Hello Readers!

WingedWolfAlari is back and on a roll peeps. I have realized that listening to music is a great motivator for writing. Though some people believe that the lyrics to a song would mix up the words an author is typing, I believe that the key is not listening to the lyrics, but rather using the rhythm to set a good typing speed. The tone and overall mood of the song has an impact as well, it always helps to pick a song that fits in with the story or relates to the overall content of the chapter you are writing.

There's my little insight into writing fanfics, give it a try.

Now, please refer to the post author's note in the last chapter for what this chapter has in store.

Disclaimer: Hasbro does pretty well with both shows, but I still wish I owned TFP.

Chapter 6- In Shallow Water Part 2

Raf's pov

After heading inside the house, I had to pull Miko away from the window so that Jack could finish the surprise. I didn't want to be here any longer than it was necessary. My own home has enough painful memories. The fact that Arcee spent a considerate amount of time here made it worse. I sighed as I plopped onto the couch and Miko meandered into the kitchen.

I just sat there in silence, well sort of. The air conditioning was blowing and I could detect the sounds of Miko tinkering around in the kitchen. I started fiddling with my thumbs when I heard the microwave beeping and whirring to life. Miko's voice suddenly blasted from the other room,

"Damn it, how does K.O. Burger boy live like this? There is nothing, I repeat nothing, to eat in this place. It must be helicopter mom's fault that her son is as skinny as a twig."

I ignored her outburst, and gazed down at my laptop sitting next to me. I don't know why I brought it with me; I rarely use it anymore. In fact I hadn't even opened it since that day, with the exception of looking up the criteria for my summer reading assignment. When that came to mind, I pulled out Where the Red Fern Grows, relieved by my conscience's sudden change in subject. I had heard from others that this book was a heart breaker, though I wasn't sure why. I mean, the bond between two coonhounds, a boy, and a cougar doesn't sound all that bad. I flipped to the page I was on; Billy had just gone back to his house to retrieve a shovel to dig Old Dan out of the muskrat hole.

Miko strolled back into the living room. She was balancing a plate of heated leftover pizza in one hand and texting with the other on her pink flip phone. For a second, I thought she might drop it, which would result in quite the mess on the white stainless carpet. I wasn't going to help her clean it up if she did. Luckily, she set the plate on the table before that could happen and then plopped on the couch next to me. She flipped on the TV in front of us and I continued to read.

My eyes traced each letter of every word. I took in every detail and then analyzed it, so that I wouldn't have to refer back to the book and instead refer to memory when I began working through the study questions. I paused when one of the words appeared blurry. I moved onto the next word and it was blurry as well, the previous word now clear as day.

I inwardly groaned as I took off my glasses and all of existence became one big blur. I sorted through my pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. I began what has always been a daily ritual. With the cloth, I started to rub the smudge out of the lens.

All of a sudden, I could have sworn I heard a faint thump sound from another room. Blowing it off, I finished cleaning and had put the cloth away when I heard that thump again.

"Miko, did you hear that?" I asked while slipping my glasses back on.

"Mff, her whaf?" she replied before swallowing a mouthful of pizza.

"A weird thumping noise, I swear I'm not imagining things here."

"Whatever, dude." She slumped back into the couch, placing her heels on the ottoman.

SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH!

We both froze, "JACK! That had better be you!" Miko shouted.

No response.

I turned the TV off and miraculously Miko stayed quiet for more than two minutes. We knew that Ms. Darby was still at work at this point, and she wouldn't be back until at least eight o'clock tonight. As usual, Jack was left home alone; well until recently left alone considering the events in the past month.

Jack wasn't the one to pull pranks on others; no that was Miko's forte. Besides, he was still out in the driveway preparing our 'surprise'. The sound came from inside the house. Could Jack have a rat problem?

No, that didn't seem right. Ms. Darby's a nurse, an overprotective one at that. She had rattraps littered all over the place, but they were all fairly well hidden. Also, whatever made that sound was much larger than any rat.

Both Miko and I hopped off of the couch and began to look around, searching for our noisy intruder. It sounded like it was coming from upstairs.

