CHAPTER SIX
"Double Clutch, eh?" The old black and gray mech called Brakedown scratched his chin. "Been stellar cycles since I last saw him. Why do you ask?"
"I seek an audience with him," Optimus Prime said. "It primarily concerns the Asphalt Wars."
Brakedown grunted. "Understandable. He used to be pretty cheerful until that went down. Anyway, last I saw him, he lived out on the outskirts of the city, though I don't think he takes visitors too kindly."
"He'll have to make an exception this time," Optimus said. "It's rather important."
The old mech raised an eyebrow. "What, the war thing? I wouldn't fret about it."
Optimus shook his head. "It's not exactly that. It's... something concerning Velocitronian history."
* * *
"And the way you outran that motorcycle guy... man, that was awesome!" Hot Rod exclaimed, him and the other Autobots gathered around Blurr.
Blurr chuckled. "You mean Backfire? Yeah, that was a pretty cool move. If only I could have seen it for myself."
"Aw, but you lived it! I wish I had been on the race truck with you guys!"
"Um, I think we need to cut this conversation short," Arcee said, nudging Hot Rod with her elbow. "Prime's here."
The others turned to see Optimus Prime approaching them. Nodding in acknowledgment to Blurr, he then said, "I hate to ruin the moment, but we have to leave. I have a meeting with Double Clutch on the outskirts of this city and I want you bots to be at my side."
Bumblebee grinned. "You can count on us, Prime."
"Wait," Windcharger said. "Why do you need us at your back? Is Double Clutch hostile towards visitors or something?"
"It's a possibility," Optimus murmured.
"Violence is not accepted here on Velocitron," Blurr said. "Heck, that's the whole reason I decided to make my living here; to get away from most of the fighting."
"Maybe so," Optimus said. "But all of this talk about Double Clutch's absence has me concerned. If it's all the same to you, I would like to proceed with caution."
"Then we should come along," Spiral said, signaling to herself, Oval, and Backtrack. "If Double Clutch does attack you, he'll be too fast for you to stop him... but not for us."
Optimus nodded. "Very well. Autobots, transform and roll out!"
* * *
Makeshift had been barely within a few feet reach of the city when he saw a group of eight vehicles, led by a red and blue Cybertronian truck, driving in the opposite direction from the city. Swerving around, he accelerated to catch up.
"Optimus Prime! Wait up!"
"Oh, spark...." he heard a blue motorcycle mutter under his breath.
"Side Burn?" Optimus Prime said. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be on the Ark?"
Makeshift sighed inaudibly; once again, he should have thought this plan through. "Er, yes, sir," he said. "The others were worried about you and sent me as back-up."
"And out of all the Autobots on the ship, why did they pick you?" the blue motorcycle asked bitterly.
Before the spy could respond, Optimus said, "No matter. We might as well get all the help we can get."
"Uh, yeah, exactly!" the faux Side Burn said. "Wait, what are we doing?"
"We're going to meet with Double Clutch," said a yellow courier. "Who may or may not be happy to see us."
"Gotcha," Makeshift said. "Don't know why anyone would be ticked with Optimus Prime though."
"Trust me," Optimus said. "There are too many such people for me to count."
* * *
Springer groaned as he came back online, his entire back structure aching. He looked around to see that his fellow Wreckers- and temporary Decepticon allies- were either waking up or still unconscious. Blitzwing and the fiery being who had unleashed him were nowhere to be seen.
As he finally got to his feet, Springer heard his communicator chime and he quickly answered it. "Springer here."
"Springer?" Jetfire's voice came through. "Thank goodness, I thought we had lost you guys. Where are you?"
"Underneath Virtue's Forum, as ordered, but with a few unconscious Decepticons. Oh, and Blitzwing's escaped."
"Blitzwing? Oh, scrap, how did he-?"
"Some bot- whose on fire for some reason- broke him out," Springer replied. "He knocked us out and we've since lost track of them."
"That's not good."
"I appreciate the understatement, Jetfire, but what are we going to do now? The fire guy gave us all a good bashing and he's now on the loose."
"Well, right now, we're getting a good bashing from the Decepticons here, so we would appreciate the assistance," Jetfire said.
Springer sighed. "Understood." Turning to the other Wreckers, who were just now coming back online, he said, "Let's roll."
* * *
The bridge of the Victory was in chaos.
Clearly not satisfied with their assault from down below, the Dynobots had decided to drop down onto the flagship and crash through the viewport. The crew scurried for cover as Slipstream barked orders to them, only to be ignored. She then cried out as the Dynobot known as Sludge slammed into her and sent her flying into the wall, knocking the Seeker out unconscious.
"This is child's play," Snarl muttered as he bashed together two Vehicons' heads. "Were those Eradicons we totaled really the best they had?"
"Say, where's Shockwave?" Swoop asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be leading their invasion?"
Slag snorted. "Who cares? Let's just blow this ship up and get this over with."
"Wait," Grimlock growled, grabbing his fellow Dynobot by the shoulder. "I hear something."
"What you hear, Grimlock, is your impending doom."
Suddenly, before the Dynobots' very eyes, a large mech surrounded by flames appeared out of thin air and made a straight beeline for Grimlock, pushing the others back without even touching them. He then seized the Dynobot leader by the neck and, ignoring his resistance, spoke quietly.
"You need to lighten up."
And, with a mere gesture from him, the Victory was in flames.
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