Okay, here is a list of what will happen so far from here:
Arcee will know who Jack's father is.
Bulkhead will know who Miko's dad is.
Bumblebee will know who Raf's parents are.
Cliffjumper will know who Adam's dad is.
Bulkhead and Roadbuster will know who Jack's dad is first.
Optimus will know and tell the kids they are not the only children of the Avengers.
Three kids will be introduced in the next two chapters. Luckily, the new kids are not OCs.
Near the end of the story, they will fight someone that will be their arch nemesis.
In the next chapter, Nick Fury will make an appearance.
Now, let's get on with the story, shall we now?
4. Before the Darkness
Jack bolted upwards on his bed at the engines sound from the garage. He groaned and got up, stumbling for the door and poking his head inside. "Are you crazy?! You'll wake up my mom."
"Just grab your helmet," Arcee instructed. "It's go time."
"It's Saturday," Jack groaned.
"You can watch cartoons back at base with Bumblebee," Arcee said.
"Cartoons? I'm sixteen," Jack grumbled before he went inside.
"And leave a note for you mom," Arcee called out. "She worries."
Jack grumbled before he noticed something shine in a corner. He looked at it and saw that it was the shield he had been working on in case his broke. He picked it up and studied it.
"Well, it wouldn't hurt anyone," he said as he strapped the shield onto his back. He went into the garage and saw Miko already ready to go. He got on and they drove off, where Miko would meet Bulkhead in the desert
"Tighten your grip, Jack," Arcee said, with a barely concealed grin after they dropped her off. And she shot forwards, making Jack yelp in surprise.
"H-Hey," Jack started, laughing a bit as we went up on one wheel. "What's with you Arcee?"
"Thought you might actually enjoy the ride if you weren't getting shot at," she said, smugly.
"Oh, bring it," Jack said, excitedly.
Her engine revved in reply and they shot forwards down the road at an insanely high speed.
Miko bounced up and down in her seat in excitement, looking over Bulkhead's dash at the slope beneath them.
"Ready," Miko said, bouncing even more. "Set…"
"Miko," Bulkhead sighed, "I'm supposed to be protecting you…"
"Bulkhead," Miko said, looking at his dash, "I'm strapped tight inside ten tons of metal muscle! I'm protected."
He sighed but rolled forwards anyway. Miko whooped and shouted as they both went down the rocky slope.
Raf gritted his teeth and yanked on the controller's wheel, trying to force Bumblebee's car off the track.
"I'm gonna make it!" he thought as he nudged Bumblebee's gamer car.
Suddenly, the Autobot's red racecar pulled a fancy swerve and knocked his car off the track and into the trees.
"Aah!" Raf moaned, watching his car go up in flames.
Bumblebee gave a whistling trill that sounded exactly like laughter.
"No fair Bumblebee, you've been driving longer than I have!" Raf replied, shaking the controller at him.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Adam asked, peering down the rocky slope.
"Of course I'm sure," Cliffjumper stated, a cocky smile on his face. "I'm always sure." Tipping the metal plate downward, they zoomed down like they were snowboarding.
Adam screamed and held onto Cliffjumper for life. The red titan whooped as they boarded down the hill. Adam clung on tightly to his guardian before his butt landed on something soft. He saw that he was inside Cliffjumper before he folded his arms and glared at his dashboard. "Not cool." Then he said, "Do it again."
Cliffjumper just laughed.
Half an hour later, there was the roar of four engines and Arcee, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, and Bulkhead raced in with their happily laughing charges.
"That was awesome!" Jack cried.
"Can we go again?" Raf pleaded.
"Sweet!" Miko crowed.
"The most fun I've ever had!" Adam cheered.
Bulkhead grunted and pulled out a guitar case from his chest plating.
"Sorry!" Miko said, innocently. "Must've left that in the back seat!"
Optimus walked forwards, "Autobots, prepare to…" He stopped and looked at the kids.
"Roll out?" Roadbuster supplied with a tint of hope.
"Remain here," he finished, surprising them. "Ratchet, you'll come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside of communications range for some time, so I'm putting you in charge."
"Dude, you're the biggest!" Miko said, looking up at her guardian. "You should be the boss!"
