Took me three days, three days to get this one chapter done! Jeeze. Anyway, this is Darkness Rising: Part 1.

This girl does not own Transformers, (but the OC's are mine bwahaha! The realm of Cybres is mine) but she wishes she did, because, frankly, that'd be awesome!

My Characters-Trans Counterparts Mentioned in this chap.

Dusk Greyman (Skyfyre Ivorra/Prime)- None

Karrick- Bumblebee

Silver Greyman (Silverstar Ivorra)- Arcee

Healer- Ratchet

Starscreecher

Risktaker-Cliffjumper

Sideslash-Sideswipe

Shadowsteel-Ironhide

Sunslash-Sunstreaker

Tomosal Ivorra- Optimus Prime

Nightiron-Bulkhead

Moranthi Ivorra-Megatron

(Human Counterparts: Same first, different Last)

Jack Wheeler- Jack Darby

Miko Tanikawa-Miko Nakadai

Rafael Cortez-Rafael Esquivel

Chapter 1

Back Again, One More Time

4 Years Later

Dusk POV

I sat, sulking in the Base.

Don't get me wrong, I love the new Base…

It's just Dad's unending insistence that I stay in the Base that bugs me.

That, and when I'm allowed to go out…it's always as an Autari. He refuses to let me go out as my human self. And it really is annoying.

I'm the only one here. Amber is out shopping in where was it? Right, Paris, thanks to the new piece of equipment that Hatchet built, the Groundbridge. Miranda was at work at the hospital, the 'Bots were all on patrol…

And Ben was at his new teaching position at the Jasper High School.

Thanks to Fowler, Ben got a teaching position in the new Engineering wing of the school. And he loved it.

I was happy for him, really I was. It's just…waiting until four o'clock to see my beau after I've been cooped up inside the whole fraggin' day is not a pleasant experience.

And that's when I heard it.

The familiar purr of an Autobot engine.

Jolt.

I jumped off the guardrail and ran across the floor as Jolt and Ben pulled in. Ben got out and gave me a tired smile as he pulled out the new assignments that the kids had turned in for grading.

I kissed him on the cheek.

"Finally another living soul to pester," I grinned as Jolt painfully transformed, he was still having problems and we didn't know why.

"The only pestering I ever get is from some of the students," Ben said, kissing me back, "How was your day?"

"Boring," I said, "Everyone's gone, I'm sitting on my rear end, not getting to see any action, same ol' same ol'."

"Hey, Dusk?" Amber's voice rang over the computer system, "Can you 'Bridge me back to base?"

"Sure thing," I said, climbing up to the computers and tapping on the keyboard.

"I'm gonna get these graded," Ben said, sitting down.

The Groundbridge flashed to life, glowing green and silver. A small, dark shadow blemished the radiance, and Amber walked through.

Hands empty.

"What?" I asked, "Couldn't find anything in the City of Lights?"

She rolled her eyes, "Nothing caught my eye."

She saw Ben sitting with his back towards her.

"You're not serious…are you?" I asked, mentally.

"C'mon, it'll be fun!" she answered.

Four years, and my mind reading has gotten better. I could send thoughts now, and Ben and Amber and most of the 'Bots have learned to answer back.

Amber crept up the metal staircase, not making a single sound. She snuck up to Ben and got ready to pounce when…

"Don't even think about it," Ben growled, back still towards her.

Amber let out a raspberry.

"How'd you know!?" she demanded.

"I've got eyes in the back of my head," he deadpanned, marking a paper with a perfect score.

"And you told me that was a hard assignment," Amber said, looking over his shoulder, "Guess that Esquivel kid knows what he's doing!"

"He's twelve…and a quarter," Ben said, picking up the next paper.

"And he's in High School?" I asked, looking at the kid's paper, "Dang, he's got a knack for this stuff! Bet most of your kids like you."

Ben let out a sigh.

"Most of them…" he said, "But there're some that just absolutely annoy the scrap outta me."

"Like…?"Amber pressed.

"There's one…Ms. Nakadai, foreign exchange student from Japan," Ben sighed.

