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…

22. Waging Battle

A/N (IMPORTANT, Please Read): Good morning once again, one and all! Welcome back to the final part of this four-part mini-arc, and the last chapter of Transformers MHA before the big hiatus where I go back to writing Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2. Now keep in mind, just because the story's pausing doesn't mean it's ended yet. Trust me, there's still a LOT of Earthrise left to go, so I hope you guys will stick around for the ride once we come back in December. There'll be more details to come, but for now, let's get into the chapter, shall we? This is…

Chapter 22: Waging Battle

…..

From the moment the Autobots charged in, the area around the Darksyde had been turned into an absolute warzone. Gunfire could be heard ringing throughout the forest as bullets peppered the ground and trees, leaving anything they hit upturned or splintered. …Or in Blastwave's case, utterly leveled. The largest Decepticon definitely packed the biggest weapon he could find, because this double barreled mini-gun just did NOT stop going. Even the weapon's reload time was super quick, so the Autobots had a very narrow window to fire back on the Decepticon bruiser. "WAAAAH! WAAAAH! AHAHAHA!" Blastwave taunted. "Yes, cry some more, COWARDS!"

Thus, the Autobots were left with but one tactic; run—or in this case, drive—and gun. They'd had barely any time to transform with Blastwave firing upon them, so they had to deal with it on the fly. Many of the faster bots like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker had activated their vehicle-mounted blasters to try and take out as many Vehicons as they could to clear the area, just so they'd have more room to maneuver around this onslaught of firepower. At one point, though, Sideswipe ended up driving over a large stone, sending him up and back down quickly while rattling his passengers.

"Agh! Sideswipe, watch where you're going!" Eijiro chided. "The point of avoiding all these bullets is kinda moot if we die in a crash!"

"I know, I KNOW!" Sideswipe countered. "Sorry, but it's kinda hard to look out for speed bumps when you've got a thousand things coming at you all at once!"

Cementoss furrowed his blocky brow, thinking of a potential plan. "Hm, we need something to stop his fire for good. Something to cut him off and give us time to regroup…" His eyes darted back and forth, gazing through the windshield at potential things they could use to assist. Prime and his team had already gone up the sloped boulder and crashed into the Darksyde, just as planned, so they wouldn't be getting any help there…

…Or were they? In the ship's new hole, Cementoss caught sight of All Might and Deku coming back out… and they were carrying something on their shoulders. The hero narrowed his eyes curiously, only to realize what those were a second later. "Sideswipe, quick! Get over under the hole in the ship! All Might and Deku have something for us!"

"Um, alright, if you say so. Hang on!" With a rev of his engine, Sideswipe's tires screeched across the ground as he swerved toward the ship, going as fast as he could to avoid the incoming fire. "Sunstreaker, give me some cover! I need to get closer to the ship!"

"Bro, are you MAD?!"

"Cementoss has a plan, just trust me!"

The yellow Lambo Brother was somewhat skeptical, but obliged anyway. "Ugh, just don't die on me, bro. I'm coming in!" From behind Blastwave, Sunstreaker came zooming in, though the large Decepticon was too focused to really notice.

But then, the Con's medic had to blow that surprise. "Blastwave, mein kamerad!" Flatline pointed. "Behind you!"

"Huh? AH! Thank you, doctor!" Blastwave immediately stopped his fire and instead spun right around on his foot, raising it just as Sunstreaker came within five feet of himself. "DIE, PUNY BABY BOT!"

"AGH! Emergency ejection!" Sunstreaker opened his doors and launched both Denki and Vlad out of their seats, sending them both sprawling away while he transformed to catch Blastwave's foot. He quickly took out his photon blaster and aimed right for the Con's face. "Eat THIS, Decepti-creep!" BAM! BAM!

"EEYAAAARRRGH!" Blastwave stumbled back, his hand to his chest as his mesh was singed by the blasts. He snarled in contempt to the Autobot and raised his Scrapmaker again. "That… was VERY poor choice, Autobot. Now, DIE—AAAAAAUUUUGHGHBLBLBL!" All of a sudden, a huge surge of lightning was sent coursing through Blastwave's entire body, causing him a great deal of pain and sending him straight down onto his aft. Sunstreaker's jaw dropped the moment he saw Denki standing by Blastwave's foot, the bruiser now covered in burn marks as his head spun.

"You okay, partner?" Denki winked with a thumbs up.

Sunstreaker sighed and smiled down to him. "Yeah, thanks Denki. I think the Earth expression is… "Thanks for saving my swine"?"

The Electrification user cringed a bit at that. "Well… it's actually "saving your bacon", but hey, you were close!"

"We're not done yet." Vlad King spoke up, the Blood Hero glaring up as Flatline approached the group. "Keep on your guard."

But Sunstreaker rolled his optics, shaking his head as Flatline stopped in front of the charred Blastwave. "Please, what's the medic gonna do? Take us to his med bay and repair us?"

Flatline chose to ignore the whelp for now as he knelt down, inspecting Blastwave's wounds and his disorientated state. "Ugh… doctor? …What happened?"

"Vorry not, mein freund. You have sustained minimal damage. Und believe me…" Flatline rose up and reached behind his back, revealing that he was wearing some sort of powerpack. It had some sort of gun attached to it, with a hose connecting the butt end of it to the pack in order to power it. The gun itself was very cylindrical in shape and had a red and black color scheme, and the pack seemed to glow brighter once Flatline flipped the activation switch on the gun. "You shall be feeling MUCH better soon enough."

Flatline held the weapon by its hand with his right hand while grabbing onto a large lever on top of it with his left. The moment he thrust that lever forward, a beam of red light suddenly came surging out of the barrel and directly hit Blastwave in the chest… and what came next stunned the Autobot and the two humans. Blastwave's burn marks and injuries all started to heal, the energy from the gun spreading throughout his entire body to quickly heal himself. Within moments, Blastwave slowly got back to his feet, feeling refreshed and ready to keep going. "Hmm… ah, MUCH better!"

"…WHAT?!" Denki's hands flew up to his head in disbelief. "B-But I ZAPPED you into next week!"

Blastwave glowered down and brought up his Scrapmaker again, taking aim. "Seven days has come early, tiny baby man!"

"And why do you keep calling people babies?! Seriously, it's getting—oh scrap." Denki felt his gut sink to his feet as the Scrapmaker's barrels started spinning. And before he knew it… RATATATATATATAT! "AAAAAHhhh… wait, what?" Much to Denki's surprise, he WASN'T Swiss cheese at the moment, and he quickly figured out why. A huge wall of cement had been put up in front of him, taking him by surprise. "W-Woah, what the—"

"Don't worry, Chargebolt." The electric blonde whipped his head around to see Cementoss standing not too far away, the Cement Hero's hands glowing a bright green as he manipulated the cement to his bidding. "We've got you covered." He balled a fist and thrust it forward, causing a portion of the cement to come out and sock Blastwave right in the knee.

"GAH!" Blastwave fell to one knee, and was immediately met with a pair of powerful punches. One came from a hardened fist… while the other came from a fist made of blood. "AUGH!"

Vlad King and Eijiro landed in a crouch, one of his arms completely covered in his own, malleable blood as he used his Quirk to control it. "Mess with MY charge, will you? Well, not to day, you damned menace." He whipped around and furrowed his brow at Denki. "And as for YOU." The teen flinched and backed up, only for Vlad to raise a brow. "You good? Everything in one piece?"

Denki was surprised, to say the least. "…Um, y-yeah, I guess—"

"Good, because that had to be the DUMBEST stunt I've ever seen!" Vlad went up and jabbed Denki in the chest with his blood finger, making sure he got the message. "What you did was foolhardy and reckless. When someone's pointing a weapon at you, you MOVE, not stand there and stare like a dead fish!"

"Gotta admit, dude, he's got a point." Eijiro shrugged.

"Er, w-well, I panicked, okay?"

If anything, Vlad just glared at Denki even harder. "Unacceptable! I don't know what Aizawa's been teaching you in that class of yours, but the very FIRST thing I taught my 1-B students is about how do deal with the pressure of battle." He balled his bloody fist up as he spoke with conviction. "Of course you'll have to deal with petrifying situations, but a hero thinks on their feet and stands firm in the face of danger. You'd think you had learned that after the USJ attack."

"Hey, I—oh god." Denki snapped his finger up and screamed; "BEHIND YOU!"

Vlad spun around just in time to see Blastwave get up, the massive Decepticon gritting his metal teeth in anger. "Grr… you will PAY for that, you—huh?" As Blastwave got up, though, he was met with a pair of guns in his face, courtesy of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

The red bot smirked and said; "Hey."

"We're here to collect our payback." Sunstreaker added, right before both of them socked Blastwave in the head. The force of the attack sent the massive Decepticon staggering back… right as a certain green bot was driving past. "Yo, Bulk! You want this one?!"

"GLADLY!" Bulkhead opened his door and let Mina out before transforming into robot mode, catching Blastwave and putting him into an upside-down headlock. "THIS is for Crystal City, you piece of SLAG!" The Wrecker kicked Blastwave's legs out from under him and fell backward, leaving the Decepticon with nowhere else to go… but right onto the new cement floor below him. WHAM! The hard floor cracked as Blastwave's body went limp, and Bulkhead chuckled to himself as he stood. "Heh, so much for tha—" PEW! "Ow! HEY!" A small laser blast had hit Bulkhead's shoulder, and the culprit wasn't too hard to figure out.

"Hmph, you Autobots certainly ARE persistent, aren't you?" Flatline said as he holstered his sidearm, glaring at the three bots and their companions. "Vell, perhaps I should see vhat I can do vith YOU. Ve could alvays use spare parts, und I vould be happy to have some new… test subjects, hmhmhm…"

"…I don't like the way he looked at US when he said that." Mina piped up.

