Been itching to post this. :3 I hope that I don't take too long to write the next portions and get them out as well. :( trying to update this thing at least once a month!
Thanks to everyone still reading!
Chapter 20
"What have you done?!"
Jazz spun around at the sound of a strange male voice. Dr. Mays stood at the end of the hallway, surveying the damage wrought to his cages. All the work undone! The authorities were sure to check the building after tonight. They would know his secret and he would have to run or be subject to police investigation. No one would understand why he had done this. They'd think he was a mad man. But hadn't he been careful to find fodder for the aliens that wouldn't be missed? Those that had surrendered to the whiskey or the opium? And then he had done so much good as well! He had learned so much for medical science!
Mikaela's face caught his eye. His handsome face distorted into something nightmarish as he raged, "YOU! You did this! You brought these... THINGS here!"
Jazz pushed Mikaela and Sam behind him, aiming his gun at the approaching human. His spark felt tight. In all his years on-line he'd never thought he'd be faced with the prospect of killing a sentient organic- mad killer though that organic might be. The man deserved to go to trial for what he'd done, but in the interest of protecting the humans around him it might be wise to just shoot. There was no hope of him simply winging the man, an autobot gun would obliterate the body. It was made for melting through and destroying layers of armor as thick as a human's arm, not for stunning or simply disabling an organic.
Maggie suddenly popped up from where she had been huddled with the underfed woman and her children. With no way of getting to her rifle quickly from that position, she pulled out the derringer and took a shot at the doctor. His body dropped to the floor silently.
The bot stared at Maggie in shock. She shrugged and holstered the tiny weapon, it's only bullet discharged. Her hands shook as she dusted off her shirt, "Well it's not like it was going to work on any of your kind."
Mikaela gulped, "We need to get out of here!"
"That's a given, let's head for the exit," Maggie lifted one of the children onto her hip, starting to go towards the stairway.
Suddenly, the back wall of the building came crashing open and a horrific creature thrust itself through. Jazz heard himself yell in shock. He'd never seen anything like the raging piece-meal robot that was standing where the wall used to be. It roared in some kind of frustrated rage, it's lower jaw completely gone."What the slag is that thing?!"
"Can't get out that way," said Sam, his calm voice sounding out of place in the chaos. The drone continued to blunder it's way closer to the group.
Maggie dropped the child and pulled out her rifle. Squinting one eye, she started taking shots at the creature, aiming for the flopping piece of gray metal she believed to be it's tongue, "You lot got us into this mess, you get us out!"
The wall dividing the room full of cells and Starscream's quarters crumbled inwards as Sideswipe's body barreled through it. He got to his feet slowly, rubbing his head.
"Are you alright?" asked Mikaela, horrified.
The red bot shook mortar from his head fins, "Yeah, bricks are softer than Decepticons."
Jazz looked over his friend's shoulder to see the mantling Starscream beyond, "Feel like switching targets for a bit?"
Sideswipe looked at the zombie-like robot slowly crawling it's way towards them, it's spark chamber grossly empty, "Uh, sure. Why not?" He looked around for something to throw, his guns still recharging from his fight with Starscream. The butcher table from one of the rooms looked sturdy enough. He pulled at it, destroying the thin slat-board and plaster wall easily. A moment of study gave him the balance of the thing, then he sent it sailing towards what was left of the bot's head. It smashed through the zombie-bot's head, obliterating it.
"Oh that had to hurt," laughed the Autobot triumphantly. He winced as injuries to his air intakes ached. The body under the table started to lurch and gyrate, trying to stand.
"I don't think that thing is going to stay down," said Maggie.
He stared at the thing in awe and horror for a moment before returning to his attention to the humans. "Ohhh-kay, here's the plan. Jazz and me'll keep Starscream busy while you get out of here."
Sideswipe looked over the small collection of humans. They were tiny, helpless against the drone or starscream. "I... "
"Right. You keep them distracted and we'll take care of the rest," Maggie reloaded the derringer and handed it to the other girl, then reloaded her rifle. With one child on her hip and the rifle in the other hand, she turned to head down the hallway. As Mikaela reached for the last child, a great black shape crashed over the spasming drone body and before them. Ravage advanced towards her slowly, stalking.
"What in the world are you!?" Gently Maggie shoved the children behind her and pointed the rifle at the cat-like robot. "Alright, stay back you, I'm warning you-"
Ravage chomped the end of the barrel in half neatly, "Warning me, madame?" He coiled and readied himself to pounce. As he dove, a red arm clotheslined him, knocking his jaw out of alignment as his mouth hit an arm guard.
"Back off, mangy," shouted Sideswipe. He clutched his arm where Ravage's teeth and claws had torn furrows. It wasn't deep enough to severe any fluid lines, but it stung. He nodded to Maggie and the others, "Get out of here before Ravage or that thing recovers!"
