Disclaimers: Transformers © HasTak, IDW. "Godzilla: The Series" ©1998-2000 Toho, Centropolis, Columbia Tristar

New Teammate

Jason M. Lee

"WHAT. IS. THAT."

If it was any other high-ranking officer, they would've been threatened by a flung datapad or cleaning duty. As it was Prowl, all they got were very stiff door-wings held very high up. The large sheet-covered object in the background of the testing range was moving a bit and he knew it wasn't the wind.

Wheeljack's fins all but glowed gleefully. "He's going to be TERRIFIC! Randy, Mendel, and I took about FOREVER to tweak his programming right! If all things go well, we could give Elita a hand with him!"

"You're skipping on how much of the coding BUGS," Mendel shot a brief glare at his human teammate, "we had to either iron out or completely dismantle and rewrite from the ground up. Animalistic behaviors are rather difficult to plan out (especially his behavior), and certain techniques aren't part of their packaging."

"Aw, c'mon! That DDR move set would've been AWESOME!" Randy boogied a bit in place, all the while grinning. "He could dance his way around any skyscrapers and Con!"

Monique, in a rare show of frustration, pinched the bridge of her nose. "Would the three of you quit beating around the bush and explain WHAT did you do, oui?"

"Presenting our newest addition to the ranks..." Wheeljack dramatically yanked the large cover off, Randy and Mendel obviously too short to do so. "...Machizil!"

Prowl and Monique stared at blue optics. Blue stared back - the Autobrand between his optics like Swoop in his Pteranodon-mode - and tilted its head curiously at them while its tail swished side-to-side, almost like a puppy meeting its new owner. On seeing Randy gesture eagerly, the reptilian mech transformed into one that looked like an amalgamation of Grimlock, Optimus, and Ultra Magnus all rolled into one with elements of his predecessor, as well being a good head taller than the gestalts. Not to mention in shades of dark green, metallic blue, and touches of gray, the Autobot symbol a stark contrast on his chest.

The only reaction from Prowl was his door-wings arching higher and a set jaw from Monique.

As the dabbling trio quickly descended into a techno-babble laced explanation, with Machizil shifting foot to foot like an anxious child, the security-keeping pair soon very wished that their leaders would quickly come back from that comics convention in San Diego.

A/N: Not the most inventive name, "Machizil". I was trying to think up of something conveying both natures (mechanical and his predecessor) but since it was close to me hitting the sack, I just yanked it out of my aft. "Machi" is derived from the Latin "machina", like "deus ex machina". "Zil" is pretty obvious. The original was "Machizilla" but I didn't want a rehash of "Mecha-Godzilla".

On the mention of Grimlock, moreso his robot mode's design from Animated.

The reference to San Diego is poking a bit at San Diego Comic-Con and where IDW Publishing (the guys publishing the TF comics in the US) is located.