ATE: I can't believe I took so long to update again. So much has happened that delayed this a bit. I had finals, a senior trip to Greece and Rome (but I did work on this a bit while I had free time during said trip), and today or last night (May 27th) I had a graduation ceremony, meaning that I've finally graduated high school. I actually almost cried when they should a picture slide show of all our baby pictures but I tried not to. Anyways, I'd like to thank Diamond White and Neverever for reviewing the previous chap. I hope you all enjoy reading this long chap, which is based of Episode 30 (Runaway) from Transformers Armada.
Declaimer: I don't own Transformers, Transformers Armada, or Pokemon. I only own my OC Valerie.
Chapter 6: Runaway
"But…why?" Jetfire asked, seeming anxious. "You saw it's power! If we use the Requiem Blaster it'll give us the upper hand that we need to defeat the Decepticons!"
"Alright! Let's do it, Optimus!" Hot Shot declared. "If you want, I'll take care of them myself by getting into their base! Okay?"
"Even if we were to charge into the Decepticon base…and we do suffer damages because of it, I still think it's worth it for us to use the Requiem Blaster." Blurr added.
"I agree with Blurr! This is a gift!" Jetfire stated. "Let's do it, Optimus! We can get rid of the Decepticons in one fell swoop!"
"It makes sense." Red Alert admitted.
"Optimus." Scavenger said. "You're call."
Optimus seemed to be hesitant.
I couldn't help but feel somewhat upset as I watched as the Autobots tried to persuade Optimus. Ever since they obtained the Requiem Blaster from their last battle with the Decepticons the Autobots had started arguing with each other over what they should do with it and how to use it. I could understand how they must've felt, but it was wrong. I was disappointed that Jetfire would be one of the Autobots that wanted to use it for the purposes that they were stating.
'I thought you would be better than this.' I thought sadly, feeling my eyes water a bit. 'But I guess I really haven't known you long enough to know for sure.'
I felt a hand on my shoulder, causing me to turn around to see Rad, Billy, and Fred with Sky Blast, Payload, and Astroscope (who were the three Mini-Cons that Requiem Blaster).
"C'mon." Rad whispered so the Autobots didn't hear him.
I nodded before following my friends as we led the Mini-Cons out of the base. Earlier Rad had informed me of his plan to hide the Mini-Cons somewhere they'd be safe (though he didn't exactly say where).
Suddenly one of the Mini-Cons started bleeping.
"Shh… You guys have gotta stay quiet or else we'll get caught!" Rad whispered.
"Rad, do you really think we should be doing this?" Billy asked quietly.
"Don't worry about it! We're actually doing these Mini-Cons a big favor. You see, they don't wanna fight, but if they stay here they might end up being used as weapons."
"Hey, Rad! Keep it down! We're on the run, remember? Boy!" Fred told him.
"Oh!" Rad placed a hand over his mouth.
We went outside to find Carlos and Alexis waiting for us.
"Hey, you guys! You guys! Over here!" Carlos called as he waved at us.
"Hey, Rad. How's it goin'?" Alexis asked.
"Hey!" Rad greeted.
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"I understand how you all feel." Optimus told them.
"Then we'll do it!" Jetfire said excitedly, taking a step towards his leader.
"Before I make my final decision I want to talk to the Mini-Cons that create the Requiem Blaster."
"What?" Jetfire was shocked.
Optimus turned to look at Sparkplug.
"Sparkplug, go get the Mini-Cons for me."
Sparkplug bleeped in confirmation before running off, only to come back no later bleeping worriedly.
"What's the matter now?" Jetfire turned around to face the yellow Mini-Con, feeling irritated. "Gahh! Does anyone know what this Mini-Con is talking about?"
Sparkplug started bleeping frantically, waving his hands up and down. This still didn't change anything and it didn't help that Jetfire himself couldn't understand what the Mini-Con was saying!
"What?" Hot Shot exclaimed, sounding shocked. "He just said the Mini-Cons were gone!"
Optimus gasped.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the kids around today, either!" Blurr stated.
"Then let's move out and find them!" Optimus declared.
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"The bus heading for Central City will be leaving from platform 7." The female voice announced over the speakers."All ticket holders please line up at platform 7 now."
I was with Alexis, Rad, and Carlos as we were ordering tickets for our bus ride, while Fred and Billy were watching the three Mini-Cons, who we had disguised as civilians with the clothes we had them wear (although I was surprised that no one suspected them of being anything else but civilians, since they looked awkward). Apparently, it turned out that Carlos was the one buying all of our tickets, which left me feeling guilty since he had to pay for mine.
