WalkingTalkingLamborghini doesn't own Transformers or any referenced brands.
Chapter Four: The Final Countdown
I sat in the front seat with Ratchet. There was no way I was sitting in the backseat again. Bee followed behind. A flame-decaled semi, a silver sports car, and black pickup.
"It's Optimus." I grinned, near just about sticking my head completely out the window.
Ratchet chuckled at my enthusiasm.
With my head out the window, I could see behind us clear as a bell.
"Uh-oh." I whisper.
"Alex?" Ratchet asked with concern. Ironhide pulls up beside us. He's so close that I could reach out and adjust his rearview mirror.
"It's the cop Sam told me about." I pointed. "What's the decepticon symbol look like again? Isn't it very pointy?"
"BARRICADE!" Ironhide roared. Ratchet swerved when an explosive round landed and detonated between me and Ironhide, jerking me back into the cab of his vehicle form. I let out a yelp.
A tan construction truck that looked like it just was the star of a demolition derby transformed. It's piercing red eyes looked over the landscape. Optimus transformed to take on the thing. I hardly notice when we drive onto an overpass.
Bonecrusher tackles Optimus off the overpass and to the ground below, hiding him from view.
Suddenly, F-22s fly overhead.
"This would be so cool if it wasn't so scary." I let out a whimper, curling up onto Ratchet's front seat, my eyes as wide as saucers.
"It's ok, youngling." Ratchet says in a soothing tone. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
"Thanks." I whisper as I glanced up out the window again.
We drive into the city, and all the soldiers stop Everyone gets out of the cars and stuff.
"Here, I got shortwave radios." Lennox said as he handed Epps a radio.
"Wait. What am I supposed to do with these?" Epps asked him incredulously.
"Well, use them! It's all we got!" Lennox ordered him.
"This is like RadioShack dinosaur radios or something, man." Epps scowled. "I'm only gonna get 20 or 30 miles out of these things. Are there any aircraft orbiting the city?"
"What about that?" I ask and point.
"F-22 at twelve o'clock." Epps nods. "Good eye, kid."
"Alright, I want planes for air cover and get Black Hawks on station to extract that Cube. You got it?" Lennox told him.
"Air Force has arrived!" Lennox turned and shouted. "Pop smoke!"
"Raptor, Raptor, do you copy? We have you visual. Green smoke is the mark. Provide air cover and vector Black Hawks for extraction." Epps said into the radio.
"It's Starscream!" Ironhide screamed as he transformed.
"Please tell me you copy." Epps said into the radio, hope dissolving into nothing. Ironhide and 'Bee grabbed a Furby truck and propped it up as Starscream started firing. Screams and shouts fade into the distance.
"Back up! Take cover! Bumblebee!" Ironhide screamed at Bumblebee
"No, no, no!" Lennox shouted, motioning to everyone. "Move!"
"Back up!" Ironhide roared. "Back up!"
"Retreat! Fall back!" A soldier shouted as Starscream starts shooting missiles.
"Incoming!" Ironhide shouts. Dirt, rocks, missiles, and truck parts start flying. Ratchet transformed and knelt over me to protect me from the flying debris.
When the dust settles, its easy to say that it looks like a tornado hit. 'Bee makes plaintive wailing, his legs pinned under the Furby truck. Ratchet helped lifted the truck off 'Bee's legs. Half of his legs was still under the truck.
"No. Your legs! Your legs." Sam said in horror.
"'Bee," Ratchet growled. "Stop, you will make it worse if you sever a fuel line."
"I'm not gonna leave you." Sam said to 'Bee.
"I will repair you after the battle. Jazz needs back-up." Ratchet went with Jazz to go provide cover.
Mikeala pulls up a tow truck and we both help Sam to get 'Bee outta here.
"Wrap it around the head." Sam said.
"Sam! Where's the Cube?" Lennox ran up to us.
"Right there." I pointed.
"Okay." Lennox nodded.
"And take that and wrap it around the base and then put it around his neck, okay?" Sam told Mikeala when Lennox walked over to Epps to tell him something.
"Alright, I can't leave my guys back there," Lennox handed Sam a flare. "So here, take this flare. Okay, there's a tall, white building with statues on top. Go to the roof. Set the flare."
Sam shook his head out of fear.
"Signal the chopper and set the flare-"
"No, no. I can't do this!" Sam gasped.
"Listen to me! You're a soldier now! All right? I can't let your little sister do it. I need you to take this Cube. Get it into military hands while we hold them off, or a lot of people are gonna die." Lennox shouted. "You got to go. You got to go, NOW."
"No, I'm not leaving." Mikeala said.
"You need to go. No, get out!"
"No, I'm not leaving till I get Bumblebee out of here, okay?" Mikeala said.
"Army Black Hawk requested. Immediate evac for civilian boy with precious cargo. Headed to rooftop marked by flare." Epps reported.
"Sam, we will protect you." A voice says from behind us, and Sam and I turned to meet Ironhide and Ratchet's gazes.
"Okay." Sam nodded. Sam tells Mikeala something, but I don't pay attention.
"I'm coming too." I frown.
"Its not safe." Ratchet said.
"I'm not letting Sam have all the fun without me." I snark. I stand erect, channeling my stubbornness for all its worth.
The two bots exchanged amused expressions. Sam grabs the Allspark and we start running. Sam has an iron grasp one my wrist as he drags me down the street, my shorter legs moving as fast as I possibly can make them move.
