Transformers Prime :Miami
Chapter 11 : Hard Sell
"Ok Ratchet now that you have the components in place have a Nurse Darby place the sensors over the head, Like is doing." Perceptor instructed as the two sisters placed wires sensors over the face , top of the head and back of the head on Verity and Miko.
"what is this machine again?" June asked placing the last of the diodes on Verity's head.
"This Nurse Darby , is a Spark Illuminator, we use it to map out an Autobots Spark, Now Ratchet and I have re-calibrated the system to measure the human Soul Matrix. "
"wait this thing can measure the human soul?" April asked
"Yes, that is what I said "Perceptor said while prepping the computer console. " I believe that when the two entered the ground bridge , the feedback from the repulsing energies caused the two to switch bodies."
With the two hooked up Perceptor gave Ratchet the nod to start up the computer. Instantly both groups were amazed at what they saw. In Jasper, They saw in flesh Miko, but on the computer monitor behind her in a thermal imaging was the image of Verity, likewise in Miami. Verity could be seen in real life but on the terminal behind her was the thermal imagine of Miko Nakadai.
"That's both amazing and errie…."Jack said "Can you reverse them?"
"First we need to get the ground bridge repaired, and then Perceptor and I will have to come up with a solution."Ratchet said as he rubbed his chin .
"Can't we just send them back they way they came through?" Raf suggested.
"Normally you'd think that would be the case, But I fear if we attempt to recreate the event, it may cause irreparable damage to the ground bridge and the overload may do worse than just switch their bodies ,"Perceptor said " I fear it may be fatal."
Verity pulled off the diaodes from her head and face " So how long are we talking? And hour or two?"
"Detective Carlo, I fear it may take at least a week to fix the ground bridge alone.." Ratchet said grimly
'NO! I don' think so!" Verity shouted. " I have an important undercover mission tomorrow night!"
June put a hand on Verity "I'm sorry but you can't put Miko in that kind of danger!"
"and I'm not about to lose my chance to get a Decepticon arms dealer and his weapons out of the hands of Miami's gangs!"She protested " Optimus Prime, there is a rouge Decpticon about to wage war on the streets of Miami, Tomorrow night is the night I find out who the decpticon is who is handing out Decpticon hardware on the streets!"
"it's no prob! I can handle it! Send me on the stakeout!" Miko said ,Posing in Verity's body that made Verity herself want to wring her own neck.
"Verity," Elita one chimed in " We aren't about to let that happen, and we aren't about to let Miko get hurt in any way. We'll be on hand during the mission watching Miko every step of the way."
"I'll go too!" April said without hesitation " Verity, let me know what to look out for and who we are suppose to meet with and I can make sure it goes smoothly!"
"April Chirstine Sullivan!" June said sternly " You will not be going on an undercover stakeout!"
"June, we don't have a lot of choice, Miko will be out there by herself, I can watch her closely."
"But who will watch over you, April?June demanded,
"if I may….Yuri said, " Before I was a Russian cosmonaut I was a Russian soldier, they will be safe if I am nearby."
Verity groaned, Of all the weeks for her to switch bodies, it had to be this one.
You want me to break this to Prowl or are you?" She asked thinking of her partner.
Verity sighed as after an hour of doing her best to prepare Team Elita, She was in bulkhead being driven to Miko's home. It was decided that the two should do their best to live in each other's shoes as best they could until a solution could be reached. This was the last week of Miko's school year before summer vacation began. From what she understood about Miko's life, She mainly went straight from school to the Autobot's base to hang out to her host parent's home.
Verity was in an out of foster homes when she was a kid, the few times she did go to school, she barely talked to anyone much less made friends. She was thankful she only had a week of schooling to pose as a 15 year old kid.
"So are you hungry or anything?" Bulkhead offered " Miko usually like to grab a bite at the KO burger before I take her home."
Food was the furthest thing from Verity's mind, still she had to be mindful she wasn't in her own body and even though it wasn't Miko's fault she was in the predicament they were in. She at least owed it to her to care for something that wasn't hers.
"umm yeah sure, I guess so " She said.
