Author's notes: We got an action-packed chapter today folks! So, sit back and enjoy the crazy ride, and make sure to comment and favorite! Love you all!
Date: March 16th 2021, Earth
The Corrupted
Nitr0 Zeu$
Mohawk was twitchy, at least more so than normal. And that was double the amount of annoying the freakish little bot usually was. So, Nitro Zeus was double the amount of pissed he would be on any other given day.
The scrawny, bug-eyed member of their team fidgeted on his wheels, rolling back and forth like an idiot as the two of them hid in the grimy alley they were camped out in for waaay to long.
"Onslaught ain't here yet…. Where the hell he at with that old bot Quincy told us to nab?" Mohawk said, stating the obvious.
Nitro Zeus ended Mohawk's back-and-forth movement by stepping on his back. Not enough to crush the minibot, but enough to make a point. "You're making me insane. Stop rollin' around. You're gonna end up tripping me, again."
The small bot wiggled out from under Nitro's foot and gave the offending appendage a shove. The momentum only rolled himself backwards. "You ain't worried none? Onslaught said he'd be 'right back' and that was like, what, four days ago?"
"Only two days." Nitro corrected.
Mohawk shoved him again. "Man, you know I am crap at math! But still, he's a no show! What's that mean?"
The black, twisted portal opened in the alley at their backs. Their grumbling, dark plated friend came trudging out, scratching at the fixture Quincy secured around his wound, "Nope. Nothing from Onslaught. Not a word. He's dead or worse." Dread Bot huffed.
Nitro grumbled in growing frustration, crossing his arms. His own forced addition curtesy of Quincy cut into his still pulsing wound, making it hella hard to think. "Man… Onslaught, dead twice. That's got to be some kind of crap record."
Dred Bot leaned against the alley wall and hummed, almost with remorse, "Can only imagine, what's worse than being dead once already?"
"Dead twice?" Mohawk offered.
Nitro huffed, making an executive decision, despite their dwindling numbers. "We're gonna need to do this without him. Preferably, without one of us ending up dead twice too."
Mohawk rolled around with bursting confidence that was too misplaced to be contagious, "Hell yeah! Action at last! We can handle it!"
Dred bot snorted loudly, "The hell ya mean WE? You're the size of a mailbox."
Mohawk whirled around on the much larger bot, "This mailbox'll kick your ass easy enough-" he gagged, then spewed vile Energon onto the ground.
Dread just took a step back to stay out of the growing putrid puddle, "I'm quivering," he said, sarcastic, until the minicon didn't get in another insult, as he normally would. He fell forward, more Energon choking his intakes, "Mo? You still with us?" He stepped around the Energon puddle and gave the smaller bot a bit of a kick, trying to get him to react.
Mohawk slapped at him. Good, he was still alive, for the moment. "Quit lookin' at me like that! I ain't dead like that stupid ass Onslaught!"
"Whatever you say…" Dread said, almost somberly, then he cracked a sharp grin, "But when we get back to normal, the first thing Imma do is get you one of those little red flags for that stupid head of yours, make your mailbox friends proud." Mohawk shifted out a blade from his wrist and tried with all his might to stab Dread's heel struts. He dodged, still snickering, "What? It won't be a bad look. I like mailboxes, they're fun to hit."
Nitro snorted, "Until you hit that one with concrete in it."
"Which was uncalled fer!" Dread growled, "I only hit that same one like, three times! Humans always overreacting!"
Speaking of the little meat bags… Nitro looked out from the alley, noting the passing humans chatting, running to jobs, not a care in the world. One human female was dragging their own tiny fleshy ward, the brat hanging off the taller one like a parasite. "Mom, look! Cybertronians!" the small little vermin said as they passed, pointing at Nitro and his rag tag team of idiots half hidden in the shadows. The human called 'Mom' did look but was far too busy fishing in her pocket to retrieve her buzzing cellphone. She glanced it, paused, looked at them again, then they hurried out of sight, probably late for some unimportant human crap.
Which was a crazy response from this place's group of flesh bags. Not like they were doing a good job 'hiding' like they was supposed to, but to not have any obvious fear responses from near every human was…. Strange.
The sharp jab of pain radiated from his head and jolted his whole body. He should have been used to it by now, but he wasn't. The place where the damn Autobot shot him in the back of his thick helm. He itched at the device screwed into his helm plating.
"Headache?" Mohawk guessed.
Nitro growled, "Duh. But the sooner I get this crap off me the better! I'm already tired of being on Quincy's damn leash!"
