Shifters of Flesh and Metal (Transformers Prime X Animorphs)

[Flameal15k]

AN:
And so the next chapter of my grand crossover universe begins!

Also, a note going forwards: I generally make a ban on politics with my works, but I will make exceptions if it is relevant to the nature of story - so, for example, I will talk about laws that affect the environment and conservation in my Prehistoric Park stories because they are all about conservation and, by extension, preserving the environment. Here, meanwhile, I'll make a few references to conspiracy theories and what they have wrought because this setting heavily depends on a masquerade.

So, with that said, let's begin.

XxXxX

There were a lot of things Chicago was known for, but lately, the biggest focus had been computers after Blume had moved in. Their developments there had revolutionized computer infrastructure, alongside various other fields that integrated with such technology, like police work, shipping, and military development. Of course, this drew protests, particularly regarding how invasive some of their software could be, but for many, that was the price of peace and stability. And with the rest of the world looking more unstable by the minute, that price was looking more reasonable by the day. For those opposing it, the cost of resisting grew higher with each sunrise.

Said advancement in computer technology had, naturally, benefitted social media, ranging from forums such as spacebattles and sufficient velocity, to streaming sites like twitch and youtube, and of course social networks, including facebook and twitter. All of these contributed to a huge portion of human culture, good and bad, which explored thousands of different topics every day - politics, movies, war, the list was endless. One particular subject of interest to many was conspiracy theories - who was hiding what, and why? It could be aliens, magic, subliminal messaging, all that mattered was that it was being kept a secret from the public, or at least was perceived to be so. Blume itself was one of the major targets of conspiracies, with many assuming they had plans for world domination, or were run by the Illuminati, or aliens. The company had denied such claims, and even devoted a few of its more, ahem, off-the-books divisions to counter this by fabricating their own conspiracies alleging that their opponents were involved in the same conspiracies that they claimed Blume to be a part of.

None of those corporate executives had any idea that there was more than a kernel of truth to the lies they were spewing.

XxXxX

Staring out at the Chicago Skyline, John put the phone to his ear. "So, is it done?"

"Everything's been handled, Mr. Darby. Your slate with us is clear."

"Thanks, Roselyn. Sorry to leave so suddenly."

"Duty calls, John. Having some FBI backing for our actions was appreciated, but we've done without it before, and we'll do it again."

"I figured as much - DedSec is pretty resilient."

"That we are. On a related note, Erudito sends their regards as well - your contributions to their cause were, while not significant, still noteworthy."

"Come on, I don't need to be showered with Honors, Rosy."

"Eh, I've heard it said that greatness, however fleeting, lasts a lifetime. You deserve some praise."

"I guess I do. Again, thank you."

"You're welcome. Good luck with your new assignment."

"Farewell."

"Farewell."

With that, the line went dead, leaving John with only the company of the man and the teen he shared his penthouse with.

"So," asked Sandor, the man in question, "everything settled?"

"All loose ends are tied. We're ready to go, and I can confirm that protective services are moving Maddie and her family somewhere safe. We'll arrange time for meetings later, once things have been settled."

"Good - Stanley's gonna be glad she's being cared for. Think he's in love."

"You aren't worried about him being in love with a girl of her…you know?"

"Some things can't be controlled, much as I wish they could. Henry hasn't got that into his head yet, even with how close Four and Sarah are."

"Can't really fault him for that. But we can discuss his views later. So, is everything packed?"

"Yep. Well, except for this," was the man's answer as he held out a small yellow cube. "Want one last taste before we hit the…I guess it would be airport?"

John thought for a minute, then shrugged and accepted the cube, which he put in his mouth. A strange, lemony tasted graced his tongue, followed by a feeling of fullness. After enjoying the sensation for a moment, the FBI agent took out the crystal and brought it over to a nearby sink for a wash.

"You ever wonder why it tastes like lemon?"

Now it was Sandor's turn to shrug. "No idea. Does seem weird, though, since lemons aren't from Lorien."

"Weird it is. By the way, where's Stanley?"

"Having one last chat with Maddy. SHe's got some construction work on her end, so it's all text based."

"Figures. Well, tell him to come down soon - want to have one last talk before we go - get some things squared about where we're headed."

"Isn't that your old home?"

"Yeah, and I have a few things that need to be said about that."

XxXxX

NOVEM-KNIGHT: So, nervous?

ST1LLW3LL: Um, yes? I've never been in the custody of protective services, nor have my parents. It's weird!

