Chapter 36: Ashes to New Pt. 1
Review Replies
PJSch: Looks like we will see a whole slew of Spider Themed Bioformers, Tarantulus seems to be obvious since you mentioned a Tyrantula, This would also be the first Time Tyrantulus actually Transforms into one, Rachnera Arachnera being here is certainly a welcome surprise, that Everything around became a Cybertronian is not surprising but that you included a Titan that can Overshadow certainly is.
Dragon Emperor0: NGL, this review is confusingly worded, my guy. But nevertheless, I will try to respond to this as best I can. Yes, Tarantulas will be a thing, but, Rachnera was referring to a pet Tarantula, not a Bioformer. The Titan is a very familiar one to OG fans, but, much like the Combaticons in MECH, it isn't exactly the same. And yes, more arachnid Bioformers are incoming and our Rachnera is not the same as Monster Musume. Just pointing that out.
ThermalsniperN7: I almost feel sorry for any characters with arachnophobia. Seeing a spider-type Bioformer is gonna be a nightmare…
Captain Titus Invictus: Well then, that's a freaking Titan
Dragon Emperor0: Say hello to Tokyo Superplex. He's essentially a Japanese version of the Autobot Titan Metroplex in Terran (earth born Cybertronian) form. He'll be a major character in this arc along with his Human/Bioformer companion Hitoshi Honnouji, aka Raiden.
ThermalsniperN7: We're gonna have fun with this.
Unity123: If Madame Ruin does come back to a certain extent. I wouldn't be surprised if she and BlackArachnia did a fusion similar to Tigerhawk. And if the Autobots decide to play pretend as well, Transformers Animated already has a good concept with the Human Error special.
And as far as I can tell about those yellow crystals, my best guess would be Calcified Resonance or Antigon (Anti-Energon) which one to link themselves with the Winnower's Darkness and by proxy, The Witness and its disciples
ThermalsniperN7: Madame Ruin won't be coming back. Her body is too damaged, and she lacks the same stuff as some iterations of Starscream.
Dragon Emperor0: Her spark was also split in two in order to unify with Megatron's to create Galvatron and Tarn. So she can't come back, by definition. As for the idea of her and Arachnia being of the same mind, that could be the case. And yes, transformers animated did do a human bots episode—but for our purposes we're looking at a similar episode in the G1 cartoon. The Synthoid episode, the one that involves Old Snake (who is basically just an old Cobra Commander, fight me plebs.)
ThermalsniperN7: Oi, no instigating fights in the review section! … As for the Anti-Energon thing, that could serve as an ideal temptation vector for certain characters, like Megatron, since Unicron's absence has left quite a void.
Godzillaboy2021: So who will Roodaka be paired with, The Makuta? And I just had a thought about something. Will we be seeing Unicron's Instrument and Flying Terrorcon, Thunderwing from Transformers Prime the Game in here since he is also virtually made of Dark Energon? And will he target both Optimus Prime and Genisys since one possesses the Matrix of Leadership and the other is the descendant of Primus? And I see that Megatron has a new woman in his ranks and fallen in love with, this time a side spider-bot femme.
Dragon Emperor0: Thunderwing is typically classified as a Mega bot like Omega Supreme and High Tide, Correct? Then in that case, Thunderwing can make his appearance during the mini arc we have in mind involving the appearances of various Mega Bot bioformers later on.
ThermalsniperN7: As for Roodaka, she's not being shipped with Teridax since he won't be appearing in this story (sorry if you expected him to). She'll be hooking up with Cylas instead when she comes to Earth, however, seeing as he's better than Sidorak.
Dragon Emperor0: Considerably better, I'd say. Plus… Future Bioformer snake mommy. Imagine the rivalry she'll have with Elita…
dragonflyman94: Let me guess that city in front of mt fuji is really metroplex or another giant transformer.
Dragon Emperor0: Close. He's a Terran Titan known as Superplex, who takes many design cues from Metroplex but is very much Japanese in most facets of his design and character on account of him being Japanese born.
ThermalsniperN7: Exactly.
Timeskip Nine years Later…
-Edwards Airforce Base, South California, Autobot Outpost Omega-2-
"Well, that's the last of it." Tiberius sighed as he set down the last box of stuff from his family's old home in Jasper. "Now all we need to do is unpack and then we will officially be at home." He said as he saw a now nine year old Octavian and Yang trying to get their stuff unpacked into their on base living area.
It had been nearly a decade since everything began, from Tiberius discovering his heritage to his rebirth as Genisys Prime. He and his now officially married wife, Miko Nakadai—Now American citizen, Miko Darwin, had long since graduated and moved to Edwards Airforce Base in south California. Due to the large number of Autobots, it was time for some expansion that would increase the Autobots' presence on Earth.
Tiberius and his family were pretty much living on site, so they didn't have much to worry about when it comes to security.
"Just heard back from Elita and Arcee, they say Cliff's finally managed to find his footing in Roswell with Ironhide, the Twins and Dinobots." Miko noted as she got her things unpacked. "Poor guy, I still remember how difficult it was for him to get used to things in Jasper after we found him." She sighed.
"Yeah…" The blonde nodded as he recalled the event in question.
