Chapter 14: Dani California

About a year had passed since Moonblaster's tragic and untimely death, and none of the Autobots could have forgotten about her if we'd tried, and we didn't. Most of us had her departing gifts in their respective rooms, but hardly had the courage to play the games or--for Ratchet and I--take what they desired. Bumblebee had been halfway through Lay Down by Priestess on Guitar Hero III when he had broken down and started crying; that was Moonblaster's favourite song. Sari couldn't play Dance Dance Revolution if she wanted to, and she did, but every time she started a song, she would be reminded of Moonblaster and her crazy handstands on the dance mat during the long steps. Then she'd shut it off and do something else. The only song Sari could finish was Since You've Been Gone. Blitzwing took the games Moonblaster promised him and hostilities were restored between him and us. Optimus refused to play Brain Age until about six months after her demise, and immediately decided that he loathed it. The next day, he picked it back up and continued trying. The first painting Bulkhead created--not too long ago--was one of Moonblaster, mid-handstand on the dance mat. Ratchet still hasn't found it in him to take whatever he wants from her room, and I haven't seen fit to change anything in it, except for a possible re-painting. Even so, that would remain Bulkhead's honor.

"Prowl," A voice started behind me. I whirled around to face Ratchet, an extreme sorrow in his voice and on his face.

"Yes, Ratchet?" I replied.

"I can't take anything from her room. It just doesn't seem right." Ratchet confessed, meeting my gaze, but somehow trying to avoid the subject and my reaction.

"Ratchet," I began, only to get cut off as the medic stared at me with tearful optics. I stopped and let him speak.

"Do you know how hard it was to see one of my closest friends dying? Sure, I repaired her, but she was found dead in the medbay the next morning. I know, I know. You were even closer to her than I was, and you knew her longer, but" He choked slightly. "it hit home with me. I once had the honor of rescuing an intelbot back on Cybertron named Arcee. She was carrying valuable access codes for the war effort and we ended up getting captured by Lockdown" I shuddered. We all remembered Lockdown. "and my EMP generator accidentally went off, wiping Arcee's memory core clean. We escaped, but she couldn't remember who she was. First her, now Moonblaster. I thought I had saved her, but her fate ended up taking its course." He finished.

"I'm sorry you had to go through this again, Ratchet." I sympathized. "Though it seems that Moonblaster did tell you to take anything from her possessions." I pointed out, knowing full well how the team's medibot would react. "She would want you to take it."

"Well, I can't!" He exclaimed as he stomped off to his room.

"Yikes." Prime said as he cautiously stepped towards me. "What crawled up his exhaust?"

I sighed and gave him a rueful smile as Sari approached Prime and I. "I'll tell you later." I replied to Prime in our native tongue to avoid Sari's constant, nagging curiosity.

"So, I brought DDR, like you asked, Prowl." She held up a fabric bag that contained what looked like Moonblaster's Playstation 2 and various games. "I also brought Rock Band." She smiled a proud, yet barely modest smile. "You guys are gonna love it. Me and Moony used to play it all the time. She got 100 on every song she sung, which was only about 3; Dani California, Ballroom Blitz and Blitzkrieg Bop."

"Alright," Prime cut in. "enough with the Blitz. I've had more than enough of that word.

"What..? But isn't Blitzwi-"

"No, Sari." I responded. "I thought you would realize that fact whenever he shot at us. Blitzwing killed Moony." I said to her, revealing the cold, hard truth.

"What?! Nobody told me that!" She exclaimed in shock.

"Oh well. Let's forget about that right now and play some games." I continued.

"Someone say games?" An excited voice said as Bumblebee jumped out from Primus-only-knows-where.

"Bumblebee, where's Bulkhead?" I asked; it's pretty difficult to lose someone his size. Not only that, but also the fact that he tends to destroy everything in his path, intentional or not. I didn't see any tell-tale signs of Bulkhead's passing through, so I was naturally a little concerned.

"Oh, he's in his room, sulking. He told me he didn't want to socialize today." Bumblebee waved off nonchalantly.

"I'll be right back." I said as I calmly walked to the big, green mech's room and knocked on the big, green door.

"Who is it?" He asked from inside the room. He did sound quite sullen, and I couldn't blame him; this transition hadn't been easy for any of us. "No, go away." He continued before I could say anything. "I have to work this out on my own."