"He never picks me," Bulkhead said.
"Optimus," Arcee said, walking up to him, "with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, babysitting's another!"
Jack groaned, still upset that people will still call him a child.
"For the moment its only reconnaissance," Optimus explained.
"You sure?" Cliffjumper questioned, his voice laced with concern. "You sound intense."
"Cliffjumper, much has changed in the last twenty-four hours, and we all need to adapt," he firmly told him. "Ratchet, bridge us out."
And they walked into the GroundBridge.
"Okay, so, uh what's on the activities list?" Jack asked.
Arcee rolled her optics. "I'm going on patrol," she said, beginning to walk out.
"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulkhead protested.
"When you're in charge you can call the shots," she said, simply. "Cliff, Bee, with me. Bulkhead, you're in charge."
Bumblebee asked Cliffjumper a question.
"You want to tell her that, be my guest," he said as all three of them zipped out of the base quickly. Bulkhead looked uncertainly at the kids.
"So, uh...what's on the activities list?" he asked.
"I dunno," Roadbuster said. "You're the boss."
There was a sudden, loud screeching sound. Adam and Bulkhead cringed as Miko plugged in her guitar.
"How about band practice?" she announced.
"But we're not a band," Raf said with his hands over his ears.
"Why so anti-social? Come on, Raf! You play anything?" Miko asked him.
"Um...keyboard?" he said hesitantly, holding up his keyboard.
"Laptop and samples good!" she praised. "Adam?"
"Anyone got any sticks so I can drum on something?" Adam asked. "Oh, never mind." He picked up two small rods before looking at Jack. "What about you?"
"He messes around on the harmonica," Miko snickered.
"Then go at it," Adam said.
"Does Miko look like she does country?" Jack said.
"Well..."
"He'll be the guy that does the awesome singing," Miko giggled.
"I am not singing," Jack growled.
"Oh, c'mon, you can actually sing. And I'm not joking either, you seriously are good. You even sound like the guy from Freefalls. Bulkhead, percussion with Addy. Roadbuster, you're the audience. We'll go for a big industrial sound. DIY we're a band! You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a Ballard: My Fist, Your Face!"
"Here we go," Jack grumbled, covering his ears.
She started playing all of a sudden. Adam waited before slamming his drumsticks against the railing, while the others covered their ears as the proximity sensors went off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bulkhead yelled cutting off Miko's music.
"Come on! Don't tell me you can't handle raw power?" she said.
"Proximity sensor, quick hide!" Roadbuster ordered.
The four of them hid behind Bulkhead's leg with Miko taking her guitar with her. Roadbuster stood by Bulkhead's side so nobody would notice.
"What do we tell him?" Bulkhead asked.
"Just leave it to me," Roadbuster sadi.
The elevator opened and sure enough Agent Fowler came walking in.
"Prime!" he yelled.
"Hiya, buddy!" Roadbuster greeted.
"What the — Where's Prime? I need a word with him. And why are you two standing so close to each other?" Fowler demanded.
"Well, that's the problem, Doc," Roadbuster said. "He ain't here right now. Well, truth be told, it's just ol' Bulk and I."
"Well, where did they go? Wait don't tell me, they're out pancaking a mini-mall!" he snapped, annoying the Autobot. "Now, I don't know what language you Bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons! And blowing a crater in the middle of nowhere is not what the word handle means in English, so you tell Prime—" He cut himself off and he followed a lead that led directly to Bulkheads foot and then back to a speaker.
"Since when are you Bots electric?" Fowler asked.
Bulkhead slightly panicked.
"No use hiding," Adam sighed. They slowly emerged from behind the green titan's leg.
"Hey, how you doing?" Jack asked in the calmest way he could say it.
"Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off book this time — Wait don't tell me. You're running a day-care center!" Fowler said.
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Okay," Bulkhead nervously said trying to figure out an explanation.
"Well, if you want to put it that way," Adam stated.
Either way Fowler wasn't impressed. "Okay, let's move. I'm taking you all into federal custody. It's for your own protection."
Jack started to panic when he said that. "Wait, what about our families?" he asked. "They'll be relocated, on constant surveillance, sign contracts that state that they will be imprisoned for life if they reveal anything that they have seen here. I mean, you gave me and Miko a scot free pass because we were only kids at the time and we were in serious trouble."
