Transformers Prime: Reinforcements
Chapter 2: Darkness Rising Part 2
At one of the Decepticon Energon Mines,
The Decepticon warship lowered itself over a large chasm within a mountain. Starscream was getting Megatron up to speed on everything that has happened since his departure. "Of all the Energon deposits we have located while you were away, Lord Megatron, this one, by far, is the most significant." Starscream boasted to Megatron. "The drones have been mining without pause during your absence and have massed quite a stock pile. You there! Fetch me a sample!" Starscream ordered one of the drones.
"Starscream! Now that I have returned, I will issue the commands." Megatron proclaimed, causing Starscream to flinch at the tone in which Megatron addressed him.
"I… understand, Lord Megatron." Starscream said with reluctance and a slight distaste in him mouth. "Then as your humble servant, shall I ready the spacebridge to bring forth the Decepticon army you have surely gathered during your three years in space?" He offered.
"My army will come." Megatron affirmed. "But my time away has yielded a more intriguing means of materializing them." He revealed a sharp of glowing purple crystal, which appeared to be giving off a purple radiation that was visible. "The solidified form of the matter the ancient texts refer to, as the Blood of Unicron."
"Unicron the Destroyer?" Starscream gasped in awe. "But it is said that his blood is the anti-spark."
"Plucked from Cosmic Shores. Gaze upon, Dark Energon." Megatron said lowly.
"Legend tells it holds the power to…revive the dead." Starscream said quietly, staring at the glowing purple shard in Megatron's hand.
"We require only a cadaver to be certain." Megatron stated before looking at his first lieutenant. "Are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?"
Starscream fidgeted in his place and laughed nervously. "That may not be necessary. If I may, Lord Megatron…" He said, motioning to the two drones carting the dead body of Cliffjumper off the lift. "Consider it a 'Welcome Home' present." He said evilly as the cart was wheeled up to Megatron.
Megatron grinned evilly as he definitely approved of this sort of present.
At the Autobot Base,
Optimus was finishing briefing the four human children. "And since you now know of our existence, I fear that is of last night, the Decepticons know of yours." Optimus said.
"Got it." Jack said. "If we see any strange vehicles, call 911."
Mark gave Jack a disbelieving look. "What would calling the police possibly be able to for us?" He asked Jack.
"What?" Jack said in confusion not getting what Mark was hinting at.
"Jack, how the hell would the police be able to help us if we get attacked by Decepticons?" Mark asked before elaborating. "If the Autobots are any indication, then Cybertronians are huge! We humans are tiny by comparison. The cops would get squished."
"He is correct, Jack." Optimus advised. "It is more recommended that you call us in case of a Decepticon attack."
"Okay, I get it." Jack said. "Can we go now?" He really wanted to leave as soon as possible.
"Are you insane?" Miko hissed. "I am living a dream here in Botswana! And I will not allow you or anyone else to shatter it!" Mark gave Miko a disbelieving look at her attitude.
"It is best that you four remain under our watch." Optimus said. "At least until we can determine our enemy's intentions."
"Optimus, with all due respect, the human children are in as much danger here as anywhere." Ratchet warned Optimus.
"Children?" Jack bristled. He was sixteen years old and it was bad enough that his mom didn't seem to get that.
"Easy, Jack." Mark whispered, even though he also hated being called a child.
"They have no protective shell." Ratchet explained. "If they get underfoot they will go…squish." He lightly put his foot down for emphasis.
"Then for the time being, Ratchet, we must watch where we step." Optimus reasoned. Just as Optimus finished speaking, an alarm sounded and a green light pulsed through the base.
"What's that?" Jack asked, starting to freak out.
Bumblebee made a whining whirring noise. "Proximity sensor." Raf translated for the others. "Someone's up top."
"It's Agent Fowler." Ratchet announced.
"I thought we were the only humans that knew about you guys." Jack said. Mark shook his head in disbelief at what Jack had just said.
"Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison to the outside world." Optimus explained.
"He tends to visit only when there are issues, so it may be best if you don't meet him at this time." Elita suggested.
The humans got the hint and hid behind a wall holding up the viewing platform. The elevator whirred and beeped as it got closer to the main viewing platform. The door slid open with a soft hiss and a middle-aged black man exited. He looked to be out of shape by the gut he was showing. Without pause, he listed off the issues Elita had spoken of as he walked towards Optimus. "7 wrecks, 34 fender-benders, a three hour traffic jam, and a particular note, numerous reports of a speeding motorcycle of unknown make and a black and yellow custom muscle car. So, anything you want to get off your tin chest, Prime?" Fowler asked even though he already knew what the answer was.
