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…

18. Seeker Assault

A/N: What's going on, everybody? Another day, another chapter, and lemme tell ya, this was a doozy to write. Of course, given that this WAS a chapter with a lot of fighting in it, that's to be expected, but still, there was plenty for me to work with here in terms of who fought who and how certain scenarios would go down. And overall, I'm pretty pleased with what came out, so let's just jump right in, shall we? This is…

Chapter 18: Seeker Assault

…..

At first, when Springer had vouched for Izuku and his friends to go on this new retrieval mission, the One for All inheritor had been ecstatic at the prospect. A chance to contribute to the team's relic hunt while also being able to flex his new Quirk abilities? He had to stop himself from saying "Hell yeah!" to that, because deep down, it made him feel SUPER pumped. Of course, he had always been careful about his language, but since meeting Kyoka, he had found himself more and more lenient on cussing. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was still up in the air, but right now wasn't the time to get sidetracked with thoughts like that.

Because, at the moment, he and the others found themselves surrounded by about ten Decepticons, two of which were particularly intimidating to the humans thanks to their sudden arrival. Skywarp and Thundercracker, two new faces… but at the same time NOT so new since they heavily resembled Starscream. "PLEASE tell me I'm not in some sort of nightmare." Kyoka grumbled, her ears still ringing from the sonic boom. "Why the hell are there three Starscreams in front of us?"

Skywarp snarled at that before his own battlemask lowered down infront of his face. It sort of resembled a skull, oddly enough, only without any teeth and with glowing purple optics. He aimed his shotguns toward Kyoka as his voice sounded much, MUCH creeper beneath his mask. "Say that again and your ears won't be the ONLY thing that'll be hurting, girl."

"Brother, please, she's not worth it." Thundercracker beseeched, though his tone was apathetic beneath his own simple battle mask and red visor. "We've got bigger things to concern ourselves with at the moment, if you hadn't noticed."

"Optimus, just WHAT is going on here?" Agent Burns asked, eyeing the Autobot leader. "Who are these bots and why do they look so much like Stars—" He cut himself off when he heard another grumble from Skywarp. "Er, I mean, why do all three of those guys look alike?"

Prime didn't take his optics off of the three as he explained; "Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker are the main trio of a group of Decepticons called the Seekers. They are Megatron's main aerial strike squad, with Starscream acting as their chief commander while Skywarp and Thundercracker are two of their main squadron leaders."

"The Seeker armada is responsible for some of the worst attacks on Cybertronian cities." Bulkhead added, his glare hardening at the trio. "They even aided in the destruction of the Crystal City eons back."

Skywarp threw his head back and laughed. "Ha! Now THERE'S a memory." he smirked insidiously. "The big guy did most of the work, but I still remember takin' down that main tower. Heh, that felt good to do."

"Well good for you." Thundercracker bemoaned, lifting his leg up to scratch at the bottom of his foot. "I'm still picking out shards from my afterburners, so forgive me if the memory isn't as pleasant for me."

"Oh, come, come, come, brothers." Starscream implored as he placed his arms over his fellow Seeker's shoulders, earning him a pair of glares. "We're all in this together, so there's no point in quarreling with one another. Besides…" He pointed down toward the Skyboom Shield, still only partly exposed. "Our main goal is THAT relic!"

Arcee reached behind her back and pulled out her twin swords, the energy blades lighting up in a bright orange color. "We're not gonna let you get it, Starscream!"

"Not by a long shot!" Jazz reinforced, his own weapon powering up. "Autobots, at the ready!"

Bulkhead snapped his head down toward the humans. "Agent Burns, take the kids and get as far away as you can. We'll handle the Seekers and get you a GroundBridge back."

"Right, got it." Burns nodded before ushering the four students to follow him. "C'mon people, let's move, move, MOVE!" The Autobots formed a wall in front of the humans as they all sprinted off, though that didn't mean that Starscream failed to notice them.

"Oh, how valiant. They're throwing themselves in our line of fire so the humans can get away." He waved his hand slightly to three of the Vehicons. "Go, cut them off and destroy them, if you would."

"NO!" Optimus charged his Ion Blaster and started shooting as soon as the Vehicons transformed and went airborne. ZWOM! …But just as quickly, he felt himself getting wrenched away from his target and suddenly shoved down to the ground, with Skywarp looming over him. "GAH! Skywarp!" Prime shot up to his feet and charged for the black and purple Seeker… only for him to warp away again while Bulkhead went to do the same. CLANG! "Augh!"

Bulkhead doubled back in a slight daze, though was aware enough to realize what had happened. "O-Optimus! Are you—"

"I'm fine." Prime asserted, only for his audio receptors to once again be greeted with Skywarp's teleporting noise. CLANG! "ACK!" And just like that, Prime was sent stumbling forward into Bulkhead again, this time sending both of them to the ground.

Skywarp cackled in delight at his handiwork. "AHAHA! Ya might wanna rethink that, Prime!" PEWPEWPEWPEW! "Agh! Woah!" ZWOM! Skywarp just barely dodged the incoming fire from Jazz and Bumblebee, teleporting to a different location… only to be greeted by Springer. BAM! "OOF!" With a good punch to the face, Springer sent the Seeker falling right onto his rear, only for him to transform and blast back off to a safe distance.

The Wrecker didn't take too kindly to that. "Hey! Get back here, coward—ack!" But just then, a pair of Vehicons came up from behind him and bashing him in his back, with each of them grabbing him by an arm. "Grr… Sawback, Fangblade, I need some help!" With a flex of his arms, Springer deployed his two Mini-Cons off and into battle, the disks flying right into the Cons' faces upon launch. They doubled back around and transformed, the robotic wolf and Smilodon roaring in anticipation as they pounced on their prey.

Prime and Bulkhead got back to their feet as they saw Skywarp fluing toward the sky, the former narrowing his optics at the Seeker. "Bulkhead, aim high!"

"Sir!" Bulkhead transformed one of his arms into a canon, aimed it up at Skywarp, and all at once, he and Prime started blasting.

"Hah! Woah! That all you got, Autobots?!" Skywarp barked. "Well have some of THESE!" A pair of hidden compartments opened up from under his wings and a barrage of missiles came flying out, with at least sixteen of them all headed toward the duo. The two Autobots were quick to move, but the impact and explosion of the missiles still sent both of them back by quite a few feet. Optimus quickly tuck-and-rolled to get back into the action… but Bulkhead wasn't so fortunate.

THWAM! The large Autobot careened right into the side of the rockface, almost directly next to his best friend who was fighting off a Vehicon. "Bulkhead!" Springer called out, shoving the Vehicon away so that Sawback and Fangblade could take it from there. "Hold on, I'm—woah!"

ZWOM! "Where d'ya think YOU'RE goin'?! Ahaha!" Skywarp grabbed Springer by the arm, swung him around, and then delivered a big thrust kick to his jaw, making him fly through the air and into Bulkhead. Skywarp laughed some more as the two Wreckers came tumbling down onto one another. "Hahaha! Ah… I do so LOVE my work."

…..

Across the battlefield, it was no less hectic. Bumblebee, Jazz and Arcee found themselves preoccupied by about three Vehicons, though they seemed to be fairing somewhat better at least. Bumblebee was giving his opponent a hard time by being hard to catch, zipping around the Vehicon and shocking it at random intervals. Jazz, meanwhile, was performing some freestyle combat maneuvers that resembled breakdancing, which the Vehicon had no idea how to counter. Thusly, the incoming barrage of swinging kicks went unexpected and the Con was sent right to the rocky terrain.

Arcee, meanwhile, was using her swords to block her opponent's shots as she ran straight up to him, leaping lithely from rock to rock to take him off guard. One second, she was in one place, the next, she was in another, and it was all a matter of time before… SHINK! Arcee rushed past the Vehicon, swiping her swords as she did. Only a few seconds later, the Con split off at the waist and fell to the ground, deactivated. "Hmph, they've REALLY gotta get better help."

POWPOWPOWPOW! Arcee gasped and did a backflip away from the incoming fire, and was met with the sight of Thundercracker as its source. "I couldn't agree more. Vehicons can be so useless sometimes." He cocked his pulse rifle, glaring at Arcee from behind his visor. "You know the old saying; never send a foot soldier to do a Seeker's job."

"Thundercracker… and here I thought you were the more polite one."

"Sorry, miss, can't let my emotions get in the way of what needs to be done." Thundercracker aimed his rifle at Arcee, locking her in his sights. "We've got a relic to retrieve and I'd rather not disappoint my brother after he went to such lengths to get us here. And quite frankly, I've just had enough of failure at the moment."

