... So I overestimated the length of this chapter. The ending of Mad Metal, part 3 turned out to be about 21 pages overall. So I've decided, to avoid another Once Human, Part 7, that I would split it for the sake of the reader. Trust me, though, there is still plenty of content in this chapter just for you.
I hope you enjoy.
Mad Metal, Part 3
Autobot Hideout - Missile Silo
"You can't be serious, Major."
Ralph said as he peered through Aiko's office window. Aiko was standing over her own desk, while Jackson was leaning on a wall.
"I am, Ralph. He's too dangerous to just be going out, walking with other civilians," Aiko said, looking up from her desk.
"If I thought he was dangerous, I wouldn't have let him out in the first place," Jackson said, staring right at Aiko and continuing with, "You can see it, right? He's a good kid. It's not like he's gonna cause trouble."
"You know there's more to that kid than meets the eye, Jackson. He has good intentions, but he's got an explosive temper. Which is one thing for a human, but another thing when he's a ten-ton Cybertronian."
"... Is this because he was out with that girl? What, you think he's gonna try to impress her with his transforming?" Jackson joked in his deadpan way.
Aiko scratched her nails into her desk, saying, "It's not because it was with Roe–"
She stopped mid-way, but it was too late: the technician and sergeant's attention peaked at the mention of the name.
"Roe? Isn't that your daughter's name?" Ralph asked with curiosity.
Aiko hesitated even giving an answer, causing Ralph to go wide-eyed and Jackson to suddenly explode in laughter.
"Oh, my God! Of all the women on the Earth, the civvy had to go out with the Major's precious baby!? This is priceless!" Jackson kept on laughing, leaving Ralph speechless at the sight.
"Compose yourself, Jackson!" Aiko said rather threateningly.
Almost like he was remembering himself, Jackson stopped laughing and straightened himself.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know what came over me."
Aiko pinched the bridge of her nose, and said, "All I'm saying is, we know nothing about how he works. And I'm not talking about his mind. No, I mean his body is an anomaly to even the Autobot doctor! What if he's got a bomb with a timer in there, huh? And while he's out there and about, he just suddenly wipes a town off the map? Who's to blame for letting him out?"
"Major, we can ponder all day just on what his robot form can do, but if we are just afraid of what he could be instead of what he can do, we would never allow him outside the base to even go on missions with the 'Bots," Ralph said.
Aiko… just simply sighed, and said, "Why… Why did Optimus have to make him an Autobot?"
"'Make him?' Major, he was given a choice. He chose to be an Autobot." Jackson pointed out.
"Yeah, and considering everything, it was probably the only choice not made for him," Ralph reasoned.
Those words left them silent for quite a bit… until a low-toned alarm sounded off, causing the three soldiers to stand up and run on out to the main room. The three found Ratchet, quick and alert on the computers.
"What is it?" Aiko asked.
"An Autobot signal, from… Hollowpoint," Ratchet answered the signal, and said, "Hollowpoint, it's good to know that you found how to give off a distress signal, but it's only for when you're in danger."
"We are in danger!"
"What!?" Ratchet exclaimed before saying, "By Decepticons!?"
"Decepticon, singular! Me and 'Bee are trying to gain some distance, but he's catching up fast!"
Ralph, now confused, asked, "Just one? Why are you running from just one 'Con?"
"I don't know, Jackson! But Bumblebee over here seemed shaken up by the guy!"
Ralph only got more confused, and spoke up, "What Decepticon could possibly scare Bumblebee? Who is this guy?"
"Barricade!"
That one word didn't ring anything for Jackson nor Aiko, but it did for Ratchet and Ralph, the latter of which immediately ran up to the console and got on the comms.
"Hollowpoint, no matter what, keep Bumblebee away from Barricade! That maniac is dangerous!"
On the other side of the radio…
"You don't say!"
Jasper's sarcasm was palpable as he turned his side view mirror to view the approaching 'Con behind him, flooring it on the dirt road much like him. And ahead of Jasper was Bumblebee, who was driving as fast as his wheels could carry him.
"Can you just open up a ground bridge for us!?"
It was Ratchet who responded, saying, "Negative! If we open up a bridge, Barricade might enter with you! You'll have to shake him off your tailpipe!"
"Easier said than done!" Jasper said before shouting, "Bumblebee! How do we get him off of us!?"
But Bumblebee said nothing, not even through the radio, as he just simply went up a gear. All the while, Barricade was still gaining on them.
Internally, Jasper was panicking. A simple Energon scouting mission turned south by one killer robot? And why was Bumblebee of all 'Bots somehow more afraid than him? What would they do!?
That last question would be answered when Jasper saw up ahead an adjoined asphalt road that seemed rather empty. The problem was it only went left or right, and the turn was rather sharp.
