Child of the Allspark (Transformers Prime)

Stronger, Faster

"Hmm. Surprisingly stable," Ratchet muttered as he looked through his microscope.

"Hey, Pixel." Raf greeted as he joined Pixel on the catwalk as she watched Ratchet work "Is that Synthetic Energon?"

"Well..." Pixel started

"Yes," Ratchet interrupted "In fact, I'm preparing to test a sample." He glanced over at Rafael "I see that you come equipped with protective goggles,"

"I can watch?" Rafael asked in excitement.

Pixel laughed a bit and led Rafael over to Ratchet's area.

Ratchet injected the Synthetic Energon into a test engine. "We just add some to this test engine..."

Pixel felt uneasy as the engine turned on.

Rafael walked over to the engine "It works!" he cheered "Bee!"

"Uh-ut-ut!" Ratchet tutted "This iteration of the formula requires further trial before we can even think about using it for fuel, ammunition, or first aid. Which is rather unfortunate." He said as he looked over at their sparse Energon reserves "since our own Energon reserves are at an all-time low. Our severely outnumbered warriors have been rapidly burning through our stockpile of late as the Decepticon army continues to run us ragged and grind us down,"

Pixel walked over and placed a reassuring hand on Ratchet's servo.

"Natural Energon is in such short supply on your planet, and Megatron seems to have his oily claws buried deep in all the Earth's deposits. But if we can successfully produce a synthetic form, we can manufacture all the energy we'll ever need,"

The group turned as the computer let out a beep.

"More Energon on the move," Arcee noted.

"Again?" Bulkhead grunted.

"Their recent activity suggests a familiar pattern." Optimus pointed out "The Decepticons are desperately scouting for new deposits to mine. Autobots!"

Pixel bit her lip in distress, through their link Ratchet understood her stress.

"Optimus..." Ratchet spoke up "if one of you comes back wounded this time...well, our Energon reserves are nearly depleted."

"Thanks for helping me not worry," Pixel muttered to herself.

Optimus overheard her comment and glanced over "Understood. Activate the Ground Bridge. Autobots, roll out!"

Ratchet sighed as he looked down at his charge "Sometimes I wish I could do more,"

"If I could just..." Pixel began.

"No." Ratchet said sternly "We already pushed your limits with the formula and nearly lost you. And after Egypt, you were in a coma,"

"But Ratchet," Pixel whined.

"That's enough Pixel,"

Pixel huffed and walked off, she put her headphones on as she began to work on her laptop.

***

"Pixel!" Rafael exclaimed.

The girl turned towards where Rafael stood on the catwalk and noticed that Ratchet was missing. She hurried over and paled once she saw the scene. "Ratchet!" Pixel jumped from the railing and hurried over to her guardian "Ratchet? Wake up!" she glanced over at Rafael who had joined her "Stay back, real quick," Pixel willed the Allspark and her hands glowed a familiar electric blue, she placed it near Ratchet's spark "Wake up!"

Ratchet groaned as his optics slowly opened. "How is it that such small beings can be so loud?"

Pixel slammed her fist against him in frustration "You are such an aft!" she took note of his new optic color and took a startled move back only to fall onto the floor.

"Are you hurt?" Rafael asked Ratchet "You fell,"

"I'm fine. I'm..." Ratchet moved around a bit "...more than fine." he checked his readings "Ah! Energy efficiency is up 30%? Motor function's optimal?" Ratchet laughed at his success "Any words from the others?"

Pixel shook her head.

"Ratchet, Pixel, lock on to Arcee's coordinates and prepare an emergency ground bridge," Optimus called out over comms.

"That can't be good," Pixel muttered as she hurried over to her laptop to get Arcee's coordinates. "I'm locked on." Pixel reported.

"Arcee," Ratchet called out "decelerate and prepare to return to base,"

"Save it, Ratchet." Arcee argued "I'm too close,"

"Don't be a fool!"

Pixel turned in her chair to look at Ratchet, "She's hurt,"

"Man the ground bridge," Ratchet ordered.

"Ratchet, what are you doing?!" Pixel exclaimed as she stood up and watched her guardian drive through the ground bridge.

"He'll be ok," Rafael assured her as he noticed the lights flicker from Pixel's emotion.