QuickNote: I just want to say thank you for the recent reviews and helpful hints! This chapter I'm going to change up the way I write my dialogue to where it is less confusing. I apologize if you thought it was confusing to read and I promise to make it better. With that said, on with the story!
Chapter 6: Home
Darby House:
This morning I woke up earlier than my alarm clock again which doesn't surprise me really because of what happened last night at the Autobot base. Jack and I made the decision to leave after getting tired of being in constant danger, but I was having second thoughts about leaving them. I kept thinking about that all night, but then again it was probably too late to go back. With that thought I rolled out of bed to get ready for the day and then decided that I needed to go the gym to make sure everything was in order for an upcoming competition. I went to garage, which to me was surprisingly empty without Arcee, to get on my bike and head out into the crisp cool Nevada air.
All Star Gym:
The bike ride to the gym seemed like an eternity maybe because I was used to riding a motorcycle. Ugh I got to stop thinking about that, but somehow it keeps coming to mind no matter how much I don't want it to. I entered the gym to see it was a mess as usual, but I had all the time in the world to clean it so I just sighed and got to work. It only took me two hours to clean and straighten things up and I turned to look at my watch and saw it was only 7:30. With nothing else to do, I decided to go home to get it ready for Pem for when she got home from her camping trip later on today. I went outside and turned to lock the doors when I heard a familiar voice…
"Hey there!" Arcee said to me causally as I turned around in shock to face her.
"Arcee! How'd you know I was here?" I asked her as I walked up to her.
"Well I left the base this morning I decided to see if you were awake since you wake up earlier than the whole town." Arcee then laughed slightly.
"Uh I see that you picked up on that. Well sometimes I can't sleep when I have a lot on my mind." My voiced dropped at the end of the sentence.
"Yeah about that…look Jordyn I…I just want to ask you something." Arcee said nervously.
"Yeah what is it Arcee?" I asked her a little bit confused.
Arcee then asked, "Were you and Jack being serious about leaving for good?"
I was taken aback by her question and I said, "Well at the time we were Arcee, but we thought about it a little last night, well at least I did."
"What were you thinking about Jordyn?" Arcee questioned me as I looked away from her for a second.
"I was thinking about coming back because I heard how sad you sounded when we left the base. Arcee, were you really sad about us leaving because we didn't exactly get off to a great start…" I said while looking down at her.
"I was sad that you two were leaving because well…well…" Arcee stammered and couldn't quite seem to gather her words.
"Well what?" I asked her a little bit confused.
"Well I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to you two yet. And after losing Cliffjumper I was angry and taking it out on everybody even you, yet you still talked to me after I basically insulted you. You gave me advice that helped me a lot and I decided to give you and Jack a chance, but when I saw you guys leaving it made me feel empty and I just couldn't take it so I decided to try and get you two to come back. I...I..." Arcee said as she turned away from me.
I was shocked to hear those words come from her, but I quickly recovered, "Arcee I have to say that is the sincerest thing I ever heard and it means a lot to me that you said that. I kept thinking that even if I wanted to come back that I probably wouldn't be able to since there was a possibility that I wouldn't ever see you guys again. Guess I was wrong." I laughed slightly.
"Yeah I thought that I wouldn't see you and Jack again either, but I guess I was wrong this time around. So are you going to come back? I understand if you don't want to because I heard Bulkhead said that you two wanted to be normal…" Arcee said as she turned to face me.
"Well I have to see about it…yes I do want to come back because like Miko said last night to us we will never be normal!" I said as Arcee and I both laughed at that.
"I have to agree with you there Jordyn because I don't think anyone could ever be normal after they stormed an alien warship." Arcee said and bobbed her front end in amusement.
"That's definitely is true Arcee, but we got another problem; Jack. I don't know how we're going to convince him to come back." I said to Arcee, unsure.
"Oh don't worry about that Jordyn, Arcee already talked to me at work." Jack said as he came from the shadows.
I jumped as I turned around to see Jack smiling and said, "Sheesh Jack are you trying to scare the crap out of me?! Well at least I know that I wasn't the only one up at the crack of dawn."
