Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or Hasbro... though I wish I did
In the Hood
Ironhide was so bored looking over all the asteroids in this backend part of this galaxy. He was on duty as captain while the other Autobots were in stasis. Optimus insisted that they find a new home in this quadrant so they would be able to send a signal to the other scattered Cybertronians. It was also reported that allspark radiation was in this sector. So, he guessed it was worth the effort but, PRIMUS ,this was worse than helping Wheeljack with his experiments. He thought that he would give Prowl a call to break up the monotony. "Heh, Prowl, how is going down there? Anything interesting to report?" Ironhide asked expectantly. "No, nothing to report. I am going over the star charts." Prowl replied in a monotone voice as he alway did.
Well that was great. Prowl at least said more to him today than he had the whole solar cycle. "That mech was never much of a talker "he mused. Ironhide resigned himself to his job and scanned the teletraan 1 once more. He did a double take as he gawked at a red Decepticon signature coming in fast off the edge of the Oort Cloud.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK, DECEPTICONS INCOMING!" roared Ironhide over the comm system as he started to charge up his cannons .
" Ironhide, how many Decepticons do we have on radar?" said Prowl calmly as he started to formulate a plan.
"We have a small Decepticon ship coming in our right flank which can provide life support for a maximum of ten. They just launched a legion of drones and are trying to sneak under our belly. Good thing we put those extra sensors in."said Ironhide happily.
Prowl commanded "The autobots will be fully operational in three minutes. "I will direct fire to myself on the underside of the ship. Hit the rest off the right flank. Stand by..." as he launch himself out of the loading bay.
"Prowl are you insane?!" screamed Ironhide as he was systematically shooting any Decepticons from the right side of the ship. He had to keep them from landing on their ship for at least another three minutes to give his comrades a chance to defend themselves. He hoped that Prowl hadn't taken on more than he could handle. Three minutes was a loooong time in battle.
In the dark Decepticon ship, Megatron boomed at all his subordinates "Focus all your weapons on that tactical scum. I want him Dead!"
"...and Starscream, get your aft out there too!" yelled Megatron at his second in command.
" Yes, O Glorious leader" said Starscream , as he turn slowly to go to the loading bay. It was always the same with Megatron. Scream at everyone and use him as a whipping post. He had plans upon plans to deal with his annoying commander as he stomped loudly into the bay opening.
"Stupid Megatron! Soon, I will be leader of all the Decepticons!" He mused to himself.
Once Starscream launched himself out the bay doors he spotted Prowl immediately in the centre of the war zone. Drones were slowly pushing him back into the asteroid belt. He could see the Autobot scum was hard pressed to deal with all the debris and fighters. It was a joy to watch Prowl's loss of control over the situation.
" I have you in my sights now Autobot ..." purred Starscream as he carefully targeted his Null ray on his intended victim.
"Prowl, you have more Decepticons incoming" yelled Ironhide though the comm.
"Can you tell me who is coming Ironhide?" Prowl said calmly though the comm unit as he was trying to analyse the fluctuating trajectories of the asteroids around him. Even for his immense battle computer, it was taking far too much of his computational time. Despite his logical conclusion that he needed help, Prowl prided himself on being self sufficient and able to handle any war situation. More drones were closing in on his location as he heard a shudder through his comm link.
"IT'S STARSCREAM,...GET YOUR AFT OUT OF THERE!" yelled Ironhide into his audio receptors.
"Ironhide, get the others online while I fight off Starscream" said Prowl into the comm quietly.
"FINE! ,but don't you go offline on me! You are still far too young! " grumbled Ironhide.
"PREPARE TO BE OFFLINED AUTOBOT!" screeched Starscream as he charged towards Prowl at an alarming speed with null rays firing. Prowl barely dodged the incoming blast and returned fire by using the momentum of an asteroid and his acid pellet gun.
"AHH!" yelped Starscream in ferocious pain, as the acid chewed through the tip of his wing.
"You'll pay for that, scum!" the Decepticon growled as his optics started to glow a deep crimson red. He charged angrily again with intent on the killing the autobot before him. Prowl wasn't fast enough. During the battle he was continually pushed farther into the asteroid belt. His battle computer was straining to dodge all the debris and the full blast of the null rays. The Autobot refused to panic felt as the paralyzing effect slowly worked through his frame. With the last of his strength, Prowl lured the Seeker away from the ship.
"Running now autobot? Don't you know there a reason we are called Seekers?" sneered Starscream as he transformed into a Cybertronian jet. Prowl used the last of his energy and the momentum of the asteroids to weave in and out. He was starting to black out.
