Author's Notes: Not a single review for Chapter Ten; it saddens me a little, but if I wait too much longer I might lose the readers entirely so here's Chapter Eleven; Chapter Twleve might be up by the end of the week it all depends on what happens and all that... So without further ado.
Optimus Prime stands on the edge of a cliff looking down at something unseen as The Transformers logo appears in the sky above him; pulling his rifle he fires behind him and then leaps into the air transforming mid-fall into truck mode... "We Now Return to the Transformers."
Synthia Jacquie Rutherford watched as her niece and brother finished sorting the toys from Earth Prime; he was quick to pack them away so that the Starlight girls wouldn't ask too many prying questions, he had to get back to New York unfortunately right away. But that still left him a few minutes to say his proper goodbyes; in fact Q popped in once again and offered him the use of something that resembled a camera, her brother claimed it to be a Holo-Camera from the Twenty-Fourth century.
Synthia was worried for her brother; she knew what was about to happen, the dread day when Galvatron would reveal himself historically speaking and threaten all of New York. It was the day Optimus Prime the legendary leader of the Autobots would gain a new form; one capable of fighting the super powered Megatron, and it was all thanks to the knowledge her Omniversal hopping brother possessed.
"Stay safe Alain Desrochers." She whispered in his ear as the two of them hugged when it came time to say goodbye.
"And you too Synthia Desrochers." He returned with a little teasing note in his tone; she shook her head brushing a stray strand of hair aside, if only there was enough time, but the forces of Chaos being tapped into wouldn't allow it.
"You better come back in one piece when this is all over before you leave." Ashley complained. "We got that new song we want to share." She added with a little smirk; Al shrugged as he laughed, naturally the Starlight girls had missed him and hadn't gotten much time to see him.
"I'll try, but knowing what awaits me after this; or at least suspecting it I doubt I'll have much time for socializing." He returned before heading for the Blackbird outside; Jerrica followed after him along with her sibling and Jetta.
"Give this to Professor X for me." Jetta requested handing him a small envelope. "Tell him it's for Dazzler ok Yank?" She demanded; Al nodded and slipped the envelope in his pocket.
"Don't forget we'll let you know if there are any changes to the wedding date." Jerrica said; Al nodded.
"And we'll make sure no Area fifty-one goons try to kidnap Amy." Kimber added teasingly; Al quirked his brow in curious bemusement and proceeded to board the jet, he'd already said goodbye to Amy and she didn't want to be here for this, she had a terrible feeling that something very bad was about to happen and she just hoped her daddy would be ok.
The six construction vehicles lumbered down Broadway slowing down the regular commuters, but they could care less at the pitiful troubles these humans had due to their being there. Turning off towards Central Park many of the drivers in the other vehicles were finally relieved to be free of the slow moving construction equipment and sped up to make up for lost time.
Entering a strange entrance that emerged from below street level a large elevator took them deep into the latest Decepticon stronghold; or rather a small offshoot of the New Jersey based fortification, this tunnel was how the more conspicuous members of their army were entering the city. Scrapper transformed first and lowered himself to one knee before their lord; the new leader of the Decepticons was even more demanding and powerful then his predecessors and he would tolerate no less then total subservience from his troops.
"All is ready, per your orders Master Galvatron." He reported his optics flickering with unabashed fear, fear that Galvatron might think his team had taken too long in their preparations.
"Excellent; after we dominate this city and destroy the so called power bases of these pitiful Super Heroes this planets population will be demoralized and ripe for our conquest." Galvatron stated making a fist to emphasize his words turning to address the rest of the Decepticons gathered below him he smiled darkly. "We take the city at dusk and not even the accursed Autobots will be capable of stopping us!" He cried eliciting cheers from the others.
Dusk fell at precisely eight thirty-five PM Tuesday August Twentieth in the city of New York; the bustle and hustle of everyday life has yet to die down; it is relatively calm just another ordinary evening with nothing too out of the ordinary. In fact the super villains seemed to have quieted down as well; above all of this flies the Blackbird bringing a young man home, a delay due to weather conditions over the state of Kansas forced the X-Men aboard to take a detour. Unfortunately; the calm is not to last, at precisely eight thirty-five and seventeen seconds PM the earth surrounding the entire state of New York erupts in a flurry of dust and debris. A massive force field engulfs the state; cut off into sections, one over the city of New York proper proves to be the largest effectively isolating the entire community from one another. Mass confusion is quick to follow and a riot breaks out on thirty-ninth street; the populace is in a panic, but everything stops the moment the Decepticons make their presence known.
