Fortress Maximus grabs one of them, and rips in half across the torso, and smashed them together, killing the Decepticon. The other one tries to run away. "And don't think I've finished with you..." Fortress said. But I held a hand up. "Please, by all means... allow me." I said with a low chuckle, my smile growing bigger with sinister intent. With a flick of my wrist, a big, sharp bone pierced out of the ground in front of the runaway 'Con and stabbed him in the head.

"Uh, I think that's enough. Honestly I-I think that's plenty." Ratchet said. "Yeah? Yeah. You're right. Felt good though." Maximus said. "Agreed. Kill to do that again." I said, stretching as I chuckled at my own joke.

"This takes me back; all the way back to Rodion and you. You trying desperately to save my life. I'm - URGH! - predicting a different outcome this time 'round." Drift said, he voice was wavering and shaking. "Shut up. You're not going to die." Ratchet stated, holding Drift's right hand. "Yeah? P-Prove it." Drift challenged.

Ambulon walked over to where the body and bone are, removing it. "Okay, I'm just going to very carefully-" "-Not move another inch." Pharma said, pointing a gun behind Ambulon's head.

"Oh, you must be joking." Ambulon said, turning around and raising his hands in the air. "Yeah? Tell that to the gun in my hand." Pharma spat. "Pharma? What are you doing?" Ratchet asked, shocked and surprised at Pharma's action. "Those two Decepticons? Ambulon was the one who released them. He's to blame for the virus, too; I'm sure of it. He used to be a Decepticon. You knew that, right? Ten years ago, he switched sides. Said he went awol to avoid being part of some prototype combining team. Except it was all a ruse; a way of infiltrating our ranks." Pharma accused.

"I was a Decepticon. Pharma, listen to me; I'm not a Decepticon anymore." Ambulon pleaded. "Then how come you're not infected?" Pharma questioned. "I think I am. I just haven't displayed any symptoms yet." Ambulon stated.

I chuckled, which turned to giggling, and then to full blow laughter. "What's so funny?" Pharma asked. "S-Sorry, but do you really take some of us for fools." I said, my laughter dying down, wiping a fake tear. "What are you talking about?" Pharma asked. "I'm calling you a liar; that's what I mean." I clarified. "Excuse me?!" Pharma exclaimed.

He was about to continue before First Aid spoke up, pointing a gun at him. "You know what, Pharma? Scary-Face is right. I think you're lying. You said the two Decepticons were Monoformers. But look! They had transformation cogs!" First Aid stated, holding up a transformation cog in his other hand.

"So, I misread the scanner!" Pharma said. "And you said they attacked you; but all your injuries have been caused by a laser scalpel. Your laser scalpel. Your wounds are self-inflected." First Aid added.

"Not only that, Pharma, but earlier, when I smelled one of the bodies, I smelled the effects of the bomb. Not only that, but I found three scents that weren't apart of the bomb; the people or person who made-slash-activated it. It was obvious that the two Decepticons were the ones who detonated the bomb. And the third must've been the person who crafted it, and it certainly wasn't Ambulon's scent that was a part of it, but rather... yours." I explained, summoning a Gaster Blaster on the last word.

"Ratchet, buddy, you don't believe this, do you?" Pharma asked, with a bit of hopefulness in his voice. But what happens next shocked Pharma.

Ratchet pulled out his gun, cocked it, ready to fire. "Show me your alt-mode." Ratchet ordered. "What?" Pharma questioned in disbelief. "You still turn into a jet, right? So, let's see it." Ratchet demanded. "You want me to-? No!" Pharma denied.

"Then I'm sorry..." Ratchet said, bring his gun up and pointed it at Pharma. "What are you doing?!" Pharma asked. "The symptoms are triggered by reconfiguration, aren't they? The virus is spread by touch. But it lies dormant until the person infected changes shape." Ratchet stated.

"You're telling me the only reason I'm not dead is-" "Because you haven't switched to alt mode. And you haven't switched to alt mode because you can't." Ratchet stated. "How'd you know?" First Aid asked. "It's obvious. Your weight distribution is off, you've got reduced flexion in your spinal struct, and you always lead with the right leg when you walk. All signs - massive, flashing neon signs - of a malfunctioning transformation cog." Ratchet explained.

Ratchet then turned his attention to Ambulon. "And you... when you offered to carry Pipes to the ward, I thought you'd use your ambulance mode; but no, you literally carried him. It was only when Pharma mentioned combining team that I realized why your robot mode makes no sense; why there are no wheels or windows. You can change shape; you've just never had a reason to." Ratchet explained.

