FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"He's awake," Dr. Madsen said, and June turned to scowl at Silas.

"About time." She strode toward him. "Now you can answer a few questions."

"We've been over this before." Silas grimaced ever so slightly, but other than that, he didn't acknowledge the pain of his broken nose or the blood all over his face. "You already know I have nothing to say." He smirked. "And I know you're not going to torture or kill me. You're a nurse; you're not a killer."

"My son could die at any moment--all because of you." June grabbed the front of his armor and pulled. The servos in her armor boosted her strength and she lifted him and the chair he'd been tied to. "That's more than enough to make me a killer."

"If you had it in you, you would've already been working me over." He kept smirking, and June was horrified by the things she suddenly found herself contemplating.

"Put him down, June," Madsen said softly. "He's not worth what killing him will do to you."

"My son is worth it." She glared at Silas for another moment, but realized there was no way she could intimidate him. She dropped him; the chair landed at an angle and tipped over, and the side of his head struck the concrete floor with a satisfying thud. Tears trickled from her eyes as she turned away.

I can't do it. I just can't. She looked up at the monitor that had showed her, nearly an hour ago, the gut-wrenching image of Airachnid carrying Jack away. But if we don't find a way to disable the comm jammer at the very least. . .

She whirled on Silas. "You know what? If anything happens to Jack, Arcee will take it out on you. And you saw what she did to your men. I don't even want to think about the things she'll do to you if Jack. . ." Her voice faltered and she stormed off, unable to even finish the thought. When she reached the wall, she braced her hand against it and slumped over slightly.

Footsteps came up behind her. "June?" Dr. Madsen's voice again. "Don't lose hope. Arcee will find Jack."

"I know." But will she be able to save him? June shook her head. "I wish we were back in Jasper, the way things were before he met her. I wish we didn't know about any of this. I don't know if Jack's alive or dead, and look what it's turning me into."

"Why did you ask to be assigned to the field unit, if I may ask? You were offered a position on the base's medical staff; you could've stayed there."

"Jack couldn't be talked out of going on missions with Arcee. Believe me, I tried." June shook her head, turned and leaned back against the wall. "I could've grounded him, could've prevented him from hanging around her and the others, but then he would've hated me for it. And even if he'd listened to me, he couldn't have stayed out of this one. This thing with Airachnid is personal."

"I guess I can see how you wouldn't be able to stay out of it, either, then."

"There's more to it than that." She sighed. "Back in Jasper, I always worked long hours at the hospital, and often didn't get home while he was still up, let alone in time to cook dinner. He'd usually have to microwave something and spend most of the evening alone. Well, until he started hanging out with Arcee. But I was hardly ever there for him, all because I was trying to keep the rent paid and the fridge stocked."

Madsen nodded. "So, since Jack won't let anyone stop him from joining the battle. . ."

"This is a chance for me to be there for him, and also to simply spend time with him. I missed out on a big part of him growing up. It won't be long before he's an adult and moves out and has his own life. I need him to be my kid for what little time is left before he grows up. If it's not already too late." If he makes it through this. . .

She aimed another glare at Silas, still on the floor; everyone had left his chair where it had tipped over. She turned back to Madsen, met his gaze, and shook her head slowly. "I'll tell you right now, if that psychotic bitch out there kills Jack, my being a nurse goes right out the window. I'll fucking murder that bastard Silas for putting my son in this situation. I won't have anything left to live for."

"Jack is smart, resourceful, and level-headed. He's survived things that most adults wouldn't live through." Madsen put his hand on her shoulder. "He'll be okay."

"I hope so. I just. . ." She shivered and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I don't know, I just have a bad feeling, all of a sudden. A really bad feeling. . ."

#

"I have no idea where we're going. All these damn tunnels look the same."

A long, drawn-out scream echoed through the tunnel and he stopped in his tracks, heart pounding and blood running cold. He looked around frantically, unable to tell which direction the scream had come from.

"Jesus! That sounded like Arcee!"

She screamed again, then again, and again.

