Chapter 7: Another Day, Another Confrontation

All Transformers characters belong to Hasbro. The Ghost Zone, Clockwork, and halfa idea belong to Butch Hartman. Any real life brands, books, songs, etc. are not mine. I only own my OCs and my fic ideas. Don't like, hit the back button. Everyone else, enjoy.

Warning: Some slight character bashing, slight OCXOC, and morbid descriptions.

The next morning outside school; Third Person Perspective

The sky was still shades of pink, orange, and yellow when the hybrid car pulled up by the school. Only three students sat on the steps, none of them taking notice of the unfamiliar vehicle a few meters away. Inside the car, the raven-haired girl looked uncertainly at the building.

Sensing her discomfort, Zettabyte spoke, "You know Sasha, I can take you home. I'm sure your teachers and friends would understand."

However, the Goth shook her head firmly as she answered, "No, I'll be alright."

Now it was the mechling in disguise's turn to be uncertain as he responded, "If you say so. Are you sure you can handle taking Midnight with you and avoid letting her be seen?"

The creature in question sat silently in the nature-lover's backpack, head peeking out the gap Sasha left so she could breathe. The feline gave a quiet purr as the raven-haired girl petted her head and gave her a small scratch behind the ears.

"I'm sure," Sasha reassured as she opened the door, put her backpack over her shoulders, and got out of Zettabyte's passenger side door. "I'll see you after school. Have great day. Goodbye."

"Goodbye Sasha. You have a great day yourself. I'll be right here when you get out," the neutral youth said kindly to his friend as she waved at him before the two went their separate ways.

Thirty-minutes later in the front of the school; Jack's Perspective

Jack waved goodbye to his guardian as she sped away after dropping him off. He spotted Raf on the steps and went to join him. As usual, the brown-haired preteen was immersed in his computer. Upon sensing the older student approaching him, Raf closed his laptop and turned towards him.

"Good morning Jack," the computer prodigy greeted with a friendly smile.

"Hey Raf. Have you seen Miko?" the onyx-haired teen asked.

"She hasn't arrived yet. It's weird. She's always here before Arcee drops you off," Raf stated.

"That's because Bulkhead drives her and gets here before Arcee and I. It's probably gonna be like this until she's no longer grounded," the junior student shrugged.

As mean as it sounded, it didn't feel any pity for Miko when she told him and the preteen genius that she was grounded. Oh, he did give her sympathy whenever she got detention (he knew how Vince's bullying could make even the most well-behaved students snap and do something reckless) but being grounded was another thing. While he didn't know the Sandersons very well, he could understand that dealing with the rebellious girl was probably one of the most hardest things they had on their agenda. It didn't help that the couple were longing for the return of their son. Not to mention that the onyx-haired teen still felt ashamed of her for tricking Sasha. The fact that Miko sounded like she cared more about being "unfairly" punished than the fact that her decisions could have gotten her acquaintance (captive if you really think about it) hurt or worse aggravated him more than slightly.

Just then, he saw a familiar coming. It was the Sandersons' navy blue Ford. The car came to a stop in front of the school and out stepped Miko with a bored and annoyed look on her face as she shut the backseat door before it drove off.

"Still grounded, huh?" the computer prodigy guessed, taking notice of the Asian teen's less than happy expression.

"Yes I am. Can you believe it? Now I can't go to the base until the end of September," the foreign exchange student ranted.

"Miko you really should have seen this coming the moment you called the Sandersons to pick you up and told them what you did," Jack replied calmly.

"Oh great, you're on their side now?" Miko snapped as she stomped past him.

"No, I'm on Sasha's side," the onyx-haired boy shot back, turning to face the rebellious teen.

"Oh, so I'm the bad guy because I tried to get her to loosen up? I didn't know that was a crime," the shriek-metal lover muttered sarcastically.

"She addressed the fact that she cared about the environment and was a Goth in class on Friday. You don't have to be rocket scientist to know that monster truck don't fall into either category. And she probably had enough frustration and anxiety what with being temporarily transferred to a new school without her family members and friends physically here. You taking her to a place that she hated and lied about it made it worse," the junior student berated.

By then a few students were looking at the two teens argue, expecting there to be a brawl or a teacher to come out and escort them to the councilor. The computer prodigy saw this and set to end it.

"Guys, the bell is about to ring. Unless you want to get tardy slips or detention, I think we should go in," Raf spoke in a matter-of-fact tone as he walked past both older students and through the school doors. The two teens gave each other one final glare before heading inside.

As they got to the biology classroom, they saw through the small glass pane that a small group of students were surrounding someone. The trio exchanged looks of surprise and curiosity. Was there yet another new student? They opened the door and walked in. As they approached the group, they saw that it included Isabella and Sierra who were marveling the unseen student. As the three squeezed through the crowd, they stopped and stared at the person who was being marveled at.

It was Sasha. However, Jack noticed her change in appearance. She wore an indigo one sleeve top, the sleeve part being on her right arm and extending to her wrist, a black skirt with the stitching of a neon green raven, dark violet socks, her normal rubber combat boots, fingerless black gloves (made of cloth of course) with the right one having a purple spider web while the other had a purple skull, a fishnet covering the arm without a sleeve, and silver hoop earrings. Her makeup consisted of blue violet fingernail polish and dark lavender lipstick. Her hair was in a neat ponytail and had a small buzzcut on the lower right part of her head while her left side had a single amethyst highlight. The last thing she had with her was her plum purple, spider motif backpack. It was a huge change from her covered up look on Friday.

