Over in Princeton, New Jersey, Braedey and Bumblebee arrive at the college ahead of the former's aunt and uncle. Braedey climbed out to take a look at the Princeton University that stood before him.
It was magnificent, it looked worthy enough to house the royal family of England. The grass growing all around the college campus was lush and summer green, fully grown trees littered the yard, and Braedey could smell the beautiful scent of fresh life, and old history. Braedey took a deep breath. The air was a gentle warm, and the sky was a rich blue, not a cloud in sight. For the first time since he discovered his true origins, he felt normal.
Braedey looked to Bumblebee, then he gave a hand gesture to tell him to go. The muscle car Autobot honks his horn to him, saying he doesn't want to leave, but Braedey spoke quietly in Cybertronian to tell him to go, and Bumblebee reluctantly drove away. Braedey had gotten his belongings, and he made his way towards the campus.
As Braedey walked through the hallways, he got a lot of eyes from girls as he walked past and found the open door of his room. He then saw his roommate setting up the place, who looked to be Hispanic with short black hair and brown eyes.
"What's up?" Braedey called.
The teen turned to look at the door, and saw the brunette. "Hey, you're Braedey, right? I'm Leo."
"Nice to meet you." Braedey greeted as they shook hands.
"Which side you want? This side or that side?" Leo asked, gesturing to the front and back of the room.
Braedey pointed to the back. "I'll take the back."
"Already chose that side." Leo stated.
"Okay, let's get some ground rules down here, pal." Braedey now explained and his dormmate raised his eyebrows at him. "If we're gonna be roommates, here's the rules: no drugs or alcohol, good hygiene, no involving me in ANYTHING or EVERYTHING perverted whatsoever, and we'll get along great? Got it?"
"And no stealing girlfriends." Leo stated.
"Especially girlfriends." Braedey pressed, as he's feeling possessive of Jasmine right now.
"You got a girlfriend?" Leo asked, looking surprised, considering that Braedey was a scrawny, awkward looking teenager.
"Yes, I do. You?" Braedey asked, though he doubted that Leo would have a girlfriend. Though in Leo's defence, looking at Braedey, he would think the exact same thing.
"No, not a chance." Leo chuckled, and Braedey shrugged. "You a techie?"
Braedey shrugs. "Ehh, not much. I dabble here and there."
Leo claps his hands together. "Sweet. Follow me. Sharsky. Fassbinder. Where we at?"
Braedey followed Leo and they both end up in different part of the room surround by posters of girls in bikinis and computer stuff.
"Server's almost online, Leo. Network's up and running." One fella spoke up.
Leo grinned. "Beautiful. That's what I like to hear. That's Sharsky. That's Fassbinder. My IT gurus. Guys, meet Braedey."
"What's going on, guys?" Braedey waved to them.
Leo opened his arms. "Welcome to my empire, bro.. That's me, I'm sure you've heard of it." He asked.
Braedey shook his head. "Nope. What's all this for?"
"See, where I'm going bro, call me gross but I want to be a baby billionaire." Leo stated before bringing up two cat posters. "Kitten calendars. It's how I got started. Look at me now. Gotta have dreams, bro."
"Leo! We got some brand-new Shanghai vid!" Fassbinder stated, now seeing some raw footage.
"Post it, baby!" Leo ordered. "Go, go, go! FTJ! FTJ!"
Braedey cocked an eyebrow as he watched Leo and his friends type rapidly on their computers. He looked over and watched some videos from people running as explosions surround the place.
"Look at this! Half of Shanghai gets wrecked and China says it's a gas leak. Don't believe the hype, bro." Leo says as typed away.
"Just like the alien robots in LA that everyone tried to cover up!" Sharsky stated in.
"Yeah." Fassbinder nodded in agreement. "I saw these robots, and they did this like, firing thing, and they cam down and toasted this woman-"
"This looks all fake to me." Braedey lies.
"It's not fake!" Fassbinder protested. "The internet is pure truth. Video doesn't lie."
"It looks fake." Braedey stated back.
"No, man, I've seen them." Fassbinder insisted to him. "They're, like, these robots..."
"Look, look, it's all fake. Anybody could do it on any computer, okay?" Braedey argued back.
"No way! It's real!" Fassbinder insisted back.
Braedey raised his hands. "Hey! I'm just stating what I think, man."
"Dude. It's all alien, man." Leo said getting close to Braedey's face. "Follow me."
