Welcome back, to Beast Wars Prime. I admit this chapter was one of my favorites to write. Even if switching POVs was a pain in the rear at times. I decided to drag another minor con out of mothballs and give him a chance to shine. You'll see who at the end and in the meantime, enjoy a little game of fantasy and reality.
(Fantasy-Jack)
Jack awoke with a start as the transport came to a stop. Where was he? Where were the bots? He slowed down to think a moment. Oh right, the bots returned to Cybertron years ago. He felt the ache in his chest he always had when he thought about them. That sadness may have been why he dreamed he Miko and Raf were Cybertronian hybrids.
And as to where, he was coming back from their latest mission, capturing some escaped MECH agents. As he stepped off the transport, he heard his partner give a whoop behind him. "Wahoo!" Miko exclaimed as she threw her fist into the air. "That was awesome."
Miko had changed a bit since the bots left, she traded her original pigtails for a pixie cut and added a green streak in honor of Bulkhead. She also had a growth spurt not long after the bots left that left her only a couple inches shorter than him. "We still on for dinner tonight?" She asked.
He smiled as he remembered the ring in his pocket. After the bots left their mutual sadness had drawn them closer together. They began dating right before they entered training in Unit-E three years ago, becoming a wildly successful pair of agents, and tonight, he was finally going to ask her to marry him. "Yep." He replied. "I will start cooking after I debrief Fowler and get cleaned up."
Miko planted a kiss on his lips. "See you then Jackrabbit." She then headed for the showers to clean up herself.
Jack smiled again as he watched her go. How did he get so lucky? Just a few more hours and some extra preparations, and he might be the luckiest man on Earth that night.
(Fantasy-Miko)
Miko rubbed her eyes in the early afternoon sun as she got off the plane. Slash Monkeys' reunion tour had ended a few days ago and she was only now getting back to the states. She made the mistake of visiting her parents while she was on layover in Tokyo. After that giant cluster frag, she caught a redeye flight back to Reno where her ride would pick her up. She slept for most of the twelve-hour flight and with her exhaustion, it was no wonder she dreamed she was a giant bird.
"See, there she is." Came the voice of Mikos' husband. Turning, she saw Jack with a sign with her name on it. The thing that really warmed her heart however, was that their two-year old daughter Akiko was holding a small sign of her own that read 'mama' while sitting on her fathers' shoulder.
"Hey, sweet spark." Miko greeted as Jack brought Akiko down to hug her. She then leaned over and kissed Jack, trying not to giggle as their daughter went 'ewe' at them. As much as Miko Darby loved rock and roll, there was nothing like having someone to come home to.
(Fantasy-Raf)
"Rafael? Mijo wake up." Rafs' mother called to him.
Raf jerked awake at the dining room table. With all the late-night studying he'd been doing, not to mention the chats with Bee, it was no surprise he fell asleep at the table. Although why he dreamed that he was a rhinoceros was a big wonder why for him.
"Are you alright? It isn't like you to fall asleep at the table." His eldest brother Estavanico asked. "Let alone at Christmas dinner."
Raf shook his head. "I'm alright guys." He answered. Looking around, he saw his entire family smiling at him. "Just had a lot on my mind."
"So, nothing really new then?" Rafs' sister Emilda joked.
"Well actually." Raf said, sitting up a little straighter, all eyes at the table were on him. "I was going to wait until after dinner to announce this but, I finally got my acceptance letter. I start at MIT in the fall."
"Oh, that's great Mijo."
"Way to go Raffy."
"Knew you'd do us proud son."
Raf smiled widely. He really did love his family.
(Reality)
Things had been fairly routine at the base that day. Drift had been training with Depthcharge Jack and Miko while the other Maximals trained with their own mentors in the Lost Light.
Shortly after the lessons ended however, the first six techno organic Maximals all became non responsive, staring blankly ahead. However, before any of the medical staff could see them, the six began to attack any and all Autobots in sight.
"Leobolt, stop!" Depthcharge yelled as he used his sword to block his commanders' whip. Moments after the two froze he went to check on them, only for Leobolt to slash him across the forearm with his claws. Retracting his whip, Leobolt charged forward. There was no indication that he'd heard him.
