35
The drive to DC wasn't too long; maybe a two and a half hour drive from where we were. When we got to DC, using the map we took from Simmons' hideout and the location marked, we had ourselves parked across the street of a museum.
"Smithsonian Air and Space museum," Simmons said; looking at it through a pair of binoculars. We all gathered near the front of Bumblebee. "A land of dreams in there," he said, lowering the binoculars. "All I ever wanted to be was an astronaut."
Ripping his pants off, Simmons handed them to Sam.
"What is that?" Sam asked; I looked away, trying to hide my obvious disgust at the choice of...undergarments Simmons wore.
He quickly explained himself, obviously having no shame, and switched into a tan jumpsuit, fake badges on the sleeves. "OK, watches synchronized; sharp mind and empty bladder. You get caught, demand an attorney and don't ever say my name." He tossed Sam a pill bottle; zipping up the front of the jumpsuit. "OK, take one of these pills. Slip it under your tongue. It's a high-concentrated polymer they put in Oreo cookies. Tricks the polygraph every time. OK. Now let's get this show on the road."
I slipped one of the pills under my tongue after Sam and Mikaela. I was about to hand the bottle to Leo but I saw Simmons leaning over him and saying something loud enough for only Leo to hear.
"We need to go now," I said.
Before we left, Simmons handed Leo a taser, saying that it was apart of the plan.
Once we got into the building, Sam and Mikaela snuck off to hide until the next phase of the plan; Leo went into the men's room and Simmons went off somewhere else.
I snuck over to where the planes were and quietly searched for Energon Signatures. After five minutes, Sam and Mikaela ran up to me; Simmons dragged Leo behind him. After a minute, Leo regained himself - Simmons saying he was an amateur and tased himself - and got himself together so we could continue with the plan. Sam took out the cube fragment while Mikaela took out the Decepticon, Wheelie, and Simmons took out some radiation scanning device.
"I haven't sensed anything so far," I said.
"Keep searching," Simmons called.
I was at a slow jog, trying to see which of the planes could possibly have an Energon Signature.
"Desiree, c'mon," Sam called. Wheelie had transformed into a toy car and was going in another direction. I jogged over to them. When Wheelie picked up speed, we started running. We stopped in front of a Lockhead SR-71 Blackbird.
Simmons and Leo managed to catch up with us; Simmons' radiation detector giving off a signal. I felt a very weak Energon Signature emitting from it. Wheelie transformed and looked back at us.
"Definitely a Transformer," I said.
"There he is," Wheelie said. "This guy's a legend. Like, chairman of the board." He turned to Sam. "Point the shard. And watch the magic happen."
Sam pointed the shard at the Blackbird; it immediately flew from the tweezers Sam held it with and was absorbed into the metal. It gave a loud whirring sound. Mikaela quickly checked the underside and froze.
"It's a Decepticon," she called.
"A Decepticon?" Simmons said. He yelled at us to find a place to hide; once the sound of it transforming happened, we were hidden.
Something wasn't right though. With the Autobots' transforming, it went smoothly; I took a peek from my hiding place and saw the Decepticon struggling to transform. Pieces fell; the metal caused sparks while moving to their respective places.
"What sort of hideous mausoleum is this?" His voice was laced with a British accent; sounding old and angry. He had metal beams hanging from his jaw, almost like a beard; he was hunched over and held what looked like a cane; obviously coming from his own body. "Answer me, pawns and knaves!" he bellowed. Shoving a plane suspending from the ceiling, he stormed over to where we were hiding. We all got out from our respective hiding spots and looked up at him with cautious stares. "Behold the eternal glory of Jetfire!" He held his cane up, his legs trembling. Pointing to the other end of the museum, he hobbled away; calling out demands.
"I tell ya, this guy did not age well," Wheelie said.
"I don't think he's gonna hurt us," Mikaela said quietly.
Smashing the wall down, Jetfire hobbled outside, muttering and grumbling to himself.
"Wait," I called. We all ran outside; rows of old military jets and planes lined the outer parts of the back of the museum.
"The museum's going to be very angry," Simmons exclaimed.
We eventually caught up to Jetfire; Bee and the Twins right behind us.
"I'm on a mission," Jetfire announced; his hand on the wing of one of the planes. We all yelled at Jetfire to stop; he was inadvertently destroying some of the planes and jets. "What do you want?" he demanded.
"We just want to talk," I called.
"I've no time to talk," Jetfire exclaimed. He slammed his cane on the ground; looking at us with scrutiny. "I'm on a mission! I'm a mercenary doombringer! What planet am I on?"
"Earth," Sam said.
"Earth? What a terrible name for a planet," Jetfire said in a scrutinizing tone. "Might as well call it dirt. Dirt planet. Dirt." He knelt down to see us better. "Tell me, is that robot civil war still goin' on? Who's winning?"
"The Decepticons," I said.
Jetfire gave a noise of disdain before spitting oil on the dry ground. "Well I changed sides to the Autobots," he announced.
"What do you mean changed sides?" I asked.
"It's a choice," he said smugly. "An intensely personal decision. So much negativity. Who wants to live a life full of hate?"
"You mean you don't have to work for those miserable, freakin' Decepticons?" Wheelie asked.
"If the Decepticons had their way, they would have destroyed the whole universe," Jetfire said; using a motion similar to an eye roll.
Wheelie fell to his knees at Mikaela's feet and began kissing her feet. "I'm changin' sides; I'm changin' sides," he said.
"You're cute," Mikaela said. Wheelie gripped Mikaela's leg and started...
"What are you allowing to happen to your leg?" Sam asked.
"At least he cares, Sam," Mikaela said.
