SZ: Hey. REALLY sorry for the late uploads and stuff for our stories. Just…real life caught up once more.

Z0: Look we can only try folks, it's not like we do this as a professional job. If we did we might actually do that…and have money. Have I mentioned that jointly we are basically poor? Feels like I would have mentioned that, as a deterrent from suing us…

SZ: Yeah…at best we provide you all with some story, action, comedy, drama, etc…speaking of, it's time we get back to the Reality Gauntlet arc!

Z0; Hey I see you one annoying Marvel guy! *throws brick through screen at someone*

SZ: Yeah…don't be getting the wrong ideas guys…we're just trying to enjoy it and hope to give you a great reading experience. Ahem! Anyway…we own nothing aside from original content. IF we did own anything…oh we'd have plenty of stuff planned.

Z0: We'd probably be actual property owners in that universe, but enough about that! Hey I see you getting up! *swings brick on a rope around before swinging at the screen making it shatter* Welp he's dead…and so is the screen…eh we have interns for this, not our problem.

SZ: *hears screams in the background*..I think those were the interns.

Z0: We got more.

SZ: Ah fair…well let's start!

=So…that's the situation= Magister Tennyson noted over Tsubaki's Badge, the group currently recuperating at the Autobot HQ.

"I can't believe we fell for such an obvious trap…" Tsubaki sighed, "Now Freakshow has the Reality Gauntlet and one of the gems…"

"I still can't believe I missed dealing with this guy and Zombozo," Sari muttered as she and Max sat nearby, Ratchet currently looking over the Maximals for any damages to their hearing receptors.

"Eh, according to the report, it was a pretty weird situation." Max shrugged, "But I am worried how much comic writers seem to know about the cosmic and magical secrets of the world…I'm saying it now…we meet a Black version of Skurd and I'm getting the flamethrowers ready."

=I wish you'd let me do that on a regular day…= Steel mumbled.

"Are we gonna ignore the fact some freaky goth circus guy is out there looking for gems that could potentially rewrite reality?!" Bumblebee exclaimed.

"Ben used to have a sword that did the same thing." Max argued, "Used it to stab his nemesis Vilgax and knock the god power out of him."

"The fact it's factual is what bothers me so much some nights…" Tsubaki admitted, "Ben is the final wielder of the Dragon Slayer sword Ascalon is just…"

"Hey you're not the one who is in denial of it." Max laughed, "Hey Jin! Did you hear the story of Ben inheriting the sword Ascalon of Saint George?"

"Lies!" Jin snapped.

"Everytime~" Max laughed.

=Still…we'll need to keep an eye out for Freakshow. We'll try and keep you posted on any information regarding the other 3 Gems= Magister Tennyson informed.

"Of course, Magister," Tsubaki nodded as she ended the call…before holding a finger up before the Men in White could speak, "No. This has officially become a Plumbers problem."

"But…"

"Silence, vermin!" Dinobot snapped before wincing, "Ah…blasted processor ache from that flashbang…"

"I'm with Magister Tennyson and Tsubaki," Jin spoke up with a frown, "Despite his weak appearance…it's clear we shouldn't underestimate him."

"Also who knows where in the world the rest of those gems are located. We have literal global jurisdiction." Max added, "Cause most of us fall more into Superhero territory. We even got a guy with ice powers. All we need is a girl with fire powers and a dude who sticks to walls and we got the Amazing Friends."

"I still don't know if I hate you yet." Jin groaned.

"Point is, we can handle it." Sari added, "We'll do this, while ticking Freakshow off and threatening less people."

=Provided if anyone stupid doesn't get caught up in the crossfire= Steel stated.

"Aw man we're helping aren't we?" Bumblebee asked.

"We can spare a few hands," Optimus replied, "We need some good field experience for many of our new cadets and agents who have never been to Earth or any organic world." he explained, "The Maximals in particular could use some practice with their alternate modes, and the benefit of mobility from vehicles could help."

"Also…we need some peace and less nonsense," Jazz smirked while crossing his arms, "So congratulations BB, you are leading the young rookies as their commanding officer."

"Aw what?!"

"It could prove some good experience…" Silverbolt muttered.

"Aw scrap…can't I get Bulkhead or Rhinox at least to help?"

"Can't. Bulkhead's currently helping out Ironhide with something and Wheeljack dragged Rhinox into the lab for a new project."

"Also Bumblebee, you are literally a high ranking officer of the Autobot command structure." Optimus pointed out.

"I'm what?!" he snapped.

"You've been by our side through all these battles, Megatron, Starscream, the AllSpark, and even during the Incursean invasion. You're a hero to these cadets." Optimus chuckled, "In case you haven't checked, you're a high ranking lieutenant of our forces. You're one of my field commanders. This should be easy, you've been through worse."

"No, WE have been through thick and thin! I'm not a leader! I'm the goofball, the screw up, I can't be trusted to lead Bots younger than me!" Bumblebee panicked.

"Well you're gonna have to get used to it." Optimus shook his head with a dry chuckle, "Jazz and Silverbolt will assign you the Bots who will accompany you and the Plumbers."

"We'll make sure you get some reliable ones." Jazz chuckled, "Try not to lose 'em BB."

"We have high hopes for you Bumblebee, you'll make a fine field leader, you've proven yourself in countless battles." Silverbolt smiled.

"It'll be just like old times." Sari spoke up, "You and me on crazy adventures against evil freaks. This time around the world."

"...Well I suppose that doesn't sound too bad," Bumblebee muttered as he sheepishly scratched his cheek, "...always wanted to check out the rest of the world after that whole Incursean mess…Just no one better get stuck in me this time. I swear I think I'm still finding some of Frieda's hair or guitar strings and pics."

"Don't worry, we'll stop at a car wash and deep clean ya with those super strong vacuums." Sari offered.

"Sweet."

"We have a game plan then," Tsubaki nodded before looking at one of the Men in White, "Anything you can tell us about the other three gems?"

"That's cl-" the second began before the first covered his mouth with his hand, "Mph!"

"Shut up…this has become their problem," he sighed before looking at Tsubaki, "Yes, though most of the data on them were destroyed when the Incurseans raided the base to steal them and the gauntlet. The Gem of Life, which gives the user power over Life and Death. The Gem of Form, which grants the wielder to transform into anything, and the Gem of Fantasy, which is said to make the wielder's wishes, dreams, and fantasies come to life."

=...That last one sounds particularly dangerous= Steel commented.

"Yeah, I…don't want that one ending up in the wrong hands…" Max cringed at the shared thought with his alien partner.

"Agreed," Jin added.

"Reow…" Nyx added from her current resting spot.

"Don't worry," Max spoke gently as he began scratching the cybernetic feline's ears, "We'll settle this in no time."

"Reow…"

"We had to terminate the employment of two agents that touched it back when we had them. Do not ask what the first one caused; just know it involved tentacles and lotion," Agent 1 recalled, giving a shudder, "The other turned out to be a double agent for the Forever Knights because he made the whole internal area of the base into a Forever Knights one for the brief moment of contact. An internal screening was put into effect to find more hidden agents of other organizations. 5 from the US government, 3 from the Chinese government, 5 more Forever Knights, 8 from the Flame Keepers' Circle, and one Pyronite in an ID Mask. We kept the last one on because of three reasons."

=What reasons?= Steel asked.

"One: She enjoys the job; two: she has the best track record in the organization and is one of top members of the organization and got that because she's that good at her job; and three: …she makes the best damn triple chunk chocolate chip and sea salt caramel cookies you'll ever have for the annual picnic."

"...The third one is a very good reason," Tsubaki muttered to herself.

"Seriously?" Sari asked with a flat look aimed at her fellow redhead.

"Given how happy I am we have a natural chef around the house…" Max muttered, "I get it in my own way."

=At least they aren't totally deplorable…you know…for an Earthling Terrestrial organization of secret shadow government gatekeepers who make people fear government officials= Steel stated, making the Agents cringe at how blunt that was =Uh huh…I'm right aren't I?-

"Steel is a bit of a conspiracy nut," Max spoke up, "He's really into that SCP stuff, so…any organization that keeps secrets sets him off."

=One slight…and I will burn down your entire group…with nothing more than a flash drive and one single change to your computers data…= Steel warned as he floated back to Max's chest armor, =Fear me…=

"But isn't he part of…"

=We're space cops! We hide nothing, just look at our top agents!= Steel cut him off, =That's strike 1, two more and I release your browsing history to your organization!=

"Yeah he's really not a fan of you guys…" Max sighed once more.

"He does intend to do something malicious towards you so…might wanna clear your browsing history and change your passwords." Sari warned, "After all the torment you suffered with us, I've more than gotten payback for your threats to my dad. So now I kind of feel sorry Steel keeps doing it."

=They earn no sympathy…= Steel replied.

"I knew I joined the wrong secret agent guys…" Agent 2 groaned.

"So uh yeah, how do we track these dangerous things?" Bumblebee finally asked, "They could be anywhere, and chances are, they are waking up again!"

"I'm honestly unsure…hopefully Magister Tennyson c-" Tsubaki began before her Badge went off, "...that was fast," she whispered as she answered, "Yayoi here."

=Ah good. You haven't left yet= Patelliday replied from the other end =We may have found a possible location for one of the Gems…and we have the Saturdays to thank for that=

"Hmm? Zak's family?" Tsubaki blinked a bit.

=Mrs. Saturday just contacted us about a strange energy signature detected near their family compound. Oh…and some real freaky stuff going on, even more than her family is used to. Given our luck, good bet it's one of those Gems we're looking for. I'll send you the coordinates right away to GroundBridge you to their location. Though it might still be a bit of a trek. After their last home's…uh…dismantling they asked us for tech to make sure people can't just pop in on them unannounced=

"The Secret Scientists?"

