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 EIGHT
Love Potion Is Exciting ~Real Intense~
O~O~O~O~O
"I cannot believe that not one of you was able to capture a single little girl." Megatron said coldly, his red optics glaring into his subordinates. He paced back and forth, slightly uneasily, across the floor.
"Uh, well, technically she'd be about twenty-one," Wildrider spoke up, and then shrunk under the glares of both Megatron and Motormaster. "So…uh…she's not…such a little girl…you know…?"
Motormaster gave him a Look that said shut up or die, before turning back to Megatron and saying: "Our mission's success was heavily compromised by the Autobot's interference. It seems they have made protecting this girl their number one priority…"
"Hmm…" Megatron mused, pausing in his pacings to turn to the three Coneheads, who were present. "You three have dealt with the Autobots whilst attempting to abduct that girl. Tell me, how would you describe the way they protected her?"
"Without hesitation, milord," Thrust said promptly. "They were always there, watching out for her. They attacked us…almost fiercely, sire…"
"Like they were ready to kill us, I mean more so than usual." Dirge added.
"And," Megatron seemed to be leading up to something. "Would you say that she is already someone very…precious to them?"
"Absolutely." Ramjet nodded. "It was almost…hmm, how can I describe it?"
"Like she meant more to them than their lives?" Megatron said softly.
The three Coneheads nodded.
There was a collective group silence, which was broken by Breakdown muttering: "Autobots are really weird."
Megatron nodded. "Maybe so…but I have a plan that will turn the Autobots' own feelings against them!" He had extracted a great deal of information from Starscream – enough to piece together a strange puzzle, one that shocked even Megatron. Between Transformers having holoforms and the human girl having a Pythormer for a pet, Megatron had spent a lot of time figuring out how best to obtain this girl with the strange power of a spark. Who was she? Where had she come from? What was the extent of her power? What was her power?
Megatron didn't know. All he knew was that he had to find out, and now he knew how to…
The Autobots seemed to care a great deal for this girl…but, soon, they wouldn't…
O~O~O~O~O
"Ready, Emma?" Hound was in his alt mode, but his holoform was in the driver's seat, and glanced over at the girl, who wore blue denim shorts and a white singlet.
She looked determined but, at the same time, anticipating. "Ready." She replied, taking up a fitting stance.
"Set?" Hound revved his engines.
Emma's fingers dug into the sand around her bare feet.
"Go!" They both shouted.
Emma pushed herself forward, running at her normal pace, which Hound kept pace with because the point of this was not a race.
"Ten kilometres!" Hound called to Emma.
"Okay!" She called back, increasing her speed slightly. She could feel the strain in her legs – she didn't really like running (she preferred rollerblading) – but, at the same time, she felt a strange urge to run faster.
"Fifteen!" Hound called to her. Then: "Seventeen!"
Emma didn't answer, save for the grin on her face because, just then, she felt the now familiar poundings of the All-Spark in her chest, and it was pushing her to run faster. Hound kept pace with her the whole entire time, marvelling at how she was pushing herself across the sand. The sun was high in the sky by that time, and sweat glistened on her bare arms and legs. He eventually forgot to check her speed.
Just then, up ahead, Emma noticed that they were approaching the sand dunes, and moved herself closer to Hound, saying: "I don't think I can run any further!"
"Then hop in!" Hound replied, his holoform holding out his hand, which Emma grabbed.
Hound's holoform pulled Emma into his lap just as they reached the sand dunes. She yelled with joy as they seemed to fly over the sand, and Hound's holoform made sure she didn't fall out. He may not be her guardian anymore, but that didn't seem to be an issue. They enjoyed each others company, and that was all that mattered.
O~O~O~O~O
Back at the base, Platinum had watched Emma leave with Hound. The Pythormer was in her smaller form, lounging on the very top of the Ark, sunning her belly. As a Transformer, she didn't really get a tan, but the sun seemed to give her more energy. Platinum didn't like the rain. Now she flicked her tongue in and out, testing the scent of energon in the air. Was that a flicker of unfamiliar energon she sensed?