Gripping the railing, I slowly climbed up the steps, as if I were a stealth trained ninja on a mission to assassinate someone. I could hear the sounds growing louder the higher I went. I had just about reached the top when…

"BOO!" Miko pushed me onto the floor of the second level of the house and I let out a girlish yelp. The Japanese exchange student was having trouble holding back snicker when I softly hit her arm with my book.

THUMP!

Our head swerved towards the door to the guest's bedroom. We slowly looked at each other warily before slowly creeping towards the door.

"Oh, what if the surprise is some weird alien?" Miko whispered with excitement.

I looked at her with an 'Are you kidding me?' expression.

"What? If Cybertronians can exist, why can't other aliens? The bots even said it themselves that they've seen other extraterrestrial beings during their journey from Cybertron to Earth. So why not?"

"Can we please talk about something else?" I whispered back.

"Oh oh, if it's not an alien, then it has to be MONSTEEER! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!" She was obviously trying to scare me.

"Don't be ridiculous, Miko," I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. "The surprise is outside, remember; and for the last time, there are no such thing as-"

SNAP! "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Mino and I shrieked at the top of our lungs and bolted downstairs. I heard the unknown screaming voice gaining behind us. Miko and I jumped down to the floor from four steps up right as a huge brown creature tumbled down the flight of stairs. We swerved around and stared at the thing as it got to its paws and began screaming again. It lunged, knocking us over, before dashing everywhere.

"AAAHHHHHHHHH! SCRAPLEEEET! JACK, ARCEE, HELP ME! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF GET IT OOOOOOOOFF!"

Wait, that voice sounds familiar.

Suddenly, the front door opened and the creature rammed into Jack. A figure next to him darted aside. Miko and I ran right up to the door and stared in fear as the high school senior and the creature rolled around in a huge ball of limbs, and the creature would not shut up.

"SMOKESCREEN!"

"Y-yeah Jack?" The animal spoke in perfect modern day English. I took a closer look and realized that said animal was just a big, muddy dog.

"You have a rattrap on your tail. If you can sit still and shut up for more than two seconds, I would be more than happy to take it off."

It took a few minutes to process just what was going on as I watched Jack remove the clamps of pest trap off of the dog's tail. I was speechless.

"HOLY SCRAP DUDE! YOU GOT A DOG, AND IT CAN TALK! THAT IS SO AWESOME!" Miko squealed, bounding forward and squeezing the dog's neck.

"Erg, it's good to see you again too, Miko. -Ack, no wonder you're Bulkhead's kid, please-CAPH- let go." The dog croaked.

Miko's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when she released the dog and stumbled back.

"How do you know my name?"

The dog cleared his throat, "Well, recently I've gone under a HUGE makeover, but usually I was ye 30 feet high, white with blue/red checkerboard details, and held the title for destiny's child."

Jack counted down his fingers from 3…2…1…

"SMOKEY!" She hugged the former Autobot rookie once again, making sure she wasn't pulling too hard this time. I glanced down at the figure next to me, which was also a dog. It looked like some sort of Saluki breed, except with Arcee's markings.

"Hey Raf." She smiled warmly.

"Arcee?!" I couldn't hold back the tears and I threw my arms around her now soft and furry neck.

"I'm so happy that you're alright!" I sobbed happily.

We should've expected Miko to start asking questions, "Dudes! What happened? Where did they take you? How did you guys become dogs? How did you escape? How-"

"MIKO!" Jack and I shouted in unison.

"What? We suffered a for a month, we deserve an explanation."

"Have you considered if perhaps, that Arcee and Smokescreen's experience might be too painful to talk about right now?" Jack admonished.

Miko's pigtails sank alongside her mood, "No, no I didn't." She turned back to the former Cybertronians. "Guys, I'm sorry. My mouth ran before my brain. But can I please ask just one question?"

"Dude it's cool. You three have the right to know. And we'd tell you everything. Well, if we were able." Smokescreen replied.

"Wait, what do you mean by, 'if we were able'?" I asked.

