Merry (late) Christmas and Happy New Year! Sorry for the delay, I had college homework to work on.
NOTE: You're probably wondering why Arcee likes talking to Sean often. This is because Jack and Sean are the oldest of the humans and have more responsibility for themselves and the other two kids. Think of it like a relationship between the parents and the oldest kid in a family. But that doesn't mean she will fall in love with him.
INFO:
- "text"- regular speaking
- 'text'- Someone thinking to himself
-"TEXT" - story transition
All references to actual characters, movies, books, etc. are purely intentional. All references belong to their rightful owners.
Sean's guardian is Optimus Prime, but Bulkhead will swap in when he is busy on leader activities or is being repaired.
Sean Rodriguez and his family are, so far, the only OCs in the story.*
BEGIN STORY
Thursday, December 8th, 2010. Second Day of Finals.
Bulkhead strolled towards the small town of Jasper, quietly whistling an old tune from Cybertron to himself. His mind, or processor in robot terms, drifted to memories of old, and often recapped what he experienced out loud, but quieted whenever he drove near cars or humans.
There was a good memory in the last month.
-FLASHBACK-
"And the Cons would've been scrap metal if I hadn't been distracted by the human," Arcee explained to Optimus, who watched the green screen of the monitors, searching for any signals of either Cliffjumper or the Nemesis.
But the mere mention of 'human' snapped him out of focus. He turned his optics at her, Bee, and Bulk who stood nearby. "Human?"
Bumblebee spoke in whirs and beeps, ":There were actually three humans, all boys. Two teenagers and one charge- er...child.:"
"Three boys," Optimus grunted. He didn't like where this was going. Three humans saw the team in action, and were nearly attacked by the Decepticons.
"I guess the second and third caught us in action, I don't know, I was busy at the time," Arcee stated while slightly raising her hands. She didn't tell them at the time of the report that she nearly ran over the second teenager while driving into the canal.
"Bee, you said they escaped through the sewage pipe?" Bulk asked the scout, who replied ":Yeah, that's where they went.:"
"If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as an ally would be at great risk," Optimus furrowed his metal brows. Turning towards Ratchet, who was already at the keyboard, he ordered him to go on the database for the town of Jasper, narrowing down any popular places where the humans might've been.
In the meantime, he asked for physical descriptions of the three humans. Arcee described the first, Jack Darby, as she knew the name after the second teenager, "Sean," called him out for being inches away from running him over. Arcee also gave the details of Sean, while Bumblebee lastly explained the child with the glasses, who they didn't figure out the name of yet.
"There's a few education centers around town, I suspect the humans attend one of them. I'll narrow them down," Ratchet announced, before clicking the first, that being the most popular on "Google Maps"- the Memorial School.
He clicked on it before using the database to narrow down yearbook photos of the students in all grades.
"Jackson Ray Darby, ninth grade," the medic stated after finding a match. "That's him," Arcee confirmed with an edge in her voice. What she didn't tell them, also, was the fact that he checked her out earlier, and she did not like that at all.
"There are at least four humans named Sean on here, which one did you see?" the medic asked the femme. She scanned the images before pointing at the second one. A blonde-haired teenager with dark eyes.
"There are lots of children in the school with glasses, Bumblebee. You'll have to be specific."
Bee explained while the medic ran through the database. Before he could inquire, the scout pointed at the fourth image. ":That's the kid!:" Bee beeped.
And from there Optimus assigned the bots as the humans' means of transport. They needed to see him in order to understand what they just saw. And after learning how the school schedule worked, they planned on picking up the humans after class ended tomorrow.
And that was how their relationships with the humans began.
-END FLASHBACK-
Bulk reminisced before finally pulling up to the school. He made sure to turn on the radio to play rock and roll music for Miko, because that's her favorite type. But then he sighed as there were no other humans in sight. The kids were right about one thing...
MEANWHILE, AT THE AUTOBOT BASE
It's been fifteen minutes since Bee, Arcee, and Optimus drove Rafael, Jack, and Sean to the base. The kids are now used to them being their cars (and truck, too), but Sean, being slightly anxious, kept looking up at the sky or around the area while being transported. When Optimus asked why, Sean explained he had a nightmare about being captured by the Cons.
"I was back in the canal, where me, Raf, and Jack first met Arcee and Bumblebee, but there was no sewage pipe for us to escape the battle. The two were knocked out, and...and we were captured and flown away from our homes." He felt sweaty recalling what happened. "Thank God that was not real."
And Optimus agreed.
Back at the base, Sean and Jack were studying for the last two final tests, before deciding to take a break.
"Miko's been gone for a while," Raf pondered, "what happened to her?"
"Oh, she got detention," Jack crossed his arms.
"I think it's because she acted against Vince," Sean scratched his head. "I heard him being sent to the doctor's office for something, and there were rumors that she caused that."
"Wait," Rafael swung his head toward the blonde, "Miko can fight?" his brows curved.
Just then Bumblebee walked over to the railing where the kids were and beeped at them. "Hmm, alright. Sean, you wanna do some exercises?"
That got his attention alright. "Wait, exercises? I'm sorry, but we have finals tomorrow- we don't want to mess up our science class tests. Besides, we all agreed that exercises come after studying."
":You only have one test to study for, and you can do it afterward. Besides, based on what happened a few days ago, I believe it is best to take a break and exercise.:" Bumblebee chirped. Rafael repeated what he said to the blonde, who thought about it for a moment.
'He does have a point,' Sean pondered, before finally agreeing to the proposal. Jack, however, had to stay behind due to his two tests tomorrow, and both are really hard.
Later, Raf was panting as he looked down the hallway, where Sean and Bumblebee stood. They are doing running exercises down the hall, sometimes jogging, other times running from an imaginary Decepticon.
The child felt his heart pounding against his chest, but he had to imagine the scenario again. Soundwave was attempting to grab him, and there was no time for breaks.
