Author's Notes: OMG he's back! Yes guys I have finally beaten my writers block, and in that time new trailers have come out for a fourth Transformers film! Yes it has been a while! I've also set up a separate account for some Marvel stuff I've been writing (Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker) But here it is. I will be finishing this very soon, so stay put as this gets very dark!
...
A UAV drone cast in dark blue plating sent a dark shadow looming ominously over Jasper Nevada. Soundwave was incredibly knowledgeable. He knew where the human friends of the Autobots made their home, and here he was four years later, hunting them yet again. Vengeance had crossed his mind several times since the humans had trapped him within the dreaded shadow zone. But he was loyal to Megatron with every fiber of his being, so his wants could wait, at least until he had retaken the Dark Star Saber from Autobot hands. Only issue was finding them, and their new base. He took a sharp turn and headed over the huge titanic crater that was old Jasper, now a crumbling ghost of what it was. After the Uranium rod was dropped on it, nothing remains but the outskirts nearby. The radiation was quickly dealt with thanks to technological help from Ratchet.
Soundwave was closing in for the kill...
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Earth, near the outskirts of Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom, a stricken Pave Low groaned as billowing smoke poured from a torn tail fin. As the Pave Low struggled to keep in a straight line, a smaller stealth chopper cast in black and purple metal flew alongside. Suddenly the tail rotors of the huge Pave Low snapped and buckled. The chopper began to spin out of control, a swirling cloud of black following the helicopter as it skimmed rooftops. The mighty rotors that continued to clap smashed and vibrated windows in the small houses below. People screamed and ran as the whining chopper fell lower and lower, its belly crashing through rooftops, sending shards of splintered roof tiles air born.
Finally the stricken chopper left the residential skies and slammed into a nearby empty field. As its taught underbelly crashed into the muddy ground, rolling over and snapping the spinning rotors like fragile bones, the tumbling helicopter began to shift into a pile of metal, until it became a humanoid figure.
Blackout growled as he rolled across the ground, his splintered rotors folding up onto his upper back. The dented metal of his trapeziums slid into place and he finally rolled to a stop, sitting up and groaning in agony. The final parts of his body snapped into place, the sharp crown-like spikes of his head splaying out over his lowered brow. The red optics under them rolled and shook until his vision was clear. His mustache plating snapped into place and his lips formed into a frown.
As the titan rested his huge three fingered palm on his head, shaking his head clear, the stealth chopper transformed, landing on feminine feet. The purple rotors folded onto her back and Airachnid strolled over to Blackout in his knelt position.
"Gah, Optimus got me good with an Energon burst in Scotland."
"Yeah, that plan went to scrap fast." Airachnid rested her palms on her hips, glancing down at Blackout. "You okay?"
"Huh? Well, apart from my alt form being unusable, yeah I'm grand." He sarcastically replied. "We never should have signed up for that, Flamewar is damn insane." Blackout growled, standing up and rolling his huge shoulders.
"You mean your old flame?" Airachnid snarled as she turned away.
"Hey, we were close, but you and I? We're better." He said. He heard a scoff and her shoulders jolted.
"So Chromia tickles your shaft, and I'm meant to just accept it?" Airachnid sighed. Suddenly two huge hands engulfed her shoulders, turning her to face the massive Blackout. Her optics widened at his stern ones.
"Enough. She means nothing, I mean look at what she's become. You mean so much more to me."
"That's a start." She smirked, walking away from him. Blackout scoffed and shook his grinning face.
"You're not going to make this easy are you?" He grinned.
"Mmm, no, no I'm not. This is too much fun." She said, looking back over her shoulder. Blackout stifled a gentle laugh and stood tall, looking over the midlands, huge rolling hills of green stretching for miles.
"We err, came a long way from Scotland." He raised an optic ridge. Airachnid nodded in reply.
"Yeah, you did well considering your tail damage. Does this mean I have to cart you around in a wheel chair or something?" She smirked. Blackout laughed with a short guffaw.
