Speech Legend:
"Human Speech/Cybertronian Speech"
"Spirits Speech/Communications Line/Karas Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Inhuman/Non-Cybertronian Creatures/Intense screams or yelling/Introductions"
Chapter 1: Rumble with the Robots.
In every city, there are two types of residents that live within it.
The humans that are always in sight and the Yōkai, the spirits that remain in the background. While humans are normally unaware of the spirits that surround them, these two races live in harmony with each other. Forever bound by a link that transcends normal mortality.
But among these spirits are the black sheep of their race, the Mikura.
Spirits who have replaced their flesh with steel, these Mikura despise the world around them and seek to be noticed by the world via violent means. Even if this meant devouring the flesh of the living. Giant, monstrous creatures that hide in plain sight, these monsters fear very little...
...except the agent of the city, the crow that fly overhead...ready to strike at any moment.
Some time Later, Team Prime's Base:
Arcee groaned. Perhaps explaining the 'exact' reason why she didn't answer Ratchet's attempts to communicate with her wasn't the best idea...
Upon returning to base after the battle with that monstrous creature and the mysterious figure known as Karas, Arcee had been imminently confronted by not only the team's medic, but nearly every other member of Team Prime. That of course included:
The Team's scout, Bumblebee.
The Local Wrecker of the group, Bulkhead.
Arcee's very own partner, CliffJumper.
And last but not in the bit least the Leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime.
After fully explaining her experience to the entire team (So there would be no need to repeat herself), Arcee was met with a few varied reactions.
Bulkhead and CliffJumper both shared the annoying viewpoint that was that "She was just joking", as both of the bots couldn't believe such a tale after so many weeks of inactivity. They honestly believed that it was some sort of 'fairytale' as the humans called it, something completely fictional so Arcee could explain why she was late getting back from her patrol. Bumblebee was far more entertained after he heard her tale, but was just as skeptical as the previous two in believing that it actually happened.
Optimus believed Arcee thankfully but he too was questioning the idea of a human preforming such amazing skills that the femme had described in her report.
But of all the team, the one who had the strangest reaction to her news was the Team's no-nonsense medic, Ratchet.
"I may have an explanation for Arcee's strange story," After making a few strokes from his keyboard, Ratchet brought up more than a dozen individual video clips and displayed them on his monitor.
Releasing a grunt, Ratchet focused their attention on just one of the videos, "For the last week or so, I have been..." The medic hesitated for a moment, "...contacted by Agent Fowler with an important assignment."
Bulkhead and Cliffjumper let out a small chuckle at the mention of the team's government contact. It wasn't a big secret that Ratchet wasn't the biggest fan of the human race and since this man was perhaps one of the most annoying person they had ever encountered...well, it normally didn't end that well.
"For the last week, Agent Fowler has been providing me with video clips that contain very odd footage, footage that he has been convinced that has been the work of the Decepticons." Pressing one more button, the main video started to play for the entire team.
The clip opened up on fairly average part of Jasper. The area contained an empty street, a few buildings in the background, and one street light. Form the information presented in the upper right corner, this video was sited to have taken place at around 2:34am.
"Nearly all these clips begin like this, just an average looking street with no bystanders around," Ratchet explained, "But after a few seconds...something happened."
The clip continued to play for a few more seconds, but just like Ratchet said...something odd did happened.
With no visual disruption in the video's footage, the entire landscape of the video was completely altered. The road now had massive chunks of it missing out of it the lamppost was torn completely in half and tossed across the screen, and the building behind all of this now had a huge hole in the side of it. But one of the most notable changes was the multiple claw marks that adorned the road and building.
"Through careful analysis, I have come to the conclusion that there has been no edits to this footage. All of this happened in real-time."
Letting the other clips play, all of Team Prime watched as the other clips displayed the same result. But of the team, Arcee felt a sense of Déjà vu from each one. After the last few of the videos finished their run-time, Ratchet closed them out and turned his attention back to the others.
