Life in Allspark Wells

Part 29; Side Swiping in the Past

To the average adrenaline junkie like Sideswipe, the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon would be to take her motorcycle off into an abandoned quarry and try to pull off as many tricks as possible. The next best thing would be to find some old, abandoned road and see how fast she could go, feeling the wind brush against her face.

But right now, the young biker found the best way to pass a Saturday afternoon was to be curled up under a blanket with her girlfriend as they watched the latter’s favorite movie.

On the screen, a man pointed at another man as he chastised, “All you care about is what you can take! You have no right!” Another character, a smarmy little man with glasses, smugly replied, “An extinct animal brought back to life has no rights. It exists because we made it. We patented it. We own it.” Watching the movie, Sideswipe couldn’t help but think to herself, ‘You know, I forgot how deep the dialogue in this flick was.’

As the characters in the movie devolved into a fist fight, Sideswipe couldn’t help but quip, “I could take them all on with one hand tied between my back.” Hearing this, Marble let out a gentle chuckle as she replied, “You sure about that? That poacher might give you a run for your money.” Feigning indignation, the pale biker asked, “What? You think that little old moi can’t handle one ugly old poacher?”

Marble immediately began to panic as she stammered, “I… I didn’t mean… I….” Realizing she’d upset her girlfriend, the pale biker apologized, “Hey, it’s alright! I was just being cheeky.” As the gray geologist calmed down, Sideswipe apologized, “I’m sorry. I know you….” Marble interrupted with a blunt, “Take things a bit too literally?”

Nodding, Sideswipe reassured her girlfriend, “It’s ok.” She then kissed her girlfriend on the cheek as she continued, “Besides, I think your concern for me is so cute.” Blushing, Marble replied, “I just don’t want to lose you.” The gray geologist then took her girlfriend’s hands and, taking a deep breath, kissed Sideswipe on the lips.

Once the two girls had finished their kiss, Marble began to laugh as she remarked, “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do anything… you know… naughty.” Hearing this, Sideswipe reassured her girlfriend, “Oh please. I’m as much a bad girl as any bad girl ever bad girled before.” Ther was an awkward pause before the pale biker continued, “Ok, that was kinda lame.” Even Marble couldn’t help but agree with, “Yeah, that was pretty lame.”

As the awkward moment passed, Sideswipe continued, “But trust me. I’ve done plenty of “bad girl” things in the past. There was that time I competed in an underground bike race, then there was the time I TP’d principal Magnus’s house…”

It was at this moment that a memory was reawakened in the depths Sideswipe’s mind. Taking a deep breath, the pale biker continued, “And there was this one time I even found myself breaking into someone’s house.” Intrigued, Marble asked, “What? You broke into someone’s house?” Nodding, Sideswipe replied, “Yup. In my defense, I had a good reason to. You see, what happened was….”

Takara’s Toys, Several Years Earlier

Sweeping the floors of the old toy store, a young Sideswipe inspected the progress she’d made. The floor of the shop front was now entirely dirt and dust free, leading the girl to wipe the sweat from her brow as she said to herself, “There we go. Not a spec of anything left.”

From the other end of the shop front, a man with dark purple skin, lavender hair, and wearing a suit and tie, walked over to the pre-teen girl as he complimented, “A fantastic job Sideswipe. I’m proud of you.” Smiling, Sideswipe replied, “Thank you Mr. Takara.” As Takara approached her, the toy shop owner reached into his pocket, pulled out a wallet, and removed several bills as he said, “Here we go. This should cover both today and yesterday. You make sure this all gets to your father.”

Accepting the bills, Sideswipe began to count them as she thought, ‘Let’s see. That’s twenty, forty… Yup. Two hundred bucks. This oughta be enough to cover this month’s bills.’ Stuffing the bills into her pocket, the young girl returned her focus to Takara as she bade, “Kansha shiteimasu.” Letting out a gentle chuckle, “Insho-tekina. Though your pronunciation is still a bit off.”

