Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: The Swish That Change Everything

The Nevada Desert, Afternoon

Wheeljack, a Wrecker during the Great War on Cybertron, clenched his servos on the controls of the Jackhammer. His ship zipped through the skies, chasing down Dreadwing's vessel. His blasters fired relentlessly, and each shot a desperate prayer to Primus that one might land. Revenge for Seaspray burned in his circuits.

"Come on... just one hit!" he growled.

Suddenly, a massive rock, bigger than his ship, hurtled through the air, narrowly missing the Jackhammer. Wheeljack jerked the controls, barely avoiding a collision.

"What the frag was that?!" he shouted, his optics darting to the source.

Through his ship’s window, he saw another enormous rock slam into Dreadwing’s ship, shearing off a wing. Smoke poured from the damaged vessel as it spiraled toward the ground. Wheeljack's vents hissed in frustration. He wanted to finish Dreadwing himself, with his own servos.

Then he saw it--a grayish, towering creature hurling the rocks. The monster-sized being was targeting not just Dreadwing, but also a human ship. The advanced design of the human craft stood out, yet it was no match for the onslaught. Another massive rock struck the human ship, sending it careening toward the creature below.

Wheeljack activated his screen and zoomed in. He spotted two figures in the sky: an older, silver-haired man and a younger, orange-skinned boy with blonde hair.

"Orange?" Wheeljack muttered, optics flickering in disbelief. "Primus, am I glitching?"

Before he could process it further, the older human was flung into the air by an explosion. The boy fell toward the creature, who roared in fury. Wheeljack made his decision in an instant. Forgetting about Dreadwing, he dove the Jackhammer toward the boy, opening the hatch.

With a loud bang, the human boy landed inside. Wheeljack grunted in relief, but the victory was short-lived. Another rock smashed into the left side of the Jackhammer, severely damaging the wing. Smoke billowed as alarms blared.

"Frag it! Took me two cycles to fix that wing!" he spat, dodging more incoming rocks.

The ship groaned under the strain, barely holding itself together. Wheeljack slammed the turbo button, sending the Jackhammer into a desperate burst of speed. The creature faded into the distance as the ship soared into the sky.

"That was close," Wheeljack muttered, inputting the coordinates for the Autobot base. Setting the controls to autopilot, he hurried to check on the boy.

The young human lay unconscious on the floor, alive but injured. Wheeljack exhaled in relief. He didn't want to be responsible for a kid’s death. Carefully, he scooped the boy into his servos and carried him to the passenger seat.

As he set the boy down, Wheeljack’s optics caught sight of the deep cut on the boy’s head, blood trickling to his cheek. He cursed under his breath. Hopefully, Team Prime had a medical kit.

Turning back to the cockpit, Wheeljack ran a damage assessment. The ship’s status flashed grim warnings in Cybertronian glyphs. Cursing again, he didn’t notice the boy’s cut was quickly healing itself.

Nor did he see a much bigger figure lying on the rocks, glaring up at the cybertronian ship. The figure turned to the smaller creature that was engulfed by its shadow, bowing on all four before the figure.

It said something in a strange language before motioning it to complete the task it’s master order. 

The autobot base

Optimus Prime thought to himself, "Something was happening," as he sat at his desk. His thought shifted to last weekend's events.

 Last Saturday night

It was peaceful for team prime, both for bots and humans. The Autobots were watching their human friends playing a racing video game on the old TV. At the same time, he was talking to Rachet about their low energon supply.

Until the alarms blare throughout the base, causing everyone to cover their ears. As Optimus covered his auto receptors, he saw all the screens in the base flashing in big red letters.

 KAIJU ALERT, KAIJU ALERT, KAIJU ALERT! GO TO THE NEAREST SHELTERS NOW!

With a 3D picture of a gigantic creature behind the words

What was a kaiju, Optimus thought to himself; for the six mega-cycles ( years) he had been on earth, he nor the members of Team Prime had ever heard the word kaiju. And Agent Fowler never even mentioned the word to him.

What shocked him the most was the expression on the children’s faces; all were pale, and fear was in their eyes.

"A kaiju attack?" Rafael, The Youngest of the three children, asked in a worried tone. He had heard stories about the human kaiju war through his uncle, who had been in the war and history class at school, and they had terrified him.

"There hasn't been a kaiju attack since the war ended sixteen years ago," Jack yelled, covering his ears and scowling; before he was born, his father was killed by a kaiju.

Although he had never met the man, his mother had told him many good stories about his father, and he felt like he knew him. Now, he was gone because of those monsters.

"War?" Arcee asked as she covered her autoreceptors. "What war?"

Optimus thought the same thing. He couldn't imagine the humans fighting creatures bigger than themselves; most of them would have been crushed by these creatures.

" I hoped they come to Jasper," Miko said excitedly. Even though she was scared of the Kaiju, she wanted to see and take a picture of one. It was one of the reasons she wanted to come to America.

Jack and Raf looked at her as if she was crazy. Well, it was not one of the craziest things Miko had ever said.

"Please turn those blazing alarms off!" Rachet yelled to the group. Removing his hands from his ear, Raf grabbed his laptop and connected it to one of the main monitors in the base. With a few taps on the keyboard, the alarms stopped.

Before the Autobots could ask their human friends any questions about the war, the sound of ringing phones interrupted them. All three kids—Jack, Miko, and Raf—pulled out their phones simultaneously.

It was their parents—or, in Miko’s case, her host parents. Each call carried the same urgent, worried tone.

“ Jackson Alexandra Darby , you get home this instant, young man!” June Darby’s voice rang out, firm yet edged with panic.

“Miko, honey, where are you?” Mrs. Scott, her host mother, spoke quickly, her fear evident. “There’s a kaiju on the loose! I want you to get to the shelter and meet me and Mr. Scott there, now!”

Raf’s situation was even more intense. His mother’s voice came through in rapid Spanish, each word landing like a hammer blow.

“ Rafael Jorge Gonzales Esquivel ! ¡Por la Virgen María! ¿Dónde estás? I want you home right now—before those monsters attack !”

The Autobots exchanged concerned glances as the children explained the situation. Optimus, watching silently, understood the severity of the parents’ fear. He gave a solemn nod to the team.

The Autobots transformed into their alt modes one by one. Jack climbed onto Arcee, Miko into Bulkhead, and Raf into Bumblebee. Engines roared as the Autobots sped off, racing to get the children home safely.

The Next Day

Sunday arrived, and Jasper was eerily silent. The once-bustling desert town was completely shut down. No cars on the roads, no people on the sidewalks. Shops were closed, and the streets were deserted. It was as if the town had become a ghost town overnight.

Optimus Prime drove cautiously through the empty streets, scanning for any sign of movement. The absence of their human friends worried him, but what he saw next deepened his concern.

Military helicopters roared overhead, their blades slicing through the air. Tanks rolled down the roads, their engines rumbling like distant thunder. Soldiers stood at nearly every corner, armed with weapons that looked far more advanced than standard human technology. Their armor gleamed with materials Optimus couldn’t immediately identify, and their stances spoke of readiness for war.

“What is happened here?” Optimus thought to himself, his processor racing. The humans were clearly preparing for something. But this level of militarization was far beyond what Jasper had ever needed before.

The sight of the quiet streets and heavily armed forces filled Optimus with unease. Jasper was no longer the small, peaceful town he had come to know. Overnight, it had transformed into the front line of a battle.

Later, in a meeting with Heatwave, the leader of the Rescue Bots, he had stationed on a small island on Griffin Rock. The rescue bot reported that the entire island was shut down, and navy ships were circling it with the help of sigma-17. Classes at the academy were delayed until further notice from the chief, and Kade, his human partner, deemed it safe for both bot and human students.

Later that day, when Optimus called Agent Fowler to ask him about the monster attacks, the agent quickly hung up and did not answer any of the prime questions. Only for the prime to have more questions and fewer answers.

End of the flashback

The humans were hiding something, but what? Why were they keeping this war a secret from the Autobots, who had defended them from the Decepticons for six long years?

Optimus considered asking the children more about the conflict between humans and these strange creatures. But when he recalled the fear, and something darker, like hate, in their eyes, he hesitated. That look pierced his spark. He had seen it once before: in Bumblebee, the youngest member of Team Prime, and other younger bots, during the darkest days of Cybertron’s great war.

He silently ordered the Autobots to refrain from pressing the matter further.

Optimus’s optics drifted to the far wall of the base. There, the Autobot insignia hung like a banner of hope. Yet beneath it, hidden ,lay a green stain that had refused to fade, no matter how hard anyone tried to scrub it away.

When they first moved into the abandoned missile base, the humans of the U.S. government had offered Team Prime refuge and supplies. But even then, the stain had been there: a strange, unnatural green mark. Optimus couldn’t place its origin, but something about it unsettled him.

He’d asked Agent Fowler for a banner to cover it, a symbol of the Autobots’ purpose on Earth. Fowler delivered, and Optimus hung the Autobot emblem over the blemish. Yet, even now, the memory of the stain lingered in his mind as if it were watching him from beneath the cover.

His thoughts were cut short by the blaring of the base alarm. The sharp sound echoed through the room, pulling him from his reflections. Someone was arriving.

Optimus rose from his desk and made his way out of his quarters, heading toward the main room of the Autobot base. The other members of Team Prime—both Autobots and their human allies, were gathered around the central monitor. Ratchet tapped a button on the console, and the screen displayed the incoming visitor: the Jackhammer, Wheeljack’s ship. However, one of the ship’s wings was badly damaged, trailing smoke.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Jackie’s back!” Bulkhead shouted excitedly, giving hearty slaps to the backs of the other bots. His enthusiasm earned irritated glares from Ratchet, Arcee, and Bumblebee.

