iTransfomers
Chapter Four: Guardian
Spencer drove the yellow Chevrolet down the road, its headlights shining through the night. Riding shotgun was Carly, with Sam in the backseat.
This is so less cool exciting than actually driving, Carly thought. I guess I should feel lucky: Spencer could've just grounded me. I can go a month without driving.
A gentle rain began to spray the car, blurring over the windshield. Turning on the windshield wipers, Spencer noticed something out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, what is that?" he asked. "...Is that a bat?"
"I don't see anything," Sam replied. "Hey, pull over here, I need to pick up something."
"Okay," Spencer said, pulling up by the sidewalk. "How long are you gonna be? Do you know?"
"Yeah, about ten minutes," Sam answered, getting out of the car. "Thanks."
Once the blond was out of the car, Spencer drove away, his windshield wipers continuously running. Sam then entered a bank, where she intended to make a small deposit. A purple bat flew by the building, and hung upside down, staring at the girl.
After roughly ten minutes, Sam walked outside, looking for Spencer, hoping to get to warmth soon. "Come on," she said to herself. "It's pouring out here." Seeing that the Chevrolet was no where in sight, Sam started to walk back into the bank, but heard a loud screeching, and turned around to see the bat clawing at her face. Letting out a quick scream, the girl fell backwards onto her back, and tried to crawl away from her attacker.
Not relenting, RatBat flew into the air, and lunged at Sam, its metal fangs pointed at her jugulars. Before the machine could strike, however, the teen threw her foot into its face, knocking it onto the ground. Its purple exterior writhing, the creature became a black rat, and quickly scurried over to Sam, and sunk its white fangs into her leg, piercing her down to the bone.
"Ah!" Sam hollered, her leg throbbing. The teen repeatedly kicked the beast's pointed face with her other foot. Finally, RatBat let go, only to transform into its bat form.
Hissing furiously, the malicious assassin flew at Sam, his fangs stained red with her blood. Letting out an angry grunt, the girl put her right fist into her left hand, and thrust it backhandedly into RatBat's face, sending it hard into the wall, and knocking off part of the armor on the right side of its face. Gazing at the gray exoskeleton, the teenager felt a new horror enter her body. Becoming heavier and heavier, the rain continued to soak Sam as she ran away, desperate to escape the vicious machine.
RatBat following without mercy, the girl charged until her legs couldn't carry her any further. Finding herself in a junkyard, Sam hid behind a totalled car, trying in vein to catch her breath. Losing the human's scent, the bat landed on a pile of silver cans, and scanned the area. Using an amplified form of echo-location, RatBat soon found Sam, and flew at her with all his might.
"Sam!" Carly screamed. The sound of the girl's voice temporarily disoriented the machine's scanning mode, causing it to crash into a pile of smashed television sets. Running through the rain, Carly knelt down next to her friend. "Sam, are you okay?"
"No," Sam answered, still breathing heavily. "This thing's trying to kill me. I don't know what it is, but we have to get out of here."
"Spencer's just outside of here," Carly replied. "I told him I'd find you. Where's the thing that's after you?"
A loud, hissing noise interrupted the two. Carly and Sam turned to the beast.
"Right there," Sam answered.
RatBat's wings tore through the air, preparing to subdue its opponents. Thinking quickly, Carly grabbed a rusted muffler, and swung it into the machine, knocking it on the ground.
"Let's go!" yelled the brunette, pulling on Sam's shoulder.
Her adrenaline depleted, Sam felt the throbbing pain return to her leg, and fell to the ground.
"What's wrong?" Carly yelled, terror licking her heart as she glanced at the recovering bat.
"My leg," Sam answered, her teeth tightly clenched. "I can't walk."
Looking back and forth between her suffering friend and RatBat, Carly began to panic, and then picked Sam up and ran out of the junkyard. Hissing furiously, the bat charged at the two. The brunette began to run up the hill leading out of the junkyard, but tripped and fell into the dirt.
"Carly!" Sam yelled.
Struggling to her feet, the teenager adjusted her grip on Sam, and sprinted up the hill, where Spencer was waiting in the Chevrolet, the driver's seat facing the junkyard. Flying above the two, RatBat screeched wildly, his fangs shining in the moon light.
Spencer threw the back door open. "Get in!" he yelled, clutching the steering wheel with his free hand. Carly lept into the backseat, setting Sam down on the seat to the right of her. Before the girl could close her door, Spencer took off. Carly grabbed the arm rest, and yanked the door shut.
"What was that thing?" Spencer yelled, looking at the two girls through the rear view window.
"No idea," Carly answered, buckling her seat belt. "But it bit Sam. She needs a doctor."
"Sure thing," Spencer replied, turning onto the empty road.
Police sirens began to sound, and red blue lights flashed through the night. Noticing this, Spencer pulled over. Sam continued clenching her bleeding leg, breathing heavily.
Barely slowing down, the police car rammed the Chevrolet. Carly, Sam, and Spencer were violently shoved to their left, Spencer's head smashing into the driver side window. Pulling back, the car prepared to collide with the Chevrolet once again.
Suddenly, the gear shift stick pulled into "Drive", and the yellow vehicle gunned forward. The three passengers let out a scared yelp as they were jolted forward.
"Oh, my gosh," Spencer repeated, watching the steering wheel turn by itself.
Still, the police vehicle would not relent. Its siren howling, the white car sped onward, its tires beginning to burn. The yellow Chevrolet increased its speed, then spun into a u-turn. After less than a second of stillness, the car accelerated, its wheels screeching. Passing the police car, Spencer gazed into its window, and saw no driver.
"What's going on?" Sam yelled, her heart pounding.
