The Next Adventure

by A.J. Parker94

Ellie Barron had a plan: to live a quiet life when she moved to Jasper with her grandmother, go through high school with no trouble, and maybe make some friends along the way. Even with a prosthetic leg, that shouldn't be hard. But what she didn't plan on was discovering an alien race living among her in the throes of war. Turns out life had other plans that barely involve "quiet."

9. The Kids Storm An Array

A/N- Hey y'all! Thanks to my job having an unexpected lull in work (which is like rare for this time of year), I had plenty of time to sit my aft down to proofread and edit this piece of work that's been sitting in my files for weeks. Thanks for bearing with me!

Anyway, on to the chapter! Where Raf, along with Ellie, Miko, and Jack as backup, break into a satellite array to pull an uno reverse card on the 'Cons—only to run headlong into Cybertron's equivalent to the Slenderman...

Good luck sleeping tonight, kiddos!

Disclaimer: Transformers Prime is own by Hasbro. All OCs belong to me.

Enjoy!

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It took every ounce of Ellie's willpower not to start pacing a groove into the observing platform that she and the other children had taken to occupy by Ratchet and the main computers. It had only been just shy of a minute since Optimus and the Autobots had departed for the space bridge. To her, though, it was one minute too long to wait for confirmation. Given what Ratchet had said about the risk of making a ground bridge jump of such a long range, she had her misgivings about their safe arrival. So naturally, when nothing happened in that tiny minute, her mind went wild with worst-case scenarios; the vortex collapsing in on itself while they were inside of it, them being spat out in some distant galaxy, being stretched so far they snapped apart, etc.

So instead she focused all of her nervous energy into tapping her fingers rapidly against her arms, which were folded tightly over her chest, as she waited apprehensively. At least then her outlet for releasing some of her anxiety wouldn't be a bother to everyone else. Jack, Miko, and Raf waited alongside her for their feedback, seemingly with bated breaths as well.

Finally, four signals popped up on one of the screens, along with four icon pictures of each Autobot en route.

"Transport complete," Ratchet said with relief. "They made it through."

Ellie loosened her arms from herself with a sigh, while Miko whooped, and Jack and Raf grinned.

Through the communications system, Optimus's voice came through, "Autobots, transform and gravitize!"

A moment later, the computer beeped, and the four Autobot's signals were pinpointed onto the lower side of the space bridge diagram.

"They've touched down onto the space bridge," Ratchet explained.

"Whoa! Don't look down. Or up. Or left," Bulkhead muttered nervously. The poor 'Bot must've felt disoriented about suddenly being thrown from the safety of Earth's ground to the never-ending vacuum of space.

Then Ratchet scowled when the computer beeped again, a new signal appearing not far from the space bridge's proximity, now floating stagnant in front of it. "And unfortunately, Megatron has arrived as well."

"So Megatron's packing enough dark energon to raise Cybertron's dead?" Arcee asked with slight incredulousness.

"Yes. And since we don't possess ready means of disabling the space bridge, nothing gets in, or out," Optimus declared firmly.

Okay, Ellie thought, taking a slow, steady breath. Here we go.

For what felt like several minutes, though, nothing happened.

Apparently, whatever divine power out there in the universe responsible for how her day went had it out for her. On top of having to socialize more than she was used to, she was being left in complete and utter suspense.

Her nerves were going to be totally frayed by the end of the day, weren't they?

"Well?" Arcee broke the silence impatiently. "What are they waiting for?"

There was a short pause before Optimus informed them, "It appears the Decepticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system."

"You mean the trashed up satellite dish?" Bulkhead said, his voice brightened. "That's my handiwork!"

"That's my Bulk!" Miko praised with a pumped fist, looking immensely proud of her guardian.

"Great job, Bulkhead," Optimus commended. "Without the dish, Megatron will be unable to aim the space bridge at Cybertron."

"Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?" Raf asked in confusion, and Ellie had to admit she also wondered why a navigation dish was so vital.

"Naturally," Ratchet said tersely. "But Cybertron is many light years away. To reach their target, their aim must be astronomically precise."

"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge, then he must have an alternate targeting system—a remote one, most likely stationed on Earth," Optimus concluded.

Upon hearing this, Raf suddenly perked up. Ellie eyed him curiously.

"You got an idea?" she asked quietly.

Raf nodded, smiling big.

"Care to share?"

Without further words—merely holding up an index finger in a 'one moment' gesture—the younger boy spun around and started typing furiously into the human-sized computer system.

Meanwhile, Ratchet scoffed imperiously. "Hmph! From what I know of Earth's technology, I doubt there exists a single radio-telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."

"What about a whole bunch of linked radio-telescope dishes?" Raf finally spoke up, getting everyone's attention. He pulled up an image of a long row of giant satellite dishes stationed behind a plain white, geometric facility, backing up to show them excitedly. "Like the Giant Size Array in Texas!"

Then all four of the kids shrank back when Ratchet bent toward them, making the similar zipping motion across his mouth from earlier. "Zip-ehp-ehp! This is not child's play!" he reprimanded with a shake of his head.

Ellie frowned at him. Really? Again?

"Good thinking, Raf," Optimus appraised to the surprise of everyone else, making even Ratchet deflate some. "Ratchet, see if you can have Agent Fowler alert the Array staff to the security hazard."

"You! Soldier!"

Nearly everyone jumped at the mentioned liaison's voice shouting unexpectedly. They looked over to see Fowler sitting up on the gurney, but he was looking and pointing at something no one else could see. There was a slight pause before he exclaimed, "You're out of uniform! Put on some pants!"

He promptly passed out again.

There was an awkward silence before Ratchet shook his head, saying, "That may be a challenge."

Raf returned to the computer monitor, typing something into the keyboard. However, the effort appeared to be fruitless as the 'Access Denied' block appeared on the screen. Raf groaned. "Urgh! I can't get past the Array's firewalls—they're too thick!" He slammed his fist down on the table in frustration.

Ellie put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"You actually think you could keep the Decepticons out?" Ratchet asked incredulously.

Ellie fought the urge to turn a glare at him. What was it going to take for him not to keep underestimating humans?

"I could, maybe…if I can get in," Raf answered uncertainly.

Then Jack stepped in with an air of urgency. "Wait—wait. Raf, what if we could get you all the way in?" he asked. "Like, 'literally inside the building' in?"

Ellie straightened, catching on to the implication of his idea. "Are we talking about espionage here?"

"Breaking and entering? Sabotage?" Miko added with an excited—albeit near maniacal—glint in her eyes that kind of came across as unsettling.

Which was why Ellie muttered lowly to her, "Take about twenty percent off there, Miko," before she turned back to Raf. "What do you think, Raf? Would that make a difference?"

Raf nodded, hope returning to his expression. "I could log into their internal network on the other side of the firewall."

"No," Optimus cut in, getting their attention again. "The risk is too great. The Decepticons could be there—perhaps even on sight. I will not have you jeopardizing your safety for us."

Ellie felt her heart constrict a little at his objection, and though his voice was steady and firm, she could sense a hint of worry threaded into it. She remembered her conversation with him the night before—about his concern for her safety, and how he didn't want her putting herself on the line for their behalf if she could help it.

But if it could help stop the Decepticons…what other choice did they have? And if meant securing the safety of an entire world, then it would be worth it.

And going by the look of pure determination on Jack, Miko, and Raf's faces, they had the same mindset as well.

"Optimus, with all due respect," Jack said resolutely, "you said it yourself: this is bigger than the safety of four humans."

"Yeah! If we let the 'Cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet!" Miko commented.

Oh boy, Ellie thought, resisting the urge to face-palm. Of course Miko would instantly pick up on Cybertronian swear words and use them to her heart's content.

Disregarding that for now, Ellie turned back to the comm unit, wanting to put in her own assurances to her guardian.

"Please, Optimus," she said, her voice steady. "This is our home—the only home that we have. Let us help you defend it."

At first, there was nothing but silence on the other end. Then, in a quiet voice, Optimus said questioningly, "Raf?"

All of them turned to their youngest companion, who gave a firm nod. "I wanna give it a shot."

"Very well," Optimus conceded, but not without a hint of reluctance. "Ratchet, set the ground bridge coordinates for the Array. We will continue to hold the space bridge here. And children…" the sternness in his tone grabbed all four of the kids' attention, "…if you run into trouble of any kind, you are to contact Ratchet and evacuate immediately."

"Got it!" they said in unison.

"Don't worry, Optimus," Ellie reassured with a smile. "It's like I said: it's all gonna be fine."

A pause, then a low murmur replied back to her, "I hope you are right. Please be safe out there."

Her smile started to widen, only for it to quickly vanish when Miko cooed teasingly, "Awww!" while elbowing her in the ribs.

Ellie batted her away, all flustered. "He was talking to all of us!" she ground out through gritted teeth.

Miko just gave her a cheeky grin, but thankfully didn't say anything else.

And so, after taking a minute to sync their cell phone numbers into the base's communications system, all four of the kids stood side-by-side in front of the now activated ground bridge portal.

"Ready to help save the world from a space tyrant and a bunch of zombies?" Jack asked.

"Nope," Ellie said simply, making the older boy look at her. She looked back and grinned, anticipation bubbling in her chest. "Doin' it anyway."