Mohawk stopped trying to shank Dread and rolled between Nitro's peds, "About that my brotha. When we gonna double cross Quincy and all her annoying freak friends? That part of your plan too?"
He carried on picking at the metal of the device attached to him. It had become a recent habit, "I'm still workin' on that part. Megatron always had the plans. I ain't good at thinking stuff up on the fly."
"You ain't good at thinking at all," Dread snickered.
Nitro glared at him, "why Quincy brought you back Dread, I have no clue."
Dread shrugged, "It was either me or Berserker." He pointed out.
Nitro shuttered, and noticed Mohawk did the same. "Yeah, good point," Mohawk said, "Yer annoyin' as hell, but all kiddin' aside, that mofo was a freak."
Nitro shook off the ache in his head and pushed off the wall he was leaning against. "We still need Quincy, for now. We figure out the tech she used to bring us back, we steal that, kill her, get this crap off us, then we bring back our boy Megatron… he'll handle all this corruption stuff way better."
Dread sighed, "So we just keep playing the game. I guess there are worse things to do. Like being dead twice."
"We waited long enough for Onslaught, he ain't coming." Nitro grumbled. His sour mood didn't last long. He grinned at the last two living members of his team. "Let's rock and roll."
"Hell yeah!" Mohawk exclaimed, rolling after him and weaving in front of Nitro, almost making him trip. It was not the first time that day. "We do what we do best! Blow. Shit. UP!"
Nitro growled, shoving his smaller teammate out from underfoot, "Mo, I love ya, but seriously, if you trip me one more time, I'm cavin' your head in."
Mohawk laughed off the threat, rolling out in front of their ranks, "Man, you can't do no worse than that yellow twerp did. Blew my head clean off. I still need to stab him for it." He tapped at the metal collar Quincy secured around his miniscule neck, much like Onslaught had. In the past tense, anyway.
They stomped out onto the street, making their way to no place in particular. This part of town was supposed to be busy. It had been just a little while ago. But now… Nitro looked around, only clocking some straggler humans loitering under tall buildings or near cars. It was like, the middle of the day, why were there so few humans out? True, this wasn't the same Earth he was used to, but damn, he assumed there would be the same number of humans no matter what Earth they ended up stumbling onto.
Their tromping party also went ignored, even as they stopped in the middle of a far to empty intersection. Nitro scanned the area, trying to pick a decent target.
"Not many flesh bags out to play today? Mohawk grumbled, "Prolly in the buildings. Which one we gonna whack?"
"Quincy wanted a big explosion…" Nitro hummed to himself, continuing to scan the streets. He couldn't shake how crazy this place was. Like, was no human even sort of scared of them? What the hell happened here to make the little animals so passive? Hopefully, they responded the same way to explosions as they did back home. "Alright, I figure we'll spread out, maybe find a more populated place to hit-"
"The bank," stated Dread with utmost confidence. Nitro turned, just as Mohawk did. Dread was staring gleefully at the large bank down the street at the end of the intersection. Yeah, this was their mission, but Dread was waaay to excited as he gazed at the building.
"How many banks will this make?" Mohawk asked, for once totally dead pan.
Dread rubbed his palms together, making sparks fly, "Quincy wants an explosion. We'll blow it up, totally sky high… Coins'll fly, green paper flappin' in the breeze…" he trailed off, chuckling like a lunatic.
"It's a sickness you got with this man," Nitro informed him as truthfully as he could, "A damn sickness. And when we get home, you're gonna talk to someone about it. Get to the bottom of this crazy bank related fetish of yours."
"Home," Mohawk sighed, and he trailed behind Dread as he closed in on his monetary target. "Yo Nitro, my man? Think home's still, ya know," and he made a frantic wavy motion with his whole body like a dumbass. But Nitro got what he was saying.
"Ya still purging that crap?"
As if on cue, Mohawk spit up the vile oily stuff, "Yep."
"Then I figure the answer is, yeah."
Dread took aim at the bank's front entrance, "No worries, we're one step closer to fixing that..." his blaster arm glowed hot, charging up for a massive blast, "Run, little humans… Feel the power of Dread Bot…"
"Are you seriously narrating your attack, while talking about yourself in the third person?" Nitro asked.
"That is the lamest crap I have ever heard." Mohawk added, almost coughing up more Energon due to his sudden scoff.
Dread jerked his head over his shoulder to snarl, "Shut up! You two are ruining this for me!"
Nitro rolled his optic. "Whatever… It's just getting weird, please blow it up so we can head out-"
"Ummm, my guys?" Mohawk asked, "This a different Earth vibe, I get that, but don't these losers usually stop at red lights?"
