Disclaimer: I own nothing

AN: The whole Rollbar thing is because I killed off Scourge and Megatron refused to make the switch from Predicon to Deceptacon after the Deceptacons turned on him.

Chapter 9

"We're almost there, sir" the young Deceptacon informed his leader.

"Good" Rollbar smiled. He turned toward two warriors that were seated near him. "You'll have him back in no time at all" he assured them. Their agreement was quite beneficial. Once the two warriors had their lost one back they would offer him their complete and unwavering support. 'This is going to be to easy' Rollbar thought as Earth came into view.


"Are they sure Rad was kidnapped?" Ben asked Sideswipe as they sped toward the Lopez house.

"Yes. Rad was talking to Optimus about Saka when the line went dead. Rad built the damn communicator himself, it's more reliable than anything Red Alert ever made" Sideswipe said.

"Damnit. I should have escaped earlier," Ben hissed.


"Something's not right" Alexis said, frowning. She and Carlos were walking to Carlos' house.

"I know but what?" Carlos asked. They both sensed something wrong when Yama had said that Rad had left. Rad always told them when he was leaving. Plus it wasn't like he would send a message through Yama; he didn't like Yama any more than Yama liked him.

"I don't know. I think Yama was lying earlier" Alexis looked worried.

"Why though?" Carlos asked.

"Hey! Kids!" they turned to see Rad's crazy uncle jumping out of his Lamborghini before it even stopped. "Have either of you seen Rad?" he asked.

Alexis and Carlos looked at each other knowing their suspicions had just been confirmed. "Yama said he went to see you" Alexis said.

"Damnit. When?" Ben asked.

"About an hour ago" Carlos said.

"Come with me" Ben, ordered pushing them both toward the car.

"Wait a minute. What's going on?" Carlos asked. A sigh was heard coming from the car.

"We don't have time to explain now. We'll explain on the way," the car said.

"Did the car just talk?" Alexis asked worriedly. Carlos nodded. "Ok, for a minute there I thought it was just me".

"Please get in. Rad is in danger and the more time we waste here, the less likely we'll get Rad back unharmed" Sideswipe said. Carlos and Alexis looked at each other then nodded.

"Ok, but you've got to tell us what's going on," Alexis said.


Yama got up when he heard the garage door. He had to know what was going on. Why had his father thrown Rad, who was already beaten badly enough to require a hospital visit, so carelessly into the trunk of the family's Buick?


"So, what is going on?" Alexis asked, after a few minutes off driving.

"Rad was kidnapped about two hours ago" Sideswipe answered.

"How do you know that?" Carlos asked.

"Rad's communicator is more reliable than the sun rising in the morning. It the signal was cut off while he was talking to Optimus about-'"

"Wait! Optimus Prime?" Alexis asked, incredulous.

"Yes. I'm going to assume Rad gave you a fake name when he introduced himself. Well his real name is Rad Onishi. His grandfather was Dr. Onishi and his father is Koji Onishi, the adoptive son of Optimus Prime. He came here to track down a man named Hao Saka who has been living here under the assumed name of Kabuo Miyamory for the past eight years" Sideswipe explained.

"Huh?" Carlos and Alexis looked completely stunned.

"Saka fled Japan to escape charges that he abused Koji Onishi for eight years while having an affair with Koji's stepmother" Sideswipe continued.

"Mr. Miyamory wouldn't do that" Carlos defended his teacher.

"Hao Saka would and did. Optimus Prime witnessed it himself", Sideswipe said.

"Who's to say Saka and Mr. Miyamory are the same person?" Carlos asked.

"Rad. Before the connection died Rad told Optimus that he had found Hao Saka. And from what you two told us Rad was kidnapped from the Miyamory residence" Sideswipe answered.

"Alexis, what do you think?" Carlos asked the girl who had been mostly silent until now.

"I don't know. I'm kind of still stuck on the fact that Rad is the grandson of the leader of the Autobots and isn't an average kid from Baltimore" Alexis said, still stunned.

"Baltimore? Rad isn't even technically from Earth" Ben scoffed.

"What?" Alexis asked, eyes going wider.

"Rad was born on Cybertron and is mother was originally Optimus' computerized secretary" Ben explained nonchalantly. 'Sorry Rad' he thought 'but if she doesn't find out now and you marry her later, it's entrapment'.


"Ugh" Rad groaned, trying to sit up. He found that he couldn't for two reasons. 1) He'd lost a lot of blood sometime between Saka finding him and waking up here, and 2) he was tied down.

Rad settled for lying on his back looking at his surroundings. He found that he was in some sort of cave. It was man made, he guessed from the smooth walls. And he wasn't that far in, he could see the light at the entrance about twenty feet away.

'Does Saka honestly think that he can keep me here with ropes?' Rad thought to himself. He'd been getting out of ropes, chains, electronic locks, and zip cuffs since he was little. Being Optimus' 'grandson' put Rad in a lot of danger, so he was required to know how to protect himself (with a gun, not his fists) and how to escape incase one of his grandfather's enemies ever captured him.

'Ok how do I do this again?' he thought. 'Oh yeah. This is gonna hurt'. He managed to twist the ropes a certain way and then pulled his left hand free. "Oww" he hissed out loud. The rope scraped his hand and squished the bones together as it pulled through but at least he was free.

Rad stood up and then immediately sat back down. Just as he though, he'd lost too much blood. He felt an overwhelming sense of vertigo. His vision blurred, his head pounded, and he found that the natural sound of the desert he'd been hearing since he had woken up now seemed even farther away than before.

Rad felt himself falling again. 'That's not possible' he thought 'I'm already on the ground'. But as he watched, the ceiling of the cave became more distant as he fell.


BOOM!

"What the hell is that?" Carlos yelled.

Sideswipe and Ben both realized what was happening. They were under fire.

"Guys, I need you to get out and take cover," Sideswipe told them. Ben nodded, grabbed both the kids' arms and ran for cover behind the large rock face near by.

"Transform!" Sideswipe transformed into his normal form. The only odd thing about his appearance was that the Autobot insignia was noticeably absent.

"Ben?" Alexis whispered.

"Yeah"

"Why doesn't Sideswipe have an Autobot insignia?"

"He refused to have one put on"

"Why?"

"You'd have to ask him that" Ben said.

"Who's there?" Sideswipe yelled. Two transformers with out insignias stepped into view. 'No way' Sideswipe thought as his optics widened.

AN: R&R.