The Human Prime
Chapter 14: Trapped, Snapped, and Kidnapped
Sam hugged Artemis tightly, smiling up at Wheeljack. Wheeljack contacted Ratchet to bridge them back. Artemis smiled slightly at Sam when she wouldn't let go then looked up at the large bot. Sam finally parted from her and looked at Artemis suspiciously.
"Where's the rest of your armor?" She watched Artemis suddenly frown, but then smile again.
"It was either my armor or me. It's okay; I'll just make a new set." Artemis turned toward Wheeljack again. "Are we not driving back to base?"
"Did you hit your head on the way down? Base is not even on the same continent." He rolled his eyes and jerked when he heard the whirring of the ground bridge appearing.
"Right, sorry. My mind is not in the right place." She walked past Sam towards the portal.
At Base
"Stasis. She deserves worse." Ratchet grumbled after examining the capsule which held the frozen Airachnid inside.
"I intended worse, more than you know." Arcee said with a frown.
"You are stronger for the choice you made." Optimus turned to the sound of Bulkhead honking and driving in franticly.
"Guys, you are not going to believe the day I had." Bulkhead paused for a moment, seeing the capsule sitting in the middle of the room. "You too, huh?" Bulkhead was in the middle of an explanation of where he'd been all day when the ground bridge opened up.
"There's my favorite Wrecker." Wheeljack smiled as he came into the base and immediately shared a welcome with Bulkhead. Artemis and Sam followed behind him and shared an awkward silence.
"Artemis, are you intact?" Ratchet look at her worriedly, not being able to contact her before.
"I'm fine, just a bit shaken up from the rock slide." Artemis rubbed her shoulder then cracked her neck.
"Rock slide?"
"It was nothing. Things just got a little too rough with me and my sister." She waved Ratchet off then wondered over to the trapped Airachnid. Optimus and Ratchet stared at her suspiciously, if the bad grammar wasn't enough, she had belittled Ratchet. Her head must have been more rattled then they thought.
"Well, after I examine Arcee, I want to make sure you haven't suffered any internal injuries." Ratchet watched Artemis' expression as she stared at Airachnid's frozen face. It was a look of disappointment and content, so unlike Artemis.
"You should have made her hurt Arcee. She got off easy for her crimes." She tilted her head towards Arcee. What bothered Arcee the most was the chilling smile planted on her face. "I think I need to get some oxygen in my brain, feeling a little dizzy. I'm going for a walk."
"I'll come with you." Sam smiled and was on Artemis' feet as she began walking towards the back. When Artemis was clear out of the room, the others turned toward each other with equal confusion.
"Am I the only one who thinks Artemis was acting a bit, strange?" Bulkhead scratched his head as Arcee nodded.
"That was a bit out of character." Arcee agreed.
"I fear that Artemis' mind might have been altered in that rock slide." Ratchet brought his hand to his chin, in deep thought.
"I saw the aftermath of the fight. I would be surprised if she didn't get a dent in her cranium." Wheeljack folded his arms. "I don't know about the medical stuff, but I do know that I don't trust Sam being alone with her right now."
"I agree, why don't you go fetch her while you put this in the back?" Ratchet patted the stasis capsule while looking at Arcee, Bumblebee, and Wheeljack. Bumblebee buzzed sadly realizing he was going to have to hoist the thing to the back with the rest of them.
"That's sneaky doc."
Back Halls
Artemis looked around as if it were her first time in the back of the base. They were about to approach the first room when the bots starting crashing through the hall, capsule in their arms. She pressed against the wall as they passed by. Arcee let go, leaving the boys to carry it the rest of the way through.
"I better go pick up Jack from work." She smiled as the boys only groaned from the loss of help.
"Oh no! Raf! I forgot that he wanted us to pick him up at his house." Sam exclaimed and Bumblebee beeped before letting go and hurrying out the hall. She looked up at Wheeljack who was trying to keep the capsule from falling after his left hand helper abandoned him.
"Sorry, Jacky. I'm not much of a heavy lifter." Sam shrugged and rushed after Bee. "I'll make it up to you later Wheeljack!" He laughed a little then hoisted the capsule up, heading toward the room.
