Kidnapped
April 24, 2:00 AM
I wake up and blink in confusion. Something's not right in our bond. I glance to the right and find Bumblebee, Star, and the twinlets sound asleep beside me, the trio of PowerPuffs are sound asleep on the floor with Patches curled up asleep on Bubbles' chest. Glimmer's asleep at our feet in her normal form, too, which means it's only one mech. I roll over to find him curled up in a ball, facing the wall. "Fix?" I run a hand over the tiny mech's helm. "What's wrong, Sweetspark?"
He looks up at me, revealing a tear-streaked face and heartbroken optics. "M-Mari…"
"Oh, Little One…" I scoop him into my arms and fish around under the covers for his red plush blanket before putting it over his shoulders. "Bitty Bot… What happened?"
He clings to me and buries his face in my shoulder. "I m-miss m-my bitlets!"
"Oh, Sweetspark…" I glance over to Bee with a heavy sigh. "You know we have to ask Sire, Bitty…"
"I-I d-don't w-want t-to b-both-ther h-him…"
I lean him back to where I can look him in the optic. "Sweets, I've told you before you don't bother us. You're a part of us, Bitty."
"I-I know…I-I j-just…"
"Shhhh… It's okay, Bitty… It's okay…" I lie down and curl myself around him before pulling the covers back over us. "Try to get some 'charge, Little One. We'll talk to Sire in the mornin'."
6:30 AM
I'm the first one up this time, and I pull out mine, Bee's, Star's, and the twinlets' outfits for the day before shifting to holoform and changing into mine: a light pink T-shirt, pink camouflage overalls shorts, light pink socks, and pink tennis shoes. I then bounce on the bed to wake my little siblings and Bee up. While they get dressed—Bee in a blue version of what I'm wearing and Star in a purple one—and help the twinlets into either a pink whale print polo dress (D-Wave), or a blue whale print polo romper (Light), I feed and water Patches, feed Glimmer, and wake the PowerPuffs. They pack up their things and change into floral print shirts in their colors and overalls shorts in a darker color (read: red, blue, green). While they get cereal and Bee runs out to get our energon from Ratchet (in metal water bottles and baby bottles), I crawl back onto the berth and shake Fixit lightly. "Bitty Bot…" He groans and rolls over. "It's time to get up, Bitty…"
"Don' wanna…"
"Come on, Bitty… Uppy up up!" He sits up and glares at me. "Man, Mini-Mech…if I didn't know better, I'd think you were carrying again."
"Sadly, I'm not."
"You're coming in with us, remember?" I run a hand over his head. "And, Sweetspark… If you wanna ask Daddy 'bout your bitlets…"
"I…" He looks away. "I don't know…"
"Fixie…" I wait until he looks up at me. "You're scared, aren't you Bitty?"
He glances up at me before looking down at his little feet. "I-I'm scared he'll s-say n-no…"
I smile slightly. "Give me five minutes." I pat his shoulder. "And get your holo ready."
I shift to my normal form and knock on the door to Carrier and Sire's room, and look up as it opens to reveal Sire. "What do you need, Sweetspark?"
"Can I comes in?"
"Of course." He steps back to let me in before closing the door. He leads me over to his big berth, and boosts me up before sitting beside me. "What happened?"
I look down for a moment, my eyes falling on his large, black hands. In a moment, I can hear my adopted Mommy from my former dimension singing about her own father's hard-working yet caring hands. 'Daddy's hands, soft and kind when I was crying. Daddy's hands, hard as steel when I'd done wrong. Daddy's hands weren't always gentle, but I learned to understand, there was always love in Daddy's hands.' I look up at him and smile slightly to let him know his little Starlight is okay. "Fixie woke me up last night, crying… He's coming with us today, but…"
"Mari…" He lays a hand on my shoulder. "You know there is no reason to fear me."
"I know…" I sigh heavily. "He needs his bitties, Sire. He's been so…spark-broken, since we got to Earth, and… And I can't watch him like this anymore… It's hurting me, Sire…"
"Sweetspark… Why did you take so long to come to me? You know I'd do anything for you six."
