Kickass
The wind whipping against her face started to become painful the faster Brielle went. Finally, Mission city was in sight. Brielle's eyes widened at the destruction lay out before her. Buildings crumbled, civilians ran for their lives, and concrete was grounded to a fine powder. Her hunch about Bee being here had to be right.
A police car drove up, seemingly out of nowhere, and turned on his siren and lights. Brielle clicked her tongue with aggravation. "I don't have time for this!"
The police car sped up until it was right next to her. 'This guy thinks he's funny, does he?' she thought, growing more agitated by the second. Brielle began to yell over the sound of the wind. She knew she wouldn't be able to get her point across, but she tried anyway. "Look! I'm not stopping until I—"
Brielle glanced over to the police cruiser and realized that she could not make out the driver. A high pitched whimper escaped Brielle's mouth when she realized that she'd seen this police cruiser before.
It was time to pick up the pace. Her speed rapidly increased, but it was becoming more difficult to control the bike because of the incoming wreckage.
"Remember me, fleshling?"
The robot shifted out of his car form and skated across the concrete to catch up. Brielle started to panic now. It's sort of a different situation when you don't have a giant robot on your side.
Fortunately, Brielle made it into the city. Unfortunately, it became increasingly more difficult to dodge wreckage. She couldn't slow down because if she did, the police car from hell would kill her. If she continued on, she'd probably fall off the bike and break her neck.
Chancing a broken bone sounded more appealing than being ripped to shreds by the guy behind her. The bike's engine revved and Brielle pressed on into the city, Barricade never too far behind. Just up ahead of her was a blockade of sorts. By the looks of it, it was the US Army. A wave of relief crashed over Brielle; there was still hope!
Brielle began to yell to get the group's attention. With every shout, her voice became raw and painful. The mixture of smoke and shouting wasn't doing her any good. It looked like one of the men caught sight of her, or the raving lunatic behind her, because they aimed all of their guns in her direction.
One of the men signaled Brielle to hurry up, so she did as she was asked. When she was within twenty feet of the line of soldiers, she pulled the breaks. The wheels on the motorcycle skidded to a halt, sending Brielle over the front of the bike. She landed on the jagged road and skid a few feet before hitting her head on a loosened piece of concrete.
"Uuunnh . . ."
It was like a thousand needles pierced her back. She didn't realize that there was broken glass on the road until she felt it lodged inside her skin. Her inner legs seared with white hot pain. She was riding the motorcycle without jeans and the hot metal had burned her flesh. A warm liquid seeped from the small gash in her head. Brielle brought her hand up to it only to wince as the throbbing pain nearly consumed her.
Was this it? Did she make it this far to die? The pain Brielle felt made her want to retreat to the blackness that consumed her vision. What would Marie say if she knew Brielle wanted to give up? What would her parents say? At this point, Brielle couldn't care less about what they would think.
What would Bumblebee think?
Brielle heard the voice of a soldier approaching. He asked her if she could hear him and then slung one of her arms around his shoulder, hoisting her up. "W-what happened to—"
"He's still here. We need to get you behind the blockade." the soldier answered, referring to the demonic police cruiser. By the looks of it, the soldier's guns weren't doing any good. Once the soldier placed Brielle behind the blockade, he called for a medic. Brielle breathed heavily, groaning and trying to keep herself from passing out.
"Pathetic humans!" the robot taunted.
The malicious robot was quickly approaching the blockade, shrugging off the soldier's bullets like they were mere gnats.
Then it hit her.
"He's weak under the chest." Brielle mumbled. She peered over to see that the robot was damaged even more than when she'd last seen him. Perhaps he got into a tumble with someone his own size. If they could get him under his chest plates, he'd be done for.
Every atom in Brielle's body screamed at her to stay still, but she mentally told her atoms to shut the hell up. She was too busy to feel pain right now. She approached the soldier that brought her to safety and said, "Under the armor. Shoot under his chest plates."
The soldier raised an eyebrow. He looked at Brielle as if she was crazy. "Just lay back down there. Medics are coming—"
There was no time for bullshit! Brielle snatched a hand grenade from the soldier's belt and raced towards her motorcycle. If no one would listen, she'd have to do it herself. The motorcycle's engine roared to life and she drove straight towards the humanoid police cruiser.