"Hey, Bumblebee! There's a road up ahead! What do we do!?" Jasper asked.
Yet again, silence from the mute Autobot. And as the asphalt got closer and closer, Jasper only felt more and more panic creeping in. But where he thought Bumblebee would slow down, he instead sped up. And just as he would have launched himself forward into the trees at the end of the road…
He instead transformed the front left segment of his car into his arm, and grabbed at the dirt to drift to the left and right onto the asphalt road before retransforming into a regular car.
Jasper was speechless at the sight. He could do that? Correction, he had to do that to keep away from Barricade.
As the asphalt came up, Jasper thought of transforming his arm out, and stopped it midway of fully forming into a robot. He grabbed the dirt just like Bumblebee, but his much larger and heavier truck form struggled hard to not roll over as he attempted a left drift. Jasper felt the need to grit his transformed dentas as he nearly swung the truck's back too far into the forest, but yelled out as he finally got himself straight onto the asphalt road, fully transforming back into a truck.
One thing's for certain: he never wanted to do that again.
But any thoughts were thrown out of his headpiece as he saw Barricade do the very same trick to get on the road. The insane Decepticon was still hunting them.
… Scrap.
Well ahead of the road, hidden behind some trees, two cops sat in their black-and-white police car, one with a speed gun in hand, bored out of their minds. On this secluded road, what really was the point of a speed trap? It was not like they were going to catch some sort of illegal street race in broad daylight. So why did their chief decide to… to…
Those thoughts were thrown out when they heard something. The roar of an engine. Was that…?
Suddenly a black-and-yellow muscle car just flew across the asphalt, easily hitting 100 mph.
"What the!?" The speed gun cop exclaimed.
Then another, much larger, truck also flew down the road, the massive vehicle somehow also hitting 100 miles. And finally, another car, one with a very weird and angular design, speeded past him. Three speed demons, eh?
"Wasn't a waste of time, after all," said the driver cop.
The cop turned the key in the ignition and activated the siren. The roof lights flashed blue and red as the cop drove as quickly as he could to catch up. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he had to stop them before they did something stupid.
Eventually, the cop car finally reached the third, angular car, and the speed gun cop turned on the speaker.
"Stop the vehicle!" The cop shouted over the speaker, but the car didn't seem to acknowledge his words.
Clearly, they'll need some more force.
The speed gun cop put down the speaker and pulled out his pistol, saying, "Pull up to the driver!"
The driver cop wordlessly agreed and sped up to the left side of the angular car. The armed cop rolled down his window and pointed his pistol to where the driver would be.
"Stop the…"
The armed cop was stunned into silence when he peered past the tinted window and saw… no one? The driver's seat was empty? How in the world?
"Surprised, officer?" A gruff voice came from the vehicle, but the cop still saw no one who could have said it.
"What the…" The armed cop lowered his pistol in confusion.
"Nice-looking car," The voice spoke up again.
Even the driver cop took notice, and said, "Who is saying tha–"
Suddenly, a bluish wave of light came from the angular car, scanning over the whole cop car in two seconds. After that, the dashboard of the cop car started sparking, and the driver cop yelped as he nearly spun out of control, being brought to a stop. All the while, the armed cop watched, his jaw practically on the floor, as the angular car's parts moved and altered themselves until it resembled… their cop car!?
"Uh… what do I tell the chief?" the driver cop said without thinking.
Destroyed Decepticon Mine
The dead silence of the ruined mine was broken as a jet engine was pushed to the max, and Starscream entered through the top opening of the once-intact Decepticon mine. He transformed and landed in rubble, looking around and over the smoldering Energon pit for any hints of life. He was still in disbelief: if Megatron and Slipstream could survive that, then that's… good… Right? When Starscream made that proclamation to lead the Decepticons to victory, that was due to the absence of Megatron. He took up the mantle in a time of weakness, to lead them should Megatron never return. But now that he could…
Starscream shook the thought from his headpiece as he focused: Megatron was too focused on the statue to think about his own life. His own thirst for power was his downfall. Slipstream was just following orders. She was smart enough to run when she knew the situation was too dangerous. Perhaps that gave her enough time to escape. That was what Starscream knew. It had to be true. He knew Slipstream well enough that it just had to be true.
Starscream nearly stumbled as his pede stepped on something uneven. Something more malleable than the tough stone of the mine. He turned his headpiece down and saw… a buried servo leaking Dark Energon. And not just any servo: Slipstream's servo.
"Slipstream," was all Starscream muttered as he began digging out the servo.
Slipstream… he found her. Starscream found his Seeker. It was a good thing to know that she, of all Decepticons, was online and well.
