Chapter 25: Savage
"That was a nice break eh?" Rattletrap said with a stretch as he and Blitzwing walked through the illuminated halls of the underwater Decepticon base. "Indeed," the foreign-accented bot agreed cooly, "Ze day off vas a nice surprise-" "Zo I vish I could've slagged more vehicles," the red face finished, a bit upset before switching to the black face, "But you know vat zey say! Ze more ze merrier!" "Just how crazy are you?" the smaller bot grumbled as he tried to break free of the embrace that Blitzwing he constricted about his neck with his last sentence. "Not all that crazy," the blue face assured him before switching right back to the black face, "Just enough to take military advice from a human sports coach!" "Figures," Rattletrap mumbled and rolled his optics as Blitzwing's laughter filled the corridors.
"YA!!!!" Bumblebee screamed as his arms wrapped around Sari's body in fright. The girl could feel her eyes glow slightly from the rush of emotions and surprise. Managing to choke out a laugh, she pulled the rim of Bumblebee's hat down over his eyes. "If the movie scares you too much ya don't have to watch it," Sari told him with a smile. "Me? Scared?!" Bumblebee laughed back pulling the rim back up to get a peak at the screen again, only to wrap his arms around Sari even tighter, "Uh...n-never...hehe..." "Right..." she mused and rolled her eyes, "Personally I find The Thing more scary. I mean it can imitate anyone. Alien's just basically a slasher in space." "I told you I wasn't scared!" Bumblebee lied.
Just as he finished his sentence though, everything went silent. The quiet subconscious humming of machinery running the facility stopped leaving nothing but dead silence as the lights dimmed to darkness, engulfing the adolescents in nigh complete blindness. "Alright...now I'm scared..." Bumblebee said stalely as Sari felt his appendages wrap about her body even tighter. Sari felt a pang of fright come over herself as well as her eyes began glowing slightly. "Oh, nevermind, I found some light," Bumblebee laughed lightly and smiled at the two blue searchlights emitting from the girl's eyeballs. "Ha ha," she grumbled in annoyance. "Well, it really does make me feel happy and safe," he told her with a smile. "Goody, I'm a walking night-light," she sighed, her eyes dimming back to their original hue leaving them once more in darkness.
"Um...please turn back on..." Bumblebee said politely, feeling fear overwhelm him again. "I wish I could," Sari told him and patted his head, "But I don't know why my eyes get like that. We discussed that earlier remember?" "Well, what was it like when they turned on this time?" Bumblebee asked inquisitively. "Sort of scared...not all THAT scared, but...sorta. You know, movie got me in the mood..." "Yeah, it so WASN'T scary eh?" Bumblebee taunted with an invisible grin. "Shut up," the girl sighed rolling her eyes again. "Well, I got a theory," he declared happily. "Wow, must be a landmark in history," Sari commented. "Alright, now you shut up," Bumblebee muttered giving a similar reaction to the one the girl had given a moment before causing her to giggle.
Sari's laughter didn't stop on her own though. It was Bumblebee's lips pressing against hers that caused the silence to occur. The girl could feel her eyes beginning to glow again as the wave of emotions and excitement passed between them. After about ten seconds though, Bumblebee pulled away with a smile as he saw the lights beaming brightly once more. "It really is pretty..." he said. Sari blushed lightly and stood up from the couch before looking around the room, her eyes paving the way of sight for both her and the boy. "Well, no matter what the deal is with my eyes, the power's still out," the girl reminded him.
"Right..." Bumblebee muttered getting up as well. Suddenly they heard a loud crack causing both of them to jump. Lightning. "Goodie...a storm..." Sari mumbled, "this is just perfect..." "At least we're together," Bumblebee told her. Smiling, Sari nodded her head and grasped his hand in hers. "So, how's about we go looking for something to get the power back on together?" she asked. "Um! Uh, I, well, ya see we don't necessarily have to be together all the time," Bumblebee laughed nervously, trying to back away. Unfortunately, Sari's grip was firm and she dragged him towards the halls of the facility. "Come on," she laughed.
"Just in time!" Firestar exclaimed as she ran through the gates to the large ringed structure that jutted forth from the ground. "Indeed," the elderly Decepticon said walking past the gates as well. Suddenly the slammed shut. Instantly, the two bots swiveled around to see Hot Shot trying to yank himself past the bars blocking his way. "This...is not good..." the old bot muttered. "A little help here?!" Hot Shot yelled, pushing and shoving vainly, "Slag these are sturdy." Biting her lip, Firestar looked over her shoulder at the rows and rows of seats lining the sides of the structure's interior behind them. "Real sorry..." the female Autobot apologized as she darted off, "just try to stay safe!"
"WHAT?!" Hot Shot yelped, scrambling as frantically as he could in the metal bars. "Relax," the old Decepticon told him and helped get him free, back into the outside world, "with the abilities you told us that you have you should be fine. Besides, you're the only bot that seems to have gotten left out this time. The Terrorcons shouldn't be released over such a trivial ordeal so there shouldn't be anything to worry about. We'll be back as soon as we can." "Are...are you sure?" Hot Shot asked nervously, "What's this whole Coliseum thing all about?..." "From where you are you should be able to see and understand just fine," the elderly bot assured him before turning and walking off himself, "Just relax..."
"Stupid old Decepticreep..." Hot Shot grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest-plate and kicked a nearby rock once the older Transformer was out of audio-receptor shot, "real strange that he'd help me at all though...just where the slag am I?..."
Unfortunately, the Autobot's answer soon began to reveal itself as he looked through the bars at a bright light that had suddenly shone through. Like the illumination of a dim sun, Hot Shot watched as the burning dark Transformer arose from a throne-like structure towards the top of the center of the arena, his glowing eyes peering over the other beings in the seats around him. He looked much higher and much more physically built than pretty much any other bot that Hot Shot had ever seen in his life, despite how primitive he looked. Though he looked ancient, there was some form of an essence from beyond reality that he could feel from the being...something more than just an Autobot or Decepticon.
