Head Games

A fanfic by Bill T. Taylor

a.k.a. RedStreak

 

The noon sun glittered magnificently off the San Francisco Bay.  From the Golden Gate Bridge the view was particularly magnificent.  Sailboats wafted about the shimmering, mirror-like surface of the bay on the lightest breeze as larger yachts cruised by leisurely.

 

“Alexander, don’t sit so close to the window,” the young, brown-haired boy’s mom spoke from upfront, “I don’t want you playing with the door lock again!”

 

“You don’t have to worry, son,” the father spoke, driving behind the wheel, “We’ll be at grandmas soon enough.”

 

Alexander sighed.  His fingers removed themselves from the shiny, silvery door knob he had a habit of playing with on long trips.  Like his mom requested, he scooted to his right, away from the door, but his eyes never left his sight on the knob.  Bored, he just sat there, squinting his eyes at the knob.  The door lock flicked, the knob popping up by itself.

 

“Alexander, I told you not to touch the door lock, didn’t I?” the mother spoke up.

 

Honestly, the boy replied, “But I didn’t mom.”  Glancing at it again, Alexander squinted, the knob popping right back down.  “See…it’s still locked!” he further added.

 

With a great surging wave, Devastator emerged from the tranquil bay, his great height casting an immense shadow on the famous Golden Gate Bridge.  In a mindless rage, his fist slammed through the suspended bridge, dozens of cables snapping as the middle of the bridge cracked, then bowed from the blow.

 

“Look out!” Alexander’s mom screamed.  The car they were in braked, crashing into the bumper of the truck dead ahead.  Alexander jerked forward, held back only by his seat belt as the air bags exploded up front.  His parents just laid there, limp, unconscious for the moment.

 

“Mom?  Dad?” Alexander wearily called to them.  Tentatively he unbuckled himself and tugged on his mom’s arm.  She just slouched forward against the air bag, but was otherwise silent and for all intents and purposes, dead to her son.  “Momma!” he started to cry.

 

An explosion shook the bridge they were on.  Alexander nervously got out of the car, and let out a huge gasp.

 

“Autobots, let’s move out!” the voice of Optimus Prime yelled out from the bow of a large aircraft carrier, one silver with the red Autobot symbol upon its deck.  From the West Prime and his forces rode out on Broadside into the bay, preparing to counter yet another Decepticon attack on the humans.

 

Devastator saw the Autobot carrier moving toward him as he stood behind the still-swaying bridge.  He reached behind his back, pulling out his large gun and holding it in his right hand.  He fired a massive pulse toward the open sea, the water quaking with waves as the Golden Gate Bridge itself shook from the aftershock.

 

Alexander was knocked back, tumbling away from his parents’ car between the lanes of traffic.  People were abandoning their vehicles, panicking and running away as a giant violet and green Decepticon loomed dangerously close.  Alexander didn’t fear Devastator…he feared for his parents still in the car.

 

“Mom!  Dad!”

 

Devastator’s blasts narrowly missed Broadside, throwing up more waves as booms echoed loudly.  High-Q managed to keep his balance as he analyzed the situation with his exo-suit’s telescopic optics.  “Prime, this doesn’t look good.  Humans…civilians, are all over that bridge.  They’re trying to flee and for the moment Devastator seems to be using it for cover…but I doubt he’ll be staying put for long!”  Looking directly at the Autobot, the Nebulon genius said, “We need to act…fast.”

 

“Agreed.”  Prime turned toward the far end of Broadside, where a small fleet of flying Autobots awaited his command.  “Aerialbots, RedStreak, Springer!  Transform and draw Devastator away from the bridge!”

 

Silverbolt, already in Concorde form, revved his jet engines and began to pull out.  “Roger Prime!  Aerialbots, fly out!  Time to take out that creep!”  Five jets flew out in all, followed shortly by green Springer in helicopter form.  A ruby red starfighter began to pull up, then paused momentarily before Prime and High-Q, its canopy open as Chip leaned out.

 

“We’ll handle this Prime, I promise!” Chip assured them.

 

“Yeah, you know the saying,” RedStreak’s voice spoke up in a cheery manner, “Two heads are better than one!”

 

As RedStreak’s engines fired and Chip ducked inside the closing canopy, Optimus Prime wondered about something.  “This is so strange.  Were it not for Broadside’s long-range sonar…we wouldn’t have known Devastator was in this vicinity.  Last time we heard he was on Galvinok…how?”

 

“Space bridge?” High-Q offered one hypothesis.

 

“Perhaps…but undetected…and so near a major metropolis?  Surely someone would have reported.  This concerns me,” Prime stated, his optics on the battle a mile away.

 

A swarm of aircraft circled about Devastator, periodically firing on him, intentionally drawing the ire of the Decepticon Gestalt.  Airraid swept over his right shoulder, lasers cutting deep scratches in his armor there.  RedStreak dove and then swept up from behind, his flying torpedoes smacking and exploding against the angled backside of the giant.  Devastator’s anger grew.

 

“Devastator shall crush you all!” he roared loudly.  He trained his gun on Skydive, tracking and zeroing in on the lone Aerialbot.  “DIE!” Devastator bellowed, pulling the trigger.

