Alpha 'verse. Iacon. Start of the story.

[random_xtras]

Ratchet had just gotten back from the bar in that nexus between realities, but even a rousing good poker game with his alternates hadn't helped him to feel better. The murder of his friends Bladewing and Skystriker was just too recent, and the uncertainty over the fate of their newly sparked Seeklet worried him so much that his energy wasn't sitting properly in his tank.

He sighed as he turned into an alley that was a shortcut back to his clinic, and then froze and scanned his surroundings as he thought he heard something. "Hello? Is someone there?"