A/n: Wow, a TF story that isn't G1. XD Consider this as a missing episode set after "Nature Calls." :)
Warning: I labelled the story AU, because I had written it before Prowl's actual past was revealed in the 3rd Season of TF:A and thus his background diferrentiates.
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There was no moonlight that particular night, and the stars did little to light the fields that were located a few miles outside the town of Marysville, Ohio. Everything was quiet and peaceful; the only things that were on the move were the nocturnal creatures that had come out in search of a meal.
All night-life took cover, however, when an escalating roar filled the air. The dark atmosphere lit up, and a giant ball of fire crashed on the ground, burying itself in the crater that got formed at the impact.
Fortunately, the flames soon died out, leaving only thin trails of smoke behind. Eerie silence followed, replaced by the smooth noise of moving gears.
The giant metallic form that climbed out of the crater stretched to his full height. He winced when he felt several twisted gears and wires on his shoulder straining him in an unpleasant way, so he ran a diagnostics program in order to assess the damage.
It wasn't anything serious. His self-repair systems would fix the problem in no time. It would still hurt if he moved his shoulder too much or if he transformed, but it wasn't something he couldn't deal with. He'd had worse and yet he had coped, if only out of sheer stubbornness.
Even so, he mentally swore to never take a free dive out of a spacecraft again, even if it was falling apart.
He sighed ruefully. He hoped that his ship would hold together at least until he landed safely but, apparently, luck wasn't at his side. The ship was old and suffered a lot of damages during that "folly of a trip", as he was told before departing. It was a wonder how it managed to fly after all those solar cycles, in fact. Now he could only hope that the debris wouldn't cause damage wherever they landed.
Speaking of which… where did he land?
He took a cautious step forward. He marvelled at the soft ground under his feet and he activated his scanners to check his surroundings.
Organic life, he deemed in mild surprise.
It didn't make much sense. He was sure that the coordinates he got from that shattered space-bridge were right, and yet it felt so different from what he had expected.
Just then, he heard something a lot more familiar to his audio-receptors, the sound of a fast-approaching engine.
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"Yeehaw! Yeah, baby! I've finally lost the coppers!" the motorcyclist exclaimed in delight, one of his hands gripping tightly a large pack. "Rich life, I'm well on my way and nothing's gonna stop me!"
He was certainly shocked when the trees to his left moved aside, even more so when a giant blue robot with golden chevrons stepped out on the road.
"Greetings."
"Yowza!" the motorcyclist managed to say before he put on the brakes. Unfortunately, his motorcycle skidded violently and the young man found himself thrown forward. After rolling for a good couple of feet, he ended up harmlessly at the robot's feet, his helmet saving him from any serious injuries.
"Oh… my bad. I didn't mean to startle you," the robot said and knelt down by the motorcyclist. "Are you damaged?"
The young man got back on his feet, flailing in his panic.
"Okay, okay, dude! I get it, you're one of them! If I knew that you metal freaks were around here, I'd never have stolen the money, I swear!"
The robot tilted his head in a questioning manner. "Metal freaks?"
The motorcyclist gasped in realisation. "Oh, no! I offended you, didn't I? Look, dude, I didn't mean it. Just don't crush me, okay? I promise you, I'll turn over a new leaf. I'll do social work, I'll recycle. I'll even start writing back to my mom, man!"
"Actually--" The robot never managed to finish his sentence. The sound of sirens filled the air and, moments later, several police cars arrived at the scene.
One of the officers stepped out of his car. "All right, Jones!" he cried, loud and clear; "You're under arrest for robbing the National Bank!"
"Yes! Yes! I admit to everything! Even the candy I stole from my cousin in 4th grade! Just call him off!" the motorcyclist said, wailing uncontrollably.
"Uh… sure," the officer said, staring at both the thief and the obviously perplexed robot in disbelief. He turned to his men. "You heard him, boys. Cuff him."
The motorcyclist seemed more than happy to be taken away, thanking the policemen over and over. But the blue robot remained kneeling, and he only turned his gaze on the officer when the latter approached him.
"Thanks for the backup. It's nice to see you guys expanding your crime-fighting activity to other states."
The robot scratched the back of his helm in an embarrassed manner. "Well, you could say I was at the wrong place at the right time."
"Oh?" the officer said. "Why is that?"
"For one thing, I don't know where I am."