"From Arcee's description, it sounds like the same figure that she meet tonight was also responsible for these incidents as well." the medic stated.
It made sense somewhat, its not like the other Autobots could make a better excuse for what they saw on those videos. Still, Cliffjumper was still a bit unconvinced for the most part. Videos and suspensions were one thing but until he saw it with his own eyes, the Autobot would have a hard time believing in a human in armor slaughtering a giant mechanical monster with the skills that would make any warrior red with envy.
"So what do we do about this? Search for this guy like a servo in a scrapheap?" Bulkhead asked to no one in particular.
It was Optimus, who had remained silent during the meeting, who answered the wrecker's question.
"For the time being, we should continue to operate as normal." the Prime said, "This figure has shown that it is a non-hostile to us and seeks to protect the people of this world. If Ratchet's theory proves true, then it is only a matter of time before this 'Karas' reveals himself again."
Optimus then turned and faced his team, "When that time comes, we shall approach him and see if he is willing to talk to us on more...mutual terms." And with that said, Optimus dismissed his team and allowed them to go about their own business. Arcee in particular wanted to get some much need shut-eye, the night had been tiring enough for her and all she wanted was to sit down and have a nice, peaceful recharge.
But before the femme could even make it out of the base's main chamber...the annoyed medic's voice pierced her auto receptors.
"...meaning that Cliffjumper and Arcee have patrol duty tomorrow, so I suggest the two of you get some rest before then" Ratchet, who had turned back to his computer stated out loud, getting the two bots attention.
Arcee inwardly groaned. She really didn't want to go on patrol again so soon, especially after a day like today. Feeling a hand clasp her shoulder, Arcee looked behind her and saw Cliffjumper give her a reassuring grin.
"Ah come on, it's just patrol." Cliff grinned, "How bad can it get?"
The Next Day:
'Me and my big mouth...'
Those thoughts echoed through Cliffjumper's aching processor, it hadn't been that good of day at all. Or at least the last few minutes weren't, as everything kind of went to slag less than a few moments ago.
A nice calming drive had turned into an utter nightmare for the Autobot. Before any of this madness had even began, Cliff had taken his sweet time on patrol and chatting it up with his partner. But a sudden beep on his radar revealed a huge deposit of energon. With the limited supply they had back at the base, Cliff was all for securing it for his comrades. But that unfortunately was the point of time where the Decepticons showed up, giant flying warship and all.
The Cons deployed a good number of troops to deal with the Autobot and claim the energon, but Cliff wasn't ready to let that happen. He of course requested backup (which he earlier refused), but there was no chance that they would get there in time. So Cliff had to deal with these punks on his own for the moment. The resulting brawl lead to Cliffjumper taking out a few of the cons but also earned him more than a few dings and even the loss of one of his horns! Getting knocked back into the crater that contained the energon, the opposing sides then engaged in a quick blaster fight.
This unfortunately lead to one of the Cons hitting a crystal of energon with one of its stray shots. The reaction soon created a massive explosion, destroying all the energon and destroying a good number of the Decepticons while also highly damaging Cliff.
And that's how we got to the present situation, a badly damaged Cliffjumper being dragged back to the Con's warship by the two remaining Decepticon troops.
Of course, this was the moment for something that the Con's didn't get to do that often...complain, much to Cliff's displeasure.
"Ugh, why are we dragging this pile of scrap back to the ship? It would be so much easier to off him right here and now." The Con to Cliff's left grunted, clearly annoyed.
The Con to the right answered, "Apparently Lord Starscream wants to question the prisoner. He is quite upset about the loss of the energon stash."
"Think that we should keep quiet about the fact that Phil was the one that blew the energon sky-high? Not this Autobot?"
The two cons didn't say anything for a few moments, a bit of an awkward silence between them.
"Yeah, that would be a good idea..."
The Con to the left then sighed, "Seriously though, Lord Starscream? Does that rust head seriously want us to call him that? That's moronic."
"What? He is our boss now, we might as well call him that." The other Con responded, quite confused at the annoyance in the other Con's voice.
