2: The Adventures of Little Riley!
Chapter 2 - Stranger Danger
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Transformers Prime or the franchise Transformers. All characters (except for Riley) belong to Hasbro!
—
The alarm in Riley's room was going off. 'Why are alarm clocks so rude' Riley thought as she forced to move her arms to hit snooze. Riley rubbed her eyes and looked up at the ceiling, "today is a new day..." she said tiredly. As she took off the blankets, a blast of cold air made her body tremble. She forced her little legs to swing out of the bed. She made her to the washroom to get ready for the day.
After 15 mins, she left the washroom all changed and headed to the main part of the base. "Morning Ry'" Arcee greeted as a sleepy Riley walked past her. "Morning 'Cee" she greeted back. She walked up the stairs and plopped herself down before turning on the T.V. She looked around base before deciding that she wanted to spend her Saturday outside. She switched to the news channel, her fav channel, and took in all the things the news displayed. Bee and Cliffjumper soon walked out of the hallway into the main part, laughing their guts out.
"What's so funny?" Riley asked looking behind her over the couch. Bee couldn't tell her, even if he wanted to. He couldn't stop laughing! Cliffjumper was able to explain between laughs.
"Bee here...saw Bulkhead right?...so he...he quietly snuck up on the big lug..." Cliffjumper struggled to speak. Riley knew he was about to drop the funniest part. "He...he turned his optics red...and...let out the weirdest noise...and Bulkhead just" finally Cliffjumper screamed the rest of the words out before dying of laughter again. "BULKHEAD SCREAMED LIKE A LITTLE GIRL!"
Now everyone was dying of laughter as a grumpy Bulkhead entered the room. Ratchet scoffed on how that could possibly be funny. "Bulkhead screamed like a little girl! Bulkhead screamed like a little girl!" Riley taunted as she continued to laugh, her face growing more red as she struggled to breath. Bulkhead sighed angrily as he walked by the others. He turned around and shouted "it wasn't funny you know! Why do you guys have to start my morning off like that!" Nobody responded right away as the laughter started to die down.
"I'm sorry Bulk, but it was funny and when you see an opportunity-" Bee said trying to hold back laughter.
"I know I know, you take it" Bulkhead finished.
Optimus then entered and looked at Ratchet. He heard everyone laugh but didn't know what happened. He looked at Ratchet who mouthed 'I'll tell you later'. Ratchet then turned his attention to the computer as the alarm went off, blaring loudly throughout the base.
"Optimus, there's an energon signal, you probably should go check it out" Racthet informed as Optimus walked up to see the monitor. "Autobots, roll-" Optimus began before Riley said "Wait!" Optimus looked at her from the couch as she stood up and ran to the railing. "Can I come with you guys?" "Riley, it's too dangerous for you to go, besides your still young" Optimus said to the now saddened Riley. "Please please pleeeaasssee" she begged" "Riley" Optimus warned looking at her. She pouted as she turned to the stairs and went towards the kitchen area for breakfast. "Ratchet-" "I know, watch Riley" the medic replied, waving his hand not staring at the mech.
"Autobots roll out!" Optimus and the others transformed as Ratchet fired up the ground bridge. Soon after, Riley returned with a bowl of cereal. She went back to the couch and watched more of the news. The only noise that filled the base was the T.V and that's how Rachel likes it. No obnoxious screaming, laughing, or talking...peace and- "Awwww noooo".
He jinxed it.
"What is it Riley?" He asked annoyed, not even staring at her as he worked.
"A farm burned down and they didn't save all the animals" Riley said as she looked at the sad image of a burnt down barn. Ratchet scoffed. He didn't understand what was so sad about a few animals dying. I mean she eats animals, most humans do!
Riley finished her cereal and put it down on the coffee table in front of her. "Ratchet?"
Ratchet sighed as he stopped what he was doing and turned to her.
"Yes Riley" he asked slightly agitated.
"I wanna go to the park, can you take me?" She asked hopeful he would say yes but to no ones surprise he said no.
"Wait till the other get back, I have better things to do" he grumpily turned around and went back to his work.
"Your no fun Ratchet!" Riley said loudly making sure he could hear. Ratchet replied "yes well war isn't meant to be fun!" He hissed back. "War?" She asked, confused by what he meant. Ratchet immediately stopped what he was doing. "Oh Primus I messed up" he mumbled to himself before turning to her. He wasn't supposed to tell her, after all she was only 7! She wouldn't understand the concept of war and Optimus didn't want her knowing till she was older anyway. "Uh war stands for something!" He quickly tried to think of three words that would align with W.A.R. "Worrying Autobot Rescue! Yes Worrying Autobot Rescue! That's what I meant" he prayed to Primus that she would buy it. And she did.
