It started out as
just a plain, colorless, normal day.
I woke up and
smiled at Penny--a crazy canine-incarnation-of-me Black Labrador Pit bull
mix—and closed my mouth real fast when she nailed me square on the teeth.
Jumping up, I ran
to the bathroom and spat several times, grinning as I heard the tell-tale thu-thump of Penny jumping off my bed.
Reaching down to stroke her as I swished the water in my mouth, I nearly choked
with laughter when she gave me a funny face, then a huge sneeze and a shake.
I emptied my
mouth out, then dried it with a content sigh. I grabbed my bathrobe off its
hook as I headed for the stairs. Thundering down two at a time, I wandered over
to the back door and let her outside before relieving myself. Then, feeling
fully awake now, I scooped food into her bowl and filled up her water before
trotting back to the door, barks and whimpers of excitement piercing the air.
I knew that once
I opened the door, it was the Indianapolis 500 for the food, so I carefully
stepped to the side before slowly, agonizingly unlocking it, then carefully
twisting the doorknob, the whole time Penny jumping and yapping and squealing
and whining you wouldn’t believe.
Suddenly I flung
wide the door and screamed, “GO!” She dug in her claws and shot off high speed
towards the entrance, which was where her food was. The sounds of noisy
crunching met my ears as I poured out a bowl of cereal for myself.
Within twenty
seconds—more towards fifteen—she was back and licking her chops, looking
completely and utterly satisfied with herself. I laughed as I walked back to
the door, allowing her out once more.
Sitting down at
the table, I began spooning bites into my mouth, enjoying the morning meal.
Simple, but hey-it was Saturday, I could afford a little laziness.
I glanced at the
clock and snorted, milk dribbling from my mouth as I fought to swallow. Once
done, I began giggling wildly.
It was 2:05 in
the afternoon.
Suddenly I shot
bolt-upright.
Letting off a
huge squeal, I leaped off my chair and made a beeline for the front door. I
flung it wide and ran down my driveway, passing my sleek 2013 convertible Ford
Mustang. I paused by it and smirked dirty at the Autobot symbol I had painted
on the hood of the black-and-white vehicle, then sprinted the rest of the way
and started squealing loudly and jumping up and down by a medium-sized
cardboard box that lay on the asphalt beside my mailbox.
I snatched it up
and ran back up towards my house. Penny came bounding up from the backyard,
barking. Dumb dog, I thought fondly
as she stopped barking and came trotting up, tail wagging sheepishly.
I flew into the
house, Penny close behind, and grabbed scissors off my desk. I calmly and
deliberately cut the tape, looking as blank as Prowl would’ve at that moment.
Once the flaps were free I tore into that box like a banshee.
I lifted out a Classics
G1 Jazz figure and stared at it in awe. It was almost perfectly
Episode-accurate! I screeched and set it down lovingly on my couch, then
launched myself at Penny and tackled her. She did, of course, start tussling
back, and for ten minutes straight we wrestled on my living room carpet, happy
as can be.
When we were both
stretched out on the floor, exhausted, I snatched my new asset off the couch
and began ripping it open, tossing scraps everywhere.
Setting it up on
the buffet that proudly held my collection, I placed it among the other
Autobots I had collected-specifically, beside my Perceptor.
Smiling happily,
I trudged upstairs for my shower.
~*~
I took a drive
that day. Mainly just for the feel of the wind, but also because it was a nice
day and I didn’t really have much to do. I took Penny along for the fun of it,
and we drove along the highway, my hair whipping everywhere as her ears flapped
around, snout testing the wind.
We stopped by the
dog park and she had a good long run with one of her closer friends, a black
Labrador named Scout who belonged to one of my
closer friends, a cool girl called Trisha.
“Y’know, Abigail,”
she laughed to me one day, “If Penny wasn’t spayed, they’d have about fifty
puppies by now!”
At that point my
eyes had sparkled mischievously, I swear they must have. “She hasn’t been,” I
said.
We both stared at
each other as evil grins slowly spread. At the same time we both screamed
“PUPPIES!” and began jumping up and down. So the deal was made; if they ever
had puppies, we would each get at least one.
We both still
remind each other about that to this day.
~*~
Once we were back
on the road, I noticed that there weren’t many cars out. Sirens sounded loud
and clear, and I pulled over as a fire truck, several police cars, and a few
ambulances roared past, blaring the high-pitched sounds that said Get out of my way, I’m in an emergency here!
