#universal obversations

The last couple of hours have been... strange to say the least. Bulkhead hadn’t exactly gotten out of berth expecting to watch Alternate Universes today after all, his expectations were the usual; patrol a bit, pick Miko up from her host parent’s place and head back to base, hang out with Miko at base, patrol some more when it was his turn. Maybe dent a few con faceplates if given the chance.

But no, instead, a weird orb thing (now known as an Observer apparently) gets found in their storage and it was a weird path from there. That weird world where Optimus was uh, and then the Actor world, and now this?

Don’t get him wrong! Bulkhead was all for giant robots fighting- ignoring the weird feeling of watching something that looked Cybertronian (even if empurata-like), didn’t sound Cybertronian, moved somewhat like a Cybertronian but wrong that threatened to set off all his warning programs in his processor- it was great! Especially considering one of the robots was being piloted by Miko! His charge and best little buddy and human best friend!

She was even called Wrecker, how cool was that? He’d been so excited to tell Jackie all about it in his next message to him.

But then it dawned on him how fragged Earth’s situation kind of was with the Quintessons- clued in by Miko- err, Wrecker’s reaction to Ra-Senscript’s fifth port. Given to him by human Shockwave of all me- uh, humans? (Human Shockwave’s name was Waltz Stein, could you believe it?? He still couldn’t!)

And then there was that- flashback scene? That moment, that picture. At first, he could’ve sworn that mecha suit looked familiar until-

“WHEELJACK!”

Wrecker had screamed his name as she was taken through that Quintesson spacebridge and Bulkhead’s spark dropped to his tanks. On one servo, Wheeljack was human- that was pretty cool! Plus, he was a pilot! On the other hand, whatever happened to him... Bulkhead hoped that human Jackie was okay, was alive. For Wrecker’s sake, with how she screamed, she must’ve cared for him a lot...

Did that mean Bulkhead was human here too?

Seemed like all Cybertronians were human here, or so Bulkhead had thought until the Observer suddenly showed... Cybertron.

Alive.

Hanging in there with Praxus being attacked, but Praxus was being attacked; it had been standing! Cybertron was alive here! His home planet was still kicking!

Only, well; Praxus was being attacked. No doubt by cons.

Optimus wasn’t a human, that was a relief- not that Bulkhead had anything against humans or the thought of his leader being a human in another universe! It was just a weird thought y’know? Shockwave was already one thing, Wheeljack, another. But Optimus? He’d need to get used to the idea first.

So seeing Optimus as a normal Cybertronian was nice- less nice was the fact his leader was in a familiar war zone. Although it was cool to see him with his axe again, Optimus was a beast with that thing. Miko was right to be disappointed at the fact Optimus didn’t have it anymore or couldn’t get another one like it, the cons would’ve been dealt with a bit easier if Optimus still had that axe.

‘Course all good things must come to an end... something he really hoped wouldn’t happen when Other Optimus almost got knocked off into a canyon-sized fissure. Primus.

And then he appeared.

Other Megatron.

Bulkhead felt rage in his spark at the sight of the damned warlord, of course he wasn’t the only one to be angry. They all were, they shouted at the screen, as if their insults and threats would breach through universes and negatively affect the silver tin can and prevent him from even daring to think of laying a single scummy servo on Optimus.

Ratchet had certainly been going at it like as if that would happen, Primus that medic knew swears that Bulkhead didn’t know of! And he grew up in the slums and worked alongside some surly mechs when he was a construction bot! Not to mention the way he was weaving Earth insults into Cybertronian too? Bulkhead kept those in mind, feeling kinda awed by Ratchet’s storm of curses and threats. Another thing to tell Wheeljack later, heh.

Then something happened that came completely out of left field, if that was the right way to use that human phrase; Megatron did lay a scummy servo on Optimus but he... pulled him up? What?

And then he was saying stuff like ‘not leaving his side’ and ‘My Prime’? What??

And the way he was acting, the way Other Optimus was acting, bantering? ‘My Protector’ what?? Megatron had his servos on Optimus but he wasn’t- Bulkhead’s optics had to glance down to Megatron’s chestplate just to make sure that symbol was purple and y’know, a Decepticon symbol- the other world with the nice Megatron (fragging weird as pit) had the Decepticon symbol red after all but nope. Still purple.

And the symbol on Other Optimus’ shoulder was an Autobot and red, so the factions clearly existed but—

Why the frag did they seem so chummy?

No, chummy wasn't the right word. Not with the way Other Megatron had been smirking at Other Optimus. It was almost like they were- were they?? No. No. Right? But. Uh. Wait—

Just as Other Optimus and Megatron were about to duke it out with the Quintessons (the Quintessons were attacking Praxus?!) Ratchet had called frantically for an immediate pause.

He doesn't know which one of the kids paused the screen, too busy gawking at said screen as it paused in a kinda cinematic way- with both other versions of his leader and the Decepticon leader back to back, surrounded by the largest and ugliest Quintessons they've seen yet being ridden by those Solider unit Quintessons earlier on with the Other kids.

For a moment, there's a tense silence- mostly upheld by the disbelief as no one could tear their optics away from the screen right now. The question still stood in Bulkhead's processor.

"Was Megatron flirting with Optimus?" The question slips out of his intake before he could stop it, or the next one. "And was Optimus flirting back?"

He couldn't even imagine Optimus flirting in the first place, the Prime was too stoic and focused on the war to do so. And yet he couldn't help but think that was the case when Other Optimus was speaking to- Other Megatron of all mechs!

"No! Impossible!" Ratchet retorted fiercely, the medic searing his optics at Bulkhead in a glare and usually it would make Bulkhead flinch back, sheepish but the Wrecker was too focused on the screen with bewilderment to even do that. "They were not flirting!"

"Uh, I dunno Ratch, he seems kinda close to King Con there." Miko pointed out, looking extremely fascinated by the screen, human eyes wide with a considering look on her face. Considering? Considering? Just what was she considering about? Bulkhead didn't know, and maybe he didn't want to know. "They're fighting together. Literally back to back on screen right there."

Ratchet spluttered, glancing back to the screen and scowling. "It's because they're working against a common foe! Clearly the Quintessons are of a greater threat than we realize there if Optimus is working with Megatron. Otherwise, the two would be at each other's energon tubing!" He reasoned, and- yeah that made sense.

Because if there's going to be a threat against Cybertron bigger than even each other, then the only logical thing to do was to team up against it. Still pretty jarring to see Optimus and Megatron together like that though, the Actor world had been the same but this was different. These weren't actors, they weren't mechs pretending to be leaders in a world of fiction, these were actual alternate counterparts to the leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons.

"Okay. Okay." Jack said, glancing back and forth between screen Optimus and- well, their Optimus. Optimus himself was looking at the screen with an incomprehensible look, even more than usual than his usual stoic look. Bulkhead can't even imagine how Optimus was feeling right now. "So… Quintessons made Optimus and Megatron team up since the enemy of my enemy is an ally, and Cybertron is alive."

The phrase Cybertron is alive hit Bulkhead harder than he'd expect it to. Because, it was wasn't it? In that world where the Quintessons attacked, Cybertron was alive, the cons actually called for a ceasefire and decided to work together with them to keep those things from taking over their planet.

.: Um… it still doesn't explain why Megatron called Optimus 'My Prime' or Optimus calling Megatron 'My Protector'? :. Bumblebee hesitantly said, and no one could reply or even try to explain that because… well, it's absurd. Megatron would never call Optimus 'My Prime', and Optimus calling Megatron his protector? Not a chance in the world…

In their world.

But in this 'Mecha' world?

"I'm starting to see why that mech warned us about whatever the frag we'd see with the Observer." Arcee muttered aloud, tense in her seat as she eyed the floating screen warily. A complicated expression on her faceplate.

That mech?

"You mean Rung?" Jack asked, finally reminding Bulkhead of who Arcee was talking about, giving Arcee a confused look. Rung, right, the orange mech with the other Observer. That gave them all the warnings and slag. Shouldn't have been hard to remember, considering that weird moment with his optics and all that, yet his name had slipped Bulkhead's processor there for a moment. "Guess so, best to keep in mind what he said. Whatever we see isn't exactly something we can apply here- not really? Just… try not to let it get to you guys. Seems like Megatron is an ally in that world, and is uh- close to Optimus."

It's an absurd thing to think of, after millennia of war, eons of conflict, years of battle… But Jack was right, and the proof was right there in front of them. The Autobots and Decepticons existed in another world, and that clearly meant the war was going on, but with the Quintessons around and Cybertron in danger from them…

"Jack is right." Optimus said, finally speaking and gaining the attention of everyone. "I cannot speak for the decisions of my other selves in these alternate universes that we see, especially the first world we saw-" Ah right, that world, Bulkhead shivered, "-as the differences between our worlds becomes clear. Although similar, like Jack said, we must keep in mind what Rung has warned us about, to not let the contents of each world deeply affect us in a manner that would prevent us from doing our duty of protecting Earth from Megatron and his Decepticons."

Unknown to almost all, with the exception of perhaps Ratchet, behind his stoic facade, underneath the emotional suppression that helped keep him calm, Optimus was rather happy at the sight of him and Megatron fighting side by side in what seemed to be an actual, amicable (?) relationship. The part of him that regretted trying to kill Megatron from the spacebridge explosion, the same part that still cherished the moments of Orion Pax and Megatronus, was overjoyed in fact.

( An ex-gladiator stood in stunned silence, optics trained on the screen. He's been like that for a few kliks now, frozen, quiet. It was unnerving, perhaps if one was opportunistic enough, they could have attempted to attack him right this moment yet no one in the room could do so as they too, were stunned into silence.

The silence was only broken by a single seeker's shriek, "What the frag?!" )

Raf, who was back in Bumblebee's servos rather than Ratchet after the medic had returned the boy to the scout's custody just so he could freely swear at the screen, spoke up. "I'm actually curious as to what's happening in that world- Optimus said that the Quintessons were wiped out here a long, long time ago. But there, they're not. Did they end up finding Cybertron late here? Did they still attack Cybertron during the era of the Thirteen Primes but retreated just in time to avoid going extinct and were just, biding their time? Also, since Shockwave and Wheeljack and um, whoever else is human- how did that effect the war between you Autobots and the Decepticons? Did it lead to Optimus and Megatron becoming, uh, allies, or was it really the Quintessons that forced them to band together?"

The kids were certainly something, Bulkhead hadn't expected to become so attached to them when they first showed up. No one in the team probably expected it either, but the moment they saw Other Raf, Senscript, bleeding from the nose from overextending himself in testing that damned cortical psychic patch link, they had worried.

Bumblebee and Ratchet especially, Raf had given up trying to reassure them verbally and let the scout scoop him into his hold once more. Offering the yellow mech all the physical comfort he could give in his small size, it had made Bulkhead's spark clench in his spark chamber.

And oh, when Senscript got hurt by the Quintessons? Bumblebee had nearly lost it, reminding Bulkhead of that unfortunate clip of future Bee buzzing angrily at Megatron in the Actor universe. The one where they predicted Raf's near-death… It really cemented just how much the humans meant to them. ( And how fragile they could be. )

And now here they were, listening to his questions and considering it for themselves. It certainly helped calm them down a bit as they considered them.

Was it weird that Optimus and Megatron were… allies in another world? Certainly, but that was just it. Another world. Another universe. It was weird, and unlikely, but it happened there.

Didn't mean it had to happen here. Or could.

The likelihood of Megatron deciding to work with Optimus was low, and him considering peace was even lower. Not without a common enemy, which they didn't have here.

"Good questions, Raf. Questions that will hopefully be answered as we continue watching. I, too, am curious as to what happened in this world. And the ramifications and side effects to some of our people no longer being involved in the war." Optimus said with a small smile.

Bulkhead tried to imagine not having Jackie around during the war, imagined not having Shockwave around for the war. "I can't imagine not having Wheeljack be part of the Wreckers, but at least he was with you Miko." He said, grinning at his charge who whooped and grinned back. They didn't say anything about Wheeljack's disappearance, trusting and hoping that the mech… man? Was okay and alive.

.: Well… I am kinda wondering who else is human and who stayed Cybertronian. :. Bumblebee whirred, glancing between them all.

"Yeah! That too! I wanna know who's human now- I kinda hope you're human Bee, I wanna know what you look like as one." Raf beamed, something Bee mirrored as they all began to wonder what they would look like as human.