That thought was thrown out as Starscream froze. The final bit of rubble was removed and… there was nothing else. The servo was on its own. Broken off from the rest of the body.
"No, no…"
Starscream grabbed the servo, and scanned his surroundings. The rest of her body–of Slipstream–had to be nearby. His stare landed on a small stream of Dark Energon, leading to an arm with a missing servo, but the rest of the body was hidden behind rocks. Starscream rushed behind the pile of rubble… and was brought to a halt at the sight.
Slipstream's body was facedown, and mangled beyond what he thought possible: her frame had more dents and gashes than smooth metal, and it was scorched so much so that her original paint job was all but gone. Her other arm which had a servo was bent in such a way that would be agonizing for any Decepticon. And her pedes seemed to be all but crushed under the weight of the boulders. And in all of that, she lay unmoving.
"Slipstream!"
Starscream dove down and grabbed her shoulder pads, tilting her up to see her faceplate, and nearly jolted back as he saw an optic fall from its socket. Yet there was no word from her, her bent faceplate expressionless as Dark Energon leaked from her mouth. And the optic that remained in her headpiece was dark. No sign of being online.
In his servos, Starscream was silent as he held his motionless seeker… now offline.
"Slipstream… you fool," Starscream said with sudden anger through gritted dentas, "I told you to retreat. And now… now…"
Starscream stopped speaking as his gaze lifted and he saw another servo poking through a pile of rubble. One of silverish metal with sharp, clawed digits.
…You.
Starscream gently set down Slipstream and marched over to Megatron's servo, and he quickly got to work shoving off the rubble. Quickly, he found a body much like Slipstream's: mangled and broken, yet to a lesser degree. Somehow, Megatron's corpse looked more intact than Slipstream's. As the final stone was thrown off, Starscream's hardened stare saw Megatron's faceplate and, just like Slipstream's, found it was leaking Dark Energon and had darkened optics.
"You… Lord Megatron, leader of the Decepticons… brought to ruin all over a little statue. Your obsession is what led to your downfall. A shame you had to drag Slipstream with you." That was all Starscream could say as he got ready to stand up.
But he was stopped as the clawed servo grasped his arm, shifting Starscream's resentment with that of horror as he saw Megatron's optics suddenly light up a dull purple.
"L-lord Megatron!? You're online!? But how!? How!?" Starscream said in scared amazement.
As the leader of Decepticons groaned and his body creaked, Starscream noticed a bright glow of purple from his chestpiece. It was the solid shard of Dark Energon, lodged right into his spark chamber.
"The Dark Energon… it is sustaining you… keeping you online…" Starscream deduced.
Starscream was amazed. The dark substance was keeping Megatron alive. If he got to Knockout fast enough, the doctor could fix him up and bring him to a full recovery. It was a miracle…
Starscream's thoughts stopped as he looked back at Slipstream, broken and unmoving, and his servos clenched hard.
Why you and not her?
"Because of you, Slipstream is offline. And yet, you are not? You were the one who stayed here, she only followed your orders. So why… why do you get to be online!?"
Starscream found himself yelling at Megatron, something he never thought himself capable of. But the thoughts of his Seeker being one with the Allspark due to Megatron's mistake filled him with a certain hatred that he only felt for Autobots. And it was all for Megatron. But what could Starscream do? It wasn't like he could bring Slipstream back to life.
… But he could do the opposite.
Starscream's vacant stare landed back on Megatron, and he found his servo wrapping around the Dark Energon shard in his spark chamber.
"Wait…"
Starscream froze when he heard Megatron, his voice beyond strained, as the broken Lord looked upon him with an ever-defiant gaze.
"I… still… function."
Starscream's dentas gritted, "Then function no more."
One furious tug was all it took to separate the Dark Energon shard from the spark chamber, leaving Megatron with widened optics and an open mouth as he gasped his last breath, before falling limp.
"Farewell, Lord Megatron. May you rust in peace," Starscream plainly declared.
But Starscream's faceplate filled with shock as he heard the familiar shrill of a small Decepticon. He quickly turned, the Dark Energon shard hidden behind him as he saw Laserbeak enter through the roof of the mine, and hover toward the nervous Starscream.
"Laserbeak, uh… I found them! Slipstream and Megatron! But they're in terrible condition! Quick, you must summon a ground bridge and Knockout! Hurry, they may have mere nanocycles left!"
Laserbeak silently hovered as he no doubt called a ground bridge immediately. As the green portal swirled open to let in many Vehicons, Starscream simply walked through, the dark shard hidden in his grasp.
Live another stellar cycle, it won't matter.
