Basketball, Robots, and Police Chases Chap. 9

Question: What would you do if you saw a giant robot, 18 maybe 20 feet at the most, and it just happened to speak the very same language you do?

A little piece of advice, try your best not to faint or scream. The robots really hate it when you scream at the top of your lungs because they will most likely shoot you into nothing but ash.

"What  the - " Myra sputtered in surprise as Erica numbly took the flash drive  from the giant being in front of them. "Uhmm... you know, I was kidding about the whole 'giant alien robot' part!"

Bluestreak  stood up to his full height. "What did you think we were? Talking cars that turned into robots or vice versa? I've heard it both ways..." He looked at the raven haired teen with furrowed ridges clearly confused.

"I don't know! Maybe I thought you were a couple of Knight Rider knock-offs except with much, much  hotter cars!" She said exasperated and still a little awed. "I didn't realize you were hot cars who turned into twenty feet plus giant robots!"

"Actually twenty feet is exaggerating." He nervously laughed. "I'm approximately sixteen point seven feet in height. The only  Bots who are that height are - "

"Same difference!" Myra cut him off throwing up her hands in exasperation. "I wasn't being specific here!"

Erica smacked her friend's arm and frowned. "Myra! We both know that was kind of harsh. Now, apologize to him!"

"Don't  worry about it. I'm used to it really." Bluestreak sheepishly replied. "And plus I really can't blame nor hate her. She's only reacting appropriately to the situation…"

Myra couldn't help but quirk a lip. "Not every day when you get kidnapped by a car that turns into a robot..."

"Hey you willingly got in and last time I checked, Blue saved your life!" The blonde snapped.

"Only  because I had cannons aimed in my direction. I mean, how would you feel  if you have a couple of creepy looking cars chasing after you?" Myra grumbled trying not to smile at her friend. She then perked when she heard an engine. Hey... I know that engine... Such a pretty sound… And sure enough, around the corner came a familiar dark cherry red sports car.

Soon  as it neared them it seamlessly shifted into a mech similar in size to Bluestreak. Not even breaking stride Mirage limped past them toward one of the hallways. "You owe me. Now I have to redo my paint job and buff every part of my body that isn't hurting!"  Mirage snapped with a flash of his blue optics. Bluestreak gave the spy  a sheepish smile and shrugged his shoulders. The red mech shook his head and then stomped away, grumbling under his breath in Italian.

Myra  perked up at the sense of the familiar language and giggled. Both Erica  and Bluestreak turned to look at the giggling teen. The dark haired girl simply smiled and pointed at Bluestreak. "He just called you 'a rambling moron who pulls him into your schemes that have the tendency to  end badly' except with more insulting words I dare say not out loud."

"Yeah, I know. I get that a lot from him." Bluestreak muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

He  looked around the empty base and then down at the two girls. Erica gazed at the large complex and saw an old, dusty green couch with a blanket and two pillows on it. She looked up at the Bluestreak who had a  large servo held out. The two girls blinked but climbed into Bluestreak's servo before he walked over to the couch and sat them down.

"You  two get some sleep. I'll come back in the morning and drop you off so we don't get caught by the Hatchet." Bluestreak spoke.

"Night!" The two girls chorused. The sniper simply waved back and left without another word.

Myra  watched Erica sit down on the couch. She was about to plant herself on the floor when she remembered her stalker from earlier. "Move it." Myra ordered frantically.

"What the hell for?"

"I hurt my back at  practice and the floor doesn't look so great for it." She replied. It wasn't an entire lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. But Myra would surely laugh about it later.

"How do you even hurt your back at swim practice?" The blonde said incredulously.

"Back strokes! DUH!"

Erica  frowned at her dark haired best friend and rolled her eyes. The girl shuffled from the couch and laid out on the floor. She shot Myra a glare. "If I find a spider next to me when I wake up, I am going to kill  you, butcher your body into tiny pieces and sell your organs on the Black Market!"

"Black Market? You really think that my brain would  be worth that much money?" The dark haired girl snickered sarcastically. Erica's blue eyes narrowed as her brow furrowed in response. Myra sat down on the lumpy couch after smiling at her friend. "Aw! Come on! But the spiders love you so much Eri!" She giggled while lying down.

The  blonde rolled her eyes and then turned her back to her friend. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Bite me. Now go to sleep before I smother you with a pillow."

"Is that any way to treat your best friend?" The dark haired girl only received a glare in reply. Myra snickered and shook her  head. "Alright, alright. I'll try my best to be good... Not making any promises though. Good night Miss Robot-Lover." Myra replied before grabbing one of the extra pillows and giving it to her friend.

