Chapter 25: Hurt and Comfort
Review Replies
Guest: REVIEW MY STORY! s/14011295/1/Caillou-Montana
ThermalsniperN7: If I can find that…
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah…
B.E.A.T.N: Great work on this chapter. Megatron was a BADASS in this one. Goes to show how dangerous he can be. And any moment with Tyberius and Miko is great. Have a great day/night and stay safe.
ThermalsniperN7: Megatron's fights with Tiberius have certainly taught him a few things, haven't they?
Dragon Emperor0: Don't want the readers to think he's been nerfed, now do we?
kat1017: Genesis Prime would match the naming theme that all the other original Transformers (examples being Vector Prime and Solus Prime) than Creator since Primus is the Creator and this new being is the beginning of a new race/species thus he is their Genesis.
ThermalsniperN7: When put like that, I guess Creator would be a sort of starting name like how Optimus Prime used to be called Orion Pax. Probably not the best comparison, but it should get the message across.
Dragon Emperor0: Creator will evolve into Genesis Prime in this story. Probably during the timeskip that'll happen during Beast Hunters when everyone is separated. Since he'll be in a sort of space faring exile by that point.
-On board the Nemesis-
On the Nemesis, Starscream was doing some self reflection on his past in a bid to try and change. When he was done, he went to speak to Megatron… and saw Jenova and Airachnid with him, much to his irritation. Then he caught a piece of conversation about the Harbinger.
"Ahem." The con coughed. "Pardon my tardiness, but what exactly have I allegedly left out?" He questioned.
"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that there's a Decepticon crash site on Earth that you never bothered to log." Airachnid replied nonchalantly.
"And let's not forget the lack of coordinates, either." Jenova added.
"And knowing you, you never bothered to look for the weapon that had been stashed on board it." Megatron finished with a growl.
"There was a weapon aboard. Strange, it was never mentioned in the ship's logs." The commander stated. "And as for not logging it in, that was merely an oversight. As there wasn't much in the ship that was of value on first inspection." He continued.
"Then you will do a second sweep to find that weapon!" Megatron ordered. "And you will take Airachnid with you!" He added.
"O-Of course, Lord Megatron." The seeker nodded as the two took their leave. Jenova stuck her tongue out at him as he walked by, receiving a glare in return.
(Elsewhere)
-Jasper, Nevada-
In the Darwin residence, Tiberius smiled as he laid on his bed with his fiance Miko, his hand softly and gingerly rubbing the steadily growing bump that developed where her belly usually was.
'In just a few months, I'll be a father.' He smiled before he got up to go get some water. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw his mother sitting on the living room couch on her computer doing some work, he guessed.
"Hello Tiberius." Serena smiled at her son before returning to her work.
"Hi mom. Anything new pop up?" The Bioformer asked as he filled up a glass with some water.
"Not really, honestly." The woman replied with a shrug. As the blonde finished his water, he then filled up their electric kettle and turned it on.
As he waited for the water inside it to boil, Miko decided to hug him from behind. "I was wondering why I was alone." She whispered into his ear.
"I'm trying to make some tea for you." The Bioformer replied as he started shifting through the teas he had on hand. "Let's see, this should work." He noted as he pulled out a black tea with rose and lavender in it.
When the water started boiling and caused the kettle to turn off, he poured some of its contents into a cup before adding the tea leaves and letting them steap in a gage before removing it and mixing the liquid together with some milk and sugar.
Then he led his lover to the living room and set the tea on the coffee table.
"Make sure you let it cool down first. No need to burn yourself." The golden haired hybrid told his fiance.
"I know, I know." The rocker girl sighed, blowing on the mug before drinking–and as she enjoyed it. "Mmm. That is good tea." She sighed in bliss.
"I know it is." Tiberius smiled before a horn went off outside. "Hm? Does Optimus need us for something?" He wondered as he went outside to see what his mentor needed. "Something wrong, Optimus?" He asked.
"There's been a development. An ancient Deception crash site has just been accessed, and we could use your assistance in investigating it." The Prime explained.
"One sec." The Bioformer said before he briefly went back inside. "Miko, I'm going out to investigate a Decepticon crash site. You want in or are you staying here?" He asked.
Miko stopped drinking her tea before yawning. "I think I'll stay here." She sighed, starting to feel the lavender of the tea starting to work on her.
"Alright." Tiberius nodded before he went back to Optimus. "Miko's staying here. Let's go." He told the bot as he got in the driver's seat.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed base location not far from what would be Phoenix Arizona, MECH was hard at work training their newest platoon of: Mechticons.
