Chapter 4: Creating Bonds Part 2


Rachel stewed in her own thoughts as she felt like one giant bruise after her aching began settling in fully. The blonde had been herded off to the 'medical bay' as the blue and gray Autobot called it before introducing himself properly as Red Alert. She would've grinned at the irony of someone called that being an ambulance, but it hurt too much. Red Alert did though allow High Wire and the other two children to accompany them and provide her with support as Rachel limped after him; they'd need a medical scan as well.

Rachel also felt this was the time her recuperation was done with after Red Alert had done his scans on them all. She assessed the two children on both sides of her, who still looked unsure and seemed to rethink their idea of going with the giant robots as maybe not being such a good one. She might be hurting and need to go a doctor for her injuries, but this needed immediate attention first.

"Just whose idea was it to ignore my warning and go with strangers?" she avoided looking at either of the children, as she wasn't about to frighten them further by pointedly glaring at them both.

On her left side, Alexis shifted as she pulled out Rachel's phone from her pocket. "Um, I did." She said and flushed when the blonde finally let her gaze slide down to the brunette. "I was scared!" she cried out and grabbed Rachel's arm with one hand, her expression cracking. "I didn't want you to get hurt, and when that red and blue robot-"

"Optimus." Red Alert interjected quietly, his visor never leaving the screen on his arm.

Alexis nodded. "Yeah, him; I took a chance and decided to trust him when he said he was going to help you. I know it was stupid, but I really wanted to believe him." her eyes watered and she shifted her arm to encompass Rachel across her shoulder. The blonde winced at the pressure, but patted Alexis on the back as the girl sniffled. "I didn't want to lose you-and-and Rad would be devastated if something happened to you too!"

Rachel breathed in deeply, her eyes closed as she contemplated the words. It nagged at her there was something deeper going on with Alexis' outburst, but she wasn't quite willing to give it a name. "I'm," she took another breath and smiled down at her, but then pointedly gave the same reassuring smile to High Wire and Carlos, "not going anywhere, I still gotta get you kids home."

Carlos cracked a shaky smile. "Still can't believe that it was Alexis who broke your rule."

Alexis let out a low growl, but she blushed when Rachel looked back at her. "I'm really, really sorry. I was only thinking of you-and, uh, Rad too." She said awkwardly.

Rachel felt realization hit her like a ton of bricks. "Oh no, how long have we been here?" she asked the blue Autobot.

"Approximately one of your earth hours." Red Alert replied curtly. "The scans of the human children have come back clean, from the information I have downloaded of your internet data, and the mini-con's self-repair has fixed its damages. You though, are suffering from a sprained ankle bone, and there is a high percentage that several of your body parts will discolor from what you call 'bruising.'"

"Yeah, I'm so not gonna have a fun time explaining how I got like this." Rachel said, but winced as she once more found herself thinking of her cousin. "Look, can you tell us where we are?" she asked even as she slid her thumb over the number to the landline at the apartment. She found herself grimacing when there was a 'no signal' icon blinking in the corner of her phone where the signals bars should have been. "I really need to know where we are; there's no signal getting through."

"While I can't account for your technological trouble, as our comms are continuing to function as they should, we are currently in a part of a mini-con ship which crashed on your planet-just outside of 'Lincoln' and in the mountain range vicinity." Red Alert explained, his voice never changing or inflecting one iota.

Rachel found herself envious at the way this robot could keep his voice even and calm while she was starting to get a headache and felt her grasp on reality beginning to slip. "I don't believe it; we're actually in the cave where we found the mini-con panel." She noticed the looks the children gave her and nodded at High Wire. "You might remember him as that green plate Rad had-turns out it was just holding him in a storage of sorts."

High Wire shifted under the scrutiny of the gazes the kids gave him. "Okay, I'm starting to get uncomfortable. Please make them stop."

"Lay off him, he did save your lives from that crazy helicopter." Rachel said, and given that the Decepticon had been willing to shoot at them despite what Megatron had said, 'crazy' seemed like an apt description to use.

Carlos looked up at her in astonishment. "Whoa, you understood it? All I heard was just a bunch of beeps."

Rachel smiled wryly. "That's exactly what I hear too, but apparently I formed some kind of mind-link with him and I can hear words in my head."

"Fascinating, I never knew that a mini-con could be able to link-up with an organic being." Red Alert said, sounding faintly curious. "Has it shown any deference to you as well?"

