Chapter Three: Pizza Night at Ground Zero
As the sun set on the Beach City sky, one lone traveler hurried through the streets with excitement. It was none other than Steven himself, carrying not one, not two or even three, but four boxes of extra-large pizza. 'Fish Stew Pizza,' the labels on them read. He excitedly hurried down the beach towards home.
It was the third Friday night of the month, and for him and the Autobots, this only meant one thing. A timeless ritual, one passed down among them for millennia–or at least a few years. No missions, no crises, no deep-seated emotional baggage, just the four of them, spending time together. It was a night that Steven cherished above all else.
Soon enough, he reached his house, and began to chant as he opened the door. "Pizza night! Pizza night! Pizza night! Pizza…night?" For once, Sideswipe hadn't joined in. In fact, it didn't seem like any of the 'bots were ready for some pizza night quality time. Not sure where they were, he set the pizzas down on the counter before heading over to the Ark.
He found them fairly quickly, as they were all standing in the main room. "Welcome home, Steven," said Ultra Magnus, calibrating the groundbridge. He had lived with them long enough to realize what was going on: they were heading out on a mission.
"Uh…hi," Steven said. "What are you guys doing?"
"Our scanners have picked up an enormous surge of something very dangerous," explained Elita-1. "Something we'll need to deal with soon, before it can spread."
"But, you'll be back in time for dinner, right?" asked Steven. "You wouldn't want to miss it! Right?"
Sideswipe was over in the corner, sharpening his swords. "Sorry, Ste-man, but this one's pretty important," he said. "We might not be back 'til past your bedtime."
"Past my bedtime!?" Steven said, aghast. "But it's pizza night!"
Elita winced, the tradition clearly having slipped her mind. Still, she walked over to him to try and explain things. "I know it is, and we're disappointed that we have to miss it, too. But being an Autobot is a full-time job. Each of our missions is to prevent innocent people from being put in danger, and as much as we love having pizza night with you, danger doesn't take a night off to relax. You understand, right?"
Though disappointed, Steven understood how important the Autobots' work was. "Uh-huh," he said.
"Excellent. Now, we'll be sure to make up for this tomorrow night, okay?" She joined the others in waiting for the groundbridge to be ready. "Goodnight, Steven! We'll see you in the morning!" The other two waved goodbye as well.
"See you then!" Steven offered a friendly wave before heading back into the house. Once alone, he let out a sad sigh. "Aww, man. We've never missed pizza night before." He reluctantly stuffed three of the pies into the fridge, taking one over to the couch to begin. He slumped down and sadly took a bite of a slice. "So good…and nobody to share it with. And it's never as good reheated…"
It was then that a brilliant idea appeared in Steven's mind. How had he not considered it sooner? With this, he would be able to check off two boxes on his list of 'bot activities to be done! He sprang up from his spot, carefully carrying the pizza box as he raced back into the ship.
Luckily he caught them just before they left. "Guys! Guys!" he called excitedly, skidding to a stop just before hitting the railing. "Wait! I just had the best idea!"
Magnus and Elita glanced at each other, while Sideswipe was far more eager. "What do you have for us, huh? Shoot!"
"At first, I was upset that your mission meant we couldn't do pizza night," he explained. "But then I thought, 'why does it mean that?' Why can't we bring a pie with us, and have pizza night and your mission!"
"Genius!" Sideswipe happily accepted the slice Steven handed him, popping it down. "So, what do you two think? …Uh-oh, I've seen that look before."
'That look' was on Elita's face, and it was one of understandable apprehension. "Steven, while I…admire your creativity, I'm not sure a mission is the best place to be having a pizza party. Especially considering that you haven't been on one yet."
"But that's the best part of it!" said Steven. "This way, we can kill two birds with one stone! Not that I approve of that… But anyway, now we can have pizza night, and I can go on my very first mission! It's a win-win!"
"Er…" Elita tried to think of a way to let him down gently. "That's not exactly what 'win-win' means, Steven. Missions like this are dangerous, and inexperienced as you are, we wouldn't want you getting hurt." She looked to Ultra Magnus for help.
