Part 4: Disaster
That time, I shouted: "No!"
I close my eyes to not see it. I couldn't imagine what was going. My eyes were filled of tears and my heartbeats accelerated. I couldn't even look, but I did. I saw the girl in the ground, with no visible hurts, but she was there, lying immobile. I tried not thinking the worst, but there was no chance to be different. The robot…? He was still "on", still alive, trying to "wake" the girl unsuccessfully. There was nothing to do, unless cry.
"Roxanne? Roxie! No! Darling…"That wasn't happening! It couldn't be happening! My daughter was death and it was my fault. I felt like my life was over. There was no reason to live for me. I was trying to cry, but Cybertronians don't cry. It's not because we don't feel sad, it's actually for physiological reason. I wanted to be human only for crying during this moment.
"You're still working? Go to hell! Your battle is 'with me', let this death girl alone!"
"Shut up…" I whispered while finally standing, too late however.
"What? What did you said?"
"I said…" then I changed my voice to the louder and lowest, the worst I could do: "SHUT UP!"
There from upside I heard his voice saying "Shut up", but it wasn't actually his voice, not the same I heard when he was close to me. It was different; it was a bit "scarier". I was afraid, then I saw everybody around was ever more frightened than I was.
...
"Richard what's going…? It's like everything is 'shaking'"
"It's… like… we're having… earthquake here… Don't worry! It's… probably… not that bad…"
The signal was failing.
"Richard? Spencer? Can you hear me…?"
She lost the contact.
"Oh, no, not now…"
...
Now I had no choice. I couldn't avoid it. I tried to, but "he" was calling me. I know upgrade to my ultimate form is always the last thing I should think about doing, but I wasn't able to think or deny it. My sadness was being combined to my hate and anger, blending it all inside of me… I lost all control. But I knew I had nothing else to loose…
What followed was unexplainable and unbelievable at the same time. The robot looked took by fury and we saw in the screen his blue "glasses" changed into blood red. The gunman was afraid and ran away instantly. Then we scarily figure out some "soft" unarmored parts of his body looked to "blow" like a balloon.
My body was changing. I could feel it. Each atom in my chassis was moving, and I could know it due my Processor over Matter.
Then his "legs" and "arms" became suddenly longer and thicker, and none of us believed.
I could feel the pain from inside. It's was harmful, but in that moment, it was too late for me to stop and reverse it.
We saw his armor break, at the same time being "replaced" by a bigger even more "accurate" real samurai-like armor, still in the same formal black-and-gold color.
They couldn't see it, but my processor was also changing. My programming and my whole system were shifting completely. They were close to feel the drastic difference.
I saw his body becoming absurdly wider, and some parts of his chest exposed some "ringed" metallic bars which looked a "ribcage" from far. As well from his back, it was also appearing long sharp thorns like metallic structure that resembled "spine". We heard him moaning in pain. His yells and scream were becoming louder, but lower pitched and less like a human moan and more like a big animal growl.
I started to feel a big rage for all humans there. Further, I remember my programming well telling me to destroy all them.
We saw his head and his "helmet" was also shape-shifting in front of our eyes. They were both growing bigger, wider. His "teeth" were becoming longer and sharper. His face "bone markers" equivalents were terrifyingly exposing like an accelerated decomposition process that were petrifying me to look.
They had to pay what they did with my family…
And his "hands", that formally, in my opinion, looked so small and slanted comparing to his whole formal body, were becoming larger, wider and longer; and then his "fingers" were becoming sharper on its ends like giant claws.
They had to pay for the things they did with innocent creatures battling just before me.
He wasn't a "normal" robot-like creature anymore. It became a huge, hideous monstrous giant robot. His "face" now looked-like a creepy freaking grey metallic slanted skull with exposed "sharp" teeth. His armor was now bigger, covering almost his full body, except uncovered parts, which now looked more like metallic "bones". The sounds I heard seemed coming from him were now a mix of an engine noise and a growling sound.
