Transformers: Robots in Disguise 2

by Overnight Sensation

A sequel to the series Car Robots/RiD. The Autobots thought they could rest easy after the defeat of Galvatron. Ten years later, a new Predacon emerges to disturb the Autobots' era of peace.

4. Ep4 Hide & Seek

Episode 4- Hide & Seek

Chapter 1

While Optimus Prime and the other Autobots were currently dealing with their dilemma on Justice-01, the planet Earth was still enjoying an extended period of peace. Since the Transformers appearance on Earth, all the warring nations around the world had put down their arms, and ceased their vendettas against one another. It wasn't down to a reconciliation between the warring parties, but when the Predacons had began their attacks on the Earth ten years ago, some nations went into a state of ceasefire, while others became more productive and turned their attention to trying to defend their planet from the Predacon and Decepticon invaders when the Autobots weren't in an area that was under attack from their enemies. Either way, following Fortress Maximus' departure from the Earth with the Autobots and captured Decepticons and Predacons aboard, the nations of the Earth kept their ceasefire; they waited for their enemies to begin their war anew, but it never happened, even after ten years. In some ways, many of the world's political leaders had looked upon the Transformers' extended visit to Earth as a blessing in disguise.

During this era of peace, the various nations of the world had placed their attention on space travel and space research, as if inspired by the robotic aliens trip to Earth. More trips were made up the Earth's International Space Station to speed up the completion of the orbiting facility. The project was very close to completion, and currently, a crew of astronauts from the United States were currently aboard the space station. It had been another hard day's work for the crew, who were now enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation as they slept, strapped up into their beds so that they didn't float up towards the ceilings. However, not every member of the crew was asleep. Currently sitting in a small research wing of the space station was the mission commander, who was feverishly attempting to catch up with a considerable amount of paperwork that had piled up during the crew's tests. The crew were due to return the next day, 16:00 hours American time, and the reports had to be presented to the officials back on Earth without fail.

So, the mission commander made the decision to stay up three hours later than his schedule allowed him to stay up working on duties to finish his work. It was perhaps a foolish move, considering he had to captain a shuttle trip back to Earth the next day; he would need to be well rested for his trip back, but he didn't fancy looking his superiors in the eye with only a half full file of research. Still, after five hours, there was only so much paperwork one person could take, so with a sigh, the commander took his attention away from his work as he stretched out in his chair. As he stretched, he looked to the large circular window that was positioned in one corner of the room. The view of the planet Earth was beautiful as it sat serenely below the space station, slowly rotating. Seeing as it was his final hours on the space station, the mission commander decided to fully appreciate the view before him, so he unbuckled the harnesses that had kept him place in his seat.

Immediately, the commander began to float in the air before he quickly repositioned himself in the air, then he began to kick move his arms and legs in an imitation of the breast stroke as he swam towards the large window for a closer look at the Earth. He gazed at the beautiful orb of blue, white and green below him, taking in every inch of the planet that he could see. Truly, to him, there was not a sight or view on the surface of the Earth that could match the breathtaking sight that could be seen from the space station. He found that whenever he gazed at the Earth from the same window that he always looked through, every worry about home life, money and even his space career became insignificant in a very humbling way.

But suddenly, something else caught the commander's attention; it was a twinkle from the upper right corner of his sight. Immediately, the commander turned his head fully to further inspect the twinkle that caught his attention and with wide eyes, the commander was amazed to see an object flying towards the space station at thousands of miles per hour. As the object began to pass the space station, the commander looked on in awe to see that the object wasn't simply an asteroid, or some other piece of space junk, but instead, it was a large, white spacecraft. Like nothing that was found on Earth, the commander watched as the spacecraft- which was now surrounded in a bubble of red caused by friction- dived for the Earth. Then in one, final sight, the commander looked on as the spacecraft seemed to shimmer, much like the horizon in a desert, before it simply vanished. Confused, the mission commander blinked, rubbed his eyes, then looked out into space again. However, the spacecraft had completely vanished, but there was no possible way for the craft to disappear like he thought he had seen, unless it had exploded; even then, there should have been a flash of an explosion, with the area strewn with debris, of which there was none. After a few moments of excitedly looking around, the mission commander gave up with a sigh before he looked away from the window.

"From now on, no more overtime up here..." the mission commander sighed to himself.

The mission commander then began to swim away to the sleeping chambers of the space station, feeling that he was seeing things due to work related fatigue. But, what the commander didn't know was that the unbelievable sight he had seen was very real. The spacecraft he had seen was was a real ship- an Autobot ship, and its pilot, Ultra Magnus sat in the flight deck of the Autobot ship as he guided it steadily towards the planet Earth. As the mission commander watched the craft disappear before his very eyes, he didn't know that Ultra Magnus, with the push of a button, had switched on the craft's cloaking device so that he could fly down to the Earth without being spotted by anyone on the space station, or be spotted by any of the other satellites that drifted around Earth's orbit. He hadn't realized that he had been spotted by the mission commander back on the space station, but due to the man not believing what he had seen, it was ultimately of no consequence so Ultra Magnus continued on his way without giving the space station or its occupants another thought.

"Best to make sure nobody sees me drop in." Ultra Magnus said softly to himself.

As the ship continued to plough towards the Earth, Ultra Magnus sat calmly at the craft's controls, despite the fact the ship began to shake and rumble, due to the fact that it was met with the resistance of the Earth's atmosphere. The temperature of the ship had risen too, but again, that fact didn't phase the large Autobot inside the craft; instead, he simply sat, focused on piloting the ship down to the planet Earth. Eventually, the rumbling that occurred through his spacecraft began to die down, until it then went away, allowing the spacecraft to fly calmly with no turbulence once again for now Ultra Magnus' craft flew through the Earth's night sky, even though it was still invisible.

With the hardest part of his voyage to Earth no over with, Ultra Magnus began to relax as his thoughts now focused on something else- his enemies. He recalled the events of the past few days in his mind; the final argument with Optimus Prime back on Cybertron, his initial flight back into space, then finally picking up the signal on the Autobot network that Justice-01 was under attack. Ultra Magnus considered flying to the prison asteroid himself to help the Autobots on the asteroid fight off the invaders, but as soon as he found out that Cybertron had deployed an Autobot squad to aid the Justice-01, Ultra Magnus quickly changed his course for the Transformers' old battle ground of the planet Earth. He figured with Galvatron probably being released, it wouldn't be too long before the enemy made their way to the planet Earth, for Earth was a unique planet that was filled with more natural occurring energy sources than any planet over the span of many galaxies.

"I know the 'cons will come back here. Somewhere, sooner or later, they'll be back and when they do, I'll be waiting for them..."

Ultra Magnus' now cruised through the skies of the Earth, quickly flying through the night sky and into the twilight as he flew from differing time zones within the span of minutes. The Autobot was looking for a place to land as he considered where the best place it would be for Ultra Magnus to begin his own personal mission; he wondered to himself, where would the Predacons and Decepticon likely start their impending assault on Earth. Without Cybertron base online on Earth, the Autobots' global space bridge was shut down, due to the fact that the Autobots had left the planet Earth ten years ago. With that in mind, Ultra Magnus wouldn't be able to hop from nation to nation in a flash like before. It would take valuable time if say, his enemies began an attack in Germany, while his current location was Canada. He needed to make sure he prepared as much as he could for the inevitable.

"Optimus Prime was an idiot for not listening to me." Ultra Magnus stated. "Now look at what's happened- Justice-01's been attacked, and obviously just so Galvatron and the Decepticons could be released. They're more dangerous now that they have their leader back. They'll all be begging for vengeance against us Autobots, and no doubt this planet, too... Too bad they won't count on me being here to wait for them, though; I'll be the one to finally take Galvatron down once and for all, then the Autobots will have no choice but to listen to me, instead of Optimus Prime. Then, even Vector Sigma will realize that I was the best choice to become Autobot leader."

By this time, Ultra Magnus' ship now flew over far-east Asia and it was here that Ultra Magnus' yellow optics shone with realization as a thought occurred to him- Japan! The nation of Japan had been the main stage for the Transformers' war on Earth. Even though the war on Earth had started in New York City, following the abduction of the Earth's foremost authority on energy, Dr. Onishi, the battle quickly shifted over to Japan as most of the Doctor's research came from his home country. With that thought in mind, Ultra Magnus quickly directed his spacecraft to Japan, where within minutes, he found himself flying over his intended destination. But now the question was, where to land? It had to be somewhere remote, and out of sight. Even though the cloaking device that still caused the craft to be invisible by eye and by radar could stay on as long as the spacecraft's power supply was online, people still may haphazardly walk into the invisible ship, which had the potential to blow his cover. Not only that, but he didn't wish to be seen walking or driving in or out of an invisible ship; he needed a place suitable enough that he would never be seen. Then quickly, he found his answer.

As his ship flew miles in the sky, he watched the ship's screens to see that he quickly passed over the city of Tokyo, then his ship began to fly over the vast body of water that was Tokyo bay. The bay was the answer to Ultra Magnus' problem for keeping his ship at the bottom of the ocean would provide the cover necessary, so with that in mind, Ultra Magnus quickly controlled his ship to dive down from the sky, down towards the ocean surface. Within seconds, Ultra Magnus watched the view as the front of his ship hit the ocean surface, throwing the surface of the usually steady water in the bay into a waving body of water. Fortunately for Ultra Magnus, he caused his ship to dive far enough out into the bay that the waves his ship kicked up meant that the fierce waves were nothing more than ripples of the shore line of the bay, so that the population of Tokyo wouldn't suspect a thing. The ship continued on its way, further and further down to the depths of the bay until finally, the ship came across the ocean floor, and Ultra Magnus pulled at the controls to reposition his ship so that the large craft landed with its hull gently touching the sea bed. With his landing complete, Ultra Magnus relaxed in his seat by sitting back with his hands just hanging off his thighs; then, after a few moments of relaxation, Ultra Magnus reached forward to press a button that caused the screen in his ship to flicker to a map of Japan.