“Wheeljack’s back? Sweet!” Miko exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement. “Maybe this time, he’ll actually stay!” She grinned but then added thoughtfully, “Although…he’s gonna need his own human partner.”

“No. Absolutely not,” Ratchet interjected firmly, shaking his head. “Five humans are already more than enough to deal with. We do not need another one.”

The older medic’s exasperation didn’t dampen Miko’s excitement as the Jackhammer approached the base, its engines sputtering.

"Scrap, you bots still have high security on this rock," Wheeljack's voice crackled over the comm system.

“Well, we are still at war with the Decepticons,” Arcee reminded him curtly.

Ever since that Decepticon, Makeshift, had disguised himself as Wheeljack and infiltrated the base, the Autobots had tightened their security protocols. They couldn't risk another breach, Megatron's cons could use any slip-up to locate their base.

“I’m requesting permission to land. My ship’s damaged, and I need a medical kit,” Wheeljack said, his voice gruff but steady.

“Request granted,” Optimus replied calmly, though a flicker of concern crossed his optics. While he didn’t show it outwardly, the Prime worried about his comrade. They needed every Autobot fit and ready if they hoped to bring this war to an end.

“Don’t worry, Jackie; we’ll meet you topside in a klik,” Bulkhead chimed in, his tone laced with worry for his old Wrecker buddy. He silently hoped Wheeljack wasn’t too badly hurt.

Optimus, Bulkhead, and Ratchet, carrying a medical kit, took the elevator to the top of the base. When the platform rose to the surface, the three mechs were greeted by the sight of the Jackhammer. The ship looked worse for wear ,the entire left side was heavily damaged, and smoke still billowed from the engines.

Bulkhead let out a low whistle as he took in the wreckage. “Whoever Jackie tangled with really did a number on his ship,” he said, his voice tinged with both admiration and concern.

"By the looks of it, probably something foolish," Ratchet muttered, shaking his head. He knew all too well the reputation of the Wreckers,wild, unpredictable, and prone to chaos. It was the very reason Optimus had sent Ultra Magnus to whip them into shape.

Ratchet had heard from a former acquaintance that Wheeljack hadn’t lasted long under Magnus’s command. The two clashed constantly, and rumors suggested it was because Magnus didn’t allow Wheeljack to indulge in his beloved gadgets or the excessive use of explosives.

Ratchet’s musings were cut short as the ramp to Wheeljack’s ship lowered with a groan of hydraulics. The Wrecker appeared, descending slowly, his hands clasped tightly around something yet held with surprising gentleness. His expression was uncharacteristically solemn, a shadow of worry clouding his optics.

But the wrecker didn’t look like he was injured.

“Jackie! I thought you said you needed a medical kit?” Bulkhead asked  

“I did,” Wheeljack replied, stepping forward and coming face to face with the three other mechs. His servos remained clasped tightly together.

“Are there others on your ship, Wheeljack?” Ratchet asked, a hint of hope in his voice. If there were more Autobots, they may have a fighting chance to beat the decepticons. Maybe some could help him find a way to revive their home plant, cybertronian.

Primus let there be a way to revive their home planet so they could leave this miserable rock behind and forget the humans once and for all.

“Nope. We’re all here,” Wheeljack answered.

The three mechs exchanged confused looks. They hadn't seen anyone else coming out of the ship.

“Then why did you request a medical kit if neither you nor anyone else is injured?” Optimus asked, his tone laced with suspicion. Wheeljack's odd behavior.

“The medical kit isn’t for me, and I don’t have any Autobots on my ship. Wheeljack said, finally opening his servos. 

“ The medical kit is for him.”

As the Wrecker revealed the small figure nestled in his hands, the others saw it was a human boy.

An orange-skinned human boy wearing a grey jacket.

Ratchet’s optics widened in disbelief. “For the love of Primus, Wheeljack, you brought a human here?” he exclaimed, tossing his medical kit aside in frustration.

Of all the challenges Team Prime had to face, this was the last thing they needed another human to protect.

Happy Holiday, everyone, and I'll see you next year with a new chapter.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2: The Orange Boy

The Autobot Base

When the four bots entered the base, they hurried straight to the medical bay. The rest of Team Prime followed suit, assuming that the wrecker was injured. But what they saw left them stunned.

In Wheeljack's servo( hand) was a human boy.

But he was orange, like a pumpkin.

As Wheeljack gently placed the unconscious boy onto the human medical berth so Ratchet can scan him, the team immediately bombarded him with questions.

"Who is he, Wheeljack?" Arcee asked, pointing at the boy.

"Where did you find him?" Jack added, staring in confusion.

Bumblebee chirped as he pointed to the Jacket on the boy’s body.

"Yeah, Bees, right. Why is he wearing that jacket?" Raf asked, wondering the same thing, knowing that if anyone wore clothes like that in the desert, they would burn up like a tamale.

"And why does his face look like the surface of Mars?" Miko blurted out, squinting at the boy's unusual complexion.

"Miko!" Jack and Raf exclaimed at the same time, shocked but not entirely surprised. It was Miko, after all. She always had something wild to say.

“ Well, someone had to say something,” Miko said, raising her hands.

“No, the better question is, why, in the name of Primus, did you bring him here? Ratchet Exclaimed, not pleased that Team Prime had another human to deal with.

“ That's Enough,” Optimus commanded in a calm voice, and everyone stopped asking questions while Ratchet rolled his optics as he went back to the boy.

“Where did you find this boy, wheeljack?” The prime asked as he walked over to the wrecker. He wanted to know how wheeljack came into contact with this boy and how much the boy had seen before he was knocked out.

“ Yeah, Jackie, I thought you were roving the galaxy, you know, looking for autobot refugees?” Bulkhead asked

“I was until I found one Wrecker,” Wheeljack said solemnly, putting his head down.

“Who? “Bulkhead said in excitement, wondering who, out of all their wreckers, buddies wheeljack found, and Miko getting excited to see more wreckers.

“SeaSpray,” Wheeljack answered solemnly.

“Ha, How is old Barnacle Butt?” Bulkhead asked with a laugh.

“Not so good, bulk. He was blown to bits.” Wheeljack replied

“What, No? “Bulkhead said with sadness in his voice. He backed up and put his helm down in mourning, as did all the other Autobots in mourning for the fallen autobot.

“How did it happen?” Asked Arcee, lifting her head with a glare, she already knew it was a con that did it. May Primus send all the cons, especially Arachnid, to the pits for their crimes.

Wheeljack started his story.

“ My Flyer, The JackHammer, picked up Seaspray signal a couple of light years from Mandarin. We made contact and arranged a rendezvous in the Drama Don system, but Dreadwing must have intercepted the transmission cause he got to Seaspray first.”

Flashback

In space, Wheeljack followed Seaspray’s ship, pressing buttons on his control panel. As the screen zoomed in, he spotted a bomb on his friend’s ship. In mere nano-clicks, the ship exploded into pieces, killing Seaspray instantly but knocking The Jackhammer a few yards away.

“Proximity Bomb.

 Guess I should be glad the jackhammer could take a punch.

“ When the ship stopped spinning, Wheeljack looked horrid as he saw his friend’s ships blown into pieces and glared at the con’s ship. He picked up Dreadwing’s ion trail and tracked it through a dozen solar systems before catching up with him.

In the middle of space, the jackhammer caught up to the Deathstar, Dreadwing’s ship, and started shooting at it. One of the blasters hit the engine, damaging it mildly.

The Deathstar flew toward a blue and green planet with the jackhammer following its trail, Earth.

“ He led me right back to this marble.”

End of Flashback

"I know of this Dreadwing.”, Optimus explained, He was the captain of a Seeker armada and, like his twin, Skyquake, fiercely loyal to the Decepticon cause.”

"Dreadwing has no doubt traveled to Earth to pledge allegiance to his one true master. But that doesn’t explain how you came into contact with this boy."

"I was getting to that part, Commander," Wheeljack said respectfully, though he didn’t particularly want to use the title for the Prime.

Before Optimus left Cybertron, he put Shoulder Pads in charge of the Wreckers. Under his command, the group quickly lost their A-game, unable to take the fight to the 'Cons in true Wrecker style. Worst of all, Shoulder Pads wouldn’t even let him use his inventions.

Because of those decisions, they lost many territories and countless sparks to the Decepticons. From that day on, Wheeljack lost faith in the Prime and his judgment, leaving the group to continue the war on his own terms.

“I chased the Deathstar to a desert sector of this planet. I was this close to blasting that fragging 'Con when, out of nowhere, a rock larger than my ship hurtled through the air and slammed into it! And the thing that threw it?

Some ugly, grayish creature with eight eyes and four legs. The ugliest slag heap I’ve ever laid optics on.”

“It was a kaiju!” Miko exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement. Hearing about the kaiju was awesome to her.

But the other humans didn’t share her enthusiasm. Jack’s expression darkened with pure hatred, his fists clenching at his sides. Raf, on the other hand, had gone pale, his face drained of all color as fear took hold of him.

Miko Sshh, Bulkhead said to his charge, trying to hear his friend’s story.

Seeing the excitement on the girl’s face, even though she pouted, wheeljack continued his story.

“As I was saying,” Wheeljack resumed, “I swerved the Jackhammer left and right, trying not to get it smashed to bits by all the flying rocks. One of those rocks nailed the Deathstar, sending the ship crashing down.”

