They say never judge a book by it's cover. Well, you'd be more than dead if you tried to judge me by my appearance. I maybe small, but I pack a mean punch if you mess with me and my team... Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude... hey there! I'm Windswept! And boy, have I got a story to tell you. Well, what are you waiting for?! Get over here and get ready for my adventures on Team Prime!
I've found a little spring in my step it seems. I've found a rhythm I'm happy with and I'm ready to get back into this story. Hopefully this is the start of more consistent updates from now on. Fingers crossed.
In other news, I'm currently in pursuit of searching for a new title for this story. I don't really know/remember why I had titled this story 'Breakthrough' when I first start writing it. I can't seem to figure out what I want the title to be as I really want it to refer to the contents of this story. Any suggestions would be much appreciated - just PM me if you want to add your input. I don't want anyone suggesting a title in a review as I don't want anyone's ideas to be stolen by someone else.
Thank you to Skyress98 and Predator125 for following and favouriting this story (Yay, we hit 10 favourites!), and to Mia Prime for also reviewing. I was able to translate it and understand it a little to what you were referring to. Regardless, I appreciate the review.
- Transformers Prime does not belong to me. All rights go to the people and brands who were able to create this show.
- Windswept and the other OC's belong to me.
(Chapter Title: Racing + Cybertronians = Trouble)
The night was calm and cloudy. Bright city lights shone behind a red Aston Martin One-77 began that was passing by small hills and dark green trees. Its' headlights shone brightly in the night, lighting up the road ahead so he could see where he was heading.
"As Metropolitan PD continues to crack down on illegal street racing, citing the danger to both drivers and pedestrians-"
The vehicle suddenly cut off the radio, uninterested about the issues with the so called 'illegal' street racing. He was concentrating on the bright lights shining through the trees ahead of him. Something was going on. Something he was well aware of.
After all, Knock Out did love his street racing. Of course he knew where the next meet was.
He arrived right on time, pulling up beside a large, black souped-up racer just as the starter was walking in front of them, ready to drop the green flag. The black-haired, tattooed driver of the black car looked over at the fancy-shmancy red car that had joined him in waiting for the race to start.
"Not from around here. European design?" The driver presumed. He got no response, continuing to stare at himself through the window. Frustrated with the silence, he kept looking over the vehicle, "Sure is pretty. Too pretty." He pulled out his fist with a shiny ring on it and began scratching the side of the Aston Martin, leaving a huge scratch mark across the door..
Unbeknownst to the driver, Knock Out twitched his mirror down at the sight of the scratch mark before twisting it towards the driver. The latter just shook his head in secret delight of his work, pulling up the heavily tinted window
"Big mistake," Knock Out growled, changing gears as he prepared himself for the race.
The starter held up his torch and clicked it on.
Go time.
All four cars raced away at the light, the ref behind them watching them disappear in the dust.
The black car instantly passed the green and sky blue ones, obtaining the lead as soon as he could. Behind them, the red Aston Martin wasn't too far away, beginning his charge towards the front.
The driver of the black car flicked his eyes to the rear-view mirror quickly, seeing his opponents slowly disappear from sight. But that wasn't enough. He wanted to own this race! To prove that he was best there was! So he pressed down on the gas, orange flames licking out the exhaust pipe. He pushed on the gas pedal harder, watching his RPM metre be pushed to its' absolute limit.
The sound of squealing tires behind him made him look out the rear-view mirror once more, finding the red Aston Martin screaming around the corner and speeding up rapidly. He smashed into the back of the car, nearly making the driver lose control.
"HEY!"
But the vehicle in behind wouldn't let up. He wanted revenge for the scar the human had left on his door. So, as the driver began drifting around the corner, Knock Out took his chance, ramming straight into the vehicle. The car instantly lost control, its' steering broken from the contact. It ploughed over the edge of a nearby cliff, its' nose pointing straight to the ground below, slowly beginning to turn over.
The car landed with a loud bang on its' roof with the windscreen smashed. The driver groaned as he awoke, "Dude."
Having seen the car crash, Knock Out rested at the edge of the cliff, "You scratch my paint, I scratch yours."
The red Decepticon pulled away from the cliff and onto the road, intent on reaching the finish line ahead.
That'll teach that punk to never mess with him again...
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Carly and Jack were walking out of the Jasper High School, laughing and chatting away at the day's events. The two just seemed to click and make each other very happy for some reason. I hope those two get together or something like that. They're literally so adorable!
I smiled not only at that thought, but also the fact that base wouldn't be as crowded as it had become lately when Arcee and I got there. Ratchet, Starlight and Bumblebee were out on a scouting mission, and Optimus was on patrol with Aquastrike. Bulkhead had just taken Miko and Raf to base where my brother-in-law Sunburst was waiting.
Brother-in-law... wow that's so weird to say...
That bombshell he dropped hit me hard. He and Whirlwind had spark-bonded only hours before the War for Cybertron was declared over! And the fact that he had sworn me to secrecy too was also a big deal. I didn't want to keep this in! I wanted to it get out! I wanted to talk to someone about the fact that Sunburst was my brother! He wasn't just my old friend or my brother figure.
He was seriously my brother!
Carly appeared beside me, snapping me out of my thoughts. She chucked on her helmet, the same one that said 'Alejandro' on it, and hopped onto the seat. Jack chucked on his helmet and also hopped onto Arcee. We made Jack and Carly pretend to ignite the ignition to not raise suspicion about the fact that Arcee and I were actually the ones revving up.
We began pulling out of the parking space, ready to start our journey to base.
"Hey! Cherry moped!"
I heard Carly sigh at the boys voice. Apparently this guy was named Vince and was known as the school bully. But he also had this thought that he could bed pretty much any girl he laid his eyes on. He had bedded half of the girls their age at school and now he had a new target.
My charge.
Carly had told me not to worry about it and that it was just a phase. Apparently, it would pass. But it's been three weeks since he got his eyes on her and first asked her to spend the night. He hasn't let it go.
Jack looked through the visor of his helmet back at the orange-haired kid, "This moped has dual carbs and it can go from zero to sixty in 3.5 seconds."
Vince rolled his eyes, ignoring the boy. But when he spotted Carly on me, his eyes showed a hidden desire for the girl. He smiled what I thought was genuine smile at the girl.
Then we heard him speak.
"You busy tonight, Carly? Oh that's right, you are... and it involves you in my bed."
Yuck.
Carly snorted at the teenager, a dangerous smirk appearing on her lips, "So I'm going to be awake all night then?"
Carlotta Zita Esquivel, what the bloody heck?!
"We can go all night if you want to, baby," Vince smirked, standing to full height and approaching us.
"Just like the legend huh?" Carly asked teasingly. Vince looked at her with a confused facial expression as a response, causing her to just laughed, "You know... If you can't sleep at night, it's because you're awake in someone's else dream." She batted her eyelashes in a humble way, "Vince, I'm flattered by the fact that you dream about me, but they're only dreams. They'll never come true."
That's my girl.
With that said, I revved up the engine and sped away from the school. It was the only thing that I thought fitted the ending of that burn. I hope Vince has some ice on him.
Arcee and Jack soon followed us, pulling up alongside us when we were at a red light. And also at a safe distance Arcee and I to talk to Jack and Carly.
"Uh…Jack?" Arcee began, the not-so-happy tone evident in her voice, "A lady's vital stats are her own business."
Jack just sighed in amusement and what I thought was a little bit of frustration at the motorcycle.
"Yeah Jack! You should know that," Carly smirked at him.