"We have the situation under control, Agent Fowler." Optimus replied cordially.
"They're back, aren't they?" Fowler asked seriously.
"If you are referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts that they ever left." Optimus stated.
"Your planet is much too valuable." Elita stated as she was the second-in-command of the Autobots.
"Then it's time to wake up the pentagon." Fowler stated.
"Hear me Agent Fowler. We are your best, possibly your only defense against the Decepticon threat." Optimus implored.
"Says you." Fowler argued.
"Hey fleshy!" Bulkhead snapped, getting Fowlers attention. "Did anyone get splattered on that freeway?" He asked. "Team Prime knows when to use force, and how much to use." In the process of his small speech, he had picked up a mechanical claw and crushed it for emphasis.
"Bulkhead! I needed that!" Ratchet exclaimed.
"Enough." Optimus said to the arguing Autobots, calming them immediately. "Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread human casualties Agent Fowler. I, however, cannot."
"Then do us both a favor and handle this Prime. Under the radar. Or I will." Fowler threatened. He went back to the elevator and left.
"Pretty big bearings, for a human…" Bulkhead stated.
"Agent Fowler is concerned for his world, Bulkhead, as he should be." Optimus said.
At the Decepticon Mine,
Megatron stood over the body of Cliffjumper with the Dark Energon in hand, preparing to use it. "Let us see if power born of darkness…can reignite the spark." Megatron growled. He stabbed the shard into Cliff's spark chamber.
The shard began to glow brightly and Cliff's dead body began to twitch. The shard then melted and integrated into Cliffjumper's systems. Starscream backed way out of fear of what might happen. All of the Autobot's circuits changed to a bright glowing open. When he opened his mouth to speak, he didn't sound like the Cliffjumper he once was. Instead, he sounded like a monster. His optics came back online in a shade of deep purple instead of their usual sky blue. The zombified Cliffjumper growled and screamed as it thrashed against its bonds on the stretcher. He broke a wrist bond and targeted a drone that had its blaster locked on him.
Cliffjumper broke the other bonds and jumped on top of the drone. The drone struggled against Cliffjumper all he could, but it was no use against the Dark Energon infused zombie. The drone tried to shoot Cliff, but he ripped the blaster away from him and began to crush his head. Another drone panicked and fired rapidly on Cliff. The few shots that did connect with him were useless. The zombie blocked a few shots then jumped on the other drone and began to beat that one to a pulp. Megatron could only watch on, pleased with the results of the resurrection by Dark Energon.
"Master! That's your plan?!" Starscream squeaked in horror. "Bring Autobots back from the dead to attack us?!"
"That is no longer an Autobot." Megatron corrected his second-in-command. "Just a mindless beast. It's only instinct to destroy anything in its path."
Cliffjumper emerged from the shadows after terminating the other drone. It roared and ran to attack Megatron.
Megatron deployed his sword and cut Cliff in half deftly. "There, Starscream, lies the indestructible seed of my army." Megatron explained. The top half of Cliffjumper had caught hold of the edge of the platform and was trying to pull itself up. "The ultimate weapon!" Megatron went on. He placed his foot on the surviving half of Cliffjumper and pushed him off the viewing platform. Cliff bounced off one of the supporting rings of the lift and landed on a lower platform. "Once I learn to control it." He muttered to himself.
Back at the Autobot Base,
A signal reached the computer and started beeping. Ratchet went over to the control panel and pulled up the data. "Blasted earth tech!" He exclaimed in annoyance. "Cliffjumper's signal popped back online." This news got everyone's attention and the Autobots were especial surprised by the news.
"Who's Cliffjumper?" Miko asked but the Autobots ignored her question.
"How is that possible?" Optimus asked.
"It isn't." Ratchet said. "It has to be another bug! The system's chock full of them."
"If there's any chance Cliff's alive?" Arcee implored, all too eager to rescue her partner.
"Ratchet, prepare sickbay. We may need it." Optimus ordered.
"Hey!" Miko yelled getting the Autobots' attention. "What can we do?" There was a small silence.
"You four will remain with Ratchet." Elita said in a tone that made it clear that this wasn't up for discussion.
