Chapter Text
~A Universe, Transformed~
Chapter One: Axe Me a Question
- - -
Beach City: a bustling city on the eastern American coast, known for its beautiful seaside views, historical significance, and resident celebrities. Because of this, it was a semi-popular tourist destination, though it was far from being a bustling metropolis. And right now, the streets were deserted, save for one solitary youth happily strolling through the streets, without a care in the world.
To most, the empty streets would appear eerie, but not to Steven Universe. He simply hummed a tune as he headed down the sidewalk, stepping past a street-sweeper drone, the tiny robot the sole other being present. And perhaps the reason for the lack of pedestrians was in the distance: further into the city, the sounds of clashing metal and discharging laser weaponry rang out–it sounded like a war was being waged just over in the town square. But the sounds of battle did little to deter Steven from his mission.
His path brought him closer to the beach, where a small shop sat just beyond the residential district. ‘The Big Donut’ it read in big letters above the front, a hologram of its namesake hanging just over the roof. The bell from the door made a gentle dingle as Steven entered the establishment. “Good morning, Big Donut crew!” he announced cheerfully. There didn’t seem to be anyone there at first.
However, at his greeting, two older teens peered out from behind the counter, appearing to have been taking cover behind it. One of them, though anxious about their current predicament, waved. “Steven! Hey!” she said. “Here to pick up your order?”
“Yup!” he said, strolling over. The other worker scowled, clearly less than happy to see him. “Four donuts for S. Universe! Thanks for taking the time to make ‘em with all the commotion, Sadie.”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” she said, handing him a carry-out bag.
“Maybe for you it isn’t,” the more antagonistic of the two butted in. “Steven, the entire city’s under siege, is buying donuts really the best use of our time?”
He seemed to take offense to this. “Hey, everyone likes donuts! I’m just trying to do something nice for the guys: what could be better after a long day of saving the city than a nice, freshly-baked donut? And it’s not like you have anything better to do, Lars !”
Lars rolled his eyes, not willing to give this a response. “Whatever. Just…tell that helicopter lady I said hi.” Sadie gave him an angry nudge.
“You know what, maybe I will!” Steven said, exiting the shop. “Goodbye, Sadie! Mediocre-bye, Lars!” The brief interaction did little to lower his spirits, as, donuts in hand, he continued his journey back home. However, he gasped at something that was much more likely to ruin his day.
Crawling over a building, he was suddenly faced down with the eight glowing eyes of a giant spider. Very giant, as the creature was easily the size of a car. It could very well have been a car, as it was made entirely of metal. The mandibles of the mechanical menace clicked together as it observed the helpless human, crawling down the building towards him. He looked to either side, but more of the arachnids crept down the street. He was surrounded.
“Morning, Steven!” a cheerful female voice called from above. Also from above came a hailstorm of bullets, tearing through the approaching spiders. Those that survived the initial barrage turned their attention to their airborne attacker. A small but fast twin-rotor helicopter sped past overhead, turning around for another run. It was painted mostly pink, with shades of orange, yellow, and red, making it the color of a sunset.
Steven was unbothered by any of this, simply waving. “Hey, Elita!” he said. “How’s the battle going?”
As the helicopter looped back around, something extraordinary happened: as it slowed and approached the ground, it changed its shape entirely. Metal panels shifted and parts replaced other parts, and in a matter of seconds, the vehicle had transformed into a humanoid robot. “Oh, not too bad, thanks for asking,” she replied, the voice heard earlier belonging not to the helicopter’s pilot, but to the helicopter herself.
The feminine robot was tall and thin, with a tiny pair of lights on her head that resembled horns. As the spiders began to swarm her, she retaliated with a series of kicks, in addition to drawing a rifle from her back. The blades from her helicopter form extended from her ankles, slicing through her attackers. On her shoulder was a symbol: the image of a valiant robot face, stalwart in its demeanor, and colored red. Incidentally, Steven bore the same image on his shirt.
“I see you’ve got some donuts!” she said cheerfully, opening fire on the spiders. Her rifle changed from rapid fire to shotgun-like bursts as they got closer. “Sideswipe will certainly appreciate that! Speaking of, you be careful heading home, okay?”
