This is my first story so please review and tell me what you think. I do accept constructive criticisms. Also be aware I do quote Burn Notice and a couple other works on this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime or any of the quotes except my OC and the rest.

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Car Chases and Craziness

I've seen the hard side of life. That's no lie. Many people claim to have seen it, but only a few have truly had it rough. We as humans are capable of adapting to multiple situations, but only that handful of people realize it.

But even for those special few, there is only so much you can weather before it all comes crashing down on you.

However for those of us who can stay strong and weather the storm, we typically come out on top to find that the rewards are indeed sweet.

So where do I start? Well I guess where any story begins: the beginning.

My story takes place in a little town of Jasper, Nevada…

Gazing around at all of the all-too familiar street corners that zoomed by, I sighed in exasperation, feeling slightly annoyed as I tried and failed to think of something creative to occupy my mind, as I drove towards my destination. One thing to know about Jasper, Nevada is that it is, by far, the most boring place in the world. Compared to other towns, it would probably rank the lowest in a 'most interesting places to see' contest. It's extremely drab, and after a few years of seeing the same old buildings and familiar street corners, one can go a little stir crazy. Or, at least in my case, I definitely do sometimes.

I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Aria Slade-Cage, and for the most part, I'm just your average teenager. Mostly. Waist-length blonde hair with some red and blue colored bangs, and grey eyes coupled with plain or average looks; I look like your average 18 year old high school student. Then, of course, when you finally meet me, there is my seemingly hostile or indifferent disposition. Let's just say that most people to tend to dislike me right off the bat after the first initial meeting. But that's okay with me; I've earned the right to be that way along time ago.

Turning another corner, my intended destination finally came into view: KO drive burger joint.

Now, before you jump to conclusions, going there to eat glorified artery-clogging burgers and fries was never in my intentions. In fact, I try to avoid eating that gunk at all costs. No, I was only there for someone, not something. Driving up on my red and blue 2015 Kawasaki Ninja 300 ABS motorcycle and parking, I pulled off my matching helmet just in time to see a tall, dark-haired teen walking out of the burger joint, talking on his phone. To a trained eye, it was obvious that whomever he was talking to on the other end seemed to be babying him. Finally, after a minute of exasperated and extremely short-as-possible teenager-like answers, the guy hung up, heaving a relieved sigh as the connection was terminated. I smiled. Typical parent-teen phone conversation.

"Ah, the perils of being a teenager," I sighed dramatically, drawing his attention. "Annoying worry wart mothers, overprotective dads, curfew, psycho exes… And it all just makes you wanna book the next train outta here. Am I right?"

He just rolled his eyes at my theatrics. "Yeah that sounds about right. Except for the psycho exes' part, that is. I think that's more your thing."

I just grinned, unfazed by his accusation. "Better watch it then Darby, otherwise little Miss Sierra might turn into your first," I replied cheekily, making kissy lips.

Jackson Darby, or Jack, as most of his friends called him, (though to be a rebel, I sometimes called him by his last name for fun). He seemed to be the only exception out of the majority of the people who were put off by my apathetic demeanor (him and his mom that is). I've known him since I was like eleven years old; we were more like brother and sister than best friends. Hell! I'll even go over to his place every once in a while and spend the night with him and his mom. And even though we were older now, with jobs and school and everything, we still found time to talk and hang out; we were just that close.

Anyway, Jack has this huge crush on this girl named Sierra who goes to our high school. He's too chicken to admit it, and he's never told me that personally, but it's just that obvious, at least to me. Sometimes he's even gone to me for girl advice, but I'm no love expert so I typically just tell him the same thing I do every time: 'don't change; be yourself.' Either way though, just so long as he didn't drool on me whenever she walks by, I couldn't care less about him romancing her; I have more important stuff to worry about.

"W-whatever, at least my current romance isn't my latest project, Slade," he snipped back though I could see the faint blush tinting his cheeks.

I shrugged nonchalantly at his comment, not in the least bothered. "What can I say? At least my men listen to me and the relationships are easy to handle. Not to mention that the breakups are a lot less messy. No muss, no fuss." The only love I had in my life was fixing up old cars and motorcycles, and that was enough for me. Besides, I'm not really a people person.

