"I can't explain myself at all." -All-American Rejects, It Ends Tonight

Prologue

I hear a screech behind me, and know my plan is working. Another screech tells me my roadblock is close to complete. A few more cars just have to go off-course before my pursuants will have so much trouble tailing me I'll basically be home free. I feel another blast just barely miss my rear fender, speeding up slightly after this happening. I swerve around more cars, amazed by the ease I have maneuvering around these pathetic Earth vehicles. The stupid fleshlings keep swerving their vehicles away as I speed by them, crashing into more vehicles and causing huge "pile-ups," as they call these kinds of crashes on this small speck of dirt floating through this universe.

I hear a semi-truck honk behind me, alerting me to the autobot leader's presence. But, he has never caught me before, and I don't plan on ruining my get away record just yet. I engage my turbo boosters, which unfortunately are running on this plants primitive nitrous oxide. This pushes me by more cars, causing my speed to reach almost 120 miles per hour. I focus on the road, knowing that even my expert handling coupled with such high a speed and such a crowded highway was not a good mix.

Another blast distracts my attention as I try to veer out of it's line of fire, "t-boning", another primitive Earth term, a small car, squishy it, and it's passengers. I try to back away, but find myself stuck, front bumper encased in the weak metals of my victim. I rev my engines in frustration before doing the only thing I can think might help me escape.

I start to revert to my bipedal form, parts shifting and clicking into place to form what I really look like, not the measly Earth vehicle I was just disguised as. The car's remains fell off, just as I suspected. I finished my transformation just in time to have another shot fired my way, causing me to flip backwards, my stealth training and instincts kicking in.I look up to see the autobot's artillery specialist lining up his shot once more, but I am already prepared. I force my hand out, using my superior processor to force the metallic remains at the autobot, blocking his view. I quickly turn back around and leap forward, transforming once more before I hit the ground, and speeding through the piles of cars wrecked on my left and right. It's as if they all are lined up here to watch me hurt those who love me once more, but then there would be nothing to watch. No one loves me; I'm just a crankshaft. So that has become my name: Crankshaft.

"Thanks for watching as I fall." -Avril Lavigne, My Happy Ending

Chapter 1

I sit idly in the abandoned parking lot, resting while I can. I have finally evaded Optimus and his men once more, but at a huge price for me: I dropped my armaments, now causing me to have no guns, just melee weapons. I think back to an easier time, one when I didn't have to runaway from everyone.

A time on Cybertron.

I wasn't always hated by everyone, I remember being quite popular amongst those who were also in my cache, the sectors we were sorted into based upon the type of job we had, and some others outside of it. But my life was ruined by two young bots with a stupid want for freedom. Orion Pax, now called Optimus Prime, and Megatron ruined my existence, causing me to torn apart by my companions, until finally, I was all alone. It caused me to develop a new outlook on things, and new goals. I was, and will no longer be, the simple Magnum. They destroyed that bot long ago. I am forced out my haze as I notice a car drive by, one I had already noticed pass by once before. I start my engine, holoform appearing behind the steering wheel. I back out of the parking spot and head towards the road. I turn on to the now barren street, taking it slow as I drive by the side street the suspicious car turned down. I don't notice it, but I can tell it's there, my scanner just barely picking up on the unaligned signal.

I continue to drive by the street, and after I get a few yards away, the muscle car reappears behind me. I speed my pace up slightly, but nothing too noticeable. The foreign vehicle does, too, but I had expected as much as. It flickers it's headlights in a way I know all too well, and my suspicions are confirmed. I respond back, using my turn signals to display the correct answer. The muscle car speeds up and gets around me, and I can finally make it out. It's a black '09 dodge challenger, with green barb-wire painted all along the side. Two green racing stripes are painted over the top of the car, starting at the hood then ending at the end of the trunk. It's windows are very heavily tinted, making me doubt sunlight would be able to penetrate it's windows. But that didn't matter, because our optics aren't inside of us; that would be quite a stupid upgrade, making us like the Earth vehicles, their eyes being their human driver's.