I slide off the berth and look at my feet. "Fixie didn't want me to…"
He crouches so he can look me in the eye. "Could you send him to me?"
"Y-yes, Sir."
"Mariposa…"
"Pwease no yells a' him…he haves har' 'nough time already…"
"I am not going to yell at him, Sweetspark. I just want to talk with him."
I step back into our room, causing Fixit to look up to me. "What did he say?"
"He wants to talk with you, Bitty." Fixit looks at his little feet. "Hey…" He looks up at me. "He's not mad, Sweets…maybe a little hurt that we didn't tell him after the battle, but not mad."
third pov
"O-Optimus?"
The Prime kneels to Fixit and lays a hand on his shoulder. "Why did you keep this from me, Small One?"
"I-I thought…you'd get mad…that you had to-to-to-to—" He knocks himself in the chest. "To comm Firestar because of me…"
"Fixit…" Optimus smiles gently. "I would never forcibly keep a Carrier and their sparklings apart." He stands.
"S-sir?"
"Go spend the morning with your gestalt. I will take care of things on this end."
"But…they have preschool…"
"Mariposa has already told me you were planning to go with them. Go get your energon and get ready. I will be ready to leave in a few minutes."
"Yes, Sir." He turns for the door before looking back over his shoulder. "Thank you!"
Normal POV
Carrier steps in and does our hair before slipping my tiara, as well as Star's and D-Wave's, and Bee's and Light's crowns in, then turns to the PowerPuffs with a smile. "How does your Dad usually do your hair for school?"
Bubbles giggles. "He puts piggytails in, then braids them."
Blossom holds out four hair ties in each color (pink, blue, green…) and two pastel ribbons each. "I still have our hair ties from yesterday, if you need them…"
Carrier nods. "Thank you, Girls." She glances over the ribbons. "Hold on. I'll be right back." She steps into our closet and over to the rack she keeps mine and Star's hair ribbons and extra ribbon on spools before cutting two red, two blue, and two green. Once they're in her hands, she walks back out and sets them beside her. She takes the hair ties from Blossom and sets them beside her. "Go ahead and put the ribbons in your bags while I start on Blossom's hair, Bubbles."
"Yes, Mrs. Prime."
"Just call me Elita, Sweetsparks." She braids Blossom's hair before putting tying bows on the ends, then does the same for the other two before standing. "Your sire is taking you all in this morning, but I'll see you this afternoon."
"You and Sire are going on patrol together, aren't you?"
The door to their room opens, and Sire walks in behind Fixit. "I think we've got something more important to do, Sweetsparks." She stands. "Orion?"
"Are the children ready to leave?" She nods. "Fixit?"
I squeal excitedly. "'Members, You onlys need holo for if outsides!"
"I know, Mari."
Carrier turns to help Bee and I with our backpacks. "Get your things, Girls." "She helps us put them on, then turns to Fixit. "Keep an optic on them today, Fixit, and have a good day."
We head into the building and put our backpacks up before starting to play with the toys while Fixit talks with Ms. Olivia. It's not long before the others show up, and we start for the lunch table for our snacks. Today, the twinlets have high chairs against the wall behind us.
A knock sounds at the door, causing Ms. Olivia to open the door while Fixit dives under the table to hide. "Hello, Mr. Drake. Hey, Kori. Are you excited about your first day?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
"Come on in, then." She leads her over to her cubby, then to her place at the table, beside Bluestreak. She's wearing a purple sundress with a flame print, purple knee-high boots, and a heart shaped purple tiara. Her hair is up in two ponytails, with lime green hair ties holding them. "Guys, this is Kori Ann."
"Hi, Kori Ann!"
"Can everyone please say their names, so Kori Ann can get to know everyone?"
Bluestreak raises his hand. "Just our normal names, or—"
Kori Ann giggles. "I'm a princess from the planet Tamaran, so it's okay."
I wave under the table discretely to tell Fixit to join us again. Once he does, everyone turns to me, causing me to nod. "I'm Marianne, or you can Call me Mariposa. I'm a princess from the planet Cybertron."
"I'm Bumblebee, or Bailey to the humans. Mari's my sister."