=There is a reason why Max had them babysit 11 year old Ben once, and now we have a mutual understanding= Patelliday chuckled, =Anyway, coordinates sent, and good luck to ya, Drew specified to send some strong hitters for the weirdness=

"Of course. We'll be there as soon as possible, Patilliday. Tsubaki out," Tsubaki nodded as she ended the connection.

=Saturdays…aren't they those people that focus on Cryptids?= Steel asked.

"A what?" Cheetor blinked as he hopped off the metal table Ratchet had him on.

"Cryptids, creatures that are really obscure and are supposed myths," Sari simplified.

"Wait…so dere's some freaky monsters out dere somewhere?" Rattrap asked, "..."

"Rattrap…" Silverbolt began.

"I mean…aren't we technically freaky monsters?" Cheetor asked.

"Da rest of you maybe. I'm freakin' normal compared to you guys."

"Rattrap, you're a giant rodent…" Bumblebee reminded, "Not a cute little mouse like the one Sari says are different."

"...dang it, yer right…" Rattrap muttered, "...I still ain't risking myself out dere…"

"...actually. Optimus," Silverbolt began as he looked at the Autobot leader, "I believe Rattrap and Cheetor would make perfect candidates for the mission with Airazor and Tigatron."

"WHAT?!/ULTRA GEAR!" Rattrap gawked while Cheetor beamed.

"Hmm…Cheetor does need more field mission experience, and Rattrap is our resident jack of all trades, it would be most helpful with the more combat hardened Tigatron and Airazor's experience as a scout make for a good team." Optimus mused, "But some extra muscle will help, these gems have astounding and confusing powers, Jazz?" He turned to his friend and his 2nd in command to the Autobot faction.

"Well now we got a rookie who needs some field training, and someone new to the team game." Jazz mused, "They got plenty of power, but this will be plenty helpful as a learning experience~"

"I don't like how he said that!" Bumblebee complained.

"I trust you both, my loyal friends." Optimus nodded simply, "Call in Bumblebee's team, and we shall prepare the GoundBridge for them at once."

"Next time I pick my team!" Bumblebee complained.

"Perfect, that means your down to lead more field missions as a team leader for us," Silverbolt smiled.

"You da man Bee~" Jazz smirked with a click of his tongue.

"Aw scrap…" Bumblebee groaned.

"The coordinates will deposit you a few miles outside of the Saturday family compound," Silverbolt explained, manning their Ground Bridge system, "It is located along the American Pacific Northwest's coastal Rainforest biome. So prepare for offroading."

"Of course," Tsubaki nodded.

"D'oh...can't believe we're freakin' doing this…" Rattrap muttered as he, Cheetor, Airazor and Tigatron stood nearby in Beast Mode.

"Oh good, everyones already here," Jazz smiled, "Gang meet the two new recruits to our group I want you to give some field experience to." he whistled as two Autobots walked in behind him, "I'd like you to meet our super rookie Strongarm, and an old buddy new to the team thing, Drift."

The first mentioned was a tall female Cybertronian with bulky white and blue armor, on each arm one half of a police siren formed liked a shield over each gauntlet, she had a white and blue helmet which extended out along the sides with a large golden crest atop in a wide V shape.

The second Cybertronian was male and clad in all white armor, he had large shoulder armor which extended back significantly with stabilizer wings, two yellow lights peeking over the Autobot insignia. His arms were decorated in red accents, with a chest plate with two blue lights on each pectoral, with a white helmet with two large fins that swooped back framing a head crest with a gold center. On each hip was a sheath formed from the doors of a car vehicle mode housing a sword each, with each sheath having red japanese writing with one reading Drift in Katakana, and the other samurai in kanji, and on his back was a much longer sword in a black sheath, the sword had a golden engine block themed crossguard with golden center and four golden rods in an X shape.

"Reporting for duty, commander!" Strongarm saluted Jazz.

"Easy there, Rookie," Jazz laughed, "You'll be following my buddy Bumblebee today. He's been through the thick of it with Optimus, so you can trust him 'cause he's gonna be trusting you."

"So this is one of Optimus's soldiers who followed him into battle against Megatron," Drift spoke as he crossed his arms, "I was not expecting to be called upon for a strange mission like this, Jazz."

"Hey now, don't stress," Jazz laughed, "There will be plenty of time for you to show your stuff with the Big Bot, but this is a test. BB here is a field commander now, so he needs to train in leadership. I'm counting on you two to lend a hand, bring what BB lacks, be it remembering our rules and regulations by memory, or being a wise council out in the field when things get extra weird."

"Hmm….duly noted."

"I will do my best to follow Commander Bumblebee's orders, sir!" Strongarm saluted, not seeing the slowly widening optics and dropping jaw of horrific realization on Bumblebee's face.

'NOT A BY THE BOOK ROOKIE~!' He mentally screamed.

"It's Rook from his early days all over again," Tsubaki noted, a hint of fondness from those times in her tone.

"Oh…joy…just what we need…" Rattrap groaned.

"You don't seem excited about our new companions," Tigatron noted.

"You used t' be a super loner type bad boy so you don't know what it feels like t' be stuck with the happy-go-lucky energy rush and a by da books stick in the gears…it's a nightmare and a half, and not one you could handle," the rodent Maximal crossed his little rat arms in assertion.

"Oh you're exaggerating," Airazor rolled her eyes, "They're just eager young cadets. We were all there once…" she lingered on Tigatron, "I hope…"

"Hi! I'm Cheetor!" Cheetor shouted, rushing up to the new Autobots before he shifted into Robot mode to alter himself and stand closer to their eye level which was still a bit of a stretch given their taller and bulkier builds compared to his slimmer scout body.

"Energetic little bot, isn't he…" Drift muttered, backing away a bit in surprise.

"Hmm…" Jazz hummed, crossing his arms.

"Ehem…I am Drift," he introduced himself with a bow.

"Drift here is an old buddy from Yoketron's dojo," Jazz explained, "Always been a loner himself, so hey, you and Tigatron got something in common. You're both terrible at social interactions." he smirked.

"Hmm…" Drift and Tigatron frowned.

"Oh good. Jin's got friends now," Max chuckled.

"See? Every team has a socially inept one!" Jazz laughed with Max, "But you two also need to learn how to work on a team. So play nice, will ya?"

"Very well," Drift sighed, "For you, my old friend, and for our leader's sake."

"If Optimus is asking us to do this, it has to be for a good reason," Tigatron added.

"So this is the effect an inspiring and wise leader has. Thank kami we have Magister Tennyson for that," Jin smirked, "Now if only that were a genetic trait he could pass along to his idiot grandson."

"I'm stickin' with Bee and da girl…" Rattrap declared preemptively.

=Oh this is gonna be fun~= Steel whispered to himself, knowing what kind of Chaos will eventually ensue.

"Zon~! Zon, where are you, girl?!" Zak called out, looking outside his family's compound with Fisk, "Ahh…where did she go this time…" Fisk spoke up, "Nah. You remember what happened to her the last time she went near that bee colony." Fisk laughed at that, "Hey! Remember what happened when she led them back here!" Fisk groaned as phantom pains raced along his lanky frame, "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Fisk spoke something in his Lemurian language, which was clearly his complaints about not wanting to spend the afternoon looking for his weird adoptive pterosaur sister. After so many long outings to study cryptids out in the middle of nowhere, he was happy to be home in the Saturday Compound. Oh, but wait! He can't even enjoy that because for the last 24 hours, creepy and freaky stuff had been going on. One minute there's a normal hall; the next, the Fiskerton Phantom is walking into a wall of wood that formed out of nowhere. But when he tries to tell his family, suddenly it's all back to normal. Then there was the case of the suddenly missing bathroom floor. His own adoptive mother said he got cranky and tossed the toilet outside of his own volition. He hasn't done that in years, Years!

"Fisk…Fisk! Okay, okay, I get it!" Zak groaned as his Cryptid sibling was now ranting in his native language. He was about to shout something before a Groundbridge formed nearby, making him look over to see something appear from within it, "...Oh please let that be Ben…" he then tensed in surprise when he saw a small group of animals stepped out followed by three vehicles that were driving by themselves given the people in the driver seats weren't even holding onto the wheels, "?"

"This should be the spot…" Airazor spoke as she looked around as the others got out of the vehicles.

Tigatron closed his eyes as he felt the breeze, giving a small chuffing sound, "The air here feels…cleaner…than in Detroit."

"Welcome to the Pacific Northwest, forest for miles, fresh salty breeze from the ocean, and tons of reported sightings of bigfoot!" Max cheered as Steel floated around to begin scanning the area.

=Don't worry, Bigfoot Isn't real. Magister Tennyson confirms it= Steel explained, =Yeti however…they're dicks…= he bluntly stated.

"We should know," Jin noted with a scowl.

"Ultra gear~!" Cheetor awed as he looked around, "This is bigger than the forest back on the island!"

"I blame dem Dinobots fer da size what wit' them fire-spittin' duo of da bunch," Rattrap huffed.

"It's so…peaceful," Tigatron added, "Just listen to the sounds. It's tranquil."

"You sound a lot like Prowl…" Bumblebee muttered, "He loved all this nature stuff, too. A lot, actually. Pretty sure if he was a Maximal, he'd be a big cat thing like you two. Either that or an owl."

"Why an owl?" Tsubaki asked.

"360 degree sight with that rotating head of theirs and I couldn't pick up on their flying until they went by me," Bumblebee replied, "I swear, those things were always looking at me the whole time we tried that camping trip."

=None of them had a human body and were a drawing on a flat surface, were they?= Steel asked.

"SCP-1155 isn't real, Steel," Max sighed.

"SCP? What's that?" Cheetor asked.

