A/N (Please Read): Good morning, everybody! And welcome to the final instalment of this year's Transformers MHA Month! Gotta admit, right from the start, this was a HUGE undertaking. I knew the battle had to be pretty massive, and I hope I was able to deliver a good time unto you all. That being said, I DID want to clarify something about Jetfire's appearance here that I think came off a bit skewed in the last chapter.
I don't want anyone to think otherwise; Jetfire in jet AND robot mode is based 1-to-1 on his Thrilling 30 toy. If anyone wants a reference to this, it's basically his IDW 1.0 appearance, particularly from Phase 2. The only thing that's different here is that he doesn't come with the little drone companion, "DOC", namely because he isn't a scientist in this story. So, for anyone who was confused about that, I hope I cleared some things up.
But now, let's get on to the finale of Transformers MHA Month, shall we? This is…
Chapter 61: Sky Commander: Jetfire!
…..
"So, what's your name, fleshy?"
Izuku didn't answer right away. He was still reeling from the fact that he had essentially been plucked out of the sky, flown around in a high-speed aircraft like it was nothing and was still alive to tell the tale. And on top of ALL that, he was saved by the Autobots' second-in-command… who was probably the coolest Transformer ever created. 'I mean, his head LOOKS like a Macross mech's, so he's already automatically cool by default.' he thought to himself, only to get pulled from his mind by Jetfire lightly snapping his metallic fingers.
"Hey, hey, c'mon kid, don't zone out on me in the middle of a warzone." he encouraged. "I need a name if I wanna work with ya."
"O-Oh! I'm sorry!" Izuku bowed before introducing himself. "My name is Izuku Midoriya. Thank you so much for saving me."
With another snap of his fingers, Jetfire pointed to the boy with enthusiasm. "Hey, now THERE'S what I was lookin' for." He brought his hand closer in greeting. "Put 'er there, 'Zuku, buddy. Nice to meet ya."
'Oh jeez, ANOTHER nickname.' Izuku stood up in Jetfire's hand and brought his own out, returning the gesture. 'As if I don't have enough already…' All the same, he wasn't about to complain, especially to an Autobot as cool as this one. "Y-Yeah, nice to meet you, too."
"So, what exactly ARE ya, anyway? I can't keep callin' ya "fleshy", ya know."
"Ah, right. I'm a human, and you're on planet Earth. We're—AH!" Izuku let out a gasp and thrusted his hand up, pointing behind Jetfire's head. "INCOMING!"
"Hold on!" Jetfire whirled around in midair, narrowly avoiding the torpedo Mini-Cons. The duo let out a growl as they passed, which Jetfire took as an invitation to take aim and fire. "Gah! You two again! Don't you have anything better to do than follow that idiot around?!"
As if on cue, Sky-Byte came surging up from below in his shark mode, his mouth wide open and ready to bite down. "That IDIOT is underneath you!" But even then, Jetfire was prepared, maneuvering around the Predacon and letting him bite on nothing but air. Sky-Byte roared in rage and shouted; "TERRORIZE!", taking to his robot mode once again. "Seriously?! Why must you follow me EVERYWHERE I go?!"
Jetfire's tone took on a lot more venom as he aimed his blaster at Sky-Byte, keeping him locked in his sights. "Why do you think, ya overgrown fishdroid? Could it possibly be, oh, I don't know, THE FACT THAT YOU ALMOST BLEW ME UP?!"
Sky-Byte rolled his optics. "Oh, please, I've done FAR worse to other Autobots. You should've seen what I did to—" *BAM* "AH-HA!"
"Stop. Talking." Jetfire spat, the barrel of his blaster smoking after that near shot toward Sky-Byte's head. "That was your only warning shot. Now, you're gonna turn yourself in and we're gonna—"
"Ahem!" Jetfire was suddenly interrupted, prompting him to whirl around and see… Starscream, in probably the sorriest state possible. One of his wings was partially clipped, his armor was scorched and his face had a large, X-shaped scar in the center. And on top of all that, he was jittering around as green electricity sparked all across his joints, right down to his speech stuttering with every other word. "H-H-Hello, Jetfire." he said venomously. "F-F-Fancy seeing you h-h-here, old friend."
Izuku's eyed widened slightly. "Old… friend?"
"Later." Jetfire said before he scanned his optics up and down the Seeker, taking him in. "Starscream… been a while. Ya look like hammered scrap."
The Air Commander grimaced. "I know. B-B-But even so, th-that will N-N-NOT stop me from finishing the j-j-job that Sky-Byte started SO long ago!" He raised one of his Null Rays to fire at him… only for the weapon to spark and blow up on his arm, making him holler in pain. "GYAAAH! OH! Oh dear Primus, WHY?!"
Jetfire and Izuku shared an awkward glance, both turning to Sky-Byte who was also wincing at the sight. "Er, commander, I once again recommend you return to base." The Predacon recommended. "See Flatline and I will see to it that—"
"NO!" the Seeker snapped, readying his hands to grapple with Jetfire. "I will take him hand-to-hand if I have to! GRAAA—" But Jetfire just casually flew out of his way, Starscream's own thrusters only sputtering at that point. …And on top of that, Jetfire took the opportunity to kick him right in the knee. *CLANG* "AAAUGH!" It was all Starscream could do to keep himself airborne as he clutched his leg, seething with pain and rage.
"Listen, Screamer, I'd like to have a little reunion with ya, but it's obvious that you're not up to it right now." Jetfire nudged his head out toward the horizon. "And hey, backup's comin' for ya anyway."
"W-What?" Starscream craned his head around and was met with his brother closing in on them, much to his surprise. "Th-Thundercracker?! What are you doing here?!"
With the Cybercaliber in hand, Thundercracker saluted and replied; "Starscream, we've got several injured, and I'm not talking just Vehicons. Skywarp's down, Barricade and Frenzy are out of commission, and Shadow Striker's down a leg…" He visibly cringed as he realized how bad his other brother was as well. "…And it seems like you're not that much better."
"I'm FINE!" Starscream swiped his hand dismissively at Thundercracker. "Have Flatline take the others back if he wants to, but—"
Thundercracker raised his sword, pointing it at his brother. "No, you're NOT fine! You're going to get back to base while Sky-Byte, Blastwave, Swift and I finish the job. If we can't beat the Autobots here, then the least we can do is leave with as much energon as we can carry." He directed his sword toward Jetfire next. "And besides, we're still getting enough from our own supply at the moment. We'll find another, but what's most important is that we have enough troops to last us."
As much as Starscream didn't want to admit it, his brother was right. If they lost any more Vehicons, then Megatron would have no CHOICE but to send his away team with more. And that would mean… putting up with the one Decepticon he DIDN'T want to deal with. "Ugh… fine. B-But I expect results!" Slowly flying away, Starscream gave Jetfire one last glare over his shoulder. "…We will m-meet again, Jetfire. Soon."
"I don't doubt it." Jetfire retorted, just as the GroundBridge to the Darksyde appeared in front of his old friend.
Starscream turned around and slowly puttered through… but not without radioing in one final command as softly as possible; "Nightra… send in the Leapers." With that, the portal closed, leaving Jetfire and Izuku to confront the two Decepticons.
"Now… you'll have ME to contend with, Jetfire." Thundercracker stated confidently, the Cybercaliber glowing more intensely.
"And myself, of course." Sky-Byte added, holding his head high. "What do you say to that?"
Following a moment's pause, Jetfire came up with an answer. "I say…" *Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Without warning, the second-in-command transformed back into his jet mode, hovering in front of them before teasing; "You'll have to catch us first! C'mon 'Zuku! Let's have some fun!"
Back in the cockpit, Izuku felt himself get strapped in again, much to his chagrin. "Oh no, not aga—AAAAAIIIN!" Blasting off through the air, Jetfire took off, leaving Sky-Byte and Thundercracker in his contrails.
"W-Wha—HEY!" Thundercracker and the three Mini-Cons all transformed as well, with Sky-Byte not far behind. "Get back here and FIGHT!"
But Jetfire just laughed right back at them. "Sorry! I feel like doin' a bit of sight seein' first! Hahaha!"
…..
Back down below, despite watching everything happen, Optimus Prime still could not believe his optics. After over a million years, there he was; his old friend, Jetfire. Alive and well with nary a scratch on him. How this was possible, he didn't know, and neither did any other Autobot. But if there was one thing that he WAS certain of, it's that the fight was FAR from over. And that was a sentiment that seemed to be agreed upon by every single one of his comrades, as they all called one another over the comms to make sure that what they were seeing wasn't any trick of the mind.
"Are you guys SEEIN' this?!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
"I'm seeing it, but I can't believe it!" Sideswipe answered. "It's him! It's actually HIM!"
