It's been over a month, I'm sorry /3. But, I wanted to write a whole heap of this story. So now, chapters 14-28 are complete, edited and ready to be posited ;) Expect twice weekly updates from now on!
There was no time to mourn the loss of my comrade, my Brawl. I had a few seconds to stare at his darkened optics, before we were running once more. Megatron had arrived.
"Megatron!" He bellowed, before he clicked; "It's time to die, Autoscum!" In Cybertronian. With those words, we bolted. I ran to Sam, who was running for Mikaela. Desperately shaking the image of Brawl's darkened optics from my mind, I caught up to them, before another voice caught me off guard.
"It's Megatron! Retreat!" Jazz yelled.
"Fall back, fall back!" That must be the CMO, Ratchet.
"Retreat!" Jazz directed to us before he took on Megatron himself. That fool!
"That all you got, Megatron?" Jazz yelled in my leaders face. Megatron regarded him for a moment, but if anything, he looked almost bored. Jazz must've picked up on this, as he began to antagonise the decepticon master once more.
"Come here, you little cretin," Megatron boomed, but he lacked any real emotion. He sounded fake. Everything about him seemed fake. It was in that moment that I decided I didn't like him all too much. But he was my leader now, so I had to respect him. If he doesn't kill me the first chance he gets.
"You want a piece of me? You want a piece?" The little autobot screamed. Megatron didn't even blink as he grabbed both Jazz's legs and his head.
"No, I want two!" Megatron bellowed, before ripping the smaller autobot in half. Megatron threw both pieces in different directions, and I heard Bumblebee cry out. I looked at the ground and smirked slightly. Karma's a bitch, isn't it? Well that's what you get for killing Brawl.
"What's going on?" Lennox yelled from my left towards his men.
"Sir! The helicopter dude's arriving!" A soldier yelped back, I think his name was Burke or something. When he said that, my blood turned to ice. No, Blackout! Panic flooded through me as I bolted towards where Lennox, Burke and Jason were standing, eyes widening as I took in the approaching helicopter.
As if sensing my panic, Blackout tried to calm me through the bond.
'Hazel.' He murmured softly through the comm. Tears sprung to my eyes when I realised how resigned his tone was. He didn't think we were going to make it out of this, either.
'Blackout.' I croaked back to him, heart hurting.
'You need to listen to me, go to Sam. No matter what happens. No matter what happens to me, or to Starscream, I need you to promise me you'll run, okay? You need to stay safe, Hazel. I'll never forgive myself in anything happens to you.' His voice was low and his tone was soft. I didn't bother to hold back the tears that were now running down my face.
'No, Blackout. I'm not going to leave you. Please don't make me leave you.'
'Fleshie.' He used my nickname affectionately. 'I know you feel the bond, and I can't explain it to you right now, but I need you to live. I need you to survive, Hazel. And you may not understand why, but you have too, okay? I want you to live a full life, one that is plentiful - no matter what happens today. I need you to promise me, okay? Promise me you'll live, Hazel.' I choked on a sob as I nodded.
'I promise. But please, try to live for me. Fight for me, Blackout. You better come back to me, otherwise I will be so pissed.' I cried, and I heard his deep, masculine chuckle filter through the comm.
'Okay, Hazel. I will try, for you.' He stated, before pausing. 'One more thing.' He started, as he transformed and dropped from the sky, right into the middle of the battlefield. 'I'm really glad I picked you up in Qatar.' And then, all hell broke loose.
"We're gonna die," Lennox muttered to himself before he turned towards Sam and I.
"Where's the Cube?" He asked, and I lifted my hands, signalling that I held the Cube safely in my arms. His shoulders seemed to sag in relief, and I tried to ignore the men who were desperately firing on my Blackout behind him.
"Okay," He nodded.
Sam nodded in affirmation, before turning around to Mikaela once more, trying to direct her on how to tie the autobot scout to the tow truck he was currently lying on.
"Epps! Get those Black Hawks here, that building," Lennox ordered before pointing at one of tallest buildings in the area. I tilted my head at him, and as if noticing the question in my eyes, he grabbed Sam by the shoulders and ripped him away from the scout and the girl.
"What?" Sam questioned, slightly annoyed.
"Look, I can't leave my guys back there, so here, take this flare," He stated before thrusting the flare into Sam's arms. "Okay, see that tall, white building over there? The one with statues on top? Go to the roof. Set the flare. The Black Hawks will come to you," He ordered. Sam blanched, I however nodded, knowing that it was my only chance to get the AllSpark to Starscream and Megatron.
"No," Sam stated immediately, and I resisted the urge to slap him up the head.