"Nothing for you," Bumblebee groaned, "Don't pick up the weird hobbies of the Ultra Link, will ya?" he then blinked, "Oh no…I'm already starting to sound like the Boss Bot…What is this feeling?! Responsibility? I don't like it!"

"Clearly Optimus can do a lot with very little…" Drift rolled his optics as Bumblebee panicked.

"Oh, cut him a break. He did help fight Megatron," Airazor sighed, perching on Drift's shoulder, "No one said he was the leader that led them to victory. But Optimus trusts him, and we all trust Optimus, right?"

"Eh…" Rattrap began before breaking out in a sweat at the sharp look the falcon gave him, "Oh sure, sure. I trust da Boss Trucker a ton!" he gave a quiet sighed of relief when she looked away before giving a glare at Steel when he made a whipping sound effect play.

=What? …It's true= Steel laughed.

*THWACK!*

"Focus," Tsubaki ordered sternly, a smoking Steel twitching on the ground, as she rapped the reinforced folding fan in her hand into the palm of the other, "Remember our assignment: grouping with the Saturdays for a potential lead on one of the Gems."

"They said something about weird stuff going on," Max said as Nyx began to look around, "At the least I'm not picking up anything weird. What about you guyrolling Steel around in the dirt with her paws, "What could that mean? Things seem normal from here." he ls?" he turned to the Maximals, "You gotta have animal senses, right? Picking up anything? Weird sounds, scents, a general sense of weirdness?" he asked as Nyx climbed onto his shoulder, "Normally, we just send Ben out as one of his dog-like aliens to do that."

"You mean like the kid and tall lanky creature coming towards us?" Cheetor asked.

"Kid and…" Tsubaki began to repeated as she followed Cheetor's line of sight in time to see Zak and Fisk approaching, "Oh! It's good to see you again, Zak, Fisk."

"It's good to see you guys as well," Zak responded as Fisk looked up at the three Autobots and then at the Maximals and Nyx.

"Everyone, these are Zak and Fisk Saturday. Zak, Fisk, these are the Autobots and Maximals, Bumblebee, Drift, Strongarm, Cheetor, Tigatron, Rattrap, and Airazor," Tsubaki introduced.

"Hey," Zak greeted before noticing Sari, "And her?"

"Sari Sumdac."

"Wait…as in Sumdac Systems?"

"Yep, that's my Dad's company." Sari smiled.

"She's also another half-alien kid who's helped save the world," Max chuckled, "The club is getting bigger."

"That is true…" Tsubaki nodded.

"I think humans are more open minded than they claim at times…" Jin whispered.

"Hah! We got him to make a dirty joke!" Max and Sari pointed at him.

"I can't help you with this one," Tsubaki smirked a little, finding this mildly amusing given how tame it was compared to Makoto and Ben's saucy sense of comedy.

"Okay, now this is a learning experience. On a team, it's normal for you to make jokes out of good nature," Bumblebee smirked.

"Aren't jokes meant to be funny?" Drift asked.

"I don't grasp comedy either," Tigatron held a paw up innocently, earning a slight chuckle from Airazor.

"We'll cover that some other time," Bumblebee offered, "Wait…where's Cheetor?"

"Hi!" Cheetor cheered, rushing up to Zak and Fisk as he ran around them before climbing up on Fisk's back, "I'm Cheetor! Wow~! What are you? Are you some sort of Monkey Cat, Cat Monkey, MonKat?!"

"Cheetor, get down from there," Bumblebee scolded before pausing as his optics went wide, "...What is wrong with me?!"

"Should I get him, Lieutenant?" Strongarm asked.

"Yes…" Bumblebee groaned as he shook his head, "But don't hurt the yet unidentified creature friend of theirs!" he added as Fisk was panicking from the talking Cheetah crawling on him.

"Ultra Gear! He talks in this weird language, not even my translator can figure it out!" Cheetor cheered, clinging to Fisk's back, unintentionally digging his claws in to do said clinging.

"Hey, hey, hey! Down, ya big talking cheetah, you!" Zak scolded, pulling out the Claw.

"WAH!" Fisk panicked, running around only to scream when Strongarm grabbed him and began pulling on Cheetor, "AH! AH!" he cried with each tug due to the claws.

"Cheetor, stop with the claws!" Bumblebee ordered.

"How do I do that?" Cheetor asked.

"I do believe Cheetah claws are not retractable…" Tigatron stated.

"...hah," Tsubaki sighed a bit, "Max…implement the Anti-Kaka maneuver…"

"The wh-" Cheetor began before he stopped, his eyes focused on the red dot on the ground that suddenly appeared, "..."

"I swear if this works, he might be more cat than Cybertronian," Max sighed while moving the dot around as Cheetor leapt off Fisk and began chasing it around, Nyx growing to full panther size and joining him.

"Nah, that kid's always been a weird one…" Rattrap sighed.

"I am so sorry for him. First big mission on Earth outside of mounting a defense against a Titan," Sari apologized.

"It's fine. Not the first time Fisk had something with claws crawl all over him," Zak shrugged, earning a slight annoyed frown from Fisk, "Anyway, glad you guys are here. Something…freaky has been going on here lately."

"We know. Your mother had mentioned weird energy signatures and it is possible it's something we're searching for," Tsubaki informed.

"Like what exactly?" Zak asked.

"Dude, have you read or watched anything Marvel in recent years?" Max asked.

"Uh…probably…" Zak muttered.

"We're looking for the inspiration for the Infinity Gauntlet." Max smiled, "Oh yeah, things are that weird."

"That thing's real?" Zak asked.

"Sort of. It's actually based on an item known as the Reality Gauntlet," Tsubaki explained, "A man going by 'Freakshow' has the actual glove and one of the four Gems for it. The other three were scattered during the Incursean Occupation."

Fisk let out an annoyed growl at remembering that time.

"Oh not again…" Zak groaned as Fisk started to rant, "He, uh…He did not like their occupation. One of those big giants they had walking about crushed his favorite ice cream shop in Cairo."

"What is…Iced Cream?" Cheetor asked.

"Frozen sugar and, no, ya can't have any!" Rattrap snapped.

"Anyway, yeah, it turns out a lot of famous Comic Book writers all moonlighted as part of…one of the many organizations who keep things like aliens and the paranormal secret," Max added.

"Explains a lot, doesn't it?" Sari sighed.

"Kinda does," Zak replied, rubbing his chin in thought.

"You humans rarely come up with original stuff. Heck, we sold the rights to turn our story into something called an anime in Japan," Rattrap laughed, "It's how we pay fer property damages…"

"They really like Optimus…even if for some reason they can't pronounce his name…" Bumblebee muttered.

"Anyway," Airazor spoke, landing on Max's shoulder, "About the weirdness?"

"If possible, we would like to collect the item so we may store it in a containment unit which will neutralize its energy," Tigatron added, "This way this Freakshow will not be able to do anything drastic even with the gauntlet and the Gem of Power."

"Well, Fisk keeps freaking out about things suddenly changing inside of the house, yet when we look at what he's pointing at it's all fine," Zak noted, "But…we are missing a family member."

"Your parents?" Jin asked.

"No, Zon."

"The dinosaur?" Jin blinked.

"...Because of course dere's a dinosaur," Rattrap muttered, throwing his paws up in exasperation, "Thought I was leavin' dem behind in Detroit only ta have 'em follow me."

"If you would kindly elaborate on these strange goings ons, my friend." Tigatron spoke to Fisk who began babbling in his Lemurian language, "Hmm…truly? Such drastic transmutation of matter? Yes, that is indeed not at all how the laws of physics work. Hmm…I don't know what a toilet is, but I believe you."

=You understood the big guy?= Steel asked, an exclamation point and a question mark repeating on his optic.

"You need only to listen and it all makes sense," Tigatron replied.

"Did you understand that?" Strongarm whispered to Tsubaki.

"Honestly, no…but each member of the team normally has their own skillset to help the unit as a whole," Tsubaki sighed, "It would seem Tigatron's connection to nature lets him understand Fikserton's odd language." Fisk gasped as he heard that, "Sorry…"

"Nah, it takes forever to learn how to understand him. You're good," Zak waved it off.

"Sudden alteration of matter and space around one's person. Those are not simple acts to happen on such a planet as Earth," Drift spoke up, "It must be one of these Gems responding to something or another. Possibly to this…Fisk's emotions." he offered his theory.

"Does the fuzzy guy have some magic mojo?" Bumblebee asked.

"I mean…kinda sorta…" Zak muttered, "His entire people are meant to be protectors of the world from Kur…which…is…was…me…it's me." he explained, "But I'm good, so he became my Guardian." Fisk smiled and nodded, "So he kinda has some magic mojo going on. But…it's not exactly something we know how to exploit."

Fisk muttered something as he made several gestures with his hands.

"Hmm, yes I see. You have mystical properties passed down by your ancestors, however you yourself don't know how to activate them willfully," Tigatron nodded, "Most concerning. This could mean you are in fact the trigger for its abilities. Though since you are doing this without your own knowing, the changes are utterly random." Fisk babbled something, "I see, you say that your adoptive reptilian siblings have bad habits of hiding found items within the secret crawl spaces between walls intended to sneak around any home intruders." Fisk nodded rapidly, "Fascinating."

"It's kinda nice having someone else who understands Fisk speak," Zak laughed.

"So…we need to look…through the crawlspaces you put in the house to sneak up on intruders…which your family members of a living terrasaur and a komodo dragon with camouflage abilities…frequen…" Sari spoke slowly, "I wish Ben was here. We normally have him do these sorts of potentially gross missions…"

Fisk spoke something before covering his nose and saying something universally understood by those with a sense of smell, "Pee yew~"

"Fortunately, we do have someone here that can explore in areas such as that," Tigatron noted.