Sideswipe would have continued, but her eyes briefly drifted off to the old analog clock on the wall, only to see that it was now four o’ clock. Gulping, the young girl quickly said, “Oh dear! I better get moving, or else dad will get suspicious! See you later sir!” As she departed, Takara bade, “Take care young lady. And stay safe!”

Streets of Allspark Wells

Peddling her bicycle down the streets, Sideswipe couldn’t help but complain, “Man, my legs are killing me. One of these days, I should get my hands on a motorcycle or something.” Passing past house after house, the young girl continued, “With how far the house is from the rest of town, it’s either that or getting dad to drive me to and from everyone, and he’d never be agree to that.”

As she passed entered her home neighborhood, Sideswipe thought back to the circumstances that brought her here. Nine months earlier, her father, fire marshal Red Alert, suffered a blow to a head, causing him to become suspicious and paranoid of everyone around him. With her father unable to work, and her mother and brother running off to Primus knows where, the young girl was forced to drop out of school and pick up whatever odd jobs she could all over town.

“Ugh. Why can’t dad just get the help he needs?” Sideswipe complained as her legs continued to sting. “Then I could go back to school and not have to put up with all this stupid shit!” Shaking her head in frustration, she continued, “I swear, I thought I’d be glad I didn’t have to go to school anymore, but now I’d give anything to go back.”

Before Sideswipe could lament her predicament any further, the pale girl was distracted by the sound of a young girl’s voice singing out, “La la la. Tra la la la….” Turning to see who it was, Sideswipe found a small girl, no older than five or six, with yellow skin, orange hair in twin pig tails, and dressed in a pink tee shirt and purple trousers, riding a small tricycle past her as she continued to sing her nonsense song.

Shaking her head as she let out a gentle chuckle, Sideswipe remarked to herself, “I remember when I was her age.” Slowing down, she allowed the young girl to peddle past her, the pale girl called out, “Stay safe out there kid!” As she peddled, the small girl turned around as she replied, “I will! Thank you.”

At that moment, the younger girl accidentally ran aground, getting stuck in the mud of someone’s lawn. As the yellow girl struggled to peddle her bike forward, Sideswipe stopped as she called out, “Hey, everything alright?” As the pale biker parked her bike in front of the lawn, the younger girl replied, “I dunno! My bike won’t move!” She continued to try and peddle in vain, only able to kick up and spit out dirt and grass. Bending down to the bike, Sideswipe gently reassured her new friend, “Hold on there. Let me see if I can free your trike.”

Before Sideswipe could free the younger girl’s bike, both girls were distracted by the sound of a man’s voice furiously calling out, “What are you doing on my lawn?!” As the pale girl turned to see who it was, she was greeted by a man with purple skin, black hair, piercing red eyes, and dressed in a red button shirt and khaki pants, stomping up to them, a furious expression on his face. As the man stomped up to them, Sideswipe let out a loud gulp before she asked, “Uh, you mind giving us a hand? My friend here got her tricycle stuck.”

The purple man trudged up to the yellow girl and, to Sideswipe’s horror, grabbed her by her pigtails, lifted her up to his face, and angrily spat out, “Why do you ruin my yard? Tell me or I spank you!” The younger girl began to cry as she fearfully answered, “I just got my trike stuck! Please put me down!” Glaring at his prisoner with a look that Sideswipe could only describe as “full of hatred,” the purple man chucked her onto the street as he shouted out, “You never come back to my house! If you do, you never leave!”

Running over to the small girl, Sideswipe nervously asked, “You ok there?” Shaking her head, the yellow girl cried, “I want my mommy!” The younger girl then threw herself onto the older girl, who could only gently wrap her arms around her as she tried to reassure her, “It’s ok. I’ll… I’ll…” She found herself unable to speak as she thought to herself, ‘Wait. What will, or even can I do?’

As she released the young girl, Sideswipe turned her head to the purple man, finding him lifting the tricycle up as he ripped the front wheel off of the trike. Feeling her fist clench as she gritted her teeth, the pale girl stood up and stomped over to him as she demanded, “Give that trike back right now!” Staring down at her, the purple man angrily replied, “No! It is on my property! That means it is mine!” He then pointed right at Sideswipe’s chest as he warned, “If you try anything, you will suffer! Now leave! Leave or I claim your life!”

