Yay! New Chapter! Finally, I'm on spring break so I might actually get finished with Darkness Rising by the time I get back to school! I'm pulling Ben's Dad, Javier Castora, into the story via flashback. So I hope that this chapter's good!

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-Starscream

Moranthi Ivorra- Megatron

Tomosal Ivorra- Optimus Prime

Nightiron-Bulkhead

(Human Counterparts: Same first, different Last)

Jack Wheeler- Jack Darby

Miko Tanikawa-Miko Nakadai

Rafael Cortez-Rafael Esquivel

Chapter 4

Try To Pull Me Into The Dark

Optimus POV

Dusk trembled and cowered behind me as more of the undead poured from the ground. I did not know what caused her fear, all I knew was that it frightened me as well. Dusk did not frighten easily. I could tell, however, that this was an innate fear.

"Megatron has desecrated the resting place of our fallen ancestors!" Ratchet hissed, backing up slightly, "And his own!"

"Not even the dead are free from his warmongering." I added, sadly.

Dusk closed her optics. I looked up at my wayward brother as the undead came closer. Dark violet light blazed from his armor, and his optics glowed with the same hue.

"Destroy them!" my brother shrieked.

One of the undead ventured too close for my liking, a shot rang out, crashing into the creature's chest. Dusk's blaster shook unsteadily as it warmed up for another shot.

"That's my daughter," I thought proudly.

I could still feel her terror, but her determinedness outweighed it. I gently brushed her blaster with mine, reassuring her, and the both of us opened fire upon the undead.

Every shot hit its mark, but the undead just staggered upright after the fall. Dusk's shots became more wild, more frantic, more desperate as she kept shooting and they kept rising.

"Optimus?" Ratchet asked as we all backed up, "if our combatants are already deceased…how can we possibly defeat them?"

"Do not say shoot them in the head!" Dusk cried, still firing, "That only works in Amber and Ben's sick video games!"

I took a few more shots before pausing to look back at my friend and my daughter.

"Ratchet," I said, "Retreat, bridge yourself and Dusk back to base!"

"ARE YOU INSANE!" Dusk screeched.

"NO!" Ratchet snapped, unsheathing his surgical blades, "I shall stand with you, Optimus. You may require a medic when this is over."

"You're crazed in the processor if you think I'm gonna leave you again!" Dusk growled, switching out her blaster for her sword, her Karia.

And swallowing her fear, Dusk gave a battle cry, and charged the undead, Karia blazing with electric blue light. The silver blade soon became slightly dull with the taint of dark energon.

"I'm not letting her have all the fun," Ratchet muttered, charging in after her.

The two of them engaged in a deadly dance with their adversaries, swords flickering in and out like the tongues of a serpent. One of the dismembered arms landed right in front of me, the violet glow died from it as it stopped twitching.

Ratchet swung his blades again after staring at the arm for a moment.

"I…recommend dissection!" he panted, "The smaller the pieces, the better!"

"Sound advice, old friend," I said, engaging my blades.

Dusk rolled her optics and slashed another to bits.

"And Ben says the only way to kill a zombie is to shoot 'em in the head," she muttered.

"Wait until we prove him wrong!" Ratchet chuckled.

"You just made a joke, Hatchet!" Dusk said, approvingly, "There's hope for you yet!"

"What have I told you about calling me that!" he snapped.

"Wrench me later," Dusk growled, decapitating another creature, "Or…take it out on the zombiecons,"

I shook my helm as I slashed at another one of these "zombiecons". It was going to be a long night when we got back to base.

Megatron smirked down at us.

"I have mastered Dark Energon. When you fall, Optimus, Dusk...you both shall join my army!" he said, unable to contain his gleeful, wishful thinking.

Dusk gave a low snarl from behind her battle-mask, I glared at him and the both of us charged forwards.

I was not going to let him win.

Not this time.

Miranda POV

The three Vehicons from above began shooting at us and somehow, perhaps we have someone up there watching over us, we managed to dodge every single one of their attacks.

One of the blasts threw both Rafael and I to the ground, Ben's green eyes blazed as we fell.

He looked so much like his father, Javier, it was scary. Javie would be proud of our son. Both Ben and Jack ran over, shielding us with their bodies.

"It's ok, Mom," Ben said, softly, "I won't let them hurt you,"

And I was brought back into ancient history.

Javie and I ran down the charred streets of Mission City, holding our sabot-loaded guns close to our chests as we followed Lennox into an alley. An explosion rocked the street, throwing us to the ground.

Javie started to laugh.

"This day isn't much. It's too boring, eh mi lucero?" he asked with that little grin of his.

I sighed, "Javie…if this is your idea of boring…then I don't want to see your idea of fun."

"Dios mio, mi lucero," he replied, his dark eyes twinkling, "You are such a spoilsport!"

"C'mon!" I said, getting back up, "Lennox is waiting."

He groaned, "Me vuelves loca,"

I knew enough Spanish to understand him…most of the time.