"That said, he will remain inexperienced without experience," he said. "Perhaps taking him on a mission for once will allow him to gain some? I understand your concern, of course. We will keep a close eye on him–and Steven?"
"Yeah?"
"You have to promise to be extra careful. This mission may not involve any fighting, but there might still be danger around every turn. Stay close to us, and don't let the pizza distract you."
Excitedly, Steven hurried down the stairs to join them in front of the groundbridge. "All right! You won't even know I'm there, except when you check on me to make sure I'm still there. And anyone who wants a slice, just ask!"
Though Elita was still uncertain about this, she saw Magnus' point. "As long as you won't run off on your own…again. Remember that whole debacle when you were four?"
"I certainly do!" Sideswipe laughed. "Boy were those two surprised when they realized they took the wrong kid!"
Pulling a lever, Ultra Magnus activated the groundbridge. A spark of green light appeared on the far side of the room, growing and spreading as it revealed a whirlpool in the air, leading to parts unknown. "Woah…" said Steven, taking a bite. The Autobots, Steven among them, stepped through the portal to where their mission took them this time.
Steven heard their destination before he saw it: the sounds of rolling waves and calling seabirds. He initially thought they couldn't be far from Beach City, only for a sudden blast of cold air once they arrived. They also appeared to be inside some sort of metal structure, but it was too dark to make out its exact nature.
The others stepped through moments later. "Elita, have you located the source of the signal?" asked Magnus.
"Not exactly," she said, looking at a holographic display projected above her arm. "Too much interference–that nasty stuff's all over the place. I can imagine we'll have to head for the center of the device."
Sideswipe wandered off in the direction of some light. "Sounds like a good enough plan to me. Hey, maybe this won't take so long after all!" Steven followed after him, with Magnus and Elita doing the same.
After reaching part of the building that let in some moonlight, Steven could see that it was very old and decrepit. In fact, the light shone in through a massive hole carved out of the wall. He approached the edge, only to stagger back with a start when he realized they were many stories in the air. "Woah!"
"Careful there, buddy-boy!" said Sideswipe. "A fall from this height would be bad for a Transformer, let alone a little guy! And between you and me, I wouldn't rely on Elita to catch you…" She shot him a glare.
Making sure to watch his step, Steven looked out at their surroundings. Wherever this building was, there was no sign of land, just ocean stretching to the horizon. The only form of ground came in the shape of scattered ice floes and icebergs floating just beyond the main structure. And although he didn't notice at first due to the dim light, there was something strange about the water: namely, it was purplish, and seemed to shimmer erratically. "Hey, what's with the water here?" he asked. "How come it's all…janky?"
"The water here is 'janky' because it has been infested with dark energon," Ultra Magnus explained. "While normal energon is life-giving and natural, dark energon is an insidious poison that corrupts and destroys whatever it touches. That is why we are here: something has caused this facility to reactivate, and it threatens to spread this poison to the other corners of the earth. Needless to say, we have to stop it."
"Wow…so this entire place was made to spread this dark energon stuff?" Steven was glad the Autobots had stopped it last time. "Then there's no time to waste! Autobots, let's save the world! Again!" He looked around. "So…how do we do that?"
Elita referred to a diagram of the structure on her display: the entire building was an enormous sphere, with the water barely reaching its middle even though it sat on the ocean floor. "Although this device has decayed beyond repair, its core seems to have reactivated somehow. Once we reach it, there is the matter of safely destroying it without further spreading the dark energon. Though how we'll do that, I'm not sure."
"We always think of something," said Ultra Magnus. He made his way over to a maintenance hatch, lifting it open for the others to walk through. As he disappeared behind it as well, nobody was left behind to peer over the edge. Nobody was there to see the ominous shape drifting just beneath the murky waters, a metallic fin piercing the surface. It too then submerged, rounding the machine in the direction of the newcomers.
The inside of the massive device didn't seem to be designed for easy access. There weren't any obvious doors or walkways, any way for a Transformer to navigate the interior. There were enough metal platforms for the gang to make due, though. "Woah…" said Steven, marveling at how far up the ceiling was. "How big is this place?"
