Authors Note: I plan to give Seaspray his own partner, but I won't say who
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, The Owl House or their characters
On the Nemesis, Megatron walked into a room where there was an entire hive of Insecticons resting peacefully on the walls.
"Who is the fiercest among you?" Megatron asked.
"There is no greater ferocity than an Insecticon hive. But, if you were to choose one among us…" A voice said before an Insecticon with yellow scar-like paint on his face and a more purple-coloured appearance landed in front of Megatron. "I am Hardshell."
"You will retrieve something for me, Hardshell. And annihilate everything that gets in your way." Megatron told the Insecticon warrior.
(Linebreak)
In a large volcanic area, a Ground Bridge appeared and emerging from it were three Insecticons, followed by Hardshell before it closed up behind them.
"Divid, and do not hesitate to conquer." Hardshell ordered.
The three Insecticons flew in separate directions and Hardshell transformed into his own flying insect form before taking off into another part of the volcanic area.
(Linebreak)
At the Autobot base, it was currently the moment when Team One was departing for Los Angeles.
"Luz, Amity and Willow will accompany Arcee, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper." Optimus declared.
"Great. Come on, Ghost." Amity called to her Palisman. "We're gonna need you."
"You too, Clover." Willow added before their Palismen joined them.
"Make sure you girls come back with that relic." Gus said.
"We will, Gus." Luz reassured.
"Initiate transport, and triangulate coordinates of the other three relics." Optimus ordered Ratchet.
"That was some trick, Willow." Bulkhead complemented.
"You mean stealing Intel from an evil Cybertronian Titan while Megatron was a living statue?" Willow asked with a smile as she slid down the ladder. "I'm just doing my best."
She then heard Bumblebee's horn from behind and turned around to see the yellow Autobot opening his driver door for her, while Luz and Amity were waiting with their Autobot Guardians.
"See you later, Bulk. I'll tell you how it went when we get back." Willow said before she quickly got inside Bumblebee. "I'm ready!"
"Take care of her, Bee/Take care of him, Willow." Bulkhead and Hunter said simultaneously, causing them to look at each other.
The first team drove straight into the Ground Bridge and disappeared once they were in.
"Bulkhead, prepare for departure." Optimus told the dark-green Wrecker.
"You are headed for the Ecuador." Ratchet said.
"Make sure you're locked and loaded for a solo mission, Bulk." Wheeljack instructed.
"I'll prep for tropical weather. Wrecker style." Bulkhead announced in enthusiasm.
The Ground Bridge reactivated as the coordinates were set for Bulkhead's mission location.
"Vee and Agent Fowler will be your communications and transportation hub." Optimus explained as Vee gave Bulkhead a friendly thumbs-up.
"I can have cheeseburger!" Fowler mumbled loudly before falling back unconscious on his medical bed.
"Communications, Huh?" Bulkhead asked in an uncertain tone before walking into the Ground Bridge.
"Be on your guard, Bulkhead." Optimus said.
(Linebreak)
The Ground Bridge appeared in the volcanic area and Bulkhead emerged from it, getting a whiff of the atmosphere he was now in.
"Ugh! Smells worse than the Decepticon barracks." Bulkhead said in disgust, walking ahead to see the area with some smoke emitting from certain places. "Fine place to hide a relic."
Bulkhead trekked his way through the volcanic pavement while searching for any signs of the relic or a capsule. Unfortunately, he found nothing and decided to contact the base.
"Base, I can't find any sign of the relic. Can you reconfirm coordinates?" Bulkhead asked.
(Linebreak)
Vee heard him from her laptop and checked the global map, seeing that Bulkhead was at the right coordinates.
"Triangulating your position, Bulkhead." Vee informed. "You're definitely at the right location."
Just then, Agent Fowler walked up behind Vee after fully regaining his consciousness and walked down the steps.
"Uhh. Need…coffee." Fowler muttered weakly, still feeling the effect of Trypticon's electrical shock.
