Author's Notes: Sorry this update took so long. I actually started this chapter shortly after posting the last one, but then I got distracted for a while. Oops... Anyway, this chapter mostly focuses on the alternate dimension Decepticons and what's different here as opposed to Arcee's dimension. I really enjoy the world building I get to do this this fic. I hope you guys are still enjoying this story too, and please review, favorite, and follow to see more :)

Chapter 4

Friend or Foe?

Arcee could tell the atmosphere was tense as she went through the ground bridge with that green cube of synthetic energon. She set the cube down next to where everyone else's was, and when she turned around she could see Cliffjumper was glaring at her.

"Why didn't you let me snuff that 'Con?" Cliffjumper snapped as soon as he knew he had Arcee's attention, "Bulkhead and Breakdown are a menace that needs to be dealt with before more innocent people die!"

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Sierra called out as he ran closer to the arguing Autobots, "Did Arcee let those bozos escape?"

"You don't understand, Cliff. It wasn't that simple," Arcee replied defensively, "In my universe Bulkhead isn't a Decepticon. Where I come from he's an Autobot and a former Wrecker."

"Bulkhead and Breakdown were Wreckers?" Sierra gasped in disbelief.

"No, just Bulkhead. I my universe he and Breakdown are mortal enemies," Arcee explained, "I know I messed up back there, but where you see an enemy I see the face of a friend. I couldn't let him die. I just couldn't."

"Hmph, I have a hard time believing that half-watt ever did anything noble in his life," Cliffjumper scoffed, "Your universe sounds like a real head trip."

"It's weird, but I never thought of Bulkhead and Breakdown as individuals before," Sierra realized, "It's always Bulkhead and Breakdown, Breakdown and Bulkhead, watch out for Knockout's goons. I never thought of them as having different personalities and different desires and goals. They fight the same, and they seem to think the same. I guess I always thought of them as like clones or twins or something. I dunno. They kidnapped me once to try to get Cliffjumper to surrender to the 'Cons. They were awful, and I legit thought they would kill me. It's just...weird."

"You can say that again," Arcee replied wryly, "Those red optics...that was not Bulkhead, not the one I know. The Bulkhead I know loves children, and loves adventure. He's like everyone's fun-loving big brother. I hope I can get back to my own dimension. I miss my friends."

"We're your friends," Sierra assured her, "And I'm sure once Ratchet gets back he'll figure something out. Between Ratchet and Rafael we've got a regular Frankenstein's lab in here. You'll be home soon I'm sure."

"Hopefully not too soon," Cliffjumper said with a sly smile, "I've still gotta show you some of my favorite spots on this planet."

Arcee smiled with fondness and relief. She might not be in a familiar place, but at least Cliffjumper had not changed. It was a lot to absorb though. So far she knew that Starscream was dead, Optimus was a rougher and gruffer version of himself, and Bulkhead was evil and besties with Breakdown. She couldn't help but feel stressed out by thinking about what other inconsistencies she had yet to find.

On board the Nemesis, Megatron listened to Knockout and his goons make sniveling excuses for why they failed to obtain the energon. He was in no mood for their groveling and considered blasting his fusion cannon in their direction just to make them finally shut up.

He knew he couldn't actually kill one of them though, because these three scrap heaps were so slagging loyal to each other. If one died, the others would attempt to avenge him, and then Megatron would have to kill all of them. Besides, Knockout was the best medic Megatron had. Shockwave was a good scientist, and Soundwave understood the ship's technology well, but Knockout was the only biomechanics specialist he had. Knockout's goons were also quite powerful and therefore useful, even if they were stupid.

Megatron settled for tuning out their miserable story and simply accepting the loss. His audials perked up, however, when Knockout mentioned something unusual. A new Autobot femme that was small, blue, and had pink accents. Blue and pink? No, it couldn't be. Could it?

Megatron held up a servo to silence Knockout's prattling, and the three Decepticons stood at attention and quietly gulped. Megatron never got tired of that.

"Did any of you capture an image of the femme?" Megatron asked intently.

"Uh..." Knockout turned helplessly to his subordinates, who both just shrugged, "No sir."

Megatron huffed impatiently, and then typed in a file name and brought up an image.

"Is this her?" Megatron asked as he gestured to the photo.

"Yes master, that's her," Breakdown answered for them, "She attacked Bulkhead, but she wasn't very powerful."

"Pretty fast though, and it did hurt," Bulkhead commented as he tried to rub the sore spot on his back he still couldn't reach.

