Chapter 36: Those Misty Days Part 2

Hot Shot didn't know what he was expecting when he finally emerged from the mist-only to jerk back when a tree nearly knocked into him. A small figure jumped past, screaming as it chased after a flash of purple-Sideways. Hot Shot's jaw clenched, before Jolt's voice snapped him out of it.

"What the pit is that!?"

Hot Shot stared at the white figure, a sword-no, the sword was it's hand-swinging at Sideways, only for the blade to slash a chunk of a tree off. It landed with a thud on the ground. "I-I have no idea."

Giggling drew his attention, and his gaze flickered down to -of all things-a woman standing in the mist, an unsettling smirk on her lips. Her entire being left him unsettled and he wasn't sure why. "Such power, isn't it wonderful?" her smirk shifted into a scowl when she caught sight of Jolt. "Better than these things."

Hot Shot wasn't going to dismiss this wasn't a human, because he hadn't seen a human who had eyes like that. Pink irises and pupils in vertical slits. He clenched his jaw. "Who or what are you?"

"How rude." The blonde sniffed, turning up her nose at him. "Though I wouldn't really be worrying about me. Rather, you should be more concerned about your little friend."

Hot Shot's optics glanced over to Sideways as he continued dodging the strikes levelled at him. "That traitor isn't my friend. The Pit take that tin can."

"That's not who I meant." The 'human' laughed softly.

Something twisted in Hot Shot's spark when he finally realized what the sword arm on the small creature was Sword. 'That-that can't be-' "Rad?!"

The creature jerked, strike going off kilter. Sideways reared his arm back, and slammed the creature into a tree. Hot Shot's optics snapped to the blonde-only to find she disappeared. While a part of him feared for the breach of secrecy, the bigger worry was how the slag did Rad turn into that?

And though he had no proof, his angry thoughts zeroed in on the traitorous purple mech. "Sideways! What did you do to Rad?!"

"I did nothing-well, nothing recently." Sideways retorted. Hot Shot scowled and made a step forward, but the creature-Rad-swung Sword to keep him back.

"No!" The voice was deeper than Rad's normal tone, with a strange distortion which added an echoing effect. "He's mine! I'm going to kill him and then finish off every parasite on this planet!"

"W-what?" Hot Shot stepped back, and even Jolt flinched from the vitriol.

"Something's wrong, I can still feel Rad in there, but he's-he's different. All of his emotions are hateful and furious." Jolt's tone was worried and frightened, and it caused Hot Shot the same alarm because Jolt rarely ever got scared.

"Please, Rad, what happened to you?" Hot Shot asked, but the creature only growled at him.

Infuriatingly, it was Sideways who answered him. "Don't you see, Hot Shot? That blonde woman was a Wisp-I did tell you they couldn't be trusted."

Hot Shot glared at him. "Shut up!"

The creature took the opportunity to lunge for Sideways, Sword reared back. The mech backflipped into his alt-mode, and the slash took out the tree behind him. Sideways let out an eerie laugh as he drove off again, and the creature snarled. "Get back here!"

"Rad, no!" Hot Shot called, and hurried after them in his own vehicle mode, Jolt following. The Pit take this fog, it was too thick and he soon lost both of them. "Frag!" His spark was pulsing wildly, because not only did this mission go awry so quickly, but Rachel was going to kill him. Hot Shot would have gritted his denta if capable. "Hot Shot to base, we…have a problem."

"…what did you do now, Hot Shot?"

"Shut up, Red! Now isn't the time." Hot Shot snapped, before the anger drained into misery. "Rad's…something happened to Rad."

At once, Red's tone became all business. "What was it? Is he hurt badly? Can he handle the return trip?"

Hot Shot was glad at least someone could keep focused. He tried to follow the example, but his spark kept pulsing hard in his chest. "I-I-Pit! It's so fragging confusing. There was this woman, she was some kind of magic user-had to be. She…she did something that caused Rad and Sword to turn into-into this thing. He went on about killing Sideways and the mini-cons-scrap, Rachel's gonna kill me!"

"Calm down!" Red Alert ordered, and his tone became thoughtful, "Although, what you described…I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I think I know what you're talking about."

Hot Shot could have collapsed under the relief which those words filled him with. "You do? What am I supposed to do then?"

