Title: Transformers II No World for Tomorrow
Genre: Action/Drama/Romance
Rating: T for mild language, some strong violence, some crude and sexual humor.
Summary: An Autobot who betrayed Optimus Prime and her best friend shows up again, being hunted by those who she conspired with, The Decepticons. For what purpose, only Sam and Mikaela can wonder.
~Chapter Nine~
No Humor
It had taken Sam a very long time to talk his parents into letting him go with the Autobots to meet the two new arrivals. The very minute he told them that he was going with them, late in the evening, Ron and Judy Witwicky put up a fight about how late it was getting for leaving the base. And it didn't help at all when they started fussing over Mikaela, Trent or even Elena going out either. Mikaela didn't mind it as much. But Trent and Elena stared dryly at the older couple with dry humor.
They weren't used to having someone fuss over them at all.
It was after Sam said that Trent and Elena had never seen the Earth falls before and Optimus swearing an oath to protect the teenagers, himself that changed their minds. They definitely felt a lot better to know that the Autobot Leader would personally protect the kids. And of course, The Witwicky couple had set up a curfew, which had Sam silently swearing that he must have been adopted. Trent would have laughed at Sam and made fun of him if he wasn't under the same curfew, which definitely had him nearly regretting ever meeting Ron and Judy. Elena and Mikaela, however, giggled a little together about how cute it was to see the two guys so flustered and embarrassed.
Almost all of Autobots were going out of the base, nearly a mile away from the dam to greet Hound and Mirage. Even Spitfire had gone out with the Autobots, yet under the watchful eyes of Ratchet and Ironhide. It was due to the fact that the medicbot had to be with the welcoming committee so that he could run scans on Hound and Mirage for any possible injuries they might get in the landing.
However, before they left the base to the landing spot, Ratchet had deactivated Spitfire's weapons system and had attached two electro magnetic bands around her wrists and ankles. In the case of her deciding to try and betray them again or attack for no apparent reason, Ratchet would activate the bands, which would immediately send out a signal to the bands and cause them to attract the bands together. In other words, they were almost like handcuffs and shackles that would immediately bind her arms together as well as her feet to keep her from moving.
Though, it was not Spitfire's intentions to cause any trouble at all. She had already sworn that she would not betray Optimus again and she meant it. The other Autobots just didn't believe her.
While waiting out under the night sky for the arrival of Hound and Mirage, Spitfire had caught Bumblebee watching her from the far side of the group. She knew very well that he wasn't allowed to be near her, and she didn't mind. She didn't really want him near her as it was. But it didn't stop form looking at her. She met his optics a few times and would end up staring right back before sharply tearing her gaze away from him. It didn't go un-noticed at all. Everyone had noticed the tension between the once best friends. And in a way, it bothered Sam.
"You going to be okay?"
Sam tore his eyes away from staring at Bumblebee and Spitfire, looking at Trent, who was standing next to him. In truth, it had surprised him that his rival was even near him, more or less talking to him without any taunting or cruelty. And it definitely surprised him that Trent was actually sounding a little concerned. "Huh?" He asked, frowning.
Trent's eyes flickered past Sam to Spitfire and Bumblebee, noting that the two were staring at one another again in misery. He nodded upward at them, as he looked back at Sam. "Those two. It's crazy, huh? Once best friends, but something blew up and now they kind of hate each other." He gave a low snort of laughter. "It's kind of crazy." He said, running his hand through his blonde hair.
Sam had to nod as he glanced back at Bee and Spitfire again, looking a little strained. "Yeah. Crazy. Tell you the truth, I don't know why he never told me about her before."
"Sam," Mikaela spoke up quietly, after hearing a little of what her boyfriend and her Ex-boyfriend had been saying to each other. She looked just as strained and she was a little. She was very worried about Bumblebee, actually. "Maybe Bee just didn't tell you because he didn't want you to worry. Or, it hurt him to even remember what happened. You heard Sides today." She moved her head closer to his and even a little closer to Trent so that he could hear too. "They were best friends. And they kind of had a thing for each other. For god's sake, they could have been together, like us if she hadn't betrayed......."
"I can hear you and I'm pretty sure Bumblebee can too." Spitfire ground out from where she was standing. And she sure sounded irritated.
Jumping a little and wincing, the teenagers turned and smiled meekly up at the Autobots, who were glancing down at them. Most of the Autobots were smirking or chuckling, while Hot Rod was definitely not one of them. He was actually glaring over at Spitfire but kept his mouth shut.
