TRANSFORMERS PRIME: MY WILD ADVENTURE. DARKNESS RISING: TROUBLING NEWS
INFO:
- "text"- regular speaking
- "text"- Sean thinking to himself
- "TEXT" - story transition
Music links: the custom soundtrack for the story.
BEGIN STORY
JASPER, NEVADA. MORNING.
Beep Beep!
Sean mentally groaned. That was a really good sleep, and he slept like a rock. He slowly opened his eyes, but his eyes didn't feel ready for the day.
Beep Beep!
'Fine!' The teenager got up and unlocked his cell phone.
Unknown Number: "Sean? Are you awake yet?"
He texted back "Who's this?"
UKN: "Optimus."
'Oh yeah, right, I still have to deal with this robot alien mess.'
SEAN: "Getting up now."
OP: "We should head back to base. Ratchet has been working all night."
'We better not be staying there until 10:00 pm again.'
He got up, pulled on his normal clothes, and headed into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth, he headed downstairs, before pulling out his cellphone.
SEAN: "How long are we going to stay there?"
He left his phone on the counter before grabbing a container of leftover eggs and pushing a pair of bagels into the toaster. Putting some eggs on a plate, he placed them in the microwave and set a minute timer.
Sean checked just to see Optimus respond: "I do not know, Sean. But until we figure out the intentions of the Decepticons, your safety is of top priority."
'So all day then. Guess I'll have to make myself lunch, and maybe some snacks,' The blonde sighed to himself.
"I'll be there soon."
He quickly grabbed his lunchbox and filled it with some fruits, and two water bottles. He also took the liberty of making a turkey and cheese sandwich.
But a thought lingered in his head: how the hell did Optimus find his cellphone number?
Both the microwave and the toaster were finished, and Sean snatched both the eggs and bagels and formed an egg sandwich. He put that along with the turkey sandwich inside the lunch box, before writing a quick note.
"Mom and Dad, I'll be gone for most of the day- I'll be hanging out with Rafael and help work on each other's projects and homework. Expect me to arrive home by 6:00 pm or later. Don't worry, I made myself lunch and breakfast! Love you! XOXO"
After that, he went to open the front door, but not before spotting an already awake Chloe
After that, he left and closed the front door from behind. Optimus remained where he was in truck form and gladly opened the door for Sean as he got inside. "Good morning," he spoke first.
"Morning Optimus," the teenager replied.
The truck pulled out of the neighborhood and began driving towards the freeway.
MEANWHILE, ONBOARD THE NEMESIS
"I don't think you'll need to worry about Autobot interference, master, not with Optimus gone," Starscream spoke to Megatron, who was still studying the massive crystal with his soul-piercing optics.
"And what evidence do you possess of this fact?" Megatron shot back.
"I destroyed the mines, as you instructed."
"Optimus is not so easily destroyed. We have millennia worth of battles behind us to prove it!" The warmonger turned to observe the crystal. He was still buzzing the question in his head: How is he going to raise an army of beastly Cybertronians if he wanted to conquer this planet?
"Perhaps you should take a break, my lord. I worry that too much contact with the Dark Energon might allow its properties to adversely affect you."
Megatron caught hold of his second-in-command's suggestion. Normally he would brush it off and continue his duties, but it sparked an interest. Suddenly, the memory of thrusting the Dark Energon crystal into Cliffjumper's corpse flashed into his mind. At once, he put the pieces together.
'That's it! Contact!'
"Or perhaps Starscream, I have not permitted myself contact enough!" Megatron grabbed a piece of the Dark Energon off of the main crystal. At once Starscream panicked, knowing well what he now plans on doing. "Wait! Lord Megatron! No! Not your spark chamber! You do not know what it will do!"
His pleas were ignored as the ruler thrust the crystal into his spark chamber. Almost immediately, he felt a surge of energy, swarming his inner Energon tubes. His body began to twitch ferociously, leaving Starscream horrified at this sight. If a human saw this scene, they would believe Megatron was being possessed by a demon.
WE NOW RETURN TO THE AUTOBOT BASE
Indeed, Ratchet has been studying this strange substance all night long. Unlike organics, Cybertronians cannot sleep in a scheduled manner. If one wanted to, he or she can stay awake for as long as 48 hours.