Erica  snatched the pillow from her friend and placed it under her head. She flipped over to where she was staring up at the ceiling and glanced over  at Myra. The blonde opened her mouth to say something but chose not to.  The girl rolled over again and drifted off to sleep. Myra looked at her  friend's back frowning before following suit and going to sleep.

It wouldn't be until morning before the girls would be woken up to a big surprise... okay, surprises.

The  next morning, Myra grumbled something before rolling over groggily opening her eyes up. "I never remembered my bed being this, you know, lumpy..." She sat up muttering.

Erica cracked an eye open and moaned, rubbing her hand over her face. She let out a yawn and scratched  at the back of her aching neck. "Man, I had this crazy dream that we were being chased by huge robot cars and that Jesse was actually a talking robot..."

Myra yawned and stretched her arms out cracking her back. "Hmph, that's funny. I had the same dream... And that red car I  pushed into my garage was also one of those robots..."

The blonde  ran a hand through her bed-head hair and then blinked a couple of times  before staring blankly at eight giant looking robots in front of her. The girl let out a squeak. She slowly brought her hand down and then glanced over to her best friend, her voice cracking, "Please tell me that you see eight robots that really don't look all too happy to see us..."

Myra had seen them too and was now blinking owlishly too. "Yes... Yes I do see them."

Erica gulped. "So, we're not going crazy?"

"Nope," Myra replied, the fear settling in.

Arcee  was the first of the eight to speak. She glanced over to Bluestreak and  Mirage who were standing in the corridor with innocent looks on their faces. "So, you mind telling us where you picked those two up?"

"Hold up! I got a question: Who's us?" Myra frowned.

Lunarbolt was the next one to speak. "Oh, she means our team."

Mirage  shrugged his shoulders which made Arcee only glare at him harder. "Beats me, for all we know, they could have wandered into our base undetected and past security. Though I am confused on how they could have gotten past Ratchet-"

The spy was quickly cut off by Myra who had let out a scoff. "Oh, yeah right, Mr. Stalker. Like that's even true!" Myra snapped.

"Stalker?"  Ratchet repeated. The spy flinched at the sound of the medic's tone. And now he was going to be buried in wrenches for the next week. The red  and white bot looked at Mirage. "Would you care to explain that?"

Mirage  shot a glare at Myra who ignored it and answered with a smirk on her lips. "Oh! Allow me to explain... he was outside Erica's house when I was over for dinner a couple nights ago. I think he might have broken a few traffic laws too now that you mention it..."

The blonde smacked her friend on the arm who let out a yelp in pain in response. "Will you two stop it?!" Erica barked as Myra began to rub at her arm.

Lunarbolt  smiled and laughed softly. The Prime who stood next to her hid his smirk under his mask. The silver femme grinned while glancing up at her commander. "I like this human. She reminds me of myself when I was younger..." She murmured to the side.

Optimus nodded slowly. "I may have to agree with you on that." The Prime replied softly.

Myra blinked before throwing a look at her friend. "Oh yeah? And you're not surprised that your crush was a giant alien robot?  I knew that the guy was weird! He didn't eat Simple Sally's pizza! NO ONE turns down that pizza." She crossed her arms as Mirage tried not to laugh at Bluestreak.

Bumblebee began to let out a series of clicks  and whirls that imitated his laughter while Bulkhead chuckled to himself. Arcee did her best to hide her laughter as Bluestreak stammered  and tried to compose himself. Erica flushed a bright pink and glared at  Myra.

The dark haired girl held up her hands in surrender. "I hate you so much right now." The blonde muttered.

Myra innocently looked at her nails trying her best not to grin. "Humph just saying..."

Erica  rolled her eyes and then stared up at Optimus. "Okay, just out of curiosity and wondering what the hell I am actually seeing... What exactly are you guys?"

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron," The largest being replied smoothly.

Lunarbolt  folded her arms over her chest and smiled down at Erica. "But we like to be called 'Autobots'. Come to think of it, that really is a mouthful." The British Autobot replied with a grin. "I haven't the foggiest idea of why we even say that."

Erica blinked a few times at the femme and then pointed at her. "You're British? You can actually speak in a British accent? Is that even possible?" The silver femme nodded.

"Oh back on our planet, Cybertron, I grew up in Praxus. A city state that had much wealth, high standards and a police force that put even Iacon's to shame. No one got in or out without a probable cause. But as for the accent, I sort of grew attached to it back home, which is similar to the UK now that you mention it… It's such a lovely accent in my opinion."

