Screeching tires echo through the vortex as a car flies through the groundbridge, nearly taking off Prowl's leg as it did a donut around the officer. She turns to face the culprit, who does a few donuts, then stops meeting her and Optimus.

"Wow! What a rush!" Hot Rod shouted.

Hot Rod's unwilling passengers tried to scream or get the attention of the other two Autobots, but she wrapped the seatbelt around their mouths.

"It's good to have you back, Hot Rod," Prowl drawls folding her arms while Optimus lets out a short giggle.

The other Autobots would walk out of the portal as well. Arcee walks over to Prowl's side and turns towards Hot Rod and the other Autobots.

"Well, that was cutting it close," Cliffjumper would say as she pats Hot Rod hood. "You got what we came here for, right?"

"Yep," Hot Rod said. "Just, um, give me a sec."

"Why?" Cliffjumper asked, "Been cramped up in vehicle mode for too long?"

"That and I haven't moved in a while; let me check out the base," Hot Rod told her before quickly speeding off.

The Autobots watched as Hot Rod drove down one of the halls; Lio walked up to Cliffjumper.

"Is she always like that?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's another Bumblebee," Cliffjumper explained, getting hit in the side by Bumblebee, "Hey, can't help it if it's true,"

Hot Rod transforms, grabbing hold of the two kids, and she opens one of the doors and looks inside. "Okay, I'll just put y'all in this room for now."

"What! No way, I want to see those other giant things!" Sari shouted.

"Or, you could just let us go; we didn't see a thing. We won't tell anyone," Sam quickly told Hot Rod, who snorts.

"Yeah, sure you won't. And even if you do, who's going to believe you?" Hot Rod asked before putting down the two kids and closing the door. She heard them shout through the door; she shook her head, returning to the Autobots as she took out the cube and twirled it on her finger, "Anyways, here it is, one mega energy source….I think"

"That's what we went to go find?" Cliffjumper asked. "A metal cube?"

"Well, it has our writing on it," Hot Rod says as she looks at it, then tosses it to Optimus, who catches it, narrowing her eyes as it grows. "It was the only thing in the garage that gave off a signal."

"Maybe there's something inside of it," Arcee told Optimus. "Like hidden energon inside."

"No, this is far greater than energon," Optimus told them. "This is the Allspark, or at the very least, another physical manifestation of the Allspark."

"Another?" Lio asked.

"Long story," Cliffjimper whispered.

"Oh, slag, yeah! So I held and brought the Allspark back to base!" Hot Rod fist pumps. "So what, does that mean I'm its chosen one?"

"Generous words for someone who woke up the moment backup showed up," Prowl told her.

Hot Rod paused, then slowly turned to Prowl, quirking a brow. "...Was that a joke?"

"So, that means we don't need to stay here and get enough energon to fight back and potentially fix our planet," Arcee said. "We can leave and find another planet to build a stronger defense force."

"It's not that simple," Optimus would tell Arcee. "We may have the means to win this war and restore our planet, but several Autobots are scattered amongst the stars, still on Cybertron or her colonies or our prisons."

"Primes right. " Ironhide said as she walked up to her side. "We can't return to Cybertron, restore it, and hope for the best with this small team. After all, Earth was meant to be a gathering hub, and the only new Autobots is him" She points to Lio.

Arcee sighs and sits on a crate, "It was just a thought…and Lio doesn't count."

"We have bigger concerns than any attempt to restore our planet," Prowl walked forward, "Is our base shields strong enough to hide it from the Decepticons,"

"It should," Teletraan 1 said, "Especially if we could use its power to well, power the shields, or at the very least upgrade it,"

"I get to work fixing our systems the best way we can," Ratchet said.

Teletraan 1 snickered. "We?"

"Shut it," Ratchet snarled.

"See what you could do without using the Allspark," Optimus would tell Ratchet as she walked to their storage room, "If there is no way, then we may need to use its power."

XXXXXXX

While Sam and Sari were looking for a way out of the room, footsteps were heard approaching the room; the pair looked at one another.

"Come on, we need to hide," Sam whispered to Sari as he grabbed her hand and hid behind an empty box.