"Hey!" The two humans looked to the right of them when they heard that voice. They looked over at the pathway, spotting two girls starring at Jack.
Wait, I've seen those girls before.
"Nick, right?"
"Actually, it's Jack, Sierra," Carly corrected, spitting out Jack's name like the girl over on the other side of us was meant to know his name.
Wait... Sierra? ... Sierra as in Sierra from that KO Drive-In place where Jack first found out that Arcee wasn't just any ordinary motorcycle.
The same Sierra that Carly disliked? Because Jack had a crush on her?
Sierra gave Carly a dirty look before looking back at Jack, "You once offered to take me for a ride."
O-Of course, I-I did," Jack stuttered in response, "At anytime."
Are you serious Jack? Are you seriously going to do this here? And break my charge's heart?!
"I'm your guardian, kiddo," Arcee reminded him quietly, flicking up her mirror and looking at Jack's pleading face, "Not your wingman."
"Let's wrap it up here guys," I warned. Time was ticking.
"So... how about now?" Sierra asked hopefully.
"Uhhh..." Jack trailed off, looking down at Arcee once more.
If he does this and break Carly's heart, her heart won't be the only thing that's broken. I can guarantee that.
A black vehicle with orange and yellow flames pulled up in the gap between the pathway and Arcee and Jack, pausing the latter in his answer. Carly groaned quietly at the person that had appeared.
Did I really need to see who it was?
"Hey, hey, small world!" Vince commented.
"I'm having a conversation," Jack spat out while I flicked my mirrors over just in time to see Vince stand up in his vehicle, poking his upper body out from the roof of his car.
"Cheer captain here might enjoy watching you take on four wheels of muscle car," Vince suggested as Sierra's blonde friend began whispering something in her ear.
"Are you serious?" Carly asked dryly, flicking her visor up to look at the boy.
Vince looked over Jack at her with a smirk, "Anything to impress you, Miss Esquivel."
"The fact that you've left my brother alone for almost two months impresses me," Carly retorted, narrowing her eyes dangerously at the teenager.
"Are you challenging me, Vince?" Jack asked in disbelief, glancing at Carly before looking back at the orange-haired teen, "To a race?"
"Catch on quick, punch. What do ya say?"
Don't even think about it Jack.
Team Prime has a rulebook... I'm not kidding. We have about five different sections with a set amount of rules to follow on each while we live under the roof of Autobot Outpost Omega One. Section three, rule number one: Never abuse power for any personal gain. This also included a little thing called horse power.
So while Jack looked over at Sierra and began stuttering nervously at the offer, I immediately commed Arcee through the private link, "Time to wrap up here, don't you agree?"
Arcee was quick to answer. The red flags must have popped up in her mind as well, "Let's get out of here."
As soon as the lights above us clicked down to green, Arcee and I revved up and began speeding away from the trio of humans waiting expectedly for an answer. Jack and Carly began yelling and screaming when we took off, having been unprepared by our taking off.
"What the hell 'Swept!" Carly began yelling at me once she grabbed a hold of the handlebars, "You didn't let Jack answer!"
Arcee then gave her answer for Jack, "Nope."
"But Arcee, we can smoke him!" Jack argued.
"Yep!"
Oh yeah Arcee can! But will she? No. We had rules to follow.
"You just don't get it," Jack sighed.
"This could be our chance to get Vince to leave us alone!" Carly argued, Jack nodding in agreement beside her as we pulled up to another set of traffic lights.
"Guys, Arcee and I don't make the rules. Optimus does. We just obey and follow every command he gives, no matter how we feel about those rules," I explained to them.
"And rule number one, in case you guys missed it: never abuse power for personal gain. And that includes horse power!" Arcee told the two.
The two were silent after that, exchanging looks of defeat. They knew that we were right and they also knew that they couldn't argue against us. So when Vince revved his vehicle engine and reappeared beside us, Jack sighed and came to a decision.
"Vince, maybe racing isn't such a good id-"
Vince cracked up in laughter before Jack could finish his sentence. He must've expected Jack to wimp out of the race or something, "Figured! You ride around like your bike's something special. But it's just a chunky, clunky trike! And ugly!" As soon as the lights turned green above us, Vince revved the engine on his car once more and drove us, going back to Sierra and her friend behind us.
Oh, he did not just call Arcee ugly! How dare he call my friend nothing but a chunky, clunky trike! He ain't getting away with that! No one messes with my friends and gets away with! No way in the pits of Kaon!
"That's it! The yahoo's going down!" Arcee growled as we spun around, following the direction that Vince had gone in just seconds ago.
"Whoa! What happened to rule number one?" Jack asked once he and Carly had regained their grip on the handlebars.
"Gets bent," Arcee simply answered, "Just this once."
"And why are we following?" Carly asked.
"No one calls my friend a chunky and clunky trike and ugly AND gets away with it!" I replied, "I wanna watch Arcee whoop his aft before I do it for her!"
Section five, rule number one: do not mess with the Autobot femmes of Team Prime. We will destroy to pieces not matter what faction you are on.
Vince pulled up beside the girls on the pavement ahead of us, his voice being loud enough for us to hear, "Yo girls! Your pal Darby he's-"
"Ready when you are Vinnie!" Jack interrupted as we pulled up behind him.
Vince grinned over his shoulder when he saw Carly and I, "You're coming to watch, Esquivel?"
"I want to be able to sleep well tonight knowing that you got your butt whooped by Jack and the bike you called chunky and clunky," Carly simply answered, paying more attention the nails on her fingers. Then she looked up, eyes narrowing, "And ugly."
Vince narrowed his eyes at all of us, "Dirt road by trucker's ranch. One hour."
The hour had passed. The race was about to begin.
Arcee and Jack were waiting at a mile marker with Vince and his pitiful excuse for a muscle car. Carly and I were waiting at the next marker that was down the road. Sierra and her friend were standing about roughly the middle of the signs.
I flicked my mirror up at Carly, who had her helmet off and her arms crossed, waiting for the race to start. I knew that she knew that Jack wasn't just racing for Arcee's benefit. But because of Sierra. She told me that she was quite convinced about that. And the fact that he was only racing to impress Sierra not only was breaking her heart, but making me seriously question a few things.
What did Jack see in Sierra that she had in comparison to Carly?
I've heard the way Miko talks about her. She doesn't really care for Sierra at all, probably even less than Carly if that were possible. She talks about how Sierra is just a popular cheerleader who laps up the attention she gets from all the boys because she's the head cheer captain who doesn't have a single flaw. Come on, are boys blind or something! She's not even that pretty to be honest...
Now Carly should've been the popular one. She's beautiful, kind, a quick thinker, a seriously good piano player and someone who everyone loves. She greets everyone, no matter who, with waves and smiles, her bright, happy mood instantly brightening up their days.
And I would know. It happens with everyone at base. Even Optimus is even brought to a small smile at her kindness.
And she has flaws. The amount of love for her friends and family will push her to some radical and pretty stupid things. She does get frustrated easy. Sometimes she can't deal with the action and everything that happens around her. Sometimes she just walks away.
But that's what makes up Carly. That's who she was. That's the girl who I'm beginning to nearly call my little sister every time I see her.
Though, to be honest, I was pretty biased about this. I disliked Sierra and loved Carly to bits. Made sense.
The race looked to be gearing up from where we were waiting. I zoomed in my optics, seeing Vince look over at Jack.
"Smash his aft, Arcee!" I commed to her.
"I will if I don't win."