Near the mountains…
After what felt like an hour, Jasper stopped short of Bumblebee, who drove up to what looked like an abandoned weather station on a cliffside. The weathered buildings were just large enough to cover their vehicle forms. Satellite dishes and radio towers stood taller than either of the Autobots. And at the cliff's edge appeared to be a steep drop into a forest of trees that gave the appearance of a sharp spike pit.
Jasper looked behind him with his sideview mirror: no Barricade in sight. Maybe they lost him? If so, then Bumblebee didn't believe it, as he remained silent throughout the entire drive.
Jasper drove up to the silent muscle car, "Bumblebee, who was that? Do you know this Barricade?"
Again, Bumblebee remained silent. Though Jasper knew him for being unable to speak, the complete silence was starting to scare him. They had to get out of there.
"This is Jasper speaking. We need a ground bridge out of here, Ratchet."
"And what about Barricade?"
"I'm pretty sure we lost him. Now get us out of here, please. I think Bumblebee needs some help."
"... Understood… wait… I can't send a ground bridge signal to you. The area was jammed!"
"Jammed!? You don't mean…"
Jasper was brought to silence when he noticed Bumblebee quickly transforming and turning around to face the road, quickly getting into a fighting stance. Jasper followed suit, copying Bumblebee's fighting stance and staring at the entrance with widened optics.
What drove up… was a cop car. A black-and-white cop car. At first, Jasper froze. Did they just break their cover in front of humans? But then he noticed the empty driver's seat. Did that mean…
"Hey there, scout. Got something to say?" Barricade's voice came from the car, causing Bumblebee to lower his battle mask.
"Still speechless, huh? I suppose some things just can't be repaired."
Jasper was confused at those words. What did he mean by that?
"And you, the big 'Bot," Jasper jolted back as Barricade referred to him, "I don't hunt nameless prey. What's your name?"
"Uh… Hollowpoint," Jasper hesitantly answered, almost sounding unsure.
"And to think you're responsible for Megatron's demise… Well then, enough talking. Enough chasing. Now it's time for the hunt to end."
In a split-second, Barricade floored his engine and closed in fast on the two Autobots, shocking Jasper and forcing Bumblebee to bring out his repeater blasters. Jasper put out his hands, expecting Barricade to ram them, but the Decepticon quickly transformed and jumped in the air, letting out a crazed battle cry as he used his momentum to crash into Bumblebee while Jasper jumped back in shock. Bumblebee's optics widened as Barricade had him in a grapple, only to throw him into Jasper, sending them both crashing into a large satellite dish,
Jasper, now recovering from both shock and a concussion, felt Bumblebee pull him up and push him out of the way.
"–Run, boy, run–" Bumblebee's radio said before facing Barricade.
Jasper wanted to say something, but found himself silent when he saw Barricade give a wide smile while forming a strange weapon that looked like a rolled-up spike strip used to pop tires. The crazed 'Con passed the weapon between his servos, swinging it around expertly as he advanced.
Jasper… could only retreat and get behind a building, holding his servos to stop them from shaking.
"Jasper, Jasper, come in!" Ratchet said over the radio, "What's happening over there? Your vitals are skyrocketing!"
"He found us… Barricade, he found us! And Bumblebee's fighting him now!"
Suddenly, a terrified Ralph sounded out, saying, "What!? Jasper, you can't let him fight Barricade!"
"Let him!? What do you expect me to do!? And why can't he fight Barricade!?"
"Because–"
Jasper didn't hear the rest of the answer, as he was quickly distracted by Bumblebee getting sent upward by an uppercutting Barricade, who was giving off a laugh as he saw Bumblebee flying back. Bumblebee recovered as quickly as he could, but even when he got into his stance, he looked… frozen. Hesitant. And deep down, Jasper knew full well that he couldn't win on his own like that.
"–Alright, enough! Jasper, retreat! Do not engage Barricade!" Jackson ordered.
At first, Jasper felt the urge to listen. To retreat and be safe. But watching Bumblebee, his partner of one mission, be in trouble? He refused to allow that. Jasper would not run away.
Instead, Hollowpoint would do what he could.
All the while, someone else was watching from a higher cliffside, his red visor analyzing everything.
Barricade was laughing, rather slowly and with malicious intent, as he approached the rigid Bumblebee. He wasn't just fighting for a war, he was reveling in this.
"There really is justice in the universe if I come out of stasis and find you first, of all Autobots," Barricade said, slowly spinning his spike strip mace in his servo.
But Bumblebee was silent. As still as a statue.
"Oh?" Barricade said with a curious tone, "No words, huh? Did I damage you that much so long ago?"
Bumblebee involuntarily palmed his throat, where his voice box once was.
"No… you're afraid. Is that it, scout? Well don't worry, in a few cycles, you won't be feeling anything when I'm done with you."