"Sorry." Mikaela said, laughing a little, though weakly.
Spitfire just looked away, not bothering to look at Bumblebee any more. In fact, she was keeping her gaze adverted from anyone now. There was almost a stony look on her face, as if she was annoyed that the human teenagers were even talking about her and Bumblebee's past life.
However, both Maggie and Glenn were a little confused so they moved over to where Sam, Mikaela, Trent and Elena were standing, glancing uneasily between Spitfire and Bumblebee before turning their attention onto the teens. "Okay. I'm a little confused. What were you talking about that pissed her off?" The pudgy black hacker asked.
Sam just let out a sigh and shook his head. "Short story, Bumblebee and Spitfire used to be best friends before she betrayed the Autobots for the Deceptions, unwillingly. Seems like that Megatron threatened Bee to get her to do it. And because of her betrayal, a lot of Autobots died." He murmured to them.
Both hackers winced and looked pitifully up at the Autobots, Spitfire especially. "Oh. That's so sad. If she didn't have a choice, I don't see why everyone's so tense. I bet she feels terrible for doing it." Maggie spoke quietly.
Elena nodded, her eyes looking sadly up at her Guardian. She was obviously feeling the same pressure for Spitfire as the Ex-Valkyrie did herself. "Believe me, she does. Since I've even known her, she's always been a little quiet when it came to her past. But when she told me everything, I heard how terrible she felt." She shook her head as she looked at the others, meeting Sam's eyes. "Spitfire told me that Cybertronians couldn't really cry like we do. But she does. I saw it every time she tried to tell me about her days with the Autobots......."
"Elena." Spitfire said almost warningly, making the young teen's head snap right up and looked a little uneasy. The femme wasn't looking at her but there was a stony look on her face. She didn't speak again though but she didn't have to.
"Okay, we need to do something about this tense moment right now." Glenn said, grimacing before looking over at the twins. "So, what's their story? Why don't they this Mirage guy?"
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, obviously, heard that because they both turned their optics onto Glenn, giving him and the human teens a very annoyed look. It was almost funny to see that look on their faces. "Trust me when I say this, dude." the Silver mech grumbled. "If you've met Mirage, you'd be feeling the very same way we do."
"The guy has no sense of humor. Literately." Sunstreaker remarked.
"Sounds like someone we just met." Epps chuckled, nudging Lennox, who was smirking.
Growling, Sunstreaker glared at him, knowing very well that he was talking about himself. It was true that Sunstreaker didn't have much of a sense of humor unless it was against someone else. "Want to find yourself glued to the ground, squishy? Because I've read on the World Wide Web that Gorilla glue works wonders." The yellow mech growled.
"You just try it, Sunspot. Let's see how pretty you look when I give you a new paint job." Epps shot right back, grinning. "How about hot pink? Talking about lovely."
That definitely spiked up Sunstreaker's temper, only a lot. Growling in a threating way, he started moving forward, his blaster gun now starting to glow. But Sideswipe, who had found Epps a little funny grabbed a hold of his twin's arm, trying not to laugh. Even some of other Autobots were smirking or laughing. Even Spitfire seemed to have found some amusement and was smirking, herself.
"Oh, come on, Bobby." Maggie spoke up, trying not to laugh, herself before looking up at Sunstreaker with a warm smile. "Don't take a piss with him. Besides, I think he looks fine yellow. He might not have a sunny personality, but I think he's rather lovely the way he is."
Sunstreaker merely glanced at her, looking slightly smug.
"Peh, please, Mags. Don't boost up his ego, as if it can go any higher." chuckled Ironhide, shaking his head. Sunstreaker shot him a dark look for his remark.
"Uh.....why would Epps want to take a piss with Sunstreaker? He'd probably get lubricated on. " Sam asked, frowning. He, like Trent and Mikaela looked a little confused. And even Epps had raised an eyebrow at Maggie's remark.
Frowning impatiently and rolling her eyes, Maggie looked over at the teens, shaking her head. "I swear," She said dryly. "You guys really need to learn about multi-cultures. 'Taking a piss' does not mean peeing somewhere or on someone. It's British-Australian slang humor. It means to joke around."
"Oh." Sam, Trent and Epps said at the same time while everyone else just laughed silently.
"No, but seriously. What's wrong with the Mirage guy?" Lennox asked, still laughing a little about what was just said.
