"So please understand, this isn't just good-bye, this is I can't stand you." - +44, No It Isn't
Chapter 3
"You sure this is the one?" Lockdown inquires as I hand over Prowl's limp body.
"Couldn't be surer." I stare at the body of the bot I once loved, the bot who left me. I almost feel guilty.
"How do you know this autobot anyways?" Lockdown questions, his head tilting sideways ever so slightly as he gestures to Prowl.
"It's a long story," I mumble, hiding my optics from Lockdown. He'd find out, someway, somehow. That is just how Lockdown works.
He doesn't push the subject, thank Primus. He simply nods, throwing Prowl over his shoulder. He turns and walks towards the forest, heading to the rendezvous point that he set up with Megatron.
I grab my right arm as I remember the pain I felt all those teracycles ago. I feel a drop of lubricant run down from my left optic as I turn around. I walk slowly to the highway as the familiar sound of a ship taking off reaches my audio receptors.
"Lockdown!" I cry out as the ship takes off, the decepticons having taken my dear friend captive. "NO!" I collapse, lubricant flowing freely from my optics. I glance over to my useless right arm, energon flowing from a cut near my elbow. I grit my teeth as I fight the pain, both emotional and physical.
"Do you really think it would be that easy to catch me?" I hear a familiar voice say behind me.
"Do you really think it would be that easy to catch me?" I spin around to see Prowl standing there, a look of pure hatred in his optics. He runs forward and thrust his fist at my helm. It connects, causing me to stumble backwards.
"Prowl!" I gasp, gathering my thoughts. I stand, staring at the bot who once cried because he accidently stepped on my foot. "How?"
"HOW? Do you really want to know?" He yells at me, fury evident in his voice. He slams his fist into a tree next to him. "How do you do anything you do, Magnum?" He spits my name out, as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.
I stare at the bot that stands before me, wondering how it got to be like this. But the answer is obvious: it is once again, all my fault. "We do what we must, even if it sometimes doesn't make sense." (A/N- this is a quote by ratchet in transformers animated. I thought it was fitting^.^)
He glares at me before turning away. "You were right," He hisses. "The Magnum I knew and loved died in that fire." He stands still, his body so tense I'm afraid he may have locked up.
"Prowl," I whisper. "I'm glad you can finally accept that."
His head whips around, and he gives a sarcastic laugh. "Wow. Is this really happening?" He turns and comes to stand directly in front of me. "You are a decepticon. Face it!" He pushes me back, causing me to stumble once more. "You said you hate all autobots, right? Then attack me! Do it!" He continues to keep pushing me back.
I push him in return, causing to fall flat on his back. I feel the fire burning in my eyes. "Don't. You ever. Touch me. AGAIN!" I see him quiver in front of me, fear rolling off of him in waves. "You, left me, Prowl! So don't blame me for what I have become! If you hadn't left, I probably wouldn't have to do this." My left servoe shifts into my sword, one that looks as beat-up as I feel. I step over Prowl, standing above him. Finally, after memorizing every single one of his features, I slam my sword into his chest cavity. I pull it out slowly, savoring the pain on my supposed "brother's" face.
"Mag-" He chokes on the word, coughing up energon. "W-why?"
My servoe returns to normal as I turn and begin to leave. "You left me battered and near death. Now we are even." I transform into my vehicle mode, a neon green '10 Porsche Cayman S, and speed away from the crime scene as I hear more vehicles approach from the other direction. "I forgive you, Prowl." I murmur through my radio as my holoform appears, a tall caucasian female who looks to be about 17 years of age with a short mess of brown hair and bright blue eyes. She wears a plain black jacket over a neon green t-shirt and dark blue jeans. A tear falls down her cheek as she 'drives' down the dirt path and towards the highway.
I'm driving down one of cybertron's main highways, bombs going off on either side of me. I see autobots and decepticons fighting and dying everywhere, and it breaks my heart. I speed up as I pass a command tent, one with a huge autobot logo. It seems to be empty until out steps a bot that makes me slam on the brakes, spinning off the highway and into the battlefield below. I transform quickly as the bot runs over to me a worried expression on his face. He stops short as he recognizes me.
"Magnum?" Ultra Magnus calls out.
I run forward, eager for some reason to see the bot. "UM!"
The bot greets me with a smile and a warm embrace as he pulls me towards the tent. "I can't believe it's you! Springer thought 'Cons had got you after he heard -"
I stop him. "Springer?" My voice sounds airy, full of disbelief. "Is he here?"
"Of course! He should be out on the field-" He stops short as he looks down to see my sword running through his chest cavity, just below his spark.
"Thanks, UM. That is all I needed to know," I yank my sword out, Ultra Magnus crumpling forward. "I forgive you, Ultra Magnus." I say, reffering to how he had stolen Springer from me. "Tell Optimus he's next, will ya?" I give him a smirk before I walk out, my left servoe quickly shifting back.
"Hey! You!" I hear a random mech call out from somewhere to my left.
I turn to see Springer running towards me. The second our optics meet, we both tense up. "Magnum?" I hear him whisper over all the explosions.
"Stay back!" I yell, waving my arms frantically.