Jack then laughed, "Yeah I forgot to tell you I had an early shift this morning so I left a few minutes after you and that's when Arcee met me in the parking lot."
"Yeah I managed to catch up with him and talk to him too and then we went to come get you!"Arcee then stated as she faced both of us.
"Well I'm glad that you did come back and get me or I would have started to walk to base! Anyways let's get going, I want to go back to base to see everyone! Oh wow I'm starting to act like Miko now… uh that's a scary thought." I said as Jack and Arcee laughed at my last statement.
All of three of us then took off towards the base and for once in my life I'm glad that I didn't sleep all the way through the night because I would have never gotten to see Arcee or the other bots again. So with that said I was ready to take on whatever the day had planned for me.
Autobot Base:
All of us finally reached the last stretch of road I decided to ask Arcee something that has been nagging at me since yesterday.
"Arcee do you know what Miko took a picture of yesterday?" I asked curiously.
Arcee then turned her mirrors so she could see me, "Ratchet figured out it was the specs for a spacebridge generator, but we don't know where the cons are hiding the bridge though."
"Well at least we figured out what it was and I'm sure Ratchet will figure out where it is soon." Jack said reassuring both of us.
I nodded my head in agreement and we continued on into the tunnel of the base and entered the room to be met with the other bots. Arcee then stopped and let me and Jack off to transform.
"Hey guys were back!" Jack and I said smiling to the others.
Optimus looked at us and then at the others and said, "Everyone prepare for departure."
Jack and I looked at each other and frowned a little, but it didn't last long because we were curious about what's going on and apparently so did Arcee.
"Where too?" Arcee asked the others, but Miko decided answer for them.
"The final frontier!" Miko stated as she walked towards us.
Jack and I looked at each other confused and said, " Space? But I thought that they didn't have any way to get there?"
Raf then spoke as Bumblebee started to set him down on the ground, "They don't really."
'Well that's very comforting!' I thought to myself and then looked up to Arcee.
"Be seeing you!" Jack and I said to her and she gave us a half smile back. I turned to Raf and Miko who are saying goodbye to their guardians.
"Be careful bee!" Raf said to him with a hint of worry in his voice. Bumblebee then beeped back at him which I guessed he said something equal of a promise.
"I'm so jealous!" Miko said disappointed to her much larger guardian.
Bulkhead then looked at Miko with a warning tone in his voice as he said, "Don't even think about following me!"
"Optimus if you leave me stranded here teaming with humans I will never forgive you!" Ratchet threatened as he opened the Groundbridge
"Until we meet again old friend. Autobots roll out!" Optimus ordered the team excluding Ratchet.
We all watched as the bots traveled through the Groundbridge hoping that they would make it through and get to the spacebridge. Ratchet then went from the bridge controls to the monitor to see if the bots managed to get all the way through to space. I was about to ask him if they made it or not, but Miko came up to me and punched me and Jack in the shoulder.
"Dude I can't believe that you guys came back!" Miko shouted at the both of us and I turned to look at her.
"Hah I'm glad to see you two Miko!" I said smiling at her.
"Yeah we missed you guys! And you weren't even gone for a full day." Raf said as we all made our way up to railing near the monitors.
Ratchet then decided to join the conversation, "Yes we all are excited to see you two back!" He said sarcastically.
"Aww Ratchet it's a joy to see you too!" Jack and I came back at him and just to annoy him I gave him a nice little smile.
Ratchet then turned around to monitors to see if there was any progress being made. Of course there was nothing there, but Ratchet didn't want to continue our conversation because he knew we could go all day. Raf then decided to get on his laptop to monitor the progress while Jack, Miko, and I kept watching the monitors, but as we all know Miko she gets bored easily.
Miko then went up to Ratchet and said, "This is so boring waiting to hear from them! Have they even made through to space yet?"
Ratchet the turned to her, "As you can see Miko there are still four life signals so yes they did make it there so if you don't mind can you be quiet like the others and not to disturb me."
