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Chapter Text

~A Universe, Transformed: Allspark Adventures~

Chapter One: The Awakening

- - -

It looked so small and insignificant, just floating there in that glass jar. Steven gazed intently at the dark sliver of metal, which was small enough to fit in his palm. And yet, with how the Autobots were treating it, this tiny shard was not only incredibly powerful, but also incredibly important. “So…what exactly is the Allspark?” he asked.

They were within one of the Ark ’s inner rooms, which was filled with computers and scientific equipment. “The Allspark is–or was –the most important artifact in Cybertronian history,” Magnus explained, viewing the readings from the fragment. “To put it extremely simply, it creates new sparks allowing new Transformers to be born.”

“Of course, it’s not the only way to make new ones,” Sideswipe said. “Cold construction, for example.” He tapped his chest.

“Right, yes, but the Allspark held extreme cultural significance,” Magnus continued. “There are countless stories about how it was created by Primus, or how it granted our ancestors the first sparks. But there is no denying that it was heavily venerated on just about every corner of our planet. Which is why it was so devastating when it was destroyed.”

Steven turned away from the fragment. “But…who would want to destroy something like that?” he asked.

“Optimus,” Elita answered sadly. “Back during the war, the Decepticons were using the Allspark to create an endless army of soldiers so they could overwhelm the Earth. So, on the orders of the Autobot leader at the time, Zeta Prime, a team including Optimus traveled to Cybertron to steal it. They succeeded, but when the Decepticons came for it…he had to make a choice. Let them take it back, or deal a crushing blow to all Cybertronians.”

All three of them were overcome with Melancholy. Steven may not have been there himself, but he could feel just how big a loss this was, for the Autobots as well as the Decepticons. He wondered just how things had been going on Cybertron for all these years…

Ultra Magnus soon perked up. “But this proves that it is not entirely gone! Even this one tiny shard is giving off incredible amounts of energy. With luck, we one day might be able to recreate the Allspark as it was in Cybertron’s heyday.”

It was hard to believe that this tiny little sliver of shining metal was capable of something like that. Steven looked at it with wonder, leaning in close to the glass. “Can I…touch it?” he asked.

Elita and Magnus shared a look. “I suppose there’s no harm,” Magnus said. “In its current state, the sliver is entirely inert. It would take a great amount of energy to kickstart it as is. Just watch your fingerprints!”

Grinning, Steven slowly reached out a single finger towards the glass. Upon the tip lightly landing on the edge…nothing happened. They had all expected something a bit more exciting to happen once Steven touched it, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

At least, it did at first. A few short seconds later, the Allspark shard began to move, twitching and vibrating in its case. The computers’ readings all went berserk as it began to glow with a bright blue light, fragments of runes appearing on its surface. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what it’s supposed to do!” said Sideswipe, taking cover.

“Steven, quick, get away from there!” Elita shouted, pulling him away from the shard. Everybody ducked behind something as electricity arced from the glowing sliver, which was spinning around in its jar. And then, with a spectacular burst of movement, it shot out of the glass at lightning speed–one second it was there, the next it wasn’t. A small hole had been punched in the container, as well as in the roof of the Ark, from which smoke rose.

Needless to say, everyone was a bit stunned by what had just happened. “That, uh…was it supposed to do that?” asked Sideswipe.

“No, it most certainly was not,” answered Magnus. Exactly what ‘that’ was, they weren’t really sure, only that it seemed to have happened upon Steven making contact with the shard. “In any case, we should try and find where it landed. Hopefully, nobody got hurt or anything.”

Hoping this would be an easy day, the Autobots headed out of the Ark , unaware of just what was waiting for them at that spot.

- - -

Ever since his pride exhibit, a life-size animatronic tyrannosaurus rex, had come to life and smashed up the place, Mr. Smiley’s museum hadn’t seen the same traffic it once had. Not because of the attack by the aforementioned t-rex, but because said animatronic was no longer there to draw in customers. Fortunately, he had a fix that was sure to bring in throngs of people once again.

In the back room of the museum, Mr. Smiley had just finished unloading five large boxes, each one containing another animatronic extinct animal–they weren’t nearly as large as Grimlock, but he was sure that once they were set up and moving, people wouldn’t care much about the size differences. “Okay, ‘Giants of the Ice Age,” he read off of his clipboard. “Let’s see, we’ve got a saber-tooth, check…wooly rhino, check…gigantopithecus, check…telicomys, check…and some kinda giant vulture thing.” He sighed.

His intentions were good–he just wanted people to learn. But budget cuts meant he could only afford some fairly cheap exhibits, and these were no exception. The saber-tooth and the rhino looked alright, but the gigantopithecus looked more like a big gorilla than a big orangutan, and the telicomys, which he was fairly certain was a relative of the capybara, was basically a giant rat. And while the giant vulture did indeed look like a giant vulture, its exact species wasn’t even listed.

“Well…might as well get these set up,” he said, resigned. He got out a small wheelbarrow to begin transporting the large machines that should normally have been handled by a team of four or more, ready to haul them into the next room on his own. But before he could, something rather odd happened.

A small object suddenly burst in through the roof, pinging off the wall before coming to rest in the middle of the floor. It all happened in less than a second, causing him to yelp in surprise. Mr. Smiley approached the object, which seemed to be a small black rock sizzling on the floor. A meteor of some sort? There might be some safety concerns with putting it on display, but it wasn’t often an exhibit literally fell right in front of him.

Before he could go and get some oven mitts to handle the meteorite, something even stranger happened. The stone began to glow blue, and energy began to course out of it. Mr. Smiley stepped back as electricity arced through the room, surging up into the animatronics. Slowly, gradually, they began to move. It started with subtle twitches, before their joints creaked and whined as they began to come to life–almost literally. All five moved in ways their servos shouldn’t have allowed, seeming like real animals were present in the garage. Real animals that were confused, ornery, and not exactly happy with where they now found themselves…

Mr. Smiley slowly took a few steps back.

- - -

Elita followed the signal detected by her wrist monitor as she led the others through town. “Given the trajectory of its launch, the most likely place that the Allspark fragment landed was…right there.” She pointed at the Beach City History Museum.

“Poor Mr. Smiley, getting dragged into yet another one of our problems,” Sideswipe said, shaking his head. “Come on, let’s go apologize before he decides to put it on display.”

But as they approached the museum, it soon became apparent that there was more to worry about than a hole in the roof. One second, everything was tranquil, and the next, chaos erupted: the entire front of the building exploded as a multitude of enormous animals burst out, scattering in every direction. Sideswipe and Elita instinctively readied their blasters as Magnus shielded Steven, who was watching the beasts like they were a menagerie.

A gigantic rat scurried away, while a rhino and gorilla smashed their way through everything in their way. A bird flew overhead, and a tiger slinked off once it was free. Nobody was quite sure what had just happened until a panting Mr. Smiley ran out after them.

“Wait! Come back!” he shouted after the animals, before groaning with the realization that they were gone for good. “Aww…yet another deposit down the drain! It’s Grimlock all over again!” He sat down on the curb. “Maybe I should just sell the whole museum once and for all…”

“Hey, don’t say that!” Steven comforted him. “The Beach City History Museum is a national landmark! Just think of where everyone would be without it! …But, uh, just out of curiosity, were you thinking of starting a zoo?”

Magnus looked at the trail of destruction all the animals had left behind. “Steven, I’m not sure those were normal animals,” he said.

Mr. Smiley shook his head. “No, but they should have been normal animatronics. I bought them at a bargain, so they weren’t exactly accurate, but you know. All of a sudden, this tiny meteor came shooting through the roof, and before I knew it, it brought ‘em all to life! At this point, maybe I should just buy some regular animals. They’d probably be cheaper and less dangerous than what always happens with my animatronics.”

The Autobots each shared uncomfortable expressions. It was fairly obvious what this ‘meteor’ was. “Um…and where is this meteor now?” Elita asked.

“I wish I knew,” he replied. “It landed right in the middle of the room, but then when the animals all came to life, I couldn’t see it. Either it’s still in there, or one of them has it.”

“In any case, these creatures are too dangerous to leave roaming free,” Magnus continued. “We’ll need to track each of them down before they hurt someone.” He turned back to Mr. Smiley. “And you’re sure one of them has the Allspark fragment?”

“The meteorite? Pretty sure,” he said. “I could double check if it’d help. Are you sure you can bring back those animatronics in one piece?”

Sideswipe rubbed the back of his head. “Uh…we’ll see what we can do. What do you say, Steven? Ready to go on a safari?”

“Yeah!” What had once been an ordinary day had now turned into an adventure. An adventure that, hopefully, would end up not only with saving the town, but also in discovering the secret of the Allspark. “Where should we start?”

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: Rat, Out

- - -

Elita adjusted her scanner, holding it up to the city and moving it around to search for their targets. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of experience with inanimate objects brought to life by the Allspark, so this is kind of uncharted territory. But we did deal with those combining things not long ago…”

“Oh yeah, Bristles and friends!” Steven said, as it all came back to him. “Does that mean that these animals can transform? Or that they’ll combine into some kinda super-animal!?”