"Whatever you say, Aria," he said rolling his eyes. "I'll be sure to get you your official crazy cat lady starter kit, complete with 10 cats, for your…." he trailed off, catching sight of wicked looking blue motorcycle. "Whoa."

Ah, another of Jacks' little secret fantasies strikes again, I thought, rather amused. Ever since I can remember, Jack has always wanted a motorcycle. When we were younger, Jack practically begged after his mother for a motorcycle, but every time she shot him down, repeatedly telling him 'no'. I would have given him one by now, but his mother explicitly forbade me from even allowing him near one.

"I love you," he whispered not taking his eyes off of it, before walking over to examine it more carefully. "Hello, beautiful. Where have you been all my life?"

"Uh, probably in someone else's good care," I told him, hoping he would take a hint.

"Nice," I heard him murmur as he ran his hands along the leather seat.

"Uh-uh, get your sticky paws off, unless you want the owner to come back and chop them off for you," I warned him though, I couldn't help secretly admiring it too. As a mechanic, I have every right to have an interest in these sorts of things. It's like some deep seeded instinct I guess: whenever I see a beautiful vehicle I can't help but secretly admire it. Anyways, as my eyes scanned over it, I couldn't help but take in the details. From the looks of the motorcycle, whoever owned it had really taken good care of her. In a way, it was almost inhuman how spotless it was.

"I won't stop them if they get trigger happy, Darby."

Sadly, my words were wasted on deaf ears, as he was already mounting it. "It may take a few KO paychecks," he told it. "But I am going to own a ride like you some day."

I shook my head at his antics. Now I'm all for talking to my vehicles. I do it all the time when I'm repairing them, but the way Jack was so wrapped up in his little motorcycle fantasyland was getting a little ridiculous. I decided to change tactics.

"If you're going to make out with that motorcycle, then please, for the love of God, get a room. And don't forget to wear protection." That caught his attention.

However, just as he was about to respond, a loud revving of engines and bright headlights shining in his face cut him off.

Next thing I knew, the twin cars were charging at us, ties screeching as the blue motorcycle seemed to rev in response, and of its own accord, before doing an of awkward wheelie of sorts, and speeding away with Jack clinging to it for dear life to it. I could hear him screaming all the way as the twins raced after them.

Well, if it's a car chase they want, it's a chase they'll get. Nobody messes with my little brother.

Jamming my helmet back on, I proceeded to give chase, and hopefully find out what the hell is going on.

Following at a safe distance, I watched as the motorcycle seemed to intentionally slow down before immediately speeding up, causing the identical cars to smash into each other and start to slide out of control for a moment. The moments distraction was all the motorcycle needed though, as it sped into an alley. Sadly, the tactic didn't buy us very much time as they recovered and followed my friend on the rogue motorcycle into the alley.

Skidding to a halt at the entrance of the small, dead-end alley, I peered in only to receive the shock of my life. The cars had split up, one chasing my friend as he ran away on foot, him screaming something about not even 'knowing her', and the other chasing the riderless motorcycle.

Staying put, I watched as the motorcycle did a quick three-sixty before jumping on the hood of the car pursing it and speeding off to rescue Jack. And once again we were off, this time racing towards the highway.

Grrr…. I really hate car chases, I growled in my mind. Yes, I've been in a couple car chases before and I can tell you they are not pleasant. Mainly, it's the level of danger they pose. Speeding down the highway at several miles per hour and trying to avoid basically being turned into bug paste is not the easiest thing to do. In general, one wrong move and BAM! You're roadkill.

I swerved on the highway to avoid the oncoming shots behind me.

Seriously? Ugh….The other reason I hate them so much is that they are just plain old frustrating; every single time it seems that the guy chasing you has an unfair advantage. You have a motorcycle with minimal cover? They have a car. You got a fast ride? Well they have a gun. You have to drive and shoot? Too bad, they've got a driver and a shooter. You drive through a crowded street? Well guess what honey-bun: you just gave them a clear way. Oh joy.

Thankfully, the key thing to remember is that it's not about who can drive the fastest, but who can think the fastest, the most strategically, on their feet. When you are pursuing someone it's tempting to focus exclusively on overtaking the other person. It's often better to force to person you're chasing—or chasing you—to go faster than the terrain allows and wait for them to make a mistake. If you keep that all in mind, you pretty much have the chase in the bag.

