Act II: Fall Weather Friends
Friendship Is Magic : Prime
by Darkryt Orbinautz
Act II
Chapter 4 (Box Set Chapter 10)
Fall Weather Friends
"So," Discord started, "What should we do first, eh?"
The Autobots and humans looked at each other.
"Well..." Bulkhead started.
A ringing began to emit from June's watch.
"That'll have to wait! Time for school!" The green 'Bot added, him, Bumblebee and Arcee turning into their alt-modes.
Discord scratched his head. "You have schools here too?"
"Sadly." Miko pouted, walking down the platform to enter her Autobot other. "Don't suppose you know how to get out of it, would'ja?"
"Miko!" Bulkhead and June snapped.
"Well, hang on now, as it happens, I do know a few tricks that could probably keep you and your friends out of it for the day..." Discord interrupted with a naughty smile.
"All right, well-" Miko started, interrupted by Optimus' shoulder wheels spinning and screeching in disapproval.
"I'm afraid these 'tricks' of yours will need to find some other use." His voice was tinted with contempt.
Discord threw his claws up in surrender, "Okay." Miko huffed and resumed her pace.
"Oh, wait!" June called out with a raised hand towards the Autobots. "I need to get back to-"
Exhaust fumes covered the three Autobots as they left.
"...Work."
"I would be willing to 'give a you a lift' as it were, Miss Darby." Optimus offered, stepping forward.
"Really?" June asked hopefully, "I mean, you don't have important...Autobot leader-y stuff to do?"
Optimus turned to Ratchet, who clicked on the control computer a few times before shaking his head.
"That would be a 'no'." Optimus assured June before transforming to his truck mode.
June climbed into Optimus, and the truck cab sped out the base's doors.
"...Hang on." Ratchet remarked just after Optimus had gone. "The scanners are still showing excessive geographic disturbance..." He cast an accusing look towards Discord.
Discord looked offended and put a claw to his chest. "Who, me?"
"Well, the implication so far has been that you control the chocolate rain and related...changes. Perhaps you could...undo them until we can get you your own...'playground'?"
Discord's scruffy eyebrow raised. "'Playground, you say?"
"Yes." Ratchet answered, "Somewhere you can have as much dangerous fun as you want without endangering innocents and threatening to rock the Earth back into it's pre-Big Bang state."
Discord stared.
"...Big Bang?...Creation of the universe?...14 million psi of energy expanding in a huge explosion to create the planets?"
Discord nodded, "Ah, OK, so 'rocking the Earth to it's pre-Big Bang state' would un create it..."
"And then there'd be nowhere for you to play."
Discord flicked his tail mischievously, "Well, maybe not nowhere but definitely less 'wheres'."
"Mh-hm."
Discord snapped his eagle claw, and the disruptions on the radar disappeared. Ratchet observed the scans and nodded, "Thank you...Now I can fix some broke equipment of mine." Ratchet walked away from the computer and walked over to what Discord could only assume was a medical table with a bunch of Autobot's tools on it.
Discord looked on as Ratchet proceeded to bang a tool against another one in ways the Draconequus couldn't be bothered to understand.
Discord cast a curious gaze towards the computer. He checked to make sure the Autobot wasn't looking, then started typing on it quietly with his claws. The screen produced a menu of sorts in green letters.
OPTIONS
SETTINGS
FILES
COMMANDS
CONTROLS
SCANNERS
The Draconequus was confused as what difference there could be between 'Commands' and 'Controls', but proceeded to click 'Files'.
RECORDS
REPORTS
PERSONNEL
He clicked 'Personnel' and profiles of all the Autobots appeared, each with 'Attributes' 'Abilities' and 'Other Notes'
Ratchet heard Discord 'Hmmmm...' at something, and turned around to offer help, "What's the matter-Gyah! You're not supposed to on there!"
Discord drew his claws from the keyboard. "I'm sorry, no one told me that..." He said, waving his lizard foot in the air sadly and looking down.
Ratchet signed. Discord seemed genuinely upset at his misbehavior. "I...see. Just...let me make sure you didn't break something." He approached the keyboard and began working. "Hmm...profiles?" He questioned, looking at the Draconequus.
