Chapter 16: Lock It Down

(Alternative Title: …didn't see that coming.)


"And remember," Hot Shot heard Red Alert call after him as the former was released from the medbay, "to take it easy."

Hot Shot would have waved it off like before, but this time he knew better. And it wasn't like he still couldn't see Smokescreen though, who reported to him that the mini-con they found wouldn't wake up-just like the one from the volcano. Smokescreen said they would glow from time to time, but nothing more than that. "I got it." He returned and made a turn at the corner, letting himself stretch gingerly.

It felt good to be walking around again, and Optimus had been rather proud of him and Red Alert for talking things out. Hot Shot had seen how concerned he looked when they got to the part where Starscream showed up, and their leader looked at Red with a worry that appeared much deeper than just platonic feelings between friends. Hot Shot hadn't asked though-it wasn't any of his business after all.

When Hot Shot got outside, it wasn't long before he saw three humans and three mini-cons coming up the hill. He was about to wave, but stopped himself. The mini-cons were the ones he recognized, but the blonde head he saw was Rachel's, with no sign of Rad having followed them.

And Rachel looked right fragging mad. Hot Shot sidestepped her as she stormed into the hall, her footsteps loud and thunderous on the metal floor. Hot Shot gazed down at Carlos and Alexis as Rachel didn't wait up for them.

"What's with her?" he asked, not having to ask why they didn't immediately start following after her.

Carlos sighed dramatically. "Ray's just mad that Rad got in trouble-not even like it was his fault!"

Alexis glared over at him. "Rad shouldn't have done that at all! He might not deserve to be in detention with those bullies, but he still broke the rules!"

Hot Shot blinked, raising an optic ridge as he slowly understood what was going on. "So this 'detention' is where you put misbehaving children? What's it like?"

"It's where all the offending parties are put in a room together, and watched by a teacher until they've served their time." Alexis explained, though faltered from her puffed up self-righteousness. "But legally students are only allowed to be kept until four p.m., so it's really just an hour."

"Hmm, that's nothing compared to brig time. You screwed up on Cybertron, and you got sent in there for up to about a week- sometimes even more for repeat offenders." Hot Shot said.

Carlos' jaw went slack, and his eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"They are a military unit," Alexis retorted, "what did you think they did for punishments?"

Carlos glowered at her, and Hot Shot shook his head. Hypocritical of him, but he couldn't believe he and Red Alert were at each other's throats like this.

Alexis huffed, but looked seriously up at Hot Shot. "Don't say anything to Rachel though," she began to flush strangely, "she doesn't need any more stress."

Carlos snorted. "You're just saying that because you want Rachel to like you." Alexis stiffened up, and Carlos continued with, "This ain't class, teacher's pet."

Alexis' lips pursed, but she refused to say anything.

Hot Shot only followed them silently in, noting that their mini-cons and High Wire weren't chipping in-probably knew better than to get in the middle of things. Smart.

When they got to the command center, Hot Shot saw Red Alert and Optimus standing in front of the console, where the medic was typing away at the keyboard, static filling the screen. Smokescreen was leaning against the wall, with Rachel sending narrow-eyed and suspcious glances from the corner of her eye at him from way across the room.

"Hey, what's going on?" Carlos asked.

"We've been receiving a transmission since this morning, but there's been a bit of interference-either the signalling device is damaged, or I need to check and make sure our systems are more in sync with Earth frequencies. I'm clearing the signal up as best as I can though." Red Alert replied.

As soon as he finished, the static cleared just enough to make out the fuzzy image of a human girl. Perhaps Hot Shot wasn't as perceptive, but he didn't think humans had green hair, and from what could be seen of her face was completely expressionless. Her mouth moved, but only bits and pieces came through clearly. "...panel...stop...help..." It was static once more, but the blaring of the mini-con alert system nearly made Hot Shot jump.

"Well, that can't be a coincidence." Smokescreen mused.

"It does seam odd," Red Alert admitted, "let me attempt to pinpoint the location." His servo flew across the console once more, and the map pinged, with two layers overlapping. "Ah, so it would appear that the origin of the message and the mini-con panel are both in the same area."

"But...but that can't be right!" Alexis shouted, drawing the attention of the Autobots.

"Is there something wrong, Alexis?" Optimus questioned and the girl nodded rapidly.

"The signal is coming from the Pacific Ocean, there's nothing but miles of water." she replied.

"That does pose a problem." Optimus said thoughtfully.

Carlos' fists shook. "You bots can't just give up! That girl needs help! And what about the Decepticons? You think a little water is gonna stop them?"

