Chapter 9-Hunter's Moon
The upper atmosphere of the planet Terra was calm and quiet, isolated from the rest of the galaxy currently embroiled in a chaotic civil war between factions of mechanical aliens vying for dominance. It was peaceful and calm, uneventful save for a passing weather satellite. But like all things, it didn't last very long.
From places unknown, a large fireball appeared from distant space; it could be mistaken for a comet, but its flight pattern was too rigid and not natural at all. It shot straight at the planet and soon entered its atmosphere, where gravity took hold of it and it was engulfed in even more flames, but didn't burn up like a normal meteor. It fell from the sky towards the Osean continent over a large forested area. The fireball crashed into a forest, smashing through dozens of trees and leaving behind a smoking trail in the dirt as it came to a stop.
When the smoke finally cleared, it revealed that it was no comet at all, but a ship. A ship that belonged to a very dangerous person.
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Darren sat by the wall of the training room as he watched Arcee and Jazz spar. They were dueling with blue laser staves, which looked exactly like wooden Bo staves, only glowing and dealt painful shocks when hitting a moving target. Darren was amazed at how two fifteen foot tall robots could move so fast and do all these flips and kicks like a six foot human. Hell, he had even witnessed Optimus do some fancy moves himself on the field thanks to some old war vids Wheeljack procured for the children. It was as if weight was no problem for the Autobots.
"Hey, Darren." High Wire greeted his partner as he stood next to him. "Watching them train?"
"Yeah. It started with Annie trying to get me to learn some new moves from them, but now I actually like watching them spar." Darren said.
"So…you learn anything from them?" He asked. Darren smirked.
"Yup, I learned that Arcee is nowhere near Jazz's level."
The two Autobots went at each other with fast attacks, quick and precise, with multiple movements done within a span of mere seconds. Darren, if he squinted, could see that Jazz was just a bit faster than Arcee, and therein laid the difference in skill. Jazz remained on the defensive, blocking or deflecting any attacks Arcee sent his way. It was his style of battle that he perfected over the course of his martial arts career. Waiting for your opponent to leave an opening that you could exploit. This strategy helped Jazz many times on the battlefield and it was a tactic that he made sure to teach Arcee.
Arcee spun her staff around her body and launched an upward strike at Jazz, who spun around her weapon and jabbed his staff into her torso. She grunted, but retaliated with a kick to his head, and that was when he saw his opening. Jazz ducked under her foot and rushed her, wrapped his arms around her waist, flipping his body around to throw Arcee onto her back onto the floor. He kicked away her staff and pinned her down with his staff to keep her from moving.
"And that's all she wrote." Jazz grinned.
"Damn it." She sighed. Jazz helped her up as Darren walked over to her.
"Wow, I know Jazz was good but I didn't think he was that good." He said.
"You weren't here when I took out Arcee and Bee on day in training. It was certainly a sight to see." Jazz said. Arcee jabbed him in the side.
"I can imagine." Darren smiled.
"You know, Darren, you could train with us too. We can do it with our Holomatter avatars." Arcee suggested. "I heard Annie say that you needed practice with your powers."
"Ugh, I can manage, thanks. And it's none of Annie's business anyway, since she had that giant hammer she dragged from Belka." Darren said. His sister was like a totally different person after that chaotic mission. She was always keeping one eye on Mjolnir to see if Optimus was going to shoot it off planet or something. Not to mention she looked like the littlest thing could set her off. She even kept Fenris' head as a freaking trophy. "Besides, I'm good enough to handle Leader-1 and Rumble."
"Good enough isn't going to help you all the time. Remember Darren, you have the potential to be powerful, but you won't be that much of a threat to enemies who know not to underestimate you. Practice makes perfect, and one day you may rely on your powers to save lives, yours or someone else's." Jazz told him and left the room.
"Speaking from experience?" High Wire asked Arcee.
"Possibly, Primus knows that Jazz has been around the block in his day." She said. "But if I were you, I'd take his words to heart. You're an esper, Darren, the least you could do is try to harness it more. the world is a dangerous place for untrained espers."
"Believe me, I'm well aware of that fact." He muttered. They walked out of the sparring room and headed to the rec room. "Arcee, how did you meet Jazz? I take it that you must've known him for a long time."
Arcee's expression grew a bit strained, but she hid it well from Darren and High Wire. "Jazz…is like an older brother to me. When he found me, I was in a dark lace, but he helped me get through it. For that I am thankful, because if we hadn't met, I wouldn't have met you two."
Darren blushed. "Flatterer."
"Arcee, you got recon duty in Yellowstone." Prowl said as he passed them. "There's some untapped energon in the area and you need to go confirm its location."
