Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, Viz Media, and Shonen Jump.
Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro.

RxR- Read & Review please.

Chapter: An Unknown Flame.

-Autobot Outpost Omega One-

"Ugh, This sucks..."

Inside the Autobot's massive base, three teenagers sighed amongst themselves. Up atop one of the platforms within the colossal base, the three found themselves huddled around a small wooden table with pencils in their hands. As usual School had ended just a short time ago. Once over, the trio's guardians brought the teens back to base to hang out. Once there though, the teens found themselves busy with work left over from their day of learning.

Something, to one of them, was an utter waste of time.

"Miko, its not that bad."

Snapping her head up, Miko glared over the table at her two friends. Raf was hard at work, carefully scanning his assignment while Jack leaned on his elbow, a bit more casual as he worked. Of course, they weren't wasting their time complaining, much to her irritation.

"Yes it is!" she snappishly denied, "This is torture and they know it! Whoever thought we would need to know this much math is insane! It feels like my head is going to explode!"

Silently, Raf and Jack shared a look, the deadpan clear on their faces, "Is that because you're still on the first few problems?"

"...and your point is?"

Looking up, Raf sighed while Jack crossed his arms. As most students did, Miko often had trouble when it concerned schoolwork. But when she was involved, the girl was in a league of her own. She despised it, a fact everyone knew. And with most of the Autobots having left shortly after bringing the children to the base (except a certain medic, who brushed them off for his OWN work), the amount of ham Miko stirred up to distract everyone was of little surprise.

It rarely worked, but that never stopped Miko from trying. She hated it THAT much.

Then again, Miko didn't really like anything about school. It was just an utter bore to her, as it was to most teens. If she had her way, Miko would have spend most of her days just hanging out with Bulkhead, playing her guitar, and just messing around. Heck, her detentions were just a way for her to liven school up a bit during the long, boring days.

But with homework, there was no escape. Reluctantly, Miko glared at her assignment and returned to it. Remarkably enough though, just a few more minutes later, Jack let out a sigh and set down his pencil. Confused, Miko and Raf looked up, just in time to catch him reclining in his seat.

It took the two about three seconds to realize what it meant.

"What?!" Miko snapped, slamming her hands onto the table in shock, "You're already done!?"

Just across the table, Jack shrugged and pushed several papers in front of himself. With a small smile, the teen leaned back against his hands. Unlike his friends, all Jack's work seemed to be finished. Words were scribbled in, phrases and words were collectively matched, and Jack's name sat neatly at the top corner of the paper, almost as if it was mocking Miko.

"Yeah?" Jack replied, "What about it?"

Gawking, Miko stared for a moment with her jaw wide as a fish. Raf though, examined the papers curiously, "How long have you been done?"

Jack thought about it for a moment and shrugged, "Like, five minutes or so. Why?"

Technically, Jack wouldn't give himself too much credit. In truth, it was his eyes, a simple trick with his eyes. Whenever changed, Jack's visual perception became something far more precise than he could have possibly imagined. Just by glancing at something, he could see and remember things so much easier. It was as if one glance was all he needed to memorize something.

Made schoolwork fairly simple actually, among other things. Least, when his eyes felt like cooperating.

"Dude!" Miko snapped yet again, the gears in her head finally starting to move again, "If you're done, then help me out a bit! This stuff is hard!"

Despite her plea though, Jack didn't seem all so convinced, "Miko, its just a bunch of memorization-"

"I know! And I suck at it! So help me for a bit!"

Nearly pouting at the teen, Miko seemed near the point of begging for Jack's help. She was bored, almost righteously so. Sitting in the base, all but having one of the Autobots seemed bad enough, but add the mind numbing idea of doing homework too?! It was like torture for the hyperactive exchange student.

"Is that why you keep falling asleep in class?" Raf offhandedly asked, "Because you finish the work faster than most of us?"