"Your top is so cute! Where did you get it?" Isabella asked with an admiring smile.

"It was a gift from a cousin on my mom's side from the Bloomingdales in Beverly Hills," the Goth said casually with a small smile, her voice full of honesty but lacking any snootiness. "It may not be fancy to some people but it has some sentiments. My cousin, Heather, remembered how I love deep shades. It's a really thoughtful gift considering that most of my maternal cousins sometimes forget that I like casual clothes, especially dark colored ones."

"And your earrings are gorgeous. You're so lucky that your parents let you get your ears pierced," Sierra sighed wistfully.

"Thanks," the nature-lover said humbly, with a friendly shrug. "It was actually my grandparents' idea. And I mean both my paternal and maternal grandparents."

"SASHA?!"

Jack jumped at the loud yell Miko gave. Raf jumped as well before he scooted closer to the older boy. The students crowding the raven-haired girl twisted around and stared at the Asian girl. The junior student saw that instead of being embarrassed, the foreign exchange student was staring at the Sasha's new attire.

"Oh, hey Jack. Hey Raf," the Goth said with a smile before it disappeared and she greeted Miko in a less enthusiastic tone. "Hello Miko."

"What happened to your dark and gloomy wardrobe?" Miko blurted out. A few students glared at the metal shriek music lover for her rude question but the nature-lover kept her cool and civil composure.

"You forget I love the environment, hence I like other colors outside of black too you know," Sasha replied coolly, staring down the foreign exchange student. "I'm surprised you care what I wear since you certainly didn't care how I felt when you dragged me to that stadium on Friday."

Miko's cheeks turned red slightly as she gulped, "Oh, you're still mad about that?"

"In some ways, yes," the Goth replied. "You know when you invited to give me a ride home, I thought you really wanted to be my friend. I was wrong. You just wanted to someone who you can drag with wherever you go like a right hand girl. Well guess what? Newsflash, it doesn't work like that. You can't just pick someone out of the blue and expect them to hang with you and agree with you whenever you want. That's not me. You don't like it, too bad. I won't change who I am to please people like you. Not now, not ever."

With that said, Sasha promptly sat down in her seat, ignoring Miko staring at her with a gaping mouth. Suddenly someone in the group clapped. Then another. Soon, everyone but Jack and Raf were applauding the new student. It was at that time that the onyx-haired boy noticed that all the students for that class had come in during the raven-haired girl's rant and were as moved as the small group that had come in before them. As the clapping died down, the students went to their respective sheets just as the bell rung. The only one standing up when Mr. Parker came in was the Japanese student.

"Ms. Nakadai, wouldn't you like to take a seat?" the biology teacher questioned with a bit of good-natured humor. Snapping out of her stupor, Miko closed her mouth, regaining some composure and went to sit at her assigned desk.

As the middle-aged man collected homework, the onyx-haired boy looked at Sasha. Besides her clothing, he sensed something else had changed in her. Instead of sitting with a slight slouch, she sat straight up, eyes directed towards the board and teacher. There was a gleam in those purple orbs that he hadn't seen the day they met or the day he confronted her in the store. It was determination and acceptance.

Whatever happened to her over the weekend had changed her. And, in Jack's opinion, it seemed to be for the better.

Three hours in the outside parts of Jasper; Zettabyte's Perspective

Zettabyte sped through the desert, enjoying the rush of the wind against his armor. Never before had he gone at such a speed, not even when he was racing to class to avoid being late. His wheels seemed to follow the curves of the sand bumps as he created a cloud of dust in his wake. Taking a chance, a jolted and made a small jump over a hill and down.

"Woo-hoo!" the ruby and sapphire mechling crowed in excitement.

Once the exhilaration slowed down after a few minutes, the neutral youth stopped and transformed. He looked at his surroundings, spotting a few dried weeds. Walking over to them, he crouched down to get a closer look…only to jump back in shock as a kangaroo mouse leaped out and bounded away. The neutral youth stared after it for a moment before he laughed. The moment reminded him of when he was younger and he and his two true friends (of course they were lower middle caste) chased petro-rabbits all through the open, outside space of the Iacon Recreation Center.

"They would love this," the halfa mechling sighed wistfully to himself when he finished laughing.

Turning away, he strode through the desert. Once he stopped to grab a tumbleweed and slightly picked at it to see what we could find. Other than a few traces of seed and spore, nothing. Another time he caught sight of a small patch of cactus flowers and leaned in to smell them. They were sweet with a vague hint of some sort of inner spicy tone to it. He even caught sight of a rabbit family crossing an empty road and immediately went to help, the rabbits somehow not minding the large metallic extraterrestrial watching and guarding them. After he made sure they were safe, Zettabyte continued his walk. A few minutes later, feeling as though he overstepped some unseen line, he transformed and quietly drove around the desert for awhile. However, he soon grew antsy; the peacefulness of the desert was starting to make him uneasy. Having been on the Haven for many millennias, he was use to the sound of another bot not two meters behind him and the sensing the presence of his classmates and teachers. Now all he had to call company were some plants and rocks as far as he could tell.

"I wonder if the Ghost Zone is like this," the neutral youth pondered to himself out loud. Looking at his bracelet, it clicked in his head. He could visit the Ghost Zone and hang out there until it time to pick up Sasha.