"Wingsaber, hold!" Drift called as he blocked his students' swords with his own. "Something else is controlling them." He called to Depthcharge. From what he could see, neither of his students' techniques were their own.
"Tell me something I don't know." Depthcharge replied, dodging another blow from Leobolts' whip.
Hearing the Lift from the Lost Light activate, he turned and saw Bumblebee wrestling with Rhinox. He beeped for his friend to stop but like the other two, there was no sign of the scout getting through to his partner. This was further proved by Rhinox firing his chain guns at Bumblebee, forcing him to transform and drive to get away from the blasts.
"If these three are affected." Depthcharge said, dodging another shot. I wonder if the Maximals in the Lost Light were affected too?" He wondered.
(Fantasy-Sierra)
"Siri, wake up sweetheart."
Sierra Raider jerked awake in her rocking chair by the fire. At the tender age of eighty-four she'd picked up a bad habit of falling asleep at random. Looking at her husband Vincent, she smiled contentedly grey hair and all. Who'd have thought that the local bad boy of Jasper Nevada would grow into such a loving husband and doting grandfather.
"Sorry Vinny, the grandbabies in bed?" She asked. They were watching the little ones until their parents could join them for the holidays.
"Yep." He answered. "And your sister and her wife went to bed about an hour ago." He looked out the window at the falling snow. "Looks like it'll be a white Christmas this year." It was their turn to hold the annual get together that year. The Jack and Miko were due to arrive tomorrow morning. Raf and Sari were to arrive that afternoon.
Then for some inexplicable reason the living room window shattered and an unnaturally cold blast of cold air blew through and Sierra found herself falling back asleep.
(Reality)
Nightbeat was firing stun blasts at Botanica while she shot fireweed sap at anything that moved. She'd already managed to hit Whirl Swerve and Wheeljack. "Botanica, quit it." He raised a servo to his comms. "This is Nightbeat, I need backup. Botanica's attacking anyone in sight."
There was a moment of silence. "We're trying Nightbeat, but the other hybrid Maximals are tearing up the ship too." Rodimus answered, a small explosion in the background. He was about to try one of the bots on the surface when Botanica was enveloped in a white mist.
Nightbeat felt the temperature drop significantly as his partner disappeared. When the mist cleared, he saw Botanica in her alt mode on the ground. Behind her, stood Ultra Magnus carrying what looked like a Cybertronian fire extinguisher.
"Sorry for the delay soldier." Magnus said as he checked that Botanica was still functional. "When I got the reports that the Maximals were going wild I had to get some equipment."
"You knew that would work on her?" Nightbeat asked inquisitively. "How do you know that wouldn't hurt her long term?" He knew extreme cold hindered plants and many entered hibernation in prolonged cold, but how did Magnus know it would stop Sierra?
"The Maximals have higher metabolisms so in this ones' case the cold would affect her faster than other plants." He replied, placing restraints on Sierra in case she woke up again.
Nightbeat did some quick thinking and his optics widened. "You have files on the kids, don't you. Files on their strengths and weaknesses." He narrowed his optics in concentration. "Do they know you have those files?" Magnus' slight wince was enough of an answer. "Does Optimus know?"
"Look soldier." Ultra Magnus interrupted, answering his question more thoroughly than needed. "I created those files for reasons like this. And I know for a fact you have a file about them." He argued.
"Yes." Nightbeat conceded. "But the kids KNOW I have that file. And it does not include information that could harm them in the wrong servos." He shoved Magnus out of the way and slung Sierra over his shoulder. "I do plan to relay this intel to Optimus once this crisis has passed."
Their argument was cut off by the comms. "Trailbreaker here, Cheetor and I managed to subdue Mach Hoof and are bringing her to med bay now."
Nightbeat activated his comms. "Nightbeat here, Commander Magnus and I just stopped Botanica." He glared at the commander. "I will be bringing her momentarily."
A third comm surprised them. "Hey all this is Blaster. I managed to free Nightscream from whatever's controlling him. Whatever is affecting them is voice controlled. I'm coming to med bay to free the girls and Optimus is headed topside to help corral the other three."