Risking a glance in my rearview, I moaned in despair. A third car?! How many look-alikes do these guys have for Pete's sake?

I dodged a few more shots from behind.

Okay, whoever these guys were, several things were pretty clear about them. For one, they were obviously professionals, probably for hire. Second, whoever probably hired them didn't care who or what got in their way. Thirdly, anyone perceived to be associated with their main target was to be eliminated as well it seemed. Meaning, Jack and I were now targets, and now our lives had probably just gone to hell.

Sighing, I knew what I had to do.

Every vehicle has three points of vulnerability: the driver, the engine, and the tires. A can of paint across the windshield can blind the driver. A 50-millimeter cannon can take out an engine. But neither will guarantee that a car won't swerve into oncoming traffic. But if you force a car's front tires off the road, then you drastically reduce its maneuverability. Of course, getting a car's tires off the road is much more difficult than it sounds, and a hell of a lot more dangerous. What I had planned was much worse.

Thinking quickly, I glanced around at the almost empty highway to make sure it was clear, not even taking the time to wonder why it was so empty. Then, flipping a special switch on my bike, I pushed the button and watched out of my rearview as the car behind me started skidding on the oil slick I had created. Finally, reaching into the little pouch on my bike, I popped out a little device before pushing the button in the middle causing it to start blinking before throwing it behind me in the slick.

The car didn't stand a chance for what came next. Suddenly, the entire black slick caught on fire and before the car could fully get off of it a loud BOOM could be heard behind me as the car probably exploded. See you in hell sucker.

Getting vibe that someone else was coming, I glanced behind to see a yellow and black Camaro emerge from the smoke. I didn't get the vibe that it was hostile, so as it got up next to me, I gave it a two finger-salute before pouring on the speed and aligning side-by-side with Jack; I swore I saw it flash its lights at me in my rearview.

Jack glanced at me with a worried look I understood. I nodded my head in response. No matter what happened I would make sure we would get us out of this situation alive.

Still pissy about being shot at, I pushed the visor on my helmet up a bit, I shouted over the wind, "What the hell, Jackson Darby?! Why are those guys shooting at us? Did you do something?"

"There is no 'us' kids," said a gruff female voice. "And they're no guys."

I stared a little in shock at Jack's ride. Did it just…?

Looking behind us, I groaned. The twins were catching up again.

Thankfully, the black and yellow muscle car came to our rescue, smashing into one of the twins and causing the two to collide, and fall back before pulling into and extremely smooth spin around/about-face maneuver.

Okay, seriously, who are these guys? CIA car fanatics? If so, I seriously wanna join. They have got some smooth moves, not to mention some hot wheels.

"Friend of yours?" Jack asked nervously, looking at the car behind us.

"Family." Came the bikes' short reply. From her tone, I could tell whoever said it was smirking slightly.

Sadly, our victory proved to be short lived as we zoomed on. These guys just don't know when to give up, do they? I thought exasperatedly as the identical cars came into view in my rearview. I had to give them points though, they sure were determined. Whoever wanted us dead must've really paid these guys well; I slammed my visor back down to cover my face fully from the high speed wind again.

I watched helplessly as the yellow and black blocked the other two, before they both got wise and slammed him into the guardrail, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Shit! I hope that guy's alright.

Not stopping, we raced on, Jack and I both glancing nervously over our shoulders. Finally I saw it: a road construction sign, dead ahead. Jack started freaking out when he saw it but I remained calm knowing perfectly well what to do in these types of situations.

Jack yelled in fear, clinging for dear life as the motorcycle jumped clear over the side of the guardrail. Wuss.

I made the jump, sailing over the edge into the street canal slope below. Still gunning the throttle, I let my engine and the momentum carry my bike down the slope at a fast speed, revving the engine a little harder as I made the edge drew nearer. Giving one last rev as I sailed over the edge, I then proceeded to cut it altogether as I flew through the air; I landed, pulling to a screeching halt into a smooth U-turn right next to Jack and his new 'friend-slash-ride'.

A young boy with glasses gasped in awe at our sudden, yet flashy, arrival. "Woahh…"

As the small dust cloud we'd kicked up settled, Jack sat up straighter gasping for air. "Ugh, you have no idea," he said slowly. He then proceeded to slowly dismount, probably shaken a bit by the experience, before stepping away cautiously; the boy approached us, probably thinking we were extreme sports racers or something.

