Chapter Text
“It’s a beautiful day to build a space bridge!” Sari declared with open arms as she arrived on the roof of Sumdac Tower.
She was greeted by the sight of her family busy at work. Bulkhead and her father were brainstorming at the space bridge’s console while Ratchet was elbow-deep in the floor rewiring the space bridge.
“Ah, there you are, Sari! I thought I wouldn’t see you before my meeting!” Her father called to her as she stepped out of the industrial lift. He glanced up from the space bridge schematics to wave his daughter over to the console. “Are you finally ready to help us this week?”
With Megatron randomly transwarping around the galaxy in Omega Supreme and the revelation that Longarm Prime was a Decepticon traitor, their little team scrambled to contact Autobot High Command. But with Omega Supreme gone, they couldn’t use their usual method of communication. Building a space bridge and transwarping to Cybertron was their best chance according to Bulkhead, Ratchet, and her father.
It was a convoluted plan, but it was the best one they had.
Sari hummed in agreement and activated her Azusa skates to glide across the floor to Bulkhead and her father. She enveloped her father in a hug. “This week has been awesome! We haven’t seen a Con in months, no Detroit villain is causing mayhem, and last night I got a new high score on Ninja Gladiator!” She beamed and held up a fist to Bulkhead, who lightly bumped it with his claw.
“Well, I hope you can channel all that positive energy into helping us. This space bridge is fighting us like a pit snake.” Ratchet said as he joined the others by the console. He had a scanner in his hand and wore an aggravated expression.
“Yeah I know,” Sari huffed, her good mood dampened by Ratchet’s typical sour one. She turned to the barely formed structure, looking at all the unfinished panels and downed wiring. They’d managed to build the foundation and started the large prongs that generated the transwarp sphere. “This space bridge is taking longer than I thought it would.”
Isaac Sumdac came to his daughter's side and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “Even with our skills combined, it’d be difficult to build a completely new space bridge in just a few weeks. But don’t worry, Sari. We’re smarter than the Decepticons. We’ll have this all straightened out in no time.” The two Autobots nodded in agreement. Then the professor’s expression shifted to a coy, hopeful one. He turned to look up at the robots, “But we might be able to get the message to Cybertron in another way.”
Ratchet rolled his optics at the professor. “We’re not using the Bi-directional Unified Transmit Terminal. We’ve been over this, Sumdac! Last time, your little invention sent Sari, Bumblebee, and Prime to a different dimension! Do you want that to happen again?” He seethed, no doubt remembering the professor’s panicked rambling when he had informed them that Bumblebee, Optimus, and Sari had disappeared after his device malfunctioned.
“No! Of course I don’t want it happening again! But I’ve fixed the bugs! If we hook it up to the plasma dynamic thruster and gyro-stabilizer, we will never experience that again!” Isaac quickly defended himself.
Bulkhead and Ratchet only gave him skeptical looks.
“Don’t get me wrong, you’re great at utilizing Cybertronian tech but do you really think this is the best idea?” Bulkhead asked with only the slightest bit of hesitation.
“We need to inform your homeworld about the Decepticons as fast as possible. I worked day and night for Megatron but it still took months to complete the Decepticon’s space bridge. This will be a faster way than building a space bridge from scratch. Despite its past faults, the Bi-directional Unified Transit Terminal would be useful for quick traveling between Cybertron and Earth. If we use it now instead of waiting until the space bridge is complete, we could stop the Decepticons from trying to invade Cybertron much sooner! There might even be a chance of finding your ship.” The Professor reasoned eagerly.
Any further explanation from Professor Sumdac was interrupted by a beeping in his coat pocket.
The professor fished his phone out of his pocket and sighed. He muted the alarm before continuing, “I know that the idea isn’t perfect, but the thought of Megatron left alone with a powerful weapon like Omega Supreme…” he trailed off momentarily.
Sari frowned at the haunted and distressed look in his eyes. Her dad’s nasty habit of staying awake for days worsened since he returned home from Megatron’s base. When he wasn’t away at meetings or working on projects for his company, he was looking at space bridge schematics or improving the security system of Sumdac Tower. Besides Prime, Isaac Sumdac wanted Megatron captured more than anyone else.
