Sunstreaker POV
I was in the brig… again! Only this time, it was because Sides and I had gotten those little glitched out slaggers good! We had put those locking wheel guards on all four tires of both of those slaggers. Then we chained them together by their front bumpers with exactly no room to spare! It took Hatchet a total of six human hours to get those two apart. When he finally did, they couldn't resist beating the slag out of each other. It was so bad that Optimus had to separate them. It was totally worth it! I bet Skids and Mudflap never mess with my paintings again! My brother and I had gotten those rusted out glitches so good, that every time we even look at each other across the hall we burst out laughing! Oh, Hatchet wasn't happy with us at all. That's why he'd stuck us in separate cells.
I was still smirking over this when I heard the firm measured tread of pedes coming down the corridor. I knew that tread well. That perfectly measured step was always so impeccably timed, so synchronized that each and every step had the exact same distance to it… down to the last micro-millimeter. Prowl was coming to see us for some reason.
My brother and I glared in the direction of the mech fully expecting to be told that we had to spend even more time in here than the five stellar cycles that Hatchet had given us. I stood up to glare darkly at him as he approached my cell. Suddenly, a pair of crashes, that were probably heard all over the base, was caused by me and my brother falling on our afts when Prowl simply unlocked and opened our cells.
"You are not to be punished for defending your personal effects against an unprovoked assault. Ratchet should have consulted me before placing the two of you in the brig. Because just as when you are forced to run from the victims of your pranks, the younger twins are also responsible for their actions, and they will be taking your place. Once they are released from the medbay, that is. The two of you were fully justified in your actions. The fact that you didn't cause them any physical harm in the process is to be commended. I must therefore applaud both your actions and your restraint." Prowl said simply before letting us out.
"Now, I believe that the two of you owe me a favor which I have yet to collect on. I wish to collect my payment now."
Sides looked at the mech suspiciously, and I wasn't looking at him too happily either. I knew exactly what favor he was talking about, and it was something that we had owed him since before the war started on Cybertron. Both of us were waiting for him to go on.
"The payment will be as follows; I wish for the two of you to teach Autumn how to drive. I want the two of you to teach her to be able to use her alt mode as effectively as the both of you are able to use yours." Prowl said seriously.
We both knew that Prowl had absolutely no sense of humor, so he wasn't joking about this.
"Why do you want us to teach her?" Sides demanded skeptically.
"Because other than running from an undesired situation, Autumn has only been able to utilize her alt mode twice. The first time was late in the lunar cycle. She snuck out of the medbay and was trying her wheels for the first time. I immediately acted to give chase, not realizing that it was the first time for her…"
"Aww slag!" Sides exclaimed disgustedly as he glared at the mech in front of us.
I could feel a growl of my own welling up in my frame. For as long as we had known Prowl, he had always been one to spoil some good fun… but this? This was taking things way too far! A bot's first time on their wheels was supposed to be special… almost sacred… even we knew that! But Prowl was admitting to ruining it for Autumn. I didn't even know the bot; I'd only met her once when we landed, but even then she acted almost… timid somehow.
"She was able to enjoy the freedom of her wheels for less than three minutes before attempting to hide from me in the medbay." Prowl admitted plainly.
I shook my helm while glaring at him.
"There is also the fact that Autumn is now my charge. While she might be in her adult frame, she is still a sparkling of less than one fourth of a single vorn in age. She has not been taught how to handle any type of weapon as yet, and according to Jazz, she is not yet adequately able to defend herself appropriately in unarmed combat…"
"So she needs to be able to run." My brother finished bluntly.
"Yes. I know from experience that the two of you are better at… evading pursuit than any other bot equipped with wheels. I doubt that she'll be anywhere close to being as fast as either of you, but because of what I have already inadvertently caused, some appropriate compensation must be made. That is why I am requesting that the two of you instruct her in driving."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing from Prowl. He was admitting to being wrong! To us! I looked over at my brother to get his opinion on this.
.:I say we do it.:.
