Chapter Text
When his soul returned back into his broken body, Ken jolted awake with that sickening sensation like he had fallen from a great height. That wave of nausea hit him hard, and he shoved aside his quilt to get to the edge of his futon. Grabbing a nearby bowl, he gagged and dry heaved several times. Only just a little bile came up, but how his mouth and throat felt so parched had caused an aggressive coughing fit.
Ken collapsed on the edge of his futon, curling on his side to get a hold of himself. To try to calm down and control his breaths so he could stop the coughing. His chest and ribs ached so much from it that even drawing in air felt like a punishment.
His consciousness was waning again to escape the pain. Being awake hurts too much. Through the haze of his delirium from before, the others had said he needed something to feel better and keep his lungs clear. Something… his mind drifted to the caress of hands on his cheek and forehead.. something cold being placed against his hot skin. Miss Shiratori.. her hands were softer.
Another time, something was held to his lips, like a straw, with a little liquid seeping into his mouth. A soft, soothing voice was coaxing him to drink while another in the background was grumbling about him needing more fluids. None of them had medical experience to set up something more practical like an IV drip. They were in the middle of nowhere anyways.
It was both of them, but they didn't fight as much now. Probably to keep from waking him up. He hated it when Miss Ayase and Miss Shiratori fought. He told Miss Ayase to not worry about her liking him.. he didn’t really…
He never told Miss Ayase what he felt… yet.
But he did his best to make it up with Jiji, and even Evil Eye. Why couldn't they?
Sometimes at night, sometimes when ebbing in and out of consciousness, Ken felt a hand wrapping around his own. He knew it was Miss Ayase... her hands weren't as soft as Miss Shiratori's, but he didn't care. Hers were strong, warm… caring. They gave him confidence... he missed them now.
She was not here anymore.
The heartache caused him to wake up more. His other memories after the aliens had attacked him were not as clear, the rest he knew was from his out of body experience.
Apart from some really weird dreams about being on a giant bicycle big enough for Godzilla. Or surrounded in a bed of soft cat fur while being soothed with a purring noise. And then there were more earthquakes… so many earthquakes. Didn't they kill that Mongolian Death Worm?
But why did he have that out of body experience? Had the condition of his failing body forced his soul to eject itself? Was it his need to tell the others about how bad the Space Globalists were?
Or his worry for Miss Ayase’s safety…? His wish to…
His mind froze for a second more. He never told her.
Miss Seiko had only said one thing clearly, that getting back into his body was crucial for his and Turbo Granny’s lives.
Panic began to creep in again, clawing at his mind and making his thoughts more irrational. Where was Miss Ayase now? Or the others?
The house was gone…
No. Right…
…they were out there.
Now.
Facing the Space Globalists without him... fighting for their lives.
Dying, maybe.
He didn’t want to think about it if they didn’t come back. Or that Miss Seiko would come back too late to help them.
It was just him now.
The silence of the bunker pressed in, suffocating him. The air was stuffy. It amplified every rasp of his jagged breath, every racing thought and every ache. Time seemed to slow down and the dim lights above barely pushed back the gloom.
Dammit.
Ken clenched his jaw, trying to push down the rising dread. It was all up to him, and he felt completely like shit now. He swallowed, painfully, and rolled onto his back, eyes still clenched shut. His chest felt like it was caving in more. Then he remembered what it was he needed– that breathing machine.
All the more reason Ken had to get better.
He needed to find that mask, and mustered what little strength he had to find it. But that aggravated another coughing fit, leaving him wheezing and trembling for a moment. With a desperate groan, he reached out again, blindly searching for the tubing.
It was then a faint, mechanical whirring from the shelves caught his attention. Ken froze and strained to listen. Another sound followed, like something heavy sliding over metal, and then hushed, whispering voices, seemingly debating about something. That caused him to put his supernatural instincts on high alert as a chill ran through him. He may not remember the ambush, but the trauma still affected him deeply.
So.. who was that?
Ken rose up on his elbow to look around more. He sensed.. both. Something that felt spiritual as much as it did alien.. so would that make this to be some kind of cryptid? What kind would that be? He couldn’t th–
“You okay, bro?” A concerned teenaged voice speaking in English broke through his spiraling thoughts, from just outside the curtain wall of his makeshift quarters.