At fourth and twelfth a tiny localized earthquake strikes as Rumble and Frenzy appear laughing cruelly at the human's misfortune; the Insecticons overrun Madison Square Gardens and begin to feast, Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet tear through the downtown area smashing up office buildings for fun. Blitzwing rumbles through Central Park in his tank mode firing left and right as he enjoys the mass panic and devastation his assault causes; alarms blared at Avengers' mansion as it came under attack by Ratbat, Buzzsaw and Devastator, the mansion's occupants are quick to escape as the mighty titan literally tears their base of operations to pieces with massive hands. A repaired and revitalized Shockwave hovers over the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and opens fire destroying defense systems and parts of the mansion effortlessly; and all eyes turn to the World Trade Center, metaphorically speaking as the twin Decepticons Skywarp and Thundercracker lower a large throne into the center of the plaza.
Soundwave and Astrotrain join them firing to attract a crowd as their leader emerges from the shadows of an access tunnel dug by the Constructicons earlier; several news crews manage to get in thanks to anonymous tips given by members of Extensive Enterprises, part of their agreement with the Decepticons for assisting them in restoring the helicarrier. The polished and gleaming dark purple armor of Galvatron instantly commands attention; along with his imposing visage and gleaming orange arm cannon, the crown-like top to his cranial unit intrigues those present wondering who this new menace is.
"Citizens of Earth; I am Galvatron, supreme overlord of the Decepticon Empire. We have assumed control of the state of New York and unless this planet bows to our ruler ship by midnight tonight; we shall make an example out of this state." The tyrant proclaimed energy beginning to crackle around the tip of his laser cannon. "My loyal Constructicons have already placed massive tunnel systems beneath the sod of this primitive dust ball of a planet; in which I have placed large quantities of Energon, the fuel source is highly volatile and easily capable of wiping out this entire state. Already my men crush your precious super hero community; and if you think the Autobots can save you now, well… Here is an example of my power!" He cried raising his right arm high and targeting the distant form of the Baxter Building and firing; the people of Earth gasped in fear as the cameras followed the brilliant burst of energy as it struck the edifice which housed the headquarters of the Fantastic Four. The beam struck; the building was completely and utterly incinerated and millions if not billions of people cried out fearing the premier super hero family had just been vaporized. "And that was merely a sampling of my power." Galvatron stated with a dark smile as the cameras returned to him. "You have less then five hours to surrender utterly to the Decepticons or be destroyed one state at a time." He added breaking into an evil laugh that sent chills down the backs of many innocents and some not-so-innocents.
"What was that?" Bobby exclaimed as the brilliant flash lit up the night sky; I zoomed in on the source of the flash and discovered a smoking crater where the Baxter Building used to stand.
"The Fantastic Four's headquarters just got trashed." I exclaimed in shock; Rogue squeezed my shoulder fearfully.
"Ah hope they weren't home." She admitted; Logan swung the Blackbird around intent on getting us out of the range of whatever weapon had done that, instantly a blinking red light lit up on the panel.
"Logan; it's Hank, get back here on the double we're under fire from a rather sticky problem and Rutherford could be a great aid to preserving our home." Beast called over the communications channel; I strode over to the main cockpit section and scanned the entire city with my watch's internal systems, I did not like what I was seeing.
"Devastator decimated Avenger's Mansion, Decepticons are running rampant all over the city and there's a level twelve force field surrounding not only this city, but the entire state in specific grid patterns." I revealed my voice growing softer as I turned to the X-Men assembled within the Blackbird; I was still uncertain why Charles had allowed so many to come along, but I was beginning to suspect that he had sensed trouble was coming. "We're in a total police state and the Decepticons are the police." I added fearfully.
"Uh-oh Mon Ami; looks like we're gettin' some unwanted attention." Remy pointed out; Bobby, Rogue and I turned to spot the triple threat of Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet closing in on our location from the East.
"Comrades; we must land before they shoot." Piotr pointed out; I frowned slightly as calculations ran through my head.
"No time; Logan I hate to ask, but do we have escape pods?" I wondered trying to keep the mood light despite the danger we were in; the X-Man piloting us shook his head and the rest of the passengers' faces fell.
"This can't be de end of ol' Remy." Remy remarked as the Decepticons finally reached firing range and started blasting away; the left wing sheered off under intense laser fire and we began to spiral out of control.
"Al; do somethin'!" Rogue cried clutching at her crash harness while Logan fought to keep us in as much control as was realistically possible, the Decepticons overshot us and came around for a frontal pass.