"...Why's everyone lookin' at us?" Rattrap asked, trading looks with Steel.

=...Aw crud= Steel realized.

"The two of you are small and maneuverable enough to get around in there and find anything they might have hidden," Tigatron stated.

"It would be most useful if we sent you in," Drift added.

"Most of us are rather…large," Strongarm added, "Even with the Maximals able to alter size between alternate forms, you Rattrap are the smallest and the UltraLink has the ability to fly to reach things Rattrap can not."

"Get a move on, boys," Airazor giggled.

"B…d'oh fine fine…" Rattrap groaned as he walked off, "But I swear if something comes alive and tries ta eat me…we're havin' issues here."

"Uh…well something in there might," Zak muttered..

"...Just gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Rattrap muttered, ripping a grate off the wall before he crawled into it with Steel floating in right behind him.

=Just call us Mobile Task Force Sigma-Alpha-Rho 1 AKA The Chimney Sweeps= Steel declared.

"I ain't no chimney sweep!" Rattrap snapped.

"I still haven't figured out just who introduced Steel to it," Max sighed in exasperation.

"...Wait…is he the one who made that new entry about the lemurs?" Zak asked.

"I have a video of his first introduction to them at the zoo in Bellwood," Max chuckled, "Hilarious."

=I highly disagree!= Steel's voice shouted from the vent.

"Get to searching," Max declared, smacking the wall and causing a small tremble in the building.

"We're goin'! We're goin'!" Rattrap snapped.

"Drew…why is the house trembling, and why do I hear what sounds like a giant rat in the walls?" Doc Saturday asked his wife upon finding her in an underground level of the home.

"Oh the boys invited some friends to check out Fiskerton's claims of weird nonsense happening in the house. It seemed like it really upset him, so I said sure. Besides Zak could use more friends, you know ones that can use an actual human language and aren't covered in a dense layer of fur…most of the time." Drew explained as she tended to a strange monstrous looking plant, "Also, I've felt something really negative in the house lately."

"Oh no…not this again, Drew…the house is not cursed, we don't have cursed artifacts, that is not logical," Doc sighed, not wanting to humor his wife's bad juju nonsense.

"Uh-huh…our son with the remnants of power from Kur would be my main argument," Drew replied with a confident smirk, promising her husband would not win this argument yet again if he continues.

"Well I'd love to have this talk again, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to humor Fisk so he can sleep better and stop crawling under our bed with claims of the hallway suddenly expanding endlessly," Doc laughed, "Also getting Zak out of the house more wouldn't be so bad. He can take Fisk and the others, and we…could have the place all to ourselves for once," he smirked.

"Ooh, suddenly you make a good point, Logic man," Drew smiled, "Maybe it's time we push the baby bird out of the nest?"

"Besides, what's the worst out there he hasn't faced before?" Doc laughed, "You know besides girls which he's still woefully unprepared for."

"He gets that from you," Drew replied.

"Hey, I got you in the end, didn't I? As far as I see it, Saturday men always win in the long game." Doc smirked, he then flinched as they heard another tremble, "Maybe Zak doesn't invite his new friends with super strength over?"

"We have three boys and two of them are literal wild animals, we don't need ones with super powers visiting on the regular," Drew agreed.

The two then turned as an air vent popped off and Rattrap fell down with a loud metallic smack. He groaned, rubbing his head before cursing to himself as he scaled the wall and crawled back into the vent, his tail dragging it back and popping it in place, and after a second his tail slipped through the venting and the tip opened up and turned into a blowtorch that welded it back in place.

"I hate dis job!" he finally complained as he vanished back into the inner workings of their home.

"...Was that either a cyborg rodent with a Boston accent or an alien robot that copied a rat's appearance with a Boston accent?" Doc questioned.

"At least it's not a normal rat," Drew shrugged, "And since this is science nonsense, I…do not care~" she smirked, walking off to tend to more of her cryptid plants.

"Oh joy…" Doc sighed, "...Right. I'm not going to be satisfied until I get an answer for that."

"How deep does this complex go?" Drift asked as he looked at a tracking device that said Rattrap just fell several stories straight through the ground under their feet.

"Oh yeah, my folks build underground levels to house stuff like our airship, or a garden for rare and endangered cryptid plants." Zak explained.

"And your network of crawl spaces extends down into…those sections as well?" Strongarm asked.

"Oh right. It's mostly for the other sibling." Tigatron realized.

"Yeah, Komodo likes having a quiet safe place all to himself," Zak nodded as Fisk grumbled something.

"Hmm? What do you mean 'Even if he slept through all that crazy nonsense'?" Tigatron questioned.

"Crazy nonsense?" Tsubaki repeated, Fisk babbling quickly at that.

"Basically, everything he's been seeing," Tigatron replied, "Huh…Including when a few places Komodo frequents suddenly turned into isolated blizzards for several seconds."

"Okay, that's starting to sound like mystical nonsense," Max muttered.

"It does narrow down which gem it might be then," Bumblebee noted, "Either the one for Form or Fantasy."

"And chances are…Freakshow's probably waiting for the right moment to steal it like last time," Jin added.

"How would he know where to find this place?" Max questioned, "I mean, we had to get a call from Patelliday about this who got a call from Zak."

"Chances are the gauntlet lets him detect where the other gems are," Jin stated.

"So magic sucks, right?" Max asked bluntly.

"I'm starting to feel like it does," Bumblebee nodded.

"Does sound like it's a lot of nonsense," Tigatron agreed.

"I mean…we kinda…use magic…" Jin muttered, motioning to himself and Tsubaki.

"Then you don't get a say in how we complain as non-magic users." Bumblebee replied.

"Technically I kinda use magic as w-" Sari began.

"CASE IN POINT!" Bumblebee declared, earning a flat look from the redhead.

"Perhaps it would be a good idea to split up," Strongarm suggested, "Cover more ground that way…and hopefully find the gemstone we are searching for before this Freakshow does, Bumblebee sir."

"That's a good idea. Autobots, we should check around out here and keep an eye out for the creepy clown," Bumblebee spoke up, "We're too big to walk inside the Saturday's house."

"Guess we'll be giving a tour to the rest of you guys then, huh?" Zak questioned.

"Looks like," Sari replied before giving him a playful wink, "Just hope we don't skip the 'gift shop' at the end of the 'tour.'"

"Trust me, the gift shop's got quite the pickings," Zak replied.

"Airazor, maybe you should help Bumblebee and the others. Your flight and eyes could help pick out anything odd." Tigatron offered, "You probably can't get the best use of your alt mode cramped inside a house."

"True," Airazor replied before she took flight, "Take care now."

"We'll probably just end up following Rattrap and Steel around in the walls," Max waved as they entered.

"Ah...Dis is gettin' tiresome…" Rattrap muttered as he and Steel turned a corner, "See anything yet, cyclopes?"

=I see no stone, all I see is dust, shed reptile skin, and what I hope are bones from chicken wings…= Steel sighed.

"Hey you the one who doesn't look like a giant lizard dinner option, I should be the one freakin' out!"

=I'm allowed to be disgusted…= Steel argued, =Ah this is annoying, where could this stone even be?=

"How should I freakin' know!" Rattrap snapped, "I just want to get this thing over with so I can…" a faint cry was heard echoing throughout the ventilation shaft, followed by a flash of energy washing past them, "...what was that?"

=Energy pulse, not sure what kind though…= Steel mused, =I can't understand it, means it must be one thing…magic=

"Ah…what timing…alright. Let's see where….where…" Rattrap grunted as he tried to move, "Try….gh, why can't I move?!" he looked down to see his feet stuck against the metal floor, trying his best to lift his foot up, "Gh…d-did they put gorilla glue in here?!"

=...oh…I think I know what that magic was…= Steel whispered as he scanned the floor =That wave must've changed the metal into glue….which should literally be impossible, so that rules that this is the Gem of Form=

"What was yer first guess?! Now help me before it ch-" Rattrap began before the cry went off once more, causing the rat Maximal to shoot up and hit his head on the ceiling, "Gah! Scrapping Frag…!"

=Language= Steel chided playfully, =We must be close, I think this gem must have a sense of irony…we're tired of being stuck in here…now it's making us get stuck!= he threw his arms up dramatically, =So let's try to keep a clear processor going in, who knows what could happen is one of us suddenly wanted to burn this place down…=

"Please don't joke about that," Rattrap groaned, still rubbing his head.

=I wasn't. It is legit one of many worst case scenarios in my head= Steel argued as they began to move once more =...Freakshow somehow getting it ended up being the least worst outcome…=

"Oh great, well lets keep going then," Rattrap sighed, "I swear if we get trapped in this stupid house forever I'm gonna…oof!" he grunted tripping on something, he groaned getting up as he moved some random garbage that someone dragged in here and picked up a yellow rhombus gem, "HOLY SCRAP!"

=WE FOUND IT!= Steel declared.

"We did it! We actually did it!"

=WHOO! W….wait…=

"...no way it would be this easy….= Rattrap and Steel muttered in unison.

"...Let's get it before something…" Rattrap began before something slithered by and grabbed the gem out of his hand, "?!"

=...oh don't…= Steel began as he turned back, seeing a ghostly snake hissing at them before it slithered away with the gem in its mouth =ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!=

"Oh now what?!"

=Freakshow's ghostly sidekick just nabbed the gem!=

"AHH! After that thing!"

"Hmm….so far nothing," Bumblebee muttered as he and the rest of his team were checking the woods around the area, "No sign of the gem or anything…you 'bots find anything yet?!"

"Not yet!" Cheetor shouted as he poked out of a set of bushes.

"Negative," Drift sighed as he peeked into the branches of some trees.

