A/N (Please Read): *POP* H-Huh?! A-Are we back? WE'RE BACK! Oh my god, guys, I am SERIOUSLY just starting a counter for how often this stuff happens. At this point, it's happened more times than the Autobots' secret has been revealed in this story, and that's saying a lot. But here it is! We're back, and it's time for this two-parter to finally kick off!

However, before we get started, I've got a brief announcement. So, after these past two days, I've been considering a bunch of stuff, and I think it might be time to start the AO3 cross-posting back up. I know that I haven't been on there in the past… TWO years, but with everything that's happened, I think it's time to start catching up on that. I don't know WHEN I'll start since my schedule gets pretty busy, but it's definitely a big priority.

Oh, and for Ben 10 RWBY fans, the new chapter over there WILL probably be delayed to Saturday because of all of this, too, so just giving you a heads up. But now that we've gotten business out of the way, let's begin, shall we? This is…

Chapter 73: Prehistoric Panic, Part 1

…..

The next day at school had been… a bit disjointed, to say the least. That morning, during their Hero Training course, the students of Class 1-A had been paired off into groups of four groups of five and were then paired off against one another in a combat training drill. Just like in their first class, one team were set up as villains while the opposing team were the heroes. The heroes' goal; to get past the villains and make it to their hostages in the building they were guarding. The villains' goal was to incapacitate the heroes before that could be done.

To say things didn't go too well for Izuku's team was… an understatement. For one, he and Kyoka were on opposing teams, which sucked. Secondly the leader OF Kyoka's team… was Bakugo, which doubly sucked, especially for Kyoka herself.

"Do I HAVE to?!" she bemoaned to All Might before the exercise even started.

The Symbol of Peace, however, was not willing to make exceptions. "Young Jiro, as heroes, you will often find yourself working with colleagues you may not be fond of. Believe me, I am no stranger to that." He placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "But just because we may not like them, doesn't mean we cannot tolerate them. You and young Bakugo may have good reason to butt heads, but the intent of this exercise is to try and handle situations like this." He leaned in and covered his mouth as he whispered in addition; "If anything… do it for young Midoriya, hm? He needs to learn not to pull his punches."

"Hah…" Kyoka's shoulders slumped forward before she relented, wearing an uncertain smile. "Yeah, I can kinda get where you're coming from All Might. I'll go along with it… just so long as Green Bean doesn't literally punch me."

"Are you kidding? He'd never forgive himself if he did." All Might and Kyoka shared a little chuckle at that.

And so, there they were; Team Bakugo, consisting of the Explosion user himself, along with Kyoka, Eijiro, Denki and Mina, facing off against Team Midoriya. Of course, the One for All user was leading the team, with Tenya, Ochako, Tsuyu and Kaida backing him up. The only OTHER major problem? …They were portraying the villains in the scenario. Not only was Izuku not good at that, but that meant…

"MWAHAHAHAH! So, you heroes believe you can best us?! Well, THINK AGAIN, heathens! For WE shall leave you trembling in your boots! TREMBLING, I say!"

Tenya's overacting was back in full force, and it was increasingly hard for Izuku's team to focus. …Or, at least, it was hard for Ochako. "PFFFFFTT!" the Gravity user sputtered, holding back her laughter. "H-He's so silly!"

A much better rested Tsuyu put a finger to her chin, witnessing their Class Rep's overacting and stiff movements. "Wow, Iida, you certainly have this whole villain thing down."

"Maybe in another universe." Izuku mumbled dryly, though he knew full well that he'd have to get into a villain's mindset as well. As this thought crossed his mind, however, he noticed that Kaida was… standing by herself, away from the others. She was also being very quiet, which tipped Izuku off that something wasn't right. 'It's very unlike her.' He approached her from the side and waved her down. "H-Hey, Kiryu! …Kiryu?"

The Sauro-Parts user didn't respond, and little did Izuku know that she was actually lost in her own important thoughts. 'Mom, dad, what in the hell did you guys get into?' She bit her lower lip apprehensively. 'God, if the government gets wind of something like this… who knows what would happen? I've gotta find a way to—'

"Hey! Kaidasaurus!"

A light gasp escaped the girl and she spun around, seeing a concerned Izuku standing next to her. "O-Oh, Midoriya. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"It's okay, but…" the greenette tightened his lips in concern. "Are you okay, Kiryu? You seem a bit… not yourself today."

"Oh, uh… y-yeah, I'm good." Kaida said sheepishly. "I'm just still having trouble with Parents Day is all. B-But we can talk about that later. So, what's the plan for the exercise, leader?"

Izuku flinched at being given the title "leader", and all at once, Tenya, Ochako and Tsuyu's attention was brought to him as well. "Yes, Midoriya!" the former said as he flexed his fingers evily. "What will be the best plan to execute so that we may SMITE our enemies and ALL those who oppose us?!"

Clearing his throat, Izuku began thinking up a plan… which quickly turned into a mumbling streak. "Let's see, the typical bad guy is mostly focused on trying to outwit most heroes, though they're not above using brute force if the situation comes down to it. Though of course, most times that's only when they're desperate and need to try and get away from the heroes, so if we want to win, we'll need to—"

"And… BEGIN!"

*BZZZZZZT*

The starting buzzer and All Might's voice over the intercom shook Izuku out of his mumbling state. "W-Wait, wha—"

*BOOOOOM*

"DIIIIIIIEEEE!" Sure enough, next came Katsuki's signature catchphrase, propelling himself toward the "villains" while the rest of his team trailed behind. "You're gonna wanna brace yourself, Deku! 'CAUSE I'M ABOUT TO BLAST YOU POSER VILLAINS INTO NEXT WEEK!"

"Sorry about this, guys!" Mina called out as she, Eijiro and Denki all readied their Quirks… only for something to shoot by them with surprising speed. "Huh?!"

In a move that made everyone doubletake, Bakugo included, Kyoka had used her wrist-mounted speakers to blast herself forward, the soundwaves' concussive force propelling her so that she was neck and neck with the Explosion user. From there, she turned up the volume and blew past him completely, leaving him stunned and Izuku even more so… when she came within mere centimeters of his face. "Wh-Wha—"

"Sorry, Celery Stick."

*BWAAAAAAAMMM*

"AAAAAAAAAA—" *CRASH* All at once, Izuku was hurdled back into the building he was supposed to protect, his ears ringing from just how loud that sonic blast was. And while he was admittedly VERY impressed by how potent Kyoka's attack was, he still couldn't get over how PAINFUL it was. "Auuugh… h-hey, what gives?! I thought we'd have more time to plan things out!"

At that, All Might's voice entered over the intercom again; "Hahaha! Young Midoriya, time is precious, and in real life scenarios, you never know when it'll be taken away! This exercise is meant to help you think on your feet! No planning ahead here! Now, I suggest you do what your classmates are doing and get in the game!"

Izuku's head snapped up and he saw exactly that; his teammates engaging the enemy even without the proper time to think up a plan. Ochako was actually holding her own well against Mina through Gunhead Martial Arts, while Tenya raced circles around Denki, the blonde's electro-blasts not connecting in the slightest. Eijiro had tried to make it past the defensive line, but Tsuyu had made sure to send him straight back through the use of her tongue. And of course, that left him and Kyoka, the purplette goading him into attacking her.

"C'mon… get your head in the game, Izuku…" Kyoka made a "come at me" gesture. "Fight me."

"I-I…" Izuku took a deep breath and steadied himself, knowing full well that he needed to do this. He NEEDED to get into the right mindset for this exercise if he wanted to get a passing grade. "…Alright." He lifted his respirator over his mouth, activating his Rider-esque helmet. "You wanna see a villain?" He reached up and changed the glowing eyes of the helm from bright red… to an eerie purple. "I'll give you a villain."

Kyoka smirked, glad that her best friend had gotten the message. "Heh, bring it on, "Dark Rider Deku"." The two teens charged in with equally loud battle cries… which left only one pair of students to do battle against each other.

And needless to say, Kaida wasn't happy about it. Not one bit. If anything, she was absolutely perturbed. Once again, she stood across from Katsuki Bakugo, and immediately, memories of their battle at the Sports Festival began racing through her mind. …At least, the memories she could recall before she'd transformed. And while she liked to think she had gotten over it since then, she knew it wasn't that easy. 'Goddamn it, WHY?' she thought to herself in dismay. 'WHY did it have to be HIM?! Am I being punished for something?!'

"HEY! Lizard Lips!" Kaida's eyes widened as she saw Katsuki's hands igniting with small explosions, making it clear that he was growing impatient. "You just gonna stand there like a fossil, or are we gonna throw hands?!"