"Not necessarily." I offered. "We're all going through the same thing, Bulkhead." I explained. "Any of us could help you."

A few seconds passed before I heard the sounds of various lock being unlocked and then, the door opened. Bulkhead looked down at me, ashamed of his behavior. I looked up at him as though nothing had changed, but he did have a little something on his face...

"I ran outta bright green paint." He confessed as I tried to hide my amusement; I thought he was still depressed about her "departure". "How am I s'posta repaint Moony's room without bright green paint?" He asked. "I have plenty of black, but no green." He finished, looking at me expectantly.

"You don't have to do that now," I said, stepping into the room. True enough, there was an empty paint can, tipped onto its side on the floor. "Come on, Bulkhead. Let's go play some video games." I offered, trying to tempt him. He paused.

"What kinda video games?"

"Moony's favourites." I said. "Rock Band and DDR."

Eagerly, he agreed and we returned to the main room to find Prime singing "Black Hole Sun", rather off tune. At long last, the song ended, and I took over the vocals position to save everyone any more of Prime's audio-shattering wails. We ended up getting pestered by Sari into doing "Dani California". She stayed on drums and Optimus took over the guitars.

When the song ended, Sari pulled me aside and told me she had someone she wanted me to meet. "She's really cool," She explained. "just like the human version of Moony. I'll go find her and we can all play together!" Sari's voice was simply oozing with excitement as she ran out the door.

"What was that all about?" Bulkhead asked as I walked back into the room and switched the game.

"Sari has a new friend she wants us to meet." I replied simply.

"So what am I?" Bumblebee exclaimed, annoyed as he selected "centerfold" from the songs menu.

"Um.." Optimus paused, as if the answer were so obvious that it could've jumped up and bitten any of us. "We already know you, Bumblebee."

"Well, duh."

"Hey guys," Came the sound of Sari's voice. "I want you all to meet Dani." We all looked down, and a few pairs of optics widened. We were expecting someone around Sari's age, but Sari's new friend was clearly far from it. "What? Have you guys never seen a teenager before?"

Dani looked to be about 17-18 human years of age, and did bear a striking resemblance to Moonblaster; she wore her dark brown/black hair in a ponytail at the back of her head, leaving neat fringes of dark hair to frame either side of her face. Her eyes were a bright blue, and the fact that she wore glasses nearly drove me into a startling reverie. She was wearing a tight fitting, bright green shirt and a long pair of black jeans that had been patched in several places with bright green fabric, which offered a stark contrast when the green and black were compared to her blue eyes.

Prime continued to stare at the newcomer, then over to the Playstation 2, then back again. Finally, he spoke. "You said your name is Dani? As in Dani California?"

Dani laughed. "Yes and no." She said in a sweet voice. "No, my name is actually Danielle, and yes, all my friends call me Dani California."

"How is it you met Sari?" I asked curiously.

"Long story." She said, a smile on her face. "Tell you later. Dibs on next song!" She called to Bumblebee, who had taken over the dance mat again. "Ooh, Centerfold. I challenge you." She continued, a devious, confident smile on her face. "Go basic, I bet I can beat you."

Bumblebee stopped immediately and restarted the game as Dani plugged in the other dance mat.

"Oh, you're going down." Bumblebee threatened playfully.

"How much are you willing to bet?" She retorted.

"You sound pretty confident." He observed.

"I am." She did end up beating him, just like Moonblaster would have. Where as Bumblebee used speed to hit the closely-clumped steps, Dani used smarts; instead of hopping from arrow to arrow, she stayed on the arrows to avoid unnecessary energy use. "Who's next?" She asked as Bublebee slumped sullenly onto the couch. Sari was the next challenger, and she went down just like Bumblebee. Prime was next. Then me. I actually put up a fight, but it only made her work that much harder. Soon enough, I ended up in the loser's circle. Bulkhead went down without a fight, and then, only Ratchet remained. "C'mon, Ratch," She coaxed. "don'tcha wanna see me beaten?" She asked. As she persuaded him, I could see a flash of recognition in the old medic's optics. He recognized something in or about Sari's new friend, Dani.

"Alright, but just this once." He consented wearily as he stepped onto the super sized dance mat hesitantly.

She considered him carefully. "I'll be nice and let you pick the song. I'll give you a chance...this time."

"Just remember, kid, I'm only doing this once."