He broke from the wall and ran back as fast as he could. Within seconds he panted loudly. And after at least fifteen seconds, Raf stopped after passing Bumblebee's right foot. The kid slumped over onto his legs while catching his breath.
"And...41 seconds!" Sean exclaimed as he stopped his watch. "Good job, Raf."
"I'm getting slower," Raf panted, "yesterday (pant) I was 35 seconds."
"Hey, it's alright. You just...gotta regulate your exercises. I know the finals are hard, but exercising is actually good for the mind," Sean explained.
Raf looked up at him. "I thought it's good at making muscles?"
The blonde went on to tell him that exercise helps both the brain and body, but brain-wise it can help train the thinking process and knowing memories. Rafael was intrigued, before saying, "Well, if I want to be better at memorizing things, I should probably do this every day."
"Well, as long as this war lasts," Sean glanced at Bumblebee and the other Autobots in the main room, "that's pretty much the plan."
":Alright! Sean, your turn!:"
"Bee says it's your turn," the kid wiped the sweat from his glasses. Sean nodded before resetting the watch and repositioning himself to face the end of the hallway.
'Okay, Sean. You're on the Decepticon base. The guy with the tentacles is chasing you, and the Bots are on the other side.' Sean began running through the scenario in his head. His previous scar from that Con in the telescopes began aching more. 'Who was that guy again? Soundwave?'
He pushed that aside and stared at his ghostly friends in front of him, shouting for him to run. In an instant, Sean started his watch before taking off to the hallway as fast as he could.
Meanwhile, Jack was busy reading his history notes out loud when a loud shift of metal echoed from the driveway tunnel. The dark-haired teen turned to see Bulkhead drive into the room, before opening his door to let Miko out.
"You sound like my parents!" Miko shot at Bulkhead as she got out. The Autobot, now in his robot form, asked, "Aren't your parents Japanese?"
"They speak a different language, but you say the same things!"
"That's because we want the best for you, and that means making sure you go to school, not jail!" Bulkhead explained as he and Miko stood near Ratchet.
"Uh oh, what'd you do?" Jack asked her out loud. She shushed him in response, before the Wrecker lowered himself to her level. "Miko, before I became a warrior, I was a laborer- construction. I can build stuff, I can break stuff, and that's it."
"I love breaking stuff. I just want to be like you, Bulk!"
The Autobot groaned. "Why do you want to be like me, when you could become a medic, like Ratchet?"
"I'm detecting a fresh Energon pulse, in the nation known as Greece," Ratchet exclaimed, catching everyone's attention. "In an ancient city, quite historic I believe." Indeed, the monitors were scanning the country with a signal located near the southern coast.
"Ancient Greece, huh? Oh field trip~," Bulkhead encouraged his human friend. Her eyes widened-
"You guys aren't planning on going there, aren't you?" Sean, who finished his exercise, finally spoke up, catching Bulk and Miko's eyes and optics. They just finished their exercises when Miko arrived.
"Why else? It's an Energon signal, meaning something, or someone, of significant importance to us is on your planet. And if it just popped up, that means the Cons must've detected it, too," Bulkhead explained.
"Well, I know that," Sean replied, before looking at the foreign exchange student, "It's just the last time Miko went through the groundbridge with you, we had to rescue her and Agent Fowler from the Decepticons because she went on without us knowing." The memory of her daredevil attempt was still fresh in everyone's mind.
"I can understand why, but I'll keep an eye on her, I promise," the Wrecker returned. Soon, Optimus Prime and the other bots were listening in on the talk.
"Well, who knows if she tries that trick again? She is pretty fast and curious, and I don't trust her going alone," Miko glared at Sean when he said that to her guardian. "Sean, as far as we know, the Decepticon base isn't there, so it won't be that serious. Besides, I learned my lesson," she shrugged her shoulders.
Sean, with his arms crossed, still didn't trust her, but before he could continue his argument, Optimus intervened. "I agree, Sean. Though Miko has learned her lesson of not joining our battles, I believe that this Energon pulse needs to be investigated immediately." His optics turned down at the blonde-haired human and added, "Sean, since you're more cautious of her, I suggest going with them to watch and assist her."
"Gotcha, watch duty it is," Sean nodded at his guardian, before smirking at Miko. Bulkhead carried her backpack to the railing where Jack was, just so she wouldn't lose it while in Greece. Sean's stuff was already there, so he didn't have to worry about it.
"If anything happens there, let us know," Arcee piped in. "I will, 'Cee," Bulk whistled as he walked over to the bridge tunnel. Miko and Sean soon joined him.
'Time for that tingly feeling again,' Sean thought as he checked his phone battery. It was at 79%, so that was good, in case he needed it for emergency calls. As he tucked it inside his pocket, Ratchet ignited the tunnel with the familiar bright green light.
MEANWHILE, ONBOARD THE NEMESIS
Knockout was in the infirmary, inspecting the body of their former leader, Megatron. He, despite being an experienced medic compared to the other two, was ordered to not work on the warmonger's body. Instead, he was put as a medical assistant to the chief medic, Makeshift. And that meant he had to heal only the Decepticon troopers, not the high command.
But the very chief himself rested on the small bed before him. What was once the best spy agent for the cause is nothing but a pile of ash-covered metal parts. The biggest piece left was the upper torso, head, and left shoulder together, now all drained of Energon as per protocol. Any trooper who fell on the battlefield or onboard the Nemesis must have their fluids drained so as to conserve the Energon storage.
Knockout sighed, "How the mighty have fallen," while removing the sucking devices from Makeshift's body. Just then, he heard an announcement over the loudspeaker: "MEDICAL ASSISTANT KNOCKOUT, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE. MEDICAL ASSISTANT KNOCKOUT, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE."
