Transformers Aftermath
Wraith's New Look
Wraith sat on the floor of her cell with her legs crossed and her optics shut. It was a position First Aid passed along from his Decepticon girlfriend Nightbird that was supposed to help her clear her mind. "Meditation" he called it. A way to clear ones mind. To calm the raging storm inside you.
At least that was the idea.
In reality, it was just her sitting on the floor like an idiot while trying not to slip into recharge mode.
"This is dumb," she muttered in defeat.
When she opened her optics she was startled to see another face staring at her from the other side of the force field.
"GAAH!" she cried out in surprise as she fell back a bit.
"Sorry! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!" Redtail apologized profusely.
"What are you even doing here?!" Wraith demanded as she stood up.
"I just wanted to let you know that there are no hard feelings after that whole, you know, trying to kill me thing," she explained as she stood up as well.
"First of all, I wasn't trying to kill you, I just trying to get you out of my way," Wraith clarified before her expression grew perplexed. "Second, if you thought I was trying to kill you, why would you want to forgive me?"
"Because I knew you were just lashing out," Redtail informed her. "I heard about your issues with Decepticons afterward so...I get it. Kind of."
"No, you don't!" the pink femme lashed out at her. "You don't know what they took from me!"
"You're right, I don't know," she relented. "But you can't let that anger control your life forever!"
"ARGH I wish bots would stop telling me that!" Wraith exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration.
She stomped over to the recharging bed in the cell and collapsed face first onto it. Redtail continued to stand outside the cell in awkward silence, rubbing her left arm nervously.
"I just...thought maybe you needed a friend," she finally said in a small voice.
"Pffft," Wraith scoffed, sitting up on the bed. "I don't need any friends, okay?"
"Everybot needs a friend," the other femme insisted.
"Yeah well I-" she stopped mid-sentence for something about Redtail's appearance finally seemed to click with her. "What happened to your mouth?"
"Oh you mean this?" Redtail asked, brushing her fingers over her now blue tinted lips. "I decided to try something different so I borrowed Strongarm's lipstick. Well she calls it 'facial decoing'," she leaned forward and placed a hand beside her mouth before continuing in a softer tune, "but it's totally just lipstick."
She straightened back up with a wide, enthusiastic grin on her face. An expression that reminded Wraith of...someone. A familiar yet unknown face flashed through her mind. She tried to focus on it but it left as quickly as it had appeared. Instead she was back to staring at Redtail's expectant expression.
"It's...fine. I guess," she muttered before she sat back down on the metal bed.
Redtail seemed pleased with her response.
"Thank you!" she beamed. "You should try something like it when, you know, you get out of here," she motioned to the cell.
"Whatever," Wraith scoffed.
That caused the other femme's expression to fall a bit.
"OK, OK, I get it. You don't want company right now. I just wanted to let you know there's no hard feelings and if you want to talk to someone once your out of here...you can look me up," she offered again.
"I'll keep that in mind," Wraith said half heartedly with a dismissive wave.
Redtail's slumped just a bit before she turned and walked out of the cell block. As she shifted her position in the bed, Wraith could hear some conversation happening on the other side of the door. It was nothing she cared to try to listen to though. Honestly, she wished bots would stop trying to talk to her at all. All she wanted to do was sit in her cell and wait until she was released again. Then she would try to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.
But of course, the base answer would always remain the same; destroy Decepticons.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
A few days later, the door slid open again. Wraith looked up from the bed and was not surprised to see First Aid walking over to her cell. She was surprised, however, to see the red and black form of Guard walking behind him, the large, silver chain around his neck jangling slightly. She slid off the bed and stepped over to the edge of the force field.
"That's this?" she asked.
"You're being set free," Guard told her in his usual gruff voice.
"With the caveat that you still have to see me after two weeks to continue your counseling sessions," First Aid added.
She grumbled and placed her hand on her hips annoyance.
"Well I'm not happy with that but I guess I can live with it," she muttered.
"You'll have to, otherwise you ain't gettin' outta here," Guard informed her.
"Okay, fine, therapy it is then," she agreed, putting her hands up in defeat.
First Aid nodded to Guard and the bulkier bot walked forward to the control panel on the cell. After punching in a code and swiping a keycard the forceful separating the femme from the two mechs shimmered out of existence. Wraith stepped over to them and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Anything else, or can I go and get my weapons now?" she demanded.
"Just scheduling when you first appointment should be," First Aid told her. "But we can do that as we get you processed out and return your weapons. Although-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, you'd rather I not have them," she cut him off in a mocking tone. "But whether I use them or not, they're still my property."
"She's right doc. Can't hold her stuff here after we release her," Guard added.
