CHAPTER TWO: WELCOME TO THE NEW WORLD
Autobot City, Earth
With everything that had happened on Earth over the past year, it had become more prudent than ever for the Autobots to have an established presence on Earth. As such, the newly elected President of the United States had approved the Autobots reestablishing a permanent base on Earth in the form of Autobot City, no longer forcing them to travel in the planet’s atmosphere aboard Metroplex as they hid from rogue Sector Seven agents. The deactivated Titan himself now served as a component for the new Autobot City, taking the place of the absent Metrotitan, who had not been seen since the Prime Wars. An embassy for the newly formed Earth Defense Command had also been established in order to maintain a more direct and public line for Cybertronian-human relations.
Still, in spite of the progress they had made when it came to rebuilding their relationship with the humans, Optimus could not help but feel a dour cloud over everything as he drove through Autobot City. He saw Grapple directing bots at a construction site, but noticed that the architect lacked the enthusiastic gleam in his optic that he usually had whenever he was building something. He saw Jazz playing an instrument for a small crowd of Autobots, but the music he was playing was not as upbeat as Optimus would have expected for the usually positive and optimistic ‘bot. Overall, it was as if everyone was feeling a sense of dread but were doing everything they could to hide it or ignore it.
Optimus understood why, of course. Several months ago, the Destructons had manipulated the Grand Architect—in fact the Transformers’ fabled progenitor Primus—into releasing Unicron’s spirit from the Dead Universe and planned on using the Talisman to transform Earth into a new body for Unicron. While their scheme had failed, it only did so out of sheer luck; apparently, the Autobots’ ally Sari Sumdac had lived through a reality where the Destructons’ plan succeeded and Unicron had been reborn, but she had been given a chance to undo it all by an entity known as the Warren. Thus, she had been able to reset the timeline to before the Destructons had activated the Talisman and damaged the ancient artifact enough so that, when activated, it had only succeeded in anchoring Unicron’s spirit to Earth but not allowing him to possess it.
While such a catastrophic crisis had been averted, it did leave the question as to what was to be done now. It was now known that Unicron, in some form, was on Earth, and there had yet to be any sightings of the Destructons since then. There was no telling if they would find a way to successfully merge Unicron’s consciousness with Earth and allow him to use the planet as his new vessel. There was also no telling as to where Unicron’s location even was and what impact, if any, his presence had on said location.
To make matters worse, there had been very little sightings of the Decepticons ever since they had left Earth following the incident. They had since fallen under the command of a reborn Megatron and seceded from the Council of Worlds, presumably isolating themselves within what was left of their imperial space. Optimus had no idea what Megatron was planning—if he was planning anything at all—and that made the Decepticon leader perhaps a more chaotic factor in this whole predicament than the Chaos Bringer himself.
Until then, all the Autobots could do was to prepare for the worst, in whatever form it took. While Optimus helped oversee the defense of Earth, his successor Rodimus Prime handled operations on Cybertron. The Convoy Corps had also been reformed under the shared leadership of himself and Delta Magnus to patrol the colony worlds—which had already been devastated by the Terrorcon hordes of the Grand Architect—and keep an optic out for any threats, be they Decepticon or otherwise. Whether it would be enough, only time would tell.
Driving into the command center, Optimus Prime converted into his robot mode and walked over to where Teletraan-I was set up. Wheeljack was already standing at the supercomputer and, upon hearing Optimus’ arrival, turned around to give the Prime an appraising look.
“Hey! Still boasting the ‘Star Convoy’ look, I see.”
Optimus looked down at his body, distinguished by the golden star attached to his chestplate. “Yes, it has been rather useful in the Convoy Corps’ operations. I didn’t even realize it had spaceflight capabilities until we had a little encounter with Rust Giants in the Roxtus system.”
“Ah, yeah, I forgot to mention that feature. But hey, better late than never!” Sobering up a bit, Wheeljack then said, “Ah, I just got a call from Bumblebee. He reported on what he and his team have been up to in Detroit and wanted to speak with you personally.”
Optimus shook his head. “I am not in command of Autobot City; that’s Elita’s role. He should report to her.”
“He already did. But he also wanted to fill you in as well because, ah… well, I’ll let him tell you himself; he’s still on the line.”
Optimus turned his attention to Teletraan-I as the computer’s screen lit up to display the face of Bumblebee. The yellow Autobot smiled sheepishly as he waved at him.
