This is a .5 chapter because chapter 2 was over 4,000 words long, and I try to keep them consistent in length(around 1,500-2,000 words) when posting.

Have Fun!

~Silverleone

The giant robot slowly stood up, and I had to tilt my head back to see all of its 40 foot frame. It looked down at me and lifted a foot, taking a step forward. I went to take a step back but tripped. I scrambled backwards as it took another step. I quickly got to my feet and made sure I wasn't backing into a corner. It bent down onto a knee, the ground shaking slightly from the impact.

"...Design-n-n-nation..." Its speech was broken and skipped. I could only stare from my spot as it spoke. "...Renegade..." I realized I had been holding my breath for a while now and let it out. It stared at me as I slowly got to my feet.

"W-what are you?" It held up a giant hand, palm facing me, and I saw the same purple symbol that was on its chest, only smaller. I wasn't going to deny the flinch the motion brought out of me.

"Decepticon."

"W-what..." I had to pause to catch myself. "Why did you kidnap me?" It looked ashamed.

"You were...in-n danger." Well, I feel slightly better about that...only slightly though. "I, ne-eeeee-ed...help..."

'Oh. Fantastic.'

"Okay...what, kind of help?"

"Autobots, hunt-t me. Only for this." It held up its hand again, showing me the symbol.

"Who are the Autobots?"

"Good bots. Only trying-ing to help humans." It sounded like it either didn't know English very well, or it was keeping its speech as simple as possible to avoid the skipping.

"So...are you, a good bot?" I felt a little awkward asking that question, but this could literally be life and death here.

"...I...was...not."

'Aaaand that's my call.' My eyes widened and I started backing away. It held out its clawed hand towards me again, as if pleading for me to stop.

"I don't want...to, be seen as, s-such." Those hastily spoken words made me take pause.

"You don't…?" If I could have read the expression on its face better, I would have seen the sadness in its eyes.

"I never liked hurting others...for sport." I shivered at the implication.

"So, you don't want to hurt anyone?" It looked me right in the eye.

"Never-er-er have."

"Okay, well um...can...can I step into the other room please? I need to think about this." The robot nodded, standing up and stepping over to the far side of the room. I turned around and started walking. Only to smash my face against the wall.

"Ow, why does the world hate me?!" I glared at the source of my pain, then turned and went out the door. "Idiot, how do you miss a door that a submarine could fit through?" I muttered to myself. I walked over to a small truck and dropped the tailgate, sitting down on it and sighing, only to jump as a tire popped. I grabbed my hair and pulled in frustration, not even bothering to keep my voice down.

"What is happening?! First, I get caught in a storm, then I get "rescued" by some giant dragon-robot-thing and now it wants me to help it because it says it's not evil and there are other giant robots trying to kill it!" I flopped back onto the bed of the truck, staring at the ceiling.

Something clicked in my mind and I snapped to a sitting position. Ignoring the fact that the robot had been standing in the doorway, listening to me the whole time, I shouted at it.

"THERE ARE MORE OF YOU?!"

««{{2 Hours Later}}»»

"...So let me see if I got this right. There are the Autobots, and the Decepticons. The first group is willing to protect humanity, the second not so much. You are, were, a part of the Decepticons, but you never liked how they acted. So, you have been hiding from both groups to avoid being killed." I took a breath, having said all of that without stopping. The robot named Renegade nodded.

"Correct." I sighed and leaned against the side of the truck bed. He had taken a seat against the wall adjacent to me and told his story. It took a while for him to lay it all out as his voice box wasn't in full working order. But as he had told his story, it seemed to get better. By the end it would only skip and scratch occasionally. He sounded strong and dignified, almost like a royal guard from medieval times. But he also seemed aged. Like he'd been through war and it did anything but soften him up.

"So...how do you want me to help? I didn't know any of you even existed until today."

"Autobots like humans. You can convince them I don't want to hurt anyone." He grimaced as a low buzz followed his voice. Feedback from a rusty connection, probably.

"But how? I have no idea how to get in contact with them." Renegade paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up, and a hologram appeared on the ground in between us. "Woah." Once I got over the fact that there was a real hologram in front of me, I saw a young girl about 20 years of age, long black hair, a red t-shirt and blue jeans.

"This youngling. Her designation is Jessica." I assumed he meant name, but I rolled with it. "She is close to one of the Autobots, which has been assigned as a guardian to her. They will be the way to their leader."

"Okay, where is this kid? And how do I approach her about this?"

"Directly, discreetly. Preferably without public notice." I almost clapped back with a 'brilliant idea Einstein', but held it back, not wanting to make him mad. He could still squash me like an ant.

"So she won't go all coocoo and sic her robo-guard on me?" He shot me a look, and I nearly cowed under it.

"Most likely, no," He stated with a slight clip in his tone, "In the event that she does, I will be not far from your location."

