CHAPTER TWO
--The Lost Light--
Skids frowned as he stared at the orange and blue bot standing before him, as well as the little blue Mini-Con sitting on the latter's shoulder.
Looking over at Brainstorm, Skids said, "You told me WALL-E and EVE were here."
"No, I didn't," Brainstorm replied. "I said two robots from the future were here."
"Yeah, except these guys aren't... I have no flippin' idea who they are."
"Oh. Well, I kind of just assumed...." Brainstorm shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?"
"Hang on," the orange bot said, looking at Skids. "You know WALL-E and EVE?"
"Yeah?" Skids raised an optic. "Why, do you?"
The mech grinned. "Indeed I have. And so has Cop-Tur here."
"Wait, what?" The Mini-Con bounced on his partner's shoulder. "You know my parents?"
"Parents?!" Skids' optics bugged out. "WALL-E and EVE are you parents?!"
"What's a parent?" Brainstorm asked.
"It's basically the human word for caretakers," Skids explained before looking back at Cop-Tur. "So... what, did they build you or something?"
"Of course!" the Mini-Con said. "How else would they be my parents?"
Skids slowly looked to the orange mech, his mouth agape. "Explain. Please."
"Well, first of all, my name is Dion." The bot extended his hand. "Second lieutenant of Star Command. And Cop-Tur's guardian."
"Guardian?"
"Yeah, WALL-E and EVE trusted me with looking over their son while they're vacationing in Paradise City. Since I was off-world on Cop-Tur's tenth birthday, I've decided to make up for it by taking him on a time trip."
"Time trip? Birthday? Paradise City?!"
"Yup! 'Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.' Heck of a slogan. I wonder how they came up with it...."
While Skids was busy babbling in incredulty, Brainstorm fixed Dion with a skeptical look. "Can we back up on the time trip thing? Are you saying that time machines are, like, commonplace in the future?"
"Of course!" Dion said. "Most of it is thanks to our business deal with the Space Patrol Delta, who had gotten their hands on Troobian tech. If it hadn't been for that, I wouldn't be talking to you now... nor would this little guy have been built." He gave Cop-Tur a loving pat on the head.
"Okay, I'm just going to pretend I understood any of that." Brainstorm rubbed his head. "So why did you travel to this time, to this place, of all times and places?"
"Well, I wasn't aiming for this location in particular. See, I'm going off a name that I've had recorded in my databanks since I woke up on Earth. My memories of the person in question are vague, but I was hoping to meet him or her."
"Okay... but why this time?"
"Our time machines can detect hot spots of activity for a particular person throughout history. The year 2015 -- or Cycle 9815 for us Cybertronians -- is the latest hot spot recorded for this name."
"Which would be...?"
"Optronix."
At this, Skids froze up, his face paling in horror. Brainstorm on the other hand merely nodded.
"I see. Would you two mind waiting in here while Skids and I go fetch him for you?"
Dion shook his head. "Not at all."
"Good. Be back in a jiffy."
With that, Brainstorm quickly ushered himself and Skids out of the lab, closing the door behind them. Brainstorm then let out a long sigh.
"I have fragged up so very, very badly."
"What do you mean?" Skids asked. "Are you saying you have something to do with this?"
"Why don't we take a little walk?" Brainstorm said, putting a hand on Skids shoulder. "See, it all started with an idiot and his briefcase...."
* * *
"Easy does it now, easy does it...."
Nightbeat winced as Cannonspring hurled again, creating another puddle of energon on the floor. Helping him into the medibay, he called out Ratchet's name and the Autobot medic rushed over to help Cannonspring to a berth.
"Velocity, fetch me a pair of destabilizers!" Ratchet called to the teal Camien medic. "Nightbeat, best if you stand back."
Nightbeat complied and watched as Ratchet and Velocity worked on the ailing Cannonspring, performing various tests and scans on the gray bot. Once they were done, Velocity gently coaxed Cannonspring into stasis lock while Ratchet walked up to Nightbeat with a preliminary report.
"From the looks of things, it appears to be spark stress," Ratchet said. "His spark chamber is strained, which is applying pressure on his fuel tank and causing... this."
"Do you know what's causing the spark stress in the first place?" Nightbeat asked.
Ratchet shook his head. "It's more common among soldiers, as a result from too many years in combat. But I know that's not the case with Cannonspring here." The medic then tilted his head. "Didn't you tell me he was budded?"
"Yes, I tried to talk to him, but he was pretty tight-lipped about it. All I know is that Clutch died from the process."
"Well, I'm not that knowledgeable on budding, so...." Ratchet sighed as he shrugged. "I'll continue to perform more tests on him, once he's gotten some rest. He seems fine at the moment though...."
Nightbeat nodded. "All right. Thank you for your help, Ratchet."
"Don't mention it. Oh, and before you go...." The medic moved over to a table and picked up a small box, handing it to Nightbeat. "Drop this by First Aid's door when you get the chance. Don't bother knocking; he'll pick it up when he's ready."
"Is he still upset over Ambulon's death?"
Ratchet nodded. "Haven't seen him since the memorial services. I'm hoping this'll get him out of his shell."
"What is it?"
"That's not for you to know. Sorry, just... make sure you get this to him."
"Don't worry," Nightbeat said as he headed out the door. "I will."
* * *
"So why did you drop Dion off in the future after you erased his memories?"
"I didn't!" Brainstorm said as he walked alongside Skids. "After I wiped his mind, I released him back into Rodion with a different name and color scheme, so no one would recognize him and screw up my plans."
"What name did you give him?"
"Argh, I don't remember. Something bland and generic. Same thing with his colors; something drab and monochromatic that would help him blend into the background. Bottom line is: I have no idea how he ended up on Earth, let alone in the future."
"I see." Skids came to a halt and turned to face Brainstorm. "So how should we go about this? Should we tell Ultra Magnus?"
"Ultra Magnus? Are you crazy?" Brainstorm shook his head. "If it were up to him, my aft would be off this ship the moment I opened my briefcase. I'm lucky to have been allowed back on. This would just--"
"Well, who else do we tell? Rodimus has been in bit of a mood lately and I don't think Drift would be of much help. That just leaves--"
"Uh uh. No way. You can't be seriously suggesting.... No. Not gonna happen."
Skids frowned. "He's gonna find out eventually."
"Find out what eventually?"
Brainstorm shrieked as he and Skids whirled around to see Archforce standing behind them. Clutching his chest, Brainstorm at the Megatron clone furiously.
"Don't... do that! Do you have any idea how uncannily you sound like him?"
"Like who? Megatron?" Archforce shrugged. "I don't see how it's much of a surprise, considering... you know."
"Does he know about you?" Skids asked, hoping to change the subject. "Like, have you had the chance to talk with him or anything?"
"Not really." Archforce rubbed the back of his head. "To be honest, I've been kind of... scared to."
"We don't blame you," Brainstorm said. "Really, we don't."
"What about Convoy?" Skids asked. "Has he encountered Megatron yet?"
"I don't know. In fact, I don't know where he is right now. I was hopping either of you had seen him."
"ATTENTION! ATTENTION!" a boisterous voice rang from the intercom. "ALL HANDS ON DECK! WE HAVE REACHED PARADRON! REPEAT: WE HAVE REACHED PARADRON!"
Brainstorm frowned. "Why are we going to Paradron again?"
"Official answer: To continue the quest," Skids muttered. "Unofficial answer: ...We're lost again."
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