"She sounds fun!" Amber said, eyes lighting up, "What's she like? When can I meet her!?"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Ben yelled, "The day you two meet is the day the world ends!"

Jolt gave a laugh as he sat down on one of the medical berths.

"Feeling any better?" I asked him as Ben and Amber carried on.

"Still sore," he said, "You'd think after four years that it'd stop."

"Does it feel better when you're in your alt?" I asked.

"Actually, yeah," he said, sadly, "Not as much pressure on my gears."

The computer let out an alert, we all glanced up. It was 'Cee calling in, for Dad.

"Arcee to Optimus, the 'Cons are back! Cliff might be neck deep in scrap."

"Understood," Optimus said, "Ratchet, do you have Cliffjumper's coordinates?"

"I'm locked on his signal, Optimus," Ratchet replied, "But our team is scattered across timezones."

"You guys forget about me a lot, don't you?" I teased.

"Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, rendezvous back at base and prepare to Groundbridge," Optimus said, "Dusk, be ready."

"And Jolt?"

"I'll stay here," he said, sadly, "Just in case something happens to Ratchet and he needs repairs."

I let my Autari form replace my human one, and I placed a servo on Jolt's shoulder.

"You miss the field, don't you?" I asked.

"They don't need me," he said, "They've got you."

"I'm a warrior, not a medic," I countered, right as 'Cee, 'Bee and Bulk came in.

"Open the Groundbridge!" Arcee said, "Hurry! We need everyone here!"

"Yes, Mom," I muttered as she revved her engine impatiently.

Well, it was kinda true. Arcee was my mom's counterpart.

The Groundbridge glowed and Ratchet came in, seeing as he was the farthest away.

I shut it down quickly, and reopened it, letting Dad drive through.

I let Ratchet have the controls, and he swiftly put in Cliff's coordinates.

"Jolt," Dad said, "Remain here and stand by for an emergency operation, we may need it,"

"Yes sir," he answered, prepping the medbay.

"Dusk," Dad said, and I threw him the 'Sparkling Eyes'.

He sighed.

"You may come," he answered.

"YEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!" I shouted, "Yes! Yes! YES!"

"Autobots," he ordered, "Roll out!"

I transformed and sped out right behind 'Bee, landing a little awkwardly on the ground.

"I think you need to work on your dramatic entrances," he chuckled, holding me steady.

"Aw, shuddup," I muttered, right as Dad came through the 'Bridge.

We all onlined our weapons and surveyed the damage.

"An untapped energon deposit," Dad noted, offlining his blaster.

"What's left of it," Bulkhead said.

"Wow," I said, taking in the blackened crater, "Cliff sure knows how to make an entrance,"

"First Decepticon activity in three years," Ratchet said.

"That we know of," Dad said, battlemask disengaging, "If they're scouting for energon, they may be preparing for his return,"

I didn't like the sound of that his.

'Cee cocked her helm, and jumped down into the crater. 'Bee and I followed.

She gave a gasp, and picked up a slightly curved piece of silver metal.

"No," she whispered, showing it to us.

"Ratchet," Dad ordered, "Can you track his position?"

The red and white medic opened up the scanner in his arm, revealing the life signals of everyone here, Jolt's back at Base, and…

One other, very, very far away.

And it blinked out.

"No," Ratchet breathed.

He looked up at us.

"Cliffjumper's life signal, just went offline," he finished.

Sideswipe POV

I've been her guardian for six years now, her Guardian Angel for four, but nothing could prepare me for the death of another close friend.

Even when he materialized next to me, I couldn't believe it.

Jazz, Sunny and I were the only ones remaining to watch over our friends as Ironhide was bound to Will, who was over 2,000 miles away. Right now, Jazz and I were the only ones here…other than Cliff.

Poor Cliff. He had no idea as to what he was supposed to do as a Guardian Angel, so we filled him in.

He picked his charge right away, and it wasn't surprising who he picked.

If Arcee could see us, I think she'd be happy with who was her Guardian Angel.

So that brought the whole total to two 'Bots (Jazz and Cliff chose 'Bee and 'Cee), one human (Sunny, of course, picked Amber to protect) and one Halfling (Me and my Dusk).

The course of these events should be interesting to watch.

