Chapter Three

Bastard!

Never thought he'd be against me.

He's supposed to be my friend.

Supposed to be there for me.

To believe me.

Help me.

But no.

Always gotta be the one with the science backing him up. Can't ever accept that sometimes a person just knows.

A bunch of charred cells on a slide.

That's my Carly?

They can't prove it is. They're full of it.

They are. Aren't they?

Yes. They are.

You know, it is their fault.

I'm aware of that.

Are you?

I was there. I saw it.

I'm not talking about your locale at the time.

What the hell are you talking about then?

That Carly isn't where she should be. She should be in that coffin. It is some stray mutt.

She's probably rotting away under some hunk of concrete.

Or maybe one of those tin cans is scrapping her off the back of their foot as we speak.

Maybe they took her for research, autopsy and all that.

Maybe she's alive, maybe the Con's took her.

Why would they take her, idiot?

That's crap. The Decepticons don't have her, if they did, they would have ransomed her by now.

Oh, so you know the Decepticon hostage strategies, do you?

She's not a hostage, she's a kidnappee.

What? That's shit. Go find a dictionary you retard.

Oh for the love of…

So?

So what?

So, what's going to happen now?

Don't know.

How can you not know?

Other things on my mind, in case you hadn't noticed.

Noticed? Yes. Time to plan, now.

Plan what?

Why, revenge of course?

Revenge?

Yes.

Why?

She's dead. She's dead because of them. She's dead and they hand you over a pile of dead dog roast, that's why.

I know no one wants to hear it, but what if on the off chance, Chip is right?

Shut up.

Liar.

Yeah, he's a liar. Him. And all of them. All of the others.

Well, at least he's not peddling the notion that a hostage is someone who's been kidnapped.

Shut the hell up.

Shut up.

What about revenge?

For Carly.

Yes, revenge for Carly.

What about Danny?

Son.

He's dead too.

They don't even know where he is… if you says he's a hostage I'll pummel you.

Maybe they took off. Maybe Danny is someone else's son and Carly was worried you were getting to close t the truth, so they did a runner.

Okay. That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day.

Back to revenge?

What about it?

You have to get revenge.

On who?

Told you.

On them?

Yes. Them.

The Decepticons?

No… well, not yet.

They were the ones who attacked, if it weren't for them…

Yes, perhaps they are the reason the wife, the son, they're dead…

They are dead. But I want them back. I want them back.

They're not just going to walk through that door. Accept it, they're dead.

I know that. I don't mean I want them back to life. I want to have them back. I want to give them dignity. I want to hold them. I want to stroke their faces and brush aside their hair. I want to pick out their clothes. I want to search through photo albums looking for the image I want to immortalize them on their programmes. I want to see them lying in a coffin. To lay flowers in Carly's hands. A toy, something, anything, in Danny's. I want a funeral mass, with friends, family and acquaintances mourning the same as I. I want an after function with those cheap little bulk bought slices and cakes, with those little pies that you never know what's in them. I want to be able to stand over a hole in the ground that I can call their grave. I want to look at the head stone that I picked out for them, to run my fingers over the grooves their names have etched. I want to visit them every day, no matter the weather. I want to lay flowers and photos and letters and light candles and a vase full of those coloured glass pebbles. I want to go into a graveyard, a city for the dead, a place where those loved may rest and those loving can weep. I want that. I want that privacy that is not privacy. I want to mourn bitterly. I want that. I want that all.

You wanted to grow old with Carly, but that's not going to happen, now is it?

You wanted to watch your son grow old.

You wanted to have more children with the woman you loved.

Love.

Whatever. But all those things you planned all those things you wanted are not going to be given to you.

Yes. Tad unfair isn't it.

What about revenge?

Against who?

Guess.

It's not the Decepticons?

No, its not.

The… Autobots?

Ding, ding, ding. Yes. We have a winner.

But they said… they tried… an accident…

Who cares about the how, shouldn't you be worried about the now?

Yes. It's their fault you don't have their bodies. Just some stray mutt.

It might be them…

It might be some fatso's McD's lunch…

It's their fault. All of it. You'd still have a family if it weren't for them and their damn war.

Its our war too…

No it's not. And you know that. Stop deluding yourself. They brought this blood bath to our world. Nothing humanity has done has brought the world to this point.

It'd be easier to deal with if a bunch of humans did this.

They didn't have to die. Why, if you had never met them…

The Autobots?

Yes. Them and this stupid war. It's their fault.

Revenge.

It would stop them causing further harm.

There wouldn't be any more husbands mourning a pile of burnt mince.

There wouldn't be any falsified graves.

No funeral pretence.

No empty marital bed.

No idol school books.

None of that.

Just emptiness.

You could save many, perhaps hundreds, from that pain.

Maybe thousands.

And not just husbands, but wives, children, friends…

Yes… but the Decepticons will continue…

Not if the revenge takes them all out.

But how?

You know how.

No I don't, I wouldn't have asked otherwise.

Don't lie. You do know. And you have to plan it properly, make sure no one suspects you, and you'll be able to pull it off as well. No one would expect you to do something so… Machiavellian.

That's right. No one would ever expect Spike Witwicky, the young face of Human-Transformer alliance, friendship and all that fuzzy propaganda bullshit. Hide your scheming behind unrelenting grief.

I wouldn't wish this grief on anyone.

All the more reason to put a stop to those who perpetrate it.

It could cost more lives.

More than have already been lost?

You can do this. You know you can. Everything you've ever done you've wondered about whether you could. All those times you stood up to the Decepticons, all those gallant actions, all those honourable moments, everything you've done, somewhere in your mind, your heart, perhaps your soul, there's already been a hint of doubt. Always unfounded, Spike. Unsubstantiated. You can do this.

Yeah. Spike. You can.

Go on.

You have to, and you know it.

Your personal feelings, put them aside, do it.

No, wait, you need that grief, it'll prove the excellent catalyst.

The mob has spoken, Spike, this is your destiny, and if not that, your duty.

Who are you?

You know who I am. I was there after your mother died. After your father… I've always been there for you Spike, and I'm here for you now. I won't ever leave you. Ever. And no one can take me from you. No one. Not even them. They took your wife, your child, your future, your life. All of that and probably more. But they can't take me, no one can. So, you now know what you must do, and know I will be there with you.

Revenge, Spike.

Revenge.