TRANSFORMERS ANIMATED

Re:Animated


Rewrite of 'Grey Matter, Silver Lining'.At the same time as Megatron reawakens, a woman falls to earth and Sari manages to convince her father to let her become her nanny. Emma doesn't talk much, and certainly isn't saying she knows them from a cartoon! But when the All-Spark shatters, it makes her question everything . . .


CHAPTER SIX

Darkness Descends


Things seemed to fall into some sort of a routine after that.

Emma and Capi had become permanent fixtures, as Sari put it.

On the other hand, the All-Spark was now safely tucked away in the Autobot's ship at the bottom of Lake Erie.

Bumblebee had discovered that he no longer held the highest score in most of his favourite video games, and was very disgruntled about it; he spent a lot of time trying to regain his title.

The Autobots had finally told Emma the true identity of the scary-looking car that had almost hit her, and somehow, despite the fact that she had already - secretly - known, hearing it from them made the situation all the more unsettling.

And … then there was the way that she had avoided injury.

Only Capi seemed aware of the truth, that Emma had not had a wise old sensei who taught her martial arts since she was a child, nor had she had any sort of training in martial arts at all (unless one counted the four free lessons that she had taken with one of her two best friends, but, Emma certainly did not count those).

The absolute truth was that … she had no idea how she had done what she did.

She'd just … done it.

I'm a Mary-Sue! Emma thought one day, as she sat on a chair made of some old tyres at the base and watched Bumblebee try to at least match her score on the rainbow road level of an intergalactic racing game. Then: No, it all comes down to years of playing video games as a child, and … and, the All-Spark. She decided.

Capi, who Emma had started to suspect could read minds, glanced over at her, but said nothing, as Sari came into the room, and that was when Emma remembered something.

Sitting up, she said: "Sari, did you do your homework?"

Sari blinked. "Y-yeah, of ... course I ... did . . . " She handed a workbook to Emma.

"Very good." Emma praised her, wondering which machine Sari had reprogrammed to do the assignment for her. "I'll mark it for you later on." She added, holding out the workbook towards Capi.

"You got boost power!" Proclaimed the voice on Bumblebee's video game.

As Capi obediently put the workbook into his subspace (Emma would look at it later on), Bulkhead hurried into the TV room.

"Bumblebee!" He said, catching sight of his best friend sitting on the couch. "You haven't seen Prime yet, have you?!" He looked around anxiously.

"Hold on, Bulkhead!" Bumblebee was furiously tapping at the controller. "I'm on the verge of taking back my title!"

"But, Bumblebee — !"

Just then, the intergalactic racing car that Bumblebee was controlling on the screen went flying over the edge of the racetrack, complete with a scream from the driver before the explosion.

Bumblebee stared in shock at the screen.

"Too bad." The voice-over on the game announced. "You lost your machine."

"But, how?" Sari asked in amazement. "That was a straight stretch of track with barriers."

"It also had bumps." Emma pointed out. "There's such a thing as too much speed, kiddo." She shrugged.

"No there isn't!" Bumblebee immediately protested, and then he suddenly seemed to realise what Bulkhead had just said before. "Wait … what was that about the Boss-Bot? Is he looking for us?" He began to look nervous, and rightfully so, as Optimus came into the room with a stern expression on his face.

"Feeling refreshed after a midnight swim?" He asked Bumblebee and Bulkhead, referring to the events of last night that, while they had resulted in the arrest of a thief named Nino Sexton, had brought up a few other issues that needed addressing.

"It wasn't my fault!" Bumblebee was quick to say, even as Bulkhead discretely transformed into his holoform and sat down on the couch, hoping that Optimus wouldn't notice him anymore. "I-I swear!" He looked around quickly, and his optics fell on Capi and the two females. "Tell him!"

"Uh, I wasn't even there." Sari reminded him. "I was doing homework." She added, somewhat grumpily.

"I was there," Capi said thoughtfully. "But, I was watching the . . . " He glanced at Emma. "What did you call those noisy lights in the sky again?"

"Fireworks." She replied. "And, I was busy explaining to Capi that fireworks are so loud because they use gunpowder, and then we looked it up online, so I didn't really notice much of anything else." She admitted.

"Sorry." All three of them said to Bumblebee, who looked dejected.

"This isn't about assigning blame, Bumblebee." Optimus spoke up again. "It's about using your head

instead of your thrusters." He added. "That's what I want you to work on with Prowl and Bulkhead today."

Bulkhead, who had picked up the video game controller and started playing, cringed.

"But I have plans with Bumblebee!" Sari exclaimed. She had just taken a remote control out of her dress pocket, and grinned somewhat slyly as she said: "Remember that prototype I told you my dad was building?" She pressed the button on the remote control, and the nearby roller door went up, to reveal a trolley, upon which sat . . .

"You got boost power!" The video game declared.

"Turbo boosters!" Bumblebee was positively thrilled. "Su-weet!"

"Sari . . . " Emma said blankly. "Whydo they just happen to be Bee's exact colour scheme?"

The other red-head shrugged.