"Just be lucky that..." He stopped when he got a closer look at Jack before his eyes widen. "What in the name of sweet Lady Liberty happened to you?!"
"What are you talking about?" Miko piped. "He always looked like that."
Fowler seemed confused. "What?"
"Yeah, he's always been the same skinny pale boy that's…just happen to be tall," Miko tried to explain.
"There is no way he was like that before the serum," Folwer shot back.
Jack's eyes widen. "Wait. You think I'm...Steve Rogers?"
Fowler blinked. "You're not him?"
"No. I'm his son."
Miko left a neutral expression as Adam and Raf were surprised. Even the two Autobots in the room barely believed him.
"And you knew this?" Fowler asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
"Well, no," Bulkhead said. "But now that you mentioned it, he kind of does look like him."
"Does this mean we're off the hook?" Roadbuster asked with a frozen smile, his teeth clenched together.
"That's still out of the question," Fowler said. "It's for your own protection."
Bulkhead slammed his foot on the concrete floor, making Fowler jump.
"We're protecting them," he growled.
"Is that so? Then maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon," Fowler said, reaching for the phone.
"Don't use that phone, it's..." He then crushed it with a finger. "Out of order."
"This isn't over, Big Foot! Not by a long shot!" Fowler threatened as he proceeded to the elevator, saying nothing more.
"Want a bet?" Adam snarled angrily.
"He's a government official," Jack sighed as he followed him up to the hangout. "He has to be concerned about the wellbeing of Americans."
"Easy for you to say," Roadbuster said. "You don't have to worry all day and night to see what will happen in the next few minutes and then get blamed for it."
Jack staightened up, staring at him in the optics. "Back in 2012, before the Invasion of New York, nobody believed we were alone in the galaxy. Before '14, no one expected that SHIELD could be infiltrated by anyone like Hydra. But let's face it, it all happened. I won't judge you for all the bad things that happens, but I can relate to the logics. The Decepticons are going to do something bad if we don't act. If no one does something about it, they will kill anyone that gets in their way unless someone stops them. It's a lot to ask, but freedom comes with price, and I'll be willing to pay it. If that's the case, so be it. But I won't stand to see my planet be brought to its knees."
There was a bit of silence as everyone stared at him.
"Did you just write that all down, or was it all from the top of your head?" Adam asked with a smile.
Jack glanced over at him before the alarms went off.
"Ugh my ears," Raf cringed as he covered his ears.
"It's an SOS from Fowler!" Bulkhead said, coming up to the console. He tried to figure out what to press on the control panel. From what Jack could tell, he had no idea what he was doing. That was Ratchet's job.
"Did you trace it?" Roadbuster asked as the alarms were cut off.
"Location scan was incomplete. Oh well," Bulkhead shrugged.
"Oh well, seriously?" Jack said in unison.
"Fowler's a jerk," Bulkhead replied.
"Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons may have him!" Jack started
"And no one deserves the fate he'll face if we don't find him ASAP," Adam added.
"And Agent Fowler knows your location," Raf said before sudden realization appeared in his eyes. "Our location."
"And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a Bot? The Cons will totally make him squeal," Miko finished.
"And Primus knows that I don't want to move to another location again," Roadbuster spoke in irritation.
"But we lost the transmission. Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead argued.
"Maybe I could narrow it down," Raf suggested getting onto the floor as he opened up his laptop. "Years ago, the government started micro-chipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets!"
Everyone just stared blankly at him.
"What? I saw it on TV!" he said, defensively. "Anyways, if I can hack into the feds mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's location."
"You know how to hack? But you're like two years old," Miko jested, slight exaggeration on her part.
"Twelve…and a quarter," Raf said as he tapped away at his computer.
"You're one weird kid," Roadbuster commented.
"Roadbuster!" Jack scolded, glaring up at him.
"Just picked it up," he explained briefly. "Okay: latitude 39.5, longitude 116.9."
Bulkhead then activated the groundbridge using the coordinates.
"Okay, wait here," he said as he made his way to the portal.
"Aww, don't break up the band," Miko moaned.
