Chapter Text
Darkness Rising
It was nearly sunset on the Nevada’s desert, not a movement in sight apart the wild life when from down the road a red 1970 Dodge Challenger appeared. “So there I am on a lookout when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rearview. And then it hits me: I'm illegally parked!”
In another part of the desert on the other end of the line a blue motorcycle with pink accents was driving down the road. “Another parking ticket?”
“Better. The boot.”
“Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove.”
“Bingo! The local police do their thing and I let them get all the way down by a block. That's when I kick up my new shiny shoe and BANG!”
“New York’s finest soiled themselves.”
“You know me, Arcee: - Mess with Cliffjumper,”
“And you get the horns.” She heard him laugh before continuing. “Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one: keep a low profile?”
“What can I say? Patrolling for Energon out here is Dulls-Ville gets lonesome. Almost makes me miss the Decepticons.”
“Like Jasper Nevada's a party? We're alone where ever we travel on this rock, Cliff.”
Suddenly the radar on Cliff’s dashboard activated. “I'm getting a signal.”
“Need backup?” Asked Arcee.
“Do I ever need backup?” Cliff answered before following the signal off road to a large crater full of blue crystals. “I just found an all lot of energon.”
Then something grabs his attention: the wreckage of a spacecraft with a familiar design. “Huh, Arcee? Didn’t Ratchet say that he detected what he thought was a distress signal?”
Arcee answered: “He did, but didn’t look further into it because he thought it was a false alarm.”
“Well, it wasn’t: I’m looking at a Cybertronian escape pod. No insignia; must be neutral.”
Arcee asked: “Any signs of life?”
Cliffjumper drove closer to the wreckage inspecting it. “None. I mean the pod is open, but it’s obvious it was a forced entry. A recent forced entry.”
Suddenly a huge shadow landed on the area. Cliffjumper transformed in his robot mode and looked up: “Decepticons!”
And indeed, it was the Decepticon warship: the Nemesis. The ship opened fire on the Autobot who got sent flying and landed in the middle of the crater. A hatch opened on the ship and an all squadron of Decepticon drones landed around Cliff. “Arcee, about that backup.”
The Decepticons powered up their blasters and aimed at Cliffjumper who got ready to fight. “Fair warning, boys I'll put a few dents in y'all.”
Cliff turned to his car mode and drove out of the crater and smacked them hood-first. The battle had started.
Meanwhile, Arcee, fearing that Cliff might be in trouble, called her superior and team leader, Optimus Prime, who at the moment was in his semi-truck vehicle form. “Arcee to Optimus, the Cons are back! Cliff might be neck-deep in scrap!”
“Understood. Ratchet, do you have Cliffjumper's coordinates?”
Ratchet, the medic of the team that can turn in an ambulance, responded: “I'm locked on his signal, Optimus. But our team's scattered across time zones.”
“Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, rendezvous back at base prepare to ground bridge.”
At the message Arcee and two more vehicles, a green off-road 4by4 truck and a black-striped yellow Camaro, changed direction back to the base to save their comrade.
Back to Cliffjumper, the tables were starting to turn against him; the Cons had surrounded him and were relentlessly beating him, to the point that one of them hit him so hard he lost one of his chrome horns and was sent flying into the crater. Cliffjumper stood up with a grunt and took out his guns. “You want the horns? You got them!” And gunfire started.
What Cliff didn’t realize was that he was directly in front of the energon crystals and there’s one particular you need to know about energon: it’s highly explosive. One stray shot from the Decepticons and the crystals exploded, engulfing Cliff in a cloud of blue flames. Once the flames were subdued, the Cons dragged the heavily wounded but still alive Cliffjumper out the crater and on their ship while a grey jet-like Decepticons was watching from the main bridge. His name was Starscream, the second in command of the Decepticons.
“The energon, it's worthless to me now.”
Starscream turned around at the sound of the elevator to see two drones dragging Cliffjumper to the bridge before they deposit him in front of their commander. Cliff raised his head to look at he SIC while coughing energon. “Scream, it's been a while. So, where's your master?”
“Never mind him. I am my own master.” And in a swift movement he sunk his sharp talon-like finger into Cliff’s chest area, making him cry in pain.
“Any more questions?” was the last thing Cliff heard before collapsing, dead.
