After Earth: Picking up the Pieces

It was his job to be out at this time, was it not? And he had wanted it, oh so long ago.

He received little pay for the intensity of the work he did, and he had a family to feed.

Tell that to the high council, and they’ll laugh so hard they might collapse and die.

A grim smile flickered across his scarred face for a moment, at a memory shoved aside.

It was the only way he managed to get his twins into school! Peanuts earned at work would never help.

He shook his head. He was paid peanuts then, and now no one can even afford that. He was earning next to nothing, for risking his life, everyday.

No, being a police officer had not been the job he’d hoped it to be as a boy, young and innocent. It wasn’t his fault entirely. He never expected Tyralane to come along and grant him the gift of children, did he?

An icy shriek split through the air and he glanced up, his hand slipping to his side and clutching his laser gun. His optics narrowed but he carried on his walk. His patrol.

He risked a glance at his com - link, a handy little device he actually DIDN’T have to pay for. Predacon and Maximal signatures glowed vibrantly across the little screen.

There were a few, but they were mainly in there homes at this time of night. With three exceptions. And it was exceptions he had to watch out for. He let out a low sigh and ducked into the shadows. Silently he crept along the sidewalk, the clang of his metal feet stopped by special pads enabling him to move quietly. No use giving away a much needed element in these street wars. Surprise.

Another shriek followed by a strangled gasp whipped the silence and he froze at the sound. Screams were not uncommon at night. It was the best time for murders, and he had witnessed enough of them to identify which screams came with. And this one fitted nicely. Three signatures. One was alone; two corners down and was moving in a circular motion. Just going round and round.

He ignored the lone Predacon signature for the moment and analysed the position of the other two.

He was touched with mild surprise to see that one was a Predacon and the other a Maximal, and they were almost on top of each other. Of course there were Predacon and Maximal friends, couples and work partners. The Great War was over and some had learned to live with each other. Some.

So that was probably why he was filled with that mild surprise. If the shrieks he heard came from them, then they obviously weren’t on good terms with each other.

And if one was attacking the other, he would imagine it to be the Predacon. They were of a more aggressive nature. They were also at an unrest after the golden disk had been stolen and the Predacons put to blame.

It was times like this he wished he had built in heaters. Some had them. Lucky bastards. Unfair really, how some had faired better in the war, whilst others received the full shock, and after shock, mind you.

He crept closer to the nearing street corner and pulled his gun out fully, his fingers twitching around the trigger. Almost there, a little further, just a tad bit further…

He was almost around the corner when a crazed wail shrieked through the air like a siren. He spun around, weapon ready, numbly aware he had turned away from the other two and that the wail may very well lure them out, or chase them away. But he had to watch his back, no matter where it be facing.

Oh how the wind tempts fate! Carrying your smell so elegantly through its stream of air and brushing flirtatiously over and under the nose of another. Be he good or evil.

He knew it before it happened, but still he tried to stop it. Fate. But no man has power over fate. No one can tame its restless ways and nor could he.

The wild, stoned Predacon came wheeling into the streets, wailing insanely. Then he caught site of the bot in the distance. Himself. For a split second he stared dumbly, as if wondering what he was. But the insane bot returned to his loud howling for a moment before screaming wildly and pulling out his hidden gun, and firing.

The room glowed with a gentle, yellow light and looked cosy and inviting. All the better. It was where she’d be staying for the night.

Silver couches lines the wall to her left and in front of them both was a TV, sitting on a little table. Beside the second couch was a large window allowing the sweet, silver moonlight to seep in with the stars. Little lamp – lights hung on the walls and there were a few pictures of lovely, exotic places dotted around the room. To her right was a nicely sized kitchen with a bar – like setup. Behind the long table lined with stools were many cabinets and behind those, the rest of the kitchen, painted in a tasteful white, lined with dark green. Straight ahead was an open door revealing a short hallway, which had at the end, another open door. Through this door, she could see a bedroom, and a door to the right of the bedroom. The door meant there was another room. His office, she presumed. The grey, shiny floor was well cleaned, as was everything else. But she could see that it had been cleaned recently, by the still visible drying soapy marks on the walls. She dropped her bag lightly onto the floor and placed her hands on her hips.

“Yep, Tour. Got it at a good price too. I can always stir up a good deal when I see one.”

“Hmm. Well, thanks for letting me stay here for the night. Dinobot’s place it a bit small for all of us. Toby, Hyra and I. Someone had to move out, and of course it would be me. Not that I mind, I’m going to rent an apartment soon anyway.” She sighed

“Aw, ya don’t have to rent an apartment! That’s expensive! You can stay here, if you’d like. Free of charge, uh…seeing as you’re a friend of Chopper face.” He quickly added.

She moved further in and he closed the door and locked it. He’d already been robbed once, no way was he allowing for a second time.

He was a fool ever to let her leave in such a state. He had pushed her too far, and he knew full well of the possible consequences that lurked beneath the shadows of the hostile night outside. Here, in his own home, surrounded by the gentle lights of his lounge all seemed calm.

On top of everything, he had also had to face up to the fact that someone had attacked a female trainee in the change rooms, and the fem had only narrowly escaped with minor injuries.