Optimus steps inside after the door opens, holding the Allspark in both her hands. The kids noted that it was much bigger than before; Sari gasped and sighed as she looked at the cube. Even if they find a way out, there would be no way to transport it effectively. The gasp wouldn't go unnoticed as Optimus's eyes darted over to them; Sam quickly pulled Sari back as Optimus stared at the box. She hummed, placed the Allspark on the ground, and returned to the door.

Sam and Sari slowly moved to the opposite side of the box when they heard the door open and close.

"Okay, we won't be able to reach that," Sam would say as he looked at the only controls on the door, "And even if we can, we probably can't push it,"

"Look at what they did to the cube thingy! My dad won't be happy that it went missing!" Sari shouted as she walked up to it. "How did they even make it bigger?"

"I dunno…it did something weird to use earlier…maybe when it tried with them…it grew big enough for them to hold it," Sam mutters.

The Allspark would scan Sari yet again, and it transformed. It opened its parts slowly, revealing a blue ball in the center of it; the glow illuminated the room in a blue hue. While staring at it, Sari saw several pictures of giant robotic women like the ones they already visited, along with other images that most likely came from where they did. Then visions of people, historical events, and DNA strains went towards the ball of energy.

"What…just happened?" Sam would ask.

"I…I think we just had a conversation," Sari answered as a beam of light again hit her eye. "Wow!" She shouted as her key started to transform into another key. She looks down at the new key and looks up at the Allspark. "You owe me a security deposit if you messed this up."

Sam opened his mouth to speak; Optimus pinched the back of their shirts, raising them to face her.

"How did you two get into the base?" Optimus would ask

"Um, they followed me home," Hot Rod rubbed the back of her head. "And amid the battle, I couldn't let them go….so…can we keep them? The girl got some fire in her spark…though that thing doesn't" She pointed to an offended Sam.

"First off, I'm a he and I was more concerned about keeping Sari safe," Sam said.

"Yeah yeah, great excuse," Hot Rod waved him off.

Optimus looked at the two humans, then she looked at Hot Rod, sighing as she walked away, still holding the children.

XXXXXXX

"I can't believe we have the Allspark," Cliffjumper looked at the other Autobots as she spoke, "We got it away from the Decepticons, and now they don't even know what we have or why we got it,"

"It's a good thing that we have it. However, we can't use it now with all that is going on and us having no real way to go home," Ironhide said.

"We could always just call for a ride home," Cliffjumper suggested.

"Which may lead more Decepticons towards the planet to outnumber us," Arcee looks towards Cliffjumper.

A chuckle emits from Cliffjumper as she rubs the back of her head. "Hehe, right, didn't think of that."

"Clearly," said Prowl.

"Wouldn't it be wise to hold onto the Allspark?" Lio asked. "We may have it, but there's not a lot of Autobots on this planet, as you said, and it may be the same for any other team of Autobots out there. We have a way to win; now we need a way home,"

"We?" Prowl would ask, turning to Lio.

"Despite what you say and think about me, I won't sit on the sidelines and watch," Lio would tell her.

Prowl turns back around, focusing on the monitor. Cliffjumper and Ironhide look at Lio with a grin, the former giving him a thumbs up.

"So, can we keep them?" Hot Rod asked, getting the Autobot's attention.

"Hot Rod, they aren't pets," Optimus told her as she walked to one of the upper levels of the base and sat the kids down near a couch.

"Huh, never seen them before," Lio said as he approached the two humans.

"Wow, a boy one," Sari said. "What's your name? Why are you the only boy? Do you enjoy being the only boy here? Why do you look like that one," She points to Optimus.

Lio blinks, then looks at Optimus, "How…did they get here?"

"Hot Rod brought them here," Optimus turned her attention to her, putting her hands on her hips as she glanced down at her soldier. "Explain."

"Right, right. So when I called the copper over there, I was quiet since they were around. Then the Allspark just went into the boy's hand, and they tried to put it back and ensure it was secure. A vehicon was approaching, and I had to get the Allspark and leave before it would see them. However, they tried to fight to get the Allspark back; not having time for that, I just brought them with," Hot Rod explains.

"So….you decided to bring them with you….through a battlefield?" Ratchet slowly asked.

"Well, it was either that or risk having that vehicon blast em," Hot Rod says, "Besides, they had one of the best Autobot protecting them,"

"Wait, Thunderclash?" Cliffjumper asked.