"If I had to guess, bigger than your house, but not as big as the entire planet," Sideswipe helpfully observed.
Elita rolled her eyes. "I've never had the time to actually measure it, my best guess is that this facility is somewhere between twenty and twenty-five miles in diameter," she said. "It was designed to spread dark energon across the entire globe, after all, so it would need to cover quite a large distance in order to do so."
"So it's basically a big bomb?" asked Sideswipe.
"Well, not exactly," said Elita. "Yes, it was designed to propel a substance across a large area, and it contained many of the integral components of what we might call a 'bomb,' but seeing as the outer covering is still intact–"
"No, it's a bomb," Magnus said. "A very big, very bad bomb. Now let's shut it off before it hurts anyone else." He seemed a bit more reluctant about this than usual. Ultra Magnus was never one for lengthy conversations, but it was almost like talking about this bomb brought up some bad memories. Steven had considered asking who built the bomb in the first place–it didn't seem like something Predacons would be capable of–but decided against it.
The group jumped, crawled, and climbed their way through the derelict structure, a lake of the dark water waiting for them at the bottom should they happen to fall. True to his word, Steven made sure to avoid straying too close to the edge, and waited until it was safe before allowing one of them to gently lift him across any gaps or obstacles. To his surprise and their relief, carrying the pizza along didn't hinder him as much as they expected.
Unfortunately, not long after they ran into a dead end. An enormous wall stood in their way, just in front of an almost-as-large gap. There was no way to climb over it, nor around it. The three Autobots peered over the edge, the consequences of a fall silently remembered between them.
"Welp…I'm not seein' any way through," Sideswipe observed. "I don't suppose there's a secret passage I'm not aware of? Unless Elita wants to fly us across…"
"She won't need to," said Ultra Magnus, scanning the obstruction. "I should be able to clear us a path. Everyone brace yourselves."
Steven and Sideswipe held onto the wall, and Elita crouched down and shielded the former. Magnus braced himself as well, the doors on his missile pods opening up. With a loud racket, twelve rockets fired, carving a slab out of the wall in their way. In addition to the explosion echoing through the chamber, the room groaned and creaked as the metal slid out of place, tethers breaking.
However, the slab of metal didn't fall straight down, as they had expected it to. Some of the tethers remained in place, holding it up before it could plummet to the waters below. In fact, it slowly but surely began to tilt towards them, a massive shadow being cast over the platform.
"Uh…Magnus?" said a worried Sideswipe.
"I got it!" Magnus declared, thrusting his hands upward. He braced as the metal fell down towards them. As everyone prepared for impact, it slammed down on top of him, though he was able to catch it. The entire platform and likely much of the room groaned under its weight, as did, understandably, Magnus himself. "Someone cut this thing down!"
Sideswipe hurried over, drawing his swords. "I'm on it!" But the slightest movement was enough to destabilize the platform, tilting it violently to the side. Elita steadied herself against the wall…but Steven didn't have the same luxury, tumbling over and sliding towards the edge.
"Woah! Help!" he cried.
"Steven!" Elita reached for him, but he was sliding too quickly, and she just missed him. He tried to grab onto the edge, but had the same results. "I'm coming!" She charged after him and dove off the edge.
Steven found himself plummeting towards the corrupted waters, screaming all the way down. "Protect me, pizza!" he pleaded, holding the pie over his head like a parachute. Before he had the chance to find if it would slow his descent, Elita grabbed hold of him, transforming with him in tow.
Moments before the two hit the water, Elita, in vehicle mode, pulled up at the last moment. Steven clung to the seat for dear life, even though he was safe in her cockpit. "I've got you," she reassured him. "Are you alright? Nothing's broken?"
He checked himself over to make sure, relieved to find that he was in one piece. "Nope, Steven's all good!" he reported. "And the pizza survived? How 'bout that?"
Similarly relieved, Elita couldn't resist a small chuckle. "What a relief! Come on, let's go join the others before…" Elita trailed off, as though something had caught her attention. But she was rarely the type to be distracted.
"Elita? What's wrong?" asked Steven, worried by her silence. He looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary–for some meaning of the word. But the fact remained that nothing dangerous was around them.
