Chapter 37: Ashes to New Pt. 2
Review Replies
Unity123: I honestly would see at least some minor reformatting in the Bioformers/Pretenders robot forms after the effects of the cortical link and Dark Spark infusion have subsumed and the bodies become interchangeable.
Considering Quintus' current place of residence by the time of the transmission, I'm sure he might have noticed what the Krill have done to their former world from what survivors remain on that planet. Would it be ironic for a Taken Prime to join the Darkness ranks as Oryx's Hand or someone in the lines of the Herald of Finality. Should expect the Spawn of Crota to eventually start making themselves at home at the Ocean of Storms.
ThermalsniperN7: We'll look into the reformatting after the whole thing is over and done with. Though while the ones transferred into human bodies are in their current state, they're gonna see some stuff that goes bump in the night. We have a lot planned for Halloween in Bioformers.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah. As always, man, thanks for the suggestion.
ThermalsniperN7: As for where Quitnus is, I think he'll have an impossible time not noticing what the Krill did to Fundament before they left, but I don't think they left any survivors… Then again, Taox has been giving the Osmium siblings the slip for eons now, so it's possible they missed some people on Fundament.
Dragon Emperor0: Guess we'll have to wait to find out.
Godzillaboy2021: Yeah, the Roodaka & Makuta pairing was supposed to be a joke, even if it was a bad one. And speaking of which, the Makuta could fill the void Unicron left as the next Dark Force, I mean he is the Master of Shadows after all. And it looks like Megatron got what he wanted after all, a successful plan against the Autobots and the Dark Spark at the same time, and he gets the girl too in a new human body made specially for him by his new girlfriend/sparkmate. And it looks like the Autobots have gotten new Bioformers in the form of the rest of their human allies, and Jack and Arcee have had feelings for each other ever since they became partners and now they have the chance to express how much they love each other. Hopefully Tiberius/Genisys can revert our humanized Autobots back to their true Cybertronian selves with no trouble at all when he completes the two-way device.
Dragon Emperor0: Given that the Black Fleet and Traveler have been moving in, I think it's much more likely that those two will try to fill the power vacuum left by Primus and Unicron, rather than Makuta.
ThermalsniperN7: Plus, I'm pretty sure that he's got his hands full with what's going on after the Great Cataclysm and him being frozen solid by the Toa Metru, so I don't see him getting involved… Well, at this point in time. Things may change.
Dragon Emperor0: You are correct though about Megatron. But given that Cylas is Nemesis Prime and we know that in other continuities Nemesis Prime has his own matrix known as the dead matrix, I think him powering said matrix with the powers of the Darkness would be a fitting counter to the Unicron power Megatron has. It would also serve to make him an evil chick magnet, case in point with Roodaka.
ThermalsniperN7: Better than Sidorak. That guy just did not suit her.
Dragon Emperor0: Lastly, in regards to Jack/Arcee and Megatron/Black Arachnia, expect both of them to not only go on a honeymoon of sorts after this arc, but in the case of the latter two, actually manage to find the first one of Megatron and Ruin's sons, that being Tarn. Where he'll reunite with his father and also meet his doting stepmother. Who will absolutely adore him on sight. Galvatron, meanwhile, will take a bit longer to find.
ThermalsniperN7: Exactly. So… Yeah. That's a thing that'll happen.
-Jasper, Nevada, Earth-
In a the couple's suite of a local medium-high quality hotel, one Corporal Rachnera Arachnera of the organization known as MECH, aka Black Arachnia, was laid out on the red velvet and silk covers of the room's king sized bed, her body drenched in sweat and evidence of sexual activity—eyes glazed over and starting to see the inside of her skull, tongue rolling out of her mouth and drool going down her cheeks—as her body lay twitching as spazzing from her brain's current catatonic state brought on by sheer pleasure overload.
And lying next to her, propped up on his side with an amused and almost endearingly loving sort of smug expression on his face, was her lover Mason Trone, aka Megatron in his Pretender body.
The smirk on the champion of Kaon's face was a clear indication that he was quite satisfied with his handiwork for his first time engaging in the activity humans commonly referred to as 'sex'. Especially since he thoroughly enjoyed it.
'Perhaps organics do have it better in some cases after all…' He mused in his thoughts. This made him wonder what else humans had going for them.
Deciding to leave his lover to try and let her brain and body recover from what they had just done, the man dressed himself and headed outside, using a special tracker he had MECH devise for him to aid in the tracking of his sons in their human forms.
The first on his list: Tarn. The one who took the most after his mother.
"Okay… Where are you…?" He muttered to himself as he started tracking his son.
As he continued to make his way through the town of Jasper, he passed several places that anyone who had been familiar with the lives of Tiberius and his friends would recognize on sight.
The Jasper Highschool, the elementary school, hospital, football and baseball fields, and the Jasper hospital.
All of which were places that Tarn had stopped at but was no longer at.
Becoming more and more frustrated with his lack of progress, the disguised warlord then took a step inside the town's printing office and used his tracker's scanner to bring up what Tarn looked like in his human form.
That being a nine year old boy who looked to be a boy of some form of Latino descent as well as Caucasian with brown hair, light brown skin and a pair of very striking amber eyes.
After getting this image, he took it over to the police station and asked if they knew where he was—to which they looked at the man with suspicious confusion.
When questioned on why he was looking for him, he explained that Tarn was a son he didn't know he had, and desired to make amends for not being there for him if he had no family already. He had plenty of time during his search to come up with this cover story.
The officers still seemed slightly skeptical but decided to give the man the boy's current whereabouts, which led him to a bodega where he saw a young boy feasting himself on what looked to be street tacos and Mexican street corn with a Latino Apple soda. The same boy he was looking for.
