Happy New Year, Everyone. Sorry for the long update. Before we start, I want to thank everyone for the kind words about chapter one of Interference. I didn't know so many people wanted a Firebreather and Transformers-aligned continuity crossover. I'm so happy that people like this story already. Now that's out of the way, on to chapter two.
Chapter 2: The Orange Boy
The Autobot Base
When the four bots entered the base, they hurried straight to the medical bay. The rest of Team Prime followed suit, assuming that the wrecker was injured. But what they saw left them stunned.
In Wheeljack's servo( hand) was a human boy.
But he was orange, like a pumpkin.
As Wheeljack gently placed the unconscious boy onto the human medical berth so Ratchet can scan him, the team immediately bombarded him with questions.
"Who is he, Wheeljack?" Arcee asked, pointing at the boy.
"Where did you find him?" Jack added, staring in confusion.
Bumblebee chirped as he pointed to the Jacket on the boy's body.
"Yeah, Bees, right. Why is he wearing that jacket?" Raf asked, wondering the same thing, knowing that if anyone wore clothes like that in the desert, they would burn up like a tamale.
"And why does his face look like the surface of Mars?" Miko blurted out, squinting at the boy's unusual complexion.
"Miko!" Jack and Raf exclaimed at the same time, shocked but not entirely surprised. It was Miko, after all. She always had something wild to say.
" Well, someone had to say something," Miko said, raising her hands.
"No, the better question is, why, in the name of Primus, did you bring him here? Ratchet Exclaimed, not pleased that Team Prime had another human to deal with.
" That's Enough," Optimus commanded in a calm voice, and everyone stopped asking questions while Ratchet rolled his optics as he went back to the boy.
"Where did you find this boy, wheeljack?" The prime asked as he walked over to the wrecker. He wanted to know how wheeljack came into contact with this boy and how much the boy had seen before he was knocked out.
" Yeah, Jackie, I thought you were roving the galaxy, you know, looking for autobot refugees?" Bulkhead asked
"I was until I found one Wrecker," Wheeljack said solemnly, putting his head down.
"Who? "Bulkhead said in excitement, wondering who, out of all their wreckers, buddies wheeljack found, and Miko getting excited to see more wreckers.
"SeaSpray," Wheeljack answered solemnly.
"Ha, How is old Barnacle Butt?" Bulkhead asked with a laugh.
"Not so good, bulk. He was blown to bits." Wheeljack replied
"What, No? "Bulkhead said with sadness in his voice. He backed up and put his helm down in mourning, as did all the other Autobots in mourning for the fallen autobot.
"How did it happen?" Asked Arcee, lifting her head with a glare, she already knew it was a con that did it. May Primus send all the cons, especially Arachnid, to the pits for their crimes.
Wheeljack started his story.
" My Flyer, The JackHammer, picked up Seaspray signal a couple of light years from Mandarin. We made contact and arranged a rendezvous in the Drama Don system, but Dreadwing must have intercepted the transmission cause he got to Seaspray first."
Flashback
In space, Wheeljack followed Seaspray's ship, pressing buttons on his control panel. As the screen zoomed in, he spotted a bomb on his friend's ship. In mere nano-clicks, the ship exploded into pieces, killing Seaspray instantly but knocking The Jackhammer a few yards away.
"Proximity Bomb.
Guess I should be glad the jackhammer could take a punch.
" When the ship stopped spinning, Wheeljack looked horrid as he saw his friend's ships blown into pieces and glared at the con's ship. He picked up Dreadwing's ion trail and tracked it through a dozen solar systems before catching up with him.
In the middle of space, the jackhammer caught up to the Deathstar, Dreadwing's ship, and started shooting at it. One of the blasters hit the engine, damaging it mildly.
The Deathstar flew toward a blue and green planet with the jackhammer following its trail, Earth.
" He led me right back to this marble."
End of Flashback
"I know of this Dreadwing.", Optimus explained, He was the captain of a Seeker armada and, like his twin, Skyquake, fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause."