NOVEM-KNIGHT: Can't quite say I know how you feel - John hasn't forced us to move before, but I've spent my whole life knowing that people were watching over me, for good and for ill.

ST1LLW3LL: Well, at least this is gonna be easy…easier for you. By the way, you ever gonna introduce me to your…um, can I call them friends?

NOVEM-KNIGHT: I guess you could call them that, but we don't keep in touch that much - gotta keep the Mogs off of us.

ST1LLW3LL: Right, need to keep your existence a secret and all that. But doesn't the government help with that?

NOVEM-KNIGHT: Only so much they can do, and there's only so much you can scrub from the web. The only ones I know the locations of to a reasonable degree are Two, who's living with some British aristocrat's family in England, and Four, who's currently in Paradise Falls but will be moving over to Nevada with us.

ST1LLW3LL: Wait, won't that break the protective charm thing on you?

NOVEM-KNIGHT: Supposedly it is an acceptable risk.

NOVEM-KNIGHT: Crap, gotta go now, Sandor is calling me - John wants to have a talk.

ST1LLW3LL: Oh. Sorry. Love you! Talk later?

NOVEM-KNIGHT: Hopefully. Love you too.

XxXxX

John watched quietly as Stanley entered the room alongside his Cepan. "Nice of you to join us, Stanley."

"Whatever. So, what'd you want to talk about?"

"Where we're headed."

Stanley raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say that Unit E was sending you back home to Nevada?"

"Yeah. My old house at Jasper…well, used to be mine."

"What happened? Someone sell it?"

"No. Look, you guys know how I said I thought I would be back home within a year?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, obviously, that didn't happen. So, see, after about a year, ownership of my house was given to…someone else."

"Who?"

"...My wife."

The room was quiet for a moment. And then?

"..Wait, you have a wife?" asked Sandor, beating Stanley to the punch.

"Wife and a son," confirmed John. "Been helping you guys so long that I missed most of his childhood."

"John, I-I….I…I'm so sorry-"

"Save it. You two didn't know. I don't blame you for this - I blame my superiors for never giving me a chance to at least see them once, even though I made plenty of requests."

"Ouch," spoke Stanley. "So, what, are we staying with them?"

"Yeah - my boss said it would be best if we all stayed together. I just hope my wife doesn't get any ideas -she's the only person I've ever had eyes for."

"And I presume that we can't do anything to drag her or your son into this, right?"

"Bingo."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard - we can brush some questions off as being part of an FBI investigation, right?" joked Sandor.

"True. Though I think the lengths my superiors went to hide that I'm working with aliens are pretty over the top."

Stanley rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Still, keeping them out of the loop doesn't seem to be a problem - it's not like they know that aliens exist, do they?"

XxXxX

Autobot Outpost Omega One, near Jasper, Nevada

Putting the last pan of dust into the trash, Jack turned to his mom. "Are the tables almost ready?"

"Yes, Jack, they are. Fowler and I finished putting together the last one."

"Great!" said Miko. "It's gonna be so fun being able to stay here overnight!"

"Ahem," interjected Ratchet, "need I remind you that this is still a military facility, and that it is not for you to have slumber parties?"

"Wait to be a party pooper."

"Hey, Raf!" asked Jack, "any exact time on when the Animorphs will be moving over?"

"Three hours, according to Marco."

"Well, they better bring everything in one go," noted Fowler. "Got enough problems with the Decepticons and MECH, don't need the Yeerks to cause even more. And that's not accounting for the other aliens those kids have mentioned."

"Agent Fowler," intoned Optimus, "there are a great many sentient species in existence besides my kind those you have already met or been informed of. We must prepare for the possibility that others will intervene in our war, as others already have."

"I get it, Prime. I just hope nothing happens soon.

XxXxX

AN: And so it begins.

First off, yes, John is Jack's dad. I always had plans to get him involved in my Transformers Prime story, but those plans always had him as being involved with another secret conspiracy, and for the longest time I was trying to decide which one. First I considered some more magical settings, but none of the ones I liked felt right for this story, including the one I put the most serious consideration into (Darker than Black). Next I considered some more science fiction settings and grounded ones, including Carmen Sandiego (in this iteration, the reference to Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports was meant to be a bit of foreshadowing, as the thing that caused the break between John and his sister in the last story was her following the family tradition of joining V.I.L.E. while John decided to focus on law enforcement. That is pretty much lost to time now, though I always keep my old ideas in mind for future story developments. Finally, I settled on him being involved with the Loric from Lorien Legacies, specifically as a handler for Number Nine/Stanley Worthington and his Cepan, Sandor.

