The Maximals were in the base, watching monitors to see if the storm
outside had let up any. Unfortunatly, it had not. The entry
hatch opened and Tigatron walked in, his fur soaking wet. He tried
to shake off as much of the water as he could, much to the dismay of his
teammates. He transformed and sat down at the table.
"This is the worst storm we've had in weeks," he said.
"Yes, but fortunately most every one is here," Optimus said.
"We're only missing…"
"Blackbird," Nightfox said, cutting off Optimus.
"And Airazor," Tigatron added.
Optimus was taken aback a little. "Um yeah. We've been
trying to contact them, but the storm's causing too much interference."
"So what do we do?" Cheetor asked.
"Hope they find some shelter until the storm passes."
He and Airazor had been assigned to a patrol earlier that day. The sky had already been gray, then, out of nowhere, the storm hit. They were both having a hard time flying. Their feathers had been considerable soaked and they knew it would be impossible to make it back to the base. Right now they were just looking for anything that could be used for shelter. Airazor finally found something.
"BLACKBIRD! HEAD FOR THAT CAVE!" she shouted. It being the only way to communicate over the storm.
"O.K.!" Blackbird shouted back.
They dove for the cave and transformed as they entered it. They walked in far enough to get good shelter, then sat down facing each other.
"I hate this weather," Blackbird remarked.
"I know," Airazor said with a slight smile. "You've been complaining about it for the last twenty cycles."
"Well it be too overstressed. I hated rain when I was jet and I hate it even more now that I'm a bird."
For some reason that statement struck a cord with Airazor. She never really did get to know Blackbird. She knew he had once been an Autobot, but that was all she knew for sure. The rest she knew about him was from what the other Maximals said. Some of it was bad, but the majority of it was good. Actually, the real bad things came from Dinobot, which was pretty much normal. Optimus he said some things about Blackbird, but it was mainly that he needed to take things more seriously.
Most of the good things came from Cheetor, probably because they were so much a like. Another person who stood by Blackbird was Nightfox. Although she wasn't sure, Airazor had a feeling that those two were more than friends.
Well your not going to get any answers by talking to yourself, Airazor thought. "Uh, Blackbird. Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot," Blackbird responded.
"What was it like being an Autobot?"
Blackbird sighed before answering. "A lot different. First thing, we didn't have to bond with organics. We just took the form of human vehicles. Man, my jet form was awesome. I was faster than any other Autobot jet."
"What was Cybertron like back then?"
"Well, I can't really say much about it. I was built on Earth and spent of my time there."
"That would explain why you have such a diversity in human culture."
"Yep. Actually, I think I liked their culture more than most humans did. But that's beside the point. Anyways, we eventually got back to Cybertron. Most of my time was spent fighting the Deceptions, but when I did have free there were some cool places to hang out with my friends."
"Like who?"
"Eh, Hot Rod, Springer, Blaster, Sideswipe, and Powerglide. He was pretty cool, but got cocky sometimes. Mostly, I challenged him air races. And I always won!" Blackbird paused for a moment, then sighed again. It was deep and had a sort of sorrow to it. "Then, there was Starfire."
"Someone you cared for?"
"Immensely. She and I were perfect for each other. She was so level headed and calm and I was…well…me! It was strange. First we started as partners, then we became friends, and before we knew it, we had a relationship. It was the greatest feeling in the world. We always spent our free time together. We'd even go on double dates with Hot Rod and Arcee. Those were the days.
"Then Unicorn attacked. I threw everything away trying to be the big hero. If I only knew what it would cost me, I never would have done it."
"But you did. And you were a hero. You helped Optimus Prime save Cybertron for future generations."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But I still miss Starfire and my friends. But I have to face forwards, right? Ya know, it's funny, I haven't gone into that much detail about my old life with anyone, not even Nightfox."
"I'll count myself lucky then. You care about Nightfox too, don't you?"
"Is it that obvious?"
"Well, I just had a feeling."
"Well, you're right, I do care about her. Maybe it's because she reminds my a little of Starfire, so clam and intelligent. Although, Nightfox is a little more laid back Starfire was, but hey, I'm lucky any female is interested in me."
Airazor chuckled a bit at that.
"O.K.," Blackbird started again. "I've told you all about my crazy relationships, now what about you?"
"What about me?"
"What kind of relationship do you have?"
"None at the moment."
"I find that hard to believe. A pretty little thing like yourself. You've probably got beatin' down your door. Ooohhh! And that sounded incredibly gay!"
"What?"