That wasn't my self anymore. Not my regular self. There was a Decepticon self-named Bludgeon. Unlike my formal Autobot programming, meant to protect and defend all innocent life beings, my processor was completely re-programmed. I was meant to destroy everything without any distinction…
I can't say how big he became when the shifting finally finished. Do you remember when, in his formal shape, he tried to climb the edges of stands? Now he became so much taller them this. How much, I don't know, but enough to get someone from the edges not without needing to raise high his arms. In sum: he now looked like a grotesque giant undead black and gold Samurai warrior…
"What's that?" I heard people whispering "It's hideous" "This is the worst thing I have ever seen in my whole life…" "My goodness…" "Is it a monster?" "Is it a demon?" "Oh my…" And everybody there was commenting softly and whispering each others ears.
But without warning, he opened his terrible big mouth and we all listened to the worst, scariest fearful sound ever. It was like a loud, bestial thundering roar. Immediately, everybody became quiet, but about 3 seconds after, they screamed in horror through all the stands, then they all stood up and many people begun to run in panic. He approached slowly to the place me and Kevin were, but unlike many people, I was paralyzed once more… Suddenly, he was reached over is shoulder by an explosive blast. However, it seemed not causing him any damage, not even scratching him.
"Hey big guy, take this!" the gunman shot from far in the other side of the field. "Just because you're bigger now, do you think I gave up of you?"
He turned to see the gunman.
Did he think I didn't listen to him? My sound captured was more acute than never. As well as my vision was.
Then, he moved unexpectedly fast for his "new" size. As fast as he moved before or maybe even faster, like his feet seemed not even "touching" the ground. The man screamed and tried to turn and ran. But, so much faster than he thought, the beast kneeled and grabbed him with a single hand, as if the man was a toy. The robot got up instantly. From far, I listened to his voiced totally different from before, so much lower pitched with a "roar" sound in background:
"I told you to be silent, organic!" he said. "Though you ignored my warning…"
The camera took a close on the gripped man, who was yelling and moaning as his chest and stomach were being constricted.
"Holy crap… Look at this purple insignia. Jim, you were right, he's one of the 'bad guys'!"
"Didn't I say, Mike?"
People in stands kept running and shouting out loud in panic.
"Help…" the man was trying to speak becoming airless. "For Gods sake… someone…help me…"
I couldn't believe how easy and even pleasure it was for me at that moment. I was thirsty for revenge. In this form, I was unable to feel any mercy…
"I told you before… Now I shall "shut" you forever…"
I could say "literally" for him. With a single movement, he "squeezed" the guy and practically "smashed" him, like an empty soda can! It was too horrifying to watch… My goodness, I almost fainted! I'll never forget that horripilate scene being replayed on screen!
…As well I was unable to feel guilt or remorse for killing him after. In opposite I felt nothing but pleasure and desire for "more"…
So the monster threw man's body away as a trash. He turned once again at our direction and ran in incredible speed. It was too horrifying. "Oh my God, it's coming!" someone said. Everybody was in panic, but the announcer spoke again:
"Ladies and gentlemen, please, don't panic. There no need for panic. Organize yourselves in lines and calmly use the exit doors. The magnetic camp will protect you from any damage…"
So good if it was true. The robot just needed to touch the shield to turn it from invisible into dark purple just before we see it cracking in hundreds "pieces" like "glass", someway we didn't thought was possible by the Laws of Physics. The purpled pieces "disappeared" just after "falling" down and very before "touch" the ground. But nobody knew what really happened until that robot catch someone who was running through the stage, close to me, just as easy as he did with the gunman.
I only wished to teach them a lesson…
I didn't want to see anything else. It was tragedy enough for me. I wanted to find my friends to see if they were alright and leave this place together. Kevin was looking for them too, but it was difficult because, like many people, they ran from their place, so we didn't know were they were in the chaos… I was diturbed. We ran everywhere, trying to run from the monstrous beast, and, by the same time, to find our friends. Shortly I became nervous and hopeless for them, until...
"We're here" I listened to a familiar voice.
I was relieved. Those were Mike and Julie. We were glad to see them fine in this mess… Until we listen to odd, weird disturbing low sounds from the "monster's" terrible voice…
I laughed… sadistically…
Julie screamed loud, in very high pitch. She wasn't wrong for doing this. We ran and tried to find the other. If don't, or too late, we should to noting but leave this place and pray for they did the same safely.