Before Sideswipe could even think of striking him, she was caught off guard by another voice, this one far more familiar to her, cried out, “There you are Sideswipe! Where have you been?” Turning around, she found a man with white skin, bright red hair, and a simple outfit consisting of a button shirt, pants, and a red tie that could only be her father, Red Alert. As her father approached her, Sideswipe could only groan, “Ugh. Not now.”

Trotting up to his daughter, Red Alert sternly asked, “You were supposed to be home five minutes ago! What are you doing here fraternizing with this….” Turning to the purple man, he finished, “This stranger?” Pointing at Red Alert’s face, the purple man replied, “My name is Paka Paka, and I’ll have you know your little brat here was trespassing on my lawn!”

Sideswipe immediately shot back with, “You stole that girl’s tricycle first!” Paka Paka retorted with an angry, “Because she drove it on my property! That makes it mine!” Growling with rage, Sideswipe retorted, “That’s not how it works you… You jackass!”

The pale girl immediately found her arm left arm being yanked away by her father as Red Alert stated, “That will do! The last thing we need is you picking fights with random neighbors.” Trying to free herself, Sideswipe complained, “But dad! We can’t just let him steal her tricycle!” Stopping in his tracks, the older man warned his daughter, “Listen, we have to pick and choose our battles, and that man isn’t worth it.” He then continued to drag his daughter away, the young girl unable to take her eyes off the yellow girl, thinking to herself, ‘I can’t just let Paka Paka get away with this.’

Slipstream’s Hidden Lair, Later That Day

Sitting on a rusty old sedan hood, Sideswipe vented, “And that twat just stole that girl’s tricycle and threatened to… I dunno, hurt her?” the pale girl hesitated for a moment before continuing, “I mean, it’s not like Paka Paka would actually hurt a little girl, right?”

Across from Sideswipe, laying on an old couch with her feet resting on a “salvaged” table covered in playing cards and ashtrays, was her girlfriend, Slipstream. The gray girl had red eyes, a dyed blue bob cut, and wore a dark brown sleeveless shirt that exposed her midriff, tattered pants with pink and purple stripes, and brown lace up boots. This look was in contrast to the pale girl, who wore a black tee shirt, a red leather jacket, black pants, and black lace up boots.

Groaning to herself, Slipstream complained, “Ugh. You are so wound up over some little girl. So what if that Paka Paka guy stole her trike?” Hearing this, Sideswipe replied, “What are you saying? That I shouldn’t have tried to help her?” The gray girl immediately defended herself by stating, “Of course not! I’m just saying, with your dad and all, you should probably know when to let things be?”

Hearing this, Sideswipe declared, “I don’t care! You can’t just steal someone’s trike and make a little girl cry!” She then rose up to her feet as she continued, “I mean… What kind of person just steals someone’s bike in front of them? I wouldn’t do even do that to Sunstreaker, let alone a kid.” Shaking her head, the pale girl could only lament, “I don’t know what to do.”

Rolling her eyes as she groaned, Slipstream stood up as she said, “Well, if it’s gonna be bugging you this bad, I suppose we could “liberate” that stupid tricycle.” Hearing this, Sideswipe perked up as she asked, “Really? You’ll help me?” The blue haired girl nodded, resting her finger under her girlfriend’s chin as she replied, “Yeah. Anything to bring a smile to that cute little face of yours.” While her words were warm, Sideswipe couldn’t’ help but feel that she wasn’t being entirely honest in her enthusiasm.

But right now, that didn’t matter. Right now, all that mattered to Sideswipe was that Slipstream was willing to help her give Paka Paka a lesson in manners. Pulling her girlfriend into a hug, the pale girl squealed, “Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” As the blue haired girl awkwardly hugged her girlfriend back, Sideswipe began, “Ok, we need to meet up tonight at….”