"Eh, it's a saying I picked up on Earth. Anyway, I'm sure there's someone you've got your eye on."
"Well, there is someone…but I don't think it would work out."
"Why not?"
"Well, he's kind of…eccentric."
"Who is it?"
"It's…never mind."
"No, tell me."
"I don't think so
"Why not?"
"Just never mind."
"Come on! Tell me."
"No."
"Tell me."
"No."
"Tell me!"
"No!"
"Tell me or 'I'll kick you in th'…I mean…uh…um…I 'I'll kick ya ta hell and back!' Yeah, that will do."
"Fine. If you must know, it Tigatron."
"Tigatron? You mean nature boy?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Well, I guess he's okay. How's he feel about it?"
"That's the thing, I haven't told him."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. I try to, but I just freeze up. And I think he's more interested in the planet than me."
"Then he'd be an idiot."
"Thanks. I just don't if I could tell him, and I don't know who to talk to about it."
" 'And it'll happen once again
You'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
That sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And you've been there for too long
To face this on you own
Well I guess this is growing up,'" Blackbird sang.
Airazor really didn't know how to respond to that. Fortunately, Blackbird picked up the conversation again.
"But seriously, you should really tell him."
"But if he says he doesn't feel the same way."
" 'Well then, I guess you're really up shit creak.'"
"Gee, thanks!"
"Ah, don't get offended. I was just kidding. Look, just tell him and see what happens, otherwise you're going to regret it for the rest of your life."
"Your right. I'll try. How did you get so smart on this subject?"
"I don't know. I honestly don't know."
For awhile the two sat in silence, trying to think about what else to talk about.
"So," Blackbird said.
"So," Airazor said back.
" 'So, you're Kevin Bacon.' 'Yep. Kevin Bacon.' 'Kevin Bacon.' 'Uh huh.' 'I feel like we should be outside a court in Mayberry. We could a little dog right here.'"
"What was that about?"
"Something from a human show."
Airazor shook her head, with a slight smile on her face.
"I don't think I've ever met any Transformer as much into human culture as you," she said.
"Well you weren't in the good old days. There were some others liked human culture too. Blaster mainly liked their music. He and I would rock out sometimes, although he didn't like most of my music."
"Why not?"
"Because he said it was too slow. I think it was because he didn't have any taste."
"That could be. What was so bad about?"
"Nothing really. They just couldn't get into it."
"Wait 'they'?"
"Oh, right. I just mentioned Blaster. The other people I was talking about was, like, Hot Rod, Springer, and other people that knew me. Actually, the only other person that like it beside me was Starfire. Although I'm not real sure whether she really liked it, or she just said she did to humor me."
"Either way, it must have been nice to have someone not complain about it."
"Oh, it was. I still ol' Billy Joel."
"Who?"
"The guy who sung the music I was telling you about. His name was Billy Joel. Damn good singer too. Awesome music. Wish I still had my disk so you could listen to some of it."
"I'm sorry I couldn't, but from what I've heard you've seem to know a lot of songs. I'm sure you remember some of them."
"Oh, I remember them all! It's just you've got to hear the music as well as the song. And I'm not as good a singer as he was."
"You're not bad either. Come on, just one."
"Alright, alright."
Just as he was about to start, a bolt of lighting struck the inside of the cave.
"HOLY CRAP!!" Blackbird exclaimed. "Maybe we should move further back in cave now."
"Good idea," Airazor agreed.
They got up and started walking further back into cave. Soon the light from the mouth of the cave diminished into pitch black.
"I can't see anything," Airazor said.
"Wait, I've got an idea. You're behind me, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Blackbird took out his energon saber. The light from the blade lit a small portion of the cave around the two, just enough for them to see were they're going.
"There," Blackbird said. "I guess this thing comes in handy for more than cuttin' stuff up."
"Well, you've got the light. Lead on."
They walked a little farther until the came to a small opening. Blackbird shorted the length of the blade, and used it to bore a small hole. He placed the handle in the hole and extended the blade again.
"Well, it's not a perfect lantern but it well do," he said sitting with his back to the wall.
Airazor sat down facing him.
"How'd you ever come up with the idea for this thing?" she asked, motioning towards the saber.
"A human movie, were else? Actually, three. The Star Wars Trilogy. Three awesome movies.
"Now, what were we talking about before we moved? Oh yeah! You wanted to hear some Billy Joel. Let me just figure out which song to sing."
He picked the song "The Great Suburban Showdown." Airazor tried to listen, but she couldn't keep her mind for wandering. Studying Blackbird. He was structured like her, only masculine. His wings were a bit longer, he had black and silver armor, and his head was different. It was probably designed to look like his Autobot head.
