In which Alison visits S7, goes to Mission City, and maybe saves the world.
The next morning, Mikaela and I were woken before light, barely given time to hit the bathroom and wake up properly before being hustled into a SUV. An agent shoved some breakfast sandwiches at us to eat on the way to the airport, where we met up with Keller, Banachek, Maggie and Glen. I spotted Simmons getting into the chopper with the leaders as Mikaela and I joined the analysts in the other one. I think they were a little surprised to see the two of us, probably since we were basically kids.
Once we all had our headsets on and were underway, I introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Alison."
"Maggie," the woman said. "What'd they get you for?"
"Bought a car, turned out to be an alien robot, and apparently my grandpa knew about them too." I shrugged. "Who knew, right?"
"Wow!" Glen said, then looked at Mikaela. "You with her?"
"I followed Alison and got dragged into it. Literally." She rolled her eyes. "I'm Mikaela. What about you?"
"Glen, and I'm only here because she brought a bunch to top secret files for me to look at." He pointed at Maggie.
"I told you life in prison was a possible outcome," Maggie defended.
"But nothing about alien robots."
"Because I didn't know about that."
We fell silent after that, but it wasn't too much longer before we arrived at the next airport and were put back in SUVs, heading to Hoover Dam. When we got there, Maggie and Glen went to catch up with Keller, while Mikaela and I were stopped by Simmons.
"Hey, girls," he said. "I think we got off to a bad start, huh? You must be hungry? You want a latte? Ho-Ho? Double venti macchiato?"
"What I want is to see Bumblebee," I said. "You know, the Camaro you turned into a 'Bot-cicle last night?"
"Young lady," Banachek said, coming over. "I need you to listen to me very carefully. People can die here. We need to know everything you know, and we need to know it now."
You wouldn't be able to handle all I know, I thought. "I'll give you one thing for free. Bumblebee has a symbol on his head, looks like a face?" I tapped my forehead in the corresponding spot, then folded my arms. "The Autobots wear that symbol, and they're the good guys. You want anything else, we're gonna have to negotiate."
"How?" Simmons asked.
"I want Bumblebee set free. I want my parents and Mojo, our Chihuahua, sent home safe and sound. And I want Mikaela's juvie record to be erased."
Banachek nodded, motioning for us to walk on. "We'll talk about your car."
"The girl's an extortionist," I could hear Simmons mutter as we went past.
Mikaela smiled at me. "Thank you."
I smiled back. "Can't have my partner in crime and world saving be weighed down by an undeserved record."
We caught up with the others and followed Banachek and Simmons to the base of the dam. Simmons started explaining why we were all there. "Alright, here's the situation. You've all had direct contact with the NBEs."
"NBEs?" Epps asked.
"Non-biological Extraterrestrials. Try to keep up with the acronyms."
As we started going through the gate tunnel, I noticed Mikaela didn't have her purse. "Hey, Mikaela, where's your purse?"
She looked at me, then back down and frowned. "Damn, I think I left it in the van, or up top somewhere."
I shrugged. "Oh well, they'll probably give it back once we're done here."
"Maybe."
Our conversation was cut off by Banachek announcing, "What you're about to see is totally classified." And with that, we walked right into Megatron's chamber. He was against the back wall, lots of scaffolding and icing equipment surrounding him, as scientists took readings or grabbed samples or whatever they were doing. I was expecting this, had seen him on tv and in a vision, but the presence - the weight - Megatron brought to the room, even so seemingly helpless, stopped me in my tracks for a moment. And that would soon be entirely focused on me. Damn.
"Dear God. What is this?" Keller asked as we got closer.
"We think when he made his approach over the North Pole," Banachek said, "our gravitational field screwed up his telemetry. He crashed in the ice, probably a few thousand years ago. We held him at our Alpha base in the Arctic from 1899 until we shipped him here to this facility in 1968."
"We call him NBE-One," Simmons said.