No, probably not…
Platinum flipped over onto her stomach. Time to let her wings soak up some rays, and not her eyes. She buried her head under one of her wings. Sleep time, maybe?
O~O~O~O~O
"So, how fast do you reckon I was running?" Emma asked, looking up at the blue sky with fluffy white clouds.
"I'd say about thirty-three kilometres." Hound replied, just in his alt mode now. He didn't feel the need for his holoform at the moment, since Emma happened to be lying on the hood of his Mitsubishi J59 Jeep alt mode. She was lying on her back, unknowingly doing what Platinum was doing back at the base, however Emma was staring at the sky.
"Just thirty-three K's?" Emma seemed disappointed.
"That's still faster than most humans can run, you know." Hound reminded her, and she nodded thoughtfully.
"Hey," She said suddenly. "Doesn't that cloud up there look like Sunstreaker?" She pointed.
Hound looked. "Hey, it does…" He agreed, for it did.
"And there's Sideswipe…" Emma now pointed to a Sideswipe-shaped cloud. "But, what's that heading towards them…?"
Emma and Hound both watched as a cloud shaped like the Autobot medic came in between the two cloud-twins, and his hands cut their heads off.
Emma cringed, and pretended to tug at a neck-collar. "That isn't…so far off the mark…"
"D'ya reckon Ratchet's found out that they were the ones who painted his room bright pink?" Hound wondered.
"Yeah, probably…" Emma said, watching as an eagle flew overhead, before turning onto her stomach. Curling up slightly, she yawned. "Primus, I'm tired…all that running was hard work, Hound…"
Hound laughed gently. "You think driving's any easier?"
"When you were born to do it, yes." Emma replied, smiling.
O~O~O~O~O
Emma and Hound got back to the base very late, so late in fact, that nearly everyone had retired to their rooms.
"You two missed out on drinks." Ironhide said, when Hound walked in with Emma in his hand.
"That's okay, we found a crystal cavern." Emma explained.
"A what?"
Hound and Emma exchanged a secret smile. "Oh, never mind…" Hound replied, walking towards the hallway.
"Goodnight, Ironhide!" Emma called to him.
The weapons-specialist watched them go, and then he smiled. He was reminded a little bit of Chromia and himself, though not in the same way…
The thought of his spark-partner made him miss her now more than ever. She had been his perfect other half, a tough-as-nails, weapons-loving warrior, someone he could rely on. He always seemed to think about her when he had high-grade energon, since it acted differently to the normal stuff. Then again, she had been such a big part of his life, that he shouldn't be surprised he missed her so much…
O~O~O~O~O
"I take it Lazerbeak was successful?" Megatron smiled, as Soundwave walked in with an eagle on his shoulder.
"Affirmative." Soundwave replied, as the eagle flew off his shoulder, arced around in mid air and transformed back into Lazerbeak. His holoform had been successful in infiltrating the Autobot base, and lacing their energon source with the potion the Decepticons had created just that morning, which contained (among other things) a single piece of Emma's hair, left behind on Dead End in the last fight. The potion was designed to mix in with the chemical substances of the Autobots' energon and, when it hit their systems, would – somehow – make them completely hate Emma. They wouldn't be able to stand her, and may even try to destroy her. Then, she would run, and the Decepticons would be right there to save her.
Then, she would become their pet, and her power would be Megatron's.
O~O~O~O~O
When Emma woke up the next morning, her first thought was: I want to go out again with Hound today. Her second thought was: I should shower first…
So, she did, after telling Platinum to go and find Hound for her, and she sang in the shower, which was typical of her. "On a night like this, I wanna stay forever…" She sang the Kylie Minogue song, almost at the top of her lungs, since she was quite sure none of the other Autobots would be awake since they probably all had hang-overs. Did they drink as much as Decepticons? What was it about high-grade energon/alcohol that made beings like it so much? Emma herself enjoyed a glass or two of red wine, probably more than she should, so she could vaguely see why. It made people act strange, though. It altered the brain, somehow. It was weird.
Emma got out the shower after fifteen minutes (it was a good thing the Autobots got their water heated from the volcano) and towel dried herself. She put on her underwear, and then her bathrobe without tying it properly, before returning to her room where, to her surprise, she found Sunstreaker waiting for her and, not too surprisingly, Sideswipe.
