Chapter 3
Boxed in

Junkyard
Jasper, Nevada

Stripes bolted upright out of recharge. He got up off of the cold ground where he lay. It was all a dream. Cross... The Autobots... Everything. Except for his escape from the Decepticons.
But why had Megatron done this to him, he continued to wonder. Why make him Cybertronian? Why take everything away from him just to do this? What purpose did it serve?
He looked around, and felt relief that no one else was around. He doubt anyone would be friendly to a freak of nature like him. These nightmares were getting to seem all too real. He started to think he was losing his mind.
"I need to get out of here," he thought. "I need to drive."
So he changed modes, got out of the junkyard, onto the highway, and did exactly that. The road was long and lonely, no other cars were on it. It was a desolate highway, and the night was still young.
He drove for several hours, doing well to keep at the speed limit. He didn't need any more heat on him, the way things stood now. More heat, meant more attention, and that would surely attract Megatron.
That's when he saw the same car ahead of him he saw in his dream; A black and yellow hot rod! Stripes did his best to retain his composure. its probably just coincidence, he thought. Just coincidence, nothing more.
He passed it without event, as it was going twenty under the speed limit. He remained calm.
That's when he saw a roadblock up ahead, with a rescue vehicle, a SUV, and a motorcycle. Looked like an accident. He immediately went to turn around, but the yellow and black hot rod blocked his path. What the hell, he thought. He blared his horn, but the other car didn't move.
Then, the hot rod transformed into a robot, just like in his dream!
"Don't be afraid..." It started to say.
But the words were too late. Stripes peeled out, and went off road into the dust. The next thing he knew, the green SUV pulled up alongside him, with the motorcycle, which didn't have a rider, and emergency rescue vehicle. They boxed him in against a canyon rock face, and transformed as well!
Stripe had no choice but to change as well. He transformed into robot mode, and got into a fighter's stance; He had taken martial arts classes when he was human. Never expected to use them in a giant robot fight.
"Easy, we're not here to hurt you." The green one said.
Right now Stripes didn't know what to think. Then, he felt weak. The Cybertronian equivalent of dizziness. He fell to one knee, trying to maintain his balance.
"Here, let me take a look at you..." The emergency bot stepped forward.
Stripes turned his left arm servo into a Gatling gun. "Get away! Don't come any closer!" He held it up weakly. He may have been dizzy, but he could still inflict some damage with his weapon.
"We know your scared, but you don't need to fear us," The yellow bot said. "I'm Bumblebee. We're Autobots, from the planet Cybertron. We're here to help you. Remember the dream?"
Stripes' looked at Bumblebee, bewildered. How did they know about that?
"That was us." Bumblebee continued. "We were using some new technology we came up with to find you. It reaches into your subconscious, your very spark. Trust us, Carlos, we're not here to hurt you."
They knew his name. His human name. But how? Stripes' felt like he was going to black out; stasis hovered over his chassis. He couldn't hold up his Gatling gun. He let it fall to his side, transforming it back into his servo.
"What's wrong with him, Ratchet?" Bumblebee asked the emergency bot. Ratchet slowly walked forward, and turned his arm into what appeared to be a scanning tool, running it across Stripes' chassis. Stripes didn't protest, he could not even stand, after all.
"He's suffering from extreme energon deprivation." Ratchet answered. "Seems he's gone for months without some. Also needs some repairs on his intake. It looks... rattled, to put it mildly." Ratchet then got out a small can, popping off the top in a similar way to a soda can. "Drink this."
Stripes wasn't sure what was going on anymore, but knew he felt the human equivalent of thirst. He had felt it for some time. He had drank gasoline wherever he could get it, but it wasn't enough. He still had felt weak when he was in robot mode. Besides that, gasoline was bitter. No matter how fresh it was. So he cautiously took the can into his shaky hands, looking over the purple fluid inside. It looked strangely enticing. He drank. It tasted heavenly, like fine fruit juice. He felt it warm his fuel tank.
"Months without energon... How did he survive?" The motorcycle bot, whom was female, asked.
Ratchet continued to scan. "It appears he's been surviving off of a petroleum-based fuel. Gasoline."
The green SUV bot cringed. "Nasty... No bot should have to live off of that."
Stripes finished downing the contents of the small can. He looked at Ratchet.
"...Thank you." He said. "But why help me?"
"Because we, like you, want to know why Megatron did this to you." Bumblebee answered. "Smokescreen, I need you to bring the ship in. We found him."