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!
Reposted because of an added scene with Heatwave!
Kaiju!
five months later, mid-october
Charlie and Chase were nice enough to pick me up from the Ferry. I stagger out of the Mustang Enforcer with my luggage, and barely have the chance to put it down before I'm tackled by a now-thirteen-year-old Cody. "You're home!"
I laugh softly. "Yeah, and I'm tired and sore, so it may be a good idea to let me go before you knock me over."
He steps back. "Sorry."
I ruffle his hair. "Don't be. You're just happy to see me." I smile. "How's my favorite Cousin?"
"You missed my birthday."
I sigh heavily. "Sorry, Kiddo. The breach re-opened. I've been dealing with medical—" I sigh heavily, almost bordering on growling. "And non-medical—chaos in Hong Kong for the last five months."
Chase transforms and looks down at me. "But you were gone for seven months."
Blades steps over. "What's the Breach?"
"I know, and it doesn't matter, Blades. I need to get back to my normal, EMS persona now. I'm not a soldier here."
upstairs, my room
I change into my usual EMS uniform: a baby pink collared shirt, dark pink uniform pants, and a pink sweatshirt, with pink socks and dark pink tennis shoes. Yes, like my fatigues, it's still all pink, but right now, I'd rather wear it than my fatigues. I guess it's just the relief of being in relative civvies again. I sigh when I hear a knock on the door, and turn to see Cody. "Come on in."
Cody sighs. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to come see a movie with us."
"What?"
"We're going to the drive-in."
"Oh. Sure! Just let me grab my jacket!"
"Seriously!?"
"What's wrong?"
I sigh at Graham before glaring at Kade. "I just told you all the Breach re-opened not two hours ago, and you take me to a Kaiju movie!?" I scoff. "Seriously!?"
A kaiju roars on screen, and some dramatic music plays. "Will someone please explain to me why we have to watch some silly monster movie at the drive-in? It is freezing outside."
"Excuse me. Attack of Humungado is not just any silly monster movie. It's a kaiju classic. Which means it was made to be seen in a drive-in. Big screen, lots of snacks and no talking!"
"For the love of Primus, Kade. It's a kaiju. I'd like to see what you're like after you've faced one of them."
"You've faced them?"
"Not yet, but I've been training to, and I've seen the pilots after they come back. They're never the same again."
Cody sighs, shrugging off our discussion. "Nothing better than movie popcorn."
"Just be sure none of it falls under my seat."
I shake my head, trying my best not to laugh at the cranky-bot. "Oh, Heatwave…"
"Sometimes old technology is the best. Watching on film, run through a projector…"
"Yep. Makes you feel connected with the movie's history."
"Ha, ha, ha. Ancient history. Look at how fake the monsters look. I've cleaned scarier stuff off of my windshield." Humungado then roars right at the watching audience, causing Blades to scream.
"Pfft! Blades is lucky he doesn't have to go toe to toe with Humungado. His yellow belly would be the perfect target for a fireball."
"My belly's not yellow!" Blades scoffs. "It's sky blue, thank you very much."
"Blades, I'm telling you this because I love you. He's calling you a coward."
"But the—" He clams up.
I turn to the dash. "Blades?"
"It's nothing…"
"Sounds like a whole lot of something, Buddy…" I sigh softly and pat the dash gently. "But we'll cover this later, okay?" I try to turn my attention to the movie, but find myself distracted by a faint hitching sound—almost like Blades is…crying…
"Guys, If you all don't stop bickering, you're gonna miss the movie."
Chase huffs. "I, for one, have already lost the story's subtext."
"Mr. Bunty? Can we get some popcorn down here?"
Mr. Bunty leaves the projection booth and goes down to concessions. While he's gone, a breeze knocks a cardboard cutout onto the projector, and it catches fire. "Extra butter for an extra special movie." He sniffs, then gasps.
Outside, the movie screen has gone white, causing everyone to look around in shock.
"Hey! What happened to the picture?"
"Fire! Rescue Team, Let's move."
We rush over quickly, sirens blaring. "Everyone, please exit the outdoor cinema in an orderly fashion." Chase leads the evacuation of the projection booth and concession stand, while Heatwave and Kade work to put out the fire.
