A: Hi guys! Yes I'm still alive! Sorry for the wait but we've been havin' some problems.
E: WE meaning her, my wonderfully clumsy friend broke her ankle.
Heather: Hahaha! Yep. You were craaaanky!
A: Thanks guys. But I was talking about the writers' block.
Zoey: Oh...
Terra: Real nice guys.
A: Anyways, I owe my dedicated readers so I'll try to fight this writers block and get the next chapter up reeeeaaaal soon!!
E: Oh joy. More to edit.
Heather: JUST START THE CHAPTER!!!
E and A: OK! OK!
Special thanks to xJustAnotherDreamerx for helping me
Special thanks to Kaimaler for helping with the ideas
and Special thanks to Scarlet16 for keeping me motivated.
:D And thanks to all the reviewers, (sorry again for the long wait! )
Terra's POV
I groaned. My head was pounding and my eyes were squeezed shut. Where was I and what the heck happened? Everything hurt. The last thing I remembered was-
"OH NO! ZOEY!!!" I cried as I sat up in a vehicle.
"Terra, calm down," I heard a familiar voice command.
"What happened? Where are we? Where's Zoey? What's going on?!?!" My questions flew out faster and harder than I had intended.
"I will answer, once you have calmed down," Optimus replied. Of course he would be the one to remain calm when there's a crisis, "We were attacked by the Decepticons. You were unconscious due to an electric wave. Are you feeling alright?"
I felt a small smirk forming, "No."
I twitched as I remembered the jolt from the electric shock that coursed through my body. What a jerk! Ow...
"What about you? Are you alright?" I asked It was the polite thing to do. Though at the moment I was not intending on remaining too polite.
There was a pause, "...No."
I choked out a half-laugh. I guess it's what they call nervous laughter...I was still a bit shaken up.
Looking out the window I realized they had left the city and were nearing where they met Bumblebee in the movie...well, sort of. Now it was Jazz. I hoped Heather was alright.
"Is everyone alright?" I asked nervously.
There was a rumbled sigh, "No one is alright, Terra," There was sadness in his voice.
"Why?" I asked, now confused, "And why isn't Zoey riding with you?
The stereo that he had been talking through remained silent. Optimus was probably trying to find a way to explain what happened in a calming way. I was sure nothing major could've happened. That was when I noticed something.
"You're all torn up!" I exclaimed while taking a closer look at the seats, windows, dashboard, and really the entire interior.
There was yet another rumbled sigh, "That is the least of our worries."
I was confused, "What do you mean?" I asked as I turned behind to see the others. Ratchet was right behind in his Search and Rescue form.
Still there was no response. I hated long pauses, and this wasn't helping.
"What?" I asked nervously, "It looks like everyone is here..."
"They took Zoey, and we pursued them as long as we could. We lost Barricade, and we don't know why they took her. We didn't have much of a choice..."
I felt my heart rate speed up, which I'm sure Optimus caught on to, but right now I didn't care. My blood rushed to my cheeks in anger.
"WHAT?!?! Why?! Why would they take Zoey!? She's as normal as I am!!! Why in the world would they want her?" I couldn't believe this. I became angrier as I thought about this more and more. Why couldn't the Autobots save her?! Surely they could handle that...
"We do not know at the moment, but we must carry on. Our task at hand is...severe," He sounded regretful and apologetic, but I didn't care.
"Oh and her life isn't?!" I snapped back.
I knew we weren't their friends, but come on! What happened to the protecting life thing? Wasn't that supposed to be a big rule with them.
"I didn't say that," What a frustrating reply. Of course I was used to getting those.
"But...but we should go after her! This isn't what happened in the movie. I mean...you found Bumblebee and the Decepticons found you in mission city. No one but Sector 7 kidnapped anyone!!" I let my anger get to me. My trembling hands clenched tightly into fists.
Optimus' form rumbled, "I am disturbed by this also, but I am afraid there is nothing we can do at the moment."
"That's it," I replied flatly...and calmly. Too calmly for my liking, "THAT'S IT!?! I get it. Lives of 'insignificant humans' --especially ones from another dimension-- come last on a to-do list of a robot!"
"Terra," Optimus kept his cool. As if he didn't get that what I had just said was directed as an insult, "We value all life. The difficulty of retrieving Zoey is, at the moment, while doing so there is a greater possibility she would remain safe... The Decepticons would be free to 'win' as you humans say they did not do in the movie."
I opened my mouth to bite back...but I couldn't. I growled in frustration. WHY did he have to be so right all the time? Then again...I unfortunately knew the horrors the Decepticons were known for. To know someone, one of my closest friends, taken by those...those...monsters made me steam with anger again.
"So we sentence her to death," I growled.
I couldn't contain my anger any longer. I reacted by kicking the dashboard, but there was no response. It was almost like he expected me to do something like that. Because he was the "all-knowing" leader. I rolled my eyes at the thought...I was practically boiling.
"You're a punk ya know that?!" Tears fogged up my vision.
Wow. I couldn't believe I had just said that. I guessed Heather was rubbing off on me more than I wanted to admit.
There was a low sigh. I knew that the Autobots really did care, and they were doing there best.
"Why...but...I mean," The tears spilled, I tried to ask as sincerely as possible, "Why did they attack Zoey? Isn't there any way you could've stopped them?"
"We tried all we could," He said sincerely, "I was unwilling to 'give up'. In fact, most of the injuries that I sustained were caused by pursuing Barricade. Please, Terra, you must believe me when I say we did all we could."
