A/N - First off, if I get even one more PM/DM/Review asking for a collab, I'mma gonna scream. Does no one read my notes?! I will state this again; I am not interested in doing any art collabs. I do my own art. And I do not have money for commissions nor do I want to profit in any way from this fanfiction. That is actually illegal and a copyright infringement. I may be desperate for work, but not that desperate!
So please, no more collab requests. No begging to do commissions based on my fanfiction. If you want to do one, fine, but so long as 1) you credit myself for this fanfiction/OC, but also Hasbro (who owns Transformers), and 2) do not profit off your fanwork. I swear, I will literally Meltdown myself if I have to deal with another art collab request.
I will repeat myself again. I am not seeking or even interested in a collab of any kind at this moment in time. I do my own art, and am not interested/cannot afford to hire anyone else to do so.
Honestly the number of desperate requests that have been pouring in are pissing me off. So read this and understand; if anyone, and I mean anyone, makes one more request for a collab, I will put this story on Hiatus. Understood?
Great. Now, onto the story.
Anyways, onto the chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, only my OC and parts of the plot (i.e. what's not in the canon). No stealy.
Traffic in Detroit varied throughout the day, from as slow as molasses to several hour parking lot. The only way to pass through was to either have sirens… or be a very big, very angry alien robot that could take on the form of a semi.
"I am going to offline that minibot!" Override snarled, her engine roaring as she barreled down the street, barely avoiding the late afternoon traffic. Oh, she had done her best to guide the minibot, to teach him some common sense. But this?! "Of all the crank-cased things he could do-!" The femme swerved around a delivery truck, getting an angry horn blared at her.
From behind her, Ratchet rolled up, sirens blaring to help clear the way. "I know you're mad Prime! But driving into this helm first will not help this situation!" He swerved to try and get in front, only to nearly fishtail as he had to avoid a car.
"I'm not mad Ratchet!" Override corrected. "I'm torqued!" With a furious rev of her engine the fourteen-wheeler barreled ahead, skidding around a turn with agility that only a Cybertronian could pull off.
The ambulance ex-vented, increasing his speed. "Damn younglings and their need to rebel." He muttered, trying to catch up before his captain caused an accident.
Almost three breems earlier…
"Alright! Finally time for some TV!"
Override looked up from her console at Bulkhead's excited whoop, and chuckled seeing the big mechling plop down on a tire seat. The young bot eagerly started channel surfing with the bot-sized remote Wheeljack had made, wanting to enjoy human entertainment.
"I don't understand the need for 'TV'." Ratchet scoffed, going over inventory on a datapad. "Whatever happened to reading a good datapad?"
"It's a different era on a different planet, Ratch." Wheeljack chirped, his upper body half-buried in a crate brought up from the Orion. "Let the mechling enjoy his free time. None of us have had the ability to have any actual breaks in vorns."
The medibot grumbled something, but otherwise didn't retort. Instead, he went back to glaring at the inventory list.
Override shook her helm, going back to what she was doing. The security upgrades so far had proven flawless, detecting anything from a bird to a beetle, so hopefully nothing untoward would be able to slip in again. Sari also knew to check her backpack before coming over, just to be safe-
"What the-?! That's Bumblebee!" Bulkhead's exclamation made Everybot look over. There, on the television, was said minibot… about to wrestle with a human. A bio-enhanced human, but still a human!
"What in the-?! Has he blown a fuse?!" Ratchet gaped. "This is ludicrous! Even for him!"
Override's engine snarled, the femme storming towards the doors, murder in her optics.
"I believe Prime is going to remind him of a few lessons." Prowl stated slowly from his perch, watching his captain transform and take off with a roar from her engine.
Ratchet rebooted his optics, before groaning and racing after.
Bulkhead glanced at the only other bots present. "Umm… should we follow?" He asked.
Prowl went back to meditation, while Wheeljack just shook his helm. "Trust me Bulkhead, you'll wanna stay out of this." The inventor shuddered. "Remember, Prime and Ratchet are a pair of forces you do not want to get between. Especially when they're torqued."
Bumblebee grunted as he hit the ground, feeling his armour break through the pavement. Looking up, his vocalizer squeaked in terror upon seeing the colossus towering over him, holding an SUV over his head. The minibot was barely able to throw himself out of the way, only to cry out as a massive, beefy hand grabbed his leg, tossing him to the side. The yellow and black Autobot shouted in pain as he collided with the side of a truck trailer, before looking up to see Colossus Rhodes holding up a car over his head. Yelping, Bumblebee dove away, wincing as his chest plate scraped the pavement so hard paint peeled, armour and a bit of protoform cracking off. Behind him, Rhodes smashed the car into the trailer, then turned towards the mechling with a snarl.
"Stand and fight!" The giant human snapped. "Wha'are ya?! Yellow?!"
Helm still ringing, Bumblebee whimpered, not understanding the human saying. "Well, duh." He weakly quipped back, trying to stem the leaking of his lifeblood from his cracked chest plate.
In response, the colossus picked up another car, raising it up to bring it down on the Autobot.
Up until a truck horn blared, and Rhodes cried out as a day cab semi smashed into him, knocking him away. The truck screeched to a stop, then broke apart, revealing one very torqued off Prime.
"H-Hey, Boss-Bot. Nice save." The yellow and black mechling winced as the piercing blue gaze was turned to him. "I will deal with you later." Override snarled, turning to face her opponent, battlemask engaging.
Rhodes rose from where he'd crashed into some vehicles, picking one up in a beefy hand. With a yell he tossed it at the femme, who only raised one of her blades, the edge lighting up blue, slicing through it.
"My turn." The Prime growled, throwing two consecutive daggers.
The colossus raised his arms, grimacing as the blades pierced his flesh, and looked up with a glare. He barely had a chance to process before he was tackled by the slimmer form, the two combatants tumbling across the parking lot.
