Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Animated or any of their human character friends…I only wish to pay tribute to their greatness
A/N: A few months ago I started obsessively watching Transformers Animated. Though, there seems to be a clear divide amongst fans regarding the series. Love it or hate it, I think it is an entertaining spin of the Transformers that, for me, blows most of those sorry 3D versions clear out of the water. So I've decided to dabble in the fan fiction for TFA.
I know, I know. This plot has been beaten to death by thousands of writers but it's just too fun to write. Besides that if I don't get this idea out of my head it will put me in a creative coma…or forcefully burst out of my ears I'm not sure. So here's MY story where Transformers are turned into sparklings.
Baby Con
"A Little Big Problem"
By Leah Wood
Downtown Detroit near 1:00 in the morning…
It was utter chaos downtown. The five Autobots with whom many of the citizens of Detroit regarded as heroes were locked in fierce combat with a pair of Decepticons. After receiving the call that the Cons were tearing into a robotics factory searching for an All Spark fragment the Autobots deployed and engaged.
Much to their dismay, Megatron had chosen to grace the scene along with his most loyal minion Lugnut and was showing the Autobots exactly why he was the baddest Con in the universe. Buildings and concrete shattered down to the rebar as metal bodies smashed violently into them and rocket propelled projectiles exploded.
Optimus and Prowl, being the most skilled fighters, were taking on Megatron; or at least trying to keep him from getting away with an All Spark fragment. Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Ratchet were dealing with Lugnut.
A bright flash in Lugnut's left clamp revealed yet another All Spark fragment and he was defending it with all the intensity expected from a Con his size. Throwing Bulkhead to the side with a mighty shove, Lugnut turned to face the other two Autobots. His right clamp shifted out and back, reforming to reveal his concussion disruptor. The red light flashed ominously, foretelling a massive explosion that was the giant Con's signature attack.
"Prepare to meet oblivion Autobot filth!" he thundered.
Just as he was about to level the city block, Ratchet and Bumblebee stood shoulder to shoulder and each activated their weapons. Crackling and humming, the light red magnetic field broke against the harsh yellow electrical bolts forming an electromagnetic pulse. Lugnut's deadly fist started to descend but the pulse struck him, shutting down his electrical systems.
That's when the unexpected happened. The fragment in Lugnut's left clamp flashed brightly, mingling with the pulse that crackled over the Decepticon's frame. He arched backward with a loud horrible roar as the blue light swept through him. Bulkhead, seeing his nemesis distracted, charged and bulled into the Con's chest with the force of a tank. Unprepared, the purple and green Decepticon flew backward crashing straight through the wall of a large warehouse and disappearing amongst the cloud of dust and rubble.
A single flicker of blue flew through the air and skittered across the street. Bumblebee immediately sped forward and snatched up the All Spark fragment Lugnut had released.
"I got it! I got it!" he crowed.
Without warning an assault of red blasts struck the small yellow mech in the side, sending him careening down the street in a rain of sparks. The All Spark fragment clattered to the ground and was swooped up by a large black and purple hand.
"He GOT eet! Ahahaha!" Blitzwing's maniacal voice cackled as he soared up into the air with his prize.
"Where did HE come from?" Bulkhead shouted, whirling his wrecking ball.
But the triple changer was well out of range as he blasted off into the sky.
Switching faces to that of his cold calculating self Blitzwing contacted his leader, "Blitzwing to Megatron, I have the second fragment."
Nearby, Megatron had managed to disable Prowl and Optimus long enough for him to transform his massive body into the menacing dark grey and red Osprey outfitted with an outlandishly large cannon. In a thrumming whir and massive rush of air Megatron hovered above the area. He couldn't waste anymore time dealing with the pesky interference of the Autobots.
"Return to base Blitzwing. We have what we came for." the warlord commanded over the Decepticon channel.
"Lugnut, transform and rise up!" he ordered, noting there was no sign of his most loyal follower.
No response.
Megatron's voice lowered, "Lugnut. Respond."
Still silent.
Snorting with irritated contempt, Megatron flew off into the sky. He could not and would not waste time on a fallen soldier no matter how loyal he was. The All Spark fragments took precedence.
….
Groggily standing after being thrown through a building by Megatron, young Optimus tucked away his energy axe with a frustrated sigh, "They got the fragments."
