WiFi is giving me major troubles GRRRRRRRRRR! Very long chapter, but hey we get to see the 'Bots so!... heheheh. Oo it's stormin' outside! Yay! Okay I'm obviously a bit off my rocker right so I'm just gonna post this now. Read & Review please!
By the time we entered that dark alley where everything would happen, my breathing had returned to normal. Or it'd had time to. Now I struggled to keep it regular again. I'd sat up in my seat, having recovered from the soreness of everything, and was trying desperately to keep both my body and my thoughts under control. I was excited- No, ecstatic-I needed a new word! But I was also extremely nervous.
First, I was no good at meeting new people anyway. I've mentioned it before; first impressions are not a strong point of mine. Just the possibility of the entire meeting being one big screw-up worried me.
Second, add that to the fact that I was actually meeting characters that up until a few days ago were fictional. Now they were real, alive, and here. Not just any characters either. Characters I admired, idolized and yes, even loved. They all had a special place in my heart, a place I had pushed down, hidden away because of cruel reality. I had kept it down since I'd met Bumblebee because circumstances had demanded it, but he was among these characters so dear to me. But now they were reality, and the place in my heart reserved for these characters could come out from its hiding place.
And it threatened to burst.
The last thing I want to do, I thought to myself. Is fangirl. I had read many a fanfiction where the person lucky enough to go into the world they were a fan of would absolutely freak out. This is exactly what I felt like doing, and what I was afraid I would do, but it was something I would not do. I wanted, needed to be taken seriously, which would be hard enough to accomplish as a child. Add to that the fact that I had some very important information that could possibly change the course of the story, the history of this world, and you can see how important it was that I was heeded and believed.
That information was the final reason I was so nervous. How would they react? Would they believe me at all? How much should I tell, and how much should I just let happen?
I let my head fall into my tote bag, which somehow I'd been able to keep with me. This is too much, I thought, beginning to panic. I can't do this! There's too much to think about, too much responsibility for me! Oh God why couldn't you have picked someone smarter, stronger, older?
Forcing my head up again, I huddled in the backseat of Bumblebee's vehicle mode. I hugged my tote bag to my chest, having nothing else to hold on to, and brought my knees as close as I could. Subconsciously I think I was trying to curl myself into a ball.
No, calm down. I forced myself to breathe deeply, trying to slow down my jackhammer of a heart. Then I lowered my feet to the floor and slipped the straps of my tote bag over my shoulder. I swallowed thickly, rubbing my hands on my jeans to dry them of the buckets of sweat they were creating. Gross, I thought in mild disgust of my bodily functions. Well, at least I wouldn't be shaking any hands.
When Bumblebee came to a complete stop, I took one more deep breath before gently undoing my seatbelt, opening my door and stepping out. The alley was exactly as the movie had portrayed it: dark, damp, with trash blowing in the wind. Fog obscured the road ahead, through which I could make out bright headlights.
Then he came through.
That Peterbilt 379, blue with red flames on the front came rolling out of the fog.
At the sound of a splash, the teenagers and I whirled to see a silver Pontiac Solstice GXP coming in from behind, followed by a yellow-with-red-accents Search and Rescue Hummer H2, which warbled its sirens, and a black GMC Topic C4500 pickup truck. Each of them, including the semi and Bumblebee, were all heavily modified in ways that you could not normally get them. This, combined with the overall choice of nice vehicles, is what probably made Sam mutter, "That's it. Earth's being invaded by alien car buffs."
That semi kept coming, its huge engine rumbling and puffing steam or smoke or whatever the alien robot equivalent was. Just the size of the truck was intimidating-the grille alone was bigger than me-but I knew that he would get much bigger. Further and further he came up to the three of us, until Sam and Mikaela were forced to step back. I, either brave or too stunned to move, stood my ground. The truck stopped inches away, breaks hissing, and I stared at the Autobot insignia on its front.
No sooner than he braked he started to transform. First the grille popped out, then the sides, and everything else became a shifting, changing, moving and replacing mass of complicated parts.