"Aw come on Ratchet she's just worried like the rest of us so don't be too hard on her." I said to Ratchet, defending my friend.
He just huffed and turned around back to the monitors. Miko then looked at me with a smile and I gave her a thumbs up before turning back around to face the monitors. I kept watching in hope to get any word from anybody, but of course there was nothing until the monitor beeped and everyone gathered around.
"It seems like the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system." Optimus said through the comm. link.
"Huh that's my handiwork!" Bulkhead said proudly to Optimus.
"Great job Bulkhead! Without the dish Megatron will be unable to aim the space bridge at Cybertron." Optimus said with little relief.
Raf then decided to enter the conversation, "Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?"
"Yeah I mean how hard is it to find your own way back home?" I asked Ratchet curiously
"It isn't hard too! We know exactly where our home is naturally. But Cybertron is many light-years away so their aim has to be astronomically precise." Ratchet then explained to us.
"Well I guess precision is key in everything." I muttered to Jack and Miko.
"If Megatron went through the trouble rendezvousing with his spacebridge, he must have another targeting system a remote one." Optimus then pointed out to us.
"Hm from what I know about Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single telescope dish powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron." Ratchet said doubtfully.
Raf then decided to join the conversation,"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescope dishes? Like the giant Array in Texas." He said hopefully.
"Eep Eep this isn't child's play!" Ratchet said to Raf immediately shooting down his idea.
"Good thinking Raf!" Optimus commended Raf completely ignoring Ratchet.
"Ha!" I said to Ratchet while pointing to him and he just gave me a little death glare.
"Ratchet have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard." Optimus ordered.
"You soldier you're out of uniform put on some pants!"said a still delirious Fowler.
"That maybe a challenge." Ratchet stated to Optimus.
Raf then typed on his computer and looked frustrated, "I can't get past the array's firewall it's too thick!"
"You? You think you can actually keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet question Raf doubtfully.
Raf then looked back at Ratchet, "Maybe if I can get in." He said that like there was little chance he could.
"W-wait Raf what if we could get you all the way in like inside the building?" Jack and I said to him hopefully.
"I can log onto their internal network on the other end of the firewall!" Raf said to rest of us.
"The risk is too great! The Decepticons will be there perhaps even on sight!" Optimus said in disagreement with our plan.
"Optimus with all due respect you said it yourself this is bigger than the safety of four humans."Jack reminded him.
"All of us understand the risks that are involved in this situation." I said trying to convince Optimus.
Miko then decided to add her own input to the conversation, "Yeah if we let the cons win were fragged along with everyone else on our planet."
"Raf?" Optimus asked him still unsure about letting him go.
At that moment all of us turned around to face Raf and he looked a little bit unsure, can't say that I blame him. After a few moments have passed I finally decided to break the silence between all of us…
I turned to look at him, "It all up to you if you want to do it." I said reassuringly
Raf then looked at me and then to the others and said, "I want to give a shot!"
Ratchet then nodded and typed in the coordinates for the Groundbridge. All of us were happy that Raf wanted to try and bring the Decepticons down a notch for once. After the Groundbridge opened, Raf was ready to go, but Ratchet wouldn't let him go alone so Jack, Miko, and I decided to go with him as back up.
Somewhere in Texas:
All of us went through the Groundbridge portal and ended up right in front of the Array facility. We at first had to regain our balance because we still weren't used to the Groundbridge and it gave us a major headache in the process.
"Ugh that'll take some getting used to!" Jack said while touching his forehead like he got hit in the head.
"Yeah no kidding!" I said as I was rubbing the side of my head and trying not to get dizzy.
Miko then decided to describe our location in one word, "Whoa!"
Where we landed is what seems to be a whole row of satellite dishes along several buildings. After we all got over our temporary headache, we then proceeded to head inside and hopefully slide by security in order for Raf to do his job. As we made our way into the building I noticed something, there weren't any guards around. I just let that thought slide for later because we have to focus on the situation at hand. We made it to room with a computer and Raf ran right to it typing away.