"AHH!" yelped Starscream as he scratched an asteroid with his wing tip.
"Starscream, where are you? We need to destroy the enemy ship! Stop messing around and finish that autobot!" yelled Megatron into comm link. Starscream looked around then zoomed his optics on the autobot who was just floating in space.
"A hah hah hah" laughed Starscream manically. "Have fun rusting in space" hollered the Decepticon as he turned back to the warzone.
Prowl could barely stay online as he tried using his comm link. An error pop up in his hub. His comm unit was broken from Starscream's attacks. A warning message popped up saying he was about to go into forced statis in order to repair the damage. He desperately tried overriding his emergency programming but it was too late as he felt himself slipping into the blackness of statis.
Prowl awoke groggily to an intense heat on his outer frame. He was covered in space debris that was burning up around him. "What is happening to me?" he thought as his body tumbled further into the planet's atmosphere. Prowl desperately tried to get his bearings before he established a shield around his armour. So many of his functions were destroyed in the battle. Slowly his inner compass told him he was entering the atmosphere of a planet called Earth with the dominant species called "Humans".Using his battle computer he barely adjusted his trajectory to make it through the opening window. Another alarm popped up in his hub and he was going to slip into forced statis again. "Frag!" Prowl thought as he slipped into the unconscious.
A deafening "BOOM" woke Prowl as dust swirled around from the impact crater.
" Uhh... " Prowl moaned as his system tried to boot up. A whole list of alarms reported injuries. He stumbled as he tried to stand. He had to find an alt mode. Prime had made clear that they must stay invisible from any indigenous species. Prowl stumbled again using one of the large trees to help him get his balance back. All of his stabilizers were off balance from the crash and Starscream's attacks. He checked his comm unit… static, still broken. While checking his scanners to see if they still work, he estimated that he was in the mountains of the far Northern hemisphere. His sensors squawked and hissed as he located a scrap yard only a few kilometers away. Limping his way to the yard, he found an old police car there and scanned it. Painfully, Prowl transformed and went into stasis hoping to repair himself enough so that he could contact his comrades.
Meanwhile, Starscream flew back the Decepticon ship and entered the loading bay to see Megatron there.
" l have return leader" Starscream said trumphantly.
" Did you finish that Autobot?" Asked Megatron sarcastically.
" Yes, Commander" wheedled Starscream.
"Good, I will get a head start and search this system for the allspark! Destroy their ship" as he left the mess to Starscream.
"Yes, my Lord Megatron" sighed the second in command.
Mrs. Henderson was extremely excited as she drove her ancient Ford pick up into the town junkyard. The "Atlin Mall" as the locals lovingly called it, was a conglomeration of old car parts, appliances and smelly garbage. The enormous ravens draped over the log pine trees watching carefully for new tidbits in the open 4x4 trunk. They cawed out a greeting as she stepped down to the mucky gravel to greet the lone soldier at his post.
" Hi Dave, any new stuff come into the Mall lately?" enquired Mrs. Henderson with a bright smile. Dave scratched his head to dislodge any brain power he had left. He was one of the few teenagers who had decided to stay in the dying town of five hundred people. He wasn't bright but he knew what he wanted and that was to stay in his beloved mountains any way he could. He helped out at the "Mall" any time the regulars wanted to go fishing or hunting.
"Someone snuck another old car last night. At least they didn't break the chain. It looks like the other one beside it."grumbled Dave. He was about to go on a rant about tourists dumping their crap on Atlin's beautiful landscape, but Mrs. Henderson quickly left him standing talking to himself.
" I'll go an check it out.'' as she said to the wind. Quickly, she walked to the car parts section, deftly jumping over old rims and auto pieces to the back of the pile. There, side by side were two identical cars. Mrs. Henderson carefully inspected each wondering how a person could place another car in the dump. Her curiosity was smothered when she saw a key jammed in the ignition of one of the jalopies.
"This is too good to be true."Mrs. Henderson mumbled happily as she slid into the dusty car. Carefully holding the key, she said a little pray to the "Dear Lord" for a working car for her grand daughter. Turning the key in the ignition, she heard a tiny scream of parts and sputtering of an engine desperately trying to turn over.
"Yahoo!" whooped the tiny Grandma as she beckoned Dave to her. The car's interior was badly damaged but with the other beside it she figured her grand daughter could rummage for parts. Dave leaned in to the window saying surprised
"You found a working one? That is like winning the jackpot! I wish I had taken a closer look instead of getting pissed off at the tourists. Well, at least it won't be sold for scrap metal."
