Chapter Five: Life and Lasers

It had become something of a ritual for Steven: every so often, once the sun was setting, and all the small family businesses were shutting down for the day, he would make his way over to Fryman's for some fries. But not just any fries: the fry bits. The little, crispy, crunchy fries that had been left in the fryer all day. Seeing as they would usually be thrown away, Mr. Fryman was kind enough to let Steven have them free of charge.

Sometimes Sideswipe would drive him if he was in the mood for some human food, but today it was just him. Soon enough, he saw the familiar sight of the giant holographic Frybo waving to passers-by from above the restaurant. But something was different today. The hologram was completely still, and the sounds of heavy machinery could be heard from a block away. Intrigued, Steven hurried his pace–he had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn't be getting his bits tonight.

It wasn't long before the construction vehicles came into view. Fryman's looked to be under construction, and Steven's intrigue turned to concern. Had something happened? He jogged up to see Peedee Fryman talking to the foreman.

"...and we'll need to reroute enough power to light up the neon sign at night," said the young boy, pointing at a blueprint. "To compensate, we'll need to put more outlets here, here, and here. That should–oh, Steven!" He waved, letting the construction worker go about his business. "Good to see you. I'd love to offer you some bits, but now's not exactly a good time."

"What happened here?" asked Steven, worriedly looking over the restaurant. "Did a meteor crash into this place?"

"No, nothing like that," Peedee chuckled. "We're just doing some renovation. Making Fryman's better than ever! Hopefully we'll be done by tomorrow, we can get you some fries then."

Steven's disappointment at not getting the bits lasted only a second. "Well, it's looking pretty good already!" A crane was hoisting a neon sign bearing the restaurant's name into place. "So, uh, where's Mr. Fryman? Or Ronaldo?"

"Doing some shopping," Peedee said, either not knowing or not being interested in the specifics. "Dad put me in charge here. He figured I'd be able to handle it better than either of them could."

Even though he was even younger than Steven himself, Peedee was one of the most responsible people in Beach City, even more than some adults. But now that he thought about it, Steven had only seen him in the context of work–he couldn't remember a time he had seen him at the park, or the bowling alley, or just enjoying life. "So, you really like this kind of thing, huh? Business stuff, I mean. You're definitely good at it."

Peedee seemed confused. "Why wouldn't I like it? I'm going to be the owner of this entire franchise some day, so I need to be prepared. Handling renovations is just practice for when I eventually make Fryman's into a cross-country franchise. How does that saying go? When you love your work, you'll never do…ah, you know what I mean."

"I think I do," replied Steven. "But are you sure that's good for you? It's not stressful, being involved with work all the time, is it?"

"No, of course, it's fine," Peedee assured him. "The only thing I have to be stressed about is if something goes wrong. And seeing as this engagement is under my supervision, anything that should happen to go wrong should be able to be resolved in the blink of an–"

The echoing sound of a metallic twang echoed through the street as a cable snapped. The neon sign tilted to the side, the crane losing its hold on it. "Look out!" called the driver, unable to move the heavy sign out of the way in time. More cables snapped, one after the other, until it fell from its place towards the two boys.

Peedee instantly curled up into a protective position, while Steven stared up at the 'Fryman's' hurtling towards him, which could be the last thing either of them would see. His body reacted for him: both of his arms shot out towards the falling sign, and a warm glow lit up the shadow beneath it.

The sign exploded, the force of the impact splitting it in two pieces, which were propelled to either side of the pair. Many construction workers hurried over to secure the area and handle any injuries, but there were none. Peedee looked around, amazed. "I-I'm alive," he said quietly. He looked over at Steven, who was still in shock. His arms were still facing upwards, but rather than hands at the end, they were now tipped with metallic blasters that extended from his skin. Glowing blue lines of energon ran through his arms, where metal and flesh melded together, indistinguishable. "You saved my life…"

"Huh. I did, didn't I?" Steven began examining the blasters his arms had turned into. He wasn't even entirely sure how he had made them appear. One moment, he could tell that Peedee was in danger, and the next–Boom! He shook his arms to try and make his hands reappear, but for now, they seemed to be locked in place. "You okay?"