 

“NO!” RedStreak shouted.  His nosecone-mounted laser fired at Devastator’s weapon.  It barely pinged against its side, but it was just enough to divert a fully lethal blast.  The violet plasma blast took a large piece of Skydive’s left wing, missing his main fuselage by no more than a degree…but that shot took more than the wing of an Autobot.

 

Alexander saw what appeared to be a bright, purple comet plow through the bridge, causing a section of it little more than fifteen feet away to vaporize and crumble.  Somewhere in that same area, as Alexander realized as he got up, was his mom and dad; emphasis on was alas….

 

Alexander came to a stop at a crumbling section of asphalt, jagged steel beams, twisted and still red-hot, jutting out below his sneakers.  Beyond that, as he looked down, was nothing but water.  For a solid minute…the boy was in utter shock.  “M-Mom?  Dad?” he weakly spoke, staring blankly.

 

Chip spotted something on RedStreak’s monitors.  “Red!  Sector three-three-one!  We have a civilian…looks like a kid!  He’s in the middle of Devastator’s firing zone!”

 

The starfighter curved, arcing toward the Gold Gate Bridge.  “Slag!  Clearly we’ve got to save the poor boy!  Hang on Chip!”  His thrusters fired, zooming toward the wreaked bridge.

 

Alexander fell to his knees.  “Mom?  Dad?   No…no it can’t be!  It can’t be!”  He couldn’t accept that reality…his parents…dead?  A tear ran down his cheek, followed by another, and then another.  “No….”

 

At that moment, something snapped in the child’s mind.  “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, the heart, soul, and mind of one child in that voice.

 

A section of the bridge lit-up in white light, the boy’s silhouette a solid shadow.  Power…power in the form of a shockwave of wind radiated out in all directions, the bridge swaying and bouncing up and down, concentric waves rising higher and higher in the water…all summoned by the will of one human child.

 

Everything was overwhelmed.  Devastator groaned, begrudgingly stepping back, forced further away.  He glanced down, seeing the tiny child on the bridge as he gritted his teeth.  The shockwave of raw force then stripped him apart piece by piece.  As he held his arms up, first Scavenger, then Bonecrusher, flung away.  Hook, Long Haul, Scrapper, and Mixmaster quickly followed, each Decepticon flying away with such force that they crashed into the San Francisco shoreline, small buildings crumbing beneath them.  Getting up, they were too weak.  Scrapper weakly groaned, “Constructicons…transform and…return to…Galvatron!”  All six switched to vehicle mode, driving straight across the beach and into the water where they vanished.

 

The Aerialbots and RedStreak, too, were flung away like mere toys in a whirlwind.  Broadside, still a good distance away, was also affected, only slightly less if any.  His bow turned upwards, the floating Autobot nearly capsizing entirely.  Optimus Prime was barely able to hold his ground, High-Q literally clinging to one leg.  “By the Matrix!” Optimus Prime gasped, seeing the source of light upon the bridge.

 

When the shockwave ended, another pair of eyes, in the hills at the edge of the city, beheld the miracle…and the child that produced it.  Two red eyes of a white, winged wolf stared long and hard.  “Such power…from such a small being,” Six-Shot said to himself in disbelief, “This, of all things, Galvatron must know!”  He took to the air, flying, and then plunging into the bay, disappearing under the waves.

 

Roughly twenty minutes later, Skydive lay on the beach in robot mode, moaning in pain as High-Q, Chip, and Silverbolt tried to repair him.  Broadside, now in robotic form, stood guard above them all, Optimus Prime and Springer exchanging words with RedStreak, stuck in starfighter form while Chip was occupied.

 

“Please tell me you’re joking, Red,” Springer begged RedStreak.

 

“I’m telling you, it’s what my sensors saw.  You can ask Chip, he saw it too!” RedStreak insisted as he lay there on his landing struts, “Prime, that giant…wave of power was centered on that…small human!  It’s the truth; but even my own logic circuits don’t understand it either!”

 

“There’s…one possibility, but I can not be sure,” Optimus Prime stated.

 

“And what’s that?” Springer frankly asked, hoping for a reasonable explanation.

 

Prime turned to the emerald triple-changer.  “I can’t say…I’m no expert in telekinetic abilities, psionics, or extra-sensory powers.  Only the Headmasters from Nebulos could say anything on this.”

 

“And until they get here?” asked Springer, a growing voice of concern sounding from him.

 

“We’ll have to find that child…and hope the Decepticons don’t make a second appearance today,” said Optimus Prime.

 

Under the fringes of the Pacific Ocean, the far western portion of the San Andreas fault extended, a canyon cutting through a low-sloped hillside.  Deep within that dark, murky chasm, a single pinpoint of light shined out.  Closer still, just discernable in the blackness, a few domes, connected by tunnels, and a larger fort jutting out of the canyon wall itself, stood, far beyond any prying eyes.

 

“You are lying,” Galvatron flatly said.  He stood in the command center, Cyclonus and Scourge standing to either side, all three with displeased expressions upon their faces.  Before them, kneeling, were Six-Shot and Scrapper, with Long Haul, Hook, Scavenger, Mixmaster, and Bonecrusher standing just behind them.

 

“I would not dare lie to you, lord Galvatron,” Six-Shot assured his leader, “We all saw it.  A child…a human child no less.”