"I know," First Aid said with a slight sigh.
"But I will add," he spoke up, looking directly at Wraith, "the Doc is right. You can have your weapons back but you shouldn't be usin' 'em right now. Seems ta me that's why you keep gettin in trouble."
"Well good thing I didn't ask you for your advice then, isn't it?" Wraith snarled at him.
"No, you get that for free. Seen a lot of bots come and go in my lifetime. I can always tell when one of them is hurtin'. First Aid is offering to help you stop hurtin'. To start a new life here. I get it's hard to let go of pain, but it's not helpin' ya at all to hold onto it."
"Maybe I like my pain," she scoffed then turned her back on the two. "Can I just get my stuff so I can get out of here?"
"You'll also have to make your first appointment with me before you leave," First Aid said.
"Fine, whatever," Wraith growled in annoyance.
Seeing that there was no use in arguing with her any further, Guard and First Aid escorted Wraith towards the front of the detention center. After getting her guns and swords back, as well as making a counseling appointment with First Aid, she practically sprinted out the front door then transformed and peeled out as she drove away.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
After a quick drive through the streets of Autobot City, she arrived at her rarely used apartment. Since she did use it so sparingly she never felt the need to really decorate it. The word "sparse" would be the nice way to put it, though "functional" would be more fitting. It had a recharge bed, a small living area and a storage area for her weapons. There was also a full length mirror attached to the wall next to the bed, but that was just standard featured the Autobots had adapted from the humans.
"Home sweet home," she muttered as she stepped inside.
She walked over to her weapons cabinet then snapped her pistols off her hips and placed them in their holding space. She then pulled her swords from subspace and placed them in the cabinet as well. She then grasped the edges of the desk beneath it as she slumped forward a bit and hung her head. Her apartment was quiet.
Too quiet.
It left her alone with her thoughts and she had already had enough of them for the past few weeks to last her a lifetime.
"Vid screen on," she spoke aloud.
At her command, the large screen built into the well flashed to life. The screen was filled with the baby blue form of Jitterbug standing outside of a human mall.
"Evenin' folks! This is Jitterbug here for Autobot City News on the trail of a hot tip. Rumors say this common human mall behind me is home to a whole race of tiny Transformers! Are these reports on the up and up or is it just a bunch of gobbledygook? Tune in tonight with your ace gal to find out!" the fembot said to the screen in her unique accent.
The screen then cut to Slamdance sitting behind a desk with a picture of the Autobot City skyline behind him.
"Thank you for that update Jitterbug. I'm sure it will be a very interesting story," he said before turning towards another camera. "Speaking of malls, today Rodimus Prime was on hand to officially open the new Lost Light Shopping Mall. In other news..."
Wraith's focus on the news faded as she walked towards her couch but stopped when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She stepped over to the full length mirror and smiled as she studied her reflection
Well at least time in prison didn't tarnish my good looks, she thought jokingly.
Her smile faded a bit as she continued to look over her pink, white and black form. She was never really one to fret about her appearance, at least not since Jihaxus scrambled her brain module, but since coming to Earth she had become much more aware of it. Mostly because everybot kept confusing her with Arcee! She got it, they did look remarkably similar but there were still enough differences that they should be able to tell them apart!
They could certainly tell us apart when it came time to put me in a cell, she thought bitterly.
Honestly, being confused with Arcee was more annoying then being put in prison. At least in those cases it was something of her own doing! But just looking like another femme was something out of her control!
Or was it?
Her mind flashed back to her conversation with Redtail earlier and more importantly the change she made to her lips. Wraith touched her own lips subconsciously as she continued to stare at her reflection. Maybe she could do the same thing. Maybe that would help differentiate her from Arcee. But would the lips be enough? And even if she did try to change her appearance, how would she even go about it?
"Hey there mechs, femmes and everything in between! Are you looking to change your style?!" an excited voiced announced from the vid screen.
Wraith turned towards the screen see a mostly white fembot covered with decals standing in front of a shop with a bright neon sign behind her.
"Want some decals added to your body? Some new flash rims for your tires? Completely new paint job? Or how about some slight body mods? Want some claws instead of hands? A nice grappling hook to shoot out of your wrist? You have a mouth and want a faceplate? Or have a faceplate and want a mouth? Well we got all of that and more down here at Headlight's Body Shop!"
She gestured to the bright neon sign behind her.
"Come on down and we'll help you change your style!"
An address appeared on the screen just before it switched to another commercial.