Rachel felt a slight churning in her stomach as she remembered what High Wire had told her. 'Even the good robots saw them as weapons.' She thought and felt a bit uncomfortable with how it was only her actually calling the mini-con something other than 'it.' 'Granted, I had done the same thing, but the kids don't know better.' She added and glanced over at High Wire, who stared back at her blankly. "Yes," she answered, being sure to keep her voice tightly controlled, "he does what I tell him too." She looked up at the Autobot and bit the inside of her cheek for a moment before continuing with: "And what I'd like to do is leave him here with you Autobots; I really don't know how to care for him."

"I must confer with Optimus, as since this mini-con is linked with you it would cause complications with communication were it to stay." Red Alert said as he raised his hand to his head.

High Wire straightened up, and without another word he jumped off the perch they were sitting on before fleeing from the room. Rachel groaned; he'd been so good about coming here too.

"What's was that about?" Carlos asked in confusion.

"To be honest, I think he just got cold feet." Rachel said dryly.

The blue Autobot glanced down at them as his hand fell from his head. "Optimus is on his way in; he will answer any questions you have now that you've been cleared." He paused as he seemed to be peering down at Rachel specifically-the visor over his eyes made it hard to tell. "Though it is advisable you go to one of your earth physicians soon."

Rachel nodded wearily as she glanced down at her slack ankle. "Right, yeah, I will." She said, but all too soon it came over her that her car was currently a smoking pile of scrapped parts beside a lake. She groaned as she ran her hands over her face. "Just how are we supposed to get back to town though? It'd take at least an hour to hike back, and I can't make the kids drag me along."

"We don't expect you to." Red Alert explained. "Optimus has ordered Hot Shot," for the first time, there was a strained inflection in his tone at the name, "to drive you back to your town as his alternate mode would likely not be too conspicuous."

Alexis sighed shakily. "That's right, you and the, er, those other robots can all change into vehicles."

"Talk about paranoia fuel." Carlos muttered.

Rachel rubbed her temples as she put her thoughts into order now that the kids were beginning to act like themselves again, but couldn't disagree with Carlos' assessment now that she had an inkling of what had been up with that low flying jet. "Wait a second." She said in realization and looked up at the blue Autobot. Her eyes narrowed in contemplation. "I clearly remember that your vehicle mode is an ambulance-something which on earth is used to transport injured people. How come you can't simply take us to the hospital instead?"

"Quite frankly, Hot Shot is better suited to excursions away from any kind of equipment, and I have much to still repair that doesn't need his brand of assistance." Red Alert explained curtly.

Rachel raised a brow at the insult. Or at least, she thought it sounded a lot like one. 'Did he just call his teammate an idiot or am I reading too much into this?' she had no time to dwell on any problems these robots had with each other right now as she rubbed her brow; something else nagged at her. "You know, there's one other thing I can't understand. When I was being chased, there was this sonic fighter with the Decepticons, and I saw it earlier as it flew over the town. If the Decepticons knew that High Wire was in Lincoln, why would they bother with the secrecy? Why would any of you?"

The blue and gray Autobot only stared back at her, and when he spoke, his voice was tinged with confusion. "Low flying…Tell me, what color was this jet? Did you happen to see what the bi-pedal form looked like?"

Rachel blinked; despite the blue robot's voice only rising a little and shifting just a bit, she could hear another strain in his tone that spoke of trying to hide a stronger reaction-she should know; she'd been doing the same thing since yesterday. Thinking back on the last traumatizing little while was not something Rachel wanted to do, and she found all she could remember of the Decepticons was of a cannon lighting up to obliterate her. "No." she said, her fists shaking as she glared at the floor. "I don't remember anything."

Red Alert said nothing, but when Rachel finally looked back up, she found he seemed to be almost disappointed by her answer. The expression only lasted a moment though as the Autobot looked toward the doors and they opened to reveal Optimus, and by process of elimination since there had been only three cars out in the desert, the blue and yellow robot following must have been 'Hot Shot.'

'Wow, no wonder that 'copter blew my car up, he really does look like how it did.' Rachel thought.

As Optimus gazed down at the humans, both Carlos and Alexis looked back with fearful awe while Rachel was just grateful they were still alive. "Greetings, I am Optimus Prime, I trust you are all well?"

"The kids are fine." Rachel said, taking a moment to notice that neither still looked all that eager to speak. "My name's Rachel Becker, and thank you for saving us."

Optimus nodded before he gestured to the blue and yellow robot beside him. "This is Hot Shot; he will be taking you all back to your domiciles."

The blue and yellow bot waved to the three humans, grinning cheerfully. "Hi there; you know my name, and I know hers," he nodded once down at Rachel before his eyes glanced at the two children, "but what are yours?"

Alexis stiffened for a moment, and Carlos grimaced as they both snapped out of their stupor.