Bumblebee simply tightened his fists, the metal creaking from the pressure. Barricade grinned, showing his rusted dentas as he raised his mace…
Only to stop once he heard the sound of a transformation. By the time he heard the crack of cannon fire, a tank shell had already hit his shoulder pad and sent him spinning. He looked in the direction where the shell was fired and saw a desert brown-and-green tank aiming its cannon right at him.
"Bumblebee, retreat!" was all that Hollowpoint said right before firing off another round.
Barricade dodged the shot, holding onto his leaking shoulder pad.
"Today is just full of surprises, isn't it!?" Barricade yelled out as he transformed his servo into a single-fire blaster.
As Barricade got into a shootout with Hollowpoint, dodging his tank shells while returning some powerful blasts of his own, Bumblebee got on the comms and started his radio.
"–Are ya–Outta your mind, son!?"
"You are if you think I'm leaving you to die!" Hollowpoint spat back as his armor glanced off a strong blast.
Bumblebee gritted his covered dentas out of frustration. He didn't want the rookie to be a part of this. He wanted him to run. He wanted him to live. He didn't know what that 'Con was capable of… and he wasn't going to let him find out.
As Barricade kept firing from behind a dilapidated building, he heard heavy pedes clanking towards him as Bumblebee rammed into him from behind. As he began to pummel the 'Con with his fists, Hollowpoint began to reposition, his tank treads sending dirt everywhere.
"You're in the way, 'Bee! Keep his back pointed at me!"
Bumblebee simply nodded as he kept Barricade in a deadlock of fists, ready for that round to fire. But then his optics widened as he saw something small and fast bolting towards Hollowpoint from the side.
"–On your left!"
Before Hollowpoint even had a chance to look, Ravage pounced on his tank form and locked his jaws onto the cannon, pulling it back just in time for the tank shell to hit the building instead of Barricade.
"Aah! Get offa me!" Hollowpoint screamed out as he tried transforming while the metal jaguar clung to his tank top and clawed deep scratches into it.
Bumblebee reacted with shock, and was ready to run to him to assist, but was held back by a grinning Barricade.
"Forgot about me!?"
That was the last thing Barricade said to Bumblebee before he slammed his mace into his head, breaking his battle mask and sending him into the broken building. With Bumblebee being the last straw, the building's structural supports finally broke, collapsing on the black-and-yellow scout.
Eventually, Hollowpoint finally got a grasp on the irritating Ravage, which quickly bit into his servo and jumped off to retreat to higher ground. By the time Hollowpoint looked back, he couldn't react in time to the thousand-ton, maniacal Barricade barrelling at him and winding up his mace. The crack of the mace meeting with his chestpiece was sickening, and Hollowpoint was sent flying and spinning into another building.
Hollowpoint held his head, the agony ringing in his mind as he felt the windows on his chestpiece all but shattered, his servo full of broken windshield glass.
"You should really get that checked by a doctor," Barricade said with heavy sarcasm.
Hollowpoint scrambled onto his pedes and got into a fighting stance, now visibly shaken.
"And to think that you were the one to offline Megatron? Oh, it'll be almost too easy to bring you in online. But that doesn't mean I have to bring you in intact."
Alive? They wanted Hollowpoint alive? Somehow, that made him more concerned than simply being killed. It also made him frustrated; the last thing he wanted to happen on his first mission was for him to be captured by the enemy. He would have hoped that Bumblebee would stop that, but he saw the scout was still unconscious under the rubble. And so, he was alone against the mad 'Con.
"What's the matter, big 'Bot? Is your life flashing before your optics?" Barricade joked, getting a sinister chuckle from himself.
Hollowpoint huffed once, then threw the glass to the ground, and got back into his fighting stance. No more words, apart from one, long, wavering exhale of a breath.
Ravage watched all of this wordlessly, sitting nearby Soundwave, who was watching the battle as a witness and preventing the Autobots from escaping via a ground bridge jamming device, per Starscream's orders. Though despite that, he always kept his comms open, for any updates considering their most recent, and more important, ventures.
Destroyed Decepticon Mine
"Move it, move it! We have to recover all we can get! And leave not a scrap of Energon behind!"
Brawl was ordering all the Vehicons, who were scouring the destroyed mine for any intact technology or resources they could get their servos on.
Brawl still couldn't believe it when he heard it. Megatron was found here, still alive? It was incredible news not just for him, but for the forces alike. They did believe, without a doubt, that Megatron was no more. And yet, he survived even an Energon explosion like this.
"What an incredible day today… Everyone! Work double-time, in the name of Lord Megatron!" Brawl announced.
All the Vehicons gave off a single affirmative grunt, some saluting as they did so. Brawl gave a sigh as he looked around, wondering if there was anything he could also find. But as he was wandering, he heard something near him: the scutter of small metal claws on stone.