Flatline reached into his holster and pulled out a red energy blade, a manic air behind his optics. "Now hold still, zis von't take but a min—UTE!" FWOOM! Without any warning, the ground beneath Flatline's feet suddenly gave out, and just like several Vehicons before him, he sank down deep into the dirt. "ACH! Vhat is zis?!"

Blastwave came to at that moment and he gasped at the sight. "AGH Doctor!"

"Schnell! Blastwave, help me!" The Decepticon bruiser was about to oblige, when suddenly, Power Loader came bursting out of the earth beneath his feet, sending the massive robot tumbling over. "AAUGH! Nein, nein, nein, nei—" PANG! …And straight onto Flatline's head. "Augh… Schweinhunds…" Just like that, Flatline was out like a light.

"Hah, yeah, and you STAY down." Power Loader breathed heavily, covered in dirt and grime from his relatively short time underground. The Support class teacher turned toward the others and asked; "Everyone all good?"

Mina saluted to him immediately. "Yes sir, Mr. Power Loader! Thanks for the save—AH!" But then, the Acid user gasped and pointed behind him. "Watch out, more incoming!" Everyone whipped their heads up to see several Vehicons coming toward them, their weapons out and at the ready. And leading the way was none other than Barricade.

"There they are, OPEN FIRE!" Barricade ordered before all of them stopped and started shooting. But, like before, their laser blasts only made contact with a wall of hardened cement, courtesy of Cementoss. "What the—hey!"

The teachers, students and Autobots all grouped up behind the cement wall, the bots themselves pulling out their own weapons to take aim and fire back at the Vehicons. As laser blasts rang out through the whole area, the humans grouped up to form some semblance of a plan. "Okay, we're pinned between a bunch of Vehicons, the Con's ship, and a hard place sandwiched right with us… speaking of…" Denki raised an eyebrow at Cementoss. "Where the heck did you get the cement?"

Cementoss chuckled and explained. "Well, Creati was thoughtful enough to make a few blocks for me to use. And I'm very glad she did, otherwise you might not be here right now."

Eijiro balled his fist, hardening his arms in frustration. "Dammit, we can't just STAY here! We need to find a way to get to those Cons so we can fight!"

"Agreed." Vlad nodded as he thought over their options. If any of them got hit by one of those blasts, they could be incapacitated, or worse. Thankfully, an idea came to him almost immediately. "Power Loader, think you can get some of us over there by underground? We'll be able to take 'em by surprise from behind."

"Well… this baby doesn't exactly take passengers, but I think I can take a couple of the kids over." Power Loader craned his head over to Mina and Eijiro. "Alright, Alien Queen, Red Riot, climb aboard."

The duo followed his orders to the letter, but Denki couldn't help but be confused all the same. "W-Wait, hold on, what about me? I've still got enough juice to take down a lot of those guys!"

Cementoss gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "Don't worry, Chargebolt, I think I have a special plan of attack for you in mind. For now, though, let's get this started.

"Good to hear!" Sideswipe called back. "Because right now, we're not lookin' too good."

"The Cons just set up a forcefield barrier." Bulkhead explained, pointing across the way. A few of the humans peeked out from behind the wall to see that indeed, there was a tall, purple barrier set up in front of the Cons, and while they could fire through it, any shots the Autobots took just deflected right off. "If we wanna get to 'em, we gotta take that barrier OUT."

Mina grinned wildly and slammed her fist into her palm. "Alright. Operation "Sneak Attack" is a go! Let's get diggin', Mr. Power Loader!"

"Alright, hold on!" With that warning, the kids clung to the struts of Power Loader's suit as he started digging down through the dirt, all while making sure they held their breath. The Autobots and heroes could feel the earth beneath their feet rumble, but only for a moment as Power Loader dug deeper down, making sure the small tremors wouldn't be felt by the Cons. Before long, he changed direction and crossed enemy lines, before making his way right back up.

Eventually, the small tremors came back, and one of the Vehicons gasped in fear. "AH! No, not aga—AIN!" BWOOM! And just like that, a sink hole opened up beneath the foot soldier's feet sending him down into the deep ground below.

"AGH! What the—" BLAM! Barricade was cut off when Power Loader suddenly erupted from the ground, causing several of his squad to be sent tumbling while Mina and Eijiro launched themselves at the hapless Vehicons.

"Hiya, Barry!" Mina swiped her hand and sent splashes of acid across many Vehicons' faces, sending them down screaming in pain. "Ya remember us?!"

Eijiro slammed into one Con's chest and took it down with ease before jumping at another, clawing at its leg with his hardened fingertips. "C'mon, ya know ya do!" The redhead quickly climbed his way up the Vehicon, all while it tried to shake him off, but to no avail. He finally made it up to its head and started pummeling it, causing it to trip into even MORE Vehicons that he continued to engage as well.

"No… no, no, NO!" Barricade hollered, stomping his foot in anger. "This is NOT how it's supposed to go! You're organic! You aren't supposed to be able to fight back!" He reached behind his back and pulled out his partner. "Frenzy! Teach these humans a lesson they'll never forget—" CLANG! "OUCH!"

Barricade was sent sprawling after a surprise punch from Sideswipe, with Frenzy hitting the ground and transforming out of shock. "AH! Boss!" He grit his teeth and the buzzsaw in his chest started spinning, his anger growing by the second. "You lousy bulk! I'll show YOU not to mess with us!" He pulled his hand back and brought out his shock prod… only for someone to grab him by that arm. "HUH?! Who dares?!"

"Aw, c'mon man." Denki smirked, his hand starting to spark as well. "Don't tell me you've never shaken hands before. Here, let me show you what the BUZZ is about!" ZZZZZZZZZZTTT!

"AAAAAAUUUGHGHG!" Frenzy screamed painfully, already seeing stars as the electricity coursed through his systems. Then, with a surprisingly strong swing, Denki threw the Mini-Con over his shoulder and slammed him into the dirt, which subsequently allowed Vlad and Sunstreaker to deal the finishing blows. One hard punch and a stomp later, and Frezny was down for the count. "WOO! Haha, now THAT was a pretty great team attack!"

Sunstreaker brushed his shoulder off and chortled at their handiwork. "Ah, what did ya expect, my friend? You and I both knew we'd kick major skid plate, and look at us! We—" SHINK! "URK! AUGH!"

All at once, Denki's eyes widened and his jaw fell open, his blood draining from his face. It happened all too fast, but for him and his friends, it almost felt like it was in slow motion. To everyone's surprise, Blastwave had gotten up, and the Decepticon bruiser had used his sharp fingers to stab Sunstreaker in the back, creating a huge, gaping wound in the warrior's back. Energon started leaking from it and his mouth as he fell forward, landing flat on his chest. "AHAHAHA!" Blastwave guffawed, balling a fistful of Sunstreaker's own energon. "Oh, THAT felt good! Puny Autobot baby NEVER saw it coming! BAHAHA!"

Mina and Eijiro were horrified while the teachers were just plain stunned. None of them could believe what they had just seen happen. Slowly but surely, Bulkhead's features twisted in rage, his body trembling before he shouted; "BLASTWAAAAAVE!" He charged at the Decepticon with his maces and tackled him to the ground, hitting him repeatedly all while Blastwave just kept laughing.

"NO! Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe went to help his brother, but Barricade quickly tackled him down, slamming the butt end of his rifle into Sideswipe's head.

"Did you forget who YOU'RE dealing with, kid?!" Barricade rolled Sideswipe onto his back and started hitting him back as well, though the red Autobot was at least able to fight back.

As that went on, though, the heroes and students all gathered up on Sunstreaker, hoping to whatever deity existed that he wasn't dead yet. "Sunstreaker!" Mina cried, sliding to a stop right next to his head. "A-Are you okay?!"

"C'mon man, speak to us!" Eijiro pleaded.

Thankfully, they heard a groan from the Autobot, lifting their spirits up a bit. "Ugh… well, that'll teach me to gloat early, hehe—HAKHAK! Ow." The kids stepped back as Sunstreaker hacked up a bunch of energon, and within moments, he started feeling weaker. "Oh Primus… please tell me this isn't how I go out."

"Don't worry, we're going to get you to safety." Vlad assured. "All we need to do is—" ZZT. "Huh? What's going—oh." The man's confusion was lifted the moment he saw Denki. The young man was trembling as his fists were balled so tight that his knuckles had turned white. His teeth were clenched and he seemed on the verge of tears, though Vlad couldn't tell since the boy's eyes were sparking. "…Oh no."

"Holy shit!" Eijiro and Mina exclaimed.

Power Loader couldn't help but take a step back, especially when a bolt suddenly surged off of Denki's body. "W-What's happening to Chargebolt?!"

Vlad recognized this, though. It often happened in his early days as a hero, especially in situations like this. "The boy's emotions are getting the better of him! Seeing his friend hurt like that must've been the trigger!" He whipped his head toward the bots and called out; "BULKHEAD! SIDESWIPE! Tactical retreat! Get Sunstreaker and clear the area!"

Bulkhead growled and whirled around toward the hero. "You kidding me?! Just give me ten seconds alone with Blastwave and I… oh." His rage disappeared when he saw Denki, as well as the power building around him. "…On second thought, I think I'm gonna do what you say."

"Ditto!" Sideswipe acknowledged before spinning his legs around to kick Barricade off of him. He shot to his feet and ran over to his brother, with Bulkhead helping to pick him up. "Hold on, bro, we're gonna get you some help."

As Sunstreaker was carried off, though, he caught sight of his friend's state. "D-Denki?" With that last word, he and the others gathered around as Cementoss created a massive cement dome over their heads, helping shield them from whatever may happen.

Blastwave and Barricade sat up, rubbing the fog from their processors as they stood. "Ugh, where did Bulkhead go?!" the former demanded, taking up his Scrapmaker again. "I will blast him to ity-bity tiny pieces for what he did to… hm?" He trailed off, however, when he saw Denki approaching him, the blonde practically covered in lightning at this point. "Eh… what is wrong with tiny human?"