"Sam! Get to the building!" Ironhide shouted.
"Move!" Ratchet yelled.
That same F-22 drops below the building and transforms, firing missile all over the place that rock the ground, tear apart cars and blows crap up. Sam yanked me behind a car with him as dirt and debris pelted the car.
"Cover fire!" Ratchet shouted to Ironhide.
"Keep moving, Sam! Don't stop!" Ironhide shouts.
Sam dragged me along as we kept moving, but I couldn't help myself but to snippily reply. "We weren't going to, bolt-bucket!"
Starscream keeps firing on the two bots.
"Sam! You're gonna dislocate my wrist!" I squeak after a particularly close call.
Starscream takes down both Ratchet and Ironhide with deadly precision.
"Sam, get to the building!" Ironhide shouted. I wrenched my wrist from his grip.
"Alex?" Sam squeaked. There was something that made me nervous in his eyes.
Fear.
My older brother was scared.
"Sam, it'll be fine." I tell him honestly. "I promise."
He nodded and kept running.
"You guys ok?" I asked after Sam ran off and the two bots had time to recover.
"You could do to shoot more, Ratchet." Ironhide grumbled.
"And you could do to aim more." Ratchet snipped. I laugh at them, it sounds like a conversation me and Sam would have. While I'm laughing, a silver shimmer catches my eye and I stiffen. "What's that?"
Ratchet hauled himself to his feet and followed my gaze. He gasped and ran down the street. Ironhide followed and I desperately tried to keep up with the two mechs. The situation reminds me of whenever we go to our family lakehouse. The older kids always want to swim out deep, and I wanted to be cool and come. That was kinda how I learned to swim. I kinda just taught myself, and I did a pretty darn good job if I'd say so myself.
I skidded to a stop behind Ratchet, running into his leg. "Oof."
I shook my head, a little mental reset, and then glanced over at what the silver thing was.
It's Jazz. In two pieces.
Ratchet knelt down beside him, trying to fix him.
"Ratchet, he's lost a lot of energon." Ironhide said.
"Is that what all this… blue stuff is?" I asked, eyes wide.
"Yes." Ironhide said. "It's our lifeblood and fuel."
"Oh." I say, with not much else to say, which is a first. I almost always have something to say.
We kinda fall into silence, Ratchet working quickly. We stood there for several minutes before Ratchet spoke up. "He's stable, for now. He's going to need more energon soon but that is an issue for later."
Ratchet began putting him back together. Jazz groans and Ratchet snapped at him. "Jazz, don't move."
"Wasn't plannin' on it, Ratch'." He said with a weak grin, and then glanced at me. "'Ey, you got the feisty lil one."
"Guilty as charged." I smirk.
"Sit still," Ratchet growled, welding something back together. While he does this, I can't help but have a terrible feeling that Sam is in trouble. And as time goes on, it just gets worse.
"Sam's in trouble."
Three pairs of optics snap to me. Jazz asked. "How do ya know?"
"I don't know," I admit, before making a slight smirk. "But I-"
I'm cut off from saying anything as Megatron smashed out of the roof of a building not too far away and smacks off a corner the roof with some sort of… whip thing. I spot Sam falling with the debris. Optimus monkeyed onto the roof of a lower building and snatched my older brother out of the air.
"Told ya so." I say before running down the street. I have to make sure he's ok. I can hear of few shouts, but all I care about is my brother. The three autobots race after me but I don't give a crap.
Getting down the street, I stop dead in my tracks at the scene in front of me.
"MINE!" Megatron roared, lunging for my brother. "I'll kill you! Mine! All-Spark!"
"Sam! Put the Cube in my chest! Now! Sam!" Optimus called.
Sam spun around to Megatron.
"No, Sam!"
My brother shoved the Allspark up in the air. It split apart and seemed to burn a hole in Megatron's chest. Megatron yelled in agony and fell to the ground twitching. I locked onto my brother's gaze and bolted. I hardly notice when Mikeala, 'Bee and the two truck pulled up.
"SAM!" I screeched, tackle-hugging him, causing both of us to fall to the ground.
"Oof!" My brother grunted as he hit the ground. "Ay, Alex."
"You left me no... choice, brother." Optimus plucked a piece of the Allspark from Megatron's chest, but I hardly noticed until he said. "Sam, I owe you my life. We are in your debt."
Ironhide, Ratchet and Jazz fall in behind Optimus.
"Permission to speak, sir?" 'Bee asked.
"Permission granted, old friend." Optimus nodded.
"You speak now?" Sam asked.
"I wish to stay with the boy." 'Bee said.
"If that is his choice." Optimus nodded.
"Yes." Sam nodded, a slight smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. I had a big grin on my face a while ago.
"Optimus," Ratchet spoke up. "I would like to be Alex's guardian, if possible."
I nodded, my grin somehow widening. Optimus's gaze flicked from me to Ratchet, then back to me.
"Since I doubt 'Bee could handle three charges, yes." Optimus nodded.
"Yay!" I cheered with a grin. Don't I sound like I'm two?
Not much later, Sam and Mikeala kiss, and Optimus turned to the sunset.
"With the Allspark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. But fate has yielded its reward, a new world to call him. We live among its people now, but watching over them in secret. I have witnessed their capacity for courage. And though we are worlds apart, like us, there is more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to any surviving Autobots taking refuge among the stars. We are here, we are waiting."
Que the coolest credits, playing 'What I've Done'.
