Texas
Underground facility-specific location classified
Two men stood in front of a council of fifty others, patiently waiting. Their superiors all watched, the low lighting keeping their faces hidden, while a single lamp illuminated their employees.
"And now on to these…disturbances," one of the members, known only as 12, said.
"Yes," 13 said. "We must find out the names of these so-called 'scavengers' and bring them in. Forcefully, if need be."
27 thought differently. "If we could persuade them to join us, perhaps-"
"Hah!" That was 35. "What for? These are kids, madam. Children. Adults, I could understand. But children are idealistic. They believe that things such as fairness, justice, and equality exist. But every day, those beliefs are pushed down."
"With all due respect, I believe 27 is correct," the first man said.
The room quieted.
"Colonel, explain."
"Yes, sir. The leader, Scourge, from what intel has gathered, has shown both physically and verbally what his view on this fight is. He is a realist, not idealist. He destroyed a decepticon warrior in the daytime, violating numerous traffic laws. This boy could help us. Unfortunately, his father is in law enforcement, which puts him in a difficult position," the Colonel said.
His partner spoke up.
"Perhaps if we evaluated their strength in person, a simple chase, we could learn if these individuals could be of help. If not, we either erase them or simply take the technology," he explained.
"Very well. Agents Sideburn, Blackout, you have the go ahead. But remember-you are not to be seen. We can't risk exposure yet," 29 cautioned.
"Understood."
Both agents said this as one, and left.
3 Days later
Thundercracker and Thrust, each in their respective forms, cruised around, doing nothing but break the speed limit severely. Thundercracker was in his Pontiac TransAm conversion, while Thrust used his Shelby GT 500 form. The two enjoyed the looks of pure terror on the humans' faces as they tore through the streets.
Hey, Thrust, I think we've got company.
Two other cars, a red Lamborghini Diablo, and a Dodge Dakota, had picked them up. And they were gaining.
Ha! They can't keep up! Thrust replied, immediately turning into an alley. Thundercracker blew past him, tires squealing as he turned at the next intersection. The Lamborghini followed Thrust, while the Dakota casually turned, as if it was driven by an average family.
But they were underestimating their pursuers. Thundercracker accelerated, the Dodge growing smaller in his rearview mirror until not even the scanners showed. Then the emergency brake activated, and Thundercracker pulled a 180. He revved his engine three times, and then he rocketed towards the tiny speck in front of him.
Come on, autobot! I can't wait to crush you!
The SUV simply grew larger, and then-
Thundercracker hit the brakes and turned slightly, the Dakota slamming into his side. It tried to regain control, then it fell sideways, skidding across the road, and hit the side of a store.
Ha! Not even a decent attempt, Thundercracker gloated. He didn't notice the short, blinding flash that occurred before the Dodge exploded. Nor did he notice the silver Nissan Murano that decided to follow him, until it was almost too late.
Now I can go and help-what? No, it's-it's impossible. I just trashed you, you autobot piece of-
WHAM!
The Murano hit him from behind savagely, nearly causing him to swerve into the other lane.
So that's how you wanna play, eh? Fine by-
The Murano struck him again, shearing off the bumper, and actually lifting the Explorer's back end into the air for a second. Thundercracker righted himself, and the Nissan hit him again, this time forcing it off the road.
Thundercracker hit his brakes, trying to find his new opponent.
"Hey."
Thundercracker transformed just in time to be grabbed by two massive arms. He stared into the single red visor that met him. The autobot raised his left arm, a compartment opening in his forearm. The barrels of a twin plasma cannon stared at Thundercracker's faceplate. In a last attempt, he pleaded.
"Please, don't kill me. It was just a bit of fun."
"Fun? Sure. And I tapped you from behind because you have a cute bumper sticker," the machine replied in a metallic voice. Then he charged the weapon. There was a slight whining sound, almost as if a jet engine had activated. The barrel seemed to glow blue, and Blackout, the captor of Thundercracker, discharged it.
The beam tore through Thundercracker, neatly shearing off the head. The body twitched and fell, as a massive energy surge overloaded its remaining systems. Blackout aimed at it, and charged one more time. His online sensors screamed in protest as he redlined. If he didn't release soon, he'd fry himself. He waited three seconds, then fired.
Thundercracker exploded, sending shards of both machine and Ford motor vehicle property all over the area. Blackout flexed his arm, the particle weapon sliding back into his arm, and a panel closed over it. Then he slowly reverted back to vehicle form, and drove away as if nothing had occurred.