"It's times like this I wish I could transform." I complained closing my eyes and tapping into my gravitational powers, but halting a moving vehicle that was in the process of crashing wasn't so easy when you happen to be spinning around the inside of said moving vehicle banging into everything and everyone.
"Fer once I agree wit' ya bub." Logan quipped from the pilots' seat as the Decepticons fired point blank; Rogue screamed as the lasers tore through the cockpit and coincidentally through me rendering me comatose and unable to help even if I could have.
"Is he ok?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice asking an unknown amount of time later; groaning slightly I opened my eyes trying to get my bearings.
"He'll be fine; his body already repaired the damages caused by the Decepticons' attack." Another voice replied; I really hated it when people talked about me when I could hear them, it tended to get on my nerves for some reason I couldn't fathom.
"I take it we crashed." I muttered sitting up and glancing around the cramped confines of the Blackbird; cramped because the entire front end had crumpled up leaving only the rear, glancing around I was relieved to find that everyone was still alive.
"Not exactly." Bobby returned. "We didn't come down that hard; most of the structural damage was caused by that mostly white jet ramming into us after he stopped our fall." He added indicating the small gathering of people outside the open access way; I could see Spider-Man, Cap and two other heroes I couldn't place names to just then having never met them before in my life, but the fifth individual I knew all too well.
"Magneto; how good of you to show up." I remarked genuinely grateful; he inclined his head without saying a word and turned to Captain America.
"The Decepticons are tearing this city apart and there's little we can do to stop them; they timed this attack perfectly most of our heavy hitters such as Thor and Ben Grimm are out of the country dealing with global threats." Cap informed. "Cloak, Dagger; fill Rutherford here in on what you told us." He added indicating the dark clad man and the white clad woman.
"The Decepticons' leader isn't Megatron." The man informed; of course I already knew that.
"He's all purple for the most part and has a very large orange cannon on his right arm." The woman added; my heart skipped a beat at that, they were describing someone that couldn't possibly be alive. "And he's a lot more powerful then he appears; Fury contacted us via com before all signals started getting jammed, says the readings their team's got were beyond anything any of the Transformers have displayed prior to this." She revealed; I shook my head at that.
"I wouldn't be surprised; we're talking Galvatron here, and there's no reason he should even be around… Unless." My eyes widened as I realized my one fatal mistake; I'd foolishly thought Megatron had been killed, but something Primus had hinted at just struck me then. "Megatron." I gasped; the rest of the heroes and lone villain eyed me confusedly. "Megatron stole a device called the Infinity Engine; it's a limitless source of power, if you know how to work it. According to Wheeljack it generates an endless supply of renewable kinetic energy; or maybe it was mimetic, he was using a lot of big words at the time when he described it and my translation circuits were a little buggy after contact with… Well that's irrelevant." I trailed off realizing I wasn't getting anywhere with what I was saying. "When he turned it on he unleashed utter chaos; and it was just divine luck we managed to turn it back off again, everything pointed towards Megatron offing himself permanently, but I think we all jumped the gun on that one." I added; Rogue eyed me concernedly and Logan impatiently growled. "Megatron didn't kill himself; he upgraded, Galvatron is just Megatron in a new body, but he's not Megatron… It's kind of complicated; still the point is, the new leader of the Decepticons has untapped powers we don't even know yet due to his reformatting." I finished; Cap turned to the rest of the gathered heroes and lone villain and considered my words, the woman either Cloak or Dagger I wasn't too sure approached me and looked directly into my eyes.
"So how do we stop him?" She demanded; I frowned slightly, they said that the Decepticons were now jamming us and unless Prime was inside the city then…
"Amy!" I cried out. "Thank Q for small miracles." I added with a chuckle. "Amy, can you hear me; oh please little one I really need your help." I thought tapping into our mental link; I felt a frightened presence, but then Amy's tiny voice answered back.
"I'm here Daddy, the news showed us what happened and I saw Galvatron… Can you stop Galvatron Daddy?" She asked innocently; I smiled knowingly.
"I think I might just be able to, but we're being jammed; I need you to do Daddy a really big favor." I returned; Amy bravely nodded and I filled her in on what I had dreamed up, my daughter smiled and sent me a quick hug before cutting the link.
"Uh; not to be a pest Al, but you kind of zoned out there for a minute." Bobby remarked; I shook my head rousing myself and gave the eclectic group a big grin.
"Relax Iceman; all our problems will be solved, provided my darling little bundle of joy can get to Prime in time to relay my message." I returned; Rogue moved to stand beside me and squeezed my shoulder.
"You mean we gotta rely on short stuff to save the day?" Logan exclaimed disbelievingly.