I cleared my throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Excuse me, agent, but if you'll allow me to correct you on everything you think you know, the real name of this mech is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, a faction of the Cybertronian race from the planet Cybertron." As I finished my sentence, I could almost feel eyes on me, and I looked up directly at Megatron. I wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or not, but I could have sworn he actually focused his attention on me. Considering it's probably the first time he's heard his real name in years, it wouldn't surprise me much.
Simmons glared at me for interrupting and Banachek continued. "He's been in cryostasis since 1899. Alison, your great-great-grandfather made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of mankind."
"Fact is, you're looking at the source of the modern age," Simmons said. "The microchip, lasers, spaceflight, cars, all reverse-engineered by studying him. NBE-One. That's what we call it." He got in my face about it and it took a fair bit of willpower to not stick my tongue out at him.
Keller went up to Banachek. "And you didn't think the United States military might need to know that you're keeping a hostile alien robot frozen in the basement?"
"Until these events, we had no credible threat to national security," Banachek answered.
"Well you got one now." Keller threw his hands up in exasperation.
Lennox, along with the other soldiers, had been staring up at Megatron. "So why Earth?" he asked.
"It's the AllSpark," I answered.
"AllSpark? What is that?" Keller asked
"So, on his home planet," I pointed up at Megatron, "There was a cube of great power called the AllSpark. Megatron started a war trying to gain control of it, his Decepticons versus the Autobots. After the war basically destroyed their planet, the AllSpark was sent away for its safety. Megatron followed it, the Autobots and Decepticons followed him, and both sides are looking for the Cube. In fact," I tapped my chin as if in thought, "the Autobots should be on their way to it now, if Optimus got the map off Archibald's glasses."
"Glasses?" Banachek asked.
"He accidentally activated Megatron's guidance systems and the AllSpark's coordinates imprinted on his glasses. The Autobots came to me looking for them, which is the only reason I'm here, honestly."
"And what would they do with this cube?" Keller asked.
"The 'Bots want to protect it, possibly use it to restore their planet, and the Decepticons would use it to turn Earth tech into an army and conquer us all."
"You're sure about that?" Simmons asked.
"Yeah." I turned to look Banachek in the eye. "And you know just where it is."
Banchek looked almost nervous as he said, "Follow me."
He led us away from Megatron, though I couldn't help lingering a moment to look up at him again. Within an hour, two tops, he was going to be after me, and I was going to literally hold his life in my hands. No pressure, right?
As we were led to the small observation room, Simmons announced, "You are about to see our crown jewel," and opened the door. As we filed in and crowed the window, I couldn't help but gape.
The AllSpark in its natural state was enormous, the lowest corner a good twenty feet off the ground, and that distance only increased along the other sides. All around were more scientists on scaffolding milling around as they took readings or whatever they were doing. Even from inside the room, I thought I could feel its power, and I started actually trembling. Oh god, could I even hold a portion of that without going mad? Sam nearly did, and he had probably the tiniest sliver possible of it. It would be impossible. I felt Mikaela place her hand on mine, and I laced my fingers with hers to have some sort of grounding.
I vaguely heard Banchek talk about the first seven finding the Cube and building the dam to hide it, but I didn't snap back to reality until I heard Maggie ask, "Wait, back up, you said the dam hides the cube's energy. What kind exactly?"
Banachek led us out of the observation room to the hatchling chamber, and I held onto Mikaela's arm the whole time. She looked at me with concern. "Are you alright?" she whispered.
"I'm fine," I whispered back. "It's just… we're getting closer. I don't know if I'm ready."
She looked confused, but before she could ask what I meant, Simmons and Banchek were directing us into the chamber. "Please step inside. They have to lock us in," Bancheck explained as the door shut behind us and we all started looking around. There were a couple computer monitors, the transformation box in the center of the room, and lots of damage to the walls from attempted escapees.
Epps and Glen noticed the claw marks by the door at about the same time. "What's that?" Epps asked. "Freddy Krueger done been up in here or something?"
"Oh, no, man. Freddy Krueger have four blades, man. That's only three. That's Wolverine! Hrr!" Glen started laughing. "Right? That's Wolverine!"
Blackest black guy ever, meet whitest black guy ever.