But if there were attacks happening in his own centre by day, then forget what the world was like outside by night.

He had called all her friends, all her work mates and Cheetor, but none had heard or seen anything of her.

Behind him, he could hear the gentle snoring of Hyra, who was spewed across one of the couches. The trio were to stay here for the two months they participated in war – training. Tourmaline had moved out somewhere when she found it to be getting too cramped sleeping on the floor next to Toby…

He strained his memory to try and recall anything the youngster had said that would suggest possible reasons for his absence, but he found none.

She let out another squeal, shortly followed by a sigh of relief when she realised who it was.

“Sir Dinobot, I apologise! I thought you were…I mean, with all the unrest and all…Matrix, you gave me a fright!” She exclaimed, a little breathless from her outburst.

“Sorry to disturb you, but I need to know where Toby is.” He said, getting to the point.

“Ah! I was talking to some other bot, Galtrex or I think it was, and he came up beside me with a string of sausages for his beast mode. It was after I’d heard the scream and I left shortly after he arrived. I was going to investigate, but I think I just told him I was off to the bathroom to get changed. I didn’t want to get him into a high with screams and all, he loves murder mysteries and I KNOW he’d jump to conclusions-”

Dinobot stood up to his full height abruptly cutting her off with the movement, seeing as he’d been leaning to hear what she had to say.

“I have yet to speak to Galtrex, I assume, or rather hope that I will get some more information on Toby’s absence from him. It is possible Toby went after her and is with her now.” Dinobot said, more to himself.

“Could be, though he’s more likely out at a night club jammin’ away with some sexy fem. ‘Be more like him.” She sighed.

Hyra knew of what had happened between him and Diamond, and that she had gone off missing. And that was why she knew that she could not and would not be able to go back to sleep, leaving him to worry like that.

“Tell you what, you keep calling guys and I’ll go look for her. I have a pretty good idea where girls like to go when they’re sulky. It’s a female thing. If you get any news, call me on my COM, and if you don’t, telephone the police, if you really have to.” She said with a faint smile.

“Dangerous my foot. Mister, you should see where I come from, where I’ve worked then you’ll know what dangerous is. Besides, I know a few fighting moves if I do get into slag, so don’t worry. I’m a detective; it’s my job to solve mysteries. And while I’m at it, I’ll look for tall dark and handsome as well.”

But his decision was made when he heard the silent beep of the cyber clock, marking that another hour had gone by, and that another had started.

The telephone’s ring shrieked through the air and a moment later, he hit the floor.

The darkness enveloped him and was a reminder that he’d have to battle through it, tripping over obstacles like chairs and tables before her could reach the door. Then there was still the task of finding the light switch, fumbling through the passage -way into the lounge to pick up the dang telephone, only to find that it had stopped ringing.

Rattrap rubbed his head as he rose up and leant against his bed, groggy and annoyed. Tourmaline was sleeping on the couch in the lounge, (she’d insisted she’d stay there and not swap places with him) meaning she’d already been woken by the noise. And he wanted her to stay with him for the next two months! This first night had only been hectic. ‘She’s probably already thinking of rental companies to call.’

He fumbled through his room, a silent suspense building up inside of him, whether or not he would trip. He could feel papers crunching below his feet, posters being ripped off the walls as he brushed past and the beep of his alarm clock which had been tossed across the room yesterday, being silenced with another crunch.

Suddenly, his knees met abruptly with something cold and he found himself being flung forward, toppling over what he suspected was a chair and hitting his head hard against the wall. The chair was caught in his feet and had dragged other anonymous objects with it. For a moment, he could only see tiny little lights dancing around his head and before they disappeared and he was accompanied with a splitting headache.

The door slid open to his right, letting the eerie moonlight seep in like mist from the hallway. He shivered.

After freeing himself from the chair, he slipped through the passage –way quickly, into the lounge, towards the counter and grabbed the phone forcefully, as if it would jump out and bite him at any moment.

“Chopper face! YOU almost KILLED ME!” What d’ya want at this time a night?”

He could make out a muffled moan from behind and he turned, phone kept to his ear to see Tourmaline sitting up, watching him with tired, but curious eyes.

“What’d ya say this time? Eh? She land with her left foot, drop her sword and you screamed at her? Or has she just disappeared on a moody, teenage sulk. Knowing you, it be more likely she’s gone with option one.”

“Shut up vermin, it is not of your concern. I take it you have not seen her.”

“If she’s there and you’re not telling me I will personally come over and ring your fury little-”

“It aint her! It’s Tourmaline, she’s staying over for the night,” he muttered.

“Mice are generally very social, so just try to tame any animal instincts. For now, if you see my daughter, I highly recommend that you contact me. Good bye, vermin.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” but he was cut off when the phone beeped with ‘message over’ followed by the hum of a dialing tone.

“Nothing, no reason. Just that he’d tease and torture the lights out of me, which is my job actually.”

“Whatever. You weirdo.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek and slid back onto the couch, and whilst doing so, pulled out the cable attached to the phone.