“Hey, Optimus. So, uh, my team and I have been searching for Professor Sumdac for some time now. We still haven’t found him yet but we did find a company called Biotech that’s been using his technology. We’re still in the process of questioning them, so I’ll have to get back to you on that.”
Optimus nodded slowly. “Okay…? So what was it did you need to tell me personally?”
“Well, it’s not so much something to tell you… as it is to show you.” Bumblebee then stepped aside to allow a black and gold ‘bot to step into view. While their overall bodyframe was radically different, their facial features were familiar enough, and their voice when they spoke only further sealed the deal.
“Hello, Prime,” Prowl said. “It’s been a while.”
Optimus’ optics widened in surprise. “Prowl?! But… I thought you died!”
“I would have,” Prowl admitted. “But Tarantulas had other plans for me. When I was assassinated, he took my body and found a way to preserve my spark and brain module before they could fully shut offline. I have no memory of what happened in between then and my reactivation, but when I reawakened I found myself in a facility that I believe was repurposed from Machination. There was no sign of Tarantulas, but there was a human whom we are familiar with: Doctor Henri Arkeville.”
“Arkeville?” Optimus rubbed his chin. “He was with Sector Seven, wasn’t he? Before he defected.”
“Indeed. From what I gathered, he was nearly killed by Machination’s drones when Scorponok turned against his own scientists, but somehow managed to survive and be placed in a cyborg body. He had since taken over what was left of Machination and its resources and was working for a human terrorist by the name of ‘Old Snake.’ I was then able to escape and, since then, have been conducting my own investigation into who this ‘Old Snake’ was and what he is up to.”
“I see,” Optimus said. “Is there a reason why you haven’t made yourself known to us until now?”
“I was afraid it would jeopardize my investigation,” Prowl replied. “However, it would seem that Old Snake’s operations overlap with Bumblebee and his team’s search for a ‘Professor Sumdac,’ especially since one of Old Snake’s contractors, Prometheus Black from Biotech Unbound, has acquired Sumdac technology and is using them for his own means.”
“Interesting. Do you happen to have any leads on where else this ‘Old Snake’ or his contractors may be operating?”
Before Prowl could respond, Bumblebee stepped back into view. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but I should also mention that we have another big thing to worry about: Gears is missing.”
Optimus frowned behind his mouthplate. “What do you mean he’s missing?”
“I mean that he just vanished into thin air. Teleported. Like, bloop. Just like that.” Bumblebee made a motion with his hands that Optimus could only guess was trying to simulate teleportation. “Bulkhead’s scanning for energy traces, but, uh, yeah, we have no idea where he is.”
“Any ideas, Prowl?” Optimus asked.
Prowl shook his head. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Turning to Wheeljack, Optimus said, “Contact Brainstorm and Perceptor. See if they can figure out what’s happened to Gears so we can start looking for him. Alert Elita about this as well.”
Wheeljack nodded and went to work. Optimus then turned back to the viewscreen. “Continue your search in Detroit and focus on finding Sumdac. I will let you know what Perceptor and Brainstorm find, if anything.”
“Understood, Prime,” Prowl said curtly.
Bumblebee looked as if he was about to say something but seemed to think better of it, instead signing off as well.
As the screen went dark, Optimus turned back to look at Wheeljack, who was already working on hailing Brainstorm and Perceptor.
“That was a lot to take in in less than ten minutes,” Optimus muttered.
“Welcome to my world,” Wheeljack replied.
Earth, another time and place
“—left in the dark!”
Gears put his hands on his hips, hoping that he had made his complaint loud and clear. It took him a moment to realize that Bumblebee, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Sari were no longer standing in front of him. In fact, he wasn’t even at the Biotech facility; he was standing in the middle of the street! Alarmed, he quickly transformed to his alternate mode just as a bolt of lightning whizzed past him, striking the concrete and causing him to jump up in the air.
“Whoa, watch it, Sparky!” Gears heard what sounded like a young human female’s voice as a figure dressed in red and blue swung past him on some kind of rope or string. “Not everyone’s covered by Allstate!”
“Zip it, webhead!” Another woman, one dressed in a green and yellow, fired lightning bolts at the other as she floated in the air, suspended by energy. “I’ve had enough of your quips!”
