Spectre: That took a while! Been playing Star Rail which is why the chapter got delayed. Anyways, here it is!
DragonBlaze66: Sadly I don't. And I based their look from the fic cover, which I in turn got from Pinterest. But I couldn't find the original artist.
ah08302004: Considering his life, I'd say it is!
LongingResider: I'll answer that question soon!
gwb620: We'll see!
Guest: Got me some ideas there! Might make a good interaction material!
Yubel578: I do have plans on them attending school and I have an idea on what would their human names be. And Jack will soon be a lucky guy even though he thought to himself that he had bad luck instead!
Chapter 3: I've become what now?
Arcee felt her consciousness coming back to her, only to find the endless abyss smothering her, all of her senses flailing in the dark, adrift.
Her audio processors ran amok, as if someone had thrown an Energon Grenade close to her processors, the only thing keeping her from being lost in the abyss as she continued to float, or even fall into the unknown.
She could barely remember what happened.
She and her partner were close in completing the mission in retrieving one of the artifacts, only to be beset by that blasted bug, Airachnid for its possession. Jack was close behind, only for him to be pinned down by one of the webs shot at him and rendering him immobile. The last thing she could remember, was her trying to get the artifact out of Airachnid's servos before she could use it for whatever atrocities she could think off.
Airachnid could go to the Pit for all she cared after everything that she had went through because of her. Then she could feel her optics widen in terror.
Jack!
Desperately, Arcee tried to move within the plane of darkness. If she couldn't get out of here, then there goes without saying what was going to happened to him if Airachnid had her way with him.
Jack, her third partner, had risked his life and rose with determination and resolve to do what he could to help the team. The battle replayed in her mind like a sick highlight reel on repeat, leading up to her tumble over the edge of the abyss.
Arcee shook her head, now was not that time to reminisce. She needed to get out, now.
But her processors dictated that everything around her was...off.
She could feel her chassis expand and then deflate. Not only that, she felt like...tingling from the sensitivity around her body, feeling something soft touching against her frame. Not only that, she felt like didn't have her armor on. And she mostly certainly knew hadn't gone back in being a protoform.
Did something happen to her systems? And her Spark was reacting strangely. Was that...pumping? Sure it does have a sort of beat as humans do, but that can't be right. What was going on with her?
Her thoughts were interrupted when a flicker of light appeared before her optics. Even though she couldn't see it, she reached out her servos in an attempt to get some distance off between her and the light.
"Arcee", a voice called out to her. It was hollow, yet familiar to her audio processors. Her thoughts immediately pointed out to the light calling out to her. Slowly, she began to edge closer towards it as it began to brighten at every step in the way. "Arcee..."
The femme could feel a variety of sensitivities surrounding her form. It felt foreign as she drew closer to the light. But she didn't care even for a single nano-click about it. What mattered to her is that she made sure that Jack was safe from whatever danger that came after him, especially from Airachnid.
And then the light had covered her completely.
Her eyes tightened in annoyance, the base's lights partially penetrating through her eyelids. Feeling the control of her body being returned to her, she shifted slightly, and she felt a hand softly being touched by her fabric-covered shoulder, shaking her slightly. "Arcee?", she immediately recognized the voice, and her eyes slowly opened to find her own vision blurry, but she could easily make out the person beside her.
"J-Jack?", the former two-wheeler uttered his name, finding solace to the fact that he was safe; that's all that mattered to her. But everything was blurry, as if her optics had went through the pits and back and she couldn't gain any clear visibility for now. "You're alright..."
It was fortunate that Arcee couldn't see well at this time, not when everyone in the base were frozen at recognizing the voice and the Cybertron...person who has it. Bulkhead and Bumblebee's optics widened like saucers, Raf and Miko's jaws was hanging open while Ratchet and Optimus appeared to be disturbed at the revelation, though the latter couldn't show it under his serene mask.
"Freaky Friday...but freakier", Miko whispered to the prodigy beside her.