“OH PRIMUS! Give me strength! Look ‘all bolts and no screws’, I don’t do holidays. You know why? Because…they’re HOLIDAYS! Given to the public as a break so that we don’t die of stress overload! I’ve worked my butt off and this holiday is the only light at the end of looooong tunnel! And YOU are NOT gonna take that away from me. Nuh uh!”

Cheetor switched off the arguing bots on some comedy and the Television’s picture shrunk to a tiny square before disappearing altogether.

Dinobot had hardly told him anything, except the fact that she had disappeared and that he was to call him should she come to his place.

In his shock, he fell down, rolled to the side and hid behind his couch, in a reflexive move that he knew all too well. The Beast Wars had left its mark.

There was silence outside and slowly; he moved his head up and peered over the couch to see the opposite window.

Quietly, he crawled across the living room, to the hallway entrance and he slipped through the door to his left. Once inside his office, he stood and pressed a button hidden behind a poster on the wall to his right.

The cabinet in front of him opened up and he sprung forward and grabbed the laser gun now displayed openly.

He felt a mixture of fear and somewhat eager anticipation as well as horror and worry.

He wasn’t sure what exactly was compelling him to go outside, and not remain in the safety of his home.

A gush of cold air greeted him and an empty street ahead held nothing but the echoes of running footsteps.

His beast heart was beating rapidly with expectation and his mind whirled with ideas, both frightening and disturbing.

On his desk was a device designed to detect alien ships leaving its planet from as far as 1000 light years away.

It was a break through in detection technology, and an important gain on some of the aliens. Optimus understood that, but what he didn’t catch onto was how to install, re-install and tune it in. Yes, the procedures for these things were tricky and it did take time to learn, but after explaining it several times in less than an hour…well.

“Tell you what, Optimus. Here is the manual I’ve made. Read it in your own time, at your own pace. Soon, this little device will be attached to all scout ships, and then onto war ships. It’s important we can see in advance when the aliens decide to attack. We’ve already had a war with the Gitrix and our planet is in no condition to be fighting in another one.” Rhinox cautioned.

He was no scientist, that was for sure, but he understood the importance of technology.

He studied it for less than ten seconds when something clicked and sounded off an alarm in his head.

“It’s all coming together now. Yes. I see. Sorry it took so long to catch on my friend, but after staying awake for a week in a crammed little ship, you tend to feel a bit exhausted and your concentration level is low.”

But as the door swung open, the scientist caught a glimpse of the long queue stretching behind it.

And with this group there were bound to be more Optimus’ who would stay behind for extra explaining, and hold up the next group.

Rhinox stood, activated the holographic image of the device and opened his mouth to speak.

But he stopped when he heard a strange noise escaping from the squashed group in front of him.

“Would someone please wake the snoring ‘bot in the corner. We have to begin our session before I lose anymore of you.”

Thrown carelessly out of the windows above into the narrow little gap between the towering grey monsters.

She had only taken notice when half of the glass and metal was sticking in her, severing and slicing her body. And on top of that, she had made contact with a concrete wall at a mind numbing speed.

But all these thoughts passed through her mind in a second, and she hardly acknowledged that she had thought them. Once again, she opened her eyes, but this time, she couldn’t see.

All she could make out was a thick, silvery grey oozing over her. With a whimper, she raised the back of her hand and wiped her optics.

She could see again, though her vision was blurred by the ever- present smear of mech fluid, sliding down her forehead into her eyes. Pain spiked throughout her body and certain parts felt as if they were on fire.

Then the shadow approached, the tell tale white eyes burning in a haunting swirl.

It towered over her and with new- found energy, she scrambled backwards, glass and metal jabbing into her. She backed up into the corner and lay helplessly on top of the large pile of rubble. Her mind rang with de ja vu and the shadow became a dark cloud of impending doom. Her heart pounded and she felt as if her throat would explode from all the suppressed screams. And they were suppressed since he had ripped out her voice box.

Her eyes never left his and for what felt like eternity, he just watched her writhe in agony. He was about to move forward when a shot rang out in the distance. His smile faded and he looked to his left towards the alleyway entrance. The shot was close. He remained dead still, his breathing seized and he remained silent in his position. Then, in graceful, silent movement, he transformed into the dark grey wolf. With a low growl, he slunk away from her to the entrance and again froze, sniffing the air. Then he slipped around the corner, out of sight.

His wolf nose twitched at the sudden overpowering stench of blood and almost beneath him, lay a corpse. A dead police officer with gun wounds to the head and chest.

A high-pitched wail in the distance made him look up and he could make out a shadow, staggering behind a building.

He was lying in a pool of his own blood and almost floating in that blood, was a small pistol. He prodded it a bit, then sniggered. Insignificant piece of junk! If they thought they were going to bring him down with a toy like that, they were even dumber than he thought.

There had been no more shots after he had left, and a glint of hope, that help in the form of an impending ambush had arrived, flickered in her heart.

Then, like a ghost from hell, he slipped back around the corner and trotted towards here, his eyes still a haunting white, burning into hers. He stopped in front of her, transformed back and wore a smug smile.

There was obviously, on his side of the story, nothing to worry about. And she could see that by the fresh mech fluid sliding off his fingers.

“Broken though, no use to anyone in this condition. Might as well feed it to the dogs.” He mused darkly.

