Route 66 - 10:52 PM
Nikki drove down the old, tried and true Route 66, heading for the highway back to Palmont. She had taken a small vacation according to her therapist's recommendation. So she had decided to spend some time on the road. She wasn't driving her Ford GT. No, she had hardly driven the GT at all in the past few months. It brought back too many memories of... him. Instead, she had bought herself a modestly modified Mazda 3 for the trip.
Nikki looked at the blue emerald ring on her finger. The Gem was not too big, nor too small, the band made of platinum. Again, it wasn't too big, small, or heavy. It was remarkably well balanced and reminded her of the way Carlos had tuned his new M3. It had been balanced, like this ring. A thing of beauty, something to be appreciated. Carlos had paid a small fortune for it. Now it was all she had left of him.
She turned her attention back to the road as she drove, immediately getting her mind off of Carlos. It was a quiet night on the road.
The mood of the road would soon betray her. There was a couple of cars pulling up behind her. She took a peek in her rearview mirror and saw the outlines of a BMW M3, and an Audi R8 LeMans Quattro.
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"You didn't have to come with me, Darius." Stripes said to Darius through his World Wide Web/cellular link.
"Let's agree to disagree on that one," Darius replied as they drove down the road.
Stripes went silent. The continued to drive, passing a Mazda 3. Stripes knew it was way too quiet.
Then, as if right on cue, Razor plowed right up on the road, in vehicle mode, followed by Barricade, transforming right in front of them.
Stripes and Darius followed suit, getting in front of the Mazda they had passed, which had just turned off the road into an abandoned hotel, no doubt taking cover. Stripes then recognized who it was! It was Nikki! But he turned his attention to the two threats in front of them.
"Why do you do this, Razor?" Stripes asked. "I'm not surrendering. Not to Galvatron, and not to you!"
"That won't matter, either way," Razor said, readying his multi-barrel guns. "As a matter of fact, I prefer dragging your aft to Galvatron, screaming and kicking included!"
"Just remember, Razor! Galvatron wants him intact and not offline! Don't get any ideas from your former rivalry!"
"I know, don't destroy the merchandise..." Razor said. "Still doesn't mean I can't ding it up a little in the process."
With that, the battle began. Razor fired a chain of shots from his guns. Stripes went back to vehicle mode, and peeled out, evading the incoming fire, then going back to robot mode! Darius took cover behind the abandoned hotel's sign, shooting at Barricade!
Razor the shot at the Hotel, a couple of shots hitting it and Stripes, the rest barely missing the garage! It was then that Razor noticed Nikki, as she had let out a loud scream when the hotel had been hit.
"Well, what do you know?" He said. "Hostage for the taking... And not just any hostage." Razor turned to Stripes, who was in the process of trying to get up. "This should turn the odds in my favor, shouldn't it Carlos?"
Stripes looked up, seeing Razor walking up to the Garage, bending down on one knee to reach into the garage. He could hear Nikki scream.
Stripes then snapped, his eyes glowing blood red. He charged, frenzied, tackling Razor away from the Garage, his Energon blades out. Stripes wrestled with Razor in the dirt, getting on top of him. He popped out his Energon blades, and proceeded to stab Razor Repeatedly in the spark chamber! He offlined on the spot! But that didn't stop Stripes' fury, as he continued to stab and slash at Razor's chassis!
"Stop! Kid, stop!" Darius snapped, dragging Stripes off of Razor's corpse, and back to his senses. Barricade stepped out of cover, seeing the sight as Stripes calmed down from the rush.
"Kid, it's alright! She's safe!" Darius reassured Stripes. Things seemed to stand still from that moment.
Then, Nikki spoke.
"...Carlos?"
Stripes got up, turning to Nikki, who was standing at the edge of the garage. She cautiously stepped out into the open. Tears were running down her face.
"...It's me." Stripes said, his eyes going back to their usual violet hue.
Things were silent as they both stared at each other. The silence seemed to last for an eternity, unbroken by anything.
Nikki then did something that would affect the course of Stripes' actions against the Decepticons, and break his spark.
"...I'm sorry, I can't do this." She said. "...Carlos, I set you free from me."
She slowly took the ring off her finger, and carefully set it down on the cracked, sun-baked pavement of the parking lot. Then she jumped in her car and took off down the road.
All Stripes could do was watch in shock as she drove away. He then looked down at the ring on the ground. He picked it up, his giant robot digits carefully grasping the ring. He could not stop the flow of Energon tears that started to run down his faceplate.
Darius walked up, putting a hand on Stripes's shoulder strut.
"...I'm sorry." He said.
YOU ARE READING
Transformers - Son of Primus
Fanfiction(Post AOE, with NFS MW/Carbon Elements) Optimus Prime has returned from his search for the creators with no luck. Shortly after his return, he finds a badly damaged Autobot with little to no story about his past, or so he wants him to believe. The...