We all stared at Glen, and he shut up when Simmons said, "That's very funny." He looked around us and asked "Anybody have any mechanical devices? BlackBerry? Key alarm? Cell phone?"
"I got a phone," Glen said, pulling it out and tossing it to him. Simmons looked it over as we were all handed goggles to put on.
"Ooh. Nokias are real nasty," he said, placing the phone in the box. "You've got to respect the Japanese. They know the way of the samurai."
Maggie looked confused. "Nokia's from Finland."
"Yes, but he's, you know... a little strange. He's a little strange," I heard Keller say.
A little strange didn't cover it, though knowing his history, I can't entirely blame Simmons, and he turned out to be a great ally in the later movies. I hope I can keep that here.
Simmons stepped away and started flipping switches along a wall, telling us, "We're able to take the Cube radiation and funnel it into that box." He flipped the last switch, and the box lit up like a small star for a second, before we could hear the transformation noise and the Nokia sprang to life as a little bug-like robot. It charged the glass of the box, making a flash of light that had everyone else jumping back, but I leaned forward.
"Mean little sucker, huh?" Simmons asked from his perimeter patrol, just as the Nokia-Bot went for another charge.
"That thing is freaky!" Maggie yelled.
"I actually think it's kinda cute," I said, tapping the glass, making Nokia-Bot run at me and bounce back. Oh, I just wanted to pick it up and let it know everything would be okay.
"Cute?" Simmons asked. "Maybe like an itty bitty Energizer Bunny from hell."
The Nokia-Bot transformed out its weapons, firing off his mini minigun and rocket. The impacts started cracking the box, and I had to force myself not to look away as Simmons pulled the trigger to release the energy burst to kill it. I felt some tears start to well up, but as we took off the goggles, I quickly wiped them away and squared my shoulders. This was the last moment for weakness, and it was past.
As we were just about to leave the chamber, we heard loud thuds from outside, and the lights started flickering. Keller was the first on the uptake. "Gentlemen," he said, "they know the cube is here."
Bancheck went over to an intercom and hit the mic. "Banachek. What's going on?"
"The NBE-One hanger has lost power-" the agent said, continuing over Banachek's "What!?" "-and the backup generator is just not gonna cut it."
Lennox had ducked over when the call started, and now asked "Do you have an arms room?"
"This way!" Simmons said, leading us out of the chamber through the halls. Banachek called for all agents to head to Megatron's chamber. I idly wondered how many would survive today's events.
Mikaela looked to me after we heard an agent start a grim report to Banchek. "How long until Optimus is supposed to get here?"
"Too long," I said.
In the arms room, some S7 agents were already at work loading up weapons and jeeps, and the army guys joined in easily, while Maggie, Glen, Mikaela and I were herded off to a corner where we'd be out of the way. Simmons called out where some ammunition was put, and started loading his weapon when there was a sudden groaning from the ductwork and the lights flickered on and off again. Simmons dropped the round he'd been loading, and I knew it was my moment.
I went up to Simmons, Mikaela behind me "You have to take me to Bumblebee. He's an Autobot, he'll know what to do with the AllSpark."
"Your car?" Simmons barely spared me a glance as he went back to loading his gun. "It's confiscated."
"Then unconfiscate him." I tried to keep my voice even, even as a touch of anger hit me.
"We do not know what will happen if we let it near this thing!" Simmons argued, and I could see he seemed to only be holding on by threads. I can imagine why, but we didn't have time for sympathy.
"How about us standing a fighting chance!?" I asked him. "Or do you just want to sit here and wait so see what happens?"
"I have people's lives at stake here, young lady!" Simmons yelled, just before Lennox grabbed and slammed him into a jeep.
"Take her to her car!" The other S7 tried to draw on Lennox, but the Rangers drew faster and harder and put the room at a standstill, Lennox and an agent with weapons in each other's faces while the ranger's held up the rest.
"Drop your weapon, soldier," Simmons tried to order. "There's an alien war going on and you're gonna shoot me?"
"You know, we didn't ask to be here," Lennox said.