I frowned at how
many there were.
Decision made, I threw
back the clutch, shifted a gear, then stepped on the pedal and we took off
after them, probably going a little faster than we should have.
We encountered a
scene of mass destruction.
Cars were thrown
about everywhere, and people, both injured and not, were crawling out of the
wreckage. Fires were strewn about, and one nearby building had collapsed. The
asphalt was bashed in, and various items—signs, benches, even a tree or
two—were shredded and tossed about.
“If didn’t know better, I say it was the
Decepticons,” I muttered to myself. I laughed weakly as we turned onto a side
street and made off another direction.
There was a whine
from the backseat.
Thinking she
needed to pee, I pulled over by a grassy patch and stepped out of my Mustang,
grabbing the leash in the passenger’s side.
When I saw Penny,
I knew something was wrong. Her fur was spiked high, making her look twice as
big, and her eyes were wide with fright. Her teeth were bared and her claws
were digging into the leather. A low, deep growl was rising from her throat.
Her nostrils were flared and her nose was twitching.
She started
barking just as something grabbed me, and she launched herself at my attacker.
I was struck dumb
by the metallic clang that followed.
Turning my head,
my eyes widened and my jaw dropped.
A ten-foot-tall
black-and-red robot with cassette-like features and a red visor was scowling at
Penny, who was attacking with a will. His hand—No, SERVO! I realized with a start—was clamped around my arm.
Despite my
danger, a surge of excitement fluttered through my gut.
“F-Frenzy?!” I
gasped. Then all excitement was lost as he kicked out, hitting Penny directly.
It was a good thing she was a meaty dog. She went flying and hit the Mustang
hard. I screamed her name as Frenzy yanked on my arms.
“You fragging
pit-spawned glitch!” I spat, wriggling and writhing.
He stopped in
surprise. “Hey, how do you know our language?”
I narrowed my
eyes. Suddenly Making Tracks came
into my mind, and I remembered Raoul’s tactics. “Take my dog and my car, or
I’ll blow the bomb I keep in my Mustang,” I snapped, jerking my thumb back
towards the vehicle and Penny.
Frenzy stopped.
He narrowed his optics. “And just how can you blow it--if there really is a bomb?”
I fumbled in my
pocket and pulled out my keys. Thank you
for the alarm button, Lord, I thought as I pressed it.
The alarm began
wailing on it, and I glared at Frenzy. “Hear that? That’s the one-minute
warning. I’ll deactivate it only once you agree to take my car AND my dog.” I prayed that he didn’t
know what a car alarm sounded like, or even what it was.
He seemed to
consider. As the alarm changed, he said hastily, “Alright, alright, turn it
off!”
“You’ll take all
three?”
“Yes, yes, now SHUT IT OFF!” He raised a blaster up to
my face in warning. Hurriedly I pushed the alarm button again, and my Mustang
was abruptly silent.
Frenzy let go of
my arm. “Go get your stupid pet, and then get in the car.”
I ran towards
Penny and dropped to one knee beside her, wondering why I had ever thought I
would be excited to meet the Decepticons. She whined and licked my face as I
hefted her up with a heavy grunt.
Staggering
towards my Mustang, I gently set her down in the backseat and then climbed into
the driver’s side. Frenzy was sitting directly opposite me. “Now I wantcha to
listen carefully. I’m gonna contact Skywarp, and-”
He was
interrupted by a plasma bolt that struck his chestplate directly. He went
flying over the folded canopy and landed heavily upon the asphalt.
Pounding metallic
footsteps—I mean pedesteps—suddenly drew near, and I looked up.
The last thing I
remember before everything went black was a visored helm and me letting off a
very fangirlish scream.
~*~
I sat bolt
upright. Penny was licking my face. I was in bed, it was still dark, and a huge
disappointment was settling in my stomach.
“Only a dream,” I
murmured sadly.
“What was?”
I jumped as a
blue glow suddenly illuminated the darkness. A stretched triangle ignited in
the darkness. Lights flicked on, and I screwed my eyes shut as the blinding
brightness hit them.
Slowly, I opened
my eyes, and sitting there before me with a small grin was the one thing I
loved most.
I stared for a
split second, then immediately starting squealing loudly and I leaped to my
feet, jumping up and down. “OHMYHOLYSLAGGINGPRIMUS!!” I screamed.