Rachel frowned. "Carlos, don't-"

"No, he's correct." Optimus cut in gently. Both Alexis and Carlos looked surprised. "Red Alert, get us as close to the signal as you can," the medic nodded, and Optimus looked down at Rachel, "I regret asking this of you, but will you accompany us? I will not risk the children, and you have a rather commanding presence that keeps them calm."

Hot Shot blinked. He looked between the two kids and Rachel, the blonde having an uneasy expression on her face.

Rachel sighed deeply. "Okay, but I'm doing this for that girl." Carlos whooped, but Alexis' cheeks burned red as a strangely angry look came over her face. "When do we leave?"

"Right now." Red Alert said. "I have gotten as close as possible to the signal," he then looked at Rachel, "and I have modified the suit to withstand pressure and provide oxygen and communication should we be separated and your phone will not work."

The blonde nodded. "Good." she noticed Carlos walking up to her nervously. "Yeah?"

"Uh, can you take Laserbeak with you?" he grinned sheepishly, "'cause I've never seen the ocean before."

"He just wants to see that girl again." Alexis muttered.

Carlos glared at her, his cheeks turning red this time. "That's not true! I think there might be some cool stuff down there we could show R-" he cut himself off, his gaze nervous once more as he glanced at Rachel.

The blonde's eye ticked at the almost slip. "Just hand Laserbeak over."

Hot Shot snickered and followed the other Autobots to the warp gate. He saw Red Alert looking at him, and the yellow mech huffed. "Don't get your tailpipe in a twist, I know I'm not going. Just wanted to give yous a send off."

Below them, Rachel stepped onto the panel and blinked as when the jumpsuit came over her, so did a helmet. "Okay, I admit this is pretty cool." she said to herself. She held out her arms and looked at Carlos and Alexis. "What do you think?"

Carlos grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Awesome!"

Alexis blushed. "You look nice."

Rachel frowned at the girl. Was she getting sick? Did she need to go to a doctor? "Alexis, you're turning red, are you feeling okay?"

"Of course I am!" Alexis said sharply, but then flushed deeper and glanced away.

Rachel shook her head. "If you say so." she found Grindor, Sureshock, and High Wire stand next to her. "You sure you wanna come along?" They nodded.

"You guys coming or not?" Smokescreen called out, catching the attention of Red Alert, Optimus and Rachel.

Rachel and the three mini-cons walked over, but she stopped when Smokescren transformed into his car form. "Yeah, hey, Optimus, think you can give us a ride?" she asked turning from Smokescreen to the big rig.

"Hey, what about me? I'm already tansformed." Smokescreen called out indignantly.

"No offense," Rachel snapped, "but I'd rather go up to Megatron and call him weak than go for a ride with you."

"Hey, come on; what did I ever do to you?" Smkescreen asked annoyed.

"What did you do?!" Rachel shrieked, her eyes blazing.

"Easy, easy!" Hot Shot cut in. "Cool it you two. We don't need to start any fights. You have an important mission to go on."

"Quick, someone check Hot Shot for a fever." Red Alert said dryly.

"Shush you." Optimus admonshed with an amused chuckle. He reset his vocalizer, serious once again. "Smokescreen, Rachel, for the duration of this mission you will be civil. What has caused this problem will be sorted out afterwards, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Smokescreen said, as Rachel replied with, "Yes, Optimus."

The Autobot leader nodded. "Good, now let's hurry and find both the mini-con and the girl before the Decepticons get wind of this."


Rad's head rested on his arms, though it didn't help him forget how angry Rachel looked when the principal called her in. She kept her words curt as she told him they'd have words later, and Rad wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole. He couldn't believe how dumb he'd acted, how childish. He was twelve-years-old! He should have had better self-control than to throw his sandwich at Sid.

But he'd heard the bully badmouthing his friend, and so Rad, guilty over taking Dash from Carlos, snapped.

It was complete silence in the cafeteria...right until Seth throw another kid's apple back, and Rad ducked instinctively-beaning Billy on the head. And it escalated from there to a full on food fight. Rad, Billy, Fred, Seth and Sid had been singled out as the main instigators and were told to help the janitors clean up the mess before reporting to detention after school.

...but not before getting a visit from their parents-or in Rad's case-and guardian.

Along with the shame, Rad felt the glares burning into him. He peered out from between his arms and saw Sid and Seth scowling at him. Fred and Billy were trying hard to pretend none of them were there, as evidenced by the fact they sat as far across the room from them as possible. For once Rad couldn't blame them. The only thing keeping Seth and Sid from getting after him was the teacher apathetically reading a magazine at the front of the detention room.

"Uh, can I go to the washroom?" Fred asked abruptly.

The teacher didn't look up. "Use the one at the back, that's it there for."

