So this fic is basically just a loose retelling of the plot of Ghostbusters 2 but with TF characters( I’ve been on a ghostbusters kick lately). enjoy There were so few transformers left on earth, or even the universe. Even after their race was devastated by the death of their world, pointless civil war continued to dwindle their numbers. There were very few autobots left and fewer deceptions. Both sides suffered greatly from the deaths of their leaders; megatron perished in battle many years ago and optimus prime had recently passed on, succumbing to his age and war wounds. The last of the autobots that followed him are now left in new York, leaderless and directionless. Bumblebee heard a commotion from the next room and went to see it. He was the unofficial leader of the autobots, despite being the smallest of the four remaining bots. As the one who served the longest with optimus prime, he was elected to take the spot. Leader wasn’t a very high title any more, as he simply broke up arguments and ending ties or draws. Their residence was an old fire house that had been opened up on the inside. It also connected and opened up to the warehouse next door, giving the autobots more room. Bumblebee entered the next room to see Springer and Riptide arguing. Red alert was sitting in the corner ignoring them, tinkering was some kind of gadget. Apparently the two had been arguing about what to watch on tv; riptide wanted to watch gamera and springer, godzilla. A feud many years in the making for the humans as well bumblebee thought. Rather than intervene, he rolled his optics and sat down, uncaring. The autobots had sunk so low. After the war, they worked closely with the humans. They were employed to deal with “robotic apparitions” which plainly meant cybertronians causing trouble. From decepticons to renegade autobots to troublesome neutrals, they were who were called to deal with them. Unfortunately, with the amount of renegade bots drying up, along with the humans tolerance for their presence and collateral damage, they soon withdrew from the public eye. Still known of and somewhat social, they remained mostly isolated, even as optimus’ health began to fail. Suddenly a communication came through on the display beside where red alert was sitting. She answered and the usually reserved femme was caught off guard. “bumblebee, it’s…it’s the city mayor” she said Bumblebee ran over to take the call; the new York mayor had not made contact with them in many months, not since optimus went offline. He only ever called before when there were bots to deal with but cut contact when public opinion turned against the autobots. “hello, this is bumblebee” “we need your help, there are two ugly looking bots tearing up times square!” “I thought we were banned from public combat” he responded dryly “I’m the mayor, I make the rules. Your ban is lifted. Now get out there and take these creeps down, they’re like wild animals and human lives are at stake” “thank you for your business, we’re on the way” The call ended and the small yellow bot turned to his three comrades. “alright autobots, our ban is lifted and we have some skid plates to kick” “but why, I mean, they are just kinda using us for muscle” riptide spoke up. “I agree, I mean I love a good fight as much as any bot but they did kick us to the curb pretty fast. How do we know they won’t again?” springer added “given their psychology, that is extremely likely” red alert chimed in Bumblebee grimaced at their reactions, expecting something more positive. He was not much of a leader; he knew it and they knew it. He turned and looked at a framed picture of the wall of the team, including optimus. “because it’s what optimus would want” “yes, I believe you are correct” red alert smiled The other two nodded and as one they took off, transforming and barreling out the door and into the streets in their alt modes. Bumblebee had a modest looking car mode while red alert had the alt mode of an ambulance. Springer was a triple changer but knew his copter mode would draw to much attention so went with his pick-up truck form. Riptide, being an aquabot and having a speed boat alt mode, transformed and landed on a cart that hooked onto springer’s bumper, towing him along. They made their way close enough at good speed but as traffic and fleeing humans clogged the street they were forced to transform and run. Coming to the wide opening of Times Square, they quickly saw the cause of the ruckus. There were two large bots wreaking reckless havoc, indeed looking strangely feral like the mayor had said. As they approached they saw the bots were scorched and damaged badly, and appeared to be leaking some sort of bright purple substance. At closer inspection bumblebee realized that he recognized these bots, they were the decepticons cyclonus and demolishor. He was confused by their silence and the blank, deranged expressions on their faces, rather than their usual grins and mocking. They suddenly lunged at them with beastly growls, lumbering awkwardly. Their intent clearly hostile, the autobots scrambled, trying to avoid contact with the clearly unwell bots. Peppering them with blaster fire, it only seemed to slow them down a bit. Red alert, even from a distance, could see powerful old impact wounds that had not been treated and metal fatigue at critical points. “I have an idea, everyone, force them towards the center!” she yelled She then joined bee in pressuring cyclonus, forcing him back as springer and riptide did the same to demolishor. As the bots were driven back to back by the attacks, red alert broke off and ran to the side. She pulled a devise, a pulse bomb, from her pack and through it at the ground between the decepticons. After a second it went off, the powerful blast force completely shattering the two bots into many bits. Red alert smirked, knowing the result while the others were stunned. “what the slag kinda bomb was that” springer gawked “it was a pulse bomb set on low power” she answered “low!, you blew them to slag!” riptide screeched She ignored it and walked over to the bodies to scan the remains, both leaking the purple ooze. The other three came to stand by and she looked up at them, having confirmed her odd analysis. “these two…were already offline”
