Chapter 3: "Unconventional Meeting"
Disclaimer: Hasbro and Takara-Tomy own The Transformers, m'kay? I just hijack them for fun.
No warnings again except for mentions of medical repairs, energon, and for an overuse of Google Translate. My apologies for any wonky Japanese translation.
The scream Kyya let out would have made a horror movie victim proud and was probably more undignified than it should have been. Somehow she kept herself from falling just long enough to wrench free of the creepy hand and scramble backwards.
A pained moan drowned out Rilo's obsessive barking. "Hello?"
A frail recording of a child's voice answered her, "Hello?" She rocked to her feet, clearing brush away from the fallen person. Hidden beneath a cluster of bushes was the stranger she'd met earlier, his obnoxiously yellow and black jacket stained with cyan and his face full of scratches. "Hey, what happened to you?!" There was an earth shattering roar and they both froze. "It was that thing wasn't it?" He bobbed his head. She grabbed both of his wrists and hoisted him up, surprised he had thick tactical gloves on now. The stranger made a high pitched squeal. "What the—stop making that noise! I can't carry you, you gotta walk." He nearly collapsed and Kyya struggled to support him, "Up!" The dark blonde shot her a molten glare and hissed like a panther. Kyya froze for a split second. Deep down the more rational part of her was terrified at this new development but the reactive part socked the stranger in the eye. That seemed to snap him out of it and he almost seemed—hurt by the action. Feelings would have to wait though, there was a massive critter lose in the woods. She jabbed his nose with a finger. "Behave." Kyya demanded.
~o~o~o~o~o~
A minute later, the tan-skinned stranger was sitting on the kitchen island swinging his sneakers like a kid half his assumed age. She marched out with a first-aid kit, dropping it next to him. "You were speaking English before, what gives?" He started making twitters, rumbles, and mechanical whines as he gestured wildly ending with a sharp chime. When he didn't get any reply he made a noise of inquiry. "No, I'm not following any of that."
The stranger sighed heavily and grabbed his side in pain afterwards. "Hey, dude, let me see."
Bzzzt.
Kyya frowned, "What?" He repeated the noise, pointing to himself. "Your name is Buzz." Uncovered fingertips on both hands wriggled as he imitated an insect and he yanked at his jacket. "Bee?" The stranger snapped his fingers with a nod.
"Okay, Bee. You need to sit still, looks like you broke a rib." Despite speaking whatever his language was this "Bee" seemed to understand just fine. She prodded his hurt side and he hissed softly, "Yeah, you've got bruises. Hang on…" Unfortunately she pressed a little too hard and he let out screech that was quickly replaced with a low hum. Kyya looked at his right arm that looked as if it had reformed into a glowing blaster from the elbow down.
With two huge steps backwards Kyya was backed against the kitchen sink. Now in the bright lights it all made sense. The weird language, the kid's voice in the woods, that blue stuff was actually bleeding from his skin not splattered on it… "Ara iyada," (Oh no.) she muttered. Bee seemed to catch on quickly and his gun arm folded away. He raised his hands innocently, "Daijōbuda yo." (It's fine.) Kyya shook her head and pulled her taser from her pocket, "No, its not fine, you don't just go from robot noises to Japanese. What the heck are you?"
Bee started making a chirruping noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter. "Stop smiling! What are you, an android?" He shrugged, "Dōdeare anata ga yoru nemuru ni yakudatsu." (Whatever helps you sleep at night.) She shifted her stance and adjusted her hold on the gun."Daijōbu, daijōbu, watashi wa... Anata o oshiete shita ni buki o dashite agemasu." (Okay, okay, I'll tell you…put the weapon down.)
"Not. Happening."
"Mite, watashi wa you - ga o kizutsukeru tsumori wa arimasen" (Look, I'm not going to hurt you—) he screwed up when he took a small step toward her. "I will shoot."
"Tashikani." (Sure.) he hummed condescendingly.
"I'm not joking!" Kyya's finger slipped and a little under 50,000 volts poured into his body.
Bee watched the sharp prongs stab into his jacket and the strings behind them dance with electricity without reaction. "Sore wa totemo sutekide wa arimasen." (That is not very nice.) The teen gaped, "It didn't—how?" She sank to the floor, running a hand through her braids, "Are you an experiment?"
"Īe." (No.)
"Is the government looking for you?"
"Karera wa subekide wa arimasen." (They shouldn't be.) He trilled, probing at his gun arm. "Watashi wa anata ga gaikoku hito o yobu monodesu." (I'm what you would call an alien.)
"Oh of course...great. Are you planning to invade Earth?" she asked sarcastically.