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Miko said while Raf laughed.

Jack was taken aback at first, then smiled back and nodded. Then, together with newfound purpose, they charged into the swirling vortex, the colors nearly blinding them, and jumped into the centering flash of light.

Of course, the moment was ruined when they were spat out the other side and nearly stumbled off their feet, a feeling of nausea overcoming all of them. The sudden change from the controlled temperature of the silo to the dry Texas heat hitting their faces didn't exactly help either.

"That's gonna take some getting used to," Jack groaned.

After taking a moment to shake off the disorienting sensations, they looked up to find that they now stood before the same building that was shown on the computer earlier, along with the long row of satellite dishes that looked much bigger in person.

"Whoa," Miko breathed, taking in the size of the dishes.

Well, this is the place, alright, Ellie thought.

"Okay," she started aloud, getting the other three's attention. "We're gonna infiltrate this facility and help Raf stop that space bridge from locking onto Cybertron. To do so, let's assign ourselves with tasks."

"Um, tasks?" Jack asked in confusion.

"Yep. We're a crew now, and one that undergoes questionable missions. And we don't know what could go wrong, so it's only necessary." She pointed at Raf, who straightened in surprise. "Raf? You'll be the brains, for obvious reasons."

Raf smiled bashfully.

Then she pointed at Jack. "You're gonna be the eyes; watch our backs. I'm the muscle in case things go south. And Miko?" She turned to a waiting Miko, looking her up and down. "You're our wildcard."

"YUS! Finally!" Miko pumped her fist.

"Hey, why do you get to be the muscle?" Jack protested.

Ellie squinted at him challengingly. "Why, you wanna fight?"

"Wha—no! I just—"

"Sounds like you do, bud. Not cool," Miko said, throwing him a look of mock disapproval.

He turned to Raf for backup, who rubbed the back of his head, feeling put on the spot. "I mean…she is the only one out of us to go up against a 'Con on her own and come out okay so far," he pointed out diffidently.

Never had Jack looked so betrayed. It seemed like he wanted to bite back a retort, but seeing that he was outnumbered, he thought better of it, putting his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. Fine," he grumbled.

Good, Ellie thought, satisfied. Because I didn't spend all that time rebuilding my strength and stamina to not be the muscle of a posse.

Quickly, they traversed across the yard toward the facility, making sure to look out for any staff and avoid security cameras anywhere. Surprisingly, though, no one seemed to be around. When they found a door, Ellie approached and, with caution, turned the doorknob, and it creaked open easily.

"It's unlocked…?" Jack said with mild unease.

"Is that really good or really bad?" Raf asked, clutching the straps of his backpack tighter.

"Hopefully, we won't have to find out," Ellie muttered before opening the door all the way, cool air wafting over them from the other side. "Hurry, inside."

When she closed the door and turned around, Ellie half expected to be met with at least one staff member roaming around in the dimly lit hallway they found themselves standing in, but they were the only ones around. The entire place felt eerily empty. She and the others stood still, listening in for some sign of life, but nothing came. No sound of footsteps or any kind of movement, not even muffled talking from another room nearby. It was unnervingly quiet.

The place gave off such an ominous vibe, Ellie couldn't help but murmur "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Raf looked at her, eyes alight with recognition. "You mean like a, 'that's no moon,' kinda bad feeling?"

She snapped her fingers with a grin. "Yeah! That's exactly it."

Raf grinned back, his spirits lifting up again. "We'll steer clear from the trash compactors, then."

"We better hurry so the 'deflector shield will be quite operational.'"

"Hopefully there won't be a 'slight weapons malfunction.'"

Miko rolled her eyes, already starting down the hallway. "Ugh. Come on, dorks, before you make another reference."

Both Ellie and Raf simultaneously let out indignant shouts at her that included, "Excuse you!" and "Rude!" and "You literally just quoted Star Trek earlier!"

Jack sighed, ushering the two along to catch up with Miko. "Kids, stop fighting."

Ellie and Raf just shook their heads at each other before resigning themselves to being led through the corridor. No respect.

"Does it matter which computer you use here, Raf?" Ellie asked him as they walked down the hallway.

"Not really. Just as long as I can get into the firewall, we should be good. Here. Let's try this room." He pointed to an upcoming closed door at the end of the hallway. They opened it to reveal a single office that looked abandoned, its lights off. At the center of the room was a desk with a computer system and some notebooks haphazardly spread around it.

Bingo.

"Okay, buddy, do your thing," Ellie told Raf, who headed straight for the computer desk, placing his backpack on the floor next to him before sitting down. He turned on the computer, the light of the screen the only thing illuminating the dark room.

Meanwhile, Miko poked her head out the door, looking up and down the hallway one more time, before closing it.

"Man, security sure is lax in this place," she commented as she rejoined the others.

"Yeah, I'd have thought we would've gotten someone's attention by now with the racket we made," Ellie added.

"Well, it is Sunday," Jack pointed out. "Maybe everyone's got the day off? Or got out early?"

"Maybe…" Ellie partially agreed, though she had her misgivings. After all, wasn't this place high-maintenance, in need of constant supervision? Something about this didn't sit quite right with her. She told Jack, "Keep an eye out just in case."

Then Raf exclaimed after a series of typing, "I'm in!" He gasped. "And so are the Decepticons!"

"What?" Jack questioned as he, Miko, and Ellie gathered around Raf.

"How can you tell?" Miko enquired.

"The schematics," Raf replied, and pulled up a familiar image to them.

"Oh, right," Ellie said, pointing at a particular part of the equation. "It's the same math we saw on the warship, isn't it?"

Raf nodded before he leaned down to pull out a flash drive from his backpack. "Yep, but this time, I can actually download it." He held it up triumphantly before plugging it into the CPU.

"It's gotta be the space bridge," Miko said.

"The Decepticons are syncing it with the dishes," Raf said. "But I can sync to them."

"Will they know?" Jack asked worriedly.

Raf shook his head. "Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they'll have no idea I'm in the house."

Ellie smiled. "Wizard."

Raf sent a smirk her way before focusing back onto the task at hand, typing away.

"Am I gonna have to start hitting you every time you say something too dorky now, Ells?" Miko snarked to her.

"Deal with it, Mo."

Miko raised an eyebrow at the short, calm retort, specifically the nickname. "Mo?"

Ellie shrugged. "It's either that or Meeks. Take your pick."

A pause, then a low mutter of, "Mo's fine."

For a minute or so, the four said nothing else as Raf continued to work his magic. Then, from somewhere outside, they could hear the distant sound of a creaking, whirring noise. At the same time, the equations on the screen started to mesh together.

"What's happening?" Ellie asked.

"They've locked onto Cybertron," Raf said with a concentrated frown. "But not for long."

Another grating sound occurred—which Ellie realized were the satellite dishes rearranging their positions outside.

"Great job, Raf," Ellie praised.

"The space bridge is set off course for now, but I can't say the 'Cons won't just try again."

Sure enough, almost right after he said that, the dishes creaked again, the equation attempting to sync.

"I'll just undo it again," Raf said, typing once more.

"What happens when the 'Cons realize they're being punked?" Jack asked.

"Don't worry, it's only virtual combat," Raf assured him. "You know, like online gaming."

"So, what, we just keep going back and forth until they rage quit?"

"It's kind of the best we can do right now," Ellie replied.

"Yeah, Jack. What're they gonna do?" Miko said with a cocky smile. "They're probably, like, a thousand miles away."

Long afterwards, Ellie was going to make a mental note to give Miko a good whack upside the head for jinxing them.

The first thing Ellie noticed was that the light from the hallway was slowly bleeding into the room from behind them—indicating that the door was being opened, which meant only one thing: they were no longer alone.

It was Jack who saw it first. He spun around and let out a panicked yell, "Look out!"

Ellie turned around as well, and she gasped, her face paling at the sight. Hovering right above them, extending all the way out of the room, was a giant, metallic tentacle of some sort, black with luminescent violet markings all over it. At the very end of it were metal claws curled around several wriggling tendrils, tipping down toward them threateningly.

What. Is. THAT?!

Ellie quickly grabbed Raf's shoulders and ducked them both down just as the tentacle lunged at them. The two were able to avoid it—just brushing over their heads—but Jack and Miko weren't so lucky, the two oldest teens being swept up by the strange appendage.

"WHOA!" they both yelled as they were thrashed around in the air.

Ellie and Raf kept themselves low, watching on in horror, until Jack and Miko were thrown unceremoniously into the wall across the room. Then the tentacle turned back towards them, leering particularly in Raf's direction.

Raf, forcing himself out of his terrified stupor, frantically turned back to the computer. "I won't let them lock on again!"

Hearing this, Ellie quickly straightened up only to put herself between him and the threatening object, glaring at it. "Keep going, I've got you covered!" she told him. She had no idea what she was going to do, but one thing was for certain: she wasn't going to let this thing get past her.

The tentacle readied itself to strike again, and Ellie braced herself, while at the same time reaching into her bag and desperately feeling around for something. Just as she closed her fingers tight around what she knew was a handle, the tentacle dove straight at her. In a flash, she pulled out her trowel and, spinning it around to where its sharp, pointed end faced the tentacle, shoved it right into the thing's center, momentarily stopping it from advancing further. But not for long.

