Meanwhile, Optimus along with Emily and Ratchet were almost at the town premises when Emily couldn't help but feel saddened and upset about what happened. She started to feel guilty about the fact that she and Jack fought and that if something bad happened to him and the only thing they did before it happened was argue she wouldn't be able to forgive herself. She was thinking back about what Optimus told her when he saw her preoccupation and decided to help her, back at the mine both of them talked about recent events that occurred.
Flashback Starts;
"What troubles you, Emily?" Optimus asked as he noticed that Emily seemed to space out in a trance while passing one of the energon crystals to Ratchet.
She snapped out of her trance when he said her name as she looked up to him.
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. My head's in the cloud." Emily said as she shook her head to clear her thoughts but Optimus could see that she was thinking something and couldn't help but feel worried and concerned.
"I can see that your own thoughts are keeping you from our current task. What is it?" He asked as he kneeled down to talk to her as Ratchet saw that and decided to give the two some privacy.
"Well... I can't stop thinking about some stuff that's been happening these past couple of days." She began as Optimus tilted his head a little at that.
"What kind of events might that be?" He asked her and she took that as a sign to continue.
"Ah, I should probably tell you this and I know it might come as a shock but you deserve to know. Jack and Arcee have been racing." Emily admitted as Optimus blinked in surprise at that but felt disappointed at what Jack and Arcee did. He specifically made the rules to keep them safe.
"What do you mean racing?" He asked to make sure as Emily sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Well, you see there was a guy named Vince. A jerk in school. When Arcee came to meet us at our job, Vince was there. He started following us and then just like that, he challenged Jack to race. Me and Arcee told him that racing was against the rule. But then Vince started insulting Arcee, treating her like a piece of junk. She got so mad that she agreed to race the jerk and I agreed to. That's how I sprained my ankle." Emily explained to him what really happened yesterday as Optimus couldn't help but feel saddened at the thought of Emily getting hurt again.
"Is that the reason why you were mad?" He asked and Emily nodded. She felt bad not greeting him like she always does everytime they see each other but she was mad at that time, she wasn't in the mood.
"Yes and that's also why I came here to help you. Me and Jack fought and I figured that I needed something to ease my mind." Emily said as she picked up a small piece of Energon from the ground and put it in her pocket.
"It would seem that this whole situation is bothering you." Optimus said as he pieced it together as Emily nodded with a soft sigh.
"A lot. You see, before leaving, Jack asked Raf if he could borrow Bumblebee for a second race. Since Arcee had to go on patrol, she left me in charge. Naturally I said no because it was dangerous and I didn't want him to get hurt. He promised me that he would come back in one piece but I was afraid that after this race he would start developing a bad habit. So I felt that it was my job to knock some sense into him. Jack made it pretty clear that since I'm not Arcee or his mother it wasn't my job to do so. Of all the things, we yelled at each other. That's the one thing that hurts me more. To me Jack is like a brother. He's responsible, mature and he's always there for others. I know that dealing with a bully like Vince can be hard. It can be really hard. I still remember the times where the other kids made fun of me. All of the anger, the suffering. It's too much and one day you just... do something wrong. To think that up until yesterday I never tried to get even with someone like that. In a way, I knew that standing up didn't mean for me to get out there and knock some heads. By doing so, I would be turning into those who teased me during my whole life. I was afraid that Jack would change into something he wasn't and I wanted him to remember what it felt like. So much for helping a friend." Emily said as she wiped some tears that formed in her eyes but Optimus used one of his digits to gently lift her head up so they could look at each other optic to eye as he smiled gently.
"Do not be too hard on yourself. Jack values your help and friendship and that of all of those around him. And I'm sure that he didn't mean what he said earlier. Your friendship is too strong to ever be broken. He's young and has many things to learn. Whenever I see Jack growing more and more, he reminds me of myself." Optimus said as he wipes a stray tear that fell as Emily was feeling a lot better now as she sniffs a little.
"Wow... I never would've thought of that. Sorry for not following your rules." Emily said before apologizing softly as Optimus couldn't help but chuckle at that. Rules can be broken but they can learn from their mistakes.
"I accept your apology and thank you for your honesty." Optimus told her with a smile as she smiled back.
"Thanks for helping me." She said with a soft smile before she felt a blush crept up her cheeks.
"It... really means a lot to me." She told him shyly as he nodded.
"It's always a pleasure to help someone in need." Optimus said as he offered his servo as Emily got on his servo as he lifted her up.
"Yeah. So you once were like Jack?" She then asked curiously since he said that Jack reminded Optimus of himself before.
"Yes. But that was a long time ago." He said as he set her on his shoulder plate as they resumed their work as Emily wondered what Optimus was like before.
Flashback Ends;
Optimus glanced at his passenger through the rearview mirror and saw that Emily was looking a little worried and became concerned.
"Don't worry, Emily. Everything will be alright." He reassured her as she sighed.
"I know it will. It has to. If something bad happens to Jack and the last thing we did was argue, I would never be able to forgive myself and I'm not gonna lose a friend tonight." Emily said and she could have sworn that the seatbelt was squeezing her gently in comfort.
"We're entering the town's premises. I'm trying to establish contact with the others but no one is answering. Radio must be dead." Ratchet said through the radio before Emily took out her phone. If the radio isn't working maybe the cell phones might work.
"I'll call Jack." She said as she dialed his number and it started to ring.
Meanwhile, Jack went to see how the others were doing since he didn't hear any fighting. When he got there, he saw that everyone was down for the count with injuries.
"Oh no." He muttered before he heard his phone ringing.