"Oh well that doesn't sound fun" she said. She felt like he meant actual war but she didn't worry too much. She could always ask Optimus if she really wanted to know. Ratchet sighed in relief as he went back to work.
"Well since I have to wait, I guess I can watch you work!" She chimed with her cute little smile. Ratchet looked back, big mistake on his part. The bots called her smile "the smile of doom" where she could basically get what she wanted if she smiled in a specific way. She was doing the smile and Ratchet of course, gave in. "Come here then" he said with defeat as he held out his servo. Riley smiled as she hopped on and was placed on Ratchets shoulder. She looked at the monitor he was typing at. "What's it say Ratchet?" "This language is Cybertronian something we should teach you, but what's on the monitor is boring and complicated things your tiny brain wouldn't understand." He continued to type at the monitor as Riley watched the symbols appear on the screen.
Suddenly Optimus' voice filled the base, "Ratchet requesting groundbridge!" He sounded distressed and Ratchet took note of that. Ratchet quickly typed in the coordinates and activated the groundbridge. He then put Riley down near the couch as he awaited the Autobots to return. Everyone walked through, covered in dirt and scratches. Cliff soon came in limping as Ratchet helped escort him to the medbay. "What happened?!" Riley asked distressed. "Don't worry sweetspark, we just saw bad cons and got attacked but we scared them away." He said smiling down at her reassuringly. "You guys scared them off like big brave bots?" She asked. "Like big brave bots" Optimus repeated still smiling. Riley smiled back until Cliffjumper yelped out in pain.
"Don't move so much and maybe it wouldn't have hurt like that" Ratchet said clearly annoyed. "Sorry doc" Cliff said before looking up at Riley and winking. Ratchet hated to be called doc and whenever the others could, they would call him that. "My name is not doc" Ratchet retorted as he stood up and wacked him across his helm. Cliff just sat there rubbing at the spot that got hit while Ratchet grabbed certain tools to fix Cliff's leg. Arcee and Bee nodded at eachother and walked up to Riley who was giggling. Her giggles never changed as she grew up. Since the first day they met her, her giggles brought a smile to the bots faceplates and it never changed.
"Riley, want to join me and Bee for a race?" Arcee asked. Riley's eyes lit up and she nodded her head immediately. Finally, she could leave base! She quickly ran down the stairs and towards Bee and Arcee. "Without me?" Cliff said in a pity tone while smiling. "You got a hurtie Cliff and your a secret so you can't come" Riley explained to the mech with her finger over her lips. Cliff copied her action by putting his digit over his mouth. Riley smiled before turning around and running towards Bee who had transformed. The trio left the base as Optimus watched with a smile. He was glad he ended up taking her in. She is just so sweet, how could anyone not want her as their own.
As Arcee and Bee pulled up to a mile marker, Bee opened his passenger door and let out Riley. She stood there as Arcee and Bumblebee got ready. "From here to there!" She said point at the next mile marker. "On your marks!" She shouted as the noise of engines revving up began. "Get set! Go!" She shouted as Bumblebee and Arcee sped off. She cheered as she watched her brother and sister speed off into the distance. She heard a plane above her, which was rare since she wasn't outside often. She looked up and saw it get lower to the ground. It circled back and got so low it could practically hit the ground. Riley started to get scared as the plane got closer to her. She didn't even notice Bee and Arcee stopping at the mile marker waiting for her to run to them.
Bee and Arcee wondered why she wasn't moving but heard a similar noise that made them speed towards her.
As Riley watched the plane get closer, it suddenly transformed into a bigger mech. She froze in her spot. She had never seen another mech before, especially one with red eyes. As the mech approached her, it noticed Bee and Arcee getting closer. Riley looked to the side as well before feeling something around her. The mech had picked her up and kept a grip on her.
"Let her go Starscream!" Arcee yelled as she and Bee transformed and aimed their blasters at him. He simply smiled as he quickly transformed and sped off with Riley. Her ears felt like exploding as they got higher and higher into the air. She suddenly snapped back into reality as fear left for a second. Soon she screamed really high pitched, flailing her little arms and legs around. Starscream let out an agitated sigh, knowing he would go deaf if he didn't stop. He decided to land and found a nearby mountain.