Bumblebee watched with wide optics, before hearing the sounds of a siren. Ratchet pulled up beside him, the medibot transforming from ambulance form. "You really stepped in it this time, mechling." The medic groused, kneeling next to the minibot to start repairs.
The yellow and black bot winced, then looked up hearing his name be shouted. Sari ran over, panting as she stopped by his head. "I-I'll fix you up!"
A red and white servo stopped her. "Oh no. Prime ordered that whatever damage he sustained from this processor-fried fight will be repaired the normal way." Ratchet stated, starting to work on the damaged back plating. Bumblebee winced as circuits sparked. He was so, so slagged.
Override growled as she took a punch to her battlemask, and she returned it in kind. Rhodes gasped as her metal fist hit his abdomen, before yelling and bringing his fists down on her shoulders. The Prime grunted from the impacts, then quickly retaliating by raising a pede and kicking her opponent in the chest.
The force sent the colossus flying backwards, crashing into more cars. Upon impact several car alarms went off, grating on audios. As the femme grimaced, Rhodes roared, the darker marks on his green-ish skin flashing a bright, glowing yellow-green.
Override raised an optic-ridge at that, also noting how the piston-like structures on his upper back also flashed yellow-green. Her processor started formulating a plan, while she started to circle the rising colossus.
Rhodes panted, before getting up with a roar and charging, a feral gleam in his beady eyes. The Prime quickly side-stepped, arms snapping out and grabbing the two pistons. The colossus shouted in pain as his body was tugged back, and desperately he reached back, trying to claw at the servos holding on. But his bulk prevented him, leaving him thrashing.
Optics narrowed, the femme crushed the pistons in her servos, getting a roar of pain. She then released the man, who crumpled forwards. Rhodes hit the pavement chest first with a groan, before his body began to shrink.
Soon, a frail old man lay on the ground, the now oversized crushed pistons on his back sparking.
"My creation!" A voice shouted, and turning Override saw a man in a white tuxedo and grey overcoat race over. "Look what you've done!"
Behind him was Chief Fanzone, who followed at a more passive pace. He looked up at the femme, who raised an optic-ridge at him. The police officer sighed, his inland northern accent thicker from adrenaline. "Mr. Black here was trying t' demonstrate the superiority of his biotech compar'd ta robots. For police use." The Chief turned to the hysterical man, shaking his head. "Think I'll stick with the rust buckets I already have t' deal with." He then grimaced a little. "Ah, no offense."
"None taken." The Prime replied, looking down at this 'Mr. Black'.
The man had frozen at Fanzone's words, and now looked at him with a horrified gaze. "W-What?! You can't! My contract-!"
The Chief cut him off. "After this mess? Consider it scrapped!" He snapped. "And you will be responsible for paying for cleanup as well."
"You can't do this to me!" Black cried out. "I'll be ruined! My company-!"
"Maybe you should'a thought o' that before unleashing an unstoppable giant!" Fanzone turned and walked away, leaving Black standing there, stunned.
Override shook her helm, walking away. Her long strides took the femme over to where Ratchet was finishing his field patch. "Alright you. No transforming until I finish repairs back at base." The medibot was ordering.
"What?! You want me to walk back?!" Bumblebee gaped, only to squeak hearing the growling of an angry engine. "No. You will be riding on my fifth wheel back to base." The Prime's optics narrowed over her still engaged battlemask. "And we are going to have a long discussion over your choices today." With that, she transformed, waiting.
The yellow and black minibot's engine whimpered, but obediently he climbed on. He held onto the two small exhaust stacks, wincing as the of his captain started off.
Sari watched, before turning as Ratchet transformed. "Hop in." He grunted, and the thirteen year old quietly did so. As the ambulance started the drive, the girl meekly asked, "We're in trouble, aren't we?"
The medibot ex-vented. "I don't know about you, but Bumblebee most certainly is."
"Oh." Sari fell quiet, clasping her hands and looking at her lap. Ratchet didn't speak, focused instead on making his way back to base while mentally categorizing what he would need to repair a certain minibot.
Black watched the Autobots depart, fists clenched at his side. "Infernal machines." He growled, kicking at the ground.
To his surprise, he felt his boot impact something. Glancing down, the CEO saw a piece of Bumblebee's armour, coated in a strange, glowing blue liquid. Curious, he knelt down, carefully picking up the armour without touching the blue stuff. "Fascinating." He murmured, turning the armour over to see an attached piece of gray metallic material, as well as fine wires and small tubes leaking some more of the blue liquid. Pulling out a vial, he carefully scooped up some of the glowing fluid.
A self-satisfying grin pulled on his lips. "This is not over." Black promised softly.
The three mechs in the base looked up as Bumblebee limped in, followed by a still torqued Prime, then by Ratchet, who was carrying Sari in a servo.
"Heya little buddy! We saw what happened on TV and-!" Bulkhead walked over, only for his friend to ignore him. "Buddy…?" He watched as the minibot limped into the hallway, towards where Ratchet had set up his med-bay.
Said medibot walked over to the large mechling, depositing Sari into his servo. "Excuse me." He then followed after Bumblebee.
All optics turned to Override, who was walking over to the command terminal. "Prime?" Wheeljack ventured, stepping towards the femme.
Override remained silent, battlemask still engaged as she started typing. Eventually, she did speak, her voice thick with internal anger. "Bumblebee is confined to base until Ratchet completes his repairs, and is not allowed to watch any television or do anything fun for the next six cycles. During which he will be assisting Ratchet in whatever the medic needs, and when he is not doing that he will be on monitor duty." She stated, still looking at the holo-screen in front of her. "As for Sari," at this the human girl winced, "she is going to be sent back to her home and is not permitted on base for the next few Earth weeks. Any further punishment will be decided by her father once I contact him."