Her fist came flying forward and her body moved down onto the pile once her supporting left arm had taken off.

Her other hand threw the broken bits in his face and she scrambled forward, only to come to the grim realisation, that he had torn her limbs to shreds.

She collapsed onto her chest and slid off the pile and onto the hard, cold floor.

All she could see was a blur of dark colours and all she could feel was a soft wind cooling her down. She felt as if she was floating yet spinning through a wormhole at the same time. There was no sound, nor taste. Just the gentle wind.

A white light danced like a firefly miles ahead of her, at the end of a dark tunnel that zoomed past her, as if she were on a train. It gradually became brighter and flew closer and closer, spiraling and spinning daintily.

She was numbly aware of the impact as her world went blank for a moment, concussion she suspected in another dimension. For the moment, she was apart from reality. She opened her eyes again and the swirl of colours was gone. The white firefly stopped and hovered in front of her. She smiled and an inner peace settled inside of her. It buzzed without a sound and calmed her, fascinated her. She gently held up her hand with the desire to touch it, to hold it.

The two flies flattened and oozed as if they’d been squashed and sadness prickled at the back of her eyes. Who had killed them?

The squashed little blobs morphed and warped and slowly became to squares, with a burning core in the middle.

She screamed soundlessly and her throat burned intensely and she felt her circuits melt and meld away. The shadow appeared, surrounding those eyes and a voice wafted around her.

The music thumped loudly through the night air, and disturbed and unbalanced everything. It was a world she’d grown up in, her father a raging lunatic forever playing loud music and upsetting everyone. But then again, it wasn’t unusual. She most certainly wasn’t the only one.

She eventually grew immune to the loud parties, and slept through almost everything. She was certain, however, that the music had done permanent damage to her ears.

So she wasn’t surprised at the boiling emotions inside of her when she saw a young fem being thrown outside of the house in which the music was playing at a ridiculous volume. She was crying, sobbing more so, and the large, male bot virtually chucked her out, swore at her and told her to buzz off and that she was a nuisance. But the girl was not taking this lightly and was furious, you could see. She screamed back at him and he slammed the door in her face. It didn’t stop her. She carried on until she finally collapsed in exhaustion and exasperation.

She sat, weeping at her life on the cold, dank steps outside the small house. Hyra shook her head. She would have loved to help, for she knew her pain oh so well. And she had never quite forced it out of her mind, but left it there as a constant reminder, that cruelty raged on through the ages. But right now, she had more important things to do.

With a sigh, she turned away from the girl and headed off down the street. She’d checked the war -training centre, she’d checked the pubs, and she checked the popular club- houses and the peaceful spots around the area. But Diamond wasn’t there, and neither was Toby. Dinobot had since phoned, giving her the last position of the male bot, and it had hardly helped. Where could he have disappeared to? He didn’t even know this town. She sighed again and rubbed her head.

“Ok, maybe I should draw a map. It always seems to help.” She muttered and sat down on the pavement, took out an energon cube from her pocket and began scratching down a map on the cement.

“Let’s start from home. We had just solved the mystery in which Tour was a …, um, never mind. Then we all departed. Then a few days later, after we heard of the murder in Relentrax, we were sent here. We arrived, practiced and the first few nights, Tour and Tobes stayed with me at Diamond’s. Then there was that practice session when I heard a scream – where was Toby?” She scratched her head.

“He wasn’t there, out getting sausages I think. He arrived like five cycles after the scream and I told him I was off to the bathroom to get changed. When I was really checking out the scream. While I was away, Galtrex said that he went to put the sausages away after saying he wasn’t hungry anymore. Then he disappeared. He never returned. Where the slag did you go, Tobes?”

She stopped scribbling and examined the map. Tourmaline had been talking to Rattrap, and then got talking with some other bot. And she had been contacted again, and held no information.

Wait, Toby disappeared after the scream. I remember his session was after the duels, which he never attended. Why? Diamond disappeared shortly afterwards, and we’ve heard from neither since.”

With a sigh, she stood and left her map and concentrated on where else Diamond could have gone. She had studied the map hard, but had found no links to the answer.

He never wanted this job, being a prison guard, but he had to earn a living one way or another. He shivered; it was cold and draughty in the desolate prison hallways, lined with tightly sealed doors. He couldn’t, and never wanted to imagine what it was like for the prisoners. Only some shared a cell. Most were in a single, tiny cell, with no windows; no lights and virtually no contact with anyone except the energon rations shoved through a transportation warp. It was enough to drive the sane insane, and come to think of it, the already insane…

He’d been standing, gun in hand, guarding the cells on this level for hours. There were automatic guards, but the high council believed that having a real guard, guarding manually was good in case something went wrong with the power lines to the auto-guns. And that had happened before. He, thankfully, hadn’t been there at the time of the escape of three prisoners, two stellar cycles ago. All he knew was that some how, the lines had been cut, and the prisoners escaped into the hallways, killed a guard and used his gun against everyone else. And they were professional fighters, so there was a mass slaughter between the guards and the criminals. However, only one escaped, the other two perished eventually. Three guards and two criminals were killed in a matter of cycles. The security handled them pretty quickly, and was extremely tight and strict to begin with, but the point was, one did escape. And they never found him.

