Yay! Another chapter! Man I'm on a role this week! Well good news to report. I have the first story arc wrapped up and the first chapterofsecond arc finished! Yayness! I'm having trouble with the second one (Its doesn't feel believable.) so I may dely releasing the next chapter. But no fears, I'm sure I figure out how to make a good scene out of it. I'd like to clarifykristalshaga's question dealing with how Spike got out of the cave. Basically Thundercracker didn't close off the cave all the way (with that big boulder he was useing), leaving a small crack large enough for Spike to crawl through. I apologize for the not so detailed description of that. I was so excited thatI was at the part I just plowed through to get to the action. After Spike's escape a lot starts to happen so...yeah! I'd also like to take this time and thank you all again for your reviews. The next arc is going to take some brain power (there's a going to be a lot of detailed crap to figure out) and if I make a labelingmistake or something please try to coupe. I'm not perfect! In the next arc you'll learn more about Spike's family and why he is the way he is and such! HAHAHA! Ypu thought it was all explained? Think again! This stories got a lot of philisophical connection between the character. See if you can find them! I'll give you a cookie for everyone you connect! LMAO! OK, enough bable, on with the Chapter!

Chapter 9

The explosion was enormous. Debris flew every which way and hit various Autobots and Decepticons who weren't too observant.

Mirage grabbed Spike and crouched down on his haunches, holding the human in one hand and covering his with the other.

Spike let out a yelp of surprise at the blast and another when Mirage grabbed him so suddenly.

When the dust cleared and the smoke dissipated, there was nothing there where Optimus had once been. The feeling of dread fell upon the Autobots until they saw a glowing orb hanging over the crater. A black Autobot, along with several others stood on the opposite ridge, sending a bright yellow beam that connected to the floating glowing orb. Inside the orb, to the utter relief of all the Autobots and the extreme rage of Megatron, was Optimus Prime. His chest was slightly burned and he'd been hit with shrapnel, but it was better than dead.

Ironhide and the other made their way over to Optimus and began to assessed the damage.

"Sir," Ironhide said. "Can you move?"

"Yes.." Prime said weakly.

"Way to go Trailbreaker!" Mirage cheered after he saw Optimus safe.

Megatron looked down at who he thought was Ratchet, but there instead was a yellow Autobot.

Sunstreaker realized the illusion was no longer masking him.

"Oops…" Sunstreaker laughed, partially relieved to be himself again.

Megatron's rage rose to dangerous levels of anger. His face almost looked red. He turned his scowling face towards the Autobot and Human. They had ruined everything!

"I demand revenge!" He cried. Megatron threw Sunstreaker to the ground and aimed his fusion cannon at the ridge. "Die!"

Just as he was about to fire Sunstreaker grabbed his legs in protest.

"No!" The Autobot cried.

The blast fired, but missed its target; instead it cut through the ridge right under them. The rock collapsed under their feet sending them down the incline in an avalanche of dust, rock, and gravel.

Mirage lost his grip on Spike as they were overtaken by the debris and he was swept away.

"Mirage!" Ironhide yelled as he helped Optimus to his feet.

"Decepticons, attack!" Megatron cried. The gathered Decepticons charged towards the Autobots. The seekers transformed and flew over head sending laser fire and dropping bombs all over. Sunstreaker took the chance and ignited his jetpack. It fired up and he was jetted up into the air, to Megatron's surprise.

He flew over to where the ruble had settled and began to dig. Sunstreaker's hands were being scratched and chipped by the rocks, but in the heat of panic he thought of nothing else but getting his injured comrade to safety…the human too.

He found Mirage first, still conscious and struggling to free himself.

"I'm fine!" He protested. "Find the kid!"

Reluctantly the yellow Autobot began digging in other areas, looking for the brat. After a few frustrated moments he gave up with a growl.

"Augh!" He cried out frustrated. "I can't find him!"

He gazed over the ruble one more time and saw a small spot of gravel moving as if something was underneath. He dug at the spot and sure enough, pulled Spike out by his arm. The human was coughing uncontrollably, spitting out dirt, and cursing. His clothes were covered in dust and gravel. Sunstreaker sat the boy down on his feet.

"Shit!" Spike cursed. "That sucked!"

Mirage laughed.

"I don't know," Mirage chuckled as he whipped the rocks off his. "I thought it was kind of fun."

"Except the part where we almost died, you mean!" Spike said angrily, not finding any humor in the situation. Spike patted himself down, trying to clean the dirt and dust off his clothes.

