A/N: Again, I would like thank Vanessa Masters for their help!
Chapter 31: Nothing To See Here
(Alternative Title: And Now For Something Completely Different)
Rad smiled to himself, sitting on the blanket in front of the Autobot base. His chest felt warm, happy enough to be allowed to come and go again with the Autobots whenever he pleased. Right now, he was watching Hot Shot practice with the Star Saber, handling the blade like a pro – all without Sword's help. It made Rad happy to see Hot Shot so improved. His cheeks flushed as he heard loud steps approaching, and he saw a tall purple and yellow robot stepping up beside him from inside.
"Hey, I've been waiting for you." Rad said quietly.
"Me? Not Hot Shot?" Sideways asked.
Rad flushed deeper, smiling up at him. It was strange, seeing the bot brought out a feeling he hadn't had like for anyone except maybe Marty, and Rad was unsure what to even call it. All he could to answer the question was nod sheepishly.
"Well, I have only one thing to say to that." Sideways said, leaning down and Rad's smile grew as he took the robot's offered hand, holding onto it as his blush went right to his roots from being so close.
"It's a lie."
Rad jerked back from Sideways, and looked around in alarm. The voice hadn't come from the bot, and it made his heart race. 'Who said that?' He couldn't even describe the voice properly, but it sent chills up his spine, shaking his head in denial. "No, not Sideways. H-he cares about me," Rad hugged himself, fingers holding his arms tight, "and I care about him. I want him to know how I…feel..." It was a quiet, desperate thing to say, something even Rad wasn't sure he meant by it.
"It will only end in pain..."
"No!" Rad snapped, covering his ears. "No, he's...he's always been there for me, he looks out for me-"
"He only looks out for his own interests..."
Rad's skull began to ache, from his fingers so tightly clutching his head. Why was his brain telling him this? What was this doubt he had? "No, no, no! That's not true, he does care about me!"
"He serves a darker purpose, and had you not blinded yourself to the truth, you'd see it clearly."
Rad's breath was knocked out of him, the area around him turning to the vastness of space, and malevolent yellow optics flashed in his mind, a deep and ancient hatred almost suffocating him.
Rad snapped awake, gasping for breath as he sat up. He held his throat, breathing heavily, and from the feel of it startled High Wire as the mini-con rushed to his side.
"Are you alright, Rad? What's wrong?"
Rad rubbed his brow, a heavy feeling in his heart but he wasn't sure why. The dream began fading like smoke, only bits and pieces remaining. "It... it's nothing." he murmured. "Just a bad dream."
High Wire looked worried still, but nodded hesitantly. "If you say so."
Rad nodded, but noticed the guardian wasn't around. "Hey, where's Kero?"
High Wire gestured to the door. "He's out there talking to Rachel."
Rad nodded, and made his way to the door, but paused when he heard their voice, jumbled as sleep faded from his mind, but froze when he realized what they were talking about.
"…you can't teach it, but you can sense it?" Rachel asked quietly.
Kero sighed. "It's…not that simple. I can only sense magic within a limited range, and I never had to teach anything. Can't really do much in this form." He muttered.
"So, there's no way I can help Rad?" His cousin asked, her voice strained, and it made Rad's chest tighten.
Kero was silent for a moment. "You can be moral support; nothing wrong with that."
Rachel let out a frustrated sigh. "Maybe, but throughout the years, I've always looked out for him – I hate feeling useless like this. It's my fault and I can't even help him."
"I…really don't know what to say to that." Kero admitted, and Rachel was silent.
Rad turned back around, hobbled over to his bed, and more carefully sat back down than flop onto it like he wanted. His ankle throbbed harder, but he hoped that the cast would be able to come off soon. He briefly wondered how his parents had reacted when Rachel told them, but they'd yet to speak to him even on the phone call his cousin had made to them.
Sighing, Rad looked down at his phone as it vibrated. He stretched to take it off the nightstand, and answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hey, Rad." Carlos said, and Rad winced. "I know things have been strained between us all, but Sideways invited us to go play a virtual reality game! Wanna come along? It'll be something we can all do together!"
Rad stared at the window, blinking at the light just barely coming through the curtains. Thoughts whirled around his head, and while the instinct to make an excuse was strong – Rad knew it couldn't be held off. He'd spent long enough making excuses and running away. 'Just tell them.' He thought, and sighed slowly. "That sounds fun. I'm in." he replied.
