Detonation time: One minute
For an entire second, Jack was frozen. The sudden shock of going from sparking victory to terrible disaster paralyzed him completely. He stood watching as the bomb on Raf's back suddenly flared, a one and two zeros emerging on the screen. For a second, it seemed that the world had stopped and an enormous spotlight was focused with laser intensity on the twelve-year old.
And then the one and the zeros were replaced with a five and a nine, and the world came rushing back into motion.
Dropping to a knee, Jack ignored his protesting ribs and chest, and using a single arm, began to dismantle the bonds holding the lethal device to his friends back.
The MECH soldiers seemed to sense the fact that they had nothing to lose and half of the soldiers still conscience rushed for the elevator, shoving and pushing and trampling their fallen comrades and their leader in the process. The rest threw themselves into the task of taking down Arcee, who was still swatting them aside like flies.
Detonation time: Fifty-three seconds
The bonds were a third of the way removed by now. The process was hindered by the fact that Jack was restricted to using only one hand, and his fingers were slippery with sweat. They slid over the plastic and leather bindings, and were cut several times by the hard material.
One soldier took aim at the two. Arcee's entire foot caught him and two of his comrades in a bone-crushing kick. One hit the wall, and the other two disappeared into the depths of the base. It was doubtful they would get up soon, if at all.
Ratchet silently cheered as the compressed data package he'd sent into the main computer took hold of the virus that MECH had sent through and began to rapidly dismantle it.
Detonation time: forty-five seconds
Arcee cried out as an electric shot finally hit her. The knee that had taken the hit went numb, and Arcee fell, stopping her descent only by putting her servos out. The remaining soldiers who seemed to have accepted their fate converged, ready to take her out. Arcee did the only thing she could think of: she seized a fire extinguisher and hurled it towards the men, hooting it with a plasma bolt before it hit them.
The result was interesting, to say the least. The pressurized container was violently ripped open, exploding its contents. The plasma bolt was suddenly cooled down by the foam and turned instead into superhot steam -superhot steam that acted as a painful shockwave, lifting the closest soldiers off their feet and into their comrades behind them. Some of the men who had fired as soon as the shot was released shot at the black—clad projectiles flying towards them, projectiles that were also known as their comrades.
Jack had by now removed two-thirds of Raf's bindings, but was stunned briefly as Arcee's makeshift bomb caused him to lose his hearing. Shaking his head, Jack resumed his task with fervor as his eyes once again shot unwillingly to the unforgiving timer.
Detonation time: Thirty-four seconds
Ratchet could have sobbed in relief as the small discreet bing told him that MECH's virus had been successfully eradicated. Turning his attention to the ground-bridge controls, Ratchet began to set the coordinates for the only place he knew the bomb could pose no harm to humans.
Several men were still struggling to get out, and some were trying to stop others who were trying to get in the already terribly packed space from keeping the doors open and the car in place. One man was thrown clear from the chaos and landed painfully on the mall table in the human's area.
Jack had finally managed to unstrap Raf, and the little boy fell to his knees, crawling away on all fours immediately. The teenager realized then that he had absolutely no plan on how exactly he was going to the bomb from killing Raf anyway, even though it had been removed. Luckily, he didn't have to, because the ground-bridge suddenly erupted to life behind him. Ratchet yelled at him to go, and Jack understood immediately what to do.
Detonation time: Twenty-seven seconds
Jack didn't even make it three steps before something smashed into him, making him scream in pain. He landed only a few feet from the open ground-bridge, a heavy weight on top of him. The weight turned out to be Sanchez, who had been hiding somewhere away from the fray. The general began punching him fiercely across the face, causing blood to well in the teenager's mouth.
Arcee struggled to stand but collapsed once more, and was forced to defend herself from the handful of soldiers who had managed to get to their feet.
Ratchet started forward but was forced to turn around as a stray MECH agent began shooting at the ground-bridge controls. The man would not shoot for long, but it was long enough to restrict Ratchet's already limited aid to zilch.
Raf stopped crawling away and stumbled to his feet. He ran back to where Jack lay helpless against the general's onslaught and jumped on Sanchez's back, wrapping his hands around the psychotic man's neck.
Detonation time: Twenty seconds
Sanchez shrugged Raf off, but the distraction was exactly what Jack needed. Gathering his wits, he slammed the adamantium bomb into the side of Sanchez's head.
Sanchez reeled, but proved to be capable of his now non-existent title. Abandoning his efforts to pummel Jack into the ground, Sanchez instead pressed down with one hand on Jack's neck. With the other, he seized the other end of the metal cylinder, apparently intending to throw it behind him where Arcee and now Ratchet were dispatching the last of the MECH soldiers. His air being cut off, Jack hit Sanchez in the stomach. Sanchez responded by lifting Jack's head and slamming in on the concrete silo floor. Stars exploded in Jack's brain, and he felt the stinging pain of oxygen attacking a bleeding cut on his head. His grip weakened.
Sanchez leaned in, his bruised face making him a hideous, demented being. "For America," he hissed, spittle flying from a gap where Jack had apparently knocked out a tooth.
Detonation time: Nine seconds
Jack's eyes narrowed and he lurched forward, bringing himself face-to-face with the crazy general. "For Earth," he snarled.
Detonation time: Six seconds
With all that remained of strength, Jack tightened his grip on the cylinder…
Detonation time: Five seconds
…gathered his legs beneath him…
Detonation time: Four seconds
…placed his legs upward so Sanchez's stomach pressed on his feet…
Detonation time: Three seconds
…seized the man's collar as the traitor realized what Jack intended to do and started to try to wiggle away…
Detonation time: Two seconds
…threw himself backwards and launched his legs up and backwards…
Detonation time: One second
…released the bomb and locked eyes with Sanchez as the man went airborne…
Detonation Time: Zero seconds
…and collapsed as Sanchez, along with his device, disappeared into the glowing portal.
High above the earth, Lazerbeak moved forward cautiously as his master ordered him to investigate the mysterious ground-bridge that appeared in low orbit. He'd been recalibrating a satellite for his master's control when the swirling mass of energy had open just meters away.
Flying forward, Laserbeak readied his blasters. Already his master's master had sent vehicon troops to his location; all he had to do was maintain his position.
Suddenly a form flew out of the bridge and Laserbeak reacted instinctively, firing a shot at the creature's head.
Laserbeak had only a nanoklick to realize that the being was short, spurted blood instead of energon, and was completely frozen before his senses were engulfed in a mix of blue light and burning pain. It was terrible, far worse than any of Megatron's blows and the minicon wished only for it to end.
And then mercifully, it did.
Don't go away, people! This story isn't over yet.
A few notes:
Jack- yes, he is awesome, but people, feel free to tell me if I'm overplaying his abilities too much. I tried to, once again, make a Jack scene where Jack has a reasonable chance. Tell me whether it's too outlandish.
Sanchez and Laserbeak- I'm basing Sanchez's and Laserbeak's deaths off of four assumptions: One, that the human body would freeze instantaneously in space. Two, that since in Marvel, adamantum is a space rock, it would not be effected by pressure. Three, that the magnetic field would not be affected by being in space. And four, that energon is not affected by space, since the bot's energon is not affected when they battle in space.