easy way or the hard way!" Optimus shot some foam, but the man ducked out of the alley. Optimus followed him, but slipped on some oil-slick. He used his axe to stop himself from sliding in front of a passing truck. He felt the wind from it pass in front of his face. When it passed, he gave a relieved sigh.
"That was too close."
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"Hey guys! I found him!" Bumblebee alerted the others to the stranger who ran off. Bumblebee shot at him with his stingers, but just as before they bounced off and dissipated.
"How's he keep doing that?!" Bumblebee exclaimed. Just then, the man was knocked out of the alley thanks to a kick to the head.
"At least that didn't bounce off," Prowl smiled. They then continued their chase.
"Ratchet! Bulkhead! We're sending him your way!" Bumblebee told them on his comlink. Ratchet and Bulkhead appeared on the other end of the street. The man stopped and looked at Ratchet. Ratchet stared at him.
He still couldn't see him, but Ratchet could make out some features: his chest armor, his leg braces, and his mechanical left arm. But the most damning evidence of all was his hooked hand, gleaming in the moonlight. The man used a smoke screen. The smoke cleared, and he was gone.
"Come on guys! He couldn't have gotten far!" Bulkhead eagerly insisted. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Prowl ran off leaving Ratchet alone, still staring into space.
"The blackouts…that hook… It can't be; it's impossible!" he repeated those words in his mind, but the truth continuously surfaced…
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"Ah! Wha-what-what happened?!" Ratchet gasped himself awake. His eye darted across the room. Eye? He suddenly realized that his right eye was swollen shut. He could feel that blood had crusted on the left side of his face and some stitches on his forehead. He tried to move, but he'd been tied down to a table.
"Well, well, look who just woke up," Ratchet's captor chuckled while searching through a cabinet full of mechanical modifications, gadgets, and weapons.
"You Decepticon SCUM!" Ratchet screamed in anger.
"Me? A Decepticon? No. not Decepticon. But I wouldn't necessarily call myself Autobot either. I'm part of the Bounty Hunter's Guild. Name's Lockdown," he introduced.
"If you're not a Decepticon then why'd you come after us?"
"Ya see, Decepticons pay real good for battle plans, access codes, intelligence. Ya know? Stuff like that," Lockdown sneered, "And they just so happened to send me this picture of your friend here and some simple instructions, 'Alive. Name your price.' And I've got a feeling that she's gonna get me some sweet upgrades."
"Well she's not alive. She died during surgery."
"Please. You think I'm gonna fall for that? I know you injected her with something to stop her pulse. She'll wake up soon enough. And don't worry, I fixed her up too. Gotta have her looking nice for the Decepticons."
"And why'd you take me?"
"You really got under my skin. You oughta be prouda yourself." Lockdown pulled out a mechanical arm with a wicked hook on the end. He snapped it onto his elbow and bent it in different directions then showed it to Ratchet. "Say, how you like my new hand?"
"Looks to me like you're trying to accommodate for something," Ratchet smiled mockingly, "What's the matter? No natural talent?"
"Don't like the hook do ya?" Lockdown went back to the cabinet and attached something to his hooked arm, "How about my new EMP generator?" he sneered. Ratchet gasped.