Chapter 8: Adjustments
Autobot HQ…
Kara was lying up in the rafters of the base content. Two days had passes since Voidwalker had shown up at base and said femme was in her quarters. In fact she spent most of her time in her quarters only coming out for Energon or missions. Kara had to wonder how she could spend all her time alone like that, it couldn't be enjoyable.
Then again, sometimes Kara liked to be alone too. Maybe Void just wasn't ready to really get to know the rest of base. Not counting her first day at base, the femme had been fairly anti-social and Kara was determined to if anything, get the femme to talk for more than five seconds. Or make her laugh, either would be nice.
At the moment though, Ratchet, Miko, Bulkhead, and Void were the only ones in base. Bee and Optimus were scouting an Energon deposit, while Jack and Arcee were out doing whatever it is they did when they were alone.
Miko and Bulkhead were watching some sort of monster track rally on the television, but the expressions on their faces read of one emotion… Boredom. With Kara and Jack around things against the Con's just weren't as difficult as they used to be. With that said, those two being bored was quiet a dangerous thing, as Miko was about to demonstrate.
"Hey Kara!" she called, catching the teen's attention.
Kara leapt from her perch landing lightly next to the girl, "Yes Miko?" she asked.
"You're about as strong as Jack right?" Miko asked eagerly.
Kara eyed her warily, "About, why?"
"Well I was thinking that maybe you and Bulkhead could play a game of lobbing since Wheeljack's not around," she suggested eagerly.
"Lobbing?" Kara asked confused.
"It's an old Wrecker game, real simple," Bulkhead explained, "Basically you hurl this big ball of scrap back and forth as hard as you can between each other till someone drops it," he hefted a large ball made of various pieces of scrap to show her.
"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Kara asked warily.
"Hey you can take it, you've taken on cons a big ball of scrap won't hurt you!" Miko encouraged.
"I don't know," Kara said hesitantly.
"Come on Kara, please!?" Miko begged, using her sparkling eyes on the teen.
Kara let out a defeated sigh, "Fine, I'll play,"
Miko let out a whoop of victory and Bulkhead smiled slightly, "One round," she stated plainly.
"That's fine that's fine, now go!" Miko said excitedly.
Kara floated off the platform into the open area the bots would occasionally play their games in. She floated in front of the main tunnel entrance with Bulkhead standing in front of the med bay. The wrecker leaned back with the large ball of scrap, and heaved, the ball hurtling towards Kara.
She let out a surprised squeak as it slammed into her, but caught it regardless. She twisted around and flung the ball at Bulkhead hard and fast. He dove to the side and caught the ball, plucking out of the air with his large servos.
They repeated this process several times, and a large grin was starting to appear on Kara's face. The game was fun in a sort of non-thinking sort of way. Kara gripped the ball and flung it hard towards Bulkhead… Maybe a little too hard. It slipped out of his servos, flew up and bounced off a wall and crashed into set of tools on Ratchets table.
"Kara!" Ratchet screamed, "I NEEDED THAT!"
Kara floated up to the table looking at the now shattered too, "Sorry Ratchet," she said sheepishly.
"Sorry doesn't cut it, I needed that," he pointed out.
"Well what do you want me to do about?" she demanded, hands on her hips.
Ratchet placed a servo on his chin thinking for a moment before an evil glint shown in his optics, "Normally the organic inhabitants of this base can't work on our equipment as they risked being injured," he started and Kara didn't like where this was going.
"But given how Kryptonians are stronger and more durable than humans, you can fix my broken tools," he stated.
Kara's jaw dropped. "What!? Ratchet I don't know the first thing about fixing Cybertronian tools!" she protested.
The medic smirked, "Than I suggest you get started, you aren't going home until my tools are fixed,"
He pointed to one of the terminals, "All you need to know is on that terminal," he explained and walked off grumbling to himself.
Kara sighed and got to work on fixing the equipment she'd broke. Somehow, some way, she'd get back at Hatchet… question was how?
Later That Night…
Ratchet lay in his quarters deep into induced stasis. He was resting fairly peaceful tonight as Kara had repaired his tools faster than either of the two had expected. Along with that, there had been no sign of con activity all day, and the members of Team Prime and their organic allies were spending the night in base.
Miko, Raf, and Kara were sleeping in the main hall, while Arcee and Jack were sharing her quarters as per usual. Optimus was the only one still awake, typing busily filling out the typical reports for the human politicians. Even now thousands of years later, politicians were his biggest challenge to fight.