"Okay! Now that we have our tickets we can head back to where Fred and Billy are!" Carlos said, smiling.
"I really feel guilty now. I'm sorry you had to buy my ticket, Carlos." I told him.
"Aw, don't sweat it! That's what allowance is for!"
'If I were to say that in front of my parents I wouldn't hear the end of it.' I thought.
We headed back to where Fred, Billy, and the Mini-Cons were waiting for us.
"I got the tickets!" Carlos said excitedly.
Suddenly I heard the sound of a dog growling and barking and turned to where the sound was coming from, only to have my eyes widened when I saw a woman with a dog in her lap as she held out a box to one of the Mini-Cons, which said dog was barking at.
"Oh no, you don't!" Rad said, running over to the Mini-Con and grabbing a hold of his extended arm. "Sorry, miss, he's on a diet!"
"Hey! Our bus is leaving!" Alexis called.
"See ya!" Rad started pushing the disguised Mini-Con away from the waiting area, leaving the woman confused. We made it over to a wall where the Alexis and Carlos were waiting for us. "Whoo! That was a close call! Man that could've really blown our cover!" He looked at Fred and Billy. "Hey! Why didn't you guys keep an eye on him?"
"Sorry." Fred said.
"It's Fred's fault." Billy said. "He was writing down recipes!"
"Hey!" Fred turned to look at Billy, seeming offended. "That is a lie."
"We better hurry and get on the bus!" Carlos told us.
"Guys! It's over this way!" Alexis stated, pointing in the direction that our bus was, where it sad on the curb waiting for us.
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Jetfire stood waiting for Hot Shot and Blurr to get back from looking for the kids and the Mini-Cons. Since they were missing, that also meant Valerie was missing as well. So now he had another thing to worry about. Suddenly both Hot Shot and Blurr ran back into the room.
"Sir!" Hot Shot said, coming to a stop and stood at attention in front of Optimus. "They're not on the second level!"
"And D-Block, either!" Blurr added, standing next to him.
"Well, we've searched the whole base." Optimus said. "Hmm."
"But…but where could they have gone?" The yellow Autobot asked.
"This is no time to be playing a game of hide 'n seek!" Jetfire said, trying not to get frustrated. Though he was getting there.
"I know they wouldn't do that without telling us first." Smokescreen stated.
"That means…" Scavenger started, seeming to realize something.
"It means…that the Mini-Cons are gone!" Hot Shot exclaimed.
'Slaggit!" Jetfire thought.
"Optimus, sir?" Red Alert asked, turning to him.
"We'll have to search for them in the city." Optimus said. "Hot Shot, Blurr, I want you two to maintain constant radio contact."
"Yes, sir!" Both Hot Shot and Blurr said.
"Isn't that great news? I've been itching for a bit of action!" Jetfire said, following the other Autobots out of the room.
"Jetfire!"
"Huh?" Jetfire turned around to face Optimus, noticing that Scavenger was standing with him. He felt confused. "What is it, Optimus?"
"I want you to stay here and watch the base with Scavenger." Optimus told him.
"What?" Jetfire exclaimed, completely shocked. "But, Optimus! I want to come as well!"
'And find Valerie!' He added mentally.
"That's an order, Jetfire."
With that Optimus left. Jetfire felt frustrated that he wasn't able to go find the kids and the Mini-Cons with the others, but he wasn't about to show it. Oh no, he wasn't! He stood facing the monitor, watching the four feedback videos that surveyed a few roads. He started to feel impatient watching the monitor, but he mentally told himself to wait.
'Give it some time.' He thought. 'Hopefully Optimus and the others will find the kids and the Mini-Cons. If not these good ol' video feedbacks will probably pick up 'em up any…second…now.'
"Autobots! Anything to report?" Jetfire heard Optimus' voice ask over the monitor.
"No sign of the, Optimus." Red Alert responded.
"There's nothing in my area, either." Smokescreen said.
"Maybe they're not in this town anymore." Hot Shot thought out loud.
"They have to be here!" Blurr stated."They couldn't have traveled that far!"
Jetfire was getting anxious. They still hadn't found them yet?
'C'mon! These video feedback have to pick them up soon!' He thought. 'Just wait. Any second now…'
30 seconds passed. Then a minute. Now 5 minutes.
"D'ugh! This is so BORING!!" Jetfire exclaimed irritably, unable to take it anymore. What little patience he had left was now gone. "I dunno why I have to watch the base! I-I bet I could've found them on my own!"
