Escaping Reality

Chapter Eight: Confirmed Suspicions

"I can't believe this is happening!" Katrina squealed, trying to contain her excitement as Optimus drove through the groundbridge.

         "Well aren't you excited," Starjinx snickered as she lightly shoved the woman in their shared seat, Katrina giggling and shoving back.

         "Bet you're exited too! Since when was the last time you got to ride with a giant alien robot?!" Katrina was grinning from ear to ear, clearly very happy with the arrangement that had just been made. And like Katrina, Starjinx was also happy, though she took notice of Titaniumwrench in the other seat, who wasn't bouncing with glee. Instead, she looked like she was trying to keep herself from getting motion sickness, or trying to digest what had just happened, or both.

         "Hey Titanium. You okay?" asked Starjinx, seeming a bit concerned for her friend. However, before Titaniumwrench could really answer, Optimus exited the groundbridge and pulled himself to a stop, opening his doors and allowing the humans to slide out before transforming.

         Eagerly, Starjinx and Katrina hopped out of his alt mode, watching as the Blade Twins slid off Arcee before the two-wheeler could transform herself. The Autobot and Decepticon duo then trotted around Optimus to greet Titaniumwrench, only to watch her stumble out and, well, heave all over the floor.

         "Agh! What is that?!" a familiar grumpy voice yelled, the voice belonging to none other than Ratchet, who was currently staring down at the mess in disgust. His blue optics then trailed over to the human who had caused the mess, then over to Katrina and Starjinx and then finally the Blade Twins. "...More humans?! Optimus! I thought you were going to a desolate location! One without humans!"

         "Actually, Kentucky isn't exactly devoid of all humans. I mean, Louisville's pretty packed, and I'm pretty sure there was still a town a few miles away, and I'll be quiet now-" Starblade breathed, her face flushing red from embarrassment as she once again stuck close to her brother.

         Ratchet's yelling, of course, had attracted the other members of Team Prime that weren't already in the room, this being Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and an ecstatic Smokescreen, the mech eager to meet the new humans, well, until he saw the mess Titaniumwrench had accidentally made.

         "Ew! What happened? Do all humans do that?" asked the mech as he scrunched up his faceplate.

         "Hey! Don't be rude!" Katrina snapped, the girl patting her friend's back as she shot Smokescreen a quick glare. "She's just sick! Probably from the groundbridge and that close encounter we just had."

         "That's what humans do when they get sick? Still disgusting-" Smokescreen pointed out, though he kept quiet after that.

         "Ratchet, tend to the sick human. She has been through a lot, as have the rest of them," Optimus ordered, his blue optics showing sympathy towards the typically mute brunette.

         With an annoyed yet compliant sigh, Ratchet kneeled down and gently picked up the human, making sure not to get near the gunk on the floor as he did so.

         "Take good care of our Titaniumwrench, Doc bot!" Katrina teased, snickering as the mech grumbled something about the nickname before he finally left with their friend.

         "So how did you know what a groundbridge is." The four remaining humans then turned to Arcee, her optics trained on each of them yet again. When no one answered, she kept her composure and crossed her arms. "Well? How did you?"