Ratchet was tempted to shake his head in bewilderment. Every time there was an adventure with Swiftshadow something incomprehensible was involved. First it was The Wolf Spirit. He could recall the image of that ghostly wolf sitting over a glowing pool keeping the burning forest at bay. Her soothing warmth and gentle overwhelming power would forever be ingrained in his memory and linger in his spark.

But that dark entity was something else. Malevolent and sinister. He could honestly come up with a dozen other words to describe it. Honestly the thing reminded him of Unicron. It likely wasn't the chaos bringer but its presence was just as pungent.

He couldn't focus on that right now. Swiftshadow laid limply in his arms. Crimson blood and cobalt energon dripped from a puncture wound in her lower chest. Eons of medic training and practice took hold. He had to get her stabilized.

Setting her on a medical cot he scanned her still form. The human man was immediately at her head muttering something. June was already taking action taking her pulse While jack retrieved a first aid kit. The pair of wolves whimpered and whined at each other. Ratchet recognized one of them to be Sky.

"Don't you leave me again, Kelsey," The man said, "You're all I have left,"

"Kelsey?"Asked June.

"He means Swiftshadow, Ma'am," A little robot dinosaur hopped off the mans shoulder onto the bed.

"I'm Todd. Her brother," The man introduced himself. That makes sense. Swiftshadow's note did say that she was going off to look for her brother.

"And I am Wilson, friend and travel companion," The dinosaur extended a claw at June.

"June. Nurse," June shook Wilsons servo.

"Is she going to make It?" Raf's spoke softly from the catwalk.

Ratchet read his scans carefully. Fortunately he'd been schooling himself on organic physiology to get a better understanding of his wards. It also meant he wad a better understanding of Swiftshadow's unique biology. "Her major organs are intact but she's losing blood, fast."

The shimmering mark on her shoulder began to flicker like a malfunctioning light. Ratchet was certain that wasn't a good sign. He hastened setting up an energon drip while June set up an saline drip. Todd already gloved ripped out some dressing pressing it on the wound.

"Her heart rates dropping," June alarmed.

Ratchet cursed. After months of searching he'd be damned if he lost her now. He thought he lost her when that meta-human tore into her on the news. Checking the scans again he cursed again. "She has a nicked a major vein,"

Todd cursed. "We need to go in and patch that. You guys wouldn't happen to have some needle and thread?"

"And are you a doctor?" Ratchet scoffed.

"Veterinarian, which is a doctor for animals. Which seems quite applicable in this situation."

Ratchet sighed. "My hands are far too big for this procedure anyway,"

Swiftshadow found herself inside a familiar white void. She wasn't scared. She'd been here before. The endless expanse stretched out forever. Calmness flowed through her. Here she was safe, away from the the darkness consuming the world. She knew she had to return to that eventually but she needed a little bit of rest first. Allow herself to float inside the weightless void.

But you cannot rest yet for there is much you must still do

A voice boomed and reverberated through he being jolting her into awareness. The Wolf Spirit stood over her. Her silvery pelt blazed with moonlight. Narrow eyes glimmered with grim determination.

"Right. Defeating Malic Korvoth. I'll get right with that. The only problem is that I have no idea of how to do that. I don't know what I'm doing,"

A sensation like a chuckle vibrated through her. Low and rumbling, almost inaudible.

You have everything you need

"You could be a little less cryptic." Frustration mounted when silence was the only answer. "So I'm assuming that this is the part where you fix me up and send me back to the living?"

I cannot as your fate lay in the hands of another

The Wolf Spirit pointed her nose to the depths of the white void. Dark shadows crept and crawled, ripping into the white. With every moment the black grew stronger and faster eating away at the void. It was like an oil spill in a pristine freshly fallen snowbank.

He was here.

Swiftshadow clenched her claws. A wave of powerlessness washed over her. Here she was on death doorstep and Malic Korvoth was going to destroy the last remaining Beast Spirit. And there was nothing she could do about it.

The Wolf Spirit rose to her feet staring down the encroaching darkness. Ferocity rolled off her in waves. Yet her stature remained poised and calm like she knew that this was always going to happen.

You must awaken to the living

The Wolf Spirit tore the shadows with her claws but the shadows were were unyielding. They soaked into her paws like crude oil. She blasted away the shadows with a wave of silvery light. The shadows returned slithering their way through The Wolf Spirit's pelt dragging her lower and lower. Silvery pelt slowly turning pitch black.