"You… YOU!" Denki snapped his head up to Blastwave, his features contorted in righteous fury. "YOU HURT MY FRIEND!"

"…Scrap." Barricade rushed off and scooped up Frenzy, transforming into his police car mode to leave his Vehicon troops and Blastwave in the dust. "Sorry, but I don't feel like DYING today!"

"Barricade!" Blastwave bellowed. "GET BACK HERE, COWARD!" The munitions expert sneered down to Denki in disgust. "Pheh, it does not matter! You do not scary me, little child."

Denki clawed his hands, preparing for his attack. "Not now… but you will." He thrust his arms up toward the sky and snapped his head back, screaming to the heavens; "Indiscriminate Shock: TWO-MILLION VOLTS!" All at once, the lightning around Denki went surging out, creating a sound almost like a lightning strike… CRACKA-THOOOM! And then from there, the electricity was dispersed all throughout the area, striking the Vehicons and Blastwave with a staggering amount of force. ZZZZZZZZZZAAAAATTTT! "GYAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAUUUUUGGGHH!" Blastwave could only scream in pain as the lightning coursed through his very being, with one bolt even striking him in the optic. He had been struck by electricity like this many times before… but compared to the child's first blast, this definitely hurt much more. The Vehicons all screamed as well, at least the ones who were still above ground. By the time the massive surge was over, every single one of them was charred and singed, their mesh burning, even. Many Vehicons fell instantly, alive, but in stasis lock… while Blastwave remained standing. The Con, with now only one optic functional, forced a grin and chuckled defiantly. "Hah, is that all you… urgh…" WHAM!

Denki relaxed as he saw the one who hurt his friend fall before him, falling into stasis as he was knocked out. He then fell to his knees to let his tears flow freely, his hands covering his eyes. "Oh god… w-what did I just do?!"

"That's what WE'D like to know." The blonde snapped his head back to see his friends, the teachers, and Sideswipe and Bulkhead all emerge from the cement dome. Eijiro and Mina rushed over to him, sliding to a halt as they put their hands to his shoulders. "Hey man, you okay?" the redhead grinned.

"Ugh, no." Denki shook his head, only for his neck to twinge slightly. "Agh, my legs feel like jelly and I'm tasting nothing but metal."

Mina winced and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Yeah, well, that'll happen when you go supernova like that."

Vlad stepped up and crossed his arms. "You let your emotions get the better of you." Denki felt his gut sink at the admonishing tone, but took it nonetheless. "Seeing your friend fall before you like that caused you to lose control." He narrowed his eyes at he fledgling hero disapprovingly. "I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that cannot be afforded to happen again. A smarter villain would've been keen to take advantage of this."

Denki rubbed his tears away and took a deep breath, nodding at his words. "Right… y-you're right, sir. What I did was… completely out of line. I-I'm sorry."

"Hah… well, I suppose there IS a bright side; your opponent wasn't smart." Vlad pointed out, gesturing to all of the knocked out Vehicons. "Plus, you took out a whole swath of the enemy forces in one blast, so there's that."

"And thankfully, none of US were hurt, more importantly." Power Loader added.

"Y-Yeah, I—AH! Wait! Sunstreaker!" Denki tried to get up, but his knees buckled, leading Eijiro and Mina to catch him. "I-Is he okay? PLEASE tell me he's okay!"

Cementoss grimaced at the question, his eyes focused on the yellow bot in question. "See for yourself, lad." The group rushed over to see Sunstreaker still on his stomach with Bulkhead right by his side, but the situation before them wasn't pretty.

There was still a gaping hole in the middle of Sunstreaker's back, and by now, it had started pooling energon inside it. The young bot was bleeding out, and fast. Still, somehow, he hadn't slipped into stasis lock, and he weakly moved his head around to smile to his friend. "H-Heheh… wow, man. I could feel the tingles all the way over here. Hak-hak! Y-You really let him have it, didn't you?"

"Sunstreaker!" Denki wrenched himself free and dropped next to his friend, reaching out to place a hand on his arm. "J-Just hang tight! We'll get a GroundBridge open, get you back to base, and—"

"Denki… there might not be enough time." Bulkhead informed. "He's already lost a lot of energon, and—"

"I DON'T CARE!" The Electrification user snapped. "Th-There has to be SOMETHING we can do! ANYTHING!"

Just then, Sideswipe spoke up again. "Way ahead of you!" The others watched as the red bot had rushed right back over to them, having left to go get a certain something. "Okay, so this might be a long shot, but…" He lifted up what he had retrieved; the Medi-Gun and backpack that Flatline was using. "I'm pretty sure I saw how Flatline used this thing. If this thing can heal a huge bot like Blastwave, this HAS to work on Sunstreaker… right?"

Everyone glanced to one another warily, only for Mina to put on a hopeful smile. "…Only one way to find out, right?"

Sideswipe hummed an agreement and slipped the pack on, taking up the Medi-Gun in hand. He flipped an activation switch and held the handle firmly, aiming the gun right for his brother. "C'mon bro, it's not your time yet." He thrust forward the lever on top of the gun, sending out a red stream of energy at his brother… and just like that, Sunstreaker took a deep intake of air. The team watched as his inner workings repaired themselves and the energon drained, all while his outer mesh rapidly healed as well. Within ten seconds, the wound was completely gone, leaving Sunstreaker to clear his vent system and hack up the remaining energon.

Denki's eyes lit up and he laughed victoriously, throwing himself onto Sunstreaker in relief. "AHAHAHA! Sunny, you're ALIVE!"

"Hah… yeah, I-I guess I am." He picked his friend up and set him on his shoulder, breathing out as he looked to his brother. "Thanks, bro. You're a life saver."

Sideswipe took the Medi-Gun off and tossed it to the side. "And don't you forget it." BAM! Everyone came to attention as something very loud shook the ground beneath their feet, leading them to look up and see a plume of dust coming from the other side of the ship. "…Okay, now, you guys should stay here for now, got it?" Sideswipe advised. "The rest of us will go see what the heck THAT was all about."

"Hey, I won't argue." Denki concurred. "I can barely feel my legs anyway."

"I'll remain here and watch over them." Vlad offered. "The rest of you go see what's happening, on the double." The group saluted back to him before rushing off to go help with whatever was happening, all while Vlad eyed the duo behind him. "I hope the two of you have learned something valuable from this experience."

Denki and Sunstreaker eyed one another as well, and both of them unanimously nodded. "Being cocky can get you killed if you're not careful." The Autobot concluded.

"And letting your emotions get the better of you can be dangerous." Chargebolt added.

Vlad gave them an approving smirk, but made sure they didn't see it. "Hm, see? You ARE learning."

…..

"GAH! Where do these things keep coming from?!"

"They're… they're coming from his MOUTH! How many of these things are there?!"

"How should I know? He keeps MAKING them! Just keep shooting!"

Ectoplasm had to admit, there was a part of him that was relishing these sorts of reactions. It had been a long time since he had seen THIS type of response to his Quirk, no doubt about it. Still, he knew that there was a job that needed to be done, so he just kept right at it. He opened his mouth yet again and made more clones, the duplicates emerging from the strange mist that erupted from said orifice. He called out to his assigned student to make certain he was alright. "Tenya! How are things with you?"

Not too far away, Tenya himself was currently outspeeding several Vehicons in their car modes, keeping his speed at maximum. Those laps that Strongarm had put him through were finally paying off. "I'm doing well, Mr. Ectoplasm, worry not!" Just then, however, the armored student caught sight of more Vehicons… and they were driving straight toward him. "Hm, on second thought…"

"We got him now!" One of the foot soldiers sounded off. "Quick, box him in! Don't let him get away!"

Beneath his helmet, Tenya wore a knowing smiel. "Is that right? Well, sorry to disappoint you…" SHOOOM! Tenya paused on the balls of his right foot and pivoted suddenly, letting loose a burst from his left engine to allow him to sharply turn and dash off in another direction. Within moments, he heard the sounds of shouting and crashing, assuring him that a multi-car pile-up had just happened. "…But I'm afraid that YOU are the ones who've been boxed."

While the pile-up had been loud, it didn't impede Kyoka from hearing that bad retort, even while she was several yards away. "Eugh, Iida, we NEED to work on your snappy comebacks." She shifted her eyes back up to the Vehicons that were coming her way, a smirk of her own forming on her lips. "Oh, so you guys wanna take me head on, huh? Alright, I've been wanting to perform a new set anyways. Tell me what you think of THIS!" She plugged her jacks into her wrist-mounted speakers and slammed her fists to the ground, blasting sonic waves out through the speakers and into the earth below. "I call this… Heartbeat Distortion!"

The force of the sonic blasts were enough to make the ground tremble, and even crack apart in some places, making the Vehicons lose their balance and fall straight to their afts. Once they were all down, Kyoka transferred her jacks into her boots, but all the same, the soundwaves kept coming. Only this time, they actually blasted the bots themselves. "AAAAAUGH! SO MUCH NOISE!"

"My audio receptors!" BOOM! "AAH! THEY POPPED!"

"AUGH! How is she AS loud as Soundwave?!"

"Heh, ya think ya like HER set?" Kyoka's eyes widened as Present Mic hopped in right next to her, the blonde DJ's hands in his pockets. "Well, lemme know what ya think of mine, ya dig?!" He took in a big breath of air and screamed at the top of his lungs;

"YYYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Present Mic's sonic blasts were much different from Kyoka's were. For one, they seemed to have a yellow tinge to them, perhaps thanks to some form of energy. But unsurprisingly, this blast was MUCH bigger, and louder than Kyoka's. So much so that the punk rocker had to cover her OWN ears to bear through it. But unfortunately, the Vehicons weren't so lucky. Many of them started to short-circuit as their audio receptors kept popping all over the place, and one by one, they fell flat on their backs, the pain too much to bear. Present Mic and Kyoka stopped once the final one dropped, and the student crossed her arms up at her teacher. "Ya know, I could've handled 'em by myself."

