Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise

by The Omni-Remnant

After a rather intense adventure and the U.A. Sports Festival approaching fast, Izuku and his friends have two important things to do; improve their Quirks in time for the festival… and hide a bunch of giant alien robots. That proves to be easier said than done, especially when enemies on Earth and from beyond the stars end up coming for them…

91. Terrorizing the Road

A/N: Morning, everybody! Well, this is it! The final arc of Trasnformers MHA: Earthrise is here, and we're starting off with a bang! …Or rather, MULTIPLE bangs because with this arc comes the arrival of several more characters. Of course, we all knew this was coming for a while, so get ready to see a lot of new faces in the coming weeks starting now. Before we delve into the chapter proper, though, a little bit of casting to do, because we'll be seeing the return of a character that was introduced in a prior chapter here. So on that note…

Roadbuster – voiced by John Goodman

…You'll understand why in a second. So with that, let's get started, shall we? This is…

Chapter 91: Terrorizing the Road

…..

Within the solitary confines of the League of Villains' base, Kurogiri stood vigil over his two guests from behind his bar counter, waiting patiently for Tomura Shigaraki's return. …At least, HE was. The other two were having trouble sitting still, though at least one of them was taking it easier than the other. It had been like this for well over two hours, and while he managed to convince them to stay, he wasn't certain how much longer they'd be able to tolerate this.

In one of the booths, their first guest sat with his arms crossed over his chest, keeping his head low and his piercing blue eyes locked on his drink. He wore dark blue clothes over a white undershirt, his black, spikey hair adding to his overall dark demeanor. Though what was most off-putting about him was his appearance. He had multiple burn marks across his skin, namely his jawline, under his eyes, and across his neck. He even had silver piercings that made it look like the lower half of his face was stapled on, and his arms were wrapped in white bandages that indicated that he had even more burns than that.

His other guest, meanwhile, appeared to be much more normal; a young lady with blonde hair tied into two messy buns, wearing a school girls' uniform with a wool sweater that was just a bit too big for her. Her yellow eyes, however, had a crazed look to them, the heavy bags underneath only adding to that. And when she opened her mouth, she revealed that her canine teeth were MUCH sharper than that of a normal person. "Gaaaaah, what's taking that guy so long?!" she groaned. "I wanna start following in the steps of my hero, Mr. Stain!"

Kurogiri kept composed as he addressed her. "Miss Himiko Togata, I can assure you that Tomura Shigaraki will return as soon as—"

"I'm done waitin'." The man asserted, starting to stand up from his booth. "I ain't waitin' for some crybaby to get over himself. If he won't come back, then I'll get what I want done MY way." He proceeded toward the door, waving the two others off. "It's been real… I guess."

"Dabi, hold on!" Himiko smiled eagerly, hopping up from her seat. "Maybe we could do this as a twosome! Those dummy heroes would never expect it!"

Before Dabi could even say a word, however, the door to the bar swung open and SLAMMED against the wall, revealing Shigaraki. The duo were taken aback by the… rather excited smile that he was wearing. It was almost enough to make their skin crawl. "Tomura Shigaraki." Kurogiri greeted. "What is the meaning of—"

"Good news!" Shigaraki pointed at the two recruits in front of him. "You're both hired!"

Himiko's eyes lit up instantly and she pumped her fists into the air. "AH! YES! This is the best day EVER!" She promptly kicked her leg back and fell onto her back, giggling like the crazed woman that she was.

Dabi, however, was perplexed as Tomura walked right past him. "Psh, what? You go for a walk and comeback with a changed mind?"

Even Kurogiri had to admit… this was quite abrupt for the young villain. "I must concur, Tomura Shigaraki. What exactly happened while you were away?"

Tomura chortled darkly as he sat that the bar, lacing his hands together with an eager grin. "Hmhmhm, Kurogiri, I met the most fascinating man today. A man who helped me realize something I hadn't before; what my problem was. The thing that I couldn't figure out no matter how much I tried; why the Hero Killer bothered me so much." He folded his hands out and raised them up high. "The answer was so clear that it might as well have been staring me in the face! It's All Might! HE'S the common link! Me, the Hero Killer, even that stupid green-haired idiot in Class 1-A. It's all connected!"

"…Has he lost it?" Dabi wondered out loud.

Himiko sat up on the floor, her smile undaunting. "Heehee, sounds to me like Shiggy's got the right idea! If All Might's the problem, then maybe I should drink HIS blood next! Hehehehe…"

"Oh, we're gonna be doing a LOT more than that, girly." Shigaraki vowed. "And I owe it all… to someone with THE dumbest name imaginable."

"Do tell…" Kurogiri said curiously. "Who did you meet today?"

"Someone from an overseas villain faction whose leader is interested in working with us." Tomura revealed, his smile increasing with anticipation. "And I've got a feeling that we're gonna be knowing more about 'em VERY soon…"

…..

~Autobot Outpost Omega-1, The Next Day~

Izuku had to admit, for as elated as he was to be attending U.A., it felt incredibly gratifying to finally cap off the semester. Once the closing ceremonies were over—complete with a… very drawn-out speech from Tenya—the gang wasted no time in charging straight for the parking lot where their Autobot companions waited for them. And they had every right to rush, because this was a very important day in more ways than one. Sure, it was the last day of school before summer vacation, but it was ALSO the day that the Autobots would attempt to accomplish their main mission on Earth; locate the Ark.

Recovering Seaspray's pod was the first step in that endeavor, and the next would be to salvage whatever they could in order to make something that could help them find the lost ship. Thankfully, many of the main control components were still intact, and while water damage was extensive, Mei and Red Alert were determined to get it working. And by the end of the weekend, they were at least eighty-five percent sure that they were on the path to accomplishing their goal.

"What about the other fifteen percent, though?" Kyoka had asked.

"Eh… I try not to think about that percentage." Mei said, swiping her hand across her neck.

That didn't inspire much confidence, but the margin for error was small enough that they were still hopeful that this new device would work. The only left to do was to proceed with what Mei had called; "Operation: Ping". An odd name to be sure, but one that Izuku and Kyoka understood after watching them build the device on Sunday after their shopping trip. For the others, though, this would be the first time seeing it, and they were excited.

"Ooh, I can't believe it's finally happening!" Mina cheered. "We're finally gonna find the Ark!"

Bulkhead, however, tried to temper her expectations. "Woah-ho-ho, let's not jump the gun here, Mina. After all, there's still a chance this might not work."