"Well, yeah! I...I wanted to know more about you and your 'Bot buddies.'" Discord told him, which wasn't technically a lie.
"All right, but remember; We Autobots are a secret task force. Robots in disguise. Don't tell anyone about anything you've learned here."
"I shall not speak of you to anypon- anyone. You have my word." Discord said, holding his claw up in salute.
Ratchet smiled and gave Discord a pat on the back.
If only he could see the Draconequus' true colors.
Optimus pulled up in front of the hospital doors and June stepped out of him. "Thanks again for the ride."
"You're welcome." Optimus beeped back.
"Hey June!" The co-worker from earlier called out. "The candy buildings all disappeared! How'd you do that?"
June shrugged and smile. "It was...just something my son's science fiction club did that... went out of control."
The co-worker patted her on the back. "I hope you gave them a stern talking to!"
"Don't worry, I did!" June assured him, casting a nervous glance back towards her pick-up.
Optimus flashed one of his headlights on and off in a kind of 'winking' manner and drove off.
Miko sat with her hand clasped to her cheek as her teacher droned on about whatever it was.
She slammed her hands on her desk and widened her eyes when she saw Discord waving at her outside the classroom window. The teacher and classmates all turned their heads to her.
"You have something to say, Miko?" The teacher asked sternly.
"...No." Miko answered unsure.
"Hmm." The teacher grunted and resumed her droning.
Suddenly, everything and everybody except her turned grey and stopped...like time just got frozen.
White light flashed, and Discord was suddenly inside the classroom, "Hey!" he greeted.
"Discord? Here to bust me out of here?" Miko asked with hope.
"Oh, no, no...You saw how upset Optimus got." He shook his head before raising it up. "But! I did not come here without purpose. After school's out, bring Jack and Raf...here." He said, handing Miko a map with an 'X' on a certain spot. "We're gonna play a nice little game." He snapped his talon and disappeared in another flash of white light, color slowly returning into the classroom and it's contents.
"So, then what you do?" Bulkhead asked while making small talk with Bumblebee and Arcee in the parking lot.
"Then I slammed my back-wheel into his chest and tore a hole in it." Arcee awnsered, recounting the different ways that she had disposed of a Vehicon.
Deeb-Deeba-Bop-Wheeuuuop.
"I don't know about that, 'Bee..." Arcee responded. "Seems a tad overkill."
Beep-Beep-Click. The yellow car admitted.
A flash of white light reflected off their metal frames and Discord floated over them.
"Discord! What are you doing out here? You should be hiding!" Arcee yelled.
"Oh, psshaw...I'll go right back to hiding in your dusty base after I invite you to little game with you and your human friends over...here!" He dropped another map like the one he gave Miko onto Bumblebee's hood. "Nice little secluded area where we can play without hurting anyone."
"Errr...O...K?" Bulkhead answered for the group.
"Vunderbar!" Discord exclaimed before disappearing in another flash of white light.
"...Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?" Arcee questioned.
"Oh yeah."
Beeeeeeep!
"...And we're gonna do it anyway, aren't we?"
"Ya got that right."
The fading rays of the sunset were cast upon the cave far on the other side of town that Discord had marked.
Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead drove up to the front of it. To their surprise, Jack, Miko, and Raf were there.
"Kids, what are you doing here?" Arcee questioned transforming into robot mode.
"Discord invited us to some sort of... game here." Jack answered.
"Really? He invited us here too!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
Beep-Beep-Beeeeeeee!
"What do you mean 'Arcee totally called it', Bee?" Raf asked.
Before Bumblebee could awnser, the horn of a truck was heard, as was the sputtering of a white car.
"Jack's Mom? Optimus?" Miko exclaimed as the addressed parties stepped forward. "Did Discord invite you here too?"
"Yes." They both awnsered.
"Ratchet and Agent Fowler were invited, but had other commitments." Optimus added.
Discord appeared before them in his trademark flash. "Ahhh! You're all here! Wonderful, simply wonderful!"
Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee ready their blaster weapons. "All right, Discord! Spill, what are you playing at?"