"Great! Sideways set it up at the old research lab. He said Maya made sure the systems would be able to hold the game." Carlos explained.
Rad blinked. "Really? Alexis going too?"
"Yeah, we're all meeting in an hour so hurry up!" Carlos retorted.
Rad smiled slightly. "Yeah, alright – see you then." He said, and the call ended. He looked at High Wire, who was looking at him curiously. "Sideways set up a VR game, can you give me a ride there?"
A burst of distrust followed from the mini-con, but High Wire buried it quickly. "Well…I guess so, but you should tell your cousin."
Rad nodded. "On my way there."
Hot Shot wondered what they were being called to the command room for, but all he needed was one look at the screen to know. On it, a clear image of a 'saucer' went flying over a set of trees, and Hot Shot glowered. "Was wondering when that teleporter would show himself again."
"Where'd you find this anyway?" Smokescreen asked.
"It's live, Maya found him with the Sky Spy." Red Alert replied. "He's traveling north right now from Roswell."
Optimus nodded. "Then we should cut him off, and disrupt his ability to warp before capturing him and question him."
"Like why he's here than with the other 'Cons." Smokescreen muttered.
"And if we catch him then maybe we'll get the location of the other Decepticons and rescue the mini-cons they have." Hot Shot added.
The celebration came too early, as another signal appeared, one of the Sakura Card's energy signatures – and a familiar pale blue form leapt from the trees, slamming her fist into the hull of the 'saucer' as she landed, shattering the poorly constructed disguise. The pieces broke off, falling away to reveal the purple and black alien jet underneath.
"I suppose this confirms suspicions?" Maya asked.
Optimus nodded. "It's Skywarp, though right now what concerns me is what Fight is-" he stopped abruptly, as the jet was covered with a purple light and disappeared – Fight and all.
A silence deafened the command room, everyone trying to make sense of what happened. Before they could comprehend that all plans of going to capture Skywarp were gone, the mini-con alarm blared, further destabilizing those plans.
"Autobots," Optimus said, wearily as though trying to get things on track, "let's roll out."
Though they had the mini-con from the desert, there was a lingering tension over the crashed base of operations. Megatron sat on his throne, glaring ferociously at Scavenger. "Where were you at the last battle?"
"Around." Scavenger said flatly.
Megatron scowled deeply at him, with the other Decepticons backing up to avoid any outburst, but Starscream was smirking at Scavenger. "And you did not think for a second to intervene?" Megatron growled.
Scavenger was unperturbed. "I thought about it, but then that sand creature showed up and I wasn't getting involved with that mess."
The Decepticon leader looked ready to implode, the scowl threatening to crack his face. "Then why are you even here?!"
Scavenger frowned. "Why are you asking me that? You were the only who made the call in the first place." He retorted. "Then again, you always blamed everyone else for your mistakes."
Megatron shot up from his throne, optics narrowed. "Watch your tone; do not think I will stand for your insolence."
"He has so far." Starscream muttered.
Megatron shot him a nasty look. "What was that?"
The seeker stiffened. "Nothing, Lord Megatron, only…pondering your odd choice of words at the battle. What makes you think we can control these strange organics?"
The Decepticon narrowed his optics again, but snorted. "As evidenced by that yellow Autobot, it is possible to harness these beings' power."
"And how are we supposed to do that?" Cyclonus asked.
"By capturing one, of course." Megatron retorted.
"But...but we don't even know how we could do that!" Demolishor said, but shrank back at Megatron's glare. "Sir."
"If a fleshling and an Autobot can do, it's only a matter of time before we can find out how as well and use it to our advantage." He explained, smirking.
While the idea sank into everyone's processor, some more dubious or disdainful than the others, everything was shattered by a crackle and a scream down the dark hallway.
"SCAAAAVENGEEER! HEEEELP!"
Everyone looked down the hall, but jumped out of the way when a purple jet came careening into the room, crashing into the ceiling. That triggered the transformation, where the bot fell into an inelegant heap on the floor.
Though stunned silence reigned in the room, Starscream's instinct to scold prevailed once he realized who it was.
"Skywarp!" he snapped, marching up to haul the heap to his pedes. "What have I told you about flying indoors!"