Arcee narrowed her optics at him, keeping her guard up. "Is this really how you want things to go down? Think about what you're doing and ask yourself… is this all worth it?" There was a quiet pause for a second, and Arcee REALLY wished he didn't have that facemask and visor up so she could read his expression. Unfortunately, she didn't get that luxury as he open-fired just a second later. "Gyah!" With an expertly-timed leap, she jumped and did a midair flip, landing on her feet before sprinting toward Thundercracker while dodging the blasts. "Guess that's a yes!"

The femme kept sprinting and swiping her swords, reflecting any blasts that she couldn't avoid as she closed in on Thundercracker. Before long, she managed to get up close and personal with the Seeker and went to bring her sword down… only for a different blade to come in at the last second and stop her. Her optics widened and her head snapped up… to see Starscream with his signature smirk. "Dear brother, is this femme giving you trouble?"

Beneath his visor, Thundercracker's face hardened. "Starscream, I had her—"

"Oh, I know." Starscream rolled his eyes and pressed his sword further onto Arcee's, making her back up away from Thundercracker. "I simply thought you could use a hand. After all… we've got company."

PEWPEWPEWPEW! Thundercracker snapped his head around to see Jazz and Bumblebee come running their way, blasting at him and his brother. "Thundercracker! Starscream!" Jazz bellowed. "Back off an' scram before things get ugly!"

"Really now?" Thundercracker aimed his Pulse Rifle at the duo and shot off three pulse grenades, the projectiles flying between the two and creating a massive explosion behind them when they hit the ground. Jazz and Bumblebee were sent flying, with the former being caught by Thundercracker himself. "You must be REAL confident then, Autobot. GRAH!"

With a mighty throw, Thundercracker tossed Jazz away… but the first lieutenant was way ahead of him. Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Jazz transformed in midair and peeled out the second he hit dirt, circling back around toward the surprised Seeker. "Not today!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! CLANG!

"GAH!" Thundercracker's head snapped back after that swift uppercut from Jazz, making him fall over the edge of another ridge. BAM! "HNG!"

Jazz landed with a double stomp on the Seeker's back, and as quick as a whip, he drove his knee into Thundercracker's spine and wrapped his arm around his neck. With all his might, he wrenched back, and the blue Decepticon wailed in pain. "Yeah, how'd you like THAT, sucka?! Wanna mess with us NOW, huh?!"

Thundercracker grit his metal teeth and focused every ounce of energy he had on his thrusters… and then… BOOOOM! A massive burst of energy came out of the Seeker's feet and both him and Jazz were sent blasting across the ground before shooting straight up into the air. Jazz was so stunned that his grip loosened, and with Thundercracker's spine straight again, he wrestled back control and threw Jazz off of him and straight into the rockface. A pair of mini-guns came out from under his wings and he shouted; "Let's see how YOU like it!"

RATATATATAT! "AAAAAUGH!" Jazz howled in pain as he was peppered with bullets, doing everything he could to pull himself free from his imprisonment. Still, though, he didn't relent. "That all ya got, Con?! C'mon, BRING IT!"

Just as he closed in, Thundercracker transformed, pulled out his pulse rifle and reached up to a button on the side of his helm. "If you insist. Tactical Visor, activated!" The moment he pressed that button, a red, holographic projection popped up in front of his visor, acting as a homing device of sorts, complete with a targeting reticle. The reticle focused in on Jazz and he aimed his rifle, confident that he wouldn't miss. "Goodbye, Autobot…" POW! Once more, three pulse grenades were sent flying, and they were focused in right onto Jazz.

"…This is gonna hurt… a lot." Jazz closed his optics and waited for the inevitable… but then he felt something clamp down on both of his feet and pull hard. "YOW!" On the one hand, it hurt, but on the other, he was pulled out of the wall at the very last possible second. BOOM! The rockface exploded and debris was sent flying everywhere, much to both of their astonishment.

"WHAT?!" Thundercracker's battle mask retracted, his jaw slack and optics wide. "How did I MISS?!" But it wasn't long until he saw the reason why. Jazz had been pulled out by… a pair of Mini-Cons. "Oh, you've gotta be fragging me!"

Jazz sat up and chuckled in relief, smiling to Sawback and Fangblade. "Hah, thanks you two. I was fixin' to be blown up, an' not in the good way."

"RUFF-RUFF!"

"Mreow…"

Thundercracker came back down with a mighty stomp, his glare fixated on the lieutenant and two Mini-Cons with ire. "Okay, now I'm really starting to get annoyed." Jazz, Sawback and Fangblade were on their guard as Thundercracker aimed his rifle at them once again. "All we did was come here to accomplish a SINGLE mission, and I swear, we won't stop until we get…" However, the Seeker trailed off as he spotted something in his gunsights, making him raise his head up in surprise. "…That."

Jazz and the Mini-Cons spun around and were stunned by what they saw. As it turned out, the pulse grenades had blown up the exact spot where their target of interest had been… and now the Skyboom Shield was entirely exposed for everyone to see. "…Scrap."

…..

"Gyah!" Arcee hollered in pain as she was struck by Starscream, the Seeker swiping his sword across her chest and creating an open wound in the process. The femme was sent falling after the blow, clutching her breastplate as energon leaked from it and her mouth. Since he had entered the fight, Arcee managed to fend off Starscream for a good while… but not even she was a match for his overwhelming strength. She grit her teeth and glared at him as he approached, almost like how a predator would corner its prey. "I… I'm not done." Arcee struggled to her feet, bringing out her pistol to take aim at him.

"Ahaha! Oh, how adorable." Starscream chortled, closing his optics briefly. "I commend your fighting spirit, Arcee, but I'm afraid that—" PEW! "AUGH!" Unfortunately for Starscream, taking his sights off his opponent was a big mistake. Arcee shot straight for his head, but the second he heard the shot, Starscream jolted to the right. The blast still managed to hit, though only just barely grazing its target.

With a glare that could possibly rival even Megatron's, Arcee snapped at Starscream; "You thought I was KIDDING?! NEVER underestimate me, Starscream! Ragh!" She pulled out her sword again and started running to her adversary again, who had just collected himself.

…And he was NOT happy. "How… How DARE you?!" Starscream whipped up his arm and shot a Null Ray blast out at Arcee, which made its mark in her midsection without fail.

"AAAAAGH!" Arcee screamed in pain as she fell to her knees, the Null Ray's effects starting to take hold. Combine that with her loss of energon, and the intelligence officer could hardly move a mechanical muscle.

Starscream stomped over to Arcee, looming over her with his Null Ray still pointed at her. "Well played, Arcee, but not well enough. I have half a mind to fry your processor right here." Arcee's optics widened at the sight of his Null Ray powering up, getting ready for another blast. "In fact… I think I will—" ZZZZZZZAP! "AAAAAAAACK!"

Arcee gasped and Starscream was brought to his own knees, a stream of lightning having struck him in his back. She whipped her head around… and saw Bumblebee standing a few feet away. He was glowering at Starscream with righteous fury, which he only reinforced through his radio. "Zrkt—Get away from her, you BITCH!"

"Bumblebee!" Arcee raised her hand, pleading him not to come closer. "Don't do it! You're no match for Starscream, get out of here!"

"Zrkt—Wait, what?!" Bumblebee's determination faltered at her request, his gaze full of concern. "Zrkt—But I can't just—zrkt—leave you here! Zrkt—You need help!"

"I know, and thank you for helping me." Arcee smiled to him imploringly, steadily getting to her feet as Starscream remained stunned on the ground. "But we all have to remember our roles here. You're not built for this sort of combat, remember." She saw Bumblebee's expression fall at the reminder, but she put a supportive hand on his shoulder, her smile still there. "But if we all regroup with the others, we'll have a better chance at fending off the Seekers. So, let's—AAAGH!"

Without warning, Starscream shot back up and grabbed Arcee by the leg, holding her upside down as he towered over a terrified Bumblebee. He snarled down at the scout as he taunted him. "Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something important?! RAH!" BAM! Bumblebee could only watch on as Starscream slammed Arcee into the boulder behind him, putting several nasty dents into her. A chill rand down his metal spine as Starscream quickly reached down and grabbed him by the neck, the Autobot belting out panicked buzzes as the Seeker brought him eye to eye with him. "And as for you, bug…"

Arcee forced her optics back open… but she quickly wished she hadn't. She bore witness to Starscream tossing Bumblebee up into the air and then delivering a huge thrust kick as he came falling back down. If that weren't enough, Starscream activated his thrusters and flew into the flying Autobot, grabbed him by the throat again, and tossed him straight into the rockface as the coup de gras of his string of attacks.