Nitro turned, the blaring horn of a large truck cutting through his already splitting headache. Then it carried on through the intersection until the large vehicle slammed into Mohawk, hurling him into a telephone pole.
"What the f-" Dred Bot couldn't finish the thought, or his original attack before another vehicle smashed into him. The assaulting vehicle came out of a transformation, taking shape into a large green Transformer who then proceeded to slam his wrecking ball fist into Dread's stupefied face.
Nitro was stunned, the sound of incoming jets overhead and opening portals surrounding them from all angles. They were suddenly outnumbered by their own kind, at least, their kind from this place.
He really wished Megatron was here…
Soundwave
Their hastily planned ambush could not have been executed more flawlessly. Even with the Autobot's insistence on helping, their three targets were totally overwhelmed within moments. He landed in the center of the intersection. The leader of the corrupted party was the only one able to take evasive maneuvers. But he was massive, and therefore, his movements were slow.
Soundwave ducked under a hurried left hook. His optic visor quickly scanned the stumbling foe, noting an exposed blaster chain connected to his left servo, much like Shockwave utilized to charge powerful attacks. He sliced through the hanging appendage. Severing it would ensure no more blaster fire from that servo. He also stepped back, because his attack made the bot spray his corrosive Energon everywhere. Everyone present had been meticulously coated in a protective film to assure limited exposure, but he didn't want to risk it.
This bot, who Soundwave assumed was Nitro Zeus going by Onslaught's description, stumbled back in shock. In his moment of pained distracted daze, Soundwave clocked the metal device on the back of Nitro Zeus' helm. That would be next to go, the second they got him down.
"The hell-" Nitro Zeus managed to mutter before their air support landed.
A combined team of Starscream, Sharpshot, and the Earth based Decepticon turned Autobot Jetfire shot stunning blasts into the three. The minicon of the group was instantly brought to the ground, spewing toxic sludge from his mouth plates. "Sucks man…" the small bot yelped before losing consciousness. Sharpshot's team wasted no time rushing in. Shoving the inhibitor Shockwave created into the device around the minicon's neck. At the same time, their own medical intervention instantly slipped under the collar and locked his helm in place before it risked falling off. They managed to get it secured before the collar could damage the user as it did to Onslaught. With that done, the minicon target was contained in a contamination mesh field and they were gone with him back through a portal to Cybertron.
Nitro Zeus scrambled behind a parked truck for cover. Soundwave did not intend to give him time to recover. He scanned the truck, seeing through the thin metal easily enough. Nitro Zeus was fumbling to patch his gun servo, his own Energon sizzling and hindering his attempts. Clearly frustrated and getting nowhere, he shifted out a smaller gun from his other servo and whirled around the truck to take aim. Soundwave would have evaded, if he didn't have back up covering him.
More blaster and laser fire rained down, stopping Nitro Zeus' assault before it began and forcing him to take cover in another adjacent alley.
'Excellent shot,' Soundwave praised with a grin over the Bond.
Rhea transformed and landed beside him with Laserbeak buzzing over her shoulder. Rightfully so, she looked proud of herself. "I assume it has everything to do with two of the best sharpshooters on Cybertron teaching me." She said out loud.
/Thanks for the shout out/ Arcee huffed over the open channel, /But I am still irritated with his oh so intelligent Lordship for letting you take part in this insanely risky mission./
Rhea looked up, where Soundwave knew Arcee was stationed on the roof, gun poised to snipe the targets if they stepped out of the city block.
/You're one to talk, Cee!/ came the Autobot Rep Bumblebee over the comm. /Ratchet put you on strict medical leave and here YOU are!/
/Totally different!/ Arcee snapped right back, /I was on Shawn and Fowler's human evac team for the area. Now, I'm just here for emergencies. At least I don't have my real, currently comatose body lying somewhere nearby. If either one of these guys get off a rogue shot, and it hits where your hiding- /
"No worries Arcee." Rhea assured into the open comm, "We dumped my human self in a twice reinforced Concurrence building like, almost halfway across town," they paused the chit chat when Nitro Zeus tried coming up to fire, but Soundwave, Rhea's and Laserbeak's combined fire held him down behind his dwindling cover. "The quiet evacuation for the locals was worryingly quick," Rhea added when they paused, and glanced around at the lack of humans. The few that were still present, now taking cover in predetermined positions, were Concurrence agents. "Shawn said they have an emergency messaging service that would go out to every cellphone in the area, and they would physically move those who didn't get it for whatever reason. I've just never seen it in action before now."
