Chapter 7-Long Roads to Ruin part 2

It was recess at Heartsgrace Middle School and Darren was spending it alone on the school's rooftop reading a book. Annie was hanging out with Brittany again and Gina was working on an important science project with Penny. With Brianna absent from school today, he was all by himself.

Being alone was something he was feeling a lot of recently in the past six months. Ever since the Autobots publicly revealed themselves, the usual "bonding" missions the kids would have with them were few and far in between. It was to better keep the children and their talos a secret from the public to avoid sparking unwanted inquiries from more suspicious elements within the government, which was understandable, but it meant that the children rarely got to go out on missions anymore aside from the usual recon stuff. These days, they just hung out at the Minicons' new base in Yellowstone. Annie and Gina weren't very happy about how things were turning out for them, and Darren…well, Darren was restless.

He should've been glad about the break they were getting. After all the crap he went through with OZ and Sunstreaker, this was a welcome reprieve, aside from the horrific nightmares he got from Sunstreaker, but he couldn't allow himself a moment's respite despite the chance being given to him on a silver platter.

Sunstreaker avoided him like the plague, not even looking at him when they were near each other, as if he was a cancer expelled from his body that he didn't want to think about. As if that wasn't bad, Darren had become on edge 24/7, cautiously scanning the area for threats, his muscles tense as if expecting an attack at any given moment, feeling like he was being watched. He acted like some retired soldier with PTSD and it was hell on his personal life. How the hell was he supposed to act normal after going through all that stuff? And why did he feel so restless?

"Heaven above, I'm hopeless." Darren sighed and closed his book. "I finally get a chance to return to a normal life and I can't even sit still without thinking my art teacher is an OZ agent."

He heard the door to the staircase open up but didn't open his eyes until he heard a familiar voice. "Yo, Darren!"

He looked over and saw Brianna standing there with that big smile on her face, with someone standing behind her. "Hey, Brianna. What's up?"

"Just seeing how you were doing. I was coming to hang out with you when I ran into this girl here." Brianna stepped aside and nudged her companion forward. It was Justine, who stared at Darren like a deer in headlights.

"Justine? Hey, it's good to see you." Darren smiled.

"H-Hello, Darren." Justine said softly, looking everywhere but him. "Um, if t-this is a bad time, I can come back later…"

"Nonsense, it's clear that Darren needs some company! Come on." Brianna dragged the poor girl over to where Darren was sitting and sat next to him, still holding Justine's hand.

"Brianna, don't drag her around like that. You're scaring her." Darren admonished.

"So, how are things are the book club?" Darren asked. "I'm sorry I haven't been there in the last few weeks. I've been dealing with some…personal stuff."

"N-No, that's okay." Justine said. "Your sister mentioned that you were having a rough time, s-so I understand. I hope you're doing okay."

"Thanks." Darren said honestly. "I'll be back at the club this week, so you don't have to worry anymore. And you're welcome to join us, Brianna. I heard that you aren't a part of any after school clubs yet."

"Me, join a book club? Sorry, Darren, but I don't think my reading material is suitable for that stuff." Brianna said. Darren raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What kind of books do you read?" He asked.

"Mostly catalogues…gun catalogues. I'm a bit of a gun nut." She admitted. "Long story short, I like things that go boom. Guns, rocket launchers, those crazy laser things the Atlantians have, you name it. I have tons of books at home and stuff."

"A-And your father lets you read them?" Justine asked. Brianna shrugged.

"Hey, he encourages it. He thinks that my interest in guns is interesting, or something like that. I'm pretty sure if we lived in another state, he would've showed me how to use one…and still might for that matter."

"Well, the book club could always use a new member…considering Justine and I are just two thirds of the damn club." Darren grumbled.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Darren packed up his things and helped the girls up. "Let's get going before we're late for class."

"Sure." Brianna looked at her schedule. "Hey, Justine, what class do you have-whoa!"

Brianna tripped over her feet and fell forward. Both Darren and Justine acted at the same time, reaching out with their hands yet not touching Brianna. Brianna closed her eyes and braced for impact, but to her surprise, she didn't feel the hard stone of the roof hit her face. She didn't even feel herself falling anymore. She opened her eyes and saw that she was floating horizontally above the ground, held aloft by some unseen force.

"What the hell?" She whispered in shock.

Brianna was surprised, but no more than Darren and Justine, who stood there with their hands held out, both children keeping Brianna in the air with similar powers.

"D-Darren…"

"Justine…"

"You're an esper?!" They both exclaimed.