"Foolish human!"
The robot snatched Brielle by the waist and held her to his optic level. His face was still scratched and his right optic damaged from the rock she threw.
"Such a tiny little human. So easy to rip your limbs from your body." he cooed, tightening his grip on her. Brielle howled in pain. The hand that held the grenade was trapped. She tried to wriggle it free, but to no avail. Her tugging became more frantic, for she knew that time was running out.
"You scratched my paint job. Who do you think you are, punk?"
If there was one thing Brielle hated, it was the condescending tone of those that thought they were better than you. Her jaw jutted out and her eyes narrowed. She began to shake her head. 'Alright, now I'm tired of your bullshit.'
A loud grunt rose from Brielle's throat just before she kicked the robot's good optic. He jolted backwards in pain. The robot loosened his grip long enough for Brielle to free her arm and activate the grenade. The grenade was shoved between his two chest plates and Brielle glowered triumphantly at him. "I'm just a tiny little human that just kicked your ass."
The robot's optics widened in fear. He let go of Brielle and began to claw at his chest, trying to dig the grenade out. Brielle landed on her side. She tried to hoist herself up and take cover, but there wasn't enough time. She crouched down and clasped her hands behind her head. Brielle didn't dare look at the robot; she kept her eyes shut as tight as possible.
The grenade detonated.
Robot innards were sent flying in every direction. The alien screamed in pain for the last time. When the shrapnel stopped flying, Brielle dared look behind her. His glowing red optics slowly dimmed until the light diminished completely.
Silence.
Explosions and crashes could be heard in the distance, but where Brielle lay, it was all silence. The robot lay dead, the soldiers were dumbfounded, and Brielle was too. "That actually worked?"
A roar of applause came from the line of soldiers behind Miss Piper. The shouts and whistles of praise put a huge smile on Brielle's face. The teen managed to push herself up and she staggered towards the men. A makeshift ambulance appeared; consisting of a pickup truck with a stretcher in the back.
When Brielle melted in the midst of soldiers, they gave her hardy pats on the back which made Brielle wince painfully. Some said "good job, kid" while others muttered that she might be insane. Hey, she'd take that as a compliment too.
A sound from one of the soldier's radios suddenly crackled to life. "This is Captain Lennox. Enemy has been terminated. All clear."
"What?" Brielle asked, her voice raising a couple octaves. Uncle Jim introduced man named William Lennox to the family once. Jim said they were stationed in Qatar together, but Uncle Jim departed just before the mysterious attacks that supposedly left no survivors.
Sure, she'd only met Lennox once and very briefly, but a shiver still ran down her spine.
'Coincidence?'
"Alright kid, hop in." a soldier instructed. "We're going to rendezvous with Captain Lennox. Think you can hold on?"
Brielle sighed with annoyance. "Yes, I can hold on." her voice was filled with irritation. She hated being treated like an injured child. Well, she was actually injured, but that was beside the point.
As the truck drove through the destroyed streets, a medic managed to pluck out the bigger shards of glass from her back, rub cooling ointment on her burned legs, and disinfect her head injury. It stung like hell, but it was the good kind of sting. It was a well deserved sting.
"This'll need stitches."
The medic was referring to the tiny gash in her head. Brielle winced at the thought of a needle going through her skin. Then again, she had just gone through a hell of a lot worse. Maybe stitches wouldn't be so bad.
The truck drove in the middle of the street. They didn't have to worry about traffic, save for some upturned cars and concrete. The truck made a hard left and then stopped. The soldiers hopped out of the truck and the medic instructed Brielle to stay put.
"Seriously?"
The brunette wasn't far behind the soldiers, who were gathering in a group full of—
"Oh my God."
Not one, but three robots, Brielle assumed they were Autobots, towered over a small group of humans. The tallest of them all, Optimus Prime, held the severed body of another robot, possibly a fallen comrade.
Major William Lennox was the first to notice the green eyed teen. "Hey," he began, "Jones. What'd I tell you about bringing civilians near here?"
Brielle's heart sank. 'Guess he doesn't remember me.'
A soldier, presumably Jones, responded, "Sir, she defeated a Decepticon on her own. She knew how to kill it."
That was when every pair of eyes gazed at Ambrielle.
The man next to Lennox, Brielle thought she heard them call him Epps, pumped his fist into the air.
