More than meets the eye (2/9/2007)

Author's notes:

Well here it goes the first big battle. Also this episode is really more of a Transformer episode rather than a Ranma episode so to those who have never watched Transformers in their lives, I'm sorry. All of my characters, Autobot and Decepticon can be found on wikipedia, so if you need to, just search for their names and you can see their Generation 1 looks. Use your imagination to translate the G1 looks as though it was a live action movie then. However, if those Transformers did appear in the latest movie, use the movie version instead.

To further help you out:

Starscream same as the movie

Blastoff Resembles Astrotrain from G1

Blitzwing resembles Blitzwing from G1 except using different jet known as the SUKHOI PAK FA (supposedly Russian counterpart to F 22 Raptor/F 35 Lightning)

Onslaught use G1 version

Swindle Looks like Bonecrusher in movie but his vehicle mode is a Chinese Infantry Fighting Vehicle WZ551. Again, wikify it.

Soundwave Head would look like original Soundwave but body resembles Bonecrusher as well.

Barricade same as the movie

Brawl Devastator the Tank in the movie.

Vortex Blackout the helicopter in the movie.

All the Autobots except Hound and Prowl are the same as their 2007 movie counterparts. Prowl looks like a bigger version of Jazz and probably better resembles a nice looking Barricade. For Hound, imagine his G1 looks for robot mode but his Hummer mode is actually a normal version of that used by Ratchet in the movie, which is a Hummer converted for Search and Rescue.

Chapter 15: Rise of Megatron Part 1

Eventually Optimus caught up with the other two and fell into a comfortable silence as they trekked back to the Amazon city. For the moment, Kasumi felt happy for bringing peace to the old Autobot's heart or whatever served as its heart. Eventually they reached a road that was wide enough for the two Autobots to transform into their vehicle modes.

As Optimus transformed, she looked curiously at his truck form. "Is driving a truck very different from driving a car?" she asked.

Bumblebee nodded. "Very different. You would need a separate license for it. Also since you've only driven sports cars, it will seem very sluggish and heavy to you."

Optimus actually snorted. "Heavy and sluggish indeed, I can still outrun you," he boasted. He then proceeded to put on a tremendous burst of speed that resulted in a lot of dirt being thrown back at Bumblebee.

The yellow Autobot became furious and said, "Just you wait Optimus, I still haven't gotten you back for my humiliation!"

Kasumi sighed. 'Do all males have to be so egoistical,' she wondered.

The Autobot started running towards the city. He looked at Kasumi and grinned. "If you gotta ride Kasumi, ride in style!" he cried as he suddenly threw Kasumi in the air and transformed. Kasumi managed to drop into the driver's seat right as Bumblebee finished his transformation and the roof covered the car. The now Toyota Cellica proceeded to zoom down the road and eventually caught up with Optimus' huge carrier form. To Bumblebee's annoyance, Optimus' huge size was wide enough to cover three quarters of the dirt road.

"Oh no," Kasumi groaned as she guessed what Bumblebee was going to do and held on to her safety belt for dear life. True enough, the yellow Toyota Cellica's entire left side lifted off the ground and proceeded to speed past Optimus' right side. Once he was in front of Optimus, he made a great show of blowing a lot of black fumes at the Peterbilt Carrier's long nose and sped down the road.

"Ha ha, you're two thousand years too old to catch up with me old man," Bumblebee gleefully shouted.

POOOOOOOOOOOOOMM! POOOOOOOOOOOOMM! Kasumi had to cover her ears as the loud horns of Optimus' truck form blared and the next thing they knew was Optimus catching up with them very quickly even at Bumblebee's speed of one hundred and eighty kilometres an hour. The yellow Toyota put on more speed but the huge truck kept gaining on them. Just as Kasumi felt that the truck would kiss Bumblebee's butt, the yellow Toyota once again rode on its two right wheels and allowed Optimus to pass. Both stared in disbelief as Optimus transformed whilst still at a speed of two hundred and eighty kilometres an hour, somersaulted for a few hundred metres before skidding to a stop right at the entrance of the Amazon city, almost like a roller bladder stopping himself after a long stunt. He even dramatically raised both arms to the air at the applause of several observing Chinese Amazons then placed his hands on his hips as the Toyota Cellica gradually slowed to a stop in front of him.

"Who's an old man now, boy?" as if Optimus hadn't showed enough emotions as a robot to baffle Kasumi, he was now smirking at Bumblebee.

Bumblebee's door opened and Kasumi quickly exited before Bumblebee transformed. The yellow Autobot glared angrily at Optimus before his eyes softened. "It's about time you relaxed Optimus. I haven't seen you this happy for time out of mind," he said quietly.

