Maelstrom Chapter 30
Conversations in a Kitchen: Chapter 1 Part B

Author's note: This story is part of a LONG series called Maelstrom. It is strictly Gen. 1 - sorry, but that was all that was out when I started writing back in the late 1980's. It began as a fan-publication so the first chapters are in the form of a comic book! If you have not read the nine original Maelstrom Comics and the preceding text stories, I strongly suggest you do. This is a complex universe. They can be found at http// illmatar. deviantart. com (I have put double spaces between the URL here or FF . Net eats the link.) The comics and art which accompanies this series are there...and believe me I am a better artist than writer.

Most chapters of this series contain strong language and violence. Rated M for adult themes! Really! Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Critiques adored! This scene contains strong language, violence, and sex. Rated M for adult themes!


Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. Story and OC characters are mine. Critiques adored!

Conversations in a Kitchen - Chapter 1
Part B

Continued from Part A!

The next several hours were a haze to Lancer and Rodimus, but they managed not to slip up anymore. They were assaulted by questions from all sides, but Magnus and Marissa were the most demanding, and the most frustrated. Magnus wanted to know everything from the date they'd left to the location of Autobot City. Rodimus refused to answer many of his questions and could almost see the suspicion and annoyance looming over Magnus' head like a thunder-cloud.

"How did you become human?"

"I won't tell you," Rodimus said softly. Magnus glowered - Rodimus looked back unfazed and unmoved.

"You can't tell me the details of a simple accident."

"How do you know it was an accident?" Lancer said coldly, returning Magnus' glare with one of her own. The others in the room felt the temperature drop a few degrees.

"We can't tell you much, Magnus. We don't want to compromise your future. Our presence here is bad enough. We may cause you harm without ever meaning to." Magnus remained openly unconvinced. He slammed his sizable hand on the table hard enough to shake the floor. Neither flinched.

"Magnus, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt! I seriously doubt the Decepticons have the capability to create a version of Hot Rod who can actually become both human and robot at will," Spike argued. "and it's not as though they could have brought proof with them."

Magnus grunted, and returned to his barrage with no more success than before. Used to getting his way out of pure intimidation most of the time, he was finding the unflappable visitors very annoying. In the next few hours he learned little other than that in Rodi's universe it was somewhere around the year 2020, that Metroplex was stationed in the same general area that it was here, that while Rodimus was a full commander he wasn't carrying the Matrix at this moment, and that Lancer had turned nasty looks into an art form. It wasn't until Rodimus started slurring his repeated "I won't answer that, is there anything else you'd like to know?", and Lancer was actually swaying slightly on her feet that Magnus also recognized how exhausted his victims were.

He and Marissa exchanged glances. They took stock of how pale the visitors looked, except for the deep, bruised circles under their eyes. Magnus realized with a nasty shock that this man with Hot Rod's face actually looked rather old, and certainly worn out.

"Maybe we should let our guests get some sleep, Magnus," Marissa suggested. Rodimus mumbled something about finding a hotel, and Magnus geared up for some nasty remarks about not letting them out of his sight when Carly cut him off.

"Don't be silly, we have plenty of room right here. Lancer can sleep in the same room with Foul Play, and Rodimus can stay with Ho....." Carly looked at Magnus's face and changed her mind. "He can stay in Magnus' room." She looked at the city commander for approval and got a slight nod. Lancer and Rodimus didn't say anything to each other, but they did exchange a long look. Watching them, Marissa noted with a start that they were nodding and reacting exactly as if they were speaking.

Lancer finally turned to Carly and said, "That's fine." Carly led them up the stairs with the others following closely, when the unmistakable sound of a hungry baby ricocheted through the house.

Carly sighed. "Spike, can you see to Daniel?" In the confusion it took to get Spike past all the bodies cramming the hall, only Marissa noted the effect the baby's cry had on the visitors.

