Enter Dante, The Rev-9: Book 1: Rogue

Chapter 11: Speed Metal

3rd Person POV

At Dante's Base

It seemed like a pretty normal day for Dante. Well, that is if his projects misfiring and nearly blasting his head off are normal. Dante cursed as once again his projects misfired, nearly hitting him in the process. Honestly, how hard was it to calibrate an ion fusion core?

Sighing, Dante got up from his spot on the worktable and walked over to his Hellcat, deciding that some maintenance was overdue.

First, he checked the plasma coils of the guns in the hood, making sure that they worked properly. Next, he tested the suspension system should he have to go off-roading. Then he decided to examine the undercarriage.

Dante was in the middle of checking the rigging when an alert came up on his HUD, surprising him and causing him to smack his head on the bottom of the Hellcat.

Rolling out from underneath the car, Dante rubbed the oil off his mechanics outfit, changed into his normal appearance, then checked the alert. It was one of the proximity sensors that he had set up on the driveway, so he would know if anyone came up to the house above.

Running over to the hidden elevator in the corner, he flicked off the lights and stepped in, the elevator carrying him up to the inside of a closet in one of his rooms. Jumping out of the closet, he ran to the front door and opened it, revealing Arcee in her vehicle form waiting outside.

"About time," she greeted. "I was beginning to think I'd rust before you got out."

"And hello to you as well Arcee," he said, a small grin on his face as he walked over to his partner and hopped on.

As they drove down to the base, Arcee asked him, "So, did you enjoy your beauty sleep?"

Dante shrugged. "I was... until you arrived," he griped.

"Sorry." She didn't sound very sorry though.

"So... anyways," Dante said. "Anything interesting happen while I was asleep?"

"Not much," Arcee replied. "Optimus said he felt a bit of competitiveness through his spark bond with Elita, so there was that."

Dante tilted his head. "Spark bond?"

Arcee explained the concept of a spark bond and how it was a linking of sparks between a pair of Cybertronians, kind of like marriage, except it was even more binding and occasionally allowed the pair to feel each other's emotions.

By the time she finished, they had arrived at the base and Dante had jumped off Arcee as she transformed. "You stay out of trouble now," she warned. "I'm going to go hit the wash racks."

Nodding, Dante walked off, hands in his pockets while Arcee headed in the opposite direction.

As Dante wandered the hallway, he heard voices up ahead. Curious, he changed his hands into talons and jumped, climbing the wall with ease until he reached the ceiling and shifted his hands back to normal.

Advancing like a salamander, Dante snuck across the ceiling out of camera sight until he spotted Miko talking to Jack as Raf walked up from behind.

"You kidding?!" Miko exclaimed. "It's all over school!"

"You beat the pants off that blowhard bully Vince!" Raf gushed.

Jack pulled them both close and whispered, "You guys have to keep this on the DL, especially from Optimus."

"Hate to rain on your parade, Jack," Dante said, swinging down from the ceiling and landing in a crouch behind them, scaring the heck out of them in the process. "But Elita and Optimus have a spark bond, so whatever you did, which I'm guessing was racing Vince with Elita, Optimus will probably already know."