We all were still marred, basic reminders that we were offlined.

Jazz had a jagged, thin blue scar that crossed his midsection, courtesy of Megs.

'Hide had a spatter of rust over his spark, where Sentinel shot him.

Cliff had five neat holes in his spark were Screamer jabbed him.

Sunny had a black smudge over his spark, no one offlined him really…he didn't survive after I had offlined, split-spark twins tend to see that a lot.

Speaking of me, I had a nice, straight hole in my chassis where the traitor Prime stabbed me.

But those wounds were just a reminder of why we protected those we charged ourselves with.

Amber POV

We built a memorial for Cliff once everyone got home. It was basically a pile of rocks, but…

It came from the hearts and sparks of his comrades.

"We must not allow our anger over the loss of Cliffjumper to impair our judgement," Optimus said as we paid our respects, "As of today, only we seven Autobots and Autaris remain on this Earth."

Seven? But what about the others in D.C. with NEST? What happened to them? To Lennox? To Epps?

"We owe it to ourselves, to the memory of Cybertron," he continued, "to any Autobots in any galaxy seeking safe harbor, to humankind,"

Arcee walked up, and placed the only piece of Cliffjumper we could find.

His horn.

"And we owe it to the memory of our fallen comrades to survive," Optimus finished.

Arcee stood upright and started walking.

"Arcee?" Optimus asked.

"If Cliff's gone," she started bitterly, "Standing around here sulking won't bring him back. So unless anyone minds, I think I'll get back to protecting humankind."

She transformed and sped out.

"Optimus," Ratchet started, "Helping the humans will only result in more tragedy."

"Your opinion is noted," Prime said.

Dusk POV

No one noticed me after Arcee left.

So I slipped out…

And left the base.

The only one who actually noticed was Ben, but he just nodded. He probably thought I wanted some time to cool down, which was partly true.

The other part was the fact that I wanted to catch up with 'Cee.

And catch up I did.

"Hey, 'Cee, wait!" I shouted as she sped down the road.

"What do you want," she huffed, "Can't you see I want to be alone? And you're supposed to be in the Base!"

"I won't talk, I promise," I said, driving forwards, "And I'm following the rules, no going out unless in Autari form!"

She sighed as we drove into the town, but didn't answer.

Her rearview mirrors twitched slightly.

"'Cee?" I asked.

"Twins," she growled.

I adjusted my rearviews.

"I see 'em," I said, "There's a restaurant,"

"Good eye," she said, pulling in, and I followed.

She parked in one of the spaces and deactivated her holoform while I activated mine.

I walked around the hood of my alt and sat down. Holoforms are strange, because once you activate them, you can only really see from their POV. I touched the warm metal of my alt, tracing the flame designs on it right as a guy walked out of the restaurant.

Now, normally, I don't notice guys. But…there was something about this one, I just couldn't name it. I wasn't romantically attracted (I do have a boyfriend FYI), but there was something strange about this one guy.

His phone rang, and he picked it up.

"Hey, Mom," he said, "I just got off…no I'm not going to the dance. Experience suggests that I should never cut a rug…unless I'm installing carpet. Be careful? Seriously? This is Jasper."

He has a sense of humor then.

No, that's not it…

He walked over to Arcee, and froze, staring.

He quickly hung up and walked over to 'Cee.

"Hello beautiful!" he said, "Where have you been all my life?"

I snickered soundlessly as the guy sat down on 'Cee's alt.

"It may take a few KO paychecks," he said, settling down, "But I am gonna own a ride like you someday."

"Are you talking to your motorcycle?" a voice asked.

A blond and a red-head girl stood, watching the boy, laughing.

"Aw, poor guy," I thought as he stuttered a reply.

I heard a low rumble of an engine and looked up towards the mouth of the drive in.

"'Cee," I hissed in subsonics, "It's the 'Cons!"

"Come on smooth operator," Arcee growled, "Wrap it up!"

"You know my name?" the red head asked.

"We're in homeroom together," the boy said, "I'm Jack, Jack Darby?"

Could he be related to June Darby, the nurse who worked with Ben's Mom?

The 'Cons revved their engines and turned on their brights.

