Phase Shifters

by Karnia_Queen

Summary:

When it comes to finding trouble, Smokescreen can’t seem to get a break. He had been on patrol when these humans in white suits captured him. Thankfully, this human who floats and claims to be a ghost rescues him. Phantom, the other humans call him or Danny, as the boy later introduces. When circumstances call for Danny to be brought to the base, questions arise on who and what exactly Danny is.

Unfortunately for Smokescreen and the rest of Team Prime, Danny Phantom also attracts trouble. If that includes a GIW and Decepticon team-up, so be it. The two soon-to-be battle partners can only hope to get out of this in one piece or as alive as they entered it.

Notes:

Hey everyone! It’s been a few months! Now for those wondering, if have been working on MedMay. About 20 of the fics are sitting in my clinical journal right now that I need to transcribe. Hopefully I’ll get to that soon. But I have also been working on this fic right here. This was a beast to write.

I would like to shoutout Valen who was my Beta and rubber duck for this fic. I complained to them so many times on scenes and Valen just made things sound better than what I was putting down. I would also like to thank Sci-Fi, my wonderful artist. They have provided two pieces of art for this fic. One down below and another y’all will see in chapter 5. Thank you to my friends Ace and Loki who were always encouraging me despite not knowing anything about this fic. Last but not least, a huge round of applause to the mod team for Invisobang! Thank you so much for running the event!

Okay, without further adue, enjoy the fic!

Chapter 1: Going Ghost

Artwork by Sci-Fi

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Smokescreen’s first thought, when he came back online, was that he had let Optimus and Ultra Magnus down. He had somehow gotten captured while on a solo recon trying to find Predacon bones or energon signatures. As for what happened, it was still trying to come back to his processor.

So, as he tried to remember what had happened, Smokescreen set to figuring out where he was. He was strapped down by his peds and servo bearings. It didn’t feel like Cybertronian metal. He would know after being chained in a Decepticon prison ship before coming to Earth. He managed to get out of that mess before finding himself strapped to the Nemesis’s medical table, getting an Omega Key ripped out of him a few weeks after joining Team Prime.

The sounds around him were…off. It was nearly silent except for the echo of some things shuffling around him.

“Sir. The ecto-entity is beginning to move,” a voice beside him spoke. It was human. Their vocal cords never had the same echo that Cybertronians’ did.

Well, the good news was that Smokescreen knew what was shuffling around him. The bad news was that he was going to get such an extreme talking to after he got out of this mess. Smokescreen had just gotten some respect from the rest of the team for what he pulled off with the Omega Keys and saving Optimus. Getting his cover blown and captured by humans was going to send that down the exhaust pipe.

A shock radiated across Smokescreen’s servo before he could think of a plan. The sensors quickly registered ‘danger’ to his HUD and instinctively attempted to move him away from the problem.

“Subject seems to react to stimuli four hours after capture.” The voice droned on before another zap radiated across his side. “Subject’s constitution does not appear to follow standard ecto-entity appearance or behavior. Form remains solid despite the use of anti-ecto devices.”

The human kept speaking. Energy levels and reactions. Times and theories. Smokescreen wasn’t able to follow along with most of it. That was Ratchet's job, not his. Still, if Smokescreen could break cover right now, he would correct the human in calling Smokescreen an it.

So, forcing himself to ignore that so he didn’t get into more trouble with Ultra Magnus and Optimus Prime (because that was going to make Smokescreen want to be eaten by scraplets), he thought about how he even got here in the first place. He had been on a routine patrol… yeah, routine patrol. It was in a section of this continent called Utah. The section of the state reminded him a little bit of Nevada with its expanse of orange dirt and rocky cliffs. The only difference was the small streams and short shrubbery that were on the ground.

He had been out for a groon or two, human equivalent to an hour or so, when these white vans started following him. Smokescreen had been cautious as they approached. He had been keeping under the speed limit like Jack had taught him, and these cars didn’t look like the local law enforcement, so it was a simple conclusion to think that they were humans who were traveling in the area.

Then a van sped past him and hit their brakes hard. Smokescreen had to swerve to avoid rear-ending the vehicle. He was now driving side by side with the white van, but hey, better than causing an accident and having to be a hit and run. Smokescreen saw the humans opening the doors and pulling out weapons. Mission reports about MECH came to his processor. Not wanting to figure out if it was them, he revved his engine and took off. The Elite Guard figured that adding speeding to his list of broken road rules in the last few minutes would be better than trying to fight humans.

He tried to comm for backup or a ground bridge. You know, proper protocol. Smokescreen had learned his lesson after being kidnapped by Soundwave. Except, all he had been able to hear was static. So comms down, humans chasing him and Smokescreen really, really trying not to break cover. Oh of all the scrap he had to find himself in.

He was trying to figure out a way to get out of this mess when he remembered his phase shifter. The rock formations gave the Elite Guard an idea. It would be much easier to ignore a car disappearing into a rock than a car becoming a giant robot.

The humans kept right on Smokescreen’s tail pipe as he turned to follow a trail close to a cliff. The small plants were crushed under his tires as he put some distance away from the group. Patience, though, is what Smokescreen needed. He just needed to hold on until… there! The rock took a sharp turn. The perfect cover.

Smokescreen spat exhaust from his intake, showing the humans why he had his name, and took the sharp turn right as he emptied the last of the smoke. With a pull on his T-cog, Smokescreen kicked himself up as his metal shifted into his robot mode. The Phase shifter was there at his beck and call. He took two steps as he activated the ancient device before transforming back into vehicle mode. Just in time, too, as the human vans turned the corner through the smoke he had left behind.

“So long,” Smokescreen smirked as he aimed himself at a cliff wall. Orange rock quickly surrounded him as he phased through. Relief flooded Smokescreen’s frame. It wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t think it was half bad considering the circumstances. “Now to find somewhere he could comm back to bas…SCRAP!”

Smokescreen exited the cliff only to be surrounded by white vehicles and a few helicopters. If the initial surprise of the situation wasn’t enough, a wire net crackling with electricity was unfurled exactly where he was heading. The Autobot couldn’t dodge. He phased through the wires, but the electricity coursing through it still had an effect on him.

His HUD quickly flashed a warning as he transformed out of vehicle mode. A tank of all things was crushed underneath him as he tumbled down the side of the small cliff he had found himself on. Smokescreen tried to move, but his frame refused to budge. Out of the corner of his optic, he saw the phase shifter shut off as the humans swarmed him.

Smokescreen knew he was in so much trouble before he went into stasis. He still was in trouble. Figured he might as well face it as quickly as he could.

However, alarms began to ring, flashing red beams even through his closed optics, before he could come up with a plan. The humans around him began to shout and move out of the room with haste. After the last of the shuffling faded away, Smokescreen dared himself to open an optic. The room was startlingly white. No color besides himself. There were tables full of equipment, some blasters, and some other things that Ratchet and Wheeljack would probably love to take apart. A few computers were being run on the other side of the room, information too far away for Smokescreen to even attempt to read.

Still, there weren’t any more humans in the room now. This was the time for Smokescreen to escape.

The restraints on his servo bearings were tightly locked into place. Thankfully, the human that captured him didn’t realize what was already on his servo bearing. The phase shifter laid waiting and ready to help in Smokescreen’s escape if he could just reach it.

