three weeks later
…
It was quiet. Dark.
Gun lasers flashed around the space, hitting trees and foliage.
"Suppression fire only. We take this one alive," Silas instructed his operatives following behind in a formation.
Rushes of air with movement shifting behind them at unmoral speeds. Immediately they knew that their treasure caused the rush of air they had felt. Their 'prize' or 'fated destiny' dodged every shot. Flying in the air from tree to tree. Every time they were spotted, the navy-blue glow and the flashing red light were gone. Taunting them. The navy blue was harder to find. Eventually, their objective disappeared into the forest. MECH were right behind.
"Tight formation," Silas requested as they went even deeper inside.
They knew of the dangers the forest they explored possesses. They knew of the horrors that reside in the black crevices. Still didn't stop them from going further, as they traveled further, they uncovered the surrounding area thick with webs. Sticky. Inorganic webs of normal spider. Silas used a tracking device with his MECH grade goggles to track down their prize. They were so close to claiming their reward, the red flashing light disappeared. Silas was confused and surprised…
Until he heard the screams.
He turned around and seen nothing but the forest, he knew he was alone in this alone. Shuffling and shifting with grunts of struggle and pants of fear above him. He looked up and saw his subordinates entrapped in webs. From above within the heavy cover of forestry, the enemy hissed in excitement.
Rocks crumbled above, the hissing sound of a blade, a quick blade, and around Silas as the enemy prepared to attack them. But something kept them back, only an abbreviated time before it got eerily quiet. His survival instincts and his training kicked in; he shot at the movement in the trees. He was flipped upside down, hanging within mid-air by the unseen target(s); Silas' defensive bullet sparked as it was easily grinded in her slender digits of her spider-like servos. He was thrown into a cliff wall, pinned by the inorganic sticky webs. Webs he knew for certain was alien, something with which he was greatly obsessed with its nonnative contents.
"Don't tell me MECH never considered an open channel distress signal from an injured Decepticon might be a trap," Airachnid tormented, on all her legs.
"I'll bear that in mind next time," Silas chimed, promising.
"Next time?" Airachnid laughed in amusement, "Decepticon radio chatter's all abuzz about the work over you gave poor Breakdown. As an Ex-Con myself, I really should extinguish you for that! But an old acquaintance destroyed my ship and skinned my knee. I mean to pay her back in kind. You see, I make it in and out of places most Decepticons cannot. But I'm still learning to navigate this planet," The word planet was laced with distaste.
"What's in it for MECH?" Silas inquired, planning to form a scheme along the way.
"I'll let you live," Airachnid replied, "And since you came to collect a…Transformer, was it? I'll throw in what's left of Arcee. Once I have broken her."
…
It was the mid-hours of twilight in Jasper, Nevada. The crickets chirped along with the cicadas in the area. Jack Darby was pushing Arcee into the driveway of his mom's single floor two bedroom house with her white sedan parked.
"Thanks for walking me home, Jack. You are a real gentleman," Arcee complimented.
"I don't want you revved up before bedtime," Jack remarked, "And mum's a light sleeper. And I don't think she'd understand that-."
"Understand what, Jack? You breaking curfew for the third time this month?"
Jack nearly jumped out of his own skin. When Jack pushed up the garage, he unintentionally revealed his scrawling mother, June Darby. Still dressed in her nurse scrubs. She had been waiting up on him, she wanted to spend time with him but he stayed so late he was in for a reprimanding.
"Mom!" Jack exclaimed in surprise.
"Or why your boss called about you missing another shift at work? Or maybe the email I received from your Art History teacher who is concerned that you have been falling asleep in class?" June went on.
"Well, two words, mum: Art and History!" Jack defended.
"Tell me the rumors aren't true, Jack. Tell me you're not racing that motorcycle!" June begged her son.
"No! No! Wait. Where did you hear that?" Jack demanded.
"Small town. People talk. I work in an emergency room, Jack. I've seen what can happen. So please. Tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd!" June pleaded them.
"What? No!" Jack exclaimed.
"My friends are the good crowd!" Jack defended, "Seriously good."
