THREE: THE LAND WHERE TIME STANDS STILL
“Oh, dear.”
Grimlock stirred from his pensiveness when he heard Sky Lynx utter these words, which could be heard by all within the large Autobot’s interior. “What is it?” the Dinobot leader asked.
“My communications appear to be blocked. Not to worry; I have faced far worse in the past. For instance, during my mission to the Eshems Nebula—”
“Not now, Sky Lynx,” Grimlock growled impatiently. “Just get us to the island and make sure we land safely.”
A few moments later, Sky Lynx had touched down without incident and lowered his ramp, allowing the six Dinobots to disembark onto the mysterious island. Appearance wise, the island was a typical jungle, similar to others Grimlock had visited in his time on Earth as well as such worlds as Eukaris and Beast. Tuning his audio receptors, Grimlock could pick up sounds that he associated with Earthborn creatures, such as crickets chirping and birds tweeting. Some of them, however, sounded a bit off, as if they were not from Earth… or even fully organic.
To the others, Grimlock said, “Dino modes. Now.”
As one, the Dinobots transformed to their alternate modes, each one resembling a dinosaur as reconstructed by the humans of this world. Swoop, in his Pteranodon form, wasted no time in flying above the others to see over the treeline and scout ahead, while the others lumbered ahead into the jungle, leaving the stationary Sky Lynx behind.
Once a few minutes had passed, Grimlock radioed Swoop for a report. “Anything yet?”
“Nothing unusual so far,” Swoop replied. “All I see are Earth creatures and… hold on.”
“What?”
“Could’ve sworn I just saw a feline with big teeth. I think humans call them saber-toothed tigers. Aren’t those extinct?”
“How am I supposed to know? Anything else? Spark signatures or anything like that?”
“I’m picking one up,” Snarl said, his voice low. “Right behind us.”
The other Dinobots froze in place. “Where?” Grimlock asked.
“Straight back to transport.”
“Sure it isn’t Sky Lynx?” Sludge asked.
“Not that dumb, bozo.”
“Friends you’ll find if you look behind.”
Slash immediately turned around and pounced at the source of the voice. Said source was a small orange mech, about the same size as Slash, and he let out a wail as the Velociraptor tackled him to the ground. Slag opened his mouth to unleash his flamethrower but was stopped when Grimlock got in front of him.
“Wait,” the Dinobot leader ordered. To the stranger, he asked, “Who are you?”
With Slash still holding him down, the small bot managed to squeak out a response. “Wheelie is the name. Now your friend, can you tame?”
“Are you Autobot?”
“Such as it is, if my badge has the final say. Irrelevant I say it is, because your foe I am not.”
“I still say we frag him,” Slag rumbled. “He talks weird.”
Grimlock ignored him as he radioed Sky Lynx. “Sky Lynx, you didn’t say anything about stowaway.”
“Sweet Solomus, a stowaway? Ah, I take it you are referring to our new ally Wheelie!”
“You know him?”
“Yes, our good friend Kup befriended him back on Planet X when he found himself in the clutches of the Quintessons. He is a rather crafty Autobot and a brilliant addition to our team, I must say. I take it you have not yet been introduced?”
“Obviously.” Grimlock exhaled in exasperation before waving his alternate mode’s tiny claw to Slash. “Let him go, Slash.”
The young Dinobot did as ordered but kept her optics on Wheelie as he got to his feet.
“Experience I have with jungles like these,” he said. “Accept my help and life will be a breeze.”
“I’m with Slag on this,” said Snarl. “Let’s just flay him to a crisp. No one will know.”
Grimlock sighed and shook his head. “No time for this. Fine, you can come along. You armed?”
Wheelie beamed as he brandished a small slingshot. “Always.”
Grimlock stared at the pathetic weapon and could tell that Slag and Snarl were glaring at them, but he continued to disregard their clear grievances. Without another word, he lowered himself to the ground and Wheelie took this as a signal to climb on top of him, riding atop the Tyrannosaurus’ back.
“All right, let’s move,” Grimlock said. “Swoop, found anything else yet?”
No response. Grimlock narrowed his optics as he tried to hail Swoop again, only to yield the same results.
“Frag,” he growled.
“Always seems to get into trouble, doesn’t he?” remarked Snarl.
“Always.” Grimlock turned to face the jungle that awaited them, Wheelie perched on his back with slingshot at the ready. “Tread carefully. No idea what is waiting for us up ahead…”
* * *
Swoop squawked as he dove to avoid the advancing Pteranodons. Unlike him, they seemed to be organic rather than a mechanical representation of the dinosaur like he was. At the same time, however, he could not help but feel they were not native; not only were actual Pteranodons supposed to be extinct here on Earth… but these ones seemed to be deliberately attacking him. Not because he was encroaching on their territory… but because they recognized him as a foe.
One of the pteranodons, with a purple and red hide, lunged at Swoop talons first, aiming for his face. The Dinobot flier folded up his wings in front of his face to block the attack, using his back thrusters to keep himself in the air. He then unfurled his wings and unloaded his guns on the pteranodon, causing it to squawk and break off from its attack. With Swoop’s attention on the purple pteranodon however, its red counterpart took advantage of his distraction and attacked him from behind, clawing at his back armaments with its talons.
