Disclaimer: Yeah, this update's been really delayed. Not that I didn't want to get back to this chapter, but I got stuck on how to write it, and a bunch of other stuff happened that put it off.
grapcejuice101: Thanks!
I don't own Transformers.
"Speaking"
Thinking
Everything. It's all... gone. Wiped clean, leaving only faint smudges in its wake. Blurry images littered with gaps. Was it when I cracked my head on the pavement, that drained the remaining memories from my brain? Or did enough time pass in this world that it all caught up to me? It... what was the point? I just... I couldn't... "I can't remember."
"You say something, Blake?" I glanced upwards into the mirror, spotting Sam's concerned and dirt covered face.
"I just... I'm fine. Besides, we have... bigger things to deal with." I'm... not the main concern, at the moment. There were much more important things that we should be dealing with. My problem, while to me was a big deal, was minuscule to the bigger picture. I'm really going to need that paper later, huh? Bee drove swiftly through the desert hills, the line of military cars around us kicking up dust clouds. Far ahead, through the blaze of sun and dust, the sight of bright color met my eyes. Is that...? "Sam!" Approaching us from up ahead, the welcoming sight of the red and blue Peterbilt was able to lift my slump. Hurrying to roll down the window, I poked my head out, short hair whipping wildly in the breeze. "Hey!"
On command, the Prime hit the brakes, and the rest of the Autobots behind him copied the action. Once Lennox and the rest of his men passed by, they spun around on the spot, bringing up the rear. Man, they're good. "Bumblebee." Mikaela made a small surprised noise, hearing Optimus' voice come through the speakers. "Do you have the Allspark in your possession?"
"He's got it, Optimus." The Cube was still wrapped in my arms, however, I wrapped my belt around it too, trying every measure to not have it slip away. My limbs twitched, the revelation not letting me rest. Even without it, how could I? We were going to have the Cons chasing after us in a matter of minutes. Whether they could sense the Allspark or not, the Bots were targets, and being with them also put us in danger. "We'll meet you all in the city. They're sending an extraction team to get the Cube out of here."
"Thank you, Blake." The connection cut off, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was awkward, with how I was sitting. In my rush to climb into the car, I hadn't taken the rifle off my back. The weapon dug into my spine, but I still felt comfortable having it near me. It wasn't that a gun that size would make any impact on a Decepticon, but the faint chance I could defend myself made me feel better.
The large group merged onto a main highway, Mission City at last visible in the distance; skyscrapers peaking over the horizon and getting closer by the minute. The Autobots branched out, covering all blind spots around our convoy. Things were actually looking good, for once. Wonder how long that will la-? "Are those... sirens?" Mikaela frowned, face scrunched up at the sound. Not too long, apparently. The blaring died down, ourselves relaxing for a moment, when the violent sound of screeching metal reached us.
"What?" Sam paled, looking from me in the reflection to the Cube in my lap, as horrified realization painted his face. "No, no, no, no, no." His repeated words, rushing together, immediately spiked our hearts, turning around to face him head-on.
"What? What is it?" Sam ignored Mikaela, twisting around under the seat belt to look out the rear window.
"It's the came cop!" Bee increased his speed, leaving the soldiers and the rest of the Autobots in the dust as we began to swerve through traffic. Mikaela had pulled herself around, the two holding the head rests and watching the cop car approach. Another Decepticon, far enough in the back that we couldn't make out his appearance, overturned cars with a forked scoop on his back. Sparks flew into the air with each landing, windshields shattering and wrecked frames in his wake. "Block them, block them, block them."
Optimus slowed down as the Con raged towards us, while Jazz, Ironhide, and Ratchet hurried to close the gap between the four of us and them. Lennox's team was just up ahead, speeding due to them knowing they wouldn't be able to handle what was about to happen. Frankly, neither can I. The disaster unfolding behind us, it was hard to make out. Other vehicles, populated with humans, were speeding as fast as they could or pulling off to the side of the road, trying to get out of the way and not become one of the victims. All that was clear was the sparks flying, metal screeching, and the feeling of eyes on us, honed in on Bee and what he was carrying.