“Clean that up.” Said Starscream to the drones pointing to the dead body.
The Nemesis left the area and not five second later a green vortex of energy appeared on the scene; from it came out Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, Bumblebee and the Optimus Prime. They all head their weapons drawn but after noticing that the area was clear the put them away.
“An untapped energon deposit.” Observed Optimus looking around.
“What's left of it.” Added Bulkhead.
“The first Deception activity in three years.” Said Ratchet in thought.
“That we know of.” Corrected Optimus. “If they're scouting for energon, they may be preparing for his return.”
The Autobots went down in the crater where Arcee found a smoldering horn that she recognized as her partner’s. “No.”
There was a moment of disbelieving silence before Optimus turned to his medic. “Ratchet, can you track his position?”
Ratchet nodded and pulled out radar that showed five dots and a sixth suddenly fading away. “No. Cliffjumper's life signal just went offline.” He said with pain in his voice.
Back on the Nemesis, Starscream is standing in the middle of the bridge looking down the landscape when the communication expert and third in command, Soundwave, approached him from his post. “Soundwave, what is it?” asked Starscream.
Soundwave played a recording: “Like Jasper Nevada's a party? We're alone where ever we travel on this rock, Cliff.”
“Ah, the one called Arcee. Why slay just one Autobot when we still have the advantage of surprise?”
Meanwhile the Autobots were gathered in sorrow as they all stand in silence as Optimus spoke to them. “We must not allow our anger over the lost of Cliffjumper to impair our judgment. As of today only we five Autobots remain on this Earth. We owe it to ourselves to the memory of Cybertron, to any Autobots in any Galaxies seeking safe harbor, to humankind. And we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrade to survive.”
Arcee laid Cliffjumper’s horn to the ground before standing up and walking away.
“Arcee?” called Optimus.
“If Cliff's gone, standing around here sulking won't bring him back. So unless anyone minds I think I'll get back to protecting humankind.” She answered before turning in her alt mode and driving off. Ratchet walked to Optimus to talk but kept his eyes on their two-wheeled comrade.
“Optimus, helping humans will only result in more tragedy.”
“Your opinion is noted.”
My POV
It’s late afternoon when I got a call from my mom.
Me: “Ancora non riesco a credere come tu mi abbia convinto a fare questo viaggio, mamma.”
Mom: “Non cominciare; devo ricordarti che la hai avuta tu questa idea e non io o papà?”
Me: “Lo so, ma comincio a chiedermi se ero completamente lucida in quel momento; sto cominciando ad agitarmi.”
Mom: “Ma tu sai cosa fare in queste situazioni, giusto?”
Me: “Sì, hai ragione. Come al solito. Ehi mamma, devo staccare: sono arrivata a Jasper e devo trovare l’indirizzo della famiglia Esquivel. Ti chiamo più tardi, va bene?”
Mom: “D’accordo amore, ci sentiamo dopo; ti voglio bene.”
Me: “Anch’io mamma; a dopo.”
So, my name is Marzia and some time ago I was driving on a freeway on my way to Jasper, Nevada after a long flight from Italy, my home country. The journey from there was exhausting: I stopover from Rome to London, then London to New York and New York to Las Vegas where I rented a car to Jasper, Nevada and all I wanted then was to find my rented house, throw myself in bed and just pass out. It was too bad that my exhaustion was railed in by my usual worries.
Well Marzia , here you are in the small town of Nevada that will be your residence for a year. I really hope I don’t regret this decision, what if something happens? NO, no, no. None of that, girl; you won’t live in fear for a whole year worrying about the unexpected. Mom is right this was my idea. It’s not like it’s the first time I travel on my own. So WHY AM I SO NERVOUS? (Stomach growls) Oh that’s probably why. So typical, I always get moody when I’m hungry. Now, where can I stop for lunch?
I just passed the welcome sign when I immediately saw a drive in. I read the sign: K.O. Drive in? Well, might as well. So I got in line behind a black custom car with flame design on its side. From what I could make out there were at least two or three people; the driver pressed the call button and the voice of a male employer answered. “Welcome to K.O drive in, where every patty is a knockout. May I take your order?”
“Two super combos, extra fries.” Answered the driver, whom I noticed had orange-reddish hair.
“Okay, dos número two's. Anything else?” asked the boy on the other end.
