Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Animated. I only claim to own my OC, Jak Skeller.

Hello darlings! I've been cooking this story up ever since I started watching TFA over track out. Gotta say, it was btter than I expected it to be... Much to my pleasure. ^-^ Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! A warning: there's a wee bit of cursing in this one.

"Sari, would you please get back here? I don't have time for this!"

The sound of thundering footsteps, a mechanical bark and the heavy breathing of both girls was all that could be heard through the metal halls of Sumdac tower. The younger girl, Sari, paid no mind to the voice calling out for her to stop. Instead, she focused her attentions on the robotic dog running ahead of her.

"Give it back! I need that you dumb robo-dog!" she yelled as the dog tuned around the corner and faced her, a mechanical growl sounding as it lowered its head to the ground playfully.

"Sari! You're going to get us in trouble!"

Still, the girl paid no attention and lunged at the dog, only to land flat on her face.

"That's it! You're so dead!" Sari yelled as she stood up and lunged after the robot pooch once more.

"God help me..."

With that, the young woman was off again, racing after Sari. She didn't have to run for much longer, because the dog finally came to a stop after running into the professor. It turned and paused to look at Sari, right in the middle of a group of students. Oh crap, that's right. Professor Sumdac was leading a tour today for the local elementary school...

Sari, not caring who or what was in her way, lunged right at the dog, circling around her father and into the small mob of kids before finally making a grab for the key and successfully attaching herself to it.

Give it back you mangy old fur-bot! I mean now!" she screeched as she tugged at the key, her eyes narrowed in frustration. The robot dog growled back at her, pulling backwards in an attempt to take back its new toy. But Sari was having none of it.

"This key, is not a chew toy!"

Finally, as if by magic, the dog let go and took a few steps back, watching as Sari went tumbling back, right into her father. The two landed in a jumbled heap, and from the looks of it, he was not happy in the slightest.

"Sorry dad..." Sari muttered softly as she lowered her head, rust colored eyes scanning the floor.

"Professor Sumdac..." the young woman started uncertainly, an apologetic look on her face. Her maroon colored eyes wide as she panted softly, full lips parted. Her wavy black hair was in a disarray from chasing after the girl for so long, and the pinkish red streak, which almost matched her eye color, hung in her face. She was much taller than the late Professor and his daughter, but she was only around five foot five. She opened her mouth to speak again, but the Professor cut her off.

"Please," the professor cut in, holding out a hand for the two girls to be quiet. "Forgive me children. This is my daughter Sari."

As if on que, Sari blew an enormous bubble out of the gum she was chewing, only to have it pop right in her face seconds later. Professor Sumdac sighed and shook his head.

"And this is her tutor and caretaker, Jak," he said.

The woman waved, a slightly nervous grin on her lips before she knelt down to help Sari out of the pink death trap she'd gotten herself into.

"Sari, what do you say?"

The girl struggled to get the gum off as she glanced over at the children.

"Anyone got a pair of scissors?"

The children looked at one another, eyebrows raised as the girl finally pried off the gum with the help of Jak, and popped it right back into her mouth.

"Never mind."

A chorus of 'ewwwws' sounded throughout the children as they watched with disgust. One boy, however, decided to at least attempt to seem friendly.

"So... What's it like to grow up around all these cool robots?" he asked as he raised his hand.

"I don't know. What's it like to go to school with other kids?" Sari countered, curiosity beginning to fill her eyes. Professor Sumdac stepped in front of her and sighed irritably.

"I apologize once again for the interruption. But my daughter must return to her studies, isn't that right Jak?" he said, giving her a pointed look.

"Of, yeah... Come on Sari!" Jak said as she grabbed the girl's hand, dragging her away from the group as quickly as she could.

"Hey... What's the big deal!" Sari protested as she tried to wriggle free of the older woman's grip.

"There's no big deal Sari... Your dad is trying to work here," she said with a chuckle as Sari began to relax in her grip.

"Yeah well... I don't think he's doing that good," Sari muttered irritably, crossing her arms childishly.

"Of course not kiddo... Come on, let's go 'study,'" Jak said as she winked down at the girl, a smile dancing on her lips.

"I so beat you Jak! Look, look! Twenty points higher than your high score. BOO-YAH!"

Jak shook her head and smiled as she set the controller down.

"You got me kid. Wow, and I was proud of that score too," she added and plopped down onto the girl's bed, stomach first. Sari joined her, but not after dog piling on her and then rolling off, a fit of giggles escaping her lips.

"Yeah well, I'm just that awesome."

Jak rolled her eyes and smiled, patting the girl's head.