"I'm Alexis."

"Carlos."

Hot Shot tilted his head as he peered down at them. "You sure are a quiet lot."

"A trait you would do well to take heed of." Red Alert said quietly.

Hot Shot glared at the blue robot. "And you gotta learn to lighten up."

"Red Alert, Hot Shot." Optimus said sternly, and both robots quieted down. His gaze was once more redirected towards the humans. "Red Alert tells me you wish for High Wire to stay here?" he asked and Rachel nodded. "Very well; would you like to wish him farewell before you leave?"

The blonde thought of saying no, but she needed to press into him just how important this was. "Yes, it's the least I can do." She said and carefully got to her feet, favoring her good leg as both kids helped her stand. "Wait," she said, her eyes widening in realization and she looked up at Red Alert once more, "you never answered my question."

The Autobot stared back at her, his expression obscure due to the visor, but his voice never changed. "While I can't say for certain, the Decepticons are likely adhering to the same policy we are. Aside from your encounter with Optimus and Megatron yesterday, we are trying to avoid contact. It's a sounder thing to do than to rouse suspicion or unwanted attention." He explained, and reluctantly looked over at Hot Shot. "You will need to be careful though, they could still be in the area."

Hot Shot grinned cockily. "No need, I can handle anything those rotten 'Cons throw at me."

"Red Alert is right." Optimus admonished the yellow bot. "You will report in if necessary and we will find another way to send the humans home."

Hot Shot deflated, his shoulders slumping as muttered "Yes, sir" morosely under his breath. When he looked at the kids and Rachel, he perked back up almost instantly. "Let's get going then!"

Rachel nodded wearily as she was led out of the room, both kids holding onto her arms tightly. She wanted to tell them to loosen their grip, but wouldn't risk worsening the shock they were experiencing. Having already built up a 'push it back until later' mentality over the years to deal with the stress of high school and the first year of college, Rachel knew her collapse would come when she was back home. 'Hope I remember to tell Rad to just eat mac and cheese for supper.'

Carlos and Alexis kept a steady grip on Rachel as they followed after Hot Shot down the hall. The blonde noted just how dusty the area was, but that there was also something painfully familiar about it. She blinked as she saw High Wire step out of a room with a sliding door, and he waved for Rachel to follow him.

"Wait, before we go I have to say goodbye to High Wire." Rachel said.

Hot Shot paused, blinking as he tilted his head. "Well, alright then, but don't be too long."

Rachel nodded as the kids helped her into the room that High Wire was in. The blonde froze, the children stopping just as abruptly as she did; they looked up at her in confusion, but Rachel didn't pay attention as she was too busy staring at the interior of the space they were in.

The area was large and spacious as the other areas of the ship she'd seen, but if the lighting was low and cleaner, it was like something from her dream. The image had stuck with her for so long, that even while the context she could remember this room from was eroded, Rachel would have been struck by the familiarity alone. 'Rad wasn't kidding; I really did meet High Wire before.' She thought as she stared at the blue robot. "Why'd you want me to come in here?"

"I thought seeing this room would help, has it?" High Wire asked curiously.

Even if Rachel was giving a bit more credence to all of this bizarreness, she was still reluctant to admit it. "Kinda, I guess." She muttered, and her voice rose as she got back on track. "Look, I just wanted to tell you to be good for the Autobots, okay? Don't let them try and boss you around-you're still you, you know." She felt a bit awkward for talking so familiarly with High Wire, but she was so used to pep talks with Rad during their younger years that it just came out.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence," High Wire said earnestly. He walked over a section of the wall, and when he placed his hand on a keypad, the wall rose to reveal a small alcove, "and I have something to show the children as well."

"Really, what?" Rachel asked, but froze when High Wire turned around to reveal he had two tiles clutched to his chest. "You're not gonna-" The blonde stopped herself as she settled for glaring disapprovingly at the mini-con.

High Wire shook his head. "You have nothing to worry about, I just wanted them to see." He said as the children peered curiously at the two tiles.

"Hey, aren't those like the one Rad showed us before?" Carlos questioned.

Alexis frowned suspiciously. "I think they are," her eyes flickered from the panels to High Wire, "and didn't Rachel just say that it held High Wire?"

"You mean there might be more little robots in those panels too?" Carlos asked, but he sounded less frightened now than earlier. "That's actually kinda cool."

"And there's the cue to get going." Rachel said pointedly. "Not only do I need to go to a doctor, but we gotta come up with something to tell your parents'."

Carlos nodded sullenly, but Alexis smiled slightly at the mini-con, her expression carefully reserved. "Thank you again for saving us." She said quietly.

