TRANSFORMERS PRIME: MY WILD ADVENTURE. DARKNESS RISING: CONFRONTATIONS
INFO:
- "text"- regular speaking
- "text"- Sean thinking to himself
- "TEXT" - story transition
Music links: the custom soundtrack for the story.
BEGIN STORY
EARLIER, AT ANOTHER LOCATION.
The sun gloomed over the vast canyons, but the clouds blocked most of the sunlight, reducing the surrounding color into a grey-ish tone. The only noises that emitted from the canyon were the howling winds blasting through the creaks, and some birds that cawed or chirped from high above.
And then there were the stomps by the two giant robots: Ratchet and Optimus Prime. The two walked through the canyon as they approached their destination.
"Optimus, what do we hope to find here?" was the first question in a while.
"The site of the largest Cybertronian battle in this galaxy," the Prime responded.
"On Earth? You must be joking," Ratchet exclaimed.
"Do you recall the moment in the war when both sides began hiding their Energon spoils off-world?" Optimus asked his medic.
"Of course, it's the reason Energon deposits exist on planets such as this one!" Ratchet replied.
"It is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one," Optimus answered. "And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history."
PRESENT TIME. AT THE AUTOBOT BASE.
"Sean, go search the ground bridge. Raf, you're searching this whole room. I got the hallway. Miko shouldn't have gotten far," Jack Darby said to the two boys. Rafael and Sean nodded as they jogged downstairs.
"MIKO?" Rafael shouted.
Nothing. Nothing but echoes.
"Miko, where are you?" Jack shouted.
Sean approached the ground bridge. The tunnel was massive, and it appeared to be supported by steel and concrete underneath the pathway. Speaking of which, the pathway and the arches surrounding the tunnel almost looked like steel, but it was very different; almost alien-like.
Then he remembered something Ratchet said yesterday. "It was handed down by the previous tenants when we inherited this former missile silo. I make modifications as I see fit."
'So this is the only alien structure in this room, other than the technology. Huh, interesting.'
"Miko, you in here?" he shouted. Sean only heard his voice echo back to him. He touched the pavement on the ground bridge pathway, before knocking on it. Yeah, he was very curious about the alien engineering.
But there were other matters at hand.
"Miko, come on out," Sean exclaimed as he walked over the pathway. Searching behind every arch, he found only rocks and concrete. And strange wiring.
Grunting in defeat, Sean walked out of the groundbridge tunnel. "She's not in here!" he shouted.
"Okay," Rafael replied. "I can't find her anywhere here."
The small boy walked over to Sean. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"The tunnel's long, but I couldn't hear her. I even threatened to destroy her electric guitar and she never came out!" Jack approached the two.
"That leaves us with only one explanation," Sean replied while turning to look at the ground bridge. "She left with Bulkhead."
MEANWHILE, NEAR THE NEMESIS.
Let's focus on the troublemaker herself, Miko.
The girl just avoided a blaster shot and ran as fast as her heels could go. The Decepticon drone aimed his blaster at her before getting knocked down by Bulkhead; he proceeded to punch him repeatedly.
Bulderhook slashed his face before standing upright. He tried to slash again, but the brute blocked it and threw a punch to the visor. The Con cracked its mechanical neck before giving a stern threat: "Once I end your spark, the human is next!"
"Oh no, you don't!"
Bulkhead threw Boulderhook to the ground, strangling his hands down. Miko tried to join in by grabbing a nearby rock, but it was heavy for her, so she struggled as she walked over to the drone.
Once she got close enough to the head, she shouted "Hold him still!"
Miko used all of her strength to throw the rock onto the drone's head. Ironically the rock just bounced off of Boulderhook's head like it was nothing but steel. Bulkhead took the opportunity to carry her away with one hand onto a ledge.
"Miko, look away!"
"But-"
"Turn your head away!"
In an instant, he reached for the chest and began pulling it off of the Decepticon's body. Sparks flew as Boulderhook stood helplessly. His arms fell limb as the trooper collapsed to the ground with no further movement.
"Woah," Miko whispered to herself. She saw the whole thing.
Bulkhead panted as he turned to look at his protected. He placed a finger on his comlink. "Arcee, Bumblebee, do you read?"
"Loud and clear Bulkhead."
"I have a situation," he nervously replied.
"Bulkhead, they're children, humans! Just do whatever!"
The Autobot sighed as he then explained: "I'm near the Decepticon warship with Miko."
Loud screeches of tires were heard as Bulkhead slightly squinched. "You're where? She's where?!"
MEANWHILE, AT THE AUTOBOT BASE.
"What should we do?" Rafael asked as he and the boys stared at the ground bridge from the upper railing. "Bulkhead may not even realize that she followed him!"
Everyone was worried. "Miko hasn't seen the Cons in action like we have! She has no idea!"
