AUTHOR NOTE: Read this at 1/2 story width. That's the way it's supposed to look.
Anyway, here it is… My take on Revenge of the Fallen!
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What Remained Behind
The first inkling the group got that anything was wrong besides the bizarre transmission Bumblebee had told Jazz about came in the form of another transmission… this one taking the form of radio chatter detailing a bizarre chase through the streets of Salem, Oregon. "I'll tell you what I'm hearing," Jazz said as they continued south. "Apparently we've got a car with no passengers tearing through the city, but the weird thing is it's traveling with a construction crane… and those things are supposed to be downright slow! This doesn't sound like anything humans are capable of. But wait, it gets better. Wait until you hear what's chasing them! Would you believe not just another car but three semi-identical motorcycles and a slagging ice cream truck?!" All was quiet for a moment before Zephyr spoke up from where she soared beside her mate. "Hey, I'm picking up a couple energy signatures from the running guys… Two Decepticons, still transmitting the old allegiance codes. Apparently these bozos think the war is still on." Given a moment to process that information, Optimus chose that moment to speak up. "Everyone, pull over. Zephyr, I'm going to need you to switch over to being Sarah. These 'new' Decepticons must know something we don't if they're willing to risk literally everything by continuing the war." Choosing a heavily forested area, the convoy pulled over long enough for Zephyr to land and transform. Optimus initially insisted that she ride with him so he could protect her, but Megatron interrupted his brother by landing nearby and opening his cockpit canopy. He would be the one to protect his mate, thank you very much. A moment's thought assured the two of them that Megatron was indeed the right person for the job. Even Optimus couldn't possibly hope to match him when it came to sheer strength, and to top it all off he could fly. Once that little dispute was done, the convoy swiftly began to make its way toward the streets of downtown Salem.
One was down by the time they arrived; the car, which was easily identified as Sideways, had already been neutralized by whatever forces had been doing the chasing. With one target down, the chase focused on the other; the construction crane, which had already transformed into its normal form and was at that very moment trundling down the main drag, a colossal unicycle from the waist down. Speeding toward an intersecting bridge whose length overshadowed the road the rogue Decepticon was traveling toward, Optimus himself headed in to try to stop him, even despite the fact that he was as tiny as a kitten in comparison. Any words he may have spoken were lost in an all-consuming roar as, rather than stop or even slow down upon seeing him there, the rogue Decepticon, whom Megatron immediately identified as Demolisher, simply plowed straight through the bridge itself, forcing the not quite surprised Optimus to jump for his very life, catching hold of one titanic arm and swinging like a red and blue monkey. This wasn't part of the plan, but then again they hadn't had much of a plan coming into this fight…
"Optimus!" The silver jet wasn't sure if he had shouted or if it had been his passenger. "Megatron, you've got to get down there and help him!" Sarah's face was pressed up against the glass of his canopy, a touch that would have excited him under normal circumstances. "I can't, Sarah… I have to protect you!" Hearing that, she settled back in her seat, seeming to accept his words. "Not for long." He was about to ask her what she meant by that when he felt her hand come to rest on his control panel. Her power hummed through him for the merest fraction of a moment, seeking out the command subroutines responsible for the latches holding his cockpit canopy shut. "Wait, Sarah, don't…" The only response he got was a sudden rush of wind as his canopy popped open against his will, the turbulence almost masking the feeling of small human hands grasping the edge of said canopy as a light little body vaulted gracefully over the side, leaping into the void. A momentary flash of sheer terror filled him before his sensors detected her transformation into Zephyr and subsequent shift into her own jet form, gliding away like an autumn leaf borne on a gentle puff of the wind that was her namesake, heading for the ground. She would be just fine, no worries there. His brother, on the other hand…
Focusing his attention downward, he pulled into a steep dive toward the enemy as it reached out to crush the offending Autobot. Summoning up every last ounce of the ferocity he'd once possessed, he transformed right before impact with the back of the target's neck, using his gravity-spawned momentum to drive his claws deep into vital motor circuitry in order to rob his enemy of the ability to move. "Demolisher," he roared as he vaulted effortlessly away from his collapsing enemy, "You will stand down immediately or perish!" Landing a little hard, he spared a quick moment of concern for his brother's welfare before stomping up to the Decepticon he'd just downed. "Well," he growled. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, disobeying my orders like that? Are you really stupid enough to have discounted the order I issued several years ago, to stand down and end the war?" Eyes flickering, Demolisher spat in his face. "Never!…" he managed, static filling his voice. "I do not… take orders… from an imposter!…" At the last word, Megatron's eyes blazed with unrestrained anger, even as Optimus walked closer. Completely deaf to his brother's entreaties to spare Demolisher long enough to get answers, the former Decepticon formed his cannon and blew the offender's head off.
