Been a while huh? Just got really busy and I have watched Transformers One. No spoilers, but it's absolute cinema and I urge people who haven't seen it to take a look at it. Also got around downloading and playing War for Cybertron on PC where I had a blast playing it (the Trypticon boss fight can go to hell though). And I'm planning to go back to collecting TF Figures, starting with SS Thundercracker and TLK Barricade.
Innamorat0: Nope. It's still there. I just ask the author for his permission to use some of his ideas for the fic.
Hellcat1115: Yep, I imagine him going through the five stages of grief at that scenario.
Bio team2: Thanks! I really hope we get a sequel one day. And I hope I could bring this remix justice.
Psudocode Samurai: Gonna have to invest some time in the comics in that case.
Vitalfire: Thanks! I'll see what I can do.
Chapter 2: Awakening
Jack could feel himself regaining consciousness, only to be engulfed by a shroud of darkness all around him, his senses flailing in the dark, adrift.
His ears were ringing, as if someone had thrown a flashbang close to him. The only thing keeping him from being lost in the darkness was his continued effort to move, though he made no progress.
The teen felt livid of what caused it, but he was still capable of recollecting what happened to him.
He and his partner were close to completing the mission of retrieving one of the relics, only to be separated by bad luck and bad timing. He managed to find one of the relics inside the cavern. The last thing he remembered was reaching out to touch the relic, where an inexplicable sound pierced his ears, followed by a flash of light that blinded him.
And then the current predicament he was in. But something was wrong as he began to notice something...different about himself.
He couldn't breathe, but he wasn't suffocating.
He felt he was somewhere else. But at the same time, he felt like he wasn't.
It felt like he was behind something, but he couldn't feel anything to try and touch what it was.
Not a part of his own body, and not even himself. It was enough to ask himself the question:
What in the world is going on here?
"Problem is...how are we gonna explain this to June and Agent Fowler?"
He recognized that voice. Bulkhead?, he thought to himself. But why would they need to explain it to the two of them? Did something wrong happen?
Jack could feel himself waking up from his slumber, slowly regaining control of his body. But even then, he couldn't exactly feel it physically, as if he could only watch himself doing so. Slowly, a light began to illuminate the area around him, until it fully covered his line of sight.
From the catwalks where Miko and Raf stood, the girl's eyes widened upon seeing the Protoform began move slightly. "Uh, guys?", she called out to the team, pointing her finger at Jack. "That might have to wait..."
Almost immediately, Arcee had forgotten the distress that befell her and went to his side closely. His mouth had opened, as if he was trying to get some air like how humans typically do, and his optics were squeezed shut. It was evident he was trying to open them, at least slowly. She leaned in a bit closer, hoping that whatever audio processor he now possessed would be able to hear her voice.
"Jack?", she called out to him, lifting his right servo after she got a hold of it. "Jack, can you hear me?"
The two-wheeler watched as the Protoform's optics began to open, revealing a pair of clear blue lenses that the rest of the team, including herself, had. He looked at Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus, who took a step closer to look at the two of them, and then at Raf and Miko on the catwalks they stood on, both appearing to be in muted shock at what they were looking at.
"Arcee?", he called out to her, watching her acknowledge his presence and then look at the side, finding the relic to be examined by the Autobot Medic. "We're back in the base?"
The two wheeler tried to bring up a smile at him to lift his spirits. "Yeah, partner. Thanks to you, the Cons won't be getting their hands on the relic", she told him. "And I called in a bridge to get ourselves out of there while you're knocked out"
The teen would've smiled back, but stopped himself, remembering his own thoughts before he had awoken; those feelings still persist even now. "But I feel...weird", the Protoform stated in confusion. "There's something else that I couldn't tell myself...but what?"
His first impulse was to slowly get up from whatever bed he was lying on. But then he thought to himself: How is it that I'm staring at her face-to-face when she was still standing? "Hey, Arcee?", he called out to the two-wheeler. "Is it just me or did I get...bigger?"
He wasn't sure if that was the correct term to use, but it was worth a try. All she could give him was a worried glance at her leader, whom Jack could surmise was still unsure of what to tell him. He felt a bit off-balance, with his body seeming heavier. That couldn't be right because he was certain he moderated his daily intake of food. Not just that, he felt dazed by the fact that the sensations around him felt foreign.
Optimus then took a step forward to face the teen's new form, looking hesitant at what he was going to say. "Jack, what we are about to tell you may be alarming to all of us," the Prime said to him in a concerned tone that was also trying to be stoic at the same time. "And I would have to ask you to remain calm as I explain what I can to the best of my abilities."
Jack blinked. But again, he didn't feel his eyelids touch against the sockets of his eyeballs. Okay, something was very wrong here, and the only person who could tell him that was Optimus. "What do you mean, Optimus?" He lifted his hand to hold onto his forehead.
Only to have whatever lingering inside of him freeze on what he saw with his own eyes; a metallic hand that he himself had control of. "W-what's going on here...?", he stuttered, blinking several times. But again, he did not feel his eyelids touching his sockets. His eyes looked back and forth to his sides, and then to the area below him, where he looked at the metallic torso, waist, and limbs. He opened his palm to touch his forehead, only to feel a slight metallic clang when they made contact.