“Okay!” Steven strolled away from the carnage, uncaring that one of the spiders was bearing down on him. Just as it was about to strike, a sleek black sportscar sped up, battering it aside as it scooped up the boy in its passenger door. The move was so smooth, it was clear they had done this before. “Hey Swiper!”
“Yo, what up, Ste-man?” It was the car itself that spoke, as it had no driver. While mostly black, its rims, underside, and two stripes down its length glowed neon green. “Are those donuts I smell?”
Steven hung his elbow out the window, rock music blaring from the car’s radio as it mowed down more spiders. “Sure are! Got you a glazed!”
“My fave! C’mon, let’s get home before Ultra Magnus gets overwhelmed!” With the hiss of nitrous, the black car blasted down the road, both outrunning and overtaking more of the spiders. Its tires screeched as it wheeled around, firing on them with machine guns that emerged from below its headlights.
Before long, Steven and Sideswipe had arrived at the back, where a gigantic statue stood beneath a large cliff. It depicted another robot, this one holding a sword to the ground. In front of this sword was a small house, attached to a much larger garage. Beside this house, another robot was being swarmed by even more of the spiders.
Just as the helicopter had, the black car transformed into a robot as well. Steven ended up in his hand, and he set him down while smoothing out where his hair would be. “How’s it holding up over here, Mags?”
The robot on the beach was the largest of the three, able to hold off the spiders even though they almost covered him completely. He was mostly blue with some red highlights, much broader and boxier than his compatriots, with a pair of large white shoulder pads. “Not exactly well,” he said casually, smashing through the spiders with his bare hands.
“Well, here’s some good news: Steven got donuts!” said Sideswipe, holding up the bag. “Let’s see…I got dibs on the glazed, and I imagine he’ll want the strawberry sprinkle. We got an eclair and a bear claw, which one d’you want?”
“I can’t deal with that now!” said Ultra Magnus, who was covered in spiders.
“Yeah, you’re right, we’ll wait for Elita. Sideswipe handed the bag back to Steven, who headed into the house. He then drew a pair of swords, rushing into the fray. “Sideswipe’s comin’ in, y’all!”
Once inside, Steven set the bag down on the counter, looking out the front window at the battle unfolding on the sand. Elita, Sideswipe, and Ultra Magnus all did battle valiantly against any threat the city faced, and this was no different. The sight of all three of them protecting humankind filled him with pride…only for the pride to soon be replaced with something else. He looked down at himself, examining his arms intently, finding fault in his seemingly normal appearance.
“Another donut run, done,” he said sadly. “They’re out there fighting, keeping the world safe…and all I can do is go out and pick up refreshments.” He sadly walked over to a nearby wall, looking up at several pictures depicting the robots. “I’m basically just an intern. I wish I could do more to help, and be a real Autobot! Like…like Dad.”
One of the pictures, an older one, depicted the three Autobots outside posing with several humans. However, there was a fourth in the picture: even taller than the others, he was red and blue with a faceplate over his mouth, and an axe in his hand. This Autobot stood at the center of the frame, drawing all attention with his mere presence.
Steven looked up fondly at the picture, before sighing. “Maybe one day.” The sounds of battle outside had ceased, so he decided to head out and see how everyone was. The three Autobots stood amongst the wreckage of countless mechanical spiders, surveying their remains.
“Hmm…” Sideswipe crouched near one of the scrap piles, which had already begun dissolving into rust. “I’m not seeing any sparks. Are these not Predacons or something?”
Ultra Magnus surveyed their surroundings. “Unlikely. What is more likely is that these are the spawn of a single Predacon, which has weaponized budding to test our defenses. It will be here soon–we must prepare.”
“It will be hard to prepare when we don’t know what to prepare for ,” said Elita. “Oh, Steven’s back. I imagine it’s time for donuts, then?”
“Huh? Oh, right, the donuts…” He seemed distracted. “So, what’s up? You guys have anything going on you need to talk about?”