Springer echoed the sentiments of his best friend, being just a bit more pessimistic. "Yeah… while I'm hopin' the plan'll work, I'm not gonna hold my breath if it doesn't."

"…Wow, being a sour stick in the mud today, aren't we?" Mina placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side. "And what's up with you, Springs?"

"Hey, I'm just tryin' to be realistic." The Triple Changer rationalized, holding his hands up defensively. "Bein' a Wrecker, I've learned it's best not to not get yer hopes up…" He craned his head over toward the device as everyone began gathering around it in intrigue. It was a tall antenna that was placed atop the base, with Red Alert and Signal Flare making sure it was secured to the roof. "…I've seen makeshift antennas like this that were made by my ol' platoon buddies when we were stranded once. Didn't work fer scrap. There were five of us on that mission… only two came back."

Hearing that left Mina astonished. "Oh… who was the other bot?"

Just then, a certain gurgling voice piped up. "Yer lookin' at 'im." His mighty footsteps shaking the ground, Seaspray approached his fellow Wreckers, kneeling down with Tsu perched on his shoulder. "That mission on Khyber 5 was no joke. We lost plenty of good friends, that's for sure. Dogfight, Backstreet, Hubcap… hah, miss those guys." He raised his fist, clenched with determination. "But I have faith that THIS one will work. After all, we have something that we didn't have on that other mission."

"And what would that be?" Springer questioned.

"Hah, bots who know what the frag they're doin'." the oceanic specialist answered cheekily, nudging his chin up toward the two engineers. "Not ONE of us knew how to put a distress beacon together, ya know."

Tsu placed a finger to her chin. "A fair point, but why're they assembling it on top of the base?"

*CHOOM* "Because it's the highest point of elevation we got around here!" The sound of loud jet engines alerted the group to Jetfire's arrival, the air commander transforming in midair before making his landed. "Ah, any lower and all this foliage could block the signal."

Mina nodded her head at that. "Hm, yeah, makes sense…" She set her sights out across the beach, where all of the Autobots and their human allies were gathered. "Still, it's pretty insane how far we've come, ya know? Look at how many of us there are compared to when we started!"

"Yep, seventeen Autobots and sixteen human children." Springer chuckled. "Heh, and pretty sure the Cons are afraid of most of YOU. Who'd have thought, huh?"

Raising her head, Mina puffed out her chest with a proud smile. "Mmhm! We're on our way to be heroes AND Con Crushers!"

Bulkhead, however, took the subject a bit more seriously. "Uh, Springs, I wouldn't be too confident about that if I were you." He set his optics down to his human companion. "Same with you, Mina. Sure, some of the Cons who're currently HERE might be afraid of you kids… but if more come along? Ones who're an even bigger threat?"

"Exactly." Jetfire concurred. "Then that's a MAJOR problem. Especially if they're more competent than Starscream's group of rag-tags."

That managed to shake Mina's confidence a bit. "…Yeah, you've got a point, there. B-But that's the whole reason we're making that thing, right?" She pointed up toward the antenna. "To find the other Autobots so that'll be less of a problem!"

Just then, another voice interjected into the conversation. "Yes, but while it may be less, it's still a problem." The group shifted their attention toward Red Alert as he and Signal Flare approached, with Mei and Longarm at their heels. "Make no mistake, the increase in Autobot numbers would be a boon for us, certainly. However, you underestimate the full scope of the Decepticon empire. Megatron has an army in the millions while we Autobots are only several thousand strong."

"You can thank his Vehicon forces for that overwhelming advantage." Signal Flare added.

"But aren't they just nameless grunts?" Mina asked, punching the air as she did so. "I've seen you guys knock 'em guys around like tinkertoys."

Longarm made his way forward to give his two cents. "Maybe, but you've never seen a true ARMADA of them can do. And then there are even BIGGER types of Vehicons that're harder to take down. Leapers are one of them, but then there's Destroyer and Giant types."

"…D-Destroyer?" Mina stammered.

"Urp… Giant?" Tsuyu gulped nervously.

"Yes… and pray that those types of Vehicons never see their way to Earth." Red Alert grimaced. "There are many reasons as to how Megatron took over Cybertron, after all. And two of them are numbers and sheer firepower."

The two human girls were left with a rather harrowing feeling after that. "Wow… it sounds overwhelming, ribbit." Tsu croaked nervously.

Signal Flare lowered his head. "It is. And if you think that's bad, just be thankful that you haven't come face-to-mandible with Insecticons yet."

And just like that, Mina's shade of pink became much paler. "…I-I-I…Insecticons?"

"Yeah… lost plenty of other friends to those fragging pests, too." Springer muttered. "They ain't as thorough as Scraplets are… but they'll still eat ya alive if ya aren't careful." He trailed off when he saw Mina shaking like a leave, and he immediately tried to lighten the mood by changing the topic. "B-But mark my words, we won't let that happen to ya, kid! Honest. Hey uh… doc don't ya think it's time we fired up your beacon?"

"Hey, yeah!" Mei piped up, bouncing her way next to the girls to get Red's attention. "Let's get this party started!"

"Hmph, I suppose it is time." Red Alert agreed, motioning out toward the trail leading toward base. "After all, they're here."

They all turned around to see Optimus Prime come rolling down the dirt road, pulling to a stop to let All Might out of the driver's seat before he transformed. The Number One Hero immediately made their presence known to everyone else. "AHAHAHA! We are here! To witness quite the momentous occasion!" His boisterous laugh caught the attention of everyone else on the beach, leading them to gather closer to the base. In total, there were seventeen Autobots, an equal number of humans, eight Mini-Cons and even the seven Omnicons were all present as well.

…And Steve was there as well. "Psh, about freakin' time." the disgruntled Vehicon grumbled, having kept to himself while waiting.

One of his Omnicon brethren came over and gave him a hearty smack on the shoulder, which he didn't enjoy. "Ah, c'mon, Steve!" Kyle said, trying to pep the loner up. "This is s'posed to be a good day!"

"Exactly!" Kevin joined in as the other Omnicons bunched up around him. "We could be on the cusp of finding the Ark! Our old oppressors are gonna finally get what's coming to 'em."

"Hmph, maybe." Steve said, unable to let go of his cynical view.

Once everyone was gathered, Jazz and Jetfire stood on either side of Optimus Prime, making a headcount before giving their leader the okay. "Everybody's here." Jazz gave a thumb's up. "We're good to go, Prime."