"Now, how did it go again?" Zettabyte murmured to himself as he turned the glyphs to the right three times. Suddenly, a dark green bolt shot out from it before it swirled into a perfect replica of the portal he, Sasha, and Midnight entered the day before. Taking a deep inhale to reassure himself, he stepped into it.

At school during lunch; Sasha's Perspective

Sasha reached into her backpack to scratch under Midnight's chin as she spoke reassuringly, "So far so good, Midnight. C'mon, it's lunch time."

The morning had gone quite well; her first set of classes had gone by without incident, Miko hadn't bothered her after the Goth had told her off, Vince hadn't bothered the nature-lover at all that morning, and Midnight was behaving as good as gold. The female feline didn't make a signal sound or fuss since Sasha put her into her backpack. The former stray mammal had been as obedient as she could be and her good behavior was going to be paid off. Strolling through the backdoors of the school to eat at one of the outside tables, the raven-haired girl saw that Sawyer, Adalia, and Colette were sitting at a table on the far side of the yard. Grinning, she strode over to them.

When she was close enough, she greeted them, "Hey guys."

The moment the three teens looked up, it was a mix of different reactions. Adalia's mouth dropped open and her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets. Colette stared wide-eyed but her mouth just barely opened. Sawyer almost choked on his turkey sandwich when his gaze fell upon the nature-lover before a faint blue came to his cheeks. Just as Sasha started to feel a bit discouraged, Adalia spoke up.

"Sasha you look awesome!" the Chicana teen breathed, her gapping mouth twisting into a smile.

"You look like a real one-of-a-kind, non-meat eating Goth now," Colette added, a grin gracing on herself as well.

Sawyer took a little longer to respond, but when he finally did, he said, "You look...amazing."

The raven-haired girl couldn't help but blush and smile herself as she sat down and spoke, "Thanks guys. Hey, I have someone I'd like you guys to meet."

She placed her backpack on the seat next to her, unzipped it, and as Midnight popped her head out, Sasha proudly announced, "Meet Midnight."

Once again, the faces of the Goths friends were plastered with shock before morphing into grins.

"Aww, hello cutie," Adalia cooed as she reached over and gave the feline a scratch under the chin. The purr that came after only added to the three teens' melting hearts.

"Oh Sasha, she's adorable. Where did you find her?" Colette questioned, offering Midnight a piece of chicken from her chicken salad which the feline gratefully ate.

"I found her hiding in the bushes in front of my house after you guys dropped me off from the movies," the raven-haired girl explained simply with a smile.

"You really are a compassionate person, aren't you," the soccer-player commented with a smile, a blush still evident on his face, causing Sasha to blush herself.

"This is the third unexpected thing we've encountered today," the dark auburn-haired girl commented as she petted the cat's head.

"Third?" the Goth echoed in confusion.

"The first was what we found out happened to Vince over the weekend," the Chicana teen began explaining. "Apparently since he couldn't get his hands on some booze, he was booted out of the party. He got mad and came back with some friends the day after to throw eggs and paint filled balloons at the house. Twist: it was actually the guy's neighbor's house. The neighbor almost came at them with his dog but someone called the police first before anything could escalate.

Sasha stared at the three of them in shock before asking, "Really?"

The other two teens nodded to confirm Adalia's story.

The French speaker then added, "His parents were so mad, they grounded him for six weeks and they even took away his car."

"Yikes. And to think I was this close from getting involved," the Goth shivered as she indicated with her thumb and index finger, recalling the atrocious favor the red-haired bully tried to get out of her that Friday.

"What's important is that you did the right thing and told him "no"," the African American teen proclaimed reassuringly.

Sasha smiled at with a nod as she finally took out her own lunch; roasted zucchini, cauliflower, and eggplant, a wheat tortilla filled with black beans, tomato, bell pepper, and corn, a Quaker Chewy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip granola bar, cranberry juice, apple and orange slices, and a cup of Yoplait strawberry yogurt. She even had a can of cat food ready for Midnight. As they resumed lunch, the four teens continued talking.

"So Sasha, are you gonna go to the Earth Club after school?" Colette asked curiously.

"You bet," the nature-lover responded with a smile.

"You're gonna to love the club members and Ms. Kissaryn," Sawyer stated with an encouraging smile. "She use to be a substitute for the science teachers and since she couldn't become a full time teacher, she decided to become an after school activity teacher. She's the one who started the club this past spring. She's a really awesome woman."

Sasha grinned, feeling even more excited about going to the club. The four friends and feline continued to eat their lunches. Upon finishing, the raven-haired girl urged her stowaway back into her backpack when she noticed it. Adalia and Colette were smiling with biting lips, trying to suppress giggles.

"Uh oh. Here it comes," warned the soccer-player, grinning himself.

"What's coming?" the Goth asked a little unsure yet excited. As if to answer her question, the two girls individually took out tins. Adalia's tin was white with red trim while Colette's was silver with lavender trim. They both grabbed a corner of the lids and simultaneously pulled them off to reveal cookies.

"We told you were gonna have some treats ready," the Chicana teen giggled. "I made spiced apple cookies with salted caramel drizzle."

"And I made pumpkin cookies with maple frosting and chocolate chips," the French-speaker added with a grin.