"This metropolis is the capital of Japan." Ultra Magnus surmised. "If the 'cons come back to Japan, no doubt they'll come here. I'd better get moving."

With that, Ultra Magnus swiveled around in his large seat, then he rose to his feet and walked towards the back of the room, where the door was located. Walking to the door, Ultra Magnus saw that his large blue bolts weapon, that was a large Gatling gun and laser rifle was where he left it, propped up against the wall beside the door. He grabbed the blue bolts weapon, and hoisted it over his shoulder as he walked through the door, down the corridor with all intent to exit his ship. Ultra Magnus made his way through the ship, until he eventually found himself in the cargo hold of his ship, which was empty. He walked all the way across the cargo hold, to the back of it then once there, he opened a small door that was inside the larger hinged ramp that allowed large machinery to be rolled up and stored in the cargo bay. Being submersed in the water, Ultra Magnus figured that allowing water into an empty room at the bottom of his ship would do it no damage, so as he opened the door, water poured into the large hold until Magnus jumped through the barrier of water and stepped onto the ocean floor then he closed the door behind him. He stood on the ocean floor for a moment, then the rockets on his back mounted jet pack roared into life. The force of the combustive jets pushed Ultra Magnus up off the ocean floor, where he rocketed through the water until he eventually, his head broke through the surface of the water, then he cut off his jet pack and bobbed up and down in the water as he looked around the bay, with only his head visible. Fortunately though, Ultra Magnus found that the early morning in Tokyo meant that there were very few people along the urban shore of the bay, and no ships were sailing towards, or away from it; so, using the quiet period, Ultra Magnus swam across the bay, until he eventually reached the shore. He stepped out of the water, then he quickly transformed into his vehicle carrier form. Now, in his disguise as a simple truck, Ultra Magnus was able to go where he pleased without raising suspicions of the humans around him. His engine roared into life, then Ultra Magnus drove out from the shore. He followed the road onto a bridge that took him from the bay to the main city of Tokyo, then it wasn't long until Ultra Magnus found himself on the bustling roads of the large city.

It had been a long time since Ultra Magnus had driven along the roads of Earth, especially on the congested, always busy roads of Tokyo. For the last ten years, Ultra Magnus was used to flying around the vast darkness of space, or the large roads of Cybertron, or other alien planets. The streets of Earth were considerably smaller, so it was natural for the Autobot to feel enclosed with the narrow roads, filled with cars and trucks around every turn. It took a while for Ultra Magnus to get his bearings, but eventually, the streets and highways of Tokyo began to become familiar to him, so the blue and white car carrier slipped into a sense of comfort and familiarity as he rolled along the roads. Eventually, as time slipped by, Ultra Magnus had found he had sped across a freeway, until he found himself on the other side of the city. Due to the traffic that Ultra Magnus had faced during rush hour, it taken him a considerable amount of time to hit the freeway, so by the time he found himself on the other side of Tokyo, it was already the afternoon. He felt he wasted so much time just traveling from the south of Tokyo to the north.

"I never missed Earth, and I missed their roads even less." Ultra Magnus grumbled. "These humans don't even know how to drive. Maybe I should teach them how to efficiently get from a to-...huh? What's that about?"

Ultra Magnus had been approaching a crossroad on the city streets, and an unusual sight caught his eye. A black motorcycle was driving across from Ultra Magnus' chosen path, not an unusual sight in itself, but the interesting fact was that the motorcycle was driving along the road- without a driver. A wave of suspicion, mixed with anticipation ran through Ultra Magnus as he stopped at a red traffic light and watched the motorcycle drive down the crossing street, but he wasn't able to wait for the light to change, otherwise the suspicious vehicle would disappear. So, ignoring Tokyo's traffic laws, Ultra Magnus continued on, defying the red light as he joined the crossing street, then he began to turn to drive down the same street as the driver less motorcycle. However, his reckless driving caused a driver to hit his brakes in panic in fear of sideswiping a large truck. As his car screeched to a halt, another car had to brake at the last second, thankfully avoiding a collision, but with seconds the crossroads had been halted as a large, unorganized mess of cars were strewn across the a joining roads. Horns honked, and voices cursing the large car carrier were heard, but they went without care or attention from Ultra Magnus. All that mattered to him was finding out what the story was behind the motorcycle that had no driver.

Ultra Magnus continued on, eager to stop the motorcycle, but with a couple of cars separating himself and the motorcycle, Ultra Magnus could only make sure he kept the motorcycle in his sights. He wasn't able to transform to his robot mode to force the motorcycle to stop, otherwise he would attract the attention of the citizens of Tokyo which he didn't want to do. There was no sense in bringing attention to himself, especially if there was no reason for him to be there in the first place. However, a driverless motorcycle reinforced Ultra Magnus' belief that the Predacons and Decepticons were heading for Earth, or in this case were on Earth already. The motorcycle had to be stopped.

Suddenly, the motorcycle executed an unexpected maneuver as it swung off the road, then followed a smaller trail that took it into an alleyway between a pair of large office buildings. When he found his chance, Ultra Magnus did the same move, as he turned left, which brought him on the trail that cut across the sidewalk and took him into the alleyway but Ultra Magnus stopped in the alleyway in surprise. With his air brakes sending an echoing hiss through the dark alley, Ultra Magnus saw that the motorcycle had simply disappeared. It hadn't driven off anywhere else; it couldn't have, for the at the bottom of the alley was nothing but a dead end, caused by the wall of another office block. Ultra Magnus couldn't believe his robotic eyes.

"Where did that motorbike go?" Ultra Magnus growled. "Ultra Magnus, transform!"

Now transforming to his robot mode, and towering up over the pavement of the alley, Ultra Magnus looked from left to right as he barely fit in between the two buildings. With no obvious place for the motorcycle to go, Ultra Magnus lowered to a knee, then he brushed his right hand across the pavement of the alley, figuring that just perhaps there was some kind of secret entrance to an underground passageway that the motorcycle may have escaped through. But, as his fingers brushed dirt, strewn newspapers and soda cans from the ground, Ultra Magnus found no signs of anything that would suggest there was any kind of trap door beneath him. Ultra Magnus growled in frustration.

"This is impossible, where could that bike go? It had no driver, then it disappeared. I was right; something suspicious is going on here. That motorbike had Decepticon written all over it."

Ultra Magnus took one final look around the alley, then he rose back to his feet. The grinding of his gears echoed through the alley as he stood up, then he heard something else. It was a voice, a human voice, which Ultra Magnus found was coming from an open window in the building beside him as he turned his head.

"Hey, look!" a man cried from the office window. "Guys, come and look at this! It's a huge robot!"

"I'd better get out of here before I attract too much attention." Ultra Magnus murmured to himself. "Vehicle mode!"

Ultra Magnus wasted no time as he quickly transformed to his car carrier mode. With his engine revving as his final parts clicked into place, Ultra Magnus quickly reversed out of the alleyway. He took one final look into the alley, seeing that the office worker insisted he saw a giant robot, to the disbelief of his co-workers, which left Ultra Magnus satisfied that he didn't blow his cover too badly. The large truck rejoined the roads of Tokyo, then he continued on his way. Initially, his drive through Tokyo had been with resolution, as if he knew where he was going, but now, Ultra Magnus had begun to drive through the large city aimlessly. He just followed the roads where they took him as he continuously thought about the black driver less motorcycle he had seen earlier. He replayed the short sequence of events back in his mind; he had seen the motorcycle pass him on the intersection, and he followed it. He was certain that the motorcycle had turned in to the alley, but it had disappeared, seemingly into thin air just before he was able to enter the alley behind it. It wasn't possible that the motorcycle could have disappeared down another alley or slip road, for there were no others on that street. The question, which had to be currently left without an answer left Ultra Magnus bubbling with frustration underneath the disguise of his car carrier form.

"I'll find that motorbike," Ultra Magnus said to himself. "Sooner or later, it'll appear around here, then I'll stop it for sure this time; even if I have to make my presence known to the humans. That motorbike is a Decepticon, I'm sure of it. I'm on to something here."

The large blue and white truck continued on its way. Eventually, Ultra Magnus found himself driving past a residential district which was located towards the outskirt of the main city of Tokyo. As he drove past a road that would have taken him down the residential area, a young man on a red scooter stopped at the end of the street to allow the large car carrier to continue on its way. However, if either Ultra Magnus, or the young man would have recognized each other from a first glance, they would have been shocked to see each other.

The young man who sat on the red scooter, waiting for the large car carrier to drive past was named Koji Onishi. Ten years ago, the young man -then a boy- was a large part of the Transformers war on Earth. His father, Dr. Onishi, who had been the world's foremost expert in the Earth's energy resources, was kidnapped from a symposium in New York City, which led to the boy joining the Autobots regularly at their base in Tokyo in an attempt to help the Autobots get his father back. Now, ten years later, the elementary school boy had grown up and found himself becoming a college student, with his ambition to become a renowned scientist, just as his father was. But today, Koji was not riding his scooter for another day at the college; instead, Koji was on his way to a different location. With a bag on his back, which was filled with letters, Koji drove the opposite way to Ultra Magnus with the engine of his scooter whirring endlessly in the Tokyo air.

His trip, especially on a small scooter, took a considerable amount of time as Koji found himself driving through the main district of Tokyo, through smaller residential areas, until eventually, Koji found himself on a freeway, heading towards the coastline nearest the city. His scooter zipped along the freeway, and Koji began to smell the salt from the sea air as it hit his nostrils; seagulls sung in unison, high up in the sky as they began to look for their lunch and then, Koji got his first glimpse of the beach. All the sights and sounds of the area made a smile tug at Koji's face, for whenever he came to this beach, he was always on his way to visit an old friend. Lately with the pressures that came with being a college student, including homework, Koji had found little time to visit his old friend, but today was finally the first day in a fairly long time that Koji would see his friend. He had ensured he had caught up with all the homework he needed to, and made sure he made no commitments socially with his friends from college to make sure that this day would be completely free of anything and everything that had kept him from coming to the beach sooner. The drive to beach was a long one in the first place, and by the time he returned home after a few hours on the beach, it would be late enough that Koji would only have enough time to grab some dinner, then head to bed to sleep for college the next day.