"Nothing I can consider a gem," Airazor spoke up as she flew in a circle around the area, "Though I do see a lot, I swear I saw something move around in the bushes behind the house…"

"...I'm on it!" Cheetor cheered as he sprinted away with the bush he was in still clinging to him as he ran around the edge of the building…doing a few laps by accident.

"...ugh…what about you, Tigatron?" Bumblebee asked with a groan, earning silence from the white Tiger as he looked at the scenery, "...Tigatron?"

"Hmm? Yes, Bumblebee?"

"You find anything besides a nice view?" Bumblebee asked.

"Ah…no. I have not," Tigatron shook his head, "My apologies. I got distracted by the scenery…"

"Ah…great," Bumblebee groaned before turning his communicator on, "Tsubaki, any luck on your end?"

-Line Break-

"Well we lost Steel and Rattrap in the walls and it seems they've gotten excited." Tsubaki sighed as multiple bangs went off in the walls, "I think they found something in there."

"That's not possible, Komodo would eat anything that found its way in the house before we even got wind of it." Zak stated.

"...Max?"

"Steel, Rattrap, everything alright?" Max asked as he turned his own comm on.

=No! We found the Gem but it got stolen by that tattoo ghost lady's snake!= Steel exclaimed.

"Yeah we got a problem," Max sighed, "Remember crazy wacky Tattoo lady? One of her living ink stains is in there and took the gem from them."

"Wh-?! How?!" Sari exclaimed.

"They must've gotten here before us," Jin guessed.

"We'll worry about that later," Tsubaki stated before looking back at her badge, "Bumblebee, I need you and your team to look around the area for Freakshow and his accomplice. We cannot let them get away with another gem."

"Got it," Bumblebee replied before cutting communications, "Okay 'bots, new plan! Fraekshow and his partner are already here, so let's put the pedal to the metal and find him before he can get away again!"

"I'm on it!" Cheetor shouted as he ran off in a random direction.

"Airazor…make sure he doesn't run all the way to Canada or something…" Bumblebee sighed.

"On it," Airazor replied as she flew off after him.

"Let's get to looking folks! Find the creepy weirdo as fast as we can, and I don't think anyone will care if we step on him." Bumblebee smirked, "But try and make sure it's just this weirdly pale needle nosed human, Optimus wouldn't want us to hurt anything actually likable on this planet."

"Mmm…" was all Tigatron replied with as he walked off.

"Alright…Drift, Strongarm, you're both with me."

"My first arrest…hopefully all that information on Earth's law will do me some good," Strongarm spoke.

"So as long as we get the gauntlet off him that's all that matters right?" Drift asked.

"Yes, but no cutting!" Bumblebee panicked, "Humans aren't advanced enough to replace limbs like us."

"Oh my, that's so inconvenient." Strongarm muttered in concern.

"Yeah, it takes a bit of effort to know how to rough them up without…you know roughing them up the Cybertronian way." Bumblebee explained, "Normally it's easier to leave it to those Plumber Kids, if they hit him too hard, it's their fault not ours."

"Lucky them…" Drift sighed.

"Just flick him in the face or something, they can fix breaking that nose thing." Bumblebee explained flicking his finger for emphasis.

"...I'll take it."

Zon snoozed softly as she rested in her nest…which was oddly bigger than normal with piles of fish and fish bones surrounding her. After finding that shiny stone, things have been a bit more peaceful for her…but it seems her brother Fisk was complaining as usual…eh. Probably ate something he shouldn't have or lost something to Zak again. She then blinked as she heard a noise inside the home. Banging from within those gap in the walls the final brother of her family, Komodo, loved to crawl through to hide his snacks from others. She then blinked as Zak and several humans she never met ran around after the sounds, most in a panic.

"How do we get them out?" Tsubaki asked.

"I don't know." Zak groaned.

"Cut a hole in the wall," Jin stated.

"Punch a hole in the wall," Max nodded.

"A way that doesn't wreck someone else's house!" Sari complained.

"Well we have to do something." The two replied, Nyx jumping off Max's shoulder as she followed the noise along the wall.

"Well that's adorable but I doubt the kitty has a better fix," Zak sighed as Fisk laughed and moved to pick up Nyx only to flinch as upon grabbing her she tensed and grew to full size, "Wha?"

"GYA!" Fisk panicked, falling over in shock as the large Cyber Panther stalked along the wall before clawing at a section, "Wah!" Fisk panicked, moving to stop her from damaging the wall only to be pinned by Nyx who growled at him "mmmm…" he whimpered in confusion and submission as Nyx returned to what she was doing before.

"Nyx!" Sari panicked as she continued to do so before her claws extended and flashed with TURBO energy before swiping and to all their shock the claws hooked the ghost snake and dragged it and the gem out, while leaving a massive gash in the walls, "She has Laser Claws?!"

"Uh…well Nyx is kind of…new in a lot of ways…" Max shrugged as Nyx growled as the ghost snake as the gem bounced along the ground and away from it.

"Oh Mom and Dad are gonna kill us!" Zak groaned as Fisk panicked at the damage, before pointing to the ghost snake in panic, then back to the wall to panic again before going to point at the ghost snake again, in an unending pattern of panic.

"I thought cats hated snakes…" Jin muttered to Tsubaki.

"Well…she was born of Max's power and Kajun's mad science…she's not a normal cat." Tsubaki shook her head as Nyx roared and began chasing the snake ghost.

"When has anything been normal in our life…?" Jin sighed

"Holy lugnuts…what happened to the wall?" Rattrap asked, poking his head out of the gash in the wall, "Ah! The gem! Finally!" he leapt out and picked it up.

The ghost snake hissed as it slithered out from underneath Nyx, leaping up in an attempt to snatch it.

"Oh no! You're not g-" Rattrap began before the gem began to glow, engulfing the area in bright light before the ground began to feel unstable, the group trying to find their footing as they bounced up and down, which resulted in Rattrap dropping the gem once more"?!"

"Did…did the ground just turn into rubber?!" Max gawked.

"This…is…insanity!" Jin grunted as he landed and froze a section of the floor so everyone could have some stable footing, "Okay…Tennyson can't know about it,"

"I'd agree, but sadly I think we'd be safer if Ben put it in his trophy room with all his other dangerous items." Tsubaki sighed.

"Ben has a what?" Zak asked.

"Dude it's awesome," Max cheered, "He's got so much cool stuff in there, he's got a giant broadsword that can cover itself in crystals he stole off his mortal nemesis."

"Aw that sounds cool…"

"Focus!" Sari shouted as the snake was already making a beeline for the gem, "Grab that gem before it does!"

"Nope!" Max smacked his hand on the part of the floor not frozen and the tremor bounced the gem up into the air before the snake could grab it, letting Nyx jump over and catch it in her jaw, "I would just like to say, I have the superior animal companion." he smirked as Nix landed next to him.

"Raaah…" Zon yawned as she began to wake up, ehr eyes fluttering a bit as she began to notice everyone in the room…and the shiny she had found in the cave the other night, "?!"

"Okay…least we got…" Max began as he reached towards the Gem of Form, only for a green blur to zip past him while snatching the gem, "?!"

"Ahh! Zon, no!" Zak panicked as Zon flew up in the air, the gemstone in her beak.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!= Rattrap and Steel snapped.

"Zon, put the gem down!" Zak called out to the Cryptid, only for her to turn her head away from him while giving a defiant trill, "N-No?!" Zon gave another squawk, "What do you mean you found it…?" he trailed off before noticing her larger than normal nest and all the fish, "..."

"MM! MMMM!" Fisk gave a few grunts, motioning to both the nest and the gem in Zon's beak…He knew he wasn't being crazy!.

"Alright, Fisk, I believe you. Now help us get the gem before something else weird happens!" Zak complained.

"I've been holding it in, but how does any noise from that neko-gorilla make sense?!" Jin complained.

"Wah?" Fisk gasped.

"Now is not the time to let out the things we've been holding back!" Tsubaki snapped, slapping Jin upside the head.

"So she won't give it up 'cause she found it and used it to make her big nest?" Max asked, "It's like dealing with a little girl who won't give up the random thing she found on the ground…in that case, we just need to trade her for something she would want even more." he tapped his helmet, "Max calling Autobots and Maximals. I need…a weird favor."

-Linebreak-

"Weird favor?" Bumblebee asked.

=I need someone to head for the water and bring back the biggest fish you can catch= Max explained.

"What?" Bumblebee asked, "Why fish!?"

=No time to explain. Just trust me on this that I need a fish= Max restated simply.

"Fish he says… What is with these teenagers?" Bumblebee sighed.

"How does one fish?" Strongarm asked.

"Beats me…" Bumblebee shrugged, "I was never the one with nature type. That was Prowl. I was more the video game and popular media type," he sighed, "All I know is you find fish in the water, but I don't think any of our Maximals can swim…"

"Actually, birds catch fish all the time," Airazor stated.

"Tigers can swim and are fond of water," Tigatron added.

"Huh? How did you two…?" Bumblebee began to ask.

"Most of the Autobots prior to deciding to convert into Maximals researched the animal they wished to take the appearance of," Tigatron explained, "And, I will admit, I have enjoyed a North Pike or two in Detroit."

"I do enjoy a bass or two at times," Airazor admitted.

"...Right. You two are in charge of getting the biggest fish you can find here," Bumblebee ordered after blinking for a few moments.

"Of course."

"In the meantime…the rest of us will go search for grandmaster goth creepy," Bumblebee muttered.

=Please do. Th-OW! Oh you little…!= Max's voice began before the call got cut.

"...wonder what happened there?" Bumblebee muttered, his group unaware of Freakshow slipping by as he vanished into the bushes.

-linebreak-

"Zon, seriously stop!" Zak complained as he and the others were trying to grab Zon out of the air as she flew away from them with each attempt.

"Raak!"

