CHAPTER 4: DARKNESS RISING IV
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The rising army of undead grew larger around us. I couldn't help the churning feeling deep within my insides - if they were already dead before, they won't feel any pain. They won't even care for it. Their disfigured forms will just keep rising and rising until they destroy us.
"Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors." Ratchet was stepping away from the scene and tugging on my arm, physically telling me to follow him.
"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering," Optimus sighed.
And if we didn't stop him and the undead pretty soon, no one would be...
NORMAL P.O.V
Slipstream looked at her glowing leader, gleeful grin stretching even further across his face. The power he had inside of him was growing.
"At last. Symbiosis. I can feel it." Megatron glanced at his SIC momentarily before locking his purple eyes with the same-coloured Decepticon insignia on his chest. "I possess complete control over my army." He turned to his army of undead. "Destroy them!"
Megatron had always been a powerful being, something that drew Slipstream to the Decepticons in the first place. But she had never seen him infused with something so powerful to command an army fueled with his blood. It was a sight she had never seen before.
A sight she was uncertain of.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Optimus activated his cannon blasters like he was getting ready to fight. The second he unfolded his second one, I activated mine - Ratchet behind me only had swords to match his medical title. We had to protect him at all costs because if one of us was injured in the fight, we needed him to patch us up.
The blaster fire worried me, to say the least. Even if we shot them down and offline, they were going to eventually rise up again. That was what Dark Energon did.
"If our combatants are already deceased, how can we possibly defeat them?"
A question none of us had the answers to... for now. I was certain we'd find the solution for this eventually, but when and in what state we were in by that point would be the deciding factor.
"Ratchet! Retreat! Bridge yourself back to base!" Optimus instructed.
"No!" he defiantly disagreed with the order, followed by the sound of his blades activating, "I shall stand with you, Optimus and Windswept!" He stood alongside us. "You may require a medic when this is all over with."
...Okay yes, we all had some form of basic medical training, but in severe cases, Ratchet was the only one who had a full base set and knowledge of dealing with injuries. If he got badly injured in the fight, none of us would be able to help him unless he helped us while lying on the med bay... And then there was finding someone who would be actually willing to perform any sort of procedure!
Ratchet raced ahead and sliced down some of the undead before either Optimus or I could argue. I went to go in as his backup in case the army began rising up again... but they didn't. I could see Ratchet waiting for a moment as if he was checking for them to rise up...
I watched the arm of one undead soldier glow purple for a moment... then it faded out...
...Of course!
"I recommend dissection!" Ratchet advised.
I traded in my blasters for my small blades. Smaller than Ratchets, but a similar design to Arcee's arm ones. "The smaller the pieces, the better!"
"Sound advice," Optimus complimented as he copied my reaction.
With us all now using our bladed weapons, we charged at the undead army and struck easily and quickly. We took down some of the ones around us in seconds, but once I looked up for a moment, it felt like dread had sunk in.
The army was massive. It was going to take all of our strengths to take them down.
If Dark Energon was known to sap a Cybertronian's energy the way it did to Arcee, then how were we going to defeat this army AND then take on Slipstream and a Dark Energon-infected Megatron.
"I have mastered Dark Energon!" I looked up at Megatron's announcement. "When you fall Optimus, you too shall join my army!"
No, he won't. None of us were going to fall and bow down to his wicked ways. I would rather be in a torture chamber for weeks on end than ever join any kind of army of Megatrons.
That pathetic decree of his gave me the motivation to attack the army with everything I had.
NORMAL P.O.V
A trio of Vehicons fired rapidly at the human boys on the ground, both of whom did their best to dodge the firepower heading their way. It soon became clear to Bulkhead, Miko and Carly that their friends wouldn't be able to last long on their own, especially when Jack was forced to protect the younger boy when he fell.
Transforming into his vehicle form, Bulkhead raced over to them, swinging open the passenger side door, "Get in! NOW!" Once the boys had leapt into his vehicle form, the off-terrain vehicle quickly drove away from the blaster fire, swinging left to right, and back again to avoid it.
"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack panted in thanks.
In the driver's seat, Raf glanced at the steering wheel, "Yeah, thanks!"
"Wh-What are you doing here?!"
"We were worried about Carly and Miko," Jack responded while he clicked his seatbelt over his body, "Have you seen them?"
"What'd they look like?" Miko appeared from Jack's side of the back seat.
"I didn't realise you cared so much, Jack," Carly teased from beside her friend.
"Mamá would freak out if she ever knew what you were doing!"
Carly half-shrugged at her younger sibling before her facial expressions glared angrily at the exchange student beside her, "I wouldn't have to be doing what I did if I hadn't been talked into it."
Before Miko could respond to her friend about her carelessness, Bulkhead pulled up behind a large rock formation that was nearly twice his vehicle form's height. He swung open his doors, "Everybody out! And this time, PLEASE wait here!"
The firepower grew heavier, but the determined Bulkhead was not prepared to give in. He skidded to the underbelly of the Decepticon Warship, where he knew the Vehicons couldn't fire at him. He drove off a small cliff, transforming into his Cybertronian form and clutched onto a rock wall. He scaled the formation until he was able to leap upon a spire of the warship.
One of the Vehicons on the top deck was prepared for his arrival, but he was not prepared for Bulkhead yanking on his foot and swinging him off the Warship, his body hitting part of the ship on his way down.
Once he was secure on the top deck, the former Wrecker activated his chosen wrecking ball weapon and charged at a Vehicon. The hit on his enemy sent him down, his head bouncing towards another Vehicon firing towards him. Bulkhead picked up the body of the once alive Decepticon soldier to use as a shield, waiting for the time to strike.
It soon came when the Vehicon was forced to reload, allowing Bulkhead to fire at him, sending him down slightly. While the Vehicon fought back with his weapons, they weren't enough to stop the Autobot body-slamming on top of him to finish him off.