Ratchet was helping Bumblebee up after his little "encounter" with Blitzwing's cannon. He was lucky, only some dents and some scorched circuits. Still the small bot was far from tip-top condition.
"OW! Easy Doc Bot! You trying to kill me?" the yellow mech whined.
The old medic grasped Bumblebee's shoulder firmly, "Shut it and hold still. You're lucky Blitzwing didn't send you the Well of All Sparks."
"Is everyone functional?" Optimus asked, scanning the devastated area.
A chorus of "yeah" and "sort of" answered him. Slowly the band of Autobots began to come together to access their damages as well as the collateral damage. Optimus shook his head. Every time they faced the Decepticons part of the city bore the brunt of the destruction and every time something was destroyed they were the ones to clean up just to save face in the public eye. Captain Fanzone was going to develop a small collection of ulcers when he saw this latest damage.
All at once the young commander noticed Bulkhead sneaking up to a heavily damaged warehouse, his arm poised to fire his wrecking ball.
"Bulkhead! What are you doing?" he inquired.
The big green bot hissed quietly, "Lugnut is still in there."
"You're sure?" Optimus retrieved his own axe from his back which made Prowl draw his shurikens.
"I'm sure. Bulkhead assured, continuing his tedious path. "I shoved him in there and I haven't seen him come out."
In an instant both Prowl and Optimus were beside him, ready for an attack from the giant Decepticon. Cautiously, they slipped inside the damaged warehouse. Gouged in the concrete floor was a massive crumbled trench where the Decepticon had fallen. Their blue optics scanning the dark of the large building, each Autobot tried to find the looming form and the singular red optic. But suddenly the cratered concrete ended with nothing to be found.
"Where is he?" Bulkhead whispered, optics darting. "You think he escaped?"
Prowl's head turned very slowly, allowing his highly attuned senses to scan, "Him? Escape? Without us seeing or hearing him?" the ninja-bot asked incredulously.
"Good point." the green bot admitted.
The trio scanned the entire warehouse but the big Con was nowhere to be found.
"Well…I don't see him anywhere. He must've escaped with the other two somehow." Optimus concluded, "Let's roll on home. I'll let Captain Fanzone know we'll be back and clean this mess up tomorrow."
Bulkhead deactivated his wrecking ball and groaned with frustration, "How come every time we get into it with the Decepticons we're always stuck with clean up?"
"If you think the Decepticons would lend a servo in the clean up just let me know." Prime muttered.
After a few minutes the Autobots transformed and sped for home unaware of the single red optic watching them leave.
…….
Later around 7:30 a.m.…
Captain Fanzone was not in the best of moods. He was helping assess the latest damage to the city caused by their resident giant robots. It was no secret how much the Captain despised technology and machines and all these strings of damages were not helping that feeling. True, he'd grown to respect the Autobots for their good deeds and acts citizenship yet these constant wakes of destruction were getting a little too frequent. He watched the five Autobots toiling tirelessly to clean up the mess and then massaged the bridge of his nose groaning. Why didn't he transfer to Chicago when he had the chance?
All at once his phone rang and after a couple failed attempts to answer it he finally tapped in. It was a break in a few blocks away in an AutoZone store; fairly standard and routine. But from the tone of the reporting officer it sounded like something a little worse.
"Calm down, Lieutenant. Now tell me slowly, who are the perps?" the Captain inquired with no shortage of annoyance.
"It's…just one. You'd better call the Autobots." the Lieutenant recommended, sounding nervous.
The portly man straightened himself, "Decepticons?"
"I…I'm not sure."
Captain Fanzone growled, "All right. I'll be right there and THEN I'll decide if we need the Autobots."
He hung up and climbed into his little yellow car. Though it was usually in his best interest, Captain Fanzone preferred to take care of problems on his own without having to call the Autobots all the time. The Captain didn't want to turn into a Police Chief Gordon, flashing the Bat Signal to call Batman a.k.a. the Autobots all the time. Quickly, he made his way to the reported break in. Several police unit bots were forming a barrier in the street while a few human officers were standing next to the broken window frame in front of the auto supply store.
Slamming the door of his car the Captain started shouting, "What he heck is goin' on here? Why haven't you sent the security units in?"
"Well…we weren't sure if that was necessary yet sir." one of the nearest officers explained.