As for the mentioning of Blume, DeadSec, and Erudito, the very last chapter I posted for Shifters of Flesh and Metal was one that established that it's actually part of much larger fictional universe incorporating a total of five stories I had written at the time - Shifters of Flesh and Metal, Code Grid, Prehistoric Park: Returned From Extinction, Primeval Paradox, and The Baleful Bureau. If you don't see the Prehistoric Park one on whichever site you are reading this story on, I finished it and gave it a soft reboot because it was getting too out of line with how I wanted this fictional universe to go. Code Grid established that Watch Dogs is a part of this universe (and will get more focus there because that story focuses much more on computers and the digital sphere than this one does) while the Baleful Bureau confirms that the events of Assassin's Creed also happened (this section will probably be out of focus for a long time because the Assassin-Templar conflict is just not relevant to the main plot of any of my stories for a long time). What's relevant here is that Lorien Legacies established that Number Nine and his Cepan lived a life of luxury in Chicago prior to him being captured by the Mogadorians. Since John is their handler and has to live on site with them, I needed to figure out a job for him, and decided to have him be an FBI investigator looking into Blume, with him acting as a benefactor to the local DeadSec. He's also worked with Erudito at some point, and knows about the Fox AKA Aiden Pierce. This is mostly just backstory stuff for now, but might be further explored in Code Grid.

Maddy is Nine's girlfriend from the novels, who ended up selling him out because the Mogadorians captured her parents. All three of them were mauled to death by an alien war beast after she upholds her end of the deal. This never happened in my story and she is still alive and in a relationship with nine, but since Nine and Sandor are headed to Jasper with John, she's got to go into hiding. I did consider having her and her family move to Jasper as well, but honestly the character load is already bloated enough.

So, now, the stage is set. Next chapter, we'll be focusing on the Animorphs and Team Prime as the former set up shop inside Outpost Omega.

Read and Review at your leisure! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

Hours passed, until the time for the meeting finally arrived.

Team Prime and their allies had gathered around the ground bridge, waiting for the clock to run out. Once it did, Ratchet entered in the designated coordinates, opening the rift in space-time. For a moment, nothing happened, but then the familiar if still bizarre forms of Elfangor and his brother trotted through the ground bridge, followed by the avian form of Tobias and the remainder of the human animorphs, each wearing a backpack. All of them seemed uncomfortable after exiting the portal, but this discomfort swiftly passed. "Gonna need some getting used to that," said Jake, with the others nodding in agreement.

"Welcome back," said Jack, followed by Raf asking "what's up?" and Miko inquiring "how's it going?"

"Well enough," replied the elder of two andalites. "For all their prowess in infiltrating this world, they have made few gains in learning our identities. And this is despite managing to establish and subsume an internet provider into their war effort."

At this statement, Fowler raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Which one?"

"Web Access America," answered Jake. "That's a long story, we can tell it when there are people who handle…debriefing is the term, right?"

Fowler sighed. "Fair enough. So, do you have it?"

"Yes," was Jake's answer. Then, carefully, he set his backpack on the ground, opened the main compartment, and pulled out a faintly glowing blue cube. "Here it is."

"Interesting," noted Ratchet. "The form that your..Escafil Device, if I remember the name properly, takes is…most peculiar."

"How?" inquired Ax.

"It resembles how certain legends describe one of our most sacred relics, the Allspark."

"..Really?" asked Rachel.

"Correct. And before you ask, the Allspark is…a tale for another time."

"...I guess we can wait for storytime."

"So, uh, what now?" asked Marco. "We just drop it off here and leave? Wait for scientists to come and ask Ax and Elfangor about how it works?"

"Haven't even got a time scheduled for the eggheads to start looking at this thing," replied Fowler. "For now, just making sure it is secure is my top priority - we already have enough issues with alien technology on the loose right now."

Cassie nodded at this. "Fair enough. So does that mean that-"

"Wait!" shouted Miko, catching everyone off guard.

Bulkhead glanced at his companion. "What is it, Miko?"

"This is the cube that gives our new friends morphing powers, right?"

"Uh, yes," confirmed Tobias. "We just said as much."

"Then why don't we use it?"

Everyone was silent for a moment as glances were exchanged and silent questions asked and answered. This only ended when June decided to speak up. "Mr. Elfangor?"

"Yes, June Darby?"

"Would you be okay with giving your power to, well, more than the group you started out with?"