Ken sat up, his eyes wide and wary as a small, humanoid robot stepped into view and then crouched by his tent space. The robot was as big as him, and had a smoky blue and white exterior with softly glowing blue optics that were just as curious. It tilted its head, assessing him with caution before gesturing toward the machine Ken had been hooked to.
“Do you need help?” the blue and gray robot asked in English, his tone genuinely concerned.
“Uh.. no…” Ken croaked, his head still swimming from the sudden movement. Fever and reality had to still be blurring together, making it hard for him to focus. He was used to being alone before.. taking care of himself, alone.
Who was this being anyway? Why should he trust him? It didn't look like any of the aliens he had seen before.
The robot didn’t seem convinced. “Here,” the bot said, handing over the breathing apparatus with surprising care. His glowing blue eyes and human-like facial features softened a bit more.
Ken hesitated, the robot’s friendly demeanor eased his tension just a little. He accepted the tubing and held the mask to his face with a shaky hand. As the medicated vapor filled his lungs, his breathing gradually steadied. The slight nerd looked at the robot with a little bit more gratitude.
“Eh... you.. can talk?” He blinked at it, trying to think of the English words he wanted to say. The fact the robot was talking in English was curious. Did it pick up something about his interests somehow, that he liked to study English (just so he could read more about aliens)?
The boyish robot let out a little laugh before speaking again with his smooth, amused American accent. “Well, you’re alive... that’s good, yeah? We thought you were in some kind of stasis.”
Ken started wheezing a little, from both the dryness and tension bothering him. "Water, please?” the teen rasped in English, hoping the robot understood.
“Gotcha,” the bot did and left to rummage through a supply crate. He brought over a water bottle, offering it gently. “Yeah, need to stay hydrated if you want to fight the ‘bad guys’.”
“Thank you,” he muttered the English words quietly, studying the different features of this robotic lifeform. This robot had hands with five fingers, whereas the other aliens had four. Two eyes, nose, mouth… like a human, unless it did that to fit in also?
As Ken drank, something else moved, making a whirring noise before landing with a thud on the concrete floor outside of sight.
He nearly choked on the liquid when an orange and gray feline robot, that had similar appearance and size as a male lion, walked over to the blue bot. It didn't look very pleased though as it clicked-whined in their own language at the other one.
Its expression changed to one of apology when it looked at him, speaking in Japanese now. “Are you feeling better now?” His voice sounded like an older man.
The teen nodded, swallowing. Well, he was starting to feel a little better physically, but mentally? He decided he was definitely having a fever dream, talking to robots like this. He liked robots, especially when he was a kid. Not as much as Sakata, but.. well, enough to understand his classmate’s jargon. And enough to salvage an old Roomba that Ken spotted in the trash to fix up as his own little robo pet (aptly named Rover, after the one on Mars, of course). Just so his apartment wasn't as lonely. Hopefully it was able to go to its recharge station okay in his absence.
These robots though, they seemed to be sentient and were not being controlled by something else. The chances of a really small alien inside just seemed comical. It was still a struggle to sort through his brain fog and think about everything he had read on who these were.
But the fact that they were here… with him.
“I thought this place was secured,” the teen muttered to himself as he glanced around. He felt relieved that they did know Japanese. He was reasonably good with English, not that it was a problem. It was just that his head hurt too much right now for that level of concentration.
“Who… what are you? How many?" He asked them directly.
“It’s just us– but don't worry, we’re on the same team! Just what you humans call ‘Autobots'.” The blue robot now spoke with a different voice more reminiscent of a Japanese sports commentator. “Name’s Eject.”
“I’m Steeljaw,” the orange lion bot sat on his haunches, explaining themselves more.
“We also came from another planet. We’ve been tracking what your kind calls the ‘Space Globalists’ after picking up on their transmissions about a large scale attack. This is a big problem for us too– earth’s energy reserves aren’t something we don't want to lose,” Eject explained again a little more openly.
“You’re allies with us?” Ken asked weakly. Their ability to speak fluently in Japanese continued to impress him. He felt more of his worry lessen after their acknowledgement of the immensity of this threat.
“You go by Okarun?”
“Oh, yessir,” he nodded, apologetically realizing he hadn't introduced himself yet. He touched the frames of his glasses nervously– they really had been watching them long enough to know that much. “Ken Takakura is my formal name… but, I go by either.”
