Transformers: Edge of Humanity
Prologue
A young man with short brown hair and brown eyes stumbled through the door with bags both piled in his arms and hanging from them. He hopped a little awkwardly as he jerked the key from its place in the door.
"Caw-wee!" he called around the envelopes in his mouth.
He hefted a bag on his left only to unbalance the entire pile and send it tumbling to the ground. He took only a moment to mourn the mess before struggling to gather it all up. The process ended with him squatting and supporting the bags by squishing them between his arms and legs. It wasn't the most dignified pose.
He tossed a dirty look at the Camaro in the driveway that shuddered strangely.
"Ooo fenk eh sooo funneh, on't you?"
The car only shook harder.
The man grumbled, shuffled inside, and then kicked the door closed with his foot.
"Caw-wee!" he cried a little more desperately.
"Coming, Sam!"
A blonde woman came down the stars, lips curved and blue orbs shining.
"On't ooo air," he said warningly.
Laughing anyway, the woman grabbed a few of the bags and glanced inside. Her brow furrowed as she saw its' contents.
"It's from 'the guys'," Sam said by way of explanation.
Carly only seemed more confused but headed back up the stairs motioning for him to follow. As he went to go up he noticed something odd in the kitchen. One foot on the steps Sam leaned back and stared at the monstrous...thing beginning to eat up his kitchen table. He turned to Carly with an eyebrow raised.
"Should I ask?" he inquired.
Carly smiled and whispered conspiratorially, "That's the girls' base. They're planning on catching Santa but don't talk too much about it. Santa might hear you." Her voice then returned to normal. "Hurry up now. They're in their room right now but they could come out at any second."
Sam hastened after Carly to their bedroom. Inside, he closed the doors then dropped the bags onto the queen size bed within. As Sam began to pull the items out he heard the door to the girls' bedroom open. A moment later pounding footsteps and excited squeals echoed through the door. The two adults shared a secret smile.
"So, who are these from again?" Carly asked eyeing the white plastic container at least as large as a small carry-on bag she had tugged out.
Sam glanced up at her wary tone.
"Ah, that's from the 'Hatchet' and 'Mr. J'," he said, "It's full of band-aids and, ya know, things."
At Carly's 'really?' look he added, "Hey give the mech a break; he let J pick the band-aids. Camo and glow-in-the-dark, real cool."
Carly laughed, "Alright, what else is there?"
The rest of the packages were revealed to be a variety of things: there was a pair of necklaces made up of silver chains with small Autobot symbols hung on them (Bumblebee), a Wii with several dance games (Brains and Wheelie), and an electronic picture frame with casual pictures of all the Autobots plus some of the deceased Ironhide, Que, and Jazz (Optimus, "Whenever you wish to tell them."). From whom Sam had dubbed 'The Science Geeks' of the Autobots had given: gadgets (Wheeljack), Merriam Webster's Dictionary (Perceptor), and some interesting rocks (Skyfire). The Wreckers, as it turned out, decided that various alien explosives was the way to go. The other various items were: two CX6 Nerf guns (still boxed), came with a dozen packs of Nerf darts (Dino), glue, feathers and buckets (Sideswipe), paints and paper (Sunstreaker), some "kickin' tunes" as Blaster put it, and a few little things from some Nest personnel.
After taking inventory they eventually got all the presents wrapped (or thrown into the 'Never' pile or the 'Later' pile in Optimus' case) by the time dinner came around
"Put those away will you?" asked Carly. "I'm going to get dinner started."
"Yes. You woman. Make me man. Food."
Carly gave Sam a playful punch in the arm smirking at his not completely exaggerated "Oomph!"
Carly then headed out the room and down the stairs. When she got to the kitchen she could only gawk open-mouthed at the table. The dinner table stood completely surrounded by piles of blankets and pillows.
"Carrissa, Kaleena," called Carly.
Two little heads, one with short dark-brown hair and the other light-brown, poked cautiously out from one side.
"Yes?" they asked in unison.
