Chapter 22: The Big Picture Part 2


Rad stepped into the dojo, looking around at the mats against the wall, with the large windows in front. There wasn't much else besides a dummy or two, but there were two halls leading into the back that were likely locker rooms-because whatever negative zero mood he was in just dropped even further as Billy walked out in a white uniform with a white belt.

"What are you doing here?" The blond demanded, surprised to hear Kelly echoing the question over his. Alexis was only staring at Billy suspiciously with folded arms but said nothing.

Billy glowered at them. "I overheard you talking about these classes and wanted to try it out. Besides, the dojo lady said it was okay since the class was open to anyone, so there."

Rad glared back, surprised the other hadn't gone the fully immature route and stuck his tongue out at them. His indignation turned into surprise when the instructor stepped out of her office, his eyes widening as he saw the angular pale features, the long black hair tied with red ribbon into two long buns on the side of her head and bangs falling over her forehead. It looked like the sketch on the news...only, older somehow. 'Was this what Kero meant? Does he know this woman?' he thought, but wasn't sure if this was just a coincidence or not.

And asking outright would be too weird, given they weren't even properly introduced yet.

The woman's hard expression looked over each of them, but softened when it landed on Kelly and Alexis. "For you boys that I don't know, you will call me Teacher until I am satisfied you have earned the right to address me by name." her chin jerked up. "Now go change, we are wasting enough time just standing around."

Rad nodded more nervously than either Kelly or Alexis, and his stomach rolled as they went to the locker rooms. He paused in front of the boy's room. "Hey," he whispered, "I don't want to sound rude, but your aunt looks a bit...I don't really see a resemblance." There was no way he could use the words 'like a fighting spirit I need to catch' without sounding off or insulting.

Kelly shrugged, blushing lightly. "She's technically our second cousin, I guess, but we've both known her for all our lives so she's just Aunt Mei to us."

Rad nodded like he understood, but honestly, he couldn't. There was only Aunt Joy, since his mother had no other siblings, half or otherwise, and Rachel was his only cousin. It was why he connected with his friends so well, perhaps not for a good reason, but neither Carlos and Alexis had any brothers or sisters, and such a comradery meant a lot back in elementary school.

It made being alone easier to bear...

Rad shook his head, his stomach twisting as there was a bleak reminder of High Wire leaving him too. 'Stop that, it's just for the weekend, and he's going to be up at the Autobot base. You can call him at any time.' He hoped that was true, and he changed into his white uniform and same colored belt. He left his clothes and backpack in a locker, but turned on the ringer of his phone just in case of an emergency, and when he came back into the dojo, Kelly and Alexis were standing perfectly still while Billy was scuffing his barefoot on the mat.

Billy noticed him first, and sneered. "About time you got out here; we've been waiting for hours!" Their instructor looked at the tall boy sharply, a scowl on her lips and a fire in her eyes. Billy shrank back. "Sorry." he muttered.

Teacher snorted derisively, and she sent Rad a brief, fierce glare and nodded to the spot next to Alexis. Rad skittered over to her, and tried to copy his friend's straight posture. His back began to ache almost instantly.

The older woman put her hands behind her back, her form relaxing as a smile curled up the corner of her lip, but it didn't reach her eyes. It created an unnerving disconnect. "I know many forms of martial arts," her chin jutted up, a proud glimmer in her eyes, but just as quickly a disdainful glint replaced it, "and no, that is not permission to make any assumptions; we'll start this trial run off with karate, because I'm sure you're all the most familiar with that here in the west."

Teacher looked over each of them when she said it, but a sinking feeling coiled in Rad's stomach as her gaze seemed to linger on him and Billy as she said it. "Now," she held up a hand, pointing at Kelly and Alexis, "boys and girls, split up. We're doing spars first."

Rad turned to Alexis, but she had already grabbed Kelly and found himself staring at Billy instead. He scowled and the other boy mirrored it. "You, really?"

"I was just going to say the same thing." Billy retorted. "You ready to get a beat down?"

Teacher scowled at him fiercely. "No starting fights, you only use this as a last resort."

"Kind of hypocritical since she beats people up for a championship belt." Alexis muttered, but blushed when Teacher glowered at her. "Uh, what I meant was...you're very good at what you do, even better than Uncle S-"

Teacher laughed, and Rad jolted by how unexpected it was. "No one can beat him," she scoffed, "he's the best there ever is." she said, her expression dreamy.

Rad furrowed his brow, wondering why Kelly's face was turning red and about the mortified look which crossed her features. He raised his hand, and Teacher snapped out of her daydreaming to nod at him. "What are we learning first with karate?"

Teacher straightened up, coughing into her closed fist. She tried to get back into the same threatening manner she had in the beginning, but Rad found it a bit harder to take seriously given how she acted just moments before. It was still unnerving to see though. "For now, I want you boys to watch the girls, and then I'm going to get you to repeat what they do and tell you why you're doing it wrong."

Billy stared at her incredulously, and he looked at Kelly and Alexis. "Is she serious or making a joke."

