Transformers:Young Evolution

by mariodeleon59

2029, The Transformers, along with super-powered immortal children known as Demigods, find themselves hunted down as a threat. But when a special young Demigod girl named Nei appears, the chase is on between heroes and villains to claim the key to the future itself. Set within an alternate version of the epic film "Transformers:The Last Knight".

1. Chapter 1

Transformers: Young Evolution: Part 1: (Dawn Of The Demigods)

The extraordinary can come from the most unlikely of places, be it on the very planet one lives on, or up among the heavens, and among the very stars that fill the night sky, or in the case of one world, both. For thousands of years, the planet Earth, has been a breeding ground, and a refuge of sorts, for a race of giant sentient mechanized beings, hailing from the planet Cybertron. Of course they've significantly made their real grand entrance during the Middle Ages, the time of the great King Arthur. Since forming an alliance with Arthur, his wizard Merlin, and the Knights Of The Round, many other Transformers have lived in the shadows throughout history, lending humanity a guiding hand in many historical events, The Underground Railroad, World War 2, The Battle Of Sekigahara, The Time Of The Black Plague, The Cold War, The Transformers have had a significant impact on human history itself, for better or for worse. Of course very few know of their role in human history because of the work of a secret order formed by King Arthur himself, The Order of Wittwican. Its purpose was to safeguard their secret to the rest of the world, and prepare to fight the dark days to come. But the Transformers, aren't the only mighty beings to appear on our world, more like our world spawned them somehow.

For half a century, since the height of the Cold War in the 60's, there's been a high rise of unique individuals with otherworldly powers hailing from the realms of science and magic alike. These beings, aptly called Demigods in homage to the great Gods of Mount Olympus, were somewhat of an enigma to those who sought to learn as much as possible of them. Not only was the cause of all these beings' powers unknown, but also despite there being a great abundance of them, nearly all of them were children, with only a handful of adults ever receiving this power. And to add to it, the price of these powers was to endure an eternal life, it all varied though. Some children with these powers stop aging around the age of ten or twelve, others as teenagers, and some who manage to reach adulthood, this would also go for the handful of adults every so often, as those who receive these powers stop aging any further, or at least are able to age up to their mid to late 70's. Naturally yet unfortunately, with the paranoia of the Cold War and all, the populous in most cases quickly began to turn on and assault these children, seeing them as "communist weapons in flesh" or unholy demons, while the adults among them who were already blessed with powers were quick to go into hiding. Since these people are cursed to live forever, these kids would both have to face being killed over and over and face endless suffering, or faced the chance of being captured and experimented on, considering these kids were right to be afraid and didn't want to use their powers badly or at all.

Of course, The Order Of Wittwican wouldn't allow such discrimination, as such they and their Transformer comrades aided in providing many of the super powered and immortal children with protection, guidance, a home, and even family, all of which they were wrongfully deprived of simply because of what they can do. Sadly, many of the children who felt wronged by society found themselves harboring a deep-seated hatred against the rest of humanity, so in addition to being able to master their powers much faster than most of the others, they formed an alliance themselves under the leadership of those older than them, but despite their unified front, they found themselves hardly on equal footing with the children who were taken in by the Order and the Transformers as well, they went into hiding along with the few adults who were given powers as well. As the Cold War died down, the Order decided it was best for the children and the Transformers allied with them ag the time to go into hiding as well until instructed otherwise, but recent colossal events within the past decade have literally changed the Earth, but not entirely for the better. It's the year 2029, and as of late, not only are many new Demigods surfacing, but with a major chain of events that led the near-ruined planet Cybertron, home of the Transformers, to be linked to Earth, basically becoming one world, this also led to the arrival of endless swarms of Transformers, both friend and foe. As said, Cybertron is still in ruin, despite the best efforts of the great Optimus Prime, leader of the heroic Autobot faction of Transformers, and the twelve Guardian Knights Of Cybertron, the very same Cybertronians that helped King Arthur form the Order in the first place, as they all work tirelessly to properly restore their homeworld without harming the Earth. While on Earth, many Transformers need to make do with Earth as their home until Cybertron is restored, however, because of recent events, and negative opinion of the public towards the newly arrived Transformers along with the new Demigods, the anti-Transformers unit, known as the Transformers Reaction Force, is gaining a strong foothold, hunting down any or all Transformers and Demigods they can find causing trouble, and any that can't stay dead are to be arrested and locked away, excluding some parts of the world like Japan or Cuba that open their borders to both kinds with open arms. However this only deepens the hatred of many of the new Demigods along with some veterans among them, as they seek to rebel in any way necessary, and their ranks and power are boosted by the aid of the ruthless Megatron, leader of the dreadful Decepticon faction of Transformers, including a large handful of his followers at his side. Bent on their mission of hunting any or all Transformers and Demigods they can find, the TRF pulled out as many stops as possible to spread their search far and wide across the entire United States, deploying tall walker attack sentries, flying drones and armed personnel in any town, city or batch of forest, inhabited or not.

This brings us to a quaint town in Utah, or rather what's left of it to be precise. Back in the 80's, this town was the unfortunate victim of a wildfire that broke out in the nearby woods, and by the time anyone tried to respond, it had already grew in size, so much so that it wouldn't be put out in time. No one died, but the town was completely evacuated, most didn't have time to grab even a handful of their possessions. The fire burned for days, and by the time it calmed down, everything was deemed beyond repair, completely unrecognizable, and so it was abandoned in its state, but since it was a beloved place by the former citizens for generations, the town was left as it was to serve as a reminder of some of the best of Utah's golden years. Now, the town is in ruins, some buildings were half torn up or torched to near nothing, while others remain almost intact, save being pretty charred, all the windows gone, and hardly anything inside left in good condition. The streets were just as scorched as the buildings, same could go for the cars that were left behind, sure some looked only slightly scorched, but those were pretty much cooked from the inside, almost nothing in them was salvageable, along with other things scattered in the streets, though that doesn't compare with so many belongings of the previous inhabitants in the buildings either badly burned or reduced to ash, indeed, this town now was a ghost of its former self.

Yet despite this, there's this eerie yet calm feeling in the air, as about half of the town is slowly but surely being overrun with plant and animal life from the nearby woods that recovered much faster than expected, as if with no people left here, the surrounding nature decided it can expand here with no problem at all. But then that quiet peace is briefly shattered when the earth shakes a bit, then again, then suddenly coming from behind a building, was a trio of those big walker sentries deployed by the TRF, slowly patrolling the town for any sides of Transformers or Demigods in hiding. Any little creatures such as squirrels and birds were quick to scurry and take flight as these towering attack machines loomed over them, ready to shoot at anything considered a threat. Not a full two minutes go by when the sentries leave the area, continuing their patrol route, that's when a group of four kids come hiding out from one of the wrecked cars, all four were around the age of twelve, three boys and one girl, most likely those who live in the newer town about eight miles from the old one. They go out into the street to freely discuss their next move.

"I really don't like this, we should've waited until it got dark, at least then it'd be easier to hide from those AT-AT rip-offs", said one worried boy in glasses named Mike.

"Yeah well the longer we take, the less of a chance we'll have to check this out. Spring Break's tomorrow and we all know we're not here for sightseeing", said the girl in a ponytail named Suzy.

"Exactly, we're not gonna get another chance like this for a while after this. Now let's go over what we've got ourselves into, Mike, spotlight's yours", said the boy named Charles, the ringleader of this bunch.

"Right. Well like I told you guys yesterday morning my homemade scanner picked up something that's not supposed to be out here, it sounded like a little girl talking to someone. I only had ten seconds, and couldn't catch who she was talking to, the scanner was picking up too much interference from those sentries", said Mike adjusting his glasses.

"And I've been hearing talk around the school, rumor has it some people know about this girl, and that she's a Demigod. I get that those kids are on a whole other level than us, like those Transformers, but she's probably scared. She might have someone with her from what Mike told us, but good chance those sentries will find her soon enough, and we all know those TRF jerks don't just leave them alone", said Suzy.

"Well it's not like we're gonna just stroll in and save some Demigod kid like we're total badasses, much as I'd want some glory. So Charles, what about our guy? He called back yet?", asked the third boy in the sleeveless shirt named Rex.

"No nothing, just told us to check the place out and wait for him, he's our backup remember? We need him, the guy's a legend", said Charles with real certainty.

"(scoffs) No offense to the guy, but some legend he turns out to be. He told us what? That he'd get here sometime before 9:00 a.m., it's already three in the afternoon! If this kid is in that much trouble, we can't dick around here all day, we gotta look for her now", said Rex, impatient for their next move.

"(sighs) hate to say it, but Rex has a point, we'd all be screwed if we're caught, but we came out here to help that kid, Demigod or not, we're not turning back just because we're short on backup", said Suzy with her mind made up.

"Well…I honestly don't wanna get reckless with this. We'd really ought to wait for our backup. But it's true, we don't help her now they'll find her later and it'd be for nothing. So as Rex would put it, screw it, let's do it", said Mike shaken up a bit but determined to see this through. It seemed like all his friends have made up their minds on this plan, and since he insisted on the unanimous vote idea, Charles reluctantly but surely agrees to this.

"I guess we're doing this then, if he does show up, he's probably gonna chew us out. We'll worry about that later, let's keep looking for that little girl", said Charles as the four exchanged a fist bump before moving deeper into the old town. As they venture further inward, they can see for themselves the former glory of this old town before the wildfire claimed it.

"I remember my dad showed me some pictures of this place a few years back, looked a lot better before it all went to ruin", said Mike as he observed the scorched and crumbling buildings.

"My mom told me stories about this town, back when she and dad and all our parents used to live her, they had some great times here, and even bragging about it being the best in Utah. It obviously broke their hearts to leave just like that, leave their home and could never go back", said Suzy reminiscing.

"That whole forced to leave home thing? Probably what those Demigod kids feel right now even though their home is right here, and those Transformers too, even though they're not from here, now look, those guys have their home literally tied to ours and they still can't go back", said Rex, getting a bit too cynical, but he speaks the truth. Charles just kept a bit quiet, not wanting to add more to the gloomy feeling that there is, but Mike, feeling a bit awkward about it and worried for them, tried to speak of some good.

"Uh…well how about the look of the town now? Sure it's kinda run down, okay really run down, but it's not all that bad, look at all this greenery. Pretty soon the whole town will be covered up, all this amazing flora giving beauty to the ruined buildings and streets, making them better than they were before, then there's the local fauna. Some of these old buildings giving good shelter to any deer or bears when it gets cold, same for squirrels and foxes with the cars and mailboxes. The birds and rabbits making nests out of some the rubble around here, and still getting plenty of food, not to mention the flowing water from that broken fountain over there. Even if there's no people living here now, it's not so bad because this town has new residents now, if that fire alone couldn't keep this town from serving as a home, then nothing will", explained Mike with all his knowledge but inadvertently let out a nervous chuckle, unsure of what his friends make of his deduction despite paying attention and seeing all that beauty for themselves, that is until they started to speak up.

"Looks like you're just as bright as always Mike", said Rex with a scowl on his face, but his tone says all about what he thinks.

"(chuckles slightly) You got a point there, I don't think our folks have been here since that night, but if that's true, then they should see this place again. Then, they'll know that their old home is still what it was before, a home, thanks Mike, that was nice of you", said Suzy giving a smile to Mike who blushed in return. Then Charles breaks that awkwardness like ice, for the best of course.

"Yeah nice Mike, alright guys don't forget, no sightseeing remember? Let's keep searching", said Charles without slowing down as he pressed on, while Mike felt a bit bummed out after that, while Suzy comforted him a bit.

