//------------------------------// // Stories // Story: Cybertron Girls // by SonicSpeedster97 //------------------------------// The massive capital of Velocitron – Crater City – was massive with sprawling roads crisscrossing between buildings just like on the rest of the planet, with other racers dotting the streets. “Man, why is everyone packed into this one place?” Sunset asked as they drove down the main street. “This is where Amalgamous Prime’s ship the Navitas landed when Velocitron was first colonized.” Clocker explained. “It’s something of a holy site these days; no matter where you are on the planet, every local makes a pilgrimage here at some point in their lives.” “And in Sideswipe’s case, it looks like his pilgrimage has led him straight to Piston’s.” Hot Rod remarked as they pulled up outside a bar… that looked like it had seen better days. “Sheesh. This is the most popular place on the planet?” Rainbow asked as they all transformed. “Don’t let appearances fool you; Piston’s got some of the best Engex on Velocitron.” Hot Rod assured. “C'mon, let’s go. First round’s on me.” “Uh, Sideswipe?” Sunstreaker reminded. “Right-right-right; Sideswipe first, then drinks. Sorry.” Hot Rod nodded as he led the group into the bar. The place was a bit dirty, and the patrons all looked pretty tough, but all in all, it seemed safe. “Good thing we didn’t bring Rarity or Fluttershy; they wouldn’t last two minutes in this place,” Rainbow whispered to Twilight. “I’m a little more worried about how long we’ll last.” Twilight countered. “Hey!” the bartender called to the group. “We don’t allow their kind in here.” “Excuse me?” Twilight asked. “Your Mini-Con. It’ll have to wait outside.” the bartender ordered. “Health code.” Spike was confused by this but wasn’t sure what to do until Smokescreen knelt next to him. “Watch the door. If you see the Stunticons, give us a holler.” Spike nodded and plodded outside, taking up a position at the door to the bar. Hot Rod took the lead as he stepped over to the bartender. “Hey Piston. Is Sideswipe here?” “In the back.” Piston pointed down the bar, indicating toward a back room. “Thanks.” Hot Rod nodded his head over to the back room, where they saw Sideswipe slumped in a corner booth surrounded by empty glasses. “Jeez dude, this is sad.” Moonracer shook her head. “Not to mention dangerous.” Lifeline remarked as she counted the glasses. “Disregarding the obvious probability of a DUI incident, this is way too much Engex for one bot in one sitting; you’re gonna corrode your filters.” “Leave me alone.” Sideswipe slurred drunkenly. “Sideswipe, I seriously hate that you’re making me say this, but, well…” Sunstreaker shrugged as he sat across from his brother. “We both know how disappointed Mom and Dad would be.” “Who cares; they’re dead.” Sideswipe slurred. “Okay, this is getting ridiculous- will you just talk to us?” Rainbow asked seriously. “What’s there to talk about?” Sideswipe asked. “For starters, how about your relationship with Override? I think we all figured out there’s some history there.” Hot Rod shrugged. “Mind filling in some blanks?” “Actually I do mind.” Sideswipe slurred, waving them away. “Now get lost. Piston, another round!” Sunset rolled her optics and reached toward his arm, but before she could touch him, her horn suddenly started glowing, as did her eyes. When the light faded, Sunset shook her head and looked at him in surprise. “Woof. That’s rough, man.” Sideswipe looked at her in confusion, as did the others. “What’s rough?” asked Bumblebee. “What just happened?” asked Twilight. “I’m not sure, to be honest. I think my Armor made my powers… wireless, I guess.” Sunset shrugged. “I can read people’s minds without needing to touch them.” That earned a small reaction from Sideswipe. “You just read my mind?” he asked in annoyance, though he was clearly still blisteringly drunk. “Yeah. And trust me; it gets easier.” Sunset assured. “But it helps if you talk about it.” “Talk about what?” asked Bumblebee. It only took a few seconds for Rainbow to connect the dots. “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, hang on a sec,” she said seriously as she pointed at Sideswipe. “You? And Override?” The others were shocked, especially Hot Rod and Clocker. “No fraggin’ way; you’re pullin’ our axles!” Hot Rod brushed it off, though not totally believing his own words. “Right?” “It was a lifetime ago,” Sideswipe assured, suddenly growing sober. “Oh holy scrap, you’re serious.” Hot Rod realized instantly. “You dated the world champ? How did that happen?” asked Bumblebee. “It’s a long story.” Sideswipe shrugged. “Yeah, apparently really long from what I could see,” Sunset remarked, still remembering the insane images she saw in his mind. “Can