He takes his phone out of his pocket and sees that it was Emily calling him just in the nick of time much to his relief. He answers the call quickly.
"Emily." Jack answered in relief.
"Jack. Oh, thank goodness you're there. You okay?" She asked as Jack looked at the others worriedly.
"I'm fine. But we need help. The others are down." Jack explained.
Somewhere in town, Optimus spoke up to Ratchet after hearing that.
"Ratchet, can you locate the others' position?" Optimus asked as Ratchet turned on his scanner.
"Sure thing." He said before he detected five Autobot signals. Four not far from where they are right now and one was on the move as it was following a Decepticon signal.
"I've detected four signals. They're not too far from where we are. One is on the move and following a Decepticon signal." He informed them.
At the place where the others were down, Jack went to check if they were okay and from the sound of their groans, they were just in pain.
"That must be Arcee. She went after Knock Out who had a hostage." Jack answered after hearing the response.
Somewhere in town, Emily blinked in shock and confusion. Knock Out has a what?
"A human hostage? Who?" Emily asked and she could have sworn that Jack cringed.
"I would rather not tell you. Just in case." He told her as Optimus knew that they had to act quickly.
"We must save the hostage. Ratchet, go join Jack and help the others. We will go after Arcee and Knock Out." Optimus ordered as Ratchet would have nodded to that.
"Roger that." He said as they prepared to go to their assigned task.
"Jack, listen. Ratchet is going to join you. Stay where you are and be careful." Emily said as Jack must've nodded on the other end.
"Okay. I'll wait right here. Be careful." Jack said as Emily smiled softly.
"You too." She said before they both hang up.
"Optimus, you must head north if you're to catch Knock Out and help Arcee." Ratchet told him as Optimus got the location of Arcee.
"Understood." He said as they both went in different directions.
"Good luck." He said as Ratch keeps going forward while Optimus takes the next exit to the highway to help Arcee.
Meanwhile, Jack was waiting for Ratchet to come and when he was finally there and transformed, he saw that the others were all knocked down hard as he turned to Jack as he went to Bulkhead first and started his treatment.
"What happened?" He asked as Jack watched.
"I don't know. I think... there was a fight. Arcee had left me there. And... and when there was no more fighting sound, I came to check upon them and I found them like this." Jack said as he gestured to the injuries as Ratchet inspected one of the injuries and knew that they weren't done by any Decepticon.
"This wasn't done by an ordinary Decepticon." Ratchet said as he continued to help the others.
"I don't think it was a con. I heard engine noises." Jack said as Ratchet glanced at him in confusion.
"Engine noises? Nevermind that. We need to take care of them quickly." Ratchet asked in confusion before shaking his helm as Jack nodded and assisted Ratchet to the best of his ability.
When Ratchet was checking on the others, three of them woke up as they were a little shocked about what happened earlier.
"Ow man... The last time I got knocked down, I ended up saving the one who did." Bulkhead said as he rubbed his helm.
"My head hurts." Smokescreen said as he held his helm in his servos as he could still feel his processor hurting.
"Whoever that clown was, I just hope that I can find him to get some payback." Cliffjumper said as he crossed his arms as he was a little mad at the one who beat them.
"Looks like they're all okay." Jack said with a sigh of relief but knew that they would need proper treatment once they were back at the base.
"Not Bumblebee." Ratchet said in worry as Jack became concerned as Bumblebee wasn't waking up.
"Oh man." Jack muttered as he watched Ratchet scanned Bumblebee to see if he was okay.
"Is he okay?" Jack asked worriedly as Ratchet finished his scanning and reassured the human teen.
"He will be fine. He got hit pretty hard." Ratchet said as he looked at Bumblebee worriedly.
While Bee was down, the scout was having dreams. Flashbacks of his past life back on Cybertron. He dreamt about the war, the battles, the day that he lost his box voice and about someone who caused him a lot of pain back then on Tyger Pax. The flashback and the dream ended when Bumblebee heard Ratchet's voice calling him as he slowly online his optics.
"Bumblebee, Bumblebee. Wake up." Ratchet said as Bumblebee fully online his optics but whirred in pain as his processor was hurting like a ton of bricks hit his helm.
"Think Primus, you're all okay." Ratchet said in relief as Smokescreen huffed a little.
"Speak for yourself. You're not the one who got knocked down." Smokescreen said once his helm wasn't threatening to kill him.
"Do you have any idea of who did this to you?" Ratchet asked them.
"We sure do, Ratchet. A car." Cliffjumper admitted as Ratchet gave him a confused look. A car did this to them?
"A car? That is ridiculous. How could a simple car have defeated all of you?" Ratchet said in confusion as he found it strange.
"It was a car. But not an ordinary one. You should've seen it, Ratchet. That car was moving like crazy. It took us all down one by one." Smokescreen explained as the others nodded.
"Starting with me." Cliffjumper said.
"To think this car sent me flying to the wall and hit me pretty hard." Bulkhead said.
"Not even Bee and I could stop it." Smokescreen said as Bumblebee looked worried and saddened by this as he whirred softly in agreement.
"That must be the weird engine car I heard earlier. If I show you a pic of the car, would you recognize it?" Jack asked as he was hoping that a picture might help them.
"I sure would." Smokescreen nodded.
"Here check this. I took a picture of it when it was leaving the place."
A flashback starts showing Jack taking a picture of the police car who left the place that he found because he didn't see any police car around the area so he took a picture just out of precaution. The flashback ends with Jack showing the picture to the others as Smokescreen recognize it
"That's the one." Smokescreen pointed.