"I was expecting this question to be posed, and my answer is yes - we need all the help we can acquire to oppose the Yeerks, and this is the best possible token of goodwill I can think to offer. Though I am not sure how it would work with Cybertronians…"

"Um, not to sound rude," began Arcee, "but I'd rather remain metallic."

"I'm not even sure that power would work with our kind," added Ratchet. "Our biologies are so radically divergent from organic lifeforms that it is entirely possible our species is incompatible with your technology."

"I see. Well, if Fowler approves, then-"

"I approve, but I ain't interested in this power - not yet. I'm more comfortable flying in a helicopter than with feathery wings."

"Fair enough."

"So, does this mean we can get the morphing power?"

June sighed. "Yes, but only if Jack and Raf agree to it."

Miko glanced at both of her friends, flashing the closest she could give to puppy-dog eyes.

Jack closed his eyes and sighed. "...Fine, I'm in."

"Me too," affirmed Raf.

"Woo-hoo! So, what do we do?"

Taking the cube from Jake, Elfangor broadcasted the next steps. "To pass this power onto another, one who is already in possession of the ability to morph must hold the Escafil Device. Now, children, please put your hands on one of the faces of the cube."

Elfangor barely finished his thought before Miko put her hand on the top of the cube, followed by Jack, then Raf, and then…June?

"Mom?!"

June turned to her son. "You're still my son, no matter what happens. And that means I'll protect you, even if your friends have already promised to help me with that."

"...Thanks."

"Wow, wasn't expecting that," admitted Miko. "So, what next?"

"Don't be afraid."

Before any of Team Prime's human members could question what the Andalite Prince meant, a strange feeling coursed through them. It was a shock, yet a pleasurable one, almost making them laugh. Then the moment passed, and it was gone.

"The power to morph is now yours. You may use it to turn into any creature you can acquire, but you must remember to never remain morphed for longer than two hours, or the transformation will become permanent, unless the organism undergoes extreme metamorphism naturally, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, or a larvae a beetle."

The group barely managed to let out a collective "understood" before a feeling of confusion passed over them, causing all four to stumble for a moment, stopping only when their Autobot companions (or, in June's case, Ratchet) reached out and offered them support.

"Thanks Arcee/Bulk/Bee/Ratchet."

"It's fine, Jack/I got you Miko/it's nothing, Raf/you're welcome, Ms. Darby."

"So, we can morph now?" asked Miko. "How?"

"You must first acquire the genetic structure of any organism you wish to morph - specifically, you must put your palm to its body and focus. I am aware that this is a dangerous activity with certain animals and…highly recommend you start with something docile like, say, a mouse. Once you have acquired a form, then you need only focus on it to begin morphing. Discomfort or fear will slow the process, so once started you must focus on finishing the morph. And I must offer you one other bit of advice - should you acquire multiple different individuals of the same species, your morph will combine their genetic traits and forever be incapable of specifically morphing into any one of the individuals you previously acquired."

"Interesting," noted Arcee. "So, what next-"

Arcee halted her question when she noticed that Jack was staring intently at her, a look of uncertainty on his face. Clearly, something was bothering him.

"What is it, partner?"

Upon her questioning, Jack's uncertainty was replaced with a different look - one of pleading.

"What do you…oh."

Slowly, Jack reached out his right hand. After a moment of consideration, Arcee nodded and extended her arm.

The minute he could reach her finger, Jack grabbed tightly and focused. Slowly, a feeling of peace and calmness passed over first him, and then Arcee, with both finding all their fears and doubts fading away, if only for a moment. The feeling faded quickly, but the two both knew that somehow, that moment had strengthened the bond between them.

The rest of the gathered humans, cybertronians, and andalites, however, were less sure of what had transpired before them. "So, uh, what happened?" asked Miko.

Jack paid her no mind, though, and instead focused inward, on a different thought.

Suddenly, June let out a gasp as Jack's body started to glow. Slowly, a blue light emanated from the boy's form as skin began to take on a metallic sheen. Taking a deep breath, Jack closed his eyes. Moment's later, they reopened, now glowing blue-white. Acting on instinct, he curled his arms and legs together, but amazingly, he did not fall to the ground, his body instead floating in the air as his skin changed further, becoming greyer and metallic in both appearance and texture. Soon, his skin resembled liquid metal, and began to melt, absorbing his clothing. Eventually, where Jack had once been now stood…er, floated a vaguely humanoid form made of liquid metal, glowing brightly within the base. Then, without warning, the light in the figure blasted outwards and reformed itself into a sphere, which moments later began sparking and twisting until it was no longer an orb of light, but one of blue-white electricity, which shoved itself into the liquid metal being's chest. As soon as it did so, the liquid body began to harden and solidify, with sections of arms and legs gaining focus and resolving themselves into upper and lower limbs, and then hands and feet, or rather their cybertronian equivalents. Soon, the area surrounding the figure's spark chamber became defined, with armor forming to protect the precious energy source within. Finally, the cranial unit took shape, with first sonic sensors, then sonic emitter, and finally optics taking shape.