“Yeah, some advice. How do I get an awesome job like yours?” and he started to laugh followed by the other passengers.
Great, a bully, and a teenager one.
“So that’s two, 'we're not as funny as we think we are' combos, with a side of 'bite me'.” I was able to hear the employer snarky respond even if he was talking quietly and I bit back a snicker, but I guess the driver heard him.
“What'd you say?” he demanded with fury, but the employer just answered: “Five fifty-nine sir, at the window.”
The car drove around the corner and I heard more laughter followed by the sound of a car speeding away. “Hey! Have to pay for that.” The boy called but it was useless.
I pressed the call button: “Is everything all right over there?” I asked.
The boy sounded bit startled when he answered. “Uh yeah, sorry about that ma’am.”
“No problem, and from what I heard they are the ones who should apologies to you. I mean you’re just doing your job.” I reassured him.
“Thanks anyway. Now, welcome to K.O. drive in, where every patty is a knockout. What can I get you?” He asked me.
I laughed at that slogan before asking him: “What would you suggest to a newcomer?”
He was silent for a moment. “Uh well, personally I’d choose the special; it’s light and tasty at the same time.”
“Okay, I’ll trust you. You obviously know more about this place than I do.”
“Okay; so one special coming up, anything else?”
Feeling brave I asked. “Actually yes. I know you’re probably busy, but I’m wondering if you’re willing to give me some directions. If you can, that is.”
He was surprised by my request but answered: “Yeah sure, just come by the window. By the way, five dollars for the special.”
“Thank you.” I said before driving my car to the window and finally saw the employer: he was a young man, maybe a teenager, with dark hair and eyes dressed in uniform. “This is the address I’m looking for.” I gave him a note I had with the address of my neighbors for my period here.
The boy read the address and recognized it. “Oh, I know this address; one of my schoolmates lives there. I have a map around here; I can show you how to get there.”
Now it was my turn to be surprised by is helpfulness. “Wow, thank you very much. Let me just park the car and I’ll be right back to you. Oh before I forget, here.” I give double of the price. “For the punks who didn’t pay before.” I said with a wink.
“I-ah, thank you.” I guess he didn’t expect this.
Let’s start an adventure.
No POV
Outside of Jasper, Arcee was driving down the road in silence; once she spotted the small town she activated Sadie, her holoform rider, and drove into town where she was spotted by two violet cars that started following her. Arcee spotted them with her review mirror: “Twins.” She drove in a parking lot at K.O. drive in and parked next to a MINI car. She checked her mirrors and saw the cars drive on, having not seen her.
“Take five, Sadie.” She said deactivating her holoform, unfastening her kickstand and shutting off her engine. Not five seconds later two humans, a boy of 16 and a woman in her twenties with a map in her hand, exited from the restaurant.
“Was that helpful?” asked the boy.
“Very much, thanks again for the help.” Answered the woman in a friendly but slightly tired voice.
“You’re welcome ma’am.”
The woman snorted. “Drop the ma’am, kid; I’m probably only ten years your senior. My name is Marzia Melis.”
“Marzia?” The boy repeated but mispronounced.
The woman, Marta, shook her head. “No, Mar-zi-a, hard Z. I’m Italian.”
That explains the slight accent. Thought Arcee as she watched them.
The boy nodded and reached his hand. “Okay Marzia, I’m Jackson Darby, Jack for short.”
Marzia nodded back and shook jack’s hand. “Well Jack, thanks again. Have a nice day” She got on her MINI car and pull out of the parking lot.
Jack’s phone started to ring so he answered. “Hey, mom, I just got off.... No, I'm not going to the dance.... Experience suggests I should never cut a rug, unless I'm stowing carpet.... Be careful? Seriously? This is Jasper.” Jack got distracted when he spotted Arcee in front of him and fell in love.
“I love you.” Realizing what he said he corrected. “I love you too, mom, I got run.” And ended the call.
“Hello, beautiful. Where have you been all my life? Nice.” He praised what he thought was just a beautiful bike while running his hands down her seat and, lost in the moment, proceeding to climb on. “It may take a few K.O. paychecks, but I am gonna own a ride like you someday.”
“Are you talking to your motorcycle?”
