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…

15. The Con Job

A/N: Hey there everybody, and welcome back to Transformers MHA! And here we are at our SECOND part of Springer's introduction, and of course, it's the title that you were all expecting. Kinda just hit me that I never GAVE the title in the preview last time, so hey, there's a bit of egg on my face. But hey, let's not waste time on that, and instead, let's jump right into the thick of things, shall we? This is…

Chapter 15: The Con Job

…..

Izuku was going through absolute hell. Well, okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but he was definitely not feeling all that pleasant. His adrenaline and blood were pumping a mile a minute, his heartrate only just barely able to keep up as he zoomed around the large, open field where Strongarm and Tenya usually trained. He had a feeling that One for All was responsible for helping his body keep up with how much he was exerting, all while he zipped around the field with newfound freedom as a bright green light and sparks trailed behind him.

And in all honesty, while he felt really tingly while using this new ability… he also felt a LOT more secure. He had no soreness in his muscles, his movement wasn't hindered in the least, and most importantly of all… he wasn't breaking any bones. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders AND his mind.

'Yes… YES! I can FINALLY use One for All—' SLAM! "AACK!" The wind was immediately knocked out of him when he felt a fifteen percent blow directly hit his abdomen, and he was sent flying backward until his body collided with the ground. '…Oh, right, I'm sparing with All Might. Dammit, don't get distracted!'

As Izuku coughed and hacked up his lunch, All Might stood across from him with his hands on his hips, waiting for his student to catch his breath. Not too far away, Optimus and Bumblebee were observing the duo in robot mode, the two Autobots intent on seeing just what this new power of Izuku's could do. "Come now, Young Midoriya!" All Might encouraged. "Don't tell me that one punch is enough to take you out! And I wasn't even putting my ALL into that!"

Izuku regained his bearings and balled up his fists, bringing One for All back to the forefront. "No way! I-I was just getting warmed up!"

"AHAHA! Were you now?" All Might clenched his own fists and bent his knees, ready to get back at it. "Well, if that's the case, then let's see what this new ability has in store!"

And just like that, the two One for All wielders were off like a shot, both of them zipping around the vast field almost too fast to see. Thankfully, Optimus and Bee were able to keep a lock on them thanks to their optics, and the more they watched, the more impressed they were. "I must say… One for All is quite the power to have." Optimus pondered to himself. "And the way Izuku is using it seems to be quite a bit different than how All Might does."

"Zrkt—They've got—zrkt—the Touch!" Bumblebee noted. "Zrkt—They've got—zrkt—the POWER! YEAH!"

"Hmhm, yes, that they do." Optimus chuckled as he continued watching the fight. "However, it seems quite clear that even at fifteen percent, All Might still has the overwhelming advantage."

Across the expansive field, All Might was currently hammering away at Izuku's defenses, the boy keeping his arms crossed in front of him as the Number One Hero pummeled him with his fists. And it was very apparent that Izuku was starting to succumb to the pain, his limbs shaking as he was pushed back along the ground with his heels trailing in the dirt. "Come on, Young Midoriya!" All Might goaded. "Is this all that your new ability can do?!"

Izuku grit his teeth and felt his adrenaline begin to spike again. No… this ISN'T all it could do! Izuku pumped his legs and leapt back a fair distance away from All Might, only to then lurch forward and jump right back into the thick of it. He reared one of his fists back as he flew through the air, all while yelling; "SMAAAASH!"

"Hah, I thought so!" All Might reared back his own fist and called out his own attack; "RHODE ISLAND… SMAAAAASH!" The two met in the middle and their fists collided, and from the impact alone, a small wave of wind gusts were kicked up and sent ripping through the whole area. While Prime and Bee weren't affected, the tall grass around them was blown straight down, leaving a sort-of crop circle in the epicenter of their punch.

And that's when Izuku went in for his chance. "HYAH!" With another pump of his legs, Izuku swung himself down from All Might's arm and aimed a kick for his midsection, making sure to aim for the right side instead of the left. And, much to his surprise… THWACK! He landed his kick.

"OOF!" All Might doubled back at the surprise blow, truly not expecting such a maneuver. 'Impressive, his main smash was just a distraction to leave me open for a different attack. Young Midoriya, if this was a real fight, I probably would've been more careful of that area, but you took advantage of the situation quite well.'

"GAH!" Izuku dropped down, keeping his right arm close to his side. He could already feel some numbness beginning to spread down his forearm. 'Man, even at just fifteen percent, he's WAY more than what I'm capable of handling…' He craned his head up to his mentor, who was still smiling down at him. 'Crap, now what?'

However, much to his surprise, All Might relaxed his stance and raised a hand. "That should be enough for the moment. Let's take a break!"

Izuku's eyes widened and his eyes became the size of peas. Optimus and Bumblebee were similarly shocked as well. "B-But… we only just got started."

"Ahem, yes, well—hak-hak!" All Might coughed some blood into his hands as his body erupted into a puff of smoke, reverting back into his skinnier form. "Even the big guns need a break at times." Toshinori sighed and fell onto his rear, resting his arms on his legs. "Having to keep up appearances at school today didn't help matters either, after all."

"Oh… right." Izuku said in disappointment.

"But hey, don't worry. After a few minutes, I'll be ready to go again." Toshinori assured. "After all, only using fifteen percent of One for All isn't as excruciating as using all of it at once. Speaking of, great work back there. Seems this new ability is really working for ya."

Izuku sat down next to his mentor and smiled to him. "Yeah, s-so far, so good, right?" However, a feeling of uncertainty began to bubble up inside him as he shifted his gaze toward the ground. "Although… I do still have a long way to go. Even with this new way of using One for All, I can still only use five percent."

But then, Toshinori reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And that's absolutely fine. Just because you've found a safe way of using One for All, it doesn't mean that you suddenly have to start using it all at once." Izuku brought his head back up as Toshinori went on; "Think of how you threw the ball on your first day in school. Back then, you only used a small portion of your body to use one hundred percent of One for All's power. But here, it's the reverse, and that means you're only gonna be able to harness more and more as you get used to doing this."

The Autobots came over and Prime spoke up as well. "He's right, Izuku, there is absolutely no rush in harnessing your power." Optimus knelt down in front of the two humans, giving Izuku a supportive nod. "And believe me when I say that you may be surprised in how well you'll be able to do so. We all have faith in you, young man."

"Zrkt—Ya gotta believe—zrkt—in yourself!" Bumblebee encouraged.

Slowly but surely, Izuku's grin returned, and he let out a small sigh. "Hah, thanks guys. That… that makes me feel a little better about it, I can say that much."

Toshinori gave him a thumbs up. "Great to hear. But of course, we've still yet to get to the important part."

"Hm? W-What's that, All Might?"

"Your new technique; what do you wanna call it?" All Might asked, raising a finger to make his point. "After all, a good hero always has names for their abilities, even if they don't say them out loud."

Izuku hummed to himself and placed a hand to his chin. "Well, now that you mention it… I DID have an idea…" He gestured to himself with both hands, running them from the top of his head to the lower parts of his body. "Y-You know how this new technique I came up with basically covers my whole body? Well, I was thinking… i-it's almost like a cowl, ya know?"

"Ah, yes, like the ones a lot of American heroes like to wear." All Might nodded.

The greenette pointed to his teacher as his voice became more excited. "Yes, exactly! So I was thinking, that since this "cowl" covers my whole body, I was thinking something along the lines of… "Full Cowling"."

Bumblebee was quick to sound his opinion. "Zrkt—That sounds—zrkt—totally badical!"

And Optimus agreed whole heartedly. "I am uncertain what this "badical" word means, but I can only assume it's positive. I think that "Full Cowling" is a perfect name for this new ability, Izuku."

