Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter 19. I hope you're all doing good and are staying safe from COVID-19. We're all in this together.
Not a lot happening in this chapter, but I hope you like it anyway. Enjoy!
Transformers Prime: The Medic's Assistant
Chapter 19: Shadowzone
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime
(Autobot Base)
It was a quiet day at the base. At least it was until Ratchet detected something.
"I had hoped that my growing expertise on the subject would remain purely academic," Ratchet said to Optimus, "but though faint, this is clearly a dark energon signature and its moving fast."
"Megatron," the prime said.
"Where'd he find more of the bad stuff?" Arcee asked as the others made their way over to the computer.
"And what's he gonna do with it?" Bulkhead asked, "recruit a new army of the undead?"
Miko, who was sitting in the chair drawing a picture, perked up and turned around to look at the bots. "Zombiecons?" she said excitedly.
"We cannot rule out the possibility," Optimus said, "especially since Megatron seems to be heading to a familiar site."
Stormracer looked at the coordinates. "Wait, aren't those the same coordinates from when you and Bee fought Skyquake?"
"Not only that," Optimus said, "it is the same location we buried him."
"Megatron is going to reanimate Skyquake?" Bumblebee asked.
"Most likely," Ratchet said.
"Megatron has barely emerged from stasis, and it seems he's making up for lost time," Optimus said before looking at the others, "Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Ratchet, prepare to roll out."
"Me?" Ratchet asked questionably.
"If we are dealing with dark energon, I may well require your expertise," the prime told him. He then looked at the assistant. "Stormracer?"
"Bridge operator," Stormracer said, giving him a thumbs up, "got it."
"Go get em, Bulkhead," Miko said, not even looking up as the bots headed for the groundbridge, "bring the hurt!"
The other three kids looked at her suspiciously as she innocently worked on her drawing.
"That's not like Miko to not want to go," Jack said quietly to the other two.
"She's definitely up to something," Raf said.
"Be ready for anything," Sierra said with a frown.
Soon as the bots were ready to depart, Stormracer fired up the groundbridge. Once they stepped in, the bots transformed and rolled out.
Seeing them leaving in the corner of her eye, Miko grinned and made a run for it.
"Making a break!" Jack said as he, Raf, and Sierra ran after her.
Stormracer didn't even notice what was happening as Miko ran into the groundbridge. Catching up to the exchange student in the threshold, Jack grab her by the arm.
"It's not safe!" he told her.
"I am not gonna miss my first zombiecon throw-down!" Miko argued. She freed herself and continued running, unaware she dropped her cellphone.
"Miko!" Sierra exclaimed as they continued to chase her, "get back here!"
Miko simply ignored her as she hopped out of the portal. Making sure the autobots didn't see her, she climbed up onto a nearby outcropping to watch what was happening.
It wasn't long for the bots to see who was at Skyquake's grave.
"That's not Megatron," Bulkhead said, seeing it was Starscream instead.
"Rise, Skyquake!" Starscream commanded as the grave glowed purple, "rise!"
Jack, Sierra, and Raf soon caught up to the Japanese girl as she waited in anticipation.
"Lets see some fight of the living dead already!" Miko said excitedly.
"Miko, what were you thinking?" Jack asked angrily as he got beside her.
"She wasn't," Raf said.
"Seriously, do you not have a brain?" Sierra asked Miko.
"Hey, I totally missed out last time," Miko argued, "this could be my only chance to take some snaps." She went to grab her phone, only to realize it was missing. "My cellphone!" she said, looking around as she got up, "I must have dropped it back at base."
Meanwhile, the bots were making their way over towards the seeker. "Starscream!" Optimus said, making their presence known.
Starscream turned around and sneered at them. "Autobots!"
The autobot leader aimed his blaster at him. "Stand down," he warned.
"You stand down!" Starscream said as he aimed and fired his missile. The bots immediately took cover before the missile exploded.
"You cannot harm me while dark energon flows through my veins!" the con boasted.