Vince in the muscle car suddenly sped away from the start line, instantly leaving poor Arcee and Jack in dust. He must have played some sort of dirty tactic to jump them on the line. As the dark clouds began rolling in around us, the muscle car and Arcee raced past Sierra and her blonde friend, the girls having to push down their skirts to make sure they didn't flare up.
We watched as Jack and Arcee went from lagging behind Vince to slowly creeping up along the left of his vehicle. With a small wave on Jack's part, he and Arcee pulled a wheelie before speeding in front of the muscle car, gaining the lead off Vince and evidently, the win.
Scrap yes!
As the two rushed past the mile marker and Carly and I, the two instantly began celebrating ahead of us while Carly put on her helmet. Hearing Jack cheer and Arcee honk her horn in celebration made Carly laugh as I pulled onto the road and began racing to catch up to them.
"You know, now might be a good time to give Sierra a quick once around the block?" We heard Jack ask hopefully,
"Don't push it.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
With Starscream ready to head out to perform what he called 'leadership duties', Slipstream was getting prepared to be left alone. Left in full charge of not only the Decepticon Warship, but of the entirety of the Decepticon army. The drones, Soundwave, Rebecca, Moonlight, Knock Out, Breakdown.
Everybody! And Slipstream was going to loving it!
But before being in left in charge, Starscream had to go quickly say a farewell to Megatron just in case his health suddenly declined while he was away. So Slipstream and Starscream were on their way to the medical bay where their former master was currently in stasis.
Slipstream and Starscream arrived to the entrance of the Decepticon medical bay, peeking through the small window to find Rebecca floating on her hovershoes and overlooking Breakdown, who was beginning to buff out the smoke patches and scars that had been left on the former Decepticon leader.
"Ahhhh Breakdown and Rebecca," Slipstream greeted the blue and silvery-grey Decepticon and the wavy-haired human when the doors to the medical bay slid open at her command. Rebecca and Breakdown looked up at twins, the recently arrived Decepticon pausing in his work, "Has there been any change in Megatron's condition?"
Breakdown hummed, looking at Slipstream and Starscream when they stood beside him, "Only cosmetic."
"Don't worry your pretty little spark, Slipstream." The blue and purple Decepticon looked over her shoulder with a growl, gritting her denta when she spotted Moonlight leaning against the doorway to the medical bay with a smirk. She began her descent towards the trio of Decepticons and the unconscious former leader on the medical berth, "I'm sure Knock Out and Breakdown are doing everything they can to bring him back to the real world."
Ignoring the taunting arm that had wrapped around her shoulders, Slipstream kept her composure, her face emotionless as she looked at Breakdown, "Speaking of that auto-mobile fanatic, where is he?"
The five Decepticons looked behind them at the sound of the medical bay doors opening. Appearing on the other side was Knock Out, the red Decepticon walking into the room with a mix of frustration and anger.
Uh-oh, Knock Out was in a grump.
"Can you believe what some skin-job did to me?" Knock Out grumbled, pointing to a small scratch mark on his left arm which would become the doors of his Aston Martin One-77 vehicle form.
"You have been street racing among the humans again, haven't you?" Starscream questioned knowingly with a growl, watching him walk over to check Megatron's vitals.
"I'm not only an auto-mobile. I am an auto-mobile enthusiast!" Knock Out defended with a shrug, looking at Starscream.
"I do strive to run a tight ship, Knock Out. I would strongly suggest that you seek my permission you decide to disappear on one of your little jonts," Starscream growled in suggestion.
"No worries, Herr and Frau Kommandants," Knock Out rolled his optics.
Starscream wasn't amused, "It is Lord and Lady to you!"
"Only if Megatron takes a nosedive," Knock Out retorted, striving to annoy the Decepticon further before he was due to leave.
"Boys," Moonlight began, watching Starscream stand in front of Knock Out, "Play nice."
"The day Megatron emerges from stasis, Slipstream and I will graciously relinquish the title," Starscream promised, his eyes narrowing at the Decepticon medic, "But I believe that outcome is unlikely. Something to do with the quality of medical care around here." With his warning sent, Starscream turned around, walking towards the doors, "So continue buffing. We do want Megatron looking his best for the memorial."
Once Starscream had opened the medical doors and had disappeared through them, the Decepticon not due to visit again until his return from his mission the following day, Breakdown went back to work, activating his buffer to continue cleaning up Megatron.
"Buff this!" Knock Out called out after him, flicking up a certain finger.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
After the race and congratulating Arcee and Jack for beating the punk kid's aft, we made our way to Autobot base to drop the humans off for the rest of the day.
Carly had at first seemed alright after exchanging a high-five with Jack and an excited congrats to the boy. But a few minutes into the drive later and her mood had dramatically changed. Jack had asked the girl what she was up to while she was at base. A simple question that got a harsh response in return.
The brown-haired girl had told him to go ask Sierra that question since, and I quote, 'whatever was making his decisions for him today couldn't keep their thoughts off Sierra'.
I had pulled ahead of the two and gave the girl a piece of my mind. I told that she needed to stop thinking about her feelings for Jack and to just talk to him about it. It was obvious that those feelings were not going away any time soon the more time they spent together at base. And even though I got a bit of an argument back from her, she eventually relented and decided that she would when we returned to base.
I let Arcee know that something was happening and that Jack and Carly needed to talk by themselves. So we drove straight through the main area of the base, passing everyone there waiting for us and towards one of the empty hallways.
Jack and Carly got off us, the former with a questioning look. We just told him that it was a standard procedure that we sometimes needed to perform just in case of an emergency. As Jack and Carly began taking off their helmets, Arcee and I pulled up beside them and transformed. Arcee looked down at the two humans.
"Not a word to anyone."
"Our little secret," Jack and Carly promised with a small wink.
Trusting our human friends, and knowing what was possibly going to happen next, we exchanged a nod and walk away.
"So..." Arcee began with a smirk on her lips, "We still have a score to settle."
I looked at her, mirroring the smirk. Ahh yes, our races back to base. We keep tying way too much. Time for plan B.
"Meet in the training room in five?"
"You're on!"
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Carly looked over at Jack shyly, fidgeting with the straps on her helmet. This was it. Now or never. If she didn't tell Jack about how she felt about him, then by the time she felt ready to tell him, it could be too late. But first, she had an apology to give.
"I'm sorry for snapping on the way here."
"Don't worry about it," Jack shrugged, "I probably should be shutting up about Sierra. I don't even know why I am anyway. I mean, she's cool and all, but..." Carly looked over at her friend when he paused, slightly concerned. But when she saw him looking at her, his eyes locked onto hers, she suddenly couldn't take another step, "But I don't really like her as much as I thought."
His eyes, his eyes, his eyes! It was like he had commanded her to continue looking into his dark blue eyes with her light brown orbs. And she could've sworen that he was edging closer and closer towards her.
"I have something to te-"
"I have something to te-"
"DUDES!"
Carly and Jack jumped back from each other when they heard the excited Japanese exchange student's voice, looking behind them and spotting her race towards them excitement. She began making motorcycle revving noises.
"And the winner is…!"
Jack and Carly exchanged a surprised and nervous look as Raf began racing over after Miko. How did they know already?
"Miko, who told you?" Jack asked nervously, looking back at the younger girl.
"You kidding?" Miko gasped in disbelief for lighting up once more, "It's all over school!"
Carly, immediately thinking that the news would start to blow up on social media, quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and instantly began pressing commands on the cellphone. She groaned as her thoughts came true, seeing Jack and his motorcycle beating Vince and his muscle car, "Yeah and social media, by the looks of it."