The boy's bluster managed to flare Kaida's anger up significantly. "Oh, you did NOT just call me a foss—" But then her voice was lost again, her mind flashing back to seeing that picture her mom sent her. She had stared at it for so long the night before that the image was burned into her brain at this point. The sight of that massive robot embedded into the ground, what they had once thought was a fossil itself, was actually something MUCH more incredible. She was convinced that it couldn't have originated from Earth. It was much too advanced to be, so it HAD to have come from outer space. Even so, though, all these thoughts did was make her worry about her parents even more.

'What'll they do if they get discovered?' Kaida thought, her mind racing in a panic… without noticing that Bakugo was getting closer by the second. 'Will they get arrested? Will the government come for them and try to cover it up?! ARE WE GONNA BE INVADED—'

*CHA-KOOOOOM*

"AAAH!" A scream was brought out of Kaida's throat as backblast from Bakugo's explosions made contact with her, toppling the tall girl over as the blonde boy went straight for the goal.

"HAHAHA! What'd I say, Scale Belly?! If your head's not in it, ya might as well forget tryin' to win!"

Kaida gasped and shouted; "Raptor Legs!", chasing after Bakugo as her legs transformed into ones more muscular and agile. Her speed increased ten-fold and she practically vaulted herself through the air with a single jump, managing to land on his back and take him out.

The air was driven out of Bakugo's lungs in an instant. "GAH!"

"Not so tough now, ARE ya?!"

The Explosion user sneered, slamming his palms flat against the ground. "Please! I'm just getting' started!" *KRA-THOOM* With a massive blast, he propelled both himself and Kaida up into the air, where he managed to escape her clutches and spin around to deliver a blast point blank. "Ha! Later!" *BOOM*

"GYAAAAH!" The blast wasn't powerful enough to leave any permanent scars, but it was certainly potent, to the point that it left Kaida dazed and her hair partially singed. Her hard landing against the pavement didn't help much either.

Ochako saw it happen, and she swore she saw Kaida break the pavement. "AH! Kaida!"

Meanwhile, Bakugo had used the explosion to launch himself into the building… and topple over the chairs with tied hostage dummies on them, setting off the buzzer that ended the exercise. "HAHAHA! YES! Victory!"

"Er… Team Bakugo wins!" All Might announced, though he did so with uncertainty as everything else on the battlefield came to a stop. "A rather unconventional way of saving hostages, but it still counts."

Even though their team won, the four who were set up with Bakugo couldn't help but feel deflated. "Wait, that's it?!" Denki exclaimed.

"We didn't to do much of anything!" Mina waved her fists around in frustration. "This wasn't part of the plan at all!"

Out of all of them, Eijiro was a bit more optimistic, if a bit sheepish. "Hehe, typical Bakugo, am I right? Ah well, at least we're guaranteed a good grade… I think."

Kyoka made her venom much more apparent. "Psh, I'd take a failing grade over that idiot hogging all the glory—AH!" But, without warning, the Earphone Jack user cried out as she was grabbed from behind… and was greeted by the worst evil laugh she had ever heard—even worse than Tenya's.

"Mwah-ha-ha! This is not over!" Izuku declared, his purple-eyed gaze peering at Kyoka over her shoulder. "Now I've got YOU as a hostage! What'll you do NOW hero?!"

Rather than give a serious response, however, Kyoka reached up and pressed a button on Izuku's helmet, changing its eyes back to red. "Cut the act, Green Bean, it's over."

Slumping forward, Izuku groaned and removed his helmet, revealing his disappointed face. "Yeah… just kinda thought we'd get SOMETHING out of this exercise—"

"GUYS!" Ochako snapped, which brought all of their attention straight to her… as she kneeled over Kaida's unconscious body. "Would you get serious and HELP me here?!"

Everyone's was immediately wrought with concern and they rushed to help, astonished by the sight of their friend unmoving and entrenched in the blacktop. "AH! Kaida, no!" Mina slid next to Ochako, who was busy looking over their grey-skinned friend. "I-Is she… is she okay?"

"She's got a pulse, but she took that hit pretty hard." Ochako deduced as a pair of medical robots approached with a stretcher. "Guys, can you help get her on?" The boys wasted no time in doing so, the group of eight teens following them and their friend out of the training grounds and to Recovery Girl's office… leaving Bakugo to himself.

And, while he didn't wanna admit it, he too actually felt partial concern for his opponent. Still, he wasn't about to admit that. 'Hmph, she'll be fine.' Katsuki resolved in his head as he went for the control room instead. 'If she can survive what happened at the Sports Festival, this'll be nothin' for her.' However, the blonde was equally irritated with his rival, to be sure. 'What the hell was wrong with her, though? Where's that intensity from our last fight?! GAH! If she wants to be serious 'bout wantin' to be a hero, she's gotta stop holdin' back!'

On a dime, Bakugo stopped and hollered; "HEY! Deku!"

"H-Huh?" Izuku pivoted, setting his attention on his childhood "friend". "K-Kacchan?"

Katsuki thrust his finger to the greenette, shouting; "Tell Kiryu that if she has any hopes of beatin' me, she'd better start takin' things seriously! She was totally out of it for this whole stupid exercise! Get her to… I dunno, talk about her feelings or whatever to you." He turned around and started walking away again. "You're good at crap like that, right?" he said with an apathetic handwave.

Izuku, though, wasn't sure how to comprehend all of this. "Uh… should I take that as a compliment?"

"For the love of—JUST TALK TO HER, YA DAMN NERD!"

"O-Okay, I will! Sheesh!" With that, Izuku went off and ran, leaving Katsuki to storm off in the other direction. However, in the back of his mind, the One for All inheritor knew that this was a very rare thing to see from his friend-turned-bully. 'If I didn't know better, I'd say he was concerned for her wellbeing. …Then again, it's because he wants a fair fight against her, so I guess he's got his own self-interest in mind, but hey, progress is progress.'

…..

As it would happen, though, it'd be a while before Izuku could actually talk to Kaida. She spent pretty much the remainder of the day in Recovery Girl's office, the nurse no doubt working tirelessly to heal whatever injuries the girl sustained. It wouldn't be until after class, in the parking lot, that the team got to see Kaida again. They had formed up in their usual group, waiting for Bumblebee, Jazz, Bulkhead and Arcee to come to pick them up that day. The only one who wasn't present was Shoto and the 1-B students, the former because he was picking his best friend up from the nurse's office while the latter four had other things to do that day.

While they waited, though, Denki took the time to do a bit of gloating. "I'm just sayin', Bakugo being a glory hog or not, I still say we SMOKED your team, Midoriya." The electric blonde puffed out his chest and plunged his hand into his pocket… where he produced a familiar ticket. "Which means I stay winning! Hahaha!"

Izuku, Kyoka and Momo all did a doubletake when they saw that, whereas Eijiro and Mina both grimaced at the reminder. "Woah! Kaminari, you're going with Iida to the theme park?!"

"How the hell did you convince him to pick you?" Kyoka asked pointedly.

"…You don't have to make it sound like you're offended, dude." Denki muttered, though he quickly put his bravado back in action. "But, as for how I got the ticket, we decided to have a little competition to decide who'd get 'em. The girls and guys had a three-way match, Quirks allowed!"

Momo's eyebrows rose up, her eyes darting to her redheaded classmate. "Oh my… Kirishima, he defeated you and Tetsutetsu?"

"Again, I ask, freaking how?" Kyoka reiterated.

Eijiro's grimace deepened at Kaminari, both remembering how it went down…

…..

~Yesterday~

Dual screams could be heard from the battlefield in front of the Autobot Headquarters, belonging to Mina and Setsuna as they were stacked one on top of the other, the former being tossed high into the air with a 360-degree spin before landing on her friend. What's more, both had been cocooned in thorny vines, so their pain was multiplied several times over. Mina had tears streaming down her face as Setsuna tried to wriggle her body parts free, only for the thorns to stick her at every move she made. Coming in for a graceful landing on top of the two, Ibara Shiozaki morphed her vine hair into a pair of hands, slamming one thorny fist into the other to emphasize her triumph… along with a final word;

"Ibara WINS. Flawless Victory."

"WAH-HA-HAAAA! WHYYYY?!" Mina whined.

Setsuna glared up at her classmate and shouted; "Dammit, Shiozaki, I am SO gonna get you back for this!"

The Vine user simply crossed her arms and held her head up high. "Perhaps… but not today."