Swiftshadow desperately wanted to help but she felt frozen in place. She wanted to scorch the darkness with her fire and tear it open with her claws. Oddly she couldn't tell what form she was in. Was she human or dragon? Kelsey or Swiftshadow?

"How do stop this? What If everything I have is not enough? Who am I?" The last question surprised Swiftshadow as it left her lips. It was if the question that had been burned inside her conscious had finally escaped into the world and been given its own life. She had being trying to answer it for far longer than the wolf den. She'd been trying to answer it her whole life. Getting her memories back didn't give the answers she wanted. They only left her with another identity to wrestle with. Now here it was in the open.

Amusement washed over her shoulders. The shadows had crept over The wolf Spirits neck and was starting to envelop her head. The white void was nearly black. Only stubborn streaks still shone through the murk. Yet The Wolf Spirit was neither afraid nor angry. A simple acceptance paired with ribbon confidence stood in their place.

You have always been you, and that has always been enough

As The Wolf Spirit finished her final statement, She was gone.

Swiftshadow was alone in the darkness. The only thing Swiftshadow knew was the first step to stopping the apocalypse was to wake up.

It took every ounce of Todd's Veterinary discipline to keep his hands from shaking. Despite the surgery being a success his sister remained unconscious. He peeled off the blood soaked gloves and tossed them at his feet as he sat down on the foot of a stairway. The giant robot called Ratchet monitored Kelsey's vitals intently. Wilson settled himself on Kelsey's cot with Sky and Cliff sitting near. Three teens stared at him him from a mezzanine. He couldn't be bothered to give them any of his attention.

"You want some water?" Todd looked up to see June holding out a water bottle. Her face was filled kindness and understanding.

"Uh, thanks," Todd took the bottle and cracked open the lid. The water was cool and refreshing inside his throat. His muscles loosened slightly as took a couple swigs. Todd could already tell he was going to be sore tomorrow. If he survived that long.

"You feeling any better?" She asked as she sat next to him.

"A bit. Still can't believe that I had to perform life saving surgery on my own sister,"

"What has she told you?"

"Nowhere near enough. I don't think I understand even a fraction of what is going on."

"It can be a bit overwhelming at first. It took me a couple days to adjust to whole giant alien robot thing,"

"I don't think I have a couple days with the whole apocalypse going on."

"Wouldn't be the first time we've faced an apocalypse." June chuckled.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" He groaned.

"You have any other family?"

"Nah. Ever since gramps died last year it's been just me and Kelsey,"

"I'm sorry,"

"God, I feel like such a failure."

"Failure? How so?"

"I should've been able to protect her. Keep her safe. None of this should've of happened to her. The night Mom and dad died I promised I'd take care of her,"

"You're parents how'd they die?"

"T-boned by a drunk driver on there anniversary. If Grandpa hadn't taken her in I likely wouldn't have been able to get my degree."

June sighed. "You're not a failure,"

Todd wished he could believe that. The twisting knots of shame inside his guts refused to let go. He silently wished that he could tear open his stomach and rip them out. June seemed to sense his reservations.

"It's hard looking after someone else. Things are going to happen to them no matter how hard you try and protect them. Sometimes the best you can do is to prepare them for the worst and trust that they can handle themselves." She glanced at a young man that had a strong resemblance to her. "When Swift- I mean Kelsey, first came to us she was scared and alone with no memory of who she was or where she came from. But she quickly proved herself to strong, resilient, and resourceful. More than capable of taking care of herself."

"So what you're saying is that she doesn't need me?"

"Not at all. She is always going to need her big brother. What I was trying to say is that she is going to pull through this. You just need to trust her."

"I certainly hope so,"

A deep groaning growl rumbled from Kelsey's throat. Her body shifted onto her belly. A deep heaving breath escaped her chest. Todd wasted no time in getting to her side. Her eyes snapped open as the lifted herself of the bed.

"Todd?" Her voice was creaked like an old house. Her wings drooped over the bedsides.

"I'm here. You're safe," He comforted.

She swung her head around as she realized where she was. "Ratchet? What the hell happened?"

No one had the chance to answer. The hanger door was kicked open by a angry man in a suit. "What in uncle sam's green earth is-" He cut himself off as her locked eyes with Kelsey. "Why do I have the feeling that what is going on outside, you have something to do with it?"

"Hey Agent Fowler," A sheepish grin pulled at Kelsey's lips.