AN: After you've read the last chapter, I hope you all go and hug your mothers and tell them just how much you love them. Because I really tried to make the chapter all warm and fuzzy. So this story is a shout out to all the mothers of the world. No matter who they are. The workaholic moms, the single moms and the smothering moms. WE LOVE YOU MOM! Now without further ado, let's jump into it.
Chapter 3: Growing up
Autobot base, time skip 4 years later
"Jack. Now where could he be?" Arcee questioned as she searched for him. Then almost as soon as she said that, there was a noise that could be heard near a pile of stacked crates. Arcee smiled as she walked over to the crates and proceeded to move them. When she moved the last crate, she found Jack crouched down on the floor and giggling. "There you are" Arcee said with joy. "You found me. You win, mommy" Jack said, referring to their game of hide and seek. "Well you didn't make it easy for me. You're really good at this. Now come on, let's go find the others. And then maybe we can get some ice cream." "YAY, ICE CREAM!" Jack screamed with excitement. Arcee scooped Jack up in her arms and went to find the other Autobots.
Jack was now four years old; and his fifth birthday was coming up soon. He wore a gray T-shirt with a white undershirt, blue jeans and black and white sneakers. To anyone else, his family dynamic might have seemed weird; but not to Jack. To Jack, it felt as normal as breathing. He honestly thought that Arcee and the other Autobots were his family. Bumblebee was like his big brother; Cliffjumper and Bulkhead were the fun uncles. Ratchet was the grumpy grandpa, and Optimus was the wise father figure. When Jack and Arcee found the others, she set him down on the couch in the human area, so she could talk to Ratchet. "So, what's new, Ratchet? Any con activity?" Arcee asked eagerly. "No. For the moment, everything is surprisingly quiet" Ratchet answered back to her. "Well, if you don't have a mission for me, then I think I'm going to go train."
"Can I come and watch?" Jack murmured the question to his mother. "Sure thing kiddo" Arcee said with a smile plastered on her face. With that, she picked Jack up and made her way to the training hall. After they arrived at the training hall, Arcee put Jack down and started throwing some punches and kicks; as if she was fighting an invisible opponent. Jack watched in amazement as he saw his mother do moves a trained fighter could only dream of. "So, have you thought of what you want for your birthday?" Arcee asked Jack with a sense of curiosity. "Well...I'm not sure yet" he answered her. "Well, you better decide quickly. It's coming up soon, you know" she reminded him. "I know, it's just...there's so many things I could ask for." Jack said as he struggled to find his words.
"Well, let me help you with that. You're not getting a pet, so don't even ask" his mom said. "Ah, you're no fun" Jack whined about his mother's decision. "Says you. I'll have you know I'm a very fun mom." Then Arcee popped out her blasters, and took aim at the training dummies. She let off a few shots before another idea popped into Jack's head. "What about my own set of blasters?" Jack asked, hoping his mom would say yes. "Yeah, nice try. Maybe when you turn eighteen." "Ah, but that'll take forever" he complained. "Not as long as you think. It seems like only yesterday that you were a cute little baby" Arcee said, reminiscing on the past. After Arcee took one more shot, she was satisfied with her workout. She put away her blasters, turned to Jack and said "Alright, now how about we get that ice cream." "Okay" Jack answered his mother with enthusiasm. Then they both made their way back to the command center.
Just as they returned to the command center, so too did Bulkhead and Bumblebee walk through the Ground Bridge. They had just got back from a energon scouting mission, and we're beginning to stack the energon cubes they brought back. "Not a bad find for today's bounty" Bulkhead stated to anyone that would listen. "You can say that again" Bumblebee declared to everyone. Just then, one of the cubes fell and landed a few feet away from the pile. "Let me help" Jack said as he ran to the fallen cube. "Thanks, but I think it's a little too heavy for you" Bulkhead mentioned. But Jack didn't listen, as he tried in vain to move the giant cube. He pushed with all his might. He even went so far as to use his own body as leverage. But the result was always the same, failure. Arcee watched in amusement. She thought it was adorable how her little boy tried to move an object three times his size. But Jack never gave up.