"You beat the pants off that blow-hard bully, Vince!" Raf gushed excitedly from behind his sister and her childhood friend, the girl slipping her phone back into her pocket.
Miko and Raf were too excited by this. If Jack and Carly didn't calm them down soon, then they'd go and tell the whole team out in the main room. And then that information would quickly spread to Optimus, who was still yet to arrive back from his mission. But it wouldn't be long before the Prime knew.
So Carly grabbed Miko while Jack grabbed Raf, pulling them into a small huddle
"Guys, we have to keep this hush hush!" Carly whispered.
Jack nodded in agreement, "ESPECIALLY from Optimus!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
So my plan failed... and frankly, I'm a little disappointed by that. Though to be fair, Raf and Miko need to keep their mouths shut so the whole team doesn't start talking about recent events. So it was kind of a good thing that my plan did fail.
According to Carly this morning, Jack had become an overnight sensation, his popularity at school slowly rising. Everyone was messaging him and asking him how he beat Vince, how it all occurred, and how the boy had supposedly reacted. Apparently, Vince hadn't been too pleased about the lose, quickly becoming the joke of the school.
Carly's feelings will unfortunately have to wait.
Arcee and I were waiting outside of the school when Jack and Carly appeared through the door, talking about something. But instead of being all laughs and smiles, their talk was looking a bit more serious.
But just as they reached the end of the steps, guess who turned up right behind them?
"Hey Jack! I've been looking for you!" Sierra called out, stopping at the top of the steps when Jack and Carly turned around, "The race! How great was that? I was like: 'Yeah, go Jack!'"
I narrowed my eye line at Carly when the two exchanged a look. It looked to be a glance of jealousy from Carly at first. But then it softened to a small smile. Huh, maybe my plan didn't totally fail.
"I-I-It was no big deal," Jack shrugged
Vince walked up to Jack and Carly from behind, almost shoulder-barging them from behind. Brushing off his shoulder, the orange-haired teenager looked at Carly, "Off you go sweet cheeks. This doesn't concern you."
Carly crossed her arms in protest, taking a step forward, "Jack's my friend. If you're going to talk to him, you're gonna have to talk to me too."
Vince took a step towards her. I quickly felt sick. His stomach touching her crossed arms, he brushed a strand of hair off her face. They were standing too close for my comfort and no doubt Carly's.
And I swear Jack's fists curled up at his sides in hidden jealousy.
"Run along, Carly. This is big-boy business," Vince whispered darkly to her.
Carly must have gotten a little fright from his tone and the way he had ranged up on her. She took a step back from the boy and patted Jack's shoulder, "I'll meet you down the road." When Jack nodded to her, she quickly walked over to my motorcycle form.
"Are you okay?" I quickly asked her in worry.
"Drop it 'Swept," Carly snapped as she chucked on her helmet.
Vince must have gotten to her. She was already hopping onto my motorcycle form before I could answer back. I saw her look up at Jack and Vince, the latter who was looking over Jack's shoulder at her. I saw the dangerous smirk appear on his face and that's when I knew I had to get out this place before Carly's body start shaking even more than it already did.
Ten minutes later, we were safely on the road and away from the school, I flicked my mirror up at Carly, who looked to have calmed slightly now that she was away from that place. Still, her visor was down and I couldn't see anything.
"Did he get to you?" I asked Carly quietly.
A sigh, "A little bit... I don't even know why, but when he told me to leave, and when he got a bit close, I just... I just knew I had to go."
"'Swept, hold up. Jack has something he needs to tell Carly."
At the private message I received from Arcee, I slowed down on the road, pulling to the side slightly, "Arcee and Jack are on their way. And Jack needs to talk to you apparently."
Carly froze for a second before she nodded slightly, loosening up in the seat. Then she looked down at me, flickering her visor down, "'Swept, I don't think I should've left. Vince wanted to talk to Jack and whatever it was, it didn't sound good."
"You need to settle down, Carly," I told her softly. Truth was, I'm glad that Carly had backed down when Vince had told her to leave. I didn't want her to keep her guard up and get in his way. I was worried by the fact that Vince seemed like a loose nut that could lose control any second. So to have Carly step away instead of pushing the matter, it made me proud of her.
My brown-haired human friend took a breath in, closing her eyes before releasing her breath. Eyes opening, a small smile appeared on her face, "Yeah, maybe I do need to settle. I guess my feelings for Jack are reaching breaking point."
I could sense that Carly was feeling a little bit better now. Which was a huge relief for me. She makes me worry so much sometimes.
Arcee revved her engines behind us, causing Carly to flicker her visor up and me to pull back onto the road.
"You're going to WHAT?" Arcee screeched suddenly as she caught up to us.
"What's happening?" Carly asked, looking over at Jack.
"Vince invited him down to some sort of secret racing organisation late tonight," Arcee growled, "And Jack accepted the offer."
What?!
"I don't know! I had no choice!" Jack immediately protested, "Sierra was standing right there!"
"You always have a choice, Jack," Arcee argued.
"And what part of 'just this once' did you not understand?" I questioned him with a growl.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't you start apologising to me, Jack. It's Carly you have to apologise to."
"What?" Carly and I immediately questioned.
Jack sighed beside us, looking over at Carly, "Please let me explain before you get mad."
"Just tell me what's going on, Jack," Carly asked worriedly.
"Vince and I made a bet. He said that if I beat him and win tonight, he'll leave you alone. But if I lose on even one signal account, he said that you had to spend the night with him. No arguments."
Carly's grip tightened on the handlebars so hard, even I could feel the fury radiating off her. But she wasn't the only who was angry. Because I was too. How dare Jack put Carly on the line like that! How dare he!
"Jack, when we get to base, you better run like hell," I warned him angrily.
"I-I'm sorry, 'Swept but I only took up the chance so Vince would leave Carly alone!" Jack protested, "And since Arcee and I won easily last time, there's almost no way that we can lose this time."
Wait a second.
Wait a fraggin second.
Jack agreed on the bet so he could win AND get Vince to leave Carly alone?!
"Sounds like someone cares about Carly a little more than normal," I sing-songed.
The boy didn't even flinch when I said that. He only looked over at Carly, whose eyes were locked straight on the road, not even showing any emotion. Come on, Carly. I won't say anything if you let a small tear. Just to show any emotion! Any at all!
Jack looked back at Arcee, "We're on, right?"
Arcee's response?
"We are not on."
"It's just a stupid little bet, Jack," Carly whispered, her voice being all over the place so well that I couldn't pick up on the true emotion that she was feeling, "Whether you go tonight or not, the bet doesn't mean a single thing."
Arcee's call was right. We weren't going down this path. It would only get worse from here if we do ... But despite Carly's comment, I knew deep down that Vince's 'stupid little' bet didn't sound like a joke. The way he confronted Carly earlier didn't help me think differently.
Jack needed to go down to that circuit tonight to win this bet. And I knew just the person to help him.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
It was a nice evening for a drive. The sun was beginning to set on the day, white clouds that were rolling in were turning into a pink-blueish colour. The red Aston Martin driving down the road was travelling peacefully underneath the clouds, as if he was waiting for something to happen.
"Knock Out, Slipstream's been looking for you. Where did you go?" Breakdown asked over the comms.
"Out for a little drive. I just roll from town to town sniffing around until…" The sound of a honking vehicle made him look to his mirrors, spotting a purple flame-decorated vehicle speeding past him. "...The next opportunity presents itself."
