Ah, another chapter! It's the longest one yet and it's also my favorite. This has a bit of backstory for Jade so you know a little bit about her. Enjoy, and like always, I don't own Transformers. You can thank Hasbro for that.
Chapter Four – Alive
In some of the movies Jade watched, people claimed that thinking of friends, family, happy memories would take their minds off the any intense physical pain. Jade had already tried that method and it failed miserably against the lightning being shot through her body. Had she been acquiring a paper cut or stubbing her pinky toe, the technique might have been more effective. In her current situation, nothing could distract her from the pain.
The human's cries made Megatron's Spark jump with giddiness. This was exactly what he wanted-the girl to scream futilely for anyone to hear her. Of course, the two Decepticons in the room could hear her quite well, but after twenty minutes of nonstop agony, one of the Transformers shut off his audio receptors.
It was Starscream. While he had no problem admitting that human suffering was quite pleasant for him, the screaming eventually became annoying. Something he wouldn't admit was that every cry the human female made reminded him of his own when Megatron took the time to beat his inferior. Sadly for Starscream, Megatron took the time quite often.
Writhing violently beneath the unyielding grasp of Starscream, whose metallic fingers held her arms above her head and her legs against the table, Jade screamed. She didn't want to. She always hated screaming, especially when it was about something stupid like a bug in her hair or a friend sneaking up behind her. But now she really hated it because it was precisely what Megatron loved and wanted from her.
But she couldn't stop. The pain was unlike anything she had ever felt or imagined. The only way to cope was to scream. The remembering-fond-memories method was a load of scrap.
Megatron was using some sort of tazing weapon on her, stabbing his clawed fingers deeply into her arms to send the shock through, which caused Jade's muscles to react violently. She convulsed painfully as tears streamed down her face. They were as involuntary as the muscle contractions, but they, too, were a way to cope. Of course, screaming and crying weren't helping in the least.
The lightning coursing through her made her feeble and she fought weakly against Starscream's grasp, which only seemed to grow tighter. Through the tears, Jade locked eyes with Starscream's and, without even realizing what she was doing, she called out to him for help.
The Decepticon couldn't hear her because his audios were muted, but when it appeared that the human was speaking directly to him, he curiously unmuted them. What he heard stunned him slightly and he blinked repeatedly. When the Seeker could feel his Lord's eyes on him, as if waiting for some kind of response to the human, he simply snarled at her and squeezed his fingers tighter around her arms and legs.
Megatron laughed, his voice sounding muffled due to only half of his face being there. "No help is coming, young fleshling," he growled, pushing his claws a little further into Jade's forearms and sending a fresh round of electricity into her frail body.
Jade's voice was becoming scratchy and smaller as her shouting dimmed. It wouldn't be long before her body could not take any more. But at that moment, an unexpected voice carried its way to Jade's ears and her erratically-pumping heart skipped a beat.
"My Lord, the human will not survive much more."
Megatron paused for a moment and it was the greatest moment for Jade, because her body slowly relaxed and her mind fell into a sort of calm limbo as the final shocks of electricity flitted through her and dissipated.
"Have you ever wondered, Starscream, that that's exactly what I want?" Megatron's voice rumbled with impatience. Primus, he really hated when his subordinate interrupted him!
Starscream flinched, slightly releasing his grip on the human, who remained still and partially awake. "But my Lord, do you not want to enjoy this torture for more than today? If you cease it for now, then the human can recover just enough to endure more tomorrow."
For the first time in a long while, Megatron pondered the possibility of Starscream being correct. Perhaps if the human had time to rebuild her strength, he could enjoy several more sessions with her before her body finally gives in and dies.
Straightening his posture, the Decepticon commander nodded. "How clever of you, Starscream. I suppose a break might do the both of us good." He glanced down at the limp human on the metal table. "I must remove this blood from my hands before it rusts. Starscream, take the weakling back to her hangar."
The Seeker released his grasp on Jade and bowed. "Yes Master."
"Then keep out of my way for the rest of the day. Understood?"
"Yes, Lord Megatron." He bowed again and carefully removed the human off the table. His care was not to further harm the human, but to minimize his exposure to the red fluid that covered half of her arms.