Such a question made Jack wince. In recent days, Jack had developed a rather nasty habit of falling asleep in class. Mostly it was just Art History, but still it happened. But Jack swore, his skill in the classroom had nothing to do with it! Some sleepless nights were to blame! Not that his teachers cared of course. And when their method of waking someone up is dropping a book right next to their heads, its never a pleasant thing to deal with.

"Whatever," Miko scoffed, shrugging off the supposed reason for Jack's occasional dozing, "So can you help me, please?"

Rolling his eyes, Jack gave the girl another shrug, "Nope."

At an answer such as that, Miko pouted, disappointed. Begrudgingly, the girl turned her attention back to her schoolwork. Rad did as well, though he gave Jack a small smile before he did so. Miko often did have a habit of poking others for answers when she was stuck on some kind of problem. It was an innocent thing half the time, but the other half?

She did get detentions quite a lot at school for a reason.

As the duo resumed their work, Jack glanced up at the ceiling and sighed. Nothing better to do, his mind wonder aimlessly. Thoughts on how the day had gone, things such as school and waking up. Saying goodbye to his mother in the morning, riding to school and the base with Arcee, many classes, and even Miko's groaning upon receiving her homework. Silently he sat, allowing the thoughts to fly by without care.

While waiting though, Jack frowned. Abruptly, the teen sat up and rubbed his head. Thinking just became very difficult for some odd reason. The awkward silence was one thing, but the matter wasn't helped but his friend's pencil scratching in the background. It was like nails on a very soft chalkboard.

That, and Miko's irritated muttering.

Frustrated, Jack let out a small sigh and pushed himself up from the table, "Hey guys?"

"Gonna go take a walk for a bit, clear my head, alright?"

While Raf wouldn't be too much longer, Jack realized Miko would likely have quite a hard time with her homework. Denying her some help would force the girl to focus on actually getting it done would help, but only to a certain degree. Stubborn as she was, Miko could take quite a while to deal with her assignment, and Jack was not about to sit around and wait as she muttered to herself.

Instead, the teen stood up and walked across the platform. A walk around the base could help clear his mind, and get him far away from any bothersome distractions.

"Whatever," Miko muttered, glaring down at her homework.

As Jack departed, Raf looked up at the boy and blinked, "Hey, you want us to tell Ratchet if he asks where you went?"

Already halfway down the steps that led to the base's main floor, Jack waved off his friend's concern, "Nah, I won't be going to far, don't bother him."

Ever since a certain incident that started with Raf discovery of a tiny, adorable, and vicious little robot, the Autobots hadn't been keen on the children going off on their own while they weren't around. The base itself held nothing that could harm the teens, they were certain of that. But in Optimus' opinion, it was better to be safe than sorry. The Autobot's world was dangerous in nearly every aspect, and Ratchet never got tired of reminding them whenever given the chance.

Miko often chuckled at the medic's rants, though Raf thought he was just stressed. The bots were part of a war after all, and he was their only medical officer.

Regardless, Jack waved goodbye to his friends and made his way down onto the main floor of the Autobot's base. The Command Center was truly massive, made to occupy the entire team of Cybertronians at once, with high ceilings and spacious flooring. It held the Ground Bridge, Ratchet's terminal, and the medic's various equipment. For a human, the place was truly gigantic, and very empty.

Like a massive, vacant, abandoned building.

Earning a small chuckle from Raf as he departed, Jack made his way down to the main floor and walked off toward on of the base's tunnels. Despite what Raf had said, Jack felt...like he needed some time to think. Without someone interrupting him. Which of course, was impossible to do while Miko was bugging him to help her with homework.

As he made his way into the inner sections of the base though, Jack's mind started to wonder once again...

...ending up back in a subject that had been bugging Jack for a while now.

In the past few days, even before Jack's close encounter with death at the hands of two MECH agents within the 'Scrapyard', strange dreams plagued the teen. They weren't the typical thing a teenager would dream of either. No simple embarrassing moment at school or some bat-shit insane situation born within his imagination.

No, these dreams were worse. They were strange, but also very real at the same time.

Jack clutched his head, "Man..."