Peedee checked himself over for bruises or scrapes, but he was completely unscathed. "I'm fine, thanks to you." He seemed to be partly in shock as well. "I really could've died just then. But because of you, I-I'm just fine. Thank you, Steven."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Don't mention it! Saving people's just what we Autobots do! So, um…" He wasn't quite sure what to do with his hands, now that they had been replaced with plasma-slinging guns. "If everything's fine here, I think I'm gonna head home. Let me know if you wanna hang out sometime!" Steven headed back home, leaving Peedee to wonder about…well, a whole lot of things.

The construction workers were apologizing profusely, and promising to make sure nothing like this happened again as they cleaned up the mess, but Peedee didn't mind. It wasn't the near-cause of his death that bothered him, but rather that it had happened at all. Outwardly, he brushed off the workers' concerns, directing them on how to continue the project, but inwardly, he couldn't get Steven's words out of his head: did he really like this kind of thing?

After two full minutes of examining Steven's newfound gun-arms, Sideswipe finally reached a conclusion. "Yup, there's no doubt about it: those are blasters, alright."

"It took you two minutes to figure that out?" asked Greg. "I know next to nothing about Transformers, and I could've told you that!"

"Yeah, but I noticed it first!" Sideways said, which wasn't technically untrue. But that was only because he saw Steven approaching Greg's workshop before Greg himself. "So, you shoot anybo–er, anything yet?"

"Just a sign," Steven replied. "It almost landed on me and Peedee, so these things just sort of…came out. They're pretty cool, but I can't figure out how to make them retract."

Sideswipe may have been concerned for Steven's wellbeing, but Sideswipe was still Sideswipe. The moment his concerns were assuaged, he began looking at the scenario from another angle. "Welp, you've got 'em, so you might as well use 'em, right? C'mon, give those puppies a go!"

"You mean…shoot something?" asked Steven. "Like what?"

"Like anything!" he said, gesturing wildly to their surroundings. "It's just us out here, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

"My expensive equipment could get damaged!" Greg cried. "Listen, Steven…as much as I dislike the idea of you playing around with guns, they are a part of your Cybertronian heritage. Not to mention part of your body. All I ask is that you do so in a safe, controlled environment."

"Like out here on the beach!" Sideswipe reiterated.

Steven nodded. "Don't worry, Dad. I like to think that I'm a pretty safe guy! C'mon Sideswipe, let's go blow something up!" The boy hurried down to the sand, with the robot eagerly following after him.

Greg watched, nervously wondering if this decision was going to come back to bite him. "Ooh…I'm a good dad, right? He knows what he's doing. This'll all be fine, Sideswipe's there to…Oh. Sideswipe's there…" Trepidation filled Greg as he went back to his business, stuck between trusting Steven's independence, and not trusting Sideswipe's.

"Alright, you ready?" Sideswipe had accumulated a pile of old tires next to him, one of which he was preparing to throw.

"Ready!" Steven aimed his blasters out to sea, pumped up at the opportunity to master a new Transformer ability. "Pull!"

Sideswipe spun around in place before hurling the tire like a discus. Tongue out in concentration, Steven lined up the shot, and with only a vague idea of how they worked, took the shot. Twin streams of plasma streaked through the air before colliding with their target–a direct hit! Both of them began cheering as the flaming husk of the tire sank into the ocean, the former out of how cool it looked, the latter out of joy at being able to control these new weapons.

"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen, not counting the stuff I did!" Sideswipe yelled. "Did you see that!?"

"See it? I did it!" Steven said, equally excited. "Throw another one, throw another one!"

He did, and just like before, it was a bullseye. More whoops and hollers as it too fell into the water. "Are you kidding me!? You're an instant marksman!" exclaimed Sideswipe.

Steven chalked it up to computers or something he had inherited from Optimus. "Ah, it's just tires!" he said. "I don't know if they'd be so effective against a Predacon…"

The Autobot shrugged. "Nah, don't be so modest! If you've got it, flaunt it, that's what I always say! Now, let's see if you can hit two at once!"

