It had been three days since I had last seen my friends. Other than in a cage, not much bigger than myself, hanging from the top of some dark, wet cave, I didn't know where I was, nor did I care. I hadn't spoken in three days, and not for a lack for conversation. The Decepticons had been trying to talk to me since I had been captured. Don't ask me why, they just had an urge to get me talking. Oh yeah, and I don't know where these guys got a bunch of food (or how they knew that McDonalds Chicken McNuggets with honey dipping sauce were my favorite), but they brought it to me by the ton. But I didn't eat it- I wasn't hungry. I was to worried about Carlos. As far as I knew, he was dead and, at this moment in time, that was my worst fear.
Carlos wasn't dead, but a part of him wished he was. Then maybe all the guilt within him would finally disappear. He knew he was responsible for my capture by the Decepticons and no one could tell him differently...
"So you're telling me," Hot Shot said. "That the only way we can find her is through this thing you two created?" Jazz nodded.
"That's about the size of it," he replied. "Sarah and I created this thing not too long ago and it works very well." What were they taking about? Let me tell you a little story that happened shortly before I met the Autobots...
"Hey four-eyes! Come here!" Before I started going to school with Rad, Carlos and Alexis, I attended a school full of first class bullies- the four-eyes they were referring to was me and as I always did, I ignored them. And as they always did, they threw stuff at me. Now, I don't know why these kids hated me so much, but I did know that there was always a different assortment of things that came flying at me. Anything from erasers, pencils, rubber bouncy balls and stuff along that line. But they had never thrown a fist at me before. And on this particular day, a lot of them came out of nowhere. I took the beating of my life, with about six of them against one of me and the second they let up a bit, I was gone. I got up and ran as fast as I could, as far as I could.
For some reason, I didn't go home, nor did I go back to the school and pick up Jazz. I just ran into the woods and managed to get myself caught between a log and the bottom of a river bed- I ran into this huge, really huge, log at the edge of the bank and fell over it into the water. I had just managed to turn myself over on to my back when the log came down off the bank and landed on my left ankle. Adding to my problems, I couldn't move the log. I sighed in defeat- this was going to be a long night.
It was about five minutes after four PM when Jazz started to worry about me. I had told him this morning there was going to be a slight change of plans tonight, because a teacher wanted me to stay after and get some help in Math (My worst subject), but I'd be done at four and I would come out and tell him if anything changed. That's when he heard some kids start talking.
"You know, maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on that girl," one said. "No one's seen her since she ran off- what if she's really hurt?" Her companion just laughed.
"If you ask me," he replied. "The chick deserved it. Coming to our school, acting like she's the queen of the world..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, she never talked to anyone other than the teachers, she has that really sweet bike and never let any of us ride it... anyway, Sarah deserved it!" With that little comment, Jazz took off like a bolt of lightning. There were reasons why I never talked to anyone- It had been just Jazz and I for the past ten years, so I wasn't really used to people around my age. As for talking to the teacher, I only spoke to her when she asked me a question and I never let anyone ride Jazz, for fear they might find out what he really is. Either way, Jazz knew he better find me fast. And as far as I was concerned, the faster the better.
It had started to get dark. But before that, it had started to rain- hard. Now, the river I was trapped in wasn't exactly shallow- in all actuality, I had my arms outstretched behind me to hold me up and the water was still up to my shoulders. So the part of me that had been dry, was now soaked and the water was rising fast.
The water was now up to my neck, even though I had managed to push myself up and grab hold of the log that trapped me in what could be a watery grave, a rather difficult task considering the strong blasts of water that were pouring over the log- if I went under, there was no possible way I'd come back up alive.
"Jazz!" I yelled. "Someone! Anyone! Please, help me!"
A part of me felt it was no use- even if there was someone around me, there was no possible way they could hear me between the storm brewing and the waves crashing around me. I was wrong- seconds after calling for help, I heard a familiar beep sounding out over everything else.
"Jazz!" I yelled again. "Jazz, I'm over her..." The thing I had feared most had happened. A strong wave came over the log, making me lose my grip on the log and pushing me under the water. Try as I did, I wasn't able to push or pull myself back to the surface. I was on the verge of giving up, when I felt something grab onto my arm. A moment later, the pressure on my ankle vanished and whatever had grabbed my arm was pulling me to the surface.