"Aww." Miko whined at being left out of the action.
"Uhh." Ratchet moaned in annoyance at being stuck with the humans.
"Autobots, rollout!" Optimus commanded and transformed into his truck cab vehicle form. The GroundBridge portal opened and he drove through it closely followed by Elita, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead.
"What just happened?" Jack exclaimed, really starting to freak out.
"I transported them to the designated coordinates via the GroundBridge." Ratchet explained.
"What's a GroundBridge?" Raf asked.
Ratchet groaned at the humans' ignorance. "A scaled down version of spacebridge technology… Since we don't currently possess the means or the energon required for intergalactic travel-"
"You're stuck here. On earth." Jack finished.
"With the likes of you, yes." Ratchet said. "But I constructed the GroundBridge to enable travel from here to anywhere on your planet."
"Woah." Raf said, gaping at the portal.
"Does it work for humans?" Mark asked curiously.
"Naturally." Ratchet said.
"You mean I could just shoot on over and visit my parents in Tokyo?" Miko asked.
"Within moments. In fact allow me to send you there immediately, all four of you." Ratchet offered almost eagerly.
"Watch it Ratchet." Miko countered. An awkward silence followed after that.
Mark ended up being the one to break it. "Hey, Ratchet, can you explain spacebridge technology to me a little more? I'm interested in how it works." He requested, as he was genuinely curious about how it worked.
Ratchet seemed a little taken back at the young man's interest in the inner workings of spacebridge technology, but started to explain after a nearly inaudible "Sure."
Decepticon Mine,
The Autobot spacebridge opened in a secluded area of a tunnel in the Decepticon Mine. Optimus and the other four Autobots rolled out and transformed weapons hot. "Energon mine." Bulkhead identified.
"Judging by its scale, the Decepticons have been tunneling here for quite some time." Elita observed. The five came up on an area in the tunnel when mining drones were hard at work mining energon cubes and storing them.
"Let's find Cliffjumper." Optimus ordered. He walked down the center of the tunnel, weapons drawn, with the other four close behind him. The drones saw the Autobots approaching and began to fire.
Soon a massive firefight began and a mining 'Con came at the Autobots with a drill. Bulkhead knocked it aside with his wrecking ball. The Autobots advanced down the tunnel and Arcee dodged blaster fire by flipping over it. She landed then launched herself up in the air, firing twice at a drone, taking it out as she landed on it. She jumped off its body and jumped on the shoulders of a different drone. She spun on its shoulders, effectively taking its head off.
Bumblebee jumped into the air, dodging blaster fire and shooting a drone down. He landed on the drone and leapt out of the way just as a drill was about to hit him. The drill was tipped on its back by Optimus, who disabled the drill and took out the drone. He quickly ran out of the way of blaster fire. Elita quickly opened fire on the drones that were firing on Optimus, taking them out with master marksmanship. A drone was running up behind Optimus only to have him legs swept out from under him by Bulkhead in his vehicle mode. Bulkhead transformed quickly and smashed the drone into the ground with his wrecking ball.
Back at the Autobot Base,
Ratchet was telling Mark about spacebridge tech. He was slightly unnerved by the speed he was taking notes at. Raf was also listening intently to Ratchet's lesson. Jack was half listening, just looking up at the ceiling from his place sitting at the wall of the viewing platform. Miko wasn't paying attention and was wandering around the main room. "What is this anyway?" She asked, pointing towards a hub with many dials and buttons.
"Broken. Don't touch." Ratchet said shortly. Miko started to lower her hand to a disk drive when Ratchet said, "Don't touch that either."
"Is there anything we can touch?" Jack asked with a slight attitude.
Ratchet rolled his eyes at him and turned to a huge monitor when it sounded an error alert. Ratchet turned to the monitor and glared. "Why are you guys using human computers?" Raf asked.
"It certainly isn't by choice." Ratchet snapped. "It was handed down from the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit." Just after he said that all three huge monitors sounded the error alert many times and the screens filled up with error messages. Ratchet groaned in annoyance as this happened quite often.
"I think I can fix that." Raf said quietly as he took off his backpack and opened it up to pull out his laptop.
"Really?" Ratchet said disbelievingly. "You know this is complex technology don't you? I mean, it isn't a child's toy."
Raf didn't answer, he just connected his laptop to the computer and input some data into the base's systems. "Now try." He instructed.