Tilting her head, Arcee recognized the familiar premises of their base in spite of her vision, and she looked up to find the figures of Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bulkhead and Bumblebee standing behind him along with the rest of their human friends, including Jack's mother, June. "Where are we?", she queried to her partner, about to move until she felt herself being slightly being put down by Jack.
Hang on...how did manage to do that just now? Isn't she supposed to be larger than him?
Before she could diverge into that further, Jack cleared his throat to speak. "We're back at the base, Arcee. I had Bumblebee pick us up after our run-in with Airachnid"
Mentally, she thanked both Primus and Bee for their stroke of luck, only for her to remember what they were doing in the first place. "Did we get the relic?", she asked, hoping they went through all of that for nothing.
Jack paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his head and unsure as to how he would answer her. "Uh...yeah, partner. But we also had Airachnid in tow when Bee arrived to pick us up"
Hearing that name and of their hidden base in one sentence was enough for Arcee's no longer existent processors to handle. "Airachnid!?", she uttered the Decepticon's name in alarm. "Here?!"
Jack held her down, dissuading her from doing anything rash. "Easy, there...", he advised her.
Optimus then stepped forward towards the duo, having compelled himself to ward off the initial shock and to attend to his SIC. "Calm yourself, Arcee", he spoke, even despite the initial disbelief he held when he realized Jack's words were true. "Airachnid is by all means, no longer a threat towards anyone. But we must remain vigilant in what she could do by any means she could"
Even with her leader's assurance, she wasn't so sure about that. And she'll make sure that bug won't be of any trouble to anyone of her team. "Where is she now?"
Optimus maintained his firm stare from his typical stoic faceplates, sharing Jack's sentiments at preventing Arcee from doing anything that may jeopardize the situation they were in. "Although we are not sure of what had transpired, Jack will explain everything once we-"
"Uh, guys...", Miko spoke up, poking June's arm before she pointed out at the other bundle in the base. "That might have to wait..."
At once, all eyes (and optics) pointed at the shuffling bundle, watching as their captive beginning to regain consciousness. Her amethyst-like eyes blinked, regaining her bearings as she began to shuffle out of the cloth. Instinctively, June put both Raf and Miko behind her, still remembering her run-in with her and MECH, while Optimus and the rest stood on guard. "Ugh... did a fusion grenade explode near my processors?", she uttered with a frown.
The former Decepticon looked around the area, finding herself no longer in the caverns she was in and was about to move, only for her to witness the towering figure of a red and blue warrior with her very eyes, looking at his typical visage of what their version of a leader is like. The face of the leader of the Autobots. "Stand down, Airachnid", Optimus commanded.
"Prime...", she seethed out his name disdainfully, silently cursing out her luck while keeping her glare at him before she looked around the unfamiliar premises she ended up to. "How did I-"
"You have been brought here when you were in a temporary state of inactivity", Ratchet spoke on behalf of their leader, flanked by their yellow scout and the green Wrecker. "Right after your stint with two members of our team"
"So Arcee and her little pet had escaped...", she uttered in complete disgust, looking around to find where the blue bot had gone and quickly realized she was not among the group. Only to find Jack standing behind another human of whom she did not recognize anywhere. "But it looks like her partner no longer needed her after all..."
"I'm here, Airachnid...", the former Cybertronian heard Arcee's voice with restrained anger, but she couldn't find out where. "And you won't be running away anytime soon"
She looked up to find where the two-wheeler was, but it didn't take long for her to find out where it came from; the bluenette who sat behind Jack. Airachnid chuckled, finding the charade amusing. "Very funny, fleshling...", she sarcastically remarked.
Bulkhead looked over at Bumblebee and whispered to his audio processors. "Do we tell her?"
She heard the Wrecker's rambling at the scout, sensing the rather odd tone that he gave to Bumblebee. "What do you mean, tell her?"
Optimus stepped in between them. "What we are about to tell you may not be believable at first, but we speak the truth. And we will give you and Arcee the answers you may ask if you stand down"
"Optimus...", Arcee then spoke up, not liking the grave tone he emitted, especially now that he included her name next to Airachnid. "What are you trying to say?"
