A/N: Hey there guys! Well, another week, another early upload chapter! …Yeah, for those who tuned in last week to Ben 10 RWBY, I said that stuff like this didn't really happen often anymore… but when it does, sometimes I get lucky and it happens twice in a row. Funny, that. Anyway, I don't expect that to be the case with next week's Ben 10 RWBY chapter since I'm fairly sure all the action in that is gonna take up a lot of space, but we'll see. Anyways, let's get back to the main topic of THIS chapter, because we've got a bit of a backstory to explore! This is the story of…

Chapter 75: Grimlock, King of the Dinosaurs

…..

Flare-Up was incredibly suspicious as to what was going on. Right after Itsuka had gotten out of work, she and the Street Action Mini-Con Team had all been called back to base at a moment's notice, and they were told specifically to bring their human companions with them. Once they arrived, they were immediately greeted by Red Alert, Signal Flare… and an injured Windblade. Naturally, the scout had been concerned about what happened to her best friend, but Red Alert told her not to worry and that she'd be good to go soon. Once her wing was reattached, though, Windblade offered… absolutely no REAL explanation as to how she got the injury. All she said was that she had gotten hurt on a mission which the rest of the bots were still on.

The nature of that mission had remained a mystery, though, with none of them offering to tell her, the Mini-Cons, or even the 1-B students themselves about it. Windblade said it was a "surprise", with the City Speaker making sure that even Mei kept her lips sealed about it. 'An' whenever it's Windblade, she sure as scrap doesn't let ANYTHING slip when it comes to surprises.' Flare-Up thought to herself as she walked through the GroundBridge.

They were currently on their way to whatever this "surprise" of theirs was, having received a message from Optimus just moments ago where he simply said; "Autobots… mission accomplished." Windblade had celebrated accordingly, punching the air with excitement while Red and Signal Flare simply nodded in approval. And on that note, Red Alert punched their coordinates into the GroundBridge, asking Signal Flare to remain behind and man it while they went ahead to see the results.

"Is everyone just as confused as I am?" Itsuka folded her arms over her chest skeptically. "Just what the heck is going on here?"

"Not sure, but I'm kinda over it already." Tetsu grumbled irritably. "Seriously, what the heck is this big mission and "surprise" about?!"

Peering over her shoulder, Windblade sent them a simple smile. "Don't worry, kids. You won't have to wait much longer."

Setsuna rolled her eyes at that. "I hope so. Because if this ends up being something lame, I'm not gonna be too happy about it."

"Indeed." Ibara concurred. "As much as I hate to say it, I've also grown rather impatient with all of this needless secrecy."

Flare-Up gave a sigh, but smiled nonetheless to her sister-in-arms. "This'd better be good, Windy." she winked. "You're really gettin' these kids heated."

"Ah, don't worry about it, guys!" Mei assured as she skipped through to the other side of the GroundBridge next to Red Alert. "From what I hear, you guys are gonna LOVE what the bots have in store for us!"

"I'll believe it when I see—whaaaa…?" Itsuka cut her statement off in utter astonishment as they stepped directly into the bridge of what appeared to be a spaceship, one that was clearly made for Cybertronians given the size of the chairs and monitors. She and her classmates were equally astonished by what they saw, but of course, that went for Flare-Up as well.

"H-H-Huh?" Her optics darted across the bridge, bewildered by the very sight as the portal closed behind her. "W-What is this?! Where the bloody pit are we?!"

But, just then, a powerful laugh cut through the air, causing them all to spin around. "AHAHA! Well, well, would you look at this! The gang's all here." Windblade, Red Alert and Mei all beamed happily at the source of the voice while Flare-Up couldn't believe it. There, sitting in the captain's chair with the rest of the Autobot team and the 1-A students surrounding him… was Grimlock. "Gotta say, Flare, for someone so fast, you sure like to find yourself late to the party a lot of the time." the gladiator quipped.

Flare-Up was completely speechless for a moment, only managing to creakily turn her head to Windblade while pointing a shaky finger at Grimlock. "…A-Are you seein' what I'm seein', luv?" she finally managed to ask. "I-Is this really happening?"

"Oh, he's real, alright." Windblade assured, grasping her own shoulder while giving it a full rotation. "Trust me, I've got the scars to prove it."

"Windblade!" Grimlock waved as he stood from his throne and approached them. "Good to see you. Sorry about the wing. I've been told I gave you some pretty heavy damage… you okay?"

"Haha, I am now, Grim." Windblade assure as she and Red met him half way, while Flare was still absolutely flabbergasted. "It's great to see you, too, though. So no hard feelings."

Grimlock chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder gratefully. "Hah, I'm quite glad to hear that." His visor then met Red Alert's as he extended a hand to him. "And doctor! I owe you an incredible debt. Thank you for reviving me, even if I wasn't in my right mind at the time."

Red readily accepted the gesture. "Of course, Grimlock. And don't worry, I have a feeling that the asteroid's impact was what scrambled your circuits in the first place." He let out a frustrated huff. "Hmph, if we had the PROPER equipment on this planet, then maybe we would've known that and I could've made the proper repairs."

"Ah, "shoulda, coulda, woulda", as they say." Grimlock waved off. "Can't dwell on the "what if's", you know, especially now that everything's worked out for the best." Once more, he set his sights down to Flare-Up expectantly. "Well? I've been standing here for a while and I STILL haven't received a proper Flare-Up hello! What's gotten into you, lady?"

If anything, the good-natured "harassment" only made Flare-Up smile even wider than usual, her usual giddy giggle escaping her throat as she blinked in and out of sight. When she reappeared, she was up near Grim's head, hugging him tightly. "HAHAHAHA! GRIMLOCK!"

"Haha! There it is!" Grimlock reciprocated the gesture. "It's good to see you, Flare."

"Aw, likewise!" the femme beamed happily. "It's been AGES, Grim! Where in the name of Vector Sigma have you BEEN all this time?"

As he let his excitable friend down, Grimlock put a hand behind his head and gave an awkward laugh. "Hehe, well, that's where we get into some… complicated matters. I've been waiting until EVERYONE was here so that I could explain, but—oh." Just then, his attention was drawn down to the floor, where Mei, the 1-B students, and the Street Action Mini-Con team were all staring up at him in silent awe. "Hah, I see that you've brought even MORE humans! Wasn't expecting that." He approached the group and knelt down before them, lowering his tone to a gentler cadence. "Well now, I've already been introduced to all the others, so what're your names?"

His kind baritone was enough to bring Itsuka back to her senses, clearing her throat to collect herself. "A-Ahem, w-well, um… I'm Itsuka Kendo, Representative of U.A.'s Class 1-B. It is a great honor to meet you, Mr. Grimlock, sir."