Sunstreaker belted out a laugh, which was shared by several others. "Hahaha! In KNEW he couldn't be dead! No Con, not even Sky-Byte, could've done him in THAT easily!"
Springer, for his part, seemed fairly impressed. "Huh… so this is THE Jetfire, huh? Gotta admit, he knows a thing or two 'bout makin' dramatic entrances."
"Oh, he can do WAY more than that, Springer." Jazz assured, while Bumblebee buzzed in agreement next to him, the duo gazing up to their leader. "So, Prime, what's the word?"
Optimus grinned beneath his faceplate and clenched his fists, calling out to his comrades. "Autobots, Joes, Heroes! Jetfire's timely arrival has signaled the climax of this battle! Now, we must bring it to its conclusion! Let us END this!"
Kyoka grinned widely at the command, more than happy to follow through. "Couldn't have said it better myself, Prime!"
"Yes, you took the words right outta my mouth!" Hawk agreed as well, turning back to his troops. "Joes, you heard the bot! Let's give it one final push!" All at once, the team raised their fists into the air and exclaimed; "YO JOE!" before fanning out in all directions, readying their weapons for the final assault.
Before Jazz could go anywhere, however, Optimus stopped him. "Jazz, hold on. You and Bumblebee are with me. Sky-Byte mentioned that there is a small group of Vehicons making their way to the energon while this battle is going on. We must stop them."
It was then that Shoto spoke up. "What about us, Prime?" he gestured over to Kyoka, Mirko and Marissa. "Should we come with?"
"Of course." Optimus affirmed, though he raised a hand. "But take caution; energon crystal can be quite volatile if anything were to happen to it. I suggest you all be mindful of your Quirks around it, understood?"
Mirko gave a laugh at that. "Ha! Well, that's easier said than done with me, but I'll try my best." She jerked her thumb up toward Jetfire and Izuku. "But what about Deku? Will he be okay up there with your Macross-lookin' friend?"
"Do not worry. Jetfire is more than a capable warrior and protector." Prime assured as he transformed, with Jazz and Bumblebee following suit. "He'll make sure that Izuku is safe. Now, let's roll out!" With Shoto going with the Prime and Kyoka riding with Jazz as per usual, Mirko and Marissa quickly climbed into Bumblebee and the group raced off toward the energon, intent on holding the line against the Decepticon threat.
…..
Back on the opposite side of the battlefield, though, another certain battle was going on, one that almost everyone was far too caught up in to notice what was happening. Strongarm and Swift were still going head-to-head, their Super Modes powering them well past their limits as they did battle. However, they each utilized different tactics, which made the battle a bit difficult. Swift mainly went for melee strikes with only the occasional ranged attack, while Strongarm was ONLY able to use ranged attacks thanks to the nature of her Mini-Con weapons.
As a result, whenever Swift tried to get in close, Strongarm had to get away as quick as she could, frustrating them both more and more. "GAH! Would you hold still so I can BRUTALIZE you?!" Swift shouted as her shoulder cannons took aim and fired at the cadet.
Strongarm rolled out of the way and came up in a crouch, her shoulder-mounted missile launcher at the ready. "And would YOU hold still so I can blast you?!" All at once, several missiles went blasting out toward Swift, all of them homing in on her and exploding upon impact, resulting in a big, blue cloud of smoke.
…But, much to Strongarm's dismay, the Decepticon lieutenant leapt out of the smoke and lunged toward her, drill and saw spinning rapidly with powerful green energy. "CADET!" Checkpoint exclaimed. "Raise me and fire!"
"W-What? I—"
"DO IT!"
"AH! Okay!" Doing as she was instructed, Strongarm pulled Checkpoint's trigger… but instead of blasting Swift at pointblank range, he instead fired something else. An energy bubble had propelled out of his barrel and suddenly expanded over Strongarm, enveloping her in a protective barrier… which also stopped Swift in her tracks immediately.
*THUNK* "Mph? HMPH!" Swift muffled, slamming her fists on the glass. "No fair! Coward!" She reeled her arms back and brought them both down onto the barrier, intent on getting to her prey. "This can't stay up forever!"
On her other arm, Scythe spoke up to Strongarm. "She's right. We've got about thirty seconds before she brings it down. Any plans, cadet?"
Strongarm let out a breath and shook her head. "Hah, can't say I do. We really did go into this headlong without a strategy, didn't we?"
"Eh, I'd say it was worth it." Anti-Blaze assured. "Better than our friends being reduced to scrap, right?"
"Our friends… OUR FRIENDS!" Strongarm beamed as inspiration struck her. "Anti-Blaze, you're a genius!"
"I-I am? Oh—er, I mean, YEAH! I am! …Can you tell me why, though?"
Strongarm rolled her optics in amusement. "Just watch." She craned her head back around toward her fellow Autobot femmes, all of them clustered together a fair distance away from the fight. "Hey! If any of you ladies wanna get in on this, feel free!"
The four were taken aback by her words, with Flare Up hesitantly asking; "A-Are you sure, Strongarm?"
"YES! Flare, why even ASK that?!"
"Well, it's just… even with all of us put together, we weren't able to do much against her." Arcee explained. "You're the first one to even get a significant hit in, honestly."
Strongarm sent her teammates a reassuring smile. "Gals, listen, you might not have Super Modes like this, but you CAN still fight!" It was then that she noticed that the forcefield was beginning to flicker more, and by that point, Swift had managed to break her saw and drill through with a maniacal laugh. "…And I'd appreciate it if you'd help ME fight!" Raising her left arm, Strongarm unleashed another barrage of energy blasts at Swift, Scythe's gatling guns managing to strike her in the shoulders multiple times.
But, even then, that only made Swift all the angrier. "PATHETIC! You believe you can hurt ME?! The Great and Powerful SWIFT?!"
Back over with the other femmes, they were all visibly put off by the Decepticon's new, even more malicious nature. "What is happening to her?" Airazor muttered, grimacing at the display. "It's like… she's become increasingly unhinged with every second."
"The Destruction Mini-Con Team must be influencing her personality circuits." Windblade deduced… before taking out her Stormfall sword once again. "That combined with her energy overload makes her all the more dangerous. Strongarm is right, we can't just stay here and twiddle our thumbs while she fights this battle for us!"
Arcee concurred, holstering one of her blades in favor of her pistol. "Yeah, you're right, Windblade! Come on, ladies! We've gotta calm this glitch down!"
With a deep intake, Flare Up mustered up her courage and put her smile back on, her energy core starting to light up again. "Alright! It's settled, then! …And you know, I think I have an idea on how we can take 'er down a few notches." She set her optics up to Airazor. "Luv, I'm gonna need your help to pull it off. How good are ya at flyin' in robot mode?"
"Not as natural as I am in beast mode, but I am faster." Airazor replied. "And it is my preferred method of attacking with my rocket barrage."
"That's exactly what I'm countin' on. We'll need that speed." Reaching down to her hip, Flare Up pulled out a circular pulse bomb with a glowing core. "We're only gonna get one shot with this, so we'd better make it count. 'Cee, Windy, can you help Strongarm keep Swift preoccupied?"
The two nodded to her. "Hm, of course." Windblade responded confidently. "Arcee, let's go!" With that, the City Speaker rocketed herself into battle, brandishing her sword while letting out a battle cry.
"Right behind you!" *Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Taking to her vehicle mode, Arcee zoomed ahead, matching Windblade's speed as they closed in on the battle.
Flare Up nudged her chin to her Maximal companion. "An' as for us, we're gonna sneak around the back as quick an' delicately as we can!"
Airazor, without missing a beat, smirked down to Flare Up with a raised eyeridge. "…So basically, the exact opposite of what you usually are. Got it."
The Autobot scout winced, but smiled through it all the same, narrowing her optics at Airazor playfully. "Oh-ho, alright, ya cheeky bird lady. I'm gonna get ya back for that one at some point. Now c'mon…" She waved the pulse bomb in her hand for emphasis, "let's give Swift a bangin' good time." But, just as the two were about to rush off…
"Um, excuse me!" The two femmes' optics widened and they whirled their heads down toward Jinx, Momo and Quick Kick, both still standing down near their feet. The kunoichi had her hands on her hips, sending a questioning gaze up to the dup. "But is there anything we can do in this little plan of yours?"
"Oh… bugger, right." Flare Up suddenly felt very awkward, having forgotten about the two ladies. She placed a hand to her neck sheepishly, giving an uncertain reply; "Er, well, um… t-to tell ya the truth, girls, I'm not sure. I mean…" Her sights shifted over to Swift as Strongarm, Windblade and Arcee all clashed with her. "It's not exactly all that safe to get close to Swift at the moment, especially with all that energy and how unhinged she is…"
Quick Kick crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "Uh, are you forgetting that we just took down Shadow Striker over there—HUH?!" The four of them were all taken aback when they saw that the Decepticon sniper was nowhere in sight, much to Quick Kick's chagrin. "W-Wha—where'd she GO?!"