Sari’s dad shook his head and continued, “I must attend a meeting but I will try to return as soon as possible. The Transit Terminal is beside one of the power cores in the corner.” He nodded towards a large circular device. With that, he kissed his daughter on the cheek before shuffling off to the large industrial lift.
“So what do you think, Docbot? You think it’s worth the risk?” Bulkhead turned to Ratchet once the lift lowered Professor Sumdac out of sight.
Sari’s jaw dropped and she loudly interjected. “My dad’s just trying to help! Besides it’s not his fault I got sent to another dimension! My key was the one that did it!”
“Sari, we’re talking about using transwarp energy! It has as much chance of sending us to Cybertron as it does sending us to the other side of the galaxy! We can’t use valuable resources and time on something that might not work. We have too much to lose to risk it on the Transit Terminal. The Head of Central Intelligence is a Decepticon for Primus’ sake!” Ratchet threw his servos up in frustration.
Ratchet scrubbed his servo over his faceplate, the telltale sign of a blossoming headache. Before they could continue the argument, Ratchet walked back to his work. Sari glanced up at Bulkhead, who shrugged awkwardly before lumbering back to his position at the space bridge console.
‘Guess our conversation is over.’ Sari rolled her eyes before directing her attention to her father’s newly improved invention. Sari moved towards the device, ignoring Ratchet’s disapproving look as she made her way over.
The BUTT — an awful acronym she would never get used to — was a circular metal ring. The walls were about as tall as Bumblebee but it was wide enough for at least two members of their team to stand inside. Her father designed it so a beam of transwarp energy would converge in the center of the ring. A bot would stand at the center of the ring, be engulfed in the transwarp energy, and then transported to another part of the universe.
The last time it was activated, her key reacted with the machine and caused it to malfunction. Without warning, it had engulfed her, Bee, and Optimus in a blinding beam of light then dragged them kicking and screaming into another dimension. The three of them had arrived on a parallel Cybertron in mere seconds. It was a miracle the trio was sent to the Transtechs, who were experts in interdimensional travel. If they landed anywhere else, who knows if they’d have made it home?
“Be careful, kid. You might accidentally set that thing off!” Ratchet called, interrupting Sari’s memories of her adventure with the Transtechs.
“I know! I’m just checking it out!” Sari shouted over her shoulder. She tried not to sound too annoyed so she could avoid another lecture from Ratchet.
Sari gently ran a hand over the crude metal walls. Despite being off, the machine thrummed under her touch. The sensation crept through her fingers, up her arm, and spread to the rest of her body. She shivered at the strange sensation and quickly removed her hand. The moment her fingers slipped from the metal, the thrumming grew. Sari took a step back in alarm as the noise continued to grow.
“What did you do? I told you not to touch anything!” Ratchet scolded as he stormed toward Sari and her father’s device.
In mere seconds, the thrumming had turned into a loud buzzing noise. The sound reverberated across the BUTT and the metal walls began to rattle with pent-up energy.
“I don’t know!” The teenager yelped as she watched sparks dance across the edges of the machine’s walls. It definitely hadn’t done this before.
“I can’t turn it off! It’s not plugged into anything!” Bulkhead cried out from somewhere behind them. The pair turned to see Bulkhead holding up the cable.
“What?!” Sari and Ratchet cried out at the same time. They turned towards Bulkhead who was holding up the BUTT’s main power cable. The power source, disconnected from the machinery, sat meters away from the cable.
Before Bulkhead could explain further, a blindly white light engulfed them.
“Finding Megatron is our main priority, Blitzwing! If the Decepticons are to succeed, we need the guidance of our glorious leader! If anyone on Earth can find him, it’s Blackarachnia!” Lugnut preached as he and Blitzwing landed at the edge of the giant crater on Dinobot Island.