Koji parked his scooter up on a set of railings located at the end of the parking lot that led to the beach. He left his helmet with his scooter after removing it, then he took a stroll through the parking lot before his feet took the initial steps on the soft, golden sand of the beach. With the ground underneath his feet being softer, Koji had to kick his feet higher into the air to be able to walk at a decent speed across the sand, making it look like Koji was stomping across the beach as opposed to walking like he normally would on the pavement. Despite having a parking lot, Koji looked around the beach, seeing that, like always, the beach was all but deserted. For reasons unknown to the boy, the beach rarely had many guests, except for during the very hottest days of the summer. It was a small beach, near the freeway and out of the way of any popular locations or residential wards, so the beach was always quiet, which actually made it the perfect residence for Koji's friend. Continuing on his walk, Koji followed the beach until he came to a large cliff that was sat at the end of the beach, where the sand was replaced with large boulders and rocks which the ocean gently lapped at. Because of this, the rocks could be hazardous to negotiate, if one wasn't careful, but this didn't deter Koji, for immediately, the twenty year old began to step across the rocks, towards a large hole in the side of the cliff which was the opening for a cave. Eventually, Koji reached the cave mouth, and the uneven path made by the rocks and boulders was once again replaced with a smooth surface that was strewn with sand inside the cave; Koji walked into the cave, seeing that the walls were smooth rock, but only for the first few feet. A deeper inspection into the cave, and one would have noticed that the stone walls became lined with panels of metal that had lights embedded into them, allowing Koji to see the cave clearly, unlike before when he had to rely on the sunlight beaming through the mouth of the cave to see.

As Koji continued to follow the tunnel, the drips of water that he heard in the cave were quickly replaced by the sounds of the clicking of pressed computer keys, along with the inaudible mutterings of another person's voice. Finally, Koji turned a corner in the brightly lit tunnel, finding himself in a large chamber, located within the cave. The chamber, like the tunnel was lined entirely of metal, including the floor, save for a large hole in the center of the chamber, which was filled with water; it was a tunnel that ran under the cave and joined the rest of the ocean outside of the cave, but that wasn't the focus of Koji's attention. In fact, what caught Koji's attention was the large robotic back that was facing him. The robot, who had yet to notice Koji enter the chamber sat in a large chair, staring at the large computer screen in front of him. Various text stared back at the blue, white and yellow robot's face, which the robot read many times over. After mumbling to himself for a few hours, the robot let out a groan before he slammed his white palm into his face. It was then that Koji decided to make his presence known.

"Hey, Sky-Byte!" Koji's voice echoed into the chamber.

His cry caught the attention of Sky-Byte. The robot, once a Predacon had found himself stranded on Earth following the defeat of Galvatron after the Transformers' final battle on Earth. While the Autobots had placed their focus on placing Galvatron in laser chains, along with the Decepticon commandos, Sky-Byte, and his Predacon team- Darkscream, Slapper and Gas Skunk found themselves with an opportunity to flea from the final battlefield. Sky-Byte made a quick get away, but his team mates were not so lucky as they tripped over each other, making such a noise as they began to argue among themselves that they were finally noticed by the Autobots, who apprehended them. This left Sky-Byte hiding behind cover as he watched the Autobots take his comrades away inside Fortress Maximus. He did consider attempting a rescue, but it was then he realized that Galvatron had condemned him to a gruesome death when Sky-Byte found himself trapped in a tunnel with the Decepticon commandos and Omega Prime that was being filled with lava. With that in mind, Sky-Byte instead transformed to his flying shark form and quickly flew away before the Autobots realized he was absent from the party. Then, as Fortress Maximus took off from Earth, Sky-Byte found himself swimming happily in the ocean as the sunset on the final day of the Transformers' war on Earth, with the former Predacon sub-commander finally having a sense of freedom. In the ten years that followed Sky-Byte made a home inside this very cave on the small beach near Tokyo.

"Oh! Oh...it's you, Koji. I wasn't expecting you." Sky-Byte said in surprise to Koji as he looked from his computer.

"I figured." Koji chuckled. "I sure got you there, huh?"

Sky-Byte frowned at Koji's amusement; he never appreciated being the butt of a joke, as he had always seemed to be the object of others entertainment after the Decepticon commandos had been created. Somewhat insulted, due to being a sensitive robot, Sky-Byte turned his attention back to the computer screen in front of him.

"What's brought you here?" Sky-Byte finally asked. "I haven't seen you in some time."

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's been a while." Koji answered. "I've been busy with school lately, and with a lot of hard work, I've spent the nights letting off some steam with my friends. But now I'm here, I can finally give you your mail."

Sky-Byte looked back to Koji, to see that the young man slipped the rucksack he had been carrying from off his shoulder, then after unzipping the rucksack, Koji dumped the contents of the rucksack onto the metal floor. Sky-Byte continued to watch as countless letters fell from the inside of his rucksack, to the ground, where they formed a small pile on the floor before Sky-Byte. The robot then left his seat, where he lowered to a knee then he grabbed the first letter in his fingers. Using the large, armoured claw at the end of his opposite arm, Sky-Byte slashed the envelope open, then his red optics began to scan the text of the letter while Koji looked up to him with silence.

"Ah, another publisher has gotten back to me." Sky-Byte announced. "They wish to publish one of my haiku compilations into Chinese. How gratifying."

"I'm not surprised," Koji replied. "Your haiku books have been doing so well. I bet over half of these letters are actually royalty cheques!"

After the initial novelty of being free, and free to do whatever he pleased on Earth, Sky-Byte remembered how he soon became bored. With that boredom soon came depression, as Sky-Byte began to feel lonely and even though he hated to admit it, he felt regret at not at least attempting to free the Predacons from Fortress Maximus; at least then, he would have had Gas Skunk, Darkscream and Slapper for company. About a year later, Sky-Byte found that he encountered Koji inadvertently, after the Predacon shark became entangled in a fishing line that Koji set out during a deep sea fishing trip he went on with his father.

After a long talk with Koji and his father in the ocean, which must have looked strange to any passers by, Dr. Onishi suggested that Sky-Byte try to find and pursue a hobby to pass the time. There were many failed attempts, including golf, baking and sewing, which caused Sky-Byte to sink even deeper into despair as he felt doomed to remain on the planet Earth with nothing to do but swim the oceans of the world, or view the cities of the world from the sky. He conveyed his sadness one day to Dr. Onishi and Koji through a haiku that he ad-libbed to the pair. The doctor was so impressed by his poetic talents, that Dr. Onishi challenged Sky-Byte to write a book's worth of haikus, and if Sky-Byte did that, then Dr. Onishi would contact a friend he had in the book industry to get his work published. Now, years later, Sky-Byte turned a hobby that he was good at into a successful career. It filled his time, allowed him money to pay for oil and fuel to keep him sustained, and as ridiculous as it may have sounded, his success found him on many daytime shows due to the love he had garnered from his poetry. But, he found that he preferred to be out of the public eye, so he kept himself in a refurbished cave, and had his mail sent to Koji, who would visit him every so often to catch up with his friend and also pass his mail over to him.

Sky-Byte continued to read his letters, and collect his cheques from the envelopes, then he looked back to Koji, who had taken a seat on the metallic floor, in front of his gigantic friend.

"So, how have you been, Sky-Byte?" Koji asked. "You know, I do have a phone. If you actually wanted to talk, you could have called me."

"Busy." Sky-Byte answered. "I've been trying to write another book of poetry, but lately I've found I've encountered the most dreadful enemy I have faced in these last ten years."

"What's that?" Koji asked.

The young man looked up to Sky-Byte, somewhat mystified as Sky-Byte's expression had turned to one of bitterness as he brought the subject of his enemy. With his fist held up in the air in defiance to his enemy, Sky-Byte growled for a few moments, before he dropped his fist, followed by his head as he sighed sadly.

"The enemy...known as writer's block."

Koji looked up at Sky-Byte in silence for a few moments. Then, the right hand corner of his mouth twitched as his feelings tugged at his mouth, forcing him to bear a grin before he quietly snorted. He tried to contain himself, not wanting to express his true feelings to his friend, but his feelings betrayed his attempt at concealment, and Koji found himself beginning to laugh at Sky-Byte's problem. In response, the former Predacon looked up from the floor; his gaze rested on Koji with confusion, as well as a slack jaw, as to why Koji would laugh at such a time.

"What's so amusing?" Sky-Byte asked.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Sky-Byte." Koji apologized through his laughs.

Koji found himself still unable to contain his laughing for a few moments more, before eventually, he was able to calm himself down. He wiped a tear from his left eye before he looked back to Sky-Byte with a genuine smile, while Sky-Byte looked back at Koji, irritated that his friend was so amused.

"Listen, Sky-Byte, I wasn't laughing at you," Koji began to explain. "But what I find so funny is that just over ten years ago, I would never have dreamed that your mortal enemy would be writer's block; I would have guessed that it would have been Optimus Prime, Side Burn or someone like that. It's nice to see that I was right about you all along when I said deep down, you really had a good heart."

"Yes, well even after all this time, I wouldn't regard those characters with fondness." Sky-Byte replied. "I may have changed my ways, but I haven't forgotten all the times they blasted me into the next time zone."

"If you'd have revealed your good side to them sooner, I'm sure they would never have hurt you." Koji replied reassuringly. "Maybe you could have joined them."

"Huh." Sky-Byte muttered. "Join them to follow Optimus Prime, and fall in line with the rest of those pompous do gooders? No thank you! I may not regard my old comrades in a positive light anymore, but there is no way I would ally myself with the Autobots. I sooner would have been scrapped."

"But I think you would have made a good Autobot." Koji proclaimed.