Across the field, Denki had seen all of this go down, and the sight of Tenya congratulating Shiozaki and handing her a ticket… ignited something within him. His eyes snapped back to Tetsutetsu and Eijiro, the two similarly Quirked boys still laying into one another as hard as they possibly could. They weren't paying HIM any mind. 'They are SO gonna hate me for this…' a devious smirk morphed onto his lips. '…But if it means going to a theme park with Shiozaki…'

"HAHAHA! Give it up, Kirishima!" Tetsu bellowed as he kept punching away. "Those tickets are MINE!"

"In your dreams, man!" Eijiro rebuked. "They're mi—hey, did you feel that?"

A new sensation overcame the Metal user as well, leading them both to pause their brawl. "Hey, yeah, it's like the air popped or somethi—OH GOD!" Their jaws simultaneously dropped as they saw Denki… who was now practically pulsating with electricity that he had built up. "U-Uh, hehe… K-Kaminari, we can talk about this!"

"DUDE! Pump the breaks!" Eijiro insisted. "You're gonna fry your brain!"

All Denki did, though, was aim his hands up, pointing a finger at each of them. "…Worth it. Indiscriminate Shock! 2.0 MILLION VOLTS!" From each finger, a MASSIVE bolt of lightning shot out and blasted the two hardened boys full-on, eliciting loud yells of agony as they were blown away. By the time the light died down, they were revealed to be covered in soot with smoke billowing from their mouths… and then they both fell to the ground with Kaminari joining them in the process.

"AH! Oh my word!" Ibara gasped as she and the others rushed over, everyone checking on the three boys. "Kaminari!"

"Kirishima!" Ochako and Mina kneeled down next to the charred redhead.

"Tetsutetsu!" Helping their scorched classmate, Itsuka and Setsuna were both worried and confused. "Holy crap, are you guys okay?"

The only response from Eijiro and Tetsu were pained moans… but to everyone's surprise, Denki actually gave two thumbs up, his expression completely dazed over as his brain was indeed fried. "Yeeeey, I did it!"

"I, um… I suppose he did, technically." Tenya shrugged, placing the ticket on Denki's forehead. "Congratulations, Kaminari!"

"Yey."

…..

The story left Izuku, Kyoka and Momo utterly dumbfounded, though Denki himself was still puffing his chest with pride. "…That's gotta be the dumbest thing I've ever heard." the Punk Rocker deadpanned.

"Scoff if you'd like, but I'm a freaking powerhouse and you know it!" the Electrification user boasted.

"You're something alright…"

But before Kyoka could deride him more, the group saw the side entrance of the school open up, and from there, they watched as Shoto led Kaida out to the parking lot. Ochako brightened up immediately and waved them down. "Oh hey, there she is! Kaida, we—oh…" But the brunette stopped herself short as they all witnessed Kaida wearing a white wrapping around her forehead, the Sauro-Parts user herself sporting an awkward grin.

"Heh… hey guys." she waved back.

"Oh my GOD, girl, was it that serious?!" Mina exclaimed as the 1-A students rushed up to her.

"Yeah, I mean, I knew ya landed hard, but wow…" Eijiro rubbed his chin with a wince. "You gonna be okay?"

Kaida rubbed the side of her head and chuckled. "Hehe, yeah, I'm gonna be okay. Turns out I hit my head on impact and I was bleeding pretty bad. Recovery Girl said that I took the landing pretty well overall, though, all things considered."

Momo breathed a sigh of relief. "Hah, thank goodness…" But then, she put on a scowl and clenched a fist in ire. "That Bakugo… he holds absolutely nothing back, even in an exercise! Does he not realize just how dangerous his Quirk can be to his peers in these situations?"

"I'm sure he fully knows that, Yaoyorozu." Izuku assured, giving Momo a serious gaze. "But remember, at the Sports Festival, he made sure not to hold back on Uraraka either."

"Yeah, and it was bullshit then, too." Kyoka sneered. "No matter how much Aizawa tried to spin it as a sign of "respect"."

With a roll of her eyes, Kaida interjected back into the conversation, stopping that from going any further. "Okay, let's not get into that again, shall we? Listen, I know full well just how powerful Baku-Breath AND his Quirk are, but honestly? I don't mind that he goes all out on me." She put on a smirk and raised her fist. "'Cause lemme tell ya, I relish the challenge. I'm gonna beat him someday, and when I do, I wanna make sure that it's when I've got control over my Full-Dino transformations. He's not gonna get a one-up on me again like he did before."

While the rest of the 1-A students all smiled and voiced their support for her, Izuku still had his concerns. For as much as Katsuki's attitude rubbed him the wrong way, he was right about one thing; Kaida wasn't all there. It was obvious that she was hiding something, and the smile she wore proved it. It was forced, something that he recognized all too well. 'It's now or never.' he resolved, stepping to the front of the crowd to speak.

"I'm glad you feel confident, Kiryu… but I'm still a little worried about you, I'm not gonna lie." His words caught Kaida's attention quick, along with everyone else. "Before the exercise started, you told me that you were having some trouble with Parents' Day, and during the whole thing, you seemed distracted."

Shoto's eyes widened a little and he finally spoke up. "What? Kaida, is that true?"

Seeing the Sauro-Parts user shy away a little, Izuku pursed his lips and bowed his head slightly. "Forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds, but… is everything alright at your home, Kiryu?"

With all eyes now on her, Kaida knew that there was no getting away from things this time. 'I just can't tell them about the giant robot… gah, I wish I was better at lying, but… maybe giving them a half-truth will be good enough.' Taking a deep breath, Kaida relented and explained. "Okay guys, you got me… there IS something going on, but you've gotta keep this on the downlow. No one else, in or out of our classroom, can know about this. Understand?"

"Of course." Momo agreed, earning a collective nod from everyone else. "Kaida, whatever is happening at your home, you can entrust us to keep it secret."

"Hm, thanks." Kaida smiled gratefully before letting the cat out of the bag. "You see… I called my mom last night to see if there was any hope of either her or my dad coming to Parents' Day." Her eyes shifted down sadly. "And, unfortunately, neither of them can."

That earned her many a sympathetic gaze from her friends. "Oh… I guess they're really too busy, huh?" Ochako said.

"No, no, it's not anything like that." Kaida shook her head. "They'd love to come, but… they've run into some trouble with the dig… and I'm talking like legal trouble." Hearing how heavy her voice had gotten, the group were visibly taken aback by the news. "Yeah, it's… it could be pretty bad. My parents have to try and sort things out with the authorities, but… chances are… hic…"

At that point, she was starting to choke up, which led Shoto to lend her a comforting hand. "Kaida…"

"Goodness, this is horrible." Tenya raised a hand stiffly. "H-Have you considered telling a hero? Or perhaps a teacher? Maybe they could—"

But Kaida vehemently shook her head. "No! No, Class Rep, this… this problem goes FAR beyond anything a normal hero can do!" She reached a hand up and wiped her tears away before they could flow down her cheeks. "I just… I don't know what to do! I don't want anything to happen to my mom and dad!"

Seeing his best friend like this, Shoto's expression hardened and he pulled his whole arm across her shoulders, where she automatically buried her head into his neck and wept silently. "It's okay… everything will be okay, Kaida." Just then, however…

*Beep-beep*

The teens all perked their heads up at the sound of car horns approaching from down the street, where they saw Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee and Jazz all pulling up to the school. "Buck" stuck his head out of his driver's side window and waved to the 1-A students. "Heya, kids! How's things today?"

Sadie, Brian and Jeff all pulled up to the curb as well. "School go well today?" the latter asked. "What'd ya'll get educated 'bout today?"

"W-We'll tell you on the way home." Kyoka assured. "First, we've gotta try and solve our friend's problem."

It was only then that Sadie and the boys notice that Kaida was with them, too. The Sauro-Parts user's eyes were getting red and puffy with all of the crying she'd been doing, which kicked the Autobot intelligence officer's protective instincts into gear. "Oh… oh sweetie, is everything okay?" She got out of her "car" and went over, prompting her companions to do the same.

"Oof, I know an upset face when I see one." Buck empathized. "What's eatin' ya, kid?"

Kaida sniffled and wiped her hand across her face, trying her best to compose herself. "I-It's… it's not something you have to concern yourselves with. It's just a family problem…"

The Autobots, however, weren't quick to take no for an answer. "Ah, man… sorry to hear, but maybe there's somethin' we could do?" Jeff suggested.

"N-No, really, you guys don't need to worry about this." Kaida pressed, raising a hand to the group. "This is… just something that I need to handle on my own. …If I even can." She shifted her sights to Shoto in a gloomy gaze. "Right now… I just kinda wanna go home…"

"I understand. I'll walk you there." Shoto assured before nodding to the others. "You guys go on ahead. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay…" Kyoka said hesitantly. "If you insist. But Kaida…" the grey-skinned girl met her eyes with the purplette, who stepped forward and gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. "If anything happens, let us know. We'll be there for you in a heartbeat, okay?"