High Wire beeped happily. "It was no problem; I really don't like the Decepticons either."

Alexis furrowed her brow, and looked up at Rachel.

"He said it was no problem." The blonde translated. Alexis nodded, and both she and Carlos once more helped Rachel limp out of the room.

The woman glanced back at High Wire one last time before the door slid shut, but she couldn't help thinking he was up to something.


Pressed against the glass, Rad continued to stare up at the sky with open-mouthed shock. He knew that he was looking at a dragon, with its large flapping wings and scaly body, but it still had yet to fully sink in. And when it did, he felt that something was just off about it-a magic card, it was supposed to be, he knew-but it only clicked when he glanced down at the street.

"Kero, why isn't anyone else freaking out about this?" Rad questioned, taking in the sight of the cars below driving without nary a person stopping to look up at the big flipping dragon in the sky.

Kero rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, the thing about the cards is that they can cloak their presence if they want too. Normal people can't see them, but those like you can." He frowned and tapped his chin. "Create's not really an aggressive card, but it's still pretty mad-which is why you need to get out there, pronto!"

Rad jumped as Kero drew in close, the sound grating as the high-pitched voice nearly blew out his eardrum. "I got enough aches, I don't want anymore." He grumbled and rubbed his ear with one hand while putting Windy into his pocket with the other. "Back up for a second though, how am I supposed to make sure the dragon doesn't cause damage while I look for the card?"

"You don't have to do both." Kero assured him, but Rad felt lost. The guardian quickly began speaking once more to alleviate the confusion. "This dragon is an extension of Create, defeat the dragon and when you seal that, Create will appear in its place."

"You know, you're asking a lot from a twelve-year-old." Rad pointed out.

Kero puffed out his cheeks. "This is nothing compared to what a ten-year-old could do."

Rad felt his defenses rise as his cheeks reddened. Was Kero really mocking him for being nervous? 'This is unbelievable.' He thought feeling incredibly offended. "If you haven't noticed, I'm just a kid! How do you expect me to come up with something on the spot when I only found out about magic yesterday?"

Kero pointed out the window, and Rad saw the dragon dive in low, it's massive wings beating to fly back up, but the current it created had the cars swerving and the telephone lines swinging dangerously. "This is why, even benign cards can cause collateral damage, but the aggressive ones definitely will be out to create havoc." The guardian floated closer to Rad, resting it's stubby hands on the blond's cheeks to be at eye-level. "Listen to me; I believe you can do this. It might not be easy, but I promise I'll be there with you. High Wire isn't here, but I still am."

Rad stared back, his anger simmering away until all that was left was the nerves-and just a bit of hope. "You mean that?" he asked, and Kero nodded with a reassuring smile. Rad pulled back to look once more at the dragon, biting his lip as he knew that once he got outside, it would likely be even bigger than it appeared. He gathered up his resolve and nodded at Kero. "Alright, let's get going."

Kero pumped his fist into the air. "That's the spirit!" he cheered. "Let's do this!"

Rad still felt a bit uneasy, but he had no choice other than to trust Kero; if the guardian had enough faith in him to not to flake, Rad hoped he could believe it too. He hurried toward the closet, pulling his bike away from it and wheeled it to the front door. He was going to get in so much trouble if Rachel got back before he did, but he already was, so why not add another day to his grounding?

"Alright, this is going to be uncomfortable for both of us, but just play along." Rad said as he buttoned up his over shirt and let Kero nestle inside of it while Rad wheeled the bike out of the apartment and used the emergency key that was stuffed into the potted plant by the door to lock it.

"Why do you keep it in there?" Kero questioned perplexed.

"People aren't going to think of looking inside the pot for a key, and Rachel is super paranoid about me being able to get inside." Rad explained.

"And you don't have one of your own because…?"

"It costs money to get a key made, and I keep losing mine."

Kero didn't say anything more. When Rad got to the elevator, he pushed the button to take him to the lobby, and tapped his foot agitatedly. He was really going outside to fight a dragon, but Rachel getting back first was still scarier.

"How many of these cards are there?" Rad asked.

"Fifty-three."

Rad's hand twitched on the bike's handle bars. "You said that not all of them were gonna be mad, which ones would I have to watch out for?"

As if picking up on his nerves, Kero patted Rad on the shoulder. "How about I just tell you as we go along? It's better not to work yourself up on all of them, just focus on Create for now."

Rad nodded warily. "Sure. From what you've been saying, Create, uh, makes things?"

"Yeah," Kero nodded, "but it also gives the person who writes in its book ideas; so really this dragon could be either the author's or Create's, well, creation."

