Chapter 1: The Toy Papa Gave Me
Under a highway in the middle of Jasper, Nevada sat two young children playing with toy cars. The first was a boy who was no more than 12, his brown eyes focused on the car as he drove it in circles around the underpass. The next was a little girl with chestnut colored hair and moss green eyes. The girl was at least 6 years old and couldn't quite figure out how to move her car around like the boy next to her. The young girl huffed in frustration and tugged on the end of the boy's shirt. The boy stopped the car sounds he was making to look down at the much younger child.
"What's wrong Alex? Can't figure out how to drive it?" The boy asked tilting his head. The girl nodded in response.
"Car not moving Raf… Did I do something wrong?" She asked the boy looking up with a sad look in her eyes. The boy picked up the controller and tried a few different things to get the car moving but none worked.
"The battery is probably dead Alex. We will charge it when we get home." Raf said putting it down at the girl's feet. He smiled then handed the other controller to her afterwards. "But for now you can drive mine for a while." He said. The little girl smiled brightly up at the boy and took it.
"Thank you Raf~" The girl said delighted. Raf smiled and patted her head as the car took off once more. Just then a ring broke the silence and Raf pulled it out from his pocket.
"Hi mama… Racing just down the street...Ok, just five more minutes?" The boy stopped for a moment then hung up the phone and went back to watching the girl drive the car. Things were silent for a moment but then a loud roar broke through the air and suddenly a motorcycle jumped from overhead and landed a few feet away from the children.
Both children were now standing up and looking at the bike with wide eyes. The boys were wide with wonder and curiosity. However the girl's were filled with fear and caution. She had no idea what was going on, but it didn't feel right to her, that she did know. The girl had dropped the controller and had her mouth slightly agape. The boy's mouth was also slacked but it quickly turned into a smile.
"Woah~" He said in amazement. On the bike was a teenaged boy with medium black hair and was on a navy blue and pink bike. The teen seemed exasperated as he took deep breaths to calm the adrenaline running through his veins.
"*huff* You have no idea." He said in reply to the boy's earlier comment. The teen then slowly got off the bike. Raf had picked up both controllers from the ground and placed them in his bag. The little girl was holding her dead car that resembled a red and blue semi truck. She hid behind the boy in fear, for she didn't know the teen. But another noise made the three turn and look up from where the bike had jumped.
Bright lights came into view and were coming at them quickly. The children stepped away slowly from the fast approaching cars. Then when they jumped into the air like the bike, they had turned into 25 foot tall robots and landed onto the cement of the highway underpass. The girl was now shaking in fear and tried her best to shy away from the scary looking things. But there was the sound of shifting metal and the children looked back to see the bike turning into a female looking robot who was about 18 feet in height. The teen picked up the little girl and quickly moved out of the way with the boy following behind.
"This ends here 'Cons!" The bot said in an angered tone. She then sprinted forward towards the other two and started fighting them. While this was happening the children moved to the wall on the far side of the underpass, far away from the fighting. But the young girl has had enough with the scary robots and began to cry out of fear.
"Whaa! I'm scarred! Make the scary robots go away!" She yelled hiding her face in the shoulder of the teenaged boy. The teen was trying his best to hide her and keep her calm in all the havoc. The girls cries soon turned into hiccups as she glanced back at the female robot.
"What are they?" Raf asked the teen. The teen looked down then back up to the robot fight.
"Talking cars that turn into robots… or the other way around." His voice filled with fear and question. They watched with wonder as the female fought off the look-a-like robots. She pushed them back but there was a pause. Then one of the bots started to shoot at her. The female bot back flipped to avoid the hits, but one managed to land her in the chest. The kids gasped as the female was knocked down. The girl was about to say something when another sound of shifting metal was heard once more.
The children look up to see a yellow and black car turn into a male robot and land on top of a clone robot. He too began to fight the bots as the female struggled to get up from the floor. When the male robot managed to get the bots down for a moment or two he stood up to his full height but stepped on something that made a crunching sound. The bot looked down to see a now crushed yellow toy car. His eyes saddened a bit as he looked to Raf.
