Chapter 18-Hereafter
Yellowstone forest was dark and quiet in the middle of the night. With the lack of artificial lights that dominated the continent, it was truly pitch black, and the tall, ancient trees blocked most of the moonlight that shined down over the forest. Usually there would be nocturnal creatures hanging about, hunting and thriving, but tonight they were strangely silent. Perhaps it had something to do with the chaotic battle between two robotic giants that had did battle in this particular section of the forest a few months ago…and the team of mechanical giants prowling the forest on this night.
Heavy metal footsteps came from the five unit team of Codarl mecha that stalked through the trees. Four were the usually dark silver units reserved for OZ talos pilots, but the fifth taking point was deep red. This was no average combat mission-this was a hunt. But they were hunting no animal.
"Suppression fire only," Aries said through the private comm channel. "We take this one alive."
Aries was personally leading a talos team through Yellowstone in search of a cybertronian that was reported to be roaming the area. Thanks to the intercepted radio transmissions, the target was wounded and calling for help. Aries wasted no time in mobilizing a special team to capture another potential subject to study.
They were all on high alert, with their motion sensors scanning the ground for any signs of movement that wasn't an animal. Past experiences told them to never underestimate a cybertronian, even a wounded one. Lugnut was barely conscious and yet he killed dozens of men and fought of just as many talos with his bare hands alone. Fighting them was like fighting a high-tech tank with the agility of a martial artist. Even if you knew where to hit and what weapons to use, it was still a matter of who could kill who first.
Aries heard something rustling in the branches above them and spun his talos around, firing a few rounds from his assault rifle. The bullets tore apart the branches but missed the black shape that leapt onto another tree. The other talos opened fire, but the shape evaded them and ran into a small valley.
"Don't let it get away!" Aries yelled.
The Codarl squad jumped into the valley, their armored shoulders scraping against the rocks as they landed on the uneven ground, their auto-balancing systems just barely keeping them upright. Aries lead the team through the close knit area, keeping a close eye on his radar. It was only thanks to the energon they were tracking that they were still on their target's trail. The trail led them deeper into the valley before the signal suddenly vanished.
"What?" Aries muttered. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he raised his Codarl's weapon just as one of his team's units exploded.
Caught by surprise by the death of one of their own, the team was unprepared for the second attack that tore off another Codarl's arms and severed its head, followed by a green energy arrow impaling its battery from behind, making the unit exploded. Aries tried to get a read on their attacker but couldn't get a proper lock on.
"Damn it!" Aries growled as the third Codarl took an arrow to the cockpit, and he heard the bloody gurgle of the pilot's dying breath as his machine dropped to its front. He saw a black shape jump down behind the last talos and raised his rifle. "Behind you!"
The pilot had no time to move as the shape grabbed his unit and used it as a shield the minute Aries fired his assault rifle. Armor piercing bullets tore into the unfortunate Codarl with ease, and the pilot was already a bloody mist when Aries cut off his attack. The attacker threw the dead talos at Aries, slamming it into his unit and knocking him into the rocky wall. Aries was jostled violently in his seat and didn't wait for his talos to fall before blasting his cockpit hatch open and jumping out.
Aries zeroed in on the cybertronian and prepared his fire his eye beam when he was ensnared by a green net that pinned him to the wall. He recovered just in time to see his reflection in a pair of dark red eyes.
"Look what the cat dragged in." Flamewar chuckled, tapping the tip of her laser crossbow on her cheek. "Here's a tip, if you hear a distress signal on an open Decepticon channel, it's most likely a trap."
"I'll be sure to remember that next time." Aries growled. He wanted to shoot her with his heat beam, but he was too close. Firing it at this distance would also catch him in the resulting explosion, and he had the decency to not go out on the field in some stupid suicide attack.
"Oh honey, there's no next time for you." She said smirking. Flamewar stepped closer to him and glared at him straight in the face. "Decepticon radio chatter is all abuzz about the makeover you gave Lugnut. As an ex-Con myself, I should decapitate you on the spot!"
She tapped her sharp index finger against his chin, just hard enough to draw some blood. Aries was sure she was going to skewer his skull on her finger, but she pulled back and stood to her full height. "But…you could be of use to me."
"How so?"
"You see, I may get in and out of places some bots can't, but I don't know a lot about this world. And I am currently at a disadvantage after my ex and her pet destroyed my ship and skinned my knee." Flamewar explained, not taking her fiery gaze off Aries for one second. "I want to pay them back in kind. And you're going to help me."
"And what's in it for me?" Aries questioned. Flamewar couldn't help but smirk at the man's tenacity-this one was smarter than the average vermin on this world.
"I let you live," She replied. "And since you're looking to capture a…Transformer, as you call us, I'll throw in what's left of Arcee. After I've broken her."
Aries knew it was this or death, so it wasn't much of a choice. But this was a blessing in disguise in more ways than one, and he'd be a fool to waste this opportunity.
XXXXXX
It was sundown when the twins Darren and Annie walked through their quiet neighborhood with the transformed High Wire and Grindor in tow. It was a nice evening for a walk; things were peaceful for once and they took their time walking home to chat a little. This was something they needed after the hellish day they had.