(Flashback)
Arcee kept her optics open as she searched a depleted Energon mine, where her own Ghost was picking up the signature of another Ghost.
"You're sure a Ghost is here, Haytham?" The femme questioned as they made their way through the mine in question.
"I am. Though why the Guardian of this Ghost chose to come here for shelter is questionable, given how unstable it is." Haytham replied, having noted the instability of the cave upon arrival. It was a miracle it hadn't collapsed yet.
"Wouldn't be the first time…" The two wheeler muttered as she made her way deeper into the cave, before she saw a familiar horned face digging out a cluster of Energon from a nearby wall. "... C-Cliffjumper?!" She gasped in shock, causing the maroon colored transformer to whirl around in surprise.
"… Do I know you?" The bot questioned as he turned to face her, his Ghost coming out.
"Oh… Right…" Arcee sighed, recalling that those brought back from the dead by a Ghost had no memory of who they were sans their name. "You may not know me, but we were partners in your past life." She told him.
"Oh." The mech nodded as he held his energon clump.
"My name is Arcee, I have a Ghost as well." She told him, gesturing to Haytham.
"D-Did you–?" Cliffjumper tried to ask.
"Die? No. I was alive when Haytham found me." The two wheeler replied. "Ghosts are weird like that." She nodded. "This place is pretty unstable, plus it looks like it's ready to collapse at any moment." She noted as she phoned into the base. "Arcee to base, I found our missing Ghost… And a familiar face." She called.
"Who is it?" Ratchet questioned.
"You'll have to see when we get back." The blue two wheeler replied, glancing at Cliffjumper. "I'll need a ground bridge." She told him.
"Right." The medic nodded as a portal opened up.
"Come on, Cliff. Let's go." She told him as they went through the ground bridge to the base.
(Flashback End)
"At least he got used to things eventually." Tiberius shrugged. "But…" He hummed as he turned thoughtful.
"What is it?" His wife questioned.
"Am I the only one who's noticed that Arcee's seemed kind of… despondent ever since you and Elita joined the team?" He questioned.
It was true. Ever since Elita and Miko joined the team, Arcee had seemed to become progressively despondent as time went on. Nobody knew why, though. She just seemed… off, for some reason.
"Yeah, and have you noticed that ever since Jack and Sierra broke up after graduation when Sierra moved to Roswell, that things have seemed… tense between him and Arcee?" Miko asked. "Like not in a 'I can't stand the sight of you, get away from me' kinda way, but in more of a 'the sexual tension between us is so thick you could cut it with the Star Saber' kinda way." She amended.
That was another thing. Jack and Arcee had been showing some major tension between them in the way Miko just described, and it wasn't even that outlandish to consider. Example: Megatron and Black Arachnea.
Sure, Jack was still a full human, but that evidently did nothing to stop the sexual tension between him and Arcee.
"Oh no, I've noticed it." Her husband replied as several animalistic shapes came into the base. "Hey guys." He nodded, addressing his Minicons. "But I don't think that can really be resolved until we can either make Arcee a human body, or alternatively make Jack a Bioformer." He stated. "Though that would address only half the issue." He added.
"Can't you just use the Mask of Life on Arcee?" Miko questioned.
"If she wants me to, then I will. But I don't think the mask necessarily works like that." He amended. "In the case of Jack becoming a Bioformer, if he wants to become one of us, I'll be ready to give him some blood." The man replied.
"Well what do you suggest, then?" Miko questioned as the kids came into the room and started playing with Sonar, Radar, Heatstroke and Frostbite.
"I have no idea at the moment." The man sighed as the two went to their room. "I'm gonna go take a shower. Care to join?" He offered.
"No thanks. If we go in there together, who knows how long it'll be before we come out." Miko chuckled in reply as she stripped down to just her bra and panties.
She had filled out quite a bit, now having a supermodel worthy body. She was considerably more toned than she was nine years ago, her rack growing a bit since having the twins, but not enough to warrant a new cup size. Her ass, hips and thighs, however, had grown more than a little. It was easily her most defining physical feature.
She no longer had her hair in pigtails, instead opting for a single ponytail instead.
"Fair enough." The golden haired man conceded with a chuckle as he went into the bathroom.
When he was alone, he took off his shirt before he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror.
He had definitely changed over the years. He now had a golden beard, the hair on his head was cut short and he had a scar on his left cheek from a knife wound he got during a mission against MECH.
Attire wise, his shirt was black with a silver stripe going down the middle and a pair of gray shorts (it was summer in California currently).
As he got ready to take his shower, he thought back to when Jack broke up with Sierra after graduation.
It wasn't long after the new bases for the Autobots were set up and, rather than continue with a long distance relationship that they both knew just wasn't going to work out—they decided to break up on mutual terms.
All in all it wasn't that bad, but man did it make things more complicated between him and Arcee.
He'd always noticed that the two seemed closer than Jack ever was to Sierra and had a much deeper relationship than even Bulkhead and Bumblebee had with Miko, Raf and Sierra, but he never pegged it for being romantically inclined until recently.
'I'm a little curious about how they'll make that work…' He mused as he got the water running and set it to a lukewarm temperature.