*That looked expensive…* The male robot beeped worriedly. Raf shook his head at the bot.
"It's ok… Really." He said. However the bot couldn't reply as a blaster shot landed him in the shoulder. The children went of the defensive mode and tried to back up against the wall more, but no more space could be made. The bot turned to face his foe but was face to face with a blaster. The young girl, not wanting the nice bot to get killed, called out before they could make the shot.
"Leave him alone!" She yelled. The bots quickly faced towards the kids and raised their blasters to them. The girl gulped and replied with a "Please."
"Bad call squirt." The teen said looking down at the girl in his arms. One of the bots then began to walk towards them and that was the kids cue to start running. "Come on!" The teen called as both boys ran around a corner and towards a manhole. They quickly climbed into and ran further into the sewer. The young girl, having full access to the entrance saw the bot start to reach in the whole, but it was yanked out and the children turned to face the entrance. Then a familiar yellow face and blue eyes peeked into the sewer.
*Are you all ok?* The bot beeped at the startled children. Raf smiled and nodded his head. But the young girl smiled brightly at the bot and waved at him.
"Thank you~" She said happily. The bot nodded to her.
*It was no trouble at all.* He said before disappearing from their view. The children looked at each other. The teen turned the boy back around and started to walk away with the girl in his arms.
"Don't look back." He said.
"What did we just see?" Raf asked confused.
"Don't know and not sure if I want to find out." The teen said walking the two younger kids away from the crazy bot fight. After a short time of walking and little to no talk at all, the teen arrived at the home of the two children. He set the girl on the ground and bent down to look at them. "No matter what happens. Don't mention the…. Robot things to your parents. Got it?" He said in a stern tone. The two kids nodded their heads to the teen. However the little girl smiled and walked up to hug the teen.
"Thank you Mister for helping us." She said with a small and simple smile. The teen smiled in return to the girl and shook his head.
"You don't need to call me that. My name is Jack. What about you two?" He asked.
"My name is Rafael, but call me Raf. This is Alex." He said motioning to himself then the girl smiling at Jack. Jack nodded his head then stood up to his full height once more.
"Nice to meet you both, but I need to head home. See you later." Jack said waving his hand as he walked away. When he was far enough Raf led Alex inside the house. What a day it had been for the children…
~::The Next Day::~
It was the after school hours of the K-12 school. At this time there were only a few students who still lingered on the campus. 3 of them were Jack, Raf and Alex. Raf was standing under the shade of a tree looking down the road while Alex sat on the grass playing with her now fully charged semi truck. The teen walked over to the two kids and spoke in a rather quiet voice to them.
"Hey Raf. Hi Alex. Listen, let's just forget about what happened yesterday and keep it between us." Jack explained to the two kids. Alex didn't know about Raf, but she didn't like that idea one bit. In fact once the girl got over her fear of the bots, she found them rather cool looking. Raf was about to reply when a honking caught their attention. Raf smiled and the girl quickly stood up with the car in her arms.
"Jack…" Raf said rather happily.
"Not again." The teen said as the yellow and black car pulled and opened it's passenger side door.
*Hop in kids.* The car beeped at Raf and Alex.
"It wants us to get in?" Jack asked confused. Raf only shook his head.
"No, just me and Alex." Raf said not moving his eyes away from the car. Jack looked confused.
"How do you know that?" Jack asked.
"The robot said so." Alex said looking up at the teen. Jack was even more confused at this point. Alex then turned Jack so he faced the other way. "Your ride is that one." She said pointing towards the navy blue and pink bike. Before the teen could reply both kids and gotten into the car. Raf in the front and Alex in the back. Without another warning the door closed and the car took off. Alex looked around the car in wonder while Raf talked to the bot.
"I'm Raf, and that is Alex." He said.
*Nice to meet you both. Don't worry, I'm taking you to meet our leader.* The car beeped to the kids. Alex perked up at the statement and scooted forward a bit.
"Where is that?" She asked.
