In which Alison is chased by a cop, gets a new car, and meets her heroes.
Well, the officer called in about Bee, and we headed down to the station. It would have been a simple "call home-get picked up and lectured" affair, but I ended up with the officer from the movie, who found Mojo's pain pills in my purse and the video on my phone, so they tried to insist on a drug test. Luckily, Ron showed up as that was happening, and he helped convince them the truth. I couldn't help asking the cop if he was on anything when he still pulled the "you wanna go, fifty-cent" thing, cause seriously, what was he expecting me to do, shoot up the police station?
In any case, Ron drove me home, giving me a lecture about staying out late and even being in that end of town to start with, and how I'd have to face my mother when I got home. And indeed, Judy was waiting in the living room for us, and she gave me a hug, then a shake on the shoulders.
"What were you thinking, young lady?" she asked me. "Being in that part of town, at that time of night? I thought we told you to be home by eleven."
"I know, Mom," I said, looking down. "I ending up taking a girl home from the party last night and we were having so much fun talking, I lost track of time, then I got lost on the way back. I'm sorry."
"A girl?" She instantly changed her tune. "Was it Mikaela?"
I nodded. "She invited me to go out for lunch with her and some of her friends tomorrow. I know I messed up, but could I please still go?"
"Well…" Judy looked at Ron, who shrugged, leaving it up to her. "Oh, alright. I suppose losing the car is enough of a punishment. But no more late nights out, you promise?"
"I promise, no more late nights, at least not without calling first," I said, crossing my fingers in my fist before giving her another hug. "Thanks Mom."
She hugged me back, then pushed me up the stairs to get some sleep, seeing as it was pushing two am by this time.
The next morning, Bee wasn't home yet, which was both good and bad, considering what was gonna happen. I tried to stay positive, but that didn't stop me from choosing my outfit for the day based on how easily I would be able to run and take punishment. I ended up choosing a dark blue tank top and a black and white flannel shirt over a sports bra, a pair of slightly worn but comfortable jean capris, no-show socks and my black and white sneakers. Since I was going on a sorta date today, I kept the moon necklace I wore to the party as part of the outfit. Light makeup, and a French braid to keep my hair back from my face and I was ready. Looking in the mirror, it hit me; I was either going to save the world in this outfit, or I was gonna die looking good. Funny the tracts your mind makes when faced with destiny.
I shook those thoughts away and headed out the door, just stopping to give Judy a kiss on the cheek as she worked in the garden. I rode my bike and had intended to hang back until one of the other girls arrived, so I didn't seem overeager or anything, but as luck would have it, Mikaela was already there when I rode up.
"Mikaela!" I called, hopping off my bike and setting it in the rack. I didn't bother with the chain since I'd need it before too long.
"Hey, Alison," Mikaela said, looking around. "Where's your car?"
"Yeah, that is a crazy story, let me tell you," I said, and told her how I'd gotten lost and pulled over, then someone took off with the car. I felt bad lying to her, but she'd learn the truth soon enough, and she'd understand the need for secrecy. By the time I finished, some of Mikaela's other friends had shown up, and we all ordered food and started talking. More so, the other girls talked, catching Mikaela up on the party gossip she'd missed, moving onto celebrity gossip when that ran out. Mikaela easily flowed with the conversation, though I thought I saw something in her eyes betray how much some of it bored her. For my part, I mostly listened, occasionally chiming in with something I knew or heard, but I was mainly watching for either Bumblebee or Barricade to show up.
Finally, when some of the girls were suggesting we get up and head to the mall, I spotted Bee coming around the corner. Mikaela noticed too. "Is that your car?" she asked, watching him and me.
"Yes, yes it is." I stood up abruptly. "Sorry, girls, but I'm not letting that thief get away with it again." With that, I took off for my bike, climbing on and following after Bee. I really hoped Mikaela would follow, though I had no way to know for sure till I saw her.