Magnus threw one last look at Nightbeat. "I'm heading up to help too." He said into his comms. With that, he turned and left.
(Fantasy Allison)
Allison Blackrock shook herself from a rather pleasant daydream. She'd been some kind of robot unicorn and she'd ran her horn through the team auditing Onyx Technologies. Honestly, the company grows by ten percent in a fiscal year and the IRS want to forget that, unlike most fortune 500 companies, they actually do pay the correct amount of taxes.
Looking at her desk she saw the picture of her wife Mikaela. She smiled. Right now, all she wanted was to get through these next two meetings, and get home to her. Standing up she sighed. After this meeting about making hologram screens mainstream, she was going to shake up the suits trying to shake them down.
This turned out to be a poor choice of thoughts, because at that very second the entire building began to shake. It was an earthquake! Allison tripped and thought she must've hit her head falling because she was out cold before she registered her body hitting the floor.
(Reality)
"Got any ideas on how to stop this kiddo?" Trailbreaker asked Cheetor as they took cover behind a crate. Mach Hoof had gone nuts and started electrifying bots with her nucleon pulses. Hot Spot and Rook were hit first followed by Beachcomber when he tried to talk her down.
Ignoring the annoyance at being called kid, Mike thought for a second. "How close to a person can you make your forcefields?" He asked.
"About an inch or so, but that won't work too long. Remember how she got Rook with a gesture of her head." Trailbreaker replied. "Besides if I enclose her completely, she'd suffocate. All of you kids still need to breath."
"With my speed, I'll only need a few moments." He answered. "You cocoon her and I'll bounce her around the hall like a ping pong ball in a typhoon. I don't think it'll really hurt her, just knock her out." He added at Trailbreakers glare.
"You better be right Cheetor." Trailbreaker said as he held a hand up. A few seconds later a forcefield manifested around Mach Hoof, keeping her in place. "Go!"
Cheetor took off like a literal shot. One blow sent the energy cocoon flying down the hall only for him to run past it and knock it in a new direction entirely. This went on for a roughly ten seconds with Mach Hoof getting knocked every which way until she came to a stop at a wall a few feet where she started.
Trailbreaker released his friend and was thrilled to see she was still alive, and only unconscious. He activated his comms. "Trailbreaker here, Cheetor and I managed to subdue Mach Hoof and are bringing her to med bay now." He said, transforming into his truck alt mode. "Load her up Cheetor." He ordered. "The med staff will get the others."
The comms activated again as Cheetor was loading her into Trailbreakers' truck bed. "Nightbeat here, Commander Magnus and I just stopped Botanica. I will be bringing her momentarily."
The next message came as a surprise. "Hey all this is Blaster. I managed to free Nightscream from whatever's controlling him. Whatever is affecting them is voice controlled. I'm coming to med bay to free the girls and Optimus is headed topside to help corral the other three."
Cheetor transformed into his beast mode. "Let's go." He said, and the two rolled out for the med bay.
(Fantasy-Vince)
Vince Raider jerked awake. He wouldn't've been so tired today of all days but even he had to admit he overdid it a little with the Bacardi at his bachelor party last night. That might explain the cyborg bat he had a nightmare about. However, he refused to let anything spoil this evening.
"You ready to go bud?" Jack (his best man) asked. "You have to be out there before Sierra you know." He joked.
"Laugh it up Darby, your time will come soon enough." He replied, and was rewarded by Jack looking nervous.
Before he knew it, he was standing at the alter and the band began to play the wedding march. Looking at Sierra coming down the aisle, he'd never seen anything so beautiful in his life. When she met him at the alter and he removed her veil, they were both trying to blink back tears.
"Dearly beloved." The reverend began. "We are gathered here today to join-" He was cut off as a loud sound began to blare.
Vince slapped his hands to his ears as his vision began to swim. The wedding, Sierra, and his own body all began to swirl and change. When his vision came back into focus, so did his memories. Looking down he saw that Steeljaw had his maw around one of his ankles and Blaster was standing right in front of him.
"Blaster? Wha-" Was all he managed to get out before he collapsed.
