Chapter 3

Hey gang, been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that. When the show ended I lost my inspiration for the fiction. It may take a while for me to get back into the swing of things, but I assure you I will be posting again! ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!

"So Jack, what're you doing after school?" Annabelle asked in study hall. Jack sighed, he had tried to avoid talking to her as much as he could. Last time he got involved with Annabelle Leon he was almost arrested for underage joy riding. And though she said she wanted to make amends he just didn't trust her.

"I'm hanging out with Raphael and Miko." He said, Annabelle scowled.

"I see. Well that sucks, I was hoping you and me could hang out. You know like old times." She said.

"I thought you said you were trying to get past the old times." Jack pointed out. Annabelle rolled her silver colored eyes as she blew bangs out of her face.

"Yeah, the illegal stuff that got me arrested, not the fun parts." She said then smirked, "Come on Jacky, I know you remember, and I know you know you had a fun time too."

"I'm hanging out with Miko and Raph." Jack said with a scowl. "You should find something else to do too. Something that isn't illegal."

Annabel didn't respond, only turned her head in a huff as she leaned forward in her chair and rested her chin in her hand. After a while of silence Annabelle leaned over to Jack, her eyes softened as her expression went somber.

"I really am serious about changing Jack." She said, giving him a sad look that begged him to believe her.

"Prove it." Jack said plainly. Annabelle scowled.

"How am I supposed to do that?" She asked as the bell rang, Jack stood, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder as he turned to leave.

"Figure it out yourself." He said then walked off. Annabelle chased after him, but lost him in the crowd of students. She cursed under her breath as she placed her bag on her shoulder and walked down the hall.

"Yo." A voice said behind her, Annabel looked over her shoulder to see Miko walking toward her. She scowled.

"What do you want?" She asked stopping in the hall as Miko walked up to her.

"You and Jack have a history huh? What's that about?" She asked, Annabelle scowled. Not sure what the punked out girl was getting at.

"That's hardly any kind of secret. Why what's your point?" she hissed as she continued walking down the hall to her next class. Miko followed behind.

"And you and Raph have a history." Miko continued, Annabelle narrowed her eyes.

"Are you even within the vecinity of a point?" she growled as she tightened her grip on the strap of her backpack. She was getting irritated from the lack of substance in the girl's comments. If it wasn't for the fact she'd get in trouble with Jack she'd have told her off by now. However she had to find a way to show him that she had changed, so she couldn't lash out at her—no matter how annoying the girl was—she just couldn't take the risk of Jack thinking she was the same as before.

"Listen kid, whatever you're trying to say just get .To. The. Point." She hissed "I have class to get to."

"I'm just making sure you don't have any plans to get Raph or Jack into trouble again." Miko said catching up to the goth girl. Annabelle scowled.

"I never got Raphael into trouble." She said, "And Jack didn't get into trouble either."

"Not from what I heard." Miko spat.

"Listen, punk," Annabelle hissed, pointing toward the Asian girl, "You don't know me. So don't go starting anything you can't finish."

"Whatever, just stay away from my friends!" Miko shouted, Annabelle turned and glared at Miko, crossing her arms.

"They were my friends before you were even a thought on their mind." She said in a dark tone. "So you can't do shit if I want to talk to them. It's a free world and I can to whatever I want."

With that Annabelle pushed past Miko, shoving her out of the way as she left. Miko scowled after her. There was something seriously wrong with that girl.

~0~

After school Annabelle walked home alone. She had asked Raphael if he'd walk with her, but he had refused, saying he had things he had to do. She would have asked Jack, but he was still trying to avoid her. She sighed, walking down the street to her house, then started thinking about the day before, when she met Arachnid. A smile formed on her face, at least with her around her days wouldn't be so boring.

