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 SEVEN

Shadows Of The Past


Sari glared at Emma, and Emma glared right back at her.

"Sari," Emma began, wondering how to phrase this without sounding like her mother. "School - or, in your case, homework and home-schooling - is not an option. You must do your homework, okay?" She was feeling uncomfortable by the situation - she didn't like confrontations.

Sari, however, was getting geared up for an argument. "I did the assignment!"

Emma crossed her arms. "Sari, taking a photo of Optimus when he's seen a spider and freaked out is not doing your assignment! I told - asked - you to write a report on a dangerous creature, not hang out with the Autobots all day and then take a photo at the very last second!" Is this how my mother felt when I would surf the internet for anime instead of studying? No wonder she never let me use a computer until I was in my twenties . . .

"But," Sari protested. "I was using ... visual aids!"

"Which is very creative," Emma said patiently, feeling that it was important to validate Sari's reasoning. "But, not what the assignment asked of you. You're not incapable, Sari, you just need to focus." She sighed. I don't sound very much like my mother - she would have asked me if I was a slow-learner, and couldn't grasp the simple concepts . . .

"You sound like Prowl." Sari pouted, and Emma blinked. "I'll do the assignment, but not today or tomorrow - it's Halloween tomorrow, remember?" She reminded Emma.

Emma remembered. It was her first real Halloween, and she even had a costume. It had taken her awhile to come up with one, but she was happy with the outcome (she hadn't sewn it herself, of course, since her skills with a sewing machine were not at all like her best friend back home - Krystal, who was a professional seamstress, would have been impressed by the costume Emma had thrown together from bargain bins across town).

However, Sari was missing the point of this conversation, but before Emma could continue it, Isaac walked in, to see his daughter and her nanny, both of them with their hands on their hips now, glaring at each other, and looking more like sisters than anything.

"Uh ... what is going on here?" Isaac asked timidly.

Emma was picking at her thumbnail, and didn't seem to know how to respond.

Capi, however, spoke up from where he was lying on a pillow on the bed.

"Sari and Em were talking about Sari's homework."

Sari glared at him.

Isaac looked at Emma. "Did Sari do her homework?"

Emma was looking down, feeling like she was the one in trouble. She shook her head.

Isaac sighed. "Sari, how many times have I told you, you must keep up with your studies if you want to continue to hang out with your Autobot friends."

"But Dad — " Sari complained.

"But nothing, Sari," Isaac was firm. "If you do not do your assignment by tomorrow, then you will not be allowed to go out trick-or-treating." Sari's eyes widened in shock. "Do you understand?"

Sari's shoulders sunk. "Yes, Dad." She said, in a small voice, which was a stark contrast to what happened next. As soon as Isaac had left the room, the little red-head turned to her nanny, and cried: "Why did you have to go and tell him that?!"

"Because he t-trusts me to oversee your studies, Sari!" Emma said, her voice going slightly high-pitched, the way it always did when she was upset. "I w-want to keep a roof over my head!"

"This isn't about you!" Sari cried. "This is about M-E - my enjoyment! I want to go trick-or-treating with Bumblebee and Bulkhead tomorrow night!"

"Then, just do the assignment, Sari!" Emma exclaimed. "Then we can go!"

"I'll do the assignment," Sari was practically screaming by this stage. "And go trick-or-treating with my guardians," she was referring to Bumblebee and Bulkhead. "But you can't come!" She turned on her heel and ran from Emma's bedroom, calling: "I'm staying with the Autobots tonight and tomorrow night!"

"Make sure you take your assignment with you!" Isaac called from somewhere nearby.

"I KNOW already!" Sari shouted, and dearly wished that she had a bedroom door that she could slam. She settled for grabbing her suitcase and stomping outside as loudly as she could.

Emma stood at the window and watched her, feeling upset by the argument they had just had. They'd never argued before, and it made her feel ... small, and insignificant.

"Em?" Capi floated over to her. "Are you okay?"

Emma shrugged. "She probably hates me now." She said.

"She'll get over it." Capi reassured her. His gaze drifted over to Emma's Halloween costume, which was hanging from a coat-hanger on her wardrobe door. "It's just a shame that you didn't get to wear your costume . . . "

"Yeah . . . " Emma agreed. I'm not going by myself, though!


"So, how come you're here, kid?" Ratchet wanted to know, as Sari parked herself on the couch for an evening of video games with Bumblebee and Bulkhead, both of whom were just happy to see her.

"I had a fight with my selfish, mean nanny." Sari said crossly, as she picked up a video game controller.

"You mean with Emma?" Prowl had just come into the main room, to overhear this conversation.

Sari nodded. "Yup. She told my dad I didn't do my assignment, and he said I can't go trick-or-treating tomorrow if I don't do the stupid assignment."