"I let you have that bike because you convinced me you were mature enough to handle it. But I think you may need a gentle reminder," June decided.
"Message received, mom. Loud and clear," Jack promised as he went to wheel Arcee into the garage, "I'm glad we had this talk."
June inched forward, stopping him his tracks, "I meant let's see if a few weeks without the distraction of your motorcycle will do the trick," June enforced as she walked back inside the garage.
"But -!" Jack began protesting.
"No buts!" She turned back to him, "You are grounded from everything but school, work. If you want to take a bike to either, you'll pedal," June declared as she pointed to the ten-speed bike that sat in the garage against a rusting water heater, "Serious face, Jack! If I see that motorcycle out of the garage..." June then kissed Jack's forehead and said in a softer tone to him, "Now go wash up and get some sleep. I love you." She was gone with the close of the door.
"I'll miss you while you're grounded," Arcee remarked as Jack continued to wheel her inside.
"Don't worry, Arcee. I will visit you every day," Jack promised.
"Uh… Jack, I won't be here," Arcee announced, "Sitting on my back tires for two weeks is not an option."
"No, no, no. You saw mom's serious face! Look, Arcee, I feel badly enough that I have to lie to her all this time. But if you're not here, she's gonna think I'm blowing her off!" Jack protested.
"Deep breaths, Jack. Your mom works late nights. I'll try to be back in the garage before she gets home," Arcee swore, "But no promises."
…
Jack kicked up the resting lever on his bicycle in the parking lot of the local fast food restaurant KO the next day after a shift, his phone started ringing.
"Hey, Ma," Jack greeted, answering his phone the next day.
"Jack, I hope you are not planning to eat take-out tonight," June remarked as she climbed into her car.
"Uh… I just had dinner. Why?" Jack asked.
"I took my break early. So, I thought I'd come home and cook my grounded son a wholesome dinner," June said.
"Organic tofu. Awesome! Hey. Car beats ten-speed. I'll be home soon. Love you. Bye," Jack replied rushed, before calling Arcee, "Come on. Pick up. Pick up. Pick up!" She answered, "Arcee, you wouldn't be in the garage right now?"
"Negative, Jack," Arcee responded as she dodged laser beams from Cons, "Can we talk about this later?"
"No! Moms on her way home!" He announced pushing his legs faster, "If you don't race back there right now, I will be grounded for life! And mom will make me sell you for parts," Jack retorted.
"'Bee, Aiyr, can you handle it?" Arcee asked, earning bleeps of verification from Bumblebee as he jumped out of the way of fire, Aiyr providing Arcee cover as she retreated, "Ratchet, I need a bridge."
Jack slid his phone back into his pocket. He peddled as fast as he could, praying that he made it home in time to stall his mother to buy Arcee time.
June hummed as she walked past the garage door, she stopped and inhaled a deep breath. She exhaled and she twisted the doorknob to the garage, she opened it to an empty garage of the water heater and bare table. Jack peddled in the driveway, sweating and panting desperately for the required oxygen.
"Jack!"
"Oh no," Jack muttered, panting.
"Jack," June walked along the sidewalk to the driveway with a disappointed scowl, "I can't believe you disobeyed me. Where is the motorcycle?" June demanded.
A light flashed in the garage behind June.
"What do you mean? She's right where I left her!" Jack defended himself as he went to open the garage.
June turned around as the garage door rolled open behind her. Honestly, she was expecting to tell Jack off for lying to her about Arcee's whereabouts. She couldn't believe her eyes; she turned back to Jack with a stern glare.
"Did you get one of your crew to sneak it in? Or did you just walk it up again?" June immediately inquired.
Jack sighed in defeat, "OK, mom. Do you really wanna know?" Jack questioned.
June pressed him with her steel gaze.
"Fasten your seatbelts," Jack sighed, preparing his explanation, "My motorcycle is a sentient robotic organism from a distant planet. Part of a team stationed on Earth fighting a secret war. And I spend most of my time after school hanging with her crew."
"Jack," June started as Jack wheeled his bike into the garage.
"And the coolest thing: this isn't even her actual form. She's really a giant robot who can transform into a vehicle," Jack gushed excitedly.
