Chicago

Chapter I

Swinging around, Optimus' axe buried itself in Megatron's helm, the autobot leader ripping the blade back and dropping it to the ground. It remained firmly buried in the silver mech's helm as it dropped, the blue and red mech taking a few staggering steps backwards.

Victory. Megatron was defeated, beheaded in a more barbaric sense than the word usually portrayed. Sentinel was easy to take care of as well, a single shotgun blast to the helm and his old mentor wouldn't trouble Earth ever again. It was all over in his mind. But not in the minds of unknown enemies.

Megatron had always hated humans. Had always thought of them as weak and useless, useful only as slave labor for the restoration of Cybertron. That was why Optimus Prime hadn't expected the attack... Specifically from humans.

It was so quick -sudden- that Optimus didn't even realize he'd been attacked until pain flared through his knee joint. Sparks and pieces of metal exploded outwards, sending the prime down onto one knee.

Confusion was at the forefront of Optimus' processor, the massive autobot looking up in time to see a flash of yellow lightning race away from him, stopping several yards away. It was a man, and Optimus could only stare in shock. A human? How had a human climbed all the way up his leg? How had a human destroyed a joint made up of metals stronger than any sort possessed by earth?

Optimus didn't have a chance to contemplate any further when a flash of light out of the corner of his optic brought his helm around to face a new threat.

An explosion rocked the world around the autobot, Optimus thrown back by the blast to his chassis.

"Do you really think we all need protecting?"

Optimus fought to get back to his pedes, spark flying from his open chassis, energon leaking onto the pavement beneath him as he brought his helm up to face his attackers. They stood side by side as they approached. One was dressed in a yellow suit with red markings, the other mostly black though his helmet was half black and half orange. He only had one eye.

"We're not as weak as you seem to believe us to be," the one clad in yellow stated, waving a hand to the downed autobot. "But you, are definitely no longer welcome here. At least Megatron has something worthwhile to offer us."

Watching through cracked optics, Optimus watched as the quieter of the two lifted up a miniature version of a Cybertronian JPG.

Optimus expected there to be another explosion, this time followed closely by darkness and death when the mercenary with the multicolored mask suddenly dropped his weapon and spun around, catching an arrow in his hand.

A flash of red was followed by a cry of anger and pain as the yellow-clad man was tossed aside. In his stead stood someone clad in the same type of clothing, only this time red instead of yellow.

Struggling to get himself back up to his pedes, Optimus looked up when he heard a strange sound, watching as a hooded human zipped down a line to the pavement, rolling to his feet as he began to fight the mercenary.

In all of his time on Earth, Optimus had never seen humans like the four before him. Even slowing his optical feed wasn't able to completely track the two in red and yellow, the final two fighting with the skill of the human military. But he'd never met them before, and they were dressed in a way that wasn't identifying of any branch he'd learned about.

Optimus' joint groaned and tracked as he pushed himself up onto one knee, then up to his pedes.

Staggering, the red and blue mech pressed a hand against a parking garage to his left, watching streaks of red and blue zip around him, moving too quickly for him to be able to finish either of them off. That left the other two.

Turning blue optics onto the mercenary and green-clad archer, Optimus grabbed at the cars in the garage, moving to face the two fighters before lobbing them in their direction. The archer saw the oncoming danger and rolled away to take cover behind an overturned truck, The mercenary looking up just as a car smashed into him, sending him flying into a nearby building.

Satisfied, Optimus Prime kept himself upright as the two speedsters vanished, to where he had no idea, nor was he very worried about it.

"Hey. You alright?"

Optimus turned his helm to come face to face with the red speedster. As of yet, there was no threat, so the Prime didn't bother attempting to lash out again. After all, this human could've easily made his way through the cybertronian's frame by now if he'd wanted to do so.

"I will recover." The red and blue mech responded carefully as the green-clad archer appeared from behind the truck, approaching from the front.

A wide grin spread across the speedster's face, "I'm known as the Flash. That's Arrow."

Optimus shifted slightly to look down at the archer, who gave an almost dismissive wave. "Oliver Queen."

"And your enemies?" The autobot leader questioned, glancing towards the place where he'd seen the mercenary fall. No one was there.

"Eobard Thawne, known as the Reverse Flash." The slim speedster responded, motioning to the area around him as if it meant anything to the prime.

Oliver approached from the front, leaning over to pick up a sword from amongst the shattered glass and littered debris. "Slade Wilson was the one who shot you. Any idea where he'd gotten the weapon from?" He questioned, not interested in the present conversation.

Groaning as he tried to move again, sending out a ping to the other autobots. "No. Weaponry capable of destroying the plating of a Cybertronian would have to come from Cybertronian technology. It is very difficult for your kind to breach our armor, though not impossible." Optimus explained as he received an answering ping from Ratchet.

"I have to go and find out where they got this from." Oliver responded, turning to head off into the destruction of Chicago. He was a long way from home, having travelled to follow Deathstroke, who had been working for Megatron indirectly, his main employer being Soundwave.

Optimus turned his helm back towards the speedster. "Where did you come from?"

The Flash smiled again, arms crossing over his chest. "Evolution. A freak accident," he explained, listening to the sirens for a moment before speaking again. "We're the next level of humanity, and your allies. For now, your enemy is defeated, and I have to find mine."

With slight disturbance in the air, the Flash was gone, leaving behind an injured Optimus as Jazz and Ratchet arrived. It was a relief, knowing that there were humans out there that still understood he was their ally, but it was also concerning to know that there were humans out there with Cybertronian weaponry, or dangerous abilities.

Perhaps he'd made the right decision in siding with the humans.