Unseen on a roof above, the massive form of a cybertronian warrior watched the events, fuming. It soon transformed into the form of a military chopper and took off, undetected. “what do you mean they were offline?” bumblebee asked “Precisely as I said. Not only do I have record of their being previously killed in battle, but my scans before their destruction show no spark signatures, below base energon levels, minimal brain activity and they bore wounds and damage that would be debilitating, if not outright lethal, to a standard bot” “then how do you explain them, y’know, actually attacking us huh?” springer asked “unclear at the moment, I’ll need to do some tests on the remains. It could have been remote control, but their conduct didn’t seem to hint at that. I did get some unknown readings from…” “what about this?” riptide called out The others came to see what he meant; he was pointing to a purple liquid that poured from the broken bodies. Red alert began scanning the substance and looking over the odd results. “By the matrix, I’ve never seen a compound like this. It may very well be what animated the cadavers” “by animate the cadavers…you mean like ghosts or something?” riptide cringed “No. while not supported by science, spark ghosts are a different phenomenon that has occurred before, most notably in the decepticon starscream. This more closely resembles the human concept of the undead” “so, zombies?” bee asked “for all intents and purposes, yes” she responded dryly “well that’s sooooo much better” riptide whined “these remains and contamination need to be secured, carefully and completely, so I can better study it back at base” “autobots, secure the area” bumblebee ordered Back at the firehouse, the three male bots were trying to unwind after such an odd encounter, leaving red alert to her examination in peace. The peace however was broken by the medic’s cries for help. They ran in to find her being assaulted by a small, monstrous looking mechanoid. Springer quickly cleaved it in half with his sword, yet it still struggled in aggression until bee and riptide crushed it under a chunk of concrete. “what the slag was that?” springer demanded “until a few moments ago it was one of my tools. It made contact with the substance. I’ve never seen anything like this; its corruptive capabilities are beyond anything we know of. Just as alarming is it shares nearly all its molecular properties with normal energon, as if it were a new form of the fuel” “could there be more of this “dark energon” stuff around?” bee asked “Most likely; we know not where it came from, but logic dictates that there would be more” “can we do anything about it? I mean, what threat does it pose to us good old bots who still got our sparks?” springer asked “from the evidence, a fair amount. I will begin work on some new equipment to handle the situation better” red alert answered In the dead of night, the helicopter arrived at a warehouse at the riverfront on the outskirts of the city. Transforming, it entered, ensuring to not be observed by any humans that might chance by. Walking into the dark exterior, it waited silently. “blackout” a distorted voice came The decepticon kneeled and bowed his head at the disembodied voice. “master” he responded Suddenly a holographic image of the deceptions leaders face appeared at the room’s center, briefly alighting it. The face however appeared distorted and monstrous, only truly recognizable by the vaguely bucket-shaped helmet; it’s eyes blazing red like an inferno. “what of my designs?” “The dark energon works just as you decreed my master, bringing your fallen troops back stronger than ever. But…” “but what?!” “the autobots interfered” “Let them. The autobots are all but extinct, they will be overwhelmed with what I am to unleash. They will die, then join my thralls themselves!” “yes mighty megatron” “go my servant, see that my corruption spreads far and wide; that as many of the fallen rise again to sweep across this world!” Back at the firehouse the autobots were suddenly alerted to another occurrence. “red alert, we have another dark energon problem” bee shouted “what’s happened?” “a trio of seekers are trashing central park. From the sightings it looks like thundercracker, slipstream and acid storm; all also dead and back with a vengeance” “concerning that these attacks are growing in frequency. I have created some equipment here to deal with this particular problem” Red alert handed each of them a new, strange looking gun. “what do these do…?” Before he finished his question, riptide had pressed the trigger, unleashing stream of energy that decimated the far wall. The group was left stunned and weary of the tools. “these are new weapons I have constructed for each of us that are specifically designed to counter and weaken the dark energon effects, while also allowing us to confront the apparitions form a safe distance” “wait, where’s yours?” “I upgraded my hand apparatus to be capable of the same effect” “alright, autobots, let’s roll out!” be ordered They arrived at central park and easily found their trio of targets. The undead bots hovered in the air, as mindless and feral as the others; their bodies damaged and in tatters. Acid storm’s head even looked half wretched off, dangling limply from his neck. The seekers were quick to strafe and assault the autobots from above, swiping as they flew by or blasting with what remained of their weaponry. The autobots engaged with their new equipment, which indeed worked on the enemies, almost appearing to ensnare them. Disoriented and weakened by the new weapons, the trio of seekers were herded together when red alert threw out a new device under the seekers’ position. With the press of a button, the device unfurled, its light cast up over the enemy, who let out unholy moans from the sensation. The autobots watched as the dark energon was drawn out of the undead bots and absorbed into the device. With the last drops collected, the device closed shut and the seekers, lifeless again, fell to the ground in a heap of colorful metal before greying again. “what was that?” “my new dark energon containment unit. I built to be able to absorb and capture the substance from its hosts once we’ve subdued them” the medic answered “then what?” riptide asked “I am constructing a larger storage unit to hold and isolate it back at base” With that, the autobot were thrust into a new chaotic role as more and more of these undead transformers appeared in the city. They were kept quite busy, so much so that they needed some help. The small autobot tailgate had come to the city and acted as the teams receptionist and coordinator while they hunter down the apparitions. Sparkmates Strongarm and Quickshadow were also in the city, having become members of the police department, and helped coordinate with the humans to maximize their efficiency. The team faced many new attacks, such as the remains of the mighty tidal wave, who rose from the waterline. Or there was soundwave and his pack of undead cassette beasts making a butchery of the city zoo. There was the periodic appearance of an undead vehicon trooper and Mindwipe, even in death, sought to enslave the minds of others with his hypnotic abilities. Even heroically fallen autobots were not spared this horrific fate. Legendary former comrades elita-one and ratchet rampaged, making a mess of downtown and ironhide, whose body was full of integrated weapons still, had been attempting to single handedly tear down the empire state building. Each threat the autobot team countered with their new equipment, capturing the dangerous dark energon and returning there undead friends and foes back to the peace of death. They also clashed with the very alive decepticon blackout multiple times. His attitude and proximity to these events made it clear he was involved or responsible, though to what end they could not deduce. Bumblebee and red alert agreed that there was something big coming on the horizon.