"Is he...on fire?..." Hot Shot asked himself, unsure why he was whispering. Perhaps it was the atmosphere that the Transformer emitted that hushed him so much, or maybe it was the deathly stare that pierced through his optical units from the bot as he gazed down at him, singling him out from the rest of the seemingly thousands of Cybertonians and other creatures of the universe that had been gathered there. It didn't seem as scary a presence of that of which he had felt when he had been dragged into the apocalyptic setting, but there was still something there. It wasn't pure evil that Hot Shot was feeling so much as something that was wrong, a being of great honor that had some form of corruption to him. Either way though, he could feel something from the burning Transformer, even after the optics had left his.
"It is time," the echoing dark voice of the Transformer announced as he lifted his arms above his head, "Silence." Hot Shot didn't see how any form of commotion could be taking place while the bot was in the presence of others, but any talking that was going on immediately quieted for another voice to take over where the Transformer's had left off. "In honor of a new resident," an even darker voice sounded, no owner able to be seen, "this tournament is being held along with the fact that I have decided for new warriors to once again be chosen. Those elected for combat step forward and do battle. That who falls shall become one with something greater, and that who is the victor shall rise to ranks beyond their imagination. Now then, do battle." Hot Shot watched in fearful curiosity as two Transformers stepped forward into the arena in the center of the Coliseum and looked at each other.
Irritably, Oil Slick grumbled as he rolled over in the bed. He really wished that he could find someway to escape the care of his Autobot captors, but each time he seemed to get his strength back, they simply restrained him again, usually Ratchet being the one to do it. Oh how he loathed the red and white Cybertronian medic. Though he was definitely far better than any Decepticon, or even some Autobots, gave the legendary doctor credit for, Oil Slick could not help but let his dislike for him grow with each new meeting they had. Even as they first met back in the Great War, he felt something spark between them. Whether it had been his soon to be raging hatred or something else he had not known, but he knew there was just something about him that clicked in his processor.
"Conscience." Ratchet's words echoed in the Decepticon's head. Who the slag had he been to talk about conscience?! There was no conscience in war, no friends, not on either side! Sure there could be those that pretended to like each other and hung out together all the time, but when it all came down to it they were just simply machines, components forming bigger forces against each other. One that might be a friend one second could be an enemy the next! They could just simply turn on you, revealing themselves to be allies of the opposing side, and blast your processor all over the walls behind you!
It infuriated Oil Slick! Not the claim of conscience so much, but rather the complete and utter stupidity that Ratchet displayed! He was laughably stupid if he actually believed just what he had talked about all that time ago when he had helped the Decepticon out. There was simply no way that all the Autobots respected and got along with each other. There were just sent out to kill, to annihilate, and that's what they did. What irony it was though that the one bot that seemed so innocent to the whole affair was to pilot Omega Supreme.
It only infuriated the Decepticon even more that he had even needed help from another. It wouldn't have been any different if a Decepticon had helped him out other than that he wouldn't have been as tempted to have slagged them. The discomfort would still be the same, having help from another. The accident shouldn't have even happened though. It was just the slight change of the air current that ended up engulfing the chemist in his newly made Cosmic Rust that he had been testing on the battlefield. Anyone else it would have been just fine to have disposed of them, but not himself. The others were all just pawns, simple grunts to destroy each other in the endless conflict, neither side ever hoping to reach the bots that actually mattered with what soldiers they had been sending. All that mattered was he, himself.
It was in that way, Oil Slick figured, that he was so much like his old Circuit-Su partner from before he'd defected to the Decepticons. Prowl. He had been the only one he respected and admired, enough so that he didn't decide to off him when he betrayed the Autobots. Both of them had always agreed to leave their positions someday, to simply say goodbye to the Autobots, but each in their own way. While Oil Slick switched over to the other side, Prowl simply left. Not that he made it that far. It wasn't that long before Oil Slick witnessed the red Autobot warrior, Warpath, capture him and drag him back to Yoketron. What a surprise it was when he heard of Prowl's corpse showing up at the arrest of Megatron, apparently a hero to the planet the Cybertronians were now positioned on.
Just then he heard a loud hissing noise. Glancing to the side, Oil Slick could make out the female Autobot, Red Alert, steering a levitating sick-bed into the room with a sleek white Autobot bearing the insignia of the Elite Guard atop of it. "I am sorry to have to do this," the medic told her patient, "But for now we'll have to place you in here with this...bot." "It's cool dawg," Jazz chuckled lightly smiling towards the Decepticon causing him to look away in discomfort, "If anything happens I'll simply whip his exhaust port back into his bed." "Not with how you are," Red Alert said rolling her optics. "I'll be cool doll," he assured her. With a sigh, Red Alert left, the door hissing shut behind her.
"So...why you in here?" Jazz asked Oil Slick after a few seconds of silence. "It's none of your concern Autobot," he grumbled. "Might not be, but it'll keep my processor occupied dig?" With a more exasperated sigh than Red Alert had given, Oil Slick shot the Autobot a rather distasteful glare. Jazz simply smiled back. "A stupid doctor of yours refused to let me go offline," he eventually muttered. "Don't see how he's stupid man," Jazz laughed, "Dude sounds great." "He's an idiot." "Dawg, I don't see what you're complaining about. You're alive. Any idea who the bot was?" Jazz asked. With a frown, Oil Slick's optics shut down, "I wish I didn't. Now I'm taking a stasis nap. I guess they finally found a way to bore me into submission." Jazz just shrugged and shook his head.
"Here's the problem," Sari said as she pulled out a few wires, some sparking in places, "Something ate through these cords." "I bet it's those stupid birds," Bumblebee grunted, "Wanting revenge for that simple little accident." "I wouldn't call threatening someone's children a "simple little accident"," the girl said as she rubbed her chin, "But it wasn't birds. Besides the fact that they'd be asleep at this time of day, they couldn't get through this layered of cording. "Well slag," the boy muttered in confusion, "What could it have been then? Those feathered bastards are the only things I can really think of that'd have a vendetta against us."
Rolling her eyes, Sari tried to think of just what could have cut the cords as drastically as they'd been. It definitely wasn't just some ordinary creature. Just then, the girl's eyes widened and her hand split apart before she knelt down to interact with the technological structures. "Dude, how come you're the techno-organic with all the cool stuff?" Bumblebee grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest in irritation. "Maybe cause I'm the only one that's responsible enough to use what I get?" Sari mused while her mind scanned through the cords. "Yeah, making Soundwave sure was a great accomplishment," the boy replied with a taunting clap, "Let's hear it for Sari Sumdac folks, the girl that used her mystical Cybertronian key to cheat her way out of her school lessons, or how's about how she cheats at video games with how she is now?" "Hey! I don't cheat!" she insisted and bit her lip lightly, "...most times..." "Yeah, you so kicked my exhaust port in Metroid Prime 2 by playing fairly..."