"Excellent." Optimus nodded, taking a deep intake of air. "Then this is it. …Autobots!" he began his speech, raising his arms out toward the antsy crowd. "It is a great honor that all of you could join us for such an important day. After the trials and tribulations that all of us have gone through…" He scanned his optics across his entire team. "From growing closer as comrades…" Then to Jetfire, Grimlock, Springer, Flare Up and Seaspray. "…To reuniting with friends long thought lost…" The Prime nodded toward Airazor, Signal Flare and All Might. "To forging bonds with new allies…" Finally, he shifted his gaze down toward their 1-A and 1-B allies, who all smiled back. "And watching our young friends grow as future heroes, the past several months on this planet have all lead to this."

He moved around and pointed up toward the antenna. "With the components that we've salvaged from Seaspray's stasis pod, we have successfully constructed this antenna, which will send out a signal specific to the Ark, it's escape craft, and its other pods. With any luck, the beacon will be able to detect where they lie on this planet, and perhaps even activate the remaining pods in the process." Optimus nodded out toward the others in gratitude. "And I cannot thank each and every one of you enough for your assistance getting here. You ALL had a part to play in getting here. This… is YOUR victory."

The entire crowd erupted into an uproarious cheer, though some where more reserved than others. Shoto simply smiled in approval while Steve folded his arms and shrugged. However, the overall vibe was one immense excitement. "I can hardly wait any longer!" Eijiro shouted.

"Yeah, c'mon!" Denki supported as well. "Let's light this baby up!"

"No need to rush them, boys." Momo asserted. "After all, I'm sure that there must be a procedure to this."

"Actually, not really." Mei clarified, reaching behind her to reveal a remote control that only had a single, big button at its center. "It's literally just this. Once this baby gets pressed, we send out the signal."

The teens all stared at the remote with astonished stares, as if unable to comprehend it. "Wait… that's seriously it?" Tetsutetsu scratched his head. "Not to sound insulting or nothin', but I was expectin' somethin' a bit more… impressive, I guess?"

Ibara was in agreement with her Metal Quirked friend. "Indeed. I was also anticipating something grandiose. Some switch flipping or… lever pulling at least? Like what you'd see in the movies."

"…Listen, we're kinda workin' on a timeframe here." Mei said with a blunt deadpan. "As much as I'd love to make this a whole production, I gotta be out to I-Island in a week for my presentation. I ain't about to rig all that up."

If anything, the teens were more taken aback by that news than the remote. "WHAAAAAT?!" Tenya and the others shouted before the blue-haired boy went on. "H-Hatsume, when did THIS happen?!"

"Yeah, you didn't tell us ANYTHING about you going out to I-Island!" Kyoka exclaimed.

However, some of the bots were left confused. "Um… what is "I-Island"?" Airazor inquired.

"Never heard of it." Grimlock shrugged.

Thankfully, Kaida had them covered. "It's only THE most technologically advanced island on the face of planet Earth! Entirely manmade, featuring some of the most cutting-edge stuff you can imagine… by Earth standards, of course." She glanced over to Mei, who was fidgeting in place at this point. "It's ALSO where some of the best Support gear is made, and I've got a feeling that YOU are psyched to go, right Mei?"

Mei's eyes shined brighter than ever as she expressed just how psyched she was. "You know it, Kady-wady! And you know what's even MORE mindblowing?" She raised a finger and gave the group a wink. "Hehe! Tracker came through for me! This presentation is to none other than the leading mind in Support Tech himself; Professor Issac Sumdac!"

A collective; "Oooooh…" rang through the crowd… while a certain greenette began to fanboy out. "No way! Professor Sumdac is a genius in the field of Support Tech! I heard he's personally taught other famous support technicians like David Sheild, too!" He didn't see it, but the mention of that name made All Might jump a little, the hero's smile widening ever so slightly. "And you're going to present your babies to him? Hatsume, best of luck!"

The rest of the group offered their own show of confidence in the pink-haired inventor as well, making her blush. "Aw, guys! …Thanks. I mean it." She looked out to all of her friends with a sheepish smile. "Before all of this, I used to just… keep to myself and my babies. Never really thought much about mingling with others. But now, I kinda get it. Having friends is actually really nice."

"Aw, Mei!" Ochako cooed. "Now you're making ME blush."

Itsuka eyed her neighbor with a slight smirk. "Honestly, that's not hard. You're pretty much ALWAYS blushing, 'Chako."

The brunette sent the redhead a narrow-eyed glance, pursing her lips irritably. "Hey, just 'cause my cheeks are pinker than most doesn't mean it's a constant blush."

"Well, in any case, why don't we fire that thing up, eh?" Setsuna suggested, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

"Right!" Mei lifted the remote up toward the antenna, calling out; "BOTS! Are you ready?!" After receiving a unanimous; "YES!" from the Autobots, she took that as her go-ahead. "Then let's find… that… SHIP!"

*click*

…Nothing. Mei's eyes shot up to the antenna in complete bafflement after seeing nothing happen. She tried pressing the button again multiple times but still nothing happened. "Uh, Red? Did some wires get crossed or are we just not plug the thing in?"

"I'm fairly sure that everything's set up properly." Red Alert assured, though he was equally just as confused. "But this doesn't make sense…"

"Uh… is there supposed to be something happening?" Sideswipe asked. "Aren't signals something you usually can't see?"

At this point, Mei was pressing the button as rapidly as she could, her frustration growing by the second. "Yeah, but the antenna's not receiving ANYTHING! It's supposed to be GLOWING from all the energon we're using to power it but—" *BZZZZZT* "GAH!" Recoiling in shock, Mei dropped the remote as it zapped in her hand, blowing to pieces as it hit the ground.

*VVVVVWWOOOO-VWOOOO-VWOOOO-VWOOOOOOOOM*

Everyone's ears perked up as a concerning sound echoed throughout the area, bringing their attention back toward the antenna. Eyes and optics widened as the giant metal construct began to glow bright blue, no doubt building up with a lot of energy all at once. "…It's not supposed to be doing THAT then, I guess." Sunstreaker deduced.

"HIT THE FREAKING DIRT!" Kyoka screamed, diving to the ground while keeping her head covered. Jazz immediately shielded her with his own body, which was followed by several humans, Autobots, Mini-Cons and Omnicons doing the same thing. Then, once the entire area was practically coated in intense blue light…

*KRA-CHOOOOOOOM*

The entire thing blew up, rocketing the antenna upward as a wave of energy blasted out across the entire area. The kids screamed in terror while the Autobots held steadfast, keeping them covered as they felt their bodies get a sudden surge of power from the energon cascade. A few moments later… *CRASH* …They heard the antenna smash back down. The bots made sure to wait for a few seconds more, though, not wanting to risk anything. "Red Alert, I need a reading." Optimus ordered.