Sasha grinned as she took one cookie from each teen and gave them her thanks before trying them. She nearly moaned in delight as she tasted the sweetness of the spiced apple cookie, the bits of cooked fruit going well, of course, with the salted caramel. She then moved onto the pumpkin cookie and was as equally amazed by the richness that the maple and chocolate added to the pumpkin. It was then that the raven-haired girl noticed that several students had come over from their tables to try the delectable treats. She watched with a smile as they each took one or two and tried them. The Goth blinked when she saw Isabella and Sierra hesitate.

"It's alright, take one," Adalia encouraged the two on-lookers. That seemed to do the trick as the two girls in question came and selected a cookie before they bit into them. Instantly, their looks of shyness have away to looks of enjoyment.

Sasha smiled as she stared at the happy students munching away at her friend's treats and thought with satisfaction, This school year might go better than expected.

In the Ghost Zone; Zettabyte's Perspective

"Well this is a predicament," Zettabyte muttered to himself. He looked around from where he stood only to see the same black and green space with the floating rock platforms.

He hadn't expected anyone to be waiting for him upon arriving into the dimension. However, he did wish there was someone around that he could get directions from and talk to. He had transformed into his ghost form in order to have a better chance of jumping from platform to platform in search of the beings he had met the day before. Of course, the feeling of satisfaction over the small achievement was short-lived thanks to the halfa's feelings of boredom and slight paranoia. The silence of the space was like the silence it gave yesterday when he first stepped into it before he met the spirits. But with no one to break it, it was starting to become as unsettling as the quiet of the desert.

"Maybe I should come back later," the neutral youth decided as he prepared to fiddle with his bracelet to get back.

Before he could twist the glyphs, he was halted by a sound. It was almost like a cross between a faint moan and a silent wail. The sound itself caused him to jump and look around quickly. Silence for a moment. Then the noise came, a bit louder this time. Zettabyte's newfound, sharp hearing alerted him that the sound was coming from somewhere on his far left. The mechling thought about his options; ignore it and leave or go to investigate. The first option seemed more safer but he stopped when he considered the possibility that someone, spirit or otherwise, could be in trouble and needed his help. He made the decision to check it out when the horrifying image of an injured Vendett or Jinx entered his processor.

He began leaping from platform to platform once more. As he followed he noticed the noise got louder and sounded like there were multiple voices. However, the voices were too low for him to tell if the individuals were all male, female, or mixed. When he finally arrived at the source, he found no one but he did notice a rather deep looking hole a few feet away. Gulping, he started taking slow steps towards the large crater. Once he was at the edge of the trench, he leaned a little bit in and looked down.

What he saw, nearly made him scream.

Creatures he'd never seen before crawled around. Their arms and heads were similar to that of humans only they were bald, they looked to have pointed ears, and their thin arms led to unnaturally skinny hands with sharp burgundy claws. The rest of their bodies were a twist between a snake and a traditional misty form of ghosts that Zettabyte had seen in some old picture books provided by Sasha. In fact, the creatures themselves were human-sized, if just a little bit bigger. A few were the smaller than the others but still somewhat sizable. Their skins were the color of angry lava with a few mud brick colored scars on them. Their eyes were harsh blood red dots in pools of blackness and they had no visible noses. He saw a few hissing and lashing at each other, revealing a dark colored tongues and sickly yellow, needle-like teeth as they attempted to bite one another. A few took notice of the halfa and bared their teeth at him, hissing and growling for good measure.

Getting the unspoken hint, Zettabyte gulped again and began to slowly back away. As soon as he was back in the spot he was when he arrived on the piece of hovering land, he prepared to turn around and bolt. However, he didn't expect to come face to face with one of the ones he had been searching for.

"Nephilus!" the mechling gasped in surprise. The spirit in mech form looked at him with concerned indigo optics.

"Are you alright Zetta?" Nephilus asked worriedly.

Zettabyte nodded slowly as he stuttered, "I-I'm fine."

"I see you found our Spite Mite Pit," the guider of souls said monotonously.

"Spite Mite Pit?" the young adult Cybertronian echoed in confusion, his shock and fear slowly ebbing away piece by piece.

"I was hoping you wouldn't find this place until later. But what's done is done," the cobalt and silver mech stated. "Those creatures you saw are beings who died while feeling complete anger, hatred, hurt, or betrayal. Those emotions overcome them so much that upon their deaths, it destroys their humanity and leaves nothing but primal rage. We've tried to rehabilitate them but, sadly, very few have managed to regain their humanity."

"So you keep the rest of them quarantined," the neutral youth spoke with realization.

Nephilus nodded before continuing, "We have to. They'll attack any living thing they see. And they won't hesitate to kill, especially if the one they're attacking reminds them of the one who caused them so much loathing and pain."

"Have…have any ever gotten out?" Zettabyte asked carefully. He nearly fell back as his friend nodded solemnly.

"You know those disappearances and unsolved attacks you've read online? Those are their doing," the guider of souls motioned towards the pit. "We always manage to get them back into the pit but the damage is already done. Many of the living, innocent or not, have lost their lives because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Are you sure that keeping them in there is your best option?" the mechling asked with worry.

"They're primal but they're not stupid. Plus they have a few memories intact. We can't risk putting them in above ground areas. They're just waiting for the right chance," Nephilus informed in a firm tone. "You're lucky that wasn't today. They have poison in their claws and while they may not be as strong as you, that poison can do damage based on how deep they make the cut. A scratch will sting, sometimes followed by fatigue. A deeper one will cause fever, hallucinations, and nausea. The worse ones can have nasty results, even paralyzation."