"Serious." Both brunettes answered tiredly, as though they'd done this before. For all Rad knew, they probably had.

Rad wasn't about to start an argument though, and he stood attentively as Alexis and Kelly slid into stances, their frames at ease with the movement. The blond wondered why Alexis had never mentioned being able to do martial arts, but Teacher's words hit him harder than before. 'Oh, right.' He blinked when a thud rang out, and winced as Kelly had just grabbed Alexis by the arm and threw her over the shoulder and onto the floor. 'We have to copy that?'

Alexis groaned. "I knew there was a reason I stopped practicing this."

Kelly rushed to her side, and helped the older girl sit up. "I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you, uh, too badly?" she grimaced.

Alexis rolled her shoulder, and held her back as she was helped to her feet. "Just not used to this, kind of a shock."

Teacher sighed in a long-suffering way. "Fine, Alexis, sit out." her gaze turned to Kelly. "You can choose your next opponent while Alexis recovers."

Billy almost immediately stepped forward, smirking. "I'll take you on, kid."

Rad found himself surprised not only by the glare Kelly levelled at Billy, but how venomous her "You're on" was spat at him. He looked from them to Alexis as she came to stand beside him. "Kelly's kind of...scary." he whispered. "Normally she's pretty cute."

Alexis raised a brow. "You think my cousin is cute?"

Rad nodded. "You know," he shrugged, "Kelly's cute like a little sister." he was struck by the abrupt gagging sound, and found Kelly had turned red, and Billy began laughing. Rad flushed as he realized she heard him. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

Alexis groaned and rubbed her brow. "You're so dense." she muttered.

Rad was about to ask, but snapped his mouth shut as Teacher sharply said "Fight!" and Kelly got into another stance, while Billy more awkwardly tried to copy her.

"How does it feel knowing Rad just sees you as annoying little girl?" Billy taunted.

Kelly tensed up, growling low in her throat. "He does not!" she snapped. She snapped her palm out, and caught Billy on the shoulder, causing him to clutch at it as he staggered back.

Teacher scowled. "Kelly, this is defense, not offense."

Kelly winced. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

Billy smirked. "Maybe you're just not his type." he whispered.

Kelly narrowed her eyes. "Or maybe you think he's someone else's." she retorted, and Billy scowled as his face flushed.

Rad furrowed his brow, and lowered his voice. "I thought they were supposed to be sparring, not arguing."

Alexis looked at him in disbelief. "You seriously can't read what this is about?" Rad blinked owlishly at her, and she sighed, her mutter almost inaudible, "I can't believe you're both so oblivious."

Rad was about to question her, but heard the ringing of his cell phone from the locker room. He bit his lip as Teacher narrowed her eyes. "I, well, left my phone on because I was expecting an important call from my-uh-cousin!"

Teacher scowled, and made a huffing sound. "Then go."

Rad nodded sheepishly and hurried to the locker room. He fished his phone out of his backpack and furrowed his brow at the string of unrecognizable numbers, but by rule of thumb knew by now to think it was the Autobot's. "Who's this?"

"It's Hot Shot." The other voice replied, tone more subdued than Rad was used to hearing.

It caused the blond to straighten up, and he chewed on his lower lip for a moment. This was big. "Oh," he said quietly, because he didn't want to have Hot Shot hang up on him, "it's nice to hear from you."

"I…suppose." Hot Shot said stiltedly. "Look, I'm calling because I thought…I thought we needed to have a talk about-you know."

Rad's chest tightened. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and how relieved it made him. "I think so too. Do you want to meet up somewhere?"

"No, can you just get to the Autobot base?" Hot Shot asked.

Rad bit his lip as he looked at the time stamp in the corner of his phone. "Sure, no problem. I'll be there soon." He ended the call and hurried in changing back into his civilian clothes. He rushed out of the locker room with his backpack over his shoulder and ducked when Teacher narrowed her eyes at him. "it's an emergency and I have to go. I'm really sorry about this."

"What?" Billy demanded, and he looked surprisingly offended. "You can't go; you haven't seen me wallop this twerp yet!"

Kelly scowled and reached forward, her hands gripping Billy's arms before heaving him over her shoulder. "There, now he's seen me wallop you." She looked up with a blush on her face, clasping her hands in front of her as she smiled at Rad. "I hope everything's okay."

"Yeah, so I do." Rad replied, and he looked worriedly at Teacher.

The woman narrowed her eyes with a scowl, but gestured dismissively. "Just don't be late next time, and if you're going to keep it up-don't bother coming anymore."

Rad nodded. "Right, got it!" he called back before he exited the dojo and hopped on High Wire's seat. "Hot Shot's finally going to talk to me, so can you put the pedal to the metal and get to me the base in record time?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely…" High Wire replied coyly, and Rad held on as the mini-con took off.

The blond whooped as he held on tight, and was more than willing to take this brief reprieve of exhilaration from the heaviness of the talk Hot Shot wanted to have with him. Given the subject matter, heavy was likely too simple a word to use.

