Twist

Chapter 20: Teams?

When Optimus drove back into the base, Temptest felt genuinely guilty for getting mad at him. It wasn't often she pitied bots when she blew up at them, but that's because they usually defended themselves by offending her. Optimus was different. He never seemed to be on offense.

A flashback to him beating the frag out of his doppelganger did well to remind her that statement wasn't entirely accurate.

But as far as Temptest was concerned, Optimus was always incredibly nice. He didn't have some sense of self-righteousness that he needed to protect; his only concern was the benefit of those around him, regardless of the emblems they wore.

Despite her guilt, Temptest refused to look at him, instead focusing on sharpening her digits back to their usual points. Optimus, however, didn't seem bothered in the slightest as he made his way over to Ratchet and inquired about the state of affairs of their mission.

Temptest scooted a bit closer over the weird machine thing she was sitting on and tuned her audio receivers into their conversation.

"Arcee says they've found the kids and are bringing them back," Ratchet informed him. "The only problem is that Miko crashed a civilian car in an attempt to attack them."

"Was anyone hurt?" Optimus questioned.

Megatron shook his helm. "Not as far as we can tell."

Optimus nodded and turned away. "Good. How is the construction going?"

"Surprisingly well," Ratchet tilted his helm at Megatron appreciatively. "As ugly as he is, Megatron does seem to have a knack for technology."

Megatron and Optimus frowned at him, but the medic only shrugged and continued weaving his wires. The two leaders reluctantly turned away, returning the room to a bloodbath of silence.

Luckily, they did not have to wait long for something to happen, because the sound of approaching tires had Megatron and Temptest shooting to their pedes in alarm.

"Idiot fliers," Ratchet rolled his optics. "You're working with Autobots now, remember?"

Temptest glared. "We've always had grounders on our team, old mech. The lower caste encompasses everyone."

Optimus frowned at her. "Our dimensions are–"

"Still using the same caste system," Megatron interrupted. "The Autobot and Decepticon ranks were filled by those trying to protect their own lives or senses of normalcy, not moral or political ideals. Our dimensions do not differ in that aspect. You were the rare exception... for a little while."

Optimus's expression darkened. "You do not know me."

"Maybe," Megatron replied coolly before walking toward the door. "Stay back. I don't want the children panicking any more than they already are."

Temptest slid off her machine and followed Megatron dutifully. She passed Optimus a sympathetic glance as she went, but the Prime only looked away with a troubled frown.

Soon enough, Bumblebee and Arcee pulled up with their char— with the Decepticons' charges. Bumblebee opened his doors as Megatron knelt down and the three children came tumbling out.

"Megatron!" they shouted, running up to the mech's pedes.

Jack looked back at the two Autobots. "What's going on?"

Rafael started smacking the older teens' arms rapidly, his eyes wide and heart beating too fast for him to utter any words as he stared at the figure on the other side of the room.

"Optimus," Miko growled hatefully, stepping in front of her friends.

"W‐what," Jack stuttered, "what are Autobots doing with... you?"