Transformers Prime : Miami
Chapter 10 : Bait and Switch.
Elita-One recognized that look in Optimus's optics, It was a mix of concern, suppressed anger, worry,and regret. The fact that Elita could tell that even with his face mask on was impressive in itself. As soon as Elita one was patched up she readied her report for Optimus Prime. This time would be different. No hostility, no snarkiness and defiantly no cold shoulder. They were in a crisis now of epic proportions. Not only was Megatron on Earth aboard his warship, Shockwave was now here in his own warship that maneuvered in the ocean waters of earth.
"If Shockwave has returned, We must be on high alert."Optimus said through the holoscreen." Do you think a mounted assault is capable?"
Elita-One shook her head" Negative, For one thing his ship is under the waters, and those waters are in a place where time,gravity and possibly reality have no rules."
She typed in Perceptor's file and sent it to him. " Open up Perceptors file."
She brought up the map of the region in question and with a metal wand began to write out lines on the computer screen.
"The area in question is the Bermuda Triangle. It has long had an infamous legend of a place where ships and planes mysteriously disappear. The Triangle starts here at the Island of Bermuda, stretches down to Miami,Florida and to here San Juan ,Puerto Rico." She filled in the lines to form the image of the Triangle.
"Optimus we were there ,that place is no joke. The dimensional forces in that place are terrifying. My team got tossed around due to the shifting in gravitational forces. But that's not the worst part. The worst has to be is Shockwave seems to have some control over opening portals to other dimensions. One wrong move and you would easily be trapped in the,. It's my recommendation that we need to research more what we're up against. " Elita said
"I agree with your recommendation, For the time being whatever Intel we receive we will share, I want Ratchet and Perceptor working on this, We'll handle Megatron when he appears, "
"And we will handle Shockwave..."Elita one said with a sly grin,
" Elita..."Optimus started" Uh ….I am happy you are undamaged."
"Thank you Optimus..." She smiled a little and ended he transmission,
The week following the events in the Triangle were spent re acclimating Yuri to today's times. April took a week off from her residency to help him., He would spend morning studying his english. At this point it was a mere fact of him brushing up on it and recalling his lessons. He was given an appointment with the Russian Embassy two weeks from Monday.
April took him out shopping for a suit, and other provisions. Yuri took residence in the dorm room across from April's room. With a nice donation from the US government, courtesy of the annoyance of Agent Greene. April was able to get him a decent wardrobe and a mini fridge that he insisted on stocking with coca cola.
It was a taxing period of adjustment, Finding out about the dissolution of the Soviet Union was hard, He was a nationalist and proud of the achievements his country gained. To see it had all ended at the hands of politicians was a bit hard for him to take. What hurt him the most, and kept April up all night with him comforting him was the detail surrounding the death of his friend Yuri Gagarin.
Gagarin had died when his experimental aircraft crashed, Yuri knew Gagarin's death had to have been staged when he learned that Gagarin voraciously was critical of the Soviet government concerning the deaths of Komarov and Yuri. Yuri did the only thing he could do to chase away the pain.
He drank Vodka, a LOT of vodka. He claimed it was easy since the Vodka here tasted like water.
It was a long night of crying, singing of old Russian songs, laughing and more crying. April did her best to comfort him, eventually she found she could fill an empty bottle of Vodka with water, and she appeared to impress Yuri before he passed out.
The next day April got up, checked on the snoring Russian, and asked Mirage to take on a store run. She gathered her bags filled with various ingredients to make Yuri a nice dinner. Before she got to the ladder she got a phone call from her sister,June.
"Hey sis! " She answered. " Yeah Elita said it's ok if you guys want to spend a weekend here, We just have to keep an eye on Miko, she says if they are on a mission and she's sneaks along, she's on her own! Yuri's...adjusting, How would you feel if you left Earth and came back and it was like 40 years later!, I'm making him dinner tonight, Yup Organic tofu! Well we'll find out this Friday, He has a meeting with the Russian Embassy to see what can be done for him. He's a Lost Cosmonaut, they pretty much erased any and all known record of him. NO! I mean no... We're just friends. Mouth to mouth does not COUNT AS FIRST BASE! Ok give jack my love, Bye!"