"I drive you crazy?" I asked, "Take a look in the mirror, buster, I give it right back to you,"

He held a hand to his heart, "Ouch, that hurt, Miranda,"

"You'll live," I snickered, "Your doctor says."

"Stop foolin' around," Lennox said wearily, "Now, the rest of you know the plan…"

"What plan?" Javie asked, "I didn't hear any plan. Did you hear any plan mi lucero?"

"Probably would have if you would have moved, Javie," I said, ruffling his dark hair fondly.

"Shoot for the area below the chests, the armor seems to be weaker under there," Epps said as Lennox cocked his gun.

Javie looked around, freezing suddenly, a huge smile lighting up his face.

"Oooo! Una motocicleta!" he cried, running over to it and picking it up.

"Javie…" I said, shaking my head.

He could be such a kid at times.

"C'mon, mi lucero!" he said, eyes bright, "one test drive, sí?"

"NO!"I said.

"Por favor?"

He shot me the kicked puppy look. And with those big, melted chocolate eyes of his…it was nearly impossible to say no.

Nearly.

"Javie," I said, "Don't."

"Yo Javie," I heard Lennox say, "Lemme see the bike,"

Javie threw a pout at me and I felt really bad. But we had our son to think of now. A son that was…

"Mama? Daddy?" a southern twang drenched little boy's voice asked.

Javie and I froze and turned around…

Ben was here.

"BENJAMIN JAVIER TOMÁS RAFAEL CASTORA!" I shrieked, jeeze, what was I thinking when I let Javie name him? "WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"

He pointed his little hand in the direction of a familiar face.

"Sam…" I growled, going into mama bear mode, "I'm going to kill him!"

Javier grabbed me and Ben and pulled us into a hug. Ben started crying.

"It's ok, mijo, mi lucero," Javie said, softly, "I won't let them hurt you,"

"Mom?" Ben said, "MOM!"

I looked up at him.

"Sorry," I muttered.

He gave a soft smile.

"Dad again?"

I smiled sheepishly.

There was a squeal of tires, and a familiar green SUV swerved between us and the 'Cons.

"Get in!" Bulkhead shouted, "NOW!"

"Don't need to tell us twice," Ben said, helping me up.

Rafael curled up on the ground, head between his hands. Ben picked him up and got in right behind me, Jack followed to make sure we all got in.

The door slammed shut and Bulkhead shot out of target range.

"Nice timing, Bulk," Ben sighed in relief.

"Thanks, Bulkhead." Jack sighed as well.

"Yeah, thanks," Rafael agreed.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Bulkhead demanded with a bit of frustration.

"We were worried about Miko and Amber. Have you seen them?" I asked.

"What's she look like?" Amber joked as she and Miko popped out from the backseat.

I turned around to face them both.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, missy!" I growled.

Amber slid back down into the seat, Miko shrank back as well.

Bulkhead slid behind a huge boulder and opened his door.

"Everyone out! And this time, please wait here," he pleaded to us as we got out of the vehicle.

Once we were out, Bulkhead drove towards the Nemesis.

Bulkhead POV

I jumped, transforming back into my bi-pedal form and grabbed onto the cliff. I scaled up the cliff easily and climbed aboard the Nemesis.

"What were those kids thinking!" I thought to myself as I shook my helm.

The Vehicons instantly noticed I was onboard with them. Hehe, time to have a little fun.

I switched out my servo for my mace and charged forwards.

I smashed a Vehicon and used that same Vehicon as a shield to guard myself from the incoming attack. I blasted the 'Con shooting at me off balance before body slamming him.

"Maybe that wrestling show Amber watches has some merit to it…" I thought as I jumped up to my pedes.

I looked over the ship to make sure the kids and Miranda were safe from harm. I mentally counted them…four…

There were supposed to be six.

"Where're Miko and Amber!?" I shouted.

I felt something banging in my chest and opened it only to have Miko and Amber pop up from my chest plates while taking a huge breath of air.

"Miko?" I asked incredulously, "Amber?"

"I heaved on your floor mats. Sorry." Miko apologized before covering her mouth to prevent from throwing up again.

I helped the two thrillseekers out of my chest and placed them on the floor.

"Remind me never to do that again," Amber said, "Bad headache, really bad headache."

"Miko, Amber…" I started, only to be cut off by a tackle from a Vehicon.

The 'Con attached himself to my back, I tried everything to throw him off, finally succeeding in pulling the unwelcome passenger off, and I pounded his faceplates in.

There was a faint clicking noise. I looked up towards the girls…right as a hatch opened and reinforcements came pouring out.

Aw, scrap.

I shot at the 'Cons, making sure they couldn't harm the girls, but they were beginning to overpower me.

I looked around for an idea. Anything I could use as a shield…or a weapon…

The ship's satellites!

I ran over to one, pulled it off its braces, and hurled it at the 'Cons. Miko and Amber ducked as the dish sailed over their heads, smashing into the two 'Cons. I came over, picked the two of them up, and jumped down the ship's hatch.