The said Con walked out of his room and headed down the purple-lit hallway, before soon entering the room. Lord Starscream stood at the helm of the bridge, watching the vapor clouds streak with lightning. Soundwave stood nearby, turning his visor toward him upon stepping foot inside.
"It's about time, Knockout. I do not enjoy waiting," the leading seeker snarled while watching the thunderstorm outside the windows.
"It has been a long drive, Starscream. I am still picking bugs out of my servos," he replied.
The silver Con turned his glare at him at last. "Ah, you're one of those people."
"Come again?"
"Why would a self-respected Decepticon like you choose an automobile as their alt-mode," the leader walked around Knockout with his optics staring through the latter's, "when they could have flight?"
"I like the way my radios work with my steel bills," he slightly smirked.
Starscream inwardly sighed, before revealing to him the reason for his arrival. "Due to the untimely demise of our great chief medic, Makeshift, I have decided to put you in his position instead. Not just because you're the only one left, but because you also are more experienced in the field."
He motioned for Knockout to follow him. "From that moment on, you'll have to handle taking care of all of us." They walked down the hall.
"Including Megatron?"
"Yes," Lord Starscream nearly snarled, "him, too." The seeker then turned toward Soundwave, who followed them, and ordered, "send a broadcast to our outposts across the galaxy, that we need more trooper reserves here on this planet. And we need stronger ones, too."
The silent Decepticon nodded his head before doing just that.**
MEANWHILE, IN DELPHI, GREECE
The groundbridge portal opened up at a lonely Greek-styled theater, and Bulkhead drove through with ease, before grinding to a halt near the edge of a small ledge. "Here we are!" he proclaimed.
Both Sean and Miko climbed out, while still rubbing their arms. Despite being inside the vehicle, the tingly sensation was still there. In fact, while traveling through the portal, the green sparks phased through Bulkhead's doors and windows and touched the humans, giving them the tingly feeling again.
The sky surrounding the landscape was already dark, almost pitch black if not for the full moon. Whereas in Jasper, it was around 4:30 in the evening, the morning sun was already puncturing its rays into the sky, despite being a little off the horizon.***
"Suh-weet!" Miko exclaimed, ignoring the tingly feeling, and jogged over to the ledge, where an excavation site was near the Greek marble ruins. Sean kept an eye on her, but the sites too cannot be ignored. 'Wow, we're actually in Greece! I never imagined seeing these relics up close.'
And the weather was pretty cold, too. Despite the lack of clouds in the sky, like in Jasper, the wind was barring down over the mountains, bringing a slightly colder temperature. And despite being warm in his red sweater and jeans, Sean was slightly rubbing his hands together.
"So. what are we doing in Greckovile?"
"I'm scouting Energon. You are doing research for your history report," the Wrecker replied.
"Wha- you punked me, Bulk? Not cool!"
"Hey, let's take a look at these pillars, Miko," Sean called. The Japanese student grunted before heading over to him, leaving Bulkhead by himself.
"Huh, signal's strong," the Wrecker muttered, before scanning the scene. "It says here humans made contact with Energon veins, and they don't even know it." He continuously looked around before noticing the mural on a lonely wall. An illustrated human male held...
"Woah," Bulkhead widened his optics. "That's Cybertronian!"
MEANWHILE, ONBOARD THE NEMESIS
Knockout was back in the infirmary with Starscream. This time, they were now looking over their former leader's body, which was still hooked up to these massive Energon pipes to keep him alive.
"We had hoped that with his recovery from space," Lord Starscream slightly groaned on the inside, "that he would make a quick recovery with these Energon tubes. Unfortunately, our great Lord Megatron has been like this for quite some time, about ten Earth solar cycles, to be exact. Since Makeshift's demise, our people took a vote, and decided that someone, with more experience, can take his place."
The red sportscar Decepticon replied, "Well I've done plenty of bodywork, Starscream, but I'm better at breaking than fixing him. (sigh) It would be better if I had my assistant."
"I summoned both of you, where is he?"
"We had a fresh Energon pulse when you called. Breakdown will come when he is done with it," the chief medic smiled at his commander.
MEANWHILE, IN DELPHI, GREECE
Sean Rodriguez decided to snap a few photos of the pillars and the ancient theater surrounding them. He even decided to snap a selfie before the large seats.
'So far, Miko's done nothing crazy, yet,' Sean observed her before looking at the photos he took on his phone.
"Why would the Ancient Greeks paint an Energon Harvester?" Bulkhead pondered aloud as he observed the mural before him.
Miko, who overheard him, quickly jogged over to his side. "You know what that round thing is? You're smarter than you think!" She exclaimed as she snapped a photo of the mural.
Sean was about to head on over to the gang when he noticed the ground appeared to slightly shake. He looked around before-
"And dumber than he looks," a new voice thundered. The trio turned around to see a giant figure approach them from the top of the theater. Despite not having good sight to see who it was, the humans realized that the bulky shape of this guest is another robot. And the sound of his voice meant he was not here to say hello.
"Breakdown," Bulkhead grunted as he got into a defensive position.
'Aw crap,' Sean thought to himself. 'He sounds like trouble!' And he quickly backed up to where Miko and the green robot stood.
"You know this guy?"
"We...had a history," the wrecker replied to her.
"And the bot has some pets!" The robot's yellow eyes stared down at the humans, earning a look of shock and then disgust. 'P-pets?! Who the hell calls-'
"Do they play catch?" The Decepticon, Breakdown, continued before turning and grabbing a nearby ancient pillar from what could've been part of a temple, before snapping it off the ground.
'...us pets?' Sean narrowed his eyes at the scene. 'Wait, is he...'
Breakdown then turned to face the three before him, now carrying the pillar in his mechanical hands. Sean's fears soon came true as the robot then lifted it above his shoulders.
Breakdown swung his arms before releasing the pillar toward the humans. "Catch!"
