TFP- Resurrection

_{Part 8/8 of a Transformers: Prime fanfiction based after the events of episode 13 "Sick Mind"}


He awoke; feeling the sweet sensation of control flooding the new, unfamiliar circuits that were finally at his complete disposal. He knew where he was; the primitive laboratory equipment surrounding him could only belong in the Autobot sickbay. His Decepticon forces would never use such inundated technology. He eased himself upright from the examination table on which his host had lain, and took a second to examine his new body. Disgusting, he thought. The bright yellow chassis that stood beneath him was the furthest thing from impressive – but it would serve its purpose for the moment.

"Ah, Bumblebee – you're awake."

He turned and watched the Autobots' medical officer enter the sickbay, unmoving as the amber-and-white Transformer casually crossed the panelled floor toward one of the nearby monitors. What luck, he thought. Ratchet – one of Prime's little pets – seemed somewhat preoccupied; he came to a halt before the screen and began to tap rhythmically on its keyboard.

"I'm not too sure that you should be up on your feet quite yet," he muttered, in a slightly pinched voice. "I mean – it's good to see you're feeling better, but you shouldn't push yourself."

Ratchet turned to face his patient – but froze when he saw the scout standing inches before him. He hadn't heard or seen Bumblebee move; but through his surprise, he noticed something strange about the scout. He seemed to be holding himself differently, somehow – or was it that stern expression on his faceplates?

"Bumblebee?" he asked, uncertain. He creased his brow, studying his fellow Autobot's strangely small pupils. "What's wrong with your optics?"

Ratchet doubled over, winded, as the scout's clenched fist suddenly buried itself into his lower torso. He fell to his knees, wheezing and surprised, and recoiled with a sharp cry as his patient stomped hard on his back, knocking the medic flat on the floor.

Bumblebee's not here, Megatron informed him through the scout's damaged vocal processor. Ratchet stared up at him in shock, flinching as the Decepticon pressed Bumblebee's full weight onto the medic's chassis. Now…take me to the Nemesis, or I will terminate your miserable life.

"Optimus!" Ratchet gasped, impulsively activating his comlink as he struggled to prise himself free. "Optimus – I need you in sickbay! It's-!"

Megatron snarled, kicking the medic hard in the side to silence him. Ratchet collided noisily with the base of the examination table as he rolled away from the impact, moaning in pain. Foolish Autobot! the Decepticon growled, as he seized Ratchet's wrist and dragged him back onto his feet. He forced the scout's free arm into its weapon mode – but the sound of rapidly-approaching footsteps prevented him from making true on his promise.

Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead froze upon the sight that greeted their optics as they charged through the sickbay entrance. Megatron, in the body of their comrade, had grabbed the medic around the neck and was pressing the barrel of the scout's blaster into the side of Ratchet's head. Ratchet, realising himself too tightly pinned to pull free, watched in silence as Jack, Miko and Raf ran inside between the others' feet. The humans, too, stopped dead in their tracks – jaws dropping as their eyes fell upon the scene within – as Arcee and Bulkhead hesitantly raised their weapons.

I suggest you remain where you are, Autobot filth, Megatron threatened softly, jabbing the blaster against Ratchet's temple. Not unless you wish to see the internals of this fool's processor strewn all over the floor.

Optimus held out an arm, blocking the others' targeting systems, but said nothing. At his feet, Rafael chewed his lip and studied Bumblebee's aggressive stance. Though his body had been completely overrun by the mind of the Decepticon leader, Raf could sense that his partner was still in there – somewhere. He'd reached Bumblebee before, hadn't he? Maybe he could do it again.

"Take me instead!" he cried all of a sudden, stepping forward. Jack made to pull him back, shocked, but Raf ducked beneath his peer's arms and ran further into the room – against the others' protests. He dashed toward his partner, determined to bring him around. "I'll be your hostage – just don't hurt Ratchet!"

As you wish, Megatron replied. He pushed Ratchet forcefully away from him, causing him to stagger into a nearby examination table, and charged without warning toward the Autobots. They, Jack and Miko scattered in all directions as he neared; watching in horror as he swiped Rafael up off the floor. Megatron didn't stop on obtaining his new hostage – he sprinted out of the sickbay and down the unfamiliar corridor, able to hear the Autobots giving frantic chase as he hurried through into the command centre.

"Bumblebee!" Raf called, unpleasantly surprised by the strength of the three metal fingers that enclosed his body. His captor came to a halt before the tunnel that spawned the GroundBridge, ignoring the human's voice as he stared around for the exit. "Come on, 'Bee, I'm here now – wake up!!"

That little trick won't work a second time; your friend can't hear you anymore, sneered Megatron. As Raf realised the enormity of his mistake, the Decepticon turned to watch the Autobots arrive. He showed them his struggling, kicking captive – basking in the fear on their faceplates. Now…Bridge me aboard the Nemesis this instant – or I will crush this puny creature like the insect that it is.

Arcee hesitated, powering down her weapons as Bulkhead similarly lowered his fists, but Ratchet looked nervously to Optimus for instructions. The Autobot commander stared into his scout's possessed optics, faceplates stern and unreadable. Growing impatient, Megatron strengthened his grip of the tiny human. Raf gasped for breath, able to feel the pressure building in his lungs.

