As dusk merged into night, Sam pedaled blindly, driven by pure, adrenaline-fueled panic. He rode for what felt like an eternity before the crushing weight of terror eased slightly. He skidded to a halt, realizing the rusted yellow nightmare was no longer on his tail.
"Hah... hah..."
He slammed on the brakes, doubling over the handlebars, his lungs burning. Before he could even catch his breath, the wail of a siren shattered the silence.
Woo-woo!
"Thank God! The police!"
A cruiser, its light bar strobing a frantic red and blue, rolled slowly into the abandoned lot, heading straight for him.
Sam didn't stop to wonder who had called them. He dumped the bike and sprinted toward the car, never more desperate for the sight of authority.
"Hey! Officer, listen to me!"
He didn't wait for the car to stop. He threw himself onto the hood, his hands clawing at the metal.
"Listen! Thank God you're here! I've never had a worse day in my life!"
"I was riding my mom's bike, and I got chased! Miles... he didn't believe me!"
"My car! It's alive! It kept chasing me! I nearly died out there! It followed me the whole way!"
Sam babbled, his words a frantic smear of terror. But the figure behind the wheel didn't react. The cruiser sat perfectly still, its spotlight glaring at him.
Frustrated by the silence, Sam banged his fist on the hood.
"Hey! Get out of the car!"
Vroom!
The engine roared. Instead of an officer stepping out, the cruiser lurched forward, slamming into Sam and knocking him flat onto the concrete.
"No! Stop!"
Sam scrambled backward on his elbows, staring in horror as the bumper pushed relentlessly against him.
"Please! Don't do this! Stop it!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to touch your car!"
A sudden, earth-shaking THUD echoed through the lot, followed by the sickening crunch of metal.
Sam's head snapped toward the sound. The panic on his face solidified into pure, unadulterated terror.
Standing among the rusted wrecks was a monstrous black entity, at least three stories tall. It dwarfed the yellow machine he'd seen earlier. The car beneath its massive pede crumpled with a jarring shriek.
Nathan—operating as Skygnaw—paid the human no mind. He surveyed the battlefield. It was a semi-open lot beneath a massive bridge, a graveyard for dead vehicles and forgotten industrial waste. A perfect hunting ground.
Before Sam could process the new nightmare, the police cruiser deployed two massive, metallic claws from its headlight housings.
"Oh, no..."
The truth hit him like a kinetic round. The cruiser was one of them.
Not far away, Nathan watched the scene in silence. He could see that Barricade was deliberately toying with the asset, using localized intimidation protocols before the interrogation. It was a classic "To Punish and Enslave" tactic.
The driver's seat went empty. In a single, violent sequence of snapping plates and grinding gears, the Saleen shifted form, rising into the brutal, menacing silhouette of Barricade.
To Sam, it was the ultimate betrayal. The symbol of safety had mutated into a demon.
"Shit! No!"
Sam's adrenaline spiked. With a guttural scream, he scrambled to his feet, spun around, and bolted.
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
He panted heavily, every breath a struggle. Were it not for the throbbing ache in his back from the bike crash, he would have convinced himself this was a nightmare. Ever since he'd bought that yellow Camaro, his life had spun into madness.
Barricade didn't let him get far. He took two thunderous strides forward and backhanded the fleeing human.
CRASH!
"Gah...!"
SMASH!
Sam was thrown through the air, crashing onto the hood of a red sedan. His impact shattered the windshield and left a massive dent in the metal.
"This is a nightmare..." Sam groaned, clutching his back. He had been pulverized twice in one hour.
"Tell me, human!"
Barricade stalked over to the sedan, crouching down to stare at the broken biological on the hood.
"Is your eBay username 'LadiesMan217'?"
"What? I can't hear you! I don't know!" Sam shouted, his voice cracking with terror.
"Is your eBay username 'LadiesMan217'!"
This time, the vocalizer was at maximum volume. "Yes! Yes! That's me!"
"Where is eBay Item #236? Where are the glasses!"
"The glasses? What glasses?" Sam asked, his processors stalling.
Barricade's patience dissolved. His massive hand clenched into a fist and slammed into the sedan's hood right beside Sam's legs.
"Tell me! Where are the glasses!"
The visual threat overrode the fear. As the hood tilted violently from the impact, Sam recognized the variable. He slid down the slanted metal, scrambling between Barricade's legs and sprinting toward the far end of the lot.
"Damn human!"
Having been evaded twice, Barricade lost his logic-checks. He lunged after the boy, tearing through the rows of parked cars like they were cardboard.
Off to the side, Nathan watched the chase with analytical interest. He had no intention of interfering. He hadn't forgotten about Bumblebee.
It was illogical for an Elite-Class scout to lose track of a single biological asset. But Nathan had clearly seen Bumblebee get separated from Sam on Roddy Avenue.
Ruling out the probability—however infinitesimally small—that Sam had outmaneuvered a Cybertronian scout, only one conclusion remained. Bumblebee had detected the Decepticon signatures and had intentionally broken visual contact with the asset to avoid leading them to him.
On the Highway.
A weathered yellow Camaro tore through the night like a localized whirlwind.
Bumblebee's internal processors were running at maximum cycle. He had assumed the two Decepticons were tracking him. He had veered off, hoping to lure them away from his designated target. It was a logical error.
Optimis Prime's primary directive echoed in his core: "Even if it requires terminal expenditure, you must protect the asset."
In his desperation, Bumblebee increased his velocity, focusing only on the coordinates of the abandoned lot.
The Parking Lot.
With its rows of skeletal wrecks, the lot offered a tactical advantage to a smaller target. Sam used the terrain to his advantage, scrambling toward the entrance.
A road with minimal traffic sat just outside the gates. As he burst out, he spotted a blue scooter approaching. The rider was Mikaela.
"Back off! Don't come any closer—run!" Sam screamed, waving his arms.
Mikaela didn't seem to process the warning. She actually accelerated, speeding directly toward him.
Realizing shouting was useless, Sam lunged, tackling Mikaela violently to the pavement.
Thud!
Clang!
The driverless scooter wobbled forward before toppling over with a metallic crash. Mikaela hit the concrete hard, her breath driven from her lungs.
"What are you doing, Sam?" she gasped. "What's wrong with you?"
"There's a monster!" Sam sputtered, dragging her to her feet and pointing back into the lot. "It just attacked me! It's still coming!"
"What?"
Mikaela looked. A massive robot was sprinting through the rows of cars toward them.
"What is that thing?"
Mikaela's face registered sheer astonishment. She had never encountered a machine of this magnitude, but she knew it wasn't human.
"Here it comes!"
Seeing the Decepticon drawing closer, Sam grabbed Mikaela's hand and spun around.
"Run!"
Back in the lot, just as Nathan was preparing to follow Barricade, a familiar harmonic signature resonated through his sensors.
Vroooom...
"Bumblebee?"
Following the acoustic trail, the battered yellow Camaro appeared at the entrance of the lot, speeding furiously straight toward Nathan.
"What?"
Nathan was taken aback. Bumblebee had returned, but instead of executing a rescue-directive for the asset, the Scout was targeting him.
Are the Autobots also deploying 'Sanitize the Smallest Threat' protocols? Nathan mused.
Nathan locked his combat faceplate. He deployed the heavy machine gun on his right arm and leveled it. At the same moment, the armor plating on his shoulders slid open, revealing four launch ports.
[ TARGET LOCKED ]
"Fire!!"
The very next second, four heat-seeking rockets erupted from the ports, streaking toward the locked-on Camaro. The three barrels of his heavy machine gun began to spin, spewing a torrent of fire toward the enemy ahead.