Slag Happens

Transformers and all its properties are owned by Hasbro. All I own are my OC's. I have Rose's Wings permission to utilize her and her elements from her story "I lost a World"/The Long Road Home(P.S I highly suggest people read both stories. THEY ROCK!). Also inspired by LeaderPinHead's story Pintsized, I HIGHLY suggest you read it, the amount of awesomeness contained in that story shall blow your mind! There are alternate universe elements in play. I am going to use a mix of Bayverse Transformers and some designs from the G1 Transformers, and Transformers Prime. Wheeljack has his original G1 type form, and Soundwave is TF:P equivalent. Why? Simply because I feel Soundwave is creepy as hell when he doesn't talk. Other elements include sparklings, Treads, and Steelgrip which are from Rose's Wings universe setup which is a AU Bayverse. Universe #1 will for all intents and purposes my OC's universe, and Universe #2 will be the Transformers universe.

Italics-Thoughts

Bold Italics- Comlink

-Prologue: Road Less Traveled

One cannot simply help the fact that sometimes in life, the unexpected occurs and utterly throws you for a loop. You cannot stop it, stuff happens and you cannot help but try to weather the storm and be as flexible as possible and go along with it. I bet the guy who came up with the saying "shit happens" would not, could not, hold a candle when it comes to the absurd, outlandish phenomena that has occurred in the past 24 hours. I mean how could he? Who would believe that not only are Transformers real, but they are also roughly a foot tall. Foot tall robots….HA!. I meant robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron…. Autobots for short. Which leads me to the question "What hallucinogenic, hippy approved, all "natural" drug am I on?

Earlier Today

Heaven, that is the only way to describe where I must have been right now. My bed being so nice and soft, and the comforter being so heavy, warm and inviting as it smothered me in it's cozy embrace. I was content. However, this serene, calming, and peaceful moment was never meant to be, for some evil, malevolent being was slowly making it's way towards the head of my bed, it's eyes set on the prize…..me. The abomination set itself right next to the right side of my head and let loose one of the most evil sounds a man such as myself can hear at 11 A.M here in the state of New Hampshire; a loud, and reverberating purr.

I lolled my head to side, and slowly willed my heavy sleep encrusted eyes to open. The sight that greeted me was not an unusual one. It was my cat Minnie, aka the one animal on this planet that refused to allow me to sleep while it was awake. I looked at my faithful feline companion and did the only thing I could think of, I pushed it off the bed. I began hiding my face beneath the comforter on my bed like a sea creature returning to the dark depths of the ocean, but not before lazily mumbling out "Minnie go away". Unfortunately, my cat does not speak, nor comprehend the English language, so what happened next I should have seen coming. The warm and welcoming hug that I was appreciating from my bed was interrupted by my cat pouncing on my bed and landing on the one spot no man regardless of strength, stature, or of political importance can take a blow to. The family jewels.

My body immediately shot up due the pain coursing through my body, and of course I being a man of college could not help but let loose the most profound and thought provoking statement "AHHHHHHHH! SON OF-WHAT THE HELL!". This of course was the start to the day that I have come to refer to as "Autobot Arrival Day". It was sort of like Christmas minus the gifts, the tree, the cookies, a matter of fact the only similarity between Christmas and "Autobot Arrival Day" was the idea of an otherworldly home invader, or in this case home invaders. At least Santa would leave, the Autobots however and their enemies the Decepticons were here to stay.

After rolling out of bed and stumbling myself out of my room and across the hall, I eventually made it to the bathroom to perform my daily ritual of hygiene. After recovering from my mortal wound, not to my physical body; but my pride for being dealt such a blow from an animal one tenth my size, I brushed my teeth, and showered.

Taking one last glance in the mirror, I couldn't help but think that I might resemble the hobbit version of Grizzly Adams, not that I had the body of the mountain man. Simply put my scruffy beard in the making, combined with my rather long brown hair, and light brown eyes I could pass as perhaps as the famous mans 5'6 tall miniature version. I turned to leave the bathroom and get my clothes on, ready to take on the day, little did I know how wrong I was.