“Alright, Smokescreen.” He said to himself. “You have escaped a Decepticon Prison Ship, and the Nemesis after stealing from Megatron. You can get yourself out of this.”

He yanked his opposite servo bearing against the restraints. It moved slightly, but nowhere near what he needed to escape. It would take some time for him to snap them.

“Need some help?” a voice sounded. Smokescreen snapped his optics to where the sound had come from. Nothing was there, though. “I don’t think you will be snapping those restraints anytime soon.”

He shook his helm as the voice sounded again. Maybe whatever those humans had hit him with had caused a wire in his processor to come loose. He would have to have Ratchet look at it when he got out and back to base.

“Whoops. Sorry about that.” The voice said again. The air in front of Smokescreen shimmered before a figure appeared. A human figure… Why was a human hovering above him? They couldn’t do that. He had been explicitly told by the kids they couldn’t do that. “So, you need that help?”

The human figure was pale and had messy white hair and green optics. Eyes not optics Smokescreen had to remind himself. His clothing was odd too. Not something he had seen humans wear when he was on missions. It was black and white, hugging his frame closely. The English letter D, was stamped on his chest. Then, to make things weirder, the human was glowing. Once again, not something he knew humans could do.

“Uhhh. Sure?” Smokescreen said. “Who are you?”

“Phantom. Danny Phantom at your service,” The human smiled, doing a mock bow. “And you?”

“Smokescreen,” the bot hesitantly responded. “What are you?”

Phantom floated towards Smokescreen’s left servo bearing, the same one he had been trying to rip free of the restraints. He settled on it, studying it in the process.

“Let's not get into that right now. The GIW will be back soon and I have more people to rescue besides you,” he said. The restraint suddenly went transparent where Phantom touched it. The pressure around the servo bearing vanished as well. With a simple movement, Smokescreen was free. “Now for the other three.”

“No worries on that,” Smokescreen smirked. He reached for the phase shifter on his other side and activated it. It whirled to life with its soft green glow. The Elite Guard quickly rolled off the table and found his peds, lifting himself to full height. He nearly hit the ceiling of the place as he stood.

“Whoa. How did you do that?” Phantom asked, hovering to Smokescreen’s height. “You aren’t a ghost.”

“Ghost?”

The boy opened his mouth to answer before a loud voice spoke over the comm system of the building.

“Subject Phantom-S00 has broken the perimeter,” a human sounded on the intercom, “Capture the ecto-entity immediately.”

“And that would be my cue to leave,” The boy glared at the intercom. “I would get out and find somewhere safe to hide. I don’t know why these guys captured you, but I speak from experience when I say you don’t want to find out what they will do to you.” With a quick wave, the human figure turned transparent just like the restraint had and vanished into the walls of the building.

Smokescreen shook his helm. Yeah. He was going to have Ratchet check all his systems after he got back to base. Figuring it was too late to keep his robot form secret, Smokescreen rushed out. The facility had high ceilings by human terms, but very short for Cybertronians. His helm was phased through the second level of the base while the rest of his frame was running around the first. He would dip down every once in a while to make sure he could avoid scaring humans by ‘stepping’ on them even though we would just phase through. He wasn’t a rust flake even after the whole ordeal he had just gone through.

Still, the halls were so confusing. They were all white and gave no indication of where the exit was. With no other real choice, Smokescreen just stuck to one direction, only turning when a big group of humans found him on either floor. It caused him to make quite a few turns and probably a few circles. Eventually, Smokescreen’s frame phased through the last wall. The sun was just beginning to rise in the distance. A tall metal fence, at least by human standards, surrounded the building. Smokescreen could easily jump it.

Mountains surrounded the desert valley with less green than the area he had been captured. Okay, so he didn’t seem to be too far from where he had been chased and electrocuted at. That is if his understanding of this continent’s geography was correct. He thinks he was still in the same section of Earth he had been in? That was good news at least. Right?

Smokescreen tried to comm again. The line still wouldn’t connect. Oh well… guess Smokescreen was going to have to ignore some more speeding laws and to make a break away from the jammer or just start taking the long way to base.

“Get the subject!” A voice called nearby.

Smokescreen flinched, ready to have the humans begin firing at him. Instead he saw the group of humans empty from a nearby doorway and completely ignore the towering Cybertronian standing nearby. Instead the humans moved towards another human face down in the dirt some distance away.

Wait… that was the human or whatever that had saved him.

Phantom was struggling to stand. Red and green spilled from the smoking wound on his leg.

“SECURE IT! SECURE IT!” Voices shouted as the white dressed humans kept spilling from the building. “DON’T LET IT ESCAPE!”

The way they talked about Phantom left a bad feeling in Smokescreen’s chassis. ‘I would get out and find somewhere safe to hide. I don’t know why these guys captured you but I speak from experience when I say you don’t want to find out what they will do to you,’ Phantom had said. Smokescreen vented, knowing that he was probably about to put himself into a bigger mess than he was already in. He couldn’t just leave Phantom, weird human or not, to get captured by these other guys. It didn’t feel right just leaving the boy that had freed him.

“Mind if I cut in?” The Elite Guard called.

The simple distraction had its desired effect. Blasters the humans were carrying turned on him as he ran to where they were congregated. The blasts went through the Autobot, hitting the building, and the fence behind him among other things. They dodged out of the way as Smokescreen charged, fearing that they would be crushed under his ped.

“Alright. This is our cue to leave,” Smokescreen echoed what the kid had said earlier. “Let’s get out of here.”

The boy shook his head, flickering to color and transparency. Phantom stumbled to a foot only to fall back down. Smokescreen looked back to see the humans surrounding them again, now bringing wire lines just like they had used to capture him.

Smokescreen let out a Cybertronian swear. The boy was still flickering between solid and phasing mode (look Smokescreen didn’t know what to call it right now) and Smokescreen couldn’t risk deactivating the phase shifter unless he knew the boy would stay solid so the Elite Guard could get him out.

Then a possibly dumb thought came to him. The kids had been doing homework. A formula class of some sort. Ratchet claimed it was simple, Raf agreeing with him. However, Miko did not. She kept complaining about all the rules she had to remember to properly solve one problem. One of the rules had been that two negative numbers made a positive number. Perhaps that rule applied somewhere else, like here and now.

Smokescreen carefully maneuvered his servo to pick the boy up. Even though the boy was transparent, the Elite Guard’s servo successfully picked him up and pulled him close to the frame. The phase shifter’s energy field latched onto Phantom, keeping him tangible to Smokescreen as he flickered back to color.

“Alright. Let's roll out.” Smokescreen muttered.

The Autobot summoned his cannon in the free servo and fired at the dirt below him. Dust sprayed everywhere. The humans shouted in fear and probably a bit in pain as the stuff got in their eyes. Smokescreen transformed, careful to sit Phantom in his passenger seat. The Elite Guard made sure to secure him with the seat belt before he headed as fast as he could away from the building. Even more dust kicked up as they phased through the fence and into the valley.

“Come on, come on,” Smokescreen muttered, trying the comm line again. It still gave static. Engines began sounding, and helicopter blades drew closer. “Oh, for crying out loud!”

Smokescreen revved his engine further, pushing it to the max. He couldn’t let these guys catch up to him. The range of the jamming device had to run out eventually if that was the problem. If it was his system… well… still not letting them catch up would be nice.

