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“Alright Maltobots, we’re lost, we’re confused, but you know what we’re not?” Twitch addressed her siblings with all the authority her relatively tiny body could fit. Said body looked a little different too: her red had turned a bright magenta with cool flame decals, and she had some pretty sick markings on her face. She’s pretty sure she learned about an Autobot Cityspeaker with those same markings… in addition to that, the wings on her VTOL fans had become bigger while she gained a pair of small thrusters on her legs.
“Sure of how we got here?” Thrash guessed. His paint had gone from his usual white to a black and gold combo, while his alt-mode components looked beefier, his wheels especially. If anyone had to guess, he probably transformed into a sports or offroad bike now.
“Connected to the internet?” Hashtag followed up with her own guess, eyes glued to her screen. Hashtag’s purple turned a much shinier and more vibrant violet, and on her back was some sort of pack covered in antennae, satellite dishes and other miscellaneous tech. She seemed to have a screen for every part of her body now.
“Injured?” Nightshade’s guess was at least closer to being correct, as none of the Terrans were injured, thankfully. Their paint job turned mostly black with slivers of iridescent green, mostly on their owl mode plumage. Combined with their new emerald green scarf, they looked much like a ninja, especially if they decided to equip their battle mask.
“S-scared?” Jawbreaker guessed shakily, a little bit afraid of the dark. His orange paint job became similarly iridescent to Nightshade’s plumage; the little Dinobot even gained some of his own! However, the large bat-like wings on his back implied that his alt-mode had turned a little more draconic than before.
“Seperated! We’re not seperated!” Twitch cried in exasperation, “as long as we’re united, we can get through this! There’s absolutely nothing that can take us by surprise when we’re together as a fam-”
“Hello?”
“HOLY-”
Following a very brief faceoff (where Twitch was brave and heroic and not at all startled, thank you very much!) The Maltobots were given proper directions, told how to get home, and promptly got to exploring Castle Town for all it had to offer.
To begin with, Twitch had decided she wanted to teach Jawbreaker how to fly the moment she saw that the little Dinobot now had wings. Ralsei had guided them up the cliff that Kris and Susie had to slide down to reach Castle Town for the first time, and remained there with his magic at the ready should something go wrong.
“Alright, Jawbreaker, are you ready!” Twitch, in her new and enhanced drone mode, flew circles around the Dinobot, hoping to encourage him.
“No! I’ve never flown before, what if I fall and hurt myself? Or worse, what if I fall on someone and hurt them really badly?” Poor Jawbreaker was shivering with anxiety now.
“Worry not, Jawbreaker! As a flier of the bestial variety myself, I shall demonstrate how to properly distribute your weight in the air as you flap your wings!”
Nightshade, who decided to tag along as well, transformed into their owl mode and hopped off the cliff. Choosing to show off a little, they let themself fall for a few seconds before opening their wings and pulling up. They stalled in midair right in front of the Dark Fountain, completing a portrait fit for the cover of a novel.
While Ralsei stared in awe and Twitch whooped her congratulations, Jawbreaker just groaned with more anxiety.
“I don’t think I can do that…”
“And you don’t have to, Jawby! Just jump, and flap! Easy!” Twitch encouraged once more, only slightly hypocritically since hers weren’t the type of wings that needed flapping.
Taking one last deep breath, Jawbreaker transformed into his new beast mode. It was very similar to his Stigymoloch mode, but his small arms were replaced by large wings that folded up at the Terran’s side like a bird. He extended these new appendages and flapped them up and down slowly, becoming more acquainted with them. He stepped back, took a runup and leapt-
Directly downwards.
“JAWBREAKER!” Both Terrans (plus Darkner) cried in terror while Ralsei tried to catch Jawbreaker with his magic.
“WOOHOO!”
Turning around, the other three sighed in relief when they saw Jawbreaker hovering in the air while he flapped his strong wings.
“Look at me guys! I’m flying!”
“Knew you could do it, Jawbreaker!”
“I never had a doubt, brother.”
“Great job!”
Growing more confident, Jawbreaker started angling himself in different directions to steer. His siblings were there to ensure he remained stable, and Ralsei’s hands still glowed with magic should something go awry.
Unfortunately, something did go awry when Jawbreaker got a bit too confident too quickly and attempted a manoeuvre he saw Nightshade do. This made the orange Dinobot spin out of control and fall directly towards the castle.
“Don’t worry, Jawby, I’ll save you!” Activating her new thrusters, Twitch intended to fly off to Jawbreaker’s rescue. Unfortunately, due to not having any practice with these new attachments, Twitch joined her brother in flying out of control towards town.