With an irritated grumble, Momo shook her head. "Darn, she must've slinked off when we weren't paying attention. But that doesn't matter now." Her focus shifted back to the femmes. "What DOES matter is that we can help. We just need to get close to Swift without her noticing… and since you two are already trying to do that anyway…"
"Ah… I see what you're gettin' at." Flare Up shared a knowing smile with Airazor before both knelt down. Flare picked Jinx and Momo up while Airazor went for Quick Kick. "We'll get ya where ya need to be, luvs. You ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be." Kenzie affirmed, climbing onto Airazor's shoulder and raising a fist. "Let's go kick that Decepti-bitch's ass!" Airazor simply chuckled as she took to the sky, with the other three not far behind skirting along the perimeter of the battle.
Meanwhile, Arcee, Windblade and Strongarm had reengaged with Swift, the former two clashing their energy swords with the Decepticon on either side while Strongarm transformed into vehicle mode, the Mini-Cons remaining attached with Checkpoint and Scythe on either side while Anti-Blaze was on her roof. All at once, Strongarm unloaded everything she had on her target, be it bullets, energy beams or missiles, calling out to her teammates; "Move! NOW!"
The pink and red Autobots did so at staggering speed, which caused Swift to stumble forward as she pushed against nothing but air. "Gah! Hey! What's the big—"
"Hey, bulkie!" Dualor hollered in her ear. "Keep focused!"
Swift's optics darted up. "H-Huh—oh boy." *KRA-CHOOM* The excessive blast made its impact, resulting in yet another cloud of billowing smoke where the Decepticon was. Arcee and Windblade regrouped with Strongarm, the latter keeping her weapons trained on the same spot… but then it happened.
*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Jumping up and transforming, Swift flew straight out of the smoke, her copter blades dispersing the cloud with ease. On either wing of her Apache mode, Drill Bit and Landslide had secured themselves, all while Dualor had moved to the underside of her cockpit, his cannons aimed directly down at them. "HAHAHAHA! Once again, you underestimate my BRILLIANT resilience to your meager efforts! I am SWIFT! Proud Decepticon Lieutenant!" The cannons began charging up… "And I will NOT be beaten by the likes of—" *pew-pew-pew-pew* *BOOM* "AH!"
All of a sudden, from off in the trees, a barrage of laserfire came shooting up at Swift, aimed directly at her rear stabilizer fan. With just a few shots, the stabilizer was left severely damaged and on fire, a trail of smoke being left behind as Swift was forced back down to earth. "Mayday! MAYDAY!" Landslide cried out.
"We're goin' down, boys!" Drill Bit announced. "Brace yourselves!"
"Hah… I knew this was a mistake." Dualor deadpanned before they all finally hit the ground, with Swift being forced to transform upon impact.
Even then, however, all of the Destruction Mini-Cons remained attached to her, and despite the newfound pain in her ankles, Swift powered through and stood up. With her metal teeth and fists all clenched in rage, she screamed as loud as her vocal processor would allow; "GRAH! WHO DID THAT?! WHO DARES TO CLIP THE GREAT SWIFT'S WINGS?!"
In the blink of an optic, Swift was met with Flare Up directly behind her, with Jinx, Momo, and her pulse bomb in hand. "Uh, that'd be me." Quick as a beat, Flare shoved the bomb onto the small of Swift's back, making her gasp before she turned around to swipe at her. However, thanks to a well-placed long staff of Momo's creation, she instead ended up tripping over herself, her damaged ankles blowing out afterward.
"Ooh, bad move there, hon." Jinx teased, knowing her Quirk had something to do with that last part.
Momo ditched the staff and gave Swift a condescending wink. "Better luck next time."
"Next time… IS NOW!" The jets on Swift's back thrusted her up into the air above Flare Up and Jinx, the duo taking a step back as she reeled her arms back and readied her weapons. "I don't know where you get off thinking you can beat me, but rest assured, I will break you for—AH!" Swift didn't get to finish her threat as, from behind, Airazor came zooming in shoulder-tackled Swift back down, followed by Quick Kick jumping from the bird bot's shoulder and slamming her foot right into the Con's cheek.
"Break THIS, ya loud mouth!" Landing on the ground and breaking into a sprint, Kenzie, called back up to the Maximal; "Airazor! You're good to go!"
"Of course!" Airazor saluted, giving a brief glance down to Strongarm. "Let's finish this together, shall we?"
Transforming back into robot mode, Strongarm wore an eager smile and gave her a thumbs up. "Took the words right out of my mouth!" Focusing her targeting system on the pulse bomb, Strongarm raised her weapons one more time. "Ready… aim…" Once her target was locked on, she cried out; "FIRE!" and unleashed her final blast upon Swift, followed by Airazor soon after.
"Justice RAINS from above!" the Maximal's voice echoed out as her signature rocket barrage unloaded onto Swift, who didn't see the attack coming until it was too late.
And once she did, she could only say one thing; "HOLY SLAAA—"
*KA-THOOOOOM*
The attack made contact and Swift was practically blown apart into several pieces, her limbs flying all over the place. Somehow, though, the pulse bomb only blew through her midsection, as her upper chest was left completely intact. The Destruction Mini-Con team were forced to unlink from her as they were scattered about, transforming back into their robot modes from the sheer shock. "B-By Primus!" Drill Bit cried out, seeing the pieces of his partner scattered about everywhere. "You… you KILLED her!"
*THUNK* The very next second, however, he was proven wrong when, of all things, Swift's upper torso landed next to him… with her head still attached and very much alive. It was obvious that she was in a state of shock, though, trembling as her eyes changed back from green to red. "I-I-I a-am th-the g-g-g-great and P-P-POWERFUL Swift! I-I can't b-be defeated…"
The Autobot femmes, Momo, Jinx and Quick Kick all gathered together, peering down at Swift with nothing but contempt. "Well, guess what?" Strongarm leaned down, making Drill Bit and Landslide cower back as she glared into Swift's optics. "You just were."
Landslide raised his saw arm, shouting; "S-Stay back! I'm warnin' ya!"
"Ahem!" Off to the side, Dualor piped up, the Destruction Team leader skulking over while glowering at the larger bots. "Alright, you bulks, I've seen MORE than enough!" He stomped his way between Strongarm and Swift, narrowing his eyes at the Mini-Con Council as they too detached from Strongarm. "…Scythe." he loathingly regarded the sergeant.
"Dualor." Scythe spat back, his team preparing for a small showdown. "We gonna have any more problems here?"
"Not if you let us leave in peace, old timer." Turning around, Dualor zeroed in on Swift, whose head was still twitching as her expression became etched with fear. "And as for YOU!" The femme flinched, unable to defend herself… but the strike she was expecting only came in the form of a tiny punch to the helm, followed by Dualor pointing at her. "Next time we do this, do NOT blow up or lose your cool, ya hear me?!"
Swift blinked in confusion, her head twitching to the side. "N-N-Next time?"
The Mini-Con let out a reluctant sigh, placing his fists to his hips. "Yeah, you… you did an alright job. My destruction-lovin' spark liked what I saw, even if ya did lose your mind." He poked the center of her face to drive his point home. "But mindless carnage ain't all that destruction is, ya know! There's a finesse to it that ya gotta learn! And I'm gonna make SURE ya learn it! Understood, rookie?!"
With a hopeful—if crooked—smile, Swift raised her stubby arm in a form of salute. "S-Sir, yes, sir! I w-w-won't disappoint you!"
"I hope not! Now, let's get ya outta here so ya won't die on us." Dualor craned his head back toward the woods and called out; "YO! Sniper!"
Poking her head out of the underbrush, Shadow Striker replied; "Oui? What is ze…sacre bleu." Hobbling out of the bushes on one leg, her optics widened at the state of her teammate, who waved up at her with her stub.
"Hehe… heya Sh-Shadow."
"Hah… why am I not surprised?" Placing a hand to her helm, Shadow Striker radioed back to their HQ. "Shadow Striker to Darksyde, we require a GroundBridge. We have multiple injured." As the Destruction Mini-Cons gathered Swift's limbs and pelvis, their portal out opened up, leaving Shadow Striker to glare at the Autobots. "Enjoy your victory while you can, Autobots. Next time, you will not be so lucky."
