They say never judge a book by it's cover. Well, you'd be more than dead if you tried to judge me by my appearance. I maybe small, but I pack a mean punch if you mess with me and my team... Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude... hey there! I'm Windswept! And boy, have I got a story to tell you. Well, what are you waiting for?! Get over here and get ready for my adventures on Team Prime!
Before I get into things, I just want to thank you if you are currently reading this chapter. I know, I know, it's been a few months since the last update, but when I had initially planned to update just a few weeks ago, things went wrong at school so I had to concentrate on myself and those issues. Now that I feel like I'm back on track for the moment, I thought I better spit out a chapter of this before the school holidays.
Speaking of holidays, happy Easter to those who celebrate it.
And speaking of thanking people, thank you to Auguste The Clown and tfandanimefan for favouriting this story as well.
On with the show!
- Transformers Prime does not belong to me. All rights go to the people and brands who were able to create this show.
- Windswept, Carly Esquivel and Rebecca Rose belong to me.
(Windswept's P.O.V after recap)
* Show the Decepticon Warship fly into view. *
Previously on Transformers Prime…
* Show Megatron starring at the holding compartment of Dark Energon as Slipstream, Starscream and Rebecca take steps towards him. *
Megatron: "It's as if the Blood of Unicron the Destroyer flows through my veins."
* Show Megatron and Slipstream taking off from the top of the Nemesis. *
* Show the destroyed and reanimated tool attack Ratchet before going to attack Windswept and Carly. *
* Show Optimus destroying the creature with a blaster shot. *
Ratchet: "Dark Energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent!"
* Show Agent Fowler walking into the base from the elevator. *
Agent Fowler: "Contact with civilians!"
* Show Bulkhead putting his foot down between Agent Fowler and the humans. *
Bulkhead: "We're protecting them!"
* Show Soundwave deploying Laserbeak. *
* Show Laserbeak attacking and kidnapping Agent Fowler. *
Starscream: "Fetch us this Fowler. Tell me the location of the Autobot base."
* Show Bulkhead racing through the Groundbridge. *
Bulkhead: "It's an SOS!"
* Show Bulkhead looking behind him at the resting Decepticon Warship. *
* Show Jack and Raf appearing from the Groundbridge. *
* Show a Vehicon activate their blaster and point it at the enemy. *
* Show Bulkhead, Miko and Carly with panicked faces. *
Bulkhead, Miko and Carly: "Scrap!"
* Show Megatron throwing his hands in the air. *
Megatron and Slipstream: "Rise, our army!"
* Show the ground shaking and the colour purple seeping through the cracks
Megatron: "Behold the power of Dark Energon!"
* Show the undead Cybertronians coming to life because of the Dark Energon, their bodies glowing purple and groaning like zombies. *
The now undead Cybertronians continued to rise around us. My insides began churning. How are we gonna be able to kill a bunch of revived Cybertronians that were already dead in the first place?!
"Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors." Ratchet proclaimed, taking a few steps back, "And his own."
"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering," Optimus sighed.
"No one is!" I shrieked.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Slipstream looked up at the glowing Megatron, seeing him grin with glee over the power he now had over his undead army.
"At last. Symbiosis. I can feel it," Megatron purred, glancing at his SIC, "I possess complete control over my army." He looked down at his army, gearing up for the battle between them and his enemies. "Destroy them!"
Slipstream bit her lip at the amount of power her leader now had. Was Megatron still even Megatron?
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Optimus wunfolded his cannons. I was confused until I realised that the undead were a little bit closer than before. Spark beating at about a million miles per minute, I activated my weapons and began aiming and hitting anything in sight.
I was well aware of the fact that we were stepping backwards ever so slowly, trying to keep the distance between us and the Terracons.
Ratchet grabbed my shaking arms, trying to help my aim as he spoke, "Optimus, if our combatants are already deceased, how can we possibly defeat them?"
My aim steadied slightly as I managed to knock back a few of our enemies. I don't know why I was so freaked over these undead Cybertronians. Guess it was 'cause I was worried about one of my lost friends being one of them.
"Ratchet! Retreat! Bridge yourself back to base!" Optimus instructed the medic.
"No! I shall stand with you, Optimus!" Ratchet decided as he unfolded his blades from his arms, walking to our side "You may require a medic when this is all over with."
Before Optimus could argue with our dear medic, Ratchet charged towards the Terracons, already slicing at the undead. Optimus and I quickly joined him, me using one blaster and one small sword I could activate from my hand. I used one of each to see which one would be better. Ratchet and I discovered that as we fought them with our swords, they fell into pieces, dead.
Permanently.
"I recommend dissection!" Ratchet advised.
"The smaller the pieces, the better," I realised.
"Sound advice, old friend," Optimus complimented before trading his blaster cannons for his blades.
As soon as Optimus had switched, he charged at the Terracons and found the advice we gave him to be a good thing. Ratchet and I joined him in slicing and dicing at the undead immediately, pieces of the once whole Cybertronians flying every which way. We stood together, looking up at the Dark Energon-possessed Megatron
"I have mastered Dark Energon! When you fall Optimus and Windswept, you too shall join my army!" Megatron announced.
I was determined to not allow that to happen, and neither was Optimus. We charged at the undead with Ratchet. We fought harder than normal to stop these Terracons from wreaking havoc upon anywhere else. We wanted to know Megatron and Slipstream's plan. And destroying each and everyone of these Terracons was the only way we were going to get to them.
Slipstream just smirked and watched us fight. She may not have taken the Dark Energon, but I knew why she was here. She was making sure Megatron wasn't gonna go overboard. I could sense the interesting bond between him and her. But I knew it was because Megatron was after me just as much as he was Optimus. And for some reason, I had a feeling that part of my history was part of the reason why.
NO ONES P.O.V
Decepticons continued to fire shots at Jack and Raf, who were barely avoiding them. Carly watched in horror as one of the shots was aiming a little to close to Raf. But relief washed over when the shot missed, intrigued to see Jack protecting the boy with his own body. However, that was all she got to see before Bulkhead transformed, strapping them inside before driving over to the boys.
"Get in! NOW!" Bulkhead instructed as he opened his passenger-side door.
The boys wasted no time, Jack hopping in first, followed by Raf. Once they were safe inside, Bulkhead closed the door and took off to find safety, dodging the raining blaster fire while he was at it.
"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack panted in thanks.
"Yeah. Thanks," Raf agreed.
"Wh-What are you doing here?!" Bulkhead asked.
"We were worried about Carly and Miko. Have you seen them?" Jack asked worriedly.