"Heh, what they said." Toshinori chuckled before ruffling his protégé's hair. "Not bad at all, Young Midoriya." He gave Izuku a wink. "Just remember, don't go shouting "One for All, Full Cowling" or anything."

"Oh, you definitely won't have to worry about that, All Might." Izuku reassured. "I made a promise and I intend on keeping it… a-at least until I know I can trust the others with this secret."

The Number One Hero glanced up toward Optimus, recalling that conversation they had about a week or so back. "Hm, yes, of course." With a stretch of his arms and legs, Toshinori got back up to his feet, ready to get back to it. "GYAH! Alright, break time's over." POMF! "Let's get back at it!"

Izuku kicked back up as well and charged Full Cowling back up. "Right, let's go!" As he and All Might took their positions, though, a stray thought occurred to him; 'Hmm… wonder how the others are doing with Springer?'

…..

"HEADS UP!" Bulkhead called out as he tossed the Cube across the beach, flinging it right toward Springer.

"Haha, nice lob!" Springer raised his hands to catch the Cube… but that wouldn't end up happening.

With a quick leap in the air, Momo vaulted herself in front of him using a metal rod she created from her hand, and caught the Cube while doing a frontward flip. She landing on her feet with great ease and chuckled at her catch. "Hah! Not bad, boys, but not good enough! Sideswipe, go long!"

Momo tossed the energy cube over to the red Lambo Twin, who kept his arms raised high to catch it. "Alright! I've got it, I—" SHOOM! Without warning, Tenya suddenly rushed into the scene and vaulted up, delivering a strong, engine-fueled kick toward the Cube and knocking it away from Sideswipe. "…Don't got it."

"Strongarm, it's coming to you!" Tenya exclaimed to his guardian.

The cadet successfully caught it with a victorious laugh. "Haha! Excellent interception, Tenya!"

"Hey! C'mon, that was MY catch!" Sideswipe bemoaned.

With a satisfied smirk, Strongarm began spinning the Cube on her fingertip. "You snooze, you lose, punk!" She rolled it across her shoulders before tossing it to one of her teammates. "Kyoka, take it!"

The Earphone Jack user was quick on the draw, extending her jacks toward the Cube as it came her way. She wrapped her jacks around it securely before giving it a strong tug, sending it flying in a different direction. "Jazz, get the goal!"

Jazz, who was at one of the far ends of the beach, held his arms up, ready to make the catch. "Gotcha, Kyo'! Let's win this—" CLANG! "GAH! Hey!"

"You snooze, you lose!" Sunstreaker taunted after tripping up the lieutenant, catching the Cube in the process. And just like that, he was off again. "Sorry, but I've got places to be!" But unfortunately for Sunstreaker, he quickly found himself being flanked on either side by Bulkhead, Springer and Strongarm, and so he knew he had to pass it off to someone. "Denki! Think fast!"

"Huh? What was tha—" TWONK! The electric blonde wasn't paying attention, however, and the Cube rebounded off his head and went flying off further down the court. "OW! Hey, give a guy a little warning, huh?!"

"I DID!" Sunstreaker argued as the three other bots ran past them. "You were just staring off into space!"

Further down the beach, Ochako and Eijiro both stood with their hands up, ready to catch the Cube. "We got it guys, don't worry!" the redhead assured.

"It's in the bag—huh?!" Ochako was cut off when suddenly, Mina came rushing in from out of nowhere, sliding along the sand before jumping up and catching the Cube from out of midair. The pink girl was without her footwear and was secreting acid from her feet, giving herself a fair bit of added maneuverability as she slipped and slid across the sand on her acid trail. "HEY!"

"Sorry, 'Chako!" Mina beamed as she rushed past the others, headed back over to their own goal. Before she knew it, though, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were on either side of her… though that didn't last long as Springer and Bulkhead tackled the two to the ground.

"AH! NO! MY PAINT!" Sunstreaker shrieked.

Springer pumped a fist and shouted; "Go for it, kid!"

"Give us the win, Mina!" Bulkhead supported as well.

Though she had to maneuver herself past a few other bots and her own classmates, Mina finally found herself at the goal… where Windblade was waiting for her as the goalie. The City Speaker grinned eagerly and widened her stance, extending her wings for intimidation factor. "You really think you can get past ME, Mina?"

"No… but she can." Mina tossed the Cube up in the air and Strongarm caught it, the cadet practically plowing her way into the surprised Windblade to score the goal. "HAHA! YES!"

"Victory!" Strongarm held the Cube aloft as it suddenly flashed in her hand, resulting in her whole body shining in the same light briefly.

Across the beach, Arcee sighed as she stepped away from her own goal position. "Well, guess that's that." She and the others regrouped and she smiled down to the pink girl. "Nice work there, Mina. I think it's safe to say that you're the MVP of this game."

Mina gave her a wink and a thumbs up. "Thanks! I can't believe how fun running around with a giant energy cube is."

"To think that something so simple can be so invigorating at the same time." Tenya commented as well.

Springer chuckled from behind, moving up to Strongarm to procure the Cube from her. "Hehe, if you think THAT'S crazy, you should see it when it's REALLY in action." He tapped the side of the Cube as he explained. "See, we only just played ONE form of how Cube can be played. Another way we could do it is if we activated the AI in this bad boy so it could actually try to get AWAY from us while tryin' to score a goal."

"Ooh! Can we do THAT next then?!" Mina asked as she bounced up and down excitedly.

"Eh, why don't we take a little break for a while, Mina?" Bulkhead asked as he reached around toward his backside. "We've been at it for an hour and a half now and I'm starting to get sand in my articulators." He reached up and pat Springer on the shoulder. "Besides, I wanna get around to tellin' you guys some of our ol' Wreckin' stories, ain't that right, Springs?"

"Heh, yeah, sure Bulk." Springer nodded. "Sounds good to me. Let's head back."

As they started back, though, Sideswipe was quick to take note of something. "By the way, Springer, I couldn't help but notice those two… things on your shoulders." He pointed to the blue and red pods that were clamped over his wheels, which got everyone focused in on them as well.

"Hey yeah, what exactly ARE those, anyway?" Ochako asked. "They don't really seem to fit your aesthetic."

"Oh, well…" In his mind, Makeshift was kind of at a loss himself. He had only copied these structures because he saw that Springer had them on. He wasn't too sure WHAT they were… so he decided to do what he did best; fib. "They're just storage containers for extra equipment. Designed 'em myself, actually."

Windblade tilted her head to the side. "Really? And why the contrasting colors?"

"Heh, gotta make sure I can tell 'em apart." The Wrecker explained. "One contains ammo and explosives, the other a patch kit. Don't wanna mistake one for the other, otherwise that'd be a disaster."

Bulkhead couldn't help but laugh at that. "Bah-hah! Learned that lesson from Whirl on Kepler-7, didn't ya? Poor bot almost lost BOTH his legs that day after making THAT mistake."

"Uh, heh, yeah, glad he survived that one." After a short trek, the group made it back to the warehouse, and the moment they entered the control room, they were met with Red Alert and Mei still tinkering away at the GroundBridge. "Still messin' around with that thing, doc?"

Red Alert perked his head up at that. "Ah, so you're back. Yes, we are, but we're making progress, so that's a good thing."

"We're at about forty-five percent right now with the GroundBridge defrag." Mei noted. "Another hour or so and this baby should be back up and running!"

Springer nodded in approval. "Good to know. But I actually DID forget to ask… how the heck did it even GET like this, anyway?" In response, Bulkhead groaned and rolled his optics, along with every other bot AND human in the room. "…Why do I get the feeling this ain't a good story?"