Successful with taking down the enemy, Bulkhead glanced over the top deck to check on the humans, only to discover half of them down where he had left them. "Where's Miko and Carly?!" A sudden, metallic knocking sound from inside his chassis made him split apart his armour to find his ill-looking charge reaching out and gasping for oxygen. "Miko?!"
"I heaved on your floor mats," Was part of Miko's response, "Sorry."
"¡Eso es!" Her brown-haired friend suddenly appeared beside her, almost immediately making herself sick from her sudden movement. She swallowed hard and glared frustratingly at the exchange student. "I'm never doing anything you suggest is a good idea ever again!"
Bulkhead lifted his hand up for the girls to clamber onto it, lowering it down to a steady surface for them to recover on.
Miko looked at her friend as she sat on her hands and knees, "Then remind me to never do that again."
Carly's eyes locked onto her best friend's from her back, "Deal."
Before either of them could move, Bulkhead was suddenly tackled away from the girls by a stray Vehicon. But his enemy was unable to leave a mark when the former Wrecker flipped him over and onto the deck, punching and leaving his own mark on the Vehicon.
A sudden opening of a trap door noise soon grabbed Miko and Carly's attention, turning around to find two Vehicons, one of them reaching out to grab them. Bulkhead moved quickly, shooting him down and firing at the other. However, he was soon joined by three more soldiers, making Bulkhead rethink his attack strategy, glancing around for what he could use to help him. He soon found a sonar ray nearby, which he ran up to and grabbed. Swinging it like a boomerang, he flung the sonar towards his enemies, knocking them down one by one. But unlike a boomerang, the ray did not return to him as it eventually tumbled off the deck of the Warship.
The former Wrecker took the time he had to scoop up the human girls just as more Vehicons arrived to take him on. But this time, he wasn't going to attack them, not while he had the girls in hand. He didn't have to look far for where to go for shelter, finding the trap door nearby still open, choosing to race towards it.
Away from the chaos behind the rock formation on the ground, Jack and Raf turned to each other nervously.
"Think they forgot about us?"
Jack only shrugged at the response, but before he could respond properly, both he and Raf heard the sound of large footsteps approaching. Both of them turned around and were stunned to find two Vehicons.
One ready to shoot at them if needed, and the other reaching out towards them despite their attempts to flee...
Bulkhead slammed down the trap door, allowing him the opportunity to run down the corridor of the Warship. He had to find a place to keep Miko and Carly safe; he was already going to be in deep trouble for even allowing them and the boys to be where he was. Unintentionally getting them hurt was going to give him even more problems, and not just with his leader.
From the former Wrecker's hand jostling around as he raced down the hallway, it caused Miko to feel ill again. Her friend rested a comforting hand on her shoulder, also covering her mouth, just as a pair of Vehicons appeared in the way.
Neither girl had a chance to react as Bulkhead did it for them, swinging them along the floor like the girls were bowling balls and easily breezing past the Decepticons. The Autobot soon took the distraction as his advantage, knocking down the soldiers against each wall.
Carly and Miko eventually stopped sliding along the floor, the latter almost immediately on her hands and knees, "I'm gonna heave again."
Carly wanted to argue with her friend about her recklessness, and where it had led them. She was unable to when Bulkhead scooped them up on their way to find Agent Fowler.
On another section of the Nemesis meanwhile, two Decepticon soldiers were walking down the corridor, one of them carrying precious cargo in the form of two humans named Jack Darby and Rafael Esquivel.
"Bring them to the brig," The Vehicon not carrying the humans ordered, "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."
Silently, the two human boys looked at each other with a nod of realisation. The Vehicons had revealed a piece of information they could use to help Bulkhead... when they found him - once they had somehow freed themselves, that was.
The sound of engines racing towards them stopped the Vehicons in their tracks, but they were unable to do anything as they recognised too late what was coming. The yellow and black-striped Urbana 500 knocked over the soldiers easily, Jack and Raf being flung up into the air. Before either of them could figure out how they were going to land safely back onto the ground, a blue and pink-highlighted motorcycle form transformed itself into a familiar face and caught the boys before they landed.
The Urbana 500 transformed itself into a familar face, much to Raf's excitement, "Bumblebee!"
"Are you two okay? What are you doing here?!" The scout quizzed worriedly.
"Appreciate you opening the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was NOT on the activities list."
Jack could only shrug in agreement with his guardian, "Tell me about it."
Once the group were clear to continue, they raced down the corridor until they could see a crossroad coming up in the distance. Arcee prepared herself by activating her blaster weapon and leaning against the wall near the corner on her right. She spun around the corner, only to point her weapon at a familiar face, "Friendly!"
"Hello!"
The smallest Autobot deactivated her weapon, looking sternly towards her bulky friend, "Brought the humans, huh?"
"You try getting them to stay behind!"
"By them, I'm pretty sure you mean Miko." The exchange student sheepishly shrugged at Carly's clarification.
"We need to find Fowler and get them out of here."
"Uhhhh." The Autobot trio and the two human girls glanced down at the boys on the ground. "He's in the brig."
"Dearest Agent Fowler." The chained-up man lifted his head weakly at the greeting. "It appears the Autobots have abandoned you."
Starscream joined the floating human with a sinister chuckle, "We are the only ones you can rely upon now. So tell us what we want to know, or..."
"Your scheduled shock therapy appointment continues." Rebecca Rose raised the activated prod as a warning.
"Wait... no more." The Agent began fighting weakly in his bonds. "They're in... a secret government base..."
Rebecca was certain her eyes were sparkling in excitement as she lowered her prod, "Go on."
Sudden blaster fire from the outside of the brig stopped Agent Fowler from speaking, watching the Decepticon soldiers at the door activate their weapons in preparation.
Rebecca only growled in frustration, returning her sights to the Agent in an attempt to get him to continue speaking, "Yes...?"
"In the old still mill, or was it under that carnival house?"
If there was one thing that Agent Fowler could rely on when it came to the Autobots, it was that if one man was down, they'd move heaven and Earth to bring a teammate back. After years of working with their liaison, that included him too.