"Like it or not Logan all our hopes rest in the hands of a three year old girl." I returned in a serious tone; Magneto, Cloak and Dagger eyed me unconvincingly while Cap shook his head and Spider-Man actually laughed. "For once I'm not going to be the hero." I whispered with a tiny smirk turning away to hide my genuine fears for Amy's safety.
"You can't go alone." Ba Nee argued as Amy bundled up in some warmer clothing; she didn't know how cold it would be up in the air, she just hoped she could remember the way using her Daddy's memories and that she had enough skill with the levitating gift she shared with him.
"I can't carry anyone I'm too small and none of you can fly." The little Catarian countered curling and uncurling her tail.
"But if the Decepticons sent somebody to attack the Ark you might get hurt." Ashley pointed out; Amy chuckled, the Starlight girls still didn't get what it meant that she and her Daddy were the same kind of life form.
"I'll be a lot safer then anybody else." She retorted; Nancy however placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Jerrica and the others will never let you go; and I can't let you go alone." She informed; Amy frowned slightly.
"But…" She tried to protest; Nancy smirked and held up a plastic water bottle, an empty plastic water bottle.
"You can carry this can't you?" She asked; Amy giggled.
"Ok; let's go save my Daddy and all of New York." The little Catarian agreed; the rest of the girls still weren't happy, but at least now Amy wasn't going alone. Nancy changed into an all liquid state and flowed into the bottle; her head and shoulders stuck out of the top shrunken in size, Amy goggled at the sight the older girl really did have lot's of control over her powers. Picking up the bottle she hopped into the air; she had to fly fast, there weren't that many hours left before the deadline was up and Optimus Prime would probably rush out of the Ark as fast as he could to help the innocents trapped inside the Decepticon controlled city.
Buzzsaw cawed wickedly as Iron Man's pulse beams tore through the sky and missed the avian based Decepticon yet again; Quicksilver did his best to keep Devastator distracted with his speed while Vision and Wonder Man attempted to attack at separate angles. The Black Widow and Scarlet Witch were dodging laser fire from Ratbat while Giant-Man grew in size to tangle with the Decepticon gestalt though not on equal footing and Wasp his wife flitted about going for the linkage systems.
Unfortunately none of the Avengers could truly stand up to the giant that was Devastator; his unique combination capabilities transformed the six rational Constructicons into a mindless killing machine whose brute strength was unparalleled even among his fellow Decepticons or the Autobots. The Avengers were biting off more then they could chew and Captain America wasn't there to lead them; so what could they possibly do to save themselves from being slaughtered?
Rumble and Frenzy had problems of their own; since Psylocke and Angel were living in the city the two X-Men proved a formidable team for the punk Cassetticons to handle, Angel could remain off the ground and away from their earthquakes while Psylocke could mess with their minds making them see things that weren't really there. All in all the two X-Men were faring much better then their Avengers companions and yet other heroes weren't so fortunate; Daredevil was stuck in Central Park attempting to defend not only innocent citizens, but his girlfriend too without letting on who he was to everyone save Janelle.
Spider-Girl was spinning a web up above the downtown district in hopes of trapping one of the jets that had renewed strafing the office buildings; Thrust and Dirge were still in the thick of things despite their brief assault on the Blackbird, Ramjet however was permanently grounded due to the massive damage done to his nosecone when he rammed into the X-Men's jet, as such he was firing on pedestrians and fleeing commuters. With the SHIELD Helicarrier still being built or rather rebuilt using new schematics the organization was not available to help; most of their operatives had been taken out of the city, and those that remained were no match for the Decepticons without the proper equipment.
"Galvatron; the super heroes resist." Soundwave reported turning to his leader; Galvatron sneered.
"Bah; they won't be resisting much longer, Skywarp take Thundercracker and Soundwave with you, destroy those mutants." He ordered; Skywarp bowed and took off, Thundercracker and Soundwave hot on his heels. "Soon this city will be mine or a mere crater." Galvatron muttered clenching his left hand into a fist with a dark smile.
"We need options people." Cap reiterated; I rolled my eyes, talk about broken records. "We can't just stand here while innocents are being injured and killed." He added; I nodded understandably at his concern, but super heroes were not much of a match against hardened Decepticons.
"Our primary focus must be the energy generators; without a force field cutting off the outside world Optimus Prime and his Autobots will be able to get inside the city." I pointed out; Logan grunted as he finished pulling up his mask, the fact that the X-Men had been carrying spare uniforms inside the Blackbird hadn't escaped my notice, a shame mine wasn't included.
