Disclaimer: I do not own the Transformers in any way.

This is my first fanfiction so please bare with me.

This idea has been rattling around in my head since I started watching Transformers Animated so I hope you like it. I don't know if anyone else has been struck by this one but it was just one of those naggling concepts that just wouldn't go away.

Note: This is set at the end of 'Abridge too far' and I have changed a few scenes to fit my story but I promise I won't change it too much.

CONSTANT PATH

Decepticon Base – Michigan

It was hard to believe it had come to this. The Decpticons finally had a fully operational space bridge and it was all thanks to the Autobots. Megatron barely contain his excitement at finally being able to lead his Decepticons to victory against the Autobots, on Cybertron no less. Still with the possibility that the idiotic Autobot somehow managed to sabotage the space bridge it only seemed right to test it first.

Grabbing the young Autobot leader from the floor he strolled over to the vortex intent on using the young Prime as the guinepig to test the new space bridge.

Realising what Megatron was planning the other Autobots renewed their efforts to free themselves in order to save their leader but with Bumblebee stuck to the cavern wall with concrete and Bulkhead and Prowl in stasis cuffs like their leader it seemed impossible.

Suddenly the earth shook and an explosion behind the space bridge sent dust an debris everywhere. Glancing up the Autobots could just make out the unmistakable red and yellow of their old ship firing it's great cannon down onto the Decepticon base.

Growling in frustration Megatron tightened his grip on the young Prime and ordered Blitzwing and Lugnut along with the rest of the Starscream clones to attack to ship while Constructicons cleared the debris from the space bridge.

Determined to make use of the Decpticon's distraction Prowl tuned out the surrounding chaos and calmed himself. The stasis cuffs on his wrists were tight so he turned all his focus on them and began to concentrate. He hadn't even known that he was humming until Bumblebee rudely pointed it out to him but he couldn't allow himself to be distracted by the yellow mech. Concentration centred solely on the stasis cuffs the dark armoured mech could feel a faint vibration, almost undetectablt running beneath his armour and down to the cuffs at his wrists. He was vaguely aware of Bumblebee's voice as the little scout once again voiced his opinion about the noise he was making and made some crack about a fan belt but it didn't matter because at that moment his concentration paid off as the stasis cuffs snapped open with a soft hiss.

Having freed himself he glanced up just in time to see Megatron hurl Optimus toward the vortex and wasted no time as he unlatched a throwing star from his armour and threw after his leader. The star hit it's mark, snapping the cuffs from Prime's wrists allowing the red and blue mech to fire his grappler at a stunned Megatron and pull himself away from the vortex before Megatron realised what was happening and brought his sword down to sever the cable. He was too late as Optimus landed safely on his feet as the vortex collapsed behind him.

Decepticon Space Bridge – Oregon

'Will you two hurry up! I have more important things to do than deliver a few measly energon cubes to that insufferable kiss-aft!' Came the unmistakable scream from the red and grey jet as he finished loading the last of the cubes into the pod that would allow them to be safely transported through the space bridge.

It had taken a lot of time and a lot of failed attempts but the Decepticons had finally developed a way of transporting energon cubes through the space bridge without them destabilising in transit. The pods Starscream had developed effectively blocked the vortex radiation that was causing the cubes to become unstable in the first place.

The down side to this development being that the Autobots had become even more of a nuisance in their attempts to stop them from transporting energy to their forces on Cybertron now that they knew the Decepticons could actually do it successfully. That and the since Starscream had developed the things in the first place the already irritating scientist had become even more unbearable to live with.

Thundercracker grumbled in annoyance from the controls of the space bridge and turned to glare at the scarlet jet.

'Can it Screamer! We don't like it out here either so stop going on about it!'

It was true even the organics weren't even out in the heat. It was particularly hot this year with the lack of rainfall and blazing summer sun making the desert almost unbearable even for wildlife. To the Decepticons though the dry heat was just plain irritating.

