Hey, guys. Before you read this one, it would be a good idea to reread chapter one. I've made some changes to it, i.e. replaced Optimus Prime's name with Ultra Magnus and removed Kim's battlesuit; Reasons for these alterations will come soon!
Chapter 2: More Than Meets the Eye
The sun was barely rising as Ron stretched in the passenger seat of his father's sedan. "A young man your age needs his own vehicle to travel in, son," Mr. Stoppable stated as they drove into Upperton.
"After all, you're not going to have much of a social life walking everywhere… Girls tend to be more attracted to men with their own transportation." His father continued with a wink and suggestive smile.
"Yeah, well, I don't have to worry about that," Ron shrugged, avoiding looking at his father.
"I know how much Kim meant to you, Ronald…" his father sighed, "But… it's been over a year now… she's apparently moved on; shouldn't you do the same?"
"Dad, please, don't you think I've tried?" Ron said, closing his eyes tightly.
"I know… I'm sorry, son… but maybe this will help you take your mind off it all…" he said, pulling into a dealership with a pickup truck slowly trailing behind, turning and going down the opposite direction of the car lot as the two Stoppables.
They exited their car as the pickup pulled into a row of trucks and cut its engine. "Hello!" An energetic salesman approached the two. "What can I help you with today?"
"My son here is looking for a new vehicle," Mr. Stoppable said, placing a hand on Ron's shoulder.
"Most people ask what you're looking for, but you know, there's a saying I've heard among the greatest of automobile salesmen..." the salesman said, leading the two down the row of cars and trucks. "The driver doesn't pick the car, the car'll pick the driver. It's a mystical bond between man and machine."
Ron snorted before his eyes settled on a single pick up truck sitting just slightly out from the rows. "What is this?" he asked, approaching the vehicle as if drawn to it like a magnet to a chunk of steel. It was a 2000-model, Dodge Dakota single-cab pickup truck with some obvious modifications. It was lowered slightly but not so much that it seemed unnatural, mostly red in color except for a large blue pin stripe going from the front of the hood across the top of the cab and two more stripes on either side of the truck, starting at the end of the headlights and growing larger as it went back.
It also had a Rhino Lining bedcover with a medium sized V-spoiler at the very end over the tailgate. "This is nice…" Ron said, touching the grill of the truck, and noticed the Dodge symbol was replaced with what looked like that of a blocky, robotic face.
"This one… huh…" the salesman looked confused for a moment. "I honestly have no idea where this one came from…" he looked at the windshield of the truck and scratched his head at the lack of price there. "It may be a customer's vehicle…"
Ron and his father looked at the salesman, and Ron jumped slightly when he felt the truck seem to jerk slightly. "No, it has a price written on it, see?" Ron pointed out the five thousand dollars written across the windshield in pink marker.
"But… that wasn't there a second ago…" the salesman and Ron's father both looked confused and more than a bit unsettled.
"That's not a bad price for a truck like this… there has to be something wrong with it… let's take a look at the engine." Ron's dad said.
"Be my guest," The salesman said as Ron popped the hood and lifted, causing all three to suck in a breath.
"Oh, shiny…" Ron's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "That's a brand new hemi…"
"Dad, this truck is perfect… five thousand is a steal… please, tell me you have enough…" Ron half whispered, half pleaded.
Mr. Stoppable pulled out his billfold with the cash he had collected form Ron's Bueno Nacho trust fund, which Ron himself would not be able to get into himself, at his own request, till after he graduated college. "Got just enough… so, five thousand with or without tax?"
"Seeing as I really don't know where this thing came from and it's creeping me out… we'll just take it at five K under the table; let's go get the paperwork for you…" the salesman said, leading them back toward the office building.
Less than an hour later, Ron was driving home in his brand new truck. He never once noticed the two F-22s that flew over head.
---
"Wow," Felix said as looked over the red-and-blue pick up in Ron's driveway.
"That's what I said…" Ron said, leaning against the front quarter panel. "Four wheel drive, too! I can't believe we got it as cheap as we did."
"You stole this thing off the lot, Pal," Felix smiled brightly. "So, are you ready to drive it to school?"
"Can't wait, but I have to get used to being so high off the ground," Ron said, opening the door to climb up into the truck.
"Speaking of which…" Ron said looking at his watch, "I'm going to have to get going; class starts in an hour, and by the time I hit the interstate…"
"Still on for game night tomorrow?" Felix asked, rolling up the driveway.
"You know it," Ron said, after closing the door and rolling down the window.
Felix waved as Ron pulled out of the driveway and began making his way toward the interstate, not paying any mind to the wing of six F-22s that were flying overhead.
"Seekers to Nemesis, do you read?" the lead F-22 sent a coded signal toward the stars.
"Soundwave acknowledges; go ahead, Starscream…" a mechanical voice responded.