He decided to have that wait until they decided to check up on the other bases.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, on the Nemesis, Megatron was walking into Shockwave's on ship laboratory where he saw the one eyed scientist and Black Arachnia currently going over the final progress of their current project: Project Pretender.
"At long last. They're finally ready." The spider femme mused.
"It took nine Earth years, but yes. This was definitely worth it." The cycloptic 'Con nodded.
"I see more than just my designated body." Megatron hummed, causing the two to face him. "Explain." He prompted.
"Well, Lord Megatron. Arachnia informs me that MECH has recently been keeping a close eye on the country known as Japan for quite some time now and has recently discovered that due to the explosion of the Ember Stone that occurred previously, there has been an emergence of what seems to be Earth Born Cybertronians, which Cylas has elected to call Terrans." Shockwave explained.
"As well as more Bioformers, and a signature that is reminiscent of both Dark Energon and the Matrix of leadership." Arachnia nodded.
"What could possibly bear a signature of that nature?" The warlord wondered.
"We aren't sure ourselves. But given that the Traveler has been terraforming many worlds as of late and its Ghosts have been making things turn up left and right, I would wager that these are regardless areas of interest." Shockwave replied.
"Which means that the Autobots will think so as well, and that in turn gave me an idea." Arachnia stated, a wicked smile on her face. "An awful, wonderful idea." She added mischievously.
"... Go on." Megatron grinned. Whenever Arachnia had an idea, it usually resulted in something good, as he had learned over the years.
"We would set a trap in Japan with the extra pretender bodies I have created." The femme replied, gesturing at the extra tanks. "Each is based on one of the Autobots most important members that are on the majority of their missions: Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee, Ratchet, Elita One, and of course—Optimus Prime himself." She continued.
"How would we subdue them to allow this to happen?" The warlord questioned with interest.
"We don't." Shockwave replied. "Thanks to the intel and feedback from both Arachnia and the MECHticon Transmutate, I have devised a device that will use the capabilities of the spark extractor and psychic patch to tear the mental imprints from the bodies of the Autobots upon contact and then transfer them automatically to the brains of the Pretender body via wireless link." He explained.
"A one way wireless link." Arachnia smiled as she pulled a bewildered Transmutate towards her, who had been jotting things down in her tablet. "It was all Transmutate's idea." She beamed, the borderline autistic femme blushing at the praise.
"It was nothing, really." The femme shrugged.
"Nonsense. This will be what eliminates a major obstacle for all of us!" The Kaon Champion exclaimed with a laugh.
"It will take time to set the trap. But we should be ready within the next solar cycle." Shockwave informed the leader of the Decepticons.
"Excellent. Inform me when it is time to enact this plan." The warlord nodded before he left. "I do so relish the idea of seeing the look on Prime's face when he realizes that we outsmarted him." He added with a chuckle.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in Jasper, the Autobots were actually learning the same information that the Decepticons learned from MECH as Prowl contacted them.
"This is peculiar, indeed." Optimus noted as he mulled over the new information.
"Well after the Emberstone exploded, we should've been expecting things like this to happen." Arcee pointed out.
"Optimus, remind me. The Emberstone belonged to Quintus Prime, correct?" Elita questioned.
"It did." Optimus nodded in reply. "Alpha Trion said that Quintus left Cybertron after the Prime Wars, to seed life elsewhere. It was believed that the Quintisons were his progeny." He explained.
"I wonder what happened to separate him from the Emberstone… Well, other than him dying." The pink femme hummed with a shrug.
"His spark being extinguished was something that was never confirmed. So if he does still function, then it could be that the Ember Stone going off could draw him to Earth." Optimus hypothesized. "Regardless, the appearance of these Terrans and new Bioformers is still worth investigating." He admitted.
"Should I call in Tiberius?" Mathias questioned as Raf was busy helping his youngest son Gaius with his math homework.
Gaius Julius Darwin was the current youngest member of the Darwin family, excluding Octavian and Yang and was the twins' uncle by birth. Given their age similarity, was seen as rather weird by the Autobots.
Appearance wise he looked like a younger version of Tiberius, but had Serena's black hair and Mathias' brown eyes.
"No. This shouldn't be too much of an issue, so let's not bother them." Arcee interjected.
"Alright." The man nodded.
"You guys be safe, you don't know if MECH or the cons know what we just found out." Raf urged, the boy now being twenty one and in college, and looked like it, too.
"Yeah." Jack nodded.
Jack had changed too, now being twenty-five. He had a bit of facial hair and was wearing a short sleeved gray shirt under a black hoodie, blue jeans and a pair of sneakers.
He was actually now a Teacher at his old high school, teaching reading and writing and—on weekends—hosting the Jasper High school Science Fiction Writing club. A cheeky reference to what June thought the Autobots were.
"We'll be as careful as possible." Bulkhead chuckled in reply.
The reason why he wasn't with Miko was because by this point she didn't need a Guardian. However, he did take up the slot as Gaius' guardian—the younger Darwin always having a blast listening to Slash Monkey with the Wrecker every time they were on the road.
"We still wanna remind you." Gaius told him, as he was a bit of a worry wart, especially when it came to BCFF (Best Cybertronian Friend Forever).