"So much to getting a cold one." Arcee sighed. Darren patted her leg.
"Don't worry, Cee. High Wire and I can come along to keep you company." He suggested. Arcee smiled down at him.
"That's sweet of you, Darren. Okay, you can come, just be sure to be prepared. I heard that the forest is a rough place for a kid."
"Don't worry, I got that covered." Darren ran off to get some supplies for the mission, leaving High Wire with Arcee.
"Are you sure it's all right for us to go with you?" He asked. "What if something happens?"
"Don't worry, High Wire. If trouble pops up, then I can have Teletran bridge you two back." Arcee said and walked to the shuttle bay. "And besides, kids like him need some fresh air every once in a while."
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Yellowstone was a state that was home to one of the largest national parks in the country. When Arcee, Darren and High Wire exited the ground bridge on top of a cliff, they were greeted by a marvelous site of untouched forested land and rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. A natural paradise untouched by man for its pristine beauty. High Wire marveled as the sight, having never seen such dense vegetation in his time on Cybertron. This was all a new experience for him.
"Amazing." High Wire gasped.
"I take if you've never seen so many trees before?" Darren smirked.
"Cybertron is mostly made of metal and rock. The closest this could come to on Cybertron would be the Helix Gardens." He said.
"What's that?" The boy asked.
"A forest of trees made of pure crystal."
Darren stared at the Minicon blankly before sighing. "Yeah, your planet wins."
"All right, boys, let's go. We're not here for sight-seeing." Arcee said with a small smile. She took out her scanner and walked into the forest, scanning for any notable energon signatures.
Darren took this time to enjoy the peacefulness of the forest. He loved the picturesque sights and the seclusion of it all, but the dreary grey skies and rumbling thunder in the distance killed the warm feelings he would've had. To make things worse, the humidity was drawing all kinds of creepy critters into the open, most of them of the bloodsucking kind. Darren grumbled as he swatted a few mosquitoes that got too close for comfort.
"You doing okay there, Darren?" Arcee smirked.
"I'm fine, just peachy." He droned. "I'd be even better if these damn bugs would just lay off me for five seconds."
"Do you need assistance? I'm quicker on the draw than you are and could probably catch them." High Wire suggested.
"That won't be necessary, High Wire. You'll probably hit by nose in the process." Darren said, swatting away a bug. "This is just one of the many cons of exploring nature."
"Quite the outdoorsman, aren't you, Darren?" Arcee quipped.
"You wouldn't be laughing at my survival kit." Darren said proudly, jerking a thumb at the backpack he took along."
"So that's what you brought along." High Wire muttered. "What's in it?"
"A swiss army knife, a compass, a flare, some trail mix and water. Might not be as effective as stinger proof metal skin, but it gets the job done."
"I didn't say anything." Arcee laughed. Being around them was always a breath of fresh air compared to her time at Autobot Headquarters. She loved her friends at Orbital Command, but it was nice to meet new faces. The scanner started beeping, drawing her attention. "Hmm, that's strange."
"What's wrong?" High Wire asked.
"The scanner's in the red. Energon deposits don't normally give off this strong a reading." She frowned.
Arcee led the way and her two companions followed her. Reaching a small hill, they went to the top and came upon a clearing…or what was left of it.
To their surprise, a ship was sitting in the middle of a desolated area of the forest, most likely caused by its fiery crash landing. It was large, but nowhere near as big as the Ark or Nemesis. Its construction consisted of hard and angular armor plating, typical of most Decepticon ships, and from the still smoking ground, it wasn't there for long.
"It's a cybertronian ship." High Wire said.
"Ours or there's?" Darren asked, referring to which faction it belonged to. Arcee put her scanner away and drew her blaster from her thigh compartment.
"Let's find out." She said and looked down at her companions. "You two stay here and out of sight."
Arcee climbed down into the trench and slowly approached the ship. Darren and High Wire kept a close eye on her as she walked over to the back of the ship and enter the landing hatch, disappearing from view. They both waited anxiously, the overall feeling of the forest having suddenly felt colder and less inviting. After a few minutes, they saw Arcee's pink and white form stagger out of the ship. She didn't look too good.
"Arcee?" Darren called out to her. He grabbed High Wire's hand and pulled him along into the trench. "Arcee!"
Arcee didn't hear his cries. She leaned against the ship with a shocked look on her face. Her hands were trembling and her eyes were wide as she recalled memories that she tried to keep buried.