"Hah, no need for formalities, little lady. Just call me Grimlock."

Itsuka bowed her head and gestured to her left. "R-Right, of course. And these are my classmates…"

"Hey!" Tetsu raised a greeting hand. "Name's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. But everyone just calls me Tetsu for short."

That managed to get a chuckle out of Grimlock. "Hehe, I can see why." The former gladiator took note of the wild look in Tetsu's eye, as well as the sharp teeth and his crazy hairstyle. "Hm… you look fierce, child. I approve!"

Tetsu's grin increased and he gave a thumbs up. "Thanks! That's what I'm goin' for—AH!"

But just then, he was pushed at the back by Setsuna, who practically shoved her way onto the scene to flash her own sharp teeth. "Hey, hey! I can be fierce too! Just watch! GRRRAAAH!"

"H-Hey! What the hell, Tokage?!" the Metal user began struggling against the girl. "The heck did this come from?!"

"You're hoggin' all the spotlight! I wanna impress the cool new bot, too!"

"Gah! Both of you, STOP!" Ibara quickly used her Vine hair to separate the duo, giving them an accusatory glare. "You're making us look BAD in front of—"

"AHAHAHA!" Grimlock couldn't help but laugh at the squabble before him, much to the teens' astonishment. "Hahaha! Oh… oh boy, I'm sorry, but… you have no idea how much seeing that reminds me of my team. You girls with the green hair, what are your names?"

The girls straightened up and bowed their heads in greeting. "Oh, I am Ibara Shiozaki."

Still wearing a smile, Setsuna went next. "And I'm Setsuna Tokage. And whaddya mean we remind you of your team?"

"Hehe, well, Slug and Snarl would get into arguments like that VERY often." Grimlock explained as he pointed to Ibara. "And then Swoop would come in and she'd separate them, chewing them both out in the process. Heh… don't suppose you have a "Sludge" amongst you?"

The four teens glanced at one another confusedly. "Uh… a "Sludge?"

Before Setsuna's inquiry could be answered, though, the 1-B students quickly found themselves being pushed out of the way by a VERY excited Mei. "Hello there!" the support course student sang. "I'm Mei Hatsume, resident inventor and Red's personal assistant! Not too sure who this "Sludge" is you're talkin' about, but after hearing stories about you from the Autobots for so long, I am so, so, SO psyched to finally meet you!" She took out a pen and paper, prepared to take down MANY notes. "You would not believe how many questions I have for you."

After her little ramble, Grimlock contemplated the girl that stood before him, only to once again give a mighty guffaw. "Ahahaha! Well, it's evident that you're MUCH smarter than he is, but with your level of excitement, I'd say you're fairly close to being Sludge."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Mei assured as she began writing down her similarities to this "Sludge".

"…I'm guessing you must miss your team, huh?" Itsuka tilted her head. "Given how much you're reminded of them."

"Hah… you're right about that, Itsuka. Primus, I miss them." However, Grimlock raised a determined fist. "But it's okay, because I know that I'm definitely gonna find them now with everyone's help. Now that I'm not stuck in the prehistoric age anymore."

That made the five teens' eyes widen. "The prehistoric age?" Mei uttered in amazement. "So you mean you really DID walk amongst dinosaurs?"

"Not only did I walk among them, I lived with them. And believe me, I have MANY stories to tell when it comes to those adventures." Shifting his attention to the Mini-Cons, Grimlock continued on. "But first, time to wrap up introductions. Name and rank, little bots."

Highwire, Sureshock and Grindor all immediately straightened up and saluted. "Sir! Street Action Mini-Con Team at your service, sir!" the former exclaimed. "High Wire!"

"Grindor!"

"And Sureshock!" the team stated in a role call before Sureshock went on; "Our primary function is information gathering, sir. We can also combine to form a singular being named "Safeguard"."

That took Grimlock by surprise. "A Mini-Con team that's also a Combiner. Hah, don't see too many of those." He saluted back to the little bots all the same. "A pleasure to meet all of you. Now, let's catch you all up to speed, shall we?"

Itsuka rubbed her head, still trying to come to grips with everything. "Yes, please, because I'm VERY confused right now. My first question being…" She set her sights straight over to Kaida, prompting the rest of her friends to do the same. "Why in the world is Kiryu here?"

The other 1-B students did a doubletake at the Sauro-Parts user's presence. "Uh… yeah, last I checked, you weren't in on the secret." Tetsu said with a suspicious eye.

"She is now!" Mei sang her announcement, only to then pout a little. "Even though I didn't get to show off the revised version of my welcome speech. Feh…"

"Woah, no way!" Setsuna's eyes lit up seeing the grey-skinned girl. "1-A's Kaida Kiryu is in on the secret! That's totally awesome!" She practically zipped up to the girl to introduce herself. "Hi! I'm Setsuna Tokage! I became a BIG fan of yours after watching you at the Sports Festival!"

"O-Oh!" Kaida stammered, taken aback but no less grateful for her words. "That's awesome to hear!"

"Yeah, I LOVE dinosaurs, so your Quirk was just off the freaking CHAIN to me." Setsuna gushed, though she also gave a slight wince. "I would've talked to you sooner, but… I was afraid what Monoma would do if he caught me trying."

Kaida rolled her eyes at that. "Ugh, yeah, that guy's a weirdo. How do you handle sharing a class with him?"

"See, that's the thing!" Itsuka exclaimed, entering the conversation suddenly. "He's pretty much ALWAYS normal during class, but it's only whenever he's anywhere NEAR one of you 1-A guys that he suddenly becomes a creep!" She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Gah! He's so freaking hard to handle! …But enough about that." Placing her hands on her hips, Itsuka tilted her head. "My question still stands; how're you suddenly in on the secret?"

"Hah… heh, about that…" Kaida rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I really had no choice in getting in the know about the Autobots, really, on the account that these two digging up Grimlock in the first place." She side-stepped so that they could see her parents, who both waved at them. "They being my mom and dad."

"Hello!" Krista greeted cheerily.

"Pleasure to meet you!" Kaito added. "Always nice to meet more of our girl's schoolmates!"

The recently arrived teens all waved sheepishly back to the duo, though Setsuna was the outlier in that as her jaw dropped. "No… freaking… way." She pointed between Kaida and her parents. "Y-You're related to… those Kiryus?" Kaida gave an affirming nod… and then Setsuna screamed her head off. "AAAAAAAAAHHH!" She vanished in a green blur and reappeared in front of the couple, who needless to say, were quite surprised. "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, OHMYGOSH! Y-You're Doctor Kaito and Professor Krista Kiryu! I-I'm a HUGE fan of your paleontological findings!"

Krista's smiled widened and she clasped her hands together. "Oh, why thank you! It's always nice to meet a fan."