And right now, they were all doing various combat maneuvers. And were doing quite well thus far.
To note, there were about ten new additions to form this platoon. The majority of them being males with around four femmes in the group.
In terms of appearance based on alternate mode, there was one that looked like they turned into a tank, another looked like a HumV, another looked like a Hercules plane, two seemed to be F-5s, and another looked like he was a submarine.
The females, meanwhile, consisted of a helicopter looking one, a couple motorcycles, and a single beast mode transformer in the form of a Falcon.
"Attention!" Dreadlock barked as the platoon stood ready, rigid. "Shellfire, Onslaught, Manifold, Starlynk, Starraptor, and Subnautica. Step forward." He added.
"Sir!" The Bioformer squad chorused.
"You newly forged Mechticons have completed your training. So, we'll be sending two of you to investigate a Decepticon crash site." The Bioformer stated. "You'll be joined by one of your peers. Widowmaker, Transmutate, Alt, Airrazor. Look alive, that second spot may be filled by one 'o you." He added.
"Yes, sir!" The four femmes chorused.
"Alright then. Commander Wingnut will give you your answer. Dismissed." The dreadlocked bot barked.
(Meanwhile)
Back at the Harbinger site, Airachnid had just activated the ship's systems, much to Starscream's chagrin.
"Idiot! The Autobots will be able to track the signal!" He snapped. "And if not them, then those blasted MECH buffoons and their tin soldiers will!" He added, recalling how Dreadlock had given him a good thrashing when he led his MECH squadron to seize an Energon mine–and succeeded.
"Then we'll have to work fast." The spider femme replied as she looked through the cargo manifest before finding what she was looking for. "Ah, here it is. Section twenty three." She smiled before she started walking through the corridors with an irate Starscream following her. As she walked along, she was shocked when her path ended in a rock wall.
"Typical. If you did actual research, you'd know that the Harbinger split in two during the crash." The seeker chided.
"And just where is the other half?!" Airachnid growled in irritation.
"I'm afraid that's need-to-know." Starscream mocked, and was immediately restrained by the spider femme's webbing a second later, causing him to fall to the floor.
"You intend to make me look like a fool, don't you?!" She hissed.
"You're one to talk, you're just an opportunist!" He retorted.
"Well well, seems the pot and kettle are arguing." A voice said, causing the two to look and see Shellfire and Transmutate walking up to them.
Shellfire looked a smoother textured version of Megatron with tank features to match his alt mode. He also had the standard MECH colors of green, gray and purple. He even had an arm cannon like Megatron and had green optics.
Transmutate, meanwhile, looked like a more acrobatic version of Arcie, but instead of a metal skirt, she had a metal vest on her torso and had some slightly bulkier shoulder plates.. The wheels of her alt mode could be seen on the back of her legs. She had the same color scheme as Shellfire and had orange optics. She also seemed to be autistic.
Both had the MECH standard symbol on them, like all of the Bioformers after it had been made official: It was like the top half of the Autobot symbol mixed with the bottom half of the Decepticon one.
"Now since when did Cylas have himself Cybertronian defectors?" Airachnid preened as she crawled over Starscream, ready to throw down.
"Cute that you think we were Cybertronians to begin with." Shellfire replied with a smirk. "Nope. We're Bioformers." He added.
"Strange that we always have to make that distinction." Transmutate noted, sounding rather aloof, like someone who was neurodivergent.
"Oh goody. They're multiplying." Starscream groaned in exasperation.
"As if five wasn't enough to deal with already…" The spider femme growled before she attacked, which Transmutate was quick to dodge before she transformed her arm into some kind of claw shaped canon.
Firing the weapon, she missed, but did manage to cause Airachnid to flee via burrowing. It was then that Optimus and the others arrived on the scene.
"Go, follow the spider chick, I'll hold them off." Shellfire barked at his subordinate.
"Got it." Transmutate nodded before she chased after Airachnid, Arcie hot on her heels. Shellfire tried to stop her, but Creator shot him before he could, forcing him to block.
"Sorry, but you need to deal with us." The gold plated bot stated, his chest cannon smoking.
"Noted." The Mechticon growled as he stood back up, deploying an arm blade that was on the same arm as his cannon, before charging. Shoulder bashing into Bulkhead to send him into Bumblebee, grabbing Creator from behind and hurling him onto the developing bot pile, and then started clashing blades with Optimus.
"You are a skilled soldier. Why do you fight the Autobots? We're trying to protect this world from the Decepticons." The Prime questioned.