When he transformed, Riley fell straight to the ground but was swiftly caught before she made contact. She looked up, scared out of her body, towards the red eyed mech Arcee called Starscream. The Autobots had told her about Megatron and how evil he was but they didn't mention anything about Starscream. She heard his name before but never knew who he was. She quietly said thanks as he put her down on the ground.
"Thanks? For what?" Starscream asked confused. "For saving me from the fall" Riley responded, still shaken by the blur of moments that had just occurred. She gathered herself up as she turned to Starscream to greet him. "Nice to meet you Starscream, I'm Riley. Daddy always said to be nice when greeting somebody" she smiled as she held out her hand. Starscream bent down and held out one of his claws for her to grab. Her tiny hand gripped his digit as she shook it. "Nice to meet you 'Riley'" he said smirking. Oh how Megatron was going to love this.
"WHAT?!" Ratchet, Bulkhead, and Cliffjumper screamed in unison. Optimus just looked like he had seen a ghost. "Starscream came out of no where and just-flew off!" Arcee screamed. Bee nodded his head to backup Acrees statement. Optimus walked forward, now angry. "Megatron no doubt took the element of surprise and to take Riley." He said, trying to keep a calm tone. "Optimus we have to save her! Who knows what Megatron will do to her" Ratchet shouted, everyone was kind of shocked he was the one to shout that. "Arcee, which direction did he go?" Optimus turned to look at Arcee. "East" she replied. "Optimus I'm so sorry, we should have kept a better eye on her" Bee said as he and Arcee hung their helms low. "It's no ones fault, what matters now is to get Riley back, Autobots! Roll out!" Ratchet and Cliff stayed behind as the rest of them team left the base in search of Riley.
A groundbridge appeared beside Riley and Starscream, who had gotten up. "Riley I believe you should come with me, there's a lot to explain to you." He said smirking evilly down at Riley who looked unsure. "I don't know, my dad warned me about stranger danger and to never go with one" she explained to Starscream who seems slightly annoyed but continued on. "I'm a friend of your father. He would want you to come with me." He lowered down once more, knowing how naïve humans were, she would give in. But to his shock she stepped back. "You took me away from Bee and Arcee, why?" Starscream struggled to find a reasonable answer. Riley looked at him with patience, giving him time to speak.
'Was this little thing testing me to make sure I'm trustworthy?!' Starscream thought before his audio receptors were flooded with Megatrons voice. "Do you have the girl Starscream!" He shouted. "Yes my liege but I'm having a difficult time convincing her to come." He explained. "It's a child Starscream, how hard can it be" Megatron hissed through the comms. Starscream sighed as he finally came up with a reason to tell Riley. "I didn't want to tell you this but your father planned a secret party, he didn't want you suspicious of his plans so he asked me to take you, sorry if it seemed like I was intending to harm you" Starscream said in a fake empathetic voice. Riley seemed convinced and nodded as she skipped towards the bridge.
"Easier said than done" Starscream muttered as he followed the bubbly girl. Once they were through, the groundbridge disappeared. Riley was met face to face with Megatron as he turned around to greet her. "Riley is it? It's good to see you again after all this time. You probably don't remember me since the last time I saw you, you were this big" he put his two fingers close to eachother to indicate how small she was. She smiled and giggled knowing she was extremely tiny compared to the larger mechs. "Oh jeez I'm so sorry I forgot to ask your name!" Riley said. She immediately turned to Megatron as she awaited his answer.
"Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons." he replied with a smile.
Riley gasped knowing this was the mech her family warned her about. She quickly ducked behind Starscream's leg as Megatron looked with confusion. Finally it clicked. "Oh you must've heard about my name from the Autobots, right little one?" He asked looking at Riley. She nodded her head, shaking. She heard how he was really mean and how he didn't care about others. But why was Starscream with him? He seemed so nice!
"Little one, there's no need to fret. The Autobots have simply told you lies about me because they didn't want me telling you something." She looked at him with curiosity. "You have something to tell me?" She asked as she slowly crept towards Megatron. Megatron laughed at how naïve she was. He bent down and signalled for her to get on his servo. Riley hopped on, noticing it was really big compared to her fathers hand. Megatron nodded at Soundwave as a groundbridge appeared in front of them. Megatron walked through with Riley, Starscream followed close behind. When they arrived Megatron set her down.
She recognized where she was. She was standing on the outskirts of Jasper but no where near the base. The town was very visible from where she stood. She looked at Megatron as he started to speak.