While still in motion, Optimus transformed, feet breaking the pavement as he turned around to face the incoming Decepticon. A car beside him swerved rapidly to the side, barely missing sideswiping his leg. "Oh, my god," Mikaela whispered. We all were watching it, not even focused on Mission City anymore. The Con, with a loud roar, skated through a bus, his body and the vehicle set ablaze upon impact. The two halves rolled on its two axles before toppling over, its body nothing more than a blackened metal husk.
You know the thing about how in a disaster or terrible news updates on TV, and while you don't want to listen and view it, you do so anyway? That was exactly what this was. None of us could look away. We were too far away to see any people, same as when the cars were flipped with the fork on its back, but without a doubt, no one could've survived that impact. Or at the very least, get away without severe injuries.
The Con threw itself at Prime, and hurled him and himself off the freeway to a road below. Gripping the Cube, nails digging into the etchings through my hoodie, I hurried to look away. "B-Bee, is he-?"
"Be still... strong than you think." I got the meaning, regardless of how butchered the words were. Optimus... he wouldn't go down so easily. Still... I hoped he would catch up soon.
Buildings surrounded us after a few more minutes, finally off of the series of ramps that made up the highway. The cop car had either lost us, or abandoned the chase altogether. Or... waiting for backup, but I'm going to hope it's a different option. Streets were not as packed as they could have been, an odd thing for a weekend. Perhaps because it was in the morning, and people still were not out and about yet. "They're stopping." At Sam's words, Bee crawled to a halt behind one of the black cars, the rest of the Bots a few spaces behind us.
"Come on, let's go! Mount up!" Lennox's shouts were clear on the other side of the window as we stared out the window. The city's populace stared at us in confusion, watching several of the men file out behind Lennox while he took off towards a pawn shop. Barely a minute inside, he sprinted back, tossing the radios to whoever was outside their vehicles and to Epps in the driver's seat of the car next to us.
"Here, I got shortwave radios." Epps stared at the device, giving a confused frown. The few people that were the closest to Bee had their phones out, but frowned as they shuffled through their screens. Communications is out globally, right? That's what I think I heard. I had no idea the aftermath that would bring, taking out every electronic that connected through a network or otherwise. It's gonna be a mess, that's for sure.
"Wait. Wh-what am I supposed to do with these?" He asked, looking from them back to his leader.
"Well, use them! It's all we got! Everyone back in, we still need to put distance between us and the dam!" Lennox circled around, jumping back in beside Epps.
"Few more blocks it is then." The convoy took off, and I glanced back at Sam. "No matter how far we drive, they're going to catch up to us. He knows that, right?"
"Do you think they'll evacuate the city?" He asked, looking around at the prying eyes of the people. There was too much attention, too many civilians.
"There's no time," Mikaela said, answering before I could speak. "How would they get the word out?" With no communications, it's impossible. The cars ahead screeched to a halt in the middle of the street, and we climbed out to join Epps and Lennox at the front. The Cube, knowing it was safer with Bee than myself, remained buckled in the front seat. Up in the sky, a lone fighter jet flew around, and Lennox glanced to Epps.
"Air Force has arrived!" He ordered. "Pop smoke!"
"Raptor, Raptor, do you copy? We have you visual." Two canisters were dropped on either side of the street, and civilians took off running as thick green smoke began to rise into the air, accompanied by a low hissing noise. "Green smoke is the mark. Provide air cover and vector Black Hawks for extraction." The plane flew low, twisting around the skyscrapers with an ease that wasn't human. Wasn't... human...!
"It's Starscream!" Ironhide's sudden transformation took everyone by surprise, and the blood drained from our faces. Immediately, terrified screams ripped through the air, though it was due to the alien's sudden reveal rather than the name being shouted in alarm.
