Cybertronian battlefield, unknown location - Earth
3rd person POV...
Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet continue to step back as the Terracons advance forward, releasing horrible and frightening groans as more and more emerge from the ground to join their ranks. Ironhide, recognizing many of these mechs and femmes, growls with fury and whips out his massive cannons.
"That, no-good, despicable decepti-creep!" he seethes, glaring up at Megatron.
"Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors. And his own!" Ratchet exclaims with horror.
"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering," Optimus replies grimly.
From up above on his towering perch, Megatron watches the scene with a wicked grin on his face, his optics gleaming in delight.
"At last, symbiosis! I can feel it. I possess complete control over my army," he murmurs, feeling the shard of Dark Energon pulsing in his chest. He then gestures out with his arm toward the Autobots, raising a clenched fist. "Destroy them!"
The Terracons let out terrible roars and begin to charge at the Autobots with their clawed hands outstretched. In response, Optimus and Ironhide begin firing at the advancing horde, their weapons easily tearing though the decayed metal. However, despite their powerful arsenal the deceased Cybertronians did not fall instantly, even with half their heads blown off. Only after being hit multiple times in vital areas did they finally collapse, rendered physically incapable of functioning. Ratchet takes notice of the damage with an uneasy gaze.
"Optimus, if our combatants are already deceased, how can we possibly defeat them?" Ratchet exclaims anxiously.
"Ratchet, Ironhide, retreat! Bridge yourselves back to base!" Optimus orders.
"Frag that Prime!" Ironhide instantly retorts.
Ratchet nods in agreement, pulling out his blades and moving forwards.
"Indeed. We shall stand with you, Optimus!" he adds in support.
He and Ironhide move up to stand on either side of their leader, who looks down at the them.
"You may require a medic when this is over with," Ratchet remarks with a small smile.
"Doesn't hurt to have some additional firepower," Ironhide chimes in.
Ratchet moves into the fray and uses his blades to cut through a few Terracons, slicing off one's arm and cutting through another. While Ironhide and Optimus continue blasting away at the horde, the former bashing the head in of one that gets to close, Ratchet notices the amputated limb of his opponent twitch violently on the ground before going still, the purple light fading. His optics gleam in hopeful realization.
"I recommend dissection!" he calls out. "The smaller the pieces, the better!"
Optimus and Ironhide both pause in their shooting at the advice, immediately acknowledging the logic behind it.
"Sound advice, old friend," Optimus nods in approval.
Optimus switches out his blaster for his two deadly sharp swords, while Ironhide reveals spiked knuckles on his fists, which he bashes together with a fierce grin. Without hesitation they join Ratchet in the midst of the Terracons and start cutting down any in their way.
Optimus slashes his sword to cut through several at once, slicing them in half and removing entire limbs. One Terracon attempts to strike at him with his cleaver, but Optimus easily blocks it before stabbing his sword through its chest and out through the head. Meanwhile, Ironhide lets out a fierce war cry as he charges into a pack of Terracons like a bull, sending one flying with a powerful punch before swinging his other arm around to bash another. He grabs a Terracon that gets too close and throws him over his shoulder, slamming it into another. His next strikes completely rips apart a con's chassis, while another's helm is shredded by his sharp knuckles. From his vantage point on the cliff ledge, Megatron looks on with little concern of their success, his optics gleaming with confident assurance as he gazes down at his foe.
"I have mastered Dark Energon. When you fall, Optimus, you too shall join my army!" he declares with a sinister smirk.
Optimus glares back at him with narrowed optics while Ironhide and Ratchet regroup beside him. Acknowledging the challenge, all three of them charge towards the advancing horde, slashing and punching their way through on their way to Megatron.
The Nemesis - Earth
The Vehicons up on the Nemesis opened fire on the three kids, an intense barrage of red Energon bolts impacting on the ground all around them. Jack, Raf, and Alex stumble with panicked cries while Elita, Bulkhead and Miko look on in alarm. Raf is then blown onto his back, and Jack and Alex move over to cover him with their bodies.
"Bulkhead!" Elita exclaims.
"I'm on it!" he shouts.
Bulkhead then grabs Miko and transforms into his vehicle mode, driving towards the others as fast as he could while Elita shoots back at the Decepticons in an attempt to draw their fire. She manages to score a hit on one of the cons, causing him to fall off the side and all the way to the ground below. Noticing the bigger threat, the Vehicons swiftly change their aim just as Bulkhead reaches the others.
"Get in, now!" he exclaims, opening his door.
The three kids waste no time in diving inside, and the door swiftly shuts behind them. Raf climbs into the back so that the others could sit up front and Bulkhead shoots off. He swerves around several bolts when a few Vehicons start to take notice of him as well.
"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack exhales in gratitude.
"Yeah, thanks," Raf adds.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" he stammers in bewilderment.
"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Jack asks worriedly.
"What's she look like?" Miko suddenly asks cheerfully, popping up from the backseat.
Alex fumes with anger, not amused at all.
"You little―!" she yells.
She lunges back with her arms outstretched to grab her, unable to express her anger with words. Miko yelps in fright, scrambling to keep Alex off her while the two boys watch with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. Before a fight could break out Bulkhead comes to a stop behind a large boulder, opening his door.
"Stop it, stop it!" Bulkhead tells the girls. "Everyone out! And this time, please, wait here?"
Alex growls but relents her assault, letting go of Miko and then climbing out. Jack and Raf immediately follow her lead and turn to wait for Miko to come out. However, the door suddenly closed and inside they could see Miko cheerfully waving at them through the back window.
"Wait, Bulkhead―!" Alex shouts in alarm, eyes wide.
Apparently not paying attention, Bulkhead took off before she could complete her sentence and made his way across the ground in the direction of the ship. He swerves around incoming Energon bolts and passes by Elita, who also transforms into her vehicle mode. The two Autobots head for the cliffside and underneath the Nemesis, out of sight of the Vehicons. Driving up a small rocky ramp, they transform midair and grab onto the rocks, beginning a fast climb up the side of the cliff. Moving faster than the bulkier mech, Elita flips off of the side and then grabs onto the spike of the Nemesis, flipping herself up and onto the deck. Energon blasts hit the ground near her and she rolls forwards, whipping out her wrist blades.
Dashing at the cons, she slices through one of the them and then kicks the other away, sending him tumbling over the side of the Nemesis. Another Vehicon aims his blaster at her, but before he could fire a hand reaches up, grabbing his ankle and pulling him off before Bulkhead leaps up, landing on the deck with a pounding fist. Standing up, the two Autobots face the approaching Vehicons and rush forward when they open fire. Bulkhead whips out his mace and bashes off one's head while Elita slams her fist against the helm of the one behind it.
Another Vehicon continues to fire his blaster at the pair but Bulkhead jumps up into the air. The Vehicon looks up, trying to follow him, but is promptly flattened when the Wrecker crashes down on top of him. Bulkhead gets back to his feet, looking around for any more sign of Decepticons while Elita takes a moment to look over the Nemesis, spotting Alex, Jack and Raf on the ground. She narrows her optics for a second before going still in alarm, realizing that one of the kids is missing.
"Where's Miko?" she calls out.
The pounding sound from Bulkhead's chassis gains their attention and, confused, he opens his chest compartment. To their astonishment and disbelief, an exhausted and dizzy Miko clambers out of her chest, gasping for air.