"Enough, Jack," June shook her head, her hands falling onto her waist.
"It's okay, Arcee. Show yourself," Jack declared proudly, "She's shy. Arcee… Really. No more hiding. No more lies…, oh, come on! Roll out already." He kicked Arcee's in frustration a dull thud from his sneaker.
"So. Um, the bad crowd you have been hanging out with is a science fiction club?" June guessed, earning silence from his teenage son, "I have to get back to work. We'll talk about this when I get home."
With that said, June climbed back into her car and drove back to the hospital.
"Thanks for the support, partner," Jack thanked, sarcastically.
"Don't blame me. Remember," Arcee retorted.
"I know. I know. You don't exist," Jack mumbled as he walked into the house.
…
"Your ship's Black Box sustained serious damage in the explosion. But our software was able to reconstruct a few frames of the security feed," Silas explained to Airachnid as he replayed footage of Airachnid, Arcee and Jack a couple months ago.
The camera zoomed in on Jack's face as he blew hair out of his face panting out of fear and adrenaline.
"That's him," Airachnid clarified smiling softly in delight, lowering down on her spider legs on Silas' right flank, her right servo upturned and curling, "My Jack."
"Our facial recognition algorithm will send Jack's image across the web. Another kind of web," Silas told Airachnid before suddenly saying, "Ah. The mother lode."
"Government database?" Airachnid guessed curiously.
"That and his social networking page. Everything we need to know about Jack Darby is right here. Full name: Jack Darby. Age: 16. Resides in Jasper, Nevada. Mother: June Darby, a nurse."
A silent, undetectable figure crouched into the dark crevices of the large space, a quick flash of golden optics before they disappeared.
…
June had finished her shift at the local hospital downtown after 11 pm. Walking to her car in the lone parking lot, she was recollecting, worrying over her son. Worrying if she was being too strict, not wanting to make him a rebellious kid, he turned 16 over the summer. He was all she had.
"Maybe I'm being too hard on Jack. But he lied," She pulled her keys out of her scrub pocket, "And the only way he's gonna learn is if I stick to my-." Her worried ramblings were cut off by the sound of shrieking tires on the pavement behind her.
The barrel of a gun pointing at her face, she seen the electricity and was unconscious before she could do anything.
The black, kidnapper van drove off with June and her keys on the pavement, a sleek neutral silver Supra with double thin line decals stretching from the front bumper to the back bumper on equal sides. The top solid color line was bright red, the other was yellow. The bright white/blue headlights turned on along with the ignition of a soft purr of a V8. Nothing missed Aiyras, nothing, with the help of her dual swords from Alpha Trion himself. Aiyras followed the van a stalking distance, she followed them to a warehouse in a construction depo. She watched MECH and Airachind work together.
…
"Arcee, is mom home yet?" Jack asked as he pushed his bike into the garage, "I didn't see her car." He walked into the garage, walking up the table with his helmet and a yellow envelope.
"Don't know. We just bridged from base to beat her here," Arcee answered, "Oh and there's a package for you."
He glanced over at the table and picked it up. He ripped the seal off and dumped the content onto the table. Some kind of device.
"Hello, Jack," Silas greeted cheerily.
Arcee transformed, her faceplate's scowling, "Silas."
"What is it? What's going on?" Jack asked nervously.
"MECH," Arcee sieved.
"They know where I live?" Jack practically screeched.
"We know things about your family that even you don't know. For example, do you know where your mother is?"
"What did you-?" Jack demanded, worriedly.
"Understand, Jack. We have no intention in hurting her. In fact, we'd like to reunite the two of you as soon as possible. I just need you, and Arcee to follow the GPS coordinates programmed into this communicator. It'll lead you to the temporary facility I've set up."
"Aiyras," Arcee began whispering before groaning in severe pain and clutching her head.
"Arcee!" Jack cried rushing to her aide.
"Did I not mention our communicator scrambles the signal and your brains? Any break in communication or attempt to reach the other Autobots and Ms. Darby… well, I wouldn't want to feel responsible for the outcome." He ended the conversation with the communicator, bleeping twice.