"Īe chōdo teishi wa nagai patorōru ni, watashi wa genjūmin o benkyō shite imasu." (No. Just a stop on a long patrol, I'm studying natives.) He tapped his ear, "Watashi no hon'yaku-sha wa, watashi wa anata ga purakkusu o hanasu odoroite iru, kowarete imasu." (My translator is broken, I'm surprised you speak Praxian.)
She snorted, "It's called Japanese here, Bee. If you guys are advanced enough for space travel it's a wonder you don't know more about language…"
"Watashi wa isogashikatta." (I was busy.) Bee shrugged, "Dakara, watashi o shūfuku shimasu?" (So will you fix me?)
His sky blue irises glittered with an innocence that completely contradicted the weapon built into him. "Fine, but no more weird stuff."
He pulled himself back onto the table and started going through his jeans' pockets, "Koko ni." (Here.)
Kyya stared at what looked like a pocket welder in his hand. "What do I need to…" Bee stripped off his jacket, shirt, and undershirt leaving an upper body littered with blue tinted bruises and an oozing gash on his right side. She paused in slipping a pair of latex gloves on, "You allergic to anything?"
He shook his head.
"Is that stuff you're leaking radioactive?"
Bee shrugged.
"Well we'll find out."
Kyya figured the gash was the worst so she'd start there. With closer inspection though there were numerous wires and indescribable parts beneath his "skin". She watched the florescent blood slowly drip over mechanical internals, "Whoa…your guts are pretty…"
The welder was flared and she started pulling it over the interior of the wound.
Bee stiffened but didn't hiss again. She moved on to closing the skin with bio-sutures, "Sorry about the pain."
"Sore wa sore wa hontōni kizutsukeru koto wa arimasen, daijōbudesu,," (It's okay, it doesn't really hurt) He grunted, "Watashi wa daun ni kutsū o daiyaru suru koto ga deki-do ga, sore wa mada sukoshi fukaidesu." (I can dial pain down to a degree—but its still a little uncomfortable.) A few minutes later Kyya was done with the long gash, it being gauze wrapped along with his ribs, and started working on the smaller ones marring his left shoulder. "Exactly how'd you get all beat up?"
He shrugged, "Watashi wa hontōni watashi to purōru o aruite ita, shiranai to nanika ga watashitachi o kōgeki shimashita. ('I don't really know, me and Prowl were walking and something attacked us.) Kyya sponged cyan from his face, "Your friend is still out there?"
He rubbed at the center of his chest lazily, "Sore ga sugata o keshita mono wa nani demo, sore no konseki, sagashiteimasu." (Looking for any traces of it, whatever it was disappeared.) Bee was starting to go limp, making contented purring noises. She smirked, "Yeesh, are you a cat or something?" He apparently didn't hear her, instead muttering, "Anata wa watashitachi ga saikō fukigende, yoi isha ni narudarou." (You'd be a good medic, ours is soooo grouchy.) His head then thunked onto her arm.
Kyya studied him for a while. He looked so human on the outside….except…. "What's this face thing on your arm?"
He proudly showed her the bright red mark, "Ōtobotto no burando." (The brand of the Autobots.)
"So you're in a robot cult?" she trailed.
"Sore wanai karutodesu! Watashi wa heishidesu." (It's not a cult! I'm a soldier.) She nodded, "That makes sense, but they're still branding you. Sorry, Bee, sounds like a cult."
"Kore wa, diseputikon ga tsūka shinakereba naranai mono hodo waruku wa nai nodesu. Karera wa, jissai no burandinguaian o shiyō shite imasu." (It's not as bad as what the Decepticons have to go through. They use actual branding irons.)
"The what?"
"Diseputikon, hijō ni jaakuna toransufōmā." (Decepticons—very evil Transformers.) Kyya nodded, taking the latter as his species name. "So, your name is Bee the Autobot soldier…"
"Sukauto o ōtobotto: Banburubī o." (Autobot Scout: Bumblebee.) Kyya looked him dead in the face, "Bumblebee? Seriously? Who hated you enough to name you that?"
Bee scowled, "Watashi no hogo-sha. Watashi o saiyō suru no ni jūbun'na sewa meka no yō ni." (My guardian. As in the mech who cared enough to adopt me.)
"Eh-heh…oh me and my big mouth… Sorry."
Bumblebee shrugged it off. "Nē, watashi wa anata no namae o yatta koto ga nakattadesu." (Hey, I never got your name.)
Kyya cringed, "It's not important…"
"Supiru." (Spill.)
"I am in possession of a welder, you know."
"U ̄ n, watashi wa burasutā o motte iru." (Well, I've got a blaster.)
"Dipwad."
Bee made an exasperated noise, "Sore wa sono warui koto wa dekimasen." (It can't be that bad.)