"Signal the chopper and set the flare-" Will continued, but Sam cut him off with his 'no's' once more. Will grabbed Sam's shirt, pulling his face close to his own. Obviously annoyed, Will glared him down.
"Listen to me! You're a soldier now! All right? I need you to take this Cube. Get it into military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are going to die!" Will hissed, and Sam shrunk back slightly. He let go of Sam's shirt before rounding on Mikaela.
"You need to go," He started, but she quickly told him no.
"Sam," I whispered softly. I made my eyes appear wide and innocent. None threatening. Just like Barricade had taught me. "Sam. We need to go. We gotta get to that building. Otherwise, everyone is going to die," I gestured for Mikaela, "Including her."
His gulped loudly. His eyes raked Mikaela's figure, and after a few seconds of careful debation, he sighed and nodded. I grinned at him, before throwing a thumbs up towards Lennox.
"Sam, we will protect you. And Ashley," Ironhide responded, and I almost laughed at the use of my alias instead of my real name. I guess he only knows one. Ironhide turns his gaze to me, and I force a smile onto my face. Blackout had told me plenty of horror stories about the weapons specialist, who just moments ago had mercilessly gunned down my friend. It took all of my willpower not to scowl at him.
"Okay," He responded.
"Epps, where are those planes?" Will asked, eyes narrowing at his friend. Epps shrugged his shoulders, before radioing them again, this time a lot more desperately.
"Sam!" Mikaela called, running up to the boy in question. She put her head against Sam's own, and sighed into him, hugging him softly.
"No matter what happens, I'm really glad I got in that car with you," She whispered, panting from her run. My heart clenched, *I'm really glad I picked you up in Qatar.
She had used Blackout's line. My anger flared up. Even if she had no idea, she didn't have the right to use that line.
"Sam! Ashley! Get to the building!" Ironhide screamed, and Sam immediately took off running. I, however, lingered for a few more moments. Long enough to see everyone start to run towards Blackout, away from Brawl's body. Sam and I ran with them, with Ironhide (who was doing this ridiculous rolling thing as he ran) and Ratchet, following behind.
"Watch out!" Ironhide yelled as Sam almost ran straight into Blackout's foot - or ped, as they call them. Screaming, I grabbed Sam and dragged him away from Blackout. Now, Ironhide and Ratchet were attacking him. My Blackout, and there was nothing I could do.
What made it worse was the fact that I could feel everything. I could feel every strike through the bond. I could feel his emotions, how much pain he was in. How scared he was for my wellbeing. His sadness for Brawl. His respect for his leader. It was all flooding in through the bond.
As if sensing my hesitation, Blackout rounded at me, and pointed his cannon directly at Sam and I. 'Hazel, MOVE!' He yelled, before shooting the building behind us. Sam and I started bolting again, terrified. Well, he was. I wasn't. Blackout suddenly threw Ironhide away from him, before leaping into the air and transforming back into a helicopter. He flew off, away from us, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
There was a loud crashing noise, and I glanced into the street next to us to see that Optimus and Megatron were already tearing each other apart.
"Keep moving! Don't stop," Ironhide screamed at us. Damn, was he a bossy bot.
Hahaha, bossy bot. I crack myself up at the worst of times.
Sam and I continued to run, with me clutching the Cube to my chest once more. It was now throbbing again, but this time, it was a lot more powerful. Powerful enough to distract me from the agonising pain in my side.
"Woah!" Sam screamed, shaking me from my thoughts. Starscream had landed right in front of us, knocking a huge wave of sparks and cars right in our direction. Screaming, I ducked my head, but it was no use. Sam and I hit the tarmac hard, and began to slide towards him.
I landed on my burning side. The bitchumen tearing up all of my scar tissue and causing me to writhe in pure, blinding agony.
"Argh!" I screamed as writhed. I tried to hold back the pain, but I couldn't. It flung into the bond, and I could feel the panic from Blackout's side in return. Sam, as if being awaken from a dream, commando crawled towards me. I saw the fear in his eyes as he positioned himself next to me.
"Oh - shit, Hazel," Sam bit out as he went to touch my wound. I pushed him away, trying desperately to stop screaming. I could feel my shirt beginning to become heavy with blood. I knew, deep down, that I was seriously injured. Frag.
"Ratchet!" Sam screamed in a desperate attempt to get the CMO's attention. However, the pain began to dull down slightly. It felt, as if it was being… sucked away.
Blackout.
He was taking on some of my pain. He was taking away some of my agony.
"Sam, the building!" Ironhide yelled. Sam looked at me, his eyes darkening slightly.
"I'm sorry," He whispered, before wrenching the AllSpark from my grip. My eyes widened as I went to grab it from him, but he was too quick. He turned and began sprinting away.