"I have the world's worst alt-mode: I turn into a leg. Ambulon: from the verb 'to ambulate.' meaning 'to walk about'. It's a stupid name..." Ambulon informed. "...But all the best names are taken." Ratchet said.

"And the only reason Y/n here hasn't shown symptoms or transformed is because he doesn't have a transformation cog when he crossed over into our dimension. Because a person who literally has the appearance of a human skeleton don't have cogs." Ratchet informed. "Exactly! ...But I would still like to one." I said.

Ratchet then turned his head back to Pharma. "And that, Pharma, buddy, is why you won't change shape: You know the properties of the virus and you know you'll get sick." Ratchet concluded with venom in his voice.

"I find the defendant: guilty!" I stated with a smirk. "And yes, I am allowed to say that because I am the Royal Judge of the Underground." I added.

"Very good. No, really, well done. Full marks." Pharma said as he walked backwards, dropping the act. "Put down the gun. You can't kill five people with one shot." Ratchet stated.

"Oh, I can do better than four. I can shoot this life support machine and kill twenty." Pharma said, pointing his gun at the life support machine. He pulled the trigger and ran away once the machine exploded, activating the sprinklers.

"Ambulon! Second Aisle! Quickly!" First Aid ordered. "Second Aisle what? What am I doing?!" Ambulon asked. "Tracer and Backstreet are on direct spark support! Pump them full of Neurex Saturate, and when their vitals pus 440 use Flash-Flame to cleanse their back-up systems! They'll ride the boost - trust me - just make sure you flatten the kickback curve. Ratchet, help me get Pipes and Drift onto fresh recharge slabs. And Y/n, don't you dare eat any of the patients." Red Alert ordered.

I paused my movement, I had one of the patient's arms, one that wasn't infected, between my open jaw, ready to take a bite. "Ugh, fine..." I whined, pulling the arm away from me, closing my mouth as I rolled my eye with a frown.

Ratchet picked up Drift as I dragged Pipes to a recharge slab, and a carefully placed Pipes down.

I started getting distracted by the water raining from the ceiling; it remined me of my first experience of rain when we finally left the Underground.

I snapped out of it when I heard Fort Maximus came back as his loud pede steps filled the room. "I lost Pharma! He ran inside a C.R. Chamber (Cryogenic Regeneration Chamber) and disappeared. Some sort of fake floor. I can't follow him; I'm too wide. What are you-" "Gun it, Ratchet. All the power you can give us. Y/n with him." First Aid ordered. The first reason why is because he knew that you were strong and powerful, helping Ratchet take down Pharma. The other reason is so then you can't eat any of the patients, that aren't infected, when he can't keep an optic on you which is pretty much majority of the time.

"That did it. Everything's under control. If you wanna go get Pharma... He's all yours."

3rd pov

Ratchet climbed down the latter into the secret room that Pharma was in. "There you are. Finally. I was giving you two more minutes. Dramatic escapes are worthless without witnesses. I was expecting you to bring along that missing-eyed freak with you, but that's fine; a lot less problems without them here." Pharma said.

"I'm unarmed, Pharma, so you can put down the - Look - even my wrists are empty. I've come here as your friend to talk some sense into you." Ratchet explained.

Pharma turned around to face Ratchet, pointing a gun at the old medic. "Oh, Ratchet; It's been a while since anyone tried to do that. And for what it's worth, you're my friend too. Aw, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you cry." Pharma said in a tone full of mockery.

"Huh." Ratchet looked at his hand and saw rust developing. "I wondered why I could taste the back of my eyes in my mouth." Ratchet said with uninterest.

"Don't worry, this won't take long. See, it's important that you understand why I did what I did, 'cos I think you'll get it. Other people, not so much, but you... We're both doctors, right? We know all about life-and-death choices. Ratchet - have you ever wondered why Delphi is still standing? Or how we're able to fix all the Autobots who get injured defending the nucleon mins, despite the Decepticon Justice Division make this planet their home? The D.J.D. could wipe us out in seconds - they could! But they don't because of me." Pharma explained.

"I'm listening. I'm also thinking of a way to purge the virus from my system, grab a blunt object, and beat the smile off your smug, traitorous face. Just so we're clear." Ratchet informed.

"Well, that's not very friendly, is it? Listen: The D.J.D. ignore us in exchange for a regular donation: Transformation Cogs. The Leader of the D.J.D. is addicted to changing shape. He's burnt through hundreds of cogs." Pharma started. "It's a rare condition, but treatable." Ratchet said. "Yeah, except he doesn't want to be treated; he just wants the next hit." Pharma clarified.