"BUMBLEBEE!" Arcee shrieked as she watched Bumblebee's optics dim, the scout knocked out cold.

Starscream tossed Bumblebee to the side with a scoff. "Hmph, hardly a challenge. Well, I suppose there's nothing more left to do than to—"

"GRAAAAAAHHH!"

"W-Wait, wha—" SHANK! "AAAAUGH!" A sharp pain went through Starscream's shoulders, with Arcee having jumped up on his back and stabbed her blades into them. Her face was twisted in anger, her grip unrelenting as she refused to let go.

"You're going to PAY for that!"

"H-Hey! That's usually my line!" Seeing no better option, Starsceam activated his thrusters and shot up into the sky again, taking Arcee with him. The duo climbed at high speeds while Starscream tried to reach up to her, though thanks to his own wings, that was easier said than done. "Ack! Ugh, hold still you little—" CLANG! "Ow!"

Arcee had kicked him in the head. Hard. "How does it feel, Starscream?! Not so fun when someone kicks YOU, is it?!"

"You crazy glitch! You asked for this!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Starscream transformed into his vehicle mode and went flying up high into the air, the swords having been forced out of him in the conversion process. Arcee gasped and hung on for dear life as the Seeker commander flew higher and higher into the air, until they were at least a hundred meters off the ground. Once there, Starscream transformed again, though this time, he was now holding Arcee by her arm, smirking once again. "Not so fun anymore, now is it? Goodbye, Arcee!"

With no remorse whatsoever, Starscream flung Arcee once again, the intelligence officer sent screaming down toward the earth below. Given her height, the rate she was falling, and how hard her impact would be… Arcee screwed her optics shut and prepared for whatever would happen. "…I'm sorry, Bumblebee." her voice cracked in sadness. But then…

SPROING! By the time that sound reached her, Arcee already gasped as she felt someone catch her from out of the air, her momentum suddenly shifting direction. She and her savior landed with a hard thud, and thankfully, both were safe and sound. Arcee craned her head around, and just as she thought, there was Springer, the Wrecker wearing a rather heroic smirk. "Heh, well, that's ONE way to get someone's attention." He gave her a friendly smile and raised a metal brow at her. "You okay, Arcee? …Er, well, OTHER than all of your other injuries, I mean."

"I-I…" In all honesty, Arcee was still a bit in shock by everything. She truly thought she was going to meet her doom, but right in the nick of time, Springer had literally jumped right in to save her. Plus, she had to admit, his dashing quip did help lighten the mood, as jarring as it was. But at the same time, Arcee was truly grateful for his act and she smiled back at him. "Y-Yes, I am. Thank you, Springer."

"Ah, think nothing of it." Springer said proudly with a wink. "All in a day's work for a Wrecker. Though I would highly advise not doin' something like that again. We can't ALL be Triple Changers, ya know?"

Arcee couldn't help but laugh at the joke. "Haha! Yeah, you've got a point."

Little did either of them know, however, that a certain scout was watching from the sidelines. Bumblebee had just regained consciousness, and the moment he had seen Springer save Arcee, he was both relieved… and stunned to his core. It didn't help that she was smiling and laughing while he winked at her, and it made his spark sink all the more. A sad buzz escaped his throat… and that's what got Arcee to notice him.

"Ah! Bumblebee!" Arcee quickly hopped out of Springer's arms and rushed over to her friend, surprising Bumblebee quite a bit. "A-Are you okay? You had me so scared!"

That reignited a glimmer of hope in Bee's spark as he slowly reached his hand out to her, which she gladly took. "Zrkt—I hurt—zrtk—all over."

Arcee winced as she picked Bumblebee up, only realizing now just how damaged she was as well. "Yeah, so am I. We need to get out of—"

WHAM! And just like that, Starscream was back again, slamming down next to him with both of his Null Rays aimed at them. "That's IT! I have had enough of you—" CLANG! "FRAG!"

Just as suddenly, the Air Commander was kicked away by Springer, the Wrecker producing his own blades to get ready to fight. "Hey, Screamer! Remember me? Ya know, the bot who even your poor excuses for guards couldn't handle?!" He snapped his head back to Arcee and Bumblebee, giving them a nod. "You guys get clear. Find the humans and make sure they got away safely, we'll handle the rest here." He gave once last wink to Arcee. "And best of luck."

"Right, thanks, Springer." Arcee returned as she and Bumblebee turned to hobble away. "C'mon Bee, we need to find everyone and get back to base."

Begrudgingly, Bumblebee agreed… though he couldn't help but give a narrow-eyed side glance back to Springer as he engaged in combat with Starscream. Was Springer… attempting to flirt with Arcee? Or was that his mind tricking him? 'Ugh, focus Bee!' he thought to himself. 'Safe getaway first, personal stuff later.'

…..

Little did any of the Autobots know, however, that before the Decepticon's GroundBridge closed, an observation probe had come through after them and was still hanging around. The device had multiple sets of cameras on the action, focusing between Starscream, Skywarp and Thundercracker's respective battles. And needless to say, the femmes watching it all go down back at base were thoroughly entertained.

"BAHAHA! Oh, Primus, did you see how Warp just made Prime and the big guy look like clumsy idiotas?" Nightra belted out as she slapped her knee. "Ah, ah-haha, man now THAT was rich. And hey, TC ain't doing so bad either. He's got Jazz on the ropes!"

"Heh, yeah, but how about Starscream?" Swift pointed out, watching as the Seeker commander practically went all out against Arcee and Bumblebee. "I don't think I've ever seen him this serious since we came to this planet…" She trailed off the moment she saw Shadow Striker focused intently on that particular fight, her stare unwavering. "…See somethin' you like, Shadow?"

A sneer came to her face at that. "Non, ze exact opposite, really." She balled her fists and pointed to the pink and yellow Autobots. "Those two… I remember zem quite vividly. Zey will be number one on my list of Autobots to kill… assuming Starscream lets zem live."

"Ooh, got a grudge against Arcee and Bee, eh?" Swift asked. "Remind me to ask about that later." She set her sights back to the monitors, watching as Starscream pummeled Bumblebee into unconsciousness. "Still, he's kicking MAJOR aft out there."

Nightra gave her a shrug. "Hey, maybe all he needed was a confidence boost. And now that he's got his brothers by his side, I've got a feeling that's what he's got now."

"Hmph, well that's surprising." A certain raspy voice said as it came into the room. Swift and Nightra turned their heads and saw Barricade come strolling in, followed closely behind by Flatline and Blastwave. The Decepticon officer had his optics set on the three screens with interest. "Given all they've done since you got here is banter and argue, you'd think they wouldn't be on the same page…" He moved his optics down toward Nightra and gave her a smirk. "By the way, how's it goin'… cadet?"

The hacker could only roll her optics at her former rank, though she still got up from her seat to address her former commanding officer. "Hmph, pretty well, sergeant… if you still go by that rank, hehe."

Barricade scoffed and his own optics rolled as well. "Please, the Decepticons hold FAR more respect for me than that idiot Prowl ever did." He placed his hands on his hips with pride. "The moment I joined up, Megatron promoted me straight to lieutenant, no questions asked."

"So I've heard." Nightra saluted. "Well then, lieutenant, what brings you here?"

"I wanted to speak with you." Barricade offered as Flatline and Blastwave headed over to the monitors. "We haven't had a chance to talk since you got here, and it's been a pretty long time. Figured my favorite student would wanna brag about her accomplishments."

"Hmhm, what can I say, hombre?" Nightra brought up her personal holo-interface and began typing into it, bringing up some files about her and her team's victories over the past three hundred stellar cycles. "We've been pretty busy since we left Cybertron, I can tell you that. All honesty, though? Didn't think we'd end up here of all places."

The Decepticon officer folded his arms over his chest. "Psh, how d'ya think WE feel about it? …By the way, I think you'd be interested to hear this." He saw Nightra give him his undivided attention, her gaze curious. "You ready for this? Strongarm is on Earth."

Almost instantly, Nightra's lips parted in shock and her interface vanished. She took a moment for that to sink in before her face lit up into a smile. "Hahaha! Regs?! She's on this planet? No way!"

"Yes way." Barricade smirked. "And lemme tell ya, she's still not happy about what went down all those years back with my… or should I say, our betrayal."

Nightra grinned right back at him. It had been an ingenious plan, really. As a cadet, she was tired of following all of the rules and regulations, ruling it as a boring existence. After Barricade had informed her of what he intended, though, she was convinced that siding with the Decepticons had a lot more freedom than whatever those Autobot taskmasters in the police force had offered. So, she hacked into the headquarters' security protocols, deactivated everything, and let the Cons do the rest that day. She even faked her own death in the process, allowing her to stay hidden behind the scenes with no Bot the wiser. "Heh, yeah, that was a good day…"

Barricade raised a metal brow at her. "…But?"

