I have a poll on my profile page asking a question I really want to have answered. I'm trying to get as many answers as I can, and very few people visit my profile. I've gotten literally one answer in a week, and that's sad. Please answer, and be honest about it.


I only own my OC's!


Flobsters on Parade

town, late afternoon

I stand in the park, looking around at the festival grounds, still in my red top and crab jumper, but now wearing my blue jean jacket with pink buttons and four red crabs with blue bows on either side of the chest over it. The park looks good. The others have headed back, with Nellie, so it's only Papa, Cody, and I helping the Greene's finish up, and Cody's with Frankie, looking into the glass lobster tank. I sigh before joining Cody, leaving Chase and Papa to Doc Greene. I smile at Frankie. Ever since she found me, Frankie's become a good friend. "Hey, guys."

"Hey." Cody turns to me before turning back to the lobster tank. "I can't wait till tomorrow. The lobster dinner is the best part of the festival."

"No way, Cody. The "parade of technology" is the best. Especially my Dad's float, which did I mention I get to ride on."

The three of us start walking through the festival as the other citizens shop around. "Frankie, it's called "the lobster and technology festival", not the other way around. Tech's not that important."

"Fine, then. The next time you need your computer fixed, call a lobster." Frankie walks away from us, causing Cody and I to have to run to keep up.

"Tech and—" I make a face. I hate lobster. "Lobster are both important to this island, you guys! They work together!" I groan when we reach Papa, me ahead of them because of my powers. I'm nowhere near anything even close to super speed yet, but I'm still faster than two jogging preteens.

"What's wrong, Emily?"

"They're arguing over lobster and technology." I flop back onto a picnic table dramatically. "It's killing me, Papa!"

He laughs softly as the two run over. "Hi, Frankie. Hi, son." He hands a narrow black tube to Cody. "Hold this, will you?"

Doc Greene turns from where he's filling the balloons with helium. "We're almost finished inflating these parade balloons.

Saved the biggest for last."

"Cody, did you tell Frankie about you and the bots?"

"I get to ride in the parade, too, with Dad. The Rescue Bots are the guests of honor."

"And me!" I sit back up quickly, almost falling off the bench I had "collapsed" onto moments ago. "And Nellie!"

"A princess, I can understand, but Robots? Big deal. Griffin Rock's got a million of them."

"Not like them." I mutter, knowing Frankie isn't listening.

A huge gust of wind picks up, snapping one of the ropes holding the giant lobster down, and tearing the hose from the end of the helium tank. The pull from the balloon pulls the last stake out, and the rope is wrapped around Doc Greene's ankle. It pulls him into the air upside down, reaching for the safety of the ground. Papa, Frankie, Cody, and I start running after him, through the park and across the street.

"Chase, transform and rescue!"

Doc Greene grabs the chin on the statue of Horace Burns. "I'm sorry." He clings tighter as the balloon pulls harder. "Help!" His hands slip, and he clings to the hat.

Chase reaches, but misses as the balloon pulls him even harder.

"Daddy!?"

"Help!" Doc Greene finally grabs the roof of Town Hall.

Papa cups his hands around his mouth. "Doc! Try to get your ankle loose from the rope."

Doc Greene reaches up and unties the rope, only to almost fall off the roof. Frankie gasps and covers her eyes. I lay my hands on her shoulders, trying to calm her down before her emotions push me over the edge.

The bots soon pull up. Sire goes after the lobster balloon, while Carrier stops in front of Town Hall. "Heatwave, extend your ladder." Kade starts climbing Carrier's frame.

"Way ahead of you. As usual."

Kade stops at Carrier's shoulder. "Watch yourself! There are people around." Kade steps onto Carrier's shoulder. "Heatwave, climb!"

"Yes-master." Carrier climbs onto Chase's shoulders and extends his ladder.

"Be careful, Daddy!"

Kade reaches over to help Doc down. "I'm all right, Fra—" Doc Greene slips, and almost falls. Kade catches him by the arm, through one of the rungs.

"Easy now. Down a little. And…"

"Got it."

Graham and Boulder help resecure the balloon to the earth where it belongs.

