Izuku huffs as she lays on the couch, laptop in her lap. "This is kinda hard to do with one arm in a sling," she mutters to herself. The base was mostly quiet this Sunday morning, all the soldiers taking the day off to be with family.

"What are you doing?" Melody asked, walking over to the loft.

"Well, even though I now have a stable place to live and I don't have to worry about being kick out because I can't pay rent, I still do some analysis for the police." Her eyes roamed across the screen, soaking all the information she was given, "Especially for Trueman, he's a nice man and the reason why Mei's dad got slap on the wrist for being a Predacon and was able to get on patrol,"

"People hate the Predacons?" Melody ask, "The few times I go out in my holoform, I hear them praise you and the Maximals but then I hear mutters and whispers condemning the Predacons,"

Izuku groans, fighting the urge to throw her head back, "Its stupid really. Well maybe not. Like I completely understand the fear. Lots of Predacons were… bad. Kamino was a secret hideaway for villains, supposedly the leader of all villains had been hiding out there," she shrugs her shoulder, grimacing in pain as she moved her sore arm too much, "But many more were just those who had been discriminated for their Quirks or because they were related to those who were villains. Mei's father, he wasn't a villain, he was just car thief but he was a car thief for a group of villains so he was push into the Predacon group," she sighs closing her eyes. "I understand their worry, but everyone commending all the Predacons.. its just stupid and idiotic,"

"You know its because of Megazarak," Cade points out, stretching his arms over his head after placing Tessa down for a nap, "Any group made by that nasty piece of work is bad news,"

"Megazarak?" Optimus asked, pulling his attention away from Ratchet who he had been talking quietly to.

Izuku huffs through her nose, "Just as Apelinq formed the Maximals, Megazarak formed the Predacons… and like Rattrap said he was a nasty piece of work… he led… Prime I hate to admit it he led a breeding ring," she shudders in disgust, gagging. But quickly makes sure Twyla wasn't around, not wanting the ten year old to hear this.

"Breeding ring?" Ratchet frowns.

Cade's face scrunched up in a disgusted look, "Some formed by disgusting disturbed people. After people realize how wrong Quirk Marriages are." he blinks at the confuse looks he was given and sighs, "Its a marriage that is arranged for the sole purpose of choosing or enchanting a specific Quirk to be inherited. It happen around when Quirks became more widespread but nowadays are regarded as taboo and outdated practice in other countries. Illegal here in Japan. Breeding rings.. are like that, kidnapping a bunch of people and forcing them to have children. When the children are four they are examined for Quirks and if they have powerful ones they are kept alive… if they don't…" he grows sullen, and the other bots' optics widen.

"By the Allspark," Ratchet whispers, "That… that is…"

"Reminds me of the stories of what my Carrier and Aunt Arcee told me of Sentinel," Melody whispers, horror shining in her optics, and Arcee nodded her head in agreement, "About how he...choose who could keep their cogs and who couldn't?"

"Indeed," Optimus stated, but his optics gaze down at Izuku, concern filling him. He did not want to imagine how this… man was around his sparkling… or his grandsparkling.

"I never met him," Izuku assures them, seeing what Optimus was thinking, "Predaking killed him when he took over. A month before both the Predacons and Maximals did the raid on the Pits." she shakes her head, going back to the screen, "But Rattrap is right, when people think of the Predacons they think of Megazarak…"

"Well I don't blame them," Cade snarls, "Never trust a Pred," he crosses his arms and gives Izuku a glare when she huffs in annoyance, "As you said oh fearless leader, you weren't there when Megazarak was in charge. While I do admit that some like Rhinox's dad aren't bad, most of them were happy to follow Megazarak's lead. And the only reason they didn't throw a fuss about old Predaking taking charge is that he absolutely terrified them,"

"He wasn't that bad," Izuku mutters.

"He choked his second command until he surrender and then took his Quirk!" Cade mutters, "He was scary to everyone but you and Twyla… remember that one time some Quirkist shit thought you were just his whore," at this Optimus growls and Melody quickly takes a step back. Before she quickly steps away from Bee whose optics turn red, "And ask Predaking if he could share? Predaking ripped him apart!" he shudders, "Predaking would burn the world for you and Twyla…"

Izuku sighs, looking down at the screen. "If he would… then why wasn't he here?" Izuku thought to herself. She hadn't seen Predaking since the last day of the war...she understood why when the commission had order for their arrest. But she would had like at least some sort of message from him… she knew he was alive… how? She didn't know she just… knew.

Ratchet sighs, turning back to the console that controls the Groundbridge and pulls the lever, activating the portal. "The signal that we got is still going strong in the Arctic, so Arcee, Melody and I shall be going to look for it, and search for any clues of our mysterious pod,"

"Only until your sensors sound," Ratchet informs, pointing a medical device at the three of them that made their fraction symbol flash blue, "Remember, once your temperatures drop to the blue zone, systems failures aren't likely, they are eminent," he warns before he turns his gaze as Bulkhead and Electro drive in. Mei and Uraraka slipping out of Bulkhead while Kaminari and Iida step out of Electro.

Mei grins, "Miss us Doc Bot?" she grins up at the medic, carrying a duffle bag over her shoulder, "Boss, dad send me here with some goodies for you and Twyla! Mango Muffins for you and Cinnamon Rolls for Twyla!"

Izuku perks up at this, and she couldn't help but feel her mouth water, making Bumblebee chirp in laughter at her. Twyla pokes her head from the hall, somehow hearing Mei, "Cinnamon rollies!" she squeaks and runs forward, Leo clutch in her arms. She takes the container, and gives Kaminari a glare, "None for you Cheetor!"

"You take the last cinnamon roll one time and she never forgives you," Kaminari throws his hands in the air, "I said I was sorry," he then pouts as Twyla glares at him.

"Shouldn't they be in school?" Ratchet complains, gazing at the four as they climbed the stairs to the loft.