And it was growing.
Slowly he transformed, careful of his new parts, new armor, new body. He stepped away from us as he formed legs and continued to climb, everything pushing outward. Great arms sprung free, crossing over himself before removing and a great head rose from a huge chest as he stood at his full height. First his battle mast was on, but it retracted to reveal a face, which he tipped back as the parts near his head continued to whirr and click, flashing out before popping into their new places. He seemed to take a deep breath and let it out, though they don't breathe so I imagine it was more of a clearing of his systems. Segments continued rearranging themselves as you looked down his body, passed his torso to his legs, where his wheels spun as he took a step forward.
His finished transformation cued the others to begin theirs. All around Sam, Mikaela and I, other robots emerged from their vehicle forms. Bumblebee transformed off to the left. Past him the Topic reached forward as he transformed, using his arms to push himself to his feet. The Pontiac transformed into a crouched position, sticking his leg out, then lifted himself onto his hands and spun, looking a lot like a break dancer, before using only one hand to flip himself back onto his feet. The Hummer's chassis rose up and back from his wheels, becoming hands, which he forced his weight onto and flipped to his feet, then his entire upper body rotated around to the front.
It was all a crazy amount to look at, and there's absolutely no way in heck that I'd be able to describe it better for anyone who hasn't seen it. All my nervousness ebbed away and was replaced with pure wonder as I watched something I'd so longed to see with my own eyes. I could not look away.
I was in heaven.
Then we turned around to who had been the semi-truck. As he came towards us, he had to continuously go down further to get to our level. This did nothing to diminish the sheer size of him; He had to be somewhere around 28 to 32 feet tall! First on one knee, then on two, bracing himself up with his hands, his enormous form came incredibly close. His face, his large nose and brilliant blue eyes, stopped only about four feet away from our faces. As those eyes flashed over the three of us, over me, I was frozen in place, and I thought if I had died then and there, I would die happy.
He opened his mouth to speak, and what came out was another language. Not Cybertronian, something formed of Earth vowels and sounds.
"Was that, Chinese?" Mikaela asked. "Classical Mandarin?" She was a lot smarter than she let on.
As she spoke, I could not help but close the distance between the robot and I until our faces were only inches apart. My head jerked forward a bit, and his went back a bit. I blinked, he blinked. We studied each other, curiosity evident on both ends. Then I suddenly remembered my place and stepped back, casting my eyes downwards.
"I dunno, but it would make sense," Sam replied, neither his nor Mikaela's eyes moving away from the robot. Of course I saw this out of the corner of my eyes, for I could not even blink let alone tear my gaze away. "If I was a new arrival on a new world, I'd start by trying to speak the language used by the largest number of people."
Their exchange was all the aliens needed to right their language. In seconds the once-semi spoke again. Though his words were muted and meant to reassure-not frighten, his natural, impossibly deep, regal voice boomed through the alley.
"Do not fear. Freedom from fear and all these is the right if all sentient beings. We will never harm humans."
Yup, I've died and gone to heaven.
"Glad to hear it." Sam replied. "Excellent policy. Stick to that as much as possible. 'Specially when it involves me. Or her." He nodded at Mikaela, probably due to her death stare. "And her." Then at me.
The robot's eyes turned to Sam. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky? Biological descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" he asked with an air of urgency.
"They know your name." Mikaela breathed.
Sam hesitated before answering the alien. "Yeah."
"My name is Optimus Prime." The alien answered, looking between the three of us. There you go! Do you like how I kept you waiting even though both you and I knew his name? "We are autonomous robotic organisms from a very distant world; a suitably simple comprehensible identifier for you might be Cybertron."
"But you can call us Autobots for short." The one who'd been the Hummer added. The way his face was designed made it look like he had a beard, primarily on the sides, and he stood at about 20 feet tall.
Sam stared on. "You are aliens." He stated.
"Autobots." Mikaela breathed.
Optimus focused on her. "Just as there are no apposite translations for where we originate or what we are, there are none for our individual nomenclatures."