Discord looked offended, huffed, and puffed his lips out cutely. "W-what? You think I'm up to something?...J-just because I have a different, alien way of having 'fun'? I safety-proofed this cave for you and us to all play in! I even carved little name plates for the entrance you were supposed to take!"
The assembled crowd took a second look at the cave, which, sure enough, had different sized entrances with painted wood planks hanging over them, each plank having Autobot's and human's name drawn o n them in different ways fitting to which it was referring to. For example, the one with Miko's name was messy and hard to make out, while the Bumblebee's name was blocky and looked it had been spewed out by a typewriter, and so on.
"But if you don't want to play, I guess that's fine...I'll just go rain chocolate on some...I don't know, bunnies or something." Discord said, sounding very hurt.
"Arcee?" Optimus asked.
Arcee lowered her head and weapons. "I had a gut feeling. I...I guess I jumped to a conclusion...I'm sorry, Discord. We'll play...whatever this is."
"You will?" Discord exclaimed, suddenly sounding very upbeat. "OK. Here the basic rules: There are entrances, one for each you, each leading to appropriate sized paths with identically obstacles. I've rearranged the caves so that they each end in the same spot. Whoever gets to the middle first wins!"
Optimus raised an eyebrow, "Discord? I mean no disrespect, but I do not see a cave with your name on it..."
"Well, that's because I will be...commentating." Discord answered.
"All right then. Any concerns, June?" Optimus asked. June shrugged, "I suppose if he's...'safety-proofed' it..."
"Kids?"
Jack, Miko, and Raf all shook their heads.
"Autobots...game on!" Optimus shouted, having a new desire to avoid disrespecting Discord's customs. The assembled groups split up and all entered the cave entrance designated for them.
Once they all had done so, Discord put his lion paw to his head and let out an uproarious laugh, "AAAAHAHAHAHAHA! That was way too easy!...Now, time to break them. One. By. One. HAHAAAA!"
01. Mother Knows Best
Hello! I'm June Darby. I'm a nurse at the Jasper Hospital, and the mother of Jack Darby. I recently learned that my son is involved with a alien military task force called the Autobots who are here to defend the Earth from another, less ethical, alien military task force called the Decepticons. A short time after finding, Raf, one of Jack's friends, got infected with Dark Energon. I was...not happy with the Autobots for what I felt was their lack-luster supervision. But I changed my tune quickly enough after one of them -Bumblebee- saved me and Raf from a tornado made by the awakening of a Chaos God in the Earth's core...Ehehheh.
I was torn when Jack went out to Cybertron to restore Optimus Prime's memories. On one hand, my son was going to alien planet where all sorts of hostile life could be hiding!...On the other hand, Jack, like almost every child ever born, wanted to go into space when he was young. Who would I be to tell him no?...A concerned parent, I would think! I was overjoyed when he came back through the bridge successfully. I admit, I still have some lingering hostilities toward Ratchet for how close Raf came to dy-...you know, on his watch. I may not have been as sensitive as I could've been to him about it yesterday.
Oh yeah, and now I'm walking through a cave-maze thing as part of an alien game made by this living chimera named 'Discord'. Huh. Anyways, the objective is apparently to get the center before the others...
I've run into a dead end! But...Discord said he safety-proofed it. Was he lying? Maybe there's a key or secret passage somewhere...he did say there'd be obstacles.
I put my hand to my chin as I looked around for a hint...
"Feeling stumped, June?"
I whip around to see Discord sitting on a stalagmite.
"Well...yes." I reply. "You said you safety-proofed the cave, so I presume there's some way of advancing.."
He nods his head. "Mh-hm. I won't be helping you -that would be cheating- but I'd like to chat for a bit."
"Oh?" I ask as I climb an loose rock, "About?"
"Your son." He tells me. I looked at him confused.
"It's hard, isn't it? Him being surrounded by people who can take care of him so much better then you can..."
"Well, sometimes it is..." I admit. "There's just as many thing I can still do for Jack they can't...not- not that I think that's a bad quality in them! It's just there some things that only a mother can do."
"Oh? Like?"
I flinch. He really put emphasis on that last word...almost...almost like he's mad.
"Well, uh...provide emotional support...help with his homework, and translate girl-to-boy language for him."
"Actually, I think the Autobots can do all that well enough!" he counters.