Suddenly I hit
thin air, and with a “Whoop!” I was falling. Warm metal appeared under me, and
I recognized the black digits.
I quickly turned
myself around and stared at the now-grinning faceplate, melting under the blue
visor. I started whimpering in excitement like a dog. Suddenly questions
exploded out of my mouth like the California Gold Rush.
“Am I on the Ark
is this the medbay where is everybody if it’s the medbay where’s Ratchet and
First Aid and Swoop and Red Alert and YOU’RE SO AWESOME and-”
A black digit pressed against my mouth—or
face, really, because it was so big. “Cool it! You’re rattling off questions
worse’n Bluestreak—but then, you prob’ly don’t know him, so the comparison
doesn’t make sense to ya…”
“Alt Mode is
Datsun Fairlady 280ZX, engine is a 2.8 Liter turbo I6 that holds on average
about 160 Horsepower, bipedal mode about 47 feet, named after his excessive
talking.” I folded my arms smugly at the dumbfounded look on Jazz’s faceplates.
“H-how do you
know all this?” he stammered.
I shrugged. “Did
my self-assigned homework, I guess.”
A smile slowly
spread across his faceplates. “Alright, then, what’s my-”
“Porsche 935
turbo, engine is a Flat 6 turbo that holds on average around 400 Horsepower.
And speaking of…”
Jazz chuckled and
set me down on the ground, then transformed. It was amazing how they shrunk to
fit their Alt Modes.
I squealed and
ran towards the driver’s side.
Then I remembered
and stopped. “Uh…may I?”
He laughed as he
said, “Yeah, knock yourself out.”
I flung wide the
door and practically threw myself in. Throwing him into drive and slamming on
the gas pedal, I gloried in the powerful revving as the wheels spun and we took
off down the halls. His engine roared as we tore around turns. My hands and
feet were constantly busy changing gears and pressing pedals and turning the
wheel—I loved this.
Suddenly two big
red pedes appeared through the windshield.
“HOLY-!”
“Waht thah-”
I swerved just in
time to avoid Ironhide’s pedes. Leaning out the window, not turning around, I
yelled behind me, “SORRY!”
Jazz’s laughter
trailed behind us I caught Ironhide staring at me via Jazz’s side-view mirror.
Suddenly we
exploded into a huge room filled to the edges with mechs and femmes. I
recognized most and vaguely remembered several.
The Rec Room.
“I’M DOOMED!” I
cried as I wildly began zig-zagging Jazz through the sea of giant metal legs. The
drive then was rather quite a bit of a blur, really; I know there were a few
shouts and some jumping on part of several bots, and I do believe that at one
point I shouted out “SCUZE ME COMING THROUGH TRYING NOT TO DIE HERE!”
Oh, so many
Autobots! There were several instances where I certain that we would crash but
somehow we didn’t. I don’t know how we survived, but suddenly we were out and
heading straight for the wall.
Pulling an E-turn,
I gently pressed the brakes enough so that we didn’t go into a spin, and we
started roaring back down the hall.
“So let’s see
here…which way back to the Medbay?”
“Take a right
here…now straight a few moments…there’s a hall to your left, take that and once
you come to the double doors you know it’s the medbay.”
We pushed in…
And I slammed on
the brakes. Hard.
We just barely
touched the white pede.
Climbing out of
Jazz, I looked up—WAY up—and squealed
again as I met the infuriated optics of Ratchet.
Jazz transformed,
laughing. “You’re a good driver,” he complimented as I blushed. “Really?”
“Yeah, you got us
through the Rec Room, didn’t ya? Sideswipe tried that once, got ‘imself a nice
big dent on the hood. Took ol’ Hatchet ‘most three joors to-”
“DUCK!” I hollered.
I should have
known. Being a saboteur, Jazz was quick. He saw the red fist before I did, and
Ratchet’s servo swung harmlessly overhelm.
“You call me that
again and I’ll weld your aft to the ceiling!” he hissed venomously.
“Well that’s not
very nice,” I stated bluntly. He focused on me, and a red servo reach down and plucked
me by the back of the shirt. I squealed and started struggling as he lifted me
so that I was eye-to-optic.
“YOU are supposed to be in HERE,” he snarled at me, jabbing a huge
digit at me.
“But why? I’m not
hurt or anything, you glitch!”
“I don’t know that, and it’s possible you
ARE.”
Jazz winked at me
and I smirked back.
