On the bank of the Grand River, Clunk's snout rested, soaking in the sunlight. He was waiting for something, and he knew what it was he was waiting for. Sooner or later, it would be feeing time. The question was when it would happen, and what food he'd receive this time.
He spotted Bracken coming towards him, holding a truck in his hands. His fear began to peak. He let out a menacing growl, uneasily shifting on the bank.
"No, Clunk, it's not Optimus. It's just a simple truck," Bracken said, setting the truck on the ground in front of the crocodile. "Eat up, okay? There's going to be another crackdown."
Clunk groaned, but reluctantly swallowed the truck. He let out a series of growls, questioning about the Newborn Sparks.
"I've already spoken to Crystillex; he gave them the clue," Bracken said. "If you'll excuse me, buddy, I have a friend waiting."
He scrambled up to the nearby bridge, joining Equilibrium. "He does not think. He only sees," he commented sadly. "I fear for both his world and ours."
"You think you're afraid," Equilibrium said. "I am too. It won't be long now. The undead are bowing down to Brono so sickeningly that it for once in my life makes me want to vomit." He lowered his voice. "That's not the worst of it, though. I've seen Brono drinking the energon of the dead."
"No!" Bracken exclaimed.
"Yes," Equilibrium said grimly. "He had Rockslide slain just so he could drink the energon. He never trusted Rockslide anyway, so that just makes it even more sour!"
Bracken looked aghast. "What are we going to do!?"
"We have to escape. Now," Equilibrium said, pointing to Clunk. "Sooner or later, we'll be slain as well. Clunk's our only way out—"
"AHA!"
The yell pierced the air like the teeth of a sabertooth. Equilibrium and Bracken whipped around to see Powertron standing there behind them. "I knew you two were plotting against me!" he declared, striding towards them.
Clunk, sensing the danger, slid into the water and emptied his maw. Something was about to go down, and he wanted to be ready for it in case he had to protect those above him.
Powertron, however, was advancing on Equilibrium and Bracken. "How long have you been in league with them?" he demanded. "You tell me now!"
Equilibrium lost his temper. "Ever since the day you flayed my arm, you brainless, power-hungry megalomaniac!" he shot back. "You can try to turn me over, but the day you flayed my arm to the point of damaging it beyond repair is the day you sealed my fate!" he pulled out a sickle with his one good arm and placed it behind his head. "But you will never win, Brono. You will never know, never, how hell will defeat you!" The sickle moved, and the Decepticon fell over, headless, energon spewing from the stump of his neck. He had died instantly.
Bracken, seizing his chance, ran for his life. He wanted to be as far away from Powertron as possible, and there was only one way to do so. "CLUNK I NEED OUTTA HERE RIGHT BLOODY NOW!" he screeched.
The jaws of the crocodile slid open. Bracken made a tremendous dive within, grabbing a bar within the maw and holding on for dear life. The jaws snapped shut, and Clunk powered through the water quicker than the maximum speed Powertron could run. Within minutes the two were out of sight, the ripples in the water signaling their vanishing into the deep.
Powertron shrugged and turned back to the body. He knelt, and began to drink the energon coming from the wound. It was still nice and warm, and soon he detected a sweet taste enveloped within. Was that... could that be? Whatever it was, it was deliciously sweet. He knew he had to learn more. "Diehard!"
"Yes, my lord?" Diehard said, approaching from his post.
"Take a sample of this energon and see if there's something else in it," Powertron said, standing up briefly. "It is rather... sweet, if you know what I mean."
Diehard nodded. "Consider it done, my lord."
"Has your crew found the Newborn Sparks yet?" Powertron asked.
"No, my lord, sadly we have not. We are still searching for it," Diehard admitted, placing a small sample of the energon into a test tube. "The fleshlings are utterly perplexed so as to why you are after them, my lord. And for good reason, too."
"They do not understand the technology of ours," Powertron stated. "Which is why I have you working with them, Diehard. You understand it."