Mikaela looked back at him once but continued down the stairs as he shouted after her, "Go! We'll come and help you later if we can!"
00000
Lifeless husks though the drones may have been, they fought with the knowledge they had once possessed. Optimus tried not to look too closely at the bots he was fighting, least he recognize someone's parts.
It was inevitable, however, that he see at least one bot he knew. He pushed the head of one bot away from him, trying to keep the still functional jaw from taking a bite out of him. He choked on the breath in his intake, "Mirage!"
The distinct yellow optics of the upper class did not blink in recognition at it's name. The slack face didn't falter as the drone-Mirage renewed his attack on his former comrade. Optimus struggled, trying to figure out how to disable the drone without hurting Mirage. Surely there was something left of his friend's mind!
The spark chamber was just as empty as the other more piece-meal bots. Fists beat against Optimus mercilessly. With each sharp clang, he grew angrier.
The drone didn't stop even when the top of the building exploded in laser fire. Starscream came boiling out like an angry hornet from a broken nest. While the rest of Megatron's cronies were preoccupied with jeering at the mentally unhinged jet, Optimus spotted the humans trying to escape the now burning hotel. They needed a distraction. He managed to pull Mirage away from himself for a moment and called out, "Megatron! Come down here and prove to me you're worth fighting under! We could never join someone who wasn't strong enough to lead us. Let's see if you've still got an edge after four million years of your head in the sand."
Megatron jumped from where he was standing to land near the big Autobot. He sized up Optimus. In a fair fight they would be equally suited. Megatron estimated that Optimus' cannon was capable of firing the same caliber of rounds as his, and their stature spoke for itself. While Megatron had experience on his side, Optimus was young, determined, and most likely faster. The one major advantage that Megatron had, the one that made him confident, was Optimus was angry and Megatron knew how to make him even angrier.
A silver fist reached out and grabbed Mirage by the neck. The Decepticon had no worries that the drone would attack his own commander, "Then if we are to battle it should only be between the two of us." He picked up the drone and threw it to the ground, stomping his foot through the control box on it's chest. It stopped moving.
"NO!" roared Optimus, seeing the light go from his friend's face.
The two robots crashed together with enough strength behind them to shatter the remaining windows in the hotel. Optimus took a swing that connected with the big Decepticon's chest, knocking the wind out of him. Megatron in turn made a savage punch that connected with side of his opponents head, knocking one of Optimus's head fins loose. Megatron leveled his gun at the Autobot, who surprised him by rushing forward and pushing the gun upward to fire straight into the night sky.
Megatron laughed and grabbed the Autobot by the collar of his armor and threw him backwards. Optimus skidded on the pavement, leaving a deep furrow in the cobblestones. He didn't pause a moment and threw himself at the Decepticon leader once more, trying to lever his gun under the other's neck.
Prowl edged around the battle to where Sideswipe and Jazz were trying to help the trapped humans out of the rubble. "Where's Perceptor?"
He could barely hear Jazz's voice over the clanging of the battle, "He's up here, but we gotta get the little humans down first."
Irritated, the Lieutenant reached out his hands for Jazz to set down three of the tiny bundles. Carefully he laid them down beside Mikaela and two other women, one of which was obviously the mother of the child. The other new comer, a healthy looking blond, grabbed the corner of his armor, "Please, you've got to get these people to safety."
"Look, lady, I've got my own wounded to worry about-" Prowl started to turn, but the blond wouldn't let go. She gave him a fierce look, "You're the only one that can get them out of here. All you need to do is load them up and take them about two or three blocks that way, away from the battle. I know how fast you people can go, I've seen Jazz and Sideswipe race."
Mikaela chimed in from where she was trying to stay standing. Her eyes were swollen and red, "Prowl, please. I don't want to see anyone die."
Prowl opened his mouth a third time, optics going from her eyes to the rise of the building where he could see Sideswipe struggling to steady himself as a tremor shook the ground. "Fine." Prowl turned and yelled to Sunstreaker, "Get over here and take my place. Help Jazz and Sideswipe get Perceptor down."
Smoothly, Prowl transformed into his vehicle mode, popping a door open for the woman and her children. The woman hesitated a moment, but quickly loaded up her little ones, eager to get away from the roaring battle. It only took the black and white steam car a few moments to get far enough away from the battle that he could drop off his passengers. The woman hobbled out, children in tow, and patted the frame of his door, "Bless you."
Prowl didn't move for a moment, unsure of how to respond. He slowly closed his door, then sped back towards the battle.
The drones stood at attention, or as near to it as they could, watching their commander, as the Decepticons cheered him on. Prowl mentally shook his head and sent a com, //Stop reacting, Optimus, and think.// The com went unreplied.