Arcee stepped forward, "Neither of us remember what happened after we blacked out. Now we know how Optimus felt when he re-received the wisdom of the Primes. But, what was your question Miko? We'll try to answer it to the best of our ability."

"Where's Bulkhead and Wheeljack?" she asked.

"And what about the others?" I added.

The five of us stood there in silence. A morning dove cooed nearby and went quiet. Arcee and Smokescreen's heads drooped, their eyes staring at their paws.

Arcee replied solemnly, "I'm sorry, but I don't know."

Smokescreen shook his head, "Me neither, I'm really sorry, kids."

Miko sighed, but suddenly burst out, "You know what, that's completely fine. All that matters is that Team Prime is one step closer to being back together again. Besides, if you guys escaped, then the others must have too."

"That's what I originally assumed." Said Jack.

"And we find each and every one of them, even if it kills us. Am I right?"

Nods all around.

"That's settled then. We start searching every nook and cranny first thing tomorrow morning. Oh oh oh, and when we give Fowler the news, we'll have eyes all over America. This is gonna be so awesome!" Miko cheered.

"I love that enthusiasm!" Smokescreen started wagging his tail really hard, which flung dirt everywhere.

"But first things first," Jack said.

"What?" we all asked.

"Bath time, Smokey!" he grinning deviously.

3 hours later

Miko's pov

Well, it took patience, a long chase around Jack's neighborhood, and a LOT of soap and water, but we did it. At the cost of our bodies becoming soaked, except Arcee, Smokescreen was finally clean. And well, he looked like a brand new dog.

Who knew that such a filthy coat could be pure white as snow underneath. Smokescreen seemed to look like a pure bred Labrador retriever. His red and blue checkerboard racing patterns ran down both sides of his body. The front portion of his broad, well-built chest was a deep cerulean blue color; two yellow spots in the bottom corners resembled his headlights. Two bright red strips that resembled his former helm structure ran to the back of his skull to just above his bright, shining eyes. His former door wings took the form of two parallel cowlicks on his lean back.

He shook constantly, trying to rid his body of the nonexistent clinging liquid. Not matter how much we tried to tell him about his new waterproof coat, where the water would literally slide off, he wouldn't listen.

Things would sure be interesting now. Soon we'll have to take care of seven dogs, whom were never dogs in the first place. Who knows what kind of disasters that would cause? It sure would leave tons of opportunities for blackmail and revenge. I chuckled at the thought, secretly plotting.

Bulkhead and Wheeljack had to be alright. Their wreckers, the toughest bots in existence, of course they were okay. They had to be.

Dreadwing's pov

My mind is swarming with many thoughts. Amongst them are a multitude of unanswered questions. However, there is no point in providing the answers, because that would distract us from dealing with the task at hand.

Out of the rest of us, Lord Megatron had awoken first. I, for one, had never seen him act the way he was now. Due to his history as a gladiator, I would expect him to at least put up a struggle in our current 'situation'. But, who am I to assume this of my leader? He has a plan; I know he does. He is simply lying in wait, waiting for the opportune time to strike. And as his loyal soldier, I will follow any command without question.

It had been approximately two earth hours since the rest of the Decepticons had emerged from stasis, and none had uttered a single word as of yet, which was very strange; especially for Knockout. Each Cybertronian reacted a bit differently to our predicament. Some only let out soft gasps, others only stared or surveyed the room, because that was the only thing any of us could do.

I was bound between Lord Megatron and Knockout. Next in line was surprisingly Soundwave. How on Earth did he get captured as well? Then, next in line was, oh Primus, it was that rogue insect Arachnid. Well, that's just prime. I heard several groans elsewhere, probably a group of vehicons or eradicons. No matter the rank, we all knew where we were.

Bound to a wall; that was where we were. It didn't take long to notice the remnants of dried spilt energon that splattered the walls, proving that we were not the first ones to suffer. Though it would make sense, the Autobots had been unusually inactive for quite some time. It was possible that MECH may have won the war for us.