Ellie groaned with strain as the thing pushed itself against her, forcing her to put both hands on the trowel handle in an attempt to push back. Her arms trembled, trying to keep her feet planted on the floor, but the thing just pushed harder, forcing her to step backwards to compensate. Her teeth bared, her face paling even more with effort. The small tendrils in the middle of the tentacle's center started writhing erratically, the light around them shifting from violet to an angry red. Then, to her disgust, they began to extend towards her hands. She let out a revolted yell. She snapped her hands back before the things could touch her, only to swipe at the tentacle to the side with a loud clanking noise, but all it really did was bend her trowel.

"Gross!"

The tentacle apparently took offense to that. Ellie felt all the air leave her lungs as the appendage came in hard and fast—too fast for her to dodge—and rammed right into her chest, knocking her off her feet. She gasped for air while she fell towards the floor, but right before impact, Jack ran to her and grabbed her arm. He swiftly pulled her back up with one hand; he held his cell phone with the other

"I gotcha," he panted. He put his phone to his ear, muttering under his breath, "Come on, come on!"

Meanwhile, Ellie's eyes widened as the tentacle swiveled back toward Raf, rearing up to attack.

"No!"

But then, seemingly out of nowhere, Miko came barging into the fray with an axe she had taken off the wall, taking a running leap at the appendage.

"WILDCARD, SUCKA!" she bellowed as she rammed the thing with the axe, the blade ringing against its metallic alloy with a small spray of sparks. It hardly left a mark on it, but either way it shirked back, mostly in surprise.

Ellie watched in awe as, every time the tentacle tried to get to Raf, Miko would respond in kind, swinging her axe with wild abandon, almost impossible to predict her volatile movements. Ellie didn't know whether it was just an adrenaline rush or the thrill of the fight or just the fact that Miko has been known to have no fear whatsoever, but when you put a weapon in the transfer student's hands, evidently she was a force to be reckoned with.

"Not today, nightmare fuel!" Miko shouted fiercely as she deflected another oncoming blow.

Ellie grinned widely. "Yeah! Go Miko!"

"Scrap!" Jack exclaimed from next to her. He glared down at his phone. "I can't get through to Ratchet! It's like something's blocking the signal!"

After a fleeting thought of, Scrap? Is that more Cybertronian profanity? Ellie's eyes flicked between him and their attacker with growing alarm and dread. Was that thing—or whatever it was attached to—responsible for it? So that they couldn't call for help?

She shook her head sharply. No matter. Even if they could reach Ratchet, it wouldn't do much good while they were already neck-deep in trouble.

"Looks like we're on our own for this one," she said with quick resolve.

"Uh—right!" After frantically looking around once, Jack spotted the only other object in the room that could be weaponized: a fire extinguisher. He darted over and grabbed it.

"You might want to stay back for this one, Ellie," he told her, adjusting his grip on the fire extinguisher to hold it better, almost like a thick cudgel. "I doubt that tiny shovel of yours can do much else—"

But Ellie had already tossed her trowel to the side and dug in her bag once more in the middle of his speech. She swiftly pulled out what looked like a metallic, silver and black pole just over a foot long, with a rubber handle on one end. But then Ellie rotated both ends with a couple of clicks, and the rod extended several more inches like a telescope until she snapped it firmly in place. She knocked the end of it against the floor once before wielding it, ready for use.

Jack gawked at her. "Is that a—cane?!"

Ellie couldn't help the smirk that donned her lips, not even caring about any assumptions he might have on why she had one in the first place. "For now it's my pain stick," she replied briefly. "Now come on! Protect the brains!"

Before Jack had any chance to respond, she charged forward—and just in time too. The tentacle's claws were locked against where the blade and the wooden handle of the axe met.

"Whoa!" Miko yelped as she was shoved backwards, nearly losing her balance.

With a yell, Ellie reeled her cane back only to slam it against the end of the tentacle with all her might, which she had realized during the fight was the thing's most vulnerable area. It reared back with a grinding, metallic hiss. Ellie took a stance next to Miko, who quickly regained her footing, the two standing side-by-side. They caught each other's eyes and shared a smile. A second later, Ellie felt Jack brush up to stand on her other side as well. She gave him the same look before focusing back onto their disturbing opponent, and together they launched themselves at it.

They attacked in turns—not in any particular order. When one got a hit in, another would swiftly come in to take their place, not letting up. So long as the tentacle didn't get past them while Raf kept the satellite dishes off course, they'd keep at it. And for a bit, it seemed to actually work, the three gaining some ground again.

But of course, it didn't last for long.

Looking back on the fight, Ellie had come to the conclusion that the tentacle—or, specifically, the Decepticon controlling it—was merely toying with them when the skirmish had first broken out, but seeing as the humans were putting up more of a fight than it had initially realized, it changed gears. With an impatient, furious whir it spiraled erratically before it came down on them in a wide, fast arc that they couldn't avoid. It slammed right into all three of them, causing them to drop their weapons to floor in a series of clatters. Jack and Miko flew across the room and into the wall once more. However, Ellie had somehow managed to lock her now free arms around the appendage. She held on tight as it thrashed all over the room, trying to throw her off.

"Leave us alone, you creepy cryptid!" she growled.

Then she cried out as it yanked her straight up and smashed her into the ceiling, causing the struck tiles to crumble to the floor in several pieces. She shook her head, trying to keep her mind focused on holding her grip instead of the throbbing in her back as it suddenly whipped around again. Her eyes widened as it started to direct its path right down towards Raf in a crash course.

"Raf! Get out of the way!" she yelled.

The boy glanced up in fear before he frantically plucked his flash drive from the CPU. Then, thankfully, he got up and dived out of the way. Ellie shut her eyes tight as the tentacle, along with her, crashed into the desk. The impact knocked her senseless with pain and disorientation over the deafening sound of the computer and desk smashing to the floor, along with the worried shouts of Jack, Miko, and Raf. She groaned, struggling to open her eyes for a moment. When she did, she was greeted with the ruined remains of the computer littered around her as she lay on the floor. She shook her head to clear it. She made to get up, only to fall back onto her stomach, feeling something holding her back. She quickly looked behind her and found the lower part of her prosthetic leg caught underneath the upturned desk.

She scowled. "Oh come on! Seriously?!"

"Ellie, look out!" Raf's cry brought her attention back to the problem at hand. She looked up, only to scream and quickly duck out of the way of the oncoming tentacle, barely missing her.

Then it started to rear back up, readying itself to lunge on her again. As it was doing so, Ellie's brain shifted into assess overdrive, eyes darting from the angle of the tentacle above her and its probable trajectory, to the now unstable desk holding her down, then over at Miko, who had grabbed her axe again while she stood behind the appendage and looked at Ellie, waiting.

Her eyes sharpening back into focus, Ellie yelled, "Miko, get ready!"

Without waiting for a reply, she gripped the area of her legging sleeve with both hands and, with a grunt, ripped it wide open, exposing where flesh and artificial limb met.

"I can't believe I'm doing this again," she grumbled to herself as she hastily undid what kept her prosthetic attached, glaring up at the menacing appendage, she shouted, "Come at me!"

Like a snake, it sprung at her.

At the exact same moment, Ellie swiftly rolled out of the way, unlatching herself from the trapped leg. The tentacle crashed into the desk, bits of its debris flying everywhere. As if that wasn't chaotic enough, Miko leaped up at it with a loud battle cry, using her falling momentum as she brought her axe down.

There was a spark of bright blue electricity as the blade of the axe actually managed to graze it. It shuddered momentarily, but then it started to flail even more wildly than ever. Before Miko had the chance to retreat, it swatted her away, making her lose her grip on the axe.

Crap crap crap! Ellie repeated fearfully over and over in her head as she watched the tentacle slowly wrap its claws and tendrils around the axe and lift it up. It swung the axe aimlessly around, as if trying to ward them away, before it started to retreat from the room.

While that was happening, Ellie crawled over to the now broken desk in a frenzy and, with a newfound strength, lifted it up and shoved it away. She grabbed her prosthetic leg, ripping the torn legging sleeve off of it as she quickly scanned it over for any damage. Finding it otherwise okay, she hurriedly put it back on.

This better not become a regular occurrence, she thought. She put a hand on the upturned desk to push herself up. As she did so, Jack hurried over to her, eyes wide with shock and worry as he attempted to help her.

"Ellie! Oh my God, are you okay?! Can you—"

Snarling irritably, she swept his hand away. Now was not the time at all.

"I'm fine! After that thing before it gets away!" she snapped as she charged past him and out the door.

Looking left, then right where she saw the tentacle disappear just around a corner, she sprinted off after it. It didn't take long for the others to catch up with her as they ran down the hallway. At the end of the corridor, they burst through the double doors and found themselves in a large software room with a wide skylight—a skylight that had been broken open.

And standing over it, with his back turned to them, was a tall, lean Decepticon with black armor plating and dark violet outlines, the likes of which they have never seen before; with long, jointed legs, sleek wing-like arms, and thin, extending fingers.