Rad sighed, both at his thoughts and the fact all too soon the ride was over. He climbed off the 'bike' and let High Wire transform before the two of them made their way inside the cave, rock and dirt giving way to slightly cleaner metal walls. When Rad got to the command center, he blinked as he found only Hot Shot was around, standing in front of the terminal screen from Laserbeak's perspective.

"Hey, where's every-"

"You're finally here!" Hot Shot cut him off, his expression agitated. "There's a change of plans; while you were on your way, a mini-con activated."

"They do that all the time; what's got you so worked up?" Rad asked.

Hot Shot gestured to the screen. "Show him what we saw on the feed, Maya."

The holographic girl appeared over the terminal, nodding as the screen split from a bird's eye view with a smaller box stamped just minutes earlier. Rad's eyes widened as he saw a giant figure of a pale blue woman with long odango hair and cropped bangs marching over the rocky terrain.

"Is…is this to scale?" he whispered.

"Yes." Maya replied evenly.

"And," Rad bit his lip, "all the Autobots saw her?" his stomach dropped when Maya nodded again.

"They were freaked-or at least Smokescreen was, everyone else had a pit of a poker face." The yellow bot explained, and Rad couldn't even take the time to appreciate the expression for Hot Shot's actual features were tight and serious.

"How did you get out of going with them? Aren't you healed up by now?" Rad questioned.

Hot Shot nodded, glancing away. "Yeah, but I told them I wanted to be the trump card. I don't think Red or Sideways bought it, but Optimus said I could stay but not to make a habit of dramatic entrances." For a moment, he smiled wryly, though sighed. "First they think I'm unstable and now they probably think I'm full of it."

"I think it's more they think you're capable." Rad said gently, but Hot Shot grimaced.

"Even I agree, I'm still not over what you did." he muttered.

The blond flinched. "I don't expect you to be." he whispered. He coughed, and raised his voice. "Anyway, Maya, can you call Kero? I'm pretty sure Ray's at the library so he should be able to pick up." The hologram girl nodded, while Hot Shot looked dubious.

"And how's he supposed to help?"

"Kero might not look like much, but he's more knowledgeable than he seems," Rad replied, but grimaced, "it's only a matter of when he actually decides to be helpful about it. Though given Fight's size, I'm thinking he could know what's going on with her."

"Rad? Is this you? If it's not, you got the wrong number."

"It's me," Rad spoke up quickly, "and I'm at the Autobot base with Hot Shot, High Wire and Maya; the other Autobots are out on a mini-con hunt, and Fight's there too."

"This isn't good; did they see her?"

"Yes." Hot Shot said.

Kero said something in what sounded like Japanese, and from his tone, Rad inferred it wasn't anything good. "Okay, tell me what happened." And when Rad relayed about Fight's appearance and unusual height, Kero was silent for a long moment. "She's not alone, I think Big is helping her. Fight can't grow that size by herself."

"What about that flower card?" Hot Shot questioned, his eyes glancing down at Rad hesitantly. Like he expected Flower to pop up. Rad felt the pulse from the card in question, but she seemed regretful she couldn't speak to him, which likely had to do with the severity of the situation.

"Flower was different," Kero started, "she could manipulate her petals to grow an extension of herself, but Fight doesn't have that kind of power. Big is the only one who could do it; you have to find her first and stop her, Rad."

"Is Big more dangerous?" Rad asked worriedly.

Kero sighed. "No, but it's why Fight had her give her such a height lift. Fight goes after the strongest opponents she can find-this means she wants to fight those mecha!" Rad's eyes worried and Hot Shot stiffened. "Find Big and Fight will lose her edge. You should still be on your guard though."

"I will." Rad replied, and Kero ended the call. His blue eyes looked at the screen, where his gaze followed Fight as she stormed across the terrain. Like she could sense him, Fight glared up at Laserbeak and Rad hoped that wasn't the case. The spirit did nothing more than scowl before moving on. The blond was not relieved. "I-I think we better get going, the Autobots are going to need you, Hot Shot." he bit his lip. "And we can always talk later."

Hot Shot grimaced. "Right." Even if he suggested it, Rad didn't blame him for being reluctant to go through with it. "Maya, can you get the warp gate ready?"

The hologram girl nodded. "Good luck, and be careful." She said before fritzing out of existence.

The blond followed Hot Shot, his gut still churning as he didn't want to go through with this still letting Hot Shot think he didn't trust him. "I…" he trailed off, biting his lip as he couldn't find the words to explain himself. When he and Hot Shot found the Star Saber mini-cons, Rad gathered his resolve. "Can you understand them, Hot Shot?"

The yellow bot narrowed his optics slightly. "No, they haven't uplinked with me."

Here goes something. "I can." Rad said quietly.

Hot Shot blinked, stiffening up. "What?"

"I can understand them," Rad replied, and he listened to the warbling of the three mini-cons as High Wire quickly began to calm them down, "they think telling you is a mistake and High Wire's explaining why it's not."

Hot Shot shook his head, holding his head as he looked baffled and hurt. "W-what? Why now? Of all times? This isn't the time to come clean."