Though there was a passing resemblance to Starscream in the purple and black mech, none stood out more than the scowl on the mech's face as he shoved the other seeker away. "Shut up, 'Screamer! You're not in charge of me!" he retorted petulantly.
While Starscream looked ready to snap back, Megatron cut in swiftly.
"I am though, now explain yourself, Skywarp!" he demanded.
Scavenger crossed his arms. "Like why you're not with the ship where I left you."
The purple and black bot looked almost guiltily at Scavenger, before glancing dourly at Megatron. "I got ambushed by this blue organic thing." His optics widened, and he hurriedly looked over his form. "Is it still on me? It kept punching me!"
"Punch?" Demolishor repeated.
The answer was Cyclonus screeching, holding the back of his head before a familiar pale blue form whipped over his helm, her boots slamming into his head before spring boarding to the ground.
Skywarp pointed frantically at Fight. "That's it!"
"You!" Megatron roared. Fight looked up at him steadily, her legs sliding into a stance and Megatron geared up to swat her. He slammed his fist down as she jumped, landing on his arm to punch into the seam. It only stung for a moment, and gave Megatron enough time to throw her at the wall.
Fight slammed into the wall, before dropping behind the throne. Megatron lunged, gripping the edge of the seat to reach behind it – only to stop short at the flash of blinding blue light and empty space. He growled and his optics darted around the area before gnashing his denta.
His optics narrowed at the mini-con alarm sounding, and straightened up. "Skywarp, stay here and find that organic."
Skywarp stiffened. "What? But what if it hurts me?"
Megatron scoffed. "Are you a mech or a petro-rabbit?" he asked, and the purple seeker grumbled.
"Megatron, he cannot be left alone by himself. There's equipment here that can't afford to be damaged." Starscream said, and Skywarp glared at him.
The Decepticon leader frowned. "Scavenger, since you intend on being useless lately; stay here and watch Skywarp to make sure he doesn't wreck the base. The rest of you – get to the warp gate now and find me that mini-con!"
Despite how the research facility had been abandoned for years, the structure of it was well intact. High Wire let Rad step off his seat, and transformed as they walked up to the entrance, where Alexis and Carlos with their mini-con partners were waiting with Sideways in vehicle mode.
Rad tilted his head. "So, how does this work? The building isn't big enough to let you walk through it." He asked the motorbike.
Sideways let out a brief chuckle before transforming. He knelt and pointed inside, letting Rad just see the VR sets and small plug in cables. "In cyberspace we don't have to move around physically. We can just pretend we're moving in there and stay perfectly still out here."
Alexis frowned. "How's that supposed to work with this game?"
"Well, I doubt since Rad can move faster, it would be unfair to ask that of him." Sideways replied. Rad flushed, and looked away. "This way we're all on even ground, even the mini-cons."
"What are we playing?" Carlos asked.
"Hide and seek, in space." Sideways replied, somewhat dryly.
Rad shook his head. "Then let's stop wasting time and get going!" he said trying to be enthusiastic.
Carlos nodded rapidly and Alexis sighed, but they both left with their partners into the hall, and Rad and High Wire followed them inside. Sideways had to more awkwardly shuffle in, just barely short enough kneeling to grab one of the plugs.
Rad carefully put the VR set on, looking like wrap around set of goggles, and in a flash, he flinched, finding the old facility replaced by the vastness of space. He looked around, utterly weightless that he couldn't even feel his crutches or his cast, his feet seeming to float – no, he was floating.
"Cool!" Carlos exclaimed, grinning as he managed to do a flip with a slow weightlessness. "Awesome!"
Alexis looked around at the stars, the nebulas and everything else Rad couldn't hope to identify. "This…is pretty amazing." She admitted.
Rad bit his lip, hoping this would let them be more open to him explaining magic. "Then what are we waiting for? I'll count to ten."
Carlos pumped his fist into the air. "Make it twenty, Rad!" he shouted.
Rad smiled, and covered his eyes, seeing his friends and their mini-con partners floating away. When he was finished though, Rad smiled as High Wire had taken off too, but he jerked back slightly when he saw Sideways was still there. "I thought you would have went to hide too."
The purple and yellow bot shrugged. "No, I'd rather help you."
Rad snorted. "That's called cheating."