Prowl's audio receptors were trying to listen in on this alien language when his processor translated something about scrap metal. For good measure he increased the sound of a revving engine to show he was in working order.
"Hmm, sounds like a powerful engine. Shall we pop the hood and see what is inside, Mrs. Henderson?" as Dave was already trying to find a latch under the hood of the car.
"Well, I know nothing about cars, so as long as it works, that is good enough for me." said Mrs. Henderson sheepishly.
The young boy yank up hard on the hood but it refused to budge. Prowl made sure he wasn't getting in. His holos were off line and there was no way he could disguise his holo form in time to make a reasonable facsimile of an engine. The humans were just going to have to wait.
"It's alright Dave. I am sure my grand daughter Shivann will be able to look at it .Can you get the back loader in here to move some this other junk out of the way? What do I owe the Mall?" asked Mrs. Henderson hesitantly.
"Well, you know how it is…. One man's junk is another man's treasure. That being said, if you could make a donation to the Atlin Community centre, that would be great."
replied Dave thoughtfully. He was head of the bottle drive for the youth group and he really wanted that pool table.
"Done, young man. I'll call my son with the tow truck to haul these two away. Do you have a phone in the office?" said Mrs. Henderson happily.
" Sure, go ahead, while I warm up the backloader" the boy stated as he pointed to the wooden structure near the entrance to the junkyard.
"Thank you" she said as she walk to the office. The office was cover in paper and smelly found objects from the mall. After a little rummaging, she picked up the greasy phone and dialed her son's number. A deep baritone voice answered the phone. "Hello, Pinetree garage.
"Hello son, I was wonder if you come to the junkyard and pick up something " asked Mrs. Henderson
" Sure, what do you need, Mom?" her son asked curiously.
" I got Shivann a new car for her birthday" the old woman said excitedly.
" OK, I will down there in a few minutes with my tow truck." he said as he put down the phone. A few minutes later, as promised, a old looking tow truck rolled it's way into the junkyard. A lumberjack size of a man in his 40's stepped swiftly down from the truck's deep blue interior.
"So Mom, " popping a kiss on her cheek "Where is this car you got for Shivann? " he asked the older woman
"Oh, it's way in the back. Dave is moving stuff out of the way so you can hitch it up" said the Henderson matron happily.
"Good'' said her husky looking son. I am just going check the path. I hate damn tire punctures if I can avoid them."
Mr. Henderson Jr. was sure his Mom had got another useless piece of crap from the junkyard. He wasn't too eager to deter her. On a fixed pension, she always spoiled his girls any way she could. Perhaps, if she wasn't looking, he could take a quick peek under the hood. He scooted past Dave's loader to take a look at the car.
"Oh my God, what a mess! "Jr. mumbled. There were scratches and dents everywhere. All the paint looked like it had been in a terrible fight. Most of it was gone. Surprisingly, there wasn't any rust that he could see. The frame was still in good shape. The twin car beside looked a lot worse. He tried with all his might to pull open the hood but it wouldn't budge. His mother snuck up behind him and said "It's alright, son. Dave already tried to get it open. We will have to look at it later.
Caught of guard, Mr. Henderson whipped around and tried to hide his embarrassment. "Ok then, let's hook it up the the truck" he said meekly.
" Are you sure it runs? " looking apprehensively at the heap that looked like it was going to fall apart any minute.
"Yup!"piped up Dave walking in from behind them. He emerged from swirl of the dust from the loader and had overheard the two talking.
"The engine sounds good but there was no way in heck I could get that hood open. Must be stuck. All those dents." Dave mused scratching his skull again.
"Alright, let's get it hook up" as Jr. ran his fingers through his hair.
Prowl barely stayed conscience as he warily watched the two human standing outside his alt mode. Beside him was a large vehicle containing a winch and pulley system on the back . The larger male human grabbed a hook attached to a long chain from the back of the vehicle.
"Alright then, let's take a look." said Jr. as he put a hook under his rear bumper. Quickly everything was fastened and ready to go.
"Great, let's go give Shivann her birthday present" the older female said. Prowl wasn't exactly sure what was going on. He translated that he was going to be a human offspring sparkday present? Well, there was no avoiding it. He was far too damaged to be in any condition to move himself. He decided to force himself into stasis to reserve energy until it was needed.
Shivann walked wearily through the door from a long day at school. She plopped her empty backpack on a kitchen chair and went to get a snack from the fridge. Good thing she didn't have any homework since she was dead tired. Today she was sixteen years old and just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. Belle, her older sister (by five minutes ) wanted to do a sweet 16 birthday party for her but Shivann said no. She just wanted the day off. Besides,if her sister did the party ,EVERYTHING would be pink and frilly. Belle was a real girly girl and twin Shivann was the polar opposite. Shivann loved to tinker with cars and play sports and she absolutely hated wearing skirts or dresses.