I returned to my room threw on red plaid shirt, my jeans, socks, and slipped into my sneakers, and all but leapt down the stairs to get myself something to eat. As I walked into the Kitchen I noticed both my parents, my father sitting at the table eating some frozen waffles with a small cup of coffee, and my mother currently on the phone getting ready to head to work. I entered the kitchen and greeted my mother with a hug and a kiss. "Good morning mom."

"Mornin' Andrew! How'd you sleep?" My mother asked, though it seemed it was more out of habit than her actual interest in how I slept.

"I slept fine, aside from the fact that my cat jeopardized your chances at having grandchildren, but all things considered it's good. All the important parts are intact."

My father choked on his coffee wearing a lopsided grin. "Well it is good to know that your not out of the running, would hate to hear that after having the cat spade she decided to return the gesture." I was getting ready to offer my personal opinion on my fathers sense of humor when my mother scurried past me in haste.

"Andrew, your father has a job interview at 2 and I will be working late tonight until 10. There is some left over steak from last night in the fridge, and frozen pizzas in the freezer, go ahead and whip something up for yourself tonight for dinner." With that she quickly walked over to me kissing me again, and walking over to my father to do the same. And just like that she was gone.

It wasn't long until my father left, apparently off to go do some errands before his job interview. My father has been unemployed for the last year, after the company was bought, they started switching out some key staff members, my father was the vice-president, and being as unlucky as he was, was the first to go. This left me completely alone in the house until late tonight when my parents would return.

I eventually ended up in the living room watching TV after I ate what some would call an unusual breakfast, though I considered eating a peanut butter and banana sandwich and drinking Sprite not that far out there in terms of the realm of alternative food choices. And so I sat there watching cartoons for the better half of an hour before I became inexplicably bored.

"Here I am on a nice fall afternoon on a Saturday no less and what do I have to show for it? Nothing! Seriously, I envy Dustin and Ryan. Dustin gets to party it up at college in Colorado, and Ryan has his expensive BMW and fancy apartment in Boston, and I have…" my eyes rested on my cat currently nestled in my fathers leather recliner across from me. "…a lazy cat." I thought to myself as I sat upside on the couch with my feet raise to the ceiling.

Although I was in school at the local community college, I did not have much else to do. I was unemployed, and no matter how hard I seemed to look for jobs, they seemed to evade me. As far as friends go most were either going to school out of state or in the military. Granted, I never had many friends. Having ADHD, and NLD tended to get on some peoples nerves due to my hyperactivity, and overall immaturity in some cases really did get to others. I cannot say I have many friends, but I have solid set of friends….unfortunately they just happen to be either at some military base, or attending one prestigious school or another. Which left me in my current state, here alone….in a house….in the wooded suburbs of Amherst, New Hampshire.

Taking a deep breath and correcting myself on the couch I decided that perhaps the best course of action would be to go for a walk on the trail behind the house, if not to cure my boredom than to simply save my sanity. Ironic, that this little activity wouldn't exactly save my sanity, but rather make me question it.

-Meanwhile in another universe aboard the Ark in deep space…-

Optimus looked out around the bridge of the ship quietly contemplating the fate of his men, his people. All the Autobots, all those who remained…..who could be saved. After being forced from Cybertron due to the civil war that had consumed their planet, they had no other choice but to seek refuge in the stars, trying to find a new world to call home. His rather depressing train of thought broken when a overly excited group of sparklings came bursting through the command decks doors. His gaze shifting to the seven sparklings as they ran about trying to avoid capture from the large black armored weapon specialist Ironhide, and one rather irritated vibrant yellow medic, Ratchet.