XXXXXX

The man named Dao had taken Ironhide and Hound to an old car lot on the other side of the city, far from the place where they battled the golem. Ironhide was tense upon hearing that Genn might be in trouble and he was eager for some information on what the hell was going on.

'That golem was stronger and faster than it should've been, so someone must have tampered with it. And that same someone sent it to snuff us out.' Ironhide thought. 'I hate running into problems I can't blow up.'

Once they were inside the lot, Dao met up with another acquaintance of his, a young man clad in dark, form fitting clothes with a long hood covering the upper half of his face, leaving only his mouth open. Dao quickly explained the situation to him and looked to the two Autobots, who were now in robot mode.

"Ironhide, Hound, this is Jotaru, another one of Genn's friends." Dao said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Autobots." Jotaru said calmly. Hound wondered why he couldn't see Jotaru's eyes despite the man looking up at them.

"Charmed." Ironhide said, wanting to get down to business. "Now you going to tell me what happened to Genn?"

Dao traded a glance with Jotaru and sighed. "We ran into Genn and her friend Séance a few months ago back in the deserts between Azadistan. I'm sure you're already aware of Genn's search for her missing mother. Well, they were following a lead on the woman's location that led them straight into the crosshairs of this secret cult."

"A cult that, as it turns out, was also hunting us down." Jotaru said.

"Why?" Asked Hound.

"Because of what we are. You see, Jotaru and I, and just recently Genn and Séance, had discovered that we are not…fully human. We are the hybrid offspring what a human parent and what we know as Dire Wraiths."

Ironhide scowled, his already high agitation levels rising at the name. "Dire Wraiths, on this world?"

"I think I've heard of them before." Hound said.

"They're a species native to a region of space on the other side of the galaxy. Elita-1 and her team had a bad run in with them along with Ember a few thousand years ago, around the time the Galactic Coalition made contact with some group of armored stiffs called the Solstar Order." Ironhide explained. "That god forsaken incident was kept under wraps and both sides made an effort to forget about the Order and the Wraiths as we continued the war."

"So you've encountered them. Good, that saves me a lot of time. Allow me to show you something else that might prove our claim." Dao said.

Dao grimaced and flexed his arms, and before the Autobots' startled eyes, an extra pair of arms sprouted from the man's shoulders, tanned and muscular just like he was. As for Jotaru, he pulled back his hood, to reveal his face-or most of it. Smooth patches of skin were located where his eyes should be, and a single third eye was located on his forehead, moving and blinking as a normal eye would. Dao grinned at Ironhide and Hound's shocked expressions.

"That caught your attention, didn't it?" He said. "Ironhide, I'm sure you've noticed Genn's small horns. Those are a sign of her Dire Wraith heritage, though Séance is probably the most human-looking of us all. We half-bloods, as they call us, appear as mostly human aside from these odd features that we have. That, as well as the powers we inherit from them. Admittedly Genn is the prettiest of our little group here."

Dao's face fell as he thought about Genn. "We don't know a lot about the Dire Wraiths, or what they want. All that we know about them is that they use incredibly strong powers, can shapeshift and, as you've just confirmed, they're aliens."

"They've been hunting down half-bloods like us for who knows how long for their own purposes." Jotaru said. "They ambushed us a few days ago, after Gen sent you that message. They had a dozen of those supped up golems backing them up and we were separated. Genn and Séance were captured while we made it out in one piece. Luckily, we've been keeping track of their movements and we know where they are."

"Say no more. You had me at keeping track." Ironhide said, charging up his cannons. "Those bastards won't know what hit 'em."

"Whoa, Ironhide, hold up. If they have more of those golems in reserve, we might not make it past the front gate before their entire army comes down on us." Hound said. "Speaking of which, how did they make those things anyway? I thought they were supposed to be ancient."

"Dire Wraiths have great powers at their disposal." Dao said. "Controlling and enhancing a golem is no hard task for them. The best way to truly describe their powers is…magic."

Hound stared at him for a moment before turning to Ironhide and saying, "You weren't kidding when you said this planet was fragged up, Ironhide."

"Look, forget about the finger details and tell me you at least have an idea about where they are." Ironhide sighed.

"Even better, we know exactly where they are." Jotaru said. "They've made a base inside a canyon just a few miles outside the city. It's hidden very well, but we know its exact location."

"But we better move fast, because it looked like they were planning to move." Dao added.

"Then we better get a move on." Ironhide said as he and Hound transformed. "Let's go save the kids before they get caught up in anymore dark magic slag."

XXXXXX

"Do you think she'll come?" Brianna asked.