"I don't suppose you would like to help me with this?" Wheeljack looked over his shoulder at Artemis who had an irritated expression imprinted on her face. For a moment there was complete and utter silence, her eyes piercing through him like daggers. The stare was cold and heartless, something so wrong.
"No." The single word was icy. Artemis turned and retreated back to the main room. She was greeted with silence and emptiness. Only Optimus and Ratchet were left, who were talking amongst themselves. She snuck past them and onto the couch. She stayed silence in fear that they might ask to examine her.
The Nemesis
Knockout finally returned to the Decepticon warship. The last trooper far behind him carried the precious cargo that they were entrusted with. As he started to head towards the control room to assist with the damage taken from the crash, he saw a trooper approach him. It was rare when the troopers simply walked up to talk.
"How did everything go?" With that simple phrase he realized he was part of the small unit that was sent on the mission.
"Flying colors, though the delivery man is running late." Knockout passed the trooper hurryingly. "If we hear from Mira any time soon, we know that things turned bad."
Autobot Base
Artemis moved slightly every time Ratchet attempted to scan her. This made Ratchet curse and growl which was very rare of him when he was working with her. Optimus watched the scene from the corner of his optics, convinced that something was truly wrong with Artemis. When Bulkhead finished his story, he began to focus at the advantage at hand. This could be the only opportunity to end the war.
Artemis watched Ratchet return to Optimus' side, giving up on her medical needs. When she decided that her presence was completely forgotten, she walked over to where Sam and Wheeljack sat patiently.
"What's happening?" She said with a sharp tone that went unnoticed.
"I think Optimus is going to prepare for a final strike on the Decepticons. Wrecker style right Jackie?" Sam smiled up at her guardian who laughed and nodded. By the time the two went to look back at Artemis, she was gone.
Artemis watched Optimus stare at the Spark Extractor. He sounded so hesitant which made her think that he wouldn't be able to do it. She cleared her throat, but the two bots didn't hear. She tried again only louder. When they didn't respond again, she waited until the Spark Extractor was in his hand to whistle loudly. Finally, the two turned and stared at her.
"You're going to sick that thing on them?" She sounded so dark the way her words were delivered to Optimus' audio receptors.
"Yes-" Ratchet never got to finish before Artemis let out a scoff and began to walk away.
"Not only won't it work, I think it's doing to be the biggest mistake of your life."
Moments Later
"I told you." Artemis said as she sat so carelessly on the stairs, looking up at the frozen Autobots. Sam gave her an angry expression that could make Decepticon's cringe. So, naturally, Artemis shut her mouth. With the other humans gone to the warship, she had Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Sam all to herself.
"Isn't there anything you can do Ratchet?" Sam frowned up at Bulkhead.
"I haven't seen a stasis like this before. Perhaps when the others return, we might have more light on problem." Ratchet returned to aiding the children with their mission. Artemis snuck up to Sam's side.
"I think I know what could cure them." She cooed in Sam's ear which made her smile.
"You do?! What?"
"I know the location of an old ship. We can gather data from its mainframe, but we have to sneak out. Ratchet would never let us go if he knew."
"Don't worry; Wheeljack and I are masters of the sneaky ground bridge."
"Wait, no, I meant-" She didn't have time to say she wanted to leave through the front door. Wheeljack had scooped her up and within moments they were out the ground bridge.
In the Skies
The trooper was close to intercepting the warship when he felt a sharp pain. It was then he realized that she must have woken up. He started to descend so that he could deal with his new problem, but when he got low enough he heard the shattering glass of his cock pit. For a second he felt very numb and then the pain began to envelope him.
It seemed he wouldn't return to the Nemesis. He could feel her yank out his circuitry and they began to drift quickly towards the ground. If he wasn't dead by the damage she was inflicting on him, he would be killed by the crash.
When his underbelly began scrapping at the tree tops, he felt her attacks cease. She must have abandoned ship. His body slammed into the dirt and rock and within moments he was dead. Believe it or not, she helped him by finding and ripping out his pain censors. He felt no pain when his spark died out.