Blitzwing rolled his optic at his companion’s overeagerness. Lugnut had been raving about revenge on the Autobots for weeks, ever since they’d been blasted out of the sky by Omega Supreme. The pair reunited a day after their humiliating loss by pure coincidence. Blitzwing was looking for his missing body parts when he stumbled upon Lugnut trying to screw his claw back onto his arm.
‘If I never see Omega Supreme again, I will die a happy mech.’ Blitzwing groaned internally.
The only reason Blitzwing even agreed to help find Blackarachnia was because Lugnut wouldn’t shut up and leave him alone. While Blitzwing shared Lugnut’s thirst for revenge, he knew the odds of finding Blackarachnia were slim. They’d seen footage of the technorganic freak on the news broadcasts on Detroit’s billboards but there was no other trace of her.
“If the fembot wanted to be found, she would have joined us when Megatron returned.” Blitzwing bluntly pointed out. Blackarachnia resided with them on the Nemesis many solar cycles ago, but Blitzwing often thought her loyalty was always questionable. After all, what post-war Autobot would join the Decepticons? It didn’t make any sense. An inexplicable anger flared inside Blitzwing and all rational thought left him. Hothead began to rant as he and Lugnut descended into the forest that lined the edges of the massive crater. “That bug played us for a fool! She got what she wanted and left us! Now you want us to crawl to her on our knees and beg her to help? Who needs that disgusting freak anyway? We should just kidnap that scientist again! If he built a space bridge once, he can do it again!”
Any tree that stood in their way was either crushed under Lugnut’s claws or smashed to pieces by Blitzwing’s fist. The feeling of the wood splintering under the triple changer’s servos barely satiated his ever-present fury.
“It is Blackarachnia’s duty as a Decepticon to aid her leader! No other Decepticon knows as much about transwarping or Autobot ships! We cannot leave Lord Megatron to the mercy of a Sentinel Supreme!” Lugnut swatted down the last tree in their path, revealing the wide open space of the crater floor.
Blitzwing stood beside the larger Cybertronian and surveyed the bottom of the crater. The area was unremarkable, covered in rock, dirt, and grass like the rest of the planet. If it wasn’t for the metal door wedged into the far side of the crater, Blitzwing would have dismissed the island entirely. Blitzwing didn’t know much about Earth but he figured that Earth caves didn’t usually come with large metal doors.
“Most curious. You appear to be better at finding fellow Decepticons than the DJD.” Blitzwing praised his companion, his default monocled face taking over.
First Lugnut found Megatron in Sumdac Tower and now he found Blackarachnia’s alleged hiding spot. It was impressive considering the large jet wasn’t known for his intelligence or tracking skills.
Blitzwing started toward the door without hesitation. Before they reached the door, Blitzwing felt compelled to remind Lugnut of one more thing. “Not everyone is as loyal to Megatron as you, Lugnut.”
Lugnut scoffed, “I know. All who oppose Megatron will be crushed under his pede once he makes his triumphant return!”
Blitzwing rolled his optic. His desire to continue the conversation died right then and there. ‘It won't be my fault when Blackarachnia rejects him and webs him to the floor.’
Blitzwing approached the door with his canons ready to fire. Blackarachnia was a sneaky, conniving bot and he wasn’t taking any chances. And if this was a regular human base, he could just blow the base up for fun. Without further prompting, Blitzwing pounded on the door. There was no answer.
Hothead returned and Blitzwing pounded his fist against the door. “Get out of there, insect, or I’m going to break down this door!” Blitzwing’s face shifted and Random’s demented cackle accompanied the sound of his fists slamming against the door. “I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in!”
“If the bug will not come out then we will make her come out!” Lugnut roared.
Blitzwing barely had time to duck before a projectile flew past his helm. The door and surrounding wall erupted, sending rubble all over the unfortunate triple changer.
Lugnut squeezed his way through the cramped entryway of what he hoped was Blackarachnia’s base. Thankfully, he had destroyed most of the hallway and had only a short section to squeeze through before he entered the main area of Blackarachnia’s hideaway. He was able to stand to his full height once he entered the spacious area.