/Impressive, isn't it?/ said the voice of Shawn merrily, somewhere presumably far from the fight. He was probably in the same building where Rhea's human body was stored. / It's all thanks to uncle Sam's blank government checks!/
Soundwave again found Nitro Zeus in his optic band's cross hairs. He had left the smoldering truck and was now ducking in an alleyway, trying to gather himself and think up a new strategy despite being so egregiously outnumbered. He didn't have time to come up with anything, because speaking of the human task force Shawn organized…
A hail of suppression fire came down from both sides of the rooftops overlooking Nitro Zeus' alley. Around fifty heavily armored humans blasted around and into their target, flushing him out of hiding and forcing him to transform and flee down the street. With so much fire power in the sky, he would not get far.
Another shot hit Nitro Zeus' back tire, and his escape was instantly thwarted. Though it came from the rooftops, Arcee hadn't been the sharpshooter. The human sniper lay beside Arcee's side, hidden well in his heavily armored form and remaining focused through the scope of his gun.
Soundwave caught Arcee smirk at the human by her, /Nice shootin' tex. Should we start keeping score, just to see which human gets the most hits?/ she said into the open comm, but it was clear the sentiment was meant for the human sniper.
Jack's snort came through the comm, /I call fowl right off the bat. Rhea isn't human now, she doesn't count./
Arcee smirked, /So then just you against Shawn's whole fleet? You'll still win./
/Damn right I would/ and the human took one hand off his gun for the shortest moment so he could fist bump Arcee.
/It's even!/ Rhea complained, /You have a Cybertronian upgraded gun and the shock resistant armor!/
/My team came up with both the gun and the human sized armor/ Shawn added, /How many points does that get me?/
Since there was so much chit chat, it was a well-established fact they were almost done here. A quick assessment revealed Nitro Zeus' remaining partner had regained his wits across the intersection and slammed his body full force into the Autobot Bulkhead. As if on cue, the other Autobots descended to give their teammate back up.
"Up high, big guy," Wheeljack snickered from the roof of the building above their brawl. As the bot Soundwave assumed was Dread Bot glanced up, he was met with the Wrecker's falling grenade. He was blown halfway across the street, rolling into another building and smashing the front windows. But he was built like a tank, and he was back on his peds and charging through the Autobot forces with a roar.
"Welp, that's not according to plan," Rhea noted with a pursed expression, watching the Autobot's struggle to get a decent grip on their opponent, at least long enough to secure the inhibitor around his control collar.
Soundwave vented, then focalized his comm onto Jetfire, "I suggest you assist your allies from the air. I will provide ground cover," he gave Rhea an apologetic glance from behind his optic band, "I trust you and Laserbeak to assist our own arial forces while I go bail out the Autobots."
She smiled, then touched her palm to his face, "What would they do without you?"
'I assume, they would be terminated.' Laserbeak snorted.
Rhea snickered, brushing her digits down his arm until they were parted, her body changing to take to the sky after Sharpshot.
It was hardly the time for flirtation, but Soundwave allowed himself a moment to indulge the feeling before hurrying in the opposite direction. He arrived just in time to catch Bumblebee, who would have otherwise been tossed across the road. He shoved the Autobot back onto his peds then pushed him out of the way before blasting Dread Bot mid escape. His back tire blew, and he skidded into another building. "You have him outnumbered, how have you not suppressed him yet?" he growled.
"Hey, cut us a break!" Bulkhead snapped and he again tried to grab Dread Bot in a choke hold. He was hurled over the other's helm and had to quickly roll out of the way to avoid getting stabbed. "The guy's built like a tank!"
"We don't need the backup slick," Jazz growled at Soundwave, trying again to fit Dread Bot with the inhibitor, "Wouldn't you wanna show off in front of your girl? Anything to stay on your side of the battlefield. I may forget you aren't with these losers and not watch where my own blaster is- GAH!" he was flung off and hurled into a fire hydrant, soon getting drenched from the sudden burst pipe. Karma at its finest.
"Ok, guys, we are ALL on the same team, remember?" Bumblebee reminded their grumbling collective. Because apparently, even mid fight he couldn't help but preach at them, "So the less friendly fire we dish out the better it is for everyone."
The gunfire raining from the nearby roof was almost comedic, if it wasn't for Soundwave having to jump out of the way so he wasn't hit. The Concurrence agents weren't shooting normal human artillery. These weapons were built with Cybertronian bodies in mind, infused with Cybertronian tech, and they indeed packed a punch. Their intended target had been close, but he managed to duck again after only taking a few hits.