"Uh huh, why not just kick a Bot while he's grounded huh?" Blackout sarcastically replied.
"Mmm, maybe later." She tapped her chin in thought, eyes darting over the land. Blackout saw her in thought and limped over, dragging his damaged right leg behind. His two toes dug gouges into the land.
"So, how'd we get back?"
"Well I can fly." She huskily said, strolling forward slightly. Blackout raised an eyebrow.
"Well, what about me?"
"I'm not carrying you." She smirked. Blackout scoffed, shaking his head.
"We need a bridge then. Too bad I don't have some kind of portable device." He growled, kicking a lump of rock like a small pebble. Airachnid sighed heavily, turning to face him.
"You're too injured to fly Blackout. Stay put, I can take it from here." Airachnid stated bluntly.
"What? You're just going to leave me here?" He asked, hurt and confusion flickering in his optics. She sighed, dropping her head.
"Blackout, I'll get a bridge for you, once I've taken care of the bots."
"On your own?" No way." He spat. Airachnid groaned in frustration, rolling her head on her shoulders.
"It's time you realize that I am more than capable of acting alone. I'm a big Bot now." she said huskily. Blackout didn't fall for it.
"I don't care, I'm coming with you." He slammed his fists down into the ground, his torso trying to shift into the Pave low form. Airachnid felt a pang of pity as she watched him struggling to transform. His snapped rotors and bent plated struggled to shift into place and a loud mechanical gargling sounded, along with his groans.
"Come on, please, transform!" He growled, slamming his fists into the ground harder as he tried to form. "Transform! Transform you piece of scrap! Please!" Airachnid sighed as she watched him struggling. She cautiously walked over to him.
Blackout admitted defeat and roared as loud as he could, his mechanical back arching as hydraulic fluid spat from his lips. He reached over, wrapping his hands around a nearby tractor, lifting it and hurling it for miles, like it was a softball.
The green metal tractor disappeared over the foggy horizon. A loud thump sounded as gravity brought the husk of metal back down. Airachnid stepped back slightly from his display of aggressive strength. His burst of anger subsided and he felt weak and useless. He caught his breath, clouds of condensation puffing from his agape lips. His huge shoulders bobbed as he calmed.
He turned and there she was, looking at him with a mix of pity and sorrow. He lowered his gaze.
"You don't understand. I know you can handle yourself, but...But if I'm not there, and one of the bots get's lucky...you get...you-"
"Blackout-" she pressed a palm on his chest.
"I've lost too much already. Losing you...Grindor was too much...Scorponok...I can't let that happen to you." He mumbled, head sinking down. She reached up on tip toes, cupping his cheek.
"You won't, as long as you let me, be me." She said. He sighed reluctantly, his hard outer shell diminishing. His shoulders sagged and a gentle grin grazed his face. "Hiding me from everything dangerous, will only make me resent you, you know that. You know me..."
"You love a good hunt." He chuckled weakly, rubbing his huge thumb up the length of her slender arm. She smiled, leaning up as he lent down, pressing polymer lips.
Slowly they peeled away, red optics meeting purple aura eyes.
"Don't worry, I'll be back for you." She said, stepping back and transforming, dust flicking up in a dust cloud as her rotors roared. Blackout stood tall, watching the black and purple stealth chopper turn and fly away. It wasn't long before her loud rotors turned into a faint muffled clapping. Blackout sighed, dropping his head and shoulders. He growled at his situation, clenching his fist and dentures.
"There's got to be a way." He snarled, pacing in the field. He turned his head at the sound of sirens. "Scrap. Humans see a chopper go down, they send medics." he rolled his optics, knowing he needed to move, and soon.
"I could revert to my Cybertronian form, but the rotors would still be knackered!" He spat, peering under his armpit at the snapped remains of his rotors. He looked back at the nearby town, red and blue lights flickering against the brick house walls.