Setsuna took off her backpack, pulling out one of her school notebooks and a pen. "C-Can I have your autographs?!"

"Of course!" Kaito accepted readily. "Not often we get asked to do this kinda thing."

As Setsuna bounced up and down like the happiest person on Earth, the 1-A and 1-B students converged on one another, going back to discussing the current situation. "So you guys just up and left on a mission without telling US about it?" Tetsu crossed his arms, furrowing his brow at a certain boy who he shared similarities with. "What the hell, Kirishima?!"

"Dude, there was literally NO time!" Eijiro insisted. "We had to get our butts in gear if we wanted to save Grimlock before the wrong people found him."

"Still, a heads up would've been appreciated." Ibara commented.

Denki made a counterpoint; "Well yeah, but then you guys wouldn't have been as surprised. And trust me…" He pointed up to Flare-Up, who was still absolutely giddy as she high-fived Grimlock. "That's the face of someone who was successfully surprised."

Ibara hummed a little and gave a shrug. "Fair point." Though she still raised a questioning brow to Izuku, Kyoka and Momo. "But what exactly are you three doing here? Aren't you grounded for the remainder of the week?"

"Heh, Agent Fowler managed to convince our parents to let us come." Izuku said with a sheepish smile. "But uh, don't let them know where we really are, okay?"

"Yeah, they're supposed to be at an "important Sector Seven meeting"." Fowler himself explained with massive air quotes and a smirk. "They're not due back until curfew, though, so we've still got a little bit."

Checking her phone, Momo's eyes widened a little when she saw the time. "Oh, forty-five minutes to be exact. We're cutting it pretty close…"

But Kyoka wasn't too worried. "Ah, we'll be fine. We can get this wrapped up in half an hour and be back before ya know it." She craned her head back up to Grimlock. "Yo, Grim!" Once she had his attention, she raised a hand to him. "Now that we're all here, mind filling us in on what exactly happened to ya?"

Optimus stepped forward, agreeing with the punk rocker. "Indeed. I am quite curious myself. How did you get separated from the Ark, Grimlock?"

"And what about the others?" Arcee furthered. "Did you see any of them make it?"

Grimlock didn't respond immediately, remaining silent for a moment or two before ultimately giving a heavy sigh. "Hah… I suppose it's time that I give the full story, huh?" He craned his head around the room, meeting the optics of his peers. "Everyone, you might wanna sit down for this… because this isn't a very nice tale. Not one that I tend to like remembering, anyway." He proceeded toward his chair and took a seat, where he peered down to the confused and concerned humans. "It is a tale of tragedy… of shame… though one that ultimately has a bittersweet ending. This… is what happened when the Ark crash-landed on this planet."

"Zrkt—Oh the humanity!" Bumblebee proclaimed, his hands flying up to his head.

"Not yet. Humans are all but absent from this story." Grimlock corrected, missing the context entirely. "Rather, Earth's dominant lifeforms at the time were, as you're all aware, dinosaurs." Just like that, Setsuna and the Kiryus were all listening quite intently. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our true starting point is in the upper atmosphere of the planet. After a long time of searching the cosmos, the Arks' energon levels were running dangerously low. So, Elita One agreed that we should take to our stasis pods and let the ship go into autopilot for the time being to conserve what energy we had left until we found an energon-rich world."

"Elita One?" Ochako inquired, tapping her chin. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

Optimus' optics seemed to have a sad glow to them at the mention of that name. "I… have mentioned her in the past, Ochako." he elaborated. "She is the Ark's captain." He directed his attention right back to Grimlock. "You… wouldn't happen to know what became of her, do you, Grimlock?"

Sadly, the Lightning Strike commander shook his head. "Unfortunately, I do not." Optimus lowered his head, much to Grimlock's chagrin as he continued; "And it shames me to say that. Because when the Ark was sucked into the Earth's gravitational pull, of all the bots that Teletraan-1 could've woken up… it chose me. And in the end, that was the greatest mistake it ever could've made."

…..

~65 Million Years Ago~

*BWAM-BWAM-BWAM-BWAM*

"Grrrr… SHUT UP!" Grimlock bellowed as he came online, bashing the door of his stasis pod straight toward the ceiling to smash the blaring alarm. Unfortunately, given the Stasis Room was FILLED with said alarms, that didn't really do much to stop the noise. Here he was, thinking that a little stasis nap would help improve his mood, but no, he had to wake up to probably THE most annoying sound he had ever heard in his life. "GRAAAH! What the slag is going on?!"

"WARNING! WARNING! Planetary Impact; immanent."

Just like that, Grimlock snapped to attention, though he was still plenty angry. "HUH?!" He rushed to the main bridge, and immediately, he was met with the sight of the Ark plummeting toward a green and blue planet. "…FRAG!" He went to Elita's captain chair, inputting commands as quickly as possible. "Grr… Teletraan, status report! Why aren't the thrusters working?!"

"Energon levels; nearly depleted. All resources are being redirected to navigation systems."

"OVERRIDE!" Grimlock commanded. "Reroute back to engines!"

"Unable to comply. Insufficient energy levels for primary thrusters."

"GRRAAAAH!" Grimlock smashed his fists against the armrests of the chair, quickly growing more aggravated. "We need to abandon ship… the escape ship! What're its energy levels at?!"

A flash on the screen showed a model of the escape ship, wherein its energy levels were completely in the green. "Escape ship fully operational."

Grimlock pumped a fist. "Hah, excellent. Now all we need to do is wake everyone up and—" *BOOM* "GYARGH!" Just then, the ship was jerked forward, propelling Grimlock all the way across the room, cracking the windscreen in the process. Just then, all of the lights went out, including the holographic display screens, which sent a chill through his systems. "T-Teletraan? TELETRAAN!"

"Significant damage to outer hull. Main control systems critical! Shut down immaneeeenntt…"

Hearing Teletraan-1 go offline, Grimlock's spark sank. Without Teletraan… he wouldn't be able to wake everyone up all at once. He whipped his head back and forth between the exit door and the approaching planet… time was running out. He rushed back to the Stasis Room and whipped his head around, seeing the dozens upon DOZENS of Autobots that were at risk. Elita, Ironhide, Chromia, Ratchet, Cliffjumper, all very close friends… at least they supposedly were. That was until they left him and his team behind. On that note, he went back to his open pod, and alongside it… was the rest of his team.

Right then, at that moment, he knew what he had to do; save the most important ones… to him. "The Ark's outer hull can take the reentry. I'm sure most of the others will be fine." he rationalized as he went over to his team's pods, scanning his visor across Slug, Snarl, Swoop and Sludge's slumbering faces. "But… if there's even a chance that I could lose them… after all we've been through… not happening."

