#bot buddy

Maxima was a bit surprised when the portals took her away this time.

Mainly because it had been a hot minute since they had nabbed her to some other alternative universe.

Speaking of which, she was excited to see what this new place had in store for her today!

Maxima stumbles out of the portal and into a large alley way. She looks around. Everything looks so weird… yet kind of familiar. Maxima: “Alright, knowing my luck some human ally or a bot is bound to be here somewhere…” Suddenly a mob of NEST Soldier’s came out. Random NEST Soldier: “Freeze!” Maxima carefully shows her empty hands. Maxima: “I don’t mean—” Random NEST Soldier: “I SAID FREEZE!” Maxima: “…So this is why Fowler didn’t want to involve the Pentagon…”

Thankfully there were two human soldiers with 2 more braincells than the rest.

 Lennox and Epps.

Epps made sure that everyone stood down as Lennox walked slowly to her.

It reminded Maxima a lot of how humans approached caged animals.

Not quite the case, but she understood why he might be taking precaution.

Lennox: “Hello there.” Maxima: “General Kenobi.” Several humans, including Lennox, freeze. Epps: “Did… did that bot just do a Star Wars reference?” Maxima: “I was in the middle of a marathon when I got dumped here.” Lennox: “What do you mean ‘dumped here’?” Maxima: “Ever heard of the multiverse? Assuming you all have Autobots—” Epps: “We got bots… nice to know which side you’re on.” The soldiers all take notice of the Autobot insignia and ease a bit. Lennox: “What’s your name traveler?” Maxima straightens up a bit. Maxima: “The names Maxima. Daughter of Optimus Prime and Wrecker—” Epps and Lennox: “PRIME?!” Somewhere in NEST HQ… Optimus: “…Something just happened…”

The drive back to HQ wasn’t nearly as tense as everyone had been when they had gotten the strange energy reading.

Some of the soldiers were even a bit surprised to see this supposed daughter of the Autobot leader be so… extroverted.

She clearly had an understanding of human culture and understood traffic laws despite her alt mode being the exact opposite for those.

Epps chose to ride in the alt mode for ‘security reasons’.

Lennox kept his com line open so he could hear the two conversations.

He will not admit that he enjoyed hearing them.

Never.

Now the arrival and introduction led to some of the lost tension to return.

All the assembled Autobots had arrived to meet this alternative universe bot.

And something about her being in relations with Prime?

Maxima carefully transforms and makes sure that Epps got out safely. Even patting his head. Epps swatted that hand a bit. Maxima didn’t seem to mind. Maxima: “Alright now where’s the other’s—SWEET PRIMUS!” Maxima cringed a bit as the other Autobots transformed. Maxima: “Sweet Solus Prime, that looks painful.” Optimus: “Greetings—” Maxima: “Oh good your voice is normal.” Optimus: “Excuse me?” Maxima: “Sorry, I’ve just met some other versions of you and they don’t sound like my Optimus. You sound exactly like him. Please continue.” Optimus: “I am Optimus Prime, these are the rest of the Autobots left. Ratchet, Ironhide, Bumblebee, Sideswipe, Mudflap and Skids. Arcee, and Chromia could not make it to this meeting.” Maxima: “… You certainly have more of a roster than we do.” Bumblebee: “Poor—poor—little thing.” Maxima: “Hey I am not little, short stack! Nice to know you use the radio in this universe, my Bee uses the whirly system.” Bumblebee: “?!?” Ratchet: “Your Bumblebee’s voice box was damaged on impact?” Maxima: “On impact? No! He lost his during Tyger Pax. And why are you green?” Ratchet: “Why are you so big?” Maxima: “I am a growing bot I’ll have you know—” Ratchet: “Then why do my scanners say your… you’re a youngling!?” Optimus: “Ratchet please calm yourself.” Maxima: “Wait, you scanned me?” Ratchet: “That is a child Optimus!” Lennox: “That’s what your kid looks like!” Maxima: “I’m not his exact kid Lennox. I’m my own Prime’s kid.” Optimus: “You… You’re my sparkling…” Maxima: “A version of you, but yeah. I’m your interdimensional kid.” Optimus: “…” Maxima: “…Did I break him? I tend to do that a lot with daughterless Prime’s.” Epps: “Oh do you?” Lennox: “Sarcasm not appreciated now Epps…”

Optimus did eventually revive himself from being temporarily Blue Screened.

He is a bit hesitant to actually talk to Maxima.

But once he gets some small ice breakers in, he falls into good conversations with her.

Maxima has training in shy Prime’s and Orion’s, she knows what to do.

The new bot is not shy about not being used to her fellow bots appearances.

They look a bit ‘puzzle like’.

Secretly finds out that she is MUCH older than the bots.

Even older than the war itself.

Maxima all but laughs her tailpipe off when she figures out that she is, in fact, the oldest of all the Autobots and possibly all the Decpeticons on Earth.

Optimus, Ratchet and Ironhide have mini crisis figuring out just how much older this ‘kid’ is in comparison.

Bumblebee gets the bright idea to introduce Maxima to Sam and Mikaela after seeing how much of a hit she was with the other NEST soldiers.

Maxima is thinking of starting a bingo sheet on the number of things that seem to be consistent with her ‘team’.

The meeting was civil to say the least.

Don’t get the bot wrong, she loved meeting new humans that were allied with the bots.

…But that didn’t mean she had to adore them.

Maxima: “Are you serious?” Sam: “Nope.” Maxima: “No you have to. There is no way this is possible!” Mikaela: “Its true. I was in class and heard it.” Maxima face palms. Maxima: “I honestly don’t know what to be madder about. The fact that your Ebay auction was the reason Prime and the others came to Earth or the fact that you tried to sell your families belongings.” Sam: “Hey, I needed the cash!” Maxima: “Then sell something else! You can’t just sell something priceless like that!” Sam rolls his eyes. Sam: “Anyways, Mikaela you want to go—” Maxima carefully snatches Mikeala up and puts her inside her alt mode. Maxima: “Actually, I was going to take Mikeala out for a drive. Later!” The monster truck peels out of the hangar. Sam: “…Did she just steal my girlfriend?” Bumblebee: “Ooh she’s a little runaway!”

Maxima does spend some time with the other bots around the hangar.

But it does get a bit hard for her.

Specifically, with Ironhide.

The last Maxima had heard of her Ironhide, he was getting chased by a Con ship and went radio silent.

She hoped that he at least made it to a friendly planet and would find them soon.

Being around this Ironhide both helped and pained her spark.

Bumblebee seemed a tad bit more mature than her Bee.

That didn’t mean he could escape his little mischievous streak from her.

That’s her little brother, through and through.

Soon time came for Maxima to head back to her universe.

She was a bit surprised to see how many soldiers genuinely wished her well.

The bot wasn’t used to so many humans giving encouraging knocks and talks before.

Maxima made sure to give the bots each pats on the back and little head ruffles for Mikaela and Sam.

She pretended not to notice the somber look Prime had.

It would be better this way…

Back in TFP… Maxima falls on her back from the portal. Maxima: “Ow…” She hears some pedesteps. Bumblebee looks down at her with a bit of a concerned look to his face. Bumblebee: “Beep? (Maxima? You, okay?)” Maxima: “Oh thank the Prime’s your face is normal again!” Bumblebee: “Chirp Whirl?! (What in the?!—My face is fine!)”

For a while, it was just Buddy and Tailgate against the world.

Two waste disposal minbots against the hordes of waste.

Not that Buddy would ever refer to their jobs as such.

No, no, the twins were on a journey to find treasure in this messy chaos.

It was less depressing to think of their jobs like this.

Tailgate always enjoyed hearing his twin’s way of spinning their jobs into something larger than life.