As the two of them shot tires, someone approached from the city. Ever since his near-death experience, Peedee couldn't get Steven's words out of his head. For as long as he could remember, business had been his number-one priority. And yet, here was Steven, getting so much joy out of something as silly as shooting tires. If anyone could teach him what he was doing wrong, it was him.

The large robot fell to the ground while clapping after Steven had shot two of the tires out of the air at once. He took this moment to approach: "Uh, Steven?" he asked, gaining his attention.

"Hmm? Oh, Peedee, hey!" said Steven. "How are those renovations coming along?"

"Fine, fine," he said. "Look, Steven…you're not too busy, are you?"

Steven glanced at the pile of tires, then at Sideswipe. "Not busy busy. Why? Is there something you need?"

He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Actually, yeah, there is something. So…remember earlier when you saved my life? Thanks again for that, by the way. But, coming that close to getting squashed by a sign made me realize something. Life's too short to be worrying about business all the time, and I'm too young to dedicate my life to something like that. But when I see how happy and carefree you are, I think… Do you think you could show me how to have fun? To enjoy my life?"

This wasn't a query Steven would have expected. He took a moment to process it, but Sideswipe had a response instantly. "You kiddin'? If anyone in this town knows how to have a good time, it's this kid! Remember that time we groundbridged to the Gobi Desert to go sand-sledding?"

"Oh yeah!" Steven said, chuckling at the memory. "Yeah, Magnus was not happy with us. Sorry, off topic–Sure, I could show you how! It's pretty easy, though, so there might not be much to show. You just find something you enjoy, and then…do it."

"That's kind of the problem," Peedee said. "Work was something I really enjoyed doing, but I'm trying to find something to get my mind off work. Something more relax-y, like most normal people do."

"I have a few suggestions!" said Steven. "Swiper, you're fine with me heading off, right?"

"Sure! I'll just hang out here!" He picked up one of the tires, hurling it out to sea. Whirling around, he landed a direct shot with his blasters, before blowing off the steam. "Good luck having fun!"

"Isn't that supposed to be really bad for the environment?" Peedee asked Steven.

"It's fine," he said quickly. Steven led Peedee back into the city to begin his lessons. "Now, what better place to learn how to have fun than at Funland!" Peedee was eager, but couldn't help but stare at Steven's gun-hands. Their maintained presence wasn't exactly putting him in the mindset of 'having fun.'

All the colors, lights, music, and people screaming was a bit much at first. "And this is fun?" asked Peedee, even more skeptical than before.

"Have you really never been to Funland before?" asked Steven, genuinely in disbelief. "No wonder you don't know how to have fun! C'mon, the roller coaster has to be the first thing you try!" He grabbed his friend's hand, or tried to, having no fingers with which to grab. Peedee did the actual grabbing, holding on to Steven's blaster as he pulled him towards the intimidatingly tall ride.

Peedee stared up at the various loops and drops that hung above them. "Are you sure this is up to code?" he asked. "This seems like the kind of thing that people could get injured on…"

Steven shrugged. "Only sometimes. But, as long as we don't crash, I'm sure we'll be fine!" This didn't exactly reassure Peedee. He debated telling Steven he needed to use the bathroom, then ditching him. But given that Steven was the expert here, he decided to let him lead the way.

In no time, the line had diminished, and it was their turn to ride. Steven eagerly stepped into the car, and Peedee nervously sat down next to him. "Wh–Where are the seatbelts? This can't be safe!"

"Don't worry, I go on this ride all the time!" Steven assured him. "There's this bar thingy that keeps you in place!" Said bar thingy came down over them, and Peedee immediately latched on. Steven tried to grab it as well, only to encounter a problem. No hands, as it turned out, equaled no holding things. "Uh, that's probably fine, right?" He wrapped his arms around the bar, hoping that would be enough.

The car then started to move, machinery clacking as they were pulled up to the first drop. Peedee was sweating, and although he usually had fun on this ride, Steven was a bit nervous himself. If he suddenly flew off and crashed straight through the boardwalk, that would put a sizable damper on his mission to get Peedee to lighten up. For a moment, they hung there at the summit, staring down at the incoming drop, before rocketing down the track. Turbulence kicked in, pinning both of them to the back of their seat.