Mei grimaced and went back to her work. "Because it's not. Those fragging Scraplets nearly ate us out of house and home."

Springer's optics widened in alarm… but on the inside, Makeshift had to remind himself to stay cool. "Wait… Scraplets? On THIS planet? You're serious?"

"Yeah, it was just one big sucky situation." Jazz shook his head. "Those lil' buggers nearly had all of us fo' lunch." He jabbed his thumb over toward the GroundBridge. "Thankfully we got this thing back up an' runnin' so we could send 'em back where they came from, but lemme tell ya, it was NOT a good experience."

"I see… and you're certain there's none left in the base?"

Bulkhead raised his metal brow at that. "Uh, yeah Springs, we've checked pretty much every nook and cranny 'round here and didn't find any stragglers."

"Hah, good." Springer chortled as he pointed to his paint job. "Because trust me, the LAST thing I need is anymore paint chipping."

"Oh, don't I KNOW it?" Sunstreaker said as he inspected Springer's paint. "In fact, YOU my friend will probably wanna redo your own paint before we get you street worthy. Just say the word and I'll set ya up with a good paint job, no charge needed."

"Well, that's mighty kind of ya." Springer nodded. "Been wanting to get a good repaint lately anyway."

As the two talked however, Bulkhead couldn't help but focus in on Springer's behavior. 'That was weird. Springer's the only bot I know who's stupid enough to NOT be afraid of Scraplets. And he's never been one to care 'bout his appearance. Did something happen to him out in space to change that or something?' But the big green bot quickly shook his head. 'Ah, it's probably nothin'. Poor guy's been goin' around the galaxy in a metal can for millennia, he's probably just a bit wound up.'

Bulkhead approached Springer and set a hand on his shoulder. "Well, we can talk paint and stuff later. Right now, I think we should get to those stories." He jerked his thumb over to Mina, Eijiro and the other humans, the former two looking the most eager out of all of them. "They've been wantin' to hear your exploits, buddy."

"Hah, right, let's get to it then." Springer approved… though in his mind, Makeshift was slightly starting to lose patience. 'Damn it, can't that GroundBridge fix itself any faster?!'

…..

Back across the world in the Darksyde, a certain Seeker was also starting to lose his own patience. "Makeshift STILL hasn't opened their GroundBridge, or otherwise transmitted their coordinates?!" Starscream slammed his heads on a control console, frustrated at the long wait. "It's been hours!"

"Relax, you said it yourself, remember?" Swift pointed out behind him as she sharpened her metal nails with a file. "Makeshift's in a space where he can't transmit anything right now, and even if he could, he's got ten Autobots watching his every move. I'm sure he'll get back to us when he can."

Starscream spun around and pointed at her. "He'd better HOPE so. His disguise may be flawless, but he won't fool the Autobots forever."

Just then, a holoscreen popped up behind Starscream, with Unicronus' bright red visor prominently shining through on it. "Maybe not, Screamer, but he's only gotta fool 'em long enough to get their GroundBridge activated. Makeshift will pull through, he's just gotta wait for the right opportunity."

"Grr… and what exactly are YOU doing, Unicronus?" Starscream fired back. "Aren't you supposed to be prepping the attack squad?"

"Done and dusted." Unicronus waved off. "The Vehicons, Barricade and Blastwave are all ready to go. So, while we wait… I thought I'd pay an old pal a visit. Unicronus out."

"Wait, you mean the prisoner?!" Starscream thrust himself back toward the console and shoved his face up to the holoscreen. "I did NOT give you permission to go down there! Unicronus, don't you hang up on—" BLIP! "AAAUGH!" The air commander slammed his hands against the console again, this time doing some actual damage. "Does ANYONE on this ship actually LISTEN to me?!"

Swift raised an eye ridge and pointed her file to him. "So you want an honest answer, or…"

"GYYAAAAAAH!"

…..

Down in the prison cells, Unicronus stalked down the hallway, his intimidating form allowing him clearance by any Vehicon that happened to be walking by. Once again, no one could get a clear view of him in the shadows, but the blood red of his visor and the pointed wing sticking out of his back made for quite the threatening visage. Finally, he found the cell that Springer was being held in, and he set his gaze down to the Vehicons. "Open the door, ya slagheads."

"S-Sorry, sir, but Commander Starscream made it clear that no one's to—URK!" Just as the Vehicon spoke, Unicronus reached down and grabbed him by the neck. In one fell swoop, he slammed the Vehicon's head against the wall and sent him crumpling to the ground, making the other Vehicon step back in fear.

Unicronus glared at the remaining solider. "You wanna end up like yer friend?" The Vehicon shook his head vehemently. "Then open the slaggin' door." Without any argument, the footsoldier punched in the code and opened the heavy doors, allowing Unicronus to go in. He made sure to stay out of the light coming from the center, which is where Springer just so happened to be suspended from.

Springer lifted his head and smirked to the Decepticon general. "Huh, wasn't expecting any more visitors."

"Think of this as a courtesy call." Unicronus said, putting his hands behind his back. "As a favor to an old friend."

"Yer buddy sent ya down here on his behalf or somethin'?" Springer asked. "'Cause I can tell ya now, I have NO clue what Con would consider me their friend."

"Oh-hoho, no, no, you're WAY off base there." The general denied, leaning in slightly as he pointed toward Springer. "See, YOU'RE the friend in this situation… ol' pal." He saw Springer's eyeridges rise up in confusion, and that made him chuckle a bit. "Heh, yeah, had a feeling you wouldn't know. But trust me, you will soon enough."

Springer furrowed his metal brow at the Con's words. "Just who the pit ARE you anyway, Con?"

With a soft chortle of his own, Unicronus put his hands to his hips. "Heh, well, I suppose I might as well let ya have the common courtesy." He placed a hand on his chest before introducing himself. "My name… is Unicronus, Decepticon general."

All at once, Springer's eyes widened again. "…No. Seriously? You're… you're the bot who—"

"Coordinated the assault that took out the entire Autobot battalion in the Battle of Tesarus." Unicronus confirmed. "Allowed the Decepticons to find the Autobot's secret caches of energon in Polyhex. AND brought the mighty Thunderclash and his team to their knees so they could be captured and shackled in the Incarcecon Prison." He wore a sinister grin as he listed his accomplishments. "Yeah, THAT Unicronus."

"You GLITCH!" Springer belted out, struggling against the shackles. "One of my Wreckin' buddies was on that squad!"

"Well then, you should be thankful that he got to live." Unicronus smirked. "Who was he, by the way?"

Springer balled his fists, glaring at Unicronus with all the hate he could muster. "His name is Rotorstorm! Not that you'd care, Decepti-chump!"

The general threw his head back with a mighty guffaw. "HA! Hahaha! Ah, by Primus, Springer ol' buddy, you sure haven't changed…"

If anything, this just made the Wrecker angrier. "Stop that! I don't know WHO you are, but you certainly are NOT by "buddy"."

Unicronus chortled a bit as he turned away from Springer. "Oh, but I am. You just don't know it yet. But you will… and it'll be the last thing you ever find out. The Main Mech don't take no prisoners… not for long, anyway. You wouldn't BELIEVE the amount of Autobots I've done in on this ship. And you? Heh, you're next, friend." He stepped toward the door, being met with the sight of the Vehicon he pummeled being taken to the med bay. Unicronus directed his sights to the other one and leaned toward him. "You, get in there an' keep an optic on him. He's to be brought to me the moment our operation is over."

"Yes sir." The Vehicon saluted as he stepped into the room, leaving the heavy door to slam shut behind him.