Sunstreaker stood up and transformed.

"Get the kid out of here Mirage. This is not place for a human." Sunstreaker advised. Spike didn't have time to argue as Sunstreaker sped off towards the battle ensuing in the valley bed.

"C'mon." Mirage said as he too transformed into a sleek blue and white race car.

Spike hopped in quickly and Mirage drove off around the bulk of the battle. The fighting around them was more intense than anything that Spike had ever seen in movies or on TV. Metal fists flew with the sharp burst of bright energy from laser gun barrels in the background. Spike looked around in awe and saw, off in the distance, two other Autobots pulling the injured Optimus Prime up the side of the incline away from the battle. The present Autobots fought violently against the Decepticons seemingly to give Prime the time needed to get him out of there.

Mirage suddenly took a sharp left, jetting Spike to one side and hitting his shoulder on the side of Mirage's door, in order to avoid a rouge laser shot exploded where they had just been seconds before. Spike's shoulder ached and protested as Mirage regained his steering and continued on through.

They were close to the incline when a loud whistling sound echoed through the air and something exploded in front of them. Mirage cried out in surprise and turned sharply left and flipped to his side. Spike head jerked to one side and hit something, knocking him out cold.

From the sky above them, a lone figure came into view. His wings on either side of him gave the impression of an angel descending from the heavens. But this was no angel; angel of darkness maybe. The Decepticon's second in command, Starscream, landed less than a hundred feet from the over turned Autobot.

"Spike! Get out and run!" Mirage ordered, but when he got no response he turned on his optics into his front seat and saw the boy lying motionless in the seat, blood flowing freely from an open wound on his forehead. "Slag!"

"Don't move Auto-boob." Starscream sneered as he pressed the barrels of his Null rays against the Autobots sides to keep him still. Starscream saw the unconscious boy in the front seat and smiled viciously. "You need to be more careful with your cargo; Humans are quite delicate."

As if to prove his point Starscream punched in Mirage's front wind shield and pulled Spike out.

"No!" Mirage cried out and he tried desperately to move. Starscream leaped into the sky and disappeared from view. Mirage transformed and looked into the blue atmosphere for any sign of the Decepticon. There was none.

Ratchet and Wheeljack leaped upon the injured Autobot leader and immediately began assessing and repairing various wounds that Optimus had sustained in the blast.

"Not good," Ratchet admitted as he examined Prime's chest. "You'll be down for a couple orns with this mess. We need to get you back to the Ark. Now!"

"All your primary functions are undamaged, but your central motor plug's been severed." Wheeljack told the leader. "You won't be able to walk until we replace it."

"No…We still need to get Spike." Optimus sat up slightly and groaned. Ratchet pushed the leader back down.

"No moving!" He ordered. "Mirage will get Spike. Relax Prime, he's all over it. Mirage will keep the kid safe."

A faint beeping sound emanated from Ironhide's wrist com link. In one fluid motion he flipped open the compartment revealing the radio beneath and lifted it to his face and spoke.

"Yeah?" Ironhide spoke slightly annoyed into his wrist.

"I lost the kid!" Mirage's voice said frantically defeated over the link.

Ratchet was silent as he was force to eat his own words just a nano-click after saying them.

"How could you loose him?" Ironhide demanded. "Those critters ain't that small!"

Mirage groaned over the com link.

"Starscream caught me off guard and I flipped over. The kid got knocked out! I couldn't transform!" Mirage explained in a vexed, but panicked voice.

"Just stop making excuses and get him back! We'll send in some reinforcements." Ironhide severed the connection and looked up at Wheeljack. "Any ideas?"

Wheeljack pondered for a few seconds. His robot brain was turning over working out possible strategies. It would be suicide to go up against Starscream in his own element, especially when he had Spike as a hostage. A memory popped into his head of an old experiment that had gone slightly aloft when they were first activated. Their Cerebral connections were faulty and it made them dumb and primitive. Wheeljack had been working days straight to try and fix them ever since they'd gone wild in the Ark and smashed poor Teletran's screens and counsels. Prime had ordered them never to be reactivated ever again, but they needed strength. They needed primitive force. They needed…some muscle.

Wheeljack looked at Optimus Prime. His first concern was for his fallen leader. Optimus looked right into Wheeljack's face, almost pleadingly.

"Prime, I know what I'm about to do may very well get me court-martialed but," Wheeljack pushed small button on his waist. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."