CHAPTER THREE

Sky-High Battle

***

Meg: Okay, I'd like to apologize to Sentinel Prime for pushing him off the meteor. Did anyone find him yet?

Sunstreaker: Still searching!

Meg: You are not! You're playing video games with Sideswipe and Bumblebee! Oh, for Primus' sake! *Goes out searching*

-Ten minutes later-

Ratchet: Uh…she…hasn't come back yet…

***

Our happy little family was sitting in the kitchen in the base, when Bianca stumbled in, still half in recharge.

"G'morning…" She said simply, before heading straight for the Energon.

Bee and I exchanged a glance.

"Uh…Bia?" I asked her, as she rummaged around in the cabinet. "Anything…err, wrong?"

"Why would you say that?" Bia replied.

My radars instantly picked up that there was something she wasn't telling us. I opened my mouth to ask her what it was…

"HEY 'SIDES!!" A yellow Autobot suddenly ran into the kitchen, holding something in his hands. "GO LONG!!"

A red Autobot who looked like the yellow one ran in after him, and immediately dashed to the opposite end of the kitchen. "CHUCK IT TO ME, SUNNY!!" He shouted.

Sunstreaker drew back his arm, and then tossed whatever it was he was holding to Sideswipe, who caught it with a loud cheer, just as Ratchet stormed into the kitchen.

"WHAT DID YOU LITTLE SLAGGERS DO WITH MY CHIP BOARD!!??" He shouted.

"Language." I said automatically, which I had taken to doing whenever someone used bad language in front of the girls.

Shooting Star, meanwhile, had spotted 'Sides. Her face broke into the biggest grin – as did his, when he spotted her, and he immediately held out his hand, which she clambered onto.

I was in the process of finishing feeding Honey Bee her Energon-infused bottle, whilst I finished off my bacon, and Bee was…well, he was just sitting there.

Ratchet glanced at 'Sides, who had the clipboard but he also had my daughter. Ratchet sighed, and then glared at Sunny. "Okay, I'm gonna have your aft for this you little slagger…"

"Language." Bee said.

Ratchet gave him a Look, just as a blue and black fem-bot came into the kitchen.

"Good morning." She said quietly, before she smiled at Sunny, whose face lit up like, well, a sun, when he saw her. He went over to her immediately.

Ratchet looked defeated. One twin had the object of his affections beside him now, and the other twin had a sparkling sitting on his hand. There wasn't much Ratchet could do but snatch away his chip-board and storm out of the kitchen, nearly bumping into Arcee and Elita1, who were just coming in.

"Good morning." The two fem-bots said in unison, as they helped themselves to some Energon, and Wheeljack came into the kitchen.

Zikya was perched on his shoulder, but she jumped down when she saw me, her skill and grace matching mine perfectly. We greeted each other happily, before she turned to Honey Bee, who was just finishing her breakfast.

"Hiya Bee," Zikya cooed to Honey Bee, using the nickname everyone else but me and Bumblebee, used. It wasn't just weird for us, it was confusing! But since I'm the only one who coos when I'm talking to Bumblebee, and everyone else only coos when they're talking to Honey Bee or Shooting Star, everyone else can use my daughter's nickname without worry.

In case you needed to know, Shooting Star' nickname is Star – which was what I used to call Starscream. So, for obvious reasons, I avoid calling her that, and just call her Shooting Star, or Ryuusei. It's basically the same thing.

Zikya held Honey Bee in her arms, and they smiled at each other.

Across the room, Wheeljack sweatdropped.

I decided I need some fresh air, and Bee decided to join me. We walked outside, and the fresh air hit me the way it always does in the morning.

My face must've given me away.

Bee looked at me sideways, and said: "You're going flying again, aren't you?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm."

He sighed. "Oh…I wish I could join you…" I knew he wished he could fly too. It is the dream of mankind and flightless Cybertronians alike.

"Well, you can't." I said decisively, and then I jumped into the sky. "Chou-Chou Power, Make-Up!" I shouted, as the liquid metal spread over my body, forming pink and blue metal armour around my body. A mask appeared over my eyes and, lastly, my wings. Beautiful and blue and pink for the top ones, and yellow and black for the smaller, cuter ones.

I finished my transformation with a Sailor Moon-style pose.

Bee was just taring at me. "What the slag was that!?" He finally cried.