"Hey, you know he liked that, just trying to make sure we don't lose focus, I'm sure he'll thank you later", said Suzy as Mike blushes again but still grateful for that acknowledgement. But that feeling of calm and serenity gets thick real fast when the four friends turn the next left corner to Town Square, and accidentally bumps into one of the tall sentries paroling the town, and then they stop dead in they're tracks.

"Shit! I thought those things always stayed together!", exclaimed Rex.

"They must follow protocol every ten or twenty minutes so they don't miss anything! I knew we should've waited until sun fall!", shouted Mike in panic mode until Suzy gave him a good slap to bring back his senses, "Thanks Suzy, (groans) smarts though".

"Halt! Unidentified personnel detected. Verifying instructions", said the sentry in a steely cold and unfeeling tone as it scans the kids while having them in its sights, ready to shoot if met with hostility.

"I don't like this Charles, we stay here much longer that thing's either gonna shoot at us or call for any live TRF guys around here. We need a plan!", shouted Suzy hoping for a miracle, something Charles would really want right now as well. He's a bit frustrated right now, but he's not gonna let these mindless bots or the TRF themselves stop them from doing what they set out to do.

"Calm down Suz. Listen you guys, I'll draw this things attention this way, get it to chase me while you guys make a break for it. I'll look for you guys as soon as I can lose it", said Charles with certainty he'd pull it off, reckless as it may be.

"What? No Charles, that's too crazy, even for you. I'll go instead while-", but Suzy was cut off mid-sentence when everyone heard a whistle to their right, as they spot high at one of the one buildings, an over grown tree that's sprouted from inside, and on the thick of a huge branch sticking out from one of the windows, the four spot a little girl, covered in a bit of dirt and scratch marks, no older than seven, short and messy blonde hair, a left red eye and a right golden yellow eye, sporting a tattered but sturdy light pink dress, and barefoot with a small red bracelet on her left ankle. It would seem this girl had the same plan as Charles, but more with sacrificing her own freedom if necessary.

"Hey! Over here! I'm the one you want! Please leave them out of this!", shouted the girl desperately trying to help those kids, the tone in her voice would indicate she's definitely scared of this whole thing, but she's clearly that brave as well if she's willing to go this far, but Charles wasn't gonna have any of that.

"That's gotta be the kid. Hey what are you doing?! We came to save your butt, not help cart you off to jail! Get out of there!", shouted Charles, but that was a tad bit late as the sentry took notice, aimed its turret at the girl and took a few steps toward her as it performed a quick scan, followed by a short but loud alarm, and not the good type obviously.

"Alert! Scan complete. Demigod confirmed. Remain where you are. Attempt at escape or hostile intent will be met with force", said the sentry, and the girl was really scared now, but a second later and she notices something small and blue hiding behind some rubble, something metallic, and something alive. She figures out what it was as then some kind of light signal flashes in her direction, and realizes what it means. Then to the fours' surprise, the girl just steadily loses her balance and is about to tumble off the branch.

"The hell?!", exclaimed Rex.

"Wait no!", shouted Charles as his body practically goes into auto pilot and makes a mad dash for where the girl was gonna fall, then she does fall off, and fast. Luckily Charles was able to catch her not a moment too soon, and fortunately for him, a big patch of greenery at the base of the building was able to easily break his fall, and the girl was unharmed. His friends rush over quickly, while the sentry figures out what to make of this.

"Great catch, thank you, my name is Nei", said the little girl calling herself Nei, while Charles takes no time in catching his breath and readjust himself.

"Yeah, sure no problem, name's Charles", said Charles as he helped Nei get back on her feet while patting her on the head, which she really seems to love as she blushes a bit.

"Hey kid! What were you thinking you little dumbass?! You're lucky as hell Charles here caught you when he did!", exclaimed Rex in anger.

"Translation: he's glad you're safe. But seriously, that was crazy, you'd be dead if our 'fearless' leader didn't catch you", said Suzy.

"Why did you jump anyway, if you don't mind me asking? Because did we all just forget about the towering two-story walking turret?", asked Mike still worried about said sentry.

"Don't worry, he'll help us. Now!", shouted Nei.

"Wait who are you talking about?", asked Mike as he and the others got their answer: coming from out behind the rubble, came a three and a half foot tall blue Transformer, no bigger than Nei to be precise, small yet sturdy frame, short, thick handle bars for arms, on wheels, a small smooth round hubcap of a helmet, and two big glass lights that served as eyes, all of this determined that the bot could turn into a moped maybe, and the crew were surprised of this.

"A Transformer? A cute one too", said Suzy.

"That's not our guy right?", asked Mike.

"Definitely NOT our guy, but better than nothing. We'll have to trust him, let's run for it!", shouted Charles as the five of them made a mad dash away from the sentry, which takes their running as escape, and escape for attack.

"Warning! Unknown individuals and Demigod fleeing this unit. Engaging pursuit", said the sentry as it started to follow them. But as it did, the little Transformer made his move, as he came with a bundle of wire in tow, and sped right at the sentry. He then loosens the cable as it drags behind him, that's when he starts using that cable to tie up the legs ala Star Wars. The little one keeps on tying and tying until the cable becomes too thick for the sentry to break free from, and struggles until it comes crashing down like a house of cards. The sentry still struggles to move as the little one casually strolls in front of it, and sits there for a few seconds before his right handle bar arm reveals itself to be the severed arm of a dead Decepticon, which then slowly shifts into a big-ass multi-barreled blaster, lifts it up, presses it against the sentry's body, and lets out a mischievous chuckle before unloading a single blast into the sentry, and ten seconds go by before the sentry blows up into many pieces, while sending the little one flying a few feet back and on his wheels.

"Whoa", said the little one, looking at his own handy-work. He stops admiring long enough to focus, and makes off in the same direction as the kids, just as the other two sentries show up and nothing was there except that dead sentry and what's left of it on the ground. As this turn of events was transpiring, just outside of the new town, which was, again about eight to ten miles from the old town, a small camp has been set up, and its inhabitants, are none other than those of the TRF, and they're well equipped with some serious firepower and transport, and about fifteen personnel. Chief among them is the leader of the TRF himself, Agent Gabriel Santos, a fiercely loyal soldier of Brazil, born and raised. Since the TRF is spread all over the country and have strong support by half of the U.S. Government and many people around the world, he's that big of a bigshot. Those would be nice traits for someone on your side, if he weren't so shortsighted, as this soldier is very indiscriminate towards the two leading otherworldly powers on Earth. Whereas the two are just refugees and kids, despite their abilities and origin, to a soldier like Santos, all Transformers are nothing more than outlaws and potential tyrants, and the Demigods as nothing more than freaks and monsters that only belong in a cage, or in the ground. Doesn't matter which side they're on, to him, they're all bad. Santos came to this part of Utah with a team in tow after his boys intercepted an unknown scanner frequency and listened in, and how it had something to do with a Demigod, and wanted to check it out to find out for himself. Luck may seem to be on his side when he gets called by one of his guys monitoring the status of the sentries in the old town.

"Sir, good timing", said one of his boys.

"Yeah sure, what'cha got for me?", asked Santos, a bit excited but still determined.

"We picked up an alert from one of the three sentries patrolling the old town, seems like it found a Demigod there alright", said the soldier.

"I damn well knew it", said Santos, grateful for this day.

"But there's a problem though sir; about a moment ago the sentry's signal went out", said the soldier.

"Was it the Demigod then?", asked Santos.

"Unclear, I got the sentry's last recorded footage before the signal went out, no audio though, but you're gonna wanna see this yourself", said the soldier as he played the sentry's last functional two minutes on a laptop for Santos, who sits quietly as he watches on in disbelief, frustration, and confusion. The video finally stops and Santos asks to rewind and stop at a few key moments.

"Why the hell are there kids with that thing? Why are they even there to begin with? And who or what really took out the sentry?", asked Santos frustratingly.

"Not sure sir", said the soldier, really, not like this guy's a mind-reader.

"(breathes deeply) Alright, looks like the sentry was chasing them, then it falls over like someone pushed it over or tripped it. The sentry keeps moving, trying to get back up, maybe thirty seconds or so go by, and it cuts to static", said Santos, talking to himself while analyzing the video, "That Demigod didn't take out the sentry, neither did those kids, they all ran off, unless…shit. Get one of our drones in the air right now! I want a full sweep of that run-down town! There's gotta be a Transformer involved in this as well! Move it now!"

"Got it sir! You heard him, get that drone moving now! Ready the controls and set it for the old town! We got some action going down out here!", shouted the soldier as he calls out the orders of his superior. That's when three guys pull a state-of-the-art anti-Transformer drone, armed it with four rockets, and launch it into the air, and in the direction of the old town, with one of them manning the controls and a live feed from the drone is pulled up on a laptop, and Santos watches and waits eagerly for further development. Meanwhile, back at the old town, we find the kids still running for their lives and being led by the very young Demigod called Nei. After a few more minutes of running, they finally find themselves in the safety of a surprisingly well-kept together building. Inside, the place looks to be roughly put together as a makeshift house, much of the furniture seems almost in good condition, same goes for an old jukebox and a half broken counter, the crew can only surmise that this place was once a bar, given the furniture and radio, along with the shelves of alcohol and glasses of varying sizes and types, some of which was all ruined. But there's an old mattress at the base of the jukebox with come okay sheets, a hammock used to hold fruit that's been gathered, a wall of decorations and mementos, and some kind of old gambling table in the center of the whole room, with the legs cut of just enough for someone to fit their legs under there if they want to, and plenty of pillows in hand for guests in case. Upon, taking it all in, the four, along with Nei, gather at the table, took off their shoes, of course Nei doesn't have any to begin with, and grab some pillows to sit down for a proper chat.

"Welcome to my humble abode! I hope the place doesn't look to run down for you all", said Nei, demonstrating proper etiquette.

"'Run down' isn't what I'd use (groans)", said Rex in all his rudeness as Suzy, who happens to be sitting next to him, elbows Rex hard in the gut to get him to behave since they're guests.

"Sorry about him, he's got a big mouth. I'm Suzy, this jerk is Rex, the guy with the glasses is Mike, you already met our fearless leader over there", said Suzy as Nei chuckles in response, then remembers something.

"Oh! Sorry, let me get you guys something to drink, my freshwater tank should be full be now", said Nei as she gets up quick, runs over behind the counter, grabs some glasses, goes over to the tank she mentioned, and pours a drink for all five of them.

"Wait that's really not necessary! We're just fine!", exclaimed Mike nervously as he doesn't want he and the others to impose on Nei.

"It's no trouble, your friend there saved me after all, even though I wouldn't die from it. It's the least I could do", said Nei as she hands some water to the four with one for herself before sitting back down.

"Right, well I'm glad you didn't hit the ground anyway, and thanks for the drink", said Charles, but before anyone else said a word, they heard a whirring noise, and before they could react, they spot that little moped looking fella at the entrance, followed by a brief awkwardness, before Nei speaks up.

"Oh it's you! Thank you again for helping us back there, we really appreciate it", said Nei as that little one rolls over to her side.

"It's that little Transformer again! But look at his right arm, isn't that a mark for those Decepticons we hear about?", asked Mike.

"Yeah, but what do you make of that mark on his chest, something for the Autobots maybe", said Rex.

"Well…probably both?", asked Mike nervously, which Rex throws an annoyed glare at him.

"What kind of question is that genius? He saved our asses, obviously a good guy (groans)", said Rex as Suzy elbows his gut, yet again.

"Drop the attitude for a bit, but while he's here, he's so cute! He's like some adorable blue beetle on wheels", said Suzy as the little one lets out some kind of "aww" sound as if he's flattered.