So, he wasn’t surprised at the shivers that went trembling through him at the thought of meeting one of these…assassins or bloodthirsty killers. He for one would never be able to tackle one down. So it was pointless really, keeping him on guard.

With a quivering sigh, he slid down and sat, tired and bored. Nothing ever happened, the walls were sound proof. He had in fact never seen most of the prisoners he was guarding. And in a way, that made it more frightening.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She fiddled clumsily with the explosive device in her hands.

It wasn’t entirely her fault; she had two factors influencing her goofy handling.

One, she was doing it in pitch dark, two, she was nervous.

Very nervous.

Minutes from now, she could be dead, or, she could be free.

It all depended on luck, something she had had years ago, and abruptly lost one night. And that was why she was here.

She had never forgiven herself for that simple blunder.

She had tripped; it was as simple as that.

Running from the police, streaks ahead of the rest but then that metal bar, her foot…

It had all happened so fast, after she had attempted to blow up a small shop on the corner of a street, following orders from her leader, Silver Axe. It was late at night, there was no one around and she and her small group of five were rigging the bomb when suddenly the police came. They all fled except for one, the traitor. She stayed behind and cut the bomb in one snip, ruining hours of planning and hard work. It was she who had called the police, left the metal bar, got her into prison…

She was an undercover detective who had slipped into their gang unnoticed, and had fooled them all.

And if she did make it alive out of this hell -hole, it was that traitor she would kill first. Then perhaps, Silver Axe, who had after all got her into this mess.

But for now, here she was, inside a puny prison cell, experiencing a sickening sense of de ja vu as she once again tried to rig a bomb to the door.

A bomb which had been somehow smuggled in with their energon rations, from an outside force.

She fumbled around, her mind a whir of memories and future plans, unaware of the glowing red eyes behind her.

“Are you almost finished?”

She gasped and put her hand to her throat in an accustomed reaction.

She spun around to face the speaker, the only speaker. She only shared her cell with one. Megatron blinked slowly, eyes full of impatience.

“Yes, just a little bit more…I think…yes. That should do the trick,” she whispered, attaching the final wire.

“Good. Now when is it rigged to detonate?” he asked calmly, yet somewhat menacingly.

“In four cycles.”

“You know the plan?”

“Yes, kill the guard, blast the others out and take the fire exit, where back-up will be situated,” she answered, rising to her feet.

“Correct, and Phoenix, don’t mess up.”

“Promise.”

He stepped back, to the far corner of the cell, and she joined him in getting as far away from the bomb as possible, so as to receive minimum damage.

But in the minutes before the explosion, she found herself compelled to ask a question she had wondered on for the past seven megacycles.

“Megatron, if I may ask, how did-or, who gave you the bomb? Who smuggled it in?”

There was a silence, but she was sure she heard him chuckle.

“Ah yes, the burning question; how? Well my dear Phoenix, I had outside help of the avenging kind.”

She narrowed her optics in confusion.

“Avenging…kind?”

“Two stellar cycles ago, three prisoners escaped their cells, but only one made it out alive. He was never caught, and just as well for us. He was a cold-blooded killer by the name Switchblade and was famous for preying on the weak an unawares. He must have killed twenty odd bots before his capture; I can’t imagine how may he has killed now. But he was a clever one, forever hiding his identity. He was charming, kind and understanding, or at least acted it. He fooled people into thinking he was all of these things, and thus ended up having victims generously hosting him until he became…how should I put it…fed up with them. He killed them, then moved on.”

She watched him closely, fascinated with what he was telling her, interested and somewhat excited, and perhaps, a little frightened.

“Go on, please.”

He chuckled softly at her pleading tone before continuing.

“But now, he seeks revenge on the prison that caused him havoc for four stellar cycles of his life. And his plan of revenge was quite simply, to succeed in releasing favourites of his. And it just so happens Switchblade and I were good friends. I have been here sixteen years and four of those years I shared a cell with him, when the prison, I imagine, was particularly full. As to how he smuggled in the bomb, I still don’t know, all I do know is that the signature and logo engraved on the bomb, is his, and that he his giving us another chance at freedom.”

Phoenix remained still in a stunned silence as she absorbed the information.

But another question hit her, and she was forced to speak up.

“And once we break out, escape the danger zone, what becomes of us?”

He smiled darkly.

“You, and those selected will remain with me, we will join forces with Switchblade and together, get our own back on past enemies. I’m sure you have a few in mind.”

Her face twisted into that of a killer, her innocent and curious eyes shifting in to stone cold blocks.

“Oh yes, I do.”

“Then it’s settled then.”

“Indeed.” She whispered.

It was then she heard the gentle beep before the deafening explosion.

‘Oh graceful Paladin of the king of fire, will thou not spare a moment of thy precious time, on a lowly peasant of ice? For in truth, does it really matter what we are or whom we serve, than to the simple compassion in our hearts? Surely, a flame of such high esteem and rank of intelligence will fathom my simple message? Or perhaps, it is not so simple. Perhaps you are so withdrawn from the real world that it is too much for you to envisage? If I am mistaken, forgive me, for despite any unproved suspicions, you continue to enthral me with your glamour and majestic ways. Perhaps I am asking too much for you to spare time for me and my altogether paltry existence.’

