I'll tell you this, riding on the back of a giant metal T-Rex has it's perks! Maybe only a little under twenty minutes passed before we'd cleared most of the forest, and Grimlock crashed through an arch.
Welp, the Chinese won't be happy about that I don't think. But remember the part where I said that I had to hold on for dear life?!
"WHOAAA-AAAAAUGH!"
Yeah, Grimmy took a few leaps that nearly made me fall. Thank goodness I had a grip and his head mostly stayed solid! "HONG K-K-KONG IN SIGHT!" I shouted as we approached.
"Prepare to hold on Gabby!" Kinda no dip there, but what Prime says, goes! I held on as we slid down the side of a hill and onto the street.
"YAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOO!" I shouted, holding on as we raced through the city and Optimus readied his sword.
"Faster! Go!" He ordered.
"YOU HEARD HIM GRIMLOCK!" I added in, fist-pumping briefly when I had a chance. The next thing I knew was that he'd leaped off of Grimlock's back and sliced through two Decepticons! I kept holding on, being the only one who could understand what the Dinobot was saying as Optimus swung himself around and onto a ledge.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" He roared, slicing through another. Wow... talk about being kinda fed up! He threw one and I saw my chance.
"OKAY GRIMLOCK! CATCH!" And catch he did, biting down on the sucker hard! Optimus landed and mounted him again as I guided Grimlock to Bumblebee and Hound's location. Scorn and Slug helped out by snapping, biting, hitting and implaing the 'Cons as we tore through! They were going down like nobody's biz!
"This is awesome!!!" I fangirled, and luckily nobody heard.
"CHAAARGE!" Optimus roared while Grimlock belched out a blast of fire.
"THIS IS AWESOME!!" I cheered, and this time I'm sure maybe all of Hong King heard me. I held on for dear life as we leapt over a stopped train arch and Grimlock bit one on his way over. We kept going, pressing forwards, getting to the Seed before the 'Cons could.
"HIT A RIGHT!" I ordered, and we swung right. Overhead Swoop, another Dinobot cawed, keeping his optics out for Bumblebee and Hound.
*AHEAD!* He suddenly cawed. *SEE ONE!*
"JUST AHEAD OF US!" I said as we barrleled through the streets. "ATTACK!" I shouted with Prime as we came across another swarm of them. Another belch of fire and it was good night sweet Nessie!
"Optimus is here!" Hound's voice echoed through the explosions.
*I will take on Yellow One!* Swoop said, spiraling downwards.
"BEE JUMP!" I shouted at him, and jump he did! Swoop caught him in his claws and carried him off! In just a few short minutes, the whole place was leveled. We'd done it!
"WOO!" I cheered, Grimlock stopping. "That was... was...! Gah okay stop fan-girling Gabby." I told myself, shaking my head.
"GABBY!" Uncle Cade shouted, hurrying out. "GABBY WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING UP THERE?!"
"Enjoying the view." I chuckled. "I'm okay!" I called out to him.
"You!" Optimus pointed his sword downwards at Joshua.
"Who?" He said.
"You!" Uncle Cade shoved him a bit.
"Step forward." Optimus said. "Your science will be responsible for humanity's extinction!"
"Told ya sooooo!" I sang, not being able to help but feel a bit smug.
"All right, I know that you're sensitive to this whole, bio-ethical dilemma-" Josha tried to reason.
"Maybe all he wants to hear you say is that some things should never be invented."
Ooooh, nice one Uncle Cade! "Grimlock, ready." I told him, and the Dinobot shoved his face right at Joshua, opened his mouth and roared!
I almost died when he screamed like a little girl. "okay..." he whispered, and I knew he'd learnt his lesson. "Grimlock, down." I told him, and he pulled his head away.
"We will lead you out of the city." Optimus told him, setting me onto the ground. "Gabby, go with them. Get that Seed safely to the hills."
"Yessir." I stretched, and was instantly hugged by my uncle.
"Gabby, never, ever, ever, do that again."
"Fine." I pouted, running with them.
"Use this car." Drift said, motioning towards it. Uncle Cade, Tessa, Me, Joshua, and some blonde lady that I didn't know ran towards it.
"He almost ate me!!!" Joshua gasped out. "Why did you make him almost eat me?!" He snapped at me.
"I wasn't going to let him eat you! He just had fifty Decepticons on the way in!" I snapped back. That shut him up.
"All right we're good!" Uncle Cade said, trying the engine. We clambered inside, and that's about when I noticed the blonde lady.
"Hi, I'm Gabby Yeager!" I introduced myself quickly.
"Darcy Tirrel." She shook my hand. I already like this chick!
"Get out of that thing." Shane said, resting a hand on the wheel. "And you're one lucky dad to have me."
Right! Shane drives race cars!... and he's really dreamy too. Cue a sigh. AHEM! Well, anyways...
"Okay Lucky Charms, you got that." Uncle Cade agreed, and I had to rub my eyes.
"did he just... agree with Shane Dyson?" I muttered. "this day just got officially weirder."
"Says the girl that rode on the head of a giant robot dinosaur!" Tessa mumbled, crawling out of the front.