"So…when were you guys going to tell us there were freaking dragons in Australinea?" Grindor asked. Darren rolled his eyes.
"We weren't expecting to run into them, Grindor." He said. "Dragons like to build their nests incognito. We were lucky that the mother wasn't home when we crashed the party."
"You say that like the babies were the lesser of the two evils." High Wire groaned.
Their latest Minicon retrieval mission took them to the arid and dry land of Australinea. It was a mostly long and boring mission that was only made slightly livelier with Prowl, Arcee and Ironhide fighting Barricade, Nightshade and Knockout. The panel was located in a small alcove atop a mountain, which they later learned was home to a dragon nest (dragons were rumored to have lived in Australinea, but no one knew for sure since said dragons were very good at hiding. The children answered that question unwittingly).
Dragons were large enough to rival a cargo plane in size, and the hatchlings were a few months old, reaching the size of adolescent horses, taller than the children and already breathing fire. Goldfire had to fight three baby dragons (smacked around was more accurate) while the children retrieved the panel, while also avoiding stray fire breathes belched at them from afar. In the end, their hard work amounted to Leader-1 and Songbird sneaking the panel away and the former giving them the finger as he jumped into their ground bridge. Prowl wasn't happy when they got back to the Ark.
"Well we're home now, and that's what matters." Annie said, wiping the soot from her cheek. "I, for one, am not in the mood to listen to Prowl bitching for us not performing to snuff after almost getting roasted by three dragonlings."
They approached their house, but as they walked into the front yard, they were surprised to see Debbie standing on the doorstep waiting for them. The twins gave each other a glance that said "We're in trouble".
"Where have you two been?" Debbie asked when they reached her. "It's almost dark and neither of you bothered to call in about being late."
"Sorry, sis, Gina kept us longer than we thought." Annie lied easily. They already came up with a cover story on the way home. "She had us out in the forest looking for some damn fossils or something. You know how she is?"
Darren noticed how stressed his older sister looked and frowned. "Debbie, are you okay? You look really tense."
Debbie sighed and ran a hand through her raven tresses. "Are you serious, Darren? Did you guys forget what Monday is?"
"What's Monday?" Annie asked.
"It's mom and dad's anniversary, Annie."
Darren and Annie visibly stiffened, worrying their partners, and they looked at each other. The Minicons didn't know the significance of such a day, but it must have been bad if their moods suddenly took a downturn. Debbie smiled sadly and hugged them both.
"It's feels like a decade since we visited them, doesn't it?" She whispered. Debbie let them go and opened the door. "Put those in the garage and come on in. I've already got dinner ready."
"Sure. We'll be right there." Darren said.
High Wire and Grindor waited until the twins took them into the garage before transforming to robot mode. High Wire asked if they were alright.
"We're fine, High Wire. The wind got taken from our sails, that's all." Annie said.
"What's on Monday?" Grindor asked. High Wire nudged him.
"Grindor!"
"What? I was just curious."
"Its okay, High Wire." Darren smiled sadly. "Monday's the anniversary of our parents' funerals. We're visiting them on that day."
High Wire's eyes widened and Grindor looked at his feet. "Now I feel like an ass. I'm sorry." Grindor muttered.
"You didn't know, Grindor. No use in feeling sorry," Annie said coldly, though it wasn't aimed at her friend. "They're dead, that's it. Nothing we can do about it. Come on, Darren."
Annie walked through the door into their house without a look back, leaving Darren with the Minicons. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Annie doesn't take that day very well." Darren said. "Hey, guys…is it okay if we just go with Debbie alone to the grave?" At the worried looks the Minicons gave him, he added, "Please, guys. This is a very special day for us and we want to spend it as a family. It would mean a lot for us if you just…gave us some privacy."
"Darren, you know how risky that is. What if something happens?" High Wire said.
"Don't worry, I can keep my sisters safe." Darren assured him.
But his guardian was still not convinced. Reaching into his hip compartment, High Wire took out a thin wristband with the Minicon symbol on it.
"If you're going alone, then here. It's a device I had Liftor make just in case we get separated on missions." High Wire told him. He pointed to the symbol. "Just press the symbol and it'll release a distress signal that can be detected by any friendly forces in the area. Something like what the Autobots have with their emergency beacons."
"Not Teletran-1?" Grindor asked. His team leader shook his head.
"No, it's not strong enough. This is just a prototype." High Wire said. "Even still, I'd feel better if you had this on you."
Darren smiled and took the wristband. "Thank you, High Wire. I'll put it to good use, though I hope I won't have to."
High Wire nodded and watched Darren run into the house for dinner. Despite this reassurance of their safety, he couldn't help but still feel worried for his charge-no…his friend.
XXXXXX
Arcee was worried, she always was when it came to the children, more so when the twins were concerned. Moonracer always said she was a motherboard when it came to her and Arcee didn't deny it. Living through tat nightmare of a Form and Function society was terrible, especially with more and more alt modes being deemed as "obsolete". Arcee's only concern was protecting those close to her, namely Moonracer and Flamewar (her lover at the time) but eventually she lost them both. Cybertron was a very different place before the war, more sinister and threatening, and being paranoid was a requirement to survive.