Rebecca gritted her teeth together hard - the Agent was stalling. He knew the Autobots would find and rescue him somehow. He was only just stalling the inevitable. She plunged the Energon prod hard into the Agent, throwing her head back and relishing in his screams...
It was about time someone else felt the pain she felt getting to where she was now.
But the enjoyment of bringing pain to someone else wasn't as fulfilling as she wanted it to be, probably due to the knowledge of the Autobots being on their way. She glared murderously at the Vehicons at the door.
Starscream sensed the girl's frustrations, immediately turning to the soldiers when as blaster fire started to get louder, "Someone find out what is going on out there!"
The two soldiers wasted no time in following their orders.
The battle between Autobot and Decepticon continued, a trio of Vehicons firing toward the humans. Bulkhead walked in front of them, lifted an arm to block the firepower, and shot at one of the Vehicons so hard that he exploded. On the other side of them was another line of Decepticon forces, all of whom were easily being dispatched by Arcee and Bumblebee almost immediately.
Carly looked at the scene around her, along with the rest of her friends as they tried to move out of the way of the fight. This had been a war that started well before any of them had been born, an endless fight for peace. This was their daily job. This was what they did.
Vehicon bodies lay strewn across the corridor that had become their battlefield in the debris of armour pieces and body bits.
Carly was the first to run when the battle was over, quickly being followed by her human friends and eventually tailed by the Autobots as they moved to their next location.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
This endless swarm of undead Cybertronians was getting bigger and bigger. Either that or the Dark Energon was affecting Optimus and Ratchet a lot quicker than expected. It felt like we had taken countless undead fighters down, but no matter what, they kept rising and rising to the occasion, to the orders of the master whose blood had awoken them...
The Energon inside of me was burning with rage at the sight of Megatron and Slipstream. They wanted me dead just as badly as I wanted them to be. Whatever I do to them would be nothing in comparison to what they put me and my friends through. The pain they were put through because of me... something I would avenge one day...
I raised my weapon up to slice the undead warrior in front of me in half in a similar fashion to what the top half of Cliffjumper had looked like. The feral snarls and growls disappeared when he collapsed, purple biomechanics fading gray...
"Optimus, this prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength." I looked over my shoulder at Ratchet appearing on my left.
On my right, Optimus stood with his back against the medics. Both looked worn out, struggling...
The same couldn't be said for me. I felt alive more than ever, felt stronger than ever.
"We cannot falter now."
I was prepared for the fight.
I charged at a cluster of the undead in front of me, snarling and dragging themselves in my direction. I sliced at the first two in line, stabbing hard into the core of one, before activating one of the blaster weapons on my servo and firing at the other. A combination of both seemingly worked well for Optimus at times.
I leapt up and landed on top of one of the undead soldiers to slice his helm off when I felt a tug on my leg, yanking me back down to the ground with a thud. A stinging pain shot through me, nothing but hot pain that was getting stronger and stronger so suddenly. I couldn't tell where the pain was coming from, but it felt like it was coming from my leg.
The growls and groans were becoming echoey. I could hear someone yelling for me, but the distortion I was suddenly feeling was making it hard to identify who it was. My vision was beginning to double, my optic lids heavy as they closed over my sight...
The flames were licking higher and higher to the sky. Screams could be heard and blaster fire continued around me. None of that mattered to me except for one thing - my quest in searching for someone, I couldn't remember who it was, but it was someone important to me.
I was racing through the broken world my home had now become, falling apart in our servos. Nothing that we could do to save it. I was among the many scared for our planet's fate.
A rogue bomb had just gone off in the area, that's what had happened... and I was searching for my friend. His frame was decorated in black and orange splashes. Spitfire was one of the first who welcomed me into Iacon City and the first I could connect with because of our shared trauma. The one who helped me find a home in my city.
I stopped to look around in search of the familiar paint scheme, "Spitfire!"
The colours matching his description caught my optic a few feet away. I ran up to his still frame lying on the ground. I ducked away from a few of the blaster shots and skidded to his frame. I glanced at his face, grabbing his cheek plates when his optics remained dull, "Spitfire! Wake up!"
I scanned his body for injuries... and that's when I found it. The gaping hole in his chest where his spark chamber would've been.
"SPITFIRE!"
My optics flashed open to a sight that scared me. Undead Cybertronians were crowding around me, snarling and clawing away at my armour. I tried to shove them off of me, firing and slicing, but it was no use. There were too many of them that had me pinned to the ground.
I felt the servo of one pin me further into the dirt by my neck, its sharp claws dragging against my neck cables. I closed my optics.
So this was how it was going to be? My helm ripped apart by Terracons as my death?
Something flashed across the darkness. A small, human-like figure appeared again and again... until it was close enough for me to recognise...
...Carly...
How would she react if I offlined? Someone who she just met? Would she miss me?
...I didn't want to find out the answer...
…Because I'm not ready to die yet!
I snapped my optics and let out a roar of anger, my servos breaking through the bonds of the hands that belonged to the undead Cybertronian above me. I managed to activate my sword in time to swipe his helm clean off his body before he could react.
I wasn't going to allow my fear to control me. I was going to use it to fuel my fire.
As I prepared to attack another of the undead, the light behind the Terracons started to get brighter and brighter, as their bodies were sliced and thrown away from me. When they had been cleared from above, I locked optics with my leader, who reached out his bare servo towards me. I grabbed it with both of my smaller ones and allowed him to pull me back onto my feet.
A sharp pain shot up my leg the second I was weighted onto the ground, causing me to look down at a large and nasty ragged line up my lower leg towards my knee. My Energon had definitely been spilled and had stained around my red armour. What the hell caused this nasty wound?
I refocused my optics and energy to find Optimus at a pile of Terracons nearby. There were orange and white colours underneath it. Panic rose within and guided me over there just as Optimus picked up and smashed two of the undead soldiers together. The pain in my leg hissed it's way up my body as I bent down to help Ratchet up to his pedes, Optimus soon joined in with his other side to help.
