CHAPTER SIX
--Velocitron--
Even over the clamor of bots trying to reach their idolized racers and get a word in from them for their news station, the high-pitched squeal of an over-excited fan could be hear. Those with the misfortune to be right next to the source were forced to clamp their hands over their auditory sensors.
"Primus, is he always like this?" Nightbeat muttered.
"This is a new one for me," Glyph replied.
"It's him!" Swerve exclaimed, jumping up and down while pointing excitedly at a tall blue mech. "It's Blurr! The amazing Blurr!"
Blurr seemed to have noticed this display of fan worship for he grimaced and was now trying to make his way out of the stadium. Swerve took pursuit with Tailgate close behind.
"Let them go," Elita said exasperatedly. "I see Nitro over there. Let's go talk with him."
"All of us?" Chromedome gestured widely to the entire team, currently consisting of eight with Swerve and Tailgate gone. "Won't that seem a little... suspicious?"
"I agree," Windblade said. "I think you should speak with him by yourself."
"And what will the rest of you be doing?" Elita asked.
"Waiting for something bad to happen."
Elita sighed. "All right, just... just don't go anywhere."
With that, she turned and head straight for Nitro. The former Velocitronian leader, flanked by bodyguards, was fleeing from reporters, fans, and paparazzi, and trying to exit the stadium. Elita figured it was probably not the best time to bother him, but she had no intention of waiting for a better one.
"Nitro!" she called, trying to push her way through the crowd. "I would like to speak with you!"
"You and everyone else," Nitro shouted back. "Try again later."
"I really must insist--"
She was cut off by a small Velocitronian bot pushing past her, a blaster in hand. She moved to stop him but was pulled away by a pair of large arms. The smaller mech raised his weapon and fired.
Nitro was on the ground, energon leaking from the wound in his head. As the crowds reacted in panic, Elita freed herself from the large Velocitronian's grip and spun around, shooting her leg out to kick the brute in the head. He barely flinched and instead flipped out a pair of shoulder launchers.
In an instant, Windblade was upon him, plunging her blade into his back. The brute let out a cry of pain before dropping to the ground, unconscious. With the larger Velocitronian down, Elita returned her attention to Nitro's assailant, who was lost amongst a sea of law enforcers and security guards. There was another gunshot and the crowd of guards instantly dispersed, revealing the murderer's deactivated corpse, the barrel of his gun smoking hot.
Elita and her team stood in silence while Velocitronians murmured in shock and despair. As if to make the situation worse, Swerve returned with Tailgate in tow, having lost their quarry.
"What did we miss?"
--Earth--
"At what time was the device stolen?"
Leaning against her car, Sector Seven agent Samantha Walker checked her notes. "Twenty-fourth of July, around 3:25 A.M., according to our security cameras."
Parked in front of her in his police car form, Prowl added this info to his memory banks, not requiring a notepad. "Did your cameras capture an image of the culprit?"
"Yes, but they're wearing all-concealing garments; gloves, a thick coat, snowpants, a face-hood... we can't even determine their gender."
"Who had access to the lab where the device was held?" Prowl asked.
Walker thought for a moment. "Doctor Henri Arkeville, myself, and Agent Simmons."
"Can you get into contact with either Arkeville or Simmons?"
"Simmons has been in Washington for the past four months, so he wouldn't know anything. As for Arkeville...."
"Yes?" Prowl said when she paused.
"He left for Florida yesterday, about three days after the theft." She looked down at the Autobot car, an eyebrow cocked. "You don't think...?"
"The probability is there," Prowl said as he revved up his engine. "We just have to investigate it."
* * *
The black and red sports car was parked right at the sidewalk outside the residence of Joshua Joyce and his fiancee Darcy in Tampa, Florida. No one had emerged from it and its windows were too tinted to see anyone sitting inside. It had been like this for a day now.
Sipping a mug of coffee as she opened the front window's blinds, Darcy Tirrel furrowed her brow. The black car had now been joined by a white one of the same model.
"Is the car still there?" Joshua called from the kitchen.
"Yes, but now there's another one with it." She craned her head slightly. "I think it's blocking the driveway."
"Dang kids." Joshua stormed out of the kitchen with a half-eaten waffle in one hand and a cell phone in the other. "Think they own the world just because they can afford fancy hot rods."
Darcy turned to him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "Says the man with a Pagani."
"Yeah, well, it's a special kind of Pagani." After contacting the local police office, he raised the phone to his ear. "Yes, there are two cars-- I think they're Pontiacs-- parked right in front of my driveway, and I need to get to work. I live on 332 Dolphin-- no, Dolphin Drive. It's the big, white three-story house on the left, can't miss--"
Before he could finish, the two cars were suddenly no longer just that, but rather two towering giants made of machinery. He swallowed a lump in his throat.
"Actually, never mind. They're gone."
* * *
"Did Barricade say he wanted the human alive or dead?"
"Dunno," Runamuck replied. "Wasn't listenin'."
Runabout chuckled as he cracked his knuckles. "Heh. Me neither."
Two rocket launchers flipped out from his back and he fired them at the house. The facade of the building exploded and was reduced to rubble. Once the smoke and dust had settled, he found two humans cowering before him, covered in cuts, bruises, and asphalt.
"Would you look at that," Runabout laughed. "Two humans for the price of one. You can play around with the skinny one while I get the one we need."
"Fun," Runamuck said.
However, before either of the two Decepticons could make a move, they heard the revving of an engine. From a garage adjacent to the destroyed house, a red and black car sped out, heading straight for them.
Runamuck quickly brought out his gun and shot at the moving vehicle, which exploded... but not in the way he was expecting.
Instead, it "exploded" into a swarm of particles, twirling like a storm of atoms. They then began to reform, this time as a bipedal figure rather than an automobile. Two razor-bladed discs sprouted from its back and shot out into its hand as the robot assumed a combative stance.
"What. The. Scra--" Runamuck was cut off as the robot flung a disc at him, embedding it into his face. As the Decepticon screamed in pain, Runabout started firing wild shots at the anomaly, who simply shifted its materials to avoid them.
"The slag are you supposed to be?!" the Battlecharger exclaimed just as the robot threw another disc, which shaved off the barrel of his gun. It was then upon him, pinning him to the ground while aiming a stinger at his face.
It was the male human who answered him. "That is Stinger. He is the first step towards a new revolution of human technology... and the first step towards your extinction."
Stinger then fired its weapon and Runabout's world went dark.
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