"Scrap! Deleting Pave Low form, re-uploading Cybertronian form." He sighed, shaking his head. He staggered slightly as his system rebooted. His optics shut down as did his core functioning processor. Then with a flash of red, his eyes returned. As he did, plates of dented broken metal fell from him, flakes shedding from tough, tired skin. The Rotors fell off too and soon his Protoform was generating new plates, taking shape all over his torso.
"Damn, 15%. Gotta move." He snarled, turning and jogging off towards the nearby barn. The sirens grew louder and as soon a he crouched behind the small barn, small to him anyway, the Ambulances and fire trucks arrived. He kept low, back pressed to the wooden barn. His huge palms spread out against the wall.
"Come on, come on, reboot already." he snarled, peering down as his broad chest returned to full strength. His pectoral like plates snapped into place, only smoother and lacking the cockpit features of a Pave Low. His arms became bulkier again, his muscle mass returning to the huge Protoform. His massive forearms and biceps snapped together, Energon based weapons sliding away into his arm, instead of machine gun barrels. His rotund shoulders clicked into place as the grey and silver plates locked on, no longer tattooed with the United States Air Force logo.
Finally he groaned in pain as the sharp prongs of jagged Cybertronian rotors emerged from his back, folding and splaying out form his spine.
"90%, come on." he said, the collar bone plates snapping into place below his neck. Finally his huge toes dug into the ground as his rounded knee pads locked into position on his broad shins.
"T-Cog updating...good." He nodded to himself, peering over his shoulder and around the barn corner at the police and medical teams, scratching their heads in confusion. A crash site with helicopter debris, but no chopper itself. He smirked villainously as he slid back behind the barn. He peered down as his T-Cog let out a mechanical gargle.
"Good to go." He grinned. Blackout stepped out from cover, standing at his enormous bulk and height above the terrified humans. "Well I gotta run, but...here are my details. Bill me for the damage." He smirked, emitting a powerful blue wave of energy. The men and women screamed as they ran by their cars, only to be eviscerated by the beam of energy. Stunned bodies dropped to the ground, the force of the blast sending the rescue vehicles rolling across the field, some erupting in balls of fire, sending sheets of jagged metal air born and ripped tires sky high. He laughed from his belly and turned, leaping up into the air as he transformed into his Cybertronian form, for the first time in nearly four years. The plates all snapped together into the huge Cybertronian chopper. The thrusters blasted clouds of powerful blue fire, the rotors folding into a triangle like splay. The ship then blasted off like a fighter jet, heading back to America...to Jasper.
"I know where you make your home boy. And where you are, so is she..." Blackout said with a cackle, creating a sonic boom as he flew faster.
...
Four weeks had elapsed since Christmas and a chiming bell broke the early morning chorus of children laughing and car horns blaring, signalling that the school day had begun. Cars fled the school having dropped off children, parents heading off to their mundane work activities. Blaring warm sunlight rose above the distant mountains that enveloped New Jasper, the calm sky of early morning painting bright blues over the silver fog.
A lone green SUV parked up outside the now closed School gates, silence echoing as all the children had arrived on time...all besides Miko Nakadai. Her emotive pigtails drooped along with her weary eyes as she yawned, stepping out of Bulkhead.
"New year. New..."She yawned, interrupting herself. "...Me."
"Miko, why are you always late?" Bulkhead's gravelly voice asked with a sigh. She responded in an adult manor by sticking her tongue out at the jeep and miming him.
"Jeez, lighten up Bulk. See you later." She said, stepping off towards the school.
"Miko..." Bulkhead chimed. She spun around and faced the vehicle's chrome grill. She suddenly widened her eyes and ran back, pulling her backpack out. She slammed the door.
"Thanks. See ya!" She said, running up the steps towards the school, tardy as always. Bulk rolled his unseen eyes with a chuckle and reversed out of the bay, turning to face the exit. He stopped and let his engine purr as something caught his eye.