Miko then went to the door and looked out and said, "Security sure lacks in this place!" She then closed the door and walked back towards us at the computer.
Without turning my head away from the computer screen I said to her, "I had that same thought Miko and it is pretty weird."
"I'm in and so are the Decepticons!" Raf said in shock to the rest of us.
Jack and I surprised by what he just said went up to him and said, "What?!"
"How can you tell Raf?" Miko asked him as she watched the screen.
"Schematics! Like the same alien math we saw on their ship!" Raf then explained to all of us.
I turned to look at Jack and Miko and then at Raf and said, "Hmm well that makes since, but you couldn't download at the time though."
Raf then stated to me, "Yeah, but this time, Jordyn, I can download it!" He then plugged his flash drive into the usb port and turn back to the computer screen.
"It's gotta be the spacebridge for sure!" Miko said and basically stating the obvious to the rest of us.
"The Decepticons are synching it to the dishes, but I can sync to them!" Raf said with determination.
"Will they know Raf?" Jack and I both question him while staring at the monitor.
"Even if the Decepticons know that I'm in the system, they have no idea that I'm in the house!" Raf then said as he typed away on the computer. He managed to disable the connections the Decepticons had on the dishes, but then the cons fought back to try and reconnect. But Raf was bounded and determined to stop them at any cost. I then had a thought going back to what Raf said about being in the house and decided to share it with the others.
"Let's hope they're not in the house with us or things could go from bad to worse in a matter of seconds!" I said with worry evident in voice at the thought of another Decepticon in the building with us.
Jack then looked at me and then at Raf and said, "Yeah Jordyn you have a point. What happens when the cons realize they're being punked?"
Raf then turned to look at Jack said, "Its only virtual combat ya know like online gaming!"
Miko nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah Jack! What can the cons do they're probably like a thousand miles away!" She said optimistically.
Jack and I just nodded our head in agreement to what she said and continued to watch Raf have an online tug of war with the cons. Everything was going well until Jack and I heard a strange noise behind us, so we decided to turn around to see what it was. Both of us looked up and saw it was a giant tentacle and we both let out a scream and grabbed a hold of it with Miko tagging along.
"Oh no you don't!" I yelled while being flung around like a rag doll.
While all of us were hanging on for dear life on the tentacle, Raf was still typing away to make sure the Decepticons couldn't get a hold of the dishes. The tentacle ride itself felt like I was riding a mechanical bull and it slung Jack off of it into the wall. Miko and I were still attached to it, but not for long as it slung both of us off and into the wall. I hit the wall hard and man did it hurt like crap, but I turned my attention to Raf whom was still typing even though the tentacle was right in his face.
"Raf you gotta move!" I yelled at him when the tentacle kept getting closer and closer to him. Raf then got up and grabbed a hold of his flash drive and jumped from the computer before it was destroyed by the tentacle.
As I was watching I saw Miko take a hold of an axe from behind us and went charging towards it. I basically yelled at her to stop, but knowing Miko she didn't stop and managed to hit the tentacle. Then Miko was knocked back into the wall and the tentacle managed to pick up the axe Miko dropped and aimed at us.
"You handed it an axe!?" Jack and I yelled at her while looking down at her and back at the tentacle.
"Not good!" Raf said fear very apparent in his voice and we all watched as the tentacle brought the axe down at us, but then it stopped and left the room.
"Okay that was weird, but where is it going with that axe?" I said to Jack who shrugged his shoulders.
"This way!" Miko then said to us as she was heading out the door following the tentacle.
All of us ran down the hallway in the direction of the tentacle and Jack busted open the doors to see what was going on. When we got in there we, saw a weird looking Decepticon with a screen for a face trying to leave the building. We stopped in our tracks when it stared straight at us and Miko got her phone out to take a picture of the con and the faceless Decepticon decided to take a picture of us too and left.
"Why is he leaving?" Miko asked us while watching the con fly away.
Raf went over to what looked like a huge cable with an axe down the middle and sadly said, "He cut the line! The dishes are locked onto to Cybertron…for good."