"Miko?!" Bulkhead exclaims.
"I heaved on your floor mats. Sorry," she apologizes, covering her mouth when she gags.
Bulkhead holds a hand out for her to climb on, closing his chest compartment and then lowers her to the ground.
"Remind me, never to do that again," Miko says.
"What the slag were you thinking?" Elita admonishes, and then glares at Bulkhead. "Bulkhead, you were supposed to drop her off with the others!"
"Wh- I did!" he protests.
"Clearly not!" she angrily retorts, gesturing to the girl on the ground between them.
Before they could argue further a Vehicon jumps out and bodyslams Elita, tackling her to the ground. She grunts in surprise and wrestles the con for a moment, swiftly getting on top of him. Once there she brings out her wrist blade and removes his head in a shower of sparks. Hearing another sound she looks up, widening her optics in alarm.
Miko goes still with dread at hearing the sound of machinery moving before her, and turns around to see two Vehicons emerging from the ship. They start to reach out to her and she scrambles backward in alarm, but Bulkhead intervenes first by killing one with a shot from his blaster. The Vehicon looks over at him and moves to join up with three more, who all start to fire their own blasters. Miko crouches down on the ground, covering her head, but is scooped up into Elita's hand as she rolls forwards, promptly depositing her safely behind a control panel.
Bulkhead blocks one laser bolt with his arm and looks around, spotting a satellite dish. Running over to it he rips the dish off and then chucks it at the Vehicons, smashing the dish through all of them like a frisbee. Seeing the area is cleared of enemies Elita retrieves Miko from her hiding spot and hands her over to Bulkhead, giving him a stern glare.
"Please keep an eye on her," she says pointedly.
"Oh boy..." he mutters in response.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Miko demands.
Before Elita could response more Vehicons converge on them yet again, opening fire with their blasters. Bulkhead covers Miko with his hands while Elita scans the platform for an exit, spotting the open hatch.
"Let's go, Bulk!" she exclaims.
She rushes over to the hatch and jumps inside the ship and Bulkhead follows right after, after which she seals it shut behind them. The pair take off running through the darkened interior of the warship, headed in no clear direction.
"Which way should we go?" Bulkhead asks.
"I'd say they're keeping Charlie and Fowler in the brig," she suggests.
Alexandra POV...
That idiot! Does she not have any common sense at all?
The moment Miko didn't start following Jack, Raf, and I in climbing out of Bulkhead I just knew she wasn't listening, and of course I was right. And the nerve of her to wave and grin like she just beat us in a game of Mario Kart! It's like she doesn't understand that this isn't some spectacle where freaking Superman saves the day or whatever. We might as well have thrown ourselves onto Omaha Beach at D-Day! I withhold the urge to scream and tear my hair out, since there's nothing any of us can do about it. Hopefully Elita and Bulkhead already know.
"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asks meekly.
I glance down at him, about to reassure Raf that they haven't―especially not with Miko―when I heard several heavy footsteps. A large shadow then falls over us and we whirl around in a panic. I let out a startled gasp at the sight of two Decepticons standing in front of us, one of them reaching a clawed hand out..
"They didn't," I nervously respond.
Elita POV...
As the young female human nearly heaves again in Bulkhead's hand, I withhold an irritated sigh. This is not how I was expecting today to go at all, what with Charlie and Agent Fowler being kidnapped, Optimus acting strangely uneasy about something, and on top of that having to worry about the safety of a human inside the Nemesis. Who could've thought that Earth humans are even more crazy than Andromeda's humans?! Bulkhead and I slow to a stop at an intersection, and after I check for any sign of danger I look back to give Miko a withering glare.
"Once we get back to base, Miko, we're going to have a serious talk," I tell her.
"Seriously?" she groans in protest.
"Yes. Seriously," I repeat with a stern, tense voice.
Two vehicons then appear further down the hallway, looking up at us in obvious surprise. Bulkhead quickly brings his arm back and then slides Miko across the floor, where she goes skidding for at least a hundred feet. The vehicons glance at her, distracted, and I take the opportunity to jump up and slam my feet into the helm of one of the cons, while Bulkhead slams the other into a wall with a powerful punch.
Miko comes to a stop, crawling to her feet and looks up, only to be scooped back up by Bulkhead as we continue running by.
Alexandra POV...
The two Decepticons that captured us quickly brought us into the warship, and I resist the urge to shudder with fear at the thought of what will happen to us. Every corridor is dark and purple, looking very unfriendly, not helping my nerves at all.
"Bring them to the brig. Commander Starscream is keeping the other humans there," the Decepticon carrying me tells the other.
I look back at Jack and Raf, who are held in the clawed hands of the other Decepticon. They look back at me as well, just as anxious as I am, Raf even more so. I want to scream at the Decepticons, cursing Miko in my head at what she got us into: Raf is barely a teenager yet, and now we're about to be imprisoned and possibly tortured by a malicious group of alien robots!
I'm pulled from my thoughts at the sound of a car engine farther down the hallway. I glanced over and gape in surprise when Bumblebee comes screaming around the corner before suddenly slamming into the two Decepticons. I gasp in fright when the feeling of weightlessness tears into my stomach, making me stiff with tension out of fear of the painful impact. I finally let out a short scream when I'm caught in Bumblebee's outstretched hand, and the emptiness in my stomach swiftly returns to normal. Bumblebee briefly looks me over, beeping in concern. I take a few moments to catch my breath, stunned, and then give him a small smile of relief.
"Thanks..." I shakily respond, and he chirps in reply.
He gently sets me down on the ground as Arcee does the same for Jack and Raf. I stand on the ground, wobbling slightly before steadying myself and take a few deep breaths.
I always hated rollercoasters.
"Bumblebee!" Raf happily says, rushing over to him, and Bumblebee beeps back a response.
"Appreciate you clearing the front door for us," Arcee then says, raising a metal eyebrow at us. "But storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list."
"Tell me about it," Jack sighs in agreement.
I angrily clench my fists tightly at the reminder of what brought us here in the first place.
"I'm so gonna kill Miko," I growl.
"Well, we have to find them first before you can do that," Arcee responds dryly. "Follow me."
She stands back up to her full height and starts moving quickly down the hallway, Bumblebee right beside her. I suppress a sigh of resignation and the three of us tiny humans swiftly give chase. It doesn't take very long before exhaustion starts to hit.
"You'd think... they'd remember that... we can't run as... fast... as them," I manage to say, panting.
"No kidding!" Jack scoffs in agreement.
Thankfully though the workout is short lived when Arcee comes to a stop next to an intersection, raising her gun. Casting a quick glance at Bumblebee she then swiftly whirls around the corner, gun raised, only to be greeted by another gun of very similar shape and design, though slightly bigger than hers. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding when I recognize it to be Elita. Bulkhead is standing behind her, holding Miko in his hand.
"Friendly!" Arcee exclaims.
"Affirmative!" Elita says back.
"Hello!" Bulkhead hollers.
They deactivate their weapons and the rest of us finally stop running to take a breather.
"When you said you were content with looking after the humans, I didn't think that meant you'd bring them into a war zone," Arcee says in clear disapproval.
"Trust me, I would not have dreamt of it," Elita replies with an irritable sigh, casting a glance at Miko. "Someone decided to sneak through the ground bridge."