“Where did it crash, Jackie?” Bulkhead asked, eager to take his revenge on the con who had killed Seaspray.

“Dunno, Bulk. Before I could find out, the creature, I mean the kaiju, attacked some human ship. Two humans bailed out of the advanced-looking thing, an older one and a younger one. The older human with silver hair then flew clean out of range, but the kid was heading straight toward the creature! So, I whooshed in and caught the orange boy.”

Wheeljack didn't know the boy's name, so he called him the orange boy. It suited him because, well, the boy was orange.

“Anyway, I was hauling aft outta there when that fragging creature threw another giant rock at my ship. Damaging the wing! And since I’ve got no clue how things work on this planet, I figured I’d head here. Thought maybe you’d have tools to fix my ship and, y’know, patch up the kid since he has a cut on his head.”

“Cut, what cut? I scanned the boy thoroughly, and I saw no cut on his head. “Ratchet said 

“ What are you talking about, Doc? The cut is right there.” Wheeljack turned to the orange boy’s head but was in shock as he saw no cut on the boy’s head.

Rachet huffed as he was displeased that somebody would ever question his medical skills.

‘Primus, I might be glitching.’ Wheeljack thought as he started to rub his optics.

“Doc, I think I need a check-up.” The wrecker Added

"Oh, you must, if you actually think humans could pilot or even understand advanced technology. Which, let’s be honest, is impossible. They barely grasp the basics, let alone anything that could further their race. Their minds simply aren’t built for it," Ratchet scoffed, folding his arms.

In the old medic’s mind, humans were a weak, primitive species, one that couldn't even begin to understand any form of advanced technology. They were no match for anything larger than themselves. If something as formidable as a kaiju came for them, they would be crushed without a chance.

This remark earned him several sharp glares from the three young humans, even Raf, who usually respected the old bot, looked displeased.

“Well, Doc, that’s what I saw when I was saving orangie over there,” Wheeljack said with a smirk.

“Wheeljack, my name isn’t Doc, it’s Ratchet!” Ratchet shouted, his voice echoing through the base.

The outburst made the orange boy groan and stir on the medical berth, drawing the attention of Team Prime. Both bots and humans instinctively moved closer.

Inside the Orange Boy’s Mind

What happened? The boy groaned as he stirred back to consciousness.

He remembered being on the ship, heading to the MEGTAF base, where Dr. Pytel was supposed to check his new scales. He had been casually chatting with his guardian about his upcoming homecoming date, excitement bubbling in his chest. But that excitement vanished the moment he glanced out the window.

The landscape was all wrong. This wasn’t the usual route to the base. He knew that route by heart.

What was Blitz doing?

Flashback

"Wait, this isn’t the way to the base," the orange boy said, frowning as he glanced at his guardian.

"Thought we’d take a little detour, see if anything out here jogs your memory," the colonel replied smugly, casting a glance over his shoulder.

"I already told you--I don’t know where his lair is!" The boy snapped, pushing himself up from his seat and leaning against the wall.

"Maybe not," Blitz said, gripping the controls. "But I think your body will know when he's near and start doing the funky Kaiju."

With that, he jerked the ship hard to the right. The sudden movement sent the boy stumbling, nearly losing his balance. He barely caught himself, gripping the wall.

"Not happening, Barnes! I'm not your personal monster detector!" he growled, lifting his head as his eyes flashed reptilian green.

The boy ignored Blitz’s words as he spotted something up ahead, massive rocks appearing out of nowhere.

"...So dead," he muttered, staring at the main window.

Blitz flicked his eyes at the boy, his expression darkening.

"Is that a threat, boy?" he asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"No. We're so dead," the boy corrected, bolting toward the pilot’s seat and pointing at the approaching rocks.

"Hold on!" Blitz barked, yanking the controls. He tried to swerve the ship away, but one of the rocks struck the hull with a violent crash, sending the ship into a deadly spiral.

"I can't hold her!" Blitz shouted, gripping the controls as they plummeted toward the ground.

The colonel grabbed the boy, pulling him onto his lap, using his own body as a shield.

At the last second, he ejected the pilot’s seat. The force launched them into the sky, but as they shot upward, the boy started to slip from Blitz’s grip.

Blitz caught the boy's collar jacket.

But the fabric tore, which caused the boy to fall.

Blitz unbuckled his seat belt and got off of the flying seat, diving after him. But before he could reach the boy, the beeper on his suit went off, and his emergency parachute deployed, yanking him backward, away from the falling boy.

The last thing the boy saw before impact was a Kaiju, roaring up at him.

A growl rumbled in his throat. His eyes turned a deeper shade of reptilian green. His teeth sharpened into fangs.

And then--

Boom.

Everything went dark.

End of Flashback

Now his head hurt.

Really bad.

Mom must have followed them from a safe distance, piloting one of the MEGTAF jets she had “borrowed.” She must have caught him before the Kaiju could.

The boy was grateful that his mother still had her flying skills, even after retiring from MEGTAF.

She probably knew Blitz would ignore her wishes.

Again.

This would be the third time.

"The first time Blitz ignored his mom’s wishes, he had taken him to the base without her permission. He could still remember how furious she had been, dressing him down with a fiery lecture that even Blitz hadn’t dared to interrupt."

The second time was when he had gone missing, prompting the MEGTAF forces to spend all of Sunday searching for him, only to come up empty-handed. In the end, it was his mom who had to step in, and she was the one who ultimately found him at a friend’s house. He still remembered that night, and Mom wasn't happy.

Flashback

That Night, while checking the new scales on his body in the bathroom of their newly moved-in house, his super hearing picked up the conversation his mom was having with Blitz over the phone.

“Half of MEGTAF is scouring the desert for him, Margaret. If that monster is out there, we’ll find him.” Blitz said over the phone. At that moment, the former MEGTAF agent in his mother snapped back at the colonel.

"Colonel Barnes, maybe you should send out ALL of MEGTAF since half of it is having difficulty finding a 600-foot giant!"

"But Mar--" the colonel tried to explain. But his mom wasn’t having it. She slammed the phone down on the receiver so hard he thought she might break it.

End of Flashback

"And now, for the third time, Mom would probably skin Blitz alive for taking him to the middle of the desert without her permission. Hopefully, she’d wait until he got off the medical bed so he could give the man a piece of his mind first.

In about three seconds, she was going to unleash hell on Blitz for pulling another stunt again.

Three.

Two.

One.

"How Long does it take a human to wake?!" an older voice said.

Wait. That wasn’t Mom’s voice. Nor was it Dr. Ptyel’s. And Blitz could get grumpy sometimes, but not this grumpy.

"Wheeljack, was this guy, this Orange when you rescued him?" a young voice asked.

“Yeah.” Another voice said Who was that?

And who in the world was Wheeljack, and what kind of name was Wheeljack?

Did they start letting younger soldiers into Dr. Ptyel’s office?

No, Dr. Ptyel and his mother wouldn’t allow anyone they didn’t trust or know near him.

Unless it were the MEGTAF generals, but Blitz would have told him and his mother if they were coming.

Ever since his father's attack, the organization had been on high alert, increasing security around town and the world. He had met the generals once or twice before, and they all had older voices.

Blitz wouldn’t have pulled a stunt like this if they were coming to the base.

He was in Dr. Ptyel’s office, right?

Mom had swooped in and saved him from the kaiju attacking the ship, right?

Then he remembered Mom had a meeting for her new job at the museum.

And no one at the base outranked Blitz to challenge his decision. So it couldn’t been them.

So, who rescued him?

Wasn’t he at the MAGTAF base?

Slowly, he started to open his eyes.

"Hey, guys, his eyes are opening," another young voice said.

"Good. We can finally get some answers," a gruff yet laid-back voice added.

"And get him out of here," said the old harsh voice.

"Ratchet, you know it’s not that simple," a gentle voice chided. As the old voice huffed

The orange boy’s eyes fully opened, then widened in shock at the group in front of him.

Three kids stood around his bed, two around his age, one a white boy with jet-black hair, and an Asian girl with pink and black streaked hair. The youngest, a twelve-year-old Spanish boy with spiky brown hair with red glasses, watched him curiously.

Behind them loomed six towering robots, each with distinct colors, all staring at him.

Outside the Orange Boy’s Mind

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

The orange boy screamed as he shot up from the medical berth, his voice so loud that the bots and humans immediately covered their ears or audio receptors.

“Whoa, whoa! Orange boy, orange boy, calm down,” Wheeljack said as he tried to calm down the boy.

“You… you… robots… robots talk,” the boy stammered, his eyes wide with shock.

“Of course, we can talk. Did you think we were just mindless drones that only beep?” Ratchet huffed, earning an unamused look from Bumblebee.

“And they’re not robots. They’re aliens!” Miko added excitedly, bouncing on her feet.

“Not the best way to explain things, Miko,” Jack muttered, watching as the boy’s fear only seemed to grow.

The boy quickly sat up on the berth, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. His sudden movement startled the team.

"No, no, aliens aren't real," he muttered to himself, though everyone in the room could hear him. "I must've banged my head on the ship, and now I’m in a bad dream."

His voice wavered, but he clung to the idea, desperate for it to be true.

"Yeah, that’s it," he continued, nodding as if reassuring himself. "I’m gonna close my eyes, and when I open them, I'll be at the base."

With that, he shut his eyes tightly and began to count.

Three...

Two...

One...

Slowly, he cracked one eye open.

The group of giant metal beings and the other teens were still there.

His breath caught in his throat.