"What'd they look like?" Miko and Carly asked as they appeared from the back seat.
"I wish you wouldn't go and do things like that, Carly," Raf told his sister, calming himself like he was about to have a heart-attack.
"Life ain't worth living if you ain't taking the risks it throws at ya!" Carly shrugged.
Finding some cover he knew could protect his new human friends, Bulkhead put the breaks on and opened the door, "Everybody out! And this time, PLEASE wait here!"
Once Bulkhead knew that the humans were out and safe, he drove towards the Decepticon warship and did what Carly said to do - which was to take the risk and find his way into the warship to save the Agent. Jumping into the air, the former Wrecker transformed and secured his grip onto the cliff face he almost crashed into.
The Autobot scaled the formation until he was able to leap upon the ship. As he climbed up onto the top deck of the Warship, one of the drones was in the way. To deal with it, he simply grabbed a hold of the drone and threw him off the deck, watching him make contact with part of the ship before falling further to his death.
Quickly, Bulkhead knew what to do with the drones waiting for him. He tore the head of the first drone off, then used his body as a shield to block the oncoming fire from the other drone while shooting at him. One of his shots managed to hit the drone, flipping him back onto his feet, but severely weakened. Bulkhead took the distraction as his opportunity to run up to his enemy and body-slamming him, knocking the drone out cold.
With the Vehicons taken care of, Bulkhead looked down at where he dropped the humans off and was in shock to discover that some of them were missing.
"Where's Miko and Carly?!"
The Autobot was distracted from his worrying when he heard knocking inside his chest compartment. Opening it, he was shocked to find Miko and Carly hanging their heads out into the open air as they took in massive gulps of oxygen.
"Miko?! Carly?!"
"I heaved on your floor mats," Miko revealed, "Sorry."
"That is the last time you talk me into doing something as stupid as that!" Carly decided when Bulkhead lifted his hand up for his new human friends to climb onto.
He lowered the hand to the ground, the two humans jumping off and making sure that everything was intact.
Miko looked at Carly with a shrug, "Who knew that..." She paused for a moment, taking in a breath from the action that had just occurred. "That was gonna happen?!" Then the girl looked up at her assigned guardian, "Remind me to never do that again."
Before Carly could make a side remark, Bulkhead was tackled by a stray Vehicon. But the Decepticon quickly realised his mistake as the Autobot flipped him over before pounding him into the scrap metal he already was.
At the sound of a door opening and closing, Carly and Miko looked around to find two Vehicons starring down at them. That was when Carly realised that maybe what she and her friend had done was a bit more risky then she would've liked. But before she could do anything, Miko pulled her out of the way as Bulkhead fired at the Decepticons. He picked up a sonar that just so happened to be there and threw it at them. The sonar flew like a boomerang that was not coming back as it knocked each of the Vehicons out.
Thankful for the break he'd been given for the moment, Bulkhead walked up to the girls and allowed them to sit down on his hand to get a break for themselves.
But it wasn't long before more Decepticons appeared and began shooting at them again, much to Bulkhead's distress. Cradling the girls against his chest, he looked around for a place to hide himself and the girls. That was when he spotted the open door the Vehicons left behind and began his race towards it...
Outside of the Decepticon Warship at ground level, Jack and Raf turned to each other nervously.
"Think they forgot about us?" Raf asked nervously.
Jack only shrugged at the response. But before any of them could do anything, two Decepticon drones approached them behind them.
Gasping in panic, the boys tried to reach out of one of the drones' grasp when he bent down to grab a hold of them.
Giving one last look at the unconscious Vehicons on the top deck, Bulkhead slammed the door shut, locking himself inside of the Decepticon Warship.
He sprinted as fast he could down the corridor in an attempt to find a safe place for the two humans he was carrying around. Miko, sitting on Bulkhead's hand, looked ready to heave once more, Carly patting her friends back beside her. However, she stopped when she saw more Decepticons turning up. Next thing she knew, she and her friend were being slid across the ground through the Decepticons legs.
When they stopped, Miko got herself up on her hands and knees, "I'm gonna heave again."
Once she saw Bulkhead destroy his enemies, Carly sighed, "Can you hold it in a little longer?"
Before Miko could answer, Bulkhead scooped her and her friend up into his hands and began running once more. He continued to look for a safe place for the girls to stay in. And once he would find that place, he hoped that they would stay there until everything was under control. For some reason though, he doubted it.
Carly looked at her friend, who was looking slightly brighter than she was, "You all good now?"
"Mmmm, I've been better," Miko shrugged in answer, "Ha, remember when you and I broke into the school and tagged the place. That was a good day."
"I'm pretty sure that was you and Amy. And that was Amy that did all the tagging. You just grinned and watched her," Carly corrected her with a laugh, "You still trouble with her though."
"Amy's cool," Miko said, "I wish she could've seen this! She would be loving it just like us!"
Carly sighed, "Yeah...just like us."
Meanwhile, on a different part of the Nemesis, two Vehicons were walking proudly through the corridor like they had scored a big catch.
And in fact they had.
The Vehicon behind his partner was carrying two certain humans named Jack and Rafael.
"Bring them to the brig. Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there," The first Vehicon told his partner.
The human boys only exchanged a look at the information of where the Agent was currently being held. They knew straight-away that the knowledge could come in handy later.
Before the Vehicons could go much further, the sound of engines interrupted their walk to the brig. Next thing they knew, they were being knocked over by a yellow and black striped Urbana 500... otherwise known as Bumblebee's vehicle form.
As Jack and Raf were flung up into the air, the blue motorcycle form of Arcee leaped over Bumblebee, transformed and landed just in time to catch the boys before they landed on the corridor floor. Arcee planted them on their feet and watched with soft optics as the Urbana 500 transformed and joined them.
"Bumblebee!" Raf greeted with joy.
The yellow and black striped scout beeped and whirred back, bending down to the boys' level and making sure they were both unharmed.
"Appreciate you opening the front door for us. But storming the Decepticon warship was NOT on the activities list."
"Tell me about it," Jack looked at his guardian and shrugged in agreement.
After being filled in about the reasons why Jack and Raf were on the Nemesis in the first place, as well as the S.O.S they received about Agent Fowler, the two Autobots raced down the corridor with their charges in tow, eager to find the Agent and take the humans back to base where they safely belonged.
Arcee paused when the corridor reached its head and split into three different paths. Stopping at a corner, she activated her blaster and prepared herself for anyone waiting at her left.
Taking a deep breath, she spun around the corner only to come face-to-face with a familiar blaster.
"Friendly!" Arcee declared.
"Hello!" Bulkhead greeted.