"Well that was a bit creepy," Wraith muttered. "But I might as well go check this place out. Not like I have much else to do at the moment.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
After she looked up the address again, she once again found herself drive through the streets of Autobot City. As if to strengthen her resolve, several bots called out some form of "Hey Arcee!" as she passed them by. She replied with a few choice words of her own as she increased her speed and dodged between the other Autobots in her way.
Soon enough she came to the commercial district of Autobot City, where several speciality shops had been constructed. She turned off the main road and into an alley where the blazing neon sign for "Headlight's Body Shop" met from the other end. She transformed into robot mode to walk the rest of the way. When she got up to the door she noticed small note on the side of it that read, "Please Ring Bell" just above a small button. She tilted her head a bit but shrugged and pressed the button. She could hear a bell ring out from the other side of the metal door followed quickly by a voice calling, "Come in!" before the door slide open.
When she stepped inside the shop, she was greeted with practically hundreds of pictures of decals and designs covering the walls. There was a desk in the middle of the room with a few monitors behind it displaying some simple body modifications. Sitting at this desk was the femme Wraith saw in the commercial, the owner of the shop itself, Headlights. Befitting her name, the front of her car mode made up her chest with her rectangular headlights on prominate display. In between the lights was "Number 1" in light blue circle with yellow and red lines coming off of it. Her Autobot symbol was displayed proudly on the left side of her chest plate.
Of course those were the only two that caught Wraith's optic as there were several more designs decorating her body. It was oddly encouraging as it showed she did have passion for what she did. Which was good considering what she was about to ask for.
As she approached the chair in front of the desk, the visor Headlights had over her eyes seemed to light up as an expression of recognition crossed her face but quickly switched to one of controlled disappointment.
"Oh," she muttered softly.
But not softly enough.
"You thought I was Arcee, didn't you?" Wraith asked as she sat down.
"Heh heh, heard that, huh?" Headlight laughed nervously.
"You also didn't hide your excitement very well," she pointed out.
"Can you blame me? It's not everyday I think one of the big wis of the city walked into my shop," the other femme explained. "Although...looks like Arcee? In this part of town. Now, I know who you are!" she said with a snap of her fingers. "Your that bad girl Wraith, aren't you?"
"I see my reputation proceeds me," Wraith muttered as she crossed her arms and legs in annoyance. "Plus you're really one to talk since you look like female Jazz."
"No, Jazz looks like a male me!" Headlights shot back with smirk. "But you make a good point, so many similar body types out there, it's easy to get confused sometimes."
"Especially, when you share similar colors," she muttered.
"And I'm guessing that's why you're here."
"Exactly. At first I was thinking of just adding some black to my mouth but I think something more drastic is in order. So I want all of this," she pointed to the white part of her helmet, "to be painted black."
"So pink and black instead of pink and white, huh?" Headlights mused, leaning back in her chair and looking the other fembot up and down. "Why not the other way? Go black and white."
"Too monotone. Plus, I like the pink! She...liked the pink," Wraith said in a solemn tone.
The change in attitude made Headlights shift a bit in her seat. Her curiosity wanted her to ask for more information, but she knew it wasn't her place to do so. Plus, she had to find a way to break this awkward tension with something rather insensitive.
She let out a nervous cough to break the silence.
"OK, so I can do that but there is a little matter of payment," she said bluntly. "I'm going to guess a constant troublemaker who just got out of the detention center doesn't have much Shanix on her."
While blunt and crass, the question was enough to snap Wraith out of her funk and cause her face to twist a bit in embarrassment.
"Yeah...not really..." she confessed with a sheepish grin.
"That's what I thought," Headlights remarked. "And I'm not really one to do that much work for free."
"I understand," Wraith nodded then started to get up.
Headlights held up a hand which caused her to stop and sit back down.
"I won't do it for free but I do have an offer for you," she started. "What would you say to working on the amount? Help around the shop here, picking up things I might need, do some advertising with the sick paint job I'm gonna give you? Plus, it'll look good when you check in with your parole officer."
Wraith leaned back in the chair and closed her optics as she thought over the offer. It was certainly more than she was expecting to deal with when she decided to come here. She could just forget the whole thing, leave and just life her live as she always had. But getting confused for Arcee was starting to get to her more than she realized. Also, Headlights had a point, having a steady job would keep First Aid and the others off her back. So if she gave up just a few hours of her day she could have her own identity and be less supervised.
She opened her optics again and leaned towards the desk.
"Deal," she said, extending a hand towards Headlights.
"Deal," Headlights replied as she shook the offered hand. "Now then, step into my operating room."
She then stood up and moved towards a door at the other end of the room. Wraith got up as well and followed after her. On the other side of the room was a surprisingly sterile looking room with a metal chair and matching bed surrounded by various tools in the center of it.