Arcee narrowed her optics in confusion. "What? What do you mean? This battle isn't over ye—"
"Oh, believe me, it is." Shadow Striker pointed to the sky. "Simply look up and you will see. Picking Swift's torso up, she hobbled her way through the portal, sneering to the Autobots all the while. …However, she seemed particularly focused on Flare Up before simply saying; "Adieu, cherie."With that, the portal closed, leaving Flare Up to let out a short huff.
Jinx raised a curious brow up to the orange and red femme. "…I'm guessing you know her well?"
Flare Up winced and shook her head. "It's… complicated." She sent a sympathetic glance toward Arcee. "A-And for some, it's uncomfortable, so—"
"Let's not get into that here, please?" Arcee requested, raising a hand to stop Flare from going further. "We've already had enough crazy things happen. Right now, I just want to know what Shadow meant by "we've already won"."
"Um… I believe that is what she was referring to." Airazor said while pointing skyward, causing the other femmes to crane their heads up.
…And that's when they all saw him. The white and red bot with the thruster pack and the bright blue visor, holding Izuku in one hand while aiming his blaster at incoming Vehicons with the other. All at once, Arcee, Flare Up, Strongarm and especially Windblade were all left stunned and silenced, watching as the Autobot kept downing Cons left and right without much effort. Arcee covered her mouth in shock while Strongarm and Flare Up broke out into shaky yet excited smiles, letting out joyous laughs all the while.
Windblade, meanwhile, almost fell to her knees, she was so shocked. She had been there on that day. She had watched it happen. The supernova had destroyed almost everything in its vicinity. And yet somehow, some way… there he was. Alive and well. "Hah… no way." Taking a few steps forward, she approached the cliffside, ready to take flight as well. "He's back… HAHAHA! He's BACK!"
"W-Who's back?!" Momo called out to her partner, running up next to her. "Windblade, who's that Autobot? And why does he have Midoriya with him?"
"Oh, Momo, I'm not sure about that last part, but that bot…" Windblade shook her finger toward him. "THAT is the bot who Sky-Byte boasted about killing in that supernova. But you know what? I should've KNOWN that wouldn't keep him down." She transformed into her jet mode and opened her cockpit, beckoning Momo to join her. "Come on, let's go get Izuku. …Then, I can introduce you to Jetfire."
Despite her lingering confusion, Momo did as the City Speaker said, climbing up and strapping herself in before they both took off into the sky. However, once they were gone, it was only then that Mackenzie noticed… someone else was missing. "Hey… did anyone see where Edgeshot went?"
"No… but knowing him, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd noticed something the rest of us didn't." Jinx concluded, being all too familiar with her old friend's tactics. "Now come, we should hurry and help the others where we can."
…..
Back with Optimus and his team, they had just emerged through a hidden tunnel that led to the other side of the ridge they were on. Which, subsequently, was where they energon was. As they rolled on, however, Kyoka wasn't all too sure how a group of Vehicons had been able to sneak through such an obvious tunnel. "How the heck did we miss these Cons getting past us?" she wondered out loud. "I mean, I know the battle out there's pretty chaotic, but still…"
"Perhaps they had managed to find another way around… but we can speculate later." Optimus replied through Jazz's commlink. "Right now, what is important is that we… oh…" All of a sudden, Prime pulled to a halt in front of the others, prompting them to do the same. "Autobots, transform." he said calmly, letting Shoto out of his cab.
Jazz and Bumblebee allowed their passengers to disembark as well before they transformed, allowing them all to look out over the massive mountainside full of energon. It was quite the sight to behold, especially for Shoto and Mirko. "Woah… so that's energon, huh?" the Rabbit Hero set her sights up to Bumblebee. "The stuff that you run on?"
Bee gave a thumbs up. "Zrkt—Yer darn tootin'! Zrkt—Nectar of the gods—zrkt—as clear as crystal!"
"Guess the avalanche is what exposed all of it in the first place." Shoto noted, pointing down to the collection of boulders and rubble down in the ravine that separated them from the energon. "But… where are the Vehicons?"
Prime raised a hand, pointing toward an area just adjacent from them. "See for yourself…" Everyone followed his finger and, much to their astonishment, were met with an even MORE shocking sight.
There, laying in a pile of broken pieces, were the Vehicons, all of them sparking and groaning in pain. They were all still online, but many of their limbs had been cleanly sliced off, meaning they couldn't do anything to resist if they'd tried. And, meditating on top of this pile… was none other than Edgeshot. He opened his eyes and bowed his head toward the new arrivals. "Optimus, everyone, welcome. I was expecting someone to find this place sooner or later."
"E-Edgeshot?!" Kyoka exclaimed. "H-How did you—WHEN did you—I thought you were with Momo!"
"I was." The Ninja Hero stood and leapt off the Vehicon heap, landing in front of them all. "But she is in good hands and I sensed trouble nearby, so I told her to remain with Strongarm and the others while I took care of it." He craned his head back toward the pile of living parts. "And I'm glad that I did, otherwise, these Cons would've taken the energon already."
While almost everyone was surprised by the ninja's efficiency, a certain bunny-eared woman was livid. "GRAAAAH! Dammit, Ninja Boy!" she skulked up to Edgeshot, thrusting a finger in his face. "Is it just your personal JOB to stop me from having a good time?! I was all set to batter some Vehicon's heads in and you just hogged all the glory for yourself!"
Edgeshot closed his eyes, giving her a small bow. "My apologies. I was unaware that you were willing to throw yourself into danger recklessly once again."
"The hell did you say?!"
Before a fight could break out, Kyoka ran over and stood between them, pushing the two away from each other. "Woah, woah, would you two just STOP with the bickering?! We're here to fight Decepticons, not each other!"
Mirko snapped her head down to Kyoka with a manic glare. "Yeah, EXACTLY! But he keeps denying me that satisfaction!" She thrust a finger to him while waving her arm up and down, fuming from her ears. "He's such a freaking tease!"
"I'm simply searching for the most efficient way to defeat our enemies, Mirko." Edgeshot opened his eyes again. "Nothing more."
The Rabbit Hero huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hmph! Well that may be nice for you, but I like doin' things the hard way!"
As they continued bickering back and forth, Kyoka and Shoto shared a glance, both thinking the same thing. "…They're arguing like an old married couple." Shoto stated bluntly.
"Yup, and somethin' tells me it ain't gonna stop." Kyoka affirmed.
Optimus took that moment to interject. "Ahem, well, in any case, I must thank you, Edgeshot. Because of your efforts, our securing of the energon will be…" But then, Optimus trailed off when he noticed something out the corner of his optic, leading him to set his sights high up toward the top of the ridge on their side of the ravine. There, he saw three large, dark blue, flat-nosed tanker trucks come pulling up to the edge of the craggy cliff… and all of them had the Decepticon insignia on it. "…Oh no."
The group directed their attention upward as well, and upon seeing this, Mirko's smile returned tenfold. "Oh-HOHOHO! YES! Come on, baby! Give me a REAL fight!" Edgeshot facepalmed immediately after.
*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* To everyone else's chagrin, the Vehicons all answered her request. The cab of the trucks became their bulky, armored torsos, with the oil tankers on the trailers becoming big arms that seemed to be modified into massive spear-like bludgeon weapons. The Cons' legs were comparatively small, forming from the remainder of the trailer hitches. And, instead of the normal Vehicon head, these Cons had heavy-armor helmets that kept their heads close to their bodies, making them seem squat while still being huge. But the most notable feature—aside from their arms—were the three big thrusters on their backs, which all powered up the moment they entered robot mode and then suddenly propelled them into the air, where they proceeded to come crashing down toward the group.
"Zrkt—INCOMING!" Bumblebee blasted through his speakers, prompting everyone to dodge as the three Cons landed. However, that didn't help them. Because the moment they touched down, a huge energy burst exploded from the impact zone, causing the group to get thrown all over the place as dust and dirt flew into the air. The bulky Vehicons wasted no time in emerging from the vail of sand, their V-shaped visors glaring at the team with malevolent intent.
"Hak-hak! Okay, what're THOSE?!" Marissa exclaimed.
"Augh… Leapers?" Jazz bemoaned, shaking the dirt off of him. "Seriously?! These things are the worst!" He brought out his Subsonic Repeater while Bumblebee readied his Plasma Cannon, aiming both at the three bruisers. "But where'd they come from? We haven't seen Screamer use any o' these!"
Just then, however, a loud, bellowing cackle was heard from above, prompting the Bots and humans to look up once again. Standing there with his arms crossed and his head thrown back in laughter, was Blastwave, who leapt down and crashed directly next to the group. "HAHAHA! Foolish Autobots… did you not think that we would be keeping secrets in back pocket?"
Optimus' optics widened. "…You've been staying your hand. Hiding your resources until the time was right!"
