TITLE: Lost
World
SERIES: Imperfection, part 11
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned
by
people with a lot more money
Author’s Voice of Warning (aka Author’s Note):
English is not my first language; it’s German. This is the best I can
do.
Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize
FEEDBACK: Loved
Like all the places where they could be themselves, this one was
abandoned and
humans didn’t really come here any more. It was an old dump site,
filled
with rusting carcasses of human vehicles and Barricade found it
fitting.
Here, he was alone with Jazz. He usually was. Keeping company wasn’t
like
Barricade, and the other Autobots really weren’t all that keen on his
either.
“What is it that fascinates you so about these creatures?”
Jazz looked at his companion and smiled. “Everything. Their languages,
their cultures, their cities, their writings and plays and television.
Their
evolution is incredible.”
“They are weak.”
“Compared to who? Us? Barricade, we’re bigger, true, but
we’re not really stronger. They took out the Decepticons in Mission
City,
almost destroyed Scorponok, maybe even offed him for good, and one of
them killed
Megatron. Their smaller size doesn’t make them weaker.”
Barricade grunted.
“We were built for a different purpose,” Jazz added. “And
that’s the huge difference. They evolved. They are born like a blank
slate and have to learn. We receive a spark and have a basic
programming.
Weapons included,” he chuckled.
“I find them nothing but bothersome.”
“We might be stuck here for a very long time,” the silver Autobot
said. “You better get used to them. And don’t tell me you
don’t enjoy mingling.”
“I don’t mingle,” he growled.
“You drive around the city, you listen in to the police radio, you even
saved Sam and took some pretty neat revenge.”
Barricade rumbled deep in his chest. “There’s nothing fascinating
about them,” he persisted.
“How many languages do we have?” Jazz wanted to know.
Red optics narrowed. “One.”
“Exactly. They have hundreds! And their planet is incredible. The
ecosystems alone…”
“You are gushing,” Barricade stated evenly.
Jazz grinned. “Yep.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“I stand by it. I love this planet.” His radio went on, hip hop
blaring from the speakers, and Jazz moved to the rhythm. “Isn’t
this great?”
“It’s loud.”
“Hooo-yeah!”
“And it makes absolutely no sense.”
Jazz switched stations and rock music could be heard. Barricade
grimaced, but
his claws twitched a little. His companion smirked.
“Have you ever logged yourself onto one of their music internet sites?
Millions of downloadable songs and they have fantastic quality!”
“It’s illegal.”
The Autobot laughed. “Now you’re talkin’ like a cop! Your
vehicle mode gettin’ to ya?”
Barricade suppressed a groan of annoyance.
“Confess it, ‘Cade. You like it here, too.”
“It’s bearable.”
“Which is as good as ‘I love it’ in your language.” He
plopped down on an old wreck of a car. “Do you miss Cybertron?”
Barricade stiffened, surprised by the sudden change of topic. He looked
into
the blue optics, saw the serious expression.
“Yes,” Barricade answered.
“Me, too. I know it’s a dying world, maybe even dead now, but it
was our planet.”
“You think we will stay here.” It wasn’t a question.
Jazz shrugged. “Without the Allspark, we have no home to return to. I
don’t want to look at my dead home and then leave again. I want to
remember it as it was when it was still prospering and peaceful.”
Barricade nodded. “It was a beautiful world.”
“In my mind it still is. I love Earth. If I have to remain here, I
won’t regret it. Humans have an incredible potential and I want to be
here to watch them develop. Prime was right when he said that they’re a
young
species and not so much different from us.”
The black mech next to him looked up into the bright blue sky. “They
tortured one of your own.”
“And we are so innocent? Barricade, we’ve been at war for
millennia. We destroyed our home, our kin fled into all corners of the
universe. Yes, they did terrible things to us, but I don’t judge them
all
by the deed of a few.”
“They might destroy us one day.”
“So you want to destroy them first?”
“No.”
Silence settled between them and Jazz leaned back on his hands, gazing
at the
clouds. “What do you miss the most? Me, it’s the freedom. Before
the war. Racing down the Diba Highway, top speed, nothing but me and
the road
and everyone behind me.”
Barricade smirked. “You always liked to show off. Still do.”
Jazz chuckled. “Hey, I am the fastest there is.”
No argument there.
“And the Red Moon. Wow, what a sight. Each year it amazed me.”
Barricade nodded. With the destruction of one of their moons, that
spectacle
had disappeared. Megatron had probably never wanted to annihilate the
smaller
moon, but he had. It had been the beginning of the war.
“I also miss the ease of being with you,” Jazz continued.
That brought the former Decepticon’s head up sharp.
“There were no factions, no spies, no fights to the death. There was
just
Cybertron. When you joined Megatron, it hurt, ‘Cade. But it was still
you.”
“I had made a promise,” Barricade said, voice softening a little.
“I would never break that in my life – for anything.”
Jazz smiled a little. “Yeah. I know. You never did. And you’re here
now. Megatron’s dead, but so’s our world. Our kind is torn apart
and still fighting. I don’t want this to happen to this world.
Prime’s right. We will stay here and hide among these people, but we
will
rise and defend them against any threat.”
Barricade was silent, not looking at his silver counterpart. “To serve
and protect?” he suddenly quoted, some sarcasm bleeding into his words.
Jazz shrugged. “That’s more for you, but something like it.”
“I do not serve humans.”
“But you protect them.”
The red optics flared, a clear warning.
“Want to mingle?” Jazz asked and got up, smiling.
“I’m not a people person.”
“Haven’t I noticed! How about a drive along the coast? All the way
north. It’s beautiful.”
“It’s salt water and rocks.”
“Spoilsport.”
Barricade snorted. “I’ve been on this world for four years.”
“And you haven’t seen the sights. C’mon. Let’s go
rockin’!”
Jazz transformed and his speakers blared Bon Jovi.
Hey, hey, I finally found my way
Say goodbye to yesterday
Hit the gas there ain’t no brakes
on the lost highway
Yeah I’m busting loose, I’m letting go
Out on this open road
It’s independence day
on this lost highway
Barricade shook his head, a smile briefly visible on his features. He
transformed and followed the Solstice as Jazz put the pedal to the
metal and
tore across the empty road.
Yes, he missed Cybertron, too, but he had come to accept this organic
little
world more than he would ever tell anyone. Jazz probably knew it
anyway. Humans
were a factor he had to get used to, but they came into the equation
and
somehow they fit.
Barricade let his sirens ‘whoo-whoop’ briefly and overtook the
Pontiac, playfully flashing his lights. Jazz laughed and accelerated
even more.
Barricade had no illusion about winning this race; Jazz was the fastest
car on
this road, but it was fun while he was in lead.