Doc Greene runs to Frankie and hugs her. "I'm sorry I gave you a scare, honey. I was sorry I gave myself a scare. But I'm fine." He turns to Kade. "Thanks to you, Kade."

Carrier clears his throat, causing me to facepalm. Doc raises an eyebrow at me, then simply shrugs.

Kade coughs to cover up for Carrier's blatantly non-robotic move. "Sorry, I must have something caught in my throat."

Doc Greene leads Frankie away, waving as he does. "Thanks again."

Kade raises an eyebrow at Carrier, causing him to shrug.

Papa leans down to Cody. "Cody, might not be a bad idea have a little brush up class for the bots. Some of them, seem to be forgetting their robot behavior, and with all eyes on us tomorrow…"

"I'll take care of it, Dad."

"And I'll help."

"You two need to get ready for tomorrow."

Nellie smiles. "I'm fine with another braid."

I shrug. "I don't want curls out there in that wind anyway."


the next morning, bunker

We get up and change into our new dresses—pink short sleeved sailor dresses with navy blue trim on the cuffs and two rows on the collar and hem, with a navy blue bow tie, pink denim jackets with two anchor appliqués on the front and one on the back, white tights, and pink Mary Jane shoes. After we braid our hair, we slip on our pink sailor hats, then run upstairs. After eating cinnamon toast and orange juice, we head into the bunker and take our energon bottles from Sire. "Um, where's Carrier?"

"Okay, you guys."

Sire sighs, and turns to Cody before turning back to us. "I have to go."

Nellie and I share a look, then nod and follow Sire and Cody to the Garage. "Remember: whenever you're around anybody other than my family, you have to pretend to be robots. Repeat after me. I-am-a-robot."

"I-am-a-robot."

Cody looks around, only finding Nellie and I. We're sitting on the yellow cabinet, waiting for Papa to tell us we're leaving. "Hey, where is Heatwave? He is the one who needs this refresher."

"Haven't seen him."

"I'll go find him. Nellie, stay here." I stand and run off in search of my missing Carrier.


Bunker

I walk back toward the berth rooms, wincing at a familiar and disturbing sound. I turn to the door, praying I'm not right, and he's not doing what I think he's doing. I knock lightly on the door, then shift into my Cybertronian form and open the door slightly, then stick my head into Carrier's berth room. "Carrier? You in here?"

"Why do you want to know?" He sighs, and stands before turning to me. "What?"

I look down before sighing, then looking back up to him. "Cody's looking for you. We haven't seen you all morning."

"I'm not going."

I sigh softly, then join him in his berth room so no one else can hear us. "Carrier…" I step over to him when I see a bit of energon on his faceplates, immediately going into that "doctor" mode everyone says Ratchet has when he gets worried. "What's wrong? Have you been purging? Is that why—"

"Slow down, Little One." I cross my arms. "Yes, but I'll be okay. I think I—"

I fall into Ratchet's usual I'm-about-to-throw-a-wrench-at-you mode. I know he'd had high grade the night before. "You rescuers should know better than to drink anything intoxicating, especially before something like this!" He glares at me even though he knows I'm right, and groans before leaning back against the wall. I sigh softly. "You need to get some energon. We're going to have to leave soon."


meanwhile

"Well, what he did yesterday, don't do. No emotion; and you can't react unless we tell you to." Cody looks up to notice Boulder looking out the window. "Eh… Boulder."

He turns back. "Sorry. But there's so much to look at. And I've never been on parade. I want to see everything."

"Think about it like a game. Simon says: turn to your right." They all do. "Simon says: raise your left arm." They all do again. "Turn left." Chase stays put while the others turn.

They each glance to Chase. "Simon did not authorize that last movement."

"Right, Chase. Remember, at the parade you can only do what your handlers tell you to do." Cody watches out the corner of his eye as I walk back in, in my human form.

"And that's precisely why I'm not going. Pretending to be hardware and obey humans who end up taking all the credit." He sighs. "I'm sitting this one out."

Cody looks up to him angrily. "Heatwave, look. I don't blame you. My brother Kade can be a huge glory hog but think of all that little kids who would love to see you, when climb onto a fire truck."

Carrier kneels to Cody. "My point exactly. What do human children put on their fingers anyway? Last time a let them climb on me, I was sticky for days."