"A noble goal Rutherford, but how do you propose dealing with them?" Magneto asked; I smirked.
"We tear them out of the ground and crush their operating circuits; or have you forgotten that the master of magnetism can not be easily defeated at the hands of metal aliens?" I quipped; Cap nodded.
"Good idea, but my people are still tangling with Devastator and in a world of trouble; I'll need you and Magneto to take him down." He pointed out.
"I don't tink Al here has that kind of power Mon Ami." Remy countered as always shuffling his deck of cards.
"Remy is correct; if I wasted all of my energy toppling the giant you wouldn't have me for the fight and you need me." I informed.
"I hardly think so." Dagger retorted rolling her eyes; I sighed, having never met them naturally my strange power to make friendships wasn't affecting them, although I wouldn't exactly classify it as a power.
"No Dagger Rutherford is right; we need his knowledge of the Decepticons." Cap returned. "Is there anything you can do Magneto?" He asked turning to the mutant terrorist.
"He is too big; though I have been known to move the San Francisco Bridge and other impressively scaled edifices, there is nothing I can do to force the separation of six tightly linked individual robots." He replied; Logan squared his shoulders and headed for the edge of the roof we'd crashed on, or had been gently placed on I couldn't be certain.
"Well we've got to do something; otherwise the Avengers aren't going to be here." Spider-Man pointed out; I sighed naturally there had to be a weakness we could exploit, of course how base line could I be Devastator had the most obvious weakness of all.
"We can not attack him directly; he is too strong, only the Dinobots can match him in brute strength." I began drawing the attention of everyone present. "However there may be a way to turn that strength to our advantage; Devastator suffers one rather glaringly large flaw, the six Constructicons may be capable and intelligent separated. But together they have the IQ level of our absent menace The Hulk." I added with a tiny smirk. "Present them with something of a brain teaser as it were; ensure that they can no longer focus on pure assault, make them question what they see and what they hear." I elaborated; Logan smirked too and Cap squared his shoulders.
"Who do we have that can possibly do something like that?" He wondered; I smiled as I turned to face Spider-Man who backed up slightly.
"Now hold on a minute." He began to protest.
"Yahr webbing can block his optic sensors." Rogue pointed out.
"And your ice can freeze up his audios." I added turning my gaze on Iceman; Bobby shook his head.
"Uh-uh; no way pal, tackling super sized Decepticons isn't in my job description." He quipped.
"Well bub; it's no different then tanglin' wit a Sentinel." Logan countered. "And the two of you are real comedians so it should be a breeze to upset ol' Devastators' sensory systems." He added.
"How do I get talked into these things?" Bobby grumbled heading over to the opposite side of the roof and the former resting site of Avengers Mansion way in the distance. "Come on webs, we aren't going to get them to change their minds." He added; Spider-Mans' shoulders slumped as he moved to join the X-Man.
"If I get killed I am coming back to haunt you Rutherford." He shot over his shoulder before leaping out on a web line; Cap turned to Cloak and Dagger.
"Go with them and tell the Avengers to meet us at the city limits; we've got a citywide force field to take down." He ordered; the two heroes nodded and literally vanished moving either so fast I didn't catch it or taking an alternate route I had no knowledge on.
"Alright people; let's move." Cap called over his shoulder before making his way down the side of the building; I sighed, no watch and no X-Men uniform what was I supposed to wear in order to hide my identity? Remy, Logan, Piotr and Magneto were quick to join Captain America, but Rogue held back as she noticed my dilemma.
"Oh Sug; maybe yah'd better sit this one out." She suggested; I shook my head and glanced among the other outfits stored inside the Blackbird.
"When in doubt; improvise." I returned picking up a mask that used to belong to Jean; apparently someone hadn't cleaned out the old Marvel Girl costume, trimming the girly edges off of it I placed it over my eyes and grabbing a spare trench coat belonging to Remy I shrugged it on.
"What are yah supposed tah be?" Rogue asked with a playful smile.
"The Green Hornet." I shot back grabbing a name out of thin air. "Now come along Kato we must stop the fiendish fiends attacking this fair city." I added comically leaping off the roof and taking to the air.
Q smirked as he held up the watch for his father to see; Amanda frowned slightly, when exactly did q take that from Al and why did he take it? Q grinned a mischievous twinkle in his eyes; he slipped his son something unseen and took the watch, in a flash it was gone from his hand and resting safely back at the Xavier institute.
"Didn't even question where it went did they; oh my son you are indeed a little rascal." Q praised tousling q's hair with genuine affection.
