A/N: Thanks for the reviews, however few they may have been.

Chapter 8

Miko turned to face whoever had thrown that large hammer at her but found no one in front of her. Eyes darting around, her gaze settled on the large form before her silhouetted by the sunlight. She readied herself for whatever she was about to face as the creatures leapt down from its perch. The newcomer had a very human appearance, but was much larger in size. Dressed in armor covering his torso, waist and legs, his rather large arms were exposed. His hands looked like they could easily snap her in half.

His face was stern like stone, cold eyes watching her every move, eyebrows bushy, and fiery red hair. He was balding and kept his upper lip bare, his hair looking alike a ring of sorts. He flashed his unruly teeth for a moment before speaking, "Where in the nine Hells did ya come from, las?"

"I-I'm," she stammered.

"Well, speak up!"

"I'm here for the sword piece and don't try and stop me!" she hoped it sounded more confident to him than her. The large being tilted his head a moment, contemplating her statement before extending his hand. Confusion gave way to shock as the large hammer he'd thrown flew passed her, narrowly missing her. Heart racing, she watched as he hung the hammer off his shoulder like no big deal.

"Now, las, ya best not go messin' with what ya don't understand," he took a few steps closer, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "That piece'll stay here even if I have to put ya down."

"I-I-I don't wanna fight you," she did her best to keep her voice confident. "But I will if I have to!" The creature scratched his head with his large hand, confused on what he should do.

"Listen, las," he began. "This a yer last chance. Get lost or I'll be force deal with ya." Miko stood her ground, giving the creature his answer. He sighed, "Alright then, yer funeral." Grasping the large weapon with both of his hands he took a powerful swing at her. Miko, for her part, managed to duck under the weapon's range and roll out of the way. She was miraculously keeping her heart rate steady as he charged toward her.

With a grunt, he gave another powerful heave of his weapon, aimed towards her as it came crashing down. Managing to dodge the strike once again, Miko tried to think of a suitable plan for how to deal with this nut job. It wasn't like she had any rockets at her disposal but she had to do something. Dodging another attempt to crush her, her eyes darted around for something useful. There was no thinking of a plan with this guy swinging for fences.

A ledge caught her eye and she rolled under another swing and sprinted towards the ledge. With a leaping ability she didn't know she possessed, she landed on the ledge and took a moment to catch her breath. What was the best way to deal with a guy like him? He was big, so he probably moved as fast as an Insecticon. That guaranteed her a moment of reprieve from attack.

"Hiding up there'll do ya no good, las!" he bellowed as he charged forward. Gaining speed, he leapt off the ground, his trajectory aimed towards her. Eyes wide behind her mask, Miko barely had time to move before he landed on the ledge. The support structure was impressively strong enough to hold him but the force of his landing sent Miko a good distance away. Getting over the shock, she watched the large creature as it repositioned himself for another jump.

Crouching slightly he jumped from the ledge and landed in front her, setting the large hammer down. For the most part, he looked irritated, "Listen las, ya best get outta here before I get mad."

"I'm not leaving without that piece!" she growled. The creature reached down and took her in his grasp. Their eyes locked onto one another, cold blue boring into frightened brown. He gave a snort, his breath displeasing to her nostrils. Miko struggled as best she could but couldn't escape. The embarrassing part was that he probably wasn't even using that much strength.

"If ya aren't gonna leave on yer own, I'll just have ta go and throw ya out!" He turned and reared the hand holding her back. Realization dawned on her face followed swiftly by fear as she continued to struggle in his grasp. Then, she felt her body being thrown forward.

Darksider: The Prime Judgment

Bumblebee had just dropped Jack and Raf off at Miko's host parents' house before returning to base to help their newest arrival get used to his surroundings. Smokescreen's presence would certainly add an interesting dynamic to rest of the team. The two boys were lost in thought as to Miko's whereabouts. The only she could have left base was via 'Bot or ground-bridge. Her disappearance from base baffled them both.

Walking up to the door they knocked on it and waited, a response coming a few moments later. The door opened to reveal Miko's host father, "Jackson, Rafael, what a wonderful surprise but I'm afraid Miko isn't in right now."