 

“This is a joke,” scoffed Cyclonus, frowning at the bowing Decepticons.

 

Scrapper stood up, raising a fist to Galvatron’s lieutenant.  “It is not a joke, Cyclonus!” Scrapper shook his fist before him, “That mere child created a blast wave that knocked Devastator offline!  No Constructicon would crawl his way back to his commander with nothing to report!  It was powerful enough to knock Broadside and the Autobots as well….”

 

Galvatron raised a hand just as Scourge was about to march forward.  Looking to Scrapper, Galvatron asked, “You said…the Autobots…were damaged, as well, by this mere…child?”

 

“Yes, it’s true!” Scrapper insisted.

 

Galvatron smirked.  “Excellent.”  Turning about, he spoke aloud to his listening troops, “This calls for a slight change of plans, as well as an acceleration of my original schedule.  My new, aquatic-subterranean base on the fault line is in place…as are the mining tunnels and magma-energon extraction units.  Although I planned to use Devastator as the distraction to lure the Autobots into the city as I initiated its destruction, I think this child could do just as well…better perhaps.”

 

The Decepticon commander quickly looked to Scrapper.  “Summon the Headmasters here; Scrapper, with the Hive’s assistance, I want your Constructicons to build a new, cybernetic warrior capable of using this child’s powers against the Autobots.”

 

“Are you serious?” Scourge grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

 

Frowning at doubtful Scourge, Galvatron spitefully ordered, “And you can be in charge of procuring the child, Scourge!  You, and Cyclonus.”

 

Cyclonus gave Scourge a bitter sneer.  “Thanks a lot…Scourge!” he growled.

 

Springer drove on the ground in his wheeled, vehicle mode with Chip and High-Q as passengers.  He passed several cars on the roadway, trying to trace to the bridge.  Above were Broadside and Slingshot in flight form, following from eight hundred meters up.  “This is like finding the frayed wire in the selenium hay stack!” Springer said, “San Francisco has over two million people in the city limits alone…and you want me to drive around until we find one kid?”

 

“Prime’s orders,” Chip told the Autobot, “Besides, I always wanted to see this part of California!”

 

High-Q gave Chip a cock-eyed look.  “California?  I thought this planet was called ‘Earth’.”

 

Chip smirked.  “It’s a specific state on Earth.  Believe me, it’s a little confusing to anyone.”

 

“Look out!” Springer yelled.  He swerved hard, crunching fenders against a truck as a kid suddenly appeared, frozen in fear.  Springer and his passengers, once online again, caught a glance and recognized him.  “It’s the kid!” Springer declared.

 

Alexander watched in wide wonder as two small, robotic men jumped out of a large green van-like car.  As one politely said, “Hi, I’m Chip!  I’m with the Autobots!” Alexander’s eyes went wide as he saw the green vehicle rise up into a menacing giant that stared at him.

 

Quivering, then frowning as he remembered the giant that killed his parents, Alexander glared at Springer, yelling, “Leave me alone people-killers!”  He held out his open palms, fixated on the Autobot.  A sudden flow of invisible energy blasted through him, knocking Springer from his feet, leaving Chip and High-Q to wonder as he ran off.

 

“Dang!  What in blue blazes?” Springer groaned as he got back up, “That felt like a Decepticon knocking me square in the jaw!”

 

High-Q, most observant, saw the human child sprint off.  “The child is running.  I’m going after him before we lose him again.”  In his gray and white exosuit, he ran after before Chip could hold him back.

 

Alexander ran, tears in his eyes.  He felt even more scared now than before, on the bridge.  People on the curves parted, first for him and then the strange, mechanical alien chasing after.  They were all left baffled.  Alexander became filled with such anger, enough to counter his young, naïve fear and urge to run.

 

The child stopping and turning about, High-Q yelled out to him, “Human!  I’m not here to harm you in any way!  We just wish to talk to you, protect you!”

 

Little Alexander was not cooperative in the least.  Small fists now balled up, his eyes fiery, he blared to the stranger, “Stay away!  You killed my parents you…monsters!”  As he ran, one chunk of sidewalk concrete suddenly slid beneath High-Q, causing him to trip.  The block rose up, and then as High-Q got to his feet, it slammed right against him.

 

“AGH!”  High-Q held up his arm, the block crumbling against the plating, but the blow was still felt, and it was hard.  The child, frowning at High-Q, had only to glance at an object to make it whirl against him.  Trays from a near-by restaurant, trash cans, rocks were all hurled, pelting the Nebulon and keeping him a good ways away.

 

“Leave me alone!” Alexander said, crying again before bolting.

 

A pair of laser bolts slashed into the ground beside High-Q.  “Yes, leave him alone, Autobot fiend!” a voice from above yelled out.  High-Q watched as Cyclonus appeared, transforming and landing before the Nebulon and human.  “You and your kind have clearly traumatized this poor…defenseless creature enough!”

 

“What?” Alexander muttered, pausing as he glanced up at Cyclonus.

 

Cyclonus, faking a smile as he looked down upon the small human, went to one knee.  “On behalf of the Decepticons, I wish to apologize for what damage we might have caused.”  A hand waved toward High-Q, as well as Broadside, Springer, and Slingshot, arriving and transforming to robot forms before them.  “The Autobots forced us to attack…them and their…destructive behavior.”

