This chapter is mostly dialogue- sorry about that. But some important things are brought up so pay attention :U
Next chapter is where the real fun starts~
"Oh man, this is so sweet!" Miko pressed up against the driver-side door in Knockout's cabin, eagerly taking in the view as they sped along the freeway. "I haven't been to a real city since we were in New York... and that doesn't count 'cause it was just the subway." She glanced devilishly at Knockout's dashboard, "Oh, but you remember that, don't you?"
"I swear to Primus, I will open my door and let you fall out if you bring that up again."
Miko just laughed and sat back properly in the driver's seat. "Oh lighten up! I'm just teasing." she reached forward, lightly flicking the Decepticon insignia on his main display. "By the way, you've still got this 'Con logo on your screen here. Don'tcha think you should switch that out?"
"Ratchet is working on updating my signal and comm frequencies. That'll get sorted out with the rest of it." Knockout explained, "Until then I'm not officially Autobot... He likes to remind me of that."
"So your comm doesn't work yet?" Miko raised an eyebrow nervously. "Well that's no good. What if we run into trouble?"
"You've got your cellphone, don't you?"
"Well duh! I always have my phone."
"Then we'll be fine. Besides, we're in an urban area: we won't run into any kind of trouble that would require backup."
"If you say so." Miko returned to staring out the window.
The freeway they were driving along was lined with palm trees, still lit up by the street lights and glowing windows of the buildings. It was nearly one in the morning by then, so traffic was minimal, but Miko could see there was still plenty happening on the streets just off the highway. She could only catch glances of the people since Knockout was going so fast, but they all seemed to be enjoying the night.
She pressed her forehead up against the glass. "Man... I've missed the city." she grumbled.
"Don't press your greasy organic flesh on my windows!"
Miko leaned back, away from the glass again. "I'm not greasy!" she insisted, rubbing her cheeks.
"Of course you are. You humans secrete your disgusting oils from everywhere."
She didn't respond to that, she just leaned back in the seat further, continuing to wipe at her face with the back of her wrist. Finally she spoke up again, "So what's the plan, anyway?" she asked, "I mean we gotta find someone to race, right? How do we do that?"
"Usually I'll just roll around until I happen upon something that looks interesting..." Knockout hummed. Then he paused for a moment. "Hmm. Although, we are in a bit of a rush. We'll have to get you back before tomorrow morning, won't we?"
"Yeah, I guess that'd be preferable." Miko shrugged. "Bulkhead gets mad when I miss school and stuff..."
"Right. Well, in that case-" Knockout's radio switched on. "We'll have to do a little snooping."
"Pffft! They're not gonna advertise it on the freakin' radio, Knockout!"
"I'm not tuning in to your human entertainment frequencies! I'll pick up the EMR from nearby communication devices. If a human around here is talking about a race on their phone, I'll hear it."
"You can do that?!" Miko sat up, leaning forward with interest. "Where'd you learn that? Are you like a secret spy master or something? How does it work?"
"Primus, those Autobots don't tell you anything, do they?" Knockout mumbled, "Well, we Cybertronians can detect electromagnetic radiation. I know you humans have a very short range when it comes to seeing these things... you're limited to just colors, aren't you?"
"Wait, what's electromagnetic radiation mean?"
"Do you really need to be back in time for school tomorrow? It doesn't seem to be doing you much good."
Miko folded her arms angrily across her chest. "Listen, if you're just gonna be a jerk about it, then-!"
"Oh, don't slip a piston!" Knockout interrupted her, "EMR is just a fancy way to say waves. You know, like radio waves or microwaves. I know you know what those are... Well, your communication devices use variations of those, and I can pick them up."
"So you can like, eavesdrop on my cell phone calls?!" Miko's eyes widened.
"Don't worry, I have better things to do than listen in on you and Bulkhead prattling about... whatever it is you two get up to. Car wrecking spectacles and music and such."
"Yeah, okay..." Miko mumbled, still suspicious. "Guess I should be careful what I say on the phone when you're around, though..."
"As flattered as I am by your paranoia, it's not a special skill of mine." Knockout continued, "Most Cybertronians can do it to some degree. In fact, Soundwave could do it from a world away without even trying. So you'd do well to be careful what you say regardless of who's around... Now, if you don't mind, I'm not especially practiced at this, so you have to keep quiet so I can focus!"
"Alright..." Miko shrugged and scooted back in the seat again, waiting quietly. She started fiddling with her cellphone too. She'd have to remember to tell Jack and Raf not to say anything important and/or insulting over their phones anymore... Just in case the 'Bots (or maybe even the 'Cons) were listening in.