She was the first one to notice the change in the twins' mood over the past few days. Darren and Annie seemed more subdued than normal, and many of their friends also noticed the change. She first asked Gina what was wrong, but the girl only said it wasn't her place to tell, solemnly saying that it was a family matter. Kevin didn't know at all and wanted to stay out of it to respect their privacy.
Arcee tried to do the same, but it weighed too much on her mind and she couldn't take it anymore. On night, Arcee parked herself on the street the twins lived on, sitting close enough to their house to monitor them but far enough away that they couldn't see her. Arcee called up High Wire on the internal comm.
"High Wire? Are you awake?" Arcee asked.
"Just barely. I've been trying to recharge for some time now." High Wire said. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm worried about Darren and Annie. They've been acting strange lately and not even Gina will tell me why. Did something happen?"
High Wire was silent for a moment, debating on whether he should tell Arcee or not. Eventually, his concern for the twins won out and he told her about the Radcliffe siblings going to visit their parents' graces tomorrow.
"Primus…" Arcee whispered. She forgot the twins only had their older sister looking out for them.
"Arcee, I know you don't have any obligation to listen to my request," High Wire said. "But could you maybe-"
"I'll watch over them for you," Arcee said curtly, her voice tight. "Don't worry."
"Thank you, Arcee."
He signed off and Arcee was left sitting alone in the dark street. This made her think back to her waking nightmares of Moonracer's death after running into Flamewar. She spent so long trying to bury it, and that was the first time she actively sought help to deal with it instead of concealing her fears behind a wall of emotions. She had Darren to thank for that. It seemed only right that she be there for him in his time of need.
"Arcee, this is Prowl, do you copy?" Prowl called in.
"I'm here, Prowl. What's up?"
"Return to base. You have recon duty in a few minutes."
"I'm sorry, Prowl, but I'm busy at the moment." Arcee said, knowing she was going to get chewed out for this. "Pass it over to Ironhide."
"That's unacceptable, Arcee. What's so important that you have to shrug off your duties?" Prowl said mildly annoyed.
"Darren and Annie are heading out of town with their sister and they're not taking the Minicons along. I'm looking after them."
"No you're not. This is no up for discussion, Arcee. I'm bridging you out."
"Sorry, Prowl, but the twins need my help." Arcee replied. "I'm signing out."
Arcee switched her comm-link off and powered down. This was going to get her a lot of flak from Prowl, but she could deal with that. Right now, there were more important things to do.
XXXXXX
The Monday morning of the anniversary was murky and cloudy, fitting the somber mood the Radcliffe children were feeling as they woke up and ate breakfast with their sister. Once they finished and said their goodbyes to their Minicon guardians, they joined Debbie in the car and got started with their trip.
Arcee, who was just waking up from her restless slumber, waited for Debbie to gain some distance before following the car down the street. Making sure she stayed out of sight, she followed the car through downtown Tranquility to the edge of the town, where they took the road leading out of the town and going through the forest.
After an hour of driving, they made it to their destination-Latta. Latta was a city south of Tranquility where the Radcliffes lived before their father joined the military. Debbie drove the twins into Latta's city limits, but stayed near its outskirts, driving over to the cemetery where their parents were buried. Arcee was careful to keep her distance as the siblings left the car, clad in semi-casual wear suited for the occasion.
Darren and Annie were quiet as they entered the church bordering the cemetery. It was an old church their grandmother went to before it was abandoned, but no one had the heart to take down such a grand landmark in Latta. When they went inside, Arcee summoned her holo-avatar and followed them inside.
Arcee was no religious person, but she felt out of place the moment she entered the church. She believed in no gods, not Primus or his Guiding Hand, not even in the god they called death. Compared to cybertronians, humans had too many gods, and caused too many conflicts over beings they could not see or touch. She knew from listening to Darren that his family was inherently Chantry, the religion that worshipped one god and deified the woman Andraste as the manifestation of that god. Taking a second to look at the statue of the Fair Maiden who died for man's sins, Arcee exited the back of the church and saw the three siblings standing amongst a field of graces, looking down at four graves in particular.
Debbie finished praying to her parents and grandparents and smiled down at their graves. "Hey mom, dad. We're back, just like we promised. We're doing fine, so I hope you're not worrying about us too much. Darren is doing fine, he's managing with his powers and they're still secret, which is a win for us. Annie's still a bit of a handful, but that's no surprise there. She gets it from grandma." She chuckled softly. "They're both good kids, though, and I'm doing the best to take care of them just like you'd want me to."
Debbie took a deep breath to collect herself. She wasn't going to cry yet before she was done today. "Grandpa, grandma, all three of us are doing what you've always told us to do-making sure we live life to the fullest. It's hard with how chaotic the world is getting every day, but we won't let it get us down. I know you two wouldn't let that happen to us. I pray you're all doing fine in Heaven, and I hope we'll all see each other soon someday. Though, hopefully it won't be for a long time."
Darren and Annie hung back, still looking at the graves. A cold breeze blew through the cemetery, making Debbie shiver.
"I'm going to get the flowers." Debbie said. "You two make sure to talk to mom and dad before I get back. I know they'd love to hear how you two are doing."
Debbie hugged the twins and walked away, leaving them with the graves. They said nothing for a few minutes, and Darren knelt down to run his fingers along the gravestones.