(Linebreak)
"Well, the coordinates are wrong, 'cause there's nothing out here." Bulkhead proclaimed, until he started to hear a distant buzzing noise. "But something's coming."
Bulkhead turned around and looked into the distance to see Hardshell flying towards his position. He quickly brought out his blasters and fired at the Insecticon warrior, who rammed straight into Bulkhead and transformed on a stone wall before tossing the dark-green Wrecker away. Bulkhead crashed onto the ground and Hardshell charged straight at him, causing the Wrecker to block his attacks before punching him away.
"Leave it to Megatron to send a bug to do his dirty work." Bulkhead said, glaring at his new foe.
"You know a thing or two about dirty work yourself, Wrecker." Hardshell replied.
"Do I know you?" Bulkhead questioned.
"I know your kind, as I have crushed more than a few Wreckers in my time." Hardshell told him.
"Now you see, the thing about bugs your size…they make a bigger mess when I smash 'em!" Bulkhead stated before bringing out his wrecking balls and charging at Hardshell.
He managed to land some solid hits on Hardshell, until the Insecticon warrior grabbed one of his wrecking balls and struck him with his claws before tossing him on the other side of the floor. Hardshell was about to stomp on Bulkhead and the dark-green Wrecker got out of the way before firing his blasters at Hardshell. The Insecticon warrior was unfazed by the shots and he charged at Bulkhead, delivering a powerful punch to his face. Before Hardshell could attack again, Bulkhead quickly retaliated by hitting him with his wrecking balls and then struck him with a strong uppercut. This caused one of Hardshell's mouth mandibles to fly off and he screeched painfully, falling onto the ground in a weakened state. Bulkhead panted and wiped some Energon off his mouth before noticing a large trail ahead of Hardshell. Seeing his enemy was temporarily down, Bulkhead transformed and drove down the volcanic trail.
(Linebreak)
At the Autobot base, Vee was currently helping to upload the virus that Ratchet and his team use for Laserbeak.
"Ratchet, the virus is coded." Vee informed. "I'm commencing the upload now."
"Vee, I have a beat on the relic." Bulkhead told her on the communication terminal.
"Vee's busy. I'll take it from here." Fowler replied, approaching the terminal.
"Fowler. How was your beauty sleep?" Bulkhead asked smugly.
"Fine. Dreamt I finally got a little respect from you." Fowler replied in sarcasm.
(Linebreak)
"Heh. Keep dreaming." Bulkhead chuckled.
"What's your status?" Fowler asked.
"I came up empty to provide coordinates. But I figured an old lava flow might have carried the relic downhill." Bulkhead theorised.
"Wouldn't that just burn it up?" Fowler questioned.
"These relics survived interstellar transport." Bulkhead reminded. "I'm sure they can withstand molten…oh scrap."
"What is it?" Fowler asked as he grew a little concerned.
"I'm leaking Energon." Bulkhead admitted as it was shown that drops of Energon were leaking behind him. "That Insecticon hit me hard."
"Insecticon?" Fowler repeated.
"Probably just knocked a gasket loose, nothing to worry about. Trust me." Bulkhead said reassuringly. "He's in way worse shape than I am."
(Linebreak)
At the same time, Hardshell finally recovered and he stood back up, while his three Insecticon troops joined up with him.
"The Wrecked left me alive." Hardshell said before he snarled menacingly. "The last mistake he will ever make."
Hardshell transformed and he flew off into the air in pursuit of Bulkhead as the other Insecticons followed him.
(Linebreak)
Back with Bulkhead, he continued to drive along the volcanic pavement until he finally spotted a relic capsule in the distance. The dark-green Wrecker transformed and walked towards the capsule.
"There you are." Bulkhead said.
When he reached the capsule, he started pulling on the tightly-closed lid and it soon came off while making him fall back.
"I got the lid off." Bulkhead told himself as he tossed the lid away and looked into the capsule, only to gain a horrified look once he saw a pile of strange green ore inside. "Uh oh."