"Really? Screamers no leader, not like Megatron. That Screamer will get us all slagged sooner or later, its only a matter of tim-WHAT THE SLAG!?" The Con to the left suddenly screamed, letting go of Cliff's arm in the confusion.
"GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!" The Con shouted to the sky, the other Con dropping Cliff completely and letting the hurt Autobot slam into the ground as it went to its ally's aid.
"Hold on! Stop moving around so much and I'll get it!"
Due to the damage he had received, Cliffjumper's optics were in pretty bad shape and he unable to get a clear look at what was happening. What he was able to figure out was that there was something attached firmly to one of the Con's heads and the other was trying to help get it off. And if the quick sound of metal shifting was anything to go by, the Con was planning on shooting the thing off its ally's head.
"Hurry up and do it then! This tiny piece of sl-Slick-AGH! MY OPTICS!" A scream of a pain erupted from the Con, the sound of something piercing metal accompanying the scream. Cliff chuckled, apparently whatever this thing was...it wasn't afraid to play dirty.
"Thats it!"
The sound of a blaster firing echoed through the area before being followed by the sound of a large metal frame falling to the ground. Despite his blurry optics, Cliff was able to make out the sight of one of the cons laying on the ground with its head missing while the other swung its arm around wildly.
"Aw Scrap! You pile of-" The sound of blaster fire drowned out the rest of the Con's words, leaving Cliff to listen to the Con's fruitless attempts to slag whatever was attacking it.
Using the remaining strength he had, Cliff slowly pushed himself up as the violence around him started to draw to a close. Finally getting to a knee, Cliff watched (optics still blurry mind you) as the Con also dropped to knee, a small black blur dashing across the Con's entire body. Diverting some of his power from his weapons to his normal systems, Cliffjumper was relived to see his vision return to normal. Gazing at the area around him, Cliff was able to notice a few things.
There was of course the corpse of the Con that was laying in front of him. Now that his vision was back to normal Cliff could easily see that the Con's head had been blown off, undoubtedly due to its ally trying to shoot whatever had been stuck to its head. Then there was the other Con, who was no laying a good ten or twenty feet away from the Autobot. Taking a closer look at the Con, Cliff noticed that there were a significant amount slash marks covering the Con's frame with deeper ones near the joints and neck area...
In fact the Con's neck was practically sliced in half at this point, leaving the Con's head to be only attached via a few cables and wires.
But what really drew his attention was a small figure that was standing on the Con's chest. It was a small black figure that was about the size of a human. It was holding a small blade (by Autobot standards) that was covered in energon and was also wearing a suit of black armor with blue lights running though it.
It was just like the story Arcee had told them last night...
...Aw scrap.
'Cee will never let me hear the end of this.'
Dragging himself back to his feet, the Autobot started at the small figure with as much caution as he could. If this guy was the thing Arcee was talking about then there was no way Cliff could handle him while in this condition. But as the figure flicked the energon off his sword and turned his back to the damaged Autobot couldn't help but feel a bit thankful (and ignored).
"Um...thanks?" Cliffjumper was then surprised to see the figure turn and face him, the blue eyes meeting his own.
"I would make myself scarce if I was you, the guys above won't be happy when they realize that their grunts have been disposed of." The figure made clear before vanishing in a burst of light blue feathers, leaving the Autobot to think about the man's words. Making a quick glance at the war ship that was still floating above him, Cliff quickly activated his coms and contacted his allies.
"Um guys? Could really use a bridge at the moment..."
Around the same time, Jasper:
Moving as fast as her wheels could take her, Arcee rushed through the highway roads. Having gotten word of Cliff's current predicament, the Autobot's leader had ordered the team to return to base so they could ground the bridge to his location as soon as possible.
Why? Why did Cliff have to be so cocky? She offered him back up, she always offers him back up. But Cliffjumper is always so confident in his abilities to handle the situation and most of the time it normally came back to bite him in the aft. But despite how much trouble he normally got into, Cliff normally only came out of these scraps with only a few dings and wounds.
