Well, I'm not gonna bore you with the details of the police station. I gave the story that a kid from school had taken Bumblebee as payback for a comment I made at the party, and I went after him. As to why I didn't call the cops on him, I said I was already following him, it'd just be better to take my car back quietly than have a full blown case.

The one cop still tried to get a drug test cause of Mojo's pain pills, but we got off it. I couldn't resist asking if the cop was on drugs, that line was too good. I eventually got off, though Bee was impounded and couldn't be turned over to us until his bail was paid. Ron drove me home, giving me a talking-to about sneaking out. But it was nothing compared to Judy.

"What were you thinking, young lady," she asked as I came in the door. We'd called once we'd left the police department, so she knew what had happened.

"Sorry, Mom," I told her.

"Honestly, sweetie, your heart's already got a pacemaker, we don't need you giving yourself a heart attack from chasing after your car at all hours in the morning."

I had a pacemaker? I guess that explained the scar over my heart that I had noticed as I got ready for the party. But Sam never had one, why do I?

"I promise, no more late nights sneaking out," I told her, crossing my fingers in my pocket. "Can I still go to lunch with Mikaela and her friends?"

"Of course, sweetie. I think you've learned your lesson." Judy gave me a kiss and went to go work in the garden.

I went upstairs, washed up and changed into clean clothes. My D-Day outfit, a pair of jean capris, a blue tank top, a black and white flannel shirt, diamond stud earrings, a silver pendant, and a pair of Nike sneakers. I was either going to save the world in this outfit, or I was going to die looking good. We'll see which it is.

Oh, and I should also note that if you want to put a face to me, think Kirsten Stewart when she's brunette and not as pale. That's me. Hope you like the mental image.

Around ten, I grabbed my wallet, purse and phone, and hopped on my bike to go to the Burger King. I figured I'd hang back until one of the other girls showed up, so I didn't seem over eager or anything. But as luck would have it, Mikaela was already there when I rode up.

"Mikaela!" I called, hopping off my bike and setting it in the rack. I didn't bother chaining it, I'd need it in not too long.

"Hey Alison," Mikaela said, then looked around. "Where's your car?"

"Someone took him last night and I went after him, but got arrested for trespassing before I could find him," I explained.

"Man that sucks! Who do you think stole it?"

I almost said it was Trent, but I figured that was a little soon, so I just said probably someone from school as one of Mikaela's other friends came up. Before long, the rest of the girls were there, and I actually learned their names, Tori, Casey, Rachel, Beth and Amy. Not that I really paid attention to them besides that. I was wondering how Barricade would attack, and when.

After a while of girl talk, I looked down the street only to see Bumblebee. He'd obviously gotten out of impound, and he was speeding along. In fact, he came right up past us.

"My car!" I stood up and stared after Bee for a second.

"Your stolen one?" Mikaela asked.

"Yeah, and that jerk's not getting away this time." I ran to my bike and started after Bee. "I'll see you later, Mikaela."

I pedaled after Bee, and then I realized what he must have been running from. Barricade must have found him and Bee was trying to lure him away, or at least get to an unpopulated area to hide or fight in.

By the time I finished that thought, I was already at the parking garage and I'd lost Bee in the aisles. I stopped and looked around, only to hear the "whoop" of Barricade's siren. As much as my common sense told me to stay away, as far away as possible, I rode toward him.

"Officer! Hey Officer!" I rode up to him and he slammed me off my bike with my door. "Owww." I moaned as I picked myself up. "Look, officer, I really need some help, please. Someone stole my car, and I'm trying to catch them, so please, help me." I smacked my hand on the hood and Barricade decided to start trying to run me over. I scooted back across the floor and actually picked up a chair to hold against the probe things he put out at me. Then he transformed and I ran.

Didn't get far before he slammed me into the windshield of one of the cars. "Oh, God," I said, looking up at him looming over me.

"Are you username LadyLover217?" he asked me.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I shouted back.

"Are you username LadyLover217?"

"Yeah!" I said. I'll admit, I was actually scared. It was one thing to see this all on a TV screen, and another to have the giant alien robot right in your face.

"Where is ebay item 21153? Where are the glasses?" He roared and shook the car, and crushed part of the hood. I managed to scramble away and started running, but the crash behind me told me that Barricade was following.

I ran through the garage, wondering where the fuck Bumblebee was, when I saw Mikaela coming toward me on her moped.