"You're not going to say anything to them, Annie?" He asked.
"No." She said coldly. Her arms were crossed and it was hard to gauge her expression, a rarity for the girl who wore her emotions on a sleeve.
"Really? Not even a hello or-"
"What the hell does it matter, Darren? They're dead, so it's no use in telling them anything!" Annie yelled and sniffed a bit. "It's not like they could talk back."
"The least you could do is show some respect." Darren sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We barely get any time these days to visit them with how busy Debbie is at the clinic."
"What do you want me to say, Darren? Oh hey mom, dad, you wanna know about the kickass alien robots we found a few months ago? They're fucking sweet and we almost got killed hanging out with them a few times. Give it some time and we might see you two again before we're in our twenties! But don't get your hopes up!" Annie sneered and shook her head. "Fucking hell, bro. what else can we say that we haven't spat out the last dozen times?"
"Hello would be a good place to start."
The twins jumped and spun around to see Arcee in her holoform standing there, hands crossed in front of her with a sad smile on her face.
"Arcee? What are you doing here?" Darren asked.
"I was worried about you two and High Wire told me what's up. I tagged along to make sure you two were doing okay as a favor to him." She said. "I'm sorry for intruding, but I took your situation a bit more personally than I should"
"You wanted to see if we're doing okay? We're looking at our parents' graves. It's not like we're chatting over a cup of coffee." Annie snorted.
"Annie, that's enough." Darren scolded, and she just sniffed at him, turning back to the graves.
Arcee got closer so she was standing over the twins and looked down at the tombstones.
Gen. James Sun-Eagle Radcliffe
3.24.1943-3.2.2004
Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great hero
Barbara Rabbit-Rose Radcliffe
9.20.1943-9.10.1999
Beloved wife, mother and grandmother
Capt. Connor Bear-Paw Radcliffe
02.24.1967-1.14.2001
Beloved husband, father and hero
Elizabeth Ann Radcliffe
11.11.1971-8.11.2002
Beloved wife and mother
"What's with the animal names?" Arcee asked.
"Dad's side of the family is Manidoog, they're the original natives of Osea before Emmerian settlers discovered the land. He and grandpa took tradition very seriously and taught us everything they knew. They got those names in honor of becoming adults and were given their spirit animals that defined them." Darren explained. "Dad's family was a part of the Sioux tribe that lived in Dakote, and when he died, grandpa made sure to tell us everything he knew before something happened."
"But he died before he could give us cool animal names and stuff." Annie said. "One more kick in the nads for the both of us, I suppose."
Arcee nodded, that explained their different skin tone. She also noticed that Darren took these beliefs more seriously than Annie. In fact, she seemed a bit too blasé about all this, though she knew well enough not to point that out. Biting her lip, Arcee asked the difficult question.
"How…did they die?"
"Dad was a captain in the Osean Mobile Armor Division in the army. During the Gulf War in Azteca, he died covering for his team in battle. We were eight and Debbie was fifteen." Darren said.
Arcee placed a hand on his shoulder, for his support or hers, she didn't know.
"Mom didn't take it very well. She started drinking and went into depression. It got so bad that grandpa started taking care of us most of the time." He continued. Annie's face was stone cold and she was eerily silent as she listened to the morbid tale she was all too familiar with. "This went on for so many months after dad died. And then she just…couldn't take it anymore."
Arcee caught Annie's expression tightening and knew this was a sore point for her. She had no idea that Annie had far more grievances with this particular memory than Darren, who didn't know that she was the one who found their mother's body lying limp on their bathroom floor.
XXXXXX
Debbie tried to sleep, but the thick summer heat made it hard for her to drift off. That and the fact that her family was falling apart. Her mother wasn't the woman she looked up to anymore. Her condition hadn't improved at all since the funeral six months ago. Elizabeth quit her job and became an alcoholic, barely registering her children at all. It wasn't until she started yelling at Darren whenever he used his powers that Debbie asked her grandfather to help them.
He agreed to move in and watch over the children until she got some help. His involvement helped things greatly around the house, but her relationship with her mother was on the rocks. She even had to break up an argument between Elizabeth and Annie after the woman hit the girl for no reason.
Debbie sighed and laid on her back thinking on how things had gone south ever since her father died. He sacrificed so much for his country, but honestly, it wasn't worth losing him and watching her mother waste away. 'I wish things were back to normal.' She thought sadly. 'Why did you have to die, dad? You said you were going to come back. You promised.'
A loud thump made her jump and she sat up in bed. Debbie warily got out of bed and left her room to see where the noise came from. Looking down the hall from her room and saw Annie standing in front of the bathroom.
"Annie? What are you doing up so late?" Debbie asked. Annie didn't answer, nor did she move. Debbie noticed the glass of water at her feet and walked over to her. "Annie, are you okay? What's wrong?"
Debbie went over to her sister and knelt down to check on her. Annie's face was blank and staring at something. She followed her sister's gaze into the bathroom and gasped in horror. On the bathroom floor was her mother's body, strewn across the fluffy carpet will open pill bottles scattered under her and her dead eyes were staring right up at Annie.
