Prodigal Son

chapter 7

The Moor-Bot slammed the monitor, fury filling it's mind.
Headline after headline, all the same.
Kidnapped boy sighted in gas station
Authorities release description of vehicle involved in Griffin Rock abduction
Search continues in pursuit of missing boy
Authorities plead drivers to report sighting of car linked to kidnapping
"Narrow minded fools, all of them!!!"
The weak-minded, sentimental, disorganized sort of rabble it's creator had always detested.
Abducted, HA! Couldn't they see?! This was a liberation!!
This was merely gaining an asset they couldn't see for themselves. Giving power to the powerless.
Truly, this was a gift, a precious gift of freedom.
No. No matter.
Now was not the time to sulk around, now was the time to act.
"Boy! We are running out of time. Now is the time to move forward. We must devise our revenge."
Cody scowled, running a hand over his new hoverboard.
"Yeah ... Let's get them."
Something nagged at him. Something seemed.... Off.
They threw you aside
They abandoned you
You were never wanted
Destroy them
His eyes narrowed.
He knew where he belonged.
"I've got some ideas."
He activated the Hoverboard, going a circle around the warehouse as he thought.
"It's not enough to charge in. They'll be waiting for us, and not only will the whole team probably be there, if I know them, called in backup. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. We need to throw them off guard."
The Moor-Bot nodded, smirking as it listened.
Cody started going wider circles, deep in thought.
"It's not enough to physically take them out. We need to break them."
"I take it you have an idea?"
Cody suddenly paused, the hoverboard halting as he turned to face the bot, a dark smirk filling his face.
"Oh yeah.... And I know exactly who to target first."
"As do I."
"One for you, one for me?"
"It appears so."
Cody's smirk grew bigger.
"I think I know how to mess with Kade. If we get in his head, it'll be easier to destroy them all."
The Moor-Bot chuckled.
Ah, the Firebot and his partner.
Truly, this seemed almost poetic.
"Yeah.... If we can distract the rescue team first, they should be easier to take on later."
"Phycological warfare, most clever!"
The Moor-Bot turned to the computers, then glanced over at a corner of the room, where they'd piled up all the scavenged weaponry left over from M.E.C.H.
"Now then, you are not the only one in need of upgrades. For this marks the beginning of the end."
Cody cracked his knuckles, a strong purple glow in his eyes as he smirked.
"The rescue team doesn't stand a chance."
"I advise you take time to train your combat abilities. Perhaps simulate obstacles by testing the hoverboard in the surrounding forest?"
Cody nodded, and mounted the hoverboard before dissapearing outside.
The second the small doors closed, the Moor-Bot smiled, pressing a command on the computers.
"Morocco Memoirs. The recruitment of Cody Burns is even more rewarding than anticipated. My young partner is truly a valuable asset, his tactical experience with the rescue team is invaluable. However, it is not without drawbacks. The process of swaying the youngest Burns was challenging. However, I believe my scientific genius has resolved the matter. I have replicated and improved Madeline Pinch's neural redirection process, by way of a small chip, installed at the base of the boy's neck and connected to his nervous system, that is gradually rewiring his neural pathways."
The bot walked away, continuing to narrate as it scanned the collected weaponry.
"The corruption process, while Initially a pain, is quite rewarding. His impulses, his perception of reality, his very ideals are now aligned with my own. Thus, with the metaphorical noose tightening, I believe now is the time to strike."
It walked back to the monitor, pulling up a series of blueprints.
"Access to M.E.C.H's remains has aided immensely. And while they were far below their possible potential, they were quite useful. I can build upon their failures, enhance myself. Starting.... With Project Chimera. Or, as it would come to be unofficially classified, Project Nemesis Prime."
-
Despite the size of the crowd around the firehouse, Frankie had no issues getting through, everybody quickly moving aside to avoid being in the turbo-cyle's path.
Frankie peeled to a stop inside the firehouse, her helmet disengaging as she killed the engine and hopped off.
"Hey, you fixed it up!"
Boulder waved, and Frankie beamed.
"Yup, the lab had everything I needed. Turbo-cyle's good as new."
She stormed over to the table against the wall, and after grabbing some paper and a pencil, started sketching.
"Boulder, I was thinking. We need an advantage, if we fight the bot."
He nodded, agreeing.
"Agreed. Who knows what that thing's been planning... If it comes back here, it'll be ready for us."
"Which is why we're gonna be ready for it."
Frankie's sketches grew faster, her focus strong.
"My parents are going through the Lab, trying to stockpile on everything they possibly can. We blew through our entire supply of hardening foam during the beachfront assault, so daddy's trying to produce as much of it as possible."