Steeljaw nodded, further explaining how they knew. “We were stationed at this area to gather intel for our leader, Optimus Prime. He was tipped off by someone called Ludris, who heard of this situation from your allies. The Space Globalists are as much of a planetary threat, just like the Decepticons.”
Eject glanced at the lion, and then added his input. “Just so you know, they are like the ‘opposing team’. They look like us, but don't care about the well being of humans. They only want the earth's energy and will fight for control.”
Ken's eyes suddenly grew wide with a sudden sense of wonder when the names he heard finally clicked. Cybertronians! They were Cybertronians! Yeah, he had read about them a few years back after they made a scene in the United States, causing the government's military to get involved. The cover up resulting from their skirmishes was not very helpful on their behalf either.
“Oh! I actually read some articles about you, from this alien magazine that I get! They say you come from a dying planet called Cybertron, and have been here on Earth for a long time before being discovered. Like you had came here for refuge, but then also found a new energy source you could use. The US military also called you Transformers.. or like you said, Autobots,” the more Ken recalled the facts, the more their previous behaviors made sense. The way the bots were being so transparent with him further fueled his knowledge, that they were used to dealing with humans. They must have been spying on his friends for a while to know he was just as trustworthy. But did Mr. Shrimp, Miss Ayase, and the others know about them?
“Most of you are stationed in the United States, in hiding. There are other factions all over the world, right?” Ken wondered. He suddenly had so many more questions… like how many other Autobots were in Japan right now? How tall would they be when he saw them with his own eyes? How did they recharge, or can they eat food?
He really had to focus though… ergh.
“Yeah,” Eject’s optics brightened after hearing the human ramble on. He turned to the lion bot, smirking. “Whoa, he's sounding like my brother.”
“Yeah, sorry... but this is really amazing!” Ken beamed just as much. From what he knew of them, the ones called the Autobots were indeed friendly. It was the stories about these kinds of aliens that had made him crave for more of a connection with them.
“Yep. You and your friends looked like the only allies in these parts worth taking sides with,” Steeljaw agreed.
“Yeah, it's crazy to believe … but ever since this one unfortunate run in with the wrong group of aliens, they've been after my friends and I ever since– probably because of our unique abilities,” he explained, scratching his neck. Just talking this out helped him rationalize more of his concerns, giving him more strength. He set the breathing apparatus aside to drink more water.
Eject chimed in, giving a thumbs-up. “Anyways, it looked like you needed the help, bro. They benched you, but that’s okay– we’ll be your back-up.”
Ken felt a surge of humility, his hands rising to his frames. “Uh… thank you?”
The robot smiled, seemingly happy to have come to that agreement, like how Vamola often did. But Ejects's mannerisms reminded him more of Jiji's, weirdly enough.
More random questions just bubbled up again, but none really made sense. Which would be best to ask next? Most importantly, were there any instructions left behind for him?
Ken rubbed his face, fingers pushing up under his glasses in another effort to recollect. All he knew from watching his friends during his out-of-body state was that they moved to this place to hide out while they trained in preparation to fight. But did his friends know just how many there were? How powerful?
“Did the others leave behind a plan for me?” The teen finally asked.
“Um.. not really?” Eject shrugged. “Just food. They had left a few hours ago.”
Ken readjusted his glasses again, thinking. He had to get better, fast. Now that he was more conscious and able to control his supernatural powers, he decided to boost his recovery time pronto.
He figured out from experience that the use of his curse helped him recover faster, if not even regenerate. Being thrown repetitively into walls or the ground with enough force to shatter his bones made him realize this added benefit. Turbo Granny finally admitted also that the power Miss Seiko had contracted was what kept her youthful appearance. Working in connection with spirits was like a kind of immortality, if used within reason. The things she confesses when being bribed with food, tch.
But the last thing the turbo nerd wanted was to be more of a delay. In the passing of one thought, Okarun felt the chill pulse through his veins as his yokai form partially manifested. His nails darkened, his hair turned white and wispy, and red stripes painted his cheeks as his eyes glowed to red. The Autobots’ optics brightened with curiosity.
“Interesting,” Steeljaw murmured. “That’s not normal for a human. What are you?”