What was surprising were the looks on their faces when they saw her.
Emma stopped. "Yes?" She asked, suspiciously. She seemed to get very suspicious when the twins were involved.
Sideswipe spoke first. "Emma," He said, saying her name almost reverently. "We've been thinking..."
"About?" She was feeling more uncomfortable by the second. Why were the twins looking at her this way? She gathered her robes around her more tightly.
"We've realised..." Sunstreaker had a very un-Sunstreaker-like look on his face.
"What?" She took a half step back as both twins stepped forward.
"We can't stand it anymore!" Sideswipe declared.
"Please, go out with us!" Sunstreaker exclaimed.
"Please." Sideswipe added.
Emma stood absolutely frozen to the spot, in complete and utter mortification. Her hands slipped from her chest, and her robes fell partly open, but she didn't care. All that mattered to her right now was trying to figure out why the Lamborghini twins had suddenly gone completely insane.
Hadn't she always dreamed of being asked out by a guy? And now, two hot guys were asking her out, yet...something didn't feel right...namely, wasn't Sunstreaker supposed to hate her or something?
"I...I...uh..." She stammered, stepping back and trying to readjust her robes. The twins never stopped looking at her. She tried to sidestep the situation by saying: "Well...I...uh...I can't...you see...I'm going out with Hound...today..." She trailed off, when she realised that all the twins might've heard was 'I'm going out with Hound'. Judging by the looks on their faces...
"That slagger." Sunstreaker muttered.
"Trying to steal our girl from us." Sideswipe agreed, and the twins shared a Look.
"Whaaaaa...? !" Emma blinked in shock. "I am nobody's girl!" She took another step back, towards the door, and the twins looked at her, their expressions turning to absolute thrill.
"Then that means you can date us!" The two mechs said in unison.
"I...I caaaan't! ! !" Emma nearly shrieked, before turning and running from the room, nearly running into Mirage, who appeared to have been waiting just outside the door for her.
"Emma!" His holoform exclaimed softly, when he saw her.
"Oh, thank Primus, it's you!" She cried, taking a second to stop and tie her robes. "Listen, do you know why Sunny and Sides are...?" She broke off, because Mirage's blue eyes had darkened. Uh-oh...
Mirage's arm looped around her shoulder, just as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe came out of her room, and stopped when they saw the sophisticated Autobot spy.
"You two are to leave my femme alone from now on." Mirage said, very clearly, and Emma felt her face turn red.
"Why don't you make us, slagger?" Sunstreaker said, angrily.
Mirage's grip tightened on Emma's shoulder, and she immediately dodged away from him, pivoting slightly on her heel to face the three of them, a look of shock on her face.
"Not you too, Mirage!" She fairly wailed. "What's gotten into all of you? !"
"We're in love with you!" The three mechs declared.
Emma just stared at the three of them. They stared back at her.
Just then, Emma became aware of another set of eyes watching her, and turned around fast to see Bumblebee's cute holoform gazing endearingly at her.
"You too?" She asked him.
He nodded. "Uh-huh."
"Kyaaaaaaa! ! !" She screamed, and ran full-tilt past Bumblebee, down the hallway. "I CAN'T HANDLE THIIIIS! ! !"
Her scream was heard by all of the residents of the Ark, including Aqua, who was drinking energon-formula-milk out the front of the base.
"Hmm..." The youngling blinked. "Something's going on...I wonder what it is...oh, a cat..." She was distracted, like any child.
O~O~O~O~O
Ravage certainly looked like a cat, to Aqua, but in fact he was a small black panther. His holoform crept towards the base, intent on getting close enough to hear what was happening and report back to Soundwave.
However, he suddenly found himself picked up by Aqua's holoform.
"You are so cute, Mr. Kitty!" Aqua declared, hugging the feline that was nearly as big as she was. "I'm gonna keep you, and you can be my pet!"
Ravage gave the girl a Look. He couldn't recognize that she was a holoform, which was probably just as well. All he recognized was that she was an annoying child, but he couldn't do anything to jeopardize his mission, including harm the girl in any way, shape or form.
