Chapter VI

Isis woke up to the sound of the television downstairs and moaned for it to stop. She turned over and she literally fell out of her bed with a loud thud.

"Ow! Crap!" she shouted. She got her hand to her back to try and ease the pain a bit. "Ah, man. Now I know how Grandpa feels."

Isis stood up, still having her hand on her back and leaning over, and wobbled over to the door. She put her hand on the doorknob and bended backwards.

"Oh! Something cracked!" she cried. She removed her hand from her back and opened the door. She walked downstairs to find Tony and Jazz playing a racecar video game.

"Left, left!" Jazz said. "Come on! That ain't a left! Crap, right! Go right!"

"Forget it, Jazz," Tony smirked. "You didn't win the last twenty-three times and you're not winning now! Whoa, that guy came out of nowhere, I swear!"

"Ha! Screw up!" Jazz cheered. He pressed a few quick buttons and got ahead of Tony. "Just a bit…further!"

WINNER! the TV blared. Jazz dropped the controls and stood up from the couch with his fists in the air.

"Yes!" he shouted. "I love this game!"

"You didn't say that the last couple of rounds," Tony chuckled. Jazz gave him a hard nudge and sat back down.

"Having fun?" Isis said, peeking over the stairs. The boys looked behind the couch to see her. Both of the boys smiled. Jazz's smile looked better than Tony's.

"Just in time to see my victory, too!" Jazz said. He stood up and Isis noticed something missing; his shirt.

"Uh, Jazz? Is your shirt in the washing machine or something?" Isis said nervously. Holy cow, this guy looked tough without it!

"My Cybertronian form got scratched up and I had to fix it," he explained. "I dropped it, it got muddy, now it's getting washed. Fair enough?"

"Yeah," Isis said, scratching her head under her hair to try and break off a bit of the tension. "Yeah, it-it's fine." Damn it, why am I stuttering?! she screamed in her head. "So, is my dad up yet?"

"He's still sleeping," Tony said.

"Well you're lucky he didn't wake up from me falling out of bed."

"That was you?"

Isis laughed and walked over to the kitchen. She grabbed a bowl, spoon, and a box of Lucky Charms. She brought it over to the table and poured the cereal into the bowl. She put the box back and took the milk out of the refrigerator. She splashed the milk into the bowl and put the milk back. She took the bowl over to the living room and sat down at the coffee table in front of the boys and watched the screen as they kept ramming into each others' virtual cars.

"That's cheatin'!" Jazz exclaimed.

"That's called strategic thinking," Tony said back.

"Some ninja you are!"

Tony snickered and kept pressing the control buttons. Jazz's car rammed into him again and the dark-skinned, no-shirt boy cheered.

"Now that's strategic thinking!" he said. Tony's car sat for a bit. Isis looked over at him. He was staring at the screen intensely. Isis thought that he was sleeping until the controls from his hands levitated out of his palms.

"Uh, Jazz?" Isis whispered. "Something freaky is going on with Prowl."

Jazz looked over and saw the controls. He looked back at the TV and grunted, "Oh, no you don't!" He pressed the controls rapidly. Tony's car went into motion and went from zero to three hundred in three seconds. It sped up even faster and passed Jazz's car. Isis stared at the immobile ninja. He was sitting crisscross on the couch and the control's joysticks were moving so fast that Isis couldn't keep up with them. His car reached the checkpoint in the game and the controls fell to the ground, showing Tony released his focus on it.

"That's not fair!" Jazz shouted.

"That's your problem, Jazz," Tony sighed. "You always get angry; you lose focus that way. Remember to calm down. You'll do better."

"I knew you were better than me…" Jazz pouted. He put the controls to the side and slumped. He looked over at Isis, still wide-eyed.

"What?" Jazz said in an unpleasant tone.

"Nothing," Isis said, turning back around. "Nothing." Jazz, feeling like a sore loser, changed the TV setting to cable and watched Spongebob Squarepants. Isis' dad came down the stairs in his robe.

"Aw, no," he moaned. "Are you trying to torture me this morning? Turn it over to the news. It's on eighty-seven."