Paka Paka’s House, That Night

“Come on Slipstream. You should have gotten here by now.” Sideswipe said to herself as she awkwardly straightened her jacket to keep herself warm. It was the dead of night, and the pale girl had managed to sneak out of her house and now found herself standing in front of Paka Paka’s house. “Heh. Good thing dad fell asleep watching that soap opera.” But now that she was here, the pale girl found herself having second thoughts about her little adventure.

“What if something happened to Slipstream on the way? What if she bailed on me?” The pale girl said to herself as she began to pace back and forth. “What if someone stopped her? Hell, what if she forgot?”

At that moment, someone tapped Sideswipe on her shoulder as Slipstream’s voice whispered, “Boo!” The pale girl jumped in shock as she screamed, “Gah!” Turning around, Sideswipe found Slipstream had materialized out of nowhere, the blue-haired girl dressed the same as she had been earlier, the only new addition being a black leather jacket. Letting out an amused snort, Slipstream remarked, “Hah. Got you, didn’t I?”

Trying to play it cool, Sideswipe replied, “What? No. I just…. Sneezed, that’s all.” Slipstream rolled her eyes as she replied, “Yeah. Sure.” The blue haired girl then began to walk up to Paka Paka’s house as she continued, “Come on. Let’s get this over with.” The two girls then made their way up to the house.

After a few moments, the two girls made it to the back door. Curious, Sideswipe asked, “What are you gonna do?” Reaching into her pocket, Slipstream pulled out two small metallic prongs and inserted them into the doorknob, fiddling around as she bluntly asked, “What does it look like genius?” All Sideswipe could do was awkwardly answer, “Ah. Yeah. A lockpick.” Hesitating for a moment, the pale girl asked, “Where’d you get that anyway?”

As the door unlocked, Slipstream answered, “Got them from some guy calling himself Gnashteeth. They were a thank you for making a delivery run for him.” Whilst the blue haired girl opened the door, Sideswipe asked, “A delivery? What were you delivering?” Turning back to her girlfriend, Slipstream answered, “I dunno. I didn’t ask, he didn’t tell.” She then ushered Sideswipe inside as she said, “Come on. We’re burning moonlight here.”

Once the two girls had entered the house, Sideswipe asked, “So, what do we do? We split up?” Shaking her head, Slipstream replied, “Nope. We stick together and go door to door.” She then began to tiptoe away before stopping and warning, “And stay quiet. If we get caught, we could end up going straight to juvie or something.” Shuddering at the thought of getting sent to the slammer, Sideswipe gulped as she whispered, “You got it. Staying quiet.”

Tiptoeing into the house, Sideswipe darted her eyes around, trying to find anything that could even loosely resemble a small tricycle. As she and her girlfriend made their way through the room, the pale girl asked, “So, where are we going?” Slipstream began to answer, only to pause before lamenting, “I have no idea.” She then admitted, “I’m still a bit rusty. This is the first house I’ve broken into in a while.”

Before Sideswipe could fully process what she’d just heard, the two girls were distracted by the sound of footsteps approaching. Instinctively hugging each other, Slipstream quietly ordered, “Follow me!” Following her girlfriend, Sideswipe and Slipstream tiptoed out of their current room and into the kitchen.

But the footsteps continued to follow them. Ducking down, Sideswipe and Slipstream leaned against a large, opaque table, hoping it would protect them from Paka Paka. Gulping, Sideswipe peaked her head out to see if they were being followed. While she couldn’t see the house’s resident. She could make out a man’s shadow approaching. The pale girl immediately leaned back against her protection as she whispered, “I think he’s getting closer.”

Feeling her heart pound and pound in her chest, the young teen found herself enveloped by a thin layer of sweat. Slipstream was about to chastise her girlfriend, only to hesitate as she heard Paka Paka’s voice remark, “What’s this? I thought I locked this door!” The blue haired girl impulsively placed one of her hands over her girlfriend’s mouth, leading Sideswipe to do the same to the former’s mouth.

Thankfully for them, Paka Paka let out a gentle chuckle as he remarked, “Stupid lock! I better call a lock smith in the morning.” The two girls then heard him relock the door before walking away as he sang an old tune to himself.