One by one, he took their pods and began tossing them into the escape ship, intent on getting them all out of there. And, as fat would have it right as he loaded Sludge's pod in… *KR-KRACK* Grimlock whirled around at the disconcerting sound… where he saw a HUGE crack starting to form in the hull of the Stasis Room. And it was getting BIGGER. "…Scrap."

*KRA-CHOOM*

All at once, the wall was sucked straight out, leaving a massive, gaping hole where the vacuum of space began sucking out everything that wasn't nailed down. And, unfortunately, the closest stasis pods were amongst them. By Grimlock's count, there were about seven or eight that were sent hurdling out, and within he could see the likes of Cliffjumper, Wheeljack, Smokescreen and… was that Whirl? "AUGH! Who cares?!" Grimlock smashed his hand against the door button and sealed the room. "Th-Those pods are tough, they'll be—"

*BAM*

"GRAH!" A sudden impact made Grimlock lurch forward, catching himself on the nearest wall. Once he regained his balance, he spun back toward the escape shuttle… only to see that the launching door had been impacted from outside and cracked open as well, no doubt from more space debris. *KR-KRACK* Grimlock gasped and sprinted as fast as he could toward the escape ship… *KRA-CHOOM* …but it was too late. Before his very optics, Grimlock could only watch as the still-open escape ship, as well as the recon ship, were pulled out into space and sent careening to the planet below. "NO!" Without even thinking, he dove out after it, speeding through space with every intent on saving his team and—

*POW*

"AAAAUUUUGHH!" Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen. From out of nowhere, a stray meteor clocked Grimlock straight in the chest, blowing him WAY off course and down to a different area of the planet. Before he slipped into unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was the Ark and the two smaller ships entering the atmosphere, all while he was helpless to do anything.

…..

~Present Day~

Needless to say, the room was left incredibly silent after hearing the Lightning Strike commander recount the harrowing events. All the while, he still hung his head in complete and utter shame. "…There you have it." Grimlock uttered, bringing a hand to his chest. "Because of my act of selfishness, the Ark's reentry into the planet's atmosphere was a complete and utter disaster. I valued the lives of my team over everyone else on that ship… when I should've held them all in equal regard."

"…Damn." Springer folded his arms. "You're kind of a jerk there, guy."

"SPRINGER!" Strongarm snapped. "That was uncalled for!"

Bulkhead knocked his friend in the shoulder, and not in the good-natured way. "Yeah, not cool, Springs."

The Triple Changer raised his hands defensively. "H-Hey, I'm just calling it like I see it, Bulk. Besides, would YOU have left anybody behind if you were in that position? Would ya leave any Wrecker behind?" Bulkhead went to argue, though the more he thought of it, he couldn't find the correct words to say. "Yeah, exactly my point." Springer nudged his chin toward Grimlock. "Ya know, I used to hear some pretty amazing stories about you and your team. Bots kept sayin' how selfless and awesome you were… but are you sure that wasn't all a lie—"

"Springer, STOP!" Mina chided, spreading her arms out while placing herself between him and Grimlock. "Can't you see he regrets what he did?!"

Optimus approached the Wrecker, placing a firm hand on his shoulder to reel him in. "I must agree, soldier. Stand down." He locked optics with his subordinate, who narrowed his back at him. "You have only heard stories, but the rest of us have ALL known Grimlock personally." Prime shifted his gaze back to his old friend, who was clearly quite remorseful. "Besides… at the time that this happened, I cannot blame him."

Tenya tilted his head at that. "What do you mean by "at the time", Optimus?"

The Autobots all exchanged awkward glances at the question, but thankfully, the coolest head in the room answered. "…It was back when the Ark was almost ready for launch." Jazz said, taking center stage. "Prime explained it earlier, but the Lightning Strike Coalition Force picked up a strange signal in the Sea of Rust…"

"Where Shockwave was running his experiments, you said." Shoto affirmed. "Something about a SpaceBridge."

"…Exactly." Grimlock spoke up again. "He was peering to other worlds through the Bridges, searching the galaxy for powerful lifeforms he could take inspiration from to create dangerous instruments of destruction for the Decepticon cause." He raised two fingers. "Through this project, he created many new sets of bots… the first being us… and the second being the Insecticon Swarm."

At that, many in the group felt a chill go up their spin. "Eugh… Insecticons?" Mina hugged her arms, rubbing them rapidly. "I'm getting the heebie jeebies just thinking about what THOSE could be like."

"Zrkt—You're right—zrkt—to be scared." Bumblebee nodded grimly, his memory banks recalling the demise of his close friend, Hot Rod, all too vividly. "Zrkt—Those varmints—zrkt—are devilish."

"Yeah, Bee's right." Jazz concurred. "My buddy, Cliffjumper, and I led a mission into the Sea of Rust to find Grim an' his team." He nudged his head toward Bee, Arcee and Windblade, all of whom were quite discernably shaken. "These three came along with… plus one other. A bot by the name of Hot Rod. …He's not with us anymore."

"Jeez… I'm sorry to hear that." Kyoka expressed her sympathies.

Arcee let out a short sigh. "It's… alright. It was a long time ago, and… he went out like a hero." She craned her head back to Grimlock. "Hot Rod was pretty concerned about you and your team, Grim. We searched all over Shockwave's instillation from top to bottom, if it makes you feel better."

The former gladiator's shoulders slumped forward. "…I appreciate it, Arcee. But knowing that Hot Rod perished because of me… hah, Primus, I made SO many mistakes that day!" His anger spiking, Grimlock's visor became red and he reached up to his head, plucking the crown off to throw it. "I don't deserve this damned crown!"

"GRIM! Grim!" Kaida exclaimed, rushing right to his side to touch his foot. He snapped his head down, their sights locked onto one another. "Calm… everything is calm here. The past is in the past, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Thankfully, Grimlock's visor went back to blue and he lowered his arms, kneeling down next to her as he took deep, steady intakes. "Hah… hah… I-I'm sorry, Kaida, but… my mistakes, they… they hurt so much."

"Well, yeah, the past CAN hurt." Kaida sent him a supportive smile. "But look at it this way; you can either run from your mistakes, or learn from them. So, do you think you've learned anything since then, Grim?"

Slowly but surely, Grimlock nodded back to her. "I… I'd like to think so, yes." He stood back up and placed his crown gently on the command console. "In fact… I learned much from the dinosaurs that I shared this planet with for well over several decades. When I came to, I was surrounded by several of them, and absolutely NONE of them wanted anything to do with me." He began listing them off on his fingers; "Be they Three-Horns, Long-Necks, Spike-Tails, Big-Mouths, Fliers, or even the dreaded Sharpteeth."