Hot Rod glares at Cliffjumper, "No, not that overrated bot, I'm talking about me. The one who held the Allspark,"

"Optimus also held it," Cliffjiumper said.

"And we held it before you," Sari points to herself and Sam.

Optimus cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, "Discussions about if Hot Rod made the right choice can wait." Optimus points to Sari, "While in the storage room, the Allspark did something to her key. Transferring some power into it, making it the second strongest artifact on the planet."

"Wait, what?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Why would it do that?" Hot Rod asked.

"It would appear that the Allspark choice Sari to hold some of its power. For whatever, but since it chose her, that means that she and her friend must stay in our protection," Optimus explained.

"What?" Prowl turns around, looking at Optimus and then the kids. "Optimus, is it wise for a child to hold a fraction of the Allspark's power?"

"The Allspark made its choice," Optimus replied.

"Prime, are you sure we can trust this protoform with keeping that key safe?" Ratchet asked as she walked over to them, bending down to be eye-to-eye with Sari. "We don't know what it can do, and it's not a toy,"

"Guess you must be the oldest of the many," Sari replied.

Ratchet stood back up quickly, face slightly blue, "What? I'm not that old."

"Well, you sound pretty grouchy," Sari held her key as she said that, "And I can keep it…even if I don't know what it does,"

"She is pretty old, thought" Hot Rod whispered to Sari, only to get hit in the back of the head by Ratchet.

The key starts to glow a bright blue and pulls Sari to the terminal console. At first, she tried to fight it; if she didn't, she would've been pulled over the railing. Hot Rod picks up Sari and walks over to the console. Once close to it, a port opened while the key morphed in size to fit. Sari placed the key inside and turned it, upgrading the equipment and making it look like cybertronian tech.

"What just happened?" Sari asked.

"I have an idea, and I feel great!" Teletraan 1 appears on one of the terminals. She snaps her finger, pulling up the system's diagnostics. "She upgraded our equipment, so it's a little more cybertronain-like. The girl also strengthened our shields with that key. So even with the Allspark here, no one would know."

"That's good," Hot Rod says before pointing to Sari, "She seems pretty trustworthy with this. What bad can she do with an instant makeover key?"

"I can think of several things," Prowl grumbled.

"I don't like you," Sari narrows her eyes at Prowl.

"Excuse you?" Prowl asked.

"Hey, so we don't know all of your names," Sam said as he stood before Sari, "Perhaps we can introduce one another and then leave? We do have somewhere to be."

Optimus looks at them and nods, "Right, I didn't consider Earth customs. Once introductions are finished, we will return you to Sumdac's towers."

"Alright…my name is Sam, and she's Sari," Sam said.

"Hey," Sari waved at them.

"Hello, Sam and Sari. My name is Optimus Prime. I'm the leader of the Autobots," Optimus said.

Hot Rod then walked forward. "My name is Hot Rod, then that's Ratchet, Prowl, Bumblebee, Arcee, Ironhide, and the new girl over there,"

"My name is Lio, and I'm a male," Lio said.

'Like him?" She points to Sam, then looks to the others, "We have those?"

"Allegedly," Arcee answered.

"Well, it's nice to meet all of you. Next time we can maybe stay longer, but now we need to leave," Sam said.

"But why?" Sari whined, "This is fun. I want to know more about them, except the cop."

"Sari, I'm supposed to be on a field trip ending soon. And what will they think about us being missing?" Sam asked.

"Oh right," Sari signed. "So, how will we get back?

"Well. Sam has already been introduced to his guardian Bumblebee," Optimus said. Sam and Sari turn to face Bumblebee, who nods to the two. "But Sari still needs a guardian."

"I'm your girl for that," Hot Rod points to herself with a grin. "I can be her guardian."

"Hot Rod. I believe that Lio may benefit from being Sari's guardian," Optimus answered.

"Wait? Me?" Lio asked, only getting a nod from Optimus, "Um…guess I can…give it a shot,"

"Aww," Hot Rod grumbled, "Well, we can still hang out, right?"

"Yep," Sari gave her a thumbs up.

"Ratchet, can you open a groundbridge back to Sumdac's tower?" Optimus asked, and she turned to Bumblebee, "You can lead them through and head back home with Sam if you want,"

"Got it, boss," Bumblebee salutes; she grabs the kids and transforms.