"Please tell me you copy," Epps whispered, his words more begging than an order. Through the haze the smoke had created, Ratchet and Bumblebee hurried to transform as well. People ran, screeching and leaving behind their shopping bags and cars.
"Back up! Take cover! Bumblebee!" The weapons specialist grabbed Bee by the shoulder, dragging him towards a toy delivery truck. Grabbing its trailer, they struggled to tilt it up off of its axles, taking several seconds to get a solid grip in it.
"No, no, no! Move!" Through Lennox's fearful shouts, the two teens and I darted from the scene. My legs were tired, my head still slightly pounding from before, but adrenaline said otherwise. Between the soldiers evacuating their armored cars, and Hide's warnings, it was hard to think. Get out, that was all I could get through my head. Get out, get away, move fast. A hissing, growing into a shriek. Two of them, the sound echoing through the air. Too la-!
It went black, and then it went white. Or maybe it was the other way around. We were sent flying forward, tossed through the air as the earth exploded feet behind us like rag dolls. Chunks of cement were ripped from the foundation, crashing into neighboring buildings. Somersaulting, barely glimpsing Bumblebee flying against a window display near us, and I impacted the ground hard.
That was when the light began to act different. That was when the pain began, slowly, and then increasing with every ragged breath. "Oh, hell. Blake! Black, can you hear me!" Sam's voice was muffled, and... loud, too. My face scrunched up, and a low hiss slipped through clenched teeth.
"S... Sam?" My eyes opened, and I had to force myself not to yell. Pain. Lots of it, on the left side of my head. Trembling hands reached up to my face, and I brought fingers back to see red. Red. I'm bleeding. "What... what is...?"
"L-Lennox!" Sam shouted, bringing his head up and screaming the soldier's name. "Lennox!" Sam, what's going on? The left side of my head stung, with half of my vision a blurred mess-no. No, it... it wasn't blurred. I could see, but... it was foggy, and as I tried to look between them, I hissed sharply, sucking in the dusty air through my teeth. "Help!"
Lennox and Epps rushed over towards us, and I heard the higher ranking man curse when he got close enough. He dropped to the ground next to the teen, and frantically began rooting through his uniform's pockets. "Blake? Blake, can you hear me?" I nodded, a slow motion. "Okay. I-I need you to remain calm and hold still for a second, alright? Sam, go check on the others."
Sam opened his mouth to protest, but Mikaela put an arm on his shoulder, shaking her head. Bee... he had been right next to the blast. They needed to make sure he was fine too, same with the other Autobots. "Okay." Giving me one last anxious look, he took off towards where we had seen Bumblebee go flying, while Lennox undid the bandage around my forehead, and took out two thick pieces of gauze from a small first-aid kit. All the while, as I stared up at him, Epps surveyed the damage.
"What the hell was that?" Lennox grumbled, placing the gauze over my eye, making sure it covered the entire area. Did I hurt my eye? Or did I suffer enough damage around that side of my head to have the blood blind me? Was my ear fine? Because everything still sounded off. Dang it, Lennox! Answers, please!
"What are you talking about?" Epps didn't look down at him. Soldiers ran about, checking each other for injuries from the blast and any civilians who were in the premises.
"What do you mean, what am I talking about? They shot at us!" Lennox shouted, temper spiking.
"Didn't you... hear Hide?" They looked at me, hearing my slow but clear words. "Starscream... Decepticon. Same as Megatron."
"Perfect." The long bandage from around my head was tied back on, securing the bandage in place. The other gauze was near the side of my head, just above where my ear was. Stitches; those were a definite in the near future. Lots, and lots of stitches. Ugh. "It's not perfect, but it'll have to do until we get this over with." Lennox held out his hand, and as gently as he could, pulled me to my feet.
"Ratchet!" Spinning around at Sam's desperate shout, and heart dropping at how similar it was to him calling for Lennox, I scrambled to where him and Mikaela had gone. "You got to get up. You're okay. You're okay."