Confused by the large words, as anyone would be, Sam asked, "You mean your names?"
Optimus nodded. Whether they had also picked up body language off the WWW, or their body language was just uncannily similar to ours, I did not know. "Yes. For convenience in communication we have selected namings from your vocabulary to approximate a combination of our localized camouflaged shapes as well as our particular temperaments. Though by you definition we are no more than 'machines,' we do possess individual characteristics and personalities as well as abilities and skills. For example…"
"What's crackin' little b%#*&es?" the Pontiac asked, his voice very ganster-like. He had a blue visor over his eyes and was the shortest of the group at around fifteen feet tall, but he still was very big to us.
"My first lieutenant: designation Jazz."
Jazz did an acrobatic flip in the air, landing in a thoughtful position. "This looks like a cool place to kick it." He stated before spinning and jumping backwards, landing on an old car like a human might a couch, shattering the glass beneath him.
"What is that? How'd he learn to talk like that?" Sam asked as I smiled and waved at Jazz. He studied me curiously, then he smiled in his own robotic way and repeated my gesture. I just waved at Jazz! I thought giddily.
Optimus stood up to his full height. And I called Bumblebee huge… "We've learned Earth's languages from the World Wide Web. We did this just now. It was not difficult. The information is extensive, but the underlying conceptualizations are quite undemanding."
I heard some robotic noises, and I knew behind us that the 'round 22 feet tall Topic was getting ready for his introduction.
"Our weapons specialist, originally forged in the Tri-Peninsular Torus states of Praxus: Ironhide."
Right on cue, Ironhide's cannons appeared above his fists. He spun them impressively before pointing them at us, his right glowing yellow and his left glowing blue, both humming as they powered up. "You feelin' lucky, punk?" he asked, daring Sam to try something.
"Easy Ironhide." Optimus cautioned. Sam and Mikaela, being an intelligent people, backed up a bit at the threatening cannons. I however, stared at them in unmasked awe. Yeah, I was a bit of a fan of large guns and explosives too. Definitely a pyro, me.
"Just kidding. I just wanted to show him my cannons." Ironhide muttered. When he saw my lack of fear, he gestured towards me and said, "This one's either brave or stupid."
Snapping out of my stupor, I wrinkled my face at the giant, trigger-happy 'Bot. "I'm not stupid." I told him indignantly. "I just know you won't hurt me."
Ironhide leaned over, towering over me in a way that was terrifying. "And how do you know that I will not hurt you, little girl?" he asked in a voice that was both humoring and threatening.
"Because of you did, then he," I pointed at Optimus. "Would kick your skid plate."
The look on Ironhide's face was amazing. Off to the side, I could hear and see Jazz and Bumblebee snickering. "She got ya there 'Hide," Jazz laughed.
Ironhide grumbled to himself. "Point taken," he told me, albeit begrudgingly. "However…you," he rose up and pointed his blue cannon at the silver 'Bot. "Are not as fragile as a human might be."
"That's enough, you two," Optimus interjected as Jazz and threw his hands up in comical surrender. Moving on, Prime indicated the Hummer. "Our medical officer, chief emissary to the High Council of Ancients: Ratchet."
Ratchet had been sniffing the air, and I prepared myself for what I knew he would say. "Hm, the boy's pheromone levels suggests that he wants to mate. Because of the sexual immaturity of the younger female, I must conclude that these instincts are directed at the older female."
I bit back a giggle as the teenagers looked awkwardly away from each other, though I was not exactly comfortable with Ratchet's comment either. Then suddenly a beam shot out from Ratchet at us and for an instant the three of us appeared to stand in our underwear. "Whoa!" Sam exclaimed.
Immediately I dropped into a defensive crouch, wrapping my arms around my knees and trying to hide as much as I could. When I realized that I wasn't really naked and that the scan was over, I lifted my head, a bit stunned. That didn't happen in the movie!
In response to the sudden lack of clothing, Mikaela had instantly spun away, clutching herself. "Hey!" she yelled at Ratchet. "Scanning people like that is not cool!"