It was all still surreal to Bulkhead, Miko was his best friend, They were in thick and thin together over the last year. But now, Even though it was Miko's body sitting in his cab, it was a completely different person. From the way she sat, the way she held herself. It was defiantly someone older. Bulkhead started to worry about his Miko who was in the body of a 35 year old policewoman in Miami,
"At least she's getting some good sun," He thought, He knew she would be safe around team Elita. They were the specialists and it was missions like this they were most at ease doing.
"So um ratchet tell me you;ve actually ran with the Autobots before?" Bulkhead asked
Verity nodded her head "Yup about 15 years ago, I served under Ultra Magnus and Springer."
"Woah woah wait!" Bulkhead cut in "You worked with the Wreckers?"
"I didn't just work , I was a Wrecker… " She said "I served under Springer, I was the first human to join their ranks."
"I was a wrecker too! "Bulkhead said " I served with wheeljack! We fought at Tygers paxx."
Verity nodded "I've heard of your unit from Kup."
"Kup! Yeah!I remember that old rustbucket! Last I heard from him he and Magnus were chasing the seeker to the Krath galaxy, so your THAT verity Carlo!" Bulkhead asked
"if your talking about the human who helped Scorpinok find a new hole to get buried in , yeah," Verity said smiling for the first time today. Bulkhead bellowed a loud laugh and nearly lost control on the road.
" Rule no1: Stick together!" Bulkhead reciting saying the rules of being a Wrecker.
"Rule no 2: Keep Calm " Verity responded
"Rule no 3: Don't make it personal " Bulkhead remember the first time he learned that rule the hard way.
"Rule no 4: Always focus on the positives." Verity said remember the many times Kup lectured that to her.
"Rule no 5: Stay the course."
"And Rule no 6," Verity said as she and Bulkhead said in unison.
"Never ,Ever show any sign of weakness!"
"Wreckers don't call for back up, they call for clean up!" Bulkhead shouted
"Wreck N'Rule!" Verity followed up.
"Believe it or not there's another wrecker on Earth, do you know Wheeljack?" Bulkhead asked.
"The name sounds familiar, I think Ironfist mentioned him" Verity said " When they left for the Krath galaxy is when I left them, That was about 15 years ago."
It was weird, here this person was in Miko's body nut now they were talking old war stories from days long ago, from Bulkheads time in Darkmount to verity's time at G-9 the Decepticon prison.
Saturday night crept in Miami as Team Elita moved into position at Liberty City. Miko and April sat in sunstreaker as he drove them to the meeting point, far Behind Yuri rode in Elita-one . The plan was for them to attend the meet while Elita and the others stayed close behind in case of any trouble. April followed Verity's advice and dressed like Verity did, Black blazer over a red shirt and black slacks.
"Ok you two are you clear what's going down again?" Elita one asked
"we find this huncio and make him talk! "Miko said enthusiasticly
"Try to find out who the supplier is as discreetly as we can. " April said "Miko now these are gun runners.."
Miko rolled her eyes 'puuleeze, ive tangled with Cons, a few gang bangers are not gonna be a problem!"
"Why Do I get the feeling this is going to be a long night," Sunstreaker said "Look at the first sign of trouble you girls need to run, let me handle the rough spots."
April cracked her knuckles, it was a bad habit she only did when she was very very nervous. Like now, She had long heard stories about Miko, but never thought they could be true until she met her in real life. Even though she was in verity's body, it was apparent how different her mannerisms were. How impulsive she could be, April realized a bad situation could turn worse very fast.
"Yuri this is April are you reading me?" She asked over her Bluetooth
"Da April, I am hearing loud and clear! "Yuri said as he rode in Elita-One about 200 yards back. At Prowl's insistence Yuri had the large weapon and was the person to provide cover fire in case Miko and April had to make a fast exit. Prowl as expected didn't take news to Verity's accident well. After a long conversation with Verity back in Jasper, Prowl agreed to work with the Autobots as back up. Verity instructed Prowl to let Yuri have his pick of her weapon collection back home.
Out of all the rifles and automatics Yuri of course chose the AK-47. It was the first rifle he learned to use when he first enlisted in the Russian was hoping it wouldn't have to come down to using it, but he was willing to protect April and Miko if he had too.