It seemed like seconds for them following the coordinates provided by Silas downtown.
"If anything happens to her because of my connection to all of this, I-I…," Jack trailed off, fearing the worse.
"Jack, MECH is only interested in me. Once they get what they want, they'll let your mom go."
As Silas heard all of this though his own communicator, smirking smugly.
"That is not exactly reassuring. Your family too," Jack retorted as they turned a corner.
Arcee came to a stop inside a warehouse within the factory, Jack found dozens of lasers covering his body.
"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked Arcee quietly.
"The usual," she replied, on guard.
Slowly, Arcee began inching forward towards Silas who stood smug. Arcee gained speed, wheeling as she sped past the MECH soldiers and Silas. Arcee pulled into a warehouse and halted to a stop, Jack climbed off and removed his helmet.
"Mom?!" Jack called.
"Looking for June?" Airachnid asked, climbing down the wall behind him with her spider legs. "She's hanging around here somewhere," Airachnid chimed dismissively.
"Airachnid!" Arcee growled, transforming.
Airachnid lifted her servo and aimed at Arcee, entrapping her in her webs, MECH minion surrounded the area.
"What's she doing here?" Jack demanded.
"Help them. Please. They're human like you," Arcee begged desperately, "You can't let Airachnid-!"
"A few human lives are a small price to pay for a miracle of science like yourself," Silas retorted smugly.
With that, a MECH operative shot an electrical tranquilizer at Arcee. She fell onto her side on the ground unconscious. Aiyr was not too far behind, overwatching, and waiting, she had June in her sights, and she couldn't make herself known just yet.
"You and I will have I private session later," Airachnid smirked at an unconscious Arcee, "Promise."
They searched Jack's pockets and confiscated his phone and the communicator.
"I'm still learning about humankind, but one thing is clear to me Jack. You people care deeply about family." She bent down to him, taunting, "Therefore, the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise would be to make you as I take your family apart."
Jack leaned away from Airachnid and turned back to her with confidence, "If you hurt my mother-."
"You remember how much I enjoy sport, don't you, Jack? So, I'll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by," Airachnid explained looking over his head and he followed her gaze, "If you can rescue her before the stroke of twelve, I will let both of you go unharmed… Deal?"
"And if I can't?" Jack inquired, slightly sheepish.
"What do you think?" Airachnid asked backing away and straightening.
"Please! Don't let her do this! Let us go! We won't tell anyone!" Jack pleaded as he slammed his fists on Silas's chest.
"Enough!" Silas snapped as he shoved Jack away hard enough to knock him to the ground.
"Yes, Jack. Man up already," Airachnid taunted before turning to the clock on the computer screens, "Six minutes?"
That was all Jack needed. He stood up and took off running out of the warehouse. Airachnid and Silas watched on impressed.
"Mom? Mom!?" Jack called running around the corner of the warehouse.
"Now I know we promised the spider-bot that she would have first crack at you. But something tells me she plans on turning our mutual crisscross into a double cross," Silas informed the unconscious Arcee.
"Silas, we don't have the means of transporting it right now," one operative informed steeping forward with his arms behind his back.
"We'll have to cut and run," Silas declared, "Open her up."
11:54:35
..
11:58:40
11:58:41
11:58: 42
Jack looked up at Airachnid shadowed silhouette, she pointed the top of a tower.
"MOM!" Jack yelled as he took off running towards the tower, "Mom!"
"Jack?" June questioned.
Jack ran over to the ladder and began climbing as fast he could up to the top.
"Mom!"
"Jack! What are you doing here?" June cried as Jack ran to her, "Who are these people? How did I get in this… stuff?"
"Don't worry, mum. I'm going to get you out," Jack vowed pulling at the sticky webs.
June backed her head away from Airachnid as she hissed in her face, June whimpered in fear but still didn't calm down when Airachnid crawled away on her spider legs. She was confused, in disbelief and shock.
"Jack? The robots are real?" June gasped scared.
"I beat your deadline!" Jack proclaimed.
