Chapter 25

Hangar D…

Sunlight streamed through the giant windows as morning struck the military compound. The beams touched down on the blackened wall on the far side of the hangar, revealing the cracks and gashes from the lashing it had received the previous day. It was silent here.

However the silence was suddenly disrupted with the creaking of the side door. Alex stepped into the hangar with a mug of coffee in one hand, a notebook in the other, and a long object wrapped in brown packaging propped underarm. Walking to a nearby table and setting the things in hand down he set about unwrapping the mysterious package.

Alex had a day to himself. Technically this day would see three episodes happening simultaneously. Even Agent Fowler would be having a day out. And pushing aside the option of sitting on the sidelines and watching events unfold (And maybe having a few rounds of gaming on the console with Raf), Alex had opted to set about with the request that he had put forward to Fowler upon his arrival at Hangar E a couple of days ago. With the brown paper ripped off it was discovered that the object was also wrapped in plastic-like protective material, as well as brandishing a nasty looking warning label on its side.

Alex took great care in pulling the material off and in a few minutes the long thin object was finally revealed to the world. Upon moving the object into the light, the sun's rays caught the polished silver metal and were brightly reflected back.

It was a sword.

Agent Fowler had been extremely reluctant to consider what Alex had asked of him. It was insane. Handing over to a minor, equipped with no formal training whatsoever, a weapon of such caliber. But Alex was no ordinary minor, and while he may have had no formal training, he had promised to take the liberty of asking Wheeljack for tips and advice (Which he had) in the hopes of wielding a blade such as the wrecker's own. With a bit more coaxing, Fowler eventually agreed to talk to his science buddies.

And just a few days on, they had delivered. And going by appearances they had not disappointed. The blade, approximately a meter long, was a double edged slightly curved piece completely devoid of imperfection, extremely thin and made out of several highly durable metals melted together. The handle was of pure carbon fiber with inner copper lacings that ran from it right up into the blade itself. Despite its size though, Alex found the weapon very light. Giving it a swing, he grinned to himself.

Selecting a music track from his phone and setting it on loudspeaker, Alex walked into the center of the room and gripped the sword. He started with a few movement exercises that Wheeljack had explained to him, slowly maneuvering it round his body while keeping arms free and the blade at a safe distance. As the music on the phone changed tempo, Alex became quicker on the movements. Swinging the blade on sequence and maintaining fluidness. And then in a bout of tension, he swung the blade with all his might in a forward slash. The light coming from the windows fell upon the weapon and for just a moment, he was lost in the reflecting brightness.

Cape Town, South Africa, 9th February 2013…

The sun was shining brightly and because of which, the temperature had shot up into the late thirties. However this didn't much hinder the people going about their daily lives (As they were pretty much used to it) and it certainly didn't hinder the tourists wanting to experience the mother city on such a beautiful summer's day. Hence, the waterfront was bustling as usual. Street vendors went about coaxing passer-by's to buy their trinkets, while tourists went about photographing nearly everything they could find. Minibus taxi's screeched through traffic on the nearby main road and in the far distance, a cloud cover began to seep over Table Mountain like the 'table cloth' it had become known as.

The atmosphere in the plaza was lively what with the live music coming from the arena adjacent the water side. Crowds clapped as the sound of African jazz wafted from the stage where several young musicians sat. Trumpets, saxophones, guitars worked in perfect harmony as the SJ jazz band played a collection of some of South Africa's well known artists. They were in the final piece of music and since it was such a beautiful day, they had decided to end off with the mellow sound of Winston Ngozi's 'Give peace a chance.'

As the conductor waved her arms about, a saxophonist at the far end of the group was, while still playing, trying to catch her eye. Eventually he did, but upon raising his eyebrows in expectation for something, she merely shook her head lightly and instead pointed to another saxophonist on the other side of the stage. Immediately he stood up and proceeded to play a solo to the rhythm. The crowd began another round of applause in admiration of the obviously talented young man. Meanwhile the other musician wearing a blank, yet somewhat annoyed expression, went back to the sheet music in front of him and continued to provide backgrounds.

Later, after the show had finished and the crowd had dispersed, the musicians had started packing their equipment and instruments. Each had their own part of the stage to pack their things and the young man was busy going through notes in his corner when a young girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen years of age, walked over to him with her trumpet case tucked under her arm. She wore an expression of concern for the boy, who had been unusually quiet for a while.

"Something wrong?" She asked as she joined him at his table.

He didn't look up from the file as he simply muttered "Fine. Never better. Why do you ask?"

"Because it's the third time you've gone through those papers." She replied, a small smile appearing on her face. "And you haven't said a word since we finished."