"Sam, what is i-Bee!" The yellow and black Bot was crawling towards Sam, his legs severed at the knees and trapped under the wreckage a car behind him. "Bee!" His optics, flickering from dim to bright, widened as I dashed in front of Sam. A low electronic groan came from his mouth piece, lowering his head. "Bee, I'm-!" No, I wasn't fine. I had no idea what the damage was done to my head, whether my eye or my ear were fine and intact, and not decimated by shrapnel. Accompanying that with the blood coating my face, I was anywhere near the definition of fine. But Bee... he was even further than that.
Sam's breathing hitched, barely holding back a sob, when the sound of a discharge ripped through the air. A tank!? At the far end of the street, its muzzle pointed in our direction, and fired upon the soldiers. Its blast struck the broken road in front of them, using it as a shield to avoid the flying debris. Cars abandoned in the road were crushed as it rolled forward, roofs caving in under the weight and windshields exploding outwards in a spray of glass.
"Move out! Let's go!" It was chaos. Lennox's command and wild shouting to try and get them all to act in some controlled manner, amidst the Autobots scrambling to regain their own composure. Sam stumbled backwards, dropping onto a large piece of the torn-up road as he stared at Bee, still inching his way forward.
"Blake, this way." The collar of my hoodie was yanked to the right, and Mikaela dragged me off down the street, in the direction of the screaming populace. Turning into a parking spot between buildings, Mikaela reached down to grab a hammer and smash it into a tow truck's window. Being mindful of the broken glass, she opened the door from the inside, and leaned down under the dashboard. "Come on. Come on." Climbing over the front seat and settling in the passenger side, the truck hummed to life under her fingertips. Springing back up, she closed the door and hit the gas, wheeling us out of the lot and down the road. "What is it?" There was more shouting this time, and several of Lennox's men were jumping into the black cars, taking off in the opposite direction.
"I don't... oh no." Screeching to a stop by Sam's location, I all but hurled myself out of the door and took off running. Panicking was one thing, but watching Ironhide's and Ratchet's suddenly vanishing from view down a side street and-where was Jazz!?
Abandoning the others, I tore through the streets, ignoring the confused and panicked cry from Sam. Bullets, human and Cybertronian sized, whizzed past and overhead. Growling from the few Decepticons warned me to change direction, ducking through a small but long gap between buildings and taking the rifle off of my back. "Where the hell are they?" I hissed, popping in a magazine and cocking the weapon. The only reason why everyone might have split up could've been the arrival of one Decepticon warlord. Even with my mind-wipe, I knew that would still be a given.
So then where could they-? "That all you got, Megatron?"
I stiffened, hearing the silver Bot's familiar voice echo down the brick walls. Jazz... Megatron. "Oh, crap." Hugging the rifle close, I once again ran around the alley, popping out on the other side and looked up. High above my head was Jazz and Megatron-there was no mistaking the rusted and sharpened pieces of metal and dark red optics, the image of his frozen form in Sector Seven was hard to forget-firing at each over.
The wall beside me exploded, sending shattered pieces of brick crumbling to the ground. A misfire, or an incorrect aim from the Con. A startled yelp as I jumped out of the way, I refocused on the brawl overhead. "Come here, little cretin." No. No, no, no! Where were the other Autobots!? Didn't they know that one of their team was missing!? Where's Optimus!?
"You want a piece of me? You want a piece!?" The cool metallic feel of the gun still tightly held in my hands, I inched back towards the alleyway and held the muzzle skywards.
"I can't believe I'm doing this." It was stupid. Idiotic. Sure, the bullets were effective against their metal, but what could would that do for someone who wasn't that familiar with guns, on top of the target being the one directing the assault against human-kind? As for the plan itself, I had to hit his face. If I steadied my aim well enough, perhaps close to the optics, there was a chance to get Jazz out of his claws.
If I screwed it up, Jazz was going to die... no beating around the bush, that was what would happen if I aimed wrong. There was also the addition that Megatron could spot me before or after I fired, and... well, bottom line, there was several options of how this could play out. Not helping with the use of one eye either. "No!" A pained shout, and the shrieking of metal echoed high above my head, and I hurried to aim the rifle, keeping it as steady as one could with nerves running rampant. "I want two!" Time's up!