Ben POV

I listened to the faint gunfire uptop the Nemesis' roof. Raf peeked around the rock.

"Think they forgot about us?" he asked, his voice squeaking on the last part of his sentence.

I ruffled his hair.

"I don't know," I said.

"Um, Ben," Mom said, voice shaky.

I whipped around, and saw a group of Vehicons right behind us. My breath caught.

This was not good.

Amber POV

I've never been on the 'Cons' warship…and I didn't like it when I saw the inside!

Bulkhead ran down the hallways, turning his helm every so often to see if there was a door that possibly held Fowler inside.

Miko looked really green and sounded like she was going to throw up.

"Just hold on, Miko," I said as Bulkhead picked up the pace.

That's when I saw them.

Two Vehicons strolled out of a hallway, freezing and turning when they heard Bulk's pounding footsteps.

"Aw, scrap," I hissed, "Bulk! Look out!"

Bulk froze for an instant…and threw me and Miko down the hall, like we were bowling balls or something! Miko yelped as we slid past the Vehicons and Bulk proceeded to scrap them. When we came to a halt, Miko got on her hands and knees.

"I'm gonna heave again…" she moaned.

"NOT ON ME!" I squealed, scooting backwards.

And that's when Bulk picked us back up and continued running.

Ben POV

I growled as the Vehicons held us clenched in their servos, it was probably a bad idea on my part. I yelped as the servo tightened on me, squeezing out whatever breath I had left.

"Take them to the brig," one of the Vehicons ordered. "Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there."

Ah, so that's where Fowler's at…

I heard the revving of a very powerful engine and I grinned.

Mom looked at me, her green eyes hopeful.

Three…two…one…

And 'Bee's alt slammed into the Vehicons, forcing them to drop us.

'Cee transformed, leaping forwards to catch Jack and Raf while Jolt did the same to catch me and Mom.

"Thanks, buddy," I said, as Jolt set us down.

His optics narrowed slightly, "You've got a lot of explaining to do Ben,"

I shrugged.

"Bumblebee!" Raf cried, eyes shining.

"Raf! Thank Primus you're ok," 'Bee chirped, "What were you all thinking!?"

"Not our fault…" I said, "Blame Amber."

"Of course," 'Bee sighed.

"Appreciate clearing the front door for us, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list." Arcee scolded.

"Tell me about it," Jack sighed.

"C'mon you four," Jolt said, "Let's go find Bulk and Amber and Miko too."

….

We all ran down the hallway, when 'Cee suddenly froze, she pulled out her blaster but suddenly pulled back.

"Friendly!" she said.

"Hello!" a deeper voice said at the same time.

Bulkhead! And he had Amber and Miko in his servo!

"Brought the humans, huh?" she asked, raising an optic ridge.

Bulkhead opened his mouth many times before finally speaking.

"You try getting them to stay behind!" he sputtered.

"In any case, we need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Jolt said.

"He's in the brig," Jack, Raf, and I said in unison.

A shot pinged off the wall over our heads. Jolt instinctively grabbed me and my mom, sheltering us with his servo, his other one was pointing at the 'Cons until he realized he couldn't do anything.

"Stupid injury," he growled, gazing at the fight, "Kids! Over here!"

Amber and my students ran, ducking and dodging the blasts and flying parts, but they seemed to stay in one place. I ran out of my guardian's protection and to the children.

"BEN!" Jolt howled, standing up.

"Stay there, Jolt!" I shouted as I latched onto Raf's sleeve, "C'mon kids,"

All three looked up at me, fear glazing their eyes. Amber looked pleadingly at me.

"I've got you," I said, soothingly, "I'm your teacher, I will. Not. Let. Anything happen to you,"

Jack grabbed Raf's other arm, Amber grabbed Miko's arm and the five of us ran to Jolt, who shielded us with his own form. The sounds of battle died down, and Jolt released us from his protective grip. I patted his leg as he stood upright.

"Thanks, Jolt," I said, "Everyone ok?"

The kids nodded.

"Good," I said, "Let's move, before any other 'Cons come this way."

Dusk POV

I ran my Karia through another zombiecon's midsection, ripping upwards and letting the halves fall back to the dusty earth, right as Dad stabbed another right in the helm. The three of us rushed forwards gutting as many of the undead as we could. Dad and I went for a teamwork strategy, probably the coolest one we did was when we gutted one and Dad switched out his sword for his blaster and blew the zombiecon away.

I stumbled, and Dad lifted me back up as we went back to back with Ratchet. I heard him say something to Dad…but I could hear him. My knees felt like water, all I really wanted to do was lie down…

"On your pedes, Dusk," Dad ordered, dragging me up, "You cannot rest here!"

"So…tired…" I yawned, feeling myself go down.

"It's affecting her faster than the two of us," Ratchet said as Dad grabbed me before I hit the ground, "We must get out of this place quickly!"