 

“Hey!  We’re the good guys!” Slingshot readily spoke up, “You’re the ones who started this mess!”

 

Springer, pulling out his sword, warned Cyclonus, “Leave that kid alone, Cyclonus!”

 

Cyclonus began putting an arm around Alexander, drawing close to the boy.  “Fear not, child!  I will protect you…quickly!  Come with me!” Cyclonus whispered to him.

 

Alexander backed away, feeling cold metal hands behind him.  “No!” he firmly said, looking to the Decepticon.  “I don’t trust you!  Leave me alone!”  He frowned, his eyes glaring.  With a thought, Cyclonus was suddenly forced back, tossed across the street into a pair of parked cars.

 

“Ugh…brat,” growled Cyclonus, weakly getting back up.

 

“Pathetic!” Scourge yelled out, sweeping down from above, “Let me show you how a Decepticon really works, Cyclonus!”  Without remorse or warning, his built-in blasters fired on the modest building directly above Alexander, bricks, glass, and bits of metal all raining down.

 

“Look out kid!” Springer yelled out.  He and Broadside reacted, leaping forward and holding up their arms.  Several tons of debris rained down on them, straining their backsides.  Alexander started backing away, the thought of running entering his mind once again.  Suddenly, a small hunk of brick smacked him in the back of the head, immediately causing Alexander to black out and fall to the pavement.

 

“Grab him Cyclonus!” Scourge bellowed, “Grab ‘em and let’s get out of here!”  As Scourge already took to the stratosphere, Cyclonus quickly ran up and snatched Alexander.  As he transformed, he shoved the kid into his cockpit, firing thrusters and flying without haste.

 

“Oh I’m not letting them get away!” vowed Slingshot.  He transformed into a Harrier jet, lifting off vertically and then flying out at sonic speeds.  The lone Aerialbot was closing in, Scourge and Cyclonus passing over Oakland and Santa Rosa as they speeded northwest toward the Pacific Ocean.  Then, in a bold move, the pair of Decepticons arced downward, falling into the Ocean itself.

 

“What the heck?” Slingshot muttered in surprise. Scourge and Cyclonus both splashed into the water, vanishing into the deep blue waters.

 

While the Aerialbot doubled-back, the sinking Decepticon duo switched on aquatic jets, gliding deeper and toward the chasm where secret base laid.  A massive airlock built into one of the small domes opened, letting in the two travelers, sealing back up with the Decepticon crest menacingly glaring out in the void.

 

Scourge held the body of the boy in his hands, walking toward the large retrofitted repair bay.  There, Galvatron himself overlooked the work of the six Constructicons, Mindwipe, and Weirdwolf on a large new frame.  “We have what you asked for, Galvatron, the kid….”

 

“Well don’t stand there like morons, give him to Vorath!  We’ve been waiting for the…human component of my new warrior for quite some time!” Galvatron blared.

 

Mindwipe took Alexander from Scourge, setting him down into a concave section of the yet-unfinished Decepticon frame.  Once set there, Mindwipe’s head detached, forming into the Hive member Vorath.  He tugged and gingerly pulled at the boy’s limbs and hands, checking for a pulse as well as beginning to attack various wires to him.

 

“Yes, still alive fortunately,” he said aloud.

 

“What does that matter?  We just need his brain wired into a Decepticon!” bluntly said Galvatron.

 

Turning briefly to the Decepticon commander, then back at his work, Vorath quoted, “It is a delicate operation!  An organic brain is useless if dead!  Besides, with the latent psionic abilities locked in this mind…I must make the connections secure.”

 

Several more cables were pulled and strapped to the young human.  Finally, Vorath took a small laser and put it to the base of the child’s neck.  A small incision was made with a brief laser pulse.  Vorath next took a helmet and secured it over Alexander’s head.  At its base, a thick port plugged perfectly into the incision.

 

“Spinal interface has been established,” Vorath reported, stepping back and looking to Galvatron, “Your new warrior will have direct access to the human’s brain…and all its telekinetic powers as well.”

 

“Excellent,” Galvatron said as Vorath merged with Mindwipe once more, “I want our new warrior online…now.”

 

On a wall, Scavenger pulled a lever.  A giant pair of electrodes descended from the ceiling, hovering over the head of the as-yet-unborn Decepticon.  Mindwipe reached down, typing a sequence of commands into a console.  A surge of electricity then went through the huge electrodes, an aura of electrical energy enveloping the whole work table the hulk lay atop.

 

Then, as the Decepticons watched…a pair of orange eyes lit up.

 

Galvatron smiled, watching as it twitched its long, spear-like fingers.  “Good, now…let’s unleash him upon Optimus Prime.”

 

Chip sat at a computer desk within a local college.  Spike was behind him, as well as High-Q and Gold Bug, the only Autobot small enough to squeeze his way in.  He scrolled through a list of names, hundreds…seeking one specific person.

 

“What are we looking for again?” Gold Bug frankly asked.