Jack turned his head to spot two high school girls in uniform laughing at him. Jack tried to explain: “My motorcycle? No, I mean, yes, yes! It's mine, but I-I'm not talking It Was to you I-I am. How are things, Sierra? Take you for a spin sometime?” He asked in the end, referring to one of the girls.
“Come on smooth operator, wrap it up.” Whispered Arcee when she spotted the twins on her review mirrors.
“You know my name?” asked Sierra, the redhead girl, in surprise.
“We are in homeroom together. I am Jack, Jack Darby.” Jack responded, then suddenly all three teenagers were blinded by the twins headlights. “Scrap.” Cursed Arcee.
The twins tore toward the three making the girls ran away and forcing Arcee to drive out of the way with Jack still on her. Jack was screaming the all time while Arcee evaded the twins and started speeding down the road.
“Do not let go!”
“Who said that?” shouted Jack in fear; in his moment of terror he didn’t notice that he and Arcee drove in front of a particular MINI, whose driver has witnessed everything.
“Ma che diavolo…” Marzia said in disbelief.
The twins tried to crash Arcee between them, but she slowed down and got out of the way. While they recovered from the unexpected bump Arcee got ahead to the two Decepticons and drove off in the alley disappearing temporally from their sight.
“Commander Starscream, target sighted accompanied by a human youth.” The Cons reported.
“Destroy them both!” Answered Starscream.
Meanwhile Arcee stopped in the middle of the alley and allowed Jack to get off of her. “What are you?” Jack asked shakily.
“I don't exist. Tell anyone about me and I will hunt you down.” Arcee answered, making Jack run away, before driving off to distract the Cons. They caught up with her but suddenly one of them broke formation to chase after Jack. “Scrap.” She cursed before doing an incredible U-turn and jumping over the remaining Con to follow the one who drove away. Jack meanwhile was running down the alley when he spotted one of the cars driving toward him, knocking everything in his path.
“I don't even know her!” Jack yelled at the car.
Suddenly he saw Arcee driving beside him. “Hop on!” she yelled and Jack did so without question before they both raced back to the main road.
In that moment, Marzia spotted them again and decided to call the police, so she took the phone and dialed 911. It rang a couple of time before she heard a voice. “911, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a car chase involving two cars and a motorcycle. I think the two cars are after the biker.”
“Can you tell us more, ma’am? Where is this happening exactly?”
“They just bend right to the highway and… oh my god, they are shooting at the biker!” And in fact the cons had pull out their blasters and were shooting laser blasts at Arcee. “I think they’re trying to kill him. Please, hurry.”
“Don’t worry, ma’am. Help is on the way.” And they hang up.
“Why are those guys shooting at us?” Jack shouted when they entered the highway.
“There's no us kid, and they're no guys.” Answered Arcee.
From another lane Bumblebee arrived and started to bump the Cons, stopping them from reaching Arcee.
“Friend of yours?” Jack asked having witnessed the event.
“Family.” She answered without hesitation.
While Bumblebee was delaying them, the cons decided to counter-attack and bumped Bumblebee violently making him skid against the guardrail and nearly crush against Marzia’s car. “Whoa, attento!” Prima giornata e già casini; ma perché ho deciso di venire in America?
Meanwhile under the highway a young boy of twelve, named Raf Esquivel, was playing with his remote toy car making engine noises. His phone started ringing and he answered: “Hi, mama. Racing, right up the street. Okay, just five more minutes?” he finished the call and went back to racing; in that moment Arcee reached the end of the road, blocked by caution signs, and drove off and down the hill with Jack screaming in fear. “WHOA!”
Arcee was able to land safely and came to a stop, right in front of an awestricken Raf: “Whoa.”
Jack started panting from relief and got off Arcee. “You have no idea.”
Hearing an engine sound the two boys turned their heads to see familiar MINI car pulling over under the bridge. “Jack, are you ok?” asked Marzia coming out of the car.
“I’m not so sure, but what are you doing here?” Jack answered when she reacted him and started to check him over for any injuries.
“I don’t know myself.” She answered truthfully.
The three of them heard engine sounds and saw the two cars standing up the hill like predators ready to pounce. With a burst of speed they dashed down the slope and, in an incredible moment of moving parts, two purple robots stood in front of them with blasters on their arms. Another sound caught their attention and turned around to see that the motorcycle had transformed as well.