Bumblebee stumbled back and glared upwards, "Hey! Guys, watch it!"
One of the black clad humans appeared over the roof cover, offering an apologetic wave for the near hit. The young Autobot Smokescreen broke off from the fight, just long enough to grumble to Bumblebee, "I swear, it's like they can't tell us apart sometimes."
Bumblebee gave him a look, "Now, in their defense, you couldn't tell most humans apart when you first came to Earth."
Smokescreen gave the comment a dismissive snort, "details… Who even remembers that long ago?" he transformed and floored it, launching himself back into the action.
Soundwave vented, done with the endless Autobot chatter. He scanned their opponent, found another weak point unprotected by armor just under his knee joint. He took the shot. It hit, landing the massive form onto the ground permanently. He casually shifted away his blaster, trying not to shrug when Jazz turned to glare at him.
Dread Bot was far from finished. He flailed as the Autobot's swarmed him, Bulkhead trying hard to hold him down while Jazz shoved the inhibitor onto his collar.
"Stop! We're trying to help!" Bulkhead snapped at him, somewhat contradictory as he smashed him in the helm with a closed fist to get him to be still.
"Nooo…" Dread Bot cried, dragging himself on his under belly up onto the sidewalk. He was trying to crawl, to where Soundwave had no idea. But his focus was pinpointed on the bank that was so far unaffected by the battle. A shaking servo changed, his blaster skipping and trying to take aim at the building. "Just… let me, get this one… I gotta get it before I go out again!"
Another hard knock to the helm ended whatever he was trying to accomplish, faceplates smashing into the concrete.
"Welp, not the cleanest catch," Bumblebee hummed thoughtfully, but soon he was beaming at Soundwave, "But, you can't complain with results! Thanks for the backup."
"Unneeded back up!" Jazz shouted from the short distance, finally managing to get the collar off Dread Bot without it activating to kill him.
"Rhea's really come a long way," Bumblebee noted, now focused on the battle wrapping up behind them. Soundwave turned to see Nitro Zeus struggling to stay upright. He was using a large section of building he had appropriated to shield himself from the aerial fire as they closed in. He couldn't get a decent shot at anyone, and Rhea and Laserbeak managed to keep catching him from behind before he could block it. Nitro Zeus snarled, snatching a manhole cover and hurling it at Rhea. She dodged it easily.
He didn't have to say how proud he was of her; it was obvious from his beaming aura he didn't bother hiding.
"Ugg…." Groaned the bot on the ground. Bulkhead was fully sitting on him, Wheeljack having already secured their prisoner with stasis cuffs which he had cranked up to its highest setting. Even still, Dread Bot was seemingly trying to worm his way ever closer to his monetary target.
Bumblebee was exasperated as he spun around on Dread Bot, "How is he still conscious? IS he even still or is this involuntary?"
"In a hurry to wrap this up, Representative?" Soundwave asked in a passive tone.
"Well, it is the Memorial tonight," Bumblebee pointed out. "If we get this all sorted soon enough, we'll make it, though we may want to clean up a little. Knock Out already let us all know how he feels about not looking our best while standing next to him for pictures."
Rhea's snorting laugh came over the open comm. /He is technically not Decepticon anymore, but he made sure to send that same message through to us as well. I just told him we couldn't promise anything, especially since Grimlock will be-/
Her voice cut off, as did her warm presence in the Bond, followed by Laserbeak's sudden pulse of alarm.
Soundwave whirled around, just in time to see her chassis mechanically come out of her alt mode, then crashing limply into the street a few paces from Nitro Zeus.
He left Bumblebee's side without a word, dashing towards her and trying to assess her damage. Did Nitro Zeus manage to hit her small form? Was it the Concurrence's lack luster aim? Laserbeak's perspective showed him none of that happened. Everything had been fine, Nitro Zeus about to collapse, but she did first. She was totally unresponsive.
He was still a few blocks away as Nitro Zeus whirled on her limp form, blade coming out of his still usable arm to bring down on her helm. He ignored Laserbeak's crazed fire, determined to at least take one of his foes down with him, and the one closest to his final stand happened to be Rhea.
Soundwave was just about to blast the bot's helm clean off from the remaining distance, mission be damned. But, luckily for Nitro Zeus, a blue blur crashed into him from the nearby roof. Arcee landed hard on his back, bringing him down. He rolled out from under her, ready to slash at Arcee. But Jack's trigger finger was faster, providing her cover from the roof, catching him in both peds. He fell right next to Rhea's limp form, where Arcee finally pinned him for good.
