Chapter 2 of my second ever fanfic, I'm so excited!

I'm happy with all the support my other fanfic is getting, I honestly thought it would crash and burn

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers or anything that has to do with the show

Ryuko and Nightshade are currently driving with the Autobots to their base. Ryuko had them tell Nightshade their com frequency, and then had them tell her where the base is incase they wanted to go ahead

She was currently jamming out to some music, when she gets a fun idea and turns on the com in her wrist "Hey guys, what do you say to a race~?"

She instantly gets a bunch of yes responses from the others, it seems they were as bored as she was

"Alright. 3, 2, 1.. GO!"

She smiles brightly and floors it just as everyone else does "Alright guys, time to show you how a girl drives a cybertronian"

Ryuko's claim shocks all of the Autobots. The great Nightshade, one of Megatron's strongest and most trusted elite, entrusting her functions to a human? Either they had gone mad, or Nightshade had changed far from what she used to be

Ryuko smirks and puts in a disk, Slash's World on Fire now coming full blast out of the speakers "Now we're talking!"

The lets the music flow through her and influence her actions, and she suddenly starts gaining on everyone, passing Arcee and Bulkhead after a few seconds

She soon catches up to Bumblebee, who seems to be just as fast as Nightshade "Oooh~ A challenge~"

She looks up ahead and sees where the base supposedly is, and realizes just how little time she has to win and not end it in a tie

"Alright Nights, just like we've been practicing ok?"

"I know, don't worry"

Ryuko takes a deep breath and slowly moves her hand down to the shifter, as if waiting for something

She suddenly pushes it into a place where there should be no gear "Let's go! Overcharge!"

Nightshade's body is lit up by a blue glowing pattern of some sort, before her speed drastically increases and she flies past Bumblebee into the entrance of the Autobot base, where she drifts around the bend and stops in the main room

She gets out of Nights and smiles as she transforms back into her robot mode, giving her a fist bump "That was awesome Nights! A little more practice and you'll be able to do it whenever!"

"Nightshade, Megatron's third highest ranking soldier, just behind Soundwave and Shockwave, but only just. Why are you here, and how did you find our base?"

The pair look over to the voice, finding themselves looking at a very tall and tough looking red and blue cybertronian

Nightshade chuckles as she looks up at him "My my my, the only bot to ever actually tie with me in a fight, nice to see you again Prime"

Ryuko smiles up at him as she slings her bag that she had grabbed out of Nightshade over her shoulder "Optimus Prime, I've heard a lot about you"

The Prime smiles gently at the teen "That does not answer my question, and where are the others?"

Just as he says that, the Autobots and their human charges drive in, letting them out and transforming

Arcee walks over and puts a hand on her hip "That wasn't very fair now, was it? Using something like that in a race"

Ryuko laughs and pats her leg "Well to be fair, it's only the second time she's ever done that, last time it was to save my life, and it nearly killed her"

Optimus gets down on a knee so he can speak to her without towering over her "You're saying she's your partner? You do know of the many lives she's taken, both Autobot and innocent, right?"

Ryuko nods "Yes, it's in the past and I don't care about all that. She's my partner and I won't allow anyone to hurt her, and she feels the same for me"

Nightshade smiles softly at her and nods "That's right Prime, so don't you dare try and separate us"

He chuckles and gets back up on his feet "I will not do that, it's your choice whether or not you two remain partners, not mine"

A noise is heard from a hallway and a white and red Autobot walks out "Hey Optimus, are the others- WHY IS NIGHTSHADE HERE IN THE BASE?!"

The former Decepticon laughs happily "Good to know I still have that effect on people"

Everyone shares a good laugh at that for a few seconds, before Ryuko pipes up "So what now? How would you go about dealing with three humans who know you exist?"

Optimus raise an eyebrow "Three? Including yourself there are four humans Ryuko"

Ryuko smiles brightly, before blue lines like a combination of veins and circuit like designs start spreading all over her body, revealing that she has energon flowing through her veins "Nope, still three"

Ratchet's eyes widen "H-how is this possible?! You're cybertronian, and yet you look like nothing more than a human!"

"Well, two humans found me when I landed in their back yard as a protoform, and I adopted the form of a human baby because of it to blend in better"

He simply shakes his head "Just when I thought I had seen everything, here you are"

Ryuko laughs and takes two things out of her bag, metal gauntlets meant to look like simple forearm sleeves

"How's this then?" She hits a few buttons on them, before they transform into armor that molds itself around her

She talks in a slightly robotic voice "Like it? Built it myself"

Ratchet walks over, examining the armor "It's very well built for something that was made on Earth"

Miko runs over and jumps up and down excitedly "That's so awesome! Does it have missiles?! Can it fly?! Please tell me!"