 

“That kid,” Chip said, staring through his glasses, “There should be some sort of record of him….yes!”  An image appeared, one of the boy.  It read:  Alexander Rodenko Age:9  Parents: Maria and Pat Rodenko – reported missing after recent transformer attack  Report: Several unexplained incidents, including substantial evidence of remote manipulation of objects; possibly telekinesis.  Has been interviewed by U.S. neurologists…

 

“Telekinesis?” Gold Bug muttered in a curious tone.

 

“Human term for being able to move objects with sheer willpower,” High-Q informed the Autobot, “It is more common among my race to possess such mental powers: the Hive and their unique capacity with machinery for instance; however, from my fight with this child I can certainly say this…Alexander is most unique.”

 

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, the lights above the computer rattling as they swung wildly from their wires.  “The Pit?” Gold Bug muttered, “An earthquake?”

 

Spike, still in his exo-suit, minus the helmet, rushed over to a window.  Glancing through, he replied to his friends, “Not likely Gold Bug!  Look!”  Just a few blocks away, a large squad of Decepticons, the Constructicons, Combaticons, and the Headmasters, arrived in force, transforming and wreaking havoc.  Brawl and Bonecrusher plowed through cars, trucks, and trees indifferently on their treads while Weirdwolf snarled at passing humans, Snapdragon roaring as he ripped a postal box from the sidewalk.  Among them was Cyclonus, smirking in the background.  “Let’s move-out!” Spike promptly suggested.

 

A grand confrontation was assembled at the heart of the city.  All the invading Decepticons gathers at one end of the block, lining up in a perfect row, their engines rumbling and hydraulic-driven limbs twitching.  At the opposite end, Broadside appeared, his large vibro-ax in hand as he stood ready.  Around him quickly arrived all five Aerialbots, Springer, RedStreak, Brainstorm, and Highbrow, all transforming with blasters in hand.  Chromedome raced in, with Stylor bolting out of him and merging as the pair transformed.  Gold Bug arrived next, followed immediately by Optimus Prime himself.

 

They stared long, a silent wind blowing between the two factions.  Inside RedStreak’s head, Chip blinked from behind his glasses.  “Well…why aren’t they doing anything?” he asked.

 

“I have no idea,” was all his partner, RedStreak, could reply as the watched anxiously.

 

The whole troop of Decepticons transformed simultaneously.  Prime and the Autobots clicked their guns, ready to fire at a moment’s notice…but not one Decepticon drew their weapon.  Instead, cold, sleek Cyclonus stepped forward, his soldiers parting around him.  “Autobots,” he called out to his enemy, “Prepare to face the unstoppable might that we bring!”

 

“Oh please,” Gold Bug yelled aloud to Cyclonus, “Like we haven’t heard that before!”

 

“Ease off, Gold Bug,” Prime said, “We’re not starting this fight.”

 

With unbelievable grace, the Decepticons parted.  Behind them, a strange, dark blue and ovular hovercraft moving forward.  It was marked up front with the Decepticon symbol, totally smooth and seamless save for the two gold cannons mounted to its dome.  It halted between Prime’s forces and the Decepticons.  Ominously, the other Decepticons stepped back….

 

“War Mind…transform,” a deep, cynical voice uttered from the hovercraft.  The sides jutted out, shifting back to become long legs lined with pistons and wiring for ligaments and tendons.  The forward portion flipped down to become the chest, the dome splitting to become arms and shoulders as a black head with two square, orange eyes emerged to stare out at the Autobots.

 

“Well this is the oddest Decepticon I’ve ever scene,” Brainstorm bluntly said.

 

“Don’t underestimate a foe you have yet to fight,” Arcana advised from within, eyeing the Enemy wearily through the monitors within Brainstorm’s head.

 

Prime studied the Decepticon, then called out, “You send this one soldier to fight us Cyclonus?  Not like Galvatron to do so.”

 

“I am not here to fight Autobots,” War Mind muttered, “I am here to destroy Autobots.”  As the Autobots stood there, War Mind glanced down at the ground.  His orange eyes flared up.  A rumble immediately started, a long crack splitting in the road pavement, racing straight for the Autobots’ position.  A giant pipe burst forth from the ground; with a whip it tosses aside Gold Bug, RedStreak, and Chromedome.  It arced up, tangling around Broadside’s chest and neck, strangling the large triple-changer.

 

“Broadside!” Spinger yelled.  He took out his sword and hacked into the pipe, but suddenly it flew from his hands.  War Mind, holding out his own hand, grasped the sword in his own grip.

 

“Your weapon is now my weapon,” War Mind said, glaring at Springer.  In response, Springer deployed his arm-blaster, shooting at War Mind a dozen times.  The first few shots scratched the Decepticon, but he quickly adapted.  Using Springer’s sword, he deflected the energy bolts with perfect accuracy.  Springer’s blaster quickly ran out of power, and at that moment War Mind released his sword…the sword itself pointing back at Springer and flinging itself straight at him.

 

“Ah!” Spinger ducked, his sword slicing through the pipe binding Broadside.  Now free, Broadside rushed War Mind, his ax in hand.  War Mind simply glanced up at him, motionless.  When the large Autobot was nearly upon him, his stomach slid open, revealing behind a transparent window a human boy.

 

Behind RedStreak’s optics and a pair of glasses, Chip’s eyes widened.  “Alexander!”  In that instant, RedStreak stretched out his arm, through him Chip’s voice yelling out, “Broadside, don’t!”

