Chapter 48: Ignarus
(Latin: unconscious)
AN: So, I've had a crazy busy month or two. And then my uncle got hit by a car on his Harley, and died. Before that, I'd been having some trouble getting into Alex's brain. But my uncle dying helped me get into that mindset again. Which sucks. I'm also the type to write out emotions. So. Sorry for the long absence.
::Primus damn him!:: Sideswipe growled, engine snarling and redlining from the exertion. The twins had been working on trapping the weird mech that only spoke gibberish for hours now. He had disappeared from all scanners for nearly six breems – more than enough time to drop Alex off and come back to taunt them.
Sunstreaker echoed the sentiment. ::I'm going to gutter him,:: he snarled lowly, meaning both Shockwave and the annoying, perky mech that was taunting them by waving his flashy red aft in their faces and taking off, revving in between human cars and causing collisions. Both were angry enough to almost start causing damage to the humans, just to reach the mech. Almost.
He was impossible to track, didn't show up on any scanners, did not respond in any normal Cybertronian words, and Prime had given them a direct order not to harm humans. So transforming and ripping the slagger's wheels off was out, even though it was becoming more and more tempting.
Neither one could feel Alex, and with Shockwave around, this could only be bad. It was making both of them more and more irate.
Smoke was rising from Sideswipe's engine, and pop-ups from over-exerted vents and taxed engines were in his HUD, alerting him that he'd have to slow down soon or damage to his gears would happen. He ruthlessly slammed them shut. They had to catch this moron.
By whatever means necessary. Sideswipe growled, low in his engine.
::I want her back, Sunstreaker. Yesterday.::
They roared after the giggling red Ferrari, trying to avoid the damage being strewn across the road. After a moment, they split up, shooting a quick plan across the bond.
Sideswipe shot after the mech, while Sunstreaker jinked off to the left, revving down a small street so he could follow adjacent, go past and cut him off.
It didn't work – the mech seemed almost preternaturally aware of their location, swerving around every attempt they made to catch him with ease and mocking cackles.
It was almost to the point that they were going to bust out of alt and spear the mech, Optimus' orders to hide be damned.
Sunstreaker agreed. There was a wild cackle from the side, and the red mech careened in front of the silver Corvette, nearly swiping his front with his aft. The Decepticon fishtailed, leaving streaks of black rubber on the road.
Sideswipe snarled with irritation, sounding much like Sunstreaker. ::If he hurts her…:: He trailed off, images and emotions and wild anger, raging hot and heavy.
Then, he disappeared, taking Alex with him. He seemed to float down another road, and bam. Gone.
My head was pounding, a fierce, hot rhythm that ached and roiled like lava through my mind. I gasped, groggily coming awake to a cotton mouth and blackness. I swallowed slowly, pain shooting through my throat at the action. Panic shot through me at the realization that I couldn't feel Sunny or Sides, at all. I couldn't… I couldn't feel them, my head felt like a bowling ball wrapped in tissue.
::Sunny? Sides?:: I whispered, to nothing. An aching void greeted me, filled only with my echoing voice, muffled like I was speaking into a pillow. What was happening?
A wild cackle made my headache grow, and I winced, recognizing the shrieking laughter instantly. The same mech with the pale yellow spark. I cracked open my eye again, to nothing. I couldn't even see the mech's spark. Panicked, I reached a hand up and… my other eye was gone. My heart was pounding in my chest, a staccato rhythm that I could feel in my toes and ears. This was a dream, right? I wasn't actually caught by the Decepticons, completely blinded and I couldn't contact my twins. My stomach was in my throat and I felt nauseous. How had this gone wrong so quickly? Had I played into Shockwave's hands so easily?
My twins.
This couldn't be happening. I felt like I might hyperventilate and pass out. Or throw up everywhere. If there was anything in my stomach. I choked, hearing the cackle of the insane mech from only a few yards away.
"Squishy online!" he crowed, and there was a faint squeaking noise that sounded like bouncing shocks from a vehicle. A hard shove to my ribs made me stumble backwards, sliding on my knees backwards to get away. The bones stung from the hard shove. I gasped, hands going to protect my sides.
Pain wracked my frame and I grit my teeth to keep from crying out in agony.
The mech whooped again, and I was picked up, sailing through the air and held by my torso like a little girl holding a Barbie. I hurt, all over and my headache was only getting worse as I swung from his hand.
I kept on trying to reach my twins, but there was no answer. How long had I been out? Why was this mech my guard? Who was holding me? Was it Shockwave?
