• "Stop complaining you puny meatbag!" Blackuot walked behind the warehouse and dangled Amanda over a giant pile of rusty and razor-sharp scraps of metal. The air suddenly became a staggeringly low temperature, and she could see her breath becoming more visible. Blackout's grip became looser until he was a hair's breadth from dopping Amanda onto her rusty and painful death from impalement. Blackout grinned a disgusting and vile grin. Then he let go. Time seemed to slow down as she fell...and fell....and fell...... A silver blurr passed in front of Amanda's vision and she heard Blackout roar in rage and frustration, before she blacked out once again.

    Amanda re-awoke inside the shack on top of the hill ner her home. A faint grey light poured in through the holes in the ceiling. Her head throbbed and ached like crazy. When she looked around her, she didn't see Blackout nor Barricade. Instead, she saw a blue visor with a scar poking out the top and bottom of it on the right side. he visor belonged to a slightly smaller mech than barricade. This mech was crouched close enought to Amanda that she could feel it's icy breath that made a shiver go down her spine. feather-like potrusions stuckout from the side of the mech's head and went 'flik-flik' from time to time as it tilted it's head to look at Amanda. A red insignia was emblazoned on it's chestplate, which was in the shape of a Miata's hood, the Mazda logo was visible at the front. The mech's feet were...odd. They looked like claws, and moved like it, too. They had three toes, they were red, but in the middle "knuckle" on all three toes, there was a white stripe. A small smile crept on the smaller mech's face as it reached out to brush Amanda's bangs out of her face. The hands were small, clawed, and the tips were light blue. They were as cold as the air had been when she fell. Amanda sat up and pushed the icy clawed hand away, then the mech wiped some blood from the corner of Amanda's mouth. "You're leaking..." it said. Amanda looked at the blood that was dripping from the mech's index finger.
    "You saved me....why?"
    "It's my job to protect sentient life,"
    "Do you have a name, like the other two?"
    "Yes it's Delta Sigma." Delta puffed herself up to look tough, but failed. "Do you see the insignia on my chestplates?" Delta pointed to it.
    "Yeah,"
    "I'm an Autobot, a good guy. Those other two, were Decepticons, bad guys. Got it?"
    Amanda slouched. "Uh, sure. But I still don't get why you saved me. Is it because the other guys said I supposedly had a strange energy signature?"
    "Partially that, and partially because saving life, like humans such as yourself, is in my programming."
    "Oh"
    Delta sighed as she sat back on her haunches. "You should go home now, but since the decepticons know where you are, myself and a few of my comrades will be watching over you. One of then is a master of holograms, he can make the look and feel real, you'll never be able to tell which one is the hologram in a crowd."
    Amanda got up and staggered, the blood rushed from her head for a few seconds, leaving her dizzy and partially blind. When she regained control of herself, she walked out of the shack and on to the gravel road toward home.

    Chubs, Cassandra's cat, greeted her at the door, fluffy grey tail in the air. The door handle was completely encased in ice. She had to hit it a couple times before the door would open. The warm air rushed outside as she crept inside her house, hoping her mom, nor her sister would notice her entrance into the kitchen. Mom didn't notice. Good. However, Cassandra noticed and yelled, "Hey Mom, Amanda's home!" Mom turned around from typing on the laptop.
    "Where were you? It's cold and almost dark out. You shouldn't leave without telling me or your dad first."
    Amanda sighed,"Okay..." 'Good thing she didn't ground me...'
    "So, Amanda. Why is the corner of your mouth bleeding?"
    "A tree scratched my face as I was walking."
    Mom wore a highly skeptical look on her face.
    "And can you explain why your sweatshirt is ripped?"
    Amanda looked down at the large tear that went from the left shoulder to the pocket.
    "I walked into a rosebush."
    Mom still suspected something else, but turned back around to continue typing. Cassandra stuck her toungue out before resuming to scribble on a piece of paper with her crayons. Amanda picked up her cat, Bandit, who's nap on the couch was interrupted, and walked to her room. She unlocked the door, walked in, closed it again, and set Bandit on the floor. Bandit gave Amanda a confused and groggy look. Amanda sat down in her rather deflated beanbag chair and petted Bandit's calico fur. Bandit purred loudly. Amanda lay back and closed her eyes. Pictures of the two Decepticons and the silver mech (or was it female?) flooded her mind's eye. She remevered how the air got cold when Delta was near, and the two pairs of burning red optics staring down at her helpless, balled-up form, and the disgusting grin Blackout wore on his hideous visage when Amanda almost fell to an ugly, gory, painful death. Slowly she drifted off to a deeply troubled slumber...