"Well a'course ya could've, Earphone!" Present Mic recognized. "But as your overseer, it's my job to make sure that happens, ya know? Can't go around on a risky mission like this doin' everything without SOME back-up, feel me?"

Kyoka rolled her eyes and scoffed at that. "Yeah, I get it. …Hey, where'd Jazz and Strongarm go?"

BAM! BAM! BAM! The group had their answer almost immediately as they heard gunfire not too far away. They lifted their heads to see Jazz and Strongarm in the midst of battle with Skywarp and Swift respectively, the pairs of adversaries exchanging fire. Jazz just narrowly avoided a pointblank shot from Skywarp, performing a kickflip to send the Seeker's arm back and away from him. "HA! Almost had me there, 'Warp! But ya gotta be quick—" ZWOM! CRACK!"YOW!"

In mere seconds, Skywarp teleported behind Jazz, striking him upside the head with the handle of his shotgun. "How's THAT for quick, Autobot?"

"JAZZ!" Kyoka started forward, rushing to help her friend.

…But she was quickly brought to a halt by Present Mic. "Waoh, Earphone Jack, slow your roll!"

"Gah! Hey, what's the big deal?!" The punk rocker snapped. "We've gotta help Jazz!"

"Sure 'nough, but we can't go rushing head-long into that kinda sitch." Mic pointed up at Skywarp's guns. "If he so much as gets a shot off on ya, you're fried, ya dig? We gotta be smart 'bout this."

Kyoka furrowed her brow at him. "Okay, what do you suggest?"

The pro hero pointed finger guns at her with an assuring wink. "Follow my lead, my fellow audio lovin' peep. We'll get Jazz outta there in no time."

"Don't call me a peep again and I'll go along with anything." Kyoka kept her ears sharp as she listened to Present Mic's plan, and as much as she hated to admit it… it actually sounded pretty good. "Hm, okay, not bad." she smirked. "Let's blow him outta the water." Present Mic gave her a thumbs up and they went their separate ways, going off to either side of the battling duo.

Jazz, meanwhile, had just gotten kicked in the midsection. The lieutenant was sent hurdling into a nearby boulder, which cracked the moment he hit it. He fell to the ground and, in seconds, was met with Skywarp porting in front of him again. "Gotta say, Jazz, this is sad. You're one of the best the Autobots have to offer and you're getting pummeled. What does THAT say about yourself?"

"Hmph, well, between the two of us…" Jazz sneered up at Skywarp as he held his middle, bearing through the pain. "…At least I'm not the big bully here."

"What can I say? Sometimes, ya gotta push people around to get what you want." Skywarp raised his shotguns, ready to put the lieutenant out of his misery. "Now… death comes."

Just then, Jazz caught sight of Kyoka and Present Mic approaching from behind the Seeker, coming in from either flank. His lips curled into a small grin, a feeling telling him he knew exactly what would come next. "Actually, ya might wanna put a rain check on that." Suddenly, from his shoulders, Jazz activated his sonic emitters, the pair of high-intensity speakers taking Skywarp by surprise. "Gotcha, glitch!"

"What the—oof!" His guard down, Jazz kicked Skywarp in the gut and made him fumble back, directly in the path of Present Mic and Kyoka. And then, all at once, all three let lose on their sonic attacks, with Jazz providing a cool guitar tune to go with his. Thankfully, they way they were positioned meant that they didn't get hit by their own attacks… all while Skywarp took the full brut of it. "GYAAAAAAAAHHGG! RAAAAAAHHH! STOP! Stop the NOISE!"

"Sorry, asshole, NOT happening!" Kyoka screamed.

"AGH! I-I… said… STOP!" ZWOM! In a purple flash, Skywarp disappeared, only to reappear just a few feet away. "Hah, hah, alright, more fooling arou—ACK! CRUNCH! As quick as a flash, Jazz whirled around and slammed Skywarp's head straight into the boulder, creating a crack that actually split the boulder straight in half. The purple and black Seeker groaned as he released his grip on his shotguns and fell over, slipping into unconsciousness.

"Hehe, guess he couldn't handle that much sound." Jazz chuckled victoriously at their win. He crouched down as Kyoka and Mic came up to him, offering a fist bump for each. "Nice work back there, guys. Really showed ol' Warp what sound like that can do!"

Kyoka returned the gesture with a thumbs up. "No prob, Jazz. No one messes with MY friends and gets away with it." At that moment, though, Kyoka caught sight of Strongarm and Swift's battle… and unfortunately, the cadet was on the backfoot. "Oh jeez, over there! Strongarm needs help!"

But Present Mic just waved it off. "Ah, I wouldn't worry 'bout it, kid. Take another look…"

The group watched as Strongarm went blow for blow against Swift, though it was obvious that the copter bot had the advantage. Her fists glowed an eerie green as she kept up her attacks, and with every strike, she pushed Strongarm closer and closer to the massive, sloping boulder just beside the base. "Hyah! Cha! You and your Autobot pals are gonna regret coming here!" Swift swung her leg in a wide arc, kicking Strongarm's midsection and tripping her into the boulder. "Once I'm through with you, I'm going right in after your friends and I'm gonna dispose of 'em the same way. Whaddya think about THAT?!"

"Hah… I… I think you're way in over your head. WHOA!" Strongarm pulled her head back, narrowly avoiding an energy blast. Raising her crossbow, she took aim, only for Swift to kick it up as the trigger was pulled. The blast struck the boulder overhead, putting a small crack in it.

"Ah-ah-ah, naughty girl." Swift wagged her finger as she had Strongarm pinned. "We're gonna have to BEAT some sense into you, aren't we?"

"Not on MY watch!" The two femmes were surprised at the sound of Tenya's voice, the Engine user rushing in on foot and jumping straight up. "Strongarm, clear the way! ENGINE BOOST!" With those words, Tenya's engines let loose a powerful blast, propelling one of his legs up to perform a kick right where the small crack had formed. The very moment it connected, the crack grew until the entire top part of the boulder broke off and came falling down.

Swift's optics widened and she was about to move… when Strongarm pushed back against her leg and sent her sprawling to the ground. "Sorry, gotta run!"

"NO! You get back—" BAM! The boulder landed on top of Swift, crushing her and leaving nothing but her hands exposed. She tried clenching them to activate her power… but the trauma to her head was too much. "I… hate… all of you. Blegh."

Strongarm and Tenya both breathed heavily, keeping their sights squarely on Swift and the boulder to make sure she didn't move. Thankfully, she seemed well and truly out, so they breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, well, that was intense." Strongarm smiled toward her partner. "Thanks for the assist, Tenya. I probably wouldn't have come up with a plan like that in that moment, honestly."

"Ah, it was nothing, really." Tenya bowed his head. "I simply saw you in peril and did what any selfless hero would've done. The whole part with the cracked boulder was a happy accident."

The cadet crouched down and placed a hand on her partner's shoulder. "Well, it was a great accident, I'll say that much."

"Tenya, Strongarm!" The duo whirled around to see Jazz coming their way, with Kyoka and Present Mic in tow. "You cats okay? We saw the whole thing go down."

The pair gave him a salute. "Oh, we're fine, Lieutenant, really." Strongarm assured. "Just a bit of quick thinking on Tenya's part helped us along."

Kyoka went up and gave Tenya a jab in the arm. "Heh, I'll say it was. Iida, that maneuver was awesome. Great thinkin' back there."

"Hm, thank you, Jiro, I—oh no, INCOMING!" Tenya whipped his arm up and pointed across the way, where everyone saw Barricade approaching them fast with his sirens blaring.

The Decepticon cop brought up a pair of blasters from his hood, not letting up on the gas for a minute as he ran the humans down. "That tears it! I'm through with ALL of this! I'm taking you posers down once and for all, and there's NOTHING stopping me!"

Before anyone could react, though, Ectoplasm leapt in front of them from out of nowhere, glaring straight back at Barricade with a resolute stance. "Oh really? Then perhaps THIS counts as "nothing"?!" Ectoplasm opened his maw and let loose another blast of mist, though this one was MUCH bigger than the last. And the reason for that became very apparent as, instead of multiple clones, the hero had created one GIANT clone of himself, taking the students and Autobots off guard. The massive clone bent down… and then opened its giant mouth. "Now, get ready to be sent… to GIANT BITE DETENTION!"

"OH SLAAAAA—" CHOMP! CRUNCH! Barricade's whole roof caved in as the massive clone bit down on him, before shaking him in his mouth and then spitting him back out. The cop transformed as he hit the side of the ship, his back and midsection VERY worse for wear. "That… was disgusting. Ugh…"

And just like that, the Con was out, and the giant Ectoplasm clone disappeared. "Hah, alright, I believe that's the last of them."

"…Did you know he could do that?" Kyoka muttered.

"No, not at all." Tenya shook his head.

Jazz's shoulders slumped and he gave his own relieved sigh. "Well, at least we took care of our job out here…" He craned his head up to the hole in the side of the Darksyde, his thoughts going to his allies in the ship itself. "I just hope the others are doin' their part in there, too."

…..

From the moment Thundercracker had revealed the Mini-Cons' little trick, things had gone from zero to a hundred in only a few moments. The blue seeker had wasted no time in charging forth into battle wielding his new weapon, the Cyber Caliber, and it was evident that he was very confident. Why? Because he went straight for Optimus Prime. The Autobot commander brought out his axe and countered Thundercracker's first strike, though much to his surprise, there was more force behind it than he'd initially thought. 'Thundercracker must be getting a power-up from wielding the blade!'

With that thought in his mind, he kept matching Thundercracker's blows, all while the others engaged their enemy on their own as well. Arcee had went straight for Shadow Striker, the two clashing blades with one another in close quarters combat. "You've made the BIGGEST mistake of your life, Shadow Striker." Arcee said with a deadly tone. "It was one thing to kill Tailgate, but if you think I'll let you do the same to my best friend—"

"Very commendable, Arcee, but also foolish." Shadow admonished. "After all, why delay ze inevitable, nes pas?"