She was saying something about 'playing baby', but he thought he could handle that, whatever it was.
O~O~O~O~O
Emma was flat-out sprinting down the hall, even though at the speed she was going she was sure she'd left the four love-struck mechs far behind minutes ago. She stopped to catch her breath, leaning against the wall and feeling her heart hammering in her chest.
"What is going on here?" She wondered, her head spinning. "I just wanted to spend a quiet day with Hound, enjoying nature, and now..."
"Did you say enjoying nature?" A calm, deep voice said from behind her, and she nearly jumped out of her skin because it was a mech's voice.
She turned around, to see a man with the same skin tone as Jazz's holoform, he had dark hair and wore blue three-quarter-length shorts and a white and blue t-shirt.
"B-Beachcomber?" She guessed. "Have we met before?" Probably not, which means he won't be saying he's in love with me...
"I don't think so." The mech smiled at her. "Because I think I'd remember a beauty of nature like you..."
Emma didn't say anything – she just ran. She ran down the hall and was about to turn right, but she caught sight of Jazz there.
He saw her. "Emma!" He called out, looking happier to see her than he should've.
"NOOOOOOOO! ! ! !" She screamed, and turned left, nearly flying down the hallway and through a doorway.
She sighed, her heart racing in her chest, and her spark feeling oddly warm. She turned around.
"Ah..." Her breath hitched in her throat, and she suddenly felt very numb as she stared into the room.
Almost every mech she hadn't yet encountered that strange day was in their holoform in the room, watching a completely random anime about an anime version of Carly named Candice.
They all had their backs to her, and she hoped to keep it that way, as she backed out slowly.
Just then, Ironhide walked past the room in his robot form. "Hi, Emma." He greeted her without stopping.
"Hi, Ironhide." She replied, without even thinking.
At this exchange, almost every single mech in the room turned towards the door.
She cringed back.
"It's Emma!" Someone said.
"It's her!" Another exclaimed.
"Isn't she cute?"
"Hey, I saw her first!"
"What the slag?" Ratchet wondered.
Emma stared at him, before she realised something. He wasn't acting like the others, and neither had Ironhide.
She spun on her heel and charged off down the hall. "Ironhide, wait for meeeee! ! !" She ran around a corner, and he had stopped further down that hallway and turned back, looking quizzical.
A blue glow sparked from the disc on her chest, and hit Ironhide, forcing him to assume his holoform – he had dark blonde hair and slightly tanned skin, and wore blue jeans, a white shirt and a red jacket.
His blue eyes widened in surprise when Emma ran up to him and grabbed onto his arm.
"Ironhide!" She exclaimed. "You have to help me, everyone's acting so strange today, they're all saying they're in love with me, and only you and Ratchet are acting normally!" Her voice was slightly choked up.
Ironhide stared at her in shock for a second, before they both heard running footsteps.
Inferno, in his holoform, arrived first. He had dark red hair, and wore a red and black jacket, white shirt and white pants.
"You!" He said, pointing to Emma, who froze. "You've gotta go, now!" He raced forward and grabbed her hand. "Come on girl, let's go!" He dragged her off down the hallway, leaving Ironhide to deal with the oncoming mechs.
"Why are...you, Ratchet and Ironhide...the only ones acting normal, Inferno?" Emma half ran, and half clutched the stitch in her side. "Is it...because of Firestar, Arcee and Chromia? Would...Powerglide act normally too, because of Moonracer? And Prime, because of Elita? Why is this happening to me? !" She wailed. "What's gonna happen? !"
"You'll be fine," Inferno promised her, as they turned a corner and hurried into the front entrance room to the Ark. "We'll sort this out, Emma!"
Powerglide and Optimus Prime were waiting for them.
Inferno returned to robot form, holding Emma on his hand as he approached the other two mechs.
Emma was clutching her robes, and breathing heavily. She didn't like to run.
"What's the situation, Inferno?" Optimus asked gravely, after exchanging a Look with Powerglide.
"Most of the other mechs on the base seem to be acting the same way as Bluestreak and Trailbreaker, sir." Inferno informed the commander.
