Nathaniel woke to the sound of the door knocking. He gasped as he looked around frantically, still dazed from his slumber. "No officer, I swear!" he exclaimed as he woke up. "I'm not the hacker you're looking for!" He then looked out the door hole to see a very familiar face.

It was Marinette.

"Marinette!" Nathaniel said as he opened the door for her. "It's so nice to see you!" He stuttered a little bit, trying to hide his crush for the bluenette. "What're you doing here?"

"I wanted to deliver a little personal gift to the new students." She replied, showing Nathaniel a box full of baked goods. "Sort of a hello to them while they stay here,"

Marinette explained, her smile never leaving her face. "Are they here?"

Nathaniel looked around and saw that they weren't. "No," he replied, shaking his head. "I don't think they are."

Marinette frowned a little. "Pity." She said. "I was hoping we could get to know each other a little personally..." Nathaniel became a little confused when he heard this. Was it just him or did Marinette seem a little... thirsty when she said that?

"Yeah, well maybe you can talk to them when they get back or when they're at school tomorrow," Nathaniel replied. "I heard about what happened to you with Mr. Jackson." He said, changing the subject as he invited her in. "You alright?" Everyone at the school had heard about that. Even Chloe had felt sorry for Marinette being yelled at like that, and everyone knew she never felt sorry for anyone.

Marinette chuckled. "I'll live," she replied, sitting down. "I probably shouldn't have said that. I forgot he participated in Vietnam." She laughed a little bit, trying to forget that particular memory of hers.

"I think everyone's made him mad at some point." Nathaniel commented, "It's almost a miracle that he hasn't been Akumatized yet." He sighed. "It only hasn't happened because he's forced to take that medication of his." It was well known throughout Francois Dupont that Mr. Jackson, to control his anxiety and PTSD, took some heavy medication for him to be somewhat normal. It also served as a reminder to never bring up the Hippies from the 60s. That was one extremely easy way to piss him off.

"True." The girl sighed. "I just hope that the new students don't get Akumatized as well."

Nathaniel shook his head. "I've known Ariel for a while," he commented, "she's not the type who lets her emotions get in the way so easily."
"You make it sound like you've known this Ariel for a while," Marinette remarked. "How is that?"

Nathaniel smiled. "She's my cousin." That surprised Marinette a little. Nathaniel never told anyone that he had relatives outside of Paris. What other secrets was he keeping from her?

"Really?" She wondered, making a mental comparison of the two. "I couldn't tell."

"You should have seen us when we were younger," Nathaniel chuckled, taking out his wallet and showing her a picture of him and Ariel when they were five. "No one could tell the difference between us." The picture was of Ariel and him during their last Halloween together. They had decided to dress up as each other and were so convincing, that Nathaniel ended up staying in America for a week while Ariel went to France.

"What about the other two?" Marinette asked, giving the picture back to the artist. "Ryan and Damian?"

"I think you mean Orion and Dion," Nathaniel corrected putting the picture away. "Even though I've known Orion for a little bit, I can easily tell that he's a good person. He's the one in red." He pulled out another picture with his cousin and her friends on it. "Dion is quiet from what I can tell, but once you get to know him better, he's a pretty chill guy."

Marinette hummed in response. "They sound like an interesting trio when you think about it." She put a finger on her chin. "I heard that they took on an Akuma and won."

"The three of them didn't want to stand by and wait for Ladybug and Chat Noir to come." The artist replied. The way she said it made it almost seem like.. jealousy?

"Really?" Marinette replied her face in a state of surprise. "That sounds dangerous to do."

"That's what I said but it seemed that they were too stubborn to listen." Nathaniel chuckled a little bit. "Still though, it was nice to see someone take care of an Akuma without being a hero."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" She asked, confused by what Nathaniel meant.

Nathaniel sighed. "I think I mean that it's nice that normal people can actually fight back rather than rely on superheroes." He looked at Marinette, who now looked like she was thinking about something.

I wonder where the three of them are... Nathaniel thought as he looked out the window. Hope nothing bad has happened to them...

Orion's POV

"Anyone else getting Twilight Zone vibes from all this?" Ariel asked. "'Cause I'm getting creeped out from this." We had just started walking towards the blue light and were starting to get nervous.

"You and us both, Ariel," Dion whispered, holding the sledgehammer close to himself.