"Oh god!" Debbie cried out and ran to get her grandfather. "Grandpa, wake up! Mom's in trouble!"
Annie didn't move, still staring at her mother's corpse.
XXXXXX
Annie never forgot that night, or how she just stood there silently as her mother slowly died from drug overdose. Watching the breathing of the woman who birthed her slow to a crawl before stopping completely. She didn't understand what was going on or that it would be the last thing she'd remember of her mother. When she didn't answer her or move when her toddler self called out to her, Annie knew, at some level, that she had lost her. And something just snapped within her.
Annie felt she could have done something, anything to help her mother. But instead she stood there and watched without so much as shedding a tear. A weak little girl who couldn't even save her mother. It haunted her for years to come.
"Arcee," Annie said softly. "When you lost your sister, what did you do? How did you cope with it?"
Annie looked at the girl and sighed. "I didn't take it well at first, obviously. I was in a state of shock for months after that night. I took suicide missions left and right on the off chance that I would get killed on one of them and finally be with Moonracer again, but all I achieved was getting a reputation as a stone cold warrior. Even after meeting Jazz, I buried all those emotions and memories in my mind because just thinking of her name brought back the agony of her death. It never got easy, and I always remembered that she was gone and never coming back."
"It wasn't until meeting Flamewar again with Darren that I realize that running and hiding from the pain only made it worse. That kind of thinking almost got your brother killed by my cowardice and I knew I had to change before I ended up causing someone else more pain." Arcee sighed and looked at the dark grey clouds above them. "Honestly, all I can say is that the pain never really goes away, but it's how you deal with it that matters. These days, I try to remember the good times I had with Moonracer, use those memories to keep me going so that I could still make her happy in the Afterspark. I'm sure you two can do the same, despite being so young when they passed."
Darren and Annie looked up at Arcee with wide eyes, awed at how strong she sounded. Darren remembered how she was back in Yellowstone, the fear and pain that came with fighting Flamewar again and reliving those memories. Now, it seemed that Arcee was becoming a better person because of it.
The twins thought back on the times when they and Debbie were a family with their mother and father. The family nights, the beach trips, vacations, or even ordinary evenings around the dinner table talking and chatting. Playing as toddlers and laughing at stories. Darren remembered how his mother was kind and dedicated to her family, Annie remembered how strong her father was and his drive to keep his family safe. It inspired them both to become better people.
'It's best to think of how the dead were in life instead of how they died in their final days.' Darren thought.
"Thanks, Arcee. You…you've really changed." Darren said.
"Yeah, we needed that." Annie said. She promised to take those words to heart, even though it wouldn't be immediate.
Arcee smiled at them both and hugged them close. "Anything for you two. I'm happy to share some wisdom with you-as thanks for helping me with my demons."
"Speaking of demons-where's Debbie? She should've been back by now." Annie said.
"Yeah, it shouldn't take her this long to get some flowers." Darren said.
Bowing to their parents and grandparents one more time, the twins followed Arcee back to the front of the church, where the car was parked. Debbie's car was still there, but the door was left open and the flowers were sitting in the passenger seat.
"Where's Debbie?" Darren asked, feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. Something didn't feel right.
"Hey, what's this?" Annie picked up an envelope sitting by the flowers and opened it. Flipping it over, a small recorder fell out onto the seat. Almost immediately, a deep voice spoke from the communicator, one Arcee recognized at once.
"Good evening, Darren and Annie Radcliffe."
"Aries?!" Arcee's holoform vanished and her real body transformed, stomping over to the car.
"Aries? The guy who tried to snuff you guys in Azteca?" Annie questioned.
"OZ knows who we are?" Darren breathed. "How?"
"You have your sister to thank for that, when she and her friends stole important data from a cohort of mine. It didn't take long to find out who you are. We now know everything about you." Aries said. "For instance, do you know where your sister is?"
Annie growled. "If you've done anything to Debbie, I'll-"
"Make no mistake, I would like to avoid any possible casualties on this sad day for the two of you. So long as you do as I say, there will be no deaths or injuries…at least, none life threatening."
Arcee leaned back from the car and called the Ark. "Ratchet-AGH!" Arcee doubled over in pain as she was assaulted by a head-splitting headache.
"Arcee!" Darren ran over to her.
"Did I forget to mention that this device scrambles all radio signals and your brainwaves?" Aries said firmly. "Any break in communication or attempt to contact the other Autobots, and I can't be held responsible for what might happen to your big sister."
XXXXXX
Arcee sped down the dark streets of Lotta with the twins sitting in her two seats. It began raining not too long ago and didn't plan on stopping any time soon, as if Gaia herself was weeping for their misfortune. Darren held the communicator that displayed the coordinates programmed into the device.
"I can't believe this. If anything happens to Debbie because of our connection to this…" Annie cried. She was angry and scared at the same time and she hated that feeling.
"Annie, relax. OZ only wants me. Once they have me, they'll let your sister go." Arcee said.
"That's not reassuring, Arcee. You're family too." Darren told her, and Annie nodded in agreement. Trading the life of a friend for another didn't help matters at all.
Arcee drove to the very edge of the city, following the beacon to a warehouse near an abandoned amusement park. She barely stopped in the parking lot when a dozen red laser sights appeared all over them. There were at least a dozen OZ soldiers armed with assault rifles pointed at them. There were no sign of any talos however.
