Chapter 3
Tired and fearful, the blue Autobot femme woke up suddenly from her restless recharge from the previous night. It was mainly because she had a nightmare about her daughter being caught, tortured and killed by the Decepticons while she stood helpless and unmoving the whole time, forced to watch every brutal moment of it all. Although, it did help to wake up in the arms of her sparkmate and feel the warmth radiating from his own body, to hers as he recharged peacefully, which was comfort enough for Arcee.
Pure and utter terror seized her spark as the dream flashed in her processors, replaying itself over and over again. It would be some time until Optimus woke up, and even more before she calmed down. It was like waking up as a Techno-Organic all over again. Which was no fun… that is; until they discovered that they were having Talida. Which was a joy in its own right, but sadness soon replaced it, and now she just had to impress her daughter. What with the double distraction of Cliff's death, and the revealing of Talida once again in a time of danger, so she had completely lost her concentration, thus, resulting in her injury.
Of course, her daughter may or may not like her and Optimus at all, which would break both their sparks. But that wouldn't happen… Would it? Nevertheless, she seemed… physically wore down, and tired, but she was as sharp and clever as ever, or so she could only assume. Knowing nothing about her daughter other than the fact that she was alive and had a friend named Jack Darby didn't help the situation. Then again, when she had cursed upon seeing the Vehicons again, Talida seemed startled, and a brief look of recognition appeared on her face for just a moment, and Arcee refused to believe otherwise.
After all, she was her mother, the very person who brought her into this world, and she'd be dammed if Talida didn't at least think she felt familiar. Then slowly, trying to unravel herself from the protective embrace of her sparkmate, without waking him up, but she must have move too quickly or too suddenly, because he yanked Arcee back towards his form, before nuzzling her neck affectionately, while still in recharge. She had to admit, as frustrating it was to have her efforts wasted as she tried to gain a little bit of freedom, it was nice to know that her sparkmate would always try to protect her, even if he was asleep.
Just another reason for her to love her SparkMate even more than she already did… if it was possible. Optimus was just so… perfect. Although he really had to stop blaming himself for what happened. It wasn't his fault, and he knew that, yet he let the guilt eat him up anyways. But when Arcee had to clean herself up so that she would looks presentable when meeting and actually talking to her daughter in a matter that didn't involve trying to get her and her friend to safety so that they stayed alive, the overprotectiveness was a slightly annoying trait, even if only for that moment. She would have to wait awhile, that was for certain, but she wasn't going to have to wait to see her daughter for much longer.
She wouldn't stand for it.
—
Meanwhile, said daughter was sneaking out the front door of her foster home, gently shutting the door behind her, before bolting down the sidewalk as fast as she could, backpack bouncing and it's contents jumbling wildly. Last night, coming home late, her foster father had caught her coming in late and had chucked a bottle at her. Unfortunately, unlike earlier that day it hit her in the head, it's glass pieces shattering and some of the larger ones sticking in her skin, cutting through her flesh and allowing her blood to flow in what seemed like an uncontrollable manner, satisfying her foster father as she laid on the floor in pain, the impact having knocked her off her feet.
Once he had left after antagonizing her, she slowly got up to her feet once again, washed the cuts in the bathroom and pulled out the shards of glass, despite how much her head ached after the bottle had hit her. She fell asleep the moment her face hit the pillow, and the instant she woke up, she parted her hair so that it fell over her face and hid the new gashes. She would have to wear her hair like this for awhile, that much was sure, despite how much she thought it was annoying.
Now, Talida was hurrying out of there before Neisha and Gareth saw her and decided to unleash their anger upon her… again.
It felt awful to not be known that she was loved. Heck, maybe her parents didn't love her but had to seem like they did so the government didn't hunt them down and make them take her back. Regardless, it was her stupid parent's fault, whether she was an accident, unwanted, or they were stupid enough to get themselves in trouble. Whatever the reason, no matter how many times she thought about it, Talida couldn't help but be upset, and even more so confused. It was best to just try and forget they ever existed in the first place, right?
The train of thought continued all the while she was running to Jasper High, hopefully being able to get some homework done she hadn't been able to finish the night before for Honors Bio class she had first thing, and maybe her Honors Geometry homework too… Thank God she hadn't had any homework from her honors humanities classes for a change. Gym was the same old as always, and her favorite class… Journalism was going just as it always did, and she loved that about the class. Her natural ability with patterns and color coordination skills were traits that made designing her school magazine, newspaper, and yearbook a breeze. She was only a freshman, but her skills, dedication, and creativity helped her become the chief editor for all three of them.
She arrived at school early, around 7:30, and dashed inside, heading for the library, and allowing nothing to stand in her way. It was going to be a long sixty minutes. That was for sure.
—
For whatever reason, Talida had never realized that Jack Darby, that 16-year-old boy everybody talked about, was actually really very nice, but he was just misunderstood. And, walking out of school alongside him, talking about some stuff she hadn't understood about the quadratics she was learning. However, when she noticed Jack look over at something, she followed his gaze looking for anything that might have caught her attention. There wasn't anything super important over there, except for the little kid who had his toy car crushed by the giant robots they had seen the day before, Raf.