But the Autobots are strong. They possess a leader who values honor as much as I do; and I know for a fact, that a simple terrorist organization could not overcome them with ease. But I would be lying if I were to claim that there wasn't a small twinge of doubt that rested within my spark.

I took note of the line implanted in my right wrist. It was connected to a long pipe that ran through all of the cells. Knockout must have been thinking the same thing that I was when I noticed the massive vat that the pipe was connected to. Were they going to deplete our energon, or were they going to infuse us with something else?

In all honesty, I hoped it wasn't the latter. It probably wouldn't be the latter either. I had read up on the procedure MECH used when the late Breakdown was in their possession. They wanted to keep him alive as long as possible.

A Cybertronian's system runs on energon, we have to consume it in order to survive. Whether if the fuel is of a different variety, or even chemically tampered with, our bodies will continue to function as long as the chemical structure of the liquid's molecules remain the same as energon. This makes it possible for Cybertronians to contract diseases such as the Cybonic Plague and Cosmic Rust. If any other substance were to enter our systems, with time, it would spell death for us.

I soon push this thinking out of my head. I scolded myself for getting off track again. Looking towards the rest of my trapped faction, I patiently awaited Lord Megatron's orders. My instincts told me that it wouldn't be too long now.

I believe that I had, what the humans called, jinxed myself. Within cycles, several of the planets' inhabitants entered the room, all of them wearing similar white uniforms of which some were stained with energon.

Their leader strode into the room, his strange fabric armor on his fleshy pedes tapped against the metal floor in sync with his fellow associates'. A slick, Starscream-like grin was spread across his face. I wonder if Silas had picked up that particular quality from the seeker during their brief and treacherous alliance. Humans are quite adaptable; a quality could care less about concerning the puny organics. We are several times as adaptable, due to our T-cogs, an ability that pushes humans even further down the evolutionary chain.

The scarred face of MECH's leader met with the scarred faceplate of our leader. Lord Megatron scowled at the organic, receiving a smirk in reply. The only sounds that resonated within the prison room were the random pings and beeps from the lifeless machines that monitored our systems. Though those sounds were canceled out by the silence that emanated from the two leaders attempted to stare each other down. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Are you enjoying the restraints? When I asked the Autobots the same question, some quite rude behavior was my response," the human sneered. "I've been wondering whether you Decepticons are more civilized, simply because you avoid contact with humans. So, answer me this, if Cybertronians are far more advanced than humanity, are they more civilized?"

What kind of question is that? Humans are so witless.

"Well, I have to admit," Knockout chimed giddily. "These bonds are quite effective though they are forged from metal, quite effective indeed. I've noticed that they grow tighter the more one struggles. Perfect for torture and- "

"Knockout." Lord Megatron cut him off, causing the medic to shrink back. "Your opinion is unnecessary and unvalued. Be silent!" My master turned back to the humans. "You fleshy creatures have made a grave mistake by taking us captive. Release us, and I will ensure that every single one of your pathetic lives are ended swiftly."

"Or," Silas countered. "We can work along side one another, for we have a common enemy. Your enemies trump you continuously since the have what you lack, the human factor. It would even out the playing field if MECH and the Decepticon faction were to join forces, for it would ensure the total destruction of the Autobots and their human companions."

Lord Megatron did not reply. Was he actually considering Silas's offer?

My leader's faceplate remained impassive, his intakes cycled through his frame calmly, like the push and pull of earth's oceans. The mood, however, was the opposite. One would claim that this moment was the 'calm before the storm'. Finally, my leader's optics narrowed and he rasped, "Your species is comprised of weak and pathetic creatures. This 'human factor' you speak of irrelevant; the Autobot pets have caused both failures and successes, for both sides. But ultimately they show how much more powerful the Decepticons are to the Autobots. Our faction stands independently in this war, while the opposite side must depend upon this planet's inhabitants in order to even support itself. Your 'alliance' is unnecessary to our cause."