The young adult Cybertronian winced before asking, "And this is all because of the negative emotions they feel at death?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, it can happen to anyone. Age, gender, ethnicity, species, orientation and everything else doesn't matter," the soul guider responded. "I'm…I'm really sorry you had to see this. You must think we are terrible for doing this."

"No," Zettabyte said before he even realized he said it. "You and the others aren't to blame. None of you are responsible for the will and emotions of the living."

The cobalt and silver mech smiled at him before saying, "Thank you. I appreciate your words. And I'm sure everybody else will when I tell them."

At the mention of the others, the halfa asked, "Hey, where is everybody?"

"Well Jadeluck went into labor this morning and Karmaro is with her, their boys are staying with Terrana, Dracorra is tending to some of her dragons, Venomarra is trying out some hew herbs and elixirs, Clockwork is overseeing the timelines, and Riversong is training some of her new pack members," Nephilus explained.

Zettabyte noticed that when the soul guider spoke the wolf-like femme's name, it sounded a little…dreamy. Almost longing. Before he could ponder further, the mech interrupted his train and thought.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" the cobalt and silver mech asked the neutral youth.

"You're asking me what I want?" the mechling questioned, a bit baffled. The halfa was shocked that he, a newcomer to this dimension, was being asked by this mech, the guider of those who departed and who inhabited said dimension longer than him, what they should do.

When the soul guider nodded at him with a gentle smile, the young adult Cybertronian asked, "Well how about we talk?"

Nephilus nodded with a smile as he proceeded to converse with the neutral youth. Zettabyte couldn't help but smile as he began speaking with the his new friend.

At the school after the last class; Sasha's Perspective

Sasha smiled as Adalia and Colette gave her shoulders a gentle rub as she came out of class.

"Don't worry. You'll make a great impression," the dark auburn-haired girl soothed softly with a smile and a gentle squeeze of the shoulder.

"If you're as crazy about the environment as they are, you'll fit right in," Adalia joked with a gentle smile to show she had good intentions in her words.

The raven-haired girl grinned and chuckled at her friends' encouragement. She blinked and smiled when Sawyer came over and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a warm smile.

"You'll be fine. Just be yourself," the soccer-player told her soothingly.

"Thanks guys. I will," the Goth thanked the three other teens.

"C'mon girls. We need to get to our own after school activities," Sawyer spoke as he started heading to where the locker was. "See you tomorrow Sasha! Tell us how it goes!"

"And we want to hear every detail," the Chicana teen added before she and Colette headed to their own club. "See ya!"

"Good luck Sasha!" the French-speaker girl said last before turning away.

"Bye guys!" the nature-lover called out herself before she began walking to her destination. She had the invitations out and was right and left for the room number. She soon came to a door which was colored a dark green and had "12A" in white spelling. As she reached for the doorknob, a voice sounded behind her.

"Hey there!"

Sasha whipped around to see a girl standing a foot behind her. Like her, this girl looked to be about fifteen with similar height and hair color. However, this girl's hair reached a little down past her waist and had rose red highlights on her bangs and at the sides. Her gray eyes had a friendly glint to them and her candy red lipstick lips were smiling to match her eyes. She had bright red star earrings and a matching red choker that had a black skull on it. She also wore a red shirt with a smiley face black heart, black jeans, and crimson and dark gray Vans. Her fingernails were, of course, red with black crossbones on them. The last thing she had was white and black backpack.

"Uh hey," the Goth said a bit awkwardly, feeling embarrassed for being startled so easily.

"I'm Juliet. Are you new here?" the girl, Juliet, asked.

"Well kind of. My name is Sasha and I'm here for Earth club. Someone slipped an invitation into my locker on Friday and I want to be a part of the group," the nature-lover explained, handing her invitation to the red-attired student.

Juliet took the invitation and read it. After a minute she smiled before handing it back.

"Sounds like Ms. Kissaryn got word of you through whichever teach you told about your interest in the environment. We'll love to have you with us. Come in," the obsidian and rose-haired girl said, opening the door to allow the raven-haired girl in.

Sasha stepped into the room and saw the inside. The room was painted a light, soft green, clean white, and dark bluish-turquoise and half of the floor had tiles while the other had jade green carpeting. The room had the usual things; a few bookshelves, the desk for a teacher, a good number of student desks, cabinets, file cabinets, posters, and a chalk board. However, all the desks had been pushed to the back and a few bean bag chairs and cushioned seats had been brought to the front of the room where the chalkboard was. There were about five students in the room; three girls and two boys. All five turned around and stared in surprise at Sasha. Before the nature-lover could back away in shyness, Juliet came up beside her and placed an arm around her.

"Hey guys, this is Sasha. She's a new recruit for the Earth Club that Ms. Kissaryn chose herself. Come say hello," the red-attired Earth club member encouraged gently. The Goth was relieved when the looks of the other five changed into warm smiles as they got up from their seats and made their way towards the two.

"Hi Sasha. I'm Kenya," the girl with slightly dark fawn-colored hair and hazel eyes greeted. She had a slight English accent and she wore a lilac tank top under a jean jacket with pale blue shorts and white high top sneakers. She also had a music note charm bracelet and lip gloss the color of spun sugar.