"That fucking bitch is torturing her!" He charged into the next chamber and glanced around at the four tunnels branching off from it. Damn it! Which way?

Finally, the screaming stopped, and he felt as if ice water had been pumped into his guts. No. . .

"Oh, shit," Miko blurted. "Jack, look."

"What?" He turned to stare numbly at her. If Arcee had stopped screaming because she had just died, nothing else could possibly matter.

"That." Miko pointed at one of the display cases lining the wall to the right.

In it floated Jack's severed head.

"What?" Despite the terror and grief overwhelming him, he approached the tank and stared at it. "What?"

"What the hell's going on?"

Jack tore his eyes away from the tank. "Doesn't matter. I've got to find Arcee. Gotta find her. Gotta. . ." An idea clicked into place and he activated his armor's sensors. He scanned for Cybertronian life signs and picked up two--one behind him and moving around, and the other up ahead and stationary. "Why didn't I think of this before? This way!" He ran toward the motionless blip in his HUD.

"There's another one!" Miko shouted when they entered the next chamber. She stopped at the row of cases and pointed at one containing Jack's head.

"Oh, hell. Airachnid must've made a bunch of these just to screw with Arcee."

Miko's eyes opened wider. "If Arcee thinks you're dead--"

"We've got to hurry!" Jack burst into a sprint, charging through the tunnels and not caring what might jump out of the darkness. He had to find Arcee before--

There! He stopped, almost stumbled, and stared into the next chamber, his heart pounding hard enough to shake his whole body.

Arcee sat on the floor a few yards away, slumped over, not moving.

No, it can't be! She can't be d--

Then he noticed her optics flicking around slightly and her lower lip quivering as she stared off into space.

Another chill rushed through him. She looked as if she had snapped like a twig.

Finally, Arcee reached out and picked up one of her shotguns. She held it in her hands and stared at it. Then she turned it around and held the barrel against her chest.

Suddenly, Jack couldn't breathe. The ammo in that thing was designed to punch through Cybertronian armor--and Arcee was aiming it at her own spark chamber. A single shot would be enough.

She placed her thumb on the trigger.

"Arcee! Don't'!" Jack bolted toward her, popped the seal on his helmet and yanked it off. "Arcee!"

She turned her head, stared straight at him, but didn't seem entirely aware of him. Or maybe she simply couldn't believe her eyes.

Jack slowed and reached out to her. "For fuck's sake, don't do it! Put the gun down!"

She shook her head slowly, but didn't move otherwise. ". . .Jack. . .?"

"It's me, it's really me." He looked over his shoulder and found the tank containing his head. "That's not real! We found several others, one in each room. Airachnid must've made them, somehow. Maybe they're holographic projections. I don't know--it doesn't matter, it's not real, please just put the gun down!" He sobbed and tears ran down his cheeks. He pulled his gloves off, dropped them, and placed his hands on the side of her leg.

Finally, her optics locked onto him and she seemed to believe he was really here. "J. . .Jack!"

"Put the goddamned gun down, Arcee! Don't. . .I can't bear to see you. . ."

She looked down at the shotgun as if seeing it for the first time. Trembling, she took her thumb off the trigger, moved it aside, and put it down carefully.

"Oh, Jack, I almost--"

"I know." He hopped over her leg so he could stand directly in front of her, and held his hands out. "Come here."

She leaned over and put her arms around him. "I thought--"

"And when I heard you screaming, I thought the same thing about you." He rested his head on her chest and closed his eyes, and the soft humming of her spark, cooling system, and other internal mechanisms gradually calmed him.

Arcee stroked his hair for a moment and then kissed his forehead.

"I can't believe you were going to--" Jack couldn't finish the sentence. He looked at the shotgun and shuddered.

"I'm sorry, Jack. When I thought you were dead, I. . .my world ended. There was nothing left for me, not even killing Airachnid."

"Well, I'm still here, and so is Airachnid." He reached up to caress her cheek. She moved her head closer until their lips met. When they finally parted, he whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too. I love you so much!" She put her arms around him again, clearly not wanting the moment to end.

