CHAPTER 17, UNKNOWN TERRITORY
NORMAL P.O.V
A full moon provided the only light in the dark, night sky while the silent Decepticon Warship, known as the Nemesis, flew by. Within the Warship, into the medical laboratory, laboured intakes broke through the concurrent beeping. Wires snaked down from above to connect to the form lying on the medical berth, a control panel nearby monitoring the vitals of the patient - Starscream.
Sudden, menacing, recognisable footsteps made the Seeker's eyes open immediately, their reflection revealing who had come to see him.
"Resting comfortably, Starscream?" Megatron questioned rhetorically, "Despite the extent of your injuries, my medical staff assures me that you shall make a rapid recovery."
The silver, red highlighted Seeker sat up slowly, "Hopefully every bit as rapid as your wrath is swift." His rasp caused a coughing fit to escape him.
Megatron only chuckled amusingly.
"How… swiftly amusing, to spy a familiar sight, to some degree." Starscream's coughing ended in time for him to lock eyes with his fellow twin Seeker, her gleeful smirk on full display at his pain. "Why, it was not too long ago that you, Lord Megatron, were the one in this medical chamber. Would you not agree, my Lord."
"Right after his failed attempt to terminate me!" The Warlord snapped in agreement. "But know this, dear Starscream, our positions shall never again be reversed." His point made, he began stepping away from his traitorous Seeker.
Slipstream's smirk remained, "I do hope you are listening, you and your 'partner-through-crime'." She turned her head to the fourth occupant in the room. "On the contrary, I would not mind not ever seeing your face ever again."
"Feeling's mutual, Slipstream." Moonlight mirrored the smirk with her sarcastic smile.
Watching the Decepticon leaders leave the room, Starscream sat up with a snarl of frustration, and began ripping off the cables on his body one by one.
"Starscream, you're sure you're physically capable to begin our back-up plans?"
"If I was not 'capable', I would be dead."
Outside the medical room, Knock Out was scrolling through his data-pad, eagerly attempting to keep out of trouble now that his true Leader had returned from the near-dead. His focus was suddenly destroyed as the doors of the laboratory slid open, followed by growls of pain, and quickly turned to his fellow Decepticons, "Starscream? Have you lost your senses?" He began trailing after the Seeker. "You haven't fully recuperated!"
"I feel fine, Knock Out! Never better! You're a brilliant physician! Now GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Giving the medical officer a shove, he limped onwards, holding his chest.
"Yes, listen to him, Knock Out." The vain Decepticon faced Moonlight. "We've got more important matters to tend to."
"Like what, Moonlight? Bowing down to Megatron for forgiveness?"
Moonlight scowled at the human-like figure that continued to pop up whenever she pleased, "None of your business, Rose. Scamper before I 'accidentally' step on you."
"You'd miss, anyway."
With another scowl, the black and pink Decepticon carried on, leaving their other two Decepticon acquaintances to shrug at each other in concern of what the pair were planning.
In another corridor, the doors in front of Starscream and Moonlight broke away for them to enter the empty hallway, closing just as quickly. The latter's face showed confusion as the Seeker continued to wheeze his way down the hallway, wondering where he was leading themselves too.
Starscream released a sigh, "Dark Energon may have replenished your strength, Master." Gripping onto a nearby doorway, he bent down to pull an item out from behind it. "But how could you forget that you never reclaimed your original shard?"
Moonlight's eyes lit up at the Dark Energon shard, the same one Slipstream had brought with her when the decision on Megatron's life was being made. He had clearly re-hidden it, with hopes to use it for a future use. She smirked, "And what could you possibly be planning, Starscream?" Her tone gave way she already had an idea in mind.
Flashes of the past flickered in the Seeker's mind - from finding Megatron's nearly deceased corpse amongst the Spacebridge wreckage, discovering the open wound in his chest, and pulling out what the Decepticon Warlord used to keep himself alive. He could remember the groans of mercy, red eyes going dark as the chance of claiming the Decepticon leadership for himself, without any other obstacles, became a near reality.
…Until he had turned around to find his twin, highly considering ending his life then and there.
"Once the blood of Unicron flows through my veins, our positions with our master and second-in-command shall be reversed…" Starscream clutched the Dark Energon shard with all the strength he had, sharing a smirk with his fellow soldier.
…While behind them, a small figure watched with concerned interest.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"I had hoped that my growing expertise on the subject would remain purely academic. But though faint, this is clearly a Dark Energon signature."
Not exactly the news any of us wanted to hear when Ratchet requested we all be present in the main room.
"According to the tracking, it's moving fast along with the second signal underneath it."
Optimus nodded at Starlight's tracking update, "Megatron and Slipstream."
It sounded correct; Megatron moving back in action with the help of Dark Energon while Slipstream trailed along behind, being the ever faithful soldier to him. But it was also a little unsurprising, because of course, they wouldn't waste time.
"Where did he find more of the bad stuff?" I turned at Arcee walking in with more of our team.
"Ahhh, what's he gon' do it with it, an'way?" Aquastrike wasn't a huge fan in believing that Dark Energon was truly as powerful as most of us had seen it as. She was a little skeptical about a lot of things like that, until proven otherwise.
Bulkhead waved his arms, "Rebuild an army of the undead?"
"Zombie 'Cons?" I wanted to cringe at Miko's sudden pipe up.
"You just had to say 'undead'." Carly voiced exactly my thoughts.
The humans were over in their area, in their terms 'lounging' around. Jack and Rafael had just finished another round of their video gaming, with most of us having been watching before Ratchet called for us to come over. Carly had been working on some kind of school work, and Miko was drawing, something my human said she would do now and then when she felt like it.
Apparently, when Arcee and I had first met them, Miko had been drawing us in our motorcycle forms while we had waited for Jack. It wasn't what I had expected for one of her hobbies to be all things considered… but this was Miko. She was full of surprises.
"We cannot rule out the possibility." I looked at the green monitors as Optimus spoke. The two red flashing signals were moving fast… "Especially since Megatron and Slipstream seem to be heading to a familiar sight."
"A little too familiar." Starlight nudged my shoulderpads.
There was only one offline soldier in that area that some of us already knew of… But Megatron wasn't in charge when we went to deal with this 'Con ages ago… We didn't even know if he was alive! How does he know there's an offline 'Con at that canyon?
…Unless Slipstream told him… or maybe, it's not even Megatron at all…
NORMAL P.O.V
A silver jet flew across the canyon with urgency, while behind him, a mostly black jet followed after him. Both of them were heading to a familiar location, one they knew rested a warrior that could help their cause towards reclaiming the Decepticon leadership from their current adversaries. The pair of jets transformed into Starscream and Moonlight, the former holding on his Dark Energon shard as he landed. Beside him, his fellow and apparently faithful companion also landed, with a figure standing on her palm.
"One's vehicle form feels so much faster than that of a jet's." The figure, wasting no time in spitting out a complaint, landed on her feet.
Moonlight huffed, "Don't get why we had to bring this creature of nuisance with us."
"I'm a creature of intelligence, Moonlight." Rebecca scrunched her face up at the other Decepticon. "You know very well that if you hadn't, I would've gone running straight to Megatron and Slipstream to nark."
"The little Scraplet is not incorrect, Moonlight."
"I'm not a Scraplet either, heels."
Starscream shook his head, choosing to ignore the powered human. In front of him sat a sight he had been hoping to find. "Ah… The grave sight of the mighty Skyquake. So quick to reject my authority while you lived." His Dark Energon shard purred in his grip. "But as the first of my reanimated warriors, you shall bow to my command."