"On Sunday? We have the whole day off?" Uraraka grins, getting a snort out of Mei as she passes the container of mango muffins to Izuku, "To spend the whole day with you," she giggles as Ratchet rolls his optics before she turns to Izuku, "You doing ok, boss?"

"I'm fine," Izuku assures them, taking a muffin and biting into it with a smile, "Can't transform until the energon line that got stabbed by the rebar is healed but other than that, I'm ok,"

"Grandpa had to stop her from doing pushes up," Izuku sputters as Twyla calls her out, "And then Ratchet almost threw a wrench at her when he caught her trying to fly,"

"Twyla," Izuku mutters, making the girl turn to her, a smile cover in frosting growing on her face, "You aren't suppose to call me out like that,"

"Big Sister, you tried to flap your wings. You'll make the ripping holes bigger," Izuku sighs, while Uraraka and Mei cover their mouths with their hands, hiding their snickers, "I can hear the both of you, you know!"

Iida looks at Arcee, looking nervous at her, "I wasn't expecting a carpool, Arcee. What gives?"

Melody snorts while Arcee sighs, "Tag team, Iida. Its my turn for it," she gestures to the open groundbridge, "Exploration duty,"

"Too bad," Iida shifts on his feet, glancing at Arcee, "Its a beautiful day for a ride. Will hate you to feel guilty for leaving me indoors." he glances up at her hopefully, making Kaminari cackle behind him at his subtle try of begging.

Arcee snorts, which made Melody smile at her, "Arctic exploration duty,"

Iida blinks at this before he quickly turns towards the stairs of the loft, "Indoors, where is warm,"

Twyla looks up eyes wide, "The Arctic? I always wanted to play in the snow!"

Izuku smiles softly at this, knowing that the three years under the shield kept all weather from reaching in Kamino. Also the fact is that Twyla's Quirk, Gaia, makes her sleepy during winter. It was a fascinating Quirk really, the child being so connected to the very earth itself, which meant when it grew colder, Twyla starts getting slower, and needed more clothes to keep her warm. "At least this winter I got her a portable heater to wear so she can stay warm… but Twyla never had play in snow...her fosters kept them inside during snow days due to Quirk reasons and it didn't snow last winter,"

"I would invite you to join us, Twyla," Optimus smiles at her, "But the conditions are much to extreme, even for we Autobots,"

"Awwww," Twyla pouts, "Ok, Grandpa. I understand," she nodded her head.

Optimus turns to the groundbridge, Melody and Arcee behind him when he stops in place, turning his head over his shoulder, "But I will bring you back a snowball!"

Twyla gasps, her brown and green eyes shining like stars, "Yay!"

Ratchet watches as the three step into the Groundbridge, disappearing from view, "Transport complete," he confirms, mostly to himself as he turns back to the console, just as it exploded into sparks that force him to draw his servo back, "By the Allspark,"

"So what do you guys think we should do today?" Uraraka asks as she sits beside Izuku, the girl placing her laptop down on the coffee table. Bumblebee holds up his servos and starts to press imaginary buttons.

"Video game time," Izuku smiles, while Bumblebee points at her in victory, "Last one standing wins!"

"Count me out," Mei announce, dropping her bag and pulls out some parts, a wrench that made Electro mutter about how she was a mini hatchet, "I got babies to create, like this one!" She holds up some sort of belt, "I call it the Wire Arrow Belt which shoots a wire with a grappling hook on the end," she then yelps as it indeed shoots the hook almost hitting Electro's optic, "Sorry, Electro! Still in work!" She calls out as she makes the belt retract the wire back.

"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Electro!" All three mechs look over to Ratchet as the consol kept sparking, "Over here now,"

"Yeah…. You get on that," Kaminari smiles sadly as Electro groans, turning towards Uraraka and Iida as he grabs a controller, "I'm game, prepare to be destroyed,"

Uraraka grins, grabbing the two controllers and holding one out to Iida, who frowns pushing up his glasses. "This… is really not my thing, Uraraka,"

Uraraka though grins, leaning over Izuku to smile brightly at Iida, "Oh? Scared of losing to a girl?"

Iida sputters, "What? No!"

"Of course not," Kaminari smirks, "He's too much of a gentleman for that. No, I think the problem is that he's too chicken," he bend his arms and starts making a flying motion with them. Izuku snorts out a laughter while Twyla giggles as Kaminari begins to click, "Bak… bak!"

"I am no poultry!" Iida remarks snatching the controller, drawing a cheer from Kaminari and Uraraka, "Bring it! I shall show no mercy!"

Izuku laughed, leaning into the couch and was about to shut her eyes when she felt a gentle pull on her hair. Opening them, she looks up smiling at Twyla, "Big Sister can I play with Buzzsaw and Highwire?"

Smiling gently, she nodded her head, making a chirping noise and Highwire scurries out of her bushy hair and up Twyla's arm to her shoulder drawing a giggle out of her. Then, taking a deep breath she whistles loudly, a screech answering her as the cybertronian raven dives down. Iida blinks, watching as Twyla giggles and runs after Buzzsaw, "I thought those two were… in you?"

"Only when I'm outside the base," Izuku answers, shutting her eyes, "I didn't recall them because Ratchet thought it would be a bad idea with my injuries, and I wouldn't have anyway since we're inside the base,"

"Hey doc," Bulkhead grumbles, as he and the other two walked over, "You can't boss us around because the boss is out,"

But Ratchet ignores Bulkhead's remark, slamming a fist into the console and growls when it still sparks, "I am in need of some heavy lifting, the groundbridge is down,"

Bumblebee whirls in disbelief before he quickly buzzed in an anxious sort of way, "Optimus, Arcee and Melody are fine, Bumblebee. They made it through safely, it's bringing them back that concerns me," he then gestures to the floor panels, "now removes those panels, chop chop!"

"Wooosh! Whoosh!" Twyla holds her arms above her face, as if blocking cold gushing winds from hitting it, "it's getting cold.. and even more cold!" She takes a step back, her green and brown eyes narrow, "we got to get back to base,"

Highwire beeps, throwing his little hands in the air while Buzzsaw landed beside them. While the bird may look like he was annoyed, his red eyes were glowing softly as the two younglings played.