"Get back here you little pit spawns!" Ironhide cursed the twins as he chased them around the upper part of the command deck. The twins, Skids and Mudflap giggling like two little red and green gremlins as they played a rather intense game of cat and mouse with Ironhide. They were faring better than Bumblebee and Arcee who, much to their dismay, were captured and unceremoniously placed into the waiting hands of Elita-1 and Chromia.

"I got you now you little punks, there is nowhere else for you to go." Ironhide proclaimed with a rather triumphant smirk on his face, after finally cornering the two renegade sparklings in the corner part of the command deck. Ironhide finally getting his hands on the two, brought them over and handed them over to Ratchet.

Jazz shook his head after watching the ensuing little game from his work station and glanced over at Ironhide before refocusing himself back on his work. Or rather he would have if he hadn't caught the attention of two sets of bright blue optics hiding beneath his work station. With a friendly smile Jazz looked down upon the two. "What are ya' kids doing down there?" Reaching down Jazz Picked up the two little seeker sparklings Cloudraker and Fastlane.

Fastlane looked to Cloudraker and then set his optics on Jazz, giving him the most innocent look he could possibly muster. "We were bored! So we decided to come play with you guys!"

Cloudraker nodded along with his brother. "Yeah we wanted to play with you guys, but Bluestreak tried to stop us! So we ran up here!" Cloudraker's optics wandered over to the sight of Ironhide yelling and trying to pry the two rowdy twins from his arms, immediately returning his focus to Jazz. "We are sorry….we just wanted to play with you guys. We didn't mean to cause trouble…" Cloudraker optics becoming laced with sadness as he suddenly started looking to the floor, trying to prepare for the punishment that he believed was coming their way.

"It's ok buddy. I'm not mad, Ironhide…. on the other hand." Jazz looked over to Ironhide, who now was trying to what looked like punt the twins, who had latched onto his pede's and were clinging for dear life.

Jazz smiled before letting out a small chuckle and picked up the two, bringing them over to Ironhide, who had finally gained control of the twins, and a fresh new dent to the helm courtesy of Ratchet. "Got two more for ya'!" Jazz deposited the two seeker sparklings on the floor, who immediately made their way over to Bumbleebee and Arcee who after much pleading, were sitting side by side.

"That's six out of seven….where is Val?" Ratchet immediately scanning the room for the other hiding sparkling. "He has got to be here somewhere, Elita-1, Chromia, you see him anywhere?"

Chromia who had been trying to calm Ironhide down looked up from Ironhides helm "No, I am too busy nursing Ironhide's dented helm because someone thought it would be a good idea to smack him with a wrench."

"I haven't seen him either, for being one of the bigger sparklings he seems rather adept at hiding." Elite-1 looked around the room, ultimately her attention setting upon the group of sparklings. She couldn't help a small smile creep across her face as she looked over at the six sparklings all bunched together giggling, smiling, and chatting away.

Optimus couldn't help but let a small smile grace his face. Turning around Optimus caught the sight of a giggling Val who was hiding beneath Optimus's command console. Picking the squirming sparkling up he made his way over to place the last sparkling over with the others.

Val was determined to wiggle out of the grip of the Autobot leader. "Let me go! I don't want to lose! If Bluestreak catches us we lose the game…..please!" When he successfully wiggled free, he ended landing on the floor right into the company of the other sparklings.

Bumblebee looked over at Val "They got you to huh?"

Val looked to Bumblebee. "Yeah, they managed to catch me, but we haven't lost yet I mean Blue-" As if on cue Bluestreak came stumbling into the room looking frantic.

"The sparklings are missing! I mean we were playing a game and I turned my back for only a few kliks and then they were gone. Well, I mean I didn't turn my back I walked away to grab a cube of energon from the other room, but It's not like I didn't try to be quick! Warpath was ahead of me at the dispenser and he kept talking and taking his time with getting his energon. I mean he just wouldn't stop talking, have you ever had to deal with someone who cannot take a hint and be quiet?" Bluestreak finally taking notice of the sparklings at the end of his 'rant' who all quietly snickered and laughed at the blue youngling.