Ellie and the others skidded to a halt as the Decepticon whirled around to stare down at them—at least, Ellie thought that he was staring at them. Her blood ran cold when she realized that he didn't have a face at all, instead having a dark, blank visor in place on its long, narrow head.

For a moment, no one did anything. Then, not taking her eyes off the 'Con, Miko whipped out her phone and snapped a picture of him. In response, to Ellie's shock, the visor that took over the 'Con's face suddenly flickered to life like a screen, showcasing a reflection of all four of the kids' anxiety-filled faces staring back at them. It zoomed in slightly before there was a quick flash and clicking sound, like it was taking a photo of them as well. Wordlessly, the Decepticon turned his back on them and leaped up high into the air. The kids could only watch as he transformed into what appeared to be a sleek, surveillance aircraft and blasted off into the sky, disappearing for good.

"Why is he leaving?" Miko asked between deep breaths.

In response, Raf walked over and crouched down in front of a line of thick, electrical cables, where the axe was now embedded into, a tiny spark flickering from a torn wire every couple of seconds.

"He cut the hardline," he said. He looked back at them with a forlorn expression. "The dishes are locked onto Cybertron—for good."

"Hey." Ellie approached him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You did all you could, buddy. More than anyone else I know." Then, a thought occurring to her, she asked him, "You did get to download the space bridge's schematics like you wanted, didn't you?"

At that, he perked up. He pulled out his flash drive. "I did," he said with a hint of excitement. Then he smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks for buying me time."

She smiled back and nodded.

Meanwhile, Miko yanked the axe from the floor, playfully swinging it around some more. Jack had also noticed a man—most likely a staff member—slumped against one of the hardware systems. He hurried over and checked the man's pulse.

"Oh, thank God. He's just unconscious," he exhaled with relief.

"Then we'd better leave before he wakes up," Ellie advised.

They found their way back to the computer room to collect their discarded belongings before leaving the Array for good. They turned the lights on now that they knew they were alone in the building, and finally saw how completely wrecked the room was from their struggle against the Decepticon's strange appendage. Dust and debris littered the entire floor. Wires and cables hung loose from the busted open ceiling.

I feel bad for the poor janitor who has to clean all this up on Monday, Ellie thought.

While Raf went to grab his backpack, Ellie looked everyone over to see if they were alright after retrieving her cane and trowel and putting them away. Raf came out of it practically untouched. Jack had a bruise under his jaw and looked a little roughed up, but otherwise he seemed fine. Miko seemed the same as Jack, until Ellie noticed a thin trail of red inching down Miko's left arm.

"Miko, you're bleeding!"

The girl in question glanced down at it, unconcerned. "It's just a scratch, dude. Doesn't even hurt."

But Ellie was already by her side, her first aid kit out. In record time, she had Miko's scrape wiped, disinfected, and concealed in a bandage in a practiced manner.

Once finished with that, Ellie looked round at all of them. "Anyone else?"

"Uh, what about you?" Jack asked incredulously. "That thing knocked you into the ceiling and the computer, remember?"

"I told you, I'm fine," Ellie said evenly. Although she was sore and bruised all over now that the adrenaline rush and fear from the situation had faded away, it wasn't much cause for concern for now. So long as she could still move (though she knew deep down she'd definitely feel the worst of it later on).

"But you—" He started to argue again, but Ellie shot him a pointed look, and he wavered, shrinking slightly under her gaze. "If—uh—if you say so…" he muttered, swiping his disheveled hair out of his face. His eyes kept wandering downward, Ellie noticed.

In fact, both Raf and Miko were also trying but failing at not looking down—at her now uncovered prosthetic leg as she stood there.

She closed her eyes and gave a long, tired sigh.

I'm really straying out of my comfort zone today, aren't I?

"So…yeah," Ellie started hesitantly, reopening her eyes. She pointed down at her prosthesis. "Short version: fake leg. Amputee."

Jack, Miko, and Raf looked at one another for a moment, before turning back to her with reassuring smiles.

"We kind of already knew," Jack said.

She blinked once, then twice in disbelief. "You…you did?"

He shrugged. "Jasper's a small town. People talk."

"And you didn't say anything?"

At this, Raf came up to her and took her hand. "Why didn't you say anything about me being a twelve-year-old in high school?"

"Or me transferring from Japan?" Miko added.

"Because it was none of my…business…" Ellie trailed off, then looked at the two of them, who were grinning. "Yeah, okay. I get it."

Then Jack stepped closer to her, running a hand through his hair—an action that Ellie had realized was an anxious habit of his own. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you last night. I was just worried, is all. But anyone can see that you've got a pretty good handle on, you know, this whole thing. I shouldn't have been so hard on you."

Ellie frowned, contemplating for a moment, until she let out a resigned sigh, eyes trained on the floor. "Not all the time. I try to keep track of my own limits, but—I mean, come on. We're dealing with giant robotic aliens here. Who could possibly be perfectly prepared for something like that on a dime?"

They all chuckled at that.

Ellie lifted her gaze to meet his again with a somewhat nervous smile. "I guess what I'm saying is…as much as I can handle myself most of the time, it's kind of nice to have someone looking out for me for once. It took all of us to get out of there with that info, you know. We wouldn't have made it otherwise."

Jack looked around at the damage inflicted in the room, then at the rest of the kids with a smirk. "Guess we all make a pretty good team, huh?"

"Aw, yeah!" Miko agreed as she spun her axe around languidly.

Raf nodded as he put on his backpack, where he had carefully placed his flash drive in.

"So, uh, we're good?" Jack asked Ellie. When she nodded yes, he raised a hand, moving it around awkwardly, like he didn't know whether to shake her hand or pat her shoulder—or something—but eventually he settled for rubbing the back of his neck instead.

Yeesh, and I thought I was a nervous wreck.

That was okay, though. They could be nervous wrecks together.

She looked down at her own hands once before opening them out to him uncertainly. "Awkward friendship hug?" she offered with a pitying smile.

Jack gaped at her for a moment. Then he let out a quiet snicker, but his shoulders did relax, which was a good sign, before opening his arms out as well. "Awkward friendship hug."

They brought it in, Ellie sealing the deal with exaggeratingly stiff pats on the back, making Jack laugh some more.

And then, for the second time in two days, the wind was knocked out of her when not one, but two forces rammed into her and Jack from both sides.

"More like awesome friendship hug!" Miko declared as she and Raf practically crushed them under their shared embrace.

"Ow my spine," Ellie grunted.

"Ditto," Jack croaked.

Meanwhile, Miko somehow managed to get out her phone again, angle it above them, and say cheerfully, "Everyone say, 'We survived a sleep paralysis demon!'"

That got a good laugh out of all of them as she snapped a photo of them together.

After they all eventually broke apart from their group hug, Jack told Ellie, "From now on, I'll try not to make a fuss unless you do first, but please let me know if you need any help at all. Okay?"

She nodded. "Glad I can always count on you, whether it's to defend me from 'Cons, or guys like Vince."

Miko looked between Jack and Ellie, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, who's Vince? Do we hate him? Just give me a reason—wait no, I don't even need one. Just point me in the right fragging direction—"

"Whoa, 'kay! Easy there, Mo." Ellie raised a calming hand, but she was laughing all the same at Miko's hostile attitude on her account.

"What? I'm just sayin', Ells…"

Shaking her head with amusement, Ellie smiled at her companions one by one— her new friends. Then she said with finality, "We should probably head back now. Ratchet might be wondering where we are."

"That grump-bot? No way!" Miko commented, resting the axe against her shoulder. "And if he is, let him a sweat a little longer. Deflate his ego some."

Ellie laughed before she patted Miko on the shoulder with a proud look. "You were awesome back there…" her grin dropped, turning serious. "…but you should put that axe back where you found it."

"Ugh, fine," Miko groaned impudently. Then, before anyone could stop her, she chucked the axe as hard as she could and it crashed against the wall, giving it a significant dent. All four of them winced from the noise.

"For real, Miko?!" Jack demanded.

"What, like this place can't look any more trashed? Let's go!"

They began to make their way through the building, Jack taking a moment to call up Ratchet to let him know they needed a bridge. The signal finally went through, confirming Ellie's theory that the Decepticon was somehow jamming their comm frequency while within the facility.

"Sooo, Ellie," Miko started, falling into step next to her. "Now that, you know, all that's out in the open…?"

"Miko," Jack said in a warning tone, giving her a look.

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest and regarded Miko with some reservation, well aware of her blatant curiosity by this point. "You only get one question answered for now. So think carefully."

Miko blinked owlishly, before she smiled, unbothered, and blurted out, "What's the best part about having a fake leg?"

"One less real leg to shave," Ellie answered without even thinking about it.

Two seconds later, both girls burst out laughing, while the boys looked at each other in puzzlement before they just shrugged.

"I knew it. My second guess was gonna be authentic pirate cosplay," Miko remarked.

Ellie's head slanted sideways, one corner of her mouth tucked down in an 'ehhh' expression. "Well, I mean, you're not wrong."

"Ha! Sweet!"

Then Raf asked her curiously, "Are we the only ones on the team who know you're an amputee?"

Before Ellie could reply, Miko suddenly gasped, eyes widening. "Idea! We should totally prank the 'Bots with your leg! Maybe take one of Ratchet's saws and pretend you chopped it off or something!"