"But, Sari, you did do the assignment." Bumblebee said.

"I know!" Sari exclaimed. "But, she said I had to write something, and of course my dad took her side!" She glared at the loading screen of her video game. "She didn't even listen to my side of the story . . . "

"That ... doesn't sound like Emma . . . " Prowl mused.

"Yeah . . . " Bumblebee said slowly. "Why would Emma make such a big deal over a little housework, anyway?"

"You mean homework?" Sari shrugged. "Oh, I dunno, something about my dad trusting her and keeping a roof over her head, but that's not the point!" She watched as the high-scores screen came up, and groaned. "Can't anyone beat her score?!"

"Here, let me try!" Bumblebee assumed his holoform, and the two happy gamers began playing, as Bulkhead watched, and Ratchet just rolled his optics and went to take over monitor duty from Optimus.

"Oh," Sari added. "And, it's just us three for tomorrow night, for trick-or-treating. Unless, you wanted to join us, Prowl?" She glanced at him over her shoulder.

Prowl shook his head. "You three ... go and have fun. I have other plans I need to attend to." It is an odd human custom, to dress up in scary costumes and scare others to obtain sugar-infused nuggets ... but, Sari and Emma were talking about costumes, and Emma seemed very excited about it ... well, excited for her, that is. She'll be upset if she doesn't get to at least wear it for one day ... unless . . .


Emma hadn't really done anything since her argument with Sari, and spent that evening and most of the next day lying on her bed, listening to music. Capi was happy to just lie there with her. Occasionally, Emma sang to him, and that was how Prowl found her at about four in the afternoon, lying on her back, still in her pajamas, and singing - without music, and also not in English.

"Kkaman bamhaneure ballke binnadeon … byeoldeul gaunde na taeeonan got isseulkka … naneun jigengwa dareun goseseo … naeryeo on geora mitgo shipgido haesseo . . . "

Emma had what the humans would call a very good singing voice, but Prowl understood why she'd never revealed this information to anybody before. She was still quite shy.

He watched as she sat up suddenly, with her back to him, and wondered when the last time she'd moved was, as she stretched.

He decided to ask: "How long have you been lying there for?" Judging by the indent in the bed sheets, awhile.

Emma gasped, and spun around, clutching the bed sheets nervously. "How long have you been standing.there for?!" She asked. Judging by the look on his face (he was in his holoform), awhile. "Oh, never mind .. why are you here?" Ever since he had danced with her at the ball, Emma hadn't been sure what to think of the quiet cyber-ninja.

Prowl leaned against the doorframe. "You don't have plans for the evening?" He got straight to the point.

Emma shook her head. "N-no." She glanced down. "Not anymore . . . "

Prowl nodded. "Well, since everybot else is either trick-or-treating, or on monitor duty, and I have been given the task of patrolling the city tonight, I thought that maybe you would ... like to come with me?"

Emma froze. I-is he...asking me out...on a...date? She gulped. What should I say?!

Capi, who was watching her, decided to help her out a bit. "She would love to go with you, Prowl." He said, stretching out and indicating that he might be intending to stay home that evening. "Right, Em?"

Emma found herself nodding. "I probably should get out a bit ... but, won't we be a bit ... out of place? On Halloween?"

Prowl smiled slightly. He'd been hoping she would say that. "Not if we both go in costume."


Emma stepped out of the elevator, and walked into the main foyer of the Sumdac Tower.

Or, at least, she tried to, but she ended up walking into somebody.

"Hey, watch it!" The woman exclaimed, and Emma realised with a start that it was Yacinta from the pre-Halloween party! Even having swapped her dress out for a business suit, she still looked every bit as beautiful - and, haughty - as she had the other night, and now she stared at Emma for a full five seconds, before adding: "Nice dress-up."

There was no mistaking what she meant by her tone.

Emma just turned and walked away from her, shaking slightly from embarassment.

But Capi, who was invisible on her shoulder (he had decided to come down and see her off) said: "Your costume looks great, too!"

Yacinta faltered, obviously thinking that it had been Emma who had said that. The other woman's face turned red, and she gritted her teeth.

Just then, Emma's phone rang, and she was quick to answer it, especially when she saw the caller ID.

"I know it's late notice, but are you good for tonight?" Came Lockdown's low voice, by way of greeting.

"I'm sorry, I can't do tonight." Emma replied, keeping her voice down. "I have … uh . . . "

"She has a date." Capi said quietly.

"What?"

"I'm helping out a mate with something." Emma said firmly, knowing full-well that Lockdown had just heard what Capi had said.

"How about Thursday, then?" The mech asked her.

"The fifth?" Emma thought for a moment. "Can do. Same place?"

"Same time." Lockdown confirmed.