"You're not actually thinking of hooking these things up to yourself, are you?" Optimus asked him.

"Oh, of course not!" Bumblebee looked over his shoulder and grinned. "I was gonna ask the Doc-Bot to do it for me."

Ratchet, who had just come in to the room, was of course not going to go for it.

"These things are untested," he said gruffly. "Incompatible — "

"And totally wicked fast!" Sari interrupted him.

Bumblebee had picked up the turbo boosters, and was now holding them up to his back. "How fast do you think I can go with them — ?" He began, but he was cut off by the sounds of an explosion from the TV screen - Bulkhead's intergalactic race car had just been reduced to rubble .

"Too bad, you lost your machine." The announcer in the game said.

Bulkhead looked at Emma for an explanation, just as Prowl came in.

"Using the boost power whittles down your health power," Emma explained. "If it gets to zero then one tiny little mistake will end it all." She suddenly caught sight of Prowl nearby, but she couldn't read the expression on his face.

She thought that she could guess it, though. Oh, wait … he doesn't like video games, does he? He probably thinks that I'm just like everybody else who 'rushes to see things' and all that . . . She thought, a little bit sadly.

Luckily, she was distracted by a text message on her phone, as Ratchet used his electro-magnetic powers to confiscate the turbo boosters.

"Forget it, kid." He told Bumblebee firmly. "I just got through, pounding dents out of you. I won't let you put in more … or, end up like that." He added, nodding towards the TV screen, where the mangled wreck of a machine was still getting knocked around by the computer-controlled racers as they sped past.

Sari was affronted. "My dad's equipment is perfectly safe!" She crossed her arms. She glanced towards Emma, who was trying to hide a smile. "What?" She asked her suspiciously.

"N-nothing." Emma coughed, trying not to think about the scene in the episode that this real-life event mirrored. "I've just got to … go and pick up a package." She held up her phone, which showed a text message. "Wanna come with?" She asked Sari, who shook her head.

"Nah, I'll stay here and chill." The little girl replied, going over to the couch. "I just hope that you found a dress that's not black." She added over her shoulder.

Emma sighed. "How did I get talked into this event that your dad's hosting?" She wondered, shaking her head.

"How did we all?" Ratchet asked grumpily.

"Well," Capi said tactfully. "At least you're not an introvert, like Em is."

Bumblebee blinked. "Introvert?" He repeated the unfamiliar word.

Sari nodded. "Yeah, it's the opposite of extrovert, like … oh, how do I describe this?" She thought for a moment, and then pointed to Emma and said: "Introvert," she then pointed to herself. "Extrovert." She pointed to Prowl, who froze. "Introvert." She then pointed to Bumblebee. "Extrovert."

"It doesn't matter!" Emma groaned.


Forty-five minutes later, Emma was sitting on a park bench next to Capi, who had the box from Dress For Success tucked away safely in his subspace.

The little cybernetic tapir was watching her eat an ice-cream cone - no ice-cream, just the cone. It had been a favourite food of hers since she was a child, even though she honestly had no idea what it was made of.

"What's it like to eat?" Capi wanted to know.

"Do you mean this specifically?" Emma asked him, pointing to what remained of the ice-cream cone, and he nodded. "Like paper." She said.

"Then, why are you eating it?"

Emma shrugged. Her mind was on other things . . .


Twenty-five years ago...

"Bill, bill, postcard from June," Lee was going through the mail, one rainy evening before her husband got home from work. The kids were doing their homework at the bench, as she multitasked by cooking, watching The Bold And The Beautiful,andsorting through all the mailat the same time. "Bill, catalogue, ad for some karate classes..."

"Ooh!" Emma's head snapped up from those dreaded long division problems. "Karate! Mum, lemme see!" She grabbed the advert from her mother. Her hazel eyes excitedly scanned the paper, which promised to teach self-confidence and discipline, as well as being fun, and a fraction of the cost of most other schools. "This is just like what Clinton does!" Emma said, referring to one of her cousins. "Can I do this Mum, pleeeaaase? I've always wanted to be a ninja and learn to do all that cool stuff you see on TV." Plus, the little girl thought, a little sobered by what she'd just remembered, it will mean that I can teach Winslow a lesson.

Winslow was not the real name of Emma's tormentor, but, it was the name of a male character from Cat Dog and it sounded enough like the last name of the girl who was bullying Emma.

She scares me, and she hits me too, but, if I knew martial arts, then I could stand up for myself! She did a few pretend punches into the air, and pretended that she was hitting her bully back for all the bruises she'd gotten. She wouldn't have to run and hide in the girls bathrooms anymore - no, she could stand up for herselfwithoutgetting hurt!

"No, Emma." Lee said firmly, taking the advert from her youngest daughter and placing it, the catalogue, and the postcard all in the bin.

"Why not?!" Emma exclaimed, stopping mid-punch and staring at her Mother.

"Because all you want to do is be like things you see on TV, and you can't do that sort of thing." Lee replied, adding carrots to the soup pot.