"We cannot falter now!" Dad said, "Dusk! Wake up!"

I struggled to stay upright, but it was hard. So hard.

Dad charged into battle again, swords swinging. But the zombiecons were too many, they tried to overpower him.

And overpower him they did.

All I saw was a mass of grey and purple bodies.

"OPTIMUS!" Ratchet shouted.

"NO!" I screamed, "DADDY!"

My strength came roaring back into me, and I seemingly blacked out.

Ratchet POV

"OPTIMUS!" I shouted as the undead piled over my old friend.

"NO!" Dusk screamed, "DADDY!"

The undead started to close in on her, Dusk glared darkly in their direction, an almost feral hiss escaped her throat.

I heard a low, thundering growl from the Halfling's direction. The earth suddenly shook violently and lightning blazed overhead.

Dusk's face was obscured by her battlemask, but her optics…dear Primus…

They burned almost black with the golden "embers" dancing in them...just like her human eyes.

I had heard about Dusk's rage from Amber, who had witnessed it firsthand at Chicago…

I was not prepared for what I was about to see.

The Halfling charged forwards, her sword darting out and plunging deep into the undead mechs and femmes' frames. She dragged her sword unmercifully through the already ravaged bodies, sending dark energon spewing into the air like some morbid, macabre geyser of amethyst liquid. And once the first cut went in…the Halfling didn't stop, not until the corpse was shredded into fine pieces.

The worst part…

All of that…took less than the blink of an optic.

Per Victim.

I had made a conclusion…

That was not Dusk.

That was a brutal force to be reckoned with. That…is the violent, dark, Sorun side of the Halfling. Her inner demon.

I was so morbidly fascinated by the Halfling's "berserker" mode as Amber dubbed it, that I failed to continue my own fight. The undead overwhelmed me, and I screamed as they came over top of me.

I saw a blaze of sparks, and wondered dimly if it would be the last light I saw.

A low rumble emitted from the pile of the undead that had gotten Optimus. The rumble escalated, until…

Optimus' familiar war-cry thundered from the pile.

A flash of red and blue pierced through the dull purple and grey. And I saw Optimus emerge victoriously from the pile, dumping the shredded corpse of the undead mech that had been unfortunate enough to be in his way.

A bright flash of blue and the weight on my back suddenly lessened. There was a loud crash and two dead mechs were sent flying. A large, black servo was held out to me and I looked up into my friend and leader's face.

"Thank you," I sighed.

"After all these years, Optimus," Megatron sneered, "Still at the top of your game!"

His reply was cut off as an audio-rupturing roar cut through the air. The two of us turned to see the Halfling stabbing her sword into a femme's spark, ripping it out, and bellowing a victorious shout.

Optimus's optics narrowed as he began to move towards the berserker Cybreian. I held him back.

"I wouldn't," I said.

He shrugged me off and continued walking.

"Dusk," he rumbled.

The Halfling looked up. Black optics flashing dangerously.

"Optimus…" I warned.

He kept moving.

I sighed.

The Halfling gave a spitting, metallic, feral hiss as she bent over her "kill". Optimus kept coming.

"I know you are in there, Dusk," he said, softly, "Come back, Sweetspark,"

The black optics gazed warily at him.

He put a servo on her shoulder, she growled at him, but he didn't move.

"Dusk…" he said, firmly, "Snap out of it. Now."

The black optics suddenly faded to the sapphire blue we all knew and loved.

Yes, I did say that, and no one tells Dusk.

Dusk held a servo to her helm and she swayed a bit.

"Whoa…um…what just happened?" she asked, "How'd I get all the way over here? And…why am I drenched in the purple goo?"

"You don't remember?" I asked, warily watching her…and the undead which still came on.

"No?"

"We'll talk later," Optimus said, softly, "Right now…"

He glared up at the cliff.

"My legion," Megatron said, "FINISH THEM!"

"Back to plan 'B'," I sighed as the three of us kept hacking.

Ben POV

The next thing I know, we were in a different room on the ship. 'Bee and the others had taken care of the 'Cons in the room, so we were apparently safe for the moment.

"Wait here," 'Cee told us, "Jolt, stay with them."

He gave a semi-silent sigh and nodded.

"Why are we leaving them here?" 'Bee asked.

"They're slowing us down and they're easy targets," 'Cee explained, "They'll be alright in here, as long as they stay put."

"Like that's gonna happen," Amber muttered.

"Not on my watch," I warned, "I'll set her on you."

"Puh-lease," Amber snorted, "Sky won't hurt me."

"Wasn't talking about Skyfyre," I said.

"Dusk won't hurt me either!" Amber snapped.

"Enough you two," Mom said.

"Yes Mom," I said, sheepishly.

No matter how old ya get…the lady still has it with the whole "I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it!" thing down.

The other 'Bots nodded sadly, readied their weapons, and ran out. Leaving Jolt here to watch over us.

"Sooo…why is Sparky here with us?" Miko asked.