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" the blonde man demanded.
Pointing into the building the man directed the Captain. Hiking up his work pants the Captain stepped through the broken front window pane and stopped. His normally squinted eyes went wide.
"What in the name of…?" he uttered.
There sitting on the floor in the engine oil aisle was a smallish green and purple robot. It had one large red optic in the center of its little head which almost looked too big when compared to its squat, broad body. The miniature robot probably didn't stand any taller than Fanzone himself. Both of its clamp-like hands were fastened firmly onto a quart bottle of Penzoil and it appeared to be drinking it down like a little kid with a juice box. It was making some strange mechanical whimpers and clicks as it drank. A rather large pile of empty plastic oil jugs littered the tile floor around it.
Fanzone was flabbergasted. Where did this little bot come from? It oddly looked familiar but he couldn't place it.
He dumbly lifted his phone and speed dialed the number given to him by the Autobots in case they were needed. Much to his surprise he got it right this time.
"Optimus Prime here. What can I do for you Captain Fanzone?"
"Uh…yeah, Optimus, I got a little problem down here at the AutoZone a couple blocks from where you are." the man stated, keeping a wary eye on the intruder. "Do you guys…uh…know a little green and purple robot with one big red eye?"
There was a pause, "Did you say little?"
"Yeah, little. Like my size little." the policeman sprinkled his words with subtle annoyance. "Cause I got a little metal cyclops here that's fixin' to drink all the oil in the joint."
"Hang on. We're on our way." Optimus sounded urgent in his tone.
The Captain quirked a bushy eyebrow as the quart bottle of oil crackled with emptiness and the little green and purple bot tossed the empty aside. Immediately it reached for another bottle, ripped the cap off, and guzzled that down as well.
The Captain had never seen a robot like the Autobots this small. It looked oddly like a baby of some kind. A horrified look crossed the man's face. Were the Autobots reproducing? Was there something he hadn't been told?
He shook his head to banish the disturbing notion of robot reproduction and focused on the task at hand: stopping this little bot from drinking every last bottle of oil in the store. But how? It was small, sure but it was at least as broad as he was and just about as tall—he wasn't exactly sure how this robot would respond to a scolding or more disturbingly what it could do to him if it decided it didn't like the scolding. He needed a more subtle approach.
Glancing around the Captain noticed a larger gallon-sized jug of oil and snagged it from the shelf. It there was one thing he knew about kids, which was very minimal, he knew they loved bigger portions.
Holding up the jug he whistled at the small robot, "Hey! Hey you, with the eye!"
The cyclopic bot turned, its large red optic shrank briefly, zeroing in on the source of the whistling sound. It made a curious mechanical moaning sound.
Captain Fanzone shook the jug enticingly, "Lookie what I got."
The dark shutters of the optic focused tightly on him and then the bottle before opening all the way. Fanzone knew humans' pupils dilated when they saw something they liked, the same seemed to ring true for this miniature robot. Making an excited trilling noise the green and purple cyclops pushed itself up, optic greedily fixed on the jug of oil.
"Atta robot. Come on. Come on." the police Captain coaxed, backing out of the store with the jug.
The mech followed eagerly, reaching for the oil that was pulled just out of its reach as it came closer. Fanzone soon was out of the store and so was the pint-sized robot. The little clamps clanged together rapidly with each failed attempt to seize the prize until the large red optic narrowed its scope. It didn't look too happy that it wasn't getting what it wanted.
Quite suddenly one of the pincher-like hands reached out and fastened onto the man's wrist drawing a shout of pain from the man.
"OW! All right! All right! Ease up!" he begged, dropping the jug instantly.
But surprisingly the one-eyed bot ignored the oil. His funny shaped head tipped to the side and his optic shutter flicked several times like he had a question. The iron grip remained as the other clamp reached over and poked the portly human in the stomach. It made a clicking sound as it felt the softness of the human's body, something completely foreign.
"HEY!" Fanzone warned, shoving the large barrel shaped wrist away with his free hand, "Cut that out!"
The little bot 'blinked' some more and all at once noticed one of the shiny buckles of the police Captain's suspenders as well as his golden police badge. Metal. Something it knew. With curious delicacy the clamp hand tapped the small pieces of metal and then pinched them. Captain Fanzone was about to have enough of this prodding when suddenly his suspender snapped. The elastic strap, tipped with a broken metal buckle, whipped around and struck the mech across the side of the head with a resounding bang.