I looked at my teammates. I could see their struggle in their faces; their energy was sapping away by the second from the Dark Energon in the air and in the bodies of the undead Cybertronians. But I didn't feel that way at all... well, except for the injury... If I was lacking in strength at all, it would probably be because of my leg.
"After all these years, Optimus, still at the top of your game?" I lifted my helm at Megatron's torment from above.
Optimus wasn't going to give; I certainly wasn't and I knew Ratchet wasn't going to either. I reactivated my weapons alongside my teammates and charged - well, limped in my case - towards the next wave of undead Cybertronians coming our way.
"My legion, FINISH THEM!"
As I sliced down another one of the undead, I glanced the way of Megatron and Slipstream, who seemed to be closer than I had last taken notice. My optics followed down the cliff they were standing on, which was a lot closer than it had been.
A wave of strength came through me.
I'm coming for you, Slipstream...
NORMAL P.O.V
"Are we nearly there?" A worn-out Carly Esquivel asked, pausing in her run to regain her energy.
She was left unanswered as the Autobots knocked on the door of one of the rooms. When the Decepticon on the other side activated the doors to slide open, the Autonomous Robotic Organisms went storming in for another attack.
"Do you even know where these guys are even taking us?!" Jack hissed a question to his friend.
"Chill pretty boy!" Jack and Carly each gave Miko a look of surprise and disbelief at she had dubbed the former. "The 'Bots know what they're doing! Let them deal with it!"
Carly was growing tired of 'letting the Autobots deal with it'. It was exhausting watching them in battle and even more tiring fearing for her life. Their world was new to her, and it made her intrigued to know more, but this certainly wasn't one way to learn.
"Clear!" At Arcee's announcement, the four raced into the room where bodies of Decepticon soldiers lay unconscious, or dead. The blue Autobot looked at their charges, "Wait in here."
"Why?" Bumblebee whirred immediately.
"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets. They'll be alright in here-" The smallest Autobot activated her weapon. "-As long as they STAY PUT." She walked away from the humans with Bumblebee and Bulkhead in tow, the door to the corridor shutting and locking behind them.
"That...was intense."
"Was?" Raf repeated the exchange student's words in disbelief.
"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity. What were you and Carly thinking, Miko?" Jack demanded.
"Did we ask you to follow?" Miko asked annoyingly.
"You wanted us to be a band! Doesn't that usually mean playing together?"
"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!"
"Solo does not mean taking your best friend on a life-threatening adventure, Miko!"
"You weren't complaining when we left base!"
"At least you did convince me, then I wouldn't be like Jack and worried like he was about us!"
"Yeah Miko, maybe I have some regard for your safety!"
"Oh! I'm sorry! Is your name Optimus? You can leave my protection to Bulkhead! Thank you very much!"
"STOP IT! ALl OF YOU!" The youngest human in the room ran away from the arguing duo almost immediately.
Carly didn't need to sense her little brother's outburst to know that he was terrified. Throwing an angered glare at the arguing duo, she chased after her younger sibling. She wrapped her arms around him once she was beside him, gently stroking her fingers through his hair, "Shhh.. shhh... Está bien, está bien... We're gonna be okay."
"Yeah, we're gonna be fine," Miko promised, appearing behind Carly.
"Our bots will come back for us," Jack told him, appearing on the younger boy's other side.
Carly smiled softly at the pair's attempts to reassure Raf, pulling away from her little brother to share her smile with him, "They're gonna take us home, yeah?"
"How do you know?" Her smile faded away at his bitterness.
She didn't know.
Looking away from the group to wonder what was next, Jack caught sight of something in front of him, something that could distract the boy from his fears, "Hey, Raf, what do you and Carly make of that?"
The siblings looked up at what Jack had found, which was a large computer-like screen filled with Cybertronian data. Raf was the first to leap off the large steps he had been perched on so he could stand right in front of the screen and get a proper look.
"It's important," he announced when the rest of his friends joined him.
Carly nodded in her agreement, "Really important." Her hand flew to her pocket, pulling out a small, black device.
"Since when do you carry a flashdrive around?"
"Since always Miko!"
"Wake up, you pathetic lump of flesh!" As the blaster fire continued to edge closer and closer to the brig, Rebecca could tell Starscream was starting to become desperate in their attempts to locate the Autobot base from the now weak Agent.
The disoriented man looked up slowly, "Grandma? Is it Cookie time?" He dropped his head in unconsciousness before either Decepticon could say a word.
The frustrations inside of Rebecca were at an all-time high as she slapped the Energon prod onto the ground to express her feelings about the situation.
"Rebecca!"
The superpowered human whipped around to face her Decepticon compatriot, "What?!"
The silver and red Decepticon only pointed at the now-destroyed prod courtesy of her tantrum.
A banging sound stopped the superpowered human from commenting as Starscream looked at the door. He turned back to Rebecca... only to find her no longer in front of the Agent.
"Go and find out who it is!" A flash of black suddenly appeared in front of him, causing him to scream in surprise.
The frightened Starscream moved towards the door at the order just as it slid open, revealing a Vehicon standing before them, causing the Seeker to narrow his eyes at him, "Well?!"
The Decepticon fell to the floor, revealing the Autobot Bulkhead with his weapon aiming at him. He fired and knocked down the other Decepticon soldier before he jumped into the room with an armed Bumblebee.
"Big mistake!" Rebecca held out her boomerangs, ready to throw one at the Agent and another at one of her enemies if she was forced to.
Starscream also activated his weapons to prepare himself should he have to execute the Agent. A sudden tap on his head caused him to look up to discover Arcee balancing on a shaft right above him, her blaster pointed directly at him with a threatening look on her faceplates.
Rebecca pursed her lips in amusement - if this was what she looked like when she was rescuing a simple human, she couldn't wait to see the look on her face when she discovered that her weapon was pointing to the same person that had just killed her partner only days ago.