"That's pretty freaky when you think about it; just write something in a book and it'll come to life." Rad said.

"True, but what really bothers me is why Create's doing this in the daytime; usually it's powers are only active at night." Kero said worriedly.

"What about this situation is normal?" Rad asked sardonically. His brow furrowed in concern. "Seriously though, they have times when they activate?"

Kero nodded. "They go by the sun and the moon; those in each domain are active at that time of the day or night. Create might be a sun-oriented card, but it should have become active later on. It just makes me worried about whether the others are going to go against their own natures."

Rad frowned as he thought over the explanation. "Magic's kinda confusing."

Kero reached up once more to pat Rad's shoulder. "You'll get used to it."

Rad didn't have time for a response as the door opened and he quickly wheeled the bike out of the elevator and toward the door. He tightened his hands on the bars when he got outside, his eyes trained on the sky. "Okay, so to keep everyone safe, I need to get this dragon out of town-but how?"

"Rad, look at the dragon again, and think." Kero stressed. "What does that dragon have, and what could get it to go where you wanted it too?"

The blond furrowed his brow. "The dragon has wings-" his eyes widened. "It has wings, and I have Windy." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the card. "Are you telling me that Windy could do something against that?"

"She is wind." Kero said simply. "She's stronger than Create, so you just gotta use her right."

Rad looked down at Windy, and nodded to himself. He pulled the key from his neck and held it out in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but the cars on the road had him reconsidering doing this where anyone could see. 'Can't believe what I was just about to do.' He thought and parked his bike against the building before ducking back inside the apartment complex.

Holding out the key once more, Rad felt the words spill from his lips. "Key of the star, with powers burning bright; reveal the staff and shine your light-release!"

Throughout his incantation, a golden circle appeared underneath him and the key floated just above his hand. A wind picked up as he finished, and the key glowed until it was once again in its staff form and Rad grabbed it. Without missing a beat, Rad tossed the card above his head, watching as it stayed in place before holding the Star Wand underneath it, the white wings on the side of the circle glowing pale blue as they enlarged.

"Lead that dragon out of the town, Windy!" Rad commanded and just as the card glowed as well, he dove forward to push the double doors open, allowing Windy to pass by and dart after the dragon.

"Hurry, Rad-after them before they get too far!" Kero shouted, and Rad reacted once more by awkwardly holding the staff across the handle bars as they followed after the dragon, a yellowish-green wind upheaving the beast until the current it was on had it sailing towards the lake by the forest.

Though Rad thought there was a big elephant in the room with how he could come up with those spells on the fly like that, right now it didn't matter; he could think about that after he caught Create. 'I should have asked Kero if there was any fine print he forgot to tell me about.'

The dragon tried to twist around, but Windy was keeping it from flying back into the city. The sight of three birds appearing in the sky almost had Rad steering off the road. The newest creations dove down toward him and he batted the birds back with the wand as he awkwardly followed the dragon out into the forest.

Kero put a stop to that right off the bat. "Don't try and keep up-pull over!"

Rad gritted his teeth as he swatted a bird back and drove onto the grass. He jumped off the bike, narrowing avoiding being pecked by one of the constructs. Rad reeled back the Star Wand like a bat, and swung at a bird which dove straight for him. The creation disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Why do I have only one card that I can't even use now?" he gripped, swatting at another bird that got too close, but it ducked back before it could be hit. "This sucks!"

"Call Windy back, I think she took the dragon far enough away." Kero said, clutching tightly to Rad's shirt when he jumped to the side to avoid a bird which just popped into existence a foot away, it's sharp beak grazing along his sleeve.

Rad narrowed his eyes, but felt them widen just as quickly when he saw the flock which had come out of nowhere. He hadn't noticed it before, but for some odd reason all these birds had the strangest eyes-or lack thereof. Where their eyes should be were two spiral designs like from a cartoon where the character gets dizzy. "What the heck?"

"Call Windy!" Kero repeated forcefully. "She's here to help, so let her help!"

Rad was still reluctant to call the spirit away from her current task. "She needs to keep the dragon away from the town though."

"How's Create supposed to be sealed if you're a dead?!" Kero questioned hotly. "You'll be so badly mangled by those beaks no one will recognize you."

Rad gritted his teeth again, as he knew that Kero was right. There was no way he could take down all these birds by himself; he had neither the stamina nor the time-what if someone came by and they tried to attack them too? "Windy!" Rad called, and the air current leading the dragon away abruptly.

It flowed before Rad, creating a barrier between him and the birds as the streams of yellow and green twisted around the flock in a wide arc before the wind picked up speed until the surrounding area began to twist and ebb in response to the sudden cyclone.