Now I'm not sure why I did that… Perhaps I didn't want humans to really understand my whole speech, or perhaps my upgraded programming made me, in this moment, forget I wasn't speaking English or any of "human dialects".
While running, my head trying to keep concentrated in my friends' pursuit. But I could only listen to the disturbing sounds the robot was making. It wasn't pure "animal" like noises: it sounded more or less like a language. A strange foreign language, mixing of mechanical sounds and syllabic phrases, but I shouldn't understand a single world. I tried to ignore it, but I was incapable. So I covered my ears, but I still could listen to it anyway.
"You insolent worthless humans…" I was speaking Cybertronian language… "You still believe you are the ruler species on this planet…"
While we tried to find our friends and escape, people were being got, killed in imaginable horrific manners. When I turned, I say a lot of people literally "flouting" and "flying" high into the field, like as there was no gravity. Now I was totally terrified.
Thus, I looked down to those small, week and powerless beings… "You are nothing but a hairless big headed kind of ape… You are all animals like any other on this small Planet within this big Universe."
Why? Why, my holiness, even not being able to understand a word, all those phrases sounded "bad" and "offensive" at me? I didn't mind and I didn't look back again. We all continued running and looking for the boys. Soon, our persistence was rewarded:
"Jim! Dylan! Jared!" Mike shouted when he saw them before me.
They were from a few lines lower then us. Since the exit was in up side, we stood there waiting, while they ran close to stare and came to us. I was so hopeful in this scabrous situation.
"Mike, Kevin, Julie and…"
Before they speak my name, without explanations, we felt everything shaking like a quake. Just after, the floor they were stepping collapsed. They ran faster, but Dylan, who was most behind, sorrowfully fell down. The others screamed. Jim shouted:
"Dylan!"
Since my last battle in this form, I discovered I had the ability to control the earth and ground beneath my feet and even farther. It's not about weigh. It is, in fact, a branch of Processor-over-matter in five- elemental-specialization, in my case, Water and Earth…
It was a disaster. We couldn't see him. Julie hugged Mike and began to cry. We still felt the smaller shaking. I was upset, I thought we lost Dylan forever, until:
"Guys…! Help…!" we miraculously listened to his voice. We felt so relieve…
Even if the whole formed was deep, he held up in twisted metal. He was very lucky, because a few people around had not the same fortune: I saw them all dead in the ground. Jared approached and held Dylan's other hand. Kevin walked there and helped him to pull him up. It's was fortunately nothing but a small fright.
We figure out a lot of places were breaking down around the stadium. People who survived the fall were running in circles like dizzy cockroaches. Just waiting until being stepped like bugs by this demoniac creature:
"…You all probably thought it was amusing to see living creatures having their lives being taken for your entertainment." I was speaking still in Cybertronian."Whereas when it is your species being murdering… Immediately it becomes no longer amusing…"
The whole group finally crossed the doors of emergency exit. Actually "fire exit" was written there. We walked down the stares that looked endless. Finally we got down just in time: the whole wall behind us collapsed and exposed the stadium and the field behind. But I was so close from the rescue. I didn't matter the people behind us; I just wanted my friends' and, consequently, my happy ending. That was gonna be our salvation, however…
...
"Renata… Jason… Where are you?"
"Richard!"
"Renata?"
"Rickie!"
"Jason, I am fine. This was one of the worst disasters in this country's recent history. But don't worry, I'm fine. The quake may cause a Tsunami, but I'm far of range, I'm not in the coast side. But my flight was cancelled, I'm sorry… How's Prowl?"
"How's him? Rick, he turned into a freaking giant monster and destroyed everything around…"
"Oh, not again…"
"Did it happen before?"
"Yes, it did. I was there. You might call him Bludgeon now. It is his final, Magnus level form he took after battling against other Cybertronians. He cannot perfectly control this form yet, so I recommend you both stay away of him before he 'change back' into his regular Prowl form."
"Oh, we 'never though about that before'…" Jason spoke ironically.
"Seriously, he's too dangerous…" Suddenly, everything around Richard became dark.
"Spencer?" Renata asked.
"It's like we had a blackout because of the Earthquake. Don't worry, things are gonna be alright here. Just stay away of Prowl in this form."