Suddenly there
was a bark, and Ratchet looked down as Penny made a flying leap onto his other
servo, which rested on a huge berth. Before he could say anything, she was at
his elbowjoint, scrabbling at his armor in an attempt to get to me.
My heart leapt. Don’t jump, don’t jump, Ratchet, don’t jump…
Ratchet scowled
and set me on his shoulderplate, then plucked Penny off and narrowed his optics
at her.
“Please don’t
hurt her, that’s my dog,” I pleaded as I let out a breath. He grunted and set
her back down before placing me beside her. Penny tackled me with the force of
a truck, leaping all of her seventy-five pounds up onto my chest. Instantly I
went down.
“I’m okay, Penny,
I’m o-KAY!” I let off a “hurk” as she stepped onto my belly. I mouthed “GET HER
OFF” while pointing. Looking concerned, Ratchet used his digit to roughly shove
her off. I sucked in air and sat up, holding my stomach and bending over.
Nausea crept in.
“Are you
injured?” Ratchet bent down and studied me. I waved him off, shaking my head.
“Just…a little…uh…nauseous…”
“Describe.”
“Gimme a minute?”
“…”
I unsteadily
pushed to my feet and I knew by Ratchet’s ex
pression I must have been green in
the face. Jazz was trying hard not to laugh as I shot a death glare in his
direction.
Penny growled
deep in her throat when Ratchet moved as if to pick her up. She snapped at his
digits when he drew nearer.
“This is your pet?”
I nodded.
Stumbling forward, I let off a “Whou!” as I yet again went tumbling over the
edge of the berth. This time Ratchet
caught me, though Jazz moved forward.
“Watch where you’re
going, human,” he grumbled.
“Name’s Abigail,
Grouch,” I retorted as I motioned for Jazz. Backing up several paces, I took a
flying leap and landed squarely in the palm of his servo. Ratchet’s faceplates
turned dark with fury.
“Uh…Penny?” I
squeaked. Jazz caught his cue and grabbed the dog around the midsection before
transforming, both of us landing safely in his interior. I grinned excitedly
when I ended in the driver’s seat.
Slamming into
drive, my foot pressed hard on the pedal, and we shot off just in time as
Ratchet’s servo made a grab for Jazz. Laughing wildly, I pulled an E-turn and
we were off again.
Unfortunately we
were driving for barely ten seconds before pedesteps echoed down the hall.
This time Jazz
transformed, performing an impressive cartwheel and catching Penny and I in
both servos, bending low as he used his pedes to scrape us to a screeching
halt.
“Oh, hey, Jazz.
Whatcha got there?”
My jaw dropped
and my mouth flopped like a fish before I started screaming and jumping up and
down best I could. Jazz chuckled and opened the servo carrying me, and I
continued to scream at the top of my lungs and jump up and down.
A boxy hunter
green mech with a large (what appeared to be) missile launcher mounted on his
right shoulderplate stood before us. His confused faceplates were silvery-gray
and his accent color was a dark charcoal grey.
“HOUND!!” I
screeched.
“Uhuh-um-yes?” he
stammered.
I would have
fainted then and there had not Jazz set down Penny beside me, who promptly
proceeded to knock me over again. This time I sufficiently protected my
midsection until her happy attack was done.
I looked at Jazz,
then Hound. “Pwetty pwease?” I clasped my hands beneath my chin and made my
dramatic sad face, complete with puppy eyes.
When Hound looked
questioningly at Jazz, I pointed at Jazz’s servo and he grinned, shoving me and
Penny into Hound’s servos. “B-but-” Hound spluttered. It was too late. Jazz was
already strolling off, whistling a jaunty tune with a grin on his faceplates.
Hound scratched
his helm as Penny wagged her tail. I plopped into a sitting position and
crossed my legs, grinning madly. “So what’s your favorite animal?” I blurted.
He looked at me,
then smiled. “Well, I’ve been studying Earth’s life for a while now, and I can’t
say that I have one. All creatures are unique-though I’d have to say humans are
by far the most fascinating.”
“Don’t you dare,”
I warned as he pretended to study me like a lab subject. Penny growled when he
moved his other servo a little closer to me.
“Oh, I almost
forgot,” I exclaimed. “This is Penny, my dog. She’s a black Labrador Pitbull
mix.”
Hound carefully
picked her up and brought her up to optic level, studying her carefully. “Nice
conformation,” he remarked as Penny struggled. “Strong legs, wet nose, nice
ears, intelligent eyes. But not too close to the breed stats.”