Blushing, Sari grinned and turned her attention back to the cords beneath her. Suddenly a clattering sound echoed through the storage room. "What was that?" Bumblebee yelped as he looked down at the can that had rolled into his foot from where it had been knocked over. A bit frightened as well, Sari peered into the darkness of the corner of the storage room, her eyes lightly illuminated. "It's...probably just some mouse or something..." "Or a horror monster..." Bumblebee suggested, "I mean did you not see how the Xenomorph got its victims?! It practically blended into the background! There could be something just lurking right over there in the shadows waiting to strike at us." "Considering it's had this long to off us, I'm pretty sure there's nothing there," Sari said, "...but...you do have something working for your theory..." "What?" Bumblebee asked. "Well...I just got done scanning the substance around the tear in the cords...it's acid...and no naturally made Earth acid either..."
Sari could sense the fear tensing through the boy's body as she saw him gulp. No matter what kind of an act he put on now there was no denying that Bumblebee was scared out of his Spark...nor was there any way Sari wasn't either. After looking around frantically, the boy clutched a nearby pole and held it out towards where the can had rolled from nervously. The humans looked down as they saw another can roll past Bumblebee's foot. Cautiously, Sari peered into the dark corner of the room where the objects seemed to be coming from. Biting his lip now, Bumblebee looked at the girl after a few seconds and, after receiving a nod from her, he took a few steps forward towards the collapsed shelves and lifted the pole above his head. Hastily, he slammed it down on the wreckage, toppling cans and debris everywhere. Nothing.
There was nothing there, nothing that had apparently caused the shelves to collapse. In both relief and wariness, Bumblebee and Sari sighed and smiled at each other, both vainly hoping to comfort the other. "Guess it was just too old," Sari said as she stood up and stretched, "the cord thing was probably just some experimental chemical or something that leaked into the cords." "Thank Primus there's no Xenomorph," Bumblebee muttered and began walking towards the door to the kitchen, "So...what now?" "Well, we can probably get the power back on by using the backup generator," Sari replied, "It's in the basement." "Goodie...basement...lightning...horror movie...this night just has the perfect combination..." Bumblebee grumbled causing Sari to giggle. "Don't worry," she said and slipped her hand into his free one, "I'll keep ya safe." "Well, I got your back if you got mine," he laughed as they exited. Neither of them seemed to notice the eight glowing eyes that lit up on the ceiling above as they left.
"For seuth! On yonder art thou to be with thy jewels, away from the officials of the corrupt law!" the Angry Archer exclaimed to himself from a rooftop as police cars circled in the streets below, "For not shall this wretched obsolete technology stop one so valorous as I!" "Will you shut up?!" Captain Fanzone begged from a megaphone from a nearing helicopter, "And I thought Slow-mo's and Meltdown's talking messed with my head!" "Thou should learn the way of the old," the green-cladded villain laughed as he pulled out an arrow and took aim, "Lest you be fated to suffer from your idiocy." "Pull up!!!" Fanzone ordered. The chopper didn't raise in time though. Just as it was almost out of range, the powerful arrow struck the tail of the vehicle and shattered it, causing the helicopter to spiral out of control towards the streets of Detroit.
"And for seuth, even the Chief of Police, the mighty Captain Fanzone, can't stop the Angry Archer!" he laughed as the helicopter erupted into a pillar of smoke and flames behind him. "That's what you think!" Fanzone's voice growled. Blinking in disbelief, the Angry Archer turned around to see the officer climbing up from the ledge of the roof that he'd managed to hop onto, "You are through wrecking my city!" "But Captain," the Angry Archer replied, pointing his arrow now right at the officer himself, "I have a weapon, one that can down a police-grade helicopter. What do you have?" "Skill," Fanzone muttered. The villain just grinned and fired his weapon. Immediately Fanzone somersaulted out of the way of the explosion and began running at the archer. Impressed, the Angry Archer fired another shot, this one causing numerous explosions to trail after it, only for Fanzone to roll beneath it and leap to his feet in his continued run towards the villain.
Before he could fire a final shot, the Angry Archer noticed the gun Captain Fanzone had drawn and jumped out of the way as the bullet passed by where he had been a moment before. Taking the opportunity of the diversion, Fanzone slammed his fist straight into the Angry Archer's jaw, knocking him to the floor. "Ugh..." the villain moaned, "Thy chief, he is skilled..." "Got that right ya little-" Suddenly a low vibration caught the ear of the chief of police, causing both him and the Angry Archer to look up at the sleek clockwork space craft as it zoomed through the skies high above. "What the hell..." Fanzone muttered and looked back down at where the villain had been, "...damn it!" The Angry Archer stuck his tongue out at Fanzone as he swung away on a vine an arrow had created, taking note to thank the otherworldly wonder for distracting his captor if ever he got the chance. The chase was on once again.
"So, who you think's gonna win?" Firestar asked a spidery bot next to her in the stands. "Well, Demolisher's pretty much won every match against him so far, I don't see why he wouldn't win this one," he replied in a bored manner. Firestar huffed and stared down at the arena. "You know ya don't have to be so serious all the time Shokaract," she murmured, "you could say good things about both opponents you know sometime." "Don't see the point," he sighed in irritation, "And you yourself should be more serious. You know where we are!" "Silence," the elderly Decepticon leader's voice ordered hushing both the Autobot and Predacon who instead took to glaring at each other, "Something's happening down there."
"The order has been given to fight," the burning Transformer reminded from the throne above the battlefield, "Why do you stall? You may destroy one of you now." Silence captured the audience for a few moments as the two combatants in the arena just stood staring at each other, not moving a servo. "Why do you not fight?" the Transformer persisted, obviously annoyed at the unamusing match. "Because we're not going to," Cheetor replied and dropped his weapons. The burning Transformer stood up at the sound of the objects hitting the ground and glared at the orange combatant. "We won't fight for your amusement any longer."