"We didn't really see what Shockwave or Wheeljack looked like as human, Shockwave had that weird mask over his face and Wheeljack uh- he was in his mecha." Miko said as she lounged back against the couch. "Wonder if Bulk's human here too."

Jack, in contrast, sat on the edge, leaning forward to look at Arcee. "Yeah, I mean- you got that hologram of yours Arcee but I don't think it has a face? I'm wondering what you'd look like as human."

"Yeah, doesn't have a face, can't move that well either. I just use that hologram to make sure no one knows I can drive by myself." Arcee replied dryly but was smiling as she too, wondered.

Ratchet was grumbling, still glaring slightly at the screen before sighing. "I suppose we should continue viewing if we really want to know… Primus, the thought of Megatron working with you Optimus is…" He didn't finish, shaking his helm instead. "Let's just get this over with, children?"

"On it Ratch! Observer, continue!" Miko exclaimed grandly, excited to see what came next.

[ Megatron and Optimus fought well together, extremely well. They covered each other's weakspots and wordlessly assisted the other with no sign other than a simple glance. Together, even the monstrous Quintesson beasts were having trouble in trying to take them both down.

Optimus mostly using his axe and limbs, occasionally shifting a servo into a blaster but mostly swinging his axe, while Megatron used his signature cannon and blade. ]

"Woah… King Con and Optimus fight absurdly well together." Miko breathed, awed by the flawless, almost elegant teamwork between the leaders of the Autobots and the Decepticons. Bulkhead had to admit, it was quite the sight.

Ratchet huffed, eyeing the battle as it continued on. "I'm not surprised, though its been eons since they fought together side by side—"

"Optimus and Megatron fought together before?" Raf interrupted, wincing before sending an apologetic look at Ratchet who waved it off.

"Yes, though it was before Autobots and Decepticons existed. In the golden age of Cybertron."

Jack glanced over to Optimus, "You mentioned it before, when we first met. You called Megatron your brother, or well, you once considered him a brother? You were close…"

"Indeed." Optimus answered softly, a look of nostalgia on his faceplate, in his optics as he watched them both fight so well together against the attacking Quintesson soldiers and their beastly mounts. "Megatron, Megatronus then, was actually the one who inspired and taught me how to fight…"

Miko snorted, "Wonder if he regrets teaching you now, since you can take him head on!"

Did he? Bulkhead had known that there was history between Optimus and Megatron but he hadn't exactly known how far it went…

Optimus didn't answer, optics watching the screen intently.

( A warlord finally sits down, ignoring the clamor of his subordinates as he watched the fight. His optics taking in the sight of his nemesis and his other fighting together side-by-side once more. It brought up memories that he thought he long buried, brought up emotions that he thought completely discarded, brought up thoughts he had pushed aside for millennia.

Usually it would send him into a rage, make him scowl, glower and sneer. But right now… watching the effortless team work… Seeing Other Optimus completely trust his alternate self in battle, that fond smile from before…

He stayed silent.

Watching. )

[ .: This is Lord Megatron to Prowl, lock onto my coordinates- I have found our missing Prime. We are currently dealing with a squadron of Quintesson drones and soldiers, Optimus Prime has sustained injuries, his helm is dented which is why no one's comms were able to reach him. :. Megatron grunted as he took a small dull moment during the battle to contact reinforcements, flicking away Quintesson gore off his blade.

Optimus was doing the same, taking in a brief vent as the Quintessons backed away warily, giving them a moment of reprieve.

Prowl's voice came in immediately, .: Coordinates locked on and confirmed Lord High Protector, reinforcements incoming in 8 kliks and counting. Evacuation of Praxus at 79% percent with minimal casualties but several major injuries from all factions. Fatalities will be counted after the evacuation, but estimations lie in the hundreds amongst the civilians Lord High Protector and are likely to grow. :. Megatron didn't look happy at that, yet quietly confirmed it all the same. ]

"Prowl? Aw man! I haven't heard Prowl's voice print in so long!" Bulkhead laughed, a bit delighted in hearing the mech's voice from the screen. Though his joy was dampened slightly by Prowl's words, torn from the information they were getting.

They were at the point of the war where civilians were still a thing, non-combatants that were living in cities. And Praxus was falling right before their optics, again.

"Who's Prowl?"

Arcee answered Miko, "The Autobot's best tactician, used to be Optimus' right hand mech when it came to tactics and plans but we lost contact with him shortly after the Exodus from Cybertron." She grimaced with a sigh.

.: He and a few other Autobots were supposed to come with Bulkhead, Ratchet, Optimus and I to Earth but there was too little time and they had to get on another ship instead. :. Bumblebee whirred sadly, causing Bulkhead and Arcee to nod as Raf relayed what Bee said to Miko and Jack.

"We could've had more bots here? Dang! Would've really evened the odds with the cons." Miko grumbled, making Bulkhead to nod again. So far, they'd been doing fairly well against Megatron and the Decepticons, they were vastly outnumbered, sure most of the cons were vehicons but underestimating those guys would be a rookie mistake.

Just look at Cliffjumper.

Not that he'll ever say it aloud, or within Arcee's audial vicinity, he liked living. Thanks.

Ratchet squinted at the screen, "'Lord High Protector?'" He repeated incredulously with a hint of curiosity.

"That supposed to mean anything?" Jack asked the medic who shared looks with Optimus. "Sounds like it should."

"No, it does not." Optimus denied, shaking his helm with a muted but curious look on his faceplate. "It is not a title that Ratchet nor even I, know of." Which is something considering Optimus usually knew esoteric and obscure information- probably because of the Matrix considering it was said to the repository of knowledge from Primes of Old.

( "Soundwave, search for the term, 'Lord High Protector.'"

A visored mech sat in silence (the room finally back in order after a warlord snapped at them to stop making so much noise) but on the screens of a warship, multiple databases, articles, information banks were flipped through in rapidly quick succession before a big red X appeared both on the screens and the mech's visor.

"Hm…" )

[ "Megatron!" Optimus suddenly called out, tense as the Quintessons let out a startling noise. Loud, abrupt, yet commanding. Megatron tensed as well, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen. Only for him and Optimus to reel back in shock as the Quintessons suddenly retreated, roaring overhead, and heading towards another direction.

.: Prowl! The Quintessons are— :. Megatron was suddenly interrupted, he was disgruntled by it but grew serious as Prowl exclaimed.

.: They're not retreating! I'm getting reports from all over Praxus, they're converging to a single spot in the city! An unknown Quintesson spacebridge just opened! :.

"Optimus!" Megatron barked, alarmed by the sudden change of events. ]

"That doesn't seem good." Raf gulped, seeing the remaining Quintessons, the horrible gigantic beasts and the soldier units, suddenly- not retreat as Prowl said, but head elsewhere in the city.

"Quintesson spacebridge?" Jack repeated with a click of realization, he shared a look with the rest of his friends and the bots. "You don't think…"

"Oh, I do think." Ratchet replied with a grimace.

[ The screen changed to a familiar mechanical hand slamming into the ground, an earthquake following afterwards as the ground vibrated hard underneath its palm. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE?!" Wrecker screamed, panicked and enraged at the sight of incoming XTRs.

Besides her, Tailbreaker was carving into a gigantic beast with his blades, mechanical hands tugging at incoming tentacles to tear them apart. .: No idea! But we need to protect Senscript until he can wake up and tell us where we are! :.

They were both stationed in front of Senscript's unmoving mecha that was slumped in a little alcove to some gigantic building neither of them recognized. The 'Apex Armor' disk was tucked into Senscript's smaller hands, both his cortical cord and sensory crown were thankfully retracted back into his helm though he wasn't moving at all. A look into the mecha revealed Senscript still unconscious in his cockpit chair, blood still dripping off his chin. ]

.: Raf! :. Bumblebee whirred with concern, whining against the boy's small hands that pressed against his faceplate in reassurance. .: He's still unconscious, still has blood coming out of his nose. :.

"Aw c'mon Bee, calm down. I-I'm sure I'm fine." Raf tried to tell him, smiling at his best friend and guardian only to droop when Ratchet began muttering a bit too loudly.

"Who knows what damage there could be to the human brain from such a direct connection to the processor of something like a Quintesson. The blood flow has at least lessened, but the fact it's still bleeding from his nasal area is not good. Not to mention the technology necessary to facilitate such a thing—"

Raf sent him a weak glare, "Ratchet!" He exclaimed as the yellow scout let out a high-pitched noise of worry. The medic let out a disgruntled apologetic noise, a hint of worry and guilt on his expression as he glanced between them both and the unconscious Senscript on screen. He focuses back to his datapad, typing into it.

Optimus Prime glanced over and his derma tilted upwards slightly as he sees glimpses of human biology being brought up on the datapad.

( A medic who loved racing discretely pulled up certain information on his datapad, squinting down at it and looking at the screen with a thoughtful hum. A seeker notices and leans over, only to see a website about human biology on the datapad, the seeker pulls a face but keeps quiet, optics reading line by line and glancing at the screen as well.

The medic notices and adjusts slightly so the seeker could read a bit more comfortably. This gesture went unnoticed by most of the cons in the room, unnoticed except by the seeker himself and the medic's conjunx. )

"Dudes, we're on Cybertron!" Miko exclaimed excitedly, batting at Jack's shoulder.

Jack grunted but looked up in wonder, "We really are." His wonder takes a hit when he sees the sad look on Arcee's face. "Arcee?"

"Wish this wasn't your first look at Cybertron, or Praxus." Arcee said, gesturing back to the screen with a grimace as Tailbreaker was slammed into a stray building but was holding on to the Quintesson beast stubbornly. "This isn't how I wanted to show you our home."

The kids share a look as their respective cybertronian guardian similarly shared a sad sigh. Even Optimus and Ratchet gave the kids a regretful and sad look.

"Well, hey! I'm sure you guys will show us tons of cool places on Cybertron! I mean, we're there now! Other us- and it's still alive, so like, there's got to be good places still standing to show!" Miko determinedly, wanting to cheer the bots up.

On one hand, their Cybertron was dead, which was definitely a bummer. And seeing it alive was- hard, but at the same time, it filled Bulkhead with a renewed sense of vigor somehow. And hey, Miko was right! Other Miko, Wrecker, would get the chance to experience Cybertron's wonders herself- and through the screen, they could show her and the kids too! So it wasn't all that bad!

"Yeah, seeing Cyber—" Jack was about to support Miko's words before he flinched as more Quintessons arrived on screen, roaring in intimidation at the two mecha pilots. There was a lot of Quintessons, the big hulking beast mounts and the smaller yet still hulking soldier units riding atop them. "Oh no."

[ "Fucking hell, that's a lot of Class 7 Soldiers and Levis." Tailbreaker gritted out, standing on the corpse of one such 'Levi' after dealing with its rider. In his cockpit, he rapidly flipped several switches and turned a few dials, steam and hot air escaping his mecha's joints as he optimized his systems. "Wrecker! Siege optimization! We're here with no back-up, no signal to base- do not let your levels drop too fast, too soon!"

.: You don't have to tell me twice! :. Came Wrecker's urgent yet annoyed reply, the screen switching to show she was doing the same before switching back to Tailbreaker.

"Priority one; keep Senscript and that Apex thing safe at all cost! They want that thing then it's in our best interest to make sure they don't get it! Cut down the numbers till we can get him out of this clusterfuck!" Tailbreaker barked just as the XTRs descended upon them. ]

Bulkhead's never seen Jack so authoritative before, as the oldest of the human kids, he did try to reign them in or keep them safe and stuff but this? This was older Jack doing his best to keep his teammates alive in a dangerous combat situation.

Still trying to keep them safe but in a situation that Bulkhead would have never imagined to happen, nor did he ever want to ever again. Because as cool as it is seeing them pilot those admittedly unsettling mechas, seeing them in such danger was terrifying.

"You don't know why the Quintessons want the Apex Armor, don't even know what it is or what it does but just knowing they want it, you- ahem, Tailbreaker makes the decision to keep it away from them. Astute observation and a good choice, not only that, you're optimizing your gear to last for as long as possible.." Ratchet notes aloud, glancing over to Jack who grinned at him.

The teenage boy shrugged, "Well, the longer we last, the better right? And I mean, it seems obvious? They tried to get it in secret, did their best to get it and when they couldn't but had it in reach- they triggered a spacebridge that sent other us from one place to another? It's important, real important, so yeah. Keep away."