Oh sweet Primus, what is going on? Gears wondered if these humans were using Sumdac technology as well; he knew that Sari had already apprehended a few would-be “vigilantes” using said tech. However, as he focused his scanners on the woman in red and blue, he saw that she did not appear to be using much technology of any kind; just a form-fitting spandex suit, mask, and some sort of wrist-mounted devices that shot out… was that webbing he was seeing? As in the type arachnids shot out of their butts? Gross, he thought.
As the two humans continued to battle things out, lightning bolts and webbing flying everywhere, Gears attempted to hail Bumblebee and the others. Sure enough, all he got was static, no doubt due to interference from all of the electricity. Figures. Realizing he would have to take this into his own hands, Gears transformed back into his robot mode.
“Whoa!” The web-slinging woman looked back at him shock, surprised by the appearance of a large alien robot. This distracted her long enough for her to be knocked down by a bolt of energy from the other superpowered being, who was also staring at Gears in bewilderment.
“What on Earth are you?” the electrical woman asked.
“The name’s Gears. In the name of the, uh, Earth-Autobot Defense Alliance Command, or, uh, whatever it’s called, you’re under—”
Before he could finish, the woman zapped him with energy, knocking him back onto the ground. At that moment, the web-slinging human swung back in and kicked her foe in the abdomen, knocking her into a power line and causing her entire body to light up in a flash. Depowered, the electricity-powered woman fell to the ground, smoke billowing out from her body.
“Sweet Primus,” Gears mumbled as he sat up. “Is she dead?”
“Nah, she’s shaken off worse.” The web-slinger swung over to where he is and perched on a nearby streetlight. “Thanks for distracting her, by the way.”
Gears looked up at her and narrowed his optics. “What the hell even are you? You’re not like any human I’ve seen.”
“Name’s Spider-Girl. Well, technically it should be Spider-Woman by now, but I can’t get the press to change the headlines.” She then tilted her head, eying him with the wide white eyes of her red mask. “What about you? You’re not like any pickup truck I’ve seen.”
“I’m an Autobot. You know, a Transformer. Haven’t you been paying attention to the news? I thought—”
“Wait.” Spider-Girl raised a hand. “I hear sirens. We should probably get out of here before the cops throw a hissy fit over a giant robot. They’re already not super fond of me. Just give me a second.”
Before Gears could protest, Spider-Girl swung back over to her defeated enemy and used her webbing to wrap them up in some sort of cocoon, leaving the other woman’s exposed while suspending it between two more streetlights. She then swung back over to Gears and made a motion that he interpreted as telling him to transform. Converting into his alternate mode, he drove after her as they made their way out of the area, moving deeper into the city.
They eventually reached a secluded area that was home to some sort of abandoned warehouse, one large enough for Gears to fit in in robot mode. Once inside, he converted back into said mode while Spider-Girl hung from the rafters on her web.
“All right,” she said. “Now we can talk. What are you and where are you from?”
“As I said, I’m an Autobot. I come from a planet called Cybertron.” Gears scowled in annoyance. “Do none of these things ring a bell?”
Spider-Girl rubbed her chin in thought. “Okay, those words do sound vaguely familiar now that I think about it. I think my dad might have mentioned them when he was telling me about his superhero days.”
“Great. So I haven’t gone insane and imagined the past few years of my life.” Gears then stopped and frowned. “Hang on, how long ago was your dad’s, uh, ‘superhero days?’”
“Oh, long ago. He quit when I was two years old.”
“Uh, sorry, I’m not good with how human aging works. How many years ago would that have been?”
“About seventeen years.”
“Seventeen years—?!” Gears shook his head. “But… we’ve only been active on Earth for four! Hell, I’ve barely spent a full year on this planet! How could— oh, wait, were it those mind-controlled bots that Shockwave made up to look like us?”
“Dude, I have no freaking clue,” Spider-Girl sighed. “Look, maybe I should take you to see my dad so we can paint a fuller picture. Clearly some things aren’t adding up.”
“Ya think?” Gears said dryly. “I swear, this day just keeps on getting worse….”
As he transformed back into his alternate mode, Spider-Girl jumped down and pulled her mask off, revealing a youthful face with shoulder-length brown hair. She moved to open the door to Gears’ driver’s seat only for him to lock it as she pulled on the handle.
“Hey! Who said anything about free rides?”
“I have a secret identity to maintain,” Spider-Girl retorted, yanking on the door handle again. “It wouldn’t do me any good if people saw Spider-Girl swinging into the house of Peter Parker. Our neighbors are nosy, you know.”