"Are you sure?" Raf asked.

"Certainly, in fact, wasn't she supposed to be with you?"

"She was, but we can't find her anywhere," Jack explained. "We were wondering how she could have even got here anyway."

"Perhaps she's visiting that friend of hers, the one who was in that terrible accident," he shook his head. "A real shame. I'm glad he's okay. The poor girl was crying herself to sleep every night before he woke up. Please give him my regards."

"We will," Raf smiled. "Thanks."

"I hope Miko isn't getting herself into trouble," he sighed. "Contrary to what she might say, we're not scared of her… for the most part. Have a nice day you two." Nodding, the two boys left, worried about what Miko was getting in to.

"Where do you think she might be, Jack?"

"I don't know, but the sooner we find her, the better for everybody. I can't shake this feeling like something's going on that's she's not telling us."

Darksider: The Prime Judgment

The moment she felt her body being thrown forward, Miko closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable crash. She failed, now the Bargainer would find some other unlucky soul to do his bidding. But what about the others? What about Bulkhead? None of them knew about this, so they'd never find her body.

When she realized her body wasn't flying through the air at the speed of a bullet, Miko opened her eyes and found herself frozen in the air. Her body was hovering up and down slightly as she looked around. Her gaze fell back on the ground several feet below her. Her mouth dropped open as she realized she was floating mid-air. She looked around and what she saw shocked her.

From the back of her unusual form, large angelic wings sprouted from her back. They shined with a slightly metallic gleam in the light. The girl couldn't believe what she was seeing but shock gave way to pain as she felt something hit her torso. She fell to the ground, barely managing to lessen the blow of her fall with the flap of the wings. She didn't feel them move but was thankful nonetheless.

Recovering herself, she prepared herself for another fight as the large creature landed in front of her. His face was fixed in an emotion between surprise and annoyance, "So, be ya a pigeon then? Well, ye could be Abbadon himself and I still would let ya leave here with what don't belong to ya."

"I don't want to fight you!" she pleaded. "I need that piece because of a promise I made to save my friend! Please!"

"Sorry but things'll get a lot worse if I let ya take that piece. 'Specially if yer the one who stole the other piece from the Lupins." Miko gasped as he prepared his hammer for another swing. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Miko realized it was time to get the frag out of here but with this guy being able to jump like a monkey, that would be difficult. Noticing the wings were still on her back, she jumped off the ground let them do the work. She adjusted her body towards the sword piece and flew straight for it, ignoring how she seemed to be able to fly with relative ease.

She noticed the hammer flying towards her from the corner of her eye and swerved to dodge it and landed in front of the piece. She got hold of it just as the large creature grabbed her and slammed her into the ground. He lifted the hammer to finish her, but she was surrounded by darkness, his grip and image fading. The Bargainer's voice echoed, "Nice work. I like the wings."

"You said no one lived there!"

"I did, didn't I," he chuckled. "But you passed my test. To retrieve the remaining pieces, you'll have to be ready for anything." The sword piece lifted from her grasp and was swallowed by the darkness.

"You said no one but you would want these pieces!" she got up, returning to her normal form. "So why did that freak with the hammer try to kill me?"

"I didn't lie about the pieces," he replied. "No one but I can see the true value of these pieces. They simply leave them rust when their intended purpose was far more grand. I seek to reunite them and fulfill that purpose and you will continue to locate them or else the brute will pay the price. Besides, you looked like you were having fun out there."

"Frag you! Send me home!"

"Until next time," he chuckled as the darkness dissipated. Miko was in her room of all places just as her host mother walked in.

"Oh!" she looked surprised. "Miko, I didn't realize you were back already. Jack and Raf stopped by earlier looking for you. You should give them a call before you go to bed."

"I will, thanks," she nodded, lying back on the bed in exhaustion. She couldn't help but wonder just what kind of freak show she'd gotten herself into. Still, saving Bulk's life was worth whatever the consequences were.

Darksider: The Prime Judgment

A/N: I hope you enjoyed. Next time: Miko's next adventure is close to home as she must infiltrate the Nemesis. There, she encounters Megatron's answer to the Human/'Bot Alliance.