The three mechs grimaced, even Prowl feeling a little bad. But they didn't challenge their captain.
Bulkhead looked down at the human sitting in his servo. "I'll take you home." He murmured to her, setting Sari down on the ground. The thirteen year old remained quiet as the large green mechling transformed, climbing in when he opened his passenger door.
Override kept her gaze on the screen in front of her as she listened to Bulkhead leave. Inside her anger still boiled, and she was barely able to keep a cap on it. Of all the scrap-helmed, reckless, dumb things to do! She fumed internally. Already messages from both the media and the mayor's office were flooding in, and she had to do damage control. This is going to be a long, long Earth cycle.
Biotech Unbound was once a flourishing, highly profiting company. They had developed biotechnology that could be used in surgeries, transplants, and even prosthetics.
Up until their CEO, Prometheus Black, decided to push the ethical limits of the technology. Tried to step into a sector that was strongly dominated by another, equally powerful company. And it imploded.
In the span of a few weeks, the stock crashed, layoffs were had, lawsuits filed, investors pulled out…
Now the remains of a company that had lasted almost half a century were in a single warehouse, with only a few remaining employees. The warehouse was once used for storage, but now had a shoddily built lab in one half and a poorly constructed office/lounge area in another. In a closed off section of the lab, Prometheus obsessed over a single project.
The man slowly opened the stopcock on the burette, dripping a green solution into a Erlenmeyer flask, which had some of the mysterious blue liquid in it. The reaction was instantaneous, and Prometheus barely ducked out of the way as it exploded.
Once it was clear, the former big-time CEO bemoaned the failure. "No no NO!" He cried out, smacking the burette and sending it crashing to the floor from the table. "That was the last of that sample!" Prometheus then slumped in an old office chair, feeling defeat. "All my research… all my life's work… everything is ruined." His gaze turned to the armour sitting under another burette, which was dripping fluoroantimonic acid on it. Yet the armour remained unblemished, except for what remained of the paint.
He scowled. "I've tried everything!" The scientist ranted aloud, standing up and starting to pace. "But nothing, nothing, can melt through that alien armour! Not sulfuric acid, not hydrofluoric, nothing!" Cursing, he kicked the chair, sending it crashing into the table with the armour. "Curse'd machines! I would have dominated the market if not for them! And now I-!" He was cut off by his own coughing, suddenly made aware of the rising fumes.
On the floor, the spilled acid mixed with the green fluid dripping from the shattered burette, as well as the tiniest remains of the blue fluid. Together they had started to smoke and fume, forming a bubbling black liquid that was melting through the floor… and the armour that lay near it.
Feeling the fumes stinging his eyes, Prometheus stumbled towards the door. Only he stepped in some of the spilled green liquid, sending him crashing into a table. Grunting, the scientist stumbled back into a cabinet filled with beakers. They came crashing down over him, acids and bases and other solutions, wrenching a scream of pain from the man's lips.
A commotion started up outside as Prometheus thrashed, grabbing at his back as it burned. The fumes grew thicker, blinding him, choking his lungs, even as he finally stumbled to the door. "H-Help!" He croaked, grabbing at the handle…
…which melted away at his touch.
Sari climbed out of Bulkhead's S.W.A.T vehicle form, walking into the base. "Hey guys!" She greeted cheerfully, happy to finally see her friends in their base again.
"Hey Sari!" Wheeljack greeted cheerfully from the sofa, turning away from the show he had been watching. "Wanna come watch Mythbusters 2.0 with me?"
"In a bit." She looked up at Bulkhead, the large bot having transformed to bot form. "I wanna see Bee."
"He is helping Ratchet." The voice of Override answered. The femme was at the command terminal, a report in cybertronian standard on the holo-screen. "And Ratchet's exact glyphs were "do not disturb, even if you hear a scream"." The white and blue femme glanced over. "Bumblebee is helping him test the diagnostic equipment. Routine maintenance."
The thirteen year old winced. "Oh. Uh… hi." She became meek, curling in on herself.
The Prime let out a long ex-vent, closing the holo before walking over. Kneeling before the girl, she held out a servo. "Sari," she spoke softly as the human climbed into her palm, "I know that you meant no harm." Override walked back over to the terminal, carrying the redhead. "However, I hope you can understand how serious that series of actions was."
Sari looked down, lightly scuffing a boot against the smooth metal of the servo. "I know… Dad had his lawyer explain it to me."
The femme gently lowered her servo to the terminal's surface, the human youth stepping off. "I am glad that you do." She kneeled down to be at eye level. "Sari, I want you to understand; we Autobots are guests on your planet. Despite our well meanings, there are humans who fear us, and will do anything to promote hate against us."
"I know that now." The Indian girl murmured, eyes down. "I'm sorry for the mess you had to deal with."
A gentle digit lifted her chin, blue eyes meeting soft blue optics. "And I accept your apology." Override smiled a little, watching the human brighten up.
"Freedom!" Everyone looked up as Bumblebee shot into the room, diving over the back of the concrete couch and into a tire seat. He ex-vented, going limp in relief.
Prowl raised an optic ridge, adjusting his seating position on his perch. "From Ratchet yes. But I believe you are still 'grounded', as the human saying goes."
The minibot 'meeped', sinking more into the seat with wide optics.
Override ex-vented from where she was working from. "Given that the six cycle punishment period is nearly over… I believe that Bumblebee has more than learned his lesson about human interaction. Yes?" She looked directly at the cowering mechling.
"Yes boss-bot." Bumblebee squeaked out, before perking up as a certain young human was deposited on his lap. "Sari! Hey, how are you?"
The two started chatting away, and relative normalcy returned to the base. It was a welcome relief for all of them.
"Hey, my dad's about to unveil his latest model of police bot." Sari stated, looking at her friends. "You guys wanna come over an see?"