"I always thought I made a better Predacon." Sky-Byte replied. "But those times have long since passed..."

He then lifted his left arm, and gazed at the underneath of it; not too far removed from his wrist, Sky-Byte looked down at a plate of armour on his forearm that had been weathered away, leaving the base silver colour of the metal he was made from, as opposed to any paintwork, like the rest of his body. Sky-Byte recalled how he took an industrial belt sander to his forearm to strip not only his paintwork, but also strip his Predacon insignia from his body. He had done it as a proclamation of his freedom- to show that he was not Predacon, but nor would he be an Autobot; he was his own person, who was in control of his own destiny. Unfortunately for Sky-Byte, though, ten years of solitude had made him miss the camaraderie of his old Predacon days, even if it was of the twisted variety, where a friend would just as soon stab you in the back if it meant they could further their own position in the empire. Still, there were many nights that Sky-Byte would think that at least he would have had company. He had never shared those deeper feelings of his psyche with Koji however, for he didn't want Koji to believe that he wanted to go back to his old ways; the young man would have probably been disappointed by hearing it, and Sky-Byte feared he would lose the only true friend he had left in the universe.

Sky-Byte pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as Koji settled in to spend the afternoon with his friend. The hours dragged on until eventually, the afternoon sky outside of the cave was replaced with the orange light of dusk as the evening had approached.

After watching random comedy on an internet website, Koji and Sky-Byte shared a long laugh before Koji looked at his watch.

"Oh man, it's getting late." Koji announced regretfully. "It's time I got going."

"Are you sure?" Sky-Byte asked. "Would you not wish to watch another video? The things humans get up to when they are bored and have a video camera...it's all really delightful."

"Sorry, but I've got school tomorrow." Koji replied. "It'll be late by the time I get home."

"Very well then," a dejected Sky-Byte answered. "Let me see you out."

Koji picked his empty rucksack back up, slung it over his shoulder before he then walked Sky-Byte's side. The pair strode through the tunnel until they reached the mouth of the cave, and Sky-Byte stood at the opening while Koji carefully negotiated the rocks until he made it back onto the sand of the beach. The pair waved to each other one final time, then Sky-Byte turned and headed back into the cave while Koji made his way back to his scooter. Now alone once again, Sky-Byte let out short sigh.

"Back to the cold isolation of my cave." Sky-Byte said to himself. "Loneliness is a gift if one is wise enough to appreciate it. If only my writer's block would leave me alone, too."

Sky-Byte then said nothing more, instead opting to listen to the rhythm that his echoing footsteps made. He walked back into the main chamber of his cave, circled around the pool of water in the center of the chamber, then he slid himself back into his chair. After crossing his left leg over his right, Sky-Byte looked at his computer screen while rubbing his chin in thought. He shifted in his seat, taking his right hand so that his robotic index finger could begin to manipulate the controls of his computer again, when suddenly, he stopped.

Feeling a tingle on the back of his neck, Sky-Byte quickly spun around in his chair, with his shark spike claw up in the air defensively, thinking that somebody had snuck into his cave. But, he looked around the quiet, still chamber and saw nothing. Sky-Byte's eyes made another sweep of the cave, then he let out a sound of irritation before he spun back around to face his computer.

"How strange." Sky-Byte said to himself. "For a moment I felt as if another Transformer was in here. Huh, like that would ever happen."

Sky-Byte turned his full attention back to his computer to try and tackle his writer's block. He heard the water from the pool in the center of his chamber thrash for a moment, but Sky-Byte didn't seem too bothered by it; he figured it was a fish bobbing up to the surface like they some times did. However, the next sound caused Sky-Byte to literally leap out of his seat. It was a voice! Sky-Byte turned around once again, his shark spike claw risen across his chest, which he quickly lowered again upon seeing a strange sight before him; a large, green swordfish was poking its head out of the pool, looking directly at Sky-Byte.

"What the?" Sky-Byte asked himself. "I know I heard a voice. What's going on here?"

What happened next shocked Sky-Byte so much that his robotic jaw opened and stayed slack as the swordfish grinned to Sky-Byte before it then spoke.

"Since you asked so nicely, I'll explain it to you, Sky-Byte."

"Y-you know my name?" Sky-Byte stuttered.

"Yes indeed," the swordfish answered. "Sharp Edge, terrorize!"

Acting upon those words, the swordfish leaped out of the water, causing Sky-Byte to take a step back in surprise. In mid air, the swordfish -which Sky-Byte realized was larger than normal- then began to transform from a larger than normal swordfish into a robotic warrior. The fish's body opened up, revealing a robotic torso on the inside as humanoid legs quickly sprouted out from under the swordfish's tail which folded up onto the robot's back. The swordfish's head then slipped onto the right arm of the warrior which had folded out from the robotic torso, and was replaced with a humanoid head. Detailed like a knight's helmet, most of the warrior's head was a silver, with a large Mohawk streamlined at the top of the helmet. With his transformation now complete, the robot warrior landed gracefully before Sky-Byte, who looked to the Transformer with astonishment.

"It's you." Sky-Byte exclaimed. "It's really you."

"Sky-Byte," the Transformer replied. "You're a tough Predacon to find."

"I don't believe it's really you," was the only thing Sky-Byte felt he could say for a few moments. Then, he continued.

"Sharp Edge. My old first lieutenant from my old ship, the Space Maiden. What brings you all the way to Earth? I figured with the war over, you were either scrapped, imprisoned, or hiding in the outer reaches of space."

"I've come for you, Sky-Byte." said the Predacon, known as Sharp Edge. "I've spent the last few weeks trying to find you."

"Me?" Sky-Byte asked, pointing to himself. "But why?"

"Because the war isn't over." Sharp Edge announced.

"Come again?" A dumbfounded Sky-Byte asked.

"You may have thought it was over," Sharp Edge continued, as he looked to Sky-Byte. "But you only saw things from the Autobots point of view...Ever since news reached us that Galvatron had been captured by Optimus Prime, we Predacons did retreat into the shadows of space. I lived my first few years a beaten mess, doing nothing except wallow in my self pity; but then, I was found."

"Found? By who?"

"My new employer." Sharp Edge answered. "He, along with a ship full of Decepticons took me in. He refueled my long since empty fuel tank, and gave me hope, as well as a renewed sense of purpose. He wishes to destroy the Autobots and take Cybertron back for ourselves!"

"Huh, I've heard that before," muttered a bored Sky-Byte. "Megatron always used to say the same things."

"But Megatron had no grand plan like Cryotek does."

"Cryotek?" Sky-Byte asked, almost in disbelief. "The Predacon criminal overlord?"

"Yes," came the answer. "His plan is subtle and cunning. He knows the Autobots are blissfully unaware of our presence here on Earth. With the Earth free of Autobot protection, myself and the unit I'm with are carrying out our mission here; a vital part of Cryotek's master plan to defeat the Autobots and hand we Predacons the universe on a titanium platter."

"I'm intrigued." Sky-Byte said as he now listened to Sharp Edge with wide eyes. "Do go on."

"I can't." Sharp Edge replied. "Perhaps I've already told you too much. But, my field commander allowed me the time away from the others to search for you. I was aware you weren't taken prisoner aboard Fortress Maximus, so I knew you had to be on Earth. I remember serving under you when we used to plunder the stars, and I knew you would be a welcome edition to Cryotek's Predacon and Decepticon army. I had to find you and get you in on the ground floor."

"Well, that was a long time ago." Sky-Byte muttered, almost with regret. Regret that seemed to confuse Sharp Edge.

"What do you mean?" asked the Predacon swordfish.

"That was the old me, my dear Sharp Edge." Sky-Byte informed, as he turned his back to him. "Ever since I realized how Galvatron had tried to condemn me to a fiery fate, along with Optimus Prime, I realized I never truly had a place in the Predacon empire. I served him near flawlessly, until I became jinxed on this planet. A few mishaps and he rewarded me by trying to send me to the pit. Why would I want to go back to all that, when I have a new life here on Earth?"

Sky-Byte kept his back to Sharp Edge. His old friend was somebody who had seen a different Sky-Byte, thousands of years ago. As captain of a Predacon ship known as the Space Maiden, Sky-Byte led a crew of Predacons like a pirate captain, and like pirates, they terrorized the cosmos, taking energon and planets in the name of Megatron and the Predacons. He knew that Sharp Edge had come to Sky-Byte's lair, expecting to still find that ruthless Predacon sub commander; but Sky-Byte knew that was his old self. The new Sky-Byte was one million times more at peace than his old persona was. It almost shamed Sky-Byte to admit that to his old friend.

There was a few moments of awkward silence as Sky-Byte kept his back to Sharp Edge. Then, the echoing footsteps of Sharp Edge rung through the chamber as Sharp Edge then placed his hand on Sky-Byte's shoulder and forced him to turn around so that they were now face to face.

"That was the past. Forget about it." Sharp Edge told him. "This is a new era; a new army, with a new leader. Cryotek is an excellent leader. If you serve him well, he rewards you with everything you deserve. Megatron was a selfish egomaniac, who would always reward his followers with nothing. Come on, Sky-Byte; what do you say? Come back with me to my commander, and you can help us with our part of the plan- a plan you'll be able to hear all about."

Sky-Byte looked into Sharp Edge's yellow optic sensors, and saw conviction chiseled in them, like words on a slab of granite. With such belief and faith lying behind those words, Sky-Byte wondered, was the Predacon banner under Cryotek's rule everything Sharp Edge was conveying? He wondered, what would it be like to tear across the universe like an unholy plague once more, but this time, doing so under the command of one who would truly recognize his contributions and reward his work. That was all Sky-Byte ever wanted from Megatron, or Galvatron as he was later know. He would have a true purpose in his life; a life that still had thousands of years before it would end. He could travel the universe once again, he would be surrounded by his own kind, and relish in glory!

