Chapter 33

The Nemesis...

Alex crashed to the cold, hard floor as the groundbridge portal behind him disappeared. Catching his breath for a second he looked up to find himself lying in a vast chamber, dominated by a central column at the far end. Cables and pillars spilled from it at all sides and the blue lights emanating from various points pulsed in harmony with a soft hum that filled the room. Alex slowly drew himself back onto his feet as he surveyed his surroundings. Taking a deep breath he realised that he was breathing normally. Silently he gave thanks for that fact.

Returning to point Alex scanned the engine room for anything that resembled a security camera. Soundwave had to be watching out for him. When he found nothing he turned his attention to the towering structure that was the engine itself. However his attention immediately drifted away from it as he dismissed any ideas of tampering with it or anything else in the room.

"Preferably in my time, Soundwave." He muttered.

Then he had an idea. Clicking his fingers a small orb of void energy appeared in his left hand. Raising his other hand and holding it above the orb he allowed it to grow. Within a few seconds its size had increased to that of a cantaloupe, with sparks escaping through his fingers. He wasn't sure if this would achieve anything, but he couldn't think of a more effective yet safe way on how to obtain the surveillance chiefs attention. The orb continued to spit sparks.

Meanwhile three walls down from the engine room, a head popped through one and studied the contents of the storeroom. Smokescreen would never admit it, but he was actually a bit lost. Despite being successful in retrieving am Iacon relic from the warships vault once before, he had made the mistake of not memorising the exact whereabouts of it. Quickly walking to the other side of the room he vanished through the opposite wall, now only two away from where Alex was.

Alex kept his grasp on the fireball, his hands starting to quiver the longer he held them in that position. Wrapped so up in what was happening in his hands and the crackling of the energy there from, he failed to notice or hear the sound of the door sliding open to reveal two vehicon guards.

It was impossible to tell what facial expressions the two Decepticons were wearing upon seeing the human in the middle of the room. Slowly they took a few steps forward. Though its back was turned to them they could make out that it seemed to be holding something in its servos and that it was glowing orange. The vehicons started to raise their arms towards the human. At the same moment Smokescreen's head appeared through the wall behind them near the door, the sound of phase shifting going unheard to both other parties. For approximately two second Smokescreen's attention focused on the two vehicons standing in front of him, but after that his eyes widened at the sight of seeing Alex standing in the centre of the room. At that sight the certain danger of the previous one was forgotten.

"Alex?!" He called out loudly.

Alex was not the first to react. Upon hearing Smokescreen's voice the vehicons spun round to face the Autobot, immediately powering up their weapons. Only then did Alex register his name being called out. Also spinning round he locked eyes with Smokescreen, but only for a second as he eyes then shifted onto the two gigantic figures closer to him, whose blasters by now were on the verge of firing.

In that moment, not only did fear overcome Alex, but it also wiped out his restraint on his flow of energy. As he spread his hands the orb was split in two and both rapidly expanded, shooting ever larger sparks and even lightning bolts that coursed along the floor. The sound of which growing louder and causing the vehicons to spin back round again before they could fire.

They would never get to fire. Survival instinct now in full control Alex waved his hands towards them. Two massive bolts of energy shot across the room and traced themselves across the vehicons chests. Though still standing, the bolts killed them instantly. Smokescreen meanwhile twisted his head away as a result of the flash.

It was over in seconds. As silence filled the room and Alex lowered his arms to his sides, the two Decepticon soldiers collapsed to the floor, smoke curling from the giant blackened cracks in their frames. On the other side of the room Smokescreen fully phased into the room and stared, gaze interchanging between the corpses and the human.

Time stopped for Alex. Slowly his arms lowered to his sides but his eyes never broke away from the sight before him. The realization of what he had just done also began to set in. His mind grappled for the appropriate response. He should be distraught, angry, scared even. He had just taken two lives and he didn't know how to react. But then, a second realization came to light. And this was the one that terrified Alex right to the core.

He didn't care.

He didn't care that he was a murderer. He didn't care that Smokescreen had just seen him commit murder. He didn't care that he was basically on the same level now as Megatron.

Or Optimus, for that matter.

Slowly he looked up at Smokescreen. The rookies face was unreadable, also not sure on how to react to what he had just seen.

Alex thought about what to say. But as his mind returned to working order he remembered where he was, why he was there, and what had he set out to do. And with all those things flooding back into his brain, he did what he though most logical.

Looking up at Smokescreen with a look of utter seriousness, he pointed to the wall on the Autobot's right.

"Vault's that way." He said.

Smokescreen stared at Alex, then to his right, then back at Alex. Understanding what the teenager meant he took a deep breath and gave a small nod.

"Much obliged." He replied, before jogging towards the wall and disappearing through it.

Alex turned back to the corpses on the floor, the charred gashes still smouldering. Standing up straight he considered his current position. Now, all he had to do was wait.

It didn't take long. Suddenly a screen on one of the walls flickered into life. A moment later the static cleared to reveal the face of Soundwave, his visor lowered. He stared down at Alex.

"The loss of the two vehicon's life signals notified me of your presence." He stated.

"That's what you get for not looking out for me in the first place." Alex's response dripped sarcasm.

"You received no hindrance from the Autobot Smokescreen?"

"Let's just say he chose to back off. Now quit wasting time and take me home." He demanded.

Soundwave didn't move. Instead he cocked his head slightly and gave a small grin.

"Your trust in me is quite humorous." He said.

That sentence made Alex freeze. He frowned. "Why?"

"Because it would be extremely easy for me to kill you now." Replied Soundwave.