Still, Arcee couldn't help but worry. Cliffjumper is one of the closest beings in all of existence to the femme. He is almost like a brother to her and she would rather dive into the fiery pit then just allow the situation to conclude on its own.
Racing, Arcee was a bit caught off guard when someone else contacted her.
"What?!" Arcee growled, "I'm nearly back to base, just give me a few more minutes to-"
Ratchet's voice cut her off, "Arcee, Cliffjumper just returned to base. The situation has been resolved and you can return to your patrol."
Arcee was a bit dumbstruck at the medic's comments, "What!? We received his request only a few minutes ago! How could he be back alrea-"
"Hey Cee!" CliffJumper was the one who cut off the femme this time, "Its fine, I'm fine. Sure I got a few dings and bruises but other then that I'm perfectly fine...how are you?"
Arcee nearly sped out of control when she heard her partner's voice. Quickly regaining her balance on the road, Arcee roared back into her com device.
"Me!? Cliff, how and the slag did you deal with the cons and get back to the-" Arcee's attention was quickly drawn away from the conversation when she spotted two purple vehicles trailing her. Focusing on their front windshields, Arcee nearly cursed when she saw that there was no one driving either of them.
'Decepticons!'
"Cliff, I'm going to need to call you back."
Cutting the line, Arcee revved her engine and took off down the highway. The two Cons quickly increased their speed in response, but Arcee's smaller vehicle mode gave her a extinct advantage over to two in the speed department. The three Cybertronians became intertwined in brief high-speed race but Arcee was able to speed out of their sight.
Racing ahead of the two Cons, the Autobot quickly looked for somewhere she could lay low for some time. Spying a fast food restaurant, Arcee quickly yet calmly entered the establishment's parking lot. Parking in one of the front spots, Arcee made sure that no humans were looking and deactivated her hologram.
It seems that she did it just at the right moment as less than a few seconds later, the two Cons came rushing past, completely unaware of the robot sitting in plan sight.
Suppressing a sigh of relief, Arcee just sat there for some time. But as she did so, she didn't notice a young human boy come walking out of the restaurant. He had a fairly slim build and was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black and grey long sleeve shirt. The boy was also followed by another large human in a white apron. This human stopped at the building's door and it was at that moment when the Autobot noticed that the larger human was yelling at the boy.
"-leeping on the job Darby! Do you understand me!?" The boy turned and nodded at the man's words, Arcee noticing a bit of annoyance in the boy's stance as he did so.
"Yes Mister Stevenson! It won't happen again sir, I promise!" The boy called out, earning a sigh from this 'Stevenson' person.
"You better Darby, or you will be out of a job because of your bad sleeping habits." The man muttered before walking back inside. The boy meanwhile just muttered a curse or two while he walked away.
Lifting a small backpack over his shoulder, Jack couldn't help but curse at his luck. First he had a few bad experiences with a few customers earlier in the day (the last of which had left without paying, meaning that Jack would have to pay for the food out of his own pay check) but to make things worse he also got a talking to by his boss after a some really bad timing.
Muttering a curse or two, Jack started to make his way back towards his home. But as he did so, Jack noticed a certain blue motorcycle parked right in front of the KO Burger.
Now Jack had always wanted a motorcycle. Sure he couldn't afford one at the moment, but he would always fantasize about having one. It was much more preferable then having to walk or bike everywhere.
And this bike, with its blue paint-job and pink highlights, it looked fantasti-
-wait...that bike, it looked a bit too much like that one bike from his dream...could it be? If that was the same bike, then that would mean-
"Nope, not happening..." Taking a quick turn, Jack started to walk away from the motorcycle in front of him. But unknown to him, the Autobot had heard the boy's comment and couldn't help but watch him fairly closely in confusion and even a bit of interest.
What did this kind mean by that? And was that a bit of recognition in his eyes when he looked at her?
