The camp site, and most of the tents, was ruined. There were small fires everywhere with troops scrambling around trying to put them out. Several vehicles were overturned, some with the occupants still inside. And the clearing was littered with parts that had once been the bots we had been fighting. In short, it was one big mess.

I stood in the middle of that mess trying to help the best way I could. And at the moment that way was trying to help a crew trapped inside of a flipped, burning vehicle. I was so grateful that these were the type of vehicles that didn't have doors on them, really didn't feel like ripping them off because the frame was all bent to hell. Tony came running up as I was pulling the driver out and knelt down next to him after I got him far enough away. Then i turned back to the vehicle once the medic took over his care.

The passenger was a bit more challenging to get to because of the way the vehicle was lying. The quickest way to get them out would be to lift the other side then pull them out. Pretty hard to do, if you were normal and not running on adrenaline. I ran around the thing as it burned even more, filling the area around me with smoke and I began to start cursing under my breath. I knew I didn't have much time before the whole thing would be in flames. Even as I set myself, Kyle came running towards me through the smoke, holding his side. I assumed that he got thrown from it as it over turned. "We need to hurry! Cindy is still stuck in there!"

"No shit sherlock!" I grumbled back as I began to lift, but I wasn't quite strong enough. "Wait...Cindy is in it?"

I had barely processed that thought when I was suddenly pushed out of the way by a larger figure. Two of them actually. Thane was there with Ty as they gripped the vehicle, and tilted it up. I zeroed in on that red shock of hair and somehow managed to get my arms around her enough to be able to try and pull her out. What made it a bit more difficult was the fact that she was limp and kept getting hung up in all kinds of crap. After a few moments of me struggling with her and really not making progress, Ty crouched down next to me and furiously ripped everything out of the way before helping me to get her out of her unwilling confinement.

She slid limply out of the vehicle and into his arms as he picked her up. We then backed away and Thane let the contraption fall with a relieved grunt and then dragged Kyle along with us as we moved a safe distance away. Just in time too, because not much long after that the whole thing was in flames.

Ty didn't notice it. His eyes were locked on the nonresponsive woman in his arms and you could see the sheer worry on his face. A worry I echoed. I had no idea how long she had been stuck in that wreck or how much smoke she had inhaled. We brought her and Kyle to Tony who was just finishing with the driver. Ty's eyes silently pleading as he laid her down gently on the ground.

Tony didn't even hesitate as he moved on to her. He checked her pulse and cursed loudly a moment before digging around in his medpack.

That didn't really help Ty's anxiety any. "Is she...she..."

"Not now Ty!" Tony snapped back at him. "I'm busy!"

My son watched with wide eyes as Tony worked, hovering close by but not getting in the way of the medic. Tony worked calm and confidently, bringing life back into the pale girl lying on the ground in front of him. I think we all took a relieved breath when she finally gasped for air before coughing, trying to clear out her lungs. Tony turned to get her an oxygen mask out of his pack, turned back, and blinked a moment when he noticed his patient had been snatched from him. He glared at Ty who was holding her gasping body close to him. "Really?"

Ty didn't hear him as he brushed Cindy's hair out of her face as he looked down at her. Her green eyes finally blinked open and she managed a smile at him. "Hey...I broke my car. Think Epps is going to yell at me?"

He didn't say anything as he studied her face for a long while, reassuring himself that she was indeed still alive and kicking. Then he shocked the hell out of her and us when he brought his face down and kissed her.

Thane opened his mouth, no doubt intending to tease his cousin until I elbowed him in the side...hard. "Not a word out of you." I mumbled. His mouth shut again with a clack of his teeth as he glared at me while rubbing his side.

Tony sat there, with a glower and his arms crossed as he waited. When Ty finally lifted his head again from a mildly shocked Cindy, who really didn't seem to upset about it if the small embarrassed smile on her face was any indication, Tony took the moment to plop the mask over her face. "Are you about done now?"

Ty blushed a little as he realised he just did that in front of an audience. "Ahh...yeah..." Then he looked at her again. "For now anyway."

Cindy blushed under her mask.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Now the fucking love bug bites. In the middle of a damn disaster area."

Both of them blushed on that one.

Kyle however had a small knowing smile on his face before his eyes lifted from them and searched the woodline. And those eyes seemed relieved when Hide finally broke through, with Lavi on his shoulder and holding a very grumpy looking Leo in his hand. She hopped down even as Hide set down my surly husband. My brows shot up again when Lavi ran right for Kyle and almost knocked him over when she crashed into him. I moved at a more leisurely pace towards the fuming love of my life.

Hide's blue eyes looked amused at my stumbling mate. "He needs to be checked out."

"I'm fine!" Leo snapped.

"You are not fine you stubborn reptile, and you are reinforcing my belief that your younglings get their stubbornness from you."

I tilted my head at him as I reached him. "What is wrong with you?"

"Non listening children, that's what." He grumbled back as he glared at Lavi. Who was completely ignoring him as she hugged Kyle. A hug that was promptly broke up by a fussing Tony as he began a meticulous inspection of the area Kyle was favoring on his side.