"I'm Lacey," the girl with mousy brown hair that was tied in ponytail with a lime green scrunchie and green-gray eyes said humbly. She had on pink lip gloss and some peach-colored blush. She wore a pear green top with ruffles sleeves and a pink butterfly necklace with light blue jeans and pink sneakers.

"I'm Amanda," the girl with deep red hair in a long pigtail and blue eyes said smiling with a faint Irish accent and lips coated with cinnamon colored lipgloss. She wore a yellow and rose pink Crystal blouse and a pale orange skirt with a yellow scrunchie on her wrist and beige slippers.

"I'm Alan," the boy with straw colored hair and blue-gray eyes said with a grin. He wore a gray t-shirt with a running white cheetah on it to go with his tan pants and icy blue Converses. He had a black watch on his right wrist.

"And I'm Joaquin," the boy with dark hair and light brown eyes said in a friendly tone with a Latin-American accent that was heavier than Adalia's. He wore a dark green shirt on top of a white long sleeve shirt with his gray pants and black tennis shoes.

"Hi, it's great to meet you guys," the Goth said with a small smile, now feeling relaxed. "Are there more people coming?"

"Nine. Ten if you count Miss Kissaryn," Kenya stated with an optimistic grin, laughing a bit when she saw Sasha's surprised look. "I'm guessing you've never seen a club with that many members?"

"That's part of it," the raven-haired girl nodded. Truth be told, Sasha was more shock by the fact that it was the Earth Club that had that many members. Back in New York, she had been in an environment/recycling club back in middle school but it only had six to eight members. Most of the members were only in the club to because they're parents made them choose an after school activity.

"So you're all interested in helping the environment?" the nature-lover asked curiously.

"You bet," Amanda crowed excitedly, grin widening. "Yourself?"

"Nature protector all the way," Sasha couldn't help but say with a sincere smile.

"Then you're gonna love being in this club," Alan added eagerly. "Even the rewards are eco-friendly. And I'm not just talking about the satisfaction of helping Mother Earth."

"Is that so," the Goth murmured, her nervousness now having completely vanished.

The group nodded as they talked further. Soon their conversation drifted into other subjects. As it turned out, Juliet was a pescatarian who only ate organic fish, Enrique and Amanda were on and off again vegetarians, Kenya was all vegetarian, and Lacey and Alan only ate cruelty-free, organic meats, usually chicken or turkey. Besides Earth club, they all had other interests; Kenya was a bird-watcher, flower-presser and helping on her older cousins' farm, Lacey was into makeup and fashion, Amanda was into arts and crafts, Juliet loved to collect odds and ends like Chinese fans and rare porcelain figures, Alan liked baseball and collecting all kinds of music in any forms, and Enrique loved poetry and collecting geodes.

Amanda's oldest brother's sister-in-law was a bee-keeper and a gardener and often sent jars of pickled or jellied goods and honey to the club. Enrique's father use to be a beach life-guard and collected every kind of shell and sea glass fragment there was and brought it out for sentimental value. Lacey's maternal second cousin often took her and her family on trips to places like Rome or Hawaii for summer vacation so he could get her interested in traveling abroad when she went off to college. Juliet's older half-sister always took her to old strip malls where they included an old-school pharmacy, which was run by Kenya's aunt and grandmother, an instrument repair shop, a chocolate shop, and many other stores. Alan's father great-uncle owned a ranch which he takes Alan to on vacations any time of the year. To say Sasha was impressed by their relations and the occupations of their kin would be an understatement. She was seriously amazed. Her classmates back in New York were mainly sons and daughters of brewers, police officials, electricians, and boutique owners.

Not too long after they finished sharing, more students came in. All were of different grades, gender, ethnicity, age, build, and whatnot. And all were as friendly as the five the raven-haired girl had already gotten acquainted with. A few more minutes passed as the club began to talk amongst themselves and to their new member when the door opened.

In strode a woman that looked to be in her mid or late thirties. She was a bit taller than most of the students but not towering. She had tanned skin and wavy strawberry blonde hair that stopped before the middle of her back and complimented her dark blue eyes. She wore a orange and red loose, long sleeve blouse and light honey colored skirt that reached down to her ankles and left enough room to show off ginger brown sandals. Around her neck she wore a golden-chain necklace with a flower shaped piece of rose quartz and her earrings were golden lilies. She had on dark berry red lipstick and her fingernails were painted a softer shade of sunset orange. She stood in the front of the chalkboard and smiled as she pressed her hands together. The only think she had with her was a large tote bag that was made of old juice pouches.

"Good afternoon Earth Club," she chirped jovially to which the students all greeted her back with enthusiasm. "I like you all to say hello, if you haven't already, to our some of our new members.

A few of the members waved and said "hello" while the rest just nodded and smiled at Sasha and some of the freshman who had joined.

"Now it's time for our Monday Brain Storm Discussion. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, allow me to explain," the strawberry blonde woman said brightly. "It's where we all come up with activities and projects to do to help the Earth. They can be big or small, simple or a little complex. Just as long as they promote going green and saving our environment. Who would like to start?"

Deciding to be bold, Sasha raised her hand, "I would."

"Why thank you for offering Miss…?" the teacher obviously wanted to know her name.

"Sasha. Sasha Morgan," the Goth said bravely with a smile.

