"Ironhide, come with me. Activate your homing device so Ratchet and Bumblebee can find us." Optimus spoke quickly, giving orders. Ratchet had confidence Bumblebee would be fine, but he had his doubts that Bumblebee would be ready for battle so soon after being injured. He expressed these doubts to Optimus.
"I'm not sure Bumblebee will be ready." Ratchet said doubtfully. Optimus turned to him, ready to speak, when Bumblebee spoke for himself.
"I will be ready." He sounded sure of himself, and irritated that others were speaking for him. He was more than eager to get Mikaela back. He knew his human cared for her, even though they were obviously not meant for each other. Sam stepped forward.
"I'm coming, too." He stated, glaring at the Autobot's, daring them to argue with him.
"No, Sam." Bumblebee said from the ground. "It will be…too dangerous." Sam glared at him.
"If anyone is in no shape to go, it's you Bee. I'm coming." Sam stated, folding his arms. Optimus looked at him with a sigh; there really wasn't any way to stop the tiny human from going, other than tying him to a tree.
"Fine. Sam, come with me." Optimus glanced first to Ironhide, then to Elita and Chromia. "We must catch up with Arcee. Autobots, roll out!"
Mikaela awoke lying down on a car seat in total darkness. Her head was aching and her back was sore. She didn't remember much after her first initial shout of alarm in the forest. She had stopped crying, and had simply been resting and thinking when something had moved in the trees above her. Mikaela had shouted, then something had hit her on the back of her head, and everything had gone black. Now, she was in the back seat of a car, clueless as to where she was going, or whom she was with. She gave a small groan and rubbed her forehead. Her vision was still blurry from the blow, and she had a massive headache that reverberated throughout her entire head.
Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she tried to clear her brain and eyes to get a good look at her surroundings. She noticed bars between the front seat and back seat, and assumed she was in the back of a police car. Peering hesitantly into the front drivers seat, she noted in fear that there was no driver. Oh, fuck. She gave a small scream as Frenzy popped his head over the passenger seat and started chittering away at her in Cybertronian. She leaned back, pressing herself against the car seat and closed her eyes, willing this all to be a bad dream. Opening her eyes, she was quickly reminded that it was not a dream by Frenzy's face being inches from her own. She gave a yelp and swiped at him, and he chattered angrily at her, shaking a metallic fist in her face. She knew immediately she was inside of the same Decepticon that had attacked Sam. Barricade.
"Stop harassing the human, Frenzy." Mikaela heard a deep rumbling voice echo around her, vibrating her body through to her spine. She shivered, although she wasn't cold.
"Thanks…" She said to the car, her voice cracking in fear. Barricade gave a dark chuckle.
"Don't thank me yet, human. You are only alive because you will be useful to me in the near future, provided you cooperate." The voice and the words chilled her to the core, and she began shaking violently. What did he want with her? "You will be doing me a favor very shortly, and if you don't, I'll kill you." His words were short and to the point, and Mikaela couldn't come back with anything. She was terrified, she had no doubt in her mind that if she didn't do as he asked he would indeed kill her. Knowing this, she simply sat in quiet resolution and stared out the window as Frenzy chattered away and squirmed in the front seat. They rode like that in silence for quite some time, Barricade easily weaving in and out of traffic with his police sirens.
"So…why a cop car?" Mikaela finally asked him.
"It's the Decepticon way." Barricade replied with a snort. Mikaela licked her lips in apprehension.
"What…what do you want me for?" Mikaela asked, her hands clasped together tightly.
"Quiet, human. You'll find out soon enough." Barricade snarled at her, making a hard left turn into a large parking lot in front of a very abandoned building. Mikaela looked at the building in concern. The others would never be able to find her out here. Barricade burst through the front doors, and coming to a halt just inside the building. Mikaela hesitantly got out of the car, and cowered on the ground as Barricade transformed before her eyes. He was a horribly fascinating creature, terrifying though he was. Frenzy scrambled past her, excitedly jabbering. Barricade glared at Frenzy, who quieted.
"Now, little human." Barricade knelt down before her, his face inches from her own. "You'll do exactly as I tell you, or you will die." Mikaela stared at him in silence. Barricade pointed to something in the recess of the warehouse, unmoving. Mikaela could barely make out a huge shadow. Barricade grinned nastily.
"Go have a look." Mikaela really didn't want too, but she followed Barricades instructions. Walking gingerly over to the large shadows, she gave a shriek of terror and fell back as she recognized Megatron's large form lying on the ground. The huge hole that the Allspark had left had been restored, his leg reattached, and other various injuries were repaired.
"Shit!" Mikaela's shriek had echoed through the warehouse.
