Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

12. Scrapheap, Part 1

A/N: How's it going, everyone? We're back with yet another chapter, and this one is… actually surprisingly shorter than I thought it'd end up being. I honestly didn't expect it to be this short, but I can definitely say that this episode was a lot smoother to adapt than "Dues Ex Machina". Though then again, I changed a LOT about that last episode, so that's probably why. That said, you may be wondering; "Hey, why's this chapter a bit late?" Well, unfortunately, my work hours have changed a bit and as a result, my upload time is going to be changing for the foreseeable future as well. So check in around noon time every Friday from now ok, alright? In any case, let's get into one of the most chilling experiences that any Transformers fan has ever seen! The students have NO idea what they're up against. This is…

Chapter 12: Scrapheap, Part 1

…..

Saturday had come and gone relatively normally at the Autobot Base. After they got done with school, the 1-A Students were relieved to hear that the mission had gone over relatively well, even if the Energon Harvester had been destroyed. Of course, retrieving the Harvester would've been helpful in mining energon for themselves, but at least it couldn't be used as a weapon by the Decepticons anymore, so they were thankful for that. But, in any case, the afternoon had gone on as normal; the kids went through their Auto-Boot Camp training and finished by eight o'clock, though Momo and Mina had requested their early release so they could work on the latter's report. But then, something strange happened later that evening…

"Hm? …Optimus, you may want to see this." Red Alert announced as a small blip suddenly appeared on his radar map of Earth. The Prime strolled up as Red Alert pointed to it. "I just received a strange signal from this planet's Arctic Circle. It's faint, but it's coming through on the radar."

"Strange… why is this appearing just now?" Optimus asked.

"No clue." Red Alert shrugged. "Perhaps the ice sheet moved in a certain way that it's allowed… whatever this is to finally reveal itself and have its signal be somewhat visible."

Prime hummed to himself, mulling over the new information. "Quite puzzling, though I will say that this deserves investigation." He turned to the two closest bots and gave them a nod. "Sideswipe, Jazz, I believe you two would be the best choices in unearthing this Arctic find."

Sideswipe smiled eagerly. "Ooh, a little dig-up mission, huh? I'm game, let's do it!"

…..

"I-I IMMEDIATELY… r-r-regret this d-d-decision!" Sideswipe's metal teeth chattered together as a massive snowstorm blew all around them. His internal heaters were on full blast, trying desperately to keep himself warm as he and Jazz trekked through the frozen wasteland. "I-If I had known we'd be g-going to a place like this, I-I'd probably have swapped with B-B-Bumblebee! A-Are we even THERE yet?!"

"Nah, not yet." Jazz shook his head, keeping his optics on the tracker in his hands. "But we should be gettin' there soon, Sideswipe, so keep yo' tailpipe on."

Sideswipe trembled, with multiple parts of him beginning to clang and clatter. "Th-Th-That's what I'm afraid of…"

Just then, the tracker began to beep rapidly, garnering their attention. "Woah, hold up. It says here that our signal's right past this ridge…" Jazz glanced down and noted the downward slope in front of them, only to give it a shrug. "Ah well, only one way down! See ya at the bottom!"

"W-Wait, we can always just—" But by that point, Jazz was sliding down the slope on his back, which only made Sideswipe grumble more. "Ugh, never mind." He followed Jazz's example, to his chagrin, and made it to the bottom, now even colder than ever. "GAH! S-Scrap! I-I haven't been THIS cold since that stop we made on Freezon some solar cycles back. Oy, I think I got snow in my articulator."

Jazz deadpanned at Sideswipe's moaning. 'I can kinda see why ya get on Strongarm's nerves so easily now.' Brushing that thought away, Jazz went back to the tracker, only to see that it was going off the meter… but there was nothing in sight around them. "Man, I don't get it! These readings are off the charts, we SHOULD be right on top of it."

Sideswipe glanced around the area before taking note of something that was… a little out of place. "Maybe that's because it's NOT all that obvious. Look!" The red bot lead Jazz over to a rather smooth icy surface and he pointed down. And there, directly below their feet, was a rather huge, dark object buried within the ice.

"Huh, guess it was all a matter of perspective." Jazz smirked. "Great work, Sides! Now put those jackhammers of yours to use an' let's get this puppy outta here!"

"Oh… joy." Sideswipe grimaced.

…..

Several hours later, the sun came up over the skies of Japan, and Kyoka Jiro couldn't help but be a little puzzled. Of course, since it was Sunday and they had the day off from school, she and her… friends (she was still getting used to the idea of having so many) were able to spend the entire day at the Autobot base. And that's exactly what they decided on… only the Autobots picking them up went a little different than usual.

Bumblebee DID pick her up, but he also went to get Mei and Ochako, having completely skipped Izuku's place all together. "Uh, Bee? Why aren't we going to Midoriya's place?" Ochako piped up from the back. "Don't you usually pick her and Kyoka up together?"

"Yeah, Bee, what gives?" Kyoka asked.

"Zrkt—The chosen one has arrived—zrkt—bright and early!" Bumblebee answered.

Kyoka furrowed her brow at that. "Wait… are you saying he's already back at base?"

"Zrkt—Correctomundo! Zrkt—Got there at—zrkt—SIX!"

All at once, Ochako and Kyoka exclaimed; "SIX?!" The Gravity user shook her head in disbelief. "Midoriya got there that early?! For what?!"

"My guess? More training with Optimus." Kyoka said with a sigh. "Green Bean's really determined to get his Quirk under control in time for the Sports Festival, if only so he can stop breaking his bones all the time." She smirked toward Ochako and gave her a wink. "After all, he wouldn't be able to really compete if his whole body was broken like jelly, ya know?"

"Heh, yeah, that's true…" Ochako leaned back in her seat, though she couldn't help but think over Kyoka's words. It was then that her mind flashed back to when the green-haired boy saved her during the entrance exam, and just like that, she couldn't help but admire him for it all over again. "…You know, it's kind of crazy."

Kyoka moved her head back around to her. "Hm? What's crazy?"

