Wounded Spark

Chapter XXXIX

Firelight rubbed his muzzle with a pede. That stench was still there. Curse my curious nature! Firelight thought turning towards a corner and away from the puddle. His first trip to the surface wasn't as exciting as he thought. He knew Cybertron had changed, but he still expected to find something. Firelight rubbed his muzzle again. "Eww it's worse over here." he mumbled before going still. True the smell was worse, but it wasn't the same. He tilted his helm took another little sniff. Definitely different. This smelled more of the energon he was used to smelling. Firelight followed it and took a few steps forward. The smell was coming from behind a locker leaning against the wall. "Maybe it's some old crystals or cubes..." Firelight said as he reared and pushed the locker aside.

Almost immediately something came crashing towards his and wrapped around his neck. Firelight screeched in fear and stumbled backwards furiously crawling at the thing. Electricity pulsed from his body and lashed out at anything nearby. In his blind panic, Firelight had no control over his abilities. Not that he was trying to anyway, the thing touching him was top priority. Firelight dug his claws into the thing's back and hurled it against the wall. The thing slammed against it and collapsed onto its side. Firelight stood there trembling as electric bolts continued to arc from him. The thing was long dead with ugly wounds tracing their body. It had two pedes and a pair of servos that eventually connected to a chestplate. It had a circular helm with two offline and cracked optics.
It was a transformer.
Firelight felt his spark beat faster. He had found a dead transformer. How long had it been here? What killed it? Was the killer still around? The troubling thoughts rushing through his helm only added to his panic. It was a sickening crack that finally snapped him back to reality. Firelight wearily turned his helm. One of the lightning arcs had reached the light and had made it shatter. The fixture was now casting sparks down onto the floor. His optics followed a single one as it traveled down to the puddle. Firelight now had something worse to deal with. Blue flames lept up from the substance covering a large part of the floor. The flames reached high and practically consumed anything it touched. Firelight backed up. He doubted all the burn medicine in the world could fix him if he survived.

^^^

"Huh? Aileron why did you stop?" Bumblebee asked stopping as well to look at the blue Predacon. She stood stiffly and on full alert. Her audio receptors were quickly turning in various directions before stopping in the direction the group had been travelling in. "What's the hold up?" Arcee asked. "I don't know..." Bumblebee said still watching Aileron. Darksteel and Skylynx began acting weird too. Their helms were raised upwards and they were sniffing the air. "Something's wrong." Aileron said with uncertainty in her voice.
"Is that...smoke?" Ratchet said after following her gaze. Everyone turned to look forward again. He was right. There was indeed smoke drifting from a building in the distance. "Holy scrap that's the med center!" Ratchet cried.
It was like someone flipped a switch. Realization kicked in and Aileron wasted no time taking off. "Aileron!!" Optimus shouted from his alt mode. "Why is she going towards the fire?" Ironhide said scratching his helm. "You don't hear it?" Skylynx said puzzled. "Hear what?" Bumblebee asked. "Someone is calling for help." Darksteel said giving the bots an odd look as if it was obvious. "No one should be in there." Ratchet said confused.

^^^

Aileron furiously beat her wings and added speed. The shouts were getting louder the closer she got to thr building.
::Aileron come back. We don't know what's in there:: Optimus' voice rang through her comm.
::There is someone in trouble. I'll come back as soon as I can:: Aileron responded.
::I don't-::
::Trust me, please!:: Aileron said before closing her comm. A protective instinct had taken over her mind. She folded her wings and landed beside the building. About a third of it was consumed. "Hello?! Can you hear me?!" Aileron called getting closer to the building. For a moment there was only the crackling of flames.
"Who's there? *cough* help me!" the plea was followed by a coughing fit. Aileron raced around the building towards the back. "Get me out!" they called again. Aileron targeted a spot on the wall and slammed her whole body against it. She was thankful the wall was old as it cracked and crumbled away easily.

The inside was far worse than the outside. The entire room was overrun with fire. Her optics frantically search till they spotted something huddling in the corner. It was looking back at her with frightened optics. Her spark skipped a beat.
It was a Predacon youngling.
They had pushed lockers around them to form a kind of barrier, but the flames were slowly creeping up those. Aileron opened her jaws and unleashed an ongoing beam of ice. The two elements clashed and an awful hiss filled the room as ice was melted and turned to water which smothered the flames. Aileron pushed through the hole she had made and put everything she had into pushing the flames back. If only a little, it seemed to be working well enough she could reach the youngling's locker barricade.

Her claws easily cut through the metal and tossed them aside. She closed her jaws and turned to fully face the youngling. They were trembling but looked happy to see her. Aileron, knowing the flames weren't finished, grasped the youngling's scruff bar. "Sorry." Aileron said as she lifted them into the air. Already the stubborn flames had begun to reclaim the areas she had doused. Aileron grunted as the fire licked at her pedes. She practically leaped through the hole and continued moving till they weren't as close to the building anymore.

Aileron placed the youngling down and sat on her haunches. Her body was tingling as the adrenaline slowly left her. "Hey...are you alright?" the youngling asked. "Are you alright?" Aileron asked after taking a much needed breath. The youngling nodded.
"Then I'm alright." Aileron said resting on all fours. She was more tired than expected. "So who are you?" the youngling asked moving a little closer. "My name's Aileron." she said. "Uh hi...I'm Firelight..." Firelight paused for a moment, "thanks for getting me out. What you did was pretty cool." he finished with a little smile. Aileron found herself chuckling. At least they were calming down too. She was too exhausted to worry about the possibility of more cheesy puns.