"You're kidding me, right?" the officer asked in disbelief, but he regretted his words when he noticed the robot's rigid posture. The robot was quite serious. "Have you just arrived on Earth?"
"Is that the name of this planet?" the robot asked.
"I'll take that as yes," the officer concluded. "I guess that explains it. Most of your kind is in Detroit, you know."
The robot's light-blue optics widened slightly. "Is that another planet?" he asked anxiously.
"Um… No," the officer answered patiently, as though talking to a young boy that was eager and curious. "Look, you can download the map from my car. Consider it as a thank you for helping us out."
"I appreciate it," the robot said, nodding. "However, there's another favour I want to ask of you."
"What's that?"
"Your fellow Earthman was on a machine when I came across him."
"You mean that blue motorcycle of his?" the officer said.
The robot chuckled. "Indeed. May I scan it?"
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Three days later…
As soon as the first rays of light bathed Sari Sumdac's room, Sparkplug got out of his basket and leapt on Sari's bed.
"Ow!" The young girl exclaimed. She lifted her head and cast an indignant, albeit sleepy, look at her dog. "Go away, Sparkplug! I'm trying to sleep!"
She covered herself with the blanket once more, but the robotic dog wouldn't be deterred. In fact, it grabbed the blanket and started pulling it energetically.
"Sparky! Cut it out!"
Sparkplug replied with a loud mechanical bark and resumed tugging the blanket. Realising that she was fighting a lost battle, Sari pushed herself in a sitting position.
"Fine, fine, I'm up," she said. She rubbed the slumber off her eyes, then picked up a ball from her nightstand and tossed it across the room.
Sparkplug rushed to fetch the ball and dropped it back in Sari's hand.
"Good dog," she said softly. She rewarded Sparkplug with a pat on the head and got up to get dressed. A few minutes later, she was walking inside the kitchen, where her father was already having his breakfast.
"'Morning, Dad," Sari said with a smile. She sat down and turned to the robo-chef who was making some French toasts. "Can I have some orange juice, too?" she asked.
"A glass of orange juice coming up, mademoiselle," the robo-chef said in an almost ridiculous French accent. Sure enough, the machine placed the orange juice and a couple of French toasts in front of the girl and then he resumed with his cooking.
However, Professor Sumdac still didn't give any impression that he had noticed his daughter. He simply kept munching his bacon, his gaze locked on a couple of blueprints that were sprawled on the table.
"Dad?" Sari said, eyeing him closely.
No good. Professor Sumdac was too absorbed in his work, like always.
"Dad!"
The professor fell off his chair, startled.
"Who? What?" he asked dazedly. He caught sight of Sari and scratched his head. "Oh, good morning, Sari. I didn't see you there."
"No kidding," the girl noted with a tease. "So, what are you working on? Can I help?"
"No, no, it's alright. It's nothing I can't handle," Professor Sumdac said. He got up on his feet and collected his papers before Sari could have a good look at them. "You can have your lessons with Tutor-bot instead."
"But, Dad, Tutor-bot is broken again, remember? I can't have a lesson," Sari pointed out.
"Oh! So he is, isn't he?" the professor mumbled thoughtfully. "I was sure I fixed him a week ago. What could be the problem this time?"
The girl smiled innocently, her fingers playing with her key. "Beats me," she said.
The professor thought about it for a few moments. "Well, in that case, you can go outside and play if you want."
"Awesome! Can I go see the Autobots? Please, please, say yes! I promise I'll be back for lunch! And this time, I will remember my promise!" Sari said, talking at a 100 miles per hour.
"Uh… yes?" Professor Sumdac replied.
"Yes!" Sari gulped down her orange juice in no time at all and, moments later, the French toasts vanished from her plate too. "I'm gonna tell Bumblebee to come and pick me up. It's gonna be so awesome! I can't wait! Later, Dad!"
"Wait, Sari!"
However, the girl was already gone. All the professor could do was shake his head and sigh. Sari was full of life, like a child should be. He couldn't remember the last time he had dashed out of a room like that. It was the price for all those years he spent in creating his robotics empire.
Which reminded him… it was time to talk to his Autobot friend over the blueprints. So, he gave instructions to his robotic secretary that she shouldn't let anyone disturb him and went to his laboratory.
As the door opened with a small hissing sound, red optics locked on his form.
"Ah… Professor Sumdac. You're as punctual as always," Megatron said. "Have you checked the blueprints?"
"Yes, of course," the professor said with a nod.