Putting up the groceries, she checked on the still sleeping Yuri. She peeked in his room to see the sleeping hump , she went closer to check his pulse. Breathing, hungover but alive.
Detective Verity Carlo was busy typing up a report when a call came into her desk. Swallowing the last of her coffee she answered.
"Detective Carlo, Miami PD." She answered.
"Yeah Uh, Carlo?" a voiced answered.
"Yes, this is she." Snapping her fingers to get the attention of a police officer, She pointed tot he phone and mouthed "Trace this call..."
" I uh uh have something that might intrest you..." It said. "I hear the Rosarios crew are looking to acquire new weapons, but the rumor is these are alien type weapons Real bad stuff!"
Verity scribbled some notes," I can imagine, " She said " Do you have a name stranger?"
"I do but I cant tell you right now, but Talk to Luis at the La Vadista cafe in Little Haiti!"
Click
Verity hung up the phone and looked at the sergeant, who slowly shook his head, he didn't get the trace I time.
"Little Haiti" She thought, Little Haiti was a close knit neighborhood, meaning if anything that looked like a cop stepped one foot there, a warning system would ring out among the inhabitants and every shady activity would close up and hide until the cops left. She knew she was close and she couldn't let this lead get away, but she would need a little help.
She tapped her finger to her chin, and picked up the phone . Making a call ,she wondered if she should have her head examined for exploring this option.
"Westen, it's Carlo, I'm calling in a huge favor I will owe you... "
A week and a solid lead later ,Carlo had her meeting set up with the head of the Rosario gang, She was going in undercover and needed help. She had comprise a plan that would get in with the Rosarios and get her the info she needed about the elusive Decepticon contact. Unfortunately it was a plan her partner wasn't going to like.
"Your darn right I don't like this plan!" Prowl growled as he transformed in the garagre of their two story house. "We don't need the Autobots!"
Verity was busy putting on her shoulder holster, and loading up Armor piercing rounds in her gun, Armor piercer were especially effective against a rabid Decepticon. She knew Prowl
s protests and understood them, But she also realized they had a job to do.
"I want you on back up Prowl, If you go in there with me they are going to know your a cop car and our cover will be blown."
"I know that, but tell me why do we need the Autobots help?"
"Because their street racer, we need a fast car ,and someone to sniff out any energon signatures in the area, I wouldn't ask if it weren't necessary."
Verity hated putting Prowl on edge like this, The two had been through a lot together with the Wreckers, When Prowl made the decision to stay with Verity, he ment it. He really didnt appreciate the looks he would get whenever he came across the Autobots, as they would always ask if he wanted to come back. Prowl was done with being an Autobot. He believed in his life with Verity, and he was committed to protecting her no matter what.
"look I've been meaning to talk to you about something, "he said kneeling to her .
She put the gun in her shoulder holster and turned to face him "yeah?"
"You've been on the force for what almost 15 years now? Haven't you thought about retiring?"
"You know I can't ,not right now, Not when I have a 6 month back log of Miami scum that needs to be behind bars." She put on her jacket over her white tie less shirt " And let's not forget abut the Decepticons."
"just think about it ok?, You and me we could get our own place outside of Boca Raton, forget about all this and just drive. Maybe a kid or two."
She arched her eyebrow " Us having a kid?"
"You know I mean adopt..." Prowl said bematicly.
Verity couldn't help but smile a little, Prowl had been a huge part of her life, they were partners, they watched each others back and would always be there for the other. Verity growing up bounced from one foster home to another, She simply could not trust people. They would always ultimatly hurt her in the end. That's why she closed herself off to other people. She saw people as marks, things to take advantage of and move on. The she met Prowl, Who was assigned to be her protector, and through that she began to transform herself. Into the person she is now, Someone not afraid to take risks, not afraid to do the right thing, and not afraid to stand up for others.
"You do know that Boca Rotan is home to at least nine gangs all with ties to the Mafia?"
Prowl blinked his optics."Key Largo, Key Largo is nice..."
She knew Prowl wanted the best for her, and wanted to share his life with her. She looked at him coyly
"You were never this mushy..." She said remembering the hard ass she first met, Who always did things by the book. A master strategist, who always had a plan.
"yeah well, things change..."
"I promise you ,I will think about it, but right now we have a job to do." She then dialed Perceptor. "Perceptor, I need a ground bridge.