 

Broadside stopped his ax from splitting War Mind right down the middle.  For a second, he stood there, frozen.  Inside War Mind, little Alexander opened his eyes, gasping as he saw a giant robot with a weapon right above him…as well as finding himself wired and paralyzed like some tortured puppet.

 

War Mind opened his palm, directing it at Broadside.  “Compassion…pity; notable Autobot…as well as human…flaws.”  A sudden bolt of force threw Broadside backwards, crashing against the side of a building.  “I must make note of that.”

 

Cyclonus and the others watched from behind, smirking and laughing as the Autobots pitifully tried to take on War Mind, only to get a few yards away only to be mysteriously pushed back.  Cyclonus allowed himself a smile, but turned his attention to his true mission.  Clicking on a com-link, he radioed Galvatron.  “Cyclonus to Galvatron, our new warrior has Prime and the Autobots preoccupied.  We are ready for phase two!”

 

At his concealed base offshore, Galvatron smiled proudly to himself.  “Excellent.”    From his control room he went to a specific console.  Above it, a monitor showed a pair of large turbines with pumps and pipes leading to a magma pool, and near that in turn were great, piston-like columns that steamed.  “Now…to bury Prime and his wretched brood alive!”

 

With a flick of a switch, the machinery situated deep beneath San Francisco came alive.  The pistons shook the overlaying rock layers, the turbines pumping energy from the magma, which began to bubble furiously.  Above ground, the ground began to shake beneath the already preoccupied Autobots.

 

“By Primus, an earthquake!” Highbrow yelled out.

 

Standing beside Prime’s trailer, High-Q thought otherwise.  “No…this is no natural phenomenon!  Something is generating this seismic disturbance!”

 

Cyclonus glanced to his Decepticons.  “Decepticons, lift-off!” he ordered.  Effortlessly, they floated into the air, safe from any terrestrial rumblings.  Cyclonus looked to War Mind, telling him, “War Mind…keep the Autobots here at all costs!”

 

Even as Cyclonus flew off, War Mind remained with the streets cracking around him.  “As you command,” he uttered.  Blinking, he saw Prime and several of his Autobots moving out.  Knowing this was a breach of his given directive, he sought out a solution.  His optics spotted the building Broadside struck, its base partially weakened.  “The Autobots will remain here, I will ensure that!”  His optics glowed bright orange, the Decepticon summoning the full extent of his powers.

 

Little Alexander, inside War Mind, gasped, a burning pain at the base of his spine intensifying.  In another moment, he passed out.  The building War Mind gazed at trembled, more cracks forming in it as an invisible fist crushed it.  Finally it snapped, and tumbled to one side.  The people still inside let out a yell, suddenly thrust to one side of the falling building.

 

Prime glanced up, seeing the human structure falling right on top of them.  “Autobots!” he yelled out.  Immediately his trailer transformed, Prime interlocking with it and High-Q in turn.  He and Broadside braced it with their arms, the building jerking hard as it leaned at a very oblong angle.

 

Suddenly, a window shattered, a desk falling through and behind it a screaming woman.  Chromedome bolted, yelling “Hang on!”  He transformed to car form, Stylor launching off and snatching the human female in his arms.  Chromedome spun about, Stylor landing effortlessly on him and setting the woman down, who promptly ran off.

 

Stylor, standing on Chromedome’s roof, spotted War Mind gazing at the building, both his arms raised and jerking, as if trying to push something down.  “Chromedome, you seein’ what I’m seein’?” the Nebulon Headmaster asked his partner.

 

“Yeah; the guy’s still trying to bring the dang building down on Prime and us!”

 

Stylor broke out his laser weapon.  “Well I’ll take care of that!”

 

Chromdome blared “Wait Stylor!  Don’t…the human!”

 

The shot fired.  As Chromedome jerked in his panic, Stylor’s shot aim was very low.  War Mind’s right knee cap suddenly exploded.  The Decepticon immediately stumbled, both his hands on the ground as his arms tried to support him.  The pavement cracked, the same force once applied to the building now traveling through the Earth itself…right into Galvatron’s machinery.  The piston-columns cracked, the rock above them crumbling, smashing the turbines.  The magma pool rose up, then blasted out; thousand-degree molten rock flowing fast through the carved tunnel…right into Galvatron’s base!

 

KA-BOOM!

 

“AGH!”  The side of the control room erupted, red-hot magma pouring, burning and melting everything it touched.  Galvatron fired his cannon, flinging the fiery blaze away as he backed toward the exit.  He leapt through, slamming his fist into a large button, the doors sealing shut and a second, thicker blast door, slamming down.  Mindwipe and Scourge standing in surprise on the other side, Galvatron yelled to them, “We’ve got to get out of here!  The plan’s backfired in the worst way!”

 

“But…what about the city?” Mindwipe asked his master.

 

“Well…we’ll blow it up the old fashioned way then!” Galvatron shouted, “Decepticons, retreat!”

 

Amazingly, the earthquake stopped.  High-Q, still locked into Powermaster Prime’s chest, uttered, “The tremors have ceased!  Something must have happened to halt them!”

 

Grunting, Prime groaned, “That’s great High-Q!  We’ve still…got a building on…our shoulders…to deal with!”

