Chapter Eighteen: The Wisdom of the Primes

Jack woke up with a gasp later that night. He didn't know why, but the young Prime knew the Key woke him up as he slid down off of the medical berth to see Alexis no longer on hers. Jack looked around and noted the base lacked any sort of light with the exception of small navigation lights that made the edges of halls and doors visible as to keep any humans from running into walls in the pitch darkness of the silo. Why would the Key wake me in the middle of the night? Jack thought as he made his way to Arcee's chamber to find her sitting on the edge of the berth they usually shared. Jack reached toward their Bond in his mind and jumped back as he felt traces of something ancient and evil. "Arcee?"

The Autobot femme looked up at her Sparkmate. "Jack," Arcee began as she slowly lifted herself from the berth and walked over to the Human who held her Spark. "What was that?"

Jack tensed and glared at the stone walls of the silo as they seemed to vibrate with silent laughter. Something in Jack's head spoke quickly. We must rise to the challenge or all is lost!

Arcee's shapely chassis shuddered at the power the voice echoed in here mind as well as Jack's. "Prima…"

At the sacred name of The First, the room shifted and swirled. Through the mist and vapor, the war with the Chaos Bringer came to full color before Arcee and Jack. The Star Saber shown in its full brilliance, As the wave of energy hit Unicron though, it only knocked him back slightly. It proved to be Megatronus' Requiem Blaster that had the most effect on the dark god, but even then, it only caused a relatively minor wound to the massive primordial being.

Megatronus and Solus looked at each other. Then, they nodded and approached Prima. "We have to use our weapons as one to defeat him, brothers." Solus said as she looked Prima in the optic.

Prima looked at her with a moment of sympathy. Then, the eldest Prime's optics settled on Megatronus and narrowed. "Don't patronize me sister."

Solus shook her helm. "Your pride in your position as the first of us will doom us all in the final push to to banish Unicron." Solus' chassis vibrated with anger at his pompous attitude. "Alpha Triton has written it, brother. Unless you learn we are to work as a team, it is our fate to fall."

Jack roused from the vision firstly. "What the Pit was that about?" Jack whispered as he sat up and rubbed his head in confusion. Jack moved to roll over but rolled a little too easily. Jack blinked when this realization occurred to him. Stretching his senses beyond his immediate surroundings. The first thing to jump at the young Prime: he was in Autobot quarters. Second to his senses, the temperature of the room felt slightly cold, but he felt comfortable as soothing warm radiated from the space beneath him. Smooth metal skin met Jack's face, but the sensation to finally rouse Jack completely from sleep gently hummed in tandem with his own Sparksong within his chest. Part of Jack panicked. Oh, Primus! I'm-

A feminine but metallic laugh rattled through Jack's mind. -"freaked out" about recharging over your Sparkmate's chest plate?

The entity in Jack's mind seemed to shake her head. After a mild jab of annoyance, Jack corrected himself- her helm. Solus?

Yes, my nephew, she vented. Humans are so strange about Sparkbonds.

Jack gently slid off of the berth and hoped Arcee would stay in recharge for a little longer. Forgive me for being raised with Human customs and taboos concerning intimacy. Jack responded calmly. Besides, this Bond is still remarkably fresh by Cybertronian standards. I don't want to stress it too far too fast.

Solus vented again. Jackson Prime, you are more Cybertronian than Human. Therefore, you need to start to think like us.

I don't know how!

First, don't ever be ashamed of how you recharge with Arcee! The femme Prime smiled in Jack's mind. Jack, bots cannot defend themselves at all during recharge cycles. Therefore, it is a sign of loyalty and trust Arcee has in you for you to recharge on top of her Spark.

Jack raised a brow as he stirred a few shots of Energon in his coffee for some extra pep. (With the start to his morning so far, Jack knew a long school day lay ahead of him.) I didn't know small things could be so impactful to Bots.

Solus tasted the Human beverage as it passed Jack's lips. How can you tolerate this scrap?!

Trust me. Jack assured with a quiet laugh. The taste gets better the more you drink it.

Later on that day, Jack walked into the school, shadowed by Sadie as always. For once though, there was no unease or tension as Jack entered the school. Jack thought about it for a moment and decided since he had been facing Cons and had been chosen as a Prime to Earth along with Arcee, the dramas inherent in high school should no longer bother him.

Unfortunately for him, Sierra had other plans. "Jack," she asked. "What happened yesterday?"

Jack's right eye twitched in slight annoyance. "Nothing happened that I can or care to discuss right now, Sierra." Jack said as he felt a calming sensation, almost like a hand on his shoulder, roll through his whole body. "Go find someone else to annoy."

Sierra shook her head. "You really must hate Humanity to go out with an alien!"