As she turned the corner at a street she noticed aforementioned Jack riding on his motorcycle, he was stopped and talking to a brunette whom Annabelle recognized as Sierra. She scowled, she didn't know what jack saw in some pasty faced girl like her, she huffed and kept walking. One of these days she was going to show Jack that she was so much better than the other girls in town. For now however she had to show him that she'd changed, that she wasn't the old her, which was pretty hard considering she had no idea how she was going to convince him.

The rev of a car engine broke her from her thoughts. She looked over to see Jack's conversation with Sierra cut short by a red haired kid. Him she didn't recognize, must have transferred after she'd left for juvie. She stopped to look at his car, a purple sports car with yellow and red flames decorating the front and above the rear tires. She rolled her eyes, lousy paint job, it showed how much of loser he was.

She cocked her eyebrow when she saw what looked like the red head threaten him. She glared as she walked over to the duo, Sierra had already left with her friend. Annabelle walked up unnoticed by either of the two boys.

"Listen here Darby, you may think you're hot shit, riding around on that cherry scooter of yours," the red head growled, "But you're nothing but a punk kid trying—"

He was cut short by the sound of metal scratching metal. The duo looked over to see Annabelle taking her house key to the kid's paintjob. Leaving a very large, very deep scratch in the car's finish.

"What the hell!?" The red head screamed. Raven turned her head to him giving a bored look as she pocketed her keys.

"Oh I'm sorry, were you attached to this lousy paint job?" She asked placing her hands on her hips. The red head jumped out of his car and stood over her, glaring daggers. She returned his gaze with the same glare.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he hissed, balling his hands into tightly clenched fists. Annabelle smirked.

"I could ask you the same question." She said shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She didn't bother looking to see if Jack was looking, she knew he wouldn't ditch her. Especially in a situation like this one. Just showed what a good guy he was.

"The name's Vince," The red head said trying to sound intimidating. Annabelle was unaffected, "Now who the hell are you?"

"You are new." she said in a low tone, she leaned back on her heals and narrowed her eyes at the boy, "As for me, I'm Annabelle Leon, and you are gonna leave my pal Darby alone."

"Yeah?" Vince asked taking a step closer, "And what're you gonna do if I don't?"

Just then Jack stepped between them, "Ok you two break it up. Vince, you should probably take that car of yours to the nearest autoshop."

Vince huffed, pushing Jack out of the way, "Whatever Darby, she ain't worth it anyway."

He returned to his car and sped off, leaving nothing but skid marks and the smell of burnt rubber behind. Annabelle smiled triumphant, Vince took off rather quickly. It was enough to spell victory for her. the look on Jack's face however…did not.

"Annabelle, what the heck is wrong with you?" he growled. Annabelle's smile dropped as she took a step back.

"What's wrong with me?" she asked, "What's wrong with you? I just saved you from an ass beating and you snap at me?"

"Was this your idea of showing me you changed?" He asked, Annabelle said nothing as jack pointed a finger in her face, "Because the only thing that proved was that you're still the same girl as before you went to juvie!"

"J-jack…I…" Annabelle began, her voice came out small, "…I was just trying to help."

Jack let out a frustrated sigh. "Look Annabelle, you probably meant well, but that was the wrong way to do it. first of all, who do you think he's going to make pay for that scratch in his car?"

"Jack, I can pay for any damage." Annabelle mumbled, "It's not that big a deal. Besides, that loser doesn't deserve that car anyway."

"And what will you do if he decides you don't deserve to breathe?" Jack asked. Annabelle scowled.

"I've been working on cars since I was in grade school Jack, you know I can handle some jerk in a cheap sports car." She said crossing her arms over her chest. She then shifted her gaze to her feet. "Look, I'm sorry I scratched the prick's car. But it's not like I'm gonna steal it from him. I don't do that anymore."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Jack said walking back to Arcee. "Meanwhile, don't bother me anymore."