Just a little breeze and your underwear is on display to the whole world. "NO THANK YOU to that" Shivann mumbled and began working on some engine designs while she was in bed.
"Shivannnnnn" boomed her Dad from the kitchen " COME DOWNSTAIRS TO THE GARAGE PLEASE"
"CCcccooommminng" she yelled racing down to her garage. Yes, Her garage. Her parents had a two door garage and when they moved in she asked for half of the garage space. Her mother disagreed with her father strongly. However since both father a daughter were car crazy they slowly managed to wear Mrs. Henderson down. When she opened the door to her part of the garage, she saw this really old beat up junker sitting in the centre.
"Happy Birthday Shivann " her grandma said cheerfully.
"Uh, thank you grandma" quietly said as she embrace the little women." It is a very thoughtful gift!" She said politely and continued "Do you know what type of engine is?" Maybe grandma got a good deal on the engine but the frame looked like it went to hell and back.
" I'm sorry dear but all I know is that it runs. I'll leave you to your new present..., oh, and here are the keys " grandma said as she handed the dusty key to her granddaughter and went to the kitchen.
"Great" she thought happily as she looked at the car before her.
"Well, let's look what you got under the hood pal" said Shivann as she gently tried to lift the hood of the car hoping it wasn't rusted shut. A gentle pop responded to her fingertips and teenager felt anticipation at what wonders would lay underneath. Shivann was utterly speechless as her jaw dropped to the floor. The bloody car had a V12 engine in it! V12's were only for high class cars and formula one cars. A slow Cheshire cat smile lit up Shivann's face as the initial shock disappeared. Her new baby was going to get spoiled rotten with her attention.
"Well I sure didn't expected you to have something this beautiful under your hood. Hmmm, I really gotta stop picking up dads habit to talk to the cars" she said happily as she looked around her garage for something to bang the dents out. In the depths of her red battered tool stand from Dad's donation to her auto education fund, she her pulled out her favourite hammer and wrenches. An Atlin mall shopping trip last fall had provided her some sturdy castors to make a "monkey cart" for repairs. She was so glad she listened to Dad to assembling her own tools. Atlin was a town of "do-it-yourselfers". Once word was out that she needed to get her own car tool supplies, pieces arrived at her door on the premise of coming for coffee at the Henderson household. Most of the older tinkers explained that they had doubles of all tools, just in case. It was a two hour drive to Whitehorse for anything. Many of the older residence confessed that they didn't use them as often and would rather be fishing. One of the Alberta oil sand welders had promised to teach her how to weld during the winter. It was great to be in such a community. Sometimes it was a pain that everyone knew what you were doing but they were always willing to lend a hand if you were willing to try hard.
Rolling carefully under her new treasure, Shivann was surprised the undercarriage was in such good shape but, the frame looked like someone shot it multiple times with a gun. She wondered if her baby was in some wondrous drug battle, like on TV detective shows.
"Huh,... well at least your undercarriage is in good shape! Looks like I just gotta bang all the dents out and give you a paint job" said Shivann relieved as she rolled out from under the car. She immediately started to remove screws from the inside passenger door so she could work on banging some of the door from the inside. As she let loose happily with her hammer, Shivann could feel a shiver flowing up from the hammer into her arm. She tried again and the same thing happened. Gently she touched the door frame and felt a continuous shake from the car. Her baby had tensed up like a frightened deer. Dad always said that cars were alive in their own special way, so proceed again a little more gently.
Prowl could not keep himself from tensing when his new charge hammered the dents out of his door wings. At least his human, Shivann, was lighter with her hammer when he began to shake. Prowl deduced the name "paint job" meant a new over coating for his armour. Hopefully he wouldn't be painted pink. The twins had had enough of that with their continuous pranks.
.
" Shivannnn, are you still working on the car that grandma gave you?" whined Belle as she whisked into the garage
"Yeah, it has an AMAZING V12 engine! No one knew that the car had this type of engine!" Shivann said happily to Belle as she wiped off some of the grease from her hands.
" I was planning on painting the car though. I wasn't sure exactly what colour but I think probably black would look the nicest" Shivann said looking thoughtful.
"NOO!, you got to paint it PINK!" piped up Belle in hot anger.