Chase holds out an arm, Destiny in his other arm. "Heatwave, you've seen a poster in the Chief's office."

Sire turns to Chase. "Oh, you mean the one with the kitten hanging for the branch?"

"No, the one that says "there is no I in team". We're all part of the Rescue Bots squad. We need to stick together.

Carrier turns to Chase. "You Rescue Bots are my team. The humans are just my mission." He looks down to Cody. "No offence, Cody."

We all turn when we hear the elevator coming down. Papa, Momma, Kade, and Graham walk out to join us. "Festival time. We'll head over in vehicle mode then you transform to march in the parade."

"We get to march? This is gonna be great."

I roll my eyes at the excitement pouring off the bulldozer, and watch the bots transform. When Carrier refuses, Cody glares at him, causing him to transform too.

Papa taps a few buttons, and removes his comm from the phone. Emergency call forwarding: ON.

Boulder comments from beside him. "Wow she really has that robot voice thing down."

Kade's trying to start Carrier's engine. "Why are we waiting? Let's go!"

"I'm trying. There must be something wrong with my ignition."

Cody leans forward to whisper to him. "Try a little harder."

"I am! It's—it's not working."

"What's wrong with Carrier?"

I sigh before turning to Nellie. We've only recently started using our bonds to communicate between each other, let alone with our parents. ~Hangover.~

~They drink?~ I nod to Nellie. ~We should get out of here, before he starts hurting us like Dad did.~

~Easy, Nell. Carrier told me it doesn't happen regularly. Even when he does, he's not dangerous. You heard him when he formed our bonds. He'd never hurt a youngling.~ I look down. ~If anything, I hurt his feelings when I lost my cool.~ I sigh heavily. ~We're safe here, Nellie.~

She sighs softly. ~Okay…~

"Well, fine with me. Now I can enjoy the parade without having to worry about cranky bot." Kade opens the door and climbs out.

"Town sure will be disappointed. And I know the little ones love to climb on fire truck."

Nellie and I climb into Sire. ~What's wrong with Nellie?~

I sigh softly before climbing into Sire. ~Carrier was drinking, last night. High grade.~

~I know, Sweetspark. Heatwave hates parades.~

~So that's why… Nellie's worried. Dad used to drink…~


Third pov

Heatwave transforms and laughs.


Town

Momma lands Sire moments later, and hops out. We slip off our helmets and climb out, grabbing our hats as an afterthought. Once she's with the rest of us, they all transform. Papa looks up at them. "Wait here."

Cody, Nellie, and I run to Doc and Frankie while the others follow slower. "Cody, check it out! My Dad's newest invention."

"I call it floatium. After last night's trouble I realized what the world needs is a synthesized, controllable helium.

See? A balloon with old helium." Doc releases a pink balloon, which floats away. "Gone forever. New floatium." He releases a teal balloon, which hovers right above his head. "Voila! No more lost balloons, no more unhappy children and no more clinging for my life from the tops of buildings."

Cody points to the balloon. "That is so cool!"

Frankie smiles. "We've already put floatium in the parade balloons." She points to the lobster balloon. "See?"

"Cody, Emily, Nellie, it's showtime!"


In the first float is the Mayor's trophy wife. Behind her is the Hall of Inspiration, with Frankie and Doc Greene. Behind them is the mayor, and behind him, the Burns, Nellie, and I are waving from a silver convertible. Much to my surprise, Kade is hanging on to us so we don't fall from where we're sitting on the back of the car beside him. I thought he hated us, like he hates Carrier. Behind us, the trio of Rescue Bots are marching.

"This-is-incredible!"

"Shhh."

Nellie and I share a look. I have to fight back the urge to facepalm.

Cody looks back to Kade, Nellie, and I. "Heatwave is missing a great time."

Nellie nods. "I know, Cody."

I sigh heavily. "But Carrier hates parades."


Bunker, third pov

Heatwave is training in the bunker, attacking the walls and floor. "Without a doubt the biggest and best "lobster and technology festival" ever. Boy, it makes you want a bib just watching them. And the colors! The color of the balloons."

"They can't even walk in the straight line without me."