Ratchet turned back to the monitor and pressed a button. All the error messages disappeared and the programs Ratchet had up reappeared. He stared at the corrected problems in awe for a second, and then turned back to Raf, with a small smile on his face.
In the Decepticon mine,
A drill was going right for Bulkhead. He crushed the drill bit with his wrecking ball, causing the drone driving the drill to fly out of the vehicle and be shot by Elita. The Autobots stowed their weapons and regrouped. Ahead of them, there was a small squadron of mining drones and drills. The Autobots advanced and transformed toward the squadron.
"Maximum overdrive!" Optimus commanded. They all transformed and bowled right through them, Optimus doing so with a wicked tailspin. He made a drill launch into the air and its driver was ejected to be run over by Bumblebee and Bulkhead.
Arcee, having such a small and agile alt-form as she did, was able to dodge all the drones and drills. Elita, while not as small as Arcee, was also dodging the drills while running over the drones. Optimus rammed through the last few drones in the way of the end of the tunnel to the main chamber. The Autobots transformed and hid behind a pile of stored energon cubes. There were numerous platforms and the lift was still deployed. Mining drones were everywhere, carting energon to the lift.
Bulkhead let out a low whistle. "Quite an operation." He said. Unfortunately, someone heard his whistle and started firing on them. Another firefight started up as the Autobots returned fire.
"Optimus, I know this isn't a good time to mention this, but we should have Ratchet open a GroundBridge and try to get some of this Energon back to our base." Elita suggest as she fired with pinpoint accuracy. Energon was the fuel, ammunition and lifeblood of Cybertronians and the Autobots' supply back at base would soon start to run out if they didn't starting to run low.
"Agreed." Optimus said before opening a comlink to the Autobot Base. "Ratchet, reopen the GroundBridge using our arrival coordinates and send my carrier through. Bulkhead and Bumblebee, go back and get the carrier. Begin filling it with as many cubes as you can get." Optimus ordered. The two Autobots nodded in understand and went back into the tunnel.
On the Decepticon warship,
Megatron was studying the Dark Energon. "Blood of Unicron," he said to himself, "how might I fathom the depths of your mystery, become worthy of wielding your astonishing power?"
The video com beeped and an image of Starscream. "Lord Megatron, intruders have been detected in the mines." Starscream reported.
"Optimus?" Megatron guessed.
"Indeed." Starscream confirmed.
"I need more time to prepare an appropriate reception for my old friend. Ready the ship for departure." Megatron ordered.
"But the energon I've mined! The Autobots will seize it!" Starscream reminded Megatron.
"Then blow the mines." Megatron said as though it was the most obvious thing, which it was considering that the Decepticons couldn't allow the Autobots to get any sort of an advantage over them. Best an asset is destroyed, than fall into the hands of the enemy.
In the Main Chamber of the Decepticon Mine,
The three of the AutoBots were still engaged in their firefight. Arcee ducked a shot and glanced around. Seeing a red figure on a higher platform, she zoomed in on it. It was Cliffjumper! "It's Cliff!" She reported. "I have a visual!"
"We'll cover you. Go!" Optimus ordered as he and Elita opened fire at the Decepticon forces. Having found a storage area right next to the entrance of the tunnel that the Autobots had bridged into, Bumblebee and Bulkhead were filling up Optimus's carrier with storage cubes that were full of processed Energon Cubes. They had already moved many of the crates of unprocessed Energon, that the miners had dug out in the tunnel the Autobots bridged into, to the Autobot base.
Arcee vaulted herself over the boxes she had been using for cover and transformed, racing up a ramp and launching herself high into the ring supports of the lift. She grabbed a beam and landed the ring attached to it. She ran around the ring and launched herself off a different beam, grabbing a thinner ring and swinging herself on top of it. She jumped off that ring onto the lower lip of the platform Cliffjumper was on. She pulled herself over the edge of the platform to him.
Acree gasped at Cliff's half-bodied form leaking energon. She shielded herself from incoming blasts from two drones on a higher platform. The section of platform Cliffjumper was on started to fall. "Cliff!" She yelled. She jumped to his falling body and caught his hand. She pulled him partly up, struggling from the bad leverage, his weight, and the fact that the Cons were still shooting at her.
Optimus and Elita fired on them and took them out. Arcee shielded her face from some falling rocks. She then looked down at Cliffjumper. "Let's get you home partner." She said but to her shock, when Cliff looked up at her, he started growling at her. Arcee recoiled and he struggled against her, ending up tearing her grip from his hand. She continued reaching for him as he fell down the shaft.
