Hello all and welcome back to Beast Wars Prime. Bit of a filler chapter this time, but the idea had been in the back of my head for a while. So, hope you enjoy it. Quick note: The picture of Raf that's mentioned in this chapter is real and was drawn by Ardent Aspen on DeviantArt. It's called Raf's Desktop, November 2021. It's the second one.
"And this is from Jacks' first-time trick or treating." June said, pointing to the picture of a five-year-old Jack in a lion costume with a pillowcase in his fist. Having sorted through the boxes from her house June had finally found the photo albums she promised she'd show Miko.
Said femme was laughing. "Aww, he looks so cute." Miko laughed. Figures Jacks' first costume would be a lion. Now he had a permanent lion costume handy.
Jack, in beast mode buried his face in his paws. "Yeah yeah pretty bird, laugh it up." He grumbled. He'd honestly forgotten about his mom showing Miko his embarrassing pictures. Hopefully she hadn't found the actual baby pictures yet.
His mortification was only made worse by the fact that Raf and Sierra had decided to partake too. Vince however, had finally gotten his things, including his car back from Fowler and was now working on it in the hangar next door. Apparently, his beast mode was small enough to work on and ride in it.
Allison however was currently in her first session with Rung who'd set up his temporary office a couple hangars over.
"Oh, come on Jack." Raf snickered. "It's a rite of passage to have your baby pictures laughed at."
June looked up with a smirk on her face. "I'm glad to hear you say that, Rafael." She said pulling out another album that Jack didn't recognize. "Because I found this in the boxes Bill brought over last week." She said, referring to the one with Rafs' personal possessions from before their transformation. When she saw it, she made sure to save it, despite the hurt of his family abandoning him, they were still pictures of him. Somehow, June felt it was an attempt to apologize for what they'd been forced to do.
Rafs' eyes widened. "Those're my." He sputtered.
June flipped open to a random page and giggled. "I think this Christmas picture of you in the bear jammies is adorable." She said pointing to said picture of a six-year-old Raf. At Rafs' shocked expression, she smirked. "A mother always has some embarrassing pictures of her kids."
Miko snorted and asked. "Is that a giant bee plushie you're holding?" As Raf tried his best to look small, Miko gave the boys a smirk. "At least I don't have to worry about baby pictures." This was true, her parents had handed her off to a nanny almost the minute they got home from the hospital. There was not a single picture of her until she was old enough to go to her parents' social gatherings. And even then, it was just the three of them pretending to be a 'happy family'.
June cocked an eyebrow. "Maybe." She conceded. "However, I am a little curious about the lingerie in your box that you tried to keep me from noticing. Hoping to surprise someone?" She asked with a knowing look at a now red faced Miko, who was now trying to look anywhere but her equally embarrassed boyfriend. It was a moot point now anyway since she was no longer human sized.
Sierra giggled a little. "I'm staying out of this little debate, but." She looked over at Miko. "You go girl." Causing said girl to groan and bury her face in her hands at her own mortification.
Any further embarrassment was halted when the dens' hangar doors opened to admit Optimus, Depthcharge and Fowler. "Show and tell is over people. We have a situation."
Five minutes later the collective Autobots and Maximals were gathered in the briefing area of the bots' main hangar. Fowler was pointing to a picture of a green missel carrier complete with a large missel. "What you are looking at here is the Jericho missel. This is an experimental intercontinental missel that is capable of turning a city the size of L.A. into a giant crater, and last night it was stolen."
Looking at the timestamp Rafs' brows furrowed. "Agent Fowler, is this a live feed?" He asked.
"Yes." Fowler replied. "The reason this case has been brought to my attention is because of the method of theft." He stepped up to the controls and pulled up a video from the night before. The same vehicle was sitting in place with the addition of human soldiers standing guard until a wave of white light passed across it surprising the guards. Seconds later an identical vehicle, complete with missel was standing next to it. Shifting into gear the carrier drove off with the recovered human guards shooting at it.
"Woah!" Miko exclaimed. "You mean the thief was a 'con? Wait, what does that matter, all it was was a dummy missel, right?" She asked.