Once they were certain that Paka Paka was gone, the two girls released each other’s mouths as Slipstream remarked, “Thank Primus. That was close.” Sideswipe wiped the vast amount of sweat from her brow as she replied, “Yeah. Maybe we should call this off.” Shaking her head, the blue haired girl retorted, “Hell no. We’ve come this far. We’re gonna find that stupid tricycle if it’s the last thing we do. Now come on!” Slipstream took her girlfriend’s sweat drenched hand and began to drag her off again, hopeful they could find their objective and get out of the house before Paka Paka found them.

Ten Minutes Later

Tiptoeing through the house’s upper floors, Sideswipe and Slipstream made their way to a closed door. Sighing, the pale girl muttered to herself, “Alright. Last room we haven’t checked. Please be in here.” As she grabbed the doorknob and began to turn it, the blue haired girl groaned, “Let’s hope it’s here. Otherwise, we gotta bail.” Opening the door, Sideswipe peaked her head inside, only to be shocked by what she found.

There, inside what should have been an insignificant room used as a guest bedroom, rested a pile of tricycles, bikes, basketballs, baseballs, and other assorted toys. Feeling her jaw drop, Sideswipe could only remark, “By the gods. These have to have come from Primus knows how many kids.”

Walking into the room, Slipstream found herself caught off guard by what she saw. Scratching the back of her neck, the blue haired girl remarked, “Wow. This has to be like… thirty, forty… No, fifty kids worth of stuff.” She then knelt down to pick up a discarded doll, Slipstream continued, “There could be enough here to send this asshole to the slammer!”

Hearing this, Sideswipe replied, “Hopefully. All I care about is getting that girl’s tricycle back to her.” Turning her attention to the pile of hoarded toys, the pale girl began to sift through it as she gently called out, “Give me a hand!” Slipstream groaned as she rested the doll she found to the ground and complained, “Yes ma’am.”

As she combed through everything, Sideswipe asked, “Hey Slipstream? If you didn’t want to do this, why’d you agree to do this?” Shrugging, Slipstream answered, “Because you were being so annoying, sulking about that girl’s tricycle, and I just wanted to put a stop to it.” She then added, “Besides, I’ve been bored.” Taking this in, Sideswipe could only dejectedly reply, “Thanks. I guess.”

After a few minutes, the pale girl found what she was looking for. “Bingo!” She exclaimed as she pulled a broken tricycle out from the pile of confiscated toys. The trike was just as she’d remembered from earlier in the day, including the absence of the front wheel. Looking around, Sideswipe asked, “You find a tricycle wheel around here?”

Slipstream shrugged as she answered, “Nah.” Hearing this, Sideswipe turned back to the pile of toys and resumed her investigation. As she sifted through everything, the pale girl thought, ‘Come on. Come on. You’ve gotta be right around….’ Before she could finish, Sideswipe found a wheel that could easily have belonged to the trike.

“Here!” Sideswipe whispered as she pulled the wheel out from the hoard and, taking a deep breath, snapped it back into the tricycle. Now that the tricycle was complete, the pale biker said, “Alright. I’ve got it. Let’s get the hell out of here.” Nodding, Slipstream replied, “You got it.”

It was at this moment that both girls heard Paka Paka’s voice violently shout, “I knew it!”

‘Shit!’ Sideswipe thought to herself. As she slowly turned around, the pale girl found herself turning even paler as the sweat began to drip, or rather, pour down her face as she realized that she was in serious trouble. ‘Maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe he’ll just send me home with a warning.’ Taking a deep breath, she began, “Sorry about this Mr. Paka Paka. We were just….”

Sideswipe found herself speechless as Paka Paka, hatred and fury in his face, aimed a shotgun right at her face.

As both girls began to process the danger they were in, Paka Paka angrily asked, “What are you doing in my house?!” Sideswipe wasn’t focusing on the purple man’s words, instead staring at the gun barrel that was aimed right at her. She tried to speak, but found herself unable to, completely overcome with fear. Growling with frustration, Paka Paka stepped forward, bringing the shotgun barrel closer to her as he demanded, “Why are you in my house?!”