"So what's the plan?" Darren whispered.
"The usual." Arcee growled and revved up her engine.
She sped past the soldiers, not caring at all if she hit any of them as she drove into the warehouse. The twins hopped out of Arcee as she switched to robot mode.
"Debbie! Where are you?" Darren called out.
"Answer us, sis! We're here for you!" Annie yelled.
Suddenly Arcee was trapped in a green energy net that wrapped around her torso, pinning her arms to her chest. Darren and Annie spun around and saw Flamewar jumping down from her perch on one of the support beams.
"What's she doing here?!" Darren exclaimed.
"She's my new business associate." Aries entered the warehouse, with three talos following him. More soldiers surrounded them and aimed their weapons. Arcee gritted her teeth and glared at the humans.
"Aries, let them go." Arcee said, struggling in her bonds. "They're human, like you!"
"I am more than some human or esper, Autobot. I am a higher being." Aries said confidently. "And what's a few lives compared to a miracle of biological evolution such as yourself?"
Aries snapped his fingers and one of the Codarls fired an EMP scrambler at Arcee. Once she was hit, Arcee was taken out by a powerful electrical surge that overloaded her systems and sent her crashing to the ground. Darren snarled and tore up numerous metal panels from the floor and walls and pointed them at Aries. The general didn't look the least bit threatened by his show of force.
"Go ahead, bot." Aries said, mocking him. They both knew even an amalgam of Darren's power would be outgunned in this scenario. "You'll be dead before they even reach me."
The air was tense between them and Darren contemplated running Aries through anyway, but he scowled and drop his telekinetic hold over the panels, letting them drop to the floor. The soldiers were quick to relieve them of the twins' phones and the communicator. Flamewar chuckled at the angered expressions on their faces.
"You humans are so easy to manipulate. You all place such great value in family that it's just too easy to get you to do whatever I want." Flamewar bent down to glare into Darren's green eyes with her red ones. "So, I figured what better way to get some payback than to make you watch me tear your family apart."
"Just try it!" Darren barked. "If you touch her…"
"How about this?" Flamewar grinned. "Let's play a game. If you can save your sister before the clock strikes twelve, then you can all go free."
"And if time runs out?" Annie asked.
"What do you think?"
Darren glared at Aries before flicking his fingers and sending a small strip of metal flying past the man's face, splitting his cheek. Aries didn't flinch as blood ran from the thin cut on his cheek.
"If anything happens to Debbie or Arcee, there'll be no place on Terra for you to hide!"
"I'll be waiting, boy." Aries said.
Darren took Annie's hand and ran out of the warehouse towards the amusement park, knowing they had only seventeen minutes to find their sister before Flamewar began to hunt.
XXXXXX
Aries watched the twins run through the empty park through the portable command console he brought with him. Flamewar had left, already stalking the children from the shadows as she waited patiently for the right time to strike.
"Now I know we promised the huntress that she'll get first crack at you," Aries muttered, looking at the unconscious Arcee. "But something tells me that she's planning to turn our mutual crisscross into a double-cross."
One of the soldiers approached him. "Sir, we don't have the proper equipment to transport it. It'll take too much time to call in an airship."
"Then we'll have to cut and run." Aries said and nodded to his men. "Open her up."
XXXXXX
Darren and Annie ran aimlessly through the amusement park without stopping, trying to quickly figure out where Debbie was being held. They couldn't stop to rest, knowing that every second counted. Their legs and lungs burned and ached, but they forced themselves to keep moving, knowing that Arcee was in more danger each passing second.
"How do we find her? She could be anywhere in this place." Annie panted, leaning over on her knees. "I wouldn't put it past those bastards to tie her to a roller coaster track or something."
Darren racked his mind for something, but was at a loss. Flamewar was a hard femme to predict, like a wild animal, and her forming a partnership with Aries of all people was unexpected. But knowing those two, it was only a matter of time before their alliance fell apart and they went at each other's throats. That's how partnerships usually ended with the bad guys.
He guessed that Flamewar probably would hide Debbie someplace enclosed, like a funhouse. The House of Horrors came to mind, but she probably would use that to throw them off. There was too many scenarios and locations to cover and not enough time to just sit still and think. Even now, he could practically feel Flamewar lurking in the shadows, stalking them.
'Wait…feel.' Darren's face brightened as he had an idea. "Annie, I have an idea!"
"Huh? What is it?" She asked.
"Follow me." Darren took her into one of the rundown funhouses, hiding momentarily from Flame's gaze. Annie stood at the entrance to keep watch while he knelt on the ground and placed his hand flat on the dirt.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying out a new trick. I'm going to send a TK wave through the ground and use the vibrations to hone in on Debbie." He explained.
"Like echolocation?" Annie said.
"In a way, though I'm hoping that my waves will locate her only, kind of like sonar. It might save us enough time to rescue Arcee."
"And if you can't find her in time?"
"Then pray for her," He replied grimly. "And us.'