"I wanted to prove that I trusted you." Rad replied, his cheeks heating as he realized how foolish he was to choose now as well. "I wanted in some way show you that you're my friend and I want things to be okay again."

"How can things be okay when you've all been lying to us about not understanding the mini-cons?" Hot Shot demanded.

"We didn't! No one except Rachel and Carlos knows I can understand all the mini-cons, and we didn't tell you because High Wire hadn't been sure if he could trust you – just look at Maya's situation with Runway, Jetstorm and Sonar, they hate her for what her people did!" Rad yelled, and his voice lowered back to a whisper. "High Wire was scared, that's why he took Sureshock and Grindor to my friends, because he didn't want to be a weapon."

Hot Shot was silent for a long time. "Jolt never said anything," his lips twisted into a bitter smile, "though if he thought it'd make me mad I guess he wouldn't." he sighed heavily. "Do all of them really think of us like that? That we're just using them?"

"High Wire told me mini-cons have a servility program that binds them to- to another being. I don't know if you already knew this, but he also explained that while on some level they have to listen to you, this servility doesn't keep them from speaking their minds." Rad replied.

Hot Shot didn't appear mollified, but he nodded like he understood. "We should get going." He knelt as his voice softened while he talked to the Star Saber mini-cons. "Hey, you want to go out and kick some Decepticon aft?"

Sonar nodded vigorously, Runway pumped his fist into the air, and Jetstorm didn't wait as he made a break for the warp gate.

"I'll take that as a yes." Hot Shot chuckled briefly, but his expression was serious once he glanced at Rad. "Well finish this after."

Rad bit his lip, and nodded as they hurried to the warp gate, with the blond pulling his key from around his neck. "Key of the star, with powers burning bright; reveal the staff and shine your light-release!" his key expanded into its staff form, and he brought it close. A smile briefly flitted across his lips when the Star Saber mini-cons all clapped. "Thanks, it's still cool to me too."

High Wire pulled Rad into a brief hug. "Be careful!"

Rad patted him on the back. "I will." He said and climbed into the cabin along with the other mini-cons. "Wait, what about Jolt?"'

"He's not going." Hot Shot said flatly. Rad winced, but didn't bug about it. The gate lit up, and Rad tensed as he felt momentarily nauseas before the warp room gave way to a rocky terrain with patches of grass and hills. "Go find the card as quick as you can!"

Rad nodded as he got out of the bot's cabin. "On it!"

And for everyone's sake he hoped he did too. As he watched Hot Shot leave though, Rad bit his lip as he pulled out Sword's card. The blond closed his eyes, and he tossed Sword into the air. "Go help Hot Shot, Sword!"


Hot Shot was so focused on finding his comrades that when he let the mini-cons out to transform, he didn't notice the three spot Sword's ghostly form appearing. They beeped between each other, and nodded before transforming into the Star Saber and letting Sword wash over them.

After Hot Shot was relieved to spot his teammates and commander over the ridge, he blinked when he found the Star Saber already formed, but smiled as he picked up the blade. A feeling of confidence swelled up inside of him. "You minis sure are on top of things, now let's go meet up with the others."

When they were close enough to be seen, Optimus spotted them first, his tone relieved. "Good to see you made it here safely, Hot Shot."

The yellow mech grinned. "It's not like I'm scared of some giant human."

"Given the unusual energy readings that were emitting from her, we can't say for certain she's a human." Red Alert said.

Hot Shot smirked. "Is that so?" he sidled up to the medic, and nudged him in the shoulder. "And since when did you get so gung-ho about this weird stuff?"

"I'm not." Red Alert said stiffly, but he was clearly embarrassed to be called out on it. "I merely find it worth investigating."

"Suuure." Hot Shot said. He wasn't sure what had gotten into him, but he liked seeing Red flustered. It showed there was more than just logic and cold circuits. 'Though Optimus is probably the only one who gets to see it.' He thought, but grimaced as he did not want to think about what they did with their 'alone time'. 'I can't believe I was the last to know.' Though right now that wasn't the important thing. "So, have any of you found the mini-con panel yet?"

"Nothing so far." Smokescreen said. "And the signal wasn't moving, so it's probably stuck someplace, right?"

"Which will make it that much harder to find." Sideways said. "And there's no telling why that giant organic is here for."

Hot Shot grimaced. He wanted to tell them what Kero said, but how could he say anything without being asked where he learned it from? His spark twisted. How could he live with himself if someone got hurt by Fight and he could have warned them? "Then we should find the panel ASAP," he hefted the Star Saber onto his shoulder, "and with this blade I can cut through everything in no time. If the mini-con's stuck just leave it to me."

"I appreciate your confidence, but don't get cocky, Hot Shot." Optimus warned him, and the yellow mech ducked his helm sheepishly.

"Yes, sir." He replied. Splitting up might have crossed their processors, but given there was also a potentially dangerous unknown lurking about, they decided it was better to stick together. Hot Shot was more than relieved, but he did hope Rad found this 'Big' fast anyway.