"I'm Brightstar, or Claire. I'm their sister. They're…" She waves back to the twinlets. "Our twin brother an' sister. He's Lightstorm, or Landon, an' she's Dreamwave or Dawn."
I nod. "We're a combiner. This little guy here is our minicon, Fixit."
"Blossom Utonium. I'm a superhero and the leader of the PowerPuff Girls."
"Jessie, or Lyric."
"Bubbles. I'm Blossom's sister and a PowerPuff Girl."
"Buttercup. I'm their sister and the toughest PowerPuff Girl."
"Snowy, or Snowfire."
"Jason, or Electro."
"Blake, or Bluestreak."
She slides into her seat beside Bluestreak. "It's nice to meet you all."
"Hurry up and finish your snacks, then we'll get to class."
8:30 AM
We're all sitting at our desks—some clear, while others still have their papers or pencils on their desks.
"All right, kids. Let's get our instruments for music—" The door slams open. She peeks out the crack of the sliding door in the back of the room before gasping. She turns to us with a softer, more frantic voice. "Into the closet, quickly Children."
Everyone but Bee, Star, and I run after her. I freeze in panic, my sparkling mindset believing it's my abuser from the other dimension, and Bee and Star decide to try and protect me, and stay out while motioning Fixit to get the twinlets and to follow the teacher. Bee and Star barely snap me out of my panic before the sliding door slams open. We dive under the desks and do our best to appear invisible.
Inside the closet, Ms. Olivia uses an otherwise hidden phone to call for help. The phone links her straight to both Red Alert and Prowl, the latter of which alerts the police while the former alerts the Autobots. "Peter, Ryan, Code 'D'."
"Is this a drill?"
Ms. Olivia looks scared. "No, no drill. Code 'D'."
Fixit looks up at her, hoping to be heard over the phone. "The triplets are still out there!"
She gasps. "Did you get that? Three of the children are in danger. Please, hurry!"
"We are on our way. Just stay calm."
A hand drags Star and I out from under the desk, then pulls Bee out with his other hand and smirks. "Just the 'humans' I came for." He carries us out by our legs, tosses us into his vehicle mode, and takes off into the air.
A black and white police car pulls up outside the building, followed by several cars, including Professor Utonium's white box-car and Galfore, Kori's guardian, in a lime green Hummer H2. A moment later, Agent Fowler arrives to control the scene, since it was a true "Code D", meaning a Decepticon attack.
"Who are they, and why are they here?" When none of the bots respond, he turns to a heavy-set orange man with red hair and beard, and a slender man with black hair. "Special Agent Fowler here. State your ID and intentions."
"Professor Utonium, father of the three PowerPuff Girls who attend Kindergarten here." Professor Utonium sighs. "I believe the general knows of my girls, Mr. Fowler, and they know of the Autobots, as do I."
"And you?"
The Tamaranian man huffs. "Galfore, guardian to Princess Koriand'r of the planet Tamaran, using the human name Gary Drake as cover. We recently moved in across the street from you and Mr. Utonium. When can I get to my bumgorf?"
"Soon, Mr. Drake." Agent Fowler huffs. "At least the building's still intact this time, Prime." He sighs and shakes his head. "Prowl, give me the sitrep."
"We got the call from Ms. Olivia Wilson approximately 8:31 this morning. Ms. Wilson claimed "Code D" and that three children were missing from her lockdown shelter. With the lack of a visible Decepticon, I would say either there is a Decepticon minicon inside, or the Decepticon has already left. Permission to clear the building, Sir?"
"Granted."
Prowl steps outside, in holoform, with Ms. Olivia before leaving her with Agent Fowler. She is nearly frantic with worry, but handling it well in the Autobots' presence. The next ones he leads out are the PowerPuffs, followed by a nervous yet excited Koriand'r.
"Bumgorf!"
She flies up and hugs his neck. "K'norfka!"
"Are you okay, Bumgorf?"
"I am great! School was really fun!"
Prowl steps out again with a trembling Bluestreak in his arms and a nervously scared Lyric holding his hand. "Jazz?"
Jazz nods and takes Bluestreak before crouching to Lyric. "You two Sparkles okay?"
"W-we're o-okay n-now."