As I pedaled, it occurred to me that this time, this was Bee luring Barricade to some deserted area to hide or fight in. But by the time I properly finished that thought, I was already in the garage. When I heard Barricade's siren "whoop", I decided to follow through the plot, and despite my common sense telling me to run, rode towards him, calling "Officer! Officer!" Then he slammed me with his door and I flipped back onto the ground. I could feel my cheek get grazed by the concrete, and momentarily was jealous of Sam, who made it through this part with nary a scratch on him.
I pushed myself up and turned to lean on Barricade's hood. "Officer, listen, someone stole my car, and they're right over there. Please, if you could go catch him. I would be so grateful. Please- AH!" Barricade chose that moment to rev his engine and start advancing on me, to which I responded by scooting back across the ground as fast as I could. When his probe things came out, I grabbed a chair and held it up to keep them away from me. Then he transformed, and I have to admit, I was equally awed and terrified by it. Then he growled, I was completely terrified, and bolted.
I didn't manage to get very far when he knocked me off my feet and onto the parked car. I was surprised he didn't break something, but I guess he softened his blow since I was a squishy. "Owwww!" I moaned, rolling over just as he knelt down and grabbed the car, looming over me. "Oh God!"
"Are you LadyLover217?" he growled at me, slamming a fist into the ground.
"The hell you want to know!?" I shouted back, but he just repeated himself, leaning closer.
"Are you LadyLover217!?"
"Yeah," I admitted, my voice a lot weaker than I would have wished. But, though I loath to admit it, there is quite a difference between seeing a scene in a movie, and actually getting first hand experience with the scene and knowing there's no director to say cut, or stunt crew or medic to make sure I didn't get too hurt.
"Where is eBay item 2-1-1-5-3? Where are the glasses!?" He roared and shook the car, crushing part of the hood. Like that would make me talk. I managed to scramble back over the car's roof and hit the ground running, wishing the crash behind me had been a little further away as Barricade followed me.
I ran through the garage, almost out of breath, and wondering where the fuck Bumblebee had run off to, when I saw Mikaela coming in on her moped.
"No, run! Run!" I screamed at her as we got closer.
"Alison!?" She asked, just before I clotheslined her off the moped, which dropped to the ground next to us along with Mikaela's helmet.
Mikaela was wincing as she sat up to look at me. "Oh God. W-What's going on, Alison?"
"There's a monster robot chasing me!" I explained best I could, pushing myself to my feet and pulling her up. "We gotta run!"
"A what?" she asked, then turned and saw Barricade, who flipped two cars and smashed through a chain link fence like they were paper mache. "Oh God!" she screamed.
I started tugging Mikaela to the entrance of the garage, when Bee sped in, did a donut to knock Barricade back, and came to us. He skidded to a stop next to us and opened his door.
"Alison, what is that thing?" Mikaela asked, but I just pulled her to Bumblebee.
"Come on, we have to get in!"
"No, I don't wanna get in," she protested.
"Just trust me!" I slid over the console into the driver's seat, keeping my feet clear of the pedals.
"Alison!" Mikaela protested, but followed me and took the passenger's seat. Bee floored it and left the garage, Barricade not far behind us.
"Bee, go, go, go!" I shouted as we drove through town, only barely managing to keep a lead on Barricade. Sometimes, the 'Con pulled up right beside us and we had to make an abrupt turn.
"Oh, God! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Mikaela screamed after the third such turn, gripping the top of Bee's door and bracing herself.
"No, we're not. No, we're not gonna die," I tried to assure her. The way she looked back at Barricade right behind us proved she didn't believe me. "Trust me, I know my car. He's a kick-ass driver!"
Then we crashed through the window of the old factory and I joined Mikaela in screaming. "Oh God, Bee! Don't kill us! No! Oh God!"
That was all the conversation was for the rest of the afternoon as the chase went on. A few times, we thought we might have lost Barricade, but sure as we even thought it, he would pop up in the rearview, or in a side mirror and off we went again. I was a little surprised no actual cops joined the chase, but I'll take the fortunes I can get.