Smokescreen found a road and took it. More likely to get pulled over by a cop, but hopefully that would apply to these humans, too. Not to mention more speed since his wheels weren’t spinning as much on pavement compared to loose dirt. The guard kept going, keeping his optics out for the humans. The cars and helicopters in his rearview mirror began to fade until they vanished. Still, Smokescreen kept his speedometer at 150 mph until his inner systems began to overheat due to the exertion. He dipped the speed down to half that, more road-appropriate, as he kept trying the comm.

Coughing nearly caused him to swerve in surprise. Phantom began to stir in Smokescreen’s seat. A white light suddenly came from the boy around his waist. It separated, forming two rings. One that raised to his head and the other that faded at his feet. The black and white clothing he had been in changed along the glowing rings into a dirty sweatshirt, black jeans, and shoes. His eyes fought to open, now blue instead of green, while his messy white hair was replaced with black.

His face was twisted painfully, clutching the wound on his leg. The warm liquid spilling in between his fingers pooled faster in Smokescreen’s compartment. Blood and whatever the green stuff was, Smokescreen realized. This boy needed to get to a doctor fast.

“Wha…?” Phantom asked, looking around dazedly.

“Don’t panic,” Smokescreen quickly said. The boy’s eyes widened for a moment, looking at the console of the car where his helm rested when transformed. “Just repaying you for helping me out of there. I am trying to get us to safety.”

“Thanks,” The boy coughed. “Where is safe?”

“With the rest of the team I work with,” Smokescreen answered, already hearing the lecture he was going to get. “We can get you medical attention there.”

“No, no,” Phantom said, pushing off the seat. “I am fine. Just let me out when we get far…” Phantom took a sharp breath in, biting his lip.

“Don’t think that is going to be smart,” Smokescreen countered.

“No one knows how I work.” Sweat was beginning to coat the boy’s brow now as he continued to grow paler. “I have to get… away.”

“We are getting away.”

“Not…what I…” The boy mumbled before he closed his eyes once again, his hand going slack against the wound.

Smokescreen scanned him, finding his vitals well outside the typical human’s range. Not good at all. Maybe he should find the closest human city and try to hack into a phone tower to call Jack or one of the other kids. That way, he could drop this kid off for medical attention, too.

“Smokescreen. Come in, Smokescreen,” Ratchet’s voice cackled along the comms. “Can you hear me?”

“Ratchet?!” Smokescreen vented in relief. Thank Primus! “I need a ground bridge as soon as you can. I have an injured human… or something with me.”

“Did I hear you right?” the Autobot Medic paused. “You have a human with you?!”

“I’ll do a better brief at base, but humans captured me, and he helped free me. He got injured in the process.” Smokescreen explained, keeping an optic on the road and one on the person in his seat. “I couldn’t just leave him in their hands.”

There was some sputtering on the line. “Locking onto your coordinates now.”

A ground bridge quickly opened in front of him. The Elite Guard began to slow down, knowing the base had limited room to come charging in. The familiar lurch as his tires left the pavement and into the bridge jostled the two despite Smokescreen’s efforts to keep himself steady. As quickly as it came, his tires hit the concrete floor. They squealed as they came to a stop, marking their former presence over the Autobot insignia engraved into the floor.

Smokescreen would clean that up later. He just couldn’t waste time with that right now. Joints and gears fell into place as Smokescreen transformed, cradling the boy in his servo.

“By the Allspark. What happened?!” Ratchet’s familiar voice sounded, a bit panicked, Smokescreen might add.

The doctor rushed over from where he was on the controls to Smokescreen, his servos hovering over the boy. Ratchet seemed hesitant to take him, more keen on studying what was going on with him.

”I don’t know exactly what happened,” Smokescreen responded, watching as the boy’s chest moved up and down at a slow rate. “He got hit with a weapon of some sort on his leg, and he is bleeding badly. I don’t think he is a typical human though.”

”What makes you say that?” Ratchet scoffed.

”Well, he was flying, glowing, and could move through walls like I can with the phase shifter.” The Doctor looked like he was about to argue. The Elite Guard answered with a challenging glare. “Yes, I know how that sounds, but either it happened or I have more than a few wires loose. Kind of figured it's the first since I don’t think humans are supposed to bleed green.”

Okay… so Smokescreen was a little worried. Ratchet realized the rookie didn’t mean to snap by the way he didn’t snap back. Just vented harshly and activated his scanner. He had seen eons of war and injuries. Fear and anger often came with it, so he learned how to deal with bots feeling those feelings too.

“Besides that leg wound, he doesn’t seem to have any major injuries,” the med bot stated as he scanned the boy. His optic ridges were pinched together. “I have already notified Nurse Darby. We will be ground bridging her momentarily. Keep an eye on him and hold him still until she gets here. I’ll get something to stop that wound from bleeding.”

Smokescreen gave a swift nod, pulling him closer to his chassis (which was now getting covered in more red and green) in an attempt to hold him steadier. Ratchet found a bunch of gauze, as the humans called it, to soak up the leaking wound. Smokescreen helped keep the pressure on it as Ratchet left to bridge Nurse Darby in.

As soon as she got here, followed closely by Jack, Raf, and Miko, Smokescreen lowered the boy down, letting him rest on a small, rolling bed Jack had found and let the nurse work.

“His vitals are low but steady,” the nurse declared as she ran the human version of diagnostic tests. “I am going to pull him around to the other side for some privacy.”

”Of course,” Ratchet nodded respectfully. Nurse Darby was the only human he did that for. A respect reserved for Optimus or Ultra Magnus. “Let us know if there is anything we can do to help.”

The nurse gave a curt nod, “Jack, follow me to assist, Raf, Miko, head up to the main area.”

”But we want to help!” Raf cried as he and others vanished further into base.

The voices clambered off into mutters and then whispers as they walked further and further away. Smokescreen was left looking at his own servos. Red blood and whatever the green had been was beginning to dry on his plating and joints.

“Now for you,” a voice snapped him out of his stare. Ratchet had gotten extremely close to Smokescreen.

”What?” Smokescreen instinctively backed up.

“Don’t think you are getting away that easy,” Ratchet glared unwavering. One of his digits wiped against the contents on his frame. He paused for only a moment to study it. “You are sitting here on the berth while I repair you. Ultra Magnus and Optimus will surely have questions for you when they return.”

Smokescreen looked around for the first time. It was odd to not have a bot at base right now. The day was only beginning. “Where is everyone?”

“Looking for you of course!” The doctor yelled, looking as if he was ready to smack Smokescreen across the head with one of his tools. “Now go wash that stuff off of you and report here so I can deal with your injuries while I notify the others.”

“Yes sir,” Smokescreen quickly said, not wanting to upset Ratchet even more.

The Elite Guard moved to the decontamination pod down the hall. He was thorough but quick with his work, trying not to focus on how the red and green flaked off his paint.

He wasn’t comfortable being so far from the boy for some reason. Perhaps Smokescreen just felt responsible for what happened to him. Phantom had stopped to save Smokescreen and that had cost time and energy. Time and energy that probably put Phantom in the position to get injured.

Not wanting to dwell on that just like the stuff falling off his frame, Smokescreen quickly got everything off and reported back to Ratchet. He had a feeling he was going to have to keep himself in whatever good graces he could get right now. Blowing cover, fighting humans, bringing one to base…. yeah, Smokescreen was so in trouble.

