Disclaimer: *ducks to avoid thrown food* Okay, I fully take responsibility for the lateness of this chapter. Life caught up with me. So did school. And so did a social life. *winces* I've been busy guys. But have no fear! Dragon and I are back and so are Shadowstalker and Pandimala, who are excited to bring more adventures coming your way, our lovely readers.

Dragon and I: It's good to be back. Enjoy the chapter!

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."

I groaned and raised my servo to shield my optics from Cliff's headlights. Once he shut them off, I glared at him. "Seriously Cliff?"

"Sorry Shadow." Cliffjumper grinned, showing he was not sorry in the slightest. "But I hope you know you've slept all day."

"WHAT?" That certainly made me get up. I punched him in the arm and yelled, "Now you decide to wake me up?!"

Cliffjumper lost his smile. "After what happened yesterday, I thought it would be better if you slept in. Even Optimus agreed."

My arm dropped to my side as the events from yesterday replayed in my mind. My spark ached when I came to realize that it wasn't all a dream. Pandimala really defected.

"My best friend left me for the Decepticons." I whispered.

Cliffjumper snorted. "Former best friend you mean?"

"Yeah." I slowly nodded. "I guess you have a point there."

Cliffjumper's optics softened and he pulled me up off his berth and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about that right now. Let's just celebrate the fact that my lovely femme friend is still here by my side and let's go watch the kids race with toy cars."

I smiled at him and laid a kiss on his cheek. Cliffjumper smirked before leading me in to the main room where Miko, Jack, and Raf were in the middle of a race. This all looked familiar. Scrap Shadow, what episode are we on?

"No way! Raf is scorching us!" Miko yelled.

A beeping sound came from the monitor followed by a familiar voice yelling, "PRIME!"

"I'm sorry Agent Fowler, but Optimus isn't here at the moment." Ratchet answered the agent as we all crowded around the monitor.

"Then I'll take that as confirmation that he's currently trying to run me off the road!" Fowler responded, causing a shocked silence to fill the base.

Oh. That's what episode we're on.

"Agent Fowler, that hardly seems likely." Ratchet retorted.

"Tell that to my burning treads!"

"Ratchet, open the ground bridge to Fowler's location." I quickly said.

"Do you happen to know what's going on here?" Ratchet demanded.

"I'll explain when we get back but right now we've got to keep Fowler from falling over the side of a bridge!" I snapped.

The ground bridge was opened not a minute later and all the 'Bots present except for Ratchet transformed and raced through. When we made it through the other side, the fake Optimus was pushing Fowler off the bridge.

"Da Jazz man to da rescue." Jazz sped ahead of all of us to reach Fowler in time. He transformed and ran the rest of the way. Right when Fowler's car was pushed over the side of the bridge, Jazz swung on to the railing and held on with one hand while he caught Fowler with the other.

"One government agent saved from death coming right up." Jazz grinned.

The rest of us transformed as the knockoff of Optimus drove away. Bulkhead squinted at the figure. "It sure looks like Optimus."

"Primes don't run." Cliffjumper shook his helm. "Come on partner. We're going on a 'Bot hunt." With that being said, Cliff and Arcee drove after the Optimus knockoff.

I felt like I was forgetting something. That was, until I heard Jazz curse and Fowler screamed. I ran over to the side of the bridge before jumping over and diving down.

"Going down!" I yelled as I passed Fowler's car.

I flipped in the air and landed on my pedes before catching Fowler's car. I peaked in the window. "You okay in there Fowler?"

Fowler was breathing heavily as he leaned on his steering wheel. "At ease soldier." He yelped as the air bag was activated and hit him in the face, causing me to chuckle. I got a good grip on on his car before climbing back up to the bridge. Once I made it to the top, I looked around. "Cliff and Arcee aren't back yet?" I sat Fowler's car on the ground and he climbed out.

Bumblebee shook his helm. "No Shadow. Bulkhead and Jazz just went after them."