Elita approached, kneeling down beside him. “I know that tone, Steven. Something’s bothering you again, isn’t it? Something about Optimus.” He hesitated, then nodded. “I thought so. If there’s anything you need to talk about, feel free.”
“Oh, well…it’s nothing, really. I just can’t help but wondering if I’m–”
His concern went unfinished, as there was a sudden shout of “Elita-1, look out!” from Ultra Magnus. One last spider had remained unseen, and had descended from atop the cliff to launch an attack on the unaware bots. Elita pulled out her rifle, but it was clear that it would reach her before she could fire.
But it didn’t reach her. Before the spider even hit the ground, there was a bright flash of orange light. Each half of the spider fell to either side of Elita, it having been cleaved in two by a searing blade. Following the source of the glow, all three looked down at Steven, who held a large axe in his hands: the same axe held by Optimus in the picture, scaled down to his size. Even he seemed surprised to see it, having acted entirely on instinct.
“Steven…” said Ultra Magnus, astonished. “That’s…Prime’s axe. How did you…?”
Just as astonished, Steven stared at the two severed halves of the spider-bot, which likewise dissolved into rust. “I-I don’t know,” he said. “I saw it coming, and it was gonna hurt Elita, and then I just…it just happened.” He held up the weapon to examine it. The blade glowed orange, emitting heat as well as a hum that was almost inaudible. He gave it a few practice swings. “Looks like I’m a real Transformer after all! I wonder when I’ll get my own altmode?”
Sideswipe chuckled, sitting down next to him. “Not so fast there, little bro! You got your first weapon there, but there’s still a long way to go before you can run with the big boys!”
Noticing Steven looking down after this comment, Elita reassured him. “But, this is definitely a big first step! Next to the Matrix of Leadership, Optimus’ axe was his most notable possession. With that weapon, he fought off hordes of Predacons, protecting the Earth with everything he had!” She sighed dreamily. “He was wonderful, Optimus Prime…”
“Uh…yeah,” said Steven. His focus off the axe for but a moment, the weapon suddenly disappeared, seeming to retract into his arm. “Wait, wait, no, no, come back! Come back–aww…” He hung his head, having undone his first major step. “It’s gone…”
“No need to worry, Steven,” Ultra Magnus assured him. He put his hand out for Steven to climb on, lifting the boy up to eye level. “None of us were master warriors when we first became Autobots–not even your father. It takes years of practice, and you’ve only just begun.”
Steven smiled, a sight which made Magnus do the same. “Thanks, all of you. But I really would like to help you with this!”
Ultra Magnus gently set him back down. “You can help us by making sure the people of Beach City stay indoors when there’s a Predacon attack. Sounding the alarm saves many lives.” He turned to address his fellow Autobots. “Elita-1, Sideswipe, this battle is not yet over. These drones have a master, and it has yet to arrive. We need to be vigilant, and find this…this…”
“Blackarachnia!” interjected Sideswipe.
“...before it reaches the city,” Magnus finished, giving him a beleaguered look. “Roll out!”
All three Autobots headed off to keep watch for the newly christened Blackarachnia. Steven watched them go, but just as before, his pride in them soon turned to uncertainty in himself. He held out his hands, gripping an imaginary axe handle as he struggled to will it into existence. “C’mon, c’mon…!” But no matter how hard he tried, he came up empty handed. “Aww…” Sadly, he headed back towards Beach City.
- - -
Steven sat at a park bench, brushing donut crumbs off his lap. “I don’t understand what’s wrong with me. Ever since I was little, I knew I was supposed to join the Autobots in protecting the city. So, when’s that supposed to happen? I mean, you were a great warrior, when will I be?”
In the center of the park, Steven looked up at a life-size statue of Optimus Prime. He valiantly held his axe over his head, giving off an air of valor that not even the pigeons perched on him could diminish. Valiant as it was, the statue’s axe almost seemed to be taunting Steven, literally and figuratively just out of his reach.
“I know you’re a giant robot, but it’s not like I’m a regular person!” said Steven, apparently arguing with the statue. “You created me for a reason…I just wish you’d told me what that was.”
The statue, being a statue, didn’t respond.