Ms. Kissaryn's own mouth stretched into a wide and happy grin as she spoke, "I knew you would join. Mr. Parker recommended you and anyone he recommends will do great things. Now tell us; what ideas do you have?"

The raven-haired girl blushed modestly before saying, "Well I heard this school has a cooking and baking club and I was thinking we could use any of the eggshells they thrown away into little makeshift potted plants. My grandfather and I use to do it and they always came out great."

"Why that's a great idea," the strawberry blonde woman cheered. "What else?"

"We can bring old lotion, shampoo, peanut butter and other empty bath or food product containers and use them to hold stuff in. Even if they're plastic. My grandfather made a frosting bottle out of an old lotion bottle once."

"That is a grand idea. And I believe it would be an effective way to get other students into reusing instead of wasting," the teacher smiled. "What do you say class?"

There were audible agreements and compliments aimed towards the raven-haired girl.

"Before we begin, I would like to offer you all a special treat in case you need something to hold you over until the club ends," Ms. Kissaryn grinned, as she pulled a large container out of her tote bag and opened it. As a familiar smell hit Sasha's nostrils, she couldn't help but half grin and half gap in surprise.

"Mmm! What is that smell?" one of the male members asked dreamily, watering mouth and hungry eyes matching the ones of the rest of the club.

"Two of the Cooking and Baking Club members wanted to give us a little something so we can start off our year right," the strawberry blonde woman claimed as she opened it to reveal the spiced apple cookies and frosted pumpkin cookies.

The nature-lover didn't miss her teacher's friendly wink and smile to which the Goth gladly returned.

An hour later in the Ghost Zone; Zettabyte's Perspective

"That's how I learned the hard way that I shouldn't get too close to a dragon's nest," Nephilus grinned as Zettabyte burst into laughter.

The mech had spent the last hour talking and joking with the mechling. The halfa couldn't help but find his newfound friend hilarious and daring. He saw through the stoic veil and found how interesting and friendly the soul guider could be. As they talked, the neutral youth couldn't help but take note of how the Nephilus blushed upon mentioning Riversong. He had seen his classmates and teachers blush like that when they spoke of their lovers.

Zettabyte's thoughts were interrupted when the soul guider snapped his digits and a small dark blue flame appeared on his index digit. It flickered in a wispy like manner and it seemed to have an inner pale blue glow despite its dominant dark coloring. The mechling continued to stare even as the mech flicked it into the air where it faded as soon as it was created.

"What was that?" the halfa asked, half amazed, half curious.

"It's called ecto-energy. It another power we spirits have, and so you have now too. We use it to injure enemies, morph it into short lasting weapons, temporarily make shields, carve or melt things, light the darkness, and tear or blast open or away obstacles," Nephilus explained casually. "All you need to do is focus. Close your optics and envision energy from your core flowing into you servos."

Doing as he was instructed, Zettabyte offlined his optics and focused. He felt something deep in his spark grow warmer before it moved out of his chamber, traveled through his right arm before pooling into his right servo's palm. Onlining his optics he looked down at his servo and stared in shock and excitement. A flickering ball of apple-green energy had engulfed his servo without damaging it and seemed to glow with the enthusiasm he felt towards his new found ability.

"I-I did it!" the teenage Cybertronian couldn't help grinning with triumphant. "What do I do with it now?"

"Anything," the soul guider encouraged with a grin.

Looking around, the neutral youth caught sight of a sizable boulder a few feet away. Reeling his arm back, Zettabyte pitched his arm forward and the ecto-energy flew towards the boulder in an orb shape. The moment it hit the boulder it let out a loud rumbling smash, a thick cloud of dusty debris appeared with contact. Once it dissipated, the mechling saw that a large chunk of the boulder was obliterated.

"Whoa," the halfa breathed, completely in awe.

"Nice blast. But you can create your ecto-energy blasts faster. And there will be times when you need to have a go at hand-to-hand combat," Nephilus warned before smiling. "Our lessons will begin tomorrow after you drop Sasha off."

"W-What? You mean you're gonna train me," Zettabyte stuttered the question, once again he was riddled with surprise and barely-contained joy.

"Well you are, in a sense, my charge. I think it will be appropriate and a great experience," the mech said calmly. He wasn't shocked when the Cybertronian teenager launched himself at him and hugged him. The soul guider just chuckled softly and hugged his charge back. They pulled away after a few seconds.

Suddenly Zettabyte remembered that they had been speaking for a quite awhile and immediately asked, "Wait, Nephilus do you know the time?"

"It's four twenty-two," Nephilus said simply.

"Scrap! The school Earth club ends at four thirty," the neutral youth cried out as he jumped to his pedes.

"It's alright. I'll open the portal for you," the soul guider reassured as he pulled a scythe out of what Zettabyte could only describe as the spirit equivalent of a subspace. The scythe stem was cobalt and black with a silvery white blade. It had a pointed end which had small blue-green gems on it. There was a small s sculpting of angelic wings and a crescent moon near the blade and it had a amethyst gem on it. "I'll come to you when you arrive tomorrow."

"Thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye Nephilus," the Cybertronian teen thanked his friend and now mentor as he stepped through the portal.

"Take care until tomorrow my friend," the soul guider called as Zettabyte walked through the portal and arrived back in the desert.

When the portal closed, the mechling immediately transformed into his vehicle mode and started towards the town while murmuring, "I can't wait to tell Sasha!"

