Well the poll is now closed, thank you to all who voted. I won't say where they are going right now, you will need to read to find out. And now we get to the final part of Darkness Rising, so that means that our human friends will meet yet another con.
Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers Prime, Only my OCs.
Chapter Six: Darkness Rising Already? Part Four
"Shadow. Hey Shadow, wake up."
I moaned tiredly when I felt someone slightly shaking me. And when I say someone, I mean Cliffjumper.
"Mmm what?" I mumbled. Yeah I was tired.
"You said that we could spend the day together, so come on, I have a great place for us to go." Cliffjumper said as I cracked open an eye to see him sitting on the edge of the bed with a smile on his face.
"What time is it?" I asked as I tiredly reached for my phone.
"It's just a little after eight." He answered me. 8:05 to be exact.
I rolled over so that I was on my back before stretching. "So, where are we going?" I asked as I sat up.
He grinned. "Now that is a surprise." He got up and started walking to the door, but before he could walk out he turned back to me.
"Um, you might want to wear some... waterproof clothing." He told me as he scratched the back of his head. I smirked.
"We're going to a beach, aren't we?"
"Uh-mmm, yeeeahhhh." He chuckled nervously.
"Which beach?"
He smirks at me. "It's a surprise. Now get ready." He walks out and I couldn't help but let out a few chuckles.
Getting up, I went to my dresser and took out my swimsuit- which was black swim shorts with pockets and dark green halter tankini.
Grabbing my duffel bag, I made sure that all my stuff was out before putting in my towel and a change of clothes, as well as a wet bag for my wet bathing suit. I went into the bathroom and changed. When I came out I slipped on a dark blue cover up dress.
Making sure I got everything, I grabbed my duffel bag and phone and walked out of my room.
"Hey Cliff, you in there?" I called from outside his door. But I didn't get an answer, so he must be in the main room.
"Hey Shadow, what are you doing?" I turned to see Arcee walking towards me. I smiled.
"Cliffjumper and I are supposed to be going to a beach, but he won't tell me which one." I told her as we walked down the hall.
She chuckled. "Yeah, he told me something about that."
We walked into the Command center and I immediately spotted my guardian talking with Optimus. Telling Arcee goodbye, I made my way over to them, catching their attention.
"Well there you are, you ready Shadow?" Cliffjumper smirked down at me and I nodded excitedly. It has been years since I last went to the beach.
I looked up at Optimus. "Good morning OP. I would invite you to join but I did kinda promise Cliff that I'd spend most of the day with him." A small smile appeared on the Primes face.
"That is alright, but thank you for the thought. Although I would like the both of you back by the time the children get out of school." He told us.
"So call for a ground bridge around 3:15, got it." I nodded while Cliffjumper pouted. I turned to him.
"Or I could just go back to bed."
Primus, I don't think I ever seen him transform that fast in my life.
Laughing, I jumped into the vehicle and placed my bag in the backseat. Optimus went over to the ground bridge and activated it. So he must know where we are going.
When we got through to the other side, we were in an alley.
Cliffjumper activated his holoform (He was wearing a red t-shirt and swimming trunks) and drove forward before turning onto the road. Looking around I noticed all the palm trees.
I was about to ask where we were at when a sign caught my attention, and my eyes widened when I read what was on it.
Miami Beach.
"Miami Beach, we're going to Miami beach?!" I squealed. I had always wanted to visit Miami and their beaches.
Cliffjumper looked at me with a huge smile. "Surprise."
Laughing, I wrapped my arms around him. "Oh my gosh, you have no idea how much I've always wanted to come here! Cliffjumper you're the best!" I exclaimed. He chuckled as I felt one of his arms wrap around me, the other on the wheel 'steering'.
"I had a feeling you would like this." I heard the smirk in his voice.
Letting go of him I looked back out the window, awed by the buildings and the view of the beach.
Finally we found a place to park after looking around for 15 minutes.
We got out and I went to the backseat to grab my bag. Looking over the other side of the back, I noticed that Cliffjumper had a towel with him.
"Hey, you want me to put that in my bag?" Nodded, he handed me the towel and I shoved it inside my bag.
"You ready?" Cliff asked me as he came around to me. I grinned. "Pit yeah!"