"Brought the humans, huh?" Arcee asked as the two deactivated their weapons.
"You try getting them to stay behind!" Bulkhead protested quickly.
"We need to find Fowler and get them out of here," Arcee decided.
"Uhhhh." The trio of Autobots, including the two female humans, looked down to Jack and Raf below them, "He's in the brig."
Agent Fowler continued to hang around in the Decepticon brig. And no, not the 'hang around' like the relaxing kind, but more of the 'I'm actually hanging around because I've been chained up and I'm dangling off the ground' kind of way. The poor Agent had been severely weakened from the torture of the prod Rebecca had struck him with.
He hoped, no, he prayed rather, that the Autobots were on their way to free him from his current torture. But when Starscream made his presence still known to the human, he knew help was still some time away.
"My dear Agent Fowler, you do realize the Autobots have abandoned you." Starscream looked over the human with an evil chuckle, "We are the only ones you can rely upon now."
"So tell us what we want to know. Or else, your scheduled shock therapy appointment continues," Rebecca threatened, holding up the Energon prod.
"Wait. No more." Fowler pleaded almost immediately but weakly, "They're in a secret government base..."
Rebecca widened her eyes with pleasure at finally getting somewhere, "Go on."
But Fowler never got to finish what he started. The sound of gunfire outside the room distracted them, much to Rebecca's growing frustration. Just as she was about to get something out of her enemy, something just had to happen!
Momentarily looking at the Decepticon drones guarding the door, who now had their blasters activated, Starscream decided to ignore the gunfire and instead try to get the Agent to keep talking, "Yes...?"
Now knowing that the Autobots weren't abandoning him, Agent Fowler continued to play his game, "In the old still mill? Or was it under that carnival house?"
Having enough, Rebecca plunged the Energon prod into the agent without any warning. She relished in the sounds of the screaming her enemy was pouring out of his mouth. She growled when she heard the battle outside the room getting closer and closer...
Sensing the girl's frustration, Starscream snapped at the Vehicons just guarding the door, "Someone go and find out what is going on out there!"
The two Decepticon drones ran out of the cell as fast as they could. Starscream turned around and looked at Rebecca. If the superpowered human got any more frustrated, it wouldn't be just the Agent she'd be taking it out on.
The fight between the Autobots and Decepticons continued through the corridors of the Warship while the four humans watched on, being caught in the middle of the crossfire.
Bulkhead stood in front of them, firing shots at three Vehicons with each shot destroying each enemy easily. On the other side of them, Arcee and Bumblebee fought the Decepticons away from the humans.
Blaster fire was raining everywhere. Vehicon bodies were landing close by.
The sight was becoming too much for Carly, who was getting dizzy from watching the fighting scenes over and over. Her heart-beat was rapidly increasing as she felt herself becoming suffocated from the action. And she was sure that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. The panicking subdued when the remaining Decepticons were finally destroyed and Jack released his grip on her, Miko and Raf.
She began running with her schoolmate, her best friend and her brother following. The Autobots tailed them, looking for a place to stay until the battle was over. And once it would be over, Carly sensed there were going to be some serious words thrown back at base. She didn't just sense it, she could see it happening...
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Whenever we took down these flippin' undead Cybertronians, more and more just continued to join onto the back of the pack, slowly making their to the front where we were. And the worst part about this was that we nowhere close enough to even throw a knife at Megatron and Slipstream. I was getting frustrated
I stood with Ratchet and Optimus, who back-to-back behind me, looking weaker than before. Ratchet looked at us, "Optimus, this prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength."
Well, their strength maybe depleting. But mine wasn't; I was ready to continue. I wanted to get to Slipstream and rip her head from her frame now.
"We cannot falter now," Optimus proclaimed and with that, we raced ahead.
The gang of undead Cybertronians continued to grow. Something sharp sawed its way into my leg. Primus, what on Cybertron?!
I dropped to my knees and gasped in pain as I saw a little mini-con digging its little weapon into my leg. I picked it up and sliced it in half. Then my world changed - I was seeing double. The last thing I saw was Optimus becoming overwhelmed by the Terracons. The last thing I heard was Ratchet screaming mine and Optimus' names before I collapsed onto the ground...
Fires were burning higher and higher to the sky. Screams could be heard and blaster fire continued around me. I was searching for someone, I couldn't remember who it was. But it was someone important to me.
I was racing through the broken world that was my home. It was falling apart in my hands and there was nothing I could do about it. I was among the many scared for our planet's fate.
Suddenly I remembered why I was searching. A rogue bomb had just gone off in the area. And I was searching for my friend, whose frame was decorated with black and orange splashes. Spitfire was one of the first who welcomed me to Iacon. I was close with him. I knew I was going to be so incredibly angry if anything happened to him.
I stopped and looked around in search of the familiar paint scheme, "Spitfire!"
I found him a few feet away from me and ran up to his frozen frame lying on the ground. I ducked a few of the blaster shots and slid to his frame. I glanced at his face, grabbing his cheek plates, "Hey? Spitfire! Wake up!"
I looked at his body and that's when I found it. The gaping hole in his chest where his spark chamber would've been.
I screamed, "NO! SPITFIRE!"
I awoke suddenly, trying to figure out where I was.
Battlefield, Optimus, Ratchet, undead Cybertronians, Megatron, Slipstream...
Dark Energon... Fog...
Terracons were smothering me. I screamed in terror, shooting and slicing whatever was around me.
There were too many of them. Too many piling in. I fell further into the ground, allowing them take me to my impending death.
As I closed my optics, I prepared myself for the final blow ready to come at any minute, or in any second.
Something flashed across the darkness that I could see. A figure of someone. Then another one... and another... and another.
I can't die yet! Not now!
I have to keep fighting! Keep surviving! For Team Prime... for Optimus, Ratchet... for Carly.
I snapped my optics and let out a roar of anger, shooting and slicing the undead Cybertronians that were surrounding me. I wasn't going to allow my fear to control me. I was going to use it to fuel my fire.
I freed myself from the crowd of undead and closed my optics for a moment and reminded myself to save Optimus and Ratchet. They need my help.
I opened my optics again, this time finding Optimus looking down at me. He reached out a servo, a silent request to help me up while still shooting at some of the Terracons with his other servo. I grabbed his servo quickly and let him lift me onto my feet.
A sharp pain shot up my leg, reminding me of the wound I had acquired from that nasty piece of scrap before. I refocused my optics and energy, charging to the pile of Terracons nearby with Optimus. I could see orange and white colours underneath them: Ratchet.
Smashing two Terracons together and destroying them, Optimus helped our medic up, me immediately jumping to his side to keep him balanced.
