It was dark and quiet. It wasn't something she was used to. She couldn't move either, which terrified her even more. She had more questions. Where was she? Where were her friends? She was lost in thought, but it was broken when a light appeared in front of her.
"It is not your time yet," she heard a voice say, before the light exploded with the might of a thousand suns, blinding her.
When she awoke again, instead of darkness, she fount herself with sand in her face. She was about to get up, when she heard screaming coming from above. Before long, something fell on top of her. But she then realized it was three objects, as she felt three of them roll off of her.
"Burby?! She recognized that voice. She turned her head and saw...well, apparently her friend. Her eyes widened when she saw him, who was now a large robot with a black paint job. Her other two friends suffered the same fate, though Pete was smaller and also black, which made sense since he was the smallest of the bunch. She then noticed she looked like one as well, with a similar black paint job to the other two.
"Shift, what happened," Burby said as she stood up, standing at the same height as Shift, but with a more feminine body. "And where is Red?"
At that, another robot emerged from the sand. It looked similar to Shift, but with an older look and a red paint job. He yawned loudly as his optics focused on the three.
"Well...this sucks," Red said to himself. He got up and walked over to the three, who were looking at their new bodies in worry.
"I don't understand. Why are we like this," Pete said in a panic. Shift, Burby, and Red were a little more collected than him, but even they questioned why they looked like something from those weird tv shows the humans like to watch.
"Alright everyone. Calm down. Maybe that light from earlier is responsible for this mess," Burby suggested.
"Wait, you saw the light as well?"
"Yeah, I thought it said that it wasn't my time yet," Burby replied.
"Well, our original bodies must've been destroyed. What i fount strange was that a ton of one of our old master's stuff appeared with us as well," Red told them, holding a bag that he fount under the sand. Red put the bag on the ground and Pete gently opened it, being careful not to rip it. He looked inside.
"Wait what!?" He reaches inside and pulled out a small device. "We're giant robots now. Why do we need a DS!?"
"Maybe it was important," Burby told him.
"Probably to our master, but we weren't interested in that kind of stuff. Since our master is probably dead, we have no use for this," Pete said, putting the DS back in the bag. Red rolled his eyes as he picked up the bag again.
"Well, we have no use just standing here. Let's move out, maybe find a pit stop to rest at," Burby told everyone. They began their long trek through the desert. It was hot, but it didn't affect them all that much.
Days pass, and it felt like they haven't gotten anywhere. They stopped to take a break, sitting down on the hot sand.
"Okay, I have no idea where we are. Service isn't good in this area, so I can't activate my GPS," Shift grumbled. Pete laid his back against the ground, sighing in annoyance. As he looked up at the sky, he noticed black smoke coming from just beyond their current location. He knew what vehicle made that smoke.
"Guys, we might be next to a road. If we can get there in time, we could ask for help," Pete told them, standing up.
"Do you even hear yourself? We're giant robots now. Humans tend to be scared of things bigger than them. We'll just scare any human off," Shift yelled. Pete didn't listen, as began to run towards the direction of the smoke. Getting over a hill, he saw a long stretch of road that could possibly lead them to civilization.
"Hey guys! I fount a road!" The others clambered up the hill after him, and grew smiles on their faces to see it.
"It feels like forever since I seen a road like this," Burby said.
"Well...look who it is..." Red began to descend down the hill at a fast pace. The others wondered who he was taking about, and followed him down the hill. Red reached the bottom and began to wave his hands in the air. "HEY GERTRUDE!"
"Wait, Gertrude? Red, she's dead. She won't be here," Burby told him, being the second to reach the bottom. At that, Shift and Pete fell on top of her again after Pete tripped and crashed into Shift, causing them both to fall. Red didn't bother as, in the distance, a dull purple Peterbilt Model 389 with a trailer behind it became visible, the black smoke from before arising from its smokestacks.
"Wait...oh my god. IT IS!? How is she here," Burby yelled in shock. Red managed to get the attention of the semi, and it started slowing down.