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The city-state of Ky-Alexia was a beautiful place located near the Mithril Sea, Cybertron's only body of water. Before the Great War, it was a popular tourist site that prided itself on its scenic beauty and natural serenity. Even after the war began, Ky-Alexia was miles away from the chaos that plagued the Torus States and the nearby badlands.
Now the city was set flame, the war finally having reached its borders, and now it was stuck in the middle of the two sides that threatened to tear it apart with the vicious fighting.
Three vehicles drove through the war torn streets of the once beautiful city. In the lead was a pink and white car, the other a mint green car and at the rear was a dark purple motorcycle. The trio of femmes carefully avoided the Decepticon Orbital Carriers patrolling the skies and raced into the safety of an abandoned warehouse. Once they were sure they were in the clear, they transformed to their robot modes.
"I think we lost them." The purple femme said softly. The green femme, the youngest of the trio, gave her a skeptical look.
"You sure? Because I doubt the Combaticons will let us go just like that." She huffed. "Especially that creep Motormaster."
"Moonracer, relax," Arcee said. She gave her baby sister a calming smile. "I'll keep you safe. Trust me."
"O-okay. I trust you big sis." Moonracer smiled.
"Let me call Cliff to confirm our rendezvous point and we'll be on our way." Arcee looked at her lover. "Flamewar, take point."
"Got it."
The pink Autobot switched on her comm. "Arcee to Cliffjumper, do you copy?"
"I hear you, Cee. My team and I are waiting for them. The bridge is secured."
"Roger that, Arcee out." She turned to her sisters. "The bridge is ours. Let's go!"
Arcee was about to head to the door when she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Looking down, she saw a bullet wound in her thigh and fell to one knee. She looked at the window and saw a bullet hole through the glass. A sniper!
"Arcee!" Moonracer ran over to her sister. She raised her sniper rifle at the assailant. "Don't worry, big sis, we got our back!"
"Actually, Moonracer, there's been a change of plans."
Arcee watched in horror as Flamewar leveled her crossbow at Moonracer and shot her in the chest.
"Moonracer!"
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"Arcee!"
"W-what?"
Arcee was brought back to the present and saw Darren and High Wire looking up at her concerned.
"What's wrong?" The Minicon asked.
She regained her composure and looked back at the ship. She knew who this ship belonged to. She turned on her comm and called the Ark.
"Arcee to Ark, requesting ground bridge." She only got static on the comm-link. "Ark, do you copy? Teletran? Anybody? Scrap!" She cursed. "The ship must be emitting a hyper-frequency scrambler pulse!"
"Arcee what's going on? You're freaking me out." Darren said. Arcee didn't answer and transformed to car mode, opening her doors.
"Get in."
More than a little unnerved by her erratic behavior, Darren and High Wire got in. She barely waited for them to settle in before she put it in high gear and drove as fast as she could away from the ship. Her passengers held on tightly as she weaved through the trees at high speed.
"Arcee, slow down!" High Wire shouted.
Arcee ignored him and didn't slow down even as she leapt over a small crevice in the ground. She landed perfectly and skidded to a stop, letting them out before transforming to her natural form again.
"Base, can you hear me now?" Arcee yelled into her comm. "Answer me damn it!"
"Arcee, what the hell is going on? Who's ship is that?" Darren asked, losing his patience. Arcee looked at him with a very tense expression.
"High Wire, I want you and Darren to stay here while I go check things out. If I'm not back within the hour, get as far away from this place as possible and call Sparkplug. Understand?" Arcee didn't wait for an answer and walked away, only for Darren to cut her off.
"Not until you tell us what's going on. I thought we were partners!" He yelled at her. Arcee gritted her teeth and knelt down so her face hovered directly over him.
"You're not my partner, you're a kid! Esper or not, you're a liability. And I can't watch out for danger and you at the same time!"
"We can still help!" He said.
"No, you can't. this mission was supposed to be simple recon, no risk. I am not putting you in danger!" She yelled in a rare show of anger before collapsing into her alt mode and driving away.
"Darren, you should listen to her. I've never seen her look so angry before." High Wire said.
"Which is why we're going to help her. If she thinks having a tantrum is going to scare me off, then she doesn't know me very well." Darren went to follow Arcee's tracks, but High Wire stopped him. "Let go."
"No. Prime made sure I was to keep you out of danger and that's what I plan to do. Going off on your own after Arcee doesn't qualify as safe." He said strongly. Darren psychically pried High Wire's fingers off his arm and glared at him.
"Then feel free to come with me. If not, stay here. I'm going to help my friend whether you like it or not." Darren said. "And don't try to stop me. You'll be frozen before you can do anything."
High Wire stared hard at Darren with his round eyes before giving a rough sigh and switching to alt mode. "Get on."