"'Cee! I shouted, "We've been made!"

I let my holoform fizzle out as I backed out. 'Cee started her own engine and drove out with the boy, Jack, holding on for dear life. I swerved out onto the street, 'Cee right next to me.

"Do not let go!" Arcee said.

"Who said that?!" Jack cried.

The 'Cons pulled up on either side of us.

"Arcee! Fall back!" I ordered.

We both hit the brakes and let the 'Cons smash into each other.

"Oohooo," I snickered, as we raced ahead of them, "That had to hurt,"

We swerved into an alley where 'Cee stopped and let Jack off.

"What…are you?" Jack asked, "Both of you?"

"I don't exist," Arcee threatened, "Tell anyone about me…and I will hunt you down."

And she started off.

"Hey!" I cried, "Wait for me!"

'Cee suddenly did a 360.

"One of them is going after the boy!" she said.

"Aw, scrap," I groaned, turning.

She ramped the 'Con, and landed over on the other side of it.

"Show off!" I snapped.

I transformed into human form, leaped over the 'Con, touched back down on the other side, and transformed back to my alt.

All under 10 seconds.

"Sweeet!" I cried, "New record!"

'Cee was still ahead of me. I saw her pick up the boy and drive off onto the road.

I would catch them when I got on the road, but in the meantime…

Time to call in for some backup.

"Uh, 'Bee?" I asked into the comm. "How fast can you and Bulk get to 'Cee's location?"

Arcee POV

The 'Cons started shooting at me as soon as I pulled out into the highway, Dusk had fallen behind. The boy, Jack, looked behind at them, covering his head as we turned onto the interstate.

"Why are those guys shooting at us!?" Jack shouted.

"There's no us, kid," I corrected, "And they're no guys."

"Hey, 'Cee," Dusk's voice said over the comm. "Thought you might want some backup…"

I adjusted my mirrors, just in time to see both Dusk and 'Bee shoot out onto the interstate and ram into the 'Cons, making them swerve and crash into each other.

"Friends of yours?" Jack asked.

"Family," I muttered as the brother and sister team kept the 'Cons from passing them.

One of the 'Cons smashed into 'Bee, causing him to spin out onto the rails and causing Dusk to slam on the breaks to make sure he was ok.

I looked ahead again, noticing how there was no cars on either side of me…

That's when I saw it.

The overpass was closed for construction.

But when did that ever stop me?

Jack yelled as I ramped over the side and down the incline, finally coming to a halt at the bottom of the road in front of another human boy.

The other, younger boy dropped the remote controller that he held in his hand in shock.

"Whoa!" he said, eyes bright.

"You have no idea," Jack sighed, getting off as the boy ran over.

I heard the squealing of tires and saw the 'Cons drive to the edge of the embankment.

"Scrap," I hissed as they raced down the embankment, transforming as they did.

Well, cover's blown. Might as well have a little revenge…for Cliff.

I stood upright, glaring at the 'Cons as the boys backed off uncertainly.

"This ends here, 'Cons," I growled charging forwards as they shot at me.

Jack POV

I stared at the fight. What had I gotten myself into? I mean, this was Jasper, nothing happened here!

And I just dragged poor little Raf into it.

"What are they?" Raf asked.

"Talking cars that turn into robots?" I said, watching as the motorcycle/robot delivered a nasty blow to one of the cars, "Or the other way around?"

The motorcycle gave a series of hits to the car-bot. She said something with each hit, but I didn't catch it.

The car-bot didn't fall down, it gave a glare to the Cycle-bot and shot at her. The Cycle-bot backflipped a few times before one of the shots clipped her in the chest. It hit her so hard that she went flying. There was another squealing of tires, and that yellow Urbana and the gold Corvette came off the overpass.

The cars broke apart, revealing two more robots just like the Cycle-bot. All three shared the same blue, glowing eyes.

The former Corvette landed on one of the car-bots, while the Urbana-bot gave the other car-bot a harsh right hook, knocking it flat.

The Urbana-bot took a step back…

And accidentally crushed Raf's RC car.

It's eyes widened and it lifted its foot at the sound and looked at the crushed toy.