He was still getting use to the fact that his new robot friends could turn into vehicles, and nice ones at that. The form in which Elita one chose was a car he had never seen before but instantly liked, and he really liked the color.
"Yuri how are you doing? You up for this?" Elita asked.
"I am a little nervous ,Yes. I have long heard of the crime in America, I can't imagine what it would be like if it were as you said, they have alien weapons. There is much I am getting used to,no?" He said thinking of what he had to catch up to so far ,Living in a new century that he was sure he would not have lived to see if his two countries went to war.
It's going to be ok, Yuri." Elita assured "The last thing we want is harm to come to any human life, even if they are trying to hurt us."
"Hey Elita," miko asked through her Bluetooth. " Why aren't you all with Team Prime back in Jasper? I mean you all Autobots right?"
"it's true Miko, we are on the same team, But we have special orders, See Miami happens to be over the Autobot emergency reserve of Energon, It's our duty to guard it. If we ever lost that ,the Autobots could very well lose the war" Elita said " Optimus knew about the supply but requested a special detachment from Ultra Magnus, He feared that Megatron would find out the locations of the reserve through where Prime was at."
"oh ok, I get it…I think " miko said scratching her head.
Dusk set as the convoy turned into the road that led up to the meeting place, Mirage and Elita one took positions nearby where they could reach them in a moments notice if they had to, Sunstreaker went ahead on with the two inside. Miko and April both had pistols but neither were armed with bullets, April refused to use a gun and even had to be persuaded to carry one, and it was all agreed that Miko shouldn't have a loaded gun. Still they needed to have the appearance they could take care of themselves.
"Ok Sunstreaker we'll be nearby monitoring you, Green Light you have our eyes above." Elita said
"Roger that Elita one, From what I can see there are about 20 cars and close to 100 people amassing, It looks like some kind of party.." Green Light said as she flew over the site."I'm not reporting any Energon signatures so far."
Far way in Japser, Verity sat in Miko's bedroom, She had paced the teenagers room back and forth . She still could not believe it as she looked in the mirror at the face staring back at her. Short ,Japanese and she wore too much hair dye. Immediately she took down her hair, and hit the shower, Scrubbing every last bit of dye out she finally got it to a normal color. She promised herself she could take care of the body, but she knew taking out the dye and changing the outfit wouldn't harm much.
She went through her closet and found an outfit that agreed with her tastes more. She wore a blue jeans skirt over black leggings and put on a long sleeve skin tight black shirt that she wore a red sleeveless shirt over, rounding out the look the took an old gray cap and wore it backwards over her black hair.
She heard a knock at the door "miko? You have a visitor, It's the Darby boy." Said Miko's host mom.
Verity met jack outside, as he stood by Arcee. He looked a little shocked over the new look Verity had picked out.
"H-hey!" He said " I see you've made yourself comfortable. The new look is very …90's"
"Ha Ha, Darby " She said dryly " What can I do for you?"
"Actually I was wondering if you might need to go out and clear your head, maybe grab a bite to eat?"
"Are you asking me out on a date Jack…." Verity asked teasingly.
"Trust me, your not his type, even looking like Miko…" Arcee said rather defensively.
" I think what Arcee is trying to say is , we just want to make sure your doing ok, despite the stress your going through." Jack said handing Verity a helmet.
Verity put on the helmet and slid behind Jack, Arcee had an unexpected kick which cause her to grip him a little tight. 20 minuets later they had gathered burgers from KO and stopped near lookout peak. The part where you could get a great view of the Starlight Drivein. Tonight some alien movie was playing.
"Your worried aren't you?" jack said looking at Verity.
"That's a calm way to put it, I put 6 months of my life into this investigation, and to have to sit on the sidelines during the crucial part of it. UGH, I just want to shoot something!" she growled.
Arcee answered a communication from base, "Arcee, we are picking up an energon reading close to your area, go and check it out" Ratchet said " optimus will meet you there.
"ok you two stay here I'll be back..."arcee said as she jetted off.
Verity looked at Jack as he simply sat there eating his burger, "Really Kid?" She said .
She picked up up by the arm "Hey Arcee said to stay behind!" He protested.
"Kid you have a lot to learn if your going to help these guys out!"