The ground was rocky and Hot Shot narrowed his optics. Where would this mini-con panel be? If the panel was stuck, then it could be buried for all they knew. 'Or stuck in a cliff.' He thought. "So, should I just start swinging?" The thought of waving the Star Saber around like an amateur repulsed him though, which was odd since technically that's what he was.

Hot Shot stopped short, his optics closing as he hoped he wasn't right. He only felt like this once. 'Sword?' he called, and felt a pulse from inside him and the Star Saber. Hot Shot frowned. 'Why did Rad send you to me? Does he think I can't protect myself?'

It was the oddest thing, but Hot Shot almost got the impression Sword was speaking to him. It wasn't words, and it wasn't the beeps translated into words like with Jolt. It was like a rippling of chimes and light washing through him, encasing him in the feeling of understanding and guilt. 'Rad…feels guilty? Well he should!' Hot Shot held his helm, because already he was overwhelmed by this whole magic thing, and now this body-jacking card was speaking to him. 'This better not be a regular thing.'

Amusement washed over him before Sword simmered back down.

"Hey, Hot Shot, you okay?"

The yellow mech blinked, and stiffened when he found Smokescreen looking at him with a concerned expression. "Huh?" Was his oh-so brilliant reply.

"You just sort of spaced out, sure you're feeling alright?" Smokescreen pressed.

Hot Shot noticed Red Alert glancing back at him, and he wasn't going to give the medic a chance to ground him again. "I'm as fine as I've ever been!"

A blast rang out, and everyone whirled around, their blasters aimed at where it originated. Sideways looked unconcerned about almost being shot, as he calmly lowered his arm cannon. He gestured to the smoking and crumpled rubble where a chunk of a cliff used to be.

"I found the mini-con panel," he said placidly as the glint of a yellow panel emitted from the rubble, "it was stuck."

"While I can appreciate your initiative, Sideways, you could have given away our position." Optimus said.

"Too late, Prime." Everyone looked up to find Megatron standing atop a cliff, Demolishor to one side but Starscream and Cyclonus nowhere in sight. "We'll be taking that mini-con now."

"I see you haven't changed more than I thought – you always did have a flare for such useless dramatics." A cloaked figure drawled as he walked up from behind the Decepticon leader, and Megatron snarled at him but Optimus stiffened.

"Is…is it really you?" Optimus asked, and Hot Shot was shocked to find how hesitant his leader sounded.

The figure chuckled as he discarded his cloak, revealing a tall green and purple mech. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Orion?"

Hot Shot's optics widened, and he saw Smokescreen looked just as confused, but he couldn't tell with Sideways. Red Alert though didn't react at all. "Why did he call Optimus that?"

The medic frowned. "Not many knew this, but before Optimus became a Prime, he was a mech named Orion Pax."

"But you know." Megatron growled, his red optics burning brighter. He turned his glare on Demolishor. "Don't just stand there, get the mini-con!"

Demolishor saluted. "Yes, sir!" he said before jumping off the cliffside.

Megatron scowled at the purple and green mech. "And you're just going to continue standing around?"

The mech smirked. "We'll see."

The Decepticon leader scoffed harshly before jumping off the cliff as well. Hot Shot was startled to see him making a bee-line for Red Alert, but Optimus intercepted him by locking servos with him. "How sweet," Megatron hissed, "but tell me, when you told him about your old self, did you tell him everything?"

Optimus didn't reply.

Hot Shot though looked to Red Alert. "Seriously, what's Megatron's problem with you?"

Red Alert grimaced. "Something that's now pertinent to the mission, no matter what Megatron thinks." The yellow mech frowned. "Just get the mini-con pan-" he stopped, his form tensing and Hot Shot heard the tell-tale engine overhead.

Hot Shot lifted the Star Saber. "I got this," he said and added pointedly, "just get the mini-con panel."

Red Alert sent a cold glare towards Starscream as the seeker landed, but nodded sharply. "Be careful." He said and went to help Smokescreen deal with Demolishor, while Sideways' attempt to grab the mini-con panel was thwarted by Cyclonus appearing and firing at him.

Hot Shot narrowed his optics as Starscream unclipped his wing sword. "You really wanna do this again?" he grinned as confidence flowed through him. "Aren't you getting tired of losing?"

Starscream glared at him. "I refuse to accept that you, someone with less experience than a novice, could ever defeat me with beginner's luck."

Hot Shot's grinned only widened, despite feeling a stab of nervousness. "What's the matter? Still upset that you and your Star Saber knock-off aren't all that?"

Starscream froze, his expression blank. Then with a furious screech, he lunged forward and swung at Hot Shot's neck. "I will show you both!"

Hot Shot's body moved before he could think too, bracing his servo on the unignited blade against Starscream's sword. He narrowed his optics. "Touched a nerve, huh? Can't really blame me if it's true."

Starscream scowled fiercely at him, pressing his own glowing sword against the saber, and it cast an eerie red light over the seeker's face. "You will pay for the humiliation you have caused me."

