"I sit on the clouds and obsess
with angels
when I should be obsessing
on the fact that I can fly."

~Atticus

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A shriek tore from my throat as I dodged another attack. On instinct, I began to nosedive and spot a safe place to land. The easiest way to get away would be to take shelter on the ground. The pilot couldn't get me then.

A ball of light struck the tip of my wing before I could tuck it in completely, and pain shot through it. Despite my attempts to take control, it went limp and I was left trying to steer my landing with one wing.

Tucking in my injured wing, I pulled my good wing back to catch air before tilting my body protectively and practically dive-bombing into the dirt. Grass flew everywhere, and I spit some out of my mouth. Grasping my shoulder, I watched as the cuts slowly started to heal and form skin.

The engine roared from behind me as a dark shadow covered me in its darkness. Before I could even understand what was happening, an intense sound of metal clashing against metal sounded. It was loud and jarring, making me grit my teeth and cover my ears.

The shadow grew bigger and bigger until the noise finally dissipated. I opened my eyes cautiously. My breaths were ragged as I held my shoulder again and turned.

Seeing a fifty-foot robot standing over you should make a person scream. I tried to do that, of course. But the noise caught in my throat. I choked, coughing and taking a step back. My foot caught on the uneven ground and I fell onto my butt.

The thing didn't say anything for a moment. Its eyes, or what I assumed to be its eyes, merely glared down at me. When it did finally start to move, I let out a short squeal and scrambled to my feet.

"This is what was so important?" the voice whined, "A flesh-bag?"

"Y-you can talk!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Ever so primitive," the being said whilst scowling.

It was a giant, talking metal being. A robot. Nope. Nuh-uh. My head was shaking on its own accord as I took a small step back. In return, the robot took one giant step forward. I extended my wings, ignoring the pain, and attempted to run.

"While I could not imagine why, Lord Megatron has ordered me to retrieve you," the high pitched voice proclaimed. A giant foot- honestly it looked more like a heel- stomped into the earth right next to me. Its hand reached out right before I took off into the sky and wrapped around me in a tight hold.

One wing was stuck in the grip while the other was pointed up. I attempted to flap but it caused nothing but a painful squeeze in return. The robot hummed, lowering its red gaze closer. With a free hand it pinched the end of my wing into its grasp.

"What a strange being you are. Unnatural, but nothing special." The robot sighed dramatically, throwing a hand up to its face. But its eyes were faking distress, and it smirked before glancing over at me. "Oh, don't look so glum fleshy. You are in the presence of Starscream! Future Decepticon leader!"

The world spun around me and I gagged, trying to keep myself from throwing up. The robot- Starscream- stopped short before growling. "Of course, Lord Megatron would probably eradicate me before I ever got the chance."

Plans now seemingly foiled, Starscream sighed once more before squeezing me harshly. His hand moved towards the side of his head.

"I request a groundbridge, Soundwave. I have retrieved the human."

A large, glowing vortex appeared not too far away. Realization hit me as the robot started to walk forward. It was going to take me to this Megatron, whoever that was. I lifted my foot and kicked the metal as hard as I could. I didn't feel like being taken to some mothership in the sky.

"Do not fight back, fleshy." Starscream took one sharp finger and held it in front of my face.

"Let me go!" I yelled back. My wing was flapping but, of course, it did me no good.

The hand was pinching it again, forcefully pulling some feathers. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind if I just ripped it right out. Normal humans do not require flight. Maybe I will just do you a favor-"

"No!"

But the grip was pulling harder. My muscles strained, and I felt a sudden pop that left me screaming. Starscream grinned as he pulled slightly harder. The vortex was long forgotten as this robot continued the slow torture.

The attack was cut short as a voice shouted, "Hey Screamer!"

Starscream jerked in surprise and turned violently. My eyes widened as another robot stood close to us. It tossed a small black object between its hands. Striking blue eyes caught mine as the robot smirked.

"Catch!"

Starscream squealed in fright as the object landed directly in front of him. The hand released me, and I was left free-falling in the air before something grabbed hold of me. An explosion rocked the earth. I screamed as I clung onto whatever the heck was holding onto me.

"Just hang on, Hope," the female voice said calmly.

Another explosion sounded, followed by a rather feminine shriek. "You are going to regret this, Autobots! I will-"

"You'll what? Looks to me like you have bigger problems than us," the familiar voice stated, "Have fun telling metal-head you failed again."