"Miko!" Jack chided.

But Ellie was choking back a snort, her hand covering her mouth. Then she swallowed and cleared her throat, not-so-subtly forcing down a grin with every ounce of her willpower. "I, uh…I don't think that's a good idea in the long run, Miko. Considering they don't know a whole lot about humans and stuff, they just might think it's for real."

"But Elliiieee! That's what'll make it hilarious!" Miko moaned dramatically.

"Yeah, no. I don't want to be responsible for them getting heart attacks—or, spark attacks?" Is that the right wording?

"Boooo!"

Ellie shook her head. "Besides, to answer Raf's question: no. Optimus and Ratchet have known since yesterday morning."

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Really? How'd they find out?"

"A spider-bot tried to kill me so I beat it with my leg."

"Oh cool—" He stopped short in a double take. "Wait what?!"

"Come on, Jack. Ratchet's waiting," Ellie simply called over her shoulder without further explanation, though Jack could see the coy smirk on her face before she caught Miko's gaze, both of them giggling to each other as they walked off together.

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh before catching up to them.

They eventually exited the building and made their way back to where they had first arrived, where the ground bridge portal was newly appeared and waiting for them. They stepped into the vortex, wincing from the sensation, still needing to get used to the unusual way of travel on top of what they had just been through.

When they made it out of the other side, into the safety of the Autobot base, they were greeted with Ratchet's haughty voice saying, "Well, I'd say I'm surprised that your little plan didn't work, but then I'd be—"

The Autobot medic stopped himself short when he finally turned to face them after deactivating the ground bridge. He took in their appearances—weary, disheveled, and some sporting bruises, scrapes, and torn clothing. It was remarkable how rapidly his demeanor changed—from arrogant dismissal to laser-focused concern—as he stepped closer to them.

"What happened?!" he demanded while he closely watched them make their way up to the platform.

The four of them looked at one another for a moment.

Ellie was the one to speak up first, reluctantly, "So, you know how Optimus was worried that Decepticons could be on sight at the Array? Well…"

"What?!" Ratchet barked.

"It was just one Decepticon!" Jack quickly clarified.

"Yes—one too many! And didn't Optimus specifically say to contact me if you were to run into trouble?!"

"We tried. Couldn't reach you."

Ratchet frowned deeply. "What do you mean? Who was there?"

Miko took out her phone. "Hang on, I got a picture of him."

She pulled up the photo and held it out for him to see. He squinted at it for a second, then his eyes widened with shocked recognition.

"Soundwave," he whispered.

Ellie furrowed her eyebrows. "That's his name?"

He nodded. "He's the Decepticons' communications officer. Highly skilled in surveillance and audio frequencies, and just as dangerous."

"Communications officer, huh?" Ellie muttered. "That would explain why our calls wouldn't go out. He was blocking them while locking the dishes onto Cybertron and fighting us at the same time."

Kinda have to admire the multi-tasking skills there.

Ratchet looked at all four of them with disbelief. "You actually fought him?!"

"More like a small part of him knocked us around, and we were just defending ourselves," Jack said. He then went on to explain all that happened to them while in the facility, the other kids jumping in with their own details occasionally as well.

When they were finished, Ratchet wasn't any less satiated. "You should count yourselves extremely lucky that that was all he did to you, and didn't consider you a major threat to his mission," he said. "He never was like any other Cybertronian I've met, and he's certainly never been known for showing mercy." Then, after another moment, he sighed, looking defeated. "However…I concede that you held your own against him well enough—at least long enough to get back here safely."

They all looked at each other, flabbergasted that Ratchet had said something close to a compliment to them.

"Well, I say safely, but be truthful: all of you are alright? No one needs urgent assistance?" he asked, his sharp blue eyes checking them over.

Miko was the one to answer with a scoff and a grin. "Careful, Ratch. You'll give us the idea that you actually like us."

Ratchet stiffened, then he caught Ellie's gaze. She raised her eyebrows with a tiny but visible smirk, as if saying, 'Yeah, I still haven't forgotten our earlier conversation either.'

At that, he released a low groan and turned away from them with a disgruntled air, going back to the main computer monitor—and blatantly ignoring them. He checked over the signals of the four Autobots in the field; it appeared that they were all still engaging the enemy, trying to keep the Decepticons at bay. So for the time being, the best that they—the humans and the medic—could do was wait.

Meanwhile, Ellie saw movement from somewhere out of the corner of her eye. She turned to properly look, and found Agent Fowler slowly sitting up on the stretcher, groaning and rubbing his eyes.

Seeing that he wasn't showing anymore signs of delirium or passing out again, she crossed the platform over to him without hesitation. After going up against a Decepticon like Soundwave, suddenly approaching the government official didn't seem all that terrifying anymore.

"Hey. You're awake," she said gently, keeping herself at arm's length out of caution in case he was still out of it. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I just got run over by a dump truck, then like someone lit off every fourth of July firework right at my head," Fowler groaned as he continued to rub his eyes, wincing as he tried to maneuver himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He clutched his abdomen area with his other hand.

"Yeah, that's what I figured." Ellie moved closer and opened up her bag. She began to pull out the items she brought specifically for him and place them on the bed next to him.

Fowler finally removed his hand from his face, blinking rapidly to clear his vision. He squinted at her. "Hey, you—you're one of those kids, aren't you? What…" he shook his head with a grimace, "…what happened?"

Ellie paused in her actions, looking at him with concern. "You don't remember?"

"Barely." Fowler shifted a little, but not without another wince of pain. "Last I was here, I saw you kids with Bulkhead. Then I left, then that bird-Con shot me out of the sky. I was taken to the 'Con's ship. Starscream wanted to know where the Autobot base was, and I told him to eat my star-spangled shorts."

Unintentionally, Ellie snorted at the fact that Fowler had basically just pulled a Bart Simpson on the Decepticons. She also had to hand it to Fowler; he had guts when it really counted. She bit back her smile as he continued, but that was when he was straining to remember the rest. Her amusement was instantly replaced with worry again.

"After that's a blur. I only recall feeling jolts of pain, but other than that…nothing specific."

Ellie frowned. "Well, I don't know exactly what all you've been through, but Ratchet said your injuries were caused by something called an energon prod."

It must've been pretty bad if he can hardly remember it all. Maybe that's for the best, though, she thought grimly.

Fowler started to look around him, as if he were finally taking in his surroundings. He was looking less disoriented by the second, only to gradually be replaced with indignation. He settled his gaze back onto Ellie, his face set in a hard scowl.

"You mind telling me who you are, and what you and a bunch of little kids are doing here? And most importantly: what in the Sam Hill is going on?!"

Ellie shot him a flat look, unimpressed. "Okay first off, there are only four of us here—all in our teens. So you can put the daycare jokes to rest now. Secondly…" she looked away briefly, struggling to find the right words for what she was going to say next, "…it's kind of a long story. But the gist of it is: my friends and I got caught in a fight between the Autobots and Decepticons, and now we're under their watch. We pretty much know everything about them now—about Cybertron, and their war. So…"

She trailed off and gave him a shrug, letting him come to his own conclusions on the information he'd just been given.

They weren't very reassuring conclusions.

"Unbelievable!" he growled, hands clenching into fists. "Actually, I'm not surprised. Of course they go and do something like this while my superiors are already breathing down my neck about them as it is! Team Prime has gone off book before, but this time—!"

"Whoa, hang on now! This isn't their fault," Ellie cut him off, holding her hands up in a placating manner before he could go on a full-bodied rant. She snuck a glance over to see the others turning towards them curiously at the sound of Fowler's raised voice.

Oh, great. An audience.

She swallowed once before she focused back onto Fowler, trying to get the rest of the team out of her mind. "It—it was just a weird case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time—a total accident. Believe me, the 'Bots weren't initially happy about it either; they didn't want us involved. But it happened, okay? And we're all dealing with it. They make sure we're safe from the 'Cons, and we try to help out when we can too."

Ellie gave him a pleading look. "So please, don't be mad at them. They're just—trying to make the best out of a bad situation, which is something I'm sure you have to do all the time in your line of work too."

Fowler was quiet for a moment, his hard glare not wavering. Eventually, however, he hung his head with a sigh, a mixture of exhaustion and disdain lingering in his features.

"You don't even know the half of it, kid."

"No, but I've got a few good guesses," she replied softly. "And if it means anything, the 'Bots did come back to rescue you."

"And if they had stuck to protocol like we agreed, they wouldn't have had to save my bacon in the first place," he groused.

Ellie stood still, her body tense, at a loss for how to counter that. She looked around, biting the inside of her cheek anxiously. Her eyes landed on Ratchet and the other kids, who quickly looked away when she caught them staring, though they were clearly still trying to listen in with interest. Nosy eavesdroppers. Thanks for backing me up. On the central monitor, the four life signals of the Autobots—their new friends—blinked on and on, the states of their well-being a mystery to them for the time being as they held off the Decepticon forces on the space bridge. Who knew how long they had left? How this was going to play out? How many of them would make it back? If they could make it back?