Something in the way his body stiffened made Marissa move subtly from around Springer's back to get a better look at Rodimus' face. Rodimus had gone absolutely white with shock, his lips turned completely blue, and Lancer was gripping his arms supportively and staring into his eyes. By the time Spike got past everyone, they were mostly recovered, but Marissa could still see the faint sheen of sweat on Rodi's face. Still, in that brief instant before he put on an expressionless mask (which reminded her so much of Magnus that she was chilled) Marissa thought Rodimus looked...grief stricken. In that instant, she became convinced Rodimus and Lancer were exactly who they claimed, but somehow this only increased her curiosity. She couldn't imagine why the baby would cause such a response. She also noted the familiar way Lancer touched Rodimus comfortingly and had a sudden suspicion about why they'd gotten lost together.

Carly ushered Lancer into Foul Play's room and fussed longer than Lancer needed. The young mutant was nauseous from the teleport and would have been happy to lie down on the floor. The crowd in the doorway would have been funny if Lancer hadn't been so tired. Foul Play didn't look too pleased about having a roommate. Lancer decided to feel bad about it in the morning.

Rodimus was envious. His mate was asleep before they'd made it down the hall. He sensed Magnus' eyes trying to bore holes in him, but at the moment felt he could probably sleep through a Jabez interrogation. Which reminded him. Rodimus startled the glaring city commander by turning to him and motioning him aside while Carly made up the bed.

"Magnus..I need to tell you... there's...There's been a lot of fighting lately. We're both sort of...OK...We're both REALLY combat fatigued and hair-triggered. Can you warn the others? I'm afraid anyone who startles or touches us in our sleep might get hurt...or killed. Especially me..." Rodi's voice slurred sleepily again, but Magnus could tell he was genuinely concerned. Magnus studied Rodimus, trying to be objective, and noted anew the alien exhaustion on that familiar face. He held jealously onto his suspicions, but started to doubt that this was a Decepticon or Quintisson infiltration. Even they wouldn't send in operatives in this state.

"Why especially you?" Magnus asked.

Rodimus sighed. "I am prone to traumatic flash-backs and nightmares. Really. Keep your distance. If I am dreaming, get Lancer. She can handle me. At worst, throw things at me from across the room. If you wake me up the wrong way from a nightmare I strike to kill."

Ultra Magnus stared at the man in front of him, once again taken by surprise and once again suspicious. Could this be a Quint operative after all? Did they know he still flashed? Did they know nightmares made him an insomniac? How could they know? And if Rodimus was telling the truth then how could he just admit to such a shameful weakness?

Rodimus looked back at Magnus with eyes he could hardly keep open. Telling his reluctant room-mate about the nightmares was the only responsible thing to do, but what he really wanted was to leave this house completely.

Magnus merely answered Rodimus with a nod of understanding, and assured him that the others would be warned. Rodimus flashed him a weak smile, and fell into the spare bed before Carly was finished with it. She sighed in resignation at the strange man sound asleep on top of the blankets, and shooed the others out. It was just 7:00pm.

They all filed down the stairs in silence, unsure of how to even begin discussing this. When Marissa reached the kitchen, her eye fell on the two heavy duffel bags on the floor. She smiled, and grunted as she lifted the first on to the table.

"Geez, what do they have in these things?" she asked aloud. Magnus raised his eyebrows in approval, and picked up the second easily. Neither wasted any time opening the bag in front of them, much to Carly's indignation.

"You can't just go through their things Marissa," she cried as Marissa began pitching Rodi's clothes on to the table.

"Watch us," Magnus said, rudely piling a handful of Lancer belongings next to the stack Marissa was making.

"We HAVE to learn about these people Carly! You're too trusting! They may be what they claim, but they're hiding a lot." Marissa considered, then discarded the idea of telling Carly about Rodi's reaction to Daniel's cry. At that moment, Magnus came up with a handful of Lancer skimpier negligee, and found himself a little embarrassed. Marissa smiled and traded bags with him.

The top layers turned out to be perfectly mundane changes of clothes, and other personal items you'd expect from a couple on vacation. That was the first thing they noticed however. This was definitely a COUPLE on vacation. The styles of clothing indicated they weren't keeping the current fashion. There wasn't much that could account for the weight though.