"Aren't there usually four Rescue Bots? Oh, well, the crowd doesn't seem to miss him."

Heatwave growls.


festival

Mr. Bunty points to a lobster in the tank. "Excuse me, I'd like that lobster, please. Excuse me." He tries to grab it, only to knock the floatium tank into the water. He starts whistling, and walks away as lobsters start floating, and soon flying, out of the tank.

Nellie and I duck into the public restroom and change into blue short sleeved dresses with three crabs on the collar and red sandals with stars on the ankles, with our usual tiaras. We don't want to get anything on our new dresses.

"Come on, Frankie." Cody, Nellie, and I wait for Frankie to hop off their float. "I can't wait to dig in one of those—"

Frankie steps back. "Whoa! Maybe lobsters are the best part of the festival."

"Flying lobsters?"

Nellie looks up before turning to me, shocked. "What the heck?"

I turn to Cody. "We'd better tell Papa."

We run to Papa. "Dad, flobsters!"

Papa gives us a look. "What are you talking about?" "Flying lobsters! Look!

"At least it's not livestock again."

Chase looks down to us. "Is-there-any-way-we-may-assist?"

"Just stay here for now. As robots."

Nellie and I share a look. "We'll st—"

"Go."

We nod at the whispered word, and we're about to follow the others when Sire gets hit in the face with one of the flying lobsters. "What a-a-a—" Boulder looks around before flicking it off. "Thank you."


Cody, Frankie, Nellie, and I start chasing the flobsters around while Papa talks with Doc Greene. "The lobsters must have ingested the floatium. I had no idea it was effective on living tissue. This is even better than my spray on pants."

"But the floatium will lose potency, right, Doc? Pretty out the way helium does."

"The floatium was designed to last through the parade plus the time for everyone to take their balloons home divided by the half-life of the helium add them…" Doc Greene turns to us. "Two days."

Two days? We're going to have lobsters—"

Cody corrects his dad as he runs past. "Flobsters, Dad."

"Flobsters flying around Griffin Rock for two days?" "Precisely." Doc Greene reaches out and snags one. "A crustacean infestation."

"That would get a little annoying." Papa swats one away.

"I may have a solution. I need to get back to my lab."

Cody and Frankie are now jumping for them, while Nellie and I choose to duck and cover after a couple tried to steal our tiaras. "Can I stay here, Dad? These flobsters are fun!"

"Just be careful."

Cody starts running after one that's clinging to a dog's tail. Graham turns to us. "That's good advice." One slices the banner. "These things do have claws."

Another pushes Frankie aside. "Hey, watch that you selfish shellfish!" She starts running as another one flies straight for her.


Bunker, third pov

"As your Mayor I consider myself the head of the whole Griffin Rock family. So, come on down, family. Enjoy some tech, enjoy some—" A flobster steals Mayor Luskey's toupee.

"There it is. You have just see it, ladies and gentlemen, our town is under attack!" Mayor Luskey fights them off with a broom until one pinches his butt. "Hide your children, guard your property, boil some water! We can edit that out later, right?"

Heatwave slams his hands together. He's more than ready for a fight.


Town

Mr. Bunty runs after a lobster. "Come here you little delicious crustacean—" He suddenly screams, and runs past again, followed by several lobsters.

Cody and I then spot the lobster traps, and he runs to her with our idea. "Dani, we need Blades."

Papa is swatting them away with a tennis racket. "We need all the bots."


with the bots

"I'm not sure how much longer I can take this."

"Blades, transform."

"With-sincere-pleasure."

Nellie and I squeal, and run for Sire. "Wait up, Momma!"

I cheer, happy to get away from the lobsters. "We're going too!"

"You stay down here. We may need your… special skills."

Nellie and I lean close to Cody, one of us on either side. "I guess I need to tell him how sensitive my doorwings actually are."

Nellie nods. "Yeah. They're called sensor panels for a reason."


with Dani

"Steady."

"You can fly but you can't hide!"

"All ready down here, sis."

"Okay, we'll rearm and go back up for another batch."


With cody, Cody's Pov

"Gotta hand that you squirt, that was a good idea."

I shrug. "Maybe, but one trap at a time? That'll take forever."