I knelt down beside Raf and calmly said, "It's okay Raf you tried your best and I think you gave that con a run for his money with your computer skills. Let's just hope the bots have a Plan B."
Raf and I then got up and went over to Jack and he said, "I hope so to Jordyn, but we have to call Ratchet for a Groundbridge." We all nodded our heads in agreement while Jack contacted Ratchet for a bridge.
Autobot Base:
All four of us got to base with defeated looks on our faces and Ratchet didn't even have to ask what happened and turned back to the monitors when a beeping sound occurred. On screen it showed us a picture of the Earth and Cybertron with the spacebridge in the middle with purple dots surrounding Cybertron and heading into the spacebridge. From what I can tell it was Megatron's supposed army of undead soldiers coming from Cybertron to Earth and from what I hear it was Dark Energon that brought them back alive. Ratchet then proceeded to contact Optimus about the incoming news.
"Optimus my scanners are picking a rapidly expanding mass in their spacebridge vortex! All with the same peculiar energy signature." Ratchet said to Optimus through the comm. link.
Optimus finally spoke to us with a grave tone of voice, "Dark Energon. Ratchet we must destroy the spacebridge! There's enough live Energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the fire power to ignite it!"
"If I knew how the spacebridge was engineered, I could find a technical way of accomplishing that feat!" Ratchet said regretfully.
Raf then decided to intervene by saying, "Would schematics help?" He then pulled out his flash drive.
Ratchet looked at Raf and then back at the screen, "Optimus I must say, the spacebridge is our soul hope of ever returning to Cybertron! Are you certain its destruction is the only option?" He asked, unsure.
"I am afraid so old friend!" Optimus said with sadness in voice.
"Then by all means let us light our darkest hour!" Ratchet then said with determination.
With that said everyone sprang into action with Raf and Ratchet typing away furiously to find a way to blow up the spacebridge. While typing Ratchet was directing Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead to where the generator was and according to the schematics Raf provided it was underneath the spacebridge. I was watching Raf who was searching for a way to blow up the bridge when he came across a flow regulator pump.
"Hey Ratchet I found something that could blow up the bridge in a matter of minutes!" Raf said as he put the picture of the pump on the screen.
"Of course! If we managed to make the flow go the other direction the spacebridge would implode!" Ratchet said happily at the recent discovery.
I then saw Agent Fowler, now finally awake, walked over to the screen and said, "Those things are getting closer…that's bad right?" We nodded our heads to him and we looked back at Raf.
"Ratchet we're in position! What do you want us to do?" Arcee asked through the comm.
Ratchet then directed his attention to the screen and said, "Arcee pay close attention! We managed to find away to make the spacebridge implode, so I need you to listen to me carefully. "
"Alright Ratchet I'm listening!" Arcee said with a determined tone of voice.
"Ok you need to follow the line to the flow regulator and the Energon pump, there should be a valve." Ratchet said instructively to Arcee
"I see it Ratchet! Now what?" Arcee said to him waiting for the next set of instructions.
"Good! Now to turn all that power against itself all you need do is to reverse the current by turning the lever!" Ratchet finished instructing her.
"I turned the lever; the current is reversed!" Arcee shouted successfully through the comm.
"Yes! Uh right?" Fowler shouted happily, but changed his tone after the looks we gave him
"Mmm hmm you have the right to cheer Agent Fowler! Way to go Arcee!" Jack and I said the last sentence to her proudly.
Arcee then said to me, "Thanks Jordyn, Jack! See you guys soon" We smiled at that and I turned to Ratchet who was heading to the bridge controls.
"I will ready the Groundbridge!" Ratchet said as he was typing in the coordinates for the bots.
"I wonder what a spacebridge would look like if it implodes?" Miko said curiously to us.
Jack then turned to her and said, "I have no idea Miko, but let's hope the bots get out of there before it implodes." We all nodded our heads in agreement and watched Ratchet type away and open the Groundbridge.
"Optimus the Groundbridge is ready and waiting!" Ratchet announced urgently.