"And we say Miko is impulsive!"Jack said being drugged by Verity.
The Saturday night race in Liberty City was in full swing. Cars tore off in unison to race and shred the dirt road of the long abandoned warehouse. From all around people from the ages of 18-25 gathered to listen to music spun by a DJ ,party and race.
Miko and April got out of the crowd and soaked up the crowd, They were there to meet a racer by the name of Deshawn, Deshawn Caldero ran with the 804 crew,A small time gang in Miami. It didnt take long for them to walk around before they were whisked away by two large men with tattoos and taken before Deshawn.
Miko smirked as she prepared her poker face, all she needed to do was get a name from this guy something she was good at doing. Of course all Deshawn saw was Verity Carlo, She had no idea that she had the mind of a 15 year old kid in there.
"You must be the new drivers!" Deshawn said."I was only expecting one. " He said eying April.
April blinked and though fast " yeah ,I uh ,I work for her..."
"well first, RSVP next time and second, shut up..." he stood up to get closer to them."if you all want in you need to prove what you can do on the strip."
"I trust you brought a car..."Luis said
Miko laughed "You see that yellow power car back there! It can smoke any car you have."
"We'll see about that, You see those crews over there" He pointed out two two groups of loudly dressed gang bangers. They were congregated around a couple cars. Two muscle cars and two convertibles.
"There's a race for pink slips in 20 minuets, you get me there cars,We'll talk about your membership. He said as he said back down at the table filled with beers and half empty whiskey bottles.
Miko and April walked back to sunstreaker, "Don't worry I got this..."
"Street racing! What makes you think you arent going to lose Sunstreaker?" April hissed.
"Im from the land where they invented street racing!" She boasted, as they got into Sunstreaker."Sunny , we are going racing!"
"Racing? Ha! You just sit back and enjoy the ride, oh and if you heave in my floor seat, I'll dump you in the everglades!" Sunstreaker said
"No way! I can win this race!" miko protested
"Im sure you could, but no one drives me but me!"he said as they drover to the race site.
"Sunstreaker has a point, Elita said, "Besides ,the rate I have to reign him in on the weekends ,this assingment is a dream for him.
"Even in another body , I cant have any fun! "Miko pouted,
They got to the race line, "Ok April this. Is where you get out, " Susntreaker ordered. April got out and was silently saying Hail marys. Five cars were lined up along the road as the race MC took over .
"Boys and girls!" The large bald headed man drenched in gold chains announced " The rules are simple! Follows the race markers and the first one across the line wins, the loses will give up them pink slips!" He said as he moved out the way. In his place was a Cuban girl with too much makeup and falling out of her hot pants.
"Relax miko, This race is won, besides we don't really come with pinks slips.." Sunstreaker as as Miko gripped his steering wheel.
"Are you faster than Bumblebee? " she asked
"Only one is faster than me and he's on another planet." Sunstreaker said revving his engines.
Far off from the site in the air Green Light hung low in the air, It was the highest she felt comfortable. She was monitoring the race , and so far all was quiet. " She was busy tuned into Netflix rematching some My Little Pony. She was barely into her favorite Fluttershy episode when she was completely blindsided by a projectile
"I'm hit! I'm hit! I'm going down!She screamed as she went into a dead-spin as she tried to regain control. She heard mo response as whatever hit her knocked out her communication, She barely could steer herself as she missed some buildings and crashed into a pier. She transformed as she fell on her back, Smoke and electricity fizzed all around her. The last sigh she saw before blacking out was a green SUV pull up and three men all dressed form head to to toe in green military gear.
"Get to the rally point, I'm going to have some girl time with this one..." she heard female voice say as she then felt her back head casing being pried open and various wires being hooked in. Green Light could then feel her systems being accessed...
A/N : Writer's block ,thou art a heartless bitch. This chapter was tough to wrie as I got hit with a major case of writers block. I am working though it but it is tough. Still, some of you could help out and leave a comment or two get my plot bunnies going. I'm going to have to make the chapters shorter until something gets reignited.
NEXT TIME: The true face of the contact is revealed as even more shocking as who he is in line with. Verity teaches Jack some old school tricks as she tries to live a week in Miko's shoes.