There was no way he could explain it, Jack was sure of it. Each dream, no matter the length or content, always left an odd lingering feeling of deja'vu in its wake. Strangely though, Jack didn't feel as if he had done anything from the dreams before, or even been to the places themselves. Instead, every dream made the teen feel as if he had seen them, as if his own eyes had been there to witness the event itself.

Not a bit of it made sense.

Though in truth, the dreams themselves rarely made sense otherwise.

-One Night Prior-

Like many of the boy's other dreams, Jack's most recent one began as they always did, in darkness.

Comparing the situation would be like looking at an empty movie theater. Before the film starts, but with none of the lights on. Just waiting for something to happen while sitting in complete darkness. But as the shadows grew nearly endless, something emerged, a light, a stream of sunlight.

And before he could blink, Jack saw a landscape before him, something he had never seen before, even in his dreams.

Barren, desolate, nothing but stone and rocks. Such a landscape looked akin to a wasteland, with nothing but a few sparse patches of grass strung throughout it. Forests were viewable in the distance, and the clouds hing above the rocky land for miles on end, peaceful and quiet regardless of what went down below.

But upon such a barren piece of land, activity buzzed. People ran back and forth, leaped from place to place, and yells danced throughout the air. Yet upon such a landscape, there were no good reasons for yelling, cheering or even a gathering of people. Instead, in such a place, only one thing gathered.

Death, death was everywhere.

Horror filled Jack, his eyes widening as he watched. A battle raged on upon the landscape below, two factions fighting it out between each other. Swords cut through skin, shuiken pierced hides, and bones were shattered upon impact. It was like a war zone, one where the dead were soon out-numbering the living. But despite their losses, the two groups never halted their battle. Two groups, one with a red and white fan-like symbol on their backs, and another in armor, heavy yet slowed them down for not only a moment.

The Senju, and the Uchiha.

Jack blinked. He had no idea where such names arrived from. To his best words, they just appeared within his mind, just as the battle itself had.

As he watched, the teen slowly noticed two mean among the two battling sides. Each member of these waring groups were skilled, fighting each other without end. But even among them, there were two that stood out. Men who could brush aside any number of the opposing group without any real effort.

One of them was a tall, strong man in a red set of armor that covered his chest, neck, and shoulders. Atop his head sat a white headband, sitting upon his forehead with the purpose of keeping his long back hair from getting in the way. Lastly, attached to his back was a large white scroll, something that seemed far too impossibly large to be of any real use.

But despite the accessory, the man fought with a power that seemed...inhuman. He jumped through the air with a sword in hand, running at speeds that could make the fastest athlete faint on sight. Across the torn landscape, he flew through men like paper, slicing and cutting down foes at least twice his size. With a punch alone he dropped at least a dozen men, the first falling and the rest following suit.

This man was beyond nearly anything Jack had ever seen, like a force of nature itself.

Even with such feats however, the man's foe was someone Jack needed no reminder in who he was, or what he could do.

Tearing through the battlefield, a man with raven black hear tore though man after man, sword in hand. Clothed in a blue outfit, similar to his clansmen, the man held nothing back as he charged. Swords in hand, eyes as red as blood, and a brown sash holding even more weapons, such a force dominated the battlefield just as his foe had done. But to Jack, he had seen this before. The man seemed shorter, his hair not as long as it had been before, and his rage somewhat tempered, but it was him.

The individual who had appeared again and again throughout the teen's dreams, he was still the monster Jack had grown to know.

A fact clearly shown as the two monstrous shinobi clashed, their blows shaking the environment itself. Again and again, their blades met, striking, slashing against each other. And when their blades grew dull, their fists contained as if they had never had them. Wills of steel these two had, and with them, power unmatched by any others that day.

Whilst their battle continued, the two warriors began throwing the elements at one another, showing even the world itself could be their weapons.

Trees, roots, and entire forests sprouted from the earth, brought forth as Madara's foe tossed together a few hand-signs. Tearing through the ground, tremendous roots threw themselves at the Uchiha, so large that Jack could barely believe his eyes. No plant life could be so large, especially such colossal roots. They tore the landscape asunder as they grew, nature itself showing just how horrifying she could be when enraged.