Ochako brushed her hair behind her ear nervously. "Oh, you know, it's just that all of us have pretty much known each other for a few weeks now and… I feel like I haven't really THANKED Midoriya yet for saving me."

The purplette's eyebrows rose up at that. "Oh, yeah. He saved you when he punched that giant robot during the entrance exams, right?"

"Yeah, I just kinda feel like I owe MORE to him, you know?" The brunette smiled fondly as the memory replayed in her head. "If he hadn't saved me, I probably wouldn't be here with you guys right now."

"Ah, don't worry about it, 'Chako." Kyoka assured. "The fact that you offered to give up your points so that he could pass the exam was more than thoughtful of you, even if you didn't know about the Rescue Points at the time."

"Well, yeah I guess, but—wait a second!" Ochako whipped her head up in surprise. "How did you know about that, Kyoka?!"

"Urk!" Kyoka flinched, realizing that Ochako didn't know about what they saw on the acceptance letters. "Oh, uh, well it's like this; when Izuku got his acceptance letter, it had a video of you going to Present Mic and offering to give Izuku some of your points."

Ochako's hands flew up to her head in shock. "That was TAPED?! H-How?! When?!"

Kyoka gave a shrug. "I'd just assumed that everything in U.A. is taped." She reached back and placed a hand on Ochako's own in reassurance. "But I meant what I said, 'Chako, you offering to give up some of your points just so Izuku could get in, it was really selfless and showed just how much you appreciated him for saving you. I'd say that's a pretty big "thank you"."

It was then that Mei finally piped up as well. "Yeah, Rosy Cheeks! I saw what you did too and I agree with everything Jackie said! You're a really nice person for trying to make sure Muscles got in, and hey, BOTH of you ended up getting in regardless, so you're ALL winners here!" Mei pumped her fist into the air for emphasis, only to hit Bee's roof and make him jump in surprise. "Oops! Sorry, Bumblebee!"

Despite the use of the "Rosy Cheeks" nickname again, Ochako couldn't help but smile at the inventor's words. "Hehe, yeah, I guess you've got a point there. Thanks for the pep talk, gals." HONK-HONK! The group of ladies perked their heads up to see Strongarm come rolling up along side them from a nearby highway, with Tenya, Eijiro and Denki sitting in her own cab. The girls waved to the boys as Ochako took note; "Well, seems like today's crew is all accounted for."

"Yeah, with Momo and Mina back at her place working on that report, I think they may actually miss out on a bit of training…" Kyoka craned her head up to the sky, seeing that big, dark clouds were hovering high overhead. "Not that they're gonna miss much. Today's weather is looking sucky."

Before long, the Autobots made it to Outpost Omega-1 and they pulled to a halt, allowing the teens to disembark. "Good morning, my friends!" Tenya greeted with a stiff salute. "Are we all ready for another rigorous day of training?"

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Strongarm and Bumblebee both transformed and the cadet set her optics straight up, seeing that there was a light drizzle beginning to come down. "Hmm, well, that all depends on how the weather is later on, Tenya." The teens focused on her was she gave them a shrug. "We may have to take our training strictly indoors for the day."

"Speaking of training, where's Midoriya at?" Eijiro asked, scanning his eyes across the area. "I thought you said he was training with—"

"AAAAAH!" THWUMP! The group gasped at the sound of a loud yell from the otherside of the base, to which they all began sprinting toward the source. And the moment they made it, they were greeted with a sight that surprised all of them. Optimus Prime was standing off to the side, observing closely as Izuku took in exhausted breaths on a pile of leaves. The young man was standing in a small, rectangular alcove in the side of the old factory, with walls on either side of him, and he seemed to be doing… something. The teens weren't sure what, but they knew it must've been taxing given how red his face was.

"Alright, I think that's enough for now, Izuku." Optimus advised. "Let's get inside before the rain—"

"No, wait! Please, just one more time!" Izuku pleaded, with everyone watching on as his legs began to ripple with powerful red energy resembling veins coursing along them. 'I know I can do this. Just imagine the egg in the microwave, and don't let it blow up! One for All… FIVE PERCENT!' In a quick flash that was almost too fast for anyone to see, Izuku leapt up and began jumping inbetween the walls, trying to make it up to the roof of the building.

…The key word being; "try". Because as soon as he tried for the third jump, he lost his footing and slipped again. "AAAAAAH!" THUD! Unfortunately for Izuku, he DIDN'T end up in the leaves that time.

"IZUKU!" Kyoka rushed toward his side with the others in hot pursuit, hoping that their friend was okay. "What the heck was THAT?!"

The greenette shook the daze out of his head and smiled sheepishly up to her. "O-Oh… hi, Kyoka. How long have you guys been there?"

Tenya took a knee to get closer to his friend. "We just got here. But what in the world are YOU doing?" He raised his hand in his signature stiff motion. "That was completely reckless! You went against Optimus Prime's direct order and overexerted yourself on that jump."

"Yeah, that was kinda dumb, Izuku." Kyoka said with an edge in her voice. "When Prime says that's enough, that's enough." Above her, Bumblebee buzzed an agreement, his gaze filled with concern for his human friend.

Izuku sighed and lowered his head. "I… I know. It's just that I have so much work to do if I want to get my Quirk to a point where I can actually USE it during the Festival." He felt a bit of rain plunk down on his head and he pursed his lips in annoyance. "And I didn't want anything hindering me for a long amount of time."

"Unfortunately, the weather doesn't bend to anyone's will, Izuku." Optimus said as he approached as well, only to take note of his own words immediately. "…Well, aside from those with Weather-based Quirks, but I'm sure you get the idea. Point being; take this time during the poor weather to reflect on what ground you have covered this morning, and think of ways you could possibly improve your form." The Prime gestured down to Izuku's legs. "The fact that you're using your Quirk and your legs aren't broken is already good progress, after all."

Ochako brightened up at that. "Hey, yeah, that IS awesome, Midoriya! Remember when you jumped into the air to save me during the Entrance Exams? You broke your legs during that and now you haven't broken a single bone!"