He looked like he had been living on the streets for some time. His clothes were torn and filthy, his black hair was overgrown and matted and he looked like he hadn't had a bath in who knows how long.
This left Mason feeling like something had happened to his son, and wanted to know what.
With that decision made, the man walked over to where the boy was sitting and took a seat at the chair opposite him, not bothering with ordering anything as his main focus lay right in front of him.
"It's been awhile. Though I suppose by your lack of reaction that you don't recognize me." The man said, getting the boy's attention, despite him not stopping his feeding.
"Wh-What are you talking about?" The unknowing Bioformer uttered after swallowing a mouthful of food.
The man didn't respond at first, he simply smiled and concentrated for a moment, before he tapped the boy on the forehead, causing a spark of purple lightning to shock him for a moment and make him see the memories of his and Galvatron's births through the warlord's eyes.
This was an ability that Megatron now had thanks to the Dark Spark, the ability to share memories and knowledge to those he touches—an ability it and the Matrix of Leadership both share.
"Now do you remember, my son?" He asked.
"I… Yes. Yes I do." Tarn groaned as he held his head. "I just wish I didn't get a headache from that." He added. "Why do you have a human form, though? Did you become a Bioformer as well?" He questioned.
"No, my situation is more… Complicated." The gladiator replied. "In this form I am Mason Trone, who are you?" He asked.
"Travis. Travis Noches." The boy replied.
"Fitting." His father chuckled as he got up. "Come then, I think it's time you met your mother." He smiled, holding out a hand for his son to take.
"I'd like that. Plus, I don't wanna live like this anymore." Tarn nodded as he took his father's hand.
"What happened to put you in this position, exactly?" Mason questioned with an inquisitive look.
"It's… Complicated." The boy admitted.
"Aren't we all?" The man chuckled as he took his son's hand, and led him home.
"Fair enough. I'll explain what happened when we're with the others again." Tarn chuckled in agreement as they left.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the master bedroom of Jackson Darby, the man was now laying in his bed with his cybertronian turned human lover, Arcee, laying on top of him. A blissful smile was on her face as their sweat glistening bodies, disheveled hair and tossed covers made it abundantly clear that the baseball coach had fucked the two wheeler femme's brains out the evening prior.
"I did not see this becoming my future nine years ago… Heh, life really is full of surprises." The man chuckled to himself.
"Are you really complaining, though?" Arcee questioned, cupping his cheek as she kissed him, smiling the whole time.
"Not even remotely." Jack replied as he hugged her. "Though when you get back into your real body, we can have the best of both worlds, in a manner of speaking." He added.
"So true. I never realized how good organics had it when it came to… Let's call it 'recreational pleasures' in the form of sex." Arcee sighed as she listened to his heartbeat.
"It isn't just for pleasure, Arcee. It's how we reproduce." Her partner told her.
"... Really?" The bot turned human blinked. "I mean, I knew it had something to do with that given Tiberius and Miko's whole situation—but I didn't know that it was that good, and also multiplied your species." She admitted.
"You have a lot to learn about humans." The coach sighed. "But I don't want you to feel like you have to choose between being in your original body or this one just on my account." He told her, taking her hand in his and kissing it. "I want this to be your decision." He added.
"Are humans usually this sweet with their significant others?" Arcee chuckled with a smile.
"Well, ideally yeah. Like how Cybertronians can show love to each other." The man nodded. "But, sadly, no in some cases. Some human relationships aren't really that stable compared to others." Jack sighed in reply.
"Well that's a shame…" The blue haired woman sighed. "What about your mom and your… dad? Am I correlating that right?" She asked.
"You are, and while they did stay together, someone killed my dad when I was a kid." Jack sighed, causing Arcee to wince at the landmine she unwittingly stepped on. "I had thought they were just divorced because my dad was rarely home, but, as I got older I realized that them being divorced and her still keeping his last name made less and less sense, so when I was older I asked mom about it and she told me that he was killed on the job." He explained.
"Was he a cop or something?" His lover asked, remembering her days as a guard officer on Cybertron.
"Semi active military, Army Special Forces, specifically." Jack replied. "I think mom said he was specifically a green beret and an Army Ranger Lieutenant, who also did time as a combat engineer and a mortar man." He explained. "But if he had a different job on top of that, he never told her about it." He amended.
"Huh. Weird." Arcee muttered, a little confused by the secrecy. "Wait, what's a mortarman?" She questioned.
"… Think artillery, but instead they're launching oversized grenades at you—and the people doing it are the angriest bunch of power distance marchers you'll ever meet." The man replied.
"Then your dad must've been a real piece of work." Arcee chuckled.
"From what I can remember of him, you are far from wrong." Jack chuckled in reply. "I could never find out more about him, but when I asked Fowler about him and how he died, he seemed kinda clammy about it." He hummed.
"Okay, that's a little odd." The woman commented with a frown. "Why would Fowler be hush hush about him if he was just a normal soldier? It doesn't make sense." She pointed out.
"No it doesn't." Jack nodded in agreement. "But, that can wait for later. We should take a shower and get some breakfast. In your human body, you'll need food and drink as fuel instead of Energon." He explained as he got out of bed.
"Alright… I have no idea what I'm gonna eat." Arcee chuckled sheepishly.
"I'll handle that." Jack told her as both of them got up. "I don't mean to brag, but as a PE coach, I am pretty good at making food that's nutritious but is also still delicious." He smiled smugly as he picked his lover up and carried her to the bathroom.