Just as they rose from the ground, the roots made a bee-line towards Madara, tearing through the rocks, hills, and Earth itself to reach the man, so they could crush the life out of him.

Madara would not be so easily bested though. As the showings of nature grew closer, the powerful Uchiha stood his ground and flickered through his own set of hand-signs, Strangely, Jack found himself entranced by the movements of the Uchiha's hands, his eyes following every gesture he made. Once finished though, the Uchiha took a deep breath...and exhaled.

But instead of simply releasing his own last breath, Madara set forth something that truly made Jack's jaw drop.

Fire.

A fiery blaze was unleashed from his mouth, spewing forth like a firehouse and water. Madara had released a massive ball of flames, something easily three times his own size. The inferno was so hot that it easily burned the ground it scorched across, reducing anything that got in its way to ash as it was sent towards its chosen target.

Racing across the ground, the two powerful techniques met with an explosive flash. Madara's fire burned and tore at his foe's roots, stopping them dead in their tracks. But likewise, the incredibly thick roots also kept the Uchiha's fire from going any further, protecting the man from the scorching flames.

The two explosive techniques were at a stand still, just as their casters seemed to be. No matter what the two did, it seemed as if neither of them could ever get one up on the other. It was as if they were stuck in a draw, like two forces of nature continuously beating on each other, full knowing that neither would ever budge.

But as the flames began to consume the wooden defense that separated Madara from his foe, a sickening sound could be heard in the background.

It was like a cold, bloody slice. Something along the likes of steel cutting against flesh.

Normally, a sound like that would of been common among the destructive battlefield. There were so many shinobi, both on the Uchiha and Senju lines that it would have seemed like a common occurrence. But, for some reason, Madara and his opponent stopped fighting the moment it reached their ears, drawing their attention...

A sound...that filled Madara...

...with utter horror.

"IZUNA!"

-Present-

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. Reaching up, the teen grabbed his head and hissed.

"I...Izuna?" he muttered, "What...the...?"

While he walked through the base's halls, Jack took a moment and shook his head. The name meant nothing to him, nothing at all. It was like something he had once heard in passing, like someone a person had mentioned to him in a casual conversation. Regardless of how hard he though, no faces appeared to match it, nor a time or a place. But merely thinking of it...

For whatever reason, it brought pain, horror...and sent a shiver of terror trembling down his spine.

"I mean really," he mumbled to himself, "Even I have my limits."

Rubbing his face, Jack continued down his stroll throughout the Autobot's base. The massive tunnels stood overhead, large and imposing in the gigantic structure. Inside the massive mesa, the halls were so large that two Autobots could stand side by side as they walked. But for a human, the massive tunnels could easily fit groups of people, tanks, transports, and all sorts of things in mass.

Instead though, all the massive halls held at the moment was one boy, one teen with a major headache. Jack's stroll was meant to be a simple moment to think to himself, to calm down. And yet, all he could think about was a weird name he got from an even odder dream.

Such dreams that didn't seem possible, or as lifelike as they appeared.

Jack rolled his eyes. Dreams were meant to be just that, dreams. Phenomenons of the mind, thoughts, images, and sensations that occurred during one's mind during sleep. Many were often random, things he could barely wrap his mind around when awake. Certainly they could bleed into each other from time to time but oddities were normal.

But was strange, even for dreams, were how connected these ones had been. As if they were...

The teen sighed and dropped his arms, "I swear..."

Having not a clue, Jack continued to make his way though the impressive halls of the base. Inwardly, he smiled sadly. At least none of the others could see him so confused. As much as he cared, Jack had a feeling none of them would understand. How could his friends understand something not even he could make heads or tails of?

'And the last thing I need is Miko asking about what sort of nutty dreams are sticking to my head...' Jack sighed.