"Mr. Bunty is still inside the projection booth."
"Fire Bot, transform and give me a lift to the window."
Kade climbs in from Heatwave's hand and looks around for Mr. Bunty. "Kade! Over here!"
Kade sighs. "Hold on! Unh!" He pushes the projector aside.
"Oh."
Dani and I step over, and put our arms around Mr. Bunty before leading him to Blades. "Come on, Mr. Bunty, we'll get you to a doctor."
The next morning finds all of us working to restore the damaged building. "Hard to tell there was even a fire. Good work, Cody."
"All right, ready for the roof." Blades and Dani put the roof on, and Kade and Graham work to secure it as Cody and I finish painting with Charlie.
"Thank you. The old girl's never looked better." He turns to the broken projector. "Wish I could say the same for my projector."
"Sorry, Mr. Bunty. Constructing a film projector from scratch is a little outside our wheelhouse."
Doc Greene drives up in his Hummer, with a trailer holding some fancy projector behind him. "But not mine. I've brought a little gift." He smiles. "Using the same technology as the imaging chamber, I've created a holomorphic projector. It recalibrates the polarized light from any regular two-dimensional movie, converts it using the holo-lens Trademark pending and Voila. A holographic movie."
Cody smiles. "You mean the monsters can stomp around in the audience?"
Frankie nods. "They'll look close enough to grab your popcorn."
"Sweet." Kade turns to him. "Hey, Doc, if I can find another print of Humungado, do you think we can screen it?"
"Indubitably. And it will look more life-like than you could ever imagine."
That Night
Mr. Bunty and Kade are in the projection booth, testing the new holo-projector. "As soon as I get this reel threaded, we'll test Doc's new hologram lens for tomorrow's grand reopening."
"I knew we could count on our fellow Humungadorks. Tracked down this new print in no time. They threw in the sequels for nothing."
"Hm. Exactly what they're worth." He turns to Kade with a smile. "Ready?"
They start the movie, only for Kade to decide he wants nachos. "Wait. Cannot watch kaiju without nachos del Kade."
"Hurry. You're missing Rayvenous." He turns the knob as Kade settles beside him. "And now holographic Rayvenous."
"Wow."
"Noble." The power surges, the light bulb above their heads busts, and Kade looks up nervously. "Oops." They look out to find the screen dark, right after Ravenous had come out. "Uh-oh."
"Oh, now look what you've done. You blew a fuse."
Kade shrugs, and reaches into his nachos. "It's not a total loss." He sticks a chip into his mouth and slurps. "Mmm. Are those nachos, or are those nachos?"
firehouse
Kade's so excited when he joins us at breakfast the next morning. "I'm telling you, guys, you missed out. The monster looked so real, it was like it was right there in front of you."
Dani scoffs. "Thanks, I've had all I can take of movie monsters for a while."
Kade scoffs. "You just don't like any movie without kissing or stunt flying. And don't forget cute little animals."
Dani crosses her arms. "What's more awesome than bunnies singing show tunes?"
"Chipmunks singing rock." I sigh heavily and push my chair back. "For some reason, Blades has been a mess and a half since I got back from the shatterdome this time, so I'm going down to—"
The phone rings, and Charlie steps over to answer it. "Griffin Rock Emergency. A what? All right, Mayor, we'll be right there." He hangs up the phone and turns to us. "A monster's munching the Mayor's mansion. And, no, I will not repeat that." He sighs. "Probably another raccoon, but let's go check it out. Cody, command center."
I slide down the fire pole and climb into Blades before patting the console. "You okay?"
"Yeah…"
"No you're not. Talk to me, Blades."
"It's…personal."
"I'll bet. You remind me of someone I don't need to think of." I sigh. "But I'll be here, when you're ready."
"Rescue Bots, roll to the rescue."
Mayor's Mansion
We pull up and climb out to stare up at the Mayor's mansion, dumbfounded. "Huh? That-That—That's Rayvenous."
"Really?"
Dani scoffs. "But how can a monster from a movie be running loose in Griffin Rock?"