Sat in two other bays by Vince's flame decaled car were an Orange motorcycle like Arcee and a white and cyan flamed Muscle car. Bulkhead stared at them intently for quite some time in his rear view mirror. He recognized the vehicles but for the life of him could not figure out why. With a shrug of his wheel suspension, he turned out of the school and onto the road, the roar of his engine dying into the town.
"Whew, too close." Tailgate sighed, swiping his window wipers across his windscreen brow.
"Calm down, We could take that chunky bot." Flamewar replied, smoky tones to her voice. Tailgate shrugged his bumper.
"Not the point. You face one, and all of em come! Real family of bots." He snarled, checking his wing mirror.
"Doesn't matter. We're here for the kids. Take em hostage and ask for Arcee as ransom." She hissed. "Now...we wait."
...
Okay umm...it's in your...left hand!" Jack shouted, sat cross legged on the floor opposite Arcee, mimicking his pose herself. With her back arched and hands behind the slender frame, she shook her head.
"Nope, try again."
"Well...you've only got two hands so I'm gonna have to go with right." Jack rolled his eyes, chuckling. She shook her head again, a smug smile on her polymer face. Jack raised an eyebrow, getting up and walking around her. He opened her right hand and saw it empty.
"What the hell? Where is it?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head. Arcee rolled her optics and pulled her arms round to her lap, shrugging. Jack stood in front of her. "Okay, first you take my shoe, my only shoe, and then you make it disappear?" Jack croaked.
Arcee chuckled and shrugged, biting her bottom lip. He studied her face and watched as her optics flicked up and back down for a moment. A shadow darkened the room around him and he peered up at where her eyes were pointing, seeing his shoe in Grimlock's teeth, laces caught around a tooth. Jack sighed and peered back at her, dumbfounded.
"How did you..."
"Ah, a partner never tells, Jack." She swayed her finger at him.
"uh huh. Can I have my shoe back now?" He crossed his arms, leaning back on his titanium leg. Arcee shrugged again, widening her optics and lifting her eyebrow plates. He raised a hand and caressed his brow.
"Can I have my shoe back...please?" He deadpanned.
"Better." Arcee condescendingly stated, standing up and plucking the shoe from Grimlock's teeth. The titan gurgled and raised an optic ridge, before turning and stomping off into the base, tail swaying.
"Oh for Primus sake, stop breaking my equipment, Grimlock!" Ratchet shouted from around the corner, his voice slightly muffled.
Jack shoved his shoe on and tied up the laces, looking up at Arcee, who had cocked her hips and placed a hand on one side. She puffed air through pursed lips and looked around at the empty silo. With Optimus and Bumblebee out on patrol, Bulkhead running errands and Smokescreen off...god knows where, it was only the two of them. As always, it didn't take long for Arcee to become bored and agitated.
Since the events in the Scottish Highlands, Arcee had been on bed rest to repair her wounds. Only the week prior had she been well enough to have her sling removed from her arm and titanium leg cast.
"What?" Jack asked her. She shrugged and peered down at him.
"I need to do something. Been cooped up in this fragging base too long."
"That's true. Knowing you, too much time spent around Miko could result in serious injury." Jack chuckled to himself. Arcee nodded and chewed the inside of her polymer cheek, a trait she had picked up from Jack.
"Remember Christmas morning?" Jack laughed, shaking his head. Arcee narrowed her eyes at the memory.
Six O'clock A.M. Arcee nuzzled Jack's face, pressing her warm polymer cheek against his nose. They were still asleep, but happily and subconsciously finding comfort in each other. The peace was not to last though.
Suddenly the door flew open, rays of light flooding their quarters. Miko leaped up onto the bed, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Get up lovers! It's Christmas!" She squealed. A half asleep Bulkhead filled the doorway, groaning as he rubbed his optics.
"Get out!" Arcee growled, rolling over to face the wall, pulling the sheets with her. Jack nodded, eyes still shut as he cuddled up to her. Miko rolled her eyes.
"But it's-"
"Get her out Bulk, or I swear to Primus-" Arcee snarled through gritted dentures, eyes firmly shut. Bulkhead went to prod Miko's shoulder, who was pouting at the pair.