"That is so kickass."
Brielle froze, looking like a dear in headlights. She didn't really appreciate the awkward attention she received. Brielle's expression became nonchalant. She twirled a few tresses of her hair and shrugged. "Trust me, he had it coming."
"Brielle!"
The almost familiar voice came from a very familiar face. Brielle just noticed that Bumblebee was present, but strapped to the back of a tow truck. For a moment, Brielle ignored all of the stares and only acknowledged big n' yellow.
"Bee! You can talk again?"
She walked closer to the group, but her movements became more sluggish and her vision began to get hazy.
"It . . . was the one from before. The police cruiser, remember?"
Bumblebee began to fiddle with the chains strapping him down. "Barricade? You . . . you took out-?" he sounded worried, almost horrified. Brielle grinned. He was starting to sound like her mother again.
Lennox's face contorted into a hilariously confused expression.
"Wait, Ambrielle Piper? Jim's niece?"
Brielle slowly nodded. 'And now he gets it.'
"What are you doing here?"
"Jesus, Bee! What happened to your legs?" Brielle asked, completely ignoring Lennox's query.
Bumblebee looked at his legs and then back to Brielle. "Not to worry. They are repairable." He said reassuringly. The girl could tell that Bee wasn't fully convinced. He looked at the greenish-yellow Autobot for reassurance. When that robot nodded, Bee looked back to Brielle and did the same, making her smile.
"Wait wait wait . . . wait. Am I missing something? Who are you?"
The voice belonged to a boy around Brielle's age. He looked beaten up pretty badly. From his body to his clothes, there was a rip or cut somewhere. Then, a girl hopped out of the driver's side of the tow truck and began to loosen the chains for Bumblebee. When she finished, she joined the boy's side and her fingers laced with his.
Brielle was never one for tact. "Uh, excuse me? Who are you?" she asked with her arms crossed. If this boy wanted attitude, she'd give him attitude. The blue eyed female sighed. She mumbled to the boy, "Sam, calm down."
Bumblebee's processors whirred frantically. Although his legs were badly injured, he still managed to stand up.
This human female, Brielle, was the one that he encountered in the Nevada desert a few weeks back. Her presence here now convinced Bumblebee that perhaps they should never have parted ways that night. She had saved him before and by the sound of it, she singlehandedly destroyed Barricade.
'Highly reckless! She could've gotten killed! Her injuries speak for themselves—'
Bumblebee's processors whirred with concern for Brielle. He didn't know what made him act so protective towards her, it just happened. The Autobot was irked with himself that he hadn't finished Barricade the night he revealed himself to Sam and Mikaela. He would be more thorough next time.
"How do you know the kid's Camaro?" asked Technical Sergeant Epps. Brielle's eyes searched the ground for an answer. She seemed embarrassed; an emotion Bumblebee did not expect from the valiant organic.
"Sector Seven pursued me nearly four weeks ago. After I lost them, I encountered Brielle, or rather, she found me. Barricade assaulted us soon after. If it wasn't for her, I may not be here right now."
The more Bee used his voice, the raspier it became. He coughed a few times and brought his fingers to feel where his still damaged voice box was.
"Is that so?" Ratchet mused.
"Tough little fleshling." Added Ironhide.
Sam looked strangely upset. He just destroyed Megatron with the All Spark, yet the praise was given to a newcomer. Brielle mirrored Sam's animosity as soon as he opened his mouth. Bumblebee sighed. Humans could be so petty. Thankfully, Mikaela's physical forms of affection were able to subdue Sam's annoyance.
Bumblebee studied his leader, Optimus. His expression was not one of surprise. Perhaps he knew something about this girl that the others didn't.
Suddenly, Brielle's frame wavered from side to side. A quick scan revealed that Brielle suffered from serious dehydration and exhaustion. The beating sun didn't make matters better either. She was about to faint. Bumblebee scurried to her side as quickly as his injured legs could take him and he caught Brielle before she hit the ground.
Ironhide let out a small grunt and teased, "Maybe not that tough."
X X X
I apologize for the short chapter. D:
Again, thanks for reading! I appreciate any review or favorite I get! :)
P.S. – I changed Lennox's rank to Captain because I realized he wasn't promoted to Major until ROTF.