"The Autobots and Decepticons come from a different planet, called Cybertron" he began. "Space?" Riley asked, her eyes sparkled as a smile crept on her face. She loved space! Especially all the pretty stars in the sky! "Yes little one, space. Unfortunately our planet died because of the Autobots. They killed our planet and plan on doing the same with this one." He stared at the girl and she shook her head. "The Autobots love Earth!" She said confused. "That's what they say, to cover up their plans. I need you to be our little spy" he said bending down to her level. "A spy? Like the ones from the movies?" Megatron seemed confused but decided to go with it. "Yes and we need you, every Saturday to tell us about the Autobots and what they do. We will stop them from harming this planet." Riley nodded as she stood straight, poofed out her small chest, and saluted to Megatron. 'How cute' he thought smiling at the naïve girl. She went back to her old pose and she looked at Megatron "where do I meet you guys?" She asked swaying her body side to side. "Right here" Megatron said, standing up and motioning around them. "That's really far away from home" she said before looking in a a certain direction.
Megatron noticed and simply smiled. "Think you can do it, Riley?" He asked looking back at her. "Mhm" Riley said confidently. "We shall see you then, alright?" He said before contacting Soundwave for a groundbridge. Starscream and Megatron looked at eachother satisfied at their results. Riley then saw a similar red and blue truck coming down the road. She put her hand on her forehead to see better. "Daddy's here!" She exclaimed but Megatron and Starscream didn't look to happy. Instead they shot nervous glances before looking at Riley. But when they saw her face, their expressions went from nervous to shocked.
She gave them a cheeky smile "you guys are going down!" She stated before cupping her hands around her mouth like her father and Ratchet told her to do when there was- "STRANGER DANGER" she shouted! Instantly Megatron ran towards Riley to grab her but was immediately blown back by Optimus' attack. Starscream aimed his rocket at Optimus but was uppercutted by Bulkhead. Arcee and Bumblebee rushed over to her. "Are you alright?" Arcee asked looking worried at Riley. "No scratches!" She said as she turned her body a full 360 with her hands up to show them. Bee let out a relieved sigh. The trio looked at the Decepticons retreating back into the groundbridge. Megatron gave her one look only to see Riley smiling, waving goodbye. He snarled as he ran into the bridge, closing behind him.
The Autobots returned back to base as Riley told them what happened. They all started to laugh when she mentioned her stranger danger scream. "Looks like she does pay attention to boring old Ratchet" Cliffjumper joked looking at Ratchet. "If teaching her safety is boring, then you would have no problem getting a 7 year old to sit down and listen to you talk" he retorted smiling. Everyone laughed at Cliffjumper who sighed in defeat, joining with the laughter.
Aboard the Nemesis, there was a very upset, no that's putting it lightly, a very pissed of Megatron. How could he be so foolish! He talked about her being naïve but he fell for her trick! Of course she was smart like that. She had Optimus to thank for that.
"Lord Megatron, do not be distressed about this. We sort have learned about their bases location." Starscream instantly regretted saying anything as Megatron walked up to him with his fists clenched.
"Making Prime suffer is one thing but getting you to be smarter is another!" He screamed as he put his face closer to Starscreams. Starscreams audio receptors felt fried. Megatron leaned away from Starscream as he walked past him. He stopped and summoned Soundwave to the communications room. Moments later, Soundwave appeared.
"Soundwave, I want you to share something little to the Autobots." He hissed and motioned for Soundwave to follow him. The two left the communications room and into the dark halls of the Nemesis. Soundwave listened to what his lord wanted him to do. "Send them this" he said as he revealed a small picture. This picture had 2 figures with a sparkling with writing on the back.
It said "Remember when she was this old? We miss you and are waiting for you to come home. Love, Elita"
Soundwave took the picture from Megatrons servos and stared at it. He then looked up and nodded before transforming and leaving Megatron. As Soundwave left the Nemesis, we set up a signal beacon. He placed the picture down next to it and waited. Sure enough a groundbridge appeared. Soundwave then transformed and flew away before the Autobots noticed him. Optimus, Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee noticed the little device giving off the signal as they disengaged their weapons. Optimus walked over only to see that wasn't the only thing lying there. A picture sat next to it, one he had long forgotten about. He quickly took the picture before telling the others that there was no need for further inspection. The team looked at him confused before following him to the groundbridge. Lazerbeak watched from afar, while also letting Megatron view the scene through his eyes. Megatron smiled knowing Optimus would be on edge for now.
Back with the Autobots, it had been a total of 5 hours since Riley had been kidnapped. The time is currently 8pm.