They hung up, and Emma felt Capi drift away from her shoulder, but sensed that he was still near her, and so she said: "It is not a date."

"Okay." He replied peaceably. "Want me to make a note of when your next lesson is?"

"Thanks. Remember remember the fifth of November." Emma responded. Now, if I can just figure out why Lockdown is actually doing this . . .

She knew that she was taking an awfully big risk, learning martial arts from. Decepticon without having any knowledge of his motives. She supposed that having Capi with her during her lessons made her feel more secure. Plus, she had learned a lot in just under two weeks.

She walked away from wall where the elevator was, and made her way towards the reception area of Sumdac Tower.

Isaac was standing there, talking to one of his female assistants, Suzanne.

Suzanne turned around, took one look at Emma, and screamed.

Emma couldn't actually keep the smile off of her face this time, in a way that seemed to suit her costume . . .

She was dressed in a black lolita-like dress that she had found by chance, black stockings and black knee boots. She'd paled her face, however, and done her eye-makeup darkly, giving her a more gothic, vampire/witch-like appearance. She also had very realistic fake blood drawn on like tear stains, and deep red lipstick.

She may not have been able to do proper makeup, but, scary makeup seemed to be easy enough for her to do!

Of course, she was still wearing her Autobot pendant, and had the Decepticon one hidden beneath her dress, as per. the usual.

Suzanne recovered, and raised an eyebrow as she turned back to face Isaac. "Isn't this ... your daughter's nanny?"

Isaac nodded. "Yes, you remember is Emma, from the party." In contrast to Suzanne, Isaac wasn't at all fazed by Emma's Halloween costume. Not after Sari's Bloody Mary costume from last year. "Emma, this is my assistant in the human resources and development of … Emma, are you listening . . . ?"

She wasn't. Her attention was focused on the door, to where a prince had just walked in.

Well, not really, since it was actually just Prowl's holoform, but still . . .

Emma found herself blinking. H-how on earth did he manage to come up with a costume that quickly, and on such a minimal budget (as far as I'm aware)?! H-he looks like a cross between Kaname Kuran and Prince Zuko, with a little bit of Jyabura and some Disney Prince all thrown into one! How is this achieved?!

He was wearing a black suit with gold trimmings and shoulder-pads and a sash, as well as black knee boots and his Autobot symbol. Emma felt her heart-rate accelerate in a very discomforting kind of way. She hoped that she wouldn't trip, or something . . .

Prowl walked right up to her and, with a completely straight face, offered her his hand. "Emma?" His blue eyes pierced into her hazel ones.

Deciding to play along, and wondering how in Primus's name this was actually happening, Emma placed her hand into his. "Prowl." A tiny smile played at her black-painted lips.

Prowl glanced over at Isaac and his assistant.

Suzanne was staring open-mouthed at the spectacle. Heck, even the robot receptionist was gaping, and she didn't evenhavea mouth.

Isaac, on the other hand, was cheerful. "Have fun, you two." He told them.

"I'll have her back before midnight." Prowl promised him, before leading Emma across the reception area and to the front doors.


Emma had been worried about not being able to talk whilst she was out on this this outing that was absolutely not a date with one of the most awesome beings she'd ever encountered. As it turned out, however, there was one topic of conversation that they found needed addressing, as they walked towards a restaurant because Emma hadn't eaten since yesterday.

"I dunno what she expects from me, I mean, do you?" Emma was still feeling upset about her falling out with Sari, and was seeking advice from Prowl. "I can protect her as much as I can, but, at the end of the day, I just want her to, you know ... like me . . . " She admitted, sighing.

"Maybe you're trying too hard?" Prowl suggested, and she glanced at him. "She doesn't want you to be anything she doesn't already have in her life. She just wants you to understand things from her point of view, and not assert any unnecessary authority over her."

Emma blinked. "How the Hell does an cybernetic alien understand the feelings of an eight-year-old girl?"

Prowl smiled faintly. "She reminds me of somebody . . . " He said, glancing at something that only he could see, faraway. Then, he looked back at an incredulous Emma. "What about you? Don't you recall being that age?"

Emma laughed a little bit. "S-surprisingly, I do." She drew in a breath. Perhaps she could tell Prowl the truth behind her unexplained athleticism? "I actually remembered something the other day . . . "

She was cut off suddenly, by a tiny Asian lady leaping out at them from a restaurant doorway.

"You come eat at Mama Fuyano's!" She ordered, thrusting a pair of menus at them with surprising vehemency. "It free on October 31st!"

Emma and Prowl blinked in shock. "O-okay . . . " They both said in unison, taking the menus and entering the restaurant together.


Emma wasn't the only one who was reminiscing about the past that night. Back at the Autobot's base, Optimus was dwelling on a memory of the worst day of his life.