"And have you reached a conclusion?" Megatron asked.
"I think it can be done." Sumdac sat on the hand-like chair so he could talk to Megatron properly. "Still, I can't help but worry."
"Oh? For what reason?" Megatron's optics narrowed slightly at that.
Sumdac crossed his arms. "I agree that this repair-bot of yours will be useful to the Autobots. I can't have Sari running around in the middle of the battle so that she can fix her friends, or Ratchet getting distracted," he said. "But, if the Decepticons ever get their hands on the repair-bot, the consequences could be disastrous. They might download all the data stored in it to find any weaknesses of the Autobots. They might even reprogram the repair-bot so that it inflicts damage instead."
"That, Professor Sumdac, is a risk that I have already considered," Megatron said. "It seems to me that the certain benefits the Autobots will have outweigh any possible disadvantages that might cross our way."
"I suppose so…" the professor mused, "But--"
"Besides, Professor," Megatron interrupted, "isn't this the very reason that we've kept this project secret even from our friends, the Autobots? So that this kind of information wouldn't reach the wrong ears?"
"Yes, but--"
"Then we've done everything within our power to make sure the repair-bot will always stay in the right hands," Megatron said.
Professor Sumdac was hardly appeased, though. He knew that Megatron had a point. Still, he didn't want anything to happen to the Autobots because of his own inventions.
That was something Megatron himself probably understood, because he continued on.
"Nevertheless, if it proves more reassuring, we can always place a security protocol on its programming. In this way, it will take instructions only from its rightful owners."
"Yes, yes, that would be best," Professor Sumdac said. "And none of the Decepticons will be able to use it."
"Are you satisfied then?" Megatron asked.
"Indeed. I'll start working on the repair-bot at once," Professor Sumdac replied. He got off his seat and headed for the exit, already mumbling to himself the procedure it would take to create the repair-bot.
The red optics glinted maliciously as soon as Megatron was left alone in the room.
"That was almost too easy," the Decepticon leader mused softly before activating the computer screen. As soon as he found the blueprints of the large, tentacled mechanism, he started making the appropriate alterations.
No, Professor Sumdac's suggestion didn't bother Megatron. In fact, it was very useful. The security protocol would enable Megatron to have full control of his precious little gimmick and the Autobots wouldn't be able to stop it until it was too late.
And then, the… repairing… could commence. Megatron needed some loyal servants under his service, after all, and having the Autobots as faithful followers would be quite the irony.
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"So… remind me why we're doing this again, Sari?" Bumblebee asked, holding a small tablecloth.
It seemed Bulkhead and Ratchet wondered the same thing, because they looked in her direction too. Bulkhead was holding a basket, whereas Ratchet was busy with Sparkplug.
"It's a picnic," Sari explained. She took the tablecloth from Bumblebee's hands and set it on the grass. "We just sit down to eat and drink, and then we play."
"We could play back at the base, you know," Bumblebee pointed out. "I got this new game where you're a wizard and you can blow stuff up."
"It's not the same, Bumblebee," Sari said. "We're talking about outdoor games, like throwing a Frisbee or roller-skating."
"Roller-skating?" Bumblebee exclaimed. "Now you're talking my language!"
"Great!" Sari said, smiling broadly. "But first, we have to sit down and enjoy the goodies! Give me the basket, Bulkhead."
The large green bot complied, watching Sari open the basket and placing a sandwich for herself and several energon cubes for her friends.
"Okay, guys! Dig in!"
"Sweet!" Bumblebee said, sitting down. "Too bad Bigbot isn't here to loosen up a bit." He looked around, realising that there was something else missing from the picture too. "Speaking of loosening up, where's Prowl?"
Ratchet looked meaningfully at a cluster of trees nearby.
"Well, you know him. He's probably hanging around somewhere."
"I'm afraid you're wrong this time, doctor," a smooth voice sounded behind Ratchet. Prowl now approached the rest of the Autobots and Sari, and they noticed that the motorcycle seemed troubled.
"What's wrong, Prowl? We aren't quiet enough for your little meditation session?" Bumblebee asked with a huff.
"Actually, it wasn't you this time," Prowl answered.
"Oh, that's nice—hey!"
Prowl simply gave Bumblebee one of his 'Be quiet' looks and looked at their surroundings again.
"What's bugging you, kid?" Ratchet asked, looking at the motorcycle quizzically. Prowl was stiff to the point that there was hardly the sound of any gears moving.
