Chapter 2
Crisscrossed
Stripes's optics lit up brightly, as he nearly fell off the metal crates he was siting on. Cross?! Of all people they had to go after, they chose Cross?!
"Why..." He murmured, sitting up.
"Well, that got his attention." Arcee said sarcastically.
"He's not the only one they've abducted recently." Optimus continued. "Two other humans have been abducted by them. We got there as soon as we could, but we were unable to save them... All we could get from them were their names: Clarence and Darius."
Two other humans... That wrenched Stripes to the core. But why Darius? And Clarence... They couldn't be talking about Razor, could they?
"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked.
"I..." Stripes struggled to get the words out. "I... got my disguise from one of Razor's stolen cars... I also raced with Darius once. They... They were skilled drivers..."
"How do you know?" Arcee asked.
"Because I raced against them before." Stripes answered. "Though I used a different disguise both times..."
"Then that means you must have come across Cross." Ratchet deduced. "We know about that whole blacklist bit in Rockport. It was all over the news."
So they knew about Rockport. Stripes sighed. "Yeah, you could say I'm on his 'most wanted list.' "
"Then it appears you may be able to make amends with this opportunity, drifter." A voice said. A human then stepped out from behind a corner.
It was Cross. Stripes nearly short-circuited. "Didn't you say you were just searching for him?" He asked.
"We lied." Arcee said simply. "We needed him to help find you. After all, you are on his 'most wanted list.' "
"I heard you tell your story, pinstripes." Cross said. "However, some things about it seem to rub me the wrong way."
"Why is that?" Stripes asked.
"Call it 'former cop intuition.' Old habits die hard, as I'm sure you know." Cross said in a cocky way.
That's when alarms started to go off. Bumblebee looked up from a monitor.
"Decepticons incoming!" He shouted.
Oh great, Stripes thought. They found me again. He looked to the ceiling to see it start to cave in, Megatron diving for him in jet mode.
Then he woke up.