Okay, maybe the Dark Energon was affecting them more than I realised... And maybe it was affecting me a little bit too. We were all so worn out and tired from the battle.
"After all these years, Optimus, still at the top of your game?" Megatron tormented once more above us.
We couldn't give in. We would not become those who were attacking us under Megatron and Slipstream's watchful optics. We picked ourselves up from the momentary break, we ran, or limped in my case, to the army before us, ready for another round of Terracon smackdown!
"My legion, FINISH THEM!"
As the army of undead Cybertronians continued before us under Megatron's command, we continued slicing and shooting and dicing. Eventually, this army would have to end, right? I mean, how many of those undead Cybertronians were here in the first place? Surely there wouldn't be enough of these Terracons to keep us at bay?
The mountain that Megatron and Slipstream were standing on was starting to edge closer just as I thought about it. I started to smile at the fact.
I'm coming for you, Slipstream. Revenge will be mine...
NO ONE'S P.O.V
"Are we nearly there?" Carly groaned as she stopped and panted, worn out from running.
As the humans paused to catch their breath, the Autobots knocked on the door of one of the rooms. When the Decepticon on the other side activated the doors to slide open, the trio of Autonomous Robotic Organisms went storming in and begun another attack.
"Do you even know where these guys are even taking us?!" Jack asked Carly in a hiss when he moved beside her.
"Chill pretty boy!" Miko told the boy, who was shocked to be called such a thing. Even Carly stole a glance at her friend like she was crazy, "The 'Bots know what they're doing! Let them deal with it!"
They waited behind their Autobot friends while they took down a couple more Decepticons that were holed up in the computer room
"Clear!" The humans ran in when Arcee signalled them to. She glanced around before looking at the humans, "Wait in here."
"But...but why?" Bumblebee questioned quickly.
"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets. They'll be alright in here as long as they STAY PUT." With that said, Arcee activated her blaster and walked out the room. The two male Autobots soon activated their blasters and followed her, the door to the corridor shutting and locking behind them.
"That...was intense," Miko remarked now that the four humans had a chance to just rest and wait for their Autobots to return.
Hopefully with their liaison with them.
"Was?" Raf repeated in disbelief.
"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity. What were you and Carly thinking, Miko?" Jack demanded.
"Did we ask you to follow?" Miko asked annoyingly.
"You wanted us to be a band! Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" The boy shot back.
"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!" The Japanese exchange student decided.
The eldest human in the room was getting increasingly frustrated, "Well maybe I have some regard for your safety!"
The girl with the pink streaks in her hair was also feeling the same as her debate opponent, "Oh! I'm sorry! Is your name Optimus? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead! Thank you very much!"
"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" Raf screamed, running away from them and Carly.
Carly, who silent throughout the little argument between Jack and Miko, gave them death glares before racing to her little brother. She placed a hand on his shoulder. The younger boy looked behind him and saw his sister giving him a comforting smile. He twisted around until he was hugging the girl, who was now stroking his hair.
"Shhh, shhh. It's okay, it's okay," She whispered, "We're gonna be okay."
"Yeah. We're gonna be fine," Miko promised, appearing beside Rafael.
"Our bots will come back for us," Jack told him, appearing on the younger boy's other side.
Carly smiled at them before looking back at Rafael, "They're gonna take us home, yeah?"
"How do you know?" the youngest boy asked bitterly when he pulled out of his sister's arms.
Looking away from the siblings and their friend, Jack looked up and found a computer full of nothing but Cybertronian code. A thought come across his mind - if the Esquivel's could understand Bumblebee's speech patterns, then they could understand the gibberish before him right?
"Hey, Raf, Carly; what do you two make of that?"
The siblings looked up at the computer screen with interest, and jumped down the large steps to get a closer look. When they were comfortable, they took in the computer screen, surprising themselves when they realised they could understand some of it. Jack and Miko joined them, attempting to read what their friends could.
"Whatever it is, it's important," Carly told them. She pulled a notepad and a small pen from her pockets and scribbled down the image.
"Really important," Raf nodded.
Miko looked at her best friend in surprise, "Since when do you carry a pen and pad around?"
"Since always, Miko," Carly laughed, "You can never be too organised!"
"Man, you two are weird," Miko muttered.
"Always have been, always will be," The Esquivel's replied back, startling the Japanese exchange student.
As the blaster fire continued to edge closer and closer to the brig, Starscream started to become desperate, yelling at the poor and slightly unconscious man known as Agent Fowler, "Wake up, you pathetic lump of flesh!"
Fowler moaned and lifted his head up weakly to ask in a disoriented manner, "Grandma? Is it Cookie time?" Before either Decepticon could answer, the man drifted off into the world of unconsciousness.
Rebecca growled, slamming the prod onto the ground in frustration. She didn't have time for this. When things were planned, they were supposed to go ahead without a glitch. And when things didn't go the way SHE wanted them to, well, she would take her frustrations out elsewhere.
Starscream wasn't impressed by her little tantrum, "Rebecca!"
The girl turned around at her name, "What?!"
The silver and red Decepticon went to show her the prod, now in pieces on the ground...
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Starscream looked behind him at the door, angry about the interruption. He went to look at Rebecca only to find she had disappeared. Suddenly, a flash of red appeared in front of him, the mech screaming his surprise.
"Go and find out who it is!"
Frightened, Starscream ran to the door before the superpowered human could slit his throat with one of her boomerangs. The door automatically opened, revealing a Vehicon standing lifelessly before the puzzled seeker, "Well?"
Everything happened at once. The Decepticon fell to the floor, revealing the bulky green Autobot Bulkhead. His blaster weapons shot at the other Vehicon in the room. He and Bumblebee jumped into the room, the latter also with his weapons activated.
"Big mistake!" Rebecca whispered threateningly. She held out her boomerangs, ready to throw one at the Agent and another at one of her enemies.
Starscream held out his missiles, ready to also strike at Fowler. A tap on his head caused him to look up. The blue form of Arcee was balancing on a shaft right above him, her blaster pointed directly at him with a threatening look on her face plates.
If this was what she looked like when she was rescuing a simple human, Starscream hated to see what she would look like when she discovered that her weapon was pointing to the same person that had just killed her partner only a few days ago.
"I wouldn't," Arcee threatened.
"Oh, but we might," Starscream sneered.
Nothing happened. In silence, they waited for someone to make the first move...
"We gotta get this to Optimus," Raf told his friends after further examining the screen containing an image of alien plans only their Cybertronian friends could understand.
"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?" Miko questioned.