Arcee had changed forms when she was far enough from Darren and High Wire and was now stalking through the forest with her swords drawn and her eyes scanning the terrain. She felt a deep ache in her Spark that she knew could only mean one thing, and she followed it to her target. It was a feeling she knew all too well and had long since forgotten.
'It's her. It has to be!' Arcee thought. 'Why here? Why now of all places?'
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Arcee groaned as she came back online. It took a moment for her memories of earlier to come back, but they hit her like cold water on exposed circuits. She tried to move, but her arms and feet were encased in magna-cuffs and she was suspended off the ground.
"Awake I see," A harsh sounding voice echoed in the cell like a haunting tune. "Good. This wouldn't be as much fun if you were still sleeping."
Arcee strained her eyes to see who was speaking to her, only to see a figure hiding in the darkness. "Who…who's there? Come out and face me!"
"You're in no position to be making demands, Arcee." The speaker stepped into the dim light and Arcee couldn't hold back her gasp.
"Ashling."
Ashling was one of the most terrifying and brutal Decepticons within their ranks, a high ranking scientist and interrogator, and an all around disturbing individual. She was a rail thin femme with rusty gray armor and six arms with two wheels on the backs of her legs. Her armor was old and warped from extreme heat and misuse, with pieces missing and exposing her inner circuitry. But her face…her face was ghoulish in appearance. Her eyes lacked optic lens, leaving her burnt orange eyes bare, and her mouth was just a large serrated maw of needle sharp teeth set in a permanent grin.
"So you know of me. I'm so flattered. I didn't think any Autobot knew the name of Megatron's cadaver!" Ashling cackled. Her laugh sounded like two knives grinding together and it hurt Arcee's audials. "No, normally I don't do one on one sessions, but I'm doing this as a favor to a friend of mine. It shouldn't be too boring considering how strong willed you are."
"I have nothing to say to you, watch!" Arcee shouted. Ashling laughed once more, more condescending than mocking.
"That's no way to talk to your generous host. No matter, what I'm going to do to you will enough punishment. Now open wide-I want to hear you scream!"
Arcee gritted her teeth as Ashling stabbed a laser scalpel in her leg and began to slide the tool down her thigh.
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Arcee inhaled sharply and focused herself. She couldn't be distracted now. The Autobot continued on her search, still following the growing ache in her chest that guided her. The almost painful contractions in her Spark were a sign that she was getting close. Really close.
Suddenly something slammed into her back from behind. Arcee fell forward into a roll and kicked her attacker off her. The figure flipped in the air and landed on their feet gracefully.
It was a femme with sleek black armor and glowing red biolights running up her body around her torso. She held a crossbow in one hand and her left arm had a thin blade extended, glinting in the setting sunlight. Arcee recognized this femme almost immediately, and she felt her hands shake slightly.
"Flamewar." Arcee growled.
"So you do remember me after all this time. I am so flattered." Flamewar grinned. "Good to see that spark hadn't died out with your courage that night."
"How are you still alive? I saw the roof cave in on you." Arcee said. "I saw you die!"
"You saw me get shot. It was a close call, but I can assure you, it will take more than that to kill me."
Arcee raised her swords. "Then I'll just have to try my hardest to finish the job!"
The two femmes leapt at each other and slashed at each other. Arcee's swords grinded against Flamewar's arm blades, creating bright sparks. Arcee drew her pistol and tried to shoot her in the face, but Flamewar kicked her arm aside and the laser bolt grazed her shoulder. They fought in the darkening forest, executing fast attacks and hard punches and kicks to knock each other off balance. Arcee was kicked into a tree and leapt aside to dodge the heat blast fired at her.
"What the hell are you doing here, Flamewar?" Arcee demanded. "Still the Cons' hunting dog?"
"Oh heavens no. After the Exodus, I work solo these days. Those morons in High Command can go play their war games in hell for all I care." Flamewar grinned, her eyes flashing. "These days I cruise around the galaxy partaking in a fun new hobby of mine, hunting."
Arcee scowled as she thought back to when she explored the femme's ship. Inside, she saw the walls lined with the severed heads of various alien species, some were cleanly cut but most were savagely torn off.
"I saw your trophy case."
"Then you can guess why I came here. Decepticon radio chatter was abuzz about Megatron coming to this planet personally, so I decided to check it out. Running into you was just a pleasant coincidence, I ultimately plan on obtaining a specimen from this world. Snagging a creature, living or otherwise, from the uncharted regions will get be lots of bragging rights with the alpha males in the hunting community."
"Like hell you are!"