'Starscream! Sam's got the AllSpark.' Starscream stopped shooting for a moment, seemingly shocked before scowling.
'Well do something about it Fleshie-con! Or are you too weak?' He seethed, and I felt like I had been shot.
Clenching my teeth, I forced myself to sit up. Trying my hardest not to let the pain consume me, I began to run. My vision kept drifting. Becoming blurry one moment, and clear the next. I was almost delirious with pain, but I had a mission. I knew I had a mission. I had to get to Sam. I had to get the AllSpark back. I had to return it to Megatron, it's rightful owner.
I saw Starscream land behind Sam and I once more, however this time, Sam dropped the Cube. As it hit the floor, it sent out this weird shockwave, one that travelled into all of the nearby objects. I picked up the Cube once more, and both of us high-tailed it towards the building. Sam began to scream when he realised that all of the electronic devices nearby were coming alive.
And they weren't very friendly, to say the least.
They began to shoot the slag out of everything in the vicinity of them. People, cars, buildings. It didn't matter what it was, as long as it was destroyed two seconds later it was all good.
They were like mini Decepticons, which was really strange to comprehend.
Well at least it was, until one creepy little xbox decided to start shooting the hell out of Sam and I.
We finally made it to the building, and Sam pulled the Cube from my grip once more. He began to run up the stairs, with me hot on his heels.
"He's not going to get us. He's not going to get us," He chanted over and over, pissing me off greatly. Of course he was going to get us, dumbaft. He's the bloody leader of the Decepticons. Megatron makes Barricade look like a chew toy, and we all know how terrified of 'Cade you are.
"I smell you, boy," He roared slightly, before starting to talk in Cybertronian.
"You and your pathetic race must perish!"
Sam's eyes widened at the close proximity of Megatron, and grabbed my arm before yanking me up the stairs faster. "Maggots," Megatron growled, causing Sam to look at me in terror.
We ran onto the roof, and Sam instantly began to cry out like an idiot 'Hey, heey! I'm over here. I'm here!"
Which of course attracted the attention of Megatron.
The Black Hawk lowered towards us, and Sam immediately reach out for them.
"We've got the kids," One of the soldiers radioed, before Sam realised that Megatron was about to shoot them.
"Watch out!" He yelled.
"Missile!" One of the Black Hawk men roared. They never stood a chance, in all honesty. The missile clipped the back of the chopper, blowing off the tail. They fell, fast.
"Hang on, Sam! Ashley!" Optimus roared from below as we were forced further and further onto the ledge of the building. Finally, Sam was clutching to a pillar for dear life, whilst I was clutching the pillar next to him.
"Is it fear or courage that compels you, fleshlings?" Megatron roared, and I suddenly realised that he had no idea that I was the Decepticon spy. Oh, Jesus.
"Give me the AllSpark and you may live to be my pet!" He roared, snapping his claw fingers greedily. Sam's eyes met mine, and I could see the complete and utter panic contained within them.
"Woah! Oh, no no no," I chanted as I slipped slightly, grabbing at the statue tightly. From where I was, I could clearly see Blackout blasting Will's men apart. I was worried for a moment, but he seems like he's got no issues over there whatsoever.
"I'm never giving you this AllSpark!" Sam roared in a moment of confidence. I almost slapped him.
I mean, yes, Megatron is my leader and all so I shouldn't really be fearful of him but at that moment no one has bothered to tell him not to hurt the female squishy, so as far as he's concerned I'm fair game. So with that being said, Sam would do better to keep his mouth shut.
"Oh, so unwise," Megatron sighed, before lifting up his steel ball of doom. I knew almost instantly what he was going to do.
'BLACKOUT!' I screamed, and his head snapped to where I was gripping on for dear life. Then, there was a loud crash, and I was falling.
'NO!' He roared through the main comm.
'What?' Megatron growled, and it was almost comical.
"I've got you kids!" Optimus yelled, and grabbed us out of the air. Relief flooded through me. That's the only time I'm ever going to be thankful for an autobot, I swear.
'Urm, Lord Megatron, sir. You just, knocked our spy off of a building.' Starscream explained rather sheepishly. Megatron said nothing in return, but I saw his optics trail to my figure, regarding me with burning curiosity. I resisted the urge to wave at him.
"Hold on to the Cube," Optimus said, and then we were abseiling. It went great for about thirty seconds, before Megatron bitch-slapped Optimus off the building. We hit the floor with a thud, and Optimus turned to us, quickly.
"Sam, Ashley. You risked your lives to save the Cube," Optimus stated, as if he was shocked. I went to say something before I was distracted by Megatron. Some guy was running around in the background screaming 'Oh no, oh no, oh no!'