"Yes, Mr. Murphy, we know about the lobsters. Are you in any actual danger? Hold on—" Dad turns to me. "Cody, I'm forwarding the emergency calls to the comm tab. Stay in touch with us. Things are going batty all over the town."


With Papa and chase

"This is the police. Put your claws over your head and—"


with Cody

"Come on—I have some—get away."

"All points bulletin. Corner of Lake and Arsenal. The Mayor is under attack."

"We're close."


With Graham and BOulder

"Shoo—get away—don't you know who I am? We didn't invite you— Whoa!"

"Thank you, Boulder. Now, put the Mayor down." Graham holds out his toupee. "And, um, I found this."


With Cody, normal pov

Cody sighs. "We sure could use Heatwave."

"My thoughts exactly." Kade activates his comm. "Heatwave, I know you can hear me. Get over here, you, pile of—"

"Kade, that won't help."

"Cody's right. Carrier's not having a good day."

"Hello! Heatwave, can you hear me? It would be so nice if you could drop by your pil—"

"Kade! Hey, where is Frankie?"

Nellie smiles. "We'll go find her."

I sigh softly. "Though we may have to transform if we can't find Carrier."


phone booth

We stand back, not really knowing what to do. "This is your last warning! Come any closer and I'll be sopping up butter with you." One of the Flobsters snatches Frankie's spatula, and she ducks into a phone booth. One of them cracks the glass before she can even dial the phone.

"Emergency dispatch."

"Cody, I'm over the library and—"

"Frankie, can I call you back 'cause we are kind of in the middle of something."

"You're in the middle of something? I think these flobsters want a Frankie dinner."

"Nellie and Emily are on their way." Cody sighs. "Frankie, it's not you they are after, it's your jacket."

"What?"

"The starfish on your jacket. The flobsters must think it's real. Lobsters eat starfish."

She slips off and holds up her jacket. "You're right. But I'm still trapped."

"Hold on. Calling all Rescue Bots. Calling all Rescue Bots."

"You think that scares me. You gonna have to try a lot harder than that." Another one breaks the glass. "Okay, that's hard enough. Help!"

Nellie beams up at Carrier. "Carrier, oh thank—!"

I smirk, knowing just what to do to keep our cover. "Rescue Bot, save Frankie."

He sprays the phone booth down, washing away the Flobsters as the others pull up.

Kade glares up at him with his arms crossed. "Finally managed to get your engine started, huh?"

"Just 'cause I don't like parades doesn't mean I'm not gonna do my job. There's no I in Rescue Bots, right?"

"But there is a "me" in "team"." Cody glares at him. "I'm just saying."

I glare at him. "Only if you move the letters around, Glory Hog."

"Cody, I owe you one." Frankie looks up to Carrier. "And thank you too."

Cody smirks. "Looks like you're a hero, Heatwave."

"Just-doing-my-duty."

"Uh, guys." We turn to where Graham is using the discarded spatula to wave three away from his head. "Can we do all the thanking and basking after we actually get rid of these things?"

Momma's voice comes over our comms. "Calling all rescue team members. Return to town square. Doc has something."


town square

"I just synthesized a new destabilizing compound which will pump into the lobster tank. It immediately starts extracting the floatium from the water. Then, the floatium is emitted harmlessly into the atmosphere through here." He holds the hose in front of his face, making his voice squeaky. "And the water returns to normal. See?"

Nellie and I giggle. He sounds funny.

"So, the lobsters in the tank have stopped floating." Graham reaches up to grab a lobster. "But what about the ones still flying around town?"

"Excellent inquiry." Doc clears his throat. "We'll spray the extraction compound directly onto the flobsters. But I only had time to mix one batch, so we have to make flobsters come to us."

Kade crosses his arms. "And how do we do that? We've tried corralling them, but it's like herding cats."

Momma steps up. "Yeah, they don't seem to be afraid of anything."

Cody smirks. "Everybody's afraid of something."


Momma and Cody are on one end, in Sire. "Okay, let's scare us some flobsters."

Cody smiles. "It's working. Dad, is Chase ready on your end?"

Papa and I are on the other end. Chase is holding up a giant lobster. "All systems go."