"My designation is not 'Sparky'," Jolt growled, "It's Jolt,"

"Whatever," Miko said, "Why is Jolt here and not with the other 'Bots?"

"He's not a fighter…" I said.

"Was too," Jolt muttered.

"You know you can't use your weapons," I pointed out, "Hatchet will have your helm!"

"Don't remind me," he murmured, rubbing his helm where so many wrenches had made their mark from long ago.

"Basically," Amber said, "He fights, he offlines,"

"Nice, Am," I said, as my guardian winced, "Real nice."

She shrugged.

"You got to admit," Miko said, smiling, "That…was intense!"

"Heck yeah!" Amber said, high-fiving the teen, "We've got to do that again! That was awesome!"

"Was?!" Raf squeaked.

"It's your fault that we're stuck in this intensity!" Jack snapped, jabbing a finger at Miko, "What were you thinking Miko?!"

"She wasn't?" Amber said innocently.

"Neither were you!" I countered.

She paused for a moment.

"…touché, Benny, touché."

"Don't call me Benny!"

"Did I ask you to follow me and Amber?" Miko retorted.

"You wanted us to be a band. Doesn't that usually mean playing together?" Jack growled.

"Well, maybe I decided to go solo!"

"Well, maybe I have some regard for your safety. Unlike someone else over here." Jack looked at Amber, darkly.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is your name 'Optimus'?" Miko said, sarcastically, "You can leave my protection to Bulkhead, thank you very much..."

Raf gave a loud, sharp yell.

I never thought that quiet boy could make a noise that loud.

"STOP IT!" he shouted, "ALL OF YOU!"

He ran off a little ways before finally sitting down, holding his knees close. I came over to my youngest student, and put my arm around him.

My other two students came closer as well, both flanking me and Raf.

"H-Hey, Raf," Jack said softly as he put his hand around the smaller boy's shoulder, "It…It's ok,"

"Yeah," Miko said, smiling again, "We're gonna be fine,"

"Our 'Bots will come back for us," Jack murmured softly, trying to calm the twelve year-old down.

"Yeah, they're gonna take us home." Miko said as I rubbed Raf's shoulder softly in comfort.

That's when I noticed it.

There were similarities between the three of us (me, Amber, and Dusk) and the three kids. Amber was a Miko, plain and simple. Raf, I saw myself when I was his age. And Jack…I guess it's kinda obvious.

Jack was a Dusk.

"How do you know?" Raf muttered unconvinced.

"Ok, bud," I said, "I'm not at school, so I can be a bit more casual with you all. You see Jolt?"

The little boy nodded.

"You know the reason why he can't use his weapons?" I asked.

"You said he'd die if he did…"

"That's exactly right," I said, "You know how he got that way?"

Raf shook his head. I smiled and looked up at my guardian's face.

"Because Jolt took on a 'Con named Barricade to protect me," I said, "'Bout five years ago, there was a big battle in Chicago, you probably wouldn't remember…but Jack and Miko would."

"That was you guys?" Miko asked.

I nodded.

"I got separated from my group of soldiers and ran smack into a 'Con. I was just about to be squished when…out of the smoke charged a crazy, glitching, electric blue Autobot ."

Jolt gave a small chuckle.

"Jolt managed to kill the 'Con…but at a cost," I finished, "He could never go into a battle ever again, otherwise…he'd die. So in all, Jolt here gave up one of his most precious attributes…just to save me,"

I got up and patted my guardian on the leg.

"He's always there for me and my mom," I said.

"And I somehow managed to keep you in line," he snickered, lightly flicking the back of my head.

"Aw, shuddup you big bucket of bolts!" I said, half-heartedly.

The kids laughed, when suddenly Jack froze.

"Hey, Raf," Jack said, as he pointed at the computer, "What do you make of that?"

The small boy stood up and came closer to the giant computer.

"It's important," he said, "Real important."

Bumblebee POV

I still felt bad for leaving Raf and the others in the room. But…we still had a long way to go before we got to Fowler, and I didn't want my new charge to get himself hurt…

Like my old one…

No, no. I would not go back to thinking about him. Not now.

"Bulk! 'Bee!" Arcee said, "I've got an idea!"

"Well, what is it!?" I asked as I took down the last Vehicon.

"See that vent?" she asked.

"Yeah?" Bulk said, slightly confused.

"I bet that's another way in…so if Starscream has the front door blocked…"

"You could get to Fowler while we hold the 'Cons off!" I finished, "'Cee, you're brilliant,"

She smiled before she turned and headed through the vent. I picked up the shell of the Vehicon I had just downed and set him upright.

"What are you doing," Bulkhead said, raising an optic ridge at me.

"Just trust me!" I said, "Heeelp! Primus, he's heavy! What do they feed these guys!?"

Bulk held the Vehicon upright and I ducked behind the door frame right as he banged on the door.

The door opened.

"Well!?" I heard Starscream demand.