"It looks like a police car." Cliffjumper agreed since he didn't get a quick glimpse of the one that attacked him since he was knocked down.
"I think there was a number in the front. 364 I think." Bulkhead said as he knew that he saw a serial number on it before.
"Wasn't it 463?" Smokescreen wondered since he saw the serial number as well.
"It was 643." Jack corrected them.
"I'm pretty sure it was 346." Cliffjumper said as he didn't know.
"Hey, guys, didn't you hear what I said? The serial number was 643. I saw it before taking the picture and think we can see it." Jack said as he waved his phone at them.
Jack then checks the picture and zooms it to have a closer look at the serial number and it was 643.
"Yes. The serial number is 643. It means we can check on the police database about the vehicle." Jack said before Bumblebee whirred and beeps saying that the serial number won't do any good as he clenched his servos tightly into fists as they looked at him in confusion.
"It won't do any good? Why not?" Ratchet wondered in confusion.
Bumblebee then whirred to explain that before he got hit, the car said something as it told him he was too slow which shock them a little
"The car talked? That's impossible." Jack said in shock once he made sure to try and understand Bumblebee a little and he was able to understand a bit of what Bee said.
"Not unless it's a Cybertronian." Ratchet said slowly as he guessed that the only way for the others to get beaten up is for a Cybertronian to do it.
"The guy is surely a Con." Bulkhead said as he guessed.
"We'll figure this out later. Right now, Optimus needs our immediate assistance. Let's roll out." Ratchet said as they all nodded before transforming except for a certain scout who was deep in his own thoughts.
"Bumblebee, didn't you hear me? Optimus needs assistance, we must go now." Ratchet said as he turned to Bumblebee who snapped out of his thoughts and transformed as well.
Before leaving, Smokescreen opens his door so Jack can get in since Arcee wasn't present at the moment.
"Hop in, kid. Arcee is gonna kill me if you don't come with us." Smokescreen said as Jack nodded.
"You have no idea." He said before getting in Smokescreen who closed the door as he buckled the seatbelt and they all drove out of the place to help Arcee and Optimus catch Knock Out and save Vince.
Meanwhile somewhere on the highway, Arcee was struggling to catch up to Knock Out before he could escape.
"Is this all you got? I've seen better vehicles drive faster than you." Knock Out taunted as Arcee gritted her dentas at that.
"Come on, come on." She muttered as she started to accelerate as she was catching up slowly to Knock Out.
"Not today." He scoffed and accelerated and left Arcee in the dust behind.
"Eat my dust." Knock Out laughed at her as she cursed.
"Scrap. I can't catch him on my own." Arcee cursed before turning her comm-link into contact with the others since they were taking so long.
"Hey, guys. I don't know what's going on right now but I could use some help here." Arcee said but the person who answered almost took her by surprise.
"Looks like we got here just in the nick of time." It was Emily as Arcee was surprised but most of all relieved to hear from her.
"Emily?" Arcee asked to be sure only for her answer was a plasma shot being heard and launched somewhere.
The shot almost hit Knock Out from the rear. It didn't hit him directly but it almost made him lose control of his driving.
"What the?!" Knock Out exclaimed in shock and surprise before the sound of a truck horn was heard and driving up to them was a sight for sore eyes for Arcee.
It was Optimus with Emily standing on top of his roof as Emily was shooting a couple of plasma shots and making Knock Out lose control. The loss of control made him go off road and get stuck in a ridge. Optimus then stopped as Emily got off him so he could transform and after that, he lowered his servo down so Emily would climb on as Arcee stopped by them as she was relieved and happy to see them both.
"Optimus, Knock Out has a hostage." Arcee told him as he nodded with his battle mask on as Emily climbed his arm and held on.
"Understood." He said as he approached Knock Out.
Optimus grabbed Knock Out before lifting him up in the air and ripped his left door open, making him cry out in pain and surprise. Emily started to walk Optimus' arm carefully towards the opened part and got inside to save the hostage but she was surprised to see it was Vince. Now she understood why Jack didn't tell her who the hostage was.
"Vince? No wonder Jack didn't tell me who it was." Emily said before grabbing the seatbelt and unwrapping it around Vince and freeing him as she carried him out of Knock Out's card mode and out of danger and onto Optimus' servo.
Optimus held both Emily and Vince gently in his servo as he tossed Knock Out from them as the red con suddenly transformed as he looked at the damage that was done to him.
"Look at what you did! You ruined my door! Do you know how hard it is to replace this?!" Knock Out exclaimed as he glared at the Prime, Femme and human but the rest of the team all arrived just in time and transformed quickly and got ready in case of a possible fight.
Seeing how he's outnumbered, Knock Out leaves the place and at last Vince is safe and in one piece also out of danger. When Jack saw he was okay, he came out of Smokescreen as he was glad to see that Vince was okay but knew that it was all his fault to begin with.
"Optimus, I want you to know that all of this was my fault." Jack said as Optimus turned to him before looking at the ginger haired male teen in his servo with Emily who looked up to him.
"We must get this boy to safety immediately. The explanations can come later, from all of you." Optimus said as he said the last parts with a stern tone.
Everyone was a little nervous because they knew they would get lectured by Optimus later on.
"Let me handle this. It's the least I can do. But I'll need Smokescreen to come with me and keep appearances." Jack said as he stepped forward as Optimus nodded.
"Very well." He said as he lowered his servo to the ground as Smokescreen drove up to them as Emily helped Jack get Vince off Optimus' servo as she looked up to him.
"I'll go with him. Just to make sure that nothing happens." Emily said as Optimus nodded to show that he agreed to that.
