Disclaimer: Unfortunately I do not own the Transformers. They belong to those lucky folks at Hasbro.
Summary: This story is set on Cybertron before the Ark left and crashed on Earth. An incident occurs in downtown Iacon which isn't the work of the Decepticons... This chapter starts off pretty slow, but I promise it gets more interesting.
IACON CITY: 21:31
Alive with a constant hum of energy and neon lights, Iacon was a city that seemed like a perpetually comforting and safe place to be. Perhaps the main reason Iacon seemed like this was because of whose control it was under - or rather: whose control it wasn't under. Iacon was the Autobots' capital city on Cybertron. For that reason, Jazz was passing through some of its quieter, darker parts without so much a second thought to his safety. His logic circuits never made him think otherwise. Any 'bot that knew Jazz (and most did) knew he was pretty laid back and easy going for the most part, except for when it came to duty. When it came to duty, Optimus would tell you straight that Jazz was one of his most reliable soldiers, truly dedicated to the Autobot cause. Optimus Prime never lies and is seldom wrong.
Small lights from all around the mech city glinted and reflected off of his almost immaculate black and white body work as he strode through the dark alleyways and back streets of Iacon, humming to himself. Jazz knew all the quicker routes back to Autobot HQ and moved through the city with ease. Suddenly his wrist communicator emitted a single beep, the sound loud against the background silence.
"Magnus to Jazz, over."
Jazz stopped and flipped open his wrist communicator. An image of the security commander appeared on the small screen. "This is Jazz, over."
"Jazz, we're calling in all operations for tonight, I need everyone back at HQ for a meeting."
"No probs sir, was just on my way back there," Jazz grinned.
"Think you can get back within 3 breems?"
"Heh, easy, probably more like 2-- huhh?!-"
Jazz's face swung out of view of the screen that Magnus had been using to communicate with him. The visual cut off almost immediately after, to be replaced with static.
"Transmission terminated in untimely manner. Visual and audio communication are currently offline," Teletraan droned.
"Frag," Magnus cursed. "What happened?" he asked, frowning at the screen, before turning to Ironhide and Prowl who had also witnessed the incident. Ever calm and composed, the big 'bot gave them their orders.
"Prowl, Ironhide, I need you to find Jazz and assist him if necessary."
"On it sir," Prowl answered, getting up quickly from behind his desk.
"Primus, I hope he's alright, I wonder what happened," Ironhide murmured with some concern in his voice.
Magnus was operating Teletraan. "Jazz should be okay, he knows how to take care of himself... and his enemies for the most part. I can't get a position on him at this time, but his last transmission came from the following grid: 176 264. Get that?"
Both answered, "Yes Sir," in unison and made their way out hastily. Magnus didn't have to tell them twice, both of them being experienced soldiers. Ultra Magnus leaned over Teletraan, deep in processing.
"There have been no reports of Decepticon activity in the city for the last week, no information of possible assaults…my logic circuits don't like this…," the hulking commander said out loud, before turning around to face Bluestreak who was sat behind a desk at a computer, looking very much alert.
"I guess the meeting will have to wait."
Jazz was in the middle of the transmission with Ultra Magnus when he felt a strong, hot hand grab his shoulder and shove him violently to the floor. His wrist communicator smashed upon impact, terminating his transmission with Magnus.
"Uh! Tha' frag?!" Jazz grimaced and looked up. What he saw made his optics open wide. A hulking robot stood above him, slightly smaller than he was. He was heaving like all his circuits were on fire and his optics blazed a neon green that Jazz had never seen before, blurring in the night with his every movement. He wasn't a Decepticon. No insignia. A quick scan brought up nothing. Who was he and what was his problem?
The mystery robot lunged towards Jazz with surprising speed, but Jazz skilfully rolled out of the way, metal grating as he manoeuvred to place a well-aimed kick to the back of the 'bot's knee, collapsing him to the floor.
"Now who are ya, what d'ya want, man? I take it you haven't come to talk?" Jazz said, looking carefully through his visor.
Before Jazz had even picked himself up off the floor, the robot swung towards him, engine revving, making incoherent, crazed sounds. He slammed Jazz down, smashing his head on the hard ground.
"Uhhhh," Jazz's head twitched side to side and his optics flickered for a few seconds. Then Jazz pulled himself together with a speed brought about by vorns of doing his job. The robot leaned over him, his optics crazed, and curled his fist high above Jazz's head before savagely launching into a crazed punching frenzy.
