Say what you will about the luscious, soft grass and muddy ground in Scotland, it still hurts when you slam into it. Despite being able to stand now, my butt was suffering from a ridiculous ache. I stumbled up next to Miko who was looking a little horrified at the scene surrounding us. Served her right for running off, I thought to myself.

Esther, on the other hand, was loving it, staring around at all the giant robots and looking like she was ready to squee. Just as she seemed about ready to run off and inspect what I assumed was a Decepticon, I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to us. In a tight huddle we watched as the circle of enemies converged on the Autobots.

"Optimus! Good to see you again…"

I looked up to see the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen, just as Optimus replied, "Megatron."

The name fit perfectly. Everything about him was mega. He looked mega-evil, he was mega-HUGE, and the overall effect was that he looked mega-scary. He was taller than Optimus. He was taller than the giant robot who had reduced me to a blubbering mess when I tried to speak to him

"Whoa, get a load of bucket head…" Esther breathed beside me.

I'd forgotten she was there. Remembering I had back-up brought me back to reality a little. I grabbed her hand. She looked at me like I was a moron. But, good sister that she was, she squeezed back.

"What do you want, Megatron?" Optimus demanded, battle stance at the ready.

"Don't worry, Optimus." Megatron's voice was dismissive. "You don't need to do a thing. Just sit back and relax as my Decepticons take back my treasures from you."

None of the robots in the circle moved. Our guys seemed as confused as I was.

"We wouldn't be stupid enough to bring them with us," Bulkhead scoffed.

"No," agreed Megatron. "And yet you left them unguarded in your base."

"Hah!" Miko shouted, revealing our location to the whole group. "You don't even know where our base is !"

I shivered as Megatron turned his gaze to us with an evil smirk plastered on his metal face.

"Oh, but I do, fleshling."

I was suddenly happy that Esther and I were out of the base. My heart, however, did go out to Ratchet who would be alone. Then my mind started to tick over – he wouldn't be alone, because Bee probably wouldn't have left with Jack and Raf once they realised Miko was gone. Ratchet having back-up made me slightly happier, but the thought of Jack and Raf in the path of giant robots on a mission from Metal Satan over there… I shivered again.

While all of this had been going through my head, in the real world Optimus and the others had noticed we were here.

"What are you doing here?" Arcee hissed at us.

"Trying to stop her !" I hissed back, pointing at Miko.

"Oh so that's what you were doing," said Esther. "I thought you were going without me."

"How stupid do you think I am!" I said, now hissing at her instead. "I know better than to sneak along on a dangerous mission involving giant robots."

"Please," Miko chimed in at full volume. "I do it all the time."

Optimus and Megatron were looking at us like we were a bunch of morons. They were pretty close to the mark.

"New pets, Optimus?" the bigger bot asked.

Oh dear…

As if on cue, Esther and Miko started shouting obscenities at the same time. Or, at least, Esther did. Miko kept throwing out words like 'scrap' and 'frag' and 'glitch'. Maybe that was how the robots swore.

The Autobots took the moment of distraction as an opportunity to strike. Arcee stood in front of us while Optimus and Bulkhead swung out at the circle of Decepticons. They went flying, and Arcee had to protect us from a fair few bits of desiccated robot. She backed us over to a large rock.

" Stay here ," she said pointedly.

The second she was gone Miko looked like she was going to run back towards the fight, but this time I was faster. I grabbed her and wrestled her back towards my sister. Thankfully, Esther seemed to be feeling sensible at the moment because she pinned Miko's arms behind her back and held her in place. I kept my eye on the fight from where we stood.

All the other Decepticons had been defeated. Now, only Optimus Prime and Megatron still stood - giant sword-arms locked together. Having finished off their own quarries, however, Bulkhead and Arcee surrounded Megatron and he accepted defeat. He stood back, but instead of surrendering he took off towards a ground bridge portal that appeared suddenly. Then he was gone.

"Damn," I cursed as Esther let Miko free.

Rotating her shoulders Miko gave a verbal shrug, "Meh, he always gets away."

We walked slowly back to the Autobots.

"Ratchet," Optimus was saying. "Can you open a ground bridge?"

There was only a short delay before a swirling portal of our own opened up. The Autobots transformed and Bulkhead yelled, "Get in."

We didn't need telling twice. Our base was still in trouble.

The group rocketed through the portal at full speed. When we came out the other side Bulkhead ejected us, immediately transforming. I was ready for the gut-churning feeling, but hitting the ground felt worse this time around. I groaned as I rose to my feet. Hopefully the next time I went through a ground bridge I could just walk through or something.

