Everyone, inside and out, was running for their lives, looking for a safe place to take cover and hide until the craziness was done for. Vaughan could hear the sirens of police cars, fire trucks racing through the streets, trying to reach the location of New York City's tallest structure. The Empire State Building was sinking into the ground.
But how was that even possible?
That's when Vaughan realized; It wasn't.
Something, or should she say, someone, was causing this.
The Decepticons.
As growled under her breath at the thought of them. They were really starting to get on her nerves, a lot more than usual.
She and her friend Daphine followed the rest of the group as they joined the school's students and teachers into being evacuated to the lower underground levels of the school. The overhead speakers came to life, warning everyone to stay inside until it was clear and safe to come out.
The seconds turned into minutes, but to Vaughan it felt like hours.
But finally there was a knock on the doors as police officers waltzed in, helping Vaughan, Daphine and the others out of the building. When they went outside, they couldn't believe their eyes.
The entire building was just, just gone! It sank into the ground and there seemed to be no sign of it.
"Vaughan! Daphine!"
The two girls looked over to see their mothers running towards them, grasping them in their arms.
"Are you two alright?!"
"We were back at the hotel when we heard!"
"We're fine mom." Vaughan assured, hugging Margret.
"Some shakiness, but we're A.O.K." Daphine added.
Margret sighed with relief as Daphine's mother smiled. "Good. We don't know what we'd do if we lost you."
"What do we do now?" Daphine asked. "The tour is over, but now everything and everyone is going crazy."
"Why don't we head back to the hotel?" Margret suggested.
"Bad idea mom. You saw what happened with the Empire State Building! I saw we stay away from tall structures. At least for a short while." Vaughan replied.
"But where should we go?" Daphine's mom asked.
Vaughan cupped her chin, thinking. "Someplace where there's no tall buildings that are too close to us."
"We can scratch the airport off our list. I just got word that the airport is shutting down until further notice." said Margret.
Daphine's face lit up, snapping her fingers. "Hey, I know a place!"
"What?"
"Central Park!" She exclaimed.
"Perfect! We can go their, right in the heart. No buildings even near us. We should be fine there." said Vaughan.
"Well.... Okay honey, if you say so." Margret agreed, reluctantly.
Daphine ran up to the crib, looking around before spotting a yellow vehicle with a sign on the top. She whistled, waving her fist in the air. "HEY YO, TAXI!"
The yellow and black car came to a halt, pulling up beside the four.
"I've got a hint of New Yorker in my blood." Daphine smirked, placing her hands on her hips.
"Sure you do." Vaughan rolled her eyes playfully as she grabbed her friends arm. "Come on, we're wasting day light!"
*******
The Taxi pulled up to Central Park and everyone piled out. It was huge, the biggest park Vaughan had ever seen. She had only been to New York City once, and that was years ago for her Middle School graduation field trip.
While it was great to see the sights again, there wasn't anytime to take it all in. Vaughan and the others had a find a safe place to lay low. As they walked around, they oddly heard the sound of blaster fire.
"What is going on?!" Margret squealed with surprise.
The four of them ran for some bushes, poking through them to see Soundwave, Rumble, and Frenzy in the park! And they were attacking Spike and the Autobots.
"What?!" Margret shirked.
"The Autobots!" Daphine exclaimed.
"Guys?!" Vaughan yelled with shock.
The current party present were Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Ironhide, Bumblebee, and Bluestreak. Rumble and Frenzy were making the ground shake, as everyone tumbled beneath their feet. As Vaughan and Daphine fell, they collapsed out of the bushes, catching the attention of both the Autobots and the Decepticons.
"Vaughan?" Optimus' optics widened.
"Project: Remix." Soundwave spoke, looking at her.
"And look, she's brought a friend over. How quaint." Frenzy smirked.
Vaughan and Daphine gasped as they rose to their feet. They stepped back, signalling their moms to make a run for it. They heard ruffling with the leaves, indicating that the adults had taken off.
"Vaughan, take your friend and run!" Optimus yelled.
Vaughan nodded quickly as she grasped Daphine's hand, the two running across the field. Soundwave chased them, reaching out to grasp them, until Optimus swooped in for the kill, smacking his hand out of the way and punching the Decepticon right in the face.
While Vaughan and Daphine kept running, the Autobots kept the Decepticons distracted as the girls met up with Spike, Margret and Daphine's mom peeking through the bushes behind them.
"Are you two okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, we're okay. What about you?" Vaughan asked in reply.