"You'd stand out too much." Scavenger told him. "And we can't afford to let the people of this planet find out our identities yet. So for the time being you'll have to learn to blend in the way I have!"
"Pft! What's he talking about? He stands out waaaay more than I do!"
'And I'm not the one who transforms into a bulldozer! How uncommon is it to see space shuttles in the sky lately?' Jetfire tried to figure out what he could do, but then he suddenly remembered something! 'That's right! I'll try to figure out the riddle Valerie gave me! How did it go again?'
"Now let's see… 'If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?'" He thought out loud to himself quietly.
'This is going to take awhile…' He was thankful that she at least gave him something to think about.
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I sat in the back with Sky Blast between me and Rad. I was surprised how far out the bus was taking us.
"Hey, Rad?" I asked.
"What is it, Valerie?" He asked, turning to face me.
"Where exactly is this bus taking us?"
Rad chuckled a bit.
"You'll see." That was all he told me.
I started to feel a bit nervous. I didn't know where we were going and my parents didn't even know I was out of town. For all they know I was with my friends.
'It isn't exactly a lie.' I thought.
I heard the Mini-Con sitting next to Alexis bleep excitedly a he looked out the window at a grocery store.
"Oh, that store?" Alexis said, indicating that that was what the Mini-Con was inquiring. "That's where we humans go and buy the food that we eat."
The Mini-Con sitting next to Carlos started bleeping excitedly when it spotted a baseball field.
"Oh, and look! That's a baseball field!" Carlos told him. "I'll teach ya how to play sometime."
Sky Blast was now bleeping excitedly and I couldn't help but giggle.
"Hah! They really like to learn!" Rad said as he faced me.
"It's amazing how curious they are. I don't blame them for being excited." I said.
Rad turned to Sky Blast and smiled.
"Ask me a question if you want!"
I smiled before staring out the window to my right at the scenery that we passed and I soon found my gaze drifting up to the sky. The sky… I still couldn't believe I was doing this, running away from the Autobots. Have they found out about the Mini-Cons missing? Were they looking for us? I couldn't help but wonder these things.
Suddenly the bus came to a stop and I soon realized that this was our stop as the others started making their way off the bus with the Mini-Cons and I soon followed. As soon as we all got off the bus drove away, leaving us coughing from the exhaust it left behind.
"Gimme a break! You wanna hide the Mini-Cons in a cornfield?" Billy asked.
I turned around and saw that Billy was right! We were standing in front of a cornfield.
"You bet!" Rad replied. "Why?"
Suddenly Rad, Carlos, and Alexis started laughing as if they were talking about an inside joke or something. I couldn't help but feel confused.
"We're going over there, silly!" Alexis said, slightly giggling as she pointed to an area beyond the cornfield.
We started walking through the cornfield and I was surprised at how tall the stalks were. After awhile we eventually made it out of the cornfield and were walking on a dirt path through the trees.
"Ah! Hey, Alexis. How much farther is it?" Carlos asked.
"We're almost there!" Alexis told him.
"C'mon!" Billy complained.
Fred groaned.
'Oh no! He's gonna complain!' I thought.
"I'm so hungry!" What do you know? I was right!
We soon stopped and I was surprised that we were at a farm of sorts.
"Thaaat's it!" Alexis said when we all stopped.
"A farm..." I said quietly.
We made our way over to the old house and Rad banged on the door a few times before he managed to get it open. The inside of the house was worn down and had collected a lot of dust over the time that it had stayed abandoned.
"Huh! It's not exactly the grand hotel, is it?" Fred said.
"Come on, with a little TLC, this place will be good as new!" Alexis said optimistically.
"Well, how many years is that gonna take?" Billy asked.
"I know it's a little off the beaten path, but I think it's the perfect spot to hide the Mini-Cons until things cool off."
"It's the perfect spot for a little snack! Who wants waffles?" Ugh. Fred… Always thinking of food. And he even brought a waffle maker, too. "All I need now is an electrical outlet!" Fred started looking around for an electrical outlet.
That only meant one thing…
"Uh, Fred? There's no electricity in this place."
'Thank you for confirming my suspicion, Alexis.' I thought.
"No way. That means I can't make my waffles…" Fred was disappointed.
"Here's a thought! Zip it!" Billy yelled.
"You guys! We've got more important things to think about than food!" Rad said, being the voice of reason.