"Ah, nada… it's just… I kinda miss Regs, you know? As much as she was a stickler for the rules, she WAS still my best friend."

"Hmm… well, if that's the case, then THAT reunion will be pretty bittersweet when that happens." Barricade went to move past her, but paused to give her one last piece of advice; "Remember, kid, somethings are best left in the past. After all, I doubt that you'd be able to convince the cadet that coming over to our side would be a good thing."

Nightra craned her head down and sighed. "…Yeah, I know."

Barricade continued toward the monitors. "And remember, don't let your own personal feelings on the matter get in the way either. We can't risk failure if we aren't willing to let go of times gone by."

"…Si, claro." Nightra acknowledged as she followed him, grouping up with the rest of the Decepticons.

Back on the screens, the fights were still going on, with Starscream actually having tossed Arcee down to the earth below from high in the air. "My word…" Flatline muttered. "Herr commander is certainly much more intense zan he has been zese past several days here on Earth."

"Da, is good day to be Starscream, it seems." Blastwave concluded, his grin growing wildly. "And now, it is time for puny pink femme to go SPLAT! AHAHAHA!" …But before she even made impact, Springer jumped right up and caught the falling Arcee, leaving the Decepticons all disappointed. "BAH! Stupid Triple Changer is back!"

"Ze Wrecker zat escaped ze ship." Flatline affirmed. "Oh, I doubt zis vill go down vell vith Starscream."

"Probably not, but… wait, over there!" Swift pointed up to the monitor displaying Thundercracker's fight with Jazz. The blue seeker had just fired off several more pulse grenades from his rifle at the Autobot's first lieutenant, but Springer's Mini-Cons had gotten him out of his predicament at the last second. This resulted in the rockface exploding… and the Skyboom Shield being unearthed completely.

The room was silent for a moment before Nightra commented; "Huh… gotta admit, didn't see that coming."

Barricade grinned eagerly. "Heh, well, at least she shield's free now, so now grabbing it will be a piece of oil cake."

"IF ze Seekers can capitalize." Shadow Striker reminded. "Let us see how zis plays out…" Her optics trailed back over to the other camera… and off in the distance, she could see something interesting begin to unfold. The three Vehicons had caught up with the humans, and considering all that she had heard about these organic creatures… "Ooh, now zis could be interesting…"

…..

Back down south, while the huge fight between Autobots and Decepticons was happening behind them, the students were being led away by Agent Burns. He kept glancing behind him to make sure they were all keeping up, but in his head, he was trying to come to grips with all of this. 'How the hell did this operation go belly-up THIS fast?!' he thought to himself. 'I get that the Cons can track Autobot signals, but you'd think they'd at least take their time mobilizing, right?!'

"Agent Burns!" The Sector Seven soldier snapped his head back toward Izuku, who was both concerned and confused at the same time. "Hate to point this out, but where EXACTLY are we running?!"

"Yeah, there's not much out here in the way of cover!" Eijiro agreed. "We're pretty much sitting ducks!"

"Trust me, boys, I know." Burns asserted. "But our main priority is getting as far away from the action as possible right now."

Kyoka shot him an irritated look. "And what? Hope to god that Prime or someone else is just able to get word back to base so they can bridge us back?!" she snapped. "I doubt that'll be easy since they're in the middle of a fight!"

Burns' expression hardened and he stopped in his tracks, whipping around to Kyoka as the teens stopped. "Miss Jiro, I'm doing my best to keep you all safe. This might not be the best plan, but it's the only one we have at the moment!"

The purplette didn't relent as she got right up in the agent's face. "And I'm telling you that it SUCKS! And you wanna know why?" She raised her arm up to the sky and said; "Because THEY'VE been on our tail the whole time!" Everyone craned their heads up… and saw three Vehicons come blasting in from the direction they were running from, the trio transforming and landing in a circle around them. "See?! Told ya running was useless."

"And oh, how right you were." One of the Vehicons aimed his arm blaster at the humans with a dangerous tone in his voice. "And it's time that all of you paid the price."

"You two especially." Another Con spat, aiming his own blaster at Mina and Eijiro, who flinched in shock. "Both of you are responsible for the deactivation of one of our comrades!"

Mina swallowed hard, a nervous laugh escaping her throat. "Uh… hehe, y-yeah, that was a mistake on our part. We thought you were drones at the time and—"

"Oh, of COURSE!" The Vehicon said with a sarcastic wave. "Because that's what EVERYONE thinks! "Ah, no need to worry about killing THOSE Decepticons, they're not sentient in the least!" Well, guess what?! WE ARE! And we're gonna make sure that's driven into your heads as we END your pitiful existence. You two, AND that electric whelp."

The last Vehicon activated a pair of blades in his arms, ready to eviscerate the group of humans. "We'll make sure that HE gets what's coming to him as well. But for now… it's time for you all to meet your end!"

"Shit, now what do we do?!" Eijiro asked, hoping for an answer quick.

Fortunately, that answer came in the form of Izuku suddenly powering up Full Cowling, his eyes flashing green briefly as he took a combat stance. "We have no choice, we have to fight off these Vehicons!"

But Burns was FAR from happy with that answer. "What?! No, kid, don't do it!" He reached out and grasped Izuku by the shoulder. "We agreed that Quirk usage should only be used as a last resort and—"

"What does THIS situation seem like to you, Buzz Cut?!" Kyoka suddenly cut in, pushing his hand off Izuku's shoulder. "Because this seems like a pretty big "last resort" scenario to me!" She set her sights on Izuku, her frown turning up into a smile instantly. "I'm with you, Celery Stick. Let's kick these guys' ass… without killing them, of course."

"I'm down with that!" Eijiro raised his arms and hardened them up, with a bit of his face hardening as well. "Let's show these guys that ya don't mess with U.A. Students!"

Mina clapped her hands together in anticipation. "Oh yeah, fight time! Let's pair off and have some fun!"

Seeing how the students weren't ready to back down in the least, Burns sighed in defeat. He removed his insulated gloves and exposed his Magma Hands, the intense heat already permeating throughout the area. "Alright, let's do this. But remember; be careful."

"Ha! Like we're gonna let you beat us." One Vehicon balked at the notion. "We've learned how brutal your powers can be after replaying that senseless massacre of yours over eight thousand times!"

The other Vehicons aimed their weapons, ready to fire. "Yeah, we're on to ALL you tricks, fleshies!"

"Not all of them…" Izuku bent himself at the knees and eyed his best friend. "Kyoka… I-I know this is gonna sound weird but…" A light shade of pink came to his cheeks at what he said next. "…H-Hop on."

Kyoka's cheeks flushed at this as well, her jacks jittering nervously. "W-Wait, what?"

"I-I figured that if we were on the move together, w-we'd be able to take out this Vehicon quicker." Izuku stammered as he explained his plan. "I mean, i-if you don't want to or feel uncomfortable with it, I understa—oof!" Then, to his surprise, Kyoka actually jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms securely around his neck as her jacks extended out.

"You are completely insane… but I love the idea." She smirked down to him, making his own face light up. "Let's do it!"

Izuku's gaze became determined once more as he set his sights onto the Vehicon… who open-fired that very second. "Woah!" With a pump of his legs, Izuku was on the move, leaping up to avoid the blast. He came back down, landing on his feet before breaking out into a sprint to dash away from the incoming barrage of energy blasts from the Vehicon.

"Ah! Holy crap, dude!" Kyoka shouted, beginning to feel a slight tingle and adrenaline rush just from being on Izuku's back. She moved her head around to see the blasts coming up short, hitting the ground instead of them. "Haha! What the heck have you been doing?!"

"Hah, guess this means all that training paid off!" Izuku shrugged. "So, any ideas?"

Kyoka nodded against his neck. "Yeah, I do. Remember how I brought down the last Vehicon?"

"Yeah, but they said they at least learned that move."

"Well, I think I've got a way we can do it again… in a way they won't see coming." Kyoka leaned down and whispered her plan into Izuku's ear. And as much as he wanted to listen to her soothing voice, he focused on her plan and he gave her a nod. With that, he made a hard left turn and started running toward the Vehicon, who was right on top of them.