Rad narrowed his eyes, staring up into the swirling into a vortex as the birds were thrown asunder, beating their wings and squawking shrilly before they all vanished in one giant puff of smoke. Rad let out a brief sigh of relief once he could breathe properly again. He could feel some of his aches start back up, but luckily he wouldn't have to apply anymore Band-Aids to himself.

After checking Kero over, he looked up at the spirit who was watching him attentively. Rad smile shakily. "Thanks."

Windy smile back before reverting to her card form and floated into his hand. Rad glanced at her, and quickly got back onto his bike, wand once more held between the handle bars while he saw the dragon circling the forest, its spiral-swirl eyes looking area the area.

Rad grimaced at the thought of he was supposed to actually beat this construct. He biked into the forest to try and duck for cover once it wasn't looking, but he sooner or later that he'd get spotted. He bit his lip, his eyes roaming over the area for any kind of help, but all there was is the lake, the trees, and a clearing where bizarrely there was a bunch of smoking piles of scrap metal.

He felt all too keenly the sweat forming on his brow, the race of his heart, and the ominous flap of leathery wings above them. He got off his bike and hid it behind a tree in case he needed to make a quick escape. "Any suggestions? Besides hope for the best?"

Kero opened his mouth, but another voice beat him to it.

"What is that thing?"

Rad reeled back when he saw a yellow and blue car drive into the clearing. For a moment he wondered if Rachel had found out he was gone, but then it registered that the voice which spoke was male. He dashed further into the brush and hid behind another tree as the car doors opened and his eyes widened when he saw both Carlos and Alexis get out. His stomach sank though when he saw Rachel getting out, but he worriedly wondered why she was so scruffy and beat up.

Kero reached up and put his hands over Rad's mouth when he made a concerned noise. "Don't!" he hissed quietly. "We need to know what's going on first. I don't think they could hear us all the way back here, but we need to be quiet."

Rad reluctantly watched his friends glance around, but saw that Rachel's gaze was locked onto the dragon, her expression one of slack-jawed disbelief.

"I must be going crazy too, because I can also see it, Hot Shot." She said and the doors to the car closed by itself.

"See what? There's nothing out here but us and the totalled remains of your car." Carlos said.

Alexis glowered at him. "Rachel doesn't need to be reminded of that, so watch what you say!"

The dragon roared, and Rachel flinched while both Carlos and Alexis didn't eve react. The car did though, and now it was Rad's turn to cover Kero's mouth when it suddenly broke apart and reformed into a large yellow and blue robot that stared up at the sky as well.

"You three go and hide, I'll deal with this."

"But didn't Optimus say to call in?" Alexis questioned. Her brow furrowed. "Er, if you really do see something?"

'Hot Shot' glanced down at them with a blank expression before gazing up at the sky once more. "Now's not the time to argue, this could be a Decepticon trick. I can't fight this and carry you three at the same time."

"You were only supposed to do one thing though." Rachel said in her stern 'I'm very disappointed in you' voice. Apparently, even giant robots were affected as Hot Shot winced.

"The town is just right there though, and the people could get hurt." He retorted and aimed his hand toward the dragon, where Rad could see a cannon mounted on his wrist. "Get going, I'll hold it off until help gets here."

For a moment, Rad wondered about just why his cousin and his friends were even with the giant robots, much less about what they were talking about, but he pulled back behind the tree as the three other humans scurried into the forest too. He was tentatively grateful when they went into the other part of the forest on the opposite side of the clearing, but he wasn't about to let him be spotted by chance.

"I'm so dead if Rachel sees me." Rad whispered as he scurried back behind yet another tree; one that was far enough from his friends and Rachel, but close enough so he could still see the robot raised his arm at the dragon to fire off several red blasts, but the spots on the constructs body which were hit remained perfectly intact. 'Looks like Create's putting more effort into this construct.'

"We've got bigger problems than that." Kero said grimly. "At first I thought it was just High Wire, but if all of these mechas can see the cards, then you gotta be extra careful about catching them."

Rad nodded and wiped his brow, his eyes locked on Hot Shot, whose expression shifted to one of fear when the dragon dove toward him. The robot ducked and rolled to the side as the dragon's talons clawed grazed the ground as it flew back into the sky.

Hot Shot gritted his teeth as he shot once more at the dragon. He crouched low when the dragon roared and circled back around, taking another swan dive at him. Hot Shot rolled forward, and tumbled back to his feet. He twisted around as the dragon's claws dug into the ground and he lunged at the construct, jumping onto its back as it screeched and began to shake its body.