The teens all eyed one another at the strange name usage, but smiled nonetheless. "Uh, heh, we'd classify all of those a LOT differently these days." Kaito commented.

"Hm. But then… I took the time to learn their language." Grimlock went on. "And while it took a lot longer to earn their trust, I eventually did so after a cataclysmic event that led to the separation of many herds." He raised a determined fist. "It was a MASSIVE tremor, but my previous experience lent me the knowledge of knowing exactly what to do. I managed to reunite the herds and led them to a lush valley… which, coincidentally, used to be in the very same valley that we're in right now."

"Woah, seriously?!" Setsuna's eyes glowed in awe. "That's so amazing!"

"Haha, yeah… though obviously, it was MUCH different than how it is now." Grimlock chuckled. "They referred to it as "The Great Valley" for a reason, after all."

The teens couldn't help but marvel at what they were hearing. "Woah… so you really DID live among dinosaurs!" Tetsu raised an excited fist. "That's freaking AWESOME, man!"

Krista, however, was just as curious as she was excited to hear about all this. "Yes, I agree, but… how did the likes of "Spike-Tails" and "Long-Necks" exist in the Cretaceous period? We don't have samples of their fossils from that era, only the Jurassic, which was an INCREDIBLY long time before that."

"Hah, ma'am, you are asking the wrong bot." Grimlock asserted. "I'm a warrior, not a scientist. All I know is that I met and knew MANY different species of dinosaurs among my time in the Great Valley." A chuckle escaped his throat as he recalled a certain event. "Hehe, in fact, here's a funny little anecdote; when I managed to help the herd find the valley, they told me that there were a few stragglers that were lost in the earthquake." He raised four fingers. "Four children, one of whom unfortunately lost his mother to a Sharptooth attack during the event."

"Oh no…" Ibara placed a hand over her chest, though she was also rather taken aback feeling empathy for a dinosaur of all things. "That's horrible!"

"It was… but the silver lining here is that, right when I was about to head out to try and find them… haha, they were right at the entrance to the valley! Hahaha!" Grimlock laughed joyously, placing a hand over his midsection. "Haha! Oh, I gave them a good scare, that's for sure. But I assured them that they WERE in the right place. They'd even found a baby Spike-Tail that they brought along with them. Many heralded that day as a miracle…"

Mei pointed up at him with a wink. "And lemme guess; you were seen as the head of that herd from that point on, right?"

Grimlock chuckled and gave a shrug. "Heh, well… it wasn't a unanimous decision at first. There was a certain stubborn Three-Horn who wasn't too keen on the idea, but eventually, he came around to it." He raised his hand up to the ceiling. "Fun fact; it was actually one of those same children who discovered this ship's resting place. Quite the stroke of luck."

"Wow… an Autobot being seen as leader of a dinosaur herd!" Itsuka placed her hands on her hips. "It almost sounds too good to be true!" At her comment, though, Grimlock, The Autobots and 1-A students all shared knowing looks, a few even snickering at it. "…W-What? What's so funny?"

Kaida grinned widely at the 1-B students. "Oh, it's just that it's not as implausible as you might think… especially given what Grimlock transforms into." She lifted her head up to the gladiator and gave him a thumbs up. "Show 'em, Grim!"

"Haha! Gladly!" On that note, Grimlock lurched forward and SLAMMED his fists against the floor, his body contorting into a much different form. And, to the astonishment of Mei and the 1-B students, it wasn't a vehicle of any sort. Instead… it was a Tyrannosaurus Rex, one who roared and spewed flames from his maw as he lifted his massive head high. "GRRRAAAAHHH!"

Needless to say, the five of them were completely slack-jawed, as was Flare-Up. "I-I-I'm sorry, WHAT?!" the scout exclaimed.

Windblade glanced over to the group. "Yeah… remember how Grim said that Shockwave experimented on him and his team?" She jerked a thumb over to the towering giant. "THIS is the result."

"GRAAGH! Yes! Me Grimlock am SHARPTOOTH!"

Even though they could see that right in front of them, Itsuka, Ibara, Tetsu and Mei were still in complete and utter disbelief. …Setsuna, on the other hand, was having a complete field day. "AAAAAAAAHH! Oh my FREAKING god!" She fell to her knees and thrust her hands up, heralding the king's arrival. "Grimlock, he's… he's a…"

"A dinosaur!" Itsuka exclaimed.

"A robot dinosaur!" Ibara uttered.

Eijiro and Mina couldn't help but scrunch their faces at the awkward wording. "Eh… there's gotta be a better way to say that." the redhead mused.

Mina scratched her chin in thought. "Yeah, you read my mind. He's a dinosaur but also an Autobot…" After a few seconds, the duo's eyes lit up as an idea entered their minds, and simultaneously, they shouted; "He's a DINOBOT!"

The other Autobots were taken aback by the sudden designation, but the more they thought about it, the more it made sense. "A… Dinobot, huh?" Windblade mused. "I actually kinda like it." She set her optics upon Grimlock to get his opinion. "And if ALL of your team is like this now, then maybe you can ALL be Dinobots. Lightning Strike Coalition Force WAS a bit of a mouthful."

"Dino…bots…" Grimlock repeated before giving an approving stomp. "Hah! Me Grimlock like! Now me Grimlock will be known as a Dinobot from here on!"

"That is SO freaking cool!" Kaida cheered. "I VERY much approve of this name change!"

Setsuna went up to her and shared a high five. "I second that, sister! And the fact that Grimlock is a goddamn TYRANNOSAURUS REX makes it all the more awesome!"

"Uh… Ty…Ty-Ran-Oh… huh?" Grimlock tilted his head. "What you talking about?"

Kaito cleared his throat to get the big guy's attention. "Ah-hem, it's the scientific name that we've given to "Sharpteeth" as you call them, Grimlock."

"We also tend to call them "T-Rex's" for short." Krista added.

"T… Rex… hm, much easier to say." On that note, Grimlock reassumed his robot mode and shook his head, coming back to his senses. "Hah… in any case, I definitely wasn't too thrilled with the new alternate mode that Shockwave forced upon me. However, I quickly found that the dinosaurs respected my authority while I was in that form." The Dinobot's voice took a much gentler tone as he reminisced about those old days. "They were thankful that I was their ally from that day forward, because then they knew for sure that they were well protected from any other Sharptooth that may come their way. And, in time, I went from just the leader of the herd… to their king."

Ochako pointed up to the crown. "And I'm guessing you made that to celebrate the occasion?"

Picking up the head ornament, Grimlock shook his head. "Well, not exactly. This was once a simple homing device that was made for this ship. But… the little ones got the idea into their head to fashion it into a crown for me to wear." He placed it upon his head once again. "I liked the idea so much that I said "why not"? Haha!"