"Huh. Didn't think your statement would be so literal," she remarked.
"Hey, I sell body mods too and you gotta keep things clean for those," Headlights explained. "Speaking of, while I usually just have bots sit in the chair when they wanted some decals added, for such an extensive repainting, I'm going to need to put you in a light stasis, so you'll have to get on the bed. Are you okay with that?"
Wraith seemed a bit hesitant at first as some rather...unpleasant memories of being on an operating table came flooding back to her. She fought to keep her hands from shaking and from losing her composure. This situation wasn't that situation. This was actually something to help her.
"Yeah. It's fine," she managed to say.
Headlights tilted her head in uncertainty.
"You sure? You seem a bit-" she started.
"I said it's fine!" Wraith snapped before she walked over to the bed and lied down on it. "Let's just get this over with!"
"Okay..." the other femme muttered.
She walked over to the small surgery area and picked up a small tube shaped instrument off a table near the bed. She pressed it against Wraith's neck and the pink femme felt a small jolt go through her. She then felt her body go numb as she vision started to fade. Another slight panic shot through her but it quickly disappeared as the world around her went black.
Almost immediately, the world come back into view as she optics snapped open. She let out a slight gasp as she sat up on the bed, her slight panic returning.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded, looking towards Headlights frantically.
"Well right now, I'm putting my sprayer way cause I'm done," she replied as she set her instrument back down. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Just...some bad memories is all," Wraith explained, trying to shake the fuzziness from her head. "So you're done already? I could swear you just put me under."
"Hey I use the good stuff," Headlights chuckled then rolled a full length mirror towards the bed. "So what do you think?"
Wraith stood up and slightly shaking legs then stepped over to the mirror and studied her reflection. As requested, her lips were now black. As was her forearms, legs, helmet and even parts of her back kibble. Even her stomach was now a light grey instead of the pure white it was before. As she stared at her reflection, she instinctually reached out to her right forearm and tried to scratch away the black paint.
"Oh no, that's not coming off," Headlights reassured her. "That's part of why I had to put you under, it bonds with your chassis. That is your coloring now. Just like you're fresh out of The Forge."
"Good," Wraith nodded. "I'd hate to go through all of this just to have it scratched off in a fight or something,"
"You offend me!" the other femme replied in mock offense. "Although, I certainly hope you don't immediately go out and get into a fight."
"Well I don't plan on it but sometimes things happen!" Wraith retorted.
She then turned back to her look at her reflection some more.
"But I do like it," she smiled. "Although, seeing you gave me an idea for another thing I can change myself." She then tapped the side of her helmet and small blue visor slide down over her eyes. "Perfect!"
"Looks good to me!" Headlights gave a thumbs up. "Now then, as to the matter of repayment. You fee to start tomorrow?"
"Wow, didn't think it'd be that soon, but yes I'm free to show up when you need me to," Wraith informed her.
"Good. Then I'll see you about 8 tomorrow morning and show you the ropes. For now, go out there and enjoy that new paint job!"
Wraith nodded then waved goodbye before she walked out of the building. She transformed into her now pink and black vehicle mode and took off down the road. As she drove back to her apartment, she reflected back on the day's events. She never would have imagined when she got released this morning that she would end up with not only a new paint job but also a job! It was certainly a big change to her life that she would have to adjust to.
But at least she wasn't being mistaken for Arcee on her drive back home so that was a very good start!
The End
Author's Notes: Another fic in my TF series finished! And another one that should have only taken me about a month or so but actually took me a few months cause life has been very annoying and tiring lately. I miss the days when I could bang out a chapter/fic a month. Oh well.
Basically, the whole idea behind this one was to give Wraith a different look from Arcee so when I get pics of her commissioned she'd stand out on her own. While I hadn't planned on making that such a big part of the story, it just kind happened as I was writing it. But, hey, it works out, right? Plus this does officially introduce the character of Headlights who was first mentioned in "The Burdens of Being A Cybertronian Artist". So now you know what she does and an idea of what she looks like. Which is just a female Jazz cause I'm using the Power of the Primes Jazz mold for her with the G2 Jazz decals. Along with a few others.
And of course two new faces popped up here. Guard being the Selects Diaclone colored Ironhide that was released awhile ago. If you can't tell I'm going with the fandom idea that he's basically the TF version of Mr. T cause I just love that idea. :)
The other face popping up is Jitterbug who is one of my few ACTUAL original characters! I'll be getting a character sheet of her done hopefully soon and then using her in some fics later on. And those should be very fun to write!
For now, I have other ideas to focus on. Like what's Sparkplug been up to since his introduction...?