——-

“We lost their signatures sir,” Agent C reported.

Commander V let out a subtle growl causing Agent C and the rest of the agents around him to back up. Commander V didn’t have the nicest reputation. He was known to get stuff done and chew out anyone that got in his way, whether it be within the organization or outside it. It was how he had risen from a mere agent, determined to prove the GIW wasn’t a joke of an agency, to one of the five commanders of the secret government organization. Even better, he was the commander assigned over the duties of capturing the ghosts for study and experimentation. The heart of the GIW instead of those of biological studies, equipment development, government politics or security.

With his position in the GIW, the commander was quite surprised it took him this long to see the infamous Phantom. The ghost that could imitate life. A ghost that tricked humans for months, maybe even years. Better yet, it tricked the original ghost experts that it was their son for whatever time Phantom had decided to play its sick game. Nothing could have pleased Commander V more than to find out Phantom had been impersonating Danny Fenton. At last it was proven that the Ghost Investigation Ward were truly the experts on ghosts and the only ones that could protect humanity from them. Not Vlad Masters, not the Fentons, not the hundreds of naive people who claimed to be ghosts hunters. Only the GIW stood unwavering and diligent in their duties.

Still… Phantom had escaped the hold of the GIW multiple times now. Many times within Amity Park and then the incident with Base Miteen last year. Now the ghost had escaped and released fellow ghosts including their most recent and unique specimens, Subject Ir8-Gi11. It was a stain on Commander V’s perfect record. One that he would see fixed.

They had captured Subject Ir8-GI11’s energy signature right before sunset. It was so…unique in comparison to the usual ectoplasm ghosts had. They needed to take it apart and study it. Its transportation had been difficult though. They never expected anything that big nor it being unable to be captured by both GIW and Fenton equipment. They couldn’t even get it out of its armor it had housed itself in. It was almost as if that armor kept it safe from anything they had tried or perhaps… this was a different type of ghost entirely.

Hardly the time for those thoughts though. Subject Ir8-Gi11 had taken Subject S00-Phantom and escaped in the chaos. Some form of symbiotic connection Phantom tended to form with others of its kind. One Commander V would leave the scientists to study when S00-Phantom was recaptured. Now though, Subject Ir8-Gi11’s ability to alter its armor into a sports vehicle made it difficult to catch without their helicopters properly in the air.

“Commander V,” an agent shouted as he ran to the gathered group of agents and vehicles. “We have some news for you.”

“Good, I hope,” he glared. Sternly felt though the shades blocked his eyes.

“Yes sir,” the nameless agent said, delivering a tablet to the commander. “One of our blasts injured Subject Ir8-Gi11. It left traces of its ectoplasm.”

“That is… something.” The commander muttered as he took the tablet..

“Better yet sir, we are able to track it and look what we found,” he said, gesturing to the device he had handed over.

The commander glared at the screen. The energy of the blue ectoplasm found within Ir8-Gi11 was at a different range than normal ectoplasm. Guys in White scientists within Base Beehive were already conducting experiments with their limited sources. However, that wasn’t the only thing.

“There are high amounts of blue ectoplasm in Washington. We are ready to send a team there whenever you are ready, sir.” The agent voiced what the commander was reading. “There also seems to be yet another form of ectoplasm there as well.”

“Make sure those assigned to Base Coffee are ready to receive a small team of agents and scientists, Agent..?”

“Agent S, sir.”

“Agent S,” Commander V continued. “I want us to depart in two hours and not a second later.”

“Yes, sir!” Agent S saluted before running off.

”Now the rest of you!” The GIW commander glared at every single agent. “You are to clean, repair, and train every hour you are clocked in until this place is spotless and you will no longer be incompetent in your jobs! Are we clear?!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Now move out!”

Chapter 2: Robots in Disguise

Notes:

Hey everyone! Who is ready for Chapter 2? I honestly wanted to do so much with this chapter, but sometimes it just wasn't flowing correctly, so it ended up being shorter than I wanted. Still, I hope yall love the chapter. See you at the end.

“... And that is when I managed to grab him from the humans.”

Ultra Magnus began asking even more questions about what happened. Jack winced. He did not want to be on the other end of a talking-to from Ultra Magnus if he could help it. Still hard to believe anything that Smokescreen was saying. Well… the humans capturing him was believable. MECH may be no more, but Jack wouldn’t put it past humanity to produce another organization that is keen on studying bots. It was that the boy had somehow rescued Smokescreen via phasing in without a phase shifter or any other assorted tech, flown, and had somehow changed his hair and eye color in the matter of two seconds. And that was from what Jack was able to overhear after everyone started arriving back at base. He figured there was more he had been missing.

It had been a few hours since the two had gotten to Unit E. Mom had gotten the wound on the boy’s leg cleaned and wrapped, but for everything else, she waited on. Not that she didn’t want to, but Mom was only a nurse. While she admitted she had seen enough in her career as a nurse to do other people’s jobs, she wasn’t really supposed to be prescribing IVs, medications, taking X-rays, or running other tests. While keeping a careful eye on the kid, she contacted Agent Fowler and arranged for a way to ‘legally’ take care of him. Mom clearly wasn’t going to let the kid die or get to the point of major problems, but she would like to keep her nursing license if anything came back to bite.

The end result ended up being an army doctor at another base giving permission for his mom to do all the tests she wanted (within reason), and he would sign off on it and anything odd that came back. So here they were now.

“You are dropping the bag, Jack,” Mom said, directing Jack’s attention back where it was supposed to be.

Jack raised the IV bag higher. Jack needed to keep the IV bag 36 inches or about 90 centimeters above the boy. Until Raf and Miko came back with a pole of some sort to do the job, at least. Jack sighed. The random knowledge that somehow stuck while he had helped his mom study during nursing school.

Jack cast his eyes to where his mom was working, ignoring the bots who were currently in the base gathering around the Elite Guard rookie. The area where his mom and Jack were treating the boy wasn’t necessarily private. They had a medical wing until one of the Wreckers decided to get way too far into their training and ended up damaging that room and the medical wing adjacent to it. So, they worked in the main room in a small corner by the main control center until the base could be repaired.

Mom shuffled back and forth from task to task. She had a clipboard and pencil sitting beside her, only disturbed when she finished taking the unconscious boy’s vitals for the fifth time. Mom still couldn’t explain why those vitals were so low. Vitals typically dropped while resting, like the boy was, but not this low.

Something else about him wasn’t sitting right with Jack. Smokescreen could’ve misunderstood something. He was still fairly new to Earth but believed he knew what he saw. Jack had a dreaded feeling that his life was about to get more complicated.

“We’re back,” Miko sang as she popped around the corner.

She wheeled the IV pole she had stolen from somewhere on the military base (hopefully with permission). Raf followed behind, carrying a small stack of clothes.

“Thank you,” Jack nearly snatched the pole from Miko to hang the bag.

Miko's eyes glimmered for a moment. She tugged, giving a bit of a fight for the pole. With a stern glare, Jack swiped it out of the exchange student’s hand. She stuck out her tongue teasingly as she let Jack hang the bag. Raf set the clothes on the small tableside beside the bed before leading Miko out of the way from where Mom was still working.