"I'm not sure. It feels like we're being watched."
"Can't do anything about that," Bulkhead said, pointing at a group of kids standing a few feet away and gawping at the giant robots. "You'll just have to get used to it sooner or later."
Prowl shook his head. "It's not them."
"How can you tell?" Sari asked. She looked around too, but she only saw some other kids playing and some adults sitting on the benches, either reading a book or listening to music.
"I just can," Prowl said.
"Oh, right. It's a ninja thing," Bumblebee harrumphed.
The words barely flowed out of Bumblebee's lip components when Sari's key flashed brilliantly. The girl stared at the key in disbelief and then looked up at the Autobots, hoping they knew why it was acting up.
"Okay, I take that back," Bumblebee declared. He replaced his hands with his stingers, getting ready to fight.
"We never seem to get a break, do we?" Bulkhead said wryly. He followed Bumblebee's example and took out his crushing ball.
"You'd better get out of here, Sari," Ratchet said.
"But I can help! I have the key, remember?"
"Sari--"
Prowl never got the chance to finish his sentence. A terrible roar of engines filled the air, and the Autobots found it difficult to stay upright as the ground underneath them shook. Screaming humans started running hither and thither, trying to escape from whatever disaster was going to come up next.
Finally, the ground cracked open and a monstrosity of a machine surfaced. It was almost as tall as Bumblebee, standing on six powerful legs, whereas its round body served as a cockpit for whoever was controlling it.
"Okay, is this thing on?" a booming voice sounded through a couple of speakers. A piercing sound of a microphone getting tapped on made the Autobots wince. "Ah, right. Ahem… people of Detroit, I come here in peace. That is, as long as you're willing to give me seven billion dollars within the next hour, or your lovely city will turn to ruins! Ahahahahaha!"
Bulkhead sighed and turned to the others. "Why do they always have to laugh like that at the end of their speech?" he asked.
"It must be some kind of bad guy protocol," Bumblebee said. He activated his wheels and skated forward. "Hey, rust-bucket! Catch me if you can!"
"You dare defy me?" the booming voice asked in an affronted manner. "I will enjoy crushing you!"
"Provided you're fast enough," Prowl said in his usual calm demeanour. In the blink of an eye, he used his shuriken to cut one of the machine's large pincers in two by the joint.
"Why you--!"
"You talk too much," Bulkhead declared, launching his crushing ball to smash the cockpit.
Meanwhile, Prowl made short work of the legs' joints as well, making the machine stagger precariously. Thankfully, Ratchet's magnets stopped the machine from doing any damage, forcing it to land smoothly on the ground. Bumblebee rushed to the cockpit and shoved an arm inside.
"What?! Hey, let go of me! Let go, I say!"
Bumblebee did no such thing, of course. He gripped the culprit tightly by the collar of his shirt and took him out of the cockpit.
"Heh… you don't look so big now," he commented, regarding the human curiously. The human seemed just about Sari's height, and he was squirming violently in Bumblebee's grip.
"I promise you, this won't be the last time you'll hear from me!" the human raved, his voice sounding quite diminished now that a microphone wasn't magnifying it.
"Of course not," Bumblebee replied. "We'll hear about your sentence on TV."
"Speaking of which, it's time to do a delivery," Ratchet said at that moment, hearing the sound of sirens in the distance.
The short man shouted his frustration and he didn't stop ranting till Captain Fanzone arrived to pick him up.
"Well, thanks for the help and all," the captain said a bit grudgingly. "I'd still appreciate it if you cleaned up this mess though." He kicked the robotic structure to prove his point, but that made one of the more loose parts fall on his foot.
The Autobots were sure half of Detroit heard Fanzone shout: "THIS IS WHY I HATE MACHINES!" Still, they could only watch the unfortunate captain limp to his car and drive off.
"I kinda feel sorry for him," Bulkhead said when the police cars were gone.
Ratchet nodded his agreement. "At least he tolerates us."
Bumblebee, on the other hand, focused on Prowl. The ninja was standing a little farther away, his gaze drifting in every direction.
"Okay, I'm sorry. You were right," Bumblebee said. "I'll trust your sixth sense in the future, deal?"
"Actually, I'm concerned with something else now," Prowl said.
Bumblebee blinked. "What's that?"
"Where's Sari?"
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While her friends battled the machine, Sari sat on the sidewalk nearby. She rested her head in her hands and heaved her third sigh in a row, feeling somewhat disappointed.