Suddenly, something pops up on Fassbinder's computer making him worry. "Uh, Leo. Bad news! We just got scooped. The video's already up on GFR."
Leo grunts and threw his binder. "Dammit, Fassbinder! Robo-Warrior, the guy's our main competition on conspiracy stuff. "Effing" was my idea and he stole it! He's been linking to my site and thieving hits forever."
Braedey crossed his arms. "Dude, this is really important to you, isn't it?" He questioned incredulously.
Leo smacked his desk. "Of course it's important! By the way, I read you file. I'm poor, you're poor. We're gonna fix that. You work for me now." He said to him.
Braedey glanced to the side and back at Leo. "I work for you now? Well, okay then. "Boss", let's get one thing clear. First off, I quit because I'm not getting caught up in this weird ET crap you got going on. And second, even if I were to help, the last thing I need is for you to ruin my chance at getting a scholarship."
Leo then stood up. "You mocking my life's work, Braedey? That's your one warning patrolling, dude. Don't make me have Fassbinder hack your financial aid, 'cause I'll do it!"
Braedey rolled his eyes and left to get the rest of his stuff. 'First day and I'm already getting trolled. Off to a great start.' He thought to himself sarcastically.
Braedey then noticed someone down the hall. He took a closer look, and he saw it was a blonde girl around the same age as him with blue eyes, while wearing a thigh-high white dress and slip-on shoes.
Leo stepped out and saw the girl. "Oh, my God. That's her. She's coming. She sees me, she sees me." Leo mused as he wiped his hair back, just as the blonde girl walked away. "She's tied for number one on my to-do list. Do not bird-dog my quail, you hear me?" Leo threatened at Braedey.
"I'm not interested in her." Braedey said bluntly. "You can take her."
Later that evening, Braedey followed his dorm mate, Leo, and his friends, Sharsky, and Fassbinder. They were all making their way to their very first frat party, though Braedey wasn't really one to go to parties, but the others dragged him along.
"First frat party's the game changer, boys, we're hunting in the wild now. So, get your game faces on." Leo explained, and he clapped his hands together in anticipation, and the group walked up the lawn, towards the frat house.
"I didn't want to be here at all." Braedey fumed. "Besides, I have a webcam date with my girlfriend."
"That's so cool." Fassbinder grinned.
"No, it's not." Leo scoffed, jealously coating his voice. He then looked over to Braedey. "Why don't you want to come?"
"I didn't want to come here in the first place, but you morons had to drag me out here." Braedey stopped as the three continued on. "So, I'm just gonna stay out here and away from all that."
"Oh, come on, man. Don't be such a puss-" Leo began to insist, only to get a serious death glare from Braedey. "Okay, okay. Not a party man. I get it. Well, while he's making out with his MacBook, I'm gonna be getting my Spitzy freaky freak on." He laughed, he and the other two walking off to join in on the party.
Braedey watches the guys go around and stare and flirt with some girls, while he just hangs back, shaking his head at the concept of frat parties. As he stood out, he looked over to the grass, and he blinked a few times as he started to see tonnes of symbols and glyphs flashing before his eyes. He now began to draw and write out the symbols with his shoes into the ground.
The same blonde girl from earlier then comes up and saw him. "Are you okay?"
Braedey snapped back to reality, and he brushed his foot over what he did to cover it up. "Yeah, uh, I was just having a moment." He then got himself a lemon water. "Crazy these parties can be, huh?"
"It's Braedey, right?" The girl asked.
"Uh, yeah." Braedey replied casually, but internally, he was not liking this girl. There was something that got him on edge, especially since she knew his name off the bat, and he did not like it at all.
The blonde then tapped him. "I wanna dance."
Braedey was taken back, but he kept his composure. "Look, I already have a girlfriend, and I'm not a player or whatever they say these days, so please don't pry any further." He casually replied to her.
"Relax. I just wanna have some fun." The blonde then whispered in his ear.
Braedey now steps back from the blonde. "Listen, when a guy says no, he means it. Now, I am going to say this in the nicest way I possibly can. Back. Off."
Braedey then walked away and sits down. He sips his drink, only to have it snatched away from him. The blonde then pushed a chair up against the table and sits on Braedey's lap. "So, how about tonight, you pretend I'm your girlfriend, and I pretend that you're my boyfriend?" Before she could get any closer, Braedey suddenly shoves her off, knocking her down to the floor. "HEY!" The blonde snapped.