"We have discovered another Matrix shard, permission to intercept," Starscream requested.
"Permission granted. Warning, detecting an Autobot energy signature in close proximity," Soundwave responded.
"No bother, I'll tear the weak, little Autobot into scrap metal!" Starscream replied. "Seekers, intercept formation, stop that truck!"
Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Ron was driving down the interstate, leaning back in the driver's seat of his new truck, listening to a Linkin Park song on the radio. He ducked down when a fighter flew very low over him. "Man, is that legal?" He asked before a missile exploded just to the left of the truck, almost turning it over. "What the heck?!" Ron exclaimed before the gas peddle pushed down on its own and the wheel seemed to turn of its own volition.
"Hang on," a voice said from inside the cab.
"Wha... who said that?" Ron asked before screaming when the truck jumped the railing to the other side of the interstate, landing on the train tracks below, engine roaring as it sped forward, dodging gun fire and missiles from the six fighter jets.
"Don't worry, I'll explain as soon as we get to where we can… IF we can get where we can talk alive," the voice said before the truck came to a dead stop at a bricked-up wall. "Aw, crap."
Ron looked out the backglass and watched in awe as the six jets slowed down and approached the ground. "What in the name of…" he breathed as they all began to shift and change into the shapes of giant, humanoid robots.
"Give us the boy, Autobot, and you might live," the lead robot ordered.
"Get out, Ron, but stay behind me." The voice said as the door opened. Ron quickly did as told and gaped as the sound of grinding and shifting metal filled the air. Ron's jaw all but hit the ground as his new truck stood up, the bed folding in and extending into legs, arms sprouting from underneath, the hood folding downward and the grill shifting forward to become what looked like a type of chest plate. A moment later, a metallic head sprouted from the top with what appeared to be a blue helmet atop it.
"Orion, how good to see you again," Starscream chuckled and took a step toward them.
"Starscream, I see you're still the same slimy hunk of tin in a different wrapper," the truck-turned-robot said, taking a step between Ron and the other robots.
"Why don't you just give us the boy? It'd make your brother proud, you know?" Starscream said, holding out his hand.
"The only way you're getting him is over my dead body; now, back off, or I'll make you," Orion's blue optics glowed angrily as he clenched his metallic hands into fists.
"Alright, I told Megatron you were a weakling, but he never believed me, so I guess I'll-" Starscream never got to finish as Orion grabbed him by the neck and pushed him into the ground.
"Never underestimate your enemy," Orion growled, placing a foot on Starscream's throat and pulling a blaster from his back. "That's the first thing my brother taught me; I'm sure he taught you, too. Lucky for us, you Decepticons don't listen for a nanoclick."
Orion turned to the other Seekers, extending a blade from his other arm. "Let's go, I'll take you all on!"
One started toward him but was met by a blast from his cannon as he stepped off Starscream, spinning around to drive his blade through the neck of another,, decapitating him. He never slowed as he spun around firing on the other four before glancing at Ron. "Ron, c'mon!" He said as he quickly transformed back into a pickup.
Ron ran, jumping over Starscream's leg, and dove into the open passenger side door. "Let's roll!"
Starscream growled as the truck roared away. "Starscream to Nemesis, they got away… and Dirge is dead…"
"You failed me again, Starscream…" another booming voice echoed through the Decepticon's radio. "And I feel no surprise…"
"Lord Megatron…" Starscream's optics widened.
"Regroup your forces and await my command; I'll deal with this."
"As you command…" Starscream growled.
---
Ron sat quietly in the passenger seat of the truck as it drove in twists and turns on back roads and alleys before coming to a stop in a closed factory backlot. Ron glanced to the side as the door opened, and he silently climbed out just as the Dakota began to twist and change again back into the towering robot. "Uh… hi," the hulking red-and-blue behemoth said sheepishly.
"Um… they called you Orion… your name, right?" Ron said awkwardly.
"Yes, my name is Orion Pax, and your name is Ronald Stoppable," Orion Pax replied, dropping to a knee to be closer to his level.
"What are you, Gundam? Evangelion? Golion?" Ron asked, looking up at the massive transformer.
"No, I am not any of those. I am an autonomous robotic organism from the Planet Cybertron, though we tend to prefer the term 'Autobot' for short," Orion explained.
"Autobot… we… are those things that attacked us Autobots, too?" Ron asked in disbelief. "And why were they trying to get me?"
"They were once Autobots, a long, long time ago… before the Great Deception. I don't know why they're after you, but our recon has learned it is major," Orion explained. "The Transformers that attacked us were the Seeker Squadron, part of the faction called the Decepticons. Millions of your years ago, which would feel as your decades to us, Cybertron was a peaceful… joyful place. Then, one of our own, a great leader called Dion… staged an alien invasion, which caused our then leader, Optimus Primal, to allow him to form an army of combat-ready transformers to defend us, all chosen by Dion. Dion then proved the invasion to be a deception, renamed himself Megatron, and led a coup. Megatron's army then took the name Decepticons."