"Heh, yeah, you're right, Uraraka." Izuku nodded as Kyoka helped him stand up and they all headed inside. "All Might's advice and Optimus' tutelage really have taken me a long way now. But now, I've gotta figure out a way to help improve my overall movement while using my Quirk."

Eijiro was quick to jump on that. "Say, maybe I could help ya in that department! Maybe a little combat training indoors during the storm?"

"Ah, that sounds like a splendid idea!" Tenya concurred. "I'd be more than happy to assist as well."

"Thanks, guys." Izuku smiled. "I appreciate it."

Denki placed his hands behind his head as they all finally entered the base. "Well, I know one thing's for sure, I'm not using MY Quirk until the storm's passed. Better to not attract any lightning—HOLY CRAP, what is that?!"

The kids were all taken aback by the sight of an absolutely enormous hunk of ice that was just… sitting in the main room of the base. It was secluded off to the far end of the room, out of the way of anyone who might come walking through, which only made their intrigue grow more. The only one who wasn't surprised was Izuku, who nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's kinda what I thought when I came in, too."

"What IS it?" Kyoka asked.

Mei narrowed her eyes and used her Quirk to zoom in on it, taking in every detail. "Whatever it is, it's encased in ice for some reason."

"That would be because we located it in the Arctic Circle late last night." Everyone craned their heads around to see Windblade, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker entering the room, the former smiling down to the kids in greeting. "Hey guys, how's it goin'?"

"Pretty good, Windblade." Eijiro said with a thumbs up. "But uh… you guys said you found that in the Arctic?"

Sideswipe rolled his optics. "Unfortunately, yes. And guess who was the poor schmutz that offered to go and dig it up with Jazz?" He pointed two thumbs to himself with a very unenthusiastic; "This guy. Ugh, I had to stay hooked up to that defroster for like, an HOUR."

"Hey, that's what ya get for going, bro." Sunstreaker said with a wag of his finger. "You know full well that prolonged exposure to subzero temps can cause permanent system damage. Better safe than sorry, ya know."

The younger of the Lambo Brothers threw his head back and groaned. "Ugh, can we NOT do this on our patrol today?" He jabbed a thumb over to Strongarm, who glowered and growled at him in irritation. "I already get enough nagging from her, after all."

Strongarm had to resist the urge to strangle Sideswipe then and there. "Just take a deep breath, Strongarm. You're going to be without him for a few hours, make the most of it."

But when Sideswipe mentioned the word "patrol", he immediately got Denki and Eijiro's attention, their eyes lighting up with excitement. "Ooh, you guys are on patrol today?" Denki rubbed his hands eagerly. "Maybe we could tag along, see if there's any danger lurking about?"

Sunstreaker sent an apologetic smile down to Eijiro and Denki. "Ah, sorry guys, we WOULD take you along, but Prime figured it'd be best to not bring you along on recon for a little bit. Wouldn't wanna run the risk of putting you in danger after our last two experiences this last week."

"I mean, if it were up to me, you guys could totally tag along." Sideswipe shrugged before glancing toward Optimus. "But orders are orders, so we'll see ya when we get back. And when we do…" He transformed his hands into his piledrivers once again, zeroing in on Eijiro. "We'll get down to business and keep on training! How does that sound?"

"Sounds great, Sideswipe! Can't wait!" Eijiro replied, his fist hardening up instantly.

"Awesome. Well, we'll be seeing ya!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Sideswipe and Sunstreaker simultaneously transformed and revved out of the base, the brothers rolling up toward the main road just as the rain really started coming down.

Tenya's sights then went back to the giant ice chunk curiously. "So, I take it that whatever is inside that thing, it must be Cybertronian in origin. Another relic, perhaps?"

"That, we're not sure of yet, Tenya." Windblade explained. "Red's done several scans of it, but the ice has been a problem. It was obviously buried there for a long time…" Her focus trailed down to the floor beneath the massive ice chunk, seeing water slowly dripping off of it bit by bit. "Fortunately, it seems like it's starting to thaw, so we can hopefully get an answer soon."

Optimus nodded at that. "Indeed, but while we continue to wait for that, Windblade and I will be headed back to the Arctic Circle to try and locate more clues about whatever it is we found." He set his optics down to the children and lowered himself closer to them. "Now, Bulkhead has gone to Mina's residence for the day to help her and Momo with her report, so you will be here with Jazz, Arcee, Bumblebee, Strongarm and Red Alert for most of the day. If you have any concerns or wish to train, I'm sure they would be glad to help you in any way they can."

Beside him, both Strongarm and Bumblebee saluted dutifully. "Right you are, sir!" Strongarm nodded.

"Zrkt—We're on the job!" Bee added.

"Excellent, now come. Red Alert is waiting." The group all filed into the next room over, where indeed, Red Alert was standing on the GroundBridge platform waiting patiently for them to come up.

The medic pursed his lips at the sight of the students. "Ah, I see the others have arrived as well. Fantastic."

"That's right, Red." Kyoka said in a teasing tone. "It's Sunday, and you know what that means! You get us for the WHOLE day! Now doesn't THAT sound fun?"

She got a small grumble in response, which really didn't surprise her too much. Not too far away, though, Jazz and Arcee were standing off to the side, the two waving toward the kids the moment they saw them. "Hey-yo, Kyo!" Jazz hollered.

"Jazz!" Kyoka extended a fist and Jazz met her with a soft fist-bump. "How's it going? Heard you and Sideswipe found quite the thing up north."

The Autobot lieutenant gave her a nod. "Sure did. Though I sure wish we knew what the heck it was." But then he waved the whole thing off. "Ah, but we've got more important stuff to worry 'bout today. How's about you an' I do a bit o' combat trainin' with your jacks? See if those exercises really jacked 'em up?"

Kyoka grinned eagerly back. "Oh yeah, bring it!"

Meanwhile, Arcee had gingerly stepped over to the others, taking great care not to step on them as she crouched down to their level. "Heya guys! You all ready for what we've got lined up for you today?"

"Oh, you know it, Arcee!" Ochako replied with a burning spirit in her voice. "Bring it on!"