The Seeker snapped the shard into two, purple mist oozing around both pieces. He threw one of the halves to the memorial of the fallen soldier, bouncing from rock to rock until it slipped into a small gap. Almost immediately after, the gravesite began to glow purple, the power of the shard activating.
Moonlight's eyes could only light up in excitement, finally getting to watch the power Dark Energon work for the very first time. Her face was also cast purple from the glow, both growing brighter from the growing power.
Looking at the rest of the shard momentarily, Starscream struck his chest with the Energon, through his Decepticon emblem in near similar fashion to how the Decepticon Warlord once did. Eyes turning purple, he purred at the power overcoming him, "Yes... power of Dark Energon, be MINE!"
The Seeker welcomed the purple flames licking over his body, as if he had commanded them to appear. He snarled as the shard's power continued to take hold. "Symbiosis." A cackle rang out in the canyon, hands clutching into fists. "I can feel it!
Around the trio, the ground began to crack, purple glowing through the jagged lines.
"Told you it makes them go whacky."
Moonlight didn't want to admit that the enhanced human was right, but after seeing what she had witnessed, she had to only nod her head in agreement.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Megatron has barely emerged from stasis, and it seems he's already making up for lost time. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Aquastrike, Starlight, Windswept, Ratchet, prepare to roll out!"
It felt unsurprising that Optimus would take a large team to tackle what waited for us. If Megatron and Slipstream were really going to reanimate Skyquake, we needed as much firepower as possible. Skyquake had been a tough foe to put down with only four of us at the time, even if we had distractions along the way. Who knows what else was being planned, or who else would be joining.
"Me?" I could hear Ratchet's gasp of surprise as we moved towards the 'Bridge.
"If we are dealing with Dark Energon, I may well require your expertise. Arcee, Sunburst?"
"Bridge operators," Arcee nodded.
"Got it." I smiled slightly at Sunburst's near monotonous reply.
He'd gone into a shell since we had spoken about… everything. It felt as if he was retreating away from me because I felt betrayed and disappointed by him, and he was making sure he wasn't going to let it happen again… If there was one thing I really knew about him, it was that he rarely did make mistakes twice. He learned from things in the past, he'll learn from this too. With time.
And with time… I could forgive him… maybe…
I returned my attention to the Groundbridge tunnel, where in front of me, Aquastrike and Starlight looked thrilled to be partnering up. With Star stepping back to learn more about medicine from Ratchet, she hadn't really been on many missions. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for her to be learning, as well as knowing we had someone just as capable as Ratchet to be there for us, it just didn't feel the same going out without her.
It had been so long since Aquastrike and Starlight had teamed up properly, let alone all three of us 'female-identifying' Iaconians going out together. It felt… nostalgic…
"Go get 'em, Bulkhead! Bring the hurt!" Bulkhead punched his fists together at Miko's encouragement.
I raised an optical ridge. Hmm, not like Miko to just stay and be vocally cheerful for once…
NORMAL P.O.V
As Miko continued her drawing, she was blissfully unaware of three pairs of human eyes glaring at her suspiciously.
"That's not like Miko to not wanna go." Jack shook his head disbelievingly.
"She's definitely up to something," Raf whispered in agreement.
Carly sat forwards in her seat on the other side of her young brother, eyeing her friend's facial features closely, "Ser paciente. She'll crack."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The Groundbridge portal opened to life around us. Optimus began transforming, causing us all to follow suit. As soon as he rolled off into the portal, we followed him in.
There was a feeling in my spark from earlier that remained, that maybe we weren't going to see Megatron and Slipstream on the other side waiting for us. I couldn't describe it, but it just didn't make sense for them to go and restart their plans with Dark Energon so soon. They both could be eerily patient if they had to be.
…But who could it be if it wasn't them? I couldn't wrap my thoughts around it. There was only one person who had enough knowledge in Dark Energon to be able to use it in their favour… I was going to make my helm hurt before we'd even gone out for battle at this point.
NORMAL P.O.V
Carly saw her best friend's eyes flick to hers, and smirked. In seconds, Miko was leaping over the armrest of her seat, drawing pad and pencils forgotten as she immediately fled the human area, while the rest of her friends stood in attention.
"Making a break!" The trio were quick to follow their friend, Jack tripping over a footstool that Carly barely managed to leap over.
Unaware of what was occurring nearby, Arcee looked up at Sunburst, "You and 'Swept doing okay?"
Sunburst turned his head from his teammate to the Groundbridge controls, "She doesn't trust me. I don't blame her."
"You two will work it out."
Sunburst failed to formulate a reply.
Miko sped down the stairs, even leaping down a few at a time in a hurry to make it to the Groundbridge before it closed, or before she was spotted by the pair at the controls. She was moving fast towards her target, but her friends were moving quicker, having also jumped down the steps to her entering the portal.
"It's not safe!" Jack yelled as he grabbed onto the girl's arm.
"I am not going to miss my first Zombie Con throw down!"
Carly joined the duo, immediately reaching out to grab her best friend's other wrist, "Miko Nakadai, don't you dare!"
Miko huffed as she fought the pair keeping her at bay, "Let me go, Carlotta Esquivel!"
Snatching her wrist out of Jack's grip, the girl was quickly able to escape out of Carly's as well, allowing her to continue her sprint into the portal. The noise of the Groundbridge swirling around them was loud enough for the group to not notice the pink cellular device falling out of the girl's pocket.
"MIKO!" Without a second wasted, Carly was dashing into the portal after her friend, along with her crush and her brother…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
We rushed out of the Groundbridge into our Cybertronian forms to begin the scout of the area. Nothing appeared to have changed much, considering it had been a long while now since we had been here.
"Innit great?!" I don't think I was the only one being crushed into Aquastrike's side, "Ol' Twinkle, Windy and ah like old times!"
"Yeah…! Really… great… Aqua." Starlight's voice sounded like she was struggling on Aquastrike's other side.
"Jus' need Ol' Sourshine ta be like real ol' times!" She was so nostalgic for the past, even if it was fearful to look back on sometimes. "An' good Ol'-!"
"That's not Megatron or Slipstream!"
Aquastrike released Starlight and I at the same time we saw what was happening. Two… familiar figures standing in front of us standing in front of… Skyquake's burial place. Definitely not Megatron or Slipstream like Bulkhead had said…
"RISE, SKYQUAKE!" Starscream?! …Of course, I should've known! He and Moonlight were the only others who knew about him! "RISE!"
"Moon?" Starlight's voice… trembled like she was surprised to see her own split-spark here.
The ground started shaking, a purple glow lighting up over the memorial sight… This was not good…
NORMAL P.O.V
As the Autobots remained focused on what was happening in front of them, Miko clambered up onto a large rock behind them, excitement sparkling in her eyes, "Let's see some fight of the living dead already!"
"Miko!" Jack hissed, bending down angrily, "What were you thinking?"
"She wasn't!" On either side of the two teens appeared the Esquivel siblings, eyes narrowed.
"Hey! I totally missed out last time!" The exchange student began, glaring at the two eldest teenagers, "This could be my only chance to take some snaps!" She reached for her belt, where her phone was usually placed. However, it was not where she expected it to be. "My cell phone!" She stood at the realisation, looking around for her pink device only to find it nowhere in sight. " I must have dropped it back at base!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The sounds of Optimus activating his weapons and his battle mask made me follow and activate my blasters, "Starscream. Moonlight."
"Autobots!" I wanted to gasp at Starscream when he turned to us. His frame was covered in so many scars and scratches, and more. Primus, what did Megatron do to him? And how was he even able to move around in that state?
