Chapter 5: Complications
Hot Shot had begun to worry. He was worried about Whirl. She had already been in danger one too many times, so you'd think that each time she disappeared, and something bad happened, she'd learn from it. Yet despite that, each time she was left alone for even a nanoklik, she went off and did something stupid. At first, she ran away because of finding out about her heritage.
Then when Shockwave, her creator, rescued her, she instantly put herself into danger by nearly offlining herself for the sake of a Decepticon, and now, she's disappeared again, for the third time this week, let alone the second time in a day.
"I'm starting to get the feeling she's either suicidal, or she's just acting out," Hot Shot stated to Wedge, who sighed.
"Well, I'm betting on the latter. If she were suicidal, she'd be off on Cybertron trying to be a rescue bot there. She'd get torn to bits trying to do anything. No offence to her, but her docile attitude wouldn't get her anywhere on that junk planet," Wedge stated, causing Hot Shot to raise a metaphorical eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?" Hot Shot asked as Wedge groaned.
"Well, you've heard about the underground Decepticon ring, right? If you haven't, I'll give you the laments terms of it. The UDR, as I like to call it, is a ring of Decepticons who threaten to kill Optimus Prime, led by a mysterious figure who runs them like puppets…" Wedge said as he lowered his helm.
"I used to be in the UDR, but, as you can see, I'm not anymore. I never met the leader, but he was just as imposing as Megatron from what I heard from others when I was there. He went by the code name: Recon. Everyone knew Recon to be collected, good with words, and all-around a terrifying con.
Other than that, no one, except those who were higher up in the ranks, knew what he looked like. His image was kept secret for a ton of different reasons, but I don't quite know those reasons. However, they offline any bot they see that doesn't wear the Decepticon insignia, or anyone who has any fragment of the Autobot one, Rescue Bots included." Wedge stated as Hot Shot sighed.
"Primus, even after the years of peace, you'd think the 'cons would give it a rest, guess not…." Hot Shot muttered as Medix and Hoist ran into the room. "Oh, hey Medix, Hoist, what's up?" Hot Shot asked as Medix let out heavy breaths.
"We just got a call… from the police… saying another bot with transforming capabilities is running away from law enforcement with Cody!" Medix stated, panicking as Hoist continued for the bot.
"They said it's a purple car with black highlights. If that doesn't sound like a vehicon to you, then I don't know what does!" Hoist stated as Hot Shot facepalmed.
"Great, so not only is Whirl missing, but Cody's been botnapped. Well, let's do this, guys. We have to rescue Cody from that vile Decepticon! Or at least, what you described to be a Decepticon." Hot Shot stated as they ran to the deployment area.
The Rescue Bot recruits made it to Mount Griffin as fast as they could. Finding themselves in the town center, Hot Shot spoke up, giving the rest of the Rescue Bots a quick look over. "Ok, let's split up and find this bot!" Hot Shot stated as they all transformed to find them. Hot Shot took to the skies in his secondary mode as a jet plane.
Days before they had found Laserbeak, they all scanned secondary modes, and his just so happened to be a jet. He liked the idea of being a flyer, as Whirl had described it as being fun. He had to admit. Flying was fun. However, he still had a hard time getting used to it.
He scanned the area, trying to find the culprit behind Cody's botnapping. He swore to himself that he would personally scrap any Decepticon who even dared to lay their hands on a human.
'Where are you? You blasted Decepticon…' Hot Shot thought as he spotted the car speeding down the street. 'There you are!' Hot Shot thought, transforming into his robot mode and landing in front of the con in question, stomping on the front of the car.
"Alright, Decepticon, stop this and let the kid go!" Hot Shot demanded as the car grunted, still trying to move as its rear tires bellowed up smoke.
"HEY! GET YOUR PEDAL OFF ME!" The voice of the Decepticon caught Hot Shot off guard as he stepped back, his optics wide with alarm.
"Oh, you have to be kidding me, Whirl?! What the frag are you doing?!" Hot Shot exclaimed as Whirl let Cody out of her, the blond stepping out before vomiting on the road. The now annoyed Whirl transformed into her robot mode, wiping off her chest as she stared at the new scratch marks, which made her bare her teeth with slight irritation.
"Well, for starters, I was going to get my new vehicle mode painted, and I needed Cody to do so. Secondly," Whirl smacked him across the faceplate, making him recoil. "You gave Cody motion sickness, scrap head," Whirl stated as Hot Shot groaned, shaking his head.
By now, Hoist, Medix, and Wedge had caught up to Hot Shot and were surprised to see Whirl. "Wait, Whirl? You botnapped Cody?" Wedge asked, confused as Whirl heaved out an annoyed sigh.
"For the last time, I didn't botnap him. All I was doing was attempting to take him to the car painter to get my paint changed before showing any of you my new vehicle form. Guess that's ruined now…." Whirl said, lowering her helm as Hot Shot facepalmed.
"Oh, come on, Whirl, It doesn't matter to us what you look like. You're still Whirl. Though, I'm starting to think Drift would be better suited for you with a car mode and all that," Hot Shot said, snickering as Whirl glared at him.
"This is only temporary. I'm just doing this so that I can get used to ground modes…" Whirl grovelled as Wedge placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I personally think you look good in purple. It changes things up a bit, I think at least," Wedge said as Whirl's faceplate lit up with a small hint of blue at the compliment.
