"So, any idea what you want to transform into, Jack?"

The teen in question sighed. "Still looking. Though I think motorcycles are off the table - except for you, none of our forms are lithe enough for that."

"True….It feels weird that we're having this conversation, doesn't it?"

June nodded. "Yes, it is."

"I wonder how Jake and his team debate this."

"Maybe you could ask them next time?"

"Maybe. You think we'll need to come up with codenames or something to hide our powers from…well, everyone else?"

"I guess. Have one in mind already?"

"Was thinking Hot Rod, but that sounded too silly. So I guess it is a work in progress."

"You'll get there. I'm still thinking of one too."

"Thanks. Speaking of which, have you decided on what your alt-mode would be?"

"No. Still trying to figure out what that weird blade cape is. It felt weird the first time I noticed their presence. I just want something that accounts for them."

"That makes sense. You know, I got a little nervous the first time I saw those," admitted the younger Darby.

"Really?"

"Yeah. They reminded me of Airachnid….," he replied, before trailing off.

"Uh, Jack?"

"...So that's what they are."

June raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I said those reminded me of Airachnid-"

"Because they look like her spider legs?"

"Yeah."

"So?"

"What does she use them for when she transforms?"

June thought for a moment. "Doesn't she use them as heli…oh."

"Yeah. Might want to set your sights higher, in a more literal sense, for an alt-mode."

XxXxX

The same time, Raf's house

Raf thought for a moment before speaking into the phone. "So, um, Gaz? How is Dib?"

A rather menacing young female voice offered a reply. "Still obsessing over our classmate and trying to find out what his stupid nefarious plans are."

Raf glanced up from the phone to stare at the rest of his siblings and his parents, none of whom wanted to go anywhere close to the phone. "I see. Should we, um, consider staging-"

"Dad already tried to get him to move away from the paranormal and focus on 'normal' science. The world felt wrong until he went back to normal."

Looking up again from the phone, Raf shot a look of concern at his parents, wordlessly asking them a question, to which they nodded. "Right. I understand. And what did he say Zim was up to this time?"

"Controlling an army of 'slightly larger than normal ants', apparently. Lame."

"Uh, sure…wait, how big did he say they were?"

"I don't know, the size of caterpillars? Can't you save your stupid questions for when he comes home from his next attempt to prove Zim is an alien?"

"But he hardly ever seems to be free to take any of our calls."

"And this is my problem how?"

"Well…um…"

"If you don't give an answer in the next ten seconds, I am hanging up."

"...Fine. But are you, your brother, and your dad still coming over next month?"

"Yes. I don't think it will be that enjoyable, but whatever. Family is family and all that crummy stuff. Though I think Zim might follow us. He's just as determined to make Dib suffer as Dib is to expose him."

"Well, hopefully, we can…convince them both of the truth."

"Yeah, right. Anyway, goodbye."

The line was dead before Raf could reply.

Now that the conversation was over, one of Raf's elder brothers turned to their mom. "You sure we're related to her?"

"Yes. I sometimes wish otherwise, but she's your cousin."

The rest of the Esquivel family simply whimpered in response.

XxXxX

The same time, at Miko's host house

Miko smiled as the video chat came into focus, revealing the bespectacled face of her elder brother and teh energetic face of her younger sister.

"Mato, Sota! Nice to see you again!"

"Nice to see you too, Miko," said her smiling brother.

"We missed you!" beamed her sister. "Try to call more often."

"Eh, sorry. You know how the time zones are."

Mato deflated a bit at that statement. "Oh, yeah. Oh well."

"Yeah. So, Sota, how's the art going?"

Now it was her brother's turn to deflate, but not so much as their younger sister. "Oh, okay. Just having some…writer's block, if you can apply that to art."

"Isn't this for, what did you call it, Spirit Scale Rangers?"

"Yes."

"Are you still writing that?"

"...Yes. but I'm a little stuck at the moment…"

"Then I think this counts as writer's block. Oh, and by the way, that series is awesome! You definitely found your calling."

The boy couldn't help blushing at his sister's praise. "Thanks, Miko, but it isn't that good-"

"It is," interjected Mato. "Stop selling yourself short - you might not be as popular as Yuna, but you'll get there."

While her intention had been to encourage her brother, the mention of his friend's name only made his expression darken, something Miko couldn't help noticing. "Um, Sota?"

The boy shook himself out of his melancholy and looked up at his sister. "Uh, sorry, what?"

"Is there something wrong with you and Setsuna?"

"What? No-"

"Did you two have a fight?"

"NO! It's not like that. I just….I…I need a moment."

