Heya! Back with another chapter! Idk why I can't write super long chapters? Like, once it hits about 4k words my brain says "that's enough". Smh. I'm trying to force myself to write more than that so some chapters are longer than others, also this episode would have been SUPER long if I hadn't split it up into two chapters lol.
JokersBatman: Thank you so much for your kind words! Considering this is a re-write of a previous (unfinished) story I had tried to write before, I very much hoped it would be more interesting to read. And yes, there will defintely be angst in the future regarding her, her father, and the Cybertronians~
Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers and all its characters. I only own Paige and Swiftblade.
"And then I said- Are you even listening to me?"
"What?" Paige blinked several times to focus her mind back on reality, staring at the offended expression of her friend. She smiled sheepishly and sat up straight, closing her notebook. "Sorry, I guess I've just been kinda out of it today…"
"Uh, yeah. I noticed." Miko rolled her eyes in exasperation with a huff. She looked back down at her notes and ran her fingers across her scalp in frustration. "Ugh, I can't believe Mrs. Watson gave me extra classwork because I wasn't paying attention in class…"
Paige shook her head and glanced at Miko's paper. "Maybe if you didn't draw so much during class, it wouldn't be a problem." She tapped one of the equations on her friend's paper. "You did this wrong. You need to solve for b first, then c. Not the other way around."
"I give up!" Miko all but threw her pencil down and bonked her head on the table.
"Nuh-uh. I'm not letting you quit that easily." Paige snagged the worksheet and turned it just enough so that she could see the paper properly. "Come on, pick that pencil up. I'll go over it one more time."
Groaning, Miko reluctantly lifted her head and grabbed her pencil. She turned her focus back to the worksheet and listened as her friend began to explain how the equation worked once more.
It was lunchtime and usually they'd be sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch with the rest of the students, but the girls had been assigned to go to the school's library to work on missing assignments and homework. Well, in Miko's case, it was missing assignments. Paige had been working on any work she had been given the day of to be ahead - as usual. She didn't like to leave her work alone for too long. That's how one normally forgets they have any at all. That is, if they didn't immediately forget about it the moment it was shoved into their bags to take home. She grew up doing her homework the moment she got home, or at least whenever she had a free moment. Getting it done sooner meant she could have fun afterwards and not have to worry about it later. That always kills a good mood. It was one of the worst feelings. So she had learned early on to suck it up and do it right away.
Miko on the other hand was the type to drop it, forget about it immediately, and not worry about it until a teacher scolds her for it. She was all fun, games, and no work in sight. Once it was out of sight, it was out of mind.
It's actually kind of funny how similar but also how different the two girls were depending on certain things. Maybe that's why they got along so well. They could both party hard, but Paige was usually the one to reign it in when things got out of hand or thought it wasn't a smart decision in the first place. She was the anchor for their cruise ship of parties when a storm came to rock their world. It was the reason Miko even tolerated her at times when Paige got adamant about doing or not doing something. Paige was the type of person to call you out on your dumbassery but still have your back to the very end.
It was comforting in a way.
The rest of the day went by without much incident. Well, except for the scowl Vince had sent Paige's way as they passed each other in the hallway. He must've still been upset about the race. She rolled her eyes at the thought. He needs to dig that stick out of his ass before it becomes a permanent fixture in his tailbone, she mused with a shake of her head.
Pushing the door open, she stepped out of the way of passing students and took a moment to breathe in the fresh air after being cooped up inside a building for eight hours. She stretched her arms above her head and smiled in content. "Ah, sweet freedom," she sighed blissfully.
"Paige! Come here and look!" Miko's excited call had her scanning the area. The foreign exchange student was sitting on the little stone wall the railing was attached to for the stairs. She had a wide smile on her face as she waved her friend over, her pigtails waving with her movements. When Paige got closer, Miko nearly shoved her sketchbook into her face in her excitement. "Look!"