Sadie walked up and glared at the girl as she adopted a thick German accent to keep up appearances. "You really think after I served in our country's military forces with my father before he passed on that I would not ensure I am a legal citizen before I joined to defend America." …and the world. Arcee added mentally before she continued. "I am proud patriot as was my father."

Arcee? Jack asked with a worried expression.

I'm sorry, Jack. Arcee told him as they walked away together. You've made this world and Nevada home for me, and I don't like being told I don't belong here.

Don't be. Jack responded as he smiled at her. Now, you understand why I was so angry at that meeting with the Top Brass when they accused me of being a traitor.

With a nod from Arcee, the conversation ended as the pair walked into their first class of the day: Trigonometry. It was never a bad class, but there were some who made the class less enjoyable than it could have been. Fortunately for Jack, Vice seemed to have wised up since they tried to ruin his and Sadie's Prom. The Jock was busy trying to flirt with Sierra's friend, and as long as it kept him out of Jack's hair, the young man didn't mind. Normally, Jack hated anything to do with complex math. Now, he found it enjoyable because he actually understood the concepts behind the lessons instead of seeing strings of symbols that made no coherent sense. The best part of it to Jack lay in the fact he could now understand parts of Ratchet's data strings as he wrote them out while calculating something. True, Jack wasn't Raf, but the young man now felt confident enough to at least understand the former gibberish.

Sadie smiled at Jack as he exited the class, but her smile wavered as the femme felt Vince leering at her. Sadie shook her head and marched over to Vince with a glare on her face That would have made Jack feel sorry for the jock who would likely only peak in high school. However, as Jack was emotionally bound to Arcee and felt the way Vince judged the badass soldier as if she were a piece of meat, he felt no pity for the wrath to come.

I'm going to offline that rust bucket of scraplet slag!

I'll handle Vince, Cee. Jack promised. You just got transferred. He reminded her. It wouldn't do you any good to get in a fight. Jack kissed her on the cheek, part of him disappointed that he felt flesh instead of metal as he did so. "It will be alright, Sadie."

Vince looked at Jack and charged. Jack sighed and shook his head. "Why are you still trying to ruin my happiness? Are you just a jealous child who can do nothing but try and destroy mine because you don't have your own and will likely be doomed to peak now, not later?"

Vince looked stunned by Jack's tone and words. "Who are you?"

Jack walked up to him with a similar air to that of a soldier and looked the high school bully in the eyes. "I'm not the same Jack Darby from the beginning of the semester. I've grown and changed with Sadie's help." Jack turned his back to the bully. "You want me to fight because it will make you feel better about your own insecurity and failure, but that won't help you, Vince. No, you need proper support to make yourself better." Jack walked up to Vince and offered him a hand. "Sadie and I will be glad to help, but you've got to be the one to make the choice."

Vince stared at Jack for a long moment before he shook Jack's hand. "No one's tried to give me a chance before." Vince muttered in mild shock.

Jack nodded. "My stepdad has a saying: 'Freedom is the right of all people.' He's right, but he conveniently leaves out the part about the fight one must go through to attain freedom at times."

Vince nodded. "So what?" The athlete asked. "Your stepdad a general or something?"

Jack shrugged. "In a way, he is, but 'leader' would be more fitting."

Vince looked at Jack in confusion as they walked into the classroom. "What about all the stories of robots that turn into vehicles Sierra keeps talking about?"

Jack gave Vince a look as he felt Solus keep his own face neutral. "When I rejected her, it knocked a few screws loose." The young Prime explained calmly. "She caught Sadie on a government mission and saw too much. It broke her mind."

Vince nodded as he took his seat in class without another word. The jock wanted more information but also knew he wouldn't get anything if he screwed up. As a result, Vince paid attention and began to understand the lecture for the first time since he was in elementary school.

Sadie raised an eyebrow at this friendliness with Jack from Vince. Did I miss something?

Sometimes words are more powerful than an army. Jack responded simply. Megatron and Sire played that to the letter with Dad's speech to The Council.

I'm impressed, Nephew. Solus said with a smile. I can see why Arcee chose you.

Jack blushed at the praise from The Smith of the Thirteen. Though they were technically his family, it was still hard to receive praise from one who was almost a goddess among Cybertronians. Humans have nothing on Cee, though. Jack smiled wistfully as his processor split off a small portion to keep Arcee in focus while the teacher continued with his lecture. Being part Cybertronian definitely has its perks.

Outside of his perception, a Human form walked up to the door and tossed a small teargas bomb into the room. Once it exploded into purple mist, everyone sprinted for the exit. Arcee felt her Spark quickeh in panic. She would be safe from the local blast due to her holoform's low Energon needs, but she knew Jack wouldn't be so fortunate and looked at him in worry as she and he rushed to leave the room.