Airachnid scoffed. "You'll have to do better than that before I would listen to whatever wisdom you will give", the former Decepticon brought up her servos with the intent of firing a single shot from her palm as a sort of defiance. As she did, she froze at the last second, stunned at what she was looking at...a fleshed hand. "What...what is this?", she stuttered, ending up in a liss of words.
Moments later, Arcee's vision began to clear up, looking to find another human that she did not recognize anywhere. Her hand reached the back of her head, feeling the soft textures of...hair? Okay, now something is terribly wrong here. "Jack?", she called out to the teen, who took a step back in caution.
Bumblebee then walked over them, having retrieved an old wall mirror from one of the storage areas in the base. Placing it before them, Arcee and Airachnid find themselves staring at human reflections whose movements mimicked their own, with Airachnid placing her hand on to her fleshy cheek where her face began to distort in utter horror that while Arcee's eyes blinked repeatedly and her jaw began to drop slightly as her breathing began to make haste.
And silence followed right after...
"Huh...they took it well...", Bulkhead commented, expecting a more verbal reaction from them.
Miko wasn't so certain about that. "Wait for it...",
...
...
...
"WHAT IN PRIMUS' NAME HAPPENED TO ME?!!", a pair of screams echoed within in the base, in a tone loud enough for the wildlife outside the base to hear.
"Told you", Miko said to her partner, watching as the two women's faces etched with horror and utter disbelief of their new forms that could be mistaken as a mental patient's breakdown.
"This can't be happening...", hysterically, Airachnid pulled her hair in an attempt to get if off, only for her to wince in pain as a result. "This can't be happening...", she uttered at her new vulnerabilities, where Bulkhead and Bumblebee stood next to her in case anything happen because of her meltdown.
"Arcee, calm down!" Jack held both hands onto her shoulders. She was trembling, trying to make out what had become. "I promise I'll tell you what you need to know. But I need you to relax!"
Her face contorted into a variety of emotions that he couldn't describe in one word; anger, disbelief, fear and denial. "Jack...look at me!", she gestured to herself, almost as if she was living in a nightmare. "Look at what I've become!"
"I know this is very hard to take for you, but you have to trust me on this!", the teen asked of her, looking at her straight to the eye. "Please?"
In spite of her current predicament, Arcee had to trust in the word of her partner, relaxing her trembling body as Jack rubbed her back soothingly. "I'll try...", she choked out, raising her head to face Ratchet. "But what happened?"
Airachnid narrowed her eyes to the medic, also wanting to have an explanation. "I'll have to ask the same...", she uttered, angered that she would have to ask the Autobots of all places in the universe.
"We cannot properly comprehend what caused this nor we have any definite answer to that", Ratchet simply said to the Decepticon, almost sounding apathetic of her condition. "So...how do you feel?"
"How the slag do you think I feel?!", almost hysterically, she backed away as the former femme looked at her new hands, trembling. "I've been turned into a fleshling!"
Miko wasn't too sympathetic about her predicament. "Well, what can we say?", she sarcastically said. "Karma can be a bitch sometimes"
"Miko!", June reprimanded the girl with a firm stare for her choice of words.
The Autobot leader watched the entire scene unfold, turning towards Arcee's human partner and going back to their conversation. "Jack, I believe we are in need of an explanation of the matter at hand. As such, you are considered to be the only witness who could provide an adequate answer for our questions"
All turned towards Jack, who nervously rubbed the back of his head. Arcee and Airachnid, for the mutual hatred they had with one another, decided that it could wait until they get to hear it for themselves.
As slowly and concisely as he could, Jack recalled what had happened at the cavern, where he and Arcee were beset by Airachnid and of the ensuing battle for the artifact's possession that resulted of the two's transition from being Cybertronians to human beings. Optimus intently listened, hopeful that he may have an answer for their dilemma and perhaps form a possible solution in order to solve it. Ratchet, in all his years studying different lifeforms, couldn't believe it himself.
Every occupant inside the base were struck with silence after listening to Jack's account of the events that had transpire, each of them were tying to understand how a relic had the ability to change both Arcee and Airachnid into human beings. As usual Miko was the first to break the silence.