Switching off his comm-link, the Decepticon flicked around with the gears, speeding up behind to follow the fast vehicle that had just whizzed past him.
Following him into Jasper, Nevada.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
"No way Windswept! There is no way I'm going out there to race!"
So... my idea of attempting to convince Sunburst to take Arcee's place and race against Vince with Jack was not turning out the way I wanted it to. Sunburst was a loyal mech who stuck by any sort of rule very, very closely. He's been able to follow every rule, just about every command he's been given for years. He certainly wasn't going to give up who he was.
But in this case, I'm becoming desperate.
Arcee had stormed off to the training to cool down. She was angry with Jack that he agreed to the race tonight. And yeah, I didn't blame her, but she didn't really understand what was happening. This is MY human friend, a sweet, innocent girl that I was becoming so close with, and she was caught in the middle of a bet that could turn seriously bad if we don't do something about it.
And since Optimus had returned from patrol earlier today, Arcee had easily found a sparring partner who could handle her rage.
I saw Raf, who was playing a video game with Miko, crash the car he was racing at Sunburst's yelling, probably becoming distracted by our arguing. He, Miko, Bulkhead and Aquastrike weren't getting themselves into the situation I was having with Sunburst. But Miko was seriously willing to after hearing about the bet.
Apparently, Vince always follows through with a lot of things.
"Sunburst, please! No one else will go!" I practically begged to my brother, gripping his arm tightly, "You're the only one I know who can do this!"
"Hey I didn' wanna ge' involved! I didn' say t'at I was up to t'e task!" Aquastrike protested.
I looked at her with hope shining in my eyes, "So you'll go and race with Jack?!"
Aquastrike shook her head rapidly, backing away and raising her arms up, "Uh-uh! If Ol' Prime finds out we broke t'em rules, he'll kill us!"
"I can handle him," I shrugged.
No I can't, but that wasn't important.
"Well if you want Jack to go down there and race so badly, why don't you go?!" Sunburst asked.
"As far as Vince is concerned, I'm Carly's motorcycle. If he see's me down there at all tonight, he'll think something's up and be more determined to win this bet." That, and I didn't wanna race. I didn't want to lose.
I looked down at Carly on the bottom step of the stairs heading up the area for the humans. She wasn't really talking to anyone. But she was paying attention. I could see her little ears twitch now and then.
"So how am I gonna bet Vince without Arcee or any other vehicle?!" Jack asked with a panicked tone.
"Sunburst!" Miko called, making him face her at the human area, "Jack's got two things to do tonight!" Bulkhead and Aquastrike walked up to stand behind Sunburst, eager to hear what Miko had to say, "He's gotta beat the bully AND get the girl down there!" Miko pointed down to where Carly was before looking up to Jack, who was about to protest. But she jabbed him in the chest, "Don't you lie to me, Jackson Darby! I seen how you two behave around each other! Lovesick puppies who won't reveal their feelings for one another!"
Jack suddenly began racing down the steps towards Carly, barely slipping past her when he reached her at the bottom of the steps. He bent down and snatched her hands in his tightly, "Carly, I know you kinda hate me right now... but I also know that you don't... It seems that I have a choice to either tell you or not to tell you." He took a breath in the pause. "But I like you Carly. I really, really like you. And I would really like to tell you why, but right now isn't the time. I have to win this race tonight so Vince can leave you alone."
Awwwhhh, man Jack! You go dude!
"Awwwwhhhhh!" Miko and Aquastrike chorused before looking at each weirdly, surprised at their reactions.
Even Bulkhead gave them weird looks.
But Carly didn't react.
I looked up at Sunburst with pleading eyes, "Come on Sunshine. Please!"
Sunburst looked at me for a moment, keeping his arms locked in front of his chassis. Then, he let out a sigh, his arms falling by his sides, "Fine!" My brother pointed at me teasingly. "But if I get caught tonight, you owe me big time."
I nodded eagerly, "Anything you want!"
"I mean it, Windswept," Sunburst warned before transforming into his Ferrari Enzo near Jack and Carly.
Jack just sighed down below us, not getting any response out of my charge. He stood to full height and allowed her hands to slip out of his, turning and going to walk over to Sunburst.
Well, he would've done so had Carly not suddenly rushed towards him, spinning him back around and kissing him passionately.
The base erupted in cheers of the two, especially Miko and Aquastrike. I just smirked at the pair of them.
Who knew Carly had that in her?
She pulled away from the stunned Jack slowly, her brown eyes opening and looking at the boy a little too lovingly.
"I really like you too, and you don't have to fight for me," she said softly at him. Then she patted him on the shoulders, "But I'm not going to date a loser. So go win this race!"
The race was on!
NO ONE'S P.O.V
The Yellow Ferrari Enzo XX Evolution 2009 arrived to the track with its' passenger inside. Said passenger, Jack Darby, looked around at the vehicles and drivers that had been waiting around for the start of the racing. The racer's girlfriends hung themselves over their boyfriends, wishing them luck and telling them to win this upcoming race or they would be going home alone at the end of the night. Above, the sky was nearly pitch black, the moon was full and the clouds began rolling in.
Perfect setting for a race.
Sunburst smirked to himself as he looked at all the surrounding humans looked up from their conversations, looking at his vehicle form with their jaws on the floor and their eyes as wide as dinner-plates.
They would've been asking themselves who this guy in the vehicle was, what was a fancy vehicle like this pulling up for a race, and where did he get a ride like that!
Jack rolled down the window, looking over at the familiar face in the black flame-decorated vehicle beside him with a smirk. Spotting the Ferrari out of the corner of his eye, Vince looked over at it, gaping at the sight of none other than Jackson Darby sitting in the vehicle.
"Bike's in the shop," Jack shrugged, resting his arm on the door.
Vince smirked: now this was a real race!
Looking back in front of him, Jack found the teenage girl known as Sierra walking up in front of them, waving and smiling innocently at him. Jack smiled back, but not as wide as he normally would smile. The girl just didn't really sparkle in his eyes like she used.
But he had found someone who did. Someone who didn't just sparkle...
"Circuit drivers, are you ready? Make it mean but keep it clean! Fire 'em up in 5…4…3..."
As the countdown continued, Sunburst failed to spot a certain red Aston Martin pull up behind him.
"2…1!"
The countdown had finished. Sierra's hand flew down as the green flag.
The race had began.
Vince grabbed the lead early into the first corner, but it wasn't long before the drifting form of Sunburst was at his side at the next corner, attempting to grab the lead off him. The other racers behind didn't matter. It was a race between Jack and Vince. And they had a score to settle.
But really, they should've been paying attention to the red Aston Martin trailing behind them in third.
"Sunburst."
He pulled over to the side of the struggling driver in black vehicle decorated with orange and yellow flames. Once he managed to get halfway past the vehicle, he began ramming into the side of Vince.
Sunburst checked his rear-view mirror at the sounds of cars making significant contact behind him. He growled at the sight, "Oh scrap!"
"What?!" Jack immediately asked, looking over his seat.
As Sunburst turned around the corners, he immediately became angry at the sight of the closing Decepticon behind him, "No good, Decepticon scum!"
Jack looked through the rear-view mirror again, gripping the steering wheel tightly, "Wait. I know that car."
"Yeah, so do I!" Sunburst growled, taking the wheel off Jack and suddenly veering right, driving himself along the wall of the track. He checked the mirror again, watching as his enemy followed him up, "Go away Knock Out. Now's not the time to stir me up!"
Jack looked in the rear-view mirror before he looked over his shoulder to get a better look at the sight he thought he saw.