Thrust had lost his follower. The autobot had given up the chase, realizing his Lamborghini Diablo conversion wasn't enough. Now, he was picking up the slack, his new yellow Dodge Viper GTS-R alternate form gaining. The racecar was pushing a good 200 miles an hour in a 35 mile an hour zone.
Thrust was disappointed, outraged, and impressed all at once. The GT 500's engine roared as he tried to widen the distance. But the Viper annoyingly kept up. And just when Thrust was about to make a turn, a school bus filled with children going home passed the lane. Thrust's computer systems fritzed as the Viper slammed into his left side, denting the frame.
What?! Oh, blast you!
The Viper slowed down, barely avoiding a collision with two of the children.
Ha! Having fun back there? Thrust sent.
Sideburn's reply was simple. He revved the engine and came up alongside Thrust's left side. Then he slammed himself into the Shelby. And then he simply stopped. Thrust slowed down, wondering if this was some kind of trick. Then Sideburn's headlight popped open, revealing four rockets.
No…
The rockets fired, flying straight towards Thrust. They connected, sending the decepticon into the air. A few seconds later, the viper drove up next to a mostly destroyed chassis. The car's front end seemed to split into three. The headlight portion pushed itself out, while the hood popped down. The back end split in half up to the roof. Sideburn's head came out, small and round, with two circular orbs as visual sensors, and a single vertical slit for a "mouth." He wasn't the most fearsome machine to behold.
But he was still a fast tracker.
"What'd you expect? You old muscle cars are all the same. All looks, no horsepower. Besides, my employer thinks you're a major thorn in his side. No biggie."
He fired the remaining rockets. Thrust was engulfed in flame, a light flashing inside. Then the body of a young man materialized a few feet away. Sideburn reverted back into a human. He wasn't old, only 37. He had brown hair and gray eyes.
"The Colonel requests your presence, son. And I'll be taking you to him. One way or the other," he said, picking the unconscious boy up. Blackout drove up, the other captive in the back, who was also out cold.
After the man put him in the backseat, Blackout's holographic driver looked at him.
"So where to?" The "woman" cheerfully asked.
"Back to base. And please switch back to the fat guy. I can't handle it when you're pretending to be my ex-wife," he replied, getting in. The car drove off, the passenger in the front falling asleep.
After a few minutes, Blackout noticed that Scourge himself was popping up on the sensors.
"Hey, we have company."
Sideburn looked behind him, and smiled.
"Let's see how fast he is," he replied.
With that, Blackout sped up and turned into an alley. Sideburn looked back and watched as the massive truck attempted to follow. It stooped and pulled out.
"Think we lost him?"
"Check your left."
Sideburn looked and saw a Ford Explorer heading for them.
"Huh. Kid's got some friends," he commented.
The Explorer rammed the vehicle hard enough to force it into a spin. It spun out and stopped. Their follower just stopped in front and transformed. Behind them, the black truck stopped and did the same. Needless to say, the two agents knew they were done with if they tried anything. Blackout reverted back to human form. They stood together, slightly intimidated by the two massive machines. And that's when one of them noticed something.
"Optimus Prime?" Blackout asked.
Scourge looked at X Brawn and shook his head.
"No, sorry to disappoint."
"We know you're just a kid. We'd like to talk to you," Sideburn said.
Scourge's visual scanners whirred, and he knelt down, bringing his face close to the ground.
"And why would I like to talk to you?" He asked menacingly.
"You can't keep this up forever. We know who you are. Matt."
Scourge backed up, shaken.
Damn it. Now I have no choice.
Scourge hit a button on his wrist and a white light engulfed and started shrinking.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Blackout said. "A kid?"
Matt glared at him.
"Somebody's gotta do what the government refuses to," he said coldly.
"Hey, easy, son," Sideburn said. "We work for the government."
"So? You're here, trying to stop me, when you should be trying to stop Magmatron."
That name definitely hit a bell.
"Magmatron? What's he got to do with this?"
"I don't know. I lost one of my guys a little while ago. His last transmission was a conversation between himself and Blitzwing. He was killed before learning anything else. If you guys are here to bring me in, too bad. If you're here to recruit me, there's some conditions."
The two operatives looked at each other. They were planning to bring them in, but to interrogate them. But now that they thought about it, having these kids on their team might help them.
"We'll have to contact our superiors, but I don't think they'll be a problem. Contact your friends. All of them," Sideburn said.
"All right. But since you know my name, it's only fair I know yours," Matt said.
"All right. I'm Jack. He's Thomas," Blackout said.
"Okay."
Matt turned around and looked at X Brawn.
"Call them in. Everyone."
X Brawn slowly backed out and drove away. Matt faced them.
"So? Where to?"