.:Why? He's the one who fragged up her first time! He should be the one to fix it.:. I sent back angrily.
.:He knows he can't. That's why he asking us. Primus knows we're the fastest bots on wheels, and the best there is when it comes to racing. Besides, you heard what he said about her age; are you really gonna give the 'Cons a chance to get their servos on a sparkling femme?:.
.:Slag no!:. I sent back after he asked that last question.
I knew that Prowl had figured all this out before asking us to do this, which meant that he was manipulating us to get what he wanted. I didn't like it at all, but he was doing it for a good reason, and that reason wasn't something that would benefit him directly from what I could see. Besides, this would give us the chance to find out what this femme was like.
"Alright… we'll teach her… on a few conditions." I growled with a warning glare.
"Very well. What are your conditions?" Prowl asked hesitantly. I could tell from the way he answered that he was sure he wasn't going to like them at all.
"She stays under our instruction on this until we are satisfied that she knows how to drive, the second is that no one interferes while we are teaching her. The third condition is that we'll need the entire tarmac and the runway for at least one full solar cycle… maybe more depending on how fast she learns, and what she's capable of. We'll also need a solar cycle, or better yet a lunar cycle to set things up, that way she can begin her instruction at the start of a solar cycle." I said with a grin.
"I will agree to those terms with a condition of my own; Autumn is not to be harmed! You are not to take any chances with her health. She has already endured several assaults that have nearly offlined her because they were intended to do so! So do not turn this into what the humans call demolition derby!" Prowl declared firmly.
"As if I'd scratch up my paint like that!" I shot back with a growl.
"Where is she now?" Sideswipe asked quickly.
"Autumn is currently in the medbay recharging under Ratchet's supervision."
"You just get everything set up so that she can start her driving lessons as soon as she emerges from recharge. Sunny and I will take care of the rest." Sideswipe said with a smirk on his face plates.
"Don't call me that!" I growled with a glare at my brother, before demanding the specs for Autumn's alt mode from Prowl.
Sideswipe POV
Sunny and I spent most of the rest of the night getting things set up for Autumn's lessons in the morning. It took Sunny an entire two breems to decide on the course he wanted. In the end, he modified one of the human's courses which surprised me that he actually used one designed by them instead of a Cybertronian course. Then I saw the layout and the specs on the course, and I had to agree. With a bit more length so that the long straight would allow some additional speed, the track was perfect. The runway and tarmac didn't have the elevation changes like Circuit Of The Americas ©, so we increased the total length from three point four miles to a total of five miles to get a better insight on how well she could manage her alt mode. Sunny used a water soluble paint to mark the outline of the track in wide white lines
That was when Sunny did something that no one but me would ever believe. He changed his alt mode so that it was exactly what Autumn was using. He even went so far as to install and use governing software so that he couldn't do anything she wouldn't be able to do. Then he sent me the same specs and restrictions.
We spent the next 21.6 breems (3 hours) pushing that Ferrari alt mode to the limit. We kept at it until we knew exactly what Autumn would be able to do as far as braking, turning, drifting, acceleration, and what type of lateral G forces she would be able to handle before sliding sideways after losing traction. The solar cycle had already begun more than two breems ago, and several humans were observing us with wide grins on their faces. When we were finally ready, having learned everything about what Autumn should be able to do on the course, we switched back to our own alt modes, and began to place cones to mark certain spots near the turns. By the time Prowl practically escorted Autumn out of the hanger, we were ready.
Autumn POV
I stared at the track that was painted onto the runway and felt my spark sink in my chest, while my wings drooped on my back. 'There's no way I can do this! I don't even know how to drive yet, so how can they expect me to run a race track?'
That was when my wings picked up a quickly fading signal, and I looked back to see Prowl leaving. He was leaving! He was leaving me with two mechs that I didn't even know. I could feel my wings droop even as I turned to look at the two mechs with wide optics.