"Anger is an excellent weapon," said Megatron as he dodged a red fist. The blue and red Autobot was a better fighter than the Decepticon had given him credit for. Although Megatron's new body was powerful, he ached in places where plates had been knocked loose and the circuitry underneath was damaged.. "Use it to fuel you, to temper you. Perhaps if you autobots had learned that earlier there would be more of you left."
Optimus's vision narrowed to just himself and his opponents. He could feel his breath cycling hard through his vents. Optimus knew he had to keep Megatron busy or else all their lives were forfeit.
From the edge of the building Sunstreaker yelled insults at friend and foe alike, "Come on, Optimus! Primus! That was the sorriest shot in the history of combat! Use that cannon like you mean it!"
Sideswipe growled at his brother, "'If he does that and the shot goes wild he could hit one of the buildings!"
"Since when did you care about that?" snorted Sunstreaker flatly. When the battle came, you either fought or got out of the way. If you didn't do either you were just cannon fodder as far as he was concerned.
Sieswipe's teeth plates ground together in frustration. His voice was strained as he spoke through them, "These humans are a lot braver than you're giving them credit for. I saw that little yellow one take on a drone and then ravage with just a skinny little human gun!"
His twin sneered at him, "Is that bravery or stupidity?"
"Like you've ever known the difference to that," muttered Sideswipe with ill-temper. They'd seen death and destruction on the battle field before, but there was something different now. It just felt wrong to be fighting again after all this time, especially among creatures who had no natural defense against them.
Prowl was heading back to the battle when he saw a battered little yellow wagon come speeding towards the scene. Bumblebee screeched to a halt, almost throwing his passengers out of the cab. Hawthorne and Ronald were running as fast as they could, Bee transforming and racing after them. Prowl saw the whole thing in slow motion. The world was in focus only for instants, like the shutter of a camera. There was Astrotrain laughing as he ripped off one of the corner towers of what was left of the hotel. Then it was coming towards them. Prowl tried to make his feet move faster but his calculations told him there was no way to make it in time.
There was another frozen moment as the tower slammed into Bumblebee, who had put himself between the battle and his human friends, then another as it seemed to bounce off and over him, tumbling right into the two humans.
The world sped up again as Prowl heard Bumblebee screaming. Somehow the tower had not done much damage to him, the spin on it causing the masonry to roll over him and forcing him face first into the cobblestones. Bee's face plate was a mess of energon and scratches, from the grinding sound of his joints there was something broken there as well.
Over the sound of the battle raging behind him, Bumblebee could not pin point the heartbeats of the two humans and his arms didn't seem to want to respond as he dug through the rubble- he was running out of energy. For a sickening moment he thought that it was all over. But then Prowl was there beside him, reaching down to lift up a solid wall of brick to reveal Hawthorne and his son, damaged but alive.
Hawthorne coughed weakly. The construction on the tower had been incredibly dense. When the tower had cartwheeled over bumblebee it had struck the ground and slid to a stop, trapping the two men under a supported archway. Ronald grunted, trying not to scream. He was fairly certain the upper bone in his leg was broken, possibly some other breaks as well. His father grabbed a length of wood and started strapping Ronald's leg to it. He muttered tensely to him, "It's going to be okay, every thing's gonna be fine."
Optimus made a grab for Megatron, as the other pulled his enemy towards him. In the tangle Optimus found his gun jammed against Megatron's chest. Underneath his mask he smiled and fired his canon, feeling smug at the shocked look on his opponent's face. The concussion of the blast knocked Optimus's systems askew, disorienting him.
Megatron screeched in pain, his warning system shrieking over the close proximity of the blast to his spark chamber. Now he was angry. He whirled Optimus around by one arm, levered a foot underneath the bot's chest and pulled. There was a warning fizzle and then a pop as the autobot's arm was ripped from it's socket. The bot immediately went into a state of shock and couldn't even cry out. He crumpled to the ground at his Megatron's feet. With a quick gesture, the Decepticon leader kicked Optimus' helm, knocking his optics off-line temporarily.
Megatron tossed the arm unceremoniously on top of the bot's body. From where he was laying Optimus could just make out the figures of Sam and Jazz in the building. He could see a considerably damaged Sideswipe calling to Jazz, who was holding a sad looking bundle of parts. Perceptor.
Optimus looked up at the barrel of Megatron's gun. He'd let it come to this, this was his own fault. Perceptor was either in stasis lock or worse, and Sideswipe looked like he'd taken enough damage to possibly follow him. Jazz, Prowl, and Sunstreaker bore no few wounds either, and he himself was now missing an arm. He didn't even know if the others continued to function. His only consolation was that the humans were safe. There was no reason for them to become casualties in this rivalry between the two Cybertronian factions. Optimus looked at Megatron calmly and waited for the blast to come.