"I wouldn't."
"Oh, but we might."
"We gotta get this to Optimus," Raf decided once he had taken in more of the Cybertronian schematics on the screen.
"How do you know it isn't just a recipe for space nachos?"
Her friend rolled her eyes, "You're no help, Miko."
"Carly and I know math when we see it." Raf looked up at his sister. "And that is one serious equation."
"Can you..." Jack stopped himself as if he was trying to come up with the word he was looking for. "Download it?"
At his sister holding out the small rectangular item towards, the young boy took it, beginning to walk up to the screen as he looked around it, "I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is WAY alien."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see something moving to his left. He turned and gasped, along with the rest of his friends, at the sight of a Decepticon soldier entering the room. They watched him glance down at where one of the dead soldiers the Autobots had taken out earlier on the ground.
Carly grabbed her brother, knowing that their days were limited if they stayed in potential sight of the Vehicon. Jack and Miko raced to follow her, but just as they arrived against the wall of the room, they found Raf had skidded to a stop and was running back to his bag.
"Raf!" Carly gasped as he scooped up his backpack.
Just as his bag straps were secured onto his shoulders, Raf prepared to rejoin his friends when he heard the sounds of whirring. He looked up at the Vehicon pointing his weapon towards him, the young boy unable to do anything but let out a scream of fright.
There was no movement, no flinching, and no words being spoken. No one dared to move an inch during the standoff between the Autobots and Decepticons.
And that was something Rebecca Rose was starting to get impatient with. She pressed two of her boomerangs back into her hip slowly, "Well, I guess if no one wants to move, I will. Now, Starscream, the lovely Agent, and I are going to take our lea-"
"The emu says yeeaaahhh!"
Agent Fowler's sudden outburst caused Bumblebee to begin firing at the Decepticon pair, forcing her to jump out of the way of the blaster fire. Starscream screamed as he dodged the firepower coming from in front and above him, Arcee wasting no time in joining in on the firefight.
Without wasting another moment, the Seeker transformed into his jet form. He knew there was no way he could regain the upper hand on his enemies now. He just had to escape with the rest of his dignity while he could. Afterburners attacking Arcee, he sped off straight towards the exit.
"Whoa!" Bulkhead was forced to move out of the way in time for the seeker to flee past him and Bumblebee and down the corridor.
With Starscream gone, it left Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead to look back at Rebecca... only to find her no longer where she had been. But Agent Fowler still remained in his chains weakly hanging above the chains.
If there was one Rebecca was good at it, apart from her twisted humour, was that she knew how to flee a dire scene quieter and faster than a squealing Starscream.
The loss of someone close to Carly in the past washed over her, that familiar feeling coming from the sight of her younger brother being threatened by the Vehicon. She wasn't going to stand around and watch him be harmed. So as Miko peaked through her hands covering her face and Jack recovered from skidding to a stop to join them, Carly chose to not waste another moment and ran out from her hiding spot.
Raf did the best thing he thought he could do, which was to flee from the Vehicon now firing at him, dodging every blaster shot he could. Before one could hit and possibly kill him, he was tackled out of the way into the deceased body of a Decepticon soldier nearby, using it for shelter.
Jack grasped Miko's shoulders, "You've got your phone on you?!" The exchange student nodded excitedly. "Take a picture!" He raced out from hiding to help protect the siblings.
"Oh, great idea!" Just as the Vehicon appeared in view to kill the trio, Miko raced up to the soldier with her phone. "Hey, you!" She held her phone high above her head and gained the Vehicon's attention in time for her to snap a picture of him looking with a menacing and confused expression.
Carly looked in horror at her friend overlooking the image on her phone, slapping her forehead in added frustration, "¡Tienes que estar bromeando, Miko!"
"NOT OF THAT! THAT!"
Seeing her friend pointing at the computer screen as his meaning of 'taking a picture', realisation dawned upon Miko, "Ohhhh." She raised her phone up enough to get as much of the computer screen as possible before snapping the image.
"GO! GO! GO!"
With no other reason to remain in the room with a Decepticon soldier willing to kill them, the four humans fled the area that had been asked to stay in and down the corridor. Behind them, the Vehicon followed them out and charged up his weapon in preparation to shoot and kill on sight.
A sudden honking noise distracted his eyesight as he was forced to look into the bright lights of a vehicle charging his way. It transformed into the Autobot Bulkhead, stomping over the humans and tackling the Vehicon down twice before returning to his vehicle form back to the teenagers.
Bumblebee and Arcee arrived in their vehicle forms on each side of the humans, waiting for them. "I told ya to stay put!" Miko and Raf piled into the Urbana 500 form while Jack and Carly leapt onto the motorcycle before they sped off.
"You try staying behind with a Decepticon trying to kill us!" Carly's tone mimicked Bulkhead's from when he had protested about the humans following him to the Nemesis. When no one responded to her outburst, she rested her forehead on Jack's shoulder, "Sorry. It's been a day."
"Don't worry, kid. You'll get used to it."
Carly didn't want to.
"I like pie. Can we stop for pie?"
"You found Fowler! Rock on!"
Carly breathed a sigh of relief in the knowledge that the Agent had been secured. The day she and her friends had been involved in had exhausted her beyond what she had ever felt. Not even the days she hadn't slept in growing up after her brother's death had worn her out this way.
"Are you okay, Carly?" The brown-haired teenager lifted her head up at Jack's softly-asked and concerning question.
She softly smiled in return, "I'll feel a lot better when we're back home." She remembered how the boy sitting in front of her risked his life on countless occasions to protect her and Miko, including even following them out onto the battlefield. A fondness grew in her eyes, "Thank you for looking out for us."
If her old childhoo friend had responsed to her, she didn't hear him, watching as the nothing but blue clear sky and desert-coloured rock appeared in her vision. They were going to be home soon.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
I sliced my undead opponent in half with a lot more of a struggle than it should've been. My body felt heavy to hold up. I dipped my helm down to my leg injury - it looked worse than the last time I checked it. That, or my optics were tricking me.