Finally, with her eyebrows knit together and her face set, Ellie went and sat on the bed right next to the government liaison, but not before wincing as she settled (she was really starting to feel the aching repercussions of her struggle with Soundwave). When she next spoke, her voice came out level and solemn, but just earnest enough to let Fowler know the seriousness of what was to be said.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened to you, I really am. You have every right to be upset. And I know how stressful your job must be. I can't imagine having to keep the relationship between the Autobots and your higher-ups civil, keeping them a secret, and keeping the planet safe while staying completely sane through it all."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it back out, reopening her eyes.

"But right now, there are bigger things happening here—bigger than you, me, or anyone else in this room. Not only are the Decepticons back, but their leader, Megatron, is too. And he brought something with him that could mean big trouble for the entire planet."

At this, Fowler whipped his head back up, his face slackened in surprise. "Wait—what?! Megatron? What are you talking about?"

Ellie gave him a brief but telling summary of what she's seen and learned since becoming acquainted with Team Prime; about Megatron's return, Cliffjumper's fate, the dark energon attack, discovering the blueprints for the space bridge, and finally Megatron's plan to invade Earth with his army of Cybertronian undead.

By the time she was finished, Fowler was…horrified, to say the least.

"So yeah, that's why things have been so crazy around here lately," she said. "Optimus and the others are up in space as we speak, trying to keep the Decepticons back."

She looked over with worry at the monitors again, where on the diagram of the now activated space bridge interior, there began to appear a strange signature, small at first but slowly getting larger. It was looking pretty bleak at the moment.

Fowler ran an anxious hand through his hair. "If this is as serious as you say it is—that we're facing a threat on a planet-wide scale—then we need to alert the Pentagon."

Ellie looked back at him with a frown. "Did you not hear me say they were fighting in space?" she said drily. "So unless you have some kind of strike force at NASA that I don't know about, the Autobots are our only hope right now."

Fowler scowled, but didn't dispute her, hating the fact that there wasn't anything he could do about it—hating feeling helpless.

Ellie empathized in that regard. Her expression softened.

"I know this is asking a lot," she said quietly. "I know you guys don't always see eye-to-eye, but in the end, we all want the same thing: to protect this world and everyone in it. We just have to put our trust in them on this one, and have faith that they'll pull through."

Fowler regarded her with bewilderment for a long moment, as if he were finally, properly noticing her for the first time. "You really believe that? Believe in them?"

"Yeah, I do," she answered sincerely.

He didn't respond at first, but then he startled her with a scoff, followed by a light chuckle. "I think Prime's already gotten to you. You sound a lot like him."

Ellie's face flushed at the mocking accusation, but only for a few seconds until she thought, Wait, is that really so bad?

No. No, she didn't think so.

She managed a lopsided smile, looking away. "Well, he is my guardian."

Fowler looked confused by that statement, and was about to comment on it until Ellie spoke up again.

"So what do you say? Maybe hold off on the yelling until then?"

"I don't always come here just to yell, you know," he retorted defensively.

Ellie merely tipped her head downward slightly with a look that said, 'You sure about that?'

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine. You got yourself a deal, kid."

"Call me Ellie."

Fowler arched an eyebrow at her. Then his expression softened as he replied, "And I'm Fowler. Special Agent William Fowler."

Ellie smiled wryly. "Yeah, I know who you are, but it's nice to formally meet you."

But then a thought occurred to her, making her smile drop as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait, you're not gonna try to arrest us again when this is all over, are you?"

Fowler bristled. "I wasn't trying to arrest you!"

"You might as well have."

"I said I was gonna put you in federal custody, that's all!"

"That just sounds like prison with extra steps."

"It is not!"

She regarded him doubtfully. "Well, either way, it's not exactly a good look on you—taking kids away from their families forever and all. Do you really want to be that guy?"

Fowler shot her an exasperated glare, but once he saw that she wasn't to be swayed, he once again backed down grudgingly. "Okay, okay. I'll…I'll work with this…somehow." He rubbed his temple, like he was already feeling the oncoming headache he was definitely going to get from the work he had to do to clear having civilian children with giant aliens.

Ellie's smile returned. "You can start by feeling better," she told him as she jumped off the bed and pulled out the rest of her first-aid items for him. She pointed at the tube of bacitracin gel and sterile pads. "For your burns…" then she offered him some painkillers and a bottle of water, "…and for your head and pain. Do you need help with applying anything?"

Fowler hesitantly took the offered items, then looked back up at her with a small smile. "I'm good, but thanks."

Ellie was about to leave him to it, but suddenly stopped short, turning back to him. "Oh! One more thing."

"Hmm?" Fowler looked at her curiously.

"My friends and I just had a run-in with a 'Con at the Giant Size Array in Texas, and uh, to be honest? It's a mess over there. You might wanna get on that sometime soon; do a little clean-up, swipe some security footage, erase some memories—I don't know, whatever it is you guys do for cover-ups."

To put it bluntly, Fowler was not amused by this new development. At all.

Ellie forced a grin, giving him a thumbs-up as she backed away. "Great. Thanks. Join us when you're ready."

She returned to the main console, standing between Jack and Miko.

"I cannot believe you actually did that," Jack muttered to her.

"Yeah, me neither," she muttered back. She swore, once the day was over with, she was going to find herself a reclusive corner for mass decompression after all the socializing she's had to endure.

They fell silent as they watched the strange anomaly that now resided in the space bridge cyclone diagram gradually grow bigger and bigger. So much so that Ratchet had to make it known to the Autobots right in the line of fire.

"Optimus! I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their space bridge vortex—one with a peculiar energy signature!"

"Dark energon. Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge," Optimus concluded gravely. "There is enough live energon coursing through it to achieve detonation, but we lack the firepower to ignite it."

Ratchet looked down with a frustrated scowl. "If I knew how the space bridge was engineered, I might find a tactical way of accomplishing that feat."

"Umm…" Raf's quiet, almost nervous voice grabbed the Autobot medic's attention. The younger boy held up his flash drive. "Would schematics help?"

Ratchet blinked, once again taken aback that humans had come through for him in a most unexpected way. Then he shook off the shock and turned his attention back to the comm unit. "Optimus, I must say, the space bridge is our sole hope of ever returning to Cybertron. Are you certain that its destruction is our only option?"

"I am afraid so, old friend. But if it means saving one world from suffering the same fate as Cybertron's, so be it."

Ratchet straightened with determination. "Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour."

Ellie and the rest of the kids smiled, touched by the Autobots' willingness to preserve their home, even if it meant that they couldn't return to their own.

Okay, Ellie thought, anticipation coursing through her veins. Here we go now.

"Autobots, take your positions and follow Ratchet's lead…" Optimus ordered his soldiers, following that with a final declaration of, "…while I make my stand."

Ellie frowned. Wait, what?

She began to wonder what "stand" he was planning on making until she noticed something on the monitor. While Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee took off in one direction, another unknown signal closed in on Optimus's position from the opposite. The only notable thing about it was that it carried the same signature as the undead currently coming through the vortex—only this one moved more quickly and with purpose. Finally, it stopped not far from where Optimus's signal was.

And then an entirely new voice came through; deep, raspy, and cold.

"Your fellow Autobots are wise, Optimus. They know when to retreat."

Ellie's eyes widened as a small gasp released from her lips, chills running down her spine. That voice…

"Ratchet," she addressed the Autobot medic feebly, looking up at him. "Is that…?"

Ratchet looked back down at her with slight alarm at her clear signs of stress, only to quickly school his expression and nod somberly. "Yes…that is Megatron."

That did not make her feel better about the situation at all. If Megatron was there, where Optimus was…

She turned back to the monitor as Optimus spoke back to the Decepticon leader, his tone firm and steadfast, "I hold no illusions about engaging your army, Megatron. But I might derail its objective…by removing its head."

A cruel, empty laugh resonated through the comm unit. "Highly unlikely, Optimus, for I am infused with their very might!"

"One shall stand. One shall fall."

Meanwhile, Fowler had finally joined the rest of them, his movements stiff from having treated his injuries. He examined what was going on regarding the oncoming invasion.

"These things are getting closer," he said, pointing at the diagram of the approaching army. "That's bad, right?"

"Ratchet, I'm in position," Arcee called.

"Alright, now pay close attention," Ratchet instructed. He then began to talk her through on discharging the energon line.

But Ellie wasn't listening to any of them; it all became muffled background noise to her. She was practically frozen in place as she stared at Optimus and Megatron's signatures. Neither of them had said anything else, so she could only assume that the time for talking was over—that they were now locked in combat.

That only made it worse. She had no idea what was going on up there, how Optimus was faring, if he was even winning...or losing.

And just like that, the worst-case scenarios were back in full-force, and she couldn't stop them this time. Her hand started to twitch. Her jaw clenched as they ran relentlessly through her mind. Optimus getting shot at, beaten down, impaled, blasted into the cold vacuum of space, burned alive in the roaring blaze of the explosion—

NO!

She shook her head frantically as her breaths became shallow and labored, her heartrate racing in her ears. It suddenly felt too hot in the room.

"Ellie? Hey, are you okay?" Jack's voice somehow managed to filter in over everything, but Ellie didn't answer, putting all her focus into trying get as much air into her now tight lungs as she could.

What's wrong with you? Nothing's even happened this time.

That you know of.

