Chapter 1

Hangar E…

Reports. That's all special Agent William Fowler ever did these days. Stacks of reports on his desk that when completed, were replaced with stacks of other reports. Carrying such a stack under his arm, he entered the giant hangar through the side door, coming to terms with the possibility of a long night.

As he walked across the floor he was surprised to hear the sound of a mini blaster coming from the upper level. Walking up the stairs and along the gantry he came across three people sitting on an old yellow couch in front of a television depicting a video game, evidently being played by the two boys on the couch.

Jack Darby and Rafael Esquivel noted Agent Fowler's arrival but continued with their duel, meanwhile the form of Miko Nakadai was sprawled along and over the end of the couch like a lounging feline, staring into space and looking bored.

Fowler spoke. "Ratchet not back yet?" he asked.

"We thought we'd stay up another hour, just in case." Jack replied while still paying attention to beating Raf.

"And when did you decide that?" Fowler enquired further.

Finishing the game, Raf set his control down and looked up at the agent. "Two hours ago." He answered solemnly.

"A call from the doc-bot would have been nice," Miko muttered from her seat, clearly annoyed. "And he promised that he would have a match with me with the Apex armour."

Jack also set his control and stood up. "There's been no word, Agent Fowler." He stated. "All we know is that one of the Autobots had been hurt and that they needed Ratchet."

"I'm sure everything's fine, Son." Fowler said as he turned round towards his office. "In the meantime, you three should get some sleep. First day back at school tomorrow morning, remember?"

"Ugh, don't remind me." Miko shifted into a sitting position and grabbed a controller. She paused. "And we still don't know what happened to Alex." She added.

Jack gave an annoyed sigh. "Miko…"

"You could at least pretend to care, Jack." Miko spat. "You saw the look on his face when he came here."

"He constantly lied to us, Miko! He used us to help himself." Jack argued, getting up from the couch and walking over to the banister. Outside the hangar, the wind had begun to pick up.

"Because we didn't know how to, dude. Alternate universes? Not even Ratchet knew for sure."

"Oh, and you think that's enough reason for him to lie to us?!"

"He lied to protect-"

"STOP!"

Upon his outburst Jack and Miko's head whipped round to face Raf. His head was hung low and his eyes were shut.

"Optimus said that we must hope that he got home." He explained slowly. "And since I helped him when you guys didn't want me to, I like to do what Optimus says." He looked up at Jack. "I know you didn't like him, Jack. But he promised that we would never see him again." He then turned to look at Miko. "And since he did that, we will never know for sure."

Jack and Miko were silent as they thought about what their young friend had just said. For Rafael to burst out like that was not common, and was always taken seriously. Outside, the wind had increased to that of a gale, rattling the windows.

After a pause, Jack folded his arms. "Maybe Raf," he said. "But I will say that if we ever do see him again, there will be trouble. Wouldn't you agree, Agent Fowler?"

"Agent Fowler?"

In response to receiving no response, Jack turned round to find the hangar empty apart from the three of them. Checking across the gantry he saw that the door to Fowler's office was open and subsequently, could see that the room was also empty.

It was only then did he notice the constant rattling of the windows and the creaking of metal as the hangar was buffeted by a fierce gale. Jack started to feel a bit edgy.

"Raf," he called behind him. "Did the weather say anything about a storm tonight?'

Raf and Miko had now also gotten to their feet after noticing the noises as well. "Uhhh…no?" Raf replied with uncertainty in his voice.

Then the windows exploded.

Shattered glass rained down upon the hangar floor as every window was blown inwards. The kids immediately covered themselves to avoid it but that was just the start of their problems. With the windows gone the gale was allowed in. Papers and small objects went flying about and the kids stumbled about trying to stay on their feet. Overhead lights started to flicker on and off, control panels and monitors exploded in showers of sparks, and a great creaking could be heard coming from the main doors.

Jack reverted to panic mode, rushing towards his two friends and pulling them towards the wall away from the edge. The kids took up crouching positions and covered themselves to protect them from flying glass or other objects. The roar of the wind made it impossible to talk to one another, and none were brave enough to do anything. The creaking of metal from the hangar doors grew louder.

Suddenly the side door next to the children was blown off its hinges. A result of the wind and the figure that came flying through it, landing on the floor near the edge of the gantry. Jack raised his head to get a clear of who the figure was. He froze on the spot when he saw who it was.

Alex quickly got back on his feet. He was dressed in his black suit with sword nowhere to be seen. He stood ready to act and wore a look of fear in his eyes.

"WHERE'S THE APEX ARMOUR?!" He yelled over the roar of the wind.

The kids said nothing, still too stunned at the sight of their fellow human.