Buddy pops out of a large heap of scrap, waving one of their servos to their brother. Buddy: “Tailgate! Look what I found!” They show him a funky looking data slug covered in green sludge. Tailgate: “What is that?” Buddy just chuckled a bit before tossing the slug into their subspace. Buddy: “Who knows! But its gotta have some good information or story on it! Maybe even—" Tailgate notices the green sludge on Buddy’s servos. He then sees the sludge coming from their chassis. Tailgate: “Buddy, what is that sludge?” Buddy: “…Ummm… I don’t exactly know but now its kind of itchy.” Tailgate: “Lets get you to the medbay.” Buddy: “But—” Tailgate: “Not up for discussion. Medbay now or do you want me to have a panic attack?” Buddy crosses their arms a bit and lets Tailgate drag them a bit.

Buddy always told their twin how they were both made for better things in life than just scraping the bottom of the barrel.

They came up with strange ways to make extra shanix on the side and insiteted they go out on an adventure once they got enough to by their own private vessel.

Or at least get something for a vacation to a nearby planet.

Tailgate, as much as he loved his twin, always managed to get their helm from out of the sky and back to work.

Not that he didn’t believe in what Buddy was trying to say.

No, it was mainly because right now, their livelihood depended on them cleaning.

The announcement of the launch of the Ark was something that Buddy could never forget.

Finally!

A chance to leave this planet and see what the universe had to offer!

Sure, they would both still be doing their cleaning duties, but at least it would be a change in scenery.

A few days before the launch of the Arc, Buddy was suddenly transferred to a different cleaning unit.

A unit that wouldn’t be going to space.

The news itself nearly crushed Buddy, while Tailgate tried to talk to someone about getting them on the ship.

Buddy was sitting quietly in the corner of the pair’s shared room. Meanwhile, Tailgate was pacing back and forth, trying to come up with another idea on how to smuggle Buddy onto the ship. Tailgate: “Maybe if you can cram into my travel case—” Buddy: “Cleaning units aren’t allowed to have their own travel cases ‘Gate.” Tailgate: “… Maybe if you mass displace—” Buddy: “I am in now condition to mass displace after last time.” Tailgate huffed a bit before jumping up. Tailgate: “Maybe if you lay low in the waste disposals—” Buddy groaned softly as they ran their servo over their face. Buddy: “Security checks those a minute before takeoff. Tailgate you know that.” They sigh in defeat as they grab his servos. Buddy: “You need to stop.” Tailgate: “But your dream! You’ve always wanted to go out and see the stars!” Buddy squeezes his servo a bit. Buddy: “I know that. But just because I’m not going now, it doesn’t mean I’m not going to go another time. You have fun for me.” Tailgate: “Me?” Buddy: “Yes you! You have fun for the both of us! Take as many pictures as you can and remember to tell me all the cool space stories when you get up there!” Tailgate notices the slight crack in Buddy’s voice. They were trying to act fine for him, but he knew just as much as them that this was going to hurt. Not just because the dream was quiet literally slipping from their servos, but the amount of time the twins would be apart. They had never been a part for this long before… Tailgate pulls Buddy into a hug. Buddy hugs back tightly trying to smother their sobs. Tailgate makes no try and just cries into their shoulder. Tailgate: “I’ll bring you a souvenir! I promise!” Buddy chuckles waterly. Buddy: “You better!”

Buddy remembered waving at their twin goodbye before their shift started.

Their work schedule didn’t allow them to go see him go into the ship.

Not that they thought they could see him enter that ship alone.

That would be one of their greatest regrets.

The news of the Ark going missing nearly shattered Buddy.

Not only was their twin missing, but also the horrible reality that no one was going to help them.

No one was going to waste their time in looking for a waste disposal minibot.

It took a couple hundred years of searching for them to finally accept that Tailgate was gone for good.

To properly mourn his passing and move on with life.

Its what he would have wanted.

Tailgate probably would have tried to scold them for being so down in the dumps while trying to hug the sadness out of them.

With the rise of a more modern Cybertron, Buddy soon found themselves with enough spare shanix to properly leave their job and start fresh.

This may not have been the fresh start they had been looking for, but it was a fresh start nonetheless.

Buddy ended up opening up a small cleaning station somewhere in between the good part of the city and the Narrows.

That was probably why they managed to get the place for so cheap.

The minibot poured everything they had into that little station.

They were determined to make this little station the best affordable place to get a good buffing, repaint and general cleaning ever!

And nothing was going to stop them!

Not the economy!

And certainly not the high shelves!

Thankfully, they had some neighbors to help them out.

Buddy is trying to balance on a chair with wheels, several data pads, and a brick. They are trying to reach something on the high shelf. Buddy: “The one day the ladder breaks… the one day I need something from the highest shelf—ACK!” Buddy starts falling backwards but someone catches them. They stiffen before looking at who caught them. Buddy: “Whirl!” Whirl smiles brightly at them before gently putting them down. Whirl: “I thought we already talked about you resorting to the chair of death. How can I get my cheap cleaning if the owners dead?” Buddy just dusts their sides. Buddy: “The ladder broke again and I needed the box—” Whirl barely reaches above his helm and plops the box into their servos. Whirl: “You mean this box Tiny?” Buddy: “… You’re lucky you’re my favorite customer.” Whirl gasps playfully. Whirl: “I’m your favorite? Wait until the others hear about this!” Buddy: “… Never mind Orion and Chromedome are my favorites.” Whirl: “The betrayal!”

Their favorite customer was in fact their neighborhood watch maker, Whirl.

He was one of the first bots to welcome into the city block and even helped them get settled down properly.

But his kindness wasn’t the only thing that drew them to the bot.

It was hearing how he stuck it to the Senate about his future.

How he refused to go and work for the air force just because his alt mode allowed him to fly.

Whirl grabbed a hold of his future and made something out of it.

They even developed a small crush on the mech.

Not that they would ever tell him.

This was a secret that no one was going to hear.

Instead of saying how thankful they were for Whirl, they showed it in small discounts and free things they would throw in every time he came over.

The bot had long ago given up on trying to pay the extra bit and just remained their friend.

Buddy was cleaning some of their tools while occasionally looking out the window. Orion and Jazz spot the minibot staring at the window. Jazz walks over, smiles brightly before draping his arm around the mini’s shoulder. Buddy momentarily wobbles a bit before standing back straight. Jazz: “Looking for your Conjunx~?” Buddy: “W-what!?” Orion: “Jazz do not tease them like that.” Buddy: “Thank you Orion.” Orion: “… Even though you do seem to be fonder of him.” Buddy: “I am not especially fond of Whirl!” Jazz: “Never said it was Whirl.” Buddy: “And what about you and Chromedome’s ex partner? Pull? Row?” Orion: “Prowl?” Buddy: “That one!” Jazz just shrugs, but both bots can spot the small blush on his face.

The night Whirl’s shop was destroyed, Buddy immediately offered Whirl a place to stay and hide.

Why hide?

If the Senate was coming after a small shop, there was no telling what they wanted with the watch maker.

Whirl stayed with Buddy for a few days before leaving without a word.

That would be the last Buddy would hear from their lovely neighbor.

At least for a long time.

Once the war officially broke out, Buddy sided with the Autobots after they heard many of their friends were joining.

Being a minibot, and a very non-threatening looking one, Buddy had the perfect disguise for spy missions.

All they had to do was play the role of a simple janitor for the Cons.

No one could suspect the tiny janitor that always kept the rooms clean and helped polish armor.

