Gestalt teams and human partners
If you believed Megatron had the worst headache imaginable due to the stupid actions of the gestalt he ordered to be made then you have no idea how Optimus goes along with the gestalt on his own side while being part of one at the time!
First of the Autobots combiners, and also the first one to crack up the answer to all of the problems a combiner can have, do your components fight or hate each other? Then shut them up and use their frames like puppets, may sound harsh but hey, it works! It drains them mentally and physically, and the bond is so closed off that sometimes it is just silence and darkness, until one of them wants to show off his lover right in front of everyone else with his usual lack of ability to read the room.
Superior is the second-best combiner in matters of movement and decision-making, but it does take a toll on his components to let him exist. All he needs is their desire to crush the decepticons for good under their fists, their frames to exist and their sparks to keep going. He doesn't care who is trying to fool around with a human (it is Fireflight), he doesn't care for the reasons (oh, but Fireflight wanted to talk and show so much about you), all he needs from all his components is the single idea of winning, that's it (Fireflight wants to kiss you so much).
Air Raid is also interested once, much to Superionâs dismay, Fireflight and his affection towards you seem to spill into the bond at least once and, as the foolish romantic apparently is, all he can think about is you, it's a flash pushed to all their face plates, came fast and gone fast because he wants it like that, but the thing goes down bad because he can feel his components go silent until Air Raid goes âDamn!â and Superion feels a burst of heat coming from somewhere, keeping it down was the best course of action at that point, even when it gave curiosity to his components he pushed it down until it was almost suffocating, until the thing pushed up once again. All in all, he has done a good job keeping these infestations away from one another, and only once has he been in your presence while you wait for Fireflight, and okay, he concedes you look ok as his sparks spin a little too fast.
âWho was it?â, Silverbolt, both exhausted and bothered, watches over the rest of his team, âbecause not everything came from himâ, he points at Fireflight, who goes running to his âhuman-friendâ to then kiss you like the world may end tomorrow, making them all watch with different kinds of horror and horny because why is Fireflight being so loud? Silverbolt has had enough and tells Fireflight to go get a room, which he takes personally as he grabs you and takes you away, much to their surprise, to the living units.
They were both surprised, slightly aroused, and kind of repulsed.
So, that little extra something may have come from Air Raid, who is always game for anything that may convey an adventure. Slingshot, for once, is quiet, looking incredibly sheepish, something weird for him, Skydive seems clicks away from combustion.
âWho says it wasn't Superion?â
Superior took that personally, and refused to attach Skydive for his insolence, Fireflight too because he is infecting the rest! âSuperior doesn't want a human!â, he states, just to go silent when you appear once again to see your boyfriend.
Some could say Defensor is one of the combiners who has handled the situation the best there could be, some say he is acting like a sheltered mech whose seal hasn't been breached yet. Defensor components vary a lot in terms of personality and drives, but they defend, he defends, that's their thing!
Apparently hide and trying to be invisible is also his thing when you appear on the dock.
Their gestalt bond isn't as invasive as the rest of the combiners, so they have a good amount of internal privacy, and also no idea where the filter of affection comes from every time you come along as part of your work (many humans are on watch to alert if any combiner gets out of control), Blades has sworn in the name of his favorite Decepticon massacre that it isn't his deal, and that anyone who doubts him about it will be gutted by his own servos, âsquishies aren't my type, periodâ; Groove is a mech of word, even if he knew who it was he will not rat someone out, it ain't him but he won't judge, love is love for him, âcould even be Defensor, who knows?â (it is Defensor); Streetwise takes a minute, thinks back again to the human, much to the others' dismay goes: âI mean, I get it, I get it, but no, it ain't meâ; First Aid doesn't count because everyone and their creator knows he has a thing for Springer and no one doubts him when he says it wasn't him, at first then didn't even ask him to begin with; Hot Spot is still trying to see the possibilities of where the affection is coming while trying to appear casual in the whole problem while also thinking about how to control Defensor better, because he can't be acting like this all the time, was strange but he had to ask you to stop coming to supervise them, only to then almost beg you to change back your shift and come back because none of them wanted to handle a sad Defensor when the combiner knew what happened, they already have enough on their plate while being one of the few combiners still active and in duty, they can't dump a miserable combiner into the deal, much less one that doesn't want to work, or the whole toll it takes on them, because what do you mean they feel this disturbance and gloom?
âWho do you think it is?â, a random autobot working in the combiner station asked his decepticon fellow worker, who only did a 50/50 with a servo.
âI'm up with it being all Defensor or Grooveâ.
The autobot laughed, âNo way, combiners don't have that kind of thingâ.
Combiners do have that kind of thing going on, as Defensor once again tried to cower away from you, with just the right angle to keep looking where you went, the decepticon opened his servo as the autobot paid 50 shanix, while a neutral scientist didn't stop screaming how revolutionary the discovery was, and that it wasn't time to make bets in the discovery of a century.
The bet is down, and the rest of autobots and decepticons that like gossip are waiting for an answer because they all can't be lying to their faces, not even knowing you? Lies! How can they be saying that while Defensor smiles like that every time you come along?
Well, let's be honest about this combiner in particular, Sky Reign is very volatile, not inclined to wrath or irritation, no, it is just that since Sky Lynx is its main component he is given a great physical strength, even more than he can sometimes remember he has, prone to being clumsy, terribly so, as none of the components wanted to be in the same body in the first place, and those same components aren't that well adjusted to having such a big frame in comparison to Sky Lynx.
Yet, Sky Reign can't, and I mean can't, keep it down when he thinks of something too much, or if he likes something too much.