At least, Optimus appeared to be the only one still awake. A small shadowy figure glided through the halls, searching for a room. The figure stopped at each door, peaking though it, trying to find its target. Eventually, the figure came to a stop in front of Ratchets room and silently entered.
The figure glided over to the medics berth and landed next to his neck. The figure knelt by his neck and activated several small switches hidden under the chords of his neck. A small slide on the top of his throat slid open, exposing his vocal processor. The figure climbed onto his neck and attached several small wires into it.
Ratchet shifted slightly and muttered under his breath. The figure froze, not moving an inch for fear of being caught. The medic stopped shifting and fell back into his deep sleep. A small sigh of relief escaped the being, and the figure resumed its work.
Several minutes later, her work finished, Kara slid the piece of armor back over his vocal processor and flew out of his room. It was going to be an interesting morning tomorrow to say the least…
The Next Day…
Most of the base had awoken by now, except for Ratchet. Everyone was out in the main hall for once, even Voidwalker, who was leaning against a wall, arms crossed. Miko and Raf were engaged in a race between RC cars while their respective guardians cheered them on. Jack and Arcee were up in the rafters away from everyone else for once being ungodly romantic.
Kara was watching all this eagerly awaiting the awakening of a certain Autobot medic. She'd come up with the idea for her prank last night after stumbling upon some information on vocal processors while repairing his tools. That had sparked the idea, and now she just had to wait.
She didn't have to wait too long, for several minutes later a high pitched voice echoed through the base, "KARA!"
Everyone froze and turned to the girl who had an innocent grin on her face. Before a single person could ask what she'd done, Ratchet came storming out from a hall. He appeared unchanged, and no one would have guessed what she'd done to him…until he spoke.
"Ich werde dich töten!" he screamed furiously in a high pitched German accent.
Jack and Arcee landed next to Kara, "What did you do?" he asked.
Kara giggled, "I modified his vocal processor to only speak in high pitched German," she admitted.
"Du dummes Mädchen, bist du in so viel Mühe!" he screamed furiously.
Kara cupped a hand to her ear, "What was that Ratchet? I don't speak German," she said innocently.
"Als ich meine Stimme wieder normal sind Sie für es!" he screamed, and everyone started to fall into laughter at the hilarious tone of his voice.
"Hey maybe we can get him dressed in lader hossen and have him start yodeling," Miko suggested before falling into laughs.
"Weißt du nicht anfangen zu Mädchen!" Ratchet said in a threatening tone. Or as threatening as he could be.
Everyone let out another gush of laughter not noticing the wrench sliding into Ratchets hand. There was a whoosh through the air as the wrench went flying towards Kara, and proceeded to knock her flat on her aft.
"Nehmen Sie, dass Sie reizt Kind" he growled angrily.
Kara got up, rubbing her head and looked down at the wrench that had ricochet of her head. Jack moved to see if she was okay, but Kara answered that question with her own actions. The wrench went flying through the air and bounced of the medics helm with a loud ping, causing him to stumble back.
"Was war das für!?" he demanded angrily.
"Oh du unten beruhigen alten Kessel. Nicht wie es wird jede dauerhafte Schäden sein," Voidwalker said in perfect German. Everyone looked at the femme in surprise.
"When did you learn to speak German?" Kara asked in surprise.
Void shrugged, "One should always learn about their environment, even if it's a new planet," she said simply.
Ratchet seemed to calm somewhat, but was muttering to himself in German. Void ignored the medics mutterings and turned to Kara, "But you shouldn't have made it so that Ratchet could not be understood. The results could be disastrous," she scolded in her emotionless voice.
"I was just getting back at him for yesterday," Kara said innocently.
"Regardless, it was childish and immature. You should have thought that through before acting on impulse, you could get someone hurt that way," Voidwalker replied.
Kara hung her head, "Then perhaps you can help Kara mature by acting as her guardian," Optimus said.
"Excuse me?" Void asked looking at the Prime.
"All our human and Kryptonian allies have been assigned a member of this team to act as their guardian. It allows them to experience human culture and allows them to learn of our culture," Optimus explained.
"Since you and Kara are both relative new comers to this world, it only makes sense that the two of you get to know each other so as to better understand your new home," he reasoned.
Voidwalker and Kara were silent, neither one of the two saying a single word. Kara's mind was racing though at Optimus's suggestion. She'd always wanted a guardian like the others, but Voidwalker was her polar opposite in almost every way.
