Chapter Text
Artwork by Sci-Fi
Smokescreen’s first thought, when he came back online, was that he had let Optimus and Ultra Magnus down. He had somehow gotten captured while on a solo recon trying to find Predacon bones or energon signatures. As for what happened, it was still trying to come back to his processor.
So, as he tried to remember what had happened, Smokescreen set to figuring out where he was. He was strapped down by his peds and servo bearings. It didn’t feel like Cybertronian metal. He would know after being chained in a Decepticon prison ship before coming to Earth. He managed to get out of that mess before finding himself strapped to the Nemesis’s medical table, getting an Omega Key ripped out of him a few weeks after joining Team Prime.
The sounds around him were…off. It was nearly silent except for the echo of some things shuffling around him.
“Sir. The ecto-entity is beginning to move,” a voice beside him spoke. It was human. Their vocal cords never had the same echo that Cybertronians’ did.
Well, the good news was that Smokescreen knew what was shuffling around him. The bad news was that he was going to get such an extreme talking to after he got out of this mess. Smokescreen had just gotten some respect from the rest of the team for what he pulled off with the Omega Keys and saving Optimus. Getting his cover blown and captured by humans was going to send that down the exhaust pipe.
A shock radiated across Smokescreen’s servo before he could think of a plan. The sensors quickly registered ‘danger’ to his HUD and instinctively attempted to move him away from the problem.
“Subject seems to react to stimuli four hours after capture.” The voice droned on before another zap radiated across his side. “Subject’s constitution does not appear to follow standard ecto-entity appearance or behavior. Form remains solid despite the use of anti-ecto devices.”
The human kept speaking. Energy levels and reactions. Times and theories. Smokescreen wasn’t able to follow along with most of it. That was Ratchet's job, not his. Still, if Smokescreen could break cover right now, he would correct the human in calling Smokescreen an it.
So, forcing himself to ignore that so he didn’t get into more trouble with Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime (because that was going to make Smokescreen want to be eaten by scraplets), he thought about how he even got here in the first place. He had been on a routine patrol… yeah, routine patrol. It was in a section of this continent called Utah. The section of the state reminded him a little bit of Nevada with its expanse of orange dirt and rocky cliffs. The only difference was the small streams and short shrubbery that were on the ground.
He had been out for a groon or two, human equivalent to an hour or so, when these white vans started following him. Smokescreen had been cautious as they approached. He had been keeping under the speed limit like Jack had taught him, and these cars didn’t look like the local law enforcement, so it was a simple conclusion to think that they were humans who were traveling in the area.
Then a van sped past him and hit their brakes hard. Smokescreen had to swerve to avoid rear-ending the vehicle. He was now driving side by side with the white van, but hey, better than causing an accident and having to be a hit and run. Smokescreen saw the humans opening the doors and pulling out weapons. Mission reports about MECH came to his processor. Not wanting to figure out if it was them, he revved his engine and took off. The Elite Guard figured that adding speeding to his list of broken road rules in the last few minutes would be better than trying to fight humans.
He tried to comm for backup or a ground bridge. You know, proper protocol. Smokescreen had learned his lesson after being kidnapped by Soundwave. Except, all he had been able to hear was static. So comms down, humans chasing him and Smokescreen really, really trying not to break cover. Oh of all the scrap he had to find himself in.
He was trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess when he remembered his phase shifter. The rock formations gave the Elite Guard an idea. It would be much easier to ignore a car disappearing into a rock than a car becoming a giant robot.
The humans kept right on Smokescreen’s tail pipe as he turned to follow a trail close to a cliff. The small plants were crushed under his tires as he put some distance away from the group. Patience, though, is what Smokescreen needed. He just needed to hold on until… there! The rock took a sharp turn. The perfect cover.
Smokescreen spat exhaust from his intake, showing the humans why he had his name, and took the sharp turn right as he emptied the last of the smoke. With a pull on his T-cog, Smokescreen kicked himself up as his metal shifted into his robot mode. The Phase shifter was there at his beck and call. He took two steps as he activated the ancient device before transforming back into vehicle mode. Just in time, too, as the human vans turned the corner through the smoke he had left behind.