Grimlock had been watching the proceedings with only nominal interest. If Maggie had asked him to wait there, then he would wait there- provided no one irritated him again. He found the Autobots to not be of much interest if they weren't annoying him. He snorted steam from his vents impatiently. As the big silver bot raised his cannon to the Autobot leader's head, Grimlock noticed a bobbing blond head in the clutch of humans beyond the fighting. "MAGGIE!"
The giant robot stomped single-minded towards his friend. Megatron turned and fired his cannon at Grimlock, feeling the bruiser coming straight for him to be the greater threat. Grimlock caught the blast on his flaming sword, knocking him back a step or two and shattering his weapon. This situation did not make Grimlock happy. His friend was in danger, there was someone in his way, and that someone had just destroyed his favorite object in the world. He stared at Megatron, a growl deep in his throat. The Decepticon leader sneered and went to take a second shot. The big metal plated monster was faster than Megatron anticipated. In a smooth few steps, he'd grabbed Optimus' arm off the ground and swatted Megatron's gun with it, sending the shot wildly askew. Grimlock then grabbed the cannon and tried to crumple it. The Cybertronian metal proved to be more resilient than it looked, frustrating him. He tossed the weapon over his shoulder in frustration then proceeded to give Megatron a thorough beating using the discarded arm as a bludgeon.
Sunny watched from where he stood helping Sideswipe stand as the weapon sailed over their heads and into the distance. He looked at his brother who shrugged, "I think we finally met someone scarier than you are, Sunny."
The yellow soldier rolled his optics in frustration, watching his brother stumble a few paces to stand on his own. Sideswipe dusted off his arms and backed away from the two combatants, holding onto a building corner to steady himself as a tremor went through the ground from bots being slammed into the pavement. He looked at his brother irritably, "Just because you're still in mostly one piece, doesn't mean that you're going to stay that way."
Sunny huffed, taking his brother's position on the precarious ruins of the second floor, "I'm fine right here. Personally I'm enjoying watching someone effective beating Megs."
Sideswipe watched Grimlock and Megatron dance farther away from the building, "Okay, Jazz, hand down Sam first, then we'll take Perceptor and then you can get out of there."
What was left of the building swayed dangerously. Sam coughed, "Uh, I think it'd be better to send Perceptor down first before the building comes down. I mean, I can always get down from here with Jazz.."
Jazz looked sadly at Perceptor's still form. There were deep furrows in his chest from Starscream's claws, and many parts of his armor were missing. One eye was completely gone, and his helmet was split over the wound. All that showed he was still alive was the soft glow of his spark, the pulsing visible through the gouges on his chest. "Don't worry, buddy, we're gonna to get you to Ratchet and get you patched up."
Gingerly he handed Perceptor down to Sunstreaker. It was impossible to tell if Sunny was affected at all by the smaller bot's injuries as he handed him to his brother. He slid back to the ground, leaving Jazz to climb down on his own. Sideswipe took Perceptor from his brother and carried him a few paces away from the creaking remains of the hotel. At this distance the small bot was in no danger from a stray blast, step or a building cave-in.
Sunstreaker leaned against the building, ignoring the shaking structure, only moving to dodge falling masonry. He was busy dusting off masonry from his shoulder and didn't see the shot. He didn't see Grimlock dodge the bolt, deflecting it off a shoulder plate right into the path of the building where he was standing. In fact, his back was turned when his twin tried to plow him out of the way of the blast.
He could feel the wires and cables separating on his back armor and felt echoes of Sideswipe's pain as the bolt tore through his shoulder. He shook his helm and tried to sit up, servos grinding as he tried to understand what was happening. He couldn't manage to get his limbs to respond to his desperate mental scrambling. All he could see was a big purple arm lift Sides' immobile body from the ground, tossing it over a shoulder. A purple foot shoved itself under Sunstreaker's chest and kicked him casually backwards.
The circle of fighting had stopped. Astrotrain held the unconscious bot up; a damaged but still functional gun shoved up under Sideswipe's black helm. Above him on the building, Soundwave and Thundercracker held Jazz and Sam between them. Grimlock took a step towards the injured Megatron, ignoring the hostages. Starscream shrieked, "Back off, briggand, or the Autobots will be destroyed."
Grimlock growled up at Starscream as Slag and Swoop began slowly stomping after him. "Me Grimlock no Autobot, me Grimlock IRON KNIGHT."
"Grimlock!" shouted Maggie, her voice hoarse from screaming over the din all night. "Grimlock you have to stop!"
The big machine stopped, looking over at Maggie. "Her Maggie safe?"
"Yes... I'm safe, I'm FINE. Please..."
Grimlock sighed and crossed his arms. "Hmph."
Megatron took to the air, stopping on the top of the building, "So, it ends in a draw, Autobots. I think tonight will give you reason to think over my offer. Farewell."
END PART 1