"Um...Uh...I can bake cookies!" Not the best defense. Most mothers learn how to do that.
Discord's eyebrow raised. "I think they could do that...with some trial-and-error."
I was about to argue that I already know how to back them, but he continued speaking.
"And the number one thing...When do you let Jack have any real fun?"
I gasp. I'd never keep Jack from having fun!...Unless he had some work to do, or promises to maintain...or if it involved dangerous behavior or...
Wow.
I guess I don't let him have any fun, do I?
But...But I only want I think is best!
"Poor, Poor June." Discord lamented, "Of course, I think we should go back to the cookies here. You can give Jack cookies, couldn't you? You said you knew how to make them!"
"Yeeeaahhh..." Where was he going with this?
"So you know-you know how to make them, so you can give them...If you didn't know how to make them, you couldn't give them, right?"
I wanted to say I could buy some from a bakery shop, but there was something keeping me from it...like a grip on my mouth that was somehow telling me to comply...I nod my head. "What are you saying?" the words coming from my mouth...it almost feels like someone's jerking them from it.
"What I'm saying, June, is..." he got up from his stalagmite seat and walked over to me, started to coiling his waist around my hips in a manner reminiscent of a snake. He pulls my chin and makes me look him the eye.
"Do you know what fun is?"
Of course I know what fun is! Fun is riding down a slide! Playing a video game! Sharing a laugh after you spill something on someone!
Something strange happening distracted me from my ranting. Discord's eyes...they suddenly turned into pink, blue and yellow swirls. I open my mouth to ask if he's OK, but nothing comes out. Those eyes...that spiraling pattern...it's so...very...
Preeeeeeeeeeety...
I...feel something...like grey is washing over my body...But...grey is a color, isn't it?
Oh, pffft! That. That is exactly what Discord was talking about!
Discord disappears in a flash of white light. Heh. White light. Classic!
Heeey! The dead end's cleared up now! Time to boogie on out of here and have some fun with Jack and myself!
Optimus Prime stopped in his section of the tunnel suddenly, having an unease settling into his joints. He did a double-take to make sure he didn't miss something behind him.
"...Something is very wrong."
He drew up his faceplate, shifted his arms into a blaster and blade each and resumed his walk at much slower, more cautious pace, his weapons ready and primed.
One Jump Ahead
'Sup? I'm Miko! I'm a member of a carefully selected group of humans tasked to keep watch on the Autobots!
...Okay, so maybe I'm not carefully selected...and maybe me and the others (Jack and Raf) found out about them by accident and then they took us into their care in case the Decepticons decided to go after us as...what was it? 'Person's of Interest'? Whatever.
I'm actually a exchange student here in Nevada. I'm from Toyko! Don't get me wrong, I like my host parents and all, but an afternoon riding around in a big, green, transforming jeep who can shrug off impacts that would utterly annihilate most Earth-vehicles of the same type is hard to resist for a thrill-seeking girl like me!
Yeah, OK, maybe I don't take the Decepticons seriously and get me and Jack and Raf in all sorts of trouble but...Come on! Don't you watch the old black-and-white cartoons? The bad guys never win!
Maybe I got us stuck in an alien warship full of goons who'd kills us without a second thought.
Maybe I got us stuck in a alternate dimension with a Terrorcon -That's what we call undead Decepticons, By the way.
Maybe I almost suffocated in a mining cavern because I was too eager to explore without checking the safety...
C'mon! You heard Discord, didn'tcha? The danger is half the fun!
OK, Yes. I...I almost...I...no I'm not crying! Almost lost my best friend because my 'organic' touch made some sort of data cylinder go on the freak-out and download the data into his head, and then it began to override his personality...
Everything worked out in the end, OK! Stop grilling me about it!
Oh yeah! Me and the boys are playing some sort of competition race in a cave, per instruction of this Draco...Drago...Drake...named Discord! And let me tell, that dude's 'Fun' is off the walls! I mean, chocolate rain? You don't see that everyday!
Oh yeah, and that time-stop he did in my classroom was pretty freaky...but come on! Can you IMAGINE how good that'd be for pranking? (And, more to the point, getting away with it.)
...A dead end! OH COME ON!
