Chapter Text
The smell of fresh dinner food wafted over you as you walked down Main Street. People from all walks of life rushed by you on the sidewalk, businessmen, buskers, families, and homeless people occasionally. The streets were lined with multiple-story tall buildings, small shops packed together on the first floor, and old apartment buildings on top. Each building was made of some kind of brick and looked to be at least 70 years old. The shops ranged from financial institutions to local flower shops, each one as unique as the one next to it. This stretch of road just happened to be part of your daily commute. Suddenly two loud cars rounded a corner in front of you and roared their engines as they neared closer. They stood out like a sore thumb against the regular cars on the road. One was a green supercar, and the other was a blue racecar with orange stripes. Even if they didn't look like irl Hot Wheels cars the sheer volume of them would still grab anyone's attention. You slowed your walking pace so you could stare at these strange new cars. Their roaring engines got louder as they came closer, you could feel the vibrations in your body as the two cars stopped in the middle of the road in front of you. The two supercars had captivated everyone’s attention, and like a performer to their audience, the two cars turned into transformers.
“Alright, where is this rock?” The blue one spoke. He took a cursory glance at his surroundings. Everyone seemed to be frozen in place, including you, transfixed on these newcomers. Their engines still hummed as they stood and you could hear various mechanical noises from the inner workings of their frames.
“Somewhere over here. Let's get rid of all these onlookers first,” the green one said, eyeing the passerby with disgust. The sound of his arm cannon charging up seemed to get the public to understand that these were not friendly bots. Screams of terror erupted as everyone started to get the message. The green one lobbed a couple of warning shots into the ground. Everyone scattered -in between buildings and down the road, everyone except for you. All your life you had wished for a chance to witness a transformer firsthand, and now suddenly there were two real ones right in front of you. You weren't going to squander this opportunity, even if it could get you injured, or killed. Instead, you hid behind a parked car. Close enough to be in harm's way, but far enough that they wouldn’t immediately notice you.
The green one pulled up a blue-tinted hologram, it looked like a strange map. There were multiple red markers scattered about, placed between different layers. Each layer had lines that looked like roads on a map.
The green one spoke first, “It says it's underneath this building right here. Now we could dig a tunnel undernea-” but before he looked up from the map, his partner had already decided for him. With an impactful punch, the storefront of said building was reduced to rubble made of brick and glass. “You moron! Are you trying to have the whole building come down?!?” The green one cried frantically.
“What? I'm just trying to get to the stone.” the blue one responded plainly, he seemed confused as to why his partner was so upset. He seemed like the type of person to go in guns a’blazing without so much as a former thought.
“Who knows how weak these buildings are, it could all come crumbling down on top of us and then we’d just have more slag to dig through.” the green one nagged. He seemed like the old grouchy type. “Why don't you try using your brain module for once?” he grumbled.
“Why don't you try eating my spike for once?” the blue one retorted without missing a beat. He put his hands on his hips in a defensive stance while the green one mumbled something incomprehensive and headed into the building. “Just do your job and keep watch,” he demanded as he ducked into the now blown-up building.
You weren’t entirely sure if that was an insult or an invitation, but regardless they kept on with the destruction. You couldn’t tell exactly what was going on from your position behind the parked car across the street, but you assumed the green one was digging further down. A loud grinding noise emanated from the building. The blue one did as told and stood guard. He pulled out a bright orange transformer-sized rifle from his side and clutched it in his arms. The grinding noise continued. He started to rock on his feet gingerly. A couple more moments go by. He starts to tap his digits on the rifle body. Some more moments go by.
The blue one impatiently turns to the building and calls out over the now slightly distant grinding noise, “Hey you find the stone yet?” When he didn't get a response he ducked into the building and disappeared out of site.
With the two transformers now inside the building, you decided to stick your head higher over the parked car. The building's whole front wall was caved in, bricks holding together around the edges with nothing but a little bit of friction and pure luck. rubble and glass scattered everywhere, it looked like a bomb went off. Inside the building was an equally big hole dug into the floor. The blue one was poking around the entrance of the dirt hole.
Suddenly you caught the eye (optics?) of the blue one. You quickly ducked back down hoping he didn’t see you. You crouched there panicked as you heard his heavy mechanical footsteps head towards you. In a moment of clarity, you decided to crawl underneath the car, hoping he would check there. As panic ran rampant throughout your body, you got down on your stomach and pulled yourself under the car. In your haste, you scrapped your elbows on the concrete. You didn't have time to care about a couple of scrapes as the blue transformer's footsteps halted. All you could hear was your heartbeat pounding in your chest and the mechanical whirring from your pursuer. At any moment he woul pick up the car and spot you and just like that, your life would be over. But none of that happened at all, instead, a deep whirring noise could be heard, and got louder and louder until the unmistakable sound of a transformer transforming could be heard.
“Highroad, Groundbreaker,” a large imposing mech sounded. You couldn't see what was happening, but thankfully the attention was taken off of you.
“Lord Megatron!” the blue one responded. ‘Megatron?? Thee Megatron??’ you thought. You knew he had converted to the good side, but now you were questioning the validity of that. You looked at your hands, they were shaking. The ground in front of you became clearer, and the gravity of the situation finally settled in. All you could do was listen with your heartbeat pounding in your ears.
“Highroad what is-” the green one started, “Oh,” he paused for a moment, “it's the Traitor,” he growled.
“Groundbreaker,” Megatron responded, “Who told you you could break private property?” he dryly teased.
“I don't take orders from you anymore,” Groundbreaker, was his name, spat.
“You lost that right when you betrayed the Decepticons,” the other, Highroad, apparently, added.