Carly rolled her eyes, "Not helping, Miko." She was still sketching the image on the computer screen. But it was hard when the notepad was leaning up against her leg, which wasn't a hard surface, but a squishy-like surface.
Guess that was why Ratchet said that if anyone were to step on them, they'd go squish.
"Where's Amy when I need her?! She'd be able to draw this, no problem," the teenager sighed to herself.
"Carly and I know math when we see it," Raf continued, eyeing the tech carefully. He glanced over at Carly's sketch to get a closer look. "And that is one serious equation."
"Can you..." Jack paused for a moment, trying to come up with the word he was looking for, "Download it?"
A light bulb went off in Carly's head, looking at her little brother, "RAF! Your flash drive!"
"I've got it here with me," Raf realised and pulled it out of his bag. He looked around, "But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is WAY alien."
His search for a place to plug in his flash drive was interrupted when a Decepticon entered the room. The four humans gasped at the sight of him finding the dead frames of his former team-mates scattered around the room.
Grabbing her little brother, Carly whisper-yelled, "Hide!"
Jack and Miko raced to follow her. And just when they were in a safe place, Raf realised he forgot one very important thing - his backpack. He fought out of his sisters' grip and looked at it in plain sight, knowing that if the Decepticon saw it, there would be chaos. So little Raf took a risk and made the dash after it, and succeeded in being able to grab it. But as he was putting the bag straps over his shoulders, he found the Vehicon looking at him, activating his blaster and aiming for the kill. The boy only gasped in fear.
Sensing something was wrong, Carly widened her eyes at her little brother's frightened face, "RAF!"
Meanwhile, everything stayed silent. Nobody moved an inch. And that was when Starscream decided to make the call.
"Now, Agent Fowler, Rebecca and I will take our leave-"
"The emu says yeeaaahhh!" Fowler crowed suddenly, still under the effects of the Energon prod..
Or was he really?
Either way, that was when the party began. Blaster shots from Autobots caused Starscream to squeal and dance around to dodge them. Deciding that it was time to retreat, he transformed and took off, his afterburners attacking Arcee on the way out.
"Whoa!" Bulkhead shouted, moving out of the way just in time as the Decepticon took his leave down the corridor.
Rebecca slapped her forehead in embarrassment. Out of all the Decepticons, she just had to choose one that had the behaviour and actions of a little wimpy girl. But, she decided on Starscream's plan of action being the only solution, smirking at the Autobots to gain their attention, "'Til next time, Autobots."
The trio began firing at her, but before each shot could even skim her, her hoverboard had kicked into a new gear. While blaster shots hit the wall the teenager was just standing in front of, Rebecca's hoverboard drove her out of the room and out of sight.
The Autobots didn't worry about either Decepticon. They had completed their objective; rescue Agent Fowler. Their next goal was to grab the rest of the humans and get themselves out of the warship.
That was, if the humans had actually listened to them this time.
Carly couldn't bare the thought of losing her little brother. She had already lost her older brother due to his own recklessness four years ago. If she were to lose Raf, she would never forgive herself. So while Miko mostly covered her eyes, and Jack contemplated on what to do next, Carly shoved the pen and pad in her pocket and raced out.
Rafael, meanwhile was doing his best to jump and dodge the blaster shots aiming for him. However, when one aimed too close for his liking, he didn't know what to do. But what he did know was that he was never going to find out if he would've been shot when Carly tackled him to the ground and away from the blaster fire.
"Miko! Take a picture!" Jack yelled, running to Carly and Raf's side near one of the dead Vehicons they took shelter from.
Miko beamed, "Oh, great idea!" She pulled out her phone, "Hey, you!" However, she didn't get the message right. Instead of taking a photo of the computer screen that Jack was referring to, she instead took a picture of the Decepticon that looked like he was going to kill someone.
Jack groaned in frustration. Raf just starred at her while keeping an eye on the shooting Vehicon standing ahead of her. And Carly, well, just screamed at her friend.
"NOT OF THAT! THAT!"
Seeing her friend pointing at the computer screen before them, realisation dawned upon Miko, "Ohhhh."
When the photo had been taken, there was only one thing they could do…
Run.
"GO! GO! GO!" Jack screamed as the four ran out of the room.
However, running away from the Decepticon wasn't going to stop him from targeting his weapon at them. But thankfully for the humans, before he could shoot and kill them, the sound of a tooting horn distracted him. Confused, he looked up to find Bulkhead charging up to him. And that was the last thing he remembered before the former Wrecker tackled and killed him.
The bulky Autobot transformed back into his vehicle form and meet back up with Arcee and Bumblebee. Miko and Raf were piling into the Urbana 500 while Jack and Carly were hopping onto the motorcycle. Once the humans were safe, they took off to get away from the Nemesis.
"I told you to stay put!" Arcee sighed in frustration.
"It's not our fault a Decepticon just happened to waltz on in and started attacking us! I would like to keep my life thank you very much!" Carly snapped. When the people around her went silent, she thinned her lips and looked down, "Sorry. It's been an...interesting day."
"Don't worry about kid," Arcee just shrugged, "You'll get used to it."
Carly just rested her head on Jack's shoulder, unnerving herself when she felt cold waves crash down her spine.
"I like pie. Can we stop for pie?" A dazed Agent Fowler asked through the radio inside Bumblebee.
"You found Fowler! Rock on!" Miko cheered.
"You okay?" Jack asked after a moment of silence.
Carly looked up, "Hmmm? Yeah I guess. Just tired."
The brown-haired girl knew she was lying. She wasn't okay. Inner feelings from a long time ago were floating back to the surface. She wasn't going to deny the fact that when she was younger, she had feelings for Jack. In fact, she had always liked him like that even when she didn't know what feelings like that even meant.
But he always liked Sierra. Sierra this and Sierra that. It drove her insane to hear her friend talk about someone like that. It upset her that Jack liked someone that used to bully and tease Carly about anything possible. And then it got worse when Jack and her argued about Sierra. She tried to make her friend understand why she didn't like Sierra. But when he mentioned something a little close to home, that was when Carly snapped and ended their friendship.
Now that they were here, the teenager was now hoping that they could put behind their argument and repair her friendship with him. But how could she repair it when her feelings for him were starting to reappear once more?
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
We were nearing the end of the undead army Megatron had risen from their graves thanks to the Dark Energon he had somehow found. My head started to spin a little. With only a few Terracons that were easily taken care of by Optimus, I allowed myself to stop and check the wound of my leg.
I groaned tiredly at the sight - there was a massive open stab wound going from below my knee to my ankle. I must be losing a lot of Energon.