"Hmm, the base elements of this goo are unlike anything I've ever encountered. Must be extremely concentrated for it to affect Arcee so rapidly. Unfortunately, complete results are slow-coming without the use of proper, diagnostic tools- thank you very much, Bulkhead." Ratchet thought out loud. He carried the small tray containing the purple goo over to the decontamination bath, unknowingly spilling some of it onto his broken tool.
As Ratchet headed over to the massive tube, the substance seeped into the tool, before emitting a glow. Shortly afterward the tool began to shake violently, until it transformed into a sinister bug-like creature.
"Thank goodness for peace and quiet," the medic remarked. As if the All-Spark intended to prove him wrong, the entrance doors opened, and a familiar honking echoed throughout the chamber. He turned to see Optimus Prime transform into robot mode after the kid got out. He was glad to see his leader was all okay.
But for his human partner? Not so much.
"How is the research, old friend?"
"Process is slow, but from what I'm getting, this substance is acting anomalously. I would've gotten it done faster if Bulkhead didn't crush my machine!"
Optimus nodded and began walking down the hallway.
Sean was busily headed up the stairs when a loud echo of clattering tools was heard nearby. He noticed there weren't any tools lying around, so he assumed that a third Autobot lurked in the shadows, probably building something or exercising.
"Stop breaking my stuff!" Ratchet shouted at Sean, who nearly jumped.
"That...wasn't me Ratchet." He scratched his head after recollecting himself.
The medic shot a glare "Well come on, who else would it be?" Just as he finished talking, the sound of tools echoed across the room again. Optics and eyes around the massive room.
'I have a bad feeling about this.'
"Optimus, was that you?"
The teenager began pacing upstairs before he stopped by the railing to get a better look of the lower level.
"By the Allspark!"
Sean swung around just in time to find Ratchet getting attacked by a small object, which lunged at its head. The medic dodged it, which landed on his monitors before lunging at him again. Ratchet pushed it up to the upper railing. It was here that Sean got a good look at this "object."
It was about the size of his backpack- no, it's slightly larger than his backpack. Almost the size of his mastiff, Chloe. This looked a lot like a spider, due to its many legs, but it had a large head for a glowing purple eye. And the spider-like creature was made of sharp metal parts.
The teenager looked around, frantically trying to find a suitable weapon to defend himself. Unfortunately, there was a nearby couch, and he can use the pillows. 'Pillows, are you freakin kidding me?' He thought.
It suddenly flew down back onto the monitor set, before Ratchet swung his wrench at the creature. It dodged many times, before crawling over to his toolset and slicing his machine in half as a threat.
"I needed that!" Ratchet groaned, before dodging another attack.
The creature landed on the ground, growling at its prey, before lunging at-
BANG!
Both Sean and Ratchet turned to see Optimus come out, with a gun in his hand. No, his arm WAS the cannon. Optimus retracted his arm cannon as Ratchet sighed in relief. Sean looked at the creature, almost breathing heavily, as he leaned over the railing.
"Ratchet, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," the medic growled.
The creature began twitching, before repositioning itself in a fighting stance. That was, until Optimus Prime stomped on it, ending its spark life.
"And stay broken!" Ratchet exclaimed, before turning to his leader. "Now, what would have caused that?"
The Prime, who had his battle mask on, retracted it before saying: "I have a grave suspicion, Ratchet. Dark Energon."
Sean stared at his guardian. 'Dark Energon? Wait, so now there's a dark side to this life force? What is this, Star Wars or something?'
MEANWHILE, ONBOARD THE NEMESIS
The silver warlord sighed with a sense of satisfaction. The energy surge was over with, and he felt something new. Something he desired: power. And a new power.
Starscream, who watched the whole thing, laughed nervously before speaking, "Lord Megatron?"
"It's as if the blood of Unicron the destroyer flows through my veins, as if, I hear his very thoughts!" Megatron remarked. "I now know what I must do!" He grabbed another piece of the gigantic purple crystal.
As he slowly turned around, his second-in-command grew very nervous- he feared that it was now HIS turn to embrace this Dark Energon. "And...and what can I do to assist you?"
"Quit groveling, and await my command!" Megatron barked while walking past him, exiting the room.
After what seemed like a few minutes, Megatron walked onto the outdoor hangar bay of the Nemesis, before jumping and transforming into his jet mode. He flew towards his new destination, to which Soundwave was informed earlier.
Speaking of which, the faceless Decepticon walked up to Starscream, who watched their leader fly away. "Soundwave," he exclaimed, "I fear that when our master reached for the stars, he came down with a patch of, space madness. Lord Megatron has not been of sound judgment since his return. Increase global surveillance." He finally ordered.