"Aw you two suck! I'm gonna go wake everyone else up!" She cheered, leaping off the berth and running out. Bulkhead groaned, and walked in the opposite direction towards his Quarters, slumping back on his berth with a thump. Then a loud snore sounded.
"I nearly killed her Jack."
"Or when she went to wake Optimus?" Jack winced, Arcee nodding with wide optics at the memory.
Miko ran the hall, opening the next large door as it slid open. As she stepped inside the large quarters, she saw the great Optimus Prime fast asleep on his own Berth, the room darkened. A large Data pad was the only possession in there, resting on his Autobot height nightstand. Miko ran in, shouting as loud as she could:
"IT'S CHRISTMAS!"
"GAH!" Optimus sat bolt upright with a start, his bright blue optics wide open. His chest heaved from the sudden wake up. His hands clutched the berth's sides.
"Come on mister grumpy gills, gotta get up!" She cheered, bouncing on the spot. Optimus calmed, throwing his legs off the side of the berth and pressing his huge feet on the floor.
"Miko, do you realize what hour it is?" Optimus rubbed his optics with balled fists, a yawn escaping his mouth.
"Yeah, come on Prime, you'll love Christmas!"
"All right, all right, I'm up, I'm up." The father of the group said, standing up and stretching his huge spine, arms up over his head. Pistons creaked and joints popped. Another baritone yawn sounded from the tired Prime.
Miko ran out into the hall, successfully waking a slumbering Prime. She saw Raf tugging Bumblebee by the finger from his room. The tired scout groaned in discomfort, Looking up and nodding to Optimus, who stood in his doorway. Optimus gave a weary nod back, stifling another yawn with the back of his hand.
"But nothing'll be as bad as when she tried to wake Grimlock." Jack said with stone set eyes, frozen on the memory. Arcee nodded once more, a shiver trembling up her mechanical spine. They both delved back into memory.
Miko ran past Bulk's open door, shouting inside "Wake up!" causing the hulk of metal to jolt upright.
"I'm up, I'm up, Miko." Bulk groaned. She jogged into the Command Center. Still sleeping soundly on his mechanical stomach, huge jaws resting on the floor was Grimlock. His hulking torso heaved with every inhale and exhale through exhaust like nostrils on his snout. Bulkhead walked up behind her, followed by Prime and Bumblebee, Smokescreen yawning and scratching his back in a half lidded daze. Arcee and Jack rounded the corner, both half asleep.
"Err Miko, I wouldn't-"
"Merry Christmas, Grimlock!" She cheered, overly loudly. Suddenly his optics burst wide open with red light. From his point of view, all of a sudden there was a loud voice, and he was being dwarfed by other Cybertronians. He shuffled his legs back on the ground, staggering upright.
"Uh-oh, Grimlock steady!" Bumblebee called, the confused Dinobot staggering backwards, his tail knocking into the Bridge controls. His huge head and wide open optics swung from left to right, trying to gather his sense of direction and understanding of his location.
Finally Grimlock calmed, shaking his hide and transforming, the huge muscular being stood tall in humanoid form, red visor scanning the room.
"Me Grimlock no like loud noises." He growled, rolling his huge shoulders. Miko winced.
"Sorry" She nervously chuckled.
"You'd think she'd learn." Arcee rolled her optics. She bent down to her knee and smiled at Jack. "I remember that day. It was the day you gave me this." She held out her palm, cradling the shiny horn of Cliffjumper, a silver chain attached to the metal. Jack shrugged a bashful smile and blushed.
"Y-you're welcome Cee."
"No, Thank you Jack, for everything. Y-you're more than my Sparkmate. We're Best friends." She smiled, kissing his forehead, ruffling his black fringe. Jack smiled and nodded.
"You're my best friend too, Sparkmate." He chuckled.
...