"Here's a question for you. How the pit are we supposed to teach you how to drive, if you're so tensed up and scared that you can't even transform or start your engine?" The red one asked me with a smug grin.
"I… I can transform and start my engine!" I stammered in protest.
The red mech crossed his arms and smirked at me while the gold one just stared with an irritable expression on his faceplates. "Looks like you'll have to 'prove it' as the humans often say."
I transformed into my alt mode, and started up my engine with a loud roar. I could feel some anger welling up in my spark, but at the same time I was nervous and scared. 'What were these two going to do to me? Were they going to be like Ironhide and Mirage had been? Maybe… maybe they would be like Jazz.' I could only hope so, but I didn't feel very reassured.
I didn't know, but I sure remembered Prowl telling me that these two had been Gladiators before the war, so that meant they also knew how to fight a lot better than I did. Then, before I could wonder about anything else, they were giving me instructions.
"We haven't been introduced yet, so I'll tell you that my designation is Sideswipe, and this is my brother Sunstreaker." He said pointing to the gold mech. "When it comes to driving, we're the best there is… no questions about it either! That's why Prowl wants us to teach you a few things." The red one named Sideswipe told me.
"We're going to tell you when to hit the accelerator, and how hard. We're also going to tell you when and how to hit the brakes, and when you need to coast. When one of us tells you something, you need to listen. I don't like to repeat myself." The gold mech named Sunstreaker said in an almost growl.
I was glad that I was in my alt mode, because I was sure that if I'd been standing in front of them, my doorwings would have been hanging straight down my back. These two scared the spark out of me for some reason, and I don't know what it was, but there was something that told me not to make either one of them any angrier than they already were.
Then they both transformed, and Sideswipe got in front while Sunstreaker got behind me. They started giving me instructions one how to follow the course they had laid out. I was supposed to drive between the cones they had set up, and basically stay on the road. It didn't really sound that hard, but the way they were talking to me, it was pretty clear that they didn't think I'd be any good at driving.
Sunstreaker POV
"I want you to follow my brother. We'll go a few laps for this lesson." I told the femme just before Sides took off with his rear tires screaming. I had to give the timid little femme some credit. She didn't even need to be told to take off after him. She was hard on the gas, but didn't spin her tires. Acceptable, but not good, and certainly not the best.
"When you take off in a hurry, you need to hit the accelerator hard enough to make your tires spin just a bit. Once they start losing traction, ease off until you regain it. You want to learn that fine point of control between spinning your wheels uselessly, and getting maximum possible acceleration." I told her.
I knew that the first lap wouldn't even be close to her best, but I had no intention of taking it easy on her because of that. We had several cones set up to serve as markers for her braking, turning, and acceleration. Once she got used to using them, if she got used to using them, she'd have a much easier time of running the course.
As we approached turn one, she was a few clicks early in applying her brakes, and she hit them too hard at that. To top things off, she took that hard left way too wide. It was clear that she had a long way to go. She mostly followed my instructions, but not exactly. Either she didn't trust us, or she didn't trust herself… my bet is that she didn't trust her driving skills. That was going to change if my brother and I had anything to do with it.
Autumn went way too slow while passing turns two through eight. She should have listened better, and done what she was told when she was told. She kept hitting the brakes too soon, and too hard. On top of that, she wasn't hitting the accelerator hard enough. She did okay in turns nine and ten, but turn eleven was too slow, and too wide, slag, she even missed passing between the cones that marked the apex of the turn! Then she was way too slow in getting back on the gas, and that cost her a lot of speed in the long straight.
Instead of hitting the brakes the way I told her to, Autumn slid to a stop well outside of the course we had marked. I'll give her credit on one thing; she's got her transformation sequence down, because she was bouncing on her pedes in flash. My brother and I came to a stop, and transformed to watch her jumping up and down in excitement.
"One hundred and sixty one miles per hour!" Autumn shouted as she jumped up and down. I couldn't believe it. "I've never gone that fast in my life! One hundred and sixty one miles per hour! Did you see that? Did you see how fast I went?" She yelled excitedly.