Ratchet shook his head. "When a Cybertronian scans an Alt mode we replicate everything. From the paint on the vehicle, to the upholstery on the seats."
"To the weapons they're carrying." Raf finished.
Nodding, Fowler continued. "We have reason to believe it's a con for obvious reasons, but there's now chatter on the dark web about an auction for a stolen U.S. missel somewhere around here so we can't rule out a human element either."
"Well, I'd rule out a human element personally, I mean precious metals and stones are valuable no matter what planet you're on." Came a new voice that made them all jump. Turning around they saw a cyan, red, and purple bot with a shoulder mounted rocket launcher and Autobot insignias on his shoulders. When everyone but Ultra Magnus and Optimus pulled their weapons, he held his hands up. "Woah easy, I'm with you guys, names Dealer, weapons acquisition specialist."
"Everyone, stand down." Ultra Magnus commanded. "He is who he says he is. Although I'd like to know what you're doing here and how you managed to slip past security, Dealer."
The bot in question opened a small drawer in his abdomen and pulled out a small hexagonal shaped box. "One multi frequency sensor scrambler, never leave home without it. One push of a button and I am invisible to almost every kind of visual or auditory based detection system, including most ears and eyes. Priceless to most but the schematics can be yours for twenty easy installments."
He put the scrambler back in and shut the drawer. "And I'm here because I heard Megatron calling for reinforcements. I paid a, shall we say bounty hunting associate of mine for the Nemesis' broadcast frequency, which I'll provide free of charge." Dealer finished.
Fowler and the Maximals looked at the newcomer with suspicion. The fact that a weapons acquisition expert would show up right when a high tech missel was stolen was overly suspicious. Optimus However stepped forward. "While we've never met in person Dealer, I am pleased to welcome you to Team Prime. The resources at your disposal will be invaluable."
"Oh, please Prime, can I call you Prime? I'd do just about anything for my best customers. I can even help you find this missing missel of your." He cut himself off when he saw the Maximals. "Well, what do we have here?" He asked kneeling down to look at them. "Some new kind of Mini-bot?"
Ultra Magnus cleared his throat. "These young ones are a new hybrid lifeform called Maximals. They've only recently become active in our group." He spoke. He wasn't fully comfortable disclosing anything else about them yet.
Dealer took on an almost predatory look. "How good are they on energon, or do they use an alternative fuel? If they're fuel efficient and the method of creation is reliable, I don't forsee any scruples in investing in that technology. It could be the next big upgrade." The Maximals sans Depthcharge recoiled a bit. Most of them felt like pieces of meat.
Depthcharge stepped forward. "Scruples?" He growled. "If half of what I heard about you is right, you'd sell your own motherboard to the highest bidder." He'd heard about how cutthroat Dealers' business practices could be.
Dealer scoffed. "Look I get it. Unusually qualified bot arrives in an equally unusual situation. But that's what I call opportunity, and I make a living on having the right equipment at the right time." He stood back up. "Speaking of, I heard that gossip for the missile sale and took the precaution of scanning a vehicle mode to transport it once located." With that he transformed into a blue copy of the carrier truck that was seen in the video. "Something to be said for an electro-static paint job."
Fowler sighed. He didn't trust this bot but with the joint chiefs breathing down his neck he had little choice but to cooperate. "All right, the sale is due to happen in about six hours. The location won't be revealed until a couple hours beforehand so we have some time to plan."
For the following few hours theories on location and potential buyers were discussed. Dealers' expertise in this field helped to shorten the list into less than a dozen. The Maximals still felt weary around him though. He kept stealing odd glances and looking away when they noticed him.
Finally, the location of the auction was announced. It was at an old ghost town some fifty miles from the base. "Alright, let's get a move on." Fowler called.
"If I may." Dealer said stepping up to the group. "I think the Maximals should head through with us, we may catch whatever Decepticon copied the missile, but if we do this right, we can have them hide and catch whoever shows up to buy it."
Fowler scratched the back of his head. "That'll work. From what I've found, several of these individuals are on the terrorism watch list. One is even wanted by INTERPOL. Alright, Maximals up first with me. Dealer, you come along using that sensory scrambler of yours to stay hidden. Optimus, Bulkhead, Drift, and Bumblebee will bring up the rear."