The rest of the team gave Jack a proud look, Arcee in particular having a slightly smug expression on her faceplate.

.: And you're protecting Senscript too, planning to make an escape when given the opportunity. :. Bumblebee beeped, had his mouthguard been down, Bulkhead would definitely see a smile there. Raf relayed what he said to Jack whose grin grew a bit.

"Not only because he was like- his protection was a priority of the original mission but he's a teammate. A friend. 'Course I'd protect him." Raf beamed at his words.

( "Who knew Jack could be such a leader?" An arachnoid femme commented sardonically with a small smirk, amused by how authoritative the little human was on screen. It didn't matter that he was older on screen, or that this Jack was in another world, to her, he was still a target she oh, so dearly wanted to hunt. Not only to hurt Arcee, but to pay him back for what he'd done to her ship and herself.

Shame she could only hunt her world's Jack, Tailbreaker would have made another fine trophy in her personal opinion. She hopes her counterpart meets him, regardless of species. Though of course, she does hope she stayed Cybertronian. )

[ .: Wrecker, fall back! They're heading towards Senscript! :. Immediately Wrecker's mecha pulled itself away from the Levi she was wrestling, forcefully dragging the creature with her as her sonic weapons turned the Levi's cranial organs and technology into mush, the liquid dripping out of its orifices as Wrecker used its body to slam into the incoming XTRs that tried to make their way to her fallen teammate.

"You're not getting him assholes!" Wrecker growled, briefly cranking her damage output to 70% and releasing a high-pitch sonic wave from her subwoofers, it made the XTRs reel back in pain. "Tailbreaker!" A glance to her fuel levels revealed it took quite a bit of power to do so.

Lithely, Tailbreaker's mecha came in for quick kills while the XTRs were still reeling, aiming for weak spots that either killed them or brought them down to be killed soon enough. ]

"There's too many of them." Arcee said tensely, worry starting to seep into her spark as more and more Quintessons gathered around the three mecha pilots with only two performing combat, protecting their downed third.

Bulkhead's servos clenched and unclenched, feeling the need to having something in his servos as he watched Wrecker and Tailbreaker do their damned best in defending Senscript and the Apex Armor. Their original plan of carving a way out was quickly falling fast as there were too many Quintessons to properly chart an escape.

A sense of concern and worry began to settle over the base, even Miko was looking a bit worried for herself on the screen but was ultimately still cheering their counterparts on. "C'mon you guys! You got this! Go other me! LIVE UP TO YOUR NAME! WRECK AND RUIN!" She hollered, as if the force of her shouts alone would help across universes.

Not even Ratchet was going to scold her shouting, now when he was analyzing the situation at hand.

( "They'll be overwhelmed at this point." An ex-wrecker muttered, trying to hide his slight disappointment. It was only because he didn't want those Quintesson-things to win on Cybertron, or so he would insist if asked about it.

"Normally I would agree with you however you've forgotten some crucial details; they're on Cybertron." A seeker replied lowly, as out of nowhere, a familiar beam shot through multiple Quintessons at once. "And the Quintessons were not exactly subtle in their rendezvous." )

[ A bright violet beam shot through multiple XTRs, briefly gaining everyone's attention as from over the incline, a familiar canon whined down- the barrel smoking and gleaming hotly from going halfway towards full power. The owner of the canon, a mecha of silver with flashes of purple, snarled something unintelligible, to the humans at least.

.: Reinforcements? No fair, who let that mecha get a giant fuck off laser cannon?! :. Wrecker complained but was grinning in clear relief as she panted in her cockpit, sweat going down her face.

Tailbreaker took in a deep breath, "Seems like it- don't recognize the mecha design. Not government for certain though, too personal with all those spikes and sharp edges." He replied, though he was just as relieved. "Whoever they are though, as long as they're aiming that cannon at the XTRs, I'm not complaining." ]

"Oh! Ohh! What'd King Con say in Cybertronian?!" Miko exclaimed before pausing, "Never thought I'd be happy to see Megatron but there he is! Saving our afts!"

Raf rubbed his neck as he sat on Bumblebee's shoulder, "He pretty much just said 'Get off my planet' Miko, and uh, yeah. Same… Do you think he'll hurt other us?"

"Normally I would say yes, however considering several factors in this situation…" Ratchet trailed off, giving the screen an inscrutable expression. "No, there's a chance however with how you are clearly fighting against the Quintessons, an established enemy- he'll be cautious but he won't outright injure or attack you unless provoked. Especially considering… his alliance with Optimus."

.: Not to mention he… probably doesn't know you guys are human. :. Bumblebee realized as Megatron dove into the fight with determined anger. .: If I didn't know you were humans piloting big suits, I'd say you're one of us only- you all look like empurata'd bots. :.

"What's empurata?"

All the Autobots froze at Raf's innocuous question, an uncomfortable look on their expressions.

"That… is a question we will answer later, Raf. Perhaps, they might even provide the answer to it." Optimus said gravely, and the children exchanged confused looks but nodded all the same.

( "I take it back, these Quintessons are hardy creatures." A deadly femme muttered, seeing several survivors from the warlord's fusion cannon. It wasn't at full power but even that was usually enough to kill many mechs at the same time without any survivors.

Said warlord growled lowly at the sight but reluctantly nodded, feeling the phantom sensation of a burning ache on his arm- he usually refrained from going that strong for good reason. And the very rare times he went full power… He can't help but wonder just how many times his counterpart had gone to full power against the Quintessons. Certainly more often than he did with his arch enemy. )

[ "There's another pilot!" Wrecker exclaimed as a mecha of red, blue and silver appeared with a gigantic axe. "Okay, who's giving all these pilots cool shit?! I wanna talk with them!" She cackled, approving the sight of the axe being swung around with surprising finesse. "God, I haven't seen someone lug around a mecha-sized melee weapon since Wheeljack!"

.: Focus Wrecker! Gawk and talk later, protect Senscript and the Apex Armor! :. Tailbreaker snapped at her before he was grabbed solidly by a Levi's tentacles. .: Shit! :.

"Shit, TAILBREAKER!" Wrecker was torn, she was still acting as Senscript's major defense against the Quintessons and she was a bit too far away from her teammate and leader to do anything about it. ]

"Jack!" "Slag."

The joy of seeing Optimus again, seeing him join the battle and assist the kids was quickly overtaken with worry as Tailbreaker's mecha was grabbed by the tentacles- those things were wrapped around dangerously tight around the mecha's torso- right where Tailbreaker's actual body was.

Bulkhead had seen, by chance, of an organic lifeform being crushed in a metal compactor before during the war. It had been a wild animal from the planet he'd been stationed on that got stuck in machine, and it had left him nauseated the entire time he'd been on the planet afterwards.

He doesn't think he could bear the thought of watching a human, especially one of the kids going- squish. It was one of the many reasons why he'd been a little hesitant on going around on Earth. That accident with the powerlines was another, more light hearted reason that he actually wished was happening right now.

He'd take electricity forcing him to dance over the possible death of the kids any day.

( "Ugh, squished human. Disgusting." A medic shuddered, having seen many horror films as well as the rare actual footage- he'd been curious after all. Certainly strayed him away from seeing human media again… for a while anyway.

"Sounds disgusting, but it looks like it's not happening this time." The ship's second in command commented with a sniff, snorting at the sight of the warlord on screen coming to the human's rescue. Using his sword to cut the massive tentacle that captured the mecha. "He must not know he's saving an organic. These mecha look far too much like cybertronians- empurata'd ones, but still. It's uncanny and disturbing." Though the thought of his 'master' unknowingly saving humans was quite amusing, of course, he kept it to himself. Eyeing the interested warlord who had gone silent. )

[ Tailbreaker hadn't been prepared for the save from the stranger pilot but looked up as he was hauled on to his feet. "Thanks-" His gratitude was cut short as he finally saw the 'mecha' up close. "You have a face." He blurts out in confusion, watching that scarred metal face contort and change like an actual face. With red eyes, lips, sharp teeth?

.: He has a what? :. Wrecker commed in as the silver, spiky mecha gave him a scrutinizing look on his face.

'Who makes a mecha with an expressive face? Not even a digital one, but a fully articulated one!?' Tailbreaker thought somewhat hysterically before shaking his head in his cockpit and focusing in. "Nevermind, look out!" He bodily tackled the mecha down as a barrage of tentacles tried to spear through both of them. Ignoring the surprised look the mecha gave him. ]

"He has a face!" Miko laughed, leaning against the couch from the hilarious moment. Bulkhead chuckled with her, it was kinda funny.

Jack rolled his eyes, "From what I can tell, all the mechas we made don't have faces- just like, screens, visors or something. Seeing a 'mecha' with a face would definitely be surprising… Guess we've got no idea that we're on another planet just yet." He reasoned, smiling at the agreeing nods he got from Optimus and Arcee.

"You guys are a bit too busy with the Quintessons to notice the strange architecture." Raf chimed in before blinking. "You saved Megatron!"

"In any other situation I'd be angry but considering its not you, and Tailbreaker has no idea who Megatron even is, I'll let this slide." Arcee half-joked, somewhat disgruntled over the fact her human charge and partner had saved the tyrant that she and her team had been fighting for so long.

Jack winced, rubbing the back of his neck somewhat guiltily as he nodded. "Yeah…" He'd yet to tell anyone what happened at the cave in, about how he had the chance to take Megatron's life, to end the war for them… and he didn't take it. He'd put it in the back of his mind the entire time, but seeing his other self save Megatron…

( A warlord snorted, a smile, small yet terrible, perched on his derma as he sees his counterpart being saved by the same human that had the chance to end him yet didn't. He wonders if the Autobots knew of that moment, if the human had told them he had the chance to end things permanently and didn't.

Or did he keep it to himself out of shame? Either way, it truly seemed like that little human was far more interesting than he first thought he was. )

Maybe he should finally talk with Optimus about it.

[ Tailbreaker was quick to get back on his feet, this time hauling the silver mecha in turn and giving the strange mecha a slight nod before throwing himself back into the fray with a determined cry.

It didn't take long for the mecha to join him, countless of XTRs fell from blades, axe, fists and both cannon and sonic blast.

There had been a few close calls with Senscript's safety, a Soldier managing to slip through, a Levi's tentacle shooting out towards him, several attempts from above. Yet they managed to protect the youngest pilot successfully.

Not without damage however, it was a rare moment that a mecha would ever come back unscathed. Wrecker's left subwoofer on her shoulder had been crushed inwards, making her arm barely usable. Her plating had cracks and scratches, and she lost a few panels of heavy armor. XTR gore covered a vast majority of her mecha, especially her arms.

Tailbreaker's visor had cracked after being hit in the head, his right leg was sparking as a few cables had been cut forcing his mecha to limp awkwardly and keep his balance. His blades were caked in XTR blood, although he wasn't missing any panels, multiple armor platings were cracked and scratched- less so than Wreckers at least.

The silver mecha's cannon was steaming, wisps of smoke was wafting off of it as the heated metal glowed. They were favoring their right side, pressing a hand over a gash across their chestplating.

The blue and red mecha was leaning on his axe, but surprisingly looked the least damaged aside from Senscript. Most of the time, the silver mecha had stuck to the their side, protecting them to the best of their abilities. ]

It was tense, watching both the humans and the two leaders of the Autobots and Decepticons fight against the Quintessons- there were far too many close calls. Wrecker and Tailbreaker didn't seem used to fighting side by side for long periods of time, nor protecting a third party. Sometimes they were too hyper focused on Senscript to notice an enemy coming in when they should have.

Meanwhile Optimus and Megatron continued to fight like a well-oiled machine, with Megatron tanking a lot of hits for Optimus. Which was insane to think of considering normal circumstances, but in that world, in this 'Alien Mecha' universe, it really seemed like the leader of the Decepticons was dedicated in protecting the Prime.

Whatever this title of 'Lord High Protector' seemed accurate so far. Which made them all the more curious as to what it was exactly.

"Oh thank frag." Bulkhead sighed when he saw reinforcements finally coming in to help, he'd been starting to worry at how long they'd been fighting- the screen showed it in bits and pieces, seeming to accelerate through certain moments but even quick combat could be exhausting in such heavy circumstances.

The mecha suits didn't look too good, he'd been worried that Mik-Wrecker's mecha's arm would fall off after that bad hit to the shoulder-subwoofer. But thankfully, and honestly to be expected, Wrecker's mecha was made of literally tough stuff.