Sharpshot and Starscream's team were busy neutralizing Nitro Zeus' control device, but Soundwave had other matters to attend to. Laserbeak was hovering around Arcee as she lifted Rhea from her limp heap and shook her. "Rhea! Hey, you in there?"
Soundwave skid to a stop, taking Rhea's body from Arcee's clutches to examine it closer. Her Spark pulse was still strong. Aside from the scratches and dents from the short fall, she was fine. But her optics were empty.
/What's wrong with her?/ Jack asked over the commlink. He would have had a very good view of Rhea's fall from his vantage point above them.
"Was her disconnecting part of the plan?" Arcee asked, just as confused.
Obviously not, but it was the only explanation for her sudden ejection. He turned to her translator, which should be resting by her pod down the block, 'Rhea? Do you copy? Rhea!"
No answer, at least, not from her.
/Soundwave? Arcee?/ Shawn of all people came through their commlinks. /Something happened… I don't get the pod tech, the thing Rhea is in. We heard alarms blaring from it across the hall. I came in, it's all pulled open, is that normal? She's alive… But she's moaning, I'm taking her to the hospital./
Soundwave was too stunned to retort, bewildered beyond words. Arcee spoke on his behalf, "Absolutely! Take her there as fast as you can! We'll be there right behind you!/
Shawn's focus left them, the sound of him struggling to get her out of the pod and then carry her down the hall while barking orders to someone else there to get him his car keys. Then the Commlink cut off.
This time, Arcee didn't attack him. Maybe she shared in his confusion, or maybe, it was because he was currently holding Rhea's limp Cybertronian body, and she didn't want to hurt that. "What happened? This scrap hasn't happened in over a year!"
"He said the pod was ripped open…" Soundwave said, realization dawning on him. And as it did, the rage started building.
Arcee must have felt it, and she softened, "What does that mean?"
Soundwave forced himself to calm down, despite his racing mind. He had to get to Rhea, but he had to get their prisoners back to Cybertron. He needed to be to many places at once and his mind was trying to calculate how he could pull off the impossible. "The trapped Megatronus, once ripped the connections from Rhea while she was in the pod in a similar fashion."
Arcee hesitated, "Why would he… What does he have to gain doing that again? Why now?"
Soundwave didn't know, and he didn't care too. The dimensionally imprisoned Prime had just harmed Rhea again. The first time this happened, it had been a means of trying to get her attention. Rhea had informed the ancient Prime at the time of the risk. He knew there was a good chance disconnecting from her Avatar body without going through the proper protocols could hurt, possibly kill her. And he did it again. Soundwave was trying hard not to shake with anger.
"Get it together," Arcee snapped. "She's alive and on the way to the hospital. We need to get these guys settled back home, then we can figure out what the big guy did and why."
Soundwave forced himself to calm down, holding Rhea's Avatar body close. He heard the distant siren of an ambulance as they worked to get the two toxic Cybertronians secured.
Bumblebee
Arcee trudged over from Soundwave. He was still holding Rhea's limp form, and stoically ordering his men around. Unlike Dread Bot, Nitro Zeus was awake, and even while cuffed, he was giving it all he had to remain uncooperative.
"What happened?" He asked Arcee.
"Apparently, Megatronus likes to try killing Rhea while she's in that pod. Soundwave said it happened once before. She's ok, or at least alive. I can't imagine getting yanked out of that thing without all the proper steps is good for her."
"Why?" Bumblebee asked.
She shrugged, "Malice? Boredom? I have no idea. He's trying to get our attention still. I doubt Soundwave will consider ever letting him out after this stunt. Not like it was first on our to do list anyway." They both glanced down at Dread Bot, who was still grumbling in his daze about banks. They were waiting for the much better equipped team of Cons to collect him. But he was a secondary concern compared to his livelier friend. "What was the point of all this?" she grumbled. "They were told to just start attacking Earth? Why? Not like they had a logical target either. Just do damage?"
He too had pondered that same dilemma. But a crackling comm opened before he could swap any guesses. Then, Bumblebee winced when he recognized where the signal was coming from. /I heard word of your victory on Earth from our live comm feed! Good work, Representative! Will you need any help from my men?/ asked the boisterous Minicon leader Sparkplug, still on Prion, and sounding just a little desperate to get off Prion.
"No, it's fine, Sparkplug. We have things handled." He insisted.
