Jasper, 3rd POV
"Woah! You guys look awesome!" Miko cheered, pumping a fist in the air.
The 'bots all examined themselves, becoming accustomed to their holoforms (A/N: I'll put links up on my profile if you want to see what they look like).
June smiled, laughing as she walked towards the front door of the house.
"Miko's right, you all look just like humans." She commented, pulling the keys from her pocket and unlocking the door, entering with the others following in her wake.
Flicking on the light switch, June removed her shoes and moved down the short entry hall, passing by the stairs that led to the second floor, instead leading everyone into the livingroom.
Everyone moved at a slower pace. The 'bots and Fowler, of course, had never been in the Darby household. Surprisingly, neither had Miko or Raf, never having had a reason to go inside the house.
The furniture was worn and second-hand, showing the financial troubles the Darby's had been suffering.
Now everyone understood why Jack worked a crappy job.
"Go ahead and explore, just don't break anything."
She raised a brow at Miko, who held her hands up.
"What? Why are you looking at me!"
June rolled her eyes, smiling.
Everyone roamed about, 'Bee, June and Bulk going into the kitchen while the others went examined the livingroom for any hidden cameras.
Arcee found her interest caught, not by anything out of place, but rather the pictures on the mantle of the fireplace.
Moving forward, she gently picked up one of the frames, and examined the picture it held.
A woman stood beside a man who kneeled beside a young boy. All of them had raven hair.
Arcee immediately could identify the woman as June darby, though she was younger in the picture, with sholder length hair and not as many worry lines on her features. She was smiling down at the man and young boy.
The man was unfamiliar, but considering how he looked fairly similar to Jack, Arcee could guess the man was Jack's father. He was smiling softly, one arm wrapped around the young boy at his side. He had light tan skin, stunningly blue eyes and his raven hair fell to a length just above his shoulders, and he had a five o' clock shadow.
The young boy took awhile, but Arcee's eyes widend as she realized the six year old was Jack.
He was smiling brightly, making sure that the camera could show his newly lost tooth. His arms wrapped around his father's neck, cheek pressed against the man's, his dark, blue-grey eyes sparkiling happily. Arcee smiled, letting a single laugh fall from her lips as she ran her fingers lightly over the small boy in the photo.
"That photo was taken ten years ago."
Arcee jumped slightly in surprise, looking to see that June had walked up to stand at her side. The woman was smiling fondly at the picture.
"The man...he's Jacks sire?" Arcee asked hesitantly.
"If by sire, you mean father, then yes. His name was Hunter."
Arcee was silent for a moment, staring back down at the photo before looking back up at June.
"You once said that Jack's sire left you both..."
June's eyes darted up to Arcee, brows raised. Then her features lit with recognition.
"Oh! I didn't mean it in that way. No, definately not in that way. Hunter loved Jack and I more than anything, he would have never left us intentionaly."
The woman looked down at the photo, sadness in her eyes.
"This picture was taken a few months before...Before Hunter died."
Arcee remained silent, allowing June to take the photo and replace it on the mantle. The raven woman then turned and moved to one of the side tables, rumaging through the drawer before pulling out what looked like a news paper cliping. June looked at it for a moment, then offered it to Arcee.
The femme accepted it, and looked over it.
The headline was in large, bold letters.
"Local Father Dies Protecting Son"
Arcee slowly let her eyes wander across the words of the article.
"Hunter Darby, 28, died at Jasper Medical Hospital at 10 pm on the night of April seventh after suffering several bullet wounds while protecting his son, Jackson Darby, 6, from an attack at 8:15 pm on the same night of his death. Local police believe that the attack was staged by the recently disbanded criminal gang, The Knife Cutters. When questioned on the attack, Jackson Darby said that his father had been hurt while protecting him from the men that attacked them. Jackson Darby suffered minimal injuries, and is to be released from the hospital on April tenth."
Arcee couldn't read any more, instead shutting her eyes and swallowing the lump that had grown within her throat.
"Arcee?"
The femme looked up at Optimus, who was watching her with concern. She merely offered the newspaper cliping to the Prime, then continued her search for any cameras that may have been planted in the house.
M.E.C.H base, 3rd POV
(A/N: I was listening to some certain music online when I wrote this part, here's the link, music starts at 2:35 watch?v=DmBfm2zzs6c )
Jack sat in one corner of the room he was now accustomed to.
The raven teen's still human hand was pressed to where his left shoulder met the prostetic arm, that had been installed roughly a week before.