"Hey, kid, we’re still here," Wheeljack said, arms crossed, as the Asian girl with pink streaks in her hair eagerly waved at him.

The boy's breath quickened. His eyes darted around the room, taking in the towering figures and the humans, who didn't seem nearly as shocked as he was.

"No, no... it’s real. It’s real!" he shouted, panic rising in his voice. "I seen Kaiju on Saturday, and now, on Monday, I'm seeing aliens."

Before anyone could react, he grabbed the medical berth and, with alarming ease, lifted it over his head. The sheer strength on display left everyone momentarily stunned.

Quickly, Bulkhead and Bumblebee grabbed the three children, pulling them back as Arcee shifted her arm into a blaster, aiming it at the boy. Optimus and Ratchet tensed, assessing the situation as it spiraled out of control.

"Primus, Wheeljack brought a mad human here," Ratchet muttered under his breath, eyeing the boy warily as the situation unfolded.

Before things could escalate, Wheeljack quickly stepped between them, holding his servos up.

“Whoa, whoa! Everybody, let’s calm down.”

“CALM DOWN?! ” the orange boy shouted, his expression filled with shock and fear. “YOU THINK I’M GOING TO CALM DOWN WHEN I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM WITH A BUNCH OF ALIENS!”

“Okay, orange boy, let's put the berth down,” wheeljack tried to reason with the boy.

“I’m not putting it down until she--” the orange boy pointed at Arcee with the berth in his hand, “--turns her arm back to normal or whatever she did with it!” His voice carried a slight growl, which didn’t go unnoticed by Wheeljack. Yep, he was definitely getting his receptors checked by the Doc later.

“Arcee, stand down,” Optimus ordered.

“Not until he puts the berth down,” Arcee shot back, keeping her blaster trained on the boy.

The Boy’s eyes widened in fear, and in response, he lifted the berth even higher.

Wheeljack sighed. This wasn’t going anywhere. He needed a different approach.

"Alright, the orange boy--" Wheeljack started to say, but the boy cut him off.

“STOP CALLING ME THAT!” the boy interrupted, his frustration evident. He hated being called names because of his skin, and “Orange Boy” was just too much.

"Alright then, what’s your name?" Wheeljack asked.

“Duncan,” the boy said.

“Alright then, Duncan.” Wheeljack found the name odd, but then again, all human names were strange to him.

“How about you put down the berth,” Wheeljack said calmly, gesturing toward Acree.

“And Arcee here,” he motioned to the femme, who still had her blaster out, “will lower her weapon. Sound fair?”

“…Yeah, but will she agree?” Duncan asked, pointing at the female robot with the berth, noting that she still had her blaster aimed at him.

Everyone looked at the blue femme, who still had her blaster trained on the boy.

“Fine,” Arcee said reluctantly.

“Alright then, let’s put them down,” Wheeljack said as he slowly lowered his hands.

Duncan hesitated but followed suit, carefully setting the berth down. Arcee retracted her blaster, shifting it back into her hand, but her optics remained sharp and watchful, she didn’t fully trust him.

Wheeljack sighed in relief, thanking Primus that the situation had de-escalated. However, his moment of peace was short-lived as Duncan spoke up.

“Where am I? And can I go home?” Duncan asked, his voice laced with uncertainty. He just wanted to leave this strange place.

“I’m afraid that isn’t possible, Duncan,” Optimus said, stepping forward with a calm demeanor, careful not to startle the boy.

“Why not?” Duncan asked worriedly, thinking that these alien robots wouldn’t let him go home.

“You’re currently in the Autobot base, which serves as our home,” Optimus explained, his tone steady yet solemn. “We are here to protect your world from our war with the Decepticons. However, because you now know of our existence, I fear your life may be in danger.”

A hint of sadness crept into his voice, regretful that yet another child had been unwillingly dragged into their conflict.

Great, more danger, just what he needed. Like my life wasn’t already on the line, Duncan thought, burying his head in his hands.

"No matter how hard he tried, something always came up to remind him, he was never going to have a normal life."

Author Notes: yay, Chapter 2 is finally done.

It's about time, the author's's brother in the back  yelled

Duncan has finally met Team Prime, and they have seen one of his powers, which is super strength. Don’t worry; I will figure out a way to explain to the team how he can pick up the berth.

I also changed, you know who, size to make him bigger than he was in the movie. I wanted Kaiju to be bigger than the Autobots and Decepticons, especially those of a higher rank.

Miko's statement about Duncan being the surface of Mars is from the Firebreather movie. And I thought it would be funny if she said it. Oh yeah, you can guess Margeret is going to be pissed at Biltz for ignoring her wishes again. Yall think Margeret is going to skin Biltz alive?

Until then, See you next chapter.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the Nevada Desert

Dreadwing clawed his way out of his ship, the Deathstar. Once he was free, he scowled at the damage to his ship. Damn, that Autobot Wrecker… and that ugly creature… straight to the Pit with them.

His bitter thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an approaching ship. Instinctively, Dreadwing ducked behind a massive rock, using it as both shelter and a shield in case of enemy fire.

The impact of the crash sent tremors through the ground. Dreadwing gripped his weapon tightly, prepared to face Wheeljack. He leaped from behind the rock, gun raised, only to see nothing.

That’s odd… he thought. That cursed Autobot should still be chasing him, desperate to take him down, only to fall by his blade. The thought made him smirk.

He would have gladly offered Wheeljack’s severed head to his one true lord and master, Megatron. He would kill every Autobot to ensure his Lord’s plans came to fruition.

His optics landed on the downed ship. Its sleek, advanced design caught his attention, filling him with intrigue.

"That will do," Dreadwing smirked, scanning the ship with his optics.

Without hesitation, he activated his scanning systems, taking in every detail. His form shifted into a blue and gold version of the Volt-19 Kaiju Killer.

With a powerful thrust, he soared into the sky, his new form cutting through the clouds. His mission was clear: find and pledge his loyalty to his one true lord and master.

And most importantly, to find out if his twin was dead.

Unbeknownst to the Con, a creature lurked in the shadows of the rocks, watching the scene unfold with seething hatred. A low, guttural growl rumbled from its throat, its six glowing eyes narrowing in fury.

Slowly, it emerged from its hiding place a massive, tan-scaled kaiju, its body adorned with jagged scars from past battles, a scout of the kaiju kingdom. Smoke curled from its nostrils as its four muscular arms flexed, claws digging into the cracked desert ground.

"Those Cybertronian vermin," it snarled, baring its fangs. With a sharp hiss, it spat onto the ground, the saliva sizzling on the sun-scorched earth. "May the ancestors of our past burn them all for bringing destruction upon our world."

With a deep breath, the massive Kaiju exhaled a torrent of searing flames upon the two ships. The intense heat consumed them instantly, melting the metal into pools of slag. Smoke and embers rose into the desert sky as the creature let out a satisfied growl, its six eyes gleaming with fury.

The Autobot Base

The last thing Duncan wanted was to get dragged into another conflict. And now, standing before him, was a giant blue and red robot, or Autobot, as he called himself. But knowing about their existence meant one thing: his life was in danger… like his life wasn't in danger before.

Duncan’s thoughts were interrupted as the large robot walked up and knelt in front of him. Despite the robot’s massive size, he met Duncan’s gaze directly, making eye contact in a way that felt... human.

Something about Optimus reminded Duncan of his mom, calm, steady, and strong. It was the same kind of look she gave him when everything was falling apart, but she still had a plan… even if they were a little bit insane. That quiet confidence made Duncan feel safe, and for the first time since waking up, he felt a little more at ease.

At least he wasn't going to throw him in a pit of lava.

“Since we didn't get a proper introduction, allow me to introduce myself,” the blue and red robot said in a deep, calming voice. “I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. This is Team Prime.”

He gestured to the team of bots and humans.

"This is Ratchet, our medic," Optimus said, gesturing to the red and white robot, who responded with a gruff grunt and a disapproving glance.

"And this is Bumblebee, our scout," he continued, nodding toward the yellow and black bot, who greeted Duncan with a series of cheerful beeps and a friendly wave.

Duncan blinked, clearly confused. He had no idea what the robot had just said.

"He said hello and that it’s nice to meet you," translated the young Spanish boy standing next to Bumblebee. By then, the bots had gently placed the children back on the ground.

“This is Rafael, one of our human allies,” Optimus said, gesturing to the boy.

“But you can call me Raf,” The young boy added with a smile.

Duncan nodded in response, though he wondered how Raf could understand the yellow robot.

Optimus then turned toward the blue bot,the one who had aimed a weapon at Duncan earlier. Just remembering it made Duncan shiver.

“This is Arcee, one of our finest warriors,” Optimus said.

The blue femme gave a short nod, her optics still sharp and cautious as she watched Duncan.

Sensing the tension, Jack took a step forward, intending to reassure Duncan. But he stopped a few feet away when he noticed the concerned look on Arcee’s face.

 "She’s just protective, that’s all. You’ll get used to her,” the boy with raven hair said with a smile.

“This is Jackson, another one of our allies,” Optimus said, gesturing to the tallest of the children.

“But my friends call me Jack,” the young man added, giving Duncan a nod. Duncan returned it with one of his own.

Duncan instinctively flinched as Arcee stepped in front of Jack, her piercing gaze locked onto him like a threat detector on high alert.

Perfect, he thought dryly. That look. He knew that look.

He’d seen it enough times from angry parents,usually right after their kids ended up in the nurse’s office because of him, because of his issues.

