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…

38. Mini-Con Madness

A/N: Good Morning, one and all! It's Friday once again, and you know what that means! Time for another chapter of Transformers MHA, and once again, this one's gonna be quite the doozy. There's a fair bit to go over in this one, to be sure, especially considering that we've got two perspectives going on here between the Away Team and the Home Team. But, given the title of this chapter, expect plenty of madness to happen with both. So, enough dilly-dallying, let's get to it! This is…

Chapter 38: Mini-Con Madness

…..

"Ugh… ya know, I was always told that Australia's Outback was a wasteland… but you'd think there'd be SOMETHING out here in this godforsaken place!"

Eijiro's general mood was irritable at best, the spikey redhead gritting his teeth as he laid flat in the back seat of Sideswipe. Unfortunately, the GroundBridge's coordinates weren't as accurate as Red Alert had stated. Instead of being dropped only about a mile from their destination… they were instead about TWENTY miles away. Thus began the hour-long drive to get to where they actually needed to be. Of course, that was no problem for Windblade, the City Speaker resolving to scout ahead for Decepticons. But for the others, it would be a long drive in the hot sun, and the Autobots' air conditioning wasn't helping too much with that.

Sideswipe, however, tried to lighten the mood. "Ah, don't worry 'bout that, Eijiro. We're almost there! And who knows? Maybe you'll actually get to fight a Kanga-whozit."

"Kangaroo, Sideswipe."

"Right, that thing." Just then, off in the distance, Sideswipe saw something peeking out from the horizon. "Hm? What's… ooh. Yo, Eiji, take a look at this!"

"Huh?" the Hardening Quirk user sat up… and was met with quite the sight. "Woah! Holy crap!"

Before them, rising from the distance like a massive monolith, was an enormous plateau. Its surface was red and rugged, just like the sand surrounding it, but on top was actually some decent foliage. They were still about a couple miles away, but the fact that they could see it even from where they were was something else. "Woah! You guys seeing what we're seeing?!" Mina's voice piped up over the commlink.

"Damn! It's gigantic!" Denki exclaimed. "I-I didn't think Australia HAD plateaus like this!"

It was there that Momo added some insight; "That's because it isn't a natural one, Kaminari. That is Rupture's Plateau. It was created only a couple decades ago when the Fissure Hero, Rupture, used his power to lift it straight out of the earth. Apparently, it was so he could catch a fleeing villain who had escaped underground."

Eijiro couldn't help but grin widely at that. "Woah, seriously?! That dude must've been wicked strong!"

"Heh, I'll say." Bulkhead commented. "That thing looks like it was lifted straight up outta the ground by a TITAN!"

Sunstreaker, meanwhile, sounded more miffed than anything. "I don't care WHO made it so long as I get to stop driving in this fragging SAND! Ugh, I'm going to be finding sand in my axels for a week!"

As they neared the plateau, Windblade came swooping down from out of the sky and fell in line right above Optimus Prime. "No sign of any Decepticons in the area, sir." she reported. "If the Cons are planning something similar to last time, they haven't showed up yet."

"Thank you, Windblade." Optimus affirmed. "Hopefully, things will go somewhat smoother than last—wait." Prime adjusted his rearview mirrors so that they pointed upward… and in the sky, he could see a certain swirling vortex open up. "Oh no…"

Windblade growled in irritation, swiveling on a dime in midair before blasting up to the SpaceBridge portal. "Gah! Speak of the devil!" She activated her side guns and began blasting at the portal, only for a pair of black and blue blurs to come shooting straight out and flew directly at her, forcing her to fly sideways to avoid them. "AH! INCOMING!"

"Gah, scrap!" Springer exclaimed as he shifted into helicopter mode. "You guys keep going! We'll hold 'em off as best we can!"

"Thanks, Springs!" Bulkhead called back. "Good—WOAH!" The Wrecker had barely any time to evade the second SpaceBridge that opened up almost right in front of him, swerving to avoid going in. "What the—"

Just then, a certain double-barreled space tank burst right out of the portal, laughing as it powered up its blasters. What no one noticed, however was the stealthy purple Corvette following through after it. "AHAHAH! Oh Bulkhead~!" Blastwave sang as he aimed his turret straight at the green Hummer. "Blastwave has a surprise for you!"

Mina screamed as she held onto the seat for dear life. "AH! Crap, they're here!"

"Don't worry, Mina, just say put and hold on!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Bulkhead transformed into robot mode, getting on his feet as he activated his arm cannons and started shooting back at Blastwave. At the same time, though, Blastwave let loose his own attack, firing massive twin lasers at the Wrecker. The blasts collided in midair and exploded in a brilliant display, forcing Blastwave to slowdown and transform.

Using that time, Bulkhead took Mina out of his chest and set her down, pointing her toward a nearby rock. "Mina, go and hide over there. Regroup with the others and make sure you stay on the DEFENSIVE, understood?"

The Acid user pressed her lips together firmly, nodding up to her guardian. "Right, got it!" She followed his instructions and, sure enough, she saw Eijiro, Denki and Momo all grouping up as well, the four diving behind the rock. "Hah… hah… well, so much for smooth sailing, right?"

Momo shook her head. "I don't think it was never going to be this easy."

"S-So what do we do now?" Denki peered over the rock, watching as Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Windblade joined the fight, with at least a dozen Vehicons all filing out of the SpaceBridge. "Where do we go from here?"

The sound of a loud hiss made the teens gasp, only for them to relax as it was just the sound of Prime's brakes as he pulled up next to them. "No need to worry, children." Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Optimus transformed into robot mode, taking out his Ion Blaster and shooting a couple blasts at the Cons across the way. "Rest assured, I will protect you."

"Thanks, Prime, but I've got a feeling we're just gonna be sitting ducks here." Eijiro pointed over toward the plateau. "If any of 'em manage to get past this point, we'd be in for some bad news…" The redhead's eyes trailed up at the sound of more jet engines, only to see that some of the Vehicons had transformed and joined Thundercracker and Skywarp in the air. "Not to mention Windblade and Springer are probably gonna get overwhelmed up there!"

"Is there anything that can be done to give them some assistance?" Momo wondered. "I don't think I can create anything that can fire at that high a range…"

Mina and Denki both winced as well. "Yeah, and we're too far out four our Quirks to do much damage, too…"

At that, Optimus smiled behind his faceplate, giving a small chuckle. "Hmhm, well then, it would seem that this is the perfect time for Mei and Red Alert's handiwork to show what it can do!" He turned toward his trailer and gave it a command. "Set up: Combat Deck!" With those four words alone… something rather amazing happened.

WHRR-TSCHZZ-TSCHZZ-TSCHZZ-CHK!

The teenagers stared in awe as the trailer suddenly split down the middle, with the rear doors opening as an entry ramp extended down from the back. The two halves of the trailer folded down by ninety degrees as the bottom part of the trailer shifted outward, creating a set of sturdy struts for the platform. Once both halves were open, it was revealed that there was a sort of sentry drone that was installed inside, complete with a blue cockpit and twin cannons, along with a set of claw-like mechanical arms. Within moments, it extended upward on a double-jointed armature and took aim at the Vehicons in the sky.

"…Dude, WHAT?!" Denki exclaimed.

"It's a custom Combat Deck. Made with the intent to turn the tide when outnumbered." With a point of his finger, Optimus gave the word; "FIRE!" And like clockwork, the sentry began blasting rapidly at the Cons above, scoring several direct hits.

Skywarp and Thundercracker were taken aback to say the least. "AH! What the—WOAH!" The black seeker had to bob and weave through the air just to avoid the lasers. "Grr, a fancy new toy, eh? I'll stop it!" VRRM! In a flash, Skywarp was gone… and then reappeared only to recoil as he was blown back from the platform, a dome-shaped forcefield becoming visible for just a second. "W-What the?!"

"Woah! Did you SEE that?!" Eijiro exclaimed. "He bounced off!"

"You won't have much luck with that, Skywarp." Prime explained as he aimed his Ion Blaster at the Seeker and fired, to which Skywarp teleported away again. "This Combat Deck has been thoroughly equipped with technology specifically to protect it from being destroyed in such a manner. You cannot touch it."