Without moving away from Mei, the medic raised one of his arms, a small radar dish shifting out from his forearm. Once about ten seconds, he got the reading and reported; "Energon radiation levels at 0.9%. We're in the clear."

Hearing that, the Autobots stood up, but still kept the humans close at hand. …Or rather, in hand, as they all held them at their sides. The only acception was All Might, whose smile had disappeared after the incident. "What in the world was that?" the Number One Hero questioned. "Did something overload up there?"

"I… I don't know…" Mei uttered dejectedly, staring down upon the burning, twisted remains of their antenna on the beach. "…But now, it's ruined."

"No body get too close to it." Red Alert advised, trying to hide the fact that he was also disappointed it had failed as well. He pointed his radar dish at it, taking its radiation levels. "…49.6% energon irradiated. All humans are advised to stay at least twenty feet away from it."

Tsu looked up to her large guardian robot. "Ribbit, Seaspray, you'd better go put that fire out. I'll be fine."

Seaspray nodded down to her. "Right. Just stay right here…" The large Autobot set her down and went toward the beach, splashing down into the water to cause a massive wave that smothered the fire in an instant.

"I don't understand, though…" Signal Flare shook his head, trying to make sense of it. "I thought we did everything correctly!"

"So did I…" Red Alert sighed, his head hanging low. "…But it's just as I feared. The earthen components we used to fill in the gaps weren't suitable enough for the task. That's the only explanation I can conclude from this… this catastrophic failure."

Mei was on her hands and knees in Red Alert's hand, feeling absolutely disappointed in herself. "This wasn't supposed to happen. It was SUPPOSED to work! It was SUPPOSED to help you guys find the rest of your friends!" Her hands clenched at her hair, her anger, frustration and sadness boiling over in a matter of seconds. "WHY?! Of all the babies that had to blow up in my face, couldn't THIS one have just worked on the first try?! GAAAAAHH!"

"Hatsume…" Izuku muttered, feeling sad for his friend as she cried her soul out. Before long, the Autobots had gathered around Red Alert and set their humans down, hoping to comfort Mei. "…I know how you must be feeling, doing all of that hard work only for it to amount to nothing. I've been there before."

"He's right, Mei." Ochako supported, sitting down next to her friend to offer a shoulder to cry on. "It sucks, but it's not loke you can't try again, right?"

Mei sniffled, trying to regain some of her composure to answer. "Snf… no, but… there was a lot riding on this." She thrust her arm out toward the wreckage of their antenna. "And that was the only way we could hope to get a signal out! NOW what can we use?"

"Well… maybe Sector Seven has the parts you need?" Arcee suggested, looking toward Red Alert and Signal Flare. "I mean, they've gotta have SOMETHING, right?"

"Hah… those components we had WERE from Sector Seven." Red Alert sighed, rubbing his helm to try and make sense of it all. "Unfortunately, it seems what they gave us weren't as up to snuff as they thought they were."

"Then maybe they have something different." Windblade reason. "We can't stop trying now that we're so close, Red—"

"Don't you think I KNOW that?!" The medic snapped, taking the City Speaker aback. "What do you think we've been trying to WORK with since we arrived on this planet, Windblade? Of course, Sector Seven has good tech, but very little of it is compatible with Cybertronian technology." He pointed straight toward the base. "The GroundBridge in there is BARELY able to function, and even then, nothing's been the same since the Scraplets got to it! Don't you all see?! We're starting to run out of OPTIONS!"

Optimus stepped in and placed a hand on the raving bot's shoulder. "Red, that's enough." Red Alert snapped his head around, meeting Prime's gaze. "I understand that you are frustrated. Many of us are. But that is no reason to lash out at your teammates like that." Optimus directed his attention down toward the humans. "…After all, you are not the only one suffering because of this."

His expression softening, Red Alert shifted his sights down to see Mei, her eyes full of tears as she stared back at her partner. "Snf… R-Red, I… I-I'm sorry…"

"No… I'm sorry, Mei." Red sighed and knelt down, bowing his head to her. "I allowed my emotions to overwhelm me, and I apologize. This is not your fault."

The pink haired girl wiped her nose and pulled her legs up to hug them close to her chest. "Snf… I dunno… it really feels like it…"

"It isn't, Hatsume." Tenya assured. "To be honest, I doubt that the outcome would've changed if you had done anything different."

Shoto gave a curt nod at that. "Yeah, and besides, things could've gone a whole lot worse."

*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP*

Just then, an alarm began going off inside the base, catching everyone's attention. "Ach, someone's tryin' to make contact…" Flare Up rolled her optics, raising a finger toward everyone else. "Hold on a minute, luvs, I'll pick it up…" *CHYOOM* In an instant, the Autobot scout had blinked into the base to answer the call… but within moments, a different voice came echoing through, and it so loud that everyone heard it even from outside.

"PRIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!"

Just from that yell alone, it was unmistakable who that was. And Flare Up blinking back outside only affirmed that. "Ah, heh… i-it's Agent Fowler. He wants to see—"

"Hah, I am aware, Flare Up." Prime sighed. "I'll be right there. Don't worry, everyone. This… hopefully will not take long." Optimus began making his way back into the base, with Red Alert, Bulkhead, Jazz and Flare Up following close behind.

The other Autobots and the humans chose to remain outside, though they were all curious as to what was going on. "Zrkt—whaddya think's got—zrkt—his pants in a bunch?" Bumblebee asked.

"No clue." Izuku shrugged… only to see Mina and Sestuna following the bots close behind. "…But it seems like they're gonna find out."

"So… what's stopping US from doing the same thing?" Kyoka asked. There was a moment of ponderous silence among the students before they all came to the same conclusion; follow the two troublemaking girls.

…..

…But the moment they all went inside, they were once again greeted by Fowler's angry yelling. "PRIME! What in BLAZES are your people DOING out here?!" The Sector Seven agent was fuming on the holoscreen, the sky whizzing by behind him. And judging by how fast he was going, he must've been in an aircraft of some sort. "We had an agreement! Complete secrecy and NO collateral damage!"

Optimus, however, was simply confused. "I am sorry, Agent Fowler, but all Autobots are present and accounted for." He moved aside to show Bulkhead and the others behind him, to which he then switched on the external camera, showing the remaining bots outside.