(Reality)
Blaster crashed to the floor as one of Nightscreams' cries flung him backwards. When the kid reactivated after his freeze he'd begun alternating between sonic shrieks and draining energon out of a bot in his path. Getting back up, Blaster heard the faintest of voices.
"Shriek at the bot on the left and recharge with the one you just downed."
"Swing your swords to try and take his head off."
"Aim for his tires and force try to force him back into bot mode."
That's when it hit him. Vince thought he heard someone new talking before he froze. "These kids are being voice controlled." He got up and ejected Steeljaw. "I think I know how to pull the plug on this show. When I give the word, try to keep him in place long enough for me to shut our home bat down."
"Alright." Steeljaw growled as he moved into position in an open doorway near Nightscream. "Say when." He whispered.
Blaster tapped on the door to get Nightscreams' attention. Hearing him take in a breath to shriek, Blaster took his chance. "Now!"
Steeljaw leapt from his position and sunk his fangs into their friends' ankle.
Working quickly, Blaster calculated the frequency the stranger controlling their friends was using. "Terminate program." Blaster said on the same frequency to Nightscream. Hopefully whoever was pulling his strings was using the universal shut down code.
The effect was almost instant. Vinces' eyes snapped back into focus and he looked down at Steeljaw, then at him.
"Blaster? Wha-" He questioned before collapsing.
Blaster ran up to Nightscream and heard all of his partners vitals were still working and his brain was making the sound Blaster long associated with deep sleep. He jumped a bit at the sound of footfalls. Although by the sound of them and the weight they carried, it could be only one bot.
"Blaster?" Optimus Prime spoke, taking in the scene. "How did you manage to stop him?"
"I just matched the voice frequency of whoever's controlling them OP." Blaster replied.
Optimus thought a minute. "If you heard them talking long enough, do you think you could pinpoint a location and open a space bridge to their location?" He asked.
"In a nano." Blaster answered.
"Very well. I shall head to the surface to help contain the others. I only hope whoever's controlling our allies doesn't figure out how to combine Jackson, Miko and Rafael into Magnaboss. Take Vincent to med bay then head for the control room." With that he left Blaster for the lift.
Blaster jumped again when his comms went off. "Trailbreaker here, Cheetor and I managed to subdue Mach Hoof and are bringing her to med bay now."
Nightbeat called in moments later on his comms. "Nightbeat here, Commander Magnus and I just stopped Botanica." There was a brief pause. "I will be bringing her momentarily."
He activated his own comm. "Hey all this is Blaster. I managed to free Nightscream from whatever's controlling him. Whatever is affecting them is voice controlled. I'm coming to med bay to free the girls and Optimus is headed topside to help corral the other three." With that, he let Steeljaw back in his chest, picked up Vince and headed to med bay.
In the med bay, Ratchet and First Aid were triaging the victims of the various Maximal attacks. Velocity was tending to Botanica and Mach Hoof. Botanicas Fireweed, while painful hadn't caused any severe permanent damage. The victims of Mach hoof were going to take a while to purge the Nucleon from their systems so using Defensor to stop the Maximals was out since two of the bots that made him were down.
Blaster came in and set Vince down on the berth that Velocity tapped on. June came up to him. "Please tell me you have news on my kids." She asked beseechingly.
"Sorry nurse D." Blaster said shaking his head as Velocity began checking on Vince. "I haven't heard anything. I know Optimus is going topside to help, so that's something."
June gave a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I just can't figure out why this is happening." She groaned, sinking into a chair.
Nightbeat was taking a closer look at the girls while Velocities' back was turned. He narrowed his optics at their necks. "Could I get a UV light over here?" he asked.
"Nightbeat!" Velocity yelled. She'd chased the detective away from her patients twice already.
"Here." Ratchet said absentmindedly handing a light probe to Nightbeat.
Turning it on and running it along Sierras' neck he saw them. Reflected in the light were eight one-inch-long lines in the back of her neck. A quick check of Allison revealed that she had the same lines. Velocity checked Vince and showed they were indeed three for three.
"They were attacked by a Mnemosurgeon?" Velocity asked. She'd read about the process during her time on the Lost Light but had never heard of it being weaponized like this before.