The day that he had lost everything … his chance of ever becoming a member of the Elite Guard, Ultra Magnus's respect, Sentinel's friendship, and Elita-1 . . .

"Optimus!" Sari's voice brought Optimus abruptly back to the present. "Check out my costume!"

Optimus looked down, to see Sari wearing a cardboard outfit that she may or may not have had help in constructing. It was painted in shades of blue, red, and white, and Optimus instantly recognised that it was a costume of him.

Sari put on an almost comically deep voice, and declared: "Ooh, look at me! I'm Optimus Prime! I'm scared of spiders!" She added, referring to how she had earlier used a fake spider to scare Optimus so badly that he had used his battle axe to hack the spider to bits.

Nearby, Bumblebee (dressed up as Count Dracubot) and Bulkhead (dressed as a ghost via what had turned out to be a fumigation tent that he'd swiped off of somebody's house) both chuckled appreciatively.

Optimus was not amused. "That's not what I sound like." He stated, crossing his arms. He then paused. "Is it?"

Sari grinned.

"Last chance to join us, boss bot." Bumblebee offered.

"Yeah, better him than her." Sari muttered.

"Thanks but, uh, I'll pass." Optimus replied. "Just be careful out there, alright?" He added.

"Don't worry," Sari told him "I'll keep

these two out of trouble." She then put on the same voice that she had used before, and announced: "Transform, and roll out!"

Optimus leaned down, giving her a Look.

Sari just grinned sheepishly. "Couldn't resist."


"So, what were you saying about a memory out there?" Prowl asked, as soon as they had ordered and were gazing around the Asian restaurant that had gone all-out for Halloween this year.

Emma blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, right, my memory . . . " She closed her eyes, recalling, and realised that she couldn't tell Prowl the truth. Not tonight, when things were going so well. "When I was Sari's age, I was arguing with my mum one evening, and that's because . . . " She opened her eyes and looked at Prowl, whom was listening in silence. "My maths grades were slipping in school. Everything else was fine, but not maths. The reason for that was . . . " She closed her eyes again, remembering being so frightened by Rebecca, that she would be in tears and hiding in the girls' bathrooms all during breaks, and be late to class because she'd been too scared to come out. "Because maths class was always right after recess and lunch, but during recess and lunch I was too scared to come out of the bathrooms where I'd be hiding."

"Hiding from who?" Prowl understood perfectly what he was hearing.

"My bully." Emma muttered, sighing. "She was the biggest girl in our year at school, and I was the smallest. I would be in tears by the end of every en-encounter, and I'd always stay in hiding for fifteen minutes in case she was still out there ... I'd have to run as soon as breaks started, because she'd always be out there, waiting for me . . . " She felt somewhat embarrassed, admitting this sort of thing, but there was something about Prowl's demeanour that made it easy for her to tell him.

"Why didn't you stand up to her?" Prowl wanted to know.

Emma took a deep breath, and looked at Prowl. Her eyes were perfectly dry, but there was a deep sadness he could see in them. "I couldn't. Not back then. And, you know … my mum would ask me where the bruises on my arms came from, and all I could say was that I'd tripped." Prowl's eyes widened slightly. He pictured a tiny, eight-year-old Emma (even though he had no idea what she'd looked like back then), cowering in fear as a bigger girl grabbed her and pushed her around. The thought of this sent a tiny shard of anger into him, like a splinter that just would not go away. "Only when I 'tripped'," Emma made quotation marks in the air. "And fell over a wooden beam on the ground and down a small grassy ditch did everything come out." Prowl realised that the bully had pushed Emma over the wooden beam, causing her to fall like that. "Mum even went up tot he school and told Rebecca that if she ever laid a hand on me again then she'd have to answer to her. But, by then it was too late . . . " She trailed off, and smiled in a bitter way. "I soon stopped socializing with anybody but my three best friends … I stopped putting my hand up in class to answer questions ... by the time high school rolled around, and we were all split up, I didn't know how to make new friends . . . " Hold on, weren't we supposed to be talking about Sari?!

"Was high school better for the bullying, or . . . ?" Prowl queried, trying to piece together the pieces of this complicated jigsaw puzzle. Something wasn't adding up … there was something that Emma wasn't mentioning, but, he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

"Hmm . . . " Emma shook her head slightly. "No … well, they didn't physically hurt me, but they spread rumors and ostracized me, which was just as bad ... luckily, even to this day, I still have two out of those three best friends from primary school … one ditched us, you see, but I still have Krystal and Mayling . . . " She trailed off again, become silent the way that she always did when she talked about home, and then she said: "How did we even get onto this topic, Prowl?!"

She didn't seem to expect an answer, and Prowl didn't have one.