“So long,” Smokescreen smirked as he aimed himself at a cliff wall. Orange rock quickly surrounded him as he phased through. Relief flooded Smokescreen’s frame. It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t think it was half bad considering the circumstances. “Now to find somewhere he could comm back to bas…SCRAP!”
Smokescreen exited the cliff only to be surrounded by white vehicles and a few helicopters. If the initial surprise of the situation wasn’t enough, a wire net crackling with electricity was unfurled exactly where he was heading. The Autobot couldn’t dodge. He phased through the wires, but the electricity coursing through it still had an effect on him.
His HUD quickly flashed a warning as he transformed out of vehicle mode. A tank of all things was crushed underneath him as he tumbled down the side of the small cliff he had found himself on. Smokescreen tried to move, but his frame refused to budge. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw the phase shifter shut off as the humans swarmed him.
Smokescreen knew he was in so much trouble before he went into stasis. He still was in trouble. Figured he might as well face it as quickly as he could.
However, alarms began to ring, flashing red beams even through his closed optics, before he could come up with a plan. The humans around him began to shout and move out of the room with haste. After the last of the shuffling faded away, Smokescreen dared himself to open an optic. The room was startlingly white. No color besides himself. There were tables full of equipment, some blasters, and some other things that Ratchet and Wheeljack would probably love to take apart. A few computers were being run on the other side of the room, information too far away for Smokescreen to even attempt to read.
Still, there weren’t any more humans in the room now. This was the time for Smokescreen to escape.
The restraints on his servo bearings were tightly locked into place. Thankfully, the human that captured him didn’t realize what was already on his servo bearing. The phase shifter laid waiting and ready to help in Smokescreen’s escape if he could just reach it.
“Alright, Smokescreen.” He said to himself. “You have escaped a Decepticon Prison Ship, and the Nemesis after stealing from Megatron. You can get yourself out of this.”
He yanked his opposite servo bearing against the restraints. It moved slightly, but nowhere near what he needed to escape. It would take some time for him to snap them.
“Need some help?” a voice sounded. Smokescreen snapped his optics to where the sound had come from. Nothing was there, though. “I don’t think you will be snapping those restraints anytime soon.”
He shook his helm as the voice sounded again. Maybe whatever those humans had hit him with had caused a wire in his processor to come loose. He would have to have Ratchet look at it when he got out and back to base.
“Whoops. Sorry about that.” The voice said again. The air in front of Smokescreen shimmered before a figure appeared. A human figure… Why was a human hovering above him? They couldn’t do that. He had been explicitly told by the kids they couldn’t do that. “So, you need that help?”
The human figure was pale and had messy white hair and green optics. Eyes not optics Smokescreen had to remind himself. His clothing was odd too. Not something he had seen humans wear when he was on missions. It was black and white, hugging his frame closely. The English letter D, was stamped on his chest. Then, to make things weirder, the human was glowing. Once again, not something he knew humans could do.
“Uhhh. Sure?” Smokescreen said. “Who are you?”
“Phantom. Danny Phantom at your service,” The human smiled, doing a mock bow. “And you?”
“Smokescreen,” the bot hesitantly responded. “What are you?”
Phantom floated towards Smokescreen’s left servo bearing, the same one he had been trying to rip free of the restraints. He settled on it, studying it in the process.
“Let's not get into that right now. The GIW will be back soon and I have more people to rescue besides you,” he said. The restraint suddenly went transparent where Phantom touched it. The pressure around the servo bearing vanished as well. With a simple movement, Smokescreen was free. “Now for the other three.”
“No worries on that,” Smokescreen smirked. He reached for the phase shifter on his other side and activated it. It whirled to life with its soft green glow. The Elite Guard quickly rolled off the table and found his peds, lifting himself to full height. He nearly hit the ceiling of the place as he stood.
“Whoa. How did you do that?” Phantom asked, hovering to Smokescreen’s height. “You aren’t a ghost.”
“Ghost?”
The boy opened his mouth to answer before a loud voice spoke over the comm system of the building.