...But then, Sky-Byte turned his head away from Sharp Edge as he remembered the life he did have on Earth. For the past ten years, he had been met with adulation in the past. His appearances on television shows like Oprah had shown him that. His books of haikus had made the world aware that while he looked like a cold hearted machine, there was a compassionate poet underneath his bodywork, capable of making people laugh and cry with his words. His poems were said at weddings, graduations and other events that were special in the humans' lives. He had been told by people that his work had inspired them so much, and that his books meant a lot to them. Even though he had spent the last few years of his life holed up in his cave, Sky-Byte had to admit that was of his own choice. But, that was also because he always felt somewhat unfulfilled in his new life.

Sky-Byte fully turned away from Sharp Edge again, this time with his bowed to the floor as conflicting feelings tore at his mind, as well as his spark, like two children fighting over a teddy bear. He honestly wasn't sure what he wanted more- a peaceful life on Earth, where people loved him for haikus that no Predacon would ever understand. Or, did he want his former glory days back, when beings all over the universe shook in fear at the very name of Sky-Byte. Eventually, he spoke once more.

"I'm sorry, Sharp Edge, but I feel I must pass on your offer. As tempting as it may be, I realize that I am not the ruthless Predacon I once was. I am an artist now; for better or worse."

Sharp Edge's mouth hung open for a moment, for he couldn't believe his former superior officer had fallen from grace so badly. Thinking for a moment, Sharp Edge then looked to Sky-Byte with a grin of determination before he slapped Sky-Byte on the back.

"If it was anyone else, I'd turn them into scrap faster than you could transform," Sharp Edge began. "But, because you were once my captain, and because of our friendship, I'm going to give you an ultimatum. I've spent enough time playing hide and seek looking for, so I need to return to my commander. I'll come back here in the coming days and you can give me your answer then...But, make sure it's the answer I want to hear. Think about it, Sky-Byte: condemnation here on Earth, where you're doomed to rust, or stand alongside us as masters of the universe. I'll leave you with your thoughts, old friend."

With that, Sharp Edge leaped back into the air and transformed back into his robotic swordfish form. Landing perfectly back into the center of the pool, Sharp Edge disappeared into the murky depths, causing a small torrent of water to rain down on Sky-Byte in his wake. Sky-Byte didn't care though. Instead, the former Predacon simply fell backwards, slumping back into his chair as he sighed deeply. Now he was all alone in the silence, Sky-Byte looked at his arm once more. He was fixated upon the patch of his bodywork where he had worn away his Predacon insignia. With Sharp Edge's words flowing through his mind, Sky-Byte was unsure of what to do for the best...

One thing he did know however, was that he had suddenly become inspired to write a new haiku.

---

Chapter 2

The night came and went. While it had been a restless night for Sky-Byte- who had been wrestling with his personal perplexity, it had been a perfect night's sleep for one woman who lived on the other side of Tokyo. In a large apartment complex, near the center of Tokyo, a young businesswoman awoke from her perfect night's sleep with a smile on her face.

The green haired woman, known to her friends as Kelly, had once been unwittingly somewhat involved in the Transformers war. During that time, the woman had consistently been down on her luck. Whether she was late for work, her flights were canceled, or she crashed her newest car, it seemed to be a low ebb for her. Worse still, when the Transformers came to Earth, she found herself always being chased by Side Burn; however, not because Side Burn wanted her. Strangely enough, Side Burn had a fixation on red sports cars, which were also the kind of cars Kelly always enjoyed and owned. Seemingly every time she was out on the road in her red sports car, Side Burn would chase down the roads of Japan after her, harassing her for her car. She had never known that Side Burn was in fact an alien robot who used the disguise of a Dodge Viper to get around; if she had, she probably would have checked herself in to an insane asylum. But, like everyone else, she knew of the robots in disguise, and their existence on Earth for there were at least three incidents she was involved in with them that she could think of off the top of her head. But never once did she think that the weirdo always chasing after her on the streets of Japan was in fact a Transformer himself.

But with bad times, always come good times. Only two months after the Transformers left Earth, in what was a massive event, reported on and in every media outlet around the world, Kelly found her luck quickly began to change. No longer harassed while going out in her car, she found that her anxiety quickly quelled, and she was able to focus on her job as an executive's secretary more intently than she had been doing while Side Burn prowled the streets. Soon after her standard of work picked up, her boss decided to give her a chance an executive saleswoman, and from there, her career went from strength to strength as she quickly excelled in her job. Things had certainly turned around for her, and now she found that she once again began to enjoy life.

Happily hopping out of bed, Kelly prepared for another hard, but prosperous day at work as she took a shower, brushed her teeth, got dressed, then she went for breakfast. Once in the kitchen, she turned on a small television she had mounted on the wall of her kitchen, just above the breakfast bar as she fixed herself something to eat. As she looked through the contents of her fridge, she listened to the morning news, which was being narrated by a female news anchor.

"And finally, in a perplexing event: the national museum of art was partially destroyed last night. The museum, which is located in Osaka, Japan, had its roof and much of the central building destroyed. It is not known what exactly caused the destruction of the building, but a security guard who was witness to the event first hand is insisting it was the work of a giant monster."

The news studio then cut away to a feed of the security guard in question. Standing in front of the partially destroyed museum, that was surrounded in emergency vehicles, and police officers, the security guard, covered in dust and looking incredibly stressed spoke into the microphone that was held by a news reporter.

"I couldn't believe it- it was like something out of a Godzilla movie! My colleague and I heard a rumbling in the center annex. We ran into the chamber, and we watched in horror as these fingers dug into the ceiling then ripped the roof off it! Then, this...this...monster peered into the museum, looking around as if it was after something. It was then it spotted my colleague and I. He reached down for us, then he snatched my partner up and he quickly crushed him to death...I'm sorry. I don't think I can carry on."

Now with her breakfast, Kelly sat down at her breakfast bar as she looked up at the television, shocked at the events being reported on the news.

"What a world this is." Kelly announced, talking to herself. "It makes me grateful for all my good fortune these days."

Kelly continued to eat her breakfast as the news station cut away to a commercial break. As she was finishing her first meal of the day, the news returned to the television, and the news anchor began to report on the latest news report of the morning. Kelly placed her plate in her sink and listened to the news anchor while she fixed a drink for herself.

"The Tokyo National Museum is excited to be taking the delivery of a new exhibit today. A new artifact that was discovered under the ocean has been named 'the Pearl of the Pacific', due to its resemblance of a pearl, albeit twenty times larger, is on its way from its sight of discovery off the shore of the state of California in the United States, to Tokyo. It is expected to reach the National Museum at latest by lunch time today. The new exhibition will be open to the public by next Monday..."

It was then that Kelly switched off her television. She rushed from the kitchen into her living room, where she grabbed her briefcase off her coffee table, then she quickly walked out of her front door. Walking down the corridor away from her apartment, Kelly reached the elevator of the building, where she traveled from the eleventh floor of the apartment, all the way down to the basement level. As the elevator doors opened, Kelly found walked out of the elevator and into the apartment building's parking lot. With her clicking heels echoing through the quiet parking lot, Kelly walked past numerous cars, until she stopped before a purple coloured Nissan Skyline. Holding a set of keys towards the car, she pressed a button on her car key and the car beeped as its signal lights flashed twice. Then, with the car disarmed, Kelly slipped into the driver's seat before she threw her briefcase onto the passenger's seat. Starting the car, Kelly slowly began to drive out of the parking lot, careful not to bump into one of the many cars that were lined up in the parking lot.

While Kelly's passion for red sports cars was evident, as her luck began to change and her promotion allowed her to afford a new car, Kelly found herself making another shocking change in her life. Upon visiting a car dealership, her eyes rested on the purple Nissan Skyline that she now owned. Friends and family were shocked on the change in her taste of cars, but Kelly explained it that now her luck with her career and life in general began to change, she thought she'd make a change in her taste of cars, of which she previously had many. She also felt that the purple cruiser was now her good luck charm- a good luck charm she intended to keep longer than any of her other cars, with the average car usually lasting about two to four months under her ownership.

Now on the road, Kelly made the drive from her apartment, across the city center to where her place of work was; a large building that was the national headquarters for an electronics development company. With minutes to spare, Kelly followed the road down into the basement level of the building into its parking lot, and after shoving her work I.D. Card into the parking lot's barrier scanner, the red and white barrier lifted up. Kelly took her pass back, then she drove her car through the parking lot until she found herself a space, then parked up. Mumbling about not wanting to be late, Kelly snatched up her briefcase once again, left her car, armed its security system, then she rushed towards the nearest elevator that would take her up to her office.

With Kelly gone, the purple Nissan sat silent and motionless as more cars passed it. One by one, the cars parked up, and more workers left their cars to rush up into the building to begin their working day. Eventually, shortly after nine o'clock, a stillness fell upon the parking lot as everyone in the building began work. It was then, with the parking lot still and devoid of life that something extraordinary happened as Kelly's purple Nissan's engine ignited.

With the engine softly purring underneath the hood, the car's gearstick quickly shifted inside the car of its own free will, before the car smoothly pulled out from its parking space where it then gently followed the route of the parking lot, towards the exit ramp. The car stopped, finding itself before the closed exit barrier, which was placed there so that the company's employees would be safe in the knowledge that their cars couldn't leave the building without the person who owned them, due to the fact that they needed an I.D. card to raise the barrier. Strangely though, as the car sat before the barrier, the red light on the tail end of the barrier quickly flashed green on its own, indicating that a pass had been put through the system. With the barrier rising up, the purple car trundled out of the parking lot, then it joined the road and began to pick up speed as it accelerated away from the building, still without a driver. Now cruising through the center of Tokyo once again, the car's stereo switched itself on. The news segment of the station's radio show was currently playing, which the car left to play through its speakers as it relayed the events of the night before in Osaka, as well as the news about the deliver of the Pearl of the Pacific. With the news report ending, the car stereo switched itself off.