Knock Out had his weapons activated and was about to shoot at them.
Blaster fire quickly began being shot from the red Decepticon vehicle, each shot missing the Autobot vehicle's form. Then he began firing a few more and changing his aim, this shooting all around the Autobot, who continued to dodge the blaster fire.
"We gotta get out of here!" Sunburst decided, driving further up the wall and over the edge, flying through the air for a few moments.
Vince watched in disbelief as Jack's vehicle suddenly drove off the wall and in the air. His eyes were glued onto the second vehicle, watching it follow the Ferrari over the wall, "What the?"
That was not part of the race, let alone the circuit.
Safely landing on the ground, Sunburst quickly skidded around and onto the road, driving as fast he could to get away from the following red Decepticon behind him. He continued dodging the blaster fire that still being shot from the Aston Martin, swerving left and right on the road.
"Can you lose him, Sunburst?" Jack asked nervously.
"Maybe!" Sunburst quickly answered, "But I can only hold him off so long, Jack!"
"I hope that means yes anyway," Jack groaned, "Cause I'd rather not call base for back-up."
"Yeah, neither do I!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Aquastrike, Bulkhead, Carly and I watched excitedly as Miko and Raf engaged in a fierce video game battle, racing their cars and crashing into each other to try and win. Since Sunburst and Jack had left, Carly had perked up a bit more after her little make-out session – Miko's words, not mine – with the boy.
"Anyone seen Jack? ... or my other sparring partner Sunburst?"
Uh-oh.
We all froze in place, including Carly, Miko and Raf, causing the latter two to pause their game to face Arcee.
"Not since..." Miko trailed off, trying to come up with a plausible answer that Arcee would believe.
"...We last saw him about half an hour ago!" Carly finished, her voice shaking with laughter and practically giving away the fact that we knew where the boys were.
Arcee took one look at all our frozen frames and bodies before a scowl appeared on her faceplates, "…they're racing, aren't they?"
"Just this once," Raf answered nervously, holding up a single finger to prove the sentence.
"Did you three know about this?" Arcee asked, looking at Aquastrike, Bulkhead and I
"No!" Bulkhead answered straight away, looking away from Arcee.
Aquastrike thinned her lips, obviously scared by the smaller femme, "Maybe…"
"A little," I finally mumbled, smiling a nervous smile.
Arcee sighed at us in disappointment, but before she could even growl, beeping from the controls caused us to look up. I walked over to the controls, looking at the signal of an incoming transmission by Sunburst. Immediately I knew that something was wrong. The time was saying that it was a little past eleven – too early for that race to have finished.
"Guys, we have a big problem!" Sunburst announced urgently over to comms, "Knock Out appeared at the race track and now is on our tails!"
Knock Out?! Damn it! Why did have to be him of all Decepticons?!
"You're being chased by Knock Out?" Raf repeated, trying to recognise the name.
"Yep! Guys we need urgent back up before I get my servos around his neck cables!" My brother growled, his voice also pleading for help.
"That sounds like a Decepticon," Miko remarked.
"It is," I answered gravely, looking back up at his profile image on the screen, "Sunburst, you need to calm down. He is not worth the fight, okay? We're on our way."
"Your first priority is to keep Jack safe." As Arcee began walking to the entry and exit tunnel, we could hear her mumbling something under her breath, "Until I get my hands on him."
Aquastrike shared a nervous glance with Bulkhead while I gulped.
Never ever mess with Arcee when she's pissed.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
The chase continued. Knock Out continued to fire his blaster shots at the yellow and white-striped Ferrari Enzo before him. But he was beginning to realise that his blasters weren't good enough. He needed to change tactics before the Autobot managed to get away.
Sunburst had realised a similar thing. He needed to find away throw Knock Out off his tail before he failed to swerve out of the way of one of the incoming blaster shots and hurt Jack in the process. Arcee would kill him if he did!
Well... she was going to kill him anyway once she and the team would arrive as back-up, but still!
He needed to play this game differently. He needed to play the game a bit dirtier. So he began pouring oil out the back of his vehicle form. It left a huge trail of black liquid all over his side of the road. He smirked to himself, watching in hidden glee as the tires on Knock Out's vehicle form didn't agree with liquid, almost instantly spinning out of control.
Much to the Decepticon's dismay, growling as he finally escaped the oil under his tires.
"Slick," Jack commented with a smirk, looking over his shoulder.
Spotting a bridge ahead of him, Sunburst instantly came up with a plan while Knock Out was distracted behind him. He drove back down onto the wall of the circuit, quickly falling back onto the flat pavement and reversing underneath the bridge. He switched off his headlights and hoped that Knock Out would've been to distracted to have seen them.
The red Aston Martin drove onto the bridge, slowing to a halt and switching off his headlights. Sunburst was around here somewhere. But where was he?
The trio waited in silence, each trying to figure out who was going to make the first move. Was going to be Sunburst and Jack, who were well aware of the fact that Knock Out was sitting there waiting for them to reappear? Or was it going to be Knock Out, who wasn't aware of the fact that the Autobot was sitting right underneath his own nose-plates?
The answer was Knock Out. The red Aston Martin restarted his engines and pulled on his gears, driving off the bridge to continue his search for the Autobot.
"I think we lost him, Sunburst," Jack whispered.
The sounds of an engine revving into Sunburst's audio receptors convinced the yellow and white-striped Ferrari Enzo vehicle otherwise. He looked in front of them, finding nothing but headlights shining closer and closer on his form. The black vehicle decorated with orange and yellow flames pulled up in front of his form.
"We may have lost Knock Out, but not this kid," Sunburst muttered.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me!" Jack moaned as Vince hopped out his car and slammed the door shut.
"Darby!" The boy growled, pounding his closed fist into the palm of his hand.
Knock Out, meanwhile, slammed on the brakes at the sight of something bright appearing in his vision from behind. Twitching his side mirror, he pointed it at the bridge he had just passed, seeing a bright yellow light shining on something below the bridge. Curious, he began reversing back to the bridge, wondering what was going on down below...
"Vince! You have to get out of here!" Jack pleaded, "You win! Congratulations! Now go!"
Vince didn't take no for an answer, punching Sunburst's hood, "No. Start 'er back-up, loser. We're finishing this race! Don't wanna take it to the finishing line? Fine! Then we've got something to settle right here regarding a certain friend of yours! Right now!" The boy was suddenly cut off when something black grabbed the human.
"Knock Out!" Sunburst growled.
Vince was thrown up into the air by the Decepticon, the latter transforming into his vehicle form. As the boy landed into the passenger side of the car, the roof came over, fully completing Knock Out's transition from a Cybertronian robot to a simple Aston Martin vehicle. Seatbelts snaked around Vince, trapping him in place while he tried to figure out what was happening around him.
"What's going on?!" That was all Vince got to say before an Energon zapper floated into his view, his eyes widening, Mumbling at the sight, that was all Vince got to do before blue electricity cackled from the zapper and towards him. This knocked him into unconsciousness, falling forwards in his seat.
Knock Out refired his engines and took off, satisfied with his capture. He failed to spot the raven-haired boy running after him, watching him disappear in the distance.
"Breakdown, you'll never guess what I'm packing!" Knock Out gushed excitedly, continuing his travels the down the highway, "Sunburst's human friend! And knowing him, he'll attempt to stage a rescue! And when he attempts his rescue..."