"WHERE?!" He screamed again, the urgency in his voice clear.

Alex would never receive an answer from them, as the giant hangar doors were then ripped apart in a roar of twisting metal. The great surge of incoming wind that followed was enough to send Alex flying against the wall and the kids sprawling. The remains of the doors disappeared and with them gone, the humans now had a clear view of outside.

It was the scene of the apocalypse. Swirling black clouds filled the sky and were constantly illuminated by great yellow bolts of lightning that arched through the sky. Of the military base, only the foundations of where the other hangars once stood remained. Tornadoes of sand and objects raced across the ground grabbing everything in their way, and there was not a person in sight.

Fear and shock gripped the children where they lay, while Alex just took in the sight with utter fear. However he quickly regained his composure, looking madly around the remains of the base until he saw what he was looking for.

The Apex armour was lying flat on a crate just under the gantry where the humans were situated, but apparently there was no way to get down to them as the stairs nearby had vanished.

The moment the idea entered Alex's head, he acted on it. With the kids watching on in utter disbelief he ran forwards towards the balcony and took flying leap over the edge, directly over where the armour lay. Landing feet first on the chest piece he disappeared as the relic was instantly activated and began to transform around his body.

Jack turned back to face the view outside. Terror gripped him as he saw in the far distance, the mountains of the Nevada desert enveloped by a black snarling storm that surged towards them at incredible speed.

Spinning back round to inside, he stared as Alex, now fully clad in the immense armour, raced over to the Autobot-sized groundbridge control panel and pulled down the main lever. To his and his friends amazement, despite a few sparks from the machinery, a portal slowly but surely began to open up before. By now Miko and Raf had also noticed the incoming storm and were clinging onto their older friend.

As sparks and lightning spilled out from the portal, Alex turned around and immediately saw what was approaching. The storm was now nearly upon the military base.

Then, without any warning of any kind, he ran over to the gantry and scooped the kids up with his hand. Hence no warning, the children yelped in surprise as they now found themselves wedged between Alex's chest and hand. Glancing one last time at the scene outside, Alex spun back around and started to run. Jack, Miko and Raf clung on for dear life as they were carried into the groundbridge which as they entered, began to break up around them. Alex didn't stop for anything, not even as the portal became more volatile the further they went.

The opening of the portal disintegrated, just as the hangar, and indeed the rest of Planet Earth, was engulfed by the storm.

Cybertron…

Opening up in the middle of the Sea of Rust the portal spat the four humans out sending them crashing onto the hard, metal ground. Thankfully with Alex wearing the armour and his hand wrapped around the three kids, their fall was of minor discomfort. Behind them the portal closed and apart from some noise in the distance, the expansive plain grew silent.

At first, everybody paused to catch their breath. The kids were still trapped in Alex's grip and he was not moving. Jack faced his friends and looked them over to see that they were alright. Everyone seemed okay, but their faces told a different story.

Rafael and Miko were still in the grip of fear from what had just transpired back at the base. Jack himself still trying to work out what had just happened.

Eventually they heard the sound of metal shifting and the arm holding them retracted into itself. Lowered to the gound they watched as the armour transformed to reveal Alex standing next to it.

Jack stood up and faced him.

"What… was that?" he asked slowly.

But Alex didn't look at him. Instead he looked right past him and the others. It was only then did the children notice the sounds coming from the distance. Turning round they were greeted by the sight of a vast, silver city that stretched across the length of the plain. Buildings and skyscrapers towered to the heavens while roads and giant highways twisted around them abuzz with all kinds of vehicles. Meanwhile the skies all around them were littered with aircraft that shot by at supersonic speeds.

All the kids could do was gape at what they saw. Alex also stared, but already his mind was active and thinking about their situation. Jack turned round to face him.

"Is this… Cybertron?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes." Alex replied, not taking his eyes off the view.

"But that's not possible." Raf joined the conversation from where he was standing. "There's no way the Autobot could have rebuilt an entire city this quickly."

"That's because they didn't." Alex replied with evident solemn in his voice.

Miko then also turned around. "Then who built it?" She asked.

Alex stared at her.

"Who do you think?"

Before anyone could answer though, the air was suddenly filled with the sound of approaching engines. Spinning round the humans could make out a combination of vehicles and jets heading straight towards them. Before they knew it, the convoy and was upon them and the sound of engines was replaced by that of transforming. Within seconds they were surrounded by Cybertronians of various shapes and sizes gazing down at them.

All of whom bore the unmistakable insignia, of the Decepticons.

To be continued…

A/N: Sorry for the delay, first month of university and all that. I'm afraid chapters won't be as frequent as they used to be, what with my disturbingly large workload. But I promise to write and post as often as I can.

CM