Emma's head snapped up. "Bluestreak and Trailbreaker, too?" She put her head in her hands. "Why is this happening?"
Optimus shook his head. "I don't know, Emma. Anything else, Inferno?"
"Yes," Inferno nodded. "As well as you, Powerglide and myself, Ratchet and Ironhide also appear to be unaffected."
"Because you already have spark-mates," Emma said quietly. "Primus warned me something like this might happen..." She muttered. "But why...?"
Just then, Prowl and Hound walked in, in their robot-forms.
Emma immediately jumped up, holding her hands out in a cross-shape.
Platinum rolled her yellow optics and flew over to her owner, wrapping her long body around Emma's wrists as if to say: They're not vampires...
"It's okay." Prowl said, straight away. "Hound and I are unaffected."
Emma didn't look convinced.
Hound looked right at her. "It's okay." He echoed Prowl. "I'll protect you."
Emma looked into his optics. They looked normal. She believed him. "Okay."
Optimus looked at the two mechs, and nodded. Inferno surrendered Emma to Hound.
"Hound," Optimus said to him. "Take Emma out of the base, and don't come back until we radio you. Prowl, Ratchet, Ironhide, Inferno, Powerglide and I will sort this out." Hound nodded.
"I'm sorry, Prime." Emma said contritely. "Because of me, everyone's acting weird."
"I doubt this is your fault in any way, Emma," Optimus told her. "Please don't worry."
Just then, through the doorway came the other male occupants of the Ark, all in holoform, and followed by Ratchet and Ironhide.
"We couldn't hold them off any longer, Prime!" Ironhide called.
"Hound, go!" Optimus ordered, and Hound transformed to vehicle mode, as Emma fell into the driver's seat. The seatbelt tightened around her, as Hound sped out of the base.
Emma caught a glimpse of the other mechs in the wing-mirror, and was shocked by the looks on their faces. What on earth had gotten into them? !
On the way out, Hound and Emma passed by Aqua, who was busy tying a baby bonnet around a black cat's neck.
"Hey, where did Aqua get a cat from?" Emma questioned, glad for the distraction.
"And where did she go to get that baby bonnet?" Hound wondered.
Platinum glanced back at Aqua and the cat, and hissed.
O~O~O~O~O
"I think we're safe now." Hound said, as they drove through the quiet suburban streets on the way to Carly's house.
Emma leaned back in the seats. "This entire day has been so strange," She said. "What got into everybody?"
If Hound could've shrugged, then he would've. "I don't know," He replied. "But it ticks me off."
"Huh?" Emma blinked. "What does?"
"Seeing all those mechs harassing you, giving you a hard time," Hound said, pulling into the driveway of Carly's house. He turned off his engine, but neither him nor Emma moved. "I mean, that's what we have Decepticons for. You shouldn't have to leave the base for the day just because the mechs won't leave you alone. It's not right."
A blush had started to form over Emma's face when Hound had started talking, and now she gulped. "You...you really feel that way?" She asked quietly.
"I do." Hound stated. "You shouldn't be forced into something you don't want. You should be free to choose."
"Oh." Emma fiddled with the straps on her dressing gown. "But...Hound...I...I wanted to spend the day with you...anyway. That's why I sent Platinum out to find you. Because we had such a great time yesterday...I thought...we could...be together again...today..."
"Oh." Hound echoed her, feeling a strange feeling welling up in his spark. "I see..."
"Sounds kinda weird, right?" Emma smiled in embarrassment.
"I don't think it's weird." He replied.
They were silent for a moment, before the front door to Carly's house opened, and the woman herself came outside.
"Emma? Hound?" She called, walking down the front steps. "What are you doing here?"
Emma closed her eyes briefly. "Hound, why don't you tell her?"
O~O~O~O~O
"How did we get roped into this again?" Spike asked Hound, as they sat side-by-side in the waiting room that smelt like nail polish and hair-care products.
"I know not." Hound replied, looking at the price lists and wondering what a Brazilian wax was. Did he even want to know? It sounded painful...
"Can't we leave them here?" Spike wondered. "Would they let us?"