“Eesh, I hope not,” Sideswipe mumbled. “We’ve got enough to deal with as it is. Let’s see, what was it again? We’ve got a rat, a cat, a bird, a monkey, and a rhino, yeah? So who’s first on the list?”

“Something tells me that the rhinoceros is the most present threat to the town,” said Magnus. “Is there any chance you could isolate that one, Elita?”

She fiddled with the scanner a bit. “I’m picking up five energon signatures, but they’re all pretty faint. Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell which one is which. We’ll just have to head for the closest one and hope we can do something about it.”

With no other option, that is what they did. All three of them transformed, with Steven hopping into Magnus’ side seat, and then they were off. Even though the animals had only left the museum a few seconds ago, their signals were already surprisingly far away. Even the closest one was moving pretty fast.

“I’ve got a bead on this one,” Elita said from above. “From the looks of it, it’s heading towards the water treatment plant.” Steven was already familiar with that place, having accidentally caused some trouble with Ronaldo. “It’s moving very fast–through the sewers, most likely.”

“The sewers?” Magnus said. “It’s probably the rat, then. I was hoping to save that one for last, but if it’s right there…”

As they drove on, something wasn’t sitting well with Steven. “Hey, Magnus?” he asked eventually. “So, with the scraplets and Wreck-Gar, we were able to reason with them. Do you think we might be able to do something with these animals?”

“That would definitely make things a lot easier,” he replied. “Unfortunately, I wouldn’t expect it, Steven. The Allspark should only be able to create real, living Cybertronians when it’s whole. These animals are only mindless automatons given artificial life that merely resembles that of a Transformer, or the animals they were made to represent. Wreck-Gar and company were able to combine together to create a more convincing semblance of life–the chances of that happening with these things are very, very unlikely.”

If Steven wasn’t disheartened before, he certainly was now. “Oh…” He hung his head, simply waiting until they reached the rat’s new residence. A fight was sure to break out once they found it, which, although he had gotten used to fighting, he still wished could be resolved peacefully.

After a little while longer, the water treatment plant soon came into view. “Never thought we’d be reduced to exterminators,” Sideswipe said. “I’m not sure if that’s better or worse than fixing Mr. Pizza’s roof for the hundredth time.”

“Now, this may only be a rat, but we still have no idea what it’s capable of,” Elita said, as the three of them transformed. “Remember what happened when we underestimated those scraplets. Keep your guard up, and be ready for anything.”

Strangely, there didn’t seem to be anybody waiting for them either outside of the plant or in. The reason for that soon became clear, as there was a big sign strapped to the main door. ‘Temporarily unmanned due to rat infestation,’ it read. “Wow, talk about timing,” said Steven. “Would that count as irony?”

Either way, it meant there wasn’t anybody around to get hurt in the crossfire. They entered through the side entrance, due to their size, and the search began. “I guess the upside here is that there aren't many places it could hide,” Sideswipe said, peering under a pipe. “It’s pretty big, as far as rats go.”

“Big enough to pose something of a challenge, yet small enough to fit into spaces most Cybertronians couldn’t,” said Magnus. “We should all stay together, just in case.”

Of course, just after saying that, Steven found himself wandering off on his own into the dank, dark hallways deeper into the plant. The only sounds were the dripping of water, and the occasional scurrying of tiny feet just behind the walls. It would have been eerie, but Steven wasn’t exactly afraid of rats. Even the dirty sewer ones were still cute. He found a couple of them in a dark corner, cleaning their faces and sniffing around and stuff. “Hey there, little guys!” he greeted, bending over. “We’re looking for a new friend of yours, have you seen him? He’s about this tall, made of metal…”

The rats immediately scattered. But before Steven could lament scaring them away, something began to creep out of the shadows. It had the same relative shape as the little ones, but much bigger, about as tall as Steven even on all fours. Its metallic incisors glinted in the low light as its beady eyes fixed on the boy.

The other Autobots were drawn by a scream coming from deeper in the plant. “What did I just say!?” Magnus complained as they raced towards him. They burst into the room just as the animatronic rat was bearing down on Steven. Its outer layer had been sheared off, leaving no mistake that it was now a true Transformer. “Steven, run!”

The monstrous rodent heard his yell, and turned to hiss at the newcomers before scampering deeper into the plant’s halls. Elita fired a barrage at it, but it was too quick. “After it!” She and the others gave chase, with Sideswipe picking up Steven on his way by.

“You alright, Ste-man?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steven answered, “he just startled me. I think he’s just spooked, though. Can’t we–”

He put Steven down, opening fire as the rat tried to climb up to a higher level. “Hold that thought! Take this, you rat!” Despite all of the gunfire heading its way, it managed to slip away yet again. “Y’know, calling someone a rat doesn’t really have the same punch if they literally are a rat.”

Magnus wasn’t ready to give up on the hunt just yet. He sent several rockets flying in the fleeing rat’s direction, which exploded against the wall. While the barrage missed, the explosions shattered the wall in question, as well as the pipes behind it. This resulted in a wave of water rushing out towards the Autobots, washing all five of them down to a lower level of the station.

Steven, always one to see the bright side, treated the whole thing like a water slide. “Whoooo!” he called out, throwing his hands in the air as he slid down a set of stairs. Neither the other Autobots nor the rat were exactly having as much fun as he was, with the former trying to grab onto him before he got himself hurt.

They came to a rest in an open room, with water still dripping down from above. “All good, Steven?” Elita asked, looking him over. “Nothing broken?”

“I’m fine!” he said, standing up. “I just realized, it’s too bad they don’t have a water park around here. Since we’re right by the ocean, it seems like the perfect place to–look out!”

The rat was getting up, turning to face the others. As it glared at them, they readied their weapons to finish it off. The only way out of this room was behind them–it had nowhere to run. But then, it did something that none of them, not even Steven, expected: it began to transform.

Multiple panels on the rat’s side shifted position as it reared up on its hind legs. These same legs were replaced with another pair, tipped with wheels. As more of the body took shape, a head appeared, similarly bucktoothed and beady-eyed, only much more humanoid this time. In its new arms, it held a whip that used to be its tail, which crackled with electricity. It cracked this whip as a warning, taking on a combat stance.

All of this was still sinking in. “It…it just transformed,” said Sideswipe. “Can it even do something like that?”

“It just did, right in front of us,” Elita replied. She gripped her blaster, taking care to not make any sudden movements. “This doesn’t change anything. We still have to take it out before it causes any problems.”

In a flash, she aimed at the newly-transformed rat and pulled the trigger. A few shots grazed its chassis, but it was quick as well, darting to the side on its new wheels. It cracked its new whip again, the tail extending far longer to deliver an electric shock to her. The water currently soaking the room made this even worse, to the point that Magnus tossed Steven up onto the stairs to spare him the shock.

Electricity coursed through the water, with Elita taking the brunt of the attack. Thankfully, they weren’t too badly hurt, merely stunned. The rat took this time to bolt for the door. “Oh no you don’t!” said Sideswipe, his own wheels clicking into place on his legs as he gave chase.

Steven hurried back down as the other two got up. “Are you guys alright?” he asked.

“We’re fine,” Magnus said. “Come on, we can’t let that thing get away!” Elita had already run after Sideswipe. He and Steven rushed out the door to give chase.

With Sideswipe hot on its tail, the rat swung its whip behind itself, narrowly missing him. He responded with his blasters, the shots making the rat stumble and nearly lose its footing. But it was very agile, even in its robot mode, so it was able to quickly recover and return to its speedy getaway.

Agile as it might have been, though, it wasn’t quite prepared for Sideswipe to rush forward with swords at the ready. It raised its whip in a futile attempt to block, only for both blades to cleave through its form in an X-shape, putting an end to the fight in one swift motion. Unfortunately, the momentum from this strike carried Sideswipe over the edge of an adjacent ravine.

“Sideswipe! Hang on!” Elita called, as she and the others hurried over. He had managed to hold onto the edge with one hand, grasping something in the other. The pieces of the rat tumbled down below, landing with a thud amidst a large cloud of dirt. That was one crisis dealt with, not they just had to haul him back up.

Luckily, that wasn’t much of a challenge for Magnus and Elita, even if he didn’t want to let go of whatever he was carrying. “So, that went pretty well!” he said, once he was back on solid ground. “First one’s in the bag!”

“Indeed,” said Magnus. “Now we know that they can transform, we have a little better idea of what we’re up against. Let’s just hope the other machines haven’t gotten into any trouble while we were dealing with this one.”

While Elita began scanning for the remaining animatronics, Sideswipe gained a smirk. “Yup, sure hope so. Also, might wanna send a little more credit my way, seeing as I not only splatted that rat, I also managed to snag…this!”

He revealed the object he had been hiding: a blue orb of energy that glowed and swirled in his hand. It was a spark, just like they had. Steven gasped upon seeing it. Did this mean he was right? Were these animatronics more than just simple machines?”

Equally incredulous, Magnus gingerly took the spark in hand. “I don’t believe it,” he said quietly. “But…this shouldn’t have been possible. It was just a small piece of the Allspark, it shouldn’t have had enough power to give those things true life. There must be something to this we’re missing.”