Blastwave's smirk widened. "Now you are catching on! Hehehe… yes, like all good generals, Unicronus knows when and when NOT to bring out big guns." He extended his hand out toward the Leapers. "As you can see, now is time to bring out big guns."
"And how'd YOU get here?" Edgeshot asked pointedly. "Last I saw, you were in a scuffle with Bulkhead and Roadblock."
A sad sigh escaped Blastwave's throat, lowering his head solemnly. "Yes, well, when Blastwave received emergency call from Vehicon YOU slaughtered… he disengaged battle and the doctor covered his escape." He clenched is fist in ire. "And trust me, when Blastwave is through with YOU… you will pay dearly for costing him his battle. Now, Flatline works to bring injured Skywarp back to base, and Thundercracker goes to aid tiny baby Starscream and Sky-Byte against the TRAITOR!"
That left Kyoka and the other heroes confused. "W-What? Traitor? What's he talking about?"
"We can talk about that later, Kyoka." Optimus dismissed politely, his attention going back to the Leapers, who were all beginning to skulk around them. "Right now, we need to deal with these. Aim for the thruster packs on their backs. It serves as their propulsion, but is also a weak point."
Shoto raised a brow up to Optimus. "And what about Blastwave?"
Optimus brought out his Energon Axe, optics zeroing in on the munition's expert. "I will handle him… AND a Leaper if I must."
"What?!" Jazz shouted, while Bumblebee buzzed in alarm. "Prime, don't! A Leaper AND Blastwave is just askin' for trouble! We need back-up, we need—"
*HONK-HOOONK*
The sudden loud horn prompted everyone's eyes to go back to the tunnel… where they saw a pair of headlines blaring through the darkness. Barreling through the exit just a few seconds later came a certain green Hummer pickup truck, with a heavy machine gun and its wielder riding on top of its roof. "WOOOO-HOOOO!" Roadblock cried out as he took aim and fired as he and Bulkhead drove by, shooting right at Blastwave and making the Decepticon recoil.
"AUGH! You again?!" Blastwave growled, though he also grinned in anticipation. "And BULKHEAD!"
"Our fight's NOT over, Blastwave!" Bulkhead stated, allowing Roadblock to jump off his back with Ma Deuce before transforming. Bringing out his wrecking mace, the rotund Autobot nudged his head over to his leader. "Prime! Roadblock and I got Blastwave! You just make sure those Leapers don't accidentally destroy us!"
Optimus grinned beneath his faceplate and nodded. "Great timing, Bulkhead! And thank you." He set his sights down to the others, just as the Leapers completely surrounded them. "Everyone, take a partner and a leaper. Edgeshot, escort Agent Fairborne away from here."
"Understood." The Ninja Hero obliged, stepping closer to the medic. "Come, follow me." Marissa more than gladly followed, though they were almost immediately set upon by a Leaper and one of its bludgeon arms.
But then, Mirko came leaping in with a flying kick, knocking its arm back. "Oh, no ya don't!" Bumblebee quickly joined her, the duo tackling the larger Con and making it stumble backward, all while Mirko winked and gave a thumbs up to Edgeshot. "Ya owe me for that, just so ya know, Fold-a-Boy!"
Edgeshot deadpanned at her, but shook his head. 'Just take it, and get out of here.'
Once both of them were out of the line of fire, the Autobots, Mirko, Kyoka and Shoto went to work on the Leapers… who lived up to their designation by all suddenly leaping into the fray and out of range of most attacks. But even then, that only lasted a couple second before they came CRASHING down once again, slamming their spear-bludgeons into the rocky terrain to unleash more waves of powerful energy at them.
However, Shoto wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice. Stamping his foot to the ground, he unleashed a gargantuan wave of ice across the field, creating walls to absorb and protect the group from the pulse attacks. "Everyone, use these as cover!" he advised.
"Woo! Not bad!" Jazz retracted his left hand and brought out his grappling hook, swinging his way up to one of the highest ice spires to perch atop it. "Makes for a great vantage point, too!" Aiming his subsonic repeater at one of the Leapers, he unleashed a continuous, rapid-fire assault upon its back, seeing results immediately as the thrusters began sparking a little.
Prime, meanwhile, took a more direct approach. One of the Leapers had its arm stuck in the ground, taking longer to pull it out. Thus, he brought his Energon Axe in for a powerful swing to its back, doing significant damage to a thruster before the Leaper was able to collect itself. With a guttural growl, the Con swung its arm around, but Prime opened his arms and caught the strike, letting out a grunt as he stood his ground. "Earphone Jack!" he called out. "Perhaps some noise would be beneficial!"
"You know I'm all about it!" Kyoka acknowledged, plugging her jacks into her boots as she fell to her back, keeping her legs and shins aimed at the Vehicon's head. "Let's see how ya like THIS beat, Con!" Releasing the onslaught of sonic waves, the attack proved fruitful with the Leaper roaring and bringing an arm up to its audio receptors, forced to stumble backward. It was then that Kyoka saw that Bumblebee wasn't too far away… and he was charging his plasma blaster up fairly well. "Bee! Let it loose!"
Once the energy had reached a level that Bee deemed suitable, the yellow Autobot brought up his battle mask, saying; "Zrkt—Hasta la vista… baby." All at once, he shot the collected energy at the Con's back, which was just enough to overload and make it explode, the Leaper blowing to pieces all over the place.
"Excellent work, Bumblebee." Optimus commended, only to see another Leaper go soaring over the ice wall that Shoto made.
At the same time, though, Jazz aimed his grappling hook at it and caught it by the leg, taking him along with it. "WOO-BABY! We're flyin' now!"
Following after them, Shoto was surfing across an ice bridge of his own creation, all while fire danced on his left arm. "I'm gonna help Jazz! You guys, find Mirko! I lost track of her and the other Leaper!"
Realizing this, Prime craned his head down toward his scout. "Bumblebee, did you see where they went? I thought you were helping Mirko."
"Zrkt—Uh… about that…" Bumblebee motioned for the team to follow him, jogging through the icy field until they came upon a secluded corner. "Zrkt—See for yourself."
"HYAAAAA!" To everyone's astonishment, Mirko was taking on a Leaper all by herself, kicking its heavy-armored hide with tenacious fury. Her rapid kicks were also, surprisingly enough, ACTUALLY putting a few dents into it! How this was possible, neither Bee, Prime nor Kyoka could comprehend, but if they were to assume, it was likely pure adrenaline on her part. They could see the Rabbit Hero's muscles tighten, sweat dripping from her forehead as her relentless strikes only increased in strength. "HAH! C'mon, ya bucket a' bolts! IS THAT ALL YA GOT?!"
"GRAH!" The Leaper held its dented chest, dumbfounded by what was happening. Its kind were built to withstand heavy artillery fire and yet somehow, this organic was denting it?! "This… CANNOT BE!" Its thrusters powering up again, the Leaper flew straight up and out of the way of another incoming kick, leaving Mirko to tuck and roll into a crouched landing.
Her sights snapped up to the Con and screamed; "HEY! I'm not finished with—ooh…" Seeing the Leaper falling back down to her, the rabbit girl's wild smirk reappeared instantly. "Oh, so THAT'S how ya wanna play?! FINE, then!" Her leg muscles tightened up before she sprung straight up into the air, whipping herself around for another flying kick. "GYAAAAH!"
The two opponents collided in midair… but this time, Mirko was the one who was knocked down, her body leaving an imprinting in the rock below. "…She is insane." Kyoka concluded. "She is certifiably insane."
"Zkrt—Can't argue with that." Bee agreed.
Optimus took out his Ion Blaster, proceeding forward with utmost urgency. "I will help Mirko. The two of you, go see if Jazz and Shoto need assistance." The duo nodded up to their leader and they ran off in the opposite direction. He proceeded forward slowly and as silently as he could, the Leaper landing with its back turned toward him as it glared down at Mirko.
"HAHAHA! Not so tough now, ARE ya, human?!" Pointing one of its spear-bludgeons down, the arm weapon began to transform into a large, arm-mounted cannon, which charged up with energy. "Time to put you in your place!"
Mirko narrowed her eyes at the Con and was about to welcome the threat… but then she saw Optimus slowly approaching from behind, which brought her smirk back tenfold. "Oh-ho, so NOW you bring out the big guns?" she teased. "Here I thought you Leapers were one-trick ponies."
"Grr… we were told not to open fire around the energon unless absolutely necessary." The Leaper explained, pushing his arm closer to Mirko until the weapon was at point-blank range. "I'd say this counts."
"Oh, so you're gonna take the EASY way out." the Rabbit Hero deduced. "Put your opponent into a compromising position and then blast me to bits without any sort of fighting chance." She raised her chin up to him challengingly. "Sounds to me like you're taking the coward's way out."