"Then you shall die," the Transformer muttered and extended an open hand to Cheetor, flames beginning to gather in it. "As will I," Demolisher agreed, turning to face the bot in charge of the match as he too dropped his weapons. Upon hearing the declaration, the Transformer lowered his hand and glared down at both of the bots. Demolisher and Cheetor stared back, Hot Shot in disbelief of how they could stand up to such a figure. "Neither of you shall fight?" the Transformer asked, folding his arms over his chest-plate, "Despite how far you've come, how many matches you've won-" "How many matches we've been forced to fight!" Cheetor yelled angrily.
"We're Transformers," Demolisher stated, "Cybertronians. One race! We shouldn't fight each other, we should fight against that which we're meant to!" "You're an Autobot and a Decepticon!" the bot yelled back furiously as flames erupted around him even more viciously, "You kill each other all the time! There is nothing different now!" "Incorrect," Demolisher replied, taking a step forward, "here we realize how things are supposed to be. Regardless of the pain of the pit that we're put through here, it snaps our processors back to reality, makes our optics open to how things were intended to be. We're not Autobots and we're not Decepticons. We're not Predacons, we're not Maximals, we're not Junkions, we're not any faction. We're one race, Transformers! And we will not fight for you!"
Hot Shot was astounded at the speech, which seemed to silence the atmosphere even moreso than how dead quiet it had been previous. His optics expanding, the burning Transformer lifted his gaze from the two combatants and began to scan over the crowd. "Who here agrees with this statement?" he asked darkly. At first a few of the bots in the crowd's voices spoke up, soon to be joined by a few more before groups of tens joined in with each passing second. Before long the entire crowd was cheering and praising the Transformers in the arena. "Very well then..." the burning Transformer muttered as a bunch of cords began connecting to his back from the ceiling of the chamber high above, his voice darkening and echoing with each strand that inserted itself, "if your unity is indeed this strong then perhaps you should fall to the Pit you just so claim to be put through..."
Hot Shot barely had time to jump back, even if it was more of an instinct than a reaction, as the entire arena sunk into the ground in front of him, its entire structure disappearing beneath the surface of the material he stood on. Though he dreaded looking down to where the screams were echoing from the hole, for some reason he couldn't stop himself from taking a peak. Almost instantly he turned away though, as he saw a mixture of every single bot in the arena being agonizingly melted and burned to death in the center of the opened firey chamber leading down into the acid the flames were produced from. Taking one last look at the burning Transformer still connected to the ceiling, the Autobot turned and began running, intent on getting as far away from the being's gaze as possible. "Everything burns..." the Transformer muttered as Unicron's conscience lifted from him.
"So, are we all set?" Sari asked and looked at Bumblebee. After fidgeting with his backpack a bit he shot her a smile and gave her a thumbs up. "Affirmative." "Good," she replied as she hoisted a pack of her own around her shoulder, "Shouldn't take too long." "And just in case I brought all the necessary repellents I could think of," Bumblebee announced. "...repellents?" she asked curiously . Rapidly Bumblebee shook his head. "You know how in horror movies the monsters or whatever always have some sort of weakness," he reminded her as he took out some items to illustrate with, "Like this steak, this silver cross, and a box of matches."
"First off, that's the wrong kind of steak..." Sari muttered eyeing the wrapped up piece of meat questioningly, "And secondly, what the slag's the matches for?" "A backup," Bumblebee told her with a shrug as he set the steak on the counter while he put the other items back in the bag. "Backup?" "Yeah, you know. Pretty much every human-based villain in a horror movie is weak to fire." "Eh, good point I guess," Sari said with a nod and turned to the door to the basement of the facility, "But that's assuming that there is something lurking around the corner for us." "Really?" Bumblebee jested from Sari's left. "Yeah, real...Bumblebee?" she mumbled turning to face him, only to find him gone. A second later she nearly leapt out of her skin as she felt Bumblebee's arms wrap around her from the right.
"Gotcha," Bumblebee said with a smile. "Don't do that!" Sari laughed returning the hug. "Do what?" Sari just grinned at the boy and ruffled his cap causing him to smile more as he let go of her. "Got the flashlight?" Sari asked as she opened the door. "Yeah, but I think we can do better," Bumblebee replied pointing to her now-glowing eyes. "That's what the scare was for?" she muttered irritably. "Oh no," he laughed back, "That was just to mess with ya." After receiving a bop on the head, Bumblebee sheepishly followed the girl down the rickety staircase towards the dark depths of the facility, with nothing but the emergency lights dimly illuminating the floor beneath.
"Yo Bulky! Man, what is up?" Scrapper exclaimed. "Yeah man, how's things been shook up since we left?" Mix added as they saw the green giant walk by the building they were working on, "the authoritives ain't given ya much trouble is they?" "Oh, everything's fine guys," Bulkhead laughed as he walked to the two Constructicons, "A bit of a mix up after the big battle and everything, but we're out of trouble now." "That's good man, that's good," Scrapper laughed while lifting a bar for Mixmaster to cement in place, "We're just happy to be back with you bots." "Really?" Bulkhead asked with a grin, "What about their oil?" "Hey man, good oil is good oil," Mix told him, "But how you're treated and whatcha gotta do to get yer hands on it is an entirely different matter. Overall, I'd say we're better off with your grubby watery stuff than severe torture from Deceptitron science-types."
"Slag yeah..." Scrapper muttered remembering the rather unpleasant shockings they'd received from Shockblast when he was creating Devastator, "Didn't help that Dirt Boss forced us to do it." "Damn do I hate that bot," Mix groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Whatcha guys do to that little midget anyhow? What's his punishment?" "Fortunately, he's spending the rest of his life in confinement until he gets a better attitude," Bulkhead told them with a wink causing the Constructicons to sigh in relief. "So he's never gettin' back out den?" Mix asked. "Exactly," Bulkhead replied. Joyfully the three large bots laughed.
"Well, good to hear that everything's goin' alright man," Scrapper said as he picked up another beam, "I'm just happy to be back with my little buddy. Speakin' of which, where's yours?" "Yeah, that Bopplebee or whatever," Mix wondered also. "Oh..." Bulkhead muttered and looked at his feet, "Uh...it's Bumblebee and...he sorta...ran off." "What?" Mix said curiously, "Why?" "Well, it was right after the big battle when the authorities had us in confinement. They wouldn't let us leave the city so the instant he heard that he'd obviously ditched the place." "Well, he might not have the brightest bulbs in the head," Mix laughed, "But he's sure got guts. Gotta admire a little rebel like that."