The robot wrapped his arms around the dragon's neck and held on tight. "Whoa!" he yelled as the dragon flapped its wings and flew into the air. "Didn't think this throoouughh!"

"What's going on? Why is Hot Shot floating wildly into the air?" Alexis sounded disturbed.

"I don't know, but it's kinda awesome to see." Carlos on the other hand sounded much too awed for it to be appropriate.

Rad furrowed his brow as the dragon flew higher, but he could still see the bright yellow form on his back as Hot Shot hit and kicked at the construct. The dragon continued to shake itself, but Hot Shot still held on like a limpet before he did a small jump to hook them over the dragon's wings and twisted the appendages inward. Rad winced when the construct screeched.

For a moment, nothing happened. Slowly though, the dragon's body began careening down towards the lake, a large splash shooting into the sky with the force of the dive.

"Hurry Rad, while there still down there and everyone's distracted!" Kero said urgently.

Rad frowned. "Are you sure it'll work?"

"You gotta do something!" Kero said.

The blond inched closer to the lake, making sure he was still hidden enough out of sight as he pointed at the lake, hoping that the golden glow of the circle beneath him didn't get him caught. "I command you to return to your power confine," he whispered, furrowing his brow as a glowing card-shaped shell appeared in front of the staff, "Sakura Card!"

A glow emitted from the lake, and a stream of blue light was sucked into the card. Rad glanced towards his friends and cousin, but found that their eyes were locked onto the lake. Rad pulled back abruptly behind the tree as Hot Shot resurfaced, but caught sight of the pink Sakura Card wavering around in the air before floating towards Hot Shot.

Kero put his hands over his own mouth as Hot Shot stared down the card as he caught it. He examined it for a moment before putting it into a compartment in one of his shoulders and made his way back to the shore at the clearing. "This is bad," he said, watching as the three other humans met up with Hot Shot, "like, really bad."

"That was so cool, how'd you go all crazy like that?" Carlos questioned.

"Uh, did you not see me on that weird scaly thing?" Hot Shot asked, his tone offended.

"All we saw was you flying around in the air and taking a dive into the lake." Alexis relayed flatly. She looked up at Rachel, who was growing unhealthily pale and the brunette's expression became concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I'd like to go to the clinic now." she said and her lips pulled back as though she was going to be sick. "I've just had enough for the day."

Hot Shot tilted his head, but nodded as he transformed back into a car. "Alright, I'll tell Optimus that the situation's been taken care of."

Rad waited until the four of them were all gone from the clearing before he looked down at Kero. "What's gotten you all worked up? I caught the card, didn't I?"

"You did, but Create chose that mecha to be its master. By the laws of magic, since he did the actual work of restraining Create, this 'Hot Shot' got it. This is really worrying though, since I can't sense any magic from Hot Shot, and the cards might be doing this out of spite." Kero explained, his brows furrowed in concern. "You have to get Create back; if that mecha tries to use it, Create can be set loose again."

Rad felt a cold chill run down his spine at the thought of yet again facing something that Create could make. What would it be next time? An inanimate concept? Like forgoing the dragon and just burning the town down? "You're right, I gotta get it back." He shrank his wand down to its key form before getting back onto his bike. "First though, I gotta get home before Rachel does."


Blinking, Fred found he'd fallen asleep at the desk he'd been sitting at; he tried to remember what he'd been doing, but it was all just a fuzzy blank. 'That's not good; I probably need something to boost up my blood sugar.' He thought and sluggishly made his way down to the reception area where his mother was just getting off the phone.

"Hello dear," she said upon noticing Fred, "are you ready to eat? You were upstairs for a while," she added and smiled teasingly, "just being so into writing with that new notebook of yours."

"Yeah." Fred said, trying hard not to show his confusion. What notebook was she talking about? "So, um, who was that?"

"Oh, it was just Rachel Becker." His mother's expression softened. "Poor dear got twisted ankle and she won't be able to work for the next little while." She shrugged. "These things just happen, what can you do, right?"

Fred nodded noncommittally, but the name seemed familiar. 'Wait, doesn't Rad have a cousin named Rachel?' he thought. He'd thought her name would have been 'White' too because of being related to Rad, but could it have been the same person? "Uh, that's too bad." He said and remembered the comic book still in the bag. "Oh! I thought we could stop by Billy's when you go on your break; I got a comic he liked and I said I'd bring it by."

His mother tilted her head. "Well, alright, but no going inside." She frowned sternly. "I don't want you to catch that bug."

Fred flushed. "Mom!"