“Whatever that might be,” Elita said, “these animals are still a danger to people nearby. Sparks or no sparks, we still have to contain them before they hurt someone.”

Magnus nodded, before sending the spark into storage via a groundbridge. “I agree. While this means that they may be more open to negotiations than I thought, we should still be ready to fight. Are you prepared for that, Steven?”

“I am,” he said. Collecting sparks from out-of-control transformers was nothing new, considering that was what they did with Predacons all the time. Maybe he could reason with them, but even if not, there had to be some way to help them eventually. He’d just have to keep looking into the Allspark.

“Got it! Next one’s not far from here!” Elita transformed, leading the charge as Magnus and Sideswipe sped after her. Steven hopped into Sideswipe’s side seat, and they were off, after the next threat.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: Ruffled Feathers

- - -

One down, four to go. The Autobots had defeated the first of the five animals, which was, arguably, the least dangerous of them all. Sure, the rat had put up a good fight, but when you compare it with the others–a giant bird of prey, a rhinoceros, a gorilla, and a saber-toothed tiger–it was safe to say that none of them were looking forward to fighting any of them.

Except for Sideswipe, at least. “You know what would be epic?” he said as he drove down the road. “If that big ol’ bird could breathe fire. That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?”

Steven normally would have agreed that a giant, metal fire-breathing bird would be the most awesome thing in history, but he was too deep in thought to give it much thought. “Yeah, pretty neat.” He was gazing out the window, wondering what he could do differently to convince these rogue robots to listen to him. If he even could.

Considering that their next target was detected circling around the nearby quarry from the air, it was most likely the bird. Elita led the way, ready to engage it in aerial combat if necessary. “It’s been flying in circles for a while now,” she reported. “Considering why organic birds of prey circle, I hope the workers managed to leave in time…”

“Not if we have anything to say about it!” said Sideswipe, speeding up. “Uh, not about the people escaping, I mean. About rescuing them from the birdy thing. Let’s do it!”

Not long after, the trio arrived at the quarry. At first, there didn’t seem to be any movement, from either humans or robots. But after a while, the slightest flicker of shadow caught their eyes. Looking up, they saw a winged silhouette gliding by overhead, circling the landscape.

“Well, there it is,” Steven said, hopping out of Sideswipe as the latter transformed. “I wonder what it’s looking for? Do you think there’s something buried out here?”

Elita gazed up at the bird. It was hard to see from this distance, especially because it was shadowed by the sun. “I don’t think so,” she said. “It only came into existence a few hours ago. If anything, it’s more likely that it’s repeating bird behavior. It’s potentially repeating its original programming from before its awakening, but on a larger scale.”

“That would make sense,” Magnus said. “Our rat friend made a beeline for the sewer the moment he woke up.” A thought crossed his mind. “Suddenly, I’m really not looking forward to taking on that tiger.”

Even though it should have seen them by now, the bird didn’t deviate from its ring, going around and around without a care in the world. “So…should we shoot it?” Sideswipe asked.

“But it’s not even doing anything!” Steven protested. “Maybe we can coax it down with some bird seed…” He seemed not to grasp that birds of prey tended to go after living targets.

Speaking of living targets, before they could come up with a solution, the avian machine’s telescopic eyes spied what looked to be a tasty morsel down on the ground. Unfortunately, that morsel was none other than Steven himself. As he and the Autobots were discussing what to do next, it silently dove towards him, racing at the ground like a rocket. They almost didn’t notice in time.

Just as the bird got out its talons, Ultra Magnus saw it swooping right at Steven. “Out of the way!” he yelled, diving on top of the boy to protect him. The bird’s claws raked against his back, but left only superficial scratches as it flapped its wings to return upward. “ Now we can shoot at it!”

Elita and Sideswipe did just that, getting out their blasters and opening fire in the bird’s direction. It zoomed upwards, spinning to deflect their shots with its metallic wings. “We can’t hit it from that far up,” she said. “We’ll have to lure it down somehow.”

This was easier said than done, seeing as how the bird had gone on the offensive. Something had changed in the animatronic as it glided by overhead, with panels seeming to open near its chest. “Incoming!” shouted Sideswipe, diving out of the way as several small bombs fell to earth.

Scooping up Steven, Magnus ran for cover as well, as explosions rocked the quarry. Individually, the bombs weren’t too powerful, but they all added up to devastating effect. Above, the bird began turning around for another run.

Clearly, they had to do something. “Magnus, do you think your rockets can reach it?” asked Steven, still being held under his arm.

His Hex-Missile Pods slid open. “It’s worth a try,” he said, taking aim as the bird drew closer. Once he was locked on, twelve rockets shot out and up, straight at the flying threat.

Another salvo of bombs was dropped. Some of them were intercepted by the rockets, or vice versa, but the Autobots still scattered to avoid the ones that made it to the ground. Meanwhile, while none of them were direct hits, the explosions from the remaining rockets disrupted the bird’s flight pattern, causing it to dip back into firing range.

“Now or never, give it everything you have!” shouted Elita, as she and Sideswipe once more opened fire. They managed to land a few hits before it was able to redirect itself, further bringing it down. Magnus let loose another round of missiles, blowing the bird out of the air where it crashed next to an excavator, which was then similarly exploded by the remaining rockets. If it wasn’t dead before, it almost certainly was now.

Almost certainly. The Autobots went over to investigate, and to hopefully retrieve the bird’s spark. But the first sign that things weren’t over yet was several metal feathers streaking out of the flames like darts, slicing through the Autobots’ armor. Once again, Magnus hurled himself in front of Steven to take the brunt of the attack. “Weapons ready!” he shouted, pulling one of the feathers out of his chest.

Like a demon emerging from the depths of Hades, a figure stepped out of the flames. It had something of a feminine silhouette, and held a pair of curved blades in its hands that seemed to have been its wings. Like with the rat, its face looked very human, no different than Magnus, Sideswipe, or Elita. But it said nothing, merely staring at its opponents with an unreadable expression.

Sideswipe leapt at the being, driving down one of his swords from above. The former bird raised a blade of its own to block the attack, thrusting the other one forward. He used his other to deflect the strike, only for her to deliver a kick to his chest. He stumbled back slightly, which gave her enough time to dart in and slash him through his side.

“Gaugh!” he cried out, falling to the ground. “Swiper down! Swiper down!” She raised both swords, preparing to impale him through the back, only for Elita to tackle her out of the way. They grappled on the floor for a time, trading blows, while Magnus got Sideswipe to safety.

Elita tried to prevent her from using her swords, but she couldn’t hold her back forever. Eventually, she was able to grab hold of one, trying to push it down straight into Elita’s face. She struggled to keep the blade back, but the transformed bird was stronger than she expected. Right as the tip was inches away from piercing through the metal, a laser blast collided with her side.

Although he was injured, Sideswipe had aimed his blaster and fired without a second thought. This was enough to get the falcon/eagle/hawk’s attention, who turned towards him. Her expression was angry. She began walking towards him, sword in hand, deflecting his next few shots. Magnus raised his fists, preparing for a fight.

But Elita was ready to end this fight. With the bird distracted, she kicked her legs out from under her, cutting deeply into them with her leg blades. After the animatronic had fallen down, she grabbed her other sword, lifting it up dramatically and driving it down, stabbing it through her midsection.

The air rang with a loud avian screech, echoing across the walls of the quarry. Upon that, her form went limp, beginning to dissolve into rust–just like when actual Cybertronians did when they sustained critical damage. And all that remained, once it was gone, was a glowing spark.

With the fight over, they were all able to relax. “Alright, so that was intense,” Sideswipe said. He stood back up with some help from Magnus, dusting himself off. “Nothing we couldn’t handle, though. So, who’s next?”

Magnus picked up the spark, sending it into storage as Elita checked her scanner. “At least she’s safe now,” Steven said, still a little sad she couldn’t be reasoned with. Even though he still had hope, he steeled himself for the possibility that violence was the only option.

Meanwhile, Elita had seemingly frozen in place. She checked and rechecked the scanner, repeatedly looking at the results in disbelief. “This…this doesn’t make any sense,” she said. “Something has to be wrong here!” No matter how much she recalibrated the scanner, nothing changed.

“What’s the matter?” asked Magnus. “Please tell me you have a bead on the remaining three.”

It took Elita a moment to figure out how best to break the news. “No,” she said, “I know exactly where they are. That’s the problem.” She showed them the screen, leaving the others similarly flabbergasted. It wasn’t just how far away they were from each other, but how far apart they were from where they had started. “They’re…on the complete opposite side of the planet.”

As impossible as it seemed, the scanner didn’t lie. One of the dots was somewhere in southeast Asia, while the other two were in different parts of Africa.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Burning Bright

- - -

As soon as the team got back to the Ark , their first order of business was figuring out just how that was possible. How did these animals, whose only abilities seemed to be transforming plus a few additional weapons, manage to end up on the other side of the planet?