"But," Emma complained. "They would teach me, and I — "

"You heard me," Lee said crossly. "My answer is no. We can't afford it and, besides," she gazed sternly at her daughter. "Your maths grades are slipping, and you need to study more. That's what Mrs. Oliver said." She was worried that Emma would fall behind if she didn't pick up her maths grades. The child was so good at everything else, but maths seemed to be her one area of weakness. Hopefully, when she got to year four, she'd be alright.

"But Mum," the child was not going to give up without a fight! "Maybe if I took these lessons — "

"Then what?" Emma's older sister, Sarah, looked up from her social studies book. "You'd suddenly get smarter, like one of those Ninja Turtles?" She snickered.

"You're not a Ninja Turtle, Emma." Lee rolled her eyes. "So, stop acting like one, and finish your homework." A quick glance showed that only half of the problems were completed, and some of them were wrong.

"But Mum," Emma said, and Lee's patience began to wear thin. "Clinton gets to take lessons, and Krystal's parents let her take drama and T-ball, and Mayling's parents let her take piano lessons, and..."

"Then go and live with them!" Lee cried, finally fed up with Emma's whining. "I said no, and that's final!"

Emma immediately burst into tears. "This is the worst day of my life!" She declared, before running to her room, past her father whom was coming home from a long day of work at the bank.

"What's the matter?" Emma heard her father, Bruce, say.

"Oh, Emma wanted to take some martial arts lessons, and I said no." Lee sighed. "Honestly, what iswrongwith that child? She gets to go to Bali, we give her everything she bloody asks for . . . "

"And, she's still a brat?" Sarah suggested helpfully.

"Sarah, don't help." Lee said sternly. "You're her sister. If you don't want to turn out like Aunty Bev and I, then you need to start being a bit nicer to Emma. She's the only sister you've got." She reminded her eldest. Lee never admitted it, but she was a lot more lenient with her eldest child, and they had a lot more in common - Sarah was starting to get into fashion and make-up and boys (that last part scared Lee a bit, though). Emma, on the other hand, was more like Bruce - she loved all those shark books and Dr. Dreadful kits, and if you asked her where she knew something from, chances are she'd say that she read it in a book.

Sarah said: "Yeah, right. Did you know that she still watches Sailor Moon and ABC? It's no wonder they don't like her at school."

"Sarah, enough." Bruce said and, this time, Sarah shut up.

In her room, Emma buried her face in her pillow and, with one hand, turned up the volume on the CD player she'd just been allowed to have, turning up her favourite AQUA song, which happened to be Turn Back Time. Music always made her feel better...

In the back of her mind, however, she was picturing something, and she wasn't sure if she'd seen it in a dream or not. Ninja robots? Then again, she and her dad had been watching Neon Genesis Evangelion on SBS on Thursday nights, so she supposed it must've been because of that . . .


She finished eating the ice-cream cone, and then stood up, walking a few paces and then stopping.

"What's wrong?" Capi asked her.

She was silent for a moment, before saying: "What would happen if I did tell the Autobots that I've never had any martial arts training?"

"Well, given what happened last week, they probably wouldn't believe you." Capi said reasonably.

"But," Emma went on. "It's not like I've done anything like that since then." She took a few more steps out onto the footpath, and turned back to face Capi, who was just watching her. "I mean, I don't even know if I can — " She broke off abruptly, and looked to her left.

Capi looked that way, too.

Something was hurtling towards Emma, almost too fast for the eye to see - it was just a blur of orange, but instinct told Emma to move.

And, so, she did.

"What was that?!" She gasped a second later, as she straightened up, looking to her right now. Nanosec? It had to be!

"Em!" Capi exclaimed. His optics were shining. "You did it again!"

"Huh?" Emma glanced back at him. "Did what?"

"Something unexplainable!" Capi flew over to her. "I mean, considering the backflip and everything . . . "

Realisation dawned on Emma, and she paled. "Oh no, not again . . . " She gasped. She honestly hadn't even realised what she had done this time!"I mean … okay, at least nobody saw it, though . . . "

There was a low chuckle from nearby, and both she and Capi turned, to see a stranger leaning against a nearby tree. They hadn't noticed him up until that point, and Emma wasn't sure how - this stranger was about a whole foot taller than her, and wore black jeans and black combat boots, and … something about his mottled poncho and especially his wide-brimmed hat made Emma think of the character Stranger from one of the Oddworld games . . .

The brim of the hat was casting a shadow over his face, so she couldn't see it, but she heard it when he said: "I saw it."

"As long as you're not TA-36, it's fine." Emma found herself saying, and the stranger chuckled again.

"I do know that guy, but let's just get straight to the point, shall we . . . ?"


It was about a week since the Autobots had helped to arrest Nino Sexton (or, Nanosec, as he had started calling himself), and now Sari skipped down the hallway of Sumdac Tower.

She was wearing a brand new dress - unable to steer away from her favourite colour, it was of course yellow - and she wore it with a pair of cream-coloured tights and black Mary Jane's. Her hair was tied up in it's usual pigtails, and her key was of course swinging from her neck. She carried a small yellow clutch purse that had nothing in it. It was just for decoration.