"But Jack—"

"Not until you prove you're telling the truth." He said, then sped off. Annabelle huffed, that didn't turn out like she had planned. Then again she wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting him to do, in retrospect she hadn't thought the whole thing through. She just didn't like the idea of some jerk like that Vince kid acting high and mighty. Though as much as she'd like to teach him a lesson, she didn't want jack to think juvie didn't change her. So instead of finding the nearest autoshop, she headed home. Where she was sure to find something to alleviate her frustration, after all Arachnid was still currently taking up space in her garage, and she was sure to have something to take apart. That was the deal after all.

~0~

"kind harsh today don't you think Jack?" Arcee asked as she drove Jack to base. Jack sighed.

"Annabelle won't listen either way. I needed to get my point across," he explained. "Besides if she found out about you, or any of the others?...I don't even want to think about that."

"It'd take a lot more than some earth kid to junk us, Jack."

"I'd rather not take the chance." He mumbled, "Besides, do you really want another one of us walking around base?"

Arcee was quiet for a moment as she drove into the side of the mountain the Autobots made base. "Good point."

"Hey Jack," Miko said from above the duo, "School let out half an hour ago, what took you?"

"Just another run in." Jack explained as he dismounted and removed his helmet. Miko scowled.

"You mean with dead head?" She grumbled, recalling her own run in with her. though in Miko's case it had been her to approach Annabelle, not the other way around, "Sounds like she's been trying to talk to you all day. What happened this time?"

Jack explained what all happened with Vince and Annabelle. How she'd keyed the punk's car and nearly got into a fist fight with him. He even retold the lecture he'd given her about proving herself. As he did so Bumble bee pulled up with Rafeal, who's ears perked at the mention of Annabelle's name.

"Wait she did what?" he asked, as Jack gave a short version of his story. "She stood up to Vince? That's awesome."

"Raf, she keyed his car." Jack said, "That's not awesome, that's a jerk move."

"Vince is the jerk. He's been picking on me since I started high school." Rafael said, "Besides she was helping you. Shouldn't that count for something?"

"I don't know. I just don't trust her right now." Jack said. "And I don't think you should either."

"I'm with Jack on this one." Miko said crossing her arms over her chest. Rafael scowled.

"Annabelle's just got back, she said she'd changed." He explained, "She promised me she wasn't doing anything like before. She even has a new hobby."

"Hobby? Like what?"

"I…don't know." He mumbled, "She wouldn't tell me….but I still think someone should give her the benefit of the doubt."

"Who knows Raf, maybe you're right." Jack said, "Maybe she has changed."

"Yeah, well I don't trust her." Miko huffed, "So you can count me out."

~0~

Annabelle huffed as she slammed the door to her house, no one was home so she knew it wouldn't matter if she was pissed off or not. She threw her bag on the ground and stormed outside, where she thought she would find Arachnid, however instead she found a helicopter that wasn't there before, no doubt something her parents had bought to fill up an empty spot. She scowled and walked further outside.

"Arachnid?" she shouted looking around the surrounding area. After about thirty minutes of searching she pouted. "Guess I should have known."

Annoyed, Annabelle kicked the aforementioned helicopter in frustration. Hitting her steal toed boot against its landing gear.

"Watch it human!" it hissed, Annabelle stared wide eyed as she stumbled backward and stumbled over a tool she forgot to put away as Arachnid tranformed back into her normal form. Annabelle stared.

"Woaw. Didn't know you could do that." She said as she stood, patting down the back of her latex shirt, a good thing about latex meant she didn't have to worry about grease stains. Arachnid smiled proudly.

"We transformers all found some kind of vehicle mode when we arrived her on earth." she explained, "it makes for easy travel, and easier stealth."

"So wait, you mean to tell me I could have ran into any your robot friends and not even know it?" Annabelle asked wide eyed. The idea of running into one in her own back yard was one thing, but the fact that there could be more, and without her even knowing? That was insane—extremely cool—but seriously insane. Hell for all she knew she could have stolen one and ended up scrapping it without even knowing it. If she only knew then what she did now.