Myra blinked and cocked her head sideways. "That's... actually pretty cool. Huh, robots with accents. Who knew?" The raven haired then looked at the red mech or "Mr. Stalker" as she knew him as. "And I'm guessing you landed in Italy or something?"

Mirage  tilted his head back and tapped at his chin. "More of the outskirts of Rome... I landed in a vineyard. The owners were not particularly happy about that. I drove away and they started to fling tomatoes at me... I was scrubbing stains off my paint job for the next two weeks."

Myra snickered. "Yeah... Italians are known for loving their sauce..."

"And wine. They certainly love their wine." Mirage agreed.

Myra snickered again but stopped as Erica gave her a weird look. "What?!"

Erica  stared blankly at her best friend and sighed. "I am just amazed at the fact that you know all of this stuff and yet you refuse to stay awake in  History." Erica responded with a shake of her head.

"I refuse to stay awake in History 'cause Ms. Riker is the worst teacher! She practically sends kids to sleep!" Myra huffed while crossing her arms. "And I can't help it if I have a lot of Italians in my family..."

The  blonde ignored her friend's reply with a roll of her blue eyes. Erica turned back towards the largest of the group. "Wait, so if you guys are the good guys, then who was chasing us last night?"

Bluestreak snorted as Arcee shot him a glare. "You mean to say that Decepticons were chasing after you last night? And you still didn't call for back-up?!" The blue femme screeched, smacking the sniper on the arm.

The  gray Autobot yelped. "Hey! I only asked Raj to come bail me out! The Cons were seriously riding up on my bumper and didn't look all too happy  to see me!"

Mirage faltered as Arcee's glare turned on him . "Hey  I handled it! I was practically almost to the next county before I doubled back and lost them!"

"You put two human girls in danger!" The femme barked. She glowered at Bluestreak and Mirage. "Are you two stupid or something? The both of you could have gotten them killed last night!"

Mirage put his hands up in defense and began to back up from the advancing femme.

"Arcee,  enough." The Prime rumbled. The blue femme paused and took a few steps back as the red and blue mech strode forward. Erica and Myra watched in awe at the giant Autobot walked over to Mirage and Bluestreak with a fierce look in his optics. "Now, both of you must take the girls home and keep a watchful eye on them. They are your responsibility now. Is that understood?"

"We have to watch them!?" Mirage said in disbelief.

Lunarbolt  spoke up next. "You are both lucky to receive that punishment. I would have given you both something much worse." The silver femme murmured.

Mirage shot her a look. "Not helping."

"Oh  you know that I'm your favorite." The femme grinned wickedly. The Prime  shot the lieutenant a look which immediately cut her off as she frowned. "You always take the fun out of things, Optimus."

Mirage grumbled something and glared at Myra who was staring at him. "What?!"

"Guess  this means that you're stuck in that lovely garage of mine." Myra smirked as she began to chuckle mischievously. Erica rolled her eyes again at her friend's antics and watched as Mirage's optic twitched.

He  glared daggers at her and took a giant step forward. His lips curled up  into a snarl. "Not on your life am I going to stay in that thrice damned bottom of the Pit you call your garage!"

"Mirage!" Ratchet scolded. The medic snatched up one of his wrenches and promptly smacked the spy upside the helm.

Mirage yelped. "Merda! That hurt you fragger!" Myra started giggling uncontrollably at the sight.

"ENOUGH!"  The Prime roared. The two girls and the Autobots grew silent at the booming voice of the Autobot commander. The red and blue mech sharply turned to the spy and sniper. "You may not like my orders but you do have to follow them. I expect you both here in the morning with a progress report." He gave both of them stern looks that meant no arguments were to be given in the return. "And if either one of you is late, I will personally find you myself. Am I clear?"

"But..." Mirage started before sighing and saluting him. "Yes sir."

Bluestreak nodded slowly. "Yes sir."

Erica  exchanged a glance with Myra. "Maybe it is best we go home. I still have left over cupcakes from Thursday that I'm craving for." The blonde murmured. The gray Autobot transformed into the Mustang and propped the driver's side door open. Erica walked over to the Mustang and climbed into the car, leaning against the seat.

"Laters then..." Myra was about to join her friend when a large hand blocked her off. "Hey!" She glared up at Mirage who rolled his optics before lifting his hand and transforming into his own alt. "I believe you said you hated Fords..."

Myra frowned. "Alright, Mr. Stalker. But you'll have to take me out first before taking me home."