Optimus' smile faltered. "I still hardly think this is the time to try make me happy instead of worrying about the Decepticons."

"On the contrary Optimus, it is the perfect time to do so while we still can. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. As some humans say, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!" Bumblebee said.

The Autobot leader rolled his eyes and looked at Kasumi. "Humans can be a very morbid race indeed."

"Only if we get turned down for dinner," Kasumi replied.

"Well we can't very well have that can't we?" Optimus smiled and led them into the city.

Kasumi then looked up to the heavens. To her delight, she saw something moving in it.

"Look Optimus! A shooting star!"

Optimus looked up and then his smile faltered. "That's not a shooting star, that's… that's…."

"LOOK OUT, DECEPTICONS!" all heard the sound of Hound scream as the 'shooting star' landed on the Amazon city near where Optimus, Bumblebee and Kasumi were. Chaos ensued as several buildings exploded and the Amazons city suddenly became a beehive of activity. Bumblebee had quickly grabbed Kasumi in his arms and shielded her body as Optimus used his large bulk to do the same to Bumblebee. As the smoke cleared, Hound appeared in front of them.

"Optimus, that was rocket artillery. I'm detecting four flying craft, an American F22, a Russian fighter of unknown design, a Space Shuttle and a Pavelow helicopter. ETA, one minute!" Hound cried.

"Take your concealed position Hound and shoot them down. Do not let them detect you. Remember to coordinate the Amazon defence. You know the Decepticon capabilities better and will be of better help to them there," Optimus ordered. He then clicked a button on his ear and began to talk with all the other Autobots.

"Ironhide, Jazz, Ratchet and Prowl. Team up in pairs and lead the Amazons in fighting the Decepticons. Bumblebee and I will take Kasumi back to the castle. Tell Cologne that whatever secret weapons she has, now is the time to use it. At all cost, the castle must be secure. The Decepticons must not gain access to the pool," Optimus took a deep breath. "This is it Autobots. This is where we stand. This is where we fight. THIS IS WHERE WE MUST WIN! AUTOBOTS, PROTECT THE HUMANS!" Prime shouted his command.

"YES SIR!" all the Autobots responded and from the castle, Jazz, Ironhide, Ratchet and Prowl transformed and took up guard positions to defend the castle.

Bumblebee transformed and Optimus quickly beckoned Kasumi to enter it. "Let's go and get you to safety Kasumi," he said as he too transformed. Truck and sportscar than proceeded to race to the Amazon castle.

To give credit to the Amazons, they orderly secured their city by retracting all of the drawbridges and closing all the gates into the city. From several points in the city, Surface to Air Missile launchers were unconcealed. Amazon warriors grouped in squads of twelve were dispatched throughout the city, all equipped with high explosive weaponry and were also armed to the teeth with their traditional hand weapons. They even had a few trucks, which had Anti Aircraft ("AA") guns on them and these were now driven toward the city walls. From the city walls, Amazons manned AA guns and looked to the dense forests for the next attack.

Another rocket fell from the sky and it cleanly blew a hole through one of the walls. The Amazons rushed to the hole but were overwhelmed as out of the dense forests, a WZ551 Infantry Fighting Vehicle ("IFV") catapulted itself over the moat at high speed and into the breach, firing its machine guns at the same time. Several Amazons were ripped to pieces by the high calibre guns while others vainly shot their RPGs without getting a good hit before they too were killed.

From the walls above, more Amazons tried to fire RPGs at the APC but a Pavelow helicopter that was carrying a huge battle tank into the breach suddenly assailed them. The tank's own anti-personnel weaponry fired at the Amazons at the wall, scattering them and then widened the breach with a huge blast from its main battle cannon. The helicopter then dropped the tank into the city where it proceeded to plough through the buildings while the helicopter and APC kept the Amazons off its back. When the way was clear, a Nissan GTR police car also catapulted itself into the Amazon city.

Prowl and Jazz watched the slaughter at the breach. Grimly they transformed and a Mazda and Nissan GTR were racing to stop the slaughter.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

More rocket artillery pounded the city, almost as though the shooter knew where Bumblebee and Optimus were.

"Don't stop for anything, keep going Bumblebee!" Optimus shouted.

A shadow started to block the full moon's light that had been shining on them and prompted Kasumi to look back. She cried in horror, "OPTIMUS, WATCH OUT!"