"Ah." I tried not to smile, I just knew it would make matters worse. But I couldn't hide my amusement from him and he gave me "that look".

It didn't help matters any when Donnie caught on to what Hide was saying and began to pester his brother with scans. Was a little comical actually, Leo trying to slap him away and Donnie refusing to give in. And they were supposed to be the adult ones...

Donnie won. "A bit banged up, but he'll be fine. With some rest."

I snorted at that one, I knew Leo better. I got that look again for it too.

It was about that time Raph came stomping over, his eyes furious. "I'm really starting to get annoyed by getting clobbered by meteors turning into robots and trying to stomp on us."

Donnie tapped his chin thoughtfully. "They did seem to take a special interest in us. Seemed more worried about stepping all over me than trying to blow bots up that were nearby."

Leo glowered at him. "At least you didn't almost have one almost fall on top of you."

Donnie looked at him amused. "We noticed one had veered off from the bunch."

"I'm so glad you did." Leo grumbled sarcastically.

Raph raised an eyeridge at him. "Who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?"

"Don't worry about it." Leo mumbled back at him. "Is everyone alright?"

"Just a bit banged up here and there." Donnie replied, even as Mikey walked up. "Might have been a different story if the bots hadn't been here."

Leo nodded. "That's twice now they pulled our backsides out of the fire."

Mikey looked a little worried. "Why are our backsides even hanging over it in the first place? I mean, if they came from space...what did we ever do to those cons for them to be targeting us?"

Leo shook his head. "I'm not sure what to tell you."

Prime came striding up then and his mask drew back once he got closer. "And I am not so sure they are affiliated with Megatron."

"You said what." Raph said flatly as he craned his neck up at the large leader.

Now Optimus was the one looking worried as he surveyed the destroyed camp. The fires were now all either extinguished or close to it. And I had a feeling he was looking at more than what he saw in front of him. He was looking inside as he tried to find answers to questions. What had my hair standing on edge was the sheer amount of concern on his face. He was a lot like Leo in a way, calm and not easily rattled. Well, Leo was calm and not rattled when his family listened to him. But the large bot was very rattled now.

He even went so far as to kneel down, picking up a piece of our attackers and giving it a thorough lookover. Seemed a little morbid to me, but I kept my opinion of that to myself. I did shudder a bit as he stared at the purple fluid that slowly dripped out of the appandage. It looked like it had been an arm at one time.

Donnie walked over curiously while I suppressed another shudder. "Wait a minute...isn't energon supposed to be green? Not purple?"

Optimus answered him with a slow nod and a quiet "Indeed."

"So why do they have this purple stuff?" Ever the inquisitive one, Donnie had scans going full speed ahead on the liquid. We watched curiously as he tried to satisfy his curiosity.

"Because I fear that a legend as old as our species may be more than just that."

Mikey looked a little confused at that. "You mean there are legends older than you? Sheesh, considering on how old you are...when did this originate? Around the time of the big bang?"

Raph looked at his little brother with annoyance. "If you don't shut up and let him talk, I'll give you a big bang."

Leo glared at both of them before he turned his attention back to the kneeling bot. "What legend?"

Before Prime could answer, Mikey decided to add his last two cents in. "Tale as old as time, Song as old as rhyme..."

"Will you shut the hell up!" Raph smacked him.

"Ow..." Mikey protested as he rubbed the back of his head. "And here I was thinking everyone loved a good Disney movie..."

"Shut up Mikey!" came from the other three turtles.

Leo sighed and rubbed his forehead a moment before turning back to Optimus, who was watching with an amused expression. "Please, continue."

Before he could, Cris came walking up, about ready to say something when she froze and stared at the liquid dripping out of the arm Prime still held, and her face went pale. "Dark energon..." She said in a deathly quiet voice.

Optimus slowly nodded his agreement. My eyes also grew wide and I almost smacked myself for not seeing it sooner.

Raph, unfortunately, didn't watch as many cartoons as we did. "Do what?"

"Dark energon... These guys run off of dark energon."

"And that means what to the rest of us?"

"It means, you idiot, that these guys run off of the dark side of energon."

"You don't have to be insulting just because I don't watch those silly cartoons."

"Well, you should. How many times have those TV shows and movies saved our asses?"

"She has a point there." Mikey agreed.

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Raph snipped back at him.

"Ok, so what exactly is this stuff?" Leo asked.

Cris rubbed the back of her head a moment. "Think of it as a bad cocktail of junk that can reanimate dead bots."

"Zombies?" Mikey asked incredulously. "It makes big robot zombies?" He looked up at Hide. "What were you saying earlier about not believing in ghosts and zombies back at base? You jinxed us!"

Hide just snorted and rolled his eyes. "Superstitious buffoon."

Mikey crossed his arms. "There is some truth behind every superstition." He stubbornly said.

"And that is what concerns me." Prime said as his eyes looked up to the heavens. "If this legend is true, what else out there awaits us?

Leo sighed. "That my freind, is an answer we may never find out until we are forced to deal with it."