"So you're saying that the artifact turned both Arcee and Airachnid into humans when it 'shattered'?", the girl asked. "And I thought I've seen enough fantasy films in my life"
"If there's anything good to say about that, at least Megatron and the Cons didn't get their hands on it", Bulkhead spoke, in an attempt to lift the people's Sparks and spirits.
Arcee allowed that information to get through her head, before turning her attention towards her partner. "Well?"
Puzzled, Jack asked. "What?"
"The Artifact", she simply stated, as if it were obvious. "You have it right? We could use that to change me back and maybe Airachnid would be fine in being a fleshling for the rest of her life"
Airachnid scornfully glared at the bluenette. "Save your banter, Arcee", she retorted with a huff. "I'd rather be offline than live amongst these...people"
"Hey!", Miko called out among the group for the woman's emphasis on the last word. "What do you mean, you people?"
"We'll arrange that as soon we sort this thing out ", Arcee assured her, then going back to her partner. "Come on, Ratchet will do the rest"
Aw, man. How am I going to explain this for the both of them?, Jack gulped, hesitant out of concern for their impending reaction. "About that, Arcee..."
...
...
...
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S DESTROYED?!", another pair of shouts echoed the base, causing even some of them to slightly cover their ears from the impact.
"Keep it down! I'm trying to process what had happened here!", Ratchet called out in frustration.
"Tell me you're joking, Jack", she pleaded to her partner, her right eye twitching while bearing a rather forced smile in an effort to cover her outrage while also praying that this isn't the case. "For the love of Primus, please tell me you're joking"
The teen swallowed a lump down his throat and reached out to his pockets, pulling out several small silver pieces that once took the shape of an Obelisk.
"You mean to tell me that her idiocy to interfere has led us into this...", Airachnid's breathing began to make haste, gesturing her new form in utter disgust. "this...this conclusion?!"
Arcee returned her archenemy's statement with a spiteful glare. "Shut it, Airachnid!", she snapped, prepared to end this once and for all. "I would've made sure that you're offline if I knew it would come to this! Human or not, it won't stop me from your tearing out your Spark!", the former two-wheeler stood up, resulting of the blanket falling from her body that exposed for the masses.
She wasn't backing down from the proposition, and the feeling was mutual. Except Airachnid would make sure Arcee would pay for this debacle, and stood up as well, also causing her blanket to fall off as well. "Your move, Arcee! I'd be thrilled to paint these walls with your insides!", she taunted.
The rest of the Autobots looked at them tensely, preparing to stop the two of them from fighting if need be. However, the humans had a entirely different reaction at the stand-off.
Miko whistled in complete fascination of their frames, feeling as if they easily beat out the models and celebrities she had seen on magazines she had read. Damn, would I get those sizes once I got older?
June on the other hand, wasn't too admiring. Before the Autobots could see what happened, she had already covered both Jack and Raf's eyes with both of her hands. "Not for sightseeing, you two!"
Raf's eyes remained widened despite it being covered by June's hand. His cheeks were red and felt as if he had made a new discovery. "I think my life just flashed before my eyes"
"Rafael Esquivel, keep those thoughts away from your head this instant!", June called out for the boy, increasing the grip of her hand onto her son's face. "And the same goes for you Jack!"
"Bumblebee! Tarp!", the nurse called out to the yellow scout. "NOW!"
Before the two former Cybertronians knew what had happened, a large thick fabric fell over their hands, causing them to fall onto the ground below them. Creeping out their heads, Airachnid glared at the scout for this insolence.
"You wretched Autobot!", Airachnid cursed out loud, trying to get her head off the thick fabric. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"Human protocol", June answered her, pulling away both boys to her Sedan to fetch some extra clothes for both women. "You'll know what I'm talking about..."
As June led the boys away from the site, Optimus knelt down and examined the remains of the artifact, as did Ratchet. Bulkhead and Bumblebee looked over at Miko, who merely shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Eh...human etiquette.."
Spectre: Yep, that's it but I'll get back in the next chapter as to how they will deal with them. Reviews are appreciated!
Update: Decided to reword it after careful rechecking.