Isis obeyed and fought Jazz for the remote. She held one end and he gripped the other tightly. After a few yanks, Jazz gave up and gave her the remote control and leaned on the arm of the couch. Isis smiled playfully and changed the channel for her dad's sake.

"Ah…" he sighed. "Much better." He took a sip of his coffee. "So how are you guys?"

"We're cool," Jazz said.

"It's fine," Tony added.

Mr. Blanks didn't believe them. He took another sip and stared at them. "Did you follow my rules and regulations?"

Tony and Jazz looked at each other and Isis could tell that under their blue visors their eyes were wide. They were taught to tell the truth, but not the whole truth when you needed to lie. Tony was the best at making lies up, so he was the one to tell.

"We were about to go upstairs when we remembered you said not to go up there," he said. "We just needed to go to the bathroom. I swear!"

"All right," Mr. Blanks grunted. He put his coffee sup on the table in front of him and looked at them with one hand on the table and the other on his hip. "So did you guys hold it?"

"No," Jazz butted in. "We went outside. Don't go near the bushes."

"Message received," Mr. Blanks said with a disgusted look. He grabbed his sup and walked to the living room. He sat in the chair on the other side of the room. He reclined it and sighed in relief.

"I love this couch," he said. He looked at Isis. "I'm glad your mom agreed to buy it." The boys on the couch looked at Isis.

"Where is your mom?" Tony asked. Isis looked at her dad with wide and scared eyes. Mr. Blanks saw he was being noticed and put his cup on the floor.

"Do you want me to tell the story?" he asked her. Isis slowly shook her head no. He looked at Tony and Jazz. "Sorry, boys. She's a little hurt at the moment. Maybe some other time."

The boys looked at each other again. Jazz shrugged and turned his attention to the television. Tony stood up and walked out towards the back door.

"Where are you going?" Mr. Blanks asked him.

"For a little air," he replied softly. Isis was about to get up and follow him when Jazz put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. Isis looked at him and she didn't need to see his entire face to know he was saying "Don't go. Trust me." She listened and got up only to walk upstairs.

"I'm going to my room," she said before her dad asked her. She closed and locked the door when she got in and grabbed a picture album from her computer desk. She scanned through it, seeing the baby pictures and stuff she did when she was little. She was watching herself getting older as she went along. Isis looked mostly at the younger pictures, before she was nine, and saw the pictures of her mom. Her mom and Isis looked so much like each other; brown hair, hazel eyes, not-so-tan skin, and the same wide smile each time the camera was shifted over to their direction.

"I miss you, Mommy," Isis whispered to the book. She kissed the tips of her fingers and pressed them to the best picture of her and her mom standing at the beachfront when they took a family trip to Florida.

A knock came from her door and she put the album back down. She walked over to the door and peeked before she opened it widely. It was Jazz.

"You peachy?" he said.

"Huh?"

"Are you all right?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed a bit of quiet."

"Do want me to leave then?" He was turned to the side, showing that he would obey if she said the word.

"No, you can come in." She saw Jazz look behind. She laughed and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell him. Just come in, sit down."

Jazz did as he was told and walked in and sat on the bed.

"Nice room," he said.

"You should know," Isis glared. Forget the list, I'm skipping straight to that question she thought. "Were you in my stuff?"

"Excuse me?"

"Were you and Prowl searching through my room at any point in time last night?" she repeated in a longer form. "I know you guys are sneaky. Nasty little…" She trailed off at the beginning of the last sentence. Jazz chuckled.

"No, but I saw the album over there," he said, pointing to it. "I noticed that the one lady was AWOL in the second half. Is that your mom or something?"

Isis bit her lip and crossed her arms. She looked around her room like the answer was somewhere around there.

"It was, huh?" he said. "Well, she's pretty. You look a lot like her."

"Thanks," she said. She felt the tears run down her face. Jazz stood up and hugged her. Her face was against his bare chest and his arms wrapped around her back.

"What happened to her?" he whispered.