/Probably for the best/ Sparkplug hummed, /Though we are in a cease fire with Doomitron's forces, I worry he is still up to his old tricks. We have been keeping an optic on him, just in case./
Bumblebee gave a tired smile. Some things never changed, and that was sort of comforting right now, "Well, I'm sure you can handle it. Make sure to carry on protecting the dig sight. And you can utilize the cease fire to better cover more ground."
/As in, unify our protective efforts with Doomitron?/ Gasped the minicon leader. /I would think the sky would have to fall before that came to pass! But, are you sure you are not in need of my warriors? We could add ourselves to Ultra Magnus' patrol around the Memorial station, or-/
"Really, you're best where you are!" Bumblebee insisted, and he hoped it didn't sound too desperate. Arcee rose an optic ridge, and he pulled back, "I know it's a grueling task, and you guys are missing the Memorial. If it's any consolation, my group may be sitting it out to. We have about ten different disasters all on Earth. Once this is all settled, I can relieve your forces on Prion, and we can have a smaller, more private eulogy for Optimus for us folks working on the big day."
Even from so far away, Sparkplug's excitement at the prospect was clear enough to hear. /I will hold you to that, Representative! And I look forward to seeing you again on Cybertron!/
He cut off, almost whistling in delight.
Arcee gave a tired snicker, "You have loads more patience for that lot than most. You know it's the main reason your comm number is almost exclusively the one used for it, right?"
Bumblebee shrugged, "Hey, not long ago, I was boisterous and annoying too. I would be one heck of a hypocrite if I blew them off. And you got to admit, they have the Spark to take on just about anything."
Arcee again laughed, "if only they had the height for it," she was then focused down the road, and her face shifted. Bumblebee saw Soundwave gently lay Rhea's avatar body against a wall. Then he was above Nitro Zeus, his face a mask of cold and terrifying determination.
"We… should probably chaperone that."
He hurried over, Arcee on his heels. They arrived just as Soundwave was shoving Nitro Zeus into the ground, hard. "I will not ask again, state the purpose for this assault!" he snarled.
Nitro Zeus held his gaze, then offered an oily green smile. He spit his fowl Energon at Soundwave. He paid for the moment of defiance with a sharp jolt from one of Soundwave's tentacles. The body under him shook, momentarily losing consciousness before he was kicked awake by Starscream.
Nitro Zeus came to again, coughing and laughing at once. "Nah… I don't think I'm in the mood to talk. Butter me up more, maybe I'll change my mind."
"Onslaught said they didn't know why they were attacking," Bumblebee reminded Soundwave quickly before something drastic was done to their shared prisoner. "Gaining some form of trust with him will make this go smoother."
Soundwave glared up at him, and Bumblebee had to keep himself from flinching, "And with what time do you conclude we do that, Representative? We do not know nearly enough to consider a pacifistic approach to this."
"I disagree," Bumblebee insisted, taking a step forward despite the near radioactivity of Soundwave's aura.
"Of course he does," Starscream vented a sigh.
"We managed it with his teammate, and I know we can do it again. They were prisoners in this from the start, just trying to save their home. Remember that."
Despite Bumblebee being on team 'don't beat the scrap out of Nitro Zeus,' the bot on the ground scoffed. "Uh, I actually agree with chuckles here," he said, nodding his helm up to Soundwave. "Your two faced Autobot crap ain't gonna work on me so… so…" he hesitated, the gears in his head almost visibly turning as something occurred to him. "Wait up, did you say Onslaught said something? That idiot's alive?"
Bumblebee knelt next to him, "Yes! We managed to save him from that collar around his neck, and we did the same for you! We promised Onslaught we could help you."
"Me?" Nitro Zeus echoed. He rubbed the back of his helm on the pavement under him. His optics widened in shock. "It's gone… How I ain't dead twice?"
"A very hearty temporary med patch," Sharpshot explained. "But it won't hold long. You will need more extensive medical attention," they turned to Soundwave, "which should happen sooner rather then later, if we intend to question them when they are less incoherent."
Soundwave was clearly pondering that, his more reasonable side trying to wrestle control back from his rage.
"She's going to be ok," Bumblebee whispered.
Soundwave flinched, assuring he heard it. His grip lessened on Nitro Zeus, and he stood. Again, his face reverting to a mask of cold nothingness.
A portal ripped open behind them all, a hoard of massive bodies flying out. The streets shook as each Dinobot came screaming out, led as always by the insane Grimlock. "FINALLY! It's brawl time boys!"
"Ya missed it," Arcee explained flatly. "Again." She added.
