A sharp slap knocked her out of her daze, waking Temptest up with a gasp. Ratchet was staring down at her, looking... terrified.
"Oh no," Temptest climbed to her pedes and looked around, spotting the other Autobots laying on the ground. "Oh Primus."
"They're just offline," he assured her quickly. "Hit with some kind of anesthesia."
She glanced at him. "Then why don't you sound relieved?"
"They took Optimus."
"No," Temptest whipped around. The pile of Autobots was indeed missing a red and blue frame, along with the captive Ultra Magnus. "Damn it! Why would they take him!?"
"I can't... I can't..." Ratchet put his helm in his servos and trembled. "What are we going to do?"
She rubbed her face. "Get help. Megatronus. I don't know. We haven't found the device yet. We can't— we don't know where they went, where they came from. Pits! We don't even know who they are!"
"I know that!" Ratchet snapped. "Could you spout anything but bad news!?"
"We need to take care of the others," Temptest looked at the base. "Maybe they found out something we can use while—"
"Bumblebee!" Raf cried out, running between Ratchet and Temptest with Jack and Miko to see their guardians. "Noo!"
Ratchet panicked and jumped in front of them, holding his arms out. "Stop! They've been drugged, but I don't know what by. If it's airborne, it could be harmful to your organic bodies."
"So they're okay?" Miko asked.
"Yes," Ratchet nodded.
"Where's Optimus?" Jack looked around in confusion.
"They took him," Temptest glared at the sky. "But we will get him back. Ratchet, help me carry them back to base." She walked over and grabbed Arcee. "We have to start somewhere."
Ratchet complied without complaint. Working together, the two of them dragged the Autobots into the base and laid them against the walls in the main room. Agent Fowler showed up shortly.
"If Optimus is gone, I'll need to tell the Pentagon," Fowler decided. "I know he doesn't like it, but with Optimus gone, the stakes just got far too high. You'll need all the help you can get."
"Tell them, but don't pull troops in just yet," Temptest instructed. "Let us make a plan first. It may not come to that."
Ratchet scoffed.
Across the room, Bulkhead started to come online, his optics flickering. Temptest jogged over to him and knelt, eager to find out what he knew. Instead, she found herself kissing the floor after Ratchet kicked her out of his way to examine his friend. "How are you feeling?"
"Groggy," Bulkhead stared dumbly at Ratchet for a moment before his optics widened. "Optimus!"
Ratchet nodded. "What do you remember?"
"Optimus was trying to negotiate with their second in command, who was another Ultra Magnus, but they were acting weird. They kept circling us and looking at datapads. Optimus demanded to hear their side, but then they started shooting gas at us... I started to offline and I saw them grab Optimus and knock him out. Is he okay?"
"He's missing," Temptest announced.
A collective round of gasps travelled through the Autobots ranks as Smokescreen, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack received the news. Arcee, having just come online as well, stood up and began to pace. "Are they gone?"
"One of the soldiers came in and reported that you were all unconscious, but by the time I got out there, the ship was gone. The humans said it went through a bridge," Ratchet explained.
Temptest sat down and rubbed her helm. "We have no leads."
Wheeljack sighed. "Yes we do."
Everyone perked up, all except for Bumblebee, who slouched back guiltily.
"We have the transdimensional bridge," Wheeljack pulled a small device from his subspace. "I meant to tell you that I found it in Ultra Magnus's ship, but... I wanted to talk to Magnus first and I never got the chance."
"You had it this whole time!?" Temptest exploded, standing up and glaring at him. "We could have contacted Megatronus and—"
"And you would have left us," Bumblebee interrupted. "We just wanted Optimus to have a little more time."
"Did Optimus know this?" Temptest demanded.
The two of them shook their helms. Wheeljack deftly handed her the device and stepped back, his optics drawn to the floor.
She growled and rubbed her chassis. "Whatever. It's too late now."