A few minutes later, Emily and Jack were driving with Vince who was just waking up after getting knocked out. He felt a little confused about what happened earlier as his memory was a little fuzzy.
"Huh... Darby? How did... ? What happened?" Vince asked in confusion as he held his head.
"Some guys jumped you under the bridge. They... tossed you into their trunk. I think it must've been some kind of initiation." Jack said as he made a cover story to save the secret that the Autobots saved his life.
"Really? I don't remember much." Vince said as he blinked in surprise as all he could remember was being grabbed and then nothing.
"Doesn't surprise me. You got hit pretty hard on the head. I tried to catch up with them to save you but I had lost track of them. Thank Emily for being here now." Jack said as he shrugged before motioning his head to the back seat as Vince blinked in surprise.
"What?" He asked in confusion before checking the back seats and was surprised to see Emily sitting there and checking her phone.
"You?" He said in shock and surprise as Emily glanced at him before putting her phone away.
"Yeah, me." She said as she crossed her arms.
"It might surprise you but Emily is the one who found you knocked out on the side of the road. Seeing how you needed help, she called me and that's how you got there." Jack explained as Emily knew that he was using a cover story as she gave Vince a look.
"Just so you know I don't wanna hear you say thank you. But I would appreciate an apology." Emily stated as Vince looked confused.
"For what?" He asked as Emily rolled her eyes.
"For cheating on the race yesterday. Remember?" She said as Vince felt his eyes widened in shock and surprise.
"Oh... you know about that?" He asked as Emily nodded. She was really feeling angry at Vince right now but an apology is needed.
"You bet I know. Jack told me all about it. And right now I'm counting down to 1 before I give you a good beating." Emily stated as she cracked her knuckles as Vince gulped at that as Jack and Smokescreen almost laughed but Jack had to stop her before she could even start.
"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, Emily, just... let the guy apologize." Jack said as he glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
"Okay, fine I'll do it. I'm sorry." Vince said quickly but it didn't sound like he meant it and Emily was getting ready to punch his face.
"Not like that. Give me a real apology. And make it fast. You got 5 seconds left." Emily said as Vince gulped at that.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry that I cheated on that race. It was a cowardly act. And I won't do it again. I promise." Vince said quickly as a huge silence settled in the car as Emily was satisfied at that.
"It sounded like you mean. And yet I still can't trust your words. But at least you apologized. Next time don't expect us to save you again." Emily said as Vince rolled his eyes at her.
"Like that will be happening." He grumbled as they neared the bridge.
"Oh, look, we're here." Jack said before stopping. Vince gets out of the passenger seat as Emily moves from the back seats to the passenger side.
"Look, Vince. I gotta be honest. With what I saw tonight, I really don't think racing is my thing." Jack said as he looked at Vince.
"Yeah. And believe me, I learned my lesson the hard way. I'm giving up street racing for good." Emily said since she didn't like street racing.
"I hear you, guys. It's hard to win a race by using toys that came out from a cereal box." Vince commented but it was a taunt.
Offended by that comment, Smokescreen started his engine and drove away quickly leaving Vince to wonder what happened.
Once they were out of earshot, Smokescreen started to speak again.
"The nerve of that guy." Smokescreen said with annoyance as Jack sighed.
"Some things never change." He said softly as they headed to the base.
Meanwhile back at the Nemesis, Knock Out had returned and was being scolded by Starscream for leaving without being notified.
"Knock Out, was I not clear to you?! You have defied my orders yet again. I told you to ask for permission and I will not tolerate such insubordination. Am I understood?!" Starscream exclaimed as Knock Out just nodded since he got his door removed from his left arm.
"Yes, Starscream. I sincerely apologize for my mistake. But I can assure you that I've learned my lesson and I paid the heavy price for it." He said as he lifted the damage that was caused on him.
"You will address me as commander. And you will pay the price when I say you have paid." Starscream said with a sneer as Knock Out started to get nervous at this since it felt like the last time it happened.
"Meaning?" He asked nervously.
"Meaning that it's time for you to pay for your disobedience." Starscream said as he raised one of his sharp digits.
"Do not worry. Your punishment shall be merely cosmetic. But I can assure you'll think twice before defying my orders." Starscream said as he lowered his sharp digit on the surface of Knock Out's finish and made him back away in fear. Anything but his precious finish!
"No, not the finish. Anything but the finish." Knock Out said desperately to save his finish but it was too late as Starscream scratched his finish severely as he screamed and made Breakdown look away as he felt sorry for his partner.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Knock Out yelled loudly for everyone to hear on board the Nemesis.
Meanwhile on the highway, Smokescreen was taking Jack and Emily back to the base as both teenagers didn't say anything and a silence took place during the whole ride.
"So..." Jack started.
"So..." Emily did the same as Jack let out a small laugh.
"Crazy night huh?" He started a conversation as Emily laughed softly.
"Yeah... very crazy. I've seen crazier. But this one goes on top." Emily replied as Jack nodded.
"Yeah." He said as both then went silent as they didn't have anything to say again.
They both feel that they need to talk things out and fix things as good friends.
"Look, I think we both said things we didn't mean to and even if we did..." Jack started but he trailed off as Emily knew what he meant.
"We were both angry and out of line." She finished for him.
"No kidding. Anyway, I have something to say." Jack said as Emily glanced at him.
"Yeah me too." Emily agreed as they both took a deep breath and said it.
"I'm sorry. Huh? Oh sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you. Please go first. I'm so sorry again. Sorry." They both said at the same time as they started to laugh at that.