Finally relieved of his IV duty, Jack took the side of the bed. He watched as his mom felt around the boy’s hands and legs, then moved to the main body, feeling around the sides. Mom’s eyes pinched together as she felt the boy’s upper chest, hands feeling for a little bit longer.

“Jack, help me get his shirt off, please,” Mom said, meticulously producing her fabric scissors from her first aid kit.

With a nod, Jack held the shirt away from his neck as his mom snipped the fabric away, gliding down along the shirt’s seam. The specially made scissors made quick work of the task. With a small pull, the boy was free of his shirt.

“What the..?!” Mom’s voice dropped.

Jack’s mouth wobbled open, seeing the same thing she was. A jagged Y was shaped on the boy’s torso. It was red, inflamed, and clearly painful.

“Ittai nanda,” Miko whispered, peeking her head over Mom’s shoulder. “That’s not something you see every day.”

There was a pause in all motion or noise until Mom moved. She lowered her hand to the scar, hesitant and shaking.

“Who could do this?” Her voice whispered.

Her finger barely touched the scar when the boy awoke, flinching away as if his Mom’s hand had been white hot iron. His blue eyes shimmer green for a second. They went wide, quickly glancing at the person above him. The boy grasped Mom’s wrist and threw her off of him before Jack even realized what was going on.

“Mom!” Jack yelled, watching as Miko and Raf caught her.

Jack grabbed the boy, keeping him from jumping off the bed, scared he intended to harm his mother even more.

“Let me go!” The boy yelled, thrashing hard.

“Calm down,” Jack demanded instead.

The boy leaned back, causing Jack to shift his weight in an attempt to keep hold. It failed though. It seemed his hands had moved through the boy. Jack tumbled onto the concrete floor, left arm radiating with pain. He really hoped he hadn’t just broken or dislocated anything. Still, Jack quickly got back up on his feet.

The boy was standing now. His eyes shifted back and forth between Jack and his mom, and friends on his other side. His muscles were tense, ready to spring.

“My name...” Mom attempted.

The boy scrambled away, stumbling into the table behind him before Mom could finish trying to calm him. It fell over with him, dumping the contents onto the floor with a thud.

“Whoa. Calm down,” Miko called, moving to help the boy up.

“Everything okay over here?” Heavy pedsteps came from around the corner.

Miko froze. Everyone did except for Mom. She was trying to keep the bot from coming around the corner. It was too late, though. The boy’s eyes locked on Bulkhead.

“Scrap,” Bulkhead muttered as the Wrecker realized what was going on.

The teen grabbed the black shirt that had fallen beside him and bolted. Like a switch, everyone started moving after him.

“Hold on a second,” Bulkhead said, kneeling to block the way with his servo.

The boy didn’t stop, though. His skin turned translucent before he went through Bulkhead’s extended appendage. Bulkhead let out a small scream of surprise. Jack’s brain stuttered. Smokescreen had been right. Jack had just seen it, and it was still hard to believe. The teen had helped aliens fight a war for the last year, so of course, people being intangible could be real too.

“Oh, what is going on over there?! I am trying to work!” Ratchet yelled.

Jack sprinted around Bulkhead. Most of the bots were still standing around Smokescreen, who was sitting at the medical berth. Ratchet had a blowtorch in his hand, trying to repair said bot on the berth.

The boy didn’t falter at the optics staring at him as he came around the corner. Merely threw on the shirt he had grabbed and kept running towards the target in his line of sight, the open hangar doors.

“Hey. Stop!” Jack called.

Some of the bots scrambled to help as carefully as they could. Arcee, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack moved between the boy and the exit, attempting the same thing Bulkhead had. However, just like previously, the boy passed through the tangle of servos and peds as if they didn’t exist.

Wheeljack and Arcee said something in Cybertronian. Knowing them, probably nothing his mom wanted him to learn. Jack weaved and jumped through the peds and servos. He was catching up, but the distance was still too great. If the boy made it outside and went invisible, Jack wouldn’t be able to catch him.

Jack could not believe that was a sentence he thought with all seriousness.

Then, loud ped steps pounded on the ground in quick succession before a blue ped blocked the door at the last possible second. Jack expected the boy to go running, though, as he turned transparent. However…

SMACK!

Everyone who heard the sound winced as the boy tumbled to the floor. Jack even stopped running to pay respects to that wonderful run-in with a solid object.

“Oooowwww,” the boy slurred out, attempting to get back up, stumbling onto his knees as his legs gave way.

“Sorry about that,” Smokescreen said, shutting off his phase shifter.

“Wh…what?” The boy looked up, eyes dazed.

Before the boy could shake off that hit or Jack could make it to him, Smokescreen scooped up the boy in his servo. As they ascended back up, the boy became more aware of what was going on around him. Blue eyes darted between the bot holding him, the other bots around, and everything else.

“How did you do that?” The boy shouted, backing to the edge of Smokescreen’s servo.

The Elite Guard smiled, placing his other servo behind the boy to catch him in it as he tumbled off. “My phase shifter,” he answered, gesturing to the item on his free servo bearing. “Found out during our whole escape for those white fabric-wearing humans that it cancels out your own phasing when it’s activated.”

“Intangibility,” the boy said, almost calmly. Smokescreen gave a small head tilt. “The phasing. It’s called intangibility.”

“Good to know,” Smokescreen smiled.

The calmness that had been there quickly faded. “Okay. Can I make like a banana and split, please?”

“Forgive us, young one,” familiar heavy ped steps interrupted any more conversation that was going to come. “But there are some matters that we need to speak about.”

The Autobots parted like the Red Sea, dispersing the crowd that had formed around Smokescreen and the boy. Jack followed suit, still taking a place in front of the Arcee so he could see what was happening. He wasn’t the only one, as Miko, Raf, and Mom appeared beside him.

“You okay?” His mom whispered in his ear.

“Fine. You?”

Jack gave a small sigh at his mom's nod. That was good at least.

“Who are you?” The boy, as the Bot who had addressed him, approached.

The large frame of red and blue appeared. There was an aura of strong but gentle that Jack didn’t know how he was able to exude. Maybe something with the Matrix of Leadership. No… even as Orion Pax, he had that. He just had to be who he was.

“I am Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots.” The Last of the Primes spoke. “We have some questions we would like you to answer for us.”

-------

There were so many people. So many people he didn’t know. The lady held her wrist as she tried to regain her balance. The two kids looked at Danny in shock while the only other adult… wait, no, that was a kid too, began shouting something…Danny couldn’t process it right now because all he saw was people trying to get closer and closer. Danny’s breath caught in his throat.

There were others. They weren’t safe. He wasn’t safe. Danny had to go.

Danny had tumbled into something. He found a shirt falling into his lap a second later. More words were said, but he hadn’t heard them. Then, there was a giant robot hovering over him. Danny had had enough fights with Skulker and Technus to know that he didn’t want to deal with that. He knew his limits. With his ectoplasm so low, it was either fighting a giant robot or escaping people. Not both. Danny just grabbed the shirt to cover his scar and bolted.

Thankfully, Danny found the exit quickly. There were hangar doors just a sprint away. However, even more robots stood in his way. He was glad he was picking the running option now. Danny smiled internally though. He had fared worse before. A little intangibility would get him through as long as they weren’t anti-ecto robots. From his expert experience, that was not the case. So he bolted, phasing through the robots as they tried to smash him. The cool wash of his power kept settling him with a bit of relief. He was almost out, almost free. Just had to use the last of his ecto to switch from intangible to invisible when he….