"Dreadwing has no doubt traveled to Earth to pledge allegiance to his one true master. But that doesn't explain how you came into contact with this boy."
"I was getting to that part, Commander," Wheeljack said respectfully, though he didn't particularly want to use the title for the Prime.
Before Optimus left Cybertron, he put Shoulder Pads in charge of the Wreckers. Under his command, the group quickly lost their A-game, unable to take the fight to the 'Cons in true Wrecker style. Worst of all, Shoulder Pads wouldn't even let him use his inventions.
Because of those decisions, they lost many territories and countless sparks to the Decepticons. From that day on, Wheeljack lost faith in the Prime and his judgment, leaving the group to continue the war on his own terms.
"I chased the Deathstar to a desert sector of this planet. I was this close to blasting that fragging 'Con when, out of nowhere, a rock larger than my ship hurtled through the air and slammed into it! And the thing that threw it?
Some ugly, grayish creature with eight eyes and four legs. The ugliest slag heap I've ever laid optics on."
"It was a kaiju!" Miko exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement. Hearing about the kaiju was awesome to her.
But the other humans didn't share her enthusiasm. Jack's expression darkened with pure hatred, his fists clenching at his sides. Raf, on the other hand, had gone pale, his face drained of all color as fear took hold of him.
Miko Sshh, Bulkhead said to his charge, trying to hear his friend's story.
Seeing the excitement on the girl's face, even though she pouted, wheeljack continued his story.
"As I was saying," Wheeljack resumed, "I swerved the Jackhammer left and right, trying not to get it smashed to bits by all the flying rocks. One of those rocks nailed the Deathstar, sending the ship crashing down."
"Where did it crash, Jackie?" Bulkhead asked, eager to take his revenge on the con who had killed Seaspray.
"Dunno, Bulk. Before I could find out, the creature, I mean the kaiju, attacked some human ship. Two humans bailed out of the advanced-looking thing, an older one and a younger one. The older human with silver hair then flew clean out of range, but the kid was heading straight toward the creature! So, I whooshed in and caught the orange boy."
Wheeljack didn't know the boy's name, so he called him the orange boy. It suited him because, well, the boy was orange.
"Anyway, I was hauling aft outta there when that fragging creature threw another giant rock at my ship. Damaging the wing! And since I've got no clue how things work on this planet, I figured I'd head here. Thought maybe you'd have tools to fix my ship and, y'know, patch up the kid since he has a cut on his head."
"Cut, what cut? I scanned the boy thoroughly, and I saw no cut on his head. "Ratchet said
" What are you talking about, Doc? The cut is right there." Wheeljack turned to the orange boy's head but was in shock as he saw no cut on the boy's head.
Rachet huffed as he was displeased that somebody would ever question his medical skills.
'Primus, I might be glitching.' Wheeljack thought as he started to rub his optics.
"Doc, I think I need a check-up." The wrecker Added
"Oh, you must, if you actually think humans could pilot or even understand advanced technology. Which, let's be honest, is impossible. They barely grasp the basics, let alone anything that could further their race. Their minds simply aren't built for it," Ratchet scoffed, folding his arms.
In the old medic's mind, humans were a weak, primitive species, one that couldn't even begin to understand any form of advanced technology. They were no match for anything larger than themselves. If something as formidable as a kaiju came for them, they would be crushed without a chance.
This remark earned him several sharp glares from the three young humans, even Raf, who usually respected the old bot, looked displeased.
"Well, Doc, that's what I saw when I was saving orangie over there," Wheeljack said with a smirk.
"Wheeljack, my name isn't Doc, it's Ratchet!" Ratchet shouted, his voice echoing through the base.
The outburst made the orange boy groan and stir on the medical berth, drawing the attention of Team Prime. Both bots and humans instinctively moved closer.
Inside the Orange Boy's Mind
What happened? The boy groaned as he stirred back to consciousness.