"I'm ordering you under S7 executive jurisdiction."
"S7 don't exist," Epps said.
"Right. And we don't take orders from people that don't exist." Lennox nodded.
"I'm gonna count to five," Simmons said.
Lennox put his drawn pistol onto Simmons chest. A shot at that close range, that thing he calls a body armor vest won't work. "Well, I'm gonna count to three. Mm?"
"Simmons," I said, making everyone look at me again. "You haven't seen the true ability of Megatron. Mikaela and I were shown what he's capable of against his own kind and it was utter devastation. What do you think he'll do against the people who've kept him imprisoned for a hundred years? You got people's lives on the line, and I know Bumblebee is our best bet at saving them."
After a moment to let my words sink in, Keller spoke up. "Simmons? I'd do what they say. Losing's really not an option for these guys."
Simmons looked at Keller, then at me, then at Lennox. "All right. Okay. Hey, you want to lay the fate of the world on the kid's Camaro? That's cool."
We finished loading up and set out again, heading deeper into the dam. We entered the room where Bee was being held, several icers firing on him as he tried to sit up. Banachek and I ran up, he telling the agents to stop, but I just ignored them and went straight to Bumblebee's side, climbing on the platform.
"Bee! Bumblebee, are you okay?" I asked as he sat up.
He responded by snapping down his battle mask with a growl and rolling over to aim a primed blaster at the S7 agents.
"Bumblebee." I placed a hand on his arm. "I understand you're mad, but we need to put it aside now. The AllSpark is here, but so is Megatron, and he's breaking out. The Decepticons are coming too, and we need the 'Bots' help. Your help."
Bee looked around as he stood, giving one more sweep of his blaster before disengaging it and his mask. Then he knelt down and offered a palm to me. I stepped on it, holding onto his thumb as he moved to place me on his shoulder.
"See," I said to the others in the room. "Friendly." I reached over and tapped Bee's Autobot symbol. "Let's get to the AllSpark."
As we headed out, Lennox jogged to keep up with me and Bee. "Alison! You mentioned other Autobots? What do they look like?"
"Optimus is a blue Peterbilt with flame decals, and he's about the height of Megatron in root mode," I said. "Ironhide's a black GMC Topkick, Ratchet's an yellow rescue Humvee, Jazz is a silver Pontiac Soleste, and Coppertone is an orange Mustang. They're all a couple feet taller or shorter than Bee."
"How soon do you think they can get here?"
"Not soon enough. They're coming all the way from California." I shook my head, wondering why Optimus in the movie waited so long to read the glasses.
Even with Bee carrying me, it took far too long to reach the AllSpark in my opinion. And yet, we also got there too fast as I felt my nerves start rising again. By the time we got back to the AllSpark, I was trembling again, though I reassured Bee I was fine when he chirred questioningly at me as he set me down. And suddenly, I was, as it almost felt like I was wrapped in a hug that sent a final shiver up and down my body, then I stilled.
Bee stepped up to the AllSpark, looking it over, then placed his servos on it, and a cackle of energy was heard as blue light rippled through the cyberglyphs. A flash of white light, and the blue returned, an actual wave of it highlighting the glyphs. I reached a hand up, mesmerized, and felt a tingle, as if the energy was reaching out to me. Then the AllSpark gave another white flash, and it started collapsing in on itself, neatly into a cube at first, then when it was entirely supported by Bee's servos, it shifted to a more diamond shape, with one side narrower and longer than the other. Bee chirred at it briefly, then looked back on everyone.
-Message from Starfleet, Captain. - Let's get to it,- he said
"He's right," Lennox said, breaking the moment's mystery. "We stay here, we're screwed with Megatron in the other hangar. Mission City is twenty two miles away. We're gonna sneak that Cube out of here and we're gonna hide it somewhere in the city."
"Good! Right!" Keller said.
"But we cannot make a stand without the Air Force," Lennox finished.
"This place must have some kind of radio link!" Keller turned to Simmons. "Shortwave, CB!"
"Right! Yes!" Simmons said.