Flying low and fast approaching the two vehicles, was an American Space Shuttle. A terrible screeching sound was heard as the huge craft transformed into a white behemoth of a Decepticon. The evil Decepticon symbol was emblazoned at its chest and the Decepticon was easily bigger than Optimus. It's two triangular wings detached and joined together to form the head of a double edged axe. A handle shout out of it and it became a labrys that the Decepticon gripped and dove at Optimus.

On the ground, Optimus also transformed and like before, somersaulted and skidded a few hundred metres before turning to meet the Decepticon's aerial drop. Barely having time to do so, he closed his mouth with his faceplate and then brought together both hands to stop the axe edge from chopping him. Quick as lightning, he fell on his back and used both legs to push the Decepticon back. The last image Kasumi saw of Prime was his right hand forming the white energy blade as the other white Decepticon, which was even bigger than Megatron, towered over Optimus with a huge battle axe.

"Bumblebee, we've got to help Optimus!" she cried looking back at the rapidly shrinking image of Optimus and the Decepticon.

"No, Optimus ordered us to secure the castle and get you to safety. Don't worry Kasumi, he is the best of us and it'll take more than a Decepti-crap like Blast Off to take Optimus down," Bumblebee said as he sped towards the rapidly nearing castle. All of a sudden, he braked and Kasumi was only saved from cracking her skull on the dashboard via her seatbelt. She looked in front of her and sucked in the breath through her teeth.

There were dozens of Amazons in front of the castle, all beautiful women in intricate golden armour which contrasted with the rocket launchers, assault rifles and belts filled with grenades they wore on them. Before her eyes, she saw the castle actually transform, as windows and hanging pavilions disappeared to be replaced by gun emplacements and concrete bunkers. What used to look like a small version of the Forbidden City of China was now a veritable fortress. Indeed, the entire mountain behind the castle seemed to be filled with guns now.

Kasumi quickly exited and Bumblebee transformed and was met by Ratchet, Ironhide and Cologne. The Amazon Elder still looked the same save for a phoenix coronet on her head where two long peacock feathers stuck out. Cologne's face had not looked so serious since the time Ranma went Neko-ken on her.

"Onee-chan!" Akane and Ranma ran to Kasumi and both sisters embraced each other. "Thank God you're safe, I thought those things might have caught you outside. Where's Optimus?"

Kasumi indicated at the two gigantic figures currently tearing up part of the Amazon city in their fighting.

"Kasumi, you and Akane will retreat inside the fortress. Ranma, I leave their protection to you and a detachment of my personal guard, the Phoenix Corps to guard the both of you. They will take you to the guard room before the entrance to Megatron's cave along with your family belongings. We have to drive the Decepticons out of the city otherwise we can't use our big guns on them," Cologne said.

"But Elder, I want to help bust some of those Decepti-somethings! You can't ask me to back out of a fight!" Ranma said angrily.

Cologne scowled. "This is not a brawl Saotome Ranma, this is war. And in a war, people die. Or should I say living beings die. I know you are strong Ranma but I would rather not have you spill blood yet. Nor see the broken bodies of our Amazon warriors. Your chi abilities are not advanced yet to help counter the Decepticons, it is better if you stay behind and protect both Akane and Kasumi."

"Enough of this bickering. Cologne, I assume Hound has transmitted to you the number of Decepticons as well as their vehicle aspects. What is your plan first?" Bumblebee asked.

"We don't have enough heavy weapons to damage them on foot, the best way we can take them is with our chi powers, but you will have to soften up their armour otherwise we'll be cracking wood on metal. These are three divisions of the Phoenix Corps, our finest warriors, all trained in the arts of chi manipulation and enhancement. Each will follow one of you to tackle one Decepticon at a time. I will lead a small group to take out the rocket artillery outside."

Ironhide stamped his feet and swung his oversized hand cannons. "At long last, it's time to CRUSH DECEPTICONS!" he bellowed. "Onwards, to Optimus!" and with that, the grizzled Autobot started running towards Optimus facing off with Blast Off.

Suddenly, the sky exploded with missiles and AA guns as the Amazon gunners tried to shoot down the elusive two fighter jets that were now bombarding the city with a seemingly unlimited supply of missiles. However, the Amazons appeared to be shooting blindly as none of their weapons could seem to see let alone lock on to the fighter jets. Their stealth designs seemed to render them invisible to radar and moreover, even harder to see through the naked eye. The two fighter jets almost lazily weaved in and out of the numerous Amazon trails of fire, before shooting down the anti-aircraft defenses one by one.