Worry formed in my systems. I just lost 'Mala, I'll be fragged if I lose Cliff too. I gasped when Jazz and Bulkhead walked towards us with Jazz holding 'Cee and Bulk holding Cliffjumper.

"He got them too, did he?" Fowler sighed. I looked down and saw him closing his phone. He must have called someone to get his car towed.

"Ratchet, we need a ground bridge. Set the med bay up while you're at it." I said in to my com-link, my optics never leaving Cliff's unconscious form.

Soon enough a ground bridge opened in front of us. We walked through quickly and Bulkhead and Jazz carried Cliff and Arcee over to Ratchet. Arcee was put in the chamber just like in the show and Cliffjumper was laid on the medical berth. Ratchet kept an eye on both of their vitals and this is when it hit me, like really really hit me, that Ratchet was the best medic in the business. I've always known it from my time as a human but it's something entirely different to see it in person.

I heard groaning and I turned to see Cliffjumper slowly sitting up. I was by his side instantly.

"Oh scrap." Cliffjumper groaned as he shook his helm. "Now I know what it feels to have my lights knocked out."

"I'm sure you do." I scowled. "Maybe I should do it again for making me worry."

"No, no. I like my lights intact babe." Cliffjumper laughed nervously before a panicked look crossed his face. "Arcee! Is she alright?!"

"Still out." Bumblebee gestured to the chamber where Arcee was. "I assume she took more damage then you did?"

"Yeah. It guess next time I'll drive in front of her to make it even." Cliffjumper smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, she's waking up!" Raf yelled.

Ratchet took a light and shined it in front of Arcee's optics as she slowly came to. "That's it. Follow the light."

Arcee groaned before suddenly snapping to attention. "Wait what?" She looked around. "Ugh, not the best choice of words Ratchet." Bumblebee and Jazz helped her out of the chamber.

"Arcee, are you alright?" Jack asked, worried for his guardian.

"Sure. Except for being blindsided by Optimus." Arcee looked hopelessly confused.

"Impossible." Ratchet scoffed.

"I'm only reporting what I saw." Arcee couldn't do anything but shrug.

"Why would Optimus try to knock off Agent Fowler?" Jack demanded.

"Maybe Optimus believes he's a Decepticon all over again." Raf said fearfully. The word Decepticon caused my spark to ache as I remembered someone who actually was one now.

"Or he's been faking being a good guy all this time." Miko piped in.

"If Prime has gone off the rails, for any reason, then we have a serious problem." Fowler declared.

"This is absurd!" Ratchet refused to believe it. "A quick search for Optimus' signal will reveal he's no where near the location of tonight's incident. In fact, he's just returning now."

I chuckled quietly and leaned against Cliff's berth where he was still sitting. He raised an optic ridge. "What's so funny?"

"You'll see." I smirked.

Optimus drove in to the base and all the 'Bots besides me and Cliffjumper walked up to meet him halfway. Optimus transformed and looked at the 'Bots, who were tense as scrap. He looked down at them and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"We were just," Arcee paused. "Wondering where you've been."

"We haven't been able to reach you." Bulkhead added.

"I've been outside of our communications range." Optimus started as he reached for something.

I barely held in my laughter when the 'Bots jumped back and aimed their weapons at the poor Prime. Cliffjumper snorted as he tried to hold in his laughter as well.

"In a subterranean energon deposit." Optimus finished as he held up the energon for everyone to see. That did it. Cliffjumper and I lost it and soon we were a laughing mess.

"Come on! It's our guy. Can't you tell?" Jack asked.

The rest of Team Prime looked at each other before putting their weapons away. Arcee walked foward and said awkwardly, "We're sorry."

"Don't blame them Prime. I was attacked earlier tonight on the highway by a big rig. One that bore a similar resemblance to you." Fowler explained.

As soon as he said that, his phone rang. Cliffjumper and I decided to join the rest of the team and we walked over to them. Fowler picked up his phone and said, "Fowler." It was silent before he exclaimed, "What?! That's not possible. I can tell you as sure as I am that there are 50 stars on my star spangled shorts it isn't him!"