"Then explain why I'm receiving reports of FOUR jungle-sized bots mixing it up twenty miles outside Omaha!" Fowler countered.

"Wait, Nebraska?!" Having accompanied his students, All Might was quick to respond to his old friend. "Bill, are you sure these aren't Decepticons? They ARE based in North America, after all, so they would be closer."

"And it sounds like there's been a lotta infightin' lately." Flare Up pointed out with a cheeky grin. "Starscream can't keep his ranks in line."

Fowler managed to reign in his frustration for the moment, stating; "Well, I'm just arriving on the scene." The camera visual on his end switched, showing a crashed spacecraft next to a lone road going across an arid field with a small gas station not too far away. "Have a look."

What everyone saw managed to take them all aback. It was a practical shoot-out between two sides, with three bots hanging out behind the crashed ship. However, between the hail of bullets being rained down upon them and the smoke from the ship, no one could make them out all that clearly. "I dunno…" Jazz said. "Can't see much a' those cats. What about the guy shootin' at 'em?"

The camera shifted toward the other side of the battleground, where they saw a much more intact spacecraft, one that was sterling silver and had large engines on either side with three wings attached to each near the rear. And, standing on top of it, was a single, large bot who towered over the others… and was built like a walking arsenal.

He was mainly brown and orange with deep green accents, with the brown being relegated to the heavier armored parts of his body such as his shoulders, forearms, knees and lower legs. His chest, back and upper legs were orange while his hands, feet and waist were green, along with the missile racks that he wore on his hips. His helm, meanwhile, was a mixture of all three colors, being mainly brown with orange details on the side antenna and a bright green visor. However, much like Grimlock, the bot had no exposed facial features, instead sporting a respirator-like mask like Seaspray. Though rather than resembling a scuba mask, this bot had vents where his mouth should've been. He was also armed to the teeth, carrying a green assault rifle and having a large cannon mounted on his right shoulder. The humans couldn't tell what he transformed into, but he did have HUGE tires mounted on his back and in his shins.

All at once, the Autobots felt their jaws drop at the sight of the new arrival, with Bulkhead's falling open the most. "By the All Spark…" Red Alert uttered. "It IS one of ours!"

"Bulkhead!" Mina shouted out, seeing how shocked her partner was. "You recognize this guy?"

"HAHAHA! Oh, do I ever!" Bulkhead laughed while pumping a victorious fist. "It's only fraggin' ROADBUSTER! I know that gun-totin' crankcase anywhere!"

Just then, Springer and Seaspray's voices rang in from outside. "Say WHAT?!" The Triple Changer came sprinting in while the larger Autobot's footsteps rattled the entire building before he leaned down to peer through the window. And when they saw their comrade on screen, they were all too eager to express their elation. "Hah! It IS Roadie!" Springer beamed. "It's a big ol' Wrecker reunion on planet Earth!"

"Haha! No kidding!" Seaspray said before turning back toward the other bots outside. "Hey, everyone! Roadbuster's back!"

However, Agent Fowler's face reappeared on the screen, and he was far from being as happy as they were. "I don't care if ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S back! We have to contain this situation before we ALL wind up ON THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK NEWS!"

…..

~Omaha, 10:30 P.M.~

To say that Roadbuster hadn't been expecting something like this was an understatement.

He knew EXACTLY what he was getting into the moment he decided to try tailing that Decepticon warship, and he didn't regret that decision. After all, it would go against the Wrecker symbol he wore on his shoulder if he didn't do something risky like that. To be a Wrecker meant he was willing to put their spark on the line no matter how dangerous the task at hand was, and while he was sure his time would come one day… he sure as hell would make sure to go out on HIS terms. And his terms were…

"Come an' get some, ya lil' BITCH!"

*RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT*

…Heavy Ordinance. EXTREMELY heavy ordinance. He never even let the Cons who were tailing him in that dinky little scout ship even get a blast in edgewise once they crash-landed. A landing that he was ALSO responsible for after outmaneuvering them upon entering the planet's atmosphere. Of course, he was still outnumbered, but so long as he had ammo to spare, he might as well have been a one-bot army.

Though of course, he knew he had to be careful, too, because while he wasn't one-hundred percent certain, there was a structure just a few yards away that looked like a fueling station. One stray bullet and… well, the results would speak for themselves. Eventually, his assault rifle ran out and he was forced to stop and reload. Though that didn't stop the large Wrecker from taunting the Cons;

"C'mon, just how yellow-bellied ARE ya?! I take down yer little bird and now you've got yer tails between yer legs?! Grow some bearings!"

"Grr… YOU SUCK!" came a high, nasally voice from behind the crashed ship.

"Yeah, this ain't fair at all!" a different voice agreed, this one much deeper and croakier.

Roadbuster simply scoffed at that. "Psh, who said anythin' about "fair"?"

*CHOOM*

"Huh?" His attention was suddenly diverted out toward the expansive field away from the road, where a bright blue light suddenly flashed out. If Roadbuster had proper optics, they likely would've widened at the sight of a GroundBridge opening up about twenty feet away, and within moments, five Autobots came sprinting through. All of them were ones he recognized, too. Jazz and Flare Up were welcomed sights, though the ones he was the most excited to see were his fellow Wreckers; Bulkhead and Springer. And of course, leading the pack was the Boss Bot himself, which REALLY got Roadbuster riled up. "…Oh yeah! HELL YEAH! It's TRUE! He's ALIVE!" Reaching down to his side, he opened a panel in his hip, retrieving a small, automatic handgun that he shot into the air in celebration. "OPTIMUS IS HERE!"

His announcement made the three Decepticons do a doubletake. "What?!" the third Con exclaimed, peeking his head out slightly from behind the wreckage. His voice was very raspy, and from the sound of it, he had a slight lisp as well. And when his optics saw Optimus and the Autobots, he deadpanned immediately. "Oh, you've gotta be fragging kidding me." But then, an idea struck him. "Wait! This could be our opportunity! Let's go, boys!"

The Autobots meanwhile, were trying to calm their compatriot down. "Woah, woah, Roadie!" Bulkhead urged, reaching out to his friend. "Reel it in! We're WAY too close to human settlements to do that!"

"Haha! Bulkie!" Roadbuster laughed, seemingly not hearing his friend over the sound of his own gunshots. He hopped down from the top of his ship to greet the bots. "And Springs! Good to see you guys! It's been too long!"

"Glad to see ya, too, Roadie." Springer agreed, only to shift his focus out toward the ship. "But we can't waste time here! We gotta get you and these Cons outta sight before any pryin' eyes show up."