Arcee's lips curled into a snarl, pulling one arm back to switch her blade with a pistol. "The only thing inevitable around here is your DEFEAT!" PEW! PEW! PEW!

"Hon-hon-hon!" Shadow Striker chortled as she flipped back several times, avoiding the shots with every leap before pulling out her rifle. "Very good, Arcee, but not good enough!" Before either femme knew it, they had gotten into a fire fight. Never mind the fact that they were in a hallway with limited space, they just wanted to shoot one another.

The same could be said for Starscream and Windblade… though mostly just Starscream. The Seeker commander kept blasting his Null Rays at the City Speaker, but she used her sword to deflect the blasts while getting ever closer to him. And at that point, it was just flat-out annoying him. "AGH! Will you just STAND STILL for two seconds so I can hit you?!"

"And why would I do that? GYAH!" Windblade let out a battle cry as she rushed in with her Stormfall sword, though Starscream was quick to dodge before bringing out his own sword from his wing. "Ah, finally. Seems you may yet have some gears turning up in that processor of yours, Screamer."

"You DARE insult me?!" Starscream pushed back with his sword, pressing the advantage on Windblade. "For that, you shall be punished!"

The femme smirked as her wings popped out of her back. "Try me." FWOOOOM! A pair of twin air blasts came bursting out of the VTOL fans, causing Starscream to be sent flying back. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

While Windblade launched herself back into the fray, Springer was currently in the midst of a skirmish between himself and several Vehicons. Fortunately, he had fought too many of these things in the past to consider them an actual threat, so he, Sawback and Fangblade had relatively no trouble taking them down. The Mini-Cons bit and tore into their armor plating while he finished them with some quick slices from his sword or a blast from his gun. "Heh, if this is the best you got, I'd hate to see what your worst looks like!"

"Agreed, Springer!" All Might called out as he and Izuku stood back-to-back, the two One for All users busy taking on some Vehicons of their own. And they were PULVERIZING the opposition something fierce. The duo met the Cons from the get-go with powerful strikes that none of them could withstand. Even Izuku at only five percent was enough to give them a hard time. "These Vehicons are completely sad, that's for sure. Young Midoriya, perhaps another double-team attack?!"

"Right!" Izuku affirmed. "Double…"

"TEXAS…"

"SMAAAAAASSHH!" All at once, All Might and Izuku thrust their fists toward the incoming Vehicons, sending them all flying back with a powerful gust of wind that blew throughout the hallways.

As that was happening, Snipe just kept doing what he was good at; shooting things and making his target. In this case, his main target was the Vehicons' visors, namely to take out their optics. What's more, Momo had actually joined him as well, having created a rifle from her own body. "Gotta say, Creati, I'm impressed." Snipe admitted. "Where'd ya get that aim?"

"Mother and Father had me take archery classes." Momo said as she fired another shot at their optics. Never an easy shot, but she made do. "This is sort of like that, only a bit more complex. The hard part was making the rifle."

"Heh, I'm sure." Snipe chuckled before calling out to Ochako and Thirteen. "How 'bout you gals? Ya'll doin' alright?!"

Not too far away, Ochako had just finished touching several Vehicons on their legs, making at least five of them start floating in the air. At that point, she would've been throwing up by now, but thanks to her training, she was keeping to together relatively well. "Hah… w-we're doing fine! Thirteen, you ready?"

"Sure am!" Thirteen confirmed before raising her hand, pointing a finger to the floating robots. "Now, Decepticons, prepare to face…" The cap on her pointer finger opened up, and in a single second, all of the air began to get sucked into the glove as Thirteen let her Quirk do the work. "BLACK HOLE!"

"AAAAAAUUUGH! W-What's happening?!" The Vehicons all screamed in panic as they felt their weightless bodies being pulled closer and closer to the Black Hole user, with nearly nothing they could do to stop it. They tried clawing at the ground and walls, but the force of the pull was far too much for them to withstand. And what was worse was that they could FEEL just how powerful this void was. It was almost too much to bear. "S-Stop, please!" One Vehicon begged. "We surrender, just please don't suck us in!"

"I was hoping you'd say that." Thirteen cheerfully said. "Uravity, if you would?"

The Gravity user nodded and brought her fingers together. "Right, release!" All at once, the Cons came crashing down on the ground, with Thriteen putting the cap back on her finger to stop her Quirk. The Vehicons huddled up, terrified at what they had nearly experienced. "Psh, and Blastwave calls US the babies."

While the battle raged, Optimus and Thundercracker just kept at it, the two clashing their weapons together many a time. Prime had to admit, the amount of power emanating from the sword itself was almost too great for him to withstand. But still, he could feel the Matrix helping him along, giving him an extra surge in power to help compensate. He and Thundercracker met once again, the Cyber Calibur and Energon Axe creating sparks as they hit one another. "Thundercracker, please, think of what you're doing!" Optimus implored. "Is this REALLY worth it? To hold an innocent human against her will in order to get what you want?!"

"It's not what I want, Optimus, it's what Starscream wants." Thundercracker urged, delivering a swift kick to the Prime to put some distance between them. "Trust me, if I had it my way, we would've ONLY kidnapped Bumblebee, and that's it."

"And THAT makes it alright?" Prime questioned, going back in for some more strikes. "Kidnapping bots against their will is wrong and you KNOW that, Thundercracker! Why go along with any plan concocted by Starscream if you're opposed to it?"

Thundercracker narrowed his optics. "He is my brother."

But Prime didn't give in. "And what of Megatron? Why still serve him when you know that he is not the same revolutionary that you once followed." Once again, more strikes were had, and before long, Thundercracker was backed against the wall. "He is manipulative, cruel, and won't stop at anything to get what he thinks he deserves. You MUST realize that the Decepticons are a shell of their former selves!"

The blue Seeker paused at this. He so badly wanted to argue, but at the same time, the Autobot had a point. And yet still, there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that THIS was what was necessary. "I'll do what I must to see the future that only Megatron can bring about. No longer will we be trapped by the shackles of society, Prime! GRAH!" He brought his legs up and kicked Prime away before raising the Cyber Calibur, the blade glowing even more intently than before. The Seeker charged forward and started spinning, charging the sword up before giving it a mighty swing… and then, from out of the blade, a huge energy wave slashed out at Optimus, striking him hard in the chest and sending him into the opposite wall.

What's more, everyone saw it happen. "Optimus!" the team shouted.

"Agh… the sword's even more powerful than I imagined." Optimus held his head as he recuperated, but he didn't have long as he saw Thundercracker barreling toward him at high speed. BOOOM! With a deafening burst of speed from his thrusters, the blue Seeker raised his blade and brought it down on Optimus, but the Autobot leader reacted quickly and brought his axe up in a counter swing. The impact was so powerful it sent a concussive wave through the whole hallway, taking everyone off balance while sending the ship into a shaking frenzy.

"Good god almighty!" Snipe exclaimed, just barely avoiding being crushed under a falling Vehicon. He tackled Momo out of the way of another and the two sprawled to the floor, quickly getting up to try and regroup. "What the hell even IS that sword?!"

"The Cyber Calibur…" Windblade answered, her concentration still squarely on Starscream. "An ancient Mini-Con weapon said to be blessed by Micronus Prime himself. There aren't many other blades that can stand up against it… unless…" Her eyes darted back and forth between her Stormfall sword, Starscream and Thundercracker, the Seeker commander just starting to get up. She then spotted Springer out the corner of her optic and called out to him; "Springs! How about we switch things up a bit?"

The Wrecker snapped his head around and raised an eye ridge at her. "Really? Right now?"

The City Speaker furrowed her metal brow to him seriously. "Just trust me, I have a plan to help Prime!"

It took a few moments, but eventually, Springer shrugged and relented. "Well, alright, if ya say so!" SPRONG!

Starscream groaned and his hand went to his head as he started to get up. "Rugh… oh, my aching processor, I—" CLANG! "WAGH!" But Springer quickly brought him back down with his mighty leap, knocking the Decepticon for a loop.

"Hi, remember me?" Springer and his Mini-Cons grouped up on Starscream before he nudged his head to Windblade. "Go, help him!"

Windblade nodded and transformed into her jet mode, flying straight over the battle and directly toward Prime and Thundercracker. She made sure to shoot Shadow Striker on the way, too, allowing Arcee to get control of the fight. When she closed in on her target, though, she transformed and let out a sharp battle cry as she sent a flying kick right into Thundercracker's face, taking him down momentarily. "Optimus!"

Optimus was surprised, but nonetheless grateful for her interjection. "Windblade, thank you, I—"

"No time, Optimus." Windblade stood in front of him and held her Stormfall sword aloft, her targeting systems zeroed in on Thundercracker. "We need to get to the prison cells… or rather, YOU need to get to the prison cells, and fast." She saw that he was about to protest, but she shot him down quick; "Think about it, you're the only one with the firepower strong enough to get past those defenses. We'll be fine here for a little bit, believe me."

To say that Optimus was hesitant was an understatement. The main priority was to rescue Bumblebee and Midnight, that much he knew. But still, it didn't seem right that he was leaving his troops behind to confront the threat alone. "I…"

"PRIME!" Thundercracker shot up and blasted forward, only to be met by Windblade clashing her Stormfall sword with his Cyber Caliber. What's more, there were several more Vehicons coming down the hall as well. Reinforcements had arrived.

Just then, however, All Might jumped up and landed on Prime's shoulder briefly. "Optimus, worry not! We WILL be fine here, believe me." The Number One Hero gave the Autobot leader a thumbs up. "Take the kids, Snipe and Thirteen and get down there. I'll handle those reinforcements."