Sean was freaking out mentally. He feared that something bad would go down, but nothing like this. Compared to when they first saw Arcee battle the Cons in the canal, and when they nearly got killed by those drones, it seems like he will have to experience that hell once more, except it's onboard the Decepticon's headquarters.
And that's where their leader, Megatron, resides.
"Oh God, do I have to break my promise? I don't really want to get myself killed," he whispered to himself. "Please be safe, Miko."
Rafael typed on the keyboard of the computers. "Those are the coordinates! Their destination is still locked in!"
"There's only one way to find out, I guess," Jack shrugged as he looked at the groundbridge machinery down below. He gulped before saying "Can you turn the portal on, Raf?"
Sean started after Jack after he broke away and headed to the stairs. He grabbed Jack's shoulder before he could descend. "Are you insane, Jack? The Fowler guy's at the enemy's main base! Shouldn't we wait for the two to come back?"
"Bulkhead won't be back soon, Sean. And neither will Miko. I need to-"
"I meant," Sean interrupted the dark-haired teen, "...what's her name? The blue female robot? And Bee? We have to wait for them to come back. If you leave the base unattended they'll freak out!"
"Well if we stay here, Miko will be left out where Bulkhead is and could get killed!" Jack shot back. "You can stay here and tell Arcee about Fowler, and I'll go warn Bulkhead."
"Well if you go through there," Sean pointed at the portal, "chances are you'll get killed as well! This isn't like last time, where we saw two of those guys. There's dozens of them, an ENTIRE army, on the other side! I say we contact Arcee and Bumblebee first before we jump to hasty-"
"Guys?"
Sean and Jack turned to see Rafael sitting by the computer, now slouched over and nearly covering his ears. He panted as he put his hands down, his nervous eyes locked onto the older teenagers. "Can you guys please stop fighting?"
The blonde clenched his fists and sighed. "Sorry, Raf."
"Look," Jack explained, "I never said I was going to help Bulkhead find Agent Fowler. I'm only going to find Bulkhead and help him find Miko, so that we can come back. I won't be gone for long."
Sean narrowed his eyes and thought about his explanation. Jack had some good points, but waiting for the Autobots to arrive is the better alternative. Then again, it'll only take a few minutes-
"The portal's location is in mountainous terrain, a canyon from the looks of it. And there's a giant power signature far from its location."
"Bulkhead wouldn't drag Miko into a fight. I'll be back," Jack said after Rafael's analysis. The kid nodded before punching the keys in. The machinery whirred on as the green and blue lights brightened the tunnel. Jackson Darby began walking down the stairs toward the groundbridge tunnel. Sean watched from above with a growing nervousness inside his head.
"Arcee to base, come in!" a nearby comlink turned on from the giant computers.
'It's about time,' the blonde teenager frowned as he rushed over to the computer near the groundbridge switch. "Err, hey! Can you guys hear me?"
"I read you, Sean!" Arcee exclaimed on the radio. "What are you three doing? Has Bulkhead reached you yet?"
"Nope. As for us, well, we're apparently missing Miko. We believe she must've left with him, cause he left to go find Agent Fowler who-"
"Bulkhead told us about Agent Fowler, don't worry." She intercepted his talk. "We're on our way back to base right now. Is the groundbridge portal still active?"
"Yeah it is. Jack's going to use it to warn Bulkhead, and he'll bring Miko-" Sean replied as he turned around to watch Jack-
-who was now going to be accompained by Rafael Esquivel, now running off the stairs onto the floor below. His eyes widened in shock.
"Wait, Jack's going through the groundbridge?" Arcee's voice was now greatly concerned.
"Raf! What the hell are you doing?! Hey!" Sean took off running across the second level and down the stairway. By then the two have ventured deep into the tunnel toward the flashing light at the end.
"Sean, what's happening with Raf? Are you okay? Sean?!" the comlink crackled again. Soon the three humans disappeared through the portal.
"Hurry, Bee," Arcee ordered as she put her engine at full throttle.
MEANWHILE, NEAR THE NEMESIS.
"What's taking Arcee and Bumblebee?" Bulkhead asked nervously.
"Dude, the Cons could be putting the clamps on Fowler right now, let's just storm the joint!" Miko complained.
Just as she said that, there was a flash and a familiar noise. "Finally, they're here!" Bulkhead felt relieved as the ground bridge portal opened in front of them.
Sean, Jack, and Rafael jumped out as the portal slowly closed. They looked around, expecting trouble, but found themselves in a small canyon in the desert.
"Why don't those guys hang with their own bots? This is our 101 time!" Miko complained. Bulkhead squinched his metal temples, muttering a curse under his mouthpiece.
"Woah, are your bones vibrating?" Rafael asked. Jack and Sean shrugged, but deep down they felt the same thing. Especially Sean, who came through just as the bridge turned on when the other two came in beforehand. His hands were slightly shaking with vibrations, but he managed to quickly regain control.
But then the most terrifying sight came into view. Looming hundreds of feet in front of the trio stood a giant black spaceship, with spikes coming from almost every direction. This thing spoke a message: this kind of evil is a force to be reckoned with.