"I don't care if it gets you more fish, you can't have that gem!"

"Just be glad she's focused on da fish and ain't thinkin' up ways ta mess wit' da floor," Rattrap noted.

"Shaddap, Rattrap," Max groaned as Steel tried to tackle Zon, only to ram into a wall.

=Ugh…Anyone get the name of that prehistoric avian that hit me?= Steel questioned, his optic displaying a swirling animation.

"No you don't!" Jin shouted as he stabbed the ground, causing a wall of ice to appear before Zon, making her squawk in surprise as she skid to a halt…just as the gemstone in her beak touched, causing it to glow as the ice immediately melted into water, "!?"

"Rrr?" Zon blinked at that…it was like with the fish and her nest….she could change anything into fish….or more shiny stuff.

"Uh-oh…I think Zon's starting to realize what it can do," Zak grimaced.

"...I'm starting to question that fraggin' sword of yours," Rattrap frowned at Jin, only to yelp when he felt something cold form underneath his feet, "Yeow!"

"...Zon…no…" Zak whispered as he and Fisk immediately noticed the look in Zon's eyes, "Don't even think about it…"

"Raak!"

"Aaand she thought about it," Zak groaned before Fisk babbled at him with a deadpan expression, "Okay, okay! I get it!"

"RAaak!" Zon cried as she flew towards the wall, tapping it with the gem as it dissolved into mud, giving her an opening to fly out.

"After dat tiny version of Swoop!" Rattrap called.

"Tiny?" Zak repeated.

"If'n yer ever in Detroit, I'll introduce ya."

"Less talk, more calming Zon down and getting the Gem of Form!" Tsubaki barked.

"Yes, ma'am!" everyone replied, most with a yelp.

"Hahah…I can't believe how easy it is to go undetected by these people!," Freakshow laughed as he watched from a nearby tree, his ghostly assistant floating ner him, "Plant the paranoia into their heads…and I can slip by undetected…" he eyed small ghostly moused that formed from one of the tattoos on the female ghost, "I knew leaving a 'bug' on them would be a good idea…"

"..."

"Come now, things have gone smoothly so far," Freakshow assured her, noticing the look she gave him, "While they are distracted, we grab the prehistoric creature-which would go great in my new Circus Gothica's lineup-snatch the gem, then make for the nearest exit to the ghostly realm to our safespot."

"..."

"What do you mean I'm a terrible beast tamer!?" he snapped, "No! I can do this, you never support my new business endeavors!"

"..."

"Hmph! Well the joke will be on you when I find th-" Freakshow began.

"Found him!" Airazor's voice shouted.

"...when I find the beast, so keep them distracted" Freakshow finished, slipping off the branch as he fell into the bushes below.

"Oh no. You're not going any…" Airazor began as she started to fly down, only to stop as she narrowly avoided a ghostly anaconda that tried to lunge at her, "Woah!"

Lydia narrowed her eyes as she reeled the snake back, glaring at the Maximal as she kited there…and thinking how she was gonna pay back Freakshow later.

"Well, this was not how I wanted this to go…" Airazor sighed, "Now I'm stuck with the creepy ghost thing." she swooped to the right, avoiding a rather vicious tattoo spectral tiger, "With the ability to materialize her tattoos as living entities to fight for her. Some days, it's a coin flip on this planet."

"Raak!"

"Ahh! What was that?!" Cheetor exclaimed as he rapidly looked around.

"Up there!" Strongarm shouted, pointing up at Zon as she flew overhead, "The prehistoric Earth creature has the Gem we are looking for! Commander Bumblebee, orders sir?!"

"Ah, that's probably one Zak's animal friends so we can't hurt it," Bumblebee groaned, "We need to peacefully get it back down here. But how do we get a bird-like thing's attention?"

"..." Cheetor pondered before he spun around and found a rock which he grabbed with his tail and with careful aim tossed through the air to bean Zon in the back of her head..

"RAWK?!" Zon squawked as she tumbled down in the air, unintentionally releasing the Gem.

"Ah! I got it!" Bumblebee exclaimed as he hurried to catch the gem…only for Freakshow to swing past him as he caught it, jumping off the branch as it smacked the Autobot in the face, "Gah!"

"No…I got i-" Freakshow began as he held the gm up, about to put it in the gauntlet before Drift grabbed him, making him grunt as the gem fell out of his hand, "Gh…!"

"Don't think so."

"Yeah, him? I don't care what you do with, Drift," Bumblebee grunted, spitting out some leaves, "Cheetor! The gem before the dino bird gets it again!" he gagged.

"On it, Bee!" Cheetor shouted as he jolted for the gem, which began to glow before large vines shot up out of the ground, "REOW?!"

"What in Primus?!" Strongarm gasped before grunting, blocking some vines trying to crush her, "Gh!"

"It's a failsafe for the Gem. Only way to stop it is to grab it," Freakshow informed.

"And you're telling us this why?" Drift demanded.

"I am a fragile organic being. Those vines are leaving dents in your alloy," Freakshow replied, "I'd rather live than die being crushed, thank you very much!"

"Drift, do you think he'd survive if you chucked him off that cliff?" Bumblebee asked.

"Hmm…uncertain, but this is why we test things, correct?" Drift smirked.

"Water's soft, he'll be fine, plus…his voice is so annoying…" Bumblebee groaned.

"Hey…"

"What? It's…" Bumblebee began before a vine uppercutted him into the air, "TRUUUUUUE!"

"S-Sir! I…GH!" Strongarm grunted before the vines pushed her into Drift, making him grunt as the two were pushed back, "Ahh"

"Cheetor, get…the gem!"

"Ahh! On i-Reow! H-Hey! I got it!" Cheetor yelped as he tried to navigate through the vines, each one growing bigger and bigger the closer he tried to get to the gem.

"Hmm?" Drew blinked for a moment, seeing some energy signals on the monitor beginning to rise up at an alarming rate, the area beginning to rumble a bit, "What in the world?"

"...?! Look out!" Doc shouted, quickly pushing her out of the way before a large vine bursted through the floor, piercing through their equipment as it tore through the rest of the lab.

"?! What…" Drew began, quickly turning on a nearby communicator as she began to look for something to pierce through the vine, "Zak, what's going on?"

=I don't know! There was a big glow and all of a sudden tree and plant vines began to burst from the ground!= Zak exclaimed =We th-Ahh!=

"Zak?!"

=It's the Gem of Form!= Zak exclaimed with a grunt =Sorry! Trying to help get Max and Fisk out!=

=I'm fine! My armor will hold up! Save the big guy; his face is turning blue!= Max stated.

=RRrreoo…=

"...Gem of Form…I think…" Drew whispered, looking through some tools before pulling out a large drill, "Doc, do you see my books on ancient mystic gemstones?!"

"I...think so!" Doc grunted from the other side.

"Good! I'm going to need those!"

"Gh…on it…" Doc shouted as a tearing sound could be heard, "GAH! I'm free…now t-found one!"

"Toss it here!" Drew shouted, pausing her drill before jumping up to grab a thrown book just as the ground shook once more, "Gem of Form…Gem of Form…got it! Zak, you need to find the gem at once! The gem has a form of self defense, changing the area around it to prevent any thieves from stealing it!"

=So grab it to make it stop. On it…mom…!=

"Gh…stupid vines…!" Sari grunted, hanging upside down as she tried to use her sword to slice at the vine binding her feet up, "How can one little gem cause all this!?"

"It must be targeting the vines of the plants and trees underground," Tsubaki theorized, grunting as she used Excalibur to cut herself free.

=And this is just one gem?!= Steel exclaimed as Max and Zak were trying to get a struggling Fisk free =Oh I hate to see what would happen with the other two…=

"Gh!" Jin grunted, slicing through a vine, "What I wouldn't give for Brother to be here. My Astral Heat could handle this without an issue."

"Yer what?" Rattrap asked, shooting at a vine.

"Think instant absolute zero on either an entire area or a single being," Jin replied.

"...uh no thanks. I CHOOSE LIFE!"

"Well, do you have any better ideas?!"

"FOCUS!" Tsubaki barked, cleaving through one of the thickest vines there before activating her comms, "Bumblebee, status update!"

=Well good news, we caught Freakshow! The bad news…we're dealing with a literal jungle of vines right now! We can't even get to the Gem of Form!=

"Maybe we can't…but someone has a magical sharp object that can," Max spoke up as he turned to Tsubaki.

"Eh?" she blinked, a little confused by his meaning.

"Sorry boss, but desperate times call for silly measures!" He grabbed her by the back of her clothing and lifted her up with one arm.

"Oi! What are you doing!?" Jin gawked.

"Fastball special with your girlfriend," Max replied simply.

"I will kill you…" Jin growled out.

"But you'll be alive to kill me, so you're welcome!" Max declared as he swung and threw Tsubaki out the hole Zon made earlier as she cried out in surprise, "Fly, boss, fly!"

=Oh we are so in for it later…but worth it=

"...what sounds like screaming?" Tigatron pondered, looking up for a moment to see Tsubaki flying overhead…while screaming loudly, "Oh…"

"MAX, YOU ARE SO IN TROUBLE AFTER THIS!"

"YOU'RE WELCOME~!" Max's voice called out from a distance away in a happy tone.

"Hmm…unconventional problem solving, they really are a good team," Tigatron mused before tensing, quickly transforming as he turned and caught Airazor just in time, "Nhg…! Airazor?"

"I'm…okay," Airazor grunted as she got out of his arms, wiping her lip as she looked up to see Lydia floating towards the two, "Just got blindsided by her last attack is all…"

"How does one fight a ghost again?" Tigatron asked, making Airazor pause to think on that, "I do believe one needs specialized weaponry to deal with such a difficult enemy."

"...You wouldn't happen to know any human magic, do you?"