Fred glanced at the open door revealing a cramped space. "Never mind."

Rad frowned slowly, the hairs on the back of his neck starting to stand on end. Huh, what's going on?

The teacher put the magazine down and got up from his desk. "I'll be back, I need to go out for a minute."

Rad's body felt tense, his heart speeding up as he was ready to react but he didn't know to what yet. The door clicked shut behind the man...and over Rad came an unescapable feeling of being trapped, of being boxed in. The blond sucked in a sharp gasp.

Fred tapped his foot, and rushed up to the door. "I can't wait anymore!" he turned the knob, and Rad's eyes widened when it didn't budge. "What? Oh, come on, why won't it open?"

"Can't even open a damn door? Pathetic!" Sid said and he aggressively shoved Fred out of the way. Rad tensed his legs, his fingers gripping the edge of his desk. Sid jerked the door knob left and right, but it didn't budge. "We're locked in!"

Rad was ready to explode from the tension. And then he heard Seth, his voice low and scarily thoughtful.

"We're locked in...we can't...no one can get out."

Rad bolted. He heard the crash behind him, of a body lunging for him but hitting his desk instead. The blond slammed the washroom door shut and locked it. Rad reeled back, colliding with the sink as the pounding on the door started up. He sucked in a large breath, his heart racing. It feels like I just used Dash's power. He gripped the key around his neck, but instead went for his cell phone. Kero needed to know what was up, and Rad hoped the door held out.


Rachel would be lying if she said that seeing nothing but water surrounding them wasn't boring, but it was. So boring, but the fact the mini-cons beside were beeping and whirling, with High Wire's little exclamations of excitement at the odd school of fish or stingray was amusing. The kids back at the base with Hot Shot were oddly quiet, but she thought they likely found the monotony just as dull.

That is, until Optimus came to a dune...and on the other side were ruins.

The kids made awed sounds, and Rachel sat up straight, Laserbeak in camera mood jostling in her grip. The mini-cons leaned in closer to the windshield as well. "From the looks of things," Rachel started, "I'd say they were old, very old." she frowned. "Red Alert, are you sure the signal came from here?"

"Positive." Red Alert replied. "Is there something wrong?"

Rachel furrowed her brow. "I thought the girl had just sent a distress signal too, but with how these ruins look...it shouldn't have been possible. Communication networks-at least, not the holographic kind-didn't exist back then."

"And how do you know this exactly?" Smokescreen questioned, but Rachel stubbornly refused to answer him.

After an awkward beat of silence, Optimus cut in. "Autobots, proceed with caution."

"Yes, sir." Was the chorused reply.

"Ray," Carlos said in Rachel's ear, "do you think that girl's okay then?"

The blonde sighed. "I don't know, but I guess we're gonna find out." No sooner had the words left her mouth did Optimus' cabin shake. "What the heck!" she craned her neck, pressing against the window as best she could with the helmet on. Her eyes narrowed, teeth gritted when she spotted several unwelcoming forms floating above them. "Damn Decepticons."

"Rachel," Optimus said, drawing the blonde's attention, "find a way inside, and search for the mini-con. Comm. us when you find it."

The woman stiffened. They wanted her to do this? The last time hadn't worked out so well. Rachel frowned. Then again, better the Autobots get the mini-cons before the Decepticons. "O-okay." she hated how her voice stuttered, but Optimus acted as though he hadn't heard it when he replied.

"Good, I'm going to let you out and we'll prove cover for you and mini-cons."

"Right." Rachel said. She folded Laserbeak and set him inside her suit pocket, and hoped the pressure outside wouldn't wreck the bot. What I am thinking-I hope the pressure doesn't kill me. Rachel took a deep breath, and when Optimus slid his cabin so one side was obscured by a broken part of a ruined wall, she jerked her head and the mini-cons followed her out. They ducked behind the wall and watched as Optimus drove off, the transformation sound dulled by the water. "Okay, let's get going."

"Yes, Ray." High Wire said, with Sureshock nodding and Grindor beeping.

Rachel checked to make sure the Decepticons wouldn't notice four smaller beings skulking about, and led the mini-cons to another broken wall. No one spoke on her headset, which made thinking a lot easier. Okay, we need to just find some place big enough to fit us... her eyes roamed over the larger ruin, the doors out for being too big to open, but much of the cracks running along it were too small to fit through or were shallow grooves.

The blonde led the three mini-cons further along the ruin, gritting her teeth as she could feel the water on the suit and how impeding it felt to move around in. I just hope the inside is dry. Her eyes widened when they rounded the corner, because just ahead was a crack big enough to fit them. "Hurry, go on." she ushered the mini-cons in first, and ducked in last.