He remembered being on the ship, heading to the MEGTAF base, where Dr. Pytel was supposed to check his new scales. He had been casually chatting with his guardian about his upcoming homecoming date, excitement bubbling in his chest. But that excitement vanished the moment he glanced out the window.
The landscape was all wrong. This wasn't the usual route to the base. He knew that route by heart.
What was Blitz doing?
Flashback
"Wait, this isn't the way to the base," the orange boy said, frowning as he glanced at his guardian.
"Thought we'd take a little detour, see if anything out here jogs your memory," the colonel replied smugly, casting a glance over his shoulder.
"I already told you-I don't know where his lair is!" The boy snapped, pushing himself up from his seat and leaning against the wall.
"Maybe not," Blitz said, gripping the controls. "But I think your body will know when he's near and start doing the funky Kaiju."
With that, he jerked the ship hard to the right. The sudden movement sent the boy stumbling, nearly losing his balance. He barely caught himself, gripping the wall.
"Not happening, Barnes! I'm not your personal monster detector!" he growled, lifting his head as his eyes flashed reptilian green.
The boy ignored Blitz's words as he spotted something up ahead, massive rocks appearing out of nowhere.
"...So dead," he muttered, staring at the main window.
Blitz flicked his eyes at the boy, his expression darkening.
"Is that a threat, boy?" he asked in a low, dangerous tone.
"No. We're so dead," the boy corrected, bolting toward the pilot's seat and pointing at the approaching rocks.
"Hold on!" Blitz barked, yanking the controls. He tried to swerve the ship away, but one of the rocks struck the hull with a violent crash, sending the ship into a deadly spiral.
"I can't hold her!" Blitz shouted, gripping the controls as they plummeted toward the ground.
The colonel grabbed the boy, pulling him onto his lap, using his own body as a shield.
At the last second, he ejected the pilot's seat. The force launched them into the sky, but as they shot upward, the boy started to slip from Blitz's grip.
Blitz caught the boy's collar jacket.
But the fabric tore, which caused the boy to fall.
Blitz unbuckled his seat belt and got off of the flying seat, diving after him. But before he could reach the boy, the beeper on his suit went off, and his emergency parachute deployed, yanking him backward, away from the falling boy.
The last thing the boy saw before impact was a Kaiju, roaring up at him.
A growl rumbled in his throat. His eyes turned a deeper shade of reptilian green. His teeth sharpened into fangs.
And then-
Boom.
Everything went dark.
End of Flashback
Now his head hurt.
Really bad.
Mom must have followed them from a safe distance, piloting one of the MEGTAF jets she had "borrowed." She must have caught him before the Kaiju could.
The boy was grateful that his mother still had her flying skills, even after retiring from MEGTAF.
She probably knew Blitz would ignore her wishes.
Again.
This would be the third time.
"The first time Blitz ignored his mom's wishes, he had taken him to the base without her permission. He could still remember how furious she had been, dressing him down with a fiery lecture that even Blitz hadn't dared to interrupt."
The second time was when he had gone missing, prompting the MEGTAF forces to spend all of Sunday searching for him, only to come up empty-handed. In the end, it was his mom who had to step in, and she was the one who ultimately found him at a friend's house. He still remembered that night, and Mom wasn't happy.
Flashback
That Night, while checking the new scales on his body in the bathroom of their newly moved-in house, his super hearing picked up the conversation his mom was having with Blitz over the phone.
"Half of MEGTAF is scouring the desert for him, Margaret. If that monster is out there, we'll find him." Blitz said over the phone. At that moment, the former MEGTAF agent in his mother snapped back at the colonel.
"Colonel Barnes, maybe you should send out ALL of MEGTAF since half of it is having difficulty finding a 600-foot giant!"
"But Mar-" the colonel tried to explain. But his mom wasn't having it. She slammed the phone down on the receiver so hard he thought she might break it.
End of Flashback
"And now, for the third time, Mom would probably skin Blitz alive for taking him to the middle of the desert without her permission. Hopefully, she'd wait until he got off the medical bed so he could give the man a piece of his mind first.