“Subject Phantom-S00 has broken the perimeter,” a human sounded on the intercom, “Capture the ecto-entity immediately.”
“And that would be my cue to leave,” The boy glared at the intercom. “I would get out and find somewhere safe to hide. I don’t know why these guys captured you, but I speak from experience when I say you don’t want to find out what they will do to you.” With a quick wave, the human figure turned transparent just like the restraint had and vanished into the walls of the building.
Smokescreen shook his helm. Yeah. He was going to have Ratchet check all his systems after he got back to base. Figuring it was too late to keep his robot form secret, Smokescreen rushed out. The facility had high ceilings by human terms, but very short for Cybertronians. His helm was phased through the second level of the base while the rest of his frame was running around the first. He would dip down every once in a while to make sure he could avoid scaring humans by ‘stepping’ on them even though we would just phase through. He wasn’t a rust flake even after the whole ordeal he had just gone through.
Still, the halls were so confusing. They were all white and gave no indication of where the exit was. With no other real choice, Smokescreen just stuck to one direction, only turning when a big group of humans found him on either floor. It caused him to make quite a few turns and probably a few circles. Eventually, Smokescreen’s frame phased through the last wall. The sun was just beginning to rise in the distance. A tall metal fence, at least by human standards, surrounded the building. Smokescreen could easily jump it.
Mountains surrounded the desert valley with less green than the area he had been captured. Okay, so he didn’t seem to be too far from where he had been chased and electrocuted at. That is if his understanding of this continent’s geography was correct. He thinks he was still in the same section of Earth he had been in? That was good news at least. Right?
Smokescreen tried to comm again. The line still wouldn’t connect. Oh well… guess Smokescreen was going to have to ignore some more speeding laws and to make a break away from the jammer or just start taking the long way to base.
“Get the subject!” A voice called nearby.
Smokescreen flinched, ready to have the humans begin firing at him. Instead he saw the group of humans empty from a nearby doorway and completely ignore the towering Cybertronian standing nearby. Instead the humans moved towards another human face down in the dirt some distance away.
Wait… that was the human or whatever that had saved him.
Phantom was struggling to stand. Red and green spilled from the smoking wound on his leg.
“SECURE IT! SECURE IT!” Voices shouted as the white dressed humans kept spilling from the building. “DON’T LET IT ESCAPE!”
The way they talked about Phantom left a bad feeling in Smokescreen’s chassis. ‘I would get out and find somewhere safe to hide. I don’t know why these guys captured you but I speak from experience when I say you don’t want to find out what they will do to you,’ Phantom had said. Smokescreen vented, knowing that he was probably about to put himself into a bigger mess than he was already in. He couldn’t just leave Phantom, weird human or not, to get captured by these other guys. It didn’t feel right just leaving the boy that had freed him.
“Mind if I cut in?” The Elite Guard called.
The simple distraction had its desired effect. Blasters the humans were carrying turned on him as he ran to where they were congregated. The blasts went through the Autobot, hitting the building, and the fence behind him among other things. They dodged out of the way as Smokescreen charged, fearing that they would be crushed under his ped.
“Alright. This is our cue to leave,” Smokescreen echoed what the kid had said earlier. “Let’s get out of here.”
The boy shook his head, flickering to color and transparency. Phantom stumbled to a foot only to fall back down. Smokescreen looked back to see the humans surrounding them again, now bringing wire lines just like they had used to capture him.
Smokescreen let out a Cybertronian swear. The boy was still flickering between solid and phasing mode (look Smokescreen didn’t know what to call it right now) and Smokescreen couldn’t risk deactivating the phase shifter unless he knew the boy would stay solid so the Elite Guard could get him out.
Then a possibly dumb thought came to him. The kids had been doing homework. A formula class of some sort. Ratchet claimed it was simple, Raf agreeing with him. However, Miko did not. She kept complaining about all the rules she had to remember to properly solve one problem. One of the rules had been that two negative numbers made a positive number. Perhaps that rule applied somewhere else, like here and now.