Charlie gives the two of us a look. "Is there any other place that could happen?"
Kade shakes his head. "It must have something to do with Doc's holomorphic projector."
"Whatever its origins, we have to bring it down immediately."
""Have to" is a strong phrase. Why don't we just let it fly away? Maybe to another island, where we aren't?"
"Don't worry, I got this, blue belly."
"I told you, it's sky blue."
"Heatwave…" I sigh heavily before patting Blades on the leg gently. "It'll be all right. I'm here."
Then the kaiju flies through the mayor's fountain and underground. "As if it couldn't get any creepier."
"We'll need to go after him. Cody, can you find a map of the tunnels under the Mayor's house?"
"Checking the database."
"Or we could not follow a creepy monster into a deep dark tunnel. I'm just saying, we have options."
"You'd never last at the shatterdome, buddy." I chuckle. "I'm surprised I've lasted at the shatterdome, to be honest."
Underground, With me, Blades, and Dani
"No one ever wants to listen to the options."
"And that's okay, Blades."
"In the movie, Rayvenous's eyes are his weak spot. Hit him with a beam of light. It temporarily knocks him out."
Charlie nods from his place inside Chase. "All right, Team. Let's split up. We'll each take a quadrant."
"Let's go this way, Dani."
"I'm with you."
Blades wanders around for a while before glancing into a small pool. After seeing Rayvenous' reflection, he looks up. "And, wouldn't you know, we're the ones to find Mr. Creepy." I sigh heavily. "Well, at least I'm used to kaiju…"
"Uh Good Rayvenous. Good creepy thingy."
It pushes us against the wall and starts licking Blades' windshield. Dani screams, while I gasp and try not to flash back to my time in Gipsy's conn pod, lack of kaiju at the time or not. "Uh, guys? Found our monster."
"And he's eating me! Aah! Help!"
That helps. "He's not eating you, Blades. He's licking you. There's a difference." I smile. "And thank you. Can't reign in memories without combat."
"Combat? What?"
"Later. Get this thing off so Blades stops panicking."
Heatwave steps over and sighs. "What was it you were saying before, Blades? About picking scary stuff off your windshield?"
The kaiju comes right back for Blades. "Why me every time? There are others in the room, you know." Chase blinds the kaiju, and we all stare at the downed monster.
Charlie sighs. "Cody, call up Doc Greene and tell him to meet us at the drive-in. Let him know we've got a movie monster who's ready to go home."
Kade huffs. "Now, what were you saying about combat?"
"I'm a Ranger, Kade. Just got back from kaiju fiascos, now in kaiju fiascos again. I'm also in training to be a jaeger pilot. They have to be able to control their memories so they can have that neural bridge, and control the machine together."
Kade nods. "Got it."
Heatwave, on the other hand, looks more confused. "Excuse me?"
"It's kind of like becoming gestalt, Heatwave, only you're still human. I'm getting ready for that. This…this mission, while scary for me…it'll help me in the future."
"And you're fighting these…things?"
"Yes." I sigh heavily when I get the looks from all of them. "You're on the Atlantic. You wouldn't know about them."
drive-in theater
Doc Greene's waiting at the drive-in when we get there. "I believe a power fluctuation caused the lens' photonic component to overload. The surge of energy turned the hologram of Rayvenous into a solid creature, an embodiment of the movie monster, Complete with the original's instincts."
"Doc, how do we send it back?"
Frankie smiles. "Daddy and I hooked up a dynama-pak to duplicate the conditions of the power surge. When the power reaches critical level, we'll reverse polarity."
Doc Green nods and continues. "Which should return the solid creature to its holographic state, which we can then send back into any moment of the movie. Like so." The knob falls off. "Oh, dear. That wasn't in the plan."
Charlie starts looking around on the ground. "Find it! Quickly!"
"It's under the—"
"Uh-oh. That music usually means—"
Humungado comes out of the screen, causing me to sigh. I really should have just grabbed the thing from under the Hummer.
"Guess what we're doing tonight."
Instantly, the thing starts attacking the Rescue Bots and us. "Whoa!"
