Chapter 3
Midnight goes into his robot form to carry Zero out of the crater before quickly turning into car form for her to get in. They were on the highway soon enough, speeding farther away from the city to an even more remote area to figure out what their next move is. Obviously they were worried about how to refuel Midnight, since it was highly unlikely that he could continue to subsist on gasoline with his new body. Another concern arose of where the inhabitants of that ship could be if they possess the ability to transform into vehicles to hide in plain sight. The ship was small and, judging from Midnight's size, couldn't have fit any more than three individuals at most.
"I wonder why no one has discovered that ship yet," notes Midnight. "Surely we weren't the first ones to stumble upon it."
"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about all this," responds Zero. "There were weapons on that ship. That's a warship."
"Invaders from another planet," concludes Midnight. "But with all their technology, why bother coming to Earth? Nothing invented has come close to this transforming thing."
Without a word, Zero flips open her laptop and starts documenting their findings and transfers the data to her external hard drive.
"Maybe… technology isn't what they're here for…" she asserts.
"But if they're not here for technology, what does Earth have that they could possibly want?" responds Midnight.
Suddenly, a loud explosion shakes the ground and Midnight and Zero immediately run to hide behind a giant rock. A stampede of giant footsteps rumbles behind them and they carefully peer around the rock to see an extraordinary sight: two groups of giant robots similar to Midnight are shooting and fighting each other. In a panic, Midnight grabs Zero and rushes out of there. They can hear the sound of something pursuing them and Midnight struggles to run faster on his newfound feet.
"They're getting closer!" exclaims Zero, holding on to the giant robot as hard as she could.
As if things weren't getting worse for them, Midnight and Zero run right onto the edge of a cliff. Midnight manages to stop in time and backs away from the cliff quickly, holding on to Zero to make sure she was still on him. They turn around to find themselves face to face with a black and violet robot with a sinister red visor as eyes.
"I hope your curiosity was worth it," retorts Midnight nervously.
"Do you really have to bring that up now?" responds Zero, equally anxious.
The sinister robot aims its gun cannon at the two of them and Zero closes her eyes, expecting the end for both of them. Midnight, wanting more than anything to protect the young woman from harm, instinctively holds up his arm at the other robot. The next thing he knew, a cannon emerges from his forearm and a blue beam shoots out of it and hits dead on the other robot's chest. The robot screeches horribly, inciting Midnight to shoot it again with another blue beam. This time the robot's head was blown off, destroying it outright. Zero opens her eyes to see the cannon on Midnight's arms and her eyes open wide in alarm.
"Since when did you have weapons?" she asks him.
"Since now, I guess," answers Midnight.
The cannon retracts back into his forearm as he pulls it back. It was too soon for comfort as another giant robot appears, except this one was a deep yellow instead. Midnight pulls out his cannon again and aims it at the robot, which only looked on in curiosity.
"Stay back!" warns Midnight. "I-I know how to use this!"
The yellow robot simply beeps and buzzes back in response, confusing both Midnight and Zero.
"It's not trying to kill us?" utters Zero.
Another giant robot appears before them, much bigger than the yellow robot. This one had a blue and red color scheme and seemed to be of higher rank than the yellow robot. Cautiously, Midnight aims his cannon at this new robot, believing it to be a much bigger threat.
"You have nothing to fear, we are Autobots," assures the red and blue robot. "I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."
"Autobots?" reiterates Midnight. "That's what the ship told me. And I'm guessing the robot I killed was a Decepticon?"
The yellow robot beeps in response, as if to confirm Midnight's supposition.
"Well, how do we know you're not a Decepticon?" asserts Zero.
"Decepticons will never partner up with humans," replies the one who called himself Optimus Prime. "They come here to mine Energon and would stop at nothing to obtain it, even if it means destroying humans in the process."
"Energon, Autobots, Decepticons… I don't understand any of this," responds Midnight, his cannon still aimed at them.
"Please, come with us," says Optimus. "You'll be safe in our base."
Midnight was hesitant until Zero speaks up.
"Let's go with them, Mid," she suggests. "I don't sense bad intentions from them."
"If you say so," responds Midnight, withdrawing his cannon into his forearm.
"Ratchet, activate the GroundBridge," exclaims Optimus, seemingly talking to no one in particular.
Midnight and Zero watched as a bright colorful portal appears before them. Optimus and the yellow robot enter the portal to show that it was safe before Midnight follows in after them with Zero still on his shoulder.
When they emerge on the other side of the portal, they were met with even more robots that were just as friendly as the yellow robot.
"What is this, Optimus?" asks the orange robot. "You found another Autobot?"
"Bumblebee found them first," answers Optimus, referring to the yellow robot. "As for being Autobot, I'm not quite sure."
"Are you saying you just dragged a Decepticon into the base?" exclaims the slim blue robot.
"Optimus would not be so foolish as to do that, Arcee," retorts the orange robot.
"He doesn't have an Autobot or Decepticon insignia on him," notes the green bulky robot.
"Just because I look like one of you, that doesn't mean I am," asserts Midnight firmly, feeling a little annoyed by the discourse.
"Well, you're either an Autobot or a Decepticon since you're obviously not an Insecticon," adds the white, grey, and blue robot who gives off the air of being a newbie.
"Look, I'm not an Autobot or a Decepticon," affirms Midnight. "I'm me."
"That doesn't really give us much comfort," responds the one known as Arcee. "You could be a double agent for all we know."
"But he does have a human partner," points out the green bulky robot.
The yellow robot known as Bumblebee starts beeping to his comrades.
"Took down a Decepticon, did he?" translates the green bulky robot. "That settles it for me. The name's Bulkhead." He limps up to shake Midnight's hand.
One by one, the Autobots introduce themselves before allowing Midnight and Zero to introduce each other back.
"So you created Midnight?" reiterates Ratchet. "This is unheard of, if not impossible."
"Midnight's been my car for years," says Zero. "He just… has arms and legs now."
"A bot that was born on Earth instead of Cybertron," affirms Ratchet. "Who would've thought. It's certainly a first."
"The way you described the ship you found indicates that it's Decepticon," asserts Bulkhead. "But, you're no Decepticon for sure."
"Look, whatever war you've got with the Decepticons or Autobots or whatever, we want no part of it," declares Midnight. "All I want is to protect Zero."
"Mid…" exclaims the young woman.
"Not with that attitude you won't," responds Arcee. "Whether you like it or not, you're a bot like us and you're going to have to pick sides. The Decepticons won't care if you've decided to be neutral. If you're not with them, they'll turn you into scrap regardless."
"If you stick with us, we'll show you how to fight," speaks up Smokescreen. "You've got all these weapons now, but no training. Might as well learn how to use them."
"I'll let you guys train me, but I will not pick any side in this war," says Midnight. "I refuse to put Zero into any more danger than she already has."
"That is your choice," responds Optimus. "We will not force you one way or another. However, we do ask that you not reveal the location of our base to anyone."
"When I said I'm staying neutral, I mean it," asserts Midnight. "And that includes helping out either side."
"You can't—" began Arcee until Optimus puts a hand on her shoulder.
"We'll train you to use your weapons," offers the Autobot leader. "And you are free to do whatever you will with what we teach you."
Arcee looks at Optimus disapprovingly before stomping off.