"She was half dead when I pulled her out," Jazz told Hot Shot. "A few moments longer and she probably would have been. Anyway, after she told me what had happened to her that day, we decided to change schools. And we also created this little thing right here." He held up a little remote control looking gadget, which he explained as the receiver part of a homing device. "The transmitter is inside a locket Sarah wears hidden under her shirt," Jazz continued, as he pulled a small computer chip out of the remote and handed it to Hot Shot. "If my figuring is correct, we should be able to slip this chip into the Mini-Con Radar and lock onto Sarah's signal... provided she has the blasted thing turned on."
"Why wouldn't she have it turned on?" asked Hot Shot.
"Well, sometimes she forgets."
Just as he made that comment, I remembered about my necklace. Making sure that no one was looking, I pulled my necklace out from under my shirt. It was a cute necklace, one Jazz had given me for my fourteenth birthday, or at least the day we called my birthday- for the life of me, I can't remember when it really is. It was an oval shaped gold locket, with a silver plate in the middle, engraved with an 'S' and dangling on a gold chain. I squeezed the silver plate, which activated the homing device.
"Come and get me, guys."
"So now what do we do, Optimus?" asked Rad. "We don't know where the Decepticon base is, let alone if they really took Sarah there." Optimus nodded.
"I know Rad," Optimus replied. "I'm not sure what we should do."
"Megatron will most likely get a hold of us," said Red Alert. "Saying that if we give up the Mini-Cons, he'll return Sarah."
"He'd be lying though," Alexis said. "He'll be waiting to use that laser cannon on you and the rest of the Autobots!"
"She's got a point," agreed Smoke Screen.
"That won't happen." Everyone turned around to see Hot Shot and Jazz standing in the doorway. "Jazz and I got the radar locked on to Sarah's signal- she's somewhere in England, so lets go get her... where's Carlos?"
"He's outside staring at the sky," said Rad. "He's been there since we got back- he's taking this whole thing kinda hard." Hot Shot frowned.
"Maybe I should go talk to him?" Optimus nodded.
"That's probably a good idea." Hot Shot nodded back, then walked out the door.
"Carlos?" Carlos looked over his shoulder, just long enough to acknowledge Hot Shot's presence. "You all right?" There was a moment of silence as Carlos shook his head.
"I just don't understand."
"Understand what?" asked Hot Shot as he sat down next to Carlos. Carlos looked up at him.
"When Sarah first walked through the door of our school," he said. "Guys left and right were whistling at her, trying to get her attention.
"So?"
"She never paid them any mind- the most popular guys in school were going googley-eyed over her and she never said a word. But then, there was that first time she looked at me and she smiled, and the last time I saw her and she kissed me. I just don't understand why she chose me." Hot Shot smiled.
"You can ask when we find her," he said. "Which is exactly what we're going to do now. Let's go!"
Carlos wasn't dead, but a part of him wished he was. Then maybe all the guilt within him would finally disappear. He knew he was responsible for my capture by the Decepticons and no one could tell him differently...
"So you're telling me," Hot Shot said. "That the only way we can find her is through this thing you two created?" Jazz nodded.
"That's about the size of it," he replied. "Sarah and I created this thing not too long ago and it works very well." What were they taking about? Let me tell you a little story that happened shortly before I met the Autobots...
"Hey four-eyes! Come here!" Before I started going to school with Rad, Carlos and Alexis, I attended a school full of first class bullies- the four-eyes they were referring to was me and as I always did, I ignored them. And as they always did, they threw stuff at me. Now, I don't know why these kids hated me so much, but I did know that there was always a different assortment of things that came flying at me. Anything from erasers, pencils, rubber bouncy balls and stuff along that line. But they had never thrown a fist at me before. And on this particular day, a lot of them came out of nowhere. I took the beating of my life, with about six of them against one of me and the second they let up a bit, I was gone. I got up and ran as fast as I could, as far as I could.
For some reason, I didn't go home, nor did I go back to the school and pick up Jazz. I just ran into the woods and managed to get myself caught between a log and the bottom of a river bed- I ran into this huge, really huge, log at the edge of the bank and fell over it into the water. I had just managed to turn myself over on to my back when the log came down off the bank and landed on my left ankle. Adding to my problems, I couldn't move the log. I sighed in defeat- this was going to be a long night.
It was about five minutes after four PM when Jazz started to worry about me. I had told him this morning there was going to be a slight change of plans tonight, because a teacher wanted me to stay after and get some help in Math (My worst subject), but I'd be done at four and I would come out and tell him if anything changed. That's when he heard some kids start talking.
"You know, maybe we shouldn't have been so hard on that girl," one said. "No one's seen her since she ran off- what if she's really hurt?" Her companion just laughed.