Reformatting completed, the figure descended to the ground, limbs extending to allow for a soft landing. Only then did its optics open, taking in the surroundings with measured curiosity.

Nobody said anything at first. But then, the newly formed cybertronian spoke, in a voice that was both familiar and new:

"...Did it work?"

June let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Yes, Jack, it did."

Jack's gaze shifted from his mom to Arcee, who simply smiled. "Looking good, partner."

"..Oh yeah!" said Miko. "That was amazing!"

"How did it feel, Jack?" asked Raf.

"Weird," admitted the teen as he looked at his newly formed hand servos. "But I guess this proves that it's possible to morph into a cybertronian."

"Indeed," confirmed Elfangor. "However, the exact method you used to morph into such a being is unlike anything every recorded by my people. I have no idea how this will interact with the traditional rules of morphing, so I would highly suggest that you attempt to de-morph now."

"..Fair enough," said Jack, who then turned his focus back to his human form.

What followed was a reversal of the process Jack had undergone, with his body returning to liquid metal form as his spark glowed and then exited its chamber. The electric sphere returned to being an orb of light, which then remerged with his liquid metal form, which in turn swiftly returned to his human self, as if nothing had changed.

"Congratulations," spoke Jake, "you just acquired your first morph…I think."

"Thanks. Though, I'm not quite sure what I turned into before becoming…can I same I'm an Autobot now?"

The last question was directed at Optimus, who simply nodded. "It would seem that we have a new member of our team."

"Indeed," confirmed Ratchet, "and the process that this resulted from raises a great many new questions."

"Yeah, it did. What happened between me being human and me becoming one of you? Did I turn into a….protoform?"

"That appears to have been the case," confirmed Ratchet. "I am unsure why this process behaved so different compared to how the process normally goes according to our newfound allies. Perhaps it is a result of our differences in biology."

"We can figure this out later, Ratchet. Rat-chet," said Ax. "For now, though, we should let this be."

"I understand. However, I do have one inference I would like to note."

"And that is?" asked Rachel.

"Given the nature of our species, it is likely that the two hour time limit may not apply - cybertronians are innately capable of reformatting their bodies to accommodate changes in alt-modes. Given how your morphing technology makes exceptions to that rule if the subject organism is capable of innate metamorphosis, it is likely that a cybertronian morph has no limits to the time spend in said form."

"....Wow," said Marco. "Didn't even think of that."

"Nor did I," added Elfangor. "This is a…major breakthrough, and I-"

"Not to interrupt," interrupted Miko, "but June, Raf, and me are still here, and we just found out that we can turn into our friends' species. So could we try getting our first morphs now?"

Elfangor felt embarrassed upon hearing Miko's question. "Oh. Yes, sure, sorry about that."

"Thank you."

Moments later, the process that Jack had undergone was repeated three times over, resulting in one new bot and two new femmes. Despite expectations, there wasn't too much notable about Raf, June, and Miko's new forms, other than that Miko's cybertronian form was smaller yet bulkier than June's, albeit in a way that indicated more musculature (if such a term applied with robotic organisms) than, say, fat.

More bizarrely, June's form also had an odd sort of cape made out of folding metallic blades.

"So," said Miko as she returned to her human form, "what now?"

"Now, I think we should head home," said Jake. "We have families who need to know where we are, especially since my brother is a yeerk host."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that," admitted Miko. "Sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"I'm with Jake on this," added Fowler. "General Bryce is gonna want more details on this power, so I need some time to get a report written up. Also, there's something else that needs to be discussed."

"And that is?" Asked Raf.

"Don't you all need Alt modes?"

The sense of embarrassment cropped over the four new human-cybertronian morphed as they realized that they had forgotten something crucial.

"I thought so. Look, I can probably arrange something to help with that, but I need at least a day. So if you have anything in mind, look it up tonight and fill me in tomorrow."

"Understood," said Raf, with Miko, Jack, and June soon joining in.

"Good. So, uh, you guys got anything else you want to say?"

"I don't think so," answered Tobias. "Well, except for congratulations toward our new allies for not embarrassing themselves with their first morphs."