Springer sighed and felt his arms go slack, his frustration going down a few notches. 'Unicronus… just who the hell WAS that guy? And what's up with the whole "friends" thing?'

…..

Meanwhile, back at the Autobot base, the humans and Autobots had gathered around as Bulkhead regaled them with a tale from his and Springer's Wrecker days. Mina and Eijiro in particular were VERY enthralled in the whole thing, all of them wearing big smiles. "So there we were, no communications." Bulkhead went on, waving his arms for emphasis. "Low on energon, surrounded by Cons, and what does Springer do?!" He spun toward the kids, seeing their excited expressions before thrusting his hand toward his pal. "Haha! Tell 'em, Springs!"

Across the room, "Springer" was brought out of a small trance and returned his attention to the story. "Uh, heh, what I do best!" he said with a thumbs up.

"Haha! He chucks his only grenade smack into the primary heat exchanger!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

Springer gave a shrug, as if it were no big deal. "Yeah, seemed like a good idea at the time."

"The joint went SUPERNOVA!" Bulkhead raised his arms up high. "Haha, you should've seen it!"

"SWEET!" Mina brought her hands together in delight at the story.

Eijiro also pumped his fists, feeling the adrenaline come right back to him. "Hell yeah! That must've been freaking AWESOME!"

Bulkhead reached around with a knowing grin. "Heh, well on the surface, it was. But man, I'm STILL picking shrapnel outta my backside."

Across the room, Windblade rolled her optics. "Not surprising, given the size of your backside." At her remark, Bumblebee played a track of canned laughter, holding his midsection as he and everyone else all laughed as well.

However, "Springer" was quick to go back to his primary focus; Red Alert and Mei working on the GroundBridge. How they could be working on something like this for so long was baffling to Makeshift, and a part of him wanted to just go over there and manually speed up the process himself. But he knew he couldn't do that, not unless he wanted to blow his cover.

"There it is; Springs' signature." Bulkhead pointed to the grenade on Springer's hip. "One grenade, one shot." But it was then that he noticed his pal spacing out a bit, so he waved his hand slightly to get his attention. "Hey! You alright there, Springs?"

"H-Huh?" Springer snapped out of it yet again.

"You don't seem like yourself." The rotund Autobot noticed.

"What d'ya mean?" Springer asked, standing up straight to look Bulkhead in the optic.

With a shake of his head, Bulkhead shared his concern. "I dunno, you seem… quiet."

Springer sighed and gave his friend a smile. "Ah, I've been stuck in a can for too long. Maybe a little drive might clear my head."

Bulkhead's optics lit up at that. "Well, I've got patrol in the morning. You can come with!"

"Well, why not now?"

"And break up the party? C'mon, the gang's loving you!" Bulkhead encouraged. "You GOTTA tell 'em about the Battle of Darkmount Pass!"

The brighter green Wrecker paused for a moment before waving his hand down to the humans. "Ah, you should tell 'em, Bulk. You're better at it." His sights moved down to Mina with a small grin. "How about if Mina here shows me the rest of your base?"

It was then that Bulkhead knew that SOMETHING was definitely up with his friend. And while a part of him didn't want to do it, he had some time to think about what to do about it. "Uh, y-yeah, sure Springs! Hey, go ahead. Heck, take Eijiro with ya, he seems like a pretty fast fan of yours, too."

With another shrug, Springer gave it the okay. "Sure, the more the merrier, right?"

"Alright!" Mina jumped up from her seat and quickly went over, yanking up Eijiro from his own chair. "C'mon Kirishima, let's get this tour started!"

"Haha, okay, okay!" Eijiro laughed as he ushered Springer to follow him. "C'mon, Springer, this way!"

As the three of them left, however, Bulkhead's features were visibly concerned, which the rest of the team quickly saw. "Uh, hey, Bulkhead?" Denki piped up. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, just… outta sorts, I guess." The bruiser muttered.

Kyoka raised an eyebrow up to him, her eyes shifting between him, Mina and Springer. "Wait, don't tell me that your jealous."

"That Mina's making a new friend? Come on, Kyoka, seriously?" With that vehement denial, though, Bulkhead's optics went down the hall that Eijiro, Mina and Springer went down, an uneasy feeling beginning to churn in his inner workings. "Something… something's just not right about Springer."

Arcee stepped in at that moment. "Bulkhead, really? He's travelled across space for centuries. And you haven't seen him in Primus knows how long. He could just be rocket-lagged, or…" She sent him a sympathetic smile and placed a hand on his arm. "Well, some bots DO change, you know?"

"…Not Springs."

…..

Back in the Darksyde, Springer himself had started struggling against his restraints again, something which the Vehicon guard had taken note of. The Decepticon went up and shoved his laser blaster in Springer's face with a warning glare. "You're not goin' ANYWHERE, Autobot. Now stop struggling. It'll all be over soon."

The Vehicon stepped away, but Springer smirked, ready to put his plan into motion. "Yeah… for you."

"What?"

"Did you REALLY think I'd be travelling alone out there in the universe?" Springer asked. "I'd be stupid to do that, even if I DO like to live dangerously."

"Bah! Don't make me laugh." The Vehicon said with a swipe of his hand. "Our forces searched your wrecked ship, there was NOTHING left in it, let alone another bot."

At that, Springer's grin increased. "Who said I didn't leave 'em behind? Sawback! Fangblade!" POW! POW! In the blink of an eye, the two disks on Springer's shoulders shot straight off and began spinning through the air, with yellow, squared off saw blades popping out from around their edges.

The Vehicon gasped as disks spun through the air at high speeds, ducking just as they were about to hit him. But, unfortunately for him, they rebounded off the heavy door and came flying back, hitting him in the back as he stood up. The disks then came flying back around and smashed into the control console for the shackles, freeing Springer and letting him fall to the floor. "Ha! Nice work!"

"Oh no, you don't!" The Vehicon shot up to his feet and aimed his blaster at the Wrecker, you're not going any—" SHOOM! SHOOM! "GYAH!" But the foot soldier was forced back again as the flying sawblades came back at him again and before long, they came back. And then…

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk!

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk!

The two disks unfurled in midair, transforming into their own robot modes. Or rather… BEAST modes. The indigo and white one became a robotic wolf, with white detailing around its muzzle and paws while its teeth and claws were yellow, like the squared-off blades going up and down its "bushy" metal tail. Meanwhile, the crimson and black one unfurled into a big cat-like beast mode resembling a Smilodon, complete with large, yellow fangs in its maw that appeared to be razor sharp. It had black striping along its entire body, and while its tail was thinner than the wolf's, its back was far bristlier sharper in terms of its metallic "fur".

"AAWWRROOOOO!"

"RARAWRAWWWRR!"

With a mighty howl and roar, Sawback and Fangblade came crashing into the Vehicon, and they immediately began tearing into it with their teeth and claws. "AGH! AAAAAUGH! NO! NO PLEASE, DON'T—AAAAAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!"

Springer stood to his feet and walked over to the carnage in progress, watching as his sabertoothed tiger and wolf Mini-Cons ripped right into the poor Vehicon sap. "Ya want me to put an end to this?"

"AAAAUGH! YES!"

"Ya want me to stop it all?"

"YES! PLEASE!"

"Gotcha, glad we're on the same page." Springer took out one of his blades and stabbed it right through the Vehicon's head, putting an end to his life. As his optics faded, Sawback managed to pull one of the Con's arms free, and he looked up to Springer expectedly while wagging his tail. "Hehe, yeah, good boy, Sawback." Springer gave the wolf Mini-Con a pat on the head, much to the little guy's joy. "An' you too, Fangblade, good girl." In contrast to Sawback, Fangblade let out a low mewl before moving over and rubbing her cheek against Springer's leg. "Now c'mon, let's bust outta here."