Soundwave repeated the recorded order from the boss through his visor. "Quit groveling, and await my command!"
"I'm not deaf!" Starscream snarled, "But if Optimus Prime lives, I believe it is in Lord Megatron's best interest if we ensure his enemy's destruction!"
WE NOW RETURN TO THE AUTOBOT BASE
"If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought a broken piece of equipment back to life, then it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead," Optimus concluded to his medic, Ratchet. Sean listened carefully to their discussion.
But when his guardian made the statement, the teenager was almost lost for words. 'Wait, what the hell? Back from the dead?'
"Hmm, that would account for his life signal inexplicably coming back online," Ratchet thought out loud, "but, Dark Energon? It's so scarce as to be virtually non-existent. What would it be doing on Earth?"
Optimus spoke up, "It was transported, by Megatron."
"For what purpose?" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms.
"To conquer this planet, by raising an army of the undead." The prime concluded.
"Well, Megatron would need to bring quite a few toaster ovens, I mean, where on this world would he find that many Cybertronian dead?" The medic almost asked with sarcasm.
Sean mentally thought to himself: 'Well the Walking Dead just started last month, so it can't be just a coincidence. Jokes aside, why would this Mega guy want to reanimate only robots?'
'What if an organic- no, what if a human was infected with this Dark Energon?'
Before his fear could spiral, there was the sound of a motorcycle engine. And just like that, the trio turned to see Jack with Arcee, Rafael with Bumblebee, and Miko with Bulkhead arriving. Jack and Rafael were laughing as they left their guardians to shift back to their regular forms.
"Woah, that was awesome!" Jack exclaimed. Rafael asked, "Can we go again?" "Su-weet!" Miko shouted with joy. But Bulkhead grunted as something got cramped into his chest compartment. Pulling it out, Bulkhead couldn't recognize the foreign object.
"Sorry, I left it back in the back seat!" Miko exclaimed as she grabbed her electric guitar.
"Autobots," Optimus Prime exclaimed, walking in between the Autobots, "prepare to-" he stopped mid-sentence while staring down at the kids. Arcee piped in, "roll out?"
"Remain here. Ratchet, you'll come with me." Optimus finished up. "Arcee, we'll be outside communications range for some time, so I'm putting you in charge."
But Miko was not easily amused by the leader's choice. She turned to her partner. "Dude, you're the biggest one here, you should be the boss!" Bulkhead replied, "Well, he never picks me."
Arcee stepped forward, "Optimus, with all due respect, playing bodyguard is one thing, but babysitting is another! Besides, Ratchet hasn't been in the field since the war." But Ratchet was not amused at the remark. "My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing is as sharp as ever!"
Jack sighed at her jab, and decided to head upstairs to the balcony, where Sean was. Miko and Raf stayed behind.
While Arcee and Optimus argued, Jack caught up with Sean. "Hey Sean, how's it going?"
"Oh man, you have no idea what happened before you came here. You know how yesterday Arcee was infected with that substance on her hand? Well apparently it's like some sort of opposite to Energon; whereas Energon is about life, this one is about death and corruption. This substance accidentally brought Ratchet's broken machine into a creepy spider, which then attacked him. Had Optimus not interfered, Ratchet would've probably been turned into breakfast."
"And THAT is why no one touches my stuff!" The medic exclaimed, who listened to them the entire time.
"W-woah," Jack's eyes widened, "that's a lot of info."
"Arcee," Optimus explained, "much has changed in the last 24 hours, and we all need to adapt. Ratchet, bridge us out." And with that, he pulled the switch, activating the ground bridge. Emerald lights flickered as the two walked into the portal, much rather than running and transforming into their vehicle forms. Within seconds they disappeared.
"Okay, chief, so...uh...what's on the activities list?" Jack asked his guardian. Sean was busy eating the rest of his egg sandwich.
Arcee rolled her eyes as she remarked, "I'm going on patrol."
Bulkhead stopped her. "But Optimus told us to stay!" She turned to him and replied, "When you're in charge, you call the shots. Bee, with me."
Bumblebee grumbled with beeps before walking off. "You're in charge," Arcee replied before transforming and driving away with Bumblebee.
"So, uh, what's on the activities list?"
'Very fun- Gah!' Sean and the boys covered their ears as Miko turned on one of her giant stereos, which she connected her electric guitar. "How about...band practice?"