Steven sighed, tossing his trash in a nearby bin. The pigeons swarmed around him to pick up his leftovers, not that he minded. “You’re right. Maybe I’m not ready. Maybe I’ll never be ready. But I have to at least try, right?”
A pigeon on Prime’s head cooed.
“Good idea! I’ll go ask the ‘bots!” Steven ran off to find the others, turning back towards the statue. “Thanks, Dad.” Resisting the urge to get sentimental, he returned to his mission.
- - -
“Hmm…that’s a good question,” said Elita, “and unfortunately one that isn’t easily answered. For us, things like transforming or creating our weapons just comes naturally. It would be like a bird explaining how it flies, or the sun explaining how it shines.”
Situated on top of the cliff above the house, standing next to the lighthouse, Elita peered down toward Beach City through a pair of binoculars.
“O-okay.” Steven didn’t quite understand Elita’s metaphors. “But even a baby bird has to learn how to fly from its mama bird first, right? aren’t there any tips you can give me?”
Elita gave a small laugh before turning to face him, going into what Sideswipe called ‘Teacher Mode.’ “Well, I can certainly try. You see, unlike humans, who have to learn just about every skill, Cybertronians are often designed for a specific purpose. Those of us who weren’t designed for combat have to adapt, either using parts of ourselves for other purposes, such as my blades, or use tools that aren’t part of our bodies, like my Null Rifle.”
She produced her gun to demonstrate, switching it between its two modes. “So, it’s like in a secret compartment or something?” asked Steven.
“Um…not really,” she said. “Nobody is entirely sure how Optimus’ axe works. I’m not certain he knew. It just seemed to…appear whenever he needed it.”
This gave Steven an idea. “Then maybe I just need to need it! Elita, can I help you fight Blackarachnia when she gets here?”
“Absolutely not!” she said, vehemently shutting this down. “I won’t let you put yourself in danger like that! You got lucky with that spider earlier. Without any combat experience, you’d be…well, you wouldn’t be able to help us properly.”
He was disappointed, but only slightly. “I understand. So, maybe some training will make it easier?”
“You’re certainly welcome to train all you’d like!” she said, resuming her search. “Provided you don’t put yourself through anything too dangerous. Sideswipe’s back in the Ark , maybe you could ask him to run some simulations?”
- - -
“So, you wanna learn from the master,” said Sideswipe. He leaned up against the base’s computer, sipping glowing blue liquid from a barrel, with a pipe as a straw. “I’ve been kickin’ Predacon mudflap since ‘fore your other daddy was in diapers. If anyone here’s gonna teach you the ways of the blade, it’s me.” He set down his energon drink, doing some preparatory stretches. “So, ask away.”
Steven stood on a banister overlooking the room, so that he was at eye level with the large robot. “Well, you saw me earlier,” he said. “I summoned Dad’s axe, and cut that spider-bot in half. What I want to know is how to do it again .”
“Then you’ve come to the right ‘bot!” Sideswipe began making martial arts poses. “I just happen to be the greatest jet judo practitioner on the planet!” He was probably the only one, but Steven had seen him in action, and he was no slouch. “Now, weapons. Some ‘bots have them built in…some get their own!”
He proceeded to draw his twin Tironium swords, swinging them around in demonstration. Steven was privy to an admittedly very graceful display, but none of it helped him with his current predicament. “That’s nice and all, Sideswipe, but where do the swords come from? Do you have to do something special to get them out?”
“No…usually I just grab the handles and pull. Here, maybe this’ll help a bit more.” He sheathed his blades, extending his arms as panels around his wrists began to shift. A pair of Plasma Launchers extended from his forearms. “Now these babies are a different story! ‘Ey, Teletraan, boot up training sim level one!”
“Training sim level one engaged,” said a disembodied voice. Holographic targets appeared around the room, which Sideswipe began to blow away. Just like with his swords, he was an artist with his guns, slinging plasma all around the chamber.
After less than a minute, all the targets had been destroyed. “And that,” he said, the guns disappearing, “is how a master does it! The key is not to think of the weapons as weapons: they’re part of you. You have to feel them!”