"So does this beetle bot or whatever got a name maybe?", asked Rex as the bot lets out some mech-like gibberish, classic robot talk obviously, not easy to translate on the spot.

"I don't follow, actually none of us do, sorry", said Suzy.

"Sqweeks" said Mike and Nei in unison as the bot called Sqweeks, nods in approval, while the two were surprised that they both understood him.

"Wait! How can you understand him?!", exclaimed Nei.

"I like to tinker with machines, and was able to translate it all like an extensive vocabulary if I ever needed it. But then, how can YOU understand him?!", exclaimed Mike.

"Oh that's easy, he taught me", said Nei as the four and Sqweeks are in confusion.

"'He?' Who's 'he?", asked Rex as the earth beneath them shakes three to four times until, to their complete surprise, they turn around and spot a huge metal head outside the entrance smiling at them.

"Him, that's my friend Scavenger", said Nei as she welcomes the Transformer called Scavenger inside, who, the surprise of the guests, shrinks down to the size of an adult human with no effort at all, and then just walks right in and stands next to Nei, not wanting to take a seat though.

"Hey, how ya doing? Sorry I just love those Rocky Balboa movies, 'Rocky 4' was my favorite", said Scavenger in a New Jersey accent. In addition, Scavenger appears to consist of cold grey and indigo blue colors, slim but bulky on the shoulders a bit, simple looking head but with some old pasta drainer bowl for a hat, usual blue eyes. Back to the accent, Nei chuckles while the others, excluding Sqweeks, were still reeling from surprise.

"Hey, this is nuts. I heard talk of how the Transformers were able to alter their molecular structure to shrink to our size the past few years now, but I didn't think I'd get to see it myself! Thank you so much!", shouted Mike as he was figuratively, but almost literally, jumped up and down with joy.

"Eh, no prob' kid, always a pleasure, and this coming from the fact that Nei and I don't get many visitors, and we've only been here for a year now", said Scavenger, just when those four were getting over the surprise after what Mike said.

"Wait seriously, a whole year?!", asked Rex in surprise.

"Yeah, I was only six when I found out I was a Demigod, I was on the run and a couple days later I ran into Scavenger here, later we found this town and moved in since it was abandoned. We've been together ever since", explained Nei.

"Kid here was lucky when I bumped into her when I did, I was just minding my own business collecting scrap on this highway, and bam! I caught her getting mauled by a friggin' bear! I beat his ass and chased him away, you can imagine my surprise when the kid turned to be a Demigod, and one of those newer ones too, then she got up and looked good as new, like it never happened. I got nothing against kids or nothing, but I was alright on my own just doing what I loved, but the kid told me what happened and I couldn't just leave her be, so I took her in and all that, the rest is history, kid's Japanese case you're wondering. By the way, nice arm there brother", explained Scavenger with that last bit referring to Sqweeks, whirring in response, pointing out that severed Decepticon arm he's got on him.

"Yeah, there's that, you guys keep talking about this whole story stuff, what happened anyway? (groans) Come On!", exclaimed Rex in pain as Suzy pointed out his rudeness yet again with a third elbow blow to the gut.

"Ouch, geez kid", said Scavenger.

"Sorry about that again, but if you don't mind any of us asking, if it's not too much, what DID happen when you became a Demigod, Nei?", asked Suzy, but Nei and Scavenger were reluctant to answer.

"It's…kind of a long story", said Nei a bit concerned.

"We get it, you don't gotta tell us if it's that hard for you", said Charles as he was rubbing his right arm a little bit.

"Thanks, sorry about this. Oh, Charles, are you hurt?", asked Nei as she noticed the way Charles was rubbing his arm, and everyone else took notice.

"Oh, this isn't anything serious, guess that landing from earlier was harder than I thought, even with all that green that grew there", said Charles as he unzipped his hoodie and took it off for a bit to show the others a huge bruise that's nearly engulfed his whole upper arm.

"You dumbass", said Rex.

"Yeah, I guess I kinda agree with Rex on this one. We need to find you something take care of that. Some plants around here that we could use as medicinal herbs maybe", said Mike.

"It's not like I'm bleeding or anything, I'll be fine you guys", said Charles, but that's not convincing his friends. That's when Nei gets up, walks over to Charles, sits by him and lays her hand on his bruise, which makes him flinch a bit.

"Don't worry, I'll make you good as new", said Nei with confidence as she closes her eyes for a full ten seconds before her hand starts glowing bright, but not so much that the others couldn't see, and after fifteen more seconds go by, the bruise has completely faded away, like it was never there to begin with. Charles moves his arm around a bit, make sure he wasn't dreaming it, and to his surprise, it moves and feels just fine.

"Whoa!", exclaimed Sqweeks as one of his little rearview mirrors falls off and Scavenger is quick to take it for himself.

"Yeah, whoa", said Rex in awe, hell, they were all in awe.

"Feel better now?", asked Nei with a smile.

"Yeah, real good, but seriously, how'd you do that? Mike, this something a Demigod can do?", asked Charles.

"I don't think so, as far as I know, there's never been a recorded Demigod that has healing powers. Some scientists looked into it and just chalked it up to their biology, like there's no need for actual healing powers since they're all immortal. This is something else", explained Mike.

"You're pretty good with that Nei", said Suzy.

"Thank you, but I'm not too good at it yet. I practice when I have the time but I still haven't really mastered it yet. I can heal any wound on anything like people or even Transformers, as long as they're still alive though, but it just comes and goes, I was able to do for Charles because I could feel it inside me", explained Nei.

"Wait, you can even heal something alive that isn't made of flesh?!", asked Mike in surprise.

"Yeah I shit you not junior, one time I busted my arm real good in this rockslide, Nei found me and patched me up good as new", said Scavenger.

"Unreal", said Rex.

"Well, in any case, thanks Nei, really appreciate it", said Charles patting Nei on the head again.

"You're welcome", said Nei as she blushes to the head patting from Charles.

"Hate to interrupt your little patting session you guys, but did we forget the reason we came out here in the first place? (groans) Ah! Rule of THREE Suzy, not FOUR dammit!", exclaimed Rex with another blow by Suzy.

"Right, sorry about this, but we came here for a good reason Nei, you're in trouble, big time. Those sentries you saw out there, you obviously know they come from the TRF, which means they know about you, and maybe Scavenger as well. It's not safe here, we called someone for help, but he's still not here yet, we gotta get you out of here and find him so he'll keep you safe", explained Charles as he held Nei by the shoulders.

"Charles is right Nei, Sqweeks here did take one of those sentries, and chances are the TRF knows this already and they'll no doubt step up their game. It's too dangerous for you and Scavenger now, we gotta get you out of here", explained Suzy.

"If we find our guy outside the town, he can take you in, he does this all the time with Transformers AND Demigods, you'd be safe", said Mike.

"What they said, I don't do mushy speeches", said Rex, after all that, Nei looks to them with warm eyes as she gently lifts Charles's hands from her shoulders.

"Thank you all so much for this, I haven't had this many people, let alone other kids, care about me this much in ages. But you see, the thing is…I'm not leaving", said Nei playfully, as the four sit there and stare at her with open mouths and utter confusion and shock on their faces for a full ten seconds before this next bit.

"WHAT?!", exclaimed all four of them in unison, while Sqweeks gives off a high whirring sound to repeat what they exclaimed.

"Yep, not going anywhere", said Nei casually.

"I get you guys are immortal and all, but you sure you didn't hit your head when Charles caught you and lost some brain cells or something?!", shouted Rex as he slams his fist on the table.

"I'm not crazy if that's what you mean. Scavenger, maybe you could help them get back to the town entrance? Just be safe", said Nei.

"Yeah, sure thing, I'll grab my emergency camo sheet. I got it outside, since it's for my normal size only, let me put it on and I'll get you guys outta here", said Scavenger as he heads outside and reverts to normal size, with Nei right behind him. Same with the other four as they get their act together, rush to get their shoes on and head outside, while Sqweeks messes around with the jukebox, looking though the song list, and yet to find something he likes as he sighs in disappointment so far.

"Hey, hold on a sec! Nei! I told you, it isn't safe here anymore. We gotta get you outta here before the TRF show up", said Charles, trying to really reason with Nei while Scavenger, now in original size, messes around with a loose slab of concrete laying in the wrecked building next to the tavern, pulls his camo sheet from underneath and works to put it on right.

"I'm sorry, but this place has been my home for so long. I know this is probably selfish for me to say, but I don't wanna lose this place, it means that much to me", said Nei looking back on the tavern.

"We get it, but this place ain't gonna mean much if you're caught and your pal over there joins you, in case they don't kill him first!", shouted Rex.

"It's not just that, Scavenger can't come with us. He used to turn into a pick-up truck, but he got in a fight with this Decepticon robber that was passing through here a few months back, and he stole his T-Cog", explained Nei a bit teary eyed, she clearly doesn't like talking about that theft.

"You mean that key component that lets all Transformers transform into vehicles and use some weapons of theirs right?", asked Mike.

"Yeah, when he took too long to come back I went out and found him bleeding out. I was happy that my healing was working at the time so I saved him, but I couldn't replace his T-Cog and we can't find any replacements or someone to do it for him. You understand? Scavenger can't transform anymore, if they do come, he can't outrun them, and they'd catch him that easy. I can't leave him OR our home, no matter what", explained Nei, fighting hard to hold back the tears as speaking of that event is that painful for her.

"Nei…", said Suzy as she and the others were feeling a bit upset, and at a loss for what to say next. Clearly, losing her home isn't painful enough, but because of recent events, she can't force herself to leave her friend either, it really does look like this makeshift rescue mission was really for nothing.

"I'd hate to get in the way of story time kids, but we gotta go now. Once I've gotten you four, and the little bro, out of here, I'll come back here and me and Nei are gonna find a way out, we always do. Now come on already", said Scavenger as he finally got his camo sheet on and is hurrying the four to get moving, but Charles is stuck here, debating on whether or not they should really leave Nei and Scavenger like this, at the potential mercy of the TRF. Speaking of whom, they've had the unfortunate timing of finally rearing their ugly head, as the drone they deployed has finally reached the old town. The drone finally spots the kids and Scavenger, and Santos sees it all from base camp.

"Well shit, there's definitely a Transformer over there, working with a Demigod to boot, this is real serious", said Santos with his blood boiling a bit watching it all from the drone's live feed.

"Sir, can't confirm if the target is Autobot or Decepticon, that camo sheet he's wearing makes it hard to verify", said the soldier manning the feed.

"Either way, we don't know how strong this guy is and if we can even contain him. No, he's going down, fuck his allegiance. Coordinates?", asked Santos.

"Yes sir, coordinates are 40.945873 -74.015988", said the soldier.

"Alright, input those coordinates into the two other sentries in that old town and have them intercept those kids and the Demigod. Since that Demigod didn't take out that one sentry best guess she's no fighter, have the sentries hold them there until we get there and detain them all. You there! You operating the drone right? Lock on target, fire one rocket, try to aim for his spark if you can, we're gonna take him out with one hit!", shouted Santos as the soldier on the laptop inputs those coordinates into the sentries' systems, while the other one operating the drone locks onto Scavenger and readies one rocket.

"Sir, target lock confirm, ready to fire on your order", said the soldier running the drone, and without hesitation, Santos makes the call.

"Fire NOW!", shouted Santos as the soldier hits the switch, and just like that, the rocket leaves the drone and is heading straight for Scavenger, as he and the kids spot it coming a mile away, literally, and Nei is nervous.