I grinned sheepishly. "I wanted to be cool." Was my reply, before I flew away into the clouds.

*

Bumblebee's P.O.V:

I watched her go, with the same sinking feeling I got in my spark every time she left me. I knew she was only going up there for ten minutes, twenty minutes tops. But I still hated it when she left me, and hoped she'd get back soon.

To pass the time, I wandered around the base, and nearly ran into Jazz.

"Hey, saw ya girl fly away again," Jazz said, grinning his cocky grin.

I sighed. "Ya, she's gone again – but she'll be back."

"Ya gotta love how she keeps coming back to ya," Jazz continued, and I just stared at him.

"And what does that mean?" I wanted to know.

"Oh, nothing, just that you're not exactly the first bot' I would've paired her with…" He was cut off when I slammed him onto the ground.

He reacted my punching me in the face, and soon we were fighting. I don't know what had gotten me so riled up, but Jazz had just pushed me over the edge.

We would have continued fighting, but something made us stop and break apart instantly.

Honey Bee was standing between us, wearing her new black and yellow dress, her arms held out on either side of her. A defiant look was on her face, one I recognised as her Mother's look of stubbornness.

Optimus Prime walked up to us, and said: "Are you two quite finished yet?"

Jazz and I exchanged a look, and then we both looked down at Honey Bee, who was glaring at us both with her red eyes.

Her Decepticon eyes.

'No, stop that', I told myself. 'She is more like her Mother then that Decepticon, Starscream'!

I forced myself to forget about her eyes, and instead walked over and picked her up. She clambered onto my shoulder, and pointed up at the sky. "What's that?"

I glanced up. What I saw made my spark run cold – and the fact that Honey Bee nearly leapt off of my shoulder didn't help.

Zikya, who had come running outside with Shooting Star, looked up and then yelled: "IT'S A DECEPTICON!!!!"

I gasped. "Emma's up there!"

"Mamma!!" Honey Bee and Shooting Star cried in unison.

*

I knew I was being followed, and I zig-zagged through the skies in a quick fashion, getting the thing good and confused before turning around to attack it.

It was a Decepticon – that much I knew. I didn't recognise it, but a Decepticon is still a Decepticon. No ties to Starscream were going to stop me from doing my duty.

I flew through the air, employing my strength to smash my fist into his armour, but I didn't see the hook coming, and it grabbed me around the ankle. Quick as a flash I arched my back around and used the razor-edge on my wing to cut myself free. I turned back around, and was hit with a shot from the Decepticon's cannon, knocking me back a fair few paces.

I hadn't fought a Decepticon in about ten months – it was really starting to show. I wiped the blood off my nose, and glared at the Decepticon, trying to analyse its weak point.

Then, I blinked in surprise, when it spoke to me.

"You are human who still has All-Spark power within her." He spoke in a monotone, and I could tell that his wings were recently fitted – he kept moving around a fair bit, as if he wasn't quite ure how to control his flight pattern yet. "Lord Megatron still desires you."

"Uh, Megatron's dead." I reminded the Decepticon, as I readied an energy wave that would render him useless. "Or, off-line, or whatever you call it."

"Guezz again, human!"

I gasped, and half-turned as I was hit from behind. The last thing I saw before I fell below the clouds was Blitzwing – and the look of triumph on his crazy-face.

Oh no…

*

I was falling and then…quite suddenly, I wasn't. I opened my eyes, and looked up to find myself being carried by an unfamiliar Cybetronian.

I gulped, and struggled. He looked down at me.

His optics were light blue – almost the same colour as Bumblebee's.

He most certainly was not a Decepticon, and I actually breathed a sigh of relief. He was flying using some kind of a jet-pack, and we landed on top of a building.

"Greeting, human," He said to me, as he set me down, and then knelt down so that I wouldn't hurt my neck looking up at him. "My name is Prowl…"

"Oh!" I exclaimed, interrupting him. "I know you – Jazz's mentioned you once or twice! What are you doing on earth?"

"I come bearing a message for Optimus Prime," Prowl replied formally. "I take it that your name is Emma, am I correct?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's me."

His optics lingered over my butterfly wings, and then he nodded. "Very well then, Emma. Would you be so kind as to take me to where Optimus Prime is?"

I nodded, and spread my wings. "Let's go."