'DON'T CALL ME SCREAMER!' The air commander yelled indignantly and stomped over to where Skywarp was, crouched over next an open panel on the side of the bridge and glared over the mech's shoulder as he glanced over the small blue box he had just installed.

'What exactly is this thing anyway?' Skywarp asked as he began bolting the panel back into place.

A smug smirk appeared on Starscream's faceplate making the purple seeker instantly sorry he asked.

'This THING is a little something I put together to confuse the Autobot's scanners and make it harder for them to track the space bridge.' The scarlet seeker declared proudly.

Straightening up Skywarp raised a dubious optic ridge at the air commander.

'Make it harder hmm…..you mean the great and powerful Starscream can't actually STOP the Autobots from detecting the space bridge?! I'm disappointed.' The purple jet smirk mischievously as Starscream's gaze turned murderous and he all but exploded. Starscream was just too much fun to frag off.

'Why you ungrateful…….at least I can hit an Autobot when I aim at them. You couldn't hit an Autobot even if one flew past your nosecone!' He spat angrily and stomped back to the control console and Thundercracker who was giving him a frustrated glare.

'WHAT?!'

Decepticon Base – Michigan

Having discovered that a single piece of the Allspark wasn't going to be enough Starscream found himself, well his head anyway, being hastily shoved into the space bridge power matrix by Mixmaster. Once again the vortex opened and everyone immediately realised something was wrong.

'Megatron…the receiving code has been deleted….Megatron…..' The connection with Shockwave on Cybertron was lost and it was obvious that wherever the vortex was going it certainly wasn't to Cybertron as the pull of the vortex gradually increased and it started to pull rocks and debris into Primus knew where.

Bulkhead confirmed that the Allspark pieces had overloaded the system as Prime swiftly brought his axe down to break the big mech's stasis cuffs while Prowl clung to the wall, chipping away the concrete that held Bumblebee until the little mech could break himself free. Thankfully it didn't take long as he and Prowl landed next to the others.

'Ah great! What now bossbot?' Bumblebee asked nervously as they watched huge chunks of rock being dragged into the swirling blue vortex.

Looking around anxiously Optimus surveyed their situation. From the sounds coming from outside it appeared that a battle was still going on but it was impossible to hear who was winning over noise of the vortex. The Constructicons were cowering in a corner near space bridge control console and Megatron wasn't far from where the Autobots stood in front of the vortex. The Decepticon leader had embedded his great sword in ground to prevent himself from being pulled in by the space bridge however the pull from the vortex was still increasing indicating that an overload was imminent.

That settled it.

'We need to get out of here before this place goes up! Prowl, find Professor Sumdac and get out of here with Bulkhead and Bumblebee. I'm going to retrieve the Allspark fragments from the space bridge controls.'

The bots just stared at him like he had lost his central processor.

'Are you out of your cranial unit! Prime forget the Allspark and lets get outta here before we all end up as space debris!' Bumblebee yelled franticly but it was too late and he looked on in horror as Optimus slowly edged his way towards the control console. Wasting no time Prowl took off towards the other side of the space bridge to retrieve the professor.

'NO BUMBLEBEE! I promised to protect the Allspark with my life if I have to!'

'He's NUTS!' The little mech threw up his hands and slumped in defeat. A large three-pronged hand brushed his back and he glanced up at Bulkhead.

'Don't worry little buddie, I agree with ya.' The big green mech smiled widely.

'What? That we should just forget the Allspark?'

'Nope. That Prime's nuts.' At this the larger mech didn't quite manage to keep a straight face but it had the desired effect anyway as Bumblebee burst out laughing.

Megatron glared furiously at the Autobots from his position stuck in front of the space bridge with rocks and debris battering his frame as it was pulled into the vortex behind him. If he was going to be pulled through to Primus knew where then he intended to take a least one Autobot down with him. Gripping the remains of Optimus's grappler in his hand he sought out the accursed Autobots as they hurried to make their escape. The big green one and the yellow annoyance were out of his reach, stood near the base entrance as they were and Megatron couldn't contain his growl of frustration as he realised that the leader was also out of his reach as Optimus was now stood at the control console and out of the vortex's pull.