As we walked on the boardwalk towards the beach, Cliff and I talked about a lot of places we would like to visit. Like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone National Park.
Getting to the edge where the boardwalk transcends into sand I stopped to take my sandals off so walking across the sand will be easier. Noticing what I was doing, Cliffjumper did the same before we walked until we found an area where there weren't any people for at least 50 feet.
"This seems like a good spot." Cliff said as I dropped my bag. Looking towards the ocean, I couldn't help but admire how blue the water looked, how it sparkled with the sun shining on it.
Taking out my phone I took a couple steps forward before taking several pictures of the scenery.
Coming up beside me, Cliffjumper looked out at the water, then turned to me with a grin. "You seem to like taking pictures a lot."
Deciding that I got enough pictures, I put my phone inside my duffel bag before turning to him with a smirk. "I enjoy taking pictures of different landscapes, sunrises, and sunsets. I actually wanted to become a photographer before I came here." I looked to the ocean.
"When you see nothing but wars between countries, genders, politics, religion, and race. It's nice to capture the good moments in life."
Looking back to my guardian, he seemed to stare at me in amazement then smiled. "You really are something, you know that? Now come on, it's already 9 o'clock!" I quickly turned around when he started taking off his shirt, blushing furiously before I slipped off my cover dress.
I heard chuckling from behind me. "What's the matter, Shadow, shy?"
I scoffed and turned to face him, only to freeze. Sweet Primus, he's fragging hot! Somehow my blush deepened. "What? N-no, why would you think t-that?" His grin widened. Fragging stuttering. Fragging blushing.
"Shut up, I've seen plenty of shirtless guys." I said before reaching down and scooping a handful of damp sand. Smirking, I threw it at him before turning tail and dashing towards the watch.
"Oh now you're gonna get it!" Cliffjumper exclaimed from behind me as he came after me.
I was nearly into the water when I was suddenly grabbed from behind, squealing when I was thrown over Cliff's shoulder.
"Cliff, no! Don't you dare!" I laughed as he started running into the water before suddenly taking me and tossing me in.
Popping back up, I playfully glared at the laughing man before smirking mischievously. "Wow, is that all you got Cliffjumper? That's kinda sad!" I shouted before swimming farther out, cause I ain't stupid, I know that he's going to be right up my ass and I have no idea what he might come up with.
Even though I may not be fast on sand, I am fast in water. I started making a wide curve, heading for the shore. "Come on Cliff, I didn't think that you were that slow!"
"Why you little...!"
Getting to the shore I quickly went and retrieved my phone before going to the video camera and turning back towards Cliffjumper, who was still swimming towards the shore.
"Here we are at the famous Miami Beach, and there you can see my guardian still trying to get to me. He may be fast on sand, but not in water. Hey Cliff, say hi to the camera!" I laughed.
"You're gonna get it Shadow!"
"You're gonna have to catch me first!" I responded as I started jogging backwards while still filming Cliffjumper getting closer to the shore, soon enough he was running after me.
I turned to try and run but the sand made me lose my balance and I soon found myself falling to the ground face first. My phone fell out of my hand and into the sand, the phone sticking out and camera facing me.
I scrambled to get to my feet only to be suddenly pinned to the ground. "Gotcha!" Scrap!
"Now what was it that you were saying?Is that all I got and I'm slow? " I turned my head just enough to see Cliffjumper with a shit eating grin. Then he looked at my phone. "Is it still recording?" He asked as he got a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
I don't know if he took my silence as a yes or no, but I suddenly found myself flipped onto my back, trying not to blush when Cliffjumper was once again on top of me.
"But then again..." He trailed off before his hands trailed down to a certain spot on my sides. I tried to resist, but after a few seconds I was laughing and squealing up a storm.
"Ain't nothing you can do now huh Shadow?" Cliffjumper laughed as he brought one of his hands to a spot on my neck, causing my laughter to skyrocket.
"Cliff sto-hahahah-p, I-I haaaahahahah I can't- haaahahahaaaaaaa brea-th!" I tried pleading between laughs. Key word 'try'.
This lasted for another minute before he gave me mercy.
He got off of me, leaving me to gasp for air, before coming back over and laying beside me. Lifting up my phone that he must have grabbed, he replayed the video, laughing when he tickled me.
