They say never judge a book by it's cover. Well, you'd be more than dead if you tried to judge me by my appearance. I maybe small, but I pack a mean punch if you mess with me and my team... Oh, I'm sorry. That was rude... hey there! I'm Windswept! And boy, have I got a story to tell you. Well, what are you waiting for?! Get over here and get ready for my adventures on Team Prime!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2018, huh? And almost two full weeks in?! It's insane how time is just flying by us at rapid rates. But enough about that. Let's get to the most important bits.

I just want to say a few quick thank yous to jackn37, Traceytron 54321, and Sakura9544 who all have clicked the follow button and are now following this story. I also especially wanna thank Sakura for also favouriting this story and for sticking by me through all my TFP stories. They were one of my first followers on my first ever story on here so thank you so much for your continued support. And also, thank you Traceytron 54321 for the review, even though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Sorry hun if you think Ratchet is red and white, I'm just writing him as I see him. And to me, he's orange and white. But hey, we all have our opinions.

I would've updated a lot sooner. Possibly even on Christmas. But sometimes, you forget to realise just how busy that period around Christmas and New Year are. That, and of course, I was kind of being lazy because I got good haul of loot for Christmas. But enough about me. I've got a chapter to post.

- Transformers Prime does not belong to me. All rights go to the people and brands who were able to create this show.
- Windswept, Carly Esquivel and Rebecca Rose belong to me.

(After the recap, it's Windswept P.O.V)

* Show the rock formations where the Autobot base is hidden. *

Previously on Transformers Prime…

* Show Jack, Carly, Miko and Raf starring up at Optimus Prime. *

Optimus Prime: "It is best you three remain under our watch."

* Show Megatron walking up to the holding compartment containing Dark Energon. *

Megatron: "Gaze upon Dark Energon."

* Show Megatron, Starscream, Slipstream and Rebecca crowd around a stretcher carrying the deceased Cliffjumper *

Starscream: "Legend tells that it holds the power to revive the dead."

* Show Megatron stabbing Cliffjumper with a sliver of Dark Energon. *

* Show the computer screen at Autobot base flash Cliffjumper's life signal. *

Ratchet: "Cliffjumper's life signal popped back online!"

* Show Cliffjumper releasing a feral growl before charging. *

* Show Team Prime fighting the Decepticon miners in the mine. *

Optimus:"Let's find Cliffjumper!"

* Show Arcee and Windswept rushing to the top half of Cliffjumper one on of the platforms while Decepticon blaster fire rains upon them. *

Arcee: "CLIFF!"

* Show Arcee and Windswept racing to grab Cliffjumper, but being too late as he falls into the mine willingly. *

* Show a purple substance on Arcee's hand at Autobot base. *

Ratchet: "What is this?"

* Show Ratchet accidentally spilling some of the substance onto a broken tool. *

Arcee: "Don't know. Cliff was covered in it."

* Show the purple substance reanimate the tool and bringing to life. *

* Show Megatron pulling a shard of Dark Energon from its main source. *

Slipstream: "Wait! Lord Megatron!

Starscream: "You don't know what it will do!"

* Show Megatron stabbing himself with Dark Energon and letting it take its course upon his frame, his once red and piercing eyes now turning a bright purple. *

"So you're telling me that you led your own team on your home planet?"

"Yep. Although, I'll admit, it wasn't the biggest team on the planet, but we were one none the less. We were pretty close. It was shame when Cybertron's core was dying and some of us were shipped off on escape pods separately," I explained to my new friend.

Driving down the highway towards base was boring so I decided to talk to Carly about life on Cybertron. She was very interested in what I had to say about my life and the more I continued talking about it, the more questions she asked.

"Were you one of the first?"

"Yeah. I wanted to make sure it worked so I volunteered myself as one of the first to go. Obviously, it worked."

"So where in the solar system would your friends be now?" Carly asked once more.

I hesitated a little. I didn't really like talking about this, "I'm not sure. I don't even know if they managed to get off Cybertron in time. Some were left behind to make sure most of waves of Autobot ships got off the planet. They were left behind to scout for any remains of anything important. Or to get rid of the planet's vermin. If anyone were still there then, they might be long gone now. Energon rations were almost depleted by the end of the War for Cybertron. They would've starved."

"Either that or they were killed by vermin." I checked my rear-view mirrors and found Arcee with Jack on board driving alongside us.

"You're up early," Jack spoke to Carly, "Never pegged you as a morning person."

"Never was until SOMEONE woke me up," She growled.

"You were already up anyway. We were out the door by ten to."

"Yeah well, I couldn't sleep. Kept thinking about what all of this means," Carly shrugged, looking at Jack, "You know the Esquivel family doesn't lie to one another."

Jack looked a little surprised by the way Carly speaking to him, "Yeah I know. But at least Raf knows, right?"

"It makes it that little bit easier. But not only am I lying to my own family, I'm going to be lying to my best friend," Carly said in an upset tone, "I tell Amy everything no matter what."

"You know, this secret is one you have to keep, right?" I told her. Amy was the one with the hair bun and blue streak, right?

"Amy and I have been best friends since we met in preschool. She knows that I can't keep secrets. She's gonna figure it out that I'm keeping something from her, and who knows what's gonna happen next."

"That's why Jack here is going to stop you from accidentally spilling any secrets," Arcee decided.

"Wait, what?" Jack asked in a panic, "Since when?"

"Since now."

We drove around for a little bit in silence until I decided to talk to Arcee through the private link.