Carly didn't know whether to sigh or laugh so instead she said neutrally, "I thought I said you could use the table not...," she flailed around for the appropriate word, "mutate it."
Kaleena may have had an apologetic expression on her face but it was gone before Carly could be sure as Carrissa began to speak.
"We couldn't just put blankets over the table!" protested Carrissa. "Then Santa would know and wouldn't come! This," she gestured to the...thing, "makes it look like gremlins. He'll never suspect!"
Kaleena nodded in agreement, "Yeah, gremlins!
Carly blanked. Gremlins? The ones the girls said stole their socks?
"Well, where do you think we're gunna eat?" Carly questioned.
Kaleena and Carrissa turned to each other then back to their mom.
"Well...," began Kaleena.
"The floor?" finished Carrissa.
This time Carly did sigh.
"Girls..."
The girls jumped in quickly shouting together, "Please, can we keep it Mom? Pleeeaaasse?"
Carly stared down into Carrissa and Kaleena's hazel and green eyes and felt her resolve waver. A few more seconds and it crumbled completely.
"Unnh, fine," groaned Carly.
Carrissa and Kaleena cheered.
"But you have to clean it up tomorrow, Christmas or no!" added Carly.
Kaleena and Carrissa gave some half-hearted complaints but otherwise didn't whine. They ducked back into the tents giggles flying out behind them.
Sam arrived behind Carly then and moved to give her a kiss when he froze, staring.
"Uh, sweetie? Is that my underwear?"
And sure enough, atop a broomstick mounted in the pile of blankets and pillows, a pair of boxers, with hearts, perched majestically.
Two little shadows peeled away from the end of the hallway darting pass the whitewashed bathroom and partially open door with snoring emanating from. They kept on past the second closed door and began down the stairwell. One of the shadows broke the golden rule of silence.
It was nothing at first, just a soft muttering, then it began to grow louder until the shadow talked like as if carrying on a conversation with no one there.
The second shadow tolerated this for about a minute as they hit the landing suddenly bathed in a soft red glow revealing the two figures to be little girls. As they went on past the landing the other girl had had enough.
"Shhhhhhhhh! You wanna get caught?" erupted one in a sudden fierce whisper.
"Sorry! It's not my fault though...it's Mr. Beetle's! I swear!" was the insistent response.
"Well, you don't have to talk back you know! Tell him to be quiet," ordered the bigger girl.
"M'kay," replied the smaller one.
The two figures continued to make their way down the stairs the muttering now gone. The smaller one, with a determined purse in her lips, went slowly feeling out each step. The larger one barreled down, albeit softly, swung around the corner into the kitchen and leaped into a pile of things. The smaller girl followed soon after giggling as the larger one "attacked" her and dragged her into the pile.
There were noises of a slight scuffle and giggles before the two reappeared peering out of the pile. Silence settled down once more. For a little while.
"Hey, Kaleena, what do you think Santa will look like?" asked the larger one.
"Well...like he always is: Fat. How 'bout you Carrissa?" returned the smaller one.
"I think he's going to be skinny and wearing a ninja suit!"
"...but, Carrissa," Kaleena began worriedly, "if he's a ninja...then what do ninjas eat? Do they like cookies?"
"Of course everybody likes cookies," declared Carrissa with absolute certainty.
"Oh...I hope he's a ninja then."
The girls laid in silence once more after that; comfortably settled inside the blanket-tent they had made earlier that day. The mish-mash of blankets and couch pillows were strewn haphazardly over and around the kitchen table which stood across from the Christmas tree. A perfect spotting and hiding spot for what they had in mind: getting a glimpse of Santa Clause.
However as the night wore on, they didn't having much luck. As it neared on towards ten-thirty at night and both girls could feel their eyelids drooping. The latest they'd ever stayed up for was nine, maybe nine-thirty, no way were they ready for the all-nighter that was sure to come.
"Hey maybe he only shows up when we're sleeping?"
A crestfallen look fell over Kaleena's face at the statement.
"But I wanna see him!"