Silas opened his mouth to respond, but Megatron cut him off, "Besides, you merely expected us to just comply with your offer, because you believe you are worthy of our power? Ha!" he smirked. "You contradict yourself, organic. You implied that our so-called alliance would crush the Autobots once and for all. You also stated that the whole Autobot force was imprisoned under these very restraints. I'm willing to wager that every single one of them escaped, correct?"

Silas said nothing.

"The very fact that you failed to exterminate the Autobots completely while you had the chance is proof enough that you are no where near worthy of our presence to begin with." Lord Megatron concluded with an evil smile.

The MECH leader remained unresponsive to my lord's rare streak of logical thinking; instead, he nodded to one of his associates and sighed without defeat. "A simple 'no' would have been reasonable 'oh mighty Megatron'." He sneered.

"You will not speak to Lord Megatron in that way fleshy!" I snarled.

"Touchy touchy," mused Arachnid. "Is someone still upset about the human usage of poor Breaky's mutilated corpse, courtesy of yours truly? Was it like that between the two of you? If so, it must have been destiny that he offlined while on a bygriis with you. Who would've thought?"

"FRAG OFF INSECT!" Knockout roared, I could have sworn I saw a tear slip from his burning optics before he roughly turned his helm away to observe the human scientists.

"Hmph, we all learn something new everyday; but that's beside the matter at hand." Silas said.

"Matter at hand!?"

Nearly all of us were muttering something along the lines of, 'Frag.' or, 'Primus please take me now.' That voice could only mean that he was here too. That's just slagging prime.

"There is no matter at hand, you insolent organic. Megatron refused your offer, as I knew he would. What happens now? Are you going to start experimenting on us in the hopes that your methods will change our minds? Hmph, fat chance; if it were that easy I would have done something like this eons ago!" Starscream screeched from the dark.

"As if you'd even have the competence to pull it off, you're already too busy kissing your own aft to even formulate a well supported conspiracy." Arachnid sneered.

True, Starscream's pride had always been his worst weakness; but he still had admirable fighting skills. And his sheer ability to drop off the face of any planet made the rogue Decepticon SIC untraceable. Even Soundwave couldn't pinpoint his location, not that Lord Megatron had even bothered him to take note of it. How did MECH manage to capture him too? Or had they kept him locked up this entire time?

Silas turned back to the blackness. He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. Simultaneously, the lights flashed on, causing the former SIC's frame to flinch.

I glared when my optics met Starscream's femme-like frame once again. He was just as chained up and shackled as we were, with the same IV bound into his right wrist. However, in addition to these trappings, extra equipment was attached to the IV. Also, the vat I noted earlier was connected directly to the thin tubing.

"Oh no Starscream." Silas replied with a smile. "The Autobots have provided us with all of the knowledge of Cybertronians MECH could ever need. And do you honestly think that we would trust you even if your former leader agreed to our proposed alliance? We assumed the Decepticon faction wouldn't comply, and simply were humoring ourselves by offering the proposal."

I growled. They were toying with us. These puny organics were daring to challenge beings with almost god like powers from their point of view, and without any shame. It was as if Starscream took the words right out of my processor.

"So, what happens now?" the rogue asked with a hint of uneasiness in his tone.

The MECH leader's lips parted, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth. The corner of his mouth curled upward as he smirked.

"Now." He paused. "Now, you set an example for all of your former teammates." A look of mild fear fell upon the seeker's faceplates.

Silas turned to one of the scientists and chuckled darkly, "Begin the procedure."

Suddenly, a barrage of whirring engines, screeching metal, beeping alarms, and the monotonous voice of several AIs exploded into our audio receptors, nearly causing them to short circuit and rupture.

A mass quantity of what looked like energon seeped through the IV and into Starscream's. Said rogue was beginning to panic as he felt the element course through his systems.

"Relax Starscream. It's only the fluid that has always flowed through you Cybertronians." Silas reprimanded.

"E-energon? N-NO! This is some sort of trick! What are you filtering into me?!" Starscream denied with both anger and fear. He screeches when he fell to the metal floor with his restraints released.

"W-what?"

These humans are dumber than I ever imagined. But there had to be a catch.