"Prove it." The woman smiled as she kissed him again.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, in the city that the Titan Autobot Terran Superplex made up, Ratchet was finishing his treatment of the Titan while Genisys was attempting to contact Quintus Prime.
It was actually somewhat difficult to open a channel with him, which meant there was something likely wrong with whatever equipment Quintus used; Likely either age or elements degrading it. There was also the probability of something interfering with the signal transmission on the Prime's end.
"I'll give it a shot later." The Bioformer sighed as he turned his attention to his work on the two ended receiver that was meant to help the Autobots returning to their original bodies, a larger one for the port on the back of their robotic heads, and a smaller one for the nape of their human necks which was meant to attach to their brain stems.
The whole thing was a pain in the ass to make, given the different sizes that he needed to do in order for it to work.
But eventually managed to get them to work. Problem was, he still needed to figure out how to make the situation two way, that way the Autobots could use their human bodies if they wished to—right now it was only one way but in the opposite direction.
"I guess I can figure it out at a later date. The others are probably looking forward to getting back into their original bodies." He said to himself as he looked things over. "But I've been wrong about things before…" He sighed.
(Elsewhere)
-Autobot Outpost Omega-3, Fort Campbell, Kentucky-
Bumblebee and Raf were currently at the third Autobot base with Sierra and now, they were driving around some backroads while the Autobot turned human was getting used to driving outside his robot body.
This was the idea of the MPs who didn't want the transformed Autobot to feel "cooped up", plus, given that the blonde man was a scout for team Prime and had been during the war for Cybertron—it made a certain sense to put him in charge of patrols around the base.
Bumblebee was no stranger to night time patrols, either, so he had no qualms about doing exactly that right now.
Though what he was a little confused about was the tense looks of Raf and Sierra as they looked around. What was the big deal?
They were currently at a fenced in lot where cars had been sitting long since the 80s and 70s, after the Vietnam War. The cars had been left there by the soldiers who were deployed but never returned, so they were long since rusted and dry rotted, interior crumbling to dust and gasoline turning to turpentine inside the gas tank due to non use—.
And now, Bumblebee was opening the gate to the lot to check to make sure no intruders were inside the area.
"Hm…" The blonde scout hummed as he shined his flashlight across the lot, hearing nothing but the sound of the wind and the rattling of the rusted cars. "Well, nobody's here." He said. "At least, no one that's visible." He amended.
That was when a shadow suddenly moved, somewhere inside the lot, trying to keep away from the headlights of their borrowed vehicle.
"What was that?" Bumblebee uttered.
"What's wrong?" Raf asked, looking around the old lot through the fence with wary eyes.
"I thought I saw something moving inside the lot, but it's too far away from the headlights." The humanized autobot replied.
Right as he was about to step further into the lot while Sierra inched into it with the car, something suddenly occurred that scared the hell out of them.
WWWWOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUURRRRGGGHHHH!
A loud, long, blood curdling shrill of a scream suddenly erupted, piercing the silence of the night.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What the hell?!" Sierra yelped from inside the car.
"What was that?!" Bumblebee gulped, now way too startled for his flashlight to not shake in his grip.
WOOOOUUUURRRRGGGHH!
WOOOOUUUURRRRGGGHH!
WOOOOUUUURRRRGGGHH!
More of the ungodly screams erupted from different parts of the lot, prompting Bee to fight back against the onset of tunnel vision that was caused by his fight or flight response—drawing his pistol that he was given to defend himself with.
"Wh-What's going on?!" The blonde Autobot gulped as he looked around nervously.
"I have a bad feeling I might know!" Raf gulped as he backed up toward the car and got back inside.
WOOOOUUUURRRRGGGHH!
Another scream erupted as something suddenly stood up, seemingly eight feet in height, before the dark shape suddenly lunged forward at them.
"Oh SCRAP!" Bumblebee exclaimed in a panic as he ran back to the car and got back into the driver seat, turning and driving the car away as Raf pointed his flashlight at the fence—right at what was chasing them.
It was tall, easily hitting the eight foot range like Bee originally estimated. It had a tall and rounded head like an ape, with brown hair all over its body—with a thick wide pelvis and big hips—and its face had no hair cover on it but had black shiny skin like a gorilla but its nose wasn't flat like one. It had brown eyes which didn't seem to reflect light and had whites to them, which looked unnervingly human.
It was pumping its legs furiously, going all out, grunting constantly and not swinging its arms, only holding them up at its sides and rocking its body as it matched the car at 70 mph, clearly strong enough to do so—and it wasn't watching where it was running.
It was looking right at Bumblebee… And it was pissed.
"Motherfucker!" Raf exclaimed in shock.
"I-I-I-Is that a Sasquatch?!" Sierra stammered in shock and fear.
"A what?!" Bee questioned, looking between the creature and the road in fear.
"A Cryptid animal! I'll explain later!" Raf told him.
The scout kept driving the car, and after a bit, the three became more frightened when the Cryptid suddenly jumped over the fence—a twelve foot fence—making it look easy… Only to land in a heap due to getting caught in some barbed wire, which it struggled with. This allowed them to get away.
The three were silent as they kept driving back, their minds absolutely reeling at what the hell they had just witnessed.
"You mentioned that thing was a Cryptid animal. What are those, exactly?" Bee questioned, wanting to get an understanding of what he had witnessed.
"Mythical creatures that have been sighted enough to be considered possibly real." Raf explained.
"That creature back there was one of them. We call it Sasquatch, but most of its sightings never said anything about it being very aggressive." Sierra added.
"Maybe they're like gorillas? Only getting aggressive when they feel territorial." The tech major offered.