Seeing the sadness on Duncan’s face, Optimus shot Arcee a sharp, disapproving look. He expected his team to offer protection, not suspicion. Her coldness toward the boy was undermining everything they stood for.

Optimus turned back to Duncan with a gentle smile, one that eased some of the tension from the boy’s face. Then he motioned to the towering green bot nearby.

“This is Bulkhead, one of our strongest warriors.”

Before Optimus could say more, another bot stepped forward,a red, white, and green mech whose tone carried just a hint of edge.

“And a fellow Wrecker,” Wheeljack added pointedly, casting a look at the Prime, reminding him that Bulkhead was a Wrecker before joining his ranks.

“Okay then, Jackie, let’s not get too hasty,” Bulkhead said, trying to calm his friend down. He opened his mouth to say something to the boy, but his charge beat him to it.

“Why are you orange?” Miko blurted out, eyeing the boy up and down with suspicion.

“Miko!” Bulkhead said in shock, surprised that his partner would ask such a blunt question.

Before he could chastise her any further, Arcee cut in, her voice sharp.

“How did you lift that medical berth so easily?” Arcee asked, narrowing her optics at the boy.

“Arcee, that’s enough,” Optimus said in a calm but firm tone.

“Optimus, don’t you want to know how this boy managed to lift a medical berth without breaking what the humans call ,a sweat?” Arcee asked, glancing toward her leader, her tone serious.

“And why he’s orange,” Miko added quickly.

Raf elbowed her gently.

Everyone turned their attention to Duncan. He felt their eyes on him, waiting for an answer. He couldn’t tell them the truth, not now, maybe not ever.

“It’s… a skin condition,” Duncan said quickly, trying to sound casual. “Had it since I was born.”

Raf tilted his head. “Is that why you wear the jacket?”

Duncan nodded without looking up. “Yeah. The rash covers most of my body.”

That made Miko flinch. Her shoulders slumped, and her pigtails drooped. “Oh… I didn’t mean to get all personal,” she muttered, suddenly embarrassed.

“It’s alright,” Duncan said reassuringly.

“What about the berth?” Arcee asked, still suspicious, her optics narrowing as she eyed the boy.

“Arcee,” Optimus warned, his tone firm.

“No, Optimus, it’s okay,” Duncan replied, trying to ease the tension. “I drink a lot of protein shakes.

“ It makes me super strong.”

Arcee didn’t look convinced. She opened her mouth to say something else, but a single look from Optimus made her stop. Reluctantly, she backed down, but she still kept a sharp optic on the boy, just in case he tried anything strange.

Optimus turned back to Duncan.

As you now know, that's Miko, another one of our allies. He introduced Miko shyly, waved her hand at Duncan, and was still embarrassed about asking Duncan a personal question.

“Yeah, she kinda introduced herself,” Duncan replied, even if her question was out of the blue.

Optimus then turned to the red, white, and green bot, the last member of the group.

“And this is Wheeljack, another one of our allies… and a Wrecker,” he added quickly, knowing full well the bot would grumble about it if the title was left out.

“He is to be your guardian,” Optimus added calmly.

“What?!” Wheeljack and Duncan exclaimed in unison, their voices filled with shock and disbelief.

“Whoa, Whoa, I only came here to make sure that the boy was alright and to get some tools for my ship and go, not babysit some kid,” Wheeljack said, angry that the prime would force him to become a babysitter to a human kid.

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Duncan added. He already had Blitz to deal with, and when the guy wasn’t watching him like a hawk, he was busy trying to flirt with his mom.

Not that it ever worked. She ignored every one of his lame attempts. Sometimes, Duncan swore she wanted to stab him with one of her daggers or, worse, pull out her gun and shoot him, then bury his body somewhere no one would ever find it.

"Since you know about our existence, it won't be long until the decepticons find out about you, and your family might be in danger from an attack from them."

"Who exactly are the Decepticons?" Duncan asked, the name still fresh in his mind from earlier, when Wheeljack had calmed him down.

“Fraggers who want to take over everything by killing anything or anyone in their way,” Wheeljack snarled, seething with rage as the memory of his fallen friend surfaced.

“The Decepticons are Cybertronians, just like us,” Optimus explained, his voice calm but heavy. “But they seek to conquer your world and enslave your race. They’re led by Megatron… someone who was once my friend, but lost his way in his pursuit of power.”

Duncan picked up on the sadness in Optimus’s voice and couldn’t help but wonder why. If Megatron was his enemy, why did it sound like Optimus still cared?

"It reminded him of when his mom defended his dad after he called him a monster, after what he did to him."

"He's really terrifying," Raf said quietly, his face going pale.

"And yet he walks around with a bucket for a head," Miko muttered, rolling her eyes.

Jack narrowed his eyes, voice low.

"Yeah, he might look like he’s wearing a metal trash can on his head… but he’s the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. Trust me, Megatron doesn’t bluff; he destroys."

"Sounds like someone I know," Duncan thought quietly.

“And now that Dreadwing, one of Megatron’s most dangerous warriors, is back under his command, I fear this war will escalate even further.

Somewhere in the Nevada Desert Night

Dreadwing stood on a cliff, holding a beacon in his servos. The red light is emitted, pierced the sky like a signal fire, until the Nemesis appears from the clouds, blocking the light.

The Decepticon smirked, transformed, and soared up into the open hangar of the ship.

Unbeknownst to him, countless reptilian eyes hidden among the rocks and shadows had been watching. Their slitted pupils narrowed with hostility as they followed the ship’s ascent.

“Report this to our Lord Commander, so he may tell our king,” hissed a low voice, its silver eyes flashing with purpose.

A second set of black reptilian eyes closed in acknowledgement, then slipped away into the dark to carry out ve duty.

 Inside the Nemesis

Once Dreadwing shifted into his bot mode, he strode through the darkened halls of the Nemesis. The clanking of his heavy steps echoed off the metal walls. Vehicons paused mid-task, their crimson optics following him with a mixture of curiosity. Some even dared to whisper to one another.

“Have you ever seen a model like that before?” one Vehicon murmured.

“I’ve never seen a design like that on Earth,” another replied, optics narrowing.

“Do you think the humans could’ve built it?” a third questioned hesitantly.

“Those miserable creatures? Impossible,” a fourth scoffed in a low whisper, watching as Dreadwing passed without acknowledging them.

“So, the creatures on this planet are called humans… yet they weren’t the ones who built the ship I scanned,” Dreadwing thought as he kept walking.

As Dreadwing made his way to the control room, he overheard another conversation between two Vehicons. Unlike the idle chatter he’d ignored before, this one caught his interest.

"According to a human data site, the creature came out of nowhere and attacked them," one Vehicon said.

His companion turned to him, optics wide with disbelief.

"Where did these creatures come from? And why didn’t our sensors pick them up?"

The first Vehicon shrugged. "I don’t know. Nothing in the records mentions anything like them."

So… there’s another species living on this miserable planet, Dreadwing thought, his optics narrowing as he entered the control room of the Nemesis.

Where Lord Megatron was standing with Soundwave, ever silent and loyal, always standing by their Lord's side, Dreadwing walked to the bridge and kneeled to his master.

“Lord Megatron, I live to serve. “ Dreadwing said as he bowed his head toward his one true master.

For a moment, Megatron remained silent. His crimson optics scanned Dreadwing’s new alt mode with interest and shock. He had never seen a design like it before.

Most of his troops had scanned their alt modes from the humans’ primitive technology to blend in with this pitiful world, until it was time to conquer it. But Dreadwing’s form was different. Sleek. Powerful. Advanced. Far beyond anything human engineering could produce.

After this meeting with his loyal warrior, he would have knockout and breakdown scanned Dreadwing. Then, have Soundwave discover the technology, so his troops can steal it and use it to their own advantage.

“Rise, Dreadwing.” Megatron said, “ Loyalty such as yours is a rare commodity.”

“Mine runs deep and true,” Dreadwing said as he got up from his kneeling position.

“Yet, it is not loyalty alone that brought me here.”

“Oh.” Megatron said, his tone curious at Dreadwing’s declaration and wondering what else had brought one of his finest warriors to this planet.

“I seek confirmation of the demise of the one I considered a brother,” Dreadwing said.

“How did you learn of his passing?” Megatron asked.

“My twin and I shared a split spark. Though we are metal, we are two halves of the same life force. Even across the galaxy, I sensed when he emerged from stasis on this planet... and when his spark faded,” Dreadwing explained to his master.

Megatron turned to Soundwave, and the silent officer switched his visor to a feed showing Skyquake’s final battle against the Autobots. The screen then shifted, displaying Bumblebee on top of Skyquake, ripping parts of his body.

At the sight, Dreadwing growled lowly. He made a mental note: whenever he crossed paths with the scout again, he would make sure it would be the yellow Autobot’s last fight.

His thoughts were interrupted when his master spoke.

“It is true. Skyquake perished at the hands of the Autobots, though not directly under my command,” Megatron explained as Soundwave’s screen shifted again, revealing the devious grin of Starscream.

“Then by the Pit, every last Autobot on this accursed world will pay,” Dreadwing growled, his optics blazing.

“The Autobots will be punished for their crimes and many others how and when I see fit,” Megatron said coldly.

“But, Master--” Dreadwing started to say, but Megatron raised his servo, ordering him to silence.

“Conflicting agendas will only result in chaos and failure. You are under my command now. As such, you must follow my lead,” Megatron said in a stern, commanding tone.

Dreadwing bowed his head toward his master, but in his mind, he was already planning his revenge against the Autobots... especially that yellow scout who killed his twin.