Ratchet made a disgruntled noise, optics looking over the injuries of not only Other Optimus but Megatron as well- something he didn't think he'd be doing but after watching the mech fight alongside and protect the Prime there… He still didn't exactly trust the Decepticon tyrant of that world but it wasn't like he could do anything else. Besides, he was still a medic. He had to assess what injuries were in front of him…

He couldn't help but do the same to the mecha suits as well, they were cybertronian-like enough that some techniques would work the same- welding, cable cauterization and mending, plating replacement, glass mending or full on visor replacement… it was the humans inside that he was really worried about though.

( "Quintessons are definitely a persistent enemy, they seem to have the numbers to willingly sacrifice their own troops without care- none of them ever seemed to consider the option of retreat." A seeker muttered with disgust and slight fascination, "Then again, these 'Soldiers' and 'Levis' seem little else but bio-created drone shock troops and muscle, smart enough to wield weapons, ride mounts and attack but not enough to consider other strategic or tactical moves."

"No responses of fear, not really. They kept attacking Lord Megatron without any regard to their own safety and lives." A medic commented, "Even our vehicons have basic intelligence at first with the chance of growing more into their processors if given time and experience but I doubt that the Quintessons would let anything else other than their 'commanders' to have a shred of competent intellectual thinking or sapience."

"Pretty sturdy." An ex-wrecker added, "A few of them survived a point blank blast from Lord Megatron's fusion cannon, it wasn't at full power but still." Both mechs nodded in agreement, glancing over to their still silent leader who watched with an unsettlingly neutral expression on his faceplate.

"Reinforcements." An arachnoid femme noted with a hum of interest, snorting at the sight of both red and purple symbols arriving together on screen. "It truly seems like Autobots and Decepticons have decided to band together in face of this Quintesson threat… Impressive with the numbers indeed, but for both sides to ally together? For Lord Megatron to side and protect Optimus Prime? My… The Quintessons may truly be a bigger threat than I originally thought."

The warlord twitched at her words, his neutral expression twisting to a scowl though he kept silent. Still watching the screen with narrowed optics as both Autobots and Decepticons descended to deal with the remaining Quintessons. )

[ .: … These aren't pilots. :. Tailbreaker suddenly said in a private comm between him and Wrecker, and Senscript, had he been awake but the poor guy was still unconscious for now.

"What?" Wrecker replied a bit confusedly, panting to herself as she adjusted her mecha's settings while trying to calm herself down from the adrenaline of the battle.

.: None of these guys are pilots. Wrecker, look at them. They have faces, fully articulated and emotional and- there's too many of them. No government would fund all these mecha and- look! That one just transformed into some sort of futuristic jet! :.Tailbreaker exclaimed, gesturing to a mecha who had jumped into the air and turned into a flying aircraft. .: And these buildings… are way too big for humans. :.

Wrecker finally noticed her surroundings, stiffening in her cockpit as she sees the giant buildings that were her mecha's size. The mechas around her were gesticulating, most of them had faces that moved lips, frowned, smiled, blinked. "Holy shit." She muttered as it finally hit her. She and Tailbreaker subconsciously stood close before Senscript, like sentries, keeping separate from the not-pilots around them. ]

"There's the realization!" Miko snickered, grinning at the way her older, other self was looking stunned. Honestly she was expecting a more explosive reaction considering she was, y'know, her. But hey, that's fine. Miko was a little stunned herself when she first saw Arcee transform in that alleyway, only snapping out of it when Jack made the absurd move of rejecting Arcee's offer.

Like seriously, who wouldn't want to go with a giant alien robot? She sent a look to Jack who caught it and rolled his eyes.

"I see Hound, Red Alert, Remedy, Velocity- Primus, they're all there..." Ratchet said quietly, a bit disbelieving at seeing so many familiar faces in the background of the screen. Prowl was rallying both Autobots and Decepticons, instructing them from one place to another.

"Ironhide, Chromia, Jazz…" Optimus hummed quietly, a small soft yet sad smile on his faceplate as he saw his other self talk with old friends he hadn't seen since the Exodus, unfortunately. Not to mention a few faceplates that were… no longer with them. He took in a deep vent, at the sight of Kup and Impactor.

.: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Blaster… :. Bumblebee whirred, doorwings drooping low. More and more names came to mind as he saw faceplate after faceplate, he felt Raf's hand and saw his concern, .: I-I'm okay Raf, just… missing old friends. :.

Bulkhead laughed, it was something happy and sad as he saw himself on the screen. Not alone of course. "Broadside, Springer, Roadbuster… Even Seaspray's there!" Primus, he hoped old barnacle butt was alright, he was alive during the Exodus. He could feel coolant gather in his optics at the sight of faceplates long gone, even before the Exodus.

"Nautica, Firestar- Cliffjumper!" Arcee abruptly exclaimed, standing up at the sight of both herself and Cliffjumper on the screen! "He's alive! Oh thank Primus, he's… he's alive." There. He was alive there, with her in that world. That was good. That was… frag, never thought she'd feel this jealous over herself in another world.

"That's Cliffjumper?" Jack asked, curious and careful. He smiled though when Arcee gave him a nod and a smile, shaky but there, and he said nothing about how unusually shiny her eyes were. Still, he furrowed his brows before calling out. "Pause!"

Several eyes, human and cybertronian, turned to him in confusion and question. "You guys look like you need a minute." He told the Autobots, seeming more than one of them taken-aback and eagerly looking at the screen. It was one thing to see your planet alive and healthy, but seeing old comrades, ones that you haven't seen one way or another…

Optimus Prime nodded slightly at him. "Thank you Jack, that is very kind." No one commented the slight sniffles that came from certain bots,

( "Skywarp… Thundercracker." No one commented the seeker's voice breaking slightly, not even the tyrant who looked at multiple Decepticon faceplates in the screen. Ones he has not seen in a long, long while.

A medic hesitates, but stays silent and does nothing. Merely looks away when he caught the sharp glare of the flier who was quickly recomposing himself, silently berating that tiny show of weakness.

"So many bots and cons still alive." A femme whispered lowly, optics narrowing as she sees a few past prey alive in the background. A sign that the war had stopped rather early, or perhaps she was not a cybertronian. Neither was an option she liked, one especially more than the other. At any rate though, she sneered when she caught the sight of a certain blue femme, snorting at the red mech that was beside her. "Ah, so she does keep a partner, a cybertronian partner, alive in another world… How long will she keep him?" )

It took a few minutes before the team unanimously decided to continue again.

[ .: So, to recap; our mission goes FUBAR at the end because that XTR Commander- I don't know, fucking warped us to some alien planet that has living mechas? We're surrounded on all sides by aliens! Aliens like the XTR- no, shit, that's an unfair comparison. They're not like the XTRs, they're- they helped us. They fought against the shits, and by the looks of it, the XTRs were fighting them too. Just look at this place. :. Wrecker commented and Tailbreaker nodded in agreement.

The mecha-sized city they were in was burning. Crumbling down. They recognized a city being attacked by the XTRs just fine… "I don't think they're hostile to us yeah, we might actually have found an alien race that doesn't want to attack us- that might help us with the XTRs." He was a bit relieved by that, and he straightened in his seat when he saw the two mechas- mecha aliens? Alien Mechas? That helped him and Wrecker before. "Incoming."

Much to his and Wrecker's surprise though, as soon as they were near, the red and blue alien-mecha began to speak English. "You are… humans?" ]

That certainly surprised them.

"He knows about humans?" Raf blinked, "Have they been to Earth yet?"

Optimus' expression furrowed slightly, "Perhaps? To know about humans despite being on Cybertron—" A sharp gasp interrupted him as Miko suddenly stood up.

"What if Wheeljack's here?! He disappeared into a spacebridge right?! He's gotta be here!"

Bulkhead's hopes began to rise, "If anyone managed to get on Cybertron before Miko, Jack and Raf, it's gotta be Jackie." He agreed immediately. The chance of Wheeljack being alive and on Cybertron? He'll take it! But Primus! It was going to be weird seeing Wheeljack as a human!

"Then let us hope it is Wheeljack." Optimus replied with a nod.

( "They already know of humans?" )

[ .: It knows English!? :. Wrecker gawped into their comm, Tailbreaker made an admonishing hissing sound at her before activating his external speakers to speak with the alien mecha.

"I- yes, we are humans." Tailbreaker confirmed considering what else could they do? They were outnumbered, by the looks of the transforming weaponry- outgunned as well. Trying to fight only one race of aliens was hard enough, fighting a similar species to the suits they were piloting definitely wouldn't be ideal. "How did you... Pardon, but- how do you know about us? Speak our language?"

The cracked mask the mecha was wearing slid away, revealing another face that was giving him a welcoming expression. "You are not the first of your kind that we've spoken too, he has become a friend of ours as he helps us in our war against the Quintesson. Do you recognize the name, Wheeljack?"

Almost immediately Wrecker's mecha lurched forward, her external speakers activating to exclaim. "Wheeljack?! He's here!? You have him?!" She reached out with her least damaged arm to try and grab the alien but was stopped firmly by the silver mecha who growled in warning.

Tailbreaker was quick to get between him and Wrecker, holding Wrecker back from doing something reckless or impulsive. ]

"He's there! Ahahaha! That's Wheeljack for ya!" Bulkhead cheered the moment Other Optimus said Wheeljack's name, he couldn't wait to tell Jackie all about this! "'Course Jackie survived! He made it to Cybertron too! No matter the species, he's always gonna find his way back to us Autobots!"

Miko was squealing, cheering with him. "Yes! He's alive! Man, Wrecker must be so stoked!"

Jack shared an amused but relieved look with Arcee, glad that the other Wheeljack was still alive. "Still, just what were the chances that Wheeljack managed to get to Cybertron with a spacebridge? Really makes me wonder just what happened." He commented, crossing his arms and leaning back against the couch.

"From the brief flashback, Wheeljack got ambushed by the spacebridge by the looks of it. Something pulled him in." Arcee recalled with a frown and Bulkhead's mood darkened at the reminder. He growled, hating the fact that Wheeljack had been hurt- kind of? His mecha had been damaged, but there was a real chance that human Wheeljack got hurt too.

.: Well, whatever happened. He survived and he's with the Autobots now. ;. Bumblebee chirped before tilting his helm. .: So far we've seen almost everyone from the team there on Cybertron with the exception of me and Ratchet. Do you think we're human? :.

"I hope not!" Ratchet grumbled, frowning at the thought of being human. He was very content with being a cybertronian! "I would not know how to deal with being so small, and fragile."

"Aw c'mon Ratchet, I think you'd do fine! You wouldn't know anything different since you'd be born a human anyway." Raf grinned, now wanting to see whether or not Bee or Ratchet were humans like Shockwave and Wheeljack.

( "It was too much to hope that the Autobot, human or not, had perished I suppose." A seeker grumbled, annoyed by the Wrecker's continued survival.

"Though it is impressive that he's managed to make it all the way to Cybertron. Considering how we last saw him." A medic chimed in.

His conjunx grunted, "Something had him, speared through his mecha. Wonder what happened… Knowing Wheeljack though, explosions were involved." The SIC seeker shuddered, remembering the demise of a certain plateshifter after their attempt of infiltrating the Autobot base. )

[ "You know him."

Tailbreaker nodded towards the red and blue mech, "Yes, he was- is, a good friend of ours. Wrecker especially… We didn't know what happened to him, he just disappeared during one attack. He was eventually labeled MIA and—"

"They considered him dead! But no! Not Jackie!" Wrecker exclaimed, shoving Tailbreaker away who wobbled with his damaged leg. She laughed, it was a touch bit hysterical but mostly relieved, "I knew it! I knew he was alive! Didn't think he was on a whole different planet! Where is he?! Is he here? Is he nearby?! WHEELJACK!" She called out, looking around, hoping to see her old friend.

"Wrecker, Wrecker pull yourself together." Tailbreaker said sharply, they were speaking with what seemed to be the leader of the aliens here. All the other aliens seemed to answer to them earlier on. "I'm sure we'll see him at some point, but right now, we need to focus. Senscript is still down, we're on another planet and- I'm sorry, we're being rude. My callsign's Tailbreaker, MECH pilot 05."

Wrecker had calmed down, nodding, "Wrecker, MECH pilot 00. Our third's Senscript, MECH pilot 013." She gestured to the unmoving Senscript.