Smokescreen carefully maneuvered his servo to pick the boy up. Even though the boy was transparent, the Elite Guard’s servo successfully picked him up and pulled him close to the frame. The phase shifter’s energy field latched onto Phantom, keeping him tangible to Smokescreen as he flickered back to color.
“Alright. Let's roll out.” Smokescreen muttered.
The Autobot summoned his cannon in the free servo and fired at the dirt below him. Dust sprayed everywhere. The humans shouted in fear and probably a bit in pain as the stuff got in their eyes. Smokescreen transformed, careful to sit Phantom in his passenger seat. The Elite Guard made sure to secure him with the seat belt before he headed as fast as he could away from the building. Even more dust kicked up as they phased through the fence and into the valley.
“Come on, come on,” Smokescreen muttered, trying the comm line again. It still gave static. Engines began sounding, and helicopter blades drew closer. “Oh, for crying out loud!”
Smokescreen revved his engine further, pushing it to the max. He couldn’t let these guys catch up to him. The range of the jamming device had to run out eventually if that was the problem. If it was his system… well… still not letting them catch up would be nice.
Smokescreen found a road and took it. More likely to get pulled over by a cop, but hopefully that would apply to these humans, too. Not to mention more speed since his wheels weren’t spinning as much on pavement compared to loose dirt. The guard kept going, keeping his optics out for the humans. The cars and helicopters in his rearview mirror began to fade until they vanished. Still, Smokescreen kept his speedometer at 150 mph until his inner systems began to overheat due to the exertion. He dipped the speed down to half that, more road-appropriate, as he kept trying the comm.
Coughing nearly caused him to swerve in surprise. Phantom began to stir in Smokescreen’s seat. A white light suddenly came from the boy around his waist. It separated, forming two rings. One that raised to his head and the other that faded at his feet. The black and white clothing he had been in changed along the glowing rings into a dirty sweatshirt, black jeans, and shoes. His eyes fought to open, now blue instead of green, while his messy white hair was replaced with black.
His face was twisted painfully, clutching the wound on his leg. The warm liquid spilling in between his fingers pooled faster in Smokescreen’s compartment. Blood and whatever the green stuff was, Smokescreen realized. This boy needed to get to a doctor fast.
“Wha…?” Phantom asked, looking around dazedly.
“Don’t panic,” Smokescreen quickly said. The boy’s eyes widened for a moment, looking at the console of the car where his helm rested when transformed. “Just repaying you for helping me out of there. I am trying to get us to safety.”
“Thanks,” The boy coughed. “Where is safe?”
“With the rest of the team I work with,” Smokescreen answered, already hearing the lecture he was going to get. “We can get you medical attention there.”
“No, no,” Phantom said, pushing off the seat. “I am fine. Just let me out when we get far…” Phantom took a sharp breath in, biting his lip.
“Don’t think that is going to be smart,” Smokescreen countered.
“No one knows how I work.” Sweat was beginning to coat the boy’s brow now as he continued to grow paler. “I have to get… away.”
“We are getting away.”
“Not…what I…” The boy mumbled before he closed his eyes once again, his hand going slack against the wound.
Smokescreen scanned him, finding his vitals well outside the typical human’s range. Not good at all. Maybe he should find the closest human city and try to hack into a phone tower to call Jack or one of the other kids. That way, he could drop this kid off for medical attention, too.
“Smokescreen. Come in, Smokescreen,” Ratchet’s voice cackled along the comms. “Can you hear me?”
“Ratchet?!” Smokescreen vented in relief. Thank Primus! “I need a ground bridge as soon as you can. I have an injured human… or something with me.”
“Did I hear you right?” the Autobot Medic paused. “You have a human with you?!”
“I’ll do a better brief at base, but humans captured me, and he helped free me. He got injured in the process.” Smokescreen explained, keeping an optic on the road and one on the person in his seat. “I couldn’t just leave him in their hands.”
There was some sputtering on the line. “Locking onto your coordinates now.”