It was twilight when we finally managed to pull into the factory yard and find a hiding spot. Bee cut his engine and locked the doors, not letting me or Mikaela out as Barricade rolled past.
"My car locked us in, and won't let us start him up again," I finally said as we caught our breaths. "Hopefully we lost the monster too." I met Mikaela's eyes for a split second of shared relief.
But then we could see Barricade start creeping back to where we were. Bee sped forward, just barely missing Barricade's bumper as we passed him, and shot over a short bridge, where he spun and threw Mikaela and I out to the ground. As we pushed ourselves up, he started transforming, standing guard over us.
Barricade transformed and tackled Bumbleblee, causing Mikaela and I to duck. Instinctively, I tried to cover Mikaela as Bee tossed Barricade off him. He rolled to his pedes, and pulled out his weapon - A zillo, I think the one fic called it - and roared at Bee. Frenzy popped out of Barricade's chest, hissing at us and Mikaela and I took off running.
Bee and Barricade barely missed us as they rolled over us fighting, eventually disappearing from view down the hill. Mikaela and I hit the open yard just as Frenzy jumped on me. "Keep running!" I yelled at Mikaela and tried to fight Frenzy off me. I didn't have saggy jeans to get pulled off my legs, but I did have gravel I could grab, and I had flexibility. I grabbed a handful of gravel and when I felt the pressure of Frenzy lift a little, I forcibly rolled onto my back, throwing the gravel in his face. He reared back in shock and I managed to knock him off me, scrambling to my feet and heading for the shed I knew Mikaela had gone to. Frenzy tackled me again and knocked me through the fence and down the hill.
We hit the yard's perimeter fence and I managed to fling Frenzy off my back again, dodging when he charged again. He managed to climb on me and started choking me. I shoved one hand between his servos and my throat, using the other to hold him back. If I trusted the fence behind me, I would have tried to kick him off, but luckily Mikaela ran up with her saw, and I threw my arm back in time for her to slice Frenzy's arms off. Then she went to town on him until he was just a head.
I smiled seeing him so cut down, rubbing my throat with my hand. "Not so tough as just a head, are you?' I croaked, punting him across the yard, hopefully towards Mikaela's purse. Mikaela and I took a minute to breathe.
"Are you alright?" she asked me, motioning to my throat.
"I'll be-" I coughed and cleared my throat "-I'll be fine." I looked up the hill to where Bee would be. "Come on," I said, grabbing her free hand and pulling her after me.
Along the way, Mikaela dropped the saw and stepped up to be just behind me. As Bee came over the hill transforming his blaster, we stopped and stared up at him. In the dark with the backlight of the factory, he was a figure of awe.
"What is it?" Mikaela asked, holding my arm.
"It's my car, who's also a robot." I said. "A super advanced, transforming robot not of this world." I started up the hill towards him.
"What are you doing!?"
"It's okay, he won't hurt us," I told her. "If he was going to he would have attacked us on the lookout, or left us for the other one."
"Really, well do you speak robot? Because they just had, like a giant droid deathmatch."
"I think they need something from me. Bee chose me at the car lot, and the other one was talking about my ebay page."
I heard Mikaela sigh. "You are the strangest girl I've ever met."
I craned my head back to look at Bumblebee. "Bee, are you alright?"
He tilted his head in a way I knew was a smirk. -Takes more than a punk like that to knock me down.-
I smiled. "Good. That's good. So, can you explain last night, what that was all about? And I don't mean the cops!"
Bumblebee put a servo to his helm and played -Message from Starfleet, Captain - Throughout the inanimate vastness of space - Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven- hallelujah!-
Mikaela came up next to me. "Visitors from heaven? What are you, like, an alien or something?
Bumblebee pointed to her and transformed to car mode. He popped his door open for us. -Any more questions you want to ask?-
"He wants us to get in the car," I said plainly.
Mikaela gave a half-laugh. "And go where?"
I could faintly hear Bee's radio start playing Before It's Too Late and I turned to Mikaela. "Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?"