She, Artemis, wiped the dried blood from her forehead with her bare arm. The dusty ground suspected that they were somewhere in the forests of Nevada. She used her opposing gauntlet to find the location of the stolen one. She walked over to the Decepticon corpse and bowed her head slightly.
"I'm sorry my friend, you were just caught between a family feud and you paid with your life." Artemis stayed silent for a moment as a sign of respect then checked the corpse's tracking system to the warship. The position of the gauntlet and the warship were in proximity to each other. She knew Mira was heading towards the Nemesis. She could only hope that no one was with her.
Back Road
Artemis walked closely to Sam, almost creepily close. The sun beat on their faces making them all feel uncomfortable. Wheeljack grumbled, walking slowly behind them as instructed. Sam started to complain and question why they were walking rather than driving. Artemis did not answer, only continued down the path.
She stopped abruptly. For a moment, Sam didn't think of anything of it until she completely walked past her. Wheeljack was immediately on guard thinking Artemis might have seen or heard something. She turned toward Wheeljack, giving him a very solemn look.
"I thought I saw something." At first, Wheeljack wasn't sure what he should do. "It was over there, deep in the bushes." Artemis pointed which he took as a command to check it out. Silently wondering why she didn't check it out herself.
It didn't take long for Wheeljack get out of sight. As soon as the time seemed appropriate, Artemis took out a cell phone looking device. Sam noticed the device and became suspicious. Artemis never got a cell phone like that before. When she flipped it open, she noticed that it wasn't a cell phone, but in fact a detonator.
"Artemis? What's that-" Sam could hear an explosion followed by Wheeljack's cry of pain. It took her a second to put two and two together. "What did you do?!" Sam saw Artemis wipe her face of sweat which smudged what looked like make-up.
"I did what I was supposed to." Her face was dark, the expression was soulless. The expression that could come from only one girl Sam knew, Mira.
"Wheeljack!" Sam started to run towards the location of the explosion, but Mira grabbed her arm and twisted it.
"Don't even think about it." Mira started to march down the path again. It was only a matter of time, before the Autobots were after her.
Autobot Base
Optimus groaned, holding his head from the ache of the stasis lock. He looked over at Ratchet who was placing Jack softly on the ground. A quick sweep and he noticed Wheeljack, Sam, and Artemis were missing. Miko and Rafael eased Agent Fowler onto the gurney as Ratchet plugged the transfer drive into the computer.
"Ratchet, where are the others?" Optimus steadied himself before making his way to his friend's side.
"I'm not sure, they ran off somewhere." Ratchet brought up the information her got from the warship.
"Artemis was acting pretty weird today. I don't think it would be a good idea to leave her alone with Sam." Jack mentioned which was very true.
"Speaking of pretty weird, I didn't see Mira at all on the Nemesis." Rafael mentioned which made Optimus flinch. "I mean, if Megatron was in trouble, wouldn't she be the first to fix things?"
"Doc…" The incoming transmission startled everyone. It was Wheeljack and he didn't sound too good.
"Wheeljack, what's wrong?" The medic bot brought up the signal to lock onto his location.
"I need an assist. Artemis led me into a trap and she took Sam." He groaned and began to explain what had happened only moment earlier.
"Why would Artemis do that?" Arcee brought up, questioning Wheeljack's Intel.
"Because we have been harboring Mira." Optimus answered which made everyone turn and stare at him. Now, everything made sense. Why Artemis had been acting so weird, why most of her armor was missing, and why she jumped Wheeljack. "Ratchet, lock onto Wheeljack's location. We must go after Mira."
Optimus POV
Bulkhead and Arcee leaned Wheeljack up as Ratchet began to repair his wounds. Bumblebee and I left them to work as we began to track Mira from the abandoned road. As we continued down the road, we realized that it was heading toward the direction of the warship's crash site. I began to wonder what Mira as up to.