Paige blinked a few times as she grabbed one end of the sketchbook to hold it in place so she could look at the drawing, knowing fully well that her friend would've pulled it away to continue drawing without giving enough time to properly examine the paper. She admired the sharp angles of what was clearly a motorcycle, along with the addition of pink hearts, a sun, and rainbows floating around it. She always liked how colorful the girl's drawings were. She always made an effort to add colors in all her drawings. They were never boring to look at. "Nice bike," she smiled, letting go so her friend could continue drawing.
"I know, right? Just look at it!" Miko spread both arms forward toward the parking lot in front of them, a huge grin on her face.
Paige followed her gaze and her green eyes landed on the blue motorcycle sitting next to her own. Her eyebrows rose in surprise and mild admiration. The body itself was slim and was clearly built for speed, while her own bike was a bit wider and was built for durability on both the pavement and dirt roads. It was why she liked it so much. While it could go fast if she wanted to, she appreciated it for all her spontaneous joy rides.
This blue motorcycle, however, was setting her on edge. She got the impression she was being watched and she swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Okay, don't panic. Maybe it's on the yellow one's side… That one hadn't attacked us.
Yet, that little skeptical part of her brain scoffed at her. She frowned in response.
"Right." Paige breathed out after realizing she hadn't responded for several moments. But when she looked back at her friend, the girl was already engrossed in her drawing again. Running her fingers through her fringe, she descended the steps and walked over to her motorcycle. She made an effort to walk to the side that wasn't next to the blue one and grabbed her helmet off the seat. She reached up to put the helmet on, only to stop when she saw someone exit the building out of the corner of her eye.
Resting her helmet on her hip, she turned and waved him over. "Hey, Darby!"
Jack blinked in surprise and walked over to her. "Oh… H-hey, Paige." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I wanted to thank you again for last night… I really appreciated your help."
"Aw, no worries." She smiled softly and waved her free hand dismissively. "How are you feeling today? Did you sleep okay?" She tried to discreetly glance at the blue motorcycle with her eyes, hoping he'd get the hint and notice the thing sitting there.
But he was rubbing his neck and looking away, not noticing either of the things. "Well-"
"Jack!" Both heads turned to see Rafael Esquivel standing beneath a tree near the street, waving at the teen in question with a smile.
Jack sighed in discontent and Paige gave him a sympathetic smile. "Hey." She reached over and nudged his arm gently with her fist, a friendly gesture to get him to relax a little. "I'll come with you. I wanted to talk to him anyway," she told him. He simply nodded and she set her helmet on her seat. She grabbed the handlebars, kicked the stand up, and began walking with Jack to the boy. She called over her shoulder as she did. "See you tomorrow, Miko!"
"Bye!" Came the mostly distracted but still cheerful call back from the girl, making Paige shake her head with a fond smile.
Once they got near the tree, she parked her bike just off the side and followed Jack the last couple of steps to the youngest member of Memorial High. He was watching her curiously as she approached and she smiled. "Hi~ Rafael, right?"
He adjusted his glasses and eyed her curiously. "Just Raf is fine. You're… Paige Bishop. From Chemistry class."
She winked playfully at him and placed a hand on her chest. "That's me!" She then grew a little more serious as she leaned down to be more at eye level with him, lowering her voice to be a little more secretive. "Hey, I, uh… saw what happened last night and I never got the chance to talk with you. I wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay." She eyed him up and down and was relieved to see that he didn't look like he had been harmed in any way.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he quickly shook his head. "Oh, no, I'm fine! Really." He glanced between her and Jack - who was standing awkwardly at her side. "I couldn't stop thinking about it!"
"L-Look, Raf…" Jack started and then sighed, rubbing his neck. "Let's just keep this between us and forget any of that ever happened, okay?"