He turned to the noise, only to find nothing. Was the noise in his headpiece? But then he heard it again, and started to follow that very noise until he was on the other side of the main room, the smoldering Energon pit separating him from the other Vehicons.
Brawl squinted his optics in search of the source, then noticed… something… crawling underneath a boulder. Quickly, he transformed his servo into a heavy cannon, and slowly advanced to the boulder.
Soon enough, he was right at the boulder, just large enough that he could sweep it away with a servo. He readied his shoulder-mounted missile launchers along with his heavy cannon, and grabbed at the boulder…
And threw it to the side as he primed all three weapons, a guiding laser aiming into an empty expanse of darkness. But he found no small creature, nor anything out of the ordinary of this small crevasse…
Apart from a familiar, purple glow.
Retransforming his weapon into a servo, he reached in rather far, his digits just grazing the object. Eventually, when his shoulder pad met the entrance, he grabbed it, and pulled it out: The Dark Energon converter. Rather cracked and looking to be one step away from being broken, Brawl looked upon the Dark Energon-leaking object, and a smile spread on his faceplate.
"Oh, Megatron will be pleased once he recovers," Brawl said valiantly, walking off with heavy and proud footsteps.
But unbeknownst to Brawl, something was in there: a small metal creature that blended in flawlessly with the stone behind it. It shimmered, and became a silverish color once again, revealing its bulbous main body and its long, clawed metal tentacles. And on its main body, was an emblem. One of an ovalish face with a beard of tentacles.
The creature wordlessly looked at one of its long appendages, extending a syringe full of the glowing purple substance. Seemingly pleased, it lowered itself from Decepticon view and scurried off into a dark corridor, not a single Decepticon any the wiser.
Autobot Hideout - Missile Silo
"What is going on out there? Has 'Bee responded yet?" Ralph asked, grasping at his pant leg in near-panic.
'I'm afraid not. He's still online, but his vitals are showing that he is unconscious," Ratchet said while looking at the low, yet steady vitals of Bumblebee.
"Then what about Ironhide… o–or Optimus? Can you call them over to reinforce them?" Ralph asked urgently.
"I can't. Ironhide seems to be in a dead zone, and Optimus is off the radar, no doubt in a cave."
Ratchet's answer only seemed to fill Ralph with anxiety, as the military technician clutched his head in a panic.
"If Bumblebee's not conscious, then what about Jasper? Did he retreat?" Aiko asked with an inkling of concern in her voice.
Ratchet switched over to Jasper's data, and tilted his headpiece.
"That can't be right…" Ratchet turned on the comms and said, "Hollowpoint, why haven't you retreated?"
"I'm afraid I can't at the moment."
"Why is that?" Ratched asked, dreading one answer.
"Because Barricade's looking right at me," Hollowpoint simply said as he kept his optics right on Barricade.
He and Barricade looked as ready as they could for a fight, but Barricade simply kept moving clockwise around him. And Hollowpoint followed suit. The movements and anticipation alone made Hollowpoint's breath quicken, his senses sharpen, and his sparkrate skyrocket.
"You can't let that stop you! You need to retreat, now!" Ratchet said as an order.
"Can't do that, Ratchet. Can't leave Bumblebee alone," Hollowpoint said with a calm voice and a panicked mind.
"And just what are you planning to do?" Ratchet asked with a hint of sarcasm
"Buy some time," Hollowpoint simply responded.
"You're patient."
Barricade suddenly spoke aloud, almost causing Hollowpoint's spark to stop.
"You don't want to fight me, do you? I can see the fear in your optics. Well, don't try to plead for your life. Soon enough, it will be in Lord Starscream's servos. Resist all you can, it'll only make it more fun." Barricade spoke as though he was requesting, practically pleading, for Hollowpoint to resist.
Hollowpoint noticed Barricade slowing down with his sideways movement. Was he ready to attack? Perhaps Hollowpoint could prepare to dodge his sharp mace, then prepare to–
Wait… He was doing it again. Planning for something that would be completely thrown out of the window. It was the one thing that got his aft thrown to the ground multiple times by Bumblebee. But if he did it here, then his life–and Bumblebee's–would be extinguished. So he had to stop thinking so much, and do a little more… reacting.
Hollowpoint's stare drifted just above him, and he spotted some power lines attached to wooden poles. Perhaps…
Barricade sighed, "You make for a terrible prey. Fine, enough playing around. Let's get to knocking you out!"