"Uh, Jack, you're in charge!" Bulkhead said as he ran through the portal.
"I guess us four have the run of the place," Adam said. Then his senses perked. "Where's your friend?"
"Miko?" Jack said looking around for her. She was just here, how can she move so swiftly and so quietly for that matter?
Oh yeah. Now he remembered.
Miko hid behind a boulder, her claws exposed. Needless to say, Bulkhead didn't know she was there, and she wanted it to be like that.
"Alright!" Miko said softly, but loud enough for Bulk to hear her. "What's the plan?"
"Miko!" Bulkhead hissed. His optics rested on her claws and his optics widen. "What the…?"
She looked down at her hands and blushed. "Uh…"
He heard the familiar whining of a blaster powering up.
"Oh," Miko said, grimacing.
"Miko!" Bulkhead shouted. "Get down!"
Bulkhead jumped out from hiding and started pounding the Decepticon's faceplate in. He pinned it against the ground, Miko ran up with a rock. "Hold 'im still!" she shouted.
"Miko," Bulkhead shouted, "Look away!"
"But—"
"TURN YOUR HEAD AWAY!" Bulk nearly screamed. And then he ripped out the Con's spark with his own servos.
"Whoa!" Miko breathed, her eyes shining in the light of the golden and blue sparks that now dripped from the Con's cold, lifeless shell.
"What should we do? Bulkhead may not even realize that she followed him," Raf said, obviously panicking.
"Those are the coordinates; their destination's still locked in!" Adam said, as he looked at the screen.
"Just stay calm, she couldn't have gotten far," Jack said as he looked towards the groundbridge. "Roadbuster, can you reactivate the bridge?"
"I can try — Wait a minute. You're not going in there, are you?" Roadbuster asked.
"Maybe," Jack said, walking to the bridge. Roadbuster activated the machine and Jack entered through the portal and ended up in a canyon on the other side, looking around it was mostly bare.
"Time to put this to use," Jack told himself as he slipped the shield off of his back.
"Whoa," Jack heard Raf say. "Are your bones vibrating?"
Adam shrugged.
"I thought you guys were gonna stay behind!" Jack growled.
"We couldn't let you go alone!" Adam argued.
Jack facepalmed himself. "Could this get any worse?"
"You there!" a gravelly voice shouted.
"I had to open my mouth, didn't I?" Jack grumbled.
Three Vehicons from above began shooting at them and somehow they managed to dodge every single one of their attacks. One of the blasts threw both Raf and Jack to the ground. Adam immediately rushed over and helped them up.
"And this must be why people like Nick Fury don't want us kids to grow up to be like them," he said.
There was a squeal of tires, and a familiar green Subaru swerved over.
"Get in!" Bulkhead shouted. "Now!"
The door slammed shut and Bulkhead shot out of target range.
"Nice timing, Bulk," Adam sighed in relief.
"Thanks, Bulkhead," Jack sighed as well.
"Yeah, thanks," Raf agreed.
"W-what are you doing here?" Bulkhead demanded with a bit of frustration.
"We were worried about Miko. Have you seen her?" Adam asked.
"What's she look like?" Miko joked as she popped out from the backseat.
"You have a lot of explaining to do!" Jack growled as he glared at her.
"Geesh, you do look like your dad," Adam spoke before Bulkhead slid behind a huge boulder and opened his door.
"Everyone out! And this time, please wait here," he pleaded to us as they got out of the vehicle.
Once they were out, Bulkhead drove towards the Nemesis. Jack sighed as he pressed himself against the rocky wall.
"You're really the son of Captain America?" Raf asked.
"Yeah," Jack sighed once more. "What about you?"
Raf frowned. "I don't know who, but I can climb walls like my dad could."
"So, you're like a mutant?" Jack asked.
"Well, kind of a, uh...what's the word?" Adam said.
"What about you?" Jack asked. "Who's your dad?"
Adam gave a small smile. "An agent. His name's Sam."
Raf was the first to notice. "Um, guys, shouldn't there be four of us?"
Jack looked up and noticed Miko gone.
"Where'd she go?" Jack groaned.
"Where's Miko?" Bulkhead shouted from above. There was a bit of silence, so he must have found her.