Better start digging...There's...nowhere to dig. It's a solid wall. AAGGGGH This means I'm gonna lose the game! And let me tell you, Miko Nakadai does NOT lose!
Uhf!
"Hahahahaha!"
Discord! What's he laughing at?
"It is just too much fun watching you struggle like that!"
"Yeah, well, maybe you could help me with this?"
"Not yet, sweetie, I want to talk with you."
Talk? I don't need talk, I need some winning!
"All the 'Bots hate you, don't they, Miko?" he asks.
What? I get on their nerves and do stupid stuff, but that doesn't mean they hate me!...Does it?
"No! Well, maybe Ratchet, but he's grumpy anyway."
"Hmmm..." Discord notes. He shifts his eyes up and down, like he's trying to X-ray me. "But didn't you almost make Bulkhead lose his mind forever?"
How does he know about that? He wasn't reading my thoughts, was he?
"Also...you almost got you, Jack, and Raf killed on the Decepticon's ship...the Nemesis, was it? Another time, you ran into a abandoned mine, against all warnings and caution."
...All true.
"Everyone would prefer if you'd just stay in school or base, as the case may be."
That's true, too...
"But no! Not Miko! Staying there would be boring! Staying safe would be boring!"
"Well, yeah!" I agree.
"But June and Ratchet would certainly appreciate it more if you did that...so tell me, Miko..." He starts floating and circling around me, like a shark.
"Would you rather be safe and appreciated, or having fun and be disrespected?" His get all wonky and colorful, and I find myself lost in them.
I feel like the color is draining out of me. I see now. No one likes an adventurous girl skipping off on her own. From now on, I won't do anything without permission.
Is...is it okay for me to go through the cave now, with the dead end being gone and all?
03. Following The Leader
Hello! I'm Jack Darby. I have the...unique privilege of being involved with the workings of a secret strike force code-named as 'The Autobots'. Sometimes I don't like it, that I'll admit. I would prefer to get to know Sierra better, but then I would put her -and myself- at risk from the Decepticons. Miko dismisses them as Saturday morning cartoon villians, but me and Raf know better. They're vicous and relentless, and the Autobots are the only thing standing between us and the 'Cons cannons.
Not to say we're useless drags. We help the Autobots with human-Autobot relations. When it comes up, at least.
We helped saved the 'Bots from Scraplets. Nasty little buggers who eat metal which, we were, of course safe from, being organic and metal-less and all.
Optimus entrusted me with the Key to Vector Sigma, and I made sure that he made the right choice.
Playing some sort of alien game in a carefully-sculpted cave, courtesy of Discord.
A dead end. Looks like a bunch of stalactite and stalagmite making some sort of closed maw.
Ehhh,...Discord did say there'd be obstacles, didn't he?
Oh hey there! Speak the name of demons, and they shall come!
"Hey Discord! What's up?" I say, pointing my fingers and raising my thumbs.
"Oh nothing much, just making sure all the participants are having fun." he tells me.
As if one cue, a hole large enough for human adult pops in the side of the tunnel. My mom comes out, but...something's wrong. She's grey. And I don't mean she got a funny-color tan. It looks like someone put her in an old black-and-white film, and her colors didn't come back when they pulled her out.
"Mom?"
She waves and smiles. "Hi Jack! Don't mind me!"
"Oh dear...I think I may have given your lovely mom here a sickness. Perhaps I should've let Ratchet check me out before deciding to play with you all." Discord tells me.
"So wait, you give my mom a sickness? How?"
"Well, I'm not sure." Discord says with concern. "But I think humans are not used to the micro bacteria Dracoequii carry on their person."
Knowing that, I back away from him.
"I'd recommend doing what she wants until me and Ratchet chat up enough to locate the problem." he continues.
I wanted to question the logic in following the whims of a sick person, but I couldn't for some reason. I walked over to my mom.
"Mom? Are you...stable? Do you need me to do anything?"
She looks at me dreamily, like she's not all there. She laughs. "Oh Jack! I just want you to have some fun! I don't any need watching after! I'm a big girl!"
"You heard her, Jack...have some Fun!" Discord growls. I feel a sharp bird-like finger on my back. My vision swims with colors. I can feel facts blurring in my head, like everything I know is a lie...