Bulkhead reset his optics. "But won't that just air on the TV?" He asked, confused.
The girl shook her head. "Nope! This one's pretty private. But you guys are welcome to come over. If Prime's okay with that?" She looked at said femme, who ex-vented. "Why not? We're all getting a little cooped up in here." Override admitted, smiling a little.
The more youth-oriented bots cheered with their human friend. Ratchet, on the other servo, just groaned. "Great. Another road trip."
"…we did everything we could, s-sir." The dark haired scientist whimpered, stepping back to join his equally spooked colleagues. "Though t-the mutation is…"
"Permanent? I am well aware of that." The shadowed form growled, the lenses of his goggles reflecting eerily. "I must thank you for your… excellent work on my suit." He almost purred, examining a gloved hand. "However…" he turned to the cowering scientists, holding up his hand to them, palm out, "it would be most prudent to test it."
Slits opened along where the glove attached to the arm of the suit, and a viscous, thick black fluid with a harsh yellow tint oozed out, covering the gloved hand.
"S-Sir! Please wait-!" One of the scientists pleaded, eyes wild with terror.
Screams rang out as the thick fluid shot from the palm like a geyser, the form chuckling darkly. "It seems to work just perfectly… a pity I can't pay you monetarily for it."
The small crew of Autobots were on their way to the facility when Prowl caught something on the police radio. Putting on his signal, the motorcycle moved over to the right lane, pulling up beside his leader. "Prime. Tune in to the police dispatch channel."
Override did so, adjusting her radio, and listened to the dispatcher. "All units, be aware of an unknown chemical attack in the Ecorse Warehouse District. Repeat, be aware of an unknown chemical attack in the Encorse Warehouse District. Fire and EMS have been dispatched."
"Prime?" Ratchet inquired, having also tuned in to the same frequency.
"Bumblebee, take Sari over to the demonstration. The rest of us will join you after." Override ordered, putting on her signal to get off the nearest exit ramp.
"On it boss-bot." The minibot acknowledged, though his voice held the confusion over the order. Either way he complied, continuing on while the rest of the team pulled off the highway onto the exit ramp.
"Boss-bot, what's going on?" Bulkhead asked, noticing Prowl pulling ahead and putting on his siren.
"Trouble." The femme answered, still listening in to the radio dispatch, a sense of dread pooling in her spark.
Fanzone looked up at a shout from one of his men, and saw the officer indicating to a certain contingent of vehicles pulling up to the warehouse. As the Chief approached them, the day cab in the lead stopped before breaking apart and transforming into a familiar form, a similar process following the rest of the vehicles. "Guess you bots overheard the dispatch, eh?" The heavyset man stated, eyeing the police motorcycle turned ninjabot.
"Yes. Fanzone," Override knelt to be closer to eye level with the human, "what happened here?" Her optics were on the emergency vehicles and their crews, and the medical examiner vehicles.
The police chief sighed, rubbing his temple. "It's… best you come inside to see." He then added, almost as an afterthought, "And I hope none of you are squeamish."
The Autobots shared looks, but followed Fanzone inside. The warehouse was split into two sections, in the space made between storage crates. The office space was in disarray, but intact. What remained of the laboratory section could only be described as melted, fumes still rising from a few spots.
"What in the Allspark happened here?" Ratchet gaped at the destruction. "This looks like Wheeljack's lab after his attempt at making energon goodies!"
"It wasn't this bad!" The inventor snapped back, though he was looking at the melted door frame to a once closed off section with curious optics. "Whatever did this still is…" he mumbled, a scope coming down over his left optic. "It appears to be some sort of acid."
"Could've told ya that." Fanzone snorted, before looking to the side. "Whatever acid it is… it was also strong enough to do… that." He gestured over.
Optics followed, and then widened seeing the gruesome scene. "I think I'm gonna blow a gasket." Bulkhead whimpered, holding a servo over his intake.
Override felt a little queasy herself, averting her optics. "Do you have any leads on who did this?" She asked Fanzone.
"Not yet." The chief stated. "Leading theory is that someone was out to get the remains of Biotech Unbound."
Prowl raised an optic ridge in surprise. "The same company that tried to file a lawsuit against Prime?"
"Unfortunately." Fanzone held out his arms. "This is all that remains after their run of lawsuits and such from the fallout. For now, we're operating on the assumption that this was a targeted attack on the CEO. Especially since he's missing."
"Missing?" Override inquired.
"Yup. Our M.E.s did a DNA check on the remains. None of them matched Black's."
The Prime frowned, opening her intake to ask more questions, when Wheeljack suddenly let out a pained yelp. Eyes and optics turned to the mech, who was holding out a servo.
"Hold still!" Ratchet grumbled, grabbing the inventor's wrist. The medibot started his examination, and then his engine stalled. "What did you do?!" He exclaimed, seeing the melted digit tip.
"I was just testing to see what acid it was, when it burned me!" Wheeljack explained, wincing as Ratchet had to cut off the tip of his digit to prevent the acid from doing any further damage.
"Wait, isn't our armour basically indestructible against solvents?" Bulkhead asked, confused and a little worried.
"That's what I'm worried about." Override murmured, watching as the medibot fussed over his friend. It was then that her went off. :Boss-bot? Got a situation at the factory.:
The Prime frowned, answering the call. "Are you and Sari alright Bumblebee?" She inquired, concerned.
:We're okay boss-bot. But Sari thinks someone sabotaged her father's prototype.: The minibot reported, a concerned edge in his tone. :Some kind of acid.:
Override felt proverbial alarm bells go off in her helm. "Bumblebee, whatever you do make sure no one touches that prototype!" She ordered, already hurrying outside the warehouse. Cutting the comm, she ordered her bots to follow, before transforming and racing off.