"That's the only reason he ran off?" Scrap scoffed in disappointment. "Hey man, lay off, he's a young stupid kid," Mixmaster said, "Whatcha expect? Some epic story about him being the secret lover of a gal that's a secret result of a super deity in a grand design beyond all any one bot can comprehend?" Bulkhead just stared at the Constructicon with his jaw hanging open in disbelief while the other Constructicon rolled his optics. "Well I expect somethin' more than just "oh he's a brat that can't follow orders" or some slag like that," Scrapper mumbled as he put another beam into place, "I mean yeah, we ain't the most respectful guys there are, but I do got standards to things."
"Actually..." Bulkhead mumbled as he poked his middle fingers together nervously, "...there is more to it than him just running off...but ya guys gotta promise not to tell anyone if I let ya in on it!" Both Constructicons' optics raising in curiosity, they leaned towards the green bot, eager to hear the information he had. "Do you promise?" "Man, cross our Sparks and hope to die," Mix laughed, "We ain't tellin no coppah's nothin in the first place." After receiving a hasty nod from Scrapper Bulkhead looked at his feet again in nervousness. "Well...."
Hesitantly, Hot Shot looked around for a place to hide. It seemed like he'd been running forever. Not just simply since the destruction of the arena, but for an eternity. Days, weeks, months, years, millenias. He didn't know how much time had passed, all Hot Shot could tell was that time had passed, an undisclosed unbelievable lapse of time since he'd been on the run and been fighting to stay alive. Every second of his existence was constant dread and terror. If it wasn't servo-shredding tentacles that were after him, it was the surviving scavengers that lurked the endless labyrinths of the planets inner sanctums hunting for prey.
Ever since he'd entered the abominable hell, Hot Shot hadn't seen the surface of the planet in which he was trapped. He didn't know how close he was to either, nor how far. He could be near its core, or with the outermost layer right above him, or even upside down with how some things seemed to work. Hot Shot had no idea. He just knew he had to stay alive. It was the natural instinct of any living thing, it was his right, even if it meant throwing off the constrictions of decent sociable behavior and all that he'd learned as a citizen of Cybertron. In Autobot Boot Camp he had learned the basics of military combat and how to survive, but this...this went far beyond that. This...hell was something beyond anything he'd even begun to think. Even being the most vicious animal he could be might not even ensure his survival. There was just a constant...presence all around him.
It was circuit-wracking and constantly tugged at Hot Shot's Spark, ever reminding him of the impending doom surrounding him. A presence so unspeakably evil that it made his processor go into a frenzy of insane thoughts when he actually worked up the courage to try and think of just what was going on. Not even the bodies that he came across drilled even a fraction of the fear that constantly emitted from the world itself. It was that of...of a monster. Something that just simply shouldn't exist, something that threatened the very essence of reality itself. It was something beyond Hot Shot, beyond any Decepticon he'd ever come across, beyond anything that he could think of! The presence was just...evil incarnate.
The presence only got fiercer and fiercer every moment that Hot Shot was inside of the planet. But never did he feel as much fear and terror as when he had come across the burning Transformer. It hadn't been the time that he had seen the bot at the stadium. Oh no, the first sighting of the ancient figure was nothing compared to when he had witnessed him later. At that time he seemed to have been conversing with a rocky organic structure that had been giving off a greenish glow. Though he know just what the structure was, he could feel the presence ever greater as he gazed at it.
But not even that compared to when he saw the object that the burning Transformer offered up to the structure. It was a shining silvery casing with holes for the fingers of the Transformer to grasp on either side of the casing, much like the object which Optimus Prime had brought back to Cybertron encasing the fragments of the Allspark that his team had collected. There was one vital difference between the two incredibly similar objects however. While Optimus Prime's casing contained the glowing hope of the Allspark, that which the burning Transformer possessed held nothing but darkness with a blood red dimly glowing core.
There was no other way to describe it, it was just darkness. The very embodiment of evil itself, fear, anger, hatred, death, annihilation, non-existence. Every horrifyingly bad emotion that could be thought of emanated from the core of the casing, the exact opposite of that which he had felt from the glow of the Allspark. Ultimately though, Hot Shot had been snapped out of his trance as he was spotted by that which he was spying on. He didn't even need to see the burning Transformer turn to face him for him to take off running back through the caverns once more as he felt the presence focusing on him, suffocating him.
Somehow though, Hot Shot had managed to get away, to continue his pathetic survival inside of the treacherous planet, his processor getting more and more paranoid every instance he was alive. Luckily, he soon after stumbled upon two bots, twins, orange and blue, who helped him from just going completely insane, even if their speech was sort of irritating at times. Though he didn't immediately realize them at first, Hot Shot soon came to know that the bots were the legendary Elite Guard Jet Twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm who had been sent out to look for him. Well they'd found him alright, and they wouldn't leave his side until their escape.
"BOO!" Bumblebee's voice echoed through the dark underground of the military facility causing Sari to jump. "I told you to stop that!" she exclaimed turning to see the boy whistling innocently. "Stop what?" he asked with a shrug and mischievous grin. With a roll of her eyes and shake of her head, Sari just turned back to the unexplored darkness of the corridor they had taken to traversing and led the way once more. "Hey, I'm sorry," Bumblebee told her after a few minutes of silence, "Gotta keep your eyes lit somehow oh brave fearless mistress." "Goody, I'm a living flashlight. I feel so loved."
Shaking his head now, Bumblebee wrapped his arms around Sari from behind and nuzzled his face into her hair. "You know me loves ya," he told her as he tightened the embrace. "I know," she replied and patted his arms, "But we gotta be serious about this." "Why? The power just went out is all," Bumblebee questioned, "Unless you really are scared..." "I'm not afraid!" Sari yelled and stomped her foot on the ground, "There's no such thing as monsters or any crap like that!" Suddenly, a loud clattering echoed through the halls causing both children to jump and clutch each other tightly. "...really?..." Bumblebee whispered, "Cause...ya know...it's fine with me if you are..." "M-monsters aren't real..." Sari replied, her eyes glowing brightly in fright, "It...it was probably just a rat or something knocking some old equipment over..."