"No!" Optimus shouted as he saw Cliffjumper's body falling, bouncing off a platform, and landing in a pile of raw energon. He looked up at Arcee, whose head was down with her frame sagging.
Their attention was drawn by an evil laugh. Starscream was standing on a much higher platform with an explosive charge in his hand. "Prime!" He spat. "I'd stick around but I'm squeamish." He dropped the charge into the energon at the bottom of the mine. He then jumped off the platform, flipped around, transformed, and flew out of the mine.
"The joint's gonna blow!" Bulkhead yelled as he closed up the carrier that was filled to capacity.
"Autobots, rollout!" Optimus commanded as he transformed and hooked up to his carrier.
Arcee jumped down behind him and transformed with the rest to return to the place they started. As they drove down the tunnel, the bomb counted down until no more time was left. It exploded, igniting the energon around it and sending a fireball many hundreds of feet in the air over the main shaft.
The explosion was gaining with the Autobots extremely fast. "Ratchet, bridge us back. Use the arrival coordinates now!" Optimus ordered. The GroundBridge opened in front of them.
The humans all watched as the Autobots drove out of the GroundBridge with the explosion following them in the portal. Ratchet turned the ground bridge off when Optimus got through.
As soon as Bulkhead was through the portal, he had quickly transformed out of Vehicle mode. He was now in front of Optimus, who was going too fast to stop on his own but couldn't transform as he was attached to his carrier, which held the precious Energon that the Autobots so desperately needed. The impact with a speeding truck form Optimus caused Bulkhead to skid back a few feet but he was able to help Optimus stop without causing too much damage to the base or himself. Luckily, Ratchet had moved the crates of unprocessed Energon out of the general area of the GroundBridge generator, otherwise, this entrance could've been really messy.
"Woah." was the unanimous reaction among Jack, Mark, Raf, and Miko.
"Cutting it a bit close." Ratchet commented. "How about Cliffjumper?" The AutoBots looked down sadly.
Miko ran up to the rail. "What was that explosion? Was there a fight? Can I come with next time?" She rambled off.
"Miko!" Mark said angrily as he glared sharply at her. The Autobots had obviously just failed at saving someone they cared about and Miko was bombarding them with insensitive, poorly timed questions.
"Look," Arcee started aggressively, already upset about what just happened.
Luckily, Jack came to Miko's rescue, not that she realized it. "Hey, Miko, let's go see what the 'Bots hide in their sock drawers." He suggested, leading her away from the approaching hailstorm from Arcee.
"Seriously?" was Miko's response.
With Miko being led away, Optimus, now unhooked from his carrier, transformed and walked over to Arcee. "Arcee, what did you see?" Optimus asked, needing to know what happened.
"Not Cliff." Arcee said as she wrapped her arms around her body as she tried to comfort herself from what she had seen. "At least, not anymore. He was mutated, butchered, like something from those 'Con experiments during the war. Ugh…" She wobbled and suck down to the ground, leaning on a box. Bee whirred worriedly. "I'm fine." Arcee forced out. "Just…dizzy…"
"Robots who get dizzy?" Miko asked in confusion.
"Robots with emotions." Raf said.
"Robots who can die." Jack observed.
Mark shook his head at the others comments. Just because the Autobots resembled robots does not mean that they are the same as robots.
Ratchet had Arcee take a seat and began running some scans on her. His scans came up positive with something, a deep purple liquid that was smoking slightly on the back of Arcee's left hand. "Hmm… what is this?" He asked as he held up Arcee's hand to get a closer look.
"Don't know." Arcee said holding her head. "Cliff was covered in it. Leaking it."
Ratchet scraped a bit off with a scalpel. "Go take a decontamination bath. Now." He ordered. Bumblebee helped Arcee up and she went off to take the bath.
"Optimus, I hate to bug but, no bars." Jack said as he held up his cellphone.
"A security precaution." Optimus explained. "The silo walls isolate all radio waves."
"Well, if I don't call my mom, like now, I'm pretty sure the cops will be out looking for me." Jack stated.
"Have you broken a law?" Optimus asked in confusion.
"Curfew. It's after 10 PM." Mark answered, knowing Jack's curfew because of the few times Jack had been over at his house and needed a lift home to get there before curfew. "Basically, all of us need to get home. Otherwise we're going to be in big trouble."