 

The Autobots struggled to hoist the human structure back into place, Cyclonus and his platoon still watching from above.  “Why hasn’t the city destroyed itself yet?” he muttered with concern.  A blip came from his right arm, his com-link activating with an image of Galvatron appearing.  “Lord Galvatron!  What happened?”

 

Yelling loudly, Galvatron ordered, “Never mind!  Destroy the Autobots, now!”

 

Cyclonus was obedient, as well as perplexed.  Immediately he transformed, sweeping down and firing on the Autobot group.  His blasts grazed Prime’s right shoulder, leaving a burning scratch there.  Circling back, he called out to War Mind.  “War Mind!  Destroy those Autobots now!  Galvatron orders it!”

 

“As you will, commander,” War Mind uttered.  Standing up, his knee still sparking, War Mind directed his will on the eight Autobots and their Nebulon allies.  Just as he set the building back upright, Broadside’s ax suddenly flew from its mount on his back.  Springer’s sword quickly followed, as did the blasters of Gold Bug, Chromedome, Brainstorm, and Highbrow.  From Prime’s body, the mounted turrets on his arms tore off…and with them High-Q from his chest.

 

“Agh!” Prime collapsed, “High-Q!”  His torso detached, Optimus Prime returning to his normal robotic form as the bulk of his Powermaster body reverted to his trailer. High-Q, trapped in his engine block form, hovered directly in front of War Mind now, the Autobots’ weapons floating to either side.

 

“Now, by my will…your own weapons shall finish you all,” War Mind swore.  From High-Q, bolts of electricity jolted out, each weapon enveloped by an aura as they charged up on the very Powermaster power Prime himself harnessed.

 

“Oh slag!” Brainstorm moaned, “He’s going to finish us all!”

 

Inside of War Mind, Alexander looked out, seeing a look of horror on the warrior robots before him.  He saw them…frightened, genuinely frightened as he once was.  A thought crossed his mind…no…more than a thought, a feeling of…some form of kinship.  He closed his eyes, groaning.  “No…must…not let….”

 

War Mind directed his hands at the Autobots…but nothing happened.  His optics grew brighter as he tried to focus his will, but the weapons just hovered in place.  He clenched his fists, but all they did was rattle in place…as if restrained.

 

“What are you waiting for War Mind?  Finish them!” Cyclonus yelled.

 

War Mind growled, refocusing himself.  Slowly, the weapons inched forward, but still something was holding them back.  Arcana, watching inside of Brainstorm, made the connection.  “War Mind’s power source must be the boy!  He’s restraining him!”

 

“Must be some form of brainwave feedback, or something,” Brainstorm noted.  He cupped his hands around his faceplate, yelling out, “Alexander!  Keep it up!  That Decepticon’s using you!  Fight back!”

 

Alexander, paralyzed but still alive, gasped.  “I…I can’t!  It hurts!”

 

“You can do it, Alexander!”  Chip detached from RedStreak, taking off his exo-suit helmet and standing upright.  “He’s just a machine!  Do what Brainstorm said, fight back!”

 

War Mind, growing increasingly frustrated, cast an evil eye on Chip.  “BE SILENT, HUMAN!” he bellowed.  Suddenly, Chip was lifted up, then flung forward.  Broadside’s vibro-ax, buzzing with giga-watts of energy along its bladed edge, turned and flung itself at Chip.

 

Alexander’s eyes went wide.  The hapless man cried out, the giant ax bearing right at him. 

 

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

 

The ax’s course diverted, missing Chip by mere centimeters and swinging about.  War Mind’s optics went blank…the twirling ax gunning right at his own face!  With a swift tearing, shredding action, the head of War Mind was cut off.  The Decepticon’s optics still wide, the head clanked down on the opposite side of the street, rocking back and forth like a tin can until it stopped, War Mind’s eyes growing dim and dead.

 

Chip fell to the ground.  The Autobot weapondry did the same with a loud CLUNK!  High-Q transformed, standing up weakly. War Mind’s former body whirled down like an old wind-up toy, little Alexander gazing out its transparent belly.

 

Cyclonus gazed at War Mind’s head, then back at the Autobots.  Clenching a fist, Cyclonus roared, “Decepticons, destroy them all!”  In rapid succession, the six Constructicons merged, transforming into Devastator.  The Combaticons merged in mid-air, Bruticus thudding his massive feet onto the San Francisco street.  The Headmasters landed with Cyclonus, their blasters hot and ready.

 

“This is bad Optimus, very bad!” Springer said.

 

“And we’re without our weapons,” Prime further said.  He glanced to weakened High-Q, asking, “High-Q, can you still manage to merge with me to Powermaster mode?”

 

High-Q shook his head, barely able to stay upright.  “No.  All my circuits were drained before…and your systems are too damaged to convert back just yet.”

 

“Slag, if we only had time to form a strategy!” Brainstorm groaned.

 

Devastator and Bruticus didn’t look very willing to give time.  They stomped through the now abandoned street, smashing everything beneath their large feet.  Cyclonus, Weirdwolf, and Snapdragon fired their blasters as the marched with the Gestalts, forcing the Autobots to duck behind Broadside and Prime’s trailer.  Only Chip, laying on his knees at the heart of the battlefield, remained exposed.