"You there!" shouted a deep voice that echoed from far away. Laser aiming sights appeared on the ground before the kids.
"Scrap!"
'Aw s**t!'
MEANWHILE, AT THE CANYON
Optimus Prime and Ratchet have been walking for the past fifteen minutes, until they came upon a sight that left Ratchet mentally stunned.
A canyon, filled with Autobot and Decepticon corpses.
"For the first time in my life, Optimus, I had hoped you were wrong," Ratchet remarked just as a loud noise blossomed in the air. A massive jet flew overhead towards the other side of the canyon, where it transformed into a familiar figure.
"Optimus," announced Megatron, "been well? I see you brought your trusty watchdog! I was sure he'd be convalescing in a scrapyard by now?"
"Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?" Ratchet threatened the leader.
"I know why you're here, Megatron!" Optimus remarked.
"Hardly a surprise Optimus! After all, you and I have been at this a long time! And your time has come to an end!" Megatron shouted as he pulled out a glowing purple crystal. He threw it with his awesome strength into the Earth, and the crystal slowly sank into the ground before a bright light emitted itself in a threatening way, consuming the ground surrounding ground zero. Ratchet was surprised, but Optimus knew deep down what it was that was thrown.
Megatron's spark chamber glowed vibrantly as the warmonger exclaimed, "Rise, my army!"
And then the ground erupted with metallic figures groaning in hunger. The purple eyes and veins were enough to convince the duo that they were not going to be an easy fight.
"By the AllSpark," Ratchet muttered.
Even Optimus, who knew what Megatron was doing, was disgusted by the sight. Megatron raising an army of slain warriors? His own brothers and sisters-in-arms and sworn enemies brought back to fight him? The warlord has crossed many lines and committed vast monstrosities, but this was just sick.
"Behold! The power of Dark Energon!"
The mindless beasts began limping towards the duo with murderous intent. "Megatron has desecrated the graves of our fallen ancestors, and his own!" Ratchet shouted. "Not even the dead are free from his warmongering," Optimus replied.
While the Decepticon leader contemplated his new powers, the duo began to defend themselves, first with blasters, but after Ratchet recommended "disection," they instead used their wrist blades to decapitate the zombified Cybertronians.
WE NOW RETURN TO THE CHILDREN
Sean swung around just in time to see another giant rock on the left side, large enough for the kids to hide behind.
"Quick, follow me!" Sean yelled. They dashed towards the rock, and crouched behind it for cover. But then their adrenaline spiked when they heard loud bangs and thunder roaring across the valley, and they noticed it was the laser fire coming from the Decepticons themselves.
The shots mostly missed the rock, but when it struck, the boulder cracked into fragments. Jack realized that it will not last within a minute. Rafael was covering his ears.
And then a familiar noise blossomed. The three boys looked up just to see a familiar green muscle car pull up in front of them. The front door opened. "Get in, now!" Bulkhead shouted. Sean and the others quickly got inside as the blaster fire only drew closer.
Slamming the door shut, Bulkhead quickly drifted away from the Nemesis. "Thanks, Bulkhead!" Jack panted. "Yeah, thanks!" Rafael joined in.
"Wha-what are you doing here?!" the Autobot shouted through his radio speakers.
"We were worried about Miko! Have you seen her?" asked Jack.
"What does she look like?" peeked the young girl from the backseat. Sean almost wanted to scold her, but then Bulkhead slowly stopped from behind a giant boulder. The doors opened, and then the truck exclaimed, "Everyone out! And please, try to stay here?"
Everyone bolted out of the seats as instructed. Bulkhead instantly drove away at a fast speed, and boy he's gonna deal with them Cons.
"Anyone alright?" asked Jack. "We almost got shot! I think I'm starting to regret coming here!" Rafael complained.
"Yeah," Sean was catching breaths, "no kidding." He then stood upright before looking around. He growled under his breath, "As for you, Miko, you're...Uh, guys? Where's Miko?"
Glass shatters in everyone's mind when they heard Sean's question. Rafael and Jack looked around the rock while avoiding the blaster fire. 'How the ef did she disappear?'
Speaking of which, there was less blaster fire coming from the ship, and more clanging of metal against metal. They ducked around the right corner just to see Bulkhead smashing one of the Decepticon troopers on the dark-colored rooftop.
"How the hell did he get up there?"
The Autobot, after dealing with the troopers, turned to catch the teenagers' eyes from below the ship deck. "Where's Miko?!" he shouted. He looked down, and his chest appeared to open. And something- no, someone came out.
Thanks to Rafael wearing glasses, he was able to see who the culprit was. "It's Miko, she stayed inside Bulkhead all this time!"
"What is she? A daredevil or something? She's gonna get herself killed!" Sean exclaimed.
"Unfreaking believable!" Jack facepalmed.