"But, we're not a band." Rafael uncovered his ears. "Why so antisocial? Come on Raf, you play anything?" She walked over to him. Sean wasn't good with instruments, but he was considering joining the high school jazz band.
"Err...keyboard?" The boy pulled out his computer. Sean mentally laughed to himself.
"Laptop's ensembles, good! Jack?" Miko piped in.
"I...sometimes mess around on the harmonica?" Jack awkwardly responded. Miko felt soft, because she instantly bounced to him, "do I look like I do country? Just put on some fake blood and jump around screaming! Sean, what about you?"
Mr. Rodriguez was stumped. "I'm thinking about joining the jazz band soon. Maybe...drums?"
"Hmm," she looked over to Bulkhead before saying, "I think I know someone who can do just that! How about you beatbox?"
"Wait, isn't that for-"
"Bulkhead, percussion! You'll go for a big, industrial sound!" She completely ignored him. The teenager almost grumbled but kept it to himself.
"...rap?"
"DIY, we're a band! You just...gotta learn the songs," she turned to Rafael, before switching to Jack, "this one's a ballet. My fist, your fist!" And instantly Miko started playing the guitar.
Everyone else started covering their ears, while Bulkhead just squinched. Miko smoothly moved her hands across the guitar and hardcore metal emitted itself. Even Sean had to admit it was really good.
And then the green lights started flashing again.
Not this again!
Bulkhead instantly piked down his protected human, who retaliated. "Come on, you can't handle raw power?"
"Proximity sensor, quick, hide!" he shouted. And they all scrambled to the closest shield possible: the giant Autobot's feet. Just afterward, the elevator's doors opened.
"Prime!" shouted the agent's voice.
"Agent Fowler," Bulkhead answered, "j-uhh, he's not here. Nobody's here, except me of course."
But that wasn't enough to satisfy him. "Well, where did he go? Wait, don't tell me, he's out pancaking a mini-mall?"
Rafael turned slightly to see this Fowler guy, but Jack quickly pulled him away.
"I don't know what language you bots speak on your planet, but Prime promised he would handle the Decepticons!" At this point, Bulkhead moved his foot, which pulled a cord to Miko's guitar. Sean's fear spiked instantly.
"And blowing a crater in the middle of Nebraska," Bulkhead noticed he was almost blowing their cover, but snapped back, "is not what the word handle means in English, so you tell Prime-"
There was a moment of silence as slight screeches of an electric guitar echoed across the floor. Sean and the others clenched their teeth.
"...since when are you bots become electric?"
'That's it. Our cover is blown. We're done for,' Sean eyed the ceiling in defeat.
Bulkhead looked down at the children. He didn't know what else to say, and neither did they, so everything was hopeless. And there was only one thing to do.
Jack Darby shrugged as he walked out of his hiding spot. "What- are you doing-ugh!" Sean groaned as he walked out last.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Jack piped in.
The agent's eyes widened as he leaned forward. "Contact with civilians! Team Prime has really gotten off the book this time! Wait, don't tell me, you're running a daycare center!" Mr. Fowler sarcastically remarked.
Bulkhead was visibly nervous-
"Well, we're interns!" Jack Darby replied with nervous intent. "Student interns!" Rafael continued. "Uh, earning extra credit in Auto-"|
"Robotics!" Miko interrupted.
Sean slowly facepalmed. 'This is not going to work.'
"Okay," Agent Fowler began walking down the stairs, "let's move. I'm taking all four of you under federal custody, it's for your own protection!" he walked up to the children, before a massive foot slammed in between them and the agent. It only took a second for him to realize that it was the Autobot himself.
"We're protecting them!"
Fowler stood up. "Is that so? Well, maybe you can explain that to my superiors, at the Pentagon!" He walked over to the telephone box next to the stairs.
"Don't use that! It's," Bulkhead exclaimed as he pushed the box, thus hanging up the phone, "out of order."
But the agent was not having it. "This isn't over! Not by a longshot!" Mr. Fowler stormed upstairs and exited through the elevator. Bulkhead grunted, and Sean knew deep down that what the agent said was true. As the government's liaison, he, and they, won't back down from just a claim.
"Well, for one, we're screwed," Sean finally spoke aloud.
"Are you kidding? Bulkhead just saved our butts from getting kicked out! Now we can continue our dream of Botswana!" Miko replied as she dashed over to the band set.