"We at MECH don't care about your pointless war, we're simply working to usher in a new world order." The Bioformer retorted as he forced Optimus's arm down and delivered a straight punch to the Prime's face, sending him crashing to the ground.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile topside, Transmutate was chasing after Airachnid, shooting at her with a sort of claw-like blaster that her arm transformed into.
Arcie was right behind her, also shooting at Airachnid with the intent of avenging Tailgate. Suffice to say, the spider femme was having a somewhat difficult time avoiding her two assailants.
Leaping into the trees, she quickly got out of their range before dropping on Arcie, capturing her in webbing while Transmutate–meanwhile–managed to dodge by leaping into a hole that Airachnid had dug. This would allow her to wait things out and follow her when circumstances were less turbulent.
"Ah, Arcie. Still holding a grudge, are you?" Airachnid mused.
"You kill my partner, and expect me not to?!" The two wheeler hissed.
"Oh, that reminds me." The con hummed as she strung the two wheeler up. "I heard about what happened to Cliffjumper. Add any more partners to that list?" She taunted, dragging a nail along the underside of her chin.
Any response Arcie might have had was left unsaid as Transmutate chose to jump out of her hole and open fire on Airachnid, forcing the spider themed helicopter femme to flee, leaving the two-wheeler duo alone.
"I literally heard all of that." The MECH femme said as she looked at the Autobot. "You really have it out for her, don't you?" She noted.
"You have no idea." Arcie growled. "So, what now? You gonna pick up where she left off?" She questioned, struggling against the webbing.
"No, not part of my mission." Transmutate replied as she shot the cable keeping her hanging but left her tied. "I'd stay put. My partner isn't very hospitable to Autobots or Decepticons." She added before transforming and driving away.
A few minutes later, Shellfire emerged from the wreck and spotted Arcie, but decided to pay her no mind since she was restrained and proceeded to transform into his alt mode and drive off to where Transmutate had sent him some coordinates. Then the rest of the Autobots came along with Starscream as their prisoner.
"We gotta stop meeting like this, Arcie. The last thing I need is Miko thinking that I'm cheating on her." Creator said as he knelt down to cut her loose.
"Very funny." Arcie sighed as she rolled her optics before looking at Starscream. "What do we do with him?" She asked, glaring at the restrained Seeker.
"Oh, he's willing to help out in exchange for… What was it again?" Creator replied before pretending to forget what the bargain was. Then he snapped his robotic fingers. "Oh yeah, a place with the Autobots." He said, much to the two wheeler's disbelief.
"You have got to be kidding me." The blue femme uttered in disbelief.
"Not surprising, seeing as he's basically hit rock bottom at this point." The Bioformer shrugged.
[What's that supposed to mean?] Bumblebee questioned.
"It means he's hit a low point in his life." The Bioformer explained.
[Oh… Well, that's certainly true for him.] The scout shrugged.
"I can hear you, you know." The seeker grumbled as the three kept talking as if he wasn't there.
"We know. Now, where's the other half of the wreck?" Bulkhead demanded.
"It's a few clicks north, through a stone arch!" The now ex-seeker yelped, intimidated by the wrecker.
"You're guiding us there." Creator grunted as Optimus radioed Ratchet to send his trailer through a Ground Bridge.
(Meanwhile)
Meanwhile, at the very same location the others were headed to, Airachnid had arrived already and was scuttling all over the second half of the wreck in search of her objective.
As she was, though, Shellfire and Transmutate had chosen this moment to arrive, though they went unnoticed for now.
"What exactly is she looking for anyway?" The MECH femme whispered to her tank companion.
"Not sure, myself, honestly." Shellfire whispered back.
Seconds later, the arachnid Cybertronian pulled a container open, revealing what was inside.
"Be still my beating spark." The femme purred as she pulled some sort of staff out, which started pulsing with some sort of energy.
"And that's our cue." Shellfire said before firing a round from his tank cannon at the spider femme, who dodged it and looked at the two MECH soldiers as the transformed.
"Ah, good. Test subjects." Airachnid grinned as she fired a beam from the staff at the two. Transmutate was able to evade it, but Shellfire got hit and was frozen. It was as if he'd been robbed of his ability to move.
"A stasis lock ray? How's that even possible?" The Mechticon questioned as she deployed a pair of arm blades and managed to gracefully flip over Airachnid and lock the staff between them at her opponent's neck.
"The–urgh–Immobilizer, true to its name, I see." The arachnid con growled as she struggled against the position she was in.