Buddy is busy polishing Starscream’s pede for the 10th time that morning. Starscream: “And once you’re done with that pede, I need you to do my servos. I want to see my reflection on them.” Buddy: “Yes Starcream.” Starscream: “That is Lord Starscream to you.” Buddy: “Lord of the whiny bi—” Starscream: “What was that?” Buddy: “Nothing of importance Lord Starscream! How about I get that scented polish you like? The one with the lemons?” Starscream smirks. Starscream: “Yes. Keep this good work up and once I am leader of the Decepticons, you will have a stable income.” Buddy: “Hooray…”

Buddy not only helped smuggle information, but they were also responsible in helping some bots get back to base safely.

It wouldn’t be until the peak of the war when disaster would strike, quite literally.

Buddy’s position had been compromised while trying to get some bots to safety.

A Con had shot them on the side of the helm, taking out of their optics and a bit of their helm.

They were snatched up and immediately brought back to Autobot base for repairs.

Due to lack of resources and the fact that most of Buddy’s pieces were a bit ‘outdated’, the minibot quickly had to learn how to navigate everything with just one optic.

Some of the newer recruits compared it to the Empurata procedure.

Buddy threw rocks at them for even saying that.

…Though at least they managed to get their servos and helm in tack.

It was just a bit of a vision problem.

They had their vizor replaced but only had one optic worked.

Buddy was placed in the communication centers for the duration of the war.

Timeskip to the end of the war…

Buddy decided to stay on Cybertron and reopen their shop again.

Long gone were the dreams of exploring the stars, now it was time to have a safe place to stay.

They end up partnering up with Blurr’s oil house for a while.

Life was good.

… Until they were summoned to the capitol.

They were going to join the Lost Light to secretly watch over and log in Megatron’s progress.

The Con wasn’t going to suspect the mini of anything malicious.

The perfect cover!

Buddy was devastated by having to leave the home they had just started to build.

They made sure to have a good bot to keep it running.

This was just going to be a quick job and that was it.

There would be no reason why they would ever stay on that ship.

Buddy is walking side by side with Megatron. It looked a bit comical seeing a ‘soft’ looking minibot next to the infamous ex-warlord. Buddy shifted a bit on their pedes. It was too quiet for their liking. Buddy: “How’s the weather up there?” Megatron blinked before looking down at his new companion. Megatron: “What?” The ship’s door opened. Ultra Magnus and Rodimus stepped out. Rodimus: “This is the Lost—Tailgate? What are you doing outside the ship?” Buddy stiffened a bit at the name. It had been a very long time since they had even said his name. Buddy: “I’m Buddy… How do you know that name?” Magnus looked just as confused as the Prime. Magnus: “Are you feeling alright Tailgate?” Rodimus shot a glare at Megatron. Rodimus: “Did you do this? Not even a minute on my ship and you have already messed with my crew!” Buddy waved their servos for everyone to stop. Buddy: “Hold it! Megatron hasn’t done anything to me. And why are you still calling me Tailgate!” Rodimus: “… You wouldn’t happen to be related to a minibot named Tailgate?” Buddy stiffened again. Megatron almost felt bad for the minibot. Buddy: “That was the name of my twin before he went onto the Ark. The first one.” Magnus and Rodimus’s optics widen a bit. Buddy: “…What?” Meanwhile at Swerve’s… Tailgate looks around confused. Rewind: “Tailgate? Everything okay?” Tailgate: “I can’t explain it… but I feel something goods going to happen.” Whirl also looks around. Whirl: “Speak for yourself. I’m feeling impending doom.”

Ironhold’s condition was getting worse.

Thanks to the surprise offlining situation from last week, the larger bot’s circuits were more shot than before the Autobot and human attack.

And with the dwindling supplies and lack of proper tools available, it was only going to be a matter of time before…

No, Rumble couldn’t afford to think like that.

Not now.

Ironhold was laying on their back as Rumble laid on their chassis. Ironhold: “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but you’ve been sleeping up here more often these days. Any reason for that?” Rumble: “Your chassis has better support than the berth.” Ironhold raised an optic. Ironhold: “Sure.” Rumble just rolled his optics and placed his servo on the chassis. The familiar hum of the spark underneath gave some comfort to the minicon. Ironhold: “… You know I won’t go offline in my sleep right? I’m fine.” Rumble tenses a bit. Rumble: “Who says this is about you offlining bolt for brains. Like I said, I’m just here cause its better support for my joints! Not everything is about you.” Ironhold chuckled a bit before groaning a bit. It hurt to laugh these days. Rumble carefully patted their chassis before his frame was trapped under a heavy arm. Rumble: “What the—” Ironhold: “Just better support for my arm. Nothing else.” Rumble stared at the bot for a bit before grumbling and accepting that this was happening. Though secretly glad the arm was there, better to know they were still here.

Rumble had expressed on going out to look for supplies for Ironhold.

Something the larger bot was heavily against.

This caused a lot of fights between them.

Neither was ready to lose the other to forces they could not control.

Thankfully, help was on the way.

Though it came in the strangest form.

Rumble had slept in a bit later than usual that day.

Ironhold decided to let him sleep on the berth and went for a small walk around the scrapyard.

They were not expecting to hear some panicking voices deep in the yard.

Ironhold speed walks a bit to the voices while hiding behind a larger pile of scrap. There was a youngling trapped on one of the old magnets and heading to the old scrapper machine. There were two human children trying to stop it as the youngling was struggling to get off it. Ironhold: “Hang on!” The children and youngling froze at their voice as they sped over. They grabbed the magnets chain and groaned as they pulled at it. SNAP! The chain snapped sending the youngling and Ironhold stumbling to the ground. The remains of the chain got stuck in the scrapper. The machine was studdering and smoking. Ironhold: “Oh Primus—HIT THE DECK!” They quickly grabbed the youngling and children and used their battered frame to shield them from the explosion. BOOM! Ironhold groaned a bit at the pieces of metal that bounced against them. Thank goodness the kids were okay. They slowly got off the kids. The magnet was still on the youngling. Ironhold: “Hold on a minute kid.” They swiftly yanked the magnet off. It wasn’t strong enough to do much for a big bot like them, but practically immobilized the small thing. They chucked the piece of metal out of the bounds of the yard and wiped their servos from the dirt. Ironhold: “You three all right?” CLANK! The small youngling slammed into them with a tight hug. Jawbreaker: “Thank you! Thank you! I thought I was done for back there!” Ironhold blinks before patting the kid on the back. Ironhold: “No problem—oh?” The other two human children were trying to hug their pede. Mo: “Thank you so much for saving our brother!” Robbie: “Yeah, I thought that scrapper was going to get him, but then you swooped in and broke it just like that!” Ironhold: “Wait, did you call this one your brother?” Mo: “Yeah! Just like the others.” Ironhold: “Wait who’s guardian is in charge? Last time I checked no one had any sparklings when we arrived on earth.” Jawbreaker: “I was made with cave water.” Ironhold: “…kid you just made even more questions—” Somewhere in the scrapyard, Rumble is yelling: “IRONHOLD I SWEAR TO THE PRIME’S IF YOU EXPLODED ON YOUR WALK I WILL GO DOWN TO THAT WELL, DRAG YOU OUT AND BEAT YOU MYSELF!”

Introductions were officially made as soon as Rumble came over (and finished scolding Ironhold for getting more dents).

Speaking of the dents, the children offered to help fix them up as payment for helping them.

Rumble and Ironhold were hesitant… but curious at the same time.

Surely the guardian of this kid and the human children was a neutral in the war and had some bot supplies to keep the kid running.

Besides, none of them had any logos.

They ultimately agreed for the help.

Only problem was getting Ironhold to the location.

No problem!

They had someone who could help bring them there!

The eldest human child, Robbie, simply texted for help.

Now it was time to wait.