"Watch out!"
"Take cover!"
Now that all of us humans are hiding, the Rescue Bots take control of the situation—or at least, they try. "Fictional beast, you are resisting an officer of the law." Chase gets thrown into a building.
Heatwave and Blades try to hold him down. "I got him! I got him!" He throws first Blades, then Heatwave. "I don't got him."
Boulder grabs Humungado's tail and tries First Aid's tactic on him. "All right, big fella. Time to settle down." He gets thrown into a building. "Aah!"
Kade has no sympathy, while I'm glad he doesn't have doorwings. "Meant to tell you, B. Watch out for his tail."
"Thanks."
The kaiju starts for downtown. "We can't let him reach downtown." Charlie turns to Doc Greene. "Doc, we need to go after Humungado. Can you handle Rayvenous? Now that he's caged, he shouldn't be any trouble."
"Of course, Chief. And once I've fixed the projector, I'll send him straight back into his movie."
ocean shore
I'm once again in Blades, but my fear of heights doesn't affect me during a mission. "Blades, can you snag him with your winch?"
"I caught him! Now what do I do?"
The kaiju swings us around. "Aah!"
"Blades, release!"
He wanders off with the winch cable, and starts to breathe fire at a billboard. Cody gasps from inside Heatwave. "Whoa! Humungado must really hate dinosaurs." He shrugs. "Or billboards."
Kade sighs. "Dinos. Everybody knows that. From the second sequel, where Humungado and Rayvenous team up to fight the Supersaurus."
"That's it."
"Kade, you're a genius."
"Yeah. But why now especially?"
"Dad, if the Bots turn Dino, maybe Humungado will go after them and not the town."
"It's worth a try." Charlie looks around from his place inside Chase. "No one on the streets, so Rescue Bots, mind going prehistoric?"
Heatwave agrees instantly. "You heard him. Let's let Big Scaly know the Dino Bots are back in town."
They shift to dino mode and roar, causing Humungado to roar back at them. We manage to chase him to the ocean shore, and Chase shocks the water with his taser—now in his tail—while Heatwave sprays water at the kaiju. These guys really need weapons! This is getting far too familiar to me now—just like when Rals and Mako saved everyone. "It's working."
"Hope Doc's having better luck than we are."
drive-in
"That should do it. Now to send Rayvenous back onto celluloid where he belongs."
"The sooner the better, Daddy. I don't think he likes being cooped up."
Rayvenous screeches. "Just a little more power, and we'll be able to reverse polarity."
Rayvenous breaks free and ices the Hummer. "Look out!"
"Aah!" The two dive behind the iced hummer.
ocean shore
"What was that? Sounds like Rayvenous's homing call." Humungado roars. "Humungado must still want a piece of him."
"Then why not give old Fire Breath the opportunity? Use Rayvenous as bait."
Chase smiles as well as he can in dino mode. "A sound strategy."
Dani smiles at me. "Lead Humungado straight to the outdoor cinema And send him back into the movie."
"Movie? Try blockbuster."
Chase huffs. "And the two differ how?"
Charlie sighs. "Enough to give those two something to fight about." He calls Doc Greene. "Doc, how's it going with Rayvenous?"
"Well, we've had a bit of a complication. Rayvenous has broken free and is— Whoa! Making rather a nuisance of himself."
Frankie grabs the phone. "I don't suppose you could come and Get us out of here!"
"Frankie, are you near the jeep?"
"It's not really in driving condition."
"No, the lights. It'll take him down. Aim at his eyes."
She aims the lights at the kaiju, and he goes down. "Apparently, all it requires is a light touch."
"Nice going, Daddy."
with Dani, blades, and me
"Thanks, Cody. Dani, Blades, you two pick up Rayvenous. We'll hold Humungado here until you return."
Blades sighs. "Of course. Because Rayvenous and I get along so well."
Heatwave growls. "Oh, stop complaining. He's just another piece of cargo."
"Mm-hmm."
I pat the console. "Hey. We got this. You've got a seasoned professional with ya."
We send the winch down and snag the box and kaiju together before flying back to them, only to get groused at by Heatwave and Kade. "About time."