"By yourself?" Optimus said incredulously. "All Might, are you certain you can—"

"Ah, don't worry." All Might assured. "I've handled far, FAR worse than this before. You all just go. Get Bee, get Midnight, and we'll all be on our way out of here soon. For now, though…" The Symbol of Peace thrust off of Prime's shoulder and flew toward the incoming Vehicons, taking them all by surprise. "It's time all of YOU learned your PLACE!" He came somersaulting down to the floor and landed on his feet before pulling his arms back, crossing them over his chest. "TENNESSEE… SMAAAAASH!" The hero swiped his arms and sent a burst of wind out at the Vehicons, blasting them all back and off their feet.

Seeing this, Optimus felt a surge of self-assurance flow through him, and he nodded. "Very well, good luck!" The Autobot leader went over to the other humans, transforming and plowing through a crowd of more Vehicons in order to get to them. Optimus opened his doors, beckoning them in. "Come, we have no more time to waste!"

"Right, we're coming, Optimus." Ochako climbed into the cab first, followed by Momo, Izuku, Thirteen and Snipe. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but they all managed, and soon, Optimus rolled for the elevator.

What Optimus hadn't seen, however, was All Might silently coughing to himself, and a small trickle of blood spurting from the corner of his lips. Still, he kept his smile about him as he wiped the blood away. 'That's it, my friend. And don't worry, and we'll all make it through this.'

As Prime drew closer to the elevator, Snipe caught sight of the elevator button and stuck his upper half through one of Prime's windows, pulling out his gun to take aim. In a single shot, he hit the button and the elevator opened for them, allowing Prime to drive in. "Ha! Nice work, Mr. Snipe!" Izuku commented. "Now all we need is to—LOOK OUT!"

"PRIIIIIIME!" Starscream bellowed, charging straight for the elevator. "You won't be getting away that easily—" TANK! TONK! And just like that, Sawback and Fangblade came flying around from behind and struck Starscream in the face, stopping him just short of the elevator. The doors closed as Springer gave them all a thumbs up from the outside.

"Third level down, can't miss it!" the Triple Changer said.

Once the elevator began moving, everyone disembarked from Optimus and he transformed, the Autobot leader wearing a somewhat upset expression. Izuku noticed this immediately and placed a hand on Prime's leg. "O-Optimus, I know this isn't exactly how we planned things out, but at least we're on the right track, right?"

"Hm, yes, that is fortunate, Izuku. Still, it is frustrating to leave my Autobots behind like this."

"Optimus, I'm certain they'll be fine." Thirteen assured. "They're capable bots, I'm sure. They'll be there when we come back, which hopefully won't take long." The elevator came to an abrupt stop on the third level down and the doors parted open… only for them to be bet with two Vehicons on the other side pointing their guns at them. The humans gasped while Thirteen deadpanned at the sight. "Aaaaand… there it is."

"Don't move! Hands above your—wait, don't—" GONG! The Vehicons felt their heads reverberating after Optimus grabbed and crashed them together, the both of them falling over at the Autobot's feet.

The humans stared up at Prime, surprised he'd pull off such a move. "Apologies, but we have no time for this. Come, everyone!" With that, the group charged in to the brig, calling out for their allies in hopes of getting an answer. "Bumblebee! Let us know you're here!"

Snipe gave a holler as well; "Midnight, ya here?! Speak up if ya can hear us!"

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait for very long. "SNIPE?! Is that you?! Oh, thank god, PLEASE get us out of there!" The group snapped right to attention and immediately followed the sound of Midnight's voice, following it all the way to a certain cell. "Hello?! I'm not just hearing things, am I? You ARE here, right?!"

"HA! Nemuri, we've found you!" Thirteen shouted back.

"Thirteen?! You're here too?! How in the world did you… wait, who was that other voice with you?"

"Don't worry, we'll explain as soon as we get in!" Thirteen craned her head up to Optimus curiously. "How do we get in?"

Optimus glanced off to the side, seeing a panel set up next to the door. He went over and began inputting several codes into the console, only for each one to be immediately rejected with a loud buzz and red screen. After trying every combination that he could think of, Optimus grumbled and brought out his axe. "Well, I tried." WHAM! With one swing, Prime destroyed the console and the doors locks were disengaged, prompting him to go over and start prying the door open. "Don't worry, ma'am, we'll have you and Bumblebee out of there soon enough!"

…..

Inside the cell, however, Midnight's eye twitched. "EXCUSE me?! Did you just call me ma'am?! Sir, I don't know who you are, but I am the ripe, YOUNG age of… of…" But Midnight's voice became lost to her the moment the door was opened… and on the other side was a bot that made her jaw drop. He had a patriotic color scheme and a strong build, the windows and grill of his truck mode looking like a pair of pecs and strong abs. He broad shoulders with smoke stacks on them, and a pair of powerful legs that had tires on their calves. He also had a dynamic helmet, which had a faceplate that added an air of mystery to him.

All in all… Midnight suddenly felt very hot and bothered. She bit her lip seductively and made bedroom eyes at the new robot. "Well, hello Mr. Tall, Red-White-and-Blue and Handsome. I take it YOU'RE the calvary?"

"Indeed, and I must profusely apologize to you." The bot said as he walked in. "Your involvement with this entire situation was never meant to happen." He placed a hand on his chest as he introduced himself. "My name is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

Midnight's eyes brightened up significantly. "Oh! So you're the LEADER of the Autobots!" She whipped her head over to Bumblebee with a wide grin. "Bee, you never told me that your leader was such a hunk."

Bee's eyes widened in disbelief while Optimus was just flat-out confused. '…Hunk?'

However, the topic was immediately discarded when the humans came running in, and Izuku broke out into a relieved smile the moment he saw his best friend. "BUMBLEBEE!" Bee buzzed happily as Izuku activated Full Cowling and shot right up, dealing several strikes to the floating clamps that were keeping Bee in place. Before he knew it the yellow bot was freed and he fell to the floor, only for Izuku to land on him in a hug. "HAHA! You're okay! Kyoka and I have been worried sick about you."

"Zrkt—Every little thing is gonna be alright!" Bee sang through his radio, giving Izuku a pat on the back.

"Wait, Midoriya?!" Midnight shouted before noticing Ochako and Momo were there as well, and all three students were in their hero costumes. "And Uraraka and Yaoyorozu? What are you all doing here?!" Her attention went to Thirteen and Snipe as they came over as well. "You two, explain, NOW."

"Trust me, we'll fill ya in later." Snipe promised as he loaded his gun up and took aim for her own shackles. Four shots later, the restraints were destroyed and Midnight fell to the ground, though she was caught by Optimus himself. "Right now, we've gotta get outta this dump."

Optimus nodded as he set Midnight down. "He's correct. Every moment we remain here, the riskier it will be to take our leave, so… Miss Midnight, are you alright?"

The R-Rated hero was leaning on Optimus' still outstretched hand, sending him a rather dreamy gaze. "Oh, me? I'm more than fine, believe me." In her mind, however… 'Good lord, Bumblebee's a cutie AND his leader is an absolutely shredded robot? …Did I just find a new kink for myself?'

Momo stepped up and got her teacher's attention. "Miss Midnight, it's not safe in this ship. We need to leave now, or… um, Optimus?"

The Prime was taken aback by the sound of static, his optics going straight to the control console on the opposite wall. The screen was blank for a moment before it switched to something… or rather, someone else. The figure that was now on screen was obscured almost entirely by shadow, the only exception being a blood red visor that glared back at them. They could make out his silhouette, but only barely, seeing that he had a large wing sticking up from his back. He spoke in a deep voice as he addressed the Autobot leader; "Hmhmhm… well, well, Optimus Prime. We meet at last."

Optimus' optics widened in shock. He could only make one guess as to who this bot was. "…Unicronus."

A slew of gasps came from the kids after he spoke the Con's name. "Wait, so… THAT'S Unicronus?" Ochako asked, shrinking away a little behind Izuku. "Wow, he's scarier than I thought he'd be."

"Yeah… though I can't help but feel something's off about him." Izuku noted, with Bumblebee nodding silently next to him. The yellow bot was particularly transfixed by the screen, finding the general's shape to be somewhat familiar.

Prime's sights narrowed at the Decepticon general in contempt. "So, you ARE on this planet. I suppose that means Megatron is serious about wanting me dead."

"Guilty as charged." Unicronus shrugged. "I have to say, though, seein' you alive is somethin' I'd never thought I'd see again. Really thought you were a goner, but… heh, ironically, Megatron never believed that." He balled a hand up into a fist. "But you're wrong, Optimus. Megatron does wanna see you alive… and in chains as yer brought back to Cybertron. Somethin' tells me he wants to oversee yer death himself."

"He knows how hard it is to get rid of me. THAT is the reason why he wants to do the deed himself." Prime said simply. "I take it you'll be on your way down here, then."

Much to everyone's surprise, Unicronus laughed and gave an unexpected response. "Hahaha! Oh no, no, no, Prime, you're mistaken." He leaned forward slightly, his grimace intensifying. "I'm feelin'… generous today, so to speak. I had a feelin' that Starscream's blasted plan would backfire in SOME way, so I'm prepared to cut ya a deal."

Izuku didn't buy it, though. "A deal with a Decepticon? There's a bad experience waiting to happen."

Unicronus chortled at the remark. "Hmhm, you're smart, kid. It's obvious that Shatter and Dropkick left their mark on you…" However, he shook his head, raising his hands to the screen. "But no, I don't have any tricks planned here. I'm willin' to offer your freedom, no questions asked, no strings attached."

The heroes and Autobots had only a moment to be stunned before an equally shocked voice came from the screen. "Unicronus, sir, what the pit are you thinking?!" cried a feminine voice with a Hispanic accent. "We can't just let these cabrons walk outta here! You know how mad Screamer's gonna be when—"

"SILENCE!" Unicronus suddenly snapped, making the humans gasp at the growl in his voice. "This is MY ship, and what I say goes. I don't care what Starscream thinks, his plans have all been faulty since we got here!" His focus went back to the others as he continued; "If you want something done right, you gotta do it yerself. An' believe me, Optimus, the Main Mech is gonna get the job done right, but only on his terms ALONE."