"Really?" Arcee deadpans. "And neither of you noticed?"
"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead retorts, gesturing wildly at the Japanese teen.
I decide to add in my own two cents.
"If it helps, then I will gladly chain Miko to a pole the next time you open a portal!" I call out.
"Hey!" Miko exclaims.
"Don't even start with me, Miko!" I yell back at her.
Elita shakes her head in exasperation.
"We'll sort this out later," she states firmly. "Right now, we need to find Charlie, Fowler, and get the kids out of here."
"Uhh, they're in the brig," Jack and Raf both say at the same time.
"Figured," she remarks. "Ok. You four follow us, and stay together. Do not leave our sight. Understood?"
"Crystal clear!" I chirp back with a salute, gesturing at Miko. "She, on the other hand, is a little slow."
"Dude, what's your problem?" Miko demands.
"My problem? What's yours?!" I furiously respond.
"Enough, both of you," Elita interrupts with a stern glare. "Come on, let's move."
Charlie POV...
A scream tears its way from my throat as I'm subjected to another agonizing jab of the electrical prod. When it's pulled away I hang limply in the chains, inhaling lungfuls of air while trying to recover from the pain. Even so, I painstakingly lift my head up to meet Starscream's gaze with a defiant glare. Frowning at me he steps closer, his red optics gleaming with contempt.
"My dear Charlie Watson. You do realize that the Autobots have abandoned you," he sneers at me. "As such, I am the only one you can rely upon now, if you wish for the pain to cease. So tell me what I want to know. Or..."
He holds up his prod, letting sparks of purple electricity run along the end of the device inches from my skin. I flinch and attempt to pull away from the prod as best I can, but muster the courage to glower at him.
"Get fragged," I snap, my voice slightly hoarse.
Starscream pulls back with a surprised gasp of indignation and then growls angrily at me, his optics filled with intense hatred. He then points his prod at Fowler, who flinches away from it.
"Speak, or he gets it!" he threatens.
"Please, no more..." Fowler quietly whimpers, struggling in his chains. "They're in secret government base..."
"Fowler, don't!" I cry out in disbelief.
Starscream smirks triumphantly at me and turns to Fowler.
"Go on," he encourages.
I gape at the agent in disbelief, stunned and a bit outraged that he would give in to Starscream's demands: he might not like the Autobots that much, but he would never willingly give up information to beings that threaten the planet's safety.
However, before Fowler could answer the faint sounds of explosions and a firefight echo from outside the chamber. I look up with a hopeful smile at the sound, happy that my faith in the Autobots is proven yet again. Starscream glances back at the door with a frown before turning back to Fowler.
"Yes?" he repeats, a bit more urgent now.
Thankfully Fowler heard the sound as well and came to the same conclusion as me, and to my great relief his determination and resilience came rushing right back to the forefront of his demeanor.
"In the old steel mill..." he pauses, feigning thoughtfulness as he looks at me. "Watson, you don't think it was under that carnival's fun-house, do you?"
"Maybe," I reply, giving the best shrug I could make. "I mean―"
Our mocking banter is interrupted when Starscream angrily jabs the prod into Fowler's stomach, causing him to yell out in pain. When he pulls it away Fowler drops his head with a weak groan of pain. I widen my eyes in alarm and Starscream whips around to glare at the two guards.
"Someone find out what is going on out there!" Starscream orders.
The guards hastily activate their blasters and rush out the door, anxious to avoid Starscream's rage. I disregard the danger and opt to throw another taunt his way, smirking at him.
"Abandoned, huh?" I ask sarcastically. "It's almost like you have no idea who Optimus even is―"
I'm cut off mid-sentence when Sarscream whirls around to jab the prod into my stomach with a snarl on his face, sending rivers of electricity running through my body. I scream in agony and thrash around in the chains, unable to escape the never-ending pain. It's only when the blissful sensation of unconsciousness starts to overcome me that the pain begins fading.
Elita POV...
A large group of Vehicons managed to locate us rather quickly, cutting us off on either side of the long hallway. The four of us do our best to shoot them down, and I take out several cons' with well-placed headshots, whereas Arcee sprints forward into melee distance, kicking one down and punching another.
Keeping the human's wellbeing as my top priority I spare a second to glance down, seeing them fearfully rushing every which-way in their panicked attempts to avoid the chaos. Spotting a few cons' charging forward I step in front of the kids and shoot down two of the cons' slashing at a third with one of my wrist blades. The kids try running over to the side of the hallway just as Vehicon head comes rolling over in their direction, forcing them to scatter to avoid being crushed. Bumblebee then moves in front of them himself, and I swiftly move around to defend them on the opposite side.
While Arcee continues to engage with the cons' in front of us, kicking and slashing with her wrist blades, I remain firm with the group of kids. I quickly place my foot down in front of them just in time to block an energon bolt headed their way. I grimace in response to the pain but push past it, taking out the offending con' with a headshot. One of them charges in an attempt to tackle Bulkhead, nearly causing him to fall on top of the kids. Thankfully he stops his fall with a hand placed on the ground for support, glancing at the kids and then glaring at his opponent. He then throws the con' overhead, allowing my to shoot him in the head when he hits the floor.
The fighting finally seems to cease and, after checking to make sure there aren't anymore Vehicon's about to attack, I deactivate my weapons with a huge sigh of relief, feeling as though an immense weight has been lifted from my spark. Normally a skirmish like this wouldn't have me too bothered, but having four humans in the crossfire who have no hope of defending themselves makes things very difficult. I crouch down and do a quick lower to make sure they're unharmed, watching as Jack and Alex help the others to their feet.
"Are you alright?" I ask in concern.
"Yeah, we're okay..." Alex exhales, her body trembling slightly. "That was really close."
"Too close," Arcee cuts in firmly, and I glance up to see her giving me a firm look. "Elita, we can't keep moving around the ship like this."
Sparing a quick glance at the kids to make sure they're fine, I stand back up and nod in agreement.
"Agreed. We'll need a safe place to keep them while we get Charlie and Fowler," I state.
::But this is the Nemesis! What place here could possibly be safe for them?:: Bumblebee asks skeptically.
I ponder it for a few moments and look at Arcee intently as an idea starts forming in my mind.
"The bridge should do," I suggest, and she lifts an optic ridge in response.
"Wh- Seriously?" Bulkhead asks, dumbfounded.
"Correct me if I'm wrong... but isn't the bridge typically the 'commanding' part of a ship?" Alex says warily. "As in that's where the people in charge would be?"
"Really?!" Miko gasps in excitement. "That is awesome! Let's go!"
"Miko!" Jack snaps in frustration.
"As of right now, Starscream would be down in the brig. Megatron... isn't here at the moment..." I explain, frowning as I pick up on a few thoughts from my sparkmate. "Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet seem to be battling him. How and where, I do not know."
"If that's the case, then Elita's right," Arcee nods in agreement. "It's the last place they'd expect to look for intruders."
"Well, that is quite unfortunate for them," a deep voice booms. "Because I would certainly look there."
We turn around at the sound of the newcomer and widen our eyes at the sight of a bulky, towering Decepticon stomping our way, his red optics gleaming with malice.
"Woah!" Miko exclaims. "Is that Mega-whatshisface?!"
"Brawl," I scowl in recognition.
"Oh boy..." Bulkhead mutters uneasily.
"Scrap," Arcee sighs, and Bumblebee nods in agreement.