Her teeth clenched even tighter, so tight it hurt. She couldn't help it.

"Hey." Suddenly she felt a hand close around hers and squeeze, pulling all her attention onto it. Slowly, steadily, she started to relax, her breathing becoming calmer. She inhaled deeply, feeling like she had just come up for air from being underwater for too long, and then slowly let it out again, her shoulders sagging. The noises of the room around her gradually became sharp again.

She looked over at Jack, who stared back worryingly. "You okay now?"

She swallowed hard and nodded.

"What was that all about?"

She averted her gaze with utter embarrassment. "N—Nothing. I'm just—worried, I guess. That's all." She clamped her mouth shut before she could spew out anything else, not wanting to come off as more pitiful than she already was. What a time for her mind to suddenly turn against her.

But Jack seemed to understand what she was getting at—even if he didn't quite get the entire picture. He offered a small, reassuring smile. "It's okay. Optimus will be just fine. He and the others have been at this for longer than we can probably imagine. They'll come back, and it'll be over."

She looked at him solemnly, then nodded, not trusting herself to say anything else.

"Come on. I think they're almost done." Jack gently guided her back to where the others were, letting go of her hand once they stood together in front of where Ratchet continued to instruct Arcee. Ellie looked down at her hand; it was still tremoring. Frowning, she clasped it tight with her other hand until it was numb.

Keep it together, she told herself as she took another cleansing breath. Just for a little longer.

"Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump. There should be a valve."

"I see it," Arcee confirmed.

"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need do is reverse the current."

Arcee grunted with effort until there was a loud clunk! "Current reversed!"

"Yes!" Fowler pumped his fist, making the kids around him flinch away in surprise, which made him second-guess his reaction and sober back up. "Uh, right?"

"I'll ready the ground bridge," Ratchet informed, hurrying over to the control panel to do just that. Once a portal was once again activated, Ratchet said urgently through the comm link, "Optimus, the ground bridge is ready and waiting!"

"Autobots, jump!"

The immense respite that Ellie felt when she heard Optimus's voice was nearly immeasurable. At least he was still alive.

Of course, the feeling only lasted for all of ten seconds, when it got quiet as they all waited with nervous anticipation for their companions to come through.

"Do you…think they're…?" Raf asked quietly, not bearing to even finish the sentence.

Ratchet opened up a panel on his forearm, reading what Ellie could deduce had to do with the Autobot's signatures.

"Four life signals…one very faint," Ratchet read with hushed dread.

The four kids looked at one another anxiously. But then the center of the vortex shifted as the first figure jumped through the portal, landing on his feet and walking the rest of the way through the entrance. It was Optimus. He was alive. He was all battered and beaten up, but he was alive.

Ellie was not aware of rushing her way past the others; not aware that because of the soreness from her scuffle at the Array, she moved with more of a limp than usual. All she knew was that a second later she was hurrying down the stairs, straight at him.

And apparently, she was not aware of what she must've looked like to the Autobot leader as she approached him then—clothes torn, with scrapes and bruises in some areas, and her prosthetic leg exposed for all to see. Because the second he saw her, his eyes widened a fraction as he himself moved slightly faster. By the time they met halfway, he bent down, only to carefully but swiftly scoop her up before she could even say anything, almost making her yelp in surprise.

"Elinor," Optimus rumbled lowly as he brought her closer in his cupped hands. He retracted his battle mask with a metallic clank, revealing the worried frown on his face as he examined her thoroughly with his bright blue eyes. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Me?" she said incredulously. "What about you? Look at you." She reached out and placed her hand on one of the many deep slash marks on the armor plating of his forearm, only vaguely registering Miko happily calling out for Bulkhead who walked past Optimus. Now that she was closer, she could see every detail of the end result of his clash with Megatron: dents, scratches, scuffs, burn marks—even tiny sparks sputtered from certain joints on his body that looked like they definitely needed medical attention. It must've been one intense fight, one that hopefully caused even more damage to Megatron.

Then she blinked when, in response to her touching one of his battle wounds, he gently brushed his thumb over a particular bruise on her left cheek. It made her realize how much of a mess they equally were at the moment, how much they've had a rough time of it—at least by their respective Cybertronian and human standards. She chuckled weakly, feeling all the bottled-up fears she's felt since he left trickling out of her, causing her eyes to start welling up with tears of relief.

"Guess we both have our own story to tell, huh?" she asked with some strain to her voice, quickly wiping her eyes dry before any tears could fall. She knew that she probably looked like an emotional wreck, but she simply lacked the energy to care. Optimus had come back to her. That was all that mattered.

Optimus regarded her searchingly for another long moment, then his features ever so subtly relaxed. "It appears that we do," he said softly.

However, the time for exchanging stories was going to have to wait. Shortly afterwards, Bumblebee made his way hastily through the ground bridge, and he was carrying the limp, unconscious form of Arcee.

Ellie watched with a paling face as Bumblebee knelt down in front of the rest of the kids, particularly a shocked-looking Jack.

Oh. Oh, no.

"We lost one this week. By the Allspark, don't let it be two," Ratchet prayed quietly.

Automatically, Jack rushed forward and placed his hand onto Arcee's. Then, as if in reaction to his touch, Arcee's eyes slowly opened, landing onto the boy.

"Arcee," Jack whispered, his voice cracked with relief.

Weakly, Arcee quirked her lips up. "Really, Jack? There are other motorcycles out there."

Jack smiled back. "But you're my first."

Ellie sighed with a smile of her own, feeling a certain, overwhelming surge of triumph. Not today, she thought resolutely. No one is losing anyone else today.

Ratchet then turned to Optimus questioningly. "And…Megatron?"

Optimus glanced at him, silent at first, before answering solemnly, "He was still at the center of the space bridge when it began to ignite. I didn't see it myself, but…not even he could've survived Ground Zero."

His face had hardened at the affirmation, and Ellie stared up at him curiously. There was something almost…bittersweet about the way he said it, the way he looked. But before she could put more thought into it, she was startled by Fowler's sharp voice cutting across the room.

"Prime!"

Everyone turned to look over at him. He stood in front of the elevator that led to the roof. They all braced themselves for whatever lecture he was going to hurl at them.

He casually readjusted his tie as he said with a more subdued—almost, dare Ellie say it, friendly—tone, "I didn't get to thank you 'Bots for the save. I owe you one…" he walked into the open lift and turned to face them, "…we all do."

Everyone, even Optimus, looked astonished by the seemingly sudden turn-around of the government liaison. They looked at one another enquiringly for a brief moment.

But then their unspoken questions were answered when Ellie called out to him with a wave, "Bye, Fowler."

Fowler sent her a smirk as he pushed the up button. "See you around, Ellie."

And with that, the elevator door closed, and he was gone.

Optimus looked down at Ellie, his metallic eyebrows raised. She looked back up, and gave a sheepish, but knowing grin. He blinked once, then his lips inched up slowly into a small smile of his own. She had a faint feeling that she had once again, somehow, surprised him.

Meanwhile, Bumblebee carefully helped Arcee onto her feet. She straightened to her full height before she smiled down at Jack. Then Miko, having had a thought occur to her, went up to Optimus in a nervous manner.

"So, uh…now that it's over, is this the part where you say goodbye, and...tell us to forget we ever saw you?" she asked him with a hint of sadness in her voice.

At first, all Optimus did was look over each and every Autobot and their human charges with a critical eye, until he finally locked gazes with his own human companion whom he still held close. Ellie, however, wasn't worried. The way he looked at her—at all of them—she already knew the answer.

"I don't see why we should do such a thing, especially since it appears that we are now here to stay, on Earth. Thus, we shall take strength in the bonds we have forged with its inhabitants, and continue to learn from them…from you."

Miko squealed with absolute joy, rapidly bouncing off the balls of her feet before she grabbed the almost as ecstatic Raf and Jack and pulled them into a crushing hug.

Ellie laughed at the sight, and even after everything she'd been through that day, she found herself wanting to join in. She looked up at Optimus. However, when she did, his eyes flicked between her and the others, as if calmly asking her a quiet question.

That was when she noticed that the whole time he'd been holding her, he had kept his fingers curled up around her, obscuring the lower half of her body from view of the others—specifically, her prosthesis. He'd kept that part of her hidden from sight, knowing that she possibly wouldn't want the others to see if she wasn't ready.

Ellie very nearly choked up again. Even after an intense battle with his long-time nemesis—after blowing up an entire space bridge, even—he was still considering her personal feelings.

She wasn't sure what she ever did to deserve this, but she was going to appreciate it for as long as she possibly could.

Smiling brokenly, she merely said, "It's okay."

But that was all the confirmation he needed. With a small nod, he gently lowered her back to the floor, in front of the three other kids, who immediately swarmed her the second she was out of his grasp. Ellie laughed under their embrace, feeling for the first time in a long time, accepted and cared for—that she wasn't alone anymore.

There were just a couple of loose ends to take care of, though.

The second they all pulled apart, Ellie looked up at Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee with a grin.

"Hey, you three," she called up to them. "Wanna see something cool?"

---

THREE DAYS LATER….