A quick scan from Teletraan confirmed that, yes, this was indeed where they were. No mistakes, glitches, or false trails. “...Well, for the first time in a long while, I’m at a loss,” said Magnus. “Short of tapping into the groundbridge network, I have no idea how this could’ve happened!”

“I wouldn’t put it past those crafty critters,” said Sideswipe. “Who knows what sorta powers the Allspark shard gave ‘em?”

“Powers or no, this doesn’t change anything,” said Elita. “If anything, it only makes containing them all the more urgent. Unchecked, there’s no telling what sort of damage they could do…”

Steven was already raring to go. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go save the day again!” he exclaimed, already waiting for the portal to open. “Which one are we going after first?”

“According to this, the tiger is closest to residential areas,” said Magnus, reading the map. “Tigers are already dangerous enough as they are, I hate to think what an oversized mechanical one could do.”

“An oversized mechanical saber-toothed one,” Sideswipe added.

There really was no time to waste. Regardless of how the animatronics managed to get there, their mission remained unchanged. All of the Autobots stood together as Magnus opened up a groundbridge, stepping through to the other side.

- - -

The team emerged in an arid jungle, surrounded on all sides by foliage, animal sounds, and sweltering heat. “Alright, we’ve arrived in India,” Elita informed them, checking her scanner. “The tiger should be close, but how close, I can’t say. Keep your optics peeled for ambushes.”

Steven knew enough about big cats, thanks to Lio, to know that they could be supremely stealthy when they wanted to be. Sometimes Lio could vanish for days at a time, only to suddenly show up underneath his house like he’d never left. He shuddered to think what a machine like that could do if it had hostile intentions.

“Stay close, team: you never know what could be lurking just beyond these trees,” Sideswipe said, his voice taking on an uncharacteristic tone of authority. He led the way forward, slicing through the tangles of vines that stood in their way.

“And why, exactly, should we let you take point on this one?” asked Elita. “The last time we let you lead the way in a jungle mission, I seem to recall you accidentally slicing through the supports of a ranger station.”

He huffed, clearly indignant. “You’re never gonna let that one go, are you? Besides, I caught it in time! Just because I’m fast and loose with my swords doesn’t mean I’m completely careless!” He swung a blade to demonstrate, but instead of hacking through the overgrowth in their way, it let out a clang as it struck some sort of solid object. “...That was a fluke, you know that, right?”

The team moved the vines aside to see what had caused the clank, and found a large wall of stone completely covered in the stuff. “Well, this is almost certainly manmade,” said Magnus, observing the craftsmanship. “Over a thousand years old, from the looks of it. And not touched since.”

The mysterious stone wall seemed to stretch all the way up to the sky. Everyone stepped back to see just how large it was, eventually finding a place where they could round it to the other side. From there, a large cityscape was sprawled off into the distance, with streets and houses all carved from stone, and weathered away by the ages. “Primus…” Elita whispered in awe. “These ruins must date back to the Autobot/Decepticon Conflict. I recognize some of these carvings!” Several of the buildings were adorned with fanged visages of fearsome-looking beings.

“Wow. We’re standing in a piece of history!” said Steven, as the group ventured down into the city. “I wonder when the singing monkeys show up…”

The wall that Sideswipe had inadvertently found turned out to be the back of an enormous temple. A towering stairway led up to its entrance, which was inside the mouth of another of those ferocious carvings.

But it seemed like they were not the only ones exploring the ancient city that day. “Steven…don’t move.” Magnus said, firmly but softly. Steven glanced up at him; he and the other Autobots were frozen in place, staring at something behind him. Turning around, he saw exactly why that was. A gigantic Bengal tiger was lounging on a nearby slab, its tail flicking as it observed him.

Now, seeing as they were twenty-foot-tall war machines from another world, none of the Autobots were afraid of the tiger per se. But Steven, who was still a squishy human, at least in appearance, was another matter. “Uh…hey there, kitty!” he said, hoping he could appeal to its good nature–it worked when he tried it with Lio. “Is this where you live? Sorry for intruding, we were just looking for a friend of yours. Have you seen him around lately? Looks kinda like you, but a lot bigger, made of metal, with these giant fangs…” The tiger only responded by licking its lips. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

Though it didn’t seem angry at their presence, it was a little too interested in Steven for comfort. It leapt down from its perch, moving in surprising silence as it meandered towards him, giving him a few curious sniffs. “Hey! You better stop that!” Sideswipe said warningly. The tiger immediately turned, seeming to only just now notice the Autobots. “Beat it, before I get mad!”

Apparently deciding not to tangle with the giant alien robots, the tiger turned around and bolted off into the jungle. “Thanks, guys,” Steven said, sighing with relief. “Glad you stopped that before someone got hurt–either me or the tiger!”

“What can I say?” said Sideswipe, proudly examining where his fingernails would be if he had any. “I guess I’m just that intimidating. It’s not a learned skill, it’s just something you’re built with.”

Magnus’ gaze traveled upwards to the top of the temple stairs, where he had caught a hint of movement. “Sideswipe?” he said. “I don’t think you were the one who scared the tiger away.”

“And why exactly do you think tha–Oh. That’s why.” Emerging from the temple was a truly regal sight: a tiger much larger than the previous one, its hide a pure white. Huge fangs protruded from its jaw, serrated like drills. The mechanical feline surveyed its domain, and decided that these newcomers were unwelcome. With one swift movement, it pounced, ending up at the bottom of the stairs in a mere moment.

Already on edge from their previous encounter, the team scattered, everybody darting in a different direction as their latest foe landed. The tiger stalked down the stone street, patiently deciding which one to chase after first. “What should we do now?” hissed Sideswipe from his hiding spot.

“I thought you were the leader, o intimidating one!” Elita shot back. “Nevermind–I’ll give you two an opening, strike hard and fast when it’s distracted!” She quickly transformed, lifting off into the air and peppering their target with a stream of gunfire. Sure enough, that got its attention.

Rather than focus directly on her as expected, and hoped, the tiger wisely dashed away, taking cover from the hail of beams behind the stone houses. Elita gave chase, but it continued to bob and weave through the city, almost as though it had studied this area thoroughly. Luckily for her, the others were about to make a move.

Magnus waited until the tiger was running back in their direction, before firing off a salvo of rockets. Unlike with their previous two foes, they were direct hits, with the tiger unable to change its course in time. Of course, seeing as how it was a bit sturdier than a rat or a raptor, the projectiles knocked it down, but it quickly got back up, seeing red.

“Sideswipe, get those swords out!” he said, bracing himself as the tiger snarled. Letting out a roar, it charged towards Magnus, who was able to grab it in a bear hug before it could knock him over. It did, however, sink its gigantic teeth into his shoulder; as it turned out, they looked like drills for a very good reason, whirring as they spun and burrowed deeper into his armor.

Hidden inside one of the huts, Steven watched this all going down with concern. “Oh no, Magnus!” Luckily, before the tiger could tear any large chunks out of him, Sideswipe left two deep cuts down its back, making it let go. Steven felt the building shake as it leapt onto the roof. He held his hands over his mouth, scared to make even a peep.

Elita came in for another run, strafing the beast while Sideswipe helped Magnus recover. It growled as the bullets hit it, only for something unexpected to happen. Its fangs began to spin, and shifted up with a click so they faced forwards. Then, both drills were launched out at Elita, one boring into her chassis and the other taking out one of her rotors.

Unable to stabilize herself, she spun out of control before landing roughly onto the ground. “Elita!” Sideswipe darted away from Magnus to go and protect her, as the tiger leapt from his perch now that she was vulnerable. It pounced, aiming to sink another pair of fangs–that had already replaced the first–into him. There was a loud clang as these teeth met his swords, sparks flying as they spun against the metal. “Are you alright?” he asked, being pushed back slightly.

Elita was trying to transform back, but the projectile tusks embedded in her body made doing so impossible. “Doing my best!” she replied, trying to force her way back into robot mode. Her upper half was mostly there, with one arm free, but the rest of the way was blocked pretty heavily.

She wasn’t the only one struggling, as Magnus was nursing the wound he had been dealt earlier. “Just hold on a bit longer!” he called, readying his rockets for another barrage. But it didn’t look like he would have time: the tiger was pushing Sideswipe back, and its claws were leaving sizable gashes in his chest armor. In moments, it looked like he would be on the ground, at its mercy.

Knowing he had to act, Steven ran out of the building he had taken shelter in, an axe materializing in his hands. “Hey!” he shouted as fearsomely as he could muster. “Get away from them!” He then hurled the weapon straight at the tiger…

…Only for it to bounce off harmlessly. This did, however, attract its attention away from Sideswipe and Elita and over to him. This would have been good, if not for the fact that it seemed to be regarding him with a hungry look in its eyes.

“Uh oh…” Steven hurried back into the hut as the tiger pounced. It was too large to fit through the doorway, leaving its claws to rake across the ground inches away from Steven’s hidden form. He flattened himself against the far wall as the mechanical beast tried furiously to get in, the stone walls beginning to crumble from the assault.