So we all agreed to help get everything straight. Fred and Billy ran off with Sky Blast to the barn to set something up while Rad did the same thing on the porch with Astroscope. Carlos went off somewhere so I didn't know what he was doing, Alexis was setting up a mirror with Payload, and I was helping out by cleaning up the place, sweeping up the wooden floor with a broom I found earlier. But even as I was working I couldn't stop the thoughts that entered my head. I could clearly remember watching the Autobots arguing over the Mini-Cons like they were Pokémon cards instead of the sentient beings that they truly were. And to see Jetfire like that…I don't know, but it made me feel horrible. I couldn't help but feel like I saw the real Jetfire in that room arguing with his comrades, that the Jetfire I had spent my time around was only a cover up like the face mask he wore over hi mouth. I felt my eyes water up in tears, but I held them back as I tightened my grip around the wooden handle of the broom I held.
"Valerie?"
My head shot in the direction the voice came from and was surprised to see Alexis and Payload with her, and I knew instantly that she was concerned.
"Alexis!" I instantly started rubbing at my eyes in an attempt to hide the fact I had been close to crying. "I just got something in my eye, that's all. All this dust in this room and everything…"
I was surprised when Alexis wrapped her arms around me in a comforting hug and tensed up a bit.
"I've known you for a long time, so I know when you're upset about something. So why are you upset?" She asked.
"I can't stop thinking of what I saw earlier, before we left the base. The Autobots, they were arguing with each other about how they should use the Requiem Blaster against the Decepticons. They forgot that the Mini-Cons have a will of their own." I deliberately left out the bit having to do with Jetfire, but I quickly came up with an excuse to replace it. "Plus I'm feeling a bit homesick at the moment, too."
"Oh, that's right. You haven't really been this far out of town besides being in the last two missions you were on."
"Mom and Dad would freak out if they knew I was out here." I wiped at my tears to get rid of them.
Alexis giggled.
"Well hopefully they don't find out." Alexis unwrapped her arms from around me and stepped back. "Let's head outside and see what the others are up to."
I smiled, nodding my head in agreement before following Alexis and Payload out of the old house. Once outside I spotted Fred, Billy, and Sky Blast making their way to the front of the house while Rad, Carlos, and Astroscope were standing near some logs.
"Hey, guys! What're you up to?" Alexis asked.
"Oh, we were thinking of chopping up some of this wood. You never know when it'll get cold out." Rad told us.
Once the others came we started working on the wood. The Mini-Cons helped out by carrying some of the logs over and stacking them up while Rad and Alexis used a saw to cut them into smaller pieces, which went over to Carlos so that he could chop them up with an axe he found earlier.
"You know what? With all this wood we can heat up the stove and have a hot meal!" Fred exclaimed excitedly.
'Of course he'd think of food.' I thought as I helped gather the chopped up wood. Then I realized something! 'Wait! Where's Billy?'
"Hey, check this out!" I heard Billy's voice called.
"Huh?"
Billy's voice was coming from the side of the old house! We ran over to where we heard Billy earlier and soon found him. His back was to us and he was wearing a cowboy hat with what appeared to be cowboy outfit.
"What's going on?" Carlos asked. Carlos seemed to noticed what Billy was wearing. "Hey!"
"Cool!" Billy said, turning to face us and laughed. I noticed that he was holding a rope. "I'm Billy the kid, the baddest dude in the West!" He started swinging the rope around in the air like a cowboy. "Yee-haw!"
"Where'd you get that hat?"
"From over there!" Billy pointed to his left once he stopped swinging the rope. "There's a big pile of stuff!"
"No way! Cool!"
Carlos ran off to where the pile was and I couldn't help but giggle a bit. I definitely wasn't expecting this, but it was funny.
Later that day we were all hanging out in the field relaxing (Carlos managed to get his hands on a cowboy hat). I gazed up at the sky mesmerized at how beautiful it looked before returning my focus back to the necklace I was working on using the orange flowers I had gathered earlier. I was almost done with it, too. I heard one of the Mini-Cons coming over to wear I was and looked up to see Payload gazing at the almost completed flower necklace in my hands. I smiled, knowing that we was curious as to what I was doing.
"I'm making a necklace out of these flowers. It's almost done." I told him. "Would you like to watch?"
Payload bleeped a bit in affirmation. I continued working on the flower necklace, having to carefully weave the flowers together so that I didn't tear them. That was one of the things that made creating a flower necklace a bit difficult. I soon finished it and smiled.
"There! It's done!" I said, holding the flower necklace out to the Mini-Con to see. "This is for you."
I placed the flower necklace over Payload's head so that it rested around his neck. He bleeped, causing me to giggle.
"You're welcome."
I went back to looking up at the sky, taking a deep breath before letting it out.
"The sky seems so big out here!" Carlos said.
"And it's so beautiful, too." I said.
