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lordprixton: The cover is indeed their future Cybertronian forms :)
Arcee groaned softly, vision clouded with error alerts flashing across her HUD. She growled, brushing the warnings aside with a quick mental command. Her servo stabilizers struggled to calibrate as her frame trembled, systems demanding attention. She grudgingly initiated the necessary restarts, attempting to survey her surroundings through the pixels in her vision.
A moment passed before everything came back online. Everything was in working order except for a few fried wires. She pushed herself to her pedes, wincing at the noise her cables and pistons made. A groan to her right caught her attention and she whirled around, battle protocols onlining, her servos shifting into her blasters.
"Bulkhead?"
The massive Autobot was stirring, rubbing his helm as he wobbled upright. "Ugh... What hit us?" the Wrecker muttered, moaning.
Arcee's relief at seeing him alive was short-lived as a sinking realization hit her like a freight train. The kids.
Her head whipped around, scanning the clearing. The area was empty. The only things that showed a battle were the scorch marks and overturned earth, but there was no sign of Jack, Miko, or Raf.
"Jack? Miko? Raf?" Arcee called out, moving through the wreckage of the two vans that Bulkhead had managed to destroy before they were hit by those... things.
The Wrecker seemed to realize that the children were missing and started to look for them too. After searching the area thoroughly for about fifteen kliks and finding no signs of the kids, starting with the trees and sweeping every single square foot, they discussed their next move.
"They took them!" Bulkhead seethed, stomping around angrily. "Those fraggin—"
"Bulkhead! Calm down," Arcee snapped, jabbing a digit at his chassis, "we need to be levelheaded about this. The kids need us to be levelheaded about this. Charging in blindly won't save them."
The Humvee frowned. "Then what? We wait around while they do who knows what to those kids?"
"We contact Optimus and Bee," the cobalt femme said, already activating her commlink. She winced as her signal failed to connect, static crackling in her audial receptor. "Scrap," she muttered.
"They've got to be jamming us," Bulkhead realized. "MECH's not stupid."
"Doesn't matter. We'll find them," Arcee growled, adding, "We'll have to track them the old-fashioned way." She scanned the tire marks that MECH's vehicles had left in the dirt, leading deep into the forest.
The femme transformed into her alt, revving and speeding off next to the tracks. Bulkhead quickly transformed, keeping up with her as she swerved and skillfully drove through the broken vegetation of the forest.
Soon, the tracks ended abruptly at a cliff's edge. The steep drop stretched down into an inky abyss, where the sound of rushing water could be heard from below. At the cliff's edge sat a makeshift device that blinked rhythmically.
"That's the source of the signal," she said, transforming into her bipedal mode, Bulkhead following suit.
A screen on the device flickered to life, playing a recording. 'Well, well, Autobots,' Silas's voice drawled. I must commend you on your persistence. Unfortunately for you, your efforts are wasted. The children are in my custody, where they will serve a far greater purpose than being your burdens.'
You'll never find them. But do feel to keep trying—I do enjoy watching you struggle.' There was a pause and some voices before it continued. 'I've always admired your kind's advanced technology. Thanks to you, I'll soon have my own weapons. Stronger. Smarter. Better.'
The recording ended with a sharp click, and the device emitted a burst of static before falling silent. Angered, Arcee raised her blaster and fired, obliterating the device in a single shot. Shards of metal scattered across the rocky ground, smoke curling up from the charred remains.
The cobalt femme turned to speak to Bulkhead, only to see him hit a tree with his mace, shattering under the force of his blow with a crack. "Those fragging cowards!" the Wrecker roared, optics flaring brightly. "Why don't they face us head-on? I'll crush every last one of them!"
"Bulkhead, calm down!" Arcee snapped, stepping in front of him as he raised his fist again. Even as she wanted to rage too—but that wouldn't help the children.
"Calm down?"The Humvee's optics blazed with fury. "Those kids trusted us! We're supposed to protect them!"
"Bulkhead, enough!" the femme barked. "This isn't helping! Do you think this is what the kids would want? You tearing apart the forest while they're out there, scared and alone?"
Bulkhead froze, her words cutting through his rage. He slowly looked up at her, optics dimming.
"Every moment we waste here is another moment MECH gets ahead of us. We need to stay focused if we're going to save them."
"Yeah... yeah, you're right." The Wrecker mumbled after a moment, venting.
Satisfied, Arcee raised two digits to her audial receptors and activated her comms. "Optimus, do you read me?"
There was nothing but static for a few painful seconds, and then Optimus's calm, baritone voice came through. The femme realized that the beacon must've been scrambling their communications, and its destruction had restored their connection.
|"We hear you, Arcee. What is your status?"|
"MECH has the kids," she said bluntly. "They set a trap and scrambled our comms. Silas left a message. He is planning something and is using the kids to do it.