"You're in a quake and telling us to worry about ourselves? Ricky, are you in nuts?"
"End of transmission"
...
I have no ideal why and I should never know how, I only remember I heard my friends calling my name, before I was left by something, somewhere, somehow… It was confusing in my mind. I saw everything spinning around me, with no directions, I didn't know where was the ground, the sky, my friends, absolute nothing. I couldn't feel the ground; I couldn't feel my body "did I die?" I was asking myself "Am I still alive?"… Then I saw a lot of people flouting around me in nightmare scenery. They were screaming and calling for help. So I figured out I was floating too along with then. I didn't see any of my friends. I was completely lost in the air until I land, incredibly softly on the ground. Some people who landed after me just died or became so hurt and unconscious around the ground. I was feeling the pain, but I was relatively fine. I stood and walked slowly, totally lost around the sand.
"Oh no, he swallowing everything…" I listened to someone speaking.
I was true: by far, the robot was getting people to put on his mouth and chop them into half with his sharp teeth. It was really insane.
"Daddy, what can we do now?" I heard a little boy or girl, probably hidden, speaking from somewhere.
"We can do nothing, my darling…"
"Are we gonna die?"
"I hope not…"
But after a few steps, I began to feel the pain through my body. I wasn't as fine as I thought, I as actually very hurt and harmed. My body was scratched and my right leg was hurt. It wasn't broken, fortunately, but I felt a strong pain from inside. Around me there was nothing but destruction. It seemed like somehow parts of the debris was on fire. There people running, others trying to get in, being helped by others, people desprated and in panic. Chaos, panic, destruction, despair, fear. It was't to be happening. It should't be happening. Then I looked behind and I saw the "one" responsible for this. Even by far, he looked so enormous. Being here made me feel small, insignificant. It made me see my real place in this world. My end was coming, and I was sure I was gonna die:
"Well, this is the way you felt when the 'bad guy' tried to break you before?" I whispered. "And when you made me and other people floating in the air, do you think we felt the same you did when your 'wing' was broken and you beat everywhere on the dome?" I spoke to myself louder, almost crying… "Because I was worry about you, I almost cried for you and I cared for you, and this is the way you threat and thank me, trying to destroy me and killing a lot of people who probably felt the same?" I almost shouting, but I was loosing my voice because of tiredness. Unlike I thought, for my luck, he was more interested about killing people far away from me. I had some luck. That moment I could try to run away from the devastation, but I had no motivations. It was like I wanted to die in that moment, without any reason to keep living. Then I walked a feel steps to the other side, and I saw the body of the little girl that the gunman killed before:
"It's your entire fault…" I whispered, "If you didn't come here, you beloved 'father' should never change into a monster… If 'it' was really your father, you…"
Suddenly, the body started to move. The girls wasn't death, she apparently was still alive, recovering her conscience. Her eyes were opened and she winked a lot of time like "waking up". Then she coughed:
"It's impossible…" I said exited, but unintentionally, I shouted out loud: "SHE'S ALIVE!"
But I covered my mouth with my both hands. The last ting I wanted was to call "his" attention. But unfortunately I did it.
I turned my head instinctively, only because of that sound. When I zoomed my vision mode, however, I captured what must be Roxanne. She was alive and trying to rise up. Her vision was the only thing able to make me forget about destruction. Monster or not, I was still her father, and the only I should process this time was about to keep her save.
He ran close. I grabbed the little girl and I carried her always. I hid us in the rubble, once before the stadium.
My threatening alarm was triggered. The human who captured her was now considered dangerous in my system. In my programming, that human must be destroyed for her safety.
"What you 'doing'?" I heard a cute, childish high pitched voice.
"I'm saving your life!" I answered softly while embracing her.
"From 'what'…?" she asked me.
"Trust me; you won't wanna know …"
Sadly, she didn't have this pleasure. The monster came faster than I could imagine. He removed the wrecks of steel and concrete like Styrofoam. Now I was so terrified for pure fear, feeling fast heartbeats in my chest and sweating like a pig. I'm sure I almost wet my paints. I hold the girl stronger, as much as I could, while shaking for fear and looking frightened this titanic beast so close…
"Daddy…" the girl said it, too "joyfully" for my taste…
"Are you in nuts?" I shouted.