It let out a mournful sounding beeping sound.

"No problem," Raf said, "really,"

"'Bee look out!" the Corvette-bot said, right as one of the car-bots shot the Urbana, making it fly backwards.

The Corvette-bot gave a low, angry growl and attacked the car-bot who shot the Urbana…right as it took a shot at her.

The Corvette flew backwards and landed next to the Urbana, and one of the car-bots stood on her back, right between the strange, jet-like wings.

The other stood on the Urbana's back, right between his 'doorwings' too. The two, blue eyed robots flipped over, right as the car-bots pointed guns at them.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE!" Raf shouted.

All four of them turned towards him, the car-bots pointed their guns at him.

"Please?" Raf squeaked.

"Bad call!" I said, grabbing his shoulder as one of the car-bots stomped towards us, "Run!"

We ran around the corner and into a pipeline. The car-bot reached its coal black hand into the pipeline to grab us…it was inches away from my legs when it suddenly pulled back.

There were horrible crashes and squealing of metal, and a silver and yellow face peeked in sheepishly to take a look at us with it huge, blue eyes.

The Urbana!

It let out a series of beeps and chirps.

"Thank you," Raf said, smiling.

The Urbana let out another string of beeps and pulled away.

I grabbed Raf's shoulder, "Don't look back,"

"Wh-what did we just see?" he asked, a little scared.

"No idea, and I'm not sure I want to find out," I answered, taking him with me.

Dusk POV

"Looks like you made a new friend?" I said as 'Bee came back over, "They safe?"

"Yeah," he answered, "I like the little one, with the red markings over his eyes."

"You mean the glasses?" I asked.

"Right," he said, "I think I scare the older one,"

"Yeah, well…" I started, right as the 'Con stood up, "'BEE LOOK OUT!"

"Huh…?" he asked, right as the 'Con hit him, "Ow,"

I threw a hit at the other 'Con, earning myself a kick that sent me flying and landing right at 'Cee's feet. 'Bee got thrown over too.

The three of us stood up, trying to get our bearings when a low pitched horn sounded behind us.

Bulkhead.

He transformed and came up, fists at ready.

"Who's ready to rumble?" he asked.

The 'Cons turned tail and ran.

"What took you!?" I demanded.

"Traffic," he muttered.

I facepalmed as 'Bee slumped, sitting down.

"I don't think I want to get back up," he said, "The concrete feels pretty good."

"Dusk," a voice rumbled over my comm.

I froze, optics wide.

"I'm in trouble," I moaned, picking up the call as the others snickered, "Hi Daddy, what's up?"

"Base. Now," he growled.

I sighed as the Groundbridge opened.

"Save me!" I begged 'Bee.

"You're the one who got on his bad side!" he said, putting his servos up as we walked into the 'Bridge, "You didn't have to leave Base,"

The Base materialized in front of the four of us. Dad stood, arms crossed, in the mouth of the Groundbridge platform.

He looked really, really mad.

"Before you say anything," I said, "I followed your rules, even used my holoform."

"You still left without permission," he growled.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I was careful!"

"Yet you still end up in a firefight,"

"Hey, they started it," I pointed out, "I just…helped finish it."

"Explain," he ordered.

"'Cee?" I asked.

So 'Cee explained everything, and I stood silently.

"…And the 'Cons would have been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted by the human," she finished.

"Human?" Dad asked.

"Two," 'Bee corrected.

"Two boys…"

"I guess the…second one…caught us in action…" 'Cee said, sheepishly, "I dunno! Was a little busy at the time!"

"Busy getting your aft kicked?" I snickered.

"DUSK!" 'Bee snapped.

"Well, it's true!" I snapped back.

Dad sighed.

"If the Decepticons are targeting us," he started, "Anyone perceived as our ally will be at grave risk,"

The three of us looked at each other as Dad finished.

"So…now what?" I asked.

Jack POV

I was a little distracted the next day, wondering about the fight and what I had just seen.

Was it a military experiment?

But they seemed so…alive.

I was so wrapped up in his that I didn't hear the teacher call my name.

"Daydreaming a bit are we, Mr. Darby?" a voice asked, right next to my ear.