Kara was talkative and outgoing, Voidwalker was silent and sulking. Kara tried to socialize and learn, Voidwalker simply watched and observed. There were hardly any similarities between the two. Bee and Raf could understand each other and both enjoyed video games, Miko and Bulkhead were both adrenaline junkies in their own rights, and Jack and Arcee where…. Jack and Arcee.
Voidwalker apparently felt the same way, "Apologies Optimus, but I don't even have a human vehicle form. How am I to act as Kara's guardian if I posses no vehicle form capable of transporting her?"
An almost mischievous glint passed through the Primes optics, but it was gone in a flash, "Then you two shall have to find one,"
He turned to Ratchet, who was trying to fiddle with his vocal processor at the moment, "Open a bridge," he ordered.
"Ja, mein Führer," he said inciting laughs from everyone else. He activated the bridge which swirled to life.
Voidwalker looked to Kara and let out a slightly irritated sigh, "Let's go," she ordered, and the teen reluctantly followed.
Ratchet walked up to Optimus, "Das wird sehr schlecht enden,"
Optimus smiled, "Well said old friend," he replied. Ratchet flung his servos into the air with a frustrated grunt and walked away…
Along the freeway…
"How about that one?" Kara asked pointing at a black Lexus driving by.
A grunt of disapproval from Voidwalker was her only response. Kara rolled onto her back and sighed in frustration. Voidwalker and her had been sitting here watching passing cars for a good half-hour. For a silent femme she sure was picky though, turning down every car that passed by.
"You know this wouldn't be so dull if you actually decided to talk," Kara pointed out.
Voidwalker said nothing, her visor tracking the passing cars below, "You know, talk, that thing people and bots do to learn about each other," Kara stated.
Voidwalker was silent, but her annoyance was obvious in her posture. She was kneeling forward over the large hill they were sitting on, and was tense. She obviously was only doing this because Optimus ordered her to, and would leave as soon as possible.
Kara sighed, "Fine, I'll start first. How come you called Ratchet an old boiler?" she asked.
The femme looked to Kara, "What do you mean?" she said her first word since they got here.
"You said, and I quote 'Oh calm down you old boiler. Not like there will be any lasting harm.'" Kara looked up at her and crossed her arms.
"You can understand German?" Void asked.
"I can understand most human languages, I was just messing with Ratchet," she explained, "Point is, why did you talk to Ratchet that? It's like you've known Ratchet for a while the way you said it,"
Void looked away, "That is none of your concern," she stated.
"Wrong, you're my guardian now, if we're going to get along then we should get to know each other," Kara argued.
"There is nothing about me to know," Voidwalker said.
Kara frowned, "I'm not stupid Void, I know your lying," she said.
The femme turned her gaze back on the girl, "My past is none of your concern child. I have done many things that don't concern you or the others," she said.
"I wasn't talking about what you did during the war. I meant before the war. What did you do before the war, were you a scientist, an entertainer?" Kara by this point was making it her personal mission to get the femme to tell her something about her.
"There…. is nothing before the war," Void said, a hint of sadness in her voice.
Kara let out a frustrated sigh and sat cross legged on the desert floor, "Your more stubborn than my brother," she growled in frustration.
A very small chuckle emanated from Voidwalker, "Yes, Jackson is very stubborn," she agreed.
Kara smiled faintly, and pressed her small advantage, "He's just such a worry wart sometimes. He thinks no one else can take care of themselves," she said.
"I've noticed," Voidwalker said, a small smile in her voice.
"Still, guess that when you grow up bullet proof its bound to happen. He never did get to know how it feels to be a normal Kryptonian," Kara said sadly.
Voidwalker shifted her form to face Kara, "What was this Krypton like?" she asked.
Kara smiled faintly, "Similar to Earth but at the same time different," she said her voice glazing over with nostalgia.
"Unlike Earth, we had a much harder atmosphere to breath, and a red sun," she said, "Everything was a faint shade of red, but you never noticed it unless you came to a place like this,"
"Cybertron as well had a red sun," Voidwalker said.
"It was awful really," Kara said, "Everything so red, I'm convinced it made everyone more cranky than they needed to be. Especially Father and Mother, all they would do is worry about me or the planet," she hung her head.
"I miss them so much," she admitted sadly.
Voidwalker cocked her head to the side, "What happened to Krypton?" she asked.
"I never actually knew, but according to Father our core became destabilized because we tapped into it to power our technology. It was our downfall, and now only my brother and I are left," she explained.