"I do not, no…" Tigatron muttered before he and Airazor jumped out of the way of a spectral gator, prompting the former to pull out his blaster as he tried to shoot at Lydia, only for her to create a ghostly cobra to coil around her as it took the brunt of the blasts, "Hmm…she didn't phase through the blast…fascinating…perhaps Energon and Ectoplasmic energy react to one another in odd ways?" he mused, "In that case we can only rely on keeping her on the defensive."

"Then let's put the pressure on her then," Airazor smirked as she aimed her own blasters at Lydia, who frowned as she dismissed her ghostly cobra before flying out of the way of their laser shots, "Oh no...you're not pulling that on me again."

Lydia prepared to summon another of her tattoos before she flinched, summoning a large ghostly bear claw to deflect the incoming lasers…before Airazor was immediately before her in beast mode with her wings spread out, surprising her a bit before she was suddenly forced back from a strong force of wind from the eagle Maximal.

"What? Thought these would be just for show?" Airazor taunted as she transformed back into robot mode, "You're not the only one with surprises."

Lydia quickly repositioned herself in the air, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the female Maximal. She prepared to summon another tattoo to shut the haughty buzzard up, only to flinch when she summoned another bear paw to deflect some laser fire from Tigatron below. However…it left her open as she was soon pelted by some shots from Airazor.

Tigatron mused as he moved his hand to his blaster. He recalled that, per Optimus's orders, all their weapons would have more than just simple violent functions. Alternate means of use such as flame dousing functions or other things that their resident mad scientist Wheeljack came up with. Now seemed like a time to get creative. He messed with a dial before aiming as his blaster unleashed a blue blast of Energon, which spread out in a wide spray that enveloped Lydia before stopping to reveal all it blasted was now frozen over.

"What function was…?" Tigatron asked in confusion before seeing what he set it to, "'Personal Ability Adaptation.' Wait…that was my special ability? Cryonic energy?"

He flinched as Lydia slammed into the ground causing the ice to shatter, the ghost fine but the severe cold, a heavy impact, on top of equal parts being too stunned to remember her basic ghost abilities and Energon interacting oddly with said powers; resulted in her severe failure there. Lydia groaned, getting up on wobbly legs before flinching when Airazor in her beast mode flew by and struck her in this moment of vulnerability, knocking the ghost woman back and along the ground.

"That was just being petty, wasn't it?" Tigatron asked.

"Maybe, but she had it coming," Airazor stated, transforming to her Cybertronian form once more.

Lydia grunted as she tried to force herself up, but that attack earlier caused too much damage to her body to the point she couldn't move…ugh…When she gets her hands on Freakshow if he gets caught as well…

'Lydia, you better be having just as much trouble as I am…or I shall be very crossed!' Freakshow thought, using the Gem of Power to keep himself from being crushed by Drift's grip as he tried to push some large vines off him.

"Young Maximal, hurry already!" Drift demanded.

"I'm hurrying, but I can't find an opening through the vines, and if I stop running, they'll get me!" Cheetor shouted, "Man what I wouldn't give for the Big Bot to be here… He could chop all this down with one swing!""

"...yeah…if only..Optimus were here…" Bumblebee whispered, caught up in a few vines as those words echoed in his head

"Sir…permission…to speak?" Strongarm spoke up, grunting as she pushed some vines back in an attempt to free herself.

"Hmm? Oh yeah…sure."

"Are you okay?"

"Okay….hah. No…no, I am not," Bumblebee sighed a bit, "My first big mission from Optimus and it fumbles because of a freaky circus guy and a pterodactyl messing with a freaking gem that can change things unless it's picked up, but wait! It's not exactly that easy, because said gem has a failsafe that prevents people from picking it up, and none of us can get near the scraping thing!"

"...I see…" Strongarm whispered, "...Reminds me back during boot camp…back when Sentinel Prime was in charge…"

"?"

"I tried to earn his approval…again and again. I followed the rules to the best of my abilities, and yet…he wouldn't approve of me once," she continued with a sigh, "I did all I could to try and impress him, to earn his approval…to show I can be a perfect soldier."

"Seriously? Why for that guy?" Bumblebee asked in disbelief.

"It was before I learned about Optimus and his deeds on Earth," Strongarm explained, "I often asked Sentinel about it, but…it just made him mad and I got penalized for it…then I learned of your exploits within the academy, Bumblebee. How you and the others started as a Space Bridge crew…and are now considered legends on Cybertron for defeating Megatron not just once, but several times when it was believed next to impossible without several dozen offlining."

"...wait. Are you saying…I inspired you?" Bumblebee blinked.

"Yes! Once I arrived on Earth, I hopped at the chance to join the many Cybertronians looking to join the Autobots and Maximals, and when I was offered to join a team led by you…it was such a great honor...to work alongside one of the heroes I've heard of," she replied, "So do not doubt yourself, Bumblebee sir. You are capable of doing great things…you just have to believe in yourself."

"Ugh…how tacky," Freakshow muttered.

"No one was asking for your opinion," Drift frowned as he pushed down on Freakshow with his thumb so his body was pushed down into his hand to silence him.

"Thanks," Bumblebee spoke up, "I'm not exactly a great leader of Bots yet, but…I'll get there." he took a moment, "Maybe a leader should rely on his team, what do you guys think we should do to help stop…all of this?"

"I could probably help cutting things down," Drift offered, as he tossed Freakshow up before passing him to Strongarm who fumbled to catch him, "Mind holding the prisoner, rookie?"

"Of course!" She saluted with her free hand.

"Cheetor?"

"Almost…free….yes!" Cheetor beamed as he managed to free himself, the cheetah Maximal landing on the ground before Zon landed on top of him, "Ah! Tiny green Swoop!"

"Raak!"

"You're not gonna eat me, are you?" Cheetor asked, "I'm all skinny and made of metal and Energon."

"Raak!"

"Okay phew…now l-what's that screaming sound?"

"aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Tsubaki's voice screamed before a red blur crashed into a set of bushes.

"Oh wow! I didn't know she could fly," Cheetor muttered as this made Zon stop due to equal confusion as to what just happened.

"...GAH!" Tsubaki gasped as she poked out of the bushes, her hair completely a mess with leaves and sticks sticking out of it, "Oh, Max…You are so going to get it!" she sliced through a vine that tried grabbing her, "Status update!"

"I have a tiny Swoop on me," Cheetor replied, "...They won't eat me, will they?"

"NO!"

"Ahh! S-sorry I asked, ma'am!"

"Accepted! Bumblebee?!"

"Gem in the center, preventing people from getting it, Strongarm's got Freakshow, idea forming," Bumblebee listed quickly.

"Idea?"

"Yeah. We cut an opening large enough for Zon to fly through with someone riding on top of her to make sure she doesn't try to fly off, then they grab the gem, stopping the craziness that's happening…and we caught the bad guy, so overall a win for us!"

"He's very thin, I need to keep a strong grip on him," Strongarm added as Freakshow gasped for air.

"Humans can go a while without oxygen, right?" Drift asked.

"No one cares about this one at the moment," Tsubaki sighed, "So cut an opening for us to use Zon to swoop in and get the gem?"

"I don't exactly have any better ideas, and I'm a zap-zap guy, not a cutting guy. That's why we got Drift, and you, too. You got that cool sword," Bumblebee smiled, "I may not have this leader thing figured out, but, hey I can just rely on my team for all the stuff I can't, right?"

"..." Tsubaki smirked as she nodded, "And that's something many a good leader knows." She turned towards the wall of vines as she prepared her sword, "Fine then…Drift, I'll need your assistance then!"

"Cheetor, once you get a chance, jump in," Bumblebee ordered.

"But what about the tiny Swoop?" he asked.

"Well she's gonna go after it, too," Bumblebee admitted bluntly, "But use that. Jump on her back as soon as she does so you can snag the gem first. We'll…deal with her temper tantrum after we get the gem."

"Oh~ Got it, Bee! Just leave it to me and mini-Swoop!"

Zon didn't know what was going on right now…but she wanted her gem back..and hopefully go back to her nest for more fish.

"Alright, here goes something…Go!" Bumblebee ordered.

Tsubaki and Drift rushed towards the wall of vines, some shooting towards them before they were quickly sliced down by the two swordsmen. Vine after vine was cut down to the point they were able to cut a path through them. Zon perked up a bit when she saw the two slice apart a large vine, causing a bright glow to come from within.

"Raak!" Zon squealed as she took off, shooting right into the hole as she flew towards the glowing Gem of Form.

"No you don't!" Cheetor shouted as he bolted after her, changing into Beast mode as his eyes became slit.

Zon ignored him as she drew closer to the center of the vines, swooping towards the gem as she began to open her beak. But she was surprised when Cheetor jumped and used her as a platform to vault ahead and grab the gem in his mouth. Zon looked up and paused seeing his now slit eyes as he looked back at her before bolting off towards Bumblebee.

"Whoa…what was that?" Cheetor asked as his eyes returned to normal, 'What even came over me there…'

"Whoa…who knew the kid had it in him?" Bumblebee blinked.

"You'd be surprised at what those who give it their all are capable of," Tsubaki noted, "Excellent job, Cheetor!"

"Yeah I did it…now what?" he asked, "What do I do with the dangerous rock?" he opened his jaw to show it in his mouth safe and sound before closing it.

"Mayhapes we can keep it in a special container?" Strongarm suggested.

"Good idea…if we decided to bring one…" Bumblebee muttered, "But for now, seems like being in a cybertronian's body works, for now," he chuckled sheepishly, "Cheetor…uh…book it! Get that gem as far away from here as you can and we'll set up a groundbridge for you to jump into!"

"Mmm!" Cheetor gave a quick salute before bolting out of there, Zon blinking as she was still trying to register what just happened.