"Amazons to me! We must bring down those two flying Decepticons!" Ratchet said and his hand promptly changed into a gun, which appeared to be an enormous Gatling cannon. He too led his contingent away from castle and promptly started firing at one of the jets. From another part of the city, a furious barrage of missiles and a blue beam of light fire from Ironhide stabbed into the night, trying to find its target in the moon light filled sky.

"Elder, I wish to stay with Kasumi. We don't know how many more Decepticons there are out there. Even we Autobots can't tell Decepticons in their disguised forms until they choose to reveal themselves," Bumblebee said, concerned.

"Don't worry, I have left another division of the Phoenix Guard in the building. Once inside, they will seal the doors and the fortress will be impregnable from the outside. At least nothing can get through without warranting your attention, in which case you can always turn back. I need you to help evacuate the civilians to the mountain shelters and create a buffer zone around the castle. They can survive years in those caves as well as seal themselves completely from outside attacks until they deem it safe to come out. That way you Autobots can focus on fighting the Decepticons without worrying about stepping on any of us."

"Nobody can get inside the fortress once it is sealed from the inside. Now go, I must do something about the rocket artillery outside the walls," Cologne said worriedly as yet another rocket pounded into the city.

Bumblebee took a small device from a compartment at his hip that resembled a walkie-talkie. "Here Elder, take this and communicate with Hound. He will be able to guide you to those rockets. Now go and may the Matrix go with you," he said as he passed it to Cologne.

The Amazon elder took the small communication device and said, "May the spirit of our Amazon ancestors protect you, warrior from the stars." She then hopped off, followed by two dozen warriors.

Bumblebee transformed his right arm into a cannon and from both his shoulders, two small pods which appeared to be missile launchers formed. "Listen up Amazons, we're going to be the rally point of all retreating Amazon warriors. We will draw the line here and stop the Decepticons. Nobody gets in from this point on," Bumblebee commanded. "Set yourselves in those buildings to ambush the first Decepticon that comes into range. I will distract it while the rest of you open fire. Concentrate your fire on the chest, not the head. Now go go go."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A horrible laughing sound emanated from the WZ551 Infantry Fighting Vehicle and the Chinese Battle Tank as they shrugged off the RPG fire the Amazons tried to shoot at them. Everytime someone shot a round at them, either the IFV or tank would trace where it came from and kill the poor Amazon. If the shot came from a building, the tank would use it's main cannon to level the foundation and bring the building crashing down. And then it would roll over the rubble several times if it saw that there might be Amazon survivors. This is what it was doing now, silencing the screams of trapped Amazons with its mighty tracks.

"Slaughter! Blood! Carnage! Ah glorious violence, it's soooooo good to let loose!" the tank roared.

"Ahhh, there's nothing like the sound of crunching bone to make your day eh Brawl?" the IFV said as it trampled a fallen Amazon that hadn't quite died yet. "And no pesky Autobot to spoil it!"

"DIE DEMON SCUM!" screamed several Amazons as they sneaked up on the APC and jumped on it, each trying to hack the machine gun turrets off with axes and hammers.

"Don't these insects ever learn?" the APC moaned and then it transformed. The Amazons quickly got off but two clawed hands shot out and grabbed two of their number before they could flee to the relative safety of the buildings. The victims screamed as the Decepticon finished its transformation all the while continuing to apply pressure to the Amazon's bodies. The near skeletal head of the Decepticon grinned maliciously as he proceeded to crush the proud warriors in his hand to a fleshy pulp.

"Mother!" a younger Amazon warrior screamed and from atop a building, a spear was thrown at the APC Decepticon. To the Decepticon's shock, the spear was white hot and actually pierced the right hand wrist, making the Decepticon wail more childishly then one would expect of a mega-robot as he released the crushed bodies in his hands and covered his right wrist with his left hand.

"Arrrrrggghhh, my hand, my hand, my hand," the Decepticon wailed.

The Tank snorted. "Always the crybaby isn't you, Swindle? Didn't Soundwave already tell you not to underestimate the Amazons?"

Swindle painfully tore off the spear and even then, hastily threw it away while rubbing his fingers in the dirt. "Insolent females, they will be begging for death by the time I'm finished with them!" he screamed as the claws on his fingers elongated to a good five feet long each.

"Enough of this, we've wasted enough time as it is. This will take care of them," the tank then aimed its main cannon at the building where the rest of the Amazons that had attacked earlier retreated to. "Ce la vie…"

His shot never reached the building. In the blink of an eye, a silvery blur had leaped on top of the tank then with a sudden tug, pulled the main cannon aiming at the building and towards Swindle. The battle cannon roared and the shot went straight through Swindle's right arm. Where previously his pain came from a single small area on his wrist, now his entire right side was engulfed in a wave of pain, making Swindle cry almost like a human baby.