"Perhaps." The robot said mildly.
The blond shook his head, but smiled as he flushed and felt the weirdest sensation of flying along the vastness of space. "This is so cool and weird." He breathed.
"Though not a terrible thing I hope." Sideways replied.
"No." Rad smiled wider, rubbing his arm as the happy flush tempered. "It gives me time to think anyway, about telling Carlos and Alexis about my, well, powers."
The robot stared down at him. "Why? The other Autobots are still too wary of you, and still don't trust you much – why would you tell more people and the possibility of them hating you?"
Rad stiffened, his fists clenching. It was a reality, had already happened, but… "I-I'm sure I can convince them." He murmured.
Sideways shook his head, and knelt. Rad flushed as the robot looked down directly at him. "If you want to invite that hurt, I guess that's your choice."
Rad looked down, and bit his lip. "They're my…my friends though." He said, and breathed in softly. "If I can't bring myself to trust them, who can I trust?"
The blond blushed when he felt a large finger under his chin, and his face was tilted up to look into Sideways' eyes.
"You trust me, don't you?"
Rad's blush went to his roots, his stomach twisting in knots. "I-I do-" his eyes caught the glint, and he jerked back as not 50 feet from them, a red, blue and gray robot was aiming a blaster at them.
The robot's visor glinted, a tight frown on their lips. "I finally found you."
Sideways straightened up. "Hello, Decal." He said casually, as though not seeing the blaster.
The blue robot stiffened, mouth pressing tighter together. "You fragger, thinking you can just stand there and talk to me like that." He said, but his finger shook over the trigger.
The purple robot noticed and tilted his head. "You're hesitating, you never did that before." He said lightly, and something pleased was in his voice. "I must be getting to you."
Rad reached his key instinctively, and froze when the blue robot looked sharply at him. He robot looked back to Sideways, a scowl forming on his lips before he fired – a blue laser struck Sideways in his shoulder, and when the robot fell back, he twisted and lifted Rad up before taking off.
"Get back here you fragger!" Decal shouted.
"That's really going to make you slow down." Rad muttered, and the purple robot let out a quiet huff, not stopping as he continued floating away. The further they got, Rad glanced back, but thankfully he could no longer see Decal anywhere. Either he was slow, or Sideways had managed to use the environment to give him the slip.
"Hey, what's going on?" Rad looked forward to seeing Carlos and Grindor looking around a nebula. "Isn't that cheating?"
"Sorry to say, but we've got a problem." Sideways replied.
Carlos blinked, frowning. "Like what? Is there something wrong with the game?"
"It's been hacked." Sideways said bluntly. "A mech with a grudge against me got in. You need to log off right now. I'll deal with this glitch."
Rad stiffened, and shook his head. "No way am I leaving you." He said, his hand grasping his key.
Sideways looked at him, then down at the other boy and mini-con. "Very well, let us find your other friend first."
Rad nodded, and he hoped they could find Alexis and the mini-cons before Decal did. The blond wasn't sure just what the robot had done – "Wait, couldn't we just take the VR sets off and the one on Alexis and the mini-cons?"
"You can try, but even if you do that, it's possible there's no guarantee that the mini-cons won't stay trapped in here – they are actually connected to the system unlike you." Sideways replied.
Carlos kicked out at nothing. "This sucks! We were doing something awesome and this bot just messes it all up!" he looked up at Sideways. "So how do we make sure the mini-cons don't get stuck here?"
"We need to find the place in here Decal came through. We take out the programming, and Decal will disappear too." Sideways replied.
Rad nodded. "Then we'd better get going."
"Right-hey, Rad, why is Sideways carrying you?" Carlos asked curiously.
The blond blushed. "It was easier to get away at the time." He shook his head. "Anyway, let's go! Alexis has to be around here somewhere."
The Autobots had arrived first to the grassy plane, and wasted no time in spreading out and looking for a tiny robot that could stick out even in tall grass. Hot Shot perked up when he heard the kickback of an engine, and followed the angry whirr of it. The yellow mech stopped short, tilting his head as he looked down at the small red snow plow that got caught in the grass weeds.
"Need some help there?" Hot Shot asked. The vehicle almost seemed to jump, beeping wildly as the plow transformed into a small red robot, who was even more tangled in the weed, giant green optics looking warily up at him. Hot Shot held up his hands in placation. "No funny business, just wanna help."