"That might be it, but that was still a big fright." The redhead shivered.
"Uh should we tell someone about this?" The Autobot turned human asked.
"No. Even in this day and age, sightings like what we just had are often passed off as hallucinations, so the officers could see it as a prank we roped you into." Raf sighed in reply.
"… They work with Autonomous Robotic Organisms from an alien planet, almost incurred destruction from a space demon, and have multiple people who can become transformers—and they're skeptical about that?" The scout questioned.
"Yeah, sometimes people have things mixed up." The science major sighed in reply. "It would only help if we brought back a live specimen, which I know would be a nightmare to do." He added knowingly.
"Yeah…" Sierra nodded.
(Elsewhere)
The door to the room where Mason and Rachnera were staying opened as he and his son entered, and to the nine year old's surprise, a beautiful woman was waiting for them, lounging in a chair with a cup of coffee in hand while she ate a room service breakfast.
It was Rachnera, and she was luckily dressed in a white robe.
"Hm?" The female Bioformer hummed as she turned and saw them. "Oh, you're back, and you found one of the boys, I see." She smiled as she got up from the table and walked up to them.
Travis was about to ask what she was talking about, before she suddenly hugged him close to her and let the boy rest his head in her ample bosom, listening to her heartbeat like an infant would.
"I am Rachnera Arachnera, your stepmother." The woman cooed with a smile as she caressed the boy's head. "I'm so happy to finally meet you. You have no idea how long I've wanted to have a child of my own." She told him.
"Stepmom? Wh-What happened to my original mom?" The boy asked in confusion.
"Ah yes, you were rather young and unable to understand what had happened…" Mason muttered, feeling like he should've seen this coming. "She was killed nine to ten years ago by one of my enemies. I was not happy with that outcome, and desired vengeance." He explained.
"But, instead, he decided to do something else, he used your mother's body and her spark, to create you and your brother Galvatron." Rachnera continued. "Her name was Jenova Oda, Madame Ruin. And you and your brother are your mother's final gifts to your father." She added.
"We… Are…?" The young Bioformer uttered as he looked at his hands.
"Indeed." Mason nodded as he knelt down to his son's level. "I wish for you to join me. My question is: Will you?" He offered.
Travis seemed to look between his father, and then his stepmother, before he suddenly hugged both of them tightly, clinging to them almost like a vice.
"Mom… Dad…" He whispered, his hands gripping their clothing tightly.
"And that is our answer." Rachnera smiled as she hugged him back.
"Indeed." Mason nodded in agreement as he did the same.
(Elsewhere)
-Autobot Outpost Omega-5, Camp Navajo, Army Depot, Arizona-
Meanwhile in the fifth Autobot outpost, Snarl and Sludge along with a humanized Bulkhead and Wheeljack were out on patrol around the perimeter, making small talk.
Wheeljack's human look was a man in his twenties with tan skin, white hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white, red and green jacket with matching pants and black boots. Around his waist was a belt with a pair of satchels and two katanas on his back.
"You got stuck in a human body too, Jackie? How'd the cons manage that?" The Bruiser asked his wrecker buddy as they rode atop their Dinobot friends.
"Dreadwing and Skyquake, they sprung a trap on me while I was scouting a—get this—Dark Energon covered cave that a Ghost was trapped in." Wheeljack explained, checking his night vision scope.
"Really? You'd think that all of the Dark Energon would vanish after Unicron was put to sleep forever." Snarl commented, he and the other Dinobots having read up on what happened on Earth to get caught up to speed.
"After how much came to the surface? I doubt it." Sludge stated, right before the four whipped around as they heard a sound behind them.
Standing behind them was an old man, of native blood, dressed in buckskin with gray hair that almost glowed in the moonlight. He was just standing there, looking at them.
"What the–?! Where'd you come from?!" Wheeljack questioned, putting a hand on one of his katanas.
"Jesus Maria!" Bulkhead gasped.
"Sir, get your hands in the air!" Snarl barked.
"Do you have any idea where you are, old man?!" Sludge questioned.
The man didn't say anything. He just stood there silently and stared at them, not even phased at the fact two giant dinosaur shaped robots were glaring at him.
"What's his malfunction?" Wheeljack whispered as he loosened his grip on his swords.
"Either he's deaf or has some sort of mental problem." Bulkhead offered.
"Think we better call this in?" Snarl asked as they turned around, seeing as the man was harmless, so they could deliberate on what to do.
"Yeah, I think we should. I'll do it." The brontosaurus shaped bot nodded as he went into robot mode and tried to call the base. "Hey, base. This is Autobot Patrol 1, do you read?" He asked, but got static in response. "I'm not getting anything. What about you guys?" He asked.
"No, not on my—what the?" Wheeljack said before they all turned back around and saw not the old man, but a large Jack rabbit sitting behind them.
"Where'd he go?" Snarl wondered as he went into robot mode and looked around along with the others.
They continued to call for the old man, but got no response, looking up and down, left and right, but there was no sign of him. At that time, the rabbit crawled under the fence and out of the base.
"Where'd he go?" Bulkhead wondered.
"There's no way he climbed over the fence; We would've heard it." Wheeljack stated. "Much less jumped it. I heard humans at that age are too delicate to do anything like that." He added.
A sound behind them caused them all to whip around and see the old man again, looking at them from the opposite side of the fence, scaring the bejesus out of the Autobots and causing the Dinobots to actually topple over.
"What the–?!" Sludge yelped in shock and a little fear as he and Sludge fell over on their backs, causing Wheeljack and Bulkhead to tumble to the ground. "Okay something is wrong here!" He gulped.