"I hope so. This isn't something I want to draw out any longer." Darren replied/

The two were waiting in the forest outside of Tranquility, where Darren usually went to practice his telekinesis in secret with Kevin whenever they had the chance. It had been a tense afternoon, with Darren and Justine just discovering each other's secrets, and also blatantly exposing them in front of Brianna, who seemed a bit too calm for his comfort. Justine had high tailed it off the roof afterwards and Darren wanted Brianna to tell her that they should meet up to talk about it in private. Right now, they were still waiting for Justine.

"So…you're an esper." Brianna said, testing the waters.

"Yeah, that's right." Darren said, looking at his hands. "Not exactly how I wanted to tell anyone."

"Why do you look so afraid? I don't care if you're an esper." Brianna told him. When he gave her a disbelieving look, she snorted. "Darren, I'm not going to call the ERD on you. Believe it or not, not everyone wants to lynch espers on sight. Besides, if you knew the people I hang out with at home, you'll understand that being an esper hardly phases me."

"Wow, okay. That's…that's a big relief actually." Darren chuckled, feeling his nerves calm down. He wasn't expecting Brianna to be so excepting of him.

"Did you know that Justine was an esper?" She asked.

"No, I just found out myself. Honestly, I thought I was the only esper in the school." Darren said, deciding not to mention Kevin. "It feels good to know that I'm not alone in this town. With how crazy things are getting with Karaba, I need something to feel good about."

They heard the bushes rustling and saw Justine's lithe form step out of the brush, looking even more nervous than she was earlier that day. Darren smiled brightly and waved her over.

"Justine! I'm so glad you came." He said happily. "I was afraid you wouldn't come."

"I shouldn't be here." Justine whispered. "My mother doesn't like it when I got to places I shouldn't be near."

Brianna walked over to Justine and took her hand. "Don't worry, Justine, you're among friends now. There's nothing to be scared about. Darren just wants to help you and I'm here for moral support."

Justine's cheeks turned rosy as she felt Brianna's soft hand grasp her smaller one and lead her over to where Darren was standing.

"She's right. What we say here is going to stay between the three of us." He said softly. "No need to be scared."

Justine looked down and nodded, stilling holding Brianna's hand.

"So, first things first. Were you always an esper?" He asked.

"Yes, I was born like this. I didn't really discover my powers until I started making my toys float as a little girl." Justine said. She lifted a hand and a boulder sitting in the small lake near them floated out of the water. Darren and Brianna gaped at her as she moved a boulder the size of a car effortlessly. "I've always been able to do this. I think I was getting stronger as I got older."

"Holy…" Darren breathed. "I couldn't move anything bigger than a couch until last autumn. You're strong."

"I-It's nothing." Justine blushed. "I rarely do anything more than that, and I never do it at home. Mother doesn't like it when I use my powers."

Brianna frowned. "Why? She doesn't like it when you move things like that?"

"Mother…has a low opinion of espers. She says that they're unnatural, the children of the devil." Darren and Brianna looked disgusted at that. "She told me that they were an affront to nature. And me being an esper, well… she has a very low opinion of me too."

"Now that's bullshit." Brianna snapped. "You have no control over how you're born. And she shouldn't be talking about espers being monsters when she treats her own daughter like trash!"

Justine jumped at the sound of her voice and the boulder dropped to the ground, splashing Darren with water. "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay." Darren waved his hands and the water flowed off his clothes, completely drying them.

"You can do that?" Brianna gaped.

"Yeah, of course I can. I've been using my powers since I was a child, and I've gotten better over the past year. If you've seen some of the things I can do, your jaw will drop." He grinned.

"Um…" Darren turned to Justine, who was nervously pushing her fingers together. "Could you teach me how to do that? I don't have good control over my powers, and sometimes if I'm not careful I make something break or make them float without realizing it."

Darren almost refuted her disparaging remark about herself, but then he realized that Justine, for all her greater power, lacked the control he had over his telekinesis. She could probably cut down half the trees in the area with a single thought, but would completely fail at putting a thread through a needle. That might explain her lack of finer control.

"Sure, I'll teach you. Not just how to remove water from your clothes, but a whole lot of other things too. You have a lot of power, but you lack the fine motor controls to do it, but I can teach you all of that." Darren said, smiling brightly.

"R-Really? You're willing to do all that for me?" Justine's eyes brightened a bit and she gripped Brianna's hand tighter.

"Sure! It'd be a shame to just let your powers go to waste like that. If I can do it, so can you."