*

Prowl and I didn't talk on the way back to the base, which was kinda nice – flying in complete silence, that is.

That was good, because it was the complete opposite when we got back to the base.

I landed on the ground, which immediately began to shake as Bee ran up to me, snatching me up off the ground and hugging me to the place on his chest where his spark is.

"Em, I was so worried!" Bee yelled.

"Don't be!" I yelled back. I struggled out of his grasp and floated to the ground. "Prowl saved me." I added in a softer voice, just as my daughters ran up to me.

"Mamma, we were so worried about you!" Shooting Star proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Honey Bee added, holding out her arms on either side of her. "This worried, because that Decepticon was big!"

"And bad!" Shooting Star added.

"Nuh-uh!" Honey Bee shook her head stubbornly. "Just big – it wasn't going to hurt Mamma!"

"How do you know?" Shooting Star stuck out her lower lip.

"I just do." Honey Bee replied, and then they were silenced by me.

"Shoosh." I told them, before turning back to Prowl, who was just staring at the three of us.

"Remarkable…" He said softly, as if almost to himself. "The reports were true…"

"What reports?" I interrupted him again. I transformed back into my human mode, and took the hands of my daughters in each of mine.

"You see Emma," Optimus had come up to us also. In fact, my entire family was crowded around us, and Jazz had walked forward a little. "We've been sending back reports on what's been going on. Your daughters have been an…uh…most highlighted point of interest…"

"Which is exactly why I'm here, Prime," Prowl said. "The Elite Guard has expressed interest in wanting to meet with the, uh…All-Spark twins…"

"WHAT!!??" Bee, Jazz, Bia, Ratchet, Elita1 and I all cried in unison.

And, Elita1 added: "Sentinel's coming here!?"

Optimus looked pained.

Then Ratchet had another thought. "Are Jetstorm and Jetfire coming too?"

"Naturally." Prowl nodded.

Ratchet looked mortified.

Sunny and Sides started snickering.

I glanced up at Bee. "Who're all these people…err, Autobots?"

Bee replied: "Well, first there's Sentinel Prime…"

"Another Prime?" I interrupted him.

He nodded. "Uh-huh…" He transformed to his holoform and whispered in my ear: "He and boss-bot don't…see eye-to-eye…"

I nodded knowingly.

"Then there's Jetfire and Jetstorm…" Bee went on. "They're…twins."

"Ohhhh…" I said, sort of groaning. "More twins…" I glanced down at my own, who glanced back up at me, almost angelically, and I could understand why Ratchet was so concerned (to put it mildly).

"Jazz is also a member…" Bee continued.

That was when I remembered something. "Hey, Jazz-man!?"

"Yeah?" He came forward then.

"Don't you and Prowl know each other?"

Jazz nodded, and he and Prowl smiled at each other. Prowl had a really nice smile, and for a second I was a bit taken aback – until I recognised the fighting-style of both of them.

"Oh – you're both Cyber-Ninjas!" I exclaimed. "Cool!"

"Long time no see," Jazz said to Prowl.

Prowl simply nodded. "Likewise."

"Uh, hello?" Zikya, sitting on Wheeljack's shoulder, suddenly raised her hand. "That Decepticon is still up there…"

And that reminded me.

I gasped.

I must've turned pale or something, or looked like I was going to faint, because Bee grabbed my shoulders. "Em, what's wrong?" He asked, looking into my eyes.

I shook my head to clear it, feeling thoughts flowing through it like wildfire. "There are two Decepticons up there…Blitzwing, and a monotone one…" I took a deep breath, and then looked up at Optimus. "Also…Megatron is still alive."

There. I'd said it.

***

Sunstreaker: So, what do you want us to do about it?

Ratchet: GO AND FIND HER AND BRING HER BACK!!!! *Begins throwing stuff at the Lambo twins*

Sideswipe: Okay, okay we're going!! *Runs outside with Sunny*

-Ten minutes later-

Bumblebee: Uh…they haven't come back yet, doc-bot…

Ratchet: So? For once, I'm enjoying all this peace and quiet.

Bumblebee: Yeah, but, uh…need I remind you that Meg is out there too? (Looking for that jerk…).

Ratchet: …Oh, slag it!! *Storms outside angrily*

Bumblebee: *Chuckling* Now I can turn my music up loud.