"So that's what it's called, huh?" The two wheeling Mechticon mused before she grabbed the tactical weapon and kicked Airachnid away. "Cylas is gonna be real interested in this one." She added, dodging an attempted lunge from the scavenger femme before trying to use the Immobilizer on her, but the end result was her using a reverse blast on Shellfire to get him moving again instead.
"Wow, that felt weird!" He exclaimed, flexing his fingers a bit. It was at this point that the Autobots showed up.
Airachnid was quick to take advantage of Transmutate's momentary distraction after releasing Shellfire and web her to the wall of the Harbinger–allowing her to grab the Immobilizer in the process.
"You really are annoying, you know that?" She said in obvious annoyance.
"Everyone's a critic." Airachnid scoffed. She was then promptly forced to jump out of the way of a blast from Creator.
"Don't forget about the rest of us!" He exclaimed, his chest laser out.
"Heh, what he said." Shellfire chuckled as he aimed his arm cannon at the spider femme.
"Ah yes, Ruin's little cousin." The femme hissed. "Where's your little Energon Harvester? You lose it somewhere?" She jeered.
"No, but I can see you're still salty about that incident." The gold and silver Bioformer quipped in reply.
Airachnid snarled angrily at Creator since she was still bitter about falling for a rigged Energon Harvester. She longed to get even with him after that.
"Let's see you talk when you're unable to move a servo!" She shouted before firing the Immobilizer at the group, forcing them to scatter to evade the beam.
Bulkhead and Optimus were hit, but Creator, Bumblebee and Shellfire were able to get to cover in time. Getting to Airachnid was a chore in conditions like this, and they knew they had to come up with a plan.
[Okay, we need to figure out how to get to her without getting hit.] Bumblebee said.
"Yeah, and I have no interest in getting hit by that thing." Creator nodded. As he peered over the rock that to see where she was, he saw that she was currently crawling over Transmutate, taunting her in a similar way to how she would Arcie. "She's too busy messing with your teammate, Shellfire, if you can get a few shots in–kick some dust up. I may be able to slip past her and get the Immobilizer."
"Alright, kid. I'll work with that plan." The Mechticon nodded as he readied his arm cannon. As Airachnid kept taunting Transmutate, he got out of cover and shot at the ground to kick up as much dust as he could. This prompted the spider femme to whirl around and fire the Immobilizer into the cloud. When it settled, Creator and Bumblebee stood there seemingly frozen, which made her chuckle.
"I'll be with you in a moment, you nuisance." She told him before turning back to the Mechticon femme. Unknown to her, she failed to hit Creator and Bumblebee, they were merely acting, so the second she turned her back to them, Bumblebee started creeping toward her, while Creator…
Zap!
Appeared behind her via teleportation and had her in a hold, with the Immobilizer in his grip.
"I'm arresting you, I'm putting you under citizen's arrest." He snarked. The line he pulled actually got a chuckle out of Shellfire.
"Get off of me you–" Airachnid snapped, shoving him off of her before noticing she didn't have the Immobilizer anymore. "What?!" She gasped.
"So long, and good luck in court." Creator quipped as he fired a reverse blast at Bulkhead and Optimus.
Airachnid growled as she whirled around to try and attack him, but… "WooOOoo!" The Bioformer whooped before he vanished.
"... HOW?!" The helicopter spider yelled in anger and disbelief. She wasn't able to dwell on this, however, as the rest of the Autobots and two Mechticons ganged up on her as Shellfire got Transmutate free of the webbing. "Alright, tactical retreat." She mused as she transformed and flew away.
(Elsewhere)
With Arcie and Starscream, things were hostile. It was infuriating enough for the former to be left on lookout duty over the latter, but now she finds out the ex-Seeker was the one to kill Cliffjumper.
This was what set her off, and because of her anger, she now had a shallow wound over her abdominal area.
"What's the matter, Arcie? I thought you wanted a fight." Starscream taunted, his claws deployed as he unlocked his cuffs.
"I'll make you pay for what you did to Cliff!" The blue femme growled as she deployed her armblades and lunged at the seeker, only for him to dodge. She kept trying, and managed to get him pinned against the ground after a bit, her armblade at his throat.
"WooOOoo!" A voice whooped as Creator suddenly appeared right in line with the two, unknowingly stopping Starscream's execution.
"AH! Where'd you come from?!" Arcie shouted as she jumped to her feet, startled by the sudden appearance of her hybrid ally.