Next thing Danny knew, he was seeing stars. Like, seriously. He would be that person in a cartoon show that had the birds flying around him as he staggered back and onto his butt. He was honestly lucky he hadn’t broken his nose when he ran into…wait… what did he run into?

The halfa staggered to his feet. Tried to anyway. He failed, tumbling down to his knees. He shook his head in an attempt to get his bearings back and try again. That was until a giant hand scooped him up, and suddenly the floor was a lot further away. One of the robots had him, one he recognized. It was the one he rescued from the GIW.

It was blue and gold with a white stripe down the center. There were headlights on the side of his chest, centered with a crest of some sort. That is right. Hadn’t the robot turned into a car at one point. The robot had introduced himself as Smokescreen. He apparently could gain intangibility too when using his phase shifter on his wrist, a strange-looking watch thingy that pulsed with a light green energy.

Danny was suddenly putting together why the Ghost Investigation Ward wanted this robot. Even Danny could assume this bot was a ghost. Thankfully he had this ghost sense to tell him the robot was indeed not a spirit of the dead.

For some reason, seeing something so familiar to him calmed him down for like two seconds. What could Danny say? He was low on ectoplasm, low on sleep, injured, and who knows fudge where? Give him a break.

Danny got some composure to make a small joke about leaving. He was begging that this robot would just let him. He didn’t know who was in charge of it, but if it wasn’t the Ghost Investigation Ward, he would assume he could just skedaddle away with an excuse that he would be heading back home.

There was no such luck as a new voice appeared and a new… power? That was weird. A quick glance at where he felt the power and the footsteps coming his way told him who had spoken.

If Danny had thought the bot that had him was big, the other one was huge. He was wider and bulkier than Smokescreen. The same shade of blue Smokescreen had adorned the robot’s feet and a few parts of the armor on his shoulders and waist. Otherwise, the bot was a bright red with silver anywhere the rest of the armor wasn’t. The same crest rested on the giant robot’s shoulder.

As the robot walked forward, the others around it quickly moved out of the way so it wouldn’t be impeded. The rest of the robots (that Danny soon realized had the same crest somewhere on them) gathered around Danny and the two robots. He could even hear the woman and three kids that he had been running from down below doing the same thing. Danny couldn’t explain it, but he just felt so much respect pour out into the room.

“I am Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots.” The giant robot spoke, giving a small gesture to the robots around him. “We have some questions we would like you to answer for us.”

“Uhh…” That was all Danny’s short-circuited brain could supply. “What is an Autobot?”

“We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. We Autobots are a faction in a centuries-long civil war with the Decepticons.” The robot explained, a small wave of sadness coming from him. “We have been on this planet for some time as robots in disguise, protecting humanity from Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons.”

“Uh huh….” Danny blankly nodded. “Yeah…I have to be dreaming or something. I never thought my brain was creative enough to come up with a society of literal talking cars living secretly right under our noses. If only Mr. Lancer could see me now. Maybe I would rank up from constant migraine to immediate eye roll.” His voice edged into hysterics, and he tugged his hair to steady himself. “Fun hallucination, though. A-Plus for creativity.”

Suddenly, the hand below him tossed him up a little. He quickly latched onto one of Smokescreen’s fingers. Danny’s knees only left the metal for less than a second, but it was enough to get a small yelp out of him.

“Why did you do that?!” Danny snapped, glaring at the amused bot holding him. The halfa felt the emotion more than seeing it from the grin on the robot’s face.

“Isn’t it a human thing to wake up if you feel like you are falling or something?” the robot shrugged. “Just trying to help prove to you it wasn’t a dream. I wasn’t actually going to hurt you.”

“Yeah.” The anger faded into something Danny couldn’t identify.

That was a thing. Jazz had explained it to him. He thinks it was because of the adrenaline rush or something, if he remembers right. So if he hadn’t woken up after thinking he was falling, that meant….

“YOU’RE ALIENS?! ALIENS ARE REAL?!” His eyes nearly blew out of their sockets.

There was some comment from the people down below, one of the kids specifically, but it didn’t register to Danny. It could have been the distance, but considering his enhanced hearing, he would assume it was the pure childlike glee that he was feeling right now. Danny had dreamed of meeting aliens since he fell in love with space.

“Oh, I have so many questions,” Danny scrambled to the edge of Smokescreen’s fingers. Smokescreen’s other hand quickly shot out to the edge of the other in an attempt to catch him as if he was going to fall… again that is. The halfa wasn’t that dumb, even with his excitement. “Where exactly is your planet? How advanced is your technology? Have you had any interaction with humans before this?”

Optimus raised his hand, causing Danny to stop before he could continue. The half-ghost promptly clicked his jaw shut. Danny wanted to be offended (maybe even a little afraid), but the large alien –Alien! Oh, ancients that would never get old– felt not amused but not annoyed either. Like the way adults feel when they’re talking to someone younger than them.

“All in due time, young one. However, it has come to our attention that other humans now know of our existence and that you rescued Smokescreen here by… unnatural human means.” Danny’s body and mind plunged into icy waters. Perhaps sensing his hesitation, the leader lowered his hand. “We ask only who you escaped from and how you managed to do so, for our safety as well as humanity’s.”

Oh…Oh Fudge! Smokescreen’s secret wasn’t the only one that was blown. Danny, being a half-ghost, also was! Or at least him not being human. Like if they had no idea about humanity, sure, he could play it off, but there were four other people down there who could tell them otherwise. Though it seemed clear that Optimus already knew that. Dannny couldn’t exactly explain the Guys in White either. That would lead to a whole lot of info that could be putting a huge target on all ghosts. Danny didn’t want to chance it, considering his own species' reaction to it.

“Whoa. How are you getting so cold?” Smokescreen asked, flexing his fingers.

Danny thankfully took the distraction and looked down. Frost was slowly forming on the metal below him. The halfa quickly pulled on his core to make the ice disappear. It had been a while since he had lost control of his powers like that.

“It's… It is nothing,” Danny tried to wave off, standing as steadily as he could. “Look I am sorry, Mr. Optimus, sir, but I would really not like to talk about it. I can make sure that no problems arise with your secret and those idiots that captured Smokescreen.”

“As much as I would hope the situation could be resolved that simply,” Optimus left no room for argument, “we cannot take any risks.”

Danny fumbled. He could try to make another run for it. Just leave the conversation with a ‘Thank you for letting me check meet aliens off my halfa-bucket list’ then vanishing into nowhere. However, they could try and track him down, too, and Danny really didn’t want more people trying to find him. Yet, just like Optimus, it was a risk to himself and others that kept Danny from speaking.

“Does it have to do with them calling me an ecto-entity and you confusing me for a ghost?” Smokescreen shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

“Whoa! What?!” A voice called from below as Danny stopped breathing. “Like dead people?!”

“Miko!” One of the others yelled to the voice, which promptly went quiet.

“Preposterous,” The attention in the room quickly turned to one of the other robots. He was orange and white with the heartbeat lines drawn onto his arms. He was boxier and seemed a bit older than the others in the room. “A dead human walking around? Of all the absurd things to come from this planet.”