"Well I learned from the best pops." He returned shrugging out of his fathers reach almost embarrassedly. "So; should we really have messed with his memories like that?" He wondered concernedly. "You know what he'd do if he found out." He added; Q brushed it aside.
"Why did you take his watch?" Amanda demanded. "His Shadow armor would have helped him in that fight." She added; Q and q shared a look before bursting into a gale of laughter.
"Oh my poor, poor Amanda; you never did understand my little jokes." Q remarked with a smile; Amanda frowned, obviously still not realizing what was so funny about depriving Al of his watch at such a crucial junction. "Should we explain it son?" Q asked turning to q who promptly shook his head.
"No fair telling her; she'll just have to figure it out on her own, now come on let's watch some more." He urged turning back to the scene; unlike Roma who currently couldn't see a thing transpiring on Earth Nine Twenty-Nine the Q's didn't have that particular problem and were indeed enjoying the show, Amanda frowned again unleashing a little sigh. Her mentor was right; she never did get why he played his little jokes, and she probably never would, but knowing Q it was probably some dumb reason like wanting to get Al to wear that crazy Green Hornet getup.
Rumble and Frenzy were easily dispatched by Angel and Psylocke; in fact it almost seemed too easy, the two X-Men left the stasis locked Decepticons on the street and headed off to where the shield generators were. Psylocke had picked up on the plan thanks to her mental search for her friends; Remy, Logan, Piotr, Rogue and Al were heading there already along with a few others she couldn't quite read.
Meanwhile the almost forgotten Insecticons were having a little fun all in their own right; a small band of second and third string super heroes who normally weren't active at this time had arrived on the scene in an attempt to stop the rampaging menace, led by Ant-Man alias Scott Lang and including individuals such as Swordsman alias Jacques DuQuesne, Moon Knight alias Marc Spector and Moonstone alias Dr. Karla Sofen formerly of the Thunderbolts, this team was working in tandem to help rescue the civilians on the scene. Or at least they had been; when Kickback lashed out with one of his powerful kicks sending a third of the arena's many seating sections crashing down on the unsuspecting heroes, most of them were subsequently eliminated by Bombshell and Shrapnel who; instead of eating them, simply electrocuted them or crushed them. Only one hero wasn't accounted for; Moon Knight had not been found by the Insecticons, whether or not he was alive was anyone's guess.
The Avengers on the other hand had managed to evacuate thanks to Iceman and Spider-Man who's diversionary tactics had caused Devastator to lose sight of his mission's goals; the massive Constructicon giant was now rampaging through the city searching for any costumed heroes he could find, a bad place for Hector Ayala alias the White Tiger to be, still he couldn't abandon his city to this fate no matter how dangerous it was. Currently he was observing the giant Decepticon wondering how best to take him on; he should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, Ratbat and Buzzsaw having their orders to eliminate any and all heroes on sight had spotted him and were lazily though swiftly sneaking up on the unsuspecting hero.
I on the other hand; unaware of the dead and dying heroes out there in the night had just arrived at the shield generators alongside the rest of our slowly gathering band, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man, Black Widow, Captain America, Magneto, Cloak, Dagger, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Gambit, Iceman, Colossus, Spider-Girl, Rogue, The Punisher of all people, Angel and Psylocke had all come. Cap shot me a curious look when he saw what I was wearing to disguise myself and Logan snorted, but I put it out of my mind as I stared up at the impressively sized though unguarded shield generators.
"Iron Man said he'd circle the city; see if he could find any other stragglers and get them out of harms way and Quicksilver went with him." Wonder Man informed Cap as he landed; I felt a very cold chill creeping up my spine as I continued to stare at our targets.
"Loathe though I am to jinx it as it were; does anyone else find it exceedingly convenient that the Decepticons left these unguarded?" I asked voicing my concerns.
"You just said a mouthful." Iceman agreed with a slight shudder. "But all the Decepticons are accounted for in the city aren't they?" He asked turning to me.
"Thundercracker, Skywarp, Thrust, Dirge, Ramjet, Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, Ratbat, Devastator, Soundwave, Shockwave, Astrotrain, Blitzwing, Kickback, Shrapnel, Bombshell and Galvatron." I ticked each name off as I said it. "Yep; seeing as how Ravage and Laserbeak aren't around I'm guessing they're with Soundwave." I added with a tiny smile of relief. "So; shall we deal a crippling blow to these offensive devices?" I asked turning to Rogue and the rest of the X-Men present.
"Doubtful you will get very far in their deconstruction human." A new voice intervened as a large creature emerged from the shadows; immediately everyone tensed up.