"Okay, okay, you know what I'll go first. I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier at the base. I know I'm not like Arcee or June and I didn't want you to feel like I was trying to be like them and control you. When you told us about the race, I got scared. I never told you this but you're like a brother to me. The brother I've always wanted. I don't ever want to lose someone who's a dear friend to me." Emily said sincerely as Jack looked at her and smiled at that.
"Wow... a brother. It... feels good to hear that. I'm sorry for hurting you back then. I never meant to say those things. To me you're like the big sister I never had. And I could never hurt you." Jack said softly as Emily smiled at him as he smiled back.
"Thanks." She said with a smile.
"No hard feelings?" Jack asked as he reached his hand to her as she smiled and shook his hand as a sign of no hard feelings.
"No hard feelings." She said as she punched his shoulder playfully as he laughed at that.
"Glad to see you're both friends again. By the way, Ems, you should've seen the race. Jack made this crazy move. He drifted behind that guy's car and then just like that. We passed him. This kid has some good moves." Smokescreen said as Emily raised an eyebrow at that as she looked at Jack.
"Yeah, well, as of today, I'm officially retiring from street racing. It's very dangerous, not to mention irresponsible." Jack said as he promised himself that he won't do street racing ever again.
"Good to hear you say that. But just so you know, tomorrow you'll be receiving your punishment." Emily said with a grin.
"Ouch. She got you, dude." Smokescreen snickered at that as Jack rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Very funny, Smokescreen. Thanks for helping me out today. " Jack said as Smokescreen was smiling at that.
"My pleasure. Too bad this is only a one night thing. It was pretty fun to see how humans race." Smokescreen said as Emily had an idea.
"Well, it doesn't need to end. Maybe we can find a secret place where we could race without being seen." Emily said as Jack smiled at that.
"Great. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to beat you with my moves." Jack said proudly as Emily gave him a smirk.
"Yeah right, as if you could beat me in a race. You can't even beat me when we play F1 Crash Mayhem." Emily told him as Jack gave her a playful glare.
"I can beat you in a real race." Jack said as Emily just grinned.
"No, you can't." She said.
"Yes, I can." Jack argued.
"No you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
"No, you can't."
"Yes, I can."
This continued as Smokescreen just listened on in amusement.
"This is gonna be a long night." He muttered to himself in amusement as they neared the base.
After a long drive, Smokescreen was finally back at the base and everyone was there and getting ready to receive a lecture from Optimus from breaking the rule.
"I'm very disappointed in you. I had hoped that as Autobots you would act like it. And respect all the rules I have established. I do not need to remind you all that insubordination of any class shall not be tolerated." Optimus scolded them all as they just listened in silence before Jack spoke up.
"Optimus, I just want you to know that I'm really sorry for this. I give you my word that it will never happen again." Jack said as he knew that he would be grounded if word got out to his mom.
"Words aren't enough Jack. I believe that this whole situation needs to be fixed with some disciplinary action. But before I do that, I want to know something. Arcee, is it true that you accepted to race a human?" Optimus asked as he turned to Arcee as she crossed her arms but nodded.
"Yes I did. And I'm sorry." Arcee said in an apologetic tone as Optimus nodded.
"I hope that next time you'll show a better example of conduit." Optimus said as Arcee nodded.
"I will." She said as Cliffjumper just gave her a smile as she smiled back.
"Since you all got involved. You're all sentenced to a deca-cycle in the mine. Am I understood?" Optimus said the only way to discipline them is to give them a small chore to do.
"Yes, sir." The other Autobots nodded in agreement. At least that was something that they could do.
"And as for you kids. You will be helping Ratchet by cleaning the base." Optimus then turns to the trio that were also involved in the little event that happened as Miko wonders for how long they will have to help Ratchet.
"For how long?" She asked curiously as Ratchet turned to her.
"Very long." Ratchet said as he would be glad to have some helping servos or hands to clean up the base.
"Sure thing. We'll make things right." Miko said as she was ready to start tomorrow as Jack turned to them all.
"I'm sorry for all of this, guys. I'm the one to blame here." Jack said as he was really the one who started all of it in the beginning but Optimus just gave Jack a forgiving look. Jack is still young and learning.
"Your honesty is appreciated" Jack. It is good to see you taking responsibility." Optimus said as Jack couldn't help but smile.
"Well, now that this is all over. It's time to go home and get some good night's rest." Miko said as she stretched her arms as Raf looked around since he noticed that a certain daughter of a prime and white Scraplet was missing but found them.
"Someone already beat you to it." Raf said with a small giggle as they turned to where he was pointing and couldn't help but smile at the sight.
Emily was already sleeping on the couch with Bolty on top of her head.
They all saw that Emily was sleeping quietly so they all decided to leave her like that but she opened her left eye sleepily at them.
"I'm sorry, guys." She said as she went back to sleep and lay down on her side as Bolty recharges in her arms as Miko can't believe she's getting out of the lecture that easily.
"You have got to be kidding me. How come Emily can escape the lecture but we three are stuck with it." Miko pouted at this as Optimus chuckled as he glanced at Emily who was sleeping peacefully.
"Because Emily was gracious to come to me and be honest. And she has accepted her consequences." Optimus explained as Ratchet knew what he meant as he turned to the kids.
"Which by the way starts now." He said as it caused the trio to whine at the same time.
"Awwwwww....." Jack, Raf and Miko whined at the same time.
"But seeing how it's already late, I think you can go to your homes to get some sleep. Rest well because the hard work will start tomorrow." Ratchet said before activating the ground bridge for them to go through faster to their homes.
Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead transform so they can all go home safely as the kids hop in and get on their guardians as the kids go with their guardians and leave the base to rest for the day as Ratchet sighed.
"Well I guess that the saying humans imply is true. That's how kids are." Ratchet said as Optimus chuckled softly.
"Indeed, old friend." He nodded in agreement.
The day after that. School was over and Jack was leaving school for his work since he had a shift. He walked to where Arcee was parked but was surprised by a certain girl's voice who approached him.
"Hi, Jack." Sierra said as Jack turned and smiled shyly at her.
"Oh, hi, Sierra." He said as Sierra put her hands behind her back.
"Hey. I wanted to ask you something." She said as Jack was curious.
"Sure, what is it?" He asked as Sierra looked at him.
"Do you... think you have time for that ride?" She asked hopefully as Jack was surprised by this.
Jack was happy that Sierra wanted to go with him for a ride but since the rules didn't allowed it and he didn't want to cause anymore trouble, he had no choice but to decline it since he couldn't do it today due to the little punishment that Optimus told him, Raf and Miko last night.
"Uhh, look, I-I'm sorry, Sierra. I can't right now." Jack said sadly as he felt disappointed since he can't give Sierra a ride as Sierra felt the same but she understands.
"Oh, I see. No problem. I guess I'll just... see you around." Sierra said as she turned around and started to walk home.
Jack watched her leave and was feeling a little down to turn down the only girl who would like to ride with him as he sighed softly.
"Hop on." Arcee said as she drove up to him as he nodded.
"Sure." He said as Jack hops on Arcee.
He was about to put on the helmet when suddenly she interrupted him as she had an idea to make her partner and the girl happy.
"Ah, ah, ah. Aren't you forgetting something?" Arcee said as Jack looked at her in confusion.
"Uh..." Jack looked at her in confusion as she almost laughed in amusement. For a teen his age who's in love, he sure is a bit dense.
"Go ahead. Give her the ride she wants." Arcee said as she turned on her engine as Jack almost fell off.
"Whoa. Really?" He asked in surprise but delight.
"Just this once." Arcee said as Jack couldn't stop a smile that appeared as he quickly put his helmet aside and drove up to Sierra.
"Sierra, wait!" Jack called her as Sierra stopped walking and turned around when Jack called her name before she saw Jack driving up to where she was standing before stopping beside her.
"I think I can give you that ride. That is if you still want to." Jack said as he looked at her hopefully and she couldn't help but smile happily.
"I'd love to." She said as Jack smiled.
"Great. Here's a helmet." Jack said as he took out another helmet and gave it to her.
"Thanks." Sierra said.
Sierra is about to hop on but she has a hard time sitting right and accidentally touches Jack's shoulder as she blushes lightly.
"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to." Sierra said as she blushed lightly as Jack blushed as well.
"No, it's okay just let me move a little so you can-" Jack said as he moved a little for her to sit properly.
"No, no, it's okay. I got it." Sierra said as she finally got into a comfortable position.
"Okay. So, are you ready?" Jack asked as he glanced at him.
"Mhm." She nodded as she held on.
"You're holding on right?" He asked as he glanced at her as she nodded.
"Yeah." Sierra nodded.
"Alright then. Let's go." Jack nodded and started the engine and drove down the road and she held on in surprise.
"Whoa, it's-it's really fast." Sierra said in surprise but she loved the feeling of the adrenaline running through her. No wonder Jack likes motorcycles.
"Yeah, she likes doing that." Jack smiled at that as he knew that Arcee was smiling at the comment.
Sierra was enjoying an amazing ride on Jack's motorcycle and needless to say that Jack was really happy to have the girl of his dreams riding with him. Both teens didn't know what to say so Jack decided to start a conversation.
"So... anything you wanna talk about?" Jack asked her as she looked at him in confusion but nodded.
"What? Oh, well, there's something I've been meaning to ask you. Is it true that yesterday you had forfeit the race?" Sierra asked curiously as Jack nodded with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah. I had a situation that came by and I-I had to go." Jack said as he thought up a cover story so Sierra won't ask what happened.
"It's okay, Jack. I'm not judging you. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry." Sierra said with an apologetic look as Jack glanced at her through the side view mirror in confusion. Why is Sierra saying sorry?
"Sorry? Why would you be sorry?" Jack asked in confusion and concern.
"Oh, well, you know, about telling the whole school that you won a race and that I made you feel like you were forced to accept the last race because of me. I need to know, did you accept the race just to impress me?" Sierra asked curiously as Jack had a blush at that.
"Uh, I think I would rather not answer that question." He said shyly as Sierra couldn't help but giggle at that.
"Ha,ha why? Because you're afraid that I might call you a big macho?" Sierra teased him as Jack couldn't but laugh at that.
"Yeah, you might say that." He said with a small laugh and a smile.
"Well, you are. But I should probably tell you that when you accept the race, twice. I think it was... kind of brave. Foolish but brave. I wasn't hoping you would accept it just to be cool. I just wanted to see someone beat Vince. I mean who wouldn't." Sierra told him honestly as he couldn't help but smile. It was indeed foolish of him to accept that race the last two days but it was brave of him to stand up to Vince like that.
"Glad to see you were rooting for me all the way." Jack said sincerely as she smiled at that.
"Yeah. So, did your mother find out about this?" Sierra nodded before asking as Jack had a sheepish smile. More like his guardian and partner did.
"No, but someone else did and I promised I would make up for it." Jack said as Sierra couldn't help but pity him for getting caught.