The robotic alien frowned before offering a welcoming smile, "I am Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobot Faction of Cybertron. Cybertron being the planet you are on, of course. And this," He motioned to the silver not-mecha beside him, "Is Megatron, Leader of the Decepticon Faction and Lord High Protector of Cybertron." ]

"There's that title again." Ratchet muttered, optics narrowed at the alternate version of their enemy. "Just what does it mean?"

"Something obviously important if it's part of Optimus' introduction to the kids." Arcee said, arms crossed as she too wondered just what 'Lord High Protector' meant. By description, it should be obvious but it was actually pretty vague, did that mean protecting Optimus since was Prime? Seemed like it.

But even if this was an alternate Megatron, he was still a Megatron who was the Leader of the Decepticons, Autobots and Decepticons still existed as different factions and knowing the power-hungry mech. Being Optimus' protector wasn't the only reason why he was Lord High Protector, he wouldn't be satisfied with just that.

( Speculation ran through the war room, they, too, were wondering what Lord High Protector meant.

Their leader's expression was looking more displeased yet he kept calm, kept sat down as they all continued to watch the screen. )

[ .: Alright, so we are talking to the leaders of their race. And the planet we're on is called Cybertron. :. Tailbreaker muttered into their private comms before replying, "It's nice to meet you both, wish it was under better circumstances."

"Yeah…" Wrecker trailed off, scowling at the silver… cybertron guy? Megatron. Not that he would know, unlike the aliens, her mecha didn't have a face. Anyway, he didn't seem too happy to see them. "What's his deal?"

"Wrecker!" She ignored Tailbreaker's hiss to asses the other leader.

Optimus frowned and turned to Megatron, speaking in their language. ]

"Ugh, what are they saying? What gives? Earlier on, we understood Optimus just fine but now we can't?" Miko complained, gesturing to the screen.

"It's a perspective shift, thing." Raf sighed, shifting on Bumblebee's shoulder. "I couldn't understand a lot of things within the Observer but depending on perspectives, languages can be translated automatically to be understood by the users. Since we're in um, our other selves' perspective, who don't understand Cybertronian- it doesn't translate it until we shift to someone who understands Cybertronian."

Ratchet grunted, "It should be automatically translating no matter what perspective but, again, damaged systems within. As for what Megatron's saying he's complaining about there being more humans. To be expected, honestly."

Arcee's faceplate furrowed as she tilted her helm, "Doesn't really sound like complaining though, he seems… concerned? Optimus is trying to reassure him but Megatron's… not happy with how the humans are being treated? That they sound young? The frag?"

Jack and Miko blinked, "What."

Bulkhead had to agree, what. "Since when did buckethead care for young human huh? Or humans in general?!"

"'Their government is less to be desired Megatron, but your displeasure is being mistaken to be aimed at them, specifically.' That's what Optimus just said." Raf frowned with confusion on his face. "Now Megatron's sighing and saying he should have made more effort in learning the human language so he could apologize himself and… and Optimus is teasing him?"

Bulkhead needed Ratchet to check on his processor because he's pretty sure a few fuses blew as he hears Optimus tease Megatron about not learning English, even smiling at Megatron- unfortunately the grumpy medic seemed to have blown a few fuses himself, gawping at the screen for the very same reasons.

Megatron wanting to apologize to the human kids? Optimus full on teasing Megatron?

Forget the Quintessons, the mecha suits, and the change of species for some people, this was the most shocking thing they've seen in this world yet!

Meanwhile, Optimus was watching with not exactly wide-optics, but he had yet to look away. Seemingly entranced by the comradery he saw between his other self and the other Megatron. It… reminded him too much of Orion and Megatronus, far more than the actor universe ever did.

( Unwanted memories come to a warlord's processor, old ones that depict of an Iaconian archivist smiling at a Kaoni gladiator during a time that seemed more simple than the present. Of late cycles with messages shared across the planet, of a relationship building from the same interests, and a potential for more.

The room tenses at the loud growl their leader let out, dark and irritable. Only one other mech in the room recognizes the slight hint of conflicting jealousy hidden beneath the building anger, and like always, keeps silent about it and everything else. )

[ "His displeasure isn't aimed at you, this cycle- hm, day? Has been stressful for everyone involved." Optimus finally said in English to them, "For now, let us retire to somewhere safer so your comrade can be overseen by a medic. Wheeljack is on his way."

At the mention that Wheeljack was one his way, Wrecker was immediately going over to Senscript. "Lead the way bossman!"

"Wrecker!" ]

"No matter the universe, Miko is Miko… the actor doesn't really count." Jack sighed, palming his face at Wrecker's casual attitude to someone who was suppose to be one of the leaders of an entire planet. For some reason, he thought being a bit older, Miko would have learned to be a bit more… he doesn't know, restrained? Respectful? To figures of authority, but nope. She could follow orders at least… Mostly?

"Jackie must mean a lot to you Miko." Bulkhead said with a smile, happy at the fact that even though he and Wheeljack hadn't known each other as long and were different species, at least he still had a good close friend like Miko worrying over his human butt.

Miko grinned, "Looks like it! Aw man, aw man! I can't wait to see human Wheeljack!" She cheered, excited to see the Wrecker as her own species- he was already cool as an alien robot space cowboy samurai, he would no doubt be just as cool as a human! It was Wheeljack they were talking about after all!

Despite the short meeting, and the whole 'Makeshift' thing that happened before it, Miko had a great impression on the real Wheeljack. She'd been pretty disappointed when he decided not to stay, making him promise to visit Earth again in the future. And hey! Considering what they were doing, maybe as soon as Bulkhead told him what was going on, Wheeljack would totally have to come back to Earth and check it out for himself!

[ "There's nothing there?!"

Abruptly, the scene cuts back to Earth. Silas hunched over intimidatingly over a table with a glowering look on his face, the poor soldier reporting to him shook his head. "N-No sir, nothing aside from the remains of the XTRs."

"And the trackers?!" Silas snapped towards a man sitting by a console.

The man flinched but answered, motioning to a screen. The pilot pictures of Wrecker, Tailbreaker and Senscript were dim with all their statuses being labeled 'N/A'. "Out of range sir, possibly offline."

Silas growled while Shockwave, who was by another monitor, stood by in silence. Finally speaking, "Play it again." He ordered the woman controlling the computer. She did as ordered and played Wrecker and Tailbreaker's last messages.

. JD-05 : W-What the— :.

. MN-00 : No- n—o! —AY! MAYDAY! Wr—ECH HQ! We a—ing s—ome sort of vort—tal! It's the th—ing that took Ja—:.

Shockwave hummed, "… Vortex… portal… Senscript did not say anything, he must have sustained damage or was knocked offline." He said mostly to himself with interest, but the screen suddenly flashed over his hands behind his back. They trembled and clenched tightly. "Hmph." ]

"We're back on Earth!" Raf declared, surprised at the sudden shift from Cybertron to Earth.

Miko glared mulishly at the screen as she pouted, she wanted to see Wheeljack! She wanted to be back on Cybertron! "Back with MECH."

"Back with Silas and Shockwave." Jack sighed, though he looked confused at the sudden switch to Shockwave's hands. Not seeing the importance of it.

The Autobots on the other hand seemed slightly dumbfounded. "Is that…"

.: Emotion? Is Shockwave experiencing emotions? Like- as a human? Humans… don't have emotion suppressors do they?? :. Bumblebee whirred, turning to Raf who shook his head.

"Not… really? I guess there's medicine that can help calm people down I think, and some people can't feel emotions correctly like other people but…" He trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

"Question is, just what is he feeling? Annoyance that he didn't get results over his prototype testing? Anger? Disappointment?" Arcee scoffed, the initial thought of Shockwave having emotions was absurd but paused as she thought it over a bit more. She shuddered, it was bad enough that the cycloptic scientist was emotionless, if he actually had access to emotions like anger again…

Optimus spied Ratchet on his datapad once more, this time on a different website pertaining human emotions and medicine related to it. The medic catches his glance and his faceplate tints, grumbling with a cough as he abruptly closed the website. Optimus hummed yet said nothing about it.

( A seeker perked up, delighted, "My, my, is that frustration I see a hint of from Shockwave of all mechs?" He needled to nobody but himself. Unsettling as it was to see Shockwave even portray a silver of emotion, it was quite the sight for someone who'd been at odds with the scientist before hand.

"Well, he is human. From my… information gathering, I find that humans, even those who claim to be emotionless, do seem to have emotions of sorts." A medic said, tapping at his datapad. "Humans can't exactly permanently render themselves emotionless, not without severe repercussions that a cybertronian could easily ignore."

Unnoticed by all but one, a silent mech bowed his head slightly. The warlord, initially displeased by the return to the planet they were currently on, paused for just a moment before returned to being displeased. )

[ "Three pilots, three of our top pilots are gone and that's all you have to say?" Silas questioned, annoyed by Shockwave's perceived unaffectedness. "Billions of money, years of investment, in training, gone."

Shockwave didn't bother turning to him, "You knew that was a possibility the moment they started piloting mechas. All it takes is one bad battle to lose everything, as is usually the fate of all pilots."

A flash of a towering extremely damaged purple mecha standing in front of something small, something dented, something mostly covered in XTR blood but underneath was a hint of yellow.

Silas narrowed his eyes at him, "The fate of all pilots is dying in their mechas for the sake of humanity, as they were trained to do. Not inexplicably disappearing all at the same time! No one left behind, not even a single component left from their mechas— Especially from the Ambus set! We even lost the prototype invention you made!" He seethed, scowling at the man who stood in place with his hands behind his back as if nothing had happened and they hadn't suffered a huge loss. ]

"Woah, woah, what was that?!" Bulkhead gawped at the very brief moment of what looked to be a familiar-ish purple mecha and something else on the ground.

A chill ran up most of the Autobots, a bad feeling at the brief flash they saw. It'd been too fast, too much in a too short of time. But it had been a flash of human Shockwave's past- hadn't other Miko said he'd been a pilot before? That that was the reason why he even had the callsign of 'Shockwave'?

Whatever it was, it was swept away by Silas' infuriating words.

"Excuse me?!" Arcee hissed, plates bristling at the screen.

Bumblebee growled, .: He's not even concerned about the kids! :. He exclaimed indignantly with anger, his engine growling with him from how angry he was.

"Money? Investment?! Ain't worth scrap to the lives that you actually 'lost' you tiny coward of a man! If you're so incensed and annoyed, go pilot your own mecha!" Bulkhead snapped at the screen, servos slamming on his knees.

Ratchet hissed something vulgar in cybertronian, not to the extent of much earlier when other Optimus had been dangling off a cliff with Megatron above him but the promise of pain was just as intense.

Even Optimus was sporting a dark expression as he stared dispassionately at Silas.

The kids glanced at their Autobot guardians with concern, but were all a bit touched by their reactions. Still, they did their best to calm them down.

( The words investment, training and dying reminded two ex-gladiators too much of their pasts for reasons unknown, even to them. Of patrons and battles, beneath the glory and fame, invisible shackles at their limbs, Tight and chafing. Having to fight for even the privilege to live.

A seeker, a medic, an ex-Wrecker, and an arachnoid flinch at the sudden dual noises of engines rumbling dark and low. One was expected as his faceplate darkened significantly, the other was a complete surprise considering his reputation and full-faceplated visor. )

[ "You are pointing out the obvious, Silas." Shockwave drawled, much to Silas' growing annoyance. "But I understand your frustration, the losses we've suffered outweigh what we've gained."

"Oh? And what exactly have we gained?" Silas questioned through gritted teeth.

Shockwave typed into the woman's console, replaying a segment of Wrecker's last message over and over again a few times. "Information. Information that may be crucial."

. MN-00 : We a—ing s—ome sort of vort—tal! We a—ing s—ome sort of vort—tal! We a—ing s—ome sort of vort—tal! We a—ing s—ome sort of vort—tal! :.

"I believe what Wrecker is saying is 'vortex portal'. There's been an ongoing theory of how the XTRs have been appearing stealthily on Earth, they don't always appear within a ship in our atmosphere after all and pilots have been known to disappear inexplicably in the past with little to no signs of pilot or mecha." Shockwave's red mask glowed a bit brighter, "I believe we just found the answer." ]

"The Quintessons must have been hiding the fact they were using bridging technology from the humans." Ratchet theorized with a huff, glaring darkly at both humans on the screen. One human he was already expecting to dislike considering who his counterpart was, but the other? MECH had originally just been a human nuisance, an unfortunate organization that found out about Cybertronians. Soon afterwards though, they became something dangerous with their kidnapping of Breakdown, then even willing to ally with Arachnid and kidnapping Ms. Darby, Jack's mother.

