!WARNING!
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS... ACTION?
Okay, not much to warn you about. There will next week, though...
*cough*
Enjoy!
:D
Chapter Ten: Everything Will Be Alright
"Put me down! Put me down! Put me down! I've got to break free! Flash Bang needs me! Gearshift needs me! Rush needs me! Vortex has to go, now!"
Prowl smirked as he dropped Blurr to his support servos. The speedster was somewhat dazed at first, but after darting from one side of the ever spanning room to the other, he seemed to somewhat find his bearings and dash at Vortex. The shadow's optics widened and he evaded the speedster's charge, firing back at him with his tendrils as he had with Prowl. But it was impossible to hit Blurr with his legendary speed. Vortex was becoming erratic and worried to boot, something Prowl knew he and Blurr had to take advantage of.
As Vortex continued his volley of futile attacks, Prowl advanced, using his holoprojectors to trick Vortex into thinking that he was firing upon the shade with lasers. Luckily for Prowl, this worked like a charm, and Vortex was soon drifting back towards the empty cage. Blurr was literally running circles around Vortex, catching on to what Prowl was doing quickly and altering his actions to be of use to the ninjabot's strategy. Vortex didn't realise, but he was being herded into the very cage he'd sealed Blurr into.
Prowl remained directly in front of Vortex, firing his fake lasers as Blurr kept him central by dashing from one side of him to the other. Vortex was close to the cage now, just a little more and-
CRACK!
The ground shook with tremendous force, the ceiling beginning to collapse. Blurr stalled as a chunk of roof fell towards him, dodging with his usual speed but allowing an opening for Vortex to escape through. Another piece of roof came down behind the shade, crushing the cage. Dust billowed out throughout the room, and from somewhere in its murk, that horrible, vindictive laughter from Blurr's nightmares emanated.
"Did you really think defeating me would be so easy?" Vortex bellowed. "You've hardly begun to see what I can do!"
There were flashes around the room, but not of light, they were images. More specifically, they were Blurr's memories – all the bad ones. Blurr was frozen in place as he was forced to relive the pain of the crusher, the confusion of not remembering anything, the fear of losing Flash Bang. He fell to his knees, clamping his servos to his cranial unit, shaking with pain. He didn't want to go through it all again. It was so painful.
"Blurr! Hold on!" Prowl begged. "They know how to save you! But if you lose this fight, you'll lose your memories again!"
Blurr whimpered. He didn't want to forget. Not again. He didn't want that confusion, that loss. But most importantly, he didn't want to lose Flash bang.
"Blurr!" a voice screamed throughout the cavernous room. Blurr's cranial unit snapped up at the voice. That voice was hers, Flash Bang's. She was calling out to him. She was close.
"Flash Bang?" Blurr replied, his spark filling with warmth. The pain began to lift as the memories presented to him by Vortex were beaten back by those of Flash Bang. And not just Flash Bang, but of Wheelie and Dug Base, of his sparklings, Gearshift and Rush, or the wonderful family he'd become a part of since falling in love with his precious red femme.
In one quick movement, Blurr was back on his support servos, low down in a crouch with one servo flat against the ground for balance. He looked up at Vortex with fiery optics, a rage burning deep within them. Vortex had forced his loved ones through so much, and for what? Blurr's body? He scoffed at the idea. Even the best of the Decepticons' scientists wouldn't have a clue what made Blurr Blurr – truly the fastest thing on wheels. They'd just see refined mechanisms, but nothing particularly special. There were only two bots besides Blurr who knew his secret, and they'd gone offline a long time ago. Vortex's plan had been for nothing.
Blurr dashed forwards, straight at Vortex, katana in one servo and chainsaw buzzing on the back of the other. Prowl looked at him as he ran, noticing that his faint appearance was growing stronger. No longer was he fading into nothing, he was brilliant and bright once more.
He was back.
"Prowl! Help me out here!" Blurr demanded as he ran circles around Vortex, literally. "Keep him busy!"