That only served to confuse the Wrecker. "Huh? What're ya talkin' about?" He tilted his head toward Optimus, hoping to get some answers. "Prime, what's goin' on?"

"We will explain later, Roadbuster." the Prime stated. "But for now, we need to—"

*POW-POW-POW*

*CHA-BOOM*

The bots were all taken off guard when three huge laser beams came blasting in from across the way, knocking practically all of them off their feet after intersecting to create a potent explosion. Dust and debris were kicked up, obscuring the bots' vision as a trio of cackles were heard approaching. And what's more, it was clear that they were surrounded, with one voice coming from the front while the others closed in on either side.

"Haha! Thanks for giving us some time to get our scrap together, Prime!" A pair of shining red optics gleamed through the cloud of dust, signaling the arrival… of a giant skunk. His fur was a deep shade of purple and he had a silver stripe going down his back, though as it went further down, it was intercut with pieces of exposed, yellow armor. The same armor could be seen on the skunk's upper forelegs, and his tail was long and had serrated blades doing up to the tip. He smirked and spoke in his raspy voice; "Really appreciate it!"

"Huhuh, yeah!" Another voice croaked in, and through the dust jumped a HUGE red toad with big green eyes. He had orange and blue patterns on its back, along with a purple stripe going down either side of his body. His biceps, thighs and lower jaw were made of black metal as opposed to the rough skin, though. "Gotta love it when Autobots are too stupid to think!"

Finally, the third bot came soaring in, blowing away the dust completely thanks to the VTOL fans in his membrane-like glider wings. He was a giant, light blue flying squirrel with silver armor going down its back, as well as gold accents edging his wings. He also had a bit of that same armor across its forehead, too. His forelegs were a light grey while its hindlegs were completely robotic, and like his skunk companion, his tail was also bladed. "Hehehe, now THIS is gonna be a LOT more fun!"

The Autobots raised their weapons, standing in a circle to cover all sides. "Ah, man… we got more Preds." Jazz bemoaned.

"Oh, you have got to be kiddin' me." Flare Up said with an annoyed grimace. "Not YOU three!"

"Flare, you know these three?" Bulkhead asked.

"Unfortunately…"

The skunk Predacon snarled in the scout's direction for her remark. "Grr… oh, it's you. Of all Autobots, of course we'd have to run into YOU on this planet." He stretched his body out and widened his stance, as if ready to pounce. "Well, you're not getting away from US again! Boys, time to take our revenge! Gas Skunk, TERRORIZE!"

With a loud growl, the Con transformed into his robot mode, with his beast head folding down before it and the back of the skunk folded around onto the robot mode back, revealing the robot's chest. It consisted of the same yellow armor with some visible green and red circuitry underneath. The skunk's forelegs extended to become the robot mode legs while the hind feet folded up so that the robot mode arms could shift out of the thighs. Finally, Gas Skunk's head shifted out from what used to be the skunk's rear end, with the tail attached to the back like a huge ponytail. His head was mostly dark purple and he wore a red mask that pointed upward at either side, his green optics gleaming with anticipation.

"Right behind ya!" the blue flying squirrel agreed. "Dark Scream, TERRORIZE!"

Letting out a shrill screech, Dark Scream's beast mode head folded in so that his robot mode head could shift out, before his entire back—wings and all—flipped around to settle onto his robot mode back. The hind legs shifted down and extended to form the robot mode legs as his chest was revealed; sporting a large, purple crystal in its center. His head, meanwhile, was a deep magenta color, with a helm that had two crests on either side. His yellow optics were full of excitement as he flashed a sharp-toothed smile. "Hehehe…"

"Huhuh, we're gonna make you guys CROAK!" the toad rattled around before bouncing into the air. "Slapper, TERRORIZE!"

With a deep "RIBBIT", the toad's head and back shifted out from the main body, forming the shoulder pads for the robot mode while the rest of the beast shifted around. Its rear legs and hindquarters formed the arms and chest respectively, while the front legs formed the robot mode legs. The toad's lower jaw flipped into the robot mode's back as Slapper's head popped out, his helmet very rounded and somewhat toad-like with a single green orb on one side resembling an eye. However, his actual optics were, oddly enough, blue.

Now that all three were in robot mode, they kept their circular formation around the six Autobots, their stances wide as they snickered nefariously. …However, none of the bots were particularly fazed by their situation. "Heh, so NOW ya get some bearings." Roadbuster said before cocking his rifle. *CHK-CHKT* "But news flash, bolt-brains, yer still outgunned an' outnumbered. So, what's yer next move?"

"…This." In a move that took everyone off guard, Gas Skunk spun around and raised the tail on the back of his head.

And Flare Up wasn't quick enough to stop him. "NO! Don't let him—"

*PPPBBBRRRTTT*

All at once, an immense cloud of green, noxious gas was unleashed from the back of Gas Skunk's head, making all of the bots stagger as it entered their systems. With their vents clogged, they entered a massive coughing fit to try and expel the toxic fumes, though that proved difficult since there was just so much. "HAK-HAK! W-What the scrap?!" Jazz belted out.

"Hak-hak! BY PRIMUS!" Bulkhead nearly fell to his knees, the stench was so bad. "What is this stuff?!"

"D-Don't know—HAK!" Springer gagged, sending a pointed glare toward the Predacon. "This stuff laced with Tox-En or something?!"

"Hmhmhm, not exactly." Gas Skunk chortled proudly as his two cohorts slid up next to him, Slapper and Dark Scream having put on gas masks to shield themselves from the fumes. "Just a little toxic concoction that my body makes naturally. And it'll allow US to do THIS!" The skunk Predacon switched placed with Dark Scream so that he was on the left side, and he twisted his body so that his left shoulder was pointed directly at the Autobots. On said shoulder, a similar crystal to the one on Dark Scream's chest resided, and it lit up before letting loose a powerful heat beam. "LEFT LASER!"

*KRA-BOOM*

Not only did the fiery laser make contact, it also caused the gas around the bots to explode, sending them flying away all at once. The six of them landed in a heap on the desert floor, all while the trio of Predacons cackled. "AHAHAHA! Looks like you guys should CHILL!" Dark Scream announced as his own crystal glowed. "CENTER LASER!"

*CHINK-CHINK-CHINK-CHINK*

This time, just as his wording implied, the flying squirrel Predacon's attack created a massive wave of ice that froze all of the Autobots in place across the ground, much to the evil-doers' delight. "Huhuhu! Nice work, guys!" Slapper clapped his webbed hands before shifting his own position, the toad head on his right shoulder shifting up to reveal his own crystal under the jaw. "Now let's SHOCK their systems! RIGHT LASER!"