"Not now, Wheeljack. We need to get her back to base."

Now that the world wasn't swaying, I could see the robot holding me. It was blue with pink detailing. Despite being huge- obviously- it was much smaller than Starscream, and even the robot standing next to us.

"You will regret mocking me, Autobot scum." Starscream lifted an arm.

"Move Wheeljack!"

The rocket was heading right towards us. A protective hand was held over me as the robot went to move out of the way, but Wheeljack was already one step ahead. He charged forward, ducking as the rocket passed overhead and pulled a weapon from his back before twisting and slicing it in half.

The explosion knocked him back, but he flipped midair and landed gracefully onto his feet. The weapon, a sword from the looks of it, shined in the moonlight as he slid it back into place. I was gasping for breath, mostly out of shock, as I turned to look for Starscream.

But the robot was gone, along with the swirling vortex.

"That was reckless."

"Oh come on, Arcee. I'm always reckless," Wheeljack scoffed with a smirk.

He was, though strange to say, familiar. The white paint with red and green pattern looked awfully familiar. As he continued to talk, I suddenly realized the voice sounded familiar too.

"I'll have Ratchet open a groundbridge." Ratchet. That's the name Rafael, Miko, and Jack had been talking about when they found me at school. I watched as another swirling vortex opened.

"No!" I flapped, taking advantage of the loosened grip around me, and broke free. My wings were throbbing. I knew one of them was dislocated from Starscream's harsh tugging. Another hand reached out for me but I dodged it and managed to hit the ground safely.

"Hope-" the female robot began.

"NO! Who are you? What are you? What do you want!"

The robot took a step towards me. The white one, Wheeljack, held a hand out.

"You'll just freak her out more, Arcee."

"We have to take her back," Arcee argued back.

"You aren't taking me anywhere," I growled out. Panic and fear were crawling through me, but mostly anger. I had just escaped one situation and planted myself in another. One that involved giant robots and explosives.

Good job, Hope.

"Relax, kid. We aren't going to hurt you," Wheeljack said calmly.

"Y-you're voice sounds familiar, but I've never seen you before," I stuttered out stupidly. "Have you already talked to me before and I just don't remember?" The thought of being whisked away by aliens in the middle of the night without me knowing was absolutely and utterly terrifying. "Wherever you want to take me, I don't taste good, I-I promise."

Arcee's stern expression was wiped away as she laughed. Wheeljack joined her. Heat rose to my cheeks as I took another step backward. Wheeljack shook his head.

"We aren't going to eat you, kid."

"Then what do you want from me?" I asked meekly.

He kneeled down slowly, placing his robot-hands in the air. "Boss-bot can explain all of that to you when we return to base. You worried everyone, Hope."

"Everyone? Who's everyone?"

"You'll see once we get you back to base. The Decepticons could return at any moment," Wheeljack stated as-a-matter-of-fact. Squinting my eyes, I tried to focus as my breathing grew heavy. I was exhausted and in shock. A bright light took me off guard as another swirling vortex appeared close to us.

Wheeljack seemed to notice my lack of balance as I swayed, and he slowly stood to his full height. The sound of metal against metal whirred in my ears as his form slowly transformed into a car. Not just any car, no- it had to be the same car I rode in with Rafael and Jack before.

"What the-"

The door opened without anyone touching it. This was some kind of joke. Or a dream. It had to be. Robots couldn't turn into cars. Or even jets. Was it the other way around? Arcee turned towards the vortex without a word, leaving my mouth dropped open and staring at the vehicle before me.

"Hop on in, kid."

A person suddenly fizzled into existence beside me. Not just any person, though. Jack. Rafael's Jack. The Jack who I'd originally thought was human. So that's why I recognized his voice.

Jack was a car.

No, the robot was the car.

And Jack was the robot.

As you may have already assumed, as any reasonably sane person would in the middle of a very real, confusing, and life-changing plot-twist, I fainted.

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Sory for the wait today guys. Like I mentioned before, I am only posting one chapter today because of my finals. I started work again today and didn't get home until late so I just got to this chapter. I hope you liked it! Again, I'm sorry for the wait. <3

I honestly wasn't feeling too great about it, so sorry if you thought it was bad.

Feel free to vote and comment! <3