"Now THAT is what I wanna hear!" Arcee pumped her fist up with Ochako, her grin as eager as her training partner's. "Let's just wait and see Prime and Windblade off before we dive into anything, okay?"

The two mission-bound Autobots in question stepped onto the platform, meeting Red Alert, who had some sort of remote in his hand. "Well, Red Alert, I believe it's time that we begin our investigation." Optimus said definitively. "Hopefully we will find something that can shed some light on our Arctic find."

Red Alert typed in a command on the remote as he responded. "Only until your sensors sound. Remember, you MUST keep an eye on your internal temperatures throughout your excursion." He pressed a button and pointed the remote to his teammate's Autobots symbols, which flashed blue very briefly. "Once you enter into the blue zone, system failures aren't likely… they're imminent."

"Gotcha, we'll keep tabs on that." Windblade nodded before smiling over to her teammates and the students. "Well guys, we'll see you in a little bit, okay?" She gave them a knowing wink. "And don't go too overboard on the training! I still wanna help you all get some reps in, got it?" The teens all laughed a little at that before waving back to the City Speaker, all while she and Optimus stepped through the GroundBridge portal.

"Transport complete." Red Alert muttered as he raised the activation lever… only for it to then spark wildly near his hand. "Gah!" And before long, the entire control panel began exploding, much to his surprise. "By the Allspark…"

Off to the side, however, the teens had gathered up with Jazz, Bee, Strongarm and Arcee to discuss what they'd be doing first. "So, what's on the agenda for today?" Kyoka asked, clapping her hands together.

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna be working on my baby!" Mei proclaimed as she pulled out the Sky Spy from her backpack, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm so, SO close to finishing up on the S.K.Y.S.P.Y that I'm sure I'll get it working by the end of the day!" She waved to the others as she skipped down a nearby hall. "I'll see ya later, guys! Ta-ta!"

The group couldn't help but chuckle at the inventor's enthusiasm before getting back down to business. "Okay, so if Mei's preoccupied with that, then the rest of us can—" RRRRRR… Arcee was suddenly cut off when a loud, rumbling noise permeated through the room, taking everyone by surprise. "Uh, what was that?" RRRRRR… "There it is again!"

"Wait, it sounds like…" Ochako paused as the rumbling was heard again, causing everyone's sights to be directed toward… Denki. And he did NOT look good all of a sudden. "Uh… Kaminari? You okay?"

"O-Oh, me?" Denki put on a fake smile to try and brush it off, keeping a hand on his stomach. "Yeah, sure I am! My family and I just had some takeout last night, so it's just a little tummy troub—" RRRRRR… Denki's eyes bugged out, feeling an entirely new sensation start to hit him full-on. "…Excuse me for a moment—AAAAAAAAH!" The blonde shot down the hall in a full sprint, racing toward the bathroom at breakneck speed.

The teens all stared after him awkwardly for a moment before Tenya cleared his throat. "Ahem, well, erm, while Kaminari deals with… that, why don't the rest of us head to the training area and get started—"

"Jazz! Strongarm!" Red Alert suddenly piped up from the GroundBridge controls, with everyone noticing that he was working frantically at them as a small plume of smoke came wafting up. "I need your assistance over here, now!"

The two bots were taken off guard, but nevertheless, they responded. "We'll be right there!" Strongarm assured before turning to Arcee and Bumblebee. "Why don't you two get started without us for the time being? We'll see what Red needs and we'll be with you shortly."

"Well… okay, if you say so." Arcee shrugged before she ushered the students to join her. "C'mon guys, let's give Red the space he'll probably need."

With that, Arcee and Bumblebee led the humans to the training room while Strongarm and Jazz headed over to see what the medic needed. "Yo, what's goin' on, Red?" Jazz questioned. "Somethin' wrong?"

"To say the least." Red Alert confirmed as he continued to test the controls. "I'm going to need some heavy lifting, the GroundBridge just broke down."

"WHAT?!" Strongarm exclaimed. "W-What about Optimus and Windblade, are they—"

"Optimus and Windblade are fine, Strongarm. They made it through safely, it's bringing them back that concerns me." Red Alert gestured down to the GroundBridge's panels with his laser tool hand. "Now let's get these panels up, on the double."

…..

Meanwhile, inside one of the base's bathrooms, Denki sighed in relief, glad to have made it before something disastrous happened. "Ah, sweet relief. Okay, that's that; no more late-night Mexican take-out." The blonde washed his hands and walked out of the bathroom, feeling much better than when he went in. "Jeez, thank god I avoided THAT embarrassing scenario. Now, time to get to—"

Tink-tink-tink-tink

Denki paused the moment he heard… something coming from down the hall. He wasn't sure what it was, but it sounded almost like metal being tapped against metal. And what was weirder was that it was almost like it was scurrying around somewhere.

Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink!

There it was again, only louder and a bit more forceful that time. "…H-Hello?!" Denki called out, hoping to get a response. "W-Who's there?"

Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-tink!

At this point, it sounded like the noise was coming from all around him, and he was starting to freak out a bit. Denki whipped himself around every which way as he tried to keep an eye on every inch of wall around him… only to still be caught off guard. TONK! "AAAAAAAAH!" The Electrification user cried out in fear as something dropped directly in front of him, making him jump back as lightning charged up in his hand. "STAY BACK! I-I-I'm warning—huh?"

But when he finally saw what had scared him, he was NOT expecting it to be something so… small. It was about the size of a basketball… or at least, its HEAD was that size. The rest of its body was disproportionally small by comparison, though still able to hold up the big head. It was made of metal and had four small, spindly insectoid legs, with a tiny pair of arms to match. To further its bug-like appearance, its purple eyes were huge and took up a majority of its head making it look… oddly adorable.

"Hah… oh, uh… hi!" Denki greeted with a wave as the tiny being approaching him. "You're a new face…" He lowered himself down and the creature went right up to him without any fear. "Weird, the Autobots never mentioned anything about pets." The metal being zipped around him before spotting a metal bolt on the floor, garnering Denki's attention. "Oh, you wanna play, little guy?" He picked up the bolt, bringing the creature's sight back to him. "Okay, see the bolt? Fetch!"