Relief lasted only a moment, because after 'we're inside' was and now what? Rachel gritted her teeth, gnashing them together. Find a door, she told herself sternly, and then the panel. Rachel scanned the room she was in. It was filled with water, no surprise, and much of the wooden furniture had rotted away. The stone door though, was still standing. "We all gotta open this door, and close it as quickly as possible to keep the water out." Rachel squared her shoulders. "Brace for impact."

The mini-cons nodded, and Sureshock and Grindor grabbed one end of the double door, while Rachel and High Wire grabbed the other. Rachel counted to three, and they pulled. The pressure kept the doors from opening, sand disturbed by a door opening that likely hadn't been ajar in hundreds of years. Rachel's muscles burned, and slowly the group worked around the water rushing around them into the next room to stand on the dry other side.

The door felt even heavier, and Rachel made sure none of the mini-cons had been left on the other side. "Let go now!" she ordered, and as one, they reeled back in time to avoid the water pressure slamming the door shut once more. Rachel heaved a loud sigh, slumping over and chuckled wryly when she heard the frantic pleas on the comm. "We're alright, kids, and Hot Shot, just let me get Laserbeak out again."

Fishing the bird bot out of her pocket, Rachel turned on the camera and saw at the same time what the kids saw. Whoa, was the prevailing thought.

Water that gushed in did little to disrupt the people milling about, but before Rachel could say something, the images flickered to tip off they weren't there. And the fact some of the holograms stepped into the water without it being disturbed. The room was wide and an unnatural lighting have the place an odd feel. It all looked so...pristine, as though to contrast with the ruined outer casing with this breathtaking interior. How is this possible? I suppose that's what we're gonna find out.

Rachel looked around, her eyes taking in the fact there was only one hallway. "Guess we're taking door A. Come on."

"This place is weird." High Wire said simply, with his mini-con compatriots nodding along.

Rachel smirked. "Can't argue with that." The smirk faded as she remembered what was happening just outside, and just what Optimus entrusted her with. "We have to keep on track, so let's finish this mission and get out of here."


Rad slid down the washroom door, one hand running through his hair as he held his cell phone up to his ear. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, grimacing as the banging on the door stopped moments before, but he was not optimistic to think that Sid and Seth had given up. The ringing on the phone was cut off, and Rad cut right to the point. "Kero," he whispered, "there's a card here."

"At your school? Not again." Kero groaned. "What's it done this time?"

Rad was thankful Kero hadn't asked why he was still at school, but knew it would come up later on. "Let's just say I'm locked in a room with four other people and the door won't open. When I sensed it, it felt like I couldn't escape."

Kero hummed over the line. "Has it tried attacking any of you yet?"

Rad furrowed his brow. "What? How would it do that-?" he was cut off by a scream outside. Tentatively, Rad unlocked the door and his eyes widened. "Uh, forget what I just said."

In the room, Seth was clutching his head while Sid tried banging on the door, only for a flying chalkboard eraser to try smacking him upside the head too. A globe was tossed off the desk by the door and knocked into Billy's side and he screeched, cursing as he held his side. Fred reeled back, tensing.

"Where's the teacher? I think the room's haunted!" he shouted.

A pencil lifted from the desk, it's sharp lead point glinting and Rad closed the door. He jerked back when the pencil impacted the door, its sharp point managing to pierce the wood. "Yeah, it's not good." Rad said, swallowing thickly and nervously. "Some invisible force is attacking us."

"Lock." Kero said seriously. "Be careful. Lock itself can't hurt you, but you've seen its not helpless."

"I think we need to talk about how your definition of 'can't hurt you' is vastly different reality." Rad replied. "But I got it, I'll talk to you later."

"Be careful." Kero said.

"I will." Rad said and put away his cell phone. He took off his key and kept his voice low, "Release!" The key elongated into the wand, and Rad reached for his pocket-but froze. A chill ran down his spine, his heart pounding as he realized his cards were in his backpack...and his backpack was still at his seat! Rad shut his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth. How could I have been so stupid to leave them behind! "What am I gonna do now?" he breathed, but the commotion outside caught his attention.

"Let us out, let us out!" Fred yelled, fists pounding on the door, and yelling as a loud twack! rang out.

"Whoever is out there, you're so dead!" Sid roared, but yelped as another twack! signalled him being hit too.

Rad frowned. I don't like them, but I can't just sit here. He stared down at his wand. Rad closed his eyes, and tried to think things through. With everyone being distracted, he'd only have a few moments at the most to grab the card which would help him most. Opening his eyes, Rad nodded to himself. Counting down, the blond ducked outside.