So Megatron decided to flick him, sending him flying into a parked car. "Disgusting," Megatron spat out, causing me to almost laugh.
"No sacrifice, no victory," Sam repeated to Optimus, as if the infamous Witwicky catchphrase was going to make everything a-okay.
"If I cannot defeat Megatron, you must push the Cube into my chest. I will sacrifice myself to destroy it. Get behind me," Optimus ordered, and I already wanted to barf. I've been with this dude all of two minutes, and I already wanted to bang my head into a pole half a million times.
Sam grabbed my arm, pulling us behind an old taxi. Gripping my burning side, I panted harshly. Blackout was getting distracted, the pain was beginning to worsen again.
'Are you ok?' Sam mouthed, and I nodded, putting on a fake, strained smile on my face. He still looked nervous, but didn't question it.
"It's you and me, Megatron!" Prime roared.
"No, it's just me, Prime!" Megatron snapped back.
It actually wasn't that hard to believe they were brothers.
"Sam, you know what you need to do. I'm going to go help Will. Good luck," I whispered at him, before bolting. Sam went to yell my name, but he was distracted by Megatron landing right near him. Just before I turned the corner, I saw him running towards a large crack in the road. Found a place to hide, good for him.
Turning into an alleyway, I ran straight into Will and the others. It was silent for a moment, before Blackout landed in the open street. He walked calmly and leisurely towards the Autobots at the end of the street. He hadn't seen us.
'Blackout, keep walking. Whole squad of soldiers behind you, they know how to take you down now. Please, be safe.' I whispered to him. His steps didn't slow as he heard me.
'Are you alright?' He responded.
"I'm fine, now focus, Blackie. These guys are the real deal.' He gave a slight nod as he walked, affirming that he realised the severity of the situation.
Will got on a nearby bike, firing it up. Whilst Epps pointed a green light at Blackout's legs. My blood ran cold when I realised what they were planning to do, but I was too late to warn him.
Actually, he warned himself.
Epps accidentally brings the laser too high, and Blackout notices the green dot immediately. He rounds on us, glaring at Epps before raising his cannon.
"Move out!" Epps yelled, and we all dispersed as fast as possible. Blackout began to shoot the cars nearby, and we screamed, running in every direction possible.
'Stop screaming, Hazel. You're putting me off cause I think I'm hurting you.' He told me through the comm link, shutting me up mid scream.
"Incoming!" Epps screamed, and Will suddenly started to drive towards Blackout. Blackout began to fire at him. I noticed the incoming missiles before Blackout did.
Will twists his bike on to the side, and begins sliding in between Blackout's legs.
"NO!" I scream, and Epps grabs me, telling me that Will is going to be okay. Yes, I know that Will is going to be okay, you stupid fragger. But what about my Blackout?
The missiles hit Blackout front on, causing him to stagger forward, at just the right angle for Will to land a direct hit on his sensitive wires. He explodes forward, and I can feel his agony through the bond.
Will is laughing like a madman as he continues to slide. But, Blackout, Blackout falls. His optics offline.
For a split second, it feels like my entire world has ended. Everything that was important to me, ceases to exist. My very being, the very reason I existed, just...disappeared. The will to live suddenly dies within me. I go to scream once again, when a familiar nudge at the bond stops me.
'Blackout?' I whisper in disbelief.
'The one and only, Hazel.' He responds. And although he sounds exhausted, he is most definitely alive.
There is an explosion of missiles, as suddenly the entire air becomes a battlezone. The men run towards where Megatron and Optimus are fighting, whilst air support take on Starscream.
'Blackout, go. Now! Whilst they are distracted. You have to go!' I order, and suddenly, his optics online again.
There is not a seconds pause before he transforms and takes off into the air, bolting away at inhuman speeds. Relief fills me as I know he's safe and sound. He'll find Barricade. He'll be okay.
"No Sam!" Optimus cries, and I turn to face him. My jaw drops as Sam forces the Cube into Megatron's chest. No! Megatron! I voice through the comm. His optics snap to me.
He grabs at his chest for a few, fleeting moments, before falling forward with a painful groan. Then, the great Decepticon leader is no more. Optimus approaches his dead brother's body, and kneels, looking devastated for a second.
"You left me no choice, brother," He whispers.
A blinding, agonising rage begins to consume me. How dare he? That, that, sentimental ass of a robot! How dare he. How dare he stand there over my fallen leader and pretend to feel in the least bit guilty for his mighty's passing?
Fuming, I turned my head away from the scene, my jaw clenching tightly. Will's eyes met mine in a questioning glance, but I merely smiled at him.
I'm going to offline that fragging glitch head of a Prime. Even if it is the last thing I do, I vowed.