"Thanks for the concern, kiddo, but we can handle ourselves. We'll be fine." Elita told him with a smile, patting the nine year old on the head.
Little did they know that the tyke's fears would turn out to be very well founded.
(Elsewhere)
-Shinjuku, Japan-
"And with that, the trap is set." Black Arachnia said as she, Blitzwing, Dreadwing, Lugnut, Knockout and Skyquake all laid in wait for their Autobot prey, having intercepted a transmission that they were to meet Prowl and an unknown Bioformer at that very spot.
"This is gonna be good." Hot chuckled in anticipation.
"I think you mean that this is going to be juicy." Knockout chuckled, getting a stifled snort from Skyquake, who fist bumped the autocon.
That was another thing: After Breakdown disappeared, Skyquake and Knockout actually came to find out that they had quite a bit in common, post the seeker's resurrection.
The end result was them becoming pals.
"Wait, quiet! Here they come!" Cold hissed as the others went silent upon seeing the Autobots arrive.
As the bots stepped outside of the portal, the cons soon took notice of the fact that Ratchet had actually tagged along—a surprise to the cons since the good doctor rarely left their base.
"Okay, where is this Terran supposed to be?" Bulkhead wondered.
"Prowl said he and his Bioformer friend were supposed to bring us to him." Arcee mused, right as a familiar looking Police motorcycle came into view. "Speak of the Devil." She said as she noticed that in addition to his human partner Detective Tsukasa, Prowl was joined by a Police Helicopter.
The two soon transformed and it became clear that the Helicopter must've been the Bioformer, as he looked similar to the Con Vortex but with a police paint job.
"Optimus, you're here." Prowl smiled as he approached his old friends. "And just in time." He added.
"Is that our Terran?" Elita asked as the helicopter transformed into a slightly younger looking version of Bayverse Blackout.
"This is Raiden, and no, he isn't the Terran, he's a Bioformer." Tsukasa replied.
[Greetings, Optimus-sama. Prowl-senpai has told me much about you.] The bot greeted with a respectful bow.
"I am sure. When did you awaken your abilities, young one?" Optimus questioned.
[Not long after the explosion of the Ember Stone. As well as my ability to communicate with our Terran Titan class Transformer, Superplex.] The Bioformer replied.
"A Titan Transformer? On Earth?" Elita blinked. "I didn't expect that…" She muttered.
"Well given that Terrans are Earth born Cybertronians, I guess it'd make sense for that to include Titans." Arcee pointed out.
"Yes, and Superplex is one of the reasons why we asked for you to bring Ratchet along." Prowl nodded. "You see, he's been suffering from a rust rash ever since he stopped a Tsunami from hitting Osaka a month ago." He explained.
"I understand completely." The medic nodded, seeing the picture of the situation.
"And the second reason?" Elita questioned.
"We've not only received a transmission from someone who all Transformers thought had been lost, but we also… Discovered the Dark Spark." He replied.
"What?! That thing is here?!" Arcee gasped in alarm.
'The Dark Spark is on Earth? This should be interesting.' Arachnia thought, knowing that this information would be invaluable to Megatron.
"Yes." Prowl nodded. "We also received a transmission from Quintus Prime." He continued.
"Quintus Prime still functions?" Optimus blinked in a small amount of surprise. "I had believed that he perished among the stars due to his silence." He added.
"Seems we were both wrong." Prowl nodded. "Come, I'll lead you to Superplex." The bot replied as the others were about to transform—right as Bulkhead stepped on a pressure plate of some sort.
"What the—?" The wrecker questioned right as a device hidden beneath them went off.
Then all of them were suddenly trapped in a stasis field, where the Decepticons and MECHticons lying in wait finally emerged.
"Now, Knockout, activate the Psyche extractor!" Arachnia ordered as the pretender bodies were set up.
"On it!" The automobile enthusiast exclaimed as he activated the machine, causing several beams to shoot at the immobilized Autobots minus Raiden (since he wasn't a target) and Prowl for the same reason.
Seconds later, a machine that looked similar to spark extractor but with a purple color similar to the psychic patch was activated, causing the minds of the autobots to be extracted and held inside it—before Knockout turned on the wireless connection for the tanks—which caused the devices to shoot them to the receivers in the tanks, trapping the bots' minds in the human bodies as the tanks started to drain of stasis fluid inside it.
"Alright let's go before they wake up!" Knockout exclaimed as they all transformed and rushed where they had seen Prowl and Raiden leave from, right as the canisters opened and dropped the now Pretender body locked Autobots onto the ground.
(Later)
The now humanized Autobots woke up with groans, and immediately, they both noticed their new appendages.
"What the–?! What happened to us?!" Bulkhead exclaimed in shock. He looked like a heavy lifter in his thirties with black hair, heavyset, but pure muscle. He also looked either African or Samoan. Possibly both. Attire wise, he was wearing a green jumpsuit with black boots.
"I think…" Bumblebee said before he covered his mouth, realizing that he now had his voice back. "Okay. That's new." He uttered. He now looked like a blonde haired young man in his twenties with blue eyes. He was wearing a black shirt under a yellow and black jacket, yellow pants and black shoes.