“It doesn't have to be like this,” Megatron responded, his Scottish accent slipping through. It sounded like he was almost pleading.
“You cemented this outcome the day you took off your Decepticon badge,” Groundbreaker growled. The sound of two ion blasters firing up could be heard.
“So be it.”
The distinct sound of Megatron's fusion Cannon turning on could be heard, then various bangs, thuds and stomps erupted. Not wanting to be accidentally crushed and secretly wanting to watch the battle unfold, you crawled out from underneath the car, your scraped elbows stinging as you pulled yourself out. You and your wound were covered head-to-toe in dirt and gravel but that wasn't the most pressing issue, in front of you Megatron, high road and Groundbreaker fought furiously, two against one. Despite the uneven match, Megatron was holding his own quite well.
They had engaged in hand-to-hand combat, as the streets were too narrow and without proper cover. Megatron reared his fist and drove it into the side of Groundbreaker's head. As Groundbreaker stumbled back highroad moved in and fired 3 shots into Megatron's torso. Megatron turned to him and for a second you could see the concentrated fury in his optics, the kind of look that sent chills down your spine. He gripped the bright orange gun and yanked it out of his hands and cracked it in half over his knee. He chucked the two pieces to the ground like it was a meer twig.
“Come on man I liked that gun,” Highroad whined. Megatron didn't look amused. Groundbreaker had regained himself and charged again at Megatron. Megatron blocked his fist, but a second one found its way into his side. If it affected him you couldn’t tell, as he grabbed hold of Groundbreaker's other arm and flexed it past its limit. Groundbreaker cried out in pain, but Megatron doesn’t relent as he launches him across the street toward you. He just barely missed the parked car you hid behind by about a meter or 4 ft ahead of the car. He crashed into the storefront and glass proceeded to rain down upon him. He doesn't get up as he seems to be out of it and hasn't noticed you while Megatron and high road are across the street fighting.
You take this moment to look at him. The intricate panelling of his waist and torso is fascinating as he's close enough you can see scratches and dents in the metal- previous Battle scars you assume. His inner mechanisms whirr to life and he gets up. He hasn’t noticed you yet, too focused on the fight in front of him. The look in his optics sends a chill down your spine as He launches himself up and towards Megatron and Highroad, taking some more building debris with him.
Megatron lands a punch to Highroad's head but doesn’t see Groundbreaker as he charges forward and punches into Megatron's side and raises his right leg landing a high kick. He realizes though, that he's made a grave mistake as Megatron grabs his leg and jabs his right elbow so hard into his knee joint you heard a crack. Groundbreaker screams as he's forced down onto his knees. Groundbreaker sat there on the ground, his face twisted with pain.
Highroad had stepped back a bit. Megatron pointed his canon at him, “Stand down,” he ordered. He wasn’t playing. That wasn't the kind of order you disobey. Highroad put his hands up in surrender.
“Highroad you coward,” Groundbreaker mumbled before pulling himself back up and launching himself towards Megatron once more. Although ballsy, it hadn’t paid up as Megatron kicked him back to the ground before he could land another hit.
Megatron shoved his canon in his face, “I said stand down.” He raised his voice as if to say ‘im not saying it again’. He then pointed it back at Highroad, “On your knees.”
Highroad stood there for a moment weighing his options, “Now.” Megatron was very clear and Highroad fell down to his knees as well. There was a terrifying fire behind his optics as Megatron stood high above his two opponents. The average person would miss it, but you watched as the fire inside his optics quelled and was replaced with a horrified expression. For a split second, he looked ashamed. He quickly adverted his optics away from them.
He reached to his side and pulled out some transformer-sized handcuffs and bound both of them. the two sat there on the ground in contempt. The streets and storefronts, unfortunately, became collateral damage from their little scuffle. Some of the parked cars, like yours, are relatively untouched, but the rest of the cars and store signs are now scrap metal. Megatron on the other hand barely looks affected aside from a blast in his torso, as if he didn't just take on two opponents at once. He takes a step to the side to make a call. “Hello. Yes, I need enemy transport sent to the Broadway area,” he pauses for a second or two, “two transformers in custody,” he adds and then hangs up. He turns back to the two Decepticons. You can’t read his expression this time, what with thousands of years of poker face practice, but something tells you he's looking at them with disappointment and maybe a little bit of remorse.
Suddenly Megatron spots you. “Hey!” his voice is menacing and hostile until he takes a moment to consider the situation. Now with a gentler tone, “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, it isn't safe.” You must have stuck your head up too far again. With your cover blown, you sheepishly emerge from behind the parked car.
“Oh so you’re the little eavesdropper I spotted,” Highroad quipped. Even though both of them were tied up, you still considered the possibility of them getting up and stomping you to death. Then again Megatron would stop them, probably.
“Ugh, I hate organics, they never leave you alone,” moaned Groundbreaker, “how can such tiny pathetic beings be so persistent and annoying? I’d rip your limbs off and then crush you beneath my-”
Megatron cut him off by slapping his cannon against his head. "Unnecessary," Megatron hissed. That wasn’t just a light whack either, that had the force of someone who’s done that many times before. A misguided correctional gesture, a punishment. Groundbreaker slumped back into himself, probably not wanting to provoke anything more violent.
In the distance down the road, the sound of a large truck rounding a corner could be heard, and they all turned their heads toward the noise. A bright red semi truck with an appropriately sized trailer made its way toward them. It drove around them carefully up the street and then stopped a respectable distance in front of them. You heard the telltale sound of a transformer transforming, and it was Optimus Prime that came walking around the trailer toward the scene.