By the time he stopped my running, I was exhausted and coughing up blood. Not good! The Con medic didn't care, though; the puppet show wasn't gonna end there!
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"Wait, What's going on?! Why can't Optimus get through? " June anxiously asked.
They saw Optimus trying to break his way through but to no avail. "Is.. is that an invisible barrier? " Raf fixed his glasses as he saw the barrier momentarily become visible where the impacts of his attack made it vibrate.
"It seems that Knockout's come prepared this time...either that, or he's thoroughly gotten to her, and now she's lost hope of ever coming back." Ratchet replied.
"But what about how she reacted when I put her arms on it?" Raf picked up the car flipping it back over on its wheels. "She called my name."
"But then she lost connection with you..." Jack pointed out.
"Knockout must have deafened or even blinded her to our efforts...I've seen this once before during a Mnemosurgery. Normally these defenses are meant to protect the individual and keep all their memory bank intact, but since Knockout has control over her mind he's using this barrier to keep everything and everyone else out."The medic explained."He must have set it up when she reacted to your efforts."
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"I have to commend you for being a resourceful little...monster."The Decepticon admitted."You have some very primitive techniques, but when these are applied by a Cybertronian, they are surprisingly effective."
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Optimus started looking for a potential weakness in the barrier by way of beating on it. He too noticed it becoming temporarily visible and exploited this feature as he was going around its perimeter.
It took him a few, but he came across the yellow vehicle (or what was left of it) , just outside of the barrier. It has been crushed (again) but most peculiar was how he could hear it emitting sounds. He picked up the pieces and listened closer...
{"But then she lost connection with you..."}
["Not quite, Jack..."] Optimus thought. He stored the pieces away and checked for any remainders...There was one piece on the ground, and he went after it. He tried picking it up, but it wouldn't budge!
"That's odd." The prime thought out loud and felt that the barrier seemed to be pinning it down.
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.:"Hey, he's found something!":. Bumblebee pointed out. They saw how Optimus was trying to pick up a small yellow piece of plastic off the ground.
"Oh for the love of Primus, worry about littering later!" Ratchet complained.
"No, No! Look..."Rafael said. They saw how the Autobot leader was knocking on the barrier again. "Is that...it's a weakness!"
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The Con medic proceeded to tell me how he threw himself into the arm of one Decepticon, effectively knocking them over. How he hopped onto the head of another, forcing the bot to collapse to the floor! Even his friend Breakdown was not spared! However, after an almost endless struggle, they were finally able to slap some cuffs on all of his extremities for good measure!
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Prime saw it too: "Yes, I've noticed Rafael."
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"Wait...You can hear us?!"Miko asked.
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"Yes, Miko, but we will discuss how, later... we need to exploit this weakness." Prime stood up.
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"Did you try hitting it? Like...as hard as you can?"Miko suggested.
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{"Either I'm having a migraine, or there really is a beating going on somewhere in here... I've been hearing it, but I didn't want to draw Doc-Knock's attention to it, in case it was my friends setting up for a plan; they promised me they would get me out of here...I hope they won't be too late..."} I thought as I held fast.
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Optimus gave the Barrier a couple punches just above the weak point, and with each one he could see it cracking more and more. But it wasn't nearly fast enough... "It does work, but it is a slow progress..."
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Raf thought for a moment... "Wait... vibration! That's it! It only became visible when it was vibrating, and now from being punched over and over in its weak spot, it's cracking... Miko, go get your amp and guitar! Bee, bring that crate with those hearing protectors, we saw the other day. "
Bumblebee helped Miko off the berth and dashed into the old storage room. Not a moment later and they were back with the requested items. The crate was opened and the humans were handed old air force grade hearing protection.
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"They DRAGGED me all the way to Lord Megatron, and tossed me at his peds!" Knockout emphasized as he dragged my form all over the floor. "It wasn't embarrassing enough to be brought before my leader in that state, but the worst thing of all is that you made me backtalk LORD MEGATRON?! Who does that?! "
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Optimus in the meantime was trying his best to weaken the barrier more the best he can; even resorting to blasting it.
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"Alright Miko; when I give the signal, you make the loudest noises you can! " Raf said. Miko gave him a thumbs up.
"Everyone put on your muffs and guys..." Raf looked to the Autobots "This is going to get very loud... sorry if it hurts your audials. "
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"Autobots, deactivate your audials..." Optimus ordered, "only reactivate when Rafael gives you the signal... Ratchet, if you would? "
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"Yes sir." Ratchet deactivated Prime's audial for him. The others followed the order given, and with the other humans secured, Raf placed his own and gave Miko the signal.