Optimus, chuckling, shook his head as he glanced over at the twins and even Hot Rod. He knew very well why they didn't like Mirage. It was a known fact between the Autobots that Mirage wasn't the cheeriest Cybertronians. "There is nothing wrong with Mirage. He's a fine officer and a brilliant warrior on the battlefield. It's just, well....." He stopped himself while chuckling at the memories.
"It's only the fact that since the twins tried to pull a prank on Mirage and it back fired right back at them, Mirage has taken the liberty of scaring the Pit out of them every time they see each other." Ratchet said chuckling, himself while looking smug himself because the twins were grimacing.
"Uh....." Sam muttered, somewhat stupidly.
"The slagging guy has no sense of humor! He's so fragging serious unless he's popping out of nowhere scaring the Pit out of us!" Sides exclaimed throwing his hands into the air.
"Boo." came a very low and eerie voice out of nowhere. And it was one that the humans were not familiar with at all.
So, naturally, everyone jumped, the girls screaming and latching onto a guy they were nearest to. Even the two teen boys and the two soldiers had to jump with shouts of surprise as they looked around with wide eyes to where the voice was coming from. The only ones who didn't look entirely startled was Optimus and Ratchet, who both thundering with laughter. So obviously, they weren't surprised.
It did not help at all when a large dark alien robot just flickered into view, seeming to melt right out of the very shadows as if he was a ghost. He was standing right behind the twins, who nearly jumped several feet off the ground and made the earth shudder violently under their large feet. They came close to stepping on the humans from trying to jump away from the sudden arrival of the Autobots. Of course, the humans showed up at them, yelling at them to watch it.
"Slag it, Mirage! Don't do that!!" Both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both exclaimed at the same time, glaring hatefully at the new Autobot.
"Whoa! Whoa! Where the hell did he come from?!" Epps yelled, still in shock like the others were.
Optimus and Ratchet were still roaring with laughter after the sudden appearance of their comrade. And even after a minute, Ironhide and Arcee had to join in, while watching the twins glare at Mirage. But after a long moment, they finally calmed down and gave the new arrival a welcoming nod. "Please, my friends, forgive us for not telling you. Mirage only arrived a moments ago and ahead of Hound so that he could greet the twins in his own way. He landed on the other side of the dam before coming down to us in his camo-shield, which is what makes him appear to be invisible to the naked eye. It's very difficult to see him even if he's right in front of you." The Autobot Leader informed them before clapping a hand over his faceplate and still looked amused. "I only had to respect his wishes." He told them.
"Slag it, sir! That's so not funny!" Sideswipe whined still glaring at Mirage.
It only brought up some more laughter from the other Autobots and even from the humans as they slowed down their own hearts. Now that they were calming down, it was kind of funny. Mirage just smirked at the twins, looking smug for sneaking up on them once again. "Just another warning to not try and pull any pranks on me, Sides and Sunny. Or kick Blaster off a cliff just like you did before departing from Cybertron to come to Earth to join Prime and our comrades."
"Sla-ag! This is about that little joke we pulled on Blaster?! Come on! It didn't hurt him! We knew that you'd catch him before he hit the ground!" Sides, once again, whined.
Mirage gave the silver mech a very dry smile before turning his hot blue optics onto Optimus, growing serious again. It scared the humans of how quick his mood had changed. So it was becoming clear of why the twins were so nervous about this Autobot in the first place. But what surprised them even more was when the new Autobot actually dropped down to one knee before Optimus and bowed his head in reverent respect of him. "Optimus Prime, sir." He spoke softly.
Letting out a light laugh, Optimus shook his head before motioning to Mirage to stand up. "Mirage, my old friend. How many times do I have to tell you not to bow down to me?" He asked, lightly.
"Only once more, sir." Mirage said, standing up and smiling at the Autobot Leader. Then he turned his optics upward to the sky when there came a low boom.
Everyone looked up at the sky just as there came a flash of light and they saw a large meteor falling out of the dark clouds above them. It came streaming across the sky towards the earth, yet several yards away from the group. It was obviously the other Autobot arrival. Everyone waited and watched as the Autobot fell heavily towards the ground before striking the earth and sending up nearly a ton of dirt and rocks into the air. Fire and smoke curled up towards the sky once it settled and then everyone began to move towards the landing sight. The Autobots didn't even have to transform to carry the humans. It was a decent walking distance to where the Autobot called Hound had landed.
They approached the large crater, just as the new Autobot climbed out. He seemed to have found something amusing because he was chuckling as he climbed out and then dusted himself off. He almost had the same build as Ratchet and was nearly the same size as him too. His optics, like all of the other Autobots, were bright glowing blue.
