So Chapter 3 already. Nice. Also this has a little gore at the end, so be careful.
Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro.
Maximum Ride belongs to James Patterson (*grumbling*)
Also this takes place, hmm, about "Triage" but before "Toxicity"
Jack's P.O.V.
Mom and I soared high above the desert, the warm dry air glinting off our wings. I spun and dipped, weaving in and out of the rock pillars that dotted the landscape. Mom sped around the clouds above, dipping and corkscrewing as she went. I pushed down, pulling out of a sharp turn and jetting up to where Mom was.
"So what're we doing today," I asked. Mom thought for a moment, pushing a piece of brown-blonde out of her face. It was still so weird seeing her without the black hair and blue eyes I'd grown up with seeing her in. We hovered there, wings flapping in unison.
"How about a trip to San Francisco? Or maybe we could visit your Grandma?" She said. Now it was my turn to think for a second.
"San Francisco," I replied. "Grandma is at that Vet Expo there anyway."
Mom smiled. "Okay then, let's head back to the house to grab some food for the flight over and we'll head out."
I always love when Mom and I took trips, it always made me feel like I'm not hiding anymore. Like I'm not having to pretend that I'm no one special. I can be who I am, who I was supposed to be. It made me think of Dad, and what he would've thought of me. On trips, I can see so many different walks of life, different people, different places, it's so amazing.
I angled my wings down and we descended into a corkscrew. I landed with a thump, my combat boots spraying gravel and dirt from the impact. I rolled my shoulders and pulled my wings in tight, feeling the heat from the muscles on my skin. Mom landed beside me with a skid. We readjusted our clothes so they hid our wings. We uncovered the car and drove off.
When we got home I ran in and grabbed my black backpack, not my school one, but the one I saved for trips like this. I'd had it hidden under my bed, on the off chance Miko or Raf ever came over. Inside was a few dollars, maybe fifty, a first aid kit, a phone charger, a change of clothes, and a few granola bars. I slung it over my shoulder and walked into the kitchen. I opened up the cupboards and grabbed more granola bars, a few bottles of water, some dried apple slices, and a few bags of chips. What can I say? Bird kids have big appetites.
"Jack, you ready yet?" Mom called from the garage.
"Yeah!" I called back. I slung the bag over my shoulder and jogged out. Mom restarted the car and we drove back to our flying area. I unfurled my wings and adjusted the backpack so I could move my wings and still have the backpack nestled in between my wings. Mom got out and adjusted her own backpack.
"Heh, even with out backpacks we probably only weigh 120 pounds," Mom snickered. It was true, without my backpack I was a hundred pounds at the it's a miracle none of the Bots had ever commented on it.
"Yeah, we actually have a somewhat normal weight now," I replied. We both laughed and got a good running start and pushed off, soaring high with a decent wind under us.
Four and a half hours and almost four hundred and fifty miles later, we touched down two miles outside the city limits.
"Wow," I breathed. I'd never seen San Francisco before. The noon sun glinted off the Golden Gate Bridge and the waters of the Bay. We trekked across the Bridge and around to one of the expo centers, all the while doing 360s every once and a while.
"First really big city visit in a few years," Mom remarked. "Best to stay vigilant."
She was right I guess. Mom had told me about the Erasers, how horrible they were. Before meeting the Bots we'd train and spar every once and a while, but when Mom found out about them, we stepped it up. Nearly every night we were training, away from Arcee's watchful optics.
We walked through the crowded streets and we could see the expo center's roof glinting in the sunlight.
"Max!" A female voice yelled. Mom stumbled and staggered as someone flung themselves at her. The person was a twenty-eight year old Hispanic woman with black hair and brown eyes.
"Aunt Ella?" I gaped. I hadn't expected her to be here. Aunt Ella saw me and squealed, hugging me in a death grip.
"Jack! It's so good to see you!" She cheered. "What're you two doing here?"
"We needed a "mental health day," so we decided to come here," Mom said. Aunt Ella let me go and I took a deep breath. For a pro soccer player, she had some killer arm strength.