Ryuko smirks and backs away, before jets of flame come out of the bottom of the boots and her back and she lifts up off the ground "Yes, it can fly, and it does have missiles~"

Miko's eyes light up in glee "Wicked!"

The two childhood friends share a happy laugh, before the armor transforms back into Ryuko's simple gauntlets 'Maybe I should make Miko her own set of armor, customized just for her. I think she'd like that'

Ryuko nods to herself "Ok Prime, give me and Nights the sit rep"

He nods and goes on to explain what's been happening since they got here, including Cliffjumper's death, which makes Ryuko's eyes and her vein designs glow bright red

Nightshade puts a hand on her shoulder "Ryuko, calm down. I know you hate stuff like that, but you can't let it cloud your judgement"

She growls, but nods, causing Optimus to watch her with a soft look as her 'veins' and eyes go back to their bright blue color 'Such compassion for someone she's never even met. She thought of him as an ally the second she heard his name, and Nightshade cares deeply for her'

"Nightshade, Ryuko Nakamura, would you like to join the Autobots in our fight for peace against the Decepticons?"

The Autobots and the two mentioned look at him with wide eyes, before Ryuko speaks "Y-you're serious? Nightshade and me, not just her?"

He nods and chuckles "Yes young one, I also feel that you are more than meets the eye, just like the humans"

She smiles brightly and nods "I won't let you down, I promise!"

The computer suddenly goes off, showing something Ratchet never thought he'd see "What?!.. Cliffjumper's signal just came back online.."

Everyone looks to Optimus, wondering what he will say

"Autobots, we must see if our ally is in fact alive. Ryuko, Nightshade, if you wish to join us, you may"

Nightshade is the first to speak up "Nah, I'll stay here as backup" "I'll go!"

He nods and smiles "It is decided then, Autobots, roll out"

Timeskip: encounter with Starscream

Ryuko grits her teeth in her armor as she sees Starscream, her eyes slowly changing to red again

He notices what seems to be a human in some small Autobot armor, with the eyes slowly going from blue to red "My my, are you angry at me? Whatever for~?"

He blinks once, and Ryuko is already right in front of him with a powerful punch driven into his jaw, sending him flying

Once he hits the ground he gets up with a growl, before charging her and kicking her over to where a seemingly dead Cliffjumper was

Ryuko lands with a hard thud and deactivates her helmet so she can take deep breathes of fresh air, rather than filtered air

She hears a noise behind her and turns around, only to get tackled by Cliffjumper's zombified corpse "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS THING?! GET IT OFF!"

Everyone looks over in horror as they see the upper half of their friend trying to kill Ryuko "W-what?" "That's not possible!" "Snap out of it Cliff!"

Ryuko activates her palm blaster and shoots Cliffjumper in the head at full charge, sending dark energon all over her by accident, and she accidentally swallows some of it

She didn't notice however, and gets up in a panic. Her eyes widen as the armor deactivates and the vein like designs on her body reappear, and she grabs her head in what seems to her allies like pain

"W-what's.. Happening to me?! It hurts, make it stop! AAAAHHHH!"

Starscream smirks and pulls out a bomb "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm squeamish~"

He drops it and turns into a jet, before flying up the transport tube into the Decepticon ship as Optimus runs over to Ryuko "What's wrong Ryuko? What happened?"

"D-dark energon.. I-I think.. Some got.. In my m-mouth.. AAAHHHHH!"

She screams again as her eyes and the veins of energon start to turn dark purple

Optimus grabs her and transforms into his vehicle mode "Autobots, fall back!"

The others nod and transform into their vehicle forms, driving back to where they came from and just managing to get back into the ground bridge before they're engulfed in the explosion

Optimus rushes Ryuko to Ratchet as her eyes and 'veins' go completely dark purple "Ratchet, what can you do to ease her pain?"

Ratchet takes her and groans "Damn it, she's too small! There's nothing I can do but give her somewhere to rest"

Nightshade rushes over "What happened to Ryuko? Why is her energon turning dark purple?"

Optimus sighs and takes on a solemn look "While on this mission we found the upper half of Cliffjumper's body, reanimated due to dark energon. It attacked Ryuko and forced her to shoot it in the head, getting the dark energon everywhere. She had her mouth open when it happened, and now it is stuck in her system"

Nightshade's optics widen in horror "Oh god no.. N-not Ryuko, not her.."

"I'm sorry Nightshade. She's currently being put in a bed here so she can rest. While she was screaming in pain, I do not believe she was dying, rather trying to adapt to having both normal and dark energon in her body"

Nightshade looks at the retreating form of Ratchet and Ryuko with concern, hoping her partner will be alright soon