"Something's in the water," Elita said in a hushed yet urgent tone. Steven scanned what little of the pool he could see to try and find the mysterious object. "Now, I'm going to lift us back up. As long as we don't make any sudden movements, we should be okay."
While they didn't make any sudden movements, the thing in the water did. The water beneath them suddenly burst as it breached out, leaping quite some distance at the helicopter. Steven only caught the briefest glimpse of a mouth filled with hundreds of rotating metal fangs and saws as it only just barely missed biting down on Elita. As it fell back down, he saw what it was more clearly: those shades of blue and white meant that it could only be a giant mechanical shark.
Neither he nor Elita spoke as she carried them up to the others, who were much more talkative. "Woah, that was insane!" said Sideswipe as Elita transformed. "You guys almost got Jaws'd!"
"Yes, we're fine, thank you for asking," Elita grumbled, placing Steven down on the ground.
"What is a Predacon doing here?" Magnus wondered aloud. "I was certain our readings showed none in the area."
"The dark energon core no doubt covered it up," said Elita. "It probably attracted it here, too."
"Hang on, I thought you said dark energon was poisonous," asked Steven.
"It is, to Autobots," Magnus clarified. "Predacons, though, they can't get enough of the stuff. All the more reason for us to shut this thing down." Now that they had gotten past the blockage, they continued onwards toward the core.
Anytime any of them glanced down, they could see the shark circling beneath them, its lifeless eyes staring up. "What are we going to do about that?" asked Elita.
"Not much we can do at the moment," said Ultra Magnus. "Not with it literally swimming in dark energon. Thankfully, it isn't putting anybody in danger all the way out here."
"Except us," Steven observed anxiously, unnerved by the Predacon's repeated movements.
"Yes, well, with any luck, it will leave once the core has been dealt with. And speaking of…" When they reached another precipice, one of the first things they noticed was the occasional drops of a dark purple liquid falling into the sea from above. Glancing up, it seemed to be coming from a car-sized metal orb dangling from some cables. "...I believe we are here."
"Yup, that looks like the core alright," said Sideswipe. "Guess it's climbin' time." He then began to do just that, drawing his swords to use as handholds in the ascent.
Elita, not wanting a repeat of her daring midair rescue, scooped Steven up and placed him on Magnus' shoulder. "I'm not taking any chances," she explained. "Hold on tight, okay?" They both nodded.
As all three 'bots pulled themselves up towards the core, Steven made an observation. "How come you aren't flying, Elita?" he asked.
"Too risky," Sideswipe said. "That's the thing with dark energon: even a tiny little drop could infect you."
"Yes, and I'd rather not take that chance, either," she said.
It didn't take long at all for the three to reach the core. Magnus and the others soon pulled themselves up to the area surrounding it: a large, flat floor almost perfectly sized to be an arena. Hopefully, though, the core wouldn't fight back in their attempts to destroy it. Speaking of which…
"And, now comes the hard part," said Magnus. "We can't get too close to the core, lest we become infected with dark energon. And yet, attempting to shoot it may just make it discharge more of the stuff." He stroked his chin. "A troubling conundrum…"
Carefully maintaining his balance, Steven peered over the edge. Sure enough, the shark-like Predacon was still circling, as though hoping one of them would lose their footing. "What if we threw it into the water?" he asked. "Maybe it isn't waterproof?"
"Given how the water's purple, I doubt that," said Sideswipe. "Still, I'm not hearing any better ideas. Anyone else for 'Operation: Chuck it in the Drink?'"
"That may be a terrible name, but that's far from a terrible plan," said Elita. Steven beamed that he was able to be helpful. "We'll need to carefully sever the cables keeping it in place. Sideswipe, I believe this is your specialty."
Swords in hand, the eager Autobot climbed atop the core's old chamber, from which it now dangled. "I'm your go-to guy for all sorts of slicing, dicing, and occasional mincing! Stand back now, y'all!" Steven did so as he began to saw through the cables with his swords.
One of them snapped, rattling the whole chamber as it dropped further down. The creaking of metal, which had by now become quite familiar, was accompanied by yet another sound: thrashing in the water down below. A glance revealed that the shark was churning the purple waves white, seemingly angered by their doings. Soon after, though, it disappeared.