Now absolutely terrified, Sideswipe nervously replied, “We were just trying to get that girl’s trike back!” Slipstream then added, “I’m only here because she wanted to do that!” Turning to her girlfriend, the pale girl could only think to herself, ‘Way to be a team player.’

But Paka Paka wasn’t flinching. Glaring at Sideswipe, the purple man barked, “That does not matter! That trike is on my property, therefore it is mine!” He then widened his eyes as he barked something that shook both girls to their bones.

“You broke into my house! I can kill you legally!”

Hearing this, Sideswipe thought, ‘What? I mean… he wouldn’t do it… right?’ Stepping back, the young girl tried to defend herself with, “All due respect sir… We aren’t really a threat to you so….” She then sidestepped Paka Paka’s shotgun, only to find that he was still aiming his weapon at her. As Sideswipe let out a loud gulp. Slipstream called out, “Screw this! I’m out of here!”

Paka Paka tried to turn around to threaten Slipstream, but his finger accidentally pulled the trigger, producing a deafening bang while pellets of shot tore through the wall. As Sideswipe collapsed to her knees and covered her ears, the pale girl cried out, “Fuck me! That’s loud!”

Standing up, the pale girl realized something was wrong. ‘Wait. Where’s Slipstream?’ She thought to herself. Indeed, during the few moments where she’d been distracted by the shotgun blast, Sideswipe’s girlfriend had disappeared, almost certainly running off while she wasn’t looking. Now, the only thing between herself and the way out was a very angry Paka Paka and a shotgun.

Realizing it was her only chance of escape, Sideswipe dropped the tricycle and charged towards the door, shoving past Paka Paka as she ran for her life. Behind her, she could hear the purple man pumping his shotgun as he bellowed, “Come back here so I can kill you!” Now fearing for her life, Sideswipe began to panic as she darted her eyes around, looking for the way out.

‘Oh no.’ The pale girl thought to herself. Running down the hall, she continued to think, ‘This has to be the way out of here.’ Thankfully, she found the main stairwell, leading her to pump her fist as she exclaimed, “Yes!” However, the sound of footsteps approaching made her realize she needed to get moving.

Running down the stairs, Sideswipe thought to herself, ‘Ok. We just gotta go through the kitchen, then there’s the door out of here.’ Allowing a small smirk to form on her face, the pale girl ran straight to the kitchen. Once she was past that, the pale girl found the door she and her girlfriend had come in through. ‘Finally! Time to get the hell out of here!’ She thought to herself as she ran to the door.

But as she turned the doorknob and tried to run outside, someone grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back inside the house.

Landing on her face as her head banged against the floor, Sideswipe groaned, “Ugh. That hurt.” She was distracted from her pain as she heard Paka Paka’s voice spitefully bade, “That won’t matter in a moment!” Looking up, the pale girl found the purple man aiming his shotgun at her again, a terrifying smile on his face as he continued, “I told you! You break in my house! That means I can legally kill you!” Feeling the sweat drop from her brow, Sideswipe nervously asked, “Uh… I don’t know if that’s actually legal.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Paka Paka angrily retorted. Readying his weapon so that it was right up to Sideswipe’s cheek, the purple man let out a horrifying snicker as his lips formed a cruel smile before declaring, “I kill you now!”

At this moment, Sideswipe did the only thing she could do. Raising her leg, the pale girl kicked Paka Paka in the stomach, forcing him to drop his weapon. Seeing the opportunity she’d created, Sideswipe stood up and charged for the door, this time making it outside.

But as she approached the edge of the yard, Sideswipe felt something hit her on the back of her head, forcing her down onto the grass. As she struggled to get back up, the pale girl felt someone try to pull her leg, dragging her backwards. ‘Crap. Must be Paka Paka.’ She thought to herself. Sideswipe tried to crawl forward, only for the purple man’s voice to declare, “Oh no! You’re not getting away from me! I told you I could kill you legally, and I intend to kill you legally!”