She held my gaze for a moment, then she turned away, set her jaw, and started up the hill. I couldn't help smiling. That's my girl. I followed her and we took our seats in Bee. When we reached the spot where Mikaela and my purses dropped from Bee when he transformed, I hopped out to get them. I could see her phone sitting at the top of her purse, and I took that as a sign that Frenzy was the one there. If not, well, I'd figure something out.
We went on down the road a ways, Mikaela sitting on the center console and myself in the passenger's seat. For a while, we were quiet, until Mikaela said, "You know your car is a really good driver."
"Yeah, he is." I glanced at her, and she looked uncomfortable. "You know, you could slide into the driver's seat."
"I'm not going to sit there, he's driving."
"He wouldn't mind," I said, then remembered. "Or, if you're really against it, you could sit next to me."
"Why?" she asked, looking questioningly at me.
"Well, I'm pretty skinny and I got the only seat belt. Safety first."
Mikaela thought for a second. "Alright." She shifted over and I redid the seatbelt around us. To sit comfortably, I had my arm around her waist, and she was snugged right next to me, leaning on my shoulder. I couldn't help giving a sigh. I was in heaven.
"That was a pretty smooth move there," Mikaela then said.
"What?"
She gave me a small look of "Are you serious?" "Alison, you're not exactly subtle about it."
"Oh. Uhh, well…" I trailed off, and I felt my cheeks flushing red. "You don't mind?"
She smirked. "Please, if nothing else it's a compliment."
"Right."
Bee started playing a love song over the radio, and I gave a light kick to the underside of his dashboard. "You're no help."
"You know what I don't understand?" Mikaela said.
"What?"
"Why, if he's supposed to be, like, this super-advanced robot, does he transform back into this piece of crap Camaro?" She rolled her eyes as if really seeing the car for the first time.
Bee suddenly skidded to a stop in the middle of the street. The seatbelt unbuckled and his door unlocked. We got the message and climbed out, stepping onto the sidewalk of the tunnel as Bee pulled a u-turn to the cussing of the other drivers.
"Bee!" I called after him, then sighed and shook my head. "Honestly, that car is so sensitive."
"Sorry," Mikaela said, but I waved it away.
"He's just being a big baby. He'll come back."
And sure enough, almost as I said it, Bee was coming back up the street, shining as a new 2008 concept Camaro (though I had to wonder who in Tranquility was driving one for him to scan). A gloriously sexy car. I swear I heard Mikaela gasp. When he pulled up, I opened the passenger's door for Mikaela, letting her settle in before running over to the driver's side and taking a seat. Inside was even better than I'd imagined, and Mikaela and I shared stupid grins over it.
"Four thousand dollars drove off, four-hundred thousand came back," I said, stroking Bee's wheel before he pulled back into traffic and we were off again.
"This is incredible," Mikaela said then turned to me. "You knew he was alive, didn't you."
"Oh, yeah." I reached a hand to rub the back of my neck. "I figured it out right after getting him. He wasn't really stolen, he just drove off on his own."
"And last night?" she raised a brow at me.
"Last night we didn't get lost. He drove us out to the old scrapyard and I'm guessing signaled his friends to come down too."
"Friends? Like an invasion?" Her eyes widened, but I held my hands up to calm her.
"No, I don't think it's an invasion. Call it… a really good hunch. Either way, we'll see when we get there, I guess."
Soon, we were coming up to our destination, a lawn on Tranquility University's campus, this particular building being closed for renovations. Bee parked and we got out of the car, watching the sky. It was a clear night, and the stars were endless. I'd have to remember this spot for a stargazing date with Mikaela, if we ever became a thing.
Soon, five bright points of light became meteors, streaking the sky as they came closer and closer. I could almost remember which of them was which 'Bot, but who was the fifth one? Prowl? Wheeljack? A femme?