"Screw this, let's get outta here!" Bulkhead exclaimed as they all booked it back to base.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile in North California, a MECH platoon that was being left by Lieutenant Moonstone aka Dreameater was currently doing a watch over an area of interest, with Megatron—still in his human form as Mason—was in a vehicle while everyone was lounging around under spotlights.
Currently, Dreameater was telling a story from when he was in basic training in the military.
"-So then he grabs the guy, puts him in front of the door and donkey kicks his ass right out of the door!" He finished recounting a moment during some paratrooper training, causing the others to laugh.
The Champion of Kaon can't help but let out a laugh at the story, recalling how he'd done that many times to his own troops.
Then…
"RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
A loud and shrill scream cut them all off, causing the troops to aim their guns at the woods nearby.
"What in blue blazes?" Corp. Wojtek aka Vortex said before another scream was heard.
"That a mountain Lion?" Corp. Bruce aka Brawl questioned.
"Sounded… more like a woman." Wojtek muttered.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The scream came again, and confirmed Wojtek's words of it sounding like a woman.
"Okay, should one of us take a risk and find her?" Swindle wondered as Mason walked passed him.
"Hello?" He called, and waited for an answer.
A minute later…
"Hello?" A response came… In Mason's exact voice and tone, definitely not an echo.
This immediately set off alarms in their heads.
"Shiiiiiiit." Shellfire uttered as Christi suddenly became rigid.
"What the hell…?" Blast Off questioned.
"Nope!" Dreameater exclaimed as he dragged Mason back to the truck. "Everyone back in the trucks, and combat lock the doors!" He ordered.
As a man with Navajo blood, he knew exactly what was out there, and he wasn't about to take the bait. No way.
"What in the pits of Kaon are you talking about?" Megatron questioned.
"What you just heard out there is a Skinwalker, a supernatural being that used to be a human healer, but was cursed when they turned evil for their own reasons." Dreameater explained as they got in their truck. "They can take the appearance of a human and an animal at their leisure, can get into someone's head to make them see and hear things that aren't really there, and are supposedly immortal unless killed in their animal form." He continued. "They are also cannibals, if the tales of them are accurate." He added further.
"I see..." The man nodded as they all left the area and didn't look back. "They sound truly unsettling, if any of that is true." He mused.
"You're in a human body right now, so I strongly urge you to be cautious of what wild lands you walk across. You could find yourself being prey for something that skulks in the dark." The Navajo Bioformer told the warlord seriously.
"Erm… Yes. Yes, of course." Megatron nodded, already sounding wary.
It was almost odd, how he tries to conquer a planet he knows nothing of, especially the things that go bump in the night…
(Elsewhere)
-Autobot Outpost Omega-6, Edwards Airforce Base-
"Man, feet that big, huh?" Breakdown hummed as he lifted a truck out of a pothole.
"What do you make of it, June?" Cliffjumper questioned.
"Well, they're certainly the damndest thing I've ever seen." The woman replied, currently in her human form. "They look human, but they're too big to be from any person I know of." She added, looking at some large humanoid footprints on the ground.
"What about you, Barton?" The wrecker questioned as he gently set the car down so Cliff could take a look at it.
"Well, if you all promise not to laugh, I'll tell you." The man replied.
"Alright." They chorused with shrugs.
"Momo." Barton said.
"What?" Breakdown blinked in confusion as he set the truck down.
"Come again?" Cliff questioned.
"Momo." The man replied. "We got 'em back home in Missouri. Big, ugly things. Hairy too, probably seven, eight feet tall. Never seen 'em myself, but I got family who's seen 'em." He explained.
"What about the blue lights?" June questioned.
"Their eyes shine." The man said simply.
"The Momo's?" Breakdown questioned.
"They see pretty well in the dark. I thought it was a car or another Autobot at first, but… these are not tire tracks." Barton replied as they all looked at the tracks in question.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile at the Autobot outpost at the Quantico base, Optimus and Elita were currently in a tree stand on the west side of the base, doing some star gazing together, something they hadn't done in years.
To them, this was just making up for lost time.
"I missed doing this, Opi." Elita sighed as she leaned on her love interest.
"As have I, Elita." Optimus smiled as he kissed her, only pulling away when a noise got their attention.
Looking down, they saw a deer. It didn't do much at first until it walked up to a tree, looking at it almost intently.
Then, to their concern and unsettlement, it started bashing its head against a tree repeatedly. After a moment, it was bloody and there was brain matter all over the ground, which it began licking up absently, its eyes now hanging from its head.
"Uh… They shouldn't do that, right…?" Elita whispered to Optimus in concern.
"I do not believe so." Optimus whispered back in reply, just as concerned. He was pretty sure it shouldn't be alive right now, either.
That was when it did something that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.
The deer stood up on its hind legs, and it seemed to turn its head in their direction despite its eyes now being useless to it.
Then…
"I know you're there." It spoke clear as day in a voice that was not human.
This caused the Autobot couple to have a fright they never thought they'd have, even after the horrors of the war or even facing down Unicron.
This… Thing knew their position, and it called them out—it was unnatural.
As quick as it stood up, it dropped back on all fours and walked off, leaving a very frightened couple in their wake.
"... I think it's time for us to go." Elita said, her voice shaky.
"Y-Yes." Optimus spoke, his voice just as shaky as they climbed down and immediately booked it back to their vehicle.
It was clear that humanity had its own monsters lurking in the shadows…
(Timeskip)
After getting back from Japan, Tiberius was now doing a tactical environment exercise with Miko, June, Sierra, Raf, Optimus, Elita, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Wheeljack, Jack and Arcee (or in her human form Miranda Cecilia, soon to be Miranda Darby or just Arcee since it was easier and could easily be assumed as a nickname based on Cecilia) as a sort of "double date" for the two couples and a time for everyone to catch up while the Autobots were at base.