Miko sat at her desk, drumming her fingers against the table top. She puffed air through pursed lips and stared at the clock for the hundredth time that hour. She tapped her pen against her scribbled on paper and looked over at the window, the Teacher's voice becoming white noise to her ears. She looked at the car park between the large pine trees that had been planted a few weeks prior. A lot of renovations had been done to the school over Christmas.
Finally the clock hand clicked and the bell rang, Miko racing up out of her seat. She only just remembered her bag by a snagging feeling in her brain. Ignoring the homework orders, she ran out into the hall and waited in the bustling corridor for Raf. Voices chattered all across the premises of Jasper's Franklin high school, which was on the outskirts of Jasper, remaining wholly intact after the destruction from the rod. A lot had damaged it, and it was still under construction, but enough so that the kids could return.
She met up with the short long haired youngster and went about meandering down the hallway. Miko and Raf paced through the corridors of the now bustling school kids of different ages and sizes heading to separate classes. Conversations set to a hundred different ears roared through the complex.
"So, what's bugging you little guy?" Miko raised an eyebrow at Raf, who was clutching his rucksack straps like a flotation device. He shrugged, scrunching his nose to angle his huge glasses.
"Nothing. Why?"
"You're pretty quiet. Usually you won't shut up about Bee or something boring." She rolled her eyes.
"It's not over is it?" He sighed. Miko raised an eyebrow at him, and then succumbed to realization.
"Oh. You mean with Arc...Yeah, it's not over."
"Well, I mean hopefully she's doing okay now, right? I mean...it's her sister." Raf whispered the last sentence, hand acting as a wall around his mouth. Miko scoffed and nodded sharply.
"Dude, it's Arcee, of course she's okay! She's bounced back from worse." Miko gently punched Raf's shoulder, which he mindlessly rubbed better.
"So...we're not going to lose her?" He asked gently, innocently. Miko nodded immediately.
"Dude, she's got Jack. As long as she's got him, she'll be A-okay!" Miko raised her hands in expression.
Suddenly a dull thud rocked the school. All of the kids in the hall fell deathly silent and stared at the source. Miko's wide fearful eyes set on the huge double doors of the school's entrance. Another massive thud slammed the doors, snapping and bending the wooden frames. The silence in the halls was harrowing and tense as everyone held their breaths. Sierra, who had been held back a year before graduation, stood clutching her books, staring at the door alongside everyone else.
What felt like agonizing hours elapsed since the last thump to the doors. Suddenly the two doors exploded in shards of splintered wood and metal, spraying down the hall in a shower of debris. Two huge silhouettes blocked the blinding light. As if on cue all the children screamed and ran in different directions, like an army of ants, lost without their Queen. Miko stood with Raf, staring at the huge Bots that shrugged through the wall, brick melting and crumbling off their shoulders.
Flamewar smirked villainously at the pair of little humans among hundreds of screaming boys and girls. "Hello you two, Arcee has told me so much about you!" Flamewar grinned her Jack O lantern teeth, fire steaming from her jagged teeth.
Miko and Raf both turned and ran, heading deeper into the school. Flamewar chuckled and slammed both her palms into the marble floor, arching her spine and breathing fire down the hall in a heated inferno. Raf and Miko quickly ducked into a classroom, shielding their faces from the skin drying heat. Screams echoed down the halls as Teachers and Students fled. Flamewar stood up straight and shrugged her jaw, morphing her huge jagged grin back to a normal smirk.
"Come out, come out children!" She cooed evilly. Miko quickly pulled her pink phone out, flipped it open and speed dialed Bulkhead.
"Come on, come on, pick up Bulk..." She whispered, her heart thumping at the footsteps thudding down the hallway mere yards away. finally the dialing tone gave way to his voice.
"Miko, what's up?"
"Bulkhead, I-It's Arcee's crazy sister." She whispered into her phone, wincing from the door frame as Flamewar knelt beside the door, peering around for her. Miko could feel the heat emitting from Flamewar, praying that she doesn't hear Bulk on the phone. Chromia's smirk shifted and melted back into the massive jagged toothed grin, charred teeth scraping as fire ebbed from her maw.