Then before her in the garage cane the green swirling vortex, she looked at Prowl, you still staying?"
"Yeah I'll be here when you get back..."
She nodded and left through the portal.
Appearing on the other side Verity shook off the teleport and readjusted her eyes to see she was at Autobot Base Gamma Two. She walked in see the usual routines, On the screens Green Light and Mirage were both on patrol around Miami. Perceptor was hard at work on his experiments, and in the platform next to him were April and Yuri as they were having a meal together, And Sunstreaker was by the side watching the Marlins play the Cubs.
Verity was greeted by Elita-One, " Verity!, It's good to see you, What can we do for you?"
"My sources tell me that a local Miami gang is about to receive a shipment of these." She showed Elita a picture of an gun with alien like features. It was the size of a sawed-off shotgun, had various appendages sticking throughout it,
Elita frowned when she looked at it, "it looks like a scaled down version of a Decepticon Axon carbine. They are very low tech, if we get shot by one it stings but isn't fatal."
"What happens if a human gets shot by one?"
Elita winced" Not so good... Their power may be low but it's still bad enough to kill a human ."
"I have a meeting tomorrow with a someone who knows about the buyer, I'm posing as an interested party who works for a weapons manufacture, I can't take Prowl because these gangs know every cop car on the force. I need one of all to accompany me."
"Why can't you check a car out from the impound lot?"Elita asked
"Well yes, the cars there are nice, but here's the big thing, None of them transform into an Autobot and if Im dealing with Cybertronian weapons I'd like one of you on hand." Verity said placing the photos back her large envelope. " While you've been recovering astronauts, I've been working on a case since the Port of Miami, I'm convinced the gangs here have a Decepticon contact, who supplying then with info and weapons. That needs to get shut down, Like yesterday..."
Elita nodded " I would do it, but there are other issues here I need to work on, Mirage and Green light are out, "She turned to Sunstreaker's direction " Sunstreaker I have a job for you!' She sang out.
April and Yuri were just finishing up where April got a call from June. This was the weekend she, Jack ,Miko,and Raf were going to visit. They were going to hit the beach maybe a movie or two. She was eager to introduce Team Elita to her sister ,nephew and the rest of Team Prime.
"Hey!" April answered "Yeah we're all set up come on through." She beamed a huge smile at Yuri.
Back at Jasper,Nevada, June and the kids were all set to enjoy the Miami sun, They had everything packed, a Small lunch, each kid had a bag of clothes, bathing suits and Plenty of sunblock .
Optimus had given permission for Bulkhead, bumblebee, and Arcee to join them ,Arcee knew a good sparring session with Green Light would be in order, She was getting better each session and soon Arcee knew she wouldn't need anymore training.
"ok we're coming through now," June said "Ok guys Let's go!"
Raf was finishing up his conversation with Optimus when June announced it was time to to, "I'll bring you back a seashell!" Raf offered.
'Wow! Ive never been to Miami! How big is the beach? Bulkhead do you wanna do some sand bugging while we're there? I wonder if you can surf!" Miko said excitedly.
"Here let's not wait any further to get you there!" Ratchet said as he worked the ground bridge controls. Ratchet for one was looking forward to a couple days peace, Sure he liked the kids, but he also liked a little peace and quiet to do his work. He opened the ground bridge to Miami.
"Fine I'll make sure you get tickets to at least three Dolphin games and Three Panthers games, but I can't do season tickets to the Heat!" Verity haggled.
"All right, All right I'll be there..." Sunstreaker said " You wont regret having a soldier of my capabilities with you! He bragged shamelessly .
"Thanks, Be at the location I pointed out to you tomorrow at 9 pm, "she looked to Perceptor, "Ground bridge please Perceptor!"
Perceptor activated the base's ground bridge as Verity walked towards it.
"Hey Raf! Race ya!" Miko said as she tore off toward the ground bridge.
"Miko wait!" Jack Darby yelled.
Miko didn't hear Jack, Nor did she hear the ground bridge alert alarms,nor did she hear ratchet's frantic cry for her to move away from the ground bridge.
The same alarm rang out at Autobot Base Gamma Two, Verity was already halfway in the portal when the alarm sounded. Suddenly what sounded like two huge speakers catching each others feedback followed by a screeching sound, But Miko and Verity were caught by a sudden surge of energy in the ground bridge.