A ground bridge quickly opened in front of him. The Elite Guard began to slow down, knowing the base had limited room to come charging in. The familiar lurch as his tires left the pavement and into the bridge jostled the two despite Smokescreen’s efforts to keep himself steady. As quickly as it came, his tires hit the concrete floor. They squealed as they came to a stop, marking their former presence over the Autobot insignia engraved into the floor.
Smokescreen would clean that up later. He just couldn’t waste time with that right now. Joints and gears fell into place as Smokescreen transformed, cradling the boy in his servo.
“By the Allspark. What happened?!” Ratchet’s familiar voice sounded, a bit panicked, Smokescreen might add.
The doctor rushed over from where he was on the controls to Smokescreen, his servos hovering over the boy. Ratchet seemed hesitant to take him, more keen on studying what was going on with him.
”I don’t know exactly what happened,” Smokescreen responded, watching as the boy’s chest moved up and down at a slow rate. “He got hit with a weapon of some sort on his leg, and he is bleeding badly. I don’t think he is a typical human though.”
”What makes you say that?” Ratchet scoffed.
”Well, he was flying, glowing, and could move through walls like I can with the phase shifter.” The Doctor looked like he was about to argue. The Elite Guard answered with a challenging glare. “Yes, I know how that sounds, but either it happened or I have more than a few wires loose. Kind of figured it's the first since I don’t think humans are supposed to bleed green.”
Okay… so Smokescreen was a little worried. Ratchet realized the rookie didn’t mean to snap by the way he didn’t snap back. Just vented harshly and activated his scanner. He had seen eons of war and injuries. Fear and anger often came with it, so he learned how to deal with bots feeling those feelings too.
“Besides that leg wound, he doesn’t seem to have any major injuries,” the med bot stated as he scanned the boy. His optic ridges were pinched together. “I have already notified Nurse Darby. We will be ground bridging her momentarily. Keep an eye on him and hold him still until she gets here. I’ll get something to stop that wound from bleeding.”
Smokescreen gave a swift nod, pulling him closer to his chassis (which was now getting covered in more red and green) in an attempt to hold him steadier. Ratchet found a bunch of gauze, as the humans called it, to soak up the leaking wound. Smokescreen helped keep the pressure on it as Ratchet left to bridge Nurse Darby in.
As soon as she got here, followed closely by Jack, Raf, and Miko, Smokescreen lowered the boy down, letting him rest on a small, rolling bed Jack had found and let the nurse work.
“His vitals are low but steady,” the nurse declared as she ran the human version of diagnostic tests. “I am going to pull him around to the other side for some privacy.”
”Of course,” Ratchet nodded respectfully. Nurse Darby was the only human he did that for. A respect reserved for Optimus or Ultra Magnus. “Let us know if there is anything we can do to help.”
The nurse gave a curt nod, “Jack, follow me to assist, Raf, Miko, head up to the main area.”
”But we want to help!” Raf cried as he and others vanished further into base.
The voices clambered off into mutters and then whispers as they walked further and further away. Smokescreen was left looking at his own servos. Red blood and whatever the green had been was beginning to dry on his plating and joints.
“Now for you,” a voice snapped him out of his stare. Ratchet had gotten extremely close to Smokescreen.
”What?” Smokescreen instinctively backed up.
“Don’t think you are getting away that easy,” Ratchet glared unwavering. One of his digits wiped against the contents on his frame. He paused for only a moment to study it. “You are sitting here on the berth while I repair you. Ultra Magnus and Optimus will surely have questions for you when they return.”
Smokescreen looked around for the first time. It was odd to not have a bot at base right now. The day was only beginning. “Where is everyone?”
“Looking for you of course!” The doctor yelled, looking as if he was ready to smack Smokescreen across the head with one of his tools. “Now go wash that stuff off of you and report here so I can deal with your injuries while I notify the others.”
“Yes sir,” Smokescreen quickly said, not wanting to upset Ratchet even more.
The Elite Guard moved to the decontamination pod down the hall. He was thorough but quick with his work, trying not to focus on how the red and green flaked off his paint.
He wasn’t comfortable being so far from the boy for some reason. Perhaps Smokescreen just felt responsible for what happened to him. Phantom had stopped to save Smokescreen and that had cost time and energy. Time and energy that probably put Phantom in the position to get injured.