I didn't say anything as we moved closer toward the light, revealing a door that had ancient writing on it. "A door?" I said, inspecting it as Ariel and Dion looked at it as well.

I then heard a scuttling noise coming from behind us. I slowly turned around and almost wet my pants in shock as I saw it was.

It was a giant robot, like one of those knights but more alive and less knight-looking. It had burning red optics with gold, dark blue, and chrome plating on its body. It was a giant, mechanical dragon with long horns jutting from its head, which sat upon a thick sauropod-like neck. The head was draconian in origin with two rows of teeth in its mouth. Its bat-like wings sat folded to its sides, the long robotic tail moving about in a snake-like manner. Its front legs were longer than that back, giving it a sauropod-like appearance.

"Oh jeez..." I whispered as the three of us looked at the dragon.

"To be sure," Ariel whispered. "We're all seeing the same thing, right?"

"You mean a giant robot dragon?" Dion whispered back, careful as to not make any sudden movements. "Then yes, we are."

The Robo-dragon did nothing at first, instead, it cocked its head at us and made growling noises. It almost felt like it was studying us. "Intruders!" The Robo-dragon suddenly roared, surprising all three of us. "Intruders from the outside! Crush! Rip! Tear!" The Robo-dragon then began charging at us with great speed.

"GAH!" I screamed, "SCATTER!" The three of us ran in different directions as it slammed tail at us.

"THAT THING CAN TALK?!" Ariel exclaimed as she looked at the Robo-dragon.

"LOOK OUT!" Dion screamed as the dragon suddenly opened its mouth as a blue light began to emit from it. The Robo-dragon then shot out a burst of energy, which upon making contact with the wall next to me, turning the wall into ice.

"So c-cold..." I shivered, looking at the ice wall behind me.

"This guy's on a whole other level..." I heard Dion mutter as he hid behind a rock.

"What do we do?!" Ariel screamed from across the room, hoping that the Robo-dragon didn't see us.

It seemed to have worked because the Robo-dragon then looked around before walking off to search for us. This bought us time, but not enough.
I began racking my brain for answers, hoping for a solution that didn't involve one or all of us dying. Big giant Robo-dragon, underground cavern with dead bodies, weapons that probably have no- I stopped and looked at my sword. It had changed in size when I pulled myself up by its then large form. Now that I thought about it, Ariel and Dion's weapons had a similar design. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they were once giant-sized too! Then I heard a small crackle coming from Dion's direction. I turned and saw tiny blue lightning come out of the hammer that he had.

"Dion!" I whispered, getting his attention. "Look at your weapon!"

"What?!" He whispered back, before yelping when he heard a boulder shatter. He looked at the hammer before it suddenly crackled with blue lightning.

I thought so... I thought as I looked at Ariel. A quick nod from her showed that she was thinking the same thing. She showed me her knives, which were now encased in a small coat of flame. What about me? I thought as I examined my sword. What can my sword do? Suddenly, the edges of the blade began to glow a light green as I held it with two hands instead of one.

I then felt a presence behind me. I could tell it was the Robo-dragon by its yellow eyes reflecting the blade. I looked up to see it staring down at me. It did not look happy to see me at all.

"Can we talk?" I asked, hoping that it would at least consider the idea.

"Rip..." the Robo-dragon bellowed "Kill intruders..." It then opened its mouth, blue frost emitting from its jaws.

Didn't think so... I thought.

The Robo-dragon then shot at me.

"ORION!"


Marinette had left by the time the sun had set, allowing Nathaniel to do whatever he needed. Nathaniel was drawing in his room when a loud buzzing noise was heard. Suddenly, the lights in his house began to flicker on and off so fast, he thought he was about to have a seizure.

Then, everything stopped.

The tv and laptop Nathaniel possessed suddenly sprung to life as words and sounds began playing.

"You are not alone." The message spoke, confusing Nathaniel. "You are not alone..." The message then shifted towards a giant grayish-white robot. It had glowing red eyes and big black cannon on its right arm.

"People of Paris..." The robot bellowed, its voice deep and raspy. "I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons." The robot then began to explain that it came from a planet called Cybertron and that they were a race of conquerors and how they planned to conquer Earth. Then, Megatron dropped a huge bombshell. "Our species has the ability to scan and take on the forms of your primitive machines. Decepticons!" He screamed. "TRANSFORM, AND RISE UP!"

