And the plot thickens, just like that cup of chocolate milk that's been on my windowsill next to Sunstreaker since Wednesday...
Note that for someone as spastic as he is, Jazz is quite slow of the mind, yes?
"Can I go outside yet?" Jazz asked Prowl.
"No," he replied.
"Why not?"
"You know why not."
Jazz cocked his head. "No, I don't."
"Jazz, you aren't allowed outside today because you peed in my lap!" Prowl snapped.
"Hey, I was only trying to mark you as my territory in case any of the other coyotes started to get ideas!" Jazz countered.
"Go play with Bonecrusher," Prowl waved his hand at him to go away.
"Yeah fine, whatever," he grumbled, running off somewhere. "I don't see why you can't forgive me, I forgave you for stepping on my tail this morning!" Prowl ignored him.
He was going to go find Bonecrusher, when he realized that someone had left the door to the base open. His ears perked up and he wagged his tail before sneaking outside.
Jazz hadn't realized that he'd fallen asleep under the shade of a rock until he woke up at night. "Oh, shit... I'm gonna be in so much trouble..." He contemplated going back, but then remembered that Prowl would probably be the one waiting for him. "Well, it ain't like I've never been in trouble before..."
He walked over to the little pool of water and took a sip from it. "Eww, this stuff tastes like mud!"
"You're tellin' me," a female voice said.
Jazz looked up and realized that there was a female coyote standing across the water hole from him. She had a remote tracking collar strapped around her neck.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
"Um...nothing... I'm gonna go now..." He quickly turned around and attempted to leave.
"Wait! Wait! Don't go!" She leapt over the water and ran in front of him.
"I have to. I need to go back home," he replied.
"My name's Shadow!" she wagged her tail.
"Okay...I'm Jazz..."
"I don't think I've seen you around here," Shadow replied.
"That's because I don't exactly live out here."
"What are you wearing? Do the people use it to keep track of you too?" she asked, nudging his dog tags with her snout.
He was confused as to what this coyote was doing... Why was she talking to him in that tone and so obsessed with keeping him there? "Not really... I'm just wearing it because it makes me look cool." He looked around. "There aren't other coyotes out here watching me, are there?"
"Nope. I come alone. Hey, are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat?" She wagged her tail.
Come to think of it, he was hungry... Bumblebee usually fed him by now. He wondered if he was looking for him. "Yeah, sure. What do you got?"
"Follow me!" She turned around and ran off. He shrugged and followed her. Eventually she led him to a hole and dove in. He stood by the entrance and waited for her. Eventually, she returned with a mouthful of kangaroo rats.
"Oh...we're eating rats... Yummy..." Jazz tried to hide his displeasure.
"Well what do you usually eat?" she asked.
"People food," he replied.
"Oh... Well we don't have any of that stuff here in the desert," she said, swallowing one of the rats.
"Maybe I should go find my own, then. It's been nice meeting you, Shadow." He turned around and tried to leave.
"No! Wait! Maybe we can find something in the city!" she quickly said to stop him from leaving.
"Why go there? I already have somebody that feeds me."
"You're a pet?"
"No, not a pet..."
"But if somebody feeds you, then that makes you a pet," she reasoned.
"I actually prefer to think of the guy who feeds me as a personal servant," he countered. It wasn't like he'd never had Bumblebee do everything for him before he was a coyote, anyway... Bumblebee was such a sweet kid, always wanting to make his friends happy. A bit too stupid to realize when he was being taken advantage of, though.
"Well, do you want to come to the city with me anyway?" she asked.
He looked back at her. She was staring at him almost pleadingly. "Yeah, sure, why not?" he gave in.
"Yay!" she cheered.
"Where's Jazz? His soup's getting cold!" Bumblebee said, staring at the spot on the floor where his bowl was.
Bonecrusher was sitting against the wall on a pile of chicken bones, chewing on a raw steak. "I haven't seen him all day. Are you done with my bacon, yet?" Bumblebee set a plate of bacon down next to him.
"It's not like him to miss a meal... He always used to stand behind me, waiting, about an hour before it was even dinnertime. You don't think anything's wrong, do you?" Bumblebee asked worriedly.
"Maybe he's asleep somewhere?" Bonecrusher suggested.
"Maybe..." Bumblebee replied. Even when he was in his own body, pretty much all Jazz did was eat, sleep, and annoy Prowl. He was just all-out lazy. "Where do you think he could be?"
"He can't be getting in too much trouble as a coyote, can he?" Bonecrusher asked.
Meanwhile...
"I just felt a chill..." Prowl said. Optimus looked over at him curiously.
-gasp- Prowl's Idiot Sense is tingling!
No wonder Jazz ran away... He's eating alphabet soup while Bonecrusher gets to dine on raw cow flesh. I'm now convinced that Bonecrusher's been resurrected as the Vorpal Bunny.