"What I need for you to do is to finish the job. There are certain repairs I cannot make. I am no medic. You hands are small and are necessary to connect the appropriate wires. Given your past, I assume you know how to do this." Barricade said pleasantly, his hand giving a twitch, and in place of the hand there was now a large cannon, aimed directly at her face.
"Do it now, or I'll kill you." Mikaela was trembling.
"I...I can't…" Optimus would never speak to her again if he knew she was the one to bring back Megatron. Barricade growled, shoving the cannon in her face.
"Then you will die." Barricade said, his gun clicking as it loaded itself. Mikaela swallowed and closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. It never came. Instead, the doors to the warehouse burst open, and in opening her eyes she saw standing in the door way one of the most terrifying Decepticons she had ever seen. It was huge. It towered over Barricade, dwarfing him by compassion. Barricade lowered the weapon, looking pleased to see the new arrival.
"Shockwave." Barricade said, grinning wickedly. Mikaela cowered behind Barricade, terrified as she watched the exchange. Frenzy was still, keeping a gun on Mikaela.
"Barricade." The new voice was low, and coldly calculating. "I bring support troops." Dark shapes were appearing behind Shockwave, and as he stepped through the busted doorway, three figures were cast into the light. Each one was terrifyingly worse than the previous, although none matched the dread Shockwave induced. One stepped forward, and Mikaela was amazed to see it was female.
"Thunderblast." Barricade said, shaking her hand. The female looked irritated, giving a glance over her shoulder. Another Decepticon was directly behind her, staring at her with eyes full of worship. Barricade snorted in amusement, as Thunderblast walked away,
"Hello Shortround. Still following Thunderblast around like a pet?" Barricade chuckled, the sound frightening to Mikaela's ears. The one called Shortround growled at Barricade, and didn't answer. Instead, he moved to stand near Thunderblast's side, apparently answering Barricade's question without meaning too. The female rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed with Shortround, but said nothing. The last Decepticon stepped forward, and reached out to shake Barricade's hand.
"Lugnutz. It has been many millennia since we have last spoken." The Decepticon nodded his agreement, then stood aside for Shockwave. Barricade took this opportunity to explain the situation to Shockwave, informing him of his plans for Mikaela. Shockwave shined a light on her, illuminating her presence to the other Decepticons. Mikaela met the one large robotic eye of Shockwave.
"Has she done it yet?" Shockwave asked, his voice low.
"No. She has refused." Barricade said in annoyance. "I was actually about to kill her and find someone else when-"
"That will not be necessary." Shockwave interrupted him. "Killing her would not benefit us at all." Mikaela let her breath out in a whoosh, which Shockwave heard, and added: "Yet." Mikaela looked up at him with terrified eyes, not speaking a word.
"Then what good does it do us keeping her alive?" Thunderblast snapped, folding her arms over her purplish blue chest. Shockwave looked over at Mikaela, who was trembling.
"Sometimes it is best to wait and think things through. Blowing things up is not always the proper thing to do, Thunderblast." Shockwave said, his cold and calculating voice sending chills up Mikaela's spine. Shockwave turned to face Mikaela.
"You refuse to repair our leader?" He asked the trembling girl.
"I…I do." She stammered.
"Your courage is admirable, but foolish." Shockwave said, then motioning to Barricade. "Keep her under guard. We will repair Megatron ourselves."
"I have tried, Shockwave. I took the fleshling because the remaining repairs are to delicate to be done by us. Even Frenzy could not achieve it." Barricade said, giving Mikaela a nasty glare. Gulping, she cast her eyes to Shockwave, who seemed to have taken over the leadership role. Shockwave was momentarily silent, until he turned to her. She screamed in pain as his robotic eye flashed, causing her to be temporarily blinded. She could feel her mind being penetrated, and all thoughts of her, her and Optimus, her and Sam, and all of the Autobots were laid bare to Shockwave. Her most innate feelings and thoughts for Optimus were stripped from her and dissected by this monster. She clawed the ground, writhing and screaming as Shockwave penetrated her mind, warping it, extracting memories from it, and controlling it. When she finally stood up, she knew neither herself nor the Decepticons in front of her. The only thing she knew was that she must fix the giant robot in front of her. Thunderblast's cruel laughter echoed throughout the deserted warehouse. Lugnutz and Shortround remained silent as Barricade and Shockwave watched Mikaela begin her repairs.
Ok guys, I realize that the whole mind control thing is a bit of a stretch, but since I couldn't make Mikaela cooperate in any other way (she fought with me on this too) I figured this was the best way to go. This is yet another chapter I am unhappy with.