"I am NOT a coward!" the Leaper insisted. "And I'm gonna prove—"
*POW-POW-POW-POW*
"AAAAUUUGGHH!" Unfortunately, the Leaper wouldn't get to prove anything as a sharp pain overcame him from his back, which began sparking and overloading. Warning lights and messages overcame his optic sensors as he spun around… only to see Optimus standing there with his Energon Axe at the ready.
The Autobot leader swung it into the dents that Mirko had made in its chest, successfully cleaving through before bringing his Ion Blaster back up. "Take that, Decepticon punk." *POW* That was the last straw. The Leaper blew up and its parts were sent scattering all throughout the area, though Optimus was able to shield Mirko with his body before it happened.
Once things had settled, Optimus pulled himself back and peered down to Mirko, who winked and gave him a thumbs up. The Prime, however, was not as impressed. "That was incredibly dangerous, Mirko. I hope you know that."
"Oh, trust me, I know." Mirko assured, her wild grin plastered across her features. "And it's the kinda stuff I live for!"
Optimus sighed and stood up, putting his weapons away. "Well, I suppose that is one less Leaper we have to worry about. Still, I am quite surprised. Very few Autobots have been able to even so much as a dent a Leaper, and yet you left enough for its armor to be penetrated."
"Ah, heh… yeah, about that…" Mirko's smile became a bit sheepish as she glanced down to her lower half. "Let's just say I'm not laying down here by choice."
"…Elaborate, please."
A boisterous laugh escaped the woman's throat, proclaiming; "Hahaha! My legs are shattered from the knees down! Hahaha!"
Optimus facepalmed. He knew she couldn't have done all of that without going unscathed. "Hah… Agent Fairborne! Are you nearby?!"
…..
Across the field of ice, meanwhile, Kyoka and Bumblebee had just found where the last Leaper landed, with Jazz using the wheels on his heels to skate around and blast it from all sides. Shoto was doing much of the same, only blasting out fire in the Con's optics to try and blind it. "Ha! Would ya look at that?" Kyoka eyed her yellow friend, who tilted his head down in kind. "Those two have got it all handled."
However, that wouldn't last, as the Leaper flexed its arms and the large weapons transformed into shields, blocking the incoming fire. "Zrkt—Uh, I think it's—zrkt—catchin' on!" Bee pointed out.
Kyoka clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Tch, of course. Always gotta be something…" But, not two seconds later, an idea formed in her head, seeing that it wasn't a perfect barrier. There were two gaps; one on the Con's frontside and one to its back. Approaching it from the front wasn't the best option… but rather foolishly, the Con couldn't block its backside given the range of its bulky arms. "Heh, whoever designed these things is an idiot."
"Zrkt—That'd be—zrkt—Shockwave." Bee answered.
"Okay, then. Shockwave's an idiot."
"Zrkt—If he hears that—zrkt—YOU'RE DEAD!"
Rolling her eyes, Kyoka pointed to the Leaper, which continued to move in a circle while blocking Shoto and Jazz' attacks. "Whatever. Look, obviously he made them combat-first, defense and intelligence last. If we can speed into those barriers, we can take him off his feet so that Jazz and Todoroki can land the finishing blow."
Bumblebee buzzed in agreement and transformed, opening his passenger side door for her. "Zrkt—Alright! Zrtk—Let's do it, to it!"
Climbing into the VW Beetle, Kyoka raised her hand, keeping her focus on the Leaper. "Wait…" Once its back was turned to them again, she gave the signal; "NOW! Go!" All at once, Bee stepped on the gas and bolted for the Leaper, who immediately took notice of the loud engine noise. It went to activate its thrusters, but Bumblebee proved to be faster, SMASHING directly into its legs and taking it off balance.
…And the thrusters still went off anyway, sending it careening into the nearest rock wall. *CRASH* With its head and upper body stuck, Jazz and Shoto did a doubletake, but Kyoka stuck her head out the car window and called out; "Guys! Finish it!"
"On it, thanks!" Shoto once more slammed his foot to the ground and sent a large spire of ice at the trapped opponent, stabbing through its back and pinning it in place. "Jazz!"
"No need to tell me twice!" Concentrating their firepower, the duo poured everything into the Con's thrusters, which quickly overloaded and blew it… and the rock wall to smithereens. Before anyone knew it, several massive rocks and boulders were baring down the ridge toward them, the group staring in abject horror. "Ohhh scrap." Jazz reached down, scooped Shoto up and transformed, hollering; "Time to go!" before he and Bee drove off as fast as they could, narrowly avoiding the avalanche.
Thankfully, the rocks all went tumbling down into the ravine, much like the others that had fallen on it opposite side. Still, that didn't do much to relieve the four of their stress as they all gathered together, Kyoka in particular breathing erratically. "Hah… haha… holy CRAP!"
"Yeah, probably should've seen that coming." Shoto said as calmly as he could, letting out a deep sigh. "Sorry about that."
Jazz rubbed his head and dismissed the apology. "Nah, it's fine. Honestly, probably shoulda seen that comin' myself." He stood up and placed his hands on his hip. "But what's important is everybody's alright an' we've got another Leaper down!"
"Yep, and Optimus is helping Mirko with the last one." Kyoka informed. "Which means all that's left is—" *THOOM* "…Uh-oh." The purplette brought her sights up to the ice walls around them, seeing them shake and shatter with every quake beneath their feet. *THOOM-THOOM-THOOM* To their right, one wall in particular began to crack egregiously, which was all the warning that Kyoka needed. "Guys? We should run, right?"
Jazz, Shoto and Bumblebee were all quick to agree with her on that. "Zrkt—RUN FOR YOUR LIIIIIIFE!" On that note, the yellow bug led the way, picking Shoto up while Jazz went for Kyoka. However, they couldn't get away far enough before…
*CRAAASSSSHHH*
The ice wall was blown to bits as Bulkhead's body was sent careening through, the large Autobot holding Roadblock an injured Roadblock in his hand. The duo went straight over the group's heads and Bulkhead clattered to the rocky ground in front of them, blocking their path as the perpetrator of their defeat stomped onto the scene behind them. There, towering over them all, was Blastwave, his expression twisted in seething rage and one arm transformed into his X-18 Scrapmaker, shooting down all of the ice that was in his path.
"BAHAHAHAHA!" the munitions expert bellowed, slowly lurking toward them with a vengeful grin and red-optics glaring at them. "Blastwave is coming to get YOU, BABIES!"
At this point, even Shoto was feeling somewhat uncertain. "So… ever fought him before?"
"We've confronted him before, but me personally?" Kyoka shook her head. "Nope, never."
Jazz and Bee transformed their free arms into their blasters, preparing for anything. "Well, we're gonna HAVE to fight him if we wanna make it outta here. Get ready, guys, we're—"
But just then, Bulkhead actually piped up behind them. "No! Gah!" The four whirled their heads back to see the Wrecker slowly but surely standing to his feet, still holding on to Roadblock all the while. "This… this is OUR fight." Bulkhead stated determinedly. "And we're gonna finish it." His focus shifted down to his G.I. Joe friend, seeing that, even with his mouth and shoulder bleeding, the man still stood just as firm. "You with me, Roadblock?"
Roadblock chortled and wiped the blood away from his mouth, spitting out the rest… before his eyes began to glow a bright, golden color. "I'm with ya all the way, Bulk. Now, it's time to stop holdin' back. Lemme down, would ya?" Without any argument, Bulkhead obliged, and Roadblock discarded his gloves, boots, and the bandeliers on his person. "Guys… remember when I said I didn't like talkin' 'bout my Quirk? 'Least not while I'm off the battlefield?"
"Uh… yeah?" Kyoka muttered hesitantly.
"Well, you're about to see why. Just… make sure you're outta the way for this." Roadblock took in a deep breath… and let out a bloodcurdling scream that took them all aback. "GYAAAAAHH!" Doubling over as his body began to convulse, Roadblock's fists and teeth clenched in exertion.
The others could only watch as, before their very eyes, Roadblock's body began morphin and changing. His skin hardened and cracked into a solid, grey material that—oddly enough—had the occasional yellow lines going down his arms, torso and what they could see of his legs. His entire body grew exponentially as well, to the point that he was probably as big as Bulkhead himself. His facial hair had disappeared, instead replaced by a pronounced lower jaw that had jagged "teeth" protruding from it, as well as a large brow that acted as an extra layer of armor above his eyes. Between all of that and his powerful arms and legs, Roadblock had truly become… a monster.
"GRAAAAAAUUUHHH!"
His thunderous roar shook the very environment around him, leaving everybody, Blastwave included, astonished. Surprisingly, his clothes had grown with him, which Kyoka could only deduce meant that they were made with his Quirk in mind. "…Holy shit."