But then the sound of metal clanking against meta pulls their attention to see a large pipe rolling on the ground. Twyla brings her arms down, tilting her head and staring at it in confusion. But then she swirls on her feet as something clinking behind her.

"Hello!?" Twyla calls out, "Is anyone there?" She jumps a bit, squeaking as something scurries behind her… in fact it sounded like the noise was coming from all around her. Whipping around, Twyla cries out as trips over something. This something made Buzzsaw screech in fear and take to the air, high enough from the floor but still close to Twyla. Shaking her head, Twyla looks up and eyes the thing she trip over, "Oh it's a Chomper," she whispers, before her eyes widen and her face grew pale, "A… Chomper….oh no!" She whispers, just as the little thing leaps toward Buzzsaw.

"Come on...come on," Iida mutters, leaning forward. Izuku opens her eyes, chuckling as she saw the other sticking his tongue out in concentration before he lets out a cheer, standing up in victory. "In your face!" he calls out, pointing at Uraraka and Kaminari. The two rolls their eyes, before they all looked up when the lights went out, slowly flickering back on, "Great power failure,"

"Awwww," Uraraka grins, pointing to the now black screen of the tv, "It wiped out our game,"

"But I was winning!" Iida exclaims making Kaminari cackle at his reaction.

Shaking her head, Izuku stands up, looking over the railing as Ratchet pulls a green hard drive and presents it to the other three. "We most definitely have a problem," he holds it up closer, "Something burned out several of the Groundbridge's main fuctional components," frowning to himself as the lights once more dim, "What could have cause this… or that?"

"Chomper!" Twyla screams as she runs out of the hallway, Buzzsaw flying straight to Izuku, "Big Sister there is a Chomper in the base!"

"Chomper?" Izuku's eyes widen, jerking back as Buzzsaw lands on her shoulder and grimaces when his talons squeezes to tightly, "How did a Chomper get in here?"

"What?" Mei shrugs, looking up at them, "Its just a Chomper we used them in the war…" she slowly trails off, her gaze falling to Ratchet, Bumblebee, Electro and Bulkhead before she slowly turns to Izuku, staring at her tail, "Oh… Oh well this is just Prime,"

"The frag is a Chomper?" Electro asked just as they all turn back to the entrance of the hallway when the sound of tinkling metal was heard. The scream that they all let out at the sight of the small metallic creature that had been scurrying after Twyla made the Autobots scream, leaving Iida and Uraraka in shock while Kaminari curse under his breath.

"Scraplet!" Bulkhead screams, and all four of them shifted their hands into their long ranged weapons, aiming at the tiny thing, "A Scraplet!"

"I thought this thing was a Chomper?" Uraraka whispers, "What is their deal?"

"A Scraplet," Ratchet begins to explain with a tremble in his voice, his optics never leaving sight of their target, "Is the most dangerous vermin to ever crawl upon the face of Cybertron!"

"You have no idea the damage that thing can do!" Bulkhead cries out, fear shimmering in his blue optics.

"We call them Chompers in the Kamino War," Kaminari explains, his tail curling between his legs "We found a whole hive of them in the ruins of a building and we… kinda use them against the Terrorcons.. they eat metal… any metal even…" his gaze falls to Izuku, "Living metal…"

"But the Autobot are giant robots," Uraraka throws her arms up in the air, looking at them all in disbelief, "Scrappy here is teeny," she mutters, just as the Scraplet turns its purple optics towards the Autobots and it open its mouth wide, revealing a set of serrated teeth that spun around like a wood chipper. Uraraka and Iida gasp in horror as the Scraplet scurries closer to them, all four of them shooting at it. And yet, it evaded each blast leap on top of Bumblebee's leg and begins to eat its way up, munching through his armor easily.

Everyone watched in horror, the young bot tried to stop it by attempting to blast it off his leg. When that didn't work, Bumblebee resolved to grab it and crush it but he began to scream when the Scraplet ate through his fingers, continuing up his arm.

Suddenly green vines wrapped around the Scraplet's body pulling it away from Bumblebee and slamming it into the ground. "Leave! Uncle! Bee! Alone!" Twyla cries out, the vines that had wrapped around the Scraplet emerging from her wrist. She shakes her whole arm, she kept slamming the metallic vermin repeatedly into the ground hard. Izuku runs over to her and gently wraps her one good arm around her.

"You got it...the Chomper is no longer going to hurt Uncle Bee," she whispers, the little girl sniffling as she nodded. The vines slowly receded back into her arm, becoming the vine markings that painted her arms. Izuku gently grabbed, frowning in concern. Twyla… had never done that. Oh, she could control vines, but never out of her own body. The vines had always emerged from underneath the earth…

Twyla pulls free from Izuku arms and runs over to Bumblebee, "I'm sorry, Uncle Bee!" Bumblebee gives her a reassuring wave, but Twyla whines turning to Ratchet, "Is he going to be ok?"

Ratchet nodded his head, "He will be alright, Twyla. It was only a mesh wound,"

Bulkhead though shudders, looking to Uraraka and Iida, "Now do you believe me. All Scraplets do disassemble machinery and eat anything and everything metal. Specially living metal,"

Iida nodded his head, "Yes, as Kaminari told us," he turns his gaze to the Scraplet, "Thankfully the… bug is squashed… so its all over, right?"