"I told you 'no' the nice way. Now I do it the hard way." Braedey grunted as he stomped away.
"Hey! Who drove the freaking yellow Camaro?!" A buff teen demanded over the noise of the music. "There's a car on the lawn."
"Goddammit!" Braedey muttered. He ran outside and he sees Bumblebee parked on on the front lawn, his car alarm going off. "Bee! What in the hell are you doing here?!" He hissed.
"Houston, we have a problem." Bee relayed over the radio with 'Apollo 13', Braedey now looking concerned.
"Yo, freshman! Is that your car in our bushes?" The buff teen asked from Braedey.
"Yeah. You got a problem, tall, dumb and blonde?" Braedey argued back.
"Get it out of here!"
"Why don't you get out of here before I knock the ever-living crap out of you?" Braedey retorted. The buff teen then charged at Braedey, only to get two strikes to the face, two swift punches to the chest, then Braedey does a judo throw, tossing the teen into the bushes.
Braedey shook his shoulders and rolled his eyes before he climbs into the muscle car as Leo, Sharsky, and Fassbinder come out to see what's going on.
"You have a ride?" Leo chuckled in awe once he saw Braedey's car. "Bro, why are you holding out on us?" He asked.
"Because I don't trust you, and you're a perv in more ways than one." Braedey snapped, then shuts the door. "Now get back or I'm running you down myself."
"I love Camaros." Braedey turned to sees the persistent blonde form from before standing by the passenger door, and about to climb into the muscle car.
"For the love of Christ, how many times do I have to say it?! NO!" Braedey shouted. Bee roared his engine, reversing away before the blonde could even reach his door handle, and drives off of campus, out into the city.
Braedey now buckles up and sighed in relief. "Thanks a million, Bee." He patted Bumblebee's steering wheel.
"Anytime." Bee replied back through his radio.
"So, what's this about?" Braedey now asked. "You said there's a problem?"
"Optimus needs to see you." Bumblebee replied, now sounding very serious.
Braedey's eyes widened. "Optimus? But why?"
By the next morning, Bumblebee had arrived at a nearby military cemetery situated nearby a river. It was quiet and peaceful, though that's expected to be in a cemetery. Braedey now spotted Optimus standing nearby an angle monument as Bumblebee came to a stop.
Braedey hops out of Bumblebee, and he jogs over towards the Autobot leader. "Optimus, what's going on? What happened? This isn't a regular meeting, is it?" He asked.
Optimus sighed. "I'm sorry, Braedey. But the last fragment of the AllSpark was stolen from the base at Diego Garcia last night."
"Decepticons." Braedey sneered, clenching his fists.
Optimus nodded his helm. "We placed it under human protection at your government's request. But, I am here for you, Braedey." He explained to the brunette. "Because your leaders believe we have brought vengeance upon your planet. Perhaps they are right. That is why they must be reminded by another human or two of the trust that we share." He looked to Braedey.
Braedey looked down. "Optimus, I have looked up to you over the last two years. If anything, you're like the father figure I've always wanted. You know about my past, you know what happened to me... but I can't do this. I mean, this isn't my war."
"Not yet. But I fear it soon will be." Optimus said dreadfully, looking to the horizon before looking back to Braedey. "Your world must not share the same fate as Cybertron. Whole generations lost."
Braedey stepped up and Optimus knelt down, lowering his hand so Braedey can climb in it. Optimus lifted him up and they look at each other. "Optimus, I really want to help you and the others. Really, I do. I want to help. But I can't just throw away my life. Jasmine, my aunt and uncle, they all need me. And believe me when I say this, I wish I could help you. But I can't. I'm just me."
"You are far more than what you believe yourself to be, my young friend." Optimus said wisely. "Braedey, fate rarely calls upon us at a moment of our choosing."
Braedey just looked down. "I just can't. I'm sorry. I mean, you are Optimus Prime. Do you and the Autobots really need me?"
Optimus sets him back down on the ground, and Braedey walked back to Bee. But he stopped when he heard Optimus say this...
"We do need you, more than you know."
Braedey shook his head as Bee then drove him back to the college. "That's one way to say no."
"Bee, just don't start! I'm not a guy with superpowers that I can turn on when the time is needed." Braedey sighed. "Optimus and the other Autobots can handle themselves without me."
"You can tell yourself that as many times as you want, Braedey. We both know you don't truly believe that." Bumblebee said to the brunette. Braedey just looked out the window and exhaled, Bumblebee driving him back to college.