He was secretly glad, though, that Emma had suddenly decided to confide in him, because he suddenly understood her a whole lot better than he had before. She was shy, and didn't think that she needed to trust anybody but herself. In a way, she was a bit like him . . .

He suddenly realised that he was staring at her, and she became aware of it at the same time. She blushed beneath her makeup, and Prowl thought of how it made her look mysterious and ... beautiful?

And, those eyes ... something about them . . .

Just as he was grasping this thought, the restaurant owner appeared seemingly out of nowhere, startling them both. She had their orders.

"You eat!" She ordered, placing the plates down in front of them. "Eat now, talk later!"

She didn't need to tell them twice.


A Thousand Years Ago . . .

"Forget it, Elita! Your power

won't work on an organic!"

She knew that her powers wouldn't work on an organic. After all, it was her power. She knew it, almost literally, like the back of her own hand. Sentinel didn't have to say it. Okay, so he was just looking out for her, like he always did. But, that wasn't what she needed from him right then … she placed her hand over his … what she needed was . . .

Just as the giant spider sprayed its venomous web at her, she grabbed Sentinel's shield and, having just copied his abilities, activated the shield to block the web, but she wasn't done yet.

Elita threw the shield like a chakram, breaking a massive stalactite that was right above the giant spider. The stalactite fell, and impaled the spider, putting an end to that particular threat.

"I think we've just officially been outclassed, Sentinel." Optimus commented.

Elita could have laughed, had the situation not still been so dire. Of course they had been! Optimus and Sentinel may have been her two best friends but, as she had stated on multiple occasions, there were a lot of things that she was just simply better than them at. It came with the territory of being a femme. There weren't that many of them, after all - somebot had once described the ratio of being about 1:3. But, in Elita's opinion, that just made them even more special. More elite, in fact.

Of course, then one could go into the subject of protoforms versus sparklings, but that was a delicate subject that not everybot - including her - fully understood.

You had to have been there, at the height of the Great War . . .

Elita just knew that, as one of the last sparklings to come online before the end of the Great War, and having been placed in stasis for over three million stellar cycles, that she was online and here in this era for a very specific purpose. She didn't yet know what it was, but, she was certain that she would find out!


Later, when they had finished their meal, Emma and Prowl left the restaurant.

Emma glanced at the cyber-ninja. "Prowl ... can I ask . . .?" He glanced at her. "You're not really out on patrol, are you?"

Prowl just smiled. "Well ... no ... not really . . . " He tilted his head to one side. "Emma ... do you mind if I show you ... my favourite place in the city? Well, just outside of it, actually . . . "

Emma was a little bit surprised, but she agreed, and found herself with her arms around the waist of Prowl's holoform, as the motorcycle took them out of the city.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure had watched them leave the restaurant, but had decided against following them out of the city.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" Lockdown mused, shaking his head.


Sari wondered if Bumblebee was taking this Halloween thing a little bit too seriously. He had claimed that he saw a giant spider, and now Optimus - who had been listening in via his com. link - was coming to find them.

"Trust me, Bumblebee," Sari told him. "There are no giant spiders on this planet!"

"Maybe it came from some other planet." Bumblebee argued.

Bulkhead scoffed. "Huge alien life forms, coming to Earth? You gotta be kidding!" He paused, as Bumblebee just looked around. "Oh right. Us."

"All I'm sayin'," Bumblebee stated. "Is, we should put our scanners on high alert. If only Emma had come with us, she's good at noticing things … I wish that she had . . . "

"Am I the only one who's glad that my mean, selfish nanny didn't come with us?" Sari asked grumpily.

"Sari, she just worries about you." Bulkhead told her. "Plus, the way she saved you both from that falling beam was pretty cool." He reminded her, before he looked over at Bumblebee again.

"Yeah, I guess . . . " Sari muttered. "I just wish she'd chill out about my homework, and let me be a kid sometimes, you know?" She admitted, just as she felt something unexpected and sticky wrap around her waist. "Huh?"

"Keep a sharp lookout." Bumblebee was saying, completely missing the fact that Sari had just been picked up by the rope of mysterious and sticky goo. "And don't let anything slip past us … oh, hold on, I'm getting a call … hello? … Huh, Emma? … What? … Of course I'm keeping an optic on Sari, you don't have to worry! … She's right here — " He suddenly heard a familiar high-pitched screaming, and swiftly put his com. link on mute - a good thing, too, because the reason why Sari was screaming was because a huge spider had her roped up via what could only be a web.

Sari was terrified.

The giant spider was perched on the roof of the building behind them, its red optics glowing.

When Sari stopped to take a breath, Bumblebee unmuted his com. link just long enough to say: "Gotta go before she eats that entire bag of Gelatinous Predators by herself!" Before he hung up.