Hearing engines in the distance, I groaned in despair. "Those dimwits don't know when to take a hint do they?" I frowned as three pairs of headlights appeared at the crest of the ridge.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the kid and Jack both backing up nervously at the lights as the triplets (I guess you could call them that) drove down the hill towards us. One looked as if it was covered in black smudges of ash, dented and scraped up in several places, and possibly leaking some weird, glowy blue stuff from underneath. I assumed that it was safe to bet that it was the guy that I attempted to blow up. Oh come on! Seriously, what does it take to get rid of these guys? You smash them and they barely even get a scratch. You send them skidding, crashing into each other, it barely leaves a dent. Seriously, what are these guys made of? I thought frantically.

What happened next was totally out of my control. The cars jumped off the edge and then transformed midair into these giant, freaky looking robot-like things, before landing in front of us.

Each one of them landed in a fighting stance, gazing at us menacingly, arms transforming into cannons. And despite the weird way their helms were shaped, I could've sworn the scorched one was glaring at me in particular. Oh boy. No wonder he looks so mad, I thought sarcastically. I technically just tried to kill it-er...him.

They pointed their arm-cannons-thingies at us; I could hear the hum of them charging up power.

Glancing to the side, I watched as Jack's ride also transformed into a kick-ass female-looking robot in response.

Well that's one mystery of the talking motorcycle solved.

Her stern blue eyes—at least I guessed that they were eyes—were focused in a glare at the other three bots, who were definitely male from the looks of them. "This ends here 'Cons," she told them sternly before charging, almost gracefully, towards them at full speed, avoiding blaster fire as she made her charge.

I moved the boys to the side out of harms way but watched in awe as she kicked one of the bot's down, before swiftly advancing on the other two and doing the same to them. Wherever she learned those moves, I could immediately tell she was a skilled fighter.

"W-what are they?" the kid with spiky brunette hair asked in awe, drawing my attention back to the two boys, as we all watched the bots fight.

"Talking cars that turn into robots," Jack said, his voice hoarse and laced with fear. "O-or the other way around."

For some reason, I got the feeling that the latter was more accurate, but he was only half right, but I was too occupied to tell him so.

We all watched, transfixed, as the fem-bot kicked, fought, and punched the dark-colored bots, practically beating them to pulps. Then I noticed something, one of the bots that had been previously knocked down by a powerful blow to the head, was now getting up again, and he was sneaking up behind the lone bot who was obviously trying to save us. And just my luck, it was the same one I had tried to blow up.

Aware I didn't have much time left, I didn't really think as I revved my motorcycles engine before screeching off, heading straight for the bastard who was going to pull a sneaky-underhanded attack on our savior; I ignored Jack's calls to come back. Rearing up slightly on my back wheel, I then proceeded to press another button on my motorcycle. This time a grappling hook and line shot out, heading straight for 'tall, dark and scary'. With a loud screech of metal on metal, the hook penetrated the evil robot of dooms' left arm. The prongs on it elongating, making it impossible to remove without a lot of pain or cutting the line.

That is, if robots feel pain, I thought offhandedly, in a sort of morbid curiosity. Oh well, a question for another time.

Thinking quickly as the bot clawed at the thing imbedded in its circuits, I began circling the guy on my motorcycle, slowly tying him up with each lap.

I just hope this works.

By now the robots' arms were pretty much tethered to its sides. Unfortunately though, he had caught onto my plan. He tried to pull me off balance with a sharp tug on the rope, but I pulled in the opposite direction, doing my best to stay balanced. When that didn't work, the robot tried to kick at me. When one foot came particularly too close for comfort, I decided to take a slight 'detour' from my original plan. Swerving dangerously, I made a figure eight maneuver around his legs before continuing my original laps around the giant evil robots' legs.

Vaguely, I was aware that back-up had arrived, and that the yellow bot, who had saved our bacon on the highway, had arrived.

Soon enough the robot was completely wrapped up in the metal cable. I just prayed to hell it would hold at least a little longer for what came next. Giving one sharp pull with my motorcycle, the bot fell down, completely helpless as he struggled against the bonds.