Ratchet collapsed into a chair. "We're fragged. Without Optimus, we're only a ragtag group of rebels against Megatron, and we're certainly not going to stand a chance against whoever the mechs who took Optimus were. They had an entire army. Not just vehicons this time."
Temptest curled her servos. "Megatronus—"
"Can't save Optimus either," Arcee finished. "Your team is barely getting by even without two dimensions to look after. They wouldn't stand a chance."
Smokescreen's voice shook. "What... what are we going to do?"
"Die," Ratchet answered gruffly.
"Ratchet!" Temptest exclaimed.
"It's true!" Ratchet snapped. "We'll lose no matter what happens. We can't do this without Optimus."
The base went quiet. Temptest looked down, turning the device over in her servos and frowning. She didn't want to give up, especially not on Optimus. She'd lost too many of her friends already.
But Ratchet was right. They couldn't do this alone and Megatronus wouldn't be enough. Her team was in shambles.
"Maybe..." Temptest's spark tightened. "Maybe we don't have to do this without an Optimus."
"What are you talking about?" Ratchet glared.
She tilted her helm. "My Optimus. If his Autobots, my Decepticons, and your team were to work together, we'd stand a chance against the mecha who took Optimus."
"But he's your enemy," Bumblebee pointed out.
Temptest nodded slowly. "I can make him help us."
The Autobots looked between each other, contemplating the proposal before standing up. Something in the room shifted.
Hope.
Temptest didn't feel it and her expression darkened as she considered their choices. "We'll need to move quickly. I don't know how long they plan to keep Optimus alive, so we need to move fast. Gather your resources, we're going to my home."
"What about us?" Fowler demanded. "Megatron is still out and about, we'll have no defenses if you leave."
Temptest gritted her denta. "I'll invite him."
The Autobots all screeched to a halt.
"You're going to tell him we're leaving the planet defenseless!?" Ratchet's veins nearly popped out of his helm. "Are you insane!?"
"What make you think you can convince all of our enemies to help us?" Arcee questioned seriously.
Temptest held up her servo. "Just trust me. I can handle it. I need your team to tell Megatronus the news while I handle Megatron and Optimus."
"Alone?" Wheeljack asked.
"I've got the best shot that way," she responded. "They won't take me as a threat by myself. Let Megatronus know to meet me at our first base in three hours."
She looked down at the device and twisted it, shooting out a groundbridge in the middle of their base. If she was using it right, the bridge would lead right into the Decepticon base at home. The Autobots passed her, offering a few words of encouragement, and eventually the base became very quiet. She shut the bridge down.
This was on her now.
Temptest placed the device in her subspace and flew outside, leaving the base and heading for the skies. She knew how to get ahold of Megatron. The fallen tower near Jasper should still be under surveillance, so she flew there and made her presence known by stomping around in the rubble.
A groundbridge opened to her left, and Megatron stepped out. His expression wasn't as smug as usual, and his optics were narrowed at her. "You've called me out. What do you want?"
"Ultra Magnus's master dropped by the Autobot base earlier today," Temptest started. "They kidnapped Optimus."
"And why should I care?"
Temptest walked up to him. "He's got an army. Thousands of Autobots from across dimensions, rivaling anyone one force in might. I can't imagine a powerhouse like that isn't intimidating."
"Get to the point."
"We want to rescue Optimus," Temptest explained. "Come with us. Help us take this jerk down and you'll never have to worry about him again."
"I can't defeat thousands of Autobots," Megatron stated. "My power has limits."
"Combined with your enemies? The Autobots from both our dimensions, my Decepticons and your Decepticons? We stand a chance. We don't need a head on fight with their whole army, we just need to take out their high command."
Megatron tilted his helm. "They may never pose a threat to me. If Optimus is their enemy, does that not make them my allies?"
Temptest glared. "You don't believe that."
The warlord paused, but after a moment of consideration, he grinned. "That's true. I suppose you have yourself an ally."
She sighed in relief. "Thank you."
Now came the hard part.