Mikaela reached for my hand, and I held it tight, trying to reassure her and still her trembling. Didn't help I was trembling too, only it was more awe and excitement than fear. The meteors streaked overhead, the one directly above us passing at barely one hundred feet up. It crashed through a hill, and I immediately took off towards it, pulling Mikaela along with me, wanting to see Optimus when he came out.
We reached the top of the second hill he crashed through and watched as the pod broke apart and reformed into a sleek, alien form. He glanced our way, and I couldn't help a smile and small wave back. He sprinted off towards the highway, and we watched as his form shifted from mech to gorgeous blue Peterbilt with flames.
Bee honked his horn and Mikaela and I turned to see him on the hill behind us, doors open. We raced back and once in Bee, we took off for our meeting place, a deserted alley in the industrial district. Bumblebee stopped right in the center of the alley. From the other end of the alley, Optimus was coming towards us as we stepped out of Bee, and when I heard the others behind us, I glanced back before facing front again.
Optimus stopped only a foot or so away from us, close enough we got a good look at his Autobot symbol before he started transforming. Bee backed up to our left and a yellow rescue Hummer and an orange Mustang pulled up on our right. As Optimus finished his transformation, Mikaela and I turned to see Bee, the Hummer, the Mustang, a black Topkick and a silver Soleste start transforming as well. When we turned back, Optimus knelt down and Mikaela took my hand again. While I was just watching in almost gleeful awe, a smile threatening to cross my face, I could tell she was thinking awful terror. I squeezed her hand tight as Optimus brought his face almost level to ours.
At first, he said something I could recognize as Chinese, but didn't understand a word of it. He then properly switched to English. "Are you Alison Jane Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" he asked.
"They know your name," Mikaela whispered, not taking her eyes off Optimus.
"Yeah." My breath caught in my throat as I answered, making it come out much weaker than I'd wanted.
"My name is Optimus Prime," Optimus said. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet cybertron."
"But you can call us 'Autobots' for short," Ratchet said, taking a few steps back. I wonder if he smelled Mikaela's fear.
"Autobots," I repeated, as if trying out the word. I looked at Bumblebee. "You couldn't parse that together for us? Two-part word, plenty of records of both."
Bee shrugged as Jazz started moving. "What's crackin', lil bitches?" he asked, executing a breakdance move to kneel with his chin resting in his servo.
"My first lieutenant, Jazz," Optimus introduced.
"This looks like a cool place to kick it." Jazz jumped back and landed on the scrapped car like it was a recliner.
"It's really not," I said, smiling sheepishly.
"How'd you learn to talk like that?" Mikaela asked.
"We learned Earth's languages from the world wide web," Optimus said, straightening from his stoop and gesturing to Ironhide. "My weapons' specialist, Ironhide."
Ironhide charged up his cannons as Mikaela and I turned around. He pointed them at us and quoted Dirty Harry. "You feeling lucky, punk?" I couldn't help the laugh I gave, more of a sharp gasp than anything else.
"Easy Ironhide," Optimus said.
"I was just kidding," Ironhide defended. "I just wanted to show 'em my cannons."
Optimus shook his head, like this was a common conversation, then motioned to Ratchet, who was sniffing the air. "Our medical officer, Ratchet."
"Hmm," Ratchet said. "The Witwicky girl's pheromone levels suggests both that she's not afraid, and that she wishes to mate with the other female."
Mikaela glanced at me, then awkwardly glanced away, scratching her head, while I managed a strained chuckle. "Uh, yeah, we're working on that. Just so you know, humans don't like that kind of thing just stated flat out in public, especially regarding same-sex."
Ratchet looked like he wanted to question me on that, but with a glance at Optimus he simply nodded his head towards the Mustang next to him. A very familiar one to me.
"Our expert of frontline tactics, Coppertone," Optimus introduced her, and I instantly recognized her. Back in my old world, I had created an original femme by that name, with the same alt mode and same appearance. Mostly orange and matte black where silver internals weren't showing, she stood about two feet taller than Bumblebee and was a bit slimmer with a slight feminine curve to her frame, though nowhere as much as Arcee had been. Two of her wheels sat on her hip, and as we watched her, she grabbed one of the rims, turned it, and it and several pieces that logically shouldn't be in there transformed into a handheld blaster, with an energon line connecting the grip to her arm.