"You learn your lesson?" He smirked at me.
"Depends." I smirked back.
And so for the rest of the time we were there, we talked and played around, splashed in the water. Pit, we even attempted to build a sand castle, which was hard without any buckets and tools.
By the time it was 3 o'clock, we came back to my bag and dried ourselves off with our towels. Wrapping the towel around me, I grabbed my bag and walked to one of the changing tents that they had around the beach.
"Hey Cliffjumper, I'm gonna change into some dry clothes, could you stand out here and make sure nobody tries to come in here?" He nodded, standing next to the entrance like a security guard, thanking him I went in. Do you know how hard it is to take off a wet swimming suit? Let me tell you...it's hard!
Finally after several minutes, I walked out wearing denim shorts and a dark gray t-shirt.
"Alright, let's get back before OP decides to give us a lecture for being late." Cliffjumper nodded in agreement before making our way back to the red Challenger. When we got there I placed the bag in the backseat before turning to Cliffjumper.
I walked up to him and hugged him. "Thank you, this was amazing, I hope we can do this again sometime." He smiled down at me.
"Your welcome Shadow, and I'm sure we could do this again." Taking a step back I headed for the passenger door while Cliffjumper went around to the drivers side.
"Now let's go before Doc or Boss bot throws a fit."
It didn't take long to get back to the alley and when we did we called for a bridge. Smiling at each other, we drove through.
I sat upon Cliffjumpers shoulder as we all stood around the main room talking to each other and our time at the beach (to which Raf and Miko were jealous that I got to go while they had school). Arcee had gone out to bring Jack back to base.
We were in the middle of talking when Ratchet turned from the computer.
"Optimus, I've pointed out the location of Megatron's space bridge. High in Earth's orbit." Ratchet informs, not too happily.
"Out of our reach." Optimus said as he walked up to us.
"Ok. So you guys don't fly, but can't you just ground bridge there?" Miko asks in confusion. I shook my head and took Ratchet's line.
"The ground bridge has limited range. Stretched all the way out there, the vortex could snap and scatter them to the stars." I explained as the medic nodded in agreement.
"Since Megatron is likely already in transit, I'm afraid we must take that risk." Optimus said, turning towards the bridge. "Reaching the space bridge first, is our only means of stopping him."
Cliffjumper opened his mouth to say something when we heard honking. We all looked to the tunnel to see Arcee drive in with Jack.
"Hey, guess who's back?" The teen said as he took off his helmet.
I gave him a knowing smile. "It's good to have you back."
He chuckled. "Something tells me you knew that Arcee would come after me."
"Maybe."
"Autobots, prepare for departure." Optimus tells them as Arcee transformed.
"Where to?" Arcee asked, confused.
"The final frontier." Miko reveals as Jack gaped.
"Space? I thought that they didn't have a way to get there." Jack said in confusion.
"They don't, really." Raf says as Bee lowers him to the ground. Suddenly Cliffjumper brings his hand to where I am.
"Sorry Shadow, but I gotta go kick some con tailpipe." He said with a smirk as he lowered me to the ground. When I was down I walked over to the three kids.
"Well, be seeing you." Jack said to Arcee who smirked before walking away.
Ratchet approached the ground bridge lever, activating the ground bridge.
"Be careful Bee." Raf looked to his guardian. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."
"I'm so jealous." Miko looked up at Bulkhead, upset. "Don't even think about following me." He tells her sternly. Don't worry Bulk, she ain't going nowhere with me here.
I turned to Cliffjumper. "You better watch your aft out there, if you come back injured, I will make your living a living pit. That goes for you too OP." I said as I gave both Cliffjumper and Optimus a look. Optimus nodded at me while Cliff kneeled down in front of me with a grin.
"Hey, I'll be just fine, I won't let anything happen to me, and they won't either."
I gave him a nod and he stood up and joined the others by the ground bridge.
"Optimus, if you leave me stranded on a planet teeming with humans, I will never forgive you." I glared at Ratchet when he said that. I'm this close to offlining him.
"Until we meet again, old friend."
I snickered. "Heh, 'old' friend." I said quietly.