His temper satisfied by that brutal act, he stepped backward, away from the mangled wreck, even as Optimus stepped closer. "Nice going, Megatron," he said, deeply unhappy with what his brother had done. "Now we'll never know what they were after." Megatron shook his head. "Not so," he answered, looking toward where the rest were just at that moment beginning to hit the scene. "The fact that this one had the nerve to call me an imposter means these two, at least, are indeed continuing the war. There may be more." A third voice cut in from around their ankles, the smallness of its source having no effect on its volume. "And that's not all," Sarah cut in as she walked closer. "If they're continuing the war here, instead of back home, that must mean they don't know about me and are continuing to search for the All Spark. The logical place for them to start their search would be with whoever was in contact with it last, and that would lead them to…" A look of absolute horror took shape on Optimus's face as he made the connection. "…Sam!"
"Hey, wait a second, would you?" This new voice drew everyone's attention to where the group of vehicles they'd heard of before had just pulled into view. "You're Autobots, right?" Optimus nodded, not sure precisely which one had spoken. His confirmation elicited a whole lot of excited chatter from the group, most of which amounted to "Wow! Real Autobots!" A sleek silver car, now identifiable as the one who had just spoken, promptly transformed. "We're supposed to be Autobots too. None of us are sure how we know this. We just do. We also know about chasing Decepticons. That's pretty much our gig around here. Never thought we'd get to meet real Autobots. Anyway, I'm Sideswipe, the leader of this little group. I'm just awesome that way, you know?" Following his lead, the three motorcycles, one red, one blue, one purple, transformed as well. "We're basically a gestalt, meaning one mind in three bodies, and we call ourselves the Chopper Sisters," the pink one started. "Arcee…" The purple one spoke up. "Moonracer…" The blue one finished. "And Chromia!" Behind them, the ice cream truck transformed into not one but two roly-poly little fellows, one orange and the other a pale green. "We're real brothers. I'm Skids," the green one said, "And this ugly guy over here is Mudflap." The orange one shoved the green one angrily. "You're calling me ugly? We're twins, you cretin!" An instant later the group had a fight on their hands. Stepping out from behind Megatron, Sarah just had to laugh. Typical siblings… How many times had she witnessed such clashes among children? They were just like a pair of teenagers trying desperately to sound cool but failing miserably and coming off as a pair of total dweebs. As much as the true Autobots had amazed the little group of newcomers, she herself was even more amazing to them, even to the point of stopping the juvenile wrestling match in its tracks.
"It's her…" Arcee approached slowly, kneeling down before Sarah. "You're Ace Flint, right?" Pausing a moment, Sarah nodded. "Yes, I went by that name for a while. Mostly because I had amnesia. But my real name is Sarah. And I have a question for you. How in the world do you know me?" Skids stepped up. "Well, you created us. Look at our vehicle forms. Don't you remember us?" Shock overtook Sarah after a moment's thought. She did recognize them. "You're some of the vehicles I worked on!" Mudflap nodded. "Sure are. Whatever you did to us, it made us alive." Sideswipe nodded. "Thus far we're the only ones to come forward, but we've got a theory… We think you did the same to every vehicle you worked on." Sarah was shocked. "But I worked on a whole lot of vehicles. That would mean there are a whole lot of newborn Autobots running around this planet!" She paused. "But that can wait. We've got bigger problems… Namely more Decepticons, and probably lots of them." The new group promptly transformed into their vehicle forms, the two who had previously been the ice cream truck revealing that they could also transform into two separate vehicles. "In that case, we're coming too," Sideswipe said. "We hunt Decepticons. It's… what we do." Sarah had only one thing to say to that. "Why are you asking me for permission? He's the leader," she said, pointing up at Optimus, who nodded. "Well… As the humans say, 'the more the merrier'. Welcome to the team." Stepping forward with a thoroughly impatient huff, Megatron put his hands on his hips in an all too human gesture as he snapped, "Excuse me, but shouldn't we get going?" Optimus immediately transformed. Taking his lead, the original Autobots did the same and they all set out, following behind him as they always did. Optimus led, the original Autobots followed, and the newcomers brought up the rear. Megatron, for his part, soared at roughly cloud level, carrying Sarah along with him. Wasting no more time, they hit the road and began the journey south at a great speed, though they remembered to hold to the road's speed limit lest they get pulled over.
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How's that for a start? Read and review please!