Cybertronian battlefield, unknown location - Earth
3rd person POV...
Caught in the heat of battle, Ironhide delivers as much punishment against his adversaries as he could, knocking one zombie's head clean off with a fierce uppercut before punching his fist straight through the body of another. Pulling his arm back with a grunt, he whips out his plasma cannon and then punches the ground, simultaneously releasing an egery blast from his cannon. The wave of energy blows outward a short distance in all direction, tossing several Terracons to the ground.
Ratchet uses his blades to slash and cut through Terracons that get too close, but as time goes on his movements begin to slow as exhaustion starts to seep in. Close by, Optimus attacks with both his sword and blaster cannon, shooting off heads and cutting through the bodies of decayed Cybertronians, slamming one into the ground after it gets stuck on his sword. Still, even he and Ironhide are getting tired, forcing the three of them into a defensive circle.
"Optimus. This prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength," Ratchet manages to say.
"We cannot falter now," Optimus responds with grim determination.
He approaches the undead and cuts through a group of them with his sword, stumbling when another manages to catch him by surprise by jumping on his back. The distraction is enough for dozens more to begin swarming him and they grab at any part of his body they could get their claws on, even crawling over one another to do so. Optimus tries to shoot them off with his cannon, but is quickly forced to the ground, grunting in pain as the Terracons start viciously pummel and tear at him. Ironhide bashes aside an undead and then widens his optics at the sight of Optimus under the horde.
"Prime!" he yells in alarm.
He runs to assist his leader but is tripped up when a rather bulky Terracon grabs his ankle. Ironhide collapses with a heavy thud and swiftly kicks the con' away with an angry grunt. However, the horde begins to him as well, clawing and punching at him, some even biting with their mouths. Ironhide grunts in pain and desperately swings his fists out to bash several of them to pieces, but for every undead he destroyed two more took its place, and he soon vanished underneath a pile of his own.
"Ironhide!" Ratchet exclaims.
A Terracon then grabs him by the shoulders and Ratchet struggles to push him away and get his blades free. Like the other two, more Terracons begin to converge all around Ratchet, crawling on top of one another to reach him as best they could, clawing at him with their hands and pummeling him. One grabs his arm and twists it, and Ratchet shouts in pain as several pieces of his arm snap off his body from the limb being turned the wrong way. He falls to the ground himself, subjected to the vicious and triumphant horde of undead.
From up on his perch Megatron gleefully observes the Autobots being at the mercy of his undead army, relishing the raw power and possibility this can give him. If this small force of his undead warriors could subdue even the likes of Optimus Prime and Ironhide, then he can only imagine the destruction that an entire planet-full of Terracons could bring. They would be unstoppable! No being in the universe could ever hope to challenge such an army.
"I'll be a god..." Megatron chuckles quietly at the thought.
The pile of Terracons on top of Optimus has grown so large now that there isn't a single speck of the Autobot visible from the outside. Frustrated and hungry for living energy, one crawls its way onto the very top of the pile, only to be stabbed through the face as a sword suddenly emerges from it. Several blue energon blasts start to rip apart the pile from the inside, before it's finally blasted apart by an enraged Optimus, who sends the Terracons flying in every direction. He slams the con' he stabbed onto the ground and fires a bolt at another.
Similarly, Ironhide's horde of undead is also blown apart from the power of the old veteran's cannons as he fires in every direction, blasting apart entire bodies with every shot. Soon enough the pile is gone and Ironhide gets back on his feet, grabbing one con' and then ripping it in half with his bare hands in a display of raw fury, slamming both pieces onto the ground. He and Optimus then take notice of the smaller Terracon pile and rush forward. Ironhide destroys several with a single explosive blast while Optimus grabs the final two, effortlessly smashing them together and tossing them away. He helps a dazed Ratchet stand on his feet, and all three Autobots look up at where Megatron is perched.
"Optimus, Ironhide, well done!" Megatron calls out with an amused grin, unconcerned by their escape. "After all these years, still at the top of your game?"
"Why don't you top this, Megatron!" Ironhide roars.
With lightning quick speed Ironhide aims his cannon and fires off a large rocket. Megatron leans to the side with a startled grunt, watching with wide optics as the rocket flies right past his head, barely scratching his helmet. Briefly stunned, Megatron recovers with an enraged growl and glares at the Autobots with an irritated scowl.
"My legion, FINISH THEM!" he yells fiercely.
The remaining Terracons need no incentive to surge toward the Autobots, and Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet move to battle them once more, slashing bodies apart with their blades or simply punching their way through the horde on their way to Megatron.
The Nemesis - Earth
Alexandra POV...
The large and bulky Decepticon, who Elita identified as 'Brawl,' lumbers toward us with heavy footsteps. I watch anxiously as he approaches, sticking close to Raf to offer some comfort when he gulps fearfully at the sight. This guy is massive! Not quite as big as Optimus, but he definitely matches Ironhide and Bulkhead in size, and that's not even including the amount of weapons covering him. He's basically the definition of a walking tank!
Brawl turns his red optics down to look at us, and I shudder at the clear disgust and contempt in his gaze.
"Organics... really?" he scoffs. "I knew Elita One loved the little pests, but these ones can't even fight!"
"Oh yeah? Well why don't you try talking to my mace?" Bulkhead challenges, whipping out said weapon.
"Go get him Bulk!" Miko cheers.
"Shut up Miko! This isn't a game!" I snap at her.
Brawl chuckles at Bulkhead.
"Oh I would like nothing more, Wrecker," he responds, smirking. "Right after talking to your insects, of course."
He then raises his arm and fires a giant rocket. I let out a startled gasp, frozen with fear by the sight of absolute death hurtling for me. Before it could hit, however, my entire world goes spiraling out of control as metal digits wrap around me and I let out a startled cry at the sudden motion, realizing that Elita had rolled across the ground to scoop us into her arms in the nick of time. She grunts as her back hits the wall while the rocket goes flying past us, hitting the wall at the opposite end of the hallway in a big explosion.
"Woah!" Jack exclaims.
Bumblebee beeps out a clearly angered sentence and starts shooting his arm blasters at Brawl. Bulkhead and Arcee join in with their own blasters but Brawl merely holds his arm in front of his head to protect himself, the blue lasers bouncing off of his armor. Elita stands back up, stilling holding the four of us, and we watch as Brawl shoots another rocket. The Autobots all scatter to avoid it as it slams into the ground, causing another explosion.
"Who the heck is this guy?" I cry out in a panic.
"We need to get Charlie and Fowler!" Elita says, ignoring me for the moment. "Bee Bulk, can you keep him occupied?"
"Love too. This scraphead is asking for it!" Bulkhead replies.
He switches out his guns for two maces and Bumblebee beeps in agreement, raising his fists in a fighting stance.
"You think you can handle me, Wrecker?" he asks with a mocking sneer. "How adorable."
"Arcee, with me! We're dropping the kids off and then heading to the brig!" Elita orders.
"Got it," she nods in reply.
"I wouldn't bother, Elita," Brawl says dismissively. "Starscream may be the most incompetent seeker in existence, but he does know how to cause pain."
"How about I give you some pain?" Bulkhead retorts.