I looked around the room, ready to dodge any duelling robots that might head my way, but there were none. What there was , was a pile of sparking, purple robot parts in the middle of the room. Sitting on top of them was…

"Who's that ?" Esther asked.

"Wheeljack!" Miko cried out. She grinned up at him as she ran forward.

Obviously, he was a friend. As if the pile of dead Decepticons hadn't been a clue.

"You took out all those cons by yourself?" Arcee asked the newcomer, looking sceptical.

"Don't sound so surprised, Arcee," he told her. "Wreckers never call for backup."

"They call for cleanup!" answered Bulkhead.

Wreckers?

Wheeljack jumped off the pile of bodies before being crushed in a metallic, green hug.

"Where ya been, Jackie?" his friend asked.

"Around and about," Wheeljack answered.

Now it was our turn. Jack and Raf ran over to the small collection of humans.

"Miko, I can't believe you just ran off like that!" Jack said.

"Really, you can't?" asked Raf.

I sighed. I'd already kind of guessed, but it looked like I'd be dealing with a lot of escaping Miko.

"Are you okay?" asked Jack.

When Miko didn't reply I snapped out of my thoughts and realised he was talking to me.

"Oh, me? I'm fine. Maybe a skinned knee or two but I'll live."

Esther looked at me. "Should I look at them, or…?"

I'd been speaking figuratively, but decided to mess with her a bit.

"After causing them in the first place? You'd better."

Esther took the bait.

"Hey, if anything, it was her fault," she said, gesturing at Miko. "If she hadn't run off you wouldn't have had to chase her."

"You didn't have to follow me!" Miko yelled back.

I laughed and left them to it.

Wandering off, I went over to Ratchet's work station and plopped down on the edge again. Not long after I did, an alarm went off.

"It's Fowler," Ratchet called out without looking up.

I wondered if he'd left his computer at all during the fight. Then I wondered who 'Fowler' was.

Some doors in a tube I now realised was a lift opened and a middle-aged black man in a kind of boring-looking suit said, "Who the hell are these two?"

Arcee looked at me and Esther before saying, "Scrap."

" More civilians, Prime?" said the man, looking straight to Optimus with a disapproving look on his face.

I was surprised at how easily he managed to scold a giant robot.

"We're not civilians," Esther shouted from the ground. "I'm a paramedic!"

"Oh," said the man, "something that might actually be useful."

I hopped down from the console and met my sister halfway to the stairs. The guy made his way down to ground level.

"Agent William Fowler," he said, shaking first Esther's hand then mine.

Then he ran his other hand up and down the back of his neck. "Look, at this point, I have no choice but to officially put you both on the department's records. That is, if you plan on sticking around."

"Well," I said, "from the sound of what Optimus told me the Decepticons might attack us now they've seen us with the Autobots. So I don't think we have a choice if we want to be safe."

I couldn't resist looking at Esther and Miko as I said that. I still fully intended to blame my predicament on them.

"Then you're coming with me."

"That doesn't sound sinister at all," Esther said, folding her arms and refusing to budge; even when I grabbed her by the elbow and started to tug her towards the stairs.

"It's just to fill out some paperwork. Then you can come back and play with the giant robots."

Fowler's sarcastic tone told me everything I needed to know about his job.

Sighing, I followed him up the stairs, knowing my sister would come along in her own due time. She was about to realise we were off to secret agent headquarters in 3… 2… 1…

"WAIT FOR ME!"

The place I'd so naively dubbed 'secret agent headquarters' turned out to be a dingy office at a nearby military base. Forgive me for thinking I was finally going to get out of Nevada after making the mistake of immigrating here.

"This is not the Pentagon," Esther said dismally, slumped over both the desk and her paperwork.

I yanked the forms out from under her. Looking them over to see what still needed filled out, I shook my head. She'd circled 'Miss' and that was it.

After half an hour I'd finished both our paperwork and Agent Fowler was returning with the coffees he'd promised us when we arrived. I stood.

"No need, Agent," I said. "We're done."

He put down the coffee. "Not quite. You still need a debriefing from my superiors."

"To be fair, Agent Fowler, we can get all the debriefing we need from the Autobots. What could your 'superiors' have to say to us that they can't?"

I'm mean when I'm tired.

"We're on paper, we're official, we're going home."

I charged out of the room and Esther followed, giving Fowler her best snooty look. It wasn't until we started approaching the doors that I realised we had no way of getting home without him. Too proud to turn around now, I kept going until I reached fresh air.

A yellow Urbana was parked on the dirt road outside the base. I hopped easily into the back seat. After only a day it was strange the amount of trust I'd awarded the Bots.