And yeah, Thundercrackerâs âconjunxâ is the first to pop up in the matter, have in mind how in that time he wasn't really in a relationship, he wanted to, and some of that was perceived into the bond, making him wish to disappear when Cosmos was the first to notice, âwhat the-â
âDon't organic-shame me!â
Both Slugslinger and Sunstreaker were quiet, at least for once, the enigma wasn't that corrupting to their bond, so all that Sky Reign got were a few glances here and there, nothing too crazy.
But mech, he liked it, and still wanted more of it, which didn't go that well as it seemed that Thundercracker was a jealous mech.
âYou have no right to see into my mind!â, he would screech, finally behaving like his frame type, Sky Reign still wanted to know, it got so bad that he tried to force it open, to all of them, finding nothing but a few things in between before finally settling again on Thundercracker, who just got enough and severed the bond, making them all fall once the combination ended on his end.
Out of respect for Thundercracker, no one said much, and no one tried to think about it, it was as weird as it could get, Cosmos tried to not think about it while Slugslinger took a more âwow, really? A fleshie?â approach, Sunstreaker doesn't count because he has his own demons and wanted nothing to do with this, if anything, the moment Thundercrackerâs humanâs face popped up he went into total chaos internally, he didn't want to think about that human, not during the bond, not ever, he had his own problems with another human and having TCâs right in his face plate made him sick (somehow, it felt like cheating for him), so no, no one would look into him and his secrets, if the seeker couldn't keep it down then he would.
Sky Lynx, for another part, was delighted.
âYoung love is something to rejoice in!â, the ancient and giant mech would laugh, it wasn't with malice, he was truly happy, which somehow made it worse because Thundercracker couldn't be mad with him, âBeen a while since such feelings touched my spark, but it's so beautiful nonethelessâ. Somehow, his whole speech kept on and on, to the point of finally making Thundercracker never want to form Sky Reign again, but they had to if they didn't want any lasting damage, so, does anything change for this combiner when TC finally gets together with his human intended?
âKnew they would fall sooner or later!â
No one knows where that came from, but all of them were mortified, except Sky Lynx, who said he couldn't be so crass as to say such a thing, they are still sorting things out, much more so since TC got a human child as an iron apprentice.
Curiously enough, after Max appeared in TCâs life, Sunstreaker had Solar not much later.
Look, the thing with this Gestalt is very difficult, Maximus was created in a very hard situation, Optimus and Prowl in the same combiner while Prowl has a warrant and Optimus wants to make him âsee the right sideâ? Mirage and Sunstreaker trapped in the same body after what Sunstreaker did to Mirage?? Ironhide in the middle of both messes and being the only component keeping everyone in one piece and barely sane?? While Devastator tries to kill them for taking Prowl and Prowl too because he is (involuntarily, again) part of another combiner????
Terrible scenario, no matter how much Optimus tries to say otherwise, it was a terrible situation.
Alright, this time at least it wasn't Prowlâs fault.
And Mirage is traumatized for years to come and suddenly he wants an organic blanket badly.
Maximus doesn't exactly have a filter, he was made by force, with good intentions to rebuke Starscreamâs power, yes, but all components except for Prowl were forced into it, there were no inhibitors and to this day you can see some traces that one mech has left in the other.
You see, first time Maximus was formed there wasn't much to cover from one another and other things were more pressing than others: Sunstreakerâs âthingâ (failed conjunx ritus by his trauma and PTSD, and organic phobia) with you going back years? Yeah, that wasn't the most important thing as Devastator tried to kill them, if anything everyone was more worried about Prowlâs mind being shared with Optimusâ, funnily enough, not much came from it.
Oh, but when combined again for their own mental health? Optimus Maximus was, for lack of better words, a mess. He was feeling sad and miserable, acting as if he was searching for something that seemed to be missing from his life. Maximus was alive only two times, and none of those instances were longer than an hour each. Where did that feeling of softness and a human face come from? Where did this sorrow come from?
âWho was that human?â Optimus and Prowl were dumbfounded, because of how, where, and when, how? Alright, maybe those last questions were mostly Prime but he didn't believe something like that would be possible (remember he didn't have an idea of Sideswipe having a human along with him in the battleground, Bumblebee did, and never told Optimus, ay); âWhy that human?â Ironhide almost had a migraine when he recognized Sideswipe's human friend and realized that, yes, twin sparks do go for the same thing; âWhy a HUMAN?â Mirage didn't get it and he didn't want to for years to come, thank you very much.
âWhy ME?â, Sunstreaker tried to act like things were normal (they weren't) and then refused to combine for years to come, only forced by his brother and his pet because: âyour processor is going to melt or youâll become even crazier and Primus knows not me or Bob are going along your bullshit!â
Ironically, Optimus Maximus is the only combiner that has never seen the human lover or had one by himself, took years, and, once after a lot of discussion and constant back and forth, after years of only looking down at his servos, Sunstreaker finally permitted Sideswipe to bring you along, and Optimus Maximus smiled under his battle mask for the first time in his existence.
Does this have to do with Optimusâ or Prowlâs interest in humans years later? Did it start here for them? No one knows, and Sunstreaker wants to believe he didn't do this to two of his former bosses. What happens when Maximus comes in contact with any of their kids? Unlike Devastator, he knows they are not his. Codexia, Chainbreaker, Steerchanger, and Solar are all connected to him in some way, but he knows they aren't his, which brings a bittersweet feeling to his shared sparks. Still, he is happy to see how much theyâve grown every time he forms again.
To this day, if Mirage catches himself looking at a human too long, he immediately goes âah- no, brother, no way in hell, nope!â.
The moment he starts dating humans, Ironhide is going to laugh at him.