"I better get home too, or I'll be grounded for a year." Raf said.
"Earth customs… I hadn't considered." Optimus said apologetically. "But the issue of your safety remains." He then quickly came up with a plan and turned to the Autobots. "Bulkhead, accompany Miko home." He said to the large green Autobot.
"Awesome! My host parents will freak!" Miko said excitedly.
"And maintain covert surveillance in vehicle form." Optimus added.
"Curbside duty. Got it." Bulkhead confirmed with a nod.
"Aww." Miko whined.
"Bumblebee, you'll watch over Raf." Optimus ordered. Bumblebee looked to Raf and Raf smiled back at 'Bee.
"Ratchet-" Optimus started
"Busy." Ratchet interrupted evasively as he was running some tests on the gunk he had taken from Arcee.
Arcee walked in just then. "Arcee, you'll accompany Mark home." Optimus ordered.
"Uhh, still dizzy." Arcee said, as she swayed exaggeratedly, trying to get out of guardian duty.
"You're fine says your physician." Ratchet said, studying the strange substance. Arcee huffed and walked over to Mark grudgingly.
"Optimus." Mark said getting the Autobot leader's attention. "With your permission, I'd like to tell my mother about what's happened here."
"Why?" Optimus asked curiously, as the others looked at Mark with confusion.
"Several reason." Mark admitted. "First is that she knows when I'm lying, don't ask me how, she just does no matter how hard I try. Plus, I told her yesterday that my bike was totaled. If I show up one a new one that she's never seen me working before, she's bound to be suspicious. By telling her the truth, it would avoid her constantly questioning me about it." He explained, getting a nod of understanding from Optimus. "The second main reason has to do with who I think you're about to assign to be Jack's guardian." Mark gestured to Elita One, impressing Optimus and Elita that he could actually figure out what the Prime was thinking. "Her vehicle form is a McLaren MP4-12C Spider, which happens to be an expensive sports car. If Jack shows up at home with one, his mom is going to be suspicious because there is no way Jack could afford to buy one, even if it was used. Ms. Darby knows that I like to work on old vehicles, repairing and/or rebuilding them. Jack can just tell his mom that the car is really mine, but I gave it to him because I'm more of a motorcycle rider than a sports car driver." Mark reasoned and it sounded like a good idea.
"How does telling your mother have anything to do with this?" Elita asked curiously.
"Mark's mom works with mine at the Hospital as nurses and they talk… a lot." Jack answered catching on to what Mark was thinking. "No doubt my mom will ask Mark's about why Mark is allowing me to drive his car around."
"And if she doesn't know the truth, you'll be caught in a lie which could result in you getting into trouble." Optimus guessed and received a nod from the two boys. Optimus thought it over.
"Plus, as my mom is a nurse, she'd be able to help if any of us get hurt." Mark said.
"Having a human medic on standby just in case something happens is a good idea, considering the Decepticon activity." Elita stated as she agreed with Mark's reasoning, seeing as how Ratchet's specialty was more in Cybertronian medicine, not human.
"Very well, Arcee will accompany Mark home and will help him explain the situation to his mother while Elita will go with Jack and act as his guardian." Optimus said calmly.
Shortly, at Mark's House,
Arcee pulled up to Mark's house and into the garage. The garage had space for two cars and had a few spare parts in the corner. "Arcee, I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry for your loss." Mark said sympathetically as he climbed off.
"What could you possibly know about loss?" Arcee asked moodily.
"What, you think you're the only one with problems?" Mark countered, not really liking Arcee's attitude, since he was trying to be nice.
Arcee transformed. "I'm not sure girl trouble counts." She stated bitterly thinking of what she had seen teenagers doing around town.
"I wasn't talking about girl troubles." Mark said bluntly, as he folded his arms across his chest and glared at the blue femme. "I was talking about losing someone you care about."
Before Arcee could ask what he meant by that, a light blue car started to pull up to the house. Arcee quickly deployed her blasters. "Cons." She hissed quickly, assuming the worst.
"No, it's not Cons, it's my mother." Mark corrected calmly. "Change to vehicle mode for now." Arcee quickly did as requested.
The car pulled into the garage and parked, with the female driver climbing out. Mark's mom, Sarah Shadow, was a woman in her mid to late forties with long brown hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. She was wearing green scrubs that were typical for a nurse under a black overcoat.