But before Starscream could fire his other missile, Optimus stepped out from behind the rock and fired his blaster, hitting Starscream's arm. The seeker let out a painful yell as he turned around... and saw his arm fall to the ground. His limb no longer attached to him, he fearfully grabbed it and hid behind the rocks.
"You clipped his wing," Bulkhead told the prime, "he's grounded."
The bots then advanced as Starscream looked at the grave, seeing no progress whatsoever.
"Come on, come on!" the seeker said in frustration, "rise already!" Now panicking, the con called for an escape route. "This is commander Starscream, requesting emergency groundbridge to my coordinates."
As the bots were closing in, they stopped when they heard a familiar voice shouting angrily behind them. Turning around, they saw the four kids standing on the outcropping as Miko threw a tantrum.
"Ugh, I can't believe you made me lose my phone!" Miko shouted.
"Uh, how is this my fault?" Jack protested.
"You weren't even suppose to come here to begin with!" Sierra pointed out to the girl.
"You have got to be kidding me," Arcee said with a frown.
"Optimus, the kids are missing!" Stormracer said urgently over the commlink.
"We have a visual," Optimus told her, "send the groundbridge immediately."
A groundbridge portal soon opened... along with another near Starscream.
"Two?" Ratchet said questionably. He looked at the humans. "You four, into our groundbridge. Now!"
"Come on," Jack said, grabbing Miko by the wrist. The four made their way into the portal as Starscream dived through his. Suddenly, A green energy began swirling around between the two portals.
"Ratchet, what is happening?" the prime asked.
"The dueling groundbridge portals must be feeding back on each other," the medic said.
"Miko," Bulkhead said worryingly, "we gotta get the kids out of there." He immediately ran towards the portal the kids went through. But before he could enter, the portal released a force, knocking the green bot back. Before the others could assist him, the portal exploded, sending them all flying back.
(Moments later)
Laying on the ground, the four humans groaned as they looked up to see they were still in the same place, only everything looked greyish.
"Are you guys okay?" Jack asked, looking at the others.
"Y-yeah," Raf said, "I think so."
"What happened?" Sierra asked as they got up.
Hearing Bulkhead groaning, the kids looked behind them to see the bots getting up as well.
"What just happened?" Arcee asked.
"I can't be certain," Ratchet said, "but if two groundbridges sent to the same coordinates crossed streams, the feedback could have triggered a system overload."
"Could?" Miko said, "hello, more like totally did."
"The kids made it through, right?" Bulkhead asked.
The four humans were confused by this.
"Huh?" Raf said.
"What's he talking about?" Sierra asked.
Frowning, Miko made her way over to her guardian. "Bulkhead, we're right here!" she said.
Optimus contacted base. "Stormracer, did the children make it safely back to base?"
"They're not here," Stormracer said, "you don't see them?"
"No sign," Ratchet said.
"What? No sign?" Miko said as she got right in front of Bulkhead, "okay, seriously Bulk-" Just then Bulkhead started walking. "Whoa!" Miko exclaimed. But just when she thought she was going to get stepped on, the bot's leg went right through her, startling her even more. "Aaah!" she screamed as she backed away.
Jack caught her as she nearly fell backwards. "He went right through you," he said grimly, "we're not alive."
"What?" Sierra said, looking horrified.
"I don't want to be a ghost!" Raf said, huddling close to the redhead.
Jack then realized something as he let go of Miko. "Wait, how are we still able to touch each other?"
Seeing the bots walking away, the humans followed after them.
"Ratchet," Optimus said, "could the children have been transported onto the Nemesis instead?"
"Not likely," Ratchet said, "if Starscream didn't arrive at our base, the most likely explanation is a dislocation. The children may simply have been bridged to an unintended destination."
The kids then stopped, still confused as to why the bots couldn't see them.
"Another place, but in the same place?" Raf thought out loud.
"W-what do you mean?" Jack asked him.
"We're probably in a different dimension," the younger boy said, "some kind of alternate reality, a shadow zone."
"Nerd alert," Miko commented.
The bots walked over to Skyquake's grave.
"Look," Optimus said, "Skyquake's tomb is empty."
"How'd we miss Skyquake rising and shining?" Bulkhead asked.