"An old school one." Nightbeat said. "These were done with the old-fashioned finger blades in rather than the needles the modern ones use."
"Mnemosurgeon?" June asked. Jack had mentioned the topic once after one of Arcees' lessons that she missed due to a doctors' appointment. Thinking back, he did look shaken by the subject.
"It's where a doctor can literally inject himself into the mind of his patient and rewrite their minds and memories." Nightbeat explained. At Junes' gasp he continued. "I don't think that was the case here however. It seems that a Decepticon surgeon planted a sleeper program into the first six Maximals and then activated it today."
"It's voice activated." Blaster interjected. "Someone is talking on a frequency that is a trigger for this specific program. I was able to shut it down after I heard him giving orders." He turned toward the door. "I'm going to track him down now. Once I pinpoint him, we're going after him."
"He won't be too far." Nightbeat supplied. "Twenty-five or so miles at most, and he might be using a cave to amplify his voice with the acoustics so check any nearby mountain ranges for cave systems."
"So, you mean someone effectively brainwashed my kids by injecting a program into their brains?" June asked incredulously. "How in the hell did that happen?"
"I wondered that myself. Especially since Cheetor wasn't affected." Nightbeat said. "Arcee, come here a minute." He called out to the femme who'd been assisting Ratchet with Hot Spot.
"What's going on Nightbeat?" She asked coming over.
"We figured out that someone preformed mnemosurgery on the Maximals, most likely a con." He explained. "I have a theory of when it might've happened, but I need to see your neck to be sure."
She turned her back to the detective. "Alright, but I haven't been around any Mnemosurgeons aside from Chromedome for millions of years."
"That's the thing about the corrupt ones Arcee." Nightbeat countered as he waved the light probe over her neck. "If they don't want you to remember meeting them, you won't." He growled seeing the lines glow on Arcees' neck.
He sighed and shut off the probe. "Arcee, I'm going to list the names of various Mnemosurgeons who are known Decepticons or unaccounted for during the war." Nightbeat explained. "If he told you his name, it should unlock the memory of the encounter. Using their name is an old trick about ninety percent of surgeons habitually use if they need to do follow up procedures. Sort of like humans using their own names for passwords."
Arcees' optics widened. "You mean I was." She stopped herself, the kids were what was important than her mental privacy right now. "Okay, shoot." She answered.
"Lobe, Greymatter, Trepan, Brainpan, Sunder, Mindwipe." He stopped. At Mindwipe Arcee seized up as a memory unlocked.
(Flashback, The Predacon lab raid)
Arcee led the Maximals through the tunnels in the lower levels of the Predacon lab. There was a cavern a few hundred feet ahead of them. "Alright, when we get to the other group, we need to fan out and." She stopped when she realized she was only hearing her own footsteps.
Turning around, Arcee noticed that the group had all stopped and were staring blankly at something on the ceiling. "What are you all-" She was cut off as a flash of red light hit her in the optics. She felt herself lock up and she saw their assailant. "Who?" She managed to grind out.
A large red and purple bat clung to the ceiling of the tunnel. "How sweet, fresh meat." It spoke. Detaching from the ceiling the bat transformed into a mech the same height as Arcee. A small pair of red batlike wings on his back were the only hint of his alt mode.
"Names Mindwipe." The Decepticon growled with a sick grin. He held up his hands and a set of old fashioned Mnemosurgery blades appeared from his fingertips. "And I just want to play a little game. No need to worry though." He spoke. "Ten minutes total, and none of you will even remember our little get together."
"No." Arcee grit out at the advancing mech.
"Oh, your mouth says 'no, no' but my blades." Mindwipe said brandishing his fingers in front of her optics before stepping behind her. "Say 'yes, yes'." He chuckled a little as he inserted his blades into her neck. "Welcome to my nightmare."
A/N- How do you like them apples. I tried to stay in character as possible for the Maximals fantasies and hope it was true to form. And a shoutout in the next chapter to whoever can guess who I modeled my version of Mindwipe after. Not that it's that hard to guess. It should be out in about a week. Like always, enjoy and review.
Next time: Fantasy vs. Reality Pt2.-The Rescue