"So I take it that you're grounded." She guessed as he laughed and nodded.
"Big time. But, hey, that's what happens when you go to the wrong places. You gotta pay the price." Jack said as Sierra can agree with that.
"Yeah no kidding. One thing is for sure. I'm not going to another of those races ever." Sierra said as Jack looked at her curiously.
"Really? Why?" He couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know. I guess I was going there because I've been going through some rough times. You know how it is. Hard times, wrong decisions." Sierra said nonchalantly as Jack nodded in agreement.
"I know a lot about wrong decisions." Jack said in agreement.
"It figures." She agreed before wrapping her arms around Jack's waist before resting her head on his shoulder and causing Jack to blush a beet red as Arcee saw that and couldn't help but smirk.
"Oh, here's my stop." Jack said as they neared the K.O burger.
"You mean our stop." Sierra corrected him as he laughed sheepishly.
"Yeah." He said as Jack turned and drove up to the parking lot of K.O burger.
Emily, who was coming out, saw him come with a special company as the sight of the two made her eyes widened in surprise and delight. Jack finally had the guts to ask Sierra for a ride!
"No... way..." Emily said slowly in disbelief.
Jack pulled over before turning off the engine as both he and Sierra took off their helmets as they got off Arcee.
"Thanks for the ride, Jack. I really loved it." Sierra thanked him with a smile.
"Glad you liked it." Jack said.
"Maybe you can give me another ride tomorrow." Sierra said hopefully.
"Oh, I can't tomorrow. I'll be doing something. It's about me being grounded." Jack said as Sierra made an 'oh' look.
"Right sorry I totally forgot. Hehe. But seriously thanks for that ride. And just so you know. It doesn't matter what other people say about you. I think... you're the coolest guy in the whole school." Sierra said with a small blush and a smile as Jack couldn't believe what Sierra just told him. Even Emily was in shock but she had an amused smirk at Jack's reaction.
"Oh dang." Emily whispered to herself. Wait until Miko and Smokescreen hears this. The two will tease Jack non-stop for this.
"Wow. I-I don't know what to say. Thanks." Jack rubbed the back of his neck shyly as Sierra blushed lightly as she shuffled her feet shyly.
"You're welcome." She said before Emily cleared her throat and caused the two to jump in surprise.
"Hey, guys. Sorry, am I interrupting?" Emily walked over to them as she had a knowing smile and Jack knew that she heard them.
"What? No, no-" Sierra denied as she was blushing up a storm.
"We were just... uh..." Jack tried to come up with an excuse as Emily raised an amused brow at them.
"Yeah talking. Having a conversation about something." Sierra said as Emily just gave the two an amused smile.
"Okay?" She said in feign confusion.
"So, uh, ah, sorry. I totally forgot your name." Sierra apologized as she always forgot Emily's name but she just waved it off.
"It's okay. My name is Emily." Emily said as she gave Sierra a nod who nodded back.
"Right, Emily. So how's your ankle?" Sierra really needs to remember her name as she asked since she didn't see Emily after school.
"It still hurts but I'm a little better. My boss said that I needed to rest so he told me I could take the day off." Emily said as she moved her ankle a bit as Jack looked at her in surprise but understood why the boss did that.
"He did?" Jack asked as Emily nodded.
"Yeah, he said that I should take some time to heal and come back when I feel better." Emily said as Sierra looked at her watch.
"I think I better go. See you around, Jack." Sierra said as she waved goodbye to the two and started to walk home.
"See you around." Jack waved back as Emily just smiled at Sierra before seeing the happy grin on Jack's face.
Jack was very happy about what happened today as he felt like he was floating on cloud9 before Arcee started talking to him so he could come out of his daydream.
"Jack, Jack. Wake up. You got work to do." Arcee said as she nudged her partner by the leg as Jack snapped out of it.
"Oh, right. Work. Sorry I forgot about it." Jack said with a sheepish smile as Arcee had a smile.
"Mhm." She said as Emily walked up to him.
"So, you finally had the guts to ask her out for a ride huh? Good work, Romeo. Bravo, bravissimo." Emily clapped her hands as Jack rolled his eyes at her in embarrassment and caused Emily and Arcee to chuckle in amusement.
"Laugh all you want. But I'm glad it happened. Is it just me or she likes me?" Jack said before asking the two hopefully since they both have a crush on two certain mechs.
"Only you can find out." Emily said as she wants Jack to find out for himself.
"By the way, Arcee. Why did you agree to let Sierra ride with me?" Jack then asked his partner as Arcee turned to him.
"I guess I thought for you to catch a break. And live your life." Arcee said as she wanted Jack to have fun and even gave him the chance to give the girl that he likes a ride.
"Thanks." Jack couldn't help but smile thankfully at Arcee.
"Well, now that this is over. It's time for me to go and get some rest. Oh, Arcee, mind giving me a ride to base?" Emily said before asking Arcee as the femme smirked in her vehicle mode.
"Sure thing. Hop on." She said as Emily walked over to her as Jack looked shocked.
"Whoa wait. What about me? How am I gonna get home without a motorcycle?" Jack asked in confusion and disbelief as Emily hopped on and put the helmet on as she turned to him.
"My suggestion to you is walking." Emily said as Jack finally figured out what Emily meant by his punishment.
"Wait a minute. Is that the punishment you've told me about?" Jack asked as he finally realized it as Emily nodded.
"Hope you learned your lesson. Catch you later." Emily said before she let Arcee ignite her engine and drove away to base while Jack watched them leave with an amused smile.
"Yeah, I learned my lesson." He said before he heads inside the K.O Burger to start his shift.