"No…" said Nei with a bit of terror as the rocket surprisingly flies overhead and keeps going. This might seem like a sign of relief at first, but remember, those of the TRF are armed with some of the most advanced and cutting edge equipment and weaponry humans can have, from the salvaged remains of fallen Transformer fighter ships and transport crafts, not to mention dead Autobots and Decepticons. As such, that ranges from anything possible, such as a smart rocket that never loses its target until it makes contact. And so, tragedy strikes when the rocket makes a hard 180 turn and heads right for Scavenger.

"Oh crap, duck and cover kids, ol' Scavenger here's got ya", said Scavenger as calm as can be as he readies himself for impact, and Nei snaps out of it and realizes what her friend's going to do and tries to stop him, but she reacts to late. Charles grabs hold of her, the five run for cover, and the rocket makes a strong impact against Scavenger as the explosion knocks his camo sheet off, knocks him into the building next to him, spins and falls hard on the ground flat on his stomach. Back at the basecamp, things start rolling downhill fast.

"Hit confirmed! Target down!", shouted the drone-operating soldier.

"Alright then, you three, stay with him, keep that drone airborne, we don't know what else to expect out there. The rest of you, move your asses, let's go!", shouted Santos as three soldiers stay behind with the drone operator, while Santos himself and the other ten soldiers gear up, get themselves a ride and start making their way to the old town as fast as they can. While back in the old town, things are getting bad, real bad.

"Scavenger!", shouted Nei as she rushes to her friend to check his condition. As Scavenger regains consciousness, he finds himself in severe pain, struggling to lift himself up, and unable to shrink to human size. But once Scavenger lifts himself up just enough, Nei can see his injury, and that moment, was when she's unable to hold back the tears any longer. The rocket had hit Scavenger in the chest area a bit to the right, just underneath his spark and missing it, but a fatal wound nonetheless as he's losing energon fast.

"S-Sorry kiddo (groans), they got me good", said Scavenger in agony, carelessly wasting what little life he has left in him to say what needs to be said.

"No, you'll be fine! Just hang on, this'll be like when I kept you from bleeding out last time right? You'll be good as new, I promise!", shouted Nei with so much tears in her eyes as she places her hand onto the wound, closes her eyes and waits…but nothing. Nei opens her eyes with confusion and shock, trying to concentrate and still nothing happened, the wound was still there. This couldn't happen at a worse time for her, just when she needed it the most, the power to heal any injury, for any being, her friend lies before her, ready to die, "No…no no no no no please not now, not now! Please! I need to save him, he's all I have left, please! (sobs)".

"Hey kiddo, don't cry so much…(sighs) people gonna make fun of you for looking so bad (retches)", said Scavenger as he was puking up some of his own energon, which startles Nei.

"Doesn't m-matter to me, not as long as you're around to tell me I'm as pretty as the world's best d-diamond. I can't lose you after all this", said Nei.

"That's… (groans) that's cause you are, kiddo", said Scavenger weakly.

"S-Scavenger…", cried Nei quietly as she sat there as her only friend and family this past year lay there dying, and despite having the power to help, she couldn't use it this time, and she felt helpless. As the four stood a few feet from behind, worried about Nei, and sad about Scavenger, the silence was quickly broken when the two remaining sentries from earlier came out from around the corner far down the street.

"Alert! Intruders detected. Demigod located. Transformer detected, life signs minimal, no longer poses threat. Advance toward intruders and Demigod and detain targets", said one of the sentries as they slowly started making their way to the kids.

"Oh no, we gotta get Nei and run now!", shouted Charles as his friends nodded in agreement, but before they could grab her, they quickly caught the sound of a speeding car. That's when they saw it, from down the street behind them, a guy driving a beaten-4x4 vehicle at high speeds before making a hard stop five feet from them. And stepping out from the car, armed with what looks to be a Cybertronian blaster, is none other than Cade Yeager, once a struggling inventor from the heart of Texas, he had a run-in with Autobot leader Optimus Prime by accident, and later after that, he got himself involved in a huge series of events that's put him on the radar of the U.S. Government, and the TRF to boot. For nearly four years now, Cade's been seen and talked of as a living legend, traveling the country, helping and taking in any Transformers and Demigods in trouble and need someplace safe to call home. And now, he's on another job, a job he accepted thanks to these four trouble makers.

"Charles, THAT's our guy?", asked Rex the same question as earlier.

"Yeah, he's DEFINITELY our guy", said Charles in awe as Cade went and reached a backpack from the back of the 4x4 and approached the four quickly, who are still in awe.

"Hey, you the kids that called?", asked Cade in a hurry.

"Yes!", shouted Mike in excitement and nervousness.

"Sorry I'm late, all I got is my back of tricks, so you'd better hop in quick cause we're rolling out of here now", said Cade as he pulled a grenade from the bag, and Charles was able to snap out of it.

"Wait, no we can't leave Nei!", shouted Charles in disagreement.

"I'll go get her, just get in the car now!", shouted Cade impatiently and arming the grenade as the four did what he said and ran for the car behind him. Then Cade tossed the grenade at the lead sentry as far and hard as he could, which managed to make impact and explode on the lead sentry's right leg, nearly crippling it, but still standing and still moving. The four got inside the 4x4 and tried to warm up the thing for Cade and quick, but one problem.

"The heck? There's no keys here!", exclaimed Suzy.

"Hey where are the keys?!", exclaimed Mike, but Cade was too busy to hear anything.

"Forget it, I'll just hotwire this little bitch", said Rex as he was messing with the panel behind the steering wheel, but then.

"Like hell you will! Just hold tight for Christ's sake!", shouted Cade back at the kids as he focused on what he's doing.

"Oh, so he'll hear you if you try to mess with his car, figures", said Suzy in frustration.

"Unit has sustained damage. Right leg motors compromised, unit remains functional. Weapons systems online, engaging hostile", said the damaged sentry as it struggled to advance toward Cade and attempts to aim its turret at him and fires, but its wobbly condition makes the sentry let out a few shots at a wrecked car down the street instead. The sentry tries to steady itself to get a clear shot at its target, but Cade wasn't going to let it get that chance, so he aims his gun at the thing and fires about six strong rounds into it as he's approaching Nei and the dying Scavenger. Unfortunately, as strong as that gun is, it's not doing enough damage to the sentry, so Cade tries a different, more obvious approach and shoots at the damaged leg instead. This idea works in spades as three to four more shots at the leg blows it clean off the sentry, causing it to tumble over, still trying to move but all it could do was wobble its own turret. There's still the other sentry far behind, but Cade wasn't worried about that, his priority was to help the young Demigod crying over her dying friend.

"Hey, Nei right? Get up, time to go, now!", shouted Cade as he tried to tries to grab hold of Nei's arm, but Nei shakes him off in denial.

"No please, I can still save him! Don't take me from him!", cried Nei, refusing to leave where she is, but then Cade puts his gun away, grabs her again and makes her face him in the eye.

"There's nothing you can do for him now, he's already dead! You can't die, but would he want to get you to spend forever in some jail cell?", asked Cade with concern and anger on his face, but his words seemed to get through to Nei as her eyes widened a bit, she was so concerned for Scavenger, she never thought he'd worry even more about her well-being.

"N-No…he wouldn't", said Nei quietly, and Cade calmed down a bit.

"Then grow up a bit for him, and get in the car with the others, I'll be right behind you", said Cade as he let go of Nei, who in turn faced Scavenger one more time, gave him a kiss on the forehead, and ran to the others sobbing, thinking to herself:

I'm sorry Scavenger, I'm so sorry! Forgive me!

Now there was the matter the other sentry, Cade didn't want to use the gun again in case of later, but that sentry would still get in the way, so Cade thinks of calling for help as he stows the gun in his bag and pulls out a walkie-talkie and speaks into it.

"Hey Bee, you better have some skills today buddy", said Cade as he said what he needed to say, and lowered the walkie-talkie. Ten seconds go by, and as the sentry was standing there, ready to lock onto Cade and open fire, a loud thump came from the building to its right, and in an instant, out comes a bright yellow and black Transformer, as he flies toward the sentry, grabs ahold of its turret, and hangs off it a bit before using his momentum to swing into the air above it, and lands on top of it like he's bull-riding. This fierce Transformer is none other than Bumblebee himself, one of the more well-known Autobots in the whole world. As said, his classic yellow and black color scheme is how he got his name, and what makes him instantly recognizable to anyone he runs into. The brave Autobot had lost his voice after a fight during Cybertron's war, but had since regained it not too long ago, and he's just as nice to most others as he is tough on the battlefield, which is plenty. Now, rodeo-ing the sentry, Bumblebee proceeds to rip off its antenna, shifts his right hand into a plasma cannon, back-hands the top of the sentry before blasting right into it, rendering it useless now. The dead sentry then proceeds to fall over as Bumblebee goes and leaps off the husk before it hit the ground, and hits the ground himself but rolls forward and in the right position.

"I'm tired of people messing with me!", shouted Bumblebee in a typical adult human male voice but with a hollow metallic tone to it. As Bumblebee readjusts himself and stands up, the kids in the 4x4 stare in awe at the famous Autobot.

"It's, Bumblebee. It's really him, in person", said Mike, still starry eyed.

"Uh…hello, great to meet a Transformer as famous as you!", shouted Suzy with a bit of nervousness to it.

"You damn right! And Don't Ever Forget it. My bad, I haven't had my real voice back for too long, so I'm trying to readjust. Using the radio is a force of habit these days for me", said Bumblebee as lightly beats his chest with a fist a couple times as a sign of approval and gratitude for the compliment.

"The pleasure's ours, thanks", said Charles.

"Just doing my job, buster", said Bumblebee through the radio.

"Alright no more fanboying now, we're not done here yet", said Cade right before Sqweeks finally came storming out from the tavern with his right arm gun ready for action, but he finds himself too late as Cade and Bumblebee already took out the other sentries, the kids are safe, but the gut-puncher was seeing Scavenger dead on the ground.

"Ooohhh…", said Sqweeks sadly as he rolled up to Scavenger's corpse, then looks to Cade, disappointed as well, and to Nei, same with Bumblebee. The kids had just remembered what happened, and Nei starts to tear up again before crying again and getting Suzy to hug her a bit.

"I'm so sorry for your friend, Nei", said Bumblebee sadly as well, and with a look on his face to match.

"(sobbing) It's not, I'm sure he wouldn't blame you. Y-You didn't mean for this this to happen, all you wanted to do was help, thank you", said Nei as she continued crying in Suzy's arms.

"Nei…", said Charles sadly, and no one else could think of anything else to say to cheer her up. Not wanting to waste any more precious time, Cade has to break the silence.

"Look I don't wanna be a dick here, but we can't stay here longer. Bee, check the rest of town, make sure there's no other surprises around here, Sqweeks and I are gonna take these kids back to the town entrance. That drone that shot Scavenger here might still be hanging around so we gotta watch ourselves, we're not out of this yet", said Cade as he gave a signal to Bumblebee, who understood what he meant.

"Alright then, I'll let you know when I'm done. See you soon", said Bumblebee as he shifts into his Camero mode, and drives off past Cade and the others and makes a hard right before he's out of sight. Cade takes another look at Scavenger's body, before walking back to the 4x4 with Sqweeks behind him.

"Let's go", said Cade simply as he pulls out the keys from his bag, jumps into the driver seat while Sqweeks jumps in the back with the kids to make travel faster, and then they drive off. About six to eight minutes later, they're at the entrance, or rather the way the four came in, since it's too risky to go through the main entrance, Cade then leaps out and ushers the four to get out and leave. "Alright, you four came in this way? Take this same way, hopefully the TRF won't know about this, go on back home and keep a low profile, good chance they'll never know you were here. Nei, stay in the car with Sqweeks, keep her safe until I get back with Bee".

"Oh come on!", shouted Rex in frustration.