"Hey, can I watch too?" Brianna asked.

"Of course you can. It can be our little afterschool activity together." Darren said, feeling even more elated.

He didn't know if it was because Justine was another telekinetic like him or if he pitied her on some level for what she had to go through at home, but he was going to make sure that Justine got all the help he could give her. It was a decision that would change everything for the three of them in the near future.

XXXXXX

The hidden base where the dire wraiths were based out of was basically a remodeled temple complex built into a canyon a few miles away from Muthia. The temple was one a popular prayer area for the king of a Gaian cult who once called his place home, and was left abandoned for hundreds of years until now. When the dire wraiths moved in, there had been numerous accounts of strange lights, sounds, and…screams, coming from the area, and the locals were quick to deem the place a no-go zone.

A security detail led Genn and Séance through a massive hall leading toward the main prayer chamber. Both teens were dirty and tired, but unharmed, though Genn had an inhibitor collar suppressing her esper powers. The young woman saw other soldiers, human or dire wraith she could not tell, packing up their equipment and weapons and handing crates off to the enchanted golems.

"They're packing up quickly." Séance noted. He was a young man of seventeen with long, spiky black hair and gray eyes with a lean body clad in a black sweater and pants. "Why do you think they're moving already?"

"I don't know, but judging from how urgently they're moving, I guess it wasn't planned." Genn said. She looked at the other disguised wraiths, all sporting human forms. Dire wraith magic allow them to take on the forms of any being whose genetic information they've assimilated into their bodies. The forms they were of people whose genetic information was stolen from them moments before they were slain. She had seen it happen first hand and it still gave her nightmares.

When they reached the inner chambers that were located deeper in the temple complex, a guard knocked on the door. "Priestess, we've brought the prisoners."

"Send them in."

They opened the doors and escorted Genn and Séance inside. The prayer chamber was very large and spacey. There was little much else in the way of furnishings aside from a dirty carpet and a broken statue of a maternal looking woman sitting cross legged behind the altar-the goddess of Terra, Gaia. Anything else of value had been plundered ages ago, so now the chamber was being used as a sort of war room for the group's high priestess, Madrid.

"Genn, Séance, welcome!" Madrid greeted them happily. It's been a while since we last met. Sorry about that, I've been busy."

"Don't worry, we managed just fine without having to deal with you." Genn growled.

Madrid was a high ranking dire wraith who acted as the high priestess and living mouthpiece for the wraith's "god", whom Genn only knew as the Absence. She had the form of a voluptuous woman with short lavender hair and dark skin with green eyes. All she wore was a long black robe with gold trimmings that hugged her form for freedom of movement. A more alluring form than what she really looked like.

'Looks like her troops finally convinced her that humans don't usually walk around butt naked.' Genn thought with a scowl.

"Now, now, don't be like that. I was just about to tell you of our travel plans." Madrid said. "You see, due to some unforeseen circumstances, we're moving ahead of schedule. Don't worry, I'll make so that you can actually look out the window this time, though there's not much else to see around here."

"Go to hell." Genn snarled.

"Tsk, tsk, such temper. And here I was going to let you see your mother again for the trip to our secret base." Madrid snapped her fingers and a bolt of purple energy burst forth next to her. When the smoke cleared, a raven haired dark skinned woman clad in a black hajib appeared and fell to her knees, breathless.

"Mom!" Genn cried out.

"Genn?" Genn's mother, Kiran, breathed. "What are you doing here? Don't tell me they've captured you too!"

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing. You two get to spend our travels together, as always. That's what you've wanted since joining Karaba, right Genn?" Madrid smirked.

Kiran stumbled towards Genn, who quickly took hold of her mother as she glared at Madrid. "What do you want with us? What did we ever do to you?"

"You were born." Madrid's answer was quick and to the point, lacking any of the sadistic mocking that she displayed since capturing Genn and Séance. "We came to this world with the intent of making it our own. This beautiful world that would've been perfect for our kind. But I never imagined that some of our own kind would mate with you humans, and even spawn half-bloods. It's an affront to everything we stand for. It's an insult to our god!"

"You're just angry that some of your people decided to preserve what makes this world to bright and vibrant." Kiran said, glaring up at Madrid. "You can't accept that there are some among you who won't follow you in your path of conquest, so you demonize them and their families. You're no different from every human dictator in history!"

Madrid's face darkened considerably, but Kiran, the brave mother that she was, refused to let anyone debase her husband, the man who gifted her with such a wonderful daughter. Genn held her mother behind her as Madrid looked like she was ready to attack them, but then a soldier came rushing in with an alarmed look on his face.

