CHAPTER SIX
--Earth--
Verity felt herself emerge from sleep but did not dare open her eyes. She prayed to all of the deities in the world -- even the ones she didn't believe in -- that the past several hours had just been a prolonged nightmare and she was still on an intercity bus headed for nowhere.
But then she finally opened her eyes... and found herself in a police car along with Raf and his three friends.
"Crap," she muttered to herself.
Sitting next to her, Jack yawned as he rolled his head. "Where are we even going?" he asked.
"I don't know," Stakeout said over his radio. "We just need to get as far away from the city as possible. I can't take any of you guys home and risk putting your families in danger."
"Can I at least call my mom and--"
"No. Too risky. If these guys can block Sector Seven's comms, then who knows where else they're listening."
"We could go to Santa Cruz," Miko said. "That's where my host parents live."
"Didn't you say your dad works at an Onyx place there?" Sari asked. "How do we know these guys won't go there next?"
"If they do, then maybe we can warn them," Jack said. "I mean, we have to tell someone about what happened back there."
"I like your thinking, kid," Stakeout said. "You just might have a point."
"Are there... more of you out there?" Miko asked. "More good robots like you?"
"As far as I know, I'm the only Autobot operative on Earth," the police car replied. "Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm the only one here...."
"Could you, like, call for help?" Verity asked.
"Again, too risky. If those 'Cons intercepted it, we'd all be done for."
Jack frowned. "So we're on our own?"
"Yes," Stakeout murmured as he drove aimlessly down the country road. "I'm afraid we are."
* * *
Fowler had not realized he had slipped into unconsciousness until he was woken by the sound of running motors. Opening his eyes, he saw the van he was trapped in shifting all around him. Before he knew it he had been thrown onto the ground, still trapped within his seat belt, as the van took on the shape of a barrel-chested robot.
"Leave it to a General to get things done," the black-plated Decepticon rumbled.
"Stick it in your command module, Stockade," growled the gray-furred wolf Fowler had seen earlier, which proceeded to take on the form of a bipedal robot. "At least we have what we came for. Both of them."
Fowler shifted in his confines to glare at the talking machines. "You guys have got some serious balls for messing with Sector Seven. I've got friends in high places that'll be on your butts in no time."
Carnivac smirked at him as he took the two Onyx devices from Stockade and Stampy respectively. "That's cute." He then stepped over Fowler and walked towards a raised stone platform, on which a great white lion rested.
Great, they've even got their own Scar. Fowler looked around to see if there were any hyenas nearby... and found exactly one staring right at him, tongue dangling from its open mouth.
He groaned. You've gotta be kidding me.
"Boss," Carnivac said to the lion. "We've got 'em."
The lion lifted up its head and regarded the wolf with tired green eyes. "Pardon?"
"The devices. From Onyx." Carnivac waved them in his hands. "We've got them, just like you asked."
"Oh." The lion opened its mouth in a big yawn, though Fowler felt it was just for show. "Took you long enough."
Carnivac fumed but said nothing as the lion rose from its perch. After sparing a moment to stretch, it changed shape, assuming the form of a hulking robot... with a very familiar head design.
Fowler's eyes bugged out upon seeing the distinctive blue helmet. "Optimus Prime?"
The lion-bot glanced at him, as if noticing him for the first time. "You've brought a human?"
"He was in possession of one of the two devices," said Stockade. "We don't have to keep him, if it's too much trouble. I wouldn't mind squishing him."
"Oh, that won't be necessary," the lion said. "We just might have a use for him. But first...." He held out his hand to Carnivac. "If you will."
The wolf-bot stepped forward and placed the devices in the proffered hand. The lion-bot then jumped down from his perch and turned to the hyena. "Frostbite, go fetch the others and tell Steel Jaw to get his device ready. Carnivac, prep the Tidal Wave for departure."
"And the human?" Stockade asked, holding Fowler up by his restraints.
"Bring him with us. He may come in handy."
"You know, Optimus, I never had you pegged as a bad egg," Fowler grunted. "Of all you Autobots, I thought you were--"
"Optimus?" The lion-bot laughed. "As if Optimus Prime would ever have the bearings or the need to pull something like this off. I, on the other hand, know when and how to make use of all my available assets. I know how to make the best of every opportunity. And I will show the world what it takes to be a true Prime."
With that, Leo Prime transformed back to his beast mode and marched off. Fowler then felt himself get thrown around as Stockade morphed and pulled him back into his van form, driving after the lion.
* * *
Far above the planet Earth, on a former prison ship-turned-party wagon, Crankcase was swearing up a storm.
"No good clutch-munching, piston-licking, grease-guzzling--"
"Crankcase, calm down!" Nickel said from behind, carefully operating on his open-head wound. "Your motor's overheating. It'll melt your brain module if you don't--"
"Oh, who even gives a frag anymore?" the Triggercon groused. "I swear, this always happens to us. We can't stay together for more than a week without something going wrong or one of us going nuts or--"
"Focus, Crankcase!" Fulcrum cried as he helped Spinister back on his feet. "We need to take back control of the ship before we crash into that moon. Then we can go after Krok and Misfire."
Crankcase scowled. "Why? So they can punch our lights out again?"
Ignoring him, Fulcrum looked around the ship. "Where's Spacewarp?"
"Here." Spacewarp stormed into the room, her faceplate having been dislodged to reveal a nasty scowl. "I swear, one of these days I'm going to kill Krok and use his corpse as a desk just because."
"It must be his new Croctobot body that's making him act this way," said Nickel. "I thought that Limelight guy seemed shady...."
"That doesn't explain Misfire though," Fulcrum said. "I can't think of anything they have in common that would cause them to do this."
"You mean besides them both being cross-wired numb-skulls?" Spacewarp muttered.
"If that were it, then Spinister would've gone with them," Crankcase said.
Spacewarp glanced at him. "Shouldn't you be at the ship's controls?"
Crankcase waved a dismissive hand. "Eh, the Mini-Cons can handle it."
"They're not slaves!" Spacewarp growled. "They can't be expected to do all the--"
"Er, Spacewarp?" A small gray head poked out from the cockpit. "You should come see this."
The five Decepticons rushed over to the front of the ship, where Foldspace and three other Mini-Cons sat at the controls. Outside the viewport, they could see a giant gray and blue vessel emerging from some kind of rift in space.
"By Prion's shadow!" Nickel exclaimed. "Is that a Titan?"
Crankcase groaned. "For spark's sake, I thought we had seen the last of those lugheads."
"There's another ship heading for it." Fulcrum pointed to a large white craft making its way towards the Titan. "Think that's where Krok and Misfire went off to?"
Spacewarp sighed in exasperation. "I suppose there's only one way to find out. Let's go after them."
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