Standing up, Optimus looked puzzled. He was relatively sure his plan would work, clearly it had failed. Turning slowly he stopped, moving forwards as quietly as he could he slowly knelt. Reaching out, he gently pulled a thick cable out of the way. He'd seen an arm, and the arm was attached to a body, and the body was that of Minnie.
She was curled up fast asleep amongst the left over leads and cables which were used throughout the base. For some unknown reason they'd found their way into his room, shoved into a corner tucked away from sight. If Minnie's arm wasn't visible, Optimus would have missed her. Pulling at another cable he stopped when he noticed she was awkwardly wrapped up in it. Reaching out with a digit he nudged her. She swayed from the motion, yet mumbled quietly. It seemed this action had results. Repeating the action again, he watched as Minnie yawned quietly and stretched.
"Morning so soon?"
"No," Optimus answered rather amused that she thought it was time to get up. On most times he did act the part of her alarm clock, it was an odd role to be landed in.
Rubbing her eyes she tried to sit up, but the leads just decided to stop her from achieving this. It was clear that she was still half asleep. "What's the time?"
"Midnight."
"Why am I awake?"
"Because Agent Fowler told us you had gone missing."
"Well he made it sound like something bad had happened to you and Smokescreen!" She exclaimed and wriggled out from the clutches of the cables. Standing cross armed she looked up at him.
"Well I guess it is safe to say you are both at fault here."
"What?"
"Agent Fowler is at fault for wording a sentence wrong, and you're at fault for making him worry."
"I should apologise."
"In the morning, I do believe he's left." Optimus stood up and looked down at the human beside him.
"Did you get whatever it was you were searching for?"
"Yes," Optimus answered, Minnie nodded slowly and seemed to have the expression of expecting more of an answer. Leaning down he held his hand out, Minnie carefully climbed up. Wobbling she looked around confused when she was placed on his shoulder. "Hold on." Minnie did as she was asked.
Looking down she blinked slowly. "It's a good thing I don't suffer from vertigo." She commented with a light laugh. The floor from on Optimus's shoulder was a very long way down.
The safe where the energon was stored still had Bumblebee loitering around. It seemed he was taking great pleasure out of stacking the cubes correctly. He buzzed and looked unamused when Optimus had reached down and picked up one of the glowing cubes. Tentatively reaching out Minnie placed her hands against it. The icy blue cube seemed to feel as cool as it looked. The substance within bubbled gently at her touching it. Removing her hands she gripped back onto Optimus.
"That is your batteries?" She smiled, remembering what she had first tried to describe energon as.
"Yes, this is energon. It is the substance which fuels all Cybertronian life. Without it, we will all surely perish." Optimus gave the cube back to the scout, who then happily put it back on the right stack. He was sugar coating it slightly, there was no 'surely' when it came to the matters of energon. Either they had it or not, life without it wouldn't be very long.
Minnie gave a yawn, Optimus opted not to tell her about his run in with Knock Out, walking back down the corridor the two passed Ratchet. The medic seemed a little flustered from obviously rushing around trying to find Minnie. Upon seeing them he smiled lightly and shuffled off to his room. Seeing as how she had been found, there was no real reason for him to stay up any longer.
——
Today was the day. Minnie stood at the exit to the base. Clapping her hands together she stepped out. Her boots scuffed quietly against the ground as she shuffled down to the town. Her avoidance of going out had been picked up on slightly, she rolled her eyes, more like Ratchet told Optimus of her apprehension.
Some doctor he was, what ever happened to confidentiality? But when Minnie pondered over this, Ratchet wasn't her doctor. He wasn't human, being as they weren't of the same race he couldn't be her doctor. Maybe that rule didn't apply to them then? She didn't know to be honest. Even still, Minnie would have hoped that he'd keep her apprehension about the outside world to himself. It was slightly embarrassing in some regards.
Looking up when the sounds of a plane echoed down she stopped walking and watched it. Giving a shrug she presumed there was some military base close by, not too close to notice the Autobot base though. Stopping and stepping back she turned. "Oh, hey again."
"You're awful at incognito, just to let you know!" Minnie exclaimed while not wasting time and started running this time straight back to the base. Her worst nightmare had happened. Knock Out was here, and she was on her own.