Suddenly, Nathaniel heard screaming coming out of his apartment. He looked out the window and saw a police car suddenly transform into a bipedal, red-eyed robot and began firing at random people. Nathaniel then heard a loud sound coming from his kitchen as he looked and saw that his coffee maker had just transformed into an insect-like robot, shooting hot coffee everywhere.

Thinking fast, Nathaniel ran into the workshop room and barred it, hoping that the Appliance Transformer didn't have any weapons that could pierce the door. He then pulled his phone to try and call Ariel only to find out that all wireless communication was being blocked.

"Shit!" Nathaniel hissed as he grabbed the nearest object that he could use as a weapon. Alas, the closest thing he could was a crowbar that he left out when he was making said room. The door suddenly then began to become riddled with holes as the Coffeetron began shooting coffee beans through it, hitting the portrait of Nathaniel's late mother. "You asshole," Nathaniel, now enraged, growled as he opened the door and smashed the crowbar on Coffetron's head(?) "THAT WAS MY MOTHER'S FAVORITE PAINTING!" Coffeetron seemed to screamed for mercy, only to receive none from Nathaniel as he crushed its processor, offlining it. "And stay broken..." The artist growled, wiping pink liquid from his face. I've gotta find Orion, Ariel, and Dion! He thought as he jumped out of a broken window.

It was pure chaos. The Decepticons had been planning this for years now judging by the way they were now handling the army and police force. "Gather the humans!" He heard a purple giant one say. "When we are done, they will make excellent energon harvesters!"

He then saw a purple and sand-colored robot that had tank treads and jet wings on its body approach the former. "Ooh! Maybe ve can keep zome as pets!" The robot's face suddenly changed from black and red to blue and red. Its new face reminded Nathaniel of a Nazi with the monocle and German accent. "Or maybe ve can use zem in zome of Shockvave's experiments."

Something tells me that not even Ladybug and Chat Noir will be enough to deal with this... Nathaniel thought as he hid from the Decepticons that had walked by him.

He then felt a hand touch him, causing him to swing his arm and almost hit Alix.

"Easy killer." She said.

"Alix?" He whispered. "Why are you here?!"

"To find you, stupid." She scolded. She sighed before looking at him in the eye. "Come with me if you want to live."

Ariel's POV

I watched in horror as the Robo-dragon breathed its ice breath at Orion, who had raised his sword in an attempt to shield himself. I looked away, expecting to hear him scream when... I heard a metallic roar. Confused, I turned around to see that Orion had been unharmed. If anything, the sword he had carried was now glowing a dull green around the edges, melting the ice breath of the Robo-dragon. Orion growled as his clothes suddenly changed. He no longer was dressed as a high schooler but rather in an outfit that resembled Ky Kiske's. The only difference was that his coat was red, his pants were a dull grey, and his boots were q dark blue. A blue pair of antennae covered his ears while his mouth was covered by a white mask.

"What the hell?" I whispered, noticing that my knives had suddenly begun to glow red. I held them up to my face and saw that they had flames on them, burning with intense heat. I then realized something: if Orion's clothes had changed from his weapon activating then that meant...

I looked at my clothes only to realize that I was now wearing an outfit similar to Dizzy's. The only differences were that it was less revealing and it was colored hot pink and chrome white. I felt my head and realized that I had a crown with two long horns jutting from it.

"What the hell?!" I heard Dion exclaim. I turned and saw that he was now wearing an outfit that resembled Ky and a samurai put together. The only differences were the jacket being blue, his undershirt being red with light blue pecks, and his hair being cobalt blue with white rods covering his ears.

"Ariel! Dion!" We heard Orion exclaim. "Back me up!" Seeing his predicament, I jumped into the air and landed on the Robo-dragon's head, causing it to whip its head around violently in a desperate attempt to shake me off. I just held on as I began to stab its neck with the fire knives. Dion simply charged at it and swung his hammer at one of its legs, kneecapping the creature and crippling it. The Robo-dragon roared again as slammed its head against the wall, hoping to crush me against it. Instead, I jumped off and stabbed the Robo-dragon's tail, causing it to roar in pain.

"Think that worked?" I asked, hoping that the Robo-dragon was wise enough to back off. Instead, the Robo-dragon simply spread its wings out and began flying.

"Don't think so..." Dion replied.