Barricade charged forward, his smile wide and his battle cry loud, as he raised his mace high in the air. Hollowpoint stood there, looking like a deer caught in headlights…
Before dodging at the last second, letting the mace miss him and strike at one wooden pole, shattering the bottom half while leaving the top half to stay in the air by the power cables alone. Hollowpoint, in a split-second, grabbed at the top half of the wooden pole and pulled down as hard as he could. Just as Barricade was ready to strike again, Hollowpoint released the wooden pole into Barricade's chest, and electricity surged from the power lines right into the seizing Decepticon. Elated, and in the heat of battle, Hollowpoint tried to grab the mace out of Barricade's hands.
A bad call. The current passed onto him as well, and he felt like he was struck by lightning, his every nerve lit up with searing pain. If he was human at this moment, he would not have survived. Both locked in place from the electricity, Barricade finally brought his arm up and snapped the power lines away, freeing them. His servos still on the mace, Hollowpoint pulled as hard as he could against the Decepticon, and found himself winning the tug-of-war. But Barricade responded with a quick punch to his faceplate, sending him back a few meters, Barricade's mace still in Hollowpoint's grasp.
Hollowpoint was glad to take his weapon away, but his grin was wiped away fast as Barricade started sprinting at him. Remembering his other lesson, Hollowpoint swung the mace in narrow arcs, not leaving a wide enough window for Barricade to strike.
"Now where was all of this before, huh!?" Barricade boasted as he dodged back from a mace strike.
While he was keeping Barricade back, Hollowpoint glanced at one destroyed building where Bumblebee was knocked out. He was hoping, pleading with whatever was listening in, that he woke up in time to make this a surefire win.
While looking away for too long, Barricade saw the chance: he suddenly charged forward in an obvious attack. Hollowpoint found himself panicking as he saw this and swung hard. A big mistake, as Barricade dove low to dodge the strike and then struck Hollowpoint in the chin with an uppercut. His grip on the mace was loosened, and it flew from his grasp and embedded itself into a squarish building.
Barricade didn't care. In fact, his optics showed more annoyance than frustration as he proceeded to send a flurry of blows into Hollowpoint's chestpiece.
"I don't need a mace to hurt you!"
And hurt him Barricade did. If the mace hit like a truck, then his punches hit like sledgehammers, forcing Hollowpoint back step-by-step with every strike. Eventually, Hollowpoint's back hit something: a satellite dish tilted upwards. He couldn't retreat any further as the dish's metal groaned with pressure.
Barricade yelled out, "Say good night, Autobot!" as he winded up his punch, wanting to deliver the heaviest haymaker ever.
Although Hollowpoint was in pain, the adrenaline carried him through, making his thoughts go a mile a minute. He remembered well that he was in a situation like this with Bumblebee, where he was ready to knock the scout's lights out.
And that was how he knew. He dodged low, falling to the ground as Barricade was just recovering. But as he was on his back, he also saw the anchor that was keeping the satellite dish up, and without thinking, kicked it hard enough to snap it in two, letting the dish separate the 'Bot and the 'Con.
Hollowpoint wanted to breathe a sigh of relief until a screaming Barricade's fist broke through the dish. And then another. Hollowpoint crawled away from the dish as Barricade was angrily breaking through the dish. But as he crawled back, Hollowpoint noticed a protruding radio tower, just as long as him. Could he…
Barricade had enough of it, and grabbed the dish from the holes and threw it to the side in a rage. But as that flew away, something struck Barricade's headpiece: the radio tower, broken from its base, now used as a makeshift weapon. Barricade's headpiece was turned, his optics now hardened as he wiped away the Energon from his mouth. He growled as he turned back to Hollowpoint, who was bringing the sluggish weapon back for a second strike.
Without even flinching, Barricade grabbed the other end of the tower with both hands, staring right at Hollowpoint with killer intent. Barricade was ready to wrestle the makeshift weapon out of Hollowpoint's hands, but Hollowpoint made it easy for him, and just let it go… only to charge right at Barricade. Hollowpoint pushed him back into a familiar squarish building, cracking much of the outside wall and almost letting the embedded mace fall to the ground. Hollowpoint had him in a chokehold, one arm barring his neck while the other was reaching for that very mace to deliver the finishing blow.
Was he doing it? Could he… Could he actually defeat Barricade on his own? He couldn't believe it. It would have meant that he wasn't horribly outclassed. He did have a chance. He could finally quell the fear within–
Hollowpoint's proud thoughts were brought to a stop as he felt something sharp sinking into his arm, and a part of him was ripped away. He screamed out in agony as he looked down at his arm, which was leaking profusely as it was missing a massive chunk of metal, his circuits frayed and exposed to the agonizingly cold air. And he then saw Barricade pulling the mace from the wall, while his mouth was full of that same chunk and leaking Energon.