"I know." Alexis agreed. "It's so peaceful and serene out here."
"Yeah. It's like we're all stuck in a big beautiful dream, isn't it?" Rad said. Sky Blast bleeped something and Rad laughed. "Yeah! I know! It's not a dream! We're a long way from home!"
I looked back at the other two Mini-Cons in the field and saw Astroscope chasing after a butterfly while Payload looked like he was dancing.
"It looks like they're having fun!" Carlos stated.
"When Rad told me about his plan to take the Mini-Cons away, at first I didn't want to do it." Alexis explained. "But now that I see they're having such a good time, I-I think we did the right thing."
"Hey! Are you guys as hungry as I am?" Fred asked from where he was sitting on the grass.
"Fred! The only thing you think about is food!" Carlos said.
"Yeah! How come you only thing you ever want to do is eat?" Alexis asked.
"Just chill out!" Fred complained. "I'm a growing boy and I need my nourishment!"
Rad chuckled a bit, but stopped when we heard the sound of the cans he hung up earlier.
"Who is that?" Rad asked.
We all looked at where the cans were hanging and gasped when we saw who it was!
"Oh no! It's Thrust!" Billy cried.
"How did he find out where we are?" Carlos asked when he jumped off the fence he was sitting on.
Thrust laughed evilly.
"I knew I was right! So, it was the Mini-Cons that created the Requiem Blaster on that bus, after all." Thrust said. "Come with me, Mini-Cons! We've got work to do."
"Move it!" Rad yelled.
I didn't have to think twice before running away with the others to the house.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Fred cried since he was the last one to get inside.
Rad quickly shut the door and locked it (I really didn't see any point in locking it, though) before we ran into the room with the mirror Alexis put up. I was backed up to the wall, my heart hammering in my chest as I tried so hard not to shake in fear like I usually did when I was scared.
"Here he comes!" Alexis cried in fear.
"Nobody make a sound." Rad told us quietly as he held a piece of chopped wood in his hand.
Fred, Billy, Carlos, and the Mini-Cons were all gathered around another window in the room.
"I can't stop my knees from knocking…!" Fred complained.
Thrust suddenly stopped and I glanced at the mirror near Alexis and Rad. It suddenly lit up as I heard a sound similar to something wood being crushed. I looked up, my eyes widening in fear and my breath being caught in my throat when I realized that the sound was caused by Thrust lifting up the roof!
"Ah! There you are!" He said. The Decepticon reached inside in order to grab one of us, but Alexis suddenly blinded him with the mirror reflecting the sunlight. "Argh!"
"Run, guys! Get out of here now!" Alexis yelled.
We ran out of the house as fast as we could. From behind me I could hear Thrust smash the old wooden house.
"We're done for!" Billy cried.
"Hang on!" Rad yelled. I looked over my shoulder to see Thrust walking towards us, not at all in any hurry to catch us. It was then that I noticed what Rad, Carlos, and Alexis were doing as they stood behind a pile of logs. "Ready? Push!"
The three pushed the pile of logs in Thrust's direction and watched as the Decepticon tried not to stumble over them. One long rand into his leg and he grunted in pain.
"Bingo!" Rad, Carlos, and Alexis cheered before we all ran away.
"You little punks!" I heard Thrust growl before hearing his quickly footsteps, indicating that he was running after us.
As we ran I noticed a rope on the ground near a tree and my eyes widened when I spotted Fred and Billy hiding behind said tree. As soon as one of Thrust's feet stepped inside the rope circle it tightened around it as the two boys pulled on the rope, but they ended up being dragged along the ground by the Decepticon as he ran after us.
"Just let go!" Rad yelled.
"Let go?" They both yelled. The let go of the rope they were holding onto and just laid on their stomachs on the ground. "What a drag!"
Thrust turned around and spotted Fred and Billy "I'll squash you, little insects!" He said, lifting up his foot as he was about to make good on his threat.
Fred and Billy started screaming in fear, but Rad and Alexis managed to ram a wagon into the back of Thrust's foot, causing him to fall to the ground.
"I hate running on an empty stomach!" Fred complained before we ran inside the barn. He stood in front of Payload as he held onto a rope thingy of sorts. "Right! Going up!"
Payload pulled on it and they were flung up towards the rafters. I soon heard him bleep before hearing Thrust making his way closer to the barn we were in. I saw him looking through one of the windows from above before something metal was thrown at him.
"OW!" Thrust cried out in pain, holding onto his head.
"That had to hurt." I stated.
"What a shot!" Carlos exclaimed.
"Thanks! I taught him everything he know!" Fred boasted.