"You here with your team?" I asked. Aunt Ella nodded.
"Heck yeah, we're playing later tonight!"
"Max? Jack?" Another new voice asked. The three of us turned to see a new woman standing up on the top of the stairs leading to the expo center. She had long black hair with gray streaks tied back in a low ponytail. Her brown eyes reflected the surprise on her face. She wore a white shirt under a purple cardigan with dark blue jeans and black flats.
"Mom!" Mom said, the two ran to each other, meeting halfway and hugging each other tightly.
"Max," Grandma said, smiling. "Its been so long since I've seen you. And Jack..."
She turned to me, and hugged me tightly, then held me at arms length and smiled. "You've grown so tall!"
"Thanks Grandma," I said, smiling awkwardly. I was in middle school last time I saw Grandma and Aunt Ella. Mom smiled, a part of the family was together again.
We hung out with Grandma and Aunt Ella for a few hours but parted ways when Grandma had to go back to the convention and Aunt Ella had to go to practice. Mom and I walked around for a while, until I saw something.
A tall male model who looked no older than his mid-twenties stood with a group of several other men who looked eerily similar to him next to a group of sleek black Hummers. The group seemed more fit for Hollywood or Beverly Hills than San Francisco. They looked around casually, until they spotted me and Mom. My eyes widened as I realized who was watching me, I'd been told stories about them as kids, they haunted my nightmares, and they were the reason I never trusted models.
"Mom," I grabbed the sleeve of her leather jacket sharply. "45 degrees to you left. About five of 'em."
Mom's eyes widened.
"Act casual. We'll slip into the Civic Station," She said. We walked calmly, but with a slightly quicker pace than before. The models noticed us and began to follow calmly, strutting like they would on the runway. The Hummers roared to life and peeled out, following us at a slow pace. The original five were joined by three more, then two more. My heart pounded in my ears; I hadn't been this scared since that Insecticon and that hoard of Scraplets attacked me at Vector Sigma. "Change of plans, duck into the nearest alleyway and jet."
I nodded, but my knees trembled. I was facing what had been my nightmares for years, what Mom faced for the first seventeen years of her life, something we'd hoped was burning in the darkest pits of Hell.
Erasers.
We found an alley and ducked in, only to look up and see the way blocked by a large overhang and dozens of stupid decorations. We spun around, frantically searching for a way out. I looked down. The sewers! Gross, but it would work.
"Mom, underneath," I said, tossing the manhole cover aside with ease. Mom nudged me down as the Erasers turned the corner. No time for ladders, I slipped through the hole and fell into a combat role. Mom slid in, pulling the lid with her.
"Let's head to the sea," Mom said. "Quick getaway."
I nodded. We ran through the stench and grime, sliding every once and a while. The maze of darkness went on for eternity, until we saw the light through the storm grate at the end. Home free!
No, oh no.
Several Erasers spilled in from one of the tunnels intersecting ours, blocking the path. I could hear more behind us. They were ushering us into a trap, I knew it, but we had no choice.
"Run!" Mom yelled, pushing me down the clear tunnel. We ran down the tunnel, but skidded to a stop. At least twenty Erasers surrounded us, not really armed, but well trained.
"Jack," Mom breathed, looking up. I followed her gaze. With my enhanced vision, I saw garrote wire weaved over our heads in a fine net. We were trapped. "Time to fight."
All hell broke loose. Erasers charged at us, morphing into the ugliness that I'd only ever imagined. I grabbed a discarded metal pipe and swung it at the first Eraser. I felt his skull give and he crumpled with a scream. I kicked at another Eraser, nailing him in the groin. He collapsed with a wheeze, and a swift blow with the pipe rendered him down for the count.
Two Erasers charged at me at once and slashed. One hand got my arm, ripping my hoodie and shirt, sending red blood spilling out. I yelled as the raw pain shot through my right side. I responded with a roundhouse kick to the windpipe to the one, sending him flying. I spun to face the other one and grabbed his arm, and Judo flipped him, wincing as I heard his skull crack on the concrete.
