Chapter 11

Consequences

Come the next day, and the night that followed that, a black Trans Am drove through the outskirts of town, engine revving and tires screeching as it took the turns sharply.
"This is so cool!" a slightly mechanical voice could be heard as the car continued its race along the roads.

"I know I should be more worried about this, but I just can't help myself."

Max's joyride was cut short, however, as flashing blue and red lights appeared behind him, accompanied by the telltale sirens of a police car.

"Uh-oh." Max's rear view mirrors adjusted, letting him see his pursuer through them. "Guess I should have taken it a little easier on the throttle. Normally, if I would ever have done this like a human, I would have stopped and accepted the consequences, but I can't let them catch me as I am now. Good thing I know a few tricks."

His engine revved even harder and his speed increased, his metal form speeding along the road even faster. But the police car didn't give up, and accelerated as well, joining the contest of distance.

The chase lasted for several minutes, with the police car gaining on Max ever so slightly ever second.

As Max rounded another curve, instead of continuing to follow the road, he instead transformed into his smaller humanoid form, jumped and ducked and rolled behind bushes that grew along the road.

Unaware of this, the police continued to follow the road, as that was the only way the car they chased could have gone, or so they thought.

As they disappeared along the road, Max slowly looked up from behind the bushes, with the biggest smile on his face he had ever had.

"Ha! Just like in 'Smokey and the Bandit'!" he laughed. Once the police car was out of sight, which was quite far for Max, he stepped back onto the road and transformed back into car form, and drove off in the opposite direction.

The next day, however, the police were once again outside Max's family home.

"… and so, as your husband is the only one in town with a black Trans Am registered, naturally he is our main suspect for the speedster encountered last night." a police woman explained to Susan as the two stood on the porch.

"I understand…"

"Do you know anything about this?"

"Carl… he's taking the disappearance of our son very hard…" Susan began, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "And he struggles to handle it… they had this tradition, you see… once a month, they would watch 'Smokey and the Bandit'… Max grew up with that movie, and they both love it a lot… it is the whole reason that my husband got the Trans Am…"

"I know that movie." said the officer. "My parents consider it a classic, and the car was the practically the symbol of it."

She stood silent for a moment as she thought about it all, then sighed.

"Look, I understand that you are both grieving, but that's no excuse for speeding. However, given the circumstances, I'll let him off with only a warning this time."

"That is very kind of you, and I will let him know." said Susan. "Any news on our boy yet?"

"Not that I know of, I'm afraid. But I promise we will let you know as soon as we learn anything."

"Thank you… it means so much to us… I… I…" Susan began to sob and more tears fell. "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, ma'am. I won't bother you any more." said the police woman.

Once she had gotten back into her car and driven away, Susan stepped inside and dried her crocodile tears before taking a deep breath.

"Max Bo Cledus Buford Jenkins!" she said loudly in a stern voice.

Mere minutes later, Max sat in his bed with Sally next to him, his door wings drooped like the ears of a dog, as his parents stood in front of them and looked disapprovingly at him.

"Really, Max? Sneaking out in the middle of the night? And joyriding on top of that?" Carl said, his arms crossed and brow furrowed. "And in your condition?"

"Sorry…" Max lowered his head. "I couldn't sleep last night, or whatever it is, and I just… I dunno… I wanted to learn, I guess. How I work now, I mean, so I went out to clear my head, and… well…"

"And you got chased by the police, while looking like my car." Carl sighed. "We already have more of their attention than we want. We don't have to give them any more reasons to come here again."

"And don't think you are in the clear just because you are our guest, young lady." Susan said, glaring at Sally.
"Me? What have I done?" she asked, shocked by the sudden shift in focus.

"Let me show you." Susan took out her phone and showed them a somewhat blurry photo of a golden bird. "Found this on social media. Apparently, someone spotted what they described as a large, golden bird of prey yesterday. One that had a metallic sheen to its feathers. Doesn't that sound familiar?"

Sally lowered her head, and her wings drooped as well.

"You sneaked out as well?" Max wondered. "How did I not notice that?"

"Well… you were so focused on your game…" she said sheepishly. "I just really wanted to go and test out my wings again."

Carl and Susan both sighed.

"Max, Sally… we understand that this is difficult for you." said Susan. "You are both going through things that no teenager, or any human for that matter, have ever done before."

"But you can't be this reckless." Carl continued. "If you so desperately want to figure out these new bodies of yours, let us help you instead. Better to do it under more controlled circumstances, alright?"

"Yeah." Max agreed. "I'm sorry for this."

"We know, sweetie." said Susan. "We're just so worried for your sake, both of you. But you're still both grounded, and there will be no dessert today."

"Harsh, but fair." Carl agreed. "We will talk more about this later."

With that, Max's parents left Max and Sally to think over their actions, which left them in a few minutes of awkward silence.

"So… Max… Bo… Cledus… Buford… Jenkins?" Sally said after a while. "That's your full name?"

"It is, yeah…" Max sighed.

"I did want to ask you about that, because I thought Max was short for Maximilian or Maxwell."

"Nope. It's just Max, short and simple."

"But what about the other names? There has to be a story or two there."

"Not as much as you think." Max chuckled. "Dad insisted on naming me after the three main male characters in the movie 'Smokey and the Bandit'. It's his favourite movie, mine too, actually. And it's the characters, not the actors that played them, just making that clear."

"That simple, huh? You know, I'm not sure I believe you, Max. It sounds too simple."

"That's what mom and dad tell me, and mom wasn't too happy with it either, but she allowed it. Pretty sure they had some kind of bet going on between them."

"Well, I guess I've heard worse stories." Sally shrugged.

"What about you?" Max asked. "Since you now know my full name, wouldn't it be fair to tell me yours?"

"I suppose it would. Sally Rose Rebecca Harlow. Rebecca is mom's second name, Rose is her favourite flower, and Sally, well, they just found it on a site with popular names."

"And you thought my explanation was simple? Yours is as normal as it gets." Max half laughed.

"Oh, shut up." Sally replied in a teasing tone. "Now, seeing as we're both grounded, how about we watch this favourite movie of yours? Let me see who and what you're named after."

"Sure, why not. It's not like we got anything better to do."

As Max started to prepare for the movie, little did they know that things were about to get even stranger.

Meanwhile, at the very edge of the solar system, a large spaceship suddenly arrived through the use of its quantum engines. The rays from the distant sun made the metal hull and armour of the ship gleam as it steered towards the centre of the system.

Onboard, the crew worked the controls and consoles, speaking in their own language.

"Are you sure that this is the correct system?" the commander asked.

"Positive. The signal pulse came from the third planet, but I can't pinpoint the exact coordinates on it. It must have gone dormant again." said one of the crew.

"That doesn't matter. If it is on that planet, we must find it. No matter the cost. Sensors to max, we need to know what awaits us."

"I'm getting some strange readings." said another of the crew. "It looks like… yes. I'm detecting primitive satellites in orbit of the third planet. Several thousands of them, and they are active."

"So the planet is inhabited… that complicates things a bit. Keep us outside their range for now. Are we talking organic life?"
"It looks that way, yes. Carbon based, humanoid. Technology indicates that they are in the earliest stages of space exploration, and... Commander! I've just discovered something!"

"Report!"

"Two life signs that don't match the rest of the world. They're Cybertronian."

"Cybertronian? Well, that makes things more interesting. Locate them."

What can I say? I really like Smokey and the Bandit.