"So - Wait - you harvest organs on behalf of the D.J.D.?" Ratchet questioned, flabbergasted.

"In the beginning, it was just patients who - despite my best efforts - had died on the ward. But demand increased." Pharma said. "You started killing your patients." Ratchet concluded.

"I made judgments based on their chances of survival. Sometimes I let them slip away. Sometimes - if they really were' clinging to life - I helped them relax their grip. But the quota kept increasing, and prowl kept sending new Autobots to defend the nucleon mines...." Pharma informed. "You could've closed Delphi, or requested a transfer, or-or just run away." Ratchet suggested. "There would've been too many questions. I had to do something that would force high command to shut us down without implicating me. I had to engineer a plague. I found two Decepticon nonentities and paid them to play the victim. Once inside Delphi, they detonated a bomb." Pharma continued. "How? I thought they were locked up in their cells." Ratchet asked. "Their cell. Ambulon let them share." Pharma corrected. "They were combiners. One was called Sonic and the other - you'll like this - the other was called Boom. And at the prearranged time, when the coast was clear, they lived up to their names. Find the right frequency and volume, and you can pull a Cybertronian apart from the inside. I had the Decepticons detonate a soundbomb I invented; an echo laced with a virus."

"Everyone who heard the bomb got infected. And then, when they next changed shape, the coolants and the dispersants and the anti-rusting agents in and around their cog all cross-contaminated, triggering a slow molecular breakdown. It was loud and it was nasty, and I want you to admit, Ratchet - I very much want you to admit - that you're a tiny bit impressed." Pharma concluded.

"Impressed? I'm appalled, by your stupidity. You should've paid the Decepticons to detonate the bomb within earshot of the D.J.D.!" Ratchet stated. "They said it was more than their lives were worth to even try." Pharma stated. "I still don't get it. The plan was for Sonic and Boom to release the virus, and for you to lock yourself in quarantine?" Ratchet questioned.

"I'd intended to hide in a C.R. Chamber, but they were all occupied. The Quarantine room was the only other soundproofed environment. I thought I'd be able to break out. When you showed up, I panicked. If anyone could work out what was really going on, it was you. After you freed me, I had no choice but to ask Sonic and Boom to murder you; and everyone else. You should take that as a compliment." Pharma said.

"Pharma, I've been held at gunpoint by the best - Megatron, Starscream, Killmaster - remember Killmaster? With the wand? - And I've never known anyone take so long to explain their grand plan. But I want to thank you. Not only have you proved that you fully deserve what's coming to you, but you've given me time to fight back." Ratchet informed.

"Fight back? Fight back? You're falling apart!" Pharma laughed. "I've infected you." Ratchet clarified. "You haven't even touched me!" Pharma stated. "While you've been talking, I've been corroding. I've sprung a thousand leaks. And for the last 34 seconds, you've been standing in my rust." Ratchet explained. The camera pans down to the floor, showing that a pool of red rust was pooling around Ratchet, but not only that, there was a few streams of it right between where the two medics stood, which was touching Pharma's pedes.

Pharma jumped up and away from his spot when he realized this, only to get an undercut from Ratchet, taking Pharma's gun. "Yep; that felt as good as I thought it would." Ratchet said to himself. "Stupid! You don't think I created a vaccine in case something like this happened?" Pharma rhetorically questioned. "Actually, I was counting on it. Hand it over. Slowly." Ratchet demanded. "And if I don't?" Pharma asked.

In response, Ratchet didn't say anything but glared at the Autobot who he used to be his friend, raising his gun back at him. "Except you can't do it, can you? You can't shoot me. You can't shoot me because killing an unarmed combatant goes against every circuit in your body." Pharma pointed out. "If you must know, I can't shoot you because my trigger finger isn't working." Ratchet clarified.

"In that case, I'd like you to meet my two best friends..." Pharma said, shifting a part of his body to point two blasters, on his shoulders, at Ratchet, firing at him. Then, a ladder slid down from a hatch opening. "Oh, and you know what? You were never that good a doctor." Pharma said to the, seemingly, dead corpse of Ratchet.

Pharma climbed up the ladder, that leads to the roof of the building. And the moment he reached the outside, vaccine in hand, he was meet with a hologram of a human male with blonde hair, a white button up shirt, blue jeans being held up by a belt, and crossing his arms over his chest. "And you were never that good an Autobot." The hologram retorted back, speaking with a familiar voice. "Ratchet...?" Pharma said, flabbergasted.