Optimus's voice came through the monitors, "Understood Ratchet! Autobots jump!"
We waited for what seems like an eternity for the bots to come through the Groundbridge and we were getting a little anxious as the time passed. I keep thinking that something has happened to them and they didn't make it through the bridge in time. No! I told myself they did make it through in time! I just have to be patient and wait and see. Raf on the other hand couldn't take the silence anymore…
"Do you think they're-?" Raf said, his voice trailing off in fear of finishing that sentence.
Ratchet then turned to his scanner and said, "Four life signals, but one very faint!"
We all looked at each other with fear and concern in our eyes wondering which bot was injured. Another moment has passed when all of a sudden we saw Optimus come through the Groundbridge with Bulkhead behind him. Miko then ran down the steps to her much larger guardian.
"Bulkhead!" She yelled and went to hug his hand.
Then me and Jack saw Bumblebee coming through the bridge carrying an unconscious Arcee. Jack and I ran up to her and I was about to cry when I saw how bad she was! Miko came over put a hand on my shoulder and stared at Arcee along with me and Jack. All the bots surrounded Arcee with sadness on their faces and I keep thinking that it was like losing Ethan all over again and that was hard enough!
"We already lost one this week by the Allspark don't let it be two!" Ratchet said sadly.
Jack and I then walked towards Arcee putting our hands on hers in any hope that she would wake up. We were about to lose hope when all of a sudden we saw Arcee open her optics and looked towards us…
Jack and I looked up at her and said, "Arcee your awake!" She then looked down at the both of us with an amused smile on her face.
"Jack, Jordyn really? There are other motorcycles in the world." Arcee said, her voice still a little faint.
Jack then spoke up to her, "But you're my first!" Jack looked at her with a smile.
"Your also family! Don't ever forget that!" I said with a smile on my face, happy that's she will be okay.
Ratchet then turned to Optimus and asked, "And Megatron?" A few moments passed before Optimus answered him.
"Not even he could have survived ground zero." Optimus declared to Ratchet.
"Prime! I've been meaning to thank you bots for the save! I owe you one actually…we all do!" Fowler said as he went up in the elevator.
By this time Bumblebee was helping Arcee up into a standing position and watching to make sure she didn't fall over. Arcee then looked at Jack and I and gave us both a full-fledged smile. Miko on the other hand turned around and walked up to Optimus nervously.
"So is the part where we say goodbye and forget that we ever saw you?" Miko said while pointing towards Optimus.
Time Cut to One Day Later at School:
"Come on Jack it's time to go!" I said to him as he shut his locker to meet me down the hall towards the door.
"Alright Alright Jordyn I'm coming!" Jack then shouted as he caught up with me.
I turned to him and asked, "So where do you think Miko and Raf are?"
Jack just shrugged his shoulders, "I have no idea, but I gonna take a wild guess that Miko is somewhere outside. Raf on the other hand I have no clue."
Jack and I made it to the doors of the front of the school and sure enough there was Miko sitting on the steps looking at a book. I waved to her and then I saw Raf coming from the other direction waving at us too. After greeting each other, then we turned around to the sound of engines throughout the school parking lot. All four of us turned to see Arcee, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead giving us the signal that it's time to roll. As we all ran to our guardians, more like our extended family, and took off, I thought about how things could've turned out differently if Jack and I didn't get on that bike. Both of us would've missed out on the greatest friendships of lives and not to mention becoming a part of something bigger than ourselves. Sure it's dangerous to be hanging out with giant alien robots from another planet, but we wouldn't have it any other way and nothing would ever change that. With that thought in mind I stared straight ahead at the road and wondered what scrap are we going to get ourselves into today!
Well there you have it! Wow that's a long chapter, but there was a lot to it. As you can see the children got to stay with the Autobots and they're friendships will continue to grow as time goes on. And again I would like to say thank you for the reviews. Don't think that the story is over though! In the next chapter we will see what happens when you mix Ratchet with the kids' science fair projects well let's just say it won't be pretty! Like always keep reading and reviewing! Until next chapter peace out!