"Wow, great shot Brawl, I had no idea you cared so much for the ladies to shoot one of your own," Jazz smirked as a deep rumble started to emanate from inside the Tank.

"Auto-brat, I'm going to use your head as my lubricator container," Brawl snarled and the tank started to transform.

"You wanna dance Tank-brain? Gotta even the odds first," in a flash, Jazz pulled a sword from his small shield, which elongated to a ten foot sword with laser edgings, then used it to cut the tank's turret short as well as the machine gun emplacements on it. Then he quickly leaped out of the way as Brawl's transformation was completed and became a green behemoth with huge arms like a gorilla, one of which had a huge spiked ball attached to it. It tried to grab Jazz but the Autobot was too fast and leapt near the building where the Amazons were holed up.

"Get out of here now, I'll keep Green Giant here busy," he shouted as he used his left hand shield to deflect slug rounds that Brawl was shooting from his right hand, which had what appeared to be a wrist mounted double barrelled gun.

The Amazons remaining in the building remained there though. "Amazons no retreat from inferior males. Amazons fight to death!" the girl who had earlier thrown the spear shouted at Jazz.

"Face it Jazz, those females have bigger balls then your puny ones. But I'm going to make sure you have none left by the end of this day," Brawl snarled as he charged towards Jazz.

The silver Autobot sighed and quickly hid his sword and shield. "For once, I really don't have to for this damsel in distress rescuing," he groaned then he used both of his hands to quickly grab the four Amazons through the window of the building then leapt over Brawl's head just as the green Decepticon crashed into the building and brought it down on his head.

"What you doing! Let we go!" the Amazon shouted.

This irritated Jazz and he dropped them on the floor on their butts. He then put his face near the defiant Amazon's face. "Fine you underdeveloped A+ size cup, barely credible excuse for a woman, whatever you do, just make sure you aim for the middle of the chest, otherwise you're not going to bring any of the Decepticons down personally. Why don't you ladies try take down that crybaby over there?" he indicated at the still howling Swindle. "Take out his eyes then he won't be able to shoot you. After that, go for the chest!"

Out of the building rubble, Brawl dug his way out. From his left shoulder, a huge rocket launcher appeared and two missiles promptly shot out towards Jazz.

"Look out, we still got a live one," Jazz shouted and then he and the other four Amazons promptly jumped out of the way.

Bellowing like a bull, Brawl's feet, which formed part of his tank mode tracks, wheeled forward by themselves and he advanced upon Jazz again with his mace held up high. Jazz smiled and from his shield gun, a steady stream of liquid nitrogen shot out of the four barrels at Brawl's feet. This had the double effect of making even Brawl cry out in pain as well as stopping the Decepticon in its tracks altogether. Jazz then dashed forward and thrust his sword towards Brawl's chest.

"DIE AUTOBOT, DIE!" a terrible scream was heard and the next thing Jazz saw was Swindle throwing his body towards him. The two robots clashed in mid air but Swindle's momentum, being the heavier of the two, pushed Jazz to the right just as his sword was about to pierce Brawl. To prevent Swindle from landing atop of him, he quickly pushed Swindle away and landed on his two feet, facing off against the Decepticon.

"Puny Autobot, you think you can match the might of the Decepticons!" he screamed as he tried to grab Jazz's head with his remaining left claw hand. He wasn't succeeding though as Jazz was much smaller and agile. He kept avoiding the animal like swipes, all the while wearing a grin on his face that infuriated Swindle.

"Actually, that's exactly what I was thinking, Baby," Jazz taunted Swindle who was furious at his new nickname.

"Stop calling me that! I'm gonna pluck you like a chicken, toss you like a salad, smash you like a potato…"

"What are you trying to do here, a Kentucky Fried Chicken advertisement? I thought you wanted to smash me, but I guess it's all to be expected of a crybaby like you," Jazz said as he nonchalantly dodged the Decepticon.

"GAAGGGHH!" with a howl of fury, Swindle transformed his entire left hand into a huge long barrelled cannon as long as Hound's sniper rifle and aimed it at Jazz. "JOIN THE BITCHES IN EXTINCTION!" he shouted as a huge bullet shot out of the long barrel towards Jazz.

Jazz merely stepped aside and allowed the bullet to decimate an abandoned building. He sighed.

"You know, there's a reason Hound hides when he uses his super sniper gun. Mainly you are damn exposed while you are firing it," he said and before Swindle knew it, his left gun arm was gone and lying in four pieces on the ground. The Decepticon then really started crying and Jazz as a parting shot, did a roundhouse on his legs and sent the Decepticon tumbling into ground, thrashing about like a baby.