"Right," Bumblebee laughed nervously and took his arms off the girl, "Just...a rat...then should we get back to looking for the generator thingy?" "Of course," Sari muttered as she also let go of her companion and turned towards the path they'd been going down. For a few more minutes the duo traveled without saying a word, just using their other senses. Though it frightened them, they listened for any more unusual noises, any quiet happenings in the dark threatening to tear at their mentality. Other than the occasional dulled strike of lightning, nothing reached the teenagers' ears. It was just quiet, deathly silent.
"Stop," Bumblebee said causing the girl to come to a halt. She hadn't expected Bumblebee to give out any orders on their little expedition, but either way, she wasn't about to chance not listening to the only person with her. "...what?" she asked after a bit of just standing around, "Is something wrong." Slowly Bumblebee nodded his head and motioned for the girl to listen. Cupping her hands around her ears, Sari tried to hear for any sound that she could. There was nothing...or at least she thought there was. After a while something did actually seem to be echoing through the desolate hallways, making up the supposed silence. It seemed to be a bunch of low clicks and clacks in the distance.
"Where do you think it's coming from?" Sari asked curiously as she took her hands off her ears and looked at her companion. Bumblebee shrugged. "Slag if I know." "To me they seemed to be coming down that hall," Sari said pointing to a hall off to their side. "Great, then let's keep moving," Bumblebee replied continuing his walk down the path they were taking. "This way," Sari added as she grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall she'd heard the noises from. "WHAT?!" Bumblebee yelped attempting to break free from the overpowering grip, "Sari, excuse my Cybertronian, but are you out of your processor?! People in the movies aren't supposed to go TOWARDS the monster!"
"Well this isn't a movie," Sari reminded him, "This isn't even a story, it's real life." "Really?" Bumblebee muttered sarcastically. "Besides, I doubt we're going towards any monster. It's probably just some machinery down here in the facility's basement. And what's that mean?" "That you easily mistake monsters for machines." "That the backup generator has to be nearby," Sari grumbled as she continued to drag him, "And once we get that on the power'll be back." "I don't see what the use of having the power on will be if we're dead," Bumblebee muttered more to himself than anything. "Bumblebee, there's no such thing as-"
Suddenly an ear-piercing screech echoed through the hallway causing both of the humans to jump. "...monsters?..." Bumblebee finished. "...monsters..." Sari repeated and looked at Bumblebee, "...run?" "...run." Before the sound could be heard again, the duo was off as fast as their feet could carry them, Sari's eyes brightly flooding the claustrophobic corridors as the clicking and otherworldly sounds grew louder and louder. "Take her! She's the bigger one!" Bumblebee cried as they turned a corner causing Sari to glare at him, "What? You're the girl, you have a better chance at surviving in these situations."
Unfortunately, their run was soon stopped as they nearly crashed head-first into a large metal wall. "What the slag?!" Bumblebee yelped skidding to a halt, "Who put this here?!" "Apparently my dad..." Sari muttered pointing to the green logo of her father's corporation on it, "...he's such a thoughtful parent..." "It looks sorta like a door to me," Bumblebee commented noticing a keyhole at arm-level to them. "And that looks like the backup generator!" Sari exclaimed as she ran over to a nearby machine, "Now to turn it on, just gotta interface with it and...Bumblebee, sit tight for a minute....Bumblebee?" Turning around, the girl's eyes expanding to the size of dinner plates as she saw the boy looking into the face of a large glowey-eyed spidery-creature.
"Procedure halted," Red Alert informed Perceptor. Steadily, the Council Member nodded his head and looked over the motionless body of Hot Shot. "I dunno, I still don't think it's right," Wheeljack muttered with his arms folded over his chest. "We needed to do this in order to gain the necessary information about the situation at hand," Perceptor reminded his old colleague. "But we aren't helping him at all," the white and greyish Autobot sighed, closing his optics in frustration. "Sometimes the sacrifice of an individual is better than the alternative," the old bot told him robotically. "Well, what do we do with him now?" Red Alert asked looking at Hot Shot as well. "Prepare him for disposal," Perceptor replied.
"Woah..." Mixmaster said in amazement, "That's quite some story ya got there Bulky boy." "Sure beats the tar out of him just running off," Scrapper agreed, "I mean we didn't even know that old boss-bot was outta commission until just now and that pet of yours-" "Sari," Bulkhead mumbled. "Yeah, Chari," Scrapper tried repeating causing Bulkhead to roll his optics, "But I really don't see the kid's fascination in being one of those small organic things-" "Humans..." "Yeah that," Mix laughed, "Really, why be that when ya can be a huge bot?" "Well...how do I explain this..." Bulkhead asked himself and tapped a finger to his lower, "...you know how you guys like hot cars?"
"Slag do we ever," Mixmaster boasted, "What about em?" "Well think of Sari as a hot car." Mixmaster and Scrapper gave each other awkward looks before staring back at Bulkhead, "You're kidding right?" "No, not for you guys to be interested in," Bulkhead grumbled smacking his forehead, "That's how she is to Bumblebee except...more than that." "Now that is weird," Scrapper said, "I mean, I can understand a flaming sports gal but...a small bug-like organic thing? That's just...creepy." "A lot of humans probably think so to, but some apparently waste their time reading about it all the time on the internet," Bulkhead told them with a shrug, "Everyone has different interests."
"Ya can say that again," Mix laughed as he yanked a bluish fembot from off to the side into his grasp, "I'd much rather rev up the motor on this baby." Scrapper could only burst out laughing as Glyph smacked the Constructicon so hard that he fell over on his back and stormed off. "Hey baby! Don't be like that!" Mix called after her trying to get back to his feet, "We gots something don't we?! Come on!" "Why did I ever wanna hang out with you guys?" Bulkhead questioned as he looked over the scene. "The oil man!" Scrapper laughed wrapping his arm around the big Autobot's neck, "Solves all of life's problems. Speaking of which, why not join us for a drink?" "Alright alright," Bulkhead chuckled, "But...you promise you won't tell anyone about what's going on?" "Hey, who's do we gots to tell?" Mix asked finally standing back up.