Another Autobot came into the discussion. However, what he said was a complete loss to Danny. While the bots he had seen were accented with other colors, this one seemed to be primarily yellow but was just covered more prominently in black detailing. He wore a face guard over where his mouth would be and let out a series of whirs and beeps, talking in his own language.

“Bumblebee bears a valid point. We have seen many things since we have come to make this planet our home. Of those things, including powers that can resurrect our kind from beyond the Allspark.” Optimus turned from his comrades and back to Danny. A firm and steadfast gaze against the boy’s quaking knees. “It would not be too questionable a conclusion for Earth inhabitants to have their own means to do much the same.”

Every eye was on him, and Danny really, really was ready to jump off the hand that held him in the air as a result. “And what would you do with me if I were?” He straightened himself, trying to look a lot more confident than he was.

Optimus looked at him for a moment, as if deciding how to respond. “Smokescreen has said that you go by Danny Phantom.”

“Uh…yes or just Phantom or Danny, but usually just Danny,” the halfa stuttered before waving his hands around. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

“Danny, your existence is new to us, and with the capturing of Smokescreen from those you have a history with, it has made it a possibility that our two entities have the likelihood of clashing.” The Leader spoke softly as if comforting a child. “It is paramount as leader of the Autobots that I must make sure no harm comes to them from any source, including humans.”

“You…you are more concerned about them than you are me?” Danny tilted his head. “That's a first.”

“From Smokescreen’s report, previous experiences, and our interaction now, yes,” Optimus said, now taking another small step forward. “So once again I ask, who are they?”

Danny took a deep breath, trying to steel his nerves. He had to remind himself that he had faced the ghost king, survived the GIW, so he could do this.

“Simply put, ghost hunters.” Danny declared, making direct eye contact. “They must have thought Smokescreen here was a ghost. He can tell you that I was surprised to see him when I found him.”

“I can confirm that Optimus,” Smokescreen nodded.

“They are only after me.” Danny continued folding his arms. “Knowing them, if they realized Smokescreen wasn’t a ghost, they would have lost interest. If they didn’t, your secret is safe. I can easily keep them distracted from looking for Smokescreen or any… Autobot was it?... until they basically forget about ‘a strange ghost’ they happened to find once.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Smokescreen said, moving his hand higher and closer to himself so Danny would be as well. “They shot at you and called you an ‘it’ and you want to put a target on yourself while you are injured.”

“Done it before and I’ll do it again if needed.” Danny shrugged. Honestly, it was just normal at this point in his life. “Besides, my being here just puts y'all in more danger of being found by them since they can track my ectoplasmic signature.”

“Your what?” A large green robot in the circle spoke.

“Green stuff that I bleed,” Danny explained quickly before looking back at the leader. “Look, sir, just throw me outside and I will leave and won’t bother you or speak about aliens being on earth.”

“We aren’t really going to throw him out, right?” A small, cobalt female-like robot asked the leader.

“Nah,” another robot voiced. He was mostly white with green and red accents on his chest. He seemed battle-worn if the scratches on him were anything to go by. “Prime isn’t like that.”

“It seems you have been learning, soldier,” another bigger bot said. He seemed like he could be related to Optimus. He was also bulkier with blue and red, except he was more blue than red. The white bot scoffed at the blue one in response.

“Arcee, Wheeljack, Ultra Magnus,” Optimus said sternly but softly. The other bots quickly quieted before turning back to Danny. “Is there any other information that you are willing to give us?”

Danny flinched under the gaze but kept his head held high. “You want to protect those you care about by making sure your secret is safe. The same thing applies to me.”

The halfa’s heart pounded in his chest. The emotion in the air still hadn’t shifted. There was no disgust, no fear, no scheming, just confusion and… pity?

“I would like to ask you to stay here until your wounds are healed. Our shielding on our base will keep these ghost hunters from finding you,” Optimus said. “It will allow us time to make sure the humans who captured Smokescreen will not be looking to find us.”

A place to rest and sleep sounded too good to be true, but even as Optimus spoke, Danny’s body was beginning to betray him. He wanted to curl up in a proper bed so bad.

“Nurse Darby,” The leader looked to the woman below. “Would you finish binding Danny’s wounds and lead him to one of the spare chambers?”

“Of course, Optimus,” The woman said.

The hand Danny stood on moved below him, slow and steady. Smokescreen brought his hand to the floor to where the humans below stood. The halfa just stood there for a moment. He had been watching the robot's emotions (still needed to figure out how he did that later), but he hadn’t really figured out what the humans thought of him.

“Raf, Miko, could you head back up to the control area. I bet Ratchet could use your help more than I can now,” Nurse Darby said, sensing Danny’s hesitation. “Jack, can you grab me the other med kit in your barracks?”

“But Mom,” the boy argued even as Danny kept himself from laughing at the boy with his Dad’s name.

“Now, Jack,” The woman said with that stern glare that no child could argue with. After a quick look at Danny, Jack and the other two kids moved away to wherever the nurse had said. “If you could follow me, Danny. I’ll bring you back to our temporary medical area.”

The nurse turned her back and walked a few steps before looking back. Not the actions someone who wanted to capture Danny would do. Slowly, he stepped off and began to follow. He kept his senses on high alert as he followed her back. Still, he took a look back over his shoulder to the robots - once again ALIENS!- to see Smokescreen standing back up. He gave a smile and nod, and for some reason, it reminded him a bit of his sister Jazz. She was always someone he could trust, so would it be so bad to trust him?

Guess Danny would find out in due time.

----------

It seemed no one respected Knockout on this spark forsaken ship. He was a medic. A very good medic. One that deserved praise and recognition. He didn’t painstakingly take care of his finish for it to get ignored. Well… maybe he did it for himself but he would like some comments of praise on how any frame looking into it shined on his chassis. Praise on how he helped buff out dents and scratches from the crew, kept Lord Megatron’s dark energon levels stable and kept his finish looking this good would probably be better actually.

But nooooo…. He was sent on a simple scout mission. Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded too much if Breakdown was able to come with him. It wasn’t to be though after that traitorous Airachnid murdered the former Wrecker. Alas, Knockout would follow Lord Megatron’s orders. At least he was leading it instead of Commander Starscream. Knockout would be punished for his own mistakes and not Starscream dragging him into a scrap heap of vodo again.

A mining operation in a state called Washington had failed to report in. With the Autobots being more of a nuisance as of late, especially with their victory destroying Dark Mount, Lord Megatron wanted to make sure they hadn’t seized the mine. So the ever loyal Soundwave gathered a force for Knockout to take to the mine and opened a ground bridge to it. The hideous thing called humidity hit Knockout (more importantly his finish) as soon as he and the other Vehicons exited the bridge.

A hole in the cliff wall indeed indicated one of their mining efforts. The line of white vehicles and mass of fleshies were not. They scurried about, hooking up offline and in stasis Vehicons to those hideous white vehicles. Seriously, dirt and grime was already coating their undercarriages. They needed a much better color if they were going to be operating in these conditions. The fleshies, still completely oblivious to Knockout and the Decepticon forces behind them, still worked.

“Sir, what should we do?” a Vehicon to the right leaned in. “They aren’t the Autobots.”

“Quite the observation,” Knockout sneered.

The Vehicon backed up to his original position. He did have a point though. The Decepticons were on strict orders not to have the human populace of the planet discover them. Something about creating another problem Megatron didn’t want to deal with. However, they clearly couldn’t let the humans drag these miners away. Once was already enough to prove how low humans could go when they studied Cybertronians.