She looked up Starscream with tired eyes and couldn't help but notice his gentler hold on her. Was he minding her wounds? She thought curiously. Jade shook the thought away. For Starscream to care about anything besides his own skin was impossible.
Not unexpectedly, the Seeker let his human prisoner fall a couple of feet to the ground rather than just putting her down nicely. Jade landed in a heap, her legs feeling rubbery and sore. Every part of her was sore. Even her eyes hurt. But the optimist in her kept her on the bright side-she was still alive. A frown formed when she recalled why she was still alive. Starscream.
Painfully, Jade got to her feet and looked up at the Air Commander as he began to walk away through the door. "Why did you do that?" she yelled out to him.
He paused, but didn't turn around. "Do what?" he snarled.
"You know what." Damn her voice for being raspy from all the screaming. She sounded even weaker because of it. "Stopping Megatron."
A deep rumble came from Starscream, but just as quickly as it came, it stopped. "I was growing bored. You try standing hunched over for long periods of time and tell me its not uncomfortable."
Despite that not being the answer Jadeance wanted, she couldn't have really expected anything better. With a sigh, she watched as Starscream exited the hangar and closed the door. "Thanks anyway," she said quietly when she knew Starscream wouldn't be able to hear her.
Unbeknownst to her, however, he did. A strange feeling entered his Spark then. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, though. Whatever it was, it was something he had never felt before and hoped he wouldn't feel again.
Jade curled up against the rusty metal pipes along the wall and retrieved her cell phone from inside one of them. It still refused to power up. But despite her need to escape and even though the cell phone may be her only option, she was no longer in such a rush to get out. At least, not at that moment. She didn't want to stick around for another long torture session with Megatron, but right then, all she could think of was the fact that she was still breathing. Her heart was still beating and she was still very much alive. Granted, her rib ached, every inch of her body was sore and there were bloody puncture wounds along her arms that were dirtying her black-and-blue striped tank top, but she was alive.
Leaning back against the refreshingly cold wall of the bay, Jade closed her eyes and let her mind go free. That was when the memories flashed just beneath her closed lids.
o.o.o.o.o.o
"Jade, help!" cried best friend since second grade, Sam Witwicky, from the receiver end of Jade's cell phone.
It was eleven o'clock in the morning and the seventeen-year-old was barely awake yet. She had been making her way down to the kitchen for a cereal breakfast when her phone had rung.
She rolled her eyes at Sam as she grabbed a glass bowl from the cupboard, resting the phone on her shoulder. She figured he had simply misplaced his adult magazines or accidentally stepped on one of his mother's prized flowers outside. "What's up, Sam?" she asked, not enthused.
"Jade, Jade!"
"What, what?" she mocked.
"My car is alive and it's chasing me!"
Jade's brows furrowed. That was an interesting thing to say. Sarcastically, she said, "Well, that sounds like a personal problem, Sam. What can I do to assist?"
"You can stop laughing and help!"
Okay, now he sounded serious. With a new spark in her step, Jade put down her bowl and walked to the back door to put some shoes on. "What do you mean it's alive? Are riding your mom's bike?" she asked upon hearing a little bike bell dinging.
"Yes, it's my mom's bike and I mean that my car is alive! I watched it transform a couple nights ago at a junk yard." He was out of breath from pedaling so hard and talking.
"Oh yeah, where you got arrested."
"That's not the point, Jade! It transformed and now it's after me!"
"Okay, okay, where are you?" God damnit. Now she had to go rescue Sam from his car and she didn't even have time to eat breakfast. It was the most important meal of the day, too!
"On Main Street heading, uh, west maybe? Towards Burger King!"
"I'm getting in the car now," she said as she clicked off her phone, quickly kissing her spotted young cat, Kiba, who meowed sweetly. "Gotta go save Sam," she added before disappearing out the door towards the car. She hoped her mom, who was still asleep, didn't mind her daughter borrowing her red Ford Focus.
Minutes later, Jade found Sam sprawled on the concrete sidewalk in front of Burger King with his bike tossed aside. By the time she had parked and gotten out of the car, Sam was already speeding away again. And much to Jade's surprise, an old black striped yellow Camaro was in pursuit.