“There has also been a recent development on this planet that has captured both my interest and concern," Megatron said, his optics narrowing.

At his command, Soundwave pulled up multiple news feeds onto the Nemesis’s main screen.

One showed a red reptilian creature stepping out of what humans called a "house" as nearby humans screamed and fled in terror.

Other feeds displayed similar scenes: massive creatures attacking various human cities, leaving devastation in their wake.

The images stirred a familiar feeling in Megatron, reminding him of the ancient Predacons of Cybertron’s past.

"These creatures may be powerful… but there can be only one ruler of this world, and it shall be me. To ensure that, this mindless creature must be eradicated."

The Autobot Base

As Wheeljack was being examined by Ratchet, Duncan took the chance to learn more about Team Prime from Jack, Miko, and Raf.

All the while, Arcee kept a tense, watchful optic on him, her stance stiff and ready. She didn’t trust the new boy, not yet, and every small movement he made kept her on edge, her instincts warning her to stay alert.

From what Duncan had picked up, the teens had only met the Autobots a few months ago completely by accident.

Jack had made the brilliant move of climbing onto Arcee, thinking she was just an ordinary motorcycle.

What he didn’t tell Duncan was the most humiliating part: he’d been talking to her, out loud, before Sierra ,the most popular girl at their school (and his massive crush),spotted him.

She and her friend had laughed so hard, Jack was pretty sure he could’ve melted into the pavement on the spot.

Yeah... Some memories were better left buried.

“And then the motorcycle started to drive and talk to me, and I started to go crazy,” Jack said. "Then the Vehicons, the Decepticon minions, started to chase and shoot at us."

This caused Duncan’s eyes to widen in shock as he couldn't believe that these robots, he meant aliens, would ever harm anyone.

But on the other hand, if these aliens were so intelligent, why were they shooting in the middle of town, where people could see them?

Duncan kept this to himself as Jack continued the story.

“They chased us to the tunnel in the town, where we met Raf, who was playing with his car. Both of us saw Arcee and the Vehicons transform into their bot modes. We were both shocked by this.”

Duncan was stunned by this. What else could these robots, he meant Autobots, do?

“Arcee fought off the until they started to shoot and one of their blaster, causing her to fall.

But luckily, Bumblebee came in time to help, but got distracted by breaking the toy car, then saying sorry.”

“But he got shot by one of their blasters. They're about to deliver the final blow Until–

“I spoke up”, Raf blurted out shyly. Remembering that his moment of bravery almost got them killed. It was one of his bravest moments, but not his smartest.

Jack gave his young friend a smile and went back to his story.

“Yeah, this caught the attention of the second vehicon, and he tried to catch us. We ran to the tunnels, where he almost caught us . But if bee hadn’t gotta there in time, we would have gotten caught,” Jack explained

“Wait, if that's the way you guys met the Autobots, where was Miko?” Duncan asked in confusion. As he didn’t hear anything about the hyper girl in the story.

“Well,” Miko said with a sly smiling.

Flashback

Miko was drawing a picture of a motorcycle from the top of the brick wall of Jasper High.

“Best Motorcycle ever.” She said as she kept drawing the motorcycle. Evening added hearts and rainbows around the motorcycle.

Miko was interrupted when her phone rang. She picked it and saw that it was her host parents, the Scotts.

“ Host parents,” Miko said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. They were just as annoying as her real parents.

“Ignored, “ Miko said, rolling her eyes and declining the phone call. When she looked up the motorcycle was gone and she groaned in disappointed.

But wait. The motorcycle didn’t have a driver on it, and Miko didn’t see anyone come to claim the bike. So where did it go?

In the Corner of her eye. Miko saw the motorcycle go back to the back of the school with a person on top of it, and she didn’t see anyone walk past her.

Miko jumped off her concrete seat and followed the motorcycle to the back of the school.

And what she saw both shocked and excited her. The motorcycle shifted into a robot woman.

 Miko was even more shock that the boy, named Jack, would tired to reject when she offered to meet her leader. Her late Odaochan ( Grandma ) was right, some men or boys, in this case, can be dumb.

“Dude, what are you waiting for? Go with!” Miko exclaimed with excitement

“Scrap !” The blue bot said as she now has to bring two humans to the base.

End of Flashback.

“And that’s how I met the bots,” Miko finished proudly, a smirk stretched across her face.

“Yeah, by eavesdropping,” Jack added dryly, earning an eye roll from Miko. She then turned to Duncan, her smirk returning with interest.

“So, Duncan... what were you doing in that ship?” the energetic girl asked, her tone playful but curious.

“I was wondering the same thing,” Wheeljack said as he stepped out of the medical bay, giving Duncan a curious glance.

He crossed his arms, casually leaning against the wall, but his thoughts lingered.

Strange to find a human ship in this section of the planet… and even stranger to find a kid inside it.

All eyes and optics turned to Duncan.

He shifted nervously, clearly trying to come up with a good reason. But before he could speak, a sharp ping came from the other teens’ phones.

Duncan reached for his, only to frown when he saw the shattered screen and bent edges.

Great.

Mom’s definitely going to skin Blitz alive for this.

The second one broke this week, well, at least it melted like the other one.

Seeing the look on his new friend’s face, Jack walked up to Duncan and showed him the text message on his phone.

Arcee, watching closely, tensed. Her arm twitched slightly, ready to shift into blaster mode just in case. No matter what Optimus said, she wasn’t letting her guard down.

Raf pulled up the message on the screen so the bots could see--it wasn’t just important. It was a clear, undeniable warning.

The government-issued alert flashed in bold red letters:

Effective immediately, a nationwide curfew is set for 8:30 PM.

Anyone found outside past this time will be arrested without question, detained overnight, and fined a staggering twenty million dollars.

This is the first and final warning.

At 8:20 PM, armed soldiers will begin mobilizing in the streets, preparing to enforce the curfew with zero tolerance. No excuses. No exceptions.

By 8:30 PM, anyone still outside will be considered in direct violation of federal law. Arrests will begin immediately.

Signed by President Thomas Kirkman.

The moment the message sank in, each of the kids felt a different kind of panic.

Everyone except for Duncan went upstairs to pack their staff quickly. 

Jack tensed. He and his mom didn’t have that kind of money--not for bail, not for fines. God knew they didn’t need another loan; the debt they already had was more than enough.

Miko was furious. The new curfew meant less time with Bulkhead, and that alone was annoying. But if she got arrested and Mrs. Ling, her SEVP agent, found out? She’d be on the next flight back to Japan. Her parents would throw her into some uptight, all-girls boarding school to “make her a proper lady.” As if that was ever going to happen. Miko muttered under her breath and started stuffing her things into her bag.

Raf didn’t waste a second. He packed faster than anyone. He knew his parents couldn’t afford the fine--twenty million dollars was impossible. But even worse than jail time was what would happen if he got booked into the system. They’d find out. His family was undocumented.

 They’d be deported back to Mexico. His little siblings, born here, would be taken away and dumped into foster care. That fear sat heavy in his chest, stronger than anything else. He couldn’t get caught.

Even if his uncle was involved, there was little he could do for them.

For Duncan, it was much worse. If he didn’t get home soon, there’d be another full-scale shutdown, and MEGTAF would send an army to find him, just like they tried and failed on Sunday.

They really didn’t want to face his mom’s wrath for the hundredth time. When she got angry, she was downright terrifying.

“Wait, I thought curfew was at ten o’clock?” Bulkhead asked, confused.

“It was,” Jack said as he bolted down the stairs. “They must’ve changed it after the kaiju attack on Saturday!”

The others didn’t wait for another word; they were already moving.

“And I really hate it”, Miko said as she ran down the stairs behind Jack.

“It's presidential orders, Miko, we can't ignore them,” Raf added as he ran behind the two.

“It doesn’t mean I like it,” Miko replied as she hurried down the stairs.

“Wheeljack, since you’re taking Duncan home, you’ll need an alt mode to blend in with the population,” Optimus said calmly. “The people of this world are unaware of our existence, and it must remain that way.”

What Optimus had witnessed last weekend proved one thing: humanity wasn’t ready to learn about their existence. If those creatures could drive the entire planet into lockdown, who knew how the world would react to the Autobots? Fear, panic, maybe even war. The risk was too great.

“Don’t worry about it, I already picked one,” Wheeljack said, a bit annoyed at Optimus’s order. Back in the medical bay, Bulkhead had already explained why they had to stay disguised--first, to protect the humans living on Earth, and second, because the Decepticons outnumbered them.

That second reason never sat well with Wheeljack.

"I’ll follow Bulkhead to that human town, Jasper, and drop the kid off," Wheeljack said, remembering Bulkhead’s explanation that each bot was responsible for getting their human partner home.

“Um, I don’t live in Jasper,” Duncan said, raising his hand slightly, confused by the assumption that he lived near the others.

“Okay then, kid. Where do you live?” Wheeljack asked, figuring Duncan must live in a nearby town--after all, he’d found him in the desert not far from here.

“I live in Utah,” Duncan replied.

The moment the words left his mouth, silence fell. Everyone turned to look at him.

Duncan shifted uncomfortably under their wide-eyed stares.

Jack, Miko, and Raf all stared at him in a mix of shock and disbelief.

“Duncan, do you know what Utah is?” Jack asked, a trace of fear in his voice.

“Yeah, it’s where I live,” Duncan answered, confused as to why he was being asked such a basic question.

“Duncan, that’s where the Kaiju attack happened,” Raf explained, his eyes widening as he realized something else. But before he could speak, Miko beat him to it.