(Linebreak)
At the Autobot base, Vee was busy uploading the virus and Fowler was patiently waiting for Bulkhead to call back.
"Base, we have a problem." Bulkhead informed in a very nervous tone.
"Bulkhead, what is it?" Fowler questioned.
"I found the relic. It's a cash of Energon." Bulkhead said.
"That's good, right?" Fowler asked, not liking the tone of his voice.
(Linebreak)
"No, no, no. Not this kind. It's known as Tox-En." Bulkhead answered while stepping far away from the green ore. "Causes nausea and dizziness upon contact. Prolonged exposure weakens us to the point of paralysis. And then…it snuffs out our Sparks."
"Well, what're you talking to me for? Get far away from that Tox-En, pronto." Fowler ordered. "If it's as deadly as they say, the Cons won't want it either."
"No, they'll want it even more." Bulkhead replied as he started having flashbacks about a Cybertronians rotting away in an atmosphere of Tox-En. "During the war for Cybertron, Megatron figured out a way to refine raw Tox-En, turn it into a weapon of mass-destruction. I witnessed an entire unit wiped out by the sickness. No way I can leave this stuff for the Cons to find and abuse."
"So bring it back here." Fowler suggested. "Vee, open a Ground Bridge."
"Forget it. Even if we had a safe place to store it, this stuff's way too potent to risk exposing to the rest of us." Bulkhead said, only to then hear a familiar buzzing noise. "Ugh, I'll call you back."
The dark-green Wrecker looked at the direction where he heard the buzzing and knew the Insecticons were coming, knowing that there was only one thing he could do.
"I'm gonna need to take care of this, Wrecker style." Bulkhead said, pulling out a grenade that Wheeljack gave him.
Hardshell and the Insecticons flew above the volcanic pavement while searching for the relic capsule before they finally spotted it.
"There." Hardshell said as they all flew down to the capsule.
The Insecticons transformed and Hardshell stayed back while his minions approached the capsule. Once of the Insecticons opened it up and was about to reach in for the Tox-En, but Bulkhead's grenade was revealed to be in it with the timer nearly up.
"No! Wait!" Hardshell called out.
Unfortunately, the grenade exploded and sent the front Insecticon crashing back with pieces of the Tox-En stuck in it's throat, causing it to cry out in agony while slowly going offline. Hardshell approached the downed Insecticon for a closed inspection, but backed away and covered his mouth once he identified the green ore that was on his minion's throat.
"Tox-En." Hardshell muttered.
(Linebreak)
"Wait, you're carrying it?" Fowler asked in surprise as Bulkhead was shown to be running away from the Insecticons' position with the larger Tox-En sample in his hand. "I thought that stuff was toxic?"
"It is. But I needed to put some distance between and the bugs." Bulkhead replied.
"We'll, what now?" Fowler questioned.
"I'm gonna get rid of this steaming pile the only way I can." Bulkhead said as he stopped running and placed the Tox-En down, looking at the giant volcano ahead of him. "I'm gonna lob it into the volcano."
"What about your Insect problem?" Fowler asked.
"This isn't my first time unloading an enemy patrol, you know." Bulkhead told him before spitting out some Energon.
(Linebreak)
Hardshell and his two Insecticon soldiers continued to watch their fallen comrade get deactivated by the Tox-En before the strongest of the group contacted the Nemesis.
"Lord Megatron, the object we seek…it is Tox-En." Hardshell told his leader.
"Exactly how much is in your possession?" Megatron questioned.
"None, my lord." Hardshell answered. "An Autobot-"
"Are you not the fiercest, Insecticon?" Megatron asked firmly, not in the mood for excuses.
(Linebreak)
Back with Bulkhead, he was running further away from the volcano and Fowler noticed this.
"Wait, you're moving away from the volcano?" Fowler asked confusingly.
"Exactly." Bulkhead answered, leaving a trail of Energon drops behind him.
(Linebreak)
Hardshell and the two Insecticons were flying above the area in their secondary forms before the group leader spotted something on the ground.