"Very well." Optimus said. "Autobots, Maximals, transform and roll out." The bots in question changed to their alt modes as Fowler climbed onto an Onyx enhanced ATV.
"All of you be careful." June said as the Maximals transformed. She couldn't place it, but she had a bad feeling about this.
"Don't worry mom, we will be." Jack reassured.
The space bridge flared to life as Fowler revved the ATVs' engine. "Let's go!" He called.
He and the Maximals went through the portal, easily followed by Dealer. However, when the rest of the team attempted to follow suite, they were thrown backwards away from the space bridge as a large green energy dome covered the base.
Ratchet turned to the mess of bots on the floor. "What happened?"
Perceptor on the other hand was already looking under the control console for the space bridge. "There's some kind of mini processor that's attached itself to the controls." Looking closely, it looked like a kind of mechanical crab that had scuttled under the control panel and drilled into it.
Analyzing it, the light in the center of it flashed and a message began to play on the screen. "Oh, I wouldn't bother with that." Came Dealers' voice. "You see I was only telling part of the truth when I said the Autobots were my best customers."
"I knew something was off about that bot." Drift growled.
"You see, I supply the Decepticons too, under another name." The recording continued. "Now, I'm sure you're wondering why I went through all this trouble. Well simply put, the Cons are willing to pay top dollar for the location of your base, and with the scrambler on your space bridge and the force field generator around your base, I can deliver you all wrapped up with a nice little bow." The Dealer on screen chuckled. "So, I bid you all goodbye, and it was a pleasure doing business with you."
Junes' eyes widened. "Bill and the kids are alone with that con bot."
Perceptor deployed a few tools from his hands. "I'll begin removing this processor. That should un-scramble the space bridge." With that he knelt down and got to work.
Ultra Magnus stared at the barred space bridge. What had he allowed to happen?
Meanwhile at the ghost town the smaller group had exited the space bridge. Fowler turned the ATV and realizing the bridge had closed too soon went to call base when he suddenly felt weak. Fowler shook a bit and collapsed onto the ground, unable to move as Nightscream transformed and covered his ears before collapsing. The other Maximals quickly transformed with Sierra and Raf going to check on Vince and fowler respectively.
A small cylindrical device ejected from dealer and planted itself in the ground. Taking advantage of the confusion, Dealer quickly transformed. "Sorry to do this bots." He said, pulling a rifle that crackled with electricity. "But the money's just too good." With that he fired a stun blast at the remaining Maximals.
Depthcharge however was quicker. As the blast disabled the other Maximals, he jumped up and fired a plasma disk at Dealer, who side stepped it. "I had a feeling you weren't being honest." Pulling his sword, he attempted to slice his head off only to be hit by a blob of mustard yellow goop from dealers left shoulder that grew and constricted him.
Dealer chuckled. "Got that right." He picked up Depthcharge and tossed him on the pile of immobilized Maximals. "One Sonic disrupter designed to paralyze humans, and apparently those with a stronger sense of hearing, fifty thousand Shainx. A Nucleon arch flash stunner to handle the big bad beasties, one hundred thirty Shainx. Self-replicating cellular body shackle for any stubborn bots, sixty thousand Shainx. Getting the drop on bots worth more than those, priceless." He smirked.
He grinned at his victims. "You see I'm gonna make a small fortune off of you guys, to cover the costs. Then, with the location of the Autobot base, I can practically write my own check and enjoy the high life forever."
"B-But you're an Autobot." Leobolt stammered, attempting to rise before his legs gave out again.
"Oh, please." Dealer scoffed, placing a small transmitter near the group. "I'm above such petty titles. I only use them when there's a deal to be made. Ultimately, my services go to whoever can pay me the most."
"Speaking of." Dealer continued, his Autobot insignias switching to Decepticon ones. "I need to put on my, other business suit." With that he transformed again. Not into a missel carrier like before, but into a large cyan bird with purple wings and red optics. Decepticon decals adorning his upper bird legs.