"I said I wasn't sure if this was the same thing. Can you describe how Rad looks now?" Red Alert asked.

Hot Shot gritted his denta, and tried to focus on the creature which used to be Rad. "He…he was all white, with a heart torn in two on his chest, and black thorns sticking out."

"Black thorns?" Red Alert asked sharply.

Hot Shot's expression scrunched. "Yeah, what is it?" He glanced ahead. The sounds of trees crashing only egged him on. "I don't have all sol, Red. If you know how I can help Rad, tell me!"

"I don't know if the solution will work again." Red Alert said. His carefully controlled tone was starting to crack. "I could hardly understand it before, and for all I know it might not even be the same thing."

"Got no other options here. Just tell me and I'll do it!" Hot Shot snapped.

Red Alert was silent for such a long time, Hot Shot almost gave up and closed the comm. "I-I believe positive emotions are the cure." Hot Shot knew the medic couldn't see his incredulity, but probably guessed all the same. "I still don't understand how it worked, but Rachel managed to save Swoop by reminding him of how much his team meant to him. By all means, it shouldn't have worked-and yet it did."

Hot Shot didn't know whether magic was awful or wonderful to be able to be focused so much on emotion. It didn't matter though, because Rad was his friend and he was in danger. Hot Shot's optics glinted with determination. "I'll get Rad."

"The others are still on the mini-con hunt, but I'll inform them of the situation."

Hot Shot wanted to argue, but in the distance a tree was thrown into the air, split in two and crashed to the ground with such force his pedes shook. "Fine!" He cut the comm, and transformed before opening his door. "Come on, Jolt, let's go save Rad!"

Tracking Rad and Sideways through the mist was harder than Hot Shot anticipated. They left destruction in their wake, with trees piled over each other and the ground carved to pieces, but it was always like Hot Shot just missed them. Jolt was also looking through his windows, his frame tense and uneasy just like how the yellow mech was also feeling.

It also brought on the doubt. Rad was afflicted with magic, how was Hot Shot supposed to do anything against it? Rachel probably used some spell subconsciously. He had no magic to speak of unless being used as a puppet counted. 'And with my lucky it doesn't.' he thought disparagingly. Hot Shot didn't know if Rad's condition would be permanent after a while, so the metaphorical clock kept ticking and ticking.

"Jolt, can you fly up and see if Rad's around?"

"Sure, but don't lose sight of me too." Jolt said.

Hot Shot wanted to scowl as he opened his door. "No need to rub it in." he muttered, and Jolt jumped into the sky, transforming into his helicopter mode and his rotors parted the mist as he hovered above the tree line. "Well?"

"The fog is even thicker than we thought. It's practically covering the forest. What is up with this weather?"

Hot Shot transformed, and rubbed his faceplate. "Scrap, I don't know. Maybe it's normal-" he stopped, and his spark all but sank when he realized that no, it might not be. Hot Shot couldn't sense magic, and he didn't know if it would work- The yellow mech vented, and he clenched his fists. "I don't know what your name is, but you're a Sakura Card, aren't you? Are you causing this mist?"

Jolt landed by his pedes. "What are you doing?"

Hot Shot shushed him when he caught something in the corner of his optics. A patch of mist different than the rest; it was green and swirling through the trees, but didn't move away or closer. So Hot Shot cautiously stepped forward. The mist stilled. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but please, this fog is keeping me from finding my friend Rad. He's in danger and I need to help him."

The green mist grew thicker, and Hot Shot stiffened when the grass started to rot and the trees cracked with decay. And then the fog shrank into itself, before a form emerged from the mist. It was a pale, young woman with skin a pale green as the fog which formed her high-collared dress, held closed by a broach at her throat. She had long-pointed ears, and green hair which was beaded with dew. On her forehead was the only splash of a different color; an apostrophe-like symbol colored dark purple.

Her green eyes seemed to bore straight into Hot Shot's very thoughts. "Are you certain about this?"

Well scrap, seems she could. Hot Shot hadn't known if it were just something Sand could do. Venting, Hot Shot nodded. "I don't know what you saw, but Rad's been turned into a creature. He's been…" he tried to think of what to call it, "corrupted or whatever by magic and Sword is also trapped with him."

The woman's serene features tightened. Hot Shot didn't need to guess she was on the edge. "Please," he said, imploring and earnest, "I know you have no reason to like Rad, but he doesn't deserve this."