Denki threw it as hard as he could and the creature followed after it intently, before jumping up and grabbing it in midair. But then came something Denki didn't expect. The creature started eating the bolt, keeping its back turned to him as a metallic grinding noise could be heard. "H-Hey, hold on a sec! You're gonnna… choke?" But to Denki's surprise, the creature didn't choke at all. It ate the bolt no problem and came right back over to him. "…Or not."

The insectoid being stopped at Denki's foot before snuggling its head up to his ankle, making him crack smile. "Heh, okay, you are WAY too cute to keep to myself. C'mon, lemme introduce you to my friends." Denki picked up the little being and started making his way to the control room… all while failing to notice the twisted remains of an airduct cover not too far away.

…..

"Okay, so what's on today's agenda for training, Arcee?" Kyoka asked as she and the others were all lined up in a row. "We're ready whenever you are."

The pink Autobot paced back and forth in front of the group, wearing an eager smile of her own as she nodded at Kyoka's statement. "Good! Glad to hear it. Because today, as you might've figured, we're gonna change things up and do some combat exercises!" She received an uproarious cheer from the students before going on. "Now, all week, we've been deliberately keeping you apart for the most part on purpose so that we could work on your individual strengths and powers, along with building up your stamina and such. But now that we've worked you all to your struts…"

"Um, I think you mean "bones"." Eijiro corrected.

Arcee smacked her helm at that. "Ah, right, sorry. Worked you to the bone. Now that we've done that, we're ready to move on to the next phase of your training; practice battling with one another." She placed her hands on her hips and asked; "Tell me, have you guys been doing stuff like this in your actual class, or no?"

"Well, we only battle one another in given scenarios during our Hero Training class." Tenya explained. "We haven't had any sort of one-on-one combat where it's just us with no higher stakes."

"Outside of class we sometimes do it." Izuku emphasized. "But it seems like a lot of our classmates wanna train on their own lately." The greenette glanced down to the floor, pondering the reason. "A-And honestly, I suppose I can't blame them. Not everyone wants to give away their training methods that they have in mind to get ready for the Sports Festival."

Ochako pumped her fists, her eyes burning with anticipation. "But now that we've trained so hard over the past week, I'm just itching to show how much I've improved! C'mon, let's get this thing started!"

"Zrkt—Let's get it started in here!" Bumblebee played on his radio, making Arcee giggle.

"Hehe, okay, okay, I can see that everyone's pretty pumped about this. But let's wait until Denki comes in and then we can—" BZZ-ZZ-ZZT! Arcee cut herself off the moment the lights started to flicker, with everyone craning their heads up to the ceiling. "What in the…"

Kyoka furrowed her brow irritably. "Ah man, don't tell me the power's gonna go out. How're we gonna see what we're doing?"

Izuku put a hand to his chin in thought. "I'm honestly kind of surprised it's doing this. Today's storm isn't supposed to be that bad." It was then that the lights flickered once more, causing him to set his sights to Arcee. "What do we do here, Arcee?"

The intelligence officer pursed her lips, thinking over what could be going on before coming to a conclusion. "Maybe this has to do with what Red wanted Jazz and Strongarm to do. C'mon, let's head back and see what's going on." Her optics moved down to the teens and gave them a wink. "After all, the last thing I want to do is leave you guys here in the dark if the power DOES go out."

The teens followed after Arcee and Bumblebee back to the control room… and they made it just in time to see Red Alert pulling up a circuit board from the GroundBridge platform. However, it had several severe burns in it that were pretty oddly shaped, almost like… bite marks. Red Alert hummed to himself and shook his head. "We most definitely have a problem."

"Hey Red, what's going on in here?" Arcee asked. "Is everything alright?"

"Not particularly." Red Alert sighed, presenting the ruined circuit board to Arcee. "As you can see, something burned out several of the GroundBridge's main functioning components."

Off to the side, Strongarm leaned over, taking a closer look at the circuit board. "But what could've CAUSED this?"

And once again, the lights dimmed, making Jazz move his head up. "Or that?"

Red Alert put a hand to his chin. "Might be the main grid. Hopefully it isn't a substation malfunction…"

"Hey guys!" Denki's voice suddenly echoed throughout the control room. "Check out what I found!"

The medic grumbled and turned to him. "Kaminari, we're busy—AAAAH!" Red Alert let out one of the least monotone sounds he had ever uttered in the human's presence; a scream. This was enough to put anyone on high alert… and when the rest of the Autobots looked to Kaminari, they all knew immediately why. In his hands… was something that put the fear of the Chaos Bringer himself into all of them.

"AAAAAH!" Jazz belted out, with Bumblebee suddenly buzzing in complete panic. "AAAAAIIIIEEE!" Arcee and Strongarm both practically shrieked in complete terror, and all at once, all four Autobots brought out their ranged weapons and pointed them straight at Denki, all whilst backing up far, FAR away from him.

Their erratic behavior was also enough to scare the humans into next week, though it also left them shocked and confused as to why they were aiming their weapons at Denki. "Woah, WOAH!" Kyoka waved her hands as she and the others stepped in front of the blonde, only noticing now that he was holding a small, metal creature in his hands. "Guys, the hell is your deal?!"

"Y-Yeah, guys, what's the matter?!" Izuku asked.

"S-S-Scraplet!" Strongarm screamed, waving shakily holding her crossbow up. "SCRAPLET!"

Denki peaked out from behind his protective friends, just as perplexed as they were. "W-What's a Scraplet?"

Red Alert glowered at the blonde as dread and venom dripped from his voice. "The most dangerous vermin to ever crawl upon the face of Cybertron. Now let. It. Go."

"Do what he says, Denki." Arcee pressed, her finger firmly on her pistol's trigger. "Now."

The teens all eyed one another skeptically before putting on nonchalant grins. "Heh, seriously?" Eijiro gestured to the sleeping Scraplet in his friend's hands. "You guys are afraid of THIS thing?"