"Yeah, we can't leave just like that", said Charles in agreement.

"Look, you guys called me, I'm sorry I didn't show up sooner, but I'm here now, and I gotta do my job. You've done enough, I appreciate it, and so does Nei, now go on home", said Cade, and while they wanted to go on, Charles and his friends know they won't be able to win this argument, but Charles still won't take no for a permeant answer.

"Right then, I understand, let's go guys", said Charles.

"Dammit Charles!", shouted Rex, but Suzy stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, rather than an elbow to the gut.

"Rex, chill out, let's just leave", said Suzy, and at first Rex wanted to yell again, but understood what Suzy meant.

"Fine then, we're done here, let's just get lost already", grumbled Rex.

"I guess we should leave, but I still don't know what to make of this", said Mike.

"There's nothing else to make of this Mike. Thanks for helping anyway Mr. Yeager, and take care of Nei for us", said Charles as he reached out his hand.

"Just Cade kid, and I will, count on it. Now go on home, and stay safe", said Cade as he grabbed that hand and shook it firmly before sending them off into the hidden path until they were out of sight. Cade then turns and walks over to the 4x4 where Nei and Sqweeks are still in the back.

"We're not leaving yet?", asked Nei as Cade pats her on the head a bit before pulling out an old tarp.

"Nuh-uh, not just yet kiddo, I still feel like I could've helped your friend. Hang here with Sqweeks, he'll keep you safe. I'm gonna head back to your friend on foot, pay him the respects he deserves", said Cade as Nei was on the verge of crying again but tried to hold back.

"You can't, the TRF might be on their way here right? I just met you, but I don't want you to die too", said Nei sadly.

"Hey, don't worry about it, I've survived a hell of a lot worse than this. Trust me, this'll be like a walk in the park for me. Now stay with Sqweeks here, hide under this thing, and don't make a sound until either Bee or I come back, you'll know it's us", said Cade as he extended his fist out, and Nei reluctantly nods in agreement, and fist bumps him. Cade then grabs his bag and starts to run back to Scavenger's body. Even when he wasn't trying to push himself, Cade was tiring out easily, but luckily for him it took about as long to get to the tavern on foot as much as it did driving away. Upon returning to that place, Cade took a minute to catch his breath, once he regained his composure, he had to look at a sight he still can't accept despite all he's been through: a kind soul of a Transformer, cruelly shot down like some rabid dog that needed to be put down. Cade then walks over to the dead bot and stares at him for a few seconds before this happened.

"Hey, get up, you better not have died on me already. I said get up, come on!", shouted Cade as he knocked on the head a bunch of times until, miraculously, Scavenger woke up, like he was gasping for air, but then reeling from the pain of his wound.

"Hey how ya doing? You're that guy right? The one that goes around helping us Transformers and those Demigod kids? They talk about you like a living legend ya know?", asked Scavenger as he was still trying to fight the pain while Cade tried to study his injury.

"I'm no legend pal, I just like to side with you guys over my own kind anytime. You're all weird or nuts, but at least none of you'll stab me in the back for shitty reasons. Think you can still shrink to my size? Gonna take a closer look at your wound", said Cade.

"(chuckles) Well, you ain't wrong about us being nuts or weird, I don't blame ya for being an ass to your kind. And the shrinking bit? Yeah sure, it's gonna hurt a lot thanks to this hole in my chest but hang on", said Scavenger as he struggled to shrink to human size, what would take him a few seconds took him a full minute trying to fight through the pain of his injury. Once he shrinks down, , he manages to flip onto his back so Cade can better look into his wound, and it's not looking to good.

"Looks like it definitely didn't hit your spark, not even a bit, otherwise you'd have been dead when you got hit", said Cade looking further into it.

"Eh no offense paly, but for a legend, your bedside manners are terrible (groans)", said Scavenger as he felt Cade messing around with the bare inner workings of his body, which still hurts like hell.

"I said I'm not a legend pal. Oh hell, that shot might've missed your spark, but a hole like this severed a bunch of your metallic arteries, and you lost way too much energon. Even if I tried to patch you up right now, it's not like I got a couple gallons of spare energon to pump into your tank", said Cade in an upset manner as he tried to hold back the bleeding with a thick cloth.

"So basically, I'm a goner for sure this time huh?", asked Scavenger not the least bit concerned, just curious.

"(sighs) I'm sorry pal, kinda wished I'd keep you alive and all. Didn't want Nei to come back with me without her best friend and all that", said Cade as he pulled the cloth away and stashed it back in his bag.

"Hey, no problem, I'm grateful for you trying anyway. And… (coughs) speaking of Nei, think you can help me drag my broken down hide into our house? If I'm gonna die, I'll do it somewhere I feel better in", said Scavenger as Cade nodded in agreement. Scavenger pushes through the pain as much as possible to stand on his own feet, then leans a bit on Cade but not too much so he doesn't bust his shoulder by mistake. Upon entering the tavern, Cade settles Scavenger down in one of the comfy chairs they got in there. Before anything, Cade asks for something to drink, and Scavenger tells him of the water the kids got but none of them drank anything. Cade would probably rather want something stronger from the shelves but this isn't the time for that, so he takes one of the glasses and drinks it empty, and feels satisfied. Cade then takes a moment to admire the décor, rugged as it is.

"Gotta say, you two had a nice place here", said Cade complimenting the place.

"Yeah it wasn't that hard, half of it was thanks to some of this stuff being able to get through that crazy fire I heard about, the other half was stuff I found that no one else was gonna use anymore, and some of it was Nei's idea", said Scavenger but then starts coughing harder and harder, puking out more energon, and then Cade rushed back to him to ease him up a bit, it looks like the bot's nearing the end already this time.

"Hey hey hey! Ease up now, you need to rest", said Cade as he calmed the bot down a bit.

"Oh boy, look at this mess, Nei's probably not gonna like this, and she just had this floor cleaned and all that. Hey…real talk here paly, I'm guessing, you knew I wasn't dead yet, right?", asked Scavenger, and Cade flinched a bit, but answered truthfully.

"Yeah, I did, I told Bee too, didn't want Nei to know otherwise she'd push her chances of getting caught through the roof. I might tell her, and she's probably not gonna like it at all", said Cade sadly.

"(laughs) Yeah, no doubt, though in your case, you'd probably rather she hate you than herself, make things easier for her", said Scavenger, while Cade stood there in silence, taking it in.

"Yeah…you're not wrong there", said Cade reluctantly, and Scavenger smiled in return.

"Sorry if it hurts paly, probably more than this even, though this still hurts a lot, that's for sure. (groans) Hey…listen paly, take REAL good care of Nei will ya? I know I don't gotta tell ya this next part, but she's such a nice kid, never really gets mad at anything or anyone, not even the people in her old home even though they treated her like a freak and chased her out. Kid…kid's got every right to hate 'em and she doesn't, she'll tell you the rest later I'm sure. Point is, she's real good, packing the sweetest heart in the whole friggin' cosmos in that tiny body of hers (chuckles). One more thing, take my hat, in case it's too hard for her to come back here, she's gonna want something to remember me by, and make sure you got the god damn best family waitin' for her where ya live, alright?", asked Scavenger as took off that old drainer bowl off his head and handed it to Cade, who looks down on it with grief written in his eyes.

"You bet, sleep tight old timer, you deserve it", said Cade to a grateful Scavenger.

"Eh, no problem…and thanks a bunch. Love you Nei, take care…", said Scavenger as the life finally, and literally, faded from his eyes as he powered down, his body now a lifeless corpse, resting well in the place he proudly called home. Cade looks to the dead bot for a minute with grief and anger on his face while looking unmoved by this, as he pats him on the shoulder and makes his way out the tavern. As he walked out the tavern and took his time to get back to Nei and Sqweeks, he took a long hard look at the bowl he got from Scavenger, stashes it in his bag, and pulls out his radio to make a quick call.

"(radio on) He didn't make it Bee, I'm coming back solo. Watch yourself, I'll see you in a bit (radio off). This is turning into one shitty ass day alright", said Cade in frustration as he stashed the radio back in his bag. Even taking his time walking back, Cade was closing in on where he hid his ride, but upon reaching Time Square, he noticed something in the air that didn't feel right, and seeing what he thought he saw, he figured as much. As he looks down on his right arm, Cade spots a green light, and following it back to its source, he sees it: hidden in the darkness of one of the buildings, was a sniper, ready to take the shot should he try to run, let alone move from that spot. On cue, Cade drops his bag, slowly raises his hands and gets down on his knees just as the TRF finally show up in full force, all the soldiers come rushing out from their cars and take up various positions to block off any means of escape for Cade, and take aim, ready to fire. The drone that shot Scavenger earlier goes flying by, watching Cade, and then comes Santos, walking up to Cade while one of the soldiers comes up with a tablet showing Cade's wanted poster.

"Sir, ID confirmed, this our guy alright", said the soldier as Santos grabs the tablet for himself real quick, looks at it and Cade himself, with an annoyed look on his face before handing it back and approaching Cade.

"Well, Cade Yeager, finally a shot at the monster-hugger himself. You've been causing a lot of trouble for me and my boys these past four years, five in a few months, and same goes for a bunch a people too. By the way, we caught that 'fake' message you got spread out all over the country, doesn't take a genius to figure out it's a secret phone number for someone to call you when there's 'special' trouble, but I guess it does since some idiots with years of experience can't decode shit, not like whoever called you out here in the first place to help that little Demigod and her now-deceased Transformer pal, we'll find them sooner or later. Now enough chit-chat, tell me this, where are the others? The ones you're hiding?", asked Santos staring down hard on Cade, pretty deadly serious about this whole thing, but Cade, as resilient as always, wasn't going to budge.

"I don't sell out friends, that's it", said Cade looking up at his captor with a straight face, but Santos wasn't having any of this.

"'Friends'? Wake up cabron, they're all nothing but monsters, and this going on? It's an invasion, and that metal ball tied to our planet is big proof of that. One day we're gonna wake up and BAM, they're in charge", explained Santos as he grew angry at Cade and his loyalty to Transformers and Demigods as a death sentence.

"You see anyone in charge here guy? They just keep falling out of the sky and popping up all over the place. When something's coming you can't always shoot your way out of it", said Cade calmly while Santos just grew angrier as he pulled out a pistol. But before anyone could make a move, they all hear the sound of a speeding car, and it's Bumblebee racing down the street toward the TRF. That's when one soldier gets a hold of a mounted machine gun on one of the cars, takes aim and fires a barrage of bullets at Bumblebee, who takes it head on and shifts into robot mode at high speeds, but suddenly, as he enters robot mode, he just falls apart on everyone, literally. All his body parts just break apart and scatter all over the place along with some little bits, with Bumblebee's head rolling just in front of Santos, who stops it with his foot and scoffs proudly, thinking this an easy win. Sadly for him and his guys, not ten seconds go by before they all notice Bumblebee's left arm reconnect itself, still moving.

"What was that?", asked a slightly worried Santos as Cade looks over to him still upset.

"That? That was a mistake", said Cade as the chaos begins with Bumblebee's head firing a strong clamp from the round mouthpiece and getting a tight, painful hold of Santos by the right ankle, from there it's utter madness. First, Bumblebee's right arm shifts into his cannon, fires and launches itself into the air, while the force of the blast sends a few soldiers flying, one of them into a car's windshield. Second, the left arm propels itself into the air, knocking down a soldier and turning over one of the cars and onto its side, and during this madness, Santos gets dragged around by the head with Cade proceeding to grabbing one of the doors and smacking Santos hard in the face and tossing it aside to grab the gun from his bag. Panic is ensuring as the soldiers scramble to do something amid all this madness. Next, the right leg propels itself into the air as well, smacking one soldier right in the cheek with the tire end before the foot reconnects and the whole thing lands upright while the torso knocks over a few other soldiers and reconnects to the leg, along with the left arm. Then, as the left leg reaches the torso, the whole things spins around a bit, nearly kicking a soldier but instead putting a dent in one of the cars, as it makes sure to collect all the little bits that fell off, even the doors that serve of little wings. Finally the right arm reconnects to the whole body, the cannon still active.

