TRANSFORMERS
Imperial Wings
A girl is given a second chance at life, in exchange for ending the war of Transformers. It's about as easy as it sounds. And, whilst sorting out her own life, she discovers two younglings without mothers, and the reason why their families fight.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Emma The Flame Of Love Girl? !
O~O~O~O~O
It was early the next morning when Carly's phone began ringing. Sleepily, the blonde picked up and answered. "H-hello?" She yawned. She paused for a second, before saying: "Yes, this is she." Her green eyes widened. "W-what? Oh! Oh…oh my Lord! You're kidding, right? Okay, yeah, I'll tell her!" She hung up in a slight daze, staring at the phone. Then she hurried to get dressed.
O~O~O~O~O
"No."
"Please?"
"I said no."
"And I said please."
"And I don't care! What part of no don't you understand?"
"The part where it doesn't mean yes."
Emma turned around and threw her hands up into the air, frustrated. It didn't help when she saw the smile on Sideswipe's face; it was knowing and pleading. It was hard to say no when he was looking at her like that, but she was going to be firm. She was going to stand her ground.
"I am not going to sing for you, Sideswipe, so forget it!" Emma informed him, trying to not to look at his holoform's eyes. They were bright blue, like the ocean and the sky. Be firm, be firm, be firm… She thought, walking down the hall and into a room of the Ark, where she found Optimus, Jazz, Prowl, Bumblebee, Ratchet and Sunstreaker grouped around Telatran-1.
Sunstreaker turned around when they entered, locked gazes with Sideswipe (who had returned to robot form) for a brief instant, and then looked at Emma. "Emma!" He said brightly.
Emma stopped. "What?" She asked, suspicious.
"Sing for us." Sunstreaker said, grinning.
O~O~O~O~O
On the Nemesis, Megatron was seeing red. He was trying – and failing – to keep his cool, and it was Starscream who was suffering for it.
The other Decepticons in the room could only watch and, when it was finish, Thundercracker hauled Starscream to his feet.
Megatron took a moment to regain his composure, before turning to Soundwave. "Get every shred of information from him, do you understand?"
"Yes, Megatron." Soundwave replied in his monotone.
"In the meantime," Megatron said, more to himself than to anyone else. "I'll send out the Stunticons to..."
Starscream's head shot up, and the other Decepticons watching him noticed a flash of fear across his red optics. "W-wait, Megatron!" There was a slight note of panic in the Air Commander's voice, which he attempted to hide as he went on with: "The Stunticons…th-they're psychotic! They could do more damage than good!" And destroy my source of power and means of taking you out, Megatron! He added silently, blocking his mind from Soundwave just in time.
Megatron turned around, and Starscream quickly rearranged his face into a look of indifference.
Megatron's own red optics pierced into Starscream's, as if they were holding a silent conversation. Then, Megatron turned to Soundwave. "Interrogate him." He ordered coldly, before walking out of the room.
Starscream gave Soundwave a look of intense dislike. Just try it, underling! He thought.
Soundwave, of course, didn't reply.
O~O~O~O~O
"NOOOOO! ! !"
Carly, who was climbing out of her car, looked towards the Autobots' base in surprise. "Was that Emma?" She wondered, walking quickly into the base. Further investigation led Carly to the communications room, where she found Jazz, Prowl and Bumblebee all physically trying to restrain both Emma and Platinum from attacking Sunstreaker.
The blonde blinked. "O…kay…" She said slowly. "Did I miss something?"
"Carly!" Sideswipe exclaimed when he saw her. "Isn't it your birthday or something today?" He turned to Emma, who was glaring at a decidedly unaffected Prowl. "Emma, you should sing happy birthday to Carly!"
"Gu-ys!" Emma complained, finally giving in to Prowl and stopping her attempted assault.
Finally, Optimus became involved. He looked at the twins, and said: "Alright you two, enough." In the same tone of voice he used when talking to his daughter. The twins shut up.
Emma gave Optimus a grateful look.
Prowl put Emma down, and she walked across to Carly. "Hi." She said, by way of greeting.
"Hello, winner." Carly replied, smiling.
"Winner?" Emma cocked her head to one side. "And…what exactly did I win?"
"I got a phone-call this morning, since I was listed in the phonebook and you weren't. Remember that karaoke contest…" Carly's smile grew.
So did Emma's. "You mean…?"
Carly nodded.
Both the girls shrieked: "WE'RE GOING TO FLORIDA! !"
"The judges thought you were the best singer in the contest!" Carly exclaimed. "I'm not joking!"
"I can't believe it!" Emma cried, happily.
"They seem happy." Optimus said to Ratchet.