Jack didn't, either, but with Airachnid somewhere nearby, it had to. Reluctantly, he pushed away. "Come on. Let's finish this."

She nodded, smiled shakily, and stood. She picked up her shotguns and glanced at the tunnel behind her. "I want you and Miko to head back to the MECH base. I took out all of them except Silas, and he's tied to a chair in the main warehouse. I freed your mom and her team."

"That's great, but I'm not leaving you."

"Jack, please, I don't want you getting hurt or--or worse."

"You just tried to kill yourself. I'm not letting you out of my sight." He put his gloves and helmet back on. "Let's get moving. I've got an idea."

#

Concentrate. Focus. Stay on target. Seeing Jack's head in a display case in every other goddamned chamber made it impossible no matter how hard Arcee tried. Not only was it simply a horrible sight, but what it had almost made her do. . .

Airachnid has to die. Whatever it takes. She forged ahead, scanning for both her nemesis and the energon stockpile Jack thought might be in her lair. There was a trace of energon, but Arcee had restricted her scans to short-range to reduce the risk of Airachnid zeroing in on her.

Jack hadn't explained his plan in case Airachnid was able to listen in, but he and Miko were carrying duffel bags packed with C-4 and they were looking for an energon supply. It wasn't hard to put two and two together.

They entered another chamber and Arcee averted her optics from the cases lining the walls.

"I wonder how she copied Jack's head so exactly." Miko stopped and looked one of the trophies over.

"I. . .I don't know," Arcee muttered, really not wanting to even think about it.. "Cloning would take too long. Maybe some sort of stem-cell replication."

"She said something about gear she'd salvaged from the wreckage of her ship. Maybe one of the pieces was, I dunno, a nanotech factory or something." Jack shrugged. "Anyway, Airachnid's obsession with us has taken a weird turn. And I mean, really weird. Like, just fucked-up bizarre."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just before Miko rescued me, Airachnid hung me from the ceiling and was starting to get all rapey on me."

"She. . .what?"

"It's like she wants to hump me just because you and I are together now. Makes my skin crawl." He shuddered. "Then, of course, there's that whole thing about killing me after she's had her fun."

Arcee's mouth fell open. She turned to glare over her shoulder. "I am gonna kill that fucking cunt!"

"We will. Let's keep looking."

She pushed on, sweeping the area ahead of them for the next several minutes, and began to wonder if there really was any stockpile.

Then her energon detector pinged and she turned to the left. "Oh, hello," she muttered.

"Got something?" Jack whispered.

Arcee nodded and motioned for him and Miko to follow her. She led them through tunnel after tunnel, chamber after chamber, moving faster as the energon signal grew stronger. Finally, she turned one more corner--and there it was.

"Wow," Miko muttered.

"Yeah." A few feet ahead, energon packed into cubes was stacked from floor to ceiling--enough to keep the Autobots going for the next few months, possibly a year or more.

Or blow this entire mountain off the map.

She sighed. "We can't take the time to grab much of this with Airachnid so close."

"Even a little would help. You could keep it for emergencies." Jack pointed at the top of the pile. "Grab a couple of those; Miko and I can carry them out."

Arcee hesitated, sighed, and plucked two cubes from the top of the stack. She handed one to each of them, grabbed a few more to carry out herself, and looked at Jack. "Okay, now what?"

He slipped the duffel bag off his shoulder, unzipped it, and stared at its contents. "Hmm. How much would be too much?"

Miko shrugged.

"I'm not too familiar with that stuff," Arcee said.

Jack shrugged. "Fuck it." He placed the entire bag on the ground, touching the side of the stack, and began arming the charges, hoping he was doing it right. Once he finished, he took the other bag from Miko and repeated the process.

He picked up the detonator and flipped the safety cover up, revealing the button that would send Airachnid and her entire lair into orbit. He took a slow breath, closed it, looked up at Arcee and gave her a grim smile. "Let's go."

#

"Oh, Jack," Airachnid's almost singsong voice echoed up the tunnel, and Jack's heart almost jumped into his throat. "I'm coming for you!"