She reached the door opposite her nanny's door, and knocked on it.

It opened, and Capi was floating in the doorway to the powder room. He said: "She's not ready, yet."

Sari blanched. "But … this is the fifth time that I've come to check, and my dad's pre-Halloween party is starting soon."

"I know that." Capi bobbed his head up and down, as he turned and headed back towards the door leading to the bathroom. "But, these things apparently take time."

"Uh-huh." Responded Sari, who had gotten ready in exactly seven and a half minutes.


Megatron had patched into many of the electronic devices in Sumdac Tower, but he hadn't expected to get a live feed straight from the hair-dryer in the bathroom.

Thankfully, the organic femme had finished with her wash and was now getting dressed. Megatron was sure that this was the one that Isaac Sumdac had mentioned, his daughter's nanny or something along those lines.

Megatron wasn't certain and he didn't really care, and he was just about to cut the feed, when a voice said: "Em, wait a minute!"

"Capi!" The organic femme's voice was muffled, as she was midway through trying to put on an evening gown, but she still managed to sound vexed.

"Oh, sorry." And, into the frame drifted a blue Cybertronian Tapir, much to Megatron's surprise. "You can still put that on." He used his extremely dexterous trunk to help her pull on the dress. He was now between the organic femme and the hairdryer, as he said: "Don't forget to hide that necklace. You don't want the others to see it."

"Mmhmm . . . " The organic femme's voice agreed.

"I mean . . . " Capi went on, still hovering there, somewhat annoyingly. "They would probably just make the natural assumption that you got it from the same place as your Autobot pendant - which is not a lie - and you've never actually seen the Decepticon symbol since coming to this planet, but then they'd probably want you to not wear it and you're still trying to figure out why the All-Spark did what it did — " He was cut off abruptly when the organic femme reached out, now wearing a pair of long gloves, and placed her hands on the sides of his face.

"Capi," she said, finally moving him, and her hazel eyes shone, as did her voice. "Thank you for helping me feel better about this whole party thing." She switched her voice, into what the organics called 'sinnging' and she was doing it well, even if it was in an entirely different language to what she'd just been talking in. "Arigatoō, kimi ga itekurete hontou yokattayo . . ."

"Em," Capi's blue optics, so much like the Autobots' optics, were also shining. "You should sing more often."

"No," she shook her head. "I shouldn't. What with the unexplained martial arts that even Lockdown can recognise, to the video game thing, I'm becoming a real-life Mary Sue."

"I don't know what that is." Capi said seriously. "But, the video game thing I know is just from years of practice. And, if even that bounty hunter who's teaching you martial arts isn't suspicious, then … maybe it's okay . . . ? I mean, aside from the fact that you and he don't use names, but you know who he is and he might know who you are . . . "

"But, why would he?"

"Why indeed?"


Because … you are her. . .


"I can't believe I let Sari talk me in to this!" Emma whispered to Capi, as she made her way down a hallway of Sumdac Tower.

"Actually," said Capi, who was clinging to her back, his trunk over her left shoulder. "It was Sari's dad who asked you to be here."

"I should've just said no." Emma realised. "How many people did he say was coming?"

"I believe he said most of his employees and their families, so … a lot?" Capi guessed, and Emma groaned.

She really had no idea if she was going the right way, so she decided to bite the bullet and ask for directions - in her own home.

She came around a corner and saw a group of women around her own age, wearing colourful dresses and standing around talking.

Do they work here? And, more importantly … people move past the whole bitchy thing, right? She thought, eyeing the women warily. Right . . . ?

She walked up to the group, and said: "Umm, ex-excuse me, c-could you please tell me wh-where the ballroom is?" Her hand was at her throat again, which had constricted as the women turned to gaze at her.

There were six of them, and so Emma was feeling decidedly outnumbered and also suddenly unattractive.

One was tall and blonde, with big assets and a low-cut red dress.

Another was African American with beautiful features, who was wearing an orange dress that looked great against her dark skin.

There was a brunette with that cool ombré style of hair colouring, who had really pretty green eyes that matched the glittery dress that she was wearing.

Also there was a woman with copper-coloured hair, who was wearing a deep teal-coloured dress and lots of turquoise jewellery.

There was an Asian woman with beautiful exotic features, who would have been around the same height as Emma if not for the four inch silvery stilettos that matched her dress.

And, the closest woman standing to Emma had very long, straight dark brown hair, a beautiful silvery-blue dress, and what could only be described as a condescending voice, as she said: "We don't know."

"Oh, okay, th-thanks anyway." Emma said quickly, and hurried away, stopping around the corner to collect her thoughts, as Capi nuzzled up against her shoulder sympathetically.

She had suddenly realised that, before she'd approached the girls, Capi had somehow turned himself invisible, before reappearing again when they were out of sight. She couldn't be bothered asking him how he'd done that. She just wished she could do it.

"Who on earth was that?" The African American woman in the orange dress wanted to know.

"Who knows?" The blonde with big assets laughed a little. "She looked terrified, though!"