"Where are you, Miko Nakadai?!" Flamewar roared, echoing down the hallway. She gouged her fiery fingers into the malleable metal of the lockers. Miko bit her lip to stop from crying, peering at Raf who was doing just the same. He let out a whimper and Miko instinctively covered his mouth. Flamewar's head snapped towards the door. She stared at the open door for a few minutes before shrugging it off.
"We're on our way. Stay safe Miko." Bulkhead said, ending the call. Miko took a deep breath of relief, carefully looking through the classroom door into the hall. Flamewar was gone, only melted footprints in her place. Raf and Miko carefully stepped out into the hall, looking at the abandoned silent corridor. She looked left and right, tugging Raf's collar to follow her. He did as they made a beeline straight for the exit.
As they could taste freedom, an engine revved behind and they turned, looking back up the hallway at the bright headlight of a revving Motorcycle. The amber and black bike screeched and left tire marks stained onto the marble floor.
"Run Raf!" Miko screamed as they ran out of the school, sliding down the stone steps, feeling each bump on the way down. Just as they cleared the shattered entrance to the school, a shower of bricks rained down on them as the orange motorcycle transformed and somersaulted through the air, slamming down in front of them in a knelt position. As the pieces that made up her torso slid into place, Flamewar peered up and laughed demonically at the pair, her shark-like mouth filled with fire.
Miko screeched and shuffled back along the floor with Raf, backs pressed to the stone steps. A shadow dwarfed them and they both shuddered, peering up with glassy eyes at the smirking form of Tailgate.
"Going somewhere?" He laughed, crossing his arms. His head blocked out the sun and made his silhouette even darker. Flamewar slammed her fists down into the concrete either side of Miko and Raf, both of them shivering, terrified of the fire wielding Arcee look alike.
"You two are coming with me." She smirked, licking fire off her jagged teeth. Miko and Raf closed their teary eyes tightly. Suddenly an engine thrumming sounded and Flamewar turned, seeing the chrome grill of a huge red truck slam into her torso. She rolled away, digging her fingers into the tarmac, grinding to a halt.
"Optimus!" She snarled in a grating tone. The truck stopped before Miko and Raf, the cab folding away into the truck as it transformed, wheels tucking away and soon standing up on powerful legs. Air brakes hissed and Optimus's proud and stern face rose from the chest piece, everything locking into place.
"Chromia." He snarled, clenching his fists in a battle stance. He turned his head to see Tailgate aiming his rifle from the school steps. "Tailgate." He narrowed his optics at the betrayer.
"You're outnumbered Optimus Prime! Give me Arcee and her human pet, and I'll spare you."
"You have foregone everything you once stood for. I will stop you if it means protecting these children and all humans of Earth." his baritone voice called.
"Oh knock it off; nobody is here to hear it!" Flamewar ran her sharp fingers along her brow in frustration.
"I am!" Bumblebee shouted, leaping off the school roof and onto Tailgate's back. The two tumbled and fell down the steps, cracking the concrete into flying shards of stone debris.
"Run Miko, Rafeal!" Optimus shouted, running towards Flamewar. The much smaller Femme bot sprinted at him, mouth full of fire, streaming behind her. Miko and Raf did just that, sprinting as far away from the school as possible. Raf peered up at Optimus sprinting at the Arcee sister.
Optimus war cried as he readied a punch, Flamewar spewing fire in her jaw as she leaped upwards with fiery blades extended. She slammed down onto his torso, Optimus falling back, cracking a vein of craters along the tarmac road, coming to a stop against the parked yellow school bus.
Tailgate threw Bumblebee off and stood up, aiming his chrome Energon Revolver. "You." He snarled.
"Tailgate." Bumblebee wiped the Energon from his lip.
"You left me to die!" Tailgate roared, firing the gun. Bumblebee rolled aside, dodging the blast that split the new palm trees in half like dry fibers. He rolled again as an Energon burnt hole erupted into the earth. Finally he flipped backwards over the bus as another Energon round blew a huge dented crater into the side of the school bus.