Dinobot slapped the book down onto the table. It was a load of slag and was hardly doing anything to keep his mind off things. He looked out the window at the sound of footsteps, a tiny gleam of hope flickering inside. But it was only a passing ‘bot and that hope quickly sputtered and died out.

No, there was no use in waiting when he too could join the search. But someone had to stay at the house, in case she returns. But who?

If she did return and he was not here, would she leave or stay. Primus, he didn’t know how her mind worked and how’d she respond to anything. At least, not in her state of mind. With a sigh, he made the decision to contact Kyla again, and ask if she would come over. He knew she had a brother that would was also friendly with Diamond, so if she did make up her mind to visit Kyla, her brother would be there to tell her where she is, and contact him. But for now, it was best a close friend stay at the house. Perhaps he was not the first sight she’d want to see when she walked in. IF she walked in.

A few cycles later he had contacted Kyla and it wasn’t long before she arrived.

He opened the door and she stepped inside, concern etched into her usually vibrant eyes. She threw her arms around him.

“Oh sir! You must be so worried! I am too!” She pulled back and shook her head.

“I can’t see where she saw sense in running off like that! She’s making us sick with worry! But I’m sure she’ll be back soon. If I know Diamond, she’ll be back in no time. She probably just went to cool off somewhere.” She said clutching a small bag close to her chest.

“I even brought some of her favourite music that she listens to at my place, so if she comes back, she can listen to something soothing.”

“Thank you Kyla. Hopefully I will return with her.” He turned away and headed out the doorway, not wanting to waste anymore precious time.

Her heart pounded, her legs ached but the adrenaline kept pumping, thrusting her forward. The world screamed past her in a blur of black and white, the wind pounding her ears so hard they hurt.

Her feet beat the ground and little sparks flew off on impact as her metal struck the floor. She’d heard a scream, the same kind that had come from Zyda. And she knew now whom that scream belonged to. Her eyes focused at the nearing street corner that she was running to.

But she only saw the lump on the pavement seconds before she hit it. The next thing she knew was that she was flying through the air at an awkward angle, but she positioned herself for a roll in mid air. On impact, she could hear all her metal and gears crunching in protest and she rolled fast and furiously. She had tripped at an incredible speed and it would take time before she would stop. But a shortcut came across when her hand latched onto something, a pole or drainpipe and she held on. Her body swung around and almost detached itself from her left hand. A second later, she was almost coiled around the lamppost. Her body was pulsing with numerous bruises and scratches and her left hand had gone numb. But at the back of her mind, a clock was ticking and with the rhythm of it, she rose up shakily, al glanced across to see what she had tripped on.

Her stomach lurched and a scream of her own prickled the back of her throat and had her jaw not been knocked out of place, she probably would have screamed. There, a few meters back, lay a corpse of a police officer, drenched in his own blood, bullet holes through his head and chest. All she could manage was suppressing throwing up.

She shivered and turned away, wide eyed. Between her and the dead ‘bot was a narrow little alleyway. And that was more or less where she had heard the scream. Perhaps he’d heard it to, came to investigate and suffered the consequences.

Her mind whirled with horrific, terrifying thoughts of what could have happened and might still happen, but her conscience willed her on. She rose to her feet, rubbing her hand gently, and took out her gun. She heard scuffling followed by muffled shrieks and that was enough to make her turn the corner.

She stepped into the alleyway, both hands clutching her aimed gun, her body trembling from shock and fright.

But what she saw next, shook her more than anything, right down to her very core.

It was as if something had clamped around her throat as air was abruptly cut of and her entire body stiffened.

There was Toby, towering over Diamond, who was nothing more than a crumpled heap oozing mech fluid and sparking everywhere. She looked dead, but couldn’t have been as he held a poison dagger, poised over her chest. He looked at her with stone cold eyes that bore no emotion except a glint of pleasure at the thought of carrying out his next move. Diamond whimpered. No more needed to be shown and in one air- severing move, she lifted her gun and fired. It hit him and threw him back so that he hit the concrete wall at the dead end of the alley. She stared at him wide-eyed, shock rippling and resounding through her every nerve. Diamond squeaked a bit, her arm dropping limply to her side. If it was her arm. She was cut to shreds and pouring mech fluid. Her legs were gone and her other arm had been twisted backwards. Numerous pieces of glass and shards of metal stuck into her from all sides and her open chest let of the tell tale blue glow of her fluctuating spark. Hyra almost burst into tears at the pitiful sight of her, not wanting to believe it, wanting to wake up from a nightmare. But she was swiftly brought back to reality when Toby rose up, a grim smile on his face.

“Looking for these?” he hissed in a voice not his own. He was holding up pieces of leg. Hyra held her jaw and yanked it into place aggressively.

“Die you bastard,” she said in a steel cold voice. Anger boiling up and mixing with the bitter effects of betrayal.