“Okay…I’ll do my best!” Steven tried to follow Sideswipe’s advice, imagining his axe as an extension of him. But all that amounted to was picturing himself as some sort of dinosaur with the axe for a tail. He struggled and strained, trying to make this image a reality–somewhat–but all that got him was clenched muscles and a slight headache.
Sideswipe stepped in to stop him. “Alright, alright, don’t hurt yourself, kid. You’re gonna blow a gasket, or whatever the human version is. See, if you gotta strain that hard to get your weapon, it’s probably not gonna work.”
Clearly disappointed, Steven leaned against the railing. “Aw man, it feels like I’m never gonna get the hang of this! Is there something wrong with me ?”
“Don’t sweat it, little man!” said Sideswipe, lightly patting him on the back. “Why don’t you go ask Magnus about it? If anyone knows their stuff about this sorta thing, it’s him.”
“Good idea!” Steven said, perking up. “I’m gonna go see him right now! Thanks, Swiper!” He darted out of the room.
Sideswipe stood there for a moment. A few moments after Steven had left, he took a sip from his drink, drawing his swords once more. “Teletraan! Training sim max level!”
- - -
“...and, that’s basically the gist of it,” Steven said, sitting on the beach. “Do you have any advice? You’re the oldest and wisest person I know, Autobot or human.”
Ultra Magnus was busy piling up boulders. “I don’t know about all that, but I have seen something like this before. Sometimes, when a Cybertronian gets older, they have a bit of trouble with their functions: weapons, transforming, and other assorted abilities. But you’re quite young by both human and Cybertronian standards, so I doubt that’s your issue.”
“Then what is ?” he asked. “Elita and Sideswipe made it look so easy, so why am I having so much trouble?”
“Simple: you’re young.” Magnus easily hefted up a pair of boulders, one in each hand. “Now, I don’t know much about swords or axes–these fists are all the weapons I need–but it seems to me like all you need is some experience.”
Steven nodded, reluctantly agreeing. “It sounds pretty simple when you put it that way. If you don’t have any weapons, it must’ve been easy to learn how to, eh, be a Transformer.”
“Well, I wouldn’t say I have no weapons.” Taking a moment to wind up, Ultra Magnus hurled the boulders out to sea. Taking aim, the white extensions on his shoulders opened up, revealing two Hex-Missile Pods. Twelve rockets launched after the stones, blowing them to powder in a pair of impressive explosions. He then turned back to see Steven’s reaction.
The youth was, of course, blown away. “WOAH!” he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “That was so awesome! When can I learn to do something like that!?”
Magnus chuckled, crouching down beside him. “All it takes is a bit of patience, and a lot of practice! When I first became an Autobot, there’s no way I would have been able to pull off a maneuver like that. But with a little help from Optimus Prime and his friends, I became the stalwart mech I am today. So you see? These things take time; you can’t rush something you aren’t ready for.”
“I understand,” said Steven, “but I sure wish I could…”
“No need to worry–I’m sure it will be your time to shine before you know it.” He continued hauling rocks. “Now, you’re more than welcome to stay and chat, but I should get back to preparing. We don’t know when or where…er, Blackarachnia is going to get here.” He sighed in slight annoyance.
“How does he come up with these names?” laughed Steven.
Magnus rolled his eyes, cracking a slight grin. You know, he’s actually the one who decided to call them ‘Predacons’ in the first place? “I swear, sometimes I think naming Predacons is his real talent. One time, we went up against one he dubbed ‘Latolata.’ Where he got that from, I will never understand.”
He and Steven shared a laugh. “Well, hopefully before long, I’ll be able to go on missions with you guys. Hey, maybe one day I’ll name a Predacon of my own! Later, Magnus! Good luck with your rock collecting!”
Steven headed back to the house, with Magnus waving him goodbye. He then looked back, realizing there were a good deal more boulders to move into place. He groaned, picking a few up. “I hardly think this is the best use of my talents…”
- - -
He had spoken to all three Autobots, and all three had told him some variation of the same advice: that his powers would manifest when the time came. The only problem was, they had been around for hundreds of years, likely more, so the ‘time’ they were talking about could very well be along that timescale.