"Oh yeah?!" Thundercracker came darting down from the sky and held out his hand, wherein the Air Assault Mini-Con Team quickly assembled into the Cyber-Caliber and he took hold. With the blade fully formed, he brought it straight down. "Let's see how it handles THIS! GYAAAAH!" CRASH! When the sword hit the forcefield, sparks of energy were sent flying out in several directions… before the Cyber-Caliber too was blown straight out of Thundercracker's hands, spinning through the air and landing straight in the ground. "AH! You've gotta be kidding me!"

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! The trio of Mini-Cons disassembled and collapsed, collectively thrown for a loop. "Ugh… what happened?" Jetstorm groaned.

"No clue… but I do NOT wanna do that again." Sonar shook his head.

Runway stood up, shaking her head to collect her bearings. "Focus up, boys! This fight ain't over yet!" With that, the trio transformed and flew back up, engaging with Windblade and Springer.

Back over with the ground-based bots, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were knocking a couple of Cons' heads together with a double roundhouse kick. They chuckled proudly at their double team maneuver, but then, out the corner of Sunstreaker's optic, he saw a flash of purple driving toward the plateau. "H-Huh?!" The yellow bot gasped when he saw a familiar car going straight into the cave near the plateau's base, calling out to Optimus; "PRIME! Shadow Striker's going after the relic!"

"What?!" Prime whipped his head around, seeing the sniper's taillights disappear into the cave. "No!"

As Bulkhead struck Blastwave straight in the jaw, he gave his leader some resounding advice; "Optimus! Take the kids and get after her! We'll handle the battle out here! GRAH!" He met Blastwave's incoming fist with his wrecking ball, pushing back even as the larger Con pushed down on him.

"A-Are you sure, Bulk?!" Mina cried out.

"At this juncture, we hardly have a choice." Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! Optimus transformed back into truck mode and opened his doors for the kids. "But don't worry, I entrust Bulkhead with this battle completely. He'll get the job done. Now come, we must secure the relic before Shadow Striker!" As uncertain as the teens were about leaving their partners, they complied with Optimus' order, loading up into his cab before blowing past full throttle to chase after the sniper. "Maximum Overdrive!"

…..

"Now, hand over the Mini-Cons, and I may just spare your insignificant lives…"

Setsuna and her friends were petrified, that much High Wire could tell. Even without seeing her face, he knew that Setsuna was scared. 'It's so strange… it's like we share some sort of mental bond…' He spared a glance behind him, seeing his new friend's terrified expression along with Ibara's and Tetsu's. They were frozen in place, knowing that there was nothing that they could do in this situation. Against an enemy like this, they were powerless. And that's when High Wire's decision was made for him. 'If it's to keep them safe…' He focused on Setsuna, which managed to catch her attention. 'To keep HER safe, then we have to do this.'

Almost as if she were reading his thoughts, Setsuna's features shifted to a worried gaze as she reached out to him. "Wait, High Wire, please! Don't do it!"

"Y-You three can't up that easily!" Ibara insisted, locking her eyes with Sureshock's optics. "Not for our sake!"

"Lady Ibara…" Sureshock lowered her head.

"We're strong! We can fight!" Tetsu insisted, barring his teeth while raising a fist. "Grindor, are ya with me?!"

Grindor couldn't help but chuckle at Tetsu's enthusiasm. 'Heh, yep. This dude and I definitely would get along… but…' The Mini-Con shook his head. "Sorry, Tetsu-bro, it's WAY too dangerous for you." He pointed up to Starscream, who was still smirking down at them. "That guy? He's the Decepticon second-in-command. He'd wipe you off the sole of his foot after charring you to a crisp with his engine!"

This made the Air Commander give a hearty laugh. "Ha! Oh, I would. And it would be glorious…" He wagged a finger at the smaller beings. "But, remember, I am generously giving you a chance here… so you had better choose wisely."

Sureshock, bowing to Starscream this time, understood completely. "Y-Yes, Commander Starscream, we understand." Her expression was serious as she grasped Ibara's shoulders to get her point across. "Listen to me, you guys, you all have to get out of here safely."

"N-No! Sureshock—"

"Listen, Ibara, your lives mean more to us than our own right now." The orange femme pressed, sparing a glance back up to Starscream. "The Decepticons won't kill us, we know that for sure. We're far too valuable an asset. But if they killed YOU, we wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves."

For some reason, even though Ibara had only met Sureshock a few moments ago… she was starting to get teary-eyed over the situation. 'B-But… why? I hardly know her…' The Vine user reached out, touching Sureshock's chest plate. "Please… don't do this."

"Ugh, come ON, enough of the waterworks already!" The green copter bot bemoaned. "Barricade, you think you can hurry this along?"

The police bot nodded back to her. "Sure thing, Swift." Barricade started forward and reached out, only for Starscream to bat his hand away. "Gah! What the pit, Starscream?!"

"Ah-ah, I made them an ultimatum, Barricade." Starscream sneered down to his subordinate. "Let it be known that the great Starscream is many things, but unfair in a barter, he is not."

Swift and Barricade both facepalmed at that. "SERIOUSLY?!" the copter bot exclaimed. "We're Decepticons! Since when've we ever been FAIR?!" She retracted her arm blaster and instead made her hands glow green with energy, ready to throw down. "I say we should just fry the little fleshies and take the Mini's. Save us the time and trouble."

"W-Wait! Please, don't hurt them!" High Wire, Sureshock and Grindor grouped up, placing themselves halfway between the Cons and the kids. "We've decided… we'll go with you." All at once, he heard a collective resistance from behind, to which he turned around and held up a hand. "Guys, I understand that this isn't fair, but what's important is making sure YOU live. We'll be fine, just… be good, 'kay?"

Starscream smiled in satisfaction while Swift and Barricade grumbled in irritation, the femme crossing her arms as her hands stopped glowing. "Haha! I just knew you'd see it my way!" He reached down to scoop them up. "Now come, we have a nice, cold holding cell for—" PSCHEW! Just then, a bright green glow began shining in Starscream's optic, taking him off guard. "AGH! W-What the—" CLANG! "GYAAAH!"

Everything had happened so fast that the teens barely had time to comprehend it all. Right as the Air Commander was about to take the bots, a glowing green vortex opened right next to his head, and from out of it came a red and orange motorcycle… which hit him square in the face and sent him sprawling onto the ground. But, what was even MORE shocking… was that the 1-B students knew the driver, and they were utterly slack-jawed when they saw her. The motorcycle landed and spun around to a screeching halt, which was when Itsuka Kendo spotted them and her eyes went wide. "GUYS?!"

"ITSUKA?!" Ibara and Setsuna echoed.

"Kendo?!" Tetsu hollered. "What the hell are you doing here?! A-And where did you… wait, what the HELL is with that portal?!"

Setsuna also recognized the bike that her friend was riding. "And is that the motorcycle you were on this morning?! What's going on here—huh?!"

From there, the teens did a double take as a police Jeep, a VW Beetle, a pink sports car and a Porsche come flying out after her… and that's when Itsuka knew that there was no going back from this. "Well… shoot." the redhead deadpanned. "Guess there goes any semblance of keeping this on the downlow. Sorry, Flare Up."

"Aw, don't worry, love!" the motorcycle spoke as Itsuka got off. Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! From there, Flare Up and her Autobot compatriots transformed into robot mode, leaving the other 1-B students even more stunned. "Honestly, since the Mini-Cons seemingly activated randomly, I had a feelin' someone had to be responsible for waking them. We're just lucky that it was your mates!" Her optics shifted to the trio in question, giving a friendly wave. "On that note, hello, Itsuka's mates!" They silently waved back, though only barely. "Ooh! I think they like me already!"

On that note, the rest of the vehicles all transformed into robots as well, with the pink one taking out a pair of swords as she faced off with Swift. "Flare, now's NOT the time to be making friends!" Arcee warned.

"Oh-ho, Arcee!" Swift smirked as she leapt back, her hands igniting in green once again. "Now we can FINALLY start scrapp—ING!" Unfortunately for her, she ended up tripping over Jazz, who had set himself up behind her.

"Sorry, ma'am, but the only one gettin' scrapped here… is YOU!" Jazz breakdanced back onto his feet, aiming his Subsonic Repeater at the green femme.

Gritting her metal teeth, Strongarm roared in rage as she shot at Barricade, the Con ducking and rolling out of the way as he exchanged fire. With her, Bumblebee went in and started blasting with his stingers as well, looking to shock the corrupt officer. "Get the humans and the Mini-Cons to the GroundBridge safely!" Strongarm directed. "That's an order! Izuku and Kyoka will take 'em from there!"