Arcee threw one of her swords at Flamewar, who kicked it out of the air, and rushed her. She jumped up and delivered an axe-kick to the shoulder that almost broke the joint. Arcee grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground, mounting her and pointing her blaster at Flamewar's face.
"Arcee!"
Arcee looked up and saw Darren riding on High Wire's alt mode towards them. the distraction allowed Flamewar to kick her off and fire a green energy net from a launcher in her forearm. It ensnared Arcee and trapped her against a tree. Flamewar smirked and pointed her crossbow at Arcee.
"NO!" Darren shouted and punched forward, sending out a strong telekinetic wave that rippled through the air and caught the surprised Decepticon in the head.
Caught off guard, the huntress was sent crashing headfirst into a boulder, hitting it hard enough to crack the stone and knock her out. Arcee was shocked at Darren's move, but her surprise turned to anger.
"I thought I told you two to run! What are you doing here?" She asked angrily.
"Saving your tailpipe." Darren replied as he ran over to her. "High Wire, help me with this."
Arcee couldn't believe the tenacity of these two little guys as they started pulling at the net to get her free. "Listen to me, I don't need your help! The only thing you'll do is get in the way. Just go!"
If she thought her aggressive tone would scare them off, she was sorely mistaken as neither the boy nor the Minicon were affected at all.
"I don't believe that, I can see it in your eyes." Darren said firmly. He looked up at her, green eyes meeting blue. "I may not have known you for that long, but I do know that you're a sweet, kind, and level-headed under stress. But I can see that you're afraid, and you're never afraid."
His words resonated with her and brought back more unwanted memories.
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Arcee coughed up some energon and glared weakly at her tormentor. Her body felt numb with pain, covered in deep gashes that were bleeding profusely, her left leg was limp, hanging to her body by only of couple of wires, and her left eye was offline.
"You're strong, Arcee. Very resilient." Ashling praised, tossing her energon prod aside. "Or perhaps I was too gentle. No matter, there are other ways to break someone."
She snapped her fingers and two Vehicons entered the room, dragging a limp body between them. Arcee gasped at the numerous wounds on the figure's body, with armor barely hanging off her ravaged form. She even noticed they were missing an arm. As they stepped into the light, Arcee was even more horrified to see that it was her sister, Moonracer.
"Moon…what the hell did you do to her?!"
"Me? Nothing. It appears that my associate got a bit overzealous in her playtime." Ashling grinned and turned to the door. "I'll be going now, so I'll let my friend have her fun. You can come in now, dear."
Ashling left the cell and another femme entered the chamber, her red eyes glowing in the shadows. Arcee was pained to already know who it was before she even stepped into view.
"Flamewar, why?"
"We can no longer remain neutral in this war, Cee. Either you join a side or you die alone." Flamewar said. "I just decided on joining the winning team."
"You glitch! How could you betray us? We were your family! I loved you!" Arcee yelled.
"A perfect little femme like you wouldn't understand. But right now, I'm going to have my fun by doing something I've been dreaming about for a long time."
Flamewar rolled her shoulders and walked over to Moonracer's broken body.
"Leave her alone!"
"Shut up! I'm going to break you down, Arcee. Starting with this wretch!" Flamewar raised her clawed hand and struck.
Arcee watched in horror as Flamewar shoved her arm into Moonracer's chest, her fingers bursting through her back in a gory mess as she tore out Moonracer's Spark core and crushed it in her hand.
"NOOOOOO!"
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"You're right, Darren, I am afraid-of losing you!" Arcee confessed, breaking her strong façade. Darren and High Wire looked at her in shock.
"Arcee, you really suck at this protecting the innocent gig." Flamewar sat up, rubbing her aching head. "You couldn't even protect Moonracer, so what makes you think that they'll make it out in one piece?"
"She hunts indigenous species, and she's here on Terra for only one thing-humans! And that means you." Arcee said to Darren, who began backing away. "RUN!"
High Wire transformed and Darren hopped onto him, giving Arcee one last look before they rode off into the forest. Flamewar sucked her teeth and approached Arcee.
"And that's why I work alone. Less baggage to worry about." She leaned in and took out a small disc to place it on Arcee's head.
"Do your worst." Arcee growled.
"Oh, I intend to, make no mistake about that. But first, I'm going to make your suffer." Flamewar said. "You're going to hunt down those little pets of yours, then you will tear them apart with your own two hands."
Flamewar pressed a button on her wrist and a loud buzzing went off in Arcee's head. She felt her mind go blank and her vision get blurry. Before everything went dark, Arcee desperately hoped that her friends would get away in time.