Ochako threw her arms up into the air. "You guys are GIANT robots!" She then set her eyes down to the little adorable ball of metal in Denki's arms. "Meanwhile, Scrappy here is… teeny."

"Guys, you have NO idea how much damage that "teeny" thing can do!" Jazz insisted. "Now put it down so we can blast it!"

"Oh, please!" Denki rolled his eyes, bringing the Scraplet up and rousing it from its sleep. "Do you guys really think THIS could hurt you?" The Scraplet opened its big, adorable purple optics and spotted the Autobots first thing… and the moment it saw their heat signatures, one thing permeated throughout its entire being; hunger. What happened next, none of the teens could have expected.

The Scraplet began squirming in Denki's hands erratically and opened its mouth, revealing a set of sharp, serrated teeth that spun around like a wood chipper. Denki gasped and his grip on the Scraplet was lost, allowing it to fall to the ground and begin scurrying rapidly toward the Autobots. The five bots shouted in horror as it drew closer, all of them starting to shoot at it but somehow, it managed to out maneuver their blasts. And then… it made it to Bumblebee. Without wasting any time, the horrific little creature began eating his way up Bumblebee's leg, munching through the scout's external metal and leaving a snaking path in its way.

The kids were all horrified as the Scraplet continued up Bee's leg, the young bot attempting to sting it before resolving to grab it and crush it in his hand. Unfortunately, the Scraplet ATE his way through Bee's fingers and continued up his arm. "NO! Get off of him!" Arcee screamed as she blasted the Scraplet off Bee's arm, making it skid across the ground. However, it was still online, and got back up to continue its meal…

"AAAAAGH!" THWAK! CLANG! CLUNK! TWONK! But, much to everyone's surprise, Izuku actually finished the job, having grabbed a crowbar to beat the Scraplet right to death. And what's more, the look of anger on his face was all the more stunning. "Stop! Hurting! My! FRIEND!" he yelled with every hit.

"Izuku! IZUKU!" Kyoka rushed up and grabbed the crowbar out of his hands with one of her jacks, putting her hands on his arms in an attempt to calm him down. "I… think you got it." The two peered downward and saw the remains of the Scraplet strewn across the floor, its optics dim and lifeless.

"Hah… s-sorry, Kyoka." Izuku apologized. "I-I just… I…"

"Couldn't stand to see Bumblebee get eaten." Kyoka affirmed as she pulled Izuku into a brief hug. "Trust me, I couldn't either. Honestly, I probably would've done what you did…" She smiled up to him with a knowing smile. "Which, by the way, was actually REALLY brave of you to do. Didn't expect to see THAT side of you, Celery Stick."

Izuku could feel his cheeks heat up at the compliment. "Hehe, th-thanks…" But just as his nervous smile appeared, it was replaced with a serious face as he and Kyoka ran right over to Bumblebee, who was already being checked on by Red Alert. The snaking trails of chipped paint and shredded mesh was still enough to leave them stunned. "Bee! A-Are you okay?"

Bumblebee gave Izuku a reassuring wave as Red Alert craned his head to him. "Don't worry, it's only a mesh wound. He'll live."

"Oh god, I'm SO sorry, Bumblebee." Denki bowed his head in shame, feeling a wave of guilt overtake him. "I-If I had known that… thing would do this, I would've electrocuted it right on the spot."

"It's alright, Denki, you didn't know." Arcee said as she gave him a pat on the back. "Honestly, I don't think ANY of us would've expected to see one of those around here."

Jazz stepped forward, putting his weapon away as he accentuated the gravity of the situation. "But NOW do you believe me? All Scraplets do is disassemble machinery and eat anything and EVERYTHING metal! 'Specially LIVING metal!"

Tenya nodded as he stared at the Scraplet's remains. "Yes, I think we've been thoroughly educated on that subject." He reached down, picked up the remains and then threw it in a nearby garbage bin. "Thankfully, with the little gremlin disposed of, this crisis has been effectively avoided—"

"No." Red Alert interrupted, his expression quite grim. "When it comes to Scraplets, there's never just one."

"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEE!" Everyone's heads shot up at the sound of a blood-curdling scream echoing throughout the whole base… only none of THEM were the ones who screamed. They were confused for only a moment before they realized who it must have been.

"MEI!"

…..

In a room not too far away from the Control Room, Mei found herself huddled up in a corner, having curled herself up in the fetal position in complete and utter fear. She could do nothing by stare wide-eyed at the hoard of about thirty creepy-crawlies that were closing in on her fast, their maws open with their sharp teeth spinning. In any other situation, she would've found this utterly fascinating… but they had done something to her that left her paralyzed in terror, shaking like a leaf and unable to move.

As they drew closer, she could do nothing but squeeze her eyes shut and scream; "Someone help me, PLEASE!"

PEW! PEW! PEW! As if answering her call, she heard the sound of laser fire suddenly permeating throughout the room, and her eyes snapped back open to see blasts of light go straight through three of the tiny beasts. She whipped her head up and felt relief wash over her in an instant. "Mei!" Red Alert kept his laser tool concentrated on the Scraplets, ready to blast them more. "Are you unharmed?!"

"RED ALERT!" Mei all at once scrambled to her feet and began sprinting toward the Autobots as they and her 1-A friends entered, all while cradling something in her arms. "You guys came!"

"Of course, we did!" Ochako said as she met Mei with a small hug. "How could we not answer after that scream?" She stepped in front of her and glared at the approaching Scraplets. "Now hang back, we'll take care of these things. Kirishima, follow my lead!"

Eijiro hardened his arms up and grinned eagerly. "Right behind ya, Uraraka!" With that, the brunette girl sprinted forward and began running her hands all along the tops of the Scraplet's heads, activating her Quirk on a lot of them as she knocked them over.

Before long, there were several stunned Scraplets floating in the air, and Ochako slid to a stop. "Now, take them out!"

"On it!" Eijiro began bashing the helpless Scraplets around, hitting all of them repeatedly, sometimes even into one another where they would explode on impact. "Ha! This is like shooting fish in a barrel!"