"She was sick," Isis cried, her voice breaking. "The doctors didn't know what was wrong with her. She wouldn't eat, she wouldn't drink, she wouldn't even sleep. She looked older and older every day and then…she…" She couldn't get the last word out as she sobbed some more. Jazz hugged her tighter and petted her hair.

"Hey, it's okay, don't cry," he said. "Everybody loses somebody. Me and Prowl lost our sensei."

Isis laughed through her tears. "A teacher's different from a mother."

"Yeah, but he was a father to Prowl, really," Jazz continued. "Soon after he became his successor, Yoketron, our sensei, was murdered."

"Ouch," Isis said. She sniffed a couple of times and tried to speak on. "I miss my mom so much. I want to talk to her again."

Jazz let go of the hug and took her face in his hands. "You sure?" A smile came on his face.

"Um, yeah…?"

He walked back over to the couch and sat on it in a crisscross position. "Come here, sit." He patted to a part of the bed next to him. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

Isis shrugged, wiped a few more tears, and sat next to Jazz in the same position. "What are we doing?" she said.

"Meditating," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"That's how me and Prowl still talk to Yoketron. It takes a while, but then you really get into it. Just try it. You might even get to see your mom."

The words caught Isis fast and she placed her hands on her knees. She heard Jazz chuckle and she looked at him.

"What? Is this wrong?" she said.

"Yeah," Jazz laughed. "That's only how the did it in the movies. This is how you do it." He put his hands into fists; his pinkie and ring fingers intertwined, his left hand pointer and middle stayed in a fist, his right hand pointer and middle were straight up. "Just keep this in front of your chest then take even breaths. Just relax and concentrate on your mom."

"Okay," Isis sighed. She did exactly how Jazz showed her and closed her eyes. She tried to breathe slowly and felt her pulse might've been too fast. She tried not to think about it, so she tried her trick with the violet rose petal garden. Now she was running through it, petals flying with each step. She stopped short after a bit and her happy expression changed. Isis looked to the right and her face went into shock. In front of her was a woman of thirty-eight.

Hello, Isis she said.

"M-Mom?" she gasped. "Is that really you?!"

The woman nodded her head and Isis thought she would faint. Her visionary self, anyway. She took steps forward, but her mom told her to stop by holding up a hand. Isis obeyed her mother an stood where she stopped.

"Can't I hug you, Mom?" Isis cried.

I'm sorry, Isis. she said in that same, memorable Southern accent. You can't come any further. There's a barrier here; it separates the living and the spiritual. If you cross over, I'm afraid of what'll happen to ya. Her mom started to cry.

Isis was hurt, badly. She couldn't even come over to touch her mother, but she could at least talk to her, right?

"How's Heaven, Ma?" she said.

I can't describe it, really. It's too beautiful. It's nothing like the movies, you hear me? Nothing. Don't let those directors tell you different, okay?

"Yes, Mama," Isis said, a smile stretching on her face.

Is there anything going on with you? I thought I heard you last night.

"Yeah…There's something unreal going on at the house. You probably wouldn't believe me."

After this, honey, anything you tell me I'm going to believe.

"Well, me and Dina--do you remember her?"

Yes, I do. Such a nice girl. Tell I said 'Hi' when you get back, okay?

"Yeah, Ma. Anyway, her and I were lost in the woods after a little trip down to Red Lake. It started raining and two weird boys came up to us and saved us from being crushed by a burning tree."

Oh my goodness! Her mom put her hands up to her mouth and then down to her chest. Are you all right? Do you need something?

"I'm fine, Mama, really. Don't worry! So, when they saved us, they took us into the cave behind a waterfall…" Isis continued on with her story. Leading up to the point where Jazz and Prowl were now living with her and her father for a short while. She explained to her afterwards the truth she found in the cave, how all the crystals were actually All Spark fragments.

By my God… her mom breathed. Aliens in my house. And they didn't hurt you, right?

"No, but they did get in my room and Jazz was looking at our last pictures."

The nerve of that thing. She put her hands on her hips. Her face looked intense with anger and she looked to the left to try and think. I'll pop into his meditation, see how he likes that.

"You can't do that unless he thinks about you."