We pull in to an alleyway, quite a long one, too. We go to the very back of it when the other car begins to transform, and I follow suit. After a few moments, Lockdown and I are face-to-face. He is a rough looking bot, but this doesn't surprise me. His vehicle mode resembles him quite obviously. He looks me in the optics for a moment before giving my a quick hug. He holds me arms length away, and begins to speak, "Glad to see you, Crank."

I give a metallic laugh, "Always with that nickname, huh Lockdown?"

He smirks, "Either that or Shaftie. And knowing you, I have a feeling you would rather be called Crank." I nod my agreement and wait for him to begin his debrief. He notices my silence, so he jumps to the chase. "Apparently, Megatron has his eyes on this new autobot. Wouldn't tell me the name, just said my ninja bo-"

"Do NOT call my a ninja bot!" I burst suddenly.

He shrugs his indifference on the matter, acting as if Megatron ACTUALLY said "ninja bot." "Anyways," He continues, "He said you would be able to recognize him. Seeing as you are always causing trouble and all with the autobots. So what do ya say? Want to help me catch this one?"

I laugh, "Help? I think I have 'done' your last three jobs 'for' you!" But I hold my left servoe out, which he proceeds to grab in his. After this, he walks around me, and, without saying good-bye, transforms and drives off.

"Good old Lockdown," I mumble before following suit, but I turn left instead of right out of the alleyway, heading towards the autobots temporary base.

I sit maybe a mile away, using my unusually good optics to watch the autobot's that hang around outside the makeshift base. I fidget a little, something quite unusual for such an experienced cybernetic stealth expert as myself. I focus more on where the yellow autobot stands with another, a bot that makes my processor tingle. I try and zoom in a little, but immediately leap back. The bot seems to hear me, looking in my general direction. I quickly turn my cloaking device on and duck behind a tree.

A rustle in the bushes causes me to tense up to the point where I am slightly afraid I may not be able to move if need be. A small, fur-covered inhabitant of this planet hops out of the underbrush, and I relax ever so slightly. The creature has long, floppy ears, a small bushy white tail, and gray fur all over. I look at it's small beady eyes that sit a little ways behind it's pink nose. I bend down a little, intrigued by the alien creature. It hops forward, propelling it's self with it's sturdy looking back legs. I study it for a few more moments as it inches torwards me. It, too, seems intrigued by my appearance. I set a servoe down in the dirt in front of it and it inches forward, placing it's front paws upon my metallic hand. I feel a much missed smile spreading across my face as the creatures places it's whole body upon one of my fingers.

A servoe is suddenly at my neck, pinning me up against the tree. I struggle a little against the claws, dropping the poor creature. I look my attacker in the optics, and we both gasp simultaneously. I stare into the all too familiar optics, noticing the fear that runs through them change to something else. The mech releases me, confusion now lacing his bright blue optics. "Magnum?" The mech's voice tickles my processor once more, causing memories of a time before to surface. Memories I can't push back, even as hard as I try.

"Magnum?" I heard Prowl's voice call through the smoke and flames. I tried to push myself out from under the wreckage, but can't, my right arm completely useless because of the bombing. "Magnum! Can you hear me?"

"Prowl!" I yelled, attempting to project my voice as loud as possible by cupping my left servoe in front of it. "I'm stuck!" I tried to heave the wreckage off of my back once more, to no avail. "Prowl!" I screamed, hoping the older bot can find me.

"Magnum! Magnum, I'm coming!" His response sounded frantic, and I can't blame him. Another explosion startled me, going off maybe ten yards to my right. Pieces of concrete and other material hit me, other bits landing on the already nicely sized pile on top of me. I felt energon flow down my nasal plasting from a cut on my helm, trickling like a gentle stream into my mouth. I spat the fluid out, but only for more to find it's way back in. I sighed and rest my head on a chunk of rubble. "MAGNUM!"

My head darted up real fast. I looked to my left to find Prowl rushing over, a worried looking clouding his usually calm optics. "Prowl! Hurry up, it's getting REALLY hot!" I yelled, checking the temperature readings on my internal thermometer. It was the equivalent of over 300 degrees Fahrenheit. "Did you find Streaker and Swipe?"