Frantically, Bumblebee scrambled through the seemingly endless corridors of the underground passageways of the Sumdac facility. He didn't know how long he'd been running, nor how far away he'd gotten from his stalker, but he could hear its noises still echoing through the halls, filling his mind with dread and fear. It was something otherworldly, chaotic, deadly, as though it were something straight out of a horror movie but...worse. Though it reminded him of Blackarachnia in a way, it was far more scary than her seductive nature had ever been, even just from looking into its multiple deathly eyes that had just stared back at him, testing his mind's sanity. It was a monster, plain and simple.
Though it was mostly in fear he was running, Bumblebee had another goal as well. He had decided to take the responsibility upon himself to keep the creature as far away from his Sparkmate as possible. Stupid? Yes. Cowardly? Maybe. He didn't care though. All he cared about was keeping Sari safe, even if it cost his own fragility. Of course Sari would chew him out later for being so dumb since she was the only proper Transformer there to even begin to handle things...if he even did survive, but Bumblebee couldn't help the prodding of his instincts, not when such a threat was present. Where it had come from he had no idea, nor did he care, he was much more focused on where it was going.
"Hey bug breath!" Bumblebee suddenly heard Sari's voice echo. With a gulp, he turned around after the clicking and clacking of the monster's appendages had stopped. "Damn it Sari..." he muttered to himself. "What are ya? Afraid to feast on a real meal?" the girl's taunting continued. "Sari! Shut up!" Bumblebee yelled trying to get the attention of the beast back on himself, "Get out of here!" "Come on ya xenomorphic spider-freak!" Sari yelled ignoring the boy, "I'm right here! A ton more energy in me than the kid you're after!" After a few seconds, the clicking noises started back up causing Bumblebee to sigh in relief a bit...until he realized something. The noises were moving away from him. "SARI!!!" he cried as he broke into a run after the monster's noises.
If he didn't know what all was at stake for the time being, Bumblebee would have more than likely thought himself insane at the actions he was taking. But he needed to keep the monster away from Sari. After all, the girls always survived in the movies, it was just the natural order of things regardless of his intentions. "No!" he yelped as his feet leapt farther with each step, his speed picking up, "Come back! I'm the one you want! I'm a little defenseless kid! Easy to kill meal right here! HEY! Are you listening?!" The boy's voice vainly continued its taunts to counteract the girl's, but it was no use.
Finally, Bumblebee heard a shriek. With his eyes wide, he rushed even faster through the halls, until finally he saw it. The multiple legged abomination at the end of the corridor, hunched over in front of Sari who had morphed into robot-mode. She seemed to be trying to pelt the creature with a few energy-balls, but nothing seemed to even phase its skin or make it really react in any way. "I said I'm the one you want!!!" Bumblebee yelled as he leapt up and slammed himself into the large arachnid, toppling it over a few times on the ground before it skidded to a halt with the boy underneath it.
"Bumblebee!" Sari exclaimed running over to the pile of organics, "get away from it!" "You shoulda done that!" he retorted as he tried to pull himself out from underneath the spasming monster. It was no use though, the thing seemed to weigh a ton. Hesitantly, Sari began expelling energy at the creature again. Eventually, Bumblebee did move, but not by his own will. Instead, the beast had managed to pull itself back to its feet and drug him across the ground with one of its long legs until it had him pinned beneath it once more. Hungrily it stared down at the boy and lifted its head towards Sari, its eyes filling her mind with dread before it knelt its head down once more to pierce Bumblebee's skin with its pincers.
Feeling a surge of emotions and energy building up in her that she'd never felt before, as though something else was there within her body, the outlines of Sari's body began to glow a bright blue as the structure on her breastplates displaying her Spark became a blinding light causing Bumblebee to cover his eyes in desperation. Even before the shock wave of energy erupted from around the girl's body, the monster let out a loud shrieking noise, nearly unable to be heard by the low deafening hum of the shock wave.
As Bumblebee's vision and hearing flooded back into his head, he was surprised to find the creature's grasp now gone from his body. Shakily he got back to his feet and looked towards his Sparkmate. Drained from the immense burst of energy, Sari collapsed. Fortunately, Bumblebee was fast enough to catch her and wrapped his arms around his body tightly. "...what the slag was that?!" he exclaimed after a spell of the two humans silently gazing at each other. "Which thing? That thing or me?" Sari laughed in exhaustion. "Anything!" "Well...we can find out about the monster that was after us," she told him pointing towards a nearby hall that the its shadow was limply retreating down, "I'm pretty sure it knows not to mess with us now." With a nod, the boy and girl started after the creature, Bumblebee helping to keep Sari standing.
"Rejoice, for thou art free fellow bretheren!" the Angry Archer proclaimed holding a hand out to help someone out of the building he was retreating from, alarms blaring all around him. "I prefer my own boogalicious way of talking if you don't mind," Meltdown grumbled irritably as he slunk into the early night air of Detroit and looked around, "Though it is good to be free. But whom do I have to thank for my freedom?" "But are you not looking at he?" Angry Archer boasted with a grin and a bow. "God do I wish you talked normally..." the deadly villain muttered, "But of course I see you you dope. I'm talking about who got you to get me out. We've never even met before."
"Ah, curious you are indeed," the Angry Archer laughed, "For not would I help a fellow villain of my own accord? Regardless though, thy employer is someone that you know of I believe, one with quite a bit of wealth for which to take." "Really?..." Meltdown asked, a bit interested at the currency-related word, "But...who is it?" "For sueth, fear not, for thou shall find out when we reach our destination!" "Can ya at least give me a hint?" Meltdown asked. "Fine fine," the Angry Archer grumbled, "Thy man is that of deceit and cunning, a previous employee of Sumdac, that whom you both despise I take it." "Oh really?...I believe I know who you're talking about then..." Meltdown said rubbing his chin. "And thus, with the revelations revealed, we are off!" the Angry Archer declared as he wrapped an arm around Meltdown's waist and swung into the bustling city of Detroit. "Just better not annoy me with your talking on the way there..." Meltdown muttered, "considering what my body is now..."
"Alright, hands-er-legs up!" Bumblebee ordered as they finally came around the corner of the hall that the monster's shadow had disappeared behind. "That sounded so wrong..." Sari commented before falling silent at the sight before them. Though they were shocked at the scene, it wasn't the spidery creature that lay in front of them. Instead it was replaced by a rather tall humanoid shaped bird-like creature, its eyes closed and its chest moving up and down slowly. A bit of the acid that Sari had detected on the cords that had done away with the power of the facility seemed to be streaming down from its beak slowly. However, it didn't seem to be nearly as vicious a being as their previous pursuer had been, especially not in its sleeping state.