To Kyoka's surprise, she went from holding Kaida's shoulder to being hugged by the tall girl in one fell swoop. "Snf… thank you, Kyoka. You guys are the best."

While normally not one for such intimate gestures, Kyoka resolved that this was a fine exception, willingly reciprocating the embrace. "You're welcome, and trust me, things will work out." Once the two separated, the team went with the Autobots, with Kyoka joining Izuku inside of Bumblebee. "…We'll make sure about that, right?" she said with a serious gaze to her friends.

"Zkrt—Copy that, good buddy." Bumblebee agreed.

"Yeah, we should ask Agent Fowler if there's anyway, we could get Kaida's parents off the hook. …Though first, we should stop by our homes and run it by our parents first." Izuku slightly frowned. "We ARE still grounded, after all."

As the Autobots began pulling away from the curb, Kaida and Shoto made to head off in the opposite direction. "C'mon, Kaida, let's get you home." The Half-Cold Half-Hot user said softly.

Kaida only gave him a silent nod, peering back over her shoulder to watch the others leave. …But then, something caught her eye, and it nearly made her heart stop. Her eyes locked on to the rear of Brian's yellow VW Beetle, where a certain symbol was inside of the car's rear emblem. She subtly enhanced her eyesight with her Quirk, transforming her eyes into those of a raptor to make sure it was what she thought it was. And indeed… it was the same exact symbol she had seen on that robot's chest.

"Wait… wait…" Sadness gave way to a mix of emotions; confusion, then hope, and then finally… anger. These people, the ones who had been helping her classmates train over the past several months, knew something about that robot. They had to. She didn't know if they were keeping it secret from her friends, but if they were, then she had to do two things. One; save her friends from potential alien invaders, and two; FORCE the answers out of them. "WAIT!" In an instant, Kaida shifted her legs into those of a Velociraptor—tearing up her shoes in the process—and sprinted after them, much to Shoto's shock.

"K-KAIDA! Don't! You can't use your Quirk in public!"

But Kaida didn't care. This was the only opportunity she might have to get answers. She blew past Brian before he could speed up down the street and jumped in front of him, planning her foot firmly on the hood of the Beetle. Brian stopped on a dime, he and his occupants all equally stunned. "STOP RIGHT THERE!" Kaida roared.

Peering up from the backseat, Izuku and Kyoka couldn't believe what they were seeing. "Kiryu!? W-What's going on?!"

"Get out of the car! All of you!" There was a moment's hesitation from the three, but Kaida wasn't having it. "NOW!" Not wanting to argue, the trio got out, right as the rest of the Autobots all stopped in confusion.

Eijiro and the others all got out as well, wondering what was going on. "H-Hey, what's happening back here?"

Kaida seemed to ignore the question as she suddenly took Brian by the collar of his shirt and marched straight back to his rear, shoving his face directly into his Autobot emblem. "Care to explain THIS?!"

"…Uh, what?" Kyoka peered down at the symbol, a nervous sweat trickling down her forehead. "I-It's just a decal, isn't it? Kaida, what's gotten into—"

"Kyo, stay back!" The Sauro-Parts user raised her arm up to her friends. "All of you, get AWAY from these people! You don't know what they're capable of!"

By this point, Buck, Sadie and Jeff had exited their vehicle forms as well, wondering what all of the commotion was about. "W-What? Kaida, this is—"

But Kaida cut Sadie off before she could say anything else. "Don't say ANOTHER WORD, lady, o-or whatever you are!" Glaring intensely at the group, Kaida's eyes were once again brimmed with tears, her fists clenched at her sides as she tried to keep a lid on her emotions. "I don't know WHO you are, but you have a LOT of explaining to do!" She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, all of her rational having flown out the window. 'I know I shouldn't do this, but it's the only chance I have!' She found the image and shoved her phone in Sadie's face. "My parents are in trouble because of YOUR stupid machine, and you're gonna help me get them OUT of trouble! UNDERSTAND?!"

It took Sadie a moment to process what she was being shown… but once she did, her mouth fell open in astonishment. She gasped as one hand flew up to take the phone, the other covering her mouth in an attempt to control herself. Seeing her reaction, Buck, Jeff and Brian went to peek at the image themselves. "W-What? What're you—SWEET SOLUS PRIME!" the large man bellowed.

"By the Allspark…" Jeff uttered as Brian's eyes rolled into the back of his head, though his compatriot grabbed him by the arm to stop him from falling flat on his back.

"G-Guys!" Izuku shouted, the boy starting to panic as their Autobot allies began to use Cybertronian lingo freely in front of Kaida. "What's going on?!"

"Hah… haha… hahaha!" Sadie burst out into joyous laughter as she showed the kids the phone, much to Kaida's shock. "They found him! Kaida's parents ACTUALLY found him!" She passed the phone to Izuku so the others could see, and before Kaida could even protest, she found herself in a tight, unexpected hug. "Haha! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, Kaida!"

The high schooler managed to wiggle out of the embrace, shoving Sadie away. "Th-Thank me? What the hell are you going on about lady?! Why did you just refer to that giant robot as a "he"?" She thrust a finger over to her classmates, who were all marveling at the photo. "And why the heck did you just SHOW that to them?!"

Despite being shoved, Sadie's good mood wasn't tampered with in the least. "Hehehe, you'll figure out why in a little bit. And don't worry, all of your friends know all about this already. Everything will be made clear to you soon." She spun around to her teammates and told them; "We need to bring her to Prime right away. He NEEDS to know about this ASAP."

"Right, no doubt about it." Buck agreed as he looked to the other teens. "Everyone! Load back up, we're headed to base." He pointed straight to Kaida. "That means you too, kid. You're riding with Bee."

"H-Hold on, I didn't agree to ANYTHING here!" Kaida snapped. "Who the hell are you people?!" She whipped around to her friends. "And what do you guys know that I don't?!"

Izuku and Kyoka walked over to her, escorting her back over to Bumblebee. "Kaida, trust me, there's a LOT that we need to fill you in on. And we will, once we get to base."

Before the Sauro-Parts user could argue further, Shoto came in and rested a gentle hand on her arm. "Kaida, trust me, everything is going to make sense, I promise."

"…It'd better." Kaida glared at her best friend. "Because the fact that even you seem to know more about this than I do is kinda pissing me off, Shoto."

…..

About half an hour later, after driving all the way to Korusan, the four Autobots pulled off of the main road and into the woods, taking the familiar dirt path all the way down to the clearing by the coast where Autobot Headquarters resided. There, parked out in front of the base, Optimus, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Strongarm and Red Alert were gathered up in vehicle mode, no doubt waiting for them. Kaida was immediately confused by the sight of the five vehicles parked out front with nary a soul in sight, and it only got even more confusing when their rides just stopped and their doors opened… seemingly on their own. "AH! W-What the…"

"Come on." Izuku beckoned with an inviting smile as he, Kyoka and Shoto all exited the vehicle… while Brian remained as still as a statue. "It's time to meet everybody."

Naturally, Kaida was cautious to get out, but seeing Shoto offering his hand managed to subside her concerns a little. Slowly, she grasped his hand and followed her friends out into the middle of the automobile gathering, which was when someone finally showed up… and it wasn't who she was expecting. "HEY! There you guys are!" Mei exclaimed as she came marching out of the building. "When we got Bulk's call, we assumed you wanted to be bridged over! …But I guess I can see WHY you didn't want to." Her eyes landed on Kaida and she gave a wave. "Hiya, Dino-Girl! Guess you've been roped into this now, huh?"

Kaida blinked as the inventor greeted her. "Hatsume… of the Support Course? R-Roped into what?" It was then that she noticed that Brian, Buck, Sadie and Jeff moved their vehicles over next to the others… and then promptly flickered out of existence. "AAH! W-Where'd they go?! Seriously, guys, what's going on here?!"

"Oh, don't worry." Mina winked cheekily. "This is where it gets good." She waved her hand to the vehicles. "Do it, guys!" And, on her cue…

*Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt*

For Kaida, everything seemed to slow down as she witnessed something that she could only describe as "uncomprehensible". The vehicles… transformed. One by one, they all changed shape into massive, robotic beings, each one a different size and shape. From Brian's car becoming the smallest bot there, to Sadie's becoming a slender pink and white feminine one, to Buck's Humvee—which had a noticeable resemblance to her dad's—becoming a large, rotund bot. But most astounding of all was the red and blue semi-truck, which had become the tallest bot there.

