Metallic Matters Chapter 4

“Let's get ta' business now,” came a heavily accented, silken voice from the black muscle car, headlights bright and glaring.

“Woah..a Challenger...” Will murmured, despite the situation. Logic seemed to leave when confronted by some spectral ghostly derby about to happen in this crowded and dark alley. It was like some....British model was taunting him, with a voice like poisoned honey. The kinda thing girls find, for some reason, “hotter than lava.”

The black-haired man scowled, the scars along his face moving with the corners of his mouth, and clenched his fists, eyes narrowed at the new arrival. Without even turning, he spoke.

“Hotshot, I'm takin' a wild guess that there isn't another way outta this alley, is there?”

“.......”

“That's what I thought...” he said, the rookie's silence confirming what he was hoping against.

Best...fraggin'...day ever... He thought grimly.

He stood like that for a while, no one moving, everyone holding their breath. Waiting for...something.

Then, the Challenger slammed on the gas, and with a screeching yell of tires, barreled towards the dark-haired man.

Sally clamped her eyes shut, Will turned his head away, afraid to see the man splattered across the hood of that sleek, awesome-looking muscle car, and time seemed to slow down.

He heard the weirdest noises, like a fridge smashing against a barrel of steel beams and some other humming noises.

Will's head spun around, and what he saw, would forever scare the heck outta him for as long as he lived.

The man was gone, but his truck had moved, and was in a flurry of moving pieces of metal pieces and parts, until there was a shape very different than what had been there before.

More clanking and whirring, and behind him was a thud, and a familiar voice.

“ 'Bout time I got to kick some aft. I was beginning to think you didn't like me anymore, Sizzle.” It spoke, tauntingly.

Will looked up and over his shoulder, and saw another...thing behind him.

“Oh. Ehm. GEE. They're like.....robots or somethin' like that..” Sally said, weak-voiced and faint as she clung to the chain fence in shock, her blue eyes filled with confusion and shock.

“Hotshot, get the humans out of here, now” the black figure growled as it pulled out, yep those are definitely cannons, their hum buzzing like an angry hornets nest.

Then, all hell broke loose as the two black robots started firing at each other, as Will and Sarah saw the black Challenger change into a frightening tower of metal.

“Oh god, Sal...we are so screwed..” Will said under his breath, just before getting scooped up by some mass of metal.

“Come on, we gotta roll outta here!”

The world spun, and Will was certain he'd lose what little food he had in his gut, until he and Sally were in the seats of the ghost car that had spoken earlier.

“Scrap...first bit of action in ages and I gotta protect humans...thanks a lot Ironhide” came a voice from the radio.

“Sal...I think we're being kidnapped by the ghost car..” Will said with a groan, his hands gripping the wheel until his knuckles were bleach white.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Ironhide's cannon hummed, his blue optics narrowed at the black titan who stood, grinning like a fool in front of him, in spite of the situation the two were in.

“What'sa matta, guv? 'Fraid I'll toast your tailpipe, like that bud of yers, what was 'er name? Oh yeah...Chromia?” Sizzle replied, his grin widening when he saw the other mech's shoulders tense aggressively, a look of disgust on his face.

“Oh-ho-ho! Struck a nerve, did I?” the black mech replied, raising up his servos and cupping them, as if holding balls of air in each one. “Frag, she had a great aft! Too bad for you that she bit the dust, guv!” he finished, crossing his arms.

“You slagger!” Ironhide yelled, firing blast after blast at Sizzle, but the smaller black and flame-painted mech kept leaping and dodging each one as if they were fired in slow-motion.

“Tsk, tsk... You've gotten worse, Ironhide! Some weapons expert you are! Can't even hit a bleedin' decepticon right in front of ya!”

“You don't even deserve to utter Chromia's name, you aft-hole!” The black mech roared, firing madly, blue optics ablaze with fury.

Sizzle ducked and dodged the first few blasts, but not for long. Soon, his armor was smoking from one blast, then two.

“Oi...I just remembered...I had to meet up with a femme for that date at..that place.” he spewed out, his cocky attitude shrinking as he figured he may have pushed the large mech too far. Time to go!

Sizzle quickly transformed, in a flurried panic, to his car form, and with a screech of tires and smoke, he shot out of the alley, eager to get away from the black mech.

“Oh no you don't, slagger!” Ironhide roared, quickly changing to his alt form as well, barreling after Sizzle.

The black cars zoomed down the dark streets, past crumbly buildings and overturned trash cans.

Primus, this bleedin' idiot doesn't know when to stop! If this keeps up, my gorgeous mug won't be quite as hot! I just need to find a ...a distraction or something! the mech thought, panic bubbling in his chassis.

~.~.~.~

Zoey, new groceries in her arms, was rushing down the dusky sidewalk. 

"God, it's getting dark already? My luck is just awesome."

She said sarcastically between puffs.  

She looked down at her watch, and-

"Dammit! I swear you have the worst driving skills ever, you fu-"

Zoey yelled angrily, before a giant hand picked her up.