Sword might not have cared if it frayed Starscream's nerves, but Hot Shot was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable with how the card was behaving. It could back up what it was saying, but Hot Shot was screwed if he ever faced the seeker without Sword. 'Let's just end this now.' Sword pulsed in reply.

"And you know what I say to that?" Hot Shot frowned at Starscream. "You're boring me." Inside the yellow mech flipped out. 'Slag it, Sword!' he thought as the Star Saber ignited, and his body twisted around until he was behind Starscream, jerking his wrist and sliced through the wing sword before bringing it up against the seeker's throat. "Sayonara."

Starscream scowled back at him as we'll as he could, optics glaring balefully at him before he warped away.

Hot Shot frowned as Sword let him have control of his body back and glanced at the saber. 'Seriously, what's up with you? You've had him twice and you let him go.' He shook his head, because he could barely understand how these cards words as it, let alone think of why Sword wouldn't kill Starscream. Did it just like messing with him? Hot Shot didn't know.

The ground cracked behind him, and Hot Shot whirled around to find that new mech had jumped from the cliff, landing just short of Hot Shot, the force of impact creating a small crater. He discarded his cloak and tilted his head, cables in his neck cracking. The yellow mech wondered how old this bot had to be for his cables to make that sound.

Hot Shot narrowed his optics. "You want a go, old mech?"

Before the other mech could reply, a strangled cry rang out. Hot Shot felt Sword's panic and when he looked over to where the sound came from, his spark dropped. Standing over the mini-con panel, and holding Cyclonus by the neck, was Fight. She found them.

"What the frag is this? One of your tricks, Prime?" Megatron demanded, but Optimus didn't reply as he could only stare at the spirit.

"L-Lord Megatron, this is the organic that we encountered – o-only it somehow grew!" Demolishor explained hastily, causing the Decepticon leader to scowl.

Fight slowly looked up, her piercing pale blue eyes locked on Megatron and Optimus. Her gaze narrowed, and she threw Cyclonus away like a piece of trash. The spirit picked up the mini-con panel, and began marching towards the two leaders.

'She only fights the strongest-' Hot Shot's optics widened. "Optimus, get out the way!"

Optimus looked startled. "What-?" He was cut off when Fight lunged for him, but to Hot Shot's shock, Megatron pushed Optimus out of the way and held up his arms to shield himself from Fight's roundhouse kick. The red and blue mech blinked slowly. "You…"

"Don't say it, Prime." Megatron growled, and Fight's lips tightened as she pressed her leg down harder. "I would not allow this creature the pleasure of dismantling you – that's reserved only for me!" he roared and shoved Fight back.

The spirit jumped and did a back flip before landing perfectly on her feet. She narrowed her eyes, but smirked faintly as she held the mini-con panel up before closing her fist around it. Fight slid into a stance, and held her hand up, beckoning the Decepticon leader forward.

Megatron scowled at her. "That mini-con panel will be mine, even if I have to rip it from your unnatural fingers."

If anything, Fight's smirk grew wider. And out of everything that happened today, Hot Shot found it the most unsettling.


Rad hurried through the rocky terrain, but when his legs began to ache and his lungs screamed for air, he held his knees and gulped down breaths. He scolded himself, because what was the point of running? There was urgency, but that urgency would only screw him over if he didn't know where Big was.

With that in mind, Rad paced himself more slowly as he kept a look-out for a presumably giant spirit because it wouldn't be make sense for it not to be. Not for the first time Rad wanted to groan at whatever humour went into naming the cards, but he doubted he'd do any better.

Rad passed by a large boulder, but didn't get suspicious because those things were naturally huge. But when he came upon a giant ant roughly the size of a large dog scurrying across the terrain he thought he was on the right track. The ant made him anxious when it strayed to close, so he picked up the pace as he came across larger versions of tree trunks and the odd branch. Thankfully the spirit didn't find anymore animals or insects to enlarge.

Making his way around a jutting rock face, Rad stopped again, his breath catching. His eyes were glued on the form, awe coursing through him. Sitting upon a boulder, was a giant blue woman dressed as a princess. It wasn't an exaggeration, as the woman was wearing a long medieval-styled dress with long sleeves that obscured the hands resting on her lap. Her bangs were cut short to frame her face, while the rest was long in the back, and atop her head was a divided hennin. Wrapped over her shoulders was a long blue cape with its clasp being a red jewel.

The spirit's eyes were closed in a serene expression, and Rad felt bad about approaching her. 'The one time I get to meet a princess I have to seal her away.' He thought ironically. The blond cleared his throat. "Hello?"

The spirit opened her eyes, face neutral but Rad felt a glimmer of curiosity. Then she narrowed her eyes when she seemed to find something in his features she didn't like. Rad gasped as the wand began to expand, and the blond was forced to let go. It clattered to the ground, the sealing staff now the size of a tree trunk and likely just as heavy.