"Autobots, roll out!" I watched as they all transformed and sped through the ground bridge. Turning on my heels I ran up the stairs and to the rail so I could watch the screen. Soon we could hear the bots over the commlink.
"Autobots, transform and gravitize." Optimus's voice came over the link. Transforming can be heard before they landed on the space bridge.
"Whoa, Don't look down...or up...or left." Bulkhead muttered.
" Try looking right then." I snickered.
"No thanks, I'm good." Bulkhead said quickly, causing me to laugh out loud.
"Guess who just arrived." Cliffjumper said. "The Cons Warship." I smirked.
"So Magatron's packing enough Dark Energon to raise Cybertron's dead?" Arcee asks.
"And since we do not possess ready means of disabling the space bridge, nothing gets in or out." Optimus states as we heard transformation and blasters warming up.
I jumped slightly when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning I saw Jack looking at me concerned. "Hey, is everything alright with you and Ratchet?" He asked quietly so doc bot wouldn't overhear. I knew that he was referring to yesterday when I snapped at the medic.
I sighed silently. "Complicated." Was all I said. He nodded.
"Well, what are they waiting for?" Arcee questioned.
"Yeah, some of us have better things to do." Cliffjumper said in irritation. I lightly shook my head in amusement.
"It appears the Decipticons have sustained serious damage to their interstellar navigation system." Optimus informed, and I can hear Cliff and Bulk.
"Huh, that was our handy work." Cliff said proudly to the Prime with Bulkhead agreeing.
"Great job Cliffjumper , Bulkhead. Without the dish, Megatron won't be able to aim the space bridge at Cybertron." Optimus complimented the two. "Yeah, you two did great job trashing it." I said to them.
Raf turned to us. "Don't the Decepticons know where their own planet is?"
"Naturally, but Cybertron is many light years away, to reach it their aim must be astronomically precise." Ratchet answered and we nodded in understanding.
"If Megatron went to the trouble of rendezvousing with his space bridge, he must have an alternate targeting system. A remote one." Prime said and Ratchet scoffed.
"From what I know of Earth's technology I doubt that there exists a single radio telescope dish on this planet powerful enough to pinpoint Cybertron."
I rolled my eyes at the medic. "Really Ratchet? Do you really have that little faith in human beings? Just because we are small, not made out of metal, and can only live for up to 100 years, doesn't mean that we don't have strong technology." I snapped as Raf was typed on his computer.
"What about a whole bunch of linked radio telescopes? Like the giant size array in Texas," Raf suggested and I placed a hand on his shoulder, giving the boy a small smile. I can't wait to go back to Texas, even if it is for a short amount of time.
Suddenly Ratchet leans towards us. "ZIP-BIP-BIP-BIP-BIP! This is not child's play!" He exclaims agitated. All I did was smirk.
"Good thinking Raf."
"Told you so Ratchet. Do not EVER underestimate us humans." And with that we turned back to the computer.
"Ratchet, have Agent Fowler alert the array staff to the security hazard." Optimus ordered. And right at that moment said agent decided to speak up.
"YOU! SOLDIER! You're out of uniform, put on some pants!" And with that said he flopped back down. Everyone exchanged weird looks, but Cliffjumper and I burst out laughing.
"Primus, that was great! Please tell me that someone got that on video." Cliffjumper said between laughs.
"Priceless!" I had tears in my eyes now.
"That may be a challenge." Ratchet shook his head. Raf started typing more, hoping to get past the firewalls.
"I can't get past the array's firewall's, they're too thick." The boy complained, slamming his fists against the table.
"You think you could keep the Decipticons out?" Ratchet questions unconvinced. I sighed heavily. When will he ever learn?
"Maybe. If I could get in." He told Ratchet.
"K, wait, wait, wait, Raf, what if we got you all the way in, like inside the building 'in'?" Jack said, placing a hand on Raf's shoulder.
"I could log into the internal network on the other side of the firewall." Raf perked up.
"The risk is too great, the Decepticons will be there, perhaps even on site." Optimus started to object to the idea of us going somewhere the cons will be at.
"Optimus, with all due respect, you said it yourself, this is bigger than the safety of four humans." Jack stated, looking up at the screen.
"Yeah! If we let the cons win, we're fragged, along with everyone else on our planet." Miko argued.