Jack looked from Talida to Raf, who waved at Jack excitedly, and then his gaze shifted back to Talida again. "I'll take care of this… see you around I guess?" He asked, and when she nodded, however reluctantly, he hurried off towards the wildly grinning Raf. Meanwhile, Talida looked around for Miko, who was actually just at the bottom of the stairs, sitting on the railing. Talida grinned, before sitting by her best friend,
"Coolest. Bike. Ever." Miko gushed, and Talida looked around wildly. Bike? What bike? There weren't any- oh. That bike. The blue and pink motorcycle parked, right in front of the school, sitting there, and doing nothing.
"HEY, STOP!" She heard Jack call out, before whipping her head around to see her newfound friend standing in the middle of the road, with his hand held out as if he could reach out and grab whatever, or whoever left. Assumingly, Raf, because he was no longer there, and Talida was seeing that Jack was the kind of person that would be that concerned over something like that, which yet again, was just another good personality trait he had.
Her gaze fell to the blue motorcycle Miko was freaking out about, and didn't even acknowledge her because of it. It was also the blue transforming robot motorcycle in disguise. Sure, it was kind of cool, but why the robot was nice to her, and now… stalking her, was beyond Talida's reasoning. Seriously though. Her voice was familiar.
Like, really familiar.
So she pushed herself off the ledge and walked over to the still motorcycle, staring at it skeptically. Deep down, she really wanted to trust it for whatever reason, but a larger part of her was screaming, 'Are you freaking crazy? Girl, you're usually exceptionally bright, but right now, you're just plain stupid! This is a talking robot fighting other robots, and from what you saw yesterday, is losing, badly! And, it's stalking you. Ever wonder why it was at KO Burger yesterday? Or here right now?'
Meanwhile, Arcee was watching as Talida stared at her. Was she going to say anything? Or was she going to take after her father and argue with herself until she believed she had found a rational solution to the current situation. Whatever she was going to do, Arcee was taking Talida and Jack to base, regardless of what her daughter decided to do. Knowing that this was probably a really bad idea, she summed up her courage before saying that one word that might screw up everything. "Hello."
And much to her relief, Talida stayed perfectly calm.
"So it is you. I was just wondering if there was another motorcycle like you, or something equally crazy like that. I tend to overthink things sometimes." She replied calmly, crossing her arms and leaning against the yellow metal pole beside her. Truthfully, her trusting side, for once, was winning out. Whoever this robot chick was, Talida was going to know what the hell was going on, and then make her decision. It was the most rational route to take. "So, you going to tell me what's going on? I'd really like to know I'm a target or something." She said snarkily, half joking, half serious. She hadn't been kidding when she said that she overthought things a lot of the time, which was sometimes a good thing, and others… not such a good thing.
Arcee wanted to transform and squish her daughter in a hug, but refrained herself, and just started her engine instead. "Hop on." She instructed, and reluctantly, seeing as how Miko was preoccupied, Talida swing her leg over the seat and clutched the handlebars. Jack was kind of long gone, so what was the harm in leaving? But of course, this robot probably had eyes in the back of her head, and before she realized what was going on, Arcee had pulled up in front of Jack in a back alleyway.
"Relax. I just want to talk to you." She said, and Jack scoffed as Talida climbed off Arcee.
"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" Jack demanded, looking at Talida in disbelief.
Arcee sighed. "Look kid. There's lot you don't understand." She said, hoping that he would be as lenient as her daughter, but the back of her processor told her that it was not so.
"No, I get it. First rule of robot fight club, don't talk about robot fight club." He said sarcastically. "What you don't understand is that I don't want a bunch of giant robots, running out, trying to get me killed!" He snarled, gesturing wildly as he raved on and on about things he didn't even understand. Her gears shifted, and with the sound of shifting metal, Arcee, in all her Cybertronian glory, was crouching behind Jack.
"Look." She said, plainly and simply. "Jack, is it?" Arcee asked, and upon a confirmation from Talida, she turned her attention back to the raven-haired Darby in front of her. "Your safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence!" The Autobot femme exclaimed in frustration, trying to get the point across.
It didn't work.
"Wait, Optimus who?" He asked, and Arcee was ready to scream. Could he really be this oblivious?
"DUDE!" Another female voice attracted their attention to a Japanese looking girl with her hair back in pigtails with pink dye at the ends. Miko. "What are you waiting for?" She demanded. "Go with!" The Japanese girl encouraged him, and Arcee was stunned for a brief moment before swearing,
"Scrap."
—
"WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOO!" Miko yelled at the top of her lungs, the noise almost deafening to both Bumblebee and Arcee, while leaving all the other human's ears ringing as they all cringed.
Once again, Jack had his own smart-alec remark to another person's action, but more so directed towards Arcee. "And why did we bring her?" He demanded, growing less fond of the girl more and more with each passing minute.