The mini-con looked warily still, which was impressive with their lack of face, only optics and a mouth guard. Though the mini-con looked at his Autobot insignia, they did not seem any better about having his help. Slowly though, the mini-con nodded.
Hot Shot knelt, and carefully tore the grass. "How did you ever get caught like this anyway?" The mini-con beeped, sounding like grumbling as they looked away. "Well, I don't like sounding as you don't have a choice, but…"
The mini-con stared at him, a thoroughly unamused glint in their optics. They let out a long groan, before venting heavily and pointing grumpily at Hot Shot – more specifically, his Autobot decal.
Hot Shot shrugged, and helped the mini-con up, and held out his digit. "Only fair I know your name." he said, and the mini-con beeped softly before nodding and reluctantly uplinked with the yellow mech.
"It's Iceberg."
"Well, then I'm guessing this isn't really your kind of place." Hot Shot said with a grin.
Iceberg huffed, crossing his arms. "Not really, too humid and warm."
"Then you're in luck, once we're back at base, I can show you a cold place for you to roam around in." Hot Shot said, and Iceberg nodded.
"Too bad those plans will have to wait – forever."
Hot Shot looked up, but grunted as a pede caught him in the jaw. He was flung back, rolling around on the grass before coming to a stop, seeing Megatron lower his leg from the kick.
Behind him, Demolishor frowned. "When did Lord Megatron learn to do that?" he muttered to Cyclonus, who shrugged.
Iceberg shrieked, scrambling away as Starscream went for him. Hot Shot rolled, and he felt Create pulse before a replica of Sword appeared in his grip, stopping the seeker short as the end was pointed at him.
"I don't think so." Hot Shot growled.
Starscream scowled at him. "What a cheat."
"Come on 'Screamer, if I really wanted to cheat I'd use Create to send you packing." Hot Shot didn't know if that were true, but the 'Cons didn't need to know that.
Megatron narrowed his optics, looking at the Sword replica with a frown. A strange sort of calmness settled over his features. "Get the mini-con, I'll handle the Autobot." He rumbled.
The 'Cons looked at each other, but Iceberg taking off forced their hand as they ran after him. Megatron never looked away from Hot Shot, staring down at him with a stony expression.
Hot Shot tensed as he got to his pedes, blade held unsteadily at the ready. "Never took you for being so calm and collected."
Megatron did not raise to the bait. "And you blather on like the little fool you are."
Hot Shot's retort was cut off by Megatron lunging for him. The yellow mech swung the sword, but the Decepticon only threw his fist forward – and shattered through the blade. Hot Shot could only stare, incredulous and that cost him as the fist kept going, connecting squarely with his chin.
The yellow Autobot grunted as a knee came up and slammed into his stomach plates, before he was punched again, knocked to the ground. Hot Shot glared up at him, gritting his denta as his body ached. He couldn't even make a witty retort, his jaw joints aching fiercely.
Megatron finally let a small smirk appear on his face. "So, I finally made you be quiet I see."
"Hot Shot!" The Decepticon casually side-stepped Smokescreen aiming to slam his fist into the 'Con, who brought his knee up again into the orange mech's stomach and threw him easily off.
"How pathetic." Megatron said drolly. "Not even worth a real challenge."
"Megatron!"
The Decepticon's optics gleamed, a slight, sharp smirk crossing his lips again as he faced Optimus. "Let's see if you'll be any better."
Optimus narrowed his yellow optics. "Hot Shot, get Smokescreen and retrieve the mini-con; once you have them, warp out."
Hot Shot bit back a retort, but nodded reluctantly as he hurried to haul Smokescreen onto his pedes and dragged the orange mech with him while hurrying after the other 'Cons.
Megatron met Optimus' hard stare with a cool gaze back. "Your hanger-on isn't with you, Orion Pax."
The Autobot leader gave no reaction to the name. "I find it was best to have him remain behind, given your obvious jealousy, D-16."
The Decepticon narrowed his optics, but did not fly into a rage as Optimus expected him too. "Perhaps not jealousy so much as disgust since that's what you replace me with."
Optimus gave no outward reaction, save for his optics hardening. "That is in the past; surely that cannot be your reasoning for despising Red Alert?"