Not wanting to dwell on that just like the stuff falling off his frame, Smokescreen quickly got everything off and reported back to Ratchet. He had a feeling he was going to have to keep himself in whatever good graces he could get right now. Blowing cover, fighting humans, bringing one to base…. yeah, Smokescreen was so in trouble.
——-
“We lost their signatures sir,” Agent C reported.
Commander V let out a subtle growl causing Agent C and the rest of the agents around him to back up. Commander V didn’t have the nicest reputation. He was known to get stuff done and chew out anyone that got in his way, whether it be within the organization or outside it. It was how he had risen from a mere agent, determined to prove the GIW wasn’t a joke of an agency, to one of the five commanders of the secret government organization. Even better, he was the commander assigned over the duties of capturing the ghosts for study and experimentation. The heart of the GIW instead of those of biological studies, equipment development, government politics or security.
With his position in the GIW, the commander was quite surprised it took him this long to see the infamous Phantom. The ghost that could imitate life. A ghost that tricked humans for months, maybe even years. Better yet, it tricked the original ghost experts that it was their son for whatever time Phantom had decided to play its sick game. Nothing could have pleased Commander V more than to find out Phantom had been impersonating Danny Fenton. At last it was proven that the Ghost Investigation Ward were truly the experts on ghosts and the only ones that could protect humanity from them. Not Vlad Masters, not the Fentons, not the hundreds of naive people who claimed to be ghosts hunters. Only the GIW stood unwavering and diligent in their duties.
Still… Phantom had escaped the hold of the GIW multiple times now. Many times within Amity Park and then the incident with Base Miteen last year. Now the ghost had escaped and released fellow ghosts including their most recent and unique specimens, Subject Ir8-Gi11. It was a stain on Commander V’s perfect record. One that he would see fixed.
They had captured Subject Ir8-GI11’s energy signature right before sunset. It was so…unique in comparison to the usual ectoplasm ghosts had. They needed to take it apart and study it. Its transportation had been difficult though. They never expected anything that big nor it being unable to be captured by both GIW and Fenton equipment. They couldn’t even get it out of its armor it had housed itself in. It was almost as if that armor kept it safe from anything they had tried or perhaps… this was a different type of ghost entirely.
Hardly the time for those thoughts though. Subject Ir8-Gi11 had taken Subject S00-Phantom and escaped in the chaos. Some form of symbiotic connection Phantom tended to form with others of its kind. One Commander V would leave the scientists to study when S00-Phantom was recaptured. Now though, Subject Ir8-Gi11’s ability to alter its armor into a sports vehicle made it difficult to catch without their helicopters properly in the air.
“Commander V,” an agent shouted as he ran to the gathered group of agents and vehicles. “We have some news for you.”
“Good, I hope,” he glared. Sternly felt though the shades blocked his eyes.
“Yes sir,” the nameless agent said, delivering a tablet to the commander. “One of our blasts injured Subject Ir8-Gi11. It left traces of its ectoplasm.”
“That is… something.” The commander muttered as he took the tablet..
“Better yet sir, we are able to track it and look what we found,” he said, gesturing to the device he had handed over.
The commander glared at the screen. The energy of the blue ectoplasm found within Ir8-Gi11 was at a different range than normal ectoplasm. Guys in White scientists within Base Beehive were already conducting experiments with their limited sources. However, that wasn’t the only thing.
“There are high amounts of blue ectoplasm in Washington. We are ready to send a team there whenever you are ready, sir.” The agent voiced what the commander was reading. “There also seems to be yet another form of ectoplasm there as well.”
“Make sure those assigned to Base Coffee are ready to receive a small team of agents and scientists, Agent..?”
“Agent S, sir.”
“Agent S,” Commander V continued. “I want us to depart in two hours and not a second later.”
“Yes, sir!” Agent S saluted before running off.
”Now the rest of you!” The GIW commander glared at every single agent. “You are to clean, repair, and train every hour you are clocked in until this place is spotless and you will no longer be incompetent in your jobs! Are we clear?!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Now move out!”