Rumble had a blast messing with the kids, especially with the humans.

It wasn’t often that he was the biggest bot around, he was smaller than the youngling after all, but the moments where he was the tallest, the minicon took complete advantage of it.

Robbie and Mo had plenty of experience with smaller bots manhandling them.

Rumble was a bit rougher, but Ironhold reminded him to take things a bit easier.

Speaking of the bigger bot, they didn’t mind being the kids jungle gym, even for Jawbreaker.

They were still strong enough to deal with a small dinobot climbing on them, if the kid wanted to play around, let him.

Robbie looked at his phone. Robbie: “He’ll be here any minute now!” Rumble internally sighed. Good, the sooner Ironhold got the help, the better. Jawbreaker was sitting next to Ironhold as Mo was happily perched on their shoulder. Mo: “That’s great! You guys will get fixed in no time.” Ironhold: “That sounds nice.” Rumble: “Hey kid, who’s the name of your guardian again?” Robbie: “Like our mom and dad?” Rumble: “Yeah, I think that’s how human’s call it, right?” Robbie: “Our mom is Dot Malto and our dad is Alex Malto.” Rumble: “… Why does that name sound familiar?” Ironhold: “Those aren’t bot names.” That thought was interrupted by the sounds of a helicopter coming their way. A hauntingly familiar grey helicarrier was coming their way… Rumble: “Wait is that—” Ironhold: “Megatron.” Robbie: “Yeah, but don’t worry, his a good guy now. He’s with the rest of the Autobots.” Rumble and Ironhold felt all of their energon drainging from their faces just as the grey helicarrer landed in front of them and transformed. A few seconds later a familiar looking semi truck pulled in. But all Ironhold could think was the smoking fusion canon staring down at their bleeding frame. Megatron looked stuned at the scene in front of him. Optimus was equally shocked. Megatron: “Rumble? Ironhold?”

And promptly after hearing their father figures voice after all these years, Ironhold glitched and fainted on the ground.

Rumble was already on edge seeing his ex leader and the leader of the Autobots, but seeing Ironhold drop so suddenly drove him over the edge.

He quickly got in between them and the bigger bots, pliers out and ready to fight if needed.

The last time he left Ironhold alone with that grey mech, they had a hole in their chassis.

This minicon wasn’t going to repeat that mistake again!

Mo, Robbie and Jawbreaker play as peace keepers for a bit, promptly addressing that these were the bots who helped them and needed repairs.

The older bots couldn’t deny that the cons looked like they had seen better days.

And they weren’t exactly ready to tell them some history.

The real trouble was letting any of the bigger bots touch Ironhold without Rumble trying to swing at them.

Eventually the thought of Ironhold well being overrode rumble’s logic circuits and let the mech Ironhold once called father carry them.

The Malto residence where not ready to see Megatron carry a bot that was clearly a bit bigger than him followed by Optimus, the kids, and a minicon that was watching Megatron like a hawk.

Even when he was getting taken care of, Rumble kept his optics on Ironhold.

Nightshade: “Excuse me, but I can’t help but see how much you look over at… um…” Jawbreaker: “Their name is Ironhold, Nightshade.” Nightshade: “Yeah, Ironhold. Are they your significant other?” Rumble felt his face heat up. Rumble: “Nah! They are just a pain in my tailpipe.” Hashtag: “Really?” Rumble: “The sarcasm isn’t appreciated kid.” He tenses a bit when Megatron, Optimus and Bumblebee come in with two older humans. Rumble’s best guess was that those two were Mo and Robbie’s parents. Rumble: “What ya want Megabolt? Come here to finish what you started?” Megatron tensed a bit before frowning. Megatron: “You know that was not—” Rumble: “What! That you didn’t mean it?!” Nightshade: “Rumble please, your going to open your weildings again.” The minicon settled back on the berth. Rumble: “You three are lucky that there’s kids here.” Ironhold groans from their berth and shakingly tries to sit up. Rumble: “Ironhold!” Megatron is by their side, steadying them. Their optics were in and out of focus. Ironhold: “Mhm… Father?” Megatron: “… Yes?” Ironhold: “M’head hurts… hurts a lot…” They lean a bit into his side and close their optics. Ironhold: “Make it go… go away…” Megatron hesitantly holds them. He hadn’t done this in… in so many years… Megatron: “Just sleep little one… I’ll be here when you wake up…” Ironhold gives a faint smile before passing out again. Rumble: “…If they don’t offline you when they come to their senses, I will.” Robbie: “Did—Did we all miss the fact they called Meg’s their dad?”

Silver did not ask for any of this.

She did not ask to be promoted to Prime, nor did she ask to be sent on an old spaceship to oversee a spacebridge repair crew.

Magnus had told her the only reason she wasn’t getting her ‘actual’ team and ‘actual’ work was because they were still testing the new recruits and any available bot for the position was out on leave.

Besides, as the Autobot leader pointed out, some of the new spacebridge crews were getting attack by space pirates, having a Prime with them would decrease the chances of attacks.

It didn’t make much sense to her, but she didn’t care too much.

All she needed to do was make sure these repair bots made it to their destination and back without going offline.

She could do that.

Silver Prime walks in stride into the hull, fully prepared to bring in her ‘Prime’ voice and stature. She enters the ship and notices a few frames coming into view, closing her optics for a moment she starts. Silver Prime: “Greetings, I will be your protection for the duration of the voyage. You may address me as—” Ratchet: “Silver Aid?” Silver’s optics snap open and immediately fall on her old medical instructor. Her frame loosens just a bit as a small smile creeps onto her face. Silver Prime: “That was my old name. I go by Silver Prime now… it is good to see you though doctor.” The field tech raised an optic as he noticed the slight frame upgrades his former student had gotten since the last time they had seen each other. Ratchet: “You became a Prime?” She nodded. Silver Prime: “It’s in the name, no?” Bumblebee: “Wait really? What’s a Prime doing here?” Bulkhead: “Hopefully she’s nice?” Silver overheard these two whispers. Silver Prime: “I’m just here to make sure that you all make it back home alive. And as long as no one does anything out of line, there will be no trouble here. Any questions?” Bulkhead raised his servo. Silver Prime: “Yes?” Bulkhead: “Can we also call you Silver Aid?” Silver Prime: “No.” Bumblebee: “But—” Ratchet: “You heard Silver Aid, kid.” Bumblebee: “Why can he say it!?”

Trouble started as soon as the ship was out of Cybertron’s reach.

From dealing with some of the younger crew’s shenanigans to gaining a new crew member they found in the middle of nowhere; Silver was slowly losing whatever patience she had from the start of this whole thing.

But she couldn’t lose focus.

It was just her job to make sure that everyone made it back to the planet alive, that included any bot they found along the way.

It wasn’t too bad being with this rag tag group of repair bots.

The first bot that made this whole thing much more bearable was her old mentor, Ratchet.

His presence brought a bit of nostalgia.

It felt a bit like back in her days in the Academy, having him teach her the best ways to patch a bot and how to fix a loose servo with a wire and a paperclip.

Much easier times back then.

Did he ask some questions?

Yes, he did.

Did she avoid most of the questions relating to why she became a Prime and how life was overall?

Also, yes.

Silver Prime was looking over some old war videos. Ratchet: “Still watching those videos Silver Aid?” She playfully rolled her optics. Silver Prime: “Its Prime now, Ratchet. It’s just one word changed.” Ratchet smiles a bit. Ratchet: “I know.” He sighs a bit. Ratchet: “To think that the kid that walked into my clinic to sock one of my other students for bullying one of her friends would be a Prime. Time sure has gone by, kid.” Silver looks out the window. Silver Prime: “It sure does…” Ratchet looks at his former student. Her optics look older and worn. What happened during those years gone?