Alex said nothing.

"Surely you did not consider this?" The mech continued. "I know my place here. I know what is expected of me and what actions I must take in the next few minutes. Yet I do not your place and neither do you. For all your world is concerned, Alex Matthews was never to be seen again after vanishing off its shores." The grin grew wider. So tell me Alex, why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

Alex didn't move a muscle as he stared back up at Soundwave. He thought for a moment. Just a moment. Then he returned the grin.

"Same reason why there is oxygen in this room." He replied.

The grin vanished. Soundwave stared at the human in a moment of utter shock. Then his face morphed into a glare that caused Alex to also lose the grin and distil the fear that he was in actual fact about to die.

It wasn't without reason. Soundwave did not like to be outsmarted, especially when it came to something as simple as a counter reason. Because of it, the thought of killing the human became awfully tempting.

But he didn't. Instead he kept up the glare.

Suddenly Alex heard gunshots in the background of the screen. Soundwave slightly turned his head to the sound as if noting it, then returning to the human. Then suddenly without warning he raised his visor. Though his face was now covered the much seemed to glance down at his controls. A minute later a green light began to shine behind Alex. Turning around he was met with the sight of a portal. Only this one was bigger, and seemed to go further. Glancing back he found Soundwave still just watching him. Cautiously he began to walk forward.

But then he stopped. "Soundwave," he said turning back round.

"For what they're worth, two things." He stated. The much continued to stare at him.

"One, you will come back. You always do." He stated.

Soundcard kept silent.

"And two," Alex continued. "You were always my favourite character. You could get away with lying to Megatron, even outdo him. Trickery on a grand scale, if you wanted to."

Still, the mech said nothing.

Giving a slight nod, Alex resumed walking, as he went further the energy enveloped him. The light becoming too much to bear and with a final flash, he was gone.

As the brig filled with the sound of gunshots as the Wreckers charged in with determination, no-one would hear the Decepticon communications officer mutter two last words.

"I know."

Hangar E, a day later…

"And how did he react afterwards?" asked Ultra Magnus

"That's the thing. He didn't." Smokescreen responded. "He just stood there. Then he told me in what direction the vault was and that's when I left."

"You did not enquire anything else?"

"To be honest, I was too scared to." The rookie added. "Probably because he had just taken down two vehicons in two swipes."

The whole of team Prime stood assembled in the military hangar. The kids had already told everyone about their encounter with Alex, with Smokescreen just finishing his story as well. Although everyone seemed concerned about what happened to the teenager, some appeared less concerned. Arcee looked like she was bored, and Optimus's expressions had remained unreadable, all the while remaining quiet.

"We found the bodies in the engine room but there was no sign of Alex, there nor anywhere else on the ship according to security cameras." Bumblebee explained. "But when we checked the groundbridge logs we didn't find any that had been opened in the room around that time."

"Soundwave must have erased it when he was finished." Arcee muttered.

Everyone turned to the two-leaning on the wall, confused looks abound.

"Alex told me that his chat with Soundwave was a 'real eye-opener.' I think Soundwave bridged Alex out and the erased the record to cover his tracks." She explained.

"Alex did say that he was going home, though he didn't specify how." Jack noted. He and the four other humans were up on the gantry.

"He also said that we would never see him again." Added Raf. He had also remained quiet during this conversation.

"Sounds like the kid knew what he was doing." Said Wheeljack.

"Maybe he struck some sort of deal with Soundwave to transport him back to his own universe." Bumblebee suggested.

"Maybe. But what could Alex have offered in exchange?" Smokescreen asked.

"To get the con out of the shadowzone?" Miko cut in.

"And how would he do that from another universe, Miko?" shot Jack, obviously now annoyed.

"Hey, I'm just saying." Miko elbowed her fellow teenager.

"Unfortunately, none of this matters." Ratchet concluded. "Alex made it clear that he was going to try to get home no matter what. Either he succeeded in doing so or Soundwave betrayed him. In both cases it is safe to assume that we will not see him again."

"Ratchet, I can't believe you're acting so calm!" Arcee stepped forward. "Need I remind you that Starscream and Shockwave are still out there, not to mention the predating?! We still don't know if Alex gave anything damaging to the cons before-"

"He wouldn't have."

Everyone turned to the sound of Optimus's voice, which till now had not been heard.

"Arcee," he said. "You had every reason to suspect Alex since our first meeting, you all did. He appeared from nowhere with a fantastical story that proved hard to believe. Though eventually through several situations, he proved to be telling the truth about who he was and what he knew. And while his actions may not have displayed it, his intentions were for that of our cause here on Earth. Therefore we can assume, that even after his departure, he would leave the Decepticons no means or information that would compromise this planet, nor our own."

Optimum then turned to Raf. "Raf. I thank you for assisting Alex in being able to board the Nemesis. It is because of you that he was able to begin his supposed journey home."

Raf shifted nervously, but managed to give a small grin.

"Alas," Optimum continued. "We will never learn if Soundwave remained true to his word or not at the very end. That is why we must have faith, fellow Autobots. Faith that our friend Alex is indeed back in his universe, with those he cares for and care for him in return."

With Optimus concluding, most of Team Prime gave this a long hard thought. For some, their leaders' words rang true. For others, they were accepted with scepticism.

For Jack and Arcee however, both accepted the idea that if Alex were to show again, trouble would follow him.

Standing up straight and directly facing them, Optimum addressed his troops once again.

"Meanwhile, we must set ourselves a new priority. For though our home world is now once again capable of supporting life, there is much rebuilding to do."