"Uh, yeah. It's, uh, not cool at all." Sam stumbled, seeming discombobulated. My best guess was that he'd seen Mikaela in that brief second. Man, I could wait until I became a teenager.
Surprisingly, Ratchet gave a small bow to Mikaela. "I extend greetings and also apologies for the misunderstanding, immature female."
I bit my lip as Mikaela went from embarrassed to seething. "Hey now-"
"I am pleased to report that, by your species' customary but inadequate standards, you and your companions are all in an excellent state of health." Ratchet finished.
Mikaela's anger ebbed away. "Oh, well, thanks, I guess."
Sam took a step forward. "Uh, this female's name is Mikaela Banes." He said, gesturing to her.
"Understood and logged. Mikaela Banes." Optimus replied. I did not offer my name and he did not ask for it, but I had the feeling this was more out of respect for my boundaries than lack of caring. "You already know your guardian: Bumblebee."
Said yellow Camaro was already jabbing the air like a champion boxer, playing tough music to match.
"Bumblebee, right?" Sam asked Optimus Prime, then turned to bouncing 'Bot.
"Check on the rep, yep, second to none!" Bee's radio blasted as he looked down at Sam.
It was then that I realized that they were all showing off. Every one of them! Well, I didn't think that Optimus Prime showed off, but the others were certainly enjoying themselves. They knew they were seen as superior beings and they were taking advantage of that because it was fun. Sure wasn't that different from what humans would do.
"You're my guardian, huh?" Sam asked. He didn't seem too bothered by having a super-cool-giant-alien-robot-guardian, who nodded to him.
Mikaela turned to Optimus. "If you and the others can talk, why can't he?"
Ratchet shot a red laser at Bumblebee's throat, which apparently had some physical effect on them because Bee hunched over and began to cough. "His vocal processors were damaged in the battle of Tyger Pax." When Ratchet retracted the beam, he tapped something into his arm while Bee straitened and rubbed his throat. "I'm still working on them. There are programmatical complexities involved that you would not understand."
I looked up at the yellow bot, full of sympathy for him. I knew what it was like to have things to say and not be heard.
Mikaela spoke to Optimus again. "Why are you here?" she asked. "Why come to our world? Surely not just to play at changing back and forth between vehicles and your actual forms."
"You are quite correct, Mikaela Banes. We are not 'playing.' We are here looking for the Allspark. This unimaginably ancient entity is the container of a supreme power that imbues us with the gift of-for you I will simply call it 'spark.'"
"Another way to explain it," Ratchet cut in. "Is to say that it is the life force which exists within all Transformers."
"We are here in search of it." Optimus continued. "And we must find it before Megatron."
"Mega-what?" Sam asked.
A thousand insults flowed through my head, some self-created, some fan-created, and some dating all the way back to the G1 series, but all of them started with Mega and ended in something…creative.
Optimus raised one of his huge hands and put his first two fingers up to his right temple. Bright beams of light shot out of his eyes like projectors, and with a pulse of energy they did not just project a simple image; they seemed to change our reality itself. Flashing through the concrete, the ground seemed to crack and fall away in front of us humans into a great canyon glowing with yellow light.
"Our planet was once a powerful empire." The Prime narrated. From the crack that had split Sam and Mikaela apart a giant, spikey metal structure rose far above our heads. "Peaceful, and just." More followed in suit, until we were staring at what seemed to be a huge alien battleground. Cybertron.
Just as I remembered, the planet seemed as if it had taken quite a beating. It didn't look like it could support life, mechanical or otherwise. It reminded me more of computer animated videos of Earth's first days, when there was little but rock and magma. Only this wasn't the beginning of the planet; this was its end.
Pain and regret was evident in Optimus's face was well as his tone, conveying to the teenagers what I already knew: these machines could not only think, they could feel. "We were once brothers, Megatron and I," he said heavily. "In the sense that you understand the term. But Megatron lost his way. It was no longer enough for him to control himself. He became obsessed with the idea of controlling everything. He turned those he could dominate against those he could not. Instead of builders, they became destroyers. For their betrayal of everything that our kind had always stood for, those who turned now bear the name Decepticons."