…For about two seconds before a pair of jets and a green helicopter came rushing in overhead, the latter coming in for a landing where it briefly transformed into an armored car and then took robot form. The red and black VTOL jet transformed into a feminine kabuki warrior while the white and red fighter transformed and SLAMMED himself upon the ground in a dynamic pose before standing at his full height, revealing he was indeed much taller than the red and blue bot. "Haha! Gotta love makin' a flashy entrance!" Jetfire proclaimed.

…But even then, the bots weren't done, because from overhead again came the LARGEST bird of prey that Kaida had ever seen. She was set to scream her head off there and then… if it hadn't transformed as well, revealing herself to be partially made of metal. "Jetfire, please, you'll scare the poor girl." Airazor insisted, unaware that Kaida was still plenty scared.

Once the team was all gathered, Optimus Prime kneeled in front of the teens and lowered his face toward Kaida, who was still just staring slack-jawed in mind-numbing awe. "Young Kaida Kiryu… we meet again." he greeted.

"W-W-Wha…" Just then, however, everything clicked the second she heard that voice. The baritone was so distinct, she knew she had heard it before… at the Sports Festival. "…Orion Pax?"

"Indeed, though that was my previous designation that I used as a pseudonym for my human holoform." Prime explained. "My true name is Optimus Prime."

"Th-Then that means…" Kaida pointed a shaku finger up to Bumblebee and the others. "…Brian?" The yellow bot nodded to her in confirmation. "…Buck, Sadie, Jeff?" One by one, Bulkhead, Arcee and Jazz all confirmed her suspicions, leading her to throw her hands up and clutch her hair. "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"

Shoto reached around and took Kaida by the shoulders again, speaking to her soothingly. "Kaida, it's okay. None of these guys are going to hurt you. They're good people… er, bots, I mean."

Optimus clarified that further. "Shoto is right, Kaida. Our intent is not to do any harm to you or your friends." He gave a nod down to the group. "After all, we have entrusted our secret to them for many months… even if others discovering our existence has become a consistent reoccurrence." The team all wore sheepish smiles at that, knowing exactly what he was talking about."

"S-So… you're giant, talking robots?" Kaida asked.

"Much more than that. We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known… as Autobots."

Kyoka couldn't help but chuckle a little. "Hehe, and there's the line again."

"…Okay, so you're giant, alien talking robots." Kaida resolved.

Optimus bowed his head affirmatively. "Indeed. Though now, I believe the time is appropriate for introductions… and explanations."

…..

And so, that's what happened. Over the course of the next half hour, the Autobots each introduced themselves to Kaida and went over nearly everything that had led to their arrival on Earth. Furthermore, her classmates all recounted their many adventures with the Autobots along the way, detailing their conflicts with the Decepticon threat. All the while, the Sauro-Parts user was quietly enthralled in the recitation of these events, her eyes growing wider and wider in fascination. And by the end of it all, she was left to process everything that her brain had just been fed. "So, lemme get this straight; you guys have been fighting your war with the Decepticons for months and somehow the general populace STILL doesn't know about it yet?"

"Nope, and we wanna keep it that way! Hahaha…" Sideswipe laughed before getting on his knees and bringing his hands together beggingly. "So please don't tell anybody!"

"H-Huh?!"

Following his brother, Sunstreaker began bowing his head profusely. "We've already let this secret slip so many times, we REALLY don't want it happening more than it needs to!"

Kaida raised her hands to the twins, hoping they'd relax. "Woah, woah, guys, I don't plan on telling this to anybody, trust me! I mean, hell, who'd even believe me?" She craned her head around to the Autobots surrounding her. "I mean, a bunch of alien robots from outer space? Even in a world full of Quirks, that'd sound ridiculous to most people. …But YOU!" Without warning, Kaida rounded on Bulkhead, pointing an accusing finger up at him.

"M-Me?" the Wrecker stuttered, taken aback.

"You're the one who SMASHED my family's pool!"

"…Oh, yeah." Bulkhead awkwardly rubbed his helm, remembering his initial splashdown when he came to Earth. "That was my bad. Sorry 'bout that."

Springer couldn't help but let out a mighty guffaw at that. "HAHAHA! No fraggin' way! Bulk, why am I not surprised this happened to you of all bots?"

Mina approached Kaida and asked; "Um… you're not gonna like, ask Bulk to pay off the damages, right? 'Cause he can't exactly do that."

Kaida grumbled and rolled her eyes, folding her arms over her chest. "Hmph… well, given the circumstances, I guess I can let him off the hook." She then waved her arm around and pointed to all of the Autobots. "But if any of you bots even go REMOTELY near my family's pool again, we're gonna have some SERIOUS words!"

"Hehe, message received, little lady." Jetfire saluted, amused by how much fire she had. "More importantly, though… we need to talk about what your parents found, kid."

"Or rather, WHO they found." Windblade corrected.

Kaida breathed out nervously. "Right… another one of you guys, probably from that Ark ship you mentioned before, right?"

Optimus confirmed her guess. "Indeed, but not just any Autobot. His name is Grimlock, and he is an old friend of mine who sent a message to Cybertron long ago. In fact, it was this signal that led us to finding this planet in the first place." He brought up his arm and activated a built-in computer, which began playing the audio they had reconstructed.

"And so, my friends, we send our message to the future. Even as the asteroid hurdles toward this planet, we stand together in the face of catastrophe with courage and good cheer! GRAAAAAAHH!"

The sound of multiple roars after that deep voice took Kaida aback. Namely because it was the same sounds she would often make whenever her own head would change to that of a dinosaur. "Wait… was this guy ACTUALLY on Earth during the Paleozoic Era?!"

"Given that the Ark went missing over 65 million years ago, that does stand to reason." Red Alert rationalized as he also activated his own arm-mounted computer, bringing up a holographic copy of Grimlock's picture from Kaida's phone. "But the fact that your parents found him in this state… is both very relieving and concerning."

"And why is that?"

"'Cause Cybertronians don't usually go into hard stasis like this unless they have a stasis pod." Jetfire explained. "The pod is what keeps the energon in us flowing, and it can sustain us for much longer periods of time." He pointed at Grimlock with a slight wince. "But Grim here… well, the good news is he ain't dead. If he were, he'd be entirely greyed out."

"The bad news is that the energon within him may have stagnated so much that it's only barely keeping his spark alive." Red Alert asserted, bringing his arm back down. "If we want to reactivate him, he's going to need the all of the old energon pumped out of him and a lot of new energon infused into his system."

"Then to finish it off, he'll need a jumpstart to get his spark pumping again." Bulkhead finished. "It's an incredibly complex and delicate process, which I'm no stranger to seeing... and sometimes, it can fail."

A collective gasp rang through the teenagers, all of them clearly worried. "Th-Then what're we waiting for?!" Denki exclaimed. "Let's get to that dig site and get started!"

"Woah, slow down there, Denki." Strongarm paused that line of thinking. "Let's not jump into panic mode right off the bat. The best news about this is that Grim's body is still relatively intact."

"Yeah, if he were heavily damaged, then it'd be a different story." Jazz crossed his arms with a confident grin. "But with him in the state he's in, it should go pretty smooth, 'specially now that we've got an energon specialist in our ranks."

The sound of approaching footsteps brought everyone's attention back to base, where yet another Autobot was making their arrival. "And here he is now!" Mei announced as she led Signal Flare and Agent Fowler out to the group. "Hehe, I'm getting a knack for using that GroundBridge."

Red Alert couldn't help but give a small, proud chuckle to his friend. "Hmhm, that you are, Mei."

"Thank you both for coming on such short notice." Optimus greeted.

"Ah, not a problem, Prime." Fowler waved off. "When I heard about what was goin' on, I was all ready to get in gear." He approached Kaida and the other students, meeting the Sauro-Parts user eye-to-eye. "So, Miss Kiryu, I presume."

Kaida tilted her head. "Yeah, that's me. And who're you?"

"Special Agent William Fowler of Sector Seven. I'm the Autobots' liaison with the government." He sent her a reassuring grin. "And don't worry, your parents are gonna get into any trouble once we're done here."

The news made Kaida breath a heavy sigh. "Hah… o-okay, that's good to hear."

Fowler then directed his attention to Izuku, Kyoka and Momo. "And you three… I've called your parents." The trio all simultaneously winced, but the agent put his hand up. "Relax, you're not in trouble. I told them that I had to borrow you for an official Sector Seven meeting. They didn't argue, but they said they want you back by curfew."

Izuku and Kyoka simultaneously pumped their fists into the air at the news. "ALRIGHT!" they shouted.

"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Momo bowed her head in gratitude. "We wouldn't want to miss this occasion."