"Yeah, I do too but if we're awake he'll never come and we won't see him anyways," Carrissa explained a little sadly.
Kaleena pouted glancing back over at the tree.
"That's a stupid rule," she grumbled.
"Well I'm getting tired so there," Carrissa replied sleepily.
As if on cue Carrissa yawned widely. Kaleena stared horrified, waiting for The Yawn to come and get her too. Kaleena tightened her jaw and pressed her lips together. It wasn't quite as intimidating as she hoped it would be as air puffed her cheeks sending Carrissa into smothered snickers. The Yawn must have agreed with Carrissa because Kaleena yawned anyway.
Carrissa clambered back inside to her sleeping bag falling asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow leaving Kaleena alone in the cheery light from the tree.
Kaleena stared out searching for monsters in the corners when something seemed to move in one corner she wished she'd brought her bunny. Or that Carrissa had stayed awake with her frying pan of awesomeness. Everything looked eerie under the multicolored light as if there were monsters hiding in the shadows.
A muttering pushed at the edge of her hearing.
Kaleena frowned.
"Go to bed, Mr. Beetle," she said.
Then she purposely shoved the voice away and scrambled back inside under the covers.
The Yawn reached out and attacked her once more opening her jaw wide before she settled into the comforter and closed her eyes...
Carrissa laughed as she sailed to the next rooftop hot on the heels of the red-clad ninja in front of her. The bag she carried bumped against her back. It was large in comparison to her but small compared to the one the red one hauled. She smiled thinking of the great toys that lay in wait inside.
The red ninja disappeared for a moment then reappeared a smile on his face. Carrissa was unsure how she knew that he was smiling since he wore a white mask but she had a feeling. They jumped a few dozen more houses repeating the disappear/reappear routine. Along the way the red ninja's smile grew wider and wider.
They jumped again. This one was a soaring leap carrying them far across the neighborhood. As they flew Carrissa ate a few of the icing stars along the way. Finally, they landed on a familiar roof. Carrissa realized the house they stood on was actually her house.
Kaleena would be so jealous, she thought with a grin.
The red ninja motioned Carrissa over. She began to walk towards him...
They-no, she was in the living room. Where had the red ninja gone?
Carrissa glanced around. The room glowed with a strangely washed out look. Something niggled in the back of her mind but she couldn't place her finger on it. The Christmas tree, however, still glowed brightly in the corner like a lighthouse for ships lost in fog. Carrissa ignored it though and instead walked upstairs to her and her sister's room where something beckoned her. Up she went past even the creakiest stairs without a sound.
Once there Carrissa could see nothing except the pale moonlit square shining in from the window and across her and her sister's bed. The beckoning, a pull like when she knew she shouldn't take the cookies but did anyway, tugged her to her sister's bed. It urged her to reach out towards her sister's form under the covers. She did and at her touch the covers fell flat.
At a bell's tinkling Carrissa spun around to see her sister standing a few feet away, her back to her, framed in moonlight. A strange stuff animal...or was it a doll?...Carrissa's never seen hung from her sister's fist.
"They're coming," she said.
Carrissa tried to speak to ask questions. The first one being, 'Why are you awake? The red ninja would be here giving you presents if you aren't asleep. Don't you know that?'
After she tried, and failed, it came to her to ask exactly who 'they' was. Was it her and the red ninja? If so, her sister was behind the times, they were already here. Well, at least she was. The red ninja seemed to have disappeared.
This time Carrissa asked 'who' and was more than a little surprised when it came out.
The hand not grasping the doll rose, pointing in the direction of the moon.
Carrissa stared off in the designated direction squinting.
What am I supposed to be looking at? she wondered.
After minutes of nothing Carrissa nearly shouted when, slowly, a spot began to grow on the moon. Blacker than the blackest black it grew and grew in a bubbling formation eclipsing out all moonlight. Fear blossomed in Carrissa as the shadows began to come alive around her writhing and reaching out. Carrissa tried to move, to scream, to do anything but she was frozen, paralytic.