Squawking in pain, Swoop transformed to his robot mode and drew his sword, slashing at the red pteranodon. To his surprise, his blade did not cut cleanly through the creature’s flesh; instead, it slice through synthesized flesh and met metal and circuitry on the other end. The confusion Swoop felt washing over him caused him to not hear the red pteranodon’s agonized scream… nor the sound of parts shifting as the purple one changed shape. Out of nowhere, a laser blast hit Swoop in the back and he turned around to face the purple pteranodon, who was now in the form of a purple and red robot.
“Predacons!” Swoop exclaimed in surprise.
“About time you recognized us,” the Predacon known as Lazorbeak said dryly. “I guess that whole Onyx fiasco scrambled your memory banks.”
Behind Swoop, the red pteranodon converted into the robot mode of the Predacon named Terrorsaur, who drew his gun and aimed it at the Dinobot. “Maybe this’ll give you something to remember us by.”
He fired his gun, hitting Swoop square in the back and shorting out his thrusters. The Dinobot tried to transform back to his alternate mode, only to realize too late that his t-cog had been busted as he plummeted towards the ground…
* * *
Grimlock and the others hadn’t made it that far into the jungle when Swoop came crashing through the forest canopy, landing in front of them in a crumpled metal heap. Slash was the first to make it over to him, a concerned look on the face of her velociraptor form. As she started to sniff him with her olfactory sensors, Swoop stirred and groaned as he struggled up onto his knees.
“Swoop! What happened?” Slash asked.
“Predacons,” Swoop grunted in response.
“What?” Grimlock asked.
“Predacons. They’re here. Ran into two of them and they shot me down.”
“Should’ve figured,” said Slag. “If anyone would be behind Maximals disappearing, it would be them.”
Sludge lowered his long head to look over the damage that had been done to Swoop’s body, part of it from the fall and the other likely from his encounter with the Predacons. While Swoop seemed to be still functional, it didn’t look like he would be battle-ready again any time soon.
“Too bad Skar not here,” Sludge murmured. “He’d know how to patch him up.”
Grimlock stiffened at the mentioned of their former comrade. Skar had been with the Dinobots since their time with the Primal Vanguard, serving as their field medic until he was torn apart by the Construticons in the early days of the war. It had been the first (and so far only) time that the Dinobots had lost one of their own… which made it a particularly sore subject for Grimlock and not something he liked to be reminded of. He knew that Sludge didn’t mean anything ill with the mention of Skar, but it did not make the wound hurt any less.
Wheelie climbed down from his back and made his way over to Swoop. “A quick fix I can give, if only to help him live.”
“Wait, you’re a medi-bot?” asked Snarl.
Wheelie shook his head. “Many years I spent alone, fending for myself. Learned how to survive on limited resources. Those skills, I can apply here.”
“Do whatever you can, and quick,” Grimlock said. “If the Predacons are here, then we need to get a move on.”
Wheelie looked over to Sludge. “Carry us both on your back so we can pick up the slack?”
Sludge stared at him blankly. “Uh… what?”
“He asked if you can carry Swoop on your back while he fixed him,” said Slash.
“Oh. Sure.”
Slag and Snarl proceeded to transform so they could lift up Swoop and lay him onto the back of Sludge’s alternate mode. Wheelie then climbed onto the back of the brontosaurus while the two Dinobots transformed back and flanked Grimlock as the Dinobot leader continued to lead them into the jungle.
* * *
Deep within the jungle, a group of saurian creatures watched the Dinobots as they traversed past them, oblivious to their presence. One of them, a black raptor with a white stripe running across their body, sniffed indignantly at the sight of the intruders.
“We appear to have more visitors.”
“Evidently,” growled the largest of the group, a blue and gold raptor with a crimson crest.
“Guess the Autobots didn’t learn their lesson from the first few groups they sent,” said a scarred green raptor.
“Autobots are notoriously stubborn.” The black raptor glanced at their youngest compatriot, a white feathered Velociraptor. “No offense.”
“None taken.” The white raptor looked up to the blue one. “So what do we do? Reach out to them? Take them out of their misery?”
“The Predacons are already aware of their presence,” the leader said. “Let them deal with them for now. If they fare the same as all the others, then it will business as usual. If not… then perhaps they could be of use.”
“If they’re anything like T-Wrecks’ group, then they just might stand a chance,” suggested the green one.
“Perhaps.” The blue raptor narrowed her golden eyes. “I suppose only time will tell….”
Autobot City
Optimus Prime stood in the command center of Autobot City as he looked upon his assembled team of Autobots. Also present were Director Marissa Faireborn and Agent William Fowler, watching the gathered machines with apprehensive looks. While Fowler was more experienced in his interactions with the Autobots, he was no less wary than his superior after all the headaches the Autobots and their adventures had given him over the past four years.
Optimus couldn’t really blame him. The past few years had been quite eventful, all things considered, for both of their races. And things were only going to get worse from here.