"Optimus, please, let us fight to protect our planet." I pleaded. My old friend was silent for a moment.
"Raf?" Turning to the boy who seemed to be thinking hard.
"I wanna give it a shot." He decided at last. Grinning, I hi fived him and then Miko. We ran down the stairs towards the ground bridge while Ratchet put in the coordinates.
"Here comes the welcoming committee."Bulkhead warned the others as I heard the fighting began.
Ratchet gave us a stern look. "Be careful, there is no telling how many cons may be there nor security guards."
I laughed dryly. "Now he cares." I said just loud enough for Ratchet to hear me.
We ran through the ground bridge and when we jumped out the other side we tried to keep our balance.
"That'll take some getting used to." Jack groaned while holding his head.
"No joke." I said lightly shaking my head. It wasn't that bad, but I did feel a slight dizziness. We looked around at the building and all the satellites. Seeing that there wasn't anyone around we made a run for the building.
"Hold on, let me check if it's clear." Jack said as we stayed back and he slowly opened the door and stuck his head in. "It's clear." He gave us the all clear as we slipped in and quickly made our way through the building, checking each room until we found the room we needed.
"Go on, I'll stay by the door." I told them as I stood by the door while they went to the computer and Raf started typing. Miko came over to the door and peeked out before closing it again.
"Security sure is lax in this place." She commented as she walked back to the boys. At that moment, the computer made a strange noise.
"I'm in!" He said with a smile before furrowing his eyebrows. "And so are the Decepticons."
"What?!" Jack exclaimed quietly in shock, eyes widening. "Not good." I said as I stepped closer to them.
"How can you tell?" Miko asked.
"Schematics, with the same alien math we saw on their ship." He turned to us smirking. "But this time, I can download it." He grabbed his flash drive, plugged it in and resumed typing.
"It's gotta be the space bridge." Miko said, looking at the screen.
"It is." I confirmed for her.
"The Decepticons are syncing it to their dishes, but I can sync to them." Raf stated.
"Will they know?" Jack asked concerned but Raf just waved him off.
"Even if the Decepticons see that I'm in the system, they will have no idea that I'm in the house!" Unless your Soundwave.
I was not looking forward to getting flung against the wall.
"They're locked onto Cybertron, but not for long." Raf typed something and we saw on the screen that the satellites were moving.
I then remembered part of the show, and I nervously glanced at the now blinking camera.
"The dishes are heading back to Cybertron! I guess I'll just undo that again." Raf went back to typing and Jack leaned closer to the boy.
"What happens when the Cons realize they're being punked?" He questions in worry.
"It's only virtual combat, you know, like online gaming." Raf explained. Very high risk online gaming here, Raf.
"Yeah Jack, what are the cons gonna do? They're probably, like, a thousand miles away." Oh Miko, I really really wished that you hadn't said that. I thought as I noticed the air slightly shift behind me.
When Jack started to turn to look behind us I got ready to unwillingly become a rag doll.
"WAAA!" Jack screamed and then Jack, Miko, and I were being thrown around. Jack was the first that was thrown against the wall and followed by Miko a few seconds later, but I wrapped my arms and legs around Soundwaves tentacle as I held on for dear life. He tried flinging me off of him and honestly it felt as though I was participating in some sort of alien rodeo.
My eyes slightly widened when I noticed Miko grab hold of an ax. "Don't you Fragging dare swing that ax!" I screamed at her, but she just ignored me as she gave out a war cry.
I was soooo happy when Soundwave moved so the ax didn't cut me in half, though when he came back and hit Milo, our heads narrowly slammed together.
She went flying to the wall while the ax fell to the ground right by us, to which Soundwave picked up.
"You handed it an AX!?" Jack yelled. Raf gulped nervously. "Not good."
For a split second I thought he was going to turn the ax on me, but instead he pulled out of the room...
With me still on him.
Not good. Not good at all. I thought as I looked around. Cursing, I closed my eyes and let go of the tentacle. Gasping in pain as I slammed onto the ground and rolled a few feet before stopping.
Moaning, I glanced up in time to see the tentacle stop and seemed to be looking at me.
"Shadow!" My head snapped to look behind me as I heard Jack shouting my name. Looking back in front of me I saw the end of the ax retreating around the corner.