"What is it?" Madrid growled.

"Ma'am, we're under attack by those two Autobots from before." He announced, surprising everyone there.

"How did they…" Madrid's face went stone cold as she answered her own question. There were still two half-bloods out there in open opposition to their plans, and it wasn't hard to make the connection. "Send out the golems, and take your battle positions. We'll tear those heathens apart once and for all!"

She glared down at Kiran, Genn and Séance and ordered them to stand up. "You three are coming with me. You can all die together as sacrifices to the Absence!"

XXXXXX

The plan that Dao had come up with was working surprisingly well for the Autobots. Considering the amount of firepower that they were up against, the most suitable way of getting inside would be through deception and misdirection. Ironhide and Hound would drive up to the front gates before launching a very loud opening attack on the compound. Once the soldiers inside were riled up, Hound would create two holograms of himself and Ironhide to act as a decoy, with Dao using his powers to give them tangible physical forms to complete the illusion. As for the real Autobots, Jotaru would go along with them to put up an illusion to mask their presence, essentially making them invisible.

"Looks like the magic man's plan worked." Hound whispered. The front gates to the compound were already sliding open for the golems to be deployed.

"Good, now let's get moving." Ironhide said. Carrying Jotaru in one arm, he and Hound waited for the golems to stomp past them before running through the front gates. "Now, Jotaru!"

Jotaru, whose arms were raised as he maintained their mystical camouflage, released his hold on the illusion spell and the two Autobots suddenly appeared in the middle of the compound. The soldiers had no time to be surprised before Ironhide and Hound started open firing on everything they could see.

"How the hell did they get into the base?" Someone shouted.

"Someone get the sages, our golems are being torn apart!" Another man shouted.

'Sages?' Hound thought, wondering what that meant. Next to him, Ironhide was hacking away at one of the remaining golems in the base with his tomahawk, while Jotaru was attacking the armed men shooting at them. At that moment, he saw four robed men running out of the main temple, their hands crackling with energy. "Ironhide, on your six!"

Ironhide looked back just in time to see the four men undergo a rather gruesome transformation. Their robes tore apart as their bodies released energy discharges. Their tan skin turned deathly pale, their arms splitting apart into separate limbs with their fingers tipped with sharp claws. Their heads elongated and their eyes became thin, red slits while their mouths grew wide with razor sharp teeth. Torsos lengthened and spines grew along their bodies. The transformation literally took seconds, but it felt like hours given how grotesque the change was. What was formerly human had now become alien and demonic in appearance.

"Oh slag." Ironhide said and dived to the ground as the sages unleashed a barrage of purple energy bolts that slammed into the canyon wall, blasting apart large chunks of rock and sending debris flying everywhere. Jotaru sprinted towards the men and swiped his hand, ensnaring a couple of falling boulders in a purple light and sending them at the sages.

"Don't let them get any closer to the base!" One of the sages said as he destroyed the boulders. "Call back the golems, damn it!"

Before he could shout anymore orders, his entire world was engulfed in fire as Hound shot a laser blast at him that killed two of the sages. The other two immediately started attacking him, forcing him to use a destroyed golem frame as a shield. Hound hissed as a bolt tore through his right arm, burning straight through his armor.

"Ironhide, watch out for those energy bolts. They can tear into you without a problem." Hound said.

"Roger that." Ironhide threw his tomahawk into the head of a golem that was charging him and charged up his cannons, opening fire on them. Making short work of the sages, he turned to Jotaru. "Jotaru, find Genn and Séance! We won't last long out here like this!"

Jotaru nodded and made his way to the temple, cutting down any soldier in his path. Ironhide turned around and saw Dao having some trouble with the remaining golems he wasn't able to shoot down. Rolling his shoulders, he charged at the machines and shot at them. As one-sided this fight was, he was going to make sure that these bastards got what's coming to them.

XXXXXX

Jotaru made it into the base with little problem. Everyone was more concerned with the half-human and two Autobots currently tearing up everything. Whereas Dao's powers were more combat oriented, thanks to his years of practice with them, Jotaru's powers were more stealth oriented. He snuck into the temple and searched the halls for his friends while avoiding the soldiers running around to rush into battle.

Thankfully it didn't take him long to find them. He could hear Madrid's enraged shouting in the next hall over. When the group turned to the corner towards his position, Jotaru quickly leapt up onto the roof and held his position as they walked below him, unaware of his presence.