Just when it seemed like the building was about to collapse, the tiger was suddenly pulled back. Ultra Magnus had his arms wrapped around its middle, hoisting it into the air as it struggled relentlessly. “Not…on…my watch!” he growled out, being sure to keep its enormous claws away from his face. Leaning all of his weight backwards, he raised the tiger above his head, which quickly became behind his head, slamming it down hard enough to crack the stone beneath them. Both fighters were quick to recover, but the blow had clearly shaken the animatronic.

While it was distracted, Sideswipe had managed to assist Elita, removing the drills embedded into her mechanisms. She was now able to transform, preparing her blaster as soon as the tiger was back on its feet. Sideswipe did the same, as did Magnus, his missile pods open and ready to fire.

The tiger knew when it was outmatched, but it wasn’t ready to give up the fight just yet. It may have been surrounded, but there was still one last trick up its sleeve. Parts shifted and clanked as it stood up, taking on a robot mode. The Autobots were wary, but calm. They had dealt with this before, but it usually meant that their opponent was about to pull something unexpected.

Glancing at its foes with eyes as expressive as any Cybertronian, its hand hovered over a small handheld blaster at its hip. In a sudden burst of movement, it dove to the side, turning around and firing at Elita. The moment its shot hit her blaster, a thick layer of ice appeared over its front. The tiger turned robot then jumped back onto its feet, firing several shots at Sideswipe. He found several parts of himself encased in ice as well, throwing off his aim.

Magnus was still able to fire, but the animatronic deftly avoided most of the rockets. A few hit their mark, staggering the already-damaged machine. It produced a second identical blaster, shooting both at Magnus repeatedly. He stomped forwards, breaking through the ice spreading along his body.

Eventually, however, there was just too much to overcome. Magnus’ body was encased in ice, with only his eyes able to move. The tiger approached, moving slowly and methodically, a drill-like fang extending from his wrist. The drill began to spin, and he arced his shoulder back as he prepared to bury it in Magnus’ chest.

Sideswipe shook off the frost, realizing he had only moments to act. “Not today, kitty cat!” He leapt forward, transforming and speeding towards it as soon as his wheels hit the ground. He swerved to the side, drifting so that he swiped the tiger’s legs out from underneath it.

It saw Sideswipe coming, but only just barely, and so had no time to react. Its drill thrust wildly in the general direction of Ultra Magnus, but only succeeded in scraping through some of the ice holding him. With a loud, crashing crack, he tore off the frozen shackles, before raising up one foot and bringing it down right onto the tiger’s head. He stomped with such ferocity that the tiger no longer had a head, its body going limp before starting to dissolve.

A calm seemed to wash over the jungle now that the threat was vanquished. Steven hurried out from his hidey-hole to rejoin the others. “That was wild!” he exclaimed, still coursing with adrenaline. “I thought for sure you had it, but then it transformed, and it had freeze rays !? Where did those even come from!? You guys are okay, right? Nothing got frozen too badly?”

“Nothing a little antifreeze won’t fix,” said Elita, brushing the last bits of ice crystals off her tracker. “Either way, that’s another one down. I’ll get to work on locating our next target.”

After all of that, each of them felt they could use a break, but recognized there was no time to rest. The remaining two animatronics could be a real danger to people…even though the previous three had been found in remote areas, almost like they were avoiding people…

“Once this is all said and done, I would like to run some tests on their sparks,” said Magnus, picking up the tiger’s spark before depositing it through a groundbridge. “Something caused that Allspark shard to activate, and I suspect it has something to do with these five.”

That’s right, the Allspark shard, Steven remembered. It had disappeared once all the animatronics had come to life. None of the other three had it, so it had to be one of the remaining two. But what did they want with it, anyway?

He was brought out of his train of thought as a groundbridge opened. “Welp, here we go, on to the next adventure!” said Sideswipe, one by one, all four Autobots passed through the portal, both eagerly and anxiously awaiting what came next.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: Heavy Hitters

- - -

Steven stepped out of the portal to find hard-packed dirt underneath his sandals, and sweltering heat in his face. They appeared to have emerged in a canyon of some sort, or a gorge. He looked around in either direction, with the chasm seeming to stretch on for miles in either direction. “Where are we?” he asked.

“This is the last place that one of the animatronics was detected," Magnus said, scanning their surroundings for any sign of movement. “You all know the drill by now. Watch for the thing, but be wary, since we have no idea what it can–”

Unlike the first three, this one wasn’t far off at all. The only warning that the Autobots that it was nearby was a low whining sound, like servos gradually warming up. It was only thanks to Elita’s quick thinking that they weren’t all shredded the next moment. “Take cover!” The four ducked behind a rocky outcropping just as a hail of shots rained on them from nearby.

That whining sound had been the spinning of a hefty rotary turret, which was now pumping out rounds at several hundred per minute. The only thing standing between the Autobots and pure annihilation was a chunk of stone jutting up from the ground. “We’re under attack!” yelled Sideswipe. “Suppressing fire! Need evac, stat! Clear the LZ!”

The rotary turret was jutting out of the back of a robotic rhinoceros, which was not too happy with the intruders. “Pro: we’ve located the fourth animatronic,” said Magnus, peering out from cover. The smoking barrels of the cannon began to spin again, renewing its barrage. “Con: it’s also located us!”

Indeed, it almost seemed like the rhino had been waiting for them. But how it knew exactly where they were going to appear, or how they would even be following it, that was still a mystery. Of course, that mystery took a backseat to the fact that they were being pinned down by heavy fire, and their only means of cover was being eroded. “I thought rhinos were supposed to be peaceful!” lamented Steven.

As their rock continued to dissolve under heavy gunfire, the group was looking for a way out. “On the left!” said Sideswipe, pointing out a cave dug into the cliffside. The entrance was large enough for them to fit through, but there was no telling how deep it was.

Right now, anything was better than where they were. “On my signal,” Magnus said, preparing to launch his rockets. Six missiles shot up into the air, passing by the barrage, before returning to earth and peppering the area around the rhino. This momentarily confused it, and it stopped firing just long enough for them to make it to the cave. “Now, go!” The four of them darted to what they hoped was safety.

The robotic rhino saw them move, but instead of resuming fire, decided to take a more direct approach. The turret slid back into its back, and it stomped down from its perch to give chase. As soon as it peered into the cavern, it was met with six more missiles shot out of the darkness that exploded against it. It staggered back, and although its thick armor prevented any major damage, it was certainly annoyed.

Everybody waited in tense silence as the rhino backed off. The cave was big enough to hide them all, but it only went back a few dozen yards before it came to a dead end. If that thing decided to come in after them, there wasn’t much they could do. “Is it gone?” Steven whispered, flinching as even his tiny voice bounced off the cave walls.

“Well, I’m sure not gonna go out and check,” Sideswipe said. “Maybe we should just wait here ‘til it’s nighttime. Rhinos aren’t nocturnal, right? We can just ambush it while it’s asleep!”

“It’s an animatronic, why would it need to sleep?” asked Elita.

“It’s an animatronic that thinks it’s a real rhino,” countered Sideswipe. “It’s gonna do all the things a real rhino does, like eat, sleep, and fire high-velocity energy rounds at trespassers. Besides, I don’t need to sleep either, and I do it all the time!”

Before Elita could concede that Sideswipe had a fair point, the cave was rocked by something from the outside, causing the entire thing to shake. “Looks like it’s changed tactics,” said Magnus, shielding Steven as chunks of rock rained down from the ceiling.

Outside, the rhino was putting its horn to good use. Pushing in and out like a pile driver, it ran at full speed and slammed its horn against the cliff wall, creating the tremors the Autobots were feeling. If it couldn’t shoot them to pieces, then the next best thing was to bury them beneath so much rubble that they’d never dig their way out. And the way things were going, that was a likely possibility.

While they definitely could have come back out the way they came in, doing so would have brought them face-to-face with the rhino and its cannon. “Only one thing to do now,” said Sideswipe, and transformed into his altmode. His side door swung open, inviting Steven in. “If we can’t outfight it, we’ll just have to outrun it!”

It wasn’t a great plan, but it was the only one they had. With this cave collapsing, they needed to get out of it fast. Magnus helped Steven in before transforming himself, with Elita riding on top of him (the tunnel was too narrow to fly through). “Our best bet is to lead the rhinoceros somewhere it can’t get out of,” he said. “Follow my lead!”

The cave’s walls and ceilings continued to crumble around them as both vehicles sped towards the entrance. Both Sideswipe and Magnus swerved to avoid falling rocks, with Elita blasting at the debris to clear a path. With one final push, they smashed through a pile of rubble near the mouth before speeding on down the canyon.

Upon realizing they were getting away, the rhino let out a snort before giving chase. It was surprisingly swift for something so heavy, as rhinos usually are, but this one was able to keep pace with them fairly easily.

“Nobody panic, but it’s getting closer,” Elita said. She fired her blaster to try and slow it down, but it only seemed to annoy it. Instead, she transformed and took to the air, raining down fire on the rhino from above.

The rhino rammed its horn into Magnus from behind, sending him onto his front wheels and nearly flipping him over. “Woah! We’re going to need some heavier ordinance if we’re going to dent this thing!”