He smiled sadistically and dropped the legs. The poison dagger was nowhere in sight. He held his arms out in from of him and put his thumbs together as if he were about to push something. But instead, a burning ball of blue energy appeared and shot out of his held up palms. It hit her with full force and she was blown back into the road. Pain that she had never felt before, so powerful, so awful burned at her chest but she was too winded to cry. And lacked the time. Weakly, she stood, one hand over her chest, the other holding her gun that had remained with her. She sprinted back into the alley- way, firing rapidly at the monster with the hollow eyes. But he nimbly dodged her shots, laughing all the way.

“Do you know why I didn’t want to come to training lessons?” He asked between rolls. She fired mercilessly.

She refused to answer him. The fury of her shattered heart was enough to make her a ruthless killer. Perhaps even an avenger, Diamond looked as good as dead.

“Better than you, better than Diamond, better than Dinobot! You stand NO chance, pretty little Hyra.”

She clenched her teeth and fired carefully, hitting him square in the chest. He stumbled back, but didn’t fall. With a flick of his hand, his wrists aimed at her face and fired tiny little arrows of poison. With a surprised gasp, she flung herself onto the floor and rolled to the side. She hit the left wall, leapt up and jumped again to her right, just in time as the place she had been resting at a nanoclick before, burst into flames. She glanced up. He held two guns.

“Do you remember the outbreak on the Relentrax prison two stellar cycles ago?” he queried then fired another blast with his laser gun, he seemed rigged with weapons.

She shot wildly, but slowed when the words sunk grimly into her mind. Her fire seized and her eyes widened in horror. He stood amongst the flames; arms at his side, wearing the coldest smile Satan could ever manage. As if a demon from the inferno, he stood silhouetted against the raging fire behind him.

Rattrap sat up, spark shuddering. He must’ve woken from a nightmare that he couldn’t remember. But traces of it still seemed to cling to the air around him.

He stood up, the silence a violent contrast to the panic that had stifled him a few moments ago. It was almost deafening.

He gently padded through his open door, into the moonlit hallways and slipped into the lounge once more. There was nothing, just the ghostly blue light invading his apartment through the window to his right. It was a bright blue, for there were three moons facing this side of Cybertron at the moment. He narrowed his optics and walked silently over to the window. He stared out at the empty streets and the buildings across it. Little yellow lights shone in a few of the windows, but most lay dormant. He lived in a quiet part of the little town, this side consisting of flats and houses. The nights were usually quiet. But there was something unnatural in the air. He opened the window and felt a gush of icy air greet his face. He stared across into the distance, as if waiting for the answer to fly straight to him. Something gripped his shoulder. He spun around, a small gasp escaping his lips. There stood Tourmaline, looking at him curiously.

He looked at her blankly for a moment, expressionless. Then, as if life was restored to his features, he frowned.

“You can feel it to, huh? That something. It’s as if the air’s pregnant with events forthcoming, greasy with readiness, beckoning you yet somewhat inauspicious,” she whispered, gazing out the window but still looking dead serious.

The moonlight touched her face gently bringing out the soft blue of her cheeks. Her eyes had lost their sparkle; they were deeper, darker.

For a moment, he saw her true beauty; the depth of her soul and that she was not just a pretty form with no mind. Oh no, far from it.

“No, I’m just expressing my thoughts. Guess you don’t feel the same way.”

“Wonder if Dinobot’s had any luck with finding Diamond.” She said, almost to herself. Rattrap could see that she was uneasy about that.

But in fact, that was only a part of his disquiet, for there was something much larger contributing, something much deadlier.

He’d blown the corner off with two blasts. Whatever gun it was, it was slagging powerful. She had ended up in the road a few times now, and was losing a lot of fluid. And she could feel it, her body growing weaker and weaker, parts of her going numb. She had already had a numb left hand to start with.

She leapt to the side as he fired again. He blew a hole straight through the wall the size of her own body. And her mind hardly had time to ring ‘that could have been me’ before she was again on her feet, dodging another shot. She had withstood him ‘till now, but the problem was, he was toying with her. Hardly injured and twice her size, he knew he could win this fight. He knew.

And she feared the moment that he grew tired of this game and decided to finish it.

The buildings seemed empty, there was no life. Probably housing street bots that have seen to many a murder to care. This was the wrong side of town to be expecting help, and she had grown accustomed to that. The only police officer in the area was dead. And she’d already made use of his weapon.

Switchblade, yes, that was his real name. He was virtually unscathed, due to the fact that he had three modes, his original killer mode, his beast mode and his friendly Toby mode, which he had left behind. The alley was alight with explosions and the lamppost at the entrance offered guidance.

So she wasn’t disturbed at the fact that when he blew up the lamp, it went horribly dark. He’d stopped firing, and so had she. She backed up into the right wall, not far from Diamond, and only a metre away from the exit. She panted heavily, rasping. Mech fluid slid down into her torso while her right leg burned with pain.

Her eyes were wide with fear; she was at a dreadful disadvantage now that her infra- red system had been disabled by the many impacts. She glanced nervously from left to right, holding her gun out in front of her. He’d put out the fire somehow and there was no light. If she shot in the right place, hit the corner with the spilt oil, she could cause another one. But where was it? The moon highlighted her form, making her a perfect target, so she slipped further into the shadows. He was out of sight, but hardly out of mind. She glanced down at her COM link, and picked up no signatures. It only occurred to her why when he struck, his white fangs catching the moonlight.