Meanwhile, onboard the ship, a group of seeker drones were watching the commotion, until squadron leader Ramjet spotted who Bulkhead was looking at earlier. He smirked underneath his mask. "Human children spotted 18 clicks down there, who wants to earn some respect from Starscream?"
"You think they forgot about us?" Rafael asked his friends. Jack and Sean shrugged, before the blossoming noise of jet engines caught their attention. They looked up just in time to see three purple-colored jets hover above them before transforming mid-air into robots that looked like the rest of the Cons. The teenagers gasped in horror as the giant Decepticons bent down and reached for them. Jack and Sean were caught frozen in fear, but Raf tried to escape- only to be soon caught in metal hands.
The Decepticon drones soon transformed into their alt-modes, with the humans still held onto before they found themselves inside the seats of fighter jets. The inside gears and flashing screen were too alien to compare to the seats of jets found in museums. But that wonder was short-lived as the teenagers found themselves surrounded by shifting gears, which changed into metal fists.
The bump that followed the Con's landing on the platform hangar almost made their stomachs jump out of their skin.
The seekers landed on the Nemesis aerial platform, before walking towards the doors that led inside.
Little did the three teenagers know that their capture was seen by two new visitors to the canyon below the Nemesis warship.
'Well, this sucks,' Sean sighed as the hangar doors shut behind him and the Cons that held him and his friends. The grip was so tight the humans had trouble breathing.
The dark purple halls were illuminated by the ceiling lights from above. Sean couldn't figure out if the metal walls were colored purple, or if it was the lighting. Or was it blue? He was stumped. But the hallways never seemed to end. After a while of walking, the hallway split into a four direction intersection.
"Bring them into the Brique, Commander Starscream is keeping the other human there," Ramjet ordered his partner, Freezescope.
'So that's where Agent Fowler's at. The Brique? What is that, a torture chamber or something?' Sean narrowed his eyes as the Cons approached the hallway intersection.
Just then, there was a familiar sound: a loud revving engine. No, a motorcycle engine!
Sean looked to the left to see a pair of headlights flying toward them fast. He smirked. Help has finally arri- *BANG*
Bumblebee drifted, smashing into the Cons that held the boys in their hands. They were going to fall at least two dozen feet to the metal pavement, were it not for Arcee to transform mid-air and grab them by her hands. Jack and Sean screamed before landing on her hands.
The kids gasped for breath. Bumblebee transformed and chirped at his partner, Rafael. "Bumblebee!" he exclaimed
"I appreciate you leaving the front door open, but storming the Decepticon warship was not on the activities list!" Arcee explained to the two old teenagers.
"Tell me about it!" Jack exclaimed.
Bumblebee explained with chirps to Arcee. "You're right, we need to find Bulkhead and Miko. Stay close," she said to the kids. The Autobots took off sprinting, and their protectees followed. Sean barely attended to his exercise needs, so catching up to the Autobots made him run as fast as he could- his lungs screaming for oxygen. He turned to see both Rafael and Jack panting along with him, the smaller kid starting to fall behind.
Arcee stopped by a hall intersection and shifted her arm into a cannon. Holding it steady, she turns the corner, prepared to engage with the Decepticons.
But instead met Bulkhead.
"Friendly!" "Hello!"
Arcee sighed as she reformed her arm. "Brought the humans, huh?"
"You try getting them to stay behind!" he shot back. And then Miko shot an offended look at him.
"We need to find Fowler and get these kids out of here," Arcee explained.
All three boys said, "He's in the Brique!"
The Autobots had a feeling he would be there. The Brique is essentially the private torture chamber Starscream uses whenever he is in command.
"Let's roll!" Arcee said to her comrades.
They continued running down the hallway, with Arcee in the lead. At this point, Miko is now running with the other children, no longer in Bulkhead's hand. Every step they took issued a loud THUMP echo, and Sean dreaded the seconds that followed. His eyes stared down the dark purple corridors, and so did the Autobots and their protectees. His heart pounded with fear.
'What does this "Starscream" look like, and what about "Megatron," Optimus' arch-nemesis? Are they fast? Are they fierce, strong, and scary? Are we going to see them?'
Sean turned to eye Miko, who was running next to him, and mentally growled, 'And it's because of her I-'
Jack Darby gasped in shock. Sean looked ahead to see the familiar red visors of the Decepticon troopers.
"Autobots!" shouted one of them. Immediately afterward the troopers opened fire-
The robot trio formed into a circular formation. Bulkhead had the forward-most direction, while Arcee guarded both forward and back, and Bumblebee watched the backside.
Bulkhead stepped forward and blocked the blaster shots with his left forearm, before shifting his right hand into a mega blaster and firing at the troopers, causing a deafening explosion. More troopers came from behind, but Arcee took care of them using her acrobatic skills, which still surprised the kids. Bumblebee shot the rest of them down.