Ironhide and Ratchet shot each other disbelieving looks and then at Bluestreak. "You left the sparklings alone….in the nursery room, and you didn't think that perhaps that was a bad idea?" Ratchet said in a manner that clearly indicated he couldn't believe Bluestreak had simply left the sparklings alone. Ratchet sighed in frustration, he couldn't be entirely mad at the youngling. 'He is still learning' he thought to himself.

Red Alert who had been ignoring the sparkling induced chaos was busy monitoring the Arks sensors when a ship came within sensor range. Red Alert immediately scanned the approaching vessel as it entered within the long range scanner proximity. Red Alert immediately looked at the data, Decepticon Vessel- Class: Warship – Designation: Nemesis. If Red Alert's face could have paled he would have. "Optimus! Sir, Decepticon warship has just entered within sensor range and is closing in fast! They will be within firing range of the Ark's defenses in few kliks. Recommending immediate lockdown of the ship and prepare the troops to repel the Decepticons should they attempt to board the ship!"

Optimus looked about the bridge. "Autobots." Getting the attention of all those on the bridge. "Ironhide, Chromia, prepare the troops to repel the Decepticons should they get the chance to board the ship. Ratchet go with Elita-1 and get the sparklings and Bluestreak down to the nursery. Everyone else maintain your posts. Red Alert put the ship in lockdown."

Ironhide and Chromia left to go gather the troops to prepare for the possibility of a Decepticon boarding party, while Bluestreak, Elita, and Ratchet left with the sparklings were escorted from the bridge to the nursery, Optimus opened his comlink. ":Optimus to Engineering bay."

There was the sound of a small explosion that rang out through the comlink before Wheeljack responded.": Optimus Sir, what do you need?"

": Wheeljack is that space bridge drive core you designed for the Ark work?"

Wheeljack couldn't help but feel offended by Optimus's lack of faith. ":Of course it works! A few minor mishaps and people begin to think that I don't know what I am doing! Honestly, Optimus have my inventions ever blown up in our faces before?"

There was a slight pause before Optimus replied in what had to be in an almost 'are you kidding me' tone. ":Yes. They have…."

":Well this time it won't! I assure you that there is a 98 percent chance that it won't blow up. If we utilize it we can effectively move the Ark through time and space instantaneously." Wheeljack responded all too confidently

Optimus was almost too afraid to ask. ": And the other 2 percent?" There was another slight pause and some mumbling from Wheeljack before he responded. ": Well…lets not talk about the other 2 percent, worst case scenario…..we create a wormhole. Nothing wrong with that."

To say that Optimus was less than enthusiastic would have been an understatement, but if it meant that they could effectively evade the Decepticons and protect not just his troops, the sparklings, but also their precious cargo then he had no other alternative.

":Wheeljack…. I want you to engage the space bridge drive core. It is operational right?"

":Yes. However it takes time to work. It draws a lot of energy from the ship. So roughly it would take a klik to activate. Why?"

":Megatron is closing in on us. His warship will be within the Arks auto-defense turrets firing range momentarily. Red Alert believes they will attempt board the ship, so we are going to throw the ship into lockdown. We will buy you as much time as possible get the space bridge drive core online immediately."

":Yes Sir. The core is charging now, once it is ready the space bridge drive core will trigger automatically, but Sir I must warn you, without coordinates or any real location we will be jumping blindly, we could end up anywhere."

They could end up anywhere…. The thought lingered in Optimus's processor. He knew the risks, however if the Decepticons got onto the ship, he knew they'd be at a serious disadvantage. Between having troops protecting the All-Spark and the sparklings; Optimus had little to no troops to repel the initial Decepticon boarding party. The Decepticons had nothing but brute strength, and unfortunately that was all the Decepticons needed in that situation. Leaving the Autobots in a rather grim predicament. Optimus would not allow Megatron to kill the sparklings, or any of his troops for that matter, or get a hold of their cargo. Not as long as he could help it.