I laughed as he
set her back down beside me. Then she started whining. She sat down and cocked
her head, looking up at me, tail going overtime at the tip.
I looked at her,
then Hound, then Hound’s servo.
“Uh, Hound? I
think Penny needs to…go outside?” I
gave him a meaningful look.
He looked at me
blankly.
I sighed. How was
I to explain this?
“She needs
to…um…relieve herself?”
Hound jumped.
“Oh! Well I’ll take you to the entrance right now.”
I grinned
excitedly as he started moving. The force of the wind created by this movement
blew me backwards. “Whoo!” I did a backwards somersault down Hound’s forearm,
landing flat on my back.
Hound instantly
stopped, sending me skidding forward again. “I need to get a hang of this ‘Not
falling’ thing,” I grumbled as he quickly grabbed me, looking panicky.
“S-Sorry,” he
stammered. “I-I forgot about that. Are you injured?”
I looked at Hound
and then for some reason I started giggling.
He looked around,
then glanced at me, turning purple. “Uh…”
I knew I was
being attacked with a fit of giggles when I couldn’t stop. I managed to gasp,
“Outside…before…on your servo…”
Of course, once
he figured out what I was saying, he was moving off rather quickly—this time
shielding me from the wind by curling up his digits like a wall.
It took several
minutes of futile giggling and hasty walking before we emerged. Hound was still
blushing, and one look at him had me going all over again. I practically fell
over after he set us down, laughing so hard my eyes were watering and Hound’s
embarrassed image was blurry.
Penny trotted
off, tail waving slowly and nose down to the ground.
Suddenly the sound
of jets was heard, and I quieted down. “Is it the seekers?”
Hound glanced
down at me. “How do you know about the seekers?”
My response was
cut off by the sound of laughter. Looking up, I gaped as five fighters soared
overhead, not more than 500 feet aboveground.
“Is that the
AERIALBOTS?” I squealed. “Yeah, look, there’s Silverbolt! And Fireflight and
Slingshot and Air Raid and Skydive and—and—and—OH MY HOLY SWEET PRIMUS HERE
THEY COME!!”
It was true. The
Aerialbots had made a sudden sharp turn and were making a steep dive in our
direction. Suddenly Air Raid broke out of formation and starting plummeting in
an impressive nosedive, performing several flawless spins.
“Yep. That’s just
like Air Raid,” I chuckled.
“So how again do
ya know so much about us?” Hound crouched down and stared at me. I just shook
my head and giggled. “I’ll explain later, it’s a really long story.”
I looked back up
at the Aerialbots. They were all headed straight for us. A little too straight. Penny, over by a cactus, whined
uneasily as the sound of their jets rapidly grew louder.
I trotted over
and leaned down to pet her when all at the once jet thrusters blew us forward and
the sounds of transformation were everywhere. I bowled over Penny and dust flew
in my face.
When everything settled, I could hear the
Aerialbots laughing and talking to Hound as Penny whined and shoved me with her
nose.
Groaning, I sat
up. “AGAIN?!” I yelled. “Primus SLAGGIT, somebody get me a weight or
something!”
All conversation
halted and I sensed six pairs of optics turning towards me. Penny barked and
wagged her tail happily as I pushed to my feet, brushing myself off. “Ow,” I
moaned, rubbing my by now bruised back. “Not nice.”
Fireflight bent
down and stared at me curiously. “Where’d you come from?”
Nearly fainting
from happiness for the third time that day, I pointed at Hound. “Frenzy tried
to kidnap me so Jazz showed up outta nowhere and apparently brought me here to
the Ark with my dog and I think my car’s somewhere too and so I even DROVE
Jazz, SLAG YES but anyway so I met Ratchet and saw about fifty bots in the Rec
Room including Smokescreen and Springer and Beachcomber and then I met Hound
but Penny needed outside so Hound took us out here and now here I am being very
very happy!”
I sucked in a
huge breath. “WOW I need to do that again…”
There was a bit
of laughter.
“Sounds like
Blurr,” snickered Air Raid.
“Wait, BLURR’S
here? Is he? Is he? Oh, by the way, nice nosedive,” I rambled before slowing
enough to think. “That’s better than most dives I’ve seen. Not that I’d expect
any less, you being Aerialbots and all.”
Suddenly a shadow
fell over me, and I whirled in time to see black servos reaching for me.