"Next time you shoot someone, don't go near 'em until you're sure they're dead", said Bumblebee through the radio as he reaches down and picks up his head and reattaches it, still aiming his cannon, and with Santos still clinging to him, struggling to get free, until the clamp releases and Santos hits the ground with his back, but then finds himself pinned under Bumblebee's cannon, "I'll burn you so bad, you'll wish you died as a child!".

"The hell are you waiting for?! Shoot him already!", yelled Santos, stuck under the huge cannon, as his soldiers regain their composure and try to focus their guns on both Cade and Bumblebee.

"You're dead before I hit the ground", threatened Cade as points his gun at Santos as well.

"I said shoot! Shoot! Take the shot! Shoot!", yelled Santos as his men readied their weapons, seemed like things were gonna get messy until another person of interest comes into play. Coming from behind the gathering from his own ride, is none other than Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox, a high-ranking soldier who's well familiar with Transformers, granted that's because he used to fight alongside Bumbleebee, Optimus Prime, and other Autobots back when the Government and Autobots formed a strike team called NEST, true brothers in arms. But those days of brotherhood died after the Battle Of Chicago that rocked the world and branded all Transformers as the enemy alongside Demigods. Yet despite all that's happened, Lennox has never forgotten the bonds he shared with the Autobots as fellow soldiers, and as true allies in arms, as he's no doubt one of the few soldiers left in the force who still believes in them, and same with those Demigods even though he personally doesn't know any.

"Don't do it Bee! Hold your fire! Stand down! You! Drop it!", demanded Lennox trying to get these soldiers to back off, and then refers to Cade.

"I'm not dropping shit", said Cade fiercely, still pointing his gun at Santos, still on the ground while Bumblebee aims it now at his old comrade.

"That's right, back off Lennox! Not like you and the others even tried to stand up for us when they started hunting us and those kids like we're the real bad guys!", shouted Bumblebee as he's clearly not that happy to see Lennox again, despite what the guy's doing for him right now.

"Hey…hey the military doesn't want it this way Bee, you gotta believe that! It's a new world order now and these guys are calling the shots!", shouted Lennox trying to reason with his old comrade, but he's pretty furious and he's clearly not having any of it.

"All they want is a home and you know it, same goes for those kids who're more scared of you than you them. You push them, and they push right back!", shouted Cade.

"Exactly, jerk-wads!", shouted Bumblebee as continues pointing his cannon at any soldier that's gonna make a move, and still furious while he's at it. It was at this moment Sqweeks shows up, towing the 4x4, Nei in the passenger seat trying to get a better view, and coming in behind them is a bulky, deep green armored military truck with red-crosses marked on the sides, and in an instant it shifts and makes a forward roll, revealing to be Hound, another well-known Autobot who's big belly should not be found on any Transformer, but makes up for it as the Autobots' best artillery expert, chomping on a bullet for a cigar, sporting a thick beard made out of wiring, an army-like helmet, and packing all sorts of guns all over his body, he's the best example of your typical soldier. As he settles down, Hound reaches for something on his back, and pulls out a huge triple-barrel mini-gun, locked and loaded.

"Cade! Bumblebee! We brought help!", shouted Nei, but obviously Hound already came with Cade, Bumblebee, and Sqweeks and was just hanging back until he felt needed, but let's just let the kid have this, to be fair of course.

"Floor it fellas! I like showing up to a gunfight! This round-mound's gonna mow you down! Translation: sayonara suckers!", shouted Hound with excitement, and a cigar in his mouth, and a fan of violence as he's got the mini-gun whirring and ready to bring the pain. This development gives Cade the insurance he needs.

"Me and my crew are rolling out of here, like it or not", said Cade.

"Call off your birds", said Hound, as Lennox reluctantly, but without regret, nods in agreement.

"Let's go guys, they're not gonna touch us", said Cade surely as he lowers his gun, Bumblebee shifts his cannon back into a hand, and allows Santos to get back on his feet.

"Alright Storm-One abort, negative Decepticon activity", said Lennox through a radio then putting it back.

"TRF stand down, drop your guns", said Santos reluctantly with regret added.

"Sure you fellas don't wanna take a shot? I'm a big ol' target! Wusses", teased Hound as he stows his mini-gun.

"Bwak-bak-bak-bak!", said Bumble through his radio, mimicking a teasing chicken sound as he and Hound shift into their V-modes, ready to go while Cade hops into the driver's seat, with Nei alongside him.

"You ignored me and almost got yourself caught. You're gonna fit just fine", said Cade with confidence as Nei smiled a bit, then he starts up the 4x4 while Sqweeks jumps in the back checking on a huge blue case of his that's supposed to carry spare parts that they come across, that's hooked onto the back of the 4x4. As the crew are about to drive off, Lennox approaches Santos, who's not at all happy with this little buddy-buddy moment of his regarding Bumblebee.

"Hey, who's side are you on ese?, they're all bad", said Santos frustrated yet still reeling from what just happened, yet Lennox, steadfast in his beliefs as well, looks him straight in the eye with certainty.

"No, they're not", said Lennox simply as he stares at Santos for a few more seconds before turning away and returning to his vehicle. While Santos, unmoved by what was said, grabs his radio and gives a quick order.

"Eagle-eye, tag him", said Santos through the radio as the scene shifts to the same sniper from earlier, who moves quickly to get a higher vantage point, finally he does, then takes aim, and as Cade and his crew are rolling out of the old town, the sniper takes a shot at Bumblebee and lands a tracker on his spoiler, without notice, inactive for now, but when it does turn on, there's going to be trouble. Moving onto the crew, they hit a couple of small road bumps which shakes things up a bit, and as it turns out, Sqweeks didn't stuff his big case with spare parts, rather something else entirely unexpected.

"Ah, dammit, my head", whispered Rex in slight pain.

"Could you please move your arm, I can barely move here", said Mike.

"While you're at it, stop pushing, I'm getting crushed here", said Suzy.

"Alright, everyone quiet, not another sound until we get where we're going", said Charles a bit angry, but then the silence was broken by a small burp.

"Gross Rex, seriously", said Suzy in disgust.

"At least say excuse me", said Mike.

"Not my fault we haven't eaten all day. Knew we should've asked Nei for some of that fruit she had", said Rex frustrated.

"Like that was a good time for that", said Suzy, while Charles feels like he's being tortured with this nonsense.

"(sighs) This might take a while", said Charles disappointed, finally the crew are out of view as they rise off into the sunset movie-style. And by the time the TRF finally head out in the opposite direction, things seem quiet in the old town at last, until that silence was shattered a few minutes later, by the sound of a car engine revving, then headlights turning on, and coming out from an alleyway, was a menacing blue and black police car. The police car then proceeds to turn on its flashing lights, and an eerie siren that pierced the night with fear as any small creatures close by retreated to their little homes in the buildings. The police car now goes and drives off at high speeds, out of the old town, and into the night. Four hours pass as we follow the mysterious police car, driving down a seemingly endless open road, until it reaches this dense forest and drives on through for about ten minutes, until it reaches its final destination: a sprawling fortress of a cathedral crossed with a storage facility. Turns out this place was once used by an unknown Satanic cult until authorities tracked them down and shut down the whole thing, with half of them arrested and the rest escaped, never heard from again. Since then, the place has been closed off and all who visit this forest are forbidden from trespassing and has been abandoned this whole time, that is, until recently these past four to five years, someone else has been using this place as a sanctuary.

As the police car approaches the huge entrance to the cathedral, it stops dead in its tracks, then it happens. The police car instantly shifts into a sleek yet threatening robotic form, sporting four eyes, the two front eyes being red while the back eyes are blue, brass knuckles on both fists with "Punish" engraved on the left fist, and "Enslave" engraved on the right fist, a pistol on his right thigh, and a nightstick on his left thigh,, even a police badge worn like a necklace, this bot happens to be the infamous Decepticon Barricade. Make no mistake, this bot's been around since the Transformers made their official debut to the public over a decade ago, and yet he's been able to scrape by easily thanks to his experience as a master tracker, and his V-mode plays a big part in that. Since his arrival on Earth, Barricade has always fancied himself as a genuine officer of the law, Decepticon law of course, and won't think twice about punishing those who won't obey their true overlords. As he approaches the huge gate, Barricade shrinks down to human size, with a wrecked car door that shrunk down with him, and knocks on it plenty loud, and waits a bit until it opens at last.

Once the gate finally opens, he's greeted by a child, a ten year old boy no less, but he's giving off this stench of smoke, like a fire, of course his pure flame-red eyes are a dead giveaway. The boy runs off to what he was doing, playing with a bunch of other kids around his age or younger, seems as though the kids are all Demigods, playing a ball game they made up with the ball being made of light, and the kids use various powers to pass the ball around for a while. While they all look happy and carefree, that's not at all how they behaved when Barricade tracked them all down, as they, like almost any other Demigod, were either locked away by the TRF or were chased away, when they'd just get caught anyway. Naturally, these Demigods and many others living in this cathedral, were spiteful and angry with the people for turning on them, chasing them out of their homes and treated like monsters, of course, on behalf of his master, Barricade offered them all the chance to join with the Decepticons, work with them in overthrowing humanity as punishment for hunting them all down, to be killed, or locked away. Sadly, these kids, deep down, are fueled by hate for the humans for ruining their lives, yet surprisingly, they seem to be enjoying themselves here, but that's because under the conditions that they don't forget their hate, and dedicate themselves to the cause of the Decepticons, these Demigods can live here and do as they please. Staring at that bunch of kids long enough, Barricade makes his way down the long corridor, taking his time, it take him roughly five minutes to six to reach the room he needs to go to, while passing by some other rooms and other Demigods, more on those another time. Finally, Barricade reaches the room he wants, a bit strange in appearance, granted this used to be a special cathedral used by cultists, from a bird's eye view, and a map for reference, this room and the next up ahead are kind of special, as the room Barricade is in would be in the shape of a crucifix, while the room ahead is that of an inverted crucifix. The crucifix shaped room is featuring some rather gloomy décor, upon entering the room, Barricade goes down a long stretch-way, with the walls lined up with some trophies from fine Decepticon moments, be it against Autobots, or humans. Once Barricade arrives in the center, there's one door to his far right, one to his far left, and the whole place is surprisingly more massive than it should be, but this works in favor for the Decepticons who don't always want to stay human sized. The center is big, but there's still some junk lying around, a few wrecked cars used for sitting and such, and there's old signs of Satanic rituals scattered all over the place, old stains of blood, no doubt from animal sacrifices, strange markings that impose something demonic, old scorch marks and ash, even some bones and skulls of small animals.