Miko didn't respond to her brother's distress, instead glancing at Mato and raising an eyebrow. Mato responded by sighing. "Yuna's been getting accused of plagiarism and Sota doesn't know if him speaking in her defense will make it worse."

"..Oh."

"Yeah," affirmed Mato, who then turned her attention to her brother. "Sota?"

"Y-yes?"

"I think you should speak up for Yuna."

"..huh?"

"Would she do it for you?"

The boy thought for a few minutes before replying. "...y-yeah. She would. I think. A-and…thank you."

"Hey, that's what family is for!" affirmed Miko. "We have to stick out for each other."

"True. Oh, and Miko?" asked the lone boy among the siblings..well, excluding a certain younger brother.

"Shoot."

"Are you almost done with the next set of art for Convoy Commander?"

At that statement, Miko blanched. "Er, almost - need a few more days. Sorry."

"It's fine," said Mato, "but don't take too long - we still need to do that big crossover video! You're the only one who hasn't finished up the art for it."

Miko just smirked. "Really? You already got the rig done for your character?"

Mato froze for a moment, but then smirked. "Yep, I did! And not because Yomi made me do that instead of looking into stuff on Artemis."

Mato soon realized that she said that last part a bit too loudly, and blanched as both of her older siblings smirked at her. "Eh..eh..ehhhhhh"

Deciding that they had teased their sister long enough, Sota and Miko refocused their attention on each other. "Before we get started on our big project, have we decided on the music yet?" asked the younger of the two.

"Are you finished with your guitar bit?"

Miko shook her head. "Getting out the last few chords right now. What about you?"

Sota nervously scratched the back of his head. "Not quite yet."

"I finished up my song!" stated Mato, who followed this up by hitting a button on her phone, letting loose a sample of the song in question.

"Nice," spoke Miko. "This is gonna be awesome!"

The three took a collective breath. "May Empress, Convoy Commander, and the Spirit Scale Rangers bring harmony to the universe!"

XxXxX

Jake looked at the hawk resting on the floor. "Well, we did it. We got the cube somewhere the Yeerks can't go. Not yet, at least."

"Yeah, we did. It's….weird having someone we can trust that much."

"It is. I still don't quite know how to act now. I mean, we still haven't told them about Erik, or him them."

"No. We haven't. When should we do that, anyway?"

"Not sure. Though now I'm worried for what would happen to him if those Decepticons found out about him - not sure even he could beat them."

"We're dealing with a race that, apparently, was fighting a war while the dinosaurs were still the ones in charge of Earth. I think you might be right."

"Maybe. But whatever happens next, at least we won't face it alone."

XxXxX

Omega One

"You got any results from that cube yet, Doc?"

Ratchet glanced at Bulkhead. "Only that it contains a type of energy that I have never encountered before, and which not even what we managed to salvage from the Iacon records provides any information on."

"Guess this is what Fowler means by uncharted waters."

"Indeed. And beyond the presence of this cube, we now face a two front war - Agent Fowler has made it clear that these yeerks are a whole new problem for mankind. Our scanners are not equipped to examine organic beings in a way that would allow us to determine who is a host to these parasites, so we will need to tighten our efforts at remaining disguised."

"Might be one of the only times I agree with you, Doc."

XxXxX

Chicago

Sandor and Stanley glanced down at their phones, both of which displayed the same message: FLIGHT DELAYED. Moments later, they turned to look at John, who was slamming his head into a wall.

Both felt like joining him.

XxXxX

AN: Okay, chapter is done!

So, some quick things to clarify:

Yes, that odd cape on June's cybertronian form's back is actually a set of rotor blades. I have some plans for that.

While I admit a lot of this probably is filler, Miko and Raf's scenes were to set up some of the things that will happen in Ties That Bind, so I don't think those ones counted as filler.

Regarding Sota…okay, being honest, I want all members of the Darby, Nakadai, and Esquival families that have major roles in this story to be able to contribute to a fight in some way so as to not be the load in combat, but Sota will ALWAYS be the weakest, which was a problem when figuring out what other series he would be involved in beyond Re:Creators. I've cycled through Darwin's Game (eventually rejected because the later plot arcs would conflict too heavily with what I already had planned), K (rejected because I couldn't decide which clan he would join and also because it would be too hard to justify how people hadn't noticed the stuff involving the Sword of Damocles) and a third series which is the one I decided on (no spoilers until the end of this story).

I pretty much outright stated which series Mato is from, but I'm not going to spoil it just yet. I'll probably post the full version of the song she made later, though, and that WILL reveal exactly what story she is from. It will only be readable on SB, SV, or AO3, though - stupid linking problem with FFN.

Going to take a break from this story to work on some of my other ones. So don't expect updates for a little bit. Read and Review at your leisure! This is Flameal15k, signing off.