Snipe placed a hand on his hip. "Heh, wow, the man's got so much pride that he doesn't even WANNA take advantage o' Starscream's plan."

Thirteen crossed her arms. "Hm, not sure how I feel about that…"

"Prime, in all honesty, I think we've all had quite enough of this." Unicronus went on with a wave of his hand, only to slam his fist down on the arm of his chair. "Rest assured, the Decepticons will NOT stop coming for you, but for now…" He typed in a command and showed footage of the aftermath outside, showing just how many Decepticons were defeated. "It's evident that your forces have overwhelmed ours. So in short; grab yer friends, grab yer shit, and GO HOME, Optimus!"

Optimus considered Unicronus' words, taking note of how exhausted his Autobots and the heroes outside were. Add the fact that his forces inside the base were likely still fighting, and while he was still reluctant to take the Decepticon by his word… it was an opportunity he wasn't about to slip by. He reached up and activated his comm. "Red Alert, we have Bumblebee and Midnight. Prepare the GroundBridge."

"Wise choice, Prime." Unicronus commended with a chuckle. "Know this, though; when next we meet… you won't have this lucky of a chance." With that, the screen shut off, leaving the Autobots and heroes to themselves.

"…Well, he seems cheery." Midnight remarked. "So, we getting out of here or what?"

"Indeed we are." Optimus transformed into his truck mode while Bee took on his Volkswagen mode, allowing everyone to pile inside. "Let's roll out of here!"

…..

Back on the upper level, the skirmish between the Bots and Cons was still going down, with Windblade doing everything in her power to make sure no one got to that elevator. Granted, that was difficult when Thundercracker had her backed up right against it, but to be fair… the Deceptions had them all surrounded. Herself, Arcee, Springer and even All Might found themselves encircled by the Decepticon forces, the Symbol of Peace seemingly growing severely tired… to the point that his body was steaming. '…I've only seen that happen once, but I'm pretty sure I know what it means.' Windblade figured.

"Hmhmhm, oh, how all of you got off to such a strong start." Starscream snickered. "But alas, seems you've all succumbed to the fate you're all destined to have; defeat at the hands of Starscre—" Ding! "Huh?" All of a sudden, the elevator door opened, revealing Optimus, Bumblebee, and the humans on the other side. "…Oh, scrap."

"AH! Bumblebee!" Arcee exclaimed, seeing her best friend alive and well. "You're okay!"

"Autobots, transform and roll out!" Optimus rallied as he revved out of the elevator and past his troops. He barreled through the Decepticon ranks, even slamming directly into Starscream. "We have who we came for, so it's time to go home!"

BEEP-BEEP! "All Might!" The Symbol of Peace smiled in relief at the sight of his protégé approaching in Bumblebee, while the other humans went to their respective Autobots. Bee opened his back door and Izuku beckoned All Might inside. "C'mon, quick! Before you lose it!"

All Might quickly clamored into Bumblebee's backseat and… POOF! "Ah, thank you, Young Midoriya." Toshinori sighed. "Am I glad that you—ah!"

"Well hello, Toshinori." Midnight grinned from the driver's seat. "Good to see you here. I take it that Midoriya knows THIS secret, too?"

"E-Erm, yes, Midnight, he does. Along with one other student, too. Good to see you're doing alright."

"Believe me, I'm FAR more than alright." Midnight grinned eagerly as Bumblebee stepped on the gas. "I'm feeling freer than I've ever had before! Woo! Let's blow this joint!"

Within moments, the Autobots all came bursting out of the hole they had created earlier and were met with the sight of their teammates already gathered up. Jazz smirked victoriously and pumped a fist in the air. "Haha, alright! C'mon gang, time to head on out!" The lieutenant transformed into his Porsche mode and Present Mic climbed into the driver's seat… but Kyoka didn't get in. "Uh… Kyo', let's go!"

The punk rocker smiled back to her friend as she jerked a thumb over to Bumblebee pulling up next to her. "Thanks, but I have my ride." She dashed over to Bee as Jazz drove off, giving the Beetle a brief hug before getting in. "Dude, do you have ANY idea how worried we were about you? You're lucky they didn't do anything to you!"

"Zrkt—Sorry—zrkt—to make you worry." Bumblebee apologized, opening his back door for her. "Zrkt—Now hop in—zrkt—before we get creamed!"

"AUTOBOTS!" Kyoka whipped her head up and gasped at the sight of an absolutely livid Starscream, scrambling into the back without any hesitation. "This is not over, DO YOU HEAR ME?! NOT! OVER!" He raised his Null Rays and began shooting at the retreating Autobots, only for his blasts to harmlessly hit the dirt as a GroundBridge portal opened just a few feet from the ship. Within moments, all ten Autobots went through, leaving the Seeker commander with his defeated forces… and his failure. "…GYAAAAAAAUUUGH!"

Thundercracker approaching his brother from behind, letting go of the Cyber Caliber so that the Mini-Cons could transform back into their robot modes. Despite himself, he wore a small grin, even though it was clear they had failed. 'Hm, farewell, Midnight. Hopefully something like this won't happen again…'

…..

"So… THIS is where you kids have been hiding these past two weeks." It had been about half an hour since the group had returned to base, and in that time, the team had done very little outside of recuperating after the mission. Midnight herself had been filled in on the whole situation, though the Autobots were surprised to find out that she actually knew quite a bit about it already. Apparently she and Thundercracker had spoken briefly, which the Autobots themselves didn't know how to feel about.

Aside from that, the teachers, Optimus, and Agent Fowler had gathered for a brief meeting, no doubt discussing the students' performances on the mission. They had actually all gone outside to converse, namely because All Might was still in his skinny form and it was best to keep him out of the line of sight until he could properly buff back up again. So, while they spoke about the mission, the kids and other Autobots were free to give Midnight a tour of the base.

"Yep, welcome to our Science Fiction club." Kyoka remarked. "We were gonna use that as our excuse at first, but then we remembered that U.A. doesn't do clubs, so we scrapped that."

"Hm, well, I must say that this is quite the place you got here." Midnight sat down on the couch and reclined, gazing out to all of the Autobots who were gathered around. "And to think that all of you were living here right under our noses this whole time. It's almost too much to take in."

Sideswipe came up and extended a hand. "Hey, sorry 'bout that, Midnight. If this is too much at once, just let us know, 'kay?"

"Oh, don't worry about it." Midnight waved off. "After being kidnapped by those Decepticons, I think I'm pretty well acclimated at this point."

"Ah, I'm just glad that none of 'em did anything to hurt ya." Bulkhead crossed his arms and lowered his head. "Believe me, if we hadn't gotten there in time…" His optics trailed up to Arcee, who was leaning in a far corner of the room with a thoughtful expression. Bumblebee was standing next to her, resting a comforting hand over her own. "…I'm afraid we would've had to prepare for the worst."

The R-Rated heroine glanced up to Arcee curiously at that. "Hm? What do you mean?"

Windblade shifted her eyes back and forth before lowering herself down and whispering to her; "The Con that kidnapped you, Shadow Striker? She's responsible for the death of Arcee's protégé back on Cybertron." That surprised the woman as her eyes went back to Arcee, who looked away from the group. "To say that she was afraid it'd happen again to you and Bee would be an understatement."

"…I see." Midnight stood up and walked over to Arcee, saying; "You know, I would've thought you'd be happier to see your best friend alive."

The pink femme set her sights back down to Midnight in surprise, only for her to narrow her optics. "I am happy, thank you very much."

"Well, you don't seem to act like it."

"I'm just thinking about something else, and—"

Midnight placed her hands on her hips. "Well, why are you, then? Don't you think you should be more focused on the positive thing that happened today?" She gestured over to Bumblebee, who smiled up to Arcee beneath his mouth guard. "You got your best friend back. Shadow Striker did nothing to him. If you keep focusing on getting revenge on her, then you're just going to make yourself more upset, you know?"

Arcee pursed her lips, frustrated that the woman had a point. "…Yeah, I guess."

"…Arcee?" She made sure the femme was focused on her again before bowing her head. "I'm sorry."

"…Wait, what?"

"Thinking back, I way overstepped my bounds with you." Midnight explained. "Especially when we first met. You didn't like how uncomfortable I made Bumblebee, and I get it. If you want me to back-off from you and your friends, then I won't argue—"

Arcee reached her hand out, stopping Midnight before she could finish. "Wait! H-Hold on a second… you're right." Arcee lowered her head and hugged her arms close to herself. "I am focused just a bit too much on revenge. And you making Bee uncomfortable did bother me. But… well, it's obvious that you're a good person." She gestured over to Izuku, Kyoka and Momo. "These three showed me that. So… if Bee and the students trust you, then I will, too. Just… make sure that things don't go too overboard, please?"

Midnight smiled and chuckled a little, nodding in agreement. "Of course, that sounds good to me. Besides, after today, you're probably going to be seeing a LOT more of me."

"…Say what now?"

"Oh yeah, I NEED to come here at least once a week. Both to make sure the students are doing okay…" The teacher jerked her thumb toward the exit with a sultry grin. "And to get an eyeful of Optimus, if you know what I mean. Woo! What a hunk of metal!" Judging from the slew of rather disturbed expressions form the Autobots and the students, it was obvious that many of them were uncomfortable. "…Too soon?"

Strongarm couldn't help but facepalm. 'Just wait until you meet Elita, Midnight. Just you wait.' Right at that moment, Sunstreaker, Red Alert, Mei and Denki came walking out of the med bay, the former seemingly doing okay. "Oh, Sunstreaker! How're you feeling?"

"Ah, a lot better, actually." Sunstreaker pointed to his back. "Turns out that Medi-Gun thing actually healed me pretty well. No internal damages or anything."

Red Alert placed a hand to his chin. "So let me see if I got this straight; this device managed to instantly heal any injury that its target sustained, no matter how severe?"