As boring as he found driving the humans around and waiting endlessly for Rachel to come out of the clinic, and dropping those two kids off, Hot Shot still thought the fight with that lizard thing certainly made up for it.

This was why it killed his good mood when neither Red Alert nor Optimus looked very impressed with his tale after he relayed it to them once he got back.

"I thought I made it clear that you were to warp back should trouble occur, but given what you have just said, it seems our presence was not needed after all." Optimus didn't sound the least bit appraising.

Red Alert was even less subtle. "What you imagine on your own is one thing, but it is quite another when you call in false reports."

Hot Shot bristled as he scowled at the blue Autobot. "I'm not making it up! I might not be as experienced as either of you, but what I'm saying is true; there was this giant lizard that turned into a card. Here, I'll show you." He said and pulled the strange pink card from his compartment and held it up to them both.

"That's a book on it." Red Alert said flatly.

"I know it's a book, Red!" Hot Shot retorted heatedly. "But I'm telling you that this thing was the lizard."

"Hot Shot, in light of this…development, I feel it is best if you were to scout out the town again." Optimus said. "Perhaps I had been a bit too hasty in recruiting you for this mission; it is not uncommon for those grieving to-"

"Nothing's wrong with me!" Hot Shot shouted, but froze as he realized what he'd just done. "I'm-I'm sorry, sir. Perhaps you're right in that I should scout again," he said contritely, but then his expression hardened, "but I've had enough time to grieve back on Cybertron. My mental state is not in question."

Optimus gave him a measuring gaze, optics stern but not unkind as he looked at him. "You may leave when you're ready; dismissed, soldier."

Hot Shot saluted and made his way out of the command room. He looked down at the card, and pursed his lips as he put it back into his shoulder compartment. 'I know what I saw, there's nothing wrong with me.'

He passed High Wire milling around the hall, two green storage panels clutched tightly to its chest, but the yellow bot just kept on walking; his mind too preoccupied than to give any thought to this mini-con's strange behavior right now.


Rachel leaned against her crutches, glowering at the door as she gathered up the courage to walk inside. From the near-death experience, the weird explanations to the dragon sighting, all she wanted to do was get into bed. She knew that would be impossible though, as Rad would no doubt be still mad about High Wire. The only consolation she had was the irony her car had been destroyed because it looked like Hot Shot, but even that was bitter at best.

Her body ached now, but this would likely be nothing compared to how she'd feel tomorrow.

Taking a deep breath, Rachel pulled her key out of her pocket and awkwardly unlocked the door. She limped inside, and saw Rad jump up from the couch, his expression annoyed.

"How could-" his eyes widened, and his jaw went slack as he looked at her beat-up state; both of Carlos' and Alexis' parents had the same expressions about how she got this way when the kids got dropped off. "What happened? Why are you on crutches?"

Rachel hadn't been able to tell the truth before, but even though that wasn't an issue here since Rad knew about the aliens, she still felt the need to keep this brief. "It got crazy." she said vaguely. "Look, you want a real explanation, call your friends; they were with me when this happened. Right now I just wanna go to sleep, okay?"

Rad blinked, his brows creasing in worry. "Uh, sure."

The blonde nodded and limped towards her room. "Oh," she called over her shoulder, "and you can make yourself something to eat, can't you? If not, there should be a twenty in my backpack for you to order out."

"Okay." Rad's voice sounded faint the further away Rachel got, and she only made a small detour to get a tablet from the Tylenol bottle in the bathroom.

Rachel set her crutches against the night stand and slid onto her bed, turning over onto her side as she waited until the pill took effect. She just wanted a few hours to sleep- to just forget about everything that went on today.


A/N: So, in the anime, there's fifty-two cards, but fifty-three is The Nameless in the last episode, while in The Sealed Card movie it makes fifty-four with The Nothing. It goes back to fifty-three after both The Nothing and The Nameless merge into The Hope. Though if one were to get technical, there would be fifty-five with the addition of The Hope, but since The Nameless and The Hope were never actually Clow Cards, does it actually count? In the original line-up, no.

In this though? Yes, since I've made it clear that this is a continuation of Card Captor Sakura, hence the fact all the cards are Sakura Cards.

Also, the thing about Create's capture might cause a bit of confusion. For this I reference the anime where Create was also used to make a dragon, and in that same episode Big appeared. Sakura sealed the dragon, and got Create for it. Now, it was never established whether when Sakura used Big to turn herself into a giant to fight the dragon, whether or not Big also magnified her magical powers, or if as merely an extension of Create, the dragon's capture still counted as sealing the Clow Card. I choose the latter, but this is merely a small liberty considering that I'm warping things enough already and it is a viable option.