She smirked as he laboriously picked out Battle Without Honor or Humanity, which was easily the slowest song on the whole game, even on basic, which they both chose. Dani stretched her arms--what Moonblaster always did when she was preparing to do handstands on the dance mat. "I've decided I'm gonna make it even easier for you, and experiment with some stunts."

I was taken aback. Sari was right; she was like the human version of Moonblaster. Suddenly, a strange sensation overcame me. I had the feeling--call it instinct if you wish--that Moonblaster was not, in fact, dead. Perhaps her chassis was completely useless, but there have been instances where a spark has housed itself with a human to survive. This usually only occurred when no other robotic life forms could be detected, though and yet, here was the entire Autobot base.

She did end up beating the medic, but only by three steps. "Nicely done." She commented, smiling up at the grouchy old medibot. She reached a hand up and Ratchet bent down to allow her to shake his finger. "You fought well." She continued, a hint of a familiar accent peeking through her normal, accent-less voice. She masked it quickly. "I congratulate you."

"Well thanks, kid." Ratchet smiled back at her as she flopped down on the couch, directly in the center of the middle cushion. She made a sort of face and looked up at me knowingly.

"This couch smells kinda funny." She pointed out, smiling at me.

'Oh, Primus, she knows.' I though worriedly. 'No,' Then realization dawned on me. 'Only Moonblaster and I knew.' I looked down at Dani, scrutinizing every aspect of her body, colouring and general appearance before I decided for sure. Dani was no ordinary human femme.

--

Dani kept returning day after day, wearing a different colour combination every time she visited. The only combination we saw twice was the lime green and black outfit. Ratchet proved untrue to his word and continued to battle her on DDR, getting better each time. Every day, I scrutinized her and took careful considerations of all her words and actions. Finally, I had enough evidence to take her aside to my room to talk.

"I know who you are." I said, as I sat on a branch in the tree with my back to the trunk and set her down in front of me, on the narrower part of the branch.

The dark haired human looked at me, clearly unimpressed as she shoved her glasses a little further up the bridge of her nose and tucked a fringe of loose hair behind her left ear. "I've been coming here often enough, I think you ought to." She smiled.

"I wasn't finished," I said, anticipating her reaction. "Moonblaster."

Her eyes widened a bit, but she masked her surprise well, and looked at me as if she were completely lost. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Don't do this. I know what happened and I know what your real identity is. I have been watching you day after day, 'Dani'. You are not who you seem."

"Ha!" She scoffed. "What makes you think that?" She asked, stretching her legs out onto the length of the branch and crossing them as she looked at me expectantly.

I counted off the evidence against her on my fingers. "Lime green and black." She picked a bit of invisible lint off of her bright green sweater. "Hand stands on the dance mat." She twiddled her thumbs. "Managing to beat Bumblebee, managing to convince Ratchet to play." She avoided my persistent gaze, opting to glance around the room. "Knowing about the couch." She giggled. "The hint of a British accent in your voice." I paused. "What more evidence do I need, Moonblaster?"

"Alright, now here's my counter-evidence." Dani responded, a hint of venom in her sweet voice as she counted the reasons off the same way as I had. "Lime green and black is my favourite colour combo. I'm a dare-demon, I love doing stunts like that. 'Bee was using speed, instead of smarts, which made it easy, 'cause he got tired. Ratchet's a bit of a pushover with a tough shell and a figurative heart softer than sponge cake. The couch thing was obvious; it smelled like motor oil and bodily fluids. I looked to you, because you would be the least likely suspect."

"And the accent?" I prompted.

"What accent?" She asked in a think, ignorant British accent.

I looked at her incredulously, then I got an idea. Without giving it too much thought, I snapped my fingers twice. To my satisfaction and amusement, Dani jumped up from her seat on the thin end of the branch, carefully bolted over my foot and and down the trunk. As soon as she reached the knot, I snapped my fingers once and she froze completely before she lost her grip and tumbled to the ground. Swiftly and silently, I jumped down from my perch and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. She looked up at me sheepishly and I countered with a triumphant smile.

"Gotcha." I said as she sat upright in my hand.

"Alright, alright." She sighed and resumed speaking with her accent. "I give in, Ninjaboy."

"Why did you try to hide yourself, Moonblaster?" I inquired.

"Thing is, I'm not the sole occupant of this pretty body."

"What do you mean?"