Fanzone watched the bots take off, concerned. Especially when he got a call over the radio from one of his captains. "Report."
"Sir? It seems that Sumdac's latest police bot prototype is a bust. Thing blew up just after being given an order." The woman reported, her voice filled with a bit of aggravation. "Damn thing nearly took out the mayor!"
"Understood." Fanzone acknowledged, though he felt that the timing was suspicious. Something was up, he just knew it.
Sumdac Systems had many facilities across Detroit, from Monroe in the south to Sterling Heights and Pontiac in the North. The facility Bumblebee waited for his crewmates in was located in Conner Creek, on the shore of the Detroit River. At his pedes Sari was typing on her phone, absently playing with the Allspark Key around her neck. Both looked up hearing engines, and saw the other Autobots driving up. Override was the first to transform, her faceplate lined with concern. "Where is it?" She asked.
Both Bumblebee and Sari pointed to the slumped over form inside the garage. The Prime breezed past them, Ratchet and Wheeljack on her heels. The minibot looked up as his oversized friend approached with Prowl. "Bulkhead, what's going on?"
Inside, the three bots inspected the disabled prototype. "You're right Prime." Ratchet grunted, scanning the drone with his arm scanner. "The same acid was used to short out the circuits in the drone's processor."
"Wait, so someone is going after both Black and Sumdac?" Wheeljack asked, confused. "But, why? The one time their companies interacted was from that wrestling match, and that was only through the lawsuit cycles ago."
Override frowned, her processor trying to connect the events. "I don't know. But I don't like it."
Sari ran over to them, a spooked explosion on her dark face. "Do you think my dad's in danger?!" She asked, scared for her father. "He left not long after the showing to recheck the schematics in his office!"
"I don't know. But we'd best make sure." The Prime said, standing up to her full height. "Ratchet, Wheeljack, continue to examine the acid. Sari, call your father! The rest of us will head to Sumdac Tower. Autobots, transform and roll out!"
The reception area of Sumdac Tower was on the ground floor, with large, floor to ceiling windows and an open concept space with plants from trees to flower bushes scattered throughout. Towards the middle of the room was the reception desk, behind it the main elevators used to access the upper floors. Currently the lobby was empty, as it was after the main work hours. This meant that no one was present to witness the form walk towards the receptionist desk, platform boots leaving melted indents in the floor from open seams along the soles.
The receptionist was a robot styled after a middle-aged woman, who looked up at the figure as he approached the desk. "I am here for Issac Sumdac." He growled, his voice almost gurgling.
"You have an appointment mister, ah…?" The robotic receptionist inquired, its limited processor only seeing a man.
Unfortunately for the robot, the 'man' was no longer human. "The name is… Meltdown." The walking acid man answered, acid sliding from the slits on his left arm over his gloved hand. With that he sprayed the toxic substance on the receptionist robot, which immediately began eating away at the metal while simultaneously melting it. "Have a… nice… day…"
As the robotic receptionist melted into a puddle of slag, the fumes set off the fire alarm.
Sumdac sighed, pushing back from his desk. He was sitting in his office, having been staring at the digital blueprints the engineering team had forwarded to him. "I don't understand. The blueprints are flawless." He swiped them away, pulling up the reports from the initial prototype tests. "And all the tests came out with flying colours. What could have gone wrong…?"
He was startled when his phone rang. The scientist fumbled for a moment, before pulling it out and answering. "Hello?"
"Dad!" Sari! "The prototype failure wasn't an accident! It was sabotage!"
"Sabotage?" Sumdac parroted, startled. "But who would want to-?"
That was when the fire alarm went off. "Hold on Sari." The father set his phone down and typed away on his computer. The security feeds popped up… and a look of utter terror covered his face seeing what could only be described as living acid looked straight into the camera before destroying it.
A voice then echoed throughout the building's PA system. "ISSAC SUMDAC!"
"Help." Sumdac squeaked, even as his office went into lockdown.
Sari clutched her phone to her chest, the call having been cut off the moment lockdown had been initiated. They were too late…
"Sari? Sari!" The girl jolted, her eyes going to the radio. "Are you alright?" Bumblebee asked, concerned.
"It's my dad… whoever's after my dad is already in the tower!" She whimpered, scared. "What if we're too late?!"
:You said the tower went into lockdown, right?: Prowl's calm voice came over the comms. The motorcycle pulled up alongside the Volkswagen, sirens blaring to help clear the road. :Then your father should be safe until we make it there.:
:Except for the whole 'acid that can melt through anything' part?: Bulkhead muttered, only to yelp as the ninjabot nearly brakechecked him.
:Focus on getting to the tower Autobots.: Override ordered, pulling up the rear. :ETA is about five kliks. Prowl, have you contacted Fanzone?:
:He's sending backup, but their ETA is at least two breems.: The motorcycle reported, pulling ahead.
:Then we'll have to get there faster. Bumblebee, Prowl, you two go ahead. Your vehicle modes are faster.: The femme ordered. :Get in there and get Sumdac and any other humans out of there. And whatever you do, do not let the intruder hit you with that acid!:
Issac cowered under his desk, shaking in fear. The intruder alarm was blaring, the tower in complete lockdown. But from what the security feeds had shown, it barely slowed the acid man down.
A faint hissing sound filled the air, along with an arid smell that burned the eyes. The inventor became more frightened, especially upon hearing that awful, gargling voice. "Sumdac!"
Issac barely managed to stifle a scream of fear, trembling under his desk… until hands made of the toxic stuff started to melt through it. Shouting in alarm the older man scrambled back, ending up in his chair. Before him stood the acid man, who stepped through the remains of his desk. "Ah, Issac Sumdac…" he leaned in, Sumdac's wide, terrified eyes reflecting his melting features, "we need to talk."