"Sister." Moonlight's voice was as deep as Starlight's stare. "I'd suggest you run along and play medic somewhere else."
"Stand down!" At Optimus' growl, we held up our weapons at them.
"You stand down!" Starscream held up his missile at us… and activated it.
We immediately scattered at the same time the missile made contact with the ground right in front of us, taking cover behind a few nearby boulders on either side of the blast. I looked over to the other side of the canyon, where Bulkhead, Aquastrike, Starlight and Bumblebee were, safe and okay. Ratchet and Optimus must've been with me.
"You cannot harm me while Dark Energon flows through my veins!" Why did Dark Energon make the user feel so powerful like this? Starscream was beginning to sound like Megatron back at that battlefield with the undead Cybertronians ages ago!
Optimus stood up suddenly, and fired a blaster shot no doubt towards Starscream and Moonlight. I peeked around the corner of the builder, where the shot impacted Starscream's arm… disconnecting it from his body?!
On a regular day, that should never happen! Primus, Megatron really must've put him through the pit.
Starscream must've noticed too, because he went running straight for his arm and ducked straight behind a boulder… in cowardly, Starscream fashion.
Moonlight looked furious at what had happened, "Want something done right, never rely on Starscream to do it for you." Her weapons appeared, firing at us immediately.
I felt someone's servos on my shoulder pads pulling me out of the firing line, "You know what your human says about curiosity, Windswept." It kills… something… Ugh, thanks Ratchet for being a smartaft, and protecting my life, as usual.
Aquastrike's whistling made me focus my optics on her looking over the boulder with excitement, "Not a bad shot, Ol' Prime!"
"Aqua's not wrong," Bulkhead agreed, "You also clipped his wing. He's grounded."
Perfect.
Something pink and white rose up. My internal systems began panicking at Starlight, face mask on and leaping up onto the boulder. She swung one of her speciality knives in the air, and threw it at Moonlight. Her other two followed, making my optic line follow them towards Moonlight. Two of them missed, but a sudden cry of pain meant that the last one must've hit their target. She suddenly leapt behind the same boulder Starscream was cowering behind.
Aquastrike was whistling again, "Twinkle's still got it!"
Optimus moved out of position, racing ahead towards the 'Cons. Starlight jumped off the boulder and followed him with Aquastrike. I got up too, and I was pretty certain that Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Ratchet were all coming too. This was our one chance to not only stop what Starscream and Moonlight were doing but, if we could, capture them and really turn the tide of this war back to our favour.
"Come on. Come on. RISE ALREADY!" I could Starscream yelling and growling.
We fanned out to ensure that there was no escape…
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE ME LOSE MY PHONE!"
…What in the name of Primus…?
I turned around, to another boulder behind us, and zoomed my optics in… The angry urge to get mad at the sight boiled up inside of me, because standing on that exact boulder was Carly, Miko, Jack and Rafael.
"How is this my fault?!"
"It was YOUR idea, Miko!"
"Oh no." Bulkhead's reaction was correct.
"Ol' Missy Miko!" Aquastrike whined.
It had really seemed too good to be true, that for once, Miko would stay put.
"Base to Optimus. The kids are missing."
"We have a visual. Send a Groundbridge immediately."
Arcee and Sunburst wasted no time in activating a Groundbridge for us… just as another appeared…?! Starscream and Moonlight must've called for one as well.
"Two?" Ratchet sounded like he was in disbelief. "You four! INTO OUR GROUNDBRIDGE! NOW!"
Miko looked highly disappointed, unsurprisingly, but she didn't fight Carly grabbing her wrist as they followed Ratchet's order. The sudden noise of running made me look over at Starscream and Moonlight leaping into their 'Bridge…
They were leaving us to deal with whatever they had been planning. We could handle whatever that was just fine, but the thought of Miko somehow managing to escape back was concerning. Especially if someone was coming back to fetch her too.
I glanced over at Aquastrike and Starlight; they were already looking at me.
"We'll go back with them!" Star was running with Aqua before I could even say anything. It was like they knew exactly what I was going to tell them.
Something began happening when they and the humans entered our portal. It's like the Groundbridges were trying to connect to each other by reaching out towards the other. And the noise! Primus, it was getting so loud suddenly!
I looked between the Groundbridges, "What's going on?!"
"The duelling Groundbridge portals must be feeding back each other!"
"Miko!" Bulkhead suddenly murmured, "We've gotta get the kids out of there!" He started running to the portal
…Carly… and Aquastrike… and Starlight…
My pedes were following Bulk before I realised it. He went to jump into the portal… just as a sudden explosion sent him my way and knocked me over hard, back to the others. I looked up at the portal…
…The world went black.
NORMAL P.O.V
Inside the Nemesis, a Vehicon soldier worked silently at a corner workstation, keeping to themselves and staying out of trouble. At the sounds of an opening portal, he turned to the noise, where a Groundbridge was open and flying out of it were two familiar Cybertronians - ones who shouldn't have even been outside of the Warship.
The battered Starscream gasped as he pushed himself up onto his knees with his lone arm, looking around for his other one only to discover it was no longer with him, "My arm!"
"Of course you lost it," Moonlight huffed to a stand, "Only you could create such wonderful plans and manage to self-destruct them with even more damage."
"Shut up and help me find it!"
The pair soon felt that they were being watched, making them look up at the Vehicon soldier at the workstation.
Starscream leaped up, pointing a clawed talon over the Vehicon's chest. "Not a word about this! TO ANYONE!" His point being made, the Seeker walked to the laboratory.
Moonlight only chuckled and folded her arms, "Rumours are true, I dare guess. You are no Megatron, Starscream, nor will you ever be." Silence was her only reply, much to her confusion. "Isn't this when you make a snarky response, Rose?"
The female Decepticon looked around her, discovering that the person she was looking for was nowhere in sight. With a shrug, she began following Starscream into the medical bay, uncaring of where the enhanced human had disappeared to.
The Seeker, meanwhile, had paused in the hallway. Briefly checking both sides, he pulled the Dark Energon shard out from his spark, looking at it with uncertainty. Moonlight was likely not as wrong as he had hoped.
The dust was clearing from the explosion that had occurred. Unconscious humans and Cybertronians scattered around the canyon, some groaning as they began to awaken from being knocked out from what had caused the explosion.
"Are you guys okay?" Jack was the first to speak amongst the humans, seeing his friends rise up from the ground. He rubbed the back of his head.
Raf climbed to his knees and adjusted his glasses, "Yeah. I think so."
"What happened?" Carly held her forehead, quickly getting a comforting rub on her arm from Miko.
Sudden groaning caused the four to glance up at the aqua blue and black Autobot in front of them, rolling onto their side, "Ain't felt like pukin' in a long while an' all, ah might jus' hafta this time though."
Beside her, Starlight sat on her knees and stared knowingly at her partner, "If you had any Energon to vomit up. I know you haven't taken your daily ration yet."
"Not sure if I wanted to know that Cybertronians could vomit, since I don't feel so great either after that," Miko whispered in Carly's ear.
Her friend wanted to nod in agreement, but the groans of the other Autobots also awakening stopped her. Immediately, the group of five focused their attention on the rest of the team, eager to ensure they were feeling okay as well.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
My body felt sore, my vision blurry and my systems churned… Primus, what was that explosion?
A familiar groaning made me turn to Bulkhead up on his pedes, "What just happened?" How did he even get up so quickly?
The urge to even sit up was too much for me right now, but I had to do it to make sure everything with my body was okay. Sudden servos on the sides of my arms made me glance at their owner. Bumblebee gave me a nod and began helping me stand.