But now? In that world at least, he earned even more ire from the Autobots from his callous words alone. He could only imagine what treatment and training the mecha world children had been underneath the thumb of that man, not to mention Shockwave himself… And he didn't like it, not one bit.

[ A red, white and green mecha suit was striding through a cybertronian hallway. Obvious from the other mechs and femmes that were going about in the large space. The suit was barely patched, its size was smaller than Wrecker's and even Tailbreaker but it was wider with two swords attached to its back. "Better keep up Maggie 'cause this cowboy ain't slowin' down for nothin'!" He called back to the larger mech that was attempting to follow after him. "I got a friend waitin' for me!"

"Wheeljack." 'Maggie' said with exasperation as he avoided a mech, apologizing for nearly bumping into them. The mostly blue mech sighed but gave a slight smile at how excited the human sounded. "Refrain from calling me that, Wheeljack." ]

"Maggie?!" Bulkhead, Arcee and Bumblebee were definitely gawking now, Bulkhead especially considering he knew the relationship between his Ultra Magnus and Wheeljack hadn't been… the most agreeable in the last moments before the Exodus.

"Who's that? Who's Maggie?" Miko asked, watching Wheeljack and 'Maggie' weave through other bots and- yep, those were cons. Autobots and Decepticons really were working together.

"Ultra Magnus." Ratchet corrected, though he couldn't help the amused look on his faceplate. "He used to leader of the Cybertron's own Elite Guard before he later became the commander of the Wreckers."

"Oooh, he's a Wrecker? NICE!"

"Kinda? He's- well, he's uh… kinda rigid compared to most other Wreckers Miko. Much more by the books kind of mech, if you get what I'm saying." Bulkhead told herand frowned, "Man, can't believe Jackie's calling Ultra Magnus Maggie- and he only had a light reprimand! Something's up!"

( "Finally back on Cybertron… if only to witness the Autobots again… Hm, his mecha suit is quite different from his cybertronian self but I do see some similarities." A seeker mused, deadpanning unamusedly at the banter that was said between the Wrecker and the other Autobot. He recognized that one as well.

"So far the board's even, Shockwave's a human and so is an Autobot. Who knows who else is human here." A medic chuckled. )

[ Finally, Wheeljack arrived at a certain room. Throwing the door open without a care, "Wrecker!" He called out joyously and almost immediately he was grabbed from the doorway much to Ultra Magnus' immediate concern- just as he was aiming a blaster at Wheeljack's assailant, he heard a warbled; "Jaaackiiiieeee!"

He hesitated as he sees a giant Quintesson gore-stained mecha hugging Wheeljack. "You're alive! I knew it! I knew it, I knew, I knew it!"

Wheeljack laughed, patting the mecha's shoulder. "Damn straight I am! Gonna take more than that to… get me…" He trailed off, Ultra Magnus's optics blinked as he peered behind them both. Another human mecha sat awkwardly within the room on a medbay berth, another was laying, supposedly unconscious. He straightened at the sight of Optimus Prime and Megatron.

However just before he could say anything, Wheeljack's clearly horrified voice spoke once more. "… Miko, why do you sound so young?"

"… Shit…" ]

It started out as such a tearful reunion, Wheeljack was alive! Wrecker got to see him alive!

That was, until Wheeljack's horrified question came.

They were all pretty confused by it, but two veterans could only feel dread for the upcoming conversation that was about to happen.

( On a warship, things just seemed to be getting a bit more interesting on screen. )

[ ----- TP : UO ----- ]

glad to have updated in the first week of june! unfortunately updates may or may not slow or just continue on, the new house needs a room (my room) built so its a bit hard to concentrate sometimes when construction goes on and other stuff is happening

BUT HEY WHEELJACK IS ALIVE! AND LOOK HERE'S ULTRA MAGNUS! WE LOVE THESE TWO!

[PREV]

[NEXT]

Arcee just wanted to shove it somewhere and leave it be. Unfortunately she was outvoted, and now they were going to watch another universe where who knows what was going to happen…

Okay so maybe she's being a little biased about it, she just… Seeing Arachnid from both worlds acting… UN-Arachnid-like, not a word she knows but shut up, it messed with her. Okay? It messed with her more than she'd ever like to admit.

Especially the… Actor world?

The 'Shattered Glass' world had been weird enough with Arachnid being nice to the kids and herself being… violent (she doesn't want to think how her counterpart had been so savage with that other Makeshift) but at least her and Arachnid had been enemies.

Even with the flipped moralities thing it had going on, that made sense.

But the Actor universe had completely flipped her on her pedes, she could barely fathom the fact that her coutnerpart, even if she was an actor, was friends with any kind of Arachnid. Actor or otherwise.

Sure they were rivals but it was clear from their interactions on the show, they were more like- friendly rivals instead of go-for-your-throat-cables kind of rivals.

Or maybe they'd been putting up an act for the liveshow? Didn't want to show it in public? She doubts it though, she would've been able to tell if they were acting like- or maybe she wouldn't?

Primus, this whole situation was more than ridiculous.

She shook her aching helm and instead focused on Raf, she'd been half-listening and half-lost in her thoughts. His answer to Jack was yes… and no.

"Remember how I said the machinery inside is really damaged? Well, it affected the input settings for Key Words- the Observer is just going to choose random words from whatever its users say for now until more of it can be repaired." Raf explained. "So you, Miko and I just have to keep talking randomly and it'll latch on to whatever words we're saying, make them key words and find a universe that way."

"Just the three of you?" Arcee frowned, unsure if it was a good idea to leave the control over the Observer to the three human children- she knows Jack and Raf could be responsible, Miko less so, but even then…

"Unfortunately with the state of its internal machinery, adding new 'Users' to its database is not possible. Like everything else, we're just going to have to wait until it's repaired before the children can add us to its user registration." Ratchet grumbled, thanking Optimus when he offered the medic with a chair when he and Bee finally got back

"So I just have to say random words like before? Didn't I already try that but it ended up going for Jack instead?" Miko pointed out, lounging back against the couch. "Did you check if there was like- a priority thing between the three of us? It got my key words first, then Jack's, now it'll probably do you Raf."

That was… a fair assessment really.

Raf nodded slowly, thoughtful, "Uh, no I didn't check for priority but hmm… considering how it's been going on? That makes sense."

"Miko making sense? Today's really full of surprises." Jack teased, grunting when the girl punched his shoulder with a mock-glare on her face. "So, we thinking it's going to focus on Raf for Key Words?"

"Since you and Miko went first, I'd say yeah." Bulkhead agreed, taking a seat between Bumblebee and Arcee. They were all sitting now within the main base, gathered somewhat comically around the floating screen from the Observer.

.: Well, go ahead Raf. Say a bunch of words. :. Bee encouraged.

"Uhhh, hm- cars? Racing? School-"

Miko interrupted him with a groan, "Noo, don't say any words related to school! We come to the base to get away from school! Not watch it!"

"Miko, let Raf say whatever he wants." Jack sighed, though he did privately agree but it was Raf's turn to show a universe.

"Ugh," Raf groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration. "I wish the Observer let me use my laptop to input the Key Words! Or have a holographic keyboard for this section as well." He complained, pouting at the screen.

The Observer had provided a keyboard for Raf to control when he and Ratchet prodded it for its commands and such, managing to stumble their way into a blueprint of its inner machinery somehow through sheer luck and stubbornness.

"Hopefully when it's more repaired, it will do exactly that." Ratchet huffed, agreeing with Raf's complaint.

"Hopefully." Raf grumbled, "Gotta wonder though, just who made these things? I know the only alien tech I've come across is Cybertronian- mostly Earth-based cybertronian in the base, but even Ratchet said that the mechanical engineering was beyond Cybertronian make."

"Current Dimenion's Cybertronian ma- there we go."

[ KEY WORDS ; ALIEN MECHA ]

"Alien Mecha?" Arcee repeated with the others, "That thing's definitely busted if it just got mecha from mechanical." There were murmurs of agreement but it all died down as the screen loaded fully and they were all treated to the very first sight of this new universe.

( "Alien Mecha." A warlord repeated with disdain but slight curiosity. )

[ The screen's edges were frosted and fogged white. Details were fuzzy, as the faint and muffled sound of shrieking was heard.

A small boy was standing alone on a yard, holding a toy sword. The boy's face was familiar, eyes opened wide at the screen.

The entire sequence was slow and sluggish. ]

Confusion was quick to set at the bizarre way their first view of the universe was shown. "Is that…" Bulkhead started slowly.

Optics and eyes turned to a certain teenage male. "Me?" Jack finished in disbelief, mouth agape at the familiar sight of his younger face that he's only seen in old pictures at home! "That's me! When I was a kid!"

"Woah… Wait, why is everything slow-mo?" Miko squinted at the screen, "And have white-edging?"

Raf frowned, "Is anybody else hearing screaming?"

( "Who the frag is that?" A red racer deadpanned.

His seeker comrade scoffed, "Nevermind who that is, just what is happening?" )

[ A shadow loomed over the small boy, dark and large as the white frost and fog seeped into a darker color and the shrieks grew louder, turning into fullblown screams.

A monstrous looking creature, canine-like in body, towered over the boy. Segmented with dark purple metallic plates that had dark green muscles underneath that bulged dangerous between the seams. The lower jaw of the hideous creature split in half to open, dark blue sludge dripping from its open maw.

The boy stared at it with wide, fearing eyes. ]

"What the frag?!" Arcee hissed, digits clenching tightly on her elbow joints at the sight of something in front of tiny, tinIER, Jack. "What is that?!"

Raf was quick to latch on to Jack, his own eyes wide with fear and apprehension while Miko gasped first in excitement then concern, realizing that now probably wasn't the time to say the monster looked cool when a version of her friend's kid self was standing right in front of it.

Optimus stiffened, frame going tense like the rest of the Autobots, but his optics shuttered, an old memory trying to resurface.

( "WHAT THE FRAG IS THAT HIDEOUS CREATURE?!"

"Hm… It's rather familiar…" A warlord uttered before turning to see a visored mech displaying two pictures, a familiar human and the human child on the screen. "I see, it's one of Optimus' human pets but much younger..." )

[ "JACK!" A voice screamed and echoed, the screen blurring- time speeding up for the briefest moment before slowing down once more.

Suddenly there was a familiar woman rushing in, metal bat in hand, colliding hard against the monster's open maw. A desperate young woman with a near-feral look of panic and anger on her face. ]

"MOM!"

"Ms. Darby!"

It was a chorus of noise as they watched the woman take the monster head on with nothing but a metal bat. Jack was standing now, with Raf holding on to his sleeve tightly and Miko on the very edge of her seat.

The bots were tense, Arcee especially considering that was her charge and her charge's mother on the screen. As much as June had been a bit of a helicopter-parent (a term she learned from Miko and the internet), she understood the woman's apprehension and protectiveness.

They've smoothed out some differences, but even when Arcee was annoyed with her, she didn't want to see her in danger like this.

( "What a contrast, I had that woman cocooned helplessly yet here she is, trying to take on something beyond her size." A spider muttered, optic ridges raised with interest as she watched the screen.)

[ The screen flashed, rapidly going through still images splattered with blood, red and black, while being hazy at the edges. Screams continued to sound in the background, gradually getting louder and louder with each image.

June's bat bit in half, leaving a jagged end. June shoving the jagged bat and her arm into the mouth of the beast, somehow managing to pierce through the head. It falling dead. June cradling her arm and shouting at a man. Another, identical monster appearing behind her. The man grabbing Jack who finally, frantically reached out for his mother.

"Take Jack and run—" "MOMMY!" "RUN!"

The last image was of June's back, facing a new monster before it all went black.

A pair of eyes snapped open, breath hitched and uneven. Jack Darby, much older now, woke up in the bottom of a bunk bed. ]

"Wait, what happened? What just happened?" Jack was struggling to comprehend what he saw- the brief flashes of images on the screen had been quick, but Jack didn't like the implications of what he saw regardless. "She's alright, she's fine. Mom's- okay. She's got to be."

"I mean, she's fine here. Dunno about over there though." Miko said then winced at the look that Jack and even Raf gave her.

"Miko!" Jack hissed, upset that- well, Miko was right. His mother was fine in his universe, but it was still distressing to see what was implied to have happened to another version of her in another universe.