Three weeks. Three weeks since he'd last seen his family. Three weeks since he'd been forced from his home.
Three. Fraging. Weeks.
He winced as the cold metal made his fingers sting before the tips of his fingers fell numb.
Jack looked up when the door scrapped open, and two M.E.C.H soldiers came in.
Jack allowed them to chain his wrists and pull him to his feet, and willingly followed them, in no mood to fight with anyone at the moment.
He allowed them to lead him down multipule halls, his optics locked on his feet, he refused to look up.
He was shoved into a room, then the chains were removed and the door shut, locking him in the room.
Looking up finally, Jack was shocked to find himself in what seemed to be the beginging of a maze.
The teen's optics snapped upward when a laugh echoed through the room. A single intercom sat above the door.
"Time for your training to begin, Jack."
Jack growled under his breath as Damien's voice filled the still air.
"Think of this as a challenge, I know you'll like the reward."
Jack remained silent, glaring at the intercom.
"You see, at the end of this little maze, is the exit. So you see, at the end, your reward is escape...But if you fail one of the tests in this maze? Well, heh, you'll just have to start all over again!"
Jack scowled, hating the cheerful tone in Damien's voice. But inside, he felt his heart lift.
At the end of this maze was his way to freedom? The way to end the pain and misery he'd been suffering?
The teen pursed his lips for a moment, contemplating if this was truely a way out or some sick joke of Damien's. He then made his mind and took off.
'I am nothing like Optimus, I can't protect anyone, no matter how hard I try...But I won't fail them, I might not be Optimus, but I am strong enough to break free! I won't let you win, Damien, I won't become your weapon! I am not your slave! I WILL ESCAPE!'
Black walls passed by, dimply lit. His bright blue optics cast haunting shadows on the walls as he turned down corner after corner. Stanima that he'd never known he had, fueling him as he continued on, barely breathing hard.
How he knew when and where to turn, he didn't know. All he knew was that some deeply buried sense was emerging, showing him what path to take. If it lead to trouble, he didn't know, but one thing he knew was that it was the only path to take.
Else where in M.E.C.H base
Damien watched Jack from the monitor of the security camera. His face was serious, no trace of humor in it, a rare sight.
'This is unbelievable! He's had no training, but he can tap into his base instincts with the help of the cybernetics...'
Damien suddenly turned his head, looking at one of the M.E.C.H soldiers.
"Begin the first test, try and stop him there. If you fail to do that, then try to stop him before he reaches the halfway point."
"Yes sir."
Damien's attention returned to the monitor, muscles tense. He hadn't considered before, but what if Jack did make it to the end and escape?
Jack's POV
I slowed my pace, tensing at a familiar feeling in the back of my mind. It always seemed to happen right before danger came, but this time, it seemed that to get through the maze, I'd have to face dangerous tasks anyways.
I slowly walked forward and turned.
I was surprised to find the the walls spread, making the shape of a large room. Five M.E.C.H soldiers stood, unarmed but obviously trained in hand-to-hand.
They stood, waiting for me to make the first move. And I took the chance to inspect them.
Then I noticed it.
The helmets they wore.
They limited the vision of the soldier's a great deal, and that was my advantage. I took another look, noticing that one soldier seemed to favor his right leg. Another soldier rubbed his sholder for a moment, a sign that the arm was a weak point for him.
I took a deep breath, calming myself before I took a stance.
I decided to first take out the others that had no other weak spots aside from limited sight, then I would handle the two that favored a certain limb.
I attacked.
The men charged, meeting me halfway. I ducked under the swing of one, bringing my knee up as I used my hands to drag down one soldiers head and kneeing the man, letting him collapse.
'I may not understand what I'm doing, I'm no fighter, but I know that I won't be stopped, not by these men, and not by anyone else.'
I spun, kicking another man in the jaw and sending him flying.
A foot hit my shoulder, but I used the momentum, spinning and leaning back, one hand on the ground for balance while I swung my foot up, sending a third to the ground, down for the count.
The final two were the one's I had decided to take down last, and I was releaved that my plan had gone correctly.
I jammed the sharp, almost claw like fingers of my prostetic arm into the weak arm of one of the soldiers, making him crumple to the ground, cradling his arm. I then jammed my foot into the other soldiers knee of the leg he treated with care.
As he went down with a shriek, I took off again, continuing through the maze.
Alright, I wanted to thank Foxbear for the idea of the maze training thingie! Here Foxbear, have a cookie ^_^ If anyone has ideas for my stories, then please, by all means, share them with me! Till next time, I'll see y'all later! :D