Optimus's face took on a look of absolute certainty, ultimately securing the events that were to take place with his decision. ": Anywhere is better than here Wheeljack, and that is a risk I am willing to take. I am not going to let Megatron get a hold of the sparklings, or the All-Spark."

":Yes sir." Wheeljack replied, though if Optimus didn't know any better he could detect a hint of both enthusiasm and excitement laced into those two words. Optimus couldn't help but hope that his decision wouldn't come back to haunt him, unbeknownst to him, his decision would affect not just the lives of the Autobots, but the Decepticons and one unsuspecting human as well. The sounds of the ships blast doors, and security locks activating as the Ark's systems began to lock down the ship, all these sounds consumed by a high pitched whirring noise.

The Nemesis entered the Ark's exterior defense turret range, and began to be bombarded with laser fire. It looked as if the worst case scenario of the Decepticons boarding the ship was about to become a reality. Optimus looked over at the command deck console, watching the monitor as the Decepticon ship was closing in; only to have his attention drawn to the main window of the command deck as the Ark began to be enveloped in a bright green light that seemed to swirl and stretch and pull the ship all once before vanishing into space.

-Onboard The Nemesis…-

Megatron's burning gaze was fixated on the image of the Autobot ship as the Nemesis closed the gap between the two. The Ark was discharging turret fire on the Nemesis, bathing it in flurry of colorful explosions, leaving minimal damage to the hull of the monster of a warship. He was close, so close to finally attaining victory and ending this war; and with it the Autobots. He didn't know how they had constructed their rather large vessel without his knowledge, or to a further extent how they evaded Decepticon detection as long as they had; but that no longer mattered. Very soon he would have the All-Spark and would personally see to it that every last Autobot had their sparks ripped out, but not before crushing those sparklings in front of their loved ones. His train of thought was interrupted by the approach of one of his most trusted officers, his third in command, Soundwave.

"Yes Soundwave, what is it?" Megatron turned around and looked at the silent communications officer, giving him his full attention.

Soundwave said nothing, instead a diagram of the Ark popped up on his face mask showing the layout of the ship. That was however not important, what was important were the several readouts along the side of the frame that were truly interesting. The data gathered from Soundwave indicated some unusual power surges throughout the ship.

"Interesting…" Megatron looked back out to the Ark, his optics narrowing in contemplation. "What could those Autobots be trying to do?" Suddenly, the Ark was beginning to glow and looked like it was being stretched out and distorted. "What the—" Before Megatron could finish his sentence the Ark was engulfed in a blinding light, overwhelming his optics causing Megatron to look away as a thunderous shockwave racked his audio receptors with pain sending him to his knees in agony; along with the crew of the Nemesis.

Megatron stumbled to his feet, his systems recalibrating themselves after being engulfed in sensory overload. He was soon greeted with the sounds of sparking circuitry, and moans of crew members whose systems had yet to rectify the strain that had been put on their systems. "What in the name of the Pit was that!" Megatron managed to bellow out, still getting his bearings. His gaze drawn back to the scene of his disorientation expecting to find the Ark in the same sort of shape that he guessed the Nemesis was in, if not worse. What he didn't expect was for the Ark to be….gone.

"Where….did they go?" Megatron asked in complete disbelief. Shifting his focus to Soundwave who was back up on his feet and showed no signs of fatigue, looking almost exactly as he had been before the Ark disappeared. "Soundwave, locate the Autobot ship!" Megatron's request was remedied with Soundwave's mask pulling up the working sensors of the Nemesis and directly providing feedback to him.

Sensor sweep 1: No Ships DetectedMegatron glared at the data that was being presented to him. "Run the scanners again! Locate the Autobots! They couldn't have just vanished." Quickly losing his temper. Sensor sweep 2: No Ships Detected. Megatron was absolutely livid at this point. "Someone find out where those cowards disappeared to this instant!"