"Dani here, is a 'sentient being' that my spark searched out for housing. Sharing a chassis with one of you would be bothersome. Only you know this. If anyone else were to find out, people would think she's crazy and mark her down for the loony bin." She finally finished.

"Why would you choose a sentient being?!" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm, but obviously not very successfully.

"Hey, I didn't want to pick a corpse. I prefer my body to be functional, not zombified." She retorted. She paused, then nodded. "Good idea, Dani." She then turned her gaze back to me and said hastily: "Let's talk about this later."

"No, Mooblaster. I need to know: why did Blitzwing kill you? What happened that night?"

She looked at me, ashamed. "You don't want to know. You'd hate me for it." With that, she hopped off my hand and ran out the door. I gave chase, but only to the front entrance.

"Let her run." Ratchet said, putting a well-meaning hand on my shoulder.

"On second thought," Optimus started thoughtfully. "Follow her, but make sure she doesn't see you. I want you to guard her."

I obeyed, following her all the way to Sumdac Tower, where she seemed to get free access everywhere. She hacked her way into Professor Sumdac's lab--as I observed through a skylight--and began talking..to an empty room.

"He knows." She said worriedly as she paced the length of the room, speaking quickly. "The Autobot Prowl knows. I think he knows about everything, but I can't be 100 sure. I do know, though, that he's figured out about me having adopted a human body, and also the fact that the human is sentient and ohhh.." She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I am breaking so many laws right now. Plus, I just completely ruined your plans. I apologize." She said, getting down on one knee and bowing her whole body forward, as one would to a king.

"Nonsense." Another British--or English at the very least--male voice said reassuringly as one of Sumdac's pocketbots climbed up onto her shoulder. "You have done well, Moonblaster. Just as I trusted you would. You have never failed me thus far, and it is only a matter of time before I am whole again, my dear." I paused in thought for a bit; that voice sounded familliar, I just couldn't remember where I'd heard it or who it belonged to. He continued, "All I need before our destiny is complete is that key charged with the Allspark. I trust you've worked hard at gaining their trust."

"Of course, my lord." Moonblaster confirmed. "Excellent work, my dear. And please, call me...Megatron."

--

As we all stood around the giant bed in the med bay, I pushed the last lines from Moonblaster's and "Megatron's" conversation to the back of my processor. It was simply absurd. We all knew that Megatron had been destroyed "somewhere over Cleveland" as Bumblebee had so deftly put it. And so, I didn't consider the possibility that Megatron had survived somehow. It was impossible.

Suddenly, Dani groaned. Slowly, she opened her eyes and met my gaze. Her eyes instantly snapped shut again. Without warning, she jumped from the bed and screamed in pure fright and hysteria. "No! You can't separate us!"

Ratchet shook his head. "We have to, kid, so sit down and shut up."

"No! You can't!" She insisted. "There's gotta be a law or something!"

"We can, and there isn't." Optimus cut in moodily. "Don't you see, Dani? Moonblaster is using you to get free access in Sumdac Tower. What she wants up there, none of us know, but it can't be good, knowing her."

"No! I won't let you!" With that, Dani turned heel and ran. She ran out of the base and kept changing course as the entire Autobot team chased after her. Finally, she darted into Sumdac tower, and soon after, there was a flash of red and a hole was blown into the top of the tower.

"Ooh boy." Ratchet said, looking at the space slightly above the hole. "Megatron."

I gasped. He was right. Megatron was hovering above the space, his left hand curled into a loose fist. Slowly, the Decepticon leader descended, opening his fist to the ground and a small figure, clad in lime green and black with dark, pony-tailed hair hopped out, taking a few proud steps towards us.

Dani smirked and looked up to Optimus, who glared back at her with such intensity that it was slightly frightening.

"Y'know, when 'Bee stomped out, he was right to. You aren't the best leader. In fact," She continued, examining her nails. "you're one of the worst. You've helped the Decepticons back to power!" She shook her head. "I don't even think you know what you're doing. If you would have just let the kid keep the key, you wouldn't be in this mess."

"Dani?" I asked cautiously.

She chuckled, and it was a truly frightening sound. "No." She said proudly as she looked up at me, a roguish grin on her face. "I am Moonblaster."

--

THE END...for now...

Use of holoform technology in Pt. 2? Y/N

Suggestions for the sequel? (Please! I want your ideas!)

Sequel is up, for those of you just joining us. It's called "Moonblaster's Return". ENJOY!