"Be nice, Charlie," the dark-haired girl sounded like she was smirking. "If you looked like that, then you'd be scared too. She's like that chick from high school, remember?"

"Which one, Yacinta?" The brunette with the ombré hair asked.

"The one with no friends."

All of the women laughed.

Are you kidding me?! Emma thought. Speaking of high school, this is just like that all over again ... those women don't even know me!

She glanced at her reflection in the window, however. She was wearing a rose gold prom dress with a high embellished neck line on a flowing skirt. She had semi-transparent elbow-length gloves, and black flats with an ankle strap. She had washed and brushed her hair to within an inch of its life, and let it flow across her shoulders instead of tying it up in its usual convenient braided pigtails. She wasn't wearing makeup - she had no idea really how to put it on, save for a tiny dab of pinkish-red lipstick. The Decepticon necklace with its new red eyes was hidden beneath her dress, but the Autobot one had ended up with the pendant at the back - Capi silently used his trunk to move it back around to the front, where it seemed to shine in the hallway lights.

Emma thought that, compared to those girls, she did look plain, and wished she'd worn some heels, even though she couldn't walk in them.

She sighed. She should just go back up to her room and feign sickness, or something.

She was actually just about to do that, when she sensed a hush from the women around the corner.

She glanced at Capi, who dared to peer out from around the corner.

"It's Optimus, in his holoform!" The cybernetic tapir whispered. "I'm sure of it!"

Emma's heart soared. Finally, another familiar and friendly face … well, not so familiar, since she had never actually seen him in his holoform before, but . . .

As soon as she heard him talking, she knew that it was him.

"Err … would one of you be so kind as to tell me where I might find the ballroom?"

Emma actually smiled, despite herself. Optimus sounded so nervous! Not nearly as nervous Emma had, but still quite awkward. She imagined that he was not at all used to this kind of thing.

"Oh, of course!" Yacinta exclaimed, and both Emma and Capi heard the slight breathlessness in her voice. "You just take the stairs at the end of this corridor — "

"And then go left," Charlie interjected quickly. "And then it's at the end of that hallway, you can't miss those double doors."

"Thank you." Optimus replied politely, as Emma and Capi exchanged a glance.

"We're actually heading up that way," Yacinta said. "We should go together." She suggested.

Emma drew in a sharp intake of breath, and Capi glanced at her but said nothing. He noticed that her hands were now shaking.

"Thank you," Optimus said again. "However, I've actually been tasked with locating one of Professor Sumdac's VIPs for the evening. This might take awhile, so I wouldn't want to keep you ladies from enjoying the party upstairs."

"Okay," Yacinta sounded slightly disappointed, but she then said: "We'll see you there."

Emma heard the sounds of their footsteps leaving towards the stairs, and then she heard another set of footsteps approaching the corner behind which she and Capi were still hidden.

A man with dark brown hair, and a beard and a mustache suddenly appeared. He was wearing dark blue dress pants and a matching jacket over a white shirt and red tie, and black dress shoes.

But, Emma knew who it was, as soon as she saw his bright blue eyes, the silver Autobot symbol in a chain around his neck, and the look of relief on his face when he said, in an equally as relieved voice: "There you are!"

"Y-yup." She stammered quietly.

Optimus hesitated. "What's the matter?" He asked her.

Emma didn't say anything, but Capi did.

"Those other women wouldn't tell her where the ballroom was," the tapir explained simply. "They then proceeded to talk about her behind her back."

"I see." Optimus nodded thoughtfully. "Do you … still want to go up there?" He asked Emma, much to her surprise.

She nodded straight away. "I already told Sari and Isaac that I would, so … I can't let them down."

Optimus held out his arm to her. "Let's go then."


"And," Isaac was saying, as he stood before the many employees and their families who were attending the event. "I would like to thank you all for coming tonight, and hope that everyone enjoys this occasion. I say this not only as the head of this company, but also on behalf of my daughter Sari . . . "

Said daughter waved to her father, from where she was standing with three others who all wore looks varying degrees of wanting to be there.

Somebody (probably Sari) had managed to not only convince the Autobots to go to her dad's pre-Halloween party in their holoforms, but had also managed to get them all to wear suits, and this was a remarkable feat indeed.

Bulkhead wore a pair of deep green dress pants and matching dress jacket, with a light grey shirt, silver tie, and black shoes. He was smiling, although looked slightly bewildered by the amount of people who had actually shown up for this thing.

Bumblebee had on black dress pants, a yellow dress jacket, a grey shirt, a yellow tie, and black dress shoes. He was standing next to Sari, looking quite happy to be there.

Prowl, on the other hand, seemed to be distracted, and kept on glancing around, ignoring the various looks from some of the human females that he was getting.

He wore all black, but his tie was gold, and so was the lining of his jacket, which also had gold pads on the shoulders. His sunglasses were on his forehead but, then again, there were some people who were actually wearing sunglasses, so, it didn't really matter.

"There's Prowl … hey, why does he get to wear black?" Emma whispered, as she caught sight of him.