My vision goes back to normal.
I remember all the times Miko suggested tagging along with the 'Bots on their missions...
And I can't believe that I always try to talk her out of it! I mean, C'mon! I remember that time I rescued Miko from Starscream using a drill-tank! That was awesome, man!
Heeeeeey! Dead end's gone! Sweeeet.
Discord observed Raf as the boy hammered a hole in the dead end of his tunnel with a loose rock. Boy was determined...
To the point that Discord concluded letting the others break him would be more fun.
Just like he did with Twilight Sparkle.
With that, he teleported out to start on the Autobots.
04. Savages
Hey, how are ya? I'm good, myself. Name's Bulkhead. Autobot. Ex-Wrecker. Wrecker's were an Autobot strike team outside the normal chain of command, but I left it to join up with Optimus Prime's crew. That bot is a real hero. I can't begin to count the number of times he's saved someone, even if that someone didn't deserve saving.
My 'assigned' human is Miko Nakadai. Which is good for her, because she needs that extra protection my bulky hide gives with the way she runs around. Sometimes I get irritated with her, but I still love her. Wouldn't save her from the 'Cons if I didn't.
...Actually, now that I think about, the fact that she knows I'll always back her up might be contributing to the problem.
Sometimes I break stuff. Stuff Ratchet needed. But sometimes it helps, like that time I pounded an Energon Harvester Starscream was using into a useless heap.
I admit, I'm not always the sparkiest plug in the outlet. Don't need to be.
Playing a alien game that this Discord dude is introducing us to. Seems kinda fishy, but Optimus always not to reject something because it's different. Walking though a tunnel oh hey oh! That'd make a nice song, wouldn't it? Walking through the tunnnneeeeel Oh eh oh!
A dead end. Huh. I could just smash it with my fist, but that could cause disruptions in the cave and cause it to come down on someone...Eeeeeh...hmm.
Pitter-pitter.
What's that? ...It's a little girl! Looks like Sierra's friend, but a little younger then Raf. Oh...What do I do? I can't just transform and get out of here, because then she'll still be here...Got it! I'll tell I'm someone else's imaginary friend and get her out of here.
"Hey there, little gal! It's all right, don't be afraid...I'm just an imaginary friend!"
She hides behind a rock cluster. "No you're not..."
"Uh...beg pardon?"
"You're a big monster..."
What? I may be a bunch of negative stuff, but a monster is NOT one of them!
"Ahaha...and what makes you think I'm a monster, little dude?"
"You're big. You're green. And you live in a cave." She tells me.
...Okay. Since she doesn't know that I don't live in this cave, I can see what she means.
"Okay...point taken...But I'm not a monster! Monsters aren't gentle. I can be gentle. I can show you!" I offer my finger to her, and she runs away.
"Aaaah! You're trying to eat me!"
All right, so maybe that wasn't the best idea.
"Come back! I'm sorry! I won't hurt you, I swear!" I yell, throwing my hands in the air. She trips and lands on her stomach, she flipped herself over onto her back and began trying to limp further away from me.
"I won't eat you! Really!"
She looks up at me, and her eyes turn all colorful and swirly...what? What is going onnnnnnnnnn...
Ugggggggghh...my head...Um...what was I doing? Oh yeah! Trying to play this game some Discord of whatever had us play. Stupid Optimus with his accepting 'cultural differences' or whatever. Gah! Softie.
There was a dead end in my way, wasn't there? Well, Mr. Dead end, time to show you that you do not get in BULKHEAD's way!
...It's gone. Good! Probably ran to momma like a good little wimp!
05. You've Got A Friend In Me
Beep-Beep-Beeeeeeeep!
Oh. Sorry. Sometimes I forget that just because I can't talk normally, doesn't I have to think abnormally.
I'm Bumblebee, Autobot Scout. Excitecar Champion. Rafael's best friend.
My voice-box was injured back on Cybertron. Mocked Megatron for a while, he decided to keep me from mocking anyone ever again. Sometimes I get a 'phatom limb' feeling of the scratches Megatron's claws left on my neck, despite the fact Ratchet's polished and buffed them out.