" What... no way is he going to be pink ! My car is going to be black for sure now!" Shivann said countering her sister. Belle was always scheming in her ways to try to get Shivann to be more girly girly.
"PINK" demanded Belle.
"BLACK!" replied Shivann coolly.
"PINK!" Shrilled Belle even louder.
"BLACK!" Answered Shivann louder as she took a protective stance in front the busted heap.
"PINK!PINK! PINK!" squeaked out Belle, turning the same same colour as she was screaming.
"BLACK, and that is final!" screamed Shivann in an angry rage. She rarely lost her temper but her sister some how always knew how to push her buttons.
"What is going on in here?!" the girls heard their mother say from the garage doorway.
"Belle wants be to paint my car pink while I want it to be black" Shivann said to her mother trying to reason with her.
" Oh, I think pink would be a wonderful colour to paint your car as!" her mother said sweetly.
"WHAT?" blurted Shivann," No, no, no, No! There is no way my car is going to be pink, and besides, look at him! He is waaaay too masculine to be pink" Shivann trembled angrily pointing to her car.
"Belle, stop bothering your sister. When we get you a car, you can paint it pink" Mr. Henderson said while walking into the conversation.
"Yeah, right if she can afford the gas instead of buying clothes" grumbled Shivann under her breath.
"But dear, I think the Belle is right. Pink would be a wonderful colour and it is very feminine" her mother argued.
" It is Shivann's car she can have it any color she wants!" said Mr. Henderson with a quiet finality that would no longer allow any more arguing.
"Oh, very well, come let's go eat dinner everyone" her mother said while she turned back to the main house.
" I still think it should be pink?" whispered Belle sneakily as she raced out the garage door. Shivann sighed and patted the roof of her car. " Don't worry buddy, I know you are a guy and there is no way in hell that you will ever be pink." She looked once around her wonderous garage thinking of all the neat work she would be doing on her car. Shivann closed the door behind with a glowing smile on her face.
Prowl was relieved that he wouldn't be painted pink. The older sister of the human teen he first seen, seemed to be wearing a shiny oil on her face. Her carrier or mother as the human called it, was also caked in this substance. He checked a search engine to identify this painting technique. Makeup was the closest to what he saw on the femmes. Dear Primus, he hoped he would never be subjected to that horror. Thankfully, the younger sister had none of the oil on her face other than the oil from car parts. Prowl desperately tried to contact Optimus and the others for confirmation on his location. Static was all his comm link returned. It still didn't work. Perhaps he could connect to the human world wide web. He attempted to do so while the humans had their organic energon.
"Hey, Dad guess what?" piped up Shivann at the dinner table.
"Hmm" raising an eyebrow and chewing contently on his monthly treat of Alberta beef. Moose and deer were good eating , but it couldn't be compared to Prairie beef.
"I have something to show you when we finish dinner" Shivann said as she began to eat her beef with carrots potatoes on the plate.
"Alright, but where is it?" her father asked
"It is in the garage! " she replied eyes sparkling. Mrs. Henderson shook her head silently wondering how she would reform her car fanatic daughter. Dishes cleared away, pots washed up, Shivann pulled her father excitedly out to the garage.
"Take a look under the hood" Shivann squeaked with excitement. Her father attempted to open the hood of the beat up car but it was stuck again.
"Huh, that weird, it worked for me." Shivann said as she tried again to opened the hood. "Let me try" her father said. Shivann moved out of the way as her father went to the car. He gripped the bottom of the battered hood and try to move it but it wouldn't budge.
"You sure you got it opened?" her father asked.
"I'm sure, he has an amazing engine!" Shivann replied.
"Honney, the phone is for you" Shivann heard her mom yell.
"Coming" her father said loudly to his wife outside the garage door.
"We will try to get the hood open later after I got to this call" father said
"That's O.K. Dad, it's pretty late and I better head off to bed. We can try again tomorrow. "Shivann sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. When her father was out of earshot, Shivan turned to her car and gently put her finger under the hood.
" Come on, please open" the young girl pleaded as she gave half hearted tug on the battered hood. The hood gently popped the lock to her astonishment.
"Uhg, now you open up." Shivann grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "Well, you certainly have a personality. I bet you just didn't want anyone to bother you today. Good night my baby. I am going to have to think up a name for you". Shivann smiled sweetly at her new toy and closed the lights and the door before heading inside.
Sooo yeah, this is my first fanfiction and constructive reviews would be greatly appreciated and this story is made with the help of Desmond the Dragon.
astrosecond = half a second
cycle = 1 minute
groon = 1 hour
orn = 1 day
solar cycle = 1 year
vorn = 83 years