Most likely.
Frag.
I moaned in bone-wrenching pain as the mech tossed me around – without eyes it was near impossible to tell which way he was going to move, and my neck ached. My headache pounded and my eyes were burning, the right one screaming in pain. I could feel a hot fluid trickling down my cheek, running down my neck. Blood? Or tears?
A smooth, cultured voice broke into my thoughts. "Wildrider tells me you understand and speak Cybertronian."
I groaned, still clenched in the mech's fist as he giggled inanely, whimpering something about a reward. There was a blat of static from him, and then I was dropped to the ground, landing with a harsh crunch and a short shriek of pain. My left ankle had rolled as I landed and was now throbbing hotly with each fast pulse of my heart.
The cultured voice spoke again, still in Cybertronian. "Answer me."
I bit my lip, chewing the flesh as I considered how to respond with my whole body in utter agony and the uncertainty of my situation weighing me down. The emptiness in my head seemed to echo through my very soul, ripping off chunks and slices as I tried to contact Sunny and Sides, with no success.
"Why should I?" I challenged.
There was an intrigued hum, and I realized that I had answered his question. Damn.
::Sunny! Sides!:: I tried again, louder than before. No answer.
He spoke again, and I swallowed as I recognized the voice. Shockwave. Sunstreaker had memories of that voice, and during a recharge period, he had thought about the torture he had gone through under Shockwave's hands.
Pain washed over me in agonizing waves. All I wanted was to be back in Sunstreaker's cab, swathed in blankets and listening to them banter and bicker with each other, safe and secure.
"Wildrider, bring the subject to my lab."
Fear raced through my veins, making me stiff and tense as I tried to get to my feet. Escape was the only idea right now, but the pain from my leg was too intense. The ground shook as a wild cackle split the air.
A huge hand wrapped around me, squeezing too tightly. I gasped, and was shaken with the mech's movements. My ribs ached in pain.
It seemed that we walked for ages, but it could have only been a minute. I couldn't tell where we were, nor how far we had come and the only way I could tell was with the steps of the insane Wildrider. Each step shook me and rattled my bones – my ankle throbbed heavily and my pulse roared in my ears.
Shockwave followed – I could hear his steps too. They were much more rhythmic than Wildrider's. Wildrider tended to jump around, almost like he was following a dance routine that only he knew.
Small whimpers escaped me with every step.
I was dropped on a cold metal table, landing on my bad ankle again with a harsh intake of breath and a short scream that I cut off. The table was cold enough to make my palms tingle.
I was shoved to the side by a large metal finger, jabbing me in the ribs hard enough to bruise. Shockwave spoke again. "Desist, Wildrider. Awaken the gestalt and mobilize. You know what awaits you should you fail me again."
A tiny whimper escaped the mech, although the sound of my pounding heart drowned it out neatly. There was a clatter of metal feet on the floor, scraping and sliding enough to nearly hide the weird panting of the mech's engine. He seemed to be chanting something, something I couldn't quite understand but didn't care about.
My focus was Shockwave.
We were alone in the room, my heavy, pain filled breaths the only noise. Shockwave was completely silent – something that freaked me out more than I ever thought it could. Add the quietness to what was already in my head, and I was terrified for more reasons than I could name. Silence.
Once something I craved, now something I would do almost anything to avoid. The aching void in my head was absolutely killing me, my head felt like someone was taking a vise grip to my temples and slowly, slowly tightening it. Or pulling a tooth that was rooted in my brain stem out by pliers. I completely ached.
::Sides, Sunny,:: I whimpered again, the noise echoing in my head and fading away to the ether. I'm scared.
Ice cold metal laced over my wrists, and even though I fought back as hard as I could, screaming and flailing with all my strength, it was like pushing against a car. Nothing happened, and I was inexorably dragged upward, arms clicked into slots that the metal slipped into. I was unable to move my hands from their new, locked positions and my heart started matching the pace of a rabbit. I was terrified, and being blind was just revisiting all the horror and gut-wrenching terror of those first few months after running into Sideswipe for the first time.
Two more bands curled around my ankles and I felt my throat vibrate from how hard I was screaming and thrashing. "Let me go, you fragging son of a smelter! Sunny and Sides'll come for you and tear you into a million pieces of scrap, you sparkless drone!"
I continued hurling insults at him, terrified and angry.
The click of metal into a socket seemed to be the final point that drove it home. That, and Shockwave's chilling words, said without a scrap of emotion.