A pause followed. |"Understood. Bumblebee and I will rendezvous with you immediately," their leader replied. "We will trace your coordinates."|
"Understood," Arcee replied, cutting the line.
Within five kliks, a Camero and semi-truck came into view. Optimus and Bumblebee transformed into their bipedal forms, scanning the area. The Guardian Knight looked at Arcee, who nodded toward the wreckage of the beacon, realizing that it probably wasn't her best moment when she destroyed a possible lead.
Optimus reached for his comms. "Ratchet, do you copy?"
There was a brief crackle before Ratchet's irate voice came through. |"Finally! I've been trying to reach you. What in Primus' name is going on? Why did your signals cut out?"|
"MECH," Arcee nearly snapped at the medic. "They took Jack, Miko and Raf."
The line went silent for a klik. When he spoke again, he sounded shocked. |"You're telling me MECH has our human allies? How could this happen?"|
The Prime glanced at his two soldiers. "MECH used a jammer to disable our communications and ambushed us. Bulkhead and Arcee defended the humans, but our charges were captured."
|"By the Allspark..."| Ratchet murmured. |"Do you have any leads?"|
"We did have a lead, Ratchet," Bulkhead responded for their leader. "But we lost it."
|"Lost it?"| the medic sputtered. |"How do you lose a lead?"|
"Erm..."Bulkhead glanced at the smoking wreckage of the beacon, and then at the tire tracks that abruptly stopped. "They disappeared?"
There was a sigh on the other end. |"If MECH have indeed taken the children, they likely have a plan. And we all know MECH's plans rarely bode well for anyone involved."|
"That is why we must act swiftly. Prepare the GroundBridge. We may need extraction at a moment's notice," the Guardian Knight said.
|"I'll have it ready,"| Ratchet assured. |"Be careful, Optimus. MECH is not to be underestimated."|
"Understood, old friend. We will remain vigilant."
It was official: forests were the worst. Nothing good ever happened in them. His attention was drawn to Miko, who was sprawled out on the floor, drumming her fingers against the cold floor as if she didn't have a care in the world. She let out a loud groan. "Ugh, this is so boring! Can't they at least give us a deck of cards or something? What's the point of kidnapping us if they're just going to leave us here to rot?"
Jack ignored her, shifting his gaze to Raf, who was huddled close to him, clutching his knees to his chest. The younger boy's face was pale, eyes darting nervously around the room. The eldest teenager placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay, Raf," Jack said softly. "We'll figure something out."
Miko suddenly sat up, eyes lighting up with excitement. "I've got it! Okay, hear me out. What if we—"
"Miko," the teenager interrupted, already sensing trouble.
"—distract the guards by pretending one of us is sick, right?" she continued, ignoring him. "Then, when they come in, bam! We take them out and make a run for it."
Jack stared at her, incredulous. "Are you serious right now? That's your plan?"
"Yeah! Got a better one, Mr. 'Let's Sit Around and Wait'?" Miko shot back, crossing her arms.
The eldest teen rubbed his temples, trying to keep his frustration in check. "Miko, we don't even know how many guards are out there. Besides, they've got guns, they've got tech, and they've got us. There's no way we're breaking out without getting caught—or worse."
The Japanese girl rolled her eyes. "Well, doing nothing isn't exactly a stellar plan either, Jack."
"Oh, so your genius idea is to get us all killed? Great thinking, Miko!"
"At least I'm thinking!" she snapped, standing up and glaring down at him.
Jack stood too, raising his voice. "You're not thinking! You're just making it up as you go, as always!"
"You're such a buzzkill! If it weren't for me, we'd all still be sitting in front of the TV like a bunch of couch potatoes!"
"Yeah, and if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!" Jack shot back.
The two glared at each other until Raf's shaky voice cut through their standoff, startling them both.
"Stop it!" They both turned to look at the youngest of their group, seeing the tears in his eyes. "Just stop it! We're supposed to be friends, not yelling at each other!"
Jack and Miko exchanged sheepish glances.
"Hey, Raf, I'm sorry," Jack said softly. "I didn't mean to scare you. We're just... stressed."
"Yeah, me too," Miko added, kneeling beside Raf. "I'm sorry, little dude. I didn't mean to freak out like that."
The small genius sniffled and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.
"I know you're scared too." Jack sighed, sitting down next to his friend. "We all are. What we need to do right now is stick together. The Autobots are gonna find us. We just have to hang in there until they do."
The exchange student sighed and plopped down on the floor beside them. "Okay, okay, no more yelling. But I think we should at least try to come up with a plan. Just in case."
