CHAPTER TWO

Through The Barricade

***

"Oh Ella…" Flare-Up said sympathetically.

"All your beautiful drawings…" Rosanna looked angry.

"Not to mention her mum's jewellery." Sunny was leaning against the wall, as I showed them the damage that had been done to my not-so-secret stash of stuff. All of my Transformers Animated drawings had been ripped up and thrown in the fire by Fran, although some had been left, probably to torture me even further. Not that anything Fran could do to me would be worse than if anything bad happened to Bee…I mean, even worse than it already had, because of me.

My jewellery was all gone.

"Hey, El, who was this a picture of?" Sides' held up one, and pointed to the Transformer's red optics. "A Decepticon?"

"Umm…no…" I lied. "Just…no…" It was, in fact, a picture of Starscream, but I wasn't about to say that to them. Sunny was looking at me like he didn't believe me.

"Oh well, it's torn up anyway." Sides' looked a little happy about that, as he transferred the picture back to the floor.

"Just like the rest of them," Rosanna looked annoyed.

I nodded sadly.

"Oh well," Flare-Up said, a little too loudly, and we all looked at her. She was staring out the window. "It's time we got to work anyway – we have a lot to do in these next two days, so we'd better get to it." She headed for the door, and turned around when she reached it. "You bots coming?"

The others nodded, and left with her, to go downstairs probably to where Ratchet, Prowl and Bulkhead were. Oh, except for Rosanna, she stayed to help me get dressed, because I was still feeling a little bit sore, but I wasn't going to laze around in bed all day!

I put on a yellow sun dress with a black bow on the back, brushed my hair and teeth (I'd already eaten breakfast in bed, which made me feel like a hospital patient) and went downstairs with Rosanna.

Everyone else was waiting for us in the kitchen, except for Ratchet, whom I assumed had gone over to the base (leaving me in the car of these guys?).

The Lambo twins looked at me when I entered.

"Heeeey, nice!" Sunny commented.

I glanced down at my yellow and black ensemble, and then at Sunny, who was wearing a yellow jacket with a black t-shirt and black jeans.

"Damn it!" I cursed. I was just debating whether or not to run upstairs and get changed or not, when there was a knock on the door.

We all looked toward the front hall.

"Now who could that be?" Flare-Up wondered.

"El had better answer it, since she's the only one who's supposed to be here." Rosanna said sensibly, and so I got up to answer the door.

I took about three steps and nearly fell over. "Ah, a little help here, bots?" I asked, and Prowl came over to me, took me by the arm, and walked with me into the front hall.

"What if it's trouble?" I whispered suddenly.

"I don't know." Prowl whispered back.

Together we opened the door.

***

Somebody's P.O.V:

"OH MY GOD, IT'S A GIANT ROBOT!!!!"

"IT'S HUGE!!!!"

"IT'S A TRANSFORMER – COOL!!"

"What is a Transformer?" I wanted to know, reaching toward the small male creature who had spoken. But a taller female creature standing beside him grabbed him and began running away from me. I ran after them, because I really wanted to know who I was.

But why were they all running from me?

***

"El!" Jass was standing on the front doorstep, looking pretty snazzy in running shorts and a singlet. Both Prowl and I breathed sighs of relief. "What happened, are you okay?"

As she embraced me, and the others came out from the kitchen to see her, I yelped – she'd hurt me ribs.

At once, Rosanna was by my side. "Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

I gave her a weird look. "Of course – my chest just hurts, that's all." I looked back at Jass. In the confusion of before, we had forgotten all about her. But, apparently, she hadn't forgotten about us. She'd seen the blue light, and put two and two together.

We sat in the living room, and told Jass about what had happened. Mostly, I did the talking, since it was my story.

"So then I lost control of the All-Spark, and blacked out for a few hours." I admitted, staring at my hands. The right one was throbbing – the one that was more robot than the rest of me. "We only just managed to get away, but Bumblebee…he…" I broke off abruptly, and bowed my head even more, feeling tears threatening to escape. If anything should happen to him…I would never, ever forgive myself. "The Decepticons got him." I whispered.

Jass was silent, as Rosanna put her arm around my shoulders in a comforting gesture. At last she said: "What can we do?"

"Glyph and Chromia are tracking a signal we received from the Decepticons earlier this morning," Prowl said quietly. "As soon as they finish doing that…" He glanced at me. "We'll go and rescue Bumblebee."

"What – all of you?" Jass looked surprised.

"Well, not all of us…" Prowl admitted. "We haven't gotten that far in the planning stage yet."

"I see…" Jass thought about this for a moment. "Well, if there's anything I can do to help…but, wait, El, you're rostered on for the next two weeks. And the health and safety inspector's making a "surprise" visit next week."

I glanced up. "How did you find out about that?" I wanted to know. Fran picked a bad time to visit Paris… I thought.

Jass shrugged in a way that meant 'I have my ways'. "I have my ways." She informed us all. (Aha!)

"Well, someone can fill in for me," I said, thinking of Chromia. "The fems can almost entirely imitate me and my looks." I told Jass.

She looked impressed. "Cool – and I'll be happy to lie to Fran if she rings, which she most likely will."

I grinned at Jass. She's always been like a sister to me.

My thoughts were interrupted by Jass's mobile phone ringing. She answered it, and was silent for a few seconds, before hanging up and going to turn on the TV.

We all watched her; unsure of what was going on but startled by her sudden urgency.

Channel Ten news was on, with a special live bulletin.