"You need some help with that?" Bulkhead asked, trying to be helpful. "No, I got it" Jack said with a sense of stubbornness. "I just need to find something I can use." Jack started looking around until he spotted something he could use. There on the shelf, was a crowbar that he knew could help him. He walked over, got the crowbar and brought it back to the cube. He tried to wedge it under the cube to lift it. But every time he tried to lift it, he failed. Then he got frustrated and started hitting it. That's when Arcee got worried and decided to step in. "Jack, you shouldn't do that. Energon is the most volatile substance on Cybertron." Jack didn't quite understand what his mother was saying; but he knew it was bad. Without even thinking, Jack threw the crowbar away, only for it to hit and break one of the shelves. All the tools on the shelf, fell to the floor, including a blowtorch. The blowtorch landed right next to the cube, and lit up; probably a result of being damaged by the fall.
Arcee's optics widened in horror when she saw what was about to happen. "Scrap" she said before grabbing Jack and getting him to safety. "Hit the deck" she screamed in a hurry. Bulkhead and Bumblebee tried to shield the remaining energon from the blast. After the cube ignited, it caused a huge explosion. Thankfully, no one was hurt; and the base wasn't too badly damaged. Aside from some scorch marks and a very angry looking Ratchet. After Arcee put Jack down, he was approached by Ratchet. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN SOMEONE KILLED, YOURSELF INCLUDED!" Ratchet screamed with all his might. "Ratchet; it was just an accident. He didn't mean any harm" Arcee said in defense of her son. "He caused an explosion, Arcee. How is that an accident?" Ratchet shot back. "Maybe if you just gave him some time, he could learn how to be a great Autobot" she declared. "He doesn't belong here with this family; no matter how much you want him to. And most importantly, above all else; HE WILL NEVER BE ONE OF US!" After hearing all of that, Jack couldn't take it anymore; so he ran away with tears in his eyes. "Jack, wait; come back" Arcee said before going after him.
Jack didn't even care where he was running; just as long as it was away from Ratchet. He just wanted to be alone right now. Then he came to an old room filled with all kinds of different supplies. He looked at his reflection in a mirror and noticed that there were indeed differences between him and his mother. Where her skin was hard and durable, his was soft and squishy. He got angry as he thought of the other differences; so angry, that he threw a bucket of paint at the mirror. As the bucket made contact with the mirror, it shattered to pieces; and the bucket broke open, splattering blue paint all over Jack's shirt and face. As he looked back at what was left of the mirror, he was amazed at what he saw. His skin now looked blue, just like his mother's. Then an idea formed in his head. He reached into the bucket and rubbed more paint on his face, until all of his face was covered; along with a few of his hairs. When he looked back at his reflection, he saw a glimpse of what looked like his mother. "Jack, what are you doing?" Arcee said, causing him to do a quick turnaround.
"Why am I so different?" he asked. "Because you're covered with paint, that's why." Arcee said as she got a clean rag from one of the shelves to wipe the paint off his face. "No" Jack said, frustrated with her response. She got down on her knees and started wiping the paint off his face. "Ratchet said I didn't belong in the-" Jack said, unable to finish as Arcee continued to wipe his face. "Close your mouth" she told him. "Ratchet said I don't belong in the family" he repeated himself. "Nevermind what Ratchet said. Now hold still" she instructed. "But, look at me" he said while taking a step back. "I am, Jack. And do you know what I see?" She said while she wiped the remaining paint off. "I see two optics, like mine; and a nose, somewhere, ah here" she said as she cleaned his face. "Two audio receptors, and let's see, what else?" she playfully started to wonder. "Two servos" he stated happily. "That's right" she answered while placing her servos against his hands. He pulled them away and looked at them with disappointment.
Arcee let out a sigh; sat down next to Jack, and said "Close your eyes, and forget what you see. What do you feel?" He closed his eyes; put his hand up to his chest, and said "My spark." "Come here" Arcee said as she cradled him in her arms. He placed his head against her chassis, to hear the hum of her spark. "Your spark" he said. "You see; they're exactly the same. Ratchet just can't see that." She said while hugging her son. "I'll make him see it. I'll be the best Autobot ever." He said while doing a superhero pose. "I bet you will" she said while she ruffled his hair.
Insert: Son of man by Phil Collins
Oh, the power to be strong
And the wisdom to be wise
All these things will
Come to you in time
On this journey that you're making
There'll be answers that you seek
And it's you who'll climb the mountain
It's you who'll reach the peak.