"You don't think she's inside of him, do ya?" Adam wondered.
"I don't know," Jack said.
"Um, guys," Raf said, voice shaky.
Jack and Adam whipped around, and saw a group of Vehicons right behind them. This was not good. Jack cursed under his breath as he made a grab for his shield, but he was lifted up in he air by an enormous hand.
"Let us go!" Adam growled as the Vehicons held them in their hands. The teenager yelped as the hand tightened on him, squeezing out whatever breath he had left.
"Take them to the brig," one of the Vehicons ordered. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."
Growling, Jack threw his shield at his captor and watched it as it slammed into his head, letting Jack go. He scrambled away and caught the shield by the rim as he turned and found the blasters aimed at him.
"Yeah, tick them off like that," Adam spat with sarcasm. "That'll really help!"
Jack heard the revving of a very powerful engine. Suddenly Bumblebee's alternative slammed into the Vehicons, forcing them to drop the boys. Arcee transformed, leaping forwards to catch Raf while Cliffjumper did the same to catch Adam.
"Thanks, buddy," Adam gasped, as Cliffjumper set him down.
His optics narrowed slightly. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
Adam shrugged, causing his guardian to smirk a little.
"Bumblebee!" Raf cried, eyes shining.
Bumblebee chirped away
"Not our fault," Raf said.
"Appreciate clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list," Arcee scolded.
"Tell me about it," Jack sighed.
They ran down the hallway when Arcee suddenly froze, she pulled out her blaster but Cliffjumper had her pull back.
"Friendly!" he said.
"Hello!" a deeper voice said at the same time.
Bulkhead! And he had Miko in his servo!
"Brought the human, huh?" she asked, raising an optic ridge.
"Pretty sure war zones don't count for 'Bring Your Partner to Work Day,' Bulk," Cliffjumper joked.
"You try getting her to stay behind!" Bulkhead sputtered.
"In any case, we need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Arcee said.
"He's in the brig," Jack, Raf, and Adam said in unison.
A shot pinged off the wall over their heads. Cliffjumper instinctively grabbed Adam, sheltering him with his servo, his other one was pointing at the Decepticons until he realized he couldn't do anything with it.
"Stupid injury," he growled, gazing at the fight. "Kids! Get going!"
Jack grabbed Raf's other arm, Adam grabbed Miko's arm and they ran off. The sounds of battle died down and they stopped.
"Everyone okay?" Jack asked.
The kids nodded.
"Good," he said. "Let's move, before any other Cons come this way."
The next thing they knew, they were in a different room on the ship. The Autobot warriors had taken care of the Troopers, so the kids were good.
"Wait here," Arcee told them.
Bumblebee looked at her and whirred.
"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets," Arcee explained. "They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put."
The other Autobots nodded sadly, readied their weapons, and ran out. Arcee stopped and looked back. "Jack?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't do something stupid like last time," she told him with a smile before running out.
"Got it," he called out to her.
"You got to admit," Miko said, smiling, "that was intense!"
"Was?" Raf squeaked.
"Miko, you're a moron," Adam said sadly.
"Hey!"
"Well, seriously, why did you do that?" Adam asked.
"Did I ask you to follow me?" Miko retorted.
"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Jack growled.
"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!"
"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety."
"You're not my mother!" Miko exploded, forcing them back. "My mother is dead, and my dad is probably worried sick wondering where we are right now. My other family, the family I wanted eight years ago, are somewhere out there and I'm sick and tired of hoping for them to come find me. So don't ask me what I was thinking."
A small silence filled the void. Tears ran down Miko's cheeks before running off a little ways and sitting down, hugging her knees. Adam came over, placing an arm around her. Raf and Jack came over, flanking them both.
"I always had my mom," Miko whispered. "It was the two of us. Then they took her away from me before they took me. Afterwards, it was me and three other kids for almost two months." She looked up at Jack. "You were the only normal person out there who would accept me."
"Hey," Adam said softly as he massaged the small area of her back. "I'ts okay. Everything will be fine. The Autobots will come back for us and they can probably help. They'll help you."
"How do you know?" Miko muttered unconvinced.