"Oh no, ya don't! I'm not fallin' for—" SHOOM! "…that?" The Vehicon was left baffled as Izuku and Kyoka disappeared, the duo there one second and then gone the next. He was pretty sure he didn't blink either, so where could they have—CHINK! "AAAAAUGH!" The Vehicon felt his knees give out from underneath him and he was brought down, with heavy reverberations coursing through his legs unrelentingly. He snapped his head down… and saw Izuku and Kyoka behind him, the latter's jacks plugged into the back of his knees. "B-But, how…"

Kyoka scoffed at the Vehicon. "Psh, it's called misdirection, dumbass. Izuku and Iida are both pretty fast, but the big difference? Izuku here can turn right on a dime. Oh, and another thing…" She unplugged her jacks and, as quick as a whip, she shot them right up to the Vehicon's chest, making him cry out once again. "Your turn, Broccoli Boy!"

"Right!" Izuku leapt up and pulled one of his arms forward, raising his hand while putting his thumb and forefinger together. "DELAWARE… SMAAAASH!" He flicked his finger forward, sending out a concussive blast of wind to the Vehicon.

Much to the foot soldier's astonishment, he was actually sent flying back from the blow, tumbling through the air as he soared upward. "AAAAAH!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! He tried to transform into his alt mode… but then he was met with Izuku and Kyoka again in the air. The purplette whipped her jacks and plugged them into him again, but unlike last time, there was no pain. No, instead, she used them to yank both her and her partner forward, the latter charging up a five percent-powered punch.

"DETROIT… SMAAAASH!" PANG! Izuku punched the Vehicon's hood, sending it straight back down to earth and making it crash head-long into the solid ground. The Vehicon transformed back into robot mode, but didn't last a second before it fell into unconsciousness. Izuku and Kyoka landed and the former powered down, letting out a relieved breath. "Hah… w-woah… that was—"

"WILD!" Kyoka cheered as she kept herself clung to Izuku's neck in a sort-of hug. "That had to be the craziest rush of my life! Haha!"

Izuku couldn't help but blush. Never in his life had he ever experienced such intimate contact… but he had to keep himself levelheaded for this. "Heh, yeah. It was pretty crazy, I'll give you that." But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something else going on. "H-Hey, over there!"

The duo set their sights off into the distance and saw Eijiro and Mina fighting off their Vehicon opponent… though they definitely weren't as coordinated as they were. "AH! Ashido, watch out!"

"Woah!" Mina leapt back as she narrowly avoided a laser blast, landing in a tumble before rolling back to her feet. "Kirishima, what was your plan again?"

"MY plan?! You're the one who rushed in first, I thought YOU had one!"

"…Oh, right. I did, didn't I?" PEWPEW! "AH!" Once again, Mina just managed to get out of the way of more laser blasts, though this time, an idea popped into her head. Just as she jumped away, she flung her hand back and splashed a powerful corrosive acid at the Vehicon's weapon, melting it and making it short circuit.

And, as she suspected, the Con had the appropriate reaction; "AH! AAGH!" The foot solider tried in vain to shake the acid off, but when it didn't, he resorted to something drastic. "Get it off me! GET IT OFF MEEEEE!" KER-CHUNK! In a surprising move, he tore off his own arm from the elbow down. Which, while not a pleasant feeling, was at least STILL better than feeling his arm getting melted. "Hah… phew…" TSSSS… "AAAAAAUUUGH!"

Mina cackled in glee as she watched the Vehicon dance in panic, having sprayed more acid on his legs and feet. "Hahahaha! Oh, this is WAY too good…" And then, yet another idea came to her, and she faced her redheaded friend excitedly. "Ooh! Wait, Kirishima, go stand under his foot, and then harden your whole body up!"

Eijiro was confused at first, but when he saw how high the Vehicon was raising his legs… he picked up on the idea rather quickly. "Oh… hey, I get ya!" He dashed forward and stopped just a few feet from the Vehicon, predicting where he would hop next. Then, all at once, he concentrated and made his whole body as hard as rock… including his very spikey faux-hawk. He craned his head up just as the Con's foot came down on him and he squeezed his eyes shut. "This is either gonna hurt you… or me. Not sure which!"

CRASH! Fortunately, Eijiro's stance had stayed firm and true… while the Vehicon's foot and part of his shin were now effectively torn straight through. "GYAAAAAAUUUUGGHH!"

With a few chops of his hand, Eijiro dug his way out of the wires and torn metal before reaching up to the Con's knee cap. From there, he dug his fingers into his opponent's armor, effectively making a climbing wall out of the Vehicon before he reached his destination; the Con's head. "Hi there!" Eijiro grinned.

"P-Please…" The Vehicon's damaged leg gave out from beneath him, forcing him to take a knee. "Have mercy."

"Ah, relax, I ain't gonna kill ya." Eijiro rolled his eyes… before pulling himself up and dropkicking the Vehicon right in the face. The foot soldier fell backwards, the final blow knocking him unconscious as Kirishima landed on his feet. "It's just your nap time, is all."

"Kirishima!"

The redhead deactivated his Quirk, just in time to greet his pink friend. "Hey! Ashido, we did—oof!"

Much to his surprise, however… Mina actually hugged him, her smile as bright as it ever was at their victory. "WOO-HOO! Now THAT'S how teamwork makes the dream work!" she shouted with extreme excitement. "We showed that Vehicon who's BOSS!"

It took Eijiro a moment to respond, though, feeling his face starting to heat up. Of course, he and Mina had been good friends for a while now, especially since they had gone to the same junior high school together. But not once did he ever think Mina would actually give him a hug of all things. It seemed very… intimate, and it started stirring something in him that made him flashback to something that Denki had said to him a couple weeks ago;

'Hey, I'm just sayin', if you won't ask her out, somebody else likely will.'

But Eijiro quickly shook that thought away. 'C'mon man, you can't go around thinking stuff like that. Mina's your FRIEND. It's not like she likes you like that… right?'

"Hey, you okay, Kirishima?" Eijiro's flinched and he was brought back to reality, his eyes moving down to Mina who was still hugging him. Her head was tilted curiously, and for a brief moment, Eijiro couldn't help but find her… cute. "You kinda blanked out for a sec there."

"O-Oh, yeah I-I'm good, promise." Eijiro assured with a small smile. "I was just… still coming to grasps with what we just did is all." He raised a fist up to her. "And you're right, we made quite the team."

Mina brightened up again and she eagerly fist-bumped him back. "Heck yeah! I'd say we're REALLY on the road to bein' Wreckers now!"

"Heh, yeah, we sure are." Eijiro agreed. "Talk about getting our "Wrecking Legs"."

"Guys!" The duo perked up at the sound of Izuku's voice, the greenette rushing over with… Kyoka piggy-backing on him. The two felt their brows raise up at the sight as Izuku smiled at them. "Hey, awesome job taking down that Con, guys. The way you handled it was really good."

Mina and Eijiro glanced toward one another as the pink girl grinned knowingly. "Hehe, yeah, you know it… and I'm guessing you guys took down yours, too?"

Kyoka jerked her thumb back toward where the aforementioned Con was laid out. "Psh, you even need to ask? We wiped the freaking floor with him."

"Great… so, uh… why're you piggy-backing Midoriya?" Eijiro asked.

Izuku and Kyoka's eyes nearly bugged out as they realized they were still doing that, and before long, the punk rocker had jumped off of her friend's back with a light blush. Though that wasn't to say that Izuku wasn't blushing as well, and the two were so embarrassed that they couldn't even face one another for a few seconds. But that didn't stop their sheepish smiles. "O-Oh, no big reason." Kyoka twirled a jack around her finger anxiously. "Just part of a battle maneuver that Izuku came up with."

The Quirk Inheritor put his hand to the back of his head as his nerves started acting up, too. "Heh, y-yep, that's all."

All the while, Mina and Eijiro eyed one another knowingly. "Riiiight." Mina rolled her eyes.

"Hmph…" Kyoka grumbled before taking note of something else… and the thought of revenge had come to her mind as she smiled evilly. "Oh, but what's this? Izuku, did we stumble across a moment here?"

"H-Huh? What do you—oh!" Izuku crossed his arms with a chuckle. "Heh, yeah, maybe we did."

The Acid and Hardening users were perplexed by what they were saying… until they realize that they hadn't broken their hug. "Ah!" Both gasped and hastily broke away from one another. "W-Wait, it's not what you think!" Mina denied.

"Y-Yeah, we were just… celebrating, is all." Eijiro scratched behind his head.

Kyoka rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Yeah, sure. Anyway, has anyone seen Major Buzz Cut? You'd think he'd have handled his Con by—" BLAM! "…Now." The teens whipped their heads around and saw Burns coming toward them, all while a massive pillar of fire billowed up from behind him. And within that pillar, A Vehicon could be seen… and it had been burned to a crisp. Yet somehow, it was still online.