"Get back!" I screamed.

"Alison!?" Mikaela asked, just before I pretty much tackled her off the moped. We landed hard on the ground, Mikaela on top of me.

"Oh- God!" Mikaela pushed off me. "What's your problem, Alison?"

"There's a monster robot chasing me!" I explain. "We've got to run!"

"What?" Mikaela then saw Barricade, who was closer than I'd realized. We both screamed, only then Bumblebee came up and did a donut at Barricade's feet, knocking him away. He then skidded to stop in front of us and opened his door.

"Alison, what is that thing?"

I turned to Mikaela. "You have to get in the car," I said. "Get in."

"I don't want- I don't want to."

"Get in the car." I grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. "Trust me. Trust me!"

"Alison." Mikaela still followed me in and we slipped into the front seat."

"Bee, go, go, go!" I shouted, and Bee took off. Behind us, Barricade transformed and pursued.

We drove through town, Bee barely keeping ahead of Barricade and sometimes the police car was right next to us. "Go, go, go, Bee!" I kept shouting.

"Oh, God! We're gonna die! We're gonna die!" Mikaela screamed.

"No, we're not. No, we're not gonna die," I tried to assure her. The way she looked back at Barricade right behind us proved otherwise. "Trust me, he's a kick-ass driver!"

Then Bumblebee started driving for the stained glass window of an old building.

"Oh my God! No! We're gonna die! Oh my God!" I screamed, and that was almost all the conversation between us as the chase went on. And it went on pretty much all afternoon. Every time we though we lost Barricade, he popped up again and we'd have to keep moving. I'm surprised no real cops actually pulled us over, but 'Cade must have blended in well enough.

It was finally sunset when we pulled into the factory yard and managed to hide from Barricade. Bee locked his doors and I tried to turn the key, but Bee wouldn't let me.

"We're locked in and the car won't start," I finally said. Mikaela and I caught our breaths. "At least we ditched the monster, right?" I met her eyes for a second, then looked out the windshield to see Barricade passing us.

Bumblebee turned his key and started revvng up. "Okay, Bee, time to start," I muttered to myself, just before Bee shot forward, barely missing Barricade's bumper as he sped past him. Bumble spun around and flung his door open, sending Mikaela and I out to the ground. As we pushed ourselves up, Bumblebee started transforming in front of us, taking a defensive stance.

Barricade transformed too, and tackled Bumblebee, forcing me and Mikaela to drop to the ground again. Barricade had to roll back to his feet, and pulled out this cool weapon, before Frenzy popped out of his chest. Mikaela and I got up and started running, barely avoiding Bumblebee and Barricade's fight with each other before they rolled down the little hill.

Mikaela and I ran, but it wasn't too long before Frenzy jumped on me. I screamed and went down as Mikaela kept running. I knew what she was going for, but it still left me to fend off Frenzy by myself. And unlike Sam, I wasn't wearing jeans that could easily come off. But I did spot a pole on the ground near my hand. I managed to grab it and swing it back to knock Frenzy off me, long enough for me to get back to my feet and start running again.

Frenzy chased and managed to jump on my back at the small fence, making us roll down the hill until I hit the perimeter one. Frenzy got on my back, but I managed to fling him off. When he charged again, I tried to stab him with my pole, but he dodged and I had to drop it to keep him from choking me.

Mikaela ran up then and I pulled my arms back in time for her to cut off Frenzy's. Then she went to town on him, slicing him up rather nicely. I didn't exactly like to say that from a fan perspective, but given the circumstance, I felt it was warranted.

When Mikaela was done, Frenzy's head was still crawling around. He muttered something in Cybertronian, and I smiled.

"Not so tough without a head, are you?" I then kicked him, and he went flying. I don't know if he'd reach Mikaela's purse, but it wouldn't change much if I didn't. At least, I hoped not. There was still over twelve hours before Mission City, I had no clue what could actually happen.

Mikaela and I took deep breaths and looked at each other, before I grabbed her hand. "Come on," I said, and we both started back to where Bumblebee was last seen.

We slowly walked up the hill and saw Bumblebee at the crest, transforming a blaster into his servo. We stopped in awe, which I'll admit I did too. I hadn't had much time to actually admire Bee until now.

"What is it?" Mikaela asked.

"It's a robot," I said. "But super advanced, like, it's different. Probably foreign." I started walking closer to Bee.