"Allow me to assist!" Tenya jumped in and the engines in his legs burst to life, the spectacled Class Rep rushing through the room and punt-kicking every Scraplet he encountered up toward the ceiling, where they broke apart into several pieces. "Try eating THIS, you little pests!"

"Yeah, our friends are NOT on the menu today!" Kyoka dashed forward herself and began plugging her jacks into the little insectoids, effectively scrambling their circuits and making them convulse in pain. She would then bring them crashing together, breaking them as metal ground against itself. "Izuku, think you can join in?!"

The Quirk Inheritor furrowed his brow in concertation. "I… I-I can try!" Izuku balled up his fists and began letting One for All flow directly into his arms, all while making sure that it wasn't too MUCH power. 'C'mon, keep a lid on it, Izuku. Remember; egg in the microwave, egg in the microwave…' He saw what appeared to be the rest of the Scraplet hoard coming right toward him, and he grit his teeth to prepare for this blow. 'One for All, Five Percent…' "SMAAASH!" Izuku reared his fist back and punched forward, creating a huge wind vacuum that sent the Scraplets… straight toward Denki. "AH! Kaminari!"

"I've got 'em!" Denki said as he raised his arms, catching the giant wad of Scraplets in his arms as he went skidding back along the floor. "Let's see how you little bastards like FIVE-THOUSAND VOLTS?!" All at once, Denki used his Quirk and effectively fried all of the Scraplets in his hands, their shrill cries going into a high pitch before they ultimately all blew up. Denki coughed as he wafted the smoke away, though he kept up his victorious smile. "Hak-hak! HAHA! Alright, we got 'em!"

"Yeah, thank god." Kyoka agreed before moving over to Izuku to check his arms. "…Huh, and you didn't even break your arms that time! Nice work, Green Bean."

Once again, Izuku couldn't help but blush at her compliment. "Heh, th-thanks, but… it honestly still feels a bit sore." He flexed his fingers in and out of a fist and rotated his arm around, trying to work through the pain. "I've still gotta find out a way to mitigate all of the stress, but at least it's getting better to handle."

But then, everyone's ears perked up when they heard Mei sobbing, their attention going straight to her. "Hatsume, are you alright?" Tenya asked in concern. "Those monsters didn't hurt you, did they?"

Mei sniffled a little as she shook her head. "N-No… I'm not hurt, but…" She moved her arms up and revealed that she had been cradling the Sky Spy… or at least what remained of it. The satellite panels had been chewed into and a majority of its outer shell was just plain gone, with the lens cracked and its top antenna hanging off by a wire. "LOOK WHAT THEY DID TO MY BABY!" she cried as she fell to her knees, her sobs unrelenting.

"Oh god." Ochako gasped, covering her mouth in shock. "Mei, I… I-I don't know what to say."

"This is simply abhorrent!" Tenya exclaimed, clutching a fist in ire. "All of her hard work… wasted thanks to those pests."

Red Alert's gaze had settled onto Mei, and he couldn't help but feel… sympathetic toward her at that moment. He knew what it felt like to work on something so hard only for something tragic to happen right toward the end, and to see her hard-earned project end up in THIS state… it was all the more heartbreaking. Red lowered himself down and reached out, putting his hand on the sobbing inventor's back in some form of comfort. "Mei, I… apologize for what happened. Believe me, I have been where you are right now."

"…Where?" Red Alert and everyone else were taken aback by the single word Mei uttered… and just how spiteful she sounded. She raised her head up and they were all stunned to see a face of pure rage having etched onto her features, her tears staining her cheeks as her sights went up to Red Alert. "Where did these little FREAKS come from?!"

'And thus, the five stages of grief have begun… though probably not in the correct order.' Red Alert refocused on the situation in front of them and stood back up, going back to the hallway. "I have a feeling I know. Come everyone, follow me." The team medic lead the four Autobots and the students into the main entry room of the facility, and there, for all of them to see, was the massive hunk of ice that was now even MORE melted than it had been before. Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary about it… until Red Alert lead them around to the other side.

The whole team was left flabbergasted at the sight of a huge, gaping hole that was torn right through the ice and the metal pod inside. From the looks of things, whatever had clawed its way out had done so from INSIDE the pod itself, and it was only a matter of seconds before everyone put two and two together. "…Sweet Solus Prime." Jazz whispered.

"It's just as I feared." Red Alert brought up his laser tool and activated its welder function, using it as a light as he brought it up to the pod. "It's a trap. A Scraplet trap."

"An… EMPTY Scraplet trap." Strongarm noted.

Kyoka fiddled with her jacks nervously. "So… THIS was what was in the arctic? How did it end up there?"

"More than likely, it was ejected into space eons ago from Cybertron." Red Alert explained. "Until it landed in the arctic by chance where the temperature kept them in stasis."

Arcee lowered her head solemnly. "Until WE thawed them out. Now they're awake and ready to have US for lunch."

Izuku glanced up to Red Alert, feeling his stomach twisting in knots. "J-Just how many of them are there?"

"Thousands." Red said with an exasperated tone. "Between the power malfunctions and the GroundBridge damage, it's sure signs that their infestation is well underway…"

…..

Meanwhile, in the Arctic Circle, Optimus and Windblade's recon mission had gone on for about half an hour, and yet they hadn't found nothing of importance related to the pod. Optimus himself was scaling down an icy cliff before a beeping noise caught his attention, seeing his Autobot symbol suddenly flash blue. He reached up to his comm and contacted his partner. "Optimus to Windblade, what's your status?"

"My sensor just went off, Optimus." Windblade replied. "Guess we should call for pick-up before things get chilly."

"Roger that." Prime affirmed before switching over to the base comms. "Optimus to base, core temperature readings have reached the Blue Zone. Prepare to activate GroundBridge." However, the moment he stopped talking, Optimus suddenly got a weird feedback noise in his audio receptor, followed by nothing but static. His optics widened and his gaze went up to the horizon, a feeling of dread beginning to overtake him. '…Oh no.'

…..

