Wild Ride (Cyberverse Mech!reader X Hot Rod)

8: Near Death

I found myself floating about that void again. This time, everything felt cold and far lonelier than before as I drifted about. I don't know what this place was, but I somehow knew it well.

'The anomaly cannot be destroyed.' I heard a voice say.

'It has to be destroyed! Before, it remembers what happened to its universe!'

'You can not destroy something like this. It must be sealed away. Somewhere, it won't ever escape.'

'Then let us bind it to the in-between and continue onward.'

The void all around faded, and I felt like I was falling only to slam into something.

"Cmon Y/D, I know you can hear me." Ratchet's voice said as a jolt of electricity ran into me in an effort to reactivate me. "Cmon cmon."

"Is... is he?" I heard Hot Rod ask, his voice wavering in a futile effort to contain his emotions.

"No, but he's heavily damaged. His brain model is still active, and his spark is holding on, which are both good things. But I can't seem to get him to wake up. I'm going to increase the pulse rate and strength." Another jolt ran through me, and my systems jumped back online although they were slow to respond. "He should be coming around soon."

"This is my fault." Hot Rod said. "I should have gone with him. I should have done something to stop Starscream!" I then felt Hot Rod hold my hand in his, the gentle shaking telling me he was sobbing.

"Not... your fault." I whispered as I cracked my optics open.

"Y/D!" Hot Rod exclaimed, his arms wrapping around my neck and his face burying itself into the crook.

"Easy there, Hot Rod. He's still healing." Ratchet said.

"Hot Rod?" I asked as Hot Rod released me from the embrace. "Are you okay? Did Ratchet fix your leg?

"You went through absolute scrap, and the first thing you ask is if my leg is okay?" Hot Rod asked in shock and amusement.

"His leg's fine Y/D." Ratchet said. "You did a pretty decent job popping it back into place."

"Thank Primus. I was worried I'd hurt him." I sighed in relief. "But... what happened? The last thing I remember is... Starscream stabbing me in the back."

"You died Y/D." Hot Rod said grimly. "But then you came back!"

-earlier on the moon -

"No! NO!" Hot Rod cried out as he saw my frame drop to the ground with a thud, the impact kicking up a small plume of moon dust.

"STARSCREAM! I HAD him!" Megatron bellowed as he grabbed the seeker and chucked him.

"You were taking too long to kill that brat!" Starscream argued as he scurried back to his feet.

"Idiot! I'll turn you into scrap!" Megatron then charged at Starscream, and Megatron proceeded to give the seeker one of the biggest beat downs he would ever receive to date.

While the pair were busy, Hot Rod and Optimus ran to my frame and knelt down, my colors barely there. I cracked open my optics one last time and tried to say something, but life slipped away from me as my spark went out.

"No..." Hot Rod whispered as he lifted my upper half to his chassis. "No, please... please come back."

"Hot Rod, we can not mourn this loss now." Optimus said in an effort to comfort Hot Rod.

"You don't understand!" Hot Rod snapped at the Prime. "I can't leave him... I can't -" He was then interrupted by a quiet groan from me as a faint tint of color returned, both Optimus and Hot Rod in shock. "He's alive, Optimus. Help me with him!"

-present-

"Guess I'm tougher than I look, huh?" I chuckled weakly.

"You seem to have a knack for avoiding being terminated." Ratchet commented. "If I remember correctly, this happened a few times before back on Cybertron, although I always brushed it off as propaganda."

"16 times to be exact." I said as I slowly scooted up, so I was in a somewhat upright position. Ratchet adjusted the berth, and I rested my back against it with a soft sigh.

"16? That can't be a coincidence." Hot Rod said.

"I try not to question it, or well, think about it."

"You are one strange bot Y/D."

"Not as strange as what I saw when I went down." I said.

"You saw something?"

"Yeah, some weird thing that had black spots and a sort of orange color." Both Hot Rod and Ratchet looked at each other with a slight concern. "What? What's that look for?"

"Bumblebee said he saw the same thing. Calls it a 'moon cheetah'." Ratchet explained.

"A what now? A moon cheetah? But aren't cheetahs those fast cat things?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah, but the fact that you saw it? It's definitely not a coincidence." Hot Rod said. "But you focus on getting rest, okay? And no more solo acts!"

"Whatever you say, sunshine." I teased, Hot Rod turning a bright blue before leaving the med bay without another word.

I stayed in the med bay for only a few days before I was able to get back to active duty. However, I was starting to struggle a bit due to a certain yellow autobot scout constantly pestering me.

"You said you saw the moon cheetah! Where was it?" He asked.

"I dunno, where I was stabbed?" I responded flatly.

"Did it like, look at you weird? Or anything?"

"I mean, it did seem to be far more intelligent than some simple earth creature." I said as I began to ponder it.

"So it seemed smart to you too! We gotta find that moon cheetah!"

"Bumblebee, you want me to join you on some wild chase for something we both could have hallucinated?" I asked as I turned around and cocked an optic ridge at him.

"Look, it's no coincidence that we both saw it. I mean, what are the chances?" I paused a moment and thought about it before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"I'm going to regret asking this." I muttered as I pinched the space between my optics. "Do you want me to help you find the moon cheetah?"

"Yes, please!"

"Oh, sweet Solus Prime."