How To Belong {ROTB, 2023}

Chapter One

   It was late at night when Porscha had buried herself in Mirage's backseat, nestling down for the night. "Porscha, doll?" Mirage mused softly. Porscha sighed, opening her eyes, "Yes, M?" She returned. He let out a soft noise as Porscha smiled, "Really?" She joked lightly. "It's quiet," Mirage returned. She hummed, softly singing along to Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) lyrics by Digable Planets as it played on the radio. Suddenly the music cut, "Shh," Mirage hushed her. Porscha got still as footsteps echoed in the parking garage. The sound of someone touching Mirage, then jiggling something at the door made her freeze. "Mira-" "Shh." Mirage hushed her immediately. "Don't move." He whispered. She stayed buried up in the back, unmoving. The sound of the lock popping made her body tense. Mirage relocked the door. The person tugged at it harshly, jiggling the locked handle. The person popped the lock once more, jerking at the handle as Mirage locked it again. The mech let out a soft, annoyed noise. "Let them in. I'll beat the fuck-" The lock popped and the door opened at the same time. Immediately, Porscha got dead quiet. On second thought, beating a burglar was starting to sound like a whole lot of not her job.

   A guy situated himself in the driver's seat, running his hands over the steering wheel. "Aight, talk to me homie?" Porscha could faintly hear a voice from an earpiece the male wore as she peaked under her blanket, taking in his appearance. "I'm in." The guy returned. He looked like a nervous wreck. Porscha wondered what on Earth could make someone as tense as this guy jack cars. Especially high-end cars. The guy leaned, grabbing at wires under Mirage's steering wheel. Porscha reached a hand out silently, gently laying it on the middle console. As the wires sparked off again, the radio burst to life. "Calling all Autobots! Calling all Autobots!" Optimus' voice rang out. Porscha perked up, confused by the sudden urgency in the mech's voice. The guy slapped his hand against the radio, trying to silence it. He leaned back, breathing heavily, "What am I doing?" He whispered to himself. "Aye, homie, the coast is clear, so whenever you wanna slide that thing on out, you good." The guy in his earpiece urged again. "I can't. I can't," The male replied. "What, you can't drive stick or somethin'?" The other male replied. "No, it's just, I ain't no thief." The male in the car replied. "Are you havin' an existential crisis now? The deadline for that was when I offered you Twislers!" The guy in the earpiece replied.

   Porscha changed focus and cringed when Optimus Prime radioed in again. "This is an emergency! Can you hear me, Mirage? Roll out!" Optimus barked his command. Porscha froze, eyes staring between the radio and the male in the car. "What the hell was that?" The radio guy spoke. "Yo, it's the radio, bro, this car is bugging. Man, I'm out," The guy turned to open the door. Mirage locked it. "Oh, no, Mirage," The girl whispered. The guy whirled, "Who the hell!" He barked. "Hey!" Another voice echoed from the outside. "Oh, fuck," Porscha whispered as the male whirled, looking at a security guard. He sank down in the seat, hissing, "What the fuck is going on." He yelped quietly. "You just blew our cover, asshole!" Porscha peeked out, glaring at the guy. "Who are you?" The male squealed. "Hey, you!" The security guard yelled again. Mirage started up quickly, ready to bolt. "Mirage," Porscha squeaked. The guard drew his gun on the male in the driver's seat, "Get out of the car!" He ordered sharply. The male threw his hands up, "I'm trying!" He defended, "The car started by itself! I don't- I'm trying! Look, it's not working!" "Porscha, front and center!" Mirage barked. The male screamed, "Get out now!" The guard ordered.

   Porscha had thrown herself into the front seat within seconds, "Go!" She barked, smacking the dash. "Grab a seatbelt, doll!" Mirage laughed. The gearshift jerked into place as the male leaned back into the seat, screaming as Mirage put the pedal to the floor. "No, no, please! Whatchu doing?" The male grabbed at the ceiling as Porscha threw on a seatbelt. "Mirage, what did Prime want?" Porscha asked. "No clue, baby girl." He replied as they bolted out of the parking garage. As they hit the streets, Porscha sat up, mentally mapping their escape. "What the hell!" The guy's voice rose in pitch. Porscha looked at him, "Who are you?" She barked. "Who am I? Who are you?" He squealed. She raised a brow, "You definitely don't do this often, do you?" "What?" He stared at her before leaning over her, "Reek! Reek, Reek!" He yelled, waving at the window. "Would you-" She shoved him back to his own seat. "Right!" Porscha barked as Mirage cut the wheel sharply. The male leaned into the window, "Yo, this car is driving by itself!" He screamed. "Yeah, no shit!" Porscha returned. "Stop, stop!" The man slammed on Mirage's brake pedal. "Why aren't you listening?" He yelled. "You might wanna slow down!" The guy yelled through the earpiece. "It's not me, it's the car! It's possessed or something." He stressed the last part.

   "Nah, no, no, you're just on a mad adrenaline high! Let's do some of them breathing exercises." Porscha rolled her eyes, "Breathing exercises?" She taunted. The male looked at her with wide eyes, "No, I don't need no breathing exercises! The car is driving by itself!" He barked again. "You sound," Porscha made a circle around her ear with one finger, "Coo-coo." She laughed. He gaped at her like she'd kicked him in the shins. Cop lights flashed behind them as Porscha peeked out the back window. "Awe, no! You're too pretty to go to jail!" She looked at the guy, grinning. He panic, "Oh, no, no, no," He sank, "Reek, what we do! The car won't stop and someone is in here with me!" He stressed the last part. "Someone is in- Noah, I cannot hear you." The guy responded. "Reek!" The guy returned. "Noah, huh?" Porscha eyed him. The guy suddenly turned off behind them, leaving just Noah, Porscha, and Mirage with the cops. Porscha laughed, "Some fuckin' guy ya got there!" She taunted. "Oh, he did not! Would you stop?" Noah barked at her, panicking. A cop pulled up beside them, "Pull over!" He yelled. "Help me!" "Fuck off!" Noah whipped around to look at her. "This car is under my name." She grinned. He froze, looking like he might puke. 

   The gearstick threw itself into a new gear as Porscha settled in her seat, making herself small as they flew through an intersection. Noah looked like he was going to faint as he screamed, Mirage nearly missing a taxi cab. "Jesus, dude, calm down!" Porscha gave him a look. Mirage swerved suddenly, bolting for a ramp as Noah screamed again, "Mirage!" Porscha yelped, throwing a hand onto Noah's arm as she braced. Mirage posted up sideways in the road as the cop crashed on its side and slid towards them. Mirage stayed put as Noah panicked, bracing himself before a cement truck nailed the police vehicle, demolishing it. He panted in shock, "Oh my, are you okay?" He stared at the cop car. "Fine, thanks for asking." Porscha panted. "Would you shut up?" He yelped, breathing heavily. More cop lights appeared down the street, "Would you like me to say you kidnapped me and stole my vehicle?" She looked at him. "Drive, drive," He panted. "Apologize," She leaned across the console, getting in his face. "Drive!" He begged again. "Apologize." She said again calmly. "Look, I'm sorry, I am. Please, just don't let me go to jail! I got a mama and a baby bro." He looked at her, "I'm sorry!" He repeated. "I guess I can accept it." She smiled, "Mirage, drive." She leaned back as Mirage nailed it, throwing water and gravel as he peeled off. 

"Thank you." She smiled, "Hang on."