My body finally gave in, making me fall onto my knee plates. I looked up with my unfocused optics; there were destroyed pieces of what was Megatron's undead army surrounding me. We had defeated all of them, and all that was left standing in the way of those vile 'Cons and us were the cliff they were standing on.
Conveniently high up for them.
"Hold tight, 'Swept," I was now resting on someone's back...? When did that happen? "I've got you, sweetspark." Ratchet...?
"Bravo, Optimus. Though this is but a prelude."
"You and Windswept may as well save your strength for the main event." I had no doubt that Slipstream was enjoying every part of my weakest moment. The feeling would be very mutual if the roles had been reversed.
I heard a deactivation of weapons nearby, "You will not prevail, Megatron. Not while Energon still runs through my veins."
I would've reiterated that exact point to Slipstream if I had the energy too. But I could barely keep my arms secured around Ratchet's neck as he began to struggle up the cliff after our leader. I'd help him anyway I could if I was able to.
"Fitting for this Dark Energon that flows through mine."
I regained enough strength to lift my helm up to see Optimus swipe at Megatron, but he wasn't fast enough as he jumped into his jet form, Slipstream following his silent order. With them both gone, I rested my helm on Ratchet's shoulder, now listening to the blaster shots that Optimus must've been firing at our fleeing enemies.
I felt a sudden pull upwards, but when I lifted my helm, I was now looking over the undead army we had fought through to even get to where we were. Optimus must've helped Ratchet up to the top of the cliff.
"If this wasn't Megatron's endgame, what is...?"
The sounds of Ratchet's tools were echoey, like they were right near me, but still a million miles away...
Wait…? …I've been unconscious...?
My body certainly had a groggy feel to it - that 'I don't want to get up, but I have to' kind of feeling.
The familiar walls, tools and equipment around me confirmed that I was in the med-bay at our base. We must've returned after our fight with the undead. I looked down my scarred armour to where my injury was, now roughly patched up with a large armour patch over it that would probably get removed every couple of days just to check the healing of the wound. I swung my pedes over to the ground, testing the strength and weight I could sit on my leg.
I could hear a bit of chatter in the main room, where everyone else probably was. I stood up and began to walk when the pain sprung through my body. I gritted my denta to stop the noise of loud discomfort from letting others know about me being awake, but a near-silent hiss managed to escape me. I shrugged my pain off and limped through to the main room quietly.
"Yip, yip, yip, Windswept, what do you think you're doing?" I looked at Ratchet when I finally arrived at where everyone else was. He was being tended to by Optimus - I think he was fixing a brace around his arm. Optimus had scars on his body too, but nothing serious.
"Walking around." I spotted one of my favourite crates that I would sit on to keep Ratchet 'company' and limped over to it. As I sat down, I locked my optic with his discontent ones while he stood up from his repairs, "Now sitting." He only gave me a pat on the shoulder as he walked by. I smiled softly at him, "Thank you."
He gave me a small nod in return.
Although we had our banter, Ratchet and I went way back to the dark days on Cybertron. He was the reason why I was still alive on some of the worst of those days. I would always be thankful for that.
"What happened to you guys?" Carly asked, looking at me.
"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."
"Zombies?!" Miko suddenly lightened up at Ratchet's response, "YOU FOUGHT ZOMBIES AND I MISSED IT?"
I scrunched up my nose plates, "Be thankful."
Honestly I wanted to snap at her for her reaction. It was more than just 'zombies'. But my body felt so exhausted, I didn't have it in me to fight that battle…
"Bulkhead, you exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the humans to accompany you."
I heard Bulkhead stand to attention, "It… won't happen again, Optimus. I... I promise."
I glanced at Arcee, "What happened?" I asked through our private comm.
Arcee looked at me, "Fowler got taken by the 'Cons after finding out about the humans. Bulkhead went to deal with them, but Miko and Carly went with him."
She what?!
"'Bee and I were patrolling when Bulk told us what happened. By then, Jack and Raf had followed them out too and got themselves taken by 'Cons, but they also found out Fowler's location. Met up, got the humans somewhere safe and managed to free Fowler."
I looked away to where our Agent was, resting in a medical human-sized berth with the rest of the humans overlooking his condition. As much as I did feel bad for him, the niggling feeling of this thing the humans called 'karma' still seeped its way through me...
"And check it out! Recon!" Optimus bent down to look at something on Miko's cell...phone?
Human technology's still so weird.
"Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron." Miko seemed to smile in surprise that she had been helpful enough for Optimus to pass on what she found to him.
"Whoa, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?" Jack had every right to be concerned, especially if Megatron was wandering around high on Dark Energon...
"It's more than just 'bad news'," I sighed.
Ratchet bent down to look at Miko's phone, and pulled a face of uncertainty, "I don't understand?"
Miko looked at the photo, "Oops. That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf away?"
What?!
"At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"
"Miko, Raf was almost killed today!" Carly suddenly snapped, appearing at Miko's side angrily.
Jack stood beside her, "This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?"
"Uh… we were all almost killed, Jack! You, me, Carly, Raf. Even them!"
"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it! Not anymore!" Carly's face at Jack's sudden decision was full of shock and surprise.
I glanced toward Arcee, who didn't seem to want to react.
"Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However, it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk. But the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
The Groundbridge suddenly activated, causing us to turn to Ratchet, "No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door."
Sparkless gl-
"Come on, Raf."
Rafael looked at Bumblebee, who turned away. I'd be sad too if Raf left - 'Bee found a friend that really understood him. It didn't take a genius to figure out that they had formed a close bond already too.
"I'll be okay, Jack. See you at school."
"Sure thing." Jack seemed surprised by Rafael's decision but looked to accept it regardless. He went to walk down the steps just as Carly appeared at his side. Her eyes were asking him not to leave, but I doubt that there was no way he was going to stay.