As Signal Flare approached the group, Kaida pointed up to him curiously. "And this guy is…"

"Ah, greetings. You must be Kaida. The name's Signal Flare." the Autobots' latest addition waved. "I'm the new bot around here. And thankfully, it seems that I'm already being put to work on something important." Signal Flare diverted his attention over to Prime and Red Alert. "I appreciate you considering me for this task, Optimus. I'm no stranger to energon transfusions, so I'm glad to be of service."

"I am happy to hear it, Signal Flare." Optimus smiled under his faceplate. "And thank you for lending us your expertise. I'm certain that you and Red Alert will do a fine job." The Autobot leader's optics shifted down to Kaida again and he knelt down, placing a hand on her back. "So, are you ready to go help your parents?"

Taking a deep breath, Kaida steeled herself and raised a determined fist. "Of course, I am. …But, wait…" A sudden realization hit Kaida like an incoming train, her hands flying up to her head as she exclaimed; "That means I'll have to explain everything that YOU just told me to my parents! They're so gonna freak!"

There was a brief pause as the Autobots let that sink in. …That is until Bulkhead broke the silence. "…They're not gonna sue me, are they?"

…..

~Central Montana, United States~

Inside of their large, dig site tent, Krista and Kaito Kiryu were both going over the scans of… whatever it was they had unearthed. The rest of their dig team had returned to their hotel that night, leaving just the two of them to toil over the complex readings that they were getting from the giant, metal being that they'd once thought was a tyrannosaur skeleton. But all the while, the married couple couldn't help but worry, both for their own wellbeing and those of their children. If this got out to anyone, they'd no doubt be targeted by the government. Thankfully, they had known their entire dig crew for years, and none of them were known to be snitches, but keeping others away from the dig site was proving… difficult. At some point, they knew their overseers and funders would want to see their progress, and it was nothing but nerve-wracking for the two of them.

Kaito, a Japanese man with slicked back, black hair and thick spectacles, removed his glasses to wipe the nervous sweat from his brow. "Hah… can you make heads or tails of this, honey?" he asked his beloved wife. "Because I cannot."

"I'm in the same boat as you, dear." Krista said with a tired sigh. "I've been trying to go over these scans for hours and none of this makes sense." She shifted through the paper print-outs they had made of the robot's body, unsure of just what they were dealing with. "All I know is that this is definitely NOT man-made. It's far more advanced than anything that our world is capable of making."

Standing up, Kaito went over and peered over his wife's shoulders at the robot's schematics. "Do you still think that this… thing is from some sort of alien civilization?"

"I mean, do you have a better explanation?" Her husband pursed his lips, finding himself at a loss. "Believe me, I'd carbon date the thing just to be sure, but we don't have that kinda tech lying around. And even if we did, I'm afraid to find out exactly what it is…" Krista pressed her lips together, trying her best to hold herself together. "Kaito, I… w-what's going to happen? To us? To our children?" A small whine escaped her throat as she fell into her husband's arms, the papers falling out of her hand as they shared an embrace. "I just don't know what to DO!"

"Shh… sweetheart, don't cry." In reality, though, Kaito was trying to keep himself together as much as she was. "We… we need to have faith that everything will be alright. If anything, we should be glad that Kenny is back home with the girls, because then they'll have a responsible adult with them if… if something does happen."

"I-I just can't bear the thought of that, though!" Krista wailed in sorrow. "My babies will be all alone! I won't be able to attend EITHER of my girls' graduations or their weddings! I—"

*CHOOOOOM*

All of a sudden, a loud sound from outside the tent made the couple's heads snap up, whirling around as a bright, blue light shone from outside. The two were at a complete loss as to what it could be, so they went out to investigate. …Though not before Kaito grabbed a metal bat that he kept handy. However, no weapon could've properly prepared them for what they saw directly next to their tent. There, a massive, blue vortex had appeared from seemingly out of thin air, leaving them awestruck and slack-jawed.

"…Okay, I think I'm more inclined to believe your alien theory now." Kaito muttered.

"To be honest… even I was only half convinced on it." Krista admitted. "But this might prove otherwise."

Even so, they were even less prepared for what happened next. Because coming through the giant portal wasn't any sort of alien… but instead a large semi-truck—trailer and all—with an African-American men at the wheel, who disembarked after pulling to a stop. The couple stared at him incredulously as he dusted off his suit like nothing happened, before then offering the two a smile. "Ah, good evening! Doctor and Professor Kiryu, I presume?"

At that point, Doctor Kiryu brought his bat up again. "…Who wants to know?"

"W-Woah, woah, easy there, tiger, I'm not here to cause harm." the well-dressed man said before taking out his ID. "I'm here to help you out. Agent Fowler, Sector Seven."

Krista and Kaito analyzed the badge warily. "…Never heard of it." the professor stated.

"And that's a good thing." Fowler put his badge away and got on to business. "You see, we specialize in the study and discovery of alien life, and we think you might've just hit a gold mine when it comes to that."

All at once, the duo went on the defensive again. "W-What do you mean?" Kaito denied, raising his bat. "We don't know anything about—"

But then, the passenger side door of the semi-truck opened up… and out hopped the last person they thought they'd see. "Dad, mom, stop! It's okay! He's a good guy here!" The couple were left utterly wide-eyed at the sight of their eldest daughter coming over to them, though she was doing a sheepish shuffle as they stared at her. "…Heh, hi."

"K-KAIDA?!" Krista practically lunged forward while Kaito dropped the bat, the couple embracing their daughter while bombarding her with questions. "W-What are you doing here?!" "Why did you come through this weird portal?!" "Who is this man?!" "And what did we say about not telling ANYONE about this?!"

That last question stung, but Kaida persevered. "W-Well, about that last one… look." Kaida pointed up to the red and blue semi-truck, and when her parents saw what she was indicating, they once again were left astounded. There, emblazoned on the side of the truck, was the very same face symbol they had seen on the robot's chest.

"…You've gotta be kidding me." Kaito uttered.

"Nope, not kidding." Kaida asserted. "I knew that symbol looked familiar, but it didn't click with me until after school where I saw it on another car. …Turns out, my friends have been hanging out with aliens for the entire semester. And I only JUST found out about it."

"WHAT?!" the parents echoed.

Fowler came in and assured the two. "Sir, ma'am, it's all true. Normally, I'd try to keep this all under wraps, but with your case, I'm afraid I've got no choice but to bring you into the fold."

At this point, Krista was breathing erratically, gripping her husband's shoulder as she tried to process what she'd just been told. "W-Wha-What did we FIND?! What've we gotten ourselves into?!"

"Mom, please, slow down. You're going to give yourself a panic attack." Kaida moved in to hug her mother, trying her best to calm her down. "I promise, nothing bad is going to happen here. We just need to get that big lug outta the ground and get him back online."

That gave the parents pause. "…Did you just refer to it as "him"?" Kaita asked, to which he received a nod. "Hah, I swear Kaida, what is it that you know that we don't? We're missing a lot of pieces here!"

"I know, I know. And that's exactly why I've brought some friends to help clear things up a bit more. …You might wanna brace yourselves for what you're about to see." The couple were more confused than ever as their daughter spun around toward the truck and gave it a signal; "Prime! Make something of yourself!"

What came next was something that the couple could've never expected in their whole lives. *Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Before their very eyes, the semi-truck transformed into a tall, bipedal robot, its arms forming from out of the sides of its cab while the trailer hitch extended down into a pair of powerful legs. The windshields and grill resembled the pectoral and abdominal section of a human body, which was only furthered by the addition of a blue-helmed head that emerged at the very top of the robot. "Autobots… fall in." he said.

Kaida had to stifle a giggle at the sight of her parents absolutely dumbfounded expressions as the rest of the Autobots and their human partners all filed in, with the exceptions Airazor and Mei, who had remained behind to operate the GroundBridge. Optimus Prime then knelt down in front of the Kiryu family, keeping his optics firmly locked on the parents. "Pardon the unexpected intrusion, Mr. and Mrs. Kiryu, but I believe you have found a friend of ours. Could you lead us to his body so that we may bring him back online?"

The couple's reactions to this were… understandable. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

As the two kept screaming, Signal Flare couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. "Is this what every human is like when they first meet Cybertronians?"

"Nah, sometimes it's more subdued." Kyoka shrugged. "Other times, it's even worse. All depends on the type of person."

"I-I should probably take them away from all this and try to explain things in a… less crazy way." Kaida briskly took her screaming parents back into the tent, calling back to the others; "I'll be just a few minutes guys. Make yourselves comfy!"