As our view panned out, Cybertronian bodies were clearly visible on the branches of the great spikey things. "All who defied them were destroyed. For eons, our world was locked in the stalemate that resulted from Megatron's actions. Two equal and opposing forces frozen in interminable battle. Our war nearly extinguished our kind and finally consumed the planet. Those few who survived decided the only way to put an end to it was to flee." A blue explosion burst in the distance, and below a lone Autobot made his way through the ruins.
"Only the Cube can reanimate our world," Ironhide spoke now. "For it alone is capable of energizing Transformers. That is why Megatron desires it. With it in his possession, he will at last obtain the absolute power he has always sought over the future of our kind."
Something great and mechanical appeared, throwing a lance that went directly through the Autobot, impaling him to the ground before exploding into a blue exactly like the one seen in the distance. The huge being turned into our view. His mouth was full of sharp teeth, his eyes glowed a malicious red, and his entire demeanor screamed 'EVIL.'
A great trembling went through my entire body, shaking me from head to toe in less than a second. I had been hit full-blast by the fact that the Decepticons were now real before, but now I was just beginning to remember just which Decepticon was coming. The Hell Bringer, I thought, gulping.
Optimus continued. "In the course of eons of fighting, the Allspark was lost to the stars. I and my companions as well as Megatron and his ilk have been searching for it ever since. We have finally succeeded in tracing its present position to your planet. When it crashed here it transmitted a signal. That signal took a long time to reach the scattered remnants of our pitifully conflicted world. Megatron followed it to Earth, when Captain Witwicky found him."
My eyes flashed back to Sam as he spoke. "Whoa, heh, my grandfather."
The amazing image before us faded away and brought us back to reality, leaving the rest of what Optimus was to say to my own memory of the movie. "It was an accident that intertwined our fates. Only by a stroke of great good fortune was his arrival imperfect and on a part of your world suitable for delaying him. Megatron crash landed, succumbing to the ever-shifting ice, before he could retrieve the Cube."
"The ice man," Sam exclaimed. "Wow, so when my great-great grandpa died screaming in that nuthouse, he was telling the truth."
"If I follow your inferences correctly," said Ratchet. "Then yes, that was indeed the case. Unfortunately, your ancestor's discovery and subsequent physical encounter triggered a tiny part of Megatron's hitherto dormant internal configuration. Your records indicate that the resultant luminal reaction destroyed your ancestor's simple organic oculars. But it apparently left a coded physical imprint as well."
"… What did he just say?" Sam asked what I was wondering.
"He accidentally activated Megatron's navigation system." Optimus explained. "The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses."
Sam's response was immediate. "How'd you know about his glasses?"
Optimus looked down at him and uttered one simple word. "eBay."
The boy looked at Mikaela incredulously. "eBay."
"The Cube's still here on your planet." Said Jazz. "But we can't detect its signal. It's been…blocked by somethin.'"
"Blocked?" Mikaela asked. "By what?"
Ratchet responded, his tone mournful. "We do not know. If we find it we will return it to our home world. But if the Decepticons find the Allspark," his hand formed into a fist. "They will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army."
"Once that is accomplished," Optimus continued. "There will no longer be any reason or need for your world to continue to provide support and sustenance to carbonoids. Megatron will see to it that these life forms are extinguished."
"… Excuse me?" Sam asked, not quite comprehending.
"Plants. Animals. You."
Well. Didn't that just put a nasty taste in your mouth?
"Sam Witwicky," Optimus addressed the boy as the rest of the Autobots crowded around. "You hold the key to Earth's survival."
With a soft, panicky breath, Mikaela turned to Sam and asked the all-important question. "Please tell me that you have those glasses."
Now! My thoughts screamed in my head. It has to be now!
"Excuse me," I said loudly, before I lost my nerve. After checking my volume, I continued uncertainly, "O-Optimus Prime, sir, I have something to say."