I could hear more familiar groaning beside me - Ratchet, "I can't be certain. But if two Groundbridges sent to the same coordinates crossed streams, the feedback could have triggered a system overload."
If Aquastrike were here, she would no doubt be looking at Starlight for clarification…
…Wait, they went into the portal the same time the explosion happened… and the humans! I glanced around me… maybe they managed to get back to base…
NORMAL P.O.V
"Could?!" Miko questioned in disbelief, "Hello! More like totally did!"
"The others made it through, right?" The former Wrecker asked, glancing around.
Raf pulled a face, "Huh?"
"What's he talking about?" Jack wondered.
"Whaddya mean by that? You'd've known!" Uncertainty took over her face, glancing at her partner. "Right?"
Starlight pulled a concerned face, "We're all here, Bulkhead?"
With confusion, Carly began walking up to her guardian, "Hey 'Swept? Down here!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Arcee, Sunburst, did the children make it safely back to base?"
"Negative, Optimus." It was like that saying that Carly sometimes says, about how she felt her stomach drop at bad news. It felt like that right now at Sunburst's confirmation.
"You don't see them?" Arcee sounded so worried.
"No sign," Ratchet stepped forward.
I had to take a few steps forward; standing still was not going to make me feel any better. Nothing would. If Carly, Aquastrike, Starlight and the others weren't here or at base, where the frag were they?!
NORMAL P.O.V
"What? No sign?!" Miko began walking to her friend. "Okay, seriously, Bulk?!"
"'Swept! Wait!" Without any warning, Carly's guardian walked towards her, and then through her. Dizziness crashed through the human as she screamed, stumbling backwards.
"He went right through you," Jack stated as he reached out to catch his friend by her shoulders. The pair glanced at each other, quickly realising how they were standing, making Carly stand back up so quickly, Jack had to ignore the whiplash he felt in his heart, "We're not alive!"
"I don't wanna be a ghost!" Raf clutched the elder boy's leg.
"Y'all know ghosts ain't real, right?" Aquastrike scoffed.
"You've said this about everything you thought wasn't real."
"Ya know me best, Twinkle." The Autobot gripped her partner's shoulder. "Ain't a b'liever 'bout much an' all."
Carly looked up, seeing Aquastrike grip Starlight's shoulder comfortingly, and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, "If we are ghosts, then how come we can touch each other?"
Aquastrike folded her arms, "Told y'all we ain't ghosts."
Jack looked up, "But if we aren't, then what are we?"
Seeing their team moving on, he and the rest of his friends quickly followed with the pair of Autobots in tow.
WINDSWEPT'S P.O.V
Standing around here, waiting for our friends to magically turn up - even though that sounded like a really good thing right now - wasn't going to do us anything. We started walking over to the area where Starscream and Moonlight had been with the tomb of Skyquake.
"Ratchet, could the children, Starlight and Aquastrike have been transported onto the Nemesis instead?"
The idea… terrified me. Nothing good ever came from escaping that ship. Agent Fowler would know very well… and unfortunately, so do I. Twice over in fact, considering I not only left that place with Megatron's consciousness in my mind, but I'd even allowed him to return to a physical state of being…
…I must've been unable to suppress a body shudder, because there was a servo on my shoulder, like they understood my thoughts over the idea.
Because what if they had all gone onto the Warship?! Megatron was sadistic enough to do ANYTHING to them… Slipstream knew so much history from Aquastrike and Starlight too that she could torment them to no end… And Rebecca… Primus, please make me stop thinking.
"Not likely." My systems stopped churning… slightly… "If Starscream and Moonlight didn't arrive at our base, the most likely explanation is a dislocation. The children, Starlight and Aquastrike may simply been 'bridged to an unintended destination."
Anything would be better than that Decepticon Warship any solar cycle… however, it still didn't make anything more clearer about where our friends could've ended up…
NORMAL P.O.V
At the idea Ratchet presented, the humans froze in their steps.
Raf tugged on his sister's arm, making her glance down at him, face softening as she took in his puzzled expression, "Another place but in the same place."
Jack turned to the siblings, "Wha-What? What do you mean?"
"We're probably in a different dimension, some kind of alternate reality."
"Like a shadowzone," Starlight nodded in realisation with the young boy, "The explosion from the Groundbridge portals must've caused this."
"Nerd alert." The group glared at Miko.
"Duh? How else would we've got here?!" At the voice, the humans and Autobots turned to a boulder, where a figure leaned up against it. She was throwing a boomerang up and down boredly, before flickering her black cap upwards and revealing a listless expression.
"Rebecca?!" The elder Esquivel stood protectively in front of the younger.
"In the flesh… kind of." Rebecca hooked her boomerang back onto her belt loop, amusingly watching the siblings. "Oh, settle down, I have no intentions of starting a fight… yet."
"Of all stinkin' lookin' 'Cons we hadda be stuck in some sha'ow-wharever with, hadda be you, dudn't it?"
"A pity, right?" The enhanced human dramatically sighed. "Oh, had I known this was how my day was going to go, I would've happily stayed at the Warship."
"What brought you out here?" Miko sneered her question.
"Awh, the attitude still exists. Cute." Her verbal opponent rolled her eyes. "Starscream and Moonlight were being sneaky little psychos behind Megatron and Slipstream - shocking, right? They knew I'd have told on them if they didn't let me come with."
"A tattle-tale?" Miko scoffed, "Shocking."
Rebecca smirked, "Whatever gets Moonlight or Starscream into trouble so Megatron can deal with them. My entertainment, really."
Starlight scrunched her face, "Your humour and tastes are concerning."
"All the joys of growing up a Decepticon."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Look." We looked into the tomb of Skyquake at Optimus' signal. "Skyquake's tomb is empty."
"How did we miss Skyquake rising and shining?"
"It would seem Starscream and Moonlight got what they came for," Ratchet observed.
It felt unsettling that Starscream and Moonlight had done what they came here to do… clearly, their plan was to raise their own army of undead soldiers just like Megatron and Slipstream had done a while ago now… but hadn't they left on their own…? Without Skyquake… or did they really manage to get away with him without us seeing?
…Thoughts of Carly and the others returned to my mind..
I shook my helm - this wasn't a time to worry about Skyquake or whatever Starscream and Moonlight wanted to do next with him. "They're the least of our concerns right now." I looked up at Optimus; he was already looking at me with a similar expression of concern. "We have to find the others."
Optimus nodded in agreement, "Arcee, 'Bridge us back to base."
"'Swept, look." I turned around at 'Bee's call. He was bending down, overlooking something on the ground. I walked up to him as he picked something up.
Starlight's knives.
My spark ached. Primus guys, where are you?!
NORMAL P.O.V
Watching the scene unfolding, Starlight's hand moved to her side, making her realise that her weapons were indeed in the other dimension. She had mixed emotions inside of her, watching her friends pick up her weapons - she knew they would be kept safe in their hands, however, it felt extremely wrong for her to not have them.
"Windy an 'Bee will look afta 'em, ya know." Despite her friend's reassurance, the petite Autobot didn't feel assured.
A loud, screeching sound made its way across the canyon, making the unseen group of humans and Autobots turn to discover a hand gripping on the rock formation. It pulled itself up, revealing the dull form of an undead Cybertronian. Metal screeched as it stomped towards its targets in front of an open Groundbridge portal.
"ZOMBIE!" At Miko's yell, the four humans began running towards their Autobot friends.
"GUYS LOOK OUT!"
Aquastrike activated her weapons, "BULKHEAD!"
"'SWEPT! Turn around!"