"Sir, you got to figure out some way to get word out to them," Lennox said, then looked to his men. "Let's move!"
Bee transformed, the AllSpark shifting so it was settled in his backseat, and he held open his doors for me and Mikaela. I turned to Maggie for a moment, holding my purse out to her. "Keep it safe for me?" I asked, then booked it to Bee when she took it. Lennox and his men ran alongside us to the garage, Lennox giving orders the whole way. They loaded up into the jeeps and we took off out the dam, making our way back to the highway.
"Is the AllSpark okay?" I asked Mikaela as she looked into the back.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Pass it to me." As soon as my hands took hold of the AllSpark, it flickered with light again, and I suddenly saw images flickering past my mind's eye. Of the most prominent that I could make out, I saw the AllSpark and several mecha including the Fallen that had to be the Primes. The Star Harvester here on Earth. Sentinel Prime fighting against a mech I didn't recognize. Mechs that had to be a young Optimus and Megatron with a mech who looked very similar to Optimus. Older Optimus and Megatron standing with Sentinel as the Optimus-lookalike laid on a berth, his color faded and optics dim. Megatron rallying his soldiers beneath a Decepticon banner. The Nemesis launch with Soundwave as captain and the Fallen as cargo. Megatron and Optimus on a battlefield. The Ark taking off and disappearing. The AllSpark's launch and later crash here on Earth. The first Seven finding the Cube, Hoover Dam being built around it, and then Bee and the rest of us standing there looking up at it.
I barely blinked when another set of images appeared, only this time it was of me. Both my lives flash before my eyes, being raised by my birth parents and by Ron and Judy. Meeting Miles and Mikaela as kids. Playing with my old little girl gang on the playground. Watching the first Transformers movie and falling in love with the series. Realizing I was gay and the difference between coming out to both sets of parents. Inheriting Archibald's artifacts and deciding to put them for sale. The last night at home before waking up here, where I'd been discussing ways the movies could be better. After that last memory, I felt what I would have swore was a wave of pride and… reassurance? As I tried to wrap my brain around it, the AllSpark went inert again.
"What was that?" Mikaela asked,
"I think the AllSpark and I just had a conversation." I shook my head to clear it, and looked ahead, just in time to see a familiar truck come around a bend. "It's Optimus! Bee, can you get him on the comms?"
Bee's whirred and set his radio to a new station. -Calling Starfleet. Come in Starfleet.-
::Bumblebee, what's your situation?:: Optimus asked.
"Optimus, we have the AllSpark," I said, certain Bee would transmit my words. "But the same facility that held it was also holding Megatron, and he's busted out. We're going to try and hide in Mission City until the Air Force can get to us. The Army guys are with us, led by Captain Lennox."
::Understood. We'll join you.:: By this point, they were already starting to pass us, so Optimus led them in executing a U-turn to come up behind us.
"When you get a chance, send Ratchet up front and have him turn on his lights and siren," I said. "He'll help us cut down on time."
Ratchet did so just as we got on the highway, and we started making good time into the city. Unfortunately, it wasn't good enough time, because not five minutes later, we could hear another siren go off behind us.
"Shit!" I said, looking back.
"What is it?" Mikaela asked.
"It's the cop car." I glanced at the military vehicles next to him. "And it looks like he brought friends."
Barely after I finished that sentence, Bonecrusher started using his claw to shove civilian cars out of his way, flipping a few over in ways I knew meant deaths. After doing so a few times, he transformed, and started tearing up the roadway. Optimus transformed, skidding to a stop and barely avoiding hitting any cars himself. Then Bonecrusher slammed into the bus, sending a blaze of fire and a huge smoke cloud into the air.
"Oh my God," Mikaela said, staring back as Optimus was tackled by Bonecrusher, the pair rolling off an overpass and out of sight.
We went into downtown, managing to lose our tails in the city traffic, and Will led us to a pawn shop he knew of, where we waited outside until he could haggle radios from them. Once he was back, we drove around the city, though whether we were looking for a last stand or just trying to keep moving wasn't stated. In any case, it wasn't long before we heard and then saw a jet pass overhead and Lennox had us all stop in the street. I held onto the AllSpark as we climbed out and Epps listed our location, calling for the jet to send in Blackhawks. I took Mikaela's hand as the green smoke curled around us, and waited, watching the sky.