Crap. At least tell him for me that I'm angry at him and if he dares snoop in your room, no matter what it is, he'll answer to me. I don't care if I'm dead or not!

"Same old Mom," Isis giggled. "I won't hit him, though."

Good girl, 'cause that's not the way I raised ya. I didn't teach you how to be obnoxious. Speaking of, how's your father doing?

"He's getting along okay. He's mad that two boys are living with us at the moment."

I understand. He's being a father. But none did, right? I mean…you know…

"The only physical contact I got, besides the kiss, was Jazz hugging me with his shirt off just five minutes ago. But he was doing that only to comfort me!"

What was he doing with his shirt off in the first place?!

"He and Prowl found another All Spark piece and left. Jazz got dirtied up and now it's in the wash. Should be in the dryer by now."

Her mom let out a long sigh. Boys. No matter what, their brain is like clay. Soft and mushy.

"But out of clay, you can create something different," Isis said, showing off a bit. Her mom stare at her with wide eyes.

Your English teacher did something to ya, didn't she?

Isis laughed. "Isn't that a good thing?"

The best for you, but not much for me. It tells me you're growing up and I missed almost half of it. How about you pop in every now and then when something exciting happens. Promise?

"I promise, Ma." Isis started springing tears again. "I guess I gotta go now, huh?"

I'll see ya some other time, 'kay? Don't forget!

Isis ran back in the garden. "I promise, Mama!"

She opened her eyes and her body fell backwards onto the bed sheets. Jazz was lying down next to her, a smile on his face.

"You were smiling," he said. "You get to see her, then?"

"I saw her!" Isis whispered in excitement. "I'm glad you showed me that." She scooted over and kissed him on the cheek. The boy started to blush a bit. "I owe you a lot."

"N-No problem," Jazz stuttered. "Well, I think I better get going. My excuse to get up here was the bathroom and no one uses it this long." He got up and walked out of the room. "Talk later!"

"See ya, Jazz," Isis called back. She stayed on her bed, thinking if what just happened was real. She saw her lamp flicker a few times…in Morse code. This was how her mom talked to her if she was playing outside in the dark. Right now she was saying "It was real, honey. It was all true. I love you and I miss you. Have a good day!"

"Okay, Mama," Isis whispered. "I love you, too." She stood up and walked back down to the living room. Her dada was gone and only Jazz, with his newly cleaned shirt on, and Tony were sitting in front of the TV.

"Where's my dad?" she said. "Did you guys 'take care of him'?"

"Ha, ha. You're funny," Tony said sarcastically. "Actually, he told us to tell you he's picking up Thomas. Who's Thomas?"

"He's the dog," Isis said. "I think you'll like him! He's really friendly."

"Does he play rough?" Jazz asked.

"Only if you can get it him to do so, but he does it playfully," Isis explained. "Why, you lookin' for a sparring partner?"

"Yeah, I'm a little bored," Jazz admitted. "The only action I get is in battle."

"Isn't that enough?" Tony said.

Jazz was about to say something when he stopped and, Isis still couldn't tell exactly, his face went blank and his eyes widened. Tony looked at his friend and started to worry.

"Jazz?" he said. "Are you okay?"

"Answer me something," Jazz said in almost a whisper. "What's yellow, black stripes, and jumps around like he's in zero gravity?"

Tony reacted faster than Isis could keep up. Both ninjas ran to the back door and ran outside. Isis followed them up to the door.

"Wait!" she shouted. "Where are you going?!"

"Playing welcoming committee!" Jazz shouted back. The boys ran so fast it was like a blur. Isis couldn't tell where they went. She sighed and went back inside, slamming the back door.

"Crap!" she groaned.

xXx

Isis: I still dont' forgive those boys for sneaking in my room. Brianna, what's wrong with you?!

Brianna: Hey! At least you got it off your chest, right?

Isis: Jazz was still going through my room! Not much, but he still did!

Dina: And I dont' appreciate that hug my Jazz gave you.

Isis: Your Jazz?!

Brianna: Now's not the time for it!

*both ignore her and get into a fist fight*

Brianna: *sigh* This is where jealousy gets ya...