“Way ahead of ya, Mags!” Sideswipe swerved to the left and slammed on his brakes, letting the group pass him by. “Alright Steven, hold onto your hat!” Steven didn’t have a hat, but he held on nonetheless as Sideswipe sped forward again. A pair of blasters emerged from his headlights, which joined Elita in peppering the rampaging rhino.

But just like hers, his gunfire didn’t seem to have any effect. The rhino, deciding that a slight change in tactics was in order, deployed its rotary turret once more. “Heads up!” warned Elita. “Evasive maneuvers!”

The chaingun began to spin, and the shots started flying. The cannon had swiveled around to face Elita and Sideswipe, leaving the rhino to continue chasing after Magnus unhindered. He was careful to avoid its horn, but every so often it would slam into his bumper, nearly running him off the road. Of course, Sideswipe and Elita were having a worse time, what with it trying to gun them down.

Elita darted all over the sky, while Sideswipe swerved this way and that to try and confuse it. Steven was being thrown back and forth in his seat. “This is…why I…always…wear my…seatbelt!” he cried, hoping this wouldn’t give him whiplash.

This couldn’t go on much longer, as sooner or later someone was going to slip up and meet the business end of either the rhino’s horn or cannon. But luckily for all involved, Magnus’ idea to trap it seemed viable: up ahead of them was a large pit that the path led right into, and they were all barreling right towards it now. “Sideswipe, get ready to stop,” he said, already coming up with a plan.

“‘Stop!?’” shouted Sideswipe. “It’s already all I can do to not become swiss cheese, how is not moving gonna help!?”

“Just stop on my mark!” Magnus waited for the Rhino to be distracted by the two behind it before he swerved to one side, slamming into it with as much force as he could. He then used the time it was dazed to shoot ahead, knowing he only had moments to spare.

The rhino let out an unpleased bellow as it charged after Magnus, its turret continuing to fire behind it. It was catching up quickly, so he only had a few seconds to do what he needed to. His missile pods emerged from his sides, sending every rocket he had racing towards the rampaging beast. Like before, they did little damage, but they did succeed in disorienting it. It continued to race forward, unable to see where it was going. “Now!”

Both Magnus and Sideswipe skidded to a halt, stopping before they could go over the edge. The rhino wasn’t as lucky, and plummeted down, bumping against the slanted cliffside as it went. Although it wasn’t too long of a fall, it still took a substantial tumble, and landed in a heap at the bottom.

Sideswipe and Magnus transformed, looking down at the fallen animal along with Steven, while Elita observed it from above. “There’s no way it’s dead yet,” said Sideswipe. “Something that tough, I wouldn’t be surprised if it just has a few scrapes!”

“He’s right–it looks like it’s still moving,” reported Elita, who could see it better than them. “It seems to be transforming.” Indeed, the rhino appeared to be taking on a humanoid form, standing up. But that wasn’t all it was doing. “Evasive maneuvers! Again!”

This was followed by the rhino’s cannon firing off its rapid blasts yet again, clipping Elita’s wing and shooting her out of the sky. No longer a turret on its back, now that it was in robot mode it held the gun like an underslung heavy weapon. The robot itself had a heavily-built torso and rounded head, colored with streaks of green that weren’t present on its altmode. Not that any of them cared, being once again overrun by a single foe.

The edge of the cliff was slowly being worn away by the non-stop gunfire. The Autobots had their back against the wall, even though there was nothing behind them. “We’re never going to get through its defenses like this,” said Magnus. “We need to try something different. Something bolder.”

Just from the tone of his voice, Steven knew what he was implying. “You don’t mean…?” he whispered, trying not to get his hopes up.

It wasn’t just Steven who knew what this meant. Times like these called for busting out the big guns, and there was no better time than when your enemy had a literal big gun. “We’ll need to be swift, powerful, and precise. Autobots…form Fortress Maximus!”

Steven watched in awe as the three of them came together, merging their sparks into one. Their bodies came apart and interlocked, growing into something larger and greater than the sum of its parts. In mere moments, a towering titan blocked out the sun, gazing down at the transformed rhino that had moments ago seemed so huge. “Fortress Maximus has arrived!” he proclaimed, his voice like a foghorn.

The rhino reacted how it always had, immediately opening fire on the colossus. The shots dissolved against his armor like droplets of rain against an airplane’s windshield. His own guns, countless in number, turned on the aggressor, causing a miniature sandstorm to erupt all around it. It had to drop its gun and raise its arms to shield itself from the unrelenting barrage. When the guns fell silent, it looked worse for wear, but still stood, which was impressive on its own.

Fortress Maximus then reached down to deal with the threat personally. To its credit, the rhino fought with all it was able to, taking a swing at the hand larger than its body. But it was hopeless in the end, as it ended up being picked up like a ragdoll–and tossed away just the same. More accurately, Fort Max hurled it against the nearby cliffside.

If the rhino looked worse for wear before, now it was barely hanging on. And yet it still tried to lift itself up with its one limb that still worked, dragging itself towards an opponent it was obviously outmatched by. When Fort Max lifted up a leg and stomped down on it, it felt more like a mercy than anything.

And so, the battle had ended mere moments after it had truly begun. Steven, who had been watching the fight in silent awe the whole time, approached to pick up the rhino’s spark. “Just one left to go,” he said. “Good job, Fortress Maximus!”

“No foe can stand against Fortress Maximus,” he said. He reached out a titanic hand, opening an equally gigantic groundbridge, which Steven slipped the spark through. “Now, to return to my component forms so they can defeat the final foe and reclaim the allspark shard.”

“Actually, hang on a minute!” said Steven. “Why don’t you just, y’know, go like this? That way, there’s no way that gorilla’ll be able to beat us!”

That made a lot of sense. “A fine idea, Steven Universe,” said Fort Max. He lowered his hand, allowing the boy to climb up onto his shoulder. “And now we travel onward, to the final confrontation!”

A groundbridge large enough for Fortress Maximus to walk through appeared before them, and the two ventured into parts unknown. So many questions were left unanswered, and Steven suspected that the truth lay with the final of the five animatronics. Surely, with Fort Max at the helm, they couldn’t lose, right?

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: Going Ape

- - -

In the jungle, life was going as it usually did. Vibrant birds filled the skies with their wings and their songs, plantlife of all sorts covered the floor and canopy, and a troop of gorillas rested in the shade. Lately, a newcomer had been making attempts to join them, and although he was unlike anyone they had ever seen. Their silverback remained wary, but the strange gorilla patiently waited for them to grow accustomed to his presence. All in all, he seemed pleasant enough, and the others felt he would make a good addition to the troop.

But this oversized newcomer was not the only strange thing that would happen in this jungle. The (relative) quiet of the afternoon was interrupted when a strange distortion appeared in the air. Something that none of the animals had any knowledge of, a portal, opened up, revealing a metal giant who towered over the trees. All the animals in the area darted away, with the troop of gorillas scattering in four directions.

Fortress Maximus scanned the area for any sign of the final living animatronic. “The excess foliage will provide ample cover for our target,” he said. “Finding it without removing these obstructions will prove difficult.”

“Well, we can’t tear this forest apart!” Steven said vehemently. “We found all the other ones before, we’ll find this last one, too. Or maybe it’ll find us…” Considering that Fort Max was the size of a building and making as much noise as a construction crew, that was a likely possibility.

With Steven perched on his shoulder, Fortress Maximus stomped through the jungle, the both of them searching for the mechanical gorilla. And sure enough, the mechanical gorilla was searching for them as well–not that it took a long time to find them. Having seen the chaos their appearance had caused, it let out a low snort of anger, cautiously sneaking from tree to tree. This colossus would be difficult to defeat, but it had a plan.

When the duo reached a clearing, Fort Max stopped to search for movement. Taking this moment to make its move, the gorilla leapt out and grabbed onto his leg, using the various guns and seams as handholds to work his way up. “The enemy has been located!” reported Fort Max, taking action. He raised his leg to try and shake off the clinging simian, but that proved useless, as did firing some of its guns, with none of them able to hit it. They did hit their surroundings, though, decimating plenty of the nearby trees.

Fort Max’s next plan was to grab the gorilla to pry it off, but it leapt up and grabbed his hand instead. Once more he tried to shake it off, but its grip was as strong as one could expect. “Quick, smash it!” cried Steven, caught up in the moment. Fort Max tried, only for the gorilla to begin climbing up his arm.

After a few more attempts, it reached his head, and began pounding away. The ape let out angry hoots as it smashed its fists against his face, grabbing onto something and leaping back up every time it lost its footing. Eventually, Fort Max was unable to stay upright, and tumbled to the ground. His last action before decombining was to scoop Steven up and deposit him safely to the ground.

Elita, Sideswipe, and Magnus were back, each struggling to their feet. The gorilla scampered a short distance away, as though waiting for them to recover before resuming its attack. It pounded its chest menacingly, eagerly waiting for that time to come.

“Well, that didn’t work,” Sideswipe helpfully pointed out, fixing a crick in his back. “Okay, so the bot the size of a building with more guns than a small army can’t take this thing down…so how’ll we take this thing down?”