"But despite this you still help us?" Void asked.
Kara nodded, "Of course, this is our home now, and the bots are our friends," she said, "And that's what friends do, they help each other,"
Voidwalker looked down at the girl for several seconds before looking back at the highway, "There," she said pointing to a large motorcycle. It was large and black, twice the size of Arcee's alt mode.
It had two large tires, the first sticking far in front of the other, creating a streamlined appearance on the bike. Two headlights were smoothed into the body on either side, creating a beautiful but deadly looking vehicle.
Voidwalker scanned the vehicle, and grimaced as her body shifted slightly to accommodate the change. Once finished she transformed into her new alt mode and revved the engine. Unlike Arcee's engine, it had a quiet but powerful sounding engine. You wouldn't hear it coming, but you could definitely feel it.
"Climb on, I'll drive you back to base," Voidwalker ordered though there was a slight gentleness to her voice that wasn't there before. But only slight.
Kara nodded and climbed on, the two driving off back to base. The two were relatively silent for a while before Void broke it for once.
"Why did you prank the medic?" she asked.
Kara shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure, on Krypton I would occasionally prank my family because they were so much more fun to be around when they were trying to be mad but laughing. I guess I do it to get people to lighten up a little," she said.
"Lighten up?"
"Human term, means relax or acting less serious all the time. You could lighten up a little," Kara commented.
"We are engaged in a war that consumed are planet and ended many lives Kara," Void stated, "We do not have time to 'lighten up',"
"I never said to treat everything like a joke, but when people aren't fighting they should relax. Otherwise you might lose yourself to the war," she argued.
Voidwalker was silent for several minutes as they drove before finally speaking, "Perhaps you have a point Kara, maybe I have spent too long wandering the stars alone. I will make a deal with you, you consider your actions more carefully and I will try to 'lighten up' when I deem it appropriate," she said.
Kara smiled slightly, "Guess that's the best I'll get out of you, huh?" she asked.
"Do we have a deal?" Void asked, this time slightly more irritated.
Kara smiled, "Deal,"
Autobot HQ…
Ratchet was fiddling with his vocal processor, still trying to fix whatever it was that Kara had done to it. So far he'd gotten it out of German only to start screaming at everyone in an angry Japanese woman's voice. Now he was stuck with the voice of a Spanish maid and everyone was unable to stop laughing at him. Even Optimus had chuckled slightly.
A deep engine rumbled through base as a pitch black motorcycle with a very familiar rider pulled into base. Kara got off of Voidwalker, and the femme transformed to robot mode finding a spot on the wall to rest against as per usual.
"So Ratchet, how's the voice box treating you?" she asked.
" ¿Qué tan bien cree niño malvado!" he cried in his soft Spanish voice.
Kara snorted slightly before Voidwalker let out a small cough. Kara sighed, "Here, let me fix that for you," she said and floated up to the medic.
She made a few quick changes before floating back, "There that better?" she asked.
Ratchet rubbed his throat before looking at that the girl, "YOU NO GOOD LITTLE TROUBLE MAKER, HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME! DO IT AGAIN AND I'LL HAVE YOU SCRUB THE ENTIRE BASE FROM HEAD TO TOE WITH A TOOTHBRUSH!" he screamed, causing the girl to fly back.
"I take it that's a yes," she said and flew away from the medic before he flung a wrench at her. She quickly landed by her brother who was laughing slightly at the scolding she got from Hatchet.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Kara asked.
"She and the others went out on to stop a small Decepticon raid on a military base," he explained.
"So how was it being alone with tall, black, and terrifying?" Miko asked.
Kara looked to her new guardian and smiled slightly, "Not as bad as you'd think Miko, there's more to Voidwalker than meets the eye," she said softly.
The three kids exchanged confused looks before shrugging. Obviously something happened between the two, it wasn't there place to pry. Still, Jack was glad to see his sister was able to get along with the femme. Who knows, maybe if their luck held out they'd get a flyer on their team…
A/N: Short chapter is short. This was NOT what I originally had planned for this chapter. But after receiving multiple complaints that Voidwalker was underdeveloped, this chapter appeared. The next chapter will be far more epic and mind screwing than anything yet written in A New Threat so far. Those of you who know what's coming, stay quiet and you will get a cookie. If anyone is able to guess what is Voids occupation was before the war, you get a gold star and a cookie. Besides that, what did you think of this chapter? Like, dislike? Any suggestions for later pranks to be used by Kara? PM me ideas people I need ideas!