"Yeah I'm fine, we should get-- Optimus!" Spike pointed.
Vaughan and Daphine whipped their heads around to see the ground beneath Optimus' feet give in, the Prime falling through the ground.
"Optimus!" She called.
Everyone ran forward towards the hole, the sound of an evil laughter could be heard as Megatron, the Decepticon leader, flying through the hole. "--And if you Autobots want to see your beloved leader again, you'll leave this city immediately!"
Vaughan growled at him as he flew over head, firing a soundwave blast out of her hand, nearly hitting him, but Megatron avoided the attack.
"Now Optimus Prime and this city belongs to me!" He declared.
"We'll see about that you bucket head!" Vaughan yelled as she fired another soundwave at the mech, but he too dodged that attack as well.
"Vaughan..... HOW THE HECK ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" Daphine yelled.
Starscream was next to emerged from the hole, hovering beside his leader.
"Scrapper, activate the lift. I want to you all to witness our new base." Megatron smirked.
They all heard rumbling noises, the ground beneath their feet shaking again. They all looked up, eyes widened and mouths gaped open to see a new Cybertronian-modified Empire State Building.
"We give you the first of many in our new city of, New Cybertron!" Megatron exclaimed. "If you ever interfere for a single nano click, I'll melt Optimus Prime down for parts!"
"N-No! I won't let you!" Vaughan yelled, running forward, only to be stopped by Spike who wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back.
"Vaughan no! It's not worth it!" He stated.
"We'll find a-another way to resc-cue Optimus." Daphine assured nervously.
Once Spike calmed his cousin down, the Decepticons took off to their new headquarters. The group has received word from Wheeljack and the others, so Spike, Vaughan, Daphine and the others left to regroup with them. Vaughan thought about following them, but it may be a little too risky.
"I just got word from the others," Ironhide spoke. "The NYPD are helping them evacuate the city."
"If we dare make a move, Optimus is toast." said Wheeljack.
"There's got to be something we can do to help him." Daphine pleaded.
"And save New York." Vaughan nodded in agreement.
"But how?" Margret asked.
"Wait, I think I may got an idea!" Spike snapped his fingers. "Bumblebee, make a left here. I think I know something that just might work."
******
Everyone drove up to the city docks, Bumblebee pulling over to the side to allow the humans out.
"Spike, what exactly is your--" Before Vaughan could finish her question, Spike had taken off his boots and jumped right into the water, Bumblebee following behind. "Never mind...."
Spike's head popped out of the water, gasping for air as he looked around. "Okay, I see it!"
He was pointing over an opening into the city's underground sewer system.
Vaughan's face lit up with realization as she slapped herself in the face. "Of course, now I get it! If the Decepticons sank the Empire State Building and Optimus Prime, they had to have done it from somewhere under the city!"
"I ain't just a pretty face." Spike teased.
"Nice call there Spike." Daphine gave him a thumbs up.
"Alright, let's go!"
Bumblebee emerged from the water, Spike sitting on his shoulders as the Autobot made his way towards the tunnel. The rest of the Autobots jumped in, reaching out for the girls. Vaughan tagged along with Mirage while Daphine rode with Hound.
"I'm not so sure about this." Margret spoke with uneasiness.
"I'm not going out there in that filth!" Daphine's mom stated.
"Mom, it's either underground where it's safe, or up on the surface where there's a high chance of non-stop tremors and falling skyscrapers. Your choice." Daphine shot back.
The two adults looked taken back by the girl's outburst. That's why Vaughan respected Daphine. She wasn't afraid to talk about unless it was the right thing to do. Ratchet reached out, grasping the two of them as they both sat on his shoulders.
All of them then proceeded inside the tunnel, the sound of the Autobots footsteps splashing on the water echoed down the dark path.
"Okay, if we run into the Ninja Turtles down here, I'm going to scream." Vaughan muttered.
"So far so good. If Megatron spots us, Prime is done for." said Ratchet.
"Then he better not find us. I'll scout on ahead, Vaughan hang on." Mirage activated his cloaking device while Vaughan did as she was told, grasping onto his shoulder. Sure enough, both her and Mirage turned invisible! "Follow us!"
"Luckily my senors can track Mr. Invisible." Hound assured, activating his scanner.
"Ugh, I feel like I'm in some kind of swamp, not under the biggest city in North America." Ratchet grumbled.
The Autobots entered a large room, Hound using his scanner to look around the room. "Wait! My senors telling me that Optimus isn't in front of us anymore, he's behind us!"