Bulkhead let the dead 'Con fall. He then aimed his blaster and took a shot at another Vehicon. I dived through the doorway, bringing up my blasters right as I stood upright.

Screamer pointed his blaster at a chained and unconscious Fowler.

"Not so fast!" Screamer snapped.

A slender shape lowered from the ceiling and tapped Screamer on the helm.

Tap, tap.

"I wouldn't," Arcee growled.

"Oh, but I might," Screamer smirked.

Well, as 'Sides would have said…

A little Mexican standoff we got here.

Amber POV

"We've got to get this to Optimus," Raf said.

"And how do you know that this isn't a recipe for Space Nachos?" I asked.

"Amber!" Ben snapped.

"Whaaat?" I asked, shrugging, "Wait! Jolt! You know what it says?"

He looked at the screen, then down at his pedes, embarrassed.

"You…can't read…can you?" I asked.

He turned his helm away.

"Most warriors can't," he said, softly, "I've been learning…but this I can't read."

"It was the same way with Earth's Dark Age warriors," Ben said, "Most of them couldn't read…it was a right held by the nobles."

"Amber," Raf said, "I know math when I see it…and that is one serious equation!"

"That's my student," Ben said, smugly.

"Can you...download it?" Jack asked.

"I've got a flash drive," Raf announced as he dug into his backpack and pulled out a flash drive, "But…I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way alien."

I facepalmed.

"No dip, Sherlock," I thought.

Suddenly, the boy froze and slowly turned to the left. I followed suit, only to be snatched up by a warm, metal servo.

Jolt looked in the same direction.

It was a Vehicon.

"Get back," Jolt hissed softly, nudging us all to a corner before coming over himself.

His optics roved over us, counting, when he froze, a flicker of neon white entering the normal electric blue.

"Where's Raf," he growled softly.

I turned to the outside and saw little Raf sprinting to get to his backpack. The Vehicon spotted him as well, and readied his weapon.

Raf looked up at the sudden sound, and gave a startled yell.

I sprinted out to him.

"Hang on Raf!" I thought, "I'm a comin'!"

Bumblebee POV

We all stood there frozen. One false move…and we'd all be worse off. Screamer didn't move his blaster from Fowler, nor did we move ours from him.

"Now," Screamer said, "Agent Fowler and I will take our leave,"

Fowler stirred, blearily opened his eyes. There was a somewhat goofy smile on his face. Dear Primus, what did Screamer do to him!?

"The emu said...yeah!" Fowler babbled.

We all stared at him for just a second. Did he just…?

Screamer's face was priceless! He lowered his blaster slightly…

Now's my chance!

I took a shot at Screamer, who screamed like a femmeling and jumped out of the way. 'Cee shot at him from above while Bulk and I kept him on his toes. He looked like he was doing some sort of weird dance…

Maybe we should call it the Starscream Shuffle?

Screamer apparently got tired of his dancing, he transformed and flew out of the room, nearly running us all over in the process.

"Let's get Fowler outta here," I said.

Amber POV

Raf stumbled away from the Vehicon, and I came on, pushing the boy out of the way.

"Hey!" I shouted, touching my bracelets and unsheathing my blades.

My blades were made by Ratchet, Jolt and Dusk. They look similar to Sunny's, as they are the same shape as his and they were similar in how they were positioned. The blades retracted into the bracelets, don't ask me how that works...it was Dusk's doing. According to Ratchet, Cybreians are masters at mass displacement.

Ben had his own miniaturized weapons too…and they looked like somebot's whips.

I stopped, protectively in front of Raf, blades raised.

"Miko, take a picture!" I yelled.

"Great idea!" she cheered, whipping out her cell phone, "Hey you!"

The Vehicon froze, looking at Miko. She snapped his picture.

"Not of that!" I yelled, pointing at the Vehicon, "OF THAT!"

I pointed at the computer with my blade.

"Ooooohhhh," she said, snapping the picture.

The Vehicon aimed at Miko…and Jolt had enough. He gave a shout and tackled the Vehicon, punching it mercilessly.

Ben sprinted towards the door pounding on the controls.

"C'mon, c'mon fraggin' door! OPEN!" he shouted.

"LANGUAGE!" I shouted.

He stuck his tongue out at me.

"They're older than us," Miko said, "But they act just like kids,"

Jolt looked up and saw Ben's predicament. He got up to his pedes and charged the door. Ben leaped out of the way right as Jolt rammed into the door, forcing it open.

All of us ran out.

"GO! GO! GO!" Jack yelled, herding the younger kids out.

I looked behind us, just to see the Vehicon stomp out of the room.

"Your guardian needs to work on his takedown," I said.

"He did his best!" Ben retorted.

I heard a horn in front of us.

Bulkhead!

The big guy rammed into the Vehicon and began finishing what Jolt started.

'Bee and 'Cee came into view, stopping so that the kids could get on.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" Arcee snapped.

"Oh, sorry," I said, "There just happened to be a Vehicon in the room! What were we supposed to do? Stand there and let it squish us!?"