The lobsters swarm over the park, where they've pumped the destabilizing compound into Carrier's water tanks. Nellie and Kade are with him. "Let 'er rip."

Flobsters start falling out of the sky. Several fall into Boulder's scoop, while one lands on Mr. Bunty's plate. "Oh, goodie. That's just the one I wanted."


Once the chaos ends, we gather with the others back in the park. "Hi! Hey, good to see you. Thanks for coming. I need your vote."

Doc walks over to us. "Who is ready for a lobster dinner?"

"No thanks."

Papa waves a hand at Doc. "Not now."

Graham shakes his head. "Lost my appetite."

I stop drinking my energon out of a silver stainless steel water bottle with a red gripper with a ladybug graphic and a red lid, with a pink wrist strap to look up at the adults. "I don't like lobster." I make a disgusted face.

"Just parades." Nellie giggles at my expression from where she's standing beside Papa, holding her matching water bottle. "Unlike Carrier."

We join the bots and Cody behind the trees. Boulder has the trees pulled apart. "If all parades are like this I can't wait for next year's."

Chase nods. "Your planet never fails to fascinate."

Sire starts to laugh, causing Cody to look up at him. "What's so funny?"

"I just got it. "Flobsters" because they fly… up there… okay, never mind."

I start giggling as well, because, I, like Sire, was late to the punch line. Nellie raises an eyebrow at the two of us.

"You know, of all the weird things we saw today, that has to be the weirdest of all." Cody then points to Carrier and Kade, who are working together for once.

"Here you go, buddy."

Ice cream drips off one of the cones. "Ugh."


firehouse, bunker

"So…" I look up to Carrier. "Was it worth it, in the end?"

He nods grudgingly. "I hate that you had to be right."

I shrug. His bad mood doesn't bother us. "How are you feeling now?" The others, including Nellie, turn to give me a look. "He didn't feel good this morning—or were you all too focused on the fun you were planning to have to even care about Carrier!?" I throw my hands in the air when they continue to stare at me blankly. "I'm going outside."


Third pov

Chase watches me leave. "What was that all about?"

Nellie sighs. "Yeah. Em never storms off like that."

Heatwave sighs. "I think, it's my fault."

Blades glares at Heatwave. "What did you do?"

He sighs. "Got overcharged because I hate parades. Made her mad because of it."

"Hangover?"

Heatwave glares at Blades as he crosses his arms. "Obviously." He scoffs. "She told you I was having a bad day. I came out of recharge and started purging. Besides that, you know I hate parades." He sighs. "Mari found out because she was searching for me."

Chase sighs. "We couldn't find you."

Heatwave nods. "I know. I had a reason for that." He sighs. "I'm going to find Mari."


Outside, normal pov

"Mari?" I turn, knowing there's tear streaks on my face, to find Carrier walking over to me. "You're crying." He sits on the ground beside me.

A statement. I shrug. It's blatantly obvious. I lean on his leg and sigh softly. "Sorry, I blew up at everyone."

He sighs. "Don't be. They deserved it."

"Okay…" I sigh heavily. He needs to know, even if I don't want to talk about it. "Nellie…"

"She's fine."

I shake my head. "No. She's worried."

"Why?"

I lean on my knees. "She knows, about the high grade, and…" I sigh heavily. "Dad used to drink, then he'd beat us. She's afraid you'll start, too."

"I know I have a temper, but I would never take my anger out on a youngling." He looks down, and I can tell he's hurt, even though he wouldn't admit it. "Don't you trust me?"

I nod, and smile gently. "Nellie and I are just…still recovering from Dad's abuse." I shift into my Cybertronian form before leaning into his plating. "I've been wondering…"

"What?"

I turn to him. "Nellie and I wanted to know if you had any family. Chase has sisters, but…"

He sighs before standing, and reaches down to me. "Let's get back inside." ~Blades, get Safire. We need to talk.~


bunker, living space

Nellie walks in with Sire to find Carrier sitting on the couch, while I'm sitting on the floor. "Is something wrong?"

I sigh. "Nope."

"Then why—"

Carrier sighs. "I didn't want to repeat myself. Mari asked about our families."

Sire turns to me. "How long have you wanted to know?"