Before he could do so, though, the heavy door opened and a pair of Vehicons came rushing in, only to gasp in horror at what they saw. "AH! W-What in the world happ—" BLAM! "ARGH!" Neither of them were quick enough to avoid Springer shooting out their knees, helplessly falling to the floor as the Wrecker approached them.

"Sorry fellas." Springer aimed down at their heads as Fangblade and Sawback transformed and reattached to his shoulders. "But I've got better things to do tonight than die."

…..

"So, that's pretty much yer lot." Eijiro said as their quick tour of the base concluded. "Energon stockpile, power generator, armory…"

Mina pointed up to Wheeljack with a wink. "Everything you need to blow the place sky high!"

The redhead rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous grin. "Though hopefully that doesn't happen, hehe…"

Springer chuckled a bit as well and crossed his arms. "Heh, yeah, true that. By the way, I wanted to ask… just where IS this base located anyway?"

Eijiro was about to answer, but Mina beat him to the punch. "If we told ya, we'd have to rip out your spark chamber." She said with utmost seriousness, taking Springer by surprise. But then, her smile came back in full force. "Haha! I gotcha! I'm just kidding, we're just a bit outside of Korusan, Japan. Though I don't know if that means much to you, considering."

"Can't say it does." Springer shrugged. "But hey, always good to know where yer at. Speakin' of, I've been thinkin' of goin' for a drive. You kids wanna come with?"

"Hm… well, that definitely sounds awesome." Eijiro concurred. "But let's check with the guys first, huh? Wouldn't wanna leave 'em out of anything, ya know? C'mon, let's head back."

Within moments, the three were back in the main area… and they had made it back just in time to hear Bulkhead say something interesting. "Look, I know Springer better than ANYONE, and I'm pretty sure he—"

"Yo!" Springer waved, garnering everyone's attention. "What're you guys talkin' about?"

Arcee seemed ready to speak, but Bulkhead quickly cut her off. "I was just tellin' the guys all about you and me… at the Battle of Darkmount Pass."

"Heh, that's a heck of a story."

"Yep. Tell it." Bulkhead demanded with a glare.

There was a clear bit of tension going through the whole control room after that, though apparently, Mina hadn't picked up on that. "Ah, c'mon Bulk, we've already talked for a while now!" She balled her fists up with an excited smirk. "Why don't we all go for a drive and get in some laps around the mountain?"

But the bruiser was having none of it. "Mina, stay out of this."

"Woah, Bulk, ease up, huh?" Sideswipe pleaded. "No need to get testy here."

Springer glanced back and forth between everyone, bringing his hand to his neck nervously. "I'm not sure if—"

"Tell it." Bulkhead reiterated.

Once again, there was a long pause, and Springer's own expression hardened in frustration. "…Fine. You wanna live in the past, Bulkhead?" Finally, the gravity of the situation finally seemed to dawn on Mina as Springer began recounting the story, and while he seemed confident, that didn't stop everyone from feeling apprehensive. "The Wreckers were trapped between a Decepticon patrol and the smelting pit. The Cons were vicious, bearing down on us with everything they had. Me, Bulkhead and our squad engaged the enemy, left 'em for scrap. Then I made us a way out using their backsides as stepping stones to cross the molten metal." Springer's smile was confident as he set his sights back to Bulkhead. "Least I'm pretty certain that's what went down, right?"

"Yeah… that's exactly how it happened." Bulkhead confirmed, making Springer's grin increase. "Except for just one thing." And just like that, Springer's smile left. "…I wasn't there."

You could hear a pin drop through the entire base. Everyone had fallen into a stunned silence as their attention went straight to Springer, with even Red Alert and Mei giving out small gasps. "…What?" Red muttered.

"I had already left the Wreckers to join Optimus' team." Bulkhead explained as he balled his fists, ready for a fight with "Springer". "But you wouldn't know that if all you did was look at Springer's public service record."

In all of this, however, Mina was still confused. "W-Wait, Bulkhead, what does that have to do with—" SHOOM! "AAGH!"

Ochako's eyes widened in fear the moment she saw Springer move. "MINA! No—AAAHH!" And just like that, she was scooped up in the green bot's hand with Mina as well, shocking everyone as he held them in his fists. The Autobots tried to make a grab for him, but he was way too fast. In a flash, "Springer" had made it over to the GroundBridge controls, pushing Red Alert away as he glowered at everyone.

"Stay back!" Springer said… though now, his voice was much different. He held Mina and Ochako up in one hand while making his threat; "Or else I'll squeeze them into PULP!"

"NO! Ashido!" Eijiro shouted.

"Ochako!" Momo started forward, but Windblade stopped her.

The City Speaker shook her head vehemently. "Don't, Momo! You don't know what he'll do!"

Mina and Ochako tried struggling out of "Springer's" hands, but to no avail. So, Mina tried doing what she did best; use her Quirk to get out of a giant robot's hand. However, the moment he felt a burning sensation, "Springer" shook his hand a bit, rattling the girls together and stopping her. "Ah, ah, ah, Mina. Don't think we aren't wise to your tricks. You try burning through my hand, I'll just squeeze harder."

The pink girl's eyes widened in horror. "S-Springer! Why are you doing this?!"

"The NAME is Makeshift, child. I suggest you do well to remember it."

"Decepticon coward!" Tenya belted out as well. "Have you no dignity?!"

Bulkhead grit his metal teeth in anger. "Let the girls go and FACE me, Con Scum!"

If anything, though, this only made Makeshift smile with glee. "Don't fret. Plenty of fighting to come."

As this went on, however, Kyoka slowly but surely moved behind Jazz's leg, the leutentant glancing down to see her pulling out her phone. He had to do his best not to smile knowingly. 'That's it, girl, get Izuku an' Prime on the horn. They NEED to get back here, ASAP.'

"IS there even a real Springer?!" Denki asked.

"Oh, indeed." Makeshift affirmed. "And I expect Commander Starscream is making sport of him…"

…..

Little did Makeshift know, however, that Springer himself was currently scaling along the side of the Darksyde as it flew high in the sky, traveling to a certain position to wait for the spy's arrival. After a long climb, Springer finally made it to the top, where several Vehicon troops were waiting to invade the Autobot base. There, standing in front of all of them, were Starscream, Swift, Barricade and Blastwave, the former practically fuming. "Are you certain we are at the coordinated we supplied to Makeshift?!"

"Pretty sure." Swift answered, checking her radar once again. "This is the place."

"Then WHAT is taking him?!"

Barricade crossed his arms and grumbled. "I dunno, but I'm startin' to get antsy. If he doesn't open that GroundBridge soon, we might as well just assume the worst."

Blastwave just waved his hand. "BAH! Blastwave would not be surprised if it did. Makeshift is puny mech who never fights. He is BIGGEST baby!"

Just then, the sound of heavy footfalls made the Decepticons turn around… and they saw Springer coming toward them with a heavy glare. "Maybe your boy was so overwhelmed by the hero's welcome, he got the warm fuzzies and decided to switch sides."

"What?! How'd he escape?!" Barricade snarled.

"AUGH!" Starscream flung his arms up in the air, his irritation finally going through the roof. "Can you not see that you are VASTLY outnumbered, Autobot?!"

But Springer just slammed his fist into his open palm, ready to start throwing down. "All I see are a couple o' bots that'd vastly enjoy watching me pound some dents into you!"

"Ooh, a snappy comeback." Swift commented. "Wonder how THAT'S gonna go for ya?"