"Well he cares and he's nude and he's perverted," Sam declared.
Sam kicked Wheelie off Mikaela's leg and ordered him to stop.
"What were you saying?" I called.
"I told you my name is Jetfire and stop judging me," he bellowed. He slammed his cane near us; we all fell backwards, trying to calm him down. "I have missions of my own. My ancestors have been here for centuries. My father was a wheel - the first wheel! Do you know what he transformed into?"
"No," I said.
"Nothing!" Jetfire bellowed. "But he did so with honor, dignity..." Before he could continue his babbling, a loud rumbling noise and a 'whoosh' echoed behind him and a parachute activated, causing the ex-Decepticon to lose his balance and fall onto his back.
We all scrambled up and ran over to his form. He lifted himself into a half-sitting position, grumbling to himself.
"My boosters are fried," he cried. Sitting up all the way, we looked up at him.
"I think we can help each other," I said, trying to ease the situation. "I know things you don't know; you know things I don't know."
"I don't think he knows anything," Leo said. I gave him a look.
Focusing on my arm, the symbols that were etched on came off and floated in the air; forming a circular formation.
"These symbols are in my head," I said. "They're symbols - very vivid symbols, but they're in my mind."
Jetfire looked at the levitating symbols then down at me. "Why, you've got the power of the All Spark. It's a powerful energy. Very powerful. It's giving you maps, showing you everything my race has done through history. Every moment we've been on this planet."
"OK. But Megatron wants what's in my mind. Him and someone called the Fallen," I said.
"The Fallen? I know him!" Jetfire's voice bellowed angrily. "He left me here to rust. The original Decepticon. He's terrible to work for; it's always apocalypse, chaos! These transcriptions - they were apart of my mission. I remember now! The Dagger's Tip and the key!"
"Slow down," I said. "What's the Dagger's Tip?"
"No time to explain," Jetfire said; he leaned over us, his free arm encircling us. Electricity crackled around us. "Stay still or you'll die!"
In the blink of an eye, we were shooting out of the ground, flying through the air and landing painfully on sand. We were all shot out in different directions. I landed near Bee, who looked at me to see if I was hurt. I heard Sam's cries, telling me he was in pain.
We all found each other and gathered at Jetfire's feet.
"That really, really hurt," Simmons said. "You're lucky that I didn't get hurt. People could have gotten killed, OK? And if I would have gotten hurt, you would have heard from my..."
"Oh shut up," Jetfire snapped. "I told you I was opening a space bridge. It's the fastest way to travel to Egypt."
"When did you tell us?" Sam yelled; Mikaela was bandaging his hand. "You didn't tell us anything! Why are we in Egypt!"
"Don't get snippy with me, fleshling," Jetfire exclaimed. "You were duly informed."
"Jetfire, can we focus please? We need answers now," I said. "Tell us what you know."
"This planet was visited by our race before," he began, "by our earliest ancestors a millennia ago. They were on an exploratory mission to harvest Energon, the lifeblood of our race. Without it, we'll perish; oxidize and rust! Like my wretched self! Do you have any idea what it's like to slowly fall apart and die?"
"Let's not get episodic, OK?" Simmons said. "Beginning; middle; end. Details. Condense. Plot. Tell it."
"You see, in the beginning, there were seven Primes," Jetfire began. "Our original leaders. And they set out into the universe seeking distant suns to harvest. The Primes set out with one rule: never destroy a planet with life. Until one of them tried to defy this rule. And his name forevermore was the Fallen."
"So what was his deal with us?" I asked.
"He despised humans," Jetfire continued, "and he wanted to kill you all by turning on that machine. The only way to activate it is with a legendary key called the Matrix of Leadership."
"I've heard of that," I murmured. "Optimus mentioned it once."
"A great battle took place over possession of the Matrix. The Fallen was stronger than his brothers; so they had no choice but to steal and hide it from him. In the ultimate sacrifice, they gave their lives to seal the Matrix away in a tomb made of their very own bodies. A tomb we cannot find. Somewhere, buried in this desert, that deadly machine remains. The Fallen knows where it is. And if he finds the tomb of the Primes, your world will be no more."
"How do we stop him?" I asked.
"Only a Prime can defeat the Fallen," Jetfire concluded.
My heart clenched. Optimus...
"You mean Optimus Prime?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
"So you've met a Prime?" Jetfire exclaimed in wonder. "Why, you must have met a great descendant. Is he alive? Here? On this planet?"
I felt my eyes sting. "He's dead. He sacrificed himself to protect me." I wanted to tell Jetfire that Optimus was magnificent; he was the greatest being in the entire universe. But I wasn't sure how I could say that. And I knew it wasn't important at the moment.
"Without a Prime, it's impossible," Jetfire said gravely. "No one else could stop the Fallen."
I bit my bottom lip, processing the information Jetfire told us. "The Matrix...if it's powerful enough to start the machine, could that energy somehow be used to reactivate Optimus's Spark and bring him back to life?" I asked.
"It was never designed for that purpose," Jetfire explained. "But it's an energy like no other."
"How do we find the Matrix before the Decepticons get me?" I asked. "You must have a general idea on where it is right?"
Jetfire slammed his cane on the ground. "Follow your mind, your map. What is imprinted on your flesh, it's your clue. When dawn alights the Dagger's Tip, Three Kings will reveal the doorway! Find the doorway! Now go!" Jetfire waved his cane at us, causing us to take cautious steps back. "That was my mission. It's your mission now. Go before the Decepticons find me and find you."
"Thank you, Jetfire," I exclaimed.
"Go, All Spark!" he bellowed. "All of you, bring this wretched war to an end."