"People usually embraces themselves morphing?" Asked Miko.

"Morphing tends to destroy your clothes."

Miko went silent at that, as did everyone else, except for Fowler.

"Okay, then. Um, I'd offer to let you stay here - we did do some cleaning up - but I guess you've already got plans for tonight."

"Maybe next time," said Ax. "Next-time."

"Perhaps," agreed Ratchet just as he reactivated the ground bridge. "Farewell for today."

"See you later!" Spoke seven voices in chorus.

Soon the Animorphs had returned to California, leaving Team Prime's human members to head home on their own. The rides back happened mostly in silence, except for occasional questions regarding intended alt-modes, which even June engaged in. Thoughts on this subject continued into the evening, occupying much of the group's home time, such that they didn't really pay much attention to what happened at their respective homes.

They did hear something about a passing storm front that would delay air travel for some time, but none of them knew that it would give them two extra days before another world changing set of individuals would intrude on their lives.

XxXxX

AN: Bet you weren't expecting that so soon?

So, yeah. I gave the human trio of Team Prime (and June) access to morphing. And then gave them cybertronian forms.

Really, I had this planned for a while - the main inspiration for this story was a fanfic series by LuisJM on FFN covering how he would have had Season 3 of Prime go down, which is still ongoing at the moment. The major point of divergence there is that MECH is still active and working on their plans to create their own transformers, but realized they need to take a different approach, which here entailed turning existing humans into cybertronians. Jack, June, RAF, and Miko ended up being kidnapped by MECH to serve as guinea pigs, and in turn became first energon cubes, and then new transformers.

Obviously, this is where I got the idea to give them cybertronian morphs, but I wanted to use a less permanent transformation.

Had to include a joke about how morning destroys clothing unless you have practice and use specific types of clothes.

Regarding the process of morphing into a cybertronian, I chose to have it be the way it was to convey how bizarre cybertronians are compared to other living entities the Animorphs have encountered - their souls are part of their physical anatomy, for crying out loud! Speaking of souls, that was what the glowing orb mentioned when Jack turned into a cybertronian was - his soul. Just wanted to show some differences between humans and cybertronains there.

I did plan to have more scenes before and after the meeting with the Animorphs, mostly to explain some background stuff and offer some hints at stuff in the future, but I couldn't find anywhere to add them without breaking the story's pace. This is also why I added the mention of the storm front at the end of this chapter - I realized I needed more time to develop some of the stuff with the Autobots and their allies, so I needed an excuse to delay some newcomers.

Also, I thought out what the opening sequence for this series would be if it were a cartoon/anime and will post that in a few hours. So if you like those kind of things, you should enjoy that post.

Read and review at your leisure! This is Flameal15k, signing off!

 

[Flameal15k]

Just did a minor update to the last chapter - needed to clear some things up for June's new morph that would help explain the alt-mode she chooses later on.

 

[Flameal15k]

"So, any idea what you want to transform into, Jack?"

The teen in question sighed. "Still looking. Though I think motorcycles are off the table - except for you, none of our forms are lithe enough for that."

"True….It feels weird that we're having this conversation, doesn't it?"

June nodded. "Yes, it is."

"I wonder how Jake and his team debate this."

"Maybe you could ask them next time?"

"Maybe. You think we'll need to come up with codenames or something to hide our powers from…well, everyone else?"

"I guess. Have one in mind already?"

"Was thinking Hot Rod, but that sounded too silly. So I guess it is a work in progress."

"You'll get there. I'm still thinking of one too."

"Thanks. Speaking of which, have you decided on what your alt-mode would be?"

"No. Still trying to figure out what that weird blade cape is. It felt weird the first time I noticed their presence. I just want something that accounts for them."

"That makes sense. You know, I got a little nervous the first time I saw those," admitted the younger Darby.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They reminded me of Airachnid….," he replied, before trailing off.

"Uh, Jack?"

"...So that's what they are."

June raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I said those reminded me of Airachnid-"

"Because they look like her spider legs?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"What does she use them for when she transforms?"

June thought for a moment. "Doesn't she use them as heli…oh."

"Yeah. Might want to set your sights higher, in a more literal sense, for an alt-mode."

XxXxX

The same time, Raf's house

Raf thought for a moment before speaking into the phone. "So, um, Gaz? How is Dib?"

A rather menacing young female voice offered a reply. "Still obsessing over our classmate and trying to find out what his stupid nefarious plans are."