As all eyes turned on me, human and otherwise, I suddenly wished that I could disappear. "Then do not be afraid to speak, young one." Optimus replied. His tone was reassuring, yet I could still hear my heart hammering away in my ears.
I realized that now it was too late to turn back, so I stepped forward, trying desperately to keep both my body and my words from shaking. I executing a bow, as I had read must be done in the presence of a Prime. Well, here we go.
"My name is Iris." I began once I had straightened up. "And, like you, I am not from this world, but in a different way. While you are not from this planet, I am not from this…dimension." I forced myself to look up at the Autobots, for my shyness kept pushing my gaze downwards. "In my world, the Transformers are not real; they are pretend. They started in the 80's as a cartoon, which became hugely popular. It came out in comics, shows, movies and books, until this year they made a live-action movie. All this," I held out my arms, directing to everything around me. "All of you, are from that movie. I have watched this movie many times and I know it by heart, from beginning," Knowing that this would be the kicker, I locked eyes with Optimus. "To end. I know about everything that will happen in the next few days.
"And I can prove it!" I added before anyone had a chance to interject. "First of all, Mikaela, can I see your purse please?"
She looked at me with a 'What could you possibly want with my purse'-face, but complied. Trying to respect Mikaela's privacy, I made an attempt to not look to closely at the contents as I rummaged through them. Finding what I was looking for, I held up Mikaela's phone. "This," I said. "Is a stowaway." I tossed the phone into the hand of the nearest Autobot, Jazz, and waited.
Before anyone could do anything to figure out what I was talking about, the phone suddenly sprang to life. Out of it snapped a small, silver head with many insect-like legs. The thing screamed in Cybertronian and flung itself around, trying to escape.
"Whoa!" Jazz exclaimed as he tried to grab the little abomination. "Is that Frenzy?!"
"What's left of him." I replied, remembering in the movie when Frenzy had grown legs, crawled away and turned himself into a replica of Mikaela's phone. "Mikaela chopped up the rest of his body."
When Jazz finally caught Frenzy's head, he pinched it between his thumb and a finger. "I've got a bone to pick wi'choo." He told it, pointing at it with his other hand threateningly.
"Jazz, secure the spy until we are able to question him." Optimus ordered.
"With pleasure!" Jazz replied as he stuffed the little head, still screaming, into a cavity in his body, almost like a pocket. "Nice job, 'Kaela," he said to the teen before turning back to me. "You were sayin,' little lady?"
Shoving away my bashfulness at the name, I continued, "This isn't the first time you've come into contact with humans." Looking down for a second, I swallowed. Please God, let this work. When I lifted my head, I asked one single question: "Do you remember the Ghost One?"
Their reactions, a mixture of surprise, sorrow, amazement, regret, and more, let me know that they did. "A while ago," I started to tell the Autobots what they already knew. "Before I or Sam or Mikaela were born, humans sent a rocket ship into outer space. It was called the Ghost One and Samuel Walker was captain."
This information was something that would be extremely difficult to obtain for humans, but the records were there somewhere and it was not entirely impossible that I could have gotten ahold of those. However, what I was about to say was most definitely off-record.
"They were accidently sucked through wormhole and ended up deep in space, where you and the Decepticons found them. Starscream tricked them into thinking that he was good and you were evil; he even got them to shoot at you when Optimus and Bumblebee were stuck underground on that planet with," Here my face wrinkled in disgust. "Those giant worms. But when he left them to die, they figured out that the Autobots were the good ones. You told them that you'd try to get them home, then you got stuck fighting the Decepticons. You, sir," I told Optimus. "Were fighting Starscream, and it wasn't looking good."
I took another deep breath. "The humans knew that if they got in the way they would never get home again, but you were in trouble, and they decided to help you instead. You told them to stay back so they wouldn't get hurt, but they didn't listen." I looked directly at Optimus. "They saved your life, sir. When they finally shot Starscream with something big enough, it actually hurt him. And then," I swallowed again, trying desperately to keep my voice from quivering from fear and sadness. "He killed them."