Arcee was about to continue such thoughts when something else caught her attention. Looking through one of her mirrors, Arcee noticed that the two Cons that had been trailing her were back, and they were waiting for her to make the first move.
Muttering yet another curse (and making sure that she remembered this little issue for a later time), Arcee once again activated her hologram and raced off, the Cons once again procuring her as she rounded a corner.
Hearing the sound of burning rubber, Jack returned his gaze to the bike he had been ignoring. Seeing the bike (now being ridden by a women wearing a biker helmet) suddenly drive out of sight with two purple cars chasing it, Jack couldn't help but sweat in concern. If there was trouble, that wouldn't only mean that-
"Meow."
Twitching at that seemingly innocent sound, Jack slowly turned his head towards the bag that he was holding. Slowly moving for a second or two, Jack watched as a small white cat poked it head out of the bag and turned towards him. Looking into the feline's eyes for a second or two, Jack merely grumbled.
"Seriously? Couldn't I just-"
"Meow."
"But this isn't a-"
"Meow."
"You won't let me get a single wor-"
"Meow."
Glaring at the cat for a second, Jack just waved off any further arguments and took off in a quick run in the direction of his house. But as he did so, the boy let out one more simple comment to finish off their conversation.
"You are a slave driver, you know that?"
"~Meow~"
With Arcee, moments later:
Back in the chase, Arcee was having a much harder time shaking the Cons this time around. No matter where she turned, the three (they must have called for back-up) purple cars kept pace and didn't let her out of their sights this time. Eventually the Autobot manged to at least find somewhere she could fight them without anyone noticing them, a old canal. Driving off a nearby bridge, Arcee landed with a loud thud and unknowingly drew the attention of a young boy who had been using the old canal for a nice place to drive his little AC car.
Two of the Cons followed her example and drove off the bridge as well. But when the third one attempted to do the same, a strange looking black motorcycle slammed into it and sent the vehicle sliding off course.
Quickly recovering, the Con took a quick look at the vehicle. Besides the strange appearance, the Con took notice of the fact that the bike wasn't being driven by anyone.
Was it a Autobot? Another Decepticon? Some kind of self driving human vehicle?
Not wanting to take any chances, the Con quickly transformed and pointed one of its blaster at the strange vehicle. The two of them remained still for a few moments, the vehicle remaining still and the Con waiting for the vehicle to either transform or bolt.
The silence was finally shattered when the sound of blaster fire caused the Con to divert its attention. Looking over the side of the bridge, the mech was able to get a glance at the fighting going on below. But this quick distraction gave the unknown cycle the chance it needed. Reeving its engine, the moment the Con turned its head the bike rushed forward and made a beeline towards the massive machine.
Hearing the incoming vehicle, the Decepticon quickly twisted its arm around and began to fire.
Twisting back and forth, the bike was able to dodge most of the blasts fairly easily. As the bike rapidly approached the Con however, a strange blue portal-like construct suddenly appeared a mere few feet in front of the Cybertronian. Surprised by the construct, the Con didn't have enough time to react as the motorcycle drove into the strange apparition.
Focusing on the strange portal, the Con was expecting the small vehicle to come rushing through the portal and try to ram it once again. But imagine its surprise when instead of a small metal bike...there was a even smaller humanoid figure instead? Hell, the Con was so surprised that it didn't have the chance to react when the armored figure delivered a powerful kick to its chest.
The kick was so powerful in fact that it knocked the Con to the ground. Landing on the machine's chest, the figure quickly drew his sword and effectively sliced the Con's blaster in half. With energon spewing from the gaping wound, the Con looked on in fear as the armored figure brought his blade down towards its spark chamber, the figure's blue eyes glowing ever brighter.
-Slick!-
As the Con's spark faded, the machine's limbs went limp and crashed to the ground with a thud. This sound unfortunately alerted the other Decepticons to the conflict going on above them. While one of the duo continued to fire away at Arcee, the other instead aimed its blaster upward and inspected the damage. Upon seeing its ally's corpse, the Con imminently started to fire at Karas.