“Meep…”
Skydive lifted me
to optic level. “How do you know about us?”
I sighed. “That’s
the question of the day, isn’t it?”
Penny started
going crazy for what had to be the fiftieth time. Silverbolt picked her up and
Air Raid talked with Silverbolt as they watched her curiously, Hound coming up
to watch as well. “PLEASE, be careful, that’s my dog!” I called. Skydive,
Fireflight and Slingshot all stared at me. It was kind of creepy, to tell the
truth.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Why are you all
looking at me like that?”
“How’d you get
here?”
“I told you, Jazz
took me here!”
“And what was
that you said about Frenzy?”
“He tried to
kidnap me. I managed to make him believe that I had a bomb in my car and would
set it off if he didn’t take both it and Penny, which ended up–”
“Penny?”
interrupted Fireflight. “What’s that?”
I grinned and
pointed at Silverbolt, Air Raid and Hound. All three bots crowded around me-or
rather, both crowded around Skydive, who was holding me-turned and looked at
the squirming canine as Skydive placed me on his left shoulderplate and walked
towards them to lean over the other Aerialbots, careful to hold his arm
straight down. “What IS that?”
queried Air Raid.
“A dog. She’s a
canine, about five years old with no offspring. Black Labrador and Pitbull
cross. Seventy-five pounds.”
Slingshot
snorted. “Hah! She weighs less than an antbot!”
I looked at
Silverbolt, the nearest Aerialbot, and judged just exactly how close he was. Walking backwards until I felt the edge, I
crouched down and studied the gap as Skydive, feeling me walk, turned to focus
down at me. “What are you doing?”
“Something
stupid.”
With that, I
leaped to my feet and started running across the ten yards of a head start I
had. “Hey, wait—” started Skydive. Too late.
With a mighty
effort I leaped high and hard, letting off a “Whee!” as I flung myself through
the air. I landed heavily on the very edge of Silverbolt’s shoulderplate. He
jumped so high I thought he was going to take off higher than even he would like.
“You can get
angry, if you like,” I said, sitting up and crossing my legs, “but that was
awesome, so you can’t spoil my mood.”
Silverbolt and
the other Aerialbots all looked at each other, then me. I grinned devilishly.
Air Raid
snickered. “I like this one.”
Silverbolt just sighed
and rubbed his faceplates. “Well, um…okay…that was rather…strange…”
“I know, I hear
that a lot,” I said sarcastically.
Looking up, I
squinted against the sun and noticed a bird soaring in a wide circle. Silently
I wished I had wings. Then maybe, just maybe, I could fly with the Aerialbots…
Suddenly Air Raid
piped up, “Hey, wanna go for a ride?”
I squealed
loudly, much to Silverbolt’s dislike, and muttered, “Creepy telepathic
Aerialbot…”
Fireflight
laughed. “Sorry, we’re not telepathic, but we do happen to have very good audios.”
I glared at him
half-heartedly, to which he responded by giving me his classic petropup optics.
I melted and started grumbling meaninglessly as Silverbolt plucked me off his
shoulderplate and set me down in the just-transformed Air Raid’s cockpit.
He shivered and
muffled giggles permeated the air. “It feels funny,” he managed.
I smirked
deviously at the other Aerialbots, who began grinning.
“What? Why are
you looking at me like that? I—PFFSTOPITSTOPPLEASEYOU’RE—”
I had started
strolling around in circles in the cockpit, which was surprisingly roomy.
Humming contentedly, I winked at the chortling Aerialbots and Hound and
proceeded to stand up on the seat, doing an Irish jig. I was very proud of
that; it took me a whole year to figure it out.
Air Raid burst
into laughter, rolling around on his wheels. “I hope one of you is recording this,”
I said coolly to the Aerialbots.
They were
laughing so hard by now I thought they would start crying any second now, but Slingshot
managed to get a recording going, barely able to keep the recorder still. Air
Raid’s wing flaps were moving up and down rapidly and his jets were powering on
and off repeatedly as he literally bounced on his wheels.
“StOppleaszzzjustSTOP–”
he choked, and by this time I was laughing myself, finishing up my Irish jig.
“Thankyew,
Thankyew,” I slurred, bowing grandly as Air Raid slowed down.
“Alright, then…my
turn.”