“Did you see Belloc?” she asked excitedly. During the lockdown on Sunday, Miko and her host parents had watched the news. It was reported that Belloc,the biggest creature on Earth,had attacked a house, destroying it during his rampage.

Her host parents were worried, haunted by terrible memories of the war. But for Miko, it was thrilling. Not only would she get to see Kaiju during her stay in America, she might get to see the king of all Kaiju.

“Who is Belloc?” the Autobots asked, curious why Miko looked so excited while the three boys appeared terrified at the mention of the creature.

“There’s no time to explain!” Jack said, checking the time on his phone. “It’s 8:10, we gotta go!”

The Autobots quickly transformed into their alt-modes. Wheeljack shifted into a white, green, and red Mustang. Duncan’s eyes went wide--this was the third time he’d seen something shift. First Belloc’s face, then Arcee’s arm, and now Wheeljack transforming into a Mustang.

His awe was cut short when Raf shouted, “Wait! Utah is like a two-hour drive from here! How will Duncan get home before curfew?”

“Ratchet will groundbridge them near the town,” Optimus assured him. “We’ll make sure Duncan gets home in time.”

“Um… Optimus?” Duncan asked, glancing at the towering Prime. “What’s a groundbridge?”

“Oh, please,” Ratchet muttered as he rolled his optics , already inputting the coordinates near Duncan’s home.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four:  The Wrath of Margaret 

The Road Near Utah - 8:15

Duncan didn’t know what was worse his forced lava bath, or his trip through the ground bridge. Wheeljack jumped out of the portal and sped past the sign that said Welcome to Utah, heading straight toward the town.

Then he growled at another sign: Speed Limit 30. Earth customs were infuriating. They never had anything like this on Cybertron. Miko was right, some of these human laws were just plain annoying. If the Prime had done his job and scrapped Megatron when he had the chance, they wouldn’t even be stuck on this marble of a planet.

“Wheeljack,” Duncan said. By this time, he had recovered from his  trip through the ground bridge.

“Yeah, kid?” Wheeljack answered as he turned onto a street.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Duncan remembered earlier, during a conversation with his new friends,  Miko had told him that Wheeljack was supposed to meet an old friend named Seaspray before he landed on Earth. But Seaspray had been blown up by a Decepticon named Dreadwing.

Duncan hoped he got those names right.

Wheeljack scoffed at Duncan’s words, which shocked the teen.

“I don’t need your pity,” the Wrecker said harshly. He was already mad, still bitter at Optimus for forcing him to be a Wrecker, to play babysitter.

And now this kid, this human, who’d never lived through a fraction of the pain he had, was giving him pity?

Well, he didn’t need it.

“Especially not from a human who’s had an easy life, never knowing what real problems are.”

That made Duncan’s blood boil.

“Easy? Easy?!” Duncan exclaimed, and to Wheeljack, it almost sounded like a roar.

“My life is anything but easy!”

“Oh, please, kid,” Wheeljack said, scoffing. “I don’t think your orange skin counts as a real problem. I’ve seen problems you can’t even begin to imagine.”

For a moment, Wheeljack’s mind wandered back to the Great War, remembering how many of his Wrecker buddies he’d lost over the years, and all the cities that he had seen had crumbled, taking millions of lives with them.

“I have real problems!” Duncan exclaimed, his voice rising.

He remembered all the times he and his mom had been forced to move,constantly, whenever someone found out about his secret. And all the times he’d been dragged to the MEGTAF Base for check-ups. Even though he liked Dr. Ptyel, who felt more like an aunt than a doctor, he still hated those visits.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

There were times people tried to kill him for something he had no control over.

Duncan shivered at the memory of a soldier pointing a gun at his head.

He had only been five.

BANG!

And after sixteen years of being absent, his monster of a father had suddenly shown up, just like that. After all those years. That alone made Duncan’s blood boil more than Wheeljack’s claims about him living an "easy life."

But his thoughts were cut short by Wheeljack’s harsh voice.

Which made Duncan even angrier than what he was.

“Oh? What problems do you even have, kid?” Wheeljack asked sarcastically, clearly not believing a single word Duncan had said.

Duncan was about to respond, but shut his mouth and turned to stare out the window instead.

“Just like I thought, kid. You don’t—” The wrecker was cut off by an honk.

“Honk, honk.” From a military truck close from Wheeljack’s right side, which made the Wrecker swerve to the left. The truck pulled up to the Mustang and the window came down. A soldier’s head popped out, glaring at the mustang.

“Learn how to drive, you moron!” the soldier yelled from the military truck, which looked very advanced, as it passed the Mustang.

This made Wheeljack angry. He wanted to yell or shoot at the truck. But the annoying words of the Prime came into his processor:

“The people of this world are unaware of our existence, and it must remain that way.”

Wheeljack groaned at the words, rolling his speedometer in annoyance, as he turned into a street—and what he saw shocked him to his core.

There were military trucks everywhere, going up and down the street, with groups of soldiers marching along the sidewalks. He even saw a couple of humans around Duncan’s age running to their houses.

One boy ran to his house where his femme sire (mother) was waiting for him on the porch. She yelled at him before grabbing him by the audio receptors(ear). And dragging him into the house.

“Primus, all of this for some stupid creatures,” Wheeljack thought as he watched the humans scramble in every direction.

His thoughts were interrupted when Duncan spoke up.

“Wheeljack, my house is down this street, the last house on the block,” Duncan said, pointing ahead, hoping Wheeljack could get him home in time.

It was 8:20. He only had ten minutes to make it, or hell would break loose. And his mom’s worry would be over the top just like it was Sunday night. She was probably already reaching for her dagger to skin Blitz.

Wheeljack sped down the curving street and raced toward the house as fast as he could , only to slam on the brakes when he saw an advanced military truck parked in the driveway behind a hybrid car. Surrounding the truck with their advanced guns in their hands standing in watch were soldiers. 

But the soldiers flinched when they heard yelling from the house.

“WERE YOU BORN DUMB, OR DID YOUR MOTHER JUST DROP YOU AND YOU BECAME DUMB?” a femme yelled from the house.

The yelling was so loud that the neighbors on both sides of the house were peeking through their curtains.

Wheeljack even flinched when he heard the yelling ,it was even louder than Arcee’s voice when she got mad. Whoever made this femme mad was going to get sent to the scrap yard.

“Wheeljack, you asked me earlier what problems I have,well, that’s one,” Duncan said, quickly getting out of Wheeljack. 

Before the Wrecker could answer, Duncan ran at an inhuman pace toward his house, something that shocked the Wrecker.

‘Primus, that boy can run,’ Wheeljack thought as he saw Duncan enter the house, where the femme was still yelling.

“That’s one of the problems Duncan has to deal with. Tch, that was nothing compared to his own problems during the Great War. Just as he told Duncan on the road, he had no problems. Humans, expect for Miko, overreacted to everything.

‘But then why was there a military truck in the driveway? And why were there only soldiers on Duncan’s lawn? There were no soldiers in any other human’s yard. So why were they in the boy’s yard?’

BAM

BAM

BAM

‘WHAT THE FRAG!’ Wheeljack thought to himself. Who dared to hit his hood?

He looked forward and saw a human soldier banging on it.

“Hey, you roll down your window, now!” Officer Jones shouted. He needed to know who gave the hybrid a ride home. Colonel Barnes wouldn’t like anyone learning about the hybrid’s secret.

They needed to keep the hybrid’s existence limited at all costs, even if it meant arranging an accident to keep the secret from the public. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

He needed to know who dropped the hybrid off, but before he could ask more questions, the driver sped away from him. Jones quickly tapped a small device on his vest, taking pictures of the Mustang. He didn’t see the driver’s face, but he got the license plate number.

Later, the tech team could track it and give the information to Colonel Barnes. Jones knew the Colonel was inside the house but decided not to go in, not with the former major in there. Everyone in the organization knew her temper.

He wouldn’t want to go in there.

Inside The Rosenblatt House 30 Minutes Earlier 

8;00

Margaret was livid,angry, enraged, furious, and downright pissed at the dumb Colonel standing before her. For the third time this week, Blitz had ignored her wishes.

First, he took Duncan to the base without her permission, earning a tongue-lashing he wouldn’t soon forget. Clearly, he hadn’t learned.

The second time was this past Sunday. Blitz and half of MEGTAF couldn’t find Duncan or, worse, her ex-husband. In her mind, they could have deployed the entire army to track down a 600-foot giant.

But even then, they wouldn’t have found Belloc, no matter how many armies MEGTAF threw at the problem. No one could find him, Belloc was the master of staying hidden.

Margaret had to step in and find her son herself. She located him at one of his new friend's house. When Duncan was brought back, she unleashed another fierce tongue-lashing on Blitz this time over the phone and didn’t even let him get a word in.

Again, he still hadn’t learned.

 But when she got that phone call this afternoon, she almost went full ballistic at the museum.  

Flashback

Nevada National Museum – 3:05

“Mrs. Rosenblatt, we’re so excited you’re joining the team here at the museum,” said Mr. James, the museum director, smiling at the redheaded woman.

The new exhibition manager returned the smile.

“I’m so happy to be here. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about this place and the incredible artifacts it receives every day,” Margaret said, shaking his hand.

Margaret had admired the Nevada National Museum since she was a child—long before she joined MEGTAF, met Belloc, and had her baby boy, Duncan. Now, she was finally about to do the job she had always dreamed of.

She would miss her old life: soaring through the air as one of MEGTAF’s greatest agents, hunting down kaiju… but those days were over, for obvious reasons.