"Okay," Adam said. "I'm not at school, so I can be a bit more casual with you now. You know the Battle of Manhattan in o'12?"
The girl nodded.
"You know Tony Stark?"
"Iron Man?" Raf asked.
"That's exactly right," Adam said. "Back in '13, he was having anxiety attacks. You know how he got that way?"
Miko shook her head.
"Because he had a near death experience," Adam said. "There was a missile heading straight for the city, probably would've wiped out half of downtown if it weren't for him. He flew straight into the portal, let the missile go, and presto! everyone was saved. But with a cost."
Adam patted Miko's shoulder. "Of course, I also remembered a story on how he got himself and two others stuck in an air vent."
The kids laughed, when suddenly Jack froze.
"Hey," Jack said, as he pointed at the computer. "What do you make of that?"
Raf looked up and came closer to the giant computer.
"It's important," he said. "Real important."
"Then we've got to get this to Optimus," Adam said.
"And how do you know that isn't a recipe for Space Nachos?" a voice asked. They craned their necks to find a rough looking man inside a small glass canister in the wall. He had brown hair with sideburns and was clean-shaven. He was wearing jeans and a leather jacket.
Miko gasped. "You."
The man looked up at them from his cage. He frowned at the girl. "Do I know you?"
Miko slowly walked over. "No, but I think I know you, and you would know me if you looked harder."
He did, but he couldn't pinpoint her out. Then it seemed to click. "That can't be right. Are you telling me your Kyo's daughter?"
Miko nodded. "Which makes you my dad."
"The Wolverine," Adam whispered.
"The what?" Raf asked.
Adam grabbed both Raf and Jack and pulled them back.
"Hey!" Raf exclaimed. "What—"
"Not what!" Adam exclaimed. "Who! He's born as James Howlett, but he goes by as Logan. He was a member of the X-Men until something happened years back. I don't know what, but it did. He's known to survive this long because of his rapid healing factor."
"Wait a minute," Jack said. "Miko has the healing factor."
Adam pressed his lips together. "Well, that may be a really mess in future cases. Okay. We need to get him out of here before something happens."
"What are you kids waiting for, a code breaker?" They jumped at the sudden voice and looked to find Logan out of his prison, rubbing his wrists. Miko wore a proud smile.
"Do you know what it says?" Jack asked, pointing at the screen.
He looked at the screen, then down at his feet.
"You can't read it, can you?" I asked.
"Does it look like I know alien?" Logan spat.
"Guys," Raf said, "I know math when I see it and that is one serious equation!"
"Can you download it?" Jack asked.
"I've got a flash drive," Raf announced as he dug into his backpack and pulled out a flash drive. "But, I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is alien."
Suddenly, the boy froze and slowly turned to the left. Everyone followed suit. It was Barricade.
"Get back," Logan hissed softly, nudging them all to a corner before coming over himself. His eyes roved over them, counting, when he froze. "Where's the runt?" he growled softly.
Jack turned to the outside and saw Raf sprinting to get to his backpack. Barricade spotted him as well, and readied his weapon. Raf looked up at the sudden sound, and gave a startled yell. He stumbled away from the Decepticon, and Jack came out, pushing the boy out of the way.
"Hey!" he shouted, dispatching his shield and stopped protectively in front of Raf.
"You," Barricade snarled.
"Miko, take a picture!" Jack yelled.
"Great idea!" she cheered, whipping out her cell phone. "Hey you!"
Barricade froze, looking at Miko. She snapped a picture of him.
"Not of that, of that!" Jack yelled, pointing at the computer with his free hand.
"Ooooohhhh," she said, snapping the picture.
Barricade aimed at Miko…and Logan had enough. He gave a shout and jumped onto the Decepticon, slashing at him mercilessly.
Adam sprinted towards the door pounding on the controls. "C'mon, c'mon you stupid door! OPEN!" he shouted.
Logan looked up and saw Adam's predicament. He got up to his feet and charged the door. Adam leaped out of the way right as Logan rammed his claws into the controls, forcing it open.
"Go, go, go!" he yelled, herding the younger kids out.
They suddenly heard a horn in front of them. Bulkhead rammed into the coming Decepticon and began finishing what Logan started. The other three Autobots came into view, stopping so that the kids could get on.