"It would seem Starscream got what he came for," Ratchet said.
"Another matter for another time," Optimus said, "right now, our priority is locating the children." He then put his digit to his commlink. "Stormracer, bridge us back to base."
As the humans made their way over to the bots, a huge servo with sharp digits made itself known. Stepping out from behind the rock structure was a fully reanimated Skyquake.
The children's eyes widened when they saw the terrorcon making its way towards the bots.
"Zombie!" Sierra shouted as they started running.
"Guys, look out!" Jack yelled, trying to warn them.
"Bulkhead!" Miko shouted.
"It's right behind you!" Raf warned.
The terrorcon went to strike Bulkhead, only for its servo to go right through him. The confused zombiecon tried again, only for the same thing to happen as the bots made their way into the groundbridge portal.
"Awesome," Miko said with a smile, "it can't touch them either."
Hearing her, the terrorcon turned around and saw the four humans. Miko's smile disappeared when it started walking towards them. Realization dawning on them, the kids fearfully looked at the zombie.
"Uh, if that thing can't touch the bots..." Jack started to say.
"Just like we can't..." Sierra continued.
"Then we're trapped in the shadow zone... with a decepticon zombie!" Raf finished.
"If we're not ghosts now," Miko said with a gulp, "we will be soon."
Stopping in front of them, the large terrorcon let out a roar.
"Run for it!" Sierra shouted.
Immediately the kids ran away as the zombiecon slowly pursued them. As they ran, Raf tripped and fell, causing him to lose his glasses.
Seeing his friend down, Jack turned around and picked him up. "Come on!" he said.
The two hid behind a rock wall where the girls were waiting for them.
"Jack, my glasses!" the boy said.
The older boy peaked from around their hiding spot to see Raf's glasses laying on the ground. But the zombiecon was too close.
"Way too dangerous," he said, stepping back behind the wall.
"I can't see without them," Raf said.
"What are you, ninety? Miko asked him.
"Not helping," Sierra told her with a frown.
Miko frowned back at her. "Fine," she said. She then took off to retrieve them.
"Wait!" Jack exclaimed.
The exchange student only ignored him and continued on as the zombiecon got closer. Picking up the glasses, she looked up to see the terrorcon about to step on her. She managed to leap out of the way in time before she could become a pancake.
"Hoo-yah!" she cheered.
She made her way back to the group and gave Raf his glasses. "Here you go, gramps," she said, "let's book."
Seeing the zombie nearly on top of them, the kids immediately ran for it.
"Maybe we could set a trap," Miko suggested as they ran, "try to crush it."
"With what?" Raf asked, "nothing around here is solid except us and the ground."
"We can't run forever," Miko said.
"No," Sierra said, "but we can hide."
(Autobot Base)
All the bots gathered around the computer as they tried to figure out where the kids went.
Worried about the humans, Stormracer groaned. "This is my fault," she said, "I should have paid attention."
"Do not blame yourself, Stormracer," Optimus told her, "we will find them." He looked at the medic. "Ratchet, if the children were misdirected to an unintended location, is there any way to get a fix on their coordinates?"
"If they were lost, Miko would have called me by now," Bulkhead said.
"Then why don't we call them?" Bumblebee asked.
"Call them? Yes!" Bulkhead said. But when he tried to call Miko, they heard her ringtone. Looking around, they turned around to see it laying in the groundbridge.
Bulkhead vented as he went over and picked it up. "That's why Miko hasn't phoned," he said.
"Let me try Sierra," Stormracer said.
(Shadowzone)
Finally finding a hiding spot, the four kids panted as they tried to catch their breaths.
"I seriously need to do more cardio," Sierra said tiredly.
"Hey, one good thing about zombies," Miko said, "they're slow-moving."
The redhead frowned at her. "If we die here, I'm blaming you."
Just then Sierra's ringtone went off, gaining everyone's attention.
"Is that your..." Raf started to say.
"Phone!" everyone said in unison.
Sierra immediately answered it, seeing it was Stormracer calling her. "Hello? Storm?"