"Seriously."
"Dani, we'll meet you back at the drive-in. And stay outside the city. This guy's not in a good mood."
Dani smirks. "Thanks for the advice, guys."
Blades would be if he was in bot-form. "Think we can handle it."
"That's my Blades!"
"Have Dani drop Rayvenous directly in front of the screen."
"You heard him, Dani."
"Almost there, Blades. Just stay a little ahead of him."
"Easy for you to say." We get hit with a burst of flames from Humungado. "Ow! Your rear end is not on fire."
"We're hit."
"We're going down." Blades transforms and lands on his rear end.
"Blades! Dani! Shey!" Dani and I climb out. "Talk to me! Are you okay?"
Dani sighs over her brothers' and father's behavior. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
"I'm good." I laugh. "Takes me back to watching Gipsy Danger. God, I wonder how they're doing right now…"
Blades sighs. "He barely missed my swashplate." We turn to the box to find the kaiju cargo has broken open again. "Rayvenous is loose again."
Kade nods. "That's good. They'll keep each other busy fighting."
Heatwave turns to Doc Greene and nods. "Doc, roll 'em to the rescue."
Doc Greene nods back. "Just another few minutes."
"Um, I thought you said they'd fight each other."
"He also said they teamed up to fight the Supersaurus."
"And the Rhinoctopus."
"And now, apparently, us."
"So before when Humungado was attacking the box Rayvenous was in, he was trying to free him? These guys are…friends? No way. That just…" Kade taps his chin. "Makes a lot of sense, actually."
Chase, as usual, has to comment. "And we are their common enemy."
Doc Greene turns to Charlie. "Chief, you have to keep them contained within the holographic field."
Blades…reminds me of someone from the past, and I have to look away. "Okay, spike gut, enough is enough. I've had it with you." The thing breathes fire at him. "Aah!"
I laugh from my hiding place—laughing to keep from crying. He just reminded me of the Protectobot Blades.
Heatwave steps over and sprays his mouth with water. "Don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything."
Frankie grins. "Ready, daddy."
"We only have one shot at this. We need both creatures inside the field."
"Where's Blades?"
"Blades is…" I look up and roll my eyes. "Playing cowboy in the air."
They all look up to find what I had—Blades is riding Rayvenous. "Whoo-hoo! Hyah! Yee-haw!" Rayvenous screeches.
We finally get the two inside, and Kade cheers. "Now, that's what the sequel should've looked like. Ha!"
Charlie turns to Doc Greene. "Ah, I think maybe you'd better retire that lens, Doc."
Dani smiles. "Or only use it on cute little animal movies."
Kade's too involved in what he's learned. "Humungado and Rayvenous, friends. This adds a whole new layer of meaning. I'll have to rewatch the entire series."
Chase turns to him. "But the two creatures fight as well. How can they be friends?"
Blades smiles. "Just like a few humans I know. Not mentioning any names." He does anyway. "Dani and Kade."
Dani glares up at him. "Us? How about you and Heatwave?"
Blades turns to Heatwave. "Oh, Heatwave and I don't—"
Heatwave turns to Blades. "We don't—" He sighs when I glare up at them. "Actually, I guess we do."
"Yeah, you're right."
Kade smiles and crosses his arms. "Okay, tomorrow night, we screen Humungado and all the sequels, this time without Doc's special lens. Who's up for it?" We walk away. "I guess I'll call Bunty.
the next night
Kade smiles around at us. "Thanks, guys. It means a lot more with all of you here."
"That's what family does."
Dani rubs her arms. "We can still complain too, right? 'Cause it hasn't gotten any warmer."
Blades whines. "And where are the cute little animals? Heatwave, you told me—"
"I'm right here, Blades. You're not alone." I have some new theories about him now. That stall-out when we were talking about cowardice…the way he was riding that kaiju earlier…and the way he sounded, talking with Dani and facing those kaiju…he reminded me of— "Blades!"
"What?"
"Nothing…" I rub my arm. "Actually… Can we talk, alone, after we're home?"
"Sure."