Raf opened his mouth to respond but a few honks cut him off, catching their attention. Paige straightened to her full height and did a double take. The yellow-and-black muscle car from the previous night pulled up to the curb beside them and opened its passenger door, beeping at them in its strange speech. It kinda sounds like morse code, she realized offhandedly. She wasn't even surprised to see no driver behind the wheel but it was still an odd sight to see regardless.
"It… wants us to get in," Jack guessed hesitantly, unsure.
"No," Raf corrected casually. "Just me."
"H-how do you know that?"
"He said so." Raf looked like it was an obvious answer, but it was clear that Jack was the only one who couldn't understand the yellow vehicle's unique speech. He then tugged on Jack's sleeve and turned him back to the school parking lot, where he pointed towards the blue motorcycle. "Your ride is over there."
While they were distracted, the boy hopped into the back seat while casually starting up a conversation. The door closed and drove off, with Jack yelling at them to stop, but his pleas were unheard. He stared after them for a moment before turning to scowl at the parking lot - or at least at the blue motorcycle.
Paige took pity on him and offered a sympathetic smile. "Hey, I can take you home again if you want?"
He seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, thanks… It'd be better than that thing."
Sending him another pitying look, she walked over to her motorcycle with him in tow and handed him her helmet. He accepted it without qualms. They got on her bike, she started the engine, and she pulled off onto the street and started heading for his house. The ride was silent for several moments and she kept glancing at her mirrors. Sure enough, a minute later the blue motorcycle was coming up behind them with a person decked out in leather driving it. She frowned in confusion but called over her shoulder to warn her passenger.
"Don't look now, but we're being followed."
"Oh, great," came his grumbled reply.
Hiding a snort, she pulled into an alley and slowed to a stop. She turned to watch the motorcycle and rider pull up behind them and caught Jack's withering look. She shrugged as if to say 'what?' "It was going to keep following us anyway. That model is built for more speed and could probably pass mine on the road easily." He simply groaned in response, reaching up to pull the helmet off.
"Relax," a feminine voice spoke, and Paige wasn't sure if it was the driver or the motorcycle. "I just want to talk to you."
Jack slid off the seat, handing the helmet back to Paige who took it without a word. "Don't you mean you and your new friend?"
"Kid, there's a lot you don't understand." Paige's jaw dropped as the driver suddenly fizzled out of existence like a hologram, leaving the motorcycle standing up on its - her? - own. She would've dropped her helmet if she hadn't set it in her lap while she listened to the two talk.
"Oh, no, I-I-I get it, I get it!" Jack threw up his hands in a placating manner as the motorcycle turned herself to face them with her headlights, making him back up against Paige's motorcycle. "The first rule of Robot Fight Club is you don't talk about Robot Fight Club." He then frowned as he spoke his next words. "What you don't understand is I don't want crazy, talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!"
Paige watched in awe as the motorcycle transformed into one of the bipedal robots from the day before, her body just as slender as her bike form and definitely on the feminine side of appearances. She knelt down in front of them, cornering them in the alleyway. "Look," she said, losing her patience a little before trying again to be as polite as she could. "Jack, is it? Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence." Her blue and pink-rimmed eyes flicked to Paige. "Both of you."
That jump-started Paige's brain into functionality once more as she blinked in surprise. "Optimus Prime?"
She gave a minute nod, her gaze shifting between the two teens. "You may be in danger because you're one of the few - one of the only who have ever seen us."
"Dude, what are you two waiting for?!" They turned to see a certain Japanese girl peering out from the corner of the alley not-so-stealthily, a smile on her face. "Go with!"
"Scrap…" The robot groaned in response, suspiciously sounding like profanity.
Paige placed a hand on her hip and gave her friend a playful glare, though she couldn't help but smile a little. "Miko, what are you doing here? And what have I told you about sneaking around like that?"
"Psh!" Miko waved her hand dismissively as she walked towards them. "I saw you going on an adventure without me so I had to come and find out!"
