Hey there fellow readers and writers, today I thought I'd do something a bit different. Usually I create stories featuring Carrie White. Though, there's another sympathetic, superpowered character from King's works that I feel doesn't get as much attention as she should, which is Charlie McGee from Firestarter.
She and her family were relentlessly hunted by the shadowy government agency known as The Shop because they wanted to exploit each of their unique psychic abilities and later the girl's parents are murdered by the organization. Today, I'll be crossing the characters from the 2022 film version of that story with Transformers: Prime.
I might include elements from other Stephen King adaptations, but don't expect anything from Carrie. With that said, here's chapter 1.
Near the edge of the town of Jasper, Nevada, a man and his young daughter walked quickly along the streets of an almost empty neighborhood. The two people in question were Andy and Charlie McGee. These two were unique among most people since they possessed special abilities. Andy had a psychic ability to mentally manipulate the mind's of others, which he called "The Push" while Charlie possessed fiery ability of pyrokinesis, which was called "The Fire". His wife, Vicki Tomlinson-McGee, had the power of telekinesis. Sadly, she had recently been murdered by an assassin known as John Rainbird. The way Andy and Vicki received their gifts was through an injection of a serum called Lot-6 created by the unscrupulous Department of Scientific Intelligence, or more commonly known as The Shop, a branch of the United States government.
Over a decade ago, both Andy and Vicki had volunteered to be injected by Lot-6 by the Shop and were the only two among the other volunteers to survive and gain powers. Soon after, they had a daughter who they named Charlie. But all was not well as the Shop soon attempted to kidnap the child in order to study her, only to be thwarted by the swift actions of her father. Since then, the family had been on the run until settling down in a quiet, peaceful life in Jasper. That is until an incident at Charlie's school involving her abilities caused the Shop to locate them and send in one of their deadliest agents, John Rainbird, who managed to kill Vicki despite going up against her telekinesis.
Fortunately, Andy and Charlie were able to escape, although they had to abandon their vehicle so as to not be so easily found. Now, the exhausted father/daughter duo quickly made their way out of town, hoping they wouldn't encounter Rainbird or law enforcement. Charlie was incredibly tired and her feet felt quite sore. "Why can't we drive our own car?" She asked. "Because they're looking for us" Said Andy in a slightly annoyed tone, trying to explain to her why their vehicle wasn't no longer an option. "They won't really put us in jail" the girl stated rather than asked. "Not you. They'll study you" he answered. "Like the frog" Said Charlie, remembering how she had to dissect a frog in a class at her old school. "Yeah. Yeah, just like the frog" Andy told her grimly. It was a constant fear of both him and Vicki that if the Shop ever caught up to them, Charlie would be indefinitely detained and studied for the rest of her life, depriving her a childhood that every kid should have.
The man desperately hoped he could find a passing vehicle they could flag down and ask to take them to one of the wooded areas far away from town where he knew there was an abandoned cabin near them he and Charlie could temporarily rest in and make plans for the future. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen any in quite a while. Andy sighed before saying "I was really hoping we'd find someone to give us a lift". He thought things couldn't get any worse when a man suddenly emerged out of an alley the two were passing, wearing a dirty jacket, beanie hat and pointing a gun at them. "Alright, don't move. Gimme money and any valuables, now!" he growled in a husky voice. The father and daughter stared at him with shock and fear in their eyes.
….
Not too far away, a blue motorcycle made it's way out of town. This was no ordinary motorcycle however. It was, in fact, an extraterrestrial, robotic life form known as an Autobot from the far off planet of Cybertron. The Autobots were part of a race of beings called the transformers that could disguise themselves as vehicles. They were also at war with their sworn enemies, the evil Decepticons, over control of their home planet and it's resources. Eventually, the war was taken off-planet and deposits of the transformer's coveted fuel source, energon, had been hidden on other worlds, which included Earth. A small group of Autubots had stationed themselves on the blue planet in order to combat the Decepticons, who had ended up there as well in a massive warship.
This particular Autobot, named Arcee, was on her way back from patrolling for Decepticon activity. She'd report to her leader, a wise and experienced Autobot known as Optimus Prime, back at their hidden base. She made sure her holographic "driver" was activated so sell the illusion that she was being driven by a human before stopping a stoplight. Not too far away, she spotted what looked like a man holding another person and his daughter at gunpoint.
It was terrible. A part of her wished she could do something to help out the two, but ultimately she had her duty to fulfill. She was far enough away that she wasn't noticed by any of them, but still close enough that she could hear them.
….
Andy kept his cool as best he could before taking on a determined expression. He realized he had use the Push to get themselves out of their situation. Lately, however, the more he used his power, the more it caused him pain and his eyes to bleed. Still, he had to protect Charlie. His daughter noticed his expression and suspected what he was planning. "Daddy" She asked. "It's ok, Charlie" he reassured her before cracking his neck and giving the gruff man in front of him an intense stare. His pupils quickly dilated and the mugger's did as well. Then Andy spoke, saying "You're going to drop the gun, walk away slowly, and forget you ever saw us".