He and Bumblebee make a mad dash for Brawl, who eagerly charges back at them. His left arm then morphs into a wicked looking gun, which he raises to fire. None of us get to see what happens next before Elita then transforms around us. I let out a surprised yelp at being pulled through various pieces of machinery before getting deposited into the front seat of Elita's vehicle form. Jack is placed into the passenger seat, while Miko and Raf are put into the back. Elita starts driving down the hallway at full speed, Arcee right alongside us in her motorcycle form.
"Aww! I wanted to see Bulk kicking that dude's butt!" Miko whines.
"What?!" Jack asks, gaping at her incredulously.
"Haven't you seen enough of that already!?" I turn to scowl at her.
"I have," Raf meekly replies.
"Come on, how would we be in danger when Bulk is totally―" Miko tries to argue.
"You're not seeing anything else today, and that's final!" Elita's voice interrupts firmly.
Miko growls in annoyance but doesn't respond, crossing her arms with a scowl on her face. I glower at her before facing forward again with an irritated sigh of frustration. Honestly, at this rate she's going to drive me insane before I reach the age of twenty... if I even reach that age. We remain mostly silent for the rest of the car ride as Elita drives through the ship. She eventually comes to a stop after about a minute and opens the doors, a clear sign for us to get out. Once we do so, she and Arcee transform into their bipedal modes.
"Stay back you four," Elita orders us, and I nod in confirmation.
She and Arcee then move up to either side of the door, each turning one of their arms into a blaster. Giving a silent nod to each other they open the door and dash inside the bridge, and for the next few moments all we can hear is the sound of laser fire. Then as quickly as it started the noises stop, and I bite my lip anxiously before Arcee pokes her head out to look at us.
"Clear," she states.
The four of us enter the bridge and I look around at all of the massive computers and monitors scattered around the room. At the far end is an entire wall covered in a video screen with a walkway leading up to it.
"Fancy place they've got," I murmur.
"Wait in here," Arcee tells us. "You're slowing us down, and easy targets. You'll be alright in here, as long as you stay put!"
She emphasizes the last part with an intense glare before walking out. Elita glances back at us, narrowing her optics at Miko in clear warning before moving to follow Arcee.
"Alex, you're in charge," she says just before leaving.
I blink in surprise at her but the large door closes before I could respond. With what feels like the first reprieve of this chaos today, we all breathe out a sigh of relief. Still, now that everything has calmed down it just makes the elephant in the room that more glaring.
"That, was intense!" Miko says.
Go figure.
I whirl around to glare at her, finally getting an opportunity to express the full extent of my feelings.
"Oh, you don't say Miko!" I snap at her sarcastically. "If it weren't for the alien robots trying to blast us to bits every second, I might've thought we were on vacation!"
"Dude, what's your deal?" she demands. "I'm just being honest!"
"Yeah, and it's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity!" Jack says irritably. "What were you thinking, Miko?"
"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko asks.
"No one asked you to be an idiot!" I scoff. "This isn't TV, where you can safely watch a superhero duking it out or some stupid crap like that. This is real life!"
"Exactly! Where else am I going to get to see some real action like this?" she points out.
"You shouldn't want to see it at all!" I exclaim incredulously.
"Hmph. Your loss, Alex," she says dismissively. "Next time, you don't have to worry about following me."
I grab my hair in my hands with a scowl, tempted to rip it out right there. How does not get that this isn't just a spectacle to watch!? it's a matter of life or death!
"You wanted us to be a band, Miko," Jack angrily points out. "Doesn't that usually mean to play together?"
"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!" she retorts.
"Well, maybe we have some regard for your safety!" he states firmly, gesturing to me and him.
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's your name 'Optimus?'" she shoots back with a sneer. "You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much!"
"And what about when he can't protect you, huh?" I growl, storming up to her. "YOU'LL BE DEAD!"
Miko flinches away from me when I shout, but before any of us could respond Raf intervenes with a loud scream,
"STOP IT! All of you!" he cries out.
The three of us fall silent, surprised by the normally mild Raf suddenly losing it, and we watch with wide eyes as he runs away from us to sit on a nearby ledge. I start to feel guilty at contributing to distress and move over to sit beside him, Jack and Miko doing the same.
"H-Hey, Raf, Raf, it's okay," Jack tries to reassure him.
"Yeah, we're gonna be fine. Our bots will come back for us," Miko adds confidently. "Yeah, they're gonna take us home."
"How do you know?" Raf questions bitterly.
"...Because they came to get Charlie and Agent Fowler," I tell him. "She's been friends with them for a while, right? And they don't really even like Fowler, but they still came to rescue both of them."
I smile at Raf when he glances up at me with a more hopeful expression on his face, and rub his shoulder reassuringly.
"Hey, Raf, what do you make of that?" Jack suddenly asks.
We look up to see him pointing at one of the computer screens, where a bunch of symbols are moving around. Raf pushes his glasses further up his nose and stands up to get a better look.
"It's important," he states, nodding confidently at his assessment. "Really important."
Charlie POV...
The black ream of unconsciousness slowly fades back into reality, and I withhold a hiss as the sensation of pain makes its way back to my brain. I can still smell the ozone and feel the smoke rising off of my body from the intense voltage of electricity, making my limbs feel as stiff as a plank of wood. I wearily lift my head up to see Starscream standing in front of Fowler with an irritated look on his face.
"Wake up you pathetic lump of flesh!" he snarls.
"Hmm... grandma? Is it cookie time?" Fowler asks drunkenly.
His body them slumps lifelessly again, and under normal circumstances I would've sighed in exasperation. For whatever reason, whenever Fowler is knocked out and unconscious he occasionally says the most random things one could think of. It's something he's done ever since his time serving with the Army Rangers, and is embarrassing to no end for him.
Starscream lets out another grow of frustration before turning to me, narrowing his optics. He marches over to stand directly in front of me, and I muster enough energy to return the look with a defiant glare.
"If that pathetic vermin won't talk, then I suppose you'll have to―" he starts to say.
Starscream pauses mid-sentence when the door opens, and we both look over to see a Vehicon standing in the doorway.
"Well?" he demands.
Instead of answering, the Vehicon falls forward lifelessly to reveal Elita standing behind him, her baster raised. Despite the pain I'm feeling, I manage a smile at the sight of her. She fires a shot to kill the other Vehicon guard and switches her aim for Starscream, but he quickly pulls out his own blaster and points it directly at my face. I flinch at the motion, squinting my eyes in response to the glowing red light of his weapon partially blinding me.
"Not so fast," Starscream states.
A small blaster then taps him on the head and he looks up to see Arcee positioned on the ceiling above us, aiming point blank at his helm.
"Huh... neat," I murmur to myself.
"I wouldn't," Arcee warns him.
"Oh, but I might," Starscream smirks in reply. "After all, Charlie Watson is very important to the Autobots, isn't she?"
The two sisters narrow their optics coldly at Starscream but don't say anything, keeping their weapons leveled at the Seeker. With no clear option for either party I start looking around to figure out a way of distracting Starscream, my eyes falling on my wristband.
3rd person POV...
Bulkhead swings his mace at Brawl, who leans away and retaliates with a punched aimed at his head, only for Bulkhead to block it. Bumblebee then jumps up and kicks Brawl in the side, forcing him back. Brawl skids to a stop, growling in frustration, and Bumblebee leaps at him again, but is sent flying into the wall by a hit from the bulky Decepticon. Bulkhead intervenes with his mace, but Brawl grabs his arm and then spins around to throw him hard into the wall.