Sarah was confused when she saw the motorcycle in their garage but ignored it for a moment. "Hello, son, I trust you had a good day?" She asked.
Mark shrugged. "More or less, though it was definitely interesting." He admitted with a smile. "How about you? Anything interesting happen at the hospital?"
Sarah smiled at her son. "Pretty much same old." She replied as today was fortunately one of the more quiet days at the hospital. "Now, Mark, where did you get that motorcycle?" She asked as the pleasantries had been shared.
"You may want to close the garage door for this." Mark recommended. Sarah was confused but trusted her son to do as he asked.
As soon as the garage door was closed, Arcee transformed right in front of Mark's mom, was shocked to say the least. Mark quickly grabbed a wheeled chair that was nearby and placed it behind his mother, who immediately sat down. "Mom, this is Arcee." Mark introduced.
Arcee then proceeded to explain to Sarah about the Autobots and their war against the evil Decepticons. She told Sarah how she and Mark met, about Jack, Miko and Raf knowing of the Autobots, and why Arcee was telling Sarah all of this.
"So let me get this straight, you Autobots are stuck here on Earth, trying to keep the Decepticons from conquering the planet, and possibly destroying it like they did your home world." Sarah summarized, as she was making sure she understood. "And when they managed to track you and your team's second-in-command down to Jasper, Nevada, Mark, Jack and Raf got caught in the middle of it. Now, in order to keep them and the transfer student, Miko, safe, you're going to be acting as guardians by pretending to be vehicles. And you want me to help with the cover story of Elita One being a car my son rebuilt and is allowing Jack to use, to avoid any sort of unwanted questions being asked by June." She said getting a nod from Arcee before she continued. "To top it off, you also want me on standby as a medical assistant in case anything does happen."
"We would like to think that nothing will happen but we've learned from past experience to always prepare for the worst case scenario." Arcee stated.
Sarah sighed. "I don't suppose I could convince you to bring June in on the secret?" She asked, not wanting to lie to her friend.
Mark gave his mother a disbelieving look. "Mom, you know Ms. Darby better than anyone and you have to ask that?" He asked. Ms. Darby was definitely overprotective of Jack and, at times, treated the sixteen year old like a child still in elementary school.
"Point taken." Sarah conceded, as June Darby was definitely one of those overprotective parents. "I'll run interfered as best I can with June but I know for a fact that sooner or later, she is going to learn the truth."
At Jack's House,
Jack and Elita drove into his house's driveway, with Jack activating the garage remote he had on him. The garage door opened and revealed that Jack had beat his mom home so it would give him time to calm down as he waited for her. "Hey, Elita, who was Cliffjumper that you guys were talking about earlier?" Jack asked as he had been wondering that for a while.
Elita was silent for a while before answering. "Cliffjumper was an old friend of Optimus and mine before the war. He was a bit of a chatterbox but he had a way of warming up to anyone he meets." Elita said sadly. "He and Arcee joined up with Optimus on this planet 4 years ago using a Decepticon Spacebridge as it was overloading. Before Cliff had come along, Arcee was a loner refusing to partner up with anyone after the loss of her previous partner, Tailgate. But Cliff was able to chip away at the barrier Arcee had tried to build up around her spark and got her to open up a little. Since then, Cliffjumper has been Arcee's partner." Elita informed Jack. "And with Cliff being gone, I'm a little worried about Arcee."
Jack grinned. "I wouldn't be too worried." He assured Elita. "If there's anyone who can relate to Arcee, it's Mark." Even though Mark seemed to prefer being a loner, it was mostly because everyone assumed he was a badass biker dude that would beat the tar out of someone just for looking at him funny. That's not the case. While Mark is a badass biker, he is also one of the kindest people Jack knows. The reason he was a loner was because Mark had a hard time finding common ground with others his own age because of something that happened when he was younger. Jack didn't know all the details but it has something to do with Mark's deceased father, Alan Shadow.
Jack was brought out of his thoughts as a white car pulled into the driveway. The car stopped in front of the house and a woman with green scrubs, a beige overcoat, and long black hair tied back into a low ponytail climbed out. "Jack?" She asked.
"Mom! Heh, don't freak, I can explain." Jack said quickly.
"Can you?" Jack's mom, June Darby, said as she walked over to Elita's vehicle mode. "Jackson Darby, we've talked about this."