The clamps released the man's arm instantly and the purple and green bot reeled back before falling down on its bottom. Its optic shrank down and its squared metal jaw vibrated.
Barely believing what just happened, Fanzone's eyes widened in horror, "Oooh no."
The Captain of police knew what was coming.
A shrill whimper mounted in its vocalizer and suddenly exploded into a deafening full-blown cry.
Fanzone covered his ears just as the Autobots rolled around the corner.
He uttered his infamous complaint, "This is why I HATE machines…"
When the Autobots transformed their optics were all wide as headlights when they beheld the tiny shrieking robot sitting near the curb.
"What in the name of the All Spark?" Ratchet swore.
The determined look on Bulkhead's face shifted to that of utter confusion, "Is that…who I think it is?"
As the Autobots stared dumbfounded, Captain Fanzone crossed his arms over his wide chest, "Would one of you mind tellin' me what that is and where it came from?"
Sharing uncomfortable glances, Optimus reluctantly said, "Well…it looks like Lugnut."
The Captain raised a quizzical brow but then realization dawned on him, "Wait a minute…ain't he that really big Decepticon who leaves moon-sized craters in my city?"
Optimus frowned then nodded.
"Uh…I don't mean to doubt your fancy mechanical eyes but does that look really big to you?" the man shouted with no shortage of sarcasm.
"Well…he USED to be big." Bulkhead mumbled.
Bumblebee knelt down a short distance from the little Lugnut who was still crying. He snorted a quick laugh which suddenly burst into a fit of giggles.
"OH! OH! This is TOO perfect! Just look at him. Big bad Lugnut crying like a little sparkling!" he laughed.
"He IS a sparkling Bumblebee." Prowl reminded him sardonically.
The yellow mech snickered, "I know! Isn't it hilarious?"
Captain Fanzone threw up his hands, "Whoa, whoa! Back up. What is a sparkling?"
"Sparkling is the term we Cybertronians use to describe a young one of our kind." Prowl explained.
"You mean like a baby?"
The black and gold mech nodded, "Precisely."
Stealing glances between the Autobots and the sparkling Lugnut, Captain Fanzone tried to straighten this whole situation out in his head, "So how did a fifty foot Decepticon turn into a six foot baby robot?"
No one had an answer.
Optimus squared his shoulders, "That's not important right now, what IS important is deciding what should be done with him."
Unsure glances passed between reluctant eyes.
The officer held up his hands defensively, "Hey don't look at me. I don't know anything about kids of my OWN species."
Optimus felt just as averse. He wasn't good with young ones. It's not that he disliked sparklings or human children he just didn't know how to respond to them. For all his training in the Autobot Academy and bravery in battling Decepticons, sparklings just sent waves of uncomfortable signals through his mainframe.
Then, after an awkwardly pregnant pause one bot stepped forward. With a great gentility Bulkhead reached down with both hands and lifted up baby Lugnut who was still shrieking at an unholy decibel.
"Hey, hey. It's ok little fellah. You're all right." he cooed, cradling the small bot to his huge chest to sooth him.
Of all the Autobots, Bulkhead probably had one of the stronger aversions for the Decepticons. Lugnut, after all, was his Decepticon doppelganger on the battlefield. But Bulkhead had the gentlest spark of any mech his size and the sight of the sad sparkling tugged at it.
Ratchet narrowed his optics, "Are you out of your logic circuits? He's a Decepticon, big or small."
Small metal jaw vibrating, Lugnut slowly started to calm down. His wailing was lowering to a tremulous whimper. The red optic flickered.
Seeing this Captain Fanzone gave a brief salute as he dispersed the security units, "Well it looks like you've got your hands full. I'll leave you to care for it."
"Huh? But Captain, we…" Optimus began to protest.
"Look. I don't care what you do with it just keep it out of trouble." the man pointed up at the bot to punctuate his words.
Optimus expelled air from his vents, darkening his optics, "No problem."
A/N: Wanna see a baby Lugnut? Go to my deviant art site and have a look!
fire-redhead./art/TFA-Decepticon-Sparklings-91077865
Although, now that I think about it, his design would probably be even more simplistic. But I still think he's cute.