Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments! It's always to awesome to hear from you all, and it is very much appreciated! I greatly thank you for the cyber-cookies (you know who you are ;) ) and in answer to a question, yes, Switchshade can independently slow his spark rate or change his frame's coloring. Both together is simply the 'natural' form of his modification, so it is easier for him to do so in its entireity, but if he were to concentrate, he could just do one or the other. Hope that makes sense! For all the rest of you, I have read every review, and each one made me smile! Thank you all so much! I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!
There were at least four unopened messages on his comm., possibly more, though Switchshade dared not read them just yet. No doubt at least one was from Arcee, demanding an explanation for his actions and his location. The others, he feared to open, lest Lord Prime be among them and the dark mech was not eager to face any rage or disappointment from the Prime before he absolutely had to. However, his strength was waning fast in his camouflaged form, and so it was with no little regret that he allowed his bio-functions to return to their normal operational capacity.
Steadying his shaky frame with a servo on the solid wall of rock at his back, Switchshade cycled his optics several times to adjust to the darkness around him. Without having paid any attention to the passage of time in his half-trance state, he was startled to realize how late it had gotten, the earth having fallen well into its night-cycle. Earth's single moon shone a cold, bright white light above him, and an uneasy sensation of wariness settled over his spark. The dark mech knew the most prudent course of action for him to pursue would be to return to the base and accept whatever consequences would await him for his thoughtless actions, no matter what form they might take. Surprisingly, the thought did not send a chill of cold fear through his lines as it might once have.
He took a moment for his frame to recalibrate, and then settled into his alt-mode, driving at a sedate 80 mph as he hurried back towards the Autobot base, the only thought in his processor the hope that Lord Prime had not yet returned to the base and discovered his absence, especially so late in the cycle. It took him by surprise, therefore, to hear the rumble of not one but several engines, approaching his position and rapidly gaining ground.
Hoping the human authorities were not involved, Switchshade quickly decreased his speed, only to stall in astonishment as several humans drove past him, Bumblebee and Knockout among them. Battle protocols immediately onlining, the sleek black mech accelerated rapidly, quickly catching up with the Autobot scout and Decepticon medic before his processor could even begin to relay what he was seeing. There were, thus far, no weapons involved, but Switchshade knew better than most just how rapidly that could change.
Coming up beside the Decepticon, Switchshade rumbled a warning as Knockout deliberately collided with one of the human drivers, causing the car he was in to sway dangerously and fall behind. Like most of their kind, Knockout's field was heavily shielded, but a wave of mild surprise and amusement was barely apparent as Switchshade drew nearer still.
"Try to keep up!" the medic drawled lazily, entirely unfazed at the traitor's unexpected appearance, seeming to find the entirety of the situation an amusing distraction, nothing more. Knockout moved forward, and as Switchshade strained to keep up, he watched in horror as the 'Con began firing on Bumblebee. The two mechs swerved slightly onto the angled wall against the roadway they were racing down, and Switchshade increased his speed even more, hoping to be close enough to aid the scout should he require it.
Switchshade felt exhilaration rush through him, despite his battle protocols screaming at him, for he had not achieved speeds like this in many vorns. Megatron would never have permitted such a thing, and the Nemesis was hardly designed for such high velocity travel regardless. Still, despite Knockout's prowess, the medic appeared to be alone, and Switchshade felt rather confident about his and Bumblebee's combined ability to handle whatever the Decepticon chose to attempt. This conclusion lasted all of three astrokliks, until Bumblebee took a slight left turn, and Switchshade was able to catch sight of Jack, sitting in the scout's driver's seat. Why?!
Moments later, first Bumblebee and then Knockout took a sharp turn and leapt over the edge of the road, taking off at an angle perpendicular to that of which the human drivers were moving. Switchshade vented heavily, turning to follow them with no little trepidation. Are all Autobots so recklessly inclined when it comes to the humans? Surely, Lord Prime would not approve? And Jack! Did he not swear to me he would not resume these activities? Oh… No, he did not. He swore only to 'be more careful'. Little glitch. Primus, keep him safe.
A quick burst over short-range comms was the only warning Bumblebee was able to give as he deliberately leaked a slick cover of oil over the road behind him. Knockout was too close to avoid it, and almost instantly began to spin out as his tires lost any hope of traction. Thanks to the scout's warning, Switchshade tried to swerve out of the way, but the terrain off-road was too rough, and he began to waver. His speed was far too high to have any hope of a graceful landing in root mode, but with no other options available unless he wished to join Knockout, the black mech took his chances.
The moment his tires retracted, Switchshade curled his pedes as close to his frame as possible as he kept his doorwings swept low. Curled into as much of a ball as he could make himself, he hit the ground hard, rolling for several yards before coming to a stop and instantly rolling up to his pedes. Dented and dusty, there was surface damage only, and Switchshade took a moment to silently thank Ratchet for his excellent handiwork at patching him back together from almost nothing.
Switchshade crouched low and sprinted in his root mode until the roadway was clear again, scanners keeping Knockout in his rearview, but the medic was still attempting to recover from his spin-out, and appeared too preoccupied to put up a pursuit just yet. The moment Switchshade hit clean tar, he transformed again, taking off after the scout and catching up to him just as Bumblebee was offlining his optics and engine, becoming as camouflaged as was possible for the bright yellow mech. He had found a tiny human bridge, and was currently hidden in its shadow, and he greeted Switchshade with a brief, dim flash of his headlight before dimming them again.
Switchshade dropped down in front of him, offlining his optics as well and shielding the scout's frame from view with his own much darker one as best he could. He didn't dare activate his mod, not knowing when he might need his full strength, nor what the scout might say or think of it, but his naturally dark frame was already much less noticeable than Bumblebee's much brighter paint, and under the cover of night it was nearly as effective as full camouflage might have been.
Both mechs waited in silence. Bumblebee attempted to open a short-range comm., but Switchshade apologetically declined. ::Later:: he begged, before ending the line. Astrokliks later, the sound of Knockout's engine came from directly over their helms. The Decepticon was on top of the bridge, mere human feet from them.