"I anticipate their arrival."
Then a cold slice of metal touched my forehead. My stomach tightened in dread.
"Stay away from my brain," I whispered in horror.
Pressure increased on my forehead, and I clenched my teeth, hands fisted and toes curled into hard balls. I tried to turn my head, but two metal pieces rose out of the table, holding my head steady.
Thoughts were whirling through my mind. Why my eyes? What was he looking for in my mind? Panic was the most predominant emotion though – I could barely think with the absolute terror rushing through my mind, coursing down each vein with adrenaline.
I was whimpering and crying – although I didn't know if the fluid I could feel was tears or blood coursing down my cheeks in a grotesque pattern.
Help me. Sunstreaker. Sideswipe. Ratchet. Jazz. Jolt. Bumblebee. Help me.
Something was tingling and crackling through my body, causing agony to wash through each nerve ending and making me scream in sheer, blinding pain.
I arched off the table, gasping and panting and feeling like my lungs were going to pop from how hard I was gasping. My spine gave a sickening snap as I writhed, smashing back down hard enough to bruise.
There was a slight hum from the mech beside me. "Interesting."
The restraints at the sides of my face turned, tilting my head to the side to lay flat on the freezing table. It was cold enough in the lab that I was sure I'd be able to see my breath if I could see.
My neck ached from the awkward angle pulling it to the side. Then a freezing point of metal touched the back of my neck, scraping along the delicate skin and causing a cold shiver to race down my spine. Hairs stood up on my arms.
Then the point twisted sharply, digging in deep and a scream ripped from my throat. Flares of white washed through my mind from the pain of something digging into my spine. I could feel the metal grinding against bone, and I felt like throwing up from the pain washing through my whole body. Wrenching sobs pulled from my throat, the noise scraping against the sore tendons. I whimpered again.
The pain only got worse from there. I wasn't sure how long I sobbed for, nor how long I screamed when the pain was too intense, but it felt like eons. More so since I was completely, utterly alone. Even the knowledge that Sunny and Sides were definitely coming for me refused to bring me much peace.
Alone was agonizing. I'd give my arms to be with Jazz right now. I'd give my arms and legs to be with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe again, safe and warm and loved.
But I was a dumbass.
A hot, cutting pain at the back of my neck made me scream hard enough to cause my voice to crack out. I arched away, nearly contorting myself in half to get away from the horrible, agonizing pain of being ripped in two from the neck down. The smell of burnt flesh wafted through the air, mixing with the harsh antiseptic smell of the lab.
I gladly fell into the waiting darkness.
I was floating. No pain, no sight, nothing. But I was loved. I was safe, and I could feel thousands of souls around me, gently wrapping me in loving softness. There was a humming around me as well, a slight shiver to the surrounding souls that vibrated through me and them, synchronizing all of us.
I didn't know any of them, and yet I knew all of them.
Time was relative for me, floating and passing in huge increments that only felt like seconds. Or perhaps they were passing by slowly. I didn't know, and didn't care.
Something poked me in the stomach, and before that moment I didn't know I had a stomach. Or flesh – but it didn't feel like flesh was the thing being poked. I looked down, and – I had eyes, I could see again. Or had I always been able to see?
The last few moments (or had it been years?) felt like a dream, a dream that was rapidly fading away. I grabbed the cool metal finger at my stomach, and grinned slowly, barely resisting the urge to chuck myself at him.
"Hi, Jazz. I am extremely happy to see you right now." My throat was sore, for one phantom second.
"Ya sound a little formal there, Alex."
I looked down, wondered for a moment why I felt so tall, before I discarded the thought. I was no taller than I had ever been. Although my toes looked funny. For just a mere moment, I could have sworn that they were silver and shiny, before normal feet showed up again.
"Jazz, don't make me go back," I begged, as the memory of just what was waiting for me flashed back into my mind.
"Ah don't have much o' a choice, Alex," he sighed.
At that, I did grab his hand tighter, dread pooling in my stomach and making my chest tighten harshly. "You're sending me back?" I whispered.
"We aren't ready yet, Alex," he said, and I could hear the anger in his voice and engine, the sympathy and sheer determination in his bright blue visor.
"No! You can't! You can't!" I clenched his finger, nearly cutting myself on the sharp edges. "Jazz, I'm begging you here, please don't make me go back."
My knuckles were white and my lips felt bloody from how tightly I was biting them.
The visor darkened. "Ah don't think ya know th' gravity o' what your askin'."