Arcee turned toward the voice's general direction and snarled.

Miko looked around and threw her hands up. "We've been trying to find our way out of here for half an hour, and I don't think we're any closer."

Arcee looked like she was thinking something over--then she sighed, deployed her arm cannons, and turned toward the wall. "Get behind me."

As soon as they were out of the way, she looked into Jack's eyes.

"She'll come running when she hears my blasters, so as soon as I punch through to the surface, you run like hell. And Jack, don't drop that detonator."

He nodded. "Let 'er rip."

She aimed her guns at an upward angle and fired. Instead of the typical short bursts, a continuous beam lanced out of each blaster and vaporized the rock and dirt in their path.

"I hear you," Airachnid called out, much closer now. "There's no need to rush off. I was starting to have so much fun!"

"Oh, kiss the darkest part of my pasty white ass," Jack grumbled.

A few moments later, Arcee ceased fire. Jack looked up and found a long, sloping tunnel stretching into the distance, with a pinpoint of light at the end.

Arcee picked him up and lifted him into the mouth of the tunnel. She picked Miko up and placed her beside him.

"Go! I'll be right behind you."

Clamping the energon cube under his left arm and the detonator in his right hand, Jack scrambled up the incline. Daylight! I thought I'd never see it again.

Arcee waited for them to get a good distance ahead before picking up the remaining energon cubes and squeezing into the tunnel.

Jack reached the surface, dragged himself out of the hole and stood in the pouring rain, waiting for Miko and Arcee to join him. When they emerged, Arcee waved her hand frantically.

"Go! Go!"

He and Miko burst into a sprint, charging down the hill at full speed, and Jack heard Arcee's earth-shaking footsteps right behind them.

Then came another familiar sound--Airachnid was using her spider legs as a drill, enlarging the tunnel Arcee had blasted.

He risked a glance over his shoulder--and there Airachnid was, shifting into her spider mode and standing in the tunnel entrance. She looked at Jack and chuckled.

"Running out on me--how rude! I had such wonderful things planned for us."

Jack glared at her. The closest you'll get to a bang from me is the two bags of C-4 and all that energon blowing you to hell.

Miko put her hands on her hips and laughed. "Bitch, you have no idea how screwed you are!"

"Oh, really?" Airachnid smirked and raised her hands, aiming her palm-mounted blasters and web launchers at them. "You don't actually think you can win, do you?"

"Now, Jack," Arcee whispered. "It's got to be now."

Jack held up the detonator and lifted the safety cover. Airachnid's eyes locked on to it and darted over to the cube under his arm. Her jaw dropped.

"Jack!"

He sneered. "Winning!"

He jammed his thumb down on the button.

A column of flame vomited from the tunnel and enveloped Airachnid--and a split second later, the hillside under her ripped apart.

Then it was as if Earth itself punched Jack in the face. He wasn't sure if it was a shockwave or a car-size chunk of the mountain slamming into him, but it sent him flying. When he finally hit the ground, he rolled and tumbled, bouncing off trees and rocks, and it seemed to go on forever.

When he finally came to a stop, he looked up and found Arcee scrambling toward him--and pieces of the mountain plummeting out of the sky. She grabbed Miko, scooted her over to Jack, and threw herself over both of them, shielding them from the debris.

The rain of dirt, rocks, and boulders seemed to last another eternity.

Finally, there was silence.

Arcee looked around, sighed, and sat beside them. Jack and Miko picked themselves up and stared at what was left of Airachnid's lair.

Where a mountain had stood a few minutes ago, there was now only a crater.

Arcee's mouth hung open. She shook her head slowly. "Holy shit."

Miko whistled softly. "Meanwhile, somewhere in Hollywood, Michael Bay just came in his pants."

Arcee chuckled and looked around. Her smile vanished.

Jack leaned over to see past her. At least a dozen yards away, Airachnid lay sprawled on the ground, burning but still intact. Probably just temporarily offline.

Growling, Arcee stood and pulled the shotguns from her back. "Time to finish this."