Did he just…
Hollowpoint's shock kept him still enough for Barricade to swing the mace right into his headpiece, sending him flying back about 30 meters. He crashed into the soft dirt, and his fuzzy vision landed on pieces of his faceplate, including some cracked dentas, that were lying right in front of his optics.
Barricade spat out Hollowpoint's arm chunk, and shouted, "The hunt is over, Autobot! You fought well for a soldier! But unlike you, I will use everything at my disposal to win a fight!" Barricade bared his teeth while saying those last words as he slowly advanced.
"What's happening!?" Jackson demanded.
Ratchet was looking at the monitor, and said, "Hollowpoint is suffering from an Energon leak, and his arm and faceplate have suffered from severe structural damage!"
"Blast!" Jackson got on the radio, and shouted, "Hollowpoint, are you okay!? What is the status with Barricade!?"
"I… can't."
Jackson recoiled at Hollowpoint's answer, the mix of horror and exhaustion clear in his voice.
"What do you mean!? What's happening!?"
"This guy… he's an animal. I thought I could beat him, but… I might as well be lunch for him." Hollowpoint answered, the warble in his voice clear.
"Oh, no…" Jackson muttered to himself, and then said, "Hollowpoint, retreat right now!"
"I can't… go on…"
"No… no…" Ralph whispered, ran to an empty radio, and screamed out, "Bumblebee! Bumblebee, respond!"
In the chaos, Aiko watched as everyone seemingly devolved into pandemonium. Ratchet was darting between keyboards trying to call for the other Autobots, Ralph was pleading for the Autobot scout to get up, Jackson was urging Hollowpoint to not panic and instead retreat. Aiko… couldn't believe this. Hollowpoint, their newest addition, gone just like that? In his very first mission. No. She could not allow this. Hollowpoint could not die today, not with all of their questions unanswered. They were better than that. Hollowpoint–Jasper–was better than that.
Aiko charged for Jackson's radio, bumping him to the side as she started shouting over the comms.
"Don't give me that lip, Hollowpoint! You can't let them win! You have to get up, soldier!"
Hollowpoint was irked upon hearing Aiko's voice, but was quickly overwhelmed by panic as he kept dragging himself away from the advancing Barricade, whose deliberately slow footsteps filled Hollowpoint with dread.
"I'm not a soldier, Aiko, I can't do this!" Hollowpoint screamed out with fear and anguish.
"You became a soldier since you took that Autobot insignia! Listen to me… I saw what you could do in that mine, and I heard what happened during your training session. You've got it in you: the fire that keeps you going! The fire that keeps you fighting! If you didn't, you would have been dead long ago! So use that fire, and fight back!"
As Hollowpoint's back hit a wall, the clouds in his mind began to part. Time seemed to slow down as his thoughts rewind back to Cap'n's Catches, where he was with Roe mere moments before Aiko would track him down. That moment when there were no Decepticons shooting at him, no mentions of missions or Dark Energon, and no people to rescue. It was just a moment where he was sitting across a girl who saw him like how he was before: as a human. And in that moment, he forgot about being the Autobot named Hollowpoint. Instead, he was the human named Jasper. And with that, he felt serenity. Happiness. Calmness. All the while hearing Roe's strange yet adorable hyena laugh ring through his head.
"Roe… Roe…" Hollowpoint said over the radio without noticing, his servos creaking as they clawed at the dirt.
"I don't know who this 'Roe' is, but I'll be sure they follow you to the Allspark," Barricade said nonchalantly as he raised his mace high, and brought it down…
Only for Hollowpoint to bring up his bitten arm to block it, the sharp mace landing right on his wound. Barricade was surprised as the prongs embedded into the ripped metal, sending a thousand waves of pain to ring in Hollowpoint's head. But where Barricade expected the 'Bot to scream out in pain, Hollowpoint growled through gritted and broken dentas, looking up at Barricade with widened and furious optics. And in those optics, Barricade felt a glare that he could only get from looking at his reflection.
That feral nature.
Hollowpoint's visor slid down on his final growl as he threw his bitten arm up, unbalancing Barricade and sending his mace above his head. Barricade could only watch as Hollowpoint's fist flew for his headpiece, metal crashing into metal as Barricade was sent flying back into the squarish building in shock. Barricade had to pull himself from the wall while Hollowpoint came barreling at him with some strange hollow blade replacing his servo. He dodged just in time as the blade cleaved the wall in half, and both the Autobot and Decepticon recovered enough to face each other again.
Barricade looked at his opponent like he was a completely different 'Bot. Before, he fought back out of fear. But now… he saw something that he'd only seen in himself. And knowing that, Barricade could only grin.
Barricade pointed the mace at the mad Hollowpoint, and screamed out, "Time to turn you into scrap, beast!"
Hollowpoint could only give off a crazed screech as he sprinted forward at the excited Barricade.