"KYOKA!" The Earphone Jack user's head snapped around when she heard a familiar voice, and through the remains of the ice, Jinx and Quick Kick came sprinting toward them. The two stopped in front of her, Jinx relieved to see her student. "Oh, thank goodness. I'm so glad that you're okay. When we saw the Decepticons jumping all over the place, we… oh dear."
Glancing up to Roadblock, Kyoka gave a curt nod. "Yeah, things have been kinda crazy here."
"That much is obvious." Quick Kick agreed, peering up to her fellow Joe. "Uh… Roadblock? You with us?"
A growl escaped the monster's throat as he locked his eyes upon them, slowly giving a thumbs up. "Hm… yeah, girls. I'm here." he spoke, his voice now much deeper and gravellier than before.
"So… this is your Quirk, huh, Roady?" Bulkhead asked.
"It is." Jinx confirmed. "Simply put, it's called "Road Monster". It allowed Roadblock to transform into the beast you see before you, and in addition, it allows him to manipulate any asphalt, tarmac or blacktop he comes across."
"I can even control tar itself a bit." Roadblock added, clenching an eager fist while smiling at Bulkhead. "But, since there's nothin' but normal rock around here, I think we're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way, right Bulk?"
Bulkhead grinned eagerly and raised his fist in kind, bumping it against Roadblock's. "Haha, now you're talkin'! Let's take care of Blastwave and end this!" He nudged his head down to the others. "Guys, make some room. This is gonna get ugly."
"Da… FOR YOU!" Blastwave barreled forward, yowling in blood-lusting fury as he fired off his heavy weapon at the duo. "GRAAAAUUUYAAYAAUGH!"
While the others got clear of the incoming carnage, Roadblock took the initiative and shielded Bulkhead with his body, the bullets only bouncing off his rock-solid hide. "Grr… this guy's startin' to piss me off! Let's get this done so I can whip up some Beef Stroganov!"
"No idea what that is, but I'm with ya!" Bulkhead brought out his arm cannons and aimed past Roadblock, peeking over the road monster's shoulder to make sure he aimed right. But, even as his blasts made contact with Blastwave, the Decepticon simply powered through and kept going, only getting angrier with every shot he took. "For the love of—he won't SLOW DOWN!"
"I can arrange that!" Lurching forward, Roadblock let out a guttural roar and slammed both fists to the ground, making it shake as multiple large cracks formed beneath him. Blastwave was thrown off-balance and then fell flat on his face, his gatling gun shooting bullets high into the air all the while. "RAAH! YO JOE!" Roadblock rushed headlong toward Blastwave shoulder-first, tackling the Decepticon further back. "Bulkhead! Double Team!"
Transforming into his Hummer mode, Bulkhead drove in as fast as he could. "I've got your back!" He rammed himself straight into Blastwave's legs, taking the Con off his feet again, but Roadblock was there in an instant to grab him by the throat. Just as quickly, Bulkhead transformed again and also grabbed Blastwave, with him and Roadblock following up by giving him a double chokeslam straight into the stone.
"GRAYAH!" His features twisting into a contemptuous snarl, Blastwave's shoulder cannons rotated forward, charging up to fire at the two. "I will NOT be beaten—" *CRUNCH* "Huh?" Unfortunately, before he could react, Roadblock had taken both of cannon barrels and crushed them in his hands, closing them off right as they were about to fire. "…Oh no—"
*BLAM*
"AAAAHH!" Soot and fire erupted from Blastwave's shoulders, the Con fumbling beneath the Autobot and Joe trying to put it all out. "Fire! FIIIIIRE! I am on FIRE!" He eventually managed to get to his feet, but all he did was run around as the fire spread to the entire upper half of his body. "HELP! MY MESH! IT BURNS!" He quickly called up the first Decepticon who came to mind, shouting; "Doctor! DOCTOR! Bring Blastwave back! I AM IN FLAMES!" As if on cue, a GroundBridge portal opened up before him, and he quickly dove in, allowing it to close only a moment after.
Bulkhead and Roadblock both stared dumbfoundedly after their opponent, wondering just what they had witnessed. "Well… that was interesting."
Rubbing his head, Bulkhead could only offer a shrug. "Yeah, Blastwave's always been like that, really. Ya get used to it." He gave Roadblock the once over and chuckled a bit. "Haha, if I'd known you'd been keeping THIS in your back pocket, though, I probably would've egged ya to do this earlier."
"Yeah, well… I can't really stay like this for long." On that note, Roadblock began shrinking back down until his was back to normal, letting out an exerting breath all the while. "Hah… I'm not exactly ALL there if I use Road Monster for too long, ya see." He tapped the side of his head for emphasis. "After about ten, fifteen minutes or so, it starts affectin' my mind, so I gotta be careful with it. That's why I prefer not usin' it unless absolutely necessary."
"Ah, I get ya." Bulkhead nodded. "Well, I'll keep that in mind, then."
"We ALL will." Kyoka piped up from the side as her group approached the two, now that the conflict was over. "But hey, let's celebrate! We actually won!"
Jazz nudged his head over toward the energon on the mountain. "Yep! Energon's secured, Cons are gone, and… heh, I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but Jetfire's back!"
Bulkhead lit up in anticipation. "Hey, yeah! Where is Jets, anyways? I was hoping to see him around here, but we lost track of him."
"Yes, Windblade flew after him as well with Creati." Jinx added. "Have they been this way?"
*CHYOOOOOM*
As if in direct response, a loud, thunderous noise echoed through the mountain range once again, causing everyone to bring their hands over their ears. "Gah! Not again!" Kyoka grit her teeth and her eyes went skyward, where she saw Jetfire and Windblade in an aerial dogfight against Sky-Byte and Thundercracker. "…Oh boy. I might've been a bit quick on the draw when I said this was over."
…..
Up in the air, Izuku was… actually starting to get a bit excited. At first, he hadn't been too keen on all of this high-speed flying, but the longer their chase went on, the more thrilled he felt about it. Every time Jetfire managed to pull off a maneuver, bobbing and weaving cleanly around incoming fire from the Decepticons, it let out a burst of serotonin that Izuku didn't know he needed. This… felt like freedom. The sky was literally the limit to what they could do up here, and he was there for it. "Hahaha! This… is amazing!"
"I know, right?!" Jetfire affirmed, performing a sharp upturn to avoid a pair of incoming missiles. "I had a feeling you'd get a kick outta this, 'Zuku!" However, as he executed the move, Jetfire took notice of the new arrival to their dance with the Cons… and it was a vehicle mode that he knew all too well. "Wait a nano-click… Windblade, that you?!"
"Sky Commander!" Windblade called in through her commlink as she fired at Sky-Byte and Thundercracker from behind, zooming past them as they were forced to transform. "It's good to see you online!"
Just then, a certain other voice piped up over the comms; "Deku! Are you there? Over."
"H-Hey, Creati!" Izuku responded. "This is Deku, reading you loud and clear. Over."
A sigh came from the Creation user. "Hah, good, I'm glad you're okay. …How did you even get up here, anyway?"
Glancing through Jetfire's canopy, Izuku furrowed his brow at Sky-Byte. "A certain flying shark almost had me for lunch. But Jetfire came in at just the right time!"
"Guilty as charged." Jetfire claimed as he and Windblade flew in tandem with one another, the duo steadily slowing down in midair. "Let's pump the airbrakes a bit and get our bearings, huh?" On that note, they both transformed and hovered over to one another, holding their respective humans in their hands. "Hah, been a long time since I've seen any other Autobot. Who would've guessed I'd end up on the same planet as Team Prime?"
Windblade chuckled and extended her free hand, grasping Jetfire's firmly. "Hmhm, it's almost like you never left. Welcome back."
"Thanks, but I think it's time we wrap this up." The Sky Commander nudged his chin over to Sky-Byte and Thundercracker, who were coming in hot. "We've still got those two to deal with, after all." He took Windblade's hand and gently placed Izuku down in her palm, much to the boy's confusion. "'Zuku, I'm handin' ya off to Windy for a sec. I'm gonna finish what I started."
"What do you plan on doing?" Izuku asked.
As Jetfire turned around, though, the large bot peered over his shoulder, giving the One for All user a thumbs up. "Hehe, you'll see. It'll be a blast. Just remember… watch my back."
If anything, that only left Izuku even more perplexed as Jetfire zoomed toward the two Decepticons… but it was then that he noticed something he hadn't before. Ironically enough, it WAS on Jetfire's back… and it seemed to be a slot of some sort. It was situated between his two thrusters, with a tiny arrow on it as if to signify that something went in there. 'What the…'
Windblade seemed to notice this as well, and while she couldn't quite put her finger on it, this was starting to ring a bell in her head. "He's got a plan… but just to be sure, let's back off a bit."