*ZZZZZAAAPPPP*

From his shoulder, a surge of purple lightning shot straight for the Autobots… which was when Prime made his move. He brought out his Energon Axe and cut himself right out of the ice, leaping in to intercept the blast. Spinning his axe at rapid speed, he absorbed the elemental attack into it, causing the weapon to surge with electricity before he threw it right back at the Predacons. The trio screamed in unison as it erupted at their feet, shocking all three of them.

"Haha! Nice shot, boss!" Roadbuster commended, breaking out of the ice no problem along with Bulkhead and Springer. While the latter two worked on freeing Flare Up and Jazz, Roadbuster leveled his shoulder cannon and shot a massive missile at the three Cons, throwing them into a panic.

"Oh man, oh man, this is getting bad!" Dark Scream hollered.

Slapper was bouncing from foot to foot in a rather comical fashion, his hands flying to his head. "W-What're we gonna do, Gas Skunk?!"

The only one to keep his composure, the skunk Predacon's glare deepened as he balled a fist. "What we always do! Give 'em all ya got, boys!" He threw his shoulder out and unleashed his heat beam again. "Left Laser!"

"Center Laser!" Dark Scream followed through with his freeze beam.

"R-Right Laser!" Slapper joined in as well, his lightning beam uniting with the heat and cold to keep the conflicting energies stable. And then…

*BOOOOOOM*

Their attacks collided with Roadbuster's missile, causing a huge explosion that sent smoke and fire billowing up into the sky. High above, Agent Fowler had been observing the fight from a safe distance in his helicopter, but now he had to take evasive maneuvers to make sure he didn't get caught in the blast. "Gah! By Teddy Roosevelt's mustache, if THIS is what exposes these bots to the world, I won't feel a HINT of sympathy for 'em!" the agent bellowed out in anger.

Back down below, Flare Up and Jazz had been freed, and the former had just about reached her limit. "Gah! It ALWAYS ends up this way!" she complained before zipping through the smoke, causing a large hole to get blown through it.

On the other side, the Predacons were taken aback when they saw the familiar flash of blue come streaking toward them, knowing what was about to happen next. "Oh cru—" *CLANG* "AUGH!" Gas Skunk was promptly kicked in the face, sending him sprawling to the desert ground. Flare Up followed that by immediately shooting down Dark Scream and Slapper at near point-blank range, the two toppling over from shock.

"Hah… I have had it up to HERE with you three!" Flare Up sneered, narrowing her optics at them. "This makes what, the FIFTIETH time we've ran into each other?!"

"Hehe… I think you're exaggerating there." Gas Skunk chuckled, only to find her foot place firmly on his midsection, causing him to spit up energon as she pointed her pistols at his face. "H-Hey! Easy on the fur!"

But Flare Up didn't seem to have any sympathy to give. "Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't put the three of you outta commission RIGHT now!"

The other Autobots were left stunned by such a threat, especially coming from her. "Woah! Flare, pump the breaks a bit!" Jazz insisted, rushing up to try and calm the situation. "Back it up, what'd these Cons do to ya that's got ya all riled up?"

Flare Up rounded on Jazz and snapped; "THEY'RE the reason why I was late to the Sea of Rust mission!" Her scream reverberated through the whole area, stunning the Autobots into silence. "THEY'RE the ones who stopped me from gettin' there in time! THEY'RE the reason why…" As she went on, her expression shifted from anger to pained sadness, her shoulders pumping up and down as her venting grew heavy and haggard. "Th-They're the reason why… I couldn't save him. If I'd gotten there in time…" She lifted her head, allowing everyone to see the sadness in her optics. "…Then Hot Rod wouldn't have DIED!"

The rest of the Autobots were left in stunned silence. Even Springer and Roadbuster were astonished by what they had just heard. However, Gas Skunk's confident chuckle broke through the brief pause, leading everyone to look down at him. "Hehehe… ahahaha! That's right. Shockwave gave us direct orders to intercept the speedster before she could get to the Sea of Rust. He was hoping to take out some Autobots who'd foolishly come searching for the Lightning Strike Coalition Force, and while most of 'em got away… I'm pretty sure the one he killed managed to shake your resolve pretty badly! AHAHAHA—RK!"

"SHUT IT!" Flare Up screamed.

"Flare, you shoulda told me 'bout this from the start!" Springer insisted, breaking out his swords to stab them down on either side of Slapper's head. "I woulda joined in!"

The toad Predacon began immediately begging for his life. "W-Wait, we can talk about this—"

"Nothing to talk about, bub! Hot Rod was a FRIEND of mine!"

Bulkhead promptly pointed his arm cannon at Dark Scream as well. "A friend to ALL of us! Do you have ANY idea what you cost us?!"

Dark Scream raised his hands, trying to save face. "W-Wait, it's not like we WANTED to get your friend killed! W-We were just following orders—"

"Then why were ya snickerin' about it earlier?" Roadbuster questioned, ready to put a bullet in each of their heads. "Give the order, Prime, I'm ready to—"

"ENOUGH." Optimus bellowed, stopping everything before it could escalate further. "This will NOT be turned into an execution!" He approached Flare Up, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Flare Up, I understand your misgivings with these Predacons, but we cannot allow our emotions to dictate our actions. We have them incapacitated, so now we should bring them in for questioning."

Flare Up hated to admit it, but the Prime had a point. As angry as she was for what happened, she didn't want to lose her cool. 'After all, these Cons could give us some useful info.' she thought to herself. Ultimately, she took in a deep breath and sighed, pulling her pistols back into her arms. "You're right, Prime… sorry." She glowered down at Gas Skunk and reached down, forcing his hands behind his back before hauling him up. "Let's get you creeps locked up."

As Bulkhead and Springer began to do the same to Slapper and Dark Scream, the Predacons all… snickered, much to their confusion. "What? You think this is funny?!" Bulkhead growled.

"Hehe, kind of, yes." Gas Skunk affirmed, his optics shifting upward. "'Cause you bots have NO idea what's coming." And, right after he said that…

*CHYOOOOM—KA-BAM*

The Autobots were taken off their feet once again as a pair of missiles came screaming in from above, slamming into the dirt and causing a large shockwave that sent everyone flying. As the three Predacons did, though, they all managed to transform into their beast modes, landing without a scratch. Right after that, the Bots were greeted by the one who shot at them, swimming down through the air with a baneful roar… and a haiku;

"Behold, Autobots!