Realizing that he intended to actually do her in, Sideswipe began to panic as she begged, “Please don’t kill me! I don’t wanna die!” As she began to tense herself up for the inevitable, the pale girl didn’t notice the two men in blue uniforms approaching them as one of them called out, “Put your hands in the air and get down on the ground!”

Looking towards the new arrivals, Sideswipe found that they were indeed two police officers. ‘I can’t remember the last time I’ve ever been happy to see those little piggies before.’ The pale girl thought to herself. ‘Guess there’s a first time for everything.’

Sure enough, the older officer, a gray man with blue hair, pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Paka Paka as he ordered, “Drop the gun and get down on the ground now!” Aiming his shotgun at the officers, the purple man barked back, “But she broke into my house! I have the right to kill her!” Sideswipe tried to raise her hand to speak out, only to get the shotgun barrel shoved back into her face as Paka Paka barked, “You don’t move, or I turn your head into hamburger!”

The brief distraction Sideswipe had provided the cops the opportunity they needed, and the younger officer charged at Paka Paka. The purple man only had a moment to process what was happening before the younger officer, a gray man with white hair, tackled him to the ground. Once she was free, Sideswipe stood up and ran towards the older officer, hugging him as she declared, “Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank You!”

As the older officer hugged her back, his younger comrade escorted a now handcuffed Paka Paka as he said, “You are under arrest Paka Paka. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law…” As he continued to read his prisoner his rights, the older cop complimented, “Nice job there Prowl.” Turning his attention to the young girl, he asked, “We’re here because we got a noise complaint about the shotgun blasts. What the hell are you doing here?”

Taking a moment to process everything, Sideswipe let out a nervous chuckle as she began, “Heh heh, yeah, about that….” Before she could continue, the older police man interrupted as he said, “Given everything, I feel we will need to contact your father.”

All Sideswipe could do was let out a nervous and resigned gulp as she muttered, “Shit.”

Red Alert’s Home, Later That Night

“Thank you, officer.” Red Alert thanked the two police officers as they presented Sideswipe to him. After a quick phone call, the pale girl had been delivered back to her father. Of course, since it was the middle of the night, as well as the fact that her father had no idea that his daughter had broken into another man’s house, the reunion wasn’t a particularly happy one.

Turning to his daughter, Red Alert sternly finished with a foreboding, “This will not. Happen. Again.” As Sideswipe held her head in shame, the policeman bade farewell with a gentle, “Have a good evening sir.” With that, the officer closed the door, leaving the young girl alone at her father’s mercy. Taking a deep breath, she began to apologize, “Hey dad. Sorry about….”

Sideswipe was interrupted when Red Alert slapped her in the face, forcing her to her knees as he furiously barked, “What in the fucking hell were you doing?! Sneaking out of the house? Breaking into Paka Paka’s house? Trying to steal from him?!” As she struggled to get back to her feet, Sideswipe desperately tried to reply, “He stole a girl’s tricycle. I wasn’t just gonna….”

The pale girl received another slap to her face, this one much harder, from her father as Red Alert shouted, “Do you realize something? Do you realize! Let me tell you! If things had been a bit different, you could have been killed! DO YOU REALIZE YOU COULD HAVE DIED?” He then paused for a moment before continuing, “You could have broken this family more than it already has been! You’re just lucky that those cops only wanted to drop you off.”

As Sideswipe took her father’s words in, Red Alert began to calm down as he angrily ordered, “You are grounded for the next…. Until I feel like you’ve learned your lesson! Now go to your room and think long and hard about what you’ve done tonight!” The pale girl wanted to challenge her father’s authority, but the pain in her mouth was too much for her, and she decided that, for tonight at least, she’d concede and obey his wishes. Nodding, Sideswipe replied, “Sir, yes sir.”

Once she’d made it to her bedroom, Sideswipe locked the door, wanting to be alone for the night. She then felt something wet run down her lip. ‘Ugh, don’t tell me I’m drooling.’ The pale girl thought to herself as she wiped her mouth. As she looked to her hand, however, she realized that she wasn’t drooling.

‘Saliva isn’t supposed to be red.’ She thought to herself.