In about three seconds, she was going to unleash hell on Blitz for pulling another stunt again.
Three.
Two.
One.
"How Long does it take a human to wake?!" an older voice said.
Wait. That wasn't Mom's voice. Nor was it Dr. Ptyel's. And Blitz could get grumpy sometimes, but not this grumpy.
"Wheeljack, was this guy, this Orange when you rescued him?" a young voice asked.
"Yeah." Another voice said Who was that?
And who in the world was Wheeljack, and what kind of name was Wheeljack?
Did they start letting younger soldiers into Dr. Ptyel's office?
No, Dr. Ptyel and his mother wouldn't allow anyone they didn't trust or know near him.
Unless it were the MEGTAF generals, but Blitz would have told him and his mother if they were coming.
Ever since his father's attack, the organization had been on high alert, increasing security around town and the world. He had met the generals once or twice before, and they all had older voices.
Blitz wouldn't have pulled a stunt like this if they were coming to the base.
He was in Dr. Ptyel's office, right?
Mom had swooped in and saved him from the kaiju attacking the ship, right?
Then he remembered Mom had a meeting for her new job at the museum.
And no one at the base outranked Blitz to challenge his decision. So it couldn't been them.
So, who rescued him?
Wasn't he at the MAGTAF base?
Slowly, he started to open his eyes.
"Hey, guys, his eyes are opening," another young voice said.
"Good. We can finally get some answers," a gruff yet laid-back voice added.
"And get him out of here," said the old harsh voice.
"Ratchet, you know it's not that simple," a gentle voice chided. As the old voice huffed
The orange boy's eyes fully opened, then widened in shock at the group in front of him.
Three kids stood around his bed, two around his age, one a white boy with jet-black hair, and an Asian girl with pink and black streaked hair. The youngest, a twelve-year-old Spanish boy with spiky brown hair with red glasses, watched him curiously.
Behind them loomed six towering robots, each with distinct colors, all staring at him.
Outside the Orange Boy's Mind
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The orange boy screamed as he shot up from the medical berth, his voice so loud that the bots and humans immediately covered their ears or audio receptors.
"Whoa, whoa! Orange boy, orange boy, calm down," Wheeljack said as he tried to calm down the boy.
"You… you… robots… robots talk," the boy stammered, his eyes wide with shock.
"Of course, we can talk. Did you think we were just mindless drones that only beep?" Ratchet huffed, earning an unamused look from Bumblebee.
"And they're not robots. They're aliens!" Miko added excitedly, bouncing on her feet.
"Not the best way to explain things, Miko," Jack muttered, watching as the boy's fear only seemed to grow.
The boy quickly sat up on the berth, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. His sudden movement startled the team.
"No, no, aliens aren't real," he muttered to himself, though everyone in the room could hear him. "I must've banged my head on the ship, and now I'm in a bad dream."
His voice wavered, but he clung to the idea, desperate for it to be true.
"Yeah, that's it," he continued, nodding as if reassuring himself. "I'm gonna close my eyes, and when I open them, I'll be at the base."
With that, he shut his eyes tightly and began to count.
Three...
Two...
One...
Slowly, he cracked one eye open.
The group of giant metal beings and the other teens were still there.
His breath caught in his throat.
"Hey, kid, we're still here," Wheeljack said, arms crossed, as the Asian girl with pink streaks in her hair eagerly waved at him.
The boy's breath quickened. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the towering figures and the humans, who didn't seem nearly as shocked as he was.
"No, no... it's real. It's real!" he shouted, panic rising in his voice. "I seen Kaiju on Saturday, and now, on Monday, I'm seeing aliens."
Before anyone could react, he grabbed the medical berth and, with alarming ease, lifted it over his head. The sheer strength on display left everyone momentarily stunned.