Though initially screaming, Peedee soon grew used to the twists and turns. Even the loops didn't bother him as much as he thought they would. That isn't to say he enjoyed it, though. "This isn't exactly what I'd call fun!" he said over the rushing wind. "...Steven?"

Steven wasn't fearful either, nor was he having fun. In fact, his face was mostly blank, staring ahead as he hung on. And was it a trick of the light, or were his eyes glowing red? Peedee chalked it up to the former.

Before long, their ride came to an end, and the car was back where it started. The bar raised up, carrying Steven with it, as he was still holding on tight. Peedee shuddered as he stepped out onto solid ground. "That was unpleasant," he said. "Not as scary as I thought, but I'd rather not do it again. …Are you okay?"

After a moment, Steven dropped back down into his seat. "So, was that fun or what?" he asked. He blinked, seeming to realize he had just come to his senses. "Uh-oh. I didn't pass out again, did I?"

"I don't…think so, but you did seem pretty out of it. Are you feeling alright? Maybe we should get you some water." Peedee leaned in to inspect him for signs of injury.

"No, I feel fine," said Steven, stepping out of the coaster. "Besides, I promised I'd show you how to have fun, and I intend to keep that promise! We just have to find a ride that's more your speed. This way!" He hurried off to the next ride, a hapless Peedee following close behind.

He led them to a tent, where people threw baseballs at empty bottles. "Uh, Steven, you realize games like this are rigged, right?" Peedee said. "They're designed to make you waste all your money trying to get a prize they've made it impossible to get."

He laughed incredulously. "Whaaaaat? No way, I've won this exact game plenty of times! One time, I threw the ball so hard it tore through the other side of the tent! The guy gave me a prize just so I'd stop 'wrecking his livelihood.' Anyway, let's give it a shot!" He slapped some money down on the counter. "Three balls each, my good man!"

"Oh, the Universe kid," the man said under his breath, before reverting back to his cheery carny persona. "Well then, give it your best shot! Knock every bottle down, win a prize! Just…try not to throw it so hard this time, 'kay?"

Peedee went first, feeling the weight and heft of the baseball in his hand. He lined up his shot before letting it fly…and it didn't even reach the bottles. He tutted in disappointment, but Steven wasn't faring any better. He found it nearly impossible to pick up the ball with guns for hands. A half-hearted lob didn't even get as far as his friend's had. "Did…did that even count?" he asked.

"The ball left your hand, didn't it?" said the carny. "Yeah, I'd say it counted."

Peedee's next throw went significantly better. With more of a windup, he was able to wing one of the bottles, which was just barely enough to make it topple over. The one atop it fell as well, leaving only one on the table. "Hey, look at that!" he said, pleasantly surprised. In trying to emulate this tactic, Steven ended up accidentally letting the ball fly over his shoulder and down the boardwalk. The carny wasn't exactly happy.

On the third throw, Peedee managed to hit the final bottle. It wobbled at first, then tilted, and finally fell over. "Aaaaand that's a win!" the carny said. "I believe this is for you!" He handed Peedee a plush of what looked to be a crying tub of yogurt. He looked at the thing in confusion, but took it regardless.

"I've got an idea!" said Steven, looking down at the blasters. He managed to cram the last ball into the barrel of one of them, before taking aim at the bottles. Perhaps wisely, the man ducked down. He fired–rather than being launched at its target like a cannonball, the laser tore through the ball, rendering it a useless, scorched pile of leather. The bottles fell from the blast, but each of them ended up shattered on the floor. "Did that count…?"

The carny shot Steven a dirty look. "The goal is to knock the bottles over with the balls, not to destroy my place of business." He figured that was a 'no.'

Steven shrugged. "Oh well, you can't win them all! But you did! Congrats, Peedee! …What's up?" Peedee had been giving him a strange look again.

"No, it's nothing," he said. "Probably just a trick of the light." Again, he had noticed Steven's eyes glowing red. "I'm not…exactly thrilled with the rewards here. You want it?"

Although the Crying Breakfast Friend was tempting, he declined. "No, you won that fair and square. So, what do you think? Pretty fun, huh?"