"And, uh, who taught you?" Billy asked.
"You, I guess…"
"I've been holding back…" Thrust started saying. "But from now on I'm not going to go easy on you…you troublemakers have pushed me too far!" I noticed that he raised his right arm into the air and my eyes widened when I realized what he was going to do! "Now it's time for you to PAY!"
Thrust slammed his arm into the barn and Payload was forced to jump off the rafters as the Decepticon started smashing the barn to pieces. A piece of glass falling from one of the broken windows during Thrust's assault cut my left arm and I bit my lip to prevent myself from screaming in pain! I could feel something trickling down my arm and placed my hand over it as I tried to ignore the pain.
"Run for it!" Rad yelled.
We ran but we didn't get far before we were cornered on the other side. I was unable to stop my body from shaking in fear! I was so scared! I felt like I was relieving my near death experience from my first mission with the Autobots. I felt a mixture of dread and horror as I realized that none of the Autobots knew where we were! They didn't even know that we're in danger! I felt my eyes well up with tears from how terrified I was.
"There's no way out! We're trapped!" Alexis cried fearfully.
"I want my Mommy!" Fred cried, followed by him crying.
"Oh man! It's hopeless! The Autobots don't know we're here!" Carlos yelled.
What was left of the wall on the other side of the barn collapsed and Thrust towered over us menacingly. He laughed maniacally, seeming amused at the predicament we were in.
"Hand over those Mini-Cons right now." He demanded, his voice low and threatening. He knew we were scared and laughed again. "Any last words?"
Suddenly I heard the sound of a horn echo through the air and Thrust turned in the direction it was coming from. My eyes widened and I gasped when I saw a familiar red and blue semi-truck ram into Thrust, knocking him to the ground before coming to a stop.
"Transform!" The semi-truck transformed into the Autobot leader we knew so well (at least I did to some extent).
"Optimus!" Rad cried.
"He found us!" Alexis said.
"We've been saved!" Billy and Fred cheered as they hugged each other.
"Is everyone alright?" Optimus asked, turning to gaze down at us with concerned golden optics.
"Yeah. Mm-hmm." Rad answered.
"I want those Mini-Cons!" Thrust demanded as he got up from the ground
"You can't have them, Thrust, because I know what you want to use them for!" Optimus said.
"I think I know how to change your mind! Transform!" Thrust transformed into a plane and just stayed there. It was when I saw guns (or was it cannons?) glow purple did I realize why. "Launch!" The lasers hit Optimus, causing him to be thrown into a concrete building. "You're history, Optimus!" Suddenly the Autobot leader caused the hay around him to be blown into the air and forcing Thrust to transform. "Where did he go?"
"Right here!" Optimus answered. "Optimus Super Mode! Transform!" Optimus started to transform, his body changing into the upper half of a body (his head disappeared as well) while his trailer changed into legs that attached themselves to the upper half. Optimus' head reappeared with a totally different appearance and I was suddenly reminded of the time when Optimus and Jetfire combined into their Jet Convoy mode. "Let's go, Thrust!"
"Next time, Optimus!" Thrust yelled. "Next time!"
With that Thrust warped out of the area. I let out the breath I realized I'd been holding as I fell to my knees, feeling relieved. It was over. It was all over!
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(Later)
The sun had started setting as I stood in front of Optimus with the others, my head hanging in guilt since the Autobot leader was aware of what we did. I felt small compared to him and it wasn't because he was a giant robot. I held my hand over my cut arm as I attempted to hide it from view.
"Hey, Optimus? We're…uh…sorry." Rad said, apologizing to him.
Suddenly I heard the sound of a horn honking before turning in the direction it came from to see Hot Shot, Red Alert, Smokescreen, and Blurr driving towards us before transforming in their respective order.
"Oh, great! We missed all the fun!" Hot Shot exclaimed, seeming somewhat disappointed. "Why did you guys run away on us?"
"Do you know how worried we were about you?" Smokescreen asked.
"We really didn't mean any harm." We just felt sorry for the Mini-Cons."
"You felt sorry for them?" Blurr asked, sounding a bit surprised.
"Well, sometimes it seems you only see the Mini-Cons as tools. I know you want to use them to end the war with the Decepticons, but some of them don't wanna be involved in the fighting at all." Rad explained. "Do you understand?"
"Rad. I promise no Mini-Con will ever have to fight if he doesn't want to." Optimus declared.
"Are you sure?" Blurr inquired. "They could be our only chance to get rid of the Decepticons."