"That's correct, but we're scattered. With a few exceptions. The Decepticons have a decent army, which is more than I can say about the Autobots. Though they seem to be getting along just fine." Arachnid continued, Annabelle scowled, then held up her hands.

"Woaw woaw woaw, Autobots? Decepticons? This is all a little over my head." She said, "how bout a little tutorial?"

"What?"

"Explaination. What's an autobot, and whats a decepticon? If I'm gonna help you, I'm gonna need a little intel. So I know what I'm gonna be taking apart." Annabelle said, placing her hands on her hip. Arachnid scowled as she thought up a convincing enough story to saticfy the goth girl's curiousity. Finally she nodded and explained how she was from a planet that was at war. She told the truth for the most part, everything about the war was in fact truth. The only difference was she painted the Decepticons as the heroes. Annabelle stared in awe, she'd always liked to think that there was life beyond the stars, and with Arachnid it was proven. However an intergalactic war?

"That was awesome!" She shouted with excitement, "Like something from a comic book...or a tv show meant to sell toys. Either way I'm impressed."

"I suppose you primitives would be easy to impress." Arachnid said rolling her eyes. Annabelle scowled, "I myself am an ex-con."

"That's a poor choice of words. Dunno about you, but here on earth being called an ex-con isn't exactly something that inspires heroics." Annabelle interjected. Arachnid frowned.

"An unfortunete branding from the Autobots. The whole war started because we cons didn't like the way Autobots ran cybertron." She said, it wasn't so much a lie as it was a stretching of the truth. Annabelle smirked.

"Raging against the system, I can get behind that." She said lifting her head up high, "I myself like to rage against the machine now and then."

"Well, stick to raging against what I bring you human." arachnid growled. She didn't much care for the girls ever present chatter.

"So what happened?"

"What?"

"You said you used to be an ex-con." Annabelle pointed out, "That implies you got kicked out or something."

"Betrayed!" Arachnid shouted, slamig her fist into the ground and causing a crater in the floor of Annabelle's garage from the impact. Annabelle frowned, she'd have to explain that to her parents. "Let's just say a friend and I didn't exactly agree, he wanted to become just like the very things we were fighting. Nearly got me killed."

"Ouch." was all Annabelle said, "But I can relate, I'm currently having my own disagreement with an old friend."

"is that what has your gears in a grind?" Arachnid asked, not that she particularly cared, but she did have a part to play in earning the human's trust. Annabelle glared silver daggers.

"Nothing, I just have to prove to Jack Darby I've changed." She hissed, crossing her arms over her black tanktop. "Make one little mistake, and they never let you forget."

Arachnid's metal brows rose. She recognized that name, that was the name of Arcee's human partner. Oh how much fun would it be to see the look on the little autobot's face after she killed another one of her partners. The sound of annabelle's boot hitting a metal tool chest broke the giant bot from her thoughts. She looked down to see the little gothic human slouching against a work bench, with one foot atop the metal box.

"and that stupid transfer student Miko, isn't exactly a big help." She spat, "If it weren't for the fact that I just got back, I'd have beaten that little twerp within an inch of her life. But it'd just prove that I haven't changed."

She then looked up and pointed to Arachnid, "But mark my words bot, I'll show him! When he finds out I'm doing more good than Jaspar Navada's boys in blue, he'll see! And I'll happily rub that Miko brat's face in it too...maybe Raph will stop being so secretive around me too."

"Maybe, but should you really tell them?" Arachnid pointed out. Annabelle tilted her head.

"Why not? This could be my big chance to get my friends back. All of them." She said, then realized how it all sounded, "then again, saying all that out loud, I'd probably sound like I got out of the loony bin instead of juvie...damn it."

"Exactly, so maybe we hold off on that part." She said, though in truth she didn't want the autobots to be tipped at her presence. Last thing she needed was for them to tell the little human the truth before she managed to cement her own version of it in the kid's head. Making her the perfect pawn.