"Do you know what her friend's second…form is? A dragon? Because that is pretty hard to miss. You'd think the whole world would hear about a girl riding a dragon to school by now." His shoulder pauldrons drooped just enough for me to notice from where I was sitting.

"I am the, only one with a form like that." My head pulled back a little.

"O...kay, what does that mean?"

"Most bots have only two forms. A bipedal form and an Alt mode. I am an uncommon case with three."

"What is your third one?"

"Unfortunately, my data banks have become corrupt. I will need to obtain a new one."

"Alright. So how does that work?" He looked around for a minute, and I noticed his eyes would rest on something for a second before moving on. I followed his gaze to see him eyeing another truck. He grunted and looked around until his gaze finally rested on an old Greyhound bus. He paused and laser beams shot from his eyes, scanning the bus.

The beams disappeared, and he started shifting. Soon, a flat-front Greyhound bus was sitting in front of me, looking fresh off of the factory line and EXTREMELY top of the line.

"Oh, wow." I said as I looked over the suddenly clean paint job. He shifted back quickly and stepped over to the door of the cave. He quickly pulled the cable, lifting the door. He tied the cable back into place. He stepped back into the center of the cave and changed back into the bus once more.

The door slid open, inviting me in. I made sure I had all my gear and walked over, hesitating for a second before climbing in. Looking around inside, I was positive I wasn't supposed to touch anything, living robot or not.

"This is way too fancy for me."

"It's a good thing it's not for you then." I jumped at the voice that came from the stereo. "My apologies, I didn't mean to startle you." I puffed out my cheeks in a slow breath.

"It's okay. I didn't expect it, that's all." I paused for a second, "You sound better, by the way." It was true. His voice was more grounded and sure in its tone and cadence. It made him seem more confident.

"I feel better."

"Why didn't you do this sooner?" The engine roared to life and he rolled out of the cave.

"It takes discretion to avoid two factions that can scan an entire planet of your size in under five orbital cycles. The less energon I used, the better." I set my bag down at my feet and pulled out one of the granola bars, feeling hungry after the events of the day before.

"May I?" I wasn't sure if he could see it, currently being a vehicle.

"That is fine."

"Thanks." We settled onto a dirt road that I missed before. "Also, energon?"

"Our life-blood, if you would." That'd made sense.

"Ah." I soon finished my bar and put the trash in my bag. I settled in the seat and a yawn snuck up on me.

"If you wish to rest, you may. We have a drive ahead of us." I nodded and laid down, my brain exhausted from the information dump in the last few hours. I still couldn't quit grasp it all, but I tried to shove it aside, noticing the sun had gone down a while ago.

"…Renegade?"

"Yes?" I hesitated, not wanting to annoy him.

"Will I get to see my family again?" His engine hissed, almost like he sucked in a slow breath.

"Of course. You will be returned post haste. I am sorry I took you from them. Was the other human floating with you one of them?" I shook my head.

"No, he was just someone that was racing me down the mountain."

"...You will see your family again. I promise you that." I felt a weight lift off my shoulders I hadn't known was there.

"Thank you, Renegade," I settled back, closing my eyes, and listening to the hum of his engine.

"What is your designation?" I cracked an eye, realizing I never introduced myself.

"Oh, my name? It's Neal."

"Neal...It is suitable." I snorted weakly.

"I would hope so, my mother named me."

"Well, then it is perfect, if it comes from your parental figure. Sleep now, we won't be there till later on."

"Alright, thanks Renegade." I swore the whole bus settled a little lower on its axels. Renegade's voice had dropped any form of growl that seemed to naturally occur, becoming soft in tone.

"No…Thank you, Neal."

««{{¤}}»»

I was walking through a city in ruins. Buildings collapsed, cars on fire, smoke everywhere. I walked around, trying to see if I could find anyone, when I froze, listening for something. I heard it again and turned down a street, looking around for anyone that could need help. I heard the voice again and started running.

"Where are you?! Keep calling, I'm coming!" I heard the voice again, and I paused, noticing it was coming from a building with the front now a large pile of rubble. I carefully climbed over the rubble, but stopped when I didn't see anybody, the shop floor was almost empty. "Where are you?"

"Look down." A horrific voice filled with malice and disgust froze me to my spot. My eyes slowly slid down, and all I saw was a giant red eye staring at me. "Human worm!" I was thrown backwards as the pile of rubble blew apart. I hit the ground hard, rolling a couple of times. I scrambled backwards as a robot stepped out from the building, looking around before locking its eyes on me.

"There you are!" It stomped forward and I booked it. I ducked into the closest alleyway and hid behind a dumpster. "I know you're here. I can smell your stench!" I tried to calm my breathing, but it didn't do anything, the fear was overwhelming. The robot was suddenly standing at the entrance to the alleyway. "There you are!" The dumpster was thrown into the adjacent wall, leaving me out in the open. I scrambled backwards as claw like fingers reached for me.

"You're MINE!" The claws grabbed me, and a scream tore from my throat.