"You...scrap heap...," Jazz managed. "Think yer stronger than me... FASTER than me?!?"
Metal could be heard grating and pounding from the frenzied punches, Jazz just knew this was murder on his bodywork. He grabbed the robot's shoulders and kicked him back forcefully into a wall, putting all his frustration into the kick.
His attacker thudded hard into the wall back first, falling down before getting straight back up again. He charged towards Jazz, tackling him to the ground. Jazz was gobsmacked, his hits seemed to be having little affect. This 'bot was really something.
"AHHHHHH!!" The 'bot roared.
The beserked robot was further enraged now and shot both his purple arms forward, latching them around Jazz's neck and applying extreme pressure. For a brief moment, Jazz simply stared into the monster's optics through his visor. He was insane. No logic governed his circuits. He was completely out of control and beyond reach or reasoning. Jazz found he had already made his mind up as to his next course of action. He unholstered his photon rifle slowly, setting it to burn. The sounds of circuits being crushed in his neck squeaked and crackled in his audios, the robot's hot hands burning off his paint. The pressure on his neck was beginning to dim his optics, and his audio sensors were beginning to fade on him. The energy in him was being blocked from reaching his cerebro circuitry and he was in danger of offlining if he didn't get this brute off of him fast. Sluggishly, he lifted his right arm up and aimed the photon rifle right at the robot's chassis. His attacker was too blind in his rage to even notice. Jazz pressed his gun against the chassis and pulled the trigger.
"EHHRR!!"
The explosion briefly shorted Jazz's audio and optic sensors at such close range. The burning hulk of the robot flew through the air and crashed hard onto the ground. Black smoke smoldered from the mess, burning from the inside, and sounds of circuits crackling and popping could be heard. Jazz partially sat up, just watching, heaving from what had just occurred.
"What the- Jazz, are you alright?" Prowl came running over to him, Ironhide beside him.
"Never...better," He smiled weakly.
Prowl and Ironhide each grabbed an arm and helped pull Jazz up.
"Primus, what did you get yourself into this time, huh?" Ironhide asked, looking him in the optics.
"And who was that?" Prowl asked pointing to the burning heap of metal with quizzical optics.
"No idea…don't know. All I know is…he was fraggin insane," Jazz heaved."And strong!...He weren't all there…tellin' ya."
"He just attacked you? No reason?" The white Datsun inquired, his customary logical processing taking over.
"No! No reason, man! Just went for me…fraggin' coward as well, whacked me one from behind. That weren't no ordinary 'bot, folks," Jazz worriedly started checking down all the scrapes and scratches to his bodywork.
"Another wrist comm. down the drain, huh, Jazz?" Ironhide smirked. "I don't think we should give you anymore, you just break them."
"Whatever," Jazz grinned lazily.
Prowl cautiously walked over to the wreck to take a better look, the other two following him.
"He wasn't a Decepticon," Prowl determined, saying it more to himself than anyone else.
"So why?" Ironhide questioned in confusion, looking over the burning mess.
"There was something about him…as if he had been taken over by something, he had no control over himself," Jazz started explaining. He re-holstered his rifle. "His optics glowed a neon green I've never seen before, and he was the temperature was way over the critical threshold."
"Well, in all my time, I ain't never heard anything like it," Ironhide frowned, lost in processing.
"We need to try and get a sample of his energon, I want to take it back for testing," Prowl said, already getting out his equipment. He knelt on the floor, looking for any of the liquid. "That's unusual."
"What's up, Prowl?" Jazz asked
"His energon…it's a strange colour. Its not purple, its a faint green," Prowl's optics studied it intently, a frown on his face.
"I say we get back ASAP and let Prime and Magnus know about this straight away," Ironhide said.
"Agreed," Prowl answered, putting the sample away safely sealed and getting up to join his comrades. As the other two began walking, Jazz stood over the burning hulk of all that was left of the psychotic robot. Looking down, he simply shook his head, before walking off to join the others.
A/N: First of all, I'd just like to say a big thank you to my awesome beta reader, tomorrow4eva, you're a great help to me, I really appreciate it! Also, Optimus wasn't in this chapter for a reason, but he's in the next one. I'm currently working on the 2nd chapter, should be done kinda soonish, hope to see you then! Also, reviews are always extremely appreciated, please review if you can spare the time!