Miko rocked out on that guitar as if no one had ever before! The sound was so loud, it rattled the humans all the way into their cores. Although the bots could not hear anything, they felt how it was vibrating all throughout the room and rattled their circuitry. They hoped this would all be over soon before they all suffer irreparable damages or cease to function altogether.
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I managed to silently chuckle... I don't know why, but I did? I've probably lost my mind at this point anyway. The Crimson medic noticed that and lifted me closer to his glaring optics. "Think that's funny, do you? I'll show you funny! "
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Even Optimus was starting to feel the effects but held on as he kept an optic on the barrier and witnessed it was working.
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Suddenly the pitch blackness fell away revealing that we were on top of the Nemesis! Not that it was a bright shiny day, anyway... There were Dark clouds all around the ship, lightning strikes as well. Part of me wished at least one of them would hit Knockout, even though it would probably shock me too, but at least that would mean I could get one back at him for all this, before I die .
I could see all the way down from where I was. I started hyperventilating, even though it killed me to. Knockout has yet revealed what he was gonna do, but it didn't take a Rocket scientist to figure it out, though.
The noises I felt and heard earlier... they kept coming. Let's face it... It's just part of the background, another one of The Crazy Crimson Doc's tricks... But there was this humming, this frequency... no... this... vibration... Whatever it was, it was growing stronger and stronger in my head, because for some reason the crimson wonder couldn't hear it.
"I begged my master for mercy, but it was no use... But he reminded me of what my mission was: To hunt you down and bring you to him... I will follow through with it! " The con medic roared.
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The cracks were growing bigger and bigger. Not about to wait any longer as Prime saw what was about to happen , he backed up quite a distance while the barrier was starting to break and tried one more time ; he took a running start, transformed and put the pedal to the metal! The Prime really pushed his engine to the limit this time and by the time he got there, the barrier was weak enough to explode into billions of pieces when Optimus connected !
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My heart was beating so hard in my head right now, it was giving me a migraine and the mysterious loud sounds were NOT helping! I couldn't take it anymore... I started thrashing in Knockout's grip. Screaming and begging: "STOP!" I wailed. I feel like my head was about to burst.
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"STOP!" Zucky shrieked at the top of her lungs, thrashing violently on the berth and Miko still with her earmuffs on and volume cranked up to the max, heard it. They did put hearing protection on Zucky, so not to permanently damage her hearing, which surprised everyone when she reacted so violently.
The girl stopped playing and turned the amp off. Everyone took their muffs off, and the bots were able to turn their audials back on.
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"No..." The Decepticon whispered in my ear with an ice cold layer of cruelty, and with one swift and powerful kick, I was sent flying off the deck into the precarious depths below.
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Optimus may have broken through the layer a little too late. He almost didn't make it onto the deck of the ship himself! Grabbing hold of whatever edge he could, he hoisted himself onto the surface. But just as he got there, he witnessed how Knockout had kicked Zucky off the Nemesis into the ocean below.
His Spark skipped a beat; it felt warm... no... warmer, it was burning! Something inside him snapped and now his Spark seemed to have caught fire, from what he could tell it felt like!
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They've just witnessed what the mad doctor had just done and a resounding "NO!" echoed throughout the base!
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"KNOCKOUT!" There was a thunderous roar that caught the Decepticon medic by surprise. It echoed through the clouds and rivalled what even they were capable of producing. The sound came from behind the red bot; he knew what it sounded like, but he wished it wasn't what he thought it was.
Knockout didn't want to turn around, but he was not given any more time to decide , as he was engulfed by the brightness of headlights , heard the distinct transformation sound and the roaring of a truck 's engine charging at him from behind ! When he finally turned around, All he heard and saw was a big bright light and the horn going off before:
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*CRASH! * The con was sent flying off the deck of the Nemesis like a pebble from a slingshot! Prime in turn transformed back to his bot mode, and fired a charged shot at Knockout for good measure before he turned his attention to the approaching ocean below.
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"THAT'S FOR ZUCKY, YOU CREEP!" Miko screamed at the monitor, even though Knockout couldn't hear her, but she didn't care.
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I screamed bloody murder, but it felt like no one could hear me anymore, I 've lost contact with my friends , they didn't know what I was going through , and even if they did , they could not help me either!
I closed my eyes...at least I was as far away as possible from that crazy decepticon and getting farther still... It felt like forever, but suddenly I heard a thunderous roar! I random truck horn and some kind of blaster going off... Wait!
"Op.. Optimus? " I didn't have the strength left to draw up a good amount of breath to call out loud enough to be heard over the sound of rushing wind and thunder .