"Shadow, are you alright?" Jack asked as he bent down to me. I nodded, even though my head was killing me.
"Yeah, go, go. I'm right behind you." I told them as I started getting up. They looked at me concerned. "Go!" I shouted and they ran off ahead. I got up on shaking legs before stumbling as fast as I could after them.
Pushing open the doors I saw Soundwave up on the roof he tore open just about to fly off, only to turn back when he noticed me. He seemed to stare at me and I knew that he got a picture before transforming and flying off.
I leaned against the doorway as the three inspected the cut line.
"He cut the hardline. The dishes are locked onto Cybertron. For good." Raf said grimly as he turned to us, only for his eyes to widen when he spotted me leaning in the doorway.
"Shadow?" He ran to me and I smiled down at him.
"I'll be fine, I just hit my head is all." He didn't look convinced and neither did Jack and Miko.
"I'm gonna call for a bridge." Jack stated as he dialed base before coming over and helping me stand.
It Didn't take long for the ground bridge to appear and we all went through it.
Ratchet looked towards us but his eyes widened when he saw that I was being supported by Jack. "What happened?" He asked as he rushed over to us and plucked me off the ground, which did not help my head at all.
"We were attacked by a con." Raf explained as they followed Ratchet. I had to lay down in his hand as the room wouldn't stop spinning.
"Yeah, he had a screen over his face and these freaky tentacles." Miko added, causing the Medic to stiffen.
"Soundwave..." I muttered, catching Ratchet's attention.
"He swung Jack, Miko, and I around the room before flinging them into a wall, I was able to hang on. When he got a hold of an ax, he pulled out of the room with me still holding on. I didn't want to get captured so I had no choice but to let go, falling hard onto the ground, rolling several feet and my head hitting the concrete flooring several times. He stopped. He could have used the ax and killed me easily, but he didn't." I explained and he seemed confused, muttering things like 'that doesn't make sense'.
Ratchet sat me on the platform near the computers before scanning me.
"It doesn't look like there's too much damage, just a slight concussion." He told me and I nodded slowly so as to not make my headache worse.
"Thanks." I thanked him. He nodded and went back to the computer when a beep was heard.
"Optimus, I'm registering a rapidly expanding mass in their space bridge vortex! One with a peculiar energy signature." Ratchet informed him while we looked up at the screen. Suddenly I saw Agent Fowler slowly making his way towards us.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked him. He looked at me with questioning eyes. "I'll live. What happened to you? You look as though you got hit by a truck."
I chuckled. "Unwillingly became a rag doll. Doc says I got a slight concussion but other than that I'm fine." His eyes widened in shock but before he could say anything, Optimus's voice came over the comm.
"Dark Energon. Ratchet, we must destroy the ground bridge!"Ratchet looked down in sadness, and if I didn't already know that will happen in the future, I would have been sad too.
"Ratchet, Optimus, there will be another way back to Cybertron. Trust me." I reassured them as Ratchet looked at me wide eyed and I smirked, walking up to the railing.
"There's enough live Energon coursing through it to detonate it. Even though y'all don't have enough fire power to ignite it, there is another way." I explained before turning to Raf who instantly understood where I was going with this and brought out his flash drive.
"The schematics could help." He said going up to one of the computers and plugging it in, transferring it to the main computer. Ratchet still looked unsure and my expression softened.
"Ratchet, guys, remember where I had come from and what I know. Trust me. There will be another way back. Just trust me, Alright." Ratchet looked down thinking before looking back up determined.
"Then by all means, let us light our darkest hour!" I smiled wide as I heard Optimus give the others instructions while he distracts Megatron who is no doubt flying down to battle with the Prime.
"Hey Shadow?" I turned to Raf. "How's your head?" He asked and I noticed the others looking at me for my answer.
"It's getting a little better, I wished I had some Alive or Tylenol though." I said and Ratchet looked at me confused.
"What are those?" He asked. Yeah, he's gonna need to learn a LOT about humans.
"Alive and Tylenol are two brands of painkillers that humans could take if they are in pain." I informed him and he seemed to be thinking hard on something.
"Those things are getting closer. That's bad, right?" Agent Fowler looked at us confused and I nodded. "Very bad."
"Ratchet, we're in position." I heard Arcee report.