Ratchet shakes his head, standing up, "No, when it comes to Scraplets, there's never just one,"

Mei frowns, "But where did it even come from. We did a whole search when we took over the base and there was no sign of a nest,"

"I have a feeling I know," he sighs, closing his optics before the medic lead the three other Autobots and the seven humans into one of the back room, where they had place the big pod cover in ice. But now, the ice was mostly melted and now had a huge gapping hole in its side, "A trap… a Scraplet trap,"

"An empty Scraplet trap," Electro whispers with fear, "But how did it end up in Arctic,"

"Most likely it was ejected into space eons ago from Cybertron, " Ratchet explained, shining a light into the empty husk, "Until it landed in the arctic by chance where the tempatures kept them in statis,"

Mei nodded her head, "The Chompers in Kamino we found were deep in Scourge's ship… We guess he had planned on using them against any cybertroninan that he may encounter… but since we weren't made of metal he couldn't use them,"

"But we could," Kaminari grins, "It… it was kinda fun sicking them on the Terrorcons,"

"But now their awake because we thaw them out," Electro pointed out, "And their ready to have lunch,"

Uraraka takes a step forward, "So how many are we talking about?"

"Thousands," Izuku replied, making Uraraka and Iida jerk back, Twyla whines and grips her hand tightly, her green and brown eyes roaming around the room in case of any Scraplet that might attack.

"And between the power malfunctions and groundbridge damages… its sure signs that their infestation is well underway,"

"Optimus!" Melody calls out, kneeling down in the snow even though she could feel it seeping into her joints, "I think I found something!" Optimus looks down from the wall of ice he had been climbing and slides down, Arcee following behind him.

Brushing away the snow, Melody stares at the silver pod that was sleek, frowning when she saw no visible way of looking side.

Optimus gazes down at it and kneels beside her, "By Primus… a Lithone Escape Pod… I thought that none escaped when their planet had been destroyed,"

"Lithone?" Arcee mutters, "I never heard about that planet except for whispers," she frowns, turning to Optimus, "That it was that planet why Megatron exiled Tarn,"

"Indeed," Optimus' optics grew dim, "I only saw the planet once, it use to be a thriving planet that had a burning sun supporting its life on the surface. However, at the same time as when the Primes were slain by Sentinel, their sun suddenly was extinguished. It was likely the Quintessons who siphoned the energy from the star and caused it to go dark. But upon its disappearance, Lithone became cold and barren, very much like this Arctic. The colonist on Lithone were brilliant scientist though and manage to create shelter to keep their colony safe and stabilize, but they were cut off from Cyberton, just like the other colony planets of Velocitron and Caimen. In spite of this, they manage to create protoforms that could withstand the subzero temperatures their planet now had. Their vehicle modes could cross the icy surface and waters without crashing or suffering frostbite. That didn't come without a cost however. Lithone was having its own Energon Crisis, resulting their population not being grand. Only in the five digit count, but barley,"

Melody blink at this, turning her head around to stare at the frozen wasteland that surrounded them, "So I guess they could withstand this weather,"

"They would indeed. As such they could not withstand the warmer temperatures of other worlds without the proper implants that would supply their frames with constant coolant. Their capital, Alchymia, was named after Alchemist Prime who aided them in their travel to Lithone. For their dedication to finding cures and repairs without being forged for such talents. Alchemist Prime blessed a handful of individuals who could control and bend the cold weathers of their planet before his passing,"

"Ok, I love the history lesson," Arcee interrupts, "But I really don't think now is the time,"

"Oh come on Aunt Arcee," Melody smirks, "You were a teacher back on Cybertron,"

Arcee felt her faceplates lit up blue, "Yeah but I never drop a lesson while my circuits are freezing," she grumbles, looking away from Melody, "Though… I do know that Lithone had the most research on Ancient Predacons," she shrugs as Melody stares at her, "I heard Ratchet complain about its destruction and all the lost knowledge. He was sure that if they had some of it, it would help him with Izuku's medical care,"

"Destroyed," Melody mutters before turning to Optimus, "You said that Lithone was the reason Megatron… exiled Tarn… you mean that Tarn… leader of the Decepticon Justice Division?"

"Lithone was one of the colony planets that decided to be neutral in the war, both Megatron and I agreed with each other that we would not force anyone to fight or choose a side if they did not wish to… Tarn did not agree with it, and he especially hated that Lithone has been offering assistance to both fractions. He hated that they refused to give preferential treatment to and refrain from letting either of us know when a Cybertronian on the opposite fraction traverse on the planet," he vents a bit, shaking his frame to get the snow that had been clinging to his metal off, "Then Shockwave created a weapon… a planet killer weapon. It was made to pierce through the very crust of a planet, strike its core and cause the entire planet to explode… Tarn had it commissioned, for he believed that by using it they could finally win the war. He called it, The Tyrannical Diplomacy as his motto was, Peace through Tyranny. The first and only time they ever use it was on Lithone…" he looks down mournfully, "Because afterwards nearly every neutral chose a side, afraid of being the next target," he looks up, and the two femmes saw his optics burning with a angry light, "Not that they need to be concern. Megatron had The Tyrannical Diplomacy destroyed and the DJD were stripped of their ranks and there has been plans to execute them but they had fled to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Even now, the bounties that Megatron had place for their extinguished sparks still remain,"

"And Shockwave?" Melody asked, "Did he even get punished because last I know he is still part of the Decepicons,"

"He got a tighter leash," Optimus explained, "Megatron told me once afterwards that he was afraid that if he let Shockwave out of his sight, he may even do worse than he already does," suddenly though a beeping noise alerted their attention, follow by two others. The three turn to their emblem to see that they were flashing blue.

"I guess its time to call for pick-up before things get chilly," Arcee looks at the pod, "Especially since now we did find out the true source of the signal.

"Indeed," Optimus affirmed, before he opens up his comm to the base, "Optimus to base, we have found the source to the signal and core temperature readings have reached the Blue Zone. Prepare to activate Groundbridge," however, once he had stopped talking, Optimus' head jerks back as he hears static instead of Ratchet's voice. The others stare at him in confusion but slowly gave him looks of dread as he shakes his head.

