Being Human (Transformers Prime)

Chapter Twenty Nine | The Fallen

"No single act is entirely redemptive, but all a fallen man has is the first step back.” 

~Frederick Weisel

>>•<<

After an unsuccessful first few attempts to get the right kind of car for Jack, Smokescreen was getting antsy. He really couldn't complain, as he was just as picky, but something about the boy seemed . . . Off. It made the Autobot uneasy.

He supposed it made some sense that Jack would be angry after learning that his mother had died at the hands of Megatron. Smokescreen couldn't imagine what it must have felt like, to have his only family ripped away so suddenly by the Decepticons. Sure, a lot of Cybertronians experienced that during the war, more than he cared to think about, but the fact that a human, who could do nothing about the war they had been accidentally thrown into, was harmed, it seemed so much worse.

Yet the way Jack moved, spoke, and even growled was unnerving. Something was there that didn't sit right with the rookie. Something Jack had yet to disclose; if he was even aware that it was there.

Smokescreen straightened a bit as his comlink chirped, opening it up. "Smokescreen to base. What's up?"

[You and Jack need to get out of there, now! Megatron is headed right your way!]

"Megatron?" Jack looked up as the sound of jets reached his audio receptors, glaring as the shriek of engines passed over their heads and the sound of transforming followed soon after. The boy stood as Megatron landed with a heavy thud, the warlord standing up straight and grinning, pointed denta intimidating in the bright dessert sun.

Three Seeker-type Vehicons followed up behind him, their servos transforming into guns and pointing at the two Autobots, silent as their master addressed the enemy.

"It seems that we have almost come full circle once again." Megatron crooned, taking a few calculated steps toward Jack, who immediately tensed into a fight-ready position. "Unfortunately, I no longer have anything to bargain with. But I think you already knew that."

"You murdered my mother." Jack's servos transformed into their swords. "There will be no bargaining. I'm going to take your spark, right here, right now!"

Smokescreen felt the energon drain from his helm, and he stepped forward and reached out a servo. "Jack, stop-"

Slam!

The rookie flew back several feet and landed in the dirt, hard, his processor spinning with confusion and shock. Jack had hit him, assaulted one of his own. As he set up with a grunt his comlink beeped again.

[Smokescreen, we are sending backup. Stay where you are, do not engage Megatron!]

"Too late, Optimus." He mumbled, sitting up and blinking the fuzziness from his optics to see Jack and Megatron squaring off. "Jack is . . . Already fighting . . ." He felt his neural receptors assessing the damage, cursing himself for being useless after one unexpected hit in the helm. Jack would never survive against Megatron under any circumstance.

A Groundbridge portal opened near him and Bumblebee stepped out first, noticing his injured comrade and kneeling down, beeping out a concerned question.

"Jack!" Arcee cried in horror as she skid to a stop outside the portal, optics wide as she watched him engage Megatron in a heated battle, one fueled by anger and bloodlust; this was not a battle one would engage in war, this was a gladiatorial battle, one where their lives hung in the balance, only determined by the mood of the victor.