"Oh, Blue…" He hugs the two while Prowl heads back inside.
The next to be carried out is an excited Electro. "Was that what the war was like, Mama?"
The second he hits his Carrier's arms, she finds it hard to hold back her tears of relief. "Oh, Electro…"
Prowl takes one more trip in, and returns with a panicked Snowfire in his arms. He quickly passes her over to her panicked parents. Red Alert simply clings to her while Ratchet looks her over for any damage. "I'm fine, Carrier."
He returns a final time with two screaming toddlers. Elita-One steps over to the officer. "P-Prowl?"
"I-I'm sorry. There were no other younglings inside. Just the sparklings."
A shaky hand covers her mouth as she turns to bury her face into Optimus' plating as the mech turns to Prowl. "What about Fixit?"
Prowl deactivates his holoform and turns to Optimus. "He would not leave the closet… He said something about not getting his sparklings and failing to protect the triplets…"
Agent Fowler glances over his shoulder to Optimus. "Prime, contact your "secret weapon"." Optimus gives him a confused look, causing him to elaborate. "We need Streetwise."
"Ratchet, comm Griffin Rock as soon as we return." He shifts down to holoform and starts inside. He heads straight for the closet before crouching by the open door. "Fixit?"
"I'm so sorry, Optimus!" Optimus gives him a confused look. "I promised I'd keep an optic on them, and I failed you!"
"Fixit…" The Prime reaches in and picks him up before returning to the now-smaller group outside. Once he's back into his normal form, he puts an arm around Elita, who has the still-teary twins in her arms, and leads them all back into the base.
"Lord Megatron, I got them."
"Good. Bring them to the ship."
I start to cry, causing the mech's holoform to slap me. I start crying even harder at that, causing Bee to glare at the cockpit and wrap his arms around me. Star freezes up. This is the first time she's witnessed abuse.
"Enjoy it while you can, sparklings, because you won't get to have this once we get to the ship!"
~Bumbee, NOOO!~
~Easy, Flutterby. We've done this before.~
~We'll get through this.~
~I s'sposed to tell you that! I's the commander!~
~Can you reach Carrier, or Sire?~ I shake my head. ~Twinlets? Fixit?~ Another shake.
~Please tell me you can reach 'Fensor…~
~Huh-uh…~ I whimper. ~I wan' Mama… Wan' Dada!~
~MARIPOSA!~ He sighs softly. ~We'll get through this. We'll see Carrier and Sire again, but you need to pull yourself together. You're more creative than I am.~
~Did you bring you new sword?~
~Uh-huh. Did you? Star?~
~I got it.~
~Uh-huh. Hidey in armor, jus'in case.~
~Why're you actin' like a 'parklin'?~
I giggle through the bond. ~Seekers no can hurts sparkles, 'member? We jus' turny fives, so we still looks lik'a sparkles. Ifs we ac' lik'a sparkles, we no' getty hurts bad…~
~That's why you cried?~
~Uh-huh…~
~Oh! Good idea! You still get sicks in cars?~
~Sometimes…no' when I's dwivin' though… or when Sire putty me in front…~
~What about right now?~
~Uh-huh…but I no wanna makey you sicks too…~
~I don't care if you do right now. It might get Screamer to let us go.~ I nod, and let down my guard against my car-sickness. "Scweamy?"
"What!"
"I finks sissy gonna pu'ge."
"Great… Just great…" He sighs heavily. "Think you three can hold on for a little longer? We're almost to the ship." Moments after he says that, I purge all over the seat under us, myself, Star, and Bee, who quickly follow my lead and purge on the floor and seat-back in front of us. "Frag it! Why did I ever agree to do this!?" He lands on the runway of the Nemesis and transforms, taking us in his hands as he does, the mess now visible on his chest and legs. Before he even has a chance to complain about it, we purge on his hands, causing him to almost drop us in disgust.
He carries us into his lab and tosses us onto a counter before stalking through a door—probably into his berth room or a wash rack—before stalking back in with a washrag, which he uses to clean off his chest, legs, and hands. "Now, where was I…" He glances over to us. "Right…I was dealing with the Autobot vermin."