Prowl, being the latest addition to the crew, was the hardest to connect with.

The Prime did her best to make sure that he was included in any activity the crew had.

She didn’t need to, but she wanted to.

There was a lot of retaliation from the ninja bot the first few days.

He was constantly avoiding her and purposely running off whenever she tried to put in some sort of order.

He was stubborn.

Too bad, Silver was just as stubborn.

It would be a couple more days before Prowl started mellowing out a bit.

Silver spots Prowl staring at the window. She carefully knocks on the wall to catch his attention. He jumps a bit before frowning. Prowl: “Were you spying on me?” Silver Prime: “Wouldn’t dream of it. But I do need your help down in the bay.” The Prime could practically feel the optic roll the smaller bot was doing behind his visor. He walks over grumbling a bit. Prowl: “What could you possibly need from me that the others couldn’t?” Silver follows behind him. Silver Prime: “I just figured that someone who preaches heavily on focus would like a task with that in mind.” There is more grumbling, but Silver spots the smallest ease in the mechs armor.

Bumblebee and Bulkhead were a special case.

Not only were these two the youngest of the bunch, but they were unfocused and clumsy.

In a way, Silver understood them.

They still had a spark in their optics in wanting to help others without the pain it carried.

She would make sure that it stayed that way.

Bulkhead was a gently giant.

Defiantly the clumsier one of the duo, but he meant well.

Silver had patience for the mech.

Bumblebee, however, was trying her patience in almost every way he could think of.

Not only was he the most hyperactive one of the duo, but he had an ego as well.

Definitely did not remind her of anyone she knew of…

He was more leaned into action than plans as well.

These were just new challenges that the Prime was going to have to tackle on her stay here.

Bulkhead had his wrecking ball stuck in a rock again. Bumblebee was trying to help with his stingers but wasn’t doing too well. Bumblebee: “How did you get it stuck in the rock again!” Bulkhead: “I think I tripped.” Bumblebee: “I know you tripped. You tripped on me!” Bulkhead: “Well you asked!” Silver Prime walks over and looks at the scene in front of her. She knew what to do. Silver Prime: “Bumblebee, step aside for a moment.” The smaller yellow bot looks at her before stepping aside. Silver brandished her axe, tilted it to an angle and swung once against the rock. The rock exploded on impact. The smaller yellow bot yelped as the rocks started coming at him but was pulled behind the Prime just in time. Bulkhead fell backwards. The Prime put away her axe and offered Bulkhead her servo. Silver Prime: “Need some help?” Bulkhead: “I don’t think you can help with—EEP!” The Prime grabbed his servo and with a small shock, she managed to pull the green bot to his pedes. Bulkhead and Bumblebee both looked shocked. Silver just wiped her servos on her sides to get rid of the remaining dust. Bumblebee: “Wh—who—How?!” Bulkhead: “What he said!” Silver chuckled a bit. Silver Prime: “Remember, as a Prime, I’m going to have some surprises here and there.”

The time guarding and being the repair crew’s unofficial leader was peaceful.

Other than the occasional hick-up, everything was fine.

The something that did not last long once the ship landed to repair a spacebridge and Decepticons were spotted on the ship’s radar.

One of the biggest Con ships ever seen since the early days of the war.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

The worst news was finding out that The Megatron was trying to enter the ship to get whatever was glowing in the cargo hold.

Megatron manages to enter the ship. Megatron: “Finally, now to find out where the Allspark is—” SMACK! A pede slammed into his face. Silver Prime has her mask on and axe brandished. Megatron: “What in the—” SMACK! He is caught guard again at the utter audacity this bot has to roundhouse kick him again. Silver Prime: “GET THE PITS OFF MY SHIP!”

Silver immediately started swinging the second the warlord became a threat to her crew.

She promised she was going to make sure they made it back home alive and it’s a promise she intends to keep.

She refuses to lose anyone else on her watch…

Thanks to some awkward teamwork from the others, Silver manages to get Megatron to an open door leading to the atmosphere of the green/blue planet below.

The bot wasted no time in making sure to put all her strength in the kick that sent the warlord spiraling and burning down below.

Just enough time to drag everyone else into their stasis pods and pray that everything worked out when their ship crashed into the lake.

A couple of years passed by quickly in the pods.

And thanks to a series of unfortunate events involving little Earth girl, a kaiju roach, Starscream exploding, and Silver meeting the Well for all of 5 seconds, the team was now the city’s heroes.

It was a bit of an adjustment all things considered, but Sari did make things a bit easier.

The sweet girl was eager to help the bots in any way she could.

Sari: “WAIT! YOU HAVE SUPERPOWERS!?” Silver Prime: “What?” Sari: “Ratchet just said you can copy other bots things! You have actual powers!” Silver bashfully scratches the back of her helm. Silver Prime: “It’s just an outlier--” Bumblebee gasps dramatically before pointing a digit at her. Bumblebee: “You’re an outlier and you never told us!? For shame Boss Bot! For shame!” She raises an optic. Silver Prime: “For shame?” She looked over at a slightly sweating Prowl. At least she knew where Bumblebee used that kind of wording. Bulkhead: “Can you show us?” Bumblebee and Sari: “PLEASE!” Ratchet walks a bit into the growing circle. Ratchet: “Hey now, if Silver Aid—” Silver Prime: “Silver Prime, Ratchet.” Ratchet: “You’ll be ‘Silver Aid’ until the day you surpass me.” Silver just sighs and lets him continue. Ratchet: “As I was saying, it’s her choice if she wants to show her outlier powers. There will be no forcing on my watch.” The message was received. The Prime puts a servo on the field techs shoulder. Silver Prime: “Thanks Ratchet.” Ratchet waves her servo off. Ratchet: “It’s nothing kid. Just don’t give into the young bots optics too quickly.” She laughs a bit. Silver Prime: “I’ll keep that in mind.” Bumblebee: “Wait a second—THAT’S HOW YOU PULLED BULKHEAD OFF THE GROUND!” Silver Prime: “It’s more complicated than that.” Prowl: “So, you do admit on using your powers and not telling us?” Ratchet: “Will you kids—wait you picked up Bulkhead?” Silver Prime: “So much for a peaceful afternoon…”

Buddy was one of the last outliers to join the Autobots.

There used to be other outliers around, not a lot but enough numbers to notice.

Now as far as he could tell, Buddy was the last one left.

The bot was a peculiar outlier.

Most outliers had just one thing that set them apart from the average bot.

Buddy had a multitude of abilities.

For one, his frame seemed to mend even the deepest of stab wounds.

Something very unusual for a Cybertronian

Buddy stares unbothered by a large slash across his chassis. Bumblebee: “Are you okay?!” Buddy: “Eh.” Bumblebee: “What do you mean ‘Eh’!? You need a medic!”

Buddy’s servo’s had retractable ‘claws’, something he made as his signature weapon on the battlefield.

They could slash through some of the hardest and densest metals know to Cybertron.

Buddy: “Hey Screamer! You want to see my servo transform?” Starscream gets the birdy. Starscream: “What is—ACK!” Buddy leaps to the Seeker and tries to slash him with the birdy. Starscream: “How dare you—WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT! I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!”

But probably one of the most uncanny ability Buddy could do was sense danger.

He didn’t have a scanner or and readings, he just knew something was going to come and it wasn’t friendly.

Buddy suddenly stops in his tracks. Helm finals twitching and tensing. His optics go wide. Buddy: “GET DOWN!” Tackles Bulkhead out of the way of incoming missile attacks. Buddy: “BULKHEAD GET YOUR BLASTED FENDER OFF THE GROUND AND RUN!”

The bot arrived on Earth shortly after most of Team Prime made it to Earth.

