"Oh shit!" Cade yelled. Missiles flew by and crashed into the ground around us. I weaved in between traffic and tried not to give Cade whiplash. One missile was too fast for me and hit my rear left tire, making me skid and transform. I jumped and I held Cade as I saw Optimus behind me in the same situation with Tessa and Shane. I crashed to the ground and braced as the oncoming traffic that couldn't stop in time smashed my back. I let go of Cade and pushed him off to the side of the road before going defensive. The silver semi tractor following us transformed and presented himself as 'Galvatron'. He went after Optimus and Tessa got caught in their fight. I ran over to them and pushed Galvatron off of Optimus before pinning him to the ground. I laughed him in the face a few times before he landed a hit on me and pushed me off. I landed on my back and tucked my knees to my chest before pushing myself back into my feet and tackling him again.
"Tessa-run!" I yelled and she ran off towards Cade and Shane farther back. I turned back to my opponent only to watch him dematerialize and form back on the road. He transformed and took off like a coward. At least that's what I thought until I felt something rip through my shoulder. I gasped and fell to my knees. I heard a thump next to me and saw Optimus stumble and fall to one knee.
"Lock-down." I rasped and Optimus nodded.
"I pity you Prime. Your attachment to these humans makes you weak. And your bond with this abomination is enough to make me sick." The bounty hunter insulted. I growled and tried to get up only for him to push me over with his foot and set his deadly hook against my neck. "I would kill you here but his creator wants him back and you with him."
"Why?" I choked out.
"I don't know, I just do as I'm told. You freak if nature." He spat at me. Lockdown made a hand gesture and a giant net fell on both my mate and I. As it was drawn into the air, our bodies were dragged across the ground and sparks flew everywhere. When it was finally in the air, both Optimus and I were crammed into the bottom of the net. Optimus shifted uncomfortably and looked down below us.
"Cade warn the Autobots!" He yelled and Cade nodded before sprinting back to the others and out of our sight.
"Why did you cut off our bond?" I heard Optimus ask.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"I can't feel you, the bond is shut." He said and I rose an eyebrow.
"I-thought-you-did. I-just-thought-it-was-like-last-time when-you-were-really-mad-at-Mearing. I-didn't-want-to-bring-it-up-because-I-didn't-want-to-make-it-worse." I replied and he was silent for a moment.
"You're not scared of me are you?" He asked.
"No-I-just-don't-want-you-to-feel-pressured-anymore-than-you-already-are-so-I-left-it." I said softly.
"Although our situation may not be one to be desired, this isn't something that should be taken lightly. After this, we need to have a serious talk." Optimus said and I nodded.
"Yeah-we-do," I responded and grunted when we landed harshly on the ground. Lockdown looked down at the both of us.
"What a pity." He said and hooked Optimus by the shoulder before dragging him to an escort and doing the same to me. The escort dragged us through his giant ship and to a large room with many cages.
"Do you recognize this ship Prime? Made for you Knights, you 'Great Crusaders'. I commandeered it. Now it's my personal prison." Lockdown said with pride.
"You have disgraced it." Optimus grimaced.
"I do what I'm told Prime. Like you were built to do. You think you were born? No, you were built and your creators want you back." Lockdown spat. "All these species mixing with species, upsetting the cosmic balance. They don't like it."
Lockdown paused his speech to grab Optimus by the pede and slam him into a cage. A hook wrapped around his ankle and pulled him upside down before a bunch of blades came out of the walls.
"And you. You're another story. The great Cybertronian Guardian of the prophecy. Meant to save the world and bring peace to our own. Pitiful. Too bad they chose you, a filthy techno-organic hybrid." Lockdown said with venom in his voice as he grabbed me. He threw me into a cage like Optimus', only in mine the blades sank into my protoform and armor from how roughly the hook yanked me off the ground. I grunted in pain but stopped moving since it was making it worse.
"Go-to-hell." I rasped and he laughed at me.
"I'm already there." He said with a sly smirk and walked away. "Have fun in here."
"Y/n, someone else is in here. He claims to be Ratchet." Gryphon said and I gasped before looking down at my palm, watching the glow pulse.
"Switch with me," I said and she surfaced while I went in. I opened my eyes to be greeted with bright blue ones. I rose an eyebrow and the new face mirrored my gesture. "Ratchet?"
"Hello Y/n." He said and I smiled widely. I jumped up and slung my arms around him, crushing him in a giant hug.
"Primus we've all missed you, Optimus especially," I mumbled into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me as well.
"It is very nice to see you again, although I would like an explanation as to where I am." He said as he studied the main room.