Eijiro had to blink to make sure he saw that right. "Woah… and I thought WE were overkill."

"It's called "efficiency", son." Burns remarked as he put his gloves back on. "You learn it pretty well when you're in the military." He scanned his eyes around to see the other downed Vehicons, nodding his head in approval. "Hm, nice work, kids. Maybe Fowler, Fairborne and I were a bit quick to judge whether you'd be able to take on these Vehicons."

"Thank you, Agent Burns, we—OH CRAP, LOOK OUT!" Izuku and the others were stunned to see the Vehicon that Eijiro knocked out suddenly get right back up again. And although it couldn't use its legs, it could still crawl… and it had its sights set directly on the humans.

"You…" The Con raised one clawed hand and swiped it down at them. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

"ASHIDO!" Eijiro tackled the pink girl to the ground as the hand passed over them.

"Kyok—AAAGH!" Before Izuku could even think to do the same to help his own friend, the hand came up and swiped Izuku away, sending him flying.

A horrified gasp came out of Kyoka's throat the moment she saw Izuku's body hit the ground. "IZUKU!" She started to sprint over to him, but the Vehicon quickly crawled in her way, raising its clawed hand again to do the same thing to her. Kyoka froze in place as everything seemed to happen in slow motion, the gleaming talons of the Vehicon coming right toward her.

But just before that could happen, she suddenly felt herself get pushed out of the way. And then… CRUNCH! "AAAAAAUGH!"

Kyoka's head snapped up and she saw Burns where she once stood, the agent now crushed beneath the Vehicons' hand. Just by looking at the scene, she could tell that he had to have a few broken body parts, but still… a part of her couldn't believe it. Burns… had saved her. "…Agent Burns!" she cried out.

"Gah… it's okay! Just get Izuku and RUN!" Burns shouted back. "That's an order!"

"There won't BE anywhere to run!" The Vehicon assured as he raised a singer, overing its tip over Burns' face. "And once I'm done with all of you, the Autobots will think twice before—" BAM! "GAUGH!"

"SMAAAAAASH!" Without warning, Izuku suddenly shot back onto the scene, covered in green lightning and with a furious expression as he punched the Vehicon away. Its hand pulled away from Burns, which showed that indeed, he had an arm and a leg that were VERY much bent in the wrong direction. Izuku landed next to Kyoka and grasped her by the shoulders. "Kyoka! Are you okay?!"

It took her a few seconds to comprehend what was happening, but Kyoka nodded up to him. "Y-Yeah… but Burns!"

"I know, c'mon." The two of them, along with Mina and Eijiro, rushed right over to the man's side, all while he tried to situate himself into a better position. "Agent Burns! Please, try not to move."

The agent winced in pain, sucking in air through his teeth at every move he made. "Ah! Ah, trust me, I'm trying now." He saw Kyoka approach him out the corner of his eye, and he offered her a small grin. "Heh, hey kid. Glad to see you're okay."

"You… you just sacrificed yourself for me." Kyoka muttered. "…Even after—"

"All that you said? Yeah." Burns nodded. "It's what us soldiers do. No matter who it is, we're to help those who need to be helped, whether they like us or not." He gave her a small wink. "I know you don't exactly trust me, kid… but in terms of your wellbeing, that's not a factor. Honestly, I'm just glad you're alright."

That hit Kyoka like a ton of hammers. Despite all of the verbal abuse she put him through, Burns still put his life and body on the line… just to save her. '…Dammit, I've been a jerk.'

"Oh, how touching…" Everyone jumped and spun around as the Vehicon once again returned, though this time he was back up… on one foot. "But you all won't last much longer while I break ALL of your bodies—" PEW! And just like that, the Vehicon stopped, a laser having been blasted through its chest.

The lifeless husk fell forward and revealed a heavily damaged Arcee behind it, her pistol in one hand as she held onto an equally damaged Bumblebee with her other one. "Hah… well, that could've gone better."

"Arcee!" Mina beamed in relief. "Oh man, are we glad to see you!"

"What happened to you guys?" Eijiro wondered. "You both look like you got into a big wreck or something."

The pink femme holstered her pistol as she and Bee limped toward the group. "Ugh, Starscream happened to us. Apparently he must've gotten a big confidence boost with his brothers around, because—AH!" Arcee gasped the second she and Bee saw Burns with an arm and a leg ben in the incorrect directions. "Oh my gosh, Burns!"

"Zrkt—You're so broken!"

Burns grit his teeth and nodded slowly up to them. "Yeah, pretty much. Think one of you can call back to base now so we can get a medical evac?"

"Oh, of course." Arcee concurred, wasting no time in calling back to Red Alert. "Arcee to base, come in, Red Alert! Soldier down, I repeat, soldier down!"

"Arcee, what's going on over there?!" Red Alert exclaimed. "We've been detecting several Deceptiocn signals in your area and have been trying to contact you."

Just then, Merissa's voice shouted out from the other side as well; "Are the children alright?! Please tell me none of them are hurt!"

Arcee bit her lower lip hesitantly. She had a feeling that Merissa and Fowler weren't going to like what she had to say. "Don't worry, the kids are all okay. Thanks to Burns, they're all safe… but you're going to want to get here soon. He got Kyoka out of a tight spot and… well, Merissa, I suggest you have your healing Quirk ready." She craned her head back over to where the main battle was taking place… and she saw multiple laser blasts being shot all around. "…And Red? Send backup."

…..

Back at the battle itself, things were going… CLANG! "AUGH!" …Not AS well for Starscream as it had been earlier. Springer, the blasted Wrecker, had proved to be a much more tenacious opponent. What Arcee had in determination, Springer matched with his annoying wit, which served to take Starscream off his game a bit. At the same time, he and the other Seekers had found themselves being corralled up with one another, with the Autobots having regained their bearings and surrounded them with their weapons raised.

"Had enough, bolts-for-brains?!" Springer challenged, before whistling for Sawback and Fangblade to join him. "We can do this all day if ya want!"

"GAH!" Skywarp shouted as he was practically punted in the head by Optimus after the Autobot leader flipped him in midair, which was followed by Bulkhead slamming him in the midsection with his mace. He was sent careening into Thundercracker, who had been shoved back by Jazz. And then, both Seekers collided with Starscream, creating a heap of wings and anger.

"Ah! Hey, what's the big idea?!" Thundercracker shouted.

Skywarp growled and snapped his head toward his brother. "What do you mean "what's the big idea"?! You got in my way!"

On the bottom of the pile, Starscream summoned all of his strength and tossed his brothers off in ire. "ENOUGH! Primus, do I have to mind you two all… day… frag." The Seeker commander deadpanned at the sight of Prime, Bulkhead, Jazz, Springer, and the Mini-Cons having surrounded all of them, putting a pretty clear line between them and the Skyboom Shield that was just within their sights.

"Not so high an' mighty now, are ya?" Jazz jibed with a smirk.

"Starscream, Skywarp, Thundercracker, I am giving you one final chance." Optimus warned, keeping his Ion Blaster concentrated on the trio. "Take your Vehicons and leave this place now, or else we WILL be forced to take drastic measures."

Bulkhead scowled at Skywarp and aimed his cannon at him. "And don't even try to teleport away, Skywarp. I'm familiar with your little tricks now.

The Seekers backed up to one another, making sure they had all four Autobots within their collective field of vision. "…What do we do?" Thundercracker whispered.

"I doubt there's an easy way out of this." Starscream muttered frustratingly. "They have us right where they want… Skywarp?"

Out the corner of his optic, he saw his darkly-painted brother starting to glow a mysterious purple color… and his body started to blink in and out of existence. "Don't worry, brothers, I have a solution to this little problem…" Just then, the purple glow started to expand outward, encompassing the area where the Seekers stood. "…Death Spiral is ready." The Autobots held their gaurds up in preparation for something big… but then, Skywarp just disappeared.

"Hey!" Bulkhead whipped around, ready for whatever trick the Seeker was going to pull. "I said no—"

ZWOM! "DIE!" POWPOWPOW! All at once, Skywarp reappeared, fired off several shots, and then blinked out of existence to do the same at another position. And then again, and again, and again, and before long, the shots almost appeared to be coming from no where at all. From up above, it almost appeared as if the shots were spiraling out of the center of the purple glow, all while Skywarp kept porting around in the blink of an eye. "Die! Die! DIE! HAHAHA!"