Okay. Too much information Fowler.

"Alden military base is under attack by Optimus Prime." Fowler sighed as he hung up the phone.

"The truck?" Jack questioned.

"The 'Bot." I answered for Fowler, causing everyone to look at me. "Still from a different dimension guys."

"I will never get used to that." Miko shook her head.

"Ratchet, open the ground bridge." Optimus requested. "Autobots, prepare to roll out!"

My spark ached again. Pandimala always got tired of hearing Prime's infamous catch phrase. I shook my helm. Focus Shadow. She's not here anymore.

As soon as the ground bridge opened, we all ran through. When we got to the other side, we aimed our respective weapons at Nemesis Prime, whose name I finally remembered.

"Oh scrap." I groaned when he retreated and three military helicopters flew towards us.

I quickly raised my arms to shield my optics from the missal that was fired at us. Once the smoke cleared, Optimus commanded, "Autobots retreat! We must not condone human casualties."

"Well, dis surely didn't last dat long." Jazz grumbled, his accent thick as ever as we ran away from the helicopters.

Ratchet thankfully kept the ground bridge open and we soon found ourselves right back inside the base. When we got there, Fowler's phone rang soon after. He picked it up and I immediately heard yelling on the other end. I narrowed my optics.

"No General Bryce." Fowler sighed, exasperated. "Optimus Prime did not attack our boys...because I was with Prime when I received the alert...yes sir, the Autobots were at your base but only in response to the initial attack...but sir I!" Fowler sighed. "Yes sir. I understand." The call ended.

"So what's the damage?" Jack asked.

"All military personnel are under strict orders to destroy any and all 'Bots on sight." Fowler responded gravely.

"Are you kidding?!" Jack came close to screaming.

"But they're innocent." Raf piped in.

"Optimus was framed!" Miko exclaimed.

"Though unfortunate, the military order changes nothing. Our imposter clearly poses a grave threat to humanity." Optimus proclaimed.

"A thirty foot tall transforming imposter, mind you." Fowler reminded everyone.

"They actually did it. Those butchers managed to crack the code." Ratchet finally realized.

"MECH." Optimus came as close to a growl as any of us would probably ever see in our lifetime.

"MECH abducted Breakdown and by all indications deconstructed him from cranial chamber to heel strut." Ratchet shook his helm.

"I was there." Bulkhead rumbled.

"And we know that more recently, they've obtained Starscream's t-cog." Optimus added.

"Which they installed in a knockout of you." I continued.

"Who in turn scanned an appropriate vehicle form." Ratchet piped in.

"Filled the tank with energon." Jack realized.

"And say hello to Nemesis Prime!" Miko declared.

"So where do we start? MECH's base could be anywhere!" Fowler pointed out.

"Not necessarily." I smiled, causing everyone to look at me. "While MECH has learned a lot about our biology, they don't really know much about our technology."

"Exactly." Ratchet agreed. "Without a ground bridge, Nemesis Prime would rely solely on his vehicle mode for transportation."

"Chances are the MECH base is in driving distance of both incidents." Cliffjumper stated.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go crash MECH's little science project." Fowler smashed his fist into his hand and stepped forward.

"Agent Fowler, I do not think it advisable to put yourself in harm's way of MECH's robot again." Optimus made sure to shut Fowler's idea down quickly.

"And I don't think it's advisable for 'Bots to be running recon with the military out there gunning for you!" Fowler retorted.

"We will maintain vehicular cover until absolutely necessary." Optimus assured the agent, who still didn't look happy with Bossbot's decision.

I made a split second decision. "Optimus, is it alright if I remain behind this time?"

Optimus stared at me for a moment. I hoped that he would assume I'm still not over Pandimala leaving us and let me stay. The little scheme I have in my head depends on it.

"Very well." Optimus nodded. "But if the need for backup arises, you will remain on stand by."

"Understood." I nodded, knowing that the back up he would receive was not going to be expected in the slightest.