"Sari!" Bulkhead cried, as he shed his costume at the same time that Bumblebee did.

"Keep away from the girl." The giant spider warned them, in a voice that was slightly distorted, probably due to the web that it had produced.

"That's just what I was gonna say!" Bumblebee responded, as he used his stingers to cut the web. Sari fell, and he quickly caught her before she hit the ground.

The spider leapt to the ground and began to skitter away, with all eight legs making clicky noises on the pavement in the process.

Bulkhead immediately moved to stand in the spider's way, his wrecking ball adding a further layer of threat towards the spider's escape.

"Don't move!" Bumblebee said, moving to block the spider's other escape route, with his stingers ready, just in case. "I wanna make sure the big guy sees you, this time."

And, it was at this point, that the giant spider transformed into a Cybertronian.

Everything about this purple and black, curvy stranger seemed to be either dangerous or seductive (or, perhaps, both), especially the first words out of those purple-painted lips.

"You wouldn't hurt a helpless femme bot, now would you boys?"

"Who are you?" Bumblebee wanted to know.

"What are you?" Bulkhead added, sounding slightly awed.

"Duh," said Sari, where she was standing nearby with her arms crossed. "She's a girl."

"My friends call me Blackarachnia." Her four red optics gleamed beneath her black helmet, right before she attacked.


Gelatinous Predators? Emma couldn't help but wonder, knowing full well exactly what had been happening when she'd contacted Bumblebee before.

She tried not tot think about it. She was sure that Optimus was on his way to help them.

Prowl stopped on a deserted road outside of the city, after they'd climbed a small mountain. His holoform disappeared as Emma dismounted.

"Hmm . . . " She glanced down at something beside her boot. "Eyaaaaauuuurgghhhh!"

Prowl had never heard anybody, let alone Emma, scream that loudly - he hadn't even known she could, but it wasn't as high-pitched as Sari's. As he transformed into his robot mode just in case of danger, Emma leapt into his arms, jumping much higher than she normally would have. He was startled, and looking around for what had freaked her out.

"Centipede!" She cried, pointing to the sandy-coloured bug on the ground.

Prowl looked at it. "It's just an insect." He said calmly, carrying her away from the road, out of centipede's reach. Said centipede crawled into a hole.

"It's big, and aggressive, and fast." Emma informed him. "And venomous . . . " She added, as an afterthought.

"Well, it's gone now." Prowl told her.

"Okay . . . " Emma smiled in an embarrassed way. "You can put me down now . . . ?"

"Actually, I need to carry you for this part." Prowl told her, and she looked up at him, confused. He just smiled calmly, and carried her to another part of the mountain. "Now, hold on tight." He told her and she, after a moment's hesitation, wrapped her arms around his neck. Prowl activated his jet-boosters, and jumped up into the sky, heading for the top of the mountain.


Sari clung to the pole, but she didn't look like her usual young-self.

Her key had been stolen from her by the crazed spider-robot known as Blackarachnia, who was bent on revenge against Optimus Prime because he had wronged her in the past.

Sari had listened to how Blackarachnia - who wore the Decepticon insignia on her collar - blamed Optimus for what had happened to her, and now she was getting revenge by hurting everybody else around her - the All-Spark was turning every organic into old people, and Sari couldn't hold onto the pole much longer!

"I never knew true love!" She wailed dramatically, to no one in particular. Her life was flashing before her eyes … meeting Emma, meeting the Autobots, getting Sparkplug for her birthday last year … dressing up as Bloody Mary for Halloween in that same year … that one Christmas where she'd gotten a new outfit that she could barely walk in. "And, I never used those pizza coupons!" I've barely had any experiences! "I get the point! Revenge is bad! I should have been nice to my nanny, she was only trying to look out for me! I'm sorry, Emma!" She screamed, as her grip finally gave way.

She fell but, luckily, Bumblebee had come up to meet her, and transformed, cushioning her in his interior, safe and sound.

Of course, the bumpy landing deployed the airbag, and ruined Bumblebee's tires, but at least Sari was safe, if not a little bit ruffled.

"So, uh ... are you gonna tell Emma you forgive her?" Bumblebee asked awkwardly.

"Oh, shut up . . . " Sari said grumpily.


Emma gasped, looking around her at the meadow that was at the top of the mountain, and inside a crater. It was perfectly untouched, pristine in every aspect, from the pale blue pool of water to the trees that were blossoming red petals all around.

"This is ... this . . . " Emma could only shake her head, and couldn't keep the smile off her face. "And, no centipedes?"

Prowl laughed softly. "No centipedes. Do you like it?" He assumed his holoform.