It took some time to get adjusted to team life once again, but it came just in time for the arrival of the kids.

Now, Buddy had already shown a bit of a soft spot towards Bumblebee in the beginning.

But no one thought much about it, everyone had a soft spot for the youngest bot.

With the children around, their fellow guardians were a bit worried about what Buddy’s reaction would be.

The bot wasn’t too found of humans after some had egged him in his alt mode.

The kids felt a bit uneasy seeing the bot glaring at them for a couple of days.

Jack: “Hey Arcee, what’s going on with… umm… him?” Arcee looks where Jack gestured. Buddy was brooding in the corner while buffing some old dents out. Arcee: “You mean Buddy?” Jack: “Yeah… why has he been all… what’s the word?” Miko pops up next to him. Miko: “Brooding? A Stick in the mud? Looking like a Con double agent?” Bulkhead: “Miko! Buddy isn’t a spy.” Miko: “Could have fooled me.” Arcee: “Buddy is just like that Miko. He’s actually been better these past few days.” Jack: “This is better? I’d hate to see him on a bad day.” Bulkhead: “Buddy’s been in a good mood since you guys showed up now that I think about it.” Miko: “Ha! Yeah right! He probably wants to kick us for being around.” Arcee and Bulkhead recall Buddy carefully holding a sleeping Raf, looking so stressed because he didn’t know what to do and didn’t want to wake him up. Arcee and Bulkhead: “Sure…”

Jack and Raf had no problem with the grumpy bot.

Buddy had attempted to bond with them after awkwardly asking if they wanted to join him on a drive so they wouldn’t be couped up in the base too long.

Buddy was parked in an empty lot letting Raf and Jack eat a bit in his alt mode. Jack: “You seriously don’t mind?” Buddy: “I don’t see the problem.” Raf: “Thanks!” Buddy: “… Just try and not to eat anything glittery or those spicy chips.” Jack: “What’s wrong with spicy chips?” Buddy: “The smell stays on the seat for days and I’m not exactly too fond of that.”

Miko feels like he targets her in particular.

Buddy always seemed to be around the corner whenever she tried to do something deemed ‘Mischievous’.

He has absolutely no problem scolding the girl for doing things she wasn’t supposed to do.

Buddy has Miko in his servo. She is kicking and tries to get out of his grip. Buddy puts her down and crosses his arms. Buddy: “What in the name of Alpha Trion where you thinking!?” Miko crosses her arms. Miko: “I just wanted to help!” Buddy: “By what!? By running into the groundbrigde all willy nilly, head first straight into battle, provoking STARSCREAM of all bot! WITH A ROCK! Are you trying to get yourself terminated!?” Wheeljack and Bulkhead try to step in. Buddy sends them a glare. Buddy: “No! You are not saving her this time! She needs to know there are consequences for these kinds of actions!”

Yes, they butt heads a lot.

Miko is convinced that he hates her.

Buddy doesn’t, he just worries for her safety as the human with the least amount of self-preservation.

Bulkhead does take some time to defend his teammate and friend.

Buddy had lost a lot of bots he considered family, he just didn’t wan this new one to go up in flames either.

The girl does tone down the aggression a bit and starts leaving doodles for Buddy to find.

Buddy acts like he throws them away.

… But a little yellow bot told her that he keeps every picture in a special drawer in his habsuite.

It took a bit for Ophelia to properly wash her energon stained servos in the trough by the barn. She couldn’t stop seeing the flickering visor and the feeling of his servo dropping from her face. The minibot had been banned from entering the medbay and was simply waiting outside with Dorothy Malto and her ‘husband’ Alex Malto.

The children were ‘helping’ make sure Steve was comfortable under Wheeljack’s supervision.

Elita, Bumblebee, Optimus and Megatron were talking in little whispers a few feet away.

Alex offered a giant towel once she stopped starting at the tinted water.

She blinked before hesitantly taking the towel and drying her servos.

Alex smiled a bit at her before Dorothy moved closer to him. She squinted her optics at the woman before folding the towel and putting the towel beside the trough. The minibot crossed her arms and stood as tall as she could.

“So… Dot tells me your Megatron’s daughter?” Alex asked.

“…Something like that.” She responded.

“How come Meg’s never talked about you?” asked Dot.

Ophelia ignored the slight pain in her spark. “Ask him.”

Her optics trained on the tall grey mech as a slight scowl appeared on her face.

Megatron seemed to sense the stare and looked over, gaining the other bots attention as they began to walk over. It didn’t go unnoticed by the husband and wife how tense the minibot suddenly became the closer the bots came.

She looked at the grey mech with defiance burning in her optics.

“What is Steve’s condition?” She asked in a strong tone.

“He will live.” Optimus answered.

Ophelia loosened a bit before stiffening again.

“When will he be able to move again?” she asked.

The Prime shook his helm a bit. “Ophelia, he can’t be moved any time soon.”

Ophelia tensed even more while glancing towards the medbay doors.

Alex cleared his throat. “Maybe a visit would calm your nerves down?”

“No.” said the taller bots.

Ophelia took a step forward, anger clear in her optics. “And why not? That’s my friend in there.”

“Because we don’t want you in there with the Terrans. You already kidnapped one of them, we don’t need you trying to take another.” said Bumblebee while glaring at her.

Ophelia glared right back. “And like I said before, that was a misunderstanding!”

Bumblebee took a step forward and leaned down. “How is kidnapping a misunderstanding!”

Ophelia took several steps towards the yellow bot. “Maybe if you’d get your helm out of your tailpipe then maybe you can listen what I have to say!”

Elita moved Bumblebee behind her and looked down at her with an unreadable expression. “Then explain.”

Ophelia winced a tiny bit hearing Elita use that tone with her.

“Fine.” She spat out.  “Steve and I heard rumors about these Terrans being trained by you bots, specifically by Megatron. We just came to see if the rumor was true and were going to leave right after, but Thrash found us. Steve panicked and knocked him out before taking us back to our hideout.”

She turned herself slightly towards the Maltos. “As soon as Thrash woke up, we brought him back to the hills so he could go back to you without alerting our presence, which we all know how that turned out.” Ophelia finished as she side eyed Optimus and Bumblebee.

Dot crossed her arms a bit. “Why were you here though?”

“I just said that we came to see if the rumors were true.” Ophelia replied.

That was technically the truth. They didn’t need to know the rest.

“You are not telling us something.” Megatron stated.

Ophelia glared at him. “That is the reason why we came.”

“And what about the other Decepticons?” questioned Dot.

“True, did you contact any other Cons too?” Bumblebee asked while throwing an accusatory optic at her.

Ophelia was feeling her patience start to wane. “The only Decepticon that I have talked to in the past few years has been Steve. And as we all know, is in the medbay that you all refuse to let me in!”

Bumblebee huffed. “That’s impossible.”

Ophelia felt her optic twitch. “How is that impossible!? It’s just been us for the past few years!”

“You must have someone else to be in contact with. Like, I don’t know, Soundwave!”

“I haven’t seen Soundwave since we got separated from during the raids!” Ophelia shot back with her servos clenched even tighter.

She spoke to all of the bots this time. “Is it so hard to believe that some bots want a normal life outside this ‘war’? I know that normal isn’t exactly on the table for us Cybertronians, but wanting peace is nothing new!”

The bots murmured to themselves a bit before the medbay doors opened as the Terrans and their human siblings came out. And they were heading right for them.

Thrash was leading the charge.

“Ophelia!” he called and scooped her into a hug.

Ophelia stiffened immediately, not sure how to proceed. The bots were on edge to see what the minibot would do as the other Terrans began to pile in on the hug. Optimus and Elita felt a bit guilty for thinking that the minibot would actually hurt the youngling. Bee was ready to space them apart at the first sign of danger. Megatron just saw the slight panic in her optics.

