A/N

Sorry for the shot chapter. I'm getting really bad at that lately.

XXIV

Ringing in her ear wasn't what woke her up. No, it was the shaking of the earth that woke her from her knocked out state. Rocks were tumbling and the ground rocked. Mary propped herself up, looking around hazily. Fog and smoke were clogging the view. Figured, much larger than her, moved around in the shadows. Mary quickly got to her feet, remembering where she was and why she was here. Aliens. Machines. Robots. Kyle. She looked around, trying to spot the familiar face but couldn't spot anything familiar.

"Hello?" she called. She quickly regretted it.

A loud crash echoed around her. She ran, which was the quickest instinct she could muster. She ran through the smoke and fog, listening to the crashing, cries and bangs. It seemed like a battle field. She was trapped in the middle of a war, but what was new? Running through the smoke, she dared a glance behind her. That was another of her series of mistakes. Looking back, she collided with something in front of her, knocking her to the ground.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here?"

Mary looked up slowly, gasping. It was at least two stories tall and looking straight at her. Red armored, looking almost like a car mashed up onto robotic form. Its red eyes looked her over, grinning happily. He leaned over, reaching out for her. Mary crawled backward, refusing to avoid eye contact. Then something clicked.

"Kyle?"

The machine perked, looking slightly confused. His reaching stopped as he stood up straight. Mary stumbled to her feet, wandering backward.

"What an interesting human," remarked the robot. "How'd you get way out here, I wonder?"

"Right...not Kyle..." whispered Mary. "Knockout."

"What have you got here, Knockout?"

She looked around, spotting another machine coming up behind Knockout. Color and design, it reminded her of Benny or it seemed to be Breakdown now. They were both looking at her, and she suddenly felt like a bug in jar. She was small and helpless under their height. Her voice was running dry. She felt like fainting.

"Hey, Knockout!"

Another machine came running in, aiming for Knockout but ended up fighting Breakdown instead. Mary struggled to remember. Which bot was it? Which human was it? Color, design, voice...Arcee. Mary sighed, watching the two fight. Knockout carefully wandered away from it, glancing at Mary as he stepped away. Mary shook her head. This night as just getting worse.

A car horn, followed by screeching, and suddenly a yellow Camaro pulled up beside her. The door opened, but no one was inside. Mary looked around. Ghost car or alien robot fight? She leapt into the car. It shut the door behind her, taking off across the field. She looked out the window, watching the battles pass them by.

"I don't even know what to say..." she whispered.

Eventually, another car was chasing after them. It looked like the Breakdown robot only in car form. It was closing in rapidly. Mary couldn't turn away from the approaching car. All this...adventure, the adrenaline rush. It was almost becoming enjoyable. Suddenly, something stopped the car from reaching them. It looked as it one of the robots stood in his way.

Mary glanced forward quickly, spotting the spiraling wonder that was the ground bridge. The car beeped at her but she couldn't make out what it meant. She glanced back again, gasping. The robot that stopped Breakdown from reaching them came into view. Knockout seemed to glance back at Mary, meeting her eyes. He turned back to Breakdown just as Mary and the car vanished into the GroundBridge.

"What was that for, Knockout?" snapped Breakdown, transforming.

"That human..." Knockout mumbled. Breakdown barely noticed his colleagues optics flicker blue. Knockout sighed, "Wasn't worth it."

"If you say so," shrugged Breakdown.

Knockout looked around. It seemed that all the Autobots had left through the GroundBridge, and all the Decepticons seemed to have left via their own. Only Knockout and Breakdown remained. Oddly enough, it felt good.

"Care to go for a drive?" hummed Knockout. "It feels like I haven't gone for one in a long while."

"Sounds good," smirked Breakdown, giving Knockout a nudge.

The two transformed, driving off.