At the very least, it didn't show how she… if she…

Arcee didn't know how to reassure him, feeling similarly upset over the situation- no one in the room was unaffected by it. Not even Miko, though she was trying to lighten things up in her own way. Arcee shook her helm and focused back on the screen. "You look older Jack." She noted aloud, trying to change the subject.

He did. Older than he was right now.

( "Did I watch that right or did that tiny human manage to kill one of the- whatever the frag that was?" An ex-wrecker questioned aloud.

"She shoved her arm and weapon right through the mouth, unorthodox yet effective. Unfortunately not without its demerits." A warlord muttered to himself. He had to admit, even he was hesitant to do such a thing. He would give credit where credit was due, the human female was brave- reckless, yet brave. Organic as she was, she died a death he would not disrespect. The creature, however, was familiar, he tried to scour his memories for why it seemed familiar and where… )

[ Jack groaned, getting up from the bed, pressing a hand against his eyelids and sitting at the edge. He looked around the room, it was modest. Small almost. Militaristic but a little personalized with a few knickknacks and items around the small area.

Beep! Beep!

He heard an alarm clock beep, and not long after, the sound of a pained groan and he quickly turned the alarm off. Standing up to look at the top bunk, a small lump hidden underneath a blanket.

"Raf? You good?"

The lump shifted, "… yeah…" Was the quiet reply.

Jack frowned then whispered low, "How bad is it today?"

"… need my headphones…"

"Full stop?"

"… halfway… shades too…"

"Got it bud." ]

Miko squinted at the screen, "Where are you two? Where am I?" She asked, a bit put out that it was showing both Jack and Raf- well, mostly Jack. Raf was hiding underneath a blanket. But why was Raf sleeping in a bunk bed with Jack in that room anyway?

.: What's wrong with you? Uh, no, other Raf? :. Bumblebee beeped sadly, not liking the sight of Raf being so… quiet and tired. Even without being seen, the boy seemed miserable hidden underneath the blanket on screen.

"Dunno Bee, I hope other me's alright."

Arcee tensed, optic ridges furrowing as she heard Jack speak. His voice…

[ Jack grabbed a pair of thick headphones from the desk beside their bunk bed, fiddling with it a bit before opening a drawer to grab a pair of shades as well. He placed them on the top bunk's bed before going over to a small bathroom that was attached to their bedroom.

The screen focused on Raf, who finally emerged from the blanket. He looked exhausted, bags underneath his eyes, complexion pale and hair a mess. He winced as he hears the door close, quickly grabbing the headphones to shove over his ears, he grabbed the shades but didn't put them on until he climbed down from the top bunk to get to the lightswitch.

He only turned on the lights after he put on the shades. ]

Raf tilted his head, "Huh, I think other me might be hypersensitive to sound and light."

"Or maybe he just wanna look cool first thing in the morning, it's okay Raf. I'd wanna look cool with headphones and shades too." Miko teased making the tween roll his eyes.

"No, look- I think those headphones are noise-canceling headphones, my cousin has a pair, they block out loud noises and stuff. And those shades are pretty tinted, he put them on before turning on the lights." Raf reasoned.

Ratchet frowned, "That would make sense… Rafael, do you require the same items for yourself?" He didn't like the way the younger- well, technically older, no, the other Raf on screen looking so… haggard.

Raf blinked at the question before shaking his head, "No, well, sometimes I am overwhelmed by stuff but not to the point of needing things like that." The medic gave a toneless hum, but made a mental note to keep an optic on him just in case.

( "Ugh, why are we watching the Autobot's pet humans? I thought this was about Alien Mecha or whatever the 'Key Words' were." A seeker grumbled.

"Considering in all three instances so far had these children on screen, perhaps it has to do with the fact they're the 'hosts' or 'users', whatever that orange mech said. What was his designaiton again? Ring? Rong?" A racer asked, confused.

"- My name is Rung -"

"Ah, thank you Soundwave." )

[ Jack stepped out of the bathroom, towel on his head and dressed in a modified military jumpsuit. "Bathroom's all yours Raf."

The young teen nodded at him before he went past Jack to enter the bathroom, closing the door behind him as Jack took a moment to sit down. Rifling underneath his shirt to grab a locket from underneath his shirt.

He took in a deep breath and clicked it open, an incomplete picture of a family was on one side of the locket. His expression was sorrowful as he looked at the faces of a woman, a young boy and a man- the man's face had been scratched away, barely recognizeable. The other side of the locket had an engraving, faint but barely readable. 'Till all are one - R' ]

Jack's breath hitched at the sight of the locket, at the expression his other, older self had on his face. Any hope for his mother in that universe had completely wiped away from that alone, And the sight of his father's scratched face didn't bode well for him at all.

"'Till all are one?'" Bulkhead read, optics narrowing at the engraving. "Hey, Optimus. Ain't that…" He trailed off, uneasy and unsure.

"What is it Bulk?" Miko asked, curious as to why he seemed so uneasy.

"… The phrase, 'Till all are one' is mainly a Cybertronian phrase. It is a promise, usually made before important battles." Ratchet said, just as uneasy and unsure at the fact that the other Jack had such a phrase engraved into that locket.

"Why does Jack have a Cybertronian promise engraved in his locket?" Raf asked pointblank, confused as the rest of them.

Throughout the entire thing, Optimus was silent. A strange feeling nagging at the back of his processor, but unable to recognize what or why he felt this way.

( The phrase is noted on a warship, general confusion as to why it was there but mostly swept aside. The phrase has always been more of an Autobot tradition during their war, but it was noted how strange it was that the human had it carved into a strange place. )

[ Jack spent a good minute looking at the locket, expression changing before he closed it. Tucking it back securely underneath his shirt.

The scene cuts to both Jack and Raf jogging lightly through the halls, dodging grown men and women in semi-familiar military uniforms. They were quick to arrive at a mess hall, the line was thankfully short, and there were plenty of tables to sit around. ]

Arcee squinted at the sight of the militiristic humans lingering around others, they looked familiar.

"What a fraggin' minute. Those are MECH agents!" Bulkhead blurted out in realization as he saw the human uniforms in proper lighting, recognizing their clothes from the time he rescued Breakdown. "Why're Jack and Raf with MECH?!"

"What? Why are we with MECH?" Jack blinked rapidly, wondering why he and Raf were with the organization that tried to nab a Decepticons and were definitely not Autobot-friendly. Hell, they were wearing modified MECH uniforms too!

( An ex-wrecker recognizes the uniforms as well, swearing heavily, "Those're the humans that nabbed me and my optic!" He hissed, his glare at the screen turned towards a chuckling spider-bot. )

"Wait, if Jack and Raf are there then I…" Miko trailed off, going silent as soon enough, her suspicions were proven correct.

[ A young woman with short hair sat down with Raf and Jack, the ends of her hair were faded pink. Her uniform was incomplete, her top jacket was tied around her waist to show off her well-toned arms. She grinned at them, though it seemed forced. "Mornin' guys!"

"Morning Miko." Jack greeted back with a nod.

"Morning." Raf mumbled tiredly from his cup of coffee. ]

"Dude! My hair!" Miko complained, wondering why her hair was so short, not to mention it clearly needed a touch up. Her signature pink was all faded! "Well, at least I grew up strong! Look at those muscles! Haha!" Also, giving it a second look- her hair didn't look too bad. She was really rocking the really short hair there.

"The question still stands as to why the children are with MECH in this universe." Ratchet muttered, frowning at the scene of the three on screen. They had grown up, they were together, and yet he couldn't help but notice that something was off about them.

Not just because they were with the strange yet malicious human organization that had tried to bomb them using Breakdown's optic as bait.

.: Maybe… Maybe MECH isn't that bad in this universe? They might be on our side there. :. Bumblebee hesitantly offered, though it was clear he wasn't entirely onboard with his own suggestion. He was very worried over why Raf seemed exhausted.

[ "Sensitive?" Miko squinted, noticing the headphones and shades. "How much we talkin', quarter? Half? Full?"

"Half." Jack answered for Raf who was too busy drinking coffee to do so.

Miko whistled, "Plus shades? Man, Doc Shock must've been hard on you yesterday then."

Raf set down his cup and sighed, "Please don't call the Doctor that, he doesn't like it. At least just call him with his actual callsign."

Miko snorted, "I'll call him whatever I damn please, but you know what? I'll call him by his full callsign when he pilots a mecha again. Pfft, who wants to quit piloting to become a scientist?" She scoffs, tossing food into her mouth with a grunt.

"Shockwave, that's who." Jack answered in a deadpan, "And he's not just a scientist, he's Head of the whole science division and main engineer for our mecha." ]

"SHOCKWAVE?!" All three kids covered their ears from the loud shouts from the Autobots,

( Similar shouts of "SHOCKWAVE!?" came, mostly from a panicked seeker. )

"Shockwave?! Near the kids!? WITH MECH!? Ex-fragging-cuse me?!"

.: Raf was with Shockwave?! Why?! Oh Primus, what happened?! What did he do to Raf?! :.

"Those kids gotta get out of there! Pronto!"

Jack waved his arms, "Woah, woah, woah! Time out! Pause!" He exclaimed, not just to gain the attention of the bots, but also pause the screen as it was still going while most of the Autobots were talking over each other, the most upset he's seen them in a while since this all started. "What is going on with you guys? Who's Shockwave?"

"A monster, that's who." Arcee spat, frame trembling at the very thought of the cycloptic mech.

"We talking literal monster, or—" Miko was sternly interrupted by Ratchet, "He's a monster in every way that counts. Shockwave is a mad scientist, emotionless and psychotic. He's infamous for his sparkless experiments throughout the history of our war. He has no morals, no limits he won't cross, if given the chance he would experiment on his fellow Decepticons." He said grimly with a tight, furious expression.

Raf swallowed, now looking very nervous. "So the fact that I'm doing- something with him is…"

"Worrying." Optimus finally spoke, his expression grim before he gave them all a reassuring look. "However, we must keep in mind what Rung told us earlier on. This Shockwave is already different from the one we know, he is working with the humans, with MECH, we do not know what he is capable of. The same goes with MECH, we do not know what they are in this universe. Until further information is gained, we must remain calm."

"Easier said than done!" Bulkhead exclaimed, servos clamping over his arms, giving worrying looks to both sets of kids, on and off screen. "MECH's bad, Shockwave's worse! But with both…"

Jack sighed, apprehensive but determined, "Hey, Optimus is right. We have no idea what's going on, but there's only one way to find out… We good on continuing?" He waited, watching everyone nod in agreement after some time. "Alright, uh, Observer. Continue!"

[ "Yeah yeah…" Miko huffed, "Just… You good Raf? Whatever he's working on, you've been sitting out of spars more and more. Tired as hell with your sensitivity-shit either half-way or full on. That doesn't really happen unless you've been clocked in your mecha for more than eight hours or something."

Raf gave her a weak smile, adjusting his shades and headphones self-consciously. "It's fine, I'm fine. Doctor Shockwave just has a new invention that'll change our fights, hopefully. He needs my help since I'm the only Rescue-class pilot with a way above average sensitivity, compatibility and a high enough IQ to keep up. At the rate we're going, we might have a new class on our hands."

Jack and Miko gave him impressed yet worried looks, "No shit? New class? Got a name for it already? How's it going to help with the fights?" Miko asked a bit excitedly.

"Nothing official yet, we're in the mid-stages and MECH wants big results before we try to present it to everyone else. As for how it'll help…" Raf hesitated and shrugged, "Sorry, but I can't really say right now." ]

"They keep saying those words. 'Pilot', 'Mecha'." Ratchet mumbled, faceplate thoughtful. "Just what does it entail? From those words alone I would think… is it possible…?" He shared a look with Optimus who looked troubled.

A sharp, happy squeal gained their attention as Miko was suddenly on her feet, wide-eyed with a starry grin on her face. "No way, no way! NO WAY!"

"Woah Miko! Calm down! What's got you so excited?" Bulkhead asked, confused by the sudden spike of excitement from his charge.

Miko pointed at the still going screen, "Dudes! Dudes! How can you not figure it out already?!" She demanded before abruptly shaking her head, "No, no! No, I'm cool. Just- wait, watch! WATCH!" She pointed back towards the screen, urging them to keep watching.

[ Alarms suddenly blare and the three of them share a disgruntled look, Raf adjsuting his headphones with gritted teeth. "Well, at least we got to eat some of our breakfast." Was all Jack said before all three of them were rushing off of the table. It was a rush of movement from everyone around them.