"MIKO GET DOWN!" Sean shouted as he turned and shoved her and himself down onto the ground at least eight feet away from their original positions. Despite getting out of the way, Bulkhead stepped in and blocked the pillar with his large arm, causing it to shatter into pieces and lots of dust.
But the dust masked Breakdown as he rushed toward the Autobot and threw him down into the construction site below. While being hurled down, the Con regained his grip before throwing him again, but this time at the mural itself. The wall smashed into pieces as a result, destroying all evidence that the picture was there. Breakdown landed only a couple of feet before him, eagerly waiting for the Autobot to get up and fight back.
"Breakdown, honey?" A voice spoke on his comm.
"Knockout, what's up?"
"Wrap it up, Lord Starscream wants you here immediately."
Breakdown would've pouted if he were but a charge. But, orders are orders. He sighed, before dashing aside any thought of pounding his arch-rival to scrap.
"Oops, I hope the pretty picture wasn't too important," the Con shrugged before transforming into a large muscle SUV and drove away from the scene.
Meanwhile, Sean and Miko quickly jogged down to where the wrecker was. Miko watched the enemy car drive away while Sean watched Bulkhead struggle to get up. "Are you alright?"
"Heh, I'm alright," the green robot muttered, before looking at the wreckage around him. "I told you I'm good at breaking things."
"I'll always have your back, Bulk! I got us a picture of the picture!" Miko smiled as she pulled out her cell phone and waved it at her guardian. Both Bulk and Sean sighed in relief upon seeing her camera. "Well, that's one good thing out of this."
The Autobot nodded, before turning on his comm channel. "Ratchet, we need a bridge back to base. We found something interesting."
As the trio prepared themselves for departure, Bulkhead sighed as he removed any cramps from his shoulders (or whatever these aliens call their version of cramps), "Sorry this trip got cut short, guys. I promise we'll stay longer for homework some other time. But whatever I saw back there just made things more complicated."
"It's alright, Bulk. I'll just ask RAF for his computer," Miko replied, before suddenly widening her eyes. "Wait, before we go!"
She suddenly dashed to Sean before grabbing his shoulder and snapping a selfie of them both on her phone. Sean was caught off guard because she was so fast, and, well, if you saw his face in the picture, you'd be laughing your arse off.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE AUTOBOT BASE
When the trio returned, Bulkhead and Miko explained everything to the Autobots what they saw back at Greece, with the wrecker going into depth on the mural. "The picture was giving off the Energon signal you detected, but not before Breakdown showed up and smashed me right through it," he clenched his metal fist upon mentioning the Decepticon.
"Breakdown? *sigh* Wonderful," Arcee crossed her arms while groaning at his name.
Optimus' memory processor instantly shot back to that fateful night on Cybertron upon hearing that name. Breakdown was smirking, holding his blaster rifle at Bumblebee while Megatron held Elita-One by her throat, his blade ready to strike-****
"NO," he mentally ordered himself as his metal fists clenched. Rafael noticed this, but never understood what was really going on. The announcement by Bulkhead drew his attention.
"But that happened after I took a picture of the picture!" Miko exclaimed, before opening her phone to reveal the photo. Ratchet turned around and lowered himself to get a better look at the picture. After squinting his blue optics, he told Miko to transfer the photo to the monitors. Rafael charged her phone with the outlet near the large computer systems, and soon the picture was seen on the green monitors.
"It is indeed an Energon harvester," Optimus Prime pointed at the image projected on the green monitors.
"A tool used by the ancients to remove raw Energon from rocks and other materials," Optimus further explained.
"Greek Gods knew Autobots?" Rafael asked the leader.
"No," he shook his robot head, "it was likely given as a gift to a well-earned era. This mural is most likely a sight post for the harvester itself."
"Optimus, you said that it removes Energon from anything, right? And since you guys are pumping with it," Jack trailed off. Optimus quickly answered for him, "in the hands of the Decepticons, it would be a devastating weapon."
'This whole alien experience just gets better, doesn't it,' Sean mentally sighed as he listened to the conversation. First, they can come back from the dead; second, there are robot cannibals the size of a softball; third, they can transform into different bodies to pretend they are someone else, like Wheeljack; and now they have ancient weapons that can remove Energon from anything.
'Can this get any weirder, or worse?'
"See!" Miko cheered at her guardian, "you were a genius with that painting!"
"Miko's not wrong," Arcee spoke up, "how can the Cons find the harvester without the fresco?"
Rafael quickly typed away at his laptop, "With high-speed internet? If you do an image search for 'Greek God and golden orb,' this pops up," he showed an image to the Autobots behind him. The image was that of what appeared to be Zeus or Poseidon holding a golden object in his right hand.
"Is this the real deal?"
Optimus only stared at the image for a second before ordering a call with Agent Fowler. Ratchet punched in the number before an image of the agent popped up on the screen.
"So, what'd you learn at Greece?" Jack turned to Miko, who quickly followed up. "Well, not much, but we did see Bulk get thrown like a football! It was crazy!"
Both Jack and Raf swung their heads in surprise at her, before looking at Bulkhead for confirmation. The Autobot rubbed the back of his small head while saying, "I wasn't really thrown that far."
"Me and Miko saw him get tossed as far as at least two football fields long," Sean smirked. "That Breakdown guy was pretty strong."
Just as he finished, the phone call, to Ratchet's disgust, led directly to voicemail. "You've reached Special Agent William Fowler. I am currently on an intensive training retreat, and am unavailable until Tuesday."
"I hate talking to machines," the medic grumbled.
'Says the living machine,' Raf whispered to himself. Miko however heard him and nearly snorted to herself.
"Without Agent Fowler's aid, we will have to confiscate the harvester on our own," Optimus explained to his crew. But that caught Jack off guard. "Wait, as in confiscate? As in steal museum property?"
"That sounds...illegal," Raf joined in, with Sean nodding along.