Magnus suspected a false bottom in Rodimus' bag, but he couldn't find anyway to open it. Annoyed, he shoved the bag away from himself to go through the things on the table. He happened to put it in front of Hot Rod where he was sitting sullenly in his seat. Curious in spite of himself, Hot Rod tipped the bag forward and reached in to poke at the few bits of clothing Magnus had left behind.

Hot Rod yelped in surprise as a laser scanned his fingertips and the bottom of the bag folded back with a faint whirr. What he saw widened his eyes to his hairline. He couldn't speak.

"What?" Marissa asked, and came over in annoyance when he didn't answer. She stared also which caused Magnus to lean over and look. Springer and Arcee quit rummaging through the clothing long enough to see what could possibly have Ultra Magnus gaping in shock. Foul Play lurked stubbornly by the door. Spike and Carly were boycotting the kitchen in protest.

The bottom of Rodimus' bag was loaded with weapons, all neatly arranged and secured. Weird, archaic forms of weapons-daggers, needles, knives - human toys. Center-most was a pair of Japanese katana, which at least explained the length of the duffel bags. They also found a oddly shaped piece of equipment they couldn't even begin to identify. Smooth, white, and hexagonal, the device reacted when they touched it but they couldn't figure out why or what it was doing.

None of this was what had Magnus or the others gaping in shock, it was the photos.

It took a long time for Magnus to actually pick up the small bundle of photos which were incongruously secured amongst all the murderous toys. There were several pictures in the small pack, but no one was ready to confront them just yet. The top image was quite enough thanks.

The photo revealed a human child of about five or six. She had wispy, deep red hair about shoulder length, eyes an almost white-blue, and Hot Rod's ridiculous smile. All four of the people crowded around the photo looked at Hot Rod in shocked unison, then back down at the photo, then back up at Hot Rod. By this point even Foul Play couldn't contain her curiosity and looked as well. It wasn't until she did a similar double-take that Hot Rod started getting really nervous.

"What?" Hot Rod tried to sound irritated, but only ended up sounding scared. Without a word Magnus handed him the photo. Hot Rod fainted.

X

X

X

By the time the rest of them got through the remaining photos, they all were sitting at the table hoping they didn't join Hot Rod. There were a few more pictures of the little girl, but in at least two she was with a baby less than a year old. There were a few of Lancer and Rodimus together which left no doubts at all about their relationship, and some of other people the group couldn't identify. It took the rest of the evening to get Hot Rod through the entire set. They decided not to put him through the photo album, which contained an array of silly, and embarrassing photos of everything from Hot Rod tangled in a fishing line, to Lancer's bare behind as a two year old. There were also some surprising shots of Rodimus and Optimus, and Rodimus dipping a redesigned Elita One in a fashion that would have scandalized the group if Optimus hadn't been looking on in the background (AND if they hadn't kept the fact she WASN'T his mother firmly in mind.)

Springer and Arcee were fascinated by a few images of their other selves, mostly because it reminded them what they looked like as Autobots. They flirted shamelessly with each other by pretending to be attracted to the "strangers" in the photos. Foul Play couldn't decide whether to be amused or disgusted over they way they fawned over each other. Magnus was startled by his alternate. The basic body design was identical, but the colors weren't. Magnus knew his somber blacks and grays weren't typical of most Autobots, but he was used to them. Seeing himself done up in vivid reds, blues, and whites was rather a shock.

"Red, white, and blue?" he muttered under his breath.

"Hey, Magnus! Your twin looks like an American flag!" Springer grinned.

Magnus glared at him fiercely, and Springer quickly decided to go back to teasing Arcee.

"That pink one sure is cute," Springer said, glancing nervously at his commander to see if he was going to let the matter drop. "I wonder where I could meet someone like her?"

Magnus turned his attention back to the pictures while Arcee feigned jealousy. "Uggh," he said, "too cheerful."