Starscream pointed at the Wrecker and ordered; "ATTACK!" Without a second thought, all of the Vehicons charged toward Springer with their blasters at the ready, with laserfire already being unleased onto him. But just as quickly, Springer unsheathed both of his swords from his back and began swiping them through the air… and subsequently making the lasers bounce off of them and back to the Vehicons. With a mighty battle cry, Springer dove into the mass of Vehicons, his swords slashing through them in mere seconds.

"Now is coward-killing time! GYAAAAAHHH!" Blastwave bellowed as he charged into the battle, trampling any unfortunate Vehicon that got in his way to Springer. But just as he was about to reach the Wrecker… SPRONG! Springer pumped the springs in his legs and leapt up high into the air, doing a frontward flip before coming back down onto Blastwave with a hard kick to the head. "AAUUGH!" CRASH!

"Grr… FRENZY!" Barricade tossed his partner out and the Mini-Con grinned up to him manically. "Let's take this wannabe out!"

"HAHAHA! With pleasure!" Frenzy brought out his shock prod and he and Barricade sprinted toward Springer, though they wouldn't like what awaited them. Springer locked his optics right onto Frenzy and he launched Sawback and Fangblade off his shoulders, the two Mini-Cons transforming into their beast modes to pounce at Frenzy. "W-Wait, wha—GYAH! AAAAUGH!"

Barricade's optics widened in horror as he watched his partner get mauled. "NO! Get off of—" SMACK! "ARGH!" And with a strike to the head from the butt-end of Springer's sword, Barricade was brought down as well. Springer whistled and recalled Sawback and Fangblade, the two beasts leaving Frenzy alive yet very injured as they took their places back on Springer's shoulders.

"Eat this, Autobot!" Swift and Starscream raised their arms, firing off a missile and a Null Ray blast respectively. The two collided near Springer's feet, creating a massive explosion… that the Wrecker managed to jump away from. From there, he began slicing through every Vehicon that came his way, creating some stepping stones that he used to vault himself directly at Starscream. He came down and struck the Seeker right in his shoulders, before then delivering a kick to Swift's midsection to send her sprawling to the floor as well.

And right at that moment, a certain sound graced Springer's audio receptors. He craned his head around… and there it was. An open GroundBridge. "Hm, well, well…"

…..

As all of this was happening, Makeshift had stayed directly at the GroundBridge controls, typing in a few commands to help speed up the maintenance process. It was a bit hard to do it one handed given he still had hostages, but all the same, he did it. And once he did, he got the result he wanted; a fully finished, fully operational GroundBridge. "About time!" He pulled the handle and within seconds, the GroundBridge fired right up, and he slowly inched his way to it while the Autobots still had their sights on him.

"You WON'T get away with this, Decepticon scum!" Strongarm warned.

"Oh, but I will." Makeshift sneered evilly. "The only way this could be more poetic is if Optimus Prime were here to witness it… but I'm sure we'll find him eventually, along with the REST of your pathetic friends."

Kyoka smiled internally at that. 'You have no clue, you bastard.'

Makeshift backed up to the portal, keeping his guard up as the eight Autobot surrounded him. But despite that fact, he couldn't help but take in the satisfying feeling of victory. Any moment now, the Decepticon battalion would come charging in and they'd have this base torn to the ground within the hour. He spread his arms wide and declared; "Let's get this party started!"

…And then something unexpected happened. From the portal, a certain bot came leaping through, his blades out and his leg thrust forward to deliver a kick right to Makeshift's back. The attack struck and the disguised Decepticon was sent tumbling forward, his grip on Ochako and Mina completely lost. The girls fell toward the floor, but were saved by Bulkhead and Arcee, all while Makeshift crashed into a nearby wall.

"AH! O-Oh my gosh!" Ochako exclaimed. "W-What was… oh."

Mina shook her head, slightly dazed by what happened. "H-Huh? What—AH!" But she lit up in a massive smile the moment she saw who had come through the vortex. "NO WAY!"

"Heh, yes way." Bulkhead smiled as well, happy to see his REAL old buddy alive and well.

HONK-HONK! Everyone's heads snapped around just in time to see Optimus and Bumblebee come rolling into the base, with All Might and Izuku jumping right out of them as they transformed. "KYOKA!" Izuku screamed, his face riddled with worry. "We got your message! Is everything… alright?"

But the greenette stopped and just stared in confusion at the sight of not one, but TWO Springers, one slumped on the floor and the other in front of the GroundBridge. "…Um, did we miss something?" All Might scratched his cheek, utterly baffled by what was going on.

"Long story." Springer stood up from the crouch he landed in as he gave some helpful advice; "But I'd shut that hole before the stink comes through."

Red Alert hurriedly did just that, flipping the GroundBridge's switch up to close it. Optimus was about to pull out his Ion Blaster and begin asking questions, but before he could, the other Springer kicked right back up onto his feet, glaring at the first Springer as he brought out his swords. And within moments, both Springers were circling around one another in the control room, starting quite the puzzling stand-off. The Autobot leader furrowed his metal brow, perplexed by the entire situation. "One is a Decepticon…" Prime concluded, "but which one?"

Bulkhead knew who the fake was, though, and he was eager to start punching him into metal plating. But before he could, the real Springer waved his own sword in front of him. "Ugly's mine." Without saying a word, Bulkhead happily obliged.

The very next second, the two Springers began clashing their blades together, both of them displaying clear mastery in swordsmanship. Strikes, parries, even a few blocks here and there. There movements were wild and yet well-timed, with sparks flying off of their sharpened swords with every hit.

However, in the craziness of it all, this left everyone with one simple question; "W-Which one's the REAL Springer?!" Tenya adjusted his glasses, trying to recall who was who.

"Uh… I lost track!" Mina's hands flew to her head in panic.

One of the Springer's struck the other's swords so hard that he was sent reeling back a bit, but he just took it in stride. "Heh, well… there IS one way to tell. Only one of us can do… THIS!" POW! POW! What happened next left everyone, though mostly the humans, lost for words.

The two pods on Springer's shoulders launched off and transformed in midair… into a robotic wolf and a mechanical sabertoothed tiger. The duo roared in defiance as they collided with the other Springer's face, digging their teeth and claws right in. "AH! NO! NOO! AAAAUGH!" The imposter Springer tried jabbing his sword at his opponent, but a swift kick to his hand ended up disarming him of one of his blades. The wolf and tiger bots both jumped off and Springer swiped at Makeshift's with his own sword, making him fly onto his back and land on the ground with several new gashes in his head.

With Springer standing over his defeated opponent, Bulkhead smiled confidently and nodded. "Yep, that's my Springs."

"…WHAAAT?!" The humans all cried out at once at the sight of the robotic animals standing next to Springer's feet. "What the HELL are those?!" Kyoka shouted.

"Deployer Mini-Cons!" Windblade realized as she slapped her forehead. "Of course! I should've guessed that's what those were! "Storage pods" my left afterburner!"

With her jaw slack and her eyes wide, Mei reached into her pocket and took out her pen and notepad, jotting down this observation without taking her sights off to two small, fearsome and yet somehow COMPLETELY adorable robo-animals. "This just in; Transformers can be small… have non-vehicle alt modes… and beast-like robot modes." She craned her head upwards in disbelief. "Is there ANYTHING about the Cybertronian race that can surprise me after this?!"

Springer sheathed his blades and glanced over toward Red Alert. "You, flip the switch. It's time to take out the trash."

The medic gladly obliged to that, but Optimus still had his concerns. "Wait, if you simply throw him back to the Decepticons, he will inform them of the location of our base."

"Don't worry, I've already taken care of THAT problem." Springer grinned knowingly. "And best of all, the Con's will get a little gift for giving us so much trouble." He nodded over to Bulkhead as he stepped up. "All yours, buddy."