The car then found itself at a red light, and it slowed to a halt. It stood, with a purring engine, just behind a small green truck. If the truck driver was close enough, the man behind the wheel would have been shocked to hear as a voice quietly spoke, seemingly to itself.

"This is Decepticon Oil Slick reporting in," the Nissan said in a fulsome sounding voice. "I have another lead. I am en route to it right now; I shall check in immediately thereafter."

"Acknowledged." Answered an aging sounding voice through the car's radio. "As you were."

The radio message was so short, that the Nissan Skyline, known as the Decepticon, Oil Slick switched off his radio and still had time to sit and wait for the traffic lights to change back to green. As soon as they had, Oil Slick revved his engine, then he rolled from the traffic lights, once again on his way. Knowing his way, the Decepticon drove through the center of Tokyo, eventually making his way out of the heaving metropolis, and out towards the outskirts of the large city. He joined the freeway, putting more distance between himself and Tokyo to pursue his target. He knew that the object he sought, the Pearl of the Pacific, would arrive in the city via an armoured carrier. After initially hearing about the pearl being transported to Japan, the Decepticon hacked into many courier and shipping manifestos to find that the pearl had arrived in the country at 4am that morning at the dock of Osaka, Japan. It was a fact that Oil Slick found rather ironic considering how he had returned from that very city, back into Tokyo only an hour earlier.

Now, he found himself on a freeway for that general direction, knowing that the armoured carrier that held the wanted cargo would have to pass him sooner or later. When it did, Oil Slick would make his move, only this time he would make sure there were no surviving witnesses to his ongoing treasure hunt.

"I now have seven hours to apprehend the target and be back to the human's place of work." Oil Slick said softly to himself. "The humans holding the target better be prompt."

Oil Slick's trip was one of many that he had made while posing as Kelly's Nissan Skyline. In a strange twist, Oil Slick found himself originally scanning the Nissan that was to be sent to the dealership, but in the confusion of transforming right next to it, Oil Slick found himself being placed on a truck which was taken to the car dealership. Oil Slick considered either destroying the truck and making his escape, or simply slipping away once he arrived at the dealership, but his orders stressed that he stay as undercover as possible. He arrived at the dealership, and was placed on the dealership's forecourt, where he figured he would slip away in the middle of the night once everyone was gone. Sadly, within an hour of being on the forecourt, he found himself groaning with irritation as Kelly unwittingly bought the Decepticon then gave it a hug upon receiving the car keys. Since then, Oil Slick continued with his mission while acting as Kelly's car. Like clockwork, whenever she went to work or when she went to bed, Oil Slick would drive off on his own, making sure to be back before Kelly realized he was gone. During the day, Oil Slick would usually drive around, investigating to try and find clues to help in his search for his target, as per his orders. Then, during the nights, if he had found any decent information to go on, Oil Slick would act under the cover of darkness. However, every lead he had came up with nothing, and last night's incident in Osaka was just the latest in the long line of goose chases. Now annoyed by one wrong lead after another, Oil Slick decided to act on his new lead right away and pursue his target in broad daylight, orders be damned.

Oil Slick continued on his way along the freeway that took him further out of Tokyo in a southern direction. Luckily for him, most, if not all of the other people around him that were in their cars and trucks had failed to notice that the purple Skyline that was among them had no driver to speak of inside of it. Oil Slick had been given orders to study all of the Earthlings' laws and culture before he was sent out on his recon mission; in particular, he studied the rules of the roads, especially of those in Japan. Knowing that he could get around the country most inconspicuously as a car, he wanted to remain as incognito as possible, which meant following the humans' rules of the road. Most Decepticons would have balked at the idea of following any kind of laws, especially ones that were decreed by humans, but Oil Slick was smart enough to know that remaining in disguise on Earth meant he didn't arouse even the slightest suspicion. Driving at speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour in a 60 kilometer zone would have garnered him the unwanted attention of the police, so Oil Slick cruised at a steady pace like the rest of the traffic on the freeway so that he blended in among the locals.

Eventually, Oil Slick found his patience had paid off. In the opposite dual lane, that was separated by a concrete column in the middle of the freeway, Oil Slick noticed a black armoured carrier driving in the opposite lane. With red livery that seemingly sparkled in the sun, the van quickly gained Oil Slick's attention. Inside of his cabin, a small monitor switched itself on and immediately, a small red dot began to flash on and off on the screen exactly in the same area where the armoured van was. Oil Slick had found his target.

The Decepticon car immediately went into action. Watching the van driving past him, the Nissan's steering wheel immediately began to turn, forcing the car to turn in the corresponding direction as it headed towards the concrete blockade that separated the dual lanes. With the hard sound of impact that only an accelerating car hitting a concrete object could, people were shocked to see that the car ploughed through the concrete. In a cloud of dust, as well as chunks of rock that flew up into the air and rained down on the freeway, which sent many of the human drivers piling up on the roads in panic, Oil Slick now entered the opposite lane, then he sped up the freeway after his target. Realizing that he broke his own rules about blending in among the other cars and vehicles on the Japanese roads, Oil Slick knew that acquiring the target that was so sought after by he and his team was too important to pass by just so that he could stay concealed. His reckless driving was quickly noticed as the security guard driving the van saw what had happened in his wing mirror.

"Did you see that?" The driver asked the guard in the passenger seat.

"What happened?"

"Somebody collided with the blockade back there," the driver answered.

The driver's colleague quickly shifted in his seat, wound down the window then he looked out of the window for a better look. Almost immediately, after looking back down the freeway, the passenger guard sat back fully in his seat with a frown, then he looked back to the security guard who was driving.

"Do you know what kind of car it was?"

"I'm not sure," the driver replied. "It was purple though, I think."

"If that's the case," the passenger began, "it's now on this side of the freeway!"

"What?" Asked the shocked driver. "It can't be."

The security guard in the passenger seat was about to speak again, but the two guards let out a cry of shock each as the van jerked violently forwards. Being thrown forwards in their seats before their seat belts forced them to jerk fully back in their chairs, the two guards felt as if another car had just bumped them from their rear. The security guard in the passenger seat looked out of his window again, then quickly looked back to the driver in panic.

"That purple car just shot a line onto the van!"

"What?" The driver asked. "What kind of car can do that?"

"I don't know," the other guard replied. "But it's connected to the front of its grill. I think whoever is doing this is after the Pearl."

"Shoot it off." The driver suggested.

The driver's colleague swiftly reached for his small gun that was holstered on his belt. Flipping the cover of his holster, the guard took his gun in his hand and once again, he leaned out of the window; this time leaning further out of the window than before. After telling the driver to keep the van steady, the guard trained his gun at the cable that kept the purple Skyline attached to the armoured can. He narrowed his eyes, concentrating as hard as he could on the line between the two vehicles, then when he was sure he had his best aim, the guard fired a bullet from his gun. With the smoke from the shot filling the guard's nose, he watched in shock as the bullet collided with the cable, but simply bounced off of the cable in a shower of sparks, with the bullet simply landing on the road as the Skyline's tyres ran right over it. Now more flustered than before, the guard slipped back into his seat and informed the horrified driver that the clean shot had no effect. Oil Slick chuckled at the human's feeble attempt at stopping him.

"This is too easy." Oil Slick said to himself. "Now it's time to land this fish."

The Skyline quickly applied its brakes. With the brake peddle inside the car slamming hard to the floor board, the car's tyres became tightly locked in place; tyres screeched so loud that it caused the guards in the van to grimace at the sound. They soon noticed that the van began to slow as it struggled to pull the car along the road. Then, soon after they felt the van slow right down from the resistance the car was offering it, they saw that smoke began to billow from underneath the hood of the van.

"It's not going to last much longer like this." The driver informed his partner. "The van can't even move. Is that car made out of 2 tonnes of lead or something?"

While the guards inside the van had become stressed over what to do next, Oil Slick began to approach the van. Still in his vehicle form, Oil Slick used the winch system that had shot the harpoon and cable into the back of the van to pull him towards the van. As he continued to approach the van, the closer he got to the van, the higher his anticipation became. However, he was quickly shocked as he suddenly felt his line go slack and upon a closer look, Oil Slick watched in surprise as his Cybertronic steel cable had been shot through and separated. He wasn't sure what artillery on Earth could actually penetrate Cybertronic steel, but his wonder was quickly answered as he heard a voice cut through the air, shocking Oil Slick even further.

"Ultra Magnus, transform!"

Oil Slick shifted his optic scanners to see the imposing form of Ultra Magnus rising to his feet as he finished his transformation into his robot mode. Quickly, the giant robot then leaped over the concrete blockade so that he stood near the armoured van and Oil Slick; with his blue bolts weapon in hand, Ultra Magnus aimed it down at the purple Nissan, who now sat motionless, thinking over his next move.

"Alright Decepticon, you can show yourself." Ultra Magnus ordered. "You're not fooling anyone."

For once, Oil Slick decided to comply with an Autobot's request as he quickly shifted to his robot mode. With a grin, Oil Slick looked up to Ultra Magnus for the Decepticon's head only came up to Ultra Magnus' chest level. Even though he was grinning arrogantly, deep inside himself, Oil Slick was fuming that his mission had been interrupted by an Autobot- and not just any Autobot, but the brother of the Autobot leader, in fact, who was never known for his discretion. There was silence over a tense few moments as Ultra Magnus glared at Oil Slick with the blue bolts trained on him, while the security guards viewed the stand off in disbelief.

Suddenly, despite the presence of the powerful Autobot, Oil Slick made his move as he lunged for the security van in a bid to grab it, so that he might rip the Pearl out from it to see if the Pearl was the prize he sought after. Unfortunately though, Ultra Magnus watched Oil Slick make a break for the van and with reflexes like a cat, Ultra Magnus took a large step between the van and Oil Slick; quickly intercepting his enemy, Ultra Magnus lashed out with his left forearm, slamming it into Oil Slick's jaw with enough force that Oil Slick fell back to the tarmac with such force that the tarmac shattered underneath it. Oil Slick growled from the indignation of tossed to the ground like an empty energon cube. His torso shifted as he began to sit up, but he quickly froze in place as the end of Ultra Magnus' blue bolts gun was quickly pointed towards his metallic nose. Oil Slick looked from Ultra Magnus to the armoured van when he heard it accelerate; he frowned as he watched the van begin to drive away, with the security guards so shocked by what they had saw that they didn't wish to spend a second longer around the two giant robots.