"Amazons, he's all yours!" Jazz shouted. Swindle looked to his left and fear engulfed him as he saw the four Amazons, this time wielding chi-enhanced weaponry and a face full of attitude.

"Noooooooo!" he screamed as Jazz leapt away and the four Amazons advanced.

Jazz saw that Brawl had managed to unfreeze himself and was now stomping towards him. "You were always a fast little bugger weren't you? Too bad it means all I need is just one good hit," the tank Decepticon said in what appeared to be a respectful tone.

"You know my answer don't ya? Gotta catch me first," he replied as he dropped to a guard position with his sword and shield, ready to move.

"True, so let me ask you one question to psychologically unhinge you. Where's your pal Prowl?" Brawl asked.

A twinge of horror and realisation crossed Jazz's mind and at that exact moment, Prowl's scream could be heard. The distraction was enough for Brawl to close in on Jazz and swing his left hand mace at him, who barely had time to lift up his shield futilely at the mace, which was three times bigger than his shield.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Five minutes ago…..

"Jazz, you go ahead and attack from the front, I'll go around to outflank Brawl and Swindle," Prowl commanded.

"Roger that, see ya on the flip side," Jazz responded before the two vehicles veered off in different directions. Thanks to Hound's earlier scouting, both Autobots were already familiar with the city's street system and knew exactly where to go to battle the two Decepticons. As Jazz was the better and faster melee fighter, he would attack head on while Prowl would attack from the back with his ranged weaponry which consisted of a pair of Plasma pistols which fired superheated gas capable of melting even Cybertronian armour.

All of a sudden, another vehicle appeared heading straight for him and it was almost a mirror image of his own vehicle mode. Prowl's eyes narrowed metamorphically speaking as he viewed his worst enemy appear. 'So you want to play chicken, Barricade? Bring it on!'he thought grimly as he accelerated to meet the other police car head on.

His spark froze as only a few metres before the two cars would have collided, he saw the terror stricken face of Kuonji Ukyo seating at the driver's seat bound in seatbelts. He swerved to the side at the last minute, barely missing the other police car but this resulted in him crashing straight into a building. His car mode knocked the foundation pillars of the building and promptly brought the entire building crashing down on him.

"Always knew you were a chicken, my little imitation," an evil voice that resembled Prowl's said from above the rubble. Prowl furiously dug his way out but the moment he reached the surface, the first thing he saw was a huge robot foot that slammed into his face with so much force, that Prowl's entire body was kicked out of the rubble and he landed flat on his back. The Decepticon appeared to be a near copy of Prowl except for his head, which was diamondhead and was nightmarish in appearance, with razor sharp teeth that jutted out of his mouth almost like the comic book villain Venom. Instead of hands that resembled a human's, his fingers were extremely long and clawlike. As the monstrous figure advanced towards him with what his right hand transforming into what appeared to be one of his tyres, which circumference was lined with spikes, Prowl's quickly drew his plasma pistol and aimed it at the Decepticon's chest….

…. only to find Ukyo strapped right in the middle of its chest where the life spark of all Decepticons and Autobots were located. He was horrified by the girl condition. Even in the moonlight, her face appeared pale as though it had not seen the sun for a few days. She was still wearing the same clothes when Prowl first saw her but it was crumpled and torn in many places. Her bare arms seemed to have bloody and bruised stripes on them, making them almost zebra-like. The girl's expression was nothing short of abject terror and was screaming hysterically.

Prowl hesitated and that moment was all the other Decepticon needed to swipe the plasma pistol out of Prowl's hand and smash the now rapidly turning spiked wheel at Prowl's chest, making him howl in pain as the twirling spikes cut a huge gash on his front armour.

"Awwww, did I hurt you? This will make it better," Barricade said in an almost motherly tone even as he smashed his left fist into the weakened armour of Prowl's chest, then proceeded to try and peel of the metal plating.

"Damn you, let the human go, she's not a part of this," Prowl cried as he struggled to throw Barricade off his chest.

Barricade grinned widely showing all of his teeth. "And let go off my favourite toy? She should be honoured that she has the prized seat to witness your total destruction. Aren't you excited my dear?" he said as he used a clawed finger and pressed it against Ukyo's breast.

"NOOOOOOOOO, RAN-CHAN WHERE ARE YOU! SAVE ME!" she cried.

"Ah such a sweet heartbeat, if I were Ravage, it would probably make an enticing snack later," Barricade sighed as he felt Ukyo's frantic heartbeat.