Both Fred and Sid were clutching their heads, while Billy was shielding his scalp and Seth was cowering behind Sid; no one noticed Rad until he grabbed his bag. He dived for the teachers desk and pulled himself under, his hand fishing out Sleep. "Give them a nap, Sleep!" he tapped the card and Sleep nodded as she floated into the air.

Rad peered out from under the desk. Both Sid and Seth looked ready to dive after Rad, but both Billy and Fred were looking up, but all the same, Rad was glad the two pairs passed out at the same time. "Thanks." he whispered as Sleep returned to him in card form. Rad tucked her into the small deck and he stood to face Lock. He set his bag down and pointed at the door. "Come out of there, it's over."

As if to prove him wrong, several books on the teachers desk flew at him. Rad batted them away with his wand, and a moment of inspiration struck him. Rad grabbed a card from his deck and tossed it into the air, the wings on his wand growing. "Sword!" he shouted and the wand transformed into the bladed card. Rad rushed at the door, and with a thrust he stabbed at the keyhole.

A flash of light almost blinded him, and while the key's lock gave way, Rad saw the ghostly padlock floating in the air. Sword returned to card form, and Rad grabbed Windy. "Trap Lock, Windy!" The spirit burst free from the card and wisps of wind wrapped around the padlock, forming into a constraining sphere. Rad pointed the wand at Lock, the golden circle appearing underneath him as the shell card appeared overhead. "Return to you power confine, Sakura Card!"

Lock was swept up into a vacuum, its form dissolving as it entered the card. Slowly, Lock and Windy floated back down to Rad, with the blond noting that Lock's card was completely shaded in a lighter pink. Rad smiled to himself at the fact he captured the card without being seen, but grimaced when he saw the sorry state of the room. I guess I better clean up some of it before the teacher gets back, he glanced down at Lock, but first, gotta right my name on Lock.


Rachel froze mid-step, the mini-cons stopping just as abruptly as a familiar figure appeared before them. She narrowed her eyes, recognizing the green hair most of all. "You're the girl that sent the distress signal." she couldn't cross her arms due to Laserbeak, but she definitely did to get her point across. "So you weren't real."

"That's a bit harsh, Ray." Carlos retorted, while Alexis loudly shushed him.

The girl frowned, her eyes spotting the mini-cons before settling back on Rachel. "You should not have awakened the Orichalcum, I fear my warning was not received as intended."

Rachel blinked. "Wait, so you weren't calling for help? Then what the heck did you say?"

The girl clasped her hands in front of her, and the words came out like they were rehearsed. "You must not search for the panels. Stop this foolishness or there will be no help for you all."

"That's...really ominous." Alexis said quietly.

"Yeah, I...I thought she was pleading for help." Carlos said.

"This is fragged up." Hot Shot muttered.

Well, this isn't good. Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, and despite protests she put away Laserbeak. "I think I'm going to need an explanation, because these," she pointed to the mini-robots behind her, "are called mini-cons."

"If it will get you to understand, very well then." The girl said and continued walking down the hall.

"Is it me or did things get a lot creepier?" High Wire questioned, and both Sureshock and Grindor nodded.

Rachel would have answered him, but if the holographic girl's reaction to seeing the mini-cons was anything to go by, the blonde wasn't about to make things worse by revealing she could communicate with High Wire. Once they stepped into a large open space, Rachel saw the ceiling and wall before her start to shift, turning into a picturesque city landscape.

"I come from a civilization that was lost centuries ago." The girl started. "We made the same mistake you have; we found three strange panels, designed much like shields, but they turned into the Orichalcum-or mini-cons as you have said-and the three combined into a sword of fire."

High Wire jerked at that, and looked at the two other mini-cons with him. "How could they have awoken them first and not activate the signalling device? Why didn't the Autobots and Decepticons arrive back then to look for us?" Rachel was tempted to ask, as even Sureshock and Grindor didn't look as though they had a clue, but kept quiet as the girl continued speaking.

"We harnessed the energy of this weapon, and in truth our obsession with this sword led us to think we were invincible." she looked ashamed, her eyes downcast. "We used it to battle other civilizations, and in the end that is what became our downfall when we fought in a war against another civilizations that had their own mini-con weapon."

The ceiling shifted once more, this time to a burning city while in the sky was a white and blue blade with a large handle that tapered before widening and ended in another tapered point. Behind it was a flat dark shadow just barely visible. Rachel couldn't see much, but it was vaguely like an upright starship.

"So I implore you to heed my warnings. You do not know the full power the mini-cons possess. And I must caution you against finding any more of them. Please leave here and forget about them. It's your only chance to survive. Don't make the same mistake that we have. Save yourselves and this planet." The girl pleaded.