It was to my horror that the only possible reason she would be heading towards that direction, would be to lure us into a trap. Despite that, I had to recover Sam and attempt to recover Artemis' location. I stopped momentarily from tracking to notice a set of footprints separate from those left by Sam and Mira. Someone else was tracking Mira.
As the footprints became fresher, we became more cautious. Mira had proven to be a dangerous human, a true Decepticon in human skin. They heard a whimper which caused us to freeze. Mira was holding a knife to Sam's neck, unable to use the stolen blaster on her arm.
"Don't move Optimus, last thing you want is this girl's head to roll." Mira hid behind Sam, ducking her head behind her shoulder. I gestured Bumblebee to stand down.
"What do you want?"
"I got a message saying you took information, I want it back."
"In return you will hand over Sam unharmed? And Artemis?"
"I can guarantee Sam will be untouched, but Artemis I cannot hand to you. Though, I would take my offer regardless." As much as I wanted Artemis' safety, I couldn't risk Sam's life with such a delegate situation. I was about contact Ratchet, when I heard a whisper and then Mira scream.
Artemis POV
"If you wanted me to hate you Mira, congratulations," I came up behind Mira, grabbing the arm with the knife and my gauntlet. "I do." I pushed her body so it would lean forward and slammed my foot into her shoulder. I heard a loud crack before Mira's mouth let out a blood curdling scream. I removed my gauntlet from her arm as she fell to the ground, clutching her shoulder.
"You, you got away." Mira whispered under her breath in between painful wheezing. My eyes glowing blue showed a deadly intent. The strength of Primus running through me like blood ran through my veins.
"Sam, get going!" I watched Sam run towards Optimus, as I picked up my sister and threw her against a tree trunk. I was angry and at the same time disgusted in myself. I didn't want Sam or Optimus, especially Optimus, to see me act so ruthless. However, she threatened to kill Sam, my only family in the world now, and I couldn't and WOULDN'T let that happen.
I threw a punch which she stumbled away from. My first shattered the trunk, making the splinters lodge into my bare fist. I shook my hand and slipped my gauntlet back on my arm where it belonged. Despite Optimus requesting otherwise, I ran after Mira. She took out what looked like a Decepticon shield and placed it on her chest. Just like that, her body was covered in the black armor.
We ran into the plain and the ripped out ground was a sign that the Decepticon Warship was here. I tackled her to the ground, punched at her helmet furiously. The visor began to crack and all I wanted was to see her face, to see her expression of fear. To see our positions reversed that I was the one who was going to make her hurt.
I was about to land the last punch that was guaranteed to shatter the mask that hid her face, but all I heard was Sam scream. My fist stopped inches from Mira's face. I looked over at Sam who was tearing up. I didn't realize it till now, but I was truly scary. I had never acted so angry.
Mira pushed me off her and ran away from me. Within moments, a Decepticon trooper hovered over the ground low enough for her to hop on and get away. I stood up, watching my sister retreat. I was glad she got away; I didn't want to kill her in a result of anger. I turned toward Sam who was standing in front of Optimus and the others.
"Sam, please tell me you're okay." I had a sad smile on my face which she took as a sign that I had recovered from my fury. Sam ran over to me and hugged me tightly. "I'm sorry Sam."
The Nemesis
Mira sat on the berth, watching Knockout frustratingly attempt to wrap up her injured arm. All of sudden, she just started to laughing. Unfortunately, Megatron entered sick bay right at that moment and heard her laughing which caused him to become angry.
"And tell me what is so amusing, Mira?!" Megatron pushed Knockout away so he could be one on one with her.
"My deepest apologies my lord, but my sister attempted to end me today." She stood up, holding the unsecure bandages against her shoulder. "Things are beginning to get serious, which brings me nothing but joy. However, I regret not being able to correct Knockout's error for you."
"I will simply have to test your continued usefulness my human disciple."
Autobot Base
"Coordinates?" Artemis sat on the table, repairing the broken gauntlet before she would have to move out.
"To four Iacon relics." Ratchet pointed at the screen.
"Then, what's that?" Artemis pointed to a fifth, very low signal that was coming from somewhere deep in the earth.
"I'm, not sure."