"Welcome to Earth, Hound. We're glad that you could join us." Optimus said, smiling at the new arrival.
The Autobot merely glanced up at the Autobot leader before running his metallic hand over his arm frame, leaving a metallic screech and causing a few of the humans to grimace at the sound. "Opps. Sorry." He muttered when he noticed. It surprised everyone that he was actually speaking with a Southern accent. He then looked around at everyone, hands on his waist. "Well, this sure is a grand ol' welcoming committee. I'm so glad ya'll came to welcome me." He then clicked his metallic fingers when he glanced at Bumblebee. "Oh, yeah. Got a special lil' gift for you, Bumblebee. Finally found the fraggin' thing at Tyger Pax and got it all repaired for ya." He reached into his chest plate, which made a click as a hidden compartment opened up from within then he pulled out a device. "Look what I found." He said in a singsong.
Bumblebee literately lit up. His eyes optics grew very bright and the headlights from his alter form flashed on brightly. He could've been grinning when he looked at the device in Hound's hand. That's when his radio kicked on, loud and clear.
"I'm so excited! I'm so delighted!" Then his radio repeated Elvis Presley's, "Thank you, thank you, thank you very much.....You're nothing but a Hound dog!"
Everyone laughed a little, even Spitfire had to smile to see his cheerful side again. Sam, smiling, glanced at Mikaela, Trent and Elena, who looked just as curious as he was. "What is that?" Mikaela was the one to ask.
Hound glanced down at her before lightly bouncing the device in his hand up and down. "This, my darling, is Bumblebee's voice processor. The one that Mega-breath crushed and ripped right out of Bee. Took me nearly forever to find it in Tyger Pax, literately. And nearly longer to even fix it. Bee," He said looking back at the young Autobot. "Do not go getting this ripped out again. It was nearly impossible to repair." He then tossed it over to Ratchet, who caught it easily. "And it's easy to put in when ya got Ol' Hatchet around."
"Hound! What did I tell you about calling me that?!" Ratchet demanded in annoyance as he was already moving towards the bouncing yellow and black mech.
"Wait a second." Mikaela said, frowning. "If that is Bee's voice processor and his only way to talk, then how is it that he's been able to talk? I mean, in Mission City, Bee talked before. He actually spoke up and then at the car rally when Sam was asking him about driving Spitfire."
"Darlin', the great thing about Cybertronian technology or any technology for that matter is on how many words you can just take right off the radio system and string them together to make you're own sentences." The new but obviously highly intelligent Autobot explained. "Bumblebee was only using a device of mine that takes words right off the web and making them into his own. He wasn't exactly speaking with his own voice but just from the device that I had given him before he took off from Cybertron to look for the All Spark. Thing is, he can't use it all of the time because it takes some Energon from him. Besides.....wait.....what?" Then he shut up as if something just hit him.
There was literately a dead silence the very minute Mikaela's words kicked in their processors and even mentioning Spitfire. Both Hound and Mirage looked very blank when they processed her words before they looked somewhat confused. "Spitfire?" The very serious Autobot asked before he turned his head and noticed Spitfire for the first time.
"Oh, Slag." Ironhide groaned, now growing tense.
For a moment, Mirage's optics flashed red when he saw the femme before he was shoving right past the twins, and charging at her. He moved too quick for anyone to actually acknowledge before there was a loud crash as he grabbed Spitfire around the neck and lift her up off the ground.
"Mirage!" Optimus shouted just as everyone jumped forward to stop him.
Spitfire had yelped sharply when Mirage attacked her but she did not move at all to stop him from trying to crush her vocals system. There had been a scream and it took a few seconds to realize that it was Elena as she tried to rush forward. But Trent and Sam both grabbed her and held her back as they looked at the scene with horror.
There were several shouts as they watched Mirage tighten his hold around Spitfire's neck. He looked rather vicious now that he had lost some senses. He didn't even acknowledge Bumblebee quickly grabbing his wrist trying to pry his hand loose from Spitfire's neck. Ironhide joined in to trying to pry open his hand and even tried to pull him back away from her. "Mirage! No! Let go!" He shouted.
"You!" Mirage hissed, angrily as he glared at Spitfire. "You murderous traitor! You Pitspawn from the deepest pit!"
"Mirage! Release Spitfire and stand down!" Optimus ordered, now grabbing the Autobot's shoulder and lightly pulling at him. He even had to use some of his authority as the Prime to make his officer stop from trying to kill Spitfire.