Meanwhile back at the base, Ratchet with Raf's help was trying to fix the resolution of the picture that Jack took last night while Miko had to pass the time to mop the human area since she's not allowed to play her guitar.
"How long do I have to mop here?" Miko asked Ratchet as he answered without turning around.
"As long as I say so." Ratchet said and caused Miko to whine.
"Awww..." She let out a whine of annoyance and kept mopping the floor as Raf was able to enhance and clear the image clearly so they could see it.
"There. All done." Raf said.
The picture's image started to change and make the picture a little more clearer. When it was over, both Ratchet and Raf couldn't not believe what they were seeing.
"Is that a police car?" Raf asked in disbelief as he fixed his glasses.
"I cannot believe it." Ratchet shook his helm. How is that possible?
Agent Fowler got up from Emily's desk since he came in with some files on the street racing investigation earlier.
"I think I found something in those files." Agent Fowler said as he stepped on the spot where Miko just mopped much to her annoyance.
"Hey, watch it! I just cleaned this floor." Miko grumbled as Agent Fowler laughed sheepishly.
"Sorry. Anyway the files say that a car cop has been seen in a dozen street races in the past couple of months. But no arrest whatsoever. So what's the big deal?" Agent Fowler apologized before explaining to Ratchet and Raf what he was able to gather from the files that he brought.
"We believe that this vehicle is not an ordinary vehicle, Agent Fowler. We believe that it's... Cybertronian. Possibly a Decepticon." Ratchet told him what he was able to guess as Fowler looked dumbfounded by this.
"Hold on just a minute here, doc. Are you seriously telling me that a Decepticon is out there wreaking havoc?" Agent Fowler exclaimed in shock and confusion as Ratchet nodded grimly.
"I'm afraid so. But we do not know if it's a Decepticon. It could possibly be an Autobot." Ratchet then explained since he couldn't find the insignia on the police car.
"But he attacked the others. The evidence points to a Decepticon." Raf then added that from what Bumblebee told them the car or Cybertronian attacked them.
"The evidence might show that there was a flagrant attack but we must find further proof before jumping into any conclusions." Ratchet told Raf before Fowler caught both of their attention.
"Look, doc. I hate to be a stick in the mud but if there is a Con out there. Then we must find him to lock him up." Agent Fowler said with a serious look. If there was a Decepticon out there, they better get the con before anything could go from bad to worse.
An engine noise can be heard entering the base and it was Arcee coming in with Emily before Arcee stopped. Emily got off Arcee to allow her to transform as the two walked up to them.
"What's up, guys?" Emily greeted as she took off the helmet as Miko looked down at her from where she was.
"We believe that there's a maniac cop car Decepticon out there." Miko told them as Emily and Arcee looked shocked by this. They already have Decepticon problems plus Skyquake was revived from the dead a few days ago, but now they got another Decepticon to worry about?!
"What?" Emily asked in shock as Arcee just shook her head in disbelief.
"Seriously?" She sighed as Emily climbed up the ladder to where Raf was.
"How come you didn't tell us?" She asked Ratchet as she turned to him and made him sigh.
"Because it is still unsure if this vehicle is a Decepticon. It doesn't seem to have an Autobot or Decepticon insignia or whatsoever." Ratchet told her before Miko spoke up since she figured something out.
"Didn't Agent Fowler say that this car was seen in many street races?" Miko asked as Fowler turned to her in confusion.
"Yeah so?" He asked before Emily caught on to what Miko was saying.
"We can check the video cameras. The highways are full of video cameras. I'm sure one has seen him." Emily said as Raf brightened up before starting hacking the security cameras on every high for the footage.
"Checking now." Raf said.
Raf was able to enter the highway security cameras to check old footage and he have found many footage about that police car that attacked their friends.
"There." Raf said as he pointed to one of the police cars as it drove by the camera as they watched it.
"Wow. Whoever that guy is, he needs to work on how to keep a low profile." Miko commented as she knew that was one of the rules Optimus put.
"Rafael, try and slow down the footage." Ratchet told him as he did just that as Ratchet went to the computer to hopefully scan it as Fowler raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing, doc?" He asked in confusion.
"I'm running a scan to see if I can find an Autobot or a Decepticon insignia." Ratchet told him as the scan activated and he scanned every footage to try and find an insignia faction on the car. It is soon revealed as in 3 footages, the scan reveals a Decepticon insignia on the police car much to their shock.
"By the All Spark. It's a Decepticon." Ratchet breathed in shock as Miko gulped at this. A new con is not a good thing.
"Not good." Miko said.
"Who could it be?" Arcee asked as Emily glanced at them all before turning her gaze back to the police car who is now identified as a Decepticon. Whoever it is, they need to stay alert.
"I don't know, but something tells me that we will find out soon enough." Emily said as she just hoped that they don't run into this Decepticon sooner or later.
Somewhere on the highway, the mysterious Decepticon police car was driving before it stopped somewhere and started checking some footage that it filmed last night.
"Autobots and Decepticons' presence have been confirmed to be on this planet." He said before he checked the footage and picture of Bumblebee as he laughed sinisterly.
"There you are, old friend. Time to find my brethren and rid this planet of the Autobots once and for all." He said before starting his engine again and started to drive and on a plate number, a writing could be seen on the metal as it said 'To Punish and Enslaved'.
It then left the area to find the location of his comrades to join forces with his master.
Uh oh, looks like a new face will be revealed soon. Who is it? And why did Bumblebee look so scared and sad by this mysterious car? The answer will be revealed soon.