Peedee looked back at the stand, where the man was busy sweeping up. "It wasn't unpleasant, but…maybe we could try something a bit more, I dunno, casual? Just something relaxed and laid-back, where there aren't any stakes."

"I know just the place!" said Steven, once again hurrying off. "If you want fun, there's no better place for it than the funhouse at Funland!"

'Funhouse' was what the building was labeled, but it wasn't entirely accurate. Not that what went on inside wasn't enjoyable, but it was more specifically a house of mirrors. The two of them headed through the curtains into the tent, and were met with various distorted versions of themselves. Slightly comical, but not outright funny enough to make Peedee crack a smile. Steven, on the other hand, was really enjoying himself.

"Check it out! I look like a cartoon character!" he said, posing in front of one of the mirrors. This, on the other hand, did make Peedee smile. The funhouse wasn't as fun to him as its name suggested, but seeing Steven have a good time could improve anyone's mood.

As they continued through the house, it went on much like this, with Steven having most of the fun. And although he enjoyed seeing Steven enjoying himself, the attraction wasn't really his style. Nothing in this park had been his style, as a matter of fact. As much as he was grateful for Steven's efforts, he was still in the same boat he had been at the beginning.

Peedee had seen his reflection be stretched, squashed, and twisted all throughout the house, but one of the mirrors caught his attention. He looked up at himself, nearly twice his height. Was that what he'd be like as an adult? Just his kid self, but bigger? And what would that mean, if he'd never had a childhood? Maybe he was better off sticking to what he knew.

"Hey, Steven?" he said. "Thanks for doing all of this, but…I don't think having fun is for me. I'm just not as happy-go-lucky as you are, so trying to have fun in the same way just isn't going to work. Sorry to drag you out here for nothing…"

"It wasn't for nothing," said Steven. "I got to spend the whole day at the amusement park with my friend, right? I'd say that's a day well spent! Besides, Funland's just one of many places to have fun in Beach City. We could try somewhere else if you want!"

He sighed. "Thanks, but it's probably a lost cause. Maybe some of us just weren't meant to have fun. Some people are probably only good for business, and nothing else." He stared gloomily at his reflection.

"Well, do you enjoy it?"

Peedee looked up. "Huh?"

"Your job," said Steven. "Working at Fryman's with your family. I mean, your dad putting you in charge of renovating the whole place? Most grown-ups wouldn't have that sort of responsibility! If he trusts you with that, you must be good at what you do. And since you're good at it, that must mean you like it, right?"

"That isn't necessarily the case," Peedee said. "It's just that I've been doing it for so long. Restocking the ketchup, buying potatoes, cooking the fries…seeing the satisfied look on a customer's face…" He couldn't help but smile. "You know what? I think you're right. I think I really do enjoy my job."

"So that's how you have fun!" Steven exclaimed. "We've been going about this all wrong! I thought you needed to lighten up a bit, but you were already as light as you needed to be!"

Peedee chuckled a bit, partially at this revelation, partially at his tall reflection. "Wow. Who would've thought? Thanks so much, Steven."

He shrugged. "Ah, no thanks needed! This was all you! Now, how about we get out of here, and go get something to–" He bumped into a mirror. Glancing over revealed a grotesquely distorted image of his face, right up against the real thing. "Gah!" he cried out in alarm.

"You alright?" asked Peedee, strolling over. But he just stood there, completely still. Still to an eerie degree, that no normal human could attain. "Steven?" He reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, which is when it happened.

The mirror shattered, accompanied by another sound. Peedee leapt back, startled, but Steven continued to stand still. It wasn't until he turned around that Peedee had some inkling of what was going on: his red eyes had returned. Steven just continued to stare at him, emotionless, seeming to consider the boy.

And then, he raised his blaster.

"Wh… Steven, what are you doing?" Peedee asked. "What happened to you? Did you cut yourself on the glass or something?" He took a step forward, and was only barely able to get out of the way of another blast. It whizzed past him, shattering the mirror behind him. What was going on was beyond him, but he knew his friend was no longer in control. He took off running back the way he came, with Steven strolling after.