So it was back in the car she went until she found Mikaela and her moped near the overpass. Jade frowned when she pulled over, stepped out of the car and saw Sam running at her and Mikaela.
"GO!" he was shouting, waving his arms.
A gasp escaped Jade's lips as a giant bipedal robot-looking thing was running straight at them. "What the f-" began Jade, but was cut off by the throaty engine roar of none other than Sam's Camaro, which spun around and rammed into the metal legs of the creature coming for them.
Sam was attempting to get Mikaela into the brightly colored car, but Jade didn't have to be told twice. She jumped right in before Sam and the other girl could, leaving behind the red Focus beneath the overpass.
o.o.o.o.o.o
A smile spread across Jade's lips as she recalled first crawling into a giant Transforming alien. It had been quite a rush to watch the Camaro race the alien cop car with Sam and Mikaela in the front seat, and Jade herself in the back.
So many different thoughts had run rampant through her brain at that moment. Being the science fiction fanatic that she was, it had been a dream come true for the curious human. Robots were her thing and the fact that they had been chased by one was thrilling. And judging by the fact that Sam's Camaro had been driving without help from anyone meant that it, too, was probably a shape-shifter.
But Jade's greatest memory had been when she first met the Autobots alongside Sam and Mikaela.
o.o.o.o.o.o
Her burgundy-colored hair shown brilliantly in the flash of light created when the large meteor-looking objects fell out of the sky. Jade's heart skipped a beat when she saw them. This was really happening. Aliens were coming to Earth and her life was about to change.
The Camaro drove the three humans to a wide alley and allowed them to exit the vehicle as four others drove up to them from both ends of the street. Jade's gaze was fixed on the one directly ahead-a blue and red Peterbilt truck. It was massive, but nothing could be compared to it once it began to transform.
All around her, the vehicles began to bend and shape into something entirely different. The bright green ambulance, the large black GMC truck, the smaller silver Pontiac Solstice, and even Sam's Camaro all became something else.
The huge Peterbilt, much larger than the other 'bots, kneeled down before Jade and her friends and said in a booming voice, "Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?"
Jade inhaled sharply. Oh my god, they know your name, she thought, before the large mech introduced himself and the others as Autobots. Almost instantly, Jade was drawn to the medical officer, Ratchet. She had a thing for doctors.
It had really been a life-changing moment for everyone. While anyone would be changed the moment they set eyes on a bunch of giant alien robots, Jade's experience was much more personal. She had always wanted to be apart of something greater. She wanted her dreams of science fiction and adventure to become real. Now they were.
She was friends with the aliens and was considered their friend as well. Through the battles that took place against the Decepticons, Jade fought bravely alongside them and her friend Sam. But she always knew there would be risk in befriending the Autobots. Risks such as losing a friend, like Jazz who Jade loved listening to when he shared his Decepticon-ass-kicking stories. Or like Optimus and Sam, despite both of them returning from the dead.
Risks to herself. Now she was a Decepticon prisoner. That was a problem.
o.o.o.o.o.o
A really big problem. Not just for Jade herself, but for everyone. The Autobots would not rest until she was found, alive or dead, but hopefully the former.
While her absence was hard on everyone, it took its toll more harshly on Sideswipe and Ratchet. Sideswipe had requested to be Jade's guardian right after Prime's death in the forest. She needed someone to look after her, even though she was pretty good at that herself.
Ratchet, however, had been Jade's first 'bot friend and he knew it. He had always had a special place in his Spark for the inquisitive young human who longed to learn more about Transformers. Ratchet had always been the one to share such information and put Jade to work when someone needed repairs. It was a good learning experience for the both of them.
But now both Sideswipe and Ratchet felt responsible for their friend's disappearance. They should have kept their eyes more trained on Jade, but in truth, it wouldn't have mattered. Starscream was too fierce and would have stopped at nothing to please his master and snatch the girl away.
She was now asleep, having curled up her sore, frail body into itself to keep warm against the cold of the desert night. It helped very little, for she shivered quietly. But her exhaustion kept her sleeping soundly until tomorrow, when she'd be summoned for a second round of unpleasantness.