"It's not exactly me who you should be running from, by the way!" Knock Out called out, Minnie quickly glanced over her shoulder and watched as the plane from earlier on appeared.
Her expression went blank as she picked up her pace. "Oh, you're kidding." Outrunning or trying to outrun a car was one thing, but something in the air was something completely different.
Needless to say Knock Out was keeping perfect pace with her. "Go on, call for help, I know you want to!"
"Go away!" Minnie shouted angrily at him. Knock Out let out a thoughtful noise before swerving and almost running her off the rough path. With a scream Minnie managed to leap away from the red car.
"No harming her, Knock Out! We can't take her back damaged, Megatron will blow a gasket!" A voice shouted irritably from above.
Minnie let out a groan and diverted from the straight path. Rolling down a small dune she ignored the stabbing sensations of small rocks, when she eventually stopped rolling she pushed herself up. Kicking up sand and stones she ran the stretch of the road, without actually being on the road. When a large shadow dwarfed the sunlight she looked up to see the sports car jump down and skid to a stop.
"Nice try," Knock Out commented.
Scrambling back up the dune, much to the annoyance of Knock Out, Minnie was finding it increasingly hard to keep running. She couldn't lead them to the base. It was a secret, and it was meant to stay that way. Despite this, Minnie opened her mouth and with what energy she had she called out for one bot in particular. "Optimus!" The two bots chasing her hesitated, they seemed even more hesitant when the very same bot who had got called came careering towards them.
The sensation at being picked up made Minnie scream and wriggle. "Stop squirming or you'll lose an arm, human." The ground was getting further away, she was flying. Looking to her arms she looked at long metallic fingers wrapping tightly around them.
"No, no," Minnie repeated and squirmed again. "Optimus!" She shouted, he was trying to get past Knock Out, who had by now shifted forms and was doing his best at distracting the Autobot leader. Knock Out seemed rather pleased with himself until a familiar silver and blue car crashed into him. With Smokescreen's appearance, Optimus was able to carefully aim shots up at the plane which had semi-transformed for the sake of carrying her. It did little good, the ground and the figures were so far away, Minnie had to squint to see Knock Out speedily driving away. Smokescreen did follow him but she didn't know if he got to him in time before he got bridged away.
There was a distinct sense of heartbreak, Minnie by now had been uncaringly strapped inside the plane. It travelled so fast that the clouds outside were just a blur. Through communication with Knock Out, who apparently managed to evade Smokescreen, Minnie was able to discover the plane was Starscream. The very same Starscream that she had previously heard about. Running her hands up and down her arms, she looked around. Her one fear came true, but now she had no clue where she was going. There was little solace in knowing that Knock Out had finally got his chance to demobilise her, she shuddered at the thought.
"My Lord Megatron, it is I, Starscream. I've captured the human."
"We've captured he means." Knock Out intercepted the transmission. He sounded very irritated with Starscream trying to take all the credit for her predicament. A rather pathetic squabble happened then. For all purposes it seemed that the red car below, and the plane she was in didn't exactly have a very good relationship.
——
There was a hollow feeling ebbing its way through Optimus's spark. So close, he had been so close. He could feel fear, but it wasn't his fear. Optimus had never formed real true deep set bonds, bonds with another when there were battles around usually resulted in a painful loss. Looking at the ground his mind drifted to Elita One, they had a bond, they were together and they were happy and it ended in sadness. Looking up at the sky he frowned, he never thought that Minnie and himself had a bond. But that perspective seemed to change considering he felt her fear, he heard her call for him despite logically; he shouldn't have heard her. She was so far away from the base, yet he had heard her as clear as day.
"Optimus?" He turned and looked down, Ironhide and Ratchet stood in front of him looking up at him with concern. His oldest friends obviously dashed after him when he'd abruptly left the base.
"She's gone."
Ironhide frowned and crossed his arms, "We will get her back." He said defiantly. He was more than sure that they would do that. No doubt within in his mind at all.
Ratchet seemed the more level headed at the moment. "As much as that is a brilliant idea, Ironhide, we don't know where they've taken Minnie."