Shrugging, Sideswipe continued severing the cords. But as he resumed his work, there was another sudden splash. Steven and the others had no sooner peered over the edge that the shark came into view, leaping higher than any shark, even a giant mechanical one, had any right to. This was likely possible due to the pair of jet boosters emerging from its sides.
It went right for the core, Sideswipe diving back to relative safety as it chomped down where he had just been. The beast continued upwards, now circling them from above instead of below. "So much for no danger–enemy engaging!" shouted Magnus.
The Predacon swooped down on them from above like a vast, predatory bird, attempting to crush them between its jaws. "Woah!" cried Steven, retreating to a far corner of the room, holding his pizza close. The Autobots opened fire on the shark.
"Great, it was bad enough in the water, now it's in the sky!?" moaned Sideswipe as he rolled to the side, out of the way of the creature's teeth. His blasters only seemed to annoy it, likewise for Elita's. Even Magnus was having trouble causing any major damage.
After a missile barrage got its attention, the shark turned towards him, maw open wide. Magnus quickly transformed, its teeth clamping down on an armored van. With no joints to bite through, it gnawed on him as sparks flew. "Some help would be appreciated!" he called, though before anyone could come to his aid, it tossed him aside, setting its eyes on a far lighter, easier meal.
Steven let out a small squeak of fear as he locked eyes with the shark. It sped in his direction, quite literally chomping at the bit as it went. He ran for it, though there wasn't really anywhere he could go. "Goodbye, pizza!" he cried.
Luckily, before Steven or his pizza could be devoured, the Predacon stopped in its tracks. Elita held it by the tail, struggling to hold it back as its thrusters roared. "Steven, get to Magnus!" she ordered, which he was happy to oblige. The shark kept its attention on him, seemingly deciding that he made for a better snack than any Autobot. "Sideswipe, slice and dice!"
"Rodeo time!" Sideswipe leapt atop the shark just as Elita let go, whooping and hollering as he rode it around the room. It thrashed and shook to try and get him off, but he and his swords were stuck on tight. "Nice try, bucking bronco, but you ain't buckin' this cowboy!"
Ultra Magnus had pulled himself back up, getting Steven to a relatively safe spot. "He's having a bit too much fun with this, if you ask me," he said of Sideswipe's impromptu rodeo. The shark, noticing the two of them, made another move for Steven. Magnus threw it off the trail with a well-timed punch to the nose.
"It's really after me, isn't it?" Steven observed, eating another slice. "I must be delicious if it's so intent on…" He gasped.
"What? What is it?" asked Magnus.
"It's not after me–or just me," he said. "It must want my pizza!"
"Steven, I don't think the Predacon cares about a–Steven, wait!" Before Magnus could stop him, he ran out back into the fray, flying a very strange flag above his head.
Sideswipe repeatedly drove his swords into the shark, trying to wrest control of its movements. "Thanks for the ride, but this is my stop!" With a hardy yank, he pulled the shark to the side, metal screeching as it grinded against the wall. He removed his swords, delivering one final dual slash and leaping off as the shark crashed to the ground, falling back below. "Man, I'm good."
But the shark wasn't finished yet, turning its attention to Elita. It took a moment to regain its bearings, which she used to get in some free shots. It lunged at her, though aiming at its eyes seemed to cause it to miss. However, it wasn't until it had passed her by that she realized she wasn't its target. "Steven!"
He ran right at it, no fear in his eyes as it charged. "You hungry for some pizza?" he asked. Opening the box, he grabbed the pie by the crust. "Well, this one's on the house!"
Steven hurled what was left of the pizza like a discus, his throw landing on the core. He squeezed his eyes shut as the shark drew closer–but it seemed his hunch was correct, as it changed its course at the last second, passing him by. Its jaws latched around the core in an attempt to devour the pizza: a perfect fit.
The Predacon pulled on the core, either trying to get at the pizza or pull itself free. Its thrusters whined as more and more of the cords snapped. Eventually, the core finally gave, falling down towards the water, dragging the shark with it. There was a massive splash, and then the water was silent.