Two Demigods watch over this room, both around the age of sixteen, and just as, if not more hateful of humanity than all the other Demigods in the place, despite their blank, emotionless faces. The one Barricade is closest to, and is messing with a smartphone, is a boy named Chad Strathmore, wearing a plain red short sleeve T-shirt, a watch on his left wrist, light brown pants that end just below the knees, and sporting classic red and white sneakers, light-skinned and with a short and slightly spikey brown hairstyle, green eyes, and yes, emotionless face. Chad's power is that of earth manipulation, anything made of stone is at his mercy, there are many Demigods that share this power, the same could go with many other powers shared between Demigods, but given he's been able to split an entire mountain down the middle without pushing himself, Chad's clearly one of the more powerful earth manipulators. Same can be said with the power possessed by his teammate and partner, sitting on top of a wrecked car with a long thin pillow underneath her and reading a book from "The Mortal Instruments" lineup, guarding the entrance to the room ahead, is a girl named Tsubaki Seriyoshi, sort of a goth-geisha, with pale skin much like that of a vampire, short hair ending halfway down her neck, black starting at the roots but turning light purple halfway down, dark purple eyes, sporting a light purple short-skirt kimono with long sleeves, small skull symbols scattered all over, semi-thick sandals, no socks, but has the sandals next to her considering where she's sitting. Her power is that of energy manipulation, meaning that she can fire energy blasts, make laser swords, entrap her targets in a field of energy, fly, sense energy, even put up a barrier around herself or others, even a place, make it as big or as small as she wants. Tsubaki draws her power from her own energy force, which is a lot, and that of any or all living things around her, no matter the form they take, and she can add that energy to her own reserves to limitless heights, and without causing pain or killing those around her so as long as there's life around here, even her own, she's always got power to spare.

These two led regular lives the same as all the other Demigods, and like most of them, they were chased out because of their powers. Chad went to school in Seattle, and was a top athlete among his peers, but as one can imagine, once his parents found out he was a Demigod, they called the TRF on him, and got away after burying the units chasing him with a massive landslide. Tsubaki's parents were both from Japan, but had her in America when they wanted a change of scenery, despite having their house modeled after what you'd find in Japan and retained many of their old customs. She attended a good school, learned how to fight from her father, and use a sword from her mother, and was a nice kid, even though the whole goth-thing was a bit weird for them. Once she discovered her powers as a Demigod however, her parents weren't afraid at first, until she accidentally nearly killed her mother, and her father accused her of being possessed by an Oni, or demon in Japan, and the TRF found out and tried to catch her, but her power fried their electronics and blew them all away and she ran off into the night. Like the others, Barricade found them and could see clearly that they were so very hateful of humans after they turned on them like that, even their own families, so he also offered them the chance to exact their vengeance on humanity, no matter what it took, even though that meant making a deal with the devil, with HIM. Anyway, since then, the two are probably closer than anyone expected, two complete opposites treating each other like siblings, considering they're almost always seen together. Returning to the scene, Chad got off his phone long enough to notice Barricade and greeted him in a way as if he's that uninterested.

"Looks like things are as dull around here as always for you and her, Chad", said Barricade in a casual tough guy voice and a face guard up for whatever reason.

"Ditch the face guard man, I can't take you too seriously with that thing on. And I told you, call me Earth-Shatter, to you Cons, Chad Strathmore died when he turned out to be a Demigod and was outed from his home", said Chad in a typical teen voice with no emotion in it, as Barricade did what was asked and shifted the face guard out of view.

"Fine, Earth-Shatter, could you be any more mellow-dramatic?", asked Barricade.

"Look who's talking, you get more and more boring every time you go out on recon", said Chad.

"I have to, it's my fucking job after all. Now just quit the chit-chat, I need to see him", demanded Barricade, losing his patience already, while Chad remained unmoved, but complies anyway.

"Just go ask Tsubaki, she's the one keeping that barrier around that whole room and all that", said Chad as he returned to his phone, while Barricade, slightly irritated, moves on to approach the room, but needs to speak with Tsubaki first.

"Barricade, here to mope some more?", asked Tsubaki in a simple light and moody voice while keeping her eyes on her book.

"Spare me the shit Tsubaki, I need to speak with him, let me through", said Barricade, as Tsubaki flips a page.

"Chad told you to call him Earth-Shatter, I'm telling you to call me Neon, we'd appreciate it if you don't forget that", said Tsubaki as she flips another page, and Barricade tightens his grip on the wrecked car door.

"And don't YOU forget, Neon, of who gave you, Earth-Shatter, and all the other Demigods here a place to call home after your families had you hunted down like animals. I'm not in the mood for this right now, now let me in", demanded Barricade, yet Tsubaki remained unmoved, but let out a sigh anyway.

"(sighs) Fine, you can go now, I'll block out the sound coming out too, I'd imagine this is something really private you need to talk to him about", said Tsubaki as a slow light purple flash appeared in the doorway, indicating entry is allowed now, and then Barricade nods to Tsubaki for thanks before returning to normal size and entering the pitch-black inverted crucifix room, with another flash behind him, indicating no sound leaves the room now, for complete privacy. Too dark, even for him, Barricade turned on his chest headlights to look around the room a bit, hardly any décor except for fire and slash marks, and more signs of Satanic rituals all over the place. Wasting no time, Barricade turned his attention to the huge area to his right and finds who he's looking for.

"Lord Megatron, I've returned", greeted Barricade with the utmost respect as the view shifts to who he refers as his "lord". None other than Megatron himself, the feared tyrannical ruler of the Decepticons, and sworn enemy of the brave Autobot leader Optimus Prime. Since his arrival on Earth many years ago, he's gone through so much when he should've been dead, he's been killed, revived, killed again, and reborn. Now in his final and finest form, he's in all his glory in a lean and buff build with a dark silver color scheme, gleaming deep red eyes that would strike fear into the hearts of any who try to fight him, a powerful fusion cannon on his right arm which doubles as a flamethrower, and a strange streak of red paint over his right eye. Make no mistake, Megatron is a true threat in the making, even he isn't as immortal as the Demigods he's recruited into his forces to help him overthrow humanity, but considering how he's been able to cheat death for so long in so many unexpected ways, it'll take a true miracle to finally rid the universe of the ultimate tyrant. Anyway, Barricade finds Megatron against the wall of that huge area, resting atop a makeshift throne consisting of about four busted up cars and the only source of light in there with him besides the light coming in from the entrance to the other room to his left, is a small fire coming from a little pedestal on his right. Apparently, Megatron spends pretty much all his time in there thinking, and nothing else, while Barricade, Chad, Tsubaki, and a handful of other Decepticons located around the world follow his orders and carry out whatever missions he give them. As Barricade is shining his lights at his master, shielding his eyes from the blinding light and with his face guard up consisting of two ram-like horns on either side of his head and five shards that split up to form his chin. Upon seeing his visitor is his scout/tracker, he lowers his guard and speaks.

"Get that out of my face. Report. Tell me you've found the Demigod at last", demanded Megatron in a raspy, menacing voice that'd send chills down one's spine as he shifted his face guard back to normal, revealing a mouth lined with small, razor sharp teeth to match that voice of his, lowers his left arm, and Barricade follows his orders as he gives his report on what happened earlier today.

"I saw her alright. The Demigod found herself under the safety of Cade Yeager, but there was too much TRF firepower keeping me from intervening", reported Barricade calmly, who's referring that Demigod to be Nei, and knowing this isn't the news his lord and master wanted to hear, and he was right to know.

"RRAAGGGHH!", yelled Megatron with all his fury, as the scene quickly and subtly shifts to Tsubaki and Chad, who can't hear a thing in there but notice bright flames in there, and unmoved by it.

"Guess he's upset again, no surprise there", said Tsubaki, keeping her eyes on her book still.

"Like the boss is ever not upset", said Chad following suit and not taking his eyes off his phone.

"True enough", said Tsubaki as the scene shifts back into the dark room, with Megatron unleashing the full extent of his fusion cannon's flamethrower feature on the spot to his right, and Barricade taking two small steps backward to watch himself. One of the things that Megatron is well known for is his seemingly unmatched rage, as anything that doesn't go his way even in the slightest is enough to set him off, and let there be mercy for any poor unfortunates who are in the same room as him when he gets angry, assuming they get to live that is.

"YOU LET THE CHILD GET AWAY! AND IN THE CLUTCHES OF CADE YEAGER NO LESS!", yelled Megatron as he slams his left fist into his makeshift throne while continuing to show his rage through his flamethrower, in short bursts though, so it doesn't malfunction on him by accident, "We MUST have her! Without the Demigod, our plan will not reach fruition!"

"But I know who can lead us to her. The TRF", said Barricade as he tosses the wrecked car door onto the ground in front of Megatron, revealed to be a door from one of the cars of the TRF that got knocked loose during that scuffle in the old town. Taking a good long look at this, Megatron thought to himself something that could work with this idea Barricade proposed, and it seems like he's plenty confident in this, as he shuts off his flamethrower and regains his composure, but retaining his threatening tone.

"Barricade, you've done well. Now for the next stage in our plan. Listen closely, because I WILL NOT repeat myself", said Megatron as relaxes himself. About five more minutes pass by before Barricade leaves the dark room while shrinking to human size.

"Earth-Shatter, Neon, come with me", said Barricade as the two took notice.

"What's up? Does the boss need us for something?", asked Tsubaki as she puts down her book after marking her place.

"Not at all if this next part goes smoothly, but in case something does go wrong, you'll be needed. Now follow me to the storage wing", said Barricade as Tsubaki and Chad look at each other with disappointment, as if they know they won't like where this is going.

"Oh, we need him don't we?", asked Chad.

"That's right, time to let our dog off his leash, now come on", said Barricade as Chad stowed his phone in his pocket, Tsubaki puts on her sandals and jumps off the car, and the two follow Barricade's lead to the door to his right. Going through a large series of rooms, Barricade, Chad, and Tsubaki finally reach the storage wing, which is more like a warehouse than a simple set of shelves, but with plenty of open space. Upon arriving, the three are greeted by Mohawk, a hyper-gangster of a Decepticon that transforms into a silver and green motorcycle. He may look scrawny, but even a bot like this isn't to be underestimated as he's capable to generating thousands of volts of electricity, enough to knock out all the power in half of an entire city, and if that's not enough, his laser-enhanced arms and claws will deal enough damage to an opponent. Behind him is a shipping container covered from top to bottom with scratch marks and bite marks, along with some energon that looks more like slobber than from a wound, the top had some device clamped to it, a power dampener perhaps, and the container is being dragged by a nine-year-old Demigod boy with super strength. As they all converge on the center of the building, Mohawk wastes no time socializing with these three downers.

"Whaddup fellas? Man I wanna kill y'all right now! But I'm gonna kill ya later! DEFINITELY gonna kill ya mofos later (cackles). Earth-Shatter! Whaddup my numero uno amigo?! Neon! How's my main squeeze kicking it?! Barricade! Still dishing out all that law and punishment and shit right?!", shouted Mohawk with so much energy, it's hard to tell if the power made him insane, or he's just always been like that. The three just look at each other before turning to Mohawk and answering him one at a time.

"One, not your buddy", said Chad.

"Two, we're not dating, but I'll kick you if I have to", said Tsubaki.

"Three, shut the hell up and get your head on straight. I didn't call you here to socialize", said Barricade.

"Alright alright, later then right?", asked Mohawk.

"No…", answered Barricade honestly.

"Fine then, killjoy", said Mohawk simply.

"Excuse me Mohawk, I brought him here like you asked. Is it alright if I get back to playing with my group?", asked the super-strength Demigod boy as he brought the container just within five feet of Barricade.

"Yeah yeah man, ya did awesome, now get on outta here, the grown-ups are gonna get down now!", shouted Mohawk with enough energy to frighten a boy that young, but considering what he is, he just takes it as playfulness rather than hostility.

"Great, thank you!", shouted the little boy as he stopped real quick to high five Chad while Tsubaki pats him on the head before taking off and leaving them all alone. Turns out Chad and Tsubaki are highly admired among the other Demigods in this place, there's about fifty-six Demigods living here under the Decepticons, and while Chad and Tsubaki are just two of the seven around the age of sixteen, and about four are around their early to mid-twenties, those two are practically big shots thanks to their work and skill, not to mention how surprisingly well they get along with the other kids.