I moved my hand to carry her…
I saw him standing his creepy hand, still wet of blood. That was the same hand that smashed one or more person! I was so hopeless…
"Don't worry, he not gonna hurt me…"
"What? Are you crazy? He's monster!"
But I stopped after listening to the human words…
"You know he's gonna swallow you alive! He'll finish you the same way he did to other people."
That person was right. I loose control and I did the unimaginable for my nature. I wasn't myself at this point. Throughout the see of bitterness and rage I became what I hated the most.
I was shaking in fear like never before…
I pointed my visors at the human.
Then he looked at me. It was so appalling…
This was a familiar one. I guess this is the same I looked after I bet through the magnetic shield.
My heart accelerated again and I was sweating like never before. Gee, I was gonna die!
Who was crying because of me… once more…?
I started to cry for my life. I held the girl even stronger and I prayed he did "it" fast and painfulness.
"Be careful!" the girl interrupted my deep hopeless moment. "You're suffocating me…"
For some reason, those words made me remind instantly the way I killed the shooter…
"Oh, sorry…" I tied her less.
I looked to the monster once more. This time, for some unkown reason, I remembered how relatively smaller and less threatening he was before, and when he looked at me for the first time. For a few seconds, I stopped crying and being afraid. Something was telling me he wouldn't kill me.
I saw she was safe. That human being didn't represent any hazard. Actually, I did. It was so stupidly obvious the monster was me, not them, the humans I tried to destroy. Later, I decided to leave.
He stood up, (Jesus, he was huge!) and he walked away… that easy? He had the change to kill me. To kill the girl, but… he didn't! Why? I didn't understand. It's was something with me? After that he kicked so easy the ruins around the post-war landscape and he simply left the stadium… He was gone… Why? And why he didn't do this before killing a lot of people…
"C'mon, let's go!" I listened to a familiar voice. It was Mike! "In 1, 2, 3…"
I ran at them. For some reason, the girl followed me.
"Guys!"
"You're here! That's great, we though you were…" Jimmy shouted almost crying. "Well, you know…"
"What happened?"
Kevin explained:
"We are trying to save him. He's alive, but this thing fell of him while he was trying to escape."
I looked around to see who was missing. Jared, Jim, Mike, Kevin, Julie… Everybody was there…
Then I listened to an adult male voice.
"Help!"
Jared shouted:
"Don't worry: we'll help you, Mr. Thomson!"
"Help us!" Mike asked. "Let's go!" I helped to remove the "rock". "Now, 1, 2, 3…"
After an exhaustive effort, we did it!
"Out… out… thank you, boys. I was trying to get home… but I wasn't allowed until the "duel" gets over…" He was speaking with difficult… "The Hunters who were adding me had to answer an emergency calling… and then everything collapsed around me… There was a monster… all my workmates… and the Hunters… were murdered! And then…"
"Calm down. The monster was gone."
"He was destroyed?"
"Sadly no, Mr. Thomson. He just left, now the entire city might be 'lost'."
"We'll call the hospital. The police is coming the arm is after the creature. Now everything is gonna be alright."
"I lost everything. I lost my friends, my job… Oh, my goodness…"
I was so sorry for him. But at least, he had to thank he was alive.
We finally leave. We looked around, and we saw a lot of people hurt, in same condition of us, covered by dust walking slowly around, some of them being carried or being helped to walk by the others. Many of the people I misthought were dead were moving and trying to stand as much as they could. Finally, we heard the sound of ambulances. As well as the reporters, the whole media, the police and from every one else that was there.
"No, lady, you might go home…"
"I lost my daughter. It was my fault." I listened to a sad, but smooth melodic female voice.
"It's Mommy!" the girl by my side shouted. She took my hand, and pulled me to close to the woman.
When we came there I decided to talk to her:
"Don't worry, misses." I said "She's fine."
The girl ran 'till her mother. Then the woman stopped crying and smiled. Now she seemed so happy:
"Thank you…" she was grateful
"I did nothing. I sure…"
I was glad and thankful how one of our "life stories" that day had a happy ending.
End of part 4.
