I HAVE COME BACK TO LIFE SUCKAAAAAAAS! Lol. Sorry for the super late update guys, college has been keeping me busier then a fiddlers elbow. Anywho, It's liable to take a long period of time for me to do my updates from here on out so just keep an eye out. Other than that, ON TO THE STORY!

Ch. 28

Michael sat on one of the medical berths in the med bay of the Autobot base as he had been explaining what had happened to him. "When I woke up, I was floating in some big tube in a M.E.C.H base. I saw your old buddy Silas there and he told me that he basically used the old Frankenstein trick to bring me back to life…" Jack heard this and was having a hard time controlling his temper at what Silas had done to his best friend.

It wasn't until Bulkhead spoke up that he finally calmed down. "Here's what I don't get, why didn't we pick up your signature when the Decepticons showed up?" "Maybe it has something to do with the stuff that Silas had pumped into me."

Optimus looked at Michael with stern eyes as he spoke up. "Michael, what was it that Silas put inside you?" "All I remember seeing is a group of doctors pulling in a big tray with some big purple glowing crystal on it." That suddenly put the entire group on edge as Ratchet spoke up in an eerie voice.

"Michael, I need to take an energon sample from you to test for something; I fear M.E.C.H may have gotten their hands on something very powerful and very deadly." With that, Michael nodded as Ratchet stuck his syringe into his arm and began to draw energon. But what the group saw caused them to go wide eyed in shock and caused Optimus to speak up.

"Dark Energon, this is worse than I could have imagined." Michael noticed the concern emanating from the group and was suddenly a bit worried about what had just come out of his arm. "What exactly is 'Dark Energon' if you don't mind my asking?" The group looked to Ratchet and Optimus as the latter spoke up.

"To put it simply Cybertronians, including you and Jack, normally run off Energon, a blue energy source that is normally found in a crystallized form. Dark Energon is deadly in that it can be used as a weapon unlike any other. Megatron has already used it before; he raised an army of undead Terracons here on Earth." "Wait a minute; you're telling me that the stuff they pumped into me has the power to revive the dead!?" Michael's quick rise in volume obviously caught the group off guard as everyone looked at him before Optimus spoke up.

"Indeed it does, and from what we have seen, Silas injected you with enough Dark Energon that you're body is converting any energon it has inside it into its darker counterpart." This obviously hit Michael hard as his head fell low. Jack saw this and walked over to his best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder before speaking up.

"Hey, don't worry about it Mike… I'm just glad to have my brother back." This brought a smile to Michaels face as he looked at the group around him as Optimus spoke up. "Jack is correct Sergeant Major, and as you are a friend to Jack, I would like to offer you a place among the Autobots." This put a look of shock on Michael's face that was soon replaced with gratitude as he spoke up.

"I'd be honored Optimus." With that, Michael stood from the berth as Jack spoke up. "I think it's time we all took a drive as a team. It's a nice day Optimus, plus I think it'd be a good idea to get outside the base and just drive together." With those words, Optimus seemed to think the proposition over before looking up and nodding.

"Very well, we will travel around the roads inside and outside of Jasper for a time. Autobots, Roll Out!" With that, the entire team, including Ratchet, Miko and Raf, drove out of the base. The team drove down the roads of Jasper before Jack took the lead and led them to his old house. As they pulled to a stop in front, Jack honked his horn. A few seconds later, June walked out of the house wearing a pair of blue jeans and a short sleeve t-shirt.

"Jack, what are you and the bots doing here?" "Hop in the El Camino mom. It's time I reintroduced you to a friend of mine." With that, June looked at the El Camino skeptically before hopping inside. As she sat inside, she heard a voice speak up. "Well if it ain't my other momma, how've you been Mrs. Darby?"

Junes eyes went wide as she recognized the voice coming from the car she was in. "Michael!?" "The one and only." The group could hear the undertone that meant Michael would be smirking if he were in robot form. "It's a long story, let's just enjoy the ride." With that, the team drove back out to the outskirts of town.

As the team was driving, Michael took up the front spot as he was now keeping his eyes open as the occasional car passed by. Michael's eyes could've gone wide as he saw a certain car coming right towards them in the oncoming traffic lane. "Oh Jacky, I think it's time for me to get a little upgrade." Jack was confused as to what his friend meant until he saw Michael scan the car passing them and begin to change.

As he changed, the grey paint began to fleck away along with the body of the El Camino; and in place of the grey was a majority of matte black with fire engine red detailing. The tailpipes fell away and were replaced with side exhausts. As the chrome grill came into place with a silver Autobot emblem in the center, a large engine header emerged from the center of the hood as flames blew out of the side exhausts. As the wheels took on a metallic black color and the engine revved roughly, gone was the body of the El Camino… and in its place was the body of a 1970 Dodge Charger.

"OOOOH YEAH! BLACK TOP'S STYLIN' AND PROFILIN' NOW!" As Jack pulled up next to Michael he commented in his own way. "I should've known you would pick another classic muscle car. But I gotta say bro, you look pretty fraggin' bad ass. And how did I know that you were gonna use Black and Red as your color scheme?"

"Hey, I might be a robot now, but I am still a Marine at heart… or spark, whatever!" This got snickers from many of the Autobots as the team began to make their way back to the base. As the team pulled into the team began to transform just as Michael skidded to a stop in the center of the group. As June stepped out of Michael, he began to transform… giving the team a view of the Marine Corps style paint scheme of his armor.

"Dang bro, you look like you're wearing your class A…" As Michael stood, he realized that engraved on his shoulders in the metallic silver parts… were Marine Corps Sergeant Major Ranks. "Oorah to Ashes." As Michael said this, an alarm went off and caught the attention of the entire group. "Sounds like the parties over ladies." With that, Ratchet went over to the computer and began a scan of the area, until he saw a group of signatures in the canyons.

"Optimus, it's the canyons again." "Autobots, Roll Out!" With that, the team ran through the recently opened groundbridge. As the team entered the canyon, they suddenly saw a group of Decepticons giving chase to… "Wait a minute, I've seen that Helicopter before." Michael's voice spoke up before being answered by an equally perplexed Bulkhead. "It's Airachnid, but what the heck are the cons chasing her for?"

Arcee had a puzzled tone in her voice as she and the team suddenly saw Airachnid take a missile to the tail and begin to fall to the ground. The team watched in silence as they saw Airachnid transform and land in a bleeding pile. The Autobots were a mix of emotions in that moment, namely confusion and shock at seeing Airachnid in such a state. But for Michael, only one thing was going through his mind… anger.

The next few seconds were encompassed by the team seeing Michael running at Airachnid with rage in his eyes. As the Decepticons landed around the wounded spiderbot, they took aim only to here an engine revving. As the group turned to the noise, an unfortunate Vehicon was flattened by a black and red 1970 Dodge Charger. The vehicle began to transform and Airachnid looked up to see a familiar face. 'Blacktop… but why is he protecting me?'

With that, a sword and blaster erupted from Michael's arms as he ran at the Decepticons in a frenzy of anger. The Autobots and Airachnid could do nothing but watch in awe as, one by one, the Decepticons fell dead. 'That takes care of them, now to check on… wait a minute…' Michael realized that he was trying to protect someone who was recently one of his enemies.

But in the next second, he felt as though that very word cut into him at describing Airachnid in such a way. As he turned around, he saw Airachnid look up at him with wide eyes before she fell to the ground unconscious with a single thought. 'He saved me….'

AAAAAWE SCRAP! Comment, Review, you know the drill. Roll Out! :)