From his voice, Marissa wondered if he genuinely didn't like the colors, or if he was disturbed by what they implied about his alternate - and himself.

The single picture in the loose stack that ended up disturbing Marissa the most was carefully hidden in her pocket before the others got a look. She only let Magnus see it when the others went to bed. It was a simple picture of a young man with slightly curly brown hair, a familiar smile, and a version of EDC's uniforms on. The caption on the back read, "Danny: 1998-2026.

X

X

X

The guests slept...and slept. Foul Play was certain she'd seen Lancer looking at her whenever she made a sound, but other than that there was no sign they ever intended to wake up until nearly 14 hours after they'd gone to sleep. The first thing Lancer did upon waking was swear creatively in several different languages-including Draxian. (Draxian curses were infamous for their hideous sound on top of their repulsive connotations, and they were the only part of Pagan's language Lancer had been dedicated enough to master. She liked to save them for special occasions. This qualified.) Her bag wasn't anywhere in sight, which meant she'd left it at the mercy of their hosts. Knowing what she would have done if the situation were reversed didn't comfort her in the slightest. Good grief! Even Talon's risque` idea of an anniversary gift was in there! Considering that they might even think she would ever wear anything that tacky set off an enraged set of snarling curses in a whole new language she'd just invented for that purpose.

She still felt a little out of it, but she had to find out the fate of her stuff. She wondered briefly how "long" a jump between dimensions counted as. The longer the jump, the more fatigue poisons built up in your system- it was part of what made long-distance jumping so dangerous. If the jump to this place was long enough to make two highly-trained, highly paranoid assassins neglect their gear, she figured much longer would have killed them outright. She slipped expertly out into the hallway once she realized it was clear. At least her limbs were now obeying her, mostly. Silently, she made her way down the stairs, trying to keep alert. She failed miserably. Dazed and anxious, she forgot to look or listen down the blind hallway towards the kitchen before she stepped into it. Gee..They had breathing walls in this dimension, who would have ever guessed?

"Going someplace?" As if Ultra Magnus needed to be huge, powerful, AND sarcastic.

"Yes...The kitchen." Two could play.

Upstairs Rodimus indulged his exhaustion by briefly hiding his head under his pillow. He could feel the confrontation brewing between Magnus and his mate, and it just wasn't what he wanted to deal with first thing in the morning.

Magnus glowered at Lancer. She debated smirking, but decided she was too crabby and opted to glower back. Rodimus crept cautiously down the stairs and sighed when he found the two of them glaring silently, trying to stare each other down. He could almost see the tension as they tried to out-stubborn each other. He decided to go after their bags, and walked right by them undisturbed. If Magnus was at all worried about stopping Rodimus it didn't show. He was too concerned about out-willing this insolent little woman who didn't even exhibit the sense to be intimidated.

Rodimus entered the kitchen and sighed. Their clothes were in a mangled heap. Their weapons were out all over the tables and counters. Rodimus was briefly glad they had decided not to apply the poison before they left. Worst of all, one Captain Marissa Fairborne sat at the table going through his photos. She grinned obnoxiously at him, and practically skipped up with the photo of Edana. He stared, frozen, while she held it up next to his face.

"How did you get into that compartm...Oh. Hot Rod," Rodimus sighed, answering his own question.

Marissa looked from his face to the photo as if making comparisons. "Gee...I wonder who the father of THIS one is," she simpered. He snatched the pictures out of her hands and glared at her. She wasn't impressed. Instead, she scampered to the table and held up the ridiculous little red-lace number Talon had gotten for Lancer. "Planning on making more little red-heads any time soon, Rodimus?" She didn't have to leer about it, or wave that thing around like that.

Rodimus flinched as a loud snarl echoed down the hall. Lancer had just lost the staring contest. She had picked up the image of Marissa holding that idiotic excuse for a piece of fabric in front of her body and lost all interest in Ultra Magnus. She ducked by him before he could move, and flew into the kitchen. Marissa found her hands empty before she even realized Lancer was in the room. Was it her imagination, or were Lancer's eyes glowing?