Finally, it was time. Flipping one last switch on my bike, I watched as the bot before me screeched as several volts of electricity surged through the cable, and the bot, before he went limp.

"And the walls came a tumblin' down," I drawled lowly.

Clicking the button that fired the grappling hook in the first place once again, I released the cable from the bike. By now, my motorcycle was, if not already, completely drained of power. Pushing it over to the side of the fight, I grabbed everything I could off of it, except the tracking beacon, which I turned on, before racing over to Jack and the spiky-haired kid.

The other bots were still fighting; the yellow bot had managed to knock the other two bots down. Stepping back, the yellow bot stiffened in surprise when a loud CRUNCH sounded underneath his foot. He lifted it up to find the smashed remains of a yellow toy car.

Huh, guess even robots can be clumsy too.

:{Oops… I'm sorry}: the bot apologized, except the way he said it was weird. It came out as a bunch of beeps, whirrs, and clicks, like a computer code. Yet the odd thing was, I understood him perfectly.

Apparently, the kid with the glasses did too. "No problem, really−"

But the kids' assurance to the bot was cut short when blaster fire sent the yellow robot flying with a cry. The bot tried to get up but a foot to the head pushed him back down. When they did let him up, both of the psycho bots aimed their cannons straight at him.

I was about to shout something when the kid beat me to it. Seriously I need to learn his name; I can't keep calling him 'kid'.

"Leave him alone!" He suddenly shouted, causing all three bots to look in our direction, before the twins proceeded to aim their weapons at us. "Please?"

"Bad call," Jack told him.

One of the twin started walking toward us, his intent evident judging by the sound of the charging cannon aimed at us.

Looking around frantically, my eyes immediately spotted a drain pipe just big enough for us get through.

"Into the pipe! Now!" I shouted, and we all dashed for cover.

"Come on! Come on!" Jack shouted at us.

"Jack, yelling at us does not increase productivity!" I snapped at him as we ran, the pipe just ahead. One by one, each of us scrambled into to pipe. I was the last to enter. My victory was short-lived, however, when the bot pursuing us grabbed me. I could hear Jack screaming my name but it was kind of hard to hear when all I could focus on this guys' death grip on me.

"I am not. A frinking. Stress-ball. You 'effing asshole," I grunted out as his grip on me got tighter.

Grasping familiar handles at my sides, I grinned evilly though he couldn't see it because of my helmet. "Sorry, Hun'. Hate to disappoint. But I ain't no damsel-in-distress," I told him. By now a positively feral look played across my features. Whipping out identical silver short staffs—about two feet in length—in both hands, I shoved both, now sharp, staffs, straight into the wires of the robots' 'wrist'. The bot screeched in pain, immediately dropping me.

Great! So now, instead of being crushed to death, I get to plummet to my demise, I thought morbidly. Of all the near death situations that I have survived…

But the pain after impact never came, nor did the oblivion that followed. Instead, I found myself clutched gently in a warm metal hand. I looked up to see the baby blue optics of the yellow bot.

:{It's okay, you're safe now; you can trust me.}: he beeped to me, as he gently set me down in front of the pipe. I got off and climbed in, before turning back to look at him.

Flipping up my visor, I told him, "Thank you."

His eyes seemed to widen in shock at the words, but I had already disappeared down the pipe.

"Don't look back," Jack said taking the kid's shoulder and steering him away from the fight.

"What did we just see?" the short-stack brunette asked timidly.

"I have no idea and I'm not sure I want to find out," he replied propelling the kid forward.

I wanted to agree with him, but something told me that this was just the beginning.

Later, as the three of us walked home, I finally found out the bespectacled boys' name was Rafael Esquivel,or Raf for short. Turns out he went to the same school as us. Huh, small world. Anyway, despite the small talk being passed between the two boys, I didn't say much.

I was still slightly pissed about leaving my motorcycle; though I was grateful we survived.

The bruises forming on my side didn't help much either. Each step I took was laced with pain, and I couldn't help but curse every so often under my breath.

After we dropped little Raf off at his house, Jack and I then made our way to his place. Both of us walked in silence, each off in our own respective little worlds. Out of the corner of my eye, I could tell Jack was seriously shaken by these recent events, but there was nothing I could say that would make him feel better.

All too soon, we finally came upon the Darbys' residence.