On that note, Optimus stepped forward, his optics focused directly on his friend. "Well, I am certainly quite grateful that you found your way, Grimlock." He brought his sights down, though, as he recalled their last interaction. "Admittedly… I felt an immense guilt when you contacted Iacon from Shockwave's lab when you made your escape. And your words have stuck with me ever since."

"…Right." Grimlock nodded, recalling what he said as well. "I… accused you of abandoning us. Of not doing enough to stop the Decepticons. …Running away when you should've fought to the bitter end." He sighed heavily and sat down in his chair. "In that moment, my emotions were doing most of the talking for me. All I felt then was an incredible rage… and pain."

"Pain?" Kaida muttered.

"Yes, Kaida. I was… awake while Shockwave experimented on me." That earned a round of gasps from the Autobots and even the humans as Grimlock's grip tightened against his chair. "He didn't do the same with my other teammates. He did it to me specifically because he thought he'd be able to break my spirit." He scoffed and his visor briefly changed to red again. "Hmph, but he was wrong. Very wrong." Standing back up, Grimlock continued; "I also felt an intense, insatiable anger. Against Shockwave, against myself… and I projected that all onto everyone around me, even those who didn't deserve it." He met Prime's gaze once again, his visor going back to blue. "Really… I should be the one apologizing to you, Optimus."

"There is no need, Grimlock." Optimus shook his head. "After what you and your team went through, I cannot blame you for the way you felt toward us. We should've made a more concerted effort to find you."

Grimlock raised his hand. "But you had many things to deal with back then. The Ark's launch, Elita insisting that she take the mission… it was a tense time for everyone." The Dinobot approached Prime and extended his hand. "Now, though… I think now's a good time to make a fresh start to things, wouldn't you say? Let us unite in finding the Ark and turning the tide of this war back against the Cons! How does that sound, hm?"

Beneath his faceplate, Prime smiled and shook Grimlock's hand without hesitation. "Haha… I say that sounds like a fantastic idea, old friend. Let's do it."

A round of cheers erupted throughout the room from human and Autobot alike… though toward the back, Grimlock could still see Springer reserving himself, keeping his arms folded across his chest. "Woo-hoo! Welcome to the team, Grimlock!" Sideswipe cheered.

"Glad to have ya back on board!" Sunstreaker gave a thumbs up.

"Haha, thank you, thank you, everyone." Grimlock pushed his hands out, signaling them to calm down. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. There's still much work to be done if we're to track down the Ark."

Red Alert, however, was keen on contending with that. "Oh, I wouldn't say so. After all, we DO have this ship." He went over to a control console and began inputting commands. "It may not be flight capable, but at the very least, we should be able to activate the Ark's homing beac—" *CCHHHZZZAP* "AGH!" Just then, a random circuited suddenly shorted out near Red Alert's foot, causing him to jerk backward and fall on his rear.

Grimlock groaned and picked the medic up by his backpack, bringing him back to his feet. "You think I didn't already try that, Red? Nearly everything on this freight was fried upon reentry. It was a miracle that we managed to get ANYTHING working on this thing." He thrust a hand over toward a different control console. "The only system we could get working was the orbital scanners, and even then, all it ever detected was that stupid space rock."

"Well, that's swell." Springer threw his hands up. "That means we're right back to square one when it comes to findin' that freight."

"Not necessarily." The Dinobot leader said, raising a finger to him. "Because while I was never able to pinpoint the Ark's location in the distant past, I did sometimes go on journeys outside the Great Valley whenever it was necessary for the herd to move. Whether it be due to seasonal shifts, locust swarms, you get the picture. And along the way…" Grimlock moved toward a storage unite and opened it up, revealing heaps of scrap metal that were no doubt from the ship. "I would collect these little miracles."

Arcee went in and took up one of the scraps, doing a quick analysis of it. "Hah… yep, that's part of the Ark. So, you're saying that there could be more pieces out there?"

"Correct." Grimlock gave a nod. "And if we can find a high enough concentration of these pieces, we'll surely be on the right track." He shrugged his massive shoulders. "It'll be a tedious process, but if we can pull it off…"

"There may be hope yet." Arcee concluded handing the fragment to Red Alert. "Red, do you think that these fragments could have a signature that can be traced?"

The medic grimaced and shook his head. "Unfortunately, it doesn't exactly work that way. However… I can try to cross-reference these fragments on the internet and see if there's any place on Earth that's found them in the modern day." His attention shifted to Fowler, presenting the fragment to him. "And Agent Fowler, perhaps your people may know something about these fragments?"

Fowler's nose scrunched unsurely. "Eh… I've never seen anything like that before in my life, if I'm bein' honest." He placed a hand to his hip while his other hand scratched his chin. "I'll ask the other branches of Sector Seven about it, though, see if we can't come up with anything."

"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Optimus bowed his head gratefully. "We would appreciate the effort." The Prime set his attention back to his Autobots who, along with the humans, were all looking back at him expectingly. "Today marks a significant step in our search for the Ark. We may not have the means of detecting it, but we do have a lead. Let us hope that these fragments prove fruitful in finding it… and possibly those stray stasis pods as well." He then lifted his arm, placing it upon Grimlock's shoulder. "More importantly, though, we have brought an old friend back from the brink, and to that, I'd say that's just as significant a victory as finding the Ark itself."

"Zrkt—Truer words were never spoken, old chap!" Bumblebee said before hastily tapping his wrist. "Zrkt—Now c'mon, let's get a move on! Zrkt—Time is running out!"

At Bee's declaration, Izuku, Kyoka and Momo's eyes all widened and they took out their phones… realizing that they only had fifteen minutes to get back home. "AAAAHH! Crap, crap, CRAP!" Izuku panicked. "We stuck around too long!"

"Someone open the GroundBridge, NOW!" Kyoka insisted. "Otherwise we're in DEEP trouble and they might ground us even longer!"

"Already on it." Windblade assured, bringing her hand up to her commlink. "Signal Flare, this is Windblade. Time to Bridge us home." In just a few seconds, the GroundBridge opened in the middle of the room and the three grounded teens all made a mad dash for it, not waiting for anyone else. Windblade glanced back to Jazz and Bee with an amused grin. "Heh, well boys, I'd say that's our cue."

"No doubt." Jazz agreed, him and Bee following the City Speaker. Before he stepped through the portal, though, he ushered over to Grimlock. "C'mon, Grim. I think you're gonna like our pad back over in Japan. Beachfront property, baby!"

As the other Autobots began following as well, Grimlock let out a laugh. "Haha! I can't wait to see it…" But before he left, the Dinobot took one last glance around the place he knew as home for so long, a sad sigh escaping him.

However, he felt a familiar touch on his foot, leading him to see Kaida and her parents there next to him. "You okay, Grimlock?"