Prowl did as asked, replacing Blurr in his distraction. Blurr, on the other servo, dashed back from the two of them, dodging more debris as it fell from the ceiling. A sudden twinge in his chest made him falter, but he pressed on. He was running out of time and had to make use of what little he had left.
This was his dreamscape he reminded himself as he forced his will out, erasing the debris from the ground until all was clear. But he didn't stop there. Where he had shortly before been imprisoned, he created another cage, larger, more robust. He turned and called to Prowl.
"Swap!" he shouted, charging to where Prowl was as the ninjabot leapt to the cage. "This is for me to do."
Blurr faced Vortex, whose ever changing mass formed a dark reflection of Blurr, struggling as it did so.
"Your time is up, Vortex," Blurr hissed. "It's time to get rid of you for good."
"So what, you'll risk losing your memories, again, just to be rid of me?" Vortex scoffed. "What about that pretty little femme of yours? She'll be distraught if you forget her."
Blurr did nothing. Vortex was pushing him, stalling for time and trying to force him into making a mistake. It wouldn't work.
"If I lose my memories, then so be it," he snarled. "At least Flash Bang won't have to worry about you."
Still vaguely in Blurr's shape, Vortex leapt at the speedster, shadowy tendrils lashing at him. Blurr blocked and parried every attack with his weapons, not letting a single trace of Vortex's darkness near him. The fact that Blurr was regaining strength was evident, and Vortex was worried. He felt his end coming over the horizon and his desperation rose.
"You cannot defeat me!" Vortex roared. "No matter what you do, I will always come back! I may not have your body, but that doesn't mean I won't have someone elses!"
Blurr hadn't thought of that. Was he the only living subject of the Vortex Upgrade? Were there others? But as quickly as the thought came, he pushed it away. That was something to worry about later.
Prowl was stood atop the cage, holding the door open in preparation for Vortex. Blurr lashed out at Vortex, his sword catching him across his undulating chest plate. Vortex yelped, but didn't seem particularly affected by the attack. Still, he seemed worried enough by Blurr regaining ground that he continued to move back, not noticing the setup around him. But Blurr realised it was a ruse when Vortex suddenly swelled to an enormous size.
"I told you!" Vortex roared. "I cannot be defeated by you!"
"Blurr..." came Flash Bang's voice once more. "Blurr, I love you."
Blurr began glowing, brilliant blue light radiating from his armour and forcing the shadow that was Vortex into submission. He wasn't sure what was happening, but one thing was for sure. He had to get out of this, if only for Flash Bang.
"I love you, too," he whispered.
Vortex began to scream. He fought against Blurr with everything, but Blurr's sheer determination to break away from this, from him, overpowered the shade. Blurr's light shrank Vortex down to his previous size, and the dazzling brilliance put him off balance. He stepped back and fell into the cage.
CLUNK!
Prowl slammed the cage door closed, Blurr dashing forwards to bind it shut with the strongest chains and locks he could imagine. Vortex tried to slip between the bars, but Blurr imagined them gone, replaced by solid steel walls. The invader hissed and roared inside his prison, thrashing wildly in an attempt to break free. But it was all for nothing, or so Blurr hoped.
"I can't risk him breaking loose again," Blurr murmured, half to himself, half to Prowl. "Go back to Flash Bang; tell her that whatever needs to be done must be done. Vortex won't stay in that cage forever, but I can hold him for long enough."
"This place is collapsing because of what the medics are doing to you," Prowl told him. "They're transferring your spark to a new protoform. They're going to-"
"Reboot me, I guessed," Blurr cut him off. "Let them do it. And tell Flash Bang that everything will be alright."
*gasp*
So, what's gonna happen now? I don't know if you'd class this as a cliffhanger, but if you do, sorry for the third one in a row!
TFAArtFreak – I aim to update every Monday, unless something gets in the way :)
Luna Prime- Awesomeness – I'm sorry! D:
Please review!
:D