Chapter Nineteen
Out in the street where he and his comrades had fled from the building, Sean?s gaze locked on a parked motorcycle. In his panic, the driver had abandoned it. The key was lying by the kickstand: good. Picking it up, his sister watched him with confusion.
?Sean, what?re you doing?? She asked. ?Hope it?s not anything rash.?
?You call me saving your well-toned butt for the millionth time a rash action?? Sean remarked with a self-confident grin.
Alissa seemed a little taken aback by his remark. ?What were the other millions times you?d saved my butt??
?Never mind about that.? He told her. ?Just tell those Raptors to bring the rain! They?ll know what you?re talking about when you tell them. It?s a military tactic. And a darn good one if I might add.? Unlimbering the launcher from his back, he positioned the tube he had been carrying against the bike?s handlebars as he gunned the powerful street machine forward through the flaming wreckage. His sister followed him with her eyes for a moment, and then spoke clearly and distinctly into the CB.
The two planes came in low and angry at the top of the street?and did not transform as they vectored in on the rampaging Blackout. The Decepticon turned to face the oncoming human threat. As it did so it did not see the lone human buzz in underneath it, grab the launcher it was balancing on the front bars of its two-wheeled vehicle, slide the bike it was riding between both towering legs, and fire just as Blackout was preparing to bring down both oncoming aircraft.
The mini sabot rounds tore into the Decepticon?s body and limbs, melting metal, leaving behind ugly spreading lesions in the alloy. They were not serious enough to bring the robot down, but they were more than distracting enough to divert it sufficiently for the two diving fighters to have time to unleash their own missiles. Missiles that had been hastily fitted with oversized warheads.
They ripped into the glowering robot, tearing off an arm, blowing great white-hot holes in its chest and lower torso. Shrieking electronically, the mechanoid shook, wavered?and, as Sean scrambled clear, began to disintegrate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The ladder, Frankie thought wildly as she and Mac ran toward it. If they could just reach the ladder, then what? A chance, maybe. Break open a window, disappear into the depths of the empty building, dodge and hide?let the big chunk of murder find them then!
They did not have to.
A huge hand slammed downward, digging into the roof and blocking the way between the humans and the beckoning ladder with a wall of metal. A terrible arm rose up, cannon-tipped. It fired, once, striking the section of roof just in front of Frankie and Mac. The rooftop crumbled, breaking away beneath them. Frankie and Mac felt themselves falling, falling, accompanied by broken statues. They both closed their eyes?
And hit. Hard, but not nearly as hard as they had expected. Sooner than they had expected, too. Opening their eyes, they saw that they were lying in the palm of an enormous hand. Something about the color was familiar?they looked up and found themselves gazing into the lenses of Optimus Prime.
They were falling toward the street together. Leaping from above, a furious Megatron plunged downward after them. Even if they landed in one piece, Frankie realized, they would be crushed between the ground and the colossal mass of the hurtling Decepticon.
Cradling Frankie and Mac protectively against his chest, Optimus whirled as they fell. His other arm morphed into a huge gun. A first shot missed, but the second struck home, blasting the pursuing Megatron off to the side. The leader of the Decepticons would hit the ground with tremendous force, but he would not land on them.
Extending both legs, Optimus jammed his feet into the side of the building. They ripped through successive floors of concrete and steel, slowing but not stopping the robot?s fall. When he finally struck the street, the concussion rattled every building nearby. A cloud of dust and debris geysered from the point of impact.
Landing on his feet nearby, Megatron recovered immediately from the shock of contact with the street. As he did so, Sean and his comrades appeared out of holes in the ground and began plastering the immense mechanoid?s armored body with a fusillade of mini sabot rounds. These were far from lethal?but they were distracting.
As the dust cloud cleared from the small crater Optimus?s landing had made in the street, the robot lowered one hand and uncurled his fingers. Still somehow clutching the Cube, Frankie slid off the slick metal and back onto solid ground along with Mac.
?You two would give your own lives to protect the Cube?? Optimus was quietly incredulous. ?But it is not the source of your kind?s spark.?
Frankie summoned a smile from the depths of exhaustion. ?It?s like my buddy Mac here said: we?re all in this together,? she barely managed to mumble as she wrapped both arms tightly around the softly glowing Cube.
The ground shook as Megatron came flying around the nearest building to slam into Optimus, knocking the other robot backward. ?IT?S MINE! THE CUBE IS MINE!!? Frankie and Mac whirled and half stumbled, half ran away from the renewed struggle.
Diving jets unloaded missiles at the unmissable target that was Megatron. Several punctured the layer of extreme outer armor. They slowed the giant but did not stop him as he reached for Frankie. Swinging around sharply in an arc parallel to the ground, Optimus?s leg screamed through the air above Frankie and Mac?s heads as they dove beneath it. The heavy metal limb hit Megatron hard, driving him back but not knocking him down.
?Aim the Cube at my spark!? Optimus yelled at Frankie. ?The merging will overwhelm both power sources and destroy it!?
Battling to stay on her feet, Frankie looked across at the supine mechanoid. ?But?what about
you??
?DO IT NOW!? the robot thundered.
Frankie hesitated and made one last minute change of plan that she knew Optimus would hate after it had been done. With no idea what to expect, she slammed the Energon Cube straight at the center of Megatron?s chest instead. The blinding flash that resulted blew her and Mac backward as Megatron?s overloaded spark exploded. The giant straightened and stepped backward, clutching his chest. Megatron took a step forward, another backward, shuddered once?and fell.
In the sky nearby, the transformed Starscream let out a shriek of dismay, whirled, and fled. Not to any point of the terrestrial compass, but upward into the clouds and beyond, speeding toward a destination where the human-piloted F-22s that pursued him could not follow.
For the first time in a long while, quiet descended on the city?s southern suburbs.
END OF CHAPTER NINETEEN