Sorry for the late chapter, I'm so bad at keeping schedules please don't get mad at me. Plus, with three broken fingers, you can't blame me for being slow! Hope you lovelies enjoy!
[Amanda]
"Fowler to base." Agent Fowler said through his phone once we landed at the other side of the ground bridge. "We're in."
The Nemesis was every way the evil headquarters from most nightmares. With twisting hallways illuminated by purple light, it almost felt like a maze that we were way too small to play in. The walls around me gave me a sickening feeling; there was definitely dark energon in play here, and a massive amount of it. There was a group of Decepticons in front of us, all frozen the same way the Autobots were. Creepy.
"Good." Ratchet said, his voice on speakerphone so we could all hear him. "Their data core should be accessible from any console."
I inclined my head to the room to our left. "Let's try in here."
We all crept in, still not sure how to act with the frozen Decepticons. What if they unfreeze all of a sudden? Would we be able to get away? Would I be able to hold them off with my powers?
"Here's one." Jack said slowly, bringing me back to reality. In front of us was a computer with a solid red screen, and a certain Con frozen in front of it...
"Doc Knock is knocked out." Miko said, running up to Knockout's foot and slamming her fist into him before giving us the okay.
"Look!" Raf pointed up at the red screen. "Why is that text flashing?"
I peered up at it. "Those are Iacon coordinates. The ship must've decoded two more." Beep. "Make that three more."
"Then let's grab this stuff and go." Finn said. "Amanda, Raf, Agent Fowler, use Knockout as a wall and climb."
We did so, climbing up Knockout to get to the computer while the others stayed on the ground to monitor everything. It was kind of high up, similar to the height of the platform back at base. Once up there, I scanned the area again and saw no signs of movement, which relieved a bit of stress, but I wouldn't be able to relax until we were out of there.
"Here's a port." Raf said and Agent Fowler handed him the data stick, which the younger boy plugged in. An icon flashed on the screen, indicating the download was starting.
"Why is the warship heading for Manhattan?" Jack asked and I saw he was looking at a nearby screen. This screen had a map of the world on in, with words and arrows pinpointed on the city.
"That's where the first set of coordinates are located." I replied.
"You can read that?" Raf whispered, and I shrugged.
"Enough to grasp what it says."
Agent Fowler stepped forward to get a look. "What would a relic from Cybertron be doing in the Big Apple?"
"The Iacon relics landed on Earth eons ago, Agent Fowler." Ratchet said through Fowler's phone. "Long before the city was built atop it."
"Which means if the ship wants this one," Jack said. "It may have to move some buildings out of the way."
"Our mission just got complicated." Finn's tone was grim. "We can't let it tear up one of the biggest cities in the world. How do we get the ship off course?"
"I would advise disabling the navigation module." Ratchet replied. "Call up the main navigation menu."
Raf pointed at a button. "There."
Agent Fowler walked forward and pressed it, only to receive an electric shock and fall off the console.
"Agent Fowler!" I rushed to the edge to see Finn, Jack, and Miko had sort of caught him, breaking his fall enough so that he wasn't severely hurt.
"He's just out cold." Finn reported.
"System access detected." A deep, dark voice said. The Nemesis. "Interference will not be tolerated."
A camera slid out of the ceiling, shelving around to look for the source of interference. I stepped in front of Raf, but tried to stay as still as possible afterwards.
"Reveal yourself." The ship commanded.
"It doesn't see us." Miko hissed, but not very quietly since I could hear her.
"Yet." Ratchet said from Agent Fowler's phone, which was on the ground next to us. Raf picked up the phone so we wouldn't lose it. "The ship must not be scanning for carbon based life forms, but once it widens it's search parameters-"
"We're toast." Jack finished.
"I'm bridging you back." The medic declared.
"No!" I said quickly. "There are millions of lives at stake in New York, and we five are the only ones who can do anything about it right now."
"You're out of your element, Amanda." Ratchet argued. "According to these readings, the ship's rapid recovery all points to the fact that Megatron employed dark energon to repair it. You may have had the power to transport the Autobots through the ground bridge before, but you won't be able to do that now with so much dark energon around you."