Smirking, Brawl aims his arm cannon at Bulkhead but a volley of blue Energon bolts throws him off target right as he fired, impacting harmlessly on the wall instead. Frustrated, Brawl focuses on Bumblebee and fires a second rocket, though the Autobot Scout jumps over it before slamming his fists down on Brawl's cannon. He tries to retaliate but Bumblebee evades his next swing and punches him twice in the chassis, finishing his move with a backflip to kick him in the jaw.
Brawl stumbles away, dazed, and Bulkhead rams him into the wall. He grunts in pain and whirls around to slam his fist into Bulkhead's abdomen, then kicks him to the ground. Bumblebee jumps in for another attack but Brawl anticipates it and grabs his outstretched foot, throwing him down as well.
"Frag off, bug!" he growls.
He attempts to stomp down on top of Bumblebee's head, but the Scout nimbly rolls out of the way, doing so multiple times to avoid several follow-up attacks. Frustrated, Brawl reaches down and grabs Bumblebee by the head, lifting him up and then throwing him down the hallway. Bumblebee cries out in pain, looking up as Brawl starts running towards him.
"You're going down scraphead!" Bulkhead suddenly shouts.
He tackles Brawl from behind, sending them flying over Bee and tumbling to the ground. They roll across each other, punching and shoving, before slamming into the wall.
Alexandra POV...
"We've got to get this to Optimus," Raf says.
"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space-nachos?" Miko asks him.
I would be irritated with her for saying that, but she does have a point. This is an alien language after all, and I highly doubt anyone from Earth could hope to understand it.
Well, except for Raf.
"I know math when I see it," he explains, smiling confidently. "And that is one serious equation."
"Can you download it?" Jack asks.
"I've got a flash drive," he says, setting his bag down and pulling it out. "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."
"Yeah, I have a feeling these guys don't use USB," I comment.
Charlie POV...
The stare down between Elita, Arcee, and Starscream has gone on for over a minute now, a smirk plastered across the Seeker's face. He knows he holds all the cards with my fate literally held in his hands, thanks to the huge gun pointed at my face.
"Now, Agent Watson and I will take our leave," he declares smugly.
I grimace in exertion, straining to reach the button of my wristband with my fingers. Fighting through the pain from the electrical voltage, I twist my hand as far as possible to reach the button. If I can just get a shot off at Starscream the others would be able use the distraction to move in.
"The emu said, yeah!" Fowler suddenly exclaims.
Surprised by his sudden exclamation Starscream looks at Fowler in disgust and bewilderment, while at the same time I finally get a finger on the button, grinning as it clicks. The blaster forms in my hand and I point the nozzle at Starscream and pull the trigger.
A blue Energon bolt strikes his arm and he yelps in surprise, looking at the scorch mark. Wasting no time at all, Elita and Arcee fire their blasters at Starscream in quick succession. He ducks and evades with frightened yelps, somehow managing to avoid all of their shots, before transforming into his jet mode. He angles his thruster at Arcee and blasts off, blowing her off of the ceiling and quickly escaping out into the hallway, the door shutting behind him. With him gone I let out a relieved sigh.
"Thanks for the save," I tell them.
"No problem," Elita smiles in response. "Now let's get you two out of here."
Arcee stands up with a small grimace, rubbing her shoulder where it's still smoking from Starscream's jet exhaust.
"Wish we could've gotten Starscream," she mutters.
Elita shrugs at her in response.
3rd person POV...
Bulkhead grunts in pain after being swung into the wall by his own mace, looking up at the sound of a blade emerging from Brawl's arm. Grinning, the Decepticon thrusts his blade forward and Bulkhead swiftly grabs his arm before the blade hit. He attempts to push his arm away but Brawl increases the force behind his arm with a fierce scowl, glaring at him.
"It's been a while since I've had the pleasure of gutting a Wrecker," Brawl taunts.
"Yeah? Keep waiting," Bulkhead retorts.
"I have killed thousands of your kind!" he sneers with contempt. "What makes you think you can stand against me?"
"Maybe you should ask your fellow Combaticons that question!" he grins mockingly.
Brawl's optics go wide with surprise and fury.
"Why you fraggi―" he starts.
He's cut off when Bumblebee tackles Brawl with full force, sending them both sprawling across the floor. Brawl quickly gets up with a roar and jabs his blade at him and Bee dodges with a retaliating uppercut. Shaking his head, Brawl then responds by grabbing both of his arms and head butting him, sending him staggering to the ground. Bulkhead then jumps up with his blaster cannon and, with a fierce yell, swings his arm forward and punches Brawl directly in the chest, simultaneously shooting his cannon at full power. The force behind the attack sends Brawl flying down the hallway, groaning in pain. Outraged, he punches the ground and gets back to his feet.
"Bulkhead, Bumblebee, we have Charlie and Fowler. Meet us at the bridge so we can grab the kids and get out of here!" Elita says over the comlink.
Having gotten the message, Bulkhead and Bumblebee swiftly transform and take off the opposite direction at full speed.
"What?" Brawl says incredulously, narrowing his optics furiously in realization. "You're not getting away!"
He starts to sprint after them and then transforms into own vehicle mode, a massive cybertronian tank.
Alexandra POV...
With no clear way of downloading the information from the terminal―which I doubt we would've been able to figure out how to do to begin with―we had no idea of what to do next. While glancing around the bridge for any ideas my gaze pauses on Miko, who is browsing through her cellphone with a bored sigh. Then it hits me: why not just take a picture on our phones? Problem solved!
Just as I'm about to speak up and deliver the good news the large doors to the bridge suddenly open, allowing a Decepticon to enter the room.
"Get back!" I whisper to the others.
I grab Raf's arm while Jack grabs Miko and start sprinting over to the side of the room as fast as possible to hide behind a wall. I look back in surprise when Raf suddenly pulls his arm away and rushes back. I widen my eyes in alarm and stretch my arm out to him in panic.
"Raf, no!" I call out.
He retrieves his backup and zips it shut, slipping the straps over his shoulders with a sigh of relief. However the action wasn't unnoticed, and he looks up with a nervous gulp when the Decepticon approaches with his gun raised. I let out a frightened gasp when the Decepticon fires and almost scream when the red laser barely hits him. Out of sheer desperation I run forward and tackle Raf out of the way just in time to avoid being shot by another laser. We roll across the floor momentarily but I quickly regain my focus and scramble to protect Raf with my own body.
"Alex!" Jack shouts in concern.
I glance over to see him and Miko on the other side of the Decepticon, and I remember my idea.
"Miko, take a picture!" I yell at her.
"Great idea!" Miko eagerly replies, pulling out her phone. "Hey, you!"
I watch with a disbelieving stare as Miko snaps a quick picture of the Decepticon, who turned to look at her. He pulls his head back for a second at the camera flash, confused.
"What the― MIKO!" I scream in frustration.
"What?! You said to take a picture!" she defends herself.
"Not of that!" Jack replies, also getting the idea, pointing at the alien equation. "OF THAT!"
"Ohhh... that would make a lot more sense," Miko sheepishly admits.
Thankfully she takes a picture of the equation, which seems to remind the Decepticon of what his original intentions were and he aims his gun at her.
"Look out!" I exclaim.