"I think it would take a power greater than you or I." Hound agreed, just as Emma and Carly came out from the back room of the beauty salon, looking positively radiant. Their skin had been washed and exfoliated, their nails cleaned and painted. Carly's blonde hair had been permed, and someone had even polished the blue disc on Emma's chest. Both girls wore new clothes, and had their faces done up to bring out their natural beauty.
Hound and Spike stared. So did everyone else in the shop. That was probably because Platinum had also come out. The Pythormer's pink scale-like metal had been polished so they gleamed, the amethyst on her forehead shone, and her wings were shining too.
"I feel like a million dollars!" Carly exclaimed.
"Me too!" Emma agreed.
They both looked at Spike and Hound. "You guys can pay!" They said in unison.
The two males in question gulped.
O~O~O~O~O
Back at the Autobot's base, Prowl stood in front of the love-struck mechs, everyone was in their holoforms and Prowl looked like a police officer.
"Now," He said sternly, as Powerglide started up the overhead projector, and images appeared on the white sheet. "Who can tell me what this image is?"
"A fox." Mirage volunteered.
"Very good, Mirage." Prowl nodded, and the image changed. "And, this one?"
"The Niagara Falls." Beachcomber stated.
"Excellent, Beachcomber." Prowl replied. "Next?"
"That's Elvis Presley." Jazz pointed out.
"Right, Jazz. And this person?"
"That's no person!" Sunstreaker exclaimed. "That's an archangel, a pure vision of beauty rivalled only by myself!"
"That's Emma, the most beautiful femme in existence!" Trailbreaker cried.
"She's utterly amazing, beautiful, power and gorgeous!" Bluestreak stated. "She's the greatest being in existence, that picture is only a true mark of her utter gracefulness and sweet nature! She is unrivalled by any femme!"
Everyone stared at Bluestreak, before most of them nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he's right," and: "Bluestreak's right on, there."
Prowl face-palmed. "Dear Primus..."
O~O~O~O~O
"Ice-cream, I love you." Emma said happily, digging into a giant chocolate sundae.
"How can you eat that?" Spike wondered. "It's as big as you are! They don't get much bigger than that!"
"Umm, the Deluxe Ice-Cream Avalanche does." Carly responded, digging her spoon into her strawberry sundae. "It has a mountain of vanilla and mint ice-cream, with tiny little chocolate chips that look like skiers and white toffee in the design of a frozen lake."
"How do you know that?" Spike asked her.
"Because I just saw one go by."
They all turned, and saw the two waitresses place a humongous dish on a table nearby. It was exactly as Carly had described it.
Emma's eyes sparkled. "I'm ordering one of those next time." She declared.
"No way, you'll turn into a blimp." Carly responded.
"Not with all the running around I do." Emma sighed. "If it's not one thing, then it's the other, not that I'm complaining or anything. You know, I'm surprised the Decepticons haven't atta-" She broke off, as Hound clamped a hand over her mouth. "Mph-mmp-hmm..." She glared at him.
"Ssh-shh, don't jinx it!" Hound hissed.
Carly and Spike laughed. They were sitting on the roof of the department store, where there was a cute little café and everything. It was a beautifully warm day, the perfect weather for eating ice-cream.
They watched as a waiter carrying a tray of cocktail drinks walked past. Spike watched him place the drinks on the table, where sat a group of people in their mid-twenties.
"Ah, someday," He said, a little wistfully. "When we're old enough to drink..."
"It's not all that glamorous," Emma shrugged, as Hound let her go and she returned to her ice-cream. "I'd been allowed to drink for four years..."
"Yeah, that's right," Carly recalled. "In Australia, the legal drinking age is eighteen, isn't it?"
Emma nodded.
"What's it like?" Spike wanted to know.
Emma thought. "Hmm...I can't really explain it. I mean, I can drink one glass of red and I'm fine. At about two, I guess I feel kinda...lighter. That buzzy feeling you get. The most I've ever had is four and a bit, at my sister's sister-in-law-to-be's engagement party..."
"Wow." Carly nodded. "How did you feel afterwards?"
Emma laughed a little. "At the time it seemed like a good idea, but the next morning...hangover city..."
They all laughed.