"I do not wish to break human law, but once the Decepticons learn of the harvester's location, they will not hesitate to take it for themselves. We must act covertly."
Jack laughed nervously as he explained that giant robots and acting covertly don't mix. "...and museums are public, and have lots of security, and cameras."
"No problem!" Miko slid in. "We're small enough to break in, and we're not a government secret!"
"Miko," Bulkhead explained, "I'm not sure that's wise."
"But it may be our best option, Bulkhead," Optimus interjected, "the longer we wait, the more time we give the Decepticons."
"Suh-weet!" Miko jumped in excitement. "Army kid, you ready to go on an adventure?"
Sean sighed and inwardly rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he began preparing himself for the trip. He turned towards Jack and Raf and said, "In the event we find any Decepticons there, we need to remember our training, and avoid any contact."
They both nodded their heads in approval.
"Raf, what time does this museum close?" asked the blonde. The kid turned and typed away at the computer, before replied. "It closes 5:00pm, and since the museum is at Chicago," another period of typing passed for a few seconds, "which is two hours ahead of us, the museum is currently closed. We're good."
"Autobots," Optimus Prime announced, "prepare for departure."
LATER...
Jack and the others soon found themselves in a scissor lift machine, which used to belong to the engineer military company that operated the silo before it was converted into the Autobot's headquarters. Optimus, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, and Arcee left the base in vehicle modes to the very museum in which the real artifact was located. A solid ten minutes have passed, and the kids waited anxiously.
"Autobots," Optimus finally spoke on the comm from the monitors, "confirm position."
All the other three bots replied with south, east and west. After Bulkhead concluded the report, Optimus advised them to maintain their guard.
"Jack, Sean, Miko, Rafael," the leader finally addressed the humans, "I will have a clear view of you. Once you secure the harvester, I will contact Ratchet to bridge you back to base."
The said medic pulled the groundbridge lever, and the tunnel ignited in the emerald light. "Now since you'll bypass all normal points of entry, you won't need to worry about sending off the alarm. But take care to avoid any security guards."
"Gotcha," Jack gave a thumbs up, before turning on the machine engine. It revved, and Jack drove into the portal. And once the tingly feeling returned, they saw the tunnel flash before a dark room appeared before them.
THE CHICAGO MUSEUM, 7:01 PM. (JASPER TIME: 5:01 PM)
Upon getting out, Miko rubbed her arms from the tingle. Rafael clenched his teeth in anxiety over seeing any guards. Sean's eyes were like an owl scanning the room. Jack was also nervous, but easily kept it inside himself.
Standing in front of them was a tall replica of a tyrannosaurus rex, filled with hundreds of scavenged bones. All kids instantly remembered the movie "Night at the Museum" where the protagonist, a security guard in NYC, got chased by a possessed T-rex skeleton. Miko could've sworn she heard the roar from Jurassic Park.
But the statue was right next to them, and in its left hand held the golden ball. The Energon Harvester.
A series of dim flashes was emitted from the entrance window. Jack and the others saw that it was Optimus Prime himself in his truck mode. The Autobot flashed his headlights three times.
Jack nodded, before pressing a button that pushed the lifting machine up. They noticed earlier there was a security camera facing the statue itself from the ceiling. And Miko knew what she had to do. As soon as they got up high enough, the Japanese student snapped a photo of the statue itself before placing her phone on top of the camera, with its front screen, showing the picture, covering the camera lens. That way, anyone watching through the camera would see the statue, but no kids or anything at all.
"What does that mean?" Raf quietly asked.
Sean knew what he meant, so he whispered, "three flashes mean hazard, or danger. He's reminding us of the security."
He nodded, before Jack drove the scissor lift machine close to the statue's hand where the sphere was, and repositioned themselves underneath it. Jack scanned the spherical object before cracking his knuckles. Miko quickly did the same, but a little more dramatic than Jack. Raf nervously watched the two grab the golden object, while quickly glancing the surrounding room. Internally he was afraid of heights, and wanted to crouch in fear. Sean, as he always did, kept a lookout both through the giant window and the hallways surrounding the room.*
Meanwhile, Optimus sat outside the complex in his truck form. Everything felt eerily quiet, and being a soldier for eons made him stay alert. A dim light slowly grew in strength from behind, and when the Prime turned his side mirror to look, a sole car drove into the parking lot. It didn't stop to turn into the parking lot entrances, but drove straight to where he was.
Soon, the Autobot's instincts proved him right, as the car, after stopping right next to him, whistled. "Sweet rims," the male Cybertronian complimented. "24 gage? You're real heavy duty, just like my friend here."
And on queue, another pair of lights beamed onto the museum complex as a large muscle car drove into the parking lot at high speed.
"Sean, I need help," Jack almost gasped. The blonde grunted due to the itch on his bruise and helped grab onto the golden object. Rafael stood on top of the statue's hand and was trying to push it off, whilst Jack and the rest were carefully pulling it down.
"It's...so...hard!" Raf panted after barely pushing the object an inch off the hand.
"An inch is better than nothing," Jack whispered. "Try and push it to the side, where there isn't a thumb in the way."
While they were talking, there was the sound of metal screeching against concrete from outside. Right when Jack finished talking, Sean turned to look outside just in time to see Optimus in his robot form being pushed by something in his hands, until his wrist smacked the window, causing a large crack to form.
Soon, all the humans stopped and turned to look at the Autobot, who also looked back at them with optics wide open. Whatever was pushing him earlier stopped doing so, and a small amount of smoke erupted from its rear end.
"Err, what's going on?" Raf nearly asked out loud. Jack would've shushed him, but seeing the leader of the Autobots in his robot form outside with wide eyes sounded alarms in his and everyone else's heads.
Just as Optimus turned around to face the parking lot, something moved, and a gray-colored stick with a blue light struck him in the neck area, causing the Prime to shake with what the kids realized later was electricity.