"What do we need to do?" Cliffjumper asks.
"Arcee and Cliffjumper, pay close attention." Ratchet said as he looked over all the diagrams that Raf was bringing up before explaining to them what needs to be done. "-Now follow the line from the flow regulator to the energon pump, there should be a valve."
"We see it." Cliffjumper said. Suddenly I remembered that Megatron will come after them.
"Good. To turn all that power against itself, all you need to do is reverse the current." Ratchet instructed and we could hear them struggling to turn the valve. "Current reversed." Arcee confirmed.
"YES!" Fowler cheered, causing us to take a step back from him. "Right?" I chuckled and nodded.
"I'll ready the ground bridge." Ratchet informed as he started for the ground bridge controls. And at that moment I decided to speak up.
"Guys, watch out! Megatron's headed your way this second!" I warned the four bots. I saw Ratchet and the others eyes widened in horror. "Ratchet, open the bridge now." Nodding, he rapidly typed in some coordinance.
"Optimus, the ground bridge is ready and waiting." Ratchet said over the commlink.
We all stood by the railing, anxiously waiting for the bots to come through. Hopefully my warning was good enough.
"Do you, think they're-" Raf trailed off, afraid to know the answer. Pit, I was too.
Ratchet opened a small panel on his arm and looked at the screen. "Five life signals." He started and I stood scared as I waited for the next line that was to come... "All in good health."
My eyes widened as I nearly collapsed to my knees. All in good health. They're all ok, my warning helped.
"Shadow?" Ratchet questioned, but before I could explain, Optimus jumped through the bridge, followed by Bulkhead.
"Bulkhead!" Miko exclaimed in relief as she ran down the steps and to the ex wrecker, hugging his hand. Then Bumblebee came through with Arcee and Cliffjumper trailing behind, completely unharmed.
Raf and Jack ran down the stairs towards their guardians while I stood glued to where I was. Nearly crying when Arcee made the comment to Jack that there were other motorcycles in the world and him responding that she was his first.
"Shadow?" I looked over to see Cliffjumper grinning softly at me. "I told you I would be just fine."
I stared at him for a second before I found myself running down the stairs at a speed I didn't know I possessed. Lowering his hand down to my level, I flung my arms around as much as I could, very much relieved that he and everyone else was safe.
"Hey Shadow." I turned my head towards Arcee without moving my arms from my guardian.
She smiled at me. "Thank you for that warning, Cliff was able to pull me away just before Megatron could hit me."
Ratchet and the others looked shocked. I looked at them. "She didn't die or anything, but she was injured when she was shot by Megatron. But because of my warning, no one got hit." Everyone looked so relieved at that.
"And Megatron?" I heard Ratchet ask.
"Not even he could of survive ground zero." If only y'all knew.
"PRIME!" I jumped when Agent Fowler suddenly yelled. We all turned to see him headed towards the elevator, fixing his tie. "I didn't get to thank you bots for the save. I owe you one." He says, turning to us in the elevator. "We all do." And then the doors closed.
"He won't be so grumpy to ya'll now." I told them and Bulkhead chuckled.
"I'll believe it when I see it." All of us, minus Prime and Ratchet, laughed at that. Miko then turns and walks up to Optimus.
"So is this the part where you say goodbye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?" The girl asks sadly. Looking up at the Prime I saw that he was thinking.
"I do not see a reason that we should." Optimus said as he retracted his mask.
Miko cheered while Raf was smiling from ear to ear and Jack and I bumped fists. Finally we were done with the Darkness Rising episodes and could relax for a bit.
I sat on the edge on top of the base watching the sunset. Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee had already taken the others home over half an hour ago and I came up here for some fresh air, my head only slightly hurting.
Using my arms as support, I leaned back and took a slow deep breath. So much has happened these past four days, from coming into this dimension, saving Cliffjumper, regaining memories to meeting the kids and stopping Megatron from turning Earth into the Walking Dead.
But there is so much that has yet to happen. The Unicron prophecy, the hunt for the Iacon relics, the race to get the Omega Keys, Predacon hunting, and the fight for Cybertron.
But then there are the two cons that I want to save. Breakdown and Dreadwing.