*You will see.* The car replied.
~Time Skip~
The two vehicles drove down the lonely road through the middle of the desert. The young girl was amazed at the view. She had never been outside of Jasper before. But at one quick glance she saw a giant rock formation coming right for them. But as they got close enough the rock opened up revealing some kind of hidden base. Alex looked around in awe as more of the base became known. Right away she noticed two other giant robots in the middle of the room. One was big and green while the other was angry looking with a orange and white paint job.
The car had stopped and the door opened for the little girl to exit and get a better look around the new place. She had a giant smile on her face while looking closer at the two bots. She had no idea what to say. This place was absolutely beautiful. After the other three got off/out of their rides the bots walked up to them. The white and orange one began to speak.
"I thought there were only three? Who brought the smallest one?" He asked. The blue bot looked down at Alex then to the bot who spoke.
"Humans multiply, and she was one of the first three." The female bot said walking to the other side of the room. The little girl turned to face the other girl with a smile on her face.
"I'm Alex, and the boy there is my foster brother Raf." She said pointing to the boy who was waving at the girl. The teenaged girl smiled and pat Alex's head before walking off.
"I'm Miko." Miko then ran up to the giant green bot. "Who are you?" She asked eagerly.
"Bulkhead." The bot answered cautiously.
"Are you a car? I bet you're a truck. A monster truck. Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weight? Ever use a wrecking ball for a punching bag?" She asked one after another. The little girl had a hand over her mouth to try and hold in her laughter. The green bot's face was amazing. He has no idea how to respond to the energized girl.
"So…." Alex turned to face her foster brother when he started to speak. "If you guys are robots, who made you?" He asked in curiosity. Alex also wanted to know that. She found these new 'people' to be rather nice. The white and orange one scoffed at Raf's question.
"Please." He muttered to himself, but it didn't go unrecognized by Alex. The comment just made her confused. But a strong vibration through the floor of the base made the kids turn around (and up) to see a very tall robot with a red and blue paint job. Alex's smile grew even wider, if it was even possible.
"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots." The tall bot said looking down at the children. But this eyes stayed on the youngest member the longest. Jack then stepped up to the bot and asked a very important question.
"Why are you all here?" He asked.
"To protect your planet from the Decepticons." He stated bluntly. The female looked down at the kids to elaborate.
"The jokers who tried to jump us yesterday." She explained. Alex didn't know who these Decepticons were, but they sounded really rude to her. Jack looked back up to the taller bot.
"Ok, why are they here?" He added onto his last question. The taller bot bent down so he could be at the same height as the children.
"A fair question Jack. In part, they are here because our planet is inhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of war." Alex, finally speaking up for the first time, stepped in to ask her own question.
"Why were you fighting?" She asked tilting her head at the bot. Her eyes curious but wary.
"For most, over our world supply of energon. The fuel and life blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike. The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning I fought along side someone whom I considered a brother, but in war ideals can become corrupted. And thus Megatron lost his way." Optimus explained. Miko yawned at the story.
"Is there going to be a quiz?" She asked sarcastically. Jack only shook his head and spoke once more.
"So what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?" He asked. The robot frowned a bit as he spoke.
"Megatron has not been seen nor heard from in if his return is eminent, as I fear, the results could be catastrophic." There was a silence that filled the base. None of it the good kind. But Alex being as optimistic as she was, walked up to the bigger bot and smiled at him.
"I'm Alex Pax. Who are you?" She asked. The bot was taken back by the response from this little human girl, but he was also surprised to hear what her last name was.
"It is nice to meet you Alex. My name is Optimus Prime. I am the leader of the Autobots." He said to the girl. Alex held up her toy truck to him and giggled as she spoke.
"You look like the truck my papa gave me before he went away. Hehe" she giggled. The bot looked at the truck she was holding up and smiled lightly at her small child.
"It would seem so…" He replied. The other bots in the base all had a small smile on their face as they watched their leader and the little girl interact. But Raf was frowning sadly at the girl. He would have to explain later what she meant…