Quickly, Bulkhead and Bumblebee grabbed the three children, pulling them back as Arcee shifted her arm into a blaster, aiming it at the boy. Optimus and Ratchet tensed, assessing the situation as it spiraled out of control.
"Primus, Wheeljack brought a mad human here," Ratchet muttered under his breath, eyeing the boy warily as the situation unfolded.
Before things could escalate, Wheeljack quickly stepped between them, holding his servos up.
"Whoa, whoa! Everybody, let's calm down."
"CALM DOWN?!" the orange boy shouted, his expression filled with shock and fear. "YOU THINK I'M GOING TO CALM DOWN WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM WITH A BUNCH OF ALIENS!"
"Okay, orange boy, let's put the berth down," wheeljack tried to reason with the boy.
"I'm not putting it down until she-" the orange boy pointed at Arcee with the berth in his hand, "-turns her arm back to normal or whatever she did with it!" His voice carried a slight growl, which didn't go unnoticed by Wheeljack. Yep, he was definitely getting his receptors checked by the Doc later.
"Arcee, stand down," Optimus ordered.
"Not until he puts the berth down," Arcee shot back, keeping her blaster trained on the boy.
The Boy's eyes widened in fear, and in response, he lifted the berth even higher.
Wheeljack sighed. This wasn't going anywhere. He needed a different approach.
"Alright, the orange boy-" Wheeljack started to say, but the boy cut him off.
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" the boy interrupted, his frustration evident. He hated being called names because of his skin, and "Orange Boy" was just too much.
"Alright then, what's your name?" Wheeljack asked.
"Duncan," the boy said.
"Alright then, Duncan." Wheeljack found the name odd, but then again, all human names were strange to him.
"How about you put down the berth," Wheeljack said calmly, gesturing toward Acree.
"And Arcee here," he motioned to the femme, who still had her blaster out, "will lower her weapon. Sound fair?"
"…Yeah, but will she agree?" Duncan asked, pointing at the female robot with the berth, noting that she still had her blaster aimed at him.
Everyone looked at the blue femme, who still had her blaster trained on the boy.
"Fine," Arcee said reluctantly.
"Alright then, let's put them down," Wheeljack said as he slowly lowered his hands.
Duncan hesitated but followed suit, carefully setting the berth down. Arcee retracted her blaster, shifting it back into her hand, but her optics remained sharp and watchful, she didn't fully trust him.
Wheeljack sighed in relief, thanking Primus that the situation had de-escalated. However, his moment of peace was short-lived as Duncan spoke up.
"Where am I? And can I go home?" Duncan asked, his voice laced with uncertainty. He just wanted to leave this strange place.
"I'm afraid that isn't possible, Duncan," Optimus said, stepping forward with a calm demeanor, careful not to startle the boy.
"Why not?" Duncan asked worriedly, thinking that these alien robots wouldn't let him go home.
"You're currently in the Autobot base, which serves as our home," Optimus explained, his tone steady yet solemn. "We are here to protect your world from our war with the Decepticons. However, because you now know of our existence, I fear your life may be in danger."
A hint of sadness crept into his voice, regretful that yet another child had been unwillingly dragged into their conflict.
Great, more danger, just what he needed. Like my life wasn't already on the line, Duncan thought, burying his head in his hands.
"No matter how hard he tried, something always came up to remind him, he was never going to have a normal life."
Author Notes: yay, Chapter 2 is finally done.
It's about time, the author's's brother in the back yelled
Duncan has finally met Team Prime, and they have seen one of his powers, which is super strength. Don't worry; I will figure out a way to explain to the team how he can pick up the berth.
I also changed, you know who, size to make him bigger than he was in the movie. I wanted Kaiju to be bigger than the Autobots and Decepticons, especially those of a higher rank.
Miko's statement about Duncan being the surface of Mars is from the Firebreather movie. And I thought it would be funny if she said it. Oh yeah, you can guess Margeret is going to be pissed at Biltz for ignoring her wishes again. Yall think Margeret is going to skin Biltz alive?
Until then, See you next chapter.