"Bellow!" Hardshell called before they descended to the floor.
Once they arrived at the ground and transformed, Hardshell inspected the trail of Energon by picking up some of the blue liquid and tasting it from his fingers.
"Yes, the Wrecker leaks from his wounds. Find him." Hardshell ordered.
The two Insecticons transformed and followed the trail in the air, with Hardshell doing the same thing behind them.
(Linebreak)
However, Bulkhead was currently trying to make his way up the volcano in his vehicle form and managed to get up a steep edge after some tough driving, while the Tox-En was strapped to his roof.
"You left a false trail, Huh?" Fowler asked after figuring out Bulkhead's strategy. "I once pulled that trick when I got separated from my unit behind enemy lines."
"When were you ever behind enemy lines?" Bulkhead questioned, sounding a little more tired this time.
"I wasn't always a Bot-sitter." Fowler replied.
"Heh. Next you're gonna tell me your mother doesn't tuck you in at night." Bulkhead joked.
"Not since basic training." Fowler said.
"Training as what? A skater clown?" Bulkhead asked.
"You've been spending way too much time watching roller derby games with Willow. I was an army ranger. We could wreck with the best of them." Fowler explained.
"Who knew you and I were so much alike." Bulkhead admitted with a sigh, kinda glad to hear he and Fowler have similar histories.
(Linebreak)
Just then, Fowler started getting a second communication with Optimus.
"Vee, has Agent Fowler regained consciousness?" Optimus asked.
"Stand by, Bulkhead. I'll be right back." Fowler said before switching to his new caller. "I'm here, Prime. What's your situation?"
"We require access to a research facility at our current location." Optimus explained.
"Let me make a call." Fowler replied, bringing his phone out.
(Linebreak)
Bulkhead continued to drive up the volcano, but the Tox-En's effects were starting to weaken him. He tried to drive up another steep cliff, but ended up transforming and slid to the bottom with the Tox-En next to him.
"A dirty job…that only a Wrecker can do." Bulkhead told himself, standing up and grabbing the Tox-En before slowly walking up the cliff. "Come on."
(Linebreak)
"This is an emergency. Our satellites have detected dangerous solar flare activity. I need that entire station evacuated, immediately! Do you hear me? Get out of there, now!" Fowler ordered the station personnel before he switched back to Optimus. "Base is clear, Prime. Try not to wreck the joint."
"Many thanks, Agent Fowler." Optimus replied, hanging up and allowing Fowler to switch back to Bulkhead.
"Bulkhead, how're you holding up?" Fowler asked.
(Linebreak)
"Any word…from Willow?" Bulkhead asked as he weakly walked up the volcano.
"Don't worry about her. You need to focus on your own mission." Fowler reminded.
"Right. I…I need to…rest…just for a minute." Bulkhead muttered.
"I know it's tough, but I need you to stay the course." Fowler said.
Unfortunately, Bulkhead tripped up on a rock and he fell down. He tried to get back up with the Tox-En still in his hand, but the toxic effects were really making him weak and he fell back against a boulder in a very dizzy state.
"Bulkhead. Bulkhead? Bulkhead!" Fowler called on the com-link. "Bulkhead, answer me, you rust-bucket!"
"Uh…I'm here, ranger." Bulkhead replied as he managed to slightly recover, much to Fowler's relief on the other side.
"You had me scared, two-ton." The special agent admitted.
"I…I can't do it." Bulkhead said hopelessly, feeling too weak to make it towards the mountain.
"I do not wanna hear that kind of talk, especially from the likes of you." Fowler scolded. "We both know you made it through worse."
Bulkhead started having flashbacks after hearing this. From getting smashed around by Decepticons, to surviving giant explosions, getting used as bait for Dreadwing's plan and even that day when Scraplets invaded the Autobot base.
"Nah. Not worse than this." Bulkhead groaned. "Not even Scraplets."