 

“Chip!” RedStreak’s headless body screamed, “Chip’s still out there!”

 

“RedStreak, get a head on your shoulders…I mean,” Springer accidentally blurred, “get a grip!  We’ll be minced if any of us steps a nanometer out there!”

 

“But Chip doesn’t have armor-plating like the rest of us!” RedStreak stated, “I’ve got to help him somehow!”

 

Prime shoved a fist at RedStreak’s chest.  “No!  If anyone’s risking their life today….”  A gazed out beyond the corner of his trailer, gazing at Chip, dancing back and forth between laser shots, grenade craters exploding every other minute.  “It’s going to be me!”  Optimus Prime transformed to vehicle form.  The red, trailer-less truck boldly drove straight out.  Chip glanced back, watching as Prime drove toward him at full speed.  A side door swung open, giving Chip an opportunity to bolt inside.

 

Just as Chip jumped, a shot hit Prime square in his radiator.  He flipped, rolling over three times as Chip was thrown back, both Autobot and human lying unconscious and unprotected.  Alexander saw this, one sight among many a child should not need to witness.  The Decepticons were making their move, looming every closer.  The boy closed his eyes as he remained suspended in his bubble prison.

 

“I…must…I must…I…must….”

 

War Mind’s dead body came alive once more.  Slowly, with effort, it rose back to its feet.  It turned about, arms rising up.  Alexander, pouring every effort that could be mustered into it, directed the servos, circuits, and resistors within his Decepticon prison.

 

“What on Cybertron?” Springer muttered in surprise.

 

War Mind’s arms rose up, and with them the scattered Autobot weaponry.  Prime’s turrets and the numerous blasters fired simultaneously.  “No!” Alexander yelled at the Decepticons, “Won’t…let you…hurt…friends!”

 

Suddenly barraged by firepower, Cyclonus uttered, “What in the blazes?  The human?”

 

As the battle seemed to turn back, a series of comet-like pulses rained down from the sky.  One-by-one the weapons were knocked away from War Mind’s reach.  In the sky, his cannon still smoking, Galvatron yelled angrily, “No you fools!  Destroy them!  Destroy them all…human, Autobots, Nebulons, I don’t care!  Destroy them all!”

 

“This is not one of my better days!” Springer moaned.

 

Alexander felt every more tired and strained.  Yet, inside him, something else was stirring.  An inner voice, one distant and alien, called to him, “Alexander…you must persevere.  Let not your mind…but your heart…become the source of your power.

 

Alexander closed his eyes, then opened them, glaring at the Decepticons before him.

 

“AGGGGGGGGGGH!”  War Mind’s body started to glow, streams of white light peering from between the cracks in his plating.  Once more, Alexander unleashed his potential…in full.

 

A giant section of the street beneath Devastator and Bruticus cracked, and then lifted straight into the air with the giants balancing wearily on it.  Cyclonus, there with the others, yelled, “What’s going on here?”  The rock they all stood upon flung out, Galvatron smacked hard as he, Cyclonus, and the Decepticons flew out into the ocean…splashing down somewhere beyond the horizon.

 

In that moment, RedStreak rushed out to the battle, grabbing Chip and merging back with him.  Looking back at Alexander in War Mind’s body, his optics blinked twice.  A shadowy, shimmering silhouette seemed to be standing beside him.

 

“Alpha Trion?”

 

The following day, Alexander was in the hospital, his aging grandmother beside him.  Chip and High-Q were also there, although not donned in their exo-suits.  Chip was in an old-fashioned wheelchair beside the woman.

 

“I’m not sure how the little guy did it, even now,” Chip said to her.

 

“It is his special gift,” Alexander’s grandmother smiled proudly, “He had since he was a wee tot.  The doctors can hardly make sense of it, but they’ll help him good once he wakes up.”

 

Chip glanced at her.  “It…may not be some time before he reawakens.  He’s deep in his coma.”

 

The woman was amazingly optimistic.  Patting her grandson’s head as she stooped over him, she said, “Oh he’ll be waking up sometime.  I’ll just wait here until he does.”

 

At Autobot City, every Autobot was undergoing repairs and refits…after the earlier battle, it was well-needed.  RedStreak, although not severely damaged, was among them.  He rested there in his headless state, in stasis as robotic arms and drones welded and rewired circuits.

 

In his dreams, he was chasing Alpha Trion’s astral from through the streets of Cybertron.  “Wait!  Alpha Trion…I need to speak to you!” he bellowed loudly.

 

The ancient Autobot halted, finally facing the youth.  “You wish to know why I appeared to the human child, no?

 

RedStreak, huffing as he finally caught up, replied heartily, “Yes!  Yes, I do!  Why…a human?”

 

There is much that you do not know…and much more that has yet to pass.  Even when our time…the time of the Autobots has passed, humans will play a vital role in our race’s destiny.  In time, the line of Alexander and Daniel and even your friend, Chip will cross.  A human…will then bring to the Matrix a power strong enough to rekindle our Matrix of Leadership…and save Cybertron from the brink of madness and doom.”  Alpha Trion turned away once again, saying only, “In time, you shall know, RedStreak.

 

To Be Continued….

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