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Night had fallen over Yellowstone, and without artificial lights that dominated most of the continent, it was nearly pitch black. Darren tried really hard to keep his fear at bay as he held on tight to High Wire, who switched his headlight on.
"What are we going to do? Arcee's in trouble and we still have no way to call the base." Darren said.
"Calm down, Darren. We'll save Arcee, but only if we make a plan. We just need someplace to hold out so we can think." High Wire replied.
Darren heard the sound of a car engine behind them and looked back to see Arcee racing after them. When she was close enough, she transformed and lunged at them with sickly green eyes. Darren cursed and pulled High Wire aside, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the pink Autobot. Arcee crashed into the ground and scrambled to get them with quick but sloppy movements. She tried to grab them, but they evaded her as best as they could manage.
High Wire saw a small cave not too far from them. "Hold on!"
He swerved around a tree and raved towards the cave, but Arcee was almost on them. Mentally apologizing to Arcee, Darren waved his hand and caused a nearby boulder to hit her legs, making her stumble. This gave them enough time to reach the cave and climb inside. High Wire changed forms and crawled deeper into the tiny tunnel with Darren and they didn't stop until they were a good distance away from the opening.
"Great, this is just what we needed." Darren groaned. "Now we're in really deep shit."
"Well, the situation may have gotten worse, but all is not lost." High Wire said. When Darren looked at him, he elaborated. "Arcee is clearly being controlled by Flamewar. I saw a disc on her forehead when she was chasing us. We just need to get that thing off her head and she'll return to normal."
"Okay, but what about the murderous alien poacher? How do we take her out?" Darren asked. He reached into his backpack and looked inside, pulling out the flares and a knife. "Oh who am I kidding?"
He took a moment to think, then a grin spread across his face as he had an idea. Seeing his face light up, High Wire knew that he figured something out.
"I take it you have a plan?" He asked. Darren smiled.
"Something like that." He said. "But you might not like it."
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Flamewar glared at Arcee's motionless form as she stood before her like a statue. She wasn't pleased to learn that Arcee lost her prey.
"How hard is it to catch a boy and a Minicon?" Flamewar hissed. "One damn fleshling not even in his adolescent years! Is it too much to ask for you to bring me his corpse? Hell, even his head would've been good."
Arcee said nothing, not that she would've been able to. Her mind was suppressed and she was basically unconscious. Flamewar scowled and got into her face, glaring at her former lover.
"You have no idea how much I hate you. All those years of living in your shadow, listening to people go on and on about how pretty you are, or how skilled you were, licking the ground you walked on like mongrels! All because you could do some fancy tricks with a gun." She snarled. "Then Moonracer, motormouth Moonracer, gets praised for being a class A sharpshooter. As if being trumped by you weren't bad enough, now I had to contend with being shown up by your runt of a sister. Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to be compared to a femme who can't shut up for five nano-kliks? I just couldn't handle it."
She stepped back and started looking over her crossbow. "I loved you, and you loved me. That love was genuine. But I…just could not stand coming second to someone who has never known hardship. Not like me. I worked for what I had, and you were given all of it. Something had to go-my dignity or your love. We both know that answer."
Flamewar's expression hardened and she pointed her weapon at Arcee's head. "There hasn't been a day where I haven't dreamed of meeting you again just so I could pay you back in kind. There were times when I thought that I'd never get the chance to kill you. But here we are, four million years later, you the slave and me the master. I can finally get the retribution I deserve!"
"Don't even think about it!"
She looked to her left to see High Wire standing by a tree. Grinning, Flamewar pointed at him and gave Arcee an order. "Kill him."
Arcee charged at the Minicon, who transformed and drove off into the dark forest. It took Flamewar a minute to realize that Darren was not with the Minicon like she thought she was. Where was he?
"Hey, second best!" Darren ran out from his hiding spot. "You seem to have fun letting others do your dirty work! I bet all that bragging about your hunting skills was just loud boasts!"
Flamewar smirked and ran at Darren. When she was close enough, he took out his flare gun and fired a flare, using his powers to send the flare into her right eye. A stinging pain caused Flamewar to cry out and fall to her knees, clutching her eye.
"Have fun trying to hunt with one eye." Darren smirked before running away.
Flamewar rubbed her stinging eye and grinned. "That little bastard. That was actually clever. It'll be fun skinning you."
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High Wire drove through the forest, trying to maintain his balance on the thick foliage on the ground. He had to make sure that he led Arcee as far away from Flamewar as possible.
It was a risky plan to separate the two femmes and deal with them individually. Darren handled Flamewar while High Wire set about freeing Arcee. Divide and conquer.