you give us the short version?” asked Rainbow. Sideswipe sighed as he looked into his drink. “It was a few years before the war started,” he remembered. “I was here racing on the highway like I usually do when she passed me. I wasn’t gonna take that sitting down, so I burned rubber after her. I knew I was fast enough, but my tires didn’t get the memo; blew one and went clean off the side of the road, ended up crashing headlong into one of Retrofit’s nitrous condensers.” “Now that I remember.” Clocker nodded. “You ended up working for us for two years to pay for the replacement.” “I raced in whatever free time I had from that job and ended up running into Override again.” Sideswipe shrugged. “She was impressed I managed to keep up as well as I could, I bought her a drink here, one thing led to another, and I ended up in her corner after a lot of her major wins.” “Not including the 536th Planet Cup, I’m guessing?” Twilight asked. “I should’ve been.” Sideswipe shrugged. “But that was when the war was really getting started. I had to go fight, and well… ever since Optimus ordered the termination of the SpaceBridge network, I haven’t made it back here until now.” “So that’s why Override is so ticked at you? Because you left to fight a war?” asked Rainbow. “It’s not that; hell, I never even told her about the war.” Sideswipe shrugged. “I didn’t tell her anything before I left. The flag was supposed to drop that freaking second and I just hightailed it to the SpaceBridge without a word.” “Okay, that sounds like something a girl would get ticked off about.” Sunset nodded. “So just go find her and make up with her somehow.” Rainbow shrugged. “Weren’t you listening?!” Sideswipe scowled. “I didn’t tell her anything about why I left when I did, and she hates me for it. She doesn’t want me on her planet.” “I don’t see that we have a choice,” Moonracer remarked. “We already know that the Planet Cup is probably the Galaxy Key.” “And we can’t let the Stunticons get their hands on it first.” Bumblebee agreed. “Which means one of us will have to race for it.” “Against Blurr? Pfft, good luck.” Hot Rod smirked. “That guy’s almost impossible to outrace. Override’s been trying since he beat her at the 536th, but she’s only ever made it close.” “He hasn’t raced me yet.” Rainbow smiled, earning surprised looks from the others. “What? There’s no way Override’s gonna allow Sideswipe to race, so we need an unknown on the track. And who’s the fastest unknown we have?” She pointed at herself with her thumbs. “This gal.” “Is that really the best idea?” Smokescreen brought up. “We don’t know when the next race for the key will be, and even if we did, I’m not certain you’d have enough time to train for it.” “You definitely don’t.” Hot Rod assured, earning confused looks from the others. “I’ve been preparing for the Planet Cup for months so I could race in it myself, so I know all about it, including when it is… and it’s in two weeks.” Sideswipe shook his head. “There’s no way you can get ready for a race as big as the Planet Cup in two weeks,” he said to Rainbow. “Wanna bet?” Rainbow asked with a smirk. “In fact, where does Override hang out?” “The highways over the eastern silicon flats.” Hot Rod remembered, but suddenly realized what he’d just said. “No, wait; forget I said that-” “Too late!” Rainbow shot out of the bar, transformed as soon as she hit the road, and raced out east as fast as her wheels could carry her. “Agh, scrap metal!” Hot Rod scowled at himself. “Come on, we’d better go make sure she doesn’t get herself killed out there somehow,” Twilight remarked as she led the others out to the road. Lifeline was still worried as she looked at Sideswipe. “You good to drive, Sideswipe?” “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine. Just… just let me know if we pass any exhaust checkpoints; I’ll cut my engine before I hit them.” Sideswipe instructed. “Alright, but I’m keeping an eye on you just to be safe.” Lifeline assured. “We both are.” Sunstreaker agreed as the team hit the road. Quickly, they all transformed – Spike included, once Twilight informed him of what was happening – and raced off after Rainbow, ready to make sure she didn’t do anything reckless. But since this was Rainbow Dash they were talking about, they knew foolishness was bound to come up as they all raced east. And they were right; it only took Rainbow a few moments to make it out to the highways Hot Rod mentioned, and sure enough, there was Override firing at small rocky outcroppings on the flats from the road with her blaster. She transformed to bot mode and strode confidently over. “Target practice?” Override glanced over her shoulder at the new racer and raised a metallic eyebrow. “Helps me think,” she said