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"I'm coming, Zucky! Hold on! " The Prime called out. He didn't hear a response, but he was not about to give up... NEVER give up!
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["C'mon Prime, Almost there...."] Ratchet thought as he watched.
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["There it is...that smile again, that chuckle; the one from earlier it's back! Now I understand."] I had a feeling that my friends were up to something... They never gave up, and went above and beyond to make this happen! "They... did it . " I sobbed in a barely audible tone, and eventually I landed in the ocean.
The impact was paralysing, and I was rendered unconscious again. Everything grew dark and I've gone deaf. Who knows... I might even be... dead.
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"Wait, can Optimus swim?!" Nurse Darby worried.
"No, none of us can, our metal bodies make us too heavy for that." Bulkhead answered.
"Oh no." Jack said.
"Share with the class, Jack... what's going on? " Arcee pressed for an explanation.
"Humans can't breathe underwater, that's what." The young man answered.
"She's a dragon, remember?" Miko pointed out.
"An unconscious dragon, besides; we're not even sure if that counts for her anyway. She's not an ordinary dragon, after all... She's part human too. " Ratchet explained.
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Optimus was the last to plunge into the water as he dove in after her. His weight made it so that he could catch up to Zucky faster, but the problem now was; how to get her out of the water? He's too heavy to swim! There was only one option, and he would have to make it count: Once he hit the bottom of the ocean , he pushed himself as hard as he could out of the water with his legs and quickly transformed before he fell back in!
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"Optimus Prime, Old friend; you are a genius! " Ratchet cheered. ["Now let's hope he can make it to shore on time."]
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This ensured Zucky was in a pocket of air inside his cabin, but she didn't have much time, before air would run out either. Optimus was getting very tired now, but he couldn't rest now. Not now that he's made it this far! Giving it all he got he struggled against the currents, but he kept going.
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No... I was NOT dead. Not by a long shot... There we got that sound again. It's like this loud frequency that pulses; like a heartbeat? But it's not a heartbeat...at least not a human heartbeat, or that of any other animal for that matter. I can feel it all around me. Is this a repeat of before? I hope this is not another trick, please?
It keeps going all around me, and inside me... like it's coming from somewhere inside me, but it's not. It's just there, everywhere. It's almost nagging me to open my eyes. I had to muster whatever strength I had left, if any to oblige.
When I did, I kinda regretted it because it was like staring into the sun! It was so bright! Wait... I AM dead, aren't I? Is this the light you see when you're about to leave?!
"I-I'm scared... a-am I? " I stuttered. I've been through so much lately it's beginning to seriously mess me up. I backtalk giant robots that can easily squish me like a bug in real life, and now look at me... I'm so traumatized, that I'm scared of a light.
There was a brief bright flash of light, that made me yelp and cover my eyes. When I dared to open them again, I found myself floating in mid-air in a brightly lit up space with soft floating light pillars calmly spinning around the room.
The pillars came in all the colors of the rainbow, but in a more pastel shade. There were also light flares slowly flashing in and out dimming and brightening intermittently. I could barely make them out.
The whole visual and the sound that accompanied it, was giving off a calming mood. I was on edge the first moment I got here, but the more I looked at it, the calmer I was getting. "H-hello?" The room was very large, so I didn't expect to be the only one there. I couldn't be alone here. The pulsing sound seemed to have been interrupted, but other than that, nothing.
Hold up; I was starting to feel warm now... warmer than I was feeling before. I instinctually was going to rub my forehead, but... wait...
I looked at my hands and saw I was back! The scales, the fur, the horns, tail and wings; everything was back! There wasn't a scratch on me! "I'm... I'm healed! I'm back! " I had no idea how this happened, but I've never been happier to be the freak I've turned into over the years!
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Back at the base they were all at the edge of their seats waiting on Optimus for the good news. All they could see on screen was the currents fighting to keep the Autobot from reaching land, but he kept fighting on through. Grunting and venting from exhaustion, but fighting.
Inside his cabin they could see the mess Zucky was in, but from what they could tell she was still alive and breathing. This was good.
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After what felt like an eternity later, Optimus Prime reached the shoreline and transformed back into bot mode. He could hear his team cheering and for once during this entire mission, he felt like he could finally rest, though not completely; for he worried Zucky's wounds could be fatal.
She had been practically torn to shreds by Knockout, and by how he saw her whining and holding her chest, could only mean there were internal wounds as well. He just stared at her, trying to see if there were any more signs of life; besides breathing.
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Seeing their friends safe ashore they could all breathe/vent again.