I look up to them. "Since we found out Chase has sisters."

"And parents."

Sire sits down on the couch beside Carrier, while Nellie joins me after shifting to her Cybertronian form. "So, do you have families?"

Carrier sighs. "We do." He leans forward. "My creators have been gone for vorns, but I do have two brothers. Inferno is older than me, and Red Alert is younger. I followed Inferno by becoming a Rescue Bot, but soon after I did, he left to enlist."

I look up, interested by his brother. "And Red Alert?"

"He was a Doctor, at first, but his paranoia kept him from becoming a medic, like his bondmate, or a soldier, like Inferno. He went into security."

Nellie looks up. "Who's his bondmate?"

"Ratchet."

My optics widen in surprise as I turn to Nellie. "Our teacher!?"

Nellie beams. "We'll have to ask him tomorrow!"

Carrier laughs softly. "Calm down, you two. We're not done yet." He turns to Sire. "I'm not the only one with siblings."

Sire nods. "I never had creators, but that's not unheard of with our kind." He sighs. "We never had much of a younglinghood anyway."

Nellie gasps. "What?"

I start to my feet, obviously not happy with whoever he was raised by. "Why!?"

Carrier sighs before motioning for me to sit back down. "Relax, Mari."

Sire sighs. "We're a gestalt, created by a scientist—Ratchet's brother, Wheeljack—to defend against rising Decepticon forces, as well as rescue work. Because of how close they were to starting a war, we were given adult frames. When the war got close, they sent me with Heatwave's team to protect me, because I was the youngest."

"So…" Nellie looks up to him with a smile. "How many of you were there?"

"Five, total. Hot Spot is a fire-bot, like Heatwave, Streetwise and Groove are enforcers—Streetwise is a mech, and Groove was a femme like the two of you, and First Aid is a medic, trained by Ratchet just like the two of you. I was search-and-rescue, just as I am now. I still had to learn the basics in medicine, so I guess you could call me an EMT, from what Dani's told me."


third POV

"Blades, you know that's not what happened."

"They're too young to bear the burdens I have."

"But that doesn't mean you can lie to them. They'll find out, and then they'll feel betrayed. You have to tell them the truth."

"I know…" He sighs. "I have to, especially since their human father probably never told them the truth, but I…I don't want them traumatized like I am…"

"I know, Blades, and that's admirable. You've come a long way since the Alpha crashed." Heatwave lays a hand on his shoulder. "But think about it for me. Would Hot Spot want you to hide this from your daughters, if he was here instead of me?"

"…No…"

"Then tell them, Blades. You won't hurt them as much as you think, and they need to know." He sighs. "And you'll need to do it soon, because they'll be going to Ratchet soon enough, and we don't want Ratchet to drop the proverbial bomb on them."

"I'll go find them now."


Normal POV

"Girls, I need to talk with you."

"Sire?" We turn to see him, but this time, he looks…hurt, and upset. "What's wrong?"

"Girls…" He sighs, and sits on the couch before putting us on his knees. "I lied, earlier." We give him a look of shock. "My brothers and sister…they're…they're gone, so far as I know. I'd been a helicopter with them, but I had to switch to wheels after because…I couldn't fly without panicking from…what happened to us."

"Sire…what happened to you all?"

"Our ship—we had one similar to the Sigma, but it was bigger because we were the best of the best—team Alpha-5. Your Carrier wanted on it, actually, but Hot Spot turned him down because, and I quote, "We already have one hot shot, and we sure as Primus above don't need two"."

"So what happened to them?"

"Yeah, Sire. What happened?"

He sighs, smiling weakly. "Groove used to do that sometimes—her mind would wander—not as bad as Fireflight, but it did. Sometimes I see her in the two of you, or in Dani." He sighs. "Anyway, we were on a training mission, and our ship went down—engine malfunction. Heatwave and his team got me out, but they insisted it was too late for the others—that they had been killed. Some say I went crazy after it happened, and they actually put me in one of those padded rooms for crazy people until I calmed down enough for them to handle me. I…I thought they'd pull me out of everything, and lock me up for good, but…I got banned from the battlefield and demoted to Sigma. Heatwave didn't know what to do with me at first, but we've made it."