“Fine.” Gears relented and unlocked his door, allowing Spider-Girl to climb into the driver’s seat. “You have another name, then? I’m no expert, but based on what I know, I don’t think humans normally name their kids ‘Spider-Girl’ or scrap like that.”
“Call me May. May Parker. Some people like to call me Mayday, though.”
“I knew a ‘bot named Mayday,” Gears said.
“Really? Cool.”
“She murdered some of my best friends.”
“Oh.” May Parker winced. “Not cool, then.”
* * *
It was good to be home.
Of course, Earth itself wasn’t exactly “home” to Death’s Head, but it was close enough. After all, 90% of everything that happened in this reality involved this dirtball of a planet, and he had performed plenty of jobs here as a result. It might has well have been a second home to him, at least more so than any other planet he had been to.
With that said, he could tell that quite a bit of time had passed since his last visit. From where he stood on the hilltop, he adjusted his optical sensors to get a better look at his targeted destination: Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Or the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning, as it was now apparently called. He knew a “Jean Grey” from the records provided to him by the Time Variance Authority; she was a member of the X-Men who had been possessed by the Phoenix Force and caused some conundrums for her teammates. Apparently all of that had become water under the bridge now for her name to take the place of old man Xavier’s… which also made Death’s Head wonder what happened to the professor anyway.
Hn. Not really my business, yes? All that mattered to him right now was his current quarry. Hopefully the X-Men hadn’t gotten rid of their vehicles and equipment, or else he would have to put in a request with the TVA to do some time hopping. Putting away his scanners, he attached an axe to his arm and started to walk down the hill.
“Well, this is embarrassing.”
Death’s Head stopped and turned around. Standing there was a robot—Cybertronian, judging by their appearance—colored in red and black armor plating. They were carrying a pair of blaster pistols while a large sword was attached to their back. Looking at Death’s Head, the mech’s face split into a wide grin.
“We both showed up wearing the same outfit!”
Death’s Head narrowed his eyes. He recognized so-called “witty” quips when he heard them, and they particularly pissed him off when they made no sense or did not fit the situation at hand. The two of them looked nothing alike and didn’t even carry the same arsenal. In fact, this bot’s weaponry was a joke compared to his. He could smelt them in a microsecond if he needed to.
“What do you want?” Death’s Head grunted in annoyance.
The red bot continued to grin at him as he gestured with his gun at the X-Mansion. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure we’re here for the same thing. Or same ‘bot, rather. The Ultimate X-Spanse, right?”
“I have no idea what it’s called. I just have a description and a location. Now get out of my way so I can do my job, yes?”
“Sorry, pal, but I’ve got a contract of my own to fulfill and yours clashes with mine. So unless you wanna settle this with a lethal version of Rock, Paper, Scissors, I suggest you step out of my way.”
“I was here first, no? First come, first serve, yes?”
“In this business? There’s no such thing.” The red bot smirked as he raised his gun at Death’s Head. “Last chance.”
Without a word, Death’s Head charged towards the red bot, axe raised high. The mech unloaded his gun, all of his bullets bouncing off of the bounty hunter’s metal skin like useless pebbles. As Death’s Head closed in on him and swung his axe, the red bot narrowly avoided the swing as he unsheathed the sword on his back, raising it to block the axe as Death’s Head brought it back around.
“My employer told me all about you,” the mysterious mech said as he blocked more of Death’s Head’s swings. “He had just enough info on you that I know exactly what you’re capable of…”
Death’s Head’s red eyes flashed brightly as he raised his axe high over his head, ready to bring it down on the red bot and cut him lengthways.
“…and how to get rid of you.”
The bot dropped a small device at Death’s Head’s feet, which the bounty hunter barely noticed in time. Before he could react, it generated a wide portal beneath him and he fell in with a cry of rage. The red bot then knelt down and switched off the device, closing the portal as he stored it away.
“That’s right, glitches. It’s my story now.” Smiling to himself, the red bot raised his employer on his comlink. “Deadlock here. I’ve taken out the competition. Moving in on the target.”
“Excellent. Do not fail me, Drift of—”
“Ah, ah, ah! Code names, remember? We’re in the Marvel world now. We can’t be blabbing our secret identities like that, right?”
“Whatever. Just get the target and be back here asap.”
“Sure thing, Grubby the Hutt.” Ending the call, Deadlock set his sights on the X-Mansion and grinned wickedly. “Showtime.”
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