Bumblebee and Prowl sped into the parking lot for Sumdac Tower, screeching to a stop just outside the very melted double doors. Sari jumped out, running towards the building. "Dad! DADDY!"
The thirteen year old squeaked as a gold and black servo stopped her. "Wait Sari." Prowl spoke calmly yet firmly. "We don't know what we're facing. Running in helm first will only put yourself in danger as well."
"Ya got that right punk." Eyes and optics turned, and there stood the frail form of Rhodes. The man smirked. "Sorry, bu' boss gave me orders. No one disturbs his meeting." With that, the pistons on his back activated, and soon he towered over them, flexing his new muscles menacingly.
Prowl took a defensive stance. "Both of you, get inside. I will deal with him."
Rhodes laughed. "You? I'll snap your skinny form like a twig!" With a roar he lunged, only to hit the pavement as the cyber ninja gracefully flipped over him.
Bumblebee took the chance to scoop up his human friend and race inside. The melted bot at the reception desk along with the blaring alarm was more than enough clue to what had happened. Sari tried not to gag from the fumes rising from the still melting metal, typing at the console after 'Bee set her down. She pulled up security feeds, feeling worried seeing several camera feeds unresponsive…
Before footage of her father's office was pulled up. "Dad!"
On the screen, a man made of acid, wearing some sort of containment suit designed as a throwback rocker-style outfit, was cornering her father in his office chair. "Bee!"
"On it!" The minibot raced off, opening the elevator doors-
And yelped as the elevator came crashing down, impacting a few levels down. Something tells me that that thing really doesn't want company! Swallowing back his fear, the Autobot entered the shaft, and using the wheels on his shoulders and heels drove upwards. Hang on Professor, help's coming!
The rest of the Autobots finally made it to the tower, in time to see Prowl get tossed into a nearby empty transport trailer. Immediately Prime and Bulkhead transformed to confront Colossus Rhodes.
Override's battlemask snapped into place as she took the lead stance. "Stand down!" She ordered the bio-enhanced human. "I will not ask again!"
Rhodes snarled. "I don't take orders from machines!" He thundered, racing over with a roar. The Prime barely caught his large fists in time, straining against him, before yelping as he suddenly twisted and threw her. Override skidded and flipped across the pavement, while the colossus turned to the other bots.
Bulkhead snarled, and raced forwards, transforming a servo into a wrecking ball. Rhodes managed to catch it with a single hand, before rearing back his other fist and smashing it into the mechling's faceplate. Bulkhead stumbled back, stunned, while Rhodes moved in for the next blow. He hit the large green bot again, knocking Bulkhead down, before raising his fists up, ready to crush the bot. Before he could however, there was an angry yell as he was tackled by a pissed off Prime. "Don't touch my team!" Override snarled, grabbing at the pistons on the man's back. To her shock, they would not crush under her grip.
"Heh. Boss reinforced them." The Colossus smirked, reaching back and grabbing the femme's hands, showing more flexibility than before, then throwing her over his shoulders. This time Override was able to fall into a controlled roll, landing on her pedes and skidding to a stop. Rhodes did not give her a chance to recover, rushing forwards and tackling her bodily. The two rolled, exchanging blows, trying to overpower the other. One to buy time for his boss, the other trying to not kill but subdue the bio-enhanced human.
Back in the Conner Creek facility, Ratchet and Wheeljack analyzed the acid.
"This stuff is unlike anything I encountered during the War." The medibot grumbled, staring at the melted pipette dropper in his servo. "It melts through everything."
Wheeljack nodded absently, already tinkering with something. "It has to be contained in something, given that the perpetrator is able to use it. Though if I can recalibrate my old shield generator, maybe we can contain it…"
Ratchet nodded, before frowning. "Wait… my scanners are picking up traces of energon and protoform alloy in the acid."
His inventor friend looked up. "What? Are you saying the acid has cybertronian elements mixed in it?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying." The old medic scowled, before activating his magnets. Slowly, he focused on the acid drops, and watched as he was able to weakly manipulate it with the magnetic field. "Definitely a metal based acid."
Wheeljack nodded, adjusting his shield generator. "Then if I can recalibrate this generator's magnetic field…" he started muttering to himself.
Ratchet nodded, managing to pick up a drop of acid with his magnets. Something about the acid was gnawing at him, he just knew it.
In the CEO office at the top of Sumdac Systems' tower, Meltdown continued his advance on his self-proclaimed rival.
"Wh-Who are you?! W-What do you want?!" Sumdac whimpered, pressing back in his chair.
The acid man stopped. "You don't recognize me, Issac? I'm wounded…" he chuckled darkly, a gurgling sound. "Then again, your lawyers helped destroy my lawsuit against the Autobots…"
Sumdac's eyes widened even more. "P-Prometheus?! What happened to you?!"
"An accident, brought on by my efforts to rebuild my empire." Black explained, before narrowing his eyes. "But enough about that. Now, the time has come to set the score straight."
"What do you mean?!" Issac whimpered, though he had good feeling as to why.
"Because Sumdac, you're a fraud." Meltdown stated, as though it were common knowledge. "I am smarter, better looking, and more educated than you! But yet…" he picked up a fallen robotics award, which melted into slag at his touch, "everything you touch turns to gold, while everything I touch turns to slag!" He then threw the melted slag out the window, which began to suck air out through the hole from the elevation. "Just look at me now! I'm a freak!"
Sumdac whimpered, pressing back as much as he could in his chair. The creature formerly known as Prometheus Black only leaned in more. "But I refuse to be beaten by some simpering nerd, who merely got lucky!"
Issac felt his heart stop. No! How can he know?! That became the least of his problems however, as Meltdown raised an acidic hand. "Are you ready to feel the burn?"