How am I supposed to save them when the Autobots are nowhere around where I could possibly pull a Miko and sneak through to help them. I know I could try warning Dreadwing when he gives us the Forge Of Solus Prime to not go after Starscream or to possibly convince him to either join us or become neutral.
But Breakdown? He was killed by Arachnid. How could I possibly be able to save him? Maybe if there was a way that I could somehow warn him or even Knockout.
I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't hear the bots lift open up, nor did I hear the sound of transformation.
Maybe there could be a way to somehow warn Soundwave of the risk. I mean I know that he wouldn't like Arachnid at all and could help him. Perhaps there could be a way to get on the silent cons good side, as well as Knockouts, Breakdowns, and Dreadwings.
Or maybe-
My thoughts came to a screeching halt when I felt someone's presence behind me, as well as soft footsteps. And since Arcee, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee had already taken the others home, the only other possible bot that could be up here is either Cliffjumper or Optimus. Though I'm betting it is Cliffjumper.
I sighed. "You know, sneaking up behind someone could turn out badly." I said as I turned to face whoever it was, only for my eyes to widen in shock. The holoform before me was a male that looked to be in his late 50s early 60s, peppered hair, and had on a lab coat.
"I did not intend to sneak up on you." Ratchet said as he gestured beside me. "May I sit?" I nodded and he sat down beside me. I looked back up towards the sky at all the bright colors, Ratchet doing the same.
We sat there in silence before Ratchet spoke. "I came up here because I wanted to speak with you."
I was quiet for a moment before responding to him. "About what?"
"Well first, I wanted to apologize for the way I have acted towards you and the other humans." He said as I turned to look at him, and he looked at me. I never expected him to actually apologize.
"Alright." I scooted back from the edge just a bit before bringing my knees to my chest. "You said that that was first, so there's another?"
He nodded, not commenting on the fact that I didn't say whether I forgave him or not. I'll have to think about that for a bit.
"I wanted to know how your head was doing, Cliffjumper nearly went raging out of the base when he found out what had happened." I silently chuckled.
"Figures. I had thought that it was him instead of you, probably to either give me a full on checkup himself or to give me a lecture... or both. But my head is doing a lot better than earlier." And I have a sneaking suspicion that that is exactly what is going to happen the next time I'm with the red bot.
"Hm, Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised. But that's good to know." Then we were silent again.
"Ratchet?"
"Hmm?"
I sighed. "Do you think that I'll ever be Cybertronian again?" I felt his eyes snap to me and I glanced up to see him looking at me with a sad pained expression.
"I-I do not know Shadow. But I promise that I will search for a way to turn you back." He declared and I couldn't help the small smile that worked its way to my face. Scooting to the side, I wrapped my arms around the medic, catching him off guard.
"Thank you Ratchet. And yes, I forgive you." I said as I hugged him. I felt him wrap his arms around me. "You're welcome sweetspark."
Unbeknownst to two, they were being watched.
He couldn't help the smile that found its way onto his faceplate as he watched his two old friends interacting with each other from the monitors.
"It's about time they made up." The Prime muttered under his breath before turning towards a pacing Cliffjumper.
"When she gets back in here I swear i'm gonna check her myself..." The red muttered while also saying that he was going to give her a lecture.
Optimus nearly chuckled at that before glancing at the girl. Things just got interesting. And with that he clicked out of the camera feed and walked towards his quarters.
Well Shadow had quite the eventful day, first spending the first part of the day with Cliffjumper at the beach before helping the kids with destroying the space bridge. And it looks like Ratchet and Shadow finally made up.
So next chapter will be quite interesting. I would say more but I don't wanna spoil anything.
Shadow: *Glaring* You better not have me coming in contact with those that turn me into a rag doll.
Me:* Nervously backing away* Heh heh, no nothing like that.
Cliffjumper:*Yells from the distance* Shadow, where are you?! I need to have a word with you!
Shadow:*Eyes widening* Scrap! *Runs off to hide*
Cliffjumper: *Runs into the room* Authoress, have you seen Shadow?
Me: *Points down the hall she ran down* She went that way.
Cliffjumper: Thanks. *Runs down hallway* Shadow, you can't run and hide from me forever!
Me: Well this is going to be interesting. Thank you for reading. And until next time, Shadowstalker, out!