"My goodness, Gertrude it's been so lo-" before he could finish, the semi suddenly began to transform, parts clanking together before the trailer unhitched itself. Before long, the semi was no longer a semi, but a giant robot like them with a few semi parts here and there. What shocked them more was the fact that this beautiful, feminine robot was taller than Burby and Shift, who were the bigger ones of the group.
"G...Girrty?" The robot stared down at them, a small smile growing across her face.
"I missed you all so much," she said, before gathering everyone except Shift into a bear hug. Before Pete could be choked to death, Girrty put them down before looking over to Shift. "Who's he?"
"The name's Shift mah lady," Shift told her, raising his arm up for a friendly hand shake. "And I'm the leader of this here group."
"No you aren't. Girrty is," Burby interjected. Shift turned to glare at his "sister."
"What do you mean?"
"Girrty was here long before you came along. She was our master's work truck. She carried goods all around the country, and he treated her like family. She protected him with her life, but she met her end when a car got in front of her. She tried to miss, but ended up flipping on her side. Her motor lasted long enough for master to get out and to safety before her soul left her body...or in more basic terms, she died." Girrty frowned at hearing what happened that day get repeated in her mind. Red gave her a comforting pat on the back, reassuring her that that incurrent is behind them.
"Okay then...but did she have a built-in computer like me? No? I didn't think so," Shift said, giving a light punch to Burby's shoulder and laughing.
"My boy, just because you have smarts doesn't make you the leader. You need leadership skills, which you clearly don't have," Red told him. Shift was about to yell at Red, but since he was older and wiser than him, he shut his mouth. Girrty looked down to Red, and gasped in shock when she saw her arm.
"Red. Your arm is broken."
"Oh, really?" He held his right arm up, which looked to be dangling from his body by now. "I was wonderin' why it felt weird."
"Come on. I'll bring you all to my place. I can get you fixed there," Girrty said. Everyone except Shift smiled as she transformed back into her semi form, hitching her semi back to her and opening the hatch. "Red, get in."
"If you insist," Red said with a smile before getting inside. The hatched closed as Girrty began to drive off.
"Wait, Girrty!" Girrty stopped, unhitching her trailer and transforming back to her bot form. "Your the same as us. How do we transform into our vehicles!?"
"Just concentrate. Imagine you're transforming into your old self," Girrty said simply. Burby tried it, and after a minute, managed to transform into a black, eighth generation suburban. Pete followed suit, transforming into a black PT Cruiser, and Shift managed to do so a few minutes after Pete, transforming into a black, 2016 Ford Ranger. Girrty smiled again before transforming back into her semi form and hitching the trailer again. The vehicles began to move out, following behind Girrty.
Night time approached, and Girrty pulled into an old, abandoned junk yard that has grown overrun with the nearby forest. Girrty transformed back into he robot form and opened her trailer, letting Red out. The others arrived and did the same.
"Welp, we're here," Girrty said, sitting down on the ground.
"This is your place!? I expected it to be a lot nicer," Pete questioned.
"You expect me to take over a gas station?"
"No, no, it's just that we're so used to you going to places like those that it's weird seeing you go here," Pete replied. He then noticed a small, rusty car. "OH NO BROTHER. WHAT DID THEY DO TO YOU!?"
"That's a Volkswagen Beetle," Burby grumbled. Pete looked back and forth between the rusty vehicle and Burby before shaking his said.
"Right."
"Alright, Red, please lay down here so I can work on your arm," Girrty ordered. Red laid down and she began to examine it. If it wasn't that bad, she could just pop it back into place, but it looked like it took a beating. "This isn't good."
"What is it?"
"Your arm is broken beyond my capabilities. I don't have the tools to fix your arm," Girrty told him with a frown. Red only laughed it off.
"Gertrude, I had to deal with a broken transmission pipe for three months. This is nothing," Red reassured her.
"That was when you were a truck. Your a robot now. A broken arm is different from a transmission," Shift interjected.