Optimus grunted before falling limp onto the entrance stairs outside. A red robot, smaller than his size, walked over before thrusting the gray stick on the Prime's head, sparking even more electricity.
"Optimus is down!" Jack whispered aloud.
"It's the Cons!" Raf nervously replied.
Sean turned around and ordered them, "Double time, guys! Come on!" The teenagers hurried their efforts to remove the harvester. Raf pushed with his back, and it moved further from the hand.
Sean took the opportunity to contact the other robots. He opened the group chat before texting rapidly: "Cons at the front! Two of them, and Optimus is down!"
Almost as soon as he put his phone away, he heard more engines. The kids looked at the window to see the muscle car driving towards the entrance at what appeared to be 45 miles an hour.
Just then, Arcee and Bumblebee drove towards Breakdown to intercept him from smashing into the window. But the Decepticon knew better and fired a missile at both of them, knocking them off balance.
The kids heard loud thumping from the ceiling as small bits of dust fell down from the T-Rex skeleton and the marble statue. Soon, Bulkhead jumped down and landed on the road towards Breakdown. The Con quickly transformed before throwing a punch at the Autobot, catching him off guard.
Bulkhead flew towards Knockout, who barely had time to dodge him, and smashed him into one of the museum's pillars, breaking it in the process. Some of the large pieces smashed through the window completely, deafening the room. The museum alarm sounded immediately.
"Masaka!" Miko nearly fell on the machine railing.
"No time to waste!" Jack almost shouted. Rafael pushed the harvester off with all his strength, before nearly loosing balance as it fell hard onto the scissor lift, despite Jack and Sean's best attempts to lift it down carefully.
Sean helped hoist Rafael down onto the platform, before Jack pressed the button to back up and snatch her phone from the camera, knowing fully well the security guards are on their way.
"Time to make our exit boys!" Miko exclaimed as the platform was lowered down. Jack pulled out his phone just in time to receive a call from Ratchet.
"The security alarm has activated, are you all alright?"
"Yeah, we're good. But several Decepticons joined the party outside. We just grabbed the harvester when the alarm went off."
"Alright, make your way t-to the exxxxx-" the medic ordered before his voice was cut off with loud static.
"Ratchet, are you there?" Jack exclaimed. "Ratchet?!"
"It's probably the scraplet damage at the base, come on!" Sean exclaimed. Jack nodded before driving the lift down the hallway. Miko got down from the lift and ran ahead of the machine.
The three continued driving down until they stopped at the corner. Miko ran ahead and pressed the switch to open the large metal door. Just as she slid through, a light flashed on her. Sean recognized the man behind the flashlight.
"Better come with me, miss," the security guard almost sighed before grabbing her arm and thrusting her into the security room. The room door slammed behind him.
"Not good," Jack whispered.
Just then, a pair of giant metal legs appeared from underneath the giant metal door. Jack recognized them as Arcee's legs as she was the smallest Autobot in the team. He called out to her as he and Raf ran toward the door.
The robot lifted the metal door up to peek inside. To their shock, it was not Arcee, but-
"It's Soundwave!"
Sean's eyes widened in fear. His itchy bruise returned to burden him as memories of that day flashed before his eyes.
'It-it's him! The one that threw me at the wall at the radio array!'
The Decepticon silently watched them through his visor, before setting his eyes on the yellow-haired human standing near the Energon Harvester. He clenched his metal fists before throwing his tentacles forward.
"Crap!" Sean shouted as he drove the lift in reverse. Jack and Raf only watched as Soundwave's tentacles flew towards him and the harvester. The blonde turned the corner before driving back to the giant room where the statue and T-rex stood.
But that wasn't enough to escape the Decepticon's clutches, as the tentacles were on him in seconds, only stopping short in a few feet from him. His hands were shaking in fear, but despite that stood in a defensive stance in front of the relic.
"If you want this bad boy," Sean formed his fists into knuckles, "you'll have to get through - ARGH!"
But before he could finish, the leftmost tentacle lunged forward and grabbed onto him by the chest before smashing him hard against the wall on his back.
The second tentacle snatched the Harvester from the lift before retracting itself. The first one also retracted with no care as the teenager fell down onto the floor. Jack and Raf watched as Soundwave grabbed onto the relic with his hands before walking away; soon transforming into a small jet and flying off. Even Optimus, who got back up, noticed this as well.
Jack and Raf ran out of the door from the east side and toward Optimus and Bulkhead, who were standing near the entrance. "The Cons have the Harvester!" Jack shouted.
"And Security has Miko!"
Bulkhead snapped out of focus when Rafael said these words. "What? I'm going in after her!" He clenched his fists-
"Bulkhead," Optimus stopped him in his tracks, "Miko may be detained, but she is safe from harm."
Rafael noticed Arcee driving out of the parking lot into the city. He looked around before asking where the Decepticons went.
":They bailed out after Soundwave flew away:," Bumblebee pointed at the sky.
Jack grunted in response before his eyes widened. "Wait, Sean's still in the building!" he turned and ran back inside the building through the destroyed entrance. He passed through the marble rubble, which thankfully didn't destroy or knock down any of the artifacts inside, before turning the corner into the hallway where he was seen last. It was there Jack spotted Sean Rodriguez struggling to get up.
"I got you, Sean," the dark-haired teenager hoisted the blonde up. When asked about what happened earlier, he explained that Soundwave smashed him against the wall from the lifter.
"Ouch, that's gotta hurt."
"Oh, you *cough* have no idea," he replied. 'Yeah, an injury on top of my old bruise from the canal and the radio station. *cough* This is just wonderful.'
Eventually, the two walked out of the entrance, where Raf ran up to a coughing Sean and asked him if he felt okay. Just then, Ratchet called Jack, who then informed the medic what happened.
"Blasted Soundwave! I had a feeling he would be involved in this operation," he cursed out loud.