"Do you need some time, dear?" Krista asked as well.

Grim shook his head and knelt down to them. "Haha, no, no, just… taking one last look at the place." He took his crown and set it upon his empty seat, his thoughts going out to all of his friends who perished in the cataclysmic impact. "…Thank you all. For everything."

"You can always come back, Grimlock." Red Alert said, having seen his friend make the small memorial. "I'll save the coordinates of this place, just in case you want to reminisce."

"Hah, thanks, Red. I'd appreciate that." Standing up to his full height, Grimlock pumped a fist. "Now, let's go. I'm eager to get going on this new start of mine."

Kaida beamed up to him when she heard that. "Great! Because, um… hehe…" She eyed her parents sheepishly. "There, uh… there may be a couple of OTHER people that we need to bring some peace of mind to back home."

Kaito and Krista were confused as first, but it didn't take long for them to put two and two together. "Oh… oh, you mean them." the father uttered.

"Hm? What?" Grimlock tilted his head. "Who's "them"?"

"You'll find out soon, big guy." Kaida said with a sigh, gesturing for him to follow. "C'mon, I'll explain along the way…"

…..

~The Next Day~

Kentaro Kiryu was incredibly worried at the moment. Right when his sister got home from school, she told him and Kiki to get themselves together and come with her… somewhere. She was with Shoto and another friend of hers, Mina, along with a tall African-American man that he swore recognized from the Sports Festival. The man introduced himself as Buck Hudson, a government agent, and explained that this was a pretty important matter… concerning his family. Immediately, he and Kiki both realized what was going on, and one look from Kaida only confirmed it. Without wasting another second, they climbed into Buck's Hummer… which coincidentally was the same model as his dad's… and they were all off.

But even still, there were some lingering questions on the young hero's mind. "Ashido… why exactly are you here?" he spoke up from the backseat, peering at Mina in the passenger's side up front before moving his gaze to his sister's best friend. "And you too, Shoto. How did you two get involved in this?"

"Ah, well… that's kinda complicated, actually…" Mina rubbed her neck, only for Buck to step in.

"Please save all questions for when we get to the meet-up spot." The man caught Kentaro's eye in his rearview mirror. "Trust me, kid, you're gonna have a LOT more by the time we get there, so it's best if you save 'em."

Kiki was practically huddled in Kaida's lap, her eyes darting around while having no clue what was happening. "This is scary… I-I wanna go back home!"

But Kaida began caressing her little sister's hair soothingly, trying to calm her down. "Ssh, it's okay, Kiki. I promise you, it's nothing that serious."

"Not serious?" Kentaro repeated in disbelief. "Kaida, you were approached by government agent about what mom and dad found! This isn't something to be taken lightly!"

Shoto reached over and placed a hand on Kentaro's shoulder. "Ken, believe me it's like she's saying. This whole thing isn't as bad as it appears. Once we get to the meet-up point, we'll—"

"Ah-ha! We're here!" Mina announced, bringing everybody's attention forward. There, out of the windshield, they saw that they were brought to a rather expansive field, covered in nothing but grass and the odd boulder that was sticking out of the ground. "And hey! There they are waiting for us!" Mina pointed out.

Kentaro's eyes widened when he saw what she was talking about. There, standing in the middle of the field… were his parents. And they were standing next to a big red and blue semi-truck. "…What?"

"HAH! Mama! Papa!" The very moment the Hummer pulled to a halt, Kiki hopped straight out and made a mad sprint toward her parents, with her siblings not far behind. "MAMA! PAPA!"

Krista's eyes lit up and she ran to meet her youngest daughter, laughing with delight as she scooped her up into her arms and spun around. "AH! Hahaha! My baby girl! Oh, it's so good to see you!" She came to a standstill and poked the little girl in the tummy. "Have you been eating well? Your brother's been keeping you fed, right?"

"Hehehe, uh-huh! Ken's been taking care of both of us!"

"Well, that's good to hear, honey." Kaito said as he came forward and reached out to Ken, pulling him into a hug. "Thank you for keeping things steady at the house, son. Sorry if we worried you or anything the last couple days."

"D-Dad, what're you talking about?" Ken pulled away, raising a confused brow. "W-Why are you two acting like everything's fine? A-And why're you even here?" He pointed over to the big truck as well. "And what the HECK is that thing doing here?"

The Kiryu parents shared a knowing smirk with Kaida, only for Kaito to wave it off. "Ah, everything will become a lot clearer soon. Right now, though… we have a new friend to introduce the both of you to."

Kiki gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. "Ah! A new friend?"

"That's right, honey." Krista booped the little girl on the nose before setting her down. "A really special new friend. You've actually already seen him before, but now… you actually get to meet him. Though… you may want to brace yourselves."

"Okay, seriously, mom, dad, WHAT is going on?!" Kentaro thrust his hands toward Buck, Shoto and Mina. "First we get a government agent telling us there's something important going on, then YOU two show up out of the blue, and now you're saying you wanna introduce us to someone?! What about the giant robot?! A-Are you two in trouble?!"

Kaito grasped his son by the shoulder, raising a calming hand. "Son, deep breaths. Slow down. I know that things seem confusing right now… but if you take a look over by those trees, things will become a lot clearer to you."

Following the direction his father was pointing, Kentaro set his sights upon the thicket of nearby trees… and his eyes widened when he caught sight of something shining from deep in the dark underbrush. It was something bright and blue… and it was very high up. Just then, the blue light began to move forward, accompanied by what sounded like heavy footfalls and the sound of foliage breaking. Then, a pair of massive, metal arms parted the tree line… revealing the very same giant robot that they'd seen in the pictures just a couple days before. Slowly and carefully, it moved its way out into the open, where Kentaro and Kiki were left slack-jawed while Kaida and their parents grinned at his arrival.

"I…I-I… WHAT?!" Kentaro exclaimed.

"AAAAAAHH!" Kiki screamed, hiding behind her mother's leg. "It walks! The scary robot walks!"

Her terror-filled shriek immediately made the grey and gold robot stop in his tracks, to which Krista knelt down and pulled her little girl into her embrace once again. "Hmhm, darling, there's no need to be afraid. Yes, he walks, but he's also very friendly." She could see the bewilderment in her child's eyes, leading Krista to raise an arm up to the approaching bot. "Kiki, Kenny, allow us to introduce you to our new friend; Grimlock."

Grimlock stopped directly in front of the humans and knelt down, speaking as softly as he could as to not frighten the little one any more. "Greetings, young humans. Fret not, for I come in peace." He gave a nod to both of them. "You must be Kentaro… and I take it you're Kiki, then. Hehe, Kaida and your parents have told me a lot about you two. It's very nice to meet you."

"Y-Y-You t-talk?!" Kentaro exclaimed.