"What are you doing?"

"He doesn't want to hurt us. He would have done so already, or left is for the other one."

"Really, well do you speak robot? Because they just had, like a giant droid death match."

"I think it wants something from me. The other one was talking about my ebay page."

I heard Mikaela sigh. "You are the strangest girl I've ever met."

I looked up at Bumblebee. "Can you talk?"

Bumblebee looked confused for a second, then played ~XM Satellite Radio- digital cable brings you- Columbia Broadcasting System.~

"You- you talk through the radio?" I asked.

Bumblebee clapped and pointed. ~Thank you, you're beautiful. You're wonderful, you're wonderful.~

"So, what was that last night? What was that?"

Bumblebee put a servo to his helm and played ~Message from Starfleet, Captain- Throughout the inanimate vastness of space- Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven- hallelujah!~

Mikaela came up next to me. "Visitors from heaven? What are you, like, an alien or something?

Bumblebee pointed to her and transformed to car mode. He popped his door open for us. ~Any more questions you want to ask?~

"He wants us to get in the car." I said plainly.

Mikaela gave a half-laugh. "And go where?"

Bumblebee started playing Before It's Too Late and I turned to Mikaela. "Fifty years from now, when you're looking back at your life, don't you want to be able to say you had the guts to get in the car?" I held her gaze for a second before she looked away, then she started up the hill. I followed her, and we both climbed into Bee. We went to where Mikaela dropped her purse and I got out to get it. I guessed Frenzy was in there, and if not, I'd figure out a plan.

Bee drove us for a little while and Mikaela commented, "Your car's a pretty good driver."

"I know," I said, then looked at her. "Why don't you slide into the driver's seat?"

"I'm not going to sit there. He's driving."

"True." I paused, then said, "Well, maybe you should sit next to me."

"Why?" Mikaela looked at me oddly.

"Well, I'm pretty skinny and I got the only seat belt. Safety first."

Mikaela thought for a second. "Alright." She shifted over and I redid the seatbelt around us. To sit comfortably, I had my arm around her waist, and she was snugged right next to me. I couldn't help giving a sigh. I was in heaven.

"That was a pretty smooth move there," Mikaela then said.

"What?" I said.

She gave me a look. "Alison, I just act dumb for Trent and the dudes. It's pretty obvious."

"Oh. Uhh." I looked around the car to change the subject. "Hey, Bee. How much longer we got?

"How do you know his name?" Mikaela asked.

"I don't, really," I said. "I just guessed, you know, from his colors and the bumblebee on the mirror.

"You know what I don't understand?" Mikaela said.

"What?"

"Why, if he's supposed to be, like, this super-advanced robot, does he transform back into this piece of crap Camaro?"

Bee suddenly stopped with a squeal in the middle of the street. The seatbelt came unbuckled, and Bee unlocked his door. We got the message and climbed out, standing on the sidewalk in the tunnel. Bee pulled a u-turn at the cursing of other drivers and sped off.

"Bee!" I called out, then sighed. "So sensitive."

"Sorry," Mikaela said, but I waved her down.

"No, no, it's fine. I mean, it's not like he's going to strand us, at least, not long. We still need our answers."

I'd barely said that and we spotted Bumblebee coming up. Only now he was the 2008 concept Camaro. That gorgeous, gloriously sexy car. We jumped in and I smiled at the power I could feel under me. This was Bumblebee, I didn't care what others thought.

We drove until we reached the lawn of a university. There, Bee had us get out of the car and we stood, looking up at the sky. It was clear and the stars were gorgeous. I needed to go stargazing with Mikaela, at least I hope I'll be able to. It wasn't too long before five of the light points became meteors, which grew larger and larger as they came closer to us. That confused me, who else was coming? Mikaela reached for my hand and I took it. The meteors passed overhead, maybe a hundred feet up. One crashed into the hills behind us. I smiled. I knew just who that was.

"Come on!" I pulled Mikaela after the closest meteor. We stopped on the second hill it'd crashed through and watched as the giant metal pod shifted into a giant silver robot, who climbed out of his crater and looked at us briefly, before running the other way.

"Was that…?" Mikaela's question died off.

I nodded. "I think so."

Bumblebee honked his horn and we turned to see him holding his doors open for us. We raced back and got in, letting him guide us to where we needed to go.