"He'll have a... BREAKDOWN!" Breakdown finished, chuckling at the thought.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
Something was definitely going on. When Arcee, Bulkhead, Aquastrike and I began approaching Sunburst's position Jack was standing out on the middle of the road, starring at something that had just taken off in front of us. Sunburst had just pulled onto the road from under the bridge and parked behind him. The boy turned around and began yelling something about honking once for bad news and honking twice for good news.
Arcee began honking at him, causing him to look at us as we pulled up. Sunburst, now aware of us coming to their rescue, transformed just before we all did, looking down at Jack. Poor thing looked like a scared little puppy when he saw all of us.
"Jack, we need to have a little chat," Arcee began angrily, putting her hands on her hips.
"Later, Arcee. Vince got snatched by that slick sports car 'Con!" Jack told us worriedly.
"Now what would cause Knock Out to go 'nd take t'at human boy?" Aquastrike asked in confusion.
"He probably mistook him for Sunburst's human friend. I'm not even Sunburst's human friend!" Jack babbled in a panic, "I don't know. It doesn't matter why they took him! Vince is in trouble!"
"Oh well. Tough break for Vince," Bulkhead shrugged carelessly, causing all of us to glare at him.
"Bulkhead!" Jack yelled at the mech.
"Bulkhead ain't wron', Jack!" Aquastrike instantly defended her friend, "T'at guy is a scrap-stirrin' jerk 'nd a half!"
"Aquastrike, watch your language around the humans!" Sunburst warned. He only got a hand waving him off as a response.
"No argument there, Aquastrike," Jack agreed, "But the guy is also innocent! Vince doesn't deserve to get crushed by 'Cons!"
Arcee stayed silent, continuing her angry glare at Jack. I didn't blame her really. Jack went behind her back and raced ... well, he only got to race because I practically forced Sunburst to race when Arcee wouldn't.
I guess on this was on me at the end of the day. But I needed to protect Carly ... Maybe I should've stayed out of all this mess.
Ughhhhh!
Arcee's glare softened before she transformed into her motorcycle form beside me. "Hop on," She said to Jack, revving up her engine and turning on her headlights.
It's a shame that Vince is a human, though. But oh well.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
After the Autobots had left to go provide Sunburst and Jack back up, Raf, Carly and Miko were instantly at the computers, checking the screens occasionally and making sure that their friends were okay. But the longer the Autobots took to check in, the more worried Carly became.
"They should've check in by now." The brown-haired girl was pacing behind Miko and Raf. "What's taking them?!"
"Don't worry, Carly," Miko told her, pressing a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and pausing her in her pacing, "Bulkhead won't let anything happen to the guys!"
Before Carly could answer her best friend, the noise of heavy footsteps from the corridor began seeping its' way into hers, Miko's and Raf's ears. Turning around at the sound, the three humans froze at who they found appearing from the corridor.
Optimus Prime.
"We should just tell Optimus the truth!" Raf whispered to the girls.
"Absolutely not!" Miko hissed back.
"We made a deal!" Carly's eyes watched the Prime's approaching form, "Just act natural!"
"Raf, Miko, Carly," Optimus greeted, looking around the main room before resting his optics on the three humans, "Do either of you know where the others have gone?"
"Why no, sir. We do not know," Miko answered robotically, a sign that she was indeed lying.
"Miko is correct. We don't know," Raf agreed nervously, looking away from the Prime.
"Why would we know?" Miko asked innocently, looking up at the Autobot leader.
Optimus simply starred at the three humans. Carly could tell that he knew something wasn't right. And if the eyebrow raise and small hum the Autobot gave in response to them wasn't enough to convince her of that, she didn't know what would.
She slapped her forehead into her palm, "So much for 'act natural'."
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The chase for the lone red Decepticon continued into the early hours of the morning. We had split up, Arcee and Jack, Bulkhead and Aquastrike, and Sunburst and I, as we checked all over the place for Knock Out – at the circuit, on the desert roads and all around the outskirts of Jasper. Finally, we met back up in the heart of the town, sticking together as we continued searching for that son of a glitch.
We pulled up at a stop sign just in time to see Knock Out himself scream past us tauntingly. Sunburst and I quickly raced around the corner after him with Bulkhead, Aquastrike, Arcee and Jack behind us.
Knock Out managed to kick up enough speed to keep away from us and skid around the upcoming corner. That was when I knew that we had to split up to keep our guard on that Decepticon before he got way from us.
"Be on you guard, Sunburst, Aquastrike and Bulkhead," I warned to them, "Could be a trap."
"And remember, no shooting!" Jack reminded the trio.
Then I pointed my mirror at Sunburst, "And keep yourself under control, mister."
"What? Me?" Sunburst scoffed in disbelief, "This may be Knock Out we're trailing after, but I do not intend on breaking any more rules tonight." He, Aquastrike and Bulkhead drove forwards while Arcee pulled to the side behind me. I paused, waiting for her to rejoin so we could go after Knock Out together.
"Speaking of safety, here's where you get off."
As soon as Jack had gotten off Arcee's motorcycle form, we sped after our teammates. While they pulled into the industrial area and transformed, Arcee and I pulled up at a water tower, transformed and began scaling up it just in case we had to pull a surprise attack on Knock Out or anyone else he brought to this party.
Bulkhead, Aquastrike and Sunburst continued wandering and looking around, their weapons activated and ready to attack at any time. But as soon as they got to the other side of the parking lot, a bright light enveloped them. It was actually so bright that even Arcee and I had to shield our optics to keep our optics clear.
A large crashing sound forced me to look back to see Breakdown and Moonlight charge through the corner of a warehouse and towards my teammates. They dodged the sudden charge just in time, splitting in all different directions as the battle slowly heated up.
Aquastrike charged after Moonlight, immediately throwing punches at her while Breakdown and Sunburst did the same, the 'Con smashing him away. Bulkhead then jumped into the fight, exchanging punches with Breakdown before Breakdown got the better of him. Meanwhile, Aquastrike had grabbed a hold of Moonlight and chucked her into the warehouse, trailing in after her.
Then Arcee suddenly leaped on top of Knock Out, slamming a punch onto his hood.
"HEY! WATCH THE PAINT!" Knock Out growled at us before driving off with Arcee still on his roof.
I immediately knew Arcee would be needing back up. So I leaped down from the water tower, threw a few punches at a stumbling Moonlight and transformed into my vehicle form to race after Knock Out and Arcee.
Knock Out quickly drove onto the road that Jack had been dropped off at before skidding to the left, the move making Arcee fly off his roof. I kicked up speed and raced after him, driving as fast as I could while Arcee transformed and began catching up to us.
I couldn't let him get away from me. I was not going to let him get away. He needed to know how I felt when he took me and Sunburst hostage, stabbed me in the stomach and left me for dead.
I wanted him to be in the position he left me in, dying on the floor and crying for someone helplessly.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
Breakdown charged at Aquastrike angrily, raising his arms to hit the Autobot. She leaped out of the way just as he got close to her, slamming his arms onto the pavement instead. Sunburst stood on the other side, waiting for his turn. He dodged the first swing, but was unable to dodge the elbow he got to the face. He flew into the air, taking an oblivious Aquastrike, who had been distracted by an approaching Moonlight, with him. They landed hard on the pavement a few feet from each other.
While the two Decepticons began walking up to the weakened Autobots, they received a comm from their missing friend, "Uh, in case you two're looking for me, things got messy. So I hit the road. One scream is enough for today."
"Thanks for inviting us to the fun," Moonlight thanked, grabbing her knife and ready to strike the Autobot below her.
The two Decepticons were distracted by Bulkhead tampering with a light post behind them, the light flashing on and off. The former Wrecker was able to distract them long enough for him to take a surprise swing at the pair, smashing them into the row of storage rooms behind them.