"How the hell can two Autobots and two half-breeds give you people so many problems?" Madrid shouted angrily. She was already getting tons of casualty reports from her troops, and her only means of countering the Autobots were being systematically disabled by that old man! "Just have the sages converge on both Autobots at the same time. Don't give them a chance to fight back!"

"We're doing the best we can, priestess, but we the half-blood has taken out most of our golems."

"Then use the ATT tanks! They're not there for decoration!" Madrid raged.

"Seems like you're busier than usual, Madrid. I take it your plans aren't going as smoothly as you hoped." Genn couldn't help but taunt the woman who spent so long flaunting her power.

Madrid spun around and backhanded Genn into Kiran's arms. "Don't act like you're in the clear, little girl!" She snarled at her prisoners. "I fully intend on getting out of this with everything intact, and there's nothing you or your friends can do about it!"

Madrid felt someone tap her on the shoulder and she whirled around to unleash her frustration on the poor soul unlucky enough to interrupt her planning. "What do you want?!"

"My friends." Jotaru said before flipping back his hood to reveal his third eye. Madrid was blinded by a bright red flash from the eye and Jotaru landed a punch to her face accompanied with an energy blast that sent her crashing through the wall.

The four guards that were with them immediately changed into their true forms, tall, lanky humanoid aliens with grotesque arms and claws and teeth. They pointed their rifles at Jotaru, but he thrust his arms out and sent out three energy bolts. Two stabbed into the throats of the first two dire wraiths, but the third was embedded in Genn's inhibitor collar, shattering it.

Kiran yelped as her daughter suddenly burst into a cloud of sand, which fell upon the two dire wraiths and tore away at their skin. They flailed helplessly as Genn's sand particles bite and ripped into their skin like tiny shards of glass. This allowed Jotaru enough time to charge them and slit their throats, killing them instantly.

Once they were sure that there were no more threats, Genn reformed her body and ran up to Jotaru, pulling him into a hug.

"Jotaru! You made it!" Genn said happily.

"Hey, Jotaru." Séance said, walking up to them with Kiran. "How did you get here?"

"Your message got through." Jotaru said to Genn. "We ran into your Autobot friend and his comrade after they ran into one of Madrid's golems. They're all outside fighting them off."

"Then we better go help them." Séance said.

Genn turned to her mother. "Mom, I have to go right now. My friends need my help. Jotaru will stay here with you and bring you someplace safe."

"I understand. I'm just happy to see you again." Kiran said and hugged Genn once more. "Go. Don't let me keep you here."

Genn nodded and followed Séance down the hall towards the courtyard. As Jotaru escorted Kiran to safety, no one noticed that in the chamber where Madrid was blasted into, the woman was nowhere to be seen.

XXXXXX

Ironhide grunted as he took a punch to face by one of the golems before grabbing its arm and ripping it off. A well-placed missile shot from Hound took out a chunk of its head and Ironhide used its failing body to deflect the energy bolts fired at him by the other golems.

"How many of these things are there?" Ironhide growled.

"These should be the last three." Dao said, his four arms waving in the air and channeling energy into the earth, causing rocks and debris to fly at the remaining soldiers that were still shooting at them. "Once we clear out all their mechanized units, we need to get the others and leave before-gah!"

A powerful energy bolt slammed into Dao's chest and sent him crashing into the side of a smoking AT tank. Ironhide and Hound looked towards the temple's entrance, where they saw Madrid marching towards them with a look of pure rage on her beautiful face.

"I did not spend half of my life searching for a pure, suitable world to inhabit only to have a bunch of marauding machines ruin it for me!" Madrid snarled, energy crackling off her form as her features began to change. "I'll make sure to send your rusting corpses to your leader once I'm done carving you out!"

Madrid's body morphed in a powerful discharge of energy, her human skin shredding apart to reveal the gray skin and scaly limbs underneath. Her arms grew longer and hollowed out as if only her skin was touching the bones and nothing else. Her hair vanished and her skull lengthened a bit as her mouth and teeth grew. Madrid had revealed her true form, that of a Dire Wraith sorceress.

"I forgot how ugly you bastards were." Ironhide said and fired two laser blasts at Madrid.

"Stupid machine." Madrid held up a hand and the blasts slammed harmlessly against the barrier she erected. "Did you forget the last time our races had made contact? I don't think I need to remind you heathens of all people!"

Madrid rushed forward and clapped her hands together before slamming them into the ground. Energy surged into the earth before two dozen stone pillars shot up and slammed into Hound with great force. She leapt aside to dodge the laser blast shot at her and swiped her arm, sending an arc of energy at Ironhide, which he dodged. When Hound took aim at her with his missile launcher, Madrid crossed her two index fingers together and muttered a word, and the launcher in Hound's shoulder exploded in his face.