"By the Allspark…" Ratchet gasped as he saw their robot bodies laying on the ground with an unconscious Raiden, Prowl and Tsukasa. "I don't believe it. The Decepticons somehow managed to put us in human bodies!" He exclaimed. The old bot now looked like an old man in his sixties with white hair, blue eyes and wrinkles on his face. He appeared to be wearing a doctor's outfit, fittingly enough.
"They can do that now?!" Arcee exclaimed. "How?!" She blurted. She looked like a biker woman in her thirties with shirt blue hair that had a single strand of pink bangs, blue eyes and a biker outfit.
"What are we supposed to do now?!" Elita exclaimed, he was similar in appearance to Arcee and dressed similarly as well. But she had pink hair and her eyes were silver rather than blue.
"I guess we're gonna have to wake Prowl, Raiden and Tsukasa up and tell them what happened… This is gonna be awkward…" Bumblebee sighed.
Optimus seemed to be silent as he looked down at his now human hand.
He now looked to be a man around Mathias' age with black hair, Caucasian skin and blue eyes, and was dressed in what looked to be a trucker's outfit with a blue and red leather jacket, and had an ax on his back.
He was seemingly contemplating what they had just quite literally stepped into.
'What are we supposed to do in this situation?' He wondered, since he never experienced anything like this.
(Later)
After managing to wake Prowl and the other two up, the now human Cybertronians were finally able to make it to the city that Superplex's alternate mode comprised, carrying their robot bodies there via transport vehicles.
The place reminded them of Autobot City back on Cybertron, the alternate mode of Metroplex, but this one was a bit smaller and was done in the style of Japanese city design instead, it even had Japanese Vehicles or Bioformers with those kinds of alternate modes moving around.
"So this is their Titan. Not bad." Arcee hummed as she looked around.
"Superplex is a very diligent worker, but we do try to make sure that he stays in his City form a majority of the time to conserve energy." Tsukasa told them. "Otherwise, he'd spend his days looking for natural disasters to stop, disrupting the peace that he's already maintaining here. We don't want him to overwork himself." She added.
"That I can understand. There's already enough to deal with, what with the Traveler doing what it's doing across the system." Bumblebee nodded.
The Traveler terraforming planets was something that humanity had been focusing on quite heavily as of late, along with governments forming colonization strategies.
"Quite right." Prowl nodded as the bot's metal forms were placed somewhere safe. "This way, we'll show you the transmission from Quintus first." He told them as they were led inside a building with an entrance big enough for bots.
"Is this the comm center?" Ratchet questioned, looking around since everything was different from the Cybertronian layout.
"That's correct, doctor." Tsukasa nodded as she pulled up the transmission in question, showing an image of Quintus Prime.
Bizarrely enough, he looked like DC's Brainiac with a silver body, a green dome for a cranium, green eyes and green biceps. He was also wearing metal renditions of a lab coat and black lab gloves.
"To whoever hears this message, I am Quintus Prime, fifth of the original thirteen Prime's ." The message began. "The reason for my absence, never returning back to Cybertron after seeding worlds following my siblings' fall was simple: Guilt. Guilt over what my children, the Quintesons, had done to those born on Cybertron, my brethren." He continued.
"Guilt? But he couldn't have known that the Quintesons would have taken advantage of us! His aspect was curiosity, not knowledge." Bumblebee pointed out. "I mean, unless Alpha Tyrion warned him otherwise, there's absolutely no way he could have predicted that." He added.
"That may be true, but he will still feel remorse for what they've done." Optimus noted.
"The Quintesons were never supposed to oppress Cybertronians; they were supposed to be their ally. I should have foreseen what their nature would turn them into." The fifth Prime sighed. "As a self imposed punishment, I have exiled myself to a world called Fundament, where I meditate on the meaning of light and dark, hoping to find a solution that would best help my kin rather than harm." He continued. "I believe I may have found my answer, and have felt the presence of my relic, meaning that I may meet you in person. Be well, my fellows. I shall not be long." The bot said as the transmission ended.
"Wait, he's coming to Earth?!" Elita gasped in shock.
"Well, this just got more complicated…" Bulkhead said, scratching his head.
"We need to find a way to get back to our original bodies, fast!" Bumblebee exclaimed.
"That's easier said than done, Bumblebee, I'm afraid." Ratchet admitted.
"Yeah, I mean, I don't think we even know how the cons did this to us, let alone who to ask to figure out how to fix it." Arcee nodded.
"We could figure out what equipment they used and see how to counter it." Bulkhead pointed out.
"And I think we know who could likely help with that." Elita nodded, Optimus understanding her meaning to be referring to his former pupil.
It was then that a very winded and almost pale Raiden, now in his human form as the police officer Hitoshi Honnouji, rushed into the room—completely out of breath.
"Guys, we have a problem!" He exclaimed, getting their attention.
"What is it?" Tsukasa questioned.
"The Dark Spark. It's been stolen!" The man told them.
"What?! How?!" Tsukasa demanded in alarm.
"The Decepticons." The man stated.
"How did they know where it was stored?!" Elita questioned.
"I don't know, but it's moot at this point! We need to figure out how to get it back!" The Bioformer exclaimed in response.
The autobots looked at each other and then at Prowl.