"Just got this thing from Airachnid." The Bioformer replied as Starscream tried to make a run for it. "Oh no you don't." He said as he readied another blast at the seeker to immobilize him.
"No." The two wheeler interjected as she lowered the spear like weapon. "Just… Just let him go." She sighed.
"Something I should be aware of?" The taller bot asked with a raised eyeplate. "I mean, you're literally letting our best chance at getting the drop on Megatron just, waltz on outta here." He added.
"I found out Starscream was the one that killed Cliffjumper… And it set me off." Arcie replied, clutching her wound. Creator understood how she felt, given what happened with Miko.
"And you know it won't really bring you any sense of peace if you kill him." He said knowingly.
"Or if I even attempt to work with him." She groaned, collapsing to the ground. This caused the Bioformer to quickly run over to her and attempt to help seal up her wound.
(Later)
After returning to base with the Immobilizer, Tiberius had gone back home and was now cuddling with Miko.
"What's got you all cuddle happy all of a sudden?" The rocker girl questioned as her boyfriend, fiance and father of her as of yet unborn child continued to hug and snuggle herself into her.
"Put up with Airachnid's bullshit, and now I just wanna take my mind off of it." Tiberius replied, his head nestling in the crook of her neck.
"I'm not complaining." The female Bioformer chuckled softly as she held her man close.
"Ah… Lover therapy." The blonde sighed as he kissed Miko in a line starting from her jaw down to her neck, and then started turning it up a bit.
(Elsewhere)
In an unnamed canyon, Starscream had just gotten the clamp on his wings off and decided to do some self reflection once more. He decided that, based on his experiences with the Autobots, Decepticons and MECH, it would be in his best interests to strike out on his own.
"Starscream, aligned with no side, and servant to no one." The seeker vowed as he soared off into the night sky.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in MECH's main base, Shellfire and Transmutate were busy hauling in what plunder was left in the Harbinger.
That being an Energon Processor, a few protoforms, and a portable Groundbridge projector.
Transmutate, now Corp. Christi Marx in her human form, was currently logging in the mission results in her data pad when Shellfire–human name Corp. Shelby Miller–walked up to her.
Christi was a platinum blonde woman with blue eyes who looked similar to YoRHa No. 2 Type B in appearance. Her attire consisted of a standard issue MECH jumpsuit.
Shelby, meanwhile, was a brunette with dark eyes and a muscular build. He stood at an imposing six five, with an appearance that reminded his peers of Android 16 from Dragon Ball.
"Hey, dataworm, you do know it's time to go ahead and turn in, right?" He questioned.
"I will when I'm done logging this." Christi replied as she kept working on the report.
"Seriously? You know that's not due until ten in the morning." Shelby told her.
"It helps me focus." The young woman replied. This was because she was a person on the high functioning side of the Autism spectrum.
In fact, Cylas recruited her specifically because of her unparalleled ability to solve mathematical and scientific equations–and cracking even advanced Cybertronian code.
"Alright. Just… Mind your limits, okay?" The man told her softly. It may not seem like it at first glance, but he had a soft spot for Christi due to her Autism.
"I will. Don't worry." The platinum blonde replied as she glanced at him with a small smile on her face before going back to work.
(Elsewhere)
Ironhide and the twins were out looking for any signs of new Energon deposits, when Skids suddenly got a reading from a nearby canyon.
"Hey, I got something!" He called, getting the attention of the other two.
"Where's the reading coming from?" The weapons expert asked.
"That way, just a few clicks down." The bot responded.
"Shit, well imagine that luck." Mudflap chuckled.
"I'll clear the way." Ironhide said before taking aim with his cannons and started shooting the ground, stopping just short of the reading to avoid damaging the source.
Skids dug the rest of the way and unearthed what looked like a cylinder.
"Is that a…?" Skids said, trailing off.
"Call Optimus." Ironhide stated. "Now!" He barked.
Dragon Emperor0: Well that certainly seems important. Wonder what could be inside that cylinder there I wonder?
ThermalsniperN7: Not sure right now. Also, sorry to the diehard Transformers fans for making Transmutate and Airrazor a pair of Bioformers. Our reason for it is simple: Autism is a human condition, so we thought her being human would suit Transmutate more.
Dragon Emperor0: Regardless, I think you'll enjoy the character plot trajectory we have in mind for our Beast Wars friend here. Especially with the Romantic Subplot we have in mind for Beast Hunters *wink*. Fans of Transmutate's history will know exactly what I'm talking about.
ThermalsniperN7: We do hope that keeps you invested in this story. Anyway, see you next time.