"Do all humans get this loud when they're happy?" Ratchet complained.
"I think we deafened Ratchet. Wait, how many was the trip for?" Emma asked, as she and Carly hugged.
"Thirteen," Carly stepped back to look at Emma. "I mean, of course I don't have to…"
"Of course you have to come!" Emma exclaimed, the smile now permanently fixed on her face. "You and Spike both get to come!"
Carly looked thrilled. "Okay, but can I ask why?"
"Mahari-ku-maharita-yanbara-yanyanayan…" Emma sang softly, and both girls laughed, remembering Priscilla.
"Sing louder." Sunstreaker urged her.
"No." Emma replied.
"Aww, come on, Ems…" Sideswipe wheedled.
"No," Emma shook her head. "And don't call me Ems."
Just then, Hound came into the room. He looked around, and then said to Emma: "Good news?"
Emma nodded, grinning. "I won that karaoke contest! I never win anything, and now I did!"
Hound looked thrilled. "That's terrific, Ems!" He told her.
"I know!" She replied.
They smiled at each other.
"Hey, how come Hound gets to call you Ems?" Sideswipe wanted to know.
"Because…" Emma blushed, wanting to say that Hound had earned it, but not wanting to sound conceited.
Luckily, or maybe not so luckily, Carly suddenly asked: "Hey…you have to take ten others along with you…who's it gonna be?"
It suddenly seemed that everyone was looking at Emma, who seemed to shrink. "Umm…" She mumbled. "Oh…you know…"
"No," Sunstreaker said. "We don't know…"
Emma looked at Carly. "How long until I get to go?"
"The head of the planning committee wants you to come to this address today." Carly replied, handing her a piece of paper. "But he said sometime later this month?"
Emma nodded. "Can we take your car?" She asked, glancing back at the Autobots.
"Sure." Carly understood.
Optimus cleared his throat. "Uh, Emma…"
Emma turned to him. "The Decepticons won't be trying anything for awhile, not after what happened at the beach, I'm sure."
"Or maybe they will, because of what happened," Ratchet replied, giving her a Look.
She looked down. "Well, at any rate, they probably won't be expecting me to not be with an Autobot," She reasoned. "And, I'll have Platinum with me…everyone's scared of her, you know, even Skywarp and Dirge."
The Pythormer arced her neck in agreement, playing a few bars of The Boatman Song from the jewel on her forehead.
"Hmm…true…" Optimus agreed.
"So, you'll let me do this on my own?" Emma asked hopefully.
Optimus was a little startled. Aqua often said that to him, right before she did something extreme. Like volcano-surfing…
Emma seized the opportunity, and grinned. "Thanks, Optimus!" She said, grabbing Carly's hand and dragging the blonde out of the room. "Bye, guys! Oh, bye Aqua!" She added, as they passed the little youngling who was on her way in.
"Bye-bye!" Aqua called after them.
"Wait…" Optimus raised one hand, but the two girls were already gone. He sighed.
"Parenthood can be hard." Ratchet said, diplomatically, causing Aqua to blink her optics in confusion.
"Yeah, so can guardianship." Sideswipe informed them. "I don't trust that the Decepticons will leave her alone, not after they saw that power at the beach."
"I agree with Sideswipe," Optimus nodded. He turned to Hound, Jazz and Prowl. "Follow them, and make sure they don't get into any trouble. Don't let them see you." The three chosen ones nodded.
"Hey, how come they get to go?" Sunstreaker complained.
"Because they," Optimus replied. "Don't seem to be the ones to rile Emma up all the time. You two do." He glanced at Sideswipe.
"Only because they're in love with her!" Aqua chirped.
Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked startled, but couldn't say anything with Optimus Prime in the room.
Aqua grinned mischievously.
"Aqua, what have I told you about secrets?" Ratchet sighed.
Hound looked troubled.
O~O~O~O~O
"I think the twins like you, Emma." Carly said, as they drove through the streets of the city .
Emma blushed. "R-really?" She gulped. "Why?"
Carly laughed. "It's obvious, isn't it? They're always following you around, and they get jealous when you pay too much attention to other Autobots!"
Emma blinked a few times. She had suspected something was up, but hadn't thought it would be something like that. "But," She mumbled. "I'm not good enough…"
Carly slammed on the brakes, as they had just approached a red light that had once been amber. She looked at Emma. "I don't think that's true, Emma." She said seriously. "I think you underrate yourself."
"But…I'm a human…" She muttered.
Carly shook her head. "That doesn't seem to bother them."
"Well, it bothers me sometimes…" Emma replied, a little darkly.
"I know," Carly was sympathetic. "Unfortunately, we can't change what we are. We should just be thankful there are those that accept us for who we are."