'I should have known this wouldn't be easy.' Rad thought, and bit his lip as he thought of how to go about this. "Er, Princess Big?" The spirit raised a brow, and Rad flushed. "Did you make Fight grow because she asked you too?" Big nodded, and Rad rubbed his brow. "Then I guess you already know what she's been doing."

When Big narrowed her eyes again, Rad wondered just how much the cards told each other. He also realized he didn't know whether or Big was gentle or not. Kero's 'she's not more dangerous than Fight' didn't mean much when Fight could put countless people in the ER.

"I…I don't know why you don't like me," Rad began gently, "or if this has anything to do with me at all, but your friend Fight is going to hurt my friends." He explained, and bit his lip. "Just like to get a challenge she's been putting people in the hospital."

Big didn't look surprised, and Rad quickly switched tracks if getting her sympathy wouldn't hurt.

"I won't let her hurt my friends!" Rad shouted, and Big raised a brow once more, this time almost challenging. Rad clenched his fists. "I'm sorry about whatever happened to you all, but taking it out on everyone won't solve anything! And to stop Fight, it means stopping you!"

The blond quaked inside, and he was sure it only intensified when Big stood up – and up. Rad's heart beat loud enough for him to hear it in his ears as Big towered over him, a literal giant. Her face was hard, eyes narrowed on him like a homing beacon.

"I'm not afraid of you." Rad whispered, and the ground trembled when Big stepped towards him, growing even taller – or was that just because she was getting closer? The blond quailed inside, unable to stop from shaking when the spirit was right above him, and her gaze was locked on him reproachfully. Rad froze stock-still when Big leaned down, her eyes widening as a palpable sense of disdain threatened to suffocate him.

Thinking of the Autobots who could have encountered fight, to see them in the medbay or worse – Rad gathered his resolve and he glared back up at her. "I won't let anyone hurt my friends." He said firmly, managing to keep the quiver out of his voice even inside he was still terrified.

For the longest time, Big only continued bearing down on him, her expression giving away nothing. Her lips, pulled into a frown, turned into a smile, the disdain abruptly turning to approval.

Rad sucked in a breath, his own relief flooding him as he began to wobble, his legs giving out. Large, soft hands caught him under the shoulders, and Big lifted him back on his feet. Rad stared at her with wide eyes. "Huh?"

Big's brow rose once more, and Rad felt the pricking of her magic. He slowly realized what she wanted.

"You…wanted to test me, to…see if I would run." Rad said as he deciphered what Big meant. He furrowed his brow. "You didn't want to rely on a coward." The words were significant to the spirit, and he wondered not for the first time just what happened in the past. "I hope I don't mess it up then."

Big smiled gently as she patted him on the head, and stepped aside, revealing the now normal-sized staff.

Rad smiled back a bit hesitantly, and scooped the staff up. He pointed the star end of the wand at Big, who curtsied to him. "Return to your power confine," Sword's ghostly form appeared before him, and Rad realized just what happened. 'It had to come back because I stopped using the wand to sustain it.' He thought and caught Sword's card, "Sakura Card!"

A glowing shell card appeared at the tip of the wand's wings, enlarging as a gust of wind picked up. Big slowly began to dissolve, wisps of blue being sucked into the card until nothing was left. Slowly the wind died down, and a pink card floated over to Rad, where he caught it and saw Big facing forward on the card, her eyes closed as the red jewel was the only other color besides the pink tones.

Rad sighed in relief, noticing the boulder Big was sitting on turning back into a pebble. He smiled triumphantly. 'You're next, Fight.'


Hot Shot's instincts told him to help Optimus even though freaking Megatron saved him, but he was forcibly reminded that Fight wasn't the only one on the battlefield. Hot Shot jumped back when an arm tread took a swing at his helm, and he glared at the purple and green mech. "Just like a 'Con, taking a cheap shot."

The mech snorted. "What you call cheap, I call practical." His optics narrowed. "Never take your optics off an opponent."

Hot Shot glowered at him, but stiffened as Sword's energy wavered, and its image appeared before fading away. It left him hollow, and he realized 'Frag, I'm screwed', but shook his helm and held the Star Saber in front of him. "Then I'm taking you down old bot."

The mech scoffed, and he didn't flinch when behind him Fight had grabbed Demolishor as he attempted to attack her, and she threw him just short of hitting the old mech. Hot Shot looked down at the beige and red mech briefly, but charged anyway and swung at the taller bot.

Hot Shot grinned as the blade went into the mech's tread arm, but froze when he realized how stupid it was. 'Frag!' he thought, and the old mech smirked as he used his other arm to cuff Hot Shot in the chest, knocking him back. The yellow mech grimaced as the other mech wrenched the blade from his arm, not even looking bothered by the oil which seeped out of the wound.

"What an amateur move; I don't know which is more pitiful, you defeating Starscream, or that he couldn't defeat you." The old bot plunged the saber into the ground, and Hot Shot clenched his fists. He glared down at Demolishor, who was groaning. "I suggest you leave; you wouldn't like being in my way."

Demolishor looked between the wound on the mech's arm, and grimaced. "R-Right." He muttered, and rather reluctantly hurried back over to the battle with Fight.

