The Next Generation

C12: No Time for Thinking

"Ojiro, get ready!" Optimus shouted, drawing out his blades and standing in front of the human. "They're coming!"

"I can't see," Ojiro gasped as he wiped his eyes, tears wetting the back of his hands. "Optimus, we have to run!"

A cannon shot across the space between them and the villains. Optimus grabbed Ojiro and shoved him to the floor, careful to avoid the flames. "We can't defend ourselves and run through these flames if you can't see! Stay low and fix your optics. I will hold them back until you are ready!"

"But—"

Optimus didn't waste any more of their time, or the space that he could put between the villains and his injured teammate. He charged forward, swords raised, and went at the first criminal. It was the man who had released the yellow spray that messed with their senses. Optimus had optics, so even though it burned his throat, he was largely unaffected. The man raised his hand and shot another blast directly at Optimus.

The cloud of yellow made Optimus disappear and the villains halted. They weren't immune to the spray. They waited for it to clear or for Optimus to stumble out, but before either of those could happen, Optimus was slamming his fist into the face of the man with the dangerous quirk.

Everyone jumped into action. Lightening arced through the air, but Optimus was suddenly flush with the man using it, and forcing his hand to turn and redirect the electricity at the other villains. Optimus rammed his elbow back before their close proximity could be used against him and it hit the man's throat. Another villain ran forward, a heteromorph with sharp talons and teeth. She jumped up from the floor, fangs bared, and before she could land on him, Optimus caught her by the hair and redirected her momentum to the side. She lashed out with a clawed hand as she flung past, but it merely scratched his armor before she sailed into an aisle of flames and screamed.

Never before had Optimus been a human, nor had he fought people with such incredible, unique abilities, but there was one thing he knew how to do without a doubt.

Protect.

The villains came at him, one at time, two at a time, three at a time, and no matter what they did, Optimus was a war machine. They went down in droves, tossed into the flames, knocked unconscious, or crippled with pain and broken bones. He left Ojiro where they'd arrived, surrounded by flames on all sides with the exception of the path that had been cleared by the villains. Optimus stood in that path and did not allow anyone to get past him.

Ojiro's eyes were still tainted by the oily substance they'd been sprayed with, but he managed to endure and stand back up. He wanted to help Optimus. He couldn't stand here and do nothing, but as he witnessed Optimus tear down criminal after criminal, he knew combat wasn't the thing that would help the most.

He spun around, looking for another way out, and found a beam. It was in flames, but it was close enough to reach and long enough to take him out of the pit they were in. Ojiro pulled off his jacket and jumped, using it to suffocate and extinguish the closest flames on the beam. It was still burning hot, but he could manage. Ojiro raced across, using his tail and agile nature to keep his balance. The wall came up soon enough and he lunged for the dome wall, shattering the glass. A thick plume of black smoke billowed out, but Ojiro stuck his head through, breathing in the somewhat fresh air and looking for their other teammates.

Back on the ground, Optimus stood, panting, as he knocked out the last villain. He swept his optics over the crumpled bodies and then pulled the ones on fire out of harm and stomping out the flames. Regardless of the criminals' intentions, Optimus was not here to kill them.

He turned around just as Ojiro jumped back down the beam next to him. "The others are scattered throughout the USJ, like we thought. Everyone seems to be doing okay, but Mr. Aizawa is facing off against some giant black bird heteromorph and he's not doing good."