“As you may have been informed by now,” Optimus Prime began to his audience, “the Dinobots have gone missing in their mission to this mysterious island we have recently discovered, joining the Maximals in the ranks of the lost. Now, while I’m sure several of you are eager to mount a mission to rescue them….”
“You can read us like a book,” muttered Sideswipe.
“…we cannot afford to lose any more Autobots at this point in time, especially now that we know for certain that the island is causing some sort of interference. Rest assured, our comrades will be rescued in due time, and the E.D.C. is already hard at work in finding an alternative approach to the island. However, we have other matters to attend to.
“A few days ago, Bumblebee and his team learned that the human terrorist group Cobra has been reorganized and, up until recently, had been working with the Predacon scientist Tarantulas. While Tarantulas is in captivity, Cobra’s leaders are still at large. We have reason to believe that they have ties to Machination, a human organization which some of us had experience dealing with during our first couple of years hear on Earth.”
Standing next to Sideswipe, Sunstreaker grimaced at the mention of Machination. During the Autobots’ first encounter with Machination, Sunstreaker had been captured by them and forcibly binary-bonded to the human Hunter O’Nion, who had served as his Headmaster partner ever since. While the pair had become accustomed to their current condition, it had nonetheless been a traumatic experience for which the two held a grudge against Machination and its affiliates for.
“Additionally,” Optimus continued, “we believe that Cobra may have had encounters with Transformers that had come to Earth long before our arrival and had been brainwashed by Shockwave into thinking they were key figures of the Great War, including myself and Bumblebee. While Bumblebee’s counterpart, Centurion, sacrificed himself to destroy the Talisman, there remains a possibility that others may still be active, or at the very least in a state where Cobra may use them against us.”
The Autobot leader looked over to Faireborn and Fowler. “Director, Agent Fowler, perhaps you could inform the room on what intelligence you may have regarding a Project: Ice Man.”
Fowler sucked in his breath and glanced at Faireborn, who gave him a silent nod of approval. Exhaling, he said, “Right, so, in 1897, some arctic explorers discovered a giant robot frozen in the Arctic Circle. The government extracted it and eventually placed it in a facility that the Hoover Dam was built around, keeping it safe while they studied it and tried to figure out what it was. The official name we gave it was NBE-01, but we called it Ice Man ‘cos that’s what it was named by the old man who discovered it.”
“And what was the name of this ‘old man?’” Optimus asked.
“Captain Archibald Witwicky.”
Bumblebee stirred at the mention of this name. “Wait,” he said. “As in Spike Witwicky?”
Optimus nodded. “Spike would be a descendant of Captain Witwicky, if I am not mistaken. The E.D.C. has authorized an operation to reach out to the Witwicky family and find out what additional information they may have on Captain Witwicky that may prove useful in our investigations; Bumblebee, you will lead a team to Portland, Oregon, where Spike Witwicky currently resides.”
Bumblebee nodded, still looking surprised by this information. Optimus knew that Spike Witwicky had been among the humans that Bumblebee had made contact with along with Hunter, Verity Carlo, and Jimmy Pink. While the latter three had continued to work with the Autobots in some fashion, Spike had returned to his normal life, distancing himself from the Autobots. This had disappointed Bumblebee in a way, as he had hoped to form a connection with Spike the same way Sunstreaker had with Hunter or, lately, as Stakeout had with Verity. While he had become good friends with Sari Sumdac, Sari was more of a… unique case, given her hybrid nature. And Charlie Watson had been more familiar with Centurion-Bumblebee and was not yet ready to move on and accept a bot who was near-identical in appearance and name. Perhaps this would give Bumblebee an opportunity to find the friendship he had been looking for…
“As for the rest of you, the E.D.C. has discovered some potential locations for where Cobra could be operating. We will split up and strike these locations and put a stop to whatever Cobra is cooking up there if they are indeed operational in those locations.”
Cliffjumper grinned as he pounded his fists. “Yeah, now you’re talking my language.”
“One last thing,” Optimus said. “We have a new addition to our ranks who has volunteered to join us in our missions. Perceptor and Brainstorm have already approved him for mission status, so allow me to introduce you to… Expanse!”
On cue, the doors to the room opened and large bot in blue and yellow stepped in. Prominently displayed on his chest was the logo of the superhuman team he had been affiliated with on his alternate version of Earth. Whether he intended to replace it with the Autobot brand, Optimus was not sure, but he had no intentions of pressing the matter, preferring to let Expanse reach that decision on his own. However, while he did not pay the logo any mind, it seemed to catch the eyes of Faireborn and Fowler, the latter who leaned over the railing as if to get a closer look at it.
“Excuse me,” Fowler said, “but, uh, where did you get that logo?”
Expanse frowned as he looked down at his chest. “Ah, it’s a long story. I got it when I went to an alternate universe.”
“An alternate universe. Right.” Fowler exchanged a look with Faireborn before clearing his throat. “Carry on then.”
Expanse gave the humans a questioning look but did not press the matter further. Making a mental note to return to this topic when the opportunity arose, Optimus Prime turned back to the assembled Autobots.
“If there are no further questions… then let us transform, and ROLL OUT!”