Sean stood dumbfounded. "Hold on, you aren't getting what I'm trying to say here. Have you completely forgotten who Agent Fowler is supposed to be? Does the word 'agent' sound familiar?"
"He's on his way to the Pentagon, to let them know about us!" Jack chined in.
"Better yet, to the nearest military base to Jasper. Which I suspect is less than an hour away," Sean continued.*
"Optimus is not going to like this," Bulkhead covered his mechanical face in shame.
"None of our guardians are going to like it. Day two of daycare and we have been caught by the government! Once my father is informed of this, he is going to kill me."
Sean noticed that the green Autobot stared down at him with concern. "Not literally! It's just a figure of speech! My dad will punish me, not end my life."
He walked over to the stairway and headed up to finish his egg sandwich. Meanwhile, Miko was debating with the other two kids on whether they should continue doing band practice. Bulkhead grunted and walked over to the hallway.
'Might as well enjoy the last few hours of my bizarre experience of a lifetime.'
It was only after a few minutes that Sean realized that fate had rather different plans for the earlier outcome.
The young Rodriguez just finished snarfing his egg sandwich when he heard a similar alarm go off, but this time with a deeper pitch. The lights flashed green as he stood up and walked over to see the monitor. Unfortunately, he couldn't recognize some of the letters transcribed on the screen. Some looked like numbers but...not at all what he knows as letters of the alphabet. Was this some sort of language?**
Bulkhead walked over to the computer screen and analyzed the text. What he said almost made Sean choke on his sandwich:
"It's an S.O.S., from Fowler!"
'Aw crap! As if things couldn't get any worse!'
"Did you trace it?" he heard Rafael say. Bulkhead pressed a button, before realizing his mistake. "Uhh, location scan is incomplete. Oh well," he sighed.
But even Sean knew that's not amusing. "Oh well? Seriously?" Jack asked.
Bulkhead turned around, "Fowler's a jerk!"
"Woah! Whether you like the guy or not, the Decepticons may have him," Jack argued. "And Agent Fowler knows your location!" Rafael supported the older teenager. But his fear was exposed after he then said, "our location."
"And did we not just witness how fast Fowler backs down from a bot? The Cons will totally make him squeal!" Miko joined in.
"Based on how terrifying your enemy is described as, it won't be long before they make him expose our location! Our lives are at risk, and you're going to walk away because Fowler is a jerk to you?" Sean snapped at the Autobot.
"But we lost the transmission! Fowler could be anywhere!" Bulkhead complained. Well, he does have a good point, but ignoring the SOS is a cowardly move.
"Maybe I can narrow it down," replied Rafael. For a second everyone forgot how the little kid managed to help fix the errors from the Autobots' main monitors.
"A couple of years ago the government started microchipping their agents; you know, how owners do with their pets?" Rafael did not waste a second opening his laptop and typing on the keyboard.
Everyone looked down at him confused. "What? I saw it on TV. Anyway, if I can hack into the Fed's mainframe I can pinpoint Fowler's coordinates!"
"You know how to hack?" Miko asked. "You look like, two years old?"
"I'm twelve, and a quarter."
Sean whistled in surprise. "Boy, he can do a wonder with his eyes closed."
"Hmm, give me a moment," Rafael said to himself. "Got it! Lattitude 39.5, longitude 116.9"
Bulkhead punched in the coordinates to the monitor and then pulled the lever. As soon as the emerald light flickered from the ground bridge, the Autobot said, "Okay, wait here." And then he began walking towards the portal.
"Awww!" Miko groaned. "Don't break up the band!"
Before he could disappear through, Bulkhead stopped, before turning to the kids and exclaiming, "Er, Jack? You're in charge!" And then he ran into the portal before disappearing.
"I guess we three have the run of the place," Jack spoke. "Well, this just got a lot more interesting; it's just us now. The bots are going to kill us-"
"Miko?"
Sean was busy commenting on them being alone when he heard the name. Stopping, he turned around to see Jack and Rafael-
But Miko Nakadai was not next to them.
"Miko?" Jack shouted, but his echo was met with no reply.
Sean turned to look around, but then his eyes landed on the ground bridge.
'No...she couldn't possibly have gone through the portal, could she?'
*Sean knows where his father works, he guessed the time it would take for Agent Fowler to travel from the Autobot base to the military base. Fun fact: the base Sean's father works at is the same one where the Autobots will take refuge in season 3.
**Unbeknownst to Sean Rodriguez, he was looking at the Cybertronian language on the monitors.