"Go on, then." Oil Slick then said to his enemy. "Do it. Finish me off."

"You don't tell me what to do, Decepticon." Ultra Magnus answered. "You'll be scrapped when I'm good and ready, but right now I want to know what brought your rust ridden hide to Earth."

"Hm." Oil Slick grinned, "my chassis is the polar opposite of rusty, thank you. Besides, you shouldn't play dumb with me, Autobot. You know why I'm here, otherwise why would you be here?"

"I'm here because I knew you would be," was the answer. "You Decepticons are too predictable."

"If you want to stop me finding the Eye, you're going to need to shoot me right now. You'll only have one chance."

Oil Slick's comment caused Ultra Magnus to lower his guard. Confused by what Oil Slick meant, Ultra Magnus lowered his weapon very slightly with a frown as he looked towards the fallen Oil Slick, who noticed Ultra Magnus' sudden shift in his posture.

"Eye?" Ultra Magnus asked. "What the heck are you babbling about?"

"Hmm..." Oil Slick murmured. "Well, let me put it to you like this. Oil Slinger!"

With Ultra Magnus' guard down, Oil Slick took advantage of his lax position as he prepared his oil slinger attack. Raising his right hand into the air, a small hole opened up in Oil Slick's black palm. Then, thrusting his hand from right to left, Ultra Magnus was shocked as a stream of oil flew from Oil Slick's palm, where it landed in Ultra Magnus' face; the large Autobot let out a cry of surprise as he found himself blinded due to the thick, blinding oil that now covered his yellow optic sensors. He reached up with his left hand, attempting to wipe the oil from out of his eyes, but before he could wipe the oil from his face, Ultra Magnus found his legs buckle under him as Oil Slick kicked Ultra Magnus in the back of the right leg before flipping back up to his own feet as he watched Ultra Magnus hit the tarmac just as hard -if not harder- than what Oil Slick did. He chuckled for a moment as Ultra Magnus continued to wipe his eyes to clear his vision.

"So you're ignorant to the Eye?" Oil Slick asked, grinning. "Suits me just fine. If you don't know what it is, then you won't know where it is, leaving me to get on with my job. Ciao, Autobot."

"You're not going anywhere!" Ultra Magnus roared as he sat up. "Eat this!"

Having wiped most of the oil from his face, Ultra Magnus raised the blue bolts weapon that he still clutched tightly in his hand. As the weapon was aimed at Oil Slick, the gatling gun on the weapon began to spin rapidly, then with the deafening sound of rapid fire, many small orange blasts were expelled from the multiple barrels in the gatling gun as Ultra Magnus fired off round after round from his gatling gun on his enemy. The shots landed against Oil Slick's front, pelting the Decepticon without reprieve, forcing him to stumble back as he grumbled in pain and discomfort from the hurting that the rounds caused him as they slammed against his armour. Eventually, after shot after shot, Oil Slick felt his armour begin to chip away from his body while Ultra Magnus continued to pour the firepower on Oil Slick. Ultra Magnus then rose to his feet, after which he took his finger off the trigger which caused the gatling gun to cease fire, much to the relief of the battered Oil Slick, but Ultra Magnus didn't yield his attack for the purpose of showing mercy...

"Ultra Kick!"

The jet pack on Ultra Magnus' back roared into life; flames spewed from the two exhausts on his back, the force of which pushed his heavy frame into the air. As he began to rise into the air, Ultra Magnus noticed with an angry look that Oil Slick began to slowly move to his feet- no doubt to make an escape. With Oil Slick back on his feet, Ultra Magnus' jet pack quickly shut off, and the large Autobot began to drop towards Oil Slick. With his right foot extended, Ultra Magnus' foot collided with Oil Slick's chest plate, sending Oil Slick flying back through the air before he crashed to the tarmac once more, which was torn up by the Decepticon as he slid across the road. With Oil Slick knocked down once again, Ultra Magnus ran up to him as he landed on his feet, ready to continue his assault on his enemy. But, as Ultra Magnus stood over Oil Slick again, the Decepticon used his oil slinger attack once more, this time forcing the oil to splatter against Ultra Magnus' chest. Then, as the oil began to drip down his chest, Oil Slick raised his left arm up at Ultra Magnus' chest. The plate on the upside of his forearm opened up as a cannon barrel raised up from out of his forearm, where it was aimed at Ultra Magnus. Without a word, Oil Slick made his attack count for a stream of fire spewed from his weapon, which was in actual fact, a flamethrower. The fire spat through the air and collided with Ultra Magnus' chest which ignited the combustible liquid on Ultra Magnus' body.

"You're looking hot under the collar, Autobot." Oil Slick chuckled, now rising to his feet once more. "Now if you don't mind, I shall take my leave."

Despite the pain he was suffering as the flames ate away at his upper body, Ultra Magnus couldn't let Oil Slick escape; he had to disable the Decepticon and somehow find out what exactly this mysterious eye he talked about was, and why he sought after it. Letting out another roar, the fire covered Autobot rushed at Oil Slick, who now stood motionless as he was taken by surprise at Ultra Magnus' bold and unexpected movements. As Ultra Magnus got close enough to Oil Slick, Ultra Magnus sprung off his legs, leaping and clearing the distance between he and Oil Slick as he hit a flying tackle on Oil Slick, who fell backwards against the Autobot's body. Consequently, the pair collided with the concrete wall on the end of the freeway; the pair immediately crashed through it, then they found themselves beginning to drop through the air as the freeway had been constructed some seventy feet over a shallow marsh land bay. With chunks of concrete falling around them as they both dropped, Oil Slick and Ultra Magnus found themselves separated while they dropped through the air, before they landed harshly in the water and marshland beneath them. Fortunately for Ultra Magnus, he found that as he landed chest first, the water smothered the flames that had continued to burn on his chest, sending steam streaming off of his chest. On his hands and knees now, he looked to a weary looking Oil Slick, who stumbled to his feet.

"It's become clear to me that you're not going to let me walk away until you're a pile of nuts and bolts." Oil Slick surmised. "I was going to let you live, but you're leaving me no option here."

"You destroy me?" Ultra Magnus groaned as he stood with a charred chest. "Don't make me laugh. You're the one who's going down! Come on!"

With that, the pair charged at each other. They were throwing caution and their better judgment to the wind. Oil Slick, despite wishing to get out of the fight as soon as possible now decided he would have to destroy Ultra Magnus before he could continue on with his mission; Ultra Magnus discarded with his original plan to interrogate Oil Slick, instead settling on destroying the nuisance. It would be one less Decepticon among the numbers of the universe and he could extract any information from Oil Slick by reading the remains of information from the CPU of Oil Slick's decapitated head.

Immersed only ankle deep in the water, the pair met once again as they collided against each other after their charge. Immediately, the pair grabbed each other as they began to grapple in an attempt to wrestle the other into the water and deal with their respective opponent. Even though Ultra Magnus was much stronger than he was, Oil Slick summoned all the strength and grit he could muster to give Ultra Magnus a run for his money, which he did so, surprising Ultra Magnus, who found he was having a job of throwing Oil Slick down to the ground. The pair continued to struggle, grunting and growling as they glared towards each other. Then suddenly, as they continued to wrestle, Ultra Magnus' face relaxed softly as he realized that Oil Slick was beginning to show less resistance as he began to weaken under Ultra Magnus' intensity. With the Decepticon now weakening underneath him, Ultra Magnus tightened his grip on his enemy. He prepared to lift Oil Slick up off of his feet, with plans to throw the Decepticon into the water, but what happened next came unexpected, putting the screws to Ultra Magnus' plan.

The sound of laser fire echoed through the air, taking both of the battling Transformers' attention away from each other, just for a brief second. The second was all they needed as they looked up into the air to see an orange laser beam dropping from the freeway as it made their way towards them. Together, the pair shoved themselves away from each other in an attempt to dodge the incoming laser blast. Unfortunately, they both found themselves slow to react to the unexpected attack as the laser blast collided with the water between them, but the blast created enough of an impact that it threw Oil Slick and Ultra Magnus off their feet, where they crashed back into the water, this time on their backs. Slowly, Ultra Magnus sat up and he looked up towards the overpass; a new enemy had presented themselves, filling Ultra Magnus with the need to defend himself.

Immediately, Ultra Magnus saw his target as a robotic head peered over the concrete wall on the freeway as the head looked down towards the pair in the water. With a growl, Ultra Magnus snatched his firearm from out of the water, aimed it up into the air before he pulled the trigger which reactivated the gatling gun, sending a hail of ammunition up towards the overpass. Regrettably, Ultra Magnus watched as the figure on the overpass quickly jumped away from the wall and certain harm from Ultra Magnus' attack. Ultra Magnus now cried out with frustration as his firepower missed the assailant above him, so he flipped to his feet, then he activated his jet pack and Ultra Magnus took off into the air with the intention of making the attacker regretful of interjecting themselves into his and Oil Slick's battle. But, as he climbed into the air, eventually flying over the freeway, Ultra Magnus began to look around with frustration to see that the aggressor had disappeared. Landing on the tarmac once more, Ultra Magnus stood among many cars that had now been abandoned by panicked drivers who had watched the two Transformers fight each other. Looking left to right, Ultra Magnus desperately looked around, attempting to find the attacker, but alas, he had seemingly disappeared.

"That's impossible," Ultra Magnus noted. "Where did this new Decepticon go?"