"Rutherford." Scarlet Witch growled at me as she looked up at a hoard of strangely alien beings.
"Don't blame him Ma Cherie." Remy called back. "I don't think our Ami here knew about these particular enemies." He added eyeing me briefly before he started slowly charging one of his cards.
"Oh I know of them; I just had no way of knowing that the Decepticons I've encountered so far weren't the only active ones on Earth." I shot back with a very weary sigh.
"Those don't even look like Decepticons." Cloak remarked; I had to stifle the urge to laugh out loud at his remark, naturally the alien looking beasts wouldn't resemble Decepticons in the conventional sense, but that's because we were currently looking at their Pretender Shells.
"Al Sug', we don't follow all the news on these things; what are they?" Rogue asked leaping into the sky out of reflex as one particularly nasty looking thing pulled a blaster of some kind out of nowhere.
"Ah; the human who knows so much about Cybertronians." The creature with a skull for a head remarked eyeing me pointedly. "Allow us to answer that question for you mutant before we kill you of course; we are the Pretenders, Skullgrin, Iguanus, Submarauder, Stranglehold, Octopunch and of course myself Bludgeon." He introduced with a vicious grin; then he proceeded to pull out a very long curved blade and traced it through the air. "Come let us end these pitiful lives; for the glory of Galvatron!" He ordered; and the six Pretenders leapt across the self-made battlefield and instantly started attacking, many of the heroes were forced to split up in order to defend themselves and Dagger was sent flying into a ditch where she didn't come out; hopefully she was only unconscious.
"My powers have no effect on them." Magneto exclaimed as he tried to halt the approaching Skullgrin.
"Naturally; Pretenders are Decepticons who hide inside organic shells, Galvatron must have suspected you might be around to spoil his plans." I called back flipping out of the way of Submaruaders laser blast.
"We don't hide human; we conserve Energon by telekinetically manipulating our outer shells instead of racing around like our Decepticon colleagues in robot form. Since our primary task is to defend Cybertron from the Autobots and there is so few Energon sources remaining there it is an unfortunate necessity." Octopunch informed as he joined Submarauder in attacking me.
"Don't lecture the flesh-bags, just kill'em!" Iguanus growled licking his lips as he set his sights on Black Widow intending no doubt to use that organic shell of his like any other predator might.
"This is a delaying tactic; some of you concentrate your assaults on those generators!" Cap cried hurling his shield into the nearest Decepticon shell and dislodging his weapon; Logan rolled his eyes as he tore into Octopunch's tentacled shell with his claws.
"I would if I could, but how exactly are we supposed to take those things out?" Spider-Man quipped flipping onto the back of Skullgrin and webbing up his eye sockets; Spider-Girl swung out of the range of fire from the retaliating attack and landed next to her father.
"Dis would be where we need one of your brilliant plans Mon ami." Remy added as I flung a few discarded items at the onrushing Octopunch; glancing around I had to concur, for once the super heroes were no match for their enemy. But then again I seriously doubted these Decepticons were fighting at half-strength like they most often did in the past; if Galvatron wanted to win he probably would have ensured his troops were at full power, and fully powered Decepticons were a heck of a lot tougher then half-powered ones.
"For once I don't have a brilliant plan Gambit." I called back with a small frown. "So in the immortal words of Princess Leia; help me Q-Bi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope." I called out praying that for once Q was in fact watching out for me; his answer was swift to arrive in the form of a bright flash and the appearance of six massive giants, or at least massive compared to a human. Pretender Shells were designed to mimic organics, but the process was still most likely in its infancy thus the Pretender Shells were roughly the size of an actual Autobot; these six giants however weren't Decepticon reinforcements.
"How'd we wind up on Earth Cloudburst?" One of the exceptionally tall human-like beings asked of his fellow.
"Don't ask me Sky High, but look; Bludgeon is up to his old tricks." Cloudburst replied raising a pistol and opening fire on the Decepticons.
"Landmine!" Bludgeon cursed as he recognized the apparent leader of these Autobot Pretenders.
"One minute on the moon, the next taking you down." Landmine retorted charging his Decepticon foe intent on blasting him to pieces.
"Now this is what I call reinforcements." Iceman remarked with a smile as the Autobot Pretenders took over the job of attacking the Decepticon Pretenders; I was struck dumb as I watched the fighting giants, it was just like watching the cartoon again in certain respects and for a brief instant a part of me was unwittingly dragged down nostalgia lane.
"Rutherford!" Magneto cried out quickly moving past the warring Pretenders and targeting the first of the generators.