The card stared harder at him, and Hot Shot didn't break her gaze. Finally, the fog around them began to faded away, until the only part of it left was her. "I shall make that decision for myself."

Hot Shot wasn't sure if that was her offering help, but he'd take what he could get. "Jolt, now see if you can find Rad and Sideways."

"On it!" Jolt beeped, and transformed before taking off.

The woman watched Jolt go, before her physical form turned back into a fog bank, and lazily drifted through the trees. Hot Shot had no breath, but his spark pulsed harder in his chest as he walked through the trees. He grimaced when the corroded grass crunched under his feet. No points for what this Sakura Card could do.

"I see them!"

Hot Shot almost jumped, and his spark nearly leapt into his throat. "Where?" he called and transformed.

"Up ahead, some five miles away. I can see more trees getting knocked down."

"Lead on!" Hot Shot tore off after Jolt as the mini-con propelled himself over the trees. In his rearview, Hot Shot 'saw' the Sakura Card trailing after him, the green mist gliding close the ground. Hot Shot's focus returned to the Jolt's continued broadcasting as they drew nearer, until it became loud enough that the trees being decimated were audible. "Scrap!" Hot Shot stopped short when a white figure was thrown into the tree in front of him.

The creature snarled as Sideways stared down at him, before glancing back at Hot Shot. Optics narrowed, Sideways voice held a sneer, "It's been real. Have fun saving protecting your mini-con." His vanished in a flash.

"No, get back here!" Rad snarled, before whirling on Hot Shot, who backed up. The creature's face was twisted in a ghoulish expression, eyes glaring daggers at him. He held up Sword. "You got in my way!" He stopped when a rush of green mist twisted around Rad, cocooning him in an eerie fog bank. He growled when he reached out, and flinched back when his hand burned. "What is this!"

Hot Shot transformed and gestured for Jolt to remain out of sight. He didn't want this to be harder than it already was. "Rad-"

"Don't call me that! It's Slash, not Rad, not anymore!" The creature snarled.

Hot Shot's spark thrummed hard in his chest. 'How am I going to get him to listen to me?' He still didn't know what to do, but right now being undecisive was the worst option. "Please, you have to listen to me. This isn't you, Rad. You're a good, decent person and yes you screwed up but you still try to do the right thing."

"And what did it get me?" Rad growled, and clutched the symbol over his chest. "My feelings toyed with by that creep, my friends hating me, and I get saddled with a responsibility Rachel was too much a coward to accept. Why should I care anymore when I'll get is misery in return?"

"That's not true! Rachel loves you, and your friends just need time." Hot Shot said, but Rad sneered at him.

"And where are they? Why don't they come here and tell it to my face?"

Hot Shot winced, but his tank churned when Rad tried again to get past the corrosive mist. "Stop, you're gonna hurt yourself!"

"Why do you care?"

"Because I love you!" Hot Shot's optics widened, and he saw the creatures were as well. Hot Shot clenched his fists, and knelt down before the dome. Rad tensed up. "You're my friend and I love you. I'm so, so sorry I acted like a jerk when you trusted me with your secret. I know I can't make it up to you in words, but you have to believe me; I. Love. You."

Rad screamed. The creature shook his head, body twisting every which way. "No, no, no! You can't, you just can't!"

"I should have told you sooner, but I was scared of losing you like I lost Wheeljack." Hot Shot clutched at his chest, right over his spark. "I'm not making the same mistake again. I care about you Rad, and I know you can fight this!"

Rad screamed louder, brought to his knees and doubled over. Hot Shot didn't move an inch as Rad slammed Sword against the dome, thrashing and getting burned. Sword slammed into the ground, and Rad abruptly went straight. "AHHHHH!"

Hot Shot jerked back as the sound echoed through the trees. Rad's form glowed. Slowly, with an agonizing snail's pace, Rad and Sword split apart. The card clattered to the ground, while Rad swayed back and forth. The blond flinched as the talon broke from his skin, landing on the ground and splintering into dust.

Rad's hazy blue eyes found his, and there was such gratitude that Hot Shot sucked in a gasp. "Thank you." Rad's eyes rolled back, and he fell forward.