Arcee wasn't liking Miko very much either. "Rules," was all she said bitterly, before focusing her attention on her silent daughter. Talida wasn't coursing with joy, she wasn't bitter; she was taking after her father. Calculating and lost in thought with nobody able to pull her out of her trance. Arcee shook of the feeling of distaste that Talida had when it came to them, but it was still unnerving. But maybe she was just being paranoid? Either way, Arcee was growing more and more concerned.
Ahead of her, Bumblebee went off the road and towards the giant desert mesa before them. Arcee sighed, and summed up the last of her horsepower, speeding up and focusing all her will on not toppling over while carrying three humans, which was a whole lot more difficult than just going around Jasper with her Sadie holoform. Something she had to get used to unless Bulkhead decided to take Miko and Jack off her list of responsibilities, which would be a welcome relief.
"Wait, what? Woah!" Jack cried out, and Arcee scoffed. Jack was becoming more and more obnoxious too, but was still nothing compared to Miko's obnoxiousness. She ignored Jack's cries of protest and focused on her daughter, who only slightly tensed, and out of habit, reached for something around her neck. The necklace her parents gave to her.
A large metal door opened, revealing a tunnel into the desert mesa, which both the Autobots headed through, the giant doors sealing them in from behind. The two 'Bots slowed down the further they went down the tunnel, before pulling into a large hangar, where two more 'Bots awaited their arrival. Bulkhead and Ratchet watched the newcomers arrive along with their teammates. All four of them clambered to their feet, and the two 'Bots gears shifted until they were standing as full height Cybertronians.
"I thought there were only three." Ratchet said dryly, looking at Arcee for an explanation.
"Haven't you heard?" She asked, equally annoyed. "Humans multiply."
Talida was watching everyone and everything with extreme interest, eyes widened and looking around to take it all it, while Jack couldn't help but gape at everything, and Raf looked around, a cheeky grin on his face.
He looked up at Ratchet curiously. "I'm Raf." He said, introducing himself to the red and white mech.
Miko, on the other hand, recovered from her shock quickly, and it was instantly replaced with excitement. She ran over to Bulkhead and looked up at the green Wrecker.
"I'm Miko!" She exclaimed. "Who're you?"
"Bulkhead." He said hesitantly, the human's lack of fear a bit startling.
"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck! A monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weight? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" She blurted out as fast as she could, not bothering to take a breath in between sentences.
Raf on the other hand, while still in awe, was calmer. "So if you guys are robots, who made you?" He asked innocently, continuing to look up at Ratchet intently.
The medic scoffed and looked down at the twelve year old unknowingly genius, and retorted bitterly. "Pu-lease." He said, not too fond of the human, as well as all the others Arcee and Bumblebee had brought to base, at all.
Thundering footsteps, or so they seemed to the humans, shook the ground and Miko hurried over to where the other three stood, looking at the approaching Cybertronian in awe. Optimus Prime.
And, upon seeing the girl with the exact appearance of her mother, his spark skipped a beat, startled, but recognizing his daughter silently, although easily. Getting right down to business, and covering up the mess he was pretty sure Ratchet had made when it came to their relations with the humans, and more so Talida, who hadn't said much of anything. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots," he explained, discreetly giving Ratchet as much of a sour look as possible without making it noticeable.
"Why are you here?" The raven-haired teen asked, stepping forward bravely. Strangely, the action seemed both familiar, and foreign to the Prime who watched him boldly approach someone who could easily do him harm.
"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." He said simply, trying to divert his attention from Talida.
"Why are they here?" He pressed, and Optimus finally managed to pry his attention towards Jack.
"A fair question Jack." He said truthfully, wording his next few sentences carefully. "In part; they are here because our own planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war." He explained.
The youngest of the group, Raf, who had been listening as intently as Talida was slightly confused. "Why were you fighting a war?" He asked, wondering what possibly could've caused the destruction of a planet and centuries of war.
"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of Energon, the lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." Optimus said, before deciding to provide a brief description to sate their interest, while still sparing their feelings. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And thus, Megatron lost his way," He concluded, watching the group of humans take in what he had just said.
Miko, spoke up instead of Talida, and nobody appreciated her comment. She sighed before asking dryly; "Is there going to be a quiz?"
Talida, whose voice he still hadn't heard, glared at Miko, before she finally said something. "So, what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?" She demanded, looking up at him skeptically. She had her mother's attitude. That was for sure. She seemed like she was dissing someone, when she wasn't, and this was no different. He could tell. But her voice was amazing, gentle, soft, and angelic all in one, while still sounding strong and forceful.
Truthfully, if he had been asked this question yesterday, before CliffJumper's spark was extinguished, he would've struggled to find a solid explanation. But that was not even remotely the case. "Megatron has not been heard from or seen in quite some time." He admitted. "But if his return is imminent, as I fear," Optimus paused. "It could be catastrophic."