"You keen on a little race?"

"Maybe, where to?"

"Just to the next mile marker."

"When you're ready."

We paused at a stop sign and moved our rear-view mirrors around, looking at the confused glances the teenagers gave each other.

"You two better tighten your grip," I warned.

With that, Arcee and I took off, leaving Carly and Jack to yell in surprise. We traveled down the road until we hit the mile marker we were aiming for. We both had crossed it at the same time so we shrugged it off as a tie. So Arcee and I decided to hang loose and pull some wheelies.

"Hey? What's with you guys?" Jack asked. I could hear the grin in his voice.

"We thought you two might actually enjoy the ride without getting shot at," I smirked in answer.

"Let's race again!" Carly grinned before narrowing her eyes at Jack, "This time, someone's gotta lose!"

"Bring it!" Jack challenged.

"Let's go then!"

NO ONE'S P.O.V

Resting at the top of a rocky hill was Bulkhead's green off-road vehicle form. Inside the vehicle was none other than his recently acquired charge Miko, who looked eager for some entertainment. And by the way the vehicle was waiting at the edge of the downhill terrain, it was not hard to figure out what Miko wanted to do.

The Japanese exchange student was ready to go, beginning the countdown, "Ready...Set..."

"Miko, I'm supposed to be protecting you," Bulkhead interrupted her hesitantly.

"Bulkhead, I'm strapped tight inside ten pounds of muscle," The girl assured him, patting the inside of the door and leaning back into the seat comfortably, "I'm protected."

Convinced and reassured by the teenager, Bulkhead started his engines and began racing down the rocky hill, relishing in the excited yells and cheers of his new found friend in Miko.

Parked up in the desert away from population was Bumblebee and his new friend Rafael. Inside of the scout's vehicle was a little monitor where there were two Formula 1 cars, one red and yellow, racing side by side.

Using his controller, Raf pressed multiple buttons in an attempt to beat Bumblebee, who was using his own steering wheel to race with.

The race was tight and fierce; it looked like either one of the two could win the race. But before any of them crossed the finish line, the red Formula 1 car slightly moved over on the race track, gently tapping the yellow car. The latter car spun out as a result of the contact, spelling the end of the road for one of the drivers as the words 'GAME OVER' flashed in white over the monitor.

Raf groaned in disappointment while Bumblebee spun his steering wheel around in happiness, cheering in his whirrs and beeps. It was obvious who had won this race… despite taking his competitor out while doing so.

"No fair, Bumblebee!" Raf pouted with a laugh, "You've been driving a lot longer than I have!"

As the sun rose up on the new, and hopefully a better day, inside the Autobot base had a similar feeling. The Autobot medic Ratchet wandered around his study with his purple substance slide a bit more happier, "Thank goodness for peace and quiet. House guests can be such a bother."

The sound of something metal hitting something interrupted the him, looking immediately at the noise. He looked around the room he was currently in, down the corridor leading to another area of the base and down the Groundbridge tunnel. Hesitantly, his optics shifted back to his work, thinking he must have imagined the noise.

The sound of a scattering metal object made him look up again.

Maybe he wasn't imagining it after all.

He stepped away from his work, looking over at the Groundbridge tunnel again.

"Optimus?" Ratchet called, knowing his leader was the only other Autobot currently in the base.

The noise started to come closer. Spinning around, he found the once destroyed tool that Bulkhead had broken the previous day, moving around at a rapid pace towards him.

"By the All Spark!" Ratchet yelled as the tool leaped up to his height to attack the him...

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

Carly and I raced and raced and raced Jack and Arcee until all four of us were out of energy. Eventually we settled on 3-3, a tie but meaning we still won three rounds. I'll take that any day. Carly asked me if we could go to base to relax. I agreed with her and we left Arcee and Jack to carry on doing whatever they wanted to do.

As we drove into the entry of the Autobot base, a lot of noise was coming from the main room of the base. I wasn't the only one hearing it.

"What's going on?" Carly asked curiously.

"No idea," I answered as I slowed down slightly, becoming more cautious as we entered the main area.

What we came across was a scary sight.

Ratchet had a metal pipe in his hand… and was fighting the tool that Bulkhead had broken yesterday which somehow had come to life.

"I NEEDED THAT!" Ratchet cried when the tool broke a piece of machinery that he was working with… that he also needed.

Carly screamed, leaping off my vehicle form and throwing her helmet off to get a better look at the creature. I transformed and blocked her view in case the tool managed to get a look at my new friend and decided to race after her.

Ratchet lost his grip on the pipe when the tool began charging and making an attempt to attack him. I activated my blasters in a panic, shooting wildly at the tool. But because I was frightened of the tool, and for the safety of Carly, the fear clouded my view, thus only gaining the animated tools attention and not actually getting a chance to destroy it.

It charged at me and Carly instead. Deactivating my blasters, I shielded myself and Carly as the creature leaped up to attack us.

The sound of a blaster shot hitting the creature made Carly and I look up. Optimus was standing in front of the Groundbridge with his blaster activated. Ratchet sighed in relief as we spotted the creature on the ground, electricity cackling around it. It took a moment to rest on the ground before suddenly jumping back onto its' feet, ready to strike again. Carly gripped the armour on the back of my leg as the creature got an eyeful of her and decided on its next course.

...But before it could go anywhere, Optimus stomped on the creature, destroying the little piece of scrap for good.

Now it was mine and Carly's turn to sigh in relief.