"I'm not even going to ask how you're magically here when I needed you, Bee," I said, relaxing into the seat and shutting my eyes.

He pulled off suddenly and I heard Esther swear from outside.

"Not funny, Bee," I told him, drifting off. "You need to go back for her."

I didn't get to see my command through to its completion, though; my bad night's sleep had finally caught up to me. I fell asleep – slumped sideways across the entire back seat.

I've heard all the stories about parents getting their kids to sleep by taking them for a drive, but I never really expected that to work on adults. Apparently it not only works on people my age, but doesn't require a real car either; a robot disguised as one will do just as well. It worked so well on me that I wasn't even awake for the part where Bee transformed and carried me limply through the base. Nope. One minute I was drifting off in the back of the Camaro and the next I was waking up in bed.

I looked around, startled. Where was I? This wasn't my bed. I had a thick, plush, queen-sized mattress for a start, not this thin, stiff, single one. I was surrounded by metal. The base. I hadn't realised the base even had a bunk room, but it wasn't like I'd been there long enough today for a tour. That is, if it was even still today. Hey, maybe it was an infirmary.

I felt slightly groggy, but not the 'not enough sleep' kind of groggy. No, this was the 'slept too long' kind of groggy. I was quickly fighting my way out of it, though.

The bed was a bit higher than I would have expected, but I swung my legs over the edge and jumped straight to the floor. On landing, I felt a pain shoot up my ankle.

Goddammit . I don't know why I'd decided to try and be cool today. Not with my co-ordination.

Once I'd massaged my foot for a while I tried walking. Concentrating on placing my feet perfectly I took a few steps to see if the pain was gone. Then, confident I was able to walk again, I left the room and headed down several random corridors in an attempt to find that main control room.

The corridors were massive; bigger than I remembered them being. There were also a lot more lights in the wall and down at floor level. Still, that was a good thing. It was nice to be able to see. I knew the Autobots must be used to looking out underfoot with the kids around, but I didn't want to take any chances – being able to see them in time to dodge was good.

I rounded a corner and almost ended up stepped on anyway. But not by any of the robots I was expecting. A giant, purple Decepticon stood before me, looking just as shocked as I was.

"Hey, you shouldn't be here!" he said before his arm lunged towards me.

You're damn right I shouldn't be! I turned and started running in the opposite direction. He was too fast, too close. Before I'd taken more than a few steps he'd snatched me off the ground and hoisted me into the air. Dammit.

The Decepticon carried me through the corridors until we reached a set of double doors that opened automatically.

"Lord Megatron," he said just as a huge, silver bot turned around.

Shit. Please, somebody tell me this is a nightmare.

"The human…" Megatron said slowly. Obviously he remembered me. Then, abruptly, he yelled "Makeshift!"

The spikiest robot I'd ever seen (and that was saying something seeing as Megatron was in the room) stepped forward.

"Yes, my Lord," he answered.

"You brought a human on board and didn't restrain it! "

So I was here on purpose? Well, at least I hadn't managed to sleepwalk here or something. Also, apparently the Decepticons have a ship? Now there's something my new friends had neglected to mention. I'd just assumed they had their own base like the Autobots did. Was Megatron the robot Captain Hook or something?

"My Lord, I left her in the containment room as you instructed."

"Well, evidently, you failed to LOCK THE DOOR."

I stared, shocked, as Megatron backhanded the other Decepticon across the room.

"Knock Out," he said now, and I was worried he was going to incapacitate me or something. Then I realised it might be another Decepticon's name. But nobody in the room acknowledged him. That didn't seem to stop him, though, as he carried on regardless. "Come to the bridge and collect our prisoner. Take her to your laboratory and restrain her properly. "

Okay, so apparently Pirate Captain Megatron also has telepathy.

Within a few minutes, a red robot (about half Megatron's height) entered the bridge. In the meantime, the others had gone back to their duties while the poor drone had been left standing awkwardly holding me in his hand.

I mentally scolded myself. The Decepticons were evil and had taken me prisoner. Who knows what they planned to do to me? I shouldn't have been feeling sorry for any of them.

By the time I had that thought out, the red bot had crossed the room and was ready to grab me. For a minute I considered doing something to try and get free, but it was a long way to the ground and I'd already seen what I could do to myself falling just a few extra inches. This 'Knock Out' held me on his palm and scrutinised me with gigantic red eyes. I sat still and stared back.

Then, in the most camp voice I'd ever heard, he said, "Very well, Lord Megatron, if that will be all." After that he turned on his heel and left the room, not bothering to close his hand around me. Like I said: I was miles too high off the ground with nowhere to go.