Raf glanced up from the phone to stare at the rest of his siblings and his parents, none of whom wanted to go anywhere close to the phone. "I see. Should we, um, consider staging-"

"Dad already tried to get him to move away from the paranormal and focus on 'normal' science. The world felt wrong until he went back to normal."

Looking up again from the phone, Raf shot a look of concern at his parents, wordlessly asking them a question, to which they nodded. "Right. I understand. And what did he say Zim was up to this time?"

"Controlling an army of 'slightly larger than normal ants', apparently. Lame."

"Uh, sure…wait, how big did he say they were?"

"I don't know, the size of caterpillars? Can't you save your stupid questions for when he comes home from his next attempt to prove Zim is an alien?"

"But he hardly ever seems to be free to take any of our calls."

"And this is my problem how?"

"Well…um…"

"If you don't give an answer in the next ten seconds, I am hanging up."

"...Fine. But are you, your brother, and your dad still coming over next month?"

"Yes. I don't think it will be that enjoyable, but whatever. Family is family and all that crummy stuff. Though I think Zim might follow us. He's just as determined to make Dib suffer as Dib is to expose him."

"Well, hopefully, we can…convince them both of the truth."

"Yeah, right. Anyway, goodbye."

The line was dead before Raf could reply.

Now that the conversation was over, one of Raf's elder brothers turned to their mom. "You sure we're related to her?"

"Yes. I sometimes wish otherwise, but she's your cousin."

The rest of the Esquivel family simply whimpered in response.

XxXxX

The same time, at Miko's host house

Miko smiled as the video chat came into focus, revealing the bespectacled face of her elder brother and teh energetic face of her younger sister.

"Mato, Sota! Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too, Miko," said her smiling brother.

"We missed you!" beamed her sister. "Try to call more often."

"Eh, sorry. You know how the time zones are."

Mato deflated a bit at that statement. "Oh, yeah. Oh well."

"Yeah. So, Sota, how's the art going?"

Now it was her brother's turn to deflate, but not so much as their younger sister. "Oh, okay. Just having some…writer's block, if you can apply that to art."

"Isn't this for, what did you call it, Spirit Scale Rangers?"

"Yes."

"Are you still writing that?"

"...Yes. but I'm a little stuck at the moment…"

"Then I think this counts as writer's block. Oh, and by the way, that series is awesome! You definitely found your calling."

The boy couldn't help blushing at his sister's praise. "Thanks, Miko, but it isn't that good-"

"It is," interjected Mato. "Stop selling yourself short - you might not be as popular as Yuna, but you'll get there."

While her intention had been to encourage her brother, the mention of his friend's name only made his expression darken, something Miko couldn't help noticing. "Um, Sota?"

The boy shook himself out of his melancholy and looked up at his sister. "Uh, sorry, what?"

"Is there something wrong with you and Setsuna?"

"What? No-"

"Did you two have a fight?"

"NO! It's not like that. I just….I…I need a moment."

Miko didn't respond to her brother's distress, instead glancing at Mato and raising an eyebrow. Mato responded by sighing. "Yuna's been getting accused of plagiarism and Sota doesn't know if him speaking in her defense will make it worse."

"..Oh."

"Yeah," affirmed Mato, who then turned her attention to her brother. "Sota?"

"Y-yes?"

"I think you should speak up for Yuna."

"..huh?"

"Would she do it for you?"

The boy thought for a few minutes before replying. "...y-yeah. She would. I think. A-and…thank you."

"Hey, that's what family is for!" affirmed Miko. "We have to stick out for each other."

"True. Oh, and Miko?" asked the lone boy among the siblings..well, excluding a certain younger brother.

"Shoot."

"Are you almost done with the next set of art for Convoy Commander?"

At that statement, Miko blanched. "Er, almost - need a few more days. Sorry."

"It's fine," said Mato, "but don't take too long - we still need to do that big crossover video! You're the only one who hasn't finished up the art for it."

Miko just smirked. "Really? You already got the rig done for your character?"

Mato froze for a moment, but then smirked. "Yep, I did! And not because Yomi made me do that instead of looking into stuff on Artemis."

Mato soon realized that she said that last part a bit too loudly, and blanched as both of her older siblings smirked at her. "Eh..eh..ehhhhhh"

Deciding that they had teased their sister long enough, Sota and Miko refocused their attention on each other. "Before we get started on our big project, have we decided on the music yet?" asked the younger of the two.

"Are you finished with your guitar bit?"

Miko shook her head. "Getting out the last few chords right now. What about you?"

Sota nervously scratched the back of his head. "Not quite yet."