"Gladly." Bulkhead picked Makeshift up and, with a big wind-up spin, he sent the Decepticon through the GroundBridge, which closed immediately after.

Springer knocked his fist into Bulkhead's arm with praise. "Nice lob."

…..

Back on the Darksyde, Starscream was FAR from happy. For one, he was leaking energon from his lip after that strike from Springer. Secondly, the moment he saw the GroundBridge close, he felt like he was going to blow a circuit. His ingenious plan had been a failure and all because that Autobot had gotten lucky. He felt like crawling off to a dark corner of the ship to lament his loss… but then a glimmer of hope was sparked as he saw the GroundBridge reopen before his very optics. The Decepticons stared at in in disbelief… until Starscream shouted some sense into them. "What are you waiting for?! Go, NOW!"

All at once, the Vehicons went straight into the vortex, but stopped and turned right back the moment they saw Springer's body come flying through. Of course, this WASN'T Springer, as Makeshift's signal came back the moment he flew in… and crashed right into Starscream. Swift recoiled at the scene. "Woah! What the—WAIT!" She snapped her head toward the GroundBridge… only to see it close. "…Frag, so close!"

"AUGH!" Starscream shoved Makeshift off of him, the two standing up as the Seeker glared at his subordinate. "Would you PLEASE at least tell me you learned the location of their base?!"

"Indeed, commander Starscream." Makeshift confirmed, wiping some energon from his gaping wounds. "But I highly recommend we take caution before we—agh!" He suddenly had the barrel of Starscream's Null Ray in his face, the weapon glowing purple as its owner glowered at him.

"I have lost ALL of my patience today, Makeshift." Starscream warned. "You'd better have a good reason WHY we should be cautious of the Autobot's base."

Makeshift bowed his head apologetically. "F-Forgive me, commander, but… they said that they had an infestation of Scraplets recently, and—"

Just like that, all of the Decepticons gasped in fear. "S-S-Scraplets?" Swift stammered, her rotors visibly shaking dreadfully. "Y-You can't be serious."

"But I am. That's the reason why it took me so long to get the GroundBridge up, because they were doing repairs on it."

Starscream grumbled at that, but at the same time, his sense of better judgement took hold. "Alright, fine! We shall take the utmost care in our invasion of their base, incase any Scraplets do still remain." He leaned in closer, grabbing Makeshift by the collar as he scowled into his optics. "Now… where is it?"

"I-It's in a hidden warehouse, just outside of—"

"Wait, anyone else hear somethin'?" Barricade piped up.

The air commander snapped around to him and screamed; "BARRICADE! Not now, I—"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!

"Uh… Screamer?" Swift pointed down to Makeshift's hip… and the grenade on it was live and counting down.

Starscream's optics widened and he shrieked in fright. "AAGH! BACK! Get back!" All at once, himself, Swift, Barricade and Blastwave all transformed and sped away from Makeshift, leaving any Vehicon that was stupid enough not to escape the epicenter of what was sure to be a huge explosion.

And Makeshift's last words? "…Oh no."

BOOOOOOM!

"Makeshift! YOU FOOL!"

…..

About half an hour had passed since the incident, and still the occupants of the Autobot base were reeling at everything that had just happened. Their place of solitude had been infiltrated by a Decepticon spy and they didn't even have a clue. It was almost too much to comprehend, but in reality, they probably should've expected it to happen at one point. After all, they weren't called "Decepticons" for no reason. Still, while the situation was still quite jarring, the kids at least took solace in the fact that everything had turned out well, and that Makeshift probably wasn't going to be a problem for them anymore.

There was also the fact that, not only was the real Springer actually here… but that he also brought along two VERY surprising additions along with him. And that's what the 1-A students were staring at right now; the robotic wolf and Smilodon that went by the names of "Sawback" and "Fangblade". The two mechanimal Mini-Cons sat a few feet away, with Sawback sitting dutifully while Fangblade was curled up on the floor.

…And Mina was absolutely ecstatic. "EEEEEEEE!" The two robotic beasts perked their heads up in surprise. "They. Are. ADORABLE!" In the blink of an eye, she was directly next to Sawback, the wolf initially on his guard… only for it to disappear the moment she started petting him between his ears. "Oh, aren't you the sweetest thing!"

"He's so stinking CUUUUTE!" Ochako agreed as she too went up and started giving him pets on his back. "Ooh, aren't you a good boy? Yes you are!"

Within seconds, Sawback's tail started wagging a mile a minute and his face brightened up, panting in excitement. "RUFF-RUFF!"

"AH! He's wagging his tail!" Momo gushed as she went up to give him a hug. "Never in my life would I have thought a robot wolf could be this endearing!"

Off to the side, Izuku stared at the scene with an awkward grin. "Heh… w-wow, Sawback's getting a LOT of attention."

Kyoka raised a brow up at him. "Well, can ya really blame him? More girls love dogs than you might think…" She directed her attention over to Fangblade, who had gone back to being curled up on the floor. "But that doesn't mean we can't leave HER ignored either." The Earphone Jack user came over and sat next to Fangblade, causing her to peek one of her eyes. "Hi there, pretty girl."

She reached her hand out and instantly, Fangblade was on her guard, getting up to bristle the metal on her back with a low mewl. "MMMRROW!"

"Ack!" Kyoka gasped.

"Oh yeah, don't get too close to Fangblade, little humans." Springer piped up from across the room. "She doesn't take to strangers well. She'll get used to ya, promise."

"Hah, would've been nice to know earlier." Kyoka rolled her eyes before offering Fangblade a smile. "It's okay, Fangblade, there's no reason to be scared of us. I'm Kyoka, and you can trust me." She saw Fangblade's expression relax a bit before curling up on the floor again, making sure to keep her optics on Kyoka the whole time. "Heh… hope we can be pals."

Izuku came up to her and set a hand to her shoulder. "It's okay. I guess no matter where they're from, cats can be… a bit testy."

"Still, this is utterly fascinating." Tenya pointed out. "The fact that Cybertronians don't just come in humanoid form, but in animalistic ones as well… it's quite jarring."

"And SUPER amazing!" Mei said as she continued jotting down notes, all while inspecting Sawback's form. "I don't think I could've ever expected something like this! Ooh, I'm going to be so busy with observing these two, it's not even funny!"

Eijiro crossed his arms, concern written across his features. "Yeah, but, as cool as this is… should we really not be worried about the Decepticons trying to find our base after this?"

"Yeah, I mean, what if Makeshift managed to tell 'em where we are?" Denki added.

"Heh, with that little parting gift I gave the Cons, I doubt Makeshift had enough time to explain where we are." Springer said with a reassuring wave. "An' besides, if they DO ever come 'round knockin'…" He raised his fist up to Bulkhead and he pounded it with his own. "We'll make sure to send 'em all packin', the Wrecker way."

"Hahaha! Man, it's good to have the real you back, Springs." Bulkhead laughed. "…Though just as a test, what if I told you that we had an infestation of Scraplets here the other day? Would you be scared?"

Springer just rolled his optics and scoffed. "Pfft, Scraplets? Scared? Please, try escaping an exploding planet unscathed and THEN come back to me about "scared"."

Bulkhead threw his head back with a mighty guffaw, smacking his hand on Springer's back. "BAHAHA! Yep, that's you, alright! …Also, uh, sorry that we couldn't salvage your ship. The Cons really did a number on it."

"Ah, that's okay." Springer shrugged. "I wasn't really planning on leavin' anyway."