For a long moment, Mirage didn't move or act as if he even heard Optimus' order. He just glared hatefully at the femme bot that he was attempting to harm, looking at her with such ferociousness. But after a long moment, he gave a threatening hiss before throwing Spitfire to the ground. She collapsed before, gasping as if she really had been choked like a human would have been. She just laid sprawled on her side now rubbing at her throat and wincing as she tried to push herself up. She flinched a little when Ratchet quickly dropped down beside her and began running scans on her chest plate, obviously checking Starscream's device before looking at her neck.
"Oh, man. Spitfire's here?" Hound now asked, looking at the femme with alarm. "I didn't see her on my scanners." He looked up at Optimus who was now pulling Mirage away from Spitfire and trying to calm him down. "Sir, what is she doing here? I thought she was in the top ten most hated list."
Optimus let out a low sigh as he kept a hold of Mirage, making sure he moved farther away from Spitfire. He let his optics flicker over to her just as Bumblebee tried to help her up, but of course, she tried to pull away from him and put some distance between them. "There is a lot that needs to be explained, my friends. I should have warned you first, so please forgive me. But Spitfire is merely our prisoner and must not be harmed. We will explain the situation back at the base. But for now, you need to calm yourself, Mirage." He told him.
"Damn, that guy doesn't like Spitfire, does he?" Epps said, as soon as everyone started to calm down their selves. He, like everyone, was definitely a little un-nerved about how violent the Autobot, Mirage had just gotten.
"And with good reason, Epps." Ironhide grumbled as he stepped back letting Optimus take care of the glaring Autobot. "Like the twins said, Mirage is the most serious of the group. He doesn't take disobedience or betrayals very well. He will be the very last Cybertronian to ever forgive or forget. Besides, right before Spitfire betrayed us, Prime kind of told Mirage to try and follow her and Bumblebee's example because they were the only two who were trying to keep positive even after we lost so many comrades."
Everyone had to wince when they heard that. Lennox and Epps especially, already knowing what he meant. "Let me guess. Some did follow her example." The Sergeant said. And his answer came as a nod from the large black Autobot.
Mirage still glared dangerously at Spitfire as he watched Ratchet help her to her feet, not taking his optics off of her at all. Everyone knew they were going to have to watch him carefully now. Him and Hot Rod were definitely on the top of the list of the most likely to destroy Spitfire.
Spitfire stood up, still rubbing her throat but she glanced over at Mirage, not looking at him in any contempt but understand. She actually looked like she was going to forgive him for trying to crush her neck. Tearing her optics away, she looked at Optimus and then to Ratchet. "I think it'll be best if I return to the base, Optimus Prime, sir. I'll return to the holding block." She spoke softly before turning around and started walking back towards the base.
"Spitfire, wait for me." Elena said, now hurrying after her. She, however, paused to glare at Trent when he tried to hold her back. "Don't, Trent. She's my best friend and I trust her, even if you or anyone else doesn't." She then turned and hurried after Spitfire, who had stopped for a minute for her to catch up.
"Optimus Prime, sir. Are you sure its wise to let that traitor be near that human girl?" Mirage asked, his voice still rather hard as he glared after the red and black femme.
Optimus Prime watched Spitfire for a moment before nodding and looking at his officer. "Spitfire won't hurt Elena Lincoln. She has claimed Guardianship over her. And Guardians won't hurt their wards. Even if the ward annoys the Guardian a little. Their spark won't let them." He then looked around at everyone.
"Hey! What's that?" Glenn suddenly spoke, now pointing at Mirage.
Everyone frowned as they glanced at him then looked up at the serious Autobot, only to see that there was something clinging to his back from around his neck. For a moment, it looked almost like an animal but then everyone saw that it was made out of metal just like the Autobots. It was almost the size of a small baboon and even looked like a robotic ape. It had a pair of innocent blue eyes though as it looked down at the humans.
What was a little un-nerving was the fact that it did look somewhat like the Decepticon, Frenzy, only slightly bigger.
"What is that?" Maggie asked, now drawing back a little to stand behind Lennox. She did not want to deal with anything like Frenzy again.
Chuckling, Optimus moved closer to Mirage, who seemed to have a mood change. He almost looked like he was smirking as he turned his head around to look at the metallic ape peering over his shoulder at the others. The Autobot Leader, however, just nodded his greeting to the small robot. "Blaster, I'm not surprised to see you. You are always with Mirage." He said to the small Autobot.