Sari kept staring at the creature as Bumblebee worked his way over to it, mainly at the insignia that seemed to be a pattern on the chest feathering of the creature. It seemed to be in the shape of an stylized letter M with a sort of diamond-like ring around it, a visual that for some reason seemed to prod at the edge of the girl's mind. "Bumblebee...what are you doing?" she asked warily once she noticed him poking at the creature a few times. "Trying to wake it up," he replied. "Why?" "Well...cause he's asleep. Doesn't seem all that dangerous to me." "Well yeah..." Sari mumbled, her eyebrows drooping in hesitation, "But it's probably some escaped experiment of my dad's or something they were working on."
"Well we can't just leave it down here," Bumblebee said motioning for her to come over to the creature, "You got enough strength back?" "I...think..." Sari replied as she knelt down next to the bird-like being, "Why?" "Well, I can't carry it by myself," Bumblebee said blatantly. "WHAT?!" the girl exclaimed, "Carry it?!" "Yeah, besides, you can go all super on his exhaust port like ya did with the spider if something bad happens," Bumblebee reminded her. "Bumblebee, I don't know how that-" "Sari, one of the the principles of being an Autobot is to protect life," the boy told her with an unusually stern look on his face, "All life. That means this thing too. Now come on."
Biting her lower lip, Sari finally nodded and draped one of the creature's arms around her shoulders as Bumblebee did on his side. Though the creature was dwarfed both of them, it was surprisingly light and weighed practically nothing at all with their combined effort. Sari figured it was just to it having hollow bird bones or something. "Guess I coulda done it on my own," Bumblebee laughed quietly. "Well I'll help ya until we get upstairs," Sari told him with a smile, "But once we get this thing situated, I'm getting ready for bed." Returning the smile, Bumblebee nodded his head and they started through the halls once more. "Just gotta remember to power up that generator first," Sari reminded herself.
The moon gazed over the planet Earth as it drifted by silently in the cosmos in which it was stranded in a fixed orbit around the planet paving a path for the sun to follow as dawn broke out across the landscape of the inhabited world below. However, the environment of the moon was as desolate as it normally was, or should have been. Though silence welcomed the newcomer as it swooped through the void and morphed into robot-mode as it landed, it was not to remain quiet. With a grin, the red and white Decepticon looked towards the wreckage of the Nemesis with various Omega Supreme and parts similar to himself scattered around nearby.
"What is this?" Starscream laughed lightly as he picked up a head of one of the deceased Air-Commander's clone bodies, "A sad attempt at mimicking my greatness? Well...do have to give it credit. These bodies seem rather sleek and much more flexible even if they somewhat lack the boldness of my design, but not too shabby, not too shabby at all." Tossing the head off into the void, Starscream looked towards Earth, his grin widening at the sight, "And with my thoughts confirmed I now have a place to start over anew! Now hopefully Megatron isn't there..." As the Air-Commander rubbed his chin in thought, he failed to notice the hand of one of the Starscream clones twitch slightly.
"Slag, ya got me," Demolisher laughed. With a grunt, he knocked the laughing Firestar off of him who had tackled him to the ground moments before. "Guess I'm it," the Decepticon said as he got back to his feet and smiled towards Shokaract, "but you're gonna be it next!" "Whatever," the spidery being grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Aw come on Shokaract, lighten up," Firestar said and hugged their partner tightly, "You're always so serious about stuff." "And you two are never serious enough about stuff," he told her, "Such as the forest, what's beyond that?" "Just forget about it," Demolisher laughed, "It doesn't feel good so we shouldn't even go near it."
"FIRESTAR!!!" an elderly figure called from the top of the hill the trio had rolled down in their game. "Slag," the female grumbled and smiled at her friends, "Dad wants me. Time for bed. See ya guys tomorrow." "See ya Firestar," Demolisher replied walking off on his own path home, "G'night Shokaract!" "Goodnight..." the spidery being said to each of them as they departed leaving only him at the foot of the hill. Slowly, he turned around and peered towards the woods the others always seemed so scared to be around. Sure it gave off a certain...atmosphere, but it intrigued him more than anything. After looking around a few times, Shokaract walked towards the forbidden vegitated landscape.
The closer he got, the more he thought he could hear something. Not exactly a voice but whispers, noises. Eventually though, the whispers became audible enough to be understood. It was calling him, saying his name. "Shokaract," the authoritative voice clearly said once he'd reached the first tree, "previous Predacon, nearly that which decided fate, I was wondering when you might show up." "Who's there?" he asked fearfully, turning around wildly, "show yourself!" "You were but a puppet, but also that which desired power, order by his own hand, and one curious enough to achieve it through any means necessary. That is what you wish correct?"
"Yes!" Shokaract yelled back, "How do you know this much about me?!" "We are not that different you and I," the voice continued with a slight dark laugh, "And I can grant you what you long for so badly. The power that you desire." "You can?!" Shokaract exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Certainly!" the voice laughed, "however, you must do whatever I tell you to do understand?" "Of course!" Shokaract replied, venturing further and further into the forest, convinced that the voice was getting closer as he went, "All I have to do is do as you say?" "Yesssss..." the voice replied seductively as the spidery being was lost amongst the dense trees of the landscape.
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Woo! Another month another chapter! If we keep going like this we'll get finished by...possibly sometime next year? I dunno. I have everything all thought out but this thing just seems to keep getting longer and longer. I mean we're only about 8 pages away from 300 now folks. Hopefully you guys haven't lost interest. I know at least one of you hasn't. And hopefully the story's stayed as good or bad as you guys like it to be. Me just here to please the masses is all.
But anyhow. More Starscream, yay! Mass genocide, yay! Bumblebee and Sari wacky adventures, yay! This is such a fun story to work on. And this chapter's also the birthing grounds to various new plot elements. Take a guess at who the firey Transformer is. Or how's about that monster or bird? And what about that voice at the end talking to Shokaract (if no one can figure this out I have seriously lost all faith in the Transformers fanbase). Ya might win something, ya might not for getting it right, so take a stab.
And of course, the art:
warahi(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Savage-The-Movie-Poster-155418387