"That is reassuring to know, Springer." Optimus said as he came over to the two Wreckers. "Because with the war making its way to Earth, we welcome any help that we can get…" He craned his head down to All Might, who was giving him a thumbs up. "Both from the local population, and any Autobots who make their way here." He extended his hand to Springer once more. "And having you among our ranks would be a great honor."

Springer smiled back up to him and nodded back. "Please, the honor's all mine, Optimus Prime, sir." He grasped the Prime's hand and shook his wholeheartedly. "Just warning ya, though, I can be a bit of a loose cannon, even if I am a team player."

"I'm certain that we'll be able to work with you well given time." Optimus ensured before craning his head back to the kids. "But now, I believe it's time to get you truly acquainted with our allies."

A chortle came from Springer's throat and he set his sights on the humans as well. "Heh, of course. Mind making the introductions, Bulk?" His pal grinned back at him as he led him over to the kids, though at the same time, Springer couldn't shake something off his mind. 'Unicronus… just what is your deal? Should probably inform Optimus that he's here…" But the moment he was greeted by a bunch of young, smiling humans, he thought twice about it. '…Soon, but not now. Don't wanna bring down the mood, after all.' He crouched down to the 1-A Students before him and raised his metal brow at them. "Alright kids, lemme here some names and ranks."

…..

Later that evening, Swift was walking through the hallowed halls of the Darksyde, making her way to the darkest corner of the ship itself. She hadn't seen Starscream since Makeshift was blown to pieces, and she knew for a fact that he probably went off to lament this third straight failure. And when things like this happened, she knew exactly where he went to blow off steam. She stopped in front of the engine room and the doors opened for her, letting her get a good view of Starscream.

His back was facing her as he overlooked the massive engine, his silhouette backed by an intense red glow being generated by it. He had no reaction to her walking up to him, his optics not hindering in concentration for a second. "…You wanna talk about it."

"No."

"Straight forward and to the point. Good, shows you're focused."

"If this is leading to some sarcastic remark or an "I told you so", then you can leave RIGHT now, Swift."

But the Decepticon officer raised her hands defensively. "Hey, hey, I'm not hear for any sorta conflict. That plan you had? It had the potential to work. It's just that we got struck with ALL of the rotten luck today." She crossed her arms as she directed her attention to the engine as well. "Now, I COULD be sarcastic here, but after what we ALL went through today, we really don't need to hear that from anyone."

Starscream sighed, his wings drooping downward. "On that… we can agree." CLANG! He pounded his fist into the guardrail, putting a massive dent in it. "I just wish things had gone according to plan!"

"Don't we all?" Swift affirmed.

"Now the Autobots have ANOTHER addition to their ranks, PLUS two Mini-Cons!" Starscream gripped his head, his aggravation ever growing. "What will it take, Swift? What will it take to actually BEAT these Autobots at their own game?!"

Swift sighed and thought about it for a moment before coming to her conclusion. "Honestly, Screamer, I think we gotta face facts… we need more heavy hitters. We're down to five high-ranking Cons, one of which Megs doesn't want fighting. Then we've got the medic, a Mini-Con, and a platoon of Vehicons that gets smaller and smaller the more they're sent out." Their optics met and Swift furrowed her metal brow at him. "We NEED reinforcments, especially with the new bot over there."

Starscream glowered at her, pointing right in her face. "If you think I'm actually going to grovel to Megatron and beg him to send reinforcements—"

"Woah, hold up, I said nothing about going to the boss for this." Swift clarified as she thrust her hands to him. "Because hey, YOU'RE second-in-command of the Decepticons for a reason, right? A-And there are HUNDREDS of Decepticons scattered through this whole galaxy, remember?" She smiled and winked at him. "You've gotta have connections with at least SOME of them, right?"

Starscream's scowl relaxed as the realization hit him, and it was replaced with his own smile soon after. "W-Why… yes! Hoho, Swift, you might've hit the nail on the head there! I don't need any help from Megatron, I know several Decepticons who would willingly join me in my crusade against this band of Autobots!" But then, a ponderous expression came to his features, and he tapped his finger against his chin. "Hm… but who to call in?"

"Heh, well, if you want a little suggestion from me…" Swift sent Starscream a knowing grin. "I think it'd make things a whole lot easier for you if you kept this… in the family, if you know what I mean?"

The Seeker blinked a couple times at that, not picking up what she was putting down. "Um, no, I don't think I do—WAIT JUST A NANO-CYCLE!" Starscream's demeanor took a complete one-eighty as he stepped away from her, waving his arms in denial. "No! No, no, no, NO! I refuse to bring them in!"

"Aw, c'mon Starscream!" The copter femme rounded about on him to stop him from leaving. "Even YOU have to admit that those two will keep all of this under wraps from Megs for you! They're your bro—"

Starscream got right in her face and argued; "I don't CARE! They annoy the ever-living SCRAP out of me, I'm not doing it!"

"…Listen, I get it, trust me." Swift said with an eyeroll. "Honestly, those two CAN be a handful, but you have to admit, they're efficient in what they do. And think about it; if you promise them their own positions by your side… they may be what you need to ACTUALLY become Decepticon leader." Immediately, she saw Starscream's mood change again, and her knowing smirk returned. "So, what do you say… Lord Starscream?"

'…Oh, I LOVE the sound of that.' Starscream's lips curled up into a devious smirk as well and he snickered nefariously. "Hmhm, alright, you've convinced me… but don't be surprised if things become unbearable around here for a couple days after this once they arrive." With confidence in his stride, Starscream went over to the nearest control panel and pressed a button, speaking his command loud and clear;

"Computer… contact Skywarp and Thundercracker."

…..

A/N: And there it is, the BIG reveal! If you guys thought that we were DONE with introducing Decepticons, then you were all sorely mistaken! Why settle for JUST Starscream when we can have the entire set?! Be prepared guys, because the blue and purple boys are coming soon!

On that note, though, things pretty much went as expected. Bulkhead did indeed sniff out Makeshift's deception and things were pretty intense for a while there afterward. But, thanks to Springer's daring escape with the help of his Deployer Mini-Cons, he found his way back to the Autobots and gave Makeshift EXACTLY what he deserved! Speaking of the Mini-Cons, though, you may recognize ONE of them. Sawback was actually a toy-exclusive Mini-Con from back in the RID2015 line, and one that was actually a pretty neat design. Then again, wolves ARE one of my favorite animals, so there's that. But I felt that, given THIS situation, he deserved a partner that fit him better, so I decided to come up with my own ORIGINAL Mini-Con character; that being Fangblade the Sabertooth Mini-Con. Cats and dogs, living together, MASS HYSTERIA!

But of course, the Decepticons plan failed and now we have not just one, but THREE new members of the Autobot ranks. Things are gonna be looking REAL interesting around the base for a while. But you know what ELSE is interesting? Seeing Izuku getting a handle on his new ability… which finally has its proper name. Full Cowling is here, ladies and gents, and you can bet that Izuku's gonna use it in the Sports Festival. The question is, though… will it be enough to help him win? Guess we'll just have to find out later. But what IS Unicronus' deal and how does he know Springer so well? Those answers and more as we make our way along, but until then…

And now, the Preview! And next time, we're in for a bit of a change of scenery. We're actually going to be taking some time AWAY from Earth and going off into the cosmos to see exactly what Skywarp and Thundercracker are up to respectively before they arrive, and trust me, it's a bit of a doozy. Our favorite blue boy is leading a mission against a traveling Autobot science colony while our purple and black friend has his own small squadron are infiltrating a different outpost to find some secret plans. Next time; Seekers in Space! The leader of the science colony seems to be a REAL brainiac, lemme tell you! Thanks for reading everyone and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there and, as always…

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!