When he and Sadie made to outside the room, Jack began to feel faint and his mind began to cloud. The purple mist is dangerous. Unfortunately, Jack found his ability to think becoming slower and slower as time went on. It wasn't like when he was low on Energon. As long as Jack ate, his body produced its own Energon. No, this felt different, as if he was truly ill. This simple realization chilled Jack to his Spark. There were only a few things on Earth that could harm him with his biology being that of a hybrid. One substance in particular sprang to the forefront of Jack's processor: Dark Energon. Why would HIS blood be here at school of all places? Before Jack could ponder the question further, his world became darkness.

"Jack?" Sadie asked aloud to get someone's attention on her Sparkmate. She could feel a dark substance pulsing and writhing near the "bridge" of her Bond with Jack. Beyond that, however, her Bond seemed dark, like a limb she knew was there but had no sensation from. This state of limbo between her and Jack frightened the hardened warrior femme on a deeper level than even Airachnid could achieve. "Jack! Speak to me!"

With no response from Jack, Bond or otherwise, and few options; Arcee rushed outside with Jack in her arms and hurriedly called her sister and Ratchet. "I need a groudbridge and medbay," the femme said as her voice choked up with emotions. "Jack collapsed and has a high-grade fever!"

Ratchet checked Arcee and Jack's vitals and received a shock. "By the Allspark, this shouldn't be possible!"

Worried as any sane carrier would be, June almost ran through the groundbridge and scooped up Jack in a servo but restrained herself and let Arcee lay Jack down on an open berth, Still working with a mask of professionalism as best she could, Elita felt her Spark cease for a moment when she received a data patch from Ratchet to update certain parameters within her scanners. Elita felt a shiver roll down her backstrut as past nightmares of Megatron's corrupted purple optics flashed in her processor. How the Pit did Jack come in contact with Dark Energon?!

In Jack's mind, a pitched battle raged. Something about it seemed familiar as if Jack should know the scene. Optimus and the Autobots were on a recovery mission. Jack knew that much from the look in his Sire's faceplate. Energon blasts sailed all around the team, some narrowly missing as they flew centimeters from the bots. Suddenly, Jack heard Arcee.

"I have a visual!" The hope in her voice made the young Prime's Spark ache.

To Jack's right, he heard Optimus: "Go! We will cover you!"

Jack watched as Arcee skillfully scaled the levels of the mine until she got to the motionless red bot. Don't touch him!

Too late, it seemed. Jack watched in horror as purple branches crawled up the two-wheeler's arm and spread across her body until a dark laugh echoed from Arcee and the zombie Con. "I have taken from her the embrace of a dear friend, but for you…" The Chaos Bringer paused for a moment as Arcee lumbered over to Jack in a disturbingly broken form of locomotion. The creature picked up Jack and smiled at him, her mouth dripping with luminescent purple. Jack stood frozen fear as the mangled form of his Sparkmate neared him. "...you shall suffer, Human!"

Jack felt hot rage boil in him and closed his eyes to draw on the power of The Key. "I've tolerated a lot of slag from different people over the years: Silas, Vince, asshole customers, Airacnid, Megatron, and you." Jack sighed and shook his head with his optics still shut. "I've been more than patient with all of it." Jack opened his eyes and suppressed a smile as the two zombie-Cons shrieked and began to backpedal.

Before gravity could take him, Jack's body glowed with the power of The Key and grew into the form of a mech with red paint and a similar style to Optimus with sky blue bolts of lightning along his arms and legs. The former Human now towered over the zombies at a height that would come to just below Optimus' shoulders. Without a second thought, Jack activated his blasters and pointed them at the zombies. "Unicron…BE GONE!"

When the blasts connected, the nightmare faded. In the haze between wakefulness and unconsciousness, Jack thought he heard Miko scream in pain, but a new, gentler voice that radiated with power met the young mech's mind before he could think on the mystery further. "Well done, Janus Prime." The entity seemed to smile. "Rise. Your carrier and Sparkmate worry for your safety."

Jack groaned and opened his optics to receive a hug from a pair of lithe metal arms. "A-Arce…" Jack sat up slowly as a wave of severe disorentation. He felt…off. "What the Pit happened? The last thing I remember is walking out of my second class. Then, I woke up here at base." After a moment, Jack thought, How am I level with Arcee's face?

Arcee sensed Jack's confusion and placed her servo in his. "You were exposed to a heavy dose of Dark Energon." She looked away from him. "The Key changed you to save your dying Spark."

For a moment, Jack did nothing as his Sparkmate's words sank in. Then, the young mech cried into Arcee's shoulder. Arcee looked at him and felt her Spark break for Jack as she rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him.

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