"What?" I muttered. "Oh right; sorry, childhood dreams and all that." I sheepishly admitted before leaping over to the opposite side of the Pretender Wars, so to speak and eyeing the generators.
"Those are some serious toys." Wonder Man observed glancing up and up at the mighty shield generators; Rogue approached one and prepared to punch it out of commission, but I knew that was a bad idea while power was still flowing through them.
"Hold!" I cried causing Rogue to stop mid-swing. "Please Rogue; these things are coursing with who knows how many volts of electricity, or its' Cybertronian equivalent." I added squaring my shoulders and beginning to take calm meditative breaths. "Leave this to us." I added indicating Magneto with a brief nod; closing my eyes I reached within and felt the gift of my inner gravitational pole, a form of concentration I rarely used since perfecting my powers aboard Voyager what seemed a life time ago. Sub-consciously I began to sing, literally sing that one theme from Star Wars that was used whenever Luke harnessed the Force; and with a gentle mental shove I began to tear the generators from the ground discovering that their power sources were internal.
"Who is this guy?" Cloak demanded; Scarlet Witch, Black Widow and Rogue giggled and I opened my eyes to discover half the generators in my grasp, Magneto had the other half and seemed to be straining slightly most likely due to the density of these compact little buggers, though little was relative.
"What next; Iron Man isn't here to blast these and I don't think Wonder Man or Vision has efficient firepower to destroy them." Iceman commented; during all this the Punisher had been relatively quiet, in point of fact he hadn't been fighting much. But now his preparedness would come to our aid; pulling out a very large semi-automatic he took aim and began peppering the generators with bullets, though not just ordinary run of the mill bullets. As was typical of this man; Punisher had conceived and engineered Cybertronian piercing shells, the little beauties tore through the generators as if they were made of tinfoil setting off a chain reaction that blew up a good portion of them. For the rest; I simply tossed'em, as high as I could they spiraled up into the sky and vanished without so much as a puff of smoke.
"Look!" Colossus exclaimed pointing at the sky; I glanced up in confusion towards the source of his curiosity and saw a single vehicle race into the city.
"That wasn't an Autobot." Black Widow remarked with a frown.
"Yes; I recognized the configuration of a Cobra Night Raven." Cap agreed with a brief glance my way.
"But Cobra's out for the count at the moment; GIJoe took it down hard recently." I admitted with a frown of my own; something was nagging me about the Night Raven, but I couldn't think of what for the moment.
"Maybe a scout?" Spider-Man wondered.
"More likely a courier with messages to their operatives in the city." Punisher countered; then it hit me and I grinned broadly shaking my head in the process.
"That's no Cobra operative of any kind." I stated assuredly. "That my friends was another answer to our prayers, until Optimus get's my message I believe the only Transformer capable of going toe to toe with Galvatron just barreled into our fair city." I added with a smug expression.
"Really?" Spider-Girl wondered. "I thought you implied no Transformer alive could take on Galvatron." She pointed out.
"Correct Spider-Girl; I did imply that no Transformer alive could take on Galvatron." I repeated emphasizing the one word.
"Are you saying that's a dead one?" Logan asked. "Call me skeptical, but I thought once they died they stayed dead." He added pulling out a cigar from a pocket on his uniform.
"Usually they do, but there was and is one who is the Cybertronian equivalent of… Well lacking any better comparisons; a Vampire." I returned with a smirk; the heroes present shared a look uncertain as to whether or not that was necessarily a good thing. "Oh trust me; he's currently ticked off and seeking vengeance against Galvatron for a certain slight that was performed upon him; for you see, that Cobra Night Raven is in fact, Starscream." I finished crossing my arms over my chest with a knowing expression on my face; Rogue's eyes widened.
"So a three year old girl and a Decepticon are the only hope we have to stopping Galvatron and saving New York City?" Iceman asked.
"Seems that way Mon Ami." Gambit replied shuffling his remaining cards and integrating a new deck; where'd he keep all those decks in that coat anyway?
"Well to borrow a quote from our friend's favorite movie franchise." Spider-Man began. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He recited; Logan rolled his eyes while some of the others turned to eye the still fighting Pretenders wondering if they should turn their sights back on them in order to contain the battle.
To Be Continued; Did I promise an explosive finish or what??? LOL Not much to say here except, please be kind and Review.
A Cobra Night Raven flies over the city skyline of New York the cockpit flaring red; The Transformers logo descends beneath the landing gear and hovers just below it before it transforms into the new body of former Air Commander Starscream and opens fire on the World Trade Center Square down below. "The Transformers will Return After these Messages."