"I thought I told you to stay put!" Arcee snapped.
"Oh, sorry," Miko said. "There just happened to be a Decepticon in the room! What were we supposed to do? Stand there and let it squish us?!"
"Easy, Killer," Adam said. "Let's just get home. We've got Fowler, apparently, now we just need to figure out a way to get off this flying bucket of bolts."
"What happened to you?" Logan asked.
"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered.
"Zombies?" Miko demanded.
"Roadbuster, " Optimus called out, "you have exercised poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany Bulkhead."
Roadbuster just shrugged. "They wouldn't back down, so I did what you always told me to do."
"But it wasn't his fault!" Miko stepped in to defend him.
"Miko, please!" Bulkhead pleaded.
Miko ignored him. "And check it out. Recon!" she said, flashing the picture she took.
Optimus leaned down to get a closer look at the picture. "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."
Ratchet looked at the phone. "I...don't understand," he said.
Logan took a look himself. "It's the guy who almost killed you."
Miko lowered down her phone to get a look of it herself. "Oops!"
"Is that Barricade?" Cliffjumper asked.
"That can't be right," Arcee said. "I thought Bumblebee scrapped him back in '13."
Adam looked at Jack. "This is insane," he said.
"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore," Jack huffed.
Cliffjumper peeked over at them and then bent down to face him.
"Jack," he said softly, "putting you in harm's way was never our intent. Still, it's no longer the safety of you kids that's at risk, but the safety of all human kind. We'll respect your decision if you wish to leave."
The groundbridge was opened rather quickly after he finished.
"No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door," Ratchet said, almost eagerly.
Jack walked forward. "C'mon, guys." He stopped and turned to them. "Guys?"
The little boy looked at Bumblebee. He bent his helm, his doorwings drooped.
"I'll be okay, Jack," Raf said. "See you at school."
Bumblebee's doorwings perked up again, a bright light gleaming in his optics.
"Seriously, man," Adam said. "I can take the chances."
Jack glanced at Miko, trying to plea her into coming with.
"Sorry, Spangles," Miko said.
"Spangles?" Adam repeated.
"Sure thing," Jack sighed before walking down the stairs and heading towards the GroundBridge. He stopped when Arcee came up to him. "I know, you don't exist."
"Don't make me hunt you down," Arcee said halfheartedly.
Jack continued to walk through the groundbridge without looking back. Ratchet closed the bridge once he was sure that Jack made it through.
Jack tweaked some of the gears in his bike and suddenly stopped. There was the sound of a motor behind him. He turned around and faced Miko. "Now I understand why you have to rush home," she said sarcastically as she walked inside the garage and Bulkhead left.
"Don't you have something more exciting to do, Miko?" Jack asked, slightly annoyed.
Ignoring his question, Miko continued, "You lead a pretty dull life, you know that? Back in Tokyo, my mom had loving parents, and two great siblings, Ken and Akiko. She went to the best school offered, took piano lessons since she was three."
"How nice for her," Jack sighed, uninterested.
"No, how boring," she corrected. "But in your perspective, no."
Jack looked up from his tinkering.
"It's not you," Miko tried to explain herself. "The way you charge out to protect Raf…your dad is written all over you."
Jack looked away. "I've been raised to be responsible," he said, "to my schoolwork, to my mom, to you."
"Dude, hear me out," Miko sighed. "You're no fry-cook, you're a rock star! Stop trying to pretend you're normal, Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more."
"Thanks, Miko, but I think normal suits me fine," Jack sighed.
She gave an exasperated shout before walking inside, but then she came back. "If you really did have the chance to fight, would you?"
Jack froze.
"Jack?"
"Well, yeah."
"Then what's holding you back?"
Jack sighed. "My dad."
Miko seemed taken back.
"I've always wanted to see him. I'm afraid to die without getting that chance to," Jack mumbled, yet loud enough for her to hear. "If I did, I don't know what he'll do. That's why I split from the group." He glanced up at her. "But what of your dad?"
Miko sighed. "Don't know. See ya." And she left.
And here we end. See, I told you Miko will meet her dad. But right now, he's going to stay at the Autobot base for the meantime. See ya.