"And stay broken!" Ratchet told the piece of machinery once we were all in the clear.

"What the heck happened here?" Carly asked, stepping out from behind me and going to observe the broken creature.

Optimus removed his mouth guard, looking down at the teenager, "I have a grave suspicion, Carly. Dark Energon."

And the plot thickens...

NORMAL P.O.V

As the Decepticon Warship continued to fly throughout the now white clouds, inside the Warship didn't look so bright.

Megatron looked down at his Decepticon logo across his spark chamber, purring in content now he had Dark Energon flowed through his veins.

"L-Lord Megatron?" Slipstream whispered nervously, walking up a few steps behind her close and personal friend.

Slipstream, Starscream and Rebecca stared at their leader, who had just stabbed himself with Dark Energon. They knew that they couldn't bring back Megatron now, not with that substance flowing through him.

"It's as if the Blood of Unicron the Destroyer flows through my veins. As if I hear his very thoughts. I now know what I must do," Megatron spoke while ripping off another shard.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" Rebecca asked, taking a few steps to be Megatron's optic line, keeping herself as calm as possible.

"You can help me by staying here with Starscream," Megatron told her before looking at Slipstream, "You shall come and help me with my next plan." Slipstream nodded at the simple request and walked away to head outside.

"Are you sure there isn't anything we can assist you with, Master?" Starscream questioned as if he didn't hear Rebecca ask their leader the exact same question.

Megatron bared his denta at the two he left behind, "Quit grovelling and await my command." With that, he walked away to join Slipstream.

Once they were standing in the cool air on the top of the Nemesis, the two Decepticons transformed into their fighter jet forms and flew away to do what Megatron had planned. Starscream and Rebecca could only watch from the monitor as their leader and his more preferred option as Second in Command flew out of the white clouds and into the blue sky.

Rebecca greeted the silent figure behind her with a sigh, "Nice to see you, Soundwave."

Starscream jumped at the sound of Soundwave's name on Rebecca's tongue, having been deep in his thoughts of what to do next to even register his always sudden appearance, "Soundwave, I fear that when our master reached for the stars, he came down with a touch of space madness. Lord Megatron has not been of sound judgment since his return. Increase global surveillance."

Soundwave only played the recording of Megatron's last words before leaving with Slipstream, "Quit grovelling and await my command."

"Awww, must you always spoil the fun?" Rebecca pouted, her shoulders relaxed and posture looking as if Soundwave had actually ruined her 'fun'. Then she stood up properly, "Well, if our enemies are indeed alive, which I believe they most certainly are-" She took a glance at Starscream with a smirk, continuing to make him look like the fool he was before looking back at Soundwave, "It is in our best interest that we ensure their destruction."

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

"If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought Ratchet's broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead," Optimus explained, disposing the remaining pieces of the once alive tool in a container near Ratchet's work space.

Never to be seen again hopefully...

"That would account for his life signal in-explicitly coming back online," Ratchet agreed, "But Dark Energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent! What would it be doing on Earth?"

"Uhhh, transported maybe?" Carly guessed with a shrug, sitting at the edge of the steps at ground level and fiddling with the straps of her helmet.

I gasped in realisation, "By Megatron."

"For what purpose?" Ratchet wanted to know.

"To lead this planet with his sick and selfish ways by raising an army of the undead," I answered coldly.

"Well, Megatron would need to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead?!" Ratchet laughed.

We were interrupted by the rest of the team returning from wherever they came from. Once the humans either got out of or hopped off their guardians, the latter transformed as they all smiled and cheered about the fun they just had.

"That was awesome!" Jack cheered excitedly.

"Can we go again?" Raf asked Bumblebee eagerly.

"Sweet!" Miko squealed ecstatically.

A rumbling noise sounded from Bulkhead. Something wasn't right.

"Bulkhead? You okay there?" I asked.

I think a lot of us were surprised when the larger green mech opened part of his chest plating and brought out a black guitar case. He bent down and gave it to Miko, who was quickly apologising.

"Sorry! Must have left that in the backseat!"

"Autobots, prepare to…" Optimus trailed off when he saw the looks on the humans faces.

"Roll out?" Arcee asked knowingly.

"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me. Arcee, we'll be outside communications range for some time. So I'm putting you in charge," Optimus decided.

"Dude, you're biggest. You should be the boss!" Miko looked up to Bulkhead.

Bulkhead let out a quiet sigh, "He never picks me." I patted his arm, but his only response was looking at me un-reassuringly.

"Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing. Babysitting is another," Arcee began as Carly and Jack sighed behind her before they, Miko and Raf walked away, "Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war!"

"My pistols may be rusty, but my hearing is sharp as ever!" Ratchet piped in as he fiddled with the Groundbridge controls

I rolled my eyes and refrained from making a smart comment to our dear medic.

"For the moment, it's only reconnaissance," Optimus reassured her.

"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" Arcee retorted.

I whispered knowingly, "Oh boy."

"Arcee, much has changed in the last 24 hours. And we all need to adapt. Ratchet, bridge us out," Optimus instructed.

Optimus then turned around, stopping when he spotted me on the way. Then he looked at Carly, "Do you mind if Windswept joins us?"

My eyes widened when I heard Optimus ask that. Carly just beamed at me.

"Of course I don't mind!"

"Oh lovely," Ratchet muttered.

I just smiled sarcastically at our medic, "Oh yay, now we can make up for lost time."