"Hey, girls?" Arcee asked as she and the other girls got into their sleeping bags after their camping tarps were set up on a tree against a rock face.
"What's up?" Miko responded as she settled in.
"I haven't told anyone this but… Ever since you and Elita joined the team, and even more so since June and Sierra were added to the mix…" The blue haired woman sighed as she hugged herself in her sleeping bag, clearly feeling self conscious. "I've been feeling more and more obsolete." She explained. "Like I'm being replaced." She added.
This made Miko frown along with Sierra, June and Elita. This was far from what they were trying to do, and they honestly weren't aware that it was happening.
"We were never trying to replace you, Arcee. That was never our intention." June told her.
"Yeah, we just thought that you were doing a lot of the work a majority of the time and we wanted to take some of that weight off your shoulders." Sierra nodded.
"Especially since, well, you've experienced more trauma than a good portion of us have in a lifetime." Miko nodded.
"But I understand why you'd feel that way, believe me, I used to feel the same way when I was on a mostly male team, and then had to compete with two hot new femmes when you and Chromia arrived." Elita hummed.
"I'm still struggling a bit with my Cybertronian body, so I can't really say I'm a fighter." The helicopter mom in the group stated. "You, Elita and Miko actually still outclass me." She added.
Arcee seemed to take in these positive words, at least until June spoke, then she became guilty.
"If I'm being honest, part of me actually wants to stay in this body." The two wheeler muttered.
"Uh, are you sure you wanna do that? You could run the very real risk of coming across some of humanity's folklore creatures." Sierra questioned, sounding shaken about something, which June picked up on, but chose not to comment on… Yet.
"There a reason why you feel this way?" Elita asked.
"Jack." Arcee replied, getting everyone's attention. "Back on Cybertron, I never really had anyone I'd consider close enough to call a lover like you do with Optimus or Miko does with Tiberius." She explained. "Before the war I was a police officer and Tailgate was my partner. We kept things professional all the way up into the war—where I won't lie. I did start to fall for him, but he was murdered before that could happen." She continued. "I thought Cliff was a second chance, but I was jaded and kept him at arm's length. So by the time he was snuffed—it was too late—him becoming a Guardian basically cemented that." She added.
"So when you started making a connection with Jack, you wanted to keep him away to protect him but ultimately decided to keep him close to keep him safe—and fell for him because of that." June noted. "When you got your new body, you decided to act on what you felt before history repeated itself." She added, noting a tragic theme.
The blue haired woman nodded, unable to argue.
"I'm sorry, June. I know that I should've been up front with you, but I wasn't even sure if I was even truly feeling what I thought I was feeling." She apologized, burying her face in her huddled knees. "But now I do know: I've fallen in love with your son!" She whispered. "… I love him. I love him so much…" She whimpered, tears threatening to escape her eyes.
Arcee found herself in the center of a group hug a moment later as the rest of the girls embraced her.
"You shouldn't feel guilty, Arcee. I think it's wonderful that you finally fell in love again." Elita told her.
"Yeah, and I know for a fact that Jack's gonna treat you like a queen, because he's been head over heels in love with you ever since we graduated." Miko nodded.
It was true. Jack had been seriously in love with Arcee since graduation, and whether Arcee acknowledged it or not at the time, she felt the same. The past nine years had only made it grow.
"Yeah, even when we were together, I could always get the feeling that he was definitely in love with someone… just not with me." Sierra nodded.
"… I know." The two wheeler sighed, getting their attention. "He made all that more than abundantly clear when he made love to me the other day." She admitted.
"Say what…?!" June hissed in a tense tone, causing Arcee to turn pale. If humans and Cybertronians shared anything when it came to practices, it was helicopter parents.
"Again, I'm sorry, June. I knew I should have told you but Jack told me to let him handle it." The woman explained. "Yes. Jack took me to his house the other night and, after proposing to me and telling me that he wanted us to get married—he ended up sealing the deal by making hot, erotic, passionate love to me." She said, laying everything bare to her beloved's mother.
"... I don't like it, but I don't really have a say in his life at this point." June sighed.
"Don't like it? June, they both love each other. What could possibly be the issue?" Elita questioned, genuinely confused.
"The "lovemaking behind my back" part. That's what." The woman deadpanned in reply.
The girls seemed to nod in understanding before Sierra shifted the discussion back to Arcee's decision to remain in her human body.
"Back to my question earlier. Are you sure you wanna stay in your human body?" The redhead repeated, the sighting she got at Fort Campbell flashing in her mind.
"It's been on my mind for the past few days, and I'm seriously considering it." Arcee nodded.
"Did something happen at Fort Campbell?" June questioned, recalling how shaken the redhead had been earlier.
"Me, Raf and Bumblebee were doing a patrol, and when we went to check out a car lot filled with abandoned cars from the 70s and 80s… Something appeared and tried to attack us." Sierra gulped. "It was a Sasquatch, straight up." She revealed, much to Miko and June's shock while Arcee and Elita looked confused.
"A what?" The femme questioned.
"A Sasquatch, Raf can explain it in the morning." Sierra told them. "Let's get some sleep." She sighed, getting into her sleeping bag.
"I hope it's not a big deal…" Arcee muttered as she got into her sleeping bag and went to sleep.
(Later)
About an hour later, Arcee was woken up by the sound of what she thought was a rifle round being chambered.