"This is the inner space. You're in my head right now basically. This is where Gryphon and I co-exist, and for now, so do you. I saved your processor data into my head I think." I said while scratching the back of my neck in a nervous tick.
"That's amazing!" He said, astonished.
"Thanks, I would love to give you a tour, but I'm not doing so well right now. Lockdown has us on his ship." I said.
"Who is 'us'?" He asked.
"Me and Optimus. He got us when we were trying to protect the humans that were with us." I sighed.
"I don't know why he insists on helping them. All they've ever done to us, to you, is betray us. Get back out there and fight. Get out of that ship before he takes off." Ratchet said as he held my shoulders tightly. I nodded firmly and hugged him again.
"After we're safe, you can surface if you'd like. And that huge window is the outside world. Feel free to watch and speak to both Gryphon and I. If you specifically address me, I can hear you when I surface." I said with a smile and he smiled as well.
"You will have to teach me how to do all of that later, now go." He said and patted my back. I switched with Gryphon again and took in our situation. My shoulder was bleeding and so were the small cuts from the blades. I hung there for a while, trying to think of something to get out of here. I didn't know how long we've been here because time in the inner space moves quicker sometimes than the outside. It's hard to keep the concept of time when we switch back and forth.
"Y/n?" Optimus called.
"Yes?" I asked and he sighed in relief.
"I just wanted to make sure you were conscious. Gryphon said she was switching. She mentioned a new presence in your inner space." He said curiously.
"I'll-tell-you-about-it-later. It'll-be-a-surprise-if-we-get-out-of-here." I said and he sighed.
"Alright, do you have a plan?" He asked and I looked around the cages. I sniffed the air and stopped once I felt their presence.
"There-are-others-in-here-with-us," I said since I hadn't noticed earlier.
"Yes I saw them, but they either can't talk or do not understand us. I did not get a good look at them so I can't tell what they are." He explained and I tried to focus on everything else. Only I couldn't. Their scent was so intriguing that I could sense anything else. What are they?
"Wait-I-have-an-idea," I said and let myself fall to the ground as I transformed back into a human. I landed with a thump on my back and spring back to my feet before squeezing through the bars and going over to Optimus. I waved at him with a smile and he chuckled.
"You are quite resourceful." He said fondly and I smiled before climbing up the side of the cage and reaching the control panel. I deactivated the lock and the bars slid up with ease. I deactivated the blades next and transformed back into my bipedal because I couldn't release the hook wrapped around Optimus' ankle. I summoned my glaive and cut him down before catching him in my arms. I helped him stand up and just as he did, voices came from across the room. I quickly pushed Optimus behind the cage and caged him in with my arms. I listened carefully and sighed in relief when I heard they were familiar.
"Aww, it's just shizzle." I heard Hound grunt before he shot something. A few chuckles were heard and Hound grumbled. They came into our part of the room and we made ourselves known to them. Though I failed to notice Optimus' hesitation to move from his spot. In front of us stood Hound, Crosshairs, Drift, Dad, Bee, Ranger, Cade, Tessa, and Shane.
"Daw, what the hell?! You guys don't even need our help." Crosshairs complained and threw his servos up in the air.
"She is a Cybertronian Guardian Crosshairs, what did you expect?" Drift sassed and I laughed a little.
"We must hurry, Lockdown will be taking off any second now," Optimus ordered and everyone started looking around for some way out. "The arms of the ship detach, we can take this one and leave."
"Got it, boss." Hound said and went to find the cockpit. I looked around at the other cages and walked up to them carefully. Inside were these magnificent beings I'd never seen before. I tilted my head in confusion and the largest one in front of me mirrored my actions. I tilted my head the other way and they mirrored it again. I reached my hand in between the bars and close to their face. They leaned forward to smell it and I cautiously moved closer. When my fingers brushed the side of their helm they instantly bumped my hand and melted into it. I smiled and rubbed their head.
"Y/n?" I heard Optimus ask. I withdrew from the being and stood facing away from them.
"Yes?" I answered and he walked around the corner.
"Why are you still in here?" He asked. I turned and looked at the beings in the cages. Optimus walked up next to me and studied them. "Y/n do you know what they are?"
I shook my head before reaching out to touch their helm again. They leaned into my touch and made a purring sound as they nuzzled my hand.
"These are the legendary Dinobots. They once roamed Cybertronian many millennia ago, before us even." Optimus said with awe as he watched me interact with them. "Come, we are landing soon."
I nodded and left with him before sparing a look back at the 'Dinobots'. Their eyes seemed to beg for me to release them but I can't trust anyone that quickly, not now. I made a promise to myself to come back and learn more about them later.