Ironhide turned to look at the medic. "Well, I can only hazard a guess; the Nemesis." Blatantly stating the enemies flagship as he waved a hand in the air, waving it somewhere upwards to where the ship would be, just not here.
"Which we don't have a lock on." Ratchet simply answered back. Locking onto the Nemesis had been few and far between. Anytime it happened, was because the Decepticons wanted to be found so some reason. Usually a skirmish to try and deal damage to them.
The small argument wasn't helping. Optimus held his hand up to silence them. "My friends, you are both right. We will get her back, and she is most likely on the Nemesis, and yes Ratchet I'm aware that we don't know where its position is."
Turning Ratchet pointed back to the base. "I guess we better start looking, hm?" Shifting forms the ambulance quickly sped off down the road. Ironhide looked up at Optimus before the two shifted back to vehicle mode and followed after Ratchet.
——
Minnie's head ached, it ached certainly more than it should have. Opening her eyes slowly, she wasn't surprised to see that darkness greeted her. The darkness slowly ebbed away and light flooded into the area. She jolted when there was movement. She was lifted up, looking around she noticed that she was in a cage of some sort. Black iron bars were surrounding her.
"Are you sure this is the correct human?" A voice sounded from above.
"We are certain, Shockwave." Minnie frowned and rubbed her head, she recognised that voice. Tapping her temple, she frowned, it was Starscream, and he didn't sound too happy yet again. Was this Shockwave character really that bad? Minnie cursed herself, of course he would be, he's on the bad side, him and his comrades had kidnapped her.
"I don't want any mix-ups." Shockwave said seriously.
"I don't know what the sudden interest is in this human, but here." Starscream said nonchalantly and carelessly threw the cage to Shockwave. Minnie rattled around and bit her lip to stop herself from screaming. Looking up she edged as far back as she could, a lone red optic stared in at her. Flinching when the door opened and closed, Minnie looked through the bars and saw Starscream disappear, looking over her shoulder she narrowed her eyes. Knock Out stood leaning against a table, he smiled and waved casually.
Minnie tensed, Ratchet had told her that Knock Out was the Decepticons medic, a demented medic at that, Minnie thought. But if Knock Out was the Decepticon medic, then who or what was Shockwave's position? Slowly she turned back to the unmoving, unblinking red optic. Minnie wrapped her arms around herself, somehow this was not going to get any better.
Minnie was stuck. Standing stock still, arms rigid by her side. "I don't get it," Knock Out sounded bored. Shockwave stood in front of her, Minnie right now had been literally scooped out of the cage, and rightfully dropped carefully onto the table.
Despite being silent and with the distinct aura of creepy surrounding him, Shockwave hadn't actually been rude, harmful, or even the least bit inconsiderate to her, yet. The yet part which kept popping up in her mind made her swallow hard. Flinching when her arm got lifted up, she watched as Shockwave's optic scanned her. It seemed that he hadn't encountered many humans before.
"Hello? Are you listening to me? Oh, what's the point?" Knock Out huffed, rather like a child not getting attention, it looked like he was having a bit of a tizzy.
Shockwave looked over his shoulder and watched the red bot. "I feel like you have a problem, Knock Out."
The bot in question looked deadpanned. "You don't say?" Shockwave never answered but instead turned his attention back on her. Knock Out threw his arms in the air. "Enjoy your science experiment!" With that childishly exclaimed he disappeared from the room.
Minnie watched him go, "You do not like him?" Shockwave asked, he seemed almost interested to her answer. He had watched as her eyes narrowed as Knock Out paced around and eventually went.
She flinched and looked up at him. "He chased me, nearly ran me over, chased me again and played a part in me being here. So no, I don't." Minnie said defiantly while crossing her arms.
Shockwave nodded. "I believe he is not my biggest fan either." Shockwave picked something up and placed it on the table. "I have, after all, taken over his lab."
Minnie tensed at the word lab, she just stared straight ahead as Shockwave took to holding the small slither of blue shard near her. Shaking her head she looked down. The small slither which she recognised as energon, much like the cubes back in the Autobot base, it bubbled when held close to her.
"Interesting." Shockwave mused. "I didn't know any of you survived." Minnie frowned confused. She stayed silent though. Whatever he was on about, she didn't want to intervene. Being picked up and put back in the cage looked up at him. "Megatron wishes to speak with you."