If he wasn't happy with our situation, then there was no point forcing him to remain.
Once Jack was on the ground floor, he was stopped by his gu-well... former guardian... standing in front of the Groundbridge. He waved her off and walked to the portal. "I know. You don't exist."
"Don't make me hunt you down." My closest friend threatened sadly as Jack disappeared into the 'bridge.
My spark was breaking for my friend - she didn't deserve to lose another friend almost immediately after losing Cliff. Primus, Jack could've been the best person to help Arcee move on... there was no way my friend was going to be okay now.
"WAIT!"
Panic rushed through me at Carly's sudden yell, "You changed your mind?"
"No!" The panic in me subsided as Carly rubbed the back of her head. "Let me talk to him." I went to argue the idea of convincing someone to do something they didn't want to do or be a part of, but my charge was gone through that portal before I could open my mouth.
I didn't bother chasing after her - Ratchet would have a fit if I ripped the patch on my leg.
There was something there about my charge that made her want to help Jack, though I couldn't figure out why. I was going to go out and see Carly as soon as I could… And by that, I meant as soon as Ratchet was distracted enough with the new developments the humans had uncovered, of course...
NORMAL P.O.V
The Nemesis floated deep within outer space, overseeing the planet Earth below. It was a great view had the occupants been paying attention to it.
"Please, Lord Megatron! I meant no-!" Instead, Slipstream silently watched in amusement as her twin was slapped backwards from their leader.
"I ordered you to await my command!" The Seeker was thrown away once more. "Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disabling of my ship! And the delay of my plans!"
Slipstream turned to the human figure sitting on the controls, "As for you, Rebecca Rose." Said female looked up from her position, leaning back on one arm while both legs dangled from the edge of the panel. "You know better than to get mixed up with him!"
She had expected trouble coming in the form of her twin, but after having practically raised Rebecca to be who she was, she had been taken aback by the news of her 'team-up' with Starscream.
Rebecca only rolled her eyes over at her long black fingernails, "I got bored! What else was I supposed to do while you and Megatron went off to raise some army of undead robots? Which-" The superpowered human stood up. "-by the way, only ended up being destroyed by Optimus Prime and Windswept! And their lapdog!"
"Our intentions were pure, master!" Starscream defended during his crawling away from his master edging closer, "I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus-!"
Megatron stood on the upper torso of the silver seeker to interrupt him, "No one rids me of Optimus Prime and Windswept but me and Slipstream! Do you understand?! DO YOU?!" He pressed his soldier harder into the ground for good measure.
Starscream choked, "Lord Megatron..." His voice was raspy from the pressure applied to his neck. "I will make things right. I swear! I know how to set your plans back on course!"
The Decepticon Warlord removed his foot from the Seeker's neck and replaced it with his hand, wrapping it around his throat and pulling back to his feet, "Explain, Starscream. Quickly."
Jack Darby had already returned home by the time Carly finally arrived. She could see him in the open garage of the house he and his mother lived in.
A small buzzing noise from her pocket distracted the girl from walking any closer to the open garage.
You gonna talk to Jack? Can I come watch?
Carly laughed quietly at the message from her friend.
Yeah. I can handle this, Miko. Just go home. I'll see you tomorrow.
Despite feeling a second buzzing noise in her pocket, Carly chose to ignore it. She walked up to the open garage and leaned against the door frame. "Now I can see why you had to get home so early."
Jack turned around in surprise for a moment, soon returning to working on the wheel of his bike, "Can I help you with anything?"
"Nah, not really," Carly began shrugging sarcastically, "Just wanted to come over and say hey." The girl glanced around the interior of the room as she walked in, "Nice digs. Really loving what you've done with the pl-"
"What do you want, Carly?"
At his bitter tone, Carly pulled an annoyed look, "When I said thank you for looking out for us today, I meant it. I saw what you did; helping save Raf when I couldn't do it alone... when you came to save Miko and me too..."
"I've been raised to be responsible - to my school work, to my mom, my job," Jack responded as he walked to the frame of his bike to begin placing the wheel back onto the bike.
Carly couldn't help the laughter of annoyance, "Oh, I keep forgetting how hard you are to talk to when you don't want to listen, Jackson!" She watched the boy stop his movements to look at her when she had referred to him as his full name. "You have the world in your hands and you could do anything you want with it. You could use it to stay with us and fight this conflict with the Autobots... Instead, you're here cooped up in your garage fixing this bike." When the boy turned back to his bike, Carly's shoulders slumped. "Normal isn't a good look for anyone, especially for someone like you."
"Thanks, Carly. But if you think you know me as well as you're insinuating, then you should know that 'normal' suits me fine."
Carly shook her head at her childhood friend - his stubbornness in pursuing something he knew deep down he wanted to be a part of hadn't changed. In the years they had drifted apart, it had only seemingly gotten stronger, "You were always stubborn, Darby."
"And you're still as passionate as ever, Esquivel." The eldest teenager froze in his movements without glancing at his school friend as if he wanted to continue but was unable to find a way how to.
Carly's cheeks meanwhile were coated in a faint pink. She opened her mouth to speak when a tooting noise sounded outside the garage.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
...Is that a blush on Carly's face?
...Now I understand why she had to go running to Jack suddenly...
"I'm not looking forward to your Mamá's reaction when we get home." I shone my front light into the open garage where my human and her friend were, "Maybe the sooner we get going, the better."
As much as I would've liked to see this conversation develop and continue, I feared Mamá Esquivel possibly ripping the handlebars off me because of Carly returning home so late... even if it was a 'Saturday'...
Carly looked like she wanted to disobey my suggestion, then she sighed, "It was nice to catch up with you at least, Jack. See you in homeroom." She wandered towards my form with a disappointed posture.
Once she had climbed onto my form and secured her helmet, I tooted at Jack in farewell and pulled out of his driveway. As I kicked up my gears, I flicked my side mirrors at my charge, trying to see the expression in her eyes despite the darkness around us.