While Bee drove through with the kids, Prowl watched Ratchet turn on the ground bridge. More importantly, they drove off with the key. She would never fight Optimus's judgment on issues, but leaving the key in the hands of a child was the wrong move to take once they learned what the power source was and what happened to it. Prowl huffed before she headed to her quarters.

XXXXXXX

The Decepticon ship flew through the clouds, out of the sight of any human device. Starscream looked at the monitor; all the footage they captured was edited to make them look good, and the Autobots looked terrible. Starscream sighs upon seeing it, and she turns to face Soundwave.

"Forget it." Starscream waved her off. "We may not need to show them that. I'm going away to think. Continue to find out what you can."

Soundwave looks at Starscream and shows her a question mark.

"Because I don't feel like it's needed at this point. At least not yet," Starscream answered. "Why wouldn't they believe us? The Autobots have barely been here for a few megacycles and never made contact with any of them. Just hold onto the footage…I'm going to go clear my head."

Starscream walks out while Soundwave watches her leave.

"And don't send your pet to follow me or spy on me because I will destroy her," Starscream warned.

Soundwave turns her head the moment the door closes. She looks back at the monitor, and a smile emoji appears on her face while she pulls up files about KSI and Sector 7.

Starscream stormed down the hall; every vehicon stepped out of her way or watched as she walked down the aisles. None of the drones asked what was wrong or didn't care to know. Once she passed them, they resumed their patrols. Starscream walked to the ship's top, and she jumped into the air, transforming and flying through the clouds and heading towards the moon.

"This pains me so much. Working alongside those humans." Starscream grumbled as she landed on the moon. "But they know something, there's something that they aren't telling me..nor is Soundwave."

She walked across the moon, putting her hands behind her back. "At best, I can hope they take some of those Autobots, lure them all together, and kill them, along with Optimus. Everyone will finally follow me if I pull out her spark and the matrix."

Starscream moved a piece of moon rocks out of the way. "Not everyone knows what occurred, Megatron. Some don't know why we're on this rock. Just a pit stop to repair her, then head back to Cybertron...saving this planet for later. Not only have this place as our new battleground. Unfortunately, the Autobots also used this place as a pit stop, they were close to destroying Megatron in that bunker, but she survived. And those blind fools would follow her no matter what, and I can only defeat so many of them. Soundwave is a 50/50….but going against Megatron would gather the attention of her other trusted troopers. Tarn and her happy band of sadists for one…and those phase sixers…."

"Ugh, she just survived every single wound, and everyone is so quick to repair here when we've been stuck in conflict for centuries," Starscream growled to herself once again. "The only reason we're working with those insects is to see how far their knowledge extends, and because Megatron restoration is being near completed…I need someone to make me something strong enough to fight her. Like making this."

Starscream unearths a protoform, and she grins.

"The possibility that can come from you. Perhaps make you identical to Optimus. Maybe with her energon and alt mode, you may be as strong as her." Starscream grin. "Once we gather what we need, we will leave this rock and return to Cybertron."

Starscream grabs the Protoform and flies toward the Sector 7 base.

XXXXXXX

Agent Simmons stood outside the base with a squad of soldiers. They watched as Starscream floated down with something in her hand that looked like a silver women's body—something close to a mannequin in appearance.

"You brought us a gift. You shouldn't have," Simmons told her.

"I was feeling generous," Starscream giggled. "So, how is finding our fugitives coming along?"

"Kinda here to find something when you don't know where to look," Simmons answered. "However, there was something near Sumdac's tower. Would you happen to know anything about a fight? Or women in purple armor on the floor?"

"No. I've been off getting this. However, it sounds like our fugitives were active in that area." Starscream answered. "Perhaps we can find a way to lure them out or find them."

"Oh really?" Simmons asked. "Well, why don't you come inside and bring your gift with us….but what is it?"

"A blank canvas to create your version of us. I figured we could keep this between us. You get to have this for protection when we finally leave this planet. However, I want to choose who its model after," Starscream told him.

"If we find the same one, we're going to replicate to our likings," Simmons told her.

"Or indeed you will, and I will help take them out to the best of my ability," Starscream grins. "So, shall we begin?"

XXXXXXX

"So. What have I missed?" Hot Rod asked

"Not a lot," Cliffjumper told her. "Mainly just some decorating, finding the little traces of energon and getting it, then finding him."