"Call the others." Optimus told them. "We need all hands on deck." He added.
(Timeskip)
It didn't take long for all of the present Autobots, Bioformers and humans to arrive, and needless to say, they were all shocked by pretty much everything within the span of a few minutes.
The existence of more Bioformers and a City sized earth born transformer, the Dark Spark being stolen, and the others being placed in human bodies by some as of yet unknown means.
"... Okay, start from the top. I wanna know what happened to result in this." Genisys, currently in his Skyraider robot form, deadpanned.
"We honestly have no idea." Elita admitted as she tried to remember what happened while the Bioformer examined both the human bodies and the canisters they were previously in.
"Well, when the 'cons trapped us in a stasis field, they used some kind of extractor and a cordial patch to put us in these bodies." Bumblebee explained as best he could.
"More like a wireless patch." Genisys mused. "With a one way signal. If I can figure out how to make this two way, we could keep these bodies safe and you could potentially switch between them at your leisure." He noted. "Well, in theory, anyway." He admitted.
"You mean like in Avatar?" Miko asked as she actually started arm wrestling Bulkhead.
"Kinda like that." The multi-formed Bioformer nodded. "But I'll need to get a look at the equipment used to see what needs doing." He added. "These canisters can only give me so much info." He added.
As he said this, Arcee was actually away from the others in the corner of a separate room, curled into a ball, as if self conscious about how the others saw her in this form of hers.
It was then that Jack approached her, and upon getting a good proper look at the femme's new human body, only one word entered his mind as he attempted to figure out how to describe it.
"Beautiful." He uttered aloud, voicing what was originally in his head.
Even after nine years, he still couldn't keep his thoughts to himself when it came to beautiful women.
"E-Eh?" Arcee stuttered, looking at him in surprise.
This caused Jack to cover his mouth.
"Crap, did I just say that out loud?" He muttered.
Arcee, for her part, felt her new human cheeks start blushing. She had been feeling things regarding Jack for a while now, even before he broke up with Sierra.
Cybertronians were—as a whole—no strangers to love, just as they were no strangers to fear, sadness or hate, but Arcee had never really been, well, in love with anyone before. Not even Cliffjumper.
Tailgate might've been the closest thing she ever had to a friend who she would have gladly taken as a lover, but the war and his subsequent murder by the hands of Airachnid kept that from ever happening.
But now, here she was, in a human body with the human who had become her third partner since both her first two met their demise—and if her Spark wasn't lying to her—she was actually falling in love with him.
"Yeah, you did." The femme nodded.
Jack blushed a bit before finally letting out a tense sigh.
"Can… Can we talk? I feel like there's something we need to get off our chests." He pointed out.
"Sure." Arcee nodded as she patted the space next to her, allowing him to sit down.
They were going to be here for awhile.
(Timeskip)
The next two days were some… Comically punishing times for the humanized Autobots. Since they had no first hand knowledge of how human bodies worked, this led to some very awkward situations.
Them learning that a need for food was a thing, which allowed them to learn about the joys of eating a particularly good meal, but others like the dangers of a lack of sleep or doing things that bots can handle but humans can't was another.
Right now though, while Tiberius was working on getting as much information from the canisters as possible, Ratchet was attempting to help now Dr. June Darby in trying to give Raf, Sierra, Jack and herself—surprisingly—the necessary infusions to become Bioformers, so that they, along with Breakdown and Cliff, would pick up the slack left by their humanized companions.
Miko was the current donor.
"Okay, are you ready?" June questioned.
"Primus please let this work…" Ratchet sighed. "Alright, administration starts now." He said as the IVs started releasing the serum into the group, and before long, they started transforming.
After a few minutes or so, the transformations finished.
Jack now looked like he had a swept back helmet, shoulder pauldrons, medium sized torso armor and some armored greaves on his legs. He was colored black, gray and blue as well with blue optics.
Raf, meanwhile, was sporting scout armor similar to Bumblebee, only more streamlined and was yellow and silver in color. His optics were blue as well.
June, meanwhile, looked like she was going to be the most suited for a helicopter alt mode, kinda like Airachnid—minus the spider features—and said bodily predisposition actually made it where her robot form showed off her mom bod quite nicely—not that any of the soldiers on base were complaining—they'd always found the female doctor very attractive for woman who'd had a kid. Her sleek black paint job and purple optics just continued to add to her form's overall sex appeal.
Sierra, on the other hand, looked like a pro athlete who belonged in the Olympics. She had streamlined wine red armor with silver highlights, and white optics that were similar to Elita's design, but a more streamlined version.
"Well, I've already decided on what to call myself. I've had it in mind for a while." Jack said. "I'll call myself Caliburn in this form." He nodded.
Raf decided to test out if he had any special abilities and sure enough, he found that he could stick to any surface as he walked on walls.
"I think Gecko suits me." He noted.
"I think I'll go with Nova." Sierra chimed, flaring a small amount of atomic energy in her hands.
"Didn't think you'd take my calling you a helicopter mom literally." Miko noted as Ratchet bandaged her arm, looking up at June.
"Don't be so surprised. I'll be around for a long time to make sure you all don't get banged up too bad by the Decepticons." June chuckled.