"Ratchet, bridge us back," Optimus ordered through his comm.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE AUTOBOT BASE.
The humans sat near the TV listening to the conversations with the Autobots. Sean was resting on the couch on his back to recover from his injury.
Arcee, long story short, chased Breakdown and Knockout until they came back through the Nemesis' built-in spacebridge. She grunted before turning around and heading back to base. Before being sent on a scouting mission for Decepticon activity, the robot was silent, but had a grudge that was seen with her clenched metal fists. Arcee wanted them to lose their advantage, even if that meant beating up Knockout with scratches and dents.
Bumblebee, too, was sent on a mission out of base to search for Decepticon activity near notable locations such as Jasper, or the convoy mission earlier, or in the metropolis known to the humans as Las Vegas.
"In all likelihood, Starscream will use the Harvester to gather as much Energon as he can, from the planet's otherwise un-minable Energon deposits," Optimus explained as he pulled the lever to the groundbridge, activating the tunnel. "Starscream would not hesitate to turn the Harvester on any one of us."
The towering leader walked over before stopping in front of the wrecker. "Bulkhead, it is best that you remain here."
"So I can bust Miko out of the Museum?"
"So you can help Ratchet," his explanation shot down semblances of hope in Bulkhead's optics. "You may be Miko's guardian, but she requires human assistance. Agent Fowler remains our best option."
Optimus Prime turned and walked over to the tunnel before transforming into his truck mode and driving into the portal. Bulkhead slouched over in shock, his metal mouth lost for words.
"You've reached Special Agent William Fowler. I am currently on an intensive training retreat, and am unavailable until Tuesday."
"Still no answer," Raf sighed as Bulkhead walked over to listen in on the call. The wrecker turned and clenched his right hand.
"Fowler's lounging around on some poolside cabana!" he complained, before raising and smashing his fist onto a random piece of equipment nearby.
"BULKHEAD!" Ratchet raced over to his broken machine, "I needed that!"
"The only way we can free Miko is if we return the Harvester to the museum!"
"So the Decepticons can steal it all over again?"
The question by Ratchet struck some common sense into Bulkhead as he soon grabbed his head and exclaimed, "I'm so dumb!"
"W-wait, how are we gonna free Miko?"
Ratchet pulled out a giant metal ball of curved sheets, which was painted gold on the bottom. "By sending this replica back, the construction of which would've been quick had it not for Bulkhead hadn't mangled my frame wielder!"
"We're already trespassers and thieves, why not add forgery to the list?" Jack added a side comment to the argument, which really didn't help in this situation.
Bulkhead grunted, "I wish I never took Miko to the-"
"-the Harvester wasn't the only thing we found at those ruins!" He quickly realized something which caught Ratchet off-guard.
"Starscream's not dumb! No matter what tool he has, he's always going for the easy route!" He explained further, which still confused Ratchet. A series of grunts and groans made him turn to the right, and spotted Sean getting out of the couch and leaning against the railing.
"Sean!" he called out, "you were there at the site! Think: why do you think the Greeks placed the mural at that very spot?"
The blonde tightened his grip over the railing as he thought about it. "I don't know, they have thousands of murals about people meeting different gods, fighting beasts, or collecting fruit. I don't really see..."
He stopped for a moment. "Wait, you can't be...dude!"
"What's going on?" Jack asked.
"If the mural was made as a sight post for the Harvester between the Greeks and the Cybertronains, then that meant there had to be Energon at the location, lots of them," Sean continued while struggling to turn his back.
Ratchet caught on to what they were saying, and jumped in. "And you're saying Starscream would be looking for more in Greece?"
"Exactly!"
"That's a good point, Bulkhead, but did you ever detect any Energon underground or nearby? I know you never saw any above ground, unless you forgot to tell us?"
"We never saw any, nor detected any exposed Energon. The only thing we did find was the mural. But how could we ever detect any if it was all deep underground? The Decepticons have more advanced technology than we do, so it would make sense going to the mural's location."
The medic thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. But I'm sure that the location would probably be crawling with local authorities, since you claim Breakdown made you break it. The Decepticons are very discreet when it comes to Energon, and there's no way they'd go to a location crawling with humans."
"Uh, guys?" Rafael called out. The two Autobots and the humans turned to the kid, who was typing away at the computers near the giant monitors. "I'm afraid that Bulkhead's right."
Soon, the screen on his computer was shown on the giant green monitors. "By the Allspark," Ratchet muttered.
MEANWHILE, IN DELPHI, GREECE. (JASPER TIME: 5:45 PM. GREEK TIME: 3:45 AM)
"Why move mountains, when we have a motherload of Energon here for the taking?" Starscream proclaimed as he held the Harvester in his hands. "Courtesy of this gift from Ancient Autobots!"
"Err, actually, Commander Starscream, it was a gift from Breakdown and myself," Knockout interrupted the leader. The said leader grunted before aiming the Harvester right at them. Both nearly shrieked back in fright.
The yellow ball glowed softly before a sudden beam shot out right at them. The two quickly dodged the blast, but a lone trooper walking behind them was not so lucky. The beam struck Striketooth in the chest, and soon all the Energon, in a gas form, left his body and traveled toward the Harvester.
"Why...Lord...Starscream..." the trooper complained weekly before the last of his life support left him. His body fell limp as his spark became one with the Allspark.
"All that Energon, in such a tiny vessel," the seeker smirked as the Harvester finished taking the Energon from Striketooth.
"Those old Autobots never missed a trick, Lord Starscream!"
The comma- I'm sorry, Lord Starscream smirked at them before proceeding to remove Energon from a nearby pile of rocks. Bulkhead watched them from far behind a pillar, before sliding down to get a closer look. However, his right foot smashed on a vase, alerting Knockout and Breakdown to his presence.
"Oh scrap," the wrecker grumbled.