"Primal and his Elite Guard drew Megatron away in a desperate attempt to end the war, believing that without their leader, the Decepticons would collapse…" Orion glanced away. "They were merely weakened with his absence… the War has continued for generations."
Orion and Ron looked sharply when the sound of laughter echoed. "But I have returned, so the war will soon end, and our race will be as it should be…" said a silver-and-black transformer with a purple facial symbol on his chest, sleeker and more angular than the one one Orion's. He towered over the already massive Orion, and his red optics glowed demonically, "Conquerors and Destroyers."
"Megatron…" Orion took a step between Ron and the monstrous, living machine.
"Hello, young one," Megatron gave a sinister smile to his facial features. "It's good to see you again; do you like the new look?"
"Dragon scales fit a snake like you better," Orion shot back.
"The offer still stands, Orion," Megatron held out a hand. "Be my general. Fight by my side like I know you can, like I know you want." Megatron's optics went to the young man behind the Autobot. "All you have to do is surrender that one human. Isn't our race's survival worth one measly human life, brother?"
"You'll never stop at one," Orion shook his head.
"That saddens me…" Megatron sighed, "But you need not fear; you will not be forgotten…"
Orion fired his cannon, but his optics widened when Megatron side-stepped and dove for him. "You will be missed…" Megatron growled, grabbing Orion by the throat.
"Just in case…" Orion choked out, "Let me leave you something to remember me by…" he growled, pushing his blade into Megatron's side.
Megatron roared in pain and jumped away, giving Orion time to jump into a counterattack. Megatron barely got his optics focused when Orion slammed his large, blue fist into the dragon's jaw, sending the taller robot stumbling back.
Orion threw himself at the Decepticon, only to be caught by the chest plate and slammed back to the ground. "You always, always jump without thinking…" Megatron shook his head as his forearm opened and pieces of metal rose out, forming a massive cannon. "Goodbye… little brother."
Ron, Megatron, and Orion blinked at the sound of a sonic boom, and Megatron looked up just in time to see a red-and-silver private jet making a beeline for him. The sound of breaking and twisting metal filled the air as it transformed into a feminine-shaped robot with angelic wings before slamming fists first into the Decepticon.
"You don't touch him," the red-and-silver Autobot growled in an authoritively strong tone, "Ever."
"Elita? What are you doing here?" Orion coughed, pulling himself up off the ground.
"What's it look like?" the female Autobot asked, turning her blue optics on Orion. "I'm saving your tailpipe."
"I had it under control," Orion said as they turned to see Megatron getting back up.
"Yeah, it shows…" Elita smiled, "Elita One to Ultra Magnus: I found them, but so has Megatron…" She yelped when Orion tackled her away from a missile explosion. "And the Seekers, better hurry. And what are you doing?" she asked, turning to the Autobot climbing off her.
"Saving your tailpipe," he replied with a smirk. "Ron, you better stay close to me," Orion said as they approached the human.
Elita grabbed them both and pulled them behind cover after a fusion blast from Megatron. "And you both better stay close to me. I just hope Magnus and the others get here quick…"
Not far away, a white, snub-nosed car-carrier roared toward the factory. "Kim, Megatron has found them with Starscream's Seekers; take your unit and intercept. I'll be close behind," Ultra Magnus said through the radio.
"Roger that. Bumblebee, Mudflap, Skids, Cliffjumper, Hound, ready to move out?" Kim replied from the driver's seat of a bright yellow Sloth.
"I'm ready, Kimster," a voice spoke from her dashboard.
"This Hound Dog is ready to run, just cut me loose!"
"Twins ready to lay the smack down on some Decepti-chumps!"
"Cliffjumper, ready and waiting. Let's rock and roll, Boss lady."
"Autobots, move out!" Kim commanded as the three sloths, Jeep, and compact backed out of the car-carrier and roared ahead.
"There he is… Autobots attack, but don't get too close!" Kim said as she opened the door and jumped out into a roll as all five transformed into Autobot fighters and began firing on the much larger Megatron. "Be careful, Bee!" Kim called to the yellow robot before running toward Orion and Elita.
"Kim, what kept you guys?" Elita asked, glancing down at the redhead.
"What can I say? Traffic was crazy…" She said, her eyes widening when she saw the human they were protecting.
"KP?" Ron breathed as they locked eyes for the first time in over a year.
"Ron?" Kim blinked before looking to the two Autobots. "What the heck is he doing here?!"
"What? You mean he's THE Ron?" Elita asked in shock.
"Oh, that's just prime…" Orion sighed in exasperation.
To Be Continued...