Optimus slammed a fist into Chromia, but she was faster and stronger, kneeing his mechanical ribs and leaping up, slamming a fist into the back of his keeled over head. Optimus crashed face first into the concrete with a rumbling shock wave. Flamewar scraped her wrist across her mouth, peering up the street at the fleeing children. She flared her optics and gave chase. Optimus just managed to reach forward from the crater and grab her leg, pulling her down to the ground.
She kicked at him, shaking free and transforming, racing her motorcycle form after Miko and Raf. They were panting hard and running as fast as they could, but the growing gargle of the Motorcycle engine gave them renewed strength, running faster.
Suddenly a metal hand swatted the motorcycle, knocking the bike to the ground, skidding on its side. Flamewar transformed and stood up, snarling at Optimus. He stood tall and reactivated his battle mask across his face, eyes narrowed in steely determination.
She lunged, slamming him to the ground. Optimus grappled her wrists but let go on instinct at the sheer heat her body was emitting. She began to glow bright amber as her body warmed to one thousand five hundred degrees.
"Gah!" Optimus hissed as he let go, his palms covered in melted metal. Her body cooled and he grabbed her wrists again, stopping her from stabbing his chest with all his strength.
"You stopped me once...you won't stop me again!" she hissed, her fingers heating to a white hot glow as she sunk them deep into his chest's machinery. "I'm getting stronger everyday!"
Optimus roared in agony as her fingers sunk into his chest, melting his polymer skin. His right hand transformed into a glowing hot Energon sword, humming as he unsheathed it from his wrist. He quickly swung and sliced her left arm off, Flamewar roaring demonically at the pain as her severed wrist bounced along the tarmac. He rolled her off and stood up, sword raised.
"You are still not strong enough to defeat me, Chromia." He said, aggravating her to new peaks. She snarled and picked up her severed arm, pressing the melted lib to her elbow, the liquid metal seeping and sealing around the seam. She wiggled her fingers and gave him a satisfied smirk.
Meanwhile Bumblebee clattered a fist against Tailgate's face. "We thought you were dead!"
"You never checked!" He roared, slamming a fist into Bumblebee's cheek, a spray of broken metal flying from his head. He staggered back and groaned. Suddenly a clap of rotors sounded in the air, crackling the silence. All the bots peered up at the black and purple stealth chopper as it flew low overhead.
Soon she transformed and slammed her arachnid limbs down, creating a prison of legs around the children. Miko and Raf grabbed at the bars, calling for help. Optimus's eyes widened in shock.
Airachnid smirked and examined her finger nails.
"Well, we'll be off. Come after us and we kill the children. We want Arcee...and the boy!" Flamewar chuckled as she backed away, transforming and driving off; Tailgate did the same, driving his muscle car form past Optimus. Optimus stared defeated at Miko and Raf's crying faces.
"Please, help us!" they screamed as Airachnid transformed, dust billowing up as the children were suddenly cast into her sealed cockpit. She took off with both kids in custody. Optimus could only watch as they left. Bumblebee jogged to his side, firing off rounds at the sky, hoping to at least clip her wings.
"We...we're going after them, right?" Bumblebee stammered, getting no response. "Optimus?!"
"Let them leave." He sighed, head held low. Bumblebee's eyes widened.
"What?!" He roared, hoping for Optimus to give him anything to work with, any sort of plan.
"We cannot rescue them without getting close, and if we do that, they will kill them, a double edged sword." Optimus sighed at the situation: Give up one of his own to save two humans. He was torn, conflicted. Bumblebee scoffed and slapped his hands at his side.
"So now what?"
"We pray Arcee is willing to throw herself against them again." Optimus peered up grimly. They both watched the helicopter fly off with Raf and Miko in custody.
Climax of epic emotional proportions coming soon! Stay tuned guys. Felt good to finally get on with this!