“I hope I’m not in a nursing home by the time I can summon my axe at will,” Steven lamented, laying down on the couch. “Rolling into battle on my mobility scooter…” The image did make him chuckle, however.
He stared at the picture of the Autobots, his father front and center. Everyone loved Optimus, looked up to him…how could he live up to that? Could he even? Doubts and uncertainty had been creeping up on him all day, and only became more and more obvious with time.
“I’m not even a robot like you,” he said glumly. “I’m not made of metal, I’m not three stories tall, I don’t have, um, super-powered energon bootsters, or…whatever else you might’ve had! What was even the point of having me?”
Although Steven didn’t know all the details, he was well aware that Optimus Prime had given his life so that Steven could come into existence. And as much as he enjoyed living in this world, he often wondered about his father’s motivations for doing such a thing. The way Elita and the others made it sound, he was well aware of what would happen. So why did he do what he did?
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud crash coming from outside. “Huh? What’s that?” He ran to the door to investigate, opening it just in time to see Sideswipe being hurled across the beach. “Woah!”
The Autobots were engaged in combat with yet another robot spider, only this one was much different than the others. For one, it was nearly twice the size, its long legs making it tower over even Ultra Magnus. It moved quickly despite its size, almost literally running circles around them.
“Hey Steven! Blackarachnia’s here!” said Sideswipe as he sped past him into the fray. The giant metal arachnid fired a stream of webbing from her mouth, the black car swerving to avoid it. He transformed, firing some shots of his own, but they merely annoyed the behemoth.
Elita-1 flew overhead, trying to distract it. “We need to slow it down somehow!” she observed. Her shots weren’t doing much either, only momentarily grabbing its attention away from the others.
Just before Blackarachnia could snatch Elita out of the air, a massive boulder crashed against her side. Ultra Magnus picked up another, hurling it at the Predacon. “Now, while she’s pinned down! Sideswipe!”
“On it!” The black car revved forward, taking Blackarachnia’s legs out from under her. The spider screeched as she fell to the ground, and her attempts to get back up were halted by Elita landing on top of her. She unloaded her weapon right into the spider’s face.
Still on the doorstep, Steven watched all of this go down. “Yeah! Get her, Elita!” he shouted. However, his well-intentioned cheer managed to draw her attention away from the enemy.
“Steven!” she shouted, realizing how close he was to the fray. “Get back inside! It’s not safe here!” All it took was a single moment of distraction, and Blackarachnia had ensnared her in a strand of webbing. “Urgh!” The spider rose up, hurling her away and into Ultra Magnus, who stumbled and fell in his attempt to catch her.
“...Oops…”
Sideswipe drew his swords, rushing the spider. “No worries, Ste-man! Check this!” Like her, he was surprisingly quick despite his size, landing numerous blows from his blades on her armored shell. “Just…die…already!” Blackarachnia was decidedly against this plan, spraying him with more webbing and locking him in place. “Ugh–really!?”
“Sideswipe!” shouted both Steven and Elita in tandem. As the other Autobots tried to draw the spider away, Steven ran towards his trapped companion. The webbing was sticky, but it seemed to mostly bond to metal, so he did his best to tear through it to free him. The trouble was, it might as well have been steel cables for as tough as it was. “Hang on, I’ll get you outta here!”
“But who’s gonna get you out?” asked Sideswipe worriedly, as Blackarachnia noticed the rescue attempt. Knocking the other two aside, she skittered back to the trapped bot, raising her leg up and preparing to bring it down. “Look out!”
Steven looked up just in time to see the razor-sharp limb thrusting downward. “Steven!” He wasn’t sure who had cried his name. As time seemed to slow down, the outside world became a fog. In that moment, he wasn’t concerned for his own safety, but for Sideswipe’s, who he thought was the intended target. He acted without thinking; driven by instinct. There was a flash of light, and a clash of metal.
Blackarachnia screeched, staggering backwards as her leg fell to the ground. Steven looked at Sideswipe: he was unharmed. He looked at the severed limb: the cut glowed with heat. He looked at his hands: he was holding the axe.