"Tetsutetsu! Shiozaki! Tokage!" With their names being called out, the 1-B students snapped their heads toward the still-open portal, where indeed, Izuku and Kyoka were standing. The green and purple-haired duo were ushering them toward the vortex, the former shouting; "Come on! We gotta get out of here!"

"Grab your friends, grab your crap and let's get home!" Kyoka added. "We'll explain everything later!"

As much as she wanted to demand answers NOW, Ibara knew that was probably going to have to wait. Using her Vine Quirk, she reached back and grabbed their normal rides and their bags, before giving Sureshock a firm push to the back. "Come on, you heard them! Let's move!"

"Yeah, no time to stand around!" Tetsu and Setsuna urged Grindor and High Wire to do the same, and before long, all six of them were in a mad sprint toward the GroundBridge… only for the ground to explode in their path.

PEWPEWPEWPEW! BOOM! "Not so fast!" Starscream stood to his full height, snarling down at the retreating vermin. "I believe that we had a deal, did we not?" With his null ray aimed straight at them, he repeated himself with a threatening growl; "Hand over the Mini-Cons, and THEN you may go… oh, and while you're at it, tell your little friends to leave the GroundBridge open so that we may SACK the Autobot Bas—" CLANG! "URK!" From out of nowhere, Flare Up blinked in and got a flipping axe kick straight into Starscream's jaw, sending him sprawling backward.

"Yea, not gonna 'appen there, Screama'!" Flare Up flicked her wrists, bringing her pistols out of her forearms and immediately open-fired on Starscream, forcing him to cover up as he was peppered with shots on all sides.

"Gah! Ooch! Ow! Augh! W-Would you—ACK! STOP IT!" Starscream thrust his arms around and began firing in all directions, hoping he'd be able to get in a lucky hit. "AAAAGH! Taste it! TASTE MY FURY!" After a few more moments, he stopped firing, intaking air heavily as he looked around. There were several trees that had been downed thanks to his blasts, but there was no sign of Flare Up in sight. "Hah… hah… I must've hit her—" KONK! "ACH!"

With a double thrust kick, Flare Up slammed down on Starscream's back, sending him head-first into the dirt. "Nope! Sorry! Hehe, you'll have to be quicker than that!"

Uttering another growl, Starscream struggled to get his head up… where he was met with the redhead from before, her hands firmly on her hips. "Hm, so THIS is the Decepticon's second in command?" Itsuka glanced up to her partner with a raised brow. "Gotta say? Not impressed."

Starscream blinked in disbelief. This… lowly human… had just mocked him right to his face. "…What?"

"You heard me." Itsuka remarked once again. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all bark and no bite."

Flare Up, Izuku, Kyoka, her classmates, the Mini-Cons, and even the other Autobots AND Decepticons were left utterly gob smacked by Itsuka's apparent lack of fear. To the point where everything just stopped. This girl was seriously mocking Starscream without even batting an eyelash… and it was something that Flare Up could get behind. "Hehe, yeah, gotta say, he's not really all that threatening once ya REALLY get under his armor plating."

"Th-That's preposterous!" Starscream barked indignantly. "I'm PLENTY threatening! I am a part of Lord Megatron's elite for a reason! I have EARNED my place as second-in-command!"

Flare Up leaned over and tilted her head. "Yea, but that doesn't make ya the most threatening by default, ya know?" She smirked and raised an eyeridge. "Seriously, have you seen Shockwave and Soundwave? Far more terrifyin'."

"Yeah, and you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with those blasters of yours." Itsuka jabbed again, leaving Starscream trembling in rage. "Then again, I'm not surprised considering how small those barrels are." Little did either of them know, that on Starscream's feet, his thrusters were beginning to ignite, along with the ones on his back. "Might wanna consider an upgrade, Screamer. Maybe some missiles? A couple flip-out swords, maybe?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Or maybe a gun that combines with a sword to make a BIGGER sword! Haha!" Flare Up giggled… only to feel something rumbling beneath her. "Hehe… huh?"

Starscream clawed at the ground, his optics burning in rage. "Shut up… shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" BOOM! As fast as a bullet, Starscream burst up from the ground and took to the sky, throwing Flare Up off of him and making Itsuka scream as he shot over her head. He spun around in midair and glared down at the redhead and the speedy scout. "You want me to show you something TRULY terrifying?!" His gaze then shifted back to the other 1-B students, as well as the Mini-Cons before blasting himself straight for them. "Then prepare to say farewell to your friends! I'M TAKING THOSE MINI-CONS!"

"Freaking FINALLY!" Swift cheered. "Get 'em, Starscream!"

"NO!" Jazz and Bumblebee went to intercept Starscream, but by the time they were half-way there, he was already closing in. "Go, kids! GET OUTTA THERE!"

But Tetsu, Ibara and Setsuna were all left petrified, unable to move a muscle as the Seeker closed in on them with his arm outstretched. They didn't even register that Flare Up was already on her way, but she had gotten a late start since she had been taken off guard. The only thing that stood between Starscream and the three kids… were the Mini-Cons. And, as the Decepticon went in for the kill… a flash of light suddenly erupted from the Minis, throwing up a large forcefield around the six of them and making Starscream crash and burn.

"AUGH!" the Seeker blinked in shock. "What?! How in the—" But then, Starscream gasped when he saw the Mini-Cons' optics all glowing an intense blue, glaring straight into his spark.

"We won't let you hurt them." they spoke in unison, leaving everyone baffled.

"…H-High Wire?" Setsuna reached out. "Guys, what's going—AH!" Without warning, all three Mini-Cons suddenly leapt into the air… and then something amazing happened.

Sureshock jumped up onto Grindor's shoulders and brought her arms together over her chest, linking them together which then led to her whole torso splitting in half and extending downward as the two flipped upside-down. With her body now forming a pair of legs and a pelvis, Grindor's shoulder panels flipped over his face to make a groin guard as his arms rotated up and linked with the wings on his back, which were now facing downward as he connected to Sureshock at the pelvis. From there, Grindor's OWN pelvis then split in half and rotated toward the sides, his legs now forming a pair of arms as new hands popped out of his feet.

Finally, High Wire transformed into bike mode, only for his suspension to rotate upward instead of down. He connected between Grindor's leg-arms, the tires of his bike mode propped up on the shoulders of what was becoming an entirely new robot. That status was solidified when the handlebars and headlight of High Wire's bike mode transformed into a brand new head; one that was somewhat squat and had a rounded, blue helm with a silver stripe across the forehead.

The visor of this new robot glowed a bright blue as it sprang into action and leapt through the forcefield, punching Starscream straight in the face with all its might and sending him careening onto his aft. "Ach! W-What the scrap?! How did they do that?!"

Everyone else were also left completely stunned by the action, especially the humans. Even Izuku and Kyoka were left almost speechless. They had NEVER seen any Transformer do THAT before. "Did… d-did they just combine?" Kyoka whispered.

"P-Pretty sure, yeah." Izuku rubbed his eyes to make sure they weren't playing tricks on him.

"…I honestly shouldn't be surprised by what Cybertronians can do anymore, but somehow they just keep one-upping themselves."

Meanwhile, Setsuna was at a complete loss for words, as were Tetsu and Ibara. They had just seen their three new buddies not only create a large forcefield to protect them… but also combine into a singular being. The bot was about eight feet tall, so now it towered over all three of them. But, the moment they saw it's smile, they knew that it still HAD to be their friends in there. "H-High Wire?" Setsuna muttered.

"Grindor?" Tetsu stared at the combiner's torso.

While Ibara focused on the legs. "Sureshock?"

The combiner approached them, and it gave them a nod. "Don't worry. We're still here. Safeguard is with you."

"…Safeguard?" the trio smiled, feeling much more secure at the sound of the combiner's name.

"Come on, let's get you all out of here!" Just then, Safeguard scooped the three up into its arms, making them gasp as it carted them off toward the GroundBridge. Its optics locked onto Izuku and Kyoka and it shouted; "Coming through! Let's move out!"

Jazz was quick to agree. "Ya'll heard the combiner! Let's roll!"

At the lieutenant's order, the Autobots began sprinting toward the portal, putting on some suppressing fire to keep Swift, Barricade and Starscream at a distance. However, the Seeker would NOT be denied like this. "NO! I will not allow it to end like thi—BLACH!" Within a single instant, Flare Up came up and over Starscream's head, slamming a foot down on his face before pushing off of him and toward the portal, with Itsuka securely in her arms.