This has to be a dream.
His face had shifted into an expression that combined horror, shock, and denial.
He tried to breathe in and out in an attempt to feel his own heartbeat. But it was clear that he didn't have any lungs. He felt like he was going to convulse in the newfound nightmare he was in, only for his shoulders to be held down by his partner. "Jack, I know what you're trying to do or feel right now," Arcee pleaded with him. "But please! Calm down!"
"Arcee, I...I-", he lifted his hands, only to look at their metallic structure, which caused them to tremble before him. "I've been turned into-!"
"Jack...", the two-wheeler stopped him before he could say something so demeaning to himself. Initially hesitant about telling him, she gathered all the strength she could to utter those words to him. "You're a Protoform."
Hearing that caused him to stop, at least for the moment. "W-what?", he stuttered in disbelief, looking over his new limbs and his body. He was well aware of what they were, but he didn't give it much mind until now. "...but how?!"
Optimus then spoke up once more. "The artifact that you and Arcee have scouted to retrieve has been activated prematurely", the Autobot leader explained to the boy, hoping more information would help him calm down. "And it has the ability to change a being's molecular structure, hence your current form..."
That was unbelievable for him. And he felt like slamming his head against the concrete wall for his idiocy in touching the relic when he shouldn't have in the first place. "We're gonna make sure you'll get through this, partner," the two-wheeler tried to assure him. "It's gonna be all right..."
"All right?!", her partner snapped, sounding as if he were about to have a breakdown. But not with his current form. "Arcee! None of this is all right! And it's all my fault!"
"And no amount of self-loathing will fix that, Jack," it was Ratchet's turn to speak up, trying to make sense of how to fix this for him. "Until we can figure out how the relic worked, we only ask for your cooperation to calm yourself."
The medic was right, but it didn't help him out one bit. "Oh god, this is so wrong...", he collapsed against the berth, sliding his now metallic back against it until he found his head leaned back and was holding his now-metallic head, rocking it nearly hysterically. "This is not right..."
"All is not lost, however", they turned to the Autobot medic, who had finished his analysis on the Reformatting Module. "Once the relic is repaired, then we should be able to restore you back to your original self as soon as we can"
"How long until you're able to fix it, Ratchet?", Arcee asked him, aware that the Reformatting Module had sustained damage before Jack interacted with it.
"I cannot say", he admitted, but it was clear to the team that he was going to fix him based on his posture and demeanor. "But rest assured, I would be able to restore you to your human form in due time."
It was better than nothing. But still, he couldn't stop worrying, and his optics looked over the Prime, hoping for any assurances from him. "Optimus, I can't stay like this...", the Protoform stated to the leader. "How can I explain this to mom? Or to anyone at school or work?"
The Prime took a moment to think before he replied. "This is something to discuss among the Autobots and Agent Fowler," Optimus said to the teen. "If there is a need, we could bring June to base and let her know what happened."
The teen fell silent. He didn't want his mom to worry about his current condition, but he didn't want her to look at the way he appeared to her now. He just couldn't imagine how she would react at that.
It was Raf's turn to speak to their friend this time. "How do you feel, Jack?" the prodigy sincerely asked from the catwalk.
Instinctively, the teen-turned-protoform tried to get any semblance of 'feeling' that he usually had in situations like this. "...I don't know..", he responded, then looked at the team with his new optics, where the interface began to scan each of the bots who stood before him. "It's hard to say...when everything that I'd typically feel or move felt out of place..."
"Until then, you may use Cliffjumper's berth in the meantime until you are restored," Optimus had informed him. "The team will assist you with your current condition, from how we function to any questions you may have. But for now, it is best that you rest."
"Thanks, Optimus...", if Jack could still sigh as he used to, he would have if he still had any lungs. Slowly, he got up from the berth where he was lying and took a step forward. But at the second, he felt like he was losing his balance until a pair of servos held his new metallic limbs, where he ended up looking at both Arcee and Bumblebee, silently and sincerely offering him their help.
Everything around him mostly felt so small except for the bots, which made it even more surreal than usual. Just relax, Jack..., he closed his new optics for a moment to find any sort of semblance resembling inner peace within himself. Optimus and the others said that they'll make sure that I'll be back to being me in no time...so just trust them...
Watching the trio head into Cliff's old quarters, Bulkhead looked up at Miko on the catwalk, who rested her chin in both palms as she looked worried at the teen and his predicament. "You were quiet the whole time, Miko," the Wrecker mused to his partner. "Something on your mind?"
"I don't think whatever I'm gonna say is gonna help Jack, Bulk.", the girl replied to him, in a tone that contrasted her upbeat and excited attitude. "I'm just hoping that he gets through this in one piece"
Spectre: Yep. Third chapter. I have to think the most realistic reactions from a teenager reacting on him becoming a robot. Next should focus on Jack trying to adjust into his new body and his thoughts of the matter. And also regarding June and Fowler reacting on what just happened with Jack.