"A solid light avatar, yes. Feels different this time, though. I think the template's corrupted. You can see why remote projection went out of fashion: It's energy-intensive, it demands total concentration, and they could never get the hair to look real. In fact these days, the only thing it's good for..." It said. Then he was tackled from behind. "Is keeping simpletons distracted!" The real Ratchet finished.

When Pharma was tackled, he released his hold on the vaccine, making it roll towards the edge. "NO! That's the only vaccine!" Pharma yelled, trying to reach out to it, only to have his hand stomped on by Ratchet, letting it fall off the edge.

Pharma smacked Ratchet off of him. "You-you-you imbecile! You've killed us both!" Pharma shouted in a fit of rage.

"You died a long time ago, Pharma. And as for me... my hands don't work, I'm miles from anyone I truly care about, and I'm still coming to terms with the fact that after a four-million-year build-up, peace has turned out to be a massive anticlimax. Bottom line? I've got nothing else to lose." Ratchet stated as Pharma grabbed Ratchet by the arm, pulling him up.

Just then, Ratchet's arm disconnected from his body. "I stand corrected." Ratchet muttered, watching Pharma fall backwards, only to be dangling over the edge, his hands being the only thing that is keeping him up. "Ratchet. Please... You can't leave me hanging here forever." Pharma begged. "It won't be forever. Look at that elbow: There's no way that's a load-bearing joint. When you fall, you'll have a choice: You can change into a jet and fly away, activating the virus; or you can stay as you are and pray the impact doesn't kill you. If you want my medical opinion... you need to make a judgment based on your chances of survival." Ratchet said, walking away, not noticing Pharma having his shoulder blasters come out; the noise they made when getting into position is what caught his attention.

And just before he could fire... "NO!" Drift yelled, dashing forward and slicing Pharma's hands off, letting him fall to the snowy ground below and leaving his hands still clutching onto the roof. "Drift..." Ratchet said in a quiet voice.

(Time-skip)

First Aid's Journal: entry 002

Did Pharma fall to his death> did he fly to his death> Who knows? We didn't look for a body. We were too busy saving everyone's lives.

"This... gets... the biggest... tick... ever..." Drif wheezed, now back in the med-bay getting cured.

I don't know Ratchet and Y/n got the vaccine. He said it just fell into Y/n's hands.

---Flashback---

'When is the drop gonna be here?' You thought to yourself with impatience, claws digged into the wall, and two bones sticking out of the wall, supporting you up against the wall. You then looked up once you heard commotion. That's when you saw a green vial, and from the plan Ratchet told you, it must be the antidote. Without another thought, you jumped off the bones, making them disappear off of the wall. When you grabbed the vial, you quickly short-cut to the opposite side of the building, just before Pharma could look over the edge. When you finally were on the other side of the building, you carefully clenched the vial in your teeth, climbing up the wall and up to the roof.

---Flashback over---

When they returned, Y/n also came out with three Transformation Cogs. I recognize them as the Combiner Triplets; they had their own alt-modes and could combine into one being. They came to Delphi for medical help sometime back before Pharma released that plague, and when they died, Pharma requested to keep them for "scientific research" as he said. Of course that was a lie. Considering that Y/n doesn't have a Transformation Cog, he probably wanted to transform, but why those three specifically? I was probably just a coincidence.

But it was when we were all traveling to the lost light that Ratchet dropped his bombshell...

"Chief Medical Officer? Me?" First Aid repeated in shock. "In principle, yes. You impressed me back there. Your world was falling apart but you took control. You stayed calm and put others before yourself. And unless I'm mistaken, it was you who sent the datalog; the one that exposed Pharma's malpractice." Ratchet explained.

"How'd you guess?" First Aid asked. "Since we've met, you've been quoting Fisitron, "Life Persists" and all that. You're a fan of the Wreckers." Ratchet clarified. "I didn't know who was behind the high death rates, but I had to tell someone. As the only Wreckers fan on Delphi, the datalog network served as a secure frequency." First Aid explained.

"I could've saved him, you know. Fisitron. Ironfist. I think that a lot." First Aid informed, looking down. "Yeah. Yeah, me too." Ratchet said.

"At least we've seen the back of Pharma." First Aid said. "This will sound strange, but... I'll miss him. I'll miss his talent. For the most of his life we was a fantastic doctor." Ratchet stated. "If you remember him at his best, you'll always carry a part of him with you." First Aid informed.

"Yeah. Two parts of him actually." Ratchet clarified. The camera zoomed out to show that Ratchet's hands have been replaced with Pharma's decapitated ones.