Wild Ride (Cyberverse Mech!reader X Hot Rod)

27: The In-Between

Once I was cleared from the med bay, Ratchet made me promise that if I ever felt like I was going to have another episode that I would immediately return to him or alert Hot Rod. Well, it's less of a promise and more of a threat.

"I mean it, Y/D, if you don't, I will whack you so hard with this wrench you'll be seeing more stars than the ones outside." The medic huffed.

* Okayokay, sheesh!* I signed with a hint of fear and amusement. I then left the med bay and met up with Hot Rod.

"Hey, Y/D! Good to see you, big guy!" He said with a grin. I gave an awkward smile to him and hesitated when I saw Windblade and Bumblebee not far off. "Cmon, the others spotted an old space bridge, and you gotta check it out." I curiously followed Hot Rod but couldn't help but feel like everyone was staring at me despite no one actually doing so. I shook off the feeling and looked out through the front windshield with awe.

"Pretty sick, huh?" Bumblebee said. "Wheeljack thinks he can get it up and running again."

* How? This is Quintesson technology.* I signed. That's when a sudden realization hit me as a puzzle piece fell into place. Hot Rod noticed and gave me a curious look.

"Y/D?" He asked.

*Hot Rod. I just figured out something! Something big!* I signed excitedly.

"What's got him all hyped?" Bumblebee asked.

"He said he figured something out. What do you mean by that?" Hot Rod asked.

*the multi-faced beings! They are Quintessons! And those weird little gremlin things? The ones you saw when you, Bee, and Cheetor were solar surfing? Those are Sharkticons! Something is going to happen, and it involved that space bridge and the Quintessons!*

"Y/D, are you saying that it's not a coincidence that we found this busted space bridge?" Hot Rod asked.

*nothing is ever a coincidence. I may finally get some answers! And that bridge is the starting poknt.*

"Whoa whoa, slow down. What do you mean answers? Like, to the whole Anomaly thing?" I nodded like an excited sparkling.

"What's got him jumping about?" Grimlock asked as he entered the bridge.

"He thinks the space bridge may have a clue as to the whole Anomaly thing." Hot Rod said.

"Oh? Well, some answers would do us all good." Grimlock said.

Soon, Wheeljack and the others managed to fire up the space bridge, and we proceeded on through only to end up in a place I recognized.

"What the? What is this place?" Hot Rod asked.

"Well spin my wheels and call me Prima, the space bridge malfunctioned and brought us to unspace!" Wheeljack exclaimed.

"Uh... what?" Bumblebee questioned.

*It's the in-between!* I signed excitedly.

"What's he hand flapping about?" Wheeljack asked Hot Rod.

"He says this is the In-Between?" Hot Rod said with uncertainty.

*I gotta go! I gotta find The Vault!* I said as I went to rush out only for Hot Rod to stop me.

"Y/D, we need to think this through. Are you sure this is what you think it is?" Hot Rod asked.

"Well, unspace is the in-between of space bridges. So whatever cryptic mumbo jumbo he's getting hyped about must have a connection to it." Wheeljack said. I then felt a strange tug at my spark, and my glaive began to glow.

'The Vault is near, Anomaly. Find it and claim your heart.' A voice whispered in my head, one that I swore came from the glaive.

"We aren't the only ones here, it seems." Telatraan-x said. "I have detected a distress signal from another vessel." Telatraan-x then pulled up the image of the ship in question, and everyone, including myself, was in awe.

"That looks like the Ark!" Bumblebee said.

"Then we will investigate this." Optimus said. We all piled up into the shuttle and boarded the unknown vessel. The entire time, I felt a strange pull similar to how I felt when we were searching for the Allspark on earth.

"Weird, this even looks like the Ark's hanger." Bumblebee said.

"Split up and report anything you find." Optimus said.

"Okay, I'll pair up with Y/D. Wait... where did he go?" Hot Rod said as he noticed I was missing. While the bots had been talking, the sensation I was being pulled only grew in intensity, and I started to follow it. The entire time I heard whispers in my head and the glaive in my hand began to glow the closer I got to the source. Eventually, I came to what seemed like a dead end except for what looked to be a massive and intricately detailed structure built into the ship. In the center was an odd looking slot that took on the shape of my glaive. I placed the glaive into the slot and watched with surprise as it slid perfectly into the slot and ignited hidden ancient Cybertronian lettering in a soft light.

The structure hissed and shifted, the glaive melting away into nothingness and the structure rumbling open to reveal a pedestal with a unique object in the center. It had a pulsing circular center with crimson and violet veins that ran all about, along the outside were 2 half square sort of projections that hooked to the center similar to the Matrix of Leadership. It was beautiful and I knew it was mine. As I reached for it, I heard Hot Rod aproach from behind, and I turned around to see him with a worried expression.

"There you are!" Hot Rod said as he finally caught up with me. "Why did you - what the? What is that?"

*i don't know. I was about to take it.* I signed.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Y/D, we don't know what that thing is, and it could be dangerous."

*we should have Wheeljack check it out then, can you call him?* Suddenly the strange Matrix lifted off of the pedestal and launched violet and crimson tendrils into my chassis, forcing the panels to open and expose my spark. I tried to fight it off but was restrained by the tendrils.

"Y/D!" Hot Rod cried out. The strange Matrix then slammed itself into my chassis, and I silently screamed in pain. That scream, however, did not remain silent. As if someone had turned up the volume on my voice, my cry of pain faded into existence, and I dropped to the floor with a hard thud. My chassis plates then closed and sealed the strange Matrix inside. When the pain subsided to a dull burn, I sat up and looked over to Hot Rod with confusion.

"What just happened?" I asked, jumping in surprise when I heard my own voice.

"Y/D? Holy scrap! You got your voice back!" Hot Rod exclaimed. "But... but what was that?"

"The Matrix of Anomaly." I said, followed by a puzzled expression. "How do I know that?"

"I don't know. But we should contact the others and -" Suddenly the ship began to disintegrate all around us and I grabbed Hot Rod and pulled him through the halls and back to the main hanger where the others were running to get to the shuttle. I noticed Optimus was struggling behind, and I chucked Hot Rod inside the shuttle and ran to the Prime. I scooped him up much to his surprise and protest, and I tossed him right into the shuttle's open door with an insane amount of ease. The floors suddenly gave way, and I plummeted into the shifting void. Or at least I thought I would.

Instead of falling like I had seen in my visions of this place, I was floating about it with incredible grace. I stepped forward, and for a brief moment, I blinked out of existence only to reappear elsewhere within the void.

"Y/D!" Hot Rod called from the shuttle door. I turned around and tried to move towards him, but I blinked out of existence once again and reappeared above the shuttle. I reached out for Hot Rod, and the younger bot managed to grab a hold and pull me inside.

"What the scrap was that?" Wheeljack asked. "You were flickering in and out of existence almost like you were teleporting."

"That's not the only weird thing that he can now do Wheeljack." Hot Rod said. "He can speak again."

"What? How?"

"I don't know." I said, surprising everyone aside from Hot Rod. "Look, we don't have much time. You all are in serious danger."