"Oh, you flatter me, Optimus," she said, her voice young. "I just know how to make the first hit hurt, and how to keep pressing it."
"Wow," Mikaela said next to me. Then Bumblebee started dancing and boxing, pulling our attention to the other side of the alley.
"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee," Optimus said, standing up.
"Yeah, we do," I said, looking up as he started playing -Check the rep, second to none.- "My guardian, huh?"
Bumblebee tried to speak, but all that came out was the squeaky trill. Ratchet held up his arm, transformed into a laser pointer and aimed a red beam at Bee's throat, causing him to bend forward and rub it, issuing a cough that could be from him or from his speakers. "His vocal processors were damaged in battle," Ratchet explained, tapping at the pointer. "I'm still working on them."
'Not for long,' I thought briefly, then looked back to Optimus as Mikaela asked, "Why are you here?"
"We are here looking for the AllSpark," the Prime said. "And we must find it before Megatron."
"Megatron?" I asked.
Optimus touched the side of his helm and and a pair of light beams came from his eyes, laying out a hologram of a broken chasm glowing with burning lava at our feet. I couldn't help a jump back as the end went right up to my toes. Turning, I could see the ground around us seeming to crack up, showing more light from below, as pieces "fell" into the depths below, separating me and Mikaela.
"Our planet was once a powerful empire," Optimus described as great spires rose from the chasm and an alien cityscape overtook the dirty alley, shining and bright. "Peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons." The city was almost instantly changed, becoming scorched, battered, and cybertronians were fighting each other in the distance. "All who defied them were destroyed." Near us, we could see an obviously injured mech hobbling along when a spear came out of nowhere and impaled him through the chest. As he collapsed, Mikaela and I turned in the direction the weapon came from and saw Megatron, laughing at his kill. Several mechs and femmes stood by his side. I could recognize Shockwave, Starscream, Soundwave, and a few other lesser 'Cons, but the rest, including a red femme standing next to Megatron, I didn't. Around them, the bodies of dead mechs hung from the spires and spread across the battlefield. "Our war finally consumed our planet, and the AllSpark was lost to the stars." A shooting star was seen in the distance, and with a growl, Megatron jumped up, transformed and followed it, the hologram dissolving just after he and the AllSpark disappeared with a ripple in the night sky. "Megatron followed it to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him."
"Grandpa Archibald?" I asked, letting a huff of disbelief join the words. "So his iceman was real!"
Optimus nodded. "It was an accident that intertwined our fates." He reactivated the hologram, though it only projected in front of us, and was much more of an caricature than anything, though the man who fell from the ice cave's ceiling looked like the old photo of my grandfather. As he stood up, the frozen form of Megatron came into view. "Megatron crash-landed before he could reach the Cube. Your grandfather accidentally activated his navigation system." Hologram-Archibald tapped Megatron and was struck directly in the face by a red beam of light, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground, his glasses flying off as he flailed his arms, and the hologram zoomed in on them, showing the cracking that made them so distinctive. "The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses." The hologram dissolved away again.
"How-How'd you know about all this? That I had the glasses," I asked. I honestly was curious to see how Optimus would answer that.
"While the most of us remained in the edges of your system's asteroid belt, Bumblebee has been here on Earth for several years, searching for the clues. As for the glasses themselves," Optimus looked at me with all seriousness, "it was eBay."
"eBay." I look to Mikaela briefly with a bit of a silly grin.
"If the Decepticons find the AllSpark, they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army," Ratchet told us.
"And the human race will be extinguished." Optimus straightened to his full height and the other 'Bots came to stand by him, Ratchet, Coppertone and Jazz on one side, Bee and Ironhide on the other. "Alison Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."
Mikaela turned to me. "Please tell me you have those glasses."
I smiled. "Don't worry, I do. We just need to take a little road trip first."