"We need to find a way to ground it," Orion stated, dodging another ice beam. "Otherwise, we'll be frozen popsicles!" He sliced through an ice pillar, "Ariel, Dion!" he screamed, getting our attention. "See if you can find a way to round it! There's gotta be some kind of weapon here that was used to fight this thing!"

"What about you though!?" I asked.

"JUST DO IT!" He screamed. I ran towards a wall and saw some giant spikes in the cave ceiling above the Robo-dragon. Thinking fast, I jumped at it and got Dion's attention. Realizing what I intended to do, he jumped and swung his hammer at the spikes, causing them to crash on top of the Robo-dragon, encasing it in rubble.

"Think that stopped it?" I asked, regrouping with Orion and Dion.

The pile started to shake. "I don't think so..." Orion replied, as the Robo-dragon emerged and landed in front of us. Between the immovable door and the only way out being behind the Robo-dragon, we were trapped.

Not willing to give up so easily, I ran and began stabbing its neck. "RIP AND KILL INTRUDERS!" The Robo-dragon roared. "INTRUDERS MUST NOT REACH MATRIX!" The Robo-dragon then shook me off making me crash into Orion. "IF INTRUDERS NOT DIE BY BEAST MODE..." Suddenly, the Robo-dragon stopped what it was doing, before turning towards the doorway. "ALLOW THEM? BUT MASTER! THEY NOT WORTHY OF THY PRESENCE..." The Robo-dragon then bowed its head. "YES MASTER, ME UNDERSTAND..." It turned towards us and bowed. "MASTER WISH TO SEE YOU. ME HAVE COMPLETED MISSION."

"What?" Orion asked, the three of us all confused by what it said. "Mission?"

The Robo-dragon said nothing as it then collapsed into a pile of scrap metal.

"What the hell just happened?" Dion asked.

"I think this is what the Robo-dragon meant when it said its mission was complete," I replied, looking at its remains. "Whatever it was protecting, it must have kept it alive somehow despite its fatal injuries." I noticed a hole in its chest that seemed to go through its power source.

"Fatal injuries?" Dion repeated. "You mean that thing was already dying when we came here?" I nodded in response. "I guess it makes sense..." he continued, scratching his head.

"It mentioned a master," Orion noted. "Perhaps its master is the thing it's protecting." It did make sense.

"We won't find out unless we look behind that door though," I remarked. "So enough yapping and let's see what it is!" I ran towards the door, expecting it open when...

SPLAT!

I crashed face-first into the door. "Ow..." I groaned as I fell on my back, rubbing my sore face. "That was a dumb idea..." I commented as Orion helped me up.

"Maybe if we opened this door together," Orion commented as he walked up towards the door. "It'll give us some answers."

"Well," Dion said as he looked at the door, stretching his limbs, "What're we waiting for?"

Dion's POV

When we opened the door, we were all greeted with a bright blue light that almost blinded us.

We saw a blue orb encased inside an orange sphere with handles coming out of its sides. I didn't know why, but for some reason, it felt familiar.

"We are the Matrix of Leadership, and we have found you worthy of our power." The object stated, getting our attention. "You passed the test."

"Test?" I asked. "What test?"

"The test with the Predacon." It replied. "Or Robo-dragon, as you called it."

"That was you?" I asked, a little annoyed by what it was saying. "You wanted to test us?"

"For what?" Orion asked.

"We wanted to decide if you were worthy of its power." It explained.

"What does that mean?" Ariel inquired.

"It means you would have the power to become superheroes."

Responses to Reviews from Chapter 3:

Aztec 13: This story has grabbed my attention with the human versions of Optimus Prime and Elita One going on an adventure. I noticed that there were some elements from the live-action movies like the Last Knight so I wonder if there going to be other elements from other Transformers series like the human supervillains from Animated or Cyber Planet Keys from the Unicron Trilogy or armor based on the other Optimus Primes like an armor based on Optimus Primal and if I remember right in the Aligned Continuity Orion was a Historian/archivist so I wonder if that plays a role like when he and his friends find Ancient Cybertronian Artifacts like the sword he found in this chapter. That would be cool I can't wait for the next chapter I'm really excited to find out more. Please continue.

MVMZ-710 Star Convoy: I am glad that you liked it but to answer your questions yes the supervillains from Animated will appear. Some will be Akumatized villains, some will not. See if you can guess who will be what.

Orion here is not an archivist but does have a special interest in history.

Also, armor-based? What do you mean by that?

I will continue this story.