Rebecca widened her eyes, "Interesting. Skyquake made his grand re-entrance, after all."
"IT'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Raf cried.
Skyquake raised his sharp-clawed hand above Bulkhead, ready to strike. He swung his arm down… only for his arm to fly straight through the bulky Cybertronian. He growled confusingly, purple eyes watching the four Autobots walking into the open portal, while the group behind him could only watch in disbelief.
"AWESOME! It can't touch them either!" As if it heard Miko's cheer, the groaning soldier turned to the group.
"That doesn't mean what you think it means, sweetheart," Rebecca warned, standing with the four humans as Skyquake roared towards them.
"If that thing can't touch the bots-"
"-Just like we can't." Carly shared a terrified look with Jack.
"Then we're trapped in a shadow zone… with a Decepticon zombie?" Raf finished.
"If we aren't ghosts now, we will be soon!" Miko squeaked.
"Ahh, lemme at 'im!" Aquastrike leapt to the front of the group with her weapons activated.
At once, she fired multiple shots at the undead Cybertronian, some hitting and the rest hitting around the area, dust forming around them. The aqua blue Autobot fired and fired until she could no longer see her target. Nothing but silence reigned through the area, much to the joyful expressions spreading across the group's faces… Until a sudden arm swung out to hit the Autobot into a nearby canyon wall.
"Aqua!" Starlight watched her friend lift her head with a groan.
Looking back at the undead Skyquake, he swiped at the group menacingly, roaring at the power coursing within him. Faces full of fear returned to the humans; with the power of Dark Energon, he would be able to do anything he could.
Rebecca glared at the pair of Autobots, in particular the pink and white one, "Do something!"
"I don't have blaster weapons!" The enhanced human's glare intensified at the Autobot, with the addition of confusion. "'Swept said dissection could destroy a Terracon for good, but my knives are back at base!"
Aquastrike moved to her hands and knees, "Dunno 'bout all'a y'all, ah ain't ready to b'come zombie chow!" She transformed into her Subaru form, and drove up to the four humans with all her doors wide open. "Hop on in if ya wanna live!"
"Wait! We're fleeing?!" Miko gaped, "Aqua, you don't run!"
"If I'd've taken my Energon, ah'd be keen on a scrap! B'sides, y'all's human sitters would wantcha's alive, don'tcha think?!"
Jack and Miko jumped into the front seats of their friend's vehicle form, as Raf tried to follow suit only to trip up on a rock. He stumbled to the ground, having no time to react as his elder sibling quickly helped him into the back seat. The door slammed shut just as Aquastrike' tires squealed
Starlight transformed into her motorcycle form, preparing to follow her friend zooming away, when a trembling whimper made her glance to her mirrors. Rebecca stood frozen, stunned at the undead Cybertronian coming after them. Unwillingly, the Autobot pulled up alongside the enhanced human, "Hop on!"
Pulling her eyes off Skyquake, Rebecca stood in surprise at Starlight's offer, "You're serious?!" But as another roaring noise sounded off, it made her move into action and leapt onto the seat in time for the Autobot to sped off after her friends.
Carly had been watching the Decepticon's moment of hesitation when she felt a tug on her sleeve, making her immediately turn to her brother beside her and gasping, "Your glasses!"
The four humans looked out the mirrors and windows, seeing the red-rimmed set of glasses sitting on the ground where he had tripped on his way into getting into the car.
Jack shook his head, "Way too dangerous."
"Excuse me?!" Carly glared angrily, "Raf can't see without them!
"What are you?! Ninety?!"
Carly gritted her teeth together, "Not helping, Miko!"
"Jack ain't wrong, Carly!" Aquastrike piped up, "Cain't spin 'round now unless ya wanna be that zombie meal!"
At the group arguing through the open communication channel, Rebecca gripped the handlebars of Starlight's motorcycle form, and looked at the red glasses lying absentmindedly behind her.
Huffing in frustration, the elder Esquivel sibling tugged on the door handle, "Then unlock the doors so I can go grab them!"
"Have you lost your mind Carlotta Esquivel!?"
"What?! I don't see any of you eager to help!" Carly's attention shifted to the driver's seat. "And just because Miko calls me by full name, gives you no right to call me that either, Jackson Darby!"
"Great, not only are we getting chased by a zombie, we're stuck listening to the 'will they, won't they' couple arguing!" The pair gave the oblivious Miko similar scowls. "Wait! They're gone!"
Aquastrike pulled to the side behind a large boulder and skidded to a stop, "Missy Miko, whaddya mean, they're gone?!"
Miko shrugged in disbelief, "I don't know! I just looked in the mirror and BAMN! Disappeared!"
Starlight pulled up alongside the passenger side of her friend's vehicle form, allowing her passenger to knock on the window. It was pulled down slowly for Rebecca, who was holding exactly what the four humans had been arguing about, "These belong to anyone, by chance?"
Miko snatched the item out of the enhanced humans' hand, and passed it into her best friend's open one, "Here you go, gramps!"
Carly felt relief melt inside of her, and it wasn't just because she wasn't going to have to go back to her mother to explain what had happened to her young brother's glasses. She passed the pair of spectacles to him before looking out the window, "Thank you."
Rebecca pulled a face, "Don't get too sincere with me until we deal with this Terracon."
Another roaring sound from the undead soldier, this time closer than ever, made Rebecca's point. Aquastrike and Starlight's tires squealed on the ground, dust kicking up around them as they once again sped off to flee their predator.
"Maybe we could set a trap!" Miko began suggesting, looking amongst her friends, "Try to crush it!"
"With what?" Raf asked, "Nothing around here's solid except for us and the ground!"
"Cain't drive 'round these parts on an' all forever!"
"Find a hiding spot, then!" Rebecca spoke up, "Sooner the better!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Ratchet, if the children, Aquastrike and Starlight were misdirected to an unintended location, is there any way to get a fix on their coordinates?"
I was pacing backwards and forwards in front of the Groundbridge. Most of the team were huddled around Ratchet to see if he was able to locate our friends somehow - I didn't feel like joining them. I was too worried and stressed to just stand there and watch for anything to pop up on the screens.
It'd been bad enough as it was dealing with the repercussions of discovering and accepting everything I'd learnt from Megatron's time in my mind. But Carly and Jack were still on edge with each other and things still weren't okay between Sunburst and I… For once, I just wanted a mission to go accordingly… was that too much to ask?
…Apparently so.
Something grabbed my shoulderpads, stopping me in place. I looked up, "If you keep pacing like that, you will wade a hole in that floor."
I rolled my optics, "What else is there to do, Sunburst?!" I pointed to the Groundbridge tunnel. "Our friends are out there, where we can't reach them."
"I'm worried too, 'Swept." Considering where we stood in terms of our own friendship, I wasn't fussed on calling him by my nickname, but in this case, with everything going on, I didn't have the spark to tell him not to call me that. "I will grow more worried about you the more you keep going like this."
I pinched the bridge of my nose plating and sighed, "I just want to know where they are, and if they're okay."
"If they were lost, Miko would have called me."
…Their phones… surely, at least one of the humans had them!
"We should call them!" 'Bee sounded off before I could say something.
"Call them! Yes!" I watched Bulk bring his servo to his audio receptor.
A noise suddenly rang out in the base… somewhere… Why did that noise sound so familiar?
Sunburst moved away from me to the tunnel, and bent down for some reason that I couldn't think of. He stood up and stretched out his servo to us, "It's not like Miko to run off without this."
In his servo was Miko's cell phone… Scrap.
Bulkhead took the device from Sunburst, "That's why she hasn't phoned."