After being hugged hard enough, Ophelia was placed back down. The minibot shook her helm a bit, not exactly used to that much affection at once.

Bumblebee looked at the Terrans. “Hey, why don’t you guys go play over there. The adults are talking right now.”

“Is it about Ophelia and Steve showing up?” Hashtag asked innocently.

Dot looked at her purple bot daughter. “Were you eavesdropping on us?”

Robby shook his head. “It wasn’t on purpose!”

“You guys were kinda loud though.” Added Mo.

Dot and Elita looked at them with the Mom stare.

“How much did you hear?” Elita asked.

“Not that much!” reassured Jawbreaker.

“Is it true that your actually Megatron’s daughter though?” Thrash asked as he raised his servo.

Ophelia face palmed a bit.

Megatron spoke up again. “You are still hiding something. You frame on the shoulder is flaring up.”

Ophelia gave him a nasty glare while trying to flatten her shoulders.

He didn’t back down.

“What was your real purpose for being here?”

Ophelia stayed silent. “Like I told you, it was just to see if the Terrans rumor was true.”

Megatron took a quick glance at Optimus and Elita before straightening his back and walking towards her.

Ophelia subconsciously started stepping back.

“Back off Megatron.”

He didn’t listen, instead turning to the medbay.

A new fear instilled in Ophelia seeing the fusion canon activating.

“Wait! What are you doing!?”

“If you won’t give me the truth, I’ll just ask your friend instead.”

Optimus and Elita shared a concern look as Bumblebee flashed an uncomfortable one.

Ophelia quickly started to walk in front of him.

“No! Get away from him!”

He ignored her and tried to step over her.

“No!” She cried before activating her chained mace and swinging it right in the back of his pedes.

The grey mech yelped as he fell to his knees, another swipe of the mace scratched his chassis.

Ophelia had a terrified look on her face but was held together by something else.

Megatron stood back up again and had an angered look to his face. Ophelia saw flashes of servos coming at her and the familiar hue of the fusion canon.

Oh, Primus she was back in that infernal training room.

He was coming closer!

He was coming in too fast!

“STOP!” Dot yelled.

Megatron and Ophelia froze in place.

“What is wrong with you both!? Family doesn’t attack each other like that!”

Megatron tried to say something, but it was interrupted by Ophelia laughing bitterly.

“You want to know why I came? Do you really think you’re ready to hear it Megatron?!” She yelled before turning to face everyone.

Screw staying composed, if she was going to be continued to be hounded for questions, she was going to give them the ugly truth.

“The real, clean, unfiltered truth? Is that what you want? Fine!”

She glared at Megatron with unfiltered rage. “The real reason why we came, why I came despite knowing the high chance you!” She pointed at him. “Would be there, was for them!” She pointed at the Terrans.

The Terrans looked confused. Robby and Mo looked over at their parents for answers, but they were just as lost as they were.

“As soon as I heard that you would be one of their trainers, I needed to know if they were okay! I needed to know because I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if they weren’t!”

A heavy silence blanketed the group.

Twitch spoke up first. “What do you mean by that? Meg’s is an awesome trainer! He helps us pull off all these cool moves and sometimes we practice trust falls! Why would you be worried?”

“Because something happened to you… didn’t it? Like Starscream?” Hashtag stated.

“No, that can’t be right. She’s, his daughter! He wouldn’t do something like that!” Said Twitch.

Oh, was she going to have a rude awakening about her hero.

“We know that Megatron hasn’t always been the good guy, but he’s changed!” Said Jawbreaker.

“Really Ophelia he has! He’s kinda like everyone’s Dad, besides our actual dad and everyone else’s designated dad’s.” Thrash said adding a kind smile, unknowingly landing a blow straight into Ophelia’s spark.

Dad.

He was a father figure to them.

A GOOD Father figure.

…Why…?

…Why couldn’t he…

…Was it her?...

… Was it…

Ophelia’s tense demeanor suddenly felt lax. The once tense and sturdy looking minibot was replaced with a small bot who just looked so tired.

It was a look that made her seemed like she was listening and was considering what was being said.

Something that Megatron took advantage of and took a few steps too close.

“I have changed Ophelia. I truly have. I am not the same mech as I was all those years ago. Lusting for power and might. We can turn this into a new beginning, my dear.”

He knelt on one knee and offered her his servo with a gentle smile.

“Do you care to take that chance?”

Ophelia looked at him blankly before turning straight for Dorthy Malto.

“Dorothy Malto, being Megatron’s human partner, did he ever tell what happened on the day he left?”

Dot looked confused. “He had come to terms about coming over to our side and did it. Nothing more.”

Ophelia kept her blank optics locked on Megatron.

“Did you know I was given the news of his abandonment in the medbay?”

This left many optics blinking in surprise as Megatron’s turned into realization.

Horrible realization.

If he wasn’t going to give her peace, she would tear that hero look right from under his pedes.

“Ophelia—”

“You left the enter Decepticon armada to me as I was recovering from my wounds. You left everything.”

Her voice was steady, but her optics still held that burning fire.

“You left the Decepticon cause that you had started, you left your people for the slaughter. You. Left. Me.”

Her voice was getting a bit more stronger.

“Do you have any idea what happened once you left? How suddenly every single optic was turned to me to lead? During a time where the Decepticon cause was called into question. Question that why had anyone been fighting if their leader was going to leave them?”

Megatron tried to interrupt. “My decision—”

“You DO NOT get to talk now!” Ophelia yelled, effectively silencing him.

“I was nearly on my death bed when I received the new that my father had abandoned everything! I didn’t know what I was doing! I tried! I tried so hard with the help of Starscream, Soundwave and Shockwave! I tried!

Her vents started sputtering a bit.

“Do you know the utter fear that I went through when I had to give the Decepticons the final message as the raids came in? To ask them, to plead that they run because we were getting over run and out gunned?”

Tears of frustration were starting to well, but she refused to let a single one of them fall.

Her tears needed to be spent on something important.

Not on him.

Never again on him.

She stopped for a bit before lowering her voice.

“Mrs. Malto, do you have any idea of what kind of monster you let into your home? Because I guarantee you, you have no idea who you are dealing with.”

“That’s enough!” Megatron yelled and stood up too quickly.

Ophelia was startled and fell on her back.

He moved forward and she instinctively curled up and placed her servos above her helm.

Silence.

No one dared to speak or move for a moment.

Megatron looked like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have while Ophelia looked panicked.

She slowly stood back up, frame slightly shaking, but refused to back down again.

Megatron tried to step forward, but someone stopped him.

It was Elita.

She carefully moved to Ophelia and knelt down.

“Ophelia, as long as Steve is here, do you promise that you will not cause any trouble here?”

The minibot replied immediately. “Yes.”

“As long as Steve is under our care, do you promise to help around were needed?”

“As long as Steve is here in recovery, I will do whatever is needed. I swear it.” Ophelia replied raising a servo and crossing her spark. A human way of making a deep promise she had seen in a TV show.

That seemed to catch the humans attention.

Dorothy cleared her throat. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything bad.”

Optimus step forward and mirrored Elita’s stance and just looked at her.

A small silence passed before he offered her his servo.

She hesitated before shaking it.

“And you will also help Bumblebee in training.”

“WHAT!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS!”

“PRIME!”

Megatronus met Buddy under less than likely circumstances.

The gladiator was waiting for his usual medics to come and fix him up.

Noticing the medic being much later than usual, he asked a drone where the medic was.

The drone said nothing and continued doing his work.

The door soon swung open with a youngling struggling to carry his med kit.