"Oh how satisfying this is." Madrid laughed. "This is retribution for getting involved in our war 200 years ago you robotic bastards!"

"You shouldn't have gotten involved with the Cons in the first place!" Ironhide shouted. He ran forward and collapsed into his vehicle mode, driving at Madrid at full speed. Madrid snorted before raising her arm and waiting for Ironhide to get close enough before punching forward.

There was a flash of light, followed by an explosion before Ironhide was flung into the air, flipping over Madrid's head and was forced back into his robot mode before crashing to the ground. He grunted in pain as energy crackled along his body, his joints and servos locking up by some unknown force.

"We've spent centuries researching ways that will kill your kind, Autobot. Slow, painful ways that will break you down bolt by bolt." Madrid said, raising her glowing hands. "I'm going to enjoy presenting your head to your little half-blood friend!"

"Don't you dare!" A sandstorm slammed into Madrid, grabbing her and spinning her around in the air before throwing her directly into the metal first of Hound, who punched the dire wraith into the ground. There was a sickening thud as Madrid's body bounced off the ground three times before landing on her back. Genn's body reformed from the sand and she stood in front of Ironhide protectively. "Ironhide, are you alright?"

"Genn…I can barely…move." Ironhide grunted.

"Stay still, it'll wear off." Genn said. "Séance, I need some help over here!"

Séance ran over to the downed Autobot and looked him over. "It's going to take some time but I can absorb most of the energy holding him."

"Do it." She said, looking back towards Hound.

Even with a wounded shoulder, Hound was holding his own against an equally wounded Madrid, though just barely. The priestess's body was already healing itself, broken bones snapping back together while she hurled energy bolts at the Autobot, hound nearly cut her in half with his combat knife before a bolt stabbed into his shoulder and nearly took his arm off. Madrid crouched low to the ground before sending out another energy arc that took Hound's legs off at the knees.

When Ironhide saw Hound go down, he weakly raised one of his arms and fired a blast at Madrid. She spun around and deflected the blast, looking furious at this point. "I thought you had enough, but you Autobots seem to be gluttons for punishment!"

She weaved her hands in the air before preparing to launch a devastating attack at Ironhide, but Genn stepped in front of her friend and changed her arm into one long sand whip, lashing out and cracking it against Madrid's throat. Madrid stumbled back, hacking and coughing while clutching at the bleeding skin at her throat.

"You're not hurting anyone else today!" Genn declared.

Madrid didn't even bother arguing with her. She just lashed out with a flurry of bolts that destroyed the ground and vehicles around her. Genn dissolved into her sandstorm form and scattered across the area like an actual storm, easily dodging the assault that Madrid threw at her. Madrid was quick to realize that she wouldn't win like this, so she performed another series of hand gestures and clapped her hands together. This sent out a pulsewave throughout the courtyard and when it hit Genn, she screamed as every particle of her sand body was forced back together, reforming her physical body.

Genn fell to the ground writhing as Madrid forced her back into her human form and was pinned to the ground as the wraith priestess used her power to restrain her.

"You've caused me too many problems this past month, little girl. You struggle and you fight, but for what? Your gods are false, your own species seeks to annihilate you for a simple genetic anomaly, and your family lives in the world's largest dust bowl." Madrid taunted the girl. "Did you really think a bastard child like you has a chance against your betters? Fighting one skilled in dark magics such as I is little more than suicide."

Genn gritted her teeth and struggled to get to her knees. She ignored Madrid's taunts and tried to resist the hold on her body, lifting her head to glare up at the women.

"Don't listen to her, Genn!" Ironhide yelled. "She ain't got slag on you. She's just scared of what you are. What you represent to her!"

"Silence, machine!" Madrid slashed her hand and released a bolt at Ironhide, who jumped up and charged at her. Séance snatched up an assault rifle and fired at Madrid.

As Ironhide and Séance fought Madrid off, Genn focused on the power she felt within her, the same power she used to contact Ironhide in his dreams. She didn't know if all dire wraith hybrids like Dao and Jotaru could harness the same energy that the pureblood wraiths used in their magic, but Genn somehow felt that spark inside of her. The spark that hinted at that special power she inherited from her father, a dire wraith who betrayed his own kind to make a family on Terra.

Suddenly the pressure forcing her down didn't feel so heavy now. Genn opened her eyes and saw that the energy assaulting her body was now being drawn into her, making her glow. She no longer felt weak, she felt stronger, powerful.