"Amber…" Ben said, pulling me toward Jolt's alt.

"This isn't over, 'Cee!" I shouted as Ben dragged me into Jolt's alt.

"Easy, Amber," Jolt said, "Let's just get home. We've got Fowler, apparently, now…we just need to figure out a way to get off this flying bucket of bolts,"

Dusk POV

I don't know what happened back there, Dad said that I pulled a stunt like I did at Chicago. I don't really remember that very well…

All I know, was that I was drenched in dark energon and I was feeling really, really sick.

Fortunately, we just got through the last wave of the undead.

"Bravo, Optimus, Dusk," Megatron applauded for our achievement, "Though this is but a prelude. You may wish to save your strength for the main event,"

Dad and I growled at him, resheathed our blades, and began to climb the cliff.

"You will not prevail, Megatron. Not while Energon still flows through my veins," Dad growled.

We reached the top, and Megatron grabbed my wrists, his talons digging into the delicate circuitry within them. I cried out in pain as Energa welled out of the wound.

"Fitting," Megatron purred, "for it is Dark Energon which flows through mine! Perhaps I should take this one with me though…once I am through with you…"

Dad snarled and lashed out at the warlord. I thrashed, trying to dislodge myself from Megatron's grip.

As soon as Dad took his swipe, Megatron released me, transformed to his jet alt, and flew off.

Dad pulled himself up to the top of the cliff, dragging me up with him. I held my wrist, wincing as the pain came in.

Ratchet hauled himself up as well.

"If this wasn't Megatron's endgame... What is?" he asked.

"I don't know Ratch," I said, looking up at the sky, "I don't know."

…

"OW!" I yelped, "DAAADDD!"

"If you would sit still, it would not hurt as much," he said gently as he welded the wound on my shoulder.

I growled darkly as the kids chatted on.

"What happened to you guys anyway?" Miko asked.

"We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors," Ratchet answered.

"Zombies?!" Miko demanded.

"YOU FOUGHT ZOMBIES, AND I MISSED IT?" Amber screeched.

"It's not as fun as it seems," I growled, "And speaking of zombies…"

I turned to Ben.

"I was right…the only way to kill them is to chop them into itty-bitty little pieces!" I smirked.

He glared at me.

"Haha," he muttered.

"Bulkhead..." Dad called out, "You exercised extremely poor judgement in allowing the humans to accompany you,"

The big guy hung his helm.

"It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise," Bulkhead said sadly.

"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault!" Miko stepped in to defend him.

"Miko, please!" Bulkhead pleaded.

She ignored him.

"And check it out. Recon!" she said, flashing the picture she took.

Dad leaned down to get a closer look at the picture, "Ratchet, Dusk, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron,"

Ratchet and I both looked at the phone.

"I... don't understand," Ratchet said.

"It's…a Vehicon," I respond.

Miko lowered down her phone to get a look of it herself.

"Oops!" she apologized, "That's the 'Con who tried to blow Raf and Amber away. At least, that's what he looked like before Bulkhead and Jolt rearranged his grill."

"Miko, Raf and Amber were almost killed. This isn't a game! When are you gonna get that through your thick skull!?" Jack snapped.

"He's right," I thought.

"Um... we were all almost killed, Jack. You, me, Raf, Amber, Ben, Dr. Williams...even them!" Miko yelled back.

"Well, if this was just an average day with the Autobots... then I don't want to be a part of it. Not anymore," Jack huffed.

I sighed and then bent down to face him.

"Jack," I said softly, "putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However... It is no longer the safety of you three that is at risk... but the safety of all human kind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."

The Groundbridge was opened rather quickly after I finished my talk.

"No point in long goodbyes. Here's the door," Ratchet said, almost eagerly.

Jack looked down at Raf, expectantly.

"C'mon, Raf,"

The little boy looked at 'Bee. My brother bent his helm, his doorwings drooped. I put my servo on his shoulder reassuringly.

"I'll be ok, Jack," Raf said, "See you at school."

'Bee's doorwings perked up again, a bright light gleaming in his optics.

"Sure thing," Jack sighed before walking down the stairs and heading towards the Groundbridge.

He stopped when Arcee came up to him.

"I know, you don't exist," he said, sadly.

"Don't make me hunt you down." Arcee said halfheartedly.

Jack continued to walk through the GroundBridge without looking back. Ratchet closed the bridge once he was sure that Jack made it through.

I looked down at the floor, Ben came up and laid a hand on my leg.

"He'll be fine," he whispered.

"I sure hope so."

"Bulkhead," Miko said, "Let's roll!"

"Where are you going," I demanded.

"Home," she said, "But first…I got someplace I gotta stop first…"

Jack POV

I tweaked some of the gears in my bike and suddenly stopped.

There was the sound of a motor behind me. I turned around and faced Miko and Bulkhead.

"Now I understand why you have to rush home," She said sarcastically as she walked inside the garage.