We ended up in a back alley, just on the edge of the industrial district of town. Bumblebee stopped right in the center of it and Mikaela and I climbed out. A truck came down the alley in front of us, a Peterbilt. Behind us, we could hear more, but we didn't look back.

The Peterbilt stopped only a foot or so away from us, and we got a good view of the Autobot symbol on his grill, before he started to transform. Bumblebee backed away and a rescue Hummer pulled up to our right. We started turning to look around us as the other vehicles, a Topkick, a Soleste, a Mustang, the Hummer and Bumblebee started transforming as well. We turned back to see the Peterbilt kneeling down and Mikaela and I linked our hands again. Mikaela looked terrified, but I couldn't help the smile that was creeping on my face. Every TF fans dream was about to come true for me.

Optimus put his face almost level with mine, and asked "Are you Alison Jane Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?

"They know your name," Mikaela whispered.

I only had one answer I could give without completely flipping out. "Yeah," I said in a squeaky voice.

"My name is Optimus Prime," Optimus said. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron."

"But you can call us Autobots for short," Ratchet said from the side.

"Autobots." I repeated, and had to fight the smile I had.

"What's crackin', little bitches?" Mikaela and I turned around to see Jazz walk up. He started a flashy dance move as Optimus introduced him. "This looks like a cool place to kick it."

"There are better, trust me," I said, then added, "But how'd you learn to talk like that?"

"We've learned Earth's languages through the World Wide Web," Optimus explained, standing. He gestured behind us and we turned to see Ironhide amping up his weapons. "My weapons specialist, Ironhide."

Ironhide pointed his cannons at us. "You feeling lucky, punk?"

"Easy, Ironhide."

"I'm just kidding," Ironhide defended. "I just wanted to show him my canons."

Optimus shook his head, then gestured to Ratchet, who was sniffing the air. "Our medical officer, Ratchet."

"Hmm," Ratchet said. "The girl's pheromone level suggests she wants to mate with the other female."

Mikaela looked awkwardly at me, and I face palmed. "Not how I wanted to come out of the closet."

Optimus drew our attention to the Mustang and I realized who it was. It was Coppertone, an OC I'd made up a while back. She's an orange Mustang, and uses actual hand held blasters as her preferred weapon. "Our frontliner, Coppertone," Optimus introduced.

Coppertone smiled down at us, twirling on of her blasters. "I came to kick Con aft and drink high grade-" She caught her blaster and pointed it up. "And I'm all out of high grade."

"Wow." Mikaela said next to me. Then Bumblebee began dancing and play-fighting next to us.

"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee," Optimus said.

"Bumblebee. I was right!" I looked up to him. "You're my guardian, huh?"

Bumblebee tried to speak, but all that came out was the squeal. Ratchet sent out a red beam, which connected to Bumblebee's throat.

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle." He tapped something on his wrist. "I'm still working on them."

Don't worry, Bee, I thought. You'll get your voice back real soon.

Mikaela turned back to Optimus. "Why are you here?"

"We are here looking for the AllSpark," the Prime said. "And we must find it before Megatron."

"Megawhat?" I asked.

Optimus touched the side of his helmet and light beams came from his eyes, forming a hologram around Mikaela and I. As he spoke, we saw what he described. "Our planet was once a powerful empire. Peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed. Our war finally consumed the planet, and the AllSpark was lost to the stars." The hologram dissolved away. "Megatron followed it to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him."

"My grandfather?" I asked.

"It was an accident that intertwined out fates." Optimus activated the hologram again, though it was more caricature than anything. A white bearded man stood in an ice cavern, a portion of Megatron visible next to him. "Megatron crash-landed before he could retrieve the Cube. Your grandfather accidentally activated his navigation system." Hologram Archibald tapped Megatron and was struck with a red beam of light, making him fall to the ground, his glasses off to the side. "The coordinates to the Cube's location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses." The hologram dissolved away again.

"How'd you know about the glasses?"

Optimus looked down at me in all seriousness. "eBay."

"eBay." I look to Mikaela with a bit of a silly grin.

"If the Decepticons find the AllSpark, they will use its power to transform Earth's machines and build a new army," Ratchet told us.

"And the human race will be extinguished." Optimus straightened and the other bots came to stand by him. "Alison Witwicky, you hold the key to Earth's survival."

Mikaela turned to me. "Please tell me you have those glasses."