"I can't go back there, he's taking me apart! I can't do it, I can't! I'm all alone in my head and I'm going insane, and Shockwave is ripping me apart, Jazz, I can't do it!" I babbled, trying to wrap myself in his hand, trying to hold myself in the fake world that my brain somehow connected to, to Jazz and the stupid freaking Primes that meddled in everything.
"Ah'm sorry Alex, we can't keep ya here. But Ah'm doin' mah best ta keep ya here as long as possible." The silver mech looked strained and pinched, and sort of transparent.
"No, this isn't fair, I can't do this, I can't, I can't!" My voice rose in a shriek, body shaking and panic edging over sense. Jazz held me through my panic attack, wrapping me in close to his chest and letting his engine rumble softly, vibrating through my body. It inexplicably calmed me, until I was a snivelling mess against his shiny silver chest, tucked in close and curled up like a baby.
It felt like hours later, with Jazz telling me stories of a little dishevelled mech and his flawless, prim companion with gleaming white armour that made perfect music, and their adventures. Jazz was an amazing story teller, although I noticed that Jazz's voice became more and more strained the longer he 'held' me to this dream-scape.
As time went on, the area around Jazz disappeared to blackness, and before long, he was fading away too, disappearing to black. He gave me a tight grin, one silver claw oh-so-gently touching my cheek. "Be strong, human with Cybertronian struts."
And then he disappeared and I woke up to pain.
There was something in my head. Not a good something, nor something that should be there, like my twins, but something cold and dead, poking into my very thoughts and memories. I was still physically strapped to the table, but I could feel something jacked into the back of my skull, hacking into my very brain.
The dead presence seemed to note that I was awake – it called that online – and went after my consciousness with a vengeance. Repeatedly, it searched for anything I might know about Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, the AllSpark, and any of the Autobots. I tried to fight against it, but it was completely useless, slicing through my efforts like a hot knife through butter. It burned as well, and I started shaking and screaming on the table again.
I wondered where the voice had gone, my little voice, and the invasive code in my brain leapt on that. I tried to beat it back, but was easily overcome. Soon, everything the little voice had told me was Shockwave's knowledge.
Over and over again, the dead cold feeling of the jacked in coding made me cringe and shivers raced down my spine in tingling waves of pain and cold and ice. I writhed against it, trying to get the jack out, but Shockwave seemed to have soldered it in; I couldn't even budge it.
I felt like my brain was Swiss cheese from how easily the coding was overwhelming me and ripping through my mind. How was I this soft? It was easy to block off Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, but this was completely different. As fast as I thought of a way to stop it from ripping everything out of my mind, it countered it and sliced the resistance to shreds. Maybe because it was completely focused on getting through my head, while Sunstreaker and Sideswipe didn't want to hurt me.
I gasped as pain rocked my head, pounding from the inside out to the temples.
There was a slight hum of interest from Shockwave, who was still in the lab. How long had it been? How long had Jazz managed to keep me in the dream-scape?
Instantly, the jacked in coding was following that thought back to all the memories I had of Jazz and what he had taught me, spending an inordinate amount of time on the fact that the Primes were in contact with me and had 'plans' for me.
My throat was on fire and my spine was awash with cold, aching numbness. I couldn't feel my toes.
There was the smallest noise from Shockwave, and I tightened in horror. He knew everything, everything I knew was his own knowledge.
Soundwave was in orbit over the area of land called the United States, jacked in to all satellites around the earth. Rumble was in northern Mexico from a bad landing near the Panama Canal. Rumble was working his way north, but it was slow going when he was tiny. Soundwave worried about his Cassette.
Right now, he was communicating to Megatron, who had demanded to been kept aware of Shockwave's movements. Already, the political dance had begun again – Soundwave and Shockwave fighting for third.
Soundwave was unsure as to Starscream's current location, but he knew that the seeker was on Earth. Just another thing to elevate his status with Lord Megatron.
Megatron growled at Soundwave, a secure link hooked from the communications officer to Megatron. The Autobot swere severely outmatched when it came to communications on Earth, but Soundwave hadn't gotten to be number three in the Decepticon army by luck. It was always better to be safe than sorry.
-Shockwave has the human suspected to contain AllSpark radiation. Shockwave not responding to communication enquiries.-
Soundwave felt slight pings from Rumble. Rumble had never been quite the same, becoming extremely independent and reclusive after his twin was offlined. And Ravage, his beautiful Cassette, his very first one, was offline as well.