"No, my lord, that's not it," Diehard said. "They think it's hiding among their kind. They're searching for the location, which is unknown. We're still looking; we haven't given up yet."
"Tell them to find it or I'll slaughter the lot of them!" Powertron growled. The moment Diehard was gone he resumed his consumption. Not one drop must be wasted. He was sure of it now: he was drinking blood.
Human blood.
"Blood? Gross!" Tessa complained, disgusted. "Who does that?"
"I agree with you, Tessa. Gross," Bumblebee said. "Put out the fire when you're done, okay?"
The two groups had joined back up, taking shelter just outside the city of Chicago. The revelation of the Allspark being among them was encouraging; the Matrix of Leadership was yet to be found. The Transformers had hit the sack already, and now only Tessa and Cade were still awake that night.
"So you found it then," Tessa said, turning to look at her father.
He nodded. "We did find it, luckily. Megatron has it now. And you?"
"Nah, nowhere close. Hound remembered Optimus has it," Tessa said. She averted her eyes to the ground. "Dad, I – can I ask you something?"
"Sure, I guess," Cade said hesitantly.
"Do you think it was a good idea to send Mary with those looking for the Dinobots?" Tessa blurted out bluntly. "Be honest."
Cade merely shrugged. "They have their reasons, but you just don't know. It could be that they have a plan for the kid. Or maybe it's just something she feels she has to do."
"Or maybe they've tricked her into helping them, and when they're done with her they'll gladly dispose of her," Tessa said, extremely grim. "That would help us out a lot."
"What makes you say that, Tess?" Cade asked after a moment's hesitation. "She's a great friend up here!"
"Well, I mean – look at her. She's nothing, really. Just a pawn in the war," Tessa said, now looking at her father. "She's unlike you in a ton of ways. She's bluntly honest, quirky, vocal, bold – everything you're not. She even thinks like they do! Is there a conspiracy of some sorts here?"
"We don't know, Tess, but we can't just assume that she's better. Remember what Optimus said," Cade said.
They refused to speak any more on the subject, instead watching the fire. The fire crackled and popped, sending little embers off into the darkness like little fireworks into the night sky. A log fell off the top, burning brightly as a beacon would, turning to ashes the entire time.
"But there's one thing I can assume," Tessa said at last. When her father didn't speak she continued, "I can assume that we will not be parted by any means necessary."
Her hand fastened on top of his. For a brief, quickening moment, their eyes locked. Cade was the first to break away, finding it too creepy.
"I'm off to bed," he said. "Put out the fire when you're done."
He stood up, walked over to Bumblebee, and lay down in the backseat. He couldn't stop questioning herself or what she thought. Was this really worth fighting for? Then again, could they just stand around and let this happen? Surely the government could help them out a little bit! Oh wait – in the eyes of the government, they were traitors and had to be executed for treason. They swore it wouldn't happen again, but it did, and now – well, here they were.
Cade sighed. "What is this world coming to?" he asked himself. "How come these things have to happen? Why are we often in the middle of their wars? Why must we be involved?"
Of course, nobody answered him. Reluctantly, Cade rolled over, struggling to fall asleep. He couldn't shake the feeling that something crushing was about to happen to them. Little did he know she was dead right.
Outside, a black Ford Falcon pulled onto the highway, unnoticed by all but one.
The Appalachians looked even more treacherous during the night. The group of four had stopped just outside Dinobot territory, not willing to venture inwards during the night, and were sleeping right where they stopped. Well, almost all of them were asleep.
Lying against a ridge, Mary lay awake. She couldn't stop thinking about what Crystillex had said. Eventually, she became too restless to stay still, and slipped down from the ledge. Picking up the cannon – which transformed back into a simple horn – the girl proceeded to walk a ways away, just exploring the terrain a little bit.