"Oh, I can do MUCH more than just talk. But for now, I must apologize to you two for making you worry so much about your family." Grimlock placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head. "I'm sorry for any stress I may have caused you."

Running a hand through his hair, Kentaro took a deep breath. "Hoo… well, uh, can't say that you're not STILL causing me a bit of stress, but… I guess you seem friendly enough. Gah!"

Without warning, Kiki knocked her brother in the shin, pouting up at him. "Big brother, that's just rude! Be nice to the visitor!" She jogged her way over and smiled up at Grimlock. "Sorry, my big brother can be a bit of a worry-wart." She balled her tiny hands into excited fists as her eyes shined up at the giant robot. "So are you from space? Please tell me you're from space!"

"Haha! Actually, I am!" Grimlock laughed, extending a hand down to her. "How'd you guess?"

"Because I saw ANOTHER giant robot fall from space and land in our pool a few months ago!" Kiki exclaimed… which made a certain man behind them grimace in fear while Mina and Kaida had to hold in their laughter. Even Shoto and the Kiryu parents had the slightest smirk on his face. Kiki, though, lowered her head with another pout. "Hmph… but nobody believed me. Mama, papa, big bro and big sis all say I dreamed it."

Unlike the others, Grimlock was more than happy to let out a mighty guffaw. "AHAHAHA! Is that so, little one? Haha… well, Kiki, I think it's time we proved everybody that you're right." He nudged his head to his rotund, green friend. "Isn't that right, Bulk?"

Rubbing his neck, "Buck" groaned and began to fade from existence, much to Kentaro and Kiki's shock. "Yeah… I guess so. Prime, let's do it." On that note… *Whrr-tschzz-tschzz-tschzz-chkt* Before their very eyes, Bulkhead and Optimus Prime assumed their robot modes, leaving the eldest and youngest Kiryu siblings both completely astonished. They stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the two, with Kiki's gaze directed straight at the big, green Autobot. "Heh, heya, kid." Bulkhead waved. "So, look familiar?"

Once Kiki got over her bewilderment, she pointed up at him frantically. "IT'S YOU! You're the one who smashed our pool!"

At that point, no one could hold it back anymore. Aside from Shoto and Kentaro, the humans all let out a chorus of laughter, which Grimlock joined in with while Bulkhead's shoulders slumped. "Hahaha! Don't worry, big guy." Kaito asserted.

"He's right, Bulkhead, we're not upset." Krista echoed. "Haha, more amused than anything, honestly."

"Hah… well, I guess that's a relief." the Wrecker sighed.

Optimus, meanwhile, knelt before the family, his optics trained on Kentaro and Kiki. "Hmhm, well, I suppose that is certainly one way of finding out our secret." he chortled. "In any case, it's a pleasure to meet you two. Kaida has told us much about you. My name is Optimus Prime. My friends here and I are Autobots from the planet Cybertron."

"So… you ARE aliens!" Kentaro exclaimed.

The Prime gave a nod. "Indeed, but before I go any further, I have been asked by a friend to play some footage for you…" Raising his arm, Optimus input a command that brought up a holographic screen. "She has been working on a… "welcome speech" for people who learn of our secret. I find it very informative, so please, pay attention."

The video began to play on the holoscreen, where at first, there was just a lonely chair in the center of an abandoned warehouse—the Autobot base. But then, from off screen, Mei appeared and took hold of the chair, spinning it around to sit on it backwards. She smiled, stared down the camera lens, and spoke; "So, you've just learned about an alien race of giant robots. Not an everyday occurrence, right? …Well, it happens more often to people than you might think…"

The teens all shared awkward grins with one another as Mei continued on, though the other Kiryus certainly seemed to be paying attention. "Hoo boy… this could take a while." Kaida rolled her eyes.

"So, to get you caught up on everything to know about the Cybertronian race…" From out of her back pocket, Mei pulled out a roll of paper that reached down to the ground once it was unfurled. "I've put together an extensive list of everything I've learned!"

"…A long while." Shoto muttered.

…..

A/N: And on that note, I think we can call it a wrap on this chapter! Yep, Mei's still working on that whole "introductory speech" idea of hers, as you can plainly tell. …And she may or may not have taken inspiration from a certain iconic scene that's been memed to here and back. What can I say? I saw an opportunity and I took it! But yes, now the WHOLE Kiryu family is in on the secret… as well as the fact that Bulkhead cannonballed into their pool from outer space. It was bound to happen at some point!

But as for the real meat of this chapter, we got to see the rest of the Autobot team, Mini-Cons, Class B students and Mei included, all meet Grimlock… and of course, I wasn't about to exclude Setsuna's love of dinosaurs from the equation. Trust me, I've been reminded of that little tidbit about her PLENTY of times to know that she'd be absolutely ecstatic having not just Grimlock, but Kaida on the team as well.

In terms of Grimlock himself, though… you can tell that there's quite a bit of discrepancy from his current/further past self and how he was like post-experimentation by Shockwave. Acting more like the Fall of Cybertron Grimlock where he prioritizes his team above all else and doesn't hold respect for his allies since he thought they all abandoned them. When, as we know now, that wasn't the case. Still, instead of hurrying to wake everyone up, he chose to put his team above all others and get them out of there… which unfortunately didn't end well for him. So now, not only is the Ark missing, but there's also an escape ship that has the rest of the Dinobots on it but several stray stasis pods that've gone who knows where. This search may take more time than initially thought…

But speaking of, we get the official "Dinobot" moniker coined by Mina and Eijiro of all people. I mean, let's face it; Lightning Strike Coalition Force DOES sound awesome… but it's also long-winded and doesn't shorten well. Definitely looking forward to bringing in the rest of the team in the future… though WHEN exactly that'll happen, I'll be saving that as a surprise.

Oh, and of course… the dinosaur world that Grimlock landed in will definitely sound VERY familiar to a lot of you, I'm sure. If ya couldn't tell, I based it on a certain movie series that has… probably seven or eight more sequels than it really needs. …And a cartoon show for good measure. But hey, at least this explains why Sauropods and Stegosaurs were living with Hadrosaurs and Ceratopsians in the same time period!

And now, the Preview! As Grimlock gets settled in, Sunday finally approaches for our heroes, and it's time to do some recreational activities before Parents Day! Izuku, Kyoka and Kyotoku head off to the Hero Exhibition… where they run into a certain explosive blond along the way. And at the same time, Tenya, Denki and Ibara head to the amusement park… with a rather interesting tag-along as their fourth wheel. Next Time; Sunday, Fun Day! Wait, hold on, there's a WHAT exhibit near this Hero Exhibition?! Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! Stay safe out there, and as always;

GO BEYOND! PLUS ULTRA!