Okarun hesitated, glancing at his hands. His voice was an octave deeper too. “It’s… a supernatural curse I got from a malevolent spirit. Makes me stronger, run faster, heal–"
"A curse? That sounds more like a blessing!"
"Well, when I tried to run from some creepy ghost lady, she took– uh, she possessed me. Guess I'm lucky she didn't just kill me, y'know... maybe it was because–" He suddenly had made a new connection between then, and what he learned during his own out-of-body time. It was that phone call he made to Miss Ayase at the same time when she was being abducted by aliens. A call with news so alarming it pulled his turbo-possessed soul there to help her. "I can also travel through phone lines, yo."
Eject perked up. “Oh, like electrical transmission through signals? That’s my specialty too! We can work with that!”
“You can? Sweet… what's your power.. or weapon?” Okarun then wondered, out loud. It occurred to him that they didn't have anything that looked like weapons on their metallic frames. Unless it was hiding in what they called ‘subspace’.
“We also transform,” Eject responded briefly, as if more wary about saying too much again.
“Into what…?” The ghostly teen still wanted to know, because his yokai brain just didn't know when to shut up. He remembered studying those articles, highlighting the frame by frame photos of cars or trucks, spinning through the air to become a two story tall robot.
Steeljaw explained again this time. “Well, on this planet, we adapt to devices that fit our role. Since our Boss is like a stereo receiver, we used to turn into cassette tapes– back when that was the norm. The tech has changed since, so now we transform into USB drives or headphones.”
“Interesting,” hope flickered in Okarun’s eyes. “So you're a lion, but you turn into headphones.. like with cat ears?”
Eject snorted, finding that funny. Steeljaw didn't. But really, if he was a lion now, why doesn't he turn into a human bot too?
“Actually, I’m surprised a human can change like this…” Steeljaw studied him with narrowed optics. He deflected the topic back to him again. “You are still human, right?”
“I was… not so sure anymore. Humans and ghosts are different,” he answered truthfully, the red in his eyes pulsing. And of course, true to form, Yokarun couldn’t help but show off. His limbs lengthened with an audible creak, joints popping grotesquely as his yokai transformation took hold. With a sharp click-clack, his dark monstrous grin unfurled across his lower face. “I turn into this gnarly monster. Totally depressing.”
“Ohh, no, man— that is wicked!” Eject leaned forward on his hands and knees, optics gleaming with curiosity rather than alarm. “Can you actually bite with those?”
Steeljaw glared at Eject in quiet disapproval. Likewise, if that orange and gray bot was part lion, Yokarun wondered, did he bite his opponents also?
“Yah,” the yokai nerd found himself grinning mischievously despite his jaw covering much of it– much to Ken’s internal dismay. “Tastes like shit though, so I save it for emergencies,” he said, snapping his jaw twice like an alligator. “But the crunch? Really satisfying.”
With a groan, Okarun dispelled his full transformation, the oversized jaw fading away. His yokai side was getting way too cheeky. But physically, his nerdy self was feeling stronger and less achy now, maybe even steady enough to stand. He pushed aside his futon cover and rose to a kneeling position, testing his balance.
“You got it?” Eject moved to help, crouched and ready.
“Got it,” Okarun echoed, more to reassure himself than anyone. “I heal faster in yokai form.”
“So it is like a dual ability,” Steeljaw pressed, eyeing him closely. “Another entity lives inside you, and then takes over when you transform?”
“Pretty much,” the turbo nerd muttered, not feeling the need to elaborate. They’d already picked up on his distinct personality shift.
“Oh, also... your girlfriend left that for you,” Eject said suddenly, pointing to a plate of curry and rice on a small card table near his tent quarters. “Probably a good idea to recharge too.. you still don't look too good.”
“Eh?!” He turned a shade of pink despite his pale complexion, at the thought of that word, ‘girlfriend’.
His girlfriend. Made curry... for him.
That came as a sudden boost of confidence. If these alien robots saw enough of her interactions with him to make that connection, more points to them! Vamola somehow just.. couldn't.
The teen remembered that, then mentally cringed again at his indirect confession. His heart suddenly ached with the wish to see Miss Ayase again… and prayed she was still okay.
I have to get there.