"It's beautiful . . . " Emma whispered, walking through the ankle-length grass. She sat down by the lake, and Prowl came and sat beside her. A cool wind blew above them, rustling the leaves in the trees. "But ... are you sure it's okay for me to know about it? Is it your special place?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes, but ... you won't tell anybody, will you?"

Emma smiled again. "No. Thank you, for trusting me with it. It's nice to know not everywhere is covered in concrete. It's just too bad that it's still so close to Detroit that you can hardly see any stars." She shrugged.

"You like nature?" Prowl guessed.

Emma nodded. "Yeah ... I don't think people really appreciate it that much, but some people, like naturalists and wildlife preservers do." She added.

"Hmm ... perhaps you're right . . . " Prowl nodded, and then they both happened to glance up.

They expected to see the usual blueish-black sky above them … instead, what they saw was an infinite amount of stars, and the sky was not only black but had some other colours, like clouds, across it.

"Whoa — !" Emma gasped. "I - is there a power outage in the city or something — ?! I haven't seen this many stars since I was in Albany!" She sounded breathless all of a sudden.

Prowl was silent, also staring up at the spectacle, and thinking that a city-wide blackout must have been going on for a few minutes already, to present the sky to them like this.

He realised presently that Emma had started humming, and then he heard her sing.

"Stars are shinning in your eyes, and I begin to realise … that our path through time's unbroken . . . " She then seemed to realise what she was doing, and stopped, but she continued to smile.

Prowl stared at her for a second, and was just about to say something, when he got a transmission through his com. link.

When he heard what Bulkhead had to say, he knew that it was time to go.

He and Emma stopped just briefly, however, to gaze out at a Detroit without any lights.

"It should go like this more often." Emma said quietly, just as every light in the city came back on. "Oh, never mind."


Due to a traffic jam, Prowl decided that the fastest way to get to the location of the others was if he took the rooftops. With Emma clinging to his neck, Prowl looked like a full-on ninja, running and jumping over the rooftops.

"Don't worry," Prowl said for the fourth time. "Bulkhead said that Sari is fine ... for the most part . . . "

"For the most part?!" Emma repeated.

"Well ... he wasn't terribly ... specific . . . " Prowl explained. "He just said that there was a ... giant spider, and then something about Sari aging rapidly."

Emma was silent for a second, before saying sarcastically: "Oh, thankyou Prowl, I feel so much better now . . . "

Prowl jumped over another rooftop, and stopped. "She's fine now, though." He told her.

Emma just nodded.

They then both happened to look over to their right.

A purple femme-bot that looked half-spider was standing staring at the full moon, and sobbing quietly.

Emma's heart began hammering in her chest. It's her! Blackarachnia! She used to be Elita-1 . . . Emma had the strangest desire to reach out to the femme just then, and she had no idea where that sense was coming from. She's crying . . .

Blackarachnia suddenly turned sharply, just then, and caught sight of Emma and Prowl staring at her from the other rooftop.

She immediately became defensive, before she hissed at them, and vanished swiftly.

"Was that the — ?" Prowl began.

"Giant spider?" Emma finished up.

"It must have been." Prowl nodded. "Bulkhead said that the giant spider was Cybetronian … they found that out right before she … attacked them . . . "

"She seemed upset, though." Emma pointed out. "I mean … she was physically crying. We … shouldn't tell the others about that, though. There are some things that a woman likes to keep to herself. That's why she hissed at us."

"Of course." Prowl responded, before he set out again.

Neither he nor Emma noticed the figure sitting on the fire escape of the opposite building. She was wearing black boots, a short purple dress, and a black trench coat with gold buttons, and she had short black hair with blonde streaks in it and brilliant crimson eyes.

A silver Decepticon symbol hung from her neck but, beneath her trench coat, the Autobot one was there, too.


Optimus handed Sari back her key. "I believe the expression is 'trick or treat'?"

Sari, who was back to her normal self, smiled as she accepted her key. "Duh. That's what I'm supposed to say. You just say 'Happy Halloween' and fork over the goods - I like Gelatinous Predators but I will also accept Mercury Bars, Sour Snakes, and all forms of cotton candy!" She suddenly looked past Optimus, just as Prowl jumped down onto the ground, and Emma jumped down from where she'd been clinging to his neck.

"Sari!" Emma cried, running to her.

"Emma!" Sari ran to her, and the two of them embraced. "I'm sorry, I just didn't want to do the assignment before Halloween." She explained.

"I know, sweetie, I'm sorry, too." Emma patted the girl's head. "I was so busy thinking about my adult life that I forgot what it's like to be a kid. You don't have to do the assignment." She added.

"I already have." Sari shrugged, drawing back with a shrug.

Emma straightened up. "On what?" She thought about Blackarachnia. "Spiders?" She guessed.

