My Darkness (Transformers Prime Fanfiction)

Chapter Twenty Five

"That dragon is what we're looking for," Wheeljack said, ducking behind a dark monitor. Bulkhead crouched down a few feet away behind a second monitor. The dragon was dozing in the corner, its tail flicking.

"How are we going to get close to that thing?" Bulkhead asked.

"Like usual," Wheeljack replied smugly. "You go around and distract it, I'll get down and make it regurgitate its latest meal."

"Okay," Bulkhead said, moving away from the monitor and skirting the edge of the chamber. He could hear some sort of cursing and whimpering emitting from another room and prayed that the sound would drown out his heavy pedsteps. Wheeljack darted around to the other side of the dragon, waiting.

"Hey, ugly," Bulkhead said, nudging the dragon's huge head. One eye opened, then the other and it lifted its head, opening its mouth to let out a warning cry. However, Bulkhead pulled out his mace and slammed it onto the bottom part of its jaw, knocking its head up.

Wheeljack jumped forward, sliding underneath the dragon's belly. He began to press and work the soft underside until it began to make gagging sounds.

"Poor doc," Wheeljack said, crawling out and standing beside Bulkhead. The dragon took one step, then raised its head, opening its mouth wide before spitting out Ratchet, covered in black slime.

"Come on," Wheeljack said, running over and grabbing Ratchet by the front. Bulkhead braced his legs and called for a Ground Bridge. The dragon screeched behind them and moved towards them. They picked up the pace, jumping through the Ground Bridge. A huge black claw reached in after them, but Arcee closed the Bridge and the claw withdrew.

"Spectacular," she said, gesturing at Ratchet. "Now we have to fix him. Does he seriously only have one arm?"

"That can be fixed. I don't think he's too seriously injured," Wheeljack said, poking Ratchet. He grunted and weakly flapped his arm at the wrecker. "Well, at least we know his temper is intact."

"Well, then we should get him cleaned up and give him some Energon," Arcee said, marching off to the Energon storage. Wheeljack sighed and began to clean off the slime, shaking his servo vigorously after some got on his digits.

"He's going to need a trip to the carwash," he said after he'd gotten all he could off. "Ratchet, I'm not going to carry you everywhere, and not like you would want me to." He pushed Ratchet rather roughly. Bulkhead winced. "Come on. You just gotta get on the berth for me."

The medic opened his optics, the color duller than usual. He groaned and pushed himself up. "What happened?" he rasped.

"You got eaten by a dragon," Arcee said wryly as she walked in with the Energon. Wheeljack hoisted him up and practically threw him onto the berth. Bulkhead winced again.

"Tell me what to do, doc," Wheeljack said, folding his arms. Ratchet pointed at his medical kit and began to give the wrecker instructions.

"Bulkhead, we're going to need metal from Agent Fowler," he said. Bulkhead nodded and contacted Fowler, requesting the type of metal required to replace his arm.

"What did he do now?" Fowler asked, the sound of his fingers hitting the keys audible even though the comm.

"Got eaten by a dragon... I think," Bulkhead replied, glancing at Ratchet as he barked orders at Arcee and Wheeljack. "His temper and attitude clearly haven't changed from inside a beast."

"I can imagine. It's on its way." The comm went offline and the wrecker turned to the others. Ratchet didn't appear to be badly injured, though he was more of a grump than ever.

"How long until you're on your pedes again?" Bee asked from beside Skywave. Ratchet turned his helm.

"How could you bring her back here?" he asked.

"She's good now," Bee assured the medic. "She'll need your help, though."

"At this rate, a day or two," Ratchet said, shifting into a more comfortable position on the berth. "If Wheeljack works any slower, a week." Bee whirled in amusement.

"Going as fast as I can, doc. We'll need your guidance for welding the arm together," the wrecker said. Ratchet puffed in annoyance.

"Everything but your arm and a few holes in your armor appears to be intact. All you need to do is refuel and attach your arm and you should be back on your pedes in no time," Arcee said, pushing a cube towards him. Ratchet grabbed it and consumed it quickly. The femme offered him another, but he shook his helm and she set it down.

"So apparently, inside a dragon is a very safe place," Bulkhead joked. They chuckled. Ratchet snorted. "I guess we should just be grateful it didn't chew you."