Grimlock almost looked ready to collapse in the street. "Well, frag me then. I hate the post war vibe."
"You have those too?" Nitro Zeus gasped, and he had to cough away his own Energon pooling in his intakes. His optics were wide as saucers as he looked at the Dinobots, "Why can yours talk? Can OURS talk?"
"Aren't you lot supposed to be helping set up on the Memorial Station?" Arcee growled at Grimlock, ignoring Nitro Zeus' question.
Grimlock shifted down into a less terrifying size, and he shrugged, "Yeah, but it was boring. Then Magnus said this was going down, and he was happy to get rid of us."
"Your comrade Onslaught informed us of this raid," Soundwave said evenly to Nitro Zeus, once more ignoring the outer commentary.
It made the prone bot look back up at him. "We don't snitch on other Cons!"
"It wasn't snitching," Bumblebee insisted. "We said we could help. That's what we are doing. And we need your help too. Do you have any idea why you were sent here?"
Nitro Zeus was very hesitant. A strange hostility returning to his optics, but for some reason, it was focused on Bumblebee. "Of course, this place has a yellow goody to shoes too… Way more talkative than I remember ours bein'. Course, don't remember much, after ya blasted the back of my head open."
Bumblebee stalled, somewhat overwhelmed with that accusation. He pushed forward regardless, "I've heard about where you come from, at least a little bit. And for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry, for what those Autobots have done."
Nitro Zeus rose an uncertain brow ridge, taking in the group of gawking faces. He glanced Dread Bot down the road, focusing hard on his removed collar and patched injuries. His jaw hinge tensed, but something in him did appear to settle. "Quincy said, we needed to make the attack big. Didn't say anything other than, it needed to be distracting."
"Distracting from what?" Bumblebee asked.
His Commlink beeped. And Arcee's did too. Glancing around, every Decepticon Lord was also alert, listening to the incoming comm with looks of shock.
With a growing dread forming in his tanks, Bumblebee pressed his audio to listen.
/Team Prime! Report!/
"Ultra Magnus?" Bumblebee asked, "What-" He wasn't given time to speak.
/An attack! We have no idea how or where they came from! They bypassed all entry points and blasted their way through!/
Bumblebee's growing horror soon matched everyone else's. About a million things went through his mind all at once. Decepticon rogues? Political assassinators again? Did they break into the Iacon vaults, or did they swipe all the shared relics of both factions? "Who? What did they attack?"
Of all the possibilities he had concocted, somehow, he had not considered the worse one. Not until Ultra Magnus told him.
/The station! Memorial Station was breached! They infiltrated the tomb!/
The whole of Bumblebee's world came to a screeching halt, his and everyone's movements around him slowed to a crawl. Ultra Magnus was still talking, but Bumblebee was too shocked to comprehend his orders. Arcee was yelling into her commlink, maybe requesting a Bridge? The Cons across the street were scrambling too. The winged group flew off after Starscream and Sharpshot into an awaiting Spacebridge. Grimlock was infuriated, shouting at no one in particular, "OH COME ON! We just left there!" before he and his band jumped back through the same Bridge they arrived from.
Soundwave seemed almost as frozen as Bumblebee felt, but it didn't last as long. He too was barking orders for Nitro Zeus to be prepped for transport and hurriedly collecting Rhea's Avatar from its place rested against a building.
Somehow, in this cacophony of chaos, Bumblebee spotted movement in his peripheral field of vision. Someone he knew should not be here amongst the rubble of battle.
Peeking out from behind a building, watching the scramble of massive metal feet with a passive gaze, was a human woman. Or at least, she appeared human. But the moment Bumblebee recognized her from Clobber's and Onslaught's description, he knew better.
Pale skin, black hair, and an unnatural aura about her whole being. She noticed Bumblebee looking at her. From under her cloak, she tilted her head, ever so slightly with a curious air. Then she smiled. Far from sweet, or even reassuring. It was a smug, victorious grin belonging to someone whose plans had just gone off without a hitch.
She backed away, electrical waves pulsing under her skin. She phased through the brick wall she was once hidden behind, a pulsing corruption left in her wake.
"That Quincy?" Nitro Zeus said, his gruff voice being the first thing to break Bumblebee out of his shock induced trance. He looked down where Nitro Zeus was laid out, hands clasped in stasis cuffs, but still utterly unbothered by his predicament. Bumblebee couldn't answer him, so Nitro Zeus took the somber moment of silence to spit some of his corrosive Energon onto the pavement. "Yeah, she's a real smug bitch, ain't she? Now imagine having to share a universe with her."