Denki put his hands behind his head as he moved over to the others. "Yeah, pretty much. I charred Blastwave pretty good the first time, and Flatline was able to just heal him up with a flick of a switch." He wore a satisfied smile, eyeing his partner. "But uh, it might take a while before Blastwave's healed up from the second helping I gave him."

"I'm STILL trying to wrap my head around how ya did that, dude." Eijiro jabbed his friend in the shoulder. "That was pretty intense."

Mina suddenly jumped into the discussion, giving her own… unique take of what happened. "Yeah! You were all like; ZZZZZZZTTT!" The Acid user jerked her body around to make it look like she was getting shocked. "And then Blastwave was all like; AAAAAHHH! It hurts so much! And then he went down like a giant tree being chopped down, it was SO cool!"

"Yeah, great job out there, Sparky." Mei smiled with a thumbs up. "Didn't even fry your brain once!"

Kyoka folded her arms and gave a shrug. "Gotta admit, I'm impressed… Jamming Yay."

"Please don't make that a regular thing." Denki pleaded, much to everyone's amusement.

As everyone laughed, though, Tenya sighed as he felt his nerves begin to bubble up. "Well, in any case, I only hope that the teachers have evaluated our performance fairly." He put on a small grin for his friends. "Because, not to sound narcissistic… I would say we did rather well for the most part."

Momo nodded back to the Class Rep. "Agreed, Iida. Aside from a few minor hiccups, everything went rather smoothly, I think."

Off to the side, Midnight couldn't help but feel proud. Here were eight of her own first years, having just survived their first mission together… and they weren't even licensed heroes yet. However, she knew that she had to remain impartial, especially since SHE was the one who needed saving. "Well, children, if it were up to me, I would say that you've all exceeded expectations." That earned her a bunch of grateful smiles from her students, but she held up a hand. "Unfortunately, that's not my or your decision to make… it's theirs."

She pointed over to the rest of the teachers, Fowler and Optimus coming inside, and just as quickly, the students felt very small under Aizawa's judgmental gaze. What's more, All Might seemed like he was struggling to keep it together, which meant that this meeting was probably going to be quick. Izuku swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "Well… this is it." He turned to his friends, sending them a reassuring grin. "Just so you guys know, even if we don't get their approval… I still think teaming with you guys was pretty great."

"Yeah, same here, Deku!" Ochako beamed back. "For our first mission, even if it wasn't official, at least we proved to ourselves that our training wasn't for nothing!"

"Ahem, I suppose that's ONE thing you can all take away from this." Aizawa piped up, garnering the group's attention. "It's true, you all have vastly improved over these past two weeks with the Autobots' help, even more than I could've predicted." He lowered his head and stared at them through his dark locks. "Still, judging by what happened on this mission alone… I will concede that most of you did rather well." He sent a sidelong glance at Denki, sending a chill up the blonde's spine. "There's a few of you who definitely need work… but none of you screwed up big enough to compromise the mission, so that's a positive."

"I agree with Aizawa… though I probably would've worded it better." Agent Fowler said. "Not bad, kids. I'm very impressed with all of you today."

Optimus knelt down in front of his teenaged charges, his voice filled with pride. "You have all performed quite admirably today, with some of you even helping take down some of the Decepticons' heaviest hitters." He chortled a bit as the thought was still processing in his head. "Not once would I thought I'd see that day come."

All Might coughed into his hand, eager to get through with this. "Hak-hak, y-yes, the mission was a complete success. And with this success, I feel it's only necessary to reward you appropriately." He nodded to Aizawa expectantly, causing the homeroom teacher to sigh. "Come now, Aizawa. The only way they'll get better is through experience, agreed?"

The Erasure hero grumbled to himself, but relented nonetheless. "Very well. From this day forward, you kids can accompany the Autobots on any mission." He raised a finger before anyone could so much as let out a cheer. "IF… you make sure to follow their orders to. The. LETTER. I want you kids to LISTEN to any commands Optimus gives you, and if he deems a situation too dangerous, you are to return to or stay at the base without question. Is that understood?"

Tenya saluted to their teacher dutifully from the get go. "Mr. Aizawa, sir, we understand completely!" The teens all bowed their heads to Aizawa without hesitation. "We'll be sure to not give the Autobots any trouble on these missions, and we all sincerely thank you for this opportunity."

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Aizawa." the others echoed.

Aizawa was a little surprised by the response. He had expected at least a few rebellious groans from them, Mina and Denki especially. But the fact that they were staying serious about all of this definitely gave him a bit of optimism in this whole situation. Optimus craned his head down to him and extended a hand. "Thank you, Mr. Aizawa. Not only do the children appreciate this, but I do as well."

"So do I." Fowler added. "Hopefully this way, we'll be able to stand an even better chance against the Cons and whatever they have planned next."

"Hm, it's no problem." Aizawa shook the Optimus' hand and went to rub his eyes. "Ah, now, with all that out of the way, I think it's time to bring things in." He eyed his students once again as he told them about one last thing. "By the way, we took the liberty of lying to your parents over the phone about where you were. They think you're at the school doing some extra curricular activities, so don't worry about missing curfew. Just get home safely and take tomorrow to prepare yourselves."

"Aizawa's right. Come Monday, the Sports Festival will be here." All Might said with a thumbs up. "Remember; do your best and aim for the top! We'll all be watching and rooting for you, as will your Autobot friends."

Optimus stood to his full height, extending a hand to his Autobots. "Indeed, we will. We wish you the best of luck, children, but for now, it's time we get you all back home. Autobots, you know what to do."

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk!

All of the Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes and opened their doors, offering students and teachers alike a ride home. The only ones who didn't were Windblade, Springer, Red Alert and Jazz, the four staying behind as everyone was able to fit into five Autobots alone. Izuku sighed as he climbed into Bumblebee's back seat with Kyoka, glad to be in the familiar seat. "Well, guess this is it. The Sports Festival is in one day."

"I know, pretty exciting." Kyoka affirmed. "Wonder how everything will go?"

"Well, only one way to find out." Izuku offered a fist bump, which Kyoka took as Bee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker all rolled out of the base, with every human aside from Fowler in tow.

Springer leaned up against the wall, cracking a smirk to himself. "Hehe, ya know, those kids and heroes are alright. I think I made the right decision staying on this planet."

"Hah, good to know…" Jazz chuckled before putting on a serious face. "Er, by the way, Optimus… there's somethin' I should probably tell ya now that the mission's over." He saw Optimus raise an eyeridge at him as he made his way to the control console, typing in a few commands to bring up his research. "I wanted to tell ya 'bout this earlier, but with the whole rescue mission thing, I held off on it since that was more important."

Prime went up and stood next to his first lieutenant. "It's quite alright, Jazz, I understand. What is it that you have to report?"

Jazz sighed as he brought up an audio file, one that he had been working on for several days now. "Well, I actually finished cleanin' up that audio that was sent to Cybertron from Earth all those eons ago. The one that Alpha Trion saved for us, remember?" Prime nodded to him, urging him to continue. "Well… let's just say you're gonna have to hear this to believe it…"

Jazz pressed the play button and the message began. It was still chuck full of static and interference, but much less so than when they had first played it… and they could now easily make out what the voice was saying. But the moment they heard the voice itself… they were stunned. Because they knew who this was…

"And so, my friends, we send our message to the future. Even as the asteroid hurtles toward this planet, we stand together in the face of catastrophe. With courage, and good cheer! YAAAARGH! RAAAAAGH!"

The Autobots could make out additional roaring in the background, but that's not what any of them were focused on. Rather, it was the deep, baritone voice that was the focus of their stunned silence. It was an Autobot that all of them knew far too well. One who had earned a VERY notable reputation all across Cybertron. And the fact that it was HIM who had sent that message so long ago… it was almost too much to comprehend. Optimus stood in silence for several seconds before uttering the bot's name…

"…Grimlock?"

…..

A/N (IMPORTANT, Please Read): Haha! And THAT is how you leave things off on a teaser for what's to come, my friends! Indeed, as many predicted, it was GRIMLOCK who sent the message all those eons ago! Of course, as you can probably tell, it definitely SOUNDS like he's based on Cyberverse Grimlock, and he is… for the most part. You'll see what I mean by that when he's properly introduced, but either way, the King of the Dinobots WILL be coming down the line, people! Hope you're all ready for when he'll be making his big appearance!

Well, aside from big Grim, overall, I think it's safe to say that a LOT happened in this chapter. A huge battle with some heavy stakes and some even heavier scenes. Sunstreaker getting stabbed in the back and Denki going berserk over it, namely speaking. Bet neither of them were expecting THAT to happen that day. Thankfully they were able to save Sunstreaker, but it's safe to say that both him and Denki learned to not be overconfident like that. That said, though, overall, the mission seemed to be a pretty big success, and even better, Midnight was saved! …While also gaining a new crush on Optimus. Man, now both Bee AND Prime will be subject to her flirting. This will likely end in hilarity, I'm sure. And hey, seems Aizawa's gonna allow the teens to go on more missions provided they continue to play it safe, so huzzah!

But with all that said, it's finally gonna be time for the Sports Festival when we return later this year! Man, I've been looking forward to this, let me tell you. I've got PLENTY of ideas on how the Festival is gonna go in this version of events, and I think all of you are gonna be surprised by how it goes. But of course, we'll also have more new adventures, new faces showing up, and more as the battle continues! But until then, for those of you who're fans of Ben 10 RWBY, look forward to the Season 2 premier dropping next week! And if any of you who haven't read that story, feel free to hop on over if you're interested! But in anycase…

And now, the Preview! The Sports Festival has officially begun and everyone is pumped up and ready for it! But there seems to be a certain individual who seems to have it out for Izuku, and it doesn't help that he might be onto a certain secret. Next time; Festival, Start! The Autobots watch eagerly from the base as the events begin! Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and as always…

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!