“Woah…” said Sideswipe, as it was his turn to be awed. “Steven, look at you, making progress already!”
“I-I did,” he said, not yet fully grasping what had just happened. “I did! I summoned his axe! Guys, look!”
Ultra Magnus and Elita were definitely impressed, but there was no time for celebration, as Blackarachnia had begun to recover. “We’ll throw a party later,” said SIdeswipe. “For now, could you, um…”
“Oh, right, sure.” Using his newfound weapon, Steven easily sliced through the webs binding him. Sideswipe stood up, lifting Steven up onto his shoulder.
“You ready, little buddy?”
“Let’s roll out!”
Steven held on as Sideswipe readied his blasters, opening fire on their enemy. With some effort, Elita managed to lift Ultra Magnus into the air, who then landed on top of the spider. Fallen once more, Sideswipe drove his swords into two of her eyes, while Steven leapt off, severing another of her legs. She screeched in anger, spraying webs all over the beach.
She managed to escape from underneath Magnus, lunging at him. He grabbed onto her mandibles, her maw inches from his face. “Elita-1! Iacon City Shuffle, now!”
“Roger–Sideswipe, you know what to do!” She sped forward near the sand, transforming inches from the ground. She used her momentum to slide underneath the spider, unloading everything her rifle had into its underside. She released Ultra Magnus, who unleashed a barrage of missiles, stunning her.
“Let’s go!” Sideswipe scooped up Steven, preparing to toss him like a baseball. “Axe, now!” He tossed him through the air, and when he was above Magnus, Steven tossed his axe. Elita caught him, and Magnus caught the axe, which had shifted to a much more fitting size.
Just as Blackarachnia lunged again, Ultra Magnus did the same, letting out a shout as he put everything behind his swing. His warcry echoed across the beach as everything else was silent and still: the robotic spider fell to the ground–in two pieces, glowing down the middle. Magnus looked over the body of their fallen foe, pulling the axe out from a cluster of glass it had created when it hit the sand.
“We did it!” Steven cried triumphantly, still being held by Elita. “Guys, that was amazing! I’ve seen some pretty cool teamwork from you before, but that was on a whole other level! You were so in sync it was like you could hear each other’s thoughts!”
“Ha, that’s what fighting together for the last…how long’s it been, four, five thousand years?” said Sideswipe. He chuckled, sheathing his swords. “Anyway, my point is, we’re a lean, mean, well-oiled fighting machine! And that includes you, Steven!”
“Indeed.” Ultra Magnus picked up a glowing blue object: apparently a cube, but it sparked and swirled with energon so much that it was hard to tell if it stayed that shape. Another spark of energy appeared, this one greenish, forming into a small portal that he placed the first object into. “Without your help, Steven, this battle would have been much more difficult. We may not have won it at all. Here–I believe this belongs to you.”
Steven swelled with pride as Magnus handed him his axe, which had shrunk back to his size. “Aww, guys!” he said, touched. “You know…I was kinda bummed earlier about not being able to meet Optimus, and not being able to live up to him, but…you guys are the best family a boy like me could ask for!”
“Aww, Steven,” said Elita, pulling him in for a hug, or as close to one as their size difference could allow. “You don’t have to be Optimus. You’re Steven Universe, and no matter what you can or can’t do, that’s good enough for me.”
Sideswipe cuddled up to Elita. “Yeah, don’t sweat it! Don’t try to be Optimus, just try to be you! ‘Cause you’re the best you this planet has to offer!”
“Alright, group hug.” Magnus lifted all three of them up in his arms, to their surprise.
When he was back on the ground again, Steven examined his axe. It was more than a weapon: it was a symbol of the man who had spent years protecting this world, that had been passed on to him. “Thanks, guys,” he said, allowing the axe to disappear once more. “You were right all along. I can’t force myself to become a great warrior. It’ll happen when it’s time.”
The four of them sat down, looking at the sunset just over the horizon. “You are very right, Steven,” said Ultra Magnus. “And something tells me that it will be time before you know it.” He placed a hand over the boy’s shoulders.
Steven smiled–and so did Magnus.