Ratchet prepared the ground bridge to send everyone to different locations near where the two incidents took place. Cliff was the second to last to leave and before he did he laid a kiss on my forehead.

"Be careful." I smirked.

"Always am." He promised before walking through the ground bridge.

The last to leave was Optimus and once he left, Ratchet immediately started working on something else. Why did I stay behind you ask? It's simple. I would rather help Fowler than get knocked out by Nemesis Prime.

"What are you doing Ratchet?" I stepped up beside him.

"If I can isolate the control frequency of the remote link Silas is employing, I should be able to pinpoint his exact position." Ratchet explained.

"Remote link?" Raf asked, confusion laced in his voice.

"You didn't think MECH possessed the ability to build a completely autonomous robot did you?" Ratchet answered his question with another question.

"I was hoping Silas would be operating the 'Bot from inside because one punch from Bulkhead and BOO YAHH!" Miko proceeded to fall to ground, acting out how Nemesis Prime would more than likely feel after withstanding a punch from Bulkhead. Sadly that isn't the case.

"Same here Miko." I chuckled.

"AHA!" Ratchet explained, causing me to jump because I was right beside him. "Frequency isolated."

"Then reopen that bridge." Fowler spoke up.

"Agent Fowler, did you not hear Optimus advise against your involvement? It's for your own safety." Ratchet tried to persuade the agent to stay.

"Look doc, I don't plan on dancing with any 'Bots. But there's a human element in play here." Fowler retorted. "And in case you haven't noticed, I happen to be a highly trained government grade human."

"Yeah! Plus Silas tried to run him off the road." Miko piped in, causing us all to look at her in disbelief. She shrugged. "It's personal."

"Besides, he won't be going alone." I added, causing all eyes to shift to me. "What?! In case you've forgotten, I kind of know how this is supposed to play out!"

Ratchet looked torn before he sighed. "Just hurry and do what you must." He opened the ground bridge back up.

I transformed and turned my wheel to Fowler. "You coming or what?"

Fowler hesitantly climbed on top of my vehicle form. I resisted a shudder because it felt weird to have someone sitting on me. Literally. I revved my engine and sped through the ground bridge. Once we were on the other side, I stopped and let Fowler off before activating my holoform.

"Ugh. I think I'm going to throw up my breakfast from flight school." Fowler groaned.

"Oh suck it up Fowler." I smirked. "Now wait here for a minute." I hid my vehicle form in a place where I could easily speed out to help if I was needed. I walked back over to Fowler. "Okay, we're good."

BANG!

Fowler and I quickly turned around to see Optimus and Nemesis Prime battling it out not far from us. Fowler's phone rang and he quickly picked it up. I knew what Ratchet was telling him so I wasn't surprised when he hung up the phone and pointed North. "Silas is this way."

"Let's not keep him waiting." I cracked my knuckles.

Fowler and I jogged towards the building where Silas was. Once we made it there, we circled the building until I spotted a ladder.

"Ladies first." Fowler gestured to said object.

I chuckled before climbing up slowly. Something from this episode had recently popped in my mind and stealth was key. Once I made it to the top, I smirked upon seeing a MECH soldier watching the fight with a pair of binoculars. I stepped up behind him silently and tapped his shoulder. As soon as he turned around, I hit him with a mean right hook and he was out like a light.

"Nice punch." Fowler complimented.

I shrugged. "Comes with being a giant robot."

Fowler opened a hatch on the room and climbed in. I carefully climbed in after him and climbed down. Talking was heard and I knew we had the right building. Fowler made it to the floor first and I soon followed. We looked at the soldiers in the room before turning to each other. I nodded and he did the same. He went left and I went right as we carefully knocked out every single soldier. Between the two of us, it was done in record time.

We finished just as Silas said, "No one will stand against the nearly rebooted MECH."

"Think again Sy." Fowler spoke up.

"Agent Fowler." Silas stood up and turned around. "In the flesh at last. And Miss Knight. What a surprise. Or should I call you Shadowstalker now?"