…So there you have it, Gene. My first week in Jasper has been confusing, stressful, crazy, and at times, downright terrifying. But it was also the best week of my life. Maybe that makes me a glutton for punishment in some way, but the good far outweighs the bad, which you know by now isn't something that happens often with me.

After everything that happened, and things finally settled down, I showed the rest of my new friends my disability, and like the others, they were surprised, as expected, but in the end, they were totally cool with it. Especially Bee—the one I told you about who speaks in a different language. In fact, after I explained to them what I was, he said I was what Raf had translated to be, "Just like him in a certain way." I can't believe I never thought of it that way before, with his speech disability, but it's still pretty amazing. He seemed genuinely interested in how I managed to go about my daily life, how I coped. And…it was actually kind of nice, telling others about it. That's why I decided to return the favor. Yesterday I showed him these online videos I found that taught sign language, and if he wanted, we could both learn together. That way, Raf wouldn't have to translate for him all the time.

When I tell you, his eyes just lit right up at the offer. Literally. It must've been a while since anyone outside of the team has offered to accommodate for him—to adapt for him. The same way it's been a while since the same was offered to me in some way with my problem, until Optimus.

It's strange, really. How for so long, I let a series of bad past experiences—among other things—stop me from letting others in on this one specific thing. Can you believe that it took an alien robot attack for me to finally get the nerve to do so? Yep, only I could be that stubborn I guess. But I'm sure you'd be even worse about it. But I'm glad it happened, otherwise I wouldn't have met such amazing people, or gone to the places I've been.

And I have a feeling that this is only the beginning.

Yep. I'd say that my new life in Jasper is a complete success so far. Sure, it's not as quiet as I had initially thought. There aren't any forests or caves as I would like here either. Certainly too many people and too little wildlife, but I'm okay with that.

There are still plenty of adventures to be had.

Maybe someday, I can show you.

Until then, I'll keep you posted on how things are going from time to time. Just don't tell Gran, okay? Or she'll have both our heads. We don't want that, right? Right.

Sincerely,

Ellie

"Hey, Ells! What'cha got there?" Miko called as she pushed herself outside the double doors of the front entrance to the school, making her way towards where Ellie sat at the bottom of the concrete steps.

"Oh, hey, Mo. Just some notes for school," Ellie replied offhandedly as she closed her journal, having finished with her letter. She casually stuffed it inside her new backpack just as Miko sat down beside her with her own notebook in her hand—a sketchpad, to be precise.

"Well, check this out! I drew Soundwave!" Miko flipped it open and showed Ellie her mentioned sketch.

Ellie whistled, impressed. "Wow, you drew that from memory? You're getting better at that."

"Thanks!"

"Yeah, you really captured his creepiness," came Jack's voice, making the two girls turn around to see him and Raf approach from behind, joining them on the steps.

"That's just what I was going for," Miko confirmed to him, beaming.

They were about to go into even more idle chatter, but the sound of a loud engine closing in interrupted them. They all looked up in time to see a familiar, flame-painted muscle car drive slowly by, with Vince driving behind the wheel. As he passed them, he turned his head towards them, and if looks could kill, Ellie was sure they'd all be dead.

But what really got her and the other three's attention was the busted-up lip Vince was currently sporting.

None of them said anything as they eyed one another. However, Miko did glare right back, pointing two fingers at her own eyes and then pointing them at him in the universal gesture, 'I've got my eye on you, punk.'

Vince bared his teeth, then stepped on the gas and sped right out of the school grounds.

"So the rumor's true," Raf muttered.

Ellie shook her head tiredly. "I still can't believe you did that," she told Miko.

"I can," Jack countered.

Miko scoffed, unfazed. "What, like I was just gonna let him walk away after that nonsense he pulled? Please."

Two Hours Earlier….

Ellie and Miko had met up in the hallway between periods, conversing with one another off to the side. Ellie had been feeling pretty good about herself throughout the day so far; she had finally grown comfortable enough to wear her blue denim capris, which showcased the bottom half of her calves, along with her favorite hoodie with a cream-colored body and soft pink sleeves and hood. And other than a few stares from a couple of curious onlookers, no one had bothered her.

But then, while talking to Miko about their plans for that afternoon, she was suddenly pushed aside from someone behind her, making her grab for the wall to stop herself from falling to the floor.

"Move it, peg-leg," she heard an annoyingly familiar voice sneer, and she looked up to see Vince stride past her, giving her a smug look as he did so.

Miko stared after him, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Is that the guy you and Jack were talking about?"

Ellie sighed, righting herself and brushing herself off. "Yeah, but don't worry ab—"

"HEY YOU! C'MERE!"

Ellie's head shot up in time to see Miko already in mid-sprint directly towards the now wide-eyed Vince, her eyes alight in a blaze like a girl on a mission.

"MIKO NO!" Ellie shrieked in a panic, but it was too little too late, Miko laving launched herself at the redheaded teen, her fist pulled back in a non-stop course right for his mouth.

Present Time…

"Talk about direct action," Jack remarked.

"I'm surprised you didn't even get in trouble. I figured Vince would've at least told someone about it," Raf said.

"Pfft! You think that was my first scrap? I made sure no teachers were around," Miko bragged.

"And honestly? I think Vince would rather die than admit to anyone he got jumped by a girl," Ellie added.

"Yeah, that does sound like him," Raf agreed.

"So is that a win for feminism, or…?" Jack asked Ellie and Miko with puzzlement.

The two looked at each other and shrugged.

"Eh, who really knows?" Miko said dismissively.

"Even for us, that line's kinda blurry," Ellie admitted.

"Either way, I'd like to see him try messing with any of us again. Bet he won't," Miko said proudly.

Jack, Ellie, and Raf simply rolled their eyes in an exasperated, yet fond manner at Miko's antics, which they had grown only slightly used to.

"Anyway, what's on the activities list for this afternoon?" Jack asked.

"More dune bashing with Bulk!" Miko proclaimed instantly.

"I got this new racing game I wanna try with Bee," Raf said.

Hearing that reminded Ellie of something. "Hey, by the way," she started, "Fowler said that he finally found a couch we can use, and a TV. They're old and used, from way back in storage, but he said they should still work fine at base."

"Really? Awesome!" Raf said excitedly. "Now we can all play together!"

Jack grinned. "Sounds like 'Operation Home-Base-Away-From-Home' is just about complete."

Now all we need is a reading chair, Ellie mentally noted, although that wasn't particularly at the top of her wish list—not when Optimus was already willing to offer himself as her reading nook in exchange for her telling him all about her current book.

Discovering that the Autobot leader had a certain fascination with Earth literature was a surprise to her, but an all-around welcome one.

Speaking of…

The loud honking of a car horn pulled their attention away from one another, and they instantly perked up at the sight of Arcee, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Optimus pulling up toward the curve, Arcee taking up the front. When the blue motorcycle slowed to a stop, her holoform disappeared, which was something Ellie was astonished by the first time she'd seen it; a solid, holographic image in the form of an adult, female figure donned entirely in leather and a helmet that Arcee could project to make it look like someone else was driving her whenever Jack wasn't around to do it. Evidently, it was just another way of helping her remain a 'robot in disguise,' as they had put it when they'd explained.

Ellie wondered if the rest of the Autobots had that holoform feature too. The way things have been, she supposed she'd find out in time.

Jack, Miko, and Raf jumped up and ran towards their respected guardians with enthusiastic haste, while Ellie took her time standing up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. She looked over at Optimus Prime, who opened his passenger door invitingly for her.

She smiled.

"Right, then," she said quietly to herself, already walking forward. "Let the next adventure begin."

---

A/N- AND SHE'S DONE IIIIIITTT! We're finally done with the Darkness Rising arc! I'm so relieved. Don't get me wrong, as far as series pilots go, it's pretty solid; I've just seen it so many times now it's kind of lost its luster. But other than that, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. I may have mentioned this already, but I love it when these particular characters work off each other. These are all my children and I love them with all my heart and soul.

I also extended the struggle between the kids and Soundwave's weird tentacle appendage. I mean yeah they still didn't quite succeed in the end, but at least they put up more of a fight than they did in canon—mostly by taking Miko's already chaotic energy and cranking it all the way up to eleven. The fact that she wasn't allowed to go full HAM on the villains until late in the final season is an absolute travesty.

Miko Nakadai: Certified Ride-Or-Die Bestie. She ain't screwin' around here.

Also, an oversimplified summary of Ellie and Miko's budding friendship would definitely be the "Excuse me! She asked for no pickles!" meme.

Anyhoo, again I'm glad to be done with the pilot arc. Now the story can go full-swing into my fave type of genre to write for: Slice of Life adventure with a slow burn plot looming over the horizon.

To once again quote Star Wars on this page: This is where the fun begins!

Oh and yeah you can bet Raf and Ellie are already planning to coordinate Star Wars-related costumes for Halloween. Bunch of dorks.

-Me: *Checks Agent Fowler off the list of people Ellie has unintentionally added to her growing found family* Heheheheh, no one is safe. No one.

-Megatron: "I will use my army of walking carcasses to destroy humanity!"

-Ellie: "Hang on lemme ask my dad."

-Megatron: "Wut? Who—"

-Optimus & fam: *Blows up the entire frickin space bridge and Megatron with it*

-Ellie: "Sorry he said no."