"But that would be stupid!" Rachel snapped in annoyance; her patience had been stretched thin, too many questions and not enough answers. The holographic girl stepped back in shock. "If we leave them be, then they'll just get taken by the Decepticons who will use them for evil and conquest!" The blonde stated. "It's only possible for evil to suceed, if good men do nothing. And while the they aren't truly men, the Autobots are the most good I've seen."

"If you retrieve the mini-cons, then all that I have done here has been in vain. History repeats itself and you are doomed." The girl said grimly.

"But we won't use them." Rachel retorted, but then frowned and revised her statement. "I mean, the mini-cons have a choice not to fight. And if the Autobots recover them all and defeat the Decepticons, they're free to do what they want. But the Autobots can't stop the Decepticons without the mini-cons, and if they lose, the mini-cons will be enslaved!"

"But further use of the mini-cons will just doom the planet." The girl replied. "And not just our world, but the other ones wizard Clow Reed tried to warn us of, but we refused to listen to him. He used his magic to seal and scatter the weapon mini-cons, but he could not save us from ourselves. Now he was the only one to know about us, to remember us... until now."

The girl's words cause Rachel to frown. Wizard, magic? What the heck was this? The blonde shook her head, trying to ignore the static of the kids back at base chattering about the tale. That revelation wasn't important right now, finding the mini-con was and...Rachel bit her lip. Maybe I can get her on our side, she took a deep breath, here goes. "Look, if nothing else...you can come with us. I mean, if we remove the chip, or whatever is producing you...you can come and see for yourself." Rachel said earnestly.

"You mean it!?" Carlos shouted happily, the loudness of it almost giving Rachel a headache.

"Carlos!" Rachel scolded rubbing the side of her head. "Not so loud. And yes, I do..."

The girl frowned and glanced to the side, her eyes holding a far-away look in them. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them there was a determined glint in them. "The chip to my hologram is in the crevice to your left. It's flat and circular."

Rachel nodded, even smiling slightly as she could hear Carlos whoop and Alexis' groan, but as Rachel started to look for the hologram projector, a massive crash startled her and the mini-cons with her. The wall on the other side of the room was caved in, and Rachel saw that the water was beginning to rush in, the massive form of a Decepticon standing in the rubble. Rachel's stomach dropped as she saw which one it was.

"Hahahaha! Is that the scent of a mini-con I smell in here?" Megatron mockingly declared. He gasped in surprise when he saw the image of the Star Saber falling down from the sky on the ceiling projection, the hologram fading away afterwards. Surprised turned to rage when he saw the small forms on the other side of the room. "Insect," he growled, "what a pleasant surprise; not only will I get to finally kill you, but I shall take your mini-cons too!"

How the hell did he know it was me? Is it because I'm just that much taller than the kids? Rachel thought to herself, but held her arms out protectively in front of the mini-cons. "You won't be taking them, not now-not ever!"

High Wire grasped Rachel's arm as Megatron's mouth twisted into a snarl. "No! Find the girl's disk and let us handle him!"

Rachel frowned. "What-?" she only turned to them for a split second, but she missed the Decepticon reaching for his cannon.

The mini-cons didn't though. Rachel barely had time to gasp before in a flash of light the three became one and the blonde's head spun as she was lifted up, a loud boom ringing out and her eyes widened as she saw the rubble where they'd been standing. Her gaze was still wide as she was set down, craning her neck up to meet the visor of the robot that wasn't much bigger than her. "H-High Wire?"

"It's Perceptor, at least in this form." The voice sounded like a mixture of three different tones, but the hand placed on her shoulder was definitely from High Wire's part of the bot. "Find the projector, let me protect you this time."

Rachel felt a jolt run through her, the memory of being in the dirt and shielding High Wire's body with her own to keep him safe. Of them both being too scared to do anything more. "Okay."

Perceptor nodded, and ducked around her. The robot jumped onto Megatron's waist cannon, using it as a springboard before launching up to his face, where one foot kicked into the forehead. Megatron roared and tried swatting it out of the air, only for Perceptor to use the Decepticon's antlers as a landing perch.

"Stay still you little runt!" Megatron yelled. "Leader-1, detach and find that blasted mini-con panel!"

Rachel saw a small white bot land on the ground, and she decided it was time to stop gawking and get on with her own search. She sprinted to the wall, and almost jumped when the girl appeared beside her. "Give a heads up next time." The girl looked confused, and Rachel shook her head. "Right, different time; what is it?"

"The mini-con panel is in the rubble that the larger creature caused." She replied, and Rachel saw a glint of green in the stone. Her throat constricted as she saw the white robot notice too. The green-haired girl stared at her seriously. "If you are truly certain about these 'Autobots', that they are a force for good; leave me and take the panel instead. You will not be able to do both, not with the water starting to rise."