Jack continued in mute silence to the door before realizing that I wasn't following behind him.

"Aria?" he questioned.

I just shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I rubbed the bridge of my nose tiredly. The adrenaline from earlier was finally beginning to fade.

"Sorry Jack just… not tonight, okay? I…" I trailed off, words caught in my throat. Clearing my throat, I tried again. "I just need time to process this. I'm gonna head back to the shop okay?"

He nodded in slight understanding.

I turned to go then remembered: "Oh, and if she asks, just tell your mom that something came up at work okay?" I requested, doing my best to manage a smile, though it probably came out pretty weak.

Just as I was about to turn to go again, he suddenly blurted out, "Are you sure you have to go?"

"Yeah, I've got stuff to do." Then I headed off into the gloom, riding helmet still tucked under my arm. "See ya Jack."

"See you Aria," he called distantly from behind me.

It was better this way. As much as I wanted to stay at Jacks' for the night, I knew it was best that I leave. He didn't need a reminder of what just happened. Jack just needed time to process all that had happened. Maybe tomorrow I'd meet up with him after school to check his mental stability.

Besides, I had to make a couple calls about some 'robot cars'.

That night I dreamt. Now I know we all typically dream, so naturally it shouldn't have been a problem. Most people just dream about stuff like homework, work in general, issues at home, tomorrows chemistry test…you name it. Sadly, I'm not most people; my dreams are weird with an extra side of crazy; instead I sometimes get these extremely vivid dreams about some kind of otherworldly war. I've been having these dreams so long now that I can't even remember a time before all this, where I didn't have any such dreams. I doubted that they were normal, since even I knew that my imagination isn't that active or creative.

Anyways, sometimes it takes place on a completely different world, where there are these colossal cities are made entirely of metal; other times it almost looks as if it's being fought here on Earth. The ironic thing, though, were the beings who fought this secret war; the combatants were these giant metal robots. Tonight was no exception.

In the dream though, I was in what appeared to be an old, underground, military base. As per my usual dreams, I was always my normal human-size. Sometimes I could even go wherever I wanted, but I usually just stayed where I was because wherever I was placed in the war, I somehow always ended up in the middle of the action. But it seemed that as of tonight, my subconscious was taking control.

As my mind walked through the dreamscape, I noticed that everything seemed to be cutting in and out, like trying to get good cellphone coverage in the middle of the wilderness. Whaddya know? The dream-world has lousy reception.

Three bots stood around discussing something. They all looked exceptionally familiar, especially the blue and yellow bots.

The tallest one, whom I guessed was the leader, stood at the monitors listening as the other two gave their report to him.

The female bot was explaining how the Con's would have been scrapmetal if she hadn't been distracted by the human.

"Human?" the red and blue leader asked, surprised.

The yellow bot then clarified, holding up three digits as bleeped to the leader.

"Two boys and a girl," he pondered aloud, gears turning in his head (pun not intended).

"I guess the third one caught us in action? I don't know!" the blue bot vented. "I was a little busy at the time."

"If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally, will be at grave risk," the boss bot said in serious tone.

I sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily as sweat glistened on my face, knife in hand.

The same feeling I felt when I was near those bots today now spread through my body again, this time giving me an ominous feeling that something huge was going to happen.

Glancing over to the nightstand, the little neon numbers read 2:34 AM. A sigh escaped my lungs. It did not seem like more sleep was going to come to me anytime soon tonight. Pulling out a small notebook and pencil from behind my pillow, I leant back and began to draw, dream still fresh in my mind.

Whatever it was that I saw, I couldn't shake the feeling that they were coming for us.

The next day, I got out of school early. Now, I know what you are thinking, but, no, I didn't skip. I never skip class as most students normally do, especially if I can help it. Let's just say for now I'm more advanced than other students. You see, my teachers and I had this agreement—though it was more of an understanding—between us. If I kept ahead in all my classes, I could get out of school halfway through the day.

All the other students hate me because of it, but I'm okay with that. As long as I have Jack, I'll be okay.

Anyways, the only reason my instructors even agree to this is because of my living situation. Or, at least, what they think is my living situation.