"I'm sure there was a good reason why you needed to flee the base and see Jack?" I hummed.
A loud and annoyed - I couldn't tell if it was directed at me or not - sigh was her initial response. I could feel her grip on my handlebars tighten, "I don't believe he made the right choice leaving the team." For your sake or the teams, Carly? "Yes, I was fuming at Miko about her getting us all into trouble, but I chose to follow her. So did Jack and Raf. If they stayed at base, things could've ended not so great for us."
"So you think he made a hasty choice without thinking about it?" I questioned to try and under my charge better.
"Maybe?" Another annoyed sigh, "Jack's always had this... protective aura over him since his Dad left. He thinks everything's going to be okay when he's able to protect people no matter what. It's his first instinct, and if he isn't able to do that, he kind of just... gives up." She let out a forced chuckle. "Meeting Miko probably won't be the highlight of his life."
So Jack's want to protect others stems from a difficult younglinghood...? If that's what the humans refer to it as...
"I think we've all picked up traits from our youngling days that have made us who we are no-"
"Young... ling?"
"Cybertronian context. I think humans would refer to it..." My internal searching engine began looking up the best word to match my meaning. "As childhood." Carly nodded in understanding. "We wouldn't be who we are without those hardships we've faced." I know very well that I wouldn't have made the choices I've made in the past if my difficult experiences growing up weren't influencing them…
But if we're on the topic of 'being protective' and 'difficult younglinghoods'...
I looked up at Carly again, "You seem protective of Rafael."
Of the times that I had seen them together, of course. There was something in her actions that looked like she wouldn't have just known on instinct... Didn't she and her Mamá talk about an older brother last night? "I think you should talk to me about your brother."
"Alejandro?" I felt her posture stiffen dramatically. "I-I... I'm not su-"
"I'm not going to push you into telling me. I feel like I won't be able to understand why you feel the need to protect Rafael all the time if you don't tell me."
There was a deep sigh from my charge, "Well... where do I start...? My parents were so busy with my younger siblings, I didn't really bond with them as much as I should've. My older brother Alejandro was more my guardian than they were - he didn't need to be, he just chose to... I'm thankful he did because he was the best. He always had time for me for anything; picking me up from school, playtimes, and teaching. He taught me a lot about this motorcycle he wanted to build one day. When he turned sixteen, he was already deep into his work with the build. He let me help him too; he taught me what everything was and where they went, what it was used for. Everything."
I suddenly had an understanding of how Carly was able to bond with me - I was a motorcycle, after all.
"I was twelve when he finally completed the build, and he had just turned eighteen, so he was becoming legal for a lot of things. One of those was his motorbike license, and once he got it, the first thing he wanted to do was take his new bike out for a test run. He told us he was going to drive up the road and come back because he didn't want his helmet, despite our warnings." I heard her snivel. "There was a loud bang outside about five minutes later, and the next thing I remember was being at my brother's bedside in the hospital."
My spark was pounding in immediate empathy.
"He'd run a red light by accident and crashed into a car speeding through the intersection. There was nothing we could do; he was brain dead and was never going to wake up. Everyone else learned to accept it, but I didn't want to. In my eyes, there was no way that he could be gone. My family spent days trying to get me to accept it so we could say goodbye, and they thought the best way was for me to be the one to turn off his support. When I did, I wished that I hadn't. It felt like I had killed him. My sadness turned into anger and it caused… many disruptive things to happen in our lives - my family dubbed it my 'rebellious with good reason' phase."
She forcibly chuckled. "It wasn't until I had a falling out with Jack that I realised how much I'd been affected. When Mamá kept me off school for a few days, I found Raf playing with some digital code stuff - he was only eight, but he was so passionate about it, you know? He was so innocent and so shy... He didn't have a lot of friends at school either..."
The handlebars loosened slightly, "I guess that's where it started. Raf taught me about his coding and I helped him come out of his own shell. He's no Alejandro, but that's okay because no one can be like him. I love Raf just the way he is, and if it wasn't for him..."
Carly didn't need to finish what she needed to say because I understood now. Her relationship with Alejandro caused her to become protective of her family. Bonds were so important to her...
I pulled up to the front of her house. She was climbing off my form and removing her helmet when I heard a familiar buzz in my audios. "Don't think that I didn't know of you leaving when I had my back turned. Back to base now Windswept."
Nothing gets past him anymore...
"Ratchet didn't sound happy."
I would've shrugged in response if I was in my Cybertronian form, "He never is." I twitched my mirrors up to Carly, "If I'm not here tomorrow morning, he's probably banned me from going anywhere."
"So go with 'Bee?"
I revved up my engine as a confirmation, "Take care of yourself." At Carly's nod, I reared up into a wheelie and pulled away from the house.
I watched my charge momentarily wait before heading inside her home. She was like me in many ways, and I barely knew her. She was pained by her past; I could see the struggle in her movements, and the urge to protect her family mirrored mine...
If Slipstream ever got her grubby servos on her, I would do anything in my power to get her back. Even if it meant finally going through with destroying her...
"It can't be!"
It wasn't quite the greeting I was expecting when I returned via the Groundbridge.
"Optimus!" I transformed just as our leader arrived at Ratchet's call. "These are engineering specs for a Space-Time Vortex Generator!"
"Megatron's building a Spacebridge. If he hasn't already."
"The sooner he leaves, the better." I turned to Bulkhead and Bumblebee arriving.
I wanted to ask about Arcee, but seeing as she was no longer here, my guess was that she was out patrolling or finding a way to deal with losing Cliffjumper and Jack in the same week.
My spark grew heavy for her.
"Bulkhead, a Spacebridge runs in two directions. Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth. But to bring through his conquering army."
Didn't Megatron say something about our battle with the undead army being a precursor to what was coming? "The main event he had referred to."
Ratchet nodded at me in agreement, "The only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors…" He stopped speaking when he began looking up at the roof.
...He wasn't really looking at the roof though...
"Precisely," Optimus agreed, "Cybertron…"