Paige rolled her eyes half-heartedly. She didn't get a chance to speak as the robot let out a sigh. "Well, you get to come along too," she said begrudgingly. She then transformed back into her motorcycle form. "Hop on."
"Sweet!" Miko cheered, hopping once with a fist raised high in the air.
Jack hesitated for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh and mounting the blue motorcycle. Paige turned to her friend and held out her helmet. "Come on, you danger-hound. Get on already."
Miko squealed and ran over to snatch the helmet and plop it onto her head. She then mounted behind Paige on her motorcycle and nearly squeezed the breath out of her when she wrapped her arms tightly around her waist.
"Oof! I-I'll follow you," Paige breathed out through a strained smile, patting Miko's hand to get her to loosen her grip. Thankfully she did - only by a little, but she could work with that.
The blue motorcycle revved her engine before driving off, with Paige following right behind her. They exited the alley and turned back onto the main road heading out of town. The ride was silent for the most part, aside from Miko whooping from behind Paige. As they headed out into the desert, they caught up with the yellow muscle car escorting Raf. They came up to a stop sign that split the empty road into two separate directions and Paige recognized the road as the one she would use for joy rides on her motorcycle sometimes. She watched as both vehicles blew the stop sign and kept speed as they hit the dirt, and she followed right behind them. They were coming up fast to the large mesa in front of them and she could only watch with bated breath as neither vehicle slowed down as they quickly approached it - she could hear Jack scream above the wind, also having the same thoughts.
Then, the rock face suddenly slid open and revealed a sort of tunnel on the inside. She released her breath as she drove inside after them, winding through the tunnel before slowing down as the others did. They slowed to a crawl speed and Paige's jaw dropped as she gazed up and around the main area.
It was an old military base, that much she could tell. There were railings and platforms snaking all up the wall towards the high ceiling, and there was a large singular elevator near the front. The catwalk with the elevator spanned in both directions and took up nearly half the room, along with a few workstations recently built in. Standing at a terminal with several green screens was a white-and-red robot that watched their entrance cautiously. From one of the two other tunnels came two more robots. One was very large in both width and height and was green. The other was about the yellow robot's height, though slightly more on the slender side. Its paint job was black-and-silver with green highlights. And all of them had varying eyes of cyan, she noticed.
Jack and Raf exited their escorts before the vehicles transformed. Paige shut off her engine and dismounted her motorcycle along with Miko, who nearly threw her helmet at her friend. Paige caught it and then pushed her motorcycle off to the side and out of the way, setting her helmet on the seat, before joining the teens in the middle of the room. She stepped on uneven ground and looked down, only to see a strange insignia on the floor. It actually kind of looked like a robot face.
"I thought there were three?" Paige looked up to see that the white-and-red one had spoken, his voice gruff with an underlying tone of confusion.
"Haven't you heard?" The blue one placed a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Humans multiply."
"I'm Raf!" The boy held out his hand towards Miko in an attempt to shake hands, but the girl was too much in awe as she ran towards the three robots standing next to one another.
"I'm Miko!" She pointed at the green one, the other two watching her curiously. "Who are you?"
"Bulkhead." The poor thing sounded put off, nervous about being suddenly spoken to with such excitement.
Miko gasped. "Are you a car? I bet you're a truck - a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?!"
Seeing the awkward blinks of the big robot had Paige stepping forward and slinging her arm around the excited girl's shoulders. "Okay, Miko, calm down a little. You're making the poor guy nervous." Miko shot her a playful glare which only made her giggle, but she wisely kept silent. Releasing her friend, she placed a hand on her chest as she looked up at the robots with a friendly smile. "I'm Paige. What are your names?" She glanced at the black, yellow, blue, and white-and-red robots.
"Ratchet," the white-and-red one huffed.
"Swiftblade." The black one inclined his head in greeting.
-I'm Bumblebee!- The yellow one chirped, gesturing to himself. Raf translated for him.