She and Jack take off running to avoid the laser bolt sent their way, and I pull Raf along with me to the exit. Raf cries out in panic and I stumble on my feet as several explosions go off from the laser blasts hitting the floor. Gripping his hand tightly we run outside with Jack and Miko and into the hallway, and the Decepticon follows. Jack glances back before quickly turning forward with a panicked expression, spurring us even faster.
"Go! Go! Go!" he urges..
Then the sound of a truck honking gets my attention and I look forward to see Bulkhead screaming around the corner in his vehicle mode on his way straight for us. I instinctively cover my head when he transforms to jump over our heads and tackle the Decepticon. With the threat being handled we stop running and take a moment to catch our breath, and at that moment Elita, Bumblebee, and Arcee pull up next to us, the first two opening their car doors for us while Jack hops onto Arcee.
"I told you to stay put!" she yells angrily.
Sure, like it's our fault a Decepticon walked onto the bridge.
Entrusting Raf with Bumblebee I get into Elita's car form and sit in the passenger seat, not even needing to do anything as the seatbelt slides over me while the door closes, and Elita continues driving.
"Are you alright, kid?" a voice asks, not Elita's.
I look to my left in slight surprise to see Agent Watson sitting in the driver's seat, having not initially noticed her there. Right off the bat I can tell she's taking a beating of some sort, her uniform charred and blackened and smelling suspiciously like smoke, and her hair is seriously disheveled, almost as if it was fried. Despite all that, however, she doesn't seem to be too hurt based on the way she's looking at me in concern: that, or it's just her super good 'secret-agent' training that lets her hide it.
Honestly though, she's the one that was kidnapped by alien murder-bots and yet she's acting like this is just another day at the White House!
"Am I alright?" I ask her incredulously. "You're the one who was kidnapped!"
"True," she acknowledges with a small chuckle. "But I have had worse scenarios."
Before I could ask her what could possibly have been worse Agent Fowler pokes his head out from the backseat; whatever Agent Watson was tortured with, Fowler seems to have gotten it ten times worse. He looks deranged and out of his mind, gazing around at nothing, his body shaking feverishly.
"I like pie..." he drawls, stretching his arm out in a dramatic fashion. "Can we stop for pie?"
After saying that he slumps onto the center console, completely knocked out and unconscious. I stare at him in shock and panic while Agent Watson sighs in exasperation.
"Oh my gosh, is he okay?!" I ask anxiously.
"He'll recover," she reassures me. "He just gets a little delirious when he's knocked out."
"...A little?" I ask her with a skeptical look.
Before she could respond an explosion occurs next to us, causing Elita and the others to swerve violently to avoid it. I turn in my seat and notice a massive alien tank chasing after us, driving way faster than a tank should. On top is a giant turret, aimed at us.
"Uh oh," I say nervously.
"Slagging Brawl," Elita mutters irritably. "He's definitely upset with me."
"What'd you do?" I ask her.
"I'll explain later," she responds. "Bulkhead?"
"Way ahead of you!" he eagerly replies.
I turn to watch Bulkhead as he transforms back into his robot form and skids to a stop, holding what looks like a grenade in his hand. He lobs it at Brawl and immediately transforms back into vehicle form to resume following us. Brawl attempts to stop before the grenade got close enough, but did so too late and it explodes in a blue fireball, obscuring the Decepticon from view.
"Did he get him?" I ask hopefully.
"Doubt it," Elita says grimly. "That con' is hard to kill."
"At least we made it out in one piece," Agent Watson points out.
Cybertronian battlefield, unknown location - Earth
3rd person POV...
Despite the Terracons' numbers dwindling to dangerously low levels Megatron remains unconcerned, watching the scene in content. When the last one is finally destroyed in a futile contest against Ironhide, the Decepticon Warlord leans forward with a wide grin on his face.
"Bravo, Autobots, bravo!" he congratulates in a mocking tone. "Though I must confess, Optimus, this is but a prelude. You may wish to save your strength for the main event. Especially you, Ironhide, given your old age."
Ironhide growls in response and fixes him with a fierce glare, cracking her servos in anticipation.
"You'll be needing a lot more than strength when I'm through with you," he threatens.
Optimus looks up at Megatron with narrowed optics, reverting his weapons back into his hands. Grabbing hold of the cliff face he starts to climb with a determined expression, followed closely by Ironhide.
"You will not prevail, Megatron," Optimus states firmly. "Not while Energon still flows through my veins."
Upon reaching the top of the cliff he looks up to be face-to-face with his nemesis, who was crouched low to the ground to smile at him, his sharp fangs a prominent feature within his battle-scarred face. Unlike all other encounters, however, Megatron's optics now glowed a sickly, unnatural purple, only enhancing the amount of malice and cruelty in him compared to his normal red.
"Fitting," Megatron sneers in contempt. "For it is Dark Energon which flows through mine."
Optimus reaches out to grab him, but Megatron jumps out of reach and transforms, blasting off into the sky in his jet mode. Pulling himself up, Optimus attempts to shoot him down with his blaster cannon, but is unable to land a shot before Megatron is out of range. Optimus watches him go with grim optics while Ironhide makes it to the top, after which the latter then reaches down to help Ratchet up as well.
The three of them survey the battlefield, taking in the sight of all the destroyed Terracons with grim expressions, horrified by it. Ironhide bows his head for a moment in memory of his fallen comrades, who had fallen in battle eons ago before being resurrected as nothing more than a mindless killing machine.
"If this wasn't Megatron's endgame... what is?" Ratchet questions, feeling uneasy.
Optimus narrows his optics but remains silent, dreading the possibilities that could result from Megatron's newfound power.
Autobots Outpost Omega One - Earth
Alexandra POV...
With everyone now having returned to the base we finally got a chance to recover from the shock of our respective battles. Agent Watson took responsibility over making sure that Fowler was okay; he's currently resting in a medical cot, still unconscious ever since we arrived. She also managed her own wellbeing, having applied a bandage to her stomach. Meanwhile, Optimus was helping Ratchet make a brace for the latter's broken arm, which they didn't take too long to do.
If I'm being honest, I can barely believe that they could even 'break' their limbs, or at least need to led them heal the same way that humans do. Sure, they're living beings, but physically they're still metal robots. Couldn't they just repair it nice and easy and call it a day? It's weird to think about. Miko, apparently, seems to be thinking the same thing I am. Generally speaking at least.
"What happened to you guys anyway?" she asks them.
"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet explains.
"Zombies?" she asks, gaping in disbelief. "You fought zombies, and I missed it!?"
And she's back to being annoying again. Great.
"Was sneaking onto an alien warship not ENOUGH?!" I snap at her, and she actually flinches in response.
"She's right. You shouldn't act like it's all fun and games, Nakadai, because it isn't," Agent Watson reprimands her with a stern gaze. "I'm willing to let this slide once, because you didn't know any better. But do this again, and I will have no choice but to take you to the authorities."
Normally I'd expect Miko to dismiss a figure of authority, but for the first time I can remember Miko genuinely looks apologetic and guilty over her actions. Must be something to do with the professional, authoritative tone of voice that Agent Watson is speaking in; heck, even I feel guilty just listening to her, and it wasn't even directed at me!
"Sorry, Ms. Watson... I'll try not to do it again," Miko murmurs in apology.
I raise an eyebrow at her apology.
That's a first.
Do I believe it'll hold up? Unlikely.