Okarun also couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten, and sat down in front of the plate. He did feel more hungry, even if it was cold now.
“Oh... do you guys want anything?” the turbo nerd managed to remember his manners this time.
“Eh, we're okay,” Eject waved. “We don't eat human food. Just energy.”
He nodded, wondering briefly what type of energy. A charging portal, like with his Roomba?
Okarun thanked her for the food, then he saw the note– oh.
‘Love ya! Momo :b’ it said. His confession to Vamola about liking Miss Ayase haunted him again.
The turbo nerd stared at it for maybe longer than necessary, his cheeks getting even warmer. He never told Miss Ayase– but did Vamola tell her?
Oh.. hell no...
So what did this note mean? Was it sincere?
Or did it just mean that the curry was made with love? Luje the tea she makes? That certainly helped alleviate the sting of jealousy he felt during his out-of-body episode, when he saw Miss Ayase sitting with Jiji, sound asleep in his arms.
“...we can help you with jumping signals and setting up a counterstrike,” the blue robot popped into the chair across from him at the table.
Okarun quickly closed the note and slammed it down on the table, his mind frozen for a moment before rambling nonsense. “Uh, no.. l- I lost mine- my cell phone. There was one in the house… but–”
He stopped when the robot made a face, looking at him strangely. Somehow his face plates were pliable enough for that. He gestured to the left of Okarun’s head.
“Then what's that?”
He ran a hand across his cheek, by his ear, and stopped. What he thought had been another bandage, was not. It was hard, square, and suddenly came to life when a bright holographic image upon his touch. Alarmed, Okarun pried it off and threw the device down on the table.
“Yeah, it's a communicator from the Gzztrryrn!” Eject picked it up without hesitation to look at it.
“Serpoian tech.” Steeljaw clarified to Okarun.
“Serpoian! …how?!”
“Thought you knew what that was. Your friends left it with you, to connect with them,” Steeljaw explained further.
He sheepishly drew that same conclusion after the shock from the unexpected holographic intrusion. “Oh.. okay?” Okarun took it back, to look at it. It reminded him now of those wireless earbuds that some of his classmates had for listening to music and even making phone calls with their smartphones (except he never used anything like that himself).
Okarun felt a bit more like a grandpa for not really knowing more about this current tech trend either. He sighed, placing the black square device back on by his ear.
“It's like, touch controlled. But for communication, you just use your mind to reach out and talk with your comrades,” Eject explained to him anyway. Then he tapped the side of his head. “It's kind of the same way with us… or more like, with my closest comrades.”
Okarun just raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
“My bro, Rewind? I'm talking with him in my head right now. He knows about a lot of stuff and is giving me the play by play on that tech. He's stationed at another site with our boss.”
The turbo nerd laughed once, feeling a little less dumb. Even Eject had to ask the others about how the Serpoian tech worked.
“Yeah, so three touches turns it on and off. But the cool part? It’s got a holographic terrain view, like a live feed.”
“Oh… okay, that’s.. actually pretty sneaky,” Okarun murmured. This time, he was more prepared when the holograph flickered to life. A translucent map appeared in the air, displaying a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding terrain.
He squinted, trying to make sense of the Serpoian symbols on the interface. They weren’t readable, at least not yet. But if he studied it long enough… maybe he could figure it out?
“I think the device is always on,” he noted, voice thoughtful, “but all I’m hearing is this weird static. The three-taps only control the holograph, not the transmission.”
“Right, right…” Eject seemed slightly distracted, probably syncing with Rewind again. “To connect, you have to focus on their full name.. like dialing a number. It’s a mind-link kinda thing.”
He made a gesture, thumb to his audio receptor, pinky to his mouth, that universal mimic of a phone.
Okarun hummed in understanding. “Okay. So like a mental contact list.” He closed his eyes, focusing as clearly as he could on each of his friends.
Miss Ayase…
Miss Shiratori…?
Jiji… no… Jin Enjoji
Mr. Mantis Shrimp.. ?
..okay, not sure of his full formal name, but Okarun tried anyway.
I’m awake now. Where are you?
The holograph shifted, zooming out, then re-centering on what looked like a nearby town, larger than the one he was currently in. Something had connected, even though it looked too peaceful to be the location. They must be fighting in empty space.