Megatron narrowed his optics again. "Enough talk, Prime." he lunged forward, and Optimus brought up his arm to block the punch, but narrowly avoided the kick to the mid-section.
"You've improved." Optimus said neutrally. "Scavenger has been teaching you again?"
Megatron's lip curled into a faint sneer. "As if that old blowhard has anything useful to teach me."
Optimus didn't reply, only focused on his task of defeating Megatron. Behind him, both Hot Shot and Smokescreen scrambled to get the other 'Cons away from Iceberg, with the little bot valiantly trying to hide and weave through the grass to get away.
Starscream took the lead, being swifter than the other two 'Cons and less trying to get a shot to fire at it. It was as though Megatron's blatant disregard for the mini-cons had softened the threat of harming them. A sword swiped at Starscream, and he used his wing sword to block it, and glared at Hot Shot as though weakened, he managed to hold his own.
"Can you really not cheat to fight your battles?" he asked disparagingly, orange optics narrowed in contempt. Hot Shot only glared back.
Smokescreen had kept after the other two 'Cons, and took aim at them. His first shot managed to hit Demolishor, while Cyclonus scowled and began firing wildly back, causing Smokescreen to fall back to avoid being shot.
Out of nowhere though, Smokescreen let out a surprised yell as something crashed into him, sending him down face first. It was with no small amount of shock in seeing the larger red and blue form lying on him. "Optimus, sir?"
"I'm fine, Smokescreen." Optimus said, his tone strained. "What of you? I did not hurt you, did I?" he asked as he pulled the orange bot back to his pedes.
The orange mech's reply was cut off with a sharp "I got it!" from Demolishor, who held the squirming mini-con in his servos before abruptly warping out. Cyclonus howled in triumph, warping out as well. Starscream huffed as he shoved Hot Shot away, but stopped short as Megatron gave no sign of warping back to base as the Decepticon leader stalked across the field, a small scowl on his lips.
"Megatron, sir?" The seeker questioned.
"I'm not finished here." Megatron said darkly, his optics never leaving Optimus. "I'm going to find out which of us is the better fighter."
Hot Shot and Smokescreen looked incredulously at the mech, and even Optimus' helm fins twitched. Starscream though scowled, and unknown to all, a small pink card went slinking through the grass, until it clung to the bottom of the seeker's pede as he hurried to Megatron's side.
"We have the mini-con, let's get out of here." The seeker said imploringly.
"You can run like the others, but I am finishing this." Megatron hissed as he glared at the seeker.
"It's not running if we already won this fight!" Starscream snapped.
Optimus closed his optics briefly, and vented. "Autobots, back to base."
Megatron's head snapped back to Optimus as he saw the glow of the warp gate take him. "No!" he snarled again, lunging forward. His digits missed Optimus' throat by inches before the Autobots disappeared. He slammed his fist into the ground, and glared over at Starscream in time to see him warping out. 'Damn it!'
The good news, they had found Alexis, but the bad news was she got immediately on their case the instant she was appraised of the situation.
"How could this Decal even have gotten here?" she demanded of Sideways.
The purple mech shrugged. "Remotely, I assume."
"Though that doesn't explain how he even knew we'd be in here." Carlos said.
"Yes, it's so odd, isn't it?" Rad stiffened up, and looked back to see Decal was walking up with a scowl. "This place, it was a bit too early for you to try." his hand tightened on his blaster. "Unless you were going after something different now."
Sideways narrowed his eyes, but Rad frowned as he looked at the purple bot. "What's he talking about?" The blond asked cautiously.
"He's a tricky one, he's trying to turn us around." Sideways replied.
Slowly though, something began to loom overhead, a shadow that crossed even the expanse of space. Rad tensed up, a feeling of malevolence that overcame him, tightening his chest and made his gaze go up as he stared at a round, distant object that began to grow closer, two yellow eyes appearing.
"What is that!?" Carlos asked.
"If this is part of your game, it's not funny, Sideways!" Alexis added.
Rad though felt along with the evil, the fear from the mini-cons was practically overwhelming. Their words stopping being words, only instead becoming literal beeps and shrills with smatterings of 'Why, how?' 'What-what?!' 'No-no-no!' that made Rad light-headed as Sideways shoved Carlos and Alexis away, sending them floating out.