Outside, the battle still raged on between bio-enhanced human and Prime. They traded blows, rolling across the pavement. Snarling, Rhodes grabbed at Override's helm, trying to squeeze. Grunting, the femme kicked her pedes into his torso, winding the man and making his grip dislodge.
Override rolled, shoving the colossus off of her, before scrambling to her pedes. Across from her Rhodes staggered on his feet, holding a hand to his torso. "Cheap shot." The man growled, before racing forwards and tackling the femme.
The two rolled across the ground, wrestling each other, until the Colossus managed to get the upper hand. He smashed a beefy fist into the Prime's faceplate, stunning her. Rhodes took the opportunity to start smashing her helm into the pavement, over and over, until she was unconscious. He then raised a fist, ready to bust in her faceplate…
Then a rocket-fist smashed into his face. "Hah! Take that you Neanderthal!" Wheeljack whooped. His excitement fell when the colossus shook the blow off, grabbing the arm and crushing it. "Hey! I need that!"
Ratchet grumbled from where he was patching up Prowl. "Oh, now he gets it."
Rhodes closed in on the Autobot Inventor, hitting his fist into his palm. He then raised his hands up, ready to crush the white, red, and green bot. But a dumpster to the head from magnetic fields was enough to send him staggering back.
"Don't just stand there." Ratchet snapped, still patching up the cyberninja. "You have weapons so fight the glitch!"
"Oh, right." Wheeljack's remaining servo transformed into a blaster, which he aimed at the bio-enhanced human. "Surrender!" He ordered.
Rhodes snarled, before roaring and charging. Yelping, the Autobot opened fire. To his shock, the blasts only lightly charred the greenish skin. The man looked at his charred arms, then smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Boss made my skin thicker too."
Wheeljack's engine whimpered. "Scrap."
Issac felt his life flash before his eyes, staring at the acid hand coming for his face. If there is a God out there, forgive me if you wish, but please take care of Sari…
Meltdown grinned, ready to melt Sumdac into a fleshy mess. He was interrupted by a loud crash from behind him, tires squealing, before he was smashed into.
Sumdac felt so much relief to see the familiar car form of Bumblebee, and as the Autobot screeched to a stop by him he staggered to his feet. "Get in!" The minibot ordered, optical sensors on the wall he had sent Meltdown through.
"He wanted to melt me!" Issac whimpered, crawling into the Volkswagen's passenger seat.
The professor had just been buckled in when Meltdown burst out of the rubble, snarling. Engine revving, Bumblebee peeled out, racing for the most certainly demolished office doors.
Enraged, the acidic man fired a stream of acid at the Autobot. The minibot swerved, avoiding the worst of it, though he yelped as some drops hit his armour. "Watch the paint job!"
Meltdown just howled in rage, racing after as Bumblebee escaped through the doors. The minibot raced towards the elevator doors, which he had wrenched open. Unfortunately a stream of acid hit the top part, forcing the yellow and black mechling to swerve, pulling into a u-turn to avoid the melting, acidic metal. "If this is about the wrestling match, I'm retired from the ring!"
Meltdown only growled, firing another stream of acid. "Foul machine!"
Yelping, Bumblebee's tires squealed as he zoomed down another tight hallway. Salvation came to him and his passenger in the form of emergency stairs. Putting pedal to the metal, the Autobot crashed through the doors, shouting "Hang on!"
Sumdac yelped, gripping the seat tightly as they started bumping down the stairs.
Above them, Meltdown snarled as he watched the Volkswagen spiral down the stairs faster than he could run. Thinking fast, the former CEO opened the slits on his boots fully. Acid pooled around his feet, melting through the floor in less than ten seconds, sending him down to the floor below.
Outside, Bulkhead groaned, slowly coming to. Looking around as his optics recalibrated, he saw his leader laying on her back unconscious, Wheeljack running from Rhodes, who was wielding a streetlight as a weapon, while Ratchet was tending to a badly damaged Prowl, though the medic occasionally threw something at the bio-enhanced human with his magnets. Scowling, the large mechling got up, transforming a servo into a wrecking ball.
Rhodes grinned as he finally managed to corner the slippery machine, who futilely blasted at him with his weapon. "Time to become scrap metal tin can!"
"I beg to differ!" Wheeljack's optics went wide as a familiar wrecking ball smashed the Colossus over the head. Hard.
Rhodes went down with a groan, slipping back into his original frail form. Above him, Bulkhead smashed his wrecking ball into his palm. "First rule of training; never leave your back turned to an opponent, even if they are offline."
"Nice one Bulkhead!" Wheeljack praised, kneeling down. With deft fingers he disabled the pistons on the man's back. "There. Now he can stay manageable."
The big green Autobot nodded, though his gaze went to the melted doors of Sumdac Tower.
Sari watched worriedly on the remaining security cameras as her friend tore down the emergency stairs with her father. She had no visual on the crazy acid man who attacked him, other than that he had chased after her father and friend before vanishing.
It wasn't too long until the familiar form of Bumblebee shot out of the emergency stair doors, skidding to a stop by Sari. The girl barely gave her friend a chance to open his door, and cried in relief as she was able to hug her father. "Daddy!"
Sumdac was dizzy and nauseous, though he managed to hug his daughter back. The redhead helped her father out, giving Bumblebee the chance to transform. The mechling smiled, relieved, before his audios picked up a hissing sound.
Above them, the ceiling began to melt. "Move!" The Autobot scooped the two humans up, diving out of the way. Just in time as well, as part of the ceiling melted, letting something fall through.
Bumblebee scrambled to his pedes, taking a defensive stance in front of the Sumdacs, stingers out. Where they had once been standing, Meltdown stood up, panting and full of rage. "You cannot escape me, Sumdac!"
The acid man raised his hands, firing a stream of acid at them…
Which Bumblebee threw himself in front of. "BUMBLEBEE!"