Once the offending garment was safely out of Marissa's hands, (and shredded into little itty bitty pieces) Lancer calmed down a little bit.

"Did you have to make such a mess?", she queried. Their things were all over the table and the counters.

"We needed to know who we were dealing with," Ultra Magnus said gruffly. He wasn't entirely satisfied with his victory in the hall. True, she'd broken eye contact first, but only because she'd been distracted by other priorities. It certainly wasn't the humbling he'd been hoping for.

"Yes, I understand that," she said impatiently, "What I asked was if you had to make such a mess out of it. Are you usually this disorganized when you search things? What if you'd decided you wanted to make it look like you hadn't gone through our stuff? Would you have been able to put it all back the way you found it?"

Magnus couldn't decide what was worse, her lecturing tone, or the fact she might have had a point. He scowled. She scowled back. Rodimus and Marissa looked at each other, and shared a brief moment of mutual understanding of the other's suffering.

"Did you show Hot Rod?" Rodimus asked, waving the photos.

"Yes, he was there," Marissa said.

"How did he take it?"

"He fainted a lot," Marissa tried to sound concerned, but her amusement wavered in her voice.

Rodimus sighed, "I suppose I would have handled it about the same at his age." He leafed through the pictures, and suffered a severe shock when he remembered one that should have been there. Daniel's photo was missing. He looked up, horrified, at Marissa, not even able to vocalize his terror. Lancer once again broke off glaring at Magnus, and went to her mate's side. Marissa wondered how Lancer knew. Rodimus hadn't said anything and had his back to his Lancer. The EDC captain pulled Rodi's last photo out of her pocket and handed it back to him gravely.

"Do...do the others know?" Rodimus asked, looking sadly down at Danny's smiling face. He couldn't remember his friend like this. Not really. Every time he thought about Daniel, the image of his smiling, but Converted face interfered. Then Rodimus would remember the feel of Danny's crushed flesh in his fingers. Rodimus hadn't thought, he'd just struck in reflexive horror, and put his hand through Daniel's' violated skull.....Carly had screamed, and screamed.....The sound of it was never far from his mind. His right hand twitched.

"No. We managed to hide this one before any of the others saw it," Marissa assured him. Her voice brought his mind sharply back to the bright, cheerful kitchen. The contrast made him heart-sick. Lancer rested her forehead on Rodi's arm in relief, and she sent him calming waves of support.

"Is this really Daniel Witwicky?" Magnus pressed.

"Yes," Rodimus said sadly, "it was."

Magnus and Marissa exchanged worried looks. "How did it happen?" Magnus wanted to know.

"I won't tell you that," Rodimus snapped. Magnus tried his best intimidating glower, it certainly never failed to send HIS Autobots running for cover. This guy just glared back at him unfazed. Damn! Something bright and brittle in those steady eyes told Magnus instinctively that he was treading on dangerous ground. He decided to wait, and see if he could find out more without pressing. If not, he could always try pressuring them later.

Lancer was getting irritated. "Do you really think anyone here is going to be better off knowing how that boy died in our universe? Do you think his parents will be glad to know? What purpose does it serve? It will only leave you second-guessing yourselves. Why do you think we tried to get out of here in the first place? There are some things you don't need to know!"

"We wouldn't tell his parents," Marissa said softly. Lancer narrowed her eyes.

"It won't do you any good to hear it either, so you might as well forget about it," Rodimus said with finality. His voice had a cold, authoritative edge to it, and for the first time Magnus could see the commander in him. It took him aback for a moment, and he studied Rodimus' face again. Magnus suddenly realized the visitor looked even older than he did.

"What about your kids?"

"I don't know, what about them? Edana just turned six, and Alexandra is a little over ten months old. They're healthy, they're trouble, and I miss them already. Is that what you wanted to know?" Rodimus said sharply. Lancer took his hand and squeezed it. He gave her a faint smile.

"What about all this stuff?" Magnus demanded, indicating the weapons.