The blonde gritted her teeth, Carlos' protests muffled by Alexis yelling over him and Hot Shot saying he was cutting off the line to give her some quiet time. For the first time since the mission started, she was alone in her own head. What she decided next would be her choice, and hers alone to make-and to take responsibility for. Rachel took a deep breath. "Retreat into your disk, you're coming with us."

The girl looked surprised, but Rachel didn't stick around make sure she followed through. Rachel felt the crevice in the wall and a piece of it lifted revealing a slot with a circular disk poking through. The blonde only looked back then, and winced when she saw Leader-1 had the mini-con panel.

"Yesss, the first component to the Star Saber is mine!" Megatron said triumphantly, managing to finally swat Perceptor away, sending the smaller robot into a collision course with the wall.

Rachel pulled the disk out of the slot and tucked it into her pocket. She trudged through the water that was up to her waist over to Perceptor, the robot falling apart back into three separate mini-cons. "Megatron has the mini-con panel," she said into her headset, but no one replied, and her eyes widened, "oh shit, Hot Shot turned off the comm.!"

The shout unfortunately caught Megatron's attention, who grinned darkly down at her. "And now there's only one thing left to make this hunt complete." He grabbed Leader-1 and the mini-con panel before he started to stalk over to the group.

Rachel felt High Wire grab a hold of her, his grip tight as he pulled himself in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"He can't hurt you as long as I'm here." The mini-con said firmly. His hand shaking as he held her arm spoke volumes about his fear.

Rachel's chest constricted, and she felt guilty that High Wire felt the need to prove his worth by acting as her shield. "I'll distract him, just out of here. And take her with you." she began to take the disk out of her pocket, but Sureshock stopped her, stepping up to her side while Grindor was at her other side.

"You think this makes you safe?" Megatron sneered. "You're all bunch of pathetic weaklings."

"Protecting someone does not make one weak, Megatron."

The Decepticon looked to the crumpled wall, where Optimus stood, his blaster at the ready. "Prime." Megatron spat. "You got past my troops it seems." he smirked and held up the panel. "No matter, I have what I came for. Mechs," he said into his comm., "the mini-con panel is ours, fall back."

Rachel slumped lower, the water not bothering her as it rose to her chin. She couldn't look at Optimus, even as High Wire pulled her with him towards the bot, who transformed and let them inside the cabin. "I-I-"

"You don't have to say anything, it's not your fault."

Rachel's insides twisted. "It is though, I choose between either the girl from the transmission, or the mini-con panel." Optimus didn't say anything, and Rachel straightened up. "And I take full responsibility for my actions."

"Do you feel what you did was right?"

Rachel blinked, deflating as she didn't expect the Autobot to sound so calm. "Huh?"

"At the end of the day, you have to be able to live with your decision. Had you done what you could have, tried harder, or was there no choice? Tell me, Rachel Becker, did you do the right thing?"

The blonde frowned slowly, her eyes staring down at the disk in her hands. The cabin was silent, as even the mini-cons were holding their non-existent breath. Rachel closed her eyes for a moment, and nodded. "I did. Leader-1 was already going for the panel, but part of our mission was to help the girl. It wasn't an easy choice, but I did what I thought was best." she shook the disk momentarily. "She knows things about the mini-cons, and she said she'd help you." she paused, but added, "and she even tried to get me to after the panel too, to forget about her, but I couldn't do that." she said quietly.

Optimus didn't say anything, nor did Rachel look up when they met up with the other two Autobots. Neither asked about the mini-con, and whether they guessed or their leader told them, Rachel didn't ask either.

She'd come along to forget about her anger towards Rad, and now she was just left cold.


With a heavy spark, Optimus related to his troops what Rachel explained to him. He'd waited until she took the children and mini-cons home, as he did not want any resentment to be directed towards her.

Hot Shot looked away, his optics downcast. "At least she was able to save someone." There was no shortage of self-loathing, and when he asked to be excused, Optimus didn't stop him.

"Tough call, don't think I wouldn't been able to make a choice." Smokescreen added before following after Hot Shot.

It was just Red Alert and Optimus, their mini-con partners having retired to their quarters when they arrived back on base. The medic looked at Optimus, frowning thoughtfully. "What's wrong?"

Optimus vented heavily. "I keep telling myself that in reality, Rachel isn't one of my soldiers; she's a human being who trusts us to keep the children and mini-cons safe. And yet today I entrusted her with a responsibility I shouldn't have. I placed too much responsibility on her, to find the mini-con and rescue the girl. She's still a youngling, and I had no right to feel...irritation at her guilt."