Then, something bizarre happened that completely perplexed Arcee. The mugger actually obeyed Andy's command and dropped the gun. After this, he walked slowly away and said nothing more to his would-be targets. After he disappeared around the corner of a house, the father and daughter looked quickly around, then hurried off. Arcee had silently driven away before Andy spotted her. ' How in the name of the Allspark did that human do that?!' the Autobot thought to herself. Did he possess some kind of superpower? She hadn't realized there were humans capable of such abilities on Earth. The only examples she could think of were fictional characters from comic books shown to her by one of the Autobot's human allies, Miko Nakadai. She and two others, Jack Darby and Rafael Esquivel, were a group of humans who recently learned of their existence and became valuable members of Team Prime.
' Nah, it couldn't be that… could it?' she wondered. The scout shrugged it off for now, but wasn't sure if she should share what she witnessed with her compatriots. Arcee put the thought aside as she approached Autobot Outpost Omega One.
….
Sometime later, a yellow and black transformer named Bumblebee drove down the road carrying two of the Autobot's human allies, Jack and Miko. The two had been picked up from school and were headed to Omega One to, hopefully, see if their respective robotic friends, Arcee and Bulkhead, were available for a leisurely drive or an upcoming monster truck rally. Unfortunately, their other friend, Raf, had to head home since the young boy had a lot of studying to do. It hadn't been that long ago that the three had stumbled upon the secret conflict between the heroic Autobots and the sinister Decepticons. They were instrumental in helping Optimus Prime and his team in preventing the Decepticon's leader, Megatron, from bringing an army of undead transformers from Cybertron to Earth.
While Miko and Raf were amazed by their newfound robotic friends, Jack was quite resistant to the idea of associating himself with them since he feared for his safety. Eventually, he did come around and helped the Autobots in saving his world. Currently, the two were discussing the activities they were hoping to do after arriving at Omega One. "Oh man, me and Bulkhead have to make this epic monster truck ralley this evening!" the Japanese American teen gushed in excitement. "Of course, your idea of fun is something loud" said Jack, rolling his eyes in amusement before continuing. "As for me, I'm just hoping to go on a relaxing drive around town". Miko, however, disagreed. "Boooriiing! Haven't you or Arcee ever tried to zig zag between trees or jump a canyon?" She asked. Jack scoffed at this and replied " No way! I've had my fill of driving like that after being chased by Vehicons". Before either could say anything else, they noticed two people up ahead by the side of the road. Bumblebee was quick to equip his holographic driver before they got closer.
One was an adult man with a young girl close beside him. The man was holding his thumb out trying to flag them down. "Huh, looks like they need a ride or something" Jack said as Bee began to slow down to stop.
….
It had been quite some time since Andy and Charlie escaped being mugged and had managed to put some distance between them and town. The telepathic father knew he and his daughter wouldn't be able to reach the cabin before nightfall on foot and desperately hoped he'd see a passing vehicle by now. Luckily, he finally saw a black and yellow car approach. "Here's one" he said before sticking his thumb out. "Oh, come on, please" Andy said to himself before noticing it slow down. "Yes" he exclaimed. However, Charlie wasn't so sure about this course of action. "Are you sure this is safe?" She asked with an expression of uncertainty. "Right now, I think we need to get off this road" he answered and looked back at her. "So… Come on. We'll be smart" and took his daughter's hand, leading them towards to approaching car.
"Be clever. Let's go" Andy told her before the car finally stopped beside them and rolled down it's passenger side window. The duo noticed a middle aged man in the driver's seat as well as two teenagers sitting in the back, one Caucasian and the other Japanese. Andy then went into his act, saying "Oh, man. I didn't think anyone was gonna stop" while putting on a relieved and friendly smile. The "driver" chuckled before saying "I wasn't expecting to see people all the way out here. You two lost or something?" Andy scratched the back of his neck and replied "No, uh, me and my daughter were on our way to the old cabin near the woods to visit her grandfather, but my car broke down a ways back". This caught the attention of the Caucasian teen and he remarked "Old cabin? I though that place was abandoned?" "No, actually, my dad owns it and he only stays there in the summer" said Andy. "Oh, I'm Frank, by the way" he added before looking to Charlie, saying "Uh, tell the nice people your name, sweetheart".
