Hey, the new chapter is up already! I managed to get this done early due to it being a shorter one than most, so enjoy!
I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse. They belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 5: I Get Pranked.
After she finishes cutting her hair, Piper lays down in bed, bored out of her mind. She can't talk to anyone. Kids either tease her or see her only as the daughter of Tristan McLean and possibly try to use her.
She eventually goes down to a nearby store, where she uses her special trick to talk some clerks into giving her one hundred and fifty dollars in books.
Before long, it gets reported to the police, and Tristan is forced to interrupt his press tour to discipline his daughter.
He yells at her for doing something like this just after he took time to have a full day with her. Piper retorts that she has nothing to do at home.
She isn't sure if she's happy to have her dad's attention or not...
That was the next flash I got while I was taking Piper home from our day at the press studio. She seemed a lot happier since she had gotten more time to spend with her dad.
When we got back to Tristan's Malibu mansion, we found Jane waiting for us. She didn't look very pleased with us. I probably should have told her that I was taking Piper on an extended trip.
I landed in the backyard; Piper got out of my cockpit and dusted herself off. "Hello, Jane." The scorn in her voice was evident.
"Piper, what do you think you're doing? Running off without my permission!?" Jane asked, "And for all day too!"
"Well, I didn't plan for it to happen; it just sorta did." Piper insisted, not even looking Jane in the eye.
"Young lady," Jane said sternly, "your father has clearly stated that while he is gone on his trips, I am in charge."
"And if you ask Tristan, he'll tell you it was okay, and we all had a fun time." I said, transforming into my robot mode, "Call him yourself if you don't believe me.".
Jane scowled. Her fondness for me was clearly about the same as her fondness for Piper. AKA Zero. "Fine.".
She turned on her heel and walked off, leaving me and Piper alone in the backyard.
Piper looked up at me. "Hey. I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you when we first met," she apologized. "Dad's right. You're pretty cool."
I smiled. "Thanks," I said.
Interacting with humans wasn't something I was alien to. As I said previously, some humans had willingly allied themselves with us, and I had worked with them, but I had never bonded with humanity in this way before. I remembered the teenagers that the Autobots had befriended during our first year on Earth. I hadn't understood why the Autobots insisted on befriending human children. Surely the more developed and mature adults were more worth our time.
But after spending time with Piper, I think I understood a bit better.
"I'll see you again some other time," I told her.
"Take care!" she shouted.
With that, I turned back into jet mode and flew off, leaving an excited girl behind.
When I got back to the Decepticon base, I headed to the refueling room. Think of it as our equivalent to your school cafeterias or rec rooms. It was a place for us Decepticons to refuel on Energon, relax, and spend time with each other.
Yes, even planet-conquering megalomaniacs need time to relax.
When I got there, I found it bustling with several of my fellow Decepticons. I went to the Energon dispenser. It's like a soda machine at the fast food places you humans have.
I was filling my refueling cube with Energon when the dispenser exploded.
I know that sounds random, but it's just what happened.
One moment I was filling up the cube us Transformers drink from when taking on energon, and the next moment the dispenser exploded in my face. The force of the explosion knocked me on my back; liquid energon poured down my face.
I knew immediately who was responsible. A certain purple and black Decepticon who shared my body type.
"SKYWARP!"
The ensuing laughter confirmed my suspicions. I turned and saw Skywarp laughing hysterically and pointing at me. A lot of the other Decepticons laughed too.
"I'm sorry, TC," he giggled. "But I didn't intend for it to be you! Honest!"
"Really?" I asked skeptically.
"Yes really." Skywarp confirmed, "I set the machine to blow on the first person to touch it."
I sighed, picked myself up, and tried to clean the energon off me.
"It's fine," I muttered. It really wasn't, but I was in too good of a mood to argue, "But you owe me a drink.".
"Oh yeah, for sure." Skywarp gave me a thumbs-up.
Believe it or not, Skywarp was the closest thing I had to a best friend in the Decepticons. We had joined at the same time, and he and Starscream were the ones who convinced me that joining the Decepticons was the right call. That it would be better for Cybertron in the long run. Maybe that's also why it was so hard for me to be mad at him right there.
But he still thought my interest in human television was weird.
Over the next couple of months, I began to alternate my time between my Decepticon duties and visiting Tristan and Piper. Sometimes I hung out with Tristan at whatever movie set or press studio he was at for the day and we'd discuss movies and TV shows, or I spent my time with Piper at the mansion, keeping her company, or I gave her a ride to another place in the US to visit. Other times, if I was able to, I took Piper to one of Tristan's press releases again.
It was funny. I was working with the Decepticons to make Cybertron a better place. I knew we were. But for me, the best parts of those months weren't when I helped the Decepticons win a battle. It was when I helped Piper and Tristan feel less alone in their worlds.
So it was a shame that I wasn't able to be there all the time...
Shorter chapter than usual. Sorry. Now that we have the setup over with, there's going to be a few like that. I still hope you enjoy the ride! And, as always, don't forget to leave a review!