He ignores my warning, rushing forwards. He finally reaches me ad pulls me into and hug I had missed so much. "Magnum, I thought you were-"
"Dead." I say, my sword through Springer's chest cavity this time. I look at his pained and pleading eyes. "I warned you, Spring. I did." I feel a drop of lubricant run down from my left optic as I pull my sword out of my dear brother. His expression seems to be frozen, his eyes so filled with shock and pain I feel more tears developing. Springer topples backwards, landing with a thud and a groan. "I forgive you, Springer. I hope you will one day forgive me." I whisper before transformming and speeding away, hoping I wouldn't have to kill anyone else today. But, that probably wasn't a wish that would be granted anytime soon: this is war after all.
"Goddamn it, Prowl." I say the popular human phrase, sitting up as I awaken from a restless recharge. "Why'd it have to be you?" I sit there for a second in my hide out, an old abandoned warehouse by a pier. It is filled with old crates and dust, and the smell of salt water is stronger than that of bad energon.
I decide to go for a drive, seeing no point in staying here any longer. I pull out of the rotting shelter and on to a small abandoned side street. I go slow by a few closed shops, and see the time in the window of an electronics store. It matches that of my central processor: 3:25 am.
I speed by a random stop sign, seeing no point in obeying the law if there is no one else on the road. I pull into a small neighborhood and drive by a few dark houses, but stop when I reach one with it's lights on. I pull up to the curb in front of the house and shut of my engine. I sit there and listen to the sounds inside the house.
"- you just got back, Will!" A female voice cries out in desperation.
"I know, Sarah. But, there's something going on that Optimus specifically-" A male, Will, responds, but it cut-off by the female, Sarah.
"Will, your daughter is going to be five in two weeks! Are you going to miss YET ANOTHER BIRTHDAY?" The woman's voice escalates to a yell as I hear footsteps moving throughout the house.
"I should be back soon. I promise." The man's voice falters slightly as he says this, showing how he knows he won't keep this promise.
I see headlights in my rearviews and suddenly start my engine and prepare to drive off as I recognize the young autobot known as Bumblebee. The bot doesn't seem to notice me as he pulls around me and into the driveway, honking his horn. I notice two more males sitting inside of him, a young caucasian male and a rough looking African- American male dressed in a military uniform. I watch as another man walks out of the house, he too is in a uniform. He crosses to the car as the door swings open and the other soldier steps out so he can climb into the backside. I decide that this is a good moment to sneak off, back up, and drive pass them my holoform sitting in the driver's seat.
None of them seem to notice, thank Primus.
I drive around for an hour or so aimlessly afterwards, not quite sure what to do. I hadn't received any word from Lockdown, so either Megatron was that pissed at his failure or Lockdown was blaming me once more. Either way didn't fair too well for me.
Finally, I find myself at the autobots makeshift base once more. I feel as if something is pulling me to there, a force beyond my control. I hop over the fence, being careful not to trigger any alarms. I stick to the shadows as I make my way towards a rear entrance. Finally, I leap through the open window next to the locked door, landing quietly on the floor.
"-Magnum has changed so much." I hear Prowl say from another room, probably right next door.
"I don't know what happened to her." I strain to try and make out this voice, but have no success. This voice continues, "Last time I saw her, she stabbed me, then did the same to Springer. And she said she forgave us. Shouldn't we be forgiving her?"
I gasp, quite loudly too. Could the voice really be Ultra Magnus. And if he is here, does that mean Springer is too? Does every bot from my past have to show up abruptly for some odd reunion?
"Did you hear something, UM?" Prowl inquires, confirming my suspicion.
"I was just about to ask you the-"
"Magnum?"
I turn to see a familiar big green mech standing in the doorway. His optics show pain and confusion. He suddenly has his arms wrapped around me while I try to push away. "Magnum, where have you been? What have you been doing?"
I try to free one of my arms, but he has them firmly clamped to my sides so I can't even move my servoes. Finally, I realize it's not a hug: it's his way of keeping me from stabbing someone. Smart move. "I've been a lot of places, Springs." I answer, realizing he is just interrogating me, he doesn't really care.
"Magnum, you have had me so worried!" I have to stifle a laugh as he says this. When will these autobots realize they can't pull the wool over my optics? "What have you been doing?" He asks again.
I attempt to shrug my shoulders, but don't have much success. "Since I stabbed you and UM?" I inquire, giving a mental snicker. "Terrorizing the autobots, messing around with the 'Cons, doing a few bounty jobs here and there. Oh and I stabbed Prowl earlier," I add as I see him and Ultra Magnus enter the room, Prowl using Ultra Magnus as a sort of crutch. "Speak of the devil." I say playfully. "How's that wound treating ya, Prowl?" I see patch over the wound, letting me know I hit just right, so he would live but be in loads of pain.
Suddenly something stabs me in my back, causing me to exhale as Springer drops me. "You aren't Magnum." I simply gaze up at the bot, my optics wide with shock. "Now we are even."
"Now we are even..."
"And I do forgive you." Springer whispers those words into my audio receptors after he bends down to place a gentle kiss upon my helm. I go into recharge, my mind blown to smithereens by shock.
"Now we are even..."
"I do forgive you..."
"You aren't Magnum..."
What have I done?