"Don't you have something more exciting to do, Miko?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"So, this is where you hang, huh?" Miko asked, ignoring my question, typical, "Back home in Tokyo, I have loving parents, and two pure-bred cats, Chi Chi and Ding Dong. I went to the best school, took piano lessons since I was three..."

"How nice for you," I sighed, uninterested.

"Noooooo, how boring," she corrected.

I looked up from my tinkering to look at her.

"It wasn't me. Why do you think I jumped at the chance of transfer here?" she asked.

"To Jasper, Nevada. The entertainment capital of the world?" I scoffed in disbelief.

She snorted, "Yeah, well, the brochure lied. Piano lessons were starting to look pretty good in fact. But then…the last couple of days happened!"

"Do you have a point?" I asked impatiently.

"You bet!" she chirped, "I saw what you did today, when you and Amber saved Raf, when you came to save me!"

I looked away.

"I've been raised to be responsible," I said, "to my schoolwork, to my mom, to my job."

"Dude, hear me out," Miko sighed, "You're no fry-cook, you're a rockstar! Stop trying to pretend you're normal, Jack. You'll never fit in. You were born to do so much more..."

"Thanks, Miko, but I think normal suits me fine," I sighed.

She gave an exasperated shout before driving off with Bulkhead.

Fine then. Let them fight without me, it's not my war.

Another engine pulled into my driveway. I looked up once more to see a golden Corvette.

Skyfyre Prime.

"What was this about respecting my intention to leave?" I asked her.

"Relax, it wasn't her idea," a shadowy figure said.

Dusk stepped out of the driver's seat, her icy, Autobot blue eyes glinting in the light.

"It was mine," she said.

"Who knows you're here?" I asked.

"Well…not Dad, not Hatchet…" she admitted, coming closer, "Um, I actually had to follow Miko here."

"So you saw the whole exchange," I said, "'Cause you're going to get the same answer that I gave her."

She raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm not going to force you," she said, "You know, I respect your decision. Tell you the truth, I wish I was in your situation,"

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"I wish I had the choice to choose," she sighed, "I was forced into this when the 'Cons came and attacked my school, looking for Sky here."

I looked at the younger Prime, the car didn't move but I could feel the tension in the Autobot's persona.

"No one was hurt, thank God," Dusk said, "But it got me stuck with these guys for life, since the 'Cons see me and immediately associate me with Sky."

"So that's why you don't come out of the base…and neither does Skyfyre."

"We share a type of connection," she admitted, showing me her wounded shoulder.

It was in the exact place as Skyfyre's wound.

"If she gets hurt, I do as well, and vice versa," Dusk said, "Don't ask me how it works…it just does. So the two of us are bonded at the hip."

"And Skyfyre's zombie attack…?" I asked.

"I was in the Base, but it felt like I was really there," Dusk said, "Jack, I will be the first to admit that I was afraid. Whatever I do…I do out of the love I have for my friends and family."

"Still…and I know this will probably sound cheesy but I do admire your courage," I said as I finished up on my bike.

"Courage isn't the absence of fear," she said, heading back to Skyfyre's alt, "Rather, it is what one chooses to do in the face of it."

She sounded like Optimus. It was kinda scary, but at the same time…not scary at all.

"Are you really not going to hanging out at base anymore?" she asked me.

And there goes that "Prime" moment.

"I-I need to think about it," I said.

She nodded sadly.

"Well, good-night, Jack," she said, "See ya around."

Dusk POV

I sighed as I got back to base, transforming back to human form. I hope Jack makes the right decision. Aw, what the heck, he'll make the right decision. Even if it isn't the one we would have chosen.

"OPTIMUS!" Ratchet suddenly yelled.

I flew up to Ratchet's shoulder.

"What's up Doc?" I asked.

He glared at me right as Dad came in.

"These are engineering specs of a space-time vortex generator," Ratchet continued.

"And that means…" I asked.

"Megatron is building a Spacebridge. If he hasn't already," Dad replied, sadly.

"The sooner he leaves the better!" Bulkhead said.

"Bulkhead... a Spacebridge runs in two directions," Dad corrected, "Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth, but to bring through his conquering army,"

"The main event Megatron referred to," I said, the horror of the idea dawning on me, "But…but the only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors..."

"Precisely," Dad nodded, "Cybertron,"

Spanish translations:

mi lucero: My little Star

Dios mio: My God

Me vuelves loca: You drive me crazy

Una motocicleta: A motorcycle

mijo: My son (Varies)

A/N Took some Ideas from my cousins (zombie video games, Amber and Ben's weapons) Speaking of that...Amber's bracelets look more like bracers, and the blades pop out of those (think 'Sides' blades or even Megs' blade in Prime). Ben's whips look similar to Jolt's or to Ivan Vanco's in Iron Man 2. Oh, and Dusk's eyes change to Electric blue when she uses her holoform.

Title from Skillet's: Awake and Alive

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.