Silence reigned supreme as every one of the Autobots stared at me for a long, long time. I stood there, frozen in their gazes. Had I gone too far? What if they were angry at me for bringing it up? I could do nothing but await their verdict, like the accused in front of the jury.
Finally, someone spoke. It was Jazz. He turned to Optimus, slowly, and asked, "How can she…a human…know about that?"
Optimus gazed down at me with those ancient eyes of his. "She can't."
Bumblebee looked down at me. He was shocked like the others, but he also seemed somewhat…pleased. "Wow," he said. "I knew you know a lot—but-Ididn't know you know so much!"
"Bumblebee, how did you come across this human?" Ratchet asked.
"I was driving along, minding my own business, when—someone's calling my name-She ran up to me and said—I have information that you want—This Barricade is a piece of—He saw me-So I said-come along for the ride!"
"Barricade saw me with this," I clarified, holding out my necklace. "So I found Bumblebee. I told him where Sam and his dad would be shopping for a car, he took me along, and I've been hiding in him ever since."
All the Autobots leaned in to look at their symbol around my neck. It seemed to freak them out, though I can't blame them; I'd be quite surprised to see a little alien with my army's symbol on it.
"... Could this be some Decepticon trick?" Ironhide asked. "Working with them, sent to give us false information?"
That actually made a lot of sense. The Decepticons had been there for the whole ordeal; Starscream had even hacked the ship's systems, so they would have known everything about it. Not to mention that they also knew the Autobot insignia. They could have implanted me with all that knowledge and then slapped an Autobot symbol on me, simple as that.
"I don't think so, Tim." Bumblebee's shoulders went down a bit as he explained. "She was grabbed—Barricade-tried to take her—I got there just in time—If they are in cahoots—then why take her—and why would she—give up their location?" He gestured at Jazz, referring to his prisoner.
Ironhide still eyed me suspiciously, but he seemed to accept these points and did not speak again.
"Wow," I turned to Sam when he spoke. If he and Mikaela hadn't believed me before, they sure did now. And even if they had, I don't think they could've guessed the extent of my knowledge. "I never would have thought… Well, I guess then you were telling the truth, huh?"
I nodded.
At the sound of more shifting metal, I pivoted back to see Optimus descending to one knee, bringing himself very close to me. He studied me for a moment with those wise eyes of his. "Iris," he said. I thought I was going to collapse. "If what you say is true, and you know the outcome of our quest for the Allspark, would you be willing to assist us?"
I answered without hesitation. "Yes, sir. I want to help. I know I can't do much, but I'll do what I can."
"Then she can tell us where the Cube is now!" Jazz exclaimed, startling me. "Why go get the boy's glasses if we have a kid who can tell us where the Allspark is?"
This was exactly what I had been afraid of. If I revealed too much, would something go wrong? Would the Autobots… Dare I say it, loose? I didn't even want to think about that very real possibility.
Please, I pleaded to the Prime mentally, my fear probably leaking onto my face. Tell me what to do.
Optimus was silent for a moment as he thought everything over. Finally, he said, "We will remain on our previous course and retrieve Samuel's glasses."
"What? But Prime, we've got all the information we need right here!" Jazz protested, gesturing down at me with both hands.
"Matters of the future can be difficult, Jazz," Optimus replied. "If we do not handle such information carefully, the result could be catastrophic." He turned back to me and asked, "Will you accompany me to the Witwicky residence? I feel that you and I have much to discuss."
… I could ride with him? Optimus Prime himself, one of the greatest and most powerful heroes of all time, someone I had looked up to even before he was real, wanted me to ride with him. Me. Small, insignificant me. I was going to ride in Optimus Prime, should I choose to do so.
But did I dare?
Shoving my excitement down with another thick swallow, I tilted my head upwards to look my hero in the face and answered.
"It'd be an honor, sir."
Look look! I made a cover! It's pretty crappy right now, but I'll be fixing it up eventually.