"Because he wouldn't have come otherwise." Muttered Ratchet, who had met her and Optimus outside the doors to the ballroom, and he actually resembled how Emma remembered his character had looked in the cartoon during Human Error. For the event, he wore light grey dress pants, and a matching dress jacket over a red shirt and a black tie, and black dress shoes. He … had his arms crossed and didn't look happy, but had stopped short of complaining out loud - for now.

Emma, meanwhile, was trying to figure out how to make it over to Sari and the others without drawing any attention to herself, but Isaac evidently had other plans, as he had just mentioned that his thanks was on behalf of Sari, and now: "And . . . " He cast his gaze around the ballroom, and that was when he saw Emma with Optimus and Ratchet. "Ah, there she is," he gestured towards Emma, who froze, as everybody turned to look at her. "And, on behalf of my daughter's nanny, Emma."

Emma's breath hitched in her throat, and she suddenly forgot how to walk.

That is, until Ratchet said: "Keep it moving, kid."

And, Optimus took her by the arm and began to lead her over to Sari and the other Autobots.

"Em, look." Whispered Capi, who was invisible again, but Emma could feel him still clinging to her shoulder. "To your right."

Emma did look, and she saw the six women from before all staring at her in complete disbelief.

She looked away from them, and tried not to think about them for the rest of the evening.


At first, Emma had wondered if she was just going to stand around looking awkward all night, like so many other times before.

Sari and Bumblebee decided to dance when a song that they both liked came on. They looked so cute together, so she watched them for a bit.

Bulkhead went over to the food table. A miracle of their holoforms was that they could eat, but what happened to the food after that was not known any of them - Sari had said that the All-Spark must have made it so that whatever they ate or drank just vanished after being consumed, which would have been impossible normally but, then again, the All-Spark didn't seem to play by the laws of existence. Bulkhead especially seemed to enjoy this part of their newfound power.

Nearby, Ratchet was grumbling about this being a big pain in the rear-fender, and immediately located a chair in which to sit. He sat there grumpily, and was presently joined by a few other old guys. They proceeded to glare at all the dancers. People gave them a wide berth.

Sari, however, when she found that she kept on dropping her clutch purse, quickly raced over to Ratchet at one point and asked him to hold it for her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He replied, taking the clutch purse from Sari, who grinned and ran back over to Bumblebee.

This left Optimus, Emma, and Prowl to awkwardly stand there, until another song came on, which Emma was surprised to hear.

"You And Me, by Lifehouse?" She muttered, watching as the dancers on the dance floor switched to a faster waltz for the song.

She didn't notice Sari and Bumblebee over by the DJ-Bot.

She found herself humming the first few bars, and even sang the line: "This clock never seemed so alive . . . "

It was at this point that she felt Capi move away from her shoulder but, before she could figure out where he was going and why, Optimus turned to her.

"Would you, uh, care to dance?" He asked her.

Emma had to consciously stop herself from responding with 'what?'. She gulped. Her nanna had taught her how to dance before she died, however Emma had never really used it, not even when the school had forced everybody to take (and pay for) dancing lessons, but nobody had danced at the ball that way. Not even during the one and only slow song that they'd played, which was Light Surrounding You by Evermore.

Now, however, it was going to pay off, as she said: "O-okay." And took Optimus' hand, allowing him to lead her onto the dance floor and through the dance.

Prowl (who had felt Capi latched onto his shoulder) watched his leader dance with their newest human friend. Both of them were actually looking at their feet as they danced, and Prowl could see Optimus mouthing the step-beats silently. They danced well, however - Emma was lighter and more graceful on her feet than what Prowl would have expected, and this was probably because she was wearing flats.

Or, maybe not.Prowl thought, as he watched Optimus and Emma perform the stop-spin move that was probably more suited to swing dance but looked good anyway, especially because they had timed it with the second chorus.

Optimus was glad that Sari had made them all download a version of Derrick Curtis and Trudie Olsen-Curtis' dance videos.

Emma was glad that her dress seemed to be doing that cool twirly thing that didn't make this all seem so bad. Oh, and she was thankful to her nanna, too.

I am … actually having fun! She realised, and couldn't help but smile.

Prowl watched Optimus and Emma dance to that song, and then to the next one which was called Shut Up And Dance by WALK THE MOON, and that was when he made his decision.

As the next song started, he walked by a group of women, one of whom said: "What is with the professor's daughter and all this old music?! This isn't the 90s — !" She then faltered abruptly when she caught sight of Prowl, but he ignored her, focusing solely on what he was about to do.

Emma heard Time Of My Life, from Dirty Dancing, start up, and that was when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She turned to see Prowl, standing there, looking calm all of a sudden, which was more than could be said for how she was suddenly feeling.

"May I have this dance?" Prowl asked her.

Emma couldn't speak - there was sawdust in her mouth all of a sudden. So, she just nodded, and allowed Prowl to take her by the hands.

Optimus smiled, and moved away, pausing only briefly - Emma suspected that the invisible Capi might have just latched on to his shoulder.