Suddenly a flash of movement on the other side of the room caught his attention and he grinned in triumph. The ninjabot stood no more than twenty feet away while he rescued Professor Sumdac from his glass prison.

What was his name? Oh yes.

Prowl.

This was perfect.

He hadn't forgotten that it was this mech that had cut his arm of aboard the Autobot ship all those years ago or that it was he who was responsible for rescuing his leader from space bridge.

Gripping the sword hilt with his cannon arm he wrapped the end of the cable firmly around his now free hand and waited for the ninjabot to move.

With the human scientist in his hands Prowl turned and began making his way over to his friends having to lean forward due to the pull of the vortex behind him.

Megatron planned on using that against him as he pulled his arm back and lashed out with the grappler, smirking in victory as it caught his prey tightly around the ankles he pulled back. Hard.

'PROWL!'

'PROWL!'

It took all of three seconds for Prowl to realise what was happening but thanks his training and quick reflexes three seconds was all it took for him to throw the professor to Bumblebee waiting hands before fell to the ground.

Glancing over his shoulder did nothing to ease his panicked processor when he saw it was Megatron who had him, the end of Prime's grappler cable gripped firmly in his hand and a dark smirk on his faceplate that made him shudder in spite of himself.

Just then a massive explosion from outside the base caused the ground to shake sending those that weren't already down to the ground.

Megatron's smirk slipped from his faceplate, the sudden shock had dislodged his sword and it flew out of his hand and into the vortex behind him. With nothing to hold onto the only thing he could do was grip the grappler cable with both hands and hang on.

The sudden tug backwards had Prowl scrabbling for purchase on the cave floor but it was no use, the surface was too smooth and any rocks he found came loose in his hands as he found himself begin dragged backwards towards the vortex.

'PROWL NO!'

The panicked cry was lost over the noise but even as Megatron disappeared through the space bridge he was still being pulled back.

A pair of yellow hands suddenly latched onto his and he stared up in shock to find Bumblebee gripping his hands tightly while the wheels on his heels span madly in reverse on the smooth floor.

'Bumblebee let go! Get out of here!'

But his plea fell on deaf audios as a great shadow fell over the base and Prowl looked up in surprise to see Omega Supreme descending towards them right before Bumblebee's wheels stopped spinning and everything went black.

Decepticon Space Bridge – Oregon

'What the frag!'

Tapping the controls Thundercracker frowned at the readings.

'What is taking you so long?' Came Shockwave's annoyed voice from the small screen on the console.

The pod was loaded on the space bridge platform ready to be sent and a small beep from the console confirmed that the connection on Cybertron was open and ready to receive. But according to the readings Thundercracker was looking at there was already an incoming transmission but he couldn't find out where it was coming from.

'Hey Shockwave, have a look at this.' He forwarded the readings to Shockwave from the console.

'This is not possible. The only active space bridges in existence are on Earth and here on Cybertron.' Shockwave looked, if it were possible, uneasy and it made Thundercracker nervous.

'Then what the frag is….'

His sentence was cut off as the space bridge suddenly activated by itself and the sky opened up to a massive swirling vortex throwing the pod off the platform and into a nearby cliff face where it exploded sending dust and rock everywhere.

Skywarp and Starscream who had been watching out for meddling Autobots quickly landed least they be blown away and ran back to the space bridge.

'What's going on?!'

'What did you do?!'

Gripping the console the blue jet was about to respond when as suddenly as it appeared, the vortex vanished leaving a cloud of dust as the only evidence of it ever being there.

The three seekers glanced at each other nervously, unsure what to do.

Walking around the console Thundercracker cautiously made his way to the platform, his wing-mates close behind him and touched the panel to open the door.

He nearly jumped out of his plating when his optics landing on what was inside.

Staring over his wing Starscream eyed the figure in disgust.

'You have got to be fragging kidding me!'

to be continued...............

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I apologise for any spelling or grammatical errors if I have time I'll fix them but I want to try and finish this story while it's still fresh in my mind.