Ratchet didn't answer and opened the Groundbridge instead. I hope Carly doesn't mind that I'm leaving her suddenly. I stopped and looked at Bumblebee, "Keep an eye on Carly, okay?"

"Any day now, 'Swept," Ratchet huffed.

I just rolled my eyes and wandered after the elder Autobots.

NO ONE'S P.O.V

"OK, chief. So what's on the activity's list?" Jack asked his guardian casually once the Groundbridge closed.

"I'm going on patrol," Arcee decided, ignoring her charge.

"But Optimus told us to stay," Bulkhead protested.

"When you're in charge, you can call the shots," Arcee shot back, "Bee, with me."

Bumblebee looked down at his new charge, whirring sadly as he joined Arcee at the exit of the base.

"Bulkhead, you're in charge," Arcee decided, patting him on the wrist. Without looking back, she and Bumblebee transformed and drove away to patrol.

"So, uh…what's on the activity's list?" Bulkhead asked nervously.

Before anyone had time to answer, the sound of Miko plugging her guitar in the amplifier and adjusting its settings rang out into the room, forcing each of the humans, and Bulkhead himself, to cringe and cover their ears at the noise.

"How about band practice?" Miko suggested

"Oh, please no!" Carly instantly declined.

"We're not a band," Raf objected, siding with his sister.

"Why so anti-social? Come on, Raf! Can you play anything?" Miko asked him.

"Um…keyboard," Raf answered with an unsure tone, holding his laptop up.

"Laptops and symbols. Good. Jack?" Miko turned her attention to the boy.

"I sometimes mess around with the harmonica," Jack confessed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"T-That's cool," Carly complimented with a shy smile.

Jack smiled back before Miko began yelling at him, "Do I look like I do country?! Just cover yourself in fake blood and jump around screaming."

"Uhhhhh..."

Then Miko looked up at her friend, "Hey Carly..."

"What?"

"Can you do me a tiny little favour?" Miko asked sweetly.

Carly hummed sarcastically, "Hmmm, let me think about it…NO!"

"Aww please!" Miko pleaded as Carly wandered down the stairs.

"Fine. If it shuts you up," Carly sighed, joining the three.

Miko then picked up her guitar and looked at Bulkhead, "Bulkhead, percussion! We'll go for big industrial sound! D.I.Y, we're a band! You just gotta learn the songs. This one's a ballad: My Fist, Your Face!"

The exchange student began strumming her guitar, an action that no one approved of. Everyone covered their ears to block out the noise she was playing.

"Does she always play like this?!" Jack asked, yelling over the noise.

Carly just shook her head, "You have no idea!"

Fortunately and unfortunately for them, the green alarms sounded.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa!" Bulkhead shouted, stopping Miko from playing.

Miko pouted, "Come on! You can't handle raw power?!"

"Proximity sensor! Quick, hide!" Bulkhead instructed, "Now!"

With nowhere to go, Jack, Carly, Miko and Raf hid behind Bulkhead's giant foot. Carly face-palmed when she saw that her friend had brought her guitar...that was still connected to the amp in view. She went to pull the guitar out of her best friend's grasp, but that was when Agent Fowler appeared.

"PRIME!"

"Agent Fowler! He's…uh, he's not here. Nobody's here! Well… except for me, of course," Bulkhead stuttered.

"Well, where did he go? Wait. Don't tell me. He's out pancaking a mini-mall!" Fowler guessed sarcastically, "Now I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet. But Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons!"

As the Agent continued his babbling, Bulkhead was trying his best to hide his new humans friends while not making a big deal about it. What wasn't helping was the cord Miko's guitar and the amp stetching to its' absolute limit.

"And blowing a crate in the middle of Nebraska is NOT what the world 'handle' means in English! So you tell Prime-!" Fowler trailed off when he saw the cord connected to the amp and found it connecting to something behind Bulkhead. He also spotted the laptop too. And once he started hearing guitar noises, he asked, "Since when are you bots electric?"

Bulkhead's eyes widened as he realised he had been caught. Making it easier for him, the humans wandered out from behind the Autobot, shocking Agent Fowler.

"Hey, how you doing?" Jack greeted nervously.

Fowler was nowhere near impressed, "Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gone off-book this time! Wait. Don't tell me. You're running a day-care center!"

"Uh, we're interns!" Carly insisted.

Raf quickly corrected his sister, "Student interns!"

Jack nodded, "Earning extra credit in auto-shop."

"Robotics!" Miko finished.

"OK. Let's move. I'm taking all four of you to federal custody. For your own protection," Fowler decided as he began approaching the new visitors.

Bulkhead wasn't not going to allow it and put his foot down literally, separating Fowler from the kids, "We're protecting them!"

"Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors at the Pentagon!" Fowler challenged as he picked up the phone and began dialling the necessary number.

"Don't use that phone! It's..." Bulkhead trailed off as he broke the phone Fowler was about to use, "Out of order."

"This isn't over, big foot! Not by a long shot!" Fowler swore as he began walking up the stairs, causing Miko to roll her eyes and mimic the words said by the threatening agent.

In anger and determination, Agent Fowler stomped over to the elevator, pressed a button and allowed the doors to slam shut behind him.

"Man, what a jerk," Carly muttered before walking over to the amplifier connecting to Miko's guitar.

Miko spotted her close friend and sensed what she was about to do, racing after her, "Don't you dare unplug my guitar!"

Bulkhead only let out a sigh. However, he was unsure of whether it was in relief or in worry over what was going to happen to the humans now that the Agent was aware of their knowledge of the Autobots.