::Everything okay, boss?:: He asked, sounding only cursory.
Soundwave sent a quick confirmation back, before focusing on Megatron. It would not end well for him if Lord Megatron found out that he wasn't paying one hundred percent of his focus to what the warlord was saying.
-Shockwave is not available?- The warlord growled, anger clearly heard through the line. Soundwave was still in space
-Negative, my lord.-
-Keep trying,- Megatron commanded.
Soundwave sent his acknowledgement of the command and signed off.
-Lord Megatron desires your response,- he commented to Shockwave. There was no response. Since he knew that all circuitry was functioning perfectly fine, he knew that Shockwave was ignoring him. Fragger.
::Rumble, how long would it take you to reach Las Vegas?::
There was a moment of silence. ::Around five joors. You want me in Las Vegas?::
::Yes. Shockwave not responding to comms.::
::Bastard,:: Rumble said cheerfully.
::Rumble, communicate progress.::
::Yeah,:: Rumble grouched, signing off with a blat of static. Soundwave ignored the rudeness.
Jace clicked with a frenzy, wondering why he was spilling his brain genius to these aliens. Aliens, man. Real aliens. And the head dick one was his boss. Which was why he was doing this, so that he didn't have to clean armour for another eternity.
There had been a lot of action from the base in the past six hours. No one had told him what was happening hadn't asked, instead focusing on the coding. Jolt was still in the medical bay, but in the past six hours, three different aliens had come through in rapid succession. Ratchet had boiled through, ranting and cussing in his own language, as had a massive black pickup with stacks that had seemed tense with anticipation. The truck had followed after Ratchet, being handed a massive stack of something that he tucked away invisibly.
Ratchet had seemed to be working himself into a rage, barking something at the electric blue one that was moving things around the bay. The blue one tilted his head in agreement, and Ratchet stormed off.
Jace stretched his back, reaching his hands to the sky and exhaling loudly. Electric-blue had been focused on an intricate piece of armour, but he refocused on Jace.
"Tired?"
Jace blinked once. "Yeah, actually. Time?" Because the POS laptop electric-blue had given him didn't have anything but a screen for the coding.
"Midnight."
Still early then, especially for an insomniac like Jace. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, forcing them to focus on the screen again.
"What's all the fuss about?" he asked the alien.
A pause. "Classified, I'm afraid," the alien told him with a pleasant voice. Or was that a hint of hostility he heard under the pleasant exterior? Maybe he was just going crazy. Jace groaned, wishing intently for a can of Monster.
"Of course," he grumbled.
Jace took a break from pulling the code from his memory, instead extrapolating some ideas for what the hell the fuss could have been about. He didn't have enough data to really wonder, but some ideas raced through his mind. Raiding party. Battle.
It was hard to know. He sighed and refocused on the computer, inputting code slowly. It was good to be on a computer again, but he wasn't sure that giving the aliens a way to track themselves was necessarily a good thing. And why didn't they have something like this already?
Really, this was the only thing he'd actually done that was useful. Once they had the code, they might deem him useless. Useless things were easily discarded.
Jace slowed down his typing speed even more, paranoia gripping him tight.
Sideswipe veered left when a red Ferrari bounced back into view. They had been driving through the city looking for it for over one human hour, frustration lashing at their sparks. At this point, they were so tense, they were about to explode from alt and start whaling on each other.
There was a wild cackle from the mech, discernable over the crash and bustle of traffic.
::The frag is this mech on?!:: Sideswipe growled in frustration, engine sending out pings that it was overheating again. He shoved them down.
::He'll run slower with no wheels or feet,:: Sunstreaker grumbled. Sideswipe agreed with this plan.
::Can you reach Prime?:: Sideswipe sent to his twin. A negative was almost instantly back at him, and he huffed. ::Me neither. Keep trying. Fragging Soundwave.::
Sunstreaker thought about what he'd like to do to the Communications Officer as well, Sideswipe's agreement and ideas washing through his head.
He had barely a moment to race after the Ferrari, engine roaring, when a black Kenworth came out of nowhere, nearly smearing him against the concrete divider.
Sideswipe hit the brakes, squealing in a circle before gunning his motor to avoid being rear-ended and possibly injuring a human. Prime's directive slowed him down a lot.
Sunstreaker snarled, revving his engine and swirling beside Sideswipe. He was nearly trembling with the effort it took to shut down the subroutine to transform and slam a fist through his spark case.
::Another one? Shockwave's around here somewhere, I bet,:: Sideswipe said in satisfaction.