:Don't break her spark yet Bro. We both know she could have gone a lot faster if she'd listened to us, but this is pretty much her first time. So let her have her fun for a few clicks… then we can tell her that if she listens to us, she'll go even faster!: Sides sent to me.
I didn't really want to admit it, but he made a pretty good point. From what Prowl said, this was her first time… and that made things a lot different! I couldn't help but snicker though. A bot with a full sized frame was acting like a sparkling! That was when I remembered her age, and felt my energon run cold, because she was actually acting her age.
Autumn POV
I couldn't help it. I was pumped! This was one of the most incredible mornings I could ever remember having. I felt like I could outrun anyone!
"Did you see how fast I went? I was like Mario Andretti!" I squealed happily in a near shout of excitement.
That was when the gold one, Sunstreaker, crossed his arms and stared at me with one optic ridge raised. "You have a long way to go before you can compare yourself to Mario Andretti, because right now you couldn't even keep him in sight."
"If you listen to us though, not only will you keep him in sight… you'll pass him like he's going the other direction, and then… Mario Andretti won't even be able to eat your dust, because it will land back on the road before he even gets to where you were!" The red one, Sideswipe added.
I stared at those two bots in surprise. They were really planning on teaching me how to drive. No… not just drive, almost everyone could do that… they were going to teach me how to drive like a pro!
"That was your 'frag off' lap. We expected you to screw it up, but now it's time to get serious, and learn how to drive. When you hit a group of four cones, that's when you let off the gas and coast. When you hit a group of three cones, you ease on the brake. Two cones, you should be at half brake. When you hit that last cone, hit the brake hard and then let off and coast through the turn. Once you get between the two cones that mark the apex, I want you to hit the throttle hard! I mean I want to hear those tires of yours scream! Got it?" Sunstreaker told me with a glare.
"But… but… I'm not a Lamborghini like you." I stammered nervously.
"We know. You'll never be as fast as we are. No one is! Except Blur, but we didn't set those cones for us. We can take those turns even faster than what those cones are set for. Those cones are set up for your specs, not ours! They are placed with a little bit of leeway so that you can run through them with no problem even if you're a bit off on your timing. Look around!" Sideswipe told me.
"We're in the middle of a giant runway! If you miss a turn, the only thing that'll happen is you'll go outside the lines, or run over a cone. There's no walls here to crash into, and no grass or dirt to flip you. So relax, have some fun, and race like we tell you. It's not going to kill you to have some fun is it?" Sideswipe asked me seriously.
Sunstreaker's engine growled when Sideswipe said that. He didn't look too happy for some reason. "N… no. At least I don't think I'll get killed while I'm having fun. Someone else was always having fun whenever they tried to kill me though." I finished in a mutter.
Sideswipe POV
I could the energon in my lines freeze when I heard the femme say that last part. Something told me that she wasn't joking. I remembered Prowl telling us that she survived several attempts at being offlined already, but I had thought he was exaggerating. Looks like he wasn't. That was when a really nasty suspicion hit my processors. I clearly remembered seeing a broadcast the other cycle while my brother and I were watching a race on the Speed Channel. Some human had confessed about how he had really slagged up his sparkling's life, and even apologized for it. Could that human have somehow been talking about Autumn? Suddenly, I knew. It hit me like a shot from one of Ironhide's cannons. Bluestreak had informed us upon arrival that Autumn had once been human. The glitched out fragger in that Primus damned broadcast had been talking about and to the femme who was standing right in front of us! No slagging wonder she seemed to be scared all the time.
"Well that glitched slagger won't be having fun any time soon, because you're going to have some fun by driving!" Sunstreaker growled quickly.
I didn't have to ask because I knew, from the sibling spark bond that we both shared, that he had come to the same realization that I had. This was now something very serious for both of us. Autumn might be having fun, and enjoying herself, but Sunny and I were going to make slagging sure that when she needed to run… Autumn would know how to it right!