At the school a few minutes later; Sasha's Perspective

"Now kids, don't forget to sign the attendance sheet when you arrive at the sanctuary tomorrow after school," Ms. Kissaryn called to her students as they left the classroom. "Oh, Sasha come here for a moment please."

The Goth stopped as she was just inches from the door and walked up to her teacher before asking, "Yes, Ms. Kissaryn?"

"Oh, you can call me Ms. K from time to time. All the students do. Anyway, I have something for you," the strawberry blonde woman said as she reached I into her tote bag again. She pulled out a dark red shirt with a white paw print on the front and white denim shorts. "This is the uniform that we wear when we work at the Jasper Animal Sanctuary. I hope you don't mind. And I hope you enjoyed your first day here."

"I don't mind and I did enjoy Earth club. Thank you. And I will be there," the nature-lover assured with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you as well. Have good evening," the teacher said kindly as the raven-haired girl left. The moment Sasha walked out the doors of the school she opened her backpack to let Midnight out and place her uniform in.

"Mew," the black feline said, shaking her head to wake her up as she had just finished a nap.

"Hey there girl. Zettabyte will be here soon," the Goth said as she scooped up her small furry friend and went to stand by the curb. A few minutes later, a familiar ruby and sapphire hybrid opened in front of her.

"Sorry I'm a bit late. How was school and the Earth club?" Zettabyte asked her as she got into his passenger seat.

"It's okay. And school and the club were great," the nature-lover couldn't help but say happily.

"That's awesome. You'll never believe what went on with me today," the Cybertronian teen said.

A few hours later at Sasha's house; Third Person Perspective

"Okay, how do I look," Sasha asked as she turned around to show her guardian and cat companion her uniform. Thank fully, it was an adequate fit with the shirt just a bit loose but otherwise fine. She had braided her ponytail, turning it into a pigtail and she had on white socks with red and white sneakers.

"Mew," the female feline responded, as if to compliment her owner.

"You look ready to go in and handle some animal-related work. I like it," Zettabyte said with an honest smile. "You're really excited about working with at that sanctuary tomorrow, aren't you?"

"Yes. Probably just as excited as you are to be training with Nephilus tomorrow," the Goth responded with a light laugh, picking up Midnight who had begun rubbing against her legs.

"I can't help it. Who knows what he'll teach me," the neutral youth said enthusiastically. "I haven't felt this excited since my Amma took me to go see the new organic plants that Botanica put on display at the Praxian Art and Science Exhibit."

"Sounds like it was really fun," the nature-lover said politely.

"Yeah, it was," the halfa said wistfully before he frowned. "Sasha, do you…do you think that those Spite Mites have forgotten the happy memories of when they were alive. I mean, even if they're too angry to care, they have to have more than just the bad memories. Right?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe," the raven-haired girl said uncertainly, scratching behind the former stray's ear subconsciously. "I think it's possible yet it might not be. You don't always know what goes through another's head."

The mechling nodded as he said, "Good point."

In an attempt to chase away the darkening mood, Sasha asked cheerfully, "Hey, how about we go and get some plant samples this weekend?"

That certainly did the trick as her guardian grinned and nodded at her.

"Great! So I'm gonna go get changed and then I'm gonna make dinner for Midnight and I, alright?" the Goth stated, smiling when her partner nodded.

"Sounds fine by me," Zettabyte replied before he turned back to the geography and geology books he had been reading as Sasha went back into the house, still holding Midnight.

Over half an hour later; Sasha's Perspective

The nature-lover hummed as she spooned the warmed up marinara over her angel hair wheat pasta that had mushrooms, peppers, and olives mixed in. She then sprinkled a generous amount of Parmesan on top before adding some baby carrots and toasted garlic bread on the side. She set it down the side of the table where Midnight was already digging into her dinner. The Goth then went and grabbed the can of Pepsi she had been saving. As she set it down beside her food, the phone rang.

Striding over to the phone, the raven-haired girl picked it up and answered, "Hello? This is the Morgan residence."

"Hey Sasha, its Jack," a familiar voice answered in a friendly tone.

"Oh, hey Jack. What's up?" Sasha replied politely.

"Nothing. Just thought I should give you a call. If you're wondering how I know you're phone number it's because I wrote down the redial number when I called you the day before and my mom use to have phone conversations with your aunt," the onyx-haired boy explained, sounding a little .

"Relax Jack. I'm not gonna have you brought up on stalking charges just because you wrote down my aunt and uncle's home phone number," she responded in a cool and gentle tone.

"Oh thank goodness. I was afraid you think I was becoming a stalker," her classmate laughed. "The reason I called is because I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out this week or even this weekend."

"Thanks for the offer but I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I got plans of my own," Sasha answered in an apologetic tone. "Maybe some other time."

"Oh, okay. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow. Goodnight," Jack responded before hanging up.

Hanging her own phone up, she began went to enjoy her supper as she thought, I'm bet I'm the only one now who can say that the reason I can't hang out with someone is because I'm hanging with my alien robot friend AND be telling the truth.

Here it is! Sorry I'm late. I'm making more fanfic ideas that I can dish out and final are coming up fast. I'll try to finish it up. And be on the lookout for my holiday TFP fanfic. Haters will be ignored and flamers will be flamed. Don't worry, Team Prime and Zettabyte will meet up again and Sasha the Prime human crew will find out each other's secrets too.

Until then, Happy Reading.