"If you ask me," he replied. "The chick deserved it. Coming to our school, acting like she's the queen of the world..."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, she never talked to anyone other than the teachers, she has that really sweet bike and never let any of us ride it... anyway, Sarah deserved it!" With that little comment, Jazz took off like a bolt of lightning. There were reasons why I never talked to anyone- It had been just Jazz and I for the past ten years, so I wasn't really used to people around my age. As for talking to the teacher, I only spoke to her when she asked me a question and I never let anyone ride Jazz, for fear they might find out what he really is. Either way, Jazz knew he better find me fast. And as far as I was concerned, the faster the better.
It had started to get dark. But before that, it had started to rain- hard. Now, the river I was trapped in wasn't exactly shallow- in all actuality, I had my arms outstretched behind me to hold me up and the water was still up to my shoulders. So the part of me that had been dry, was now soaked and the water was rising fast.
The water was now up to my neck, even though I had managed to push myself up and grab hold of the log that trapped me in what could be a watery grave, a rather difficult task considering the strong blasts of water that were pouring over the log- if I went under, there was no possible way I'd come back up alive.
"Jazz!" I yelled. "Someone! Anyone! Please, help me!"
A part of me felt it was no use- even if there was someone around me, there was no possible way they could hear me between the storm brewing and the waves crashing around me. I was wrong- seconds after calling for help, I heard a familiar beep sounding out over everything else.
"Jazz!" I yelled again. "Jazz, I'm over her..." The thing I had feared most had happened. A strong wave came over the log, making me lose my grip on the log and pushing me under the water. Try as I did, I wasn't able to push or pull myself back to the surface. I was on the verge of giving up, when I felt something grab onto my arm. A moment later, the pressure on my ankle vanished and whatever had grabbed my arm was pulling me to the surface.
"She was half dead when I pulled her out," Jazz told Hot Shot. "A few moments longer and she probably would have been. Anyway, after she told me what had happened to her that day, we decided to change schools. And we also created this little thing right here." He held up a little remote control looking gadget, which he explained as the receiver part of a homing device. "The transmitter is inside a locket Sarah wears hidden under her shirt," Jazz continued, as he pulled a small computer chip out of the remote and handed it to Hot Shot. "If my figuring is correct, we should be able to slip this chip into the Mini-Con Radar and lock onto Sarah's signal... provided she has the blasted thing turned on."
"Why wouldn't she have it turned on?" asked Hot Shot.
"Well, sometimes she forgets."
Just as he made that comment, I remembered about my necklace. Making sure that no one was looking, I pulled my necklace out from under my shirt. It was a cute necklace, one Jazz had given me for my fourteenth birthday, or at least the day we called my birthday- for the life of me, I can't remember when it really is. It was an oval shaped gold locket, with a silver plate in the middle, engraved with an 'S' and dangling on a gold chain. I squeezed the silver plate, which activated the homing device.
"Come and get me, guys."
"So now what do we do, Optimus?" asked Rad. "We don't know where the Decepticon base is, let alone if they really took Sarah there." Optimus nodded.
"I know Rad," Optimus replied. "I'm not sure what we should do."
"Megatron will most likely get a hold of us," said Red Alert. "Saying that if we give up the Mini-Cons, he'll return Sarah."
"He'd be lying though," Alexis said. "He'll be waiting to use that laser cannon on you and the rest of the Autobots!"
"She's got a point," agreed Smoke Screen.
"That won't happen." Everyone turned around to see Hot Shot and Jazz standing in the doorway. "Jazz and I got the radar locked on to Sarah's signal- she's somewhere in England, so lets go get her... where's Carlos?"
"He's outside staring at the sky," said Rad. "He's been there since we got back- he's taking this whole thing kinda hard." Hot Shot frowned.
"Maybe I should go talk to him?" Optimus nodded.
"That's probably a good idea." Hot Shot nodded back, then walked out the door.
"Carlos?" Carlos looked over his shoulder, just long enough to acknowledge Hot Shot's presence. "You all right?" There was a moment of silence as Carlos shook his head.
"I just don't understand."
"Understand what?" asked Hot Shot as he sat down next to Carlos. Carlos looked up at him.
"When Sarah first walked through the door of our school," he said. "Guys left and right were whistling at her, trying to get her attention.
"So?"
"She never paid them any mind- the most popular guys in school were going googley-eyed over her and she never said a word. But then, there was that first time she looked at me and she smiled, and the last time I saw her and she kissed me. I just don't understand why she chose me." Hot Shot smiled.
"You can ask when we find her," he said. "Which is exactly what we're going to do now. Let's go!"