"Boy, close your mouth before I shove my fist up your own transmission pipe," Red replied with venom. Shift quieted down as Red sat up.
"So how are we going to fix Red's arm," Burby asked.
"I'm thinking, give me a moment," Girrty told her. A few minutes of silence passed, and Girrty shrugged her shoulders. Burby and Pete groaned as Shift looked away. When he did however, he thought he saw something looking at him in the shadows.
"What the..." he approached a pile of cars and quickly turned the corner. He rushed in. The others wondered what he was doing, especially Girrty.
"Are you chasing rats again or what," Red jokingly asked.
"No." He then walked from the pile with something, or someone, in his hands. "More like a brat."
The others looked at him with a deadpanned look before Burby flicked a pipe at him, hitting him in the face. He dropped who was in his hands and held his hands to his face in pain. "OW!"
Girrty then noticed the figure that Shift caught hid behind a rusty truck.
"It's okay...we're not going to hurt you," she said, trying to convince whoever this was that they were friendly. A minute passes before the figure slowly came out.
The figure turned out to be a six-year old girl with golden blonde hair, sapphire blue eyes, and tan skin.
"Why did you do that for," Shift yelled at Burby, the pain in his face finally vanishing.
"Your joke wasn't funny," she told him. Shift grumbled as he sat on an old trailer. He got up again because he realized that it was Girrty's trailer. Red shrugged him off before focusing on the girl.
"Howdy there young one." He sat down a few feet from her, wanting to get a better look at her. "The name's Red. Over dere are my pals Gertrude, Burby, Pete, and Shift. What's yer name?"
"I'm...B-Brooke Woods," the girl replied. She was scared at first, I mean, who wouldn't be scared of giant robots sitting in front of you that could squash you if they wanted to?
"There's nothing to be afraid of. We aren't bad guys," he reassured. Girrty appeared beside Red and lowered herself on one knee.
"Are you lost young one," she asked.
"N-no. I know where I'm going. I was just gathering some herbs to make medicine with," Brooke told them, showing them a bag full of the stuff.
"Herbs? What are you, some sort of witchdoctor," Pete joked, laying against a rusty car with his arms behind his head. Brooke didn't say anything as she noticed Red's broken arm.
"Don't tell anyone...alright?"
"I mean, we don't know anyone, so lay it on me," Red told her. With that, a strange cloud of dust flew from her hands, encircling Red's arm and somehow fixing it back into place. Everyone except Brooke was shocked at the display.
"Woah...your a witch!"
"N-no, I'm a mage," Brooke corrected.
"Erm, actually, mage and witch are considered the same thing...according to Wikipedia," Shift interjected. Burby flicked another pipe at him to shut him up.
"I see now. But how did you learn to do it though? I thought both magic and mages don't exist," Pete questioned.
"My parents did."
"Yer parents? Makes sense. Anyways, it's getting late, yer parents may be worrying about you," Red told her. A frown grew on her face, and he instantly knew what it meant. He sighed in understanding. "Do you have someone else to take care of you?"
"Right now I'm being raised by my mommy's friend, Jordan. He's a doctor over in the city," Brooke told him.
"I see. Need me to drive you there? I know where the city is," Girrty asked.
"Thank you." With that, Girrty transformed into her semi form. Red helped put her inside and Girrty drove off.
Brooke directed Girrty to where she needed to go. Girrty stopped a few blocks away, just so Jordan wouldn't get suspicious about her in a giant semi. Brooke got out, and waved Girrty onwards. She honked her horn as a goodbye and drove off.
"Maybe after school I can go visit them," she said to herself before walking towards her destination.
And that concludes the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed. If you have ideas for this story, leave a review!
Now, Girrty and the gang are actually vehicles that my family owns or used to own. As well, Brooke is an OC submitted to me by Dolphinheart99. She considers herself a mage, but Pete and Shift like to call her a witch. Also, the next chapter will be six years after the first, and I will probably try to introduce the Autobots then as well.
This is Sporedude135, signing off...