"Oh, right. I've been meaning to ask…how?" Hot Rod asked.

"Said he came from the future and another universe," Cliffjumper points to him. "He barely remembers anything, so don't ask for specifics."

"I see" Hot Rod nods, turning to face Lio. "Yo! Lio, come here."

Lio looks up at Hot Rod, and he walks over to her. "Yes?" Lio asked.

"So, why do you want to fight with us?" Hot Rod asked.

"It feels right, and why wouldn't I help?" Lio replies with a shrug. "Though Prowl doesn't seem to like that…or like me that much."

"Eh, don't worry about her," Hot Rod waves her hand dismissively. "She wasn't like that before a certain thing happened, but she still wasn't that bad even after that. She's probably just upset like Optimus."

"Upset about what?" Lio asked.

"Cybertron isn't as desolate as you may think. Mainly Autobots evacuated, but many stayed behind to hold the planet. More Decepticons are there, and many are fighting alone." Hot Rod says. "Then there are others around the stars patrolling or hidden on different planets. Some are still guarding our prison. We're pushed back badly and stretched across the stars."

Lio would nod his head. He doesn't know how the war is going in this universe, but from the sounds of it, the war is still going strong while the Autobots are on Earth, or at least a small number of them. He still doesn't know what exactly happened to Megatron here, but Starscream is currently in charge, and if all Starscreams are alike, not many of them willingly follow her orders.

"I see," Lio finally said. "Well, I hope I could help any way I can…and the Allspark would be enough."

"It should be," Cliffjumper replied.

"Well, heavy stuff aside…what's up with your build?" Hot Rod asked. "Besides being the opposite sex, you look like an Optimus recolor…just add white."

"I don't know the exact reason why I look like Optimus, but I speculate that every leader class would look like him," Lio looked at his hands as he spoke before glancing at Hot Rod.

"Hopefully, you're as strong as her," Hot Rod walks around him, touching the painted flames on his body, "I like the flames, but there can only be one cool Autobot rocking flames,"

Cliffjumper giggles, "He's not as strong as Optimus. Don't know where he ranks,"

"I'm stronger than you," Lio quipped. "Probably the second strongest here."

"Oh, are you now?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Indeed I am," Lio told her, "And when I get used to this new body and size, it won't even be debatable,"

"Size?" Hot Rod asked.

"Don't worry about it," Lio quickly glanced at her before turning back to Cliffjumper, "We could spar to settle this,"

"I have a better idea," Cliffjumper grins.

"I know where this is going," Ratchet grumbled as she opened a groundbridge.

Prowl walked over to them, raising her left leg without turning around. Seconds after, Bumblebee came speeding through the groundbridge. "Do you think now is the best time to fool around? Instead of rearranging the base? Or going on patrol?"

"Eh, work hard, play hard, Prowl," Hot Rod answered. "Besides, we got the Allspark; what will the Decepticons do now?"

"And besides their army of drones, most of their best troops are probably getting patched up. Especially the medic," Cliffjumper answered as she dropped a crate in the center of the room; she then pushed two smaller boxes on both sides and sat on one. "Alright, Lio, sit on the other one, then place your elbow on the crate."

Ironhide chuckled as she walked closer to them, folding her arms, "Oh, I got to see this,"

AN: Hey, everyone. Sorry for the very long wait, things got in the way, went through some things like creative withdrawal and such, but I'm back. I plan on replacing the first Lio story with something else, and I'll rewrite the first chapter for the new Stinger story. My Godzilla stories will continue, and so will the Rwby one I have; I watched Rise of the Beast.

So I had plans for ROTB since I started this story, I wrote out until the third saga, and ROTB was there. I did a lot of guesswork, and some things were written; of course, the events leading up to it and surrounding it would be much different when I get to that section, but it did inspire me to make some changes, and I enjoyed the feel of it, like a smaller yet bigger scale…guess I was a sucker for that one car scene. My initial viewing of the movie was that it was great, lower than most of the Bayverse and Bumblebee, but reasonable. After a second rewatch, it ranks higher than before. The overall feel of the movie was good, some things could've been better, but that's with all movies, and while Scourge was cold, he wasn't colder than Lockdown, and Battletrap is just great, anyways. See y'all next time.

IceEmperor26 out!