I turned to face the bright green eyes of Mr. Castora.

"Um…" I started.

"The bell rang for the end of school," he said, grinning slightly.

"Sorry, sir," I said, "Just a little distracted."

"Ah, I see," he said, nodding, "You mind giving me a hand with these boxes? I'd do it myself, but this one here is too heavy for one person alone to lift."

"No problem," I said, helping him with the box.

We came out to the teacher's parking lot and finally came to Mr. Castora's car. An electric blue Chevy Volt.

"Nice car," I said as he unlocked it.

"Thanks, Jack," he said as the back door popped open and dropped the first box in, "So, what was on your mind?"

"Nothing," I said.

"You're a bad liar, Jack," Mr. Castora said.

I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"That's good," he said, smiling, "Now, what's up…other than the sky or gas prices!"

"How'd you know I'd say that?"

"My girlfriend pulls that one on me all the time," he said, leaning against the car, "Now…"

"You're gonna think I'm crazy…"

"Aren't we all?"

"Good point," I said, trying to find a safe route to take, "So…is it possible for cars to talk?"

The Volt's back door nearly shut, and Mr. Castora's eyes widened, just a tiny fraction. If I wasn't paying attention…I would have missed it, but it was there.

"Have you ever heard of a GPS? Or OnStar?" Mr. Castora asked, smiling.

"Ok, sorry I asked," I said, "I feel stupid now."

"You're not stupid," Mr. Castora said, putting the last of the boxes in the car's trunk, "So, how's your mom?"

"She's fine," I said, "Although I can't say much for her cooking…"

Mr. Castora snorted.

"Tofu again?"

"Maybe…" I said.

"Don't worry," he said, "I'll have my mother send you her fajita recipe."

"And this is why you're my favorite teacher,"

"That's not sucking up to me is it?" he teased.

"Oh no, sir," I said, "It's just…Dr. Williams has an amazing knack for cooking,"

"That she does," he said, closing the trunk, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Jack, remember…your project…"

"Is due in two weeks," I finished.

"Good boy," he said, getting into the car, starting the engine and driving off.

Ben POV

"You think he knows?" I asked Jolt.

"Well, Prime did say that Dusk and the others ran into two human boys the other day…saved them from 'Cons," my guardian said as we drove closer to the Base, "Maybe Jack was one of them?"

"For his sake," I said, "I hope it wasn't."

Jack POV

I walked out of the school building and saw little Raf waving like a maniac. I walked over to him, giving a short wave.

"Raf," I said, "Hey, look, let's just keep this between us and forget anything ever happened, ok?"

A horn honked.

Raf gasped, grabbing my arm in excitement.

"Jack!" he cried.

And the yellow Urbana with black racing stripes from yesterday drove up, parked, and opened up the passenger door.

"Oh, not again!" I groaned, backing up.

A low whistle emitted from the car.

"It-it wants us to get in," I said, looking it over.

"No," Raf said, "Just me."

"How do you know that?"

"It said so," he replied, shrugging.

"What?" I asked.

He grabbed my arm and turned me around.

"Yours is over there," he said.

It was the blue motorcycle.

"Look," I started, "I really don't think that…"

"How's it going?" Raf asked the car.

"Raf?" I asked.

He ignored me and got into the car.

"Wait! Stop!" I said, chasing it as it drove off.

I looked back at the bike.

No way José was I going to get involved again.

So I ran down the street and into an alley.

The bike swerved in and came to a stop in front of me, a woman sat in the seat.

I stopped, looking warily at the bike.

"Relax," it, she, said, "I just want to talk to you,"

"Don't you mean you and your new friend?" I asked, pointing at the rider.

"Kid," the bike said, as the rider flickered out of existence, "there's a lot you don't understand."

I backed up.

"No, I-I get it. I get it!" I said, "the first rule of robot-fight club, is you don't talk about robot-fight club!"

I turned around and started walking.

"What you need to understand is that I don't want a bunch of crazy talking vehicles following me around trying to get me killed!" I snapped.

I heard whirring and clanking behind me.

"Look…Jack is it?" the Cycle-bot said, looking at me with its blue and violet eyes, "Your personal safety is exactly why Optimus Prime has requested your presence."