"Just me?"
"I've already had words." Shockwave stated and carried her gently out of the room.
However upon meeting the Decepticon leader, Minnie couldn't help but try and hide more in her cage. He was large, imposing, truly he looked like a living terror. Able to fight and take damage and carry on if the scars across his metallic body were anything to go by. Megatron paced to and fro. He was waiting for Shockwave to say something about the human. Upon giving their account of things previously, Shockwave had become interested in Knock Out and Starscream's words. Shockwave was a scientist by heart, and it had been a known thing that back on Cybertron he was always messing about in his lab.
The scientist was interested in the human, along with the Decepticon leader. What could possibly be so interesting about one mere human? Turning eventually though, Megatron's eyes stared long and hard at the cage which was within Shockwave's hands. It was small to their standards, yet not to the small being within. Megatron watched as the human shrunk back, the cage was placed on the floor and the door unlatched. Shockwave had no problem in scooping her out and putting her on the floor. She knelt but slowly pushed herself up. Craning her neck up she looked at him with pure fear.
Leaning down, Megatron smiled slowly. "You have good reason to be afraid, human." She didn't answer, so he continued while Shockwave merely stood watching. Megatron rolled his eyes back down at the human. "You are Primes' pet?" He put a talon like finger under her chin and tilted her head from side to side. "Not much to look at." He muttered and flicked her away from himself as if being so close to a human would cause him to attract some sort of disease. The girl stumbled and got nudged to stand properly again by Shockwave. "What do you make of your saviour? That's what all the fleshlings see him as, is that not correct?" Megatron tilted his head to the side. He gave a shrug. "I still cannot fully comprehend as to why he would want something like you around. Although I suppose I must thank him when we next meet, for if he didn't have you, you wouldn't be here, and if you weren't here, it wouldn't deeply affect him. That's his downfall," Megatron narrowed his eyes. "Taking a liking to your puny race." He paused. "Well human, are you going to speak?" He questioned.
Minnie swallowed hard and stared up at him. He was the one from her dream, he was so much bigger than what her dream gave him credit for. He seemed much bigger built than Optimus. "Megatron." She whispered out slowly.
Her fear and apprehension seemed to amuse the Decepticon as he let out a quiet yet dark chuckle. He turned away from her with his hands entwined behind his back. "You really are right to fear me, fleshling." Megatron turned sharply and was going to lash out, only Shockwave interrupted him. "What is it?"
"The resulting attack could have varied results."
"Let's find out what those results are then shall we, Shockwave?" Megatron grinned and swiped at Minnie. She went hurtling along the ground screaming each time she bounced off of the metallic flooring. She slammed against the wall, Megatron looked to Shockwave. "There are your results." He shook his head. "Disappointing, Shockwave."
Shockwave looked at the dark silver bot in front of him. "The Techno-Organic program was in early developments back on Cybertron."
"Clearly not that early, Shockwave." Megatron countered and looked to the human.
Minnie had stirred and was listening with her eyes shut. She twitched and groaned. She reached down to hold onto her leg, or what as at least left of it. The two Decepticons turned as she started screaming. There was no leg beyond her knee, Minnie looked frantically around, seeing the rest of her leg laying on the floor near Shockwave's foot, she screamed louder. There was flesh, but there was no bone, blood or veins. Minnie looked at wires, wires tubes and a blue substance. Touching it she lifted her hand up, energon. Putting a hand to her heart she frowned. There was a heartbeat, but surely if her blood was energon, her heartbeat, wasn't really coming from a heart. Minnie shifted and put her hands over her mouth. A spark? She had a spark?
"What am I?!" She shouted up at Shockwave and Megatron, "Who am I?" She whimpered and curled up more on the floor. Quivering she slowly shut her eyes she laid in a mixture of what blood was in her system as well as energon.
"Perhaps there is an avenue for exploration in this after all, Shockwave." Megatron mused, looking at the dismal display of self-pity and fear, it amused him to some extent. But it interested him more how Shockwave could use this thing for their cause. It could very well help with being Optimus Primes downfall, how could Megatron not take advantage of that?
——
(Edited: 5/August/2020)