Arcee's robotic movements were easy to evade and predictable, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He led her to a small clearing and turned around, only to see her gone.
"Where did she…?"
Her giant form dropped down from the trees and landed right above him. High Wire was grabbed around the waist and lifted to her face. Feeling her grip on him start to tighten, High Wire knew he had to act fast. He raised his hand and threw a miniature flash grenade into her face. It exploded, blinding her momentarily, and made her lose her grip on him, which he broke free from. Taking out Darren's army knife, he jumped onto her head and stabbed it into the disc on her head, ripping if off.
Arcee's body twitched violently as if she was having a seizure and the green hue in her eyes faded to her normal blue. The femme fell to the ground, throwing High Wire off and into a tree.
"It's up to you now, Darren." He groaned and went limp.
XXXXXX
Darren ran through the forest as fast as he could with the sadistic Con chasing after him like a tigress on the prowl. It was very dark now, and he had to make an effort to see where he was going without resorting to a flashlight and giving away his position. Not that it mattered, since he had a better chance at fighting Megatron barehanded than hiding from her.
He dared to look back and saw Flamewar leaping from tree to tree with the agility of an acrobat. He could see that damned hellish grin on her face-she was treating this like a game! He'll show her not to take him lightly.
When she leapt for another branch, Darren predicted where she would leap to and reached out with his mind, breaking the normally strong branch the second her feet touched it. Flamewar was surprised by this and she fell, but she twisted her body to land on her feet.
"You'll have to do more than that to shake me off, boy!" Flamewar cackled.
"Fine then. How's this?" Darren took a deep breath and sent out a TK wave at the trees around her.
Flamewar saw the trunks of the trees around her explode and the trees fell down on her. With the femme buried under a pile of trees, not enough to kill her, sadly, it bought him enough time to make some distance. He went back to running, heading straight for the crash site of Flamewar's ship.
Back in the glade, Arcee woke up with a piercing headache and she sat up. When the memories came rushing back to her, she gasped.
"Darren, High Wire!"
She got to her knees and saw High Wire next to a tree motionless. Her breath hitched a bit, but she calmed down when she saw that he was just unconscious. Arcee reached out and held his body in her hands as she sat there, weighed down by her emotions. All this, the memories, Flamewar, it was just too much. After all the time she spent trying to forget, the past was just coming back to haunt her.
XXXXXX
Arcee stared at the corpse of Moonracer in shock. She didn't move, and didn't utter a sound, not even a whimper. She didn't ever register Flamewar slowly inching a dagger towards her eye.
The door to the cell was suddenly blasted open and three Autobots rushed in; Elita-1, Chromia and Firestar. Flamewar growled and tried to shoot them, but Firestar was faster, firing a heat blast that hit Flamewar in the chest and sent her crashing through the wall.
"Get her down!" Elita-1 ordered.
Chromia and Firestar quickly broke Arcee's bonds and half-carried her to the door. Arcee shook them off and crawled over to her sister's body, cradling her and rocking back and forth as she let out a tearless sob.
"I couldn't save her! I couldn't save my sister! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"
XXXXXX
"I'm sorry guys. I was too busy trying to escape my demons that all I did was put you in more danger. I didn't want to lose you like Moonracer." Arcee said. "I don't want to go through that pain again."
"It's…nothing to be ashamed about, Arcee."
Arcee looked at the Minicon in her hands. "High Wire!"
"You were only doing what you thought was right. But you have to remember you're not alone anymore. You have me, Darren, and the rest of the team." High Wire grunted a bit as he sat up. "You may have failed in the past, but things change. We can beat her, together."
Arcee nodded as her eyes narrowed and she gained a determined expression. She wasn't going to let any more people get hurt because of her mistake. She was going to make sure of that.
XXXXXX
Darren's lungs were on fire when he finally reached the crashed ship. He almost got lost a few times, but he managed to remember where Arcee and Flamewar first battled. He stopped to take a breather, but heard the sound of footsteps heading his way and groaned.
"And Annie wonders why I don't take Track." He panted and ran to the ship. "Now no one can say I didn't get my exercise."
Flamewar emerged from the forest and smirked when she saw his trail leading to her ship. She strolled down into the trench and walked over to the landing hatch, thinking that he was probably hiding inside the ship to throw her off.
"Like the place, boy? I saved a sport for you on my wall?" She said as she walked into the ship. "It's where you'll soon hang your head!"
But Darren wasn't in the ship-he was hiding under the ship's boosters. When he heard her footsteps fade, he sighed. Feeling his hand touch something wet, he looked down at saw a puddle of blue liquid dripping from the engines.