"Just get in before I leave you stranded in a random desert." He grumbled while popping the door open.

Myra  narrowed her eyes and climbed into the car. She then propped her feet up on the dash and leaned back against the seat. "Is this the part where  I say, 'Giddy up, Robot!' or something?"

The seat suddenly shot backward. "First rule of driving with me: Feet OFF the dashboard!"

Myra  let out a shriek as she fell before scrambling back up to where her knees were pressed up against her chest. The girl stared at the dashboard and then gave it a mock-salute. "Yes sir, Captain McGrumpy Bolts."

He grumbled something in Italian before driving off toward  the entrance with Bluestreak taking the lead. The rest of the Autobots watched as the two drove off, tires screeching in the distance.

"So..."  Bulkhead spoke, breaking the silence. "What happens if Fowler finds out  about the stunt they pulled last night?" Bumblebee let out a few whirls  in response to his friend's comment.

Lunarbolt glanced up at the Prime. "How much trouble do you think we will be in?"

"PRIME!"

Optimus  sighed with a small slump of his broad shoulders. "We are about to find  out." The large Prime went up to the monitor and answered the agent's call. "Yes, Agent Fowler?"

The man's voice sounded angry and not pleased at the slightest. "You  mind explaining why my boss is already dogging on me about some high-speed police chase in Jasper that happened last night? The two cars  that were involved seemed to have the same description as two of your own. Got an explanation for that, Prime?" Fowler barked through the speaker.

The  red and blue mech sighed again. "I understand that two of my Autobots were being pursued by Decepticons and did their job in leading the Vehicons away from Jasper. I can already assure you that their actions from last night will not go unpunished, Agent Fowler."

There was a snort through the speaker. "Yeah,  well, I'll be at the base in about an hour. And hopefully no Con is gonna bother me either. There's a couple of things I want to discuss with you and it's better done in person. Fowler out." The conversation ended with Fowler's last statement and his picture being cut off from the screen.

Optimus  turned back to his team and began to walk away towards his quarters. He  paused in his stride and then turned around. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, I need you three to watch over the children until further notice while I deal with matters at hand." The Prime ordered. His three subordinates nodded and began to prepare themselves to be ground bridged  by Ratchet. The larger mech then retreated to his quarters, closing the  door behind him.

There was the eerie sound of silence in the base  as Ratchet set up the ground bridge and sent the three Autobots on their way. Lunarbolt stayed behind, watching her fellow teammates pass through portal and disappear as the greenish and white waves swallowed them up. Ratchet glanced over at the silent femme who was looking over at the Prime's door. The medic walked over to the medical bay and then turned to look at Lunarbolt.

"Is something on your mind, Lunarbolt?" Ratchet questioned.

The  silver femme shook from her reverie. "No, it's nothing." Lunarbolt spoke softly. She heard the medic huff from behind her and turn back to his work. The femme strolled down the hallway before going up to the Prime's door and quietly rapped on the door. The silver Autobot took a step back as the sound of heavy footfalls approached the metal door. Lunarbolt watched as the door opened to reveal the great Prime, optics soft and his iconic face-mask up.

"Is something wrong, Lunarbolt?" The mech asked the smaller femme.

Lunarbolt  shook her head. "No, I was just wondering if you would like to go out on a drive with me. Bulkhead told me that it's one way to clear a clogged processor." The femme spoke. Optimus retracted his face-mask as a  small smile appeared on his lips. He responded with a simple nod and motioned for the femme to lead. Lunarbolt and the Prime walked out of the hallway and into the main room where Ratchet was continuing to work idly on his projects.

Optimus paused and turned back to the medic who had his head down and focused intently on his project. "Ratchet, watch the base. I will comm. you when we are ready to be bridged back. And if Agent Fowler calls again - "

Lunarbolt quickly cut in with a  grin on her face. "Tell him that the Prime's busy and to come back later!" The British Autobot called out. The Prime sent the lieutenant a stern look who in turn gave him a roll of the optics.

Ratchet waved off the two Autobots with his servo, motioning for them to leave. "I intend to. Now go! I need peace, quiet, and no distractions! That includes you two!"

Lunarbolt sent the medic a mock salute before transforming and revving her engine. Optimus did the same and then rolled out of the base, leaving the medic to hear the sound of a rumbling engine. Ratchet smirked and then caught himself shaking his helm and chuckling. He surveyed his surroundings and sighed to himself.

"A medic could get use to peace and quiet like this..."

"PRIME!"

Ratchet slumped. "And now it's ruined."