"Let me try Jack," Arcee insisted, looking at me, "You can try Carly."
…Primus Carly, if you didn't charge your phone last night, right when we need you to give us a sign that you're okay, I don't know how I'll react.
NORMAL P.O.V
"The best thing about zombies-" The four humans jumped out of the Subaru vehicle form, Miko immediately imitating the movements of a zombie. "-They're slow moving."
"Anyone would think you were a zombie in a past life with that acting." The exchange student pulled an unhappy expression at Rebecca hopping off Starlight's motorcycle form.
Carly folded her arms with a huff, "Why is she here again?"
Starlight transformed to bend down to the group, "Carly, you know very well we don't abandon other beings in need. Evil or not."
"I wasn't 'in need' of rescuing," Rebecca rolled her eyes, "I'm not some damsel in distress."
Miko smirked, "You did look scared when that Zombie-Con was coming for you, though."
"Ughhh, the sooner we get out of this place, the sooner I can go back to infuriating Moonlight and Slipstream." The enhanced human pointedly looked at the two female humans. "You two are too annoyingly reactive to anything I say." She sighed a heavy sigh. "I propose a truce between us all… until we do leave this Shadowzone and I can get back to my usual day job of tormenting innocents."
Jack nudged his shoulder onto Carly's at the enhanced human's beaming face, "Can't wait." His response was a look that mirrored his sarcastic tone.
Having solidified herself as a watching guard should the undead Skyquake make his appearance known, Aquastrike briefly glanced at Rebecca, "Ahhh, ain't no fan of yers or wharever. Ah'm jus' wonderin' what'd happened for ya to be hidin' in a place like that Warship an'way."
"Too long of a story to tell you when we should be planning on how to destroy this Terracon." Mixed glances of confusion were shared amongst the group, intrigued by Rebecca's refusal to comment on her upbringing. "Now, does anyone have any good ideas on stopping Skyquake?" She clapped her hands together.
A sudden ringtone sounded out, making the group look around to understand where the noise was coming from.
Raf looked at Jack immediately, "Is that your-?"
"PHONE!"
Rebecca blanked at the group, "What's a phone?" The elder human felt the glares of surprise directed at her, much to her confusion. "What?"
Ignoring the curious question, Jack whipped his phone out from his pocket and brought up to his ear, "Hello?! Arcee!?"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"Jack! Can you hear me?" I could feel a tinge of hope rising within me at Arcee's words. Being able to get into contact with at least one of them was better than nothing! …Until she disconnected the call and looked at us, "Nothing."
I could feel any of that hope I had felt just disappear out of me.
I would try ringing Carly again… but it wasn't worth getting the same voicemail message from the last time. Ugh, when my human finally comes home, I'm going to teach her how to charge that Primus-damned cell device one way or another.
NORMAL P.O.V
"Hello? Arcee!" Jack sighed at the no response he received. "Nothing."
"Gee, imagine that? The fourth dimension has lousy cell phone reception!"
"Obviously not lousy enough for you to still receive a call on… whatever that thing is." Rebecca waved an indifferent hand at the device.
Starlight nodded in agreement, "Despite our location, we can still receive a strong enough signal for your phone to receive a call."
"Maybe the Autobots can't see or hear us cause we're moving at hyper speed or something," Raf glanced up at his sister.
Carly held a thoughtful expression, "So if they can't see us or even hear us… maybe they might still be able to read us!" Her eyes lit up as if a lightbulb had gone off in her mind. "Like texting!"
Miko grabbed her friend's arm excitedly, and looked at Jack, "Text me! If my phone's back at the base, maybe they'll see it!"
The four humans huddled to begin formulating a message when they realised there was one human figure missing from their group. They looked at Rebecca, who was standing off to the side and feigning indifferent.
Noticing the four teenagers facing her, she rolled her eyes, "What? You don't need me for that… texting or whatever it's called on that… thing."
"A phone?" The elder Esquivel glanced at Miko to share a bewildered look before turning back to the Decepticon, "How do you not know what a phone is?"
Rebecca's silence surprised and concerned the group.
"Don'tcha worry, Lil' Devil." The enhanced human's lips pursed at the nickname, not eager to show an appreciation for it from the Autobot bending down to her. "Wouldn't've any idea whar they're on 'bout either."
Carly pulled a face, "Rebecca, how old even are you to not know what a phone is?"
"I'm seventeen years old, thanks," she stated matter-of-factly, before looking away. "Seven of those spent on that ship."
"Seven years?" Jack's response was similar to a scoff of disbelief. "Something tells me you didn't just spend all your time being a sarcastic brat."
She gave a half shrug, and would've responded had a thundering, ominous thudding made its presence behind them.
"Hope y'all can text while I'm speedin' like a 'Bot 'bout to be chased by a Zombie-Con!" The Dark Energon-affected Skyquake roared. "'Cos that's whar's about ta happen!"
The two Autobots returned to their vehicle forms, allowing time for the humans to either hop into Aquastrike or onto Starlight before they sped through the gap in between Skyquake's legs. They barely missed the swinging hand that nearly caught the motorcycle had they not been fast enough to escape.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"We're dealing with fluctuating energy profiles inside a wide distortion field. But it may be possible to back-trace their coordinates."
It just felt like nothing was helping us get closer to finding our friends. I just wanted some kind of sign, anything to let us know that they were okay out wherever they are. Please Primus, just give us anything here, I'm begging.
There was a familiar servo curling around my arm, "They're with Aquastrike and Starlight - you know they'll keep them safe."
I don't think we could be so certain that everyone was all together at this point, but I couldn't fault Sunburst for trying to provide comfort for me. If I knew him as well as I do - which, to be honest, was questionable these days - he was only doing it because he was trying to reassure himself that everyone was okay. He was worried too.
NORMAL P.O.V
"Déjà vu!"
"What?" Jack looked at Miko in confusion.
"This doesn't look familiar to you?!"
"What's familiar?" Carly searched intently through the windows.
"Ahh, we've jus' gon' 'round in one big ol' circle!"
"DING DING!"
"Aqua, look out!" Tires screeched loudly at Starlight's warning, Aquastrike's vehicle form spinning around until the front of the off-roading vehicle was pointing at a large item laying on the ground.
Beside her, Starlight pulled up, her passenger's eyes lighting up in realisation of what was sitting in front of them - a Cybertronian arm, equipped with a missile launcher, "It looks like you can count on Starscream even when things don't go his way."
Miko leapt out of Aquastrike first, "Sweet!"
"It must have gotten trapped in here during the explosion too!" Raf faced his sister, the pair beaming at the sight.
Sounds of roars and thundering footsteps made the pair of Autobots transform behind them, ensuring they were in a protective stance to defend their human friends.
"Well, if it's solid, then we can use it." Jack watched Rebecca move around the limb, "You should know how to activate it, right?"
She flicked her eyes up at him, "Unfortunately, I don't pay enough attention to Starscream to know what he does to activate the launchers." She tilted her head up to the Autobots. "You're gonna have to buy us some time to figure this out."
"Is this where you turn your back and use the launcher on us, instead?"
Rebecca mirrored the glare on Carly, "Look sweetheart, either we stay in this endless canyon forever with a Terracon making an attempt on our lives, OR we try to at least have a chance to live a little while longer." She moved into the other's personal space. "Your call."
Inside the laboratory of the Nemesis, the medical officer of the ship known as Knock Out turned to his patient on the medical berth, "Uh… Starscream, I don't quite understand how this could have happened?"