I froze and
plopped down quick in the seat as the cockpit sealed, blocking out the sound of
the others’ laughter. I could almost hear
the smirk in Air Raid’s voice as he launched off with a jerk, sending me
slamming back into the seat.
I sat up once we
were level and looked around before sucking in my breath and staring.
The sky was
clear, with only a few stray clouds scatted about. The sun shone down, and Air
Raid’s wings glistened and shone beautifully.
“Wow,” I
breathed.
All at once I was
upside down and then flat on my belly on the roof. “What the-”
Suddenly I was
flying around the cockpit, scrabbling at anything I could. I smacked into the
controls and stars went shooting.
An alarm wailed
momentarily, and then Air Raid’s engine stalled. We were both silent for a
moment, trying to figure out what I had hit, before I started floating up.
“Whee!”
“Glitch,” Air
Raid muttered. I glared furiously at the control panel before noticing a little
highlighted panel. It had a tiny little lever on it, and it read ENGINE POWER.
I stared at it,
then slowly flipped the switch. Instantly Air Raid’s thrusters roared to life,
and I was thrown violently into the back of the cockpit.
“Ow,” I moaned,
slowly pushing to an upright position. “We squishies are delicate, you know…”
“Are you hurt?”
“A little. Mostly
scratches and bruises.”
“Good.”
My eyes widened
and then we were spinning upwards, gaining altitude faster than my brain had a
mind to decipher. The sky blurred outside Air Raid’s cockpit. “Urk,” I groaned.
“Air Raid, if you get me sick, then I’m not getting out before I let GOOOOOAAAH!”
We went into an
angled nosedive, plummeting down and spinning in the same fashion as he had
when the whole Aerialbot team had been heading for Hound, Penny and I.
“Let go of what?”
he chuckled.
I was probably
getting green again.
“Hey, what’s up
with your face?”
Yup. I was.
Air Raid leveled
out, sounding confused and a bit concerned. “Why are you green?”
“Because you made
me SICK, you glitch!”
“Sick? What’s
that?”
“It means I could
REGURGITATE if you don’t level out. And I will if it makes you sorry, ya little
fragger.”
“So wait…you mean
you…you’ll…oh SLAG…”
Suddenly we were
gliding downwards—closer to a stall than a glide, though.
When his wheels
hit ground – quite roughly, I might add, and without moving forward much – Air
Raid’s cockpit opened and I managed to slowly clamber out, flopping onto my
back on his top.
“Get off!” he
demanded.
“Chill, I’m not
THAT sick…hopefully…”
“OFF!”
“Moving will make
me more sick, just shut up and wait.”
“I don’t want
to!”
“I don’t care
that you don’t want to, fiend! You injure me, then demand I leave while I
recuperate? What kind of a host are you? Sheesh…”
He growled.
“Nope. Not gonna
move.”
“YOU ARE SO OFFLINE.”
“No I’m not. I’m
so dead. I’m not a robot, remember? Though
I wish I could be…”
“RrrrrrRREEeennGhhGGhgH..!!”
“Agreed. Wait,
what—”
A chuckling
Silverbolt had relieved Air Raid of his predicament. Said Air Raid transformed
and scrambled away from me. “Careful, Silverbolt!” he warned. “She said she’s
something called…called…sick, I think it is. It makes her regurgitate!”
Silverbolt looked
down at me, then brought me up to his faceplate. “Is that why you look kind of…green?”
I nodded.
Suddenly
laserfire spattered the ground, smacking into Skydive and brushing against
Hound. “Scatter!” yelled Silverbolt, covering me with both servos. I couldn’t
see anything, but I was jolted and jounced around a lot, and somebot—or
somebots, I couldn’t tell—were transforming. I knew Hound did because I heard
his engine roar.
Silverbolt lifted
his servos, and I squinted, blinking.
“You okay?”
“Still a bit
sick, but that’s all…maybe a little bruised from that jolting.”
“Sorry.”
“The seekers?”
“I think so, I
see Starscream, Thundercracker and—”
There was a
vibration as a considerably large Decepticon landed in front of us. His wings
curved outwards like two halves of some great bell, and his paint scheme was
dark gray with a slightly lighter purple.
I would have
fainted had not Astrotrain aimed his plasma rifle at us with a snarl. “Offline,
pathetic Autobot scrap!”
“Meep…”
Silverbolt leapt
to the side, again covering me as Astrotrain fired off several rounds.
“Have a little
fleshling there, do you?”
“Ah, scrap,” I
muttered.