"Those...creatures. They seemed to have taken a liking to you Y/n." Ratchet's voice spoke in my head.
"Yeah, I guess. They may just be playing nice for me to let them out though." I replied as I followed Optimus to the back of the ship. Apparently, we had landed without me noticing and we were now outside of a train yard.
"Those creatures don't have that level of intelligence. They act purely on instinct." Ratchet said and I hummed.
"We'll look into it later," I replied and walked off the ship.
"-we're leavin'." Was what I picked out from the conversation outside.
"What?! How can you leave?!" Cade yelled.
"You humans don't know what you've brought upon yourselves," Optimus said defeatedly. I looked around and studied everyone in confusion.
"What do you mean?! I'm doing stuff out of my league here!" Cade responded and I cringed.
"What-is-going-on?" I asked.
"We've got a ship, we're leavin'." Crosshairs said shortly.
"I've-definitely-missed-something," I said and everyone nodded.
"Joshua Joyce has a 'seed'. Something that could level a whole city and kill everyone in it and they all want to leave." Shane piped in and I tilted my head subconsciously. I nodded and withdrew myself from the conversation. I didn't really care since I wasn't going to let the seed stay here anyway. I may not like humans, but I won't let innocent lives be taken by something that I could have prevented.
I thought to myself for a minute. Even if we do leave, where would we go? Cybertron isn't an option and we don't know of any other planets that for sure can support life. I sighed and jumped up to sit on top of a train car. In my boredom, I decided to play with my rift a little. I opened one a little higher than my helm and another over my lap before reaching in and grabbing my glaive. I stood it on its end and balanced it between the two rifts. My hands let go of it and it floated in the air. I smiled to myself and spun it a little. Since the rifts technically defy the laws of Earth's physics, it spun forever like there was no gravity. I watched the others talk to each other and argue from my train car and sighed.
"Kid? Where'd you go?" Dad asked.
"Sitting on top of a train car on your eight," I said and watched him spin around to look at me. He rose an eyebrow and walked over to me.
"What are you doing over here?" He asked.
"I'm not going to let this Joshua use this seed on innocent people, no matter how much I dislike humans," I answered and a smile grew on his faceplate.
"I knew you'd say that. It's not like you to leave helpless people to die. Just like Blue, may that dog Rest In Peace." Dad said with a small laugh.
"Man I miss Blue, he was the best dog ever." I lamented and a laugh after.
"You begged me to let him stay after you found him in that ditch." He reminisced.
"And you let him." I teased.
"You were both giving me the eyes. You were seven!" Dad laughed.
"Yeah. That's why I'm over here. No matter what their decision is, I've made mine. I know Megatron is alive in Galvatron. That asshat just won't stay dead. He's going to kill those people and it will only bring more hate upon us." I said and he nodded.
"That's what Optimus said. He's a little more hesitant on staying after what they did to Ratchet." Dad said solemnly.
"Ratchet, would you like to try surfacing?" I asked.
"Only if you are alright with it." He replied and I smiled.
"Of course. Now all you have to do is close your eyes and imagine yourself here on the outside. After I say one more thing to my Dad, go on ahead." I explained and he agreed.
"Dad, about Ratchet. I have a surprise for you, just don't freak ok?" I asked and he nodded. "Come on out Ratchet."
I could feel our switch and when I opened my eyes, I was in the inner space. Gryphon was curled up in a ball on her bed in the living room. I went and sat next to her before scratching her ears. She purred and nuzzled my hand with her head.
"How has he been settling?" I asked.
"Pretty good. He's been pretty fond of just watching outside and petting me." She said and I smiled.
"We're probably going to have to add on to the house soon. I'd like to make a lab or something for him to busy himself in. Just until I figure out what to do. I don't know if he'll want to stay with us forever or if he wants to be let go." I said quietly.
"We should let him decide at all costs. I know being stuck with us may not seem fun to some people." She said with a laugh.
"Yeah, we can be a handful." I smiled and she bumped my hand. I went back to petting her and brushing my fingers through her fur. I watched Ratchet interact with Dad and laughed at his shocked face.
"Why don't you sleep? We can watch over the body for tonight." Gryphon offered and I looked down at her.
"You sure?" I asked and she nodded. "Alright, thank you so much."
"You're welcome mi ọkàn." She said and I smiled.
"Goodnight mi emi," I replied and went off to my room. I opened it and the lights instantly came on from my presence.
I sighed in relief and took a running leap onto my bed. I landed with a thump and laughed at myself. I phased into some pajamas and snuggled under the covers. The lights turned off at the thought and I closed my eyes. Letting the dark room lull me to sleep, I slept better than I have in five years.