"YOU SICK BASTARD!" Prowl shouted as two cannons emerged from his shoulders at either side of his head and shot a stream of napalm fire at Barricade's head. Barricade screamed and backed away from Prowl to wipe his face of the liquid fire. From Prowl's two hands, three long vicious blades appeared from between his knuckles and he used those to sever the leather belts tying Ukyo then hurriedly took the hysterical girl with both hands and ran towards the Amazon castle.

"No, let me go, let me go! Get away from me monster!" Ukyo screamed and thrashed in Prowl's hands.

"I don't have time for this Ms. Ukyo. Listen to me, LISTEN!" he shouted as he stopped and actually shook Ukyo none too gently in his hands. This managed to frighten Ukyo into silence and she gazed fearfully at Prowl's grim face.

"I am a friend, not foe. I can't get you to safety now, I must take care of my enemy which is your enemy. You see that big castle there? Run to it and you will see a yellow Autobot called Bumblebee. He will protect you. Ranma, Kasumi and Akane are there and will take care of your wounds. Now can you run or walk?" Prowl asked sternly.

To give credit to the Okonomiyaki chef, she processed the Prowl's words relatively quickly and rationally. The fact that Kasumi and Akane were mentioned by him managed to bring some measure of comfort and familiarity between the two. She gulped and said, "I don't know if I can move very well, that… the other one….. he liked to strangle me…. squeeze me… I haven't moved in for so long…."

Prowl's eyes narrowed at the chef's description of her torture. "This is just great," he said before he lessened his grip. Barricade's screams of pain were still far off so he took the risk of sitting Ukyo on a bench outside an abandoned restaurant. He then radioed for Bumblebee.

"Bumblebee, we've got a Nerima citizen here. She can't walk and needs help to get back to safety. I can't do it myself, my evil twin is here and won't be distracted for long. Request for extraction over," he said.

"Roger that, be there in one minute. Need any help with Barricade," Bumblebee replied over his comlink.

Prowl smiled grimly. "No, this time, I'm going to make sure he is scrapped right before my eyes," he said.

"Prowl, don't…." Bumblebee started to say before Prowl disconnected the radio link.

He looked at Ukyo who had managed to move herself backed against a wall. His eyes softened. "Stay here Ms. Ukyo, my comrade is a yellow Toyota Cellica. He will come soon to pick you up."

Barricade's screams stopped and a howl of fury was now heard rapidly drawing close. They both felt Barricade's furious stomping as he ran towards Prowl. The Autobot veteran grimly unsheathed the three claws on both his hands and charged back towards Barricade, who wielded his twirling spiked wheel.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

In the wake of Jazz's and Prowl's battle, an M577 APC stealthily avoided battle and detection as most of the Amazons were retreating to the castle or engaging the tank, helicopter, IFV or space shuttle. A strange noise was heard from the interior as it sent a coded transmission.

"Ravage, breach Amazon castle defences. Operation, Megatron recovery."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Bingo!" Hound said elatedly as he managed to shoot down the unknown Russian Fighter. He didn't exactly get a clean shot to the body, only managing to shoot off its left wing but it was enough to force the jet to crash land into the Amazon city around the vicinity of Ratchet. 'That should even the odds for Ratchet,' Hound thought.

Unfortunately that was the extent of his luck so far as Starscream and Vortex became extremely wary of his attacks even as they continued their rampage of the Amazon city.

'Damn it, can't any of you hold still for one second?' Hound thought as he sent another shot from his Howitzer size rifle toward the helicopter, which was by far the slowest yet manage to evade his shots by a hair's breath. Everytime he shot a round, Hound had to move and conceal himself in another location so that Starscream wouldn't be able to predict where he was and retaliate. Thus far he avoided the attention of the Decepticon jets, which seemed more preoccupied with eliminating the steadily decreasing Amazon air defences.

'I've got to get at least Vortex down before I go for the jets. Without Vortex or Blast Off, the land based Decepticons can't get out of the valley,' he thought to himself as he stealthily moved to another location. Despite his huge size, Hound had long mastered the art of warfare in almost any environment; even in a jungle environment he could leave no tracks if he wanted to. He eased himself into his next position and took aim again.

"Autobot Hound, Autobot Hound, do you read me?" the voice of Cologne spoke into his comlink.

"Hello Cologne, a little busy here but is there anything I can do for you?" he asked as he tried to aim his sights on the helicopter again. He reigned in his anger as he saw the helicopter shooting at the Amazons with its anti-personnel weaponry.