"There we go." He said, his voice taking on a completely different tone, almost like a bird squawk. "Let's get this show on the road, time is money after all." He walked over and pressed a button on the transmitter with his claw. "Doulbledealer calling the Nemesis, come in Lord Megatron."
Mach hoof shook her head. The stunner effects wore off on her a few seconds before Doubledealer transformed. She looked at her sister. "Botanica." She breathed, not wanting to catch the cons' attention. "I think I shrugged off that Nucleon shock, did you?" At the jerky shake of her head, she reached out a hand.
When her hand connected to Botanicas', she felt the Nucleon still surging within both her and a twitching Nightscream who she was still holding. Surprised she willed the energy to her and was shocked that the power did as she asked. Over the course of a couple dozen seconds she had absorbed the excess energy in both their bodies. Thankful she was in the middle of the Maximal pile she began to repeat the process with Rhinox, Wingsaber, and Leobolt.
While Mach hoof was doing her Nucleon purge, Doubledealer connected to the Nemesis. "Doubledealer, I told you before. Until we can be sure you're not selling to the Autobots, we have no interest in."
"Wait just a second, Lord Megatron." Doubledealer interrupted. "At least see what I have to offer before you refuse outright." He turned the camera to show the pile of Maximals.
Megatrons' optics widened. "The techno organic experiments? How did you manage to capture them they're with the!?" He turned and looked Doubledealer in the optic. "You know where the Autobot base is?" He queried.
"Just found out this afternoon. And what's more I have them all trapped there, just waiting for you to pick up." Doubledealer said turning the camera back and nodding his bird head. "Now, as to my terms. I spent almost a quarter of a million Shainx getting the equipment to find the base and capture them. For double that amount, you get the Maximals. Now, for the Autobot base, well you know how much that information is worth."
Megatron grit his dentia. It always infuriated him to work with Doubledealer, but his goods, weapons and intel were worth the money. "Very well. I'll have Soundwave use your transmitters' coordinates to." The conversation was cut off when a bolt of Nucleon energy raced across the transmitter, causing it to overload and explode.
Doubledealer spun around. "What the pit?" His optics widened at the recovered group of Maximals, Depthcharge having been cut out of the body shackle by Wingsaber. "How?!" He exclaimed. The charge from that weapon should've had them immobile for hours.
Mach hoof smirked. "I got Nucleon in my bones bird brain." She called, redeploying her horn saber. "I can pull the shocks it produces into my body without a problem. You however." She fired off a bolt of energy that he dodged with a flap of his wings. Only to have to dodge right to miss one of Wingsabers' kunai.
Rapidly switching back to his 'Dealer' bot mode. Doubledealer pulled a handful of grenades and triggered them. "You know, I could cut you all in on this deal." He lobbed the grenades as the Maximals dodged, the explosions destroying several buildings.
"No dice, two face." Wingsaber yelled before divebombing him in beast mode.
"The Cons want to dissect us, so here's your answer." Rhinox called, firing his chain guns and riddling Doubledealers' body with small holes.
Turning his head away Doubledealer was hit by both Botanicas' fireweed sap and Leobolts' whip. "Alright, that's it." This deal had just fallen through. He opened his drawer, allowing the Jericho missel to emerge. During the brief few seconds that it was airborne, he transformed into his missel carrier alt mode and caught it.
"How in the heck?" Sierra asked, seeing the missel appear from essentially nowhere.
"Like that? It's a miniature space bridge connected to an automated personal storage moon. I just think about what I need, and it's there." Doubledealer deployed the launch platform on his vehicle mode. "Originally, I was going to throw this in with my deal for the Autobot base, free of charge. However, if you bots don't do as I say, I'll launch it and destroy the town near the Autobot base."
At their horrified looks he continued. "Oh, don't worry, the bots will be safe. The force field covering the base will protect them. But everyone else." He taunted, aiming and arming the missile. His bravado failed when he felt a blaster pressed to where both his heads were in vehicle mode.
Agent Fowler smirked at the traitor. Having been paralyzed he hadn't been able to move, however he could see well enough to know that both of Doubldealers' heads were in the same section of his body in this mode. "Now, what we have here is an old-fashioned standoff. You launch that missile; I pull the trigger on this thing and pulp both your heads."