The mechling cried out, going down as the acid melted through his armour. Meltdown walked past him, stalking towards his prey. "If there are no more interruptions…"
Sari quickly stood in front of her still disoriented father. "Leave my father alone you acid freak!" She snarled.
Meltdown cackled. "And you will do what? Neutralize me with base? It won't work…"
A gloved hand rested on the thirteen year old's shoulder, pushing her behind. "You will not touch my daughter!" Issac growled. "Your beef is with me, Prometheus!"
"'Prometheus'?!" Sari gasped, looking at the acid man in shock.
The man formerly known as Prometheus Black snarled. "My name is Meltdown!" He raised his hands, ready to melt both Sumdacs, only to cry out as a massive servo scooped him up.
"Leave them alone!" Bulkhead's engine growled, his optics narrowing at the former human.
Black snarled, before chuckling. "Ah, so you wish to lend them a hand?" With that several slits in his suit opened, allowing acid to seep out. "Then so be it!"
The pain was excruciating to the mechling, who howled as the metal of his servo began to melt. He fell to his knees joints, alerts across his HUD almost crashing his optics and processor.
"Bulkhead!" Sari cried out, moving to race forwards only to be stopped by her father, who clutched her close in fear.
"See how easily I bring you to your knees?" Meltdown taunted, freeing a hand and lifting it to face the Autobot. "I will melt you into molten slag!"
"Bulkhead!" Sari wailed in fear, pulling free of her father and rushing towards her friend.
"Not on my watch!" A voice shouted, making Meltdown turn in anger. He then cried out as he was sprayed with extinguishing foam, making him scramble from the melted servo. Coughing, he snarled, turning to face whoever dared to interrupt him this time, only to be picked up by some sort of semi-opaque sphere. "What is this?!"
Wheeljack grinned, holding up a device that shot a beam out of it. "Just a little invention of mine! And designed to contain your acid!"
Roaring in rage, Meltdown blasted acid at the investor. The barrier stopped it however, and soon he was standing in a pool of his own acid.
"Can't melt what you can't touch!" Wheeljack smirked, only to yelp as he was smacked upside the helm. "Stop gloating and help me with the injured!" Ratchet snapped, quickly racing over to Bulkhead. "Sari, get your key to Bumblebee!"
"R-Right!" The young redhead quickly raced over to her downed friend, using her key on him. To her relief, the Allspark energy seemed to both neutralize and heal the acid wounds. Bumblebee's optics soon flickered back online, and he weakly smiled at Sari. "Did I get 'im?"
Sari just let out a weak laugh of relief, hugging her friend's faceplate in relief.
Ratchet smiled seeing that, before looking up hearing pedesteps. Override limped in, taking in the scene. "What in the Allspark happened here?" She weakly asked, before noticing the acid man contained in the sphere.
"Oh, this is all my fault." Sumdac whimpered. "My lawsuit went too far and now Prometheus tried to kill us all."
The femme rebooted her optics, before looking at the acid man. "Wait, what?" That thing was Prometheus Black, CEO of Biotech? She had to have processor damage…
Ratchet ex-vented, calling Sari over to help with Bulkhead's servo. Seemed that there was a lot that they didn't know about.
"Let me get this straight." Fanzone looked at the bot in front of him, while behind him his men used Wheeljack's invention to transport 'Meltdown'. "That thing is Black, and after some sort of lab accident he decided to go and murder Issac Sumdac?"
"That is the most accurate scenario." Prowl answered, still nursing his aching chassis.
The chief groaned, rubbing his eyes. "Great. Just what this city needs besides alien robots. A man made of acid that can melt through almost anything."
The cyberninja gave the human a sympathetic smile. "Believe me, we are all having a helmache from this. Ratchet and Wheeljack especially as they want to know how it even happened."
Fanzone let out a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "Well, at least we know he's alive, if a murderer. We'll get him locked up, along with his friend Rhodes." He nodded towards where the frail man was being taken away in an ambulance under police guard. "So, how's the team?"
At that, Prowl cracked a smile. "Intact, if a bit worse for wear." His gaze went to the others. Prime was sitting as Sari used her key on her with Issac watching in interest, Bulkhead and Bumblebee were talking animatedly to each other, and Ratchet was yelling at Wheeljack over a 'rocket servo'. "Do I even wanna know wha' that's about?" The police chief asked, watching the medibot thunk his friend over the helm with a wrench.
"I believe the Earth saying is 'best to keep your nose out of it'." The ninjabot replied.
Fanzone snorted, before walking away. "Alrighty. But keep me in the loop. I'm gonna want statements from ya'll for the trial."
Prowl nodded, before looking at his fellow bots. Despite their initial meeting, and their clashes, he felt… like he belonged among the rag-tag group.
The man formerly known as Prometheus Black snarled, watching the forms of the Autobots become smaller and smaller as the police transport carried him away. I will have my vengeance machines! That I promise! I will find your weaknesses and melt through them! This I swear, as Meltdown!
A/N - And we've reached the end of yet another episode rewritten for this story! So, thoughts? I know I diverged from the canon somewhat, but I'm doing my own world building and all. And let's be honest, there really would be fallout from that disaster of a wrestling match, and not just for BioTech Unbound.
Welp, next chapter will hopefully come out before Christmas. I had planned on getting Along Came a Spider out by Halloween, but with how things went I could barely get through this chapter, let alone write up the next three before then! Oh well. And no, I will not delay the release of that chapter until next year. At least, I don't plan too. So far life keeps throwing curveballs and they leave some nasty bruises. Ow.
But then again, should anyone ignore my warning above, then who knows how long it may be till the next update. Because I am serious. One more request like that, and this story is on Hiatus. I'm sick of being bombarded with constant, desperate collab requests. No, means, NO. Now back the fuck off!
Next Chapter: Day of the Dinos