On the next day, Jack began his Autobot training. He started off by watching his mother practice her hand to hand combat on the training dummies. After he was done watching, he decided to try some of those moves he saw her do. Arcee stopped what she was doing to see how he was doing. First he threw a punch at one of the dummies; then he pulled back his hand and tried to shake off the pain. After his punch didn't work, he tried to kick it. That caused the dummy to topple over and fall right on top of him. Arcee let out a small laugh as she watched her son be pinned to the ground by the training dummy. Jack got up after Arcee pulled the dummy off of him. While watching his mother fight, Jack finally knew what he wanted. He told her he wished that one day he could be as strong as she was. She responded by telling him that she thought he was still a few decades away from that. But Jack wouldn't give up; he would be a great Autobot one day.
Son of Man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Some day you'll walk tall with pride
Son of Man, a man in time you'll be.
The next thing Jack wanted to learn was how to shoot. He watched as Bumblebee set up some targets. After Bumblebee lined up his shot, he fired off a few energon blasts at the targets. He never missed a single shot. When he was done, he pointed at all the targets; indicating to Jack that it was his turn now. He bent down and handed Jack a human sized energon rifle; which Ratchet took the liberty of making for him. Jack struggled to lift it; but eventually took aim at a target. When he pulled the trigger, the force of the blast knocked him on his butt; and the shot ricocheted off the walls. Bumblebee grabbed Jack in an attempt to shield him from the blast. When it was over, Jack just smiled at Bumblebee in an impish, apologetic way. On occasion, Jack still tried to lift one of the energon cubes. But they still wouldn't budge. He considered that one of his greatest challenges. He knew that once he accomplished lifting it, that he would be one step closer to becoming a better Autobot.
Though there's no one there to guide you
No one to take your hand
But with faith and understanding
You will journey from boy to man.
As time went on, he got older, wiser and stronger. Soon enough, years went by, and he was now the age of sixteen. Jack had gotten better at the things he couldn't do as a child. Now his shooting skills were on par with Bumblebee. Whenever Jack fired off a shot from his energon rifle, it always hit the dead center of the target. When Jack tried to lift one of the cubes, yet again; he just knew that the outcome would be different this time. Sure enough, he was right. He lifted with all his might, and this time he managed to flip the cube on its side. He continued this process until it was all the way over by the other stacked cubes. Finally, he used all of his strength to lift the cube just above his head. His muscles were strained as he slid the cube on top of another. After he had let go; he saw what he did. "YES!" he shouted over his victory.
Son of Man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Some day you'll walk tall with pride
Son of Man, a man in time you'll be.
In learning you will teach
And in teaching you will learn
You'll find your place beside the
Ones you love
Oh, and all the things you dreamed of
The visions that you saw
Well, the time is drawing near now
It's yours to claim it all.
Son of Man, look to the sky
Lift your spirit, set it free
Some day you'll walk tall with pride
Son of Man, a man in time you'll be.
When he was finished with that, he decided to go back to the training hall. He started hitting the dummies; which looked a lot like Megatron and the other Decepticons. He slammed his fist into the fake Starscream, and did a spinning kick against the fake Megatron; knocking them both down. As Arcee watched her son fight, she was filled with a strange newfound sense of pride. She had never imagined that she would be a mother. A few years ago, she didn't even know what the term meant. But after seeing him grow and learn; she knew that it was all worth it. He was the light of her life. She'd be damned if she was going to let anyone take him from her. Bit by bit, she saw Jack accomplish all he set out to do. Slowly but surely, he was on his way to becoming the best Autobot ever; by human standards, of course.
Son of Man,
Son of Man's a man for all to see.
End: Son of man
AN: That's right; I based this part of the story off of the 1999 movie Tarzan. I mean, a boy being raised by Autobots all his life. How much more could you compare it to Tarzan? The 1999 movie is my favorite version of Tarzan. Originally, I wasn't going to put the song "Son of Man" in this chapter. I was just going to have you imagine the song. But I really like the song; and I thought that you guys might enjoy singing along to it. When I looked up the lyrics for the song, it was broken into segments. The second to last part of this song in the chapter, was kinda long. I tried to split them up further; but my computer wouldn't let me double space them. So instead, I just put periods at the end of each segment. That should help you split the segments up in your mind.
I know I probably made Arcee a little out of character. She's supposed to be a battle hardened warrior; but motherhood changes a person. If you didn't like something in this chapter, then that's all you have to say. Don't go out of your way to insult me in the reviews. Be honest, but fair. Also, when I described Jack's clothes; I was describing the outfit he wears in the show. Going forward with this story; whenever I describe a character's outfit or appearance, I'm describing how they looked in the show. Oh, and one more thing; I don't own Tarzan or any of the songs used in the movie. Please don't Sue; I have no money to give.
STAY AWESOME!