Séance cried out as he was blasted off his feet, his rifle shattering like glass in his hands. Ironhide came to his aid, sidestepping a blast aimed at his head and swinging a first into Madrid's body, smacking her away. This time, her wounds healed quicker and she landed atop a destroyed tank as Ironhide came at her again. She growled and flashed her hands, encasing Ironhide's body in an energy net that froe him in his tracks.

"You refusal to die is only going to make your death all the more humiliating, Autobot!" Madrid snarled.

Ironhide grunted as her net tightened around him, holding him in place, but he managed a weak grin that enraged Madrid further.

"What are you grinning about?" She demanded.

"Just…that you're going to really hate me in two seconds." He said.

Madrid felt something behind her and turned her head to see the glowing form of Genn shooting at her in an inhuman burst of speed. Genn let out a roar and slammed her fist into Madrid's back, unleashing a powerful surge of energy that engulfed Madrid's body, tearing apart her cloak and ripping into her body. The priestess was sent crashing along the ground, her hold on Ironhide broken as she came to a painful stop. Blood leaked from her wounds as she whimpered and groaned like a wounded predator, burns lining her leathery skin.

"How…how can you…do this?" Madrid groaned, trying to sit up. The very thought of some half-breed besting her kept her going even as her body was failing. She tried to fight back, but Genn waved her arm and fired another blast that destroyed Madrid's left arm at the elbow, causing her to howl.

"Thanks, kid. Now I've got this." Ironhide stood up and pointed his cannon at Madrid's bleeding form.

'No,' Madrid thought, seeing the cannon's barrel glow as it charged up. 'I will not die at the hands of these heathens!'

Just as the energy blast shot from Ironhide's cannon, Madrid focused on what remaining power she had and cast a teleportation spell. Her body glowed before blinking out of existence, just as the blast destroyed the spot she was just in.

"Where the hell did she go?" Ironhide shouted. Genn held up a hand and shook her head.

"Don't bother. She won't be bothering us again with those wounds." She said with a tired sigh. "We've won."

XXXXXX

The sun was just starting to go down when Ironhide called for a ground bridge for Ratchet to retrieve Hound. With Jotaru and Séance seeing to Dao, that left Ironhide, Genn and Kiran to chat on the sidelines.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my daughter." Kiran said, bowing to the red Autobot before her. "I understand that it wasn't easy dealing with human problems."

"It was nothing. She's a good kid, just needed a helping hand, that's all." Ironhide said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Will you friend be alright?" She asked, looking at Hound as he was brought through the ground bridge.

"Yeah, he'll recover, but those freaky energy blasts did a number on both of us. Stupid four-armed freaks." He grumbled. He turned to Genn, who was smiling up at him. "But I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you, kid."

"I'm so glad you came. After what happened last time, I didn't think you'd want to get involved with me anymore." Genn said. Ironhide knelt down over her.

"Kid, I'm an Autobot. If I ignored a cry for help because of a little spat, then I'd have to hang up this badge. I found you and you found you mother. Everything's fine again."

"But what about the dire wraiths? Madrid's still out there and there are hundreds of cells all over the world."

"One more damn thing to worry about." Ironhide sighed. "Don't worry, we'll handle it. Right now, you should probably get to spend some time with your friends and mother."

Genn nodded, biting her lip before rushing forward and hugging Ironhide's ankle. The red Autobot smiled and gently patted her back. After a minute Genn stepped back and gave him a teary smile.

"Guess, this is goodbye?" She said softly.

"We never said hello, kid," Ironhide said, standing up. "So there's no reason to say goodbye."

Genn and Kiran waved to Ironhide as he walked to the ground bridge. It wasn't a goodbye, they were just going their separate ways for the moment. They each had their own issues to take care of, as well as the now visible threat of covert dire wraith cells on Terra. A lot of things were happening on the planet and they needed to take care of one problem at a time.

This was no goodbye, just a little "see you later" between friends.

That's it for Ironhide and Genn's saga. Up next we'll get into the nitty gritty of Atlantian politics with Gina, Bumblebee and Wheeljack. Sorry again for taking so long with these chapters. I'm kind of shooting myself in the feet by constaly posting new stories and having little time working on the ones i have now. Also, I plan to post the sequel to Distant Stars, Mosiac, sometime this month. Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on Wordpress. Also, what are your thoughts on the new IDW Transformers comic, and the Constructicon series planned after this? Keep in mind i can't reply to guest reviews, so dont bother. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.