I groaned when someone started to help me up - did I start collapsing or something? Ugh. Whoever helped me up put me onto their back and forced arms around their neck.
"Hold tight, 'Swept," A voice whispered to me as I felt them walk to Primus knows where, "I've got you, sweetspark."
"Bravo, Optimus. Though this is just a prelude," I heard Megatron announce.
"You and Windswept may as well save your strength for the main event," Slipstream advised tormentingly.
"You will not prevail, Megatron. Not while Energon still runs through my veins," Optimus panted.
The next thing I knew, I could hear someone scaling some sort of cliff. I hadn't even opened my optics at this point. I think we were standing at the bottom of the cliff Megatron and Sliptream were standing on. I moaned in pain as Ratchet began scaling the cliff. It felt like he was struggling with climbing the cliff - maybe he had an injury.
"Fitting for this Dark Energon that flows through my veins," Megatron remarked.
I looked up to see Optimus take a swipe at Megatron, but the Decepticon jumped back by transforming and flying away. Slipstream caught my optic and smirked before also transforming and disappearing from view.
I rested my head on Ratchet's shoulder, listening to the blaster shots being fired as my medic began getting closer and closer to what was going on. He must have got to the top of the cliff as someone, Optimus maybe, helped him up onto his feet.
I looked over Ratchet's shoulder briefly, seeing the now truly dead Terracons rest in pieces scattered across the battlefield before laying my head back on the orange and white medic's shoulder.
"If this wasn't Megatron's endgame, then what is?" Ratchet asked nervously.
That was the last thing I heard before everything faded away...
I opened my optics slowly. The dizziness that I felt had gone away, causing me to smile. My optics glanced around, causing me to recognise the walls of the med-bay. Optimus and Ratchet must have managed to return us back to base. I made myself sit up and look around my body. Just a few scratch marks here and there. None of them were patched up... except for a large one my left leg where that little mini-con did the damage. All that from a little piece of scrap?
I shook my head in disbelief.
I could hear talking and the sound of Ratchet's medical tools working outside the med-bay. Curiosity was getting the better of me - I decided to get myself up and see what was going on. Walking with an injury was a lot more difficult than I first thought, but I eventually limped out to the main room.
"Yip, yip, yip, Windswept, what do you think you're doing?"
I looked at Ratchet, who was being tended to by Optimus - I think he was fixing an brace around his arm. Optimus had scars on his body too, but nothing serious.
"Walking around," I simply answered as I limped over to the crates near the control panel. I sat down on them, stretching my leg out. I looked at the medic again, who had a look of discontent as Optimus continued his work, "Now sitting."
Ratchet shook his head as Optimus finished fixing up the brace on his arm. Fiddling with it slightly, he stood to full height and made his way over to the controls, patting my shoulder as he went past.
"Thank you," I whispered to him. He only looked over my shoulder and nodded at me. He didn't need to ask why I said that - he already knew.
Although we had our banter, Ratchet and I go way back to the dark days on Cybertron. He was the reason why I was still alive on some of the worst of those days. I would always be thankful for that.
"So what happened to you guys?" Carly asked, looking at me.
"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered.
"Zombies?!" Miko lightened up at that, "YOU FOUGHT ZOMBIES AND I MISSED IT?"
"Be thankful," I spluttered out, deciding against making a smart-aft comment towards the teenage girl when I looked at my leg.
"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you," Optimus stated to his solider.
"It…won't happen again, Optimus. I promise," Bulkhead swore.
"But it wasn't Bulk's fault" Miko interrupted.
As Bulkhead proceeded to shut Miko up, I looked at Arcee.
"What happened?" I asked her through the private comm.
Arcee looked at me and filled me in quickly, "Fowler got taken by the 'Cons after finding out about the humans. Bulkhead went to go deal with them, but Miko and Carly followed him. 'Bee and I were patrolling Jasper when Bulk told us what had happened. By then, Jack and Raf had followed them out too and managed to get themselves taken by the 'Cons, but they found out that Fowler was the brig with Starscream and Rebecca. We meet up, placed the humans somewhere safe and managed to free Fowler."
I looked over at the Agent, who was resting in a medical human sized berth. Karma can be a pain sometimes...
"And check it out! Recon!" Optimus bent down to look at something on Miko's phone.
After the glance, Optimus looked over at the medic, "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."
"Whoa, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?" Jack asked.
I only sighed and looked away, "It's more than just 'bad news'."
"I don't understand," Ratchet said in a confusing tone.
Miko looked at the photo before realising something, "Oops. That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf away. At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!" The girl cheered as she did some air punches.
"Miko, Raf was almost killed today!" I was surprised at Carly completely losing her cool at her friend.
"This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?" Jack snapped, agreeing with Carly.
"Uh…we were ALL almost killed, Jack! You, me, Carly, Raf; even them!" Miko retorted, pointing at us.
"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it! Not any more!" The boy announced.
"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent," Optimus told him, "However, it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk. But the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
Ratchet decided that he was happy with the idea that he were leaving - he only seemed to like people made out of his own metal anyway, "No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door!" He even opened the Groundbridge to prove it!
"Come on, Raf," Jack said, already on his way.
Raf looked at Bumblebee and Carly, making up his mind when he saw their sad faces, "I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."
"Sure thing," Jack nodded at Rafael. As he walked to the stairs, he looked at Carly, "I'm sorry." Then he continued his way. As he got to the Groundbridge, he was stopped by his... was... guardian; Arcee, "I know. You don't exist."
"Don't make me hunt you down," My closest friend threatened sadly, watching Jack leave.
As the Groundbridge was about to close, Carly ran down the steps, "WAIT!"
Panic rushed through me, "You wanna leave too?"
"No, of course not!" Carly told me, "I have to talk to Jack about something. And I kinda need a walk. After all the action today, I just need some time to let it sink in." With that, she walked into the 'bridge.
I started thinking about Carly's sudden interest in Jack. It was strange, but it didn't matter. All I knew was that when Ratchet let me, I was gonna head out and see her to talk about some things.
"Ratchet! I found Carly's notepad; and she had sketched that picture that I had shown Optimus!"
Ratchet quickly took the notepad off her and had a look at it. That was all I saw before I entered my thoughts once more.
NO ONES P.O.V
The Nemesis had decided to float around somewhere else for a change. Instead of floating around amongst the clouds, it was floating around space, gaining the occupants a great view of planet Earth.
If only they cared about view outside...
"Please, Lord Megatron! I meant no-!" Slipstream watched in silent amusement with her arms crossed while Starscream was interrupted by Megatron slapping the silver and red Decepticon around.