"Afraid not, Jack! The task wasn't for you to find your mother by midnight. You had to rescue her!" Airachnid corrected.
Jack stared at her in disbelief before he recalled the conversation, his heart dropped into his stomach.
"And time's up!" Airachnid laughed as the clock reached midnight, "Now…"
Airachnid shot a web at Jack, Jack yelped falling to the floor of the platform. He sat up and tried to stand. He looked down and saw that Airachnid's web pinning him to the floor, he began to struggle to get his arm free.
"Take a seat, sit back, relax and enjoy the horror show."
Back inside the warehouse, Silas watched the events unfold through security footage. Behind him, numerous operatives worked to free Arcee from her sticky binds. But for Silas, they were going to slow. He was losing his patience.
"Make haste, gentlemen. And don't worry about making a mess," Silas countered.
…
"You know, Jack. She's your mom. Why should I have all the fun? So, you get to choose. Agonizing or excruciating?" Airachnid suggested, her acid pooling in her mouth.
She turned away, acid dripping out of her mouth onto a railing and the floor three feet from his right thigh.
"No!" June whimpered as Jack wiggled a metal bar free from the railing.
…
MECH was certainly making haste with cutting the webs entrapping Arcee. She heard Airachnid's voice over the footage Silas was observing.
"Jack, don't leave her dangling." Airachnid tormented.
"You monster!" June yelled, "Stop this!"
Those words made Arcee gasp and glare angrily at the screen before her head fell back and she closed her pale blue and pink optics.
"We only have time to take one part. Go straight for the heart," Silas instructed.
The sounds of the drills filled the room as a pair of white headlights flashed into the warehouse, the grey vehicle revving it's engine, challenging. Arcee snapped her eyes opened, looked behind recognizing the familiar vehicle. She sat up and swatted the drill away from her chassis, she knocked operatives away from her and got to her pedes, she ran before transforming and tearing out of the warehouse with the Toyota behind her.
She had a feeling Aiyr had been not too far behind.
"Let them go. No matter the outcome, the spoils will be ours," Silas proclaimed.
…
Jack tried to loosen the web trapping his hand with the rod, it has been unsuccessful so far. Chills ran down his spine sensing Airachnid lurking around, she came behind him silently.
"Well, Jack, if you won't decide, I guess it's lady's choice," Airachnid said as she crawled down to the hyperventilating June.
"Mom, I'm sorry," Jack apologized feeling his heart continue to sink in his body.
"No!" June screamed, writing in her constraints.
The sound of the soft purr of a torque powered engine and the other from below, Arcee was racing up a steel beam, she transformed in mid-air and crashed into Airachnid.
"Jack, your motorcycle?" June started as Jack struggled to pull the webs free.
"I can explain, mom," Jack promised, "Wait. I already did." Jack looked down at the familiar chuckle on solid ground, his eyes widened, "Aiyras?"
Aiyr looked up at him with a soft amused smile, she blinked twice before climbing up the tower, "Full first names, huh, Jackson?"
"You always know, huh?" Aiyr shrugged and nodded in agreement providing cover, Jack struggled against the webs as Aiyr made eye contact with June, "Mom, Aiyras, Aiyras, Mom."
"Hello, Mom," Aiyr greeted, smiling politely.
June just stared back at her, forgetting how to breathe.
"Jack, I got her," Aiyr said, grabbing the hilt of her sword.
Arcee and Airachnid continued their fight among the chutes connected to nearby towers. Arcee back flipped down the chute as Airachnid slowly stalked towards her. Arcee dodged her silent attack, disappearing.
"MECH lost Breakdown. What were the chances they could hold onto you?" Airachnid asked rhetorically.
The fight officially started there. Arcee went to jump and attack from behind. But Airachnid sensed her and grabbed her with her servos and threw her in front of her, Arcee regained her footing. She ran up to Airachnid, swinging at her. Airachnid was able to block a few hits. Arcee kicked Airachnid, falling her fall into chutes.