If possible, Prowl had studied these steps even better than Optimus had, or maybe it was because of his cyber-ninja training and how well he had been taught to move and, perhaps, even sense the movements of others.

As Emma and Prowl danced, the light glittered off the almost identical Autobot symbols around their necks.

What is this weird feeling? Emma found herself thinking. Why on earth is Prowl dancing with me? This can't be ... it would be great if it was ... maybe ... I'll just allow myself to dream ... just for tonight ... that it's something more ... sheesh, I lost the plot of reality quickly, didn't I?

She was silently berating herself for something that she was thinking. After all, every time she liked somebody, it always turned out bad. She'd never had a boyfriend, never had a guy interested in her. That just ... simply didn't happen to people like her.

No, it's surely not that … oh, just let me pretend for a little while, okay . . . ?

Prowl was smiling slightly, and so was Emma, as he had her left hand in his right hand, and they spun away from each other, breaking eye contact for just a moment.

Prowl looked over to see Sari and Bumblebee, still over by the DJ-Bot and probably requesting enough songs between the two of them to last throughout the night.

Sari was grinning, for some reason, and Bumblebee gave Prowl the thumbs up.

Nearly, Optimus was smiling slightly, and even Capi had become visible at that point, although it was hard to tell what the cybernetic tapir was thinking.

Ratchet hadn't moved from his chair, and it was also hard to tell what he was thinking.

"Hey," a man who looked to be in his early twenties sniggered from nearby. "Nice purse there, grandpa!"

Now Prowl could tell almost exactly what Ratchet was thinking, as the medic glared angrily at the stranger … and, then, said stranger, who wasn't looking where he was going, bumped into Bulkhead, who wasn't looking on his way back from the buffet table, and the force sent the stranger flying into a nearby flower display.

"Oh, sorry!" Bulkhead exclaimed, looking around him quickly.

The stranger managed to detach himself from the display. His hair now had bright pink flowers in it. He gritted his teeth, and then just happened to look back over at Ratchet.

"Nice tiara, flower boy." The medic stated, and few people who were around them started laughing.

The stranger with the flowers in his hair glared at Ratchet, and then at Bulkhead, and then at the ruined flower display for good measures, before he turned and stomped away, leaving a trail of flower petals behind him.

On the dance floor, Prowl watched as Emma's smile grew.

She stepped away from him, following the beat of the song, and he looked at her. Her face was flushed. For somebody who didn't really like physical exercise, she had done really well to dance for almost three songs straight.

Their eyes met.

Something indefinite passed between them just then, it sent a jolt that was both electrifying and calming at the same time.

And, then, as the song moved into its second chorus, Prowl suddenly picked Emma up, the same way Johnny does with Baby in Dirty Dancing. This drew some cheering from the crowd who was watching, and some surprise from others.

"Whoa . . . " Sari had wide eyes, as did Bumblebee. "I did not expect that . . . "

"Yeah . . . " Bumblebee nodded. "That … wasn't in that thing you made us download … was it?"

Sari just shrugged, and mumbled: "I dunno."

The song ended, and Emma and Prowl looked at each other. Prowl was smiling, and Emma was breathing heavily, but she was also smiling.

"Who taught you how to dance like that?" Prowl asked her.

"My nanna." Emma replied quietly. "She was a good teacher." She suddenly didn't feel like saying much else on the subject. Her mum's mum had passed away from skin cancer eighteen years ago. Cancer was something that had affected her and her whole family. Not to mention that the movie that the song that they had just danced to was one of her mum's favourites. Sometimes, little things would remind Emma of home, and then she would become almost pensive. She was trying to figure out why this was happening to her.

Prowl nodded knowingly, before he was suddenly swamped by a gaggle of girls, much to Emma's disbelief. The group included some of the girls from before, much to Emma's horror.

But, she was even more horrified, when she herself was approached by multiple people of the opposite gender, and it was more than a little overwhelming for the thirty-four year old who had never had a boyfriend!

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her, as the next song started.

"I am sorry, gentlemen, but this lady is already taken." The voice said smoothly, before pulling her into a waltz that she couldn't refuse . . .


Megatron was watching the entire party through the eyes of the DJ-Bot, and saw all of it. He recognised the Autobots in their holoforms, having heard about it briefly from Isaac before but now he could easily identify the five of his enemies.

He saw as Isaac's daughter all-but commandeered the DJ-Bot, and saw as her nanny was asked to dance first by the Autobot leader in his holoform, and then by the cyber-ninja in his holoform.

He also saw when the smooth-voiced man approached Emma, and took her in his arms to dance. It didn't look like much, but there was a great strength in his grip - he was strong, and he was good at making it look like he wasn't.

"Sari," the yellow Autobot in his holoform whispered to Isaac's daughter, from where they were jealously guarding the DJ-Bot. "What song is this?"

"I dunno, I didn't choose it." Sari responded. "It must've been put on shuffle." She turned to the DJ-Bot. "Hey, what song is this?"

"This is Hannah Fury's song Vampire Waltz." The DJ-Bot replied.

For the first time in a long time, Megatron began to feel a slight sense of … unease.