Her sister now faced her standing in the center of it all glowing. Her too-bright eyes piercing straight through Carrissa.
"It's not over," she whispered. "They're coming. You must-!"
The world slowed as it tilted dumping Carrissa off the edge and into a bottomless. She fell without screaming her mouth agape with horror. Her sister stared down at her, her mouth yawning horribly wide as she screamed.
"It's not over! They're coming! YOU MUST-!"
Dark liquid poured forth from somewhere on her sister's head dripping down her neck and over her shoulders. It ran in rivulets down her arm and over her hand to the tip of her pointed finger, pointed straight at her. The liquid condensed as it fell from her sister's finger shaping into a form more horrible beyond anything she'd imagined.
Carrissa screamed then as her sister's body fell apart feeding the growing monster with red eyes. The monster took up her sister's message in an unholy wail.
"IT'S NOT OVER! THEY'RE COMING! YOU MUST S-!"
Then a whispering in her ear.
"Wake up."
Carrissa blinked. It came again.
"Wake up."
Carrissa turned searching the inky blackness all around her. Where was it coming...
"Wake up!"
Carrissa jerked wide awake when someone violently shook her shoulders.
"Huh? What?"
Kaleena stared down at her eyes wide motionless. For a moment Carrissa wondered if she was still dreaming when she was shaken again.
"H-hey! Cut that out!" protested Carrissa.
She shoved Kaleena's hands away and sat up glaring at her. Kaleena moved back looking unapologetic. She stuck her finger to her lips.
"Sh, listen."
Carrissa eyed Kaleena warily before actually listening.
A diminutive rumble permeated the background. It reminded Carrissa of their car when it ran idle. A quite purr overlaid with a throaty hum, the sound of safety.
"Do you hear that?" Kaleena asked eyes getting wider if even possible.
"It's...a car. So?"
Carrissa frowned unable to see where Kaleena intended to go with this. Cars stopped and idled all the time on their street. People here tended to be busy, so it was far from unusual for someone to park, leaving their car in the street, and run inside before coming back out.
Kaleena replied, "Yeah, but it's coming from the garage."
Carrissa cocked her head listening again...it did seem to be coming from the garage. Decisively, Carrissa jumped up, crawled outside the tent, and then stood on tiptoes to see through the kitchen window on the opposite wall.
"Wait for me!" squeaked Kaleena as she scrambled after.
The older girl ignored her and peered out. Carrissa saw a slim bit of their lawn to the left, lit up by the back porch light, and the garage squatted behind the house. The structure wasn't all that great considering the house it belonged to. The dark and rustic look of the would that made it up gave a sort of dreary and possibly foreboding air. The bright light that shined out from the crack below the doors, which most certainly had not been on before, gave the building a homey warm look however. Like a log cabin on a cold day.
Carrissa felt a prickle of unease.
Kaleena who'd come up beside her whined, "I can't see anything."
Carrissa almost snapped at her to be quiet only to be interrupted rudely as the engine suddenly gave a surge. Kaleena jumped and ducked missing the flashy yellow Camaro with black racing stripes that nosed its' way out the garage door and zoomed off into the night. Carrissa, however, stayed standing and watched in wonderment.
"Santa is stealing our car!" exclaimed Carrissa in a whisper.
Kaleena straightened up and peeked over the window ledge best she could, murmuring. Carrissa gaped at the open, and now dark, garage. Had she glanced over at Kaleena she would've seen her smiling.
Carrissa, however, paid no heed to her sister's oddness and instead bolted around and up the stairs screaming at the top of her lungs, "Santa stole our car! Santa stole our car! Santa stole our car!"
The younger girl barely noticed her sister's absence or shouts thoroughly involved in listening to her friend Mr. Beetle.
A few moments later, quite unsure why she did, Kaleena looked up at the sky.
"Satan's Camaro," she breathed then grinned.
A/N: Just some quick notes. Hatchet, as most of you may or may not know, is a nickname/codename for Ratchet. Mr. J is Jolt's codename.
Co-author: Pineapple's Fidelity