"Well this is just great," Arcee mutters, looking out the horizon, "I hear Miami's beautiful this time of year,"

"The nearest temperate climate is too distant," Melody mutters, already feeling her wings begin to freeze with frostbite, "Attempting to reach it would expend too much energy and hasten the freezing process… and how will we carry the pod, Optimus doesn't have his trailer, and neither you and I can carry it into vehicle mode,"

"Until Ratchet sends for us and he will," he swears, looking to Arcee, "Our best option would be to seek shelter and insulate ourselves,"

"Ratchet to Optimus, do you read me," everyone's gaze were on the medic back as he tries to contact Optimus over the base's comms, but only getting static in return, "We have a dire situation…" he hisses as the screens went blank, "The Scraplets have gotten into the commlink systems,"

"Does...does that mean we can't contact them at all?!" Kaminari exclaims as he grabs fistfuls of his hair, his ears pinning backwards, "you got to be kidding,"

"Unfortunately, I'm not," Ratchet turns towards them, "If we don't eradicate these creatures immediately, they will reduce the entire base to a scrapheap,"

"Well, I say we bug out of here and let them keep it," Bulkhead insteaded, with Bumblebee nodding his head in agreement. He turns to Electro, "I mean Rodimus and Blurr won't mind us using their bar as a new base will they?"

Electro grimaces, "For a little bit? No, they won't mind. But you know Blurr wants to fully stay out of the war,"

"Evacuation is not an option, Bulkhead," Ratchet shakes his head, "If we don't get the Groundbridge back online, then Optimus, Arcee and Melody will perish,"

"They...they will?" Twyla whimpers, and Izuku immediately scoops her up, "No! Grandpa can't die!"

Izuku bounces her up and down, gently rubbing her back, "Its ok, Grandpa won't die and neither will Arcee and Melody," she promises watching as Uraraka scrunches up her face and marches right up to Bulkhead.

"Bulkhead! You never run!" Uraraka exclaims, throwing her hands in the air.

"Ochako, you haven't seen a swarm of these things devour a bot. I have," he shivers as the memories flooded into his processor, "They pick you apart from the inside out, going for the small juicy bits first. Fuse by fuse, circuit by circuit, until there is nothing left," his tone slowly turn sorrow, his shoulders shaking, "And I mean nothing…" he closes his optics, "Not even your optics,"

They all grew silent, and Izuku and Mei turn their gazes to each other. They knew how dangerous Chompers, or Scraplets were, but the two thought nothing of it. Though now knowing how utterly terrifying it was to the bots, "Well… now I feel bad for cheering at Battletrap's death at the fangs of the Chompers," Mei whispers but Ratchet heard.

"While Bulkhead is right, you two were at war," he reminded the two girls, "Against a cruel maniac, do not feel guilty over your use of them. You found a resource you could use without it harming your ranks and thus had the right idea,"

"Wait… it didn't harm the Predacons and Maximals!" Iida pointed out, the others turning their attention to him, "Its because they were not made of metal!"

"The Scraplets can't hurt us!" Uraraka exclaims, before turning to Izuku, "Ok, Boss what's the plan?"

Blinking in confusion, Izuku stares at they turn their sight towards her, even Twyla. Taking a deep breath, she frowns, "Ratchet, Rhinox and Rattrap should stay here and repair the Groundbridge, while Iida will stand guard in case any Scraplets comes around,"

"You got it, Boss," Rhinox nodded her head before turning to Ratchet and Rattrap, "Let me grab my duffle bag real quick," she said before scurrying up the stairs up the loft.

Ratchet frowns, and turns his gaze to Rattrap, "Typically, I find your fleshiness to be your least engaging quality. But it would appear to provide an advantage under these extremes,"

"Great," Rattrap mutters, crossing his arms, "We're all going to die,"

Iida stares at him before nodded his head at Aurora, his red eyes looking at her in determination, "As the rest of us, we should pair off into team, one bot, one human on a bug hunt. Uraraka is with Bulkhead, Cheetor is with Electro and Twyla and I with Bumblebee. We'll scout for where the Chompers… I mean Scraplets are hiding and try to take out as many as we can,"

The humans nodded their head, but the Autobots shudder, Bumblebee dropping his head into his servos while Electro patted him on the back.

"I get to be your bodyguard," Ochako turns her head over her shoulder, grinning at him but Bulkhead wasn't really listening. The big bot was trembling in place, holding onto a massive cybertronian flashlight.

"Twyla found the first one here… right?" before Ochako could answer him, the lights went out briefly, with nothing visible except for Bulkhead's optics. A loud pitch scream erupted from Bulkhead, making Ochako jump as it rang down the hall.

She turns to him as the lights flash back on, "Did you just scream like a little girl?"

"No!" Bulkhead denies but at the stare that Ochako gave him he looks down, "Maybe...can we talk about this later,"

"I'll hold you onto that," Ochako swears before turning around and walking down the hall. Sighing, Bulkhead takes a deep intake of air before following her. As they went through the hall, he couldn't help but whip his head about everytime he heard something. The pitter patter of metal on metal… the whirling of blade...just the idea of a swarm of Scraplets coming down on him… to devour him.

"Take it easy Bulkhead," Ochako whispers, trying to make him feel at ease, "Just stay focus and everything will be fine" she quickly ducks down as Bulkhead fires at the ceiling, arms over her head to protect it from falling debris. But she force herself to look up when Bulkhead let out another scream of terror. But at the sight of Bulkhead getting himself tangle in cables, his fear of the Scraplets making him blind to see that he wasn't being attacked by Scraplets, "Ok, wish I haven't seen that." she shakes her head before calling out, "Bulkhead! You're fine! Its just a bunch of cables!"

Pausing, Bulkhead blinks to see that Ochako was right, "Oh...right.." he coughs a bit, feeling his faceplates burn a bright blue, "Cables.." grabbing one, he pulls it out of the ceiling, allowing it to rain a whole bunch of Scraplets onto him, which then began to feast on him. Letting out an another scream but this time Ochako joining as she uses the pipe she was carrying to smash as many as she could.