"This is not possible," Megatron growled, much to the confusion of his lackeys, "That is a picture of Arcee, an Autobot stealth fighter that was killed by Starscream shortly before his own untimely demise. How is she alive now when her body was torn asunder mere months ago?"

"I...I'm not sure, Lord Megatron," Knockout replied nervously, "I've never heard of such a thing. Perhaps the Autobots have discovered some way to use synth-en to revive the dead."

"That's ridiculous," Megatron scowled, "Energon doesn't bring people back to life. That's like saying Unicron is hiding under Optimus Prime's berth. No, it must merely be a resemblance. It cannot be Arcee."

"Permission to be dismissed now, Lord Megatron?" Knockout asked obsequiously.

"Granted," Megatron replied; glad to get the three bumbling idiots out of his sight.

The trio hurriedly ran off into the halls; practically kicking up dust in their wake. Megatron growled at how cowardly his subordinates were, and then turned to another mech that had been quietly watching the entire exchange.

"Soundwave!" Megatron bellowed, and his silent minion sauntered forth from the control panel he was working on, "Where is my second in command?"

Soundwave's screen projected a map of the ship, and showed the SIC's life signature at the open hangar that led to the cloudy skies that surrounded them.

"Good," Megatron nodded, "I do not wish to be disturbed unless it is important."

Soundwave nodded dutifully and returned to his work. Whether the Autobot was Arcee or not didn't really interest the communications offer at the moment. After all, the Autobots were scattered and lost. Their armies would fall within the next few months. The Decepticons had nothing to worry about.

Knockout entered the medbay with his two friends following close behind. The look of relief was clearest on Knockout's face, though obviously they had all been afraid Megatron would punish them severely for a loss at the hands of only a few Autobots. Of course, everyone knew Optimus Prime was a force to reckoned with, so what did their master really expect of them?

"That blasted Bumblebee dented my bumper when he rammed into me on the road!" Knockout ranted, "Megatron should've killed that little pest when he had the chance! This'll take forever to buff out!"

"Ah, calm down, Doc," Bulkhead drawled as he grabbed a buffer and started running it over the irate medic's shoulder guard, "You'll feel better once we get the Autobot stink off you."

Knockout sat on a medical berth while Bulkhead continued to buff out his finish, and Breakdown came over a minute later with a cube of synth-en for Knockout. He sighed in relaxation, grateful his friends were here to make him feel better.

"You think we could convert the femme to our side?" Bulkhead pondered offhandedly, "It'd be nice to see a slender pair of legs around here after Airachnid went rogue."

"Don't remind me," Breakdown sighed miserably, "That cold-sparked glitch used me to get to the medical supplies! I thought she wanted me, but she only liked me for my red energon crystals."

"I know the feeling, Breaky," Bulkhead replied sympathetically, "That spider is real close to falling off the edge. Don't worry, next time she'll either beg Megatron's forgiveness or be crushed under our feet. Maybe if we're lucky it'll be both."

Knockout spared a sideways glance at the big green lug that was shining his frame. His face seemed brighter, and he looked more distracted. Knockout smirked, knowing exactly what was going on.

"You like the Autobot, don't you?" Knockout asked teasingly.

"Why not? She's pretty hot," Bulkhead replied casually, not taking the bait, "You think we could get her on our side? I mean, she did save me. Maybe she's into me."

"Nah, Autobots are just like that," Breakdown dismissed the idea, earning a scowl from Bulkhead, "They're all soft-sparked weaklings. You'd be better off just taking her prisoner. Then you could do whatever you want to her and not worry about giving her a sales pitch to join the Decepticons."

"Eh, maybe you're right," Bulkhead shrugged, "But I still wanna try. She's pretty brave for an Autobot, and it seems like a waste to just scrap her. Say Doc, you got any tips for how to win a femme over?"

"Well, I'd start with a trip to the wash racks if I were you," Knockout replied impishly, and Bulkhead pouted when he realized they were both picking on him, "Oh, come on. Don't be that way. You have to admit it's a long shot, trying to get an Autobot to date you."

"I don't care. I'm still gonna try," Bulkhead replied stubbornly.

Breakdown and Knockout laughed at how petulant Bulkhead's face plate looked in that moment, and Bulkhead put down the rotary buffer and crossed his arms in defiance. Breakdown slapped him on the back to cheer him up, and try as he might to stay mad Bulkhead couldn't help but crack a smile at the goofy looks his friends were giving him.

It had been this way for as long as Bulkhead, Breakdown, and Knockout had known each other. They would tease each other, they would comfort each other, and they would pretend the universe wasn't crumbling around them.