Now a fresh wave of guilt waved over me. They could have just given up on us many times. They could've just left us on the dumpsters in that alley, left us at the hands of Sector 7, and also they could've left us who weren't kidnapped by the Decepticons...but they didn't. Crap! Stupid guilt!
An uncomfortable silence formed. I shook my head to try to organize my thoughts.
"...I'm...sorry," I said sadly, "I didn't mean...well, ok so maybe I did. But..." Apologies were usually a breeze for me, but heck I was still upset.
"It is natural for you to feel upset. You are reacting from your loss of a friend," He replied calmly, "We do not blame you."
"Yeah, tha--What do you mean we?? So everyone's listening, huh?"
No response. I could hear something strange though...
I rolled my eyes, "I know you can hear me, so don't try to muffle your laughter I was wondering what that was.
"...We're caught," Ironhide grumbled.
"Ironhide! If you'd just remained quiet this wouldn't be an issue!!!" Ratchet scolded.
"It was...difficult..." Ironhide replied defensively.
"Nice guys. Very nice," I brought on the sarcasm. Then, "LOOK! It's Jazz and Heather!!! Finally!"
"What's crackin' guys?" Jazz's voice filled the radio.
"Hey guys!!!" Heather called as Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and Ironhide did the coolest U-turns in history.
That is...they would have been cool if you weren't being tossed around like a rag doll. I squeezed my eyes shut as they quickly fell in line behind Jazz and Heather.
"Heather!" I called back, relieved to know one of my friends was safe. Yeah, I was still furious about Zoey, "You're ok?"
"Duh!" Yep. This hasn't fazed her a bit, "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Lemme see, do those slaggin' S7 agents ring a bell?!" It was Jazz who answered that.
"Pfft! I can handle that! Puh-lease, Terra, quit worrying sooo much about me!" There was a bit of silence before the dreaded question, "Uh...Zoey?"
I didn't know what to say to that. I hung my head, "Heather...there was...uh," I sighed and just spit it out in one word that covered it all, "Decepticons."
I could picture Heather's eyes becoming as big as saucers, "NO...you can't be serious! And...but...what???!"
"Prime. What happened?" Jazz said, all of his slang melting away.
"We were ambushed, and Zoey was captured by Barricade," Short, sweet, and to the point. Now for the fun part.
"HOW could this happen!?!" Heather screeched, "This wasn't supposed to happen!! Some guardians of life you are!! How could they just escape and none of you be affected! Doesn't that--"
"Heather!" I interrupted, though my own thoughts could brand me a hypocrite, I wasn't happy about going through the anger twice, "Believe me I screamed the same things...and more. But if the Decepticons win we're all TOAST!"
There was silence, then a new voice said,
"Fighting-spirit...ok?"
"Heather..." I was sure I didn't want to know the answer but here I go, "What was THAT??"
"Um...you remember S7 using the cube to bring the cell phone to life...well...I saved him," I fought the urge to bang my forehead onto the dashboard. It was Heather we were talking about. I could only smirk at the thought of how she managed to "convince" Simmons to let the thing go.
"Of course ya did," I said out loud, actually grinning for the first time since I was awake.
"So what's the little guy's name?" Sam asked over the radio. Ok, now that was also unexpected.
"Was everyone listening in the entire time??!" I asked, now blushing from embarrassment.
"Yeah. Pretty much," Mikaela replied in the same tone as she would admit she went shopping the other day.
"Umm..." Heather said, breaking the silence, obviously concentrating on the original question, "I haven't come up with anything yet...so I call him S.E.B."
The semi rumbled, "What inspired that name?"
"Well it stands for Super Energizer Bunny. Cause the name Simmons gave him when...oh yeah...you weren't there..." Heather trailed off.
I figured I'd start a subject changer, "Come on, Heather. Why not a different name? Like...uuh: Chat...or Digit."
"How about Tweet or Zap?" Sam suggested.
Names were tossed around by both humans and transformers...it amazed me how the Autobots could multi-task like that. Only Optimus remained quiet, I couldn't decide whether it was thinking or concentration...then again this conversation was a good stress-reliever. With every name we suggested, little S.E.B. turned it down. I was beginning to get frustrated with the little Bot.
"How about Clicks?" Prime's voice randomly said.
"Hmm...I like it!" Heather said, I could tell by her voice she was smiling.
"I do too!" Mikaela and I chimed in at the same time.
"Me like," S.E.B---errr, I mean, Clicks, said.
"Prime," Ironhide's voice suddenly sounded cautious, "We are approaching the city rapidly, and by the looks of it, this'll be rough."
"Affirmative," The leader sounded confident, "Autobots, prepare for battle!"
E: FINALLY! I thought you'd never get done with that!
A: Oh shut up!
Heather: I liked that chapter!!
Zoey: That's because you were in it and nothing bad happened this time! *glares daggers at author*
A: Oh you'll get outta there...I think...I haven't decided yet....
Heather, Terra, and Zoey: WHAT?!?!?!??!
E: Uh oh, that's our cue to go!!!
A: Yeah, thanks readers! *dodges flying objects* PLEASE REVIEW and keep these three from killin' me!!!
E: Thanks for reading!!
A: I just said that!
E: No you didn't you said "Thanks readers!" Not "Thanks for reading!"
A: Same thing!
E: Is not!
A: Close enough!
E: No it isn't!!
Heather: Now it's your turn to shut up!!!
Zoey: Just review people! The faster ya do it, the faster they shut up and write! And the faster ya'll figure out what happens to me!!! Help me readers!!!