Or more precisely, just one. Throughout his stroll, Jack found just one singular dream poking him in the back of his head constantly. It was akin to a rash gnawing at him, refusing to go away. A conflict between two titanic warriors, one of wood and one of fire. That battle seemed to be the best representation of the strangeness that had been assaulting his brain back and forth. Such unbelievable power, a perfect representation of the strangeness the dreams contained.

And yet, Jack couldn't say that he hated it.

'They're shooting damn fireballs, how isn't that awesome?' he grumbled to himself. The dreams were bizarre, strange, and mind-boggling, yet they were intriguing as all hell. Even the slightest nudge made Jack feel as if he was there. The wind on his face, the heat from the flames, the sounds of people fighting, swords clashing, and roots ripping themselves up through the ground.

And they looked damned real, regardless of not being so.

Dead center in one of the base's massive halls, Jack stopped abruptly and raised his hands to his face.

So real, and so clear. The dreams were even beyond that. Not only did Jack feel as if he was there, but he could everything too. What should have been a messy, barely recognizable mess within his head was as clear as day. Down to the swaying flames in the wind and the hand-signs crafted amidst the conflict, everything was as clear as day.

"The hell is going on..." he sighed.

In fact, the hand-signs were one of the hardest aspects for Jack to wrap his head around. How fast a person could craft a gesture with their hands, in the middle of battle. It seemed impossible.

'No, not impossible,' he corrected. More complicated than anything. Crafting gestures with your hands, over a dozen in less than a few seconds would require concentration, focus, and skill beyond anything a normal person could achieve. Kinda like sign language only much harder. And yet, Jack recalled, he remembered. Almost as if they had been burned into his mind by a brand, everything he thought about the gestures, they appeared clear as day.

Merely picturing one was akin to holding a flashcard in front of his eyes.

Jack sighed and clenched his hands. A sudden thought popped into his head. Slowly, the teen brought his hands together and carefully intertwined his fingers. It was a bizarre idea, he admitted. More akin to a gut feeling than anything, a sudden curiosity. Like a passing fancy upon discovering something he hadn't realized before. After all, Jack had the knowledge, so why not test it out?

With the one of the hall's lights shining down from above, Jack closed his eyes and focused.

'Alright,' he sighed, concentrating. Within his mind, the teen pushed most of his thoughts away. His family, his friends, and even why he was in the base's halls in the first place. Jack pushed everything to the side and focused on one, single image. A gesture, a hand-sign, one that appeared clear as day in his mind. Then, almost involuntarily, his hands moved.

Involuntarily and to his shock, Jack crafted the hand-sign, perfectly replicated, all in the span of a few seconds.

"Okay, this is just getting freaky now..." he muttered.

Freaky was an understatement. Beyond even that. It was enough to make a man's head spin. Photographic memory existed and it was one thing. One look at something and a person could memorize it, as if taking a photo of it before storing it within their minds. Essentially, a person's mind became a scrapbook and their eyes cameras.

But, cameras couldn't take a picture of something that wasn't real, like a dream. And certainly, pictures couldn't teach someone like a damn instruction manual!

None of it made sense, not a lick of it. Jack reached up and rubbed his eyes. Dreams didn't work that way, memories either. They were a flicker of events, recreations of occurrences that once happened and or the ramblings of an unconscious mind. Regardless of how real they were, a person's mind would eventually forget them, as if wiping away a dry-erase board.

So then, how were such images so real? So clear, so...lifelike?

Shifting his feet, Jack let out a small sigh and rubbed his head, frustrated.

He took a step back, sighed, and cursed his luck. Within the colossal halls of the Autobot's base, Jack felt a headache form. If he had wanted to get confused, he would have asked one of the bots about their past or Raf about something regarding computers. Amidst his confusion however, a sudden idea appeared. Not just an idea though. Jack could barely even consider it an idea from just how stupid it sounded.

It was something one would likely think of it they had no idea of what was going on.

'Well,' Jack mused, remembering his situation, 'I technically don't...'

As much as Jack liked to think of himself as the most realistic of his friends at the base, even he had his moments. Nothing akin to Miko's death-defying antics, nor Raf's naivety but Jack had his moments. Taking a leap of curiosity and sitting on what had been a 'seemingly' ordinary motorcycle had been one hell of an example.