"What?" Vaughan snapped.
"Are you sure Hound?" Daphine asked.
Mirage deactivated his cloaking so everyone could see him and the girl again. "It looks good from up ahead."
"Nothing out of the ordinary." Vaughan shrugged.
Suddenly Mirage gulped. "But it looks miserable back there!"
There was a snarl coming from the tunnel as everyone turned around to see a metal alligator stalked towards them. The gator was red, blue, and white, with red glowing optics.
"An Alligator?!" Margret squealed.
"AND IT'S METAL?!" Daphine's mom added as she fainted at the sight, Ratchet catching her.
"Keep going, I'll cover you!" Mirage yelled as he handed Vaughan over to Hound as he brought out his blaster, open firing at the gator.
Everyone else ran for an opening out of the water, an old subway tunnel.
"I don't know why, but my scanners keep saying that Optimus is behind us." said Hound.
"We'll worry about that later Hound, let's just get away from that gator!" Vaughan replied.
Once on dry surface, the Autobots set the humans down, all except Ratchet who still held Daphine's mom in his arms. They ran down the tunnel until an old subway cart blocked their path.
"We're trapped!" Daphine yelped.
"We'll have to fight it here." said Bumblebee.
"We can't, the noise will alert the Decepticons!" Hound stated, ripping the subway door off. "I've got a plan."
The metal alligator drew near, turning a corner and stalking straight for the group. Daphine hid behind Vaughan as the two stood behind Bumblebee. Vaughan quickly stepped out, firing a soundwave to push the metal gator back.
"Okay girl, seriously! HOW DO ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" Daphine asked.
"I'll explain later!" Vaughan yelled back.
Then Spike grabbed Vaughan and Daphine's hands as the three of them, and Bumblebee ran into the subway cart, the metal gator following behind.
"Where are we going?!" Daphine yelped.
"It's all part of the plan!" Spike assured. "Keep moving Bumblebee!"
The four of them zipped right out of a side door to see Ratchet messing around with one of the old control panels of the subway. Daphine's mother was placed against a wall, still unconscious from fainting.
"Do it now Ratchet!" Bumblebee yelled.
Ratchet pulled the switch and the cart started moving! It drove full speed into another tunnel and vanished into the dark.
"It worked!" Vaughan exclaimed.
"Now let's find Prime." Spike stated.
******
"Mom? Mom, wake up!" Daphine yelled.
"Gosh, it feels like it's been hours!" Vaughan groaned.
"How are we supposed to wake her up?" Spike asked.
"Pour a bucket of water on her head?" Bumblebee suggested.
"With sewer water?" Ratchet added.
"Nevermind."
"Daphine don't worry, I've known your mother for years, I know how to wake her up." Margret assured.
"How?" The daughter asked.
Margret coughed, straightening herself as she leaned against the wall next to the woman. "I'm making chocolate chip pancakes!"
"I'll have 12!" Daphine's mother snapped awake.
"Mom!" Daphine cheered as she hugged the woman. "You gave us quite the scare!"
"What happened?" She asked.
"You fainted after we encountered a metal alligator." Hound reminded.
"Ugh, don't remind me." She shuddered.
"But you just-- Ah, never mind." Hound waved it off.
"So where to now Hound? Where is Optimus?" Ratchet asked.
Hound reactivated his scanner, blinking faster and faster as he took a few steps forward. There was a huge metal door at the end of the tunnel. No windows, no locks, no handles.
"According to my scanners, Prime should be ten clicks from where we're standing." said Hound.
"So, how do we get to the other side?" Spike asked.
Vaughan smirked, stepping forward as she cracked her knuckles. "I got this." She got into a position, clutching her hand into a fist. She pulled back, then released, opening the palm of her hand and firing a soundwave blast at the door.
It only made a huge dent.
"Oh come on!" Vaughan complained. "I blew up a Decepticon warship, yet I can't even bust open a door?!"
"There must be still a slight side affect when Soundwave disabled your powers a while back." Ratchet guessed.
"Oh, lucky me." Vaughan spoke sarcastically.
"Stand back, I'll get it open." said Mirage.
Mirage stepped forward, bringing out his gun as he fired a laser, melting the door. Once it was gone, everyone stepped through the otherside, to find themselves inside a base. A Decepticon base. Filled with computers, consoles, you name it.
But something else caught their attention.
"What have they done to you?!" Hound yelled with shock.
Optimus Prime's head.