"Good Ol' Ms. D, always to the rescue…" Tiberius mused as he kept working.
"Hey, that should be your robot name!" Octavian exclaimed.
"What? Ms. D?" June questioned. "I mean, that was my nickname in college but I don't think that'd fit." She admitted.
"No, the other one! Rescue!" Gaius chimed in.
"Yeah! You're always rescuing people, right? Why not?" Yang added.
"... You know, that actually sounds pretty good." June hummed as she mulled it over. "Alright. Rescue it is." She nodded as they returned to their human forms.
"… Your College nickname was Ms. D?" Miko questioned. "Why?" She questioned.
"I'd rather not talk about it… The circumstances in how I got that are not for kids' ears." June replied, glancing at Gaius and the twins.
"Wow." Was all the mother of two could utter in response.
Jack ignored that conversation and saw Arcee ogling his robot form before he became human again, a blush on her face as he looked at her—while she made a nervous 'come here' motion with her finger as she moved away from the group and over to a storage room.
Wondering what Arcee was up to, he followed her to the storage room and closed the door behind him. There, he saw her leaning against the wall.
"Arcee? Is something wrong?" The now Bioformer asked.
The femme was silent for a long minute as she peeked back around the corner and saw Tiberius taking a break from working as Miko brought him a coffee, letting her kiss him on the lips.
Darting back to where she was, her face burned hot again and her body language seemed to convey that what she wanted may have been something similar to what she just saw.
The fact that her hands were tentatively touching her rosy pink lips seemed to imply that to Jack. Arcee wanted him to kiss her, the same way Tiberius did Miko.
Deciding to just nip the tension between them in the bud, especially after they'd aired it out that previous week, Jack pulled Arcee close and kissed her square on the lips. It was pretty much the two wheeler's first kiss as a human, and she loved how it felt.
She moaned in bliss as she seemed to instinctively leg lock herself around Jack's waist as they kept making out, a burning, seering, lustful desire igniting into an inferno deep within her human loins.
Arcee wanted Jack—lusted for him—and she wanted him bad.
Luckily for her, the feeling was very much mutual.
"Arcee…" The man gasped as the two separated for air, the woman still locked around his waist. "I know I probably told you this when we talked, but, I love you. I have for years now." He told her. "I love you so much…" He whispered in her ear, causing Arcee to gasp in bliss as her heart leapt in her chest.
"J-Jack… Me too…!" She gasped as she kissed him again. "I love you. I want you. I want to be yours." She told him, kissing his face from his cheek to his jawline, and then to his neck, something she'd seen from the many romance movies Jack used to take Sierra to.
Clearly it was working, if Jack tightening his hold on her was any indication.
"You want to be mine?" The new Bioformer growled as he hoisted her up before suddenly going onto Robot mode and assuming a Cybertronian car mode. "Then I'm going to make you mine." He added as he drove off with her in the passenger seat.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back on the Nemesis…
"BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Megatron boomed in laughter upon hearing how the plan had gone from Knockout. "Ooh, I haven't laughed that hard in millenia! And we have the Dark Spark itself to top it all off!" He cackled.
It was a very good day for him.
"Yes, I'd say that things went very well." Cylas nodded, he'd yet to reveal his identity as Nemesis Prime yet nor his harboring of Starscream, if only to keep a few cards in reserve for until the Dead Matrix was completed.
"So… You sure you know how to work that thing, Megs?" Rattrap questioned, looking at the Dark Spark in his robot form.
"Silence Rat! If I can handle Dark Energon, the Dark Spark will be little issue to me." Megatron snapped in reply.
"Oh yes sir!" He nodded in a feigned manner, saluting. "Ya know, I just feel heaps better knowing that such a dangerous weapon is in your capable hands… We're all gonna die…" He muttered pessimistically.
The warlord then gestured for his Pretender body to be prepared for him. As he planned to use it as his main became acclimated to the Dark Spark in its power down state.
"Lord Megatron, perhaps you should take time to prepare yourself first, you know not what this device could do." Dreadwing, ever the faithful first Lieutenant, said, trying to urge caution.
"Or if it will work." Cold supplied as well.
"... Valid points, I suppose." The warlord hummed. "But we did not come all this way to not see this through." He said as he opened his Spark chamber, and he then watched as the Dark Spark rose and slammed itself into his spark—causing Anti Spark energy to start to explode everywhere.
This caused everyone to shield their faces from the shockwave as the Dark Spark became part of Megatron like how the Matrix of Leadership was part of Optimus.
"Megatron, my master—Darling, what's happening?!" Arachnia questioned frantically over the noise of the storm that the process seemed to be creating.
"I am the Dominator! I am the Destroyer! I am… MEGATRON!" The Warlord roared as one final shockwave sent everyone back, before his Spark chamber closed, allowing him to rest.
The spider Femme was quick to rush to his side, kneeling down next to him and inspecting him for any signs of damage.
"Are… are you alright, my love?" She asked, stoking his cheek with her slender, feminine hand.
"Yes… Yes, I feel… Excellent, but drained." Megatron sighed, barely able to hold himself up as he sank to his knees.