Aurora looked down the hall, hearing a scream making Bumblebee beep in terror as he kept his weapons up. "It'll be alright Bee… I promise,"

Twyla frowns, gripping the wrench in her hands, and frowns at the sight of the random pieces of metal lying about. All them having bite marks on them, "Don't these things ever stop eating… or finish their food?" she turns to Aurora, a frown on her face, "You'll be mad at me if I wasted food like this,"

"Very true… but lets not call this food around Uncle Bee, ok?" Nodding her head, Twyla gave Bumblebee an apologetic look but the Camaro turned robot's optics were gazing hard at a huge ventilation tunnel down at the end of the hallway. Getting closer to it, they could see that the round grate over it has clearly been eaten into.

Taking a step back, Aurora and Twyla allow Bumblebee to approach the grate and take a hold of it, tearing it right off and throwing it to the ground before quickly aiming his blaster at it while Aurora raises her axe in the air. Twyla gives out a little roar, wrench high in the air before blinking in confusion, "Where are the Chompers?"

Aurora feels a chill going down her spine as she slowly turns her head at the sound of the Chomper's whirling teeth grew louder. Suddenly a grate from a smaller ventilation in the ground shot up, allowing a swarm of the vermin to flood out, "Well this is just Prime,"

"Bad Chompers! Bad Chompers!" Twyla cries out, smashing at them as they tried to get closer to Bee. She then pales as she hears Izuku scream, watching as the Scraplets began to take a bite out of Aurora's...metal tail, "Big Sister!" she cries out, smacking the Scraplets off of her. Aurora growls, sparks of flames bursting from her mouth before she lets out a wave of the blue fire, making the Scraplets scream.

"I...am really wishing Todoroki was here," Cheetor whispers, looking around nervously.

"Why is that?" Electro also whispers, trying to keep his voice quite, though Denki could hear the tremble in his voice.

"Well...these things don't like the cold right?" Cheetor stated, poking his head down the corner before he gestures to Electro that it was safe to keep going, "Todoroki has an ice Quirk… if he was here, we could just have him ice all these bugs and be done and over with this shit,"

"True…. So true…" Electro whispers, looking around nervously, "Primus… a part of me is wishing I went with the team that went to the Arctic… in my opinion its better to freeze to death than be eaten alive,"

"You aren't going to be eaten alive, Electro," Denki promises him, turning to him before he froze. "Uh...Electro…. I don't want to frighten you…"

"There is a swarm right behind me...isn't there?" Electro stated, swallowing as Cheetor nodded his head. With his frame trembling, he turns just as the swarm of Scraplets jumped on him, waiting no time to bite into his metal, "AHHHHHHHHHH! Get them off! Get them off!" he wails.

"Don't worry! I will!" he raises his weapon, a pipe before he could do anything, Cheetor yowls in agony, as a burning pain throbs at the end of his tail. Turning his head, his eyes widen to see that one Scraplet had snuck up behind him, and had taken a bite out of his tail. "Electro! I thought you said these things only ate…" he trails off, staring as… energon leaked out of the end of his tail, not blood like it should have been, "Bolts and circuits…" he whispers before his attention was drawn back to Electro. "Shit!" Cheetor curses before raising his weapon high in the air to smash at the Chompers.

"Can't believed I use to think these vermin were cute!"

"How's it going over there," Tenya calls out nervously, trying to not look behind him where Ratchet, Rhinox and Rattrap.

Rhinox makes a frustrated noise which Ratchet seem to copy, "In a word...not great…" Rattrap calls out.

"We repaired the damaged conductors and rerouted the central conduits… but the Groundbridge still won't receive power!" Ratchet slams a fist into the ground in his frustration, making Rhinox pat his arm.

"Wait," Rattrap whispers, his ears twitching on his head, "Do you hear…"

Tenya turns around, searching for the source of the noise before bringing their sights of a ventilation tunnel high up on the wall where a whole bunch of Scraplets were gather. "Shit," Tenya curses as they turn their sights towards the group of three, more importantly Ratchet. Within seconds their mouths were wide open, their blade-like fangs were spinning and then, to Tenya's horror they jumped off the wall and flew right at them, "They fly!? You never said they could fly!"

Ratchet turns just for the Scraplets tackle him to the ground. "Ratchet!" Rhinox calls out, grabbing her hammer and begun to bash the little metal mites that were biting into him. Tenya was about to come over when he felt pain digging into the back of his legs, and the smell of blood. Looking down, he cries out in horror to see a Scraplets digging into the flesh of his legs, biting into the metal of his calves...even ripping one right out which cause him to cry out on agony.

But then large teeth bites into the Scraplet, pulling it away from his leg, even though it cause blood to splatter on the ground. Looking up through eyes filled with tears of pain, Tenya couldn't help but stare at the very large… human size rat that threw away the now dead Scraplet, "Rattrap?" he groans weakly.

"You got that right…" the rat… spoke, before it turns his gaze to the hundred of Scraplets that hover over their heads, "There is too many of them!"

Tenya nodded his head, but his own red eyes fall upon a red canister of a fire extinguisher, and an idea pop into his head, "They cant handle the cold" he mutters, and pushes himself to stand, hissing in agony at the painful throbbing of his leg before he limps over to the fire extinguisher. Grabbing it, he begins to spray the coolant onto Ratchet who was withering on the ground. Immediately the Scraplets fell off of him, giving Rhinox and Rattrap the time to smash them as they fell off.

"Ratchet!" Bulkhead cries out, holding one arm in pain, Bumblebee behind him limping. Aurora was holding her tail, the tip of one of her horns eaten off, Twyla holding the pipe tightly in her hands while Cheetor's tail was wrapped around his waist, energon staining his pants, "Get the patch kit… we're leaking energon like," he gasps in horror, his voice trailing off making everyone look up.

A massive swarm of Scraplets were flying overhead, and once they caught sight of the Autobots they dived down, their mouths open wide. Bumblebee and Bulkeah open fired on them, while Aurora blasted as much flames as she could, but soon they all found themselves overwhelmed. Bulkhead's hand shifted into a wrecking ball which he slammed into the ground in hopes of crushing the Scraplet, but when he brought it up he saw that instead they were eating his wrecking ball, and his other hand. He lets out a wail while Twyla and Ochako ran towards them, smashing the Scraplets with a wrench and pipe respectivley.