Darren closed his eyes and felt his arm vibrate as he channeled a strong TK pulse wave through his limb and into the ground. Focusing on that wave, he felt the force wave travel through the ground like a vibration, hitting every physical thing within his vicinity. The wave traveled through the park and buildings within at the speed of a gust of wind, and it wasn't long before he finally felt his TK wave locate the person he was looking for-Debbie.
"I found her!"
Flamewar grinned as she saw the twins run out of the building and deeper into the park. She knew that boy would find his sister eventually, he was resourceful like that. But she knew for sure that in this game, she was going to win. After all, they only had five minutes left.
XXXXXX
"Debbie!"
Debbie groaned as she woke up, that shout making her head ache. Her head felt fuzzy and her body tingled a bit, like she was jolted. She tried to move, but found her arms and legs stuck to her body. She opened her eyes and saw that was she surrounded by walls of differently sized mirrors. And in her reflection, she saw that she was trapped to one of the mirrors in some kind of large green net.
"W-What is all this?" Debbie muttered and struggled to get free.
"Debbie!"
Debbie looked up and saw Darren and Annie running to her.
"Darren, Annie, what's going on here? Where are we?" She asked, still struggling in her bonds. "The last thing I remember are these men driving up to me and-ugh, what's with the net?"
"We'll explain that later. Right now, we need to run." Annie said as she pulled at the net to get her free. Darren pushed her aside and tore apart the net with his telekinesis.
"But wha-Ahhh!" Debbie screamed as she saw a giant dark figure looming over them. Looking up, the twins saw Flamewar grinning down at them through a hole in the ceiling.
"Back off, Flamewar! We beat your deadline!" Darren yelled at her. Debbie looked at her brother in shock. How was he not afraid of this…thing?"
"Oh, Darren," Flamewar chuckled, like he was some bad student who got an easy question wrong. "The challenge wasn't for you to find your sister before twelve. It was to save her. And time's up."
Darren didn't wait for Flamewar to make her move. "RUN!"
The girls ran past Darren as he summoned his power and shattered all the mirrors in the funhouse, surrounding his body in a thick barrier of glass shards. No matter what happened now, he wasn't going to let Flamewar take his family, or friends, again!
XXXXXX
The energo-net was deceptively hard to cut through, even with heated chainsaws, and it took them almost eleven minutes to properly cut through it before they finally managed to completely cut it apart and pull it off Arcee.
Aries looked at the monitor and saw Darren fighting off Flamewar. It was only a matter of time before Flamewar was done playing with her prey, and he needed to get this operation over with as soon as possible. "We only have time to take one part." He said and nodded to the scientist. "Go straight for the heart."
The scientist nodded and grabbed a titanium drill to switch it on. As he lowered it towards Arcee's chest, her eyes snapped open and she jumped up, punching the man with the drill. One full powered punch from her was enough to cave in his chest cavity and break his entire rib cage. She flipped to her feat and ducked under the heat beam Aries fired at her and punched away the other soldiers shooting at her.
Aries followed her large form through the smoke and took a breath to fire just as Arcee tore up a panel from the floor and threw it at her. Unprepared, Aries took the panel straight to the head and stumbled back in pain.
He growled and tried to fire his beam, but instead of firing one complete beam from his head, he felt the air around him heat up before exploding in his face. The blast sent Aries crashing into the monitor and crumpling to the floor. Holding his third eye in pain, Aries glared at the pink Autobot as she ran out of the warehouse and switched to vehicle mode.
The soldiers tried to follow her, but he had them stand down. "Let her go! No matter the outcome, the spoils will be ours!"
XXXXXX
"Annie, seriously, what was that thing?" Debbie asked as Annie dragged her through the park. "How did you two know its name?"
"Sis, I'm happy to have you back safe and sound, but keep the questions for later on when we're safe. For now, just shut up and run!" Annie yelled.
The building they just ran past exploded behind them and Darren came flying out of the smoke and wood splinters, hitting the ground on his shoulder. Flamewar leaped over the building at him and he jumped aside as she slammed down behind him. Large shards of glass big enough to impale a car hovered around his body and he threw one at Flamewar's head, which she swatted aside. Flamewar raised her crossbow, but felt something hit the side of her head. It was a rock…thrown by Debbie.
"Did…you just throw a rock at me?" Flamewar asked, astonished that the woman actually tried that with her.
"Yes." Debbie nodded.
"You do know I'm made of metal, right?"
"I know, but this is what we humans call a distraction."
Flamewar's eyes widened and she spun around to see a long glass spear shot at her. The spear stabbed into her right eye, right into her optical sensor, and she fell back, clutching her ruined eye. She howled like a wounded animal and snarled at the children.
"You little bastard!" She spat and made to lunge at Darren. Before she could reach him, a pink blur jumped over the building and she felt a fist slam into her face, sending her crashing into the roller coaster track. Arcee stood protectively in front of Darren in her robot mode, swords ready.
"Don't even think about it." Arcee growled.
Flamewar chuckled, wiping energon from her split lip. "Arcee, I should've known. OZ couldn't hold Lugnut, so what were the odds those morons could hold onto you?"
She fired a bolt from her crossbow and Arcee dodged it and ran forward. Flamewar brought out her arm blade and parried the sword strike from Arcee. The two femmes fought furiously, sparks and laser bolts flying around without control. Darren yelped as a laser blast hit the ground next to him and ran over to his sisters.
