Jackson, Éclair, Cheyanne, Robert and Armblast all watched the battle unfold on the TV screen. Everyone except Éclair and Armblast were in awe as they witnessed the battle. Naturally Éclair and Armblast weren't too surprised because they've witnessed this sort of thing before. They just saw the Decepticon combiner known as Devastator fall from Shortstop's attack and now Shortstop was running towards Nos. Éclair noticed Jackson's facial expressions towards what was going on. She wasn't surprised at all. She knew he was worried about Hailey and didn't want anything to happen to her.
Shortstop charged towards Nos getting ready to attack but the Decepticon headmaster held Hailey in front of him as a small shield. Naturally, it worked against an Autobot.
"She'll die." Nos said as his grip on Hailey tightened.
The blonde haired girl screamed as Nos squeezed. Shortstop didn't know what to do. If he charged, Hailey would most certainly die but if he didn't then she'd probably die and so would he.
"You're a coward, Nos. You brainwash an old friend and make him your headmaster and now you hide behind a human. So much for being a mighty and all powerful Decepticon." Shortstop said.
Nos became angry at Shortstop's statement. "We Decepticons are stronger than you pathetic Autobots."
"Yeah obviously." Shortstop said. "That's why you take hostages and hide behind them. The Autobots don't need hostages to kick in your tailpipes. We're stronger and better than you."
That was it for Nos. He had had enough with Shortstop running his mouth. Forgetting his own plan, he threw down Hailey and charged at Shortstop. The Autobot headmaster sidestepped him and ran for the girl. He reached for her but was grabbed and thrown in the opposite direction by Nos.
"Damn it." He said.
He aimed his arm lasers and fired at his nemesis. The Decepticon Headmaster avoided the attack by leaping into the air. He hovered there and drew his own weapon. Shortstop took cover as Nos fired from above. Nos was so attentive towards Shortstop that he didn't notice Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sneaking up on him. The two airborne Autobots tackled the Decepticon from behind and sent him plummeting to the ground. Nos slammed into the ground and the Autobot brothers leapt to their feet. Nos's eyes were dark. He looked deactivated. They smiled and high fived each other. Shortstop came out from his cover as well.
"Thanks guys I needed that."
"No prob, bro." Sideswipe said.
At that moment, the three Autobots had to dive out of the way to avoid the assault from Skywarp and Thundercracker. Shortstop aimed and fired his arm cannons.
"Don't worry about them. We'll take care of those two." Sunstreaker said. "You just get Hailey out of here."
Shortstop nodded. As the two brothers took to the air in pursuit of the two Decepticon jets, Shortstop scooped up Hailey and took off. At that point, Nos's eyes lit up and he began to stand up.
"Hound, Tracks, Jazz, Springer, Arcee. Follow me, I need some cover." Shortstop said right before he transformed into his vehicle mode.
The five Autobots he called for also transformed and sped off following Shortstop. Nos noticed that his target was leaving. There wasn't much for him to do at this battle site since both combiners were down and out and Skywarp and Thundercracker were fighting in the air, he knew that he couldn't fight Optimus Prime by himself, let alone the other Autobots that remained; he decided it would be best for him to chase after Shortstop. He transformed into his vehicle mode and sped off after them.
Prime watched as Nos took after his soldiers. Skywarp and Thundercracker both landed near Prime. The two Decepticon jets were out of commission. He looked up to the sky to see Sideswipe and Sunstreaker high fiving each other for their successful battle.
"Autobots, we're finished here. Let's go and back up our friends. Transform and roll out."
The Autobots transformed and followed after their friends.
The furious Nos was in hot pursuit of the Autobots. He was so close to winning this time and he would be damned if he was going to be denied this time. His two headlights slid out of the way for two photon guns. He began firing at his enemies. The Autobots weaved around avoiding the attack from their rear.
"We out number him six to one. Why don't we just turn around and beat him into submission?" Springer asked.
"That's not our current mission." Shortstop said. "We need to get Hailey home and out of harm's way before we fight Nos."
"But he's just going to follow us back to the girl's house and it won't be different than if we were to stop here and fight."
"Don't think I haven't thought of that. That's why I yelled for Hound to come along. I have a plan."
As the Autobots dodged Nos's attack, Tracks activated his wings and took to the air. He turned towards Nos and began firing in front of the Decepticon Eclipse. The photon blasts that hit the ground caused dirt, smoke and rocks to fly up. Nos was caught up in the debris cloud. Once he emerged from the cloud, Tracks had resumed his position on the ground with the rest of the Autobot convoy.
"That was pointless." Nos said to himself.
He continued firing at the Autobots as they sped down the road. A giant boulder lied still next to the road as the Transformers passed it. Within seconds, the Transformers were hundreds of yards away and the boulder faded revealing Shortstop. The black Ford GT sped off in the other direction. Dustin looked to Hailey, who was slightly confused.
"Gotta hand it to Hound for disguising me as a boulder so that Nos would follow them and not me."
"What if Nos sees that you aren't there?"
"Hound also made a hologram of me along with them so that Nos thinks that I'm still there.
"Nice." Hailey said while smiling as she and Jackson's father sped towards her home.
Nos continued his barrage on the Autobots as they continued to dodge. He had to hand it to them, they were good at dodging even at this range. Even though he admired their dodging abilities, it still angered him to no end. He sped up to get closer.
Suddenly, he saw his opening. Jazz and Arcee had moved out of the way of the photon blasts and revealed Shortstop. Nos transformed and leapt into the air. The momentum of the pursuit still carried him and he was able to get closer while in the air. He dove onto the Autobot but to his surprise he went right through him and slammed into the ground.
"What the hell?"
Then he saw that the Autobot Hound was running side by side with Shortstop and Nos knew of Hounds abilities. He had been tricked with a hologram of Shortstop. He jumped into the air and flew off to find Shortstop.
Shortstop arrived outside of Jackson's house. As soon as he stopped, the door to the house opened and Jackson came sprinting out. Hailey jumped out of the car and the two teenagers embraced each other tightly in the middle of the yard. Dustin stepped out of the car and smiled at the sight of his son's happiness. While hugging Hailey, he opened his eyes and looked at his dad. He smiled and gave him a thumbs up. Dustin returned the gesture. Éclair walked towards Dustin with a proud look on her face. Dustin saw the proud look on Éclair's face turn to one of horror as she stopped and pointed.
"DUSTIN, LOOK OUT!"