Do I miss talking? No! I can still talk, just fine. I just have some limits to the choice of my language, is all.
Out of all the Autobots, I get along with others the best. What can I say? I'm a Scout and a Spy. Spies know social enginering...But I would never use my knowledge to manipulate people...Unless they're Decepticons. Those guys are always lying and double-talking other...'Do unto others as you would have done unto you' and all that.
Playing this weird game courtesy of this weird critter with a mule's head and feathery snake's body. Run into a dead end. Mmm...time to start digging! I adjusted my foot and grind the wheel in it to the ground, slowly but surely making progress.
"Oh, don't tell me you intend to do that the whole time."
Ah, Discord. You know, he said he'd be 'commentating' but everything's been silently. Guess he finally got something to say.
"You gonna commentate or what?" I ask in my usual series of beeps and dial tones.
"Oh. You pitiful thing. Unable to speak your mind at all..."
That's not true. I can speak just fine. It's listening that's the problem.
"Oh! Guess I forgot. You can talk...just not very well." He says. I'm starting to dislike this guy.
"You know, I have a proposition for you..." He snaps his talon and a present box appears out of thin air.
"If you open this box, you'll have a working voicebox again...but you'll have to quit the game...and leave your friends."
Leave my friends! You...you...
THWUMP
Ha!
PFOOM
Don't like my fists up your cheeks much, do ya? I didn't like the suggestion of leaving my friends!
Just as I'm about to give him a third punch, he catches my fist with his lion paw and snarls.
"Fine. We'll do this the hard way!" he slams his balled-up talon on top of my head and teleports away. Pink, yellow and blue fills up my vision. Facts in my head begin mixing up like a poorly made smoothie...Everything I know starts to seem like a lie. But it's not! Optimus Prime is the Leader of the Autobots and one of the greatest guys I know! He's...he's..Optimus...Agh! Names are starting to escape me! Arcee! Bulkhead! Optimus! Ratchet! HELP ME! Somebody, anybody please! Miko...Jack...June...someone...wait, wait there was one name...one more important then the others..
Raf! Raf! RAFAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!
I need to get out of here! There's this kid...name has an 'R' and an 'A' in it...Ralph? Rita? Oh whatever! The important thing is that I need to be sure he's okay!
AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH MY HEEAAAAAAAAD!
Ahhhhhhhg...eh...huh? Where am I? ...I was playing an alien game...and then I was having difficulty remembering something...something important...Ah, well, can't be that important if I can't remember it, right, eh?
A hole opens in the cave wall, and The Big O steps out of it. He wants to know why I'm grey, eh? Well, listen here Captain America! Just because YOU'RE not grey, don't go taking it out guys who ARE! EH?
That aside, Boss-bot, let's ice this Popsicle joint, eh?
06. Out There
Good afternoon...I'm Arcee, Autobot Sniper and Jack's partner. I'm not much of a talker.
My flaws? I'm impulsive and leap before I look. I guess I take after my departed partners like that.
No. I don't want to talk about it.
I'm also sensitive and touchy and I could keep a better lid on my temper. I'm quick to judge too.
I worry about Jack's safety, as does his mom. Strangely, me and her don't disagree often, despite our otherwise opposing viewpoints on things.
But! I'm reliable and loyal. I'd rather die trying to rescue them then abandon someone I care about.
Invited to play a game made this Discord guy...I don't like it. Still don't, but Optimus wants us to accept everyone, so I guess I'll do it for him.
Dead end in the cave.
I walk back a few steps and transform into my motorbike mode, meaning to charge through the wall and pound a hole in it.
"Vreeeeooooo! Vroom, vroom!" Someone mocks me. I adjust my kickstand and turn to see Discord coiled around a stalactite, hanging upside down to look at me.
"Really, Arcee? You're not even gonna try to look for a secret switch or anything?" He chides.
"Nnnope!" I tell him.
"All right, then! I like your style, straight and to the point!" He compliments me.
"Heh, yeaah...deception is the Decepticons forte." I agree, starting back up my engine.
"Jack's quite the man, isn't he?"
My engine stops. Why does he care about my relationship with Jack?
"...Yes. Yes, he is."