"And then, there are those that don't." Emma told her, thinking of the Decepticons.
Carly nodded. "That too."
O~O~O~O~O
The head of the planning committee, who was tall, blonde, had worked in Hollywood, he said, which was why neither Emma nor Carly were surprised when he introduced them to a music producer.
"From what I've heard from Jace, with your voice, we could stand to make a lot of people happy with music, m'dear." The music producer told her. He wore a nametag that read GREG.
Emma sat frozen in her chair, feeling like everything was happening at once. She wished Platinum was there, but the snake had stayed outside, to avoid attracting too much attention.
"You mean," Carly said quietly. "That this karaoke contest was just a way to scout out new talent to promote?"
Jace and Greg laughed. "Well, I must admit, it does seem that way, doesn't it?" Greg smiled, but it did not extend to his eyes. "Now, Emma, do we have a deal?"
Emma gulped. "Uh…I need to…think about it…discuss it with my…uh…to discuss it…" She looked at Carly for help.
"We'll let you know." Carly stated firmly.
"Hmm…" Jace looked at the two girls. "Do you have any ID on you?" He asked Emma suddenly.
Emma turned the colour of her favourite dress. "Umm…" She muttered. "I…uh…" She suddenly looked down. Platinum was back and urgently nudging her ankle. In the snake's mouth was a driver's licence. Emma pretended to cough, hunching over. She took the card and straightened up, smiling. She handed it to Jace.
She sat back, feeling relieved. She should have known someone was looking out for her, but she wished she knew how. As Prowl would say, it wasn't logical…or was it?
Suddenly, Emma wondered if Prowl was involved…
"Where can I reach you?" Jace wanted to know.
"Uh…at…Carly's…" Emma invented.
"Very well…I'll mail you the details and tickets…" Jace replied, as they all stood up and shook hands.
"I look forward to your answer, Emma." Greg said.
No, you don't. Emma thought, but she kept that to herself. He'd find out, soon.
As the two girls walked out of the tall building, Emma looked around, and thought she saw a police car around the corner. She decided she must've imagined it, as she and Carly headed back to her car. They walked across the street, but just then Emma dropped her driver's licence on the road, and stooped to pick it up.
Suddenly, she heard a car's engine, and looked up, startled, to see a black car slam on the brakes right in front of her, stopping so close to her that the front part of its square nose was touching her thighs.
She was frozen for a second, before looking at the driver, who was looking right back at her, a strange smile on his face despite the fact that he'd almost killed her. He had black hair that was partially shaved (a number one, or something, Emma couldn't recall what it was called) and sunglasses. He was impatiently revving the engine of his Ferrari 308 GTB, as Emma blinked at him.
Then, Platinum hissed softly.
Carly came running back, and grabbed Emma's wrist. "Come on, you're blocking traffic!" She scolded lightly, and dragged Emma off the road, so that the black car could continue.
"Carly," Emma gasped, stopping. "I think that was a Decepticon!"
Carly paled slightly. "Are you sure?" She wanted to know.
From halfway up the road, there was the sound of shifting metal.
"Absolutely." Emma said firmly, turning around to see the Transformer. "Oh, great, it's Wildrider…"
"Found ya!" Wildrider had a Texan accent and, despite his blue optics, Emma knew him to be evil and insane. "Aren't I lucky? !"
"Optimus is gonna say 'I told you so'!" Emma said, as she and Carly turned and ran, dodging screaming pedestrians and heading towards an alleyway, so as to escape the crazy Decepticon.
"You're not getting away!" Wildrider called out gleefully. They could hear him coming. "I'm gonna getcha!"
"Why send the insane one?" Carly wanted to know, as the two girls came out on another street, and were nearly run down by a white and red Lamborghini Countach, which swerved and transformed into Breakdown.
"Don't look at me, just let us capture you or Megatron will kill us." Breakdown said.
"And the paranoid one." Emma looked desperately at Platinum. "Can't you transform?" The snake shook her head. "You can't? Why not? !"
"Ah, Emma," Carly grabbed her arm and pointed down the street, where a yellow Tyrrell P34 Formula One car was driving towards them. "Less talk, more–"
"RUN! !" Emma yelled, as Drag Strip transformed.
The two girls ran, somehow managing to dodge Breakdown, who called to Drag Strip: "First one to catch the girl wins!"
"Which girl?" Drag Strip asked eagerly.
"The pretty little white one!" Wildrider had joined them.
"They're going to get away." Dead End had also shown up, and he pointed to the two girls, who were halfway down the street by now.
"No, they're not!"
Emma gasped and yanked Carly back, as a black and grey Kenworth K1000 Aerodyne sleeper tractor-trailer swerved in front of them, before transforming into Motormaster.