"Yeah, I've seen a few Transformers get like that sometimes," Hound stated. "Usually the Autobots are pretty good, though. Prowl doesn't drink at all..."
"Fair enough," Emma nodded, and then she nearly choked on her ice-cream. She began coughing.
"Are you alright?" Carly asked her, as Platinum glanced up from her spot on the table.
"Y-yeah..." Emma stammered. "Just...I had a strange thought..." She looked at Hound. "I mean, you didn't drink last night, and apparently neither did Prowl, but everyone else did. And they're the ones who are affected, or at least the single ones are...so..." She met Hound's startled gaze. "The energon!" They both exclaimed in unison. Then: "The Decepticons!"
"Shh-shh!" Carly and Spike exclaimed in unison.
"I'd better radio Prime..." Hound said, jumping up. "Wait here, I'll be back..."
They watched him go.
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Carly muttered.
"Oh, why did you have to go and say that, Carly?" Spike asked her. "You know I hate it when you get bad feelings..."
"Hmm..." Emma looked up at the sky.
O~O~O~O~O
It's any wonder Megatron still trusts us to go out on missions! Thundercracker said, angling his jet body to fly towards the city.
We're gonna win this time! Skywarp cackled.
Would you two just shut up and fly? ! Starscream yelled, as they approached the location of the building where Emma's signature was coming from.
The three Seekers saw, to their delight, that Emma was only there with the two humans, Carly and Spike. Abducting her would be a whole lot easier now.
O~O~O~O~O
Emma's eyes widened in horror. "IT'S STARSCREAM! !" She shouted (one of the top ten or so lines she'd wanted to use in context in her life).
The three Seekers transformed, as tables, chairs and people went flying, and somebody got a face full of Deluxe Ice-Cream Avalanche. Spike got hit with a glass of cocktail.
"You're right, Emma," He said, holding his forehead. "Alcohol is over-rated."
"Told you." Emma replied.
"Well, Emma," Starscream's red optics burned into her. "Are you ready to admit defeat and come with us?"
"No slagging way, Starscream!" She cried.
"Oh, but who's going to come and save you?" Starscream smirked. "I'm sure you're fed-up with all of the Autobots by now..."
Carly gasped. "So, it was you!"
"You wreaked havoc!" Spike exclaimed.
"It was terrible!" Emma added. "Thanks to you, I've been in the spotlight all day! The Autobots wouldn't leave me alone!"
That stopped the three Seekers. "Umm, what?" Skywarp looked at her.
The three humans exchanged a glance. "Uh...you know?" Spike moved his hands in a 'come on' sort of signal. "The love-potion? The one that you spiked the Autobot's energon with?"
The three Seekers looked visibly confused. "Uh...we didn't put a love-potion in there," Thundercracker explained. "It was meant to have the opposite effect..."
"Yeah, well it didn't!" Emma exclaimed shrilly, her voice ringing. "Unless love is the new hate, that is! Because I had about eight mechs tell me they love me, and I can't handle that!" Platinum hissed in agreement.
Starscream looked right at her. "You're annoyed?" He wanted to know.
"Damn straight I am!" Emma snapped, glaring back at him.
"You've had it up to here?" Starscream held his hand up to his forehead.
"And some." Emma agreed, crossing her arms and nodding firmly.
"You'd like to get away from it all, right?" Starscream asked carefully.
Emma rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Screamy."
"Well, it was worth a shot." Starscream shrugged. "Skywarp, get her!"
O~O~O~O~O
Hound had heard Emma's scream, the scream he always dreaded to hear, and now he raced to her rescue. With enough force to take out a diamond-plated wall, he slammed into Skywarp, who had been about to grab Emma. Using his shoulder cannon, he fired at Starscream and Thundercracker, who dodged out of the way.
"What? !" Starscream was shocked to see Hound. "You should be inundated by your own feelings, Autobot!" He stated.
"Too bad for you, Decepticons, I didn't drink last night!" Hound replied.
"And neither did I!" Prowl had arrived, just in time to punch Thundercracker out of the way. The two Autobot mechs got between the three Seekers and the three humans.
"I will never touch alcohol after this." Spike declared. "Or high-grade energon..."