They were the last ones to arrive at the GroundBridge… and subsequently got in the last words; "Peace out, Fail-scream!" Itsuka flashed the peace sign.

"Don't forget to write!" Flare added cheekily before both of them ducked out, leaving the Decepticons stewing in their own frustrations.

There was a long, very tense silence… before Barricade tried to break the ice. "Well… that could've gone bet—"

"GYAAAAAHHH!" Starscream roared to the heavens and shot blindly up into the sky, letting loose all of his rage in one single instant. By the time he was done shouting, he was breathing hard and heavy, his jets threatening to lift him off into the sky.

"…Ya done?" Swift asked.

"I SWEAR, Swift, one of these days, the Autobots are going to SLIP UP!" Starscream raised a finger into the air, placing a hand over his chest. "And when that day comes, it will be I who will have the last—" Splat! Starscream promptly stopped… when a very charred avian creature fell right on his head, its remains leaking down over his helm. His right optic twitched, his body trembling as his fury threatened to overflow once again. "…I want to go home now."

…..

"Gyuh, c'mon, c'mon, come on!" Mei was pacing back and forth on the GroundBridge platform, unable to stay still as the portal was kept open. This was a risky plan, but a risk that they had to take when the Decepticon signals popped up on their sensors. The Autobots would go in and quickly engage with the Decepticons. And, while they were distracted, Flare Up would zip in, grab the Minis, and then bounce back out. A simple, quick plan.

…It had been ten minutes.

Mei ruffled her hair in frustration. "GRAH! How is it that no one's come through yet?! Not even a Con! What is going ON over there?!"

Red Alert, who was manning the controls, sympathized with her frustrations. "Don't worry, I understand. But we must trust that the team will—huh?" Right at that moment, Izuku and Kyoka appeared in the vortex, running through back into the base, much to Red and Mei's relief. "There you are."

"Guys, what happened over there?" Mei stepped right in front of them, squirming in apprehension. "Did Flare Up get the Mini-Cons? Why did everything take so long? We were worried!"

"Woah, woah, calm down, Hatsume." Izuku urged with a smile. "Everything's alright."

Kyoka tilted her head toward the portal. "Yeah, we just hit a small snag, but once you see what's coming through, you'll understand." The humans and Red Alert then heard something else come through the portal… and the medic and Mei were taken aback.

Through the vortex came a tall, multi-colored robot with bike wheels sticking out its shoulders, carrying three humans whom Red Alert didn't recognize. Mei blinked, however, when she saw two of them in particular. "Hey, wait a sec… aren't you…"

"Hah… phew, thank god we got outta there." Tetsu sighed, the three 1-B students sliding down to the ground, their backs against each other as they took a breather. "And here I thought we wouldn't get away from that Starscream guy."

"Yes, quite the relief." Ibara concurred, only to then take notice of her surroundings. "But wait… where are we now?"

Setsuna scanned around, searching for any clue to their whereabouts. "I honestly have no freaking clue… huh?" Her eyes drifted up when she saw a pair of large, blue legs standing in front of her, only to be met with Red Alert's visor staring back at her. "Uh… hi?"

"Hi." Red returned monotonously. "Are you or your friends injured?"

The Lizard Tail Splitter user shook her head, jerking her thumb toward Safeguard. "Nope, this one helped us out. …Or these three? I dunno, it's hard to keep track of things after so much crap happened." It was at that point that Jazz, Bumblebee, Arcee and Strongarm all filed through the portal as well… and then Flare Up and Itsuka came in, too. Instantly, Setsuna's eyes widened and she shot up to her feet, shouting; "ITSUKA! What the hell is going on here?!"

"Setsuna!" Ibara exclaimed, giving her a serious look. "Do not be so volatile! I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation for all of this…" Her features became more worried as she set her eyes upon her Class Rep. "R-Right, Itsuka?"

The redhead's smile was sympathetic as she was lowered to the floor, where she went up to meet with her friends. "Honestly, guys, I'm just as new to this as all of you." She jerked her thumb up to Flare Up, who waved back cheerily. "I got sucked into this whole thing just a couple hours before you guys, so we all just hopped in the same boat."

"Okay, so where exactly ARE we?" Tetsu asked. "And what's goin' on? I mean, the Mini-Cons gave us the basics on the whole "interplanetary war" thing, but it still feels like we're missing some details."

Red Alert nodded in understanding. "Hm, I see. You're currently inside of Autobot Outpost Omega-1. And we…" He extended his hand toward the team. "Are some of the Autobots who have made Earth our home in recent months. I am Red Alert, medical officer."

"First Lieutenant Jazz, at your service!" Jazz gave a thumbs up. "Nice to meet ya!"

Arcee gave them a bow. "Autobot intelligence officer Arcee. It's a pleasure."

Strongarm sent a salute their way. "Police cadet Strongarm, at your service."

Flare Up winked down to the trio. "You know me! I'm Flare Up, Itsuka's new partner."

"Zrkt—And in this corner, weighing in—zrkt—at over three hundred pounds!" Bumblebee struck a dynamic pose as he introduced himself. "Zrtk—the Amazing Bumblebee!"

Thankfully, Bee's antics were enough to get the three 1-B students smiling again, with Setsuna and Tetsu even laughing a little bit. "Hehehe! I see…" Setsuna gave them all a polite bow. "Well, my name's Setsuna Tokage. Though you probably already know that since we met yesterday."

"I am Ibara Shiozaki." The Vine user also bowed. "I must say, never would I have imagined that I would encounter beings such as yourselves on God's green Earth, but it's truly a great pleasure to meet you. And thank you so much for saving us."

Tetsu puffed up his chest with a smirk, jerking a thumb toward his chest. "And MY name's—"

"Tetsu-Times-Four, yeah?" Jazz pointed down at the Steel Quirk user. "I remember you REAL well. You're the guy who Sideswipe kept callin' a copycat of Eijiro, right?"

And in a single instant, that set Tetsu off. "HEY! I am NOT a copy of Kirishima! We just HAPPEN to have Quirks that—wait…" His eyes widened as a realization hit him. "Kirishima…" He pointed up at the Autobots. "If… if YOU guys were the ones who were hanging out with Class 1-A during the festival yesterday… th-then does that mean…"

"Yes, there are more of us who know about the Autobots." Izuku confirmed, garnering their attention as he listed them off. "So far, the ones who're in on this secret are you guys, myself, Kyoka, Kirishima, Uraraka, Iida, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Kaminari and—"

"ME!" Mei suddenly jumped up between Tetsu, Ibara and Setsuna, making the three of them scream. "Oops! Haha! Sorry 'bout that, guys." The Zoom user held her head up proudly as she placed a hand over her chest. "But yeah, surely you must remember ME from the Sports Festival yesterday, right? Weren't my babies cool?"

Setsuna immediately recognized the girl… though not for the reasons Mei would've wanted. "Oh, yeah! You're Hatsume from the Support Course. The one who made Iida go around in circles with your inventions, right?"

Mei felt her eyebrow twitch, her guilt resurfacing again, but kept her smile nonetheless. "R-Right, yeah… that was me." She shook her head and pointed over to Safeguard, who hadn't moved since they arrived. "But hey, who's your friend? I thought there'd been THREE Mini-Con signals that popped up, not just one."

"Well, that's actually still accurate, Mei." Red Alert said, raising his multi-tool arm to activate its scanning function. And, before long, he got the results he expected. "Mmhm, exactly as I thought. There's three sparks inhabiting this one vessel. Meaning that these Mini-Cons… are also a combiner team."

Instantly, Mei's eyes were sparkling in wonderment. "A… A COMBINER?! Mini-Cons can COMBINE into bigger robots?!"

"Not JUST Mini-Cons." Safeguard finally spoke, wherein the group could hear three individual voices speaking all at once. "Many Cybertronians are capable of uniting into one being. Granted, it IS a much rarer phenomenon nowadays." He raised his hand up to his chest. "For example, we, the being you see before you, are collectively known as Safeguard. But individually…"

Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk!

The teens all gasped as Safeguard separated into his three components and they all transformed back into their robot modes, with the blue and orange bots landing on the ground first. "We are Sureshock!"

"Grindor!"

The two linked arms as the final Mini-Con came down and landing on their arms, forming their A-Stance once again. "And I'm their leader, High Wire! Together we are…" Stretching their free arms out to the side, they called out all at once; "THE STREET ACTION MINI-CON TEAM!"