All four of them looked over the edge, waiting for it to reemerge. Though a minute passed, and then another, with no movement. "So…pizza," said Magnus. "I certainly wouldn't have guessed."
"I'm not reading an active spark anymore," Elita said, examining her display. "Though it could simply be masked by all this dark energon. And speaking of which, now we have no way of knowing if the core really is destroyed or not…"
"So…mission complete? Kinda?" asked Sideswipe. He shrugged. "Eh, good enough for me." He strolled away from the hole, whistling.
Panting, Steven picked up the empty pizza box. "Sorry if I ruined the mission," he said. He paused to yawn. "I just thought if I could have pizza night and a mission together, I could…I dunno, be more of an Autobot."
"Oh, Steven, you didn't ruin the mission," said Elita. "True, we didn't reclaim its spark…but we didn't come here for that! We came here to shut down that dark energon core…which we don't know if we did." She quickly changed the subject. "Everyone ready to head home?"
"Ah, finally! Solid ground!" Sideswipe said as he stepped out of the groundbridge. "Never thought I'd miss it so much!" The others stepped out as well, and while the 'bots looked just fine, Steven seemed exhausted. And no wonder, considering how long they had been out. The sun had long since set, and most of Beach City was already asleep.
"I suppose all we can do now is wait and see what happens," said Ultra Magnus. "If dark energon levels in that area increase, we'll have to go back–presumably with some protective equipment." He noticed Steven wandering up the stairs in a half-asleep daze. "Steven? You weren't exposed, were you?"
He looked up, bags under his eyes. "Huh? Oh, no, I feel fine, just sleepy. Again, sorry if I caused you any trouble, but I think I'd like to go to bed now."
"Of course," Elita said assuringly. "Your first mission always takes a lot out of you–I still remember mine. And you don't have to worry about anything, you did just fine. Goodnight, Steven."
"'Night," he said, crawling to his room. Exhausted, he just left the pizza box on the floor, crawling into bed without even bothering with his pajamas. His first mission had been a fiasco–and yet, he had managed to find the Predacon's weakness, something that made him smile as he quickly drifted off to sleep.
It wasn't the sun that woke Steven the next morning, but a familiar, delicious smell. It was lovely, but it wasn't what he had grown to associate with breakfast. Too meaty to be waffles or pancakes, but too doughy to be sausages. It almost certainly wasn't french toast. Yawning and stretching, he soon realized it was pizza. As soon as he looked up, he saw the smiling faces of all three Autobots ready to greet him.
"Good morning, Steven!" Elita offered her cheerful greeting while holding a place of pizza. The other two both held something similar, and a ding from the microwave told him that there was another waiting for him."Did you sleep well?"
"I sure did!" he said, heading down the stairs. Ultra Magnus gingerly handed him the small (to him) plate, which he took gratefully. "Is…is all of this because we missed pizza night? Aw, you guys didn't have to do that!"
"Sure we did!" said Sideswipe. "I figured if we couldn't have a pizza night, we could at least have a pizza morning! We know how special this is to you."
Steven didn't know what to say. So he didn't, letting his smile say it all.
"And, you could also say this is to celebrate your first mission! A very important milestone!" Elita added. She noticed his expression fell a small bit. "And first missions never go perfectly. Why, on my first mission, I accidentally shot my commanding officer in the back of the head! It was only a training round, but boy was she mad!"
"I got lost 'cause I confused east for west," said Sideswipe.
"I froze up," added Ultra Magnus. "First-mission jitters." It was hard for Steven to imagine any of the Autobots, especially Magnus, freezing up. "The point is, you still have a long way to go…and we'll be here with you every step of your journey. Just like Optimus was for us."
Steven took a bite of the pizza. "Aww, you guys!" A small tear fell from his eye.
"You're that touched, huh, little man?" asked Sideswipe.
"No," he said, "I just burnt my mouth a bit."
All four of them burst out laughing, enjoying their company as much as their breakfast. And that was the true meaning of pizza night: it wasn't the freshness of the pizza, for oven-fresh or microwaved, it all tasted just as good when eaten with family.