The Sakura Card fell away, and Hot Shot hurried to catch the human. Rad landed in his servos, and the yellow mech was relieved that none of the burns transferred to his human body. Sword glowed, and returned to its card form, slipping back into Rad's pocket.

Hot Shot lifted Rad carefully, and held him against his spark. Relief flooded through him. He caught sight of the wild Sakura Card, who reached down to grasp a string, lifting it to show the sealing key. She stared at it for a moment, before tossing it at Hot Shot's pedes. "I take it you're going to be gone when we come back?"

The Sakura Card gaze at Rad, and her eyes softened. "You were right. He's in enough pain that he doesn't need me to make it worse."

Hot Shot stiffened when the Sakura Card's form shifted, twisting back into a fog bank and then into its card form. It floated to the ground, and Jolt grabbed both it and the sealing key. The mini-con held up the card, and Hot Shot let out an incredulous laugh. "'The Mist', that figures."

"Is Rad going to be okay?" Jolt asked, concern in his voice.

Hot Shot vented slowly. He held Rad carefully with one servo, and lifted Jolt with the other. "I don't know, that's for Red Alert to decide. Now let's get back to base."

"No complaints here."

Rad's mind was muddled and he slowly became aware the hum of machinery, and a warm weight over him. The blond furrowed his brow, and cautiously opened his eyes. He stared up at a ceiling, so far from his vantage point that he realized where he was. Blinking, Rad noticed that a blanket lay on top of him, keeping him warm from the chill. Further, he slowly became aware of the fact he was resting on a berth too big for him, and sat up carefully.

Rad jerked back, startled when to the side of the berth, Hot Shot was recharging on a bench. The blond touched his shoulder where the talon was, but aside from the tenderness, he was relieved it hadn't scarred. A fizzle of air caught his attention, and Maya appeared on the berth before him. "Hey." His voice was hoarse, and he winced a little.

Maya nodded, her reserved features softening. "It is good to see you're awake. You've been asleep for several hours. Red Alert deduced that you were suffering from exhaustion, but that you'd be able to leave once he gave you another check-up."

Rad furrowed his brow. "And Hot Shot, how long has he been there?"

"Hot Shot never left your side." Maya said. The blond's brow rose. "Red Alert was quite annoyed, but he let Hot Shot stay so long as he didn't bother you."

A warm flush rose in Rad's cheeks, along with the realization that despite the nightmare he'd been in, that Hot Shot's declaration was real. 'Even if my friends can never forgive me, at least I'll still have Hot Shot and High Wire.' His eyes widened. "Wait, the card-"

"Taken care of." Maya assured him, and Rad glanced at her sharply. "Hot Shot said the Sakura Card gave itself up, and Jolt wrote your name on it."

"Well that's a relief." Rad said and breathed out softly. Then he stiffened again. "If I've been asleep for hours, how long did Rachel go off for during that time?"

Maya smiled, tired despite being a hologram. "It didn't last long, but she wasn't happy with what happened. Still, she agreed to let Hot Shot take you home once you woke up."

Rad nodded, but had a fuzzy recollection from what seemed like years ago now. "There…was also a mini-con hunt, right? How…how did that go?"

Maya's smile dropped, her features reserved once more. "Red Alert informed Optimus of what happened when they were in the middle of a fight. They came back right away, but before they left Hot Shot returned with you. I…cannot speak to how Optimus felt, but he did look relieved to see you were alright-relatively speaking."

Rad breathed out again, and lied back down. "As if I didn't have enough guilt." He muttered. 'This is all Sideways fault.' He thought, but clenched his fists. No, he couldn't get caught in that trap again. Sideways way to blame, but Rad wasn't going to let his hate take over. He didn't want to become like that again. 'And there might not be anyone to help me next time.'

Hot Shot stirred on his seat, optics blinking open. His gaze locked with Rad's, and the yellow mech's expression brightened. "Rad!" he leaned forward. "How are you feeling?" he winced, and lowered his voice. "Sorry, you probably have a headache or something."

Rad rubbed his forehead. "No headache, but my throats sore." He reached out, and Hot Shot let him fist bump his finger. "Thank you. I know I said it, but thank you so much."

Hot Shot smiled, so earnest and open. "You're my friend. Anytime."

Rad matched his smile, and closed his eyes to drift back to sleep. "And you're my friend too."