"Dino-BOT Tessa, it was a Dinobot!" I protested. "And his name is Grimlock!"
"uh huh..." She murmured. "Right. There's too much for me to process right now Gabby."
"yeah." I muttered, watching as we backed up- and Tessa wrapped her arms around me?! WHAT?!
"I was worried about you... okay? Be more careful. We can't lose you too." She whispered. Tessa was... worried about me? ME?! I thought she hated me!
I did hug back. "don't worry about me Tess. I'm a Chicago survivor... I can fight off a few things. But thanks."
You know something? Maybe things would end happily ever after...
or not.
...
Optimus and Bumblebee were right in front of us, Hound was behind us, and Grimlock just charged along. I waved at him as he did, then I heard a 'beep'!
"What was that?!" I blurted out, looking over. The Seed in Joshua's lap had activated! "Uh... s-should it be doing that?"
"What did you do?!" Uncle Cade asked, looking at it.
"I-I don't know! I-I-I don't know, but it's an issue...!" Joshua stammered. Oh, of course. It couldn't be any less simple!
"Did you press a button?!"
"Is it going to blow up?!" Darcy asked.
"I-I don't know!"
"This thing is beeping now, so you must've hit something!" Uncle Cade told him.
"Is it going to blow up?!" I asked.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Joshua exploded. Wow, touch-e!
"The bomb starts beeping, that may signal as a problem!!!"
"I am just saying, that it is a steady blinking light which could be a timer of some kind," Joshua analyzed. "unless it's signalling location."
"W-when you say, 'signalling location', do you mean it's beeping like a tracker signal for a GPS or something?!" I asked, not getting a good feeling.
"Exactly." Joshua confirmed. I licked my dry lips and raised my hand out, it glowing blue.
"... he's right." I said softly. "it's sending off a beacon."
This did not bode well.
....
"There's the bridge!" Tessa said, spotting it. A little ways away and we were home free-
The next thing I knew was that buses and ships and metal debris were falling from the sky!!!
"LOOK OUT!" I screamed in terror. Everything crashed in front of us, blocking our way! A propellor to a large boat was flung, sharp metal swinging and nearly cutting through the car!
Everything just suddenly... broke. The memories of the night of the attack, running, mom... mom's scream... my scream... I can't focus! I can't-!
-*-*-
Tessa looked at her cousin in shock as she began to hyperventilate. "D-dad!! I think Gabby's having a panic attack!" She quickly wrapped her arms around her cousin, trying to calm her down, but she was scared shitless herself.
Gabby hadn't had one for several months now, but the near brush of death had probably just triggered it. She tried to slow her breathing, tried to remain calm, but the screams all around her and the impending doom made it hard.
"Gabby, Gabby we'll be okay!" She told her. "You're strong... you'll be okay!" They began to back up. "Shane faster!!!" She told him, and looked down at her cousin. A ship crashed down and parts of it went flying, the Autobots themselves nearly crushed by the debris! She wiped her cousin's sweaty, sandy locks away from her face.
"I'm sorry..." she said quietly. "I'm sorry for saying I didn't want you around. You're one of the best things that's happened to us! Gabby please, calm down. Everything's going to be okay! Everything's going to be okay..."
Tessa wished she could believe her own words. "Take cover!" Optimus ordered.
"Back up! Back up!" Cade ordered.
Tessa looked back down at Gabby, and gasped. Her breathing had slowed! "G-Gabby...?!" She looked barely concious! "Gabby no! Don't faint! Don't you dare faint! We can't have you knock out! Please! Gabby!!!" She pleaded with her younger cousin. "Gabby!"
-*-*-
I could feel Tessa, hear everything, but it was all muffled.
'You're scared...' A familiar voice whispered to me.
'I-I am... I'm having a panic attack... I-I thought I'd gotten over them. Everything falling it's like... the night all over again.'
'You have to be strong Gabby. Fight through it... you can do this. Remember the words your mother told you.'
I gulped inwardly. 'She told me to... Believe in myself.' In my mind, my eyes met hers. The other half of me I'd accepted, the AllSpark.
'Believe in yourself Gabby. You can do this. Keep fighting.'
'Keep fighting...' I repeated.
'Have courage.'
'Have courage...'
'You are the AllSpark now.'
'I'm the AllSpark.' My eyes snapped open. "i'm the... AllSpark..." I murmured.
"What?!" Tessa gasped, and I realized what was going on. We were still backing up, screams of people all around but, no trigger. None! I was okay!
"Nothing!" I blurted out. "I'm okay now!" I looked around. "Wow, it's crazy out there!!"
Tessa groaned. I was back baby!
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Joshua was shouting. "Just hit 'em! Just hit 'em!"
I hit him. "Rude much!" All around us, the Dinobots were being hoisted in the air along with ships, cars, anything really and then dropped! "Oh no, this is SO not good!!!"
"It's a big magnet!" Joshua panicked.
"It's sucking up metal and dropping it!"
"Obviously!" I said sharply, but nobody paid any attention. Thank God.
