Sari walked up to the alleyway slowly. Cautiously, she looked around the corner and saw only Ted standing there. She walked into the alley and greeted him. "You ready?"
"If you are, how long are we gonna be. I'm skipping out on football practice for this, so I figure I have about an hour before the coach calls my folks and I get screwed." He said, stepping away from the wall.
"Well, that all depends on how quickly we get there. We're going to the other side of town, so we'll have to be quick."
"WHAT?! The other side of town, are you kidding, at this hour we couldn't even make it if I drove my car!"
"Who said anything about driving." At that, Sari was immersed in light as a familiar chime signaled her transformation. Her speed blades popped out and she skated around Ted 3 times before he even realized what she was doing. "This is much faster and WAY more slaggin fun."
After a moment she got irritated, "Well, you gonna Transform, or am I gonna have to tow you."
"Oh, right, sure thing. Still not quite used to that."
A flash and chime later, and he stood before Sari in his robot mode. She was impressed. He was taller than her anyways, but he was really skinny, the running back for sure. Now there was more bulk to him, but not a whole lot. More like armor-plating and extra muscle than useless bulk.
His color scheme was something to behold too. Unlike hers, which was pretty solid throughout, his was contained within the lines of his armor, forming sharp edges and contrasts between his bright red and dark black.
His helmet was smooth and red, with a black stripe down the middle. His eyes, strangely, glowed a furious red, like those of a Decepticon. His mask was red on the edges and black in the middle, but seemed to be just one curved piece of metal, not at all like the many plates that protected her face.
"Well, you gonna stare at me all day, or are we gonna get moving." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"OH, right. Just waiting to see if you were ready." Sari said, hoping to the Allspark that she wasn't blushing through her mask. Come on, Sari. He's just a guy. Slag, he's even a ROBOT guy. You hang out with Robot Guys all the time. How is HE any different.
"Just follow me, OK." Sari said a she sped off into the street. After a second or two she turned stopped and turned around to see if he was following her, but she only traffic.
Right. Smart Sari. He might never have activated his travel mods before. Good thinking. "Guess I'll have to go back for him."
"As if."
Sari turned and looked into the air, startled. There was Ted, hovering on jets of red fire from his feet and hands. She couldn't be completely certain, but she thought she saw a smug smile behind that mask. Oh, really. Well then, if you want to play that game, lets play.
"Good, cause I was just thinking how about how much of a slag heap it would be to have to carry you the whole way there." she said mockingly.
"You think you're faster than me."
"Bot, I don't THINK I'm faster than you. I KNOW I'm faster than you."
"You're setting your self up for some big time disappointment here, Sari. My pals don't call me Thruster for nothing. On the ground or in the air, I'm the fastest thing with legs."
A twinkle caught Sari's eye. "Is that a challenge."
She saw that same twinkle reflected back. "No challenge at all."
Bumblebee's just gonna LOVE you.
"Then lets do this."
Without any warning, she shot off into the traffic. She cut left and right, through lanes and past cars. She loved the feeling, the way the world blurred around her when she ran this fast. She hadn't done it very often, and she could count on one hand the number of minutes she had ran like this since the incident with the Key. Gonna need to get a real feel for how fast I can go. I hope Blurr turns up again, I get the feeling that he's gonna be the only real challenge I'll ever get. I can't even go all out now, since I have to lead Ted and all.
As if the mere act of thinking his name had summoned him, he pulled up right alongside Sari with ease, flipping himself over into a lounging position to show his boredom.
"This the best you got?" he said while mock yawning.
"You wish. I was keeping it slow so you wouldn't get lost. Since that doesn't seem to be a problem......"
Suddenly she sped off again, thunder cracking through the city as she broke the sound barrier. That clap was followed by another, and she could almost feel Thruster bearing in right behind her.
She knew that in seconds she would reach their destination. She slammed down her feet and began to brake. Thruster shot past her until he brought his hands up and blasted full power.
As soon as he came to a complete stop, Thruster fell to the ground, landing squarely on his skid plate.
Oh, smooth. I'm definitely loading this memory onto the Internet.
"What gives, why did you slam on the air brakes like that?" Thruster asked as he walked up, rubbing his aft.
"Because were here." Sari said, gesturing to the old, beaten down machine plant. "Welcome to the glorious Autobot base of operations."
"You have a taste for the dramatic, don't you?"
Thanks, really needed to have my self esteem crushed today.
They changed back, and walked toward the building. As they stepped in, Sari saw Bumblebee playing on the game system.
"Hey BB, I'm back."
"Hey, Sari." the Autobot said, glancing at her dismissively.
Sari smirked. Three, two, one.
Bumblebee's head jerked up in realization, then he turned to face her again. "WHO THE SLAG IS THAT."
"Names, Theodore Raymor. But you can call me Thruster." Ted said as he transformed and jetted off the ground and into the air.
Bumblebee stood there in complete shock, totally speechless, as rare a thing as Sari had ever seen. When he did say something, however, it wasn't exactly what Sari had been expecting.