Starscream rose up, "And yet IT DID! Can you imagine my horror? There I am! Minding my own business with Moonlight when my arm just falls off! Clearly, Megatron inflicted more damage on me than you realised!" He glared at the thoughtful expression adorning Knock Out's features, "Doctor."
"Yes, just dropped to the ground like its' teether had finally given way," Moonlight hummed on Starscream's other side, tone sarcastically saddened over the loss of the latter's appendage.
Knock Out glared momentarily between the pair, before deciding against questioning the true story about the limb, "Well… on the bright side, this provides an excellent opportunity for an upgrade." The medical officer indicated to his nearby monitor before moving to it. A weapon appeared on the screen. "Uh… let's see, you can go with a sonic cannon; it's reliable, low-maintenance, although it lacks a certain flair. Personally, I prefer the null ray." A different weapon appeared. "It has just the right mix of flash and fire power-"
"I don't want a new model!" The silver Seeker snapped. "I just want the same arm I had before!"
"But Starscream, your equipment is a bit… obsolete." Moonlight's amused snort interrupted Knock Out briefly. "I'm not sure I have another one lying around. "Of course, we could try to salvage yours… you kept it, didn't you?"
"It was… beyond recovery." The Seeker slowly moved his face to Moonlight, an expression telling her to be quiet appearing.
The other Decepticon could only nod in agreement, as should Starscream reveal the truth about their ordeal, she would be joining the Seeker in being more than just punished for their acts.
Jaws were left dangling in mid air, the four humans shocked by the strength possessed by Rebecca Rose as she shoved Starscream's arm as if it was as light as a feather. The teenager continued to move the limb until the hand was facing in the direction of the undead Skyquake in the midst of a battle against Starlight and Aquastrike.
"You're… strong."
Rebecca shrugged, "Decepticon experiments have enhanced my abilities over the years. I'm more agile, stronger, fitter, than that of a regular human."
"I don't think I've ever seen Miko so wordless before," Carly whispered to Jack, who was nodding in agreement. "Let alone meet someone who can make her blush."
"I am NOT blushing?!" The pair smirked at the girl's frown. "ANYWAY!" The exchange student returned her attention to the arm. "You figured out how to fire this thing, yet?" Her hands trailed across the missile. "I don't see a trigger."
"Starscream activates it by moving his fingers." Rebecca overlooked the clawed talons. "Only, I cannot remember which one he uses for the missile."
Starlight suddenly scrapped her feet along the ground in front of the group, tired eyes refocusing on the undead Skyquake. "If I may request-" Her voice was muffled by her mouth guard. "Please find a way soon. Skyquake's Dark Energon intake could've been as small as Raf and in spite of that, his power is still taking our energy rapidly. We can't hold him off for too much longer."
"Get your friend out of the shot, or let her explode, I don't care." Starlight quelled the glare forming on her face. "I'm going to fire this thing in thirty seconds." A growling from Skyquake made the Autobot rush to the undead soldier again, this time to inform her partner of the plan.
"We have one shot," Jack reminded, "We need to make it count."
Rebecca rolled her eyes, "You're making this much more dramatic than it needs to be." Her response was a group of annoyed looks, which only made the former even more frustrated. "Ughh, get behind me."
The enhanced human ducked down and stepped towards the talons of the hand, briefly overlooking them to picture in her mind which one it was Starscream used to activate the weapon. A smug expression of realisation came to her face, grabbing onto the index talon, and pulling it back.
The action set off the missile straight towards the undead Skyquake immediately. Starlight and Aquastrike spotted the weapon flying their way, and quickly transformed to sped away from the imminent hit. The missile smashed into the Dark Energon-infused Cybertronian, sending the area up into grey smoke while the force of the explosion made the vehicle forms of the Autobots fly up. They made use of the air by returning to their Cybertronian modes behind the humans.
Miko grinned at the successful shot, "How do you like us now?!"
As the dust cleared, a hand pushed itself into view, before purple eyes shone brightly through the smoke. A groan sounded out, revealing to the group Skyquake's continued survival despite the powerful hit it had taken. Sparks flew and cackled on the right side of his body, before his hand suddenly plummeted to the ground.
Shock spread across the faces of the group as they waited with baited breath for what was next.
The fingers of the severed hand twitched, before it curled into a fist and spread itself open again. It flipped onto its fingers, using them as legs to scuttle towards the group at a rapid pace.
"Ah've jus' about had it with this Terr'con!"
"Shut up and transform before it gets us!"
Aquastrike did as Rebecca had demanded, returning to her vehicle form once more to allow the humans inside. She immediately zoomed off before she had even closed her doors, with her partner and her own passenger rushing behind her.
"How can the zombie arm move faster than the actual zombie?!" The humans wondered Miko's question, as the hand leapt up to scale the wall of the canyon, slowly edging closer to Starlight…
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I don't know how long it had been since we had seen our friends. It felt like time had gotten faster, as every time I looked at my internal timing, it was ages ahead from the last time I checked… The quicker time was moving, the more I could feel any hope of finding our friends safe and alive seep out of me.
Primus, I was pleading one last ti-
"Miko's phone!" I snapped my helm to Bulkhead; he was bending down to Miko's cell device… which was flashing? "It wasn't blinking before!" …Certainly not when Sunburst had seen it earlier. I watched him press his digit on it so it could open. "It's a message; 'in alternate dimension with zombie. Help'."
Arcee was crowding around Bulkhead, "That doesn't sound possible." She shrugged unconvincingly at us.
…It wouldn't be the first time we had come against something impossible, though… In fact, I was certain the humans would have believed us to be not even possible had we not made our presence… 'accidentally' known to them. And we'd come up against Dark Energon before, which had always been impossible to think of as being real until we saw it first servo…
"So many ideals and situations of the past had always been thought of as impossible…" I looked up at Optimus, "Is it really not believable to think that the others are out there in another dimension?"
"Ratchet, can we triangulate the geographical position of the cell phone's signal?"
"In a parallel dimensional plane?!" Ratchet really made it sound like the idea was purely unbelievable. "Let's find out." If there was one 'Bot that could make the idea possible, it would be him.
NORMAL P.O.V
The Nemesis floated peacefully above planet Earth, as did the patient resting in the laboratory of the ship. Multiple cables from above were connected to his body to monitor his vitals… while in the grasp of his hand, his Dark Energon shared purred to life suddenly.
Starscream sat up with a gasp, eyes lighting up at the shard also glowing his open palm, "My Dark Energon shard? Pulsing?" The Seeker turned to an intrigued Moonlight. "My warrior lives."
At the doors of the laboratory, Knock Out was strolling in with an upgraded form of Starscream's missing arm. "Ah, look what I found in storage-What are you doing?" Just as the troublesome Decepticon pair were walking out.
"You were right, Knock Out. I'm much too attached to my original appendage. I will retrieve it," Starscream informed the medical officer, "With Moonlight to assist me."
Knock Out continued to watch the pair disappear into the hallway, "Never a Rebecca Rose around to play 'questionnaire' when you need her."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"By calculating for relative time delays and ionospheric distortions, the signal emanated from the exact location as the original Groundbridge coordinates."
Any hope that had disappeared before was returning to me, more positive than ever.
"But we already looked for them there!"
Ratchet looked over his shoulderpads at Bulkhead, "Perhaps." He was shaking his head. "But not in the correct dimensional phase as their message stated. But, if I can recreate the feedback loop which triggered the event, I might be able to generate a rescue portal, allowing passage from their dimension-."
"Back to base?"
"NO!" Ratchet snapped again, this time facing us, "We're talking about interdimensional travel here, Bulkhead! Attempting to redirect the vortex trajectory would be far too risky!"