Sean and Jack pulled Rafael and Miko to the hallway wall quickly, but another explosion's blast swooped against the kids. Jack grabbed them to the other side to avoid a falling Decepticon body, but then another one blocked their way. Bulkhead was knocked over by a blaster shot, but caught himself from crushing the children. Sean almost screamed. To watch the green robot towering over them gave Rafael dizziness. But Bulkhead grabbed the Con with his other hand and threw him over, to where Arcee shot him in the head, ending his spark.
Jack, knowing that's the last of the Cons for now, led the others to their heroes, who continued to lead the way.
MEANWHILE, AT THE CANYON
The assault continued with more and more zombified limbs being severed by Ratchet and Optimus Prime, with the latter killing more than his medic. Optimus sliced the arms repeatedly while stabbing the other zombified warriors in their spark chambers. He did this repeatedly until there was enough space for them to quickly relax. Ratchet guarded the Prime's back.
"Optimus," Ratchet panted, "this prolonged exposure to Dark Energon is sapping our strength!"
"We cannot falter now!" the Prime reassured his friend before they charged back into battle.
However, by this point, the purple-glowing zombies gathered enough strength to overwhelm the Prime. He stabbed and shot them, before more grabbed him from behind and pinned down his arms and back. Before long, Optimus had a pile of them over his body, grabbing and scratching it.
"Optimus!" shouted Ratchet.
It was too late. His shock provided the opportunity for the Dark Energon-infected to overwhelm him in a similar way to his leader. The doctor was pinned to the ground while the attackers grabbed him and were on the verge of tearing his body apart.
From above, Megatron laughed to himself. This new weapon of his, the blood of Unicron, proved to be an effective tool. His zombified army was slow but deadly when up close. Perhaps this can be a valuable asset to the Decepticons.
The pile of zombies covering Optimus, unfortunately, fared not to last. He broke and killed all that swarmed him, screaming with a mighty roar as he did so. After adjusting himself, Optimus took care of the infected swarming his friend.
Megatron sharply remarked, "After all these years, Optimus, you're still at the top of your game!"
And when the duo of Autobots charged at the remaining swarm of zombies, the Dark Energon swelled inside of the warmonger as he shouted, "My legion! Finish them!"
MEANWHILE, ONBOARD THE NEMESIS
There was a series of bangs against the Bridge door. GearJaw was the selected Decepticon to monitor the controls over the Nemesis, before he walked over the platform to check on the visitor.
The door burst open, and GearJaw was shot directly in the head. Arcee swooped in and fired at the few Cons on her right side. Bumblebee and Bulkhead joined in and took care of the rest.
"Clear!" Arcee exclaimed. Jack and the humans followed quickly into the room.
"Wait here," she ordered them.
'Wait a minute...'
But when Bumblebee chirped complaints, she replied, "They're slowing us down, and they are easy targets! They'll be alright in here," she shifted her arm into a cannon, "as long as they stay put!"
She walked out of the Bridge, with the Autobots following her. The doors quickly closed behind them, leaving the humans by themselves. If we're not counting the Decepticon corpses, that is.
"Whew! That was close!"
Jack snapped at Miko. "Close doesn't even come near to what happened. What were you thinking?!"
"Well, it's not like I can't be with my guardian!"
Sean joined in. "You don't even understand what this is all about, do you? Did you even listen to what Fowler and the Bots say about this whole conflict?"
Miko scoffed at them and replied, "Yeah, that was the boring part! But with the bot? This is all but fun!"
The latter teenager finally snapped. "Fun?! Do you think this is fun? Going on a dangerous ship with killer robots is fun to you?!"
"I'm sor-"*
"No, don't even think about it. You haven't seen them in action as we did first! Yet you completely ignored the warning by Optimus about the Cons! You act like this is a stupid superhero show where the good guys foil the villain's plan and get away with it! Well, guess what? It isn't! What you did was reckless!" Sean finally started shouting at her.
Jack continued, "Exactly! You almost got yourself killed!"
Miko stammered, "But I-"
"No! You need to understand something, Miko! The Bots and the Cons have been waging their battles for God knows how long, but from what Optimus and the others said it's pretty long enough that these robots suffer from pain and loss! Did you even forget that they lost one of their partners yesterday?! This is a war, not a stupid game where there is always going to be playtime!"
"B-but I didn't want Bulk to break the band-"
"Band? You broke it up by leaving us alone at the base!" Jack yelled at her.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The shout caught the trio by surprise. But before then Sean was lecturing the scrapyard out of Miko, who was almost on the verge of crying. Rafael panted heavily before running away toward the edge of the Bridge walkway.
Miko and the boys looked at each other before retreating to comfort Rafael. Sean was so angry at her that he completely forgot about the kid listening to them. In between the classes, Raf would have therapy lessons in the resource room on the first floor. He is making a steady recovery, but Rafael is trying to get over his sensitivity to yelling and negative criticism.
As for Miko, well, she had some teary eyes, but wasn't crying yet. The harsh lecture gave her a snap-back-to-reality moment.