Unfortunately for Megatron it wasn't just a simple matter of where they went. They had not simply traversed the universe and ended up in one galaxy or another, but instead traveled to an entirely new universe altogether….

Back in Universe #1

Although I was never a huge fan of the outdoors, I saw the appeal of being outside. Walking down the old milk road behind my house I could see the sun shining in fragmented beams of bright warmth through the canopy of maple and evergreen trees; the crisp smell of the fall air created a perfect catalyst for my mind to just relax. I couldn't help but just feel peaceful, but at the same time the thought of peacefulness brought about depression. The idea of calm serenity almost scared me; I have always been a fan of the fun, chaotic, and wild nature that always seemed to surround my life. It was like a safety blanket of sorts, the one aspect of my life that I knew would never change. I enjoyed having friends who were as wacky as I, always doing the unexpected and just shooting from the hip in life, but with my friends gone, a void had been left in their stead.

I came to a stop and looked around at the natural beauty of the woods before turning my gaze upward to leaf covered canopy, looking for spots of blue. I couldn't help but release a sigh of resignation. Is this how my life is suppose to be for now on? Nothing but the mundane, uneventful, tranquil crap day in and day out? The idea that maybe, the fun and abnormal aspect of my life was over almost made me feel bare, making me want to shiver in fear and sorrow. I shook my head, trying to dismiss these haunting thoughts from my mind, and decided that I should try something different, try to mend the void left by my friends, if only to keep the disheartening thoughts in my mind at bay.

My thoughts drifted to a poem written by Robert Frost, the only true poet I ever liked other than Edgar Allen Poe. He wrote a poem called "The Road Not Taken" in which he came to a path separated by a yellow wood tree, and goes about explaining how each path could be mirrored by our choices in life. One path, was beaten and wore signs of travel, while the other path was wild, unkempt, and bore no signs of being traveled. ultimately takes the path less traveled.

I thought long and hard, looking over the old stone wall that lined the markings of the trail, separating the tame trail, from the untamed wilderness. The last part of the poem crossed my mind, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference". Taking a page from Frost's book, I climbed the stone barrier and began to navigate the backwoods. This act of breaking free of my normal drab routine would ultimately fulfill the last part of Mr. Frost's poem, because what happened next, definitely has made all the difference, in both my life, and theirs.

I had not gone far into the woods when I heard a thunderous 'boom!' assault my ear drums. Looking to the sky in confusion as my eyes were greeted with crystal clear blue skies, I began to ponder what was the source of that noise. If there are thunderstorms then where did- My thoughts were cut short as the sound of what I could only imagine a space shuttle launch would sound like reverberated throughout the forest. Quickly turning my head towards the noise, my jaw dropped, my eyes widened in between what must have looked like I had witnessed a big foot sighting and Godzilla suddenly erupting from the forest floor; instead I was treated to the ever increasing image of a very large ship of some sort exiting what looked like to be some sort of hole or portal. That however wasn't the problem, the dilemma was that said ship was exiting from said hole very, very close to the ground, and happened to be heading towards my person.

Pulling myself together I ran faster than I ever thought possible, jumping and weaving past the underbrush and downed branches alike to get to safety. Only when I believed to be outside the soon to be crash site did I turn around to witness the ship impacting onto the forest floor. I should've kept running, maybe then I wouldn't have been knocked back several feet and into the base of a tree from the force of the impact.

The second I collided with the tree my body was bathed in waves of pain, it felt as if someone had knocked the wind out of me, over, and over again. My head throbbed, I thought perhaps I was suffering from a concussion. That thought however was ended as my vision began to blur and I slipped into the ever welcoming embrace of unconsciousness, but not before one single thought echoed in my mind before succumbing to the tight hug of oblivion. I hate you Robert Frost.

A/N There you have it, the prologue. Took me forever to decide how to end the chapter. I feel it is easier to time jump or change subjects via chapters. That and I didn't feel like adding another 7 pages to the prologue and making it a novel. Tell me what you think! Leave a review, let me know what you think.