The air was filled with the cries of Autobots as they got peppered with shots, and before long, they all fell flat on their backs and chests. Their bodies were riddled with blast holes, and while they were still alive, they were leaking energon like no one's business. The Death Spiral came to a stop and the purple glow faded, leaving Skywarp to stop and cross his shotguns over his chest. "…Death walks among you." he uttered as his skull-shaped battle mask retracted.

Starscream and Thundercracker eyed one another warily. "…Does he HAVE to be this edgy?" the blue seeker muttered, pulling back his own battle mask.

"His color scheme has gone to his head." Starscream waved off the topic to focus back on the subject at hand. "But no matter! Because now, it is time to claim our prize!" The three Seekers strolled up to the Skyboom Shield and Starscream picked it up, basking in the gleaming shine in the weapon's finish. "Even after all these stellar cycles, it has not one scratch… amazing."

"S…Starscream…" The Seekers spun around and saw Optimus Prime pushing himself to his feet, with Springer, Jazz and Bulkhead coming up right next to him. The four Autobots aimed their weapons at the Cons, though it was obvious that their strength had been diminished from Skywarp's attack. "Release the Skyboom Shield! It doesn't have to be this way!"

With a confident smirk, Starscream brushed off the demand. "Oh, but I think it does, Optimus. For you see, with the bounty that this planet holds, I am determined to gather every single one of these relics. Then, perhaps Megatron will FINALLY recognize how deserving I am to lead the Decepticons." He raised his shield up to the bots, ready to use it for its true purpose. "And alas, your weapons might as well be puny pea-shooters compared to this! Now TREMBLE before the might of the Skyboom Shield!" There were a few moments of silence as the two sides faced off… and nothing happened. "…Wait, what?"

Skywarp tilted his head. "What do you mean "what"? It's a shield, not rocket science."

"I KNOW what it's used for you imbecile!" Starscream snapped. "But as a relic of the PRIMES, the Skyboom Shield is said to be able to project an impenetrable energy field around the wielder!" He thrust the shield out in a vain attempt to get it to activate. "But. It's. Not. WORKING!"

Thundercracker leaned in to see what the problem was. "You sure there's no button or switch to activate it?"

"If there WAS, I would have FOUND it by now!" Starscream grumbled, all while failing to notice the sound of revving engines approaching. "There MUST be some way to activate… wait, does anyone else hear tha—" CLASH! "AUGH!" All three Seekers shouted out as a certain pair of red and yellow Lamborghinis came smashing into them from behind, with Thundercracker stumbling into the rockface while the two cars transformed on Starscream and Skywarp's backs. And most importantly, the Skyboom Shield had been dropped.

Optimus and the others were surprised, needless to say. "Sideswipe, Sunstreaker?!"

The twins gave them all a wave as they clung to the two Seekers' backs, all while they tried to toss them off. "Hey Prime!" Sideswipe greeted.

"Don't mind us, just here to save the day!" Sunstreaker added.

"Where the heck did you two come from?!" Bulkhead exclaimed.

Sideswipe gave Starscream a noogie as he answered; "Arcee called us in! Said you guys needed help, and honestly, can't blame her for thinkin' that—WOAH!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! The brothers were taken by surprise as Starscream and Skywarp transformed into jet mode and took off, the duo still clinging on to them. "AH! Okay, we're doing this now!"

The Autobots watched as the four of them went skyward, and Springer couldn't help but grin in amusement. "Hahaha! Okay, those two boys have a lotta guts. I can respect them for takin' on Seekers like that."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Jazz noted. "Those two're pretty famous for—oh, there it is!" He pointed up as Sideswipe and Sunstreaker yanked their respective Seekers toward one another, resulting in a midair collision where all of them were sent hurdling back toward the earth. "That's their patented Jet Judo! Woo! Get 'em, guys!"

…..

As that was happening, Thundercracker was just starting to get up, shaking the daze out of his head. "Ugh… what the pit hit me…" He started to get up, reaching to a rock for leverage… when suddenly, the rock moved, and from behind it, a bright glow could be seen. "W-What the…" His curiosity getting the better of him, Thundercracker moved the rock away… and was greeted with an astonishing discovery. Something ELSE had been unearthed after he blasted that rockface, and he had to admit, it floored him. He had to hold back a gasp so that the other Autobots wouldn't notice. "Primus…" he whispered, glancing back and forth between the shield and what he found, weighing his options.

The Skyboom Shield was closer to the Autobots, and thus, much riskier to go after. And arguably, what he found could be much more beneficial in the long run. Starscream would probably be angry with him for a little while… but… "I HAVE to get these." With his decision cemented, Thundercracker dug into the dirt and scooped out what he had discovered, quickly putting them inside his chest compartment for storage. "Okay, now I have to—HOLY SCRAP!"

"Look out below!" Sideswipe announced as he and Sunstreaker hopped off of Starscream and Skywarp, the two Seekers transforming as they came crashing down into their brother. The Lambo Twins landed on their feet and high-fived one another victoriously. "Haha! Another round of Jet Judo has been won, my man!"

"And not a scratch on us!" Sunstreaker added… only to see all three Seekers slowly stand up behind his brother. "Uh… bro." he pointed.

Sideswipe noticed the large shadows looming behind him and spun around, only to be met with three pairs of blood red optics and at least five gun barrels pointed at them. "…Maybe we're not as good at this as we thought."

"You're damned right." Skywarp snarled. "OPEN FIRE!" The sounds of laser blasts and screaming resonated throughout the area as the Seekers' blasts united in a massive explosion. A huge plume of smoke erupted from where the twins stood while Starscream and Skywarp burst out laughing at their victory. "Hahaha! And THAT is how you scrap an Autobot."

"Oh, that felt VERY satisfying, indeed." Starscream concurred. "Now, where is the Skyboom… Shield…" But the Seeker Commander trailed off as the smoke started to clear… and a brilliant golden light emerged from it.

As it turned out, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were alive, having been protected by a large energy field comprised of golden, hexagonal patterns. The source? The Skyboom Shield itself, being held by none other than Optimus Prime. "My apologies, Starscream, but as the humans say; it's time I rained on your parade!"

The Seekers were at a loss for words. "W-Wha—I… How did you—Why couldn't I…"

Optimus expanded the energy field around all of his Autobots, protecting them and the shield. "Your assessment of the Skyboom Shield was accurate. Solus Prime forged this shield to not only be impenetrable, but to safely protect many bots all at once." He reached his hand over and settled it over the shield's surface. "But what you neglected to recall is that, being a Relic of the Primes, ONLY a Prime may wield it's true power."

"S-So… it's USELESS to us?!" Starscream shouted, his optics twitching in rage.

"And that means this mission might as well have been a waste of time!" Skywarp scoffed as he holstered his shotguns, while Thundercracker also put his weapon away. "A shield that can't even be used by us properly? This blows SO many gaskets!"

Starscream's fists shook in his anger, taking note of their battered and beaten Vehicons, and even some that were dead all together. Even if they brought the other Decepticons through… he knew there was no way THEY would put a dent into that shield's defenses. And what's more, he could see Windblade, and Strongarm having arrived as well, leaving them very outmatched. "I suggest you leave now, Starscream." Optimus advised. "Or would you rather this end in a worse way than it already has for you?"

"…This injustice will NOT be forgotten, Optimus. Decepticons, return to base!" At Starscream's command, a GroundBridge opened up behind him and his forces all piled into the vortex. The Seekers all took a moment to glare back at the bots before going in as well, the GroundBridge closing just as Windblade came in for a landing.

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! "Optimus!" The City Speaker rushed over as Prime lowered the energy field, seeing her commander and the rest of her team all full of holes and leaking energon. "By Primus, look at all of you!"

"Ah, this is nothin'." Bulkhead shrugged off, nudging Springer with a chuckle. "Heh, you should've seen us after the battle of Khyber-5, right, Springs?"

"Psh, that hunk a' rock was gonna blow up anyway." Springer rolled his optics as Strongarm pulled up, her four doors opening to allow Izuku, Kyoka, Mina and Eijiro to step out. "Heh, hey, would ya look who's all intact!" He lowered himself down and gave them a nod. "Seems like you guys came out the other end… okay?" But Springer then saw that the kids didn't seem as happy as he was, leading him to tilt his head. "You kids alright?"

"…WE'RE fine." Kyoka emphasized. "…But Agent Burns isn't." She craned her head up to Optimus, a feeling of guilt churning in her gut. "He's alive, but… he got crushed beneath a Vehicon's hand… to save me."

Optimus and the others let that sink in, the Prime lowering his head in understanding. "I see…" He crouched down and set a hand onto Kyoka's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, Kyoka. I'm sure that Agent Burns will be alright. If Merissa can heal Izuku's wounds, she can likely heal his as well."