"He walks you home...he lets you go first (though considering the difference in your shoe size...) during walks...In fact, I heard he rescued Miko from a Decepticon using one of their own drill tanks AND blew up your archnemesis' ship with camping supplies.
"Well, her ship had a Energon leak..." I comment offhandedly.
"In face, I'd wager he won't need you to protect him anymore soon..."
What? No! He needs me!
"What are you talking about?"
"I've heard Agent Fowler talking about a new special training regime for the troops specifically designed with combating the Decepticons in mind...and I've noticed Fowler and Jack spending a lot of time together recently..." Discord tells me with a sly smile on his mouth.
"So!?" I snap, a little louder then I meant to.
"I'd imagine that if this new regime gets the 'OK' from the higher ups, then they'll be eager to have Jack join, seeing as he got so much first-hand experience."
This should make me happy. Jack, no longer needing my constant supervision? No longer having Autobot relations interfere with his personal life?...But it doesn't. Something seems wrong...A human operation, no matter how great and well-funded and well-staffed, wouldn't be able to handle the Decepticons. Not by themselves. We would've left the planet if it could.
"And then there's that lovely Sierra girl...She and Jack have something of an unfounded attraction...I'd imagine that would make you a little jealous."
Me? Jealous? ME? Of course not! I'm not Jack's girlfriend, I'm his guardian!
"You don't want him to leave you... do you, Arcee?"
For some reason, I can't give an honest answer. I wouldn't mind him and I separating if he could be safe from 'Cons...but he can't. Not right now.
On the other, he and I have grown together...facing near-death situations will do that to people.
Then, all of a sudden, I stop. It feels like someone just my brain in ice, and drained my body of all it's fuel. I feel paralized. Discord slides off his post and floats over to me, touching my left handlebar with his eagle claw. I get dizzy. My vision becomes full of pink and yellow, then turns grey. Discord teleports out before I totally regain my bearings...what was I doing?
Jack! I need to find Jack. I can't stand being separated from My Jack.
Hang on sweetie! I'm coming for you!
Raf slowly walked into a section of the cave that looked like it had multiple entrances. Like all the tunnels lead to here. It was soon made clear that they did as Miko, Jack and June all entered from other entrances (or exits, as the case may be.) The Autobots were not far behind.
"Optimus?" Raf asked nervously, adjusting his glasses. "Why's everyone so.."
"Grey?" The Prime responded, casting a look towards the irate Bulkhead.
Raf nodded, totally freaked out over how touchy-feely Arcee was getting with Jack.
Discord teleported into the epicenter of the room.
"Well, good to see you've all made it! The winner is Raf by the merest second! I do hope you all enjoyed the game, and look forward to my next one!"
"Discord, wait." Optimus interjected. "Everyone's grey."
The Dracoequus looked at Optimus bemusedly. "So?"
"They were not like that prior to playing your game."
Discord floated onto his back and wrapped his arms behind his head. "You think I had something to do with it?" He asked with a smirk.
"I don't think..." Optimus Prime answered.
He grabbed the Discord by the head with his hand and pinned the Draconequus against a cave wall.
"I know." Optimus added. He raised his free hand and converted back to it's blade form and slammed it right by Discord's head.
"Now talk! What did you do to my men and the humans?" Optimus Prime snarled.
Discord just smirked calmly. "Simple, my dear Optimus; I made them see easier paths in life."
Optimus Prime looked unconvinced.
"I will ask only once...Undo what you've done to them, please. I beseech you." Optimus Prime asked.
Discord retained his smirk. "No."
Optimus Prime let out a battle cry and raised his sword to decapitate Discord with it, but the Draconequus was quick on the draw and snapped his talons, teleporting Optimus Prime and Rafael out of the cave.
"Ooooof..." Raf groaned, barely managing to stand. "Optimus?...Are you OK?"
The Autobot Leader got to his knees. "Fine, Rafael." Optimus froze. "Though I fear that may not be the case much longer."
Raf was gonna ask what Optimus meant, but he looked around and saw Discord floating in front of them with devilishly wide smile on his face...
The purple-lit walls of an Energon mining facility and...
A horde of dumbfounded Vehicons staring directly at Optimus and himself.
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