Transformers Fan Fiction ❯ Fragments of Memory ❯ Give Chase ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Give Chase

 

The sheets were a tangle as she awoke suddenly, her chest heaving. Her brow was dotted with sweat and she quickly switched on the small lamp on the nightstand. A small dorm was flooded with soft light, illuminating the modest decorations. Arianna flopped back down on her pillows. Another nightmare- crashes and explosions, metallic screeching, and then as always, the blue light came and carried her safely away. She was an intelligent young woman, but she could never quite figure out what the hell those dreams were about. That mysterious blue light always appeared in her dreams; twin orbs of sanctuary had always been the rescuing factor in any nightmare. A sharp rapping at the door scared Arianna just as she was drifting to sleep again, and with a yelp she fell out of bed in a heap of blankets.

“MMMPPH!” she called angrily.

“Get up, Ari, its time for work.” called a muffled male voice from behind the door.

“Argh…fine, just a second!” she yelled, and jumped into a pair of jeans and her work shirt. She brushed a few quick strokes through her long hair and put it in a lopsided ponytail. Arianna opened the door to a short young man with messy brown hair.

“You know, Allen, I do know how to set my alarm clock.”

“Yet you never do.” He chuckled and they walked down to his vehicle together.

 

Allen and Arianna were siblings, but though they were the same age, they weren't twins. Both of them had been adopted by the same couple. Edward and Louise Walther were the most caring parents either of them could have hoped for. Geniuses, though they were, they remained first and foremost dedicated parents. Allen and Arianna often played at their lab as the two tried to develop a cure for cancer. They adopted purely for that reason; both sides of their family were riddled with cancer, and they didn't want to bestow the same fate on biological children. They didn't develop their cure in time though, as they had died when Arianna and Allen were seniors in high school from the disease, within months of each other.

 

Arianna and Allen, aside from their shade of brown hair, looked completely different from one another. Allen was of medium height, with a barrel chest and heavy arms. He preferred sports, whereas Arianna was like their parents and obsessed over books and science. She was short, and slender, with long legs and cascading brown hair. Most men thought her extremely attractive, but Arianna didn't really notice. Her nose was too often buried in a book to deal with such things. It was only at Allen's insistence that she started making those damned tutoring videos. It had made them a small fortune so far, though she despised those little skirts and shorts. The two spilled out of the black bronco SUV, and jogged up to the dark department store. Their manager was waiting with the side door open.

“You two are impossible! Go punch in, its almost five.” The manager said, exasperated. They were never late, but usually arrived with seconds to spare. Neither of them noticed the sleek yellow car parked across the street.

 

Several hours into her shift, stocking shelves and helping customers as the store opened, Arianna flopped down in the break room. Her mind was still on that nightmare she had that morning. She reached into her pocket and pulled a laminated sheet of paper out of her wallet. It was folded and re-folded so many times that she had it laminated, and ended up folding the lamination just to keep it on her. This was the one thing she had left from her life before the Walther's. The yellowed paper read in a very sloppy and large script:

 

You are Aria Witwicky, and you are loved. I will come back for you one day; please don't forget me.

B.B.

 

A request to her parents at 14 lead to the discovery that her parents were Samuel and Mikaela Witwicky, who died in a huge terrorist attack some years ago. Who B.B. was, she couldn't find out. No one in their records, or the family tree indicated anyone with those initials. She deduced it was a friend of theirs; a close friend, to be trusted with her care. This person expected her to remember who he or she was though, at just a few months old. Perhaps it was the saving blue light in her dreams. Maybe this B.B. had blue eyes? Who knew? Something bumped her on the top of the head, bringing her from her thoughts. Arianna looked up and saw that the ceiling was crumbling in.

“Christ on a cross, this place is a dump!” she swore loudly and scooted off to the side.

The few people in the break room looked up from their meals and commented on the ceiling, and one darted to get a manager as it crumbled larger and larger. Suddenly a lump of something fell to the ground with a metallic clang, and much to Arianna's surprise, proceeded to get up and dust itself off.

 

The thing resembled a human, but reminded Arianna of a robot. It had silver workings, and deeper silver armor, and bright red eyes. It made an alarming clicking noise and turned to her, an imposing presence at seven feet tall. It shot out its hand and jabbed her in the arm, she cried out and fell to the ground as the thing dropped a splash of her blood on an outstretched instrument protruding from its chest. Arianna scooted away and had her back to the wall, unable to get up and run away. She was too terrified. Several seconds later, the thing began to hop excitedly and a series of clicks and metallic sounds emitted from where she supposed its mouth was. She screamed as it swiftly converted into a motorcycle, more specifically a Suzuki Katana 750, and revved its engine.

“Witwicky!” it called in a very metallic but distinctly human voice. The sides of the motorcycle-robot shot out and grabbed her, fastening her securely to its seat. With a giant rev of its engine, it shot out of the break room and plowed through the store, smacking down customers as they screamed in terror, and broke open a giant window as it launched into the air. Arianna screeched as she was hit by shards of glass, and crossed her arms over her face. Her legs were still held fast to the sides of the motorcycle, as it sailed through the air and landed with a heavy clunk, jarring her head into its handlebars.

 

Her forehead was poring blood all over her, and she couldn't see properly as it had gotten into her eyes. The Katana whipped a 180 wildly and sped away with a quick wheelie. She thought she heard an enormous engine roar up behind them as the store was left quickly behind, Allen shouting in panic. The Katana clicked in its strange language again and swerved crazily through side streets, trying to avoid the thing behind him. Arianna could spot a yellow car drawing near and falling back as the motorcycle performed stunts that made her scream in terror. Her tears began to clear her eyes of the blood and she realized that they were headed for the highway. The motorcycle skidded across the grass halfway up the onramp and jumped with a hard thud to the pavement and began speeding, much to her horror, in the opposite direction. Oncoming cars honked and screeched their brakes, swerving to avoid her; she could hear crashes of metal on metal erupting all around her. Arianna started screaming in short bursts of terror when she saw a giant tankard semi jackknifing to try and avoid them. The Katana leaned close to the pavement and Arianna tried not to look at the asphalt speeding by her head at over a 100mph. Her knee bumped the ground as the semi slid over the top of them and she started sobbing as the pain ripped through her leg. A furious roar came from behind her and she turned around the best she could to see the strange yellow car transform into a shape much like the silver robot, except it was much, much larger. The robot grabbed the tankard truck at a run and heaved it over his head, throwing it with a giant wrenching to the side of the highway where it made the most horrible crunching noise. The Katana must have been startled by this because it wobbled and squealed in pain as he popped a tire on shrapnel from the wrecks all around them. They weaved drunkenly with the tire going flat and Arianna suddenly found herself sailing off of an overpass bridge as the robot-motorcycle crashed into the barrier.

 

It was a calm moment, falling to the ground, where everything went slightly mute. Arianna watched as the pavement rushed up to meet her, and curiously, she wondered what it would feel like to be dead. A blur flung itself past her and she watched, as if in slow motion, the giant yellow car-robot crash to the ground before her and reach up to receive her in his hands. The pavement rippled outward and the robot created a crater with his back, his wings shattering and his head slamming backwards violently. Arianna landed almost softly in his outstretched hands and held fast as they slipped down with her in tow. The robot looked at her, his bright blue eyes almost pleading something. The light in his eyes flickered and he laid his head back to the pavement and groaned. Arianna flinched at the humanity in the groan. This thing had hurt itself to save her. She tried to say something but an overwhelming blackness crept up behind her eyes as she passed out from the head wound.