"Hold on." Finn said. "If you're saying the ship is fueled by dark energon, we can unplug it, right?"
A pause from Ratchet, before, "You'll need to reach the warship's energon infuser. Follow the main overhead conduits; they'll lead you to the power core."
I grabbed Raf's hand and helped him down from the console, leaving the data stick to still download the information. Once we hit the ground, the five of us started running down the halls of the Nemesis, following the conduits like Ratchet said. It didn't take long to notice that all of them were converging, heading towards one place. The doors that the conduits lead to was closed, so I placed my hands on it and willed them to open. Luckily the dark energon hadn't drained me too much, because the doors did as I wanted them to, allowing us entry into the energon infuser.
The first thing I noticed were the crates of energon lining the room. To be more accurate, I sensed them first. Then I felt the dark energon, a heavier presence here than anywhere on the ship, leading me to see the other crates of dark energon, letting off an eerie purple glow. There was a massive device in the middle of the room, probably where energon was placed into the core of the ship, and in front of that-
"Megatron." Jack said, a slight quiver in his tone. "Looks like he had the same idea as us."
The Decepticon Leader was frozen in front of the device, his hand resting on the handle.
I tried not to let on how much what was in front of me freaked me out. "Then we're on the right track. Ratchet?"
"The energon injection valve can only be operated manually." The medic said from Fowler's phone, which Raf was holding.
"Manually?!" Miko exclaimed.
I frowned, looking up at Megatron and the lever he was holding on to. That must be what we needed to push but how-
"Give me a boost." Finn said and I glanced over to see him standing behind Megatron. Jack made a little stand for Finn, pushing him up high enough to grab onto Megatron's leg.
"Be careful!" I called up as he climbed. Finn was a good climber, scaling Megatron's back in only a few minutes. Soon, he jumped from Megatron's arm to the control panel and tried to shove the lever.
"What's wrong?" Miko asked.
"It's- not- budging-" Finn ground out.
Before any of us could offer any sort of assistance, the ship spoke again. "I am infested with alien life-forms!"
"Uh-oh." Raf said. "Busted."
A robot arm that had been holding an energon crate dropped the crate, then lunged at where we were gathered next to Megatron's feet.
"Scatter!" I exclaimed and we all jumped away in different directions. The arm didn't stop there though, sweeping across the floor after us. Then I got an idea. "This way! We can lose it between the crates!"
The four of us dashed towards the energon crates and split up again, hoping to lose the arm, which swung side to side, knocking over the crates. I had already lost sight of the others, but when a crate fell behind me and trapped me in a corner, I noticed that Jack, Miko, and Raf were in similar situations.
It's trying to round us up, strike us all at once. It may be working... we're all in the same box...
Think. There has to be a way out, just think!
"All parasites will be eradicated!" The ship snapped.
"Hey!" Finn's voice rang out. "Over here!"
The arm spun around and locked onto him, shooting towards Finn at an alarming speed.
"Finn, no!" I exclaimed, fear running through me.
"Run for it!" Miko yelled.
He skidded to a stop instead, facing the arm. The arm lunged at him, and I almost thought it would hit its target when Finn jumped out of the way last second. The arm smashed into Megatron, causing the Decepticon Leader to tip backwards, his hand till clutched around the lever as he fell. The lever caused a crate of dark energon to fall out of the energon injection valve, turning the pipes that were once purple blue again as proper energon ran through them. The bad, sick feeling that came when I was around dark energon left too, confirming what had just happened.
"I am in command!" The ship growled, still attacking Finn. "Prepare to be neutraliz-"
Then it froze, completely powered down.
"Yes!" Miko whooped and we all ran towards Finn, who looked thoroughly relieved to see the ship back to normal. Miko tackled him in a hug while the boys gave him a fist bump. I punched him in the shoulder lightly, causing him to smile one of those real, not forced, smiles that I enjoyed.