You see, the story I fed the teachers is that my dad was injured in an accident and now is paralyzed. My mom is struggling to pay for us with her job overseas so I do my best to pitch in and pull my own weight so I run an auto shop in town. Of course, that's a load of bullcrap, since the harsh reality is that my 'father' is a drunkard and abusive, and my 'mother' is nothing more than a narcissistic whore. Both of them are currently far, far away, probably not even missing me (the feeling is mutual, believe me). The only reason I run my auto shop is to pay for the rent of the warehouse I do work in (not to mention live in) and make a living on my own. But they don't need to know that, in fact, only a handful of people in existence know this.

At any rate, so yeah I get a sort of early release every day.

As I exited the learning facility, I glanced around at the cars parked nearby. There was no sign of them. I sighed, rubbing my eyes tiredly as my feet carried me over to my motorcycle. Geez…I'm getting paranoid.

By the time I got to the garage, my mind was more or less focused and ready for work.

Hours passed, people came and people went, but I still got the feeling that the day wasn't done just yet.

After another hour of patiently fixing peoples cars, I began working on my side project: restoring an old 1975 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.

Finally, I was working underneath it when I heard the rumble of two engines nearing, one slightly higher pitched than the other.

Not even looking, I said in a firm voice, "Pietro! How many times do I have to tell you? The part I need to fix your car won't be here until Wednesday. Until then you are just going to have to sit tight and hold your panties on. And don't even think for a second that having your goons threaten me is going to work! Now GO AWAY! Or I swear–"

The sound of the engines didn't retreat, instead they just shut off. Ugh, can't this guy take a hint?

"H-hey AC! What's up?" said a familiar voice.

CLANG! "Ow! Goddamned Sonovabitch!" I swore as I hit my head on the undercarriage of the antique car I was working under. Still rubbing the sore spot on my head, I slid out from underneath to glare at the owner of the voice. "Oh I'm fine. Thanks for asking," I groused as the dark haired offender just snickered.

"Come on kid, let's go," said a familiar female voice, sounding impatient.

I finally took notice of the blue motorcycle and black-and-yellow Camaro. "Well hello to you too Sunshine," I grumbled, already feeling a welt already forming on my head as I picked up a grease-stained rag and cleaned my hands on it.

"The bots' need to take us to their base apparently, Ari," Jack explained, "since we saw them in action and stuff and we might be in danger–"

"Okay, let's go." I tossed on my motorcycle jacket before going over to my bike. I had retrieved both it and Jack's bicycle last night after I gave up trying to go back to sleep.

"And we need to– Wait! What?" he asked surprised.

"I just said 'okay, let's go'. So let's go." I mounted my bike, grabbing my helmet from the handle bars.

"Seriously? No arguments, no paranoid questions, sarcastic remarks, no scrutinizing looks or something?" my younger brother figure questioned skeptically.

"Come on. Let's just go. I won't even ask what the resident wild child is doing here." I pulled on my helmet and started up my bike.

—Outside of town—

We soon found ourselves outside of town, driving on the road, heading toward the mesas. The yellow muscle car drove in front with Raf, then it was the blue motorcycle with Jack and Miko, and finally me following behind. Over the roaring wind, I could hear Miko whoop excitedly as we sped toward our destination.

"Do we have to take her with us?" I grumbled, though no one heard me through my helmet. I think I heard Jack ask the female bot the same thing though I couldn't hear them very well over the rush of wind.

Our procession drove on, heading off the road and straight toward a mesa. I'm so glad these tires are meant for off-roading. I didn't even bat an eyelash as our course didn't even deter and came dangerously close to the solid rock. Jack, however practically squealed in fear, probably thinking that they were going to crash. However, when some of the rock slid away to reveal a hidden entrance, buried in the rock, he immediately calmed. I rolled my eyes at my adoptive baby brothers' narrow-minded logic. Great. My baby brother is a wimp.

Curiouser and curiouser, I mentally quoted as we entered the tunnel and the rock slid closed behind us. Finally, we came into what I assumed was the main hanger of the base, and I admit that my heart skipped a little at the sight. It looked like this place had been repurposed to play host to titans.

Two bot's were already there. A tall, orange-red and white male bot stood at the giant computer screens. Another larger, deep forest green one walked into the main room; they both watched as our little procession pulled to a stop in the middle of the room.