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

The fog surrounding us was kind of like the fog that threatened to choke you to death. You know, like those really thick as fogs that could wrap around your neck and just strangle you on the spot? Yeah, kinda like that.

Sometimes I would slow my pace to walk behind Optimus and Ratchet just to make sure that nothing was around my neck before I would jog back up, telling them that I keeping a look out for a noise I heard.

"Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" Ratchet asked his old friend after a long period of silence.

"The sight of the largest Cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy," Optimus answered.

"On Earth? You must be joking!" Ratchet scoffed.

"Optimus isn't joking, Ratch. I remember later in the war when we and the Decepticons started hiding their Energon rations elsewhere," I recalled, looking at Ratchet, "Come on, Doc! You're old enough the remember that, right?"

"Of course I know! It's the reason Energon deposits EXIST on planets such as this one," Ratchet growled at me in answer, "And for your information, I am NOT that old."

"It is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one. And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history," Optimus interrupted the little squabble between Ratchet and I.

An icy cold wave washed over me as we continued our journey. Something told me that things weren't quite right. But I didn't wanna let Optimus and Ratchet know as I didn't want them to worry about me. They do enough of that already.

NO ONE'S P.O.V

Agent Fowler was angry…angry at the Autobots for endangering four harmless humans. He knew something had to be done about it, which was why he was starting up his helicopter. Once it was good to go, he piloted the helicopter away from the Autobot base.

"Sir, Agent Fowler. We have a situation. I'm en route from the Autobot base. I'll brief you in person," Fowler spoke into his radio, continuing his journey to meet with his boss.

Little did he know that someone was recording everything that he said...

"Agent Fowler. I'm en route from the Autobot base. I'll brief you in person."

"Autobot base, huh?" Rebecca smirked, looking at the silent Decepticon with a proud look.

"Humans, always the weak link. Fetch us this Fowler so that he may brief us instead," Starscream instructed.

Soundwave didn't argue or say anything. The silent mech only detached his mini-con friend Laserbeak from his chest, who began to fly away in search of the Agent.

Agent Fowler continued his journey, sitting comfortably, and most definitely, safely in his helicopter. It would be a long time before he would brief his superiors about the recent developments at the Autobot base. After all, this is Jasper, Nevada. Jasper's a little too small to house some serious boss and superiors like the ones he was currently working with.

Suddenly, his alarms started going off on the small monitor beside him, flashing urgently to get the dark-skinned man's attention. He looked down at it quickly.

Something was coming.

"Hey big bird, I'm flying here!" Fowler grumbled. Before the Agent could do anything, the flying mini-Decepticon known as Laserbeak came into his view, approaching him at rapid speeds. "What in Uncle Sam's beard?!" Seeing that the little min-con not getting out of his way, the Agent took evasive action, barely avoiding Laserbeak. "First the freeway's not safe! Now air travel?"

The Agent continued flying in an attempt to out fly the Decepticon, but with the little piece of scrap right on the Agent's tail, it was going to be very difficult to do that. And it didn't help that Decepticons have been flying longer than before the Agent even existed. So, of course, he needed some sort of miracle to get away from this Decepticon.

But Agent Fowler was not one to give up without a brutal fight.

However, when he realised he was coming across a dead end of the canyon he was flying in, he knew that now was the time to start bringing all that flight training that was required of him in order to become an Agent into play. He pulled up just in time to avoid the collision, hoping that the Decepticon would realise too late.

But this little Decepticon wasn't as dumb as the Agent thought, also taking up the same path as the human and continuing to stay right on his tail.

Seeing the little Decepticon behind him with a smirk, Agent Fowler suddenly pulled back and underneath the little mini-con, allowing him to now fly behind the it.

"You wanna dance, 'Con? I'll lead!" Fowler smirked.

Pressing a button, the Agent started firing shots at Laserbeak in an attempt to slow down or even damage the mini-con. But, of course, this a Decepticon that he's fighting. All those little bullets that Fowler's firing wouldn't do a single thing except bounce off the mini-cons armour.

As the duo continued flying, Agent Fowler continued shooting at the little Decepticon until he ran out of bullets. Taking advantage of the situation, Laserbeak performed a similar move the human pulled on him only a minute ago. But instead of landing back behind him, the mini-con took a shortcut and sawed the tail of Fowler's helicopter off.

Without the support to keep his helicopter flying, the Agent lost control of the aerial vehicle, beginning his descent to the ground and oncoming collision.

"Never an Autobot around when you actually need one!" Fowler remarked as he attempted to regain control of the helicopter to no avail, gritting his teeth together and trying to ignore the continuous beeping from the monitor.

Now knowing that his attempts were not going to do much good, he began reaching out to the big red button near the controls.

Most of the time, a big red button would normally would be a bad thing to touch. But in this case, pressing that button would send out a distress signal to the Autobots, who would know immediately that something was wrong with Agent Fowler. So, it would probably be good thing to touch the big red button.

Before the Agent could press it, something landed onto the helicopter. Looking out the windscreen, a claw that could only be connected to Laserbeak appeared into view, charging through the glass that was keeping the claw and Agent Fowler apart.

He tried as hard as he could to not let the claws grab a hold of him and kept his focus on trying to press the red flashing button. But he was fighting a losing battle and eventually, Laserbeak's claws gained a hold on both the Agent's arms and began pulling the man out from the falling helicopter, but not before he was able to finally press that big red button.