Peedee passed by dozens of copies of himself as he ran from the berserk Steven, who continued firing at him. More shattered glass fell to the floor as the mirrors were broken, littering the floor with sparkling shards. Steven just pressed on, blasters extended, ignoring the pieces underfoot as he chased after his target. Why exactly Steven was after him specifically, Peedee didn't know. It was probably some Transformer thing he knew nothing about. But whatever it was, he had to get help, and fast–not just him, but everyone in the park was in danger.

Sideswipe and Elita arrived just in time to see the throngs of people fleeing from the park. Greg hopped out of the former as both transformed. "Steven's in there!" he cried. "I knew I shouldn't have let him go off alone!"

"This wasn't your fault, Greg," Elita assured, casting a sideways glance at Sideswipe. The three of them headed into the park to find more panicking people fleeing, as well as one of the workers waiting there for them.

"You got here just in time!" he said, relieved to see the pair. "I don't know what, but something is tearing up the house of mirrors! I think just about everyone got out, but it's still firin' all willy-nilly!"

Elita energized her blaster. "Think this could be a Predacon?" she asked.

"...Maybe," said Sideswipe, a bit bashful. "So, depending on how things are in there, there's a slight possibility that Steven's not the one in danger…"

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" Elita got her answer as Peedee suddenly came tearing out of the tent, nearly stumbling over himself as he raced for cover. Some of the lasers came after him, having apparently targeted him for some reason. The source of these blasts slowly walked into the light, arms raised, eyes glowing red. "Wh…? Steven?"

The look on Steven's face was completely impassive: he didn't recognize any of them, nor did he seem the least bit perturbed by his actions. He simply aimed at Elita, and opened fire. Steven shooting at her was the last thing she expected, as she didn't move out of the way until she had been shot a few times. She pulled Greg and Sideswipe behind a nearby building for shelter. "T-that was Steven!" said Greg, almost in shock. "Why was he shooting at us!?"

"Sideswipe?" she asked, "what's going on?" It was clear from her tone that she knew this was somehow his fault.

"I didn't do it!" he protested. "Uh, I mean, Steven must've inherited Prime's blasters, 'cause he saved that kid earlier or something. Me and him were out shootin' tires, and he wanted his help, and–"

"And you let him go!?" said Elita. "You know his abilities are starting to manifest! With how volatile and unpredictable abilities can be in newly-emergent sparks…" She groaned. "Nevermind! We'll need to find some way to snap him out of it!"

"He said he could take care of himself…" Sideswipe said sheepishly.

Greg was completely lost. "So, what exactly is going on? Is he in some sort of trance?" he asked. Part of him was worried that Steven had been possessed by some sort of Transformer ghost, back to wreak havoc on the living.

"His targeting systems are being overloaded," Elita explained, peering out to keep tabs on Steven. "I've seen this before in young Cybertronians. When they first activate their weapons, there's too much sensory input, causing them to think everything is a target. If we calm him down, this shouldn't persist."

Meanwhile, Peedee was hidden behind a booth, trying to stay silent as he heard the hum of Steven's weapons moving around him. He considered making a run for it, hoping that he wouldn't give himself away. He crept over the counter when he felt Steven was far enough away and bolted. Apparently Steven's hearing was better than he thought, as a stream of plasma shot by him, narrowly missing his leg and burning a hole in the boardwalk.

He took cover behind another stall. "Whatever I said or did, I'm sorry!" he shouted. "I don't know if you're mad at me, or if something here reminded you of something bad, but I regret it if it's my fault!" He then found himself being picked up by Elita, and carried away to safety.

She set him down next to Greg. "Make sure he gets out of here!" she said, hurrying over to Steven. Sideswipe had managed to sneak up behind him and grab hold, but the kid was stronger than he looked.

"Hey, you're fine, it's just me!" Sideswipe tried to sound soothing, which was difficult when you were holding a child with laser guns for hands who wanted everything around him dead. Steven nearly yanked himself free several times, shooting all the while. "Elita, help! He's a slippery little guy!"

Greg looked on worriedly. "You're fine, right? You can make it to safety on your own?" he asked Peedee, who nodded. "Good. Because I need to rescue my kid!" He took off towards him, though a few near misses had him decide to take a more roundabout approach.