"Everybody knows that," Arcee's voice was dripping with sarcasm.
I nudged Bulkhead's arm, "Yeah, didn't you?" Because I absolutely, totally, knew that, of course…
"If the coordinates aren't precisely the same-" Ratchet turned back to the control system. "-Who knows where the humans, Starlight and Aquastrike could wind up?"
Sunburst turned to me, "What happens if they aren't?"
I didn't want to know the answer, or even entertain the possibility…
NORMAL P.O.V
"Innit feelin' like we could be goin' 'round 'n circles now?!" The humans glanced through the windscreen at Aquastrike's questioning remark, seeing Starscream's appendage lying on the ground ahead.
"This place is like one big merry-go-round!" Miko exclaimed.
"Skyquake!" The Autobots braked to a halt at the echoey voice. "Your Master summons you!"
"Ahhh, how'd those scrap-stirrin' freaks get 'n 'ere?"
"That's my sister you're calling a freak, Aqua."
"Yain't disagreein'!"
"Starscream and Moonlight aren't in our dimension," Rebecca informed the group, "They can't see us."
Carly sighed, and was turning to check on her younger brother as an item scuttling appeared in the corner of her eye. She immediately looked out the rear window, and nearly screamed, "Maybe raincheck on Starscream and Moonlight!"
The Autobots took off once more to flee the incoming arm of Skyquake, only to ground to a halt as a familiar green and blue portal opened before them.
"A Groundbridge portal?"
Jack nodded at Raf, moving his hopeful expression to Carly, "That has to be our way out of here!"
The elder Esquivel smiled softly at the boy, a moment which was quickly interrupted by Miko patting his shoulder, "The Autobot's got our text!"
"Awhh, just as I was beginning to like you guys," Rebecca sarcastically pouted.
On the other side of the portal, in the dimension the group were wanting to return to, Starscream was in disbelief, "What?"
"Ours or theirs?" Moonlight shared a confused look with the Seeker.
In the alternate dimension, Raf clutched his sister's wrist, "If we go through, we run smack into Starscream! If we don't…"
"We're zombie chow." The humans spared a look out the rear window once more.
"Option three: we keep running in circles," Miko piped.
"Ain't no options, Missy Miko." Aquastrike began to spin her rear wheels. "We're goin' through. Ya ready Twinkle?!"
Starlight revved her engine, "Whenever you are, Aqua." She twitched her mirrors up to her passenger. "I recommend you hold on tight, Rebecca."
"Trust me, Autobot, I will be," The enhanced human smirked, "Oh, and thanks for babysitting me. Had I been stuck in here with your sister, she would've happily left me to die."
"Uh… you're welcome." Starlight could feel the raw truthfulness through the preppy voice of Rebecca's, taken with surprise at the honest appreciation.
Inside the vehicle form of the Subaru, Miko was jumping her seat, nervously watching the hand of Skyquake crabbing quickly towards them. Behind her was Raf clutching onto her seat in anticipation. Jack and Carly were on the right side of the vehicle, the former's hand moving behind his seat to grab the latter's hand, the pair sharing a nervous but excited look in knowing they were about to return home.
"NOW!" The Autobots accelerated forward, straight through the portal and weaving past the two confused Decepticons they came across on the other side.
"Autobots?!" Starscream turned around at the fleeing vehicles, "Where did you vermin-?" The Seeker was suddenly cut off as something struck his face, attaching itself to his head and not eager to let go. With his sole hand, he pulled it off and glared, "This isn't mine!" The hand reached for him again. "UNHAND ME!"
Moonlight was in no rush to help him, "Remind me to remove this entire solar cycle from my memory core when it's over." The black and pink Decepticon eventually grabbed the hand, quickly becoming surprised at the amount of fight it had as it continued to reach for the other Cybertronian.
All while another Groundbridge portal opened up in front of Aquastrike and Starlight, making them ground to another halt at who was coming through the portal.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
We watched the Groundbridge swirl silently, just waiting for anyone to come through. Optimus had taken Arcee and Sunburst with him this time to hopefully return with the rest of our team and friends. Primus, I don't know how Ratchet does it sometimes, but he really was the genius he called himself now and then…
…Hopefully he never hears me admit that about him out loud.
Figures suddenly appeared through the portal… familiar faces…
"Aqua, Star." I rushed to them so fast, it felt like Aqua had just walked straight through and grabbed us into a group hug immediately… and for once, I couldn't care less about the fact that her grip was so strong, it could crush us.
"Miko!"
"Raf!"
I leapt out the hug at Bulkhead and Bumblebee's greetings for the others, and looked down to the ground. Carly was running up to me, so I bent down to her level, "Are you okay?"
She was nodding with her bright smile, "I'm okay. I think we all are."
None of the humans looked exhausted, but it was clear Starlight and Aquastrike had gone through something, because they both seemed to be struggling to stay standing.
Bumblebee stood in front of Starlight, presenting her knives in his servos, "I think these are yours." His buzzing tone was something I couldn't decipher, like I couldn't figure out how he was coming across, but it amused Starlight enough for her to giggle at him as she took back her weapons.
Sunburst walked up to her and Aquastrike, "What happened with you two?"
"Terr'con, drivin' in circles, fightin'." Sounded like a regular fight with Dark Energon.
…Wait, what?!
"Anyone wanna go into detail here, or?" Arcee sounded just as surprised.
"The reason why you didn't see Skyquake rise was because he got caught in the Groundbridge explosion too." He got into the alternate dimension with them?! "We've been fleeing him all day, until we had to fight him." Starlight was looking at Optimus and I. "I didn't realise how powerful Dark Energon could be at sappening our strength until we faced him."
"He was jus' lucky cos ah would've done some real damage to 'im had ah taken my Energon." Trust Aquastrike to not take her daily ration. "Coulda scrapped him!" Starlight suddenly nudged her. "We made sure ta protect ya humans instead."
No wonder they looked so tired. I couldn't be any more thankful to them.
"But you lot wouldn't have been out there if it wasn't for a certain someone fleeing the base." I wanted to glare at Ratchet, though considering he was coming up with Energon rations for my friends, I might spare him for another day.
"Look, if you're gonna blame anybody, blame me."
Jack looked surprised at Miko's admission, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"
"A couple dozen times please?" Miko bumped Carly playfully at her other side.
"Miko, what you endured has been lesson enough. We are just glad you are all safe." Truer words couldn't have been spoken.
Bulkhead bent down, "Guess it was a good thing you dropped this." He passed on Miko's cell phone to her. "Too bad you didn't get any pictures though."
"Nah, that's okay," she shrugged, "I think after today, I pretty much have Zombie-Con close-ups seared into my brain."
"Oh good, I was worried we'd have to do this all over again for you to get photos." Typical Sunburst was back, kinda.
Miko was glaring at him, though her body was turning to Carly, "And can you believe that Rebecca isn't all that, after all?!"
Rebecca?
"Rebecca Rose was with you?"
"She was caught in the blast as well." Starlight was looking away from Arcee's question. "I don't believe she's a threat, despite how she makes herself appear. She is still a human with regular emotions."
"With enhanced capabilities!" Carly suddenly gaped, "You should've seen Miko's face when she was lifting-"
"Stop it Carlotta Esquivel!"
"Stop calling me my full name Miko Nakadai!"
I wanted to laugh at their ridiculousness, but I simply couldn't because they were here, just like Aquastrike and Starlight - they were back with us, where they belonged. Hopefully Miko had learned her lesson, and would know better the next time she wanted to join us on the battlefield…
Primus… please don't let me regret my thoughts…