"You want me to do your hair? I think it got a little messed up from all that dancing."

Sari's eyes widened.

"It did?"

"Yup!" Jak countered as she tackled the girl in a hug, one hand coming up to ruffle her hair.

"Jak, that's cheating!" Sari whined through laughter as she crawled towards the edge of the spacious bed. "Now you really do have to fix it."

Jak shrugged and smiled down at her.

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

Sari scooted closer and sat cross legged in front of the girl, a content smile on her face as her caretaker weaved her fingers through her hair and untangled any knots. The quiet left Jak time to just think... About everything. The little girl sitting in front of her...?

Boy, when she got older, she was going to be a gorgeous one. Her skin was a pretty tan shade, and her eyes. That odd rusty red color. They almost matched her flaming red hair, which was always up in two little pigtails. She didn't look quite natural to be honest. Well, she wasn't.

It was no secret to her that Sari wasn't really a human being, but a robot that some how found it's way to Professor Sumdac's lab. It was because of her job at the time that she had know, and why she was still her working for them.

Eight years ago, Jak had been working alongside Professor Sumdac as a representative for her father. The two were business partners, had been since she was three, and she was her father's most trusted worker. While Prof. Sumdac created robots for practical purposes, such as cleaning bots or police bots, Skeller Corp. catered to the more... Entertainment side of the business. There head-lining creation had been the ANImal, a robot pet created for those who were allergic to certain animals, or not up to the task of fully taking responsibility of a pet. For instance, a sick child who had always wanted a puppy could finally have one. A puppy that he wouldn't be allergic to, a puppy who wouldn't pee everywhere or die suddenly. Oh no, this puppy was his friend for life. Of course, any smart person could see the design flaw. This pet wasn't real. It wasn't alive and it didn't have feelings. But what child would know that just by glancing at it? Skeller Corp. was getting so good at creating ANImals, that they almost seemed real. Of course, Prof. Sumdac refused to take the technology that Skeller offered him. He wasn't aiming for real; he was aiming for helpful and safe.

Wow... She'd lost her train of thought there. Eight years ago, when she'd been collaborating with Sumdac for her father, they'd returned to find a small robot creature, made of what looked to be liquid metal. Upon Sumdac touching it, the creature began to slowly morph into a humanistic form, and grew to be Sari in a few short days.

The whole incident was... Traumatic to say the least, but still exciting. When Sari finally started to wake up, Sumdac, who was having a nervous breakdown at that point, asked for her help in raising Sari, almost as if she were her older sister or something of the sort. Jak agreed, and to this day... She'd been living happily at Sumdac tower.

"Hey Jak... Jak? Jak! Are you in there?" Sari called, ripping her from her thoughts.

"Oh... Sorry, just thinking," Jak replied as she tied the second pigtail into place.

"About what? That guy that you saw in the shopping mall today?" Sari teased, causing Jak to roll her eyes.

"Ha-ha-ha. You're a funny one, aren't ya?"

Sari grinned widely.

"Duh! Now let me do your hair! I wanna try braiding it since it's so long."

Complying without a fuss, Jak turned her back to the girl and smiled.

"You know you're short when an eight year old can braid your hair without much difficulty."

Jak rolled her eyes and scowled playfully.

"But you're still shorter. Now braid or I'm getting up," she said and reached around to poke the young girl's leg.

Sari let out a girlish giggle and nodded.

"Okay, okay. You know, I like the new streak color. This one rocks!"

"Gracias darling. I appreciate the compliment," Jak muttered softly as she shut her eyes.

The twenty-seven year old was a sucker for anybody who would just comb their fingers through her hair. Some people likened her to dog, others a cat. But hell, she didn't care, it just felt good.

"Hmmm... What color should I dye it next time Sar-bear?" Jak questioned with a sigh.

"I dunno... Halloween is coming up soon, so we'll have to save orange for October. Maybe white! I haven't seen you with white in a long time."

She nodded and sighed again, a small smile remaining plastered to her lips as she thought aimlessly about hair colors.

"Alright, you're all-"

A loud explosion cut her off. The building beneath them shuttered and loud alarm started to blare, signaling that something was wrong. Very wrong.

The wailing sirens of police cars and fire engines could barely be heard over the loud blaring of the alarm. Sari looked up at Jak expectantly, as if she knew what was going on.

"Come on Sari, we gotta get out of here," the young woman said as she grabbed the girl's hand securely.

"But what about dad?" she protested as she dug her heels into the ground.

This was so the wrong time to be stubborn... So the wrong time.

"Sari, he'll be fine! If anything, he was one of the first out to make sure whatever escaped is okay. Oh God... Kreon!"