All around us, buses and cars dropped like oversized pieces of metal hail, sometimes people falling with them! Hopefully nothing serious was broken... inside of the car all of us were panicking, shouting, and poor Cade was trying to drive while Lockdown's ship loomed over our heads. I clenched my fists and held on as we navigated through the narrow streets in an attempt to escape, but we didn't have that sort of luck on our side anymore. And that's about when things went from bad to worse...
Ever expirienced having a steamer being dropped and falling right FOR YOU?! "OH MY GOOOOOD!" Joshua yelled, and if I didn't have a stronger bladder I would have wetted myself at the sight! Thank goodness that Cade reversed and drove right into a little house off to the side. Otherwise- well, yeah.
"A-are we done driving? Please tell me we're done driving!" I was the first to say. Nobody answered me, since metal objects began floating upwards and that was way more interesting than-
Oh, oh no.
"Get out! GET OUT!" Uncle Cade ordered, and we all tumbled out.
"The bomb!!!" I gasped out, standing up.
"No! No, no, no! I'm going up! The bomb!" Joshua panicked, clinging onto it as he floated up with it! "Help me! Grab the bomb!"
Uncle Cade came to his rescue and grabbed it, but he was being pulled up too! Darcy grabbed his (my uncle's) leg and held on, and I grabbed her around the waist in an attempt to help. We were all being pulled up, however, and I realized two crucial things.
One, we would eventually be dropped. Two, Shane wasn't down on the ground with Tessa. His seatbelt was stuck! The car broke through the roof, beams falling to the ground below and almost hitting me as I clung on. Lucky for us was that Joshua was pinned to the roof by the Seed, and we were too heavy for it to keep going up! "S-Shane!" I cried out, watching the blue car being raised into the air. I couldn't do anything but cling on, helpless.
We dropped a few moments later, and with us, Shane! "T-that was too close!" I gasped out, sitting up. Oh, and of course...
"CAR!" Uncle Cade yelled as it dropped towards us! We scrambled up and out as it crashed into the ground.
"Scratch that, THAT was too close!" I corrected myself, feeling a tad woozy.
...
We made it to the high way at long last, and I spotted- "Swoop!" I called out, seeing the Dinobot come flying towards us. "Bee!" I waved frantically. They were okay!
-Hey you guys! YEEHAW!- Bumblebee buzzed, riding on his back.
"C'mon." Uncle Cade said, taking my hand and running with me over to the park.
"Optimus!!!" I gasped, seeing the blue-and-red Autobot. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. He was okay too!
"Cade, Gabby," He acknowledged us, standing up. "Autobots, get this bomb over the bridge and out of the city!"
"Dad!" Tessa gasped and I looked up. Lockdown's ship was headed right for us! We quickly ran away, but Snarl and Optimus weren't fortunate that much. They were drawn in by the magnet!
"OPTIMUS!!!" I yelled, twisting around. "NO!!!" Grimlock and Scorn, even Swoop, one-by-one all of them were pulled upwards towards the magnet. I, again, was helpless. Even with the AllSpark, I couldn't do anything to save them. All I could do was... was..
'Run.' It brought back bitter memories. I could hear Optimus' angry cries and then- the magnet! It exploded and dropped them!
"WAY TO GO OPTIMUS!" I cheered excitedly, watching as they all dropped. We made it to Bumblebee and Crosshair's alt-modes and Joshua seperated from us, going to take care of the gun.
"Give me the gun." Uncle Cade told Shane, who complied. "Look, Optimus is out there all alone." I knew what this meant. He wasn't about to-
"You can't help him!" Tessa said.
"For once, I actually agree with Tessa! Uncle Cade he-... he..." I couldn't actually find an actual reason why he didn't.
"Tessa he came back for us, he helped us."
"Dad don't leave please!" Tessa pleaded, and I felt tears burn in my eyes.
"Uncle Cade no!!!"
"Look I'll find you two, I'll get there okay?"
"Dad no you'll die!"
"You two gotta stay with Shane, you'll be okay. You promise you gotta keep them safe, rest of their lives and 'till the end of time. Promise me!" Uncle Cade told Shane.
"I promise you." He said firmly, hugging me and Tessa close, but I tore away.
"I can't! If he's going, I'm going!"
"Gabby not-"
"I can't lose you like I lost mom!" I blurted out. "I can't okay?! I can't! You're all I have left! You and Optimus are the last things I have as... as parents!"
Uncle Cade gave me a quick hug. "when I lost your mom, my sister, it felt like the end of the world. I can't lose you either, kiddo." He murmured, kissing my cheek and then pulled away, and hugged Tessa. "You're the best thing I ever made, don't forget it, it was always you!" He kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"Please!" She pleaded, close to crying. Uncle Cade turned and ran away, and before Shane could stop me I tore after him!
"GABBY!" He yelled when I ran up beside him.
"Yeagers stick together. I have something that can protect me, and I'm Prime's backup in case he gets hurt. I can do this Uncle Cade! Let me help you!"
".... f-fine. But if I say get the hell out, you get the hell out."
"Yessir." I agreed, hurrying off with him.
But I wasn't certain if I could actually hold up my end of the bargain, really.