…Once again, there was silence, but this time, the Minis could take heart in the fact that they had captivated their audience. Mei, Itsuka, and Izuku were all staring at them, their eyes shining and completely awestruck at what just happened. "AAAAAHH!" Mei squirmed as she took out her notepad, giddy at the new discovery. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH! Cybertronians just get better and BETTER!"

"So… So cool!" Izuku and Itsuka said collectively.

While Kyoka was also impressed, she, along with the other three, couldn't help but smile awkwardly at the Mini-Cons' antics. "Okay… but is the posing really necessary?"

"Of course, it is, dude!" Grindor insisted.

"We do it all the time." Sureshock raised her head proudly. "We've made sure to practice extensively."

High Wire jumped down and went straight to Setsuna, using his clip-shaped hands to grab hers. "But that doesn't matter now. I'm just glad that we were able to keep you guys safe."

Sureshock went over and reached for Ibara's hands as well. "Indeed, you aren't hurt, are you, Miss Ibara?"

Ibara gave a small laugh and reached up, giving Sureshock an assuring pat on the head. "Haha, no, of course we aren't. Thanks to you, we managed to avoid a rather gruesome fate at the hands of that wretched Starscream."

"We're seriously in your debt, you guys." Setsuna agreed, giving High Wire a hug. "Thanks a ton."

"Yeah… won't lie, I had my doubts about you guys at first…" Tetsu raised a fist to Grindor, giving him a toothy grin. "But you guys are a-okay."

"Hah! Was hopin' you'd say that, bro!" Grindor returned the fist bump. "Glad we're on the same page."

Itsuka couldn't help but smile at the sight of her classmates getting along with their new friends, for as incredibly surreal as the whole situation was. 'Who would've thought, in the span of a single day… all of THIS would happen?' Her eyes went up to Flare Up, nodding to the scout with a light chuckle. "Hehe, who would've thought, huh? Guess we're not the only ones making new friends today."

"Nope, guess not!" Flare Up beamed back in return. But, just as quickly, she reached up and scratched her face sheepishly. "Although, to be honest… still not sure how the others are gonna take this when they get back from their mission…"

"Oh yeah, that's right…" Itsuka raised a brow to Red Alert. "Any word on how that's going, by the way?"

The medic shook his head. "No, not a thing… which is a bit concerning." Red Alert turned toward the main control hub, intent on contacting the away team. "Let's see… Bulkhead, this is Red Alert, can you—"

"NOT NOW, RED!" Bulkhead bellowed back, causing everyone to flinch along with the sound of a massive explosion.

…..

On the other end of the call, Bulkhead, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were taking shelter behind a large stone outcropping, using it as a pseudo bunker to shield themselves from Blastwave's onslaught. "Gah! Kinda tied up in scrap here!" The Wrecker said before shooting several cannon blasts at his rival. All the same, however, the Decepticon artillery specialist kept trudging forward, with his Vehicons flanking him on all sides. "Blastwave's got me, Sides and Sunny pinned down and Windblade and Springer are dealing with Seekers!"

"What about Optimus? And the children?"

"He took them to get the relic!" Sideswipe replied, firing his own shots against the Decepticon troops. "And to get away from THIS fragging mess!"

"Do you require backup? We've got plenty here despite the… rather chaotic afternoon we've had."

Sunstreaker's face twisted in confusion at the medic's words. "Wait, the heck does that mean?"

A sigh escaped Red Alert as he waved the question off. "Long story, tell you later. Again, we're more than happy to send back up if needed."

Bulkhead, however, rebuffed the offer with a scoff. "Bah! Red, if there's one thing you oughta know about Wreckers, it's that they don't call for back up…" He craned his head up toward the sky with a smirk. "Hah, right, Springs?!"

"Oh, sure enough, Bulk!" Springer dove straight down out of the sky, transforming into robot mode before launching Sawback and Fangblade down at the Vehicons below. The wolf and Smilodon bots crashed into and started mauling several of the troops, all while Springer closed in on Blastwave with swords drawn. "They call for CLEAN UP!"

"GRAH!" Blastwave raised his arms to block the sword strikes, which scraped off his arm-mounted blasters harmlessly before he aimed them straight for Springer. "It is YOU who will be needing the cleaning up, little bot!" BAM-BAM! Twin violet lasers burst out of the blasters and nearly hit the Triple Changer, only for him to use his high-jump ability to get out of the way. The blasts hit the ground instead, kicking up the red Outback sand and blocking Blastwave's vision completely. "AUGH! Stupid dirt! Why must you block Blastwave's sight?!"

Bulkhead smirked at the opportunity. "And there's my door…" As fast as he could, the rotund Autobot sprinted into the cloud of red, charging straight for his rival. "HEY! Blastwave!"

"WHAT—" CLANG! "GYAAAAUUUUGGGHAAA!"

With a massive swing of his wrecking mace, Bulkhead sent the Decepticon flying straight backward, slamming straight into the side of another stone outcrop not too far away. Bulkhead rotated his arm, transforming his hand back to normal. "Heh, how's THAT for clean up?" Springer landed directly next to his fellow Wrecker and the two fist-bumped. "Nice one, Springs."

"Ah, felt just like the good ol' days." Springer said with a nostalgic grin as Sawback and Fangblade returned to him, the Vehicons now all mostly ripped to shreds. "So, how do ya think the boss bot's doin'?"

…..

Truth be told, Optimus wasn't so certain WHAT he had gotten himself into. This cave was FAR larger than he had expected, going so far in that he was fairly convinced that they were directly in the middle of the plateau by now. It had gotten so dark that use of his headlights was a necessity, and it was evident that the children weren't so sure of what they were doing either. "U-Um… Prime?" Eijiro piped up. "How did we lose sight of Shadow Striker?"

"I am… uncertain of that, Eijiro." Optimus replied warily. "I knew she was in front of us, but… I did not think she had gotten that far ahead."

Mina glanced nervously into Prime's rearview mirrors. "Y-You don't think she could've gotten behind us, do you?"

Momo put a hand to her chin, pondering on that. "It is a possibility. There could've been a fork or an alcove that we didn't see where she could've hidden and wait until we were ahead of her."

"If that's the case, we can't stop now!" Denki insisted. "Or else she'll catch up and run us down!"

Not a second later and something began coming into view for Optimus, catching his attention. "Denki… I believe that we will have to stop soon enough. Look ahead." The teens all peered out of Optimus' windshield and their eyes widened at the sight of a dim, blue light emanated further ahead, taking them by surprise. "Hold on, kids, we're going in!"

Once they made it through the tunnel, Optimus pulled to a stop, and what they all saw next took them by complete surprise. It was an absolutely massive cavern, one with a large body of water directly in the middle. The 1-A students all exited Prime's vehicle mode and the Autobot leader transformed, all of them visibly taken aback. "Uh… who would've guessed all of THIS was in here?!" Denki exclaimed.

"No clue, man." Eijiro ran a hand through his hair. "But to be honest, I probably shouldn't be shocked that there's more to our planet than meets the eye."

"It's… so pretty." Mina said in awe… only to notice something glowing at the bottom of the pond. "H-Hey… Optimus, over there! In the water!"

Optimus followed Mina's pointed finger and saw the green glow for himself, which immediately caught his interest. "Everyone, stay here, and get to cover."

As the Prime stepped into the water, though, Momo spotted something else in the darkness as she was about to follow her friends. In the darkness of the cavern, she could see a familiar set of optics; one normal, one circular like a targeting reticle, and it wasn't long until she saw the glowing red of a rifle scope popping up through the inky blackness as well. Momo gasped and immediately lifted her shirt, creating an artillery cannon and shouting; "OPTIMUS! Watch out!"

BOOM!

Prime lurched out of the way as the cannon blasted at the figure in the dark, only for them to leap out of the way and curse; "Merde!" Landing straight in the light, Shadow Striker was revealed, the sniper sneering at the Autobot leader and the raven-haired girl. "Cien, cien, it appears zat you have found me." Shadow Striker converted her sniper rifle into its automatic mode and took aim at the group. "In zat case, I will make zis more direct; you will allow me to retrieve ze relic and none of you will perish here today."

"Ha! Like we're gonna take THAT option, lady!" Eijiro retorted, hardening himself up and bashing his fists together. Flanking either side of him, Mina brought a bubble of acid in her hand while Denki's began sparking, the three prepared to fight if need be. "We ain't leaving without that relic."