"Energon." He muttered and grinned. This was just what he needed.
Darren reached into his bah and took out another flare. He pulled the nozzle off, which made a louder sound than he wanted. When he heard Flamewar running out of the ship, he tossed the flare into the puddle of energon in the boosters and ran like hell. Flamewar had climb to the top of the ship and saw the energon lit aflame.
"NO!"
The ignited energon caused a reaction that exploded the engines, and the entire ship went up in a massive fireball that lit up the dark forest. The shockwave from the explosion blew Darren off his feet and he crashed into the dirt. Groaning, he stood up, rubbing his sore shoulder where he landed. He looked back at the burning wreck of the ship and spat in the dirt.
"Good riddance." He said.
Darren climbed back up the slope and limped away from the burning ship, but he saw a bright light come from one of the trees. Instinctively he formed a force barrier around his body to protect himself, and that was the only thing that kept him from getting incinerated as a blue fireball hit the ground near him. The flames licked at his shield and the blast blew him into a tree, knocking the breath from him. Dazed, he struggled to get to his feet, and looked up to see Flamewar crouched on a branch.
Her armor was scorched and smoking, and her expression was less than pleased at almost being blown apart. She landed on the ground and Darren tried to use his powers on her, only to be trapped by one of her energy nets.
"Now, now, Darren, none of that slag. I've had just about enough of your magic tricks." Flamewar growled. She stabbed the bayonet portion of her crossbow into the ground next to him and leaned down. "It takes a lot to piss me off, but you've done a wonderful job of getting my feathers ruffled, more so than dear Arcee. So good job-now here's your prize "
Flamewar was about to impale him on her dagger when she heard a car engine behind her. Arcee speed out of the forest, High Wire powerlinked to her as she leapt into the air and transformed. She slammed her fist into Flamewar's jaw, knocking her to the ground.
Flamewar recovered and tried to shoot her weapon, but Arcee, augmented by her linkage with High Wire, was faster. Kicking the crossbow from Flamewar's hand, she grabbed her arm and twisted it until she heard a crack.
"This is for Moonracer!"
Arcee landed a series of strong kicks to Flamewar's face with enough force to send energon flying. Flamewar launched a weak kick at her in return, but Arcee jumped back and kicked her in the side.
"This is for Darren!"
She leapt up and brought her heel down on Flamewar's shoulder, denting the armor and nearly breaking her shoulder.
"And this is for me!"
Arcee punched Flamewar in the chest and sent her flying through several trees before hitting the ground, her body littered with severe damages.
Arcee ran over to Darren and freed him while High Wire disengaged from her to change forms.
"Darren, are you alright?" High Wire asked.
"Ask me again when the ringing in my ears stop." Darren groaned. He grimaced when High Wire hugged him and patted him on the back. He looked up at Arcee. "And how are you feeling?"
"Better, now that you're fine." Arcee said. She frowned and looked at her hands. "And…I'm sorry you two had to face my demons for me. Along with everything I said earlier. You were pretty brave there."
"No, I wasn't brave. I was terrified." Darren smiled, patting her hand. "Mostly for you."
"Are you holding up well?" High Wire asked.
"I'm getting there. Optimus once said that not all scars are physical, and he was totally right about that." she said. "Mine are going to take time to heal."
They heard the sound of metal shifting and turned back to see Flamewar transform into her motorcycle alt mode and drive off. Arcee tried to shoot her, but the huntress disappeared in the forest.
"Damn. So much for closure." Arcee growled.
"And now she's stuck here on Terra." High Wire noted. "I'm not sure that's a good thing."
"So what now?" Darren asked.
"Now we go home…partner." Arcee smiled down at him. Darren smiled back and swung an arm around High Wire's shoulders.
Arcee knew that she would never get over losing Moonracer, but she still had the memories of a time when they were still a family, before they lost their home and world to the war. She knew she wouldn't shoulder this burden alone; she had Jazz, Darren, the rest of the team. They were all a part of this.
But she vowed to hunt down Flamewar and take that murderer down. She won't let Darren or anyone else suffer the same way she had for so many centuries.
'No matter how far you run or where you hide, I will find you, Flamewar. You will never even come close to my loved ones ever again…because I'm coming for you!'
For those of you new to this chapter, note that I've changed Arcee and Flamewar's relationship. Instead of sisters, I made them former lovers, seeing as how I thought that it would add some intensity to the animosity the two share between one another. I always had it in my mind that Cybertronian siblings would have similar alt modes on top of near similar appearances, so having Flamewar be a motorcycle while Arcee and Moonracer were cars was a bit odd to me.