Mikaela moved a little closer to get a better look at the small, new arrival before smilingly softly. She couldn't help but admire him. "Awww. He's kind of cute!" She said with admiration.
Maggie nodded with a bright smile as she also look at Blaster, who seemed to be beaming at them. She and everyone watched as the small Autobot climbed down from Mirage and landed soundlessly in front of the two ladies. To the humans, he was only waist high to them. He crouched a little just like a monkey and even had the same movement as one as he moved closer and offered a metallic hand to Mikaela and Maggie. The two ladies let out quiet giggles as they took his hands and shook them, greeting him. "Ah, he's so adorable." The pretty Aussie had to admit.
Chuckling, Optimus then looked around at everyone. "I believe we should properly introduce you to our newest arrivals. Mirage is my Stealth and Camo officer, one of my best spies." He told them, motioning to Mirage, who was amused by Blaster's new favor of the human females. But as soon as he was introduced, he snapped to attention and lift his head high like a true blue soldier.
"Camo....you mean camoflage." Epps said, now somewhat smiling as he looked up at the large room.
"In deed. Mirage's specialty is stealth operations. He can move close to an enemy without getting detected, which is what he uses to spook the twins. His partner is Blaster, who is our Communications Specialist. He can detect any organism that is approaching before any of us can. Even myself. He's also one of the best to detect aerial enemies. Hardly any aerial bots can get too close without alerting him. He won't work with any Autobot though, other than myself and Mirage. It's probably due to the fact that it was Mirage who found him. He was created by one of our enemies to use as hardware but Mirage rescued him during a terrible battle that actually caused the death of the former Prime, before myself." Optimus explained.
A few heads bowed a little as if they were respecting the former Prime. The twins were not one of them, and neither, which surprisingly, did Ironhide. The Weapons Specialist had actually made a low growl, making the humans glance at him. But the other Autobots didn't even look in his direction.
"My Research and Development officer," Optimus went on, motioning to Hound, who grinned around at everyone. "Hound. He's quite the scientist and inventor. He created most of the weapons systems and even the holographic images we use. He even created the molecular holographic image program, which allows us to take human form. More or less, let us scan the vehicles so that we can take form." He informed everyone.
Sam, Mikaela and Trent glanced at one another before having to smile and nod their approval. They had to admit it, meeting the master of the Autobot's human forms was kind of exciting. "Cool. That's what I'm kind of wondering." Sam said looking around the Autobots. "Exactly, how did you come up with how your human forms look like? Did you just find someone that you'd like to look like or what? Cause, I have to admit it. Arcee's human form kind of looked like Michelle Rodriguez."
"And she's hot." Trent remarked with a quirky smirk.
Arcee let out a light laugh as she placed her metallic hand onto her hip and shook her head and tossing her head as if flipping hair back. Of course, Hot Rod didn't look very amused by the young teen's remark and was giving him a dry look. "Well, I'll admit it when I scanned every single image of female humans on the web that I found your entertainment individual, Michelle Rodriquez fascinated me into taking a similar form."
"Heh," Hound chuckled shaking his head as he glanced around at all of the Autobots. "Picking a molecular human form for us is quite tricky. We each take the form of one who seems more like ourselves. Take Prime for one. He took the images of several different people from the Internet and threw them together to make his holo form what it is. It's all the same for all of us. We just make ourselves look how we want." He explained.
Slowly, everyone nodded as they took in the information. They couldn't believe it, but what Hound said had actually made sense. They had been expecting some complex explanation that would certainly nearly turn their brains inside out. But, no. He had actually put it into a way they could understand.
Ratchet finally cleared his throat as he turned to Bumblebee and nodded for him to follow him. "Well, I think it's time to get Bumblebee's voice processor reinserted and see if Hound actually fixed it." He said, smirking a little when came a shout of indignity.
"Hey! Why are you doubting my abilities, Ratch?! I'm not Wheeljack! I don't blow everything up! Is this because I called you Hatchet?! Don't be blaming me for that nickname!" Hound called after him, while everyone laughed. "It's the twins' faults for that! And your own for using your tools like hatchets when they piss you off!"
Sam snorted as he put his arm around Mikaela and started walking back with a smirking Trent, Maggie and Glenn right beside them. "You know, I think things just got a little more interesting." He told them. And they all had to nod in agreement.