Back at the base, things were going just about as smoothly… as in, not very. "Red Alert, to Optimus, do you read me?!" Everyone paced back and forth as they watched the medic try to contact their teammates over the base's comms, only to get nothing but static. "We have a dire situation and—gah!" Red Alert slammed his fist onto the console as the holographic screens went blank, covered in nothing big static. "The Scraplets have gotten into the commlink systems!"

"So we can't contact Optimus and Windblade at ALL?!" Denki exclaimed.

Eijiro brushed a hand through his hair. "You're kidding!"

"How I wish I was." Red Alert faced his team and made his statement known loud and clear; "If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire BASE to a scrapheap!"

Jazz threw a hand up into the air. "Well I say we bug outta here an' let 'em KEEP it!" He insisted, with Bumblebee nodding in agreement. "I mean, Momo's pops has to have SOME other kinda warehouse for us to hide in, right?"

"Zrkt—Yeah! Let's get outta this—zrkt—chicken shit outfit." Bumblebee vouched.

But Red just shook his head. "Evacuation is NOT an option. If we don't get the GroundBridge back online soon, Optimus and Windblade will perish."

A collective gasp rang through the students, all of them with horrified faces. "N-No, you can't be serious!" Ochako exclaimed. "That can't happen! It just can't!"

Kyoka furrowed her brows and marched right up to Jazz, giving him a firm stink eye. "Jazz, what the HECK is going on with you?! You're usually the cool, calm and collected one, AND you're Optimus' right-hand bot!" She thrust her hands up to him for emphasis. "Aren't you supposed to take CHARGE or something?!"

"Kyoka, you haven't seen a swarm of these things EAT an entire bot." Jazz returned with the most serious tone Kyoka had ever heard from him. "I have." The lieutenant grimaced as the memories came flooding back to him. "They pick you apart from the inside out—going for the small, juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, until there's nothin' left." He swiped his arms to his sides to end his point. "And I mean, NOTHIN'. …Not even your optics."

Needless to say, the kids were all left utterly silent at Jazz's detailed description, and Kyoka swallowed hard with a shudder. "Wow, thanks Jazz. Didn't need that sleep tonight anyway."

Izuku furrowed his brow and folded his arms in thought. "We need to come up with some sort of plan of attack. If we're not careful, these things could eat the bots AND the entire base… and then they could move on to every OTHER metal thing on the planet."

"Correct." Red Alert nodded. "Thankfully there aren't any other metal structures in the vicinity of the base, so they'll likely remain inside for the time being. But still, we'll need some way to exterminate them all while I'm repairing the GroundBridge."

Denki whipped around to Tenya, his face etched with determination. "Alright, Emergency Exit Iida, what's the plan?"

"W-What? Me?!" Tenya pointed to himself. "You want ME to come up with the plan?"

"Of course!" Eijiro agreed with a big, toothy grin. "You're 1-A's class rep! You're the one who took control when that alarm scare happened last week."

Ochako smiled up to him, pumping her fists as well. "Yeah, c'mon Tenya, you've got the brains for this sort of problem! I think you could come up with an awesome plan!"

"Well…" Tenya glanced to the side and saw Izuku and Kyoka giving him encouraging smiles, helping to bolster him just a little more. He hummed to himself as he put a hand to his chin, tapping it lightly. "Well… there IS one option." He sent his sights up to Red Alert. "But we will have to help you. After all, WE are not made of metal, so the Scraplets can't hurt us."

"Hm, typically, I'd find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality." Red Alert admitted. "But it WOULD appear to provide an advantage in this situation." He gave another nod to the group of kids. "Very well, you may assist in whatever way you see fit."

"Excellent." Tenya smiled as the humans grouped up around him. "Alright, here's what I'm thinking; Hatsume, you will stay behind and help Red Alert with repairing the GroundBridge, while Kaminari and Kirishima will stay here to guard both of you incase the Scraplets come around."

Mei saluted to the blue-haired boy without question. "Aye-aye, Specs!"

And both Denki and Eijiro followed suit. "You got it, Emergency Exit!" they echoed.

"…Let's not get too used to that nickname, please." Tenya sighed before setting his sights over to the rest of his classmates and the other Autobots. "As for the rest of us, we will pair off into teams of four; two bots, two humans. Jiro, you and I will accompany Strongarm and Jazz to the south side of the base, while Midoriya and Uraraka will go with Arcee and Bumblebee toward the northern end. We'll scout for where the Scraplets are hiding and take out as many as we can, is that understood?"

"Right!" Everyone though Kyoka couldn't help but purse her lips at the choice of teams. 'Did he… intentionally not pair me up with Izuku?' She glanced up toward Bumblebee, the trembling bot was keeping pretty close to Arcee. 'Or did he take the bots preferred pairings into account? Either way, I should ask him…' Her smirk returned as she nodded up to the bots. "Well guys, looks like we're goin' on a bug hunt!"

The Autobots all shuddered at once, all while Bumblebee's radio piped up once again; "Zrkt—Game over, man! Game over!"

…..

A/N: And there's your Aliens reference, folks! Had a lot of people wanting me to throw one in there, so I hope you guys liked it. Though I also hope you liked the chapter, too! Of course, I felt the need to change a few things from the original episode, but as you can see, not much in the way of plot, just the characters that are being used. Of course, we have several MORE characters than that episode used (heck, I even replaced a few that were IN the original scenario), but still, with the type of threat and implied numbers that the Scraplets have, it's no less chilling for the Autobots. But of course, given that these kids have superpowers that they can use on the Scraplets, though they'll quickly find out that it's gonna still be a challenge to keep up with ALL of them. Will they succeed? Well, there's really only one way to find out. Oh, and of course, Izuku's getting better at using One for All! Still not at the Full Cowling point yet, but we're getting close!

And now, the Preview! As the Autobots and students strive to get the GroundBridge back online and to exterminate the Scraplets, Optimus and Windblade continue their struggle up north while Bulkhead and the Lambo Twins find out about what's going on back at the base. Will they make it in time to help their friends? Or will the Scraplets eat their way through them first? Next time; Scrapheap, Part 2. Mei seeks vengeance through fixing things while Jazz screams his head off! Thanks for reading everybody and I'll see you all next time. Stay safe out there and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!