The MECH leader ignored him; another one of the whitecoats came up to him.

"Sir, the MCNs are stabilized and ready to activate at your word."

The fearful mood hung in the stagnant air for what seemed like megacycles as Silas stood there before his scientist in silence. What in Primus' name were MCNs? Were they inside the rest of us as well?

Silas turned back towards Starscream, his immortal grin never leaving his face.

"Proceed."

Another whitecoat slowly eased upward onto a lever on the main control panel. At the same time, Starscream's servo flew up to his chassis, right over his spark chamber.

"M-my spark! It's as if it's burning within the cesspools of the Chaos Bringer's Pit itself! What the pit-spawned frag are you- ARRGH-doing to me!"

He was lying on his knees, hunched over and clutching his chassis so hard that the metal was beginning to dent.

Starscream's shadow shuddered against the wall. I couldn't bear to watch the display before me. I could glimpse looks of horror creep onto the rest of my faction's faceplates while I watched the black figure of the wall. My spark beat harder and faster with each passing micro cycle. It almost stopped completely when the morphing figure let out an audio-piercing shriek.

Unknown location- Bumblebee's pov

Ratchet and I had no idea where we were. First, we were wandering some streets in Jasper that I knew fairly well. Next, the two of us are caught in some scary choker things and thrown in the back of a truck. And now, we're all alone; in some sort of prison outside.

We had plenty of room to move around, the outside prison was easily 30 by 15 feet in area. The wire fence was cut into a half rectangle. Both ends of the fence were connected to a large building with a row of doors. Now it wasn't the doors that mattered, it was the size of said doors. More importantly, Ratchet and I were on the verge of a panic attack because of our sizes, and species.

Slag had finally hit the fan, we were dogs, and I was tiny. Ratchet tripled my height fairly easily. In addition to that, neither of us were adjusting very well. According to the medic, we were experiencing a expansion of our olfactory sense capacities. I started drooling during his explanation, so he summed it up short and sweet. Dogs can smell pretty good.

And it's not just that, the paws are weird, the ears are weird, the concept of all fours is weird, and don't even get me started about how my new tail irritates me so. Good Primus what the frag happened to me?

All of a sudden, one of the doggy doors opened to reveal a mutt of some sort. His shaggy coat was a strange pale brown-indigo fusion with a tan underbelly. He had slightly bent ears like Ratchet. He also had brown eyes and a red studded collar with a doghouse shaped tag attached.

Behind him were four other dogs; a HUGE shaggy dog, a boxer with a bow, a Chihuahua who thank Primus was shorter than me, and a dachshund whose ears dragged along the ground. Each one had a similar doghouse shaped tag attached to their own collars.

"Hey there." The leader chirped.

"Uh, greetings." Ratchet replied.

The leader dog offered a warm smile, "I know this may be a big change and all, but you don't need to worry one bit. My name's Lucky, and welcome to Shelter 17."

I am so so so so so so so sooooooo sorry for putting this off. Man I'm way behind. But at least I got back into a comfortable word length for my chapters. 5000 something words, that's tons longer than usual. I'm going to try and keep it this way, 4 to 6 grand word length, adding that to my list of artistic goals.

But how about the chapter, the in depth thought and description has returned, what did you all think? My first attempt at explaining a Cybertronian techno/biological process, does it make sense? I'll change it if it doesn't.

AND I bet none of you were expecting this crossover am I right?

In other news, GUYS COME OOOON, I NEED REQUESTS! You guys are the ones driving the story here. If you'd like an example to make it easier, expect these things to happen in the upcoming chapters.

-Someone's gonna chase a ball

-Eating's going to be quite the experience

-SQUIRREL!

-OH MY GOD DRESS UP TIME!

-And what the heck are bully sticks?

That is what I'm talking about people, I'm accepting all requests(keep it T and below but blood is fine) and will give credit to the ones who request. So send them in people, the more I get, the faster the chapters will come.

Well that's all for now, you know the drill, and remember, NO REVIEWS, NO STORY! See you later.

WingedWolfAlari out.