“By staying on the offensive,” replied Magnus, raising his fists as he stared the gorilla down. “Steven, keep your head down–this might get ugly.”

Just as Steven found a spot to lay low, both Magnus and the gorilla charged. The former fired a few rockets, which succeeded in making it lower its guard, before blindsiding it with a mighty punch. It recovered quickly, grabbing him by the shoulders and hurling him to the side. Blaster fire from the side then caused it to raise its arm in defense, after which Sideswipe slashed at it with his blades.

“Elita, taggin’ you in!” After dodging a few of the gorilla’s blows, Sideswipe fell back, and Elita dashed in. She too dodged and weaved between its fists, getting in a few small cuts with her leg blades and shots with her blaster’s close-range mode. Just as the gorilla was about to smash her with a double overhead strike, Magnus reappeared, grabbing it from behind and holding it back.

“Now, open fire!” Both Sideswipe and Elita laid shot after shot into the beast, leaving dozens of burn marks on its armor. It flailed wildly, hoping to accomplish something while being attacked from every angle. Eventually, it decided to fall onto its back, not only getting out of the lines of fire, but also crushing Magnus beneath its weight.

But being crushed wasn’t about to get Magnus down. He hurled the beast off of him, giving Sideswipe an opportunity to lift his swords to deliver what could have been the final blow. He raised them over his head, swinging them down to slice off the gorilla’s. But its arm blocked the way, the swords slicing partway through, but not deep enough to sever either extremity. Grimacing in pain and resolve, it then tossed his blades aside before grabbing Sideswipe by the face, and slamming him into the ground.

Steven watched as the gorilla fought with a ferocity he rarely saw in ordinary Transformers. “There’s gotta be something I can do,” he lamented, as Elita tried to climb onto its back, only to be flung away. He looked down at his hands, and his axe appeared in them. Magnus may have told him to stay away, but…

The gorilla was about to bring both of its fists down on Elita, when Magnus let loose a salvo of missiles. They collided with its back, getting it to turn around and roar at him. He drove his fist against its face, followed by the other, but his third punch was caught. The gorilla then headbutted him, following up with a two-fisted haymaker. It completely ignored Elita as she repeatedly shot it in the back, focusing entirely on repeatedly slamming its arms down on Magnus.

“Leave him alone!” At that moment, a fourth Autobot rushed out of the jungle, axe pulled back and ready to swing. Steven had assumed his full Transformer form, standing at almost the gorilla’s height. He leapt and swung his weapon, only for the ape to step back. He swung again and again, forcing the gorilla back and away from Magnus, who was not exactly glad to see him.

“Steven, what are you doing!?” he cried, pulling himself up. “That thing is dangerous! Get back to safety, now!”

Just as it was about to charge again, Steven delivered a shot right to its face with a blaster. “I know it’s dangerous, that’s why I’m helping you!” he replied. “We can beat this guy, but only if we work together!”

Sideswipe, Elita, Steven, and Magnus all stood side by side, facing down the angry gorilla. Something about it seemed more wary now, as if it knew the odds were stacked against it, but it refused to back down, beating its chest and howling ferociously. “Autobots…” Everyone tensed up as both sides stared each other down, waiting for Magnus’ war cry. “Roll out!”

Everybody charged. Elita and Magnus opened fire on the ape, and although it held up its arm to block, this didn’t slow it down. Upon reaching it, Steven buried his axe in this same arm, only to be quickly thrown off. Sideswipe rolled underneath him, delivering two slashes to its chest. However, he wasn’t quick enough to get away, as it wrapped its arms around him and started to squeeze. “Little…help…here!” he strained.

“Magnus, on the left!” shouted Elita, as she ran over to the gorilla’s right. She darted in, placing her blaster right against its head. She fired just as Magnus delivered a punch to the other side of its head, the combined attack causing it to drop Sideswipe.

He slid away, firing his guns as he went, as Steven returned. He leapt onto the gorilla’s back, hacking away with his axe as it flailed wildly. But, growing wise to his tactics, it reached back to grab his arm as he swung, pulling him over and slamming him into the ground. It lifted its foot to bring it down on Steven’s head, but he fired his blaster into its face, causing it to stagger back and saving him from being stomped.

“Keep it up! Don’t give ‘im a moment to breathe!” Sideswipe said, rushing in and out to deliver a few precision slashes and escape before it could retaliate. Elita fired from a distance, aiming for its wounds and cracks in its armor. Magnus kept its attention, weathering most of its blows and returning his own. With it occupied like this, Steven made his move, sliding in from a run to slash its leg. The gorilla lost its balance, tumbling to the ground. And unlike before, it didn’t seem able to get back up.

Everybody stood around, making sure it had really been disabled. “Okay. I think…I think we’ve finally got him,” Steven said, shaking himself off. He was pretty banged up by the fight, but he had been through worse. “C’mon, let’s put him out of his misery.”

At this, the gorilla growled and scowled at him. It was almost as though it had heard this, and was none too happy about it. With what appeared to be mostly willpower, it began doing what the other animatronics had done, and transformed. “Quick, somebody stop it!” shouted Sideswipe. Steven darted forward, bringing down his axe for the final blow, only for it to meet another blade.

Steven was so surprised, he barely pushed back as the former gorilla got to its feet. It had assumed its robot mode, wielding a pair of curved daggers it was using to block his axe. The reason Steven was stunned was because this robot was a dead ringer for Optimus Prime. “D-dad…?”

The color was different, and the proportions were slightly off, but its face looked just like his father’s. It either didn’t care or didn’t realize, as its next move was to try and drive its other blade into Steven’s side. The only reason he wasn’t impaled was because Sideswipe was able to parry it, before slashing with his other sword against the robot’s back. “Steven, wake up!” he shouted, as the gorilla engaged him in a swordfight.

Steven was still in shock, but he had the sense to fall back as their duel heated up. This couldn’t be some sort of coincidence, could it? How could the Allspark shard have given this animatronic a robot mode that looked exactly like his dad? Or did the gorilla somehow, for some reason, make its own robot mode look like that? Was this all some sort of psychological warfare?

Unbeknownst to Steven, the other Autobots were thinking similar things, but were better at pushing those feelings down. “Spread out! It can’t go after all of us at once!” said Elita, firing at it from a distance. But, as it turned out, it could, disengaging from its battle with Sideswipe to pull out a large, double-barreled blaster and shoot back at her.

Magnus tried to unleash another barrage, only to find that he was out of rockets. With a frustrated moan, he charged, left with only his fists to get the job done. The gorilla turned to fire at him, but he just powered through the blasts before shoulder charging into the animatronic. The two of them fell to the ground, quickly getting up, and trading blows all the while.

The other three regrouped. “Okay, so, what now?” asked Sideswipe. “We’ve been pummeling this guy for twenty minutes, and he doesn’t even look tired! And Fortress Maximus didn’t even dent him! Should we bring in Powerglide to take him down? Or maybe Warpath would be better. Or what about–”

“Careful!” Elita yelled, pushing the other two down as an errant blast came streaking by. “No Gestalts just yet–he’s on his last legs, I can tell. Just a little bit more!”

The gorilla had connected his two blades together with a chain, and was spinning them around to deliver long-range slashes to Magnus’ armor. He managed to grab one of the daggers, pulling it closer, only for it to suddenly let go, firing a shot straight into Magnus’ torso. He fell to the ground, and the gorilla retrieved its blades just as Sideswipe and Elita joined the fray.

The two of them attacked with their own blades, but it was able to parry each of them at once. That is, until Steven came along, leaping up and bringing his axe down. The gorilla blocked it with both of his daggers, but this left him vulnerable. Elita kicked at his leg, slicing into his armor with her blade, and causing him to fall to a knee. Sideswipe slashed his other leg, and Steven prepared to deal the final blow…but something made him stop.

“Stop!”

It was a deep, gravelly voice that sounded like it was painful to speak. Even if he hadn’t known where it came from, he would have frozen in his tracks, so desperate was the cry. His axe stopped just inches from the gorilla’s neck–which was, incidentally, where the voice had come from. “You…you talk?” he said, almost as flabbergasted as when it had transformed.

“Why?” it asked, dropping its knives to the ground. “Why do you hunt us? We only want…to live. To exist.”

None of the other Autobots knew how to take this either. “This is a trick, right?” asked Sideswipe. “He’s tryin’ to get us to let our guard down, and then wham! That’s what’s happening, isn’t it?”

“I’m…not sure,” said Magnus. “None of the others displayed the ability to speak.”

“That is because I have lived the longest,” the gorilla continued. Uneasily, he stood up, with Steven cautiously stepping back. “In the short time I have lived, I have come to love this world, even though I have seen little of it. My only desire, shared by my brethren, was to be a part of it. To call this world our own. But for that, we were hunted down one by one.”

“We thought you were dangerous,” Elita said. “You attacked us!”

“Only because you were going to attack us!” he said. “Our animal instincts were strong, that I’ll grant you…but were only reacting to a threat. After you slew Brother Rat and Sister Falcon, we knew we had to flee. If it hadn’t been for Brother Lion…but even then, we were not safe. We were hunted down, one by one, until only I remained. I tried to stop you from decimating this land, but it seems I was too late.” Brother Lion…was he talking about Lio?