Agent Fowler began fighting the claws at first, seeing if there was anyway that he could escape. But when the helicopter below exploded in a splash of dark gray smoke and orange flames, he knew he couldn't fight anymore. Instead, he allowed the mini-con to fly him to the Decepticon Warship.

If he didn't think he was in trouble before, he knew well enough now he was in more than just trouble.

"So, anyone wanna play a game?" Carly asked, earning weird looks from the group at base, "What?"

"A game? What are we? Five?" Miko asked bizarrely.

"Well we may as well do something!" Carly argued. Taking a breath, she spoke with a softer tone, "Can't stop thinking about Fowler and what's gonna happen to us when he reaches where ever he's going."

"You think we're gonna be in so much trouble?" Raf asked.

"Shouldn't be too bad right?" Jack asked, "We barely know these guys. And the sooner we get outta here, the better right?"

"You still wanna leave?!" Miko screeched.

Jack didn't have a chance to answer as the alarm sounded off in the base once again.

"My ears!" Raf yelled in pain, covering his ears.

"It's an SOS. From Fowler," Bulkhead read before staring at the control panel, "Uh…" He began to push some commands on the control pad, unsure of what he was doing. Not like he was going to tell his new human friends that. He eventually pressed a button that stopped the alarms from flashing.

"Did you trace it?" Raf asked worriedly.

"Location scan was incomplete," Bulkhead announced, "Oh well."

"Oh well? Seriously?" Jack scoffed in disbelief.

"Like Carly said before, Fowler's a jerk!" Bulkhead retorted.

"Just because I said it, doesn't mean I wanted him to be possibly taken by the Decepticons!" Carly argued.

"And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Raf piped in before shuddering a little, "OUR location!"

"And did we not witness how fast Fowler backs down from a bot? The 'Cons will totally make him squeal!" Miko added.

"But we lost the transmission!" Bulkhead pointed out, "Fowler could be anywhere!"

"Maybe we can narrow it down," Carly suggested as Rafael grabbed his laptop out of his bag.

"About five years ago, the government started micro-chipping their agents. You know, like owners do with pets," Raf explained as he and Carly began their work.

The rest of the group looked at them with weird looks.

"What? We saw it on TV!" Carly protested.

"Such a nerd..." Miko rolled her eyes at her friend, earning a glare in response from the Esquivel.

"If I can hack into the fed's mainframe, maybe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates," Raf believed.

"You know how to hack? But you're, like…2 years old!" Miko told him.

Raf corrected his sister's friend with a smirk, "Miko, you of all of my sister's friends should know that I'm 12…and a quarter."

"Always so specific about your age," Carly shook her head with a laugh.

"Is the Agent ready for us to greet him yet?" Rebecca asked impatiently for what Starscream deemed as the millionth time.

Inside the Decepticon warship, the pair watched their Vehicon slaves drag the Autobot liaison into the room. Once a safe distance inside, the Agent was chucked onto the ground like a piece of rubbish.

Rebecca wandered up to the dark-skinned man, raising her arms around in a welcoming manner, "Welcome Agent Fowler."

"You treat all your guests this nice?" Fowler asked with a smirk.

"Any friend of the Autobots," Starscream chuckled, turning around to get a look at the man.

"Is an friend of ours," Rebecca finished with a sweet and sarcastic tone.

"Autobots? That one of them coin-operated 'Wash-My-Own-Car' places?" Fowler asked as if he had no idea who or what the Autobots were as part of his job as an undercover agent.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, hmm?" Starscream asked, "Apparently, no one has told you that we have no appreciation for human humor."

"Make our guest comfortable," Rebecca instructed, "He's gonna be here for a while." With a small smirk, she and Starscream walked away, leaving the man with the Vehicons.

"Latitude: 39.5. Longitude: 116.9," Raf read the coordinates.

Bulkhead typed the commands for the Groundbridge. He turned to the children as the portal came to life, "Alright. You four stay put."

Miko moaned in disappointment, "Aww! Don't break up the band!"

Bulkhead nervously looked behind him at the humans, "Uhhhh Jack, you're in charge!"

As the Autobot left, Jack looked down at Raf, "Guess us four have the run of the place?" Jack looked around before noticing that two certain people were gone as well, "Miko? Carly?"

When Bulkhead arrived at the location the Groundbridge had sent him to, the first thing he knew he had to do was immediately search for the Agent, "Fowler?!" Then he looked up and saw something he knew wasn't a good sign. "Uh-oh." Resting right before him was the Decepticon Warship. "The whole Decepticon sh-bang."

Seeing a few Vehicons wandering around with their weapons activated, Bulkhead knew that in order to not get caught, he had to hide quickly. He ran behind a larger rock formation, watching one of the Vehicons walk past him, looking for any kind of trouble.

"Alright!"

"What's the plan, chief?"

Bulkhead's audio receptors twitched at the familiar voices of two human females. He looked behind him and found the girls grinning from ear to ear, Miko holding her thumbs up in excitement. He quickly made signals for the girls to be quiet, "Miko! Carly!"

His warnings to them came too late as one of the Vehicons guarding the ship noticed the human girls presence. He began approaching the rock the girls were hiding behind, aiming his weapon at them.

"Still think this was a good idea?!" Carly hissed at her friend.

"Maybe an unwise one?" Miko shrugged.

"GIRLS! GET DOWN!" Bulkhead cried, fearing for their safety. If anything happened to them, he wasn't going to be the only one angry at himself.