Sideswipe finally lost his grip, leaving Steven free to pepper the two of them with beams. "Ow! Ow! Ow-ow-ow!" he said, trying to cover himself. "He doesn't come up to my knee, how does he pack such a punch!?"

"Just take a breath, Steven!" Elita reached out to him, wincing as her hand was riddled with plasma. "We're here to help you, so just put the guns away, okay?"

Watching all of this go down, Peedee felt guilty just running away. "I can't leave now–this may or may not be my fault, at least partially! Steven helped me, and a Fryman always repays his debts!" Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the open, facing his friend. "Steven!"

At this, Steven stopped firing. He slowly turned to the source of the shout, much to Sideswipe and Elita's concern. He didn't raise his blasters at first, simply observing the other boy. Only after this brief moment of stillness did Peedee begin his speech.

"When I came to you earlier, I asked for your help. You had something I never did, and I wanted to know how you lived your life so carefree. And without a word of protest, you helped me. You went along to try and show me how to enjoy life, taking time out of your day to bring me here, all because I asked. And the entire reason I asked was because I didn't want to live a life filled with regret. But you know what? Thanks to you, I realized that I enjoy my life! You showed me that I can find fulfillment in what I already have! Whatever's going on with you, that's not the real you! You showed me the way…now, at the risk of being blasted a bunch of times, let me show you the way."

Peedee approached Steven, a smile on his face, arms out for a hug. "Kid, don't!" shouted Sideswipe, but he wouldn't be deterred now. Steven remained stone-faced, trying to process what was happening. He then raised both his arms, aiming his blasters at Peedee. Undeterred, Peedee simply shut his eyes, bracing for a lot of stinging as he walked forward. He would hug his friend even if it killed him.

"Steven!" Before anyone could make the next move, Greg swooped in, hugging Steven so forcefully he might have tackled him. "Steven, it's okay! It's just me, your dad. Nothing's here that's gonna hurt you… It's just us, and Peedee, and Sideswipe and Elita… You're safe. You're safe."

Once again confused, Steven didn't struggle. Even when he regained his composure, he didn't. Greg hugged him tight, and he simply felt his father's warmth. After a few tense seconds, his face changed. His blank expression softened, as calm finally washed over him. The glowing of his blasters subsided as his hands shifted back into place. His red eyes turned back to normal, before he returned his dad's embrace.

"Are you back?" Greg asked, after a few moments of sharing the hug.

Looking at his hands, Steven saw that there were no signs they were mechanical underneath. "Yeah," he said, relieved. "Yeah, I'm back."

Peedee walked up, having breathed a sigh of relief. "That's enough near-death experiences for one lifetime! Did…did it help? My speech, I mean."

"Kinda," Steven said. "That whole thing was like a dream–I could sorta tell what was going on, but it felt so surreal and…distant. Like I was watching a movie while half-asleep."

"That's more or less how I've heard it described." Elita and Sideswipe sat down beside them, riddled with scorch marks. "Even the smallest Autobots can be dangerous when they lose control. We're lucky nobody was hurt."

"Unless you count us," said Sideswipe, gesturing down to his pockmarked chassis. "I'll have to buff this out when we get home!"

"Which you can–after you clean up all those tires you left in the water!" said Elita. Sideswipe averted his eyes.

Steven stood up. "Sorry your trip to Funland wasn't exactly fun," he said.

"Are you kidding?" said Peedee. "Aside from you going berserk and trying to kill everyone, I had fun today. Sure, the attractions were underwhelming, but I got to hang out with my best friend. Next to working, there's nothing I'd rather do more."

Smiling, Steven gave Peedee a hug. "Then I'm glad I could help!"

"There is one thing, though," Peedee said. "Please don't mention any of this to my dad."

He chuckled first, followed by Steven, and soon, everyone was laughing.

Peedee then got serious. "No, I mean, actually don't tell him. He'll freak out if he hears I almost died."

AN: As for how Steven "works" in this, I imagine he's somewhat techno-organic, like Sari. Not a cyborg, but both fully organic yet also fully mechanical.