Her eyes widened and she instantly began dragging Sari rather forcefully out of the room. After a few moments, Sari was running alongside her and down one of the many back staircases of the building.

"Wait, what about Sparkplug? We can't leave him too!" Sari suddenly started, her eyes widening. Before Jak could reply, Sari bolted off and out one the doors.

"Sari, no!" Jak yelped as she stumbled after the girl, nearly tripping on some rubble right outside of the door.

It was like an obstacle course, trying to keep up with the girl and trying dodge every piece of debris that seemed out to kill her. She'd nearly lost sight of the girl when a happy squeal sounded not too far off.

"Sparkplug, there you ar- Hey! I'm trying to save you! Why are trying to get my key?"

With a groan, Jak ran after the girl, who managed to find her way outside of the building and right near this giant... Cockroach... Thing.

"Sari, you idiot! What were you thinking?" she yelled, eyes narrowed slightly in concern.

"I just wanted to save Sparkplug! But he's being an ungrateful little mutt!" she growled as she tugged on the key.

With a sigh, Jak bent down and began to pull on Sari's waist in order to help the girl. Both of them were oblivious to the two cars sitting in front of them.

"What are those things?" the green military truck asked.

"I dunno, must be some kinda pet," the smaller yellow car replied.

"Why would the four-legged bot want a pet that big?"

Before the yellow car could respond, a tentacle crashed down a little behind them, sending them forward and closer to the girl. With little options left, the two cars crept closer. Jak was the one to notice as they stopped in front of them, her reddish-pink eyes widening slightly.

"Hello there little creatures. My name is Bulkhead. Did you lose your owner bots?"

Both Jak and Sari started up at the enormous green vehicle, both horrified and curious at the same time. The two shared a look before letting out an ear piercing scream at the same exact time.

The yellow car let out a scream of its own and back up, horn honking madly for a few seconds.

"Those things must be armed with some kinda high frequency sonic weapons!"

Sari took off running seconds later, followed by Jak, who was now just trying to calm the girl down.

"Sari, wait!" she called frantically.

"I think they're scared... Uh, don't worry little creatures. I'm not going to hurt you!" the green car said as it drove after them.

Sari's attempts at escaping danger were in vain as a tentacle came crashing down in front of her. It wrapped around her tiny waist and lifted her up into the air, much to Jak's horror.

"No, no! Sari! Oh God, you stupid piece of shit, give her back!" Jak screeched.

Whatever fear she had harbored for the talking cars was now dead and gone, replaced with fear that Sari would get hurt, or worse.

While Jak was freaking out, trying to figure out a way to save Sari, she barely noticed the fire engine and motorcycle drive up behind her.

"What is that thing?"

"I don't know... But it needs our help. Autobots, transform!"

The sounds of gears shifting, metal grinding and squealing, and mechanical whirring caught Jak's attention suddenly, causing her to turn and star in awe.

The cars she had just seen, and two new vehicles, were transforming before her eyes, taking on humanoid figures and characteristics. Eyes, noses, mouths, hands... It was unreal. Yet there they were. And they were just standing around!

Sari had stopped screaming to utter a loud, "Cool!"

"Stop standing around and help her!" Jak suddenly blanched, her arms flailing around angrily. "That thing isn't just gonna sit there all innocent! It's gonna-"

Before she could finish her statement, Jak was lifted up into the air by a slimy tentacle. A scream escaped her lips, right as the big red and blue robot ordered the others to attack.

Jak struggled and clawed at the limb with all her might, but to no avail. It just tightened further, making breathing difficult. The robots were each aiming different attacks at the monster, one of which sent Sari sailing through the air and into the yellow robots hands. Oh thank God, she was safe.

The angered roar of the monster and the tightening around her torso reminded her that now it was her turn to be saved... Hopefully.

Or not... The big green one had just launched what look like a wrecking ball right into the monster, and it did nothing to stop it. In fact, it started to absorb the freaking thing. Oh this was lovely. She was going to die here.

Jak's vision began to swim as the grip around her tightened, her ears started to ring, and she could have sworn she she felt something crack inside of her... This was not going to end well. Her head lolled to the side as her breathing became more ragged.

But then, as if by a miracle, the grip suddenly loosened, and she was falling, falling, falling. Right into an enormous awaiting palm. She barely saw a glimpse of black and gold before she was set gently on the ground. She could hear the myriad of voices behind her, and then... Everything went black.

R&R please! Constructive criticism is welcomed, especially in the spelling area. Not having Word on my computer is starting to get aggravating...