"Look at you two gettin' all cute and soft on those tikes and shit! Gettin' emotional and all that too!", shouted Mohawk teasing Chad and Tsubaki, but while they remain unmoved by that teasing, despite smiling for the little boy before he left, Barricade was about done with this foolishness.

"That's enough, shut up already!", shouted Barricade impatiently.

"Alright alright alright already! Well I got the dog big guy, what next?", asked Mohawk breakdancing, eager for things to progress as they are, but this next thing might upset him a bit.

"Open it", said Barricade simply as Mohawk's jaw dropped and his dancing stopped.

"Uh, what's that?", asked Mohawk just to be sure.

"You're not deaf…yet. Now open it", demanded Barricade as the container started moving around like crazy, like whatever's inside really wants out.

"God's gonna be calling my name after this maybe!", shouted Mohawk with joy yet slowly takes off the three locks keeping that thing closed, one by one, and as he slowly opens the door, coming out charging and full of fury, is the Decepticons' own mad dog Berserker, who transforms into a jet-black SUV. With his dark silver and black body, clawed feet and hands, energon smeared around his chest, what looks to be old human blood on his arms, a big gapping jaw, a nose-ring, eight eyes, and beetle mandibles for horns, he really looks like a tough customer. But his looks alone aren't enough, Berserker really is like a mad dog, he's got some intelligence in that head of his, but he goes by that name because his instincts are always yelling at him to kill, destroy, and rip apart anything and everything in his way. He claims those instincts are way too strong for him to hold back so he just lets them lead his life, no matter what gets in his way, and seeing a big part of the purpose of the Decepticons was destroying, he joined them without a second thought. Considering he's too much of a handful given that he hardly ever sits still and calm, these days, they keep him human sized, locked in that container, with that power dampener built especially for him so he doesn't tear through with his claws, strength, or his twin spiked throwing clubs, equipped with an explosive mod that packs a strong punch but leaves the weapons themselves intact. Upon knocking the doors wide open and accessing his power again, Berserker wasted no time in following his instincts as he grabs hold of Mohawk, rips his head off and tosses them aside, but surprisingly he's still alive as he's like a cockroach that can live with no head for a long time, difference here is that he can pop his head back on no problem, "OOWWW! This ain't right man! Hold up, give me a sec here!", shouted Mohawk as his body gets up and stumbles to garb his head lying on the ground but fumbles all over the place.

"Free at last! I'll kill! Suck your brains! KILL!", yelled Berserker in a savage, growly voice as he lunges for Barricade, who remains unmoved, and grabs him by the shoulders, while Chad and Tsubaki, never truly comfortable around this mad dog, instinctively ready themselves to fight him should he get out of control. Berserker just stares at the unmoving Barricade, living up to his own name right now, and proceeds to roar right in his face. At that moment, Barricade punishes Berserker like any bad dog and hits him, more like he reaches for his nightstick and delivers a strong blow to the head, which seems to really irritate Berserker as he grabs his own head in agony, back up a bit, and kneels to the ground to recover. With this and Barricade stowing his nightstick, Chad and Tsubaki take this as a sign they can stand down as they regain their composure.

"Quit fucking around with me Berserker, you're needed", said Barricade as the mad dog finally recovered in time to catch that.

"Huh?! Needed?! By HIM?! For what?! Mass destruction?!", demanded Berserker as he got back up on his feet, eager with excitement.

"Big time, this'll require your talent for chaos, and Mohawk's going to help you", said Barricade as they all turn to Mohawk, walking up to them as he sticks his head back on like nothing.

"My bad dudes! Got ahead of myself, so wahddup?", asked Mohawk, who wasn't paying attention at all because of his problem.

"You're going with Berserker as back-up, these orders are from Lord Megatron. If we're going to find that Demigod, we need the TRF to lead us straight to her. You and Berserker will go on out, straight to where one of the TRF's zoned areas happen to be, and cause as much trouble as you can, then bail out as soon as they show up. This should also draw out Yeager and with luck, he'll have Bumblebee with him. Soon as the TRF spot them there, that short-sighted Agent Santos will no doubt finally activate that tracker I caught one of his snipers tag Bumblebee with. They'd obviously have done it by now, but considering we can't track them down ourselves without being noticed, they're having as much trouble and need to wait until the conditions are right. Besides, much as he hates us all, that Agent Santos is kept under watch by Lennox of all people, he can't go and act out on his own, we need to give him a legitimate reason to be able to hunt down Yeager where he lives", explained Barricade.

"YES! Finally some wanton destruction! Gonna rip them all to shreds and suck them dry!", shouted Berserker looking forward to this.

"Aw yeah! We gonna light this shit up and all over that place! So hey, we doing this now?", asked Mohawk all giddy with eagerness.

"You'll be deployed at the break of dawn, by then we'll have the location of where the TRF zone is set up", answered Barricade.

"Why do we need THESE two meat sacks?! I don't need THEIR help!", demanded Berserker.

"These two will be on standby in case you two get in over your heads, which wouldn't surprise me one bit. Anymore stupid questions?", demanded Barricade, starting to get annoyed now.

"That'd be me, last time I checked, this whole idea with the kid was that guy's idea right? The one in the trench coat? I doubt he's really in this for everyone here", said Chad.

"Yeah, I don't trust that creep. If we're not careful, he'll stab us all in the back and take everything for himself", said Tsubaki, but Barricade doesn't seem the least bit as concerned.

"I know the feeling, but even if he does plan on turning on us, powerful as he is, he can't take us all on at once. By the time we're done with him, he'd wish he wasn't a Demigod himself so his suffering could end. Besides, if this guy is anything like a former lieutenant I knew, I've no doubt Lord Megatron knows better than anyone here not to trust a snake like him at all", said Barricade with the utmost certainty. Meanwhile, in the dark room, Meagatron, with a bright light coming from that fire on the small pedestal to his right, we find him speaking to something he's holding in his left hand, something he's been keeping on a pike to his left.

"The dawn of a new beginning is near, my old, treacherous friend. What a shame, you'll be unable to see it", said Megatron as it's revealed that he's holding the head of Starscream, that former lieutenant Barricade mentioned earlier. Starscream was one of the most feared Decepticons in Megatron's army, but he was always a schemer, and had a lust for power as much as his master. As such, he'd been waiting for the chance to overthrow Megatron and lead the Decepticons himself, but his own carelessness got the better of him. This Decepticon underestimated a unique individual during the Battle Of Chicago that occurred years ago, who happened to be armed with special weapons, and as such, he got himself killed, his head blown in half, but since then, it had been carefully restored but missing the eyes, hence what Megatron was talking about. Despite his distrust of his former second-in-command, who thought of nothing but betraying him, Megatron had a strong respect for his "old, treacherous friend", for he couldn't help but admire his high ambitions, as much as a snake as he was in life, which is exactly how he feels about the person sitting in the similar big space across from him.

"Don't you think it's a bit creepy, big guy? Talking to the dead head of your old right-hand-man?", asked the mystery man, sitting against the wall in a comfy recliner chair, with a lantern as a source of light to his left, and small table with a glass of ice coffee to his right, while reading a newspaper. This guy appeared to be in his early 50's, but since he's obviously a Demigod himself, one of the few adult ones at that, it's uncertain how old he really is. He's got a full black beard going on, reading glasses, blue eyes, sporting a light brown fedora hiding black hair, a trench coat of similar color, deep green dress shirt and pants, but purple dress shoes and a red, white, and blue stripe neck tie. Megatron was clearly listening but kept his view on the head he's holding.

"Despite his incompetence and treachery, Marcus Flynn, my old lieutenant never once lost his sight on his ambitions, something I truly respected. Even though he lost his life due to his own arrogance, he dedicated all of his spark into realizing that end goal, which is more than I can say for you", said Megatron as he finally looks at the man called Marcus Flynn, and lowers the head he's holding.

"Can't say I'd argue with that, but you can't deny what I brought to you when I bumped into your oh-so friendly tracker a few months back isn't such a bad thing. As for dedication, considering I turned out as one of the few adult Demigods when we started showing up back in the 60's, that's more than enough time to do some digging into the history and ways of you Transformers, and that young and fresh new Demigod I told you about being crucial to this whole plan, there may be some road bumps up ahead, but I'd say a plan like this wouldn't be so interesting if things went smoothly the whole way. Believe me that kid is gonna take us all to the top when this is done", explained Marcus as he lowered his newspaper and with a grin on his face. Megatron remains unmoved but is keen on this plan and its success.

"This child you promised WILL be ours, and we'll all reap the glory and rewards of our rise to power, and exact our vengeance on humanity for its many crimes against all Transformers and Demigods alike. Which reminds me, Marcus, should I ever discover your treachery, and for it to be as, if not more, intoxicating as my old lieutenant, remember that there are fates in life FAR WORSE than death itself", threatened Megatron as he extended his left arm with Starscream's head looking right at Marcus to get the point across, but Marcus seems pretty calm as he sips a bit of his ice coffee.

"(chuckles) That'd be terrifying enough to send chills down my spine big guy, if I never experienced for myself some of those fates you mentioned for over half a century. And for what it's worth, please call me Sylas", said Marcus as he tips his hat in a friendly demeanor to Megatron. With this chain of events, the countdown to one of history's finest, greatest, and darkest event ever known, has started.

Well everyone, for all those who took their time to read this whole thing, thank you and I hope you've enjoyed the first extensive and thrilling chapter of this alternate take on the epic film "Transformers: The Last Knight". Just to get it out of the way, while characters such as the Demigods and Scavenger, a few locations like the old town, and the alternate story are all mine, I do not own the characters and terms used in The Last Knight, those rights belong to Paramount Pictures and Hasbro. In case you're wondering, when you reread this chapter and the rest of the story as I go along, when you picture it all in your head, think of it as something of that of "Who Framed Rodger Rabbit", or "Space Jam". Basically, think of it as if it's all in the world of The Last Knight, but some places, like the old town in Utah, or all the Demigods who showed up here, and even a few other people from time to time, as what you'd see in an anime. Simply keep the characters from The Last Knight as they were but like I said, some places and most of the original characters here, like Nei or Sylas, as all anime based, strange I know, but come on, those two other films I mentioned were all strange as well and they were great. As for the story length, I'll probably churn out a total a four chapters including this first one, depends on how I do the rest. Take care, expect chapter two sometime before Summer's end, and farewell for now.

Story Voice Cast:

Mark Wahlberg (Pain & Gain): Cade Yeager

Ryan Reynolds (Chaos Dragon): Charles

Eric Aadahl (Transformers: The Last Knight): Bumblebee

Lara Woodhull (Tokyo Ghoul): Nei

John Goodman (The Borrowers): Hound

Josh Duhamel (11/22/63): Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox

Santiago Cabrera (Heroes): Agent Santos

Cherami Leigh (Fairy Tail): Suzy

Alison Viktorin (A Certain Magical Index): Mike

Bryce Papenbrook (Sword Art Online): Rex

Clifford Chapin (My Hero Academia): Chad Strathmore/Earth-Shatter

Cristina Vee (Aldnoah: Zero): Tsubaki Seriyoshi/Neon

Jess Harnell (Animaniacs): Barricade

Steven Barr (Atlantis: The Lost Empire): Berserker

Reno Wilson (Transformers: Age Of Extinction): Sqweeks, Mohawk

Jamieson Price (Code Geass): Marcus Flynn/Sylas

Frank Welker (Transformers: Prime): Megatron

And

Sylvester Stallone (Creed): Scavenger