But Megatron's fingers twitched, ruining the moment. The entire situation crashed down on us again as we all exchanged wide eyed expressions. Soon, the Decepticons wouldn't be in stasis anymore and-
"Run!" Jack exclaimed, spurring us all into motion. We all sprinted back to the room where the data stick was plugged in.
As we ran, Raf basically yelled into the phone, "Ratchet! We need a ground bridge! Now!"
We raced into the room, seeing Agent Fowler getting on his feet slowly. Miko and Finn went to help him up while Raf, Jack, and I looked up at the computer screen.
"That's all that's been downloaded?!" Jack demanded. The same thought was going through my mind; not even barely half of the file had been downloaded onto the data stick.
"The Iacon file must be huge!" Raf exclaimed. A ground bridge opened up behind us, causing us to whirl around.
"Sweet! Here's our ride!" Miko and Finn helped Agent Fowler through the ground bridge, and Raf and Jack followed, but I didn't. I turned back around, and started to climb up Knockout's leg.
"Amanda?!" Raf's tone was incredulous.
"Some of the file is better than none of it." I said as though that explained everything. "We can't leave this here, not after all that work."
I managed to get onto the panel and tugged the data stick out. Then I left eyes on me, so I whipped around to see Knockout's- fully unfrozen- smirk as he unsheathed a drill.
"I knew I'd see you again." The Con said, amused, then pointed the drill at me. "Seems like it's time for a little operation. Say 'ah'."
Scrap!
I was too panicked to summon the powers of Cleona, so all I could do was scramble back until-
"I'm here to offer a second opinion." A familiar voice said from behind Knockout, and the next thing I saw was a fist connect with the Con's face, sending him to the ground. Ratchet quickly scooped me up and ran through the ground bridge, where the others were waiting on the other side.
~~
"The download of the Iacon database may have been incomplete," Ratchet said as he looked over the partial file we swiped from the Decepticon warship. "But we now possess fouts sets of coordinates decoded by the ship."
"Then we must act quickly," Optimus said. "For Megatron possesses the same four sets, and he will not hesitate to obtain the potential doomsday devices which lie at the site of each."
I sighed slightly from my spot on Optimus' shoulder. "We never get a break, do we?"
"That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?" Finn shot me a grin from the platform, which I shook my head to, but smiled slightly nonetheless.
"But, at this moment, we have prior commitments." Optimus said. "It is long time for the children to be getting home."
The other all nodded, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead transforming, and Raf, Jack, and Miko climbing aboard. They left soon after, and I hopped from Optimus' shoulder to the platform before turning to look at the Prime.
"You don't have to drive me home." I said. "I know you want to keep an eye on things, just in case. You should stay here; Megatron may make a move and you have to be ready."
He gave me a thankful look. "As long as you are alright with that, Amanda."
"Of course." I gave him a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Optimus."
"Until then. Call if you need anything."
"Will do." I saluted and then walked down the stairs of the platform as I pulled out my phone to call my Mustang when Finn caught up with me.
"Want a lift?" He offered, inclining to his dark blue Lexus ES parked in the corner.
I shrugged, tucking my phone away. "Sure."
The drive to my house was full of small talk. While Finn and I talked about the little things, with the window rolled down and cool wind in my hair, I realized how at ease I felt, despite everything that happened today. The Nemesis, fighting a ship, coming face to face with Knockout again... none of it was bothering me anymore. At the same time, I felt disappointment when we reached my front gates, disappointed that the moment was over.
"Thanks for the ride." I said and started to get out, but then didn't.
"What's wrong?" Finn asked, noticing my hesitation.
I took a breath and then looked at him carefully. "When you decided to climb Megatron to get to the lever... were you scared?"
His eyebrows rose in surprise. "I... I didn't think that far."
"Oh."
"But it might've occured to me that the drop from the top would hurt only once I got to the top. At that point, I didn't bother worrying because I knew one of you would catch me." He grabbed my hand suddenly. "You may not think you have that strong of a grasp on your powers, but I knew you'd be able to catch me if I fell."
I tried not to let my racing heart affect my words. "How'd you know that?"
"Because I know you."