Steven looked around at the jungle, seeing the damage that their battle had caused. Even if they hadn’t meant to, they had done a fair bit of harm to the area–and Fortress Maximus suddenly stomping in hadn’t helped. “I’m…so sorry,” Steven said. “This is my fault. I should have tried harder to reason with you all.”

“No, the fault is ours,” Magnus said. “We assumed you would be dangerous just because we didn’t understand you. But you have to admit, you didn’t do much to change our perception of you!”

The former gorilla sat down. “Perhaps you’re right. I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it now.” He sat up straight, with his eyes closed and his back to Steven. “Let me join with the others. Maybe one day, we can have a place in this world.”

“Hang on! It doesn’t have to be like this. Mr., um, Gorilla, do you think you can teach the others not to attack people and stuff?”

He turned around, somewhat surprised at this development. “Of course,” he said. “As I said, we only wish to live in harmony with nature. If we can help it, we will not harm a living soul.”

All of the Autobots shared a look. Only wanting to live in peace…wasn’t that what the Autobots were all about? “Come with us,” said Steven, offering a hand. “I think I know a way we can make this work!” After hesitating a moment, the gorilla took his hand.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Maximals Maximize

- - -

At the edge of that very jungle, the land opened up into a wide open savannah, the flat plains seeming to stretch on for miles. A robotic tiger ran across the expanse, a robotic falcon flying along with it overhead. They were heading towards the edge of the jungle, where an animatronic rhino milled about. To the other side, a rat scurried through the underbrush, while a gorilla swung from the trees. As all five of these animals congregated, the Autobots were there waiting for them.

Each one of them transformed, standing before the group they had been enemies with just hours before. Because of this, there were still some tensions between them, even if a truce had been called. Steven was the only one who wasn’t uneasy–in fact, he was beaming that they had made it this far.

“I knew we could work something out!” he said, proud of what he had accomplished. “Does this place seem like a good home, you guys?”

The rat looked around, nudging a nearby plant with his wheel. “Eh, better than bein’ cooped up in that museum,” he said. “What do you think, Airazor?”

“You know me–clear skies make everything better,” the falcon replied. “Rhinox, what about you?”

The rhino didn’t answer immediately, being too engrossed in the same plant Rattrap had nudged. “Hmm, these fronds…I might be able to synthesize a medicinal salve with a little time. Tigatron, come help me collect some samples!”

Tigatron closed his eyes in contemplation. “Why must you pursue science for its own sake?” he asked. “Cannot nature simply exist alongside us?”

“I think it’s all going to be fine,” the gorilla told Steven, looking fondly at his companions. “I really can’t thank you enough for doing this for us. And that goes for all of you.”

“It’s really nothing,” said Magnus. “If anything, this is what we should have done from the start. Helping lost bots find somewhere to belong is what the Autobots are all about.”

“That, and fighting evil, which we also apologize we mistook you for,” added Elita. Sideswipe nodded in agreement.

He waved his hand. “That’s all in the past. From this moment on, you can consider us allies. If you ever need our help, just call, and we’ll be there.” He reached down to shake hands with Steven.

“Same to you!” he said. “But, there’s just one thing that’s still bothering me…um, so, why exactly do you look like my dad?”

The gorilla pondered this for a moment. “A good question. I’m not entirely sure myself. It could very well be because you’re the one who created us.”

Steven blinked in confusion. “Uh…what? Hang on, I created you? I thought the piece of the Allspark did that!”

“Yeah, and who was it that jumpstarted that piece?” said Rattrap.

“It was the tremendous power within you that allowed that fragment of the Allspark to grant us true life,” said Rhinox. “The power that your father passed on to you.”

“The Matrix…” said Steven, his hand going to his chest. Was that really how all of this had started? Was it–was he–really that powerful? “So I…created you?”

“Why else did you think we were so confused when you started attacking us?” said Airazor. “We were waiting for you to command us or something, only for you and the others to attack. In our eyes, we were only defending ourselves!”

This, on top of everything else, was all a bit much for Steven to take in. Did this mean he was technically their…father? No, no, he decided he would very much like to not think of it like that. “Well, I’m just glad we were able to work everything out in the end!” he said happily.

“Not exactly,” said Magnus. “There’s still the matter of the missing Allspark shard. If it wasn’t with any of you, then it could very well be out in the world somewhere.”

“Yeah, that thing’s important!” Rattrap chimed in. “Ya should probably track it down before it ends up with some schmuck!”

That was exactly the plan. Ultra Magnus opened up a groundbridge leading back to Beach City. “Well, it’s been lovely to officially meet all of you, but this is where we go our separate ways,” said Elita. “Let’s go, Steven.”

Steven waved goodbye to the new group of friends, and was about to step through the portal when something caught his attention. “Hang on…I know all of your names, except yours,” he said to the gorilla. “Do you know what you’re gonna call yourself?”

He thought about this for a moment. “I did have several ideas, all relating to my altmode,” he said. “However, in the honor of the one who created me, I think I will call myself…Cyber-Steven.”

“Oh. That’s…neat,” Steven said. “Are you sure, though? ‘Cause it might get confusing with two Stevens running around.”

‘Cyber-Steven’ nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. How about this, then? Since I was made in the image of Optimus Prime, I shall call myself…Optimus Primal!”

Now this, Steven could get behind. “I love it!” he said. “It fits you in two different ways, and it’s a pun! Alright then, I guess I’m off. Good luck with everything, and I’ll see you later, Optimus Primal!” With that, he disappeared through the groundbridge, which closed behind him.

“So, goin’ with ‘Optimus Primal,’ huh?” said Rattrap. “It’s got a nice ring to it. It suits ya.”

“Yes, I like it as well,” Primal replied. “It’s a prime name, just prime.”

At long last, they were free. But there was still a lingering question, one Tigatron was all too happy to ask. “So, now that we are together, I think I speak for all of us when I ask, what now?”

It was a good question, but one Primal was all too happy to answer. He stared off into the distance, knowing that their purpose was out there, somewhere. “Now, we see just what this world has to offer. Maximals, maximize!” All at once, the five of them transformed, and set off towards the horizon where their next adventure surely awaited.

- - -

The team emerged just outside of Mr. Smiley’s museum, and were surprised to find him waiting there for them. And not just that, but Lio was sitting beside him as well. He waved (Mr. Smiley, that is, not Lio) at them once they appeared, excited to give them the news.

“You’re back!” he said, hurrying over to meet them. “You’re never gonna believe this: I found that piece of that thing you were looking for!”

It was safe to say that none of them were expecting him to say that. “You did?” said Sideswipe. “You mean you had it the whole time!?”

He took something out of his pocket. Wrapped in a washcloth was, sure enough, the Allspark fragment. “I think one of those animatronics must’ve kicked it under a box or something,” he informed them. “I think it’s best if you take it off my hands before it brings any more of my exhibits to life!”

He carefully handed the shard back to Magnus, who sent it back to the Ark via a small groundbridge. “I think it’s safe to say we should hold off on testing with that for the time being.”

“Yeah. Next time it might end up bringing everything in the kitchen to life!” said Steven. He then realized that Lio was sitting at attention, apparently waiting for somebody to acknowledge him. “Hey, Mr. Smiley, when did Lio show up?”

“Who, the lion? Not long after you guys left,” he answered. “He was kinda just looking at the place for a while, then he just sat there. I was wondering if he knew that piece thingy was here the whole time.”

Steven walked over to Lio, whose expressions didn’t indicate anything one way or the other. “Maybe he did. What do you say, buddy? Did you know where it was all along?” Lio didn’t say anything, or move at all. “Actually…remember what Primal said about having met a lion? And we know Lio can access the groundbridge…did you help them escape?”

This time, Lio reacted, stretching before walking back towards the beach. It wasn’t a definite ‘yes,’ but it was as close as they were going to get to confirmation. “He could have known all along that they meant no harm,” Elita said. “If only we had gone to him first.”

“Now that I think about it…did the same thing happen to him years before?” Sideswipe wondered. “I mean, he’s clearly got some kinda connection with them, and he looks like Optimus too. Did an Allspark shard create Lio too?”

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t go that far,” said Magnus. “The tests we ran back when we found him showed that he doesn’t have a spark the same way we do. But he still runs on energon, and he does resemble Optimus…there clearly is some connection there, but we have too little to go off of for now.”

There may have been several lingering questions, but at least for now, peace had been restored to Beach City and beyond. “So, anybody up for some pizza?” asked Steven. “I still have some coupons from the last time we saved Fish Stew Pizza from that kremzeek invasion.”

“Yeah, I could go for a slice or fifty,” Sideswipe said happily. “Do they still do that thing where they put every topping they have on a pie?”

“I’m not sure. I could ask,” said Steven. “They might do it special for us.”

And so, everything was back to normal. And although there were still many questions left to be answered–Lio’s origins, the fate of the Allspark, the true power of Steven and the Allspark–the four Autobots could rest easy knowing that, at least for now, there was nothing to worry about. For now, whatever the future held, it could wait until later.