"We need to move before the fireworks start." He said. Debbie looked at Arcee with wide eyes.
"Who is she?" She squeaked.
"A good friend of ours." Annie answered.
Flamewar ducked under a slash from Arcee and kicked her in the chest. At the corner of her remaining eye, she saw the Radcliffe siblings making a run for it down the street.
"You're not getting away from me this time!" Flamewar sprinted at the humans faster than Arcee could reach her.
"Darren, behind you!" Arcee shouted.
Darren spun around and saw Flamewar charging at them, almost on top of them. He prepared himself to do whatever it took to make sure Flamewar never laid a finger on his sisters ever again, though he had no idea how to fight her one on one. Fortunately for him, he didn't have to do anything. A missile shot from above hit Flamewar in the shoulder and sent her sprawling across the ground. Arcee blinked and saw a green fighter jet with red highlights fly over them.
"Skyfire?" She gaped. She heard the flyer's laugh over the comm.
"Your knight in shining armor is here for ya princess!" Skyfire cheered. She circled around and fired her auto cannons at Flamewar, pelting her with ceramic bullets that tore into her armor.
Flamewar cursed and backed away, knowing she wouldn't last long against a flyer. Shooting Arcee one last baleful look, she quickly transformed into her newly scanned terran based form-a black motorcycle with flame decals-and sped away.
This was all seen by Aries, who stared at the screen in shock.
"Reinforcements? But how…?" Aries growled. He racked his memory for anything the children could've done to alert the Autobots and remembered when Darren touched his watch as he ran past him to find Debbie. It was only for a few seconds, but for a moment it looked like he pressed a- "Button. That brat called for help using some custom alien tech. The clever little bastard."
Despite himself, Aries found himself smirking and snapped his fingers, shutting off the lights. It seemed he wasn't getting any consolation prizes tonight.
XXXXXX
Darren reminded himself to thank High Wire for giving him that watch, because it was a life saver. By a stroke of luck, the distress signal was detected by Comettor, who was powerlinked with Skyfire as she was flying in high orbit over Osea. They pinpointed his location after suffering from some electromagnetic disturbance and wasted no time in coming to their aid. They arrived in the nick of time, and Darren couldn't have been more thankful.
Arcee stood over by the warehouse, standing guard over the Radcliffe siblings. Darren and Annie were quietly explaining the situation to Debbie, who was just now starting to calm down from all the craziness that happened tonight. Skyfire and Comettor exited the warehouse looking not too happy.
"Arcee," Comettor said. "We have some bad news."
She held a hand up. "Let me guess…without a trace?" They both nodded and she made a frustrated grunt. "Slag. As if anything good can come out of this."
Skyfire jerked a thumb at the humans. "So what are we gonna do about the girl? You know Prowler isn't gonna be happy that we got another human knowin' about us."
"I know, but it can't be helped." Arcee sighed. "All we can do now is explain the situation to her the same way we did the children."
Arcee walked over to the siblings, getting their attention. The twins looked deeply grateful for her help, while Debbie looked…a bit wary, but not entirely afraid. That was a start.
"So," Debbie said softly. "She's one of those Autobots you were talking about?"
"Yup, she is." Darren smiled up at Arcee. "Autobot, guardian…friend."
"My name is Arcee." The pink Autobot smiled at Debbie, getting to one knee to speak to her better. Debbie stood up and smiled up at Arcee.
"Hello, Arcee." She said, holding out a hand. Arcee placed her finger in her palm, accepting the offer of friendship. "Thank you for saving us."
Annie clapped her hands. "Well, now that we got that out of the way," She grinned. "How about we show you someplace really cool, sis?"
Debbie blinked at Annie. What else could be cooler than trading thanks with an alien robot?
XXXXXX
The next day, after resting from their harrowing trip, the twins introduced High Wire and Grindor to Debbie officially. Like with Arcee, Debbie took an instant liking to them, probably because they didn't tower over her. In fact, she thought they were kind of cute.
Once the introductions were taken care of, Arcee picked them up and transported them through the ground bridge. Debbie almost got sick from the disorienting first trip through the portal, but once her vision stopped swimming, she marveled at the glorious sight around her.
She was inside a massive alien ship, with the walls made of gold alloy more polished than the purest gold on Terra. High tech computers and little gadgets could be seen everywhere and Debbie could only guess at their various functions. Debbie stood up and walked around, her mouth hanging open in pure, unfiltered awe.
Then she saw something even more amazing. Giant robots from another world, real life aliens, standing there before her in their undisguised glory. They all were like Arcee, but bigger and different appearance wise. She loved how they all looked, but the one that caught her eye was the tall red and blue mech walking up to her, looking like the strongest of the bunch.
Darren and Annie stepped up to their older sister wearing matching grins. "Debbie, meet out after school science fiction club-the Autobots." Darren said.
Optimus knelt down to Debbie's level and spoke in his usual deep but gentle voice. "Welcome to the Ark, Debbie Radcliffe."
Debbie was honestly too shocked to say anything. What do you say to the leader of an alien race that knows your younger siblings on a personal level? She said the first thing that came to mind.
"I come in peace."