It was at this moment, now that she was alone in her room after having been abandoned by her girlfriend, threatened by Paka Paka, and struck by her father, that Sideswipe lost all composure and began to break down. Throwing herself onto her bed, she screamed into her pillow, “I HATE THIS! I HATE THIS STUPID TOWN, I HATE THAT ASSHOLE, AND I HATE…” She stopped herself before she could hated her father. ‘I… I don’t hate dad.’ She thought to herself.

‘But why do I feel like I do?’

Unable to come up with a good answer, Sideswipe allowed her exhaustion to overcome her as she began crying herself to sleep. After all, it was the only thing she had any sort of control over.

The Present Day

“That’s horrible!” Marble tearfully explained as her girlfriend finished telling her tale. “I can’t believe you had to put up with that!” As she wiped the tears from her face, the gray geologist asked, “Did… Did you know if that girl ever get her tricycle back?”

Nodding, Sideswipe replied, “Oh she did. Her mom visited a few days later and thanked me. Turns out that asshole Paka Paka had been stealing toys for years, and the cops had to start giving them back. The girl got her tricycle back.” The pale biker then paused before lamenting, “Shame I never even found out what her name was.”

Marble then asked, “So, is it true that your girlfriend, Slipstream, just up and abandoned you?” Hearing this, Sideswipe let out a defeated sigh as she replied, “She did. Of course, she showed up about a week later, begging for my forgiveness.” The pale biker then let out a wistful sigh as she lamented, “Then things were fine for a while before….” Shaking her head, Sideswipe finished, “I broke up with her after that. Guess it took me too long to realize that Slipstream was a….”

She was interrupted by the sound of a familiar scratchy voice asking, “A real bitch?” Turning to see who it was, both girls were greeted by a scarlet macaw, the crimson parrot gliding down from a shelf and perching herself on Marble’s shoulder. The bird repeated herself with, “A real bitch. A real bitch.”

Giggling, Marble replied, “That’s very naughty of you Scarlett, but true. She really does seem like a bitch.” As the gray girl booped her parrot on the beak, Sideswipe began to laugh as she replied, “She really was. Besides, if I may, you’re far more beautiful than she ever was.” Hearing this, Marble blushed as she replied, “Awh. Thank you. You’re too sweet.”

Turning as red as her vest, Sideswipe complimented, “As are you. You’re so beautiful.” The two girls began to lean in for a kiss, only for Scarlett to place herself in between them, resulting in both teens kissing the crimson parrot. Sideswipe began to spit out a few stray feathers as she replied, “Ugh. Cheeky little chicken finger.”

Hearing this, Scarlett let out a caw as she began to nudge Marble, leading Sideswipe to apologize, “Sorry about that. Just trying to be cheeky.” The gray girl then reassured her parrot, “Don’t take it too hard, ok?” Scarlett replied by making a kissing sound and replying, “I love you!” Marble immediately lit up as she rested her head gently against Scarlett’s as she replied, “I love you too.”

At that moment, Scarlett asked, “You want some?” Marble let out a gentle chuckle as she replied, “Alright. Let’s get you something to eat.” The gray girl stood up as she explained, “I’m gonna get Scarlett something to eat. Be back in a bit.” Sideswipe responded by standing up and saying, “Let me give you a hand. Besides, I’m kinda hungry too.”

With that, the two girls and scarlet macaw began to make their way to the kitchen. As she did, Sideswipe began to think back, comparing where she was now to where she’d been several years ago. ‘I mean, part of me kinda misses a lot of the excitement.’ She thought to herself. But as she watched her girlfriend get her pet parrot a piece of fruit, she came to a simple conclusion.

‘But I like where I am so much better.’

Author's Note

Next Time: A very special visitor to Iacon High ends the wrath of the Patriotic Youth Association once and for all.

Author's Note: The Character of Paka Paka is named after the infamous animation technique that caused several seizures during the pokemon episode "electric soldier porygon." His behavior and belief on "legality" is inspired by the family guy character of Mr. Washee Washee.
Also, this will not be the last time we see Slipstream.