I gripped the gun, took a split second to look through the sight, and pulled the trigger.
Rifles were... weird. They were not heavy, but the momentum from firing was enough to almost knock me off my feet. Shoulder hitting the wall next to me, the sound of the bullets made my ears ring, and it took a moment to register the sound of loud annoyed growling. Got 'em. The sound of crashing metal, and the whistle of a missile motivated me to hurl myself out of the way, further into the enclosed space. The alleyway exploded, walls crashing down around the enclosed space. "Aah!"
The eruption of jet engines met my ears, and all that remained was the explosions in the streets behind. Was Megatron gone? It sounded like he was gone. I'd like that. It took a moment to regain my bearings, and once I was certain that the warlord had left, I slung the rifle back over my shoulder and climbed over the rubble. No other Con was around, and the street was filled with people evacuating from the buildings around me, running as fast as they could away from the blasts and screaming on the street on the other side of the alleyway. Jazz was crumbled against the side of a storefront, a hand clutching a wound on his side. Bright blue sparks flew from the injury, green liquid seeping down the silvery metal. Oh, please tell me I aimed well enough.
"Jazz. Jazz, are you okay?" Bumblebee had his legs blown off. That could be repaired. Could Ratchet repair that? Was it too severe? "Jazz?"
"Heh... ugh." He groaned, and the faint appearance of blue flickered behind his visor. "Nice aim you got there, human."
"Please tell me I hit him and not you." I didn't see any bullet wounds, but compared to their weaponry, my attack might not have been noticeable unless they really looked for it. His visor wasn't cracked though, so at least I didn't hit him in the face by accident. Thank goodness.
"Well... you fired four rounds. Not sure if ya got him in the optics or not, but it did the trick." Jazz chuckled again, until he gave a grimace. "Looks like I'm out of the fight. Can't really go takin' down Cons with this, can I?"
"You're sure that you're not gonna...?" Bleed out? It wasn't blood, so I didn't think that was the right term. Jazz laughed again, and with the hand not currently holding his wound, lightly bumped my shoulder. A friendly gesture, which was clearly an attempt to try and calm me down.
"Don't be stressin' about me. You just go and get the Allspark out of here. Or... you could stay hidden." He must have meant my own bloodied state. He was concerned. Have you seen yourself, Jazz?
"I'll be fine. Hearing and sight isn't up to par, but Sam's going to need help." I stepped back, and quickly glanced around the street. It wasn't a large one, and from the sounds of the explosions, nothing would be coming in Jazz's direction for a while. At the very least, not for a while. He wasn't going to be up and about for a while, but he still had his guns. He'll be fine. Now get going and make sure Sam's in one piece. "Good luck."
Another explosion ripped through the air, and sparing the Bot one last look, I took off in its direction. Smoke pillowed around the businesses and apartments, their structures collapsing from the brawling along the other streets. It hurt, my head hurt, and I was amazed I hadn't passed out yet. For, what, the third time since coming here. Though, only one of them was due to injuries. Other being from shock. Head hurt, lungs hurt, legs were aching. But... I saved Jazz. Did-was that something that was supposed to happen, in the film? Jazz's death?
"Ugh, forget it!" It doesn't matter if it was or not! It didn't matter. I had a hunch, and I acted on it. Megatron was about to tear him apart, leaving his severed remains for one of his teammates to find, and I stopped it. Not very well, but it worked. It doesn't matter. Priorities... Sam, Mikaela, and Bee and the Cube were the priorities. Hang in there, guys. We could do this. We would get out of this. Just hang in there a little longer.
I could have put the entire Mission City fight into one chapter, but that didn't seem right. So, in the end, I'm going to stretch it over two. Hopefully, it won't take long to get that out again. Hopefully I did a good job at sparing Jazz in the process.
Until next time!
Angel