Airachnid recovered and got one slap on Arcee making her fall to the ground, Aiyr appeared in Arcee's view with her twin swords glowing in her servos. Airachnid followed after Jack and June running away on solid ground running after them on her spider legs, June freaked out more as they ran to safety. Jack looked over his shoulder seeing Aiyr coming down from mid-air near their location, she landed on her pedes in front of Airachnid, making June and Jack tumble forward as they continued running for their lives.
…
"There she is, Bumblebee," Ratchet reported to Bumblebee, "She's with Arcee."
Optimus walked up to Ratchet with Bumblebee and Bulkhead not too far behind.
"Where are they?" Optimus asked.
"Downtown Jasper, in the construction depo," Ratchet answered, he gasped again when a Decepticon logo appeared indicting a enemy presence. "They haven't responded."
"We'll await their call." Optimus advised.
…
"Nightshade?!" Airachnid scrambled to a halt as Arcee aimed her blaster at Airachnid's helm, "What are you doing here?"
Aiyr stepped forward twice as Airachnid cowered, correcting Airachnid, "It's Aiyras."
Suddenly, the whirr sounds of helicopter blades rang through the sky. Everyone looked up and saw three helicopters rapidly approaching the scene. Leading the squad of helicopters is Agent William Fowler himself.
"Aim for the creepy-crawly," Fowler adjured his men in a walkie talkie.
The soldier next to him nodded and pressed down on the red button on the gearstick. Bullets rained down on Airachnid as she shielded herself.
Silas observed angrily, "How did they find us?" he demanded.
Then his mind unfolded memories before his eyes.
"You can let us go! We won't tell anyone!" Jack swore as he slammed his fists to Silas' chest.
Silas knocked him down onto the floor; Jack had discretely swiped his walkie talkie.
He was impressed but aggravated.
"Thanks for coming, Agent Fowler," Jack thanked.
"Had I known there'd be a 'Con involved, I would've called in Prime," Fowler remarked.
"That would have been too much for mom to handle in one night," Jack retorted running with her at his side. "Aiyras is here."
Fowler only nodded in understanding as the military continued firing at Airachnid, she shielded herself the best she could with dust beginning to cloud around her. They ceased fire. Well… that and they ran out of ammo. Airachnid's purple optics turned green as she scanned Fowler's helicopter, downloading the model for her vehicular mode.
"Argh!" He groaned in frustration, "Not again!" Fowler exclaimed, pounding his fist on his thigh.
"No!" Arcee screamed as she saw Airachnid transform and take off, chasing after but stopping as a ground bridge opened a few feet from her.
…
Aiyras hilted her swords as Agent Fowler walked up to June and Jack Darby with Arcee standing a few feet away and Aiyr behind her by several more feet.
"Ms. Darby. I'm Special Agent William Fowler. It's time you knew the truth," Fowler stated with a sigh, "For the past several months, Jack has been interning for me at the agency."
"Agent Fowler, mum's not gonna buy it," Jack retorted as June sent Fowler a glower.
"He's got that right," June agreed.
"Agent Fowler," a soldier called as approaching the group.
"Let me guess. Without a trace," Fowler guessed, earning a nod from the soldier, he walked away with the soldier conversing.
"Hey, Arcee!" Jack greeted as Arcee walked up to them.
"And she would be your…?" June trailed off.
"Motorcycle, guardian, Autobot, partner, friend," Jack listed as Arcee knelt down.
"Call me Arcee," Arcee smiled, politely.
June looked over her shoulder at Aiyr whom looked down at her, "And you are?" June fully turned to her so did Jack and Arcee.
"Aiyras," Aiyr replied.
"Thank you, Arcee, Aiyras," June thanked.
"Airachnid," Arcee answers bitterly, making June curious.
"A rival of Arcee's," Aiyr added.
June nodded, humming.
"I think it's time for that ride you once made me promise." Jack said as his mom stood up from the wooden crate.
…
The next morning, the entrance door doors opened to Arcee with Jack and June on her seat as she pulled into the command center with Ratchet, Bulkhead, Aiyras and Bumblebee present in the command center. June looked up in shock at the Autobots as she pulled off the helmet.
"Mom, meet my science-fiction club," Jack said pointing out to the Autobots.
Her eyes widened before she smiled nervously and waving.