"Prepare his Pretender body for neural transfer, initiate power down!" Arachnia ordered as Skyquake and Knockout did just that, and Shockwave got the patch ready.
(Elsewhere)
"Hm?" An unusual but terrifying being hummed, sensing something unusual in another area of the cosmos.
The being looked to be clad in a robe with a cape, but the latter part looked like it was in 3D outside of a screen. Its robe looked like it was shifting constantly as well, but that wasn't the most defining part.
That title went to its head, which bore a tattoo in a U-looking shape… And had smoke coming off of it… Which looked unnervingly like faces.
Its eyes were black as the void with amber irises, and if one looked into them, they would regret it upon seeing the fury within them.
"Interesting." It mused, taking note of what it saw, before it slowly turned away to other things of interest to it.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, back on the Nemesis, Megatron's robot body was now in power down mode, which then allowed his still active mind to go into his Pretender body, where Rachnera was eagerly awaiting him.
Said pretender body was in its late forties to early fifties in the silver fox range with dark tan skin and silver hair as well a very muscular build in addition to being quite tall. It was wearing a black button up shirt, a red tie, a white dress jacket with matching pants that had a brown belt, and a pair of white shoes. The most notable thing was the Decepticon pin on the collar of his dress jacket.
He soon awoke, allowing his Bioformer lover to see that his eyes were red as he opened them and sat up to face her—and then he surprised the violet haired woman by taking her into his arms, and resting her on his lap, her voluptuous figure and ample breasts fitting perfectly against him.
"How does it feel to be in a human body?" His Bioformer lover asked, leaning against him, tracing a finger on his chest.
The warlord was silent for a moment, before he stood up and had her in a bridal carry, before he looked at Soundwave.
"Open a ground in the area of Earth known as Jasper, Nevada. I will return at a later time." He told the scout and spy.
Soundwave did so and they stepped into the portal and came out the other end, with Megatron carrying Rachnera to a hotel.
"I took the liberty of fashioning you a fake identity." She told him. "In this form, you are Mason Trone, an obscenely rich arms dealer and developer." She explained as she hugged his neck while they entered the hotel. "And I am your bride to be." She added.
"Excellent. Thank you." Megatron, or Mason rather, nodded as the two checked into a room.
"Now, shall we enjoy ourselves before we attempt our search for our sons?" The woman purred as he laid her on the room's bed.
"I think we can do that." Her lover nodded as he joined her.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the two story suburban home of Jackson Darby, the man drove into his garage as his car form, closed it and regained his human form—and carried Arcee into his home, and the former two wheeler was currently locking lips with him again.
Then he carried her right to the master bedroom, where he tossed the humanized Autobot onto the bed, causing her to squeal a bit.
"You saw how we humans reproduce." Jack told her as he started to undress. "So I'm going to ask you something important." He continued as his jacket and shirt hit the floor. "If we can't get you back to your original body, or if we do and you decide to stay in this body—will you become my wife and bear my children?" He asked, his belt and pants falling next.
"Y-Yes!" Arcee panted she took off her own clothes. "I will! I want to stay with you!" She confessed.
"Don't decide now, take your time, I don't want you to make a life changing decision thoughtlessly." Jack assured her as he crawled on top of her, undressing them both and then spread her legs open. "But I will give you something to look forward to if you do choose." He purred as he thrusted deep inside her womanhood, causing both to moan in bliss.
Suffice to say, Arcee definitely had a lot to think about when it came to her future.
Dragon Emperor0: Hey guys, well, this is it. The first part of the original arc we mentioned a while back dealing with the aftermath of the Japan arc earlier in the story, as well as introducing the first major Timeskip of the story and something new: Our interpretation of how the Pretender concept would have worked out in the Aligned Continuity. If you guys ever saw Only Human from G1 or Human Error from Animated, you guys will probably like this arc.
ThermalsniperN7: Which also involves Jack and Arcee hooking up after the former breaks up with Sierra post graduation nine years prior. Speaking of, Sierra, Raf, Jack and even June have all become Bioformers now to pick up the slack left behind by Optimus, Ratchet, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Elita and Arcee being transferred into human bodies.
Dragon Emperor0: Additionally we did this Timeskip that we have plans involving Octavian, Yang, Tarn and Galvatron that will require them to be older than infants, so we decided to fast forward them to being nine years old. And as you can see, Breakdown and Cliffjumper will also be helping all of the others attempting to take up the slack so that they don't fall behind. Also—Megatron and Arachnia are not wasting time giving Tarn and Galvatron little siblings.
ThermalsniperN7: Indeed. Speaking of Megatron, he now has the Dark Spark… And it looks like someone noticed him using it… Someone Destiny players know very well. That could spell trouble in the future.
Dragon Emperor0: Not to mention getting his hands on the Dark Spark will not only make him on equal footing with Optimus and Genisys combined—and may have just given Cylas the last pieces he needs to complete the Dead Matrix, an equally powerful weapon of darkness.
ThermalsniperN7: Yeah… Plus, with Unicron and Primus not being around anymore, we need some other forces to fill the gap they left. So, yeah; Expect Megatron to possibly turn into a Disciple of the Witness.
Dragon Emperor0: And if not him, definitely Cylas. Anyway, see you guys next time.