Surely, this wasn't what he thought it was. But, as he stared at the man who was dancing with Sari's nanny, and took in the man's black suit, shoulder-length black hair … Megatron's unease turned to something that was borderlining on panic.

This could not be happening. There were not supposed to have been any left … but, then again, the fact that there was one dancing here with this femme . . .

Megatron could see that he was speaking to her, and she was speaking back to him, although her skin had turned pale and, Megatron imagined, very cold.

As cold as her dance partner's skin . . .

And, as they passed the DJ-Bot, she suddenly faltered, and her dance partner paused.

She had stopped, because the yellow mech in his holoform suddenly ran off to help one of his friends - an organic man with pink flowers in his hair had told an organic police officer that he had been assaulted, and was blaming somebody who he didn't realise was the big green Autobot in his holoform.

Megatron, however, was much more concerned about the difference in the eyes of the two that he had been watching.

Her eyes were like gold, but the look in them was currently very unnerved.

His eyes were pitch black. The expression in them was impossible to read.

Megatron's circuitry (or, what was left of it) was cold. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be here … he shouldn't even be online! None of them should be!

Megatron had done many bad things since exiling Megazarak and becoming leader of the Decepticons. He had personally taken many Autobots offline, and commanded others to do the same. But, all of that, could never ever amount to the things that had been done by them … any one of them was bad enough, but … this one in particular, was one of the worst . . .

And, he had figured out what Megatron already had.

There was only one thing to do.

Recalling what he had overheard, Megatron swiftly activated his control over the entire Sumdac Tower.

Namely, to the beam of lights that was directly over the DJ-Bot.

The lights on the beam short circuited, and then the beam came loose from the ceiling, and fell.


"EM, THE BEAM!"

It was Capi's shout that alerted everybody - including Emma - to the beam, that took only five seconds to fall straight down towards Emma, the man that she was dancing with, Sari, and the DJ-Bot.

For Isaac, Optimus, Ratchet, Prowl, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee, it was probably the most horrific five seconds of their lives so far, and none of them could move in time.

Emma, however, had wrenched her hands free of her dance partner's, and grabbed Sari hand in the time that it took Capi to call out to her.

She had been learning how to get herself out of tricky situations, and also how to get somebody else out of those situations.

It was just lucky that Sari was so short, because it made it easy for Emma to jump out of the way with her and, as the beam hit the floor and took out the poor DJ-Bot (not to mention Megatron's viewing-access to the situation), the two girls landed safely several feet away.

The DJ-Bot tried to move feebly from beneath the ten tonne beam. Everybody heard a few bars of Murder On The Dance Floor by Sophie Ellis Bextor, before the DJ-Bot exploded in a small shower of sparks.

There was a moment of complete and total silence, before absolute chaos ensued.

As Isaac tried to make his way through the crowd to get to his daughter, Sari turned to her nanny, who suddenly knelt down before her.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked, looking very seriously at Sari.

Sari nodded, suddenly feeling slightly numb. "Y-yeah, but … how did you do that? I mean . . . ?" She was vaguely aware of the Autobots, still in their holoforms, making their way over to them.

"I've been learning self defence." Emma replied honestly, and watched as Sari's eyes widened. "So that I can protect myself and, more importantly, you . . . "

"Oh, did Dad tell you about the kidnapping attempts?"

"What?!" Emma cried. "No!"

Just then, Isaac reached them and grabbed Sari, hugging her so tightly that she cried: "Dad! I'm fine! Really! Thanks to Emma!" She added, just as the Autobots reached them.

"Yes," Optimus agreed, reaching down a hand to help Emma stand up. "It's a good thing you were there, Emma." He suddenly noticed how cold her hand felt through her glove. "Are you alright?" He asked her.

She nodded, as Capi gazed at her from Optimus's shoulder.

"Em," the tapir said quietly. "Where's that guy you were dancing with?"

Emma's face was pale, but she managed to murmur: "I-I saw him get out of the way. Don't worry." She added, as Capi flew onto her shoulder.

"I worry." He told her.

"I'm just tired." She tried to reassure him, as she watched Sari try to reiterate to her dad that she really was fine, and noticed that Captain Fanzone was busy getting the scene back under control.

She also noticed that Prowl was watching her but, then again, so were the other Autobots.

It would be awhile before she revealed to them the truth behind her self-defence lessons, including the fact that she knew that her teacher was the Decepticon bounty hunter who had caused them so many different problems.

And, it would also be a long time before she revealed what had transpired between her and that black-eyes stranger that she had danced with.

There was no way for Emma to realise yet what Megatron already knew - how all of these things were interconnected.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

The intergalactic racing game is F-Zero X, which you can play on the Nintendo 64 or on Nintendo Switch Online); the unicycle racing game mentioned in the previous chapter is Unirally / Uniracers (the creators went on to make Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt), which you can play on the Super Nintendo … if you can find it . . .

The song that Emma sings to Capi is the start of Best Friend, by Kana Nishino. It translates to: 'thank you, I'm really glad that you're there for me'.