"DECEPTICON!!!!!"
Bumblebee jumped from his seat and brought out his stingers. "EAT STINGER, DECEPTICREEP."
"Wait, WHAT?" Thruster and Sari exclaimed at once.
Bumblebee opened up with combined blast from his stingers. Thruster shot up and dodged the bolt of electricity. He brought his hand up and a jet of fire shot from his palm, striking the Autobot in the chest.
Bumblebee went into the air and fell on the couch. He brought his stingers together and fired again, this time hitting Thruster dead on, sending the Human-Robot careening to the ground.
Both of them got to their feet quickly, and were preparing their next attacks when the earth between them exploded in a mess of debris.
"KNOCK IT OFF BEFORE I KICK BOTH YOUR SKID PLATES!!!!" Sari, now changed to robot mode and wielding her hammer, shouted at the top of her lungs.
"What in the name of Cybertron is going on here? I want an explanation for this." demanded Ratchet as he ran into the room. "Who's putting up alerts for Decepticons."
"There, Right there." Bumblebee yelled, pointing at Thruster. "He tried to slag me."
"I was DEFENDING my self. You shot at me FIRST." Thruster shouted back.
"Alright, KNOCK IT OFF." Ratchet thundered. "This place is trashed enough, and we don't need you making it worse. Either of you." he then noticed the stranger. "Come to think of it, precisely who are you."
"The name is Ted. My friends, who I assumed would include you by extension from Sari, call me Thruster." Thruster replied. He then changed back into human form, "And as you can see, I am clearly NOT a Decepticon."
Ratchet and Bumblebee looked at him in total amazement. Then reached up and palmed his face. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm about to hear a rather large and difficult to answer question?"
"Because I'm going to ask you to find out how this can make me into a robot." Ted Opened up his chest to reveal the Allspark fragment, filling the room with its light.
The two Autobots stared incredulously at it. "There's no way." Ratchet said. But there it was, glowing in all its glory. Finally, Ted's chest closed, and the light returned to normal.
"Come with me." said Ratchet.
******
Ten minutes of scans later, Ratchet stood puzzled over the examining table. "I just don't get it." He said. "I could believe it if the Allspark had power over organics as well as machines, I've seen it with my own optics. But this, this is beyond anything I could ever have imagined."
"I'm certain that we would all have a much better appreciation for that fact if we knew precisely what it was that was so amazing." Bumblebee said sarcastically.
"I couldn't put it in terms that you would understand, but I'll try and simplify it for you." Ratchet stepped over to the computer terminal and brought up a display of Thruster's internal structure. "As you can see, his internal systems are similar to Sari's in this mode. He has different mods and some sub systems are distinctly changed, likely as a result of their differing genders, but they are largely the same. There is one notable exception, his systems are less fluid like this, more Cybertronian, and less organic. He's more like you or me in this mode than he is human."
Then he changed the display to show a diagram of standard human anatomy, and then beside it he brought up a picture of Ted's anatomy. "Things get strange when he transforms. Unlike Sari, his changes are more than skin deep. His machine systems are replaced with organic systems. Some parts are different, his bones are made of Cybertronian steel, and his muscles are supplemented by servos." he zoomed in on Ted's chest region.
"But this is the part that gets me most, his heart is completely destroyed. It doesn't matter if he's in Robot mode or Human mode, his heart is gone. The spark chamber containing the Allspark fragment is all there is. For all intents and purposes of human medicine, he should be dead."
Ted looked at the screen in complete amazement. "What, you mean I'm like some kind of cyber-zombie?" he asked, fear gripping his voice.
"Not really. More like a....... Cyborg, made with Cybertronian parts." Ratchet answered. "I'm not gonna lie, kid. It looks like the Allspark fragment was embedded in your chest to begin with, probably pierced your heart. I wouldn't be surprised if that's why the fragment made you into what you are, to preserve your life. The Allspark does strange things, and works in mysterious ways."
Sari watched the exchange in astonishment. She had been curious, and surely some part of her must have known. But the fact of it was astounding. What Ratchet was saying made sense. He wasn't exactly like her, but he was slagging close.
Suddenly, curiosity gripped her. "Ratchet, you said that my changes are only skin deep when I transform, what do you mean by that?"
The old Autobot turned back to the screen and brought up Thruster's diagram again on the right, and then brought up another one in between that one and Ted's. The one in the middle looked similar to the other two, but also nothing like either. All three had particular parts in particular places, but the one in middle seemed more advanced, more streamlined. More like it had all been assembled at once, and the other two were just the prototypes.
"You, I can't even begin to explain you yet."
The door suddenly opened, and Optimus stepped in. "Ratchet, Bumblebee. I need you to follow me." he demanded. "You two Sari." He started to turn around, then added, "Who is that?"
Ted introduced himself, and told Optimus what he was. The Autobot Prime didn't even flinch at the explanation. "Then I'll have to ask you to come with us as well."
Sari put her hands on her hips. "And where would that be."
"Cybertron. To meet with the Autobot High Council."