Ralsei, who didn’t act quick enough to use his magic, and Nightshade exchanged worried looks, before the Darkner hopped on the Terran’s back and the two flew off to try and rescue the unfortunate fliers.
“Ow! Hey dude, stop tugging my handles!”
“Oops, sorry bike friend!”
When Thrash walked around town, Lancer happened to be the first person he talked to. When the little Jack of Spades met the motorbike transformer and learned of his alternate mode, he couldn’t resist begging the Terran to drive around town on him. Thrash figured why not without thinking twice about it.
He wishes he’d thought twice.
“Uh, look Lancer, I like going fast as much as the next guy, but this is too fast!” Thrash exclaimed as he was forced to speed up even more.
“Nonsense, new friend! Girldad says there’s no such thing!” Lancer yelled over the roar of his ride’s engine, running over a little pink car with legs as he did so, just like Girldad taught him.
“WATCH OUT!!!”
The already terrified Darkners of Castle Town became even more scared when an out of control Twitch flew through town and directly towards Thrash and Lancer!
“SPEED UP! SPEED UP LANCER, FASTER!” Thrash screamed in terror, forgetting he could do that himself.
“Now you’re finally speaking my language, bike boy!” Lancer eagerly twisted the accelerator while Nightshade dropped Ralsei off at a safe distance.
“I’ll take care of Twitch, you go make sure Jawbreaker is ok!” Ralsei uncharacteristically took charge, and Nightshade nodded as they flew back up towards the castle.
“Ok Now Type KYS”
“What’s that mean?”
Queen and Hashtag got along like a house on fire, the two communicating with such brainrotted internet lingo that they became a memetic cognitohazard to everyone near them.
“It Means Keep Yourself Safe”
“Oh, sigma! I wonder why the parental lock blocks it whenever I look that up…”
“Parental Settings Are Unbased And Bluepilled, Super Unskibidi”
“No kidding. I love my mom, but sometimes she’s a little too protective.”
“Yeah Parents Right? I Can Show You How To Disable Parental Lock After This”
“No fanum tax? Sigma!”
The laptop and Terran’s conversation was (mercifully) cut short by Jawbreaker suddenly crashing through the wall, thankfully unharmed thanks to his thick dome head designed for such impacts.
The room was less fortunate.
“Um Excuse Me What The F-Audio Jungle Are You Doing In My House?”
“Jawbreaker! Are you ok?!” Hashtag showed significantly more concern for her brother than Queen.
“Yeah… just a little dizzy…” Jawbreaker transformed to his robot mode and got on his feet. He was still a bit unsteady, so Hashtag had to help him on his feet, but he seemed to be in high spirits regardless.
“Hey, guess what, Hashtag? I flew! I actually flew! It was so cool!”
“Really?! Aw man, I wish I had recorded that!”
The screams and crashes from town alerted the three mechanical beings in the room, who all looked down on the chaos unfolding in town.
“Gyatt Damn” was all Queen had to say, a sentiment Hashtag agreed with.
“It’s like a Michael Bay movie down there… Jawbreaker, you gotta fly us down!”
“Uh, no thanks! Can’t we just walk?” The Dinobot asked nervously.
“Alright, let’s just go!”
As the Terrans rushed off to help, Queen snapped her fingers. Three Swatchlings appeared by her side, two getting on their hands and knees and the third sitting down with his back to Queen. The refined despot reclined in her new chair and sipped a glass of battery acid, cheering her boyson on.
When a robotic owl landed beside her, Queen didn’t even bat an eye.
“Excuse me ma’am, have you seen my brother in this castle?”
“Yes But He Went With The iPad Baby To His Doom”
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! HELP!!!” It wasn’t clear who said that, but it didn’t really matter. Ralsei was trying to use his magic to slow Twitch down, but she was moving too fast for the fluffy prince to catch.
“WE’RE COMING! HOLD ON!” Hashtag announced as she transformed from her vehicle mode which Jawbreaker was riding. The big-armed Terran ended up in front of Twitch’s path and tried to catch her with his giant hands, but she only dragged him with her.
“Hashtag! Why would you do that, now Jawbreaker is in danger again!” Ralsei exclaimed in panic and desperation.
“Oops… sorry!” Hashtag gulped, out of ideas without an internet connection.
A hoot echoed in the sky, and Nightshide glided in silently. They extended their talons forward and predicted Twitch’s flight path, successfully catching the runaway drone and slowing her down.
“NOW, RALSEI!”
Nodding, the prince cast his magic again and successfully caught Twitch, slowing her down even more. Unfortunately, everyone ended up crashing into the same cliff where this whole mess started, but at least everyone was unharmed, even Lancer, who was giggling hysterically.
“That was so fun, guys! Can we do it again?”