simply. “You were with Sideswipe earlier. Nice to see he’s moved on.” “Pfft, as if. First off, he’s not my type. Second, even if he was, it wouldn’t matter; he’s still crazy for you.” Rainbow rebuked. “He’s crazy, that’s for sure.” Override remarked. “Thinking he can come back to my highways after what he did.” “I think you mean what he didn’t do.” Rainbow corrected. “He told me the whole thing.” Override didn’t take her eyes off her target practice. “Nice to know he still remembers how he tore my spark out and burned it under his tire.” (Eurobeat Intensifies) “You really think that’s what he wanted?” Rainbow said seriously, earning a scowl from Override. “Tell ya what; you and me, one-on-one, right here, right now. And if you win, you can believe whatever you like about what happened between you and Sideswipe.” Override smirked as she locked her blaster to her back. “You’re on.” Rainbow smirked and quickly transformed to car mode, revving up her engine. “From here to the next checkpoint arch on three,” she instructed as Override transformed next to her. “One- three, go!” She slammed her foot on the gas and peeled out ahead of Override… who didn’t even move for a few seconds before she fired her thrusters and shot after Rainbow, catching up in a matter of seconds, just in time for the rest of the group to quickly catch up, with Sideswipe bringing up the rear. “What took you so long, Override; bad ignition?” “No, I just figured you needed a headstart.” Override smirked. “Bad idea to underestimate me, sister,” Rainbow smirked as she fired a hit of nitro into her engine which sent her flying down the road. “Is that the best you’ve got, kid? What’s Sideswipe see in you?” Override smirked as she fired her thrusters and shot ahead like a rocket. Rainbow just snarled as she forced her foot further down on the accelerator. “C'mon Rainbow, you cannot lose like this!” she assured herself. “Just push it further and you’ve got it! C'mon, think of something!” Her Geode flashed around her neck as if trying to tell her something… and she figured out exactly what that was when a button appeared on her console… emblazoned with a rocket exhaust. “Now we’re talkin’!” She slammed on the button and almost immediately, the back panels under her tail lights opened up and revealed massive rocket boosters, which fired and shot her down the road. “AWWWWWESOOOOOOOME!!!” she yelled over the g’s as she shot past Override before she could blink. “What?!” she yelled in shock. “Whoa! Since when could Rainbow do that?” asked Bumblebee. “All I know is she’s out of control!” Twilight was right; Rainbow was going too fast to steer safely. Then it all happened at once; her engine started sparking and the rockets burst, sending her skidding out of control, straight through a wall. Quickly she tried to transform and save this before she hit the ground, but too late; she slammed into a massive sand dune on the side of the highway, smashing her face against the steering wheel. “OW!” (Cut it) The others all skidded to a stop at the broken wall and transformed, jumping down to check on her. “Rainbow, are you okay?!” asked Sunset. “Ugh, I think so.” Rainbow groaned; she definitely felt the airbag in her face… but was definitely grossed out when she saw the blood stain on it from her face. Quickly she checked in the mirror and saw a fairly nasty gash right in the middle of her forehead. “Oh, I’m gonna feel that tomorrow.” “Can you transform?” asked Hot Rod. “I can try.” Rainbow shrugged, feeling a painful pull in her shoulder when she did. “Gah. Okay, you got it, girl.” She took a deep breath and focused on her T-Cog, quickly transforming back into bot mode, at which point she doubled over. “Ohhh, everything hurts.” She groaned as she slumped into Bumblebee’s arms. “I gotcha,” he assured as he laid her down in the sand. “You got spunk, kid; I respect that.” Override smiled. “Get a tune-up and we’ll finish up that bet.” “You’re on,” Rainbow smirked back at the racer as she raced away. She groaned as she grabbed her arm in pain, looking up at Hot Rod. “You know a good body shop on this dust ball?” “Retrofit knows his way around an engine like no one else on Velocitron.” Hot Rod assured. “When he gets done, you’re gonna be flyin’.” “Good. You do that, I’m gonna rest up.” Rainbow remarked. “Rest up? What’re ya talkin’ about; we’re gonna be workin’ on you.” Hot Rod remarked. “Uh… yeah. So now’s probably a good time to tell you that we’re not your typical bots.” Sunset shrugged. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Clocker asked in confusion. Sunset sighed as she pressed her button and shifted out of her bot form, shocking the two bots. “Surprise…” she said halfheartedly, knowing this would be difficult to explain.