Upon returning the base, everyone pretty much went back to what they were doing. Though, Hound was immediately assigned to helping Maggie and Glenn try and locate Anya Karpos. They were going to do all they could to find her and find out what she knew about the missing submarine. To even learn that the Typhoon submarine might be a Cybertronian was a little un-nerving and they weren't too sure it was good or bad. Ratchet had immediately started working on Bumblebee and reattaching his vocal processor, so Sam was a little on edge.
As far as everyone understood, Spitfire had returned to her holding room, along with Elena, which had Trent on the edge a little. He did not want her to be around her if she was a betrayer. He didn't trust Spitfire. So the first thing he did was head off to find out where Elena was. And because of that serious look on his face, Sam and Mikaela decided to follow after them, with Hot Rod and Arcee trailing behind.
They found Elena sitting in the holding room with Spitfire, both talking in low voices. But when the young teen spotted them, she smiled faintly and stood up, holding up a hand in greeting. "Hey. Back already?" She asked.
"Elena, let's go." Trent said darkly giving Spitfire a look before grabbing Elena's arm and trying to pull her out.
Startled but angry, Elena yanked away from him and gave him a sharp look. She had to jerk out of his reach when he reached for her again. "Get off, Trent! What is your problem?!" She demanded.
Trent looked at her just as sharply before pointing a finger at Spitfire, who watched blankly. It seemed she already knew about what Trent's problem was. "That is my problem, Elena! Did you not hear what that Prime guy said?! She betrayed them! As if I trust these giant robots as it is! I don't know if I can trust them! But I am helluva not trusting her if she betrayed them to the guys who tried to kill a lot of people!" He shot right back at her as he reached for her arm again.
Elena slapped his hand away, stepping back and giving him a dark look. She glanced at Sam and Mikaela as they hurried forward to stop the fight from breaking out between relatives. "Trent, we already told you. The Autobots can be trusted....." Mikaela was saying.
"Well I don't know that, Mikaela!" Trent shot at her, making Sam glare at him. He ignored the look he was getting from his rival though. "This is happening way too fast for me! This afternoon, I got shot at by a missile and I just found out that the car that I've been driving for about six weeks is a giant alien robot!" He nearly shouted.
From the corner of their eyes, they saw Hot Rod cringe a little, as if that was a blow to him. They also saw Arcee now glaring at the sports player, not liking the fact that he was ranting like this.
"Trent, Hot Rod saved your life! And I don't even recall that you even thanked him yet!" Mikaela said sharply, her arms folding across her chest. "He's new to us too! We don't know him but we sure as hell are not talking about him as if he's not right there."
"Well......you kind of are." Hot Rod said, laughing a little as he rubbed the back of his head. Mikaela grimaced but tried to smile apologetically to him. But he shrugged it away.
Still very annoyed, Trent shook his head as he looked over at Elena. "Okay, whatever! But the fact is, the so called good robots said that your car is a bad guy!" He glanced up at Spitfire when she started growling and giving him a menacing look. He tried to ignore her though, knowing that she couldn't do anything to him unless she wanted his own car to attack her right back. "I don't want you any where near her, Elena!" He said sharply.
Making a disgusted sound, Elena looked him over as if judging him before shaking her head as she looked into his eyes. "You can't tell me what to do, Trenton! You're not my boss!" She shouted at him, drawing quite the attention now from some soldiers, as well as Ironhide and Mirage as they were passing by. They came back to see what was going on. Even Optimus seemed to have heard the shouting and decided to come see what was happening.
"I am now, Eleanor! I am your cousin and I am older than you! And now it's my job to keep you out of trouble since you can't do that for yourself!" Trent shouted right back, now grabbing her hand.
Again, Elena yanked her hand free and gave him a dangerous look. "Trent! Stop bossing me around! You're not my father!" She spat.
"NO! I'm not! But I'm only trying to protect you, Elena!"
"I don't need your protection!!"
"Oh yeah?! If you don't need protection, why do you keep getting in trouble?!" Trent snapped.
"Guys! Knock it off! You're making a scene!" Sam said, now trying to place himself between the two cousins as they glared heatedly at one another.
But both, Elena and Trent ignored him as they continued to glare at one another, not even seeming to notice that Sam was trying to block them from one another. They just continued their argument, not caring if they had an audience. "I stay out of trouble just fine, Trent! Unlike you! You can't stay out of trouble! You're always getting yelled at by Uncle Roger and always fighting with the so-called nerds! Maybe it's you that needs protection, Trent!" Elena shot at her cousin.
"Well, at least I have my father unlike you, you spoiled brat!!" Trent snapped right back.
