Chapter 7
It was the day of the Music Fest and we were all in a rush, well all except Optimus and Ratchet who both were a lot calmer than the rest of us. I was nervous as I looked at the time. It was almost seven which meant it was getting close to when I had to be there. "Are you sure we will get there in time?" I asked as I looked up at Optimus. He nodded softly before kneeling down to me, "everything is going to go great, just calm down." He said. I nodded and took a deep breath trying to calm my nerves. The others entered the main room smiling from ear to ear, "We're ready!" I heard Miko yell excitedly. The others transformed into their vehicle modes next to their friends. Jack walked over and took my hand, "You will do fine, and see ya on the stage" he said as he kissed my lips softly before walking back to Arcee. I could hear Miko in the background saying, "Jack and Kairi sitting in a tree..." I turned back to Optimus who had transformed as well as I entered the driver's seat. "There is a small open space you guys can park and watch the concert from a safe distance; I will still be able to see you from where I will be." I said as I closed the door. "Ok, are you going to be ok Kairi?" he asked as I sighed a bit. "Yea, still just a little nervous." He was silent a moment before he spoke. "Everyone gets nervous Kairi, even me." I was a bit shocked by what he had just said, "You get nervous?" I asked a little unbelieving. "Yes I always get nervous before we go on a mission. I get nervous because I wonder what might go wrong during the mission." I smiled a bit to myself before giving the steering wheel a hug. "Thanks Optimus, for making me feel better." He must have been smiling as well. I could tell when he spoke, "Your welcome Kairi." He started his engine up as the rest of them, including Ratchet, followed us as we headed out towards the Music Fest.
We arrived at the festival at around a quarter till eight. As Optimus came to a stop I hopped out the driver's seat and stood beside him for a moment before turning around as Jack and the others walked up to me. I put my hand on the door and patted it softly, "There is a small ridge just over there you guys can park on so you can watch the performance." He leaned into my hand a bit letting me know he understood as he drove towards the ridge with the others right behind him. I turned and looked at Jack, Miko and Raf as I gave them a smile. "Well it's now or never." We then headed towards the stage to get ready. As we got all of our stuff together, I look out towards the ridge and I see Optimus and the others parked there. I smiled as I headed back to where we were supposed to be before we went on. I took a deep breath as I waited for them to call out the name of our group. My heart skipped a beat as I heard the announcer speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a special treat for you. Here tonight with their debut performance, it's 'Earths Protectors'."
The curtains opened up and I was standing in the middle of the stage with Miko on one side, Raf on the other and Jack behind me. We got ready to start playing the song and as soon as I put the mic in my hand I heard an explosion. I jumped and turned seeing a jet fly over head and shoot off a strange looking ray of energy. I turned to see where it was going. It was then I realized it was headed for Optimus. I began to cry out to him but I would then blow his cover so I bit my tongue as I saw him attempt to dodge the blast. He dodged the first one as they all scattered but he was then hit with another one which stopped him in his tracks. It was like he shut his engine off or something. I began running towards him as well as Jack and the others. I skidded to stop as I opened the door and hopped in the driver's seat. "Optimus are you ok?!" I asked with concern in my voice. I could tell he was hurt and weak when he answered. "Kairi...I can't move. I don't even think I can transform." I took a deep breath and started his engine as I began to drive without his help. "I'm gonna get you back to the base."I took off down the road as the others followed us after picking up Jack, Miko and Raf. They began shooting at the jet to keep it from attacking Optimus again. We got closer to the base and the jet was still on us. "We can't let it know where our base is" he said weakly. I thought a moment then got an idea. I spoke over the com link, "Ratchet is there any way you can get into the base if we distract the jet?" It was quiet over the com link for a moment before I got a reply. "If you can keep him busy ill sneak into the base and then I'll open a ground bridge." I gripped the stirring wheel a moment as I took a deep breath in. "Go for it Ratchet, we got this." I said back before closing the link. "I wish you were the one driving Optimus." I said as I turned the wheel to turn away from the direction of the base. "I believe in you Kairi." He said softly. I smiled as I looked out the windshield as the others are shooting at the jet. "Well let's play a little cat and mouse then." I said before stepping on the gas as the jet started chasing us. It tried to shoot at us and I turned the wheel dodging every shot. We drove around like this for about ten minutes before I saw the ground bridge. I turned and drove towards it as the others followed. We all entered the ground bridge leaving the jet confused. As we all pulled to a stop I jumped out of the truck cab and stood beside Optimus. Ratchet transformed and walked to Optimus. "Can you transform?" he asked as he monitored Optimus's vitals. "No, I couldn't even drive. Kairi had to drive manually." I stood beside him my hand on his door. "It seems who or whatever it was hit you with a paralysis ray. The extent of the damage goes all the way through your body, which is why you couldn't even drive yourself. The problem is I don't know how long it will last or if it will go away. It seems someone was planning to go after you alone." He didn't look to hopeful about Optimus's condition and it worried me deeply. "So you're saying he could be stuck like this?" I asked as I clenched my fist trying to keep from getting to upset, yet a shimmer of the energon blue shined in my eyes as I looked at him. He looked back down at me a sad look in his eyes. "I don't know Kairi" he said as he walked over to his computer. I walked over to a wall and punched it leaving a huge dent in it as I took in a few deep breaths. Jack walked over to me and wrapped his arms around me. "Kairi calm down, we are all gonna do everything thing we can to get him back to normal." I put my face into his chest and began to cry as we stood there a moment.