However, before anything could even start, Optimus put himself in between the two sides, raising his hands to try and deescalate the situation. "Wait! Please, let us take this moment to breathe and think things through." The humans' eyes all widened in disbelief as he attempted to appeal to the Decepticon. "Shadow Striker, you don't have to do this. We're dealing with a piece of Cybertronian history, not a tool for war. I implore you… if there is any part of your past-self left, allow us to retrieve the relic so that it may return to Cybertron one day unscathed."

Down below, Eijiro, Mina, Denki and Momo all did a double take at that. Past-self? What did that mean? Shadow Striker, however, simply turned her nose up to the request. "Hmph, you should know zat zere is no going back for me, Optimus Prime. I left my life as an Autobot a long time ago."

And just like that, the teens had their question answered. "SHE was an Autobot?!" Mina exclaimed. "You're telling me that she switched sides?!"

"Indeed… though not by force." Optimus recalled, narrowing his optics at Shadow Striker. "You know very well the experimentation that Shockwave put you through, Shadow Striker. He practically cut off your sense of compassion—your emotions—and yet you STILL choose to fight for them. Why?"

"Hmhmhm… oh poor Optimus Prime…" Shadow Striker chortled with a sinister smile. "What you fail to realize is zat my new profession is ze only way for me to feel anything at all." She brought down her recon visor over her eyes and went to take aim. "At ze moment of ze kill… I am never more alive…"

As he stared down the barrel of her gun, Optimus knew that he had one more hand to play. One that he knew would have some impact on her. He locked optics with her and said, plain and simple; "…What would Roulette say if she were still with us now?"

Just as expected, he heard a faint gasp, and Shadow Striker's visor retracted. Optimus could see hints of emotion begin to twitch onto the sniper's features, ones of pain, sadness, but above all else… anger. Her lips pursed together in a sneer as she went for an unexpected move, putting away her rifle in favor of her energy machete. "AAAGH!" Optimus brought out his axe, acting defensively as she kept swinging at him relentlessly, only stopping to scream at him; "You DARE to speak my sister's name in MY presence?"

"Ah… so you do feel some remorse." Prime concluded, still keeping optic-contact. "She was your best friend, after all… as well as your first target."

"GRAAAA!" The Decepticon kept going at Optimus with all her might, but as she did, the Autobot leader gave a subtle nod toward the humans.

The message was clear to them; "Get the relic". The 1-A students all nodded to one another and, as silently as they could, they began wading into the underground pond toward its center, where the green glow was still emanating. Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep, only reaching to their hips. "Okay, let's get this thing outta sight." Eijiro and Denki reached down to grab the relic… only for their hands to graze against not one, but two objects. "Huh? Dude, you feel that?"

"Yeah, I do." Denki's face scrunched up. "One feels flat and has angles and the other is… round."

"Yaomomo, let's grab the other one." Mina concluded, with the Creation user following her lead. The two pairs took their positions and, on the count of three, both hoisted up their assigned objects. And what they saw… was rather surprising.

The source of the green glow was a pentagon-shaped panel with a stylized "M" logo in the very middle, while the circular object was actually something that they had seen before; a Cybertronian holoviewer. Momo gasped at the realization. "Wait, this relic… it comes with a message?"

Unfortunately, hoisting up the relic resulted in the green glow becoming even more intense, to the point where Shadow Striker noticed it out the corner of her optic. "W-What?! NO!" She grit her metal teeth in anger. Prime provoking her was just a distraction! She kick-flipped away from the Autobot, vaulting off his arm and sending him stumbling back so she could get to those meddlesome brats. "Ze relic! Give it to me!"

The teens collectively gasped and went to run from the Con… but then something strange happened. The glow of the green panel suddenly began concentrating into its center and, much to their shock, a brilliant laser came bursting out and struck Shadow Striker right in the chest, sending her careening into the nearest wall with a scream of pain. The four teens were left staring in utter bafflement. "W-What just happened?" Mina asked.

"Honestly, no clue." Eijiro admitted, glancing at the panel as they got out of the water. "But whatever this relic is, it packs a punch!"

"That… is no relic." Optimus said in awe as he stood up, approaching the teens in a brisk walk before kneeling down in front of them. "That is… a Mini-Con stasis panel."

His news served to get the teens excited, with Mina bursting out into an ecstatic smile. "AH! So you mean there's a new little friend sleeping in here?! Aw! So awesome!"

"But, wait…" Momo raised a brow. "Didn't the relics get sent to Earth AFTER the Ark crashed? If that's the case, then why did the coordinates bring us to it?"

Optimus reached down, plucking the holoviewer up from the girls' hands. "I assume that's where this comes in…" He pressed the center of the device and was immediately greeted by the hologram of a Cybertronian… though it wasn't Alpha Trion, as he had expected.

Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a different elderly bot, one who was dark green and orange and had a respectable paunch to him. He seemed to be a rather heavy-set yet jolly fellow given his wide smile. He had a rather pronounced chin which was accentuated by a burly, orange guard that resembled a beard, and he had some rather thick "eyebrows" to match. Whats more, he didn't have your typical optics. Rather, his were very round, almost resembling a pair of spectacles in a sense. He spoke with a chummy, British accent as he laughed up to the Prime; "Haha! Optimus Prime! Good to see you, lad! Er, well, I suppose I can't technically see YOU like this, but you can certainly see me."

"…Macadam?!"

"Who?!" The teens echoed.

Optimus craned his head down to the kids and explained; "Macadam. He was a bartender who owned an old oil house in Iacon, and was gifted with precognitive powers."

Denki scratched his head. "Precogni-what now?"

"He can see the future." Momo deadpanned.

"Indeed, young lady!" Macadam spoke up, much to the shock of Optimus and the others. "Meaning that while this may be a pre-recorded message, do not be surprised if respond to you directly. I know exactly what you're going to say, after all." His attention was brought back to the Prime before him. "Ah, but Optimus, I am very pleased to see that you found this place so quickly. I anticipated that you would."

"I-I'm sure, Macadam, but… did you specifically have Alpha Trion send this message to Earth along with the relics so that I could find…" He pointed down to the Mini-Con panel. "…THIS lone Mini-Con in particular?"

Mac gave a hearty nod. "I did! And once ol' Trion heard the reason why, he was more than happy to do so." He gave Optimus a wink. "After all, this Mini-Con is… rather special."

At first, Prime wasn't sure what he was talking about… but then, something clicked in his head and his optics widened, hurriedly reaching down to grasp the panel. "Pardon me, everyone. This… if this is who I believe it is…" He received another nod from Macadam, which prompted Optimus to close his hand around the Mini-Con panel, to which it began glowing brightly once again. He opened his hand back up and from the panel, its occupant emerged…

Standing in Optimus' palm was a little robot with a blocky build, with a small port in the middle of his torso. His main body was black with silver detailing, primarily in the vents on his pectorals. He had grey arms which had two wheels each on them; one in his shoulder and one in his elbow. His back panel and lower legs were all completely blue, with another wheel on the back of each leg. His feet were actually the front most seats of his vehicle mode, with another pair of seats propped on his back. His helm was squat and had a flat top, his silver face serving as a stark contrast.

The Mini-Con's yellow optics eventually turned on, and he let out a small groan as he shook his head. "Hmph… what the… where am I—" He cut himself off when he eventually looked up… and his features broke out into a smile upon seeing the Autobot leader. "OPTIMUS?!"

"Roller!" The kids were taken aback by the sheer amount of happiness that they heard in the Prime's voice at that very moment. It was almost jarring, hearing the Autobot leader sound that happy, but it also rather joyous to see as Optimus brought the Mini-Con up to face level. "Haha! My old friend! My suspicions were right! It WAS you!"

Roller gave a laugh as he jumped off Optimus' hand and onto his shoulder. "Ha! I-I can't believe it! It's really you! After all this time…" But the little bot trailed off when he noticed their surroundings. "Wait… this isn't Cybertron OR the Ark…"

Optimus shook his head. "Unfortunately not, my friend. The Ark crash-landed on this planet eons ago, scattering you Mini-Cons all across the globe." He raised a finger to his partner. "But now, my Autobots and I are here, and we are currently searching for the Ark. Care to join us?"

"Ha! Like you've gotta ask?" Roller placed his hands on his hips proudly. "I'd be glad to help, Optimus. You can always count on me, you know that!"