Jack gave her a reluctant nod. "Fine. But we're not doing anything crazy. Agreed?"
"Agreed," the girl said, though the mischievous glint in her eyes made him worry.
The teenager opened his mouth to reply, when the door creaked open, drawing all three kids' attention. Two MECH soldiers stepped into the room, looking more machine than man in their featureless uniforms. Without a word, one of them strode forward and grabbed Miko by the arm.
"What the heck? Let go of me!" she screeched, thrashing wildly like a cornered animal. Her legs kicked out, and her free hand clawed at the soldier's gloved hand.
"Hey!" Jack yelled, springing to his feet. His fear was momentarily eclipsed by anger. "Leave her alone!"
He lunged at the soldier, but the second man intercepted him. The man grabbed him by the collar and shoved him back, slamming him against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs, and he gasped struggling to break free.
"Stay down, kid," the soldier growled.
"Jack!" Raf cried in a trembling tone, watching his friend struggle.
Miko continued to scream like a banshee, raking her nails across her captor's arm in desperation. "You creeps think you can just—get your hands off me!"
The soldier didn't flinch and dragged her out the door. They could still hear her cries from the hall, as she struggled in vain. "No! You can't take me! Jack! Raf!"
Jack was thrown to the floor and the other man stalked out, slamming the door behind him. Raf looked at him with wide eyes, checking if he was alright. The elder boy looked up at the small genius, frowning as he tried to come up with a plan.
What was MECH going to do to Miko?
Miko gritted her teeth as she fought against the iron grip of the bad guys dragging her down the creepy, horror-like halls. Her heart pounded wildly, but she forced herself to focus. She wasn't going to let these creeps get the better of her!
I can do this. I've got this!
Summoning all her strength, she twisted violently, trying to wrench herself free. Her captor grunted but didn't loosen his hold. "Let me go, you faceless jerk!" she screamed, biting down on his hand. He hissed in pain, pulling away from her.
But before she could even think of running, something hard collided with the side of her head and she felt something warm and sticky trickling down the side of her face. Blood. Stars burst in her vision, and she stumbled, momentarily disoriented. The world spun around her, and she barely registered being hauled through a doorway and into a room.
She blinked rapidly, forcing herself to focus despite the throbbing pain in her skull. The room was small and clean (gross, she preferred her organized chaos). In the center was a single metal chair bolted to the floor, next to a table and a stool with some scary tools, and her heart sank. She didn't want to go the torture chair!
Renewing her struggles, she kicked and thrashed. "You think you can just tie me up? Think again!" she shouted.
The soldiers, unfazed, forced her into the chair. Despite her best efforts—twisting, biting, and even spitting—they restrained her arms and legs with cold metal bands that bit into her skin. She squirmed, but it was no use.
Once she was secured, they stepped back and exited the room.
Miko was alone.
For a moment, the only sound was her ragged breathing. Then, she screamed at the top of her lungs. "You cowards! Come back here and face me!" she yelled, thrashing. "I'm not scared of you! You hear me?!"
The words barely left her mouth when a man stepped in, his polished boots clicking softly against the floor. He reminded her of Lex Luther—but uglier and more sciency looking. Complete with the lab coat and the scrubs of a doctor, with the pen. He probably had bad handwriting too.
The man smiled—the kind of smile that made her skin crawl. "Good evening," he said. "How are we feeling today?"
Miko's lips curled into a smirk. "Oh, you know, just peachy. Thanks for asking," she shot back, sarcastically. "Though I'd feel a lot better if you let me go, but hey, that's just me."
The man chuckled lightly, as if amused. "Ah, Miko. I've heard about you. Fiery, unpredictable, and... loud."
"Yeah? Well, you haven't seen anything yet," she snapped, tugging at her restraints. "Let me out of this chair, and I'll show you just how loud I can get!"
He tilted his head, studying her with unsettling interest. "Oh, I don't doubt it. But for now, I think it's best if you stay right where you are."
The man's stool scraped against the floor as he dragged it closer to her. He reached over to the tray and picked up a syringe filled with a glowy green liquid that looked familiar. The exchange student's eyes widened slightly despite herself. She bit down on the inside of her cheek to stifle her growing fear, forcing herself to focus on her anger instead. "What's that? Your secret smoothie recipe? Looks gross," she sneered.
The man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he inspected it like an artist admiring his latest creation. "This," he finally said, holding it up so the glow reflected in her widened eyes, "is something special. A little concoction we've been working on. I think you'll find it... stimulating."
Without another word, he gripped her leg firmly as she attempted to jerk away. Before she could spit another retort, he abruptly plunged the needle into her leg. Miko let out a scream she couldn't hold back as the liquid seared through her veins like fire. The pain was unbearable, spreading from her leg through the rest of her body like molten lava.