"A giant robot was been seen terrorizing citizens in Cockburn Central, near Gateways Shopping Centre," The presenter said. She looked shocked. "We go live to the scene now, where witnesses are trying to piece together what on earth is going on!"

Jass, Sunny, Sides', Rosanna, Flare-Up, Prowl, Bulkhead and I were silently staring at the TV screen in horror, as images began to flood in.

"IT WAS HUGE!!" One man shouted.

"IT THREATENED MY SON!!" A woman screamed.

"No Mum, it was a Transformer!!" A kid in an Optimus Prime t-shirt cried.

"Well duh." Sunny rolled his eyes.

"It flattened my car!" One man was outraged. "Who's gonna pay for that!? My insurance company? Yeah right!"

"All of my shopping was in my car, and the robot destroyed it!" A woman wearing old, worn-out clothes sobbed.

"It was scary!!" A little girl clinging to her mother's arms exclaimed.

"This is easily a hundred times cooler than Armageddon, I swear to God!" A fat kid with a camera phone shouted, as he ran past the TV cameras for a better shot. The police officers held him back.

I suddenly noticed a familiar-looking man, and thought: Huh…what's he doing here? I didn't even know he existed…but he's standing next to the Fanzone look-alike, so…and…oh no, HE'S here too! No!

"Is it a Decepticon?" Rosanna murmured, breaking my train of thought.

"Probably…" Bulkhead responded vaguely.

Then, the camera switched to show a shot of the actual robot, and I yelled, jumping out of my seat, forgetting my pain. "THAT'S NO DECEPTICON – THAT'S WRECK-GAR!!!!"

"Who!?" Everyone else cried, except for Rosanna, who suddenly remembered, and jumped to her feet.

"Oh no, Wreck-Gar!" She gasped.

"Who's Wreck-Gar!?" Sunny wanted to know.

"No time to explain!" I cried, running toward the door. The news presenter had just been talking about calling in air-strikes. "Call Prime! That's Wreck-Gar and he needs our help! NOW!!"

***

I was sitting on the motorcycle known as Prowl, gripping the seat with my knees and holding onto the handlebars so tightly my knuckles turned white, but Prowl didn't complain. I had just finished explaining to him – and the others, who were listening on an open com-link – about how the power of the All-Spark might have created other Transformers, like Wreck-Gar and Scrapper and, in the long shot, the Dinobots.

"Poor Wreck-Gar has no idea who he is or even what he is!" I said, as we took a bend in the road dangerously, and I was thankful for the borrowed helmet nestled on my head. "That's why he needs our help!"

"Prime said he'd meet us there," Prowl assured me. "But how do you plan to help this stray 'bot anyway?"

I shook my head. "Prowl, I really have no idea…oh no!" I cried suddenly, looking ahead.

***

Bumblebee's P.O.V:

"Trouble in Perth, Lord Megatron." Blackout said.

Megatron didn't look too happy. He knew that any trouble in Perth was likely to involve Ella, and he needed her – and the All-Spark – in one piece if he was going to do the unthinkable.

Blackout hacked into a computer and, as we watched, a screen was displayed, showing a large Transformer causing mayhem in Perth, near to where Ella lives.

'Wreck-Gar…' I realised, staring wide-opticed at the screen.

"He's not wearing a faction symbol." Lugnut declared.

"Oh, well spotted Lugnut." Megatron said dryly.

Blackarachnia, the only fem-bot in the Decepticon ranks – and I hear she's Prime's dead partner who isn't really dead – stepped forward. "I don't recognise him, and he's doing things that Autobots don't do. There's no way that thing's with them."

Megatron paused, and then looked at me. "You – Autobot!"

I glanced at him, arranging my face into an 'I don't care' expression.

"Do you recognise this creature?" Megatron gestured to the screen, where Wreck-Gar was being harassed by some helicopters.

"Like I'd tell you that, Mega-Loser!" I replied. I knew I was going to regret that, but right now that was the last thing on my processor. 'El likes Wreck-Gar…she's going to do whatever it takes to protect him…I just hope she doesn't get herself hurt…'.

The last thing I remember hearing before I blacked out was Megatron telling Blitzwing and Lugnut to go and investigate.

I knew it wouldn't take them long at all to get to Perth. Oh Primus, Ella…

***

"A police blockade…" I whispered, staring at the police cruisers parked there, so no one could get through. A barricade was set up to prevent anyone from walking through but, as we watched, a fire engine and an ambulance were allowed through.

We doubled back quickly, out of sight, to wait for Prime and the others.

"That's it!" Said Jass, who had come along with Bulkhead (whose alt mode is an armoured vehicle, but it looks cool so no one really questions it). "As soon as Optimus and Ratchet get here, they'll be allowed through. El can sneak in there with them – I think she's the only one who can talk to Wreck-Gar."

"Yeah, since she was the one who, like, created him." Bulky said.

I flinched. "Don't…ever…say that…ever…again." I told him.

"Sorry." He said, just as Prime and Ratchet arrived, pulling into the side road where we were.

Quickly, we explained to them the situation, and I hopped into the fire engine that was Optimus Prime.

"Oh, but we have to be careful," I added, as I tentatively buckled my seatbelt. My chest was starting to hurt a bit. "I saw on the news that Barricade was there – he's right up the front."

"Hmm…" Optimus said. "I wonder what he's doing here…"

"We'll find out…" I whispered, as the real police officers let us through the barricade…