"W-Wait, really! You think so? I thought you guys wouldn't like it? I mean, I don't… but…" Whirl muttered out the 'but' as Hoist shrugged.
"Purple looks good on anything, really. Well, I mean, except Autobots, then it looks kinda weird." Hoist said as Whirl rolled her optics.
"Well, regardless, the choice is yours, if you want to-"
"I'm keeping the purple!" Wedge was interrupted by Whirl as Wedge raised an eyebrow.
"Well, if that's the case…" Cody started, trying to keep down more of his lunch than he had already thrown up. "Can one of you drive me home?" Cody asked as Wedge Transformed into his dune buggy form.
"Climb in. I'll take you home. The rest of you leave back to the academy," Wedge said as Cody got into the ex-constructicon's alt-mode as the rest transformed to head back to base. Whirl was a bit hesitant, and as she was driving, she could've sworn she heard some sort of dark laughter in her head.
"Shockwave, status report?" Optimus asked the Decepticon scientist, who had been studying something he had found… odd, about Whirl during the reformatting phase. There was an… odd substance that had leaked out of her, just a bit, as they were getting her set up into the stasis pod.
"Test results show nothing yet…. It is… illogical. I think Cyclonus might know what this substance is, but there is one thing that I can tell you, Prime, it is that it shares a familiar texture and feel to Energon," Shockwave explained as Optimus grimaced.
"Thank you, Shockwave," Optimus replied as he walked out of the lab. He decided to stick around a little while longer at the Rescue Bot Academy after Shockwave had alerted him of a discoloured liquid mixed in with all the Energon that had spilled from Whirl.
He had his theories, but he didn't want to acknowledge them. However, with each growing nanoklik that passed, the worry that had built up in his spark kept telling him to face the facts. Somehow, in some fashion, Dark Energon had gotten into Whirl's system.
However, he remained optimistic. Until the test results were clear, he wouldn't jump to any conclusions. He knew just as well as everyone else that Unicron had been destroyed when he threw himself into the well of the Allspark with the infected Matrix of Leadership.
While Earth may be his body, without his spark, or without Dark Energon, he was as harmless as any other planet that drifted around in space. With his Anti-spark gone, Unicron was not a threat, at least, not right now.
But it was still concerning to see Dark Energon once again after so many stellar cycles. 'Let us hope this isn't what I believe it to be… and hope for the best,' Optimus thought solemnly as he spotted the rescue bots, along with Whirl in her new form, walking down the hallway.
"Greetings, Rescue Bot trainee's. Whirl, I am glad you came back in one piece." Optimus Prime greeted as the Rescue Bots in training saluted the Autobot leader. Optimus Prime couldn't help but chuckle at this display.
"At ease, there is no need for that. Rescue Bots, there is something I must tell you." Optimus started as the Rescue Bots looked at him with confusion.
"You will all begin your Combat Training tomorrow, and for that, I have had Cyclonus construct you all weapons that you will use. Whirl, you are the exception. As with your new alt-mode, I believe the exhaust pipes attached to your back combine to form a rifle," Optimus finished as the other Rescue Bots all looked at each other with a mixture of excitement and concern.
"Uh, if you don't mind me asking, but why combat training?" Hot Shot asked as Whirl looked away.
"A keen example of why you need combat training is Whirl. I do not mean to bring up such trauma lightly, but you all saw what happened to her and what had to happen for her survival. Combat would lessen that risk significantly, henceforth why you will be training starting tomorrow. Your teacher will remain a secret, but I can assure you, they are more than capable of doing so," Optimus said as the Rescue Bots nodded.
"Oh, and Whirl, Your father wishes to run a diagnostic on you. Something, grievous, has come to our attention," Optimus said as Whirl nodded, a now worried expression on her face as she walked to the med bay with Optimus.
Just as she left, Wedge came through the front doors as he watched Whirl walk into the med bay. Concern washed over his faceplate as he walked up to Hoist.
"Hoist, why's Whirl going into the med bay?" Wedge asked as Hoist shrugged.
"Optimus mentioned that both he and Shockwave found something grievous about her. It's probably nothing major. Ten shanix bets that it's just a misaligned wire or something to do with one of her joints, a quick fix, nothing more and nothing less. He's probably just saying that to make everyone think it's that bad… I hope," Hoist said as Wedge sighed.
"I just hope she's ok… I don't want anything else bad happening to her…." Wedge said as Hoist raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Are you crushing on Whirl?" Hoist joked as Wedge shook his hands up in the air.
"N-No! It's just… she's been in a lot of pain. Emotionally, physically, and mentally. I can tell she's masking it behind a fake smile and a false attitude. I would know, I've been there. But…" Wedge said as he lowered his helm, causing Hoist to put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. It'll all be fine. Now, I'm going to go play some Cube with Hot Shot. If you want to join in, you're welcome to," Hoist said as Wedge looked at the bot with uneasiness, watching the colourful bot runoff.
The ex-Contruscticon looked at the med bay. Walking over to its doors, he decided to wait for Whirl to come out, this time, hopefully, safe and sound.
-To Be Continued-
Now, I know what you may be thinking: Why such a short chapter? Simple, I don't want to overload chapters that don't need to be, this chapter being a good example. What, or who, was that laugh in Whirl's head? Is it really Dark Energon that's in her system? Who knows, find out in the next chapter!
Till next time, Peace!