Emma threw her arm across Carly instinctively. "We're doomed, this is not good…" She muttered, as the two of them stared up at the cold and cruel Decepticon in fear. She began pushing Carly back, not wanting her friend to be subjected to Motormaster's cruelty.
The Stunticons had surrounded them by that stage.
"Aww, does this mean Motormaster won?" Drag Strip complained.
The mech in question shot him a cold Look. "We're to bring the girl in white back to Megatron," He stated coldly. "Those are our orders, or did you forget?"
Drag Strip shook his head.
Motormaster looked down at Emma. "Now…"
"You have to let Carly go!" Emma said, her voice ringing. "She has nothing to do with this!" Her voice was shaking.
Motormaster's red optics bored into her hazel eyes. "Fine." He said.
Emma gulped. Now what?
Suddenly, there was the sound of car engines.
Emma and Carly turned to look, just as Hound, Jazz and Prowl transformed.
"Get out the way, get out the way, get out the way!" Carly exclaimed, grabbing Emma's wrist and dragging her out of the way.
The three Autobots slammed into three of the five Decepticons including Motormaster, tackling them to the ground which shook.
"GO! !" Hound called to the two girls, before punching Breakdown in the face.
They didn't need telling twice – but, first, they had to get past Wildrider and Drag Strip.
Drag Strip suddenly lunged forwards, and grabbed Emma in his hand.
"Emma!" Carly screamed. The Autobots heard her, but couldn't do anything to help, as they were busy fighting off the other Stunticons.
"I won!" Drag Strip smirked. "What do I get as a reward?"
Emma was scared, but seething. "This!" She cried, just as Platinum transformed into her larger self and lunged at Drag Strip's face.
The startled Stunticon dropped Emma, who somehow managed to flip over backwards and land on Platinum's back, just in front of the Pythormer's wings.
It was a strange feeling, like riding a giant metal horse. Emma's feet fell below the pink snake, and her hands clasped the metal in front of her.
Platinum twisted around and arced back towards Carly, who raised her arm. Emma grabbed the blonde's wrist, hoisting her up onto the giant snake's back behind her.
"Stunticons!" Motormaster shouted. "Combine!"
"Aww, damn…" Hound muttered, as the five Stunticons combined into Menasor, dwarfing the tracker, tactician and first-lieutenant.
Emma and Carly, sitting on Platinum's back, gasped, as the Gestalt lunged at the three smaller Transformers.
Emma nudged Platinum with her knees, and the Pythormer moved to intercept the attack.
"Hold on!" Emma called to Carly, and the blonde tightened her grip around Emma's waist, as the pink snake slammed into Menasor, knocking him partially off balance. "I won't allow you to hurt my friends!" Emma told him, her heart pounding. Her spark glowed a faint blue colour on her chest, and she was breathing fast. "Platinum, you know what to do!"
The giant snake flew forwards, clamping her mouth in a dry bite around Menasor's left arm (Dead End). With no difficulty, the snake lifted the Transformer off the ground, carrying him effortlessly almost out of the city, before tossing him far, out of the city where he de-combined.
Emma, Carly and Platinum watched with immense satisfaction, waiting for the crashes. Then, they headed back to the three Autobots.
"E-Emma!" Hound seemed stunned, as the girls dismounted and Platinum returned to her smaller form. "That…that was…"
"Crazy…" Jazz mused, grinning. "Totally out-there…"
Emma smiled. "It was all Platinum's doing…" She said, going over to Hound. The Autobot picked her up, and held her up to his eye-level. "But…thanks, guys, for coming to my rescue again…" Her smile faded. "Megatron sent out the Stunticons…he really wants me, badly. I don't know what to do…"
Hound hugged the girl gently to his chest plate, and she noted how warm it was. "We'll protect you." The tracker vowed.
"Just don't get hurt…" She whispered.
Hmm… Carly thought. I wonder if Emma might be…and if Hound is… She realised what this could mean, and smiled wryly. She never would've guessed it…I wonder what Sunstreaker and Sideswipe would say…a love-triangle…hey, come to think of it…Spike's going to be upset he missed this, he had to go grocery shopping!
O~O~O~O~O
The Stunticons were battered and bruised, but not completely destroyed. They lay on the sand, unable to believe that a snake had that much power even for a Pythormer.
"Never give up!" Drag Strip said.
"I knew this was going to happen." Dead End had the worst injuries, from where Platinum had grabbed him.
"I hope they don't come looking for us." Breakdown muttered.
"It could always be worse!" Wildrider exclaimed.
"I hate that snake…and I'm going to get that girl…" Motormaster vowed.