Sunstreaker's engine roared as the Ferrari rubbed along his side, stripping paint nanites in flares of gold and red. The nanites lost energy and flickered away to grey. Sideswipe shoved the Ferrari forward with his bumper, and away from his volatile brother. Transforming in front of people was bad.
Another Lamborghini slid from traffic almost hesitantly, sliding sleekly from beside a Corolla before gunning forward and slamming into Sideswipe's backend. Sideswipe swore viciously over the bond, barely restraining himself from blowing out of alt and ripping the jackasses fender before shoving it through his spark case.
Sunstreaker snarled loudly. A black Porsche rolled in behind Sunstreaker, lackadaisically swirling back from somewhere like smoke, shoving Sunstreaker off to an exit. From there, Sideswipe was shoved to the right and against the concrete hard enough to move the divider over a few feet. In the other lane of traffic, a car smashed into the block and crunched like a tin can. Instantly, traffic was slowed to a halt. Sideswipe spun in a tight circle, fishtailing and racing after Sunstreaker. The mantra 'can't transform, can't transform, can't transform' was racing through his head.
Until the assshole fragging Pit warrior of a yellow car transformed with a whoop and sunk a blade two microns from Sunstreaker's tailpipe.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker came unglued with a roar. Sideswipe whirled to his feet, twin blades sliding out from his hands and slicing into the black car with glee. Sunstreaker slammed six feet of blade through the Porshe, down into the hood. A pop of extinguished energy floated through the air, singing the blade and a faint glow of yellow rippled through the air.
Sunstreaker transformed his plasma cannon out and levelled two shots at the Kenworth. The truck transformed into something the size of Prime, taking the shots and barely slowing. Sunstreaker snarled loudly at the mech, blasts digging craters into the asphalt. Sideswipe whirled like a cyclone, blades carving destruction into the red Ferrari as he came to Sunstreaker's side. One side of his chest was smoking, and the silver nanites had been rubbed off to reveal slightly darker metal.
"Fragger!" Sideswipe spat at the Ferrari, trying to stick his blades through the spark case of the transformed mech. The Porsche wasn't moving, lying still in a smoking pile.
The yellow one – it looked to be a fancy race type of vehicle – shrieked in wild laughter and transformed, swirling to feet much like Sideswipe's.
"We dance, yes? I win!"
Sideswipe grimaced. "You learn your Cybertronian from a sparkling?"
The mech didn't respond, instead pulling out a pair of plasma cannons the size of Sideswipe's fists. He aimed them at Sideswipe, feet moving as fast as the silver Corvette's own feet.
::Sunny!:: he said through the bond, indicating how and where he wanted Sunstreaker to be in three astroseconds. There was no affirmation, but he knew that his twin would be there. He swirled to the right, and just past his side, a blue bolt ripped through the air, slamming into the yellow weirdo's chassis and slowing him for just an astrosecond.
Sideswipe didn't need more invitation than that. With a feral grin, he smashed the pair of Cybertronium blades deep into the chassis, aiming at just the right spot to cause the spark to pop and blow into splinters of energy. The discharge washed over him, and he growled at the funny feeling of the energy.
No time to waste. Sunstreaker was deep in exchanging shots at the Kenworth, who was huge and obviously equipped with a pretty hefty forcefield if Sunstreaker's upgraded firepower wasn't denting it.
The red Ferrari cackled from the side, slammed past Sideswipe and ripped Sunstreaker's arm off. The sudden pain made him flinch for a second, before he offed the sensors. Sideswipe bellowed at him, slicing the blades. A glint of red nanites as the mech ducked, crazed grin on his face.
Sideswipe growled in frustration, and then it felt like his back exploded. He arched forward, before falling limp. It was like his entire engine block just… stopped. Sunstreaker howled in anger, before the sneaky Lamborghini edged forward and his engine gurgled strangely. Then the Kenworth hit him dead on in the chest and he knew nothing more.
AN: And my whole main cast is now unconscious. Perfect!
Short-ish, but well, I wanted to update on a Wednesday. (Still Wednesday where I live.) And I've definitely made you guys wait too long. So sorry about that…
Two clever, smart, wonderful reviewers mentioned that I have Ravage dying twice. Uh, this was not planned. :) Ravage doesn't have nine lives, this was just author being dumb. I'm going to go back once I have some time (or I'm done the story) and fix that. S7 has Ravage; that was always the plan I had written down. So yeah, Ravage is in S7's basement. xD