The girls instead jumped over the rock they were hiding behind and began running as the Decepticon fired and missed. The Vehicon prepared to fire once more, and he would've done so had Bulkhead not appeared out of nowhere and tackled him. Now on the ground, the two enemies began beating the scrap out of each other before the Autobot gained the upper hand and pinned the Decepticon on the ground.

"Hold him still!" Miko told her Autobot friend as she picked up a rock with some struggle and used it to hit the Decepticon.

Carly just sighed and face-palmed as Miko's attempt to beat the Decepticon failed, "I love how much you try, Miko. Honestly I do."

The Japanese exchange student shrugged and grinned at her friend. Next thing she knew, she was standing beside Carly. She looked up at Bulkhead who looked like he was about to end the Decepticon.

"Look away!" Bulkhead instructed.

"But!" Miko and Carly started to argue

"Turn your heads away!" Bulkhead growled.

The humans did the opposite thing and watched in pure admiration as Bulkhead used his bare hands to rip out the Decepticons' wiring in his chest, sparking as his lights faded out. The girls gasped, their eyes locked to the wiring that was now on the ground beside the Decepticon.

All of a sudden, Bulkhead had scooped them up near close to his chassis. The green mech began shooting at his enemies with the other hand as he talked into his com-link.

"Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Bulkhead," Arcee answered quickly, continuing her drive on patrol with her partner Bumblebee.

"I have a situation," Bulkhead sing-songed nervously, holding Miko and Carly close to him and hiding behind the rock formation he was hiding behind before.

Carly looked up at the Autobot for a moment before looking at her friend, "So, you still having fun?"

Miko grinned, "Heck yeah I am!"

Carly only rolled her eyes at the response, "Wonderful." It wasn't the answer she wanted to hear.

"Bulkhead, they're children! Humans! Just do whatever!" Arcee sighed.

The blue Autobot then allowed her teammate to explain the situation he was currently in. He even included the juicy details about where exactly his charge and his charge's friend were too. That forced Arcee to skid to a halt and Bumblebee to follow suit.

Let's just say that Arcee didn't take the situation Bulkhead explained to her lightly.

"You're WHERE? The girls ARE where?"

Meanwhile, back at Autobot base, Jack and Raf just starred at the Groundbridge and waited. They were waiting for Miko and Carly to magically return from wherever Bulkhead had bridged to find Agent Fowler.

But the longer they waited around for the girls, the more reality sunk in.

"What should we do? Bulkhead may not even realize that Miko and Carly had followed him!" Raf exclaimed in worry.

"Miko and Carly haven't seen the 'Cons in action like we have," Jack added, "They have no idea."

Raf ran over to the computer screens that were at his level, typing furiously

"These are the coordinates! The destination is still locked in!" Raf told the older boy.

Jack looked away from Raf and at the Groundbridge for a moment. Sighing, he looked back at the younger boy in a panic, "You're in charge."

"In charge of WHO?!" Raf yelled once more before pressing a key on the keyboard, activating the Groundbridge.

As Jack continued walking into the Groundbridge tunnel, Raf began racing down the steps to catch up to the teenager. No one leaves Rafael Esquivel behind. He was already both mad at and worried for his sister for leaving him behind.

Jack paused, allowing Raf to catch up to him. Exchanging a determined look as the Groundbridge swirled to life, they walked through…

...Just as Arcee was radioing into base.

"Arcee to base. Come in. Jack? Listen up. We need you to bridge us back. Hello?"

After contacting the Autobot base through the comlink to no avail, Arcee sighed, "Bumblebee, metal to the pedal."

Bumblebee didn't need to be told twice. The scout sped alongside his teammate after she performed a had to go as fast as they could. For Miko and Carly to be out on the battlefield with Bulkhead was problematic enough, but for no one to reply at Autobot base, despite the strong chance that Jack and Raf should've still been at the base, was even worse.

Their only hope was that their newfound friends weren't already in any trouble or danger.

Fowler looked up when he heard Starscream and Rebecca entered the room. Courtesy of the Vehicon slaves, the agent was now chained up a decent height off the ground. While his eye adjust to the newest arrivals, he quickly noticed something different about Rebecca.

She was floating in mid-air.

The dark-skinned man nearly gasped in disbelief of how she was able to be doing so. Then he saw her feet strapped into a pair of shoes connected to a board below her, allowing her to stay afloat.

Agent Fowler couldn't believe it. How could the Decepticons be able to create such technology like that? Hoverboards didn't even exist in his world yet!

"Agent Fowler, we have one simple request that will save your family from the pain of grieving," Starscream stated.

Behind him, Rebecca held up a dangerous weapon in her hands. However, because the Cybertronian was in Agent Fowler's eye-line, he couldn't see what exactly the human was holding.

Holding up the Agent's chin with one claw, Starscream asked the question he's been dying to ask since the human arrived, "Tell us the location of the Autobot base."

"No problem," Fowler shrugged, "But I need to ask you something first."

Bored, Rebecca waved the weapon in Fowler's direction, "Go on."

"I've got an issue with the customer service around here. Can I speak to the manager?" Fowler asked innocently

"I make the decisions around here! I'm in charge!" Starscream exclaimed in frustration before turning to Rebecca, "Do you have the prod on you?"

Rebecca's answer was to simply hold out the prod in her partner's direction with a small smirk.

"What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" Bulkhead moaned in frustration as he waited patiently for the duo while keeping an eye on the Decepticon Warship behind him.