"Elita, Bulkhead, you both exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you," Optimus states in clear disapproval.
Bulkhead nervously looks up at him while Elita nods with a guilty sigh.
"I know, Optimus," she says apologetically. "It was a mistake we overlooked when planning the mission."
"It won't happen again, Optimus," Bulkhead adds. "I promise."
"But it wasn't their fault!" Miko calls out.
"Miko, please!" Bulkhead hisses at her.
"And check it out. Recon!" she adds.
Miko flips open her pink phone to display the picture of the alien equation we saw on the ship's bridge. Optimus leans down to take a closer look, analyzing the image with a thoughtful expression.
"Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron," he suggests.
"Woah, Megatron's back?" Jack asks in surprise and worry. "That's really bad news, right?"
"It certainly is, fleshy," Ironhide grumbles, leaning against the wall. "And he's as irritating as ever."
Ratchet then leans down to take a look at Miko's phone, though he seems confused.
"I... don't understand," he says.
Miko looks down at the picture, and I catch a glimpse at her screen to see what it's showing. I withhold a sigh of exasperation.
"Oops," she says in realization.
"Long story short, the actual picture was showing some sort of mathematical equation on their computer," I explain to Ratchet. "It was front and center on the ship's bridge."
Ratchet furrows his brow in thought, but then Miko pipes up again.
"Yeah. This other picture was the con' who tried to blow Raf away," Miko says, punching her fists in the air with a wide grin. "At least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"
Guess she forgot what Agent Watson just told her.
"Did you already forget what she just told you?" I demand, gesturing at the agent in question.
"Miko, Raf was almost killed!" Jack adds furiously, glaring at her. "This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull?"
"Uh, we were all almost killed, Jack," she retorts. "You, me, Raf, Alex, even them!"
She points at Agent Watson, Fowler, and the Autobots for emphasis. I rub my forehead in frustration at how she's missing the point.
"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't wanna be a part of it!" Jack shoots back. "Not anymore!"
I blink in surprise at his proclamation, but I can fully understand where he's coming from. It's one thing to know that aliens and superheroes exist: it's another to actually be in the midst of the action that causes the death of countless people.
"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent," Optimus says in apology. "However, it is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind."
Agent Watson frowns in response, crossing her arms and humming in displeasure.
"Something that's becoming all too frequent these days," she murmurs, looking at Optimus. "Should I advise Nick about this?"
"Not yet. At least not until we know more about what Megatron is planning," Optimus declines, and then refocuses on Jack. "Jack, because the threat is now posed against all of humankind, we will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
The words were barely out of his mouth when the Ground Bridge is opened by Ratchet, and he cheerfully holds an arm out to it.
"No point in long goodbyes! Here's the door," he comments.
I blink my eyes at him in bewilderment while Elita rolls her eyes in exasperation. Ironhide scoffs at him, muttering something under his breath about cranky old medics.
Jack looks at the ground bridge with a determined gaze before turning around, looking at Raf.
"Come on, Raf," he says.
Raf hesitates, glancing at Bumblebee, who I notice is looking at the floor with a sad expression. The look on his face really gets to me, and that's saying something because not many things do. Agent Watson also took notice, observing him with what looks to be a sympathetic gaze. They certainly have a history.
"I'll be ok, Jack," Raf declines the offer. "See you at school."
"Sure thing," he reluctantly replies, turning to face me. "Alex?"
I don't answer right away, surprising myself at my hesitancy. To be honest, I really don't know what I want to do. I'm not a hero, and I'm not anyone special, so obviously there should be no reason for me to be here, and whether I want to or not there's nothing I could possibly contribute to the Autobots. And yet... simultaneously there are also some reasons for me to stay here.
I glance around the room and catch Elita's gaze: she looks a bit saddened, but in her gaze I can also make out nothing but compassion and understanding. Somehow, she fully understands my situation, giving the impression that I'm not the first human she's ever had as a friend.
A friend.
"I think I'm going to stay," I tell Jack with an apologetic gaze, and shrug my shoulders.. "Besides, there needs to be at least one responsible kid here, right?"
He sighs in disappointment but smiles back in acknowledgement and understanding before heading down the stairs. At the bottom he pauses in front of Arcee, who gazes down at him with a softer expression: I don't think she's ever looked so gentle before, from what I can remember.
"I know, you don't exist," Jack tells her.
"Don't make me hunt you down," she replies
He then moves past her and into the glowing tunnel, and the small smile fades from Arcee's face, the smile falling from her face. Elita places a comforting hand on her shoulder, and we all watch in silence as Jack vanishes through the portal.
The Nemesis - Earth
3rd person POV...
"Please, Lord Megatron, I meant no—AAAHHG!"
Starscream cries out in pain and stumbles backward, Energon dripping from a mark left on his cheek. He looks up in fear as Megatron furiously advances on him with his hands clenched into fists.
"I ordered you to await my command!" the Decepticon warlord snaps.
He swings his fist, hitting Starscream all the way across the bridge and sending him tumbling to the floor in a heap of sparking joints. Soundwave, the Vehicons, and Brawl all turn to observe the scene as Megatron slowly marches over to him, the latter sporting an amused smirk on his face.
"Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disassembling of my ship! AND THE DELAY OF MY PLANS!" Megatron roars.
Starscream gasps when his foot stomps down next to his head and scrambles backward in a panic, gazing up at Megatron with fear.
"My intentions were pure, Master!" he pleads anxiously. "I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus."
Narrowing his optics, Megatron scowls and slams his massive foot on top of Starscream's head. The Seeker yelps in pain, and Megatron starts pressing his foot down harder.
"No one rids me of Optimus Prime but me!" he fiercely exclaims. "Do you understand?! DO YOU?!"
"Lord Megatron, I will make things right, I swear!" Starscream cries out. "I know how to set your plans back on course!"
Frowning, Megatron removes his foot and then reaches down to grab him by the throat. He lifts him off the ground to glare directly into his frightened optics.
"Explain, Starscream. Quickly," he hisses in a deadly calm voice.
Jasper, Nevada - Earth
Alexandra POV...
I climb out of Elita's vehicle form and step onto the familiar concrete of my driveway. I look up at my house with a sigh, exhausted from the day's events and feeling hungry.
"You alright Alex?" Elita asks worriedly
"I'm fine. Just... really tired," I say in response.
"Well, you did have a tough day," she remarks. "I'm sorry about Jack."
"It's fine. He's just... stressed out. He really doesn't like things happening out of the norm," I say to reassure her, frowning slightly. "I'm sure he'll come back... hopefully..."
I don't know if I'm reassuring Elita or myself about that, but before she could respond one of my neighbors—an old man who I've never seen without sunglasses on—passes my driveway while walking down the sidewalk. I keep quiet and shove my hands into my pockets, waiting for him to pass so that I don't seem like a weirdo for talking to my car. However, he suddenly stops for a moment and looks over at me with a smile.
"You know, having friends in life is a real treat," he comments, pointing a finger at me. "You shouldn't give up on this boy."
I raise an eyebrow, perplexed, but offer him a small smile in response.
"Thanks," I tell him.
He grins at me, jauntily shrugging his shoulders.
"Enough said," he says.
He then continues on his walk, whistling a tune to himself as he goes. I follow him down the sidewalk with my eyes for a few seconds, unable to help but smile at the sight.