Ironhide sudden transformed and yelled "It's Starscream!" His sudden appearance caused an uproar among the civilians, who started running and screaming. Lennox and most of the Rangers were stuck in shock as Epps called into the radio one last time, "Please tell me you copy."
Ironhide started ordering people to back up down the road while he and Bumblebee raced ahead to pick up a truck for cover. Lennox realized what was happening and called out "Move! Retreat, fall back!"
I didn't hesitate, turning and running with Mikaela down the street, though we didn't get far when we heard the missiles come in. The shockwave of the explosion knocked all of us to the ground, though I tried to pull Mikaela closer to cushion her fall. It took several second for us to get our equilibrium back enough to stand, but when we did, the first thing I saw was Bee crawling out of the smoke.
"Bee!" I gasped when I saw the extent of the damage. "Oh god, Bee, your legs! Ratchet!" The movie had done a good job at showing the injury, but they'd left out the energon leaks from his torn lines. And a screen just couldn't convey the pain I could almost feel radiating off him.
Coppertone was next to us, and she transformed, moving to Bee's side to help hm sit up. "Don't worry, Bee, you'll be okay. Ratchet!" She called out, just before we heard the boom of large artillery. We turned and saw Brawl rolling down the street, crushing cars and firing at us.
"Move out!" We heard Lennox call and the army guys and the other 'Bots headed down to handle the tank. Copper looked torn, frowning as she looked between us and the battle down the street. Mikaela glanced off to the side and took off running. I just stayed at Bee's side, running a hand down the plating of his arm.
I looked up at Coppertone. "Go, help them. They need you more than we do."
"But, Bee-" she started, only to be cut off by a familiar yet unfamiliar voice.
"Copper, go," Bee said, speaking truly for time in millenia. "I'll keep Alison and the AllSpark safe."
Copper looked down at him, then up again, and nodded. "Stay safe." She stood, drew a blaster, and took off down the street. I looked back at Bee as I felt his arm shift from me, and he lifted the AllSpark into my view.
I reached up to take it from him, and when my hand touched it, the glyphs rippled blue again and Bee and I both shuddered as a wave washed through us. I vaguely noticed that it seemed to have shrunk a bit more, then put it aside and looked him in the optic. "Don't worry, Bee. I'm not going to let Megatron get ahold of this. Trust me." I reached up a hand to stroke the side of his face.
Bee nodded, his optics saying more than words could, and we held our gaze until Mikaela pulled up in the borrowed tow truck. "Help me with this," she said as she hopped out.
We started rigging Bee up to the truck, setting him as comfortably and securely as we could when Lennox, the Rangers, Ironhide and Ratchet came back. I couldn't see Copper or Jazz, and I hoped and prayed neither of them were dead.
"Alison! Where's the Cube?" Lennox asked.
"It's right there!" I gestured behind me to where I'd set it down, handing a cable to Mikaela to hook up.
I spotted Lennox running off, then he was back, dropping his gun on the truck bed. "Alison. Alright, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare." He handed me the dark tube. "Okay, there's a tall, white building with statues on top. Get to the roof, set the flare, signal-"
"Signal the chopper to get the AllSpark out of here." I nodded and started tightening my shoelaces, ignoring the way it felt like the same squeezing was around my chest. "I think I can do it, with cover."
"You better, you're a soldier now!" He grabbed the AllSpark and pressed it into my hands. "Get going!" He walked around to talk to Mikaela. "You got to go. You got to go."
"No, I'm not leaving," Mikaela said as he started moving her away from the truck.
"You need to go. Now, get out!" Lennox ordered her.
"No, I'm not leaving 'til I get Bumblebee out of here," Mikaela said, forcefully taking a step back and away from him towards me.
Epps put the call into the radio as Ironhide bent down. "Alison, we will protect you."