And none too gently either.

"Oi, you got a nice pair a knockers!" Came a silky, British accent.

"What the hell? Let go of me, jackass! And stop staring at my boo-" then Zoey saw the robot's face a mere foot from her own.

It was long, with a strutting, pointed chin, all framed with black metal with the occasional red flame paint. And blood red eyes. 

Worst. Luck. Ever!

"Fraggin' Decepticon! Leave the human outta this!" Yelled a gruff voice.

Zoey whipped her head to find the source, and saw a very familiar black truck.

What the..?

Then it changed, into another robot! And it was holding a giant ass gun!

"What the hell?!?! WHY ME?! I JUST WANTED TO GET THE DAMN GROCERIES!" Zoey screeched, clinging to the hand for all she was worth.

"Calm down, tidbit. I got this." The solid black robot said with a small wave of his large hand.

"Oh my god...you're the dude with the terrible driving skills.." Zoey murmured, starting to go into mental shock.

Ironhide took a step towards Sizzle, who only wagged his finger calmly.

"Ah ah ah, don't want the bleedin human to...well, bleed, now do ya?" The smaller mech teased, squeezing his hand just enough for Zoey to let out a small squeal of pain.

Ironhide ground his teeth and tightened his grip on his blaster.

"What do ya want, you slagger?"

"I want ta go without a single scratch, ya hear me? I don't get scratched, the human don't get squished." Sizzle replied with a smirk.

"...fine." Ironhide replied, throwing his blaster to the ground.

"Well, I hope you're good at a bit 'a catch, the!"

Sizzle grinned and threw Zoey far over Ironhide's helm, then transformed and drew away with a screech of his tires.

Ironhide ran, and dove, barely catching a shaking Zoey in his large hands. 

"Damn, tidbit, ya have the worst luck." He muttered.

"Yeah... tell me about it..." Zoey murmured, eyes wide with shock from her flight.

~.~.~.~.~.~~.~.~.~ 

Under an overpass he had tried to recharge at before, was Hotshot. Well, him and two awkwardly silent teens.

"Soooo...you guys like..cartoons? Or...something?"

Hotshot asked, his voice coming through the radio.

Will's grip on the seatbelt didn't ease up, and Sally still looked ready to puke.

"Well...this sucks." Hotshot grumbled. 

Why did Ironhide get to smash 'cons? This is just insanely unfair!

Then his comm crackled with static before said autobot spoke.

"Hey, 'Shot, take the kids to the base."

The rookie reeled, was he serious? 

"But Rodimus will have our afts, 'Hide!"

"I don't care about that slagger, right now these kids need ta stay under the radar, and so do we." Ironhide snapped, the comm clicking as he disconnected.

"Damn...hey, how well can you guys stomach low tide smell and fishing boats?" Hotshot asked the two teens.

~.~.~

It wasn't a long drive, maybe just forty-five minutes. They were lucky the commuters hadn't woken up yet, else it would have taken longer.

Streetlights passed overhead the gold car as it drove to the city docks, and stopped in front of an old warehouse, moldy from the sea spray and sand kicked up from the ocean. 

Calling it dilapidated didn't cut it. The building was a shell of its former self. Windows smashed in to reveal the pitch-black interior, molded bricks crumbled where a small part of the upper wall had fallen in. Not a speck of the lower level was untouched by weird graffiti, faded long ago. 

"It's totes, like, a freaking horror movie scene..." Sally murmured.

"Yeah, freaky. No wonder no one is hangin' around this place" agreed Will.

Hotshot drove threw the cargo door, where deliveries in large crates would have gone through.

He drove in the dark building, passing freight crates stacked up and rusted, until he stopped at a cleared off section.

"I still think this is the worst idea ever..." Hotshot grumbled to himself.

Then, the floor began to descend, until they were in the first level of the basement, then second, then third, then fourth, until they stopped at the fifth.

Where a blue robot flecked with rust was waiting, arms crossed, foot tapping, and some kind of cigar in his mouth as he glared at Hotshot.

"Do you think, like, that is the boss they were talking about?" Sally whispered to Will.

"He just looks like an old fart..." Will murmured, sitting back in the seat.

"No, that's Kup," Hotshot hissed to the teens. 

"Just please be quiet!" 

"Hotshot, I'm going to take a flying leap and guess you've brought humans here." retorted, spitting some gooey blue gunk to the side when he finished talking. 

"Primus, fraggin youngsters these days are so incompetent.." 

"But Kup! 'Hide told me to do it, dude!" Hotshot replied, trying to defend himself.

Sally and Will hopped out of the sports car, standing back as it transformed again, he was tall, but only just a bit taller than Kup, who seemed to be stuck in a permanent slouch, and he was a golden color, with red flames at the ends of his wrists and legs. 

"Please don't tell Rodimus," The gold mech started to plead.

"He'd string me up and give me even morechores!"

"Don't tell me what, Hotshot?"

Came a deep, curious voice.

"Scrap..." Hotshot mumbled, his shoulders slumping.