There was more
firing and jolting around, then a voice asking “You okay, Skydive?” and some
kind of a response before more firing.
Suddenly a bright
flash penetrated through Silverbolt’s servos, and I screamed as I tried to duck
down but couldn’t the way I was being held. There was a searing heat, a bit of
pain-
Silverbolt dropped
me.
“HELPMEFALLINGHEREAHHHHHH!” I screamed as I plummeted.
I curled up in a
ball, knowing that would protect my body somewhat, and prepared for impact.
Barely ten feet off the ground I heard an “Oomph!” and then a crashing sound as
Fireflight dove for me. I landed heavily in his servos, and we skidded several
meters.
“Whew,
thaaaaaoooOWW,” I groaned. Pulling out my hand, I glanced at it and then stared
down at myself.
“Well definitely
OW…”
I was burned and
my hands were both bloody and shredded, bruises dotting my legs. “Great,” I
grumbled with a pained grimace.
“Hey, you ok?”
Fireflight gently cupped a servo around my body. “I’ll live,” I assured him,
glancing behind his wings.
“OhmyholyslaggingPRIMUS FIREFLIGHT DUCK!”
Without asking he
went down, and the heat of the missile passed over us. And then suddenly I was
sitting in the cockpit of a jet, staring down at the rapidly-growing-smaller
ground. “Whoa. How’d you do that so fast?”
“Practice.”
“Hey, wait a
minute, is that Starscrea-”
Fireflight
suddenly jerked to the right, narrowly avoiding the Seeker’s missiles. He hit
afterburner and I was thrown back in my seat with the force of the sudden acceleration.
“Hold on!”
“Pathetic excuse
of a jet! Hand over the human and I’ll let you live!”
I blinked. “Why
me?”
“Dunno. Maybe
you’ve got some kind of information?”
“Wouldn’t think
so.”
Fireflight
swerved. “If you shoot me down, you shoot us both down, Starscream!”
“Oh, but what if
I have a much different method?”
“Is that-OH SLAG
IT’S RUMBLE!”
There was a loud
crash and then shards of glass showered down, pelting me. I shrieked and curled
up, protecting my face. Servos hauled me up roughly and my cheek suddenly
stung. A venomous voice hissed, “That’s
for Frenzy, ya little worm!”
Then we were
freefalling.
“Scrap,” I
muttered as the wind caught my hair and whipped it in Rumble’s faceplates.
I choked on my
own saliva when we landed—hard—on the
top of a blue F-15. Dazed, I barely recognized Thundercracker as Rumble
deposited me in his apparently open cockpit before it sealed. Then there was a
loud BOOM and I didn’t remember anything
after that.
~*~
When I awoke, it
was, once again, dark outside. Penny was whining pitifully somewhere off to my
right, and there was no sense that anything was still there.
I sat bolt
upright. The sting from my hands reminded me of my injury, and I stifled a
groan as the pain and sudden memories returned.
“Fireflight!
Skydive! Air Raid!” I yelled. “Anybot? Helloooo?”
Penny barked.
Pushing to my
feet, I slowly moved forward, one hand on my side. Something warm trickled over
it.
Flicking my hand,
I felt around until fur was beneath my hands, then started walking, making sure
I grabbed hold of Penny’s collar. I made it about five feet before I realized
nobot was there. Sitting down, I sighed and looked up.
Oh! It was
nighttime! Of course! Stars shone down at me from every corner of the sky.
There was no moon, but it was still brilliant.
Laying on my
back, I stared up into the pitch-black night sky. Nobot’s coming anytime soon, I realized.
I closed my eyes.
“I found her!”
My eyes opened
wearily. Several blurry blue spots were floating above me.
“Fireflight, Smokescreen,
Bumblebee, Ironhide…” I murmured randomly.
A dark shadow
reached for me, and I tried to scoot back. There was a bark then a snarl as
Penny pounced, and the shadow jerked back.
“…it’s her pet…” “…a dog, I think…” “…should
take it.” “…human, then dog…”
The shadow
reached for me again. This time I felt a soothing heat, and metal wrapped
around my body. Two of the blue smears grew larger and brighter. I scrabbled
for a handhold, sensing nothing beneath my feet.
“Falling, help,”
I muttered.
More metal cupped
beneath my feet, and suddenly I was flat on my back, staring up at the blue smudges.
My vision slowly faded.
“You’re safe now.”
~*~
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