The next moment, she was flung onto the ground and with a snarl he transformed and stood on her legs with his blade-aided feet. They slipped out of his heels and hooked into her. She screamed in pain and felt for her gun, which had been knocked out of her hand on impact. He knelt on her legs and held down her arms with his own. She could see his burning hollow eyes smiling sadistically. Suddenly his chest opened and a sort of arm came out, holding her gun.

“STUPID little girl. Always poking your nose into other people’s business. Hiding in the crowds, then betraying them, arresting them and ending their lives in a single moment. Do you know how that feels? To be TRICKED so cruelly? You try four stellar cycles in a lone cell, no contact, and no light. You try it!” he spat and she turned away with a grimace.

“Well looks like I tricked you at your own game, Hyra. Who would have THOUGHT there was a criminal disguised as a detective in a detective group! Huh?

No one, because no body always thinks along the lines that anything is possible.” Two blades slipped out of his kneecaps and into her hips. She gasped and clenched her teeth.

“Well, sweet, sweet little Hyra. I’m not as cruel as you. I’m going to give you the easy way out. A way which all of us prisoners after an hour in our cell, would have preferred to have taken.” His voice wavered with emotion, memories too horrible to recall out loud and for a split second, only a split second, she felt sorry for him.

“How does it feel to know that you are going to be killed by your own gun? Hey?”

“Guess there are no words to describe it. You never did have a good vocabulary,” he said, almost laughing.

He was flung right off her, the gun left her head and his scream drowned in an eruption of fire. She gasped and sat up, holding her neck. She almost suffocated on her own internal bleeding. She got onto her hands and knees and threw up blood, warm, silvery blood. Her stomach lurched twice before she could look up, and see who or what had blown the monster from her body. Gunfire shrieked and banged around her and standing only a meter away from her, lightened by the flames was Dinobot, firing mercilessly.

Every shot seemed to go in slow motion. She turned her head to see Switchblade turning and twisting in a ball of flames, screaming crazily as blow after blow thumped into him. His body kept being thrown back repeatedly into the light grey wall, his hands without a weapon. He was burning, dying in the heat of the moment, literally.

His eyes were tightly shut as he twisted, writhing in agony, feeling his body for a way out, a weapon. But it was too late. Blow by blow, he weakened and in the moment before he fell for the last time, he looked at her straight in the eyes. His white eyes suddenly looked like those of a helpless child, lost and confused and full of pain. Questioning eyes, questioning her, questioning life and why it had taken him this route. All callousness left those eyes and for a moment, they were not hollow, in fact, quiet the opposite.

Then they closed, and slowly, so slowly, he collapsed, hit the floor and crumpled up, hugging himself not in pain, but for comfort. And he died in that position. His entire body charred physically, but his posture one of bitter defeat.

Dinobot seized his fire and stared at the burning corpse. The creature he had trusted, let into his centre, his home. The creature that had tortured his daughter, and injured his friends. And he felt no pity, just disgust. He was dully aware of the sirens wailing, the first police bot’s running in and putting out the fire. But his full attention was now on another, lifeless heap. His daughter.

He walked up to her, the noise becoming distant, the flames an ignored blur of orange to his right. Her eyes were closed; her right hand clasping her left arm. She was rendered, dismantled almost beyond recognition.

A force of overwhelming emotional pain struck him full fury and his knees weakened and gave way. He collapsed on his knees beside her and held her arm.

His steel eyes softened with love and he squeezed her arm tighter, as if wanting to force life back into her. It was then he let go and sobs shuddered through him.

He lowered his head, pulled her closer and cuddled her, swaying back and forth, rocking her like a baby. His heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. And who was there to pick them up? He’d avoided love for fear of heartbreak, but he’d always loved Diamond. That kind of love was unstoppable.

Suddenly, her limp body jerked and she started coughing violently, he pulled her forward so as to see her face. Her eyes were still closed, but she was breathing, coughing. She was alive again. She hadn’t left him to die in sorrow, no, he should have known better. She’d never do that.

“Diamond,” he whispered and touched her face. Her eyes opened weakly and for a second, shone again with renewed hope. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out. It was then she drifted back into unconsciousness and was ripped away from his arms by paramedics. He turned, rose shakily to his feet and watched as they pulled her into the cyber car, and took her away. There was no need to follow, for in his heart he knew she’d be all right. He felt a gentle arm wrap around his waist and he glanced down to see Hyra looking straight ahead as they carried Toby’s body away. Her eyes were filled with sadness and anger, but were etched with other, unreadable emotions.

For the moment, nothing needed to be said. Actions for the most part, had spoken louder than words.

And just for now, they both decided to stand still and shove aside worry, sadness and hate, and let in simple, sweet relief.

The smoke clogged the air a mile away. And they could still make out the screams and the fire burning in the distance.

Their spirits soared again and silently they rejoiced the end of an era of hell in their lives. And he let the ten of them savor the moment, before he spoke the words that would sound of the beginning of a new life, a new task.

And Megatron spoke the words that sent excited shivers down their spines and a fresh scent of blood seemed to waft with them