Bulkhead and Breakdown had known each other since they were sparklings, and even now they were closer than brothers. They had been teenagers when the war first broke out, and given that they were both from an expendable caste of ground-based laborers neither faction tried too hard to recruit them. That meant the two young mechs were on their own, and had to scrounge and steal to survive.

Everything changed the day they found themselves surrounded by a gang of seekers. Bulkhead and Breakdown found a half full energon cube, but the seekers wanted it as well. These seekers were empties just like Bulkhead and Breakdown, but the difference was they could fly and shoot lasers at the duo while the two grounders had no long-range weapons to speak of.

It took only a matter of breems before they were defeated and the seekers flew away with the cube like the vultures they were. Bulkhead had been knocked out cold, and Breakdown was barely conscious himself. Breakdown managed to get on his knees, but he couldn't stand all the way up. He crawled out of the alley and looked around the battered ruins of the city. There was no one out there, and it seemed like Breakdown and Bulkhead would die in the ruins of a forgotten city that no longer had a name.

Breakdown's intakes sounded like they were filling with fluid, and he could barely see anything in front of him due to how blurry his vision was becoming. Out of nowhere, however, Breakdown saw a shiny red blur speed around the corner. That stranger could've been dangerous, but it was his only chance and he had to take it.

"Help!" Breakdown shouted, though his voice cracked due to the fluid, "Help! Somebody! Hel-ack!" Breakdown choked as he fell forward and couldn't get back up.

The red vehicle transformed and walked up to Breakdown. Breakdown heard a whirring noise, and only hoped it was a scanner powering up and not a missile launcher. All he could do was lay there and wait for whatever was coming to him.

"You look like scrap," A smooth voice told him as the red mech bent down to look him in the optics.

"Bul-...Bulkhead," Breakdown rasped as he struggled to stay conscious, "Save..."

"Hm? You'll have to speak up," The red mech replied casually.

"My friend...You've gotta help him," Breakdown managed to say, "Hurt worse...than me."

The red mech didn't leave his side, however. Breakdown felt irritated that the new mech wasn't listening to him, but as the stranger worked on him Breakdown realized he was starting to feel better.

"You...a medic?" Breakdown asked after several moments of quiet.

"Yes, I am. The name's Knockout," Knockout replied as he flushed Breakdown's intakes, "Tell me when you can move, and then we'll see if there's anything of your friend left to fix."

"Thank you..." Breakdown replied gratefully before he finally passed out.

Knockout patched up the blue mech but couldn't get the big lug to wake up. He didn't know why he was saving this mech's life. He was an empty. Considering how hard life was for empties he probably would've been better off deactivated. Once the big guy was stabilized Knockout followed the drag marks in the rubble to an alley and saw a nearly offline dark green mech that was just as big as the first one.

"Well, you must be Bulkhead," Knockout said to himself before checking for a life signature, "Well what do you know? Still alive. You and your friend must be real tough to be able to take such a beating. Don't worry big guy, I'm a trained professional. You'll be on your pedes in no time."

It was several hours later before the bash brothers were awake, and both of them were very thankful that Knockout had saved them. Mechs from both sides tended to ignore empties like them, so Breakdown and Bulkhead were especially surprised to learn Knockout was a Decepticon. Since they had nowhere else to go the two big bruisers agreed to join the Decepticons, and the three of them had been best friends ever since.

Megatron walked out to the sky hangar and searched for his second in command. He didn't see anyone, but he knew that rarely meant anything. The large seeker was probably on the roof.

"I know you're out here," Megatron rumbled, "Show yourself! I have an assignment for you."

"What is your wish, Lord Megatron?" A loud voice boomed all around Megatron.

"I wish for you to hunt down an apparition, Skyquake," Megatron replied as his olive green SIC flew into view, "Apparently Knockout and his stooges were attacked by Arcee."

"Arcee? Impossible! She's dead!" Skyquake argued, his fist clenched in stubborn resolve.

"So I recall," Megatron replied nonchalantly, "However, the Autobots have recruited someone that looks just like her. I want you to bring her to me for study. If she is in fact a resurrected Arcee, then I want to know how the Autobots did it. Can you handle this assignment?"

"I shall not let you down, master!" Skyquake exclaimed gamely, "Permission to take Dreadwing with me on this mission?"

"Granted," Megatron nodded, "Don't let me down."

Skyquake held his fist to his cockpit in salute before transforming into jet mode and flying away. A few moments later Dreadwing likewise ran out of the hangar and flew away in jet mode. Megatron smiled in satisfaction. He knew if anyone could capture the new Autobot, it would be his most trusted and loyal soldier.