"I ordered you to await my command!" Megatron reminded him, slapping the Decepticon across the room, "Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disabling of my ship! And the delay of my plans!"
"And you, Rebecca Rose." Said female looked up from her sitting position on the controls when Slipstream referred to her. She was leaning back on one arm while both legs dangled from the edge on the panel. "You know better than to get caught up with him!"
Rebecca only rolled her eyes and looked over at her long black fingernails, "I got bored! What else was I supposed to do while you and Megatron went off to go raise some army of undead Cybertronians? Which," The female sat up from her slouch, "By the way, only ended up being destroyed by Optimus and Windswept! And their lapdog!"
"Our intentions were pure, master!" Starscream defended himself and Rebecca quickly, crawling away when his master edged closer, "I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus!" Before Starscream could get another word in, Megatron stood on his upper torso, including his face and neck, inflicting more pain upon the smaller Decepticon.
"No one rids me of Optimus Prime and Windswept but me and Slipstream! Do you understand?! Do you?!" Megatron snapped, pressing his foot harder against Starscream.
"Lord Megatron, I will make things right. I swear! I know how to set your plans back on course!" quickly spat out, causing Megatron to remove his foot.
The Decepticon Warlord removed his foot and wrapped a hand around Starscream's throat to hold him up in the air, "Explain, Starscream. Quickly."
When Carly had stepped out of the Groundbridge, Jack had already made his way home just across the road. She bit her lip. She needed to make things right between her and him. Looking both ways, she crossed the road to the open garage that Jack was currently working in.
Just as she had made it onto the footpath, her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at it.
You gonna talk to Jack? Can I come watch?
Carly simply laughed at the text and replied instantly back.
Yeah. I can handle this, Miko. Just go home. I'll see you tomorrow.
Despite getting a message back, Carly chose to ignore it and instead walked up to the open garage, leaning against the door frame.
"Now I can see why you had to get home so early." She watched Jack turn around, surprised to see her.
"Can I help you with anything?" Jack simply questioned, looking back to his bike he had been using before he met Arcee.
"Nah, not really. Just wanted to come over and say hey," Carly shrugged, walking into the garage, "Nice digs. Really loving the décor. It's so...fascinating."
"Do you have a point to this conversation, Carly?" Jack asked straight up.
"You bet I do," The girl answered. She wandered in and sat down beside the boy, "I saw what you did today. When you saved Raf when I couldn't. When you came to save Miko and I..."
"I was raised to be responsible. To my school work, to my mum, my job," Jack explained bitterly, placing the wheel back on his bike.
"Hear me out, Jackson." The boy's ears twitched at the sound of Carly referring him to his full first name. He looked down at the girl, who continued, "You have the world in your hands and you could do anything you want with it. But instead, you're here, cooped up in your garage fixing this bike. Normal isn't a good look for anyone, especially for someone as...unique and cool as you."
"Thanks, Carly. But I think normal suits me fine," Jack told her in a sigh.
"If you're trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be."
Jack stifled a chuckle, "Where's that one from?"
"Not sure. Amy told me that one once. Stuck to me since."
Jack just shook his head and continued to work on his bike, well aware that Carly had not made any movement to leave. His mind went back through their conversation and realised something.
Carly had called him cool.
"It's been a while since I heard you calling me cool."
Carly looked up, "Yeah, well...I've been thinking about things. I'm willing to forgive you for that comment you made about...well, you know."
Jack nearly dropped the tool he was working with. He looked down at the girl, "Seriously? Even though that was a really harsh thing I said about him, you still wanna forgive and forget?"
"Oh I'm not gonna forget about it. But it's about time I got over it," Carly shrugged.
Jack went to work on the bike once more, but was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder, helping herself up.
"Right, I guess it's time I got home, I guess. Mama's gonna kill me if I arrive home late again. It doesn't help that I'm on the other side of town. Got out of trouble last time. Don't think I will this time." Carly stood outside the garage, "See you around school, Jack."
Jack was surprised to let the conversation end just like that. But he simply waved and smiled, "Yeah...see ya." He watched her disappear from view, feeling some weight lifting off his shoulders.
He looked back to his bike, continuing to adjust the screws on the wheel. But as he worked, he was distracted by what Carly had said about him and being normal.
What if he was on this planet to do something more? What if he was meant to be with the Autobots? What if he just made the biggest mistake of his life? What if...?
He pushed all those what ifs away for the rest of the night. He had a bike to repair. Now that he didn't have a ride to take him to places everyday, he was going to need that bike. Even if it only went ten speed... and even if it didn't transform into an Autonomous Robotic Organism that had become his new friend...
Meanwhile, down the road, Carly looked down at her phone, reading the message that she decided to ignore from Miko when she spoke with Jack.
You got this girl! You tell 'im straight up!
And as she went to reply, another message from the exchange student popped up.
So... how'd it go?! Do I need to come down and give him a piece of my mind?
Carly laughed, replying immediately.
Yeah Miko, it went okay. I think I got through to him. Hopefully he comes back. I'm gonna miss him otherwise.
Carly allowed the cool air to breeze past her as she thought about Jack. She meant what she said to Miko when she said that she hoped for him to return. She really want to patch up her friendship with him properly.
But, at the same time, her feelings for him within her heart were telling her not to let them cloud her judgement. She didn't want to patch things up in hopes that she had a chance.
Because she didn't. Not with Sierra around.
Phone vibrating in her pocket, Carly looked at it again.
Oooooooh do I sense my best friend having a crush on none other that Jack Darby, huh?!
Laughing, Carly put her phone back in her pocket, deciding on replying to her best friend in the morning.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I hummed to myself when I spotted Carly walking down the road closer to me. It had been a couple of hours since she left to talk to Jack. I wondered if anything had happened between them. And if anything did, well...I wouldn't be afraid to bring it up.
I shone my front light at her, watching her duck away from it. I laughed, "It's a bit late to be wandering around on your own, isn't it?"
"You're starting to sound like my Mama," Carly told me.
That was going to be the first...and last time I'd ever say something like that again.
"We need to talk. About Alejandro," I told her straight up.
I saw her flinch, "You heard Mama and I talking. It's not a good subject."
"It's good to talk about things like this. If it helps, I'll tell you some of my past."
I must have intrigued Carly since she sat down on the steps behind her and looked at my motorcycle form, "Well...where to start? Alejandro was more than just my brother, he was my best friend. The best person in the world. We would talk about anything and everything. He even promised to not tell a soul about my problems. I trusted him more than my own parents." She smiled at something, but it faded as soon as she got serious, "When I was twelve and Alejandro was eighteen, he decided he wanted to go for a drive on his motorcycle and said he'd be back soon. He loved riding that motorcycle, feeling the rush of the wind through his hair, I remember him saying. We warned him to wear his helmet, but he just laughed at us and said, 'Where's the fun in that?'.Then something happened. Next thing I knew, we were at the hospital. All they told us there was that Alejandro had been in a car crash.