Alex looked up at his fellow instrumentalist. A small grin started to appear but it immediately disappeared. Looking over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being overheard he looked back down to his file.

"I just wish Chapel would trust me more on the solos." He said.

"Let me guess. You wanted 'Give peace."

"Yes, I did. I didn't mind it before but now because we have so many important gigs…"

"Relax. I'm sure she'll give you something." The girl stated. "Stefan won't be around forever. He is in matric after all."

"Yeah." Agreed Alex. "But who's to say he won't stick around afterwards."

The girl said nothing. Instead she shrugged. As she began to move away she turned back to face Alex.

"Hey, Adrian, Luzuko and Thandi say they're going down to Long Street tonight. Just out of interest, are you going with them?" she asked.

Again, Alex didn't look up. "You know I don't go there, Liz." He replied.

Upon not hearing a response, he turned back to face her, giving her small grin. "Plus do you see me surviving Long Street?"

She smiled. "Well, I don't see you getting into a lot of drunken fights."

"I prefer using words than fists." He said as he snapped his saxophone case shut. "More damage can be done."

"Maybe. But sometimes it's just better to keep quiet. You can get a bit nasty sometimes."

Alex picked up the case and walked over to her. "Only when I'm uncomfortable." He replied. "Or when they're just asking for it."

"Have you ever had that with someone?"

Alex paused. "Not yet." He said. "But not everybody thinks like me or knows what I know."

Liz nodded. Alex was known in the band to get uptight when things didn't go his way or when someone insulted him. She just chose to get along with him the best she could.

"You going home now?" she asked.

"Soon. I'll wait for my dad at the main road." Alex began to move off. "Goodnight, Liz." He called back.

"Bye." She replied. "Oh by the way, how's your story coming?"

He turned round to face his friend. "It's good." He replied. "Thinking of writing like a flashback chapter or something."

"Cool." Liz said. "See ya."

Hangar D…

Orange lightning flashed from the sword as Alex swung it round. The energy being fed through the handle from his hand coursed through the blade and lit up in a dull red glow. It was a miracle that the metal hadn't begun to melt what with the amount of void particles Alex was feeding into the weapon. With a swing of his arm the energy was deployed and a flash of orange lightning shot across the room and hit the wall.

After the smoke had cleared he relaxed the muscles in his arm and the power died down. Looking the blade up and down he took a deep breath and wiped the sweat pouring down his face. He had lost track of time when he had started practicing flowing energy into the sword and firing off explosive swipes of it. He had not intended to be so aggreassive in his swings, but upon the music track on his phone changing to a certain piece that reminded him of home, he had just lost it. Looking out the window he could see that it was dark already.

He looked at the weapon and smirked. It was like the star saber; not as big but apparently just as lethal.

"Can't believe they let you have that." Came a voice behind him. Turning round he found himself facing Jack who had just walked into the hangar.

Alex said nothing as he panted. Slowly walking over to the table he set the sword down and turned the music off.

"Nice-sounding music." Commented Jack, making his way over to the table.

"Yep." Agreed Alex.

Coming to stand next to him, Jack fixed him with a stare.

"You don't really care about what happens to you, do you." He stated.

"What gave it away?" asked Alex sarcastically.

"Your chats with Megatron, the impulse to blow stuff up. Also, I'm surprised Ultra Magnus hasn't done anything to you yet." Jack explained.

"You can say what you want on that last one 'cause I am not listening to that robot." Alex stated simply as he slid the sword into a protective sheath.

"You need to at least show some respect. He's been through a lot you know."

"Yes, he's the only one who's lost his world." Alex retorted.

Jack paused. "You never know. Maybe you'll find a way home." He tried with a hint of kindness, despite other feelings.

"Without threatening future events? No, I gotta wait this thing out." Alex said. "Speaking of which, has anything happened?"

"Well, Arcee and Wheeljack just came back from rescuing my mom and Agent Fowler from Knock Out." Said Jack, who then narrowed his eyes. "But then you probably know all about that."

Alex's eyebrows rose. "Did you just say to Miko the words 'Bromance trumps romance'?"

Jack didn't bother to answer.

Suddenly Alex grabbed his sword and phone and headed towards the door. "Good." He stated as he walked.

"Where are you going?" called Jack.

"To have another chat with Megatron." Replied Alex.

To be continued…not for a while though, I'm afraid.

A/N: Exams are happening, so I'm sorry to report a suspension of new chapters until after November 24th. Don't worry though, during Xmas I will be at top speed. Hopefully we can finish this thing before New Year.

In the meantime, if you have any trouble understanding any references in this chapter, please give a shout. I'm a people person and I'm always looking for someone to talk to.

Sorry if this is a bit short, but it is really just a fill-in. Enjoy!

CTmagic