Near Prime's feet, the teens were all beaming up happily at the reunited duo, with Mina practically brimming with questions. "EEEEE! This is so cool! Optimus, who is he? Is he YOUR specific Mini-Con? Ah! Does he transform into a tiny truck?!"

Taken off guard, Roller snapped his head down to the pink-skinned girl, seeing her and all of her friends gathered around Optimus with piqued interest. "Woah, uh… Prime, who're the fleshies?"

"They are humans, Roller. They are the native species of this world." Optimus elaborated, extending a hand down to the quartet. "These are Momo, Mina, Eijiro and Denki, and they are some of our many human allies on this planet."

Roller leapt down and landing directly in front of the four, peering closer with inquisitive eyes. "Oh… I see…" Without missing a beat, Roller stood at attention, saluting them all. "It's a pleasure to meet you, everyone. My name is Roller, and yes, I am Optimus Prime's personal Mini-Con partner."

Momo bowed her head back, leading the others to follow suit. "It's such a pleasure to meet you, Roller. To be quite honest, we had no idea we'd find YOU here."

"Yes, I was actually about to ask…" Roller glanced back up to his partner. "How exactly DID you find me here?"

"Hmhm, we have Macadam to thank for that." Optimus shifted his optics back to the bot in question. "His precognition allowed us to track you down using this holoviewer. Thank you, Macadam, for reuniting us."

Roller expressed his gratitude as well. "Yes, thank you so much, Mac!"

"Oh, think nothin' of it." Macadam waved. "Just makin' sure that you two're squared away an' all that." He gave a wink up to the duo. "Now, I think you've got some Decepticons to dispatch. So get on it, then." The Prime and the Mini-Cons gave affirming nods, but before the message cut out, Macadam spoke up again. "O-Oh, and one more thing; about that young man you're training… Izuku, I believe it is. Be sure to keep an eye on his Quirk and his… inner knight. They'll be rather important to you all later on. Farewell!" And with that, the message cut out, leaving everyone completely perplexed.

"Uh… what was that about Midoriya?" Eijiro scratched his head.

Momo scrunched up her nose in confusion. "And what about that "inner knight" comment? I mean, I know Midoriya is heroic, but he isn't exactly "knightly"."

Optimus scratched his chin, also pondering on what the bartender meant. "I am… uncertain myself…" But, as he thought back to Izuku and his Quirk, a new stray thought crossed his mind, remembering what had happened yesterday. 'Could this have something to do with the vision that Izuku had? Where the red-eyed individual stood out to him?'

"Hey, um, guys?" Denki spoke up, pointing across the cave. "We've got another problem. Shadow Striker's… gone."

Sure enough, the Decepticon sniper was no where in sight, leaving them all worried. "Oh no! W-Where do you think she is?!" Mina began looking around in a panic.

"I doubt she is still here, Mina." Optimus concluded. "If she was, she would have ambushed us by now." He scanned the ground and, as he thought, he could see tire tracks going from where Shadow Striker had crashed out toward the tunnel. "She has retreated, likely to warn the other Decepticons."

Hearing that, Roller puffed out his chest. "Hmph, well, I say we go show those Cons what we're able to do together!" He grinned over to Optimus with a determined fist pump. "Right, Optimus?"

"Hm, yes, I second that." Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! "Climb on, everyone. It's time to finish this."

…..

Back outside, the battle continued to wage over the Outback desert, with Windblade having returned to ground level and bringing the Seekers with her. With all the Vehicons now utterly scrapped, that left the Decepticons outnumbered, but not outgunned. As the two sides exchanged fire, however, their attention was garnered when they heard an engine approaching, and from there, the Cons were surprised to see Shadow Striker come speeding out from the tunnel, transforming to a halt.

"Shadow Striker!" Skywarp called out. "Report! Where's the artifact?!"

The sniper sneered in frustration, shaking her head. "Zere WAS no artifact! Simply a useless message and…" She pursed her lips, hating herself for seeing what had transpired. As much as she wanted to deny it… she couldn't take the Mini-Con. Some part of her inside had screamed at herself not to. 'Why… why am I feeling zis?!' she screamed internally as she clutched her chest. 'Damn it all!'

But Blastwave's patience was short, stomping his foot to demand answers. "AND WHAT?! We are fighting great battle out here! Give us news so we can go BACK to it!"

VRRRRMM! Just then, the sound of a loud truck engine came roaring out from the cave, followed by Optimus practically launching out and skidding as he hit the ground. Roller had secured himself on the roof of his partner while the kids all immediately disembarked, allowing the Prime to transform back into robot mode. "There will be no more battle done today, Blastwave." Optimus held out his hand, allowing Roller to jump into it. "For the outcome has already been decided!"

Thundercracker and Skywarp both stared in disbelief. "A MINI-CON?!" they shouted together, before the black and purple Seeker whipped his head back to Shadow Striker. "You LET him get away with a fragging MINI-CON?!"

Bulkhead, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker and Windblade were all taken aback by the Mini-Con's presence, though, while Springer was left pleasantly surprised. "Huh, well whaddya know? Now WE'VE got another little guy on OUR side! Nice job, Prime!" It was then that he noticed just how shocked the rest of his teammates were, leading him to ask; "Uh… guys? You doin' alright?"

"Springer… do you seriously not know who that Mini-Con is?" Sideswipe asked in turn.

"Uh… no, not really." Springer gave a shrug. "Should I know the little guy?"

Sunstreaker pointed to the little guy in question. "That's Roller, dude! He's Optimus' long-time partner Mini-Con! Oh-ho, you're in for a freaking treat with this one!"

If anything, this only confused Springer more. "Still no clue what you're talkin' about here, guys. Bulk, PLEASE elaborate."

The fellow Wrecker only gave a laugh as he pat Springer on the shoulder. "Ah-haha… Springs, lemme ask ya something… ever wonder how the Battle of Maximus Station ended the way it did?" Bulkhead saw Springer's optics widen a little, but tilted his head curiously. "When the incoming platoon of Cons were all taken out in a single blast, well… that was Prime and Roller's doin'."

"Translation;" Windblade winked as she saw Springer's jaw drop. "You're about to see some serious scrap."

Back over by Optimus, he set his sights down on Roller, giving him a single nod. "Well, old friend, what do you say? Are you up for a little demonstration?"

"Oh, you know it!" Roller gave a thumbs up. "Let's show 'em what we do best, Prime!"

Optimus nodded before craning his head down toward the children. "Everyone, I highly advise you stay away. This is going to get very intense." Without a word of argument, Mina, Momo, Eijiro and Denki all made haste away from the Autobot leader, hiding behind a boulder while keeping their eyes on the battle. From there, Optimus' and Roller's optics both began glowing with an powerful light, before both of them leapt up into the air…

"Optimus Prime!"

"Roller!"

"POWERLINK!"

Roller brought his arms in, tucked his head away and folded his legs up, transforming into a small, six-wheeled, blue buggy that went flying in midair straight around Optimus. Small bolts of electricity then came jolting out from underneath the Mini-Con and he connected firmly onto the Autobot leader's back and, from there, something astounding happened. A pair of panels sprung out from each side of Prime's back and swung straight over his shoulders, revealing a pair of large, red laser cannons with cylindrical, black barrels that extended outward toward the enemy Decepticons.

The hiding teens were all left astonished to say the least. "W-What the—" Eijiro stammered.

"HOLY SHIT!" Mina cried out joyously. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

The Decepticons, however, were less than thrilled. "…Oh no." Blastwave muttered. "This is not good."

"No, it is not… for you, at least." Optimus affirmed, his optics having changed to yellow with the link-up. With both weapons fully charged and ready to go, Prime reared himself back and then lurched forward, shouting; "Prime Cannons: FIRE!"

BWWOOOOOOOOM!

A pair of massive, red lasers came bursting out of the cannons all at once, creating twin trenches in the ground as they made their way toward the Decepticons. "AAAH! Flatline! FLATLINE!" Thundercracker and his Mini-Cons all transformed, fleeing as fast as possible. "Open a GroundBridge NOW!" Thankfully, the medic seemed to be listening as a portal opened up, allowing himself, the small jets, and Shadow Striker to mount a retreat.

Skywarp was about to leave as well… until he saw Blastwave standing his ground, preparing his own twin cannons to fire back. "Blastwave, you IDIOT! Get here now before you—" KABAAM! He could only watch as Blastwave fired his cannons at full blast, the lasers momentarily colliding in the middle… before the weapons specialist's were ultimately overtaken by Optimus'.