"Shadowstalker is fine, thank you." I couldn't help but reply.

"You haven't changed a bit." Silas sneered.

"Too bad. We're here to pull the plug on your little video game." Fowler replied before rushing at Silas. Silas blocked Fowler's punch and retaliated with one of his own and Fowler was surprised to find himself on the floor. I quickly helped him up.

"Ex military?!" Fowler exclaimed in surprise.

"Special tactics." Silas revealed. "You?"

"Army rangers." Fowler retorted before rushing at him again. Carefully this time. However, it was VERY clear that Fowler was out of shape.

"Retired clearly." Silas said dryly.

However, unlike in the episode, Fowler was knocked down much earlier than expected. I winced as he hit the floor. Silas started to go back for his controls but I ran in front of him and delivered a quick right hook to his face. Optimus still needed some more time.

Silas rubbed the spot where I punched him before raising an eyebrow, "To be a giant robot, that punch didn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

"Trust me. If I was in my real form, that punch probably would've did a lot more damage." I retorted as I rushed at him again.

Silas found it a lot more difficult to fight me than Fowler. I blocked a lot of his punches but a lot of his also connected. But I became confused when a smirk came to his face.

"I find nothing amusing here." I remarked.

"I find it amusing that while you have had training, it looks like you haven't had very much." Silas couldn't help but comment. I gasped when he delivered a round house kick to my stomach and I landed beside Fowler. "Most soldiers worry more about keeping their defenses up rather than stay on the offensive."

"Most soldiers have a brain." I retorted. "We didn't come here to fight you, idiot."

Fowler coughed as he pulled himself to his feet and helped me on mine. "We just needed to buy Prime a little time."

Silas's eyes widened in horror as our words sat in. He ran back to his controls, but it was already too late. I grinned as Optimus delivered the aft beating of a lifetime to Nemesis Prime. I quickly pulled Fowler back as Nemesis Prime's body came through the roof.

"NO!"

I shielded my eyes as I heard a loud crash. Once the smoke cleared I turned around to see Nemesis Prime on the ground. And no sign of Silas.

"Agent Fowler?"

"And Shadowstalker too Bossbot." I smiled up at him sheepishly.

Optimus only raised an optic ridge before we heard helicopters. Fowler smiled. "That would be our boys. Best get back to base Prime. You too Shadow. I'll handle Uncle Sam."

Optimus gave a tiny smile before looking at me, "Shadowstalker, let's roll out."

I smirked. "You got it."

I stood beside Cliffjumper as he rubbed his sore arm. I snickered and he glared playfully at me. "Oh ha ha. You knew this would happen didn't you?"

I laughed and kissed his cheek. "Of course I did silly. What don't I know?"

Cliffjumper only smiled at me before asking, "How did I get so lucky to have a femme like you?"

I winked. "Fate works in mysterious ways."

Together we walked over to join the rest of the team. Ratchet was treating Optimus's injuries as the Prime said, "The question remains whether MECH will continue to function without its leader."

"Well here's a kicker." Fowler appeared on the monitor. "We sifted through the wreckage with a fine tooth comb and couldn't find any trace of Silas."

"Great. Just great." I drawled sarcastically.

Fowler cut the connection and as I noticed Ratchet wielding Optimus's injuries a thought occurred to me. Pandimala came to mind and I narrowed my optics. If she wanted to be a Decepticon, so be it. The next time we meet will end badly for her. I walked up to Optimus and Ratchet, a very important question about to come from my mouth.

I stood in my room admiring the new insignia on my shoulder. The opposite of the side my so called best friend chose.

I am officially an Autobot.

And that is the end of another chapter of Revelations Of A Different Future! Again, I apologize sincerely for the lateness of this chapter. Life caught up with me. But now I've caught up with it! *grins*

Dragon: So it's my turn now.

Me: That would be correct. Good luck writing 'Mala. I know she's having a pretty hard time right now.

Dragon: Understatement of the century.

Both of us: Until next time! *throws confetti*