Sari gave her an odd look. "No. Spiders aren't dangerous, they're just . . . " She glanced at Optimus. "Misunderstood." The two shared a small smile. "No, I picked something way cooler, and much more dangerous." Sari turned back to Emma with a huge grin. "I decided to do my assignment on the Giant Desert Centipede." She announced.

Prowl blinked, and glanced at Emma, who had paled so rapidly that he hoped she wouldn't faint. "Uh . . . " Emma said weakly. "Better let your dad grade that one, kiddo . . . "


Emma was breathing somewhat heavily. It was the fifth of November, and she was in the middle of another martial arts lesson with Lockdown. This lesson was slightly more gruelling than what she was used to, and she was still trying to figure out not only Lockdown's motives but also why she was picking up everything so easily - even the gruelling stuff.

Before she could figure any of it out, however, something happened that had not happened before.

"Em . . . " Capi, who up until that point had been content to just watch what happened from his spot on the park bench, now spoke up. "Em, you need to stop . . . "

"Why?" Emma asked him, not taking her eyes off of Lockdown's holoform, which had suddenly gone rigid.

"Because we've got company." Capi replied, as he quickly flew over to her … and that was when a dark figure stepped out of the shadows, which seemed to grow at this point.

Tall and definitely Cybertronian-looking, the stranger's red optics gleamed.

Lockdown immediately changed back into his robot mode, to face the newcomer.

"Now, what's a lesser level doing in these parts, hmm?" His tone was light, but there was something about his posture that told Emma something was amiss.

"I could ask the same of you." The stranger replied. He had a strange, almost hissing tone to his voice.

"Bounty hunting." Lockdown replied casually, before glancing over his shoulder at Emma, who was just holding onto Capi and staring at him. "And … some other stuff." He shrugged, and turned back to face the other bot.

"So it would seem." The other bot's red optics gleamed again, as he cast them upon Emma and Capi. "I wonder . . . "

"Are you done taking up my precious time?" Lockdown's tone had changed; he sounded less defensive and more defensive, now. "Or, does this have to go further?"

The other bot took a half step back, and he seemed to growl: "I simply wondered if you were aware of what you're doing is all, Lockdown." He then turned and disappeared almost silently into the darkness of the trees again.

As soon as he was gone, the strangely dark shadows seemed to disappear.

Lockdown sighed, and turned around. "Now, then . . . " He began.

"Lockdown?" Emma repeated, realising that, whoever orwhatever that stranger had been, he had just given her the perfect way to 'find out' about her teacher's identity. "As in, the one who . . . ?" She glanced down at her Autobot pendant and, when she looked back up, Lockdown was actually smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I had a run-in with your Autobot pals." He told her.

"You're the one who stole our medic's EMP Generator." Capi said.

Lockdown chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I never forget a trophy ... too bad I lost that one." He watched as Emma and Capi exchanged a glance. "So, we'll have to call this lesson in early tonight, since I've got something that I need to take care of … how's next week looking for you?"

Emma paused, and then she said: "As long as you're not gonna use me to get any information about the Autobots, then … fine. I'll let you know about next week."

Lockdown's smile grew. "Perfect." He replied, although he seemed distracted by something, all of a sudden. "Uh," he glanced down at Capi. "Now's probably a good time for you two to take off … the night is still young, after all . . . " He added, and there was something in his tone that Emma didn't like.

But, before she could further think about it, she felt Capi's trunk on her shoulder, and suddenly felt very light for a second … before she found herself standing back in her bedroom at Sumdac Tower!

"C-Capi!" She gasped, as he floated around to the front of her. "S-since when can you Transwarp?!" She couldn't believe it.

"I don't know." Capi replied. He sounded very tired, all of a sudden. "I just can . . . " On instinct, Emma reached out and caught him, as he slowly began to drift towards the ground. "I won't be able to do it for a little while, though." He added.

"That's okay." Emma whispered. "We should probably turn in early. Too much has happened tonight . . . "


In another part of Sumdac Tower, a pair of pinkish-red optics gazed into Megatron's red optics, both of their gazes unreadable but a lot of thinking going on, all the same . . .


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

The song that Emma is singing at the beginning of the chapter is an interesting one.

It's called Atlantis Princess, by BoA, who was still promoting it back in 2003 when her manager was killed in a terrible freeway accident involving a truck. BoA refused to perform the song for twelve years, until the moment when she thought that she could proudly sing it.

It's also one of the songs that I listened to after being involved in a hit and run last year.

The translation to the part that Emma sings is:

In the black night sky, in the center of the brightly shining stars,Is that the place that I was born?I also wanted to believe that,I came down from a different place than Earth . . .

The second song that Emma sings a part of is Symphony Of Life, by Tina Arena.