As she pulled her head in, though, Momo scanned her eyes around the area, only to find nothing but rocks and dirt. "…I doubt we even can make ourselves comfortable out here."

But Eijiro just took it in stride. "Ah, it's no big deal. Besides…" He pointed up toward the nighttime sky, which was practically dotted with bright, shining stars. "At least we've got one heck of a great view, right?"

"Ah! Oh, wow!" Mina beamed, her eyes shimmering at the sight. "You don't usually get this kinda view in the city! How 'bout we do some stargazing, guys?"

So, as they waiting, that's exactly what the teens did. They stared up at the clear sky full of stars while Kaida—to the best of her abilty—explained the short version of everything to her parents. After about ten or so minutes, the Kiryu family finally emerged, with Krista and Kaito both still very stunned, but much less terrified of the robots surrounding them. "…Ahem, um… please forgive our outburst, Optimus Prime, sir." Kaito bowed profusely to Optimus. "That was unbecoming of us."

"There is no need to apologize." The Prime assured. "I should be the one asking for your forgiveness, if anything. The two of you did not need to be pulled into our secret in such a happenstantial situation."

"Oh, well… that may be, but what's done is done." Krista took a steady breath, still trying to comprehend that she was speaking to a giant, alien robot. "Hah… so, you wanna see your friend's body?"

"If you'd be so kind."

Krista motioned to her left. "Follow us." With that, the Autobots and their human allies were taken on a brief trek uphill, though Prime transformed so that he could bring his trailer along with them. While they were being led to the dig site proper, though, there were a few small conversations along the way. After all, out of all the teenagers that were there, one stood out prominently to Krista, and she offered the boy a greeting smile. "By the way, it's good to see you again, Shoto."

The monochromatic boy straightened up a bit when he was addressed, with Kaito greeting him as well. "Ha, yes, always nice to see you, young man. So, I take it that you're in the same boat as Kaida, right? Only just found out about these… um…"

"Autobots!" Arcee piped up.

"Ah, thank you—Autobots?"

Shoto rubbed the back of his head, suddenly feeling very awkward. "Um, well… I kinda knew about them before Kaida did, actually. Only by about a week, though."

For some reason, that got a laugh out of Kaito. "HA! Honey, you were right!" the man grinned to his daughter. "These guys can't keep a lid on their secret to save their lives!" All at once, many Autobots and practically every student in Class 1-A let out a groan, once again reminded at how bad they were at keeping that info disclosed.

Kaida, though, narrowed her eyes at her father. "Dad, come on, things are already crazy for them right now. Ya don't have to rub it in."

"Oops, hehe, sorry…" The doctor trailed off as his sights returned to the teenagers. "But you kids… you're my daughter's classmates, right? I watched all of you during the Sports Festival, and I've gotta say, you all are quite talented with your Quirks!"

"Oh, yes!" Krista supported as well. "And thank you all for being such good friends to our daughter. It means the world to us, you have no idea."

Izuku smiled back to the professor happily. "Haha, it's no problem at all, Mrs. Kiryu. We're all incredibly honored to be Kaida's friends." He lifted his head up toward Bumblebee, who gave a thumbs up. "Heh, I actually still remember the day we met. She had missed the train on the day of the U.A. entrance exams and she flagged us down and asked us to get her there."

A sly smirk came to Krista's lips as she eyed her daughter, who winced under her gaze. "Ah, yes, Kady told us about that, didn't you?"

"Heheheh… yeah. Though in hindsight, I honestly can't believe I ended up hitchhiking with a freaking alien disguised as a VW Beetle." Kaida's own sights directed up to the little yellow Autobot. "All the same, thanks again for that, Bumblebee."

"Zrkt—You're Welcome~!" Bee responded, using a lyric from an appropriate Disney song.

Eventually, the group made it to the site… which was covered in probably THE biggest canvas they had ever seen. "Uh… woah." Ochako uttered. "Where'd you get a tarp this big?"

"You'd be surprise how big they make these things." Kaito stated. "In our line of work, covering fossils to prevent damage from the elements is key and… well, ya gotta have ones big enough to accommodate sauropods and the larger theropods." He placed his hands on his hips and let out a breath. "Hah… but putting it on and taking it off is one hell of a chore."

"Heh, not for the likes of us." Springer said as he and Bulkead each took an end of the tarp on one end while Jetfire and Prime went to the other. They removed the metal stakes that were keeping it in place and Springer announced; "On three, ready?" The four bots gave him the go ahead. "One… two… three!"

All at once, they lifted the tarp up and draped it off to the side… and there he was. Like an unmoving sentinel, Grimlock was laid out on his back, staring up at the sky with a seemingly lifeless stare. Though of course, he lacked optics and a mouth, which meant his darkened visor combined with his mouth plate on his overall black helmet made for an image that managed to actually leave some of the teens intimidated. It didn't help that the grey, gold and red bot before them was MASSIVE either, covered in spikes and claws and what have you.

Mina summarized their thoughts rather well; "Damn… he BIG!"

"Dauntingly so." Tenya adjusted his glasses, making sure that he was seeing things correctly. "I thought he was huge in the photo, but in person…"

"I seriously thought Cybertronians couldn't get bigger." Denki uttered. "He might be… what, a head taller than Jetfire?"

The Autobot air commander couldn't help but cackle at the comment. "Hahaha! I'd say you're right on the money there, Sparky. Grim's definitely a big bot… but by Trion's Beard, I never thought I'd see him like this."

Strongarm felt the need to salute the unmoving body of one of the strongest Autobots ever, though she reserved herself for now. "Grim's always been a tough one, that's for sure."

"I'll say! He experienced an impact event and is somehow still alive." Kaida placed her hand on her head, flexing her fingers while making an explosion noise. "BRRSCH. Mind, blown."

"Hm, and it's our job to make sure that he stays alive to tell the tale." Signal Flare approached Grimlock's body, carefully stepping over it so he could access the bot's chest. "I'll need to get into his spark chamber…" He pressed down on the smokey black clear panel over Grimlock's Autobot symbol, and within seconds, the parts began to shift until his whole upper torso was open. The area was then enveloped in a faint, blue light as the spark chamber was exposed.

"Woah… what is that?" Kaito wondered.

Red Alert was the one to answer that. "That is Grimlock's spark. It is the very essence of a Cybertronian's lifeforce. What you consider a heart and a soul, a spark is all of that to us." He did a quick scan of Grimlock's spark… and what he found wasn't pleasing. "…And right now, Grimlock's life signal is very faint. He's holding on, but only barely." A sense of worry went through the crowd when they heard that, to which Red nodded to Signal Flare. "Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are." The energon expert affirmed. "Let's get the equipment ready."

From out of Red Alert's storage unit on his back, he procured two devices with long, clear tubes, which would no doubt be used to pump the energon in and out of Grimlock. To that end, Optimus opened his trailer, allowing Roller to come out and unload a MASSIVE tank full of liquid energon. There was also an tank that'd be used for the old energon that'd be pumped out. Roller pulled up and transformed, wiping his brow and taking the Kiryus aback. "Woo! Hope this'll all be worth it!"

"It will, Roller." Optimus assured, his optics going back to his catatonic friend. "I have known Grimlock for many eons… and if I know one thing about him; it's that he is never one to give up. Not as a gladiator, a soldier, and certainly not as an adventurer."

Kaida blinked in surprise when she heard that. "Woah… gladiator and soldier, I can tell, but an adventurer?" She glanced back down to the motionless Grimlock as his arms were being hooked up to the energon pumps. "Just who is this guy?"

"Haha, to borrow an Earth term of yours, only one of THE most badass Cybertronians to EVER live!" Sunstreaker laughed. "Trust me, Grimlock can tell you all KINDS of stories from the escapades he and his team have had."

"Treasure hunting, swashbuckling, Con crushing." Sideswipe listed off. "He and the Lightning Strike Coalition Force have done it all." A series of "oohs" and "ahs" came from the marveled teens as Sideswipe jerked a thumb toward the bot in question. "But I'll save most of that for him to tell when he wakes up. Because trust me, he WILL wake up."

"That's the goal here." Signal Flare affirmed as Red Alert outfitted him with some sort of backpack that had a tube sticking out of it, which was in turn connected to his radar array arm.

Tenya furrowed his brow curiously at the device. "And what exactly is that supposed to be?"

"An energon pack that I'm gonna use to keep Grimlock's spark stable while we do the transfusion." The blue Autobot strode forward and aimed his radar dish directly at Grimlock's chest, the radar spinning faster and faster until a blue stream of energy came out from its center and poured directly into his spark. "This'll also help get his life signs back up and keep them stable." He gave a single nod to Red Alert. "Whenever you're ready, doctor."