The fight then began to go faster than I could comprehend. It was nothing but blurs, screams, claws and the smell of blood leaking into the sewer air. Before I knew it, it was over. All the Erasers laid dead, dying, or unconscious around us.
"This way," Mom said, pulling my on my injured right arm. I hissed at the pain, but powered through it. As we ran again through the dimly lit tunnels, I took stock of all my injuries.
Including my right arm, I also had a long set of bleeding scratches on my face, along with a black eye. My left thigh had three long horizontal claw marks on it, and my knuckles and nose were bloody.
"What's the plan?" I asked as we passed another ladder to the topside world.
"Get as far away as possible and jet as fast as we can," Mom said. Before I could say anything else, I heard a familiar sound. Blaster fire.
Oh shit.
Of all the places in the world, why did it have to be San Francisco?
We rounded the corner, only to have to dive out of the way to avoid a falling Vehicon.
"Bee!" I heard Bulkhead yell. I hopped out to see Bumblebee being shocked, falling to the ground with a metallic screech. His optics dimmed and he was out. But rather than Vehicons surrounding him, ERASERS surrounded him. The lead grunted something to another, who tried to zap Bulkhead and missed.
I was about to rush in to help the Bots when I heard another scream. My head shot to the side, where I saw Miko and Raf cornered by three Erasers. Not them, those demons won't get them.
"Mom, hand me the hatchet," I said. She pulled said weapon from her bag and I grabbed it, hopping around the corner and speeding toward them.
"I don't wanna die," I heard Raf whimper.
My blood boiled and I saw red. Any form of self control I had was gone in a snap. I let out a horrid battle screech and jumped, knocking the first Eraser down with a flying roundhouse kick. The Eraser went flying, knocking down the three that were fighting Arcee. The other two looked at me with an evil glint, the others were appetizers, I was the main course. I growled and lunged, kicking one in the throat and hitting the other on the side of the head with the blunt side of the hatchet. The two recovered and extened their claws. I snarled and flipped the hatchet in my grip. The one ran at me and sliced at my side, catching a bit of skin and spraying my blood to the floor. I heard Miko scream again, Raf crying out in shock.
I turned and in a flash, I'd wedged the hatchet blade halfway through the Eraser's neck. He fell to the floor, dead. The second one ran from behind me, grabbing my head and slamming me into the wall. The world seemed to spin, but righted itself just in time for me to imbed the hatchet in the oncoming Eraser's skull. The hulking mutant dropped dead.
"Jack!?" I heard Raf squeak in alarm.
"What are you...h-how..." Miko couldn't finish. I took charge and turned to them, whipping out my wings. No more sense in hiding them, my hoodie was mostly strips by now anyway. The two gawked and backed away.
"Raf, Miko, get back to the Groundbridge," I ordered. Another Eraser tackled me, pinning me to the floor. I held his open maw in my hands, preventing him from biting my head. "NOW!"
The two nodded and ran off. I heard a Groundbridge charging up and I slit the throat of the Eraser above me. If there was one thing Mom had taught me about fighting an Eraser, its Kill or Be Killed. I tossed the body off of me and pushed off, speeding around the top of the cavernous tunnel. I kicked any Erasers I could over the edge. They fell, hitting the pavement with a sick CRACK. The few Erasers who tried to shoot at me were swiftly killed. I saw Mom speed by, taking out Erasers on the ground with ease (and a machete) darting in and out between our Cybertronian friends' legs so fast I could hardly see her. The wolf hybrids fell with screams as not only Mom, but Arcee and Bulkhead smashed and slashed at them.
I landed with a skid, preparing my hatchet for another assault, when I heard a darkly warm voice behind me,
"Hello Jack, it's so good to finally meet you."
I felt a pinch in my neck and my world began to fade. I heard Mom call my name and I felt the ground shake from Bulkhead running, but I hit the ground and darkness consumed me before I could see any more.
So...that's a thing. Pretty dark. Sorry about the gore. As with the last two chapters,
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