“This ends here, Cons.” Said Arcee with hatred in her voice.
Wanting to get out of the way Marzia grabbed the boys and started to pull them away. “Back. Get back!”
Arcee rushed against them and started to beat them furiously while the humans watched with mixed emotions.
“What are they?” Raf asked.
“Talking cars that turn into robots.” Jack answered still freaked out.
“Or the other way around.” Continued Marzia with a shaky voice.
Arcee started to hit one of the Vehicons with a series of punches. “This is for Cliff!”
The Vehicon recovered after a moment and started shooting at Arcee; she cartwheeled away but was eventually hit on the chest sending her flying back and skidding on the concrete. The three human watched in stunned horror before they noticed a car jumping down the bridge above them, transforming, landing on one Vehicon and punching the other. Bumblebee had joined the battle. He started boxing against them and while he took a couple of steps back a sudden crunching sound was heard: Bumblebee had accidentally stepped on Raf’s toy car. He made a beep that sounded like an apology toward the humans, but Raf reassured him: “No problem. Really.”
“Look out!” Shouted Marzia, but it was too late: Bumblebee got hit by the Cons and landed on his front. As he recovered the Cons pointed their loaded weapons at him and that’s when Raf shouted: “Leave him alone!” But that proved to be a mistake because it grabbed the Cons attention. Realizing his mistakes Raf started backing away while Marta and Jack surrounded him. “Please?” He asked timidly.
“Bad call.” Said Jack. The Cons shared a look and one of them stated walking menacingly toward them.
Marzia didn’t waist any time and stated to push the boys away. “Run!”
They all started to run down the road until they saw a water line big enough for them to get inside. “Come on! Keep moving!” Encouraged Jack as they got inside the main and kept running, but suddenly Marzia, who stayed on the rear to cover their backs, was grabbed by the Con who proceeded to pull her out. “Oh no!” Shouted Jack.
Marzia started to struggle in the Con’s grip trying to escape him. “Let me go!” she yelled in fear, but thankfully Bumblebee arrived, pulled the Con out of the pipe and beat him back making him let go of Marta who unfortunately landed badly on her ankle outside the opening. After pushing away the Con he looked down to Marzia before looking inside the pipe and beeping toward the boys.
“Thank you.” Raf told him. Marzia, still shaking from the terrifying experience, tried to get up but her ankle kept failing on her. Not good.
“Jack, you guys keep going. I can’t keep up with you now; my ankle hurts.”
“But…”
“Just go, I’ll slow you down. Get to safety!” She shouted at him.
“Don't look back.” She heard Jack from inside.
“What did we just see?” asked Raf still in disbelief.
“No idea, and I'm not sure I want to find out.” Answered Jack determined to leave that craziness behind but secretly worried for the woman who couldn’t follow them.
Meanwhile Marzia tried to stay out of the way by slowly walking away from the Cons and back to her car using the cement wall to stay up; with a bit of difficulty she reached it but didn’t get in. Bumblebee was still fighting one of the Cons when the other interfered and kicked Bumblebee back making him skid toward Arcee who proceeded to help him back up. The two partners were ready to start another fight when they heard a car horn behind them: it was Bulkhead. The big Autobot raced toward his mates and transformed landing behind them and getting in fighting stance. “Who's ready to rumble?” He challenged banging his fists.
The Cons realized they were outnumbered and decided to retreat but not before they turned their blasters to Marzia. The Bots weren’t fast enough to stop them and two shots got off; Marzia jumped out the way just in time, but her car got hit and exploded plus the shockwave made her fly a short distance and hit her head. Taking advantage of the distraction the Cons transformed and drove away.
Bumblebee went to check on her and Arcee and Bulkhead followed him
“Is she ok?” asked Bulkhead to the scout. Bumblebee didn’t answer but when he heard her groan in pain they all relaxed their stands.
Arcee turned to Bulkhead. “What took you?”
“Traffic.” He answered. Suddenly police sirens were heard in the distance. “Uh Guys? I think we need scram.” Said the big guys. Bumblebee started protesting pointing to the fallen woman.
“Bee, there’s nothing we can do; the police will take care of her. Let’s get back to base.” Arcee told him before she and Bulkhead transformed and drove off. Bumblebee hesitated a moment followed his comrades, knowing they were right.