Blades' berth room
"Star? What did you need?"
I step over in bot form, and settle on his bed with a sigh. "This isn't going to be an easy talk for me, and maybe for you, Blades, but… Did you ever know the Protectobots?"
"I…" He looks nervous for some reason.
"Blades…"
He turns away. "I don't want to talk about it…"
"Blades…you can't just…ignore this…and just…cover it up…"
"Starlight…" He sighs heavily. "I knew them, okay? Does that make you happy?"
"You…you reminded me of them today…" I look down at my lap. "By the end of the mission, I was about to cry…just because…I miss them…"
"I do too…" He gets this really horrified look on his face. "I mean—um…" He looks down.
"Of course you would, everyone loved them…I was all but their sister, though…and…" I whimper softly. "And I feel like…like I lost a part of me." I glare up at him. "Don't you dare tell Heatwave I said that. If he were to hear…" I look at my hands. "That I was almost gestalt for real…"
"He'd never leave us alone."
'Us?' I look up, trying to reign in the hope I know is flaring in my eyes. "Blades, you just said us. Are you a Protectobot? Are you really…that Blades?"
"Do you really wanna know?"
"Yes."
"I am." He turns away. "I didn't want you…to watch me fade away…like you had to watch Prowl…"
"Blades…" I shake my head before hugging him. "Hey, it's okay. I'm here. Little sister's still here. You're not alone anymore. Just let it out."
We both turn at a knock on the door. "Blades? Are you okay in there?"
Blades shakes his head before starting to cry into my shoulder. "He's not, really, but I got him, Wave."
He opens the door and peeks inside. "Was this because I made him go to the movie?" I shake my head. "The taunting? Because I wasn't being serious out there…" I shake my head. "Then it's—you know."
"Just found out…" I sigh softly. "He's been through a lot, hasn't he?"
"Yeah…" He closes the door before stepping over to us and laying a hand on the sobbing helicopter's back. "Can't you…do something for him?"
"If I did, it would royally screw up your cover, not to mention…Cemetery Wind…" I choke back a sob of my own. "I can't lose you guys too…and I can't…lose them again…" I take a couple deep breaths to calm down. "It could be worse on Blades if I did it now, Wave…but God, I want to…so bad…"
"You'll be able to, someday."
"Every day, the chance that I could goes down, Wave. I'm only guaranteed up to a day…"
He lays a hand on my back. "We'll figure it out. I…I don't want to lose him, either." He turns to Blades with a sigh. "At least he's got you now." I look up to him. "I heard. Almost their sister… No wonder you were crying…"
"It was over Ratchet, but…it didn't help matters…being here, with you guys, and being reminded in everything I do…about them…" I sigh heavily. "Don't tell the Burns. I will, when I'm ready. They wouldn't understand, anyway—not without a lot of explanation."
"Got it." He nods down to Blades. "If you've got this, I'm going to go warm up some energon for us." He sighs. "It's gonna be a long night. Hope you're ready, 'cause I'm not letting you leave him until he's okay."
"All right." I smile. "And I am. Medic's honor."
I've still been wearing black when I'm not in uniform, but not anymore—I'm still mourning, but…not as many people as I'd thought. I change into a white cap sleeve T-shirt with "I'm always Modest, that's what makes me better than everyone else" written in pink camo and pink camouflage pajama pants, then pull on a fluffy burgundy robe and matching slippers, then return to the room with a mug of chai tea with sugar.
Heatwave and I run into each other in the hall on the way back. "Where did you go?"
"To get changed and grab some tea. I'm not staying in uniform. I'm not on duty tonight. Charlie is." I hold up my mug. "See?"
"You're not wearing black."
"My robe isn't black."
"Under it. I can see your pants."
"I don't have as much to mourn, Wave…we still have Blades…"
"Star…" He leans down to me. "It means that much to you?"
"Yes. You remember my breakdown…it was all them… I just wanted to hide the Defensor thing… Ratchet hit me harder, but Defensor… Heatwave, I lost myself when I lost them. I came back to myself here."
He smiles. "Good." He pushes the door open. "Now come on. He needs us."
"Right behind you."