"What about it?" Lancer asked a little sarcastically. "They're weapons." She frowned as she looked at the mess of them all over the kitchen. It seemed... disrespectful somehow. She grabbed Rodi's bag off the table and began putting things carefully away. Rodimus moved to help her.

Magnus pressed his lips together, trying not to lash out at Lancer as he would have one of his people if they had ever dared take that tone with him.

"I thought you were supposed to be going on a vacation," he said.

"Ye-ees," she drawled stupidly.

"This is what you take on vacation?" t was his turn to sound sarcastic.

Lancer scowled. "Only if we plan to live through it! I don't know about this dimension, but in ours you don't go unarmed, not on vacation, not at home, not ever."

Magnus looked from one to the other. "It's that bad," he stated flatly, and paused, staring at them. "I can't imagine even Decepticons being THAT out of control, or is it not the Decepticons?"

Lancer and Rodimus looked at each other, but anything they might have said was interrupted by the pounding of feet on the stairs. Arcee and Springer came trampling down the stairs for breakfast, followed shortly by Foul Play. Lancer and Rodimus winced at all the noise they made. Spike and Carly came down soon also. They looked tired, (Daniel had been fussy all night) but they knew better than to leave their charges unsupervised. Springer immediately started in on the visitors about everything from their tastes in clothes to the conception of their children. Arcee just curiously started going through their clothes again to see if she'd missed anything the previous night. Foul Play shoved things rudely to the side as she stomped around to get her cereal. She seemed annoyed it was in her way. However, it wasn't until Springer started fooling around with the weapons that Rodimus got pissed. He held out his hand for the needles Springer was holding and lost his temper when Springer decided to play keep-away. Springer waved his hands back in forth in front of Rodi's face, feinting with the needles. He didn't know what he was doing, and was lucky not to cut himself.

Rodimus snapped. He was too tired to play stupid games with someone who (in his mind) should have been obeying orders. His hand flashed out and deprived Springer of his toy before he even realized Rodimus moved.

"OK! THAT'S IT! DROP EVERYTHING! Rodimus roared. Foul Play spit Fruit Loops across the table. Arcee yipped once in surprise, and then blessed silence fell. Even Spike and Carly froze in their tracks. Magnus raised an eyebrow, and Marissa smirked in approval. Elsewhere in the house, Hot Rod looked up at the sound of the strange voice. He felt a minute of shock when he finally identified it, and was even more surprised at the dead quiet which followed. He was impressed. They were listening.

"You," Rodimus said, jabbing a finger at Springer, "SIT!" He pointed out a convenient chair. "You idiots made this mess. You are gonna help clean it up! Fold that heap neatly! THE CLOTHES!" Rodimus glared balefully at Springer. "Keep your hands off the weapons!"

"But how...?" Arcee began.

"Like this! " Rodimus demonstrated impatiently. "How long have you guys been human anyway? Months? You should know how to do this by now!"

"But.."

"MOVE!"

To their credit, they did their best, even if the resulting pile didn't look that much different for the one they'd started with. Rodimus didn't care. He felt he'd made his point, and it kept them out of the way while he and Lancer put the daggers safely out of reach.

"How come Magnus doesn't have to help?" Springer whined at one point.

"Rank has its privileges," Magnus said smugly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, so does freelancing. Now get out of the way," Lancer said, reaching for some daggers on the counter behind him.

"Freelancing? You aren't part of the command structure?" Magnus asked, moving exactly far enough for her to reach her things, and not one centimeter more.

"Do I look like a robot to you?" she returned with an ironic smirk at his human face.

"No but..."

"Lancer's official designation if she had one would be ally, Ultra Magnus, and the one time I tried to give her an order I lost an arm. I haven't made that mistake again for some reason," Rodimus said with a wry smile.

"You're kidding!" Carly said in shock.

Rodimus smiled almost proudly, and shook his head. "Granted, I was in robot form at the time, but still!"

Lancer just smirked a little and said, "You deserved it." Silence reigned at the table while everybody looked at each other in stunned horror. Magnus looked at Lancer in newfound respect.