Kyoka tapped her jacks together at that. "I know, but… I just feel… guilty. I said all that dumb stuff to him and he still went outta his way to save me."

Prime raised an eyeridge at her. "Well then, what do you suppose you should do?"

"…I guess I owe him an apology." Kyoka sighed. "Man, I feel like a total—"

"L-Let's not finish that sentence." Izuku interrupted. "I've known you long enough to know that you aren't one of those."

Mina came up and draped an arm over Kyoka's shoulder, offering a supportive smile. "Yeah, Kyoka! No need to beat yourself up about it. Burns will be fine, and I'm sure he'll accept your apology, I just know it."

Despite herself, Kyoka couldn't help but grin at her friends' unwavering support of her. "Man, you guys are WAY too supportive."

"Hey, why wouldn't we be, right? We're a team!" Eijiro cheered before glancing up toward the Skyboom Shield. "Speaking of, seems like teamwork netted us the shield!"

Strongarm transformed and placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah, but by the looks of things, you all went through the Pit to do it."

But once again, Springer just shrugged it off. "Ah, a few bullet holes, leakin' energon, nearly blown to bits, just yer average day for a Wrecker, cadet." He moved around and saluted to Optimus Prime. "All the same, like I said, I'll take responsibility for Burns' injuries, commander. I'm willing to accept any punishment."

Optimus stared at Springer for a moment, thinking it over in his head. "Well… I suppose that will be up to Agent Burns' discretion. If the children had been injured, we'd be telling a much different story…" He nodded in approval to all of his Autobots as he raised the Skyboom Shield. "But all the same, excellent work today, Autobots… and young heroes." He saw the children smile up at him before he went on; "Now that we are in possession of the Skyboom Shield, this will be our first step to—"

Bleep! "Optimus, come in. Do you read?"

"…Red Alert?" Optimus reached up to his comm, just as the other Autobots did. "Go ahead."

"Well, the good news is that Agent Burns is already beginning to feel better." Red continued, which made the kids all brighten up. "He may need some additional medical assistance, but Merissa managed to heal him for the most part."

Jazz gave a thumbs up to the kids. "Heh, well, that's great news! I'm sure the gang'll be happy to hear that."

There was a momentary pause before Red went on. "Yes, but that's only the first bit of news I have to share. The other… concerns me greatly." The Autobots were all focused up as the medic shared what he had found. "While you all were fighting the Decepticons, my scanners picked up three unidentified Cybertronian signals pop up in your area. Neither of them were Autobot or Decepticon in origin, however."

Prime's metal brow furrowed in concern, while the others were all surprised and confused by the news. "Is that so, Red Alert? Can you give me the exact coordinates of these signals?"

"Well, that's the other bit of worrying news. They only appeared briefly before disappearing about five minutes later, almost as if they had vanished without a trace."

"Three Cybertronians… neither Bot or Con." Izuku repeated. "What do you think that could be, Optimus?"

"I am… unsure, Izuku." Optimus admitted, setting his sights off to the distance. "But it truly is perplexing. I can only hope that this isn't some sort of Decepticon trick…"

…..

At the Darksyde, meanwhile, the atmosphere wasn't exactly as positive. Swift and the other Decepticons stood in front of the GroundBridge as the Vehicons hobbled in, followed by Thundercracker, Skywarp, and a VERY upset Starscream. The scowl he wore on his face told everyone that he was not to be messed with… so Swift decided to do the exact opposite. "So… things didn't go well?"

As expected, she saw Starscream's body tremble with rage and he stormed up to her angrily. But before he could do anything, Skywarp stopped him in his tracks and answered; "Hmph, understatement on the stellar cycle, Swift. We were out-gunned and our forces took a beating, so we decided a tactical retreat would be for the best."

"And you didn't think to call all of us in… why?" Nightra asked as she gestured to herself and the others.

Starscream made some annoyed sounds and twitched some more before he slammed his head against the wall several times. Meaning that Thundercracker had to provide an answer. "Trust me, Nightra, even with all of us there, none of us probably would've made it past that shield's defenses. Knowing Prime, he probably would've raised the energy field the second he saw all of you come through the GroundBridge."

"We WILL find someway to retrieve it, though." Skywarp assured. "That shield's too valuable to stay in Autobot hands for—"

"AAAAAUGH!" PEWPEWPEW! Without warning, Starscream shot his Null Ray at a random wall, blowing it up in a fiery blaze. The other Decepticons under his command all flinched and backed off as the Seeker Commander whipped around toward his brothers. "I cannot BELIEVE this! I brought you two in specifically so that we could have a fighting chance against those Autobots, and THIS is how you two repay me?! With FAILURE?!"

Skywarp grit his metal teeth and pointed at Starscream. "Oh, you don't think we're mad about this, too, Starscream?! Because guess what? We ARE! We thought that joining up with you would land us some well-needed victories, but nope! Nothin'!" He craned his head toward Nightra and Shadow Striker, the two femmes eyeing him warily. "Maybe coming to this planet was a mistake on our part. Come, let's—"

"Wait!" Thundercracker jumped in, putting his arms up between his Seeker brethren. "Brothers, please, I can assure you that you're BOTH jumping the gun here. Sure, we may not have gotten the Skyboom Shield…" He opened up his chest compartment, knowing that his brothers would be pleased by what he had found. "But when you see that I managed to recover, I'm sure you'll be singing a different tune."

"Thundercracker, what ever this is, it had better be… what?" Starscream's optics widened as a bright green glow suddenly emerged from his brother's chest, one that completely enveloped the dimly-lit room. The other Decepticons were taken aback, not just by the light, but what Thundercracker was holding for them all to see.

"…No way." Swift muttered.

Barricade was almost at a loss for words. "What the pit are THOSE doing on Earth?"

Flatline shook his head. "I could not tell you, mien freund, but I must say… Thundercracker, you are quite lucky."

Shadow Striker and Nightra smirked simultaneously, the former glancing over to Skywarp. "So, are we still leaving?" The proud grin on the Seeker's face was all she needed for an answer. "Hm, I thought not."

Starscream approached Thundercracker to get a closer look at what his brother had found, still trying to process it all. In the blue Seeker's hands were three small, green panels, all of which were pentagonal in shape. They were as green as the glow they produced, and in their center was a small insignia inside of a diamond-shaped logo; that of a stylized "M". "So… still think this mission was a failure?" Thundercracker questioned.

With a proud, yet nefarious smirk of his own, Starscream placed his hand on Thundercracker's shoulder in approval. "Brother… this is quite the find, indeed. I believe it's safe to say that you have saved this mission. Now… what say we bring these new little friends of ours out so we can meet them?" Thundercracker nodded and placed his other hand lightly over the panels… and they began to glow with much more intensity, erupting into three pillars of light. "Hmhmhm… the Autobots will have no idea what hit them… until it's too late."

…..

A/N: DUN-DUN-DUUUUUN! Yeah, quite the cliffhanger ending we have here, ain't it? All pretense out of the way, it seems Thundercracker found himself some dormant Mini-Cons! Don't know if you guys could tell, but Mini-Cons are gonna play a pretty big part in this story, and that includes EVERY type of Mini-Con out there. We've seen the Weaponizer types, the Deployer types, and with these familiar stasis panels, we're gonna be seeing some of the original types of Minis start popping up. But which ones has Thundercracker unearthed?

But of course, on the other side of things, the Autobots DID in fact get the Skyboom Shield! Now, for my initial thought process on this chapter, I was originally going to have the Decepticons get it, but then I realized; no, that probably wouldn't make sense. Sure, the Cons would have a powerful relic, but a shield isn't exactly what you'd call "destructive". Makes much more sense to have the Autobots retrieve it in that regard. Still, with the Cons' new acquisition, will THEY have the advantage in the long run?

Also, the kids managed to hold their own in a fight with the Vehicons! Got some major teamwork going on all sides here, that's for sure. Kyoka and Izuku with the piggyback technique while Mina and Eijiro just messed with their Con. And Burns just burnt his to a crisp… before getting crushed by another Con. But, he did so to make sure that Kyoka didn't get hurt instead, so there's something for our her to think about. Speaking of…

And now, the Preview! After a post-battle meeting back at base, we cut to the next day at U.A., where the students of 1-A continue to ask about just where our heroes keep going to train every day. At the same time, however, Bumblebee finally succumbs to something he's been secretly dreading; Midnight asking him to dinner. One word; HEEEELP! Next time; Dating Dangerously. Arcee frustratingly spies on the date while some uninvited guests silently watch THEM as well. Thanks for reading, everyone, and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!