"W-wait," I said, "Optimus…who?"

The strange thing was...that name was familiar...

I just couldn't place it.

She came closer.

"You may be in danger because you are one of the few, one of the only who have ever seen us,"

"Dude!" a new voice said.

Both the Cycle-bot and I turned towards the voice.

It was the foreign exchange student, Miko Nakadai.

"What are you waiting for?" she asked, "Go with!"

The bot sighed.

"Scrap," she hissed.

Dusk POV

Ben and Jolt came in right on time.

"Thank God you're here!" Amber said running down the stairs as Ben and I got his stuff out of Jolt's alt, "'Cee and 'Bee are bringing in those two boys, we'll finally get to meet them!"

"Well, you two anyway," I said as we set the last box down.

"Prime grounded you from seeing them!?" she asked.

"He grounded me from showing them what I am," I muttered, "And I was looking forward to that,"

I heard the main doors open.

And 'Cee and 'Bee drove in with not two…but three kids.

The two boys, and a new girl.

"I thought there were two?" Ratchet said, looking down at them.

"Haven't you heard?" Arcee said, rolling her optics, "Humans multiply."

"Jack? Miko? Raf?" Ben asked.

The oldest, the one 'Cee had taken for a ride, looked at Ben in surprise and the other two stared.

"Mr. Castora?" they all asked.

"You know them?" I asked him.

"They're my students," he said, "Jack Darby, Rafael Esquivel, and Miko Nakadai."

"The girl you said that when Amber met her then the world would end?" I asked.

"We better get in that bunker then," he said as Miko ran up to Bulkhead.

"I'm Miko," she said, "Who are you?"

"Bulkhead," he answered, uncertainly.

Was he afraid?

"Are you a car?" she asked, "I bet you're a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever use a wreckin' ball for a punching bag?"

"Dear Primus," I said, "She's not like Amber…she is Amber!"

"So…if you guys are robots," little Raf asked, shyly, "Who made you?"

Ratchet snorted and rolled his optics.

"Puh-lease," he grumbled.

"Be nice, Hatchet," I warned.

He picked up a wrench, not threateningly…unless you knew him like we did.

"Sorry!" I said, right as the thunder of Dad's footsteps came into the room.

The three kids looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron," he said, trying not to frighten them, "Better known, as Autobots."

Jack gathered up his courage and walked up to Dad. Brave kid, I must admit.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"To protect your planet from the Decepticons," Dad answered.

"The jokers who tried to bump us…I mean you…off last night," I said.

"Okaaay," Jack said, turning his gaze back to Dad, "Why are they here?"

Dad knelt down closer to Jack.

"A fair question, Jack," he said, as Jack's eyes widened.

Jack never told him his name.

"In part," Dad continued, "Because our planet is uninhabitable, ravaged by centuries of civil war,"

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked, innocently.

"Foremost," Dad started, "For our world's supply of energon, the fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots…and Decepticons alike."

And he began the story of his race's War.

I had heard it many times, but it never failed to amaze me. Simply, because it was how my own planet's War began as well. So in hearing his…I was hearing mine.

As he finished, Miko gave a yawn.

"Is there going to be a quiz?" she asked.

Ben groaned, "That's Miko for you,"

I coughed into my hand, "Amber,"

"So…what does Megatron…or any of this," Jack asked, "Have to do with us?"

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time," Dad said, softly, worriedly, "But if his return is imminent, as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

I held onto Ben's arm, tightly.

And I prayed to the Creator…

That this would never come true.

Authoress POV

High above in Earth's orbit, the Decepticon Spacebridge flared to life. A dark shape shot through the bridge and into the starry atmosphere.

The jet-like form suddenly transformed into a towering, silver figure, his blood-red optics glowing in triumph.

"Decepticons!" Megatron cried out into the silent stars, "I have returned!"

A/N It's better than last one. But it's reaally long. I think it's longer than any of my other stories' chapters.

Title from Superchick's Me Against The World

Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please R&R! :)

Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)

Máriessë ar mára tecië

Farewell and fair writing

Elhini Prime signing off.