"We must leave now. Come with me," the robot falcon urged. Noah glanced at Lisa and Elena, who returned his gaze. With the help of the Autobots, whose names they had learned during their escape, Lisa, Elena, and Noah managed to elude the police and find themselves in a more secluded area. Optimus Prime, consumed by grief for Bumblebee, expressed his emotions by tossing objects around.

"I am sorry for your loss," the robot falcon, Airazor, expressed. Mirage, slightly sarcastic, asked for clarification, "No offense, lady, but who are you again?" Airazor replied, "My name is Airazor. I am a Maximal, a warrior from both your past and future."

Mirage, catching on, sarcastically remarked, "Oh, right. That tracks. Yeah." Airazor continued, explaining their situation, "We fled our home planet on the eve of its destruction and sought refuge here on Earth." Mirage nodded, understanding the context.

Elena, keeping up with the conversation, asked the question on everyone's mind, "So, you're a Maximal, and they are Autobots. But what were those things that attacked us earlier?" Airazor clarified, "Those were the Terrorcons, servants of a dark, hungry god known as Unicron. He consumes entire worlds to sustain himself."

Optimus Prime interjected, recognizing the name, "Unicron."

Mirage sought further clarification, "So you're saying this thing Unicron eats planets to survive?" Lisa's eyes widened in astonishment at the revelation.

"Yes," Airazor confirmed, "and he imbues his servants, like Scourge, with dark energy which makes him all but invincible. He is entirely beholden to Unicron. Through his power, he possesses Scourge's soul."

"I should have retrieved the key myself. I should have known better than to rely on humans," bitterly remarked Optimus Prime.

Noah, feeling the weight of the blame, retorted, "Yo, hold up. What, you blaming me? After conveniently leaving out the part about a planet-eating monster?"

"Because of you, Unicron will now use the key to consume every planet in the universe, including my home world," Optimus Prime lamented.

"He doesn't have the key! At least not all of it," interjected Airazor. "We broke the key into two pieces for safekeeping, then splintered and went into hiding. I do not know where the other half is. For all I know, I am the last of our kind."

"It's in Peru," Elena confidently stated.

"How do you know that?" questioned Noah, intrigued by her revelation.

Elena retrieved her notebook from her backpack and flipped through the pages. "The symbols on the stone were only ever recorded in one other place in the world-the Inca Temple of the Sun in Cusco. It's one of the oldest buildings in the western hemisphere. I'm guessing that that can't be a coincidence," explained Elena, showing her findings to Airazor.

Lisa praised her best friend, saying, "Atta' girl!"

Arcee, however, raised a concern. "If you can track those symbols to Peru, so can the Terrorcons."

Optimus Prime then declared his plan. "And then kill Scourge and take his place to complete the key."

Noah, still trying to process everything, repeated in disbelief, "Yo. Hold up. Hold up. You want to find this other key and deliver it to the guy that just kicked your asses?"

Lisa couldn't help but agree with Noah, understanding the potential consequences for Earth.

"The Transwarp Key is our only way home," Optimus Prime asserted.

Noah stressed the urgency, "If this dude gets ahold of that thing, it's game over for Earth! Our families, everybody." He glanced at Lisa and Elena, considering his next words. "I'm going."

I WANNA BE DOWN, noah diazWhere stories live. Discover now