Doubledealer mentally kicked himself. He'd forgotten all about the human. "Not necessarily." With a thought he ignited the rockets' engine, the smoke causing Fowler to back away coughing. "I know you humans need the air to be relatively clear to breath properly." With that he launched the missile with a direct course to Jasper.
Seeing the missile launch the Maximals sprang into action. The group charged Doubledealer as he changed back into his bird mode and took off. Nightscream and Depthcharge transformed into their beast and flight mode respectively and took off after him.
Wingsaber on the other hand had a different idea. Using Rhinox as a springboard she launched herself into the air and, using a pair of kunai, latched onto the missile. She barely caught Leobolts' cry of "MIKO!" before she was soaring over the landscape.
Looking to her left she saw Depthcharge and Nightscream chasing after Doubledealer. She didn't know if it was a stroke of genius, or a hair brained idea, but she thought of a way to deal with both problems at once. "Nightscream, I need you and Depthcharge to fall back." She yelled, knowing that Nightscreams' hearing would pick her up. Seeing the two flyers break away she saw Doubledealers flightpath and began to concentrate. If this was going to work, she needed to time it right.
Doubledealer sighed in relief as the two Maximals broke off their pursuit. This business deal fell through in the worst possible way. However, he knew where the general location of the Nemesis was. Once he found it, he could bargain with Megatron and still come out ahead. Delivering the Autobots' base all wrapped up with a bow would insure that.
His relief ended up being short lived however. A flash of burgundy lit up his vision, and when it cleared, he saw the Jericho missile barreling right at him with that bird femme riding on top of it. Wingsaber let go of the kunai, flying off of the missile and vanishing in another flash. Doubledealer barely had time to let loose a squawk of disbelief before the missile collided with him, blasting him to atoms.
Teleporting back to the other Maximals' side, Wingsaber felt her legs buckle under her. She was caught by Leobolt who pulled her to his chest. "Damn it Miko, don't scare me like that." He said, switching back to their normal names.
She wrapped her arms around him. "Two birds, one stone Jackrabbit. It's no problem." She said nonchalantly.
Jack wasn't so sure. He knew that he had been scheduled to see Rung next, but after this he was going to give his slot to Miko. He had a feeling his girlfriend needed it more than he did for the moment.
Fowler meanwhile, had stopped coughing and called the base. "Fowler to HQ, do you read me Doc bot?"
There was a moment of static before Perceptor answered. "We are now agent Fowler. Apparently, Dealer had set everything up to betray us."
Fowler snorted. "It goes a lot deeper than that. But could you please send a bridge to our location so we can come back?" Moments later the space bridge portal opened up and the group walked through it back to base.
Upon entering the Maximals were immediately bombarded by two humans. June and G.B. rushed to check to make sure their children were all right. G.B. had seen the dome go up and rushed over. Vince was surprised to find himself being fussed over by June as much as Jack, Raf and Miko but was accepting of it. Miko admittedly was a little less enthused after June cuffed her on the back of the head for the stunt she pulled.
Meanwhile Fowler was explaining to Optimus, Magnus, and Ratchet what had happened after they went through the portal. He could hardly believe it had only been fifteen minutes. "And that's when I called you guys." He finished after explaining how Miko destroyed both Doubledealer and the Jericho missile.
Optimus sighed. "Ultra Magnus, we need to have a discussion about any other potential security issues stemming from this. If there are any other bots like Dealer, we need to know about and vet them thoroughly. We are well past the point of not looking a gift horse in the mouth." He said with finality.
Ultra Magnus nodded; he had some suspicions about Dealer. He didn't know how far his machinations went until now. In his mind it simply reinforced the age-old notion. Trust no one. "Understood Optimus." And with that, he returned to the computer console, and his duties.
A/N: When I was imagining Doubledealers' personality, I actually had Swindle from Transformers Animated in mind as was evidenced by some of his lines and the storage dimension reference. His body is based on his Earthrise toy. I like to use characters that haven't seen a lot of use over the years and Doubledealer seemed like a neat idea. Next time, the Lost Light arrives. Unfortunately, so does the Darksyde.