"Arcee." The blue one waved one hand dismissively, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I-I'm Jack."
There was a moment of awkward silence that thankfully Raf decided to break. "So, if you guys are robots… Who made you?"
"Pfft!" Ratchet scoffed and rolled his eyes, sounding offended. "Puh-lease…" He then looked up as another set of footsteps entered the room.
Paige felt the ground tremble beneath her feet at the sound of the heaviest set of metal feet she had ever heard. She whipped around and stared in awe at the sheer size of this new robot. It was much taller than Bulkhead and when it passed Arcee, she realized the two-wheeler only reached its hip - being the smallest of the group. It was colored red, blue, and silver and stood above their heads with an air of authority that Paige could just feel. She followed Miko as they went over to stand beside Jack and Raf.
"I am Optimus Prime and we are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, also known as Autobots."
Paige's eyebrows shot up in surprise and awe. Aliens. Real, living aliens. I did not see that coming.
Jack took a few steps forward. "Why are you here?"
"To protect your planet from the Decepticons."
"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night," Arcee elaborated.
"And why are they here?" Paige asked, placing a hand on her hip as she tilted her head curiously.
Optimus knelt down to be at a lower level to speak with them. Even then his head was still high above the teens. "A fair question, Paige," he responded. "In part, they are here because our world is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of civil war."
She frowned at this knowledge. Civil war was never a good thing. "Why were you fighting a war?" She then held her breath as she saw his cyan eyes briefly spin as he began his short tale.
"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of Energon - the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Deceptions alike." She pressed her lips into a thin line. That doesn't sound like the main cause of a war, only a byproduct of dwindling resources. She kept her mouth shut, listening as he continued. "The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was thus that Megatron lost his way."
She tilted her head slightly, trying to understand what they were being told. "Who is Megatron exactly?"
Optimus closed his eyes for a moment. "He is the leader and warlord of the Decepticons."
That's what I thought, she mused with a frown.
Miko sighed dramatically, playing with the end of her braid. "Is there gonna be a quiz?" She asked, leaning against Paige's shoulder. Paige sent her a half-hearted glare for the rudeness but said nothing. The girl simply smiled cheekily.
"So, what does Megatron - or any of this - have to do with us?" Jack asked.
"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic." Optimus' tone was grave and it made a pit of dread settle at the bottom of Paige's stomach. He then stood up to his full height. "And since you now know of our existence, I fear that as of last night the Decepticons know of yours."
"Got it. If we spot any strange vehicles, call 911," Jack said before gesturing towards the tunnel they came from. "Can we…go now?" Paige sent him a baffled look but it was Miko who turned and got in his face.
"Are you insane? I am living a dream here in Bot-swana and I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!"
Paige set her hand on Miko's shoulder and gently pulled her away from him. She then frowned at him, placing her free hand on her hip. "Jack, my guns barely did any damage against that Decepticon. I was lucky to find a small weak spot on it. Granted, my pistols aren't rifles, but what are the police going to do about it? Our bullets don't seem to do much damage against their armor." He seemed to consider her words with a frown.
"Wait- you have guns? You fought a Decepticon? Why didn't you tell me?" Miko asked, offended as she crossed her arms.
Paige sent her a dry look. "Yes, concealed carry. And what was I supposed to say? 'Hey, girl, guess what you missed? I almost died distracting some giant robots from flattening two classmates from school!'" She crossed her own arms with a roll of her eyes, gaining a few shocked stares at her words. "Yeah, that's a real kicker of a conversation to have with anyone."
Someone cleared their throat to interrupt the conversation and they turned to look up at Optimus. "It is best that you four remain under our watch. At least, until we can determine our enemies' intentions."
"Optimus," Ratchet spoke up. His tone was low like he was trying to be discreet, but they could still hear him. "With all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere." His words made her raise an eyebrow.
"Children?" Jack asked, mildly offended.