Several minutes went by as they listened to background chatter on the radio, most of it completely indiscernible anyway. Miko let out a quiet sigh. "This is taking forev-"
"Quiet!" Knockout interrupted, "Listen."
The volume on Knockout's radio increased as a voice started coming clearly through his speakers. "-ter tonight, yeah? Should make for an interesting race. Eight miles this time, on a straight stretch of road."
Another voice answered. "I dunno, man. Is M.D. gonna be there too? I'm sick'uv losin' to that guy..."
"Whatever. If you change your mind, starting line's at Dixon Park. One hour."
"Yeah, ok. Maybe I'll-"
The voice cut off as Knockout switched off his radio. "Dixon Park in one hour." he repeated. "Alright, now we just have to find out where that is."
"No worries, Doc Knock!" Miko flipped open her phone. "I got GPS on this thing, I'll just type it in aaaaand..."
"Got it." Knockout preempted her declaration with his own. He then proceeded to swerve across two lanes to the freeway exit.
"Wha-? Can you see what I'm doing on my phone even if it's not a call?" she demanded, staring down at the tiny map on her screen.
"Why yes, I can." Knockout purred, absolutely loving how much this was annoying her. "You know, you really shouldn't be so surprised about this. You've gotten communique from the 'Bots on your phone before, right? So you should've known we can tap into those networks."
"Yeah, but that's just..." Miko shrugged, holding on tight to the handle on his door as he swerved around a corner, careful to not stop for that red light. "Getting phone calls from the 'Bots just... It seemed different. I dunno..."
"Well it's not just calls, you know. We can also-" Knockout suddenly cut himself off. Miko waited for a moment to see if he'd finish his sentence, but then her phone buzzed in her hand. Looking down, she saw a text message had popped up- "do this!"
Miko raised an eyebrow as she glared at Knockout's dashboard. "You think you're sooo cool right now, don't you?"
The medic just offered a short chuckle as he changed lanes. "On a more serious note," he said after a minute, "we need to find you something more suitable to wear to this race."
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"
"I haven't the time nor the patience to answer that question in full-"
"Quit makin' fun of me!" Miko punched his steering wheel lightly, forcing out a short honk.
"Ha ha! You're almost as fun as Ratchet when you get riled up!" Knockout laughed. As he did, he slowed to a stop on the side of the city street. There weren't many cars around, and the street itself barely had any people on it either. Knockout continued, this time in a more serious tone. "If you're going to show up at a street race, you'll need to look like a street racer. Right now you just look like a kid wearing too many colors."
"I like these colors!" Miko pouted.
"That's not the issue." Knockout replied curtly. "The issue is that you look too young. Nobody is going to believe I'm your car and you're a racer if you show up looking like you lost a fight with a rainbow."
Miko growled something inaudible and kicked her feet slightly. "Fine. Whatever... So what should we do?" she mumbled finally.
Knockout's passenger door popped open at the question. "Over there. See that restaurant patio?"
Miko crawled over to the passenger seat and looked out onto the sidewalk. Just across from her, she saw a number of short tables and chairs just outside what appeared to be a sports bar. The windows were still lit up and she could see some people moving around inside. "Yeah?" she asked.
"There's a jacket on that chair over there."
There was indeed a black leather jacket slung over one of the chairs near the door. "What about it?"
"Grab it."
Miko glared back at Knockout's dashboard again. "What?! That jacket prob'ly belongs to someone inside!"
"Maybe. But they're inside. And they left their jacket outside. Doesn't seem very responsible to me." Knockout replied. "We'll be doing them a favor by taking it. Maybe they'll learn a lesson."
"That's stealing!" Miko insisted. "It's against the law."
"Guess what, sweetspark? Street racing is against your precious human laws too!" Knockout slowly rolled up the street just a bit so that his open passenger door was directly across from the jacket on the chair. "So... are you still willing to break some rules? Or shall we give Ratchet a call? I'm sure he's dying to know where-"
"No!" Miko cut him off.
Still crouching on Knockout's passenger seat, she turned back towards the open door and the jacket just across the sidewalk. She stared at it intently for a long moment... then, pulling in a deep breath and holding in, she bolted from the car. She snatched the jacket off the chair, pivoted around, and dashed back into Knockout's cabin, practically diving into his seat. The door slammed behind her and the red sports car peeled off down the road, tires squealing on the pavement.