Silently, Red Alert turned on one of the machines, allowing it to start pumping out Grimlock's old energon. Compared to the fresh stuff that was in the other tank, it was definitely a duller shade of blue, with no glow to it whatsoever. "Soooo… how long is this gonna take anyway?" Mina inquired.

"By my estimate, a full Earth hour." Red Alert answered. "So I suggest you find something to preoccupy your time rather than just sit and stare while this happens."

So, that's exactly what everybody did. For a full hour, the group of Autobots and humans simply conversed with one another, exchanging introductions and stories with Kaida's parents all the while. Of course, the Kiryus weren't shy about sharing their own stories with the others as well… though some were definitely ones that Kaida wished they wouldn't. "Haha, oh, and then there was the time our little Kady got her head stuck in a fossil's ribcage! Hahaha!" Kaito laughed as his daughter looked completely mortified. "Good god, what a way for her to discover her Quirk!"

"Haha! Wait, that's how you found out what your Quirk was, Kaida?" Kyoka chuckled.

Momo sent her friend a sympathetic gaze. "I must admit, that's quite the unique way to find out. You have to eat certain fossils in order to gain that dinosaur's attributes, right?"

Kaida sighed and hung her head. "Hah… yeah, that's how it happened. I stuck my head in a Trike's ribcage, struggled to get out, and when I finally did, I nicked my tooth on one of the bones… which broke a small piece of it off and into my mouth." The grey skinned girl pursed her lips, glancing awkwardly at her parents. "Needless to say, the museum my parents were working for at the time wasn't too thrilled about that. On the plus side…" Her head suddenly changed as three long horns grew out from her nose and forehead. "I got these babies out of it."

"From then on, she was only aloud to eat fossils that came broken out of the ground." Krista asserted with a little smirk. "Otherwise, we'd be out of a job." The group all shared a laugh, but their attention was garnered when Optimus Prime came over, having been observing the transfusion process.

"Pardon the interruption, but we are nearly ready." Optimus's gaze settled on a certain Electrification user. "And Denki, we require you for this next part."

"M-Me?" Denki stammered, a sense of importance beginning to well in his chest. "Hah, sure! Whatever you need, I'm there!" The group returned to Grimlock just as the last of the fresh energon was being pumped into his system, to which Red Alert disconnected the machine. "Alright, what do I gotta do?"

Signal Flare craned his head to the blonde as he lowered his arm, Grimlock's spark now having a more intense blue glow to it. "Now, we need to bring Grimlock out of stasis." he answered. "And the best way to do that is with a controlled shock to the system, which'll get his processor working again. That's where you come in, Electricutioner."

Snapping his fingers, Denki let loose a small zap, wearing a confident grin. "Oh-ho, you've called the right guy! I'll wake him up in no time!"

Kyoka placed her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes at Kaminari. "Don't overdo it, Jamming Yay. You don't wanna fry his circuits."

"I get it, I get it!" the boy said, raising his hands defensively. "I mean, when was the last time I screwed up, huh?" Denki received several deadpan stares, much to his chagrin. "…Don't answer that, just focus on my glorious winning streak." Denki stepped up next to Grimlock's head and rubbed his hands together, generating a fair amount of electricity.

Red Alert raised a hand to him. "On my mark. Ready… CLEAR!" With that, Denki let loose the bolt directly into Grimlock, causing the bot's limbs to spasm for a moment before settling back down. "Now, stand back. Give him room…"

Denki did as he was told as Optimus called out to the warrior. "Grimlock… can you hear me? Grimlock?" At first, there didn't seem to be much… but then, they heard a low, guttural groan escape the once inert Autobot before he began to steadily sit up, which elicited a rally of cheers from everyone. "Hah, it is good to see you online, old frie—" But then, Prime cut himself off, taken off guard when Grimlock's visor came online. At first, it was blue, just as it had always been… but then, it faded into a bright, violent red.

"Grr… GRRRAAAAAAAHH!" Grimlock bellowed out a powerful roar as he suddenly leapt to his feet and took Prime by the head, making everyone gasp as he tossed the Autobot leader away. "RRAAAAUUUGHH!"

"W-What's going on?!" Kaida cried fearfully, keeping close to her parents as Shoto stepped in front of them protectively.

Kyoka snapped her head to Denki and yelled; "Dammit, Jamming Yay, what did you do?!"

The blonde seriously had no idea himself. "I-I don't know! I did exactly what he said, I didn't use any more power than I needed to!"

Just as Grimlock was about to strike Red Alert, Bulkhead bound forward and raised his arms, blocking the blow… though he winced at the force behind it. "AGH! Doc, what's the situation here?!" the Wrecker barked.

"I-I'm not sure!" Red shouted. "This wasn't supposed to—AH!" Without warning, he and Bulkhead were blindsided and bashed in their chests by Grimlock's powerful fists, both sent sprawling down the hill after Prime.

Jetfire wasted no time in trying to get a handle on the situation. "A-Autobots! Restrain him!" He rushed in along with Springer, the latter launching both Sawback and Fangblade at Grimlock's arms. The Mini-Cons bit down on his hands while the larger two bots leapt up and clung themselves to Grimlock's arms and neck. The rest of the Autobots surrounded their berserk comrade on all sides, with Windblade trying to talk sense into him.

"Grimlock, calm down! It's us!" the City Speaker implored, though she kept her hand on her Stormfall sword just in case. "It's your friends! Remember?!" But, if anything, that just seemed to make Grimlock angrier. Within seconds, he threw his arms up and tossed the two Wreckers at the Autobots, causing them to scatter before he reached up and swung Jetfire onto the ground over his massive shoulders. He kicked the air commander away… and then SLAMMED both of his fist onto the ground. What happened next… nobody could've expected.

*WHRR-TSCHZZ-TSCHZZ-TSCHZZ-CHKT*

Grimlock's upper torso, arms and all, shifted down over his abdomen as he brought his legs up onto his back, supporting most of his weight on his hands. …That is, until his hands retracted into his arms, allowing the golden claws to spread out. What were once arms were now two giant legs, which continued to support the warrior as the rest of his body changed. As his robot mode legs shifted up to his back, they united together as a long, golden tail emerged from the rear, complete with a long and very deadly silver spike at the very tip. As Grimlock's robot mode head tucked into his torso, the wings on his back flipped up and over, forming a new upper torso… with very small, vestigial arms that only had two digits to them.

It was at that point where things began looking very familiar to Kaida. 'Wait… don't tell me…'

What came after only affirmed her suspicions; a golden neck emerged from the torso, and at the end of that neck… was Grimlock's new, beastly head. And it was large, its massive jaw full of sharp, golden teeth opening wide as he let out an ear-splitting roar, which forced everyone to cover their ears. "GYAAAAAOOOOOOORRRR!" And, if that weren't enough, he was breathing FIRE from his maw as he roared, which instantly heated the air around him. No one could believe what they were seeing. Where the warrior Grimlock once stood, was a beast so familiar to all of them that no one could mistake it for anything else.

Grimlock had transformed… into a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

With a red-eyed glare, the dinosaur robot zeroed in on his prey, human and Autobot alike staring with mouths agape… as he spoke. "Grah… Me, Grimlock… DESTROY!"

…..

A/N: To be continued… well, THIS is certainly quite the development. Not only are Kaida and her parents now in on the secret, but Grimlock's alive and kicking… and is definitely gonna be a problem in his incensed and rage-fueled state. Do they have any hope in at least calming him down? We shall see, but once again, just to make sure you guys remember;

Grimlock – Voiced by Keith David

Oh, and in addition, because I forgot to do this when he was introduced;

Signal Flare – Voiced by Michael Dobson

With that said, however, I'm gonna keep this Author's Note short since… well, what you see is what you get, really. Kaida and her parents meet the Autobots and we finally get Grimlock out of the ground. Not much else to say… though I do hope you guys liked how I opened the chapter with the Hero Course exercise, that was fun to come up with. As was Bakugo showing his own version of "concern" for his classmate, where in he's not REALLY concerned, but still wants Kaida better all the same just so he can have a better fight against her. He's improving! …Kinda, sorta… baby steps. So, with that said…

And now, The Preview! It's a robo-rampage as Grimlock ends up not just leaving the Autobots flat on their afts, but also charges straight into the closest town in the dead of night. Can our heroes calm him down and bring him back to the site before it's too late? And can they do it before a certain blue Decepticon Seeker brings a squadron of Vehicons to investigate what's going on? Next time; Prehistoric Panic, Part 2. Wait a second… why is there a crown in the hole where Grimlock was? Thanks for reading everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and remember;

Go Beyond! PLUS ULTRA!