"I finished up my song!" stated Mato, who followed this up by hitting a button on her phone, letting loose a sample of the song in question.

"Nice," spoke Miko. "This is gonna be awesome!"

The three took a collective breath. "May Empress, Convoy Commander, and the Spirit Scale Rangers bring harmony to the universe!"

XxXxX

Jake looked at the hawk resting on the floor. "Well, we did it. We got the cube somewhere the Yeerks can't go. Not yet, at least."

"Yeah, we did. It's….weird having someone we can trust that much."

"It is. I still don't quite know how to act now. I mean, we still haven't told them about Erik, or him them."

"No. We haven't. When should we do that, anyway?"

"Not sure. Though now I'm worried for what would happen to him if those Decepticons found out about him - not sure even he could beat them."

"We're dealing with a race that, apparently, was fighting a war while the dinosaurs were still the ones in charge of Earth. I think you might be right."

"Maybe. But whatever happens next, at least we won't face it alone."

XxXxX

Omega One

"You got any results from that cube yet, Doc?"

Ratchet glanced at Bulkhead. "Only that it contains a type of energy that I have never encountered before, and which not even what we managed to salvage from the Iacon records provides any information on."

"Guess this is what Fowler means by uncharted waters."

"Indeed. And beyond the presence of this cube, we now face a two front war - Agent Fowler has made it clear that these yeerks are a whole new problem for mankind. Our scanners are not equipped to examine organic beings in a way that would allow us to determine who is a host to these parasites, so we will need to tighten our efforts at remaining disguised."

"Might be one of the only times I agree with you, Doc."

XxXxX

Chicago

Sandor and Stanley glanced down at their phones, both of which displayed the same message: FLIGHT DELAYED. Moments later, they turned to look at John, who was slamming his head into a wall.
Both felt like joining him.

XxXxX

AN: Okay, chapter is done!

So, some quick things to clarify:

1. Yes, that odd cape on June's cybertronian form's back is actually a set of rotor blades. I have some plans for that.
2. While I admit a lot of this probably is filler, Miko and Raf's scenes were to set up some of the things that will happen in Ties That Bind, so I don't think those ones counted as filler.
3. Regarding Sota…okay, being honest, I want all members of the Darby, Nakadai, and Esquival families that have major roles in this story to be able to contribute to a fight in some way so as to not be the load in combat, but Sota will ALWAYS be the weakest, which was a problem when figuring out what other series he would be involved in beyond Re:Creators. I've cycled through Darwin's Game (eventually rejected because the later plot arcs would conflict too heavily with what I already had planned), K (rejected because I couldn't decide which clan he would join and also because it would be too hard to justify how people hadn't noticed the stuff involving the Sword of Damocles) and a third series which is the one I decided on (no spoilers until the end of this story).
4. I pretty much outright stated which series Mato is from, but I'm not going to spoil it just yet. I'll probably post the full version of the song she made later, though, and that WILL reveal exactly what story she is from. It will only be readable on SB, SV, or AO3, though - stupid linking problem with FFN.

Going to take a break from this story to work on some of my other ones. So don't expect updates for a little bit. Read and Review at your leisure! This is Flameal15k, signing off.

 

[Marika Oniki]

Just did a minor update to the last chapter - needed to clear some things up for June's new morph that would help explain the alt-mode she chooses later on.

Click to shrink...

She's gonna be such a helicopter parent, isn't she?

 

[Flameal15k]

She's gonna be such a helicopter parent, isn't she?

Click to shrink...

Got it in one. That was exactly where I got the idea for her alt mode.

Though, for the record, I always intended one of Team Prime's newest additions to have an aerial alt-mode. Also, it was really hard to find a helicopter that fit what I had in mind for her alt-mode. For those wondering, the criteria were as follows:

1. It had to be a helicopter.
2. It must be in use by current medical services.
3. It must be big enough to hold multiple people.

So, since I don't think it's too much of a spoiler, I'll say it now: June's alt-mode will be a Bell-427.

Edit: whoops, I think I gave the designation for an osprey instead of a helicopter. ID for June's alt-mode is fixed now.

 

[Flameal15k]

Okay, I've been radio silent on most of my stories, and the ones currently updating are sporadic at best, so here's the reason:
1. Been playing Destiny, trying to get the last seasonal titles before The Final Shape drops.
2. I HAVE A NEW JOB!

So, yeah, sorry. Anyway, my stories are all on hiatus if they weren't already, unless they are dead. If you want to chat about them, use the Discord link in my signature.

Just know that if I am posting here, THE STORY IS NOT DEAD!