Your imminent doom is here!

Tremble before me!"

"Gah, Sky-Byte!" Optimus hollered, bringing out his axe again. He threw it at the flying Sharkticon several times, but each projectile missed as he simply swam through the air.

"Haha! There he is!" Dark Scream cheered.

"We knew ya'd be here, boss!" Slapper pumped his fists up and down. "Show 'em what you've go—AGH!"

However, Sky-Byte didn't seem all too happy, snapping his jaws at the three as he flew down to their location. "You imbeciles! Of course, YOU had to be the ones to wind up out here! You're lucky that I even CHOSE to come here and rescue your sorry afts!" He slid his body up next to them, instructing; "Now get on! We have work to do!"

Gas Skunk was all too happy to do so… especially as the Autobots started firing at them again. "Gyah! Y-You've got it, boss! C'mon, guys!" Once all three had jumped onto the much larger beast's back, they sailed straight into the air.

"NO!" Flare Up screamed vengefully, blinking after the Preds even as Optimus warned her not to. She had managed to just barely make it to Sky-Byte's tail fin and reached out to grab it… only for one of the torpedo Mini-Cons to strike her directly in the side, sending her plummeting back toward the ground. "GAAAAH!"

"Excellent, Sandsting!" Sky-Byte commended before the purple torpedo reattached to his body. "And Dragonus! Just to make sure the Autobots don't come after us…" His optic shifted toward Fowler's helicopter. "…A distraction, if you would!"

The green torpedo Mini-Con was happy to oblige, darting around in midair on a collision course with Fowler's chopper. The Sector Seven agent gasped and immediately took evasive action… but Dragonus was able to shift just enough that he managed to blow off the whirlybird's tailfin. "GAH!" Fowler lurched over the controls as the helicopter careened down, spinning uncontrollably through the air.

Flare Up, however, wouldn't stand for it. "No, no, no, NO!" *BLINK* In a flash, she sped up and reached the falling copter, latching onto the side of its cockpit and quickly prying off the canopy to pull Fowler out. Was it the safest thing to do? Probably not, but she wasn't about to lose another life thanks to those three. *BLINK* The very second she got Fowler, she rushed back down to the ground… where he nearly threw up in her hand.

"URP! …Ugh… every time." The man grimaced, only to then see his chopper come crashing down… into the gas station, resulting in a blast that sent the entire thing sky high. "…Hah, of course."

The Autobots rejoined their compatriot just as the Predacons circled back around, all of them laughing hysterically. "AHAHAHA! So long, Auto-BUMS!" Dark Scream taunted.

"Hope you enjoyed this little preview, because it's gonna get a WHOLE lot worse for ya! AHAHA!" With that final word from Gas Skunk, they rocketed away on Sky-Byte's back, his propulsion hastened by his Mini-Cons.

Needless to say, that left the crew feeling quite concerned. "Uh… what'd he mean by that?" Jazz questioned.

Optimus shook his head in uncertainty. "I do not know, Jazz… but I don't like it."

"Ya shouldn't." Roadbuster asserted, his visor meeting Prime's optics. "Sorry that this planetary touch-down didn't exactly go smoothly, Prime, but we've got even worse problems that'll be on our hands soon enough."

"WORSE?!" Fowler shouted, managing to compose himself enough to start reprimanding the large bot. "Your little reentry just caused a LOT of damage, soldier. Whatever it is you're talking about, it had BETTER be worth that gas station gettin' blown to smithereens!"

The Wrecker's attention shifted down to Fowler, and he leaned in further to get his point across. "Little… organic creature… you have NO idea what's about to happen here. You thought what happened HERE was bad? You ain't seen NOTHIN' yet."

"Roadie…" Bulkhead said warily. "…whaddya mean?"

"…The whole reason this happened was because I was tailin' a Decepticon warship headed here." Roadbuster revealed, leading his fellow Autobots to audibly gasp. He once again diverted his attention to Optimus. "Unfortunately, they caught wind o' me right as we passed by the red planet just past the asteroid belt. Prime… we got some of Megatron's TOP GUYS comin' here. An' I've got a feelin' they ain't comin' to negotiate a surrender."

With this new information presented to him, Optimus Prime lowered his head, contemplating what would come next. Eventually, he reached up and activated his commlink. "Red Alert… open the GroundBridge and tell everyone to gather outside. We have… dire news."

…..

A/N: And I think we're gonna put a pin in that right there. Bit of a harrowing cliffhanger to end on after all of that action, but one that definitely sets the mood for what I'll be going for in this arc. It's time for things to get serious. A full-on Decepticon war ship is arriving on Earth, after all. And while Roadbuster may be a fun addition, he's also a veteran who knows when to take things seriously. But yes, I've based Roadbuster's personality here on Age of Extinction's Hound, who of course, was voiced by John Goodman. Because out of the entirety of Bay's last two Transformers films, he was the one character that I actually liked. My only problem was that he was named "Hound" and not something else.

But on that note, we've also got THREE new Decepticons to discuss! And not just ANY Cons, but the Predacon Trio from RID2001! You guys really didn't think I'd leave them out and JUST use Sky-Byte, did ya? Nah, these guys are pretty much inseparable as an act, so I had to make them part of Megatron's away team. So on that note, time for some casting choices! …And I think many of you will know these names very well;

Gas Skunk – voiced by Scott Frerichs

Dark Scream – voiced by Curtis Arnott

Slapper – voiced by Nick Landis

…And here's the real kicker; this probably won't be the LAST time these guys voice a group of characters because of just how much range they have. So yeah, look forward to that!

On that note, though, the new arrivals weren't the ONLY things to happen in this chapter, of course. We got to see Shigaraki going back to the LOV's base to tell Dabi and Toga that they've got the job, which we all know where THAT will lead. And indeed, we saw that the Autobot's plan to send out a signal to try and find the Ark and its pods… didn't exactly go very well. And Mei's not too happy about it, that's for sure. However, the gang will have much wore to worry about in the coming days. And on that note…

And now, the Preview! As Sky-Byte brings his fellow Predacons back to the Darksyde, it doesn't take long for the rest of Megatron's away team to arrive… and from there, it's straight to business, because Mr. Black and Silas have actually come to THEM for the meeting. So, what exactly IS this new bioweapon that they've got cooking up? Well, we'll just have to wait and see to find out. Next time; Cons of War. And it's clear that this group of Cons consider themselves… superior. Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and as always;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!