'No regrets there.' he inwardly chuckled.

The teen glanced at his hands once again and mused. So, how bad would it be to go a bit farther? He had done the deed once, though he had no idea how he had done it. Literally, it had just came to him, regardless of his confusion. Jack nearly chuckled. Sure, it would be more difficult, no doubting that. Yet the idea? Was a bit exciting.

"How would these guys even remember something like this?" he muttered, glancing at his hands, "What, did they keep a flashcard on the back of their arms or something?"

Throughout most of the dream, Jack recalled scores of people, all making dozens upon dozens of hand-signs. Amidst fighting, killing, and dying themselves, and yet they found time to craft such complex gestures without making a mistake. He couldn't make heads or tails of it. It was almost as if they were just pretending, not fully knowing what they were doing.

Jack chuckled. The idea of 'pretending' made a smile appear on his face. Such a novel concept, one that hadn't crossed his mind in years. A time of youth, without worrying about helping his mother with the bills. Before could help with easing up on her already insane work load. No school, no work, and no fretting over the weirdness in his life.

Just a boy playing pretend, acting out whatever his mind thought of.

Dreams, ideas, that seemed so whimsical back then...and so real now.

Turning around, Jack glanced back down the hall and rolled his shoulders. Miko and Raf were still back in the Command Center working on their homework and all but one of the Autobots were out doing something much more important. Inside the base's tunnel, not a soul was around to see.

Sparing a glance at his hands, the teen huffed, "Ah, the hell with it."

Throwing caution to the wind, Jack stared down at his hands and began making hand-signs. The images played within his head, the silhouette of a man with long spiky black hair and gloved hands making hand-signs as well. Silently, the teen followed in motion and carefully replicated each gesture, one after another without missing a beat.

As he watched, Jack kept his eyes trained on his hands, following as they snapped from one gesture to another. Amidst his frantic movements, the teen felt his eyes change from blue to red. Behind his eyes, Jack flew the images come in even clearer, somehow helping him replicate the gestures exactly, even down to the subtlest of twitches.

Everything began to move so fast, so quick that Jack could barely keep track of it himself. But even the, the strangeness didn't stop.

Deep within Jack, as he continued to craft his gestures, something occurred, deep within his body.

At the very center of his chest, a warmth flickered into existence. Dismissible at first, a sudden heat sprang up as Jack's hands continued to form hand-signs. Starting at his chest, like wild flame, the warmth raged throughout the teen's entire body. His lungs, chest, torso, arms, and legs, the heat flowed through everything as if it was his blood.

And the moment Jack finished his gestures, the very second his hands formed the last of the hand-signs, it hit him.

Without a chance to even smirk, Jack yelped. Out of nowhere, the heat burned bright and shut up through the boy's throat. Every vein, blood vessel, and single nerve burned as if they had turned to fire. The teen staggered back and grabbed his throat, barely even able to stand anymore. The sudden pain was so great that he couldn't even yell.

Instead, as Jack gasped, air rushed down his throat and filled his lungs. But with such air, there too much. On reflex alone, the teen felt the same air rush back up his windpipe.

With no choice, Jack exhaled...

-FWOOSH!-

...and with it, his eyes widened.

A small spark came first. Tiny, insignificant, a mere flicker of embers from the boy's mouth. At a mere glance, one wouldn't even notice them, instead confusing them with a flicker of light. But from this ember, more came. Before Jack's eyes, the spark swelled the second it touched air. The mere contact between these two elements produced something massive, grand and devastating. From a tiny, pathetic spark, real flames poured forth from Jack's mouth, expanding like some sort of balloon.

These flames grew, exploding outward like a rushing river or an intense flamethrower, ravaging the air with enough heat to scar stone itself.

Jack stood frozen, eyes wide in shock. His mind was at a stand still, watching in silence as the flames danced wildly in front of him. In fact, his entire body felt as such. His hands, mouth, and even his lungs were frozen, unable to stop as the flames poured forth, seemingly unending.