(Autobot Base)
"Sierra?" Stormracer asked, only hearing static on the other end, "can you hear me? Sierra?" After a few more seconds, she looked at the others. "Nothing," she said.
(Shadowzone)
"Hello? Storm?" Sierra said, only to also receive static. Sighing, she hung up. "Nothing."
"Gee, imagine that," Miko said dryly, "the fourth dimension has lousy cellphone reception."
"Wait, guys, guys, guys, the phone rang," Jack said, "we're getting a signal."
"Maybe the autobots can't see or hear us because we're moving at hyper speed or something," Raf said.
"Do you think they could read us?" Jack asked.
Raf thought for a moment then said, "texting!"
"Text me!" Miko said, "if my phone's back at base, maybe they'll see it."
Sierra started typing on her phone while the others watched. Just then they heard something behind them, making them look and fearfully gasp when they saw the zombiecon had found them.
"Uh... can you type and run?" Raf asked the redhead.
Skyquake blocked the exit and growled. But that didn't stop the kids as they ran between his legs before he could grab them. As she ran, Sierra finished the text and sent it to Miko's phone.
(Autobot Base)
"We're dealing with fluctuating energy profiles inside a wide distortion field," Ratchet said, "but it may be possible to back-track their coordinates."
All the bots were busy looking at the screen that they didn't notice the cellphone off to the side vibrating.
(Shadowzone)
"It's sent," Sierra said as they continued running.
They heard the zombiecon growling as they gained more speed.
"I hope the bots see it soon," Jack said.
As they ran, Miko looked around and frowned. "Deja vu!" she said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"This doesn't look familiar to you?"
"Not really."
Everyone now looking around, Miko frowned as they ran around a corner. "Dude, we just ran one big circle!"
"How can you even te- Unh!" Sierra didn't finish her sentence as she and the others ran into something, making them fall back.
Groaning, they looked to see what they had ran into. Starscream's severed arm.
"Whoa," Sierra said as they sat up.
"Sweet," Miko said.
"It must have gotten trapped in here during the explosion too," Raf said.
They looked over their shoulders when they heard the zombiecon approaching. Jack looked back at the arm, looking at the missile still on it. "Well, if its solid, we can use it."
The four rushed over to the limb. It was heavier than they thought, but they still managed to move it to the direction they wanted.
"Okay, great," Sierra said, "now how do we fire this thing?"
"I don't see a trigger," Miko said as she searched the arm.
Remembering when Starscream attacked the bots, Raf said, "Starscream did something with his fingers."
Seeing the undead decepticon approaching, the kids ducked down behind Starscream's servo.
"We have one shot," Jack said, "we need to make it count."
Jack waited until the terrorcon was close enough before pulling Starscream's index finger back. Setting off the missile, they watched as it flew straight to their target and exploded.
"How do you like us now?" Miko said smugly.
But just when they thought they got it, the terrorcon emerged from the smoke and roared at them, making them fearfully back away. That's when they noticed the missile hit its arm as it fell off. They looked at the arm, seeing it's digit twitching before it came to life. Using its digits, it rapidly charged at the kids.
"Are you kidding me?!" Sierra exclaimed.
"Run!" Jack said as they turned around and ran.
"How can the zombie arm move faster than the actual zombie?" Miko asked.
They looked over their shoulders to see the arm hopping against the rock walls, trying to catch up to them.
(Autobot base)
Hearing a beeping noise, Bulkhead looked over at Miko's phone and saw it blinking.
"Miko's phone," he said, gaining everyone's attention, "it wasn't blinking before." Carefully using his digit, he flipped the phone open. "It's a message. In alternate dimension with zombie. Help."
"Say what now?" Stormracer asked.
"That doesn't sound possible," Arcee said.
"Ratchet, can we triangulate the geographical position of the cellphone signal?" Optimus asked him.
"In a parallel dimensional plane?!" the medic said, "... let's find out."
Everyone watched as the medic went to work. After a moment, he found it.
"Now, calculating for relative time delays and ionospheric distortions," he said, "the signal emanated from the exact location as the original groundbridge coordinates."
"But we already looked for them there," Bulkhead said.