All the Autobots were being covered with the Scraplets, turn defenseless as they began to be eaten alive. With only the humans to defend them. "I rather be freezing right now!" Electro calls out before he screams.

And Optimus, Melody and Arcee were freezing, freezing to death. They had luckily found an alcove, but unfortunately it wasn't much help against the harsh environment they found themselves in. Melody curls up, trying to ignore the freezing occurring on her wings and digits, "Arcee, wake up," looking up at the sound of Optimus' voice, Melody watches as her Aunt shakes her head.

Letting out a groan, Arcee shivers, "Just resting my optics," she swears, but Melody could see that was a lie, and so did Optimus.

"The longer we remain alert, the longer we remain alive,"

"What do you suggest?" Arcee mutters before she gives a smile, "How about a game? Lets play: Who screw things up back at base,"

"Aunt Arcee," Melody chided, but she too couldn't stop the smile growing on her face. "It could be just a simple malfunction,"

"Cause either by Bulkhead or Izuku," Arcee chuckles, before she shakes her head, "No...by Bulkhead. Izuku is grounded from turning into her dragon form until she is healed. Let's see… no commlink, maybe even no power. The Big Lug probably trip over a cord, he never been too graceful,"

Melody smiles and nodded her head, "Remember when you all arrive on earth… and he accidentally bump Ratchet into those power lines, who knew Ratchet could dance like that,"

"Bulkhead maybe too… large for this world" Optimus said and even he couldn't help but shiver as he started to feel the effect of the cold overtaking him, "But his inner strength is without bounds. One should not be measure by size alone," then, as the wind blew harsher, they all brought their heads down, covering themselves though, it really did nothing to help.

Izuku gasps, watching as Iida sprays the last Scraplet before Uraraka smashes it to bits. Several minutes had passed since the horde had dived down to eat everyone, leaving them all in a rough state beside Iida, Uraraka, Twyla and Rattrap. Rhinox was sobbing a bit, looking over at the ruin remains of her Wire Arrow Belt. "My baby!" she sobs, cradling it in her arms.

"Kinda glad that I have Highwire and Buzzsaw hidden in me right now," Izuku mutters, looking over at the smashed Scraplets, "But something tells me we didn't get them all,"

As if to answer her, everyone began hearing the now familiar sound of the Scraplets whirl, making them feel dread pool up in their tanks and stomachs, "Hardly," Ratchet agreed, "Those were just scouts," Bumblebee let out an exasperated buzz, falling flat on his back.

"That means...that the rest of them know we're in here," Electro mutters.

"And if we allow ourselves to become their next meal, Optimus, Arcee and Melody will never make it home. We must get the Groundbridge operational,"

"Then we can use it to send the Scraplets anywhere," Rattrap mutters, wrapping bandages around Iida's bleeding leg, "Can't believed they took out a chunk of you and Cheetor," he turns his head to Kaminari, "And why did you not tell up that you were a techno-organic like boss,"

"Because I didn't know!' Cheetor exclaims, throwing his hands in the air, "Remember, I got the cheetah Quirk from Predaking and he told me it was just that, a Cheetah Quirk, not a techno-organic cheetah quirk,"

"I don't think he knew either," Izuku mutters before she shakes her head, "We go back to that later," she turns her head to Ratchet, "We know that the Scraplets can't handle the cold. I think it will be a good idea to send them back to the Arctic once we get the Groundbridge up and running,"

Ratchet hums, "Given the subzero temperatures and the body mass of the Scraplets, sending them back directly to the Arctic should freeze them on contact," he lowers his head, and put a hand to his chin in thought, "So think, Ratchet… think. If the Groundbridge is still down… there must be a breech in the energon fuel line!" the realization that dawn on him, bringing a smile out of him.

Bumblebee suddenly buzz again, trying to push himself up only to fall backwards. Bulkhead groans in agreement, "Well, if we weren't breeching, one of us could head on over there and fix the dang thing,"

"I… I…" Electro hisses as he tried to stand up, but slips down, body too weak to hold himself up.

"All of you are too injured," Kaminari stated, "You guys aren't moving anywhere,"

"And even if you could," Mei said, grabbing her duffle bag, a determined and angry glint shining in her eyes, "The Scraplets will eat you alive if you try to go and fix the fuel line yourselves, "So tell me where the fragging thing is and how do I fix it,"

"Language," Ratchet chided, but slowly he nodded to her, a soft look growing on his face, "Listen closely,"

Later, after a brief but thorough explanation that only Mei, Cade and surprisingly Uraraka seem to understand, the three of them were tiptoeing through a river of Scrapelts down the hall where they would hopefully find the beach, "Remember, we're okay," Mei reminded them, trying to assure them, "We're not metal,"

Uraraka nodded her head but then spots a pool of blue liquid that was only getting bigger, "Over there!" she pointed towards the large pipe that was leaking energon, "There's the breach,"

Furrowing her brow, Mei nodded her head, "Ok… Rosey Cheeks do your thing," blinking at the nickname, Uraraka nodded as she kneels down, pressing her five fingers against the pipe, taking the weight off of him. She grimaces it, but Uraraka kept it steady as Mei and Cade got to work, sealing up the connection along the bottom of the pipe slowly and carefully so to not accidentally ignite the energon. After about five minutes she stands up while Cade let out a sigh of relief, wiping the sweat off his brow, "Ok...I think we got it all patched out,"

"Good," Uraraka mutters, letting out a burp as she releases her hold on the pipe. Shaking her head, she stumbles, right into Mei who quickly grabbed her. Closing her eyes a bit, Uraraka let them flutter as she looks up at Mei, frowning in confusion as she noticed that Mei's face was burning red, "You ok, Hatsume? Did you inhale too many of the fumes of the Energon? It looks like you have a fever,"

Uraraka then yelps as Mei pushes her up, making her stumble a bit, "I'm fine, Rosey Cheeks!" she stutters, but pales as the nasty whirling sound started again, "Scrap! They're getting ready to feed!" she grabs her duffle bag and started to sprint madly down the how, "We got to tell Ratchet to pull the switch!"