"Dude, the 'Cons could be putting the clams on Fowler right now!" Miko yelled, "Let's just storm the joint!"

"Ain't that a good idea," Carly rolled her eyes.

The familiar sound of a Groundbridge swirling to life caught their attention. Bulkhead sighed in relief, ""They're here."

However, The Autobot was disappointed to learn that the people who stepped out of the Groundbridge was not who he was expecting. Instead, Jack and Rafael leaped out looking a little green. Miko was also a little disappointed, crossing her arms "Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is OUR one-on-one time!"

"What about Carly?" Bulkhead asked.

"I'll let it slide. She's my best friend AND her guardian is out probably beating the scrap outta more Con's!"

Bulkhead only sighed at the response he was given.

Meanwhile, Raf looked up at Jack nervously, rubbing his front, "Whoa, are your bones vibrating?"

Jack only rubbed the back of his head shrugged in response as the two boys continuing walking in search for their friends. Then the two paused in their tracks at the sight ahead of them.

The one and only Decepticon Warship.

"You there!" High above on the top of the Warship stood three Vehicons, each of them spotting the human boys down below on the ground. Charging their blasters, they pointed them at the boys.

"Scrap!" Bulkhead, Miko and Carly swore when they saw the scene unfold before them.

"Look, we're gonna ask one last time," Rebecca calmly said before shoving her face into the agent's view, "The Autobot base?! NOW!"

"Sure thing, buddy. Right after you eat my star-bangled shorts!" Fowler retorted.

Rebecca hummed, allowing the prod she's been holding in her hands for some time to charge up, "Mmmmm, so that's how you wanna play." Without another word, she struck the human with the prod, sending electrical jolts into him.

"As you previously imagined, Energon and human nervous systems don't mix," Starscream confirmed, looking at the now smiling teenager.

WINDSWEPT P.O.V

I sighed as we continued our journey. I was becoming tired of walking for whatever we were looking for. At this point, I could barely remember. I just wanted to go home and rest my poor feet!

Optimus and Ratchet suddenly paused, allowing me the chance to bend down for a moment and rub my lower ankles in pain.

"For the first time in my life Optimus, I had hoped that you were wrong," Ratchet confessed suddenly.

I looked around and took in the sight. I think this was the location of one of the biggest battles on Earth during our war. Dead Cybertronian bodies, most of them in pieces, rested before us. Ratchet looked a little panicked. I was gonna make a cheeky comment before we heard the sounds of jets flying above us. Looking up, I recognised who they were. They landed on a rock high above us and transformed themselves.

Megatron and Slipstream.

Megatron had finally returned.

Instantly, I noticed something different about Megatron. His eyes were purple. Now not purple like mine; mine have been purple from the day I was born. But that particular bright purple sent chills down my spine.

Dark Energon.

"Optimus! Been well?" Megatron greeted, "I see you brought your trusty watchdog. I was certain he'd be convulsing in a scrap yard by now."

"Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?" Ratchet suggested as he punched his fist into his servo and began walking slowly.

"Windswept," Slipstream sneered, "I would've thought you would've been going around and finding something else to do considering you can't beat me at anything."

I cocked my head from side to side and activated my blaster, punching the side of it into my empty hand and joining Ratchet, "Oh no, Slipstream, I'm gonna keep fighting you until all that Energon inside of you runs dry."

"I know why you're here, Megatron," Optimus proclaimed.

"Hardly a surprise, Optimus. After all, you and I have been at this for a long time. And your time has come to an end," Megatron decided, pulling out a glowing shard of Dark Energon for the three of us to see.

He threw the shard to the ground in front of us where it disappeared below the surface. At first, we were nothing but silent as we waited to see what it would do. Suddenly, the ground started to show cracks, glowing a burning purple. I gasped as I watched Megatron stab himself with Dark Energon, now possessing himself with limitless power.

I looked at the purple and blue Decepticon beside him, grinning either because she enjoyed watching the scene unfold or to hide the hesitance I could see in her optics. Slipstream couldn't handle the power of Dark Energon. I was aware of that and have been for a long time. Her body can't handle it. The reasons why that was I'll never know. But since she's unable to take in its' power, guess who was taking it for her?

"Rise our army!" Megatron and Slipstream commanded.

Megatron's circuits began glowing the same burning purple that was in the ground. I almost leaped in surprised as many dead-now-undead Cybertronians rose up from the cracks in the ground.

Ratchet and I gasped, "By the AllSpark."

I came to the conclusion that the shard Megatron threw had seeped its way into many corpses buried in the ground and awakened them. Waves and waves of soldiers continued to rise.

"Behold the power of Dark Energon!" Megatron announced.

The army summoned by Megatron approached us. I looked at Optimus with a freaked out look on my face. He knew why I was so panicked. Those mindless beasts has one instinct inside of them: destroy anything in its path. And right now, the only 'Bots standing in the way of these deranged Cybertronians were…

Us.

TO BE CONTINUED...

So that's it from me for now. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are looking forward to the next one. I know I take a while to post these chapters, but I take my time to make sure I get every detail right, even if some people have their different views.

I had always wanted to write my own rewrite of this series and I even tried to do so once. But my writing at the time was really bad (Check out my first story 'The Hidden Stalker' for an idea on just how bad my writing was). I rewrote the series I had written, but I still felt really unhappy with it. So third time's the charm hopefully.

A little follow/favourite/review can't cause too much trouble, but just in case, I won't promise that it won't. ;)

Thank you for reading.

(Last updated: 11/07/2019)