"Fine the output!" he called, and then looked down at Rad. "Use your key."
Rad stiffened, and glanced at Decal, who was staring up at the object. "What? Will that even work here?"
"It'll be a distraction." Sideways said calmly. "Better something than nothing."
Rad bit his lip, but nodded as he pulled his key from around his neck. He gasped as the suffocating feeling around them grew heavier, more aware as the object slowly turned down, those yellow eyes boring down at them. Rad's stomach twisted, doubling over as his key began to glow, the wisps siphoning off and disappearing into the aether. "W-what's happening?"
"Rad, you have to use one of your cards, any one to try and drive Decal away." Sideways said.
Rad's head was spinning, everything feeling more startlingly real and familiar than he wanted to admit. In the back of his mind, like a fog lifting he could see a room filled with slimy organic tendrils crawling along the walls, a bright glow in the center of the room –
A blue beam shot out, and Rad flinched as the hand Sideways reached for his key with was shot. The purple bot clenched his singed hand, and stared at Decal who was scowling at him.
"You can fool them, but I'll always know what you really are." He said coldly.
Rad frowned, and looked at Sideways in confusion. "What is he talking about?"
The purple mech though was silent, his frame tense as he glared at Decal. He was prevented from answering though, as Decal sharply raised his blaster to Sideways' forehead, glaring as the barrel of the blaster heated up.
As abruptly as it all began, everything started glitching around them, the spaces fritzing as though filled with static.
Decal looked around at the staticky world, the only things of which were still in focus him, Sideways, Rad, and the looming object above descending at a steady rate. Decal glared at Sideways again, firing just as the world began to fritz out more erratically. Before the shot could connect, Rad gasped as found himself back in the old research facility, staring ahead as he collapsed to his backside, ankle throbbing in pain as he blankly took in both Carlos and Alexis cheering and high-fived each other while the three mini-cons cheered.
Rad bit his lip, looking over at Sideways, his voice quiet from the strain. "What was that?"
"A glitch Decal must have put in to scare us." Sideways replied evenly. He held out his hand, and Rad grabbed it, lifting himself back to his feet and brought his crutches up with him. The purple bot looked at them, and when he spoke, his tone was nervous. "Could we keep this between us? I'm sorry about that disaster and I'd rather discreetly tell Optimus about this." He glanced down, looking at Rad. "I'm sure you can understand that?"
Rad blinked, but nodded. "Yeah, last time I did something Optimus hadn't liked, uh, he wasn't really happy about it." He said sheepishly.
Alexis huffed, but Carlos looked curious. "What'd ya do?" The other boy asked.
Rad sighed, holding his key and knew this was it. "I…I went out to seal a magic card without Optimus' approval first."
The mini-cons had grown quiet, but Rad was looking at his…friends' expressions. Carlos was staring at him blankly, while Alexis looked like she swallowed a lemon.
Her response was the most unsurprising. "Magic doesn't exist; do you really need to embellish something with stuff like that?"
Rad sighed, and held out his key, and both Carlos and Alexis jerked back as it glowed when Rad started the incantation. "Key of the star, with powers burning bright; reveal the staff and shine your light-release!" he shouted, and the golden circle under him glowed brighter before the key elongated into its staff form.
Both Carlos and Alexis stared slack-jawed at him, and Rad didn't dare breath as silence was the only thing in the room.
Slowly though, and without a word, Alexis grabbed Sureshock by the arm and pulled her out, never looking back. Rad's chest tightened, even more when he saw Carlos looked torn between hurt and amazement, but the former won out.
"Sorry, it's just…a lot to take in." The brunet muttered, and Grindor followed Carlos out of the facility.
Rad stared at the open space, his shoulders slumping as he clutched his wand to his chest. "At least…I told them the truth." He murmured.
High Wire came up and hugged him. "And once they've had time to process this, you can explain it fully to them."
Rad sighed, and smiled slightly as he hugged the mini-con back. "Yeah, that's right."
"And even if your friends can accept it, just remember that you got High Wire, and, well, me." Sideways said, looking down.
Rad's chest tightened again, this time in a different way as his cheeks stained red. He smiled shyly, nodding. Even as he did so though, his insides warm – he couldn't forget that looming figure or those malevolent yellow optics that stared down at them.