"Perhaps, but not in the correct dimensional phase as their message stated. But if I can recreate the feedback loop which triggered the event, I might be able to generate a rescue portal allowing passage from their dimension..."
"Back to base?" Bulkhead asked hopefully.
"No!" Ratchet exclaimed, looking at him, "we're talking about interdimensional travel here, Bulkhead! Attempting to redirect the vortex trajectory would be far too risky."
"Everyone knows that," Arcee said sarcastically.
"If the coordinates aren't precisely the same, who knows where the humans could wind up," the medic continued.
(Shadowzone)
Running around the same corner, the kids stopped at Starscream's arm.
"Oh come on," Miko said in frustration, "this place is like one big merry-go-round!"
"Skyquake!"
Hearing Starscream's voice, the kids hid behind the arm just as Starscream came walking into view.
"Your master summons you!" he said as he looked around, unaware of his arm and the children.
"How did that freak get into our dimension?" Miko asked.
"He didn't," Jack said, "he can't see us."
Sierra looked over her shoulder to see the zombie arm approaching. "Forget Starscream," she said, "we gotta run. Again."
The four ran towards the seeker. Just then a groundbridge portal opened between them and Starscream.
"A groundbridge portal?" Raf asked.
"That has to be our way out of here," Jack said.
"The autobots saw our text," Miko said happily.
"Just one problem," Sierra said, "if we go through, we run right into Starscream."
"But if we don't..." Raf said as they all turned to look at the arm getting closer.
"We're zombie chow," Jack finished.
"Option three, we keep running in circles," Miko said.
Jack came up with a plan. "Follow my lead."
The four prepared themselves as they waited for the arm to get closer.
"Jack?" Sierra said nervously as she saw the arm closing in.
"Now!" he finally said.
Running for it, they dove right into the portal and landed on the other side. They continued running as Starscream looked at them in confusion.
"Humans?" he said as he turned around, "where did you vermin-"
Hearing something behind him, he turned back around just as the arm leaped through the portal and latched itself onto his face. He let out a yell as he fell back, managing to get the arm to let go.
"This isn't mine!" he exclaimed as he tried to keep it away. He screamed as it tried to scratch his face. "Unhand me!"
The humans didn't stop running until another portal opened in front of them. To their relief, Optimus, Arcee, and Bulkhead emerged from it.
"Are you four alright?" Optimus asked them.
"We are now," Sierra said with a smile.
"Autobots again?!" Starscream exclaimed, seeing them. Back on his pedes, he threw the arm away, only for it to head straight for him again.
"Requesting emergency groundbridge now!" the seeker ordered.
(Later - Autobot Base)
Once everyone was back at base, the kids told the bots what had happened to them.
Once they were done, Miko stepped forward. "Look, if you're gonna blame anybody, blame me," she said to Optimus.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Jack asked her, "a couple dozen times?"
"And have it in writing?" Sierra asked.
"And laminated?" Raf added.
"Okay, I get it!" Miko exclaimed at them, "I'm sorry."
"Miko, what you endured has been a lesson enough," Optimus said before smiling, "we are just glad you are all safe."
Bulkhead knelt down in front of his human buddy. "Guess it was a good thing you dropped this," he said, handing Miko her phone, "too bad you didn't get any pictures though."
"Nah, that's okay," she said, "I think after today, I pretty much have zombie close-ups seared into my brain."
(Later)
After a while, the humans made their way onto the platform before plopping down on the couch and chair.
"What a day," Jack said.
"My legs feel like they're going to fall off," Sierra groaned.
"We still have some time left before we have to go home," Raf said, "why don't we play a video game?"
"How about we watch a movie?" Miko suggested, "I know this really good zombie film-"
The girl didn't even finish as the three exclaimed in unison. "NO!"
And that was chapter 19! Not much but I hope you still liked it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on where I should put the Stormracer/Knock Out chapter. I've decided I'm going to do it after Operation: Breakdown and have it overlap with Crisscross (since that's another episode for just Jack and Arcee).
Thanks for reading and I hope to update again soon. Until next time! Stay healthy, stay home, stay safe! God bless!