"Look, soldier, you know as well as I do there's a mission. And the reason why you take the mission." Fowler told him in encouragement.
"Honour, duty." Bulkhead said.
"Family. Which is why you need to whatever it takes to finish this job and come home safely." Fowler said.
After hearing this, Bulkhead thought about some more flashbacks. This time, they were ones of him and Willow spending time together.
"Willow, I'm supposed to be protecting you, not doing these weird witch sports."
"Bulkhead, I've done this a lot before I ended up getting stuck on Earth."
"Willow, check it out. New battle scars."
"Make sure you give those Cons a good pounding, Bulkhead."
"You got it, Willow."
"Look, Willow, before I became a warrior, I was a labourer. Construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff. And that's it."
"Sometimes, I wanna be just like you, Bulk."
"Bulkhead, I know somewhere inside of you will always remember me. And I just want you to know…I'll never forget you."
All of these good memories about bonding with his young witch friend was enough to give Bulkhead the determination and motivation he needed to slowly get back up.
"You're right, Fowler. I've gotta dig deep." Bulkhead said as he ignored the Tox-En effects and regained his strength. "For the other Bots. For Willow."
Once he was fully back on his feet, Bulkhead continued to make his way to the top of the volcano.
(Linebreak)
The Insecticons were still following the false Energon trail, but Hardshell started to realise Bulkhead had tricked them.
"There is no logic to his movements. His trail is meant to lead us astray." Hardshell said, inspecting the Energon trail. "To find the Wrecker, must not follow."
Hardshell turned his attention towards the volcano, now knowing where Bulkhead was going and chuckling sinisterly.
"We must anticipate." He said.
(Linebreak)
After so much hard work of hiking and staying online, Bulkhead arrived at the very top of the volcano and still had the Tox-En in his hand. He looked at a hole that had tons of smoke emitting from it, knowing he had to toss the Tox-En in there.
"Almost there." Bulkhead said in exhaustion, making his way to the hole.
(Linebreak)
"That's right, soldier! Dump that rock and come on home!" Fowler stated encouragingly.
However, his phone began to ring and he answered the call.
"Fowler. Willow, what is it?" Fowler questioned before hearing what the Plant Witch girl had to say. "What in the Sam Hill? I'm in the middle of a crisis here and you me to…uhh, put her on the line."
(Linebreak)
Bulkhead was still walking towards the volcano hole, but someone wasn't going to let him get there.
"Wrecker!" A voice called out as Bulkhead saw Hardshell arrive in the air, transforming and landing a few miles ahead of him. "Put down the rock and allow us to put you out of your misery."
His two Insecticon minions showed up from the other sides of the volcano, leaving Bulkhead surrounded. While he was still feeling weakened by the Tox-En, Bulkhead still had some strength in him and was willing to battle the Insecticons.
"Gonna swat some flies." Bulkhead said, bringing out another grenade.
When he pulled the pin, the dark-green Wrecker tossed it at the Insecticon on the right side and it blew up, killing the bug-like Cybertronian. Hardshell roared furiously and charged at Bulkhead with his extra appendages out, only for the dark-green Wrecker to shove the Tox-En up his throat.
"Fair warning, I'm contagious!" Bulkhead told the Insecticon warrior.
Hardshell backed away and slightly collapsed on the floor, feeling the Tox-En's deadly scent in his systems. The remaining Insecticon transformed and filed at Bulkhead to tackle him, but Bulkhead quickly knocked the bug-like Cybertronian away. Seeing the Insecticon pinned down, Bulkhead placed the Tox-En onto it's chest and it slowly got infected.
"Hold this." Bulkhead said, turning away from the dying Insecticon and circling Hardshell.
(Linebreak)
"Miss Anne Boonchuy, this is special agent William Fowler of the United States government." Fowler said, desperately trying to speed things along. "You and your friends are hereby deputised as honorary agents for the department of, umm, Interstellar Relations."
He immediately hung up and turned back to Bulkhead on the communicator.