"Ready for seconds?" Breakdown exclaimed as he and Knockout ran toward him in a circular pattern, the medic turning on the electric staff to intimidate him.
As they got closer, Bulkhead ducked, causing Breakdown to collide his hammer fist with Knockout's face, knocking him unconscious.
Bulkhead quickly grabbed the staff before thrusting it into the Decepticon's chest, electrocuting him and incapacitating him temporarily.
Just as he turned around, Lord Starscream, after witnessing what happened, turned around and fired the Harvester at him, sucking some of the Energon out of his body.
"You're a big one, this could take a while." The wrecker began to feel stiff while the seeker smirked in victory. The blue glow softly illuminated the valley from the relic.
Or so he thought.
Bulkhead grunted before getting himself up and slowly walked towards the Decepticon, who began to freak out. "W-what are you doing?!"
"Doing what I do best!" he smirked before grabbing the Harvester in one hand...
"Breaking stuff," he threw a powerful punch into Starscream's face, into the wall behind him. Bulkhead crushed the Harvester in his left hand, deactivating it, before throwing it into the sky. After a few seconds, it exploded with blue gas and fire, brightening the entire valley.
The wrecker smiled before collapsing in exhaustion on his back, just in time for Knockout and Breakdown to fully regain their senses.
"He's a glutton for punishment," the Decepticon medic muttered, before raising his staff in the air, ready to strike-
The opening of a groundbridge portal stopped them in their tracks, as Optimus, Arcee, and Bumblebee ran out to join in the fight.
"Fight?" Breakdown turned to Knockout, who replied, "Hmm, drive." The two immediately transformed and drove away from the scene, avoiding the blaster fire.
Starscream, however, recovered from the punch attack, and was infuriated at the loss of the Harvester and the arrival of the Autobots. He shifted his gears into his alt mode before blasting off to the Nemesis, leaving the Autobot trio to check on Bulkhead.
"Hey~..." the wrecker weakly called.
LATER, AT THE AUTOBOT BASE
Optimus and Bumblebee helped carry the wrecker into the base through the portal, before hoisting him down onto the giant medical bed. He heard someone familiar call out his name, but was too weak to notice or reply.
"Energon loss," Ratchet muttered as he scanned the wrecker's life systems. "From the Harvester, most definitely."
"Bulkhead," Optimus looked down at the wrecker.
"Yeah," he weakly replied, "I know I left without informing you firsthand, but I couldn't help myself after realizing the real prize was in Greece all along."
"Indeed," the leader continued, "which is why I congratulate you for taking the risk and destroying the Energon Harvester."
"Huh?" the wrecker was astonished. For the first-time in a while, Optimus Prime congratulated him for a mission/stunt. The humans standing nearby gave silent cheers, but the sound of Miko cheering caught him off guard.
"Miko?" he turned to his right to see her.
"It's me, Bulk!" The Japanese student threw her hands in the air, "I'm surprised you never recognized me!"
"But, how did you leave the Museum so fast? Was it Fowler?"
"Actually...it wasn't him."
The wrecker was confused, before his optics shot towards Jack, Sean, and Rafael. "No... you guys didn't really-"
"Nope. It wasn't us," they replied back to him. Bulkhead, despite the loss of Energon, was now invested in this conversation.
"Wait, then who did...?"
"Some woman who claimed to be a substitute for Agent Fowler picked me up at least ten minutes after I was taken in. Her name was Carly, Special Agent Carly," she scratched her head, before ranting about how many police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances were at the scene shortly after being picked up. The funny thing was the radio in Carly's vehicle talked about a supposed "terror attack" at the library, with little to no sources to back that up.
"I thought Agent Fowler was the only liaison to the government?"
"He is the main liaison, Bulkhead," Optimus explained, "but every now and then several other agents would come in to take over while he's busy with something else. Agent Carly is a rare, and new, visitor, but she understands as much as Fowler."
Miko went on to explain that this Carly girl dropped her off at the base through a helicopter at the roof, which was, as she claimed, the best experience she ever had compared to flying on an airplane. After a while, the humans were brought home to their families. One more finals test to go, and they're done.
- INFO -
Fun Fact: My original plan for Sean's introduction into the franchise was for him to witness the Decepticons attack a military train that carried an unearthed Cybertronian relic. The Cons, specifically the troopers, would search the wreckage before spotting Sean, who would manage to escape. Turns out the Bots were called to the scene as well, but they didn't see him. It is soon afterward that when Sean told Jack at school what he saw that he gets taken to the Autobot base for his safety.
BTW: I found an ideal voice for Sean, which is Duncan from the animated Total Drama series.
*You heard that right, I'm planning on adding more OC's into the story, along with some characters from other shows and movies.
**In my headcanon, Megatron at this point has conquered almost half of the galaxy, and during the war established outposts in different systems for reserved troopers. Anytime the Nemesis crew ran low on manpower, or if the Decepticons needed more strength in their conquests, Megatron (or in this instance, Starscream) would request reserves from the outposts. The nearest Decepticon outpost to planet Earth is in the Sirius system.
***Okay, so hear me out. Because Miko got picked up a little late after the others, and knowing how time works in winter, it would easily be a little after midnight when Miko and Bulkhead are sent to Greece. Despite this, the sun is setting/rising in Greece (and I decided it was most likely in Delphi, since the location depicted in Ratchet's monitor is really close to the ancient city in real life). The time difference between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Delphi, Greece, is 10 hours. If it was around the evening in Jasper, it would be past midnight in Greece. So I decided to correct the error from the episode. The images of Breakdown and the mural in the first Greece scene have been edited to depict a night scene.
****In case anyone doesn't get it at this point, Optimus Prime is traumatized over Elita-One's death, though he has managed to keep it to himself perfectly throughout the rest of the war. A full section dedicated to what happened will be written and published. Stay tuned for that.
