The pale moonlight danced over the desert sands as silver haired woman pulled her jacket closer to her and ran her fingers through her hair.
"Penny for your thoughts, Light." A red haired young man said sitting beside her.
"It's Hikari, when I'm in human form. Just like you're Blake and not Blaster. And I was just contemplating the moon. It reminds me of my past." She sighed wistfully. "Of someone I cared about. Another thing I have to attend to on my trip back home."
Blake leaned over and wrapped his arms gently around Hikari. "I want you to know that you're not alone in this. Me and Grim are in between worlds too, thanks to that nut job industrialist who gave us these forms. At least Washuu chan was trying to give you that form."
"Yeah, I know. It's just... It's not right. I mean, I didn't want my old body, because it's not really my body anymore but this one doesn't feel right either."
"Shhh." Blake stroked her arm softly. "I know it's hard. Hey, when was the last time you ate anything?"
Hikari's stomach rumbled quietly. "I guess I could stand to eat something."
Blake patted himself down and produced a battered brown leather wallet. "Tell you what, I'll see if one of the others will run me into town and I'll bring back something good. Any thing in particular you want?" He asked, counting out a few battered bills.
"Surprise me." She said.
"All right. I left Wing Jammer on guard, just in case Laserbeak shows up. I'll be back soon." Hikari nodded and Blake waved as he headed inside.
"Hey Bumblebee, can you give me a lift into town?" He said craning his neck
"Yeah, I guess so, Blaster. But it sure is weird having you ride along as a human."
"Actually, I'll take you." Prime rumbled. "I'd like to ask you a few things about your travels."
"Sure thing, Prime." Blake said nervously as Prime transformed. I really don't think I'm gonna like this. He thought, scrambling inside.
***
Starscream flew across the room only to be stopped by impacting the metal wall hard.
"You idiot!" Megatron scowled, stalking across the room. "I am on the cusp of finally gathering enough energy to escape this wretched world, and you go and ruin it! I specifically ordered you to watch the Autobots, not attack them!"
"But mighty Megatron, we didn't know she was an autobot until after we started our attack!" Starscream wailed scrambling away from his infuriated commander.
"He's full of it. She's got the Autobot insignia right on her side." Thrust said.
"Ah yes. The mysterious new triple changer who so thoroughly decimated my best fighters. Tell me Skywarp, what really happened?"
Skywarp, who had leaned against the wall until this point straightened and spoke. "Most of the injuries were inflicted by friendly fire and the Aerialbots, Megatron."
"So there was no autobot fighter." Megatron grinned leveling his cannon at Starscream's head.
"I didn't say that, Megatron. She was the one who brought down Starscream."
"She did all that, alone?" Megatron paused looking at the damage.
"Yes sir. Her jet form is more advanced than anything I've seen to date." Skywarp said.
"Interesting. Soundwave! Dispatch Laserbeak at once! I must know more about this new Autobot."
***
"I'm curious as to how you're able to take human form." Prime asked as they rolled down the highway.
"Six months into the journey, we got dropped into the same world but in different places. Two giant robots attract quite a lot of attention, especially in a metropolitan area. An industrialist named Luthor graciously offered to help us blend in."
"You make it sound like he wasn't being entirely forthright." Prime rumbled.
"He wasn't." Blake growled. "All he wanted was our Cybertronian bodies."
"I don't understand." Prime said in bewilderment.
"The only reason Luthor helped us gain these bioforms was so he could reverse the procedure and gain the formidable power of our robotic bodies. But there are limits."
"Such as?"
"The biggest one is that we can only stay in these forms for 72 consecutive hours. After that we have to spend at least 12 hours in our Cybertronian bodies, before we can resume using our human bodies. Also, these bodies are human, with all their limits and abilities. Emotions, hormone surges, depression... It's very interesting."
"I'd imagine so." Prime said. "Blaster-"
"Blake, Prime. I know it may not seem like much, but in human form, we have human names. I'm Blake, Light Gate is Hikari, and Gimlock is Grant."
"Blake... can we trust Light Gate?"
"I don't like where this going Optimus." Blake said. "Tell me exactly what brought this on."
***
While Blake and Prime rolled out of the base, Grimlock ambled out and sat beside Hikari. "What happened with you and Skywarp today?"
"I thought we fixed that lack of subtlety problem." Hikari said, blowing clouds into the rapidly cooling night air.
"Spike told me about your battle today, and I told Prime. Now you're dodging the question."
"You know his power rectifier resonates with mine. It's a little stronger now that I'm home. No big deal."
"Hikari... could you shoot him down if you had to?"
Rather than answer, Hikari turned her emerald eyes to the moonlit sand. "I didn't know we were in the habit of destroying any Decepticon we encounter, Grimlock."
"Hikari, you know it's not like that. Prime is concerned that your emotional involvement could be a tactical hindrance."
"Emotional involvement?" Hikari repeated dully. "I've got more emotion involvement with you and Blaster than Skywarp. Does that mean we shouldn't go into battle together?"
"Look, all I'm saying is honorable as Skywarp may be, he's still a Decepticon, and there are those around him who have no compunctions about using him to get to you. Just be careful and keep your head about you."
"Sure thing big brother." She said with a reassuring smile.
A sudden cacophony of screams filled the air as the night sky lit up with a rapid exchange of laser fire.
"Looks like Laserbeak finally decided to show up." Blake said as he and the other Autobots came out to see what the disturbance was.
"Yeah. Wing Jammer is giving him a good thrashing." Hikari smiled, looking up at the battle. "Wing Jammer is a avian cassette, based on Laserbeak's design." She said by way of explanation His primary function is jamming outgoing communications."
"His primary joy is destroying meddling little snoops like Laserbeak and Ravage." Blake said settling the bag with the food on one arm as he reached inside his jacket settling his hand on the small laser pistol he kept holstered there.
Hikari's hand drifted to the card case at her hip, then changed her mind and dropped it to the sword laying by her side. "Wing! Head's up!" With that she drew back and cast the sword forward with a cry of "Strike Raid!"
The two avian cassettes separated as the sword flew through the air with a deadly buzzsaw whine, tearing deeply into the underside of Laserbeak's wing before snapping back and scoring an impressive gash in the Decepticon spy's body forcing him to retreat into the night.
"You did good, Wing." Hikari smirked catching her sword as the silver and black avian mech settled on her outstretched arm. "You did real good." She smiled as the mech nuzzled her cheeks. "What did you get us good Blake?"
"Italian sandwiches." Blake said, spreading a gray blanket out as Hikari started to chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"I'm a Cybertronian, in a Japanese body, eating Italian sandwiches, in an American desert. If that doesn't make me multicultural, I don't know what does."
Blake pondered this as his lips twitched into a smile before the cool night air was filled with human laughter.
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(Posted Mon, 10 Jan 2005 01:19)
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