Although, such shocking silence caused Jack to miss something. A subtle, pulling sensation, a draining feeling within himself.

However, eventually Jack took a long look at what was happening and yelped. A knee-jerk reaction was what it was, a snap of the muscles, like something akin to your leg kicking at the doctor's office. But with the gasp, the flames shot forward, propelled be the sudden intact of air.

Flying though the air with such speed, the flames smacked directly into one of the tunnel's walls. And the moment they touched, the flames exploded, painting the wall with their heat.

The explosion looked as if it had been plucked from Jack's dreams, leaving the boy shocked into silence. While less than the monstrous detonation that flashed through the boy's dreams, the fire scared the tunnel wall with a black, smoking scorch mark. Ashen smoke rose from the wound, Jack gawking as the stench burned away at his nose.

"T-the hell was..." he whispered to himself, tone shaking and twitching with uncertainty.

Slowly, Jack cautiously raised one of his hands and touched his lips. They were warm, almost unsurprisingly, similar to if he had just drank something warm. The flames had left their mark, though not has much as one would think. He was even a bit shocked, you'd think fire would burn a lot more than-

"No!"

Jack clutched his head and shook it suddenly, "No way! That...that was...I did not just do that!"

Taking a step back, the teen tore his gaze from the scar that marked the wall. He could still smell the smoke in the air, the ash from the flames. But instead of facing it, Jack took a step back across the tunnel, not even wanting to look at it. Instead, he refused to even remotely acknowledge it at all!

"That, did not just happen! I didn't...I didn't just breath fire! Thats insane! I didn't-!"

It just wasn't possible, Jack knew it. There was a lot of things he could believe. The Autobots, his own eyes, and maybe even his dreams to some degree, but fire? Breathing fire?! What was he, part of some freak show that escaped the circus!? Denial was the only thing Jack could feel at the moment, the only thing that made the tiniest bit of sense.

Although, it was a bit hard to deny the sight due to the large scotch mark that was starting the boy in the face.

However, Jack wanted to ignore it. He wanted to keep his attention as far away from the evidence of the fire as he could. With everything that had been going on with his eyes, there was absolutely nothing the teen wanted to do with something so bizarre. He had enough issues of feeling like a freak as it was, but adding a shooting fire out of his mouth was not helpin-

"Hey, Jack?!"

A sudden voice echoed through the base, bouncing off the walls of the tunnel Jack had found himself in. The teen twitched and snapped himself out of this own thoughts, caught off guard by the sudden sound. Frantically, he snapped around, recognizing the voice of one of his friends, "You okay?! What was that noise?"

Realizing it was Miko, Jack shook his head and glanced back up at the scorch mark, biting his tongue, "Uh...it, it was...it was nothing! Nothing at all!"

"You sure?!"

Focusing on the scorch mark for yet another moment, the teen clenched his hands tight, "Ye-yeah! It was nothing!"

"...okay! Now can you come back here and help me!? This stuff is driving me crazy!" Miko yelled, sounding quite desperate.

For a moment, Jack said nothing. Seconds passed, the teen doing nothing but stare up at the burn mark. The smell of smoke was in the air, the heat was still present, and he could hear his own heart beat. It was like a raging animal, wild, savage, and ready to burst from his chest. In fact, his entire body felt on edge, ready to snap at the drop of a needle.

As he stared, Jack narrowed his eyes. He refused to freak out, not because of something like this. Clenching his fist, the teen reigned himself in, calming his body, his nerves, and even his heart.

"Yeah, yeah! Hold on, out be there in a minute!" Jack yelled back down the hall.

"Does that mean you'll help?"

He sighed, shaking his head, "Maybe, just maybe!"

"Seriously?! Sweet!" Miko cheered, Raf chuckling alongside her.

Back down the hall, Jack shook his head. Lifting his head, the teen sent the scorch mark one last look. Merely glancing at it, he felt himself grow tired. His legs felt weak, \hands twitched randomly, and his chest felt akin to have pushed its way through a mile long run. It was odd, a draining feeling across his entire body.