With his speed, Karas easily dodged every shot but every round that didn't hit him ended impacting the bridge instead. Being quite an old bridge, the huge structure was unable to take the punishment and Karas could already notice how unstable the bridge was become. Visual cracks were now present and the ominous creaking of the stone could be heard.
Not willing to take the chance, Karas quickly ran towards the side of the bridge and dove off it, aiming for the Con as a possible landing site. But even as this happened, the Decepticon continued to fire at the airborne warrior. With the small target now in the air, the Con's shots completely missed and slammed into the bridge's supports.
Unable to take anymore abuse from he Con's blaster fire, the bridge started to crumble and fall apart. The massive pillars that held the structure up toppled and fell along with the bridge itself, large amounts of stone collapsing to the ground in the meanwhile.
Even as this destruction occurred behind him however Karas tried not to notice any of it. He was aiming to use a hostile alien robot as a landing pad after all.
Speaking of which...
Making a quick and easily landing, Karas quickly made short work of the Con.
Grasping his sword with both of his hands, Karas quickly made a single powerful swing at the Decepticon's head. Making contact with the top portion of its head, Karas effectively sliced the Con's head in half. Staggering back for a moment, the Con briefly stood completely still...mostly due to the shock of having a good chunk of its head removed.
Still, this didn't last long. The Con soon enough fell to the ground, energon spewing from the massive chunk missing from its head.
Quickly wiping his sword clean of any remaining energon, the warrior quickly turned his attention to the final reaming hostile force in the area. He briefly considered engaging the enemy but stopped when he noticed that the femme was actually doing quite fine on her own. Still, that doesn't mean that he couldn't help her out just one more time...
...but this thought was cut short when Karas suddenly heard a horrified scream. Directing his attention to the source, the warrior noticed that a small human boy was about to be crushed by the falling remains of the bridge from just moments ago.
Using his enhanced speed, Karas quickly dove towards the boy and picked him up. Making sure that the boy was safe in his arms, Karas quickly gazed up at the danger above them and engaged his time altering abilities. Slowing down time for just a moment, the duo quickly vanished and reappeared on the complete other side of the canal, utterly safe from the massive debris.
Looking down at the young boy in his arms, Karas could tell that he was confused by the entire situation.
To Raf however, confused would be a major understatement.
All he wanted to do today was find a nice, quite place to drive his RC car and have bit of fun. He never expected to see cars suddenly drive off a bridge, land in front of him, and then transform into giant robots that then engaged in a fight to the death with each other.
And that doesn't even start to cover the issue of the human sized suit of armor that transformed from a empty motorcycle, who then proceeded to kill two of the giant robots and then save him from being crushed by a collapsing bridge in less then a few minutes.
So yeah...he was a tiny bit confused.
While caught up in his thoughts, Raf felt a reassuring hand grasp his shoulder. Glancing up at the armored figure, the boy couldn't help but sense a bit of familiarity in those eyes.
"You okay?" Karas asked. His voice although synthetic, still sounded a bit too young for the giant armor that this person was wearing.
Raf looked up at this rescuer and gave him a shaky shrug, "Y-yeah, I think so..." Briefly looking at the carnage around him, Raf couldn't help but ask one question that has been far overdue.
"Wha-what just happened?"
Karas could help but release a chuckle at that question. That was a question that had been poking him in the back of the head since the previous night. Lightly patting the boy on his back, Karas honestly answered the boy's question as best as he could.
"Kid, I am just as confused as you are." The armored warrior shrugged, "Giant robots are not my area of expertise."
Raf raised a eyebrow at that comment, "Then what is your 'area of expertise'?"
Kara's fidgeted in place for a moment, unsure of how to respond to that. "Well...that's complicated."
"Complicated? How complicated can it b-" Raf was cut off when both of them heard a large metal frame fall to the ground. Looking over, the two noticed that not only had Arcee taken care of the remaining Con, but two new figures had also arrived. They both varied in size with one was just a bit taller then Arcee and had a yellow paint job while the other was much larger with a much greener covering.