"Bulkhead, you still with me?" Fowler asked.
(Linebreak)
"I'm in the scrap and you put me on hold?" Bulkhead questioned jokingly, still facing Hardshell.
"I want you to know Willow's safe. Mission accomplished." Fowler informed.
"Ah, that's my girl." Bulkhead said, proud of his Witch friend.
He then charged at Hardshell and punched him, causing the Insecticon warrior to retaliate with his own punch. The two of them kept trading blows before Hardshell saw his remaining Insecticon soldier toss away the Tox-En and stand up weakly, only to then collapse on the floor and deactivate.
"It's getting damp. Contact the Nemesis for a containment unit." Hardshell said as Bulkhead tried attacking again, only for him to quickly punch him to the ground.
Just then, Bulkhead started shouting in pain and his vision became blurry from the Tox-En's deadly effects. Hardshell began to approach his weakened opponent.
"Bulkhead, do you read me?" Fowler asked in concern.
(Linebreak)
At the base, Ratchet, Wheeljack and Gus had just arrived through the Ground Bridge and they approached Vee.
"Guys! Come look at this!" Vee called out.
"Bulkhead, please respond." Fowler said, ignoring the conversation right next to him.
"The Iacon database?" Ratchet asked in surprise.
"It's downloading into our mainframe!" Vee remarked.
"Answer me, soldier!" Fowler ordered desperately.
"The plan worked!" Gus cheered, not knowing Fowler was getting annoyed by their loud voices.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Wheeljack stated.
"Hahahaha! Vee, you are a genius!" Ratchet said happily.
"Will you keep it down?!" Fowler yelled, making the others surprised and silent.
(Linebreak)
Bulkhead groaned in pain as Hardshell stood over him menacingly.
"Your Spark is mine, Wrecker." Hardshell said.
He was about to smash both his fists onto Bulkhead, but the dark-green Wrecker avoided the attack and grabbed Hardshell by the face before throwing him close to the Tox-En. Before Hardshell could move away from the poisonous ore, Bulkhead pushed him even closer to it and the Insecticon warrior gagged in agony from it's scent.
"You want a taste of this? Do ya?!" Bulkhead questioned before he backed away and allowed Hardshell to stand up.
Bulkhead brought out his wrecking ball and used it to smash Hardshell in the face, making him stumble closely towards a lava hole. Hardshell then saw Bulkhead picking up the Tox-En, reeling it back in the air for a toss.
"Catch!" Bulkhead called out before tossing the Tox-En to Hardshell.
When the Insecticon warrior caught it, who stumbled back even more from it's poisonous touch and fell into the lava hole with a shout of despair. Bulkhead approached the lava hole and looked down into it to see the Tox-En get destroyed in the fiery magma, and possibly Hardshell as well. Bulkhead let out a sigh of relief as he turned around and contacted the base.
"Fowler…mission accomplished." Bulkhead announced exhaustingly. "But you might have to…tuck me in."
(Linebreak)
Fowler was very glad to hear this and he turned to Vee.
"Vee, open a Bridge, now!" Fowler ordered as Vee got to her laptop and used it to activate the Ground Bridge.
(Linebreak)
The Ground Bridge appeared in front of Bulkhead and he began to slowly walked towards it. But then, Hardshell emerged out of the lava hole with hot smoke radiating off his body and he aimed his wrist blaster at Bulkhead, firing a laser shot and hitting the dark-green Wrecker in the back as he was blown into the Ground Bridge.
(Linebreak)
Bulkhead cried out in pain as he flew through the Ground Bridge and crashed in the middle of the Autobot base, while Ratchet, Wheeljack, Gus, Vee and Fowler looked on in horror at the smoke emitting from his back.
"No." Ratchet gasped in utter astonishment.
"Bulk, what happened?! Are you okay?!" Wheeljack asked drastically, rushing to his old friend and seeing he wasn't showing any signs of functioning as the others approached him as well. "Say something, Bulk! Can you hear me?! BULK!"
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