"Ooh, what about your force field bracelet?"
Frankie only held up her wrist, before continuing her sketch.
"Daddy's trying to make a few more of these, too. The Repulser badge may have exploded, but other force field designs actually work. I was thinking about trying to redesign the bracelet as part of a glove, if we have time. But.... I think I have another idea that takes priority..."
She made a couple finishing tweaks to her sketch, then ran up to Boulder.
"What do you think?"
Boulder stared at the design in awe, then smiled.
"I think we have our advantage. Do you want the honors?"
Frankie nodded, and reached to her collar, clicking on the borrowed Comn Link.
"Chief, this is Frankie. Permission to borrow Team Science for a bit? I think I know how to give us a field advantage."
"Permission Granted. I trust you, Frankie. Good luck."
Frankie smiled, then looked back up at Boulder.
"My parents are already up at the lab, let's grab Raf and Graham."
Boulder was already heading towards the door, as Frankie hopped back up aboard the Turbo-Cycle.
"Let's go!"
Time to get to work.
-
Cody weaved through the trees, leaving a purple trail behind him as he sped around.
Years of hoverboard experience had made him pretty good. While this model had a slightly different feel to it, it was basically the same, with slight changes.
It went higher, and moved faster. Rather than doubling as a communication device, the energy core was made for dealing serious damage.
Cody leaned forward, his thoughts resolute as his eyes narrowed.
Every so often, something inside him would feel.... Off. But he just couldn't identify what.
Like something was missing.
But surely he had everything he needed, right?
His partner told him so, after all. And his partner knew best.
Right?
Then the sharp pain from his neck would come, and with the pain came clarity.
The Moor-Bot had saved him, given him freedom. Seen a gift within him that everyone had always ignored.
No.... Not just ignored....
They'd cast him aside.
They'd never known what they'd had.
They weren't his family.
He knew where he belonged.
Cody sped up, and after feeling the energy core charge up, pulled up, sending a huge burst of energy at a small bush.
It practically disintegrated on the spot, the crackling energy causing it to wilt away to nothing.
Cody hovered mid-air, reflecting as he watched the smouldering ashes.
He stared down, his gaze intense as he pictured doing the same thing to a person.
No
His eyes widened, the hoverboard sinking closer to the ground as the thought tried protesting itself.
Could he bring himself to kill someone?
He had to fuffil his duty to his partner.
He barely registered it as he stepped off the hoverboard, his feet meeting the solid earth.
He couldn't, could he?
But he had to.
And then the pain was blinding.
He gasped aloud as the veins in his neck lit up, the bright purple glow from the chip almost competing with the glow of the hoverboard.
He dropped to his knees, his hand absently grasping the ground as the thoughts in his head went to war with one another, the pain coming from the chip having an intensity he'd never felt before.
His hand touched something scorching, and he jerked away, before looking at the remains of the bush.
He felt his skin burning from the embers, but even so, gathered up a handful of the charred earth.
The pain from the chip soothed out, and his hand closed over the embers, his eyes tight as his mouth contorted in a deep scowl.
He wasn't afraid to do whatever it took.
They would all fall.
-
"Morocco Memoirs. Adapting designs from M.E.C.H. for self-modification has proved to be a rousing success. While this organization was flawed, with repeated failed attempts to construct a transforming vehicle- something my creator and myself did with ease- they were highly skilled in effective combat."
The Moor-Bot raised it's left arm.
"Attempting pulmonary test."
Suddenly, the arm shifted, the mechanics splitting apart And rearranging the metal plating, until the arm had shifted to a built in cannon.
The Moor-Bot only grinned deeply.
It aimed at the damaged practice dummy Cody had previously used for the hoverboard, then fired.
The beam of energy that exploded from the arm was enough to blow the dummy into pieces, ash and melted rubber oozing out across the floor.
"Test successful. The upgrade is preforming beautifully, and should be most useful, in the approaching reunion with the rescue team."
The arm shifted back to normal, and the bot flexed the fingers, judging the system operation to be a success.
It stared at the arm, before slowly pulling up a file on the monitors.
".... I am ... Uncertain, of what plagues me. Despite every advantage gained, something.... Bothers me."
The files of Cybertronians popped onscreen, and it stared at the image of the Firebot, for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Why do you haunt me so.... Why am I unable to shake you from my mind?"
The files on record were all the same, but amid all the files of the Firebot interacting with humans, it was Cody that the Firebot positively lit up around.
".... You. Of all of them, it was you. It was you that was his favorite, it was you that he took to so.... naturally."
The left arm subconsciously shifted back to the new cannon, as the right hand pressed against the screen.
"And it is you... That must die."