"In the meantime…" Drift began as he sheathed his swords, eying at the former circus owner in Strongarm's hand, "Let's see what we can do about this…'charming' fellow and his partner…"

"Oh! That reminds me…" Bumblebee began as he turned his communicator on, "Airazor, Tigatron, are things okay on your end?"

=Yes. We managed to detain Freakshow's female companion= Tigatron replied

"Wait, we caught a ghost…with no ghost hunting stuff…How?"

=Seems Energon and ghost energy don't mix well together= Airazor added.

"Huh…go figure," Bumblebee muttered.

"Alright we got the gem, and the enemies." Drift sighed, "This might be easier then we figured,"

"Yeah uh…wait…Strongarm…where's the weirdo human we caught?" Bumblebee asked, looking at her hand.

"What do you mean? I…" Strongarm began as she opened her hand..and saw only Freakshow's coat in it, "!?"

"Wh?! How did he…" Bumblebee began before it dawned on him and a few of the others, "..."

"...the Gem of Power…" Tsubaki, Drift, and Bumblebee groaned in unison.

"I…I didn't even feel him slip out or move my hand," Strongarm whispered in disbelief..before bowing to Bumblebee, "I am so sorry I failed the task given to me, sir!"

Zon blinked as she looked around, stopping at a set of bushes that ruffled for a moment. Was it that skinny human they were dealing with before?...eh. She just wanted to go back to sleep in her nest…and demands fish for losing her shiny rock.

"Ahh~ No fair…" Ibuki whined, crying small waterfall tears as she was laying on her side on the sidewalk, "Ibuki can't believe that happened…"

"Oh lord, what's going on with her now…" Kazuichi muttered as he and Fuyuhiko walked by.

"Just ignore her…probably more of her usual nonsense."

"Ibuki tripped and dropped her guitar pick into the sewer drain~!" Ibuki whined loudly.

"Wh-seriously?!" Kazuichi gawked.

"...ugh," Fuyuhiko groaned as he pulled his phone out and began texting, "'Where are you and the girls at, Kuon? Ibuki's being her weird ass self again over a guitar pick…'"

"IT WAS NOT JUST A GUITAR PICK!" Ibuki snapped, already up in his face, "IT WAS A SPECIAL GUITAR PICK SIGNED BY LED ZEPPELIN AND IBUKI HAD TO SAVE A LOT OF MONEY JUST TO GET IT~!"

"The f-get off me!" Fuyuhiko snapped as he tried to push her off, "You're getting your tears on my fucking suit!"

"UWAAGH! Ib-why is Ibuki moving…" Ibuki whispered as she was suddenly lifted up.

"Ibuki, what's wrong now…?" Jenny sighed as she held her up, dressed in her human disguise while wearing her school uniform as Hina and Akane stood nearby with Kuon leaning against a wall.

"She's sobbing because she lost her stupid guitar pick in the sewer…" Fuyuhiko muttered as he tried to fix his suit up.

"Signed by Led Zeppelin!" Ibuki declared before Jenny dropped her on her feet…before she slumped to the side once more, "Mmmm~"

"Well…let's get someone with the ability to extend their limbs to reach around and find it?" Kuon offered, "Worst case is we ask Gundham to use his critters to dive around for it later?"

"Ahh~" Ibuki gasped.

"Eew…you don't mean me, right?" Jenny asked in disgust before yelping when Ibuki was before her, "Oh please not the baby-doll eyes! I can't resist…"

"Onegai, Jen-chan~~~!" Ibuki begged as she slowly slid off her, "Ibuki wants to use it on her Ember Mclain signed guitar…"

"...ugh. You owe me for this, Ibuki," Jenny sighed as she began to walk towards a storm drain, "Akane?"

"Got it," Akane spoke as she gripped the bars…before literally pulling the entire thing out.

"Ahh! Not like that, Akane-chan!" Hina yelped.

"What? She wanted me to pull it out, so I pulled it out," Akane replied bluntly.

"Not in that way, ya Tora-Onna!" Kazuichi snapped.

"Ahh, this is gonna be so gross…" Jenny whined as she dropped her human disguise, rolling her sleeve back as she knelt down and reached in.

While the group was unaware, Ibuki blinked a bit, pausing in her crying as she saw something sparkling underneath a nearby bush. She then crawled over, reaching in and pulled out what looked like a small square ruby.

"Oohh….it's like a ruby guitar pick~" Ibuki whispered in awe.

"I think it's a gem cut like a triangle actually…" Kuon muttered, looking over her shoulder, "Uh…well it's not your pick, but…I guess you can keep it." he shrugged, "What are we gonna do with a gem that big?" He then looked at his hand as his demon ring was nudging to get his attention, "Hang on. I gotta check on something," he walked off and held his phone to his ear to let Zaruba talk to him one a good distance out of their earshot.

"Ooh?" Ibuki held the gem up to the light, "It's no Led Zeppelin pick, but it sure is pretty~" she smiled to herself, "I can probably get an interesting noise out of a gem pick, but will it be a good noise?" she mused twirling it between her fingers, "Ah right my pick!" she remembered.

"Ahh this is so gross~!" Jenny complained as she was still looking, "I still can't feel the pick d-AHH! Something bit me down there!"

"...oh that's where that snapping turtle Gundham was taking care of went," Hina realized.

"SNAPPING TURTLE?!" Kazuichi gawked.

"What's…" Jenny paused, pulling her hand back as a snapping turtle was currently chomping on part of her wrist, "Seriously!?" she shook it off as it flew through the air and landed on Kazuichi's head, "Oops…sorry~"

"AHHH~!" Kazuichi panicked as he ran around screaming, trying to keep the snapping turtle from biting him as he tried to hold it up as best he could, "Nonononononono! Nice turtle! Don't snap my face off!"

"Don't worry buddy, I gotcha!" Akane shouted, tossing the grate away as she pounced straight at Kazuichi, knocking him right over as the snapping turtle flipped in the air a few times…before it snapped right onto Akane's tail, "REOW?!"

"So…uh…this is happening…" Hina muttered as Jenny pulled her hand out with a koi fish this time, "I know you complained it's gross…but that water seems pretty clean to have all these critters in it."

"...huh…you're right…" Jenny whispered, looking at her arm and hand to see it only wet...not a single stain on it or anything, "That's weird…sewers are normally gross…"

"Maybe they cleaned it out recently?" Hina suggested as Kazuichi and-begrudgingly- Fuyuhiko were trying to pull the snapping turtle off Akane's tail.

"I think I heard that some folks actually keep real good care of this stuff," Ibuki muttered.

"How do the three of you live here and don't know anything about how much locals pride themselves on keeping stuff clean?" Kuon sighed as he walked back, "Hah…you need to get out more." He then stomped the ground, making it tremble a bit before a koi fish lept out and spat the guitar pick out onto the ground.

"Ahh!" Ibuki gasped as she immediately picked it up, "Ahh Zepplii…Ibuki won't let you fall again~"

"Don't be weird girl," Kuon deadpanned before grabbing the snapping turtle by the neck, making it gag as it let go of Akane's tail, making her gasp as the tail flicked…and ended up sending Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko into a nearby dumpster, "...Oops."

"WHY ME?!" Fuyuhiko snapped from inside.

"Ah…that hurt~" Akane whined, looking at her bitten tail before glaring at the turtle, "Let me tell you something, ya stupid turtle! I'm gonna dine on soup tonight, and guess who's the specialty!?" she snapped as she prepared to bring her claws out, only to pause as she blinked for a moment, "...wait. Is turtle good?"

"Don't bring out the claws and I'll tell Teru to whip ya up some gator bites," Kuon stated, "...surprisingly taste like chicken."

"...deal," Akane shrugged as she loosened a bit, "Now let's hurry up…Yukizome-sensei says she has something special for us to do for the dance."

"Hopefully it shouldn't be too bad," Jenny replied as she rolled her sleeve back down, tapping her charm as she changed back into her human disguise, "And if Kokichi and/or Hiyoko tries anything…"

"We let Kuon handle them?"

"Kuon and Akane," Jenny replied.

"Oi…we're not doing everything together you know…" Kuon grumbled as he patted the turtle on the head.

"Why is it so calm with him?" Akane groaned, glaring at the snapping turtle which tried to bite at her again had she not moved back a step.

"Maybe it senses it's in the arms of a more dangerous creature," Jenny chuckled.

"...hey…" Akane frowned at that as the group began to walk off, both Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko stumbling out of the dumpster as they tried to catch up.

"Ibuki, you coming?!" Hina called out as Ibuki was nuzzling her guitar pick to her face.

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah!" Ibuki beamed as she stood up, putting her guitar pick away before pausing, looking at the ruby in her other hand…almost as if it had a mesmerizing tone to it, "...well…no one is looking for it…I'm sure no one will miss it…"

"...mmm…not good…" Zaruba whispered from hsi place on Kuon's hands, seeing Ibuki almost..entranced by the gem's glow as she slowly followed behind them, "It's already tempting her…"

"Snappy, fetch," Kuon ordered as the turtle waddled over towards Ibuki, and proceeded to do what its namesake is known for…and snap at her legs.

"You named it! And it listens to you like a pokemon!?" the others gawked.

"Animals respect the strongest in the food chain." Kuon replied as Ibuki cried out in pain.

SZ:...welp, time to whip out the instruments gents! Next time is gonna be a real ballroom blitz.

Z0: *puts down a one piece volume before smacking it with my hand and pulling something glowing out* Don't worry, it's just a concept, mwahahahaha~!

GT: Oof…Well they're gonna be in for a headache.

Z0: Don't spoil things, get him Snappy, *giant mutated kaiju snapping turtle breaks wall* I fed him Gamera DNA~

SZ: AHH! WHY~?!