Pretty much what happened was what happens when someone walks in through the out door when someone is exiting through that same door. Except Miko and Verity were caught but the energies of the ground bridge as the ground bridged were repelling each other.
The entire system shut down with a flash and sparks as both ground control systems went offline. Verity and Miko were both knocked back into their respective bases,
"Miko!"jack cried out as he knelt over her body.
"Detective Carlo!"Elita shouted "April, get down here now! She's hurt!"
April raced over , She knelt over Verity and could tell she was breathing ok, Pulse was good she even started to come around slowly.
"Verity! Verity! Can you hear me?' April asked " I think she just got a little cooked." She looked to see Perceptor putting out the small fire of the ground bridge controls.
Elita went to the console to call the other Autobot base,
"Ratchet this is Gamma Two come in are you guys ok!"
Arcee answered the call " Racthet and June are tending to Miko, she got zapped by some kind of feedback from the bridge!"
"We have someone down over here as well but it looks like she's ok"
Miko slowly opened her eyes to see April and Yuri kneeling over her, "Verity! Verity! hey can you hear me?" April said while holding her hand.
Miko blinked twice before sitting up on her elbows
'Woah! That was totally cool!, can we do that again?" She said in a tone no one has ever heard use before. "Bulkhead That' was like sticking your head in a microwave!"
Verity's could hear voices softly calling .
"Miko!...Miko!...Miko " She heard come into clarity. June then began to dig her knuckles into her chest. Nurses did this to wake up patients as there was a group of nerves in top of the sternum , that cause such a pain it woke up anyone.
Verity didn't like that as she grabbed June by the small of her wrist and squeeze the tiny bones at the top of her wrists. June winced and grunted in pain as Verity sat up still holding on to the tight grip of her hands.
"That huts, you know..." She said sitting up, Then she realized She wasn't at the Autobot base anymore, well Not Elita One's base.
Releasing her grip on June Verity looked around and looked herself over, Standing up she saw she was shorter. She reached for her gun and saw it wasn't there, then she saw she wasn't wearing her clothes, or her own body for that matter.
"What's going on," She thought as she felt her hair that was tied up in two big ponytai's that were black with pink streaks
"that's not my hair..."
She then felt her her butt,and how tiny it was "That's defiantly NOT mine.!"
Jack came behind her and put a hand ot her shoulder " Miko! It's ok ,your ok.."
Verity turned away violently." What do you keep calling me Miko! I am Detective Verity Carlo of the Miami Police Department!"
"Miko calm down!' Bulkhead said "What's wrong with you?"
Ratchet then answered another call from Miami. It was Elita one
"Ratchet I think we have a big problem. Verity's eyes widen in horror as she saw herself on camera looking very confused and talking so fat she barely understood what she was saying,
"Verity isn't acting like herself..."Elita said.
"It appears that Miko isnt acting like herself either," Ratchet said trying to hide his worry." Our ground bridge is offline and I will need to do repairs."
"Ours is offline too ,Perceptor is working in it, what do we do about these two in the meantime?"
Then Miko searched Verity's holster and found her service pistol.
"Cool! I have a gun!" She pointed it and accidentally fired off two rounds!
Elita ducked as a bullet barely grazed her head. She saw April holding back Verity as Yuri snatched the gun from her and removed the clip and round in the chamber.
"We need to work fast to fix this..." Elita One said.
A/N : yeah I'm going there, Im doing the body swap storyline. I threw in one big reference and im wondering if anyone caught it. We shall see. Guys. Let's have a "Come To Primus "talk. Am I losing you guys? Cause ive noticed the stats are dropping off and the reviews have almost grind-ed to a halt. Don'tworry ,i wont hold my story hostage for reviews, i'd never do that (I.e If I dont get x-amount of reviews I wont write another chapter!) no guys I would never do that. But letting me know your there is nice , I do appreciate your comments, Thank you MEElEEsmasher for your comment. =)
NEXT TIME- While Ratchet and Perceptor race to fix the ground bridge and come up with a solution to switch Miko and Verity's minds. With the deadline for the Rosario meeting looming, Verity's link to the Decepticon contact lies solely on Miko and Sunstreaker working together. Also Verity and Bulkhead find an unexpected common ground.