I nodded. "I've got this." I jumped down from the truck and started to head out.
Mikaela grabbed my sleeve as I went past her. "Alison." I turned and her hands moved to the lapels of my flannel. "No matter what happens, I'm glad I got in the car with you."
I smiled, then the thought occurred to me that this could be the last time I saw her. Screwing up my courage, I leaned in and kissed her, not very hard, and not very long, but enough for now. I pulled back and saw some surprise in her eyes.
"I am too," I told her, then took off down the street.
I'd barely gone five feet when we all heard Megatron bellow "Decepticons, attack!" and Brawl started firing his cannons. Ratchet and Ironhide started providing me cover fire and though I wanted to look back, I didn't, trusting the two of them to have my back.
"Watch out!" Ironhide called, jumping over me to grab a car and using it to block some shots. I ducked as engine parts fell from it, and stayed low when Blackout flew over my head. I'd made the corner and went down another three blocks by the time he circled around again, and once more had to duck as he used his tail rotor to try and get me. I avoided his blades and the car he tossed, then I heard Ironhide take a swing at him before he flew away.
Then Starscream came down and I barely had time to dive behind a car before he landed, smashing all the cars between himself and my cover and sending them flying. I huddled down, listening as he fought Ironhide and Ratchet. Or more accurately, Starscream mowing the pair of them down, only taking maybe two shots himself before he transformed and flew away. I pushed myself off the ground and looked back at the 'Bots. They were recovering, but they wouldn't be up soon.
"Alison!" Ironhide called. "Get to the building! Go!"
I nodded and pushed myself up, dimly noting I had a torn seam on the left knee of my capris, then bolted down the street again. Another two blocks, and I heard Megatron behind me. "Give me that Cube, girl!" he shouted, a roar even over the crashes and screams of people trying to avoid him. I ignored him and kept going.
Most cars were stopping, but of course some idiots were still driving, and a taxi didn't even bother slowing down, so I had to jink left and ended up hitting and rolling across the hood of the Escalade. As I hit the ground, the AllSpark let out a burst of power, and I had a sudden vision. Myself, kneeling in the street with Megatron on one side and Optimus on the other, and a bright light erupting from my chest. I blinked and the vision was gone, but the implications lingered in my mind. Did it…
With Megatron barrelling after me, I didn't have time to think about it. I just scooped up the AllSpark, which seemed to have converted to an even narrower diamond shape, and ran, ignoring the screams behind me as the car, Xbox and vending machine came to life.
I finally managed to reach the building, heading through the open gate and doors without looking back. Inside, I found the first set of stairs just as I heard the glass shattering and Megatron's roar. "I smell you, girl!"
I put on an extra burst of speed with that, getting up the stairs and most of the way across the third floor when Megatron erupted from the floor below. I practically leaped to the stairs and swung around the bannister before risking a look back. Megatron glared up at me, very reminiscent of a shark in the water, and I made my way up the stairs with that image in mind.
Almost halfway up, my thoughts turned to the rest of the battle. Ironhide and Ratchet should hopefully have recovered by now and gone to find Jazz and Coppertone. Those two were either both dead, both alive but injured, or one was A and one was B. None good, but B was the best of the three. Mikaela and Bee should be helping take down Brawl, if not already killed him. And Optimus was on his way here, to save me. Hopefully he makes it on time.
I reached the roof access door, bursting through onto the lower of the building's roofs. I took a moment to catch my breath and let my muscles scream at me for overexertion, then I pressed on to the higher roof. At the top of the ladder, I looked for the blackhawks, and spotted two on the opposite side of the building. I ran across the roof, slamming the end of the flare to crack it and holding it high, just as I spotted Starscream landing on a building across the way. The third blackhawk rose up from below the edge of the building, door open with a crewman standing there to catch me, or at least the AllSpark.
I skidded to a stop a good four feet away and screamed "Look out!", pointing to my left just as Starscream prepped his missiles. The pilot noticed just as the missile was launched and moved down, but his blades still got hit and I dropped as they started spinning out. Instead of just taking out the barrier ledge of the building, part of the tail scraped along the actual wall, and destabilized the chopper. Its spin looked like it might still take them to the lower roofs, but I wasn't sure.