"You're right." Optimus turned to Blurr. "Our goal is to rid the universe of the Decepticons. But if we use these Mini-Cons against their will, then we're no better than our enemies. Don't forget that the Decepticons are holding a lot of the Mini-Cons against their will"
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"Right." Jetfire agreed, nodded his head.
Jetfire had been watching the whole thing happen before him. His optics searched the screen and he smiled behind his face mask when they found what he was looking for.
'You're safe, Skydancer.' He thought.
He suddenly noticed that Valerie was holding her right hand over her left arm not in the way of a human gesture, but more like she was pressing her hand on it. He zoomed in on the image before his optics widened at what he saw!
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"So you're saying the only way we're gonna be able to beat the Decepticons is with teamwork?" Hot Shot concluded.
Smokescreen nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Teamwork!"
"Hm-hmm." Even Red Alert agreed.
"We can do it!" Blurr said.
"Thank you, Optimus!" Rad said.
"Yes." Optimus replied, nodding his head once.
Suddenly Hot Shot crouched down a bit and held a balled fisted out in front of Rad at eye level. Rad seemed confused.
"Put 'er dere, pal!" Hot Shot said cheerfully.
Rad smiled before pounding the yellow Autobot's fist in a friendly gesture as he laughed. I smiled as I watched all this happen and was glad that everything worked out in the end.
"Red Alert here, what is it?" Red Alert suddenly said.
I was confused and turned to the Autobot medic. What…who was he talking to?
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"Red Alert here, what is it?" Red Alert answered through the comlink.
"Red Alert! I was watching what was happening on the monitor here and noticed something serious." Jetfire said on his end of the comlink conversation. "As in life threatening."
"What's the problem?"
"Have you noticed that Valerie is holding her left arm?"
"I have, but what does this-"
"She's injured, Red Alert. Take a look at it and you'll see what I mean!"
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Red Alert looked like he was done with the conversation he was having with someone over a comlink connect before looking over in my direction. I slightly tightened my hold that my right hand had over my left arm as the medic made his way over to me and knelt down.
"Let me see your left arm." He demanded, leaving no room for argument.
I glanced down at the ground before removing my hand from my left arm, said hand having blood on it from covering the cut I had. I heard gasps around me and realized that everyone had been watching. I looked at my arm and flinched when I saw how horrible it looked.
"Why didn't you say something about this earlier, Valerie?" Alexis asked as she came over to me.
"I…I didn't want any of you to worry. We were running for our lives, remember?"
"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you're hurt." Red Alert told me. "I'm having you ride with me back to the base. That way I can keep an eye on your condition until I can use proper equipment. For now keep pressure on it."
"Okay…"
So we ended up heading back to the base. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis rode with Hot Shot while Billy and Fred rode with Optimus, and I rode with Red Alert. It was starting to get dark so I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap. I was tired after everything that's happened today.
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I woke up to find myself staring up at a metal ceiling before sitting up. It was then that I realized I was actually in the med bay. This was the third time I've been in here already! I looked down at my left arm and was surprised to find that it was wrapped up with bandages and the area where I knew the cut was felt sore, yet somewhat itchy. I moved my right hand over the area, intending to scratch it a bit to relieve the itch.
"Don't scratch it!"
I jumped slightly in surprise and my head whipped in the direction the voice came from to find Red Alert looking at me with his arms crossed.
"I'm sorry, but it itches." I said, wanting so badly to scratch it."
"That would be because of the butyl cyanoacrylate I used for the cut on your left arm." Red Alert told me.
"Butyl cyano-what?" I was confused.
He sighed, seeming to realize that I didn't know what he was talking about.
"It's what you humans call 'liquid stitches' most of the time and is mainly used for medical purposes. The generic name for butyl cyanoacrylate is cyanoacrylate."
"Oh." I started to understand a bit better about it now that Autobot before me explained it.
"Let me check you over and then I'll allow you to leave the med bay."
A laser of sort came out of Red Alert's optics and seemed to scan my body (the sensation I got from it felt weird, too) before stopping.
"Hey, Red Alert? I have a question." I said.
"What is it?" He asked.
"You're all a far way from home, right? Do any of you guys have someone waiting for you to return to Cybertron, like family?"
"A few of us do. It may not look like it, but Scavenger has a sparkmate waiting for him to return, as well as I do."
"What's a sparkmate?"
"A sparkmate is what humans would consider a 'spouse.' In a way the process itself is similar to marriage, but with one difference." Red Alert explained. "Whereas a couple from your race will annul their vows of marriage with a divorce, transformers can't go through a divorce. Once two transformers become sparkmates the process can never be reversed at all and will remain for as long as they live."