It's not that she didn't understand that her friends wanted to protect her, she really did. Still, there were also times that she wished they trusted her more. She wasn't completely defenceless. Even if she got in trouble, she could always pull through with the help of her key… whenever it didn't do things on its own accord anyway.
She glared at her key, frustrated that it kept flashing like that. She knew the key was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't for the life of her guess what it was. The only other time it acted like that was when something Cybertronian was close by. The machine the Autobots were fighting wasn't Cybertronian, though. She was sure of it.
Unless… something else was close by?
Okay, if I were something Cybertronian, where would I be? she thought. She looked around her, but she couldn't see anything at first glance. That is, until she caught sight of a blue motorcycle at the other end of the park. Normally, she wouldn't have thought anything wrong with its presence there. Motorcycles were a common thing in the park.
Except… there was nothing common about a motorcycle moving on its own.
Right. If the guys didn't want her to fight, she could at least check out their stalker. She stood up and took a step forward, but she stopped in her tracks when she realised something very important.
What if the motorcycle wasn't friendly? Even worse, what if it was a Decepticon?
She shook her head. Confronting the motorcycle head on wasn't the best idea. She would have to go the long way around and watch it from behind. After all, two could play that kind of game.
Smiling, she ran around the block. When she got close enough, she slowed down and pushed herself against the wall so it wouldn't see her; then took a peek around the corner.
It didn't seem like it had noticed her. Good.
The key had other ideas though. It lifted on the air and started tugging Sari forward.
"Hey!" the girl exclaimed, grabbing her key with both hands. "Stop that!"
The key just kept pointing in the motorcycle's direction, flashing even more brilliantly if that were possible; until Sari had no choice but to tuck the key under her blouse.
"And stay there!" she hissed. She waited for a few moments, expecting the key to make some form of protest, but nothing of the sort happened. Feeling that that problem was taken care of, she turned around to see what the motorcycle was up to.
She gasped when she saw it was gone. And she froze when she heard metallic footsteps from behind her.
"If you want to surprise someone, you have to be a lot quieter than that," a young male voice said.
She spun around, her eyes wide. The blue motorcycle was indeed there, except he was now transformed into his robot mode and directing his gaze at her.
Sari couldn't help but stare for many long moments at him. He resembled Prowl at first glance, with a pair of golden chevrons that adorned his helm and streaks of yellow that decorated his blue form. Nevertheless, there were certainly lots of differences too. His face wasn't as lean or his light-blue optics as narrow, whereas his countenance seemed youthful rather than austere and distant like Prowl's.
"Sorry," she caught herself saying, "I was just curious."
The robot cocked his head in a questioning manner. To Sari's comfort, he didn't look like he was angry, and he didn't try to hurt her either.
"You sound younger than the other Earthmen," the robot noted. "More like a protoform."
Sari blinked at the weirdness of the statement. "Yeah, well… I'm a kid."
"And yet you're not afraid of me."
Now it was Sari's turn to look at the robot inquisitively. "Why would I be afraid?"
"Because of what I look like," the robot replied.
Sari shook her head. "I'm used to it. Most people here are," she said. She regarded him closely. "Unless you give them a reason to be afraid."
The robot stiffened. "I'm an Autobot. I don't terrorize for a living."
Sari stared at the robot. "You're an Autobot?!"
The robot nodded and pointed at the small Autobot insignia on his chest.
"But then why didn't you join the fight?" the girl asked in genuine curiosity. "Those other robots were Autobots, just like you!"
"I'd only get in the way," the motorcycle answered. He sighed ruefully. "And, besides… I didn't come here to fight."
"Then why did you come?"
The robot didn't answer Sari though. To the girl's surprise, he simply lifted his gaze.
"Hello, Prowl."
Sari turned around, only to see that Prowl was really standing a little farther away, while Bumblebee, Ratchet and Bulkhead were next to him. And Prowl was staring at the robot incredulously.
"Silverstreak?!"
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A/N: In case anyone is wondering: since I wanted to treat this story as if it was an actual episode of Animated, I figured the creators would have gone for the name of Silverstreak rather than Bluestreak, due to copyright and everything. As for the blue and yellow plating, it's a tribute to the colours of his old boxart back in the G1 days.
And, of course, there's the other G1 reference (see: Secret Of Omega Supreme).
Special thanks go to Beertree and Rumblestrip for helping me with the story. :)