"What the…?" She muttered, irritated by the noise.
It confused her because, to her knowledge, none of them—save perhaps Wheeljack and herself—had no actual weapons with them at the time, so this was beyond perplexing.
'Is there a patrol nearby messing with us?' She wondered as she got out and looked around, but couldn't see anyone nearby.
Drawing her dual blue and black Beretta 21 Bobcat pistols, the ex-cop stepped over her girls and slowly creeped out to see what she could figure out.
"What's going on?" June asked, wondering why Arcee was out with her weapons drawn.
"I heard a noise. I'm gonna go see if it was one of the guys." She explained.
"Uh, they don't have any guns though. The only weapons among them are Wheeljack's swords." Miko pointed out.
"Well some one racked a charging handle back on a rifle." Arcee stated.
It was then that Jack actually came to see what was going on, hoping he wasn't walking into the middle of a catfight between his ex, his mom and his current lover.
"Did one of you secretly bring a rifle and rack the charging handle?" He questioned.
"I thought it was either you or one of the other guys." The femme replied.
"No. None of us have any guns." The coach told his girlfriend.
"Think it could've been a different team nearby?" Sierra questioned.
"Nobody but us is in the area, though, so I doubt it." Jack replied.
"Okay, this is weird…" Miko remarked with a frown.
"Let's just go back to sleep." The man sighed as they all went back to their sleeping bags and went back to sleep.
(Later)
The next morning, everyone soon awoke to a startling sight: their tarps and the boulders holding them in place had all been taken down and moved, and it seemed that some of it may have been stolen.
"What the–? What happened while we were asleep?" June wondered as she crawled out of her sleeping back.
"Oh boy…" Jack groaned. "So what I saw was real…" He muttered.
"What was?" His lover questioned as she stretched.
"I'm pretty sure I saw a Rake last night." He explained.
"What would a gardening tool be doing out here?" The bot turn human woman questioned.
"Not that kinda Rake. I'm talking about a Cryptid creature that only comes out at night." Jack corrected. "They're also called Pale Crawlers. They're excellent tree climbers and aren't necessarily aggressive—mostly curious—but can be really scary if provoked." He explained.
"So we won't be getting into any fights with one, much less if we outnumber one." Miko added.
"You saw one?" Elita asked.
"Yeah. It was on the rock face above us. As soon as I looked at it, it ducked away and skittered off. I wasn't gonna mention it but, with the tarps like this I thought I should tell you." He admitted.
"… You think the sound we heard last night was it breaking a branch?" Bulkhead questioned. "I mean, you did say these things love climbing." He added.
"There is a chance it saw me coming and hurried out of the tree, snapping a branch as it went." Jack mused with a nod.
"Definitely a skittish bunch, aren't they?" Wheeljack noted.
"There are a lot of creatures that go bump in the night in human cultures all over the world." June told him with a nod. "Some nice, some bad, and some that just want to be left alone." She added.
"Trust me, I am well aware of that." The sword using Autobot nodded with a shiver.
"Long story." Bulkhead sighed upon seeing the raised eyebrows from the others who didn't know.
(Timeskip)
Everyone was now back at Superplex where Tiberius was currently working on getting the receivers installed, on both their pretender bodies and their robot ones.
"Alright guys, this'll let you go back to your normal bodies if you want to, but it's only one way in the opposite direction. I figure most of you will want to get back, but I know that a couple of you are on the fence." The blonde said. "So just keep in mind that if you do this, it'll likely be awhile before you can swap again." He added.
"Fair enough." Bumblebee nodded in reply. "I'm gonna miss having a voice, though…" He sighed.
"I'll help fix it, I promise." Tiberius smiled.
"Not gonna lie, I kinda like it as a human." Bulkhead admitted. "But, I think it's about time I got back to my old body." He shrugged.
"Same." Wheeljack nodded.
"It was certainly a worthwhile experience, I certainly wouldn't mind keeping it around." Ratchet nodded. "But I think it's about time I returned to my duties as an Autobot medic." He added.
"Us too." Elita nodded, Optimus doing the same.
Arcee was silent for a long while and seemed to think hard, looking at herself, then Jack, and then her original body, before she stepped back.
"I… I've decided that I'm going to stay in my human body." She replied.
"Arcee?" Cliffjumper blinked, surprised by the declaration.
"I'm sorry, Cliff, I just—I don't think I'm ready to go back to fighting just yet." She apologized, looking up at Optimus as the prime placed a hand on her shoulder, his gaze offering nothing but understanding and support.
"The life of a soldier is not for everyone." He stated. "Even if it is for you, you feel worn down by the fighting." He noted.
"I just… Need some time away. I'll be back when I feel more whole." She told them.
"Fair enough." Elita nodded in understanding.
Tiberius then initiated the link and the Autobots' human bodies collapsed to the ground as all but Arcee's robot bodies got back up.
"So, what's the plan now?" The blonde asked.
"We attempt to get the Dark Spark back from Megatron, before he can use it for evil." Optimus stated.
This plan seemed doable to the others, but was suddenly interrupted by the holographic image of Quintus Prime suddenly appearing again.
"This is Quintus Prime, I am responding to the hailing message sent from this location." The Prime of Curiosity said.
"Oh, good. He got it." Tiberius sighed in relief that his message got through as he assumed the form of Genisys in his Skyraider form. "This is Genisys speaking. I'm the one who hailed you." He told the ancient Prime. "With me are the Autobots, led by one of the last Primes, Optimus." He explained.
"It is good to see that you still function, Quintus. Alpha Trion told me much about you." Optimus nodded.