"Kyya."
"Sumimasen?" (Excuse me?)
"Kyya. That's my name." The mech took a huge inhale and covered his mouth. "Laugh, and you die!" Bumblebee finally regained his composure just as she finished, "Shūri no tame ni arigatōgozaimasu. Dokoni subete kore o okonau hōhō o manabimashita ka?" (Thank you for the repairs. Where'd you learn how to do all this?)
All the fire seemed to drain from Kyya in an instant and she stopped mid closing the first-aid box. She gave him a grim smile, "I wasn't so popular in school and I had a problem of mouthing off to my peers. A good beating fixes that right up." Kyya patted his shoulder, "You'll live."
Bee watched her drop the kit in the corner and head out of the kitchen, "Nē, FEMME! Kyya, anata wa doko ni iku no?" (Hey, femme! Kyya, where are you going?)
"Bed. If I'm tired enough for hallucinations I need to sleep. Hopefully you'll be gone in the morning." She paused in the hall, "But on the off chance you're not, at least wake me up if the dog comes home."
"Wakarimashita." (Okay.)
He waited until his scans showed her breathing had slowed in the humans' form of recharge and then he hopped off of the counter. The scout quickly located his 'clothes' but left his jacket off, he'd noticed Kyya had shed hers. Maybe it was a cultural thing? Bumblebee drew out a tablet like device from subspace and set it out on a table. He booted up his data-pad and hit a key, starting the equivalent of a download of the entire internet. True to his scouting ways he crept around the house, rifling through drawers and cabinets, occasionally taking in something interesting he'd found on the web.
Well, Kyya's criminal records turned up nothing worrying, so he wasn't housing with a maniac. And he was right, it was not nice to shoot tasers at people you saved. Energon had not been discovered on Earth as of yet, but the planet was chockfull of it. More for his team then. There was a thumping noise and he whirled around to a big, rectangular box in the corner. He approached it carefully and swung open the door only to get blasted by freezing air; a cold-box. He found a tray of frozen water that had dumped automatically to make the noise. So naturally Bumblebee dug through it and the companion door next to it.
Humans had such a huge variety of food! It was puzzling especially when you'd been brought up on military rations and the occasional energon goodie.
He pulled out a container of wiggling, blue cubes and settled himself in a chair.
Ratchet was always on his back about eating strange things. Bumblebee smirked, but the medic wasn't here. Speaking of… :: Bumblebee hailing The Ark. :: He was rewarded with horrible comm. feedback.
:: Where the frag have you been? :: a cantankerous, grouchy voice snapped. Bee rolled his eyes, popping the lid of the strange wiggling things, :: Had to hide for a bit, Ratchet. That thing shouldn't be able to hear me. I got help from a human. ::
:: Tell me that's not the same one you were tracking… :: Prowl intoned.
:: Ah, no… ::
:: Bumblebee! ::
:: Well she's nice. She took me in and fixed me. She's kinda weird though, thinks I'm a hallucination. ::
Sideswipe joined the line, :: It's a she? :: Ratchet locked the frontliner out, :: You need to go. NOW. :: Bumblebee toyed with the squishy cube between his fingers, :: Hey, but I'm having fun! Have you ever heard of Jell-o? ::
:: Bumblebee. :: a deep voice warned, :: We are not to interact with them. ::
:: But she's not human, Optimus. She ran into me this solar cycle, humans don't have any traces of Cybertronian metals, Kyya has 10%, sir. :: Ratchet groaned, :: He knows it's name now… This is probably why that thing attacked you! There's no telling what's going on on this planet! ::
:: All tha mor reason to follow through. :: Jazz chimed in, :: Ah think it's a good idea. :: Ratchet scoffed :: Then by all means if the bomb happy mech thinks so—::
:: I aint bomb happy! ::
Ironhide made an amused noise and Ratchet countered the saboteur,:: And Sunstreaker isn't an aft. ::
Yet another line buzzed in :: Hey, if you guys want to follow a fleshy around that's well and good, but leave me out of it. :: Bumblebee could hear the subtle frustration in his big red and blue role model's vents, :: Bumblebee, proceed with caution. Avoid alerting or angering any humans. :: He popped an artificially flavored cube into his mouth, :: Too late, she already shot me with an electrical gun. It tickles. ::
:: Idiots. :: Ratchet hissed, :: And I better not catch you with any of their food products in your tank! :: Unfortunately, his sensors chose that moment to rebel and he spat the cube back up. :: Serves you right. ::
Bumblebee signed out and glared empty space. He knew he should be careful but everything was so interesting… The scout started on deciphering the next part of his research, oblivious to the form of the same creature that attacked them slinking away outside the dwelling.
Thanks For Reading!