"Wow..." Raf was amazed at the new arrivals. Karas on the other hand just remained silent and observed them.
Bumblebee quickly ran over and checked over Arcee, making sure that she was okay while Bulkhead provided cover just in case any more Decepticons showed up. Arcee quickly waved off her yellow friend but looked around in confusion when she noticed that something was missing.
"What is it?" Bulkhead asked, noticing his friend's distress.
Arcee continued to search the ruined canal, "There was a human here, I was trying to keep the Con's busy before they noticed him...but I don't know where he went."
Bulkhead shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, maybe he ran when he saw all the fighting started. It's not like a human would honestly stay an-" Bulkhead stopped mid sentence when Bumblebee elbowed him in the torso. Giving the scout a questing glance, the wrecker saw his friend gesture over at the other side of the canal. Following his gaze, his and Acree's optics widened when they noticed what the scout had discovered.
On the other side of the canal and away from the destruction was two humans. There was a smaller one, the same human Arcee had noticed earlier and then there was a much taller figure, one wearing armor...
Arcee was inwardly relieved to see that the small human was okay, but she froze once she noticed the armor that the individual that was holding the boy was wearing.
"Its you..." the Autobot muttered while her allies just continued to stare at the strange human. If one was to look close enough they could also see the gears slowly turning inside the two Autobot's heads. Remembering the tale that they had been told the previous night, the wrecker and scout turned their optics towards their fellow Autobot.
"Arcee...that guy looks a lot like the one from your story..." Bulkhead said, Bumblebee releasing several beeps in agreement.
Karas took a mental note once he heard that comment. Arcee, at least he knew her name now.
"Yeah, I know."
"So...you weren't kidding...were you?"
Arcee nearly had to suppress a smirk, "Nope."
In the meanwhile, Karas took noticed at the recognition in the Cybertronian's eyes. She clearly remembered him and if the conversation was anything to go by, then she had obviously informed her friends of his existence as well. Great...that's the last thing he needed, giant robots knowing about him. Sure it was easy to keep his existence hidden from the humans...but how were things going to play out when it concerned these metal giants?
"So..." Karas looked over towards the Cybertronians. Apparently, they wanted to talk to him...well, thats new. He couldn't say that his job normally involved talking to people...or giant robots, so this is kind of new to him.
"I never got a chance to thank you for last night." Arcee told him, causing Karas to nod in response.
"There is no need for your thanks." The armored warrior told her, "Even ones such as yourself are under my protection."
Raf said nothing during this exchange, his head still hurting a bit due to all the things going on around him.
Curious about that particular response, Arcee pressed her own questions. "What do you mean by that? Is this city under your protection? Protection from what?"
Karas said nothing. It wasn't his duty to explain his purpose, but to just carry out the will of the city. If the city felt that the ones before him were worthy of his protection, then he would put his very existence on the line in order to keep them safe. If the city felt that the machines that he destroyed were a threat to anyone, then he would tear each and everyone of them apart without mercy.
That is his duty...the duty of a Karas.
"I'm sorry, but that is not for me to say..." Karas informed the group.
Arcee frowned, she didn't understand. Not his to say? If he wasn't allowed to tell them...the who could?
Looking up at the sky and gazing at the setting sun, Karas decided that it was about time he headed out. Taking a quick glance at the child that was currently in his grasp, Karas gaze one last look at the trio of machines standing in front of him.
"It seems that my time among you all has come to a close..."
Not understanding what he meant at first, Arcee's optics suddenly widened once she noticed time began to slow down once again. But before the speed of time was beyond even her comprehension, Arcee's auto receptors were able to pick up one more comment from the armored warrior.
"...but, maybe we will meet again in time. Is that alright?"
"Wait!" Arcee tried to call out but by the time she was able to speak those very words, but Karas and Raf were gone from sight. Arcee release a tired sigh as she realized what had happened, Bulkhead and Bumblebee on the other hand...well, they were a bit more confused.