"So if we get...when," Bulkhead corrects himself, optics fluttering open, "we get the Groundbridge open. Do we send the creepy crawlies out, or bring our bots in?"

"Optimus, Melody and Arcee will be fresh meat," Ratchet immediately stated, shaking his head, "If we bring them in first, the Scraplets won't have any reason to lead. If we want to lead them out of this place for good, we'll need…. Bait,"

"Where are we going to get bait?!" Bulkhead exclaims, making Twyla whimper and curl closer to Izuku. Izuku though, frowns, wrapping an arm around her, "The Scraplets already help themselves everything in here!"

Before Ratchet could say anything, a loud clattering noise echo through the room, a vent cover having fallen to the ground. Their heads all snapped ip, watching as a swarm of Scraplets flew out of it, like a massive being. The bots shudder, Electro staring at wide eyes, "Excuse my earth language...but fuck,"

"Ratchet!" Mei calls out, follow by Cade and Uraraka, "All systems go! Fire it up!"

Nodding his head, Ratchet using all the strength he had left to get onto his feet, and reached for the Groundbridge's activation lever, "Groundbridge...activated," he mutters as he pushes it down, his legs giving out on him and he collapses. Luckily, the Groundbridge sprang to life, the green mass of light shining down on them.

Biting her lips, Izuku lifts Twyla up and places her in Iida lap before she shifts into her dragon form, much to cries of shock. "Bait right…" she growls as she stands right in front of the Groundbridge, "Well I got some bait for you!" and with a deep breath, she lets out a roar bringing the attention of the Scraplets onto her.

Immediately they dive towards her, mouths whirling in anticipation. But Izuku quickly spins around and sprints into the vortex.

Melody shudders, her body having grown so weak do to the cold that she could no longer sit up, all three of them now laying down in the snow. "You know what the worse part of this is," craning her neck, Melody stares at her Aunt Arcee, "After fighting the Cons all these eons, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up...this is how our lights go out?"

"Arcee… Melody...this may not be the finish that we had planned," Optimus said gently, but accepting, "But if...if this is indeed the end...if we are to become one with the Allspark,"

"I...promise not to punch Megatron in the face," Arcee smiles jokingly, placing her hand into Optimus' own. "Even when he deserves it...I do hope you can see him,"

Melody smiles, reaching out her own hand and places it into Optimus' grasp, holding her Aunt Arcee's hand tightly as she could, "Its been.. an honor serving with you… Optimus Prime.." she whispers. But then a green light drew her attention, and she gasps at the sight of the Groundbridge, "Look!" she whispers with hope filling her.

Optimus looks up before he pushes himself up, legs creaking as he begins to move and soon, he was helping Melody and Arcee the same, before he weakly grabs the pod, not wanting to leave it behind, not that either of them could blame them. Just as they were about to head towards it, Izuku came running out, "Dad! Arcee! Melody! Down! Get down now!" she drops to her belly, and right behind her a dark cloud swarm after her.

"Scraplets!" Melody exclaims as Optimus places the pod down and gets in front of them both of them just as the Scraplets spotted them. But by the time the swarm got near them, it was too late as the cold started to take its intended affect. They bounce off of Optimus, frozen stiff and no longer able to move as they fall into stasis once more.

Izuku brings her head up, coughing out some energon, "Hahaha," she laugh apologetically, "I'd invite you in… but the place is a mess,"

"Where in the name of Primus did the Scraplets come from?!" Melody asked, optics wide, before it dawns on her, "The pod… it was a Scraplet Trap...wasn't it?" Izuku didn't say anything but her silence was all the answer they needed.

"I told you to not transform!" Izuku sighs as Ratchet scolds her, "You rupture the energon line again and now its going to be longer for it to heal!" All of them were gather in the medical bay, hook to machinery that help their repairs. Mei, Cade and Uraraka were running, following Ratchet's orders, "Report Bio-circuity status,"

"Levels are rising, Doc," Mei grins up at him, giving him a thumbs up.

"Excellent," Ratchet nodded his head before turning towards Cade, "Rattrap, keep a close eye on Bumblebee's electro pulse monitor. Uraraka, check Bulkhead's interface patches,"

Bulkhead sputters, "I rather her not, Doc," Electro cackles at this, while Uraraka looked at him in confuse.

"Things are steady and looking good," Cade replied. Ratchet opens his mouth again, when Optimus places a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps you should get some rest yourself, old friend," Optimus suggest, offering a smile to hi, "You've save a quite few lives today.

Pausing, Ratchet shook his head, "It wasn't my doing," he glance over at the humans breifly, smiling softly as Arcee looks at Iida's leg in concern, "We're just fortunate that this infestation happened… on a Sunday,"

Optimus nodded at that, "Our human friends may be small, but they are stronger than they seem," but then they all jump as Uraraka broke out into a scream.

"Scraplet?" Izuku sits up, grunting at Twyla pushes her back down and sat on her stomach.

"Spider!" Uraraka squeals, spinning around to see if it crawled on her, "It is on me? AHHH! AHHHH! Get it off of! Get it off!"

The Autobots and others watch as Uraraka ran off in full-on panic, and Bulkhead couldn't help but chuckle, "Did she just scream like a little girl?"

That brought laughter out of all of them, but Ratchet turns his gaze to the pod that they have brought from the Arctic. The Lithone escape pod that might contain the last Lithonian in the whole universe. Even though it has been a long day, the day was not in fact over.

But for now, he could rest before they welcome the new arrival.

9k words, this reached 9k words. Gods this was a very long chapter but it was sure worth it. So the pod, before anyone makes any guess it contains a oc that belongs to my friend Twilightna. We been waiting a long time to bring her in and luckily this episode was a good chance to do it! Anyway, other than that, I hope you all enjoy it and if it seems weird with Cade just seemily popping up...its kinda because I kept forgetting him hahaha like seriously Rattrap please remind me that you are there.