Inside, Jack breathed a sigh of relief as Elita was still in her vehicle mode. "Yeah, I know, and-" Jack started to explain.
"You don't know." June interrupted. "I worry about you enough when you're not here. Now I have to worry about you driving a sports car?"
"I'm 16. I can't be riding a 10-speed forever." Jack argued.
"How did you even afford this?" June asked, looking suspicious.
Jack mentally thanked Mark for the excuse. "It's actually Mark's." He admitted, getting a surprised look from June. "Mark has been working on it for a while but, you know Mark, he's more of a biker than a car driver. So instead of just letting it sit around, he decided to let me have it, as long as I pay for gas and promise not to total it." He walked over to the desk where a motorcycle helmet he had bought a long time ago sat. "The point is, I may have been a kid when I bought this." Jack put his hand on a motorcycle helmet on a desk. "But I'm not anymore. You're always telling me to make responsible choices, well, I chose her. And I'll be responsible. I promise."
"Her?" His mother batted her eyelashes. "I didn't think you'd be bringing girls home just yet." She teased him.
"I like to think she brought me." Jack countered with a grin.
"Well, I guess it's better than having to worry about you driving around on a motorcycle. But I expect you to wear your seatbelt every single time you go for a drive and no street racing, understand?" June asked, as she got closer to Jack's face to make sure he understood how serious she was being. Jack nodded in agreement. "You will take me for a spin everyone in a while?"
"We'll see, she's kind of temperamental." Jack joked as he flipped the light switch and pushed the button to close the garage door. The door came down in the light of the moon and Elita One slipped gently into recharge.
The next morning, at Jack's House, around 7:45 AM,
Elita grew tired of waiting for Jack to come to the garage and revved her engine loudly. "Shhh! Are you crazy? You'll wake up my mom." Jack said irritably as he was not used to being up this early on the weekend.
"Get dressed kid. It's go time." Elita said.
"Uhh, it's Saturday." Jack complained, as he wanted to sleep in.
"You can watch cartoons back at base with Bumblebee." Elita informed him.
"Cartoons… I'm sixteen." Jack grumbled a bit and walked back into the house to get dressed.
"And leave a note for your mom! She worries!" Elita called after him.
At the Decepticon warship,
Megatron was still standing before the Dark Energon, studying it, when Starscream entered the room. "I don't think you need worry about further Autobot interference, Master. Not with Optimus gone." Starscream reported arrogantly.
"And what evidence do you possess of this fact?" Megatron challenged.
"I destroyed the mine. As you instructed." Starscream reminded Megatron, who turned and didn't look convinced.
"Optimus is not so easily destroyed." The Decepticon leader stated. "We have millennia worth of battles behind us to prove it." He turned back to studying the Dark Energon.
"Maybe you should take a break, My Lord." Starscream advised. "I worry that too much contact with the Dark Energon might allow its properties to… adversely affect you."
"Or perhaps, Starscream, I have not permitted myself contact enough!" Megatron said before he ripped a shard from the large cluster of Dark Energon and held it up.
"Wait! Lord Megatron, no! Not your spark chamber! You do not know what it will do!" Starscream protested as he realized what his master was planning to do with the shard.
Megatron took no heed of Starscream's warning and stabbed himself directly in the spark chamber. He hunched over in pain, then straitened as a type of seizure overtook him. He screamed as his energon was transformed into Dark Energon and his eyes turned purple.
Back at the Autobot Base,
Ratchet was analyzing the components of the purple substance he had scraped off of Arcee when it began having an ill effect on the femme. It confounded him. Not in all his years as a medic had he seen anything like this. He couldn't even recognize what it was.
"Hmm…the base elements of this…goo are like nothing I've ever encountered." He said to himself as he went over the data his computers had managed to provide. "It must be extremely concentrated to have affected Arcee so rapidly. Unfortunately, complete results are slow-coming without the use of proper diagnostic tools. Thank you very much, Bulkhead." Ratchet rambled as he removed the slide from the hard-drive.
As he did, he unknowingly spilt some of the substance onto the diagnostic tool that Bulkhead broke when Agent Fowler was there. It seeped its way into the very wiring of the machinery and glowed a bright purple for a brief moment before moaning and groaning and standing on its newly acquired legs. But Ratchet didn't notice. With its only instinct to destroy everything in its path, the revived machinery approached the nearest object to destroy…
To Be Continued…