"I'm leading a task force to neutralise the rocket artillery. It appears to be constantly on the move and is too far away to us to estimate its destination. Can you help lead us to it?" Cologne said.

"Finally, an Amazon task force! Alright Cologne, I can already pinpoint where Onslaught, that's the Decepticon that is firing on you, is located. You are right, like me he is constantly moving. I will send you his coordinates now and then update you on his location every five minutes so that you can move on the right track. I'm sorry I can't join you now but aside from me and Ironhide, the rest of us are quite naked to air attacks," Hound said.

"Understood, anything I should know about this Decepticon when I find him?" Cologne asked.

Hound grinned. "Nothing that you don't already know about my race. That guy is a coward though and almost never fights up close and personal. Even I can take him down in a fistfight. Just be careful of his strength. He has no special close range weaponry but is devastating in long range so whatever you do, just do it in his face and you'll be alright. Remember, aim for the middle of the chest. Their armour is weaker from underneath as well."

"Are you sure it is wise to tell me this? It'll mean I know your weaknesses too you know," he could see Cologne smirking on the other hand.

"Honesty is the best policy. It doesn't always mean good guys finish last. Maybe we do but at least it leaves us with a warm feeling in our sparks. That's how Kasumi befriended Bumblebee in the first place," he replied.

"Well said. Now what are the coordinates?"

Hound told her. Then he saw a stream of blue energy hit Vortex and the helicopter started to spin wildly in one place. A huge grin nearly split Hound's face in half. "One shot, one kill," he said grimly as he aimed his sights at Vortex and pulled the trigger.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jazz used his shield to push Brawl's mace aside rather than stop it head on as that would be suicidal. He slightly miscalculated though as part of the mace's full impact managed to slightly damage his shield arm. He tried quickly to cut of the mace arm but Brawl quickly drew back his arm and then with his right gun arm, tried to shoot Jazz again. The silver Autobot had to do backflips to dodge the shots as well as get a few parting shots of his own with his shield gun.

Huge gusts of wind blew into the ground as the Pavelow helicopter came into view. From the air, the helicopter transformed and landed on top of one of the buildings. The tail rotor became its left hand and close combat weapon but currently its right hand transformed into a large gun and was currently aimed at Jazz.

"Feel the power of my sonic cannon," the Decepticon known as Vortex shouted. From the arm cannon, a blue fireball emerged and headed straight for Jazz. He dodged out of the way but the fireball exploded upon impacting the ground, creating a shockwave that caught Jazz unawares and propelled him against a building. This dazed the silver Autobot but he managed to recover just in time to avoid Brawl's mace again as the tank Decepticon tried to smash the downed Autobot. He sensed Vortex about to shoot another sonic explosion and quickly slid beneath Brawl's enormous feet just as the sonic fireball was launched and it hit the area where Jazz was previously. The resulting shockwave didn't affect Brawl too much but it still irritated him.

"Go find your own Autobot to slag, air head!" Brawl growled at Vortex.

Vortex gleefully replied, "No can do, there ain't enough Autobots for all of us, it's a free for all sonny boy."

"You know what? I hate being ignored," a voice behind Vortex said. The helicopter Decepticon looked back in shock to find Jazz standing behind him with his shield gun aimed directly at him. He literally screeched and tried to escape by transforming into a helicopter. But Jazz didn't shoot him until his transformation was complete, only then did he shoot a stead stream of liquid nitrogen at Vortex's main and rear rotor blades. This had the effect of slowing down Vortex's movements and he sluggishly climbed into the air.

"You think that can take me down Auto-punk!" Vortex shouted.

Jazz's smile would have been no different from a cat that just ate the canary. "Wasn't really trying."

From behind Vortex, a small spark could be seen for a split second from the forests and then a huge shell slammed into Vortex's body and exploded, turning the helicopter to a flaming and screaming wreck as it veered out of control to crash on another part of the Amazon city.

"OH YEAH, WHOSE BAD? WHO'S NEVER BEEN HAD? HOUND, YOU THE MAN……" his cheer died in his voice processor as he saw the F 22 Raptor head straight towards where the shot was fired and from a hatch under its right wing, a missile was released and launched straight for the source of the shot.

"HOUND! NOOOOOOO!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hound barely had time to smile over his first kill of the day when his internal radar detected the F 22 Raptor just as it launched a missile at him barely one kilometre away. And he didn't see nor sense the missile until it was no less than two metres from his chest.

"Oh hell," the normally polite Autobot cursed as the missile impacted into the centre of his chest.

To be continued………………

Author's notes

Dun Dun Dun!!!!!!

Sorry guys, chapter was getting way too long so I'm going to split it in two.