Everything went dead silent, other than Elena gasping sharply and looking as if Trent had slugged her right in the stomach. The entire base seemed to have heard their fight because it seemed to have gone very quiet. All eyes were on Trent and Elena, and quite wide. But not as wide as Elena's as she looked at Trent with shock, yet her eyes were starting to water as her chest heaved.
Even Trent looked a little stunned at what just came out of his mouth. He let out a frustrated sigh before trying to step around Sam to get closer to Elena. "Oh, shit. Elena, I'm sorry. I didn't......" He didn't get to finish.
With all the rage she felt, Elena swung her hand and slapped Trent hard across the face, too hard that he staggered to the side, bumping into Sam. Her hair had swung across her own face, trailing over her eyes but she did nothing to wipe them away. She just glared hatefully at Trent as tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over. "How dare you even bring that up, Trent, in front of everyone!" She hissed angrily. "Go ahead! Just tell them that my father is in a fucking coma because of me and my mother drank herself into one!" She snapped before turning sharply and running out of the room.
A few eyes and optics followed her but quickly turned back onto Trent, who had his eyes closed rather tightly as he held a hand against his cheek where Elena had slapped him. He stood, somewhat slouched over but then slowly straightened as he opened his eyes and looked at a very surprised Sam. They stared at one at one another for a minute before the jock turned and looked around at everyone that had heard, noting some very stunned looks. With a look of disgust for himself, he turned away and left the room in the other direction.
Sam almost went after Trent, to find out what Elena had meant but stopped when Hot Rod held up a hand and shook his head. The electric blue Autobot turned his optics onto Optimus, who was frowning thoughtfully. But after a moment, the Leader looked at the young Autobot and nodded. Hot Rod nodded right back as he turned and headed in the same direction Trent had gone. He, however, paused and turned back to look across the room at Sam. "Actually, Sam. Would you come with me? I don't think Trent entirely trusts me just yet. I think it would be better if you came with me." He told him.
Sam hesitated but nodded as he glanced over at Mikaela, who tried to smile but it wasn't easy at all for her. She just shrugged lightly and watched as he hurried after Hot Rod. She glanced up at Optimus. "What about Elena?" She asked, with a lot of concern. "We really shouldn't leave her by herself."
Optimus was quiet for a moment before he looked over at Spitfire, who looked rather forlorn. He knew very well that she wanted to go after her young ward but she was under orders to stay in her holding room. She was only trying to respect his wishes as well. For a moment, he studied her before looking back at Mikaela. "Mikaela, why don't you go with Spitfire to speak to Elena?" He told her.
Almost everyone looked surprised that he had said that. Especially Spitfire. She looked at the Autobot leader with wide optics, almost as if she couldn't believe that he was letting her go to Elena. She had been expecting him to just make her stay in the room.
"Optimus Prime, sir." Mirage said, glancing at Spitfire almost in disgust. "Are you serious to let her out? What if she tries to harm the human?" He ignored the dark look that Spitfire shot him.
Optimus shook his head as he met Mirage's optics before turning slightly towards Spitfire. He kept his eyes optics on his officer though. "Mirage, even if we do not like it, Spitfire has claimed guardianship over Elena Lincoln. We can not deny her duty to protect her ward. It is against the Spark bond regulations laid down by Primus, himself. We cannot interfer with spark pacts, if we trust one of the contenders or not." He told his officer.
Mirage just shook his head as he never looked away from Optimus' optics, still standing very stiff and soldier like. "It is not Elena Lincoln I'm concerned about. She has made her choice by standing by that traitor." He made a quick glance at Mikaela and it became very clear that it was her that he was concerned about.
A little touched and annoyed at the same time, Mikaela shook her head, trying to smile up at him. "I'll be fine, but thanks for your concern, Mirage." She told him.
"If it will help," Arcee spoke up, moving a step forward, making all look at her next. "I will stand by and keep watch, Optimus Prime, sir."
Optimus thought for a moment before nodding as he looked over at Spitfire. He would allow that and if Spitfire wanted to go to Elena, she would to. The red and black mech considered it for a moment before she nodded as she glanced from Arcee to Optimus, letting him know that she would agree to those terms. It was the only way she could go see if Elena was all right. "I agree to Arcee's offer, sir. She may accompany us." She told him.
Again, the Autobot Leader nodded and motioned for them to go ahead. Arcee then bent down and transformed into her alter form, letting Mikaela climb on the back of the Retro. With Spitfire in the lead, the three females set out through the base to look for Elena.