"The car's driving itself," Spencer called back, clenching the sides of his seat. "Just hold on!"
Speeding against traffic, the yellow car turned towards the junkyard. The police car continued to ride the Chevrolet, colliding with its rear fender several times. Finally, the Camaro reached the junkyard, swerved inward, and opened its doors, knocking the three humans onto the dirt ground.
"Ah," Spencer groaned, pulling himself up. "Is everyone alright?"
"Yeah," Carly and Sam answered. Sam grabbed her leg, trying to form a tourniquet.
The yellow Chevrolet continued to swerve until it faced the police car, which was speeding towards it. Carly stared in shock at the two vehicles. Suddenly, the white car began to writhe, grinding into the ground. Violently, the police car transformed into a robotic monster with jagged purple and gray armor. Standing nearly sixteen feet tall, the beast snarled, and charged at the Chevrolet, his razor-sharp fingers spinning in circles. Covering the area that would be wrists for a human were two tires, which began to rotate in a circular motion as well.
Spraying dirt behind it, the yellow car dashed forward, ramming its attacker in its knees, knocking it face-first into the mud. The Chevrolet quickly swerved around, its headlights shining on the beast's body. Letting out an irritated snarl, the assassin sprung to its feet, and prepared to charge again. Suddenly, the Chevrolet began to writhe, letting out a mechanical sound.
Sam and Spencer dropped their jaws. "What the..." Carly began to say.
Two fists formed, then pulled back into a fighting stance as the yellow car transformed into a heroic, humanoid robot. The full moon's light shining behind it, the robot resembled a hero from an Anime show: Two car doors with their windows down serving as shoulder pads, two other doors, windows up, behind its shoulders, looking like insectoid wings. Its silver legs thin, shining, and coated with complex, sharply textured yellow armor, which came up to the hips. The machine's abdomen was thin width wise, but looked solid and strong, and its chest flared outward, covered with yellow armor composed of the front bumpers of its car form. Atop the humanoid's dark silver head was a yellow piece of armor resembling a helmet reflected the light of the stars, two non-menacing horns (the right one-from the robot's personal perspective, slightly shaped like a reverse 7, the left one shaped somewhat like a normal 7) stuck out diagonally, their curves pointing away from the purple and silver monster.
"Autobot," snarled the beast, his voice gruff. "Barricade shall crush your skull!" Charging forward like an enraged bull, Barricade prepared to slaughter his opponent.
The humanoid robot ran at the assassin, his two-section legs digging into the dirt. Colliding, the two robots grappled, their hands ready to crush the other's shoulders. Letting out a mechanical grunt, the yellow robot pushed forward, its body shaking.
"Weak piece...of slag!" yelled Barricade, hate shaking in his voice. The malicious behemoth began to spin his claws, slashing his opponent's shoulder pads, tearing off the paint.
Falling onto his back, the yellow machine thrust its feet into Barricade's abdomen, shattering the headlights on the hood that covering its breasts, and knocking backwards. Rolling onto its stomach, the yellow robot pressed its hands into the ground, and pushed itself onto its feet.
"RatBat!" called Barricade. "Attack the humans!"
Letting out an amplified "heeyah!", the humanoid tackled the purple machine, knocking it flat on its back. Barricade howled in fury, and tried to raise its hands, only to have them grabbed by the yellow robot. The humanoid machine grunted, its body under great strain as it crushed Barricade's blade fingers.
"Aaaah!" the purple assassin yelled, watching its hands shatter.
"What are those things?" asked Spencer, bewildered.
"No idea," Carly replied. "Let's hope the yellow one's on our side."
Barricade thrust its weight to the side, rolling himself on his adversary down the hill and into the junkyard. The yellow robot fell off, landing hard on its back, and moaning in an electronic voice varying from higher to low in pitch.
RatBat hissed loudly, and flew at Sam, her image reflecting in its sinister eyes. Suddenly, the bat exploded, sending shards of black metal into the air. The yellow machine held its left hand, which was now a futuristic cannon, forward. The large barrel turned, reloading its plasma supply.
Sam's startled breath grew heavier. Although it seemed like an ally, there was no doubt the humanoid robot was deadly.
Turning back to Barricade, the yellow machine aimed its cannon at its attacker's face. The humans turned away, and heard the sound of the weapon firing, then metal being crushed. Barricade then fell backwards, landing with a loud thud. Raising and dropping its diaphragm and releasing a metallic sound that vaguely sounded like a human's breathing, the yellow robot returned its left hand back into a palm and fingers, then turned to the humans, putting its hands on its hips in an ultra-heroic pose.
Slowing rising to their feet (Sam doing so with assistance from Carly), the three humans gazed at their protector. "A-are you friendly?" Spencer called, trying to steady his voice.
"If he wanted to hurt us, I think he would've done it by now," Carly whispered, trying to keep one eye on the machine the entire time.
The yellow robot released a sound like radio frequencies, then replied, using the voice of Richard Cox (a voice actor best known for his role as Inyuasha on the Anime of the same name), "I am on your side."
Feeling a slight burst of confidence, Sam called out, "What are you?"
Pointing up at the stars above him, the robot changed its radio frequency, and answered, in the voice of a deep-voiced male. "I hail from..." The station changed to an English scientist's voice: "The distant cosmos." Switching to William Shatner's voice, the robot concluded, "Our mission is a peaceful one."
"D-do you talk through your radio?" Carly asked.
The humanoid knelt on the ground, and transformed into its car form. "...Yes," it said, using a voice altered by frequency waves. "Get in."
Looking at one another, the three walked forward, Spencer and Carly letting Sam dangle as she held their shoulders. The humans then boarded the Cheverlot, which then drove away.