I pushed myself back to my feet, though they, my knees, and my forearms were screaming at me to stay still. I faintly heard Optimus calling for me to hang on, but at the same time Megaron started busting out of the roof. I ran, slower than I would have liked, to the statue at the corner of the building and dragged myself onto its base. I held onto the base of its dress, and stayed on the far side, where there was conveniently a small bit off roof ledge before the actual drop off. It wasn't going to help me, but it kept my fear of dangerous heights from taking over my higher processes.
"Oh God, oh God," I whispered, trying to catch my breath and calm myself down.
"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshling?" Megatron asked, and I could hear him coming closer. "Give me the AllSpark, and you may live to be my pet."
"Oh god," I said to myself as I instinctively tried to take a step back in fear, clutching the statue even harder for a moment. I took a deep breath, wrapped an arm tightly around the AllSpark, and yelled "I'm never giving you the AllSpark!"
"Oh, so unwise." A roar was all the warning I got before the roof exploded under me.
I tried to curl myself into a ball around the AllSpark, which is a lot harder than it looks to do when in a spinning freefall. I'd managed to halfway accomplish this when my rotation was stopped as I landed on my back in Optimus's servo.
"I've got you, girl," he said, bringing me close to his chest. I grabbed onto whatever armor I could reach with my free hand. "Hold onto the Cube," was my only warning before he started his wall slide, jumping from building to building to keep up his momentum. I clenched my eyes shut to avoid motion sickness, especially when I felt Megatron leap onto Optimus and flip us around before we landed on the ground again. I vaguely heard the screams of civilians, including the guy Megatron flicked, as Optimus uncurled his servo from around me.
"Alison," he said, and I looked up to face him as he retracted his battlemask. "You risked your life to protect the Cube."
"No sacrifice. No victory," I said, holding his gaze.
"If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it. Get behind me."
I wanted to say something about not letting him do that but there wasn't time, so I just climbed off him and dropped down into the broken ditch. As I crouched there, I managed to catch my reflection in a pool of water, though it was rippled from the additional water coming in from a broken pipe. My shirts were torn in various places from debris, a couple holes slightly bloodstained. My capris were split on the outer left seam from my knee down. My shins were all cut up and blood was running down them in little streams. My right cheek had an abrasion from somewhere, and a cut above my eyebrow had made a trail of blood down the side of my nose I hadn't noticed before. Aside from that, I was sweaty and dirty from everything, with my hair falling from my ponytail and sticking to my face and neck.
I wiped the blood from my face and looked down at the AllSpark in my hands. "Okay, what now?" I asked it. "What the hell were you showing me before?"
The AllSpark flashed blue again, and three images assaulted my vision. The first was me shoving the AllSpark into Optimus's chest, the way he wanted. The second was me shoving it into Megatron's, like the movie. And the last was the same as before, myself with a glowing chest and the leaders watching me. The first two images came with a feeling of dread, but the last had a different feeling. Hopeful, maybe? They were quickly gone, but the AllSpark had made its point. And really, what other choices did I have?
"Alright," I said. "Let's try it."
I pushed myself to my feet, tucked the AllSpark close, and climbed out of the ditch. Megatron had knocked Optimus down, but was being distracted by attacks from the Rangers and the F-22s. I took this as an opening, dashing out towards Optimus and dropping to the ground just as Megatron launched himself over my head.
I was kneeling right between the Autobot and Decepticon leaders. Megatron was crawling towards me, barely able to articulate full sentences from rage and his injuries. Optimus rolled onto his side, calling for me to put the Cube into his chest. And the AllSpark in my hands pulsed once, its blue light focusing on the point of its diamond shape. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, "In the name of Primus, please work."
And then I stabbed the AllSpark into my chest.
AN: Apologies for the late update, I will try to be on time next week. Hope you all enjoy this cliffhanger! What shall happen next? Find out next week, (hopefully) same Bot Time, same Bot Channel!