<CALLSIGNS: TAILBREAKER, WRECKER, SENSCRIPT YOU ARE BEING CALLED FOR DUTY. I REPEAT, TAILBREAKER, WRECKER, SENSCRIPT YOU ARE BEING CALLED FOR DUTY.>

"All three of us? Together? Must be big!" Miko exclaimed with a near-feral grin.

"Less talking, more running!" Jack barked at her.

Jack, Miko and Raf were sprinting down the hall, many got out of their way to let them through- there were shouts, orders and more in the air as the three of them were rushed into two separate changing rooms. ]

Arcee recoiled, first other Jack's voice seemed so much like- now that name came up—

.: Arcee? Are you okay? :. Bumblebee asked, breaking her out of her spiraling thoughts.

The femme took in a deep invent, shaking her helm and giving her fellow warrior-scout a reassuring smile. "Y-Yeah, I'm… I'm good, Bee. Don't worry about it." Despite her words, the yellow mech still gave her a concerned look in his optic.

They both spied Miko practically vibrating in place on the couch, excitedly looking at the screen and shushing Jack whenever he tried to ask her if she was okay or what was up.

( "Wrecker?" An ex-wrecker muttered confusedly, unknowingly mirroring a certain other ex-wrecker in Omega Outpost One. )

[ The scene cut to a familiar man with a scar running over his nose bridge, he stood in a control room, a pulsing map on the giant screen before him. "Pilot status?" He asked aloud, a nearby woman manning a control panel answered him.

"Gearing up sir, ten minutes max till deployment."

"Make it eight, these readings are uncomfortably close to our base. The last thing we need are the XTRs gunning for us." ]

"Silas." Optimus murmured uneasily, frowning at the sight of the man.

( "That puny little— next time I see him, I'll smash him to bits!"

A spiderbot laughed, "Do you need a hand with that, Breakdown? Or sorry, an optic?"

"Enough! Both of you, silence!" A warlord commanded, glaring at the bristling cons who were quick to back down and mutter 'Yes, Lord Megatron' soon afterwards. )

[ "Shockwave." Silas addressed a man who stood by a giant window, overseeing what looked about to be five gigantic robots. Each varying in size and color, though only three were being surrounded by people and worked on. "Is it ready?"

"It is abrupt, calculations may be off if we attempt to do a live-testing so soon." Shockwave, a man wearing a dark-purple labcoat and a full-faced red-tinted visor said. His voice was slightly modulated, artificial, but mostly toneless. "But yes, it is ready. Senscript is ready." ]

Everyone did a doubletake at the sight of 'Shockwave'. The Autobots nearly fell off their chairs!

( On a warship, multiple Decepticons almost stumbled in place. A cacophany of noise at the sight of their mad scientist Con turned human. )

"Wha- I thought this 'Shockwave' guy was a bot! Er- cybertronian? Like you guys!" Miko exclaimed, her previous excitement temporarily displaced by the sight of the admittedly menacing man that stood on screen.

"He is! He's- Shockwave's a cybertronian… here." Ratchet said, realization kicking in as he remembered this was a different universe. "However, it seems that, in that universe, he is not."

"Sweet Primus! Human Shockwave? I don't know whether to be relieved or scared scrapless!" Bulkhead gawped, torn over the fact that the infamous mech was human in that universe.

"I-Is it a good thing or a bad thing that Shockwave is human there?" Raf dared to ask, nervously rubbing his arm.

"I don't know Rafael," Ratchet answered with a tense frown, "I don't know."

.: I don't like him. :. Bumblebee's frame was tense, servos clenched on his lap. .: He did something to Raf, to- 'Senscript' and now he and Silas need Raf to do something. I don't like it. :.

[ "Then let the live-testing begin. Get those pilots out there and subdue the commanding XTR." Silas commanded. "Deploy as soon as possible."

Miko stepped onto a platform, dressed in a thick, dark pink protective jumpsuit. MN-00 was stamped in white across her back. She put on a thick visored helmet, securing it on her head. The platform rose towards a towering, tank of a robot with thick metal plating and dark red painted on gunmetal black. It was the biggest mecha within the gigantic hanger, needing two separate support structures to keep it aloft.

Jack stepped on a similar platform, dressed in the same dark, thick protective jumpsuit- only it was in a deep blue. JD- 05 was stamped across his back. He was securing the same visored helmet on his head. The platform took him to a thinner, shorter mecha- at least compared to Miko's mecha. It just needed one support structure. Its plating was dark blue on grey.

Raf was on the last platform, also dressed in a jumpsuit, his was a smooth red-orange. RE-13 was on his back. His helmet was secured, and a little different. Much thicker compared to Jack and Miko's helmets, it covered part of his neck as well. His mecha was the smallest of the two, half the size of Jack's mecha but surprisingly widely built. Its plating was red-orange on light grey, with a medical cross painted over the chest and shoulders. ]

Miko's confusion over Shockwave was instantly gone as she grabbed Jack and shook him rapidly. "I KNEW IT! I knew it- pilots? Mecha? WE'RE PILOTING GIANT ROBOTS! LIKE ACTUAL GIANT ROBOTS! LIKE GUNDAM!" She squealed, ecstatic beyond belief.

"That's… woah." Jack blinked, a bit speechless as he watched himself step into chest cavity of the giant robot-mecha. He thinks the mecha was as tall as Optimus, maybe a bit taller. Hell, Miko's mecha was ginormous!

Raf tilted his head, looking at the red medical crosses on 'his' mecha, remembering what his other self said earlier. "Rescue-class…" He muttered to himself, brows furrowing in thought. "Sensitivity…"

Arcee didn't know what to say, how to react- the fact the kids in that universe, although they were older, were getting into what looked to be sparkless bodies of Cybertronians— no, they were human built mecha. Not… Not cybertronians, still, looking at these things was… disturbing.

Their visored heads just reminded her of empurata victims, faceless. Miko's mecha didn't even have full-five digits, just three, clearly created to smash into things. Raf's mecha was thickly built but smalll, the color scheme and that symbol seemed like he was a support type of mecha, didn't he say something about rescue earlier? And Jack's mecha… the colors, the designation were so close to Tailgate's that it made her spark hurt. But he didn't have the same frame as Tailgate, his legs were built different, digitigrade and clearly for speed.

( "… Okay, I think I know where this is going." A red speedster deadpanned, hiding how uncomfortable he was at seeing the mecha. It was uncanny really, how Cybertronian-like they were yet weren't. )

[ Miko sat in her cockpit, strapping herself into the seat. She grinned, "Callsign: Wrecker, clocking in!" From behind, her helmet shifted, opening a segment to a previously unseen part of her neck. previously hidden underneath her hair. Two ports. As she sat back, the seat's head opened to reveal two wires which automatically plugged themselves into Miko's neck. She gritted her teeth, her grin turning feral. "Syncronization, plug in complete!" Her mecha whirred to life, steam escaping the wires and connectors to the support structures as they disconnected from her. ]

The teenage girl's excitement faltered, but only for a moment just to wince at the phantom pain she felt at the sight of the wires stabbing themselves into her neck. "Oh weird! Why'd they have to do that? Gundam didn't have that!" She complained, rubbing her neck with a shiver.

Ratchet was muttering to himself, already theorizing on what was going on- yet his mutterings were put to a stop when he noticed how tense and disapproving Optimus looked. "… Optimus?"

The Prime didn't look at him, merely watched as Jack and Raf came in next.

[ "Callsign: Tailbreaker, clocking in." A similar sequence followed, his helmet shifting behind him to allow the wires to plug themselves into his two ports. Jack gritted his teeth, fingers digging into his arm rest before they relaxed. "Syncronization, plug in complete." His mecha hissed as he was released from the supports as well.

Raf's clock in was a bit different, he sat in his cockpit, strapped in. "Callsign: Senscript, clocking in." He took in a deep breath, his helmet shifted open, revealing not two, but five ports along his neck. He let out a pained yelp as five wires dug into each port. "S-Syncronization. Plug in complete." ]

"Wait, why does Raf have five ports instead of two like Miko and I?" Jack asked, frowning at the sight of the young boy- well, teen now in the screen, yelping in pain.

"That's a lot of ports." Miko agreed, frowning, her excitement dimming slightly from how uncomfortable on-screen Raf looked with five wires plugged into his neck like that.

.: That doesn't look comfortable. :. Bumblebee said unhappily, worried for his human charge's counterpart. He looked over to see Raf shivering, rubbing at the back of his neck with a deeply uncomfortable look. .: Shockwave must have done something. :.

"The question is, what." Arcee muttered, "He and Silas are up to something."

( "If only Shockwave was here, perhaps he could give some insight of what's happening." A seeker wilted over the pointed, displeased look his warlord leader gave him. "Even though his counterpart is human there, I'd imagine he would've had an inkling to his counterpart's thought process regardless… It's truly a shame that he died on Cybertron."

A seeker gulped nervously, "Hahaha… i-indeed..." )

[ "Pilots lock in; XTRs appeared south-west to MECH base. Deploy in T-minus 2 minutes, your orders are as follows; deal with all the grunt XTRs and subdue the commander." Silas' voice came into the mecha's comm-system. Each of them standing at the entrance of the hangar.

"Pilot Senscript is crucial to this mission, not a scratch is to be on him. Senscript hang back as Tailbreaker and Wrecker deal with the chaff and get the commander subdued for your main objective."

Shockwave's voice came, making all three of them tense. "Your main objective is to live-test my invention. Senscript, just as we practiced and tested. Ensure a link is possible with the cortical psychic patch and download or scribe whatever data you find within the XTR commander's processing unit. Operation: Patch-Link will now begin. Do not fail me."

Silas interrupted, sounding irritated. "Do not fail MECH. Deploy, now."

All three pilots let out a unified 'Yes sir!' as the hanger doors opened, letting them deploy out of the base and towards the 'XTRs'. ]

"Cortical Psychic Patch?!" Both Ratchet and Arcee shouted, causing all three humans to wince. Bumblebee flinched at the mention of it, whirring lowly to himself in a low, wordless beep.

"I knew it! I knew it, no Shockwave is good! Cybertronian or otherwise!" Arcee snarled, her helm spiking in pain from years ago- the ache of the patch going in, of Shockwave rummaging through her memories… Not to mention not too long ago.

"Pause! Cortical- y-you mean that thing that let Megatron into Bee's mind? Back when Optimus was sick with the cybonic plague?" Raf gasped, looking sick to his stomach as he remembered what happened. Bee had heroically went into a comatose Megatron's mind to retrieve the cure, but Megatron had managed to hitch a ride back, controlling his friend and returning to his original body afterwards.

It had been a mess, and caused more than a few nightmares.

"Ugh, thinking about it, the kids plugging into their mechas is reminding me of that." Bulkhead muttered aloud, wincing when he sees Raf pale even more as well as the disturbed looks from his fellow Autobots. "Uh…"

.: Wait, i-if Shockwave wants Raf- er, Senscript? To use a cortical psychich patch… just what, or who, is he patching into? :. Bumblebee asked, focusing back on the screen with great apprehension.

"He… wanted him to patch into something called an XTR… do you think- back at the start, were those…?" Jack hesitantly theorized with a distressed look on his face.

Miko didn't hesitate, "Observer! Continue!"

This universe was definitely different from the other two they'd last watched…

[ ----- TFP: UO -----]

THIS TOOK... 6.4k WORDS... that is the LONGEST chapter in this story so far. and originally i wanted to end SOMEWHERE ELSE but that would've taken WAY LONGER!

i certainly hope you guys enjoyed because this was fun! and it's just going to get better! also please don't mind the mecha descriptions, i suck at those currently. hoping to get better at those at some point. but just know, i gave miko the biggest, baddest mecha (with a surprise for later), jack a strong but slimmer mecha built for speed (with a surprise, for later but from jack himself) and raf a nice support mecha which is smaller, thicker (and yes, he also has a surprise for later. next chapter even!)

also! did you know... jack and tailgate have the same voice actor?? i had fun knowing that! and now so does arcee! kind of! she is getting SO MUCH TAILGATE VIBES from Mecha Au Jack, especially when Jack's in his mecha and using his callsign of Tailbreaker. hehehehehe this'll be very fun.

also also! did i just kill june in mecha jack's backstory? yes. i did. we move on!

thank you all for supporting me and the story, i'll see you all next chapter!

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