As Riley got ready to head to her room, she looked at Optimus with pleading eyes. "Please daddy, it's Saturday! Can't I stay up for one more hour?" She pouted when Optimus smiled and shook his head no. She crossed her arms as she walked down the hall. Optimus suddenly swooped in and picked her up. Riley screamed as Optimus went to tickle his little sparkling. Riley screamed for Arcee to help her as she got tickled. Arcee heard her sister as she walked up to Optimus. She quickly grabbed Riley and fled down the hall with the small child in her servos. Riley screamed "faster!" when she saw Optimus close behind them.
"There's no where to run Arcee and Riley" he taunted as he stared the two down. They skidded to a stop and turned around before looking at eachother. Arcee put Riley down and told her to run. Riley did so as Arcee tried to block Optimus from getting her. Riley ended up bumping into Racthet who smirked at the little one before quickly snatching her back up.
"Optimus I believe the pest belongs to you?" Ratchet laughed as he held a squirmy Riley in his right servo. "Arcee I've been captured!" Riley said dramatically as she struggled to get free but Ratchet kept a firm grip on her. She then remembered how Starscream held her in his servos as he also kept a grip on her. She started to breath faster with fear rushing back. Her fear disappeared as Optimus took Riley from the medic, turning down the hall to her room. Ratchet and Arcee said goodnight as they left the hall back into the main part of base. Optimus sat down beside Riley's small bed as he held his daughter in a cradle position. He then began to soothe and calm her down. He didn't want her being grumpy before going to bed and that little chase seemed to do the trick. She tired herself out while also getting some fun out of it. He also noticed her small panic attack but knew she felt safe now.
"I don't want...to go...to bed..." she protested, struggling to keep her eyes open. Optimus chuckled as he brought her close to his spark. The soft beating lulled her to sleep as she snuggled close. Optimus stayed there for an hour before placing her down in her own bed. He stood up and quietly left the room. "What an exciting day you had today sweetspark" he mumbled to himself before turning off the light and leaving her room.
As he walked into the main part of base, he noticed everyone gathered around something on Ratchets desk. "What's the matter?" He asked, everyone turned around as Racthet picked up the picture Optimus had found. "How long were you planning to hide it?" Racthet asked as Optimus tried to think of answer. It's not that he didn't want them to see but he just felt like everyone didn't need to know or worry. Everyone moved towards Optimus as Arcee read the sentence on the back. Arcee raised an optic ridge at Optimus expecting him to say something.
Optimus just took the picture and stored it in his chassis without saying anything further. "Take your time Optimus" Ratchet said before going to the medbay to clean his tools. Cliffjumper was also there, deep in recharge, as was instructed by Racthet. Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead kept looking at Optimus, like they were expecting an answer. Optimus didn't know what to say but soon he found his words. "The picture was something I got from my sparkmate, Elita, or as Arcee knows as her sister." Arcee started to look upset, she hadn't seen her sisters Elita and Chromia since they were on Cybertron. But Arcee got more upset knowing what happened to Elita. Optimus continued speaking. "Elita sent it to me when I was gone. It was her and our sparkling. Though the picture was long forgotten as the war grew more catastrophic." He seemed troubled but simply shook the thought away of seeing Elita die in front of him and the sparkling.
As the 4 stood there in silence, Racthet looked at Cliffjumper who was clearly dreaming, judging by his movement. Ratchet went back to cleaning his tools when he heard a loud scream. Both him and the other 4 turned around, nearly snapping their necks as they saw Cliff panting and shaking. "Cliff what is it!" Arcee asked worryingly.
"I saw Megatron" he started. "Him and Starscream, we were in an energon mine. I didn't feel like myself and then attacked them. They cut me in half and I fell down deeper into the mine. Suddenly you guys were there and...and...I tried to hurt you guys. Arcee you were holding onto my servo before I tried to hurt you. You let go and I went falling down. That's when I woke up." Everyone took in the information as Cliff calmed himself down.
"That sounded really scary Cliff, do you need a hug to make you feel better?" Everyone jumped and turned towards the entrance to the hall. Low and behold, little Riley stood there, looking worried for her friend, her brother. "That would be nice kid" he smiled as he lowered a servo for Riley to hop on to. She hopped on and got onto his shoulder. She hugged his faceplates tightly. "Megatron is really scary, I'm sorry he was in your dreams" she said gripping tighter. "Remember kid? We're big brave bots. We can handle Megatron any day." He said reassuringly. Riley looked him before smiling. Everyone couldn't help but go aw.
—
Leave a review so I can help improve Riley's story! Thanks for ready y'all and have a nice day/morning/afternoon/evening/night!