Knowing that there was no longer a reason for them being there, Arcee activated her communicator and radioed back to base. After waiting a few seconds Arcee heard the resident medic answer the call. Quickly asking to a bridge back to base (and for the medic to tell Agent Fowler about the dead Cons that were in the middle of the canal...hey, someone needed to clean up those piles of scrap), Arcee patently waited for their ride home.
As she waited however...a few things ran through her mind.
Who was this person? How many people fell under his 'protection'? Why were they under his protection as well? Its not like they needed it, they could easily hold their own against the Cons. Was it because of that monster from the night before? Were there more of them? Is that why she and the others were under his protection?
So many questions...
"Nope, not happening..."
And why did she get this weird feeling when she saw this kid from that fast food joint? Remembering her thoughts from earlier, Arcee started to think about the boy's comment towards her alternate mode. Could they be the same person or something? Its not like someone would react like that normally when they saw a blue motorcycle sitting outside their place of employment. But how could a kid like that do things like this? Its just not possible.
...but the impossible...hasn't exactly been that big of a deal recently.
But even if this was true, how could she prove it? How could she find a link between these two? Hell, all she had on this kid was his last name and a bit of his voice, what good would that do-
Wait...his voice! That's it!Accessing her archives, Arcee came across a certain pair of auto tracks that she needed to have analyzed. Sure it was a long shot but it was a hunch that she was willing to bet on. Besides, what else could explain that human's comments when he saw her...that recognition in his eyes? Sure, it could be a massive gambit...but she could at least test out her idea.
Running through the ground bridge once it appeared, Arcee made beeline towards Ratchet. Explaining her idea to the grumpy medic, Ratchet imminently refused the very concept. Claiming that he had more important things to do, the medic simply brushed off Arcee and turned his attention back to the console in front of him. Clearly annoyed by the medic's attitude, Arcee grabbed Ratchet by the shoulder, spun him around, and gave him her own suggestion.
"Well, you can either do this for me...or you could contact Agent Fowler right now like I mentioned before. Which one would you prefer?"
It only took a few seconds for Ratchet to decide on what to do...
Transmitting her data to Ratchet's console, Arcee watched as two auto documents appeared on the monitor. Two voice tracks that she had archived, one from today and one from the night before.
-KARAS-
Auto tracks detected, beganing analysis.
"...but, maybe we will meet again in time. Is that alright?" -Entity Known as Karas.
"Yes Mister Stevenson! It won't happen again sir, I promise!" -Human Known as Darby.
Alterations detected in Karas Auto file, proceeding with removal of alteration.
Alteration removed, commencing with Auto comparison of Karas/Darby Auto files.
Processing.
Processing.
Processing.
Processing Complete. Comparison Complete.
Conclusion:
Subject Karas and Darby, 100% Match.
-KARAS-
Chapter Notes:
As to how the Cons found Arcee that quickly...lets just say, Starscream wasn't too happy that Cliff had escaped...so he kind of launched his attack the moment he had the chance.
Mister Stevenson is just a OC. We never actually got to see anyone else that worked at KO Burger (In fact half of the time it looked like Jack was the only guy working there) so I needed to give a name to someone there. Don't worry, there is very little chance of him reappearing again and if he does...it will either be to torment Jack (sorry Jack) or get tormented himself (as the jackass boss, he deserves it a bit).
For that motorcycle's appearance, go to my profile. Near the top you will find a link to it.
Yep, Cliff is alive! But will he stay like that? Will he meet a worse fate later? Or will he just be the guy who makes the bad jokes for the entire story? We will see...And before anyone asks, no...he won't be paired with Arcee...I don't think I would be able to write that pairing even if I wanted to.
And for those who STILL don't know who or what the hell Karas is...don't worry, you will get a in story explanation next chapter. You may not get EVERYTHING that soon, but you will get something that will give you an understanding about a what Karas is and why he is doing what he is doing.