Marzia was trying to stay awake but her eyes were getting more and more blurry; all she could make out was the retreating Camaro, the faint sound of sirens nearby and someone’s voice getting closer. “There’s smoke under the bridge. Call and ambulance! Ma’am, are you ok?” Marzia just groaned before loosing conscience.
After nightfall, Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead returned to the Autobot base Omega one where Arcee proceeded to give her report to Optimus about her encounter with the Cons. “And the Cons would have been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted by the human.”
That detail caught Optimus’ attention: “Human?”
Bumblebee beeped and he translated: “Two boys and a woman.”
“I guess a second one caught us in action and the woman followed, I don't know; I was a little busy at the time.” Arcee explained still a bit frustrated by the all ordeal, but Optimus took this new information very seriously. “If the Decepticons are targeting us anyone perceived as our ally, will be at grave risk.”
In other words, they needed to recover the human witnesses.
(The next day)
After her strange events the day before, Marzia was taken to the hospital for getting knocked out because of the head injury. The doctors checked her from top to bottom, but apart a huge bump and a non serious twisted ankle she was healthy as a fish, probably because she was unconscious the all time because of exhaustion combined with the bump. She woke up early in the morning where the doctors run a few last exams while the police came to talk with her; they wanted her deposition about the car chase she reported the evening before. At first she said nothing, still a bit shell shocked by the strange encounter, but then decided to tell a heavily censured version of what she saw: two criminals on rigged cars picked on a helpless boy on a motorcycle. The two policemen were a bit disappointed that she couldn’t, wouldn’t, tell them more but they agreed it was probably because of the head injury and left it at that.
It was around midday when Marzia was finally discharged from the hospital; as she exited the building she was accompanied by a nurse and the two policemen.
“Thank you for your information, ma’am. We’ll look into it as soon as we can. Are you sure you’ll be ok?” One of the policemen asked her.
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help.” She answered a bit guilty.
“It’s not your fault ma’am, you did get hit pretty hard; but if you don’t mind we would like to keep in contact with you for more information.”
“Well, alright; but for a couple of days I would rather rest, if you don’t mind.” She answered clutching her crutches.
“Of course.” He answered with a slight smile.
“Well, have a good day.”
“You too, ma’am.” With that the policemen got in their car and left.
As soon as the police car was far enough Marzia let out a long sigh and relaxed her stiff shoulders. She fixed her hold on her crutches and turned to the nurse that was still beside her.
“I just called a cab to get you to your habitation. Better to not put pressure on that ankle.”
“Thanks you so much, ma’am.” Marzia said when she saw the cab pull over in front of them.
“You’re welcome, dear. I’ll see you in a couple of days to change your bandages; till then just follow these instructions.” The nurse, whose nametag read June Darby, reminded her while helping her get on the cab.
“I will. See you soon.”
With that, the cab drove away from the hospital. Marzia gave the driver the address and in less then 10 minutes she was in a nice suburban neighborhood in front of a nice yet humble two-story house. During the drive Marzia couldn’t stop thinking about those robots; it was obvious that whatever they were they weren’t from Earth. Marta wasn’t a big fan of sci-fi but she did believed in life in space.
The driver exited the cab to help her out and grab her luggage that miraculously survived the car explosion; after thanking the driver and giving him a generous pay she limped to the door and, following the instructions given to her by her new neighbor, Miss Esquivel, found the key to open it. She entered and looked at the foreign yet familiar interiors of her new house and after a minute decided to relax on an armchair in the living room. She tried to relax, but her mind kept on reliving the events of the day before so, feeling the start of a headache, she decided to listen to some music to relax; she got her music player and scrolled her playlists for a moment before settling on ‘empowering’ and clicked play: the voice of Christopher’s Leap of Faith started at half song:
If you're prayin' for a change
You better not wait
Keep turnin' the pages
There's choices you make
Only once in your life
Once in your life
Next, Laura Story’s Hello Unknown:
I am letting go
Of everything I’ve known
Farewell predictable
No more playing it safe
I’ll free fall into faith
I’ll say goodbye control
Hello unknown
Next, Michael Bolton’s Go the Distance:
I'll be there someday, I can go the distance
I will find my way if I can be strong
I know every mile, will be worth my while
When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong
Okay, once a coincidence, twice is strange, but thrice? Marzia wasn’t superstitious, but even her could recognize when someone was telling her something. I need some air. And with that she gathered her purse, house keys, sunglasses and crouches and she was out the door for a much needed walk.