"Considering everything that's been going on lately, it's a wonder I haven't gone crazy yet from all of it," she muttered to nobody in particular. "All because some guy asked me directions, and all because the Toyota was a Transformer..."
Then she stopped dead in her tracks. Someone – or something – was coming her direction. Big, heavy footsteps rocked the air and the ground, making it shake. Rocks tumbled downwards from the rocky mountain slopes. Trees shivered and shook with each step. Was a massive, unknown threat coming to take them on? Mary didn't stick around to find out. She turned tail and ran directly back to the three Autobots.
"Guys, wake up – company's coming!" she yelled.
The Autobots assembled immediately, weapons out and at the ready, and concerned looks on their faces. Moving fast, they pressed against the rocky slope, keeping out of sight, using the darkness to hide their forms.
A low bellow echoed through the air. It was loud and low, kind of like a dinosaur – a plant-eating dinosaur. Could it be a Dinobot? One of the Dinobots they were searching for?
"That sounds like Slug – I'd know his roar anywhere," Drift said, taking the precaution of lowering his voice. "Can it be possible that instead of us finding them, they found us?"
"It's possible," Crosshairs said. Beneath his breath, he added, "It's also possible for us to become sudden chow for KSI... it could be Crystillex going for another attempt."
"Remain calm, Crosshairs," Optimus responded. "We will not be taken off guard if we can help it."
The bellow came again, followed by cold, metallic words. "Grimlock! Come forth!"
More tramping signaled another dinosaur, probably a massive Tyrannosaurs Rex. "You summon me, Slug?"
"New scents!" the first voice bellowed. "New Transformer scents! Familiar!"
The group tensed up; Mary gulped. Slowly, the sound of three deep breaths filled the airy night. Very quietly, those breaths were exhaled, releasing warm air into the cool night. Everyone was on edge – just one little thing might set them off.
"Prime..." the second voice growled, taking another sniff. "I smell Prime..." he paused. "Prime is here! Slug, go back to home. I go find Prime."
"Oh my god no," Crosshairs moaned.
"Put a sword in it!" Drift hissed.
Now the thumping noises grew even louder. The lone dinosaur was coming closer and closer to the group. Then – out of the blackness of the night a massive head swung around the corner of the chasm, the lone red eye gazing down at them.
"Found you," Grimlock growled, his wickedly sharp teeth of his Tyrannosaurus form blazing silver in the moonlight. "Why you here, Prime?"
"We were looking for you," Optimus answered. "You and your mates. I assume they are nearby?"
Grimlock nodded. "Follow me."
The massive Tyrannosaurus Transformer led the group to a small-secluded area, covered by rocks, trees, bushes and lichen growing on the rocks. Also in that area were three Dinobots – a Triceratops, a Spinosaurus, and a Pteranodon. The Triceratops was the only one awake; upon seeing Drift he pressed forward, allowing the Autobot to caress his nose.
"How come you're so far in?" Crosshairs asked.
"Fleshling hunt us. Fleshling want to copy us. We disagree. We go. We hide in mountains. We are safe," Grimlock responded, turning around to face the four. "Safe on in. Sit."
The four sat down upon the grass a little ways away from the Dinobots who were snoring.
"What brings you here now?" Grimlock asked.
The Autobots explained the situation (Mary chose to stay silent). When they finished the Dinobot leader looked towards the two sleepers and let rip a short growl. The Spinosaurus and Pteranodon quickly woke up; seeing their guests and hearing the problem, they both gave angry snarls. Clearly they were not happy with the turn of things.
"Everyone okay?" the Spinosaurus asked.
"For right now, yes," Drift said. "We split up temporarily; we hope to regroup shortly."
Grimlock turned towards the Pteranodon, growled an order; the Pteranodon nodded with both heads and, flapping his wings hard, took off into the cool night air.
"Strafe finds others. You stay here. You safe with us," Grimlock explained. "Let sleep overcome us now."
With that, the seven of them fell asleep, grateful that the mission was finally accomplished.