"You cut of his arm."

"Nope, I ripped off his arm," she said, asking Carly with her eyes if it was OK to help herself to some coffee. Carly wouldn't have dreamed of denying her anything at that moment.

"For giving you an order?" Magnus went on. He headed for his Wheaties.

"I don't take orders," Lancer said, sipping her coffee. "We were training anyway, he should have been paying attention, not trying to get snotty with me." Carly held out her cup to Spike for another cup of coffee. He poured hers, desperately downed the rest of his own, and poured himself another, which he downed just as fast.

"Speaking of snotty..," said Lancer. She looked at her mate who sat there trying to seem innocent. "Planning on having any breakfast?" she asked sweetly. He smiled daggers at her and went to pour himself a glass of orange juice. He stopped at half a glass, and got glared at. He rolled his eyes and poured a bit more. He sat down defiantly, daring her to make a scene in front of these strangers over a quarter glass of juice. She didn't, but filled his head with images of humiliating revenge.

"Is that all you're going to have?" Carly asked. "We have Frosted Flakes."

Rodimus paused in confusion, wondering why she felt the need to point that out. "Uh...no thanks. This is fine."

Springer got up and handed Lancer the last stack of her poorly folded clothes. She sighed, then shrugged and stuffed them into her bag for later re-folding. Noting the number of chairs, and Hot Rod's absence, she and Rodimus hopped up onto the counter to sit. Springer poured himself a large bowl of Corn Pops, and Foul Play finally returned her attention to her Fruit Loops. She took a bite and scowled. Then she got up and poured the entire bowl into the sink.

"What's wrong Foul Play?" Carly asked, concerned. They went through two gallons of milk a day. It couldn't possibly be spoiled, could it?

"It got soggy," the humanized Decepticon complained.

"You didn't have to throw it all out!" Marissa said.

"It's bad enough that I'M squishy! My cereal doesn't have to be too!" Foul Play growled, glaring around as if daring anyone to argue with her. No one did, although there was some suspicious coughing from Rodimus' direction. Arcee got up and took out her Cocco Puffs. By this point Lancer was starting to notice how crowded the table was looking, but nothing really clicked until Arcee got out the chocolate syrup. The slender blonde sat down, poured herself an obscenely big bowl of cereal, and proceeded to squirt the syrup liberally all over it. Rodimus used this as an excuse to choke on his juice, and for once Lancer was too distracted to hit him for it.

Marissa laughed at their identical expressions of consternation. Arcee, having suffered this reaction from the real humans when she first developed this habit, made a point of ignoring the twin stares from the counter. Just to establish her complete intention to continue this as long as she was able, Arcee put on an extra squirt of syrup. This time Lancer chuckled openly, and Rodimus laughed outright. A little of his juice "accidentally" spilled into the sink.

"Oh my, Rodi," Lancer said with her sweetest smile, "You spilled some of your breakfast! Here, I'll get you more!" She hopped down off the counter and returned with the bottle. "There you go!" she said, filling his glass to the rim.

"Thank you," Rodimus said, trying to sound sincere, while at the same moment he assaulted Lancer mind with wave after wave of irritation.

You should have known better than to try it! Lancer sent.

Next time it goes into your precious coffee instead of the sink! he returned.

We're still missing someone... Lancer sent worriedly.

I know. I don't blame him, but what are we going to do?

They were just about to say something when they noticed Magnus scowling at the last empty seat. He gave Marissa a disgusted look, and got up. He left the kitchen, and they heard him tromping up the stairs. There were some assorted noises from the top floor which had everyone looking up at the ceiling. A very short time later, Magnus' feet were heard on the stairs again, along with Hot Rod's muffled protests. Magnus stomped back into the kitchen carrying Hot Rod by the back of his shirt and the seat of his pants. When he got to the table, he simply dropped his nephew straight into his chair. Without a word, Marissa put a bowl of Frosted Flakes in front of him, and they stood over him, one on each side.

Continued in Part C.