"Our bots are coming back for us. I promise you, Raf. Everything will be fine." Jack reassured the kid. Even Miko, despite her tearful look, was supporting Jack as well.
"I...I wasn't meaning to hurt you, Raf, I swear." Sean joined in. That lecture was definitely worth it to him, but then again he did not expect the outside damage it would inflict.
"Hey Raf, what do you make of that?"
All four looked up at the closest electronic screen, which rested down on the level below. Sean looked around to see there were no front rooms in this room, but instead, there were large windows on the bottom deck and on the front curved sides. From the windows, Sean can see the desert canyon background.
"Wait a minute, this is a bridge." The blonde muttered to himself. But Miko overheard him and replied, "Yeah *sniff* we're walking on one." She wiped her eyes.
"I don't think you get it. This is the bridge of the ship, a.k.a the command center for this entire ship! I think we don't have that much time before someone decides to go check on their friends in here."
'And I hope we don't get caught by Starscream or Megatron.'
"Hey guys?" Sean called out. But he and Miko noticed that Jack and Rafael were on the lower deck looking up at the futuristic-looking computer screen. It had a very similar language as to what Sean saw on the main monitor back at the Autobot base,* but seemed to be very simplistic with images and scans.
"Come on, I think Raf found something interesting," she said as she walked down to join up with the two. Soon Sean followed her while glancing around the place nervously.
"Whatever this is, it's very important. We have to get this to Optimus." Rafael spoke to his partners.
"Well, how do you know this isn't some recipe for something?"
Rafael turned to the blonde, who then said, "I'm just kidding, you know, trying to cheer you up."
"I know math when I see it," the kid looked back at the monitor. "And that is one serious equation!"
"Can you download it?" Jack asked him.
Rafael pulled out his backpack and pulled out his computer. "I have a flash drive. But I don't see anywhere to plug it in. This tech is way too alien!"
There was the pounding of metal against metal.
Raf and the others turned around to see a towering giant enter the room. A Decepticon trooper entered the bridge, only to find his comrades dead. The children quickly ducked under the steps to hide, but Sean noticed Rafael left his backpack.
'Aw crap. I knew it!'
Raf ran back. The trooper noticed him and shifted his arm into a cannon, aiming at the child. Just as the blaster began firing, Jack Darby broke out of his hiding and pushed Raf out of the way, landing on the hard metal floor behind the foot of a nearby trooper corpse.
"Miko! Take a picture!"
The transfer student was thrilled, but the trooper stood in between them, aiming the gun at their heads. Sean uneasily stared at the towering giant with dread.
"Hey, you!" She shouted, before opening up her flip phone and flashing the camera. The Decepticon just stared at her.
'I want to slap her so hard right now.'
"Not of that! Of that!" Jack shouted while pointing at the computer monitor. She realized her mistake and snapped a photo of the monitor.
"Quick! Let's get out of here!" Sean shouted. The black-haired teenager led everyone up the steps and onto the bridge platform, dodging laser fire. The bridge doors opened as the kids ran for cover.
Upon turning right, which of course led to an endless hallway, the kids noticed a pair of high beam lights creeping closer. A set of honking confirmed the identity of the vehicle: Bulkhead.
He drove straight toward them before rapidly transforming into his robot form and lunging at the trooper. He threw him onto the ground before smashing the head into scrap.
He transformed and rolled over to the kids just as Arcee and Bumblebee showed up.
"I told you to stay put!" Arcee yelled.
"Yeah, no kidding!" Sean shouted just as he approached Bumblebee. Unfortunately, he noticed someone lying in the backseat, and the yellow sports car chirped something. "Go with Bulkhead!" Raf exclaimed. And so he did. Sean quickly climbed into Bulkhead's passenger seat as the door slammed shut behind him.
The cars screeched away to the hangar upstairs. Luckily everyone had seatbelts on, well, except for Jack. Sean sighed in relief while wiping the sweat from his head. 'Thank God we didn't get our butts killed from the Cons!'
'Wait-'
"Guys, did you get Fowler?" asked Sean.
"Yeah, he's in the back seat inside Bee," the muscle car explained.
"You guys got Fowler? Rock on!" a familiar voice echoed in the radio.
After a minute of driving, they eventually reached the hangar. The Autobots swore to the left side, driving at fast speeds. "Hang on tight, kid," Bulkhead announced.
They drove onto one of the giant spikes from the side of the ship, which drew close to the cliffside of the canyon. They drifted onto the cliff before sliding down onto the ground. Surprisingly, Arcee kept true to her explanation earlier when she rescued them from the Cons, because the ground bridge portal was still open. Upon driving through and arriving inside the Autobot base, Bumblebee closed the portal.
"How are we going to explain this to Optimus?" asked Jack. Just then, there was a chime on the main computer monitor.
"Arcee, bridge us back!" exclaimed Optimus.