"I was scared for him. But at the same time, I was thinking 'he's okay, they're just doing routine checks on him'. I can't remember what the time was, but it was nearly night time when the doctors said we could see him. I wish I didn't go in - Alejandro was hooked up to these machines and he had this massive bandage wrapped around his head. The doctors told us he was brain dead. Police concluded that his motorbike suffered a brake failure, thus running a red light just as traffic was crossing through. He did some damage to his head upon landing. Mama and Papa said that the family needed to talk so we left him on life support and went home. We talked and talked about the memories of Alejandro and concluded that he wouldn't wanna be lying in that bed so we decided to turn the switches off the next morning. And so...I did."
"You did?" I whispered as Carly brushed away tears from her eyes.
"The family said it made sense if I did it since I was the closest to him. I didn't want to do, but if anyone was going to, I wanted to. The next few weeks after that were rough. I was so angry at him, at myself, at everything. I just became more rebellious in his honour. I got in this massive argument with Amy one day and it made me realise my brother's death had affected me more than I thought. I told Mama about it and she made me take time off school. I was lost at home; I was expecting to find Alejandro there, waiting for me to tell him about everything. But he wasn't there. Nobody was. I walked around the house, the lawn, everywhere to put my mind at ease. And that was when I saw it: Raf. He was only eight when Alejandro died, but he was still had a lot of innocence in him. He had no idea of the world around him. I decided to protect his innocence like Alejandro had done with me... Ever since then, I knew that everything was gonna be okay. I fixed my friendship with Amy and I became closer to my little brother in the process."
I smiled inside my vehicle form. No wonder Carly and Raf were so close. They came together through the toughest of times. It was like Alejandro had wanted her to bond with their little brother for her to know that she had others around her that could be there for her.
"What about you?" I perked up when Carly whispered, "Got any stories to tell me?"
"Just one," I answered, "During the fight with what Miko has referred to as the 'Zombie 'Cons', I fell into unconsciousness and what I dreamed reminded me of a friend. I was fighting alongside my partners, trying to stop the Decepticons from infiltrating Iacon, where I worked with them. During the fight, this neutral turned up and swiped the guy I was fighting and before I knew it, this Cybertronian had taken him out before I could. I got so angry at him, I tell ya! And then when he turned up at Iacon and decided he was gonna stick around a little longer, well...he didn't get along with me. I think it was because of my background. But oh well...we argued a lot and then my boss decided to lock us in this room to sort out our problems and it turned out we had a lot more common than we realised. He had a twin, like me. He had defected from the Decepticons to the Autobots, also like me. So we became good friends...until the day he died."
"Wow, that's an interesting story of bonding. D-Do you know who…killed him?" Carly asked me.
"Yeah...a familiar face did," I whispered coldly, "She's been after me for a while. And I've been after her since then too." My engines purred at the thought of finally getting rid of Slipstream one day for murdering Spitfire.
But that's not the only reason why I want her dead.
"Don't let revenge cloud your judgement. It's not healthy."
I shone my headlights in her direction. Carly just looked away, "You sound a lot like Optimus for some reason. You gotta 'nother story to tell?"
"Maybe-"
"Time's up. I'm sending a Groundbridge, Windswept."
"What does Ratchet want?" Carly asked as she began to stand up.
"He probably wants to see how my leg's doing. Turns out, that little mini-con piece of scrap did some damage," I explained, "It's a wonder I was able to transform and drive out to see you." A Groundbridge portal opened up behind me, "I guess I'll be picking you up tomorrow-"
"I can go with Bumblebee. You just get your leg healed up and we'll be out storming the roads at crazy speeds in a few days," Carly smiled as she walked up to the door. She glanced back at me, "I get the feeling this won't the only time I'll be hitching a ride with 'Bee."
"What can I say? I'm prone to getting myself out in battle and coming home with injuries," I laughed, "It's my day job!"
Carly shook her head and opened the door to her place. Once she was safely inside, I drove into the Groundbridge, thinking about my friend. She's interesting. I was definitely gonna make sure no 'Con gets to her, especially Slipstream. She'll just destroy that girl to bits and taunt me with it until the day I die.
"It can't be!" I heard Ratchet gasp as I drove into base. He was examining the equations the humans had obtained during their 'little' adventure today, "Optimus! These are engineering specs for a Space Time Vortex Generator!"
"Megatron's building a Space Bridge. If he hasn't already," Optimus realised gravely.
"The sooner he leaves, the better," Bulkhead remarked when he and Bumblebee approached them.
I doubted that idea to be true when I transformed, "Bulk, a Space Bridge runs in two directions."
"Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth. But to bring through his conquering army," Optimus proclaimed more gravely than before.
"The main event Megatron referred to," I added.
"I thought you out of it when we fought the undead?" Ratchet looked at me.
"I may have been out of it, but I never fail to listen to a word Megatron or Slipstream says just in case its' vital for the future," I simply told him.
Ratchet shrugged and continued, "The only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors is…" He trailed off.
"Precisely," Optimus agreed before finally voicing it aloud, "Cybertron…"
Well scrap...
TO BE CONTINUED...
That's it for today. Throughout the process of writing this chapter, I realised that I felt like I made a lot of progress with both Windswept and Carly. I've searched through part of their stories and what make them, well, them. That's something important.
Of course, that won't be the only stories that'll be told in this fanfic. There's plenty of stories from multiple characters in this that will come in time. For the moment, while I finish up this opening chapters and get into the real story, I can confirm that there will be original chapters important to Windswept's story. I just can't state when they will pop up, but for now, they are in development.
Also in development is the possibility of a prequel to this series. I've made it quite obvious that Windswept does have some sort of story to tell from her early years in the war and if anyone does want to see that, I'm happy to get stuck into it and create it for you. It probably wouldn't come out until the second season for this series comes out. In my head, I can see the two running alongside each other as eventually there will be storylines from the prequel that could crossover over to the second season and vice versa. But it's still early days and things can almost definitely change. So at the moment, the prequel is in early planning stages until further notice.
Motivation for writing makes me continue writing. So please follow/favourite/review if you are able to. And feel free to ask questions regarding this series. I might not have the full detailed answers for them right now, but I will provide you with some kind of answer.
Thank you for reading.
(Last edited: 11/07/2019)