Megatronus blinked a bit, not sure if the loss of energon was making him see things. The youngling happily walked up the monstrous size of a mech. Buddy: “Hi! I’m Buddy! Big fan of your work Megatronus!” The gladiator winced a bit at the loudness in the younglings voice. The youngling noticed and gave him a sheepish smile. Buddy: “Sorry! Its just an honor to be even here, much more helping you get back on your pedes.” He quickly started work on the battered frame, and quite efficiently too. Megatronus: “Aren’t you a bit too young to be here in the Pits?” Buddy: “With the prices of energon going up, this was the only job I could get without much background check. Yeah, they pay a bit cheaper and there’s plenty of mechs that love to push a small bot like me around, but at least its better than working in the waste pits!” Megatronus: “Waste pits?” Buddy: “Yeah, hot, steamy, and smells horrific. Its much better up here! Oh! What do you call a computer that showed up late to work? A hard drive!” Megatronus: “…What—” Buddy: “Don’t worry I got a whole bunch more!”

Megatronus didn’t think he would see the youngling again.

But low and behold the next time he was sent to the med bay, the youngling was sitting there with a big grin.

Buddy always seemed to go on and on about the most random things during his repairs.

Megatronus didn’t mind it too much.

It was annoying at first, but he soon saw an extremely passionate youngling.

The gladiator asked where he knew how to repair a bot.

Buddy bashfully mentioned having watched and spied on a medic in one of the run down clinic for a while.

Soon enough his servos were moving just as fast as the medics and he was able to study some old medical data pads.

The rest came from patching up many of his friends in the alleys.

At the mention of alley’s Megatronus offered to share his living quarters with Buddy.

A proposal that surprised him and Buddy.

The youngling accepted after a couple of days, claiming it would be better to stay so he could get to work early.

Both mechs know it was a lie but said nothing about it.

Soon enough the small medic, the youngling who barely came up to Megatronus’s knee, began following him around the gladiators’ quarters.

There was a bit of a ruckus amongst some of the other fighters, mainly with the ones who thought it was a good idea to mess with the youngling.

Megatronus made sure to take care of that problem.

The other fighters soon found themselves caring for the young medic as well.

Of course, it was just because he could patch them up after hours and nothing more.

Yeah, nothing more…

Megatronus: “Soundwave, have you seen Buddy?” He pauses seeing Buddy sitting on the gladiator’s shoulder. Buddy: “Hey Megatronus! I got a new joke! What did the sparkling call his father? Data!” Megatronus: “…” Soundwave: “…” Soundwave starts running with Buddy. Megatronus: “Soundwave you already have the minicons, bring back Buddy!” Soundwave: “Never!” Buddy: “WWWEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!”

Yes, Uncle Soundwave was one of Buddy’s favorite uncles amongst the new gladiator family forming.

He was the one who finally persuaded Megatronus to finally give Buddy some tips on self-defense.

Both gladiators were surprised with how quickly the youngling took to fighting and steely determination to finish a fight.

But Buddy’s favorite Uncles had to be Orion Pax.

He just loved being in the archives with him whenever he was able to go out.

Orion loved seeing the light shine in Buddy’s optics when he would read out loud.

Orion: “Buddy, this is a dear friend of mine.” Ratchet walks through the door making Buddy’s optics go wide. Buddy: “You’re that medic in deadend!” Ratchet: “Um, how do you know—” Buddy: “I used to watch you all the time!” Optimus and Ratchet: “…” Buddy: “… I should have phrased that better…”

Ratchet was a bit touched and creeped out that this youngling saw him at practice and decided to heal bots as well.

Gave Buddy a new med kit on one visit, neither he or Orion were aware that a youngling could practically pour out joy.

Megatronus wasn’t jealous.

Not at all…

It was an unspoken thing between Buddy and Megatronus.

The gladiator did his best to protect the youngling and provide, while Buddy looked up to him as a role model.

… then came that fateful day at the Senate.

Buddy tried sneaking into the building, but there was just too much security to rick it.

He remembered Megatronus storming out of the building with a fire in his optics that he had never seen before.

The youngling followed closely behind.

Soon enough the war had started.

Conisidentially, it was around this time Buddy had a growth spurt.

Almost overnight, Buddy went from about Megatron’s knee, to skyrocketing to being a helm shorter than him.

A bit of an insult if you asked Buddy.

He was the same height as his Uncl—as Optimus Prime.

Something that Megatron noticed as well.

His training only increased since the start of the war.

No more were the days of the purpose being for self-defense, now being taught to mercilessly offline a bot.

The youngling medic was no more.

Now replaced with a Decepticon who haunted the nightmares of many Autobot who ever came across his path.

He hated the look of fear in their optics.

He hated it, just as much as he hated training days.

Megatron did not hold back during ‘training’, if he could call it that anymore.

At this point Buddy was just another punching bag for his father to use.

Something he gladly took on.

If Buddy, the next heir for the Decepticon’s, couldn’t handle a few punches, what message would that send out to everyone else?

Besides, someone had to take the hits, and he refused to have a teammate take the brunt.

They have their burdens to carry, this was simply his too bare.

Buddy barely manages to stand up right. Today’s training was rougher than usual. Dreadwing and Skyquake turn around the corner. Buddy tries standing up straighter. Buddy: “Greetings Dreadwing. You just got back?” Dreadwing: “Buddy you’re hurt.” The blue and green mech go to the younger cons side and help him stand. Buddy: “Just got back from fighting, nothing to worry about.” Skyquake: “This doesn’t look like nothing.” The twins begin to walk Buddy to the med bay. Buddy: “I can walk there by myself.” Dreadwing: “Tell me that the next time you have a hole near your tanks.” Buddy: “… Hey Dreadwing… why did the computer go to the doctor?” Dreadwing: “Buddy not now—” Buddy: “It had a bad case of ‘data’ entry.” Dreadwing and Skyquake try smothering a chuckle and opt to bringing their friend to the med bay.

Of course, at that time, not many cons knew about the extensive training.

Not until Buddy was permanently stationed to be a part of the Nemesis crew.

While Buddy rarely screamed or yelled anymore, the harsh sounds of metal on metal still rung through the ship.

Training that often-left Buddy barely crawling on the floor.

Soundwave and Breakdown soon became accustomed to helping the younger con back to the med bay.

Soundwave hated this.

Starscream was just waiting for Megatron to offline Buddy to eliminate the competition.

Once Buddy became temporary Leader of the Decepticon’s, the first thing he did was call back all offensive troops.

Something controversial, but there was not much those mechs could do but complain.

Buddy had the final word.

Soon enough, he tried to contact Optimus Prime to do peace negotiations.

Buddy had enough of this year’s long war and was sure that the bots were tired as well.

He never received anything back before Megatron came back.

Buddy: “Welcome back father.” Megatron: “Buddy.” Megatron turns to Starscream. Megatron: “Starscream, show me what has become of my army.” Buddy: “father I am more than qualified to—” Megatron: “Did I ask for your thoughts?” Buddy quiets a bit. Buddy: “… No sir.” Megatron: “You may speak when I tell you to.” Megatron walks away with Starscream. The Second in Command sneaking in a satisfactory grin before paying full attention to his Lord. Breakdown and Knockout come to Buddy’s side. Breakdown: “You okay kid?” The Ex-Wrecker gently pries Buddy’s clenched servo open. Buddy vents deeply. Buddy: “I’m fine Breakdown… everything will be fine…” He forces a smile. Buddy: “Breakdown, why did the computer start squeaking?” Knockout: “Buddy no—” Breakdown: “Why?” Buddy: “Because someone was stepping on its mouse.” Breakdown: “What’s a mouse?”