(Meanwhile)
A ringing bell signaled the end of lessons at Jasper’s high school and the students exited the building. Jack was walking down the stairs to his bike when he spotted Raf signaling him from under a tree and calmly walked to him. “Raf, hey. Look let’s just keep this between us and forget anything ever happened, okay?” he asked with an almost desperate hope.
Raf was about to respond when he spotted someone familiar. “Jack, look. It’s the lady from yesterday.” And it was indeed Marzia who was walking down the sidewalk until she heard Raf’s voice; having recognized the two boys from the day before she walked up to them. “Oh hello Jack. How are you?” She asked the teenager after smiling at Raf.
“I’m fine, what about you? We were worried for you yesterday, and by we I mean me and Raf here.” He answered pointing to himself and Raf beside him who smiled at her before introducing himself. “Hey, I’m Rafael Esquivel.”
“Marzia Melis. You’re not hurt, are you?” She asked in concern.
“I’m fine, thanks.”
“Good.” She sighed in relief before she thought of something. “Do you by any chance live a couple blocks that way?”
Raf frowned in confusion. “Yeah, I do, but how do you know?”
Jack answered for Marzia: “She’s your new neighbor.”
Raf was surprised. “Seriously?”
“Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that.” She answered him with a sheepish smile. “I didn’t move here permanently, I just took residence for only a year. Think of it as a temporary rent.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jack asked having spotted the crutches in her hands. “We didn’t see you at all after the, well…”
“I was taken to the hospital after hitting my head on the asphalt and the police wanted to talk to me.” She answered after making sure no one was around.
“Why is that?” asked Raf in confusion.
Marzia rubbed her back with a sheepish expression. “I may have called them about the car chase yesterday.”
“What? Why?” Jack asked in shocked confusion, wondering what could have pushed the woman in front of him to do such a thing. Marzia looked at him like he just grew a second head.
“Why?” What kind of question is that? I thought those guys were out to kill you.” She answered in slight outrage.
Raf got in between them and asked in shy apprehension: “Did you tell them about the robots?”
Marzia looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “And be sent to an asylum? Of course not! I just told them a heavily censured version of what I saw: a nameless boy on a motorcycle who got involved in a car chase with armed guys by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“You didn’t give any names?” Jack asked still a bit apprehensive.
Marzia turned to him and shook her head. “I didn’t want you to get more involved.” And Jack nodded in relief.
Suddenly Raf gasped and grabbed Jack’s arm while looking at the road. “Guys.” The two turned their head and saw a familiar yellow Camaro driving down the road. “Oh, not again.” The said in a scared manner while Marzia clutched her crutch tighter.
The car stopped right next to them and slid its passenger door open revealing the interior with an empty driver seat.
“Get in, son. - The boss calls you in his office. - You better come with us, lady.”
“He uses the radio to speak?” Said Marzia in disbelief.
“Ding-ding. We got a winner!” The car answered.
“So, he wants us to get in.” Jack said.
Raf shook his head. “I think he means just me and miss Marzia.” Both Marta and Jack looked at Raf in confusion.
“How do you know that?” Jack wondered and the radio turned on again.
“My colleague will be right with you. – She’ll take care of everything.”
“Your colleague?” Asked Jack.
“I believe he means her.” Raf said pointing down the street and there sat the blue motorcycle.
Marzia was surprised. “And why did it asked for me as well?”
“I’m really sorry about yesterday. – I feel responsible for involving you. – Let me repay you.”
Marzia looked at the car with an uncertain look on her face, but decided to go along and hopefully get answers to her questions. “Very well, but I’ll stay behind the wheel; we’ll attract less attention if people actually see someone driving.”
Jack was still eyeing the motorcycle with clear distrust. “I really don't think it…”
“How is it going?”
“Seatbelt on, Raf.”
“Raf?” looked back at his friend and saw him and Marzia climb on the car, which promptly shut the doors and drove away leaving Jack behind. “Wait! Stop!” he called in vain, they couldn’t hear him now; he turned to the motorcycle and walked away, refusing to get involved.