EARLIER, AT THE CANYON
Optimus Prime and Ratchet continued their assault rush on the infected, slicing and dicing their heads. After what seemed like an hour, the Prime finally took down the last one, before staring up at his long-time rival, and a former brother.
"Bravo, Optimus! Though this is but a prelude, you may wish to save your strength for the main event!" Megatron exclaimed as the Dark Energon swelled inside of him. Granted, his army didn't finish them off, but he knew the Prime well. No matter what the warmonger throws at him, he always returns triumphantly to fight another day.
Optimus retracted his bladed arms before ascending the cliff to confront his foe. "You will not prevail, Megatron," he panted, "not while Energon still flows in my veins!" He concluded upon reaching the edge.
"Fitting, for it is Dark Energon which flows through mine!"
Before Optimus could grab him, Megatron lept in the air before transforming into the natural jet mode he acquired on Cybertron. The Prime fired at him, but he managed to get away.
Optimus noticed his friend struggling to get up, so he lended a hand. As Ratchet got up, he turned around to view the mess of former warriors down below, while clutching his injured right arm. "If this wasn't Megatron's endgame, what is?" For he heard the two leaders' exchange while climbing up, and knew that the warmonger wouldn't stop there with the dead army plan.
Optimus Prime looked on with visible concern. After a few seconds, he turned around and turned on his comlink. "Arcee, bridge us back!"
A WHILE LATER, AT THE AUTOBOT BASE
Optimus took the job of constructing a temporary cast around Ratchet's arm. Upon finishing, Ratchet got up and checked on the humans. Agent Fowler was resting on a hospital bed on the first-level platform. Luckily he didn't sustain life-threatening injuries, but the teens did hear that he was tortured with Electrical Energon* by Starscream.
Miko noticed the medic and asked, "What happened to you guys anyway?"
The Autobot medic explained, "We engaged an army of undead Cybertronian warriors."
"Zombies?" the girl blinked. "You fought zombies and I missed it?!"
'Another zombie attack? Can this day get any better?'
"Bulkhead," Optimus spoke, "you exercised extremely poor judgment in allowing the humans to accompany you."
The muscle stood up before responding, "It won't happen again, Optimus. I promise."
Sean felt like he should step up to explain how it wasn't really his fault, but instead Miko's. However, he decided against it, since-
"But it wasn't Bulkhead's fault!" She explained. Sean and Bulkhead were shocked at her protest. "Miko, please!" The wrecker quietly begged.
But Sean ultimately decided to ignore the odds. "She's right. It may not be his fault, but there's a reason things didn't go to plan today while you and Ratchet were gone."
All optics and eyes turned to look at him. Bulkhead was even more surprised. Sean Rodriguez took a deep breath. "Shortly after you two left, Optimus, Arcee took Bumblebee on a patrol, leaving only Bulkhead in charge of us. It was only a few minutes after they left that Mr. Fowler decided to do his usual visit to the base. Miko was playing her wired guitar when we were alerted to his arrival, so we hid behind Bulkhead. But her guitar was tangled around his foot, and that basically exposed our cover to him. He managed to talk him away from taking us away from here."
Arcee and Optimus looked at Miko. He swallowed, before continuing, "He threatened us before leaving the base. Everything was alright until the alarm sounded, and we found out Fowler was compromised by the Cons! We were worried that they would make him expose our location, so we convinced Bulkhead into extracting Fowler from the enemy base. But guess who decided to tag along with him without any of us knowing!"
Everyone was looking at Miko, who frowned and crossed her arms.
"Bulkhead put Jack in charge before leaving, and by the time we realized Miko went with him without him knowing, we felt like we didn't have any other choice. So we reactivated the ground bridge to let Bulkhead know and find her. Little did we know that they were right at the warship! And that's when we were forced to join the mission to extract Fowler.
"What I'm trying to say is, well, had Arcee and Bee come home earlier, or if they didn't go on patrol at all," he eyed the two, "and saved ourselves from Agent Fowler, or if Miko decided to not join Bulkhead, well, we all wouldn't be in this mess in the first place!"
Optimus listened to the argument carefully. He turned towards the scouts, while Arcee's metal face turned into a frown. "Listen, kid, don't blame us for leaving you five behind. We didn't even know that Fowler was coming here early!" Arcee explained to Sean.
The Prime replied, "You are not at fault Arcee. None could have predicted this coincidence of events." He turned toward the humans and said, "Miko, you and Bulkhead have nearly endangered the lives of your friends. Sean is right, had you not chosen to follow him to the ground bridge none of you would have sacrificed yourselves to locate Agent Fowler. But Bulkhead forgot to protect all of you at once, and as a result, forced you all to risk your lives. You must never do that again, Miko."
She crossed her arms in defeat, but something popped inside her head.
"But in the meantime, we did some recon!" she explained. Pulling out her phone she pulled up the image she took of the computer monitor. Optimus leaned in to examine the photo. "Ratchet, have a look. It could be of importance to Megatron."