"Of that, I am not surprised." Quintus hummed. "What is the status of Cybertron? I immersed myself in my musings to the point I never kept up to date." He questioned.
"It has unfortunately been laid to waste, poisoned by centuries of war and Dark Energon reaching the core." Optimus explained.
"And so all who are able were forced to abandon it…" Quintus sighed, connecting the dots. "Where might I find you?" He questioned.
"A planet known as Earth. Genisys will send you the coordinates." The bot replied.
"We'll be ready to welcome you to the best of our ability. See you soon." Genisys nodded as the call ended. "Guys, I think we just got a new ally." He grinned.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile back with MECH, the Dead Matrix was finally completed and was now ready for its power source infusion, which was going to be done through the use of Synthetic and a special kind of darkness infused energon that wasn't the blood of Unicron, but the Blood of Primus that took on the properties of the power of Stasis, becoming black in color—and a sliver of Dark from the Ziggurat.
"This should do the job well. Everything looks solid." One of the engineers said.
"You're good to go, Nemesis." Another nodded as the Optimus Duplicate took the matrix in his hands and inserted it into his chest—causing a sudden freezing blizzard of Paracausal power to surge through him.
This took the form of ice that quickly froze his entire form, but Nemesis shattered it moments later. He felt… Powerful.
"I believe our efforts have borne fruit, everyone." The dark Bioformer declared with a smirk.
It was then that a small Drone bearing a resemblance to a mechanical Snallygaster landed on his arm.
"Gyza, the first ever earth created Minicon." Starscream nodded. "He will transform and latch onto you in both robot and vehicle modes, and turn into a weapon for you as well." He added. "But unfortunately he does not yet know how to speak." He explained.
"Then I will be sure to keep him safe as he grows." Nemesis nodded in understanding. "And what of our prisoner?" He questioned as he walked over to where Transmutate was monitoring a still alive Airachnid, but her brain showed no brain activity.
Next to her was a voluptuous woman with porcelain skin, blonde hair and was dressed in a skin tight catsuit similar to black widow with a pair of stiletto heels.
"We've successfully transferred her consciousness to a pretender body, and now can use her Cybertronian body as we see fit." Transmutate replied.
"Now all that leaves is what we should do with her mind in her human body." Shellfire nodded. "Especially since some monkey wrench decided it'd be funny to give her an obscenely high libido." He added, glaring at a snickering Black Arachnia.
"I wanted to piss her off as much as I could with that. What can I say?" She chortled. "I'd suggest putting her to work as a broodmare myself, but that's just me." She admitted.
"You are insatiable, I swear…" Transmutate groaned in exasperation.
"I'll put that into consideration." Cylas nodded as he returned to his human form, looking at Airachid's human body and thinking for a moment, considering the possibility of what kind of soldiers the woman could produce.
It was definitely worth considering.
(Timeskip)
Megatron soon woke up upon finally returning to his Cybertronian body, to find Arachnia and Tarn waiting for him, his body still reverberating with power from the Dark Spark.
"Are you alright, my love?" The spider femme asked, rushing to her lover's side.
"A little disoriented… That should pass shortly, however." The warlord replied as he stood. "I am pleased that you are here, both of you." He nodded, Tarn hugging him.
"Me too, dad." The young Bioformer nodded.
"What shall we do now?" The Bioformer femme asked.
"I believe an ambush of our enemies is in order. Decepticons and MECH, we will attack the Autobot city known as Superplex, and reduce it to smoldering slag." The warlord replied as he addressed everyone.
"This is going to be fun!" Random cackled, already eager for the chaos.
"And I already know of a pair of new allies we can bring to our assault." Dreadwing nodded as he and Skyquake showed two sets of coordinates, one in Japan, and the other in the Native American lands of the Great Lakes.
"The Megabot known as Yamato. And the Titan known as Thunderwing—who takes the form of a giant Eagle shaped mountain—he's said to be a creation of Unicron himself." Skyquake nodded.
"Thunderwing is very fascinating, but what of Yamato?" Megatron questioned with interest.
"She is a Bioformer that is apparently a Megabot femme who scanned one of the largest human warship ever built." Dreadwing explained. "I've seen what it looks like, and I won't lie, you will like it." He added with a chuckle.
"Then, let us find them." Megatron nodded as his forces rallied around him.
Things were about to get real…
Dragon Emperor0: Well, this chapter went from crazy to a hundred in more than a few seconds, first cryptids, now Bioformer Megabots like Omega Supreme and Thunderwing are gonna be coming… Well, we're boned.
ThermalsniperN7: On the topic of the Cryptids, while the Cybertronians of the cast were already acquainted with the folktales of their world–and coming face to face with them, in some cases– the same cannot be said for human folktales, which are vastly different from their own. They aren't used to organic supernatural creatures doing what they do, so it's only natural for them to be frightened by them.
Dragon Emperor0: We got inspiration for these from the YouTube Channel Wartime Stories. They are seriously amazing and scary as all hell. Trust me, you do not want to be out walking around at night after watching these videos—you'll be on edge the entire time. I speak from experience.
ThermalsniperN7: You don't wanna go camping out in the woods, either. You just might have a Skinwalker call you out… But enough of that. We're bringing in Megabots and Titans now.
Dragon Emperor0: And given that Tripticon is currently the Nemesis and is permanently stuck that way, we decided that Thunderwing should replace him as Superplex's arch nemesis.
ThermalsniperN7: We're also bringing in a Megabot femme who takes the form of the Yamato… Let that sink in. Oh, and she won't be the only sea based megabot femme, either.
Dragon Emperor0: Think of them like a new version of Omega Supreme. Anyway, see you guys next time.