"Cool," little Raf gasped quietly in awe as he stepped away from the yellow. The other two seemed to echo his statement, gasping as well; I contained my awe, silently observing my new surroundings. I briefly noted how the red and white watched us with some annoyance. The green giant fully stepped into the area, watching us.

We each stepped from our respective ride gazing around in awe as the other two transformed.

"I thought there were three," the scarlet and white—kind of like a candy cane or those peppermint candies—bot stated questioningly approaching our little group.

"Haven't ya heard? Humans multiply," the blue bot said, sarcasm dripping from her tone, before walking away, in an almost disgusted manner. Now typically I try not to get involved in peoples affairs right off, but the way she said it piqued my interest. It was almost as if she…resented us, but not us in particular, just the human race in general. I wondered what we had done to make her feel that way.

I was so focused on analyzing the female bot that I almost missed what Raf was saying.

"Hi, I'm Raf," he said to Miko, holding out his hand to her.

Miko's attention, however, was riveted on the bots', the big green one to be precise. "Hi! I'm Miko! Who are you?" she asked the bot excitedly as she ran towards him.

The green metal giants face immediately resembled that of when you are caught between a rock and hard place and don't know what to do. "Bulkhead."

Miko's face lit up with excitement and began peppering him with rapid-fire questions, oblivious to his discomfort. It was kind of amusing to watch actually; Miko gasped in barely contained excitement. "Are you a car? I bet that you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weight? Ever use a wreckin' ball for a punching bag?"

Thankfully, Raf came to his rescue. "So if you guys are robots, who made you?" he asked tentatively.

Right then and there I just really wanted to face palm. I know that not everyone has my intelligence, but seriously? Even the village idiot could probably tell that these guys were way too advanced to be made by humans.

Peppermint, as I decided to call the scarlet and white bot, vented exasperatedly, rolling his optics. "Puh-leaze," he griped. It kind of ticked me off of how he showed the boy no amount of empathy for his ignorance.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and we could hear large metal footsteps approaching from behind. We all turned around, and I could feel my face paling in shock. It was the third robot from my dream! The red and blue bot was a lot taller than the other bots, and by 'a lot' I meant that the female bot barely reached a third of his height!

In the back of my shock riddled mind, I vaguely registered Miko rejoining our group.

"We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron, also known as Autobots," he answered in a deep, rumbling, baritone voice. Okay, so they're basically aliens. Go figure.

Jack, ever the brave trooper, walked up and asked the same thing I was also wondering, "Why are you here?"

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," the big bot explained.

"The jokers who tried to bump us off last night," the blue bot added helpfully in her dry tone.

Jack turns back to the boss bot. "O-kay, why are they here?"

The boss bot knelt down to our level, or as far as he could considering how large he was. "A fair question Jack. In part, they are here because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war."

The last two words immediately caught my attention as well as everyone else's, too.

"W-why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"Foremost, over control of our world's supply of Energon. The fuel and life-blood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." Huh so that was probably what made their eyes so blue.

The large bots optics seemed to go distant as he continued explaining to us. "The combat was fierce, and endured for centuries. In the beginning, I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted, and it was thus that Megatron lost his way." I could see centuries of hardship were taking a heavy toll on him. I almost felt sorry for him and the others then; I knew what losing a home felt like too.

Miko, on the other hand, yawned and played with her ponytail. "Is there gonna be a quiz?" she asked rather rudely.

That did it. I came up behind her and smacked her on the back of her head, hard.

"You ungrateful, spoiled little cow," I hissed. "They've lost their home, probably even their families and loved ones, everything. And you're making fun of that?" My voice was now dangerously low. "Do you know how that even feels? How would you feel if everything was ripped away from you, you snot-nosed brat?" I stopped. I was treading dangerously too close to home now. Eventually , I just sighed and shook my head irritably knowing that her type would never get it; I walked back to my original spot. I could feel everyone staring at me, but I just ignored them. I wasn't doing it for them.

Thankfully, Jack understood me well enough not to question the outburst, instead opting to focus on the topic at hand. "S-so what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?" he asked, but I had a feeling I knew the answer to that already, and it wasn't good.

"Megatron has not been seen nor heard from in some time, but if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic," the boss bot replied grimly. Yep, knew it.

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," I mumbled as I suddenly got a bad feeling in the back of my mind. Knowing my luck, the big guy had just jinxed it for us all.