The way Optimus said "Megatron" proved there was more to what Ratchet explained about their encounter with the zombified army. And Jack was the first to notice it. "Wait, Megatron's back? That's really bad news, right?"
'Wait, Megatron? Well, crap, this day just got better,' Sean thought to himself. He remembers what Optimus warned him and the other kids yesterday about Megatron returning.
"It could be catastrophic."
Ratchet took a look at the photo by then. But he was confused. What did a photo of an average Decepticon trooper have any significance toward?
Miko realized it, before explaining. "Oh, that was the Con who tried to blow Raf away, at least that's what he looked like before Bulkhead rearranged his grill!"
"Miko, Raf was almost killed! This isn't a game! When are you going to get that through your thick skull?!" Jack almost shouted.
"Um, we were all almost killed, Jack! You, me, Raf, even them!" she complained, before crossing her arms and scoffing.
"Well, if this is just an average day with the Autobots, then I don't want to be a part of it! Not anymore!"
Optimus explained, "Jack, putting you in harm's way was never our intent. However," he sighed, "it is no longer the safety of you four that is at risk, but the safety of all humankind. We will respect your decision if you wish to leave."
Just as the Prime finished speaking, the ground bridge portal activated. Ratchet was there, and he quickly announced, "No point in long goodbye's, here's the door!"
'Ratchet must seriously hate us.'
Jack persuaded Raf to come with him, but he reassured him that everything will be alright. "See you at school, Jack," he spoke to him. The older teenager replied, "Sure thing," and didn't say anything else but walked downstairs and towards the exit, only to notice Arcee standing nearby.
Jack persuaded Raf to come with him, but he reassured him that everything will be alright. "Sean, what about you?" he asked the blonde, who stood nearby crossing his arms. "Thanks, but I'd rather stay."
"Come on," the dark-haired teen complained, "after all that's happened?"
"Look, as much as I'd like to go and take a breather, there's no escape from this life. The bots found our identity the day after we saw them in town, what's to say the Cons would've done the same?"
Jack thought about Sean's reply for a moment, before muttering "whatever" and left them to go downstairs. As he was halfway between the stairs and the groundbridge tunnel, his guardian stepped in the way. Mr. Darby looked up to meet Arcee's eyes.
"I know, you don't exist," he sighed.
"Don't make me hunt you down," she finished for him as he left through the portal and disappeared.
MEANWHILE, FAR ABOVE THE EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE.
The Nemesis had long departed the canyon ever since Megatron arrived from his "meeting" with Optimus Prime. But ever since then, Soundwave has reported the damage case to him, and now he knows what to do.
"Please Lord Megatron, I meant no-" Starscream begged, before being slapped hard across the face.
"I ordered you to await my command!" He exclaimed, before shoving him across the headquarters room. Soundwave watched quietly, as did the accompanying troopers.
"Instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disabling of my ship! And the delay of my plans!" He stomped over to Starscream, who crawled away from him. "My intentions were pure, master! I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus!"
At that complaint, Megatron stomped on Starscream's head. "No one rids me of Optimus Prime but me! Do you understand? Do you?!"
The seeker gasped under the immense weight. "Megatron, I will make things right, I swear! I know how to set your plans back on course!"
The warmonger grabbed him by the head and lifted him up to eye level. "Explain, Starscream. Quickly," he threatened.
MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE AUTOBOT BASE.
It's nighttime now, and so everyone has pretty much left for home. Optimus Prime, however, was busy with thoughts, so much so that he ultimately decided to stay back at the base. Bumblebee took Sean and Raf home, because he didn't think Sean would be ready to ride with Arcee, a fast motorcycle. Optimus Prime recommended Miko to apologize to Jack for all of the inconveniences that occurred today, so Bulkhead took her to his house first before her host parents.
Ratchet, whose arm has now fully healed and didn't need the cast any longer, was analyzing the strange blueprints that Miko's photo contained. Soon there was a beep on the monitor- the computer answered what these blueprints were for.
"It can't be," Ratchet muttered, before calling for Optimus. As he approached, the medic explained everything to him. "These are engineering specs for a space-time vortex generator!"
And Optimus Prime knew what he meant. "Megatron is building a space bridge, if he hasn't already."
"The sooner he leaves the better!" Bulkhead exclaimed.
"Bulkhead, a space bridge runs in two directions. Megatron may not be using it to leave Earth, but to bring through his conquering army."
"The 'main event' Megatron referred to? But the only place Megatron could possibly recruit that many fallen warriors..."
"Precisely," the Prime replied, before looking up towards the depths of space. "From Cybertron, our former home."
*Miko was about to say the quote from the episode "I'm sorry, are you Optimus?" But Sean cuts her off before she could continue.
**Again, Sean sees the Cybertronian language inscribed on the bridge monitor.
***Electrical Energon is Energon that has been electrified for certain purposes, such as stunning the target for torture in this case.