Her muscles spasmed involuntarily, and her head snapped back against the chair as she thrashed against the restraints. Her vision blurred, spots dancing before her eyes, but she caught a glimpse of the man's face, twisted into something sick.
The man leaned back slightly, watching her with a disturbingly calm expression, as though he were admiring a piece of art. He waited, silent and still, until her screams faded into ragged gasps.
The burning sensation finally began to ebb, leaving her muscles quivering and her body drenched in sweat. She slumped forward; every ounce of energy had been drained from her in those few excruciating moments. She felt cold, unable to suppress a shiver.
The man, seemingly unbothered by her state, picked up another tool from his tray—a scalpel. He gripped her arm tightly and made a long, precise incision along her exposed skin on her forearm. Miko hissed, gritting her teeth to stop herself from screaming. Blood welled up from the incision, trickling down her arm in thin streams.
Despite the pain, she forced herself to glare at him. "Hope you know I'm charging you for this manicure," she muttered.
The man chuckled, though it was obvious that the weirdo didn't think her quip was funny. Loser.
"You're gonna need a new hobby after this," she spat after he cut her face, too close to her eyes. "Because you're about to get your butt kicked by a couple of alien robots. Just a heads-up."
That remarked earned a backhand, snapping her head to the side as her face stung from the blow, tasting a foul, coppery substance in her mouth. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears. The sting of the slap was nothing compared to the memories it dragged up to the surface.
Her father's angry voice echoed in her mind. "Why couldn't you have been a boy? Someone worthy of carrying my name!"
Miko had tried. She'd tried so hard to be the perfect daughter once. She wore the pretty dresses he liked, learned piano like he demanded, smiled politely at his business partners. But no matter what she did, it was never enough.
He'd dismissed her, neglected her, and when his anger boiled over, he'd hit her.
Her mother hadn't helped. She'd simply stood by, too afraid to defy him.
When she got the change to transfer to Jasper, she seized it. She became everything he hated—a rebellious punk who didn't care about rules or appearances. She dyed her hair, blasted music, and refused to conform to anyone's expectations.
But even that hadn't mattered to him.
She lied to Jack that night in the garage when she said she had two loving parents. The truth was her mother was too submissive, too scared to stand up to him, and her father... he hated her.
The only comfort Miko ever had was in her room with Chi Chi and Ding Dong, her two Siamese cats. They were her only friends back then, not caring whether she was a rebellious punk or a perfect little girl, curling up in her lap. She could still feel their soft fur under her fingers, hear their comforting purrs.
She wished they were here now. She wished she could hold them, bury her face in their fur, and pretend, even for a moment, she wasn't trapped in this nightmare.
The scalpel came down again and she cried.
The guards dragged Miko back to the cell and opened the door, unceremoniously dumping her on the ground. A soft moan escaped her as her head lolled to the side as Jack scrambled to her side, away from Raf who watched with horribly wide eyes.
"Miko!" the eldest boy's voice cracked as he dropped to his knees, gently pulling her into his arms. He brushed the hair out of her face. She was a mess—her skin was marred with cuts and angry purple bruises, blood soaking through her torn clothes. Her face was pale, and every breath she took sounded like it took too much energy. "What did they do to you?"
He shook her gently, watching as her eyelids fluttered weakly, and a groan escaped her lips. Jack's head snapped up to the two guards who were still inside their cell, glaring at them angrily. "What the hell did you do to her?!"
They didn't answer, instead glancing at each other before shrugging. One of the soldiers reached out to him, and Jack moved quickly, wincing when Miko hit the floor, groaning. He kicked one of the men in the groin, who doubled over in pain.
The teenager attempted punch the larger of the two men, only to be hit in the gut and then thrown to the ground. A foot was on his chest instantly, pressing down painfully, making it difficult to breathe. He wheezed as he looked up through dazed vision at the man.
Raf cried out his name, but wisely didn't move from his spot.
"He'll be next," the man who Jack had kicked grunted, pulling out a gun that was strapped to his back. "Time to turn out the lights."
Jack's eyes went wide as the butt of the gun descended on him.
I'm not the biggest fan of Miko, but I wanted to give her some background. So I changed her past to tragic, which might be later explored in the story. The 'acid that gives sparks' was an idea taken from After the Fall by Hexalys and A New Spark by Vitalfire. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think :)
I'm posting this next chapter early because I accidentally posted this chapter when trying to edit a typo I had for my draft on AO3.
Since I'm not going to bother to take it down over there because: 1. I'm too sick. I feel like I was run over by a train. 2. I'm too lazy. 3. There is no three. So, you also get it early too with the click of a button because it will bother me until I do it. Enjoy the early chapter ;)