"Ratchet," Optimus began coolly. "Lock the GroundBridge's co-ordinates onto the location of the Decepticon command ship immediately."

With a clenched jaw, the medic obeyed his orders. Megatron had never put much faith into the concept of friendships – let alone those between Transformers and humans – other than the form they took now, as an object of manipulation. He ignored Raf's feeble struggles as Ratchet operated the GroundBridge controls, Jack and Miko exchanging wordless glances as the swirling green-pink mass of energy burst to life near the end of the tunnel. The Decepticon glanced over his shoulder, inspecting the Bridge, and gave a triumphant breath of laughter that was lost in Bumblebee's destroyed vocoder.

Do not be disillusioned; he said, as he stepped slowly backward into the tunnel. The Autobots stood their ground, fists and jaws clenched as they watched their comrade's possessed body retreat. If even one of you so much as considers following me, I will kill this human – and your weak-minded scout, as well.

Bumblebee and Raf were suddenly engulfed by a rush of fluid light, disappearing from the Autobot base. Pitched backward, Megatron staggered as he felt his feet hit solid ground less than a nanoklik later – and found himself standing in a familiar pitch-black corridor. In his grip, Raf fell motionless; filled with stark terror as his eyes readjusted to the darkness of the Nemesis.

Without a word, Megatron started forward. He could sense his true body up ahead, like a beacon in the blackness – but made an abrupt turning as the corridor branched, heading deeper through the bowels of his ship. Regaining his own body would have to wait – there was something else down here that took priority.

"What are you going to do with me…?" Raf asked, fearful.

Megatron ignored him, coming to a smooth halt before an unmarked door at the end of the hall. He raised the scout's free hand and pressed a nearby panel; Raf flinched as the doorway slid open with a sinister hissing sound.

The chamber inside, dark as night, was tinted with a faint purplish glow, its angled floor connected to the ceiling by a cylindrical tube of glass that stood at the heart of the room. Within the tube grew an outsized cluster of jagged crystals, radiating sinister orchid-coloured light, like a twisted heart.

The Decepticon approached the glass chamber without hesitation, again disregarding Raf's frightened whimpers. He reached inside the tube, seizing and snapping free a thin sliver of the Dark Energon within. With prize in hand, Megatron turned on his heel and exited the room – heading for the Decepticon sickbay.

Two Transformers were already inside, standing on either side of Megatron's original body, one he recognised and one he didn't. On his lifeless shell's left stood the eternally loyal and eternally silent Soundwave, sleek arms folded beneath his Deployer-adorned chestplate. On the right, standing before the spark-support monitors, was a slick red Decepticon whose name and identity Megatron did not know. He studied the stranger's build and back-mounted tyres, deducing with suspicion that this outsider was not a Seeker.

The stranger glanced up as the sickbay door sprang open, his white faceplates displaying surprise as he spotted the Autobot scout standing in the entrance. He took an offensive stance and produced an energon prod from behind his back, smirking. "I know you," he drawled, as the tip of the prod began to crackle and spark.

Megatron stood his ground, but was spared the inconvenience of a fight as Soundwave extended a slender servo to block the stranger's path. Megatron stared into the spy's expressionless mask, allowing himself to be scrutinised for several wordless moments. The red-painted stranger noticed Rafael, raising a sleek eyebrow at the sight of the terrified-looking human.

Soundwave stepped gracefully aside, gesturing an elongated hand toward the motionless body of his master. The stranger lowered his weapon, thoroughly confused, as the Autobot stepped coolly into the room. Raf began to struggle again, fighting feebly for his freedom – but gasped as the scout's hand suddenly released him. Raf tumbled through the air, the breath rushing from his lungs as he hit the metal floor with a quiet thud. Sprawled and winded on the floor of the Nemesis, Raf watched as the Decepticon inhabiting his partner's mind clutched the Dark Energon shard with both hands – plunging it into the spark chamber of Megatron's body. The monitor readings spiked without warning, but quickly flat-lined again.

Bring me the patch cable! commanded Megatron. The Decepticon named Knock Out flinched, hastily retrieving something from a nearby storage panel. It was the cable that the Autobots had used to initiate the cortical psychic patch. Megatron swiped it from the medic's sleek hands, jamming one end of the cable into a port on the back of the Autobot scout's head. He then approached his own body, gazing almost irritably down at its comatose face, and connected the other end of the cable above the base of his own neck.

Bumblebee's body suddenly convulsed in a powerful spasm, as though he'd received a powerful electric shock – the scout's servos and head jerked back as Megatron's optics snapped open, but Raf paid the Decepticons little heed. The human picked himself up and dashed forward as Bumblebee crumpled limply to the floor, throwing himself down beside his partner's slackened shoulder. A split second later, Bumblebee's optics flickered online and he stared around shakily; watching as the one who had inhabited his mind wrenched the cable from the back of his head.

"Decepticons!" Megatron announced, on his feet with fiery optics blazing in ominous triumph. "Your rightful Lord and master has returned!!"