"JETFIRE!" Sky-Byte exclaimed, thrusting a finger out at the Autobot with a snarl in his voice. "This has gone on for TOO long between us! Today, it ends!" With a series of dynamic poses, he made his intentions clear; "I will DESTROY you, retrieve the energon, and go BACK to Cybetron as a hero to ALL Decepticon kind! Mark my words, I'll—"
"Oh, blah, blah, blah." The Autobot Jet opened and closed his hand mockingly. "All ya've done these past few eons is yap my audio receptors off about the SAME. DAMN. THING. Get some original material, would ya? Sheesh." His sights zeroed in on the Sharkticon as his tone grew more serious. "But no, you're NOT gonna do all that, Sky-Byte. Instead, you're gonna get what's comin' to ya. You AND Megatron!"
Thundercracker raised his hand and the Aerial Assault Team reformed into the Cybercaliber, returning to his grasp with its blade glowing brightly. "Sorry, Jets, but just because you and my brother were friends, that doesn't mean we're gonna let you off easy. So come on! Give it your best shot!"
"…I intend to." With those three words, all of a sudden… Jetfire's entire body began to glow, a bright red energy coursing through him as he balled his fists, threw his head back and yelled straight to the heavens. "HHAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"WOAH!" Izuku exclaimed, he and Momo shielding their eyes as intense light ignited from Jetfire's very being. "What the hell is going on?!"
It was then that Windblade's optics widened, seeing the energy start to collect in the center of Jetfire's chest before shooting straight up into the sky. "No… it couldn't be." High above, the darkening clouds began to swirl around, and from the very center of the forming vortex… a small, yet very bright fragment of light came rushing right back down toward Jetfire.
This fragment, however… had a definite shape to it, made out of pure, solid energy. It was pointed at the sides and top, with a large, squared off piece jutting out the bottom… almost as if it were a key of some sort. The squared part then flew straight into the slot on Jetfire's back, with the rest of the fragment flowing in after. And then… something astonishing happened. The two thrusters on Jetfire's back each split in half down the middle, revealing a pair of large, black, hidden cannons that extended out to form a set of rail guns. Feeling the energy coursing through him once again, Jetfire pitched back and struck his own battle-ready pose, shouting;
"JETFIRE! CYBER KEY POWER!"
No one could believe what they had just seen, least of all the Cybertronians. "W-W-What was that?" Sky-Byte stammered.
"Not enough to save him!" Thundercracker rebuked, surging forward to swing the Cybercalibur at the Autobot. However, it wasn't until he saw the rail guns charging up did the Seeker realize… he was woefully in over his head about this.
"Is that supposed to SCARE me—THUNDERCRACKER?!" Pumping his arms before lurching his whole body forward, Jetfire let loose an incredible twin beam attack that struck Thundercracker… though not immediately. The blue Seeker had tried to stave off the blast by blocking it with his sword… but the energy was far too much for the Mini-Cons, who were forced to break off which left Thundercracker to get hit. The scorched Decepticon screamed in agony as he was sent hurdling into the mountainside, which left Sky-Byte as the sole Decepticon standing.
…And he was horrified. He had no idea that his old foe was keeping… whatever that was under wraps. But, one look to the aerial savant, and he could see that Jetfire was not kidding around. Even as the twin rail guns shifted back to the normal thrusters, he was still extremely intimidating. "So… whaddya say to that, Sky-Byte?"
With a hard swallow, Sky-Byte hastily radioed back to the Darksyde as he retrieved his fellow Decepticon. "Sky-Byte to base… mission failed. Requesting GroundBridge."
"…You are so dead when you get here." Nightra said plainly.
"Duly noted." With Sky-Byte hefting Thundercracker over his shoulder while the Aerial Assault Team flew straight to the opening portal, he scowled back at Jetfire, using every ounce of courage he had to make a decent threat; "We WILL meet again, Jetfire. And soon."
"Sure." Jetfire jerked a thumb to him. "Now get outta here." With one final huff, Sky-Byte flew through the GroundBridge and it closed behind him, allowing Jetfire to relax and let out a heavy sigh. "Hah, phew! Well, glad we got all that cleared up." Powering his jets down, he, along with Windblade, both steadily landed where Bee, Jazz, Bulkhead and the others were gathered, placing his hands on his hips as they cheered for him. "Hahaha! Now, now, no need to make a big fuss! I was just doin' what any Autobot would do."
"Well, forgive us for wantin' to welcome ya back!" Bulkhead approached Jetfire with a raised fist, which the white and red bot was more than happy to reciprocate. As the two bumped fists, though, this allowed the humans to really take in just how BIG Jetfire was. He wasn't humungous or anything, but Bulkhead came up to his waist. Meaning that he was unequivocally the largest Cybertronian they had seen so far. "Haha, how's it goin', Jets? Been a LONG time."
Jetfire laughed and nodded to him. "Haha, you know it, Bulk. And as you can see, I picked up some new tricks in the time I was gone…"
Jazz and Bee approached them next, wanting to know more about it. "Hah, yeah, no kiddin'! You were lit up like a solar flare!" Jazz threw his hands into the air, emphasizing his point. "What was that, Jets?"
"…A Cyber Key." The familiar tone of Optimus Prime brought everyone's attention to him as he strolled over, his optics not leaving his second-in-command as he explained. "A tiny fragment of Primus' power that only a trained few can summon. It supplies them a temporary increase in power, and as you just saw, can even create new weapons. It is quite a sight to behold…" He craned his head up to Jetfire, the Autobot Commander's head just reaching the canopy on the taller bot's chest, before extending his hand. "Hah… but more to the point, it's very good to see you again, Jetfire. You came just in the nick of time."
With a dutiful salute, Jetfire said; "Thanks, just doin' my job, sir.", before extending his hand down to shake the Prime's. "And it's good to see you, too. Been lookin' forward to this day for almost a million solar cycles."
"I'm sure. But that leads me to ask… what happened to you?"
A breathy chortle escaped Jetfire as his faceplate retracted, revealing a knowing, self-confident smirk. "Hehehe… well, Prime, have I got a story for you."
…..
A/N: A story that we can save for next time, because I think that's a good stopping point right there. The battle's been won, Jetfire's been reunited with his old pals, and we got to witness something that I've been itching to bring in for a while.
CYBER KEY POWER! Sorry for all who thought that I was bringing in Jet Prime from Armada, but while Jetfire's personality might be based on his Armada self, he doesn't combine with Optimus here. Instead, he gets what is unquestionably my FAVORITE Unicron Trilogy gimmick. Mini-Cons were neat, Powerlinking was alright, but Cyber Planet Keys? You KNOW I got a kick out of those colorful trinkets that unlocked power-ups on the toy! Heck, I even managed to integrate Cybertron Jetfire's gimmick onto Thrilling 30 Jetfire without much hassle! And of course, we'll be learning how Jetfire unlocked his power when the next chapter rolls around.
But on that note, I also brought in ANOTHER aspect of a certain Transformers game that I love into this story here; The LEAPERS from Fall of Cybertron! Easily some of the coolest enemies seen in the game, and probably the most fun to fight. I modified them slightly to give them Earth alt-modes, but otherwise, they're pretty much exactly like how they were in the game. And of course, they have the same weakness; shoot their back enough and they blow up. Quite the design flaw… though leave it to Mirko to be able to kick through their heavy armor at the expense of breaking her legs.
Aside from that, though, the conclusion of the battle went pretty fairly in the Autobots' favor, especially after Jetfire came in to give the ranks some extra motivation. Heck, even Strongarm and the other ladies were eventually able to overwhelm Swift and her Super Mode, though time will tell if that'll work again.
And of course, we get the reveal of Roadblock's Quirk during his and Bulkhead's battle with Blastwave! Probably not what anyone was expecting, but hey, why NOT make the man into a literal roadblock by turning him INTO the road itself?! Sure, it's a road that stands up and is a monster, but I'd say it works with his specialty. But, on that note, Transformers MHA Month has come to an end, meaning that the next chapter will be in two weeks' time again. So…
And now, the Preview! With the team reconvening at the energon's location, Jetfire greets all of his old Autobot buddies and introduces himself to the other humans before telling his story. And quite the tale it is. On the flipside, though, the Decepticons are in shambles. And Megatron is NOT happy with the results. Perhaps it's time that he sent some reinforcements of his own… which I'm sure will make Starscream QUITE happy. Next time; A Jet's Resolve. Hm, what to do with the Vehicon Miners that Edgeshot took down, though? Thanks for reading, everybody! I hope you all enjoyed Transformers MHA Month, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and as always…
GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!