Meanwhile the motorcycle found itself being the center of attention of an Asian girl named Mikado Nakadai, Miko for short; the girl was enthusiastically drawing the bike in front of her in a sketchbook. “Coolest, bike, ever.” A ringtone attracted her attention and took out her phone. “Host parents?” she read, “Ignore.” and promptly shut the call returning to her drawing, but when she lifted her head the bike was gone. She groaned and looked around, finally she spotted the bike going around the corner.
Back to Jack, he was walking down an alleyway when the bike drove in front of him. “Relax; I just wanna talk to you.” Said a familiar voice.
“Don't you mean you and your new friend?” Jack asked her referring to the rider.
“Kid, there's a lot you don't understand.” She answered deactivating the hologram.
Jack wasn’t willing to listen though: “No, I get it, I get it. The first rule of robot fight club is you don't talk about robot fight club. What you need to understand is that I don't want a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!” he said while trying to get away from her, not noticing she had transformed; he turned and she was kneeling, determined to get Jack to listen.
“Look, Jack, is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence.”
Jack was confused: “Optimus who?”
“You may be in danger because you are one of the few one of the only who has ever seen us.” She answered in a very serious manner.
“Dude, what are you waiting for?” they both turned to the corner where they saw Miko with a wide grin on her face. “Go with!”
Arcee was not amused: “Scrap.”
But she had no choice, so she made both kids climb on her vehicle form and drove away to catch up with Bumblebee and his passengers. Miko was whooping from behind Jack, which he found quite annoying. “And why exactly are we taking her?”
“Rules.” Arcee simply answered.
The two vehicles kept driving down the road until the arrived at a crossroad, but instead of turning left or right they kept going straight, out of the road and toward a rock mountain. After a moment of fright, because the humans thought they were about to crash, the rock wall moved aside showing a hidden tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, the vehicles slowed down and cruised into a huge room. “A missile silo.” Realized Marzia who then spotted the two robots standing in the room.
“I thought they were three.” Said Ratchet.
“Haven't you heard? Humans multiply.” Arcee responded with a mix of exasperation and sarcasm.
Marzia noticed the girl. “Who is she?” she asked Jack.
“Classmate. She spotted her talking to me.” Jack answered pointing to Arcee.
Raf waved at the Autobots. “I am Raf.”
Miko ran toward Bulkhead. “I am Miko. Who are you?” she asked in excitement.
“Bulkhead.” He answered.
“Are you a car? I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever used a wrecking ball for a punching bag?” Miko bombarded him with questions while Bulkhead was at loss of words.
“So if you guys are robots, who made you?” Asked Raf in his innocence.
Ratchet scoffed at the question, slightly offended. “Oh, please.”
Loud footsteps were heard from behind the humans, so they turned around to face the tallest of the Autobots, Optimus Prime. “We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots.”
Marzia was awestruck and intimidated by him, but picked up the courage to ask: “Why are you here?”
“To protect your planet, from the Decepticons.” He answered with a slight sharpness in the last word.
Arcee intervened: “The jokers who tried to bump us off last night?”
Jack then asked: “Okay. Why are they here?”
Optimus lowered himself to their eye-level. “A fair question, Jack. In part they are here because our planet is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of civil war.”
“Why were you fighting a war?” Asked Raf confused.
“For most, over control of our world supply of energon, the fuel and life-blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning I fought alongside one who I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way.”
Miko yawned in boredom. “Is there going to be a quiz?” Marzia sent her an annoyed glare as to say ‘Have some respect.’
Jack ignored Miko. “So what is Megatron or any of these have to do with us?” he asked in slight uneasiness.
“Megatron has not been seen or heard from in sometime. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be a catastrophic.” Optimus tone held not a threat, but a promise.
Meanwhile on the Nemesis, Starscream was on the bridge when Soundwave approached him with a notification. It was a transmission and it was urgent.
“Those transmissions are emanating from deep space. I would hate to waste the energon unless you are absolutely certain.” He asked Soundwave who nodded in affirmation. Starscream sighed. “Then lock on transmission coordinates and activate the spacebridge.”
In space a huge metal ring flared up with a green vortex from a gray aircraft came out. It transformed and revealed himself to be Megatron. “Decepticons! I have returned.”