Blackarachnia’s new residence was a subterranean lab, something he probably should have expected. The lab was spacious and the room was well utilized. The walls were lined with large, circular vats, each filled with a grotesque experiment suspended in green liquid. A few tables were scattered around the area, each filled with science equipment Lugnut couldn’t identify. It was no different than Blackarachnia’s workspace on the Nemesis .
Unlike her lab on the warship, however, there were two large pods in the back of the room. Positioned on a platform, the pods were about Lugnut’s height but they were narrow. Wires ran from the pods to the ceiling and the glass panel on the front of the pod glowed an ominous green. Another odd addition to the lab was the half-assembled space bridge power cell in the middle of the lab. It was eerily similar to the ones the Constructicons built for their leader. Lugnut cautiously approached the large object and picked up one of the twisted pieces of metal positioned around the power cell.
“Don’t touch that! Who knows what kind of damage those awful claws of yours will do?” An irritated voice called out from behind.
Lugnut turned to face Blackarachnia, who was in her spider form and dangling from the ceiling, all 4 optics glaring at him. Lugnut returned the glare with his 5 optics. “You’ve been scavenging the wreckage from the blast?”
The technorganic scoffed and transformed into her robot mode. “Oh please, if you were so concerned about others finding anything down there, you should have cleaned up the wreckage yourself.” She gracefully dropped to the floor and maneuvered around Lugnut. She stood between Lugnut and the remains of Megatron’s space bridge. “And it’s not like I’m the only person shifting through the rubble anyway. Every time I go back there, I always catch someone. A Decepticon, an Autobot, frag, I’ve even seen some Earthlings down there.”
Lugnut barely reacted when Blackarachnia wrenched the piece of metal out of his hand. He growled at her, “Why did you not join us in our battle to destroy the Autobots?”
Blackarachnia only shrugged and tossed the shrapnel back into the pile on the floor. “I had my own problems to deal with first.”
Lugnut’s irritation hit its peak. “You are no better than Starscream! Megatron comes before all your selfish desires!”
Blackarachnia rolled her eyes. She waved at him dismissively. “Oh please, Lughead, get a grip! I’m working on a personal project, not planting a bomb on Megatron’s back in a half-baked attempt at a coup!”
“Your ‘project’ is insignificant compared to Lord Megatron’s plan to retake Cybertron. You will help us as a loyal soldier in the Decepticon Empire!”
The technorganic snorted. “I thought our dear leader was imprisoned on Omega Supreme. What do you expect me to do about it?”
“You swore fealty to Lord Megatron! You must help us find him.”
Blackarachnia’s optics narrowed and she stepped to the right to look at the giant hole Lugnut created in her lab. “I’ll think about it.”
“...What?” That response was the last thing he expected.
“I told you, I’m working on an important project. Plus I don’t know if I feel up for working with you and Blitzwing right now. My brain doesn’t function well with morons.”
Lugnut glowered at the femme. He clenched his claw before lunging forward. “If you do not come willingly, I will bring you myself!”
Blackarachnia hissed, leaping out of the behemoth’s path. She smirked as the large mech floundered and crashed to the ground. The force of the mech’s fall reverberated throughout the entire lab, shaking the large power cell and pods.
“Too slow as usual, Lugnut. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought you’d gotten…” The spider trailed off as she watched the power cell continue to shake. All 4 of her eyes widened as the transwarp power cell began to glow, illuminating the room in a bright aqua light. “Now what did you-” She was cut off by the power cell releasing a surge of energy.
The pods rattled, as did the rest of the equipment in the room. Somewhere else in the room, glass shattered and Blackarachnia’s tool hit the ground. Blackarachnia gasped in shock as she and Lugnut were pulled forward as if moved by an invisible magnet. Lugnut growled as Blackarachnia crashed into him. He tried to thrash her off and stand up but the power cell held its grip on him. Lugnut’s and Blackarachnia’s optics widened as the color emanating from the device began to slowly change.
The pair watched in horror and awe as a blue and green vortex of light burst from the center of the room.