Curse Silas too.

Knockout was about to give the order when something caught the corner of his optic. Along with the energon the humans were lifting onto their big rigs, a container of purple stopped his voice box. Of all things for these humans to find it had to be that cursed Dark Energon. If it was up to Knockout, he would toss any he found into the surface of this solar system’s sun.

However, once again, Knockout was not the one truly in charge.

“Lord Megatron,” Knockout commed to the Nemesis. “I have found the reason for the mine’s downfall but it is not the Autobots.”

“What is it then, Knockout?” The Decepticon leader growled back. Clearly he was not in the mood for a little bit of fun.

“Humans, my lord. They have seemed to uncover Dark Energon,” Knockout declared, pulling out his staff with a flourish. “I shall have them exterminated for you and your prize seized.”

“Dark Energon?” Megatron mused. Knockout could picture him giving a subtle smile to Soundwave as he thought of a plan in the depths of his mind.

“There are more of them!” one of the fleshies suddenly shouted.

Firearms and weapons were quickly pointed at the Decepticons. Knockout grinned. Sure the blood would be a pain to get off his paint, but even the doctor knew when a sacrifice had to be made. He had been wanting to squish squishies since Silas placed himself where Breakdown’s spark was supposed to be. A successful mission like this would also put Knockout back in Lord Megatron’s good graces. Only Starscream would have to worry about the warlord’s wrath for some time. It would be perfect.

“Get ready to capture the ghosts!” another shouted. “Secure the ectoplasm.”

Knockout raised an optic ridge. What nonsense were the humans shouting? Ghosts? Ectoplasm? Things from those old films at the drive-in theaters? Perhaps these humans had the equivalent to a screw loose…. or severe processor damage.

“Knockout. Hold your fire for a moment.” Megatron’s voice crackled. “I want to hear what these humans might have to say.”

“I…WHAT?!” Knockout nearly spat out oil. “Talk to these creatures.”

“Soundwave has gained access to some of their servers. They may have some information for us.” Lord Megatron spoke. “The means to locate Dark Energon has also been a hindrance to us for some time. If they have the ability to do so, I want it before the Autobots can.”

Knockout shuddered. Whether it was more at the voice of the Decepticon leader, being around more Dark Energon, or having to converse with these fleshies, he didn’t know. Either way, he wasn’t going to like this. He was sooooo treating himself to an oil bath after he got back to the ship.

“Of course, my lord.” Knockout vented.

The humans hadn’t moved in this whole time. Merely waiting for Knockout to make his move. Truly incompetent if that is indeed what they were doing. Distantly, Knockout caught the sound of a familiar buzzing. Laserbeak was somewhere above, watching the mine and probably sending it live to Megatron.

There was no way out.

“Humans!” Knockout called. “You have attacked a Decepticon Energon mine. Release our… comrades… and explain your business with us.”

The Vehicons beside him began to shuffle behind him in confusion. Knockout quickly called them back to stop with a sneer. If they wanted to question him on using human entertainment as a means of trying to communicate, they could repair themselves next time.

The humans hesitated, looking at each other, not knowing what to do. That was until one of them emerged from the group. The human was flanked by two others, carrying guns of some sort, guns that Knockout wasn’t used to seeing humans carry.

“By the order of the Anti-Ecto Acts, the Ghost Investigation Ward had taken control of this mine and the ghosts operating it,” the lead human called. “Surrender to us.”

“We seem to have a misunderstanding,” Knockout gleamed. “We are Decepticons. The future of Cybertron. Under the command of the Mighty Megatron. We are far from your fairytales of the dead.”

The leader stared, his visor keeping his dull organic optics hidden. Slowly, one of the humans beside him slowly leaned over and whispered something to him that Knockout’s audio receptors weren’t able to pick up. The human listened and mulled over whatever his lesser said to him.

“My colleague here has informed me that there might be some truth to what you are saying,” the human yelled.

Knockout fought the urge to roll his optics. Truly, how did the Autobots find the only three competent human pets on the planet?

“We came across one of your kind nearly 24 hours ago. Subject Ir8-Gi11 was found following the energy signature of blue ectoplasm, which we followed here along with the purple ectoplasm whose energy levels are closer to that of normal ectoplasm,” the man explained. “With our mission to eliminate ghosts, we must understand ectoplasm to its fullest extent.”

“They came across a Cybertronian,” Megatron mused over the comm line.

Knockout knew what he was thinking. No Decepticon had been reported missing or dead since the Terrorcon incident, well, that was until now. If it wasn’t a Decepticon they came across, it would have been an Autobot. An Autobot their own scanners weren’t able to come across.

“This subject of yours. Where are they now?” Knockout asked.

“Escaped with Subject S00-Phantom,” the man yelled, stepping closer to the Decepticon party. “He exhibited the properties of a ghost by shooting his ectoplasm from himself and becoming intangible.”

Knockout smiled… then laughed. Only one Autobot could possibly phase through walls like those old human movies depicted ghosts doing.

“The Autobot Smokescreen. Using that phase shifter like usual it seems,” Knockout chuckled. “I hope you nicked his paint for me. He deserves it after our last encounter.”

The white dressed human cocked his head just slightly as he studied the Decepticon medic. It was almost unnerving how it reminded him of Megatron. Only slightly if Megatron were tiny and wasn’t intimidating.

“It seems this planet holds more secrets than we thought, Knockout. Shockwave will be pleased to have a new project,” The Warlord cackled in his audio receptor. “Make a deal with them. They do indeed have a way to assist us in our plans.”

Knockout would love to know what was going on up there. What was Lord Megatron thinking about working with humans?! Truly, that Dark Energon must have finally gotten to him. Big M better give him praises after this.

“I propose a deal,” Knockout clicked his digits across his side. “Smokescreen is an enemy to us and he has seemed to have helped one of yours.” Not a hard conclusion to come to after all. “Let us work together to capture our enemies, and in exchange, we will share what we know about our energon, the thing you call blue ectoplasm, and you shall provide your ways in tracking the Dark Energon.”

The man sneered. “Why should we trust you?”

Well, well, well. At least they had the processor to ask that question. It seemed these humans weren’t totally incompetent after all.

“There is a human saying you have. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’ yes?” Knockout smirked. “We wish for the complete destruction of our enemies. A war that we cannot lose. So why not go at it together?”

The human put a hand to his chin. He could see him thinking it over. Mind trying to piece all the information he had and the benefits.

“You have a deal. You wouldn’t have a name would you?”

“The one and only Knockout,” the Decepticon bowed. “And your designation?”

“Commander V.” The man introduced.

Ehh… Knockout could appreciate it. Simple and easy to remember. He wouldn’t have to worry about messing it up like he had with the Autobot pets.

“Well, Commander V. Let us start our hunt.” The Medic smiled. “Where shall we begin?”

Notes:

And that is chapter 2. What did yall think? What was your favorite part? I would love to hear it down in the comments. Once again, a big shoutout to Valen (my beta), Sci-fi (my artist) and all the mods in the Invisobang event! I'll see everyone next week.

Notes:

Please tell me what yall think about the chapter. I love seeing comments. I’ll try to respond to each one. Next chapter comes out in a week. I’ll see yall then!