"That's incredible. That's a long time."
"It may be a long time for your race, but not to ours. I've already finished checking you over so you're free to go." Red Alert held out his hand for me to climb onto and lowered me to the floor. "But remember, no practicing or any other activities that could possibly cause further damage to your arm."
"Okay. Thank you." I said.
"You're welcome."
I left the med bay and walked down the hallway, not caring where I was even going. Now that I thought about it this was the third time I've been hurt, first my head from when I fainted (when I first encountered the Autobots and Decepticons when I was heading home from practice), the last time having been when I scraped my hands from tripping on my first mission (just thinking about it made me feel sad since it reminded me of what happened to Optimus), and now my arm which I was very tempted to itch right now.
'It's official. I'm either a klutz or accident prone. Wait, I've always been a klutz.' I thought. 'Sometimes I wish I wasn't such a klutz.'
I suddenly ran into something solid causing me to fall and shut my eyes as I expected to hit the ground, but something caught me in time before that could even happen.
"You really shouldn't be in walking around in deep thought. You tend to lose track of where you're going and find yourself running into things like you did just now."
I opened my eyes and was surprised to see Jetfire, kneeling down in front of me with his hand wrapped around me. I felt my face heat up slight as I realized he was the one who caught me and looked away to hide it.
"Eye contact, Skydancer." He reminded me.
"I'm sorry!" I said, forcing myself to look at him.
"You really need to stop apologizing so much."
I opened my mouth, ready to say something.
"And before you say 'I'm sorry' again, don't."
I stopped myself from saying sorry instantly.
"How did you know I was going to say that?"
"You've gotten pretty predictable recently."
"Oh." I said. "Um, Jetfire?"
"Yes?"
"Could you let go of me?"
Jetfire seemed to realize that he still had his hand wrapped around me from when he caught me and his golden optics widened in surprise before he released me (after he had set me upright, of course).
"Sorry 'bout that." He said, rubbing the back of his head almost sheepishly.
"Look whose apologizing now." I muttered.
"I heard that!" Jetfire had stopped rubbing the back of his head and brought it close to me (or as close as he could with him kneeling in front of me). "And I've also figured out the riddle you gave me, too!"
"Y-you did?" I stuttered slightly, not just because he finally figured out the riddle, but because of how close he was to me. "Then…what's the answer?"
"The answer is that there is no answer. The phrase, or riddle, is just a philosophical question that involves the opinion of a person's observation of reality. Now where's the surprise you promised me?
"S-surprise?" Oh no! I didn't think he'd figure the riddle out so soon! And I didn't even have a surprise planned for when he figured out the riddle.
"Yes! You promised, remember?" He told me.
"I…uh…" I looked around for an escape and soon found one. "I-I gotta go!"
I bolted in the direction behind Jetfire, which the entrance was in the same direction as well.
"Hey!" I heard Jetfire's loud footsteps behind me as he chased after me. "Get back here!"
I forced myself to run faster in order to get away from him. I could probably find somewhere to hide outside, like behind a boulder or something like that. I was relieved when I spotted the entrance to far away and stopped outside when I saw the night sky with the moon and all the stars out. I was so distracted with looking at the sky that I was taken by surprise when a hand wrapped around my body and lifted me up close to Jetfire's face as he gazed down at me.
"Gotcha now, Skydancer! Now where's my surprise?"
"Um…" I had to think. Jetfire was expecting the surprise I promised him, but I didn't even have one yet. Think, Valerie! Think of something! I felt my face heat up slightly with the idea I thought of, feeling unsure if I should even do it or not.
"I'm waiting." Jetfire reminded me.
"Can…can you bring your face a bit closer, please?" I asked, already feeling nervous.
Jetfire brought his face a bit closer to the point I could just place my hand on it without stretching my arm out completely since it was only 6 inches away from me.
"Okay, now what?"
My face heated up a little bit more, but I managed to move my face closer to his before I placed a quick kiss where I'd assume his cheek would me. I pulled away in time to see that Jetfire looked surprised by what I did.
"T-that was it?" He asked and I was surprised that he stuttered slightly.
I nodded my head in reply.
"Thanks. Wasn't exactly what I expected, but I can't complain."
I felt my face heat up to what felt like 100 degrees to me from what he said. But boy would I be in for a surprise when I got home.
ATE: That's it for chap 6. Thank you for taking the time to read this chap. Also I'm opened to any suggestions or ideas that anyone would want to see in appear in this story and I will give credit to anyone's ideas I use. Just write them in your reviews, that's all.
Please remember to review! ;D