"Until we turn 18, we are still children, Jack," Paige told him, earning a frown from him.
"They have no protective shell," the bot continued. "If they get underfoot, they will go… Squish!" He stomped his foot on the ground for emphasis, causing three of the teens to flinch and step back while Paige simply frowned at him.
I get the sense that he doesn't like us very much, or humans in general.
"Then for the time being, Ratchet," Optimus responded, mildly amused. "We must watch where we step."
A green light suddenly began flashing accompanied by an alarm. The bots looked up before turning towards the terminal as Ratchet walked over to it.
"What's that?" Jack asked, alarmed.
-That's our proximity sensor for the top of the base.- Bumblebee explained, making Paige's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She barely registered that Raf translated it for the other two. She was watching Ratchet pull up a video feed showing a helicopter still powering down and a blinking human blip walking towards the elevator.
"It's Agent Fowler," he announced with unbidden annoyance.
"I-I thought we were the only humans who knew about you guys?"
"Jack, I highly doubt they would have stayed off the government's radar for long," Paige told him, crossing her arms.
"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world," Optimus explained as he turned towards them. "As he tends to visit only when there are…issues… It may be best that you do not meet him at this time."
Paige clapped her hands once together loudly, startling her classmates as she turned towards them. "You heard him. Let's hide." They nodded and quickly looked around before running over to stand against the wall in a spot not easily seen by the elevator. Just in time for the elevator to beep upon its arrival.
"Seven wrecks, thirty-four fender benders, a three hour traffic jam," a man listed off as soon as the elevator doors opened. "And a particular note… Numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black-and-yellow custom muscle car." The two bots in question exchanged a glance and seemed to shrug at each other.
Paige paled when she saw Jack peeking around the corner and she reached over Raf to pull him back into hiding by his arm. He sent her a glare and she simply shook her head, silently telling him it wasn't a good idea to do anything that might reveal themselves. He sighed quietly but reluctantly agreed.
"So, anything you care to get off your tin chest, Prime?"
"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler," Optimus told him.
"They're back, aren't they?"
"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left. Your planet is much too valuable."
Paige frowned in confusion. How long have the Decepticons been on Earth? And how exactly is our planet 'valuable'? She pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to Fowler's rather rude and cocky responses. What is Earth's government supposed to do about them?
"Hey, fleshy!" Bulkhead stepped forward, fed up. "Did anyone get splattered on that freeway? Team Prime knows when to use force." He reached somewhere above the teens' head and ripped what looked like a mechanical arm off the workstation with a small spray of sparks. "And how much to use." He then squeezed it in his fist, causing the metal to groan as it was crushed before breaking further.
"Bulkhead, I needed that!" Ratchet stepped forward angrily, looking like he was ready to strangle the bot. Must have been one of his tools. Note to self: don't touch Ratchet's tools.
"Enough!" Optimus' reprimanding tone was enough to quiet the two bots and cause their brewing argument to falter. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties, Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."
Paige's eyebrows shot up in mild surprise. Her respect for the Autobot leader was growing more and more with each passing second. He really does care about our safety… The safety of all humans.
"Then do us both a favor and handle this, Prime. Under the radar. Or I will." The elevator beeped as its doors closed, but Paige did not step out of hiding until she was sure he was gone.
"Pretty big bearings, for a human," Bulkhead commented.
"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead. As he should be," Optimus told him.
I must say, I envy those who can actually draw Transformers. Because I really wish I could design Swiftblade for myself. But alas, my skills are only in furry art and a little bit of humans. A girl can dream though.
I'm trying not to follow the episode dialogue TOO too much, so you might notice some is missing. That's me trying to be original and not just a "oc takes this person's line from the show and MAYBE does something different". Which also means you may notice that some episodes are missing ENTIRELY. That is also due to me trying to keep this as original as possible while still following the plot/timeline of the show. I am doing my best here yall.
Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts in a review!