Hot Shot winced as Fight launched a punch at Sideways, but Optimus grabbed her wrist only to get flung into Red Alert.

Abruptly, as Fight leapt to deliver a roundhouse kick on Megatron, her form shrank until she was the size of a teenager. Fight landed short, frowning as she looked down at herself. The panel laid on the ground beside her, and she seemed displeased before scooping the panel up and making a sprint out of the group of mechs.

Megatron snapped out of his daze first, roaring as he gave chase after the spirit, but her form vanished from sight, taking the mini-con panel with her. He snarled and rounded on Cyclonus and Demolishor. "Back to base; I want that filthy organic found and that mini-con in my grasp!"

"Yes, sir!" Both bots saluted before warping away.

Megatron scowled at the Autobots. "It would appear just this once, we have reached an impasse." He muttered, and warped away as well.

Optimus stared at the spot where the Decepticon leader once stood, and glanced at his troops. "Mechs, we need to find this organic. Who knows what she could try to do with it."

"Optimus," Hot Shot started, and was surprised to find not only the old bot gone, but the Star Saber still there, "who was that mech with the Decepticons?"

"His name is Scavenger…he used to be my teacher," Optimus explained, "but that was a very long time ago, back before factions existed." He shook his helm gently. "But right no my past isn't important, we need to find that organic."

"She should still be emitting that strange energy, I can try to track her down that way." Red Alert said, and Optimus nodded.

Hot Shot waited until everyone began warping away, and when he was the last one left, the yellow mech commed. Maya. "Can you delete the footage Laserbeak captured from your end?"

"Yes, but you I will also need to erase it from Laserbeak's hard drive when you return as well." Maya explained.

"I'm on it." Hot Shot said, and after grabbing the Star Saber, he went looking for Rad.


Walking around the terrain, Rad worried he might have come across the same patch of grass twice. It would be just his luck if it were. Sighing, Rad carried on until he crossed the cliff-but it was only because what lied on the other side. Rad's eyes widened into saucers as he looked up at the purple and green mech, his eyes locked on the Decepticon insignia. The blond backed away, even if he knew it was pointless to outrun a 'Con.

"You're the human that travelled with that yellow mech," he said in a gravelly voice, and Rad's eyes widened further. He saw them? "I find it quite interesting that his strange proficiency with a blade is your doing." He added almost causally.

Rad though was freaking out inside. This wasn't good- a 'Con seeing him was on thing, but that same 'Con seeing him use magic? 'I'm dead.' He thought. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do not play stupid, human. I saw with my own optics how you waved that pink stick of yours and an imprint of a sword appeared. When I was fighting that yellow bot, the same image dissipated and he lost his sword prowess." The mech explained, and his eyes narrowed. "I know not your connection to these strange events, but I know a crutch when I see it. Continue with your interference and things will not end well for your Autobot friend."

Rad clutched his key, but hesitated in calling the staff form. If he didn't confirm what the bot saw, then the blond could still claim ignorance. "Are you threatening me?"

The bot levelled him with a mirthless smile. "I'm a Decepticon, I don't need a reason."

The blond's fingers tightened, but he looked away involuntarily by the sound of his name being called, and he looked back at the old mech just as he began to warp away. Rad didn't calm down, and he hurried to Hot Shot's location.

The two stared at each other for a moment, before Hot Shot awkwardly handed him Laserbeak and transformed into vehicle mode. Rad climbed in after the three Star Saber minis did, and when they arrived back at base, Runway, Jetstorm and Sonar were let out before Hot Shot stammered out an excuse for clearing his mind as Rad ducked into the cabin to remain out of sight.

During the ride back to his apartment, Rad sighed as he knew this was the only time they could have talked. "Hot Shot?" he said quietly. "Did…did anything happen on the mission? Did Fight hurt anyone?"

Hot Shot bounced on his shock absorbers. "What? Oh, about that…" he trailed off. "She kind of took off after, well, she stole the mini-con panel when she shrank."

Rad blinked. "Ah, I didn't think she'd do that." He said apologetically. "Did anything else happen?"

"Yeah, this old mech kept talking down to me." Hot Shot muttered.

"Old mech?" Rad repeated, and bit his lip. "If he was green and purple, then I think I met him too."

"What?!" Hot Shot screeched to a halt, and a car honked loudly behind him as it swerved around. "Scrap." The yellow bot muttered as he continued driving and turned onto the curb. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, he just…talked down to me too." Rad replied.

"Well, glad to see you're alright." Hot Shot said awkwardly. "Though I was wondering, could I talk to your toy friend? After today, I'm starting to see what you went through keeping this magic stuff quiet."

Rad blinked again, but his heart lightened. This wasn't a 'we can put this behind us' because it was too soon for such a thing, but Rad could accept this. "Yeah, I'll try and talk him into it. Maybe now he'll finally start loosening up over the secrecy."

Somehow Rad doubted that, but for now, he could at least hope it would happen. Just like even if it took more time, he could get Hot Shot to like him again.