"Frag," Starscream muttered, glaring at his enemies. "Megatron was a fool for not realising the effects of high-grade energon versus low-grade energon..."
"He'll still blame us, he always does." Thundercracker said diplomatically.
"Who cares?" Skywarp cried. "It's not over yet! There's three of us, and only two of them!"
"Right!" Starscream agreed. "Seekers, let's go!"
"Platinum, help them!" Emma hissed.
Platinum gave her a Look that clearly said: no way.
Emma sighed.
Just then, there was an energy beam fired from seemingly nowhere, and it exploded on the side of the building right by the Decepticons.
The three of them screamed as they fell, before transforming and flying away in a quick retreat.
The Autobots and humans watched them go.
"Uh...okay..." Hound said. "What just...happened there?"
O~O~O~O~O
"I couldn't believe it when the side of that building collapsed," Carly was saying to Spike, as they rode back with Prowl, and Hound and Emma followed them. "Those three Decepticons just went right over the edge!"
"It certainly was unexpected." Spike agreed. "What do you think it was, Prowl?"
"I was unable to locate the source of the energy," Prowl responded briskly. "The information remains unknown to me."
"In other words, he doesn't know." Carly said.
"Right. Typical Prowl." Spike laughed.
Prowl let that comment go.
Just then, over his com-link, he heard the news he had been waiting to hear all day.
A cure had been found. The love-potion was no longer in effect.
O~O~O~O~O
That evening, Emma, Hound and Platinum sat outside on top of the Ark, looking at the stars.
"Starscream really seemed surprised that the hate-potion had turned into a love-potion." Emma mused, leaning against the shoulder of Hound's holoform. "He even seemed a little upset."
"That would have been because it meant failure, and Starscream hates failure." Hound replied, smiling. "I'm glad it all worked out in the end, though. Who would've guessed that the antidote turned out to be ice-cream?"
"Ice-cream cures everything." Emma giggled. Then, she sighed. "Ah, I still feel a bit bad about it, though. Everyone was apologizing for something they couldn't control."
"Hey, neither could you." Hound reminded her. "Nobody blames you. It was the Decepticons."
"Do you think your life would have been easier if I'd never shown up?" Emma asked quietly.
Hound was quiet for a moment, before saying, softly: "Emma...I'd rather die tomorrow...than live a hundred years without knowing you."
Emma's eyes shone. "Aww, Hound...thank you..." She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me...you're so sweet..."
Hound's blue eyes were sparkling. She...called me sweet! I'm so...happy!
"You're officially one of my very best friends now, Hound." Emma continued.
I haven't even gotten past the friends stage yet! I'm so...unhappy!
Just then, Aqua climbed up onto the roof in her holoform.
"Oh, you two are hugging," She smiled. "Are you...gonna kiss?"
Emma and Hound broke apart quickly.
"N-no!" Emma blushed. "Why would you say something like that, Aquamarine-Prime-One?"
Aqua giggled. "No reason." She sat down next to Emma and drew her knees up to her chin.
"Hey, Aqua," Hound wondered. "What happened to that cat you were with earlier today?"
"Huh?" Aqua glanced up at him. "Oh, Mr. Kitty got away...I followed him, but couldn't catch him..."
Emma and Hound exchanged a glance. "What has your Father told you about leaving the base unattended, Aquamarine?" Hound said, somewhat sternly but not really.
Aqua shrugged. "I had to catch the kitty."
"But that's not really the point now, is it?" Emma rolled her eyes. "The Decepticons don't know about you yet, Aqua. Younglings are very important," (Hound smiled at her). "And that is why you have to be careful." She glanced at Aqua. "You will be careful, won't you?"
Aqua nodded.
"You think you can do that?" Emma asked.
Aqua nodded again. "Of course!" She exclaimed, in a perfect imitation of both Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.
Emma and Hound exchanged another glance. "I don't trust your opinion." Emma stated.
Aqua blinked. "But I'm strong enough to fight! I even..." She trailed off. "Oh...never mind..."
Emma thought that if she and Hound kept on glancing at one another, they might be able to stare at each other forever.
He felt the same way.