Ultra Magnus continued to look around, but if the robot who interrupted the pair was indeed a Decepticon, no doubt he or she would have been long gone, due to the fact that most vehicle modes would have them either long down the road, or high in the sky by the time Ultra Magnus landed on the freeway. A familiar sound quickly caught Ultra Magnus' attention, whose head snapped back to the broken concrete wall. He rushed to the hole in the wall, which he then peered through before he let out a cry of anger to see that the sound he had heard was indeed what he had thought it was; Oil Slick had transformed to his vehicle mode, and began to accelerate away, despite being in water. Urgently, Ultra Magnus raised his blue bolts weapon once more, then he let off some more firepower from his gatling gun, but the shots missed their target, instead slamming into the water, sending large splashes of water high up into the sky which sparkled in the sunlight. Ultra Magnus considered pursuing Oil Slick, and he was about to, but as he began to move, his energon levels indicated he was now low on energy, and the damage he had sustained during the battle was more than minor. Pursuing Oil Slick at that point could prove to be a rash and costly mistake if Oil Slick had energy to spare. So instead, Ultra Magnus allowed himself a cry of anger before he slammed the blue bolts weapon to the ground in frustration as Oil Slick had disappeared into the distance.

"Matrix damn it!" Ultra Magnus roared. "He got away. If it wasn't for that other scrapheap interfering, I'd have that Decepticon's head in my hand right now."

Ultra Magnus walked away from the broken wall on the freeway, where he picked up his firearm and he continued to walk some way down the freeway. Now seemingly calm after the wave of anger washed through him, Ultra Magnus then stopped in his stride, and rested the blue bolts on his shoulder before he looked to the sky in thought.

"Well, if anything has come out of it, at least it means I was right. The Decepticons are back on Earth, at least, just like I thought they would be. I don't know what this...eye is that the piece of trash Decepticon is after, but the next time I find him -or his motorcycle friend- they won't get away. They'll have to tell me what I know, and when I know what they're after, I'll be able to throw a monkey wrench into their plans. If only Prime would have listened to me, then maybe we'd be in a better position. It looks like it's up to me to fix things, so fixing things is what I'm gonna do."

Ultra Magnus figured it would be best to withdraw before any more humans came along to see him first hand. He quickly transformed to his vehicular form before he then drove away to consider his next move while he sought to some repairs and getting himself recharged.

Meanwhile, driving in the opposite direction entirely was Oil Slick, who finally left the water and found himself on the roads once more. Damaged himself, Oil Slick decided to allow the Pearl to head to its destination without any further interference for himself. He joined the freeway once more and doubled back as he returned to Tokyo. Eventually, he continued to drive until he made his way through Tokyo, careful to ensure that he didn't encounter Ultra Magnus on the way through, whom he figured was lurking somewhere in the great city. Out of the city, Oil Slick traveled along the roads until he sped through the countryside, eventually taking him to the world famous Mount Fuji. The purple car bypassed the mountain, instead making a path for one of the dense forests that surrounded the mountain. At the edge of a forest, Oil Slick stopped, then he transformed to his robot mode. He stood only as tall as some of the younger trees, and with the floor of the forest littered with large rocks and other debris, Oil Slick was forced to push through the limbs and bushes of the trees while carefully walking across the ground of the forest. Eventually, after disturbing much of the wildlife that lived in the forest, Oil Slick found himself in a large clearing in the center of the forest. Due to the forest's density, it was virtually impossible for mere humans to walk through it, but as Oil Slick had just proven, Transformers were able to walk through it, provided they were careful enough not to trip over any of the many natural objects of nature that were in the forest. Because of this, the forest was the perfect hiding place for a small space ship, which sat in the clearing before Oil Slick.

The small ship, coloured in purple metal sat still and silent, until that is, a figure was seen moving through the orange window at the front of the ship. Oil Slick watched as the shadowy figure noticed him in the clearing, then the figure walked away from the window and out of the ship's control room and a few seconds later, a door located in the side of the ship opened, before a ramp lowered from the door with the hiss of hydraulics. After the ramp pressed against the grass of the clearing, Oil Slick limped up the ramp, into the dark interior of the ship. With the ramp retracting and the door closing behind him, Oil Slick limped through the weaving corridors of the shuttle until he found himself inside the control room at the front of the ship, where he met the shadowy figure who noticed him standing outside and granted him entry into the ship.

The figure, who stood taller than he, looked down at Oil Slick with a red visor and without a mouth, instead having a mouth plate. Painted in a tan colour that resembled the paint job that desert military vehicles bore, the figure had large, orange rotor blades atop his shoulder that added to his already large height, as well as giving him a broader look to his frame than he actually had. He was also distinct in the fact he had no hands; instead, at the end of his arms were the ends of warheads, five poking out of the end of each arm. Oil Slick looked up to the figure with a serious look that he rarely wore, but he did so out of respect of the Decepticon he stood before.

"Oil Slick," the figure began in an aging voice. "I did not expect to see you return so soon, let alone looking as battered as you are. Explain yourself."

"I had to return, commander Obsidian." Oil Slick answered. "But I do so with less than good news, I'm afraid. It appears we have an Autobot, here on Earth."

The Decepticon, known as Obsidian, looked towards Oil Slick as his visor surged with power, causing an eerie red glow to illuminate his mostly tanned face. He considered Oil Slick's words for a moment, then he spoke again, in the same calm tone he had before.

"An Autobot?" Obsidian echoed. "Curious. Do they know why we are here?"

"I don't think so." Oil Slick replied. "The Autobot didn't seem to know of the Eye when I mentioned it in passing. In fact, he seemed so puzzled over it that he lowered his guard to me."

"So, he doesn't know of the Eye?" Obsidian asked. "Then that poses an interesting question as to why an Autobot would have returned to Earth...Did he mention if there were others with him?"

"No," Oil Slick said. "But during our skirmish, we were interrupted by an attack from another. I don't know if it was an Autobot, Decepticon or even a Predacon, but the way he reacted to it leaves me to believe that perhaps he is alone."

For a moment, Obsidian was silent. He took his attention away from Oil Slick and made his way over to the main computer of the bridge of the ship. He pressed a button on the computer, then spoke into a microphone beside it, informing all hands to report to the bridge, and after his order echoed through the ship, Obsidian looked back to Oil Slick and spoke once more.

"Is it not possible that the Autobots know of our presence here on Earth. Did the Autobot mention if he knew we were here?"

"He did mention that he knew we'd come back." Oil Slick answered, after some thought. "The way he said it however makes me believe he just guessed we'd come back. I don't think he knew for sure that we'd be here."

"A lucky guess, then..." Obsidian thought aloud.

The conversation between Obsidian and Oil Slick was interrupted as the door to the bridge opened once again as this time, a group of three Decepticons walked onto the bridge. Obsidian looked, seeing that the three Decepticons were comprised of a black Decepticon with piercing orange eyes as well as a silver Deception with a purple helmet, orange visor and no mouth. Walking just in front of them was the smallest Decepticon of the group in the room; fairly rotund, because of the motorcycle parts that comprised his upper body, the smallest Decepticon was coloured completely black, including his optics, and like the silver Decepticon and Obsidian had no mouth, but instead a mouth plate. The trio stood near Oil Slick as Obsidian looked among all of them.

"Where is Sharp Edge?" Obsidian asked the group.

"Beats me," the motorcycle Decepticon announced with a voice that resembled one of a New Yorker. "Ain't seen him."

"Very well, he must still be out looking for Sky-Byte." Obsidian assumed. "So, Axer," he continued, referring to the motorcycle Decepticon. "You were the only other one of us out in the open...Oil Slick mentioned that during a battle with an Autobot earlier, they were interrupted by a third attacker...was it you?"

"Not me, boss." Axer said with a shake of his head. "I ain't seen no Autobot...Wait! There are Autobots here now?"

"Nobody said there would be Autobots here," said the silver Decepticon, named Skyfire.

"Who cares?" The other black Decepticon, named Wind Sheer asked with a wicked grin. "If there are Autobots back on this boring pebble of a planet, then we'll get to have some fun shooting them!"

"Enough." Obsidian said to restore order among his crew. "Whether there is one Autobot on Earth, or one hundred, it doesn't matter. The Eye of Unicron must be found; that is our objective here on Earth."

"You know if those do-gooders are here that they're gonna stop us." Wind Sheer argued. "We should waste 'em before we look for that dumb bauble."

"The Eye of Unicron is no bauble." Obsidian corrected. "It is the object that will give our new leader the ability to annihilate our enemies, and that sacred object is somewhere here, on Earth. Don't concern yourselves with the Autobots -we shall deal with them on an as and when basis- our number one priority is to find the Eye of Unicron. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The group of four Decepticons announced to their commander.

"Excellent." Obsidian replied with a nod. "However, the Autobot presence on Earth does alter things somewhat. We will need to make our search more efficient so that we can find the Eye sooner...Skyfire, Wind Sheer- I want you both to scan an Earthern form so that you can join Axer and Oil Slick in the search. I shall also have Sharp Edge take on the responsibility also when he returns, hopefully with an extra member to our ranks."

"Bah, you shouldn't rely on Predacons, boss." Axer informed his commander. "Good for nothing Preds. Their beast forms can't cover as much distance as we can in one day."

"There are no differences among the Decepticons and Predacons when both sides' enemies are the Autobots." Obsidian said sternly. "Now return to your recon, Axer. The Eye of Unicron is still out there somewhere. Find it."

"I shall return to the search as soon as I have made some repairs." Oil Slick announced to Obsidian as Axer left.

"Negative." Obsidian replied. "The Autobot that you encountered may be looking for you, so you should lie low here for the moment."

"But then that means that the human's car I pose as has disappeared." Oil Slick argued. "My best chance of cover will be gone. I thought we were supposed to remain inconspicuous."

"If there are Autobots on Earth, I doubt we shall be able to keep ourselves hidden among the Earthlings for much longer." Obsidian said. "But very well; see to your repairs, then return to the human. But, you are to remain inactive for the time being. Monitor the airwaves for clues to the Eye's location until I inform you otherwise. Now, leave me. I must use this time to plan our next move."