Prowl reached me, kneeling down and frantically pulling stuff off. "Yeah," He grunted as he pulled of a particularly big piece of metal. "They were on they're way out when I last saw them. Don't need to worry bout-" Prowl was cut-off as another bomb was dropped right next to us. I heard footsteps come towards us, but saw nothing.

"We found him!" I heard the familiar voice of Cliffjumper call to some other bots. I could hear him dash over to where Prowl must've been lying, ignoring where I da been buried by rubble. "Cliffjumper to Prime. I have located Prowl, and am bringing him to pass. Over and out." Cliffjumper must of picked up Prowl then, because Prowl wouldn't let him walk right by me. He must have been rendered unconscious by the blast, I kept thinking as I heard Cliffjumper run off.

"Wait!" I choked as rubble attempted to enter my mouth. I began feeling the effects of the heat as I lay under the rubble for what felt like hours. I attempted several times to push myself up, but with only one good arm, didn't succeed. Eventually, I gave up, rested my helm upon my useless arm, and let the flames take me.

"Magnum?" Prowl's voice pulled me back to reality. I look up at his face, a face I hadn't seen since I was a youngling, trapped in the wreckage of our home.

"My name is not Magnum," I hiss, forcing myself to stand straight. "Not anymore." I mumble the last part, knowing he would hear it anyway. I look for my fuzzy friend, and find it's limp body on the ground, it's once beady eyes wide with fear. I pick it up, holding it to my chest cavity as I mourn the loss of the small creature that seemed to trust me when no one would. I feel lubricant begin to well up in my optics, causing me to remember who I am now. I throw the body on the forest floor, and turn my back to the bot who I had once looked up to.

"I thought you were dead," his voice seems distant as he too must be remembering what happened. He suddenly turns me to face him before pullling me in an awkward embrace. He then holds me armlength apart, just as Lockdown had a few hours ago. "Why didn't you radio Optimus you were coming?"

I shake the bot off, avoiding his hurt gaze. "Because I'm not an autobot, Prowl." I murmur the words softly, waiting for his response. I hear him stumble back a few steps, as if hit in the face. I quickly add, "But, I am not a decepticon either."

A puzzled look crosses his face, but is interrupted by more rustling in the bushes as the autobots known as Bumblebee and Ironhide enter my little clearing. They both immediately have their cannons warmed up and ready to fire upon me. They circle around to my sides, thinking they could keep me here if I tried to escape. I give a silent chuckle, watching how confused Prowl looks and how the other two look slightly shocked. "How'd you catch the bounty hunter, Prowl?" Ironhide inquires, his eyes glued to me.

"Bounty hunter?" Prowl's optics seem to grow huge with betrayal and hurt. "What are they talking about, Maggy?" Prowl uses the name he used to call me by, what everyone used to call me by, when we were younglings. He steps towards me, and I step back, my back now up against the tree.

Bumblebee and Ironhide share a confused glance before returning their attention back to me. I give yet another silent chuckle before shrugging my shoulders, "I hunt bots down for those who are willing to pay the price. Guess that makes me a bounty hunter." I glance up, a smirk dancing across my face.

Prowl looks at me with his big blue optics and a tortured expression on his face. "But, you said you weren't a decepti-"

"I'm not."

Ironhide laughs sarcastically from where he stands on my left side. "You believe this bot, Prowl?" He steps up to me, placing his cannon right up to the left side of my helm. "She causes so much trouble for us, how could she not be a 'Con? In fact, I oughtta blow her helm off for what she's done recently."

I shake my head, my smirk growing larger. "Big mistake," I say. I swiftly grab the bigger bots weapon and use it to fling him at the yellow bot, causing them both to fly backwards and into a tree. My servoe darts out with my sedative-loaded needle in it towards Prowl. He brushes my servoe aside, finally getting into a fighting mindset once more. He lunges towards my 'weapon', meaning to disarm me. I kick my right foot up, hitting him square in the side, throwing him towards the others. He quickly spins in the air, landing in a position that on this planet screams, "NINJA!" He lunges towards me once more, and I deflect his attack once again, sending him flying into a tree on the left side of the small clearing. He lands with cat-like grace once more and prepares to lunge before freezing as something behind me catches his optic. I turn around to see-