"OH, THIS IS BAD—AAAAAUUUGGAAAA!" The ground exploded in front of Blastwave as the Prime Cannons hit their mark, sending him flying back into the GroundBridge portal with several newly open wounds.

Skywarp had to duck to avoid the larger Con, before looking back to see the dust settling… and Prime standing victorious with his cannons still aimed right at him. Their optics met briefly, before Skywarp pointed a shaky finger at the Autobot leader. "…This isn't over, Prime. Not by a long shot!" With that, Skywarp jumped into the GroundBridge, the portal disappearing soon after.

"Hah…" Optimus' shoulders sagged as he sighed heavily, while the Autobots and humans gathered toward him and Roller detached from his back. The Prime Cannons retracted back into him automatically as Roller landed on his shoulder, to which he gave a grateful nod. "Thank you, Roller. An excellent job as always."

"Happy to be of service again, sir." Roller saluted.

"OPTIMUS!" Denki exclaimed, the teens all visibly giddy after witnessing the feat of power. "What in the HELL was all that?!"

"You just shot Blastwave almost into oblivion!" Eijiro laughed. "Haha! That was insane!"

Momo pointed up to Roller in amazement. "Was… was that ALL from just you and Roller linking up like that?!"

Roller looked down and gave her a thumbs up. "You know it, Miss Momo! Impressive, right?"

Mina was still trying to wrap her head around this, pointing up to Springer's shoulders. "B-But how come Springer can't do anything like that when he's got TWO Mini-Cons?! Ya don't see HIM goin' around blasting Cons with surprise pop-out cannons!"

"Ha! Well, that's where some Mini-Cons differ, Mina." Springer laughed, patting his own Minis assuredly. "Sawback and Fangblade here are Deployer Mini-Cons, ones who're forged more for close-range combat." He extended a hand toward Roller. "Whereas this guy here is a Powerlinking Mini-Con, one who's practically OVERFLOWING with excessive power."

"And he can share that power with bigger bots by linking up with them." Windblade added. "In fact, these Mini-Cons are the most common type, and they're able to create weapons from our bodies that even WE don't know we're capable of having."

Mina's eyes were practically sparkling at this point. "Woah…" She whipped her head up to Bulkhead. "So Bulk, does that mean if YOU find a Powerlinking Mini-Con, you can get some awesome new weapons, too?"

Bulkhead gave a shrug. "Maybe. Never linked up with one before." He set his optics onto Optimus and nudged his chin over toward the Combat Deck. "Heh, but I do know one thing; that new rig o' yours really scrapped those Vehicons good, Optimus."

"Yeah, though it actually kinda stopped doin' stuff when you were in that cave." Sideswipe mentioned.

Optimus hummed to himself when he heard that. "Hm, I see… so the mental link between myself and the trailer has a distance limit. Either that or the cave walls blocked the signal."

"Yeah, but all in all, looks like Red and Mei really outdid themselves with this baby." Sunstreaker complimented.

"Hm, indeed they have." Optimus went over to the Combat Deck and knelt next to it, taking Roller off his shoulder. "Roller, I believe it would be a good idea for you to man this trailer of mine. I trust that having you at its helm will be quite beneficial, especially when I am indisposed or cannot be near the deck." The Prime smiled beneath his faceplate. "You think you can do that for me?"

Once again, Roller gave a salute. "You've got it, Prime! Will do!" Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chk! The Mini-Con transformed into his buggy form and the trailer started closing up around him, which made him chuckle a little. "Hehe, a perfect fit!" he said as the back doors of the trailer closed. "So, what's next?!"

"Now… we return home." Optimus reached up to his helm and activated his commlink, while the rest of the Autobot transformed in preparation to leave. "Red Alert, this is Optimus. Mission accomplished."

"Hah, that's great news, Prime." Came Red Alert's thankful reply. "Any trouble retrieving the relic on your end?"

Prime shook his head with a short chortle. "Haha… oh, it wasn't a relic, Red. I'll tell you all about it once we return. For now, though, please bridge us back. It has been quite the day."

In no time, the GroundBridge opened, along with Red Alert heaving a sigh of his own. "Oh, you have no idea, Optimus. We've had… quite the interesting turn of events today ourselves."

"Hm? Did something happen?"

"Just… come through the GroundBridge and prepare yourselves. This is going to take quite a while to explain."

The communication cut off there, and with his interest now garnered, Optimus transformed into his truck mode, backing up and hooking onto his trailer. "Autobots, let's roll on home!" Following his lead, the Autobots filed in line with Optimus through the GroundBridge, arriving inside the base in a matter of moments. Once they all pulled in, they transformed back, expecting to see their team gathered up to greet them. "Well, Red Alert, what exactly is this… all… about?"

It was then that Prime saw; at the forefront of the group of Autobots were four… no, EIGHT new arrivals. Four humans, all of whom he recognized as students from Class 1-B. Standing with them were Izuku, Kyoka and Mei, the three of them seemingly supporting the other anxious teens. There were also a trio of Mini-Cons, who appeared familiar to Optimus, but he couldn't place exactly where he knew them from. And finally, one full-sized Autobot… and this one he DEFINITELY knew.

Flare Up smiled nervously as she gave Optimus a sheepish wave, while the other Autobots all stood awkwardly behind her. "Uh… hehe… h-hiya, Optimus Prime, sir! So… I can explain."

Optimus, the other Autobots, along with Momo, Mina, Denki and Eijiro, all stared aghast at the new arrivals, the Prime lifting a hand up to his forehead. This… was going to be complicated to explain. "Primus… Aizawa is not going to like this…"

…..

A/N: No he will not, Optimus, no he will not. But hey, we can cross THAT bridge when we come to it. But first, how 'bout we go over what we saw happen today, shall we? And I think it's only fair to start off with the big one; SURPRISE! Seems our 1-B students aren't the ONLY ones who ended up stumbling onto a Mini-Con or three! For indeed, along with the introduction of Optimus Prime's classic Combat Deck, we have… ROLLER! The once little drone buggy has now become a full-fledged Mini-Con in his own right, and man, does he help Prime pack a PUNCH with those Prime Cannons! Gotta love it when two bots Powerlink! Now, as for who voices him… I'll admit, I actually haven't thought of someone yet, but by next week, I think I'll have someone in mind.

But yeah, between Roller, the Combat Deck and the link-up to form the Prime Cannons, I imagine that, if this story were an actual show, this chapter would be an advertisement for one of those big gimmick Optimus toys that you often see in the toy isles, complete with spring-out cannons for Prime. After all, while this isn't official in any sense, I still want to consider that this WOULD be a series advertising Transformer figures if this WERE real.

Speaking of which, the Street Action Mini-Con team revealed a new trick that'd make their 3-Pack worth the purchase! What's better than three individual tiny robots? All of them combining into an even BIGGER small robot! Indeed, in Armada, he was called "Perceptor", but considering a certain Microscope Transformer has that name taken, I've changed his name to "Safeguard", namely because it still works with him being a guardian to the kids and all, plus that name's been assigned to MANY different Autobots over the years, so it fits.

Now, that being said, we saw plenty of other stuff in this chapter as well. The 1-B students meeting the other Autobots, the other 1-A students getting to help retrieve Roller… and delving a bit deeper into Shadow Striker's past. Once an experiment of Shockwave, now turned into a ruthless, near-emotionless killer. …The keyword being "Near". Seems she does have some soft spots to her, refusing to hurt Mini-Cons… and getting agitated at the mere mention of her sister Roulette (and yes, she IS also a part of the Transformers franchise).

Oh, also, hi Macadam! Or, as people in the know refer to him as; "Robot Thew". Hehehe, again, if you know, you know. But yep, it's thanks to his precognitive abilities that Prime and Roller were reunited in the first place. Pretty smart to have Trion send that message and those coordinates to Earth, to be sure. But don't worry, this won't be the last we'll see of Mac. He'll still have a couple roles to play. But with that said…

And now, the Preview! It's debriefing time as the whole team goes over everything that happened, along with a few introductions between those who haven't formerly met. But, of course, Aizawa and All Might have to be informed of what happened… along with a very concerned Vlad King. Through it all, though, Flare Up managed to deliver some very exciting news, which helps ease the blow a little bit. Next time; Students A Through B. …Wait, you're telling us that a TITAN is coming to Earth?! Thanks for reading everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and remember;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!