"Thank Primus..." Ratchet vented "Let's agree; never to do that again... " He then turned to Miko. " EVER. " The girl sheepishly put the guitar down." Got it... "
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{"Optimus, how is she?"} The Autobot leader was startled by Ratchet's voice.
"She is... critical. He was no medic, but he did know a thing or two... Plus, logically speaking she was in pretty bad condition considering what she went through.
"But she's alright over here, isn't she?" Miko was worried.
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"Yes, physically she's fine, it's her mind I'm worried about." Ratchet explained. "She's been out for way too long. And the type of torture she's lived through could seriously damage her psyche. "
"I just hope we were in time to prevent permanent damage and that we're in time to help her to a full recovery." The old medic vented long. "Just keep in mind, that she might not even want anything to do with any Cybertronians ever again. That includes Autobots. "
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Optimus upon hearing that got op on his two pedes, almost falling over.
{"Optimus! Easy..."} He heard Ratchet.
"I understand old friends, but she requires more help than I." The Prime insisted and tried concentrating again. ["Primus, have mercy."]
{"Optimus? Optimus, are you still there?"} Ratchet kept calling, but no answer.
The screen was engulfed by the bright lights from before and the mysterious frequency again. They had to wait.
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"Hello?!" I tried again. I kept getting the feeling that there was someone there with me. The frequency reacted to my call again... But now I heard the sound of heavy ped steps walking my way.
I start backing away, whomever this is; I don't want to be too close, in case they are of hostile intent. "Zucky?" I heard a familiar voice call my name.
"Optimus?" I answered back but kept my distance. I know he was trying to save me before, but I don't know if Knockout was completely disposed of, or not.
"Zucky are you alright?" The voice insisted.
"I'm here." I decided to run with it just to see what will happen. It's not like I can go anywhere.
Optimus then appears from afar and floats closer. He vents out of relief. "I am grateful that you are unharmed."
My eyes well up. No doubt about it, it IS Optimus! No one else that I know here, speaks formally like that! It takes some air swimming, but I quickly flap my wings to float over to him. I grab hold of his neck cables and cling onto him and finally release all my pent-up emotions.
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The frequency pulsed irregularly, and Prime acknowledged it. He then carefully placed his servo behind Zucky to comfort her. He didn't say anything. He just waited.
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We floated there for a good long while before I was able to get a grip of myself. *sniff* "Sorry about the tears and snot... I'm disgusting when I cry... " I was attempting to clean up the mess with my shirt.
"It is quite alright, Zucky... After my brush with Knockout and his vile ways, I'm going to require a thorough decontamination. " Optimus answered.
"Where is he?" I frantically looked around.
"Easy Zucky...He has been well taken care of."
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After being booted off the deck of the Nemesis and Blasted for good measure, Knockout flew uncontrollably for what felt too long, before he finally started falling down into another part of the ocean . When he finally was able to see where he was going to end up, flashbacks of his close encounters with Megatron's ire, started flashing through his processor.
"No, No, Not again!!!" He screamed.
But to his surprise what looked like a ground bridge opened up where he was about to land.
"Well, at least I won't have to deal with barnacles..."
To his dismay, however; it looked like he was now going to land in what looked like one of earth's Cactus fields...
"OH, COME ON!!!" He thundered before he landed. "AAAARGH!!!"
When he finally got up with an aching chassis, to look around to see where he was going to find the way out of the field; he realised that there wasn't any.
"NOOOOOO!!!!!" His cry carried for miles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I breathed a sigh of relief before taking a good look around. "Where are we? What is this place? " I asked.
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"We are in a safe location." Optimus answered.
"Yes, I can tell... but where exactly are we? " I asked with a 'Really? ' Expression. "By the way... how did I get healed? It always seems to happen when I'm away from Knockout... and this weird sound is around... "
"Once Knockout was defeated, his influence over your mind left with him..." Prime explained. "As for our exact location, that would have to wait for another time... we need you to awaken at the base. "
"Awww... But this place is beautiful, and it's so *yawn* calming... " I insisted as I was getting sleepy, a yawn sneaking past my lips. " Why can't you tell me now? "
"You are rather curious for a human." Prime said.
"I know! I'm Sorry... I like asking questions... " I answered sheepishly as I fiddled with my fingers.
"That is alright. Wisdom is granted to those who ask questions... " Optimus said with a smile. " You remind me of myself in my younger vorns. "
I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and fell asleep.
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Prime listened to the frequency as it left him with a few messages before he left.
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The bright lights and the frequency subsided and the team was able to see Optimus holding Zucky's sleeping form. Her dragon self, all healed, as if nothing ever happened.
["Thank Primus"] Ratchet slumped down on a stool, the tension leaving his pedes as he finally relaxed.