The girl then began with her cover story. "I'm Roberta, but they call me Bobbi" She said with a smile. The Japanese teen soon spoke up "Hi Bobbi. I'm Miko. This is Jack" she spoke, gesturing to the boy to her left. "And this is his dad, Sam" Miko finished, gesturing to the "man" in the front. "Nice to meet you all" said Andy before saying "Hey, uh, we really got to get to the cabin. Is there any chance you could take us?" The "driver" looked uncertain, saying "Hmm, I'm not sure…" however, Miko interrupted "Sure, why not?" "Miko" Jack told her in an annoyed tone, but the Japanese teen went on. "Come on, why not? The woods aren't too far from here and it's on the way to where we're going. I don't see the harm" She finished in her usual upbeat demeanor. The "driver" then relented, saying. "OK then. Hop in". This relieved "Frank" as he said "Oh, thanks" and climbed into the passenger's seat while "Bobbi" got into the back with Miko scooting to the middle to make room for her.
Afterward, they were off once again and Miko decided to strike up more conversation. "So, you visit your gramps often?" she asked. "Yeah, uh, as often as we can" the girl answered. "What sort of activities do you like to do with him?" the teen inquired further. Charlie thought up of something for a second before she said "Well, I like to go fishing with him. It's both of our favorite thing to do". Miko was getting along pretty well which was when Jack decided to get in on the conversation. "So, Bobbi, are you and your dad from Jasper?" he asked. "Yeah" she said. "Really? I don't recall seeing you at our school". This question got Andy a bit concerned. Charlie answered "Oh… I actually go to a different school". While this was true, it nonetheless made the two nervous how this teen was inquiring about their past. Fortunately, Miko put a stop to that as she said "Ya know, there's some cool events you and your grandpa could attend, like the local monster truck ralley tonight! It's an awesome experience".
Jack then let out an exasperated sigh before saying "Is that your only recommendation for an awesome experience here in Jasper?" "Hey, I got plenty of other examples!" Miko responded "Oh yeah, like what?" Jack asked. As the two argued, Charlie drowned out their voices as she started to notice a strange feeling in the back of her head. It was faint, but it was there. Slowly, she focused her gaze to the "driver" of the vehicle then the steering wheel and noticed the odd looking symbol in the center. As she stared, it was almost like she could feel some sort of… presence emanate from the very core of the car. Before she could dwell on this any further, Charlie was snapped out of her focus by Miko. "Yoohoo, Bobbi?" the teen asked and the girl snapped her head around to face her. "You ok? Ya kinda zoned out there for a sec". "Uh… y… yeah, just thinking about something". The two teens thought this odd, but shrugged it off pretty soon.
Before they could ask anything else, the car came to a stop beside the forest. "Well, were here" said the "driver" as Andy and Charlie exited the car. "Oh, thanks a lot man. We appreciate it" the father told him while Charlie said "Thank you". "Hey, no problem" Miko replied and the three drove off while the two others started walking along a dirt road into the woods. Jack then remembered hearing about some kind of explosion happening at another school involving a young girl who's description sort of matched Charlie's. He looked back at them as they drove away and thought 'Could she be… nah'.
….
After another long walk along the old road, Charlie and her dad, at last, made it to the abandoned cabin. It looked quite old, had moss growing on large portions of it, and some of the wood had begun to warp. Still, it was adequate shelter for two superpowered fugitives. Once they entered, Andy checked each of the rooms to make sure there weren't any wild animals or squatters hold up in them. As he did this, Charlie thought back to the bizarre feeling she got from the car of the people who gave them a ride. It almost felt like it… belonged to a person. She couldn't explain it. Her dad soon returned from checking each room. "OK, I checked everywhere and no one else's moved in, so…" he paused once he noticed the puzzled look on his daughter's face. "What's wrong, Charlie?" She looked up at him after realizing she'd been spoken to. "Hmm? Um, sorry. It's just something I felt back in Sam's car." "What did you feel?" asked Andy. She shook her head slightly while saying "I… I don't know. It was something I… sensed in the car. Someone. It wasn't Sam, Jack or Miko. It was like someone else was there".
This confused Andy and he said "Well, it might have something to do with inheriting my ability. Maybe". He wasn't sure. Later that evening, Andy was tucking in Charlie for the night in one of the bedrooms. As he sat beside her bed, he noticed the crestfallen expression on her face as she said "I miss mommy". The father fought back the tears in his eyes as he responded with "Yeah, I miss her too". The young pyrokinetic slowly began crying as she said "I… I made her scream… with the fire. It's my fault she's dead!" More tears streamed down her face as Andy quickly consoled her. "Hey! Mom's death was not your fault". Charlie looked over to her dad while he said "It was the bad people who killed her. Your mom, she… she actually wanted to teach you how to use your power". This helped in calming the girl down. "Will they come after us?" she asked. "You let me worry about that. Now get some sleep". She nodded and turned over to let the fatigue of the day pull her into a peaceful slumber.
Andy then quietly got up and went to his own room to come with a plan for their immediate future.
….
Sadly for the two, the following day wouldn't bring better fortune. In the early hours of the morning, a swirling green portal would open up near their cabin bringing forth a Vehicon scouting party.