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
The chase continued between Knock Out and Arcee and myself as we continued to race after the Decepticon with the human boy. He was teasing us, slowing down purposely out of the corners so we could get a run on him. But then he would speed up rapidly. I groaned at how close we were to him. How much of a chance we had to catch him only for the Decepticon to race out of our grips!
Arcee growled beside me, also well aware of Knock Out's fun little game.
Well to us, it was most certainly not fun.
Sunburst, Bulkhead and Aquastrike slowly began appearing in our mirrors just as the familiar horn honking on the other side of us made me and Arcee nearly freeze in fear.
"Uh-oh."
Optimus appeared from the other side of the rock formations splitting us, pulling onto the road and 'gently' nudging Knock Out to the side. This caused the 'Con to spin out of control, kicking up dust while trying to regain control of himself. He ended up on the ledge at the other side of the road.
Something he couldn't drive out of this time.
Optimus skidded to a halt, transforming and approaching the stricken vehicle ... Scrap, does he even know that there's a human in that car?!
"Optimus, Knock Out has a hostage," Arcee warned.
"Understood."
Optimus picked up the red vehicle with ease, ripping off the driver's side door and ignoring Knock Out's screams as he reached into the vehicle and pulled Vince out of him. Once the unconscious boy was safely in Optimus' servo, Knock Out immediately transformed out of the Prime's hold on him and inspected the damage that had been done.
"Do you know how hard that is to replace?!"
Was Knock Out seriously considering fighting Optimus all because a piece of his vehicle form was ripped off?! He seriously looked like he was ... but then he got a look at at us coming up behind Optimus...
And decided to run like the scared little boy he was.
He transformed and retreated as fast as he could. Arcee, Bulkhead, Aquastrike and I transformed and walked up behind Optimus.
Jack stuck his head out from Sunburst's vehicle form nervously, "Optimus, this is my fault."
"We must get this boy to safety. Explanations can come later…from all of you."
We all looked away, not willing to see just the anger but the disappointment in his optics.
Sunburst revved his engine beside me, "Optimus, if I may." Don't do it, Sunshine... "This isn't just Jack's fault. It's also m-"
"My fault!" I cut in before Sunburst could get another word out. Optimus narrowed his optics at me and I felt myself nearly slink away from him, "I-I-I'll explain to you back at base..."
It didn't matter what was going to happen next. We were all in trouble, no matter who pointed fingers and said this or that. We were, as a collective group, in some deep scrap.
NO ONE'S P.O.V
When Vince woke up hours later, he awoke with a start, trying to figure out where he was. ... All he remembered was that something had taken him... something huge... And he remembered being in a vehicle. He looked around suddenly.
This wasn't the vehicle he remembered he was in.
And Jack wasn't there before.
"What happened?"
"Some guys... jumped you under the bridge," Jack answered slowly, his eyes switching from the road to the passenger beside him, He was gripping the steering wheel tightly. "They... tossed you into their trunk." He laughed slightly, "Must have been some kind of initiation."
"Really?" Vince asked innocently.
Jack widened his eyes. Did Vince actually believe his little white lie? Did Vince also believe that he was actually driving and not the car itself?
"Yeah. I found you knocked out by the side of the road."
Neither of them got a chance to say more as they pulled up on the bridge where the familiar black and orange-flammed vehicle was parked underneath. It was still resting where it was when Vince had pulled up to deal with Jack hours ago.
If only he remembered that.
The boy opened the door, watching it fly upwards slowly. He hopped out and swung the door back down, looking through the passenger window.
"Look, I-I gotta be honest. After what I saw tonight, I'm thinking racing isn't my thing," Jack decided.
Vince bent down slightly to look down properly through the window, resting his arm on the roof of the car, "I hear ya, Darby... Hard to win a race driving a pedal car!"
Sunburst snarled silently. That was it! He pressed down on the gas and sped away from the boy, deciding that enough was enough for one night.
"Now I can understand why you guys don't like him so much."
How dare that boy call him a pedal car!
"KNOCK OUT! Was I not clear? You have defied my orders yet again!"
When Knock Out had returned to the Decepticon warship with Breakdown and Moonlight with him, he had expected to be let off with a severe warning from Slipstream, well aware of the fact that Starscream had gone out on his scouting mission and hadn't returned. So, he first thought he would be let off the hook.
And then the figure waiting for him at the controls turned around and revealed themselves to be Starscream.
"My mistake, Commander Starscream," Knock Out immediately began, "But I've learned my lesson…and paid the price." He held his wrist where his missing piece of armour was.
"It…is…LORD!" Starscream screeched, taking a few steps towards the vain Decepticon, "And you have paid when I SAY you have paid." He revealed one simple finger, the end of it sparkling with its' sharpness, "Not worry. Your punishment shall be merely…cosmetic."
"No! Not the finish!" Knock Out immediately protested, stepping away from his Lord, "Anything but the finish!"
Breakdown and Moonlight had to close their eyes at the sounds of screeching metal, their audio receptors cringing as Knock Out's nightmare started to become true.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
WINDSWEPT P.O.V
...I wasn't wrong when I said that we were in some serious scrap.
End of story, moving on.
Arcee and I waited for Jack and Carly, getting the most out of the fresh air around us while we could before we were to spend the rest of the afternoon back at base. And pretty much every single day for the next few weeks from now on.
Jack and Carly approached us, helmets in hand and ready to head off to base to deal with their side of their punishment when Sierra appeared behind them.
"Hey Carly, Jack." The two looked behind them at the girl.
After exchanging a look, Carly looked at the girl nervously, "H-Hey Sierra."
"I'm sorry that I've been a cow to you recently," Sierra began, looking sincere and shrugging at the girl, "We all grow up I guess, some of us more than others."
Was she serious?!
Carly cocked her head to the side with a small smile, "I-It's okay, Sierra. I guess I may have let my jealousy over you and Jack get the better of me."
"Speaking of, you don't mind if your boyfriend allows me a ride on his motorcycle?" Sierra asked, looking between the two nervously.
"Well, I can't speak for him so you're gonna have to ask him yourself," Carly answered, looking at Jack, or her new boyfriend I should be saying, with a shrug before looking back at the girl, "But that doesn't mean that you get to allow yourself to get your little hooks in him, alright?"
Sierra took a step back, nodding, "Oh, I'm not going to do that Carly. You two are too cute for me to tear apart."
While Carly smiled slightly at the response, Sierra turned her attentions to Jack.
"So, Jack. Do you have time for that ride?"
Jack looked over his shoulder at Arcee's motorcycle form, "I'm sorry, Sierra. I can't right now."
Look who's finally learned his lesson.
"No problem. I guess I'll just see you around," Sierra shrugged sadly with a wave and walked away.
Arcee started up her engines and drove over to us, "Hop on."
"Whoa. Really?" Jack asked.
"Just this once," Arcee emphasized.
So Sierra got her little bike ride with Jack and, unbeknownst to her, Arcee. And Carly and I, also unbeknownst to her, tagged along for the fun, racing down the main street. It looks like everything's going to be okay – Carly and Sierra look like they could become friends.
Then I remembered the fact that we all had a price to pay for the parts we all played during the last couple of days.
Ohhhhh scrap.
Another chapter in the books. Next one's an original and hopefully a good one.
Hoping that a follow, favourite or a review might get me onto bringing the next one out a lot earlier than later.
Thank you for reading.
(Last edited: 11/07/2019)