But why weren't they responding though? He missed Miss Ayase the most, and was hoping to hear her voice again.
Wait... full name... his honorifics were such a habit!
Momo Ayase.
Can you answer? ...please?
Was he too far away? That was a concern he wondered about before. Maybe like how the aliens didn't hear him because his signal wasn't strong enough to reach them, or was it empty space blocking it? But his desire, his one wish to reach someone, something, was much stronger– shouldn't that count?
“How do I.. get there using this tech?” Okarun asked, turning to Eject. “I know it’s about jumping into transmissions or traveling through power lines, but there’s so many. How do I find the right one?”
“Ah,” Eject paused, eyes flashing faintly. The Cybertronian understanding of technology was clearly far more advanced.“One sec… Rewind’ll explain it better.”
A faint hum vibrated through Okarun’s communicator as Eject activated a direct feed. The Cybertronian understanding of technology was clearly far more advanced. A calm, precise voice, Rewind's, started speaking. It was so clear it literally seemed like it was in his head, not his ear.
“Think of it like dipping your hand into a river. Sometimes you can tell how fast it is flowing just by looking at it. Currents might look fast or slow, but it's hard to tell exactly how much until you get a reading. So you have to test it and feel the current. Jumping in without knowing anything about it is not a good idea. It's the same thing with energy transmissions- there's a frequency, a strength in the signal. Once you feel it, grab it!”
The nerd listened closely, now understanding why Eject likened his brother to how he was when it came to explaining things. The analogy was making sense now. He'd heard something like that before, but did understand then what it was. Yet, he didn't really have a body then, when he phased through the wires.
Okarun nodded. Turbo Granny told him before that spiritual energy could also affect electro magnetic forces.
“I was told to think in spirals, and to feel the rhythm of the energy," he added, thinking back. “Does that make any sense to you guys?”
Steeljaw let out a short rumble, tail flicking. “Yeah, it means going with the flow, or against it. Clockwise versus counter clockwise.”
“Oh, right! I didn't think of the direction of the spin!"
Rewind echoed the same, but with a more sidetracked explanation about the details on how Cybertronians are also just as spiritually charged. They could interchange between different bodies as needed, as long as their life force Spark remains unaffected.
“So yeah, pattern recognition makes a difference,” Rewind finished calmly. “Since your yokai abilities already operate on a psychic frequency.”
Okarun looked back at the glowing map, trying to determine more specifics. Technology and spirituality, as different as they seemed, held an important symbiosis after all.
“So then,” he said, fingers brushing the communicator to switch screens. He let his turbo transformation fully take over again, his concern more apparent.
“Let’s sync up and see how this works.”
Please be okay, Momo-chan! I miss you so much–
But then Okarun looked down, suddenly remembering the curry. He was so caught up in finding them, he got a little distracted. “Uhm.. after I eat, yo,” his maw vanished just as quickly so he could.
Eject smirked, waving his hand. “Take your time, lover boy.” And then, the musical lyrics of an American love song sung by a female artist echoed in his headspace.
“...what?” Okarun stared at Eject, face even more red than before. “What is that? Why..?”
We‘re ‘synced up’. The blue bot echoed in his head now as he shrugged, doing his best not to burst out laughing. You can hear my thoughts, and vice versa.
“Disconnect, now!” Okarun threatened inbetween mouthfuls. This unsettling reality of these others having access to his headspace was something he did not want to have right now!
“But how will we communicate on the battlefield?”
“We're not even there yet!” The turbo nerd pulled off his communicator and set it on the table, by Momo’s note, just so he could finish in peace.
"He's right, though. We should be more careful. They are picking up on Decepticon signals in the area now." Steeljaw wisely added.
"We're safe in here, right?"
"For now."
Yet, Okarun still felt a bit guilty about taking off the device. What if his friends did try to reach him now, and he didn't know? He put it back on, with a sigh. Maybe he just had to concentrate harder– they were probably distracted with fighting, and not expecting him. He closed his eyes.
Momo Ayase, I'm coming. Can you hear me?
Still nothing, his heart started to pound. She had to be okay. Her device just could be broken. Or something was blocking the signal? Maybe if he tried the others instead, and so thought of each one of them intently.
Miss Aira Shiratori? Can you hear me? Anyone? Jiji?
Still nothing. Was he doing this right?