Regardless, Jack pushed the feeling aside, "Its nothing..."

Shaking such thoughts from his mind, Jack continued back down the hall. Dealing with his friends was much more reasonable and less stress inducing than even dealing with one burn had no doubts that he had to deal with it eventually, but for now? Even helping Miko out with her homework seemed more relaxing, an amazement in itself. Though, the girl was quite good at distracting people, be it with her antics or her complaining.

Even if it often appeared at the worst times.

And who knows? Perhaps something else could happen. While walking back, Jack shrugged at the idea. Like the Autobots returning, and having a mission the teens could go on? One that didn't almost involve them getting blown to kingdom come or something? A more...relaxing mission? Like something scout related?

"Yeah..." Jack muttered, "I'd like that."

-Unknown-

The sky was dark overhead, the night in full motion. The flickering of the stars sat high above in the sky, shining down upon a rather dark and full forest. It stood miles, countless even, away from many avents of civilization. Campers sometimes came to roost, to spend their time away from the hustle and bustle of cities and towns.

Alone, without power or anything else, the forest sat in silence...

Until, something flickered.

High above even the highest trees in the land, something moved. At first, it appeared to be a star, shooting across the sky for just the blink of a moment.

But as the light shot througn the air, it grew. A spec of light was how it began, something so small that one would have to focus on it to even have a chance of seeing it. Then, it got bigger. From a spec, it turned into an orb of light, turning itself toward the planet below, and then it became fire, nothing but fire itself.

A massive, gigantic fireball shot through the air and flew out of the sky. A trail of smoke, more flames, and ash trailed behind it, following it as it flew towards the ground and the forest below.

Small animals. Birds, squirrels, deer, anything that could see the flaming ball instantly took off, running for the hills as the meteor raced towards the ground.

Within mere moments, the massive colossal mass of fire easily neared the Earth's surface. Several trees were nearly lit ablaze as the meteor gazed over them. And once it finally hit, the object made one hell of an impact. The trees were the first to go, the fireball tearing through countless trees, leaving nothing but burnt, broken, and miniscule stumps in its wake. After several seconds of chaos, trees snapping and wood cracking, the fireball came to halt. It settled itself in a rather large crater, its entire surface burning red from the impact.

An eerie silence filled the forest. The sizzling of the meteor being the only sound for miles.

Several minutes passed, the meteor's red surface slowly changing. The burning redness that accompanied it as it fell from the sky began to fade, disappearing into a dark black color. The surface of the strange object was rough, covered in dings and scratches. Despite the damages though, the object's surface wasn't rock as many would suspect. Instead, it was thick, ominous, and smooth as well.

Its entire surface was in fact, metal. It gleamed within the darkness of the forest, the moon's light reflecting over the object's surface.

As the object cooled however, as its surface returned to its natural complexion...it opened.

The massive black structure, still smoking, opened up. A lower portion released a dreadful hiss, a large ramp lowering from the black mass of metal. It sunk into the charged earth, pushing dirt out of the way as it settled upon the planet.

Once it came to a halt, loud thuds began to emerge from the inside of the structure. Like boots against metal, something began to make its way from the inside of the structure, to the outside. Eventually, something emerged from the blackness, ending up upon the ramp itself.

A tall black figure, slender...yet strangely frightening.

Whatever it was, the figure looked up toward the sky, gazing at the starless night. Two purple lights tore through the darkness. Then, the figure stretched its arms, and then its legs...

...all eight of them.

NA:

Well, that chapter was a bit of a pain to do. Quite a pain really, I literally rewrote quite a few parts of this one a few times. It was just a pain, and I'm sorry for taking so long with this one. Next Chapter we get into some fun, I promise.

Pretty sure any TFP fan knows who that was at the end. I just wanted to actually show the landing. I think I got what should have happened down though.

As before, any questions? Send them in a review and or PM, Guest reviews though will be ignored. Sorry.

RxR- Read & Review please.