He was a little odd, but still it was nice to have another bird around. It was kinda like Tarantulas and Blackarachnia. Airazor couldn't help smile like at the thought. She was biting her lip to keep herself from laughing. Then she realized she had completely tuned out Blackbird. She decided to listen to Blackbird again and hoped she didn't miss too much of the song.
" 'I'm only comin' home to goodbye
Then I'm gone with the wind
And I won't been seen again
'Til that great suburban showdown in the sky
'Til that great suburban showdown in the sky,'" Blackbird finished. "There. What do you think?" he asked.
"Uh…great."
"You weren't listening to me, were you?"
"Well…no. Sorry. My mind slipped."
"Eh, that's okay. Happens to me sometimes. So, what were you thinking about?"
"Nothing. It was stupid."
"Tell me."
"Nah. You'll think it's dumb."
"No I won't. Now tell me."
"Well, I was just thinking about how we're kinda like Tarantulas and Blackarachnia."
Blackbird shuddered. "You're wrong. I don't think that's dumb, I think it's frightening. How did you come up with that?"
"Well, you know. Male spider, female spider. Male bird, female bird."
"I guess I see that. It's just odd. Very, very odd."
"Eh."
"Besides, if we were like them we'd probably be going out."
"What?!"
"Yeah. Don't hold me to this, but I think those two have a thing for each other."
"But, but…how?!"
"I don't know. I just got the impression the last time I saw them in battle."
"I still can't believe it."
"Well, like I said, that's just what I think. Hate to be around them now, though."
"Yeah. They'd make a devastating team now."
" 'Actually, I'm deathly afraid of seeing them kiss.'"
Airazor snickered. "Yeah, that's bad too." She suddenly shuddered a bit. "I just has a scary thought. What if they reproduced?"
"Yeah. Wait! You mean like having a kid?!"
"Yeah."
"We can do that?!"
"Yeah."
"Damn I missed out on a lot!"
"Yep. See, when the Great War ended we had to rebuild our society and took a lot of ideals from human culture such as; TV, music, and mating."
"Really?"
"Yeah. That's why I think it's ironic you're here. You'd fit in perfectly on Cybertron now."
"Eh, maybe. But right now, I want to hear more about this mating thing!"
Airazor rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised? How to begin? Well, it's called interfacing. Basically, it's like the humans mating process. The two Transformers get together and…well, you know."
"Get their groove on."
"I guess you could put it that way. After a few sessions, the two units sparks touch and create a new spark, which will have a body built for it inside the female. And after a few months, the baby is born."
"Wow. We definitely made a lot of progress over the last 300 years."
"Yep. See what you miss out on."
" 'Yeah, but are ya gonna do?' So tell me, what's interfacing feel like?"
"Well…I really can't tell you."
"Oh I see. You're saving yourself for Tigatron. Eh, eh."
"That's assuming he'd go out with me first."
"Didn't we already go through this?! Just tell him! And if he says no…I'll kick his ass!"
"I appreciate the concern, but I don't think you'll have to do that."
"O.K. But you are going to tell him, right?"
"I'll try."
"You won't try, you will."
"O.K., O.K.! I will."
"Good."
"Why are you so interested in this anyway?"
"Well, I just don't like to see my friends feel sorry for themselves."
"Your friend?"
"Yeah. That's what we are, right?"
"I suppose so."
Morning, he thought.
He walked over to his energon saber. The blade was still extended. He turned it off and put it back in its place, and then walked over to where Airazor was sleeping. He kneeled down and shook her shoulder a bit.
"Yo Airazor! Time to get up," he said."
Airazor opened her eyes.
"What happened?" she asked.
"We fell asleep. It's morning, and I think the storm passed."
Airazor sat up and yawned and stretched, then stood up.
"Well then, let's go home," she said.
They walked to the entrance of the cave and waited for their optics to adjust to the light, then transformed and flew out of it,
"Airazor to base."
~Rhinox here. Good to see you made it through the strom.~
"It wasn't so though."
~Airazor, is Blackbird with you,~ Nightfox asked.
"Don't get you're hopes up!" Blackbird cut in. "You're not rid of me yet!"
~Won't have it any other way. Now, you two better get back to the base.~
"Gotcha."
As they continued to fly back, Airazor kept thinking how odd it was. The night before she entered the cave with a bot she hardly knew. Now, she felt as if she was with her best friend.
Life sure take some unexpected turns, she thought.