The medic stepped up to Optimus' side, his servo gently easing open the digits that formed into a fist. "It is as you said, Rachel did what she thought was best, but she looks up to you, so I think it's reasonable to assume she'd feel guilty for disappointing you." he slid his servo into the Autobot leader's grasp. "It's easy to forget that she can only do so much, given how she can handle the children all the time."

"It is." Optimus agreed. "She is not my soldier, nor are the children under any obligations to help us. It's something we should all remember."

The two were silent for a moment, before the red and blue bot's grip tightened on Red Alert's servo.

"Shall we retire for the sol as well?"

The medic gave a small smile, and the two of them set off towards Optimus' quarters.


The door unlocked, and Rad bit his lip as Kero rapidly few back to the blond's bedroom as Rachel wheeled High Wire in. The mini-con transformed and gave a surprised Rad a hug, before just as abruptly breaking it off and scurrying towards the bedroom. "What was that about-" he got cut off when out of the blue Rachel hugged him tightly. The breath was knocked out of him, and her grip softened. Rad didn't know what brought this on, but he wrapped his arms around her too.

"I'm glad you're okay." she whispered. "Today was just one big mess after another."

"What happened?" Rad asked quietly, not wanting to set his cousin off.

Rachel pulled back, frowning. "First things first; no television for the week starting today."

Rad opened his mouth, but instantly shut it. He didn't like this one bit, but given that Rachel wasn't grounding him, he could suck it up. He had bigger things to worry about, such as making sure that on Monday Billy and Fred really did believe Sleep had been a figment of their imaginations. "Okay."

"Now that we got that out of the way, do you want take-out for dinner?" The circles under Rachel's eyes only looked more pronounced even under the cover-up. "I'm a bit tired to cook."

"Pizza's fine." Rad replied. "I'm gonna go...do my homework then. You can tell me about what happened later."

Rachel nodded and sat down at the table, waving him off.

Rad made his way to his room, and saw another shocking scene. High Wire was hugging Kero, though the guardian was struggling to get out his grasp.

"Rad!" he hissed quietly. "Your bucket of bolts has his screws loose!"

High Wire ignored the insult for once. "Today was so weird! I combined with Sureshock and Grindor to fight Megatron, Rachel saved a hologram girl, and the girl mentioned a wizard called Clow Reed."

Rad furrowed his brow, several things in High Wire's rambling worthy of comment, but the last one caught his interest. "Wizard, really? Kero, you know some things-does the name Clow Reed ring any bells?"

Kero stiffened, his head snapping towards Rad. The blond was surprised by the seriousness on his face. "What did you just say?" Even High Wire stopped talking, and let the guardian out of his grip without a fight.

"I-High Wire mentioned some hologram girl talked about him." Rad bit the inside of his cheek as Kero only looked grimmer. "Seriously, what's the deal with this guy? Did you know him?"

Kero sighed deeply. "Yes, I knew him." he looked into Rad's gaze. "Before the Sakura Cards became what they are...they were called the Clow Cards."

Rad gapped, and High Wire beeped in surprise. "W-what?" he sat down on the edge of his bed, his eyes glued to Kero, but then Rad's brows knitted together in confusion. "But you said you were made to watch over the cards or something," his eyes widened, "does...does that mean what I think it means?"

High Wire looked between them.

Kero crossed his arms. "Yes, Clow Reed created the cards...and me."

"This is...a lot to take in." Rad said quietly, shocked to his core. He'd wanted to know more about the previous Cardcaptor, but he hadn't thought beyond that. Then again, it was pretty dumb of me-the cards had to have been created at some point, right? "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"You didn't ask." Kero said simply.

Rad glared at him. "I'm really beginning to hate that phrase."

High Wire tapped his chin. "Wait, the ruins were centuries old, wouldn't this Clow Reed haven't even been created-er, born yet?" Rad glanced at the mini-con, and relayed the question.

"Clow was a powerful sorcerer, and to be honest there were things he didn't even tell me!" Kero said, his posture indignant. "So he could've done something, but I'll need to talk to the girl." His expression fell morosely. "But we can't reveal ourselves, so you'll have to wheedle it out of her!" he pointed dramatically at Rad, who jerked back.

"I think it'd be kind of weird to ask her about a wizard with nothing to go on." Rad grumbled. He shook his head. "Can we deal with this later? Right now I just want to enjoy the rest of the evening."

Kero slumped, but reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, you'd be no good to anyone tired." he missed Rad's glare as he settled into his drawer.

The blond glanced at his key, and leaned back onto his bed. It could wait, at least for a little while.