Before she could shake the hands of the staff members, her phone rang.

Margaret glanced at the screen and saw it was Gira. Why was Gira calling her now? Margaret had told her about this meeting, and she knew how important it was.

“Would you excuse me, Mr. James? This is the nurse at my son’s new school ,she probably has a million questions about his medicine,” Margaret explained, though it was a lie.

She had learned to lie when necessary , first as an agent, and later as a mother protecting her son.

Stepping out of the meeting room, she answered.

“Gira, I’m in a meeting. Can’t Duncan’s test results wait until I get to the base?” Margaret asked.

“Margaret, Duncan is missing,” Gira said, her voice tight with worry.

“What?!” Margaret nearly shouted, catching herself before she scared her new coworkers. She took a sharp breaths and pressed the phone to her ear.

“What happened?” she demanded, forcing her voice to stay level despite the rage boiling inside her..

“From what I heard, Blitz tried to use Duncan to find the kaiju lair, but their ship got attacked by a kaiju who was throwing rocks. When Biltz woke up from being unconscious, Duncan wasn’t anywhere near him.” Gira explained 

Margaret put her phone down and took a couple of deep breath, calming her anger,  fear, and most importantly, her blood pressure.  she wanted to punch the wall or better yet, punch Blitz in the face for his dumb choice.   

"Gira, tell Blitz if he comes to my house without Duncan,  I’m going to skin him alive after I disembowel him with a spoon,” Margaret said in a serious tone that the other woman knew all too well.

 Margaret hung up her phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down,even though in her mind, she was screaming. She hurried back into the room and told the staff there was an emergency at her son’s school. 

Even though that was a lie she told to go home early to get her daggers ready if Blitz dared to come into her house without Duncan. 

End of Flashback 

8:20 – Ten minutes before Curfew

Blitz was standing before her in her kitchen, but there was no Duncan. Her son wasn’t with his guardian. The man who was supposed to protect him had lost him, again.

“Blitz, what the heck were you thinking!” Margaret shouted, her anger finally boiling over. This was the third time he had ignored her wishes.

“I was only doing my job, Margaret!” Blitz shouted back, though his  voice wasn't as loud as Margaret's voice. 

“Your job was to take Duncan from his school straight to the base, where Gira could see what Belloc did to him on Saturday not use him as a tracker to find kaiju!” the redhead snapped at the idiot.

“My job is to keep this world safe from those monsters, so I have to use everything we’ve got,” Biltz shot back. “Every asset we have, every tool. If we can find the main kaiju lair, humanity might finally have a chance to win this war. Destroy the main nest, and the rest of them will fall. Earth would be ours again, as it should be.”

“Duncan isn’t an asset or a tracker he’s a child. My child. You were supposed to protect him. And because of your idiotic plan, he’s missing. Again. And once again, your men can’t find him.”

The thought made Margaret tighten her grip on the handles of her daggers,her Big Daddy’s daggers, the ones she had inherited when he died. He had told her once: when your prey or some stubborn fool refuses to yield, use these daggers to skin them alive.

She would have brought out the ones Belloc had forged for her during their marriage, but those carried a green glow she couldn’t risk revealing.

And Blitz would ask questions, forcing her to get rid of Blitz,oh, how she wanted to get rid of him. But with soldiers stationed outside her house, hiding his body was impossible.

“Maggie—” Blitz began , using her childhood nickname.

“Don’t you call me that. You lost that right years ago,” Margaret said with venom, remembering how Blitz had cost her another of her loved ones because of his reckless plans.

“Margaret,” Blitz said, trying to calm her down, “don’t you see? Now that Belloc is back, we can use Duncan to our advantage to take him down, maybe even wipe out the whole kaiju race.”

He ran a hand through his hair, his voice tightening with urgency. “When we were in the desert, I swear we were close to their lair. So close I could almost smell it, especially when Duncan did that funky kaiju thing of his.”

If Blitz thought that would calm Margaret down, he was surely mistaken, as the former major pulled out her daggers at the man in front of her, her face turning red like a thermometer at its highest reading. Margaret pulled out her daggers, which made Blitz's eyes widen in shock.

Blitz knew those daggers; they belong to old man Witwicky. Or In MEGTAF records Captain Archibald Witwicky. It was rumor that the old man use the daggers to skin Kaiju alive. If circumstances were different, another person would have owned those daggers.

But it wasn't to be.

If the hybird didn’t come soon he would be the next one to be skin alive.

Now 

“WERE YOU BORN DUMB, OR DID YOUR MOTHER JUST DROP YOU AND YOU BECAME DUMB?” Margaret shouted at Biltz, who flinched and started to walk backwards, narrowly avoiding the daggers as she waved them dangerously close to his chest.

Unfortunately for him, Margaret stepped right into his face, her shouting so loud that Blitz almost peed himself as he backed into the breakfast table.

“Do you really think your plan of taking Duncan to the middle of the desert to find the kaiju lair would work? That’s the most idiotic plan I’ve ever heard.”

Blitz flinched again as the daggers came close to his neck, but Margaret wasn’t done, swinging the daggers sharply enough to make him duck.

“Do you believe that Belloc would let you use his child to find his lair? 

He would have made sure there were patrols in the desert to stop dumb people like you from finding it. And do you think any kaiju would let you near their lair without a fight?”

She swung her daggers again near the man's head, who ducked back up to the breakfast table only to find Margaret pointing her daggers straight at his throat.

“THINK, BLITZ, THINK, YOU MOTHER F—”

“Mom!” Duncan shouted as he burst through the front door and into his new house.

“Duncan!” Margaret cried in relief, shoving Blitz to the side as she put her daggers in her pockets. 

“Ow!” Biltz groaned as his hip smacked the table.

“Oh, baby,” Margaret said, her fury forgotten in an instant, replaced by the worried tone of a mother as she hugged her son tightly, as if he were life itself. Kissing him all over his face, he even tried to pull away, but she kept going.

“Where have you been, Duncan? I’ve been worried for hours,” the redhead asked, before he could answer, Margaret bombarded him with more questions.

“Why didn’t you call as soon as you landed?”

“Do you have any bruises?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“What happened to your jacket?”

And who gave you a ride home? 

Margaret knew she was overreacting. Her child’s wounds healed quickly, but after last weekend’s events, she couldn’t help but worry. She needed to see for herself that Duncan was truly alright.

“I would have called you sooner, but—” Duncan said as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. The screen was cracked beyond repair.

“Your phone got cracked again?” Margaret exclaimed, latching onto yet another reason to skin Biltz alive.

“Yes. When I was falling out of the jet, Blitz grabbed the collar of my jacket, and it ripped. When I hit the ground, my phone cracked into a million pieces,” Duncan explained angrily. This was his second favorite jacket—his first had been burned by his father the night they met.

His thoughts were interrupted when Blitz’s voice cut in.

“Who brought you home, kid?” Blitz asked. He needed to know for the sake of national security. No one outside of MEGTAF or the government should know about Duncan’s secret.

But the colonel flinched when Margaret turned her furious glare on him.

 “You don’t get to ask him that,” Margaret snapped, her voice sharp. She was still furious that Blitz had dragged Duncan out to the middle of the desert, which led to her son’s phone and jacket being ruined.

“As a Colonel of MEGTAF,and Duncan’s guardian, I need to know who gave him a ride home. And I need it, now,” Blitz demanded.

“Well, you’re not about to get it tonight,” Margaret shot back, stepping right into the man’s face with a glare so fierce it made him shiver.

“But Mar—” Blitz started, only to backpedal toward the front door as Margaret advanced.

“After what you pulled today, you don’t get to ask him any questions. Not until tomorrow. And you’d better show up with two new jackets.” She held up two fingers in his face, making him flinch again. 

“One to replace the red jacket Belloc burned last weekend, and the other to replace the one you tore apart during your stupid plan to find the kaiju lair.”

She raised a third finger. “And a new phone. To replace the one that cracked when you dragged my son out into the desert,which, may I remind you, goes against the contract I signed with MEGTAF.”

Biltz kept edging back, the redhead’s fury driving him step by step toward the door.

“And if you ever try this bullcrap again with my son,” Margaret hissed, her voice low before it erupted into a roar, “not only will I skin you alive, Blitz—I’ll make sure your body is buried somewhere no one will ever find it.”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” she screamed, making the colonel stumble out of the house. Even the soldiers in the yard flinched at her voice, and nosy neighbors peeked through their curtains.

“But Mar—” Blitz tried again, but the door slammed in his face before he could finish.

Inside, Margaret stood fuming, chest heaving.

“You alright, Mom?” Duncan asked gently as she drew in deep breaths to calm herself.

“I’m alright, baby,” Margaret said, finally easing as she pulled him into another hug. When she let him go, she looked him square in the eyes, her tone serious now.

 Blitz was right about one thing:, they, or in this case, she needed to know who gave her son a ride home for their sake.  As a former Major of MEGTAF,  she knew her former colleagues were deadly when top secrets got out. 

“Duncan… who gave you a ride home?”

Duncan grew nervous. He had promised Optimus he wouldn’t tell anyone about their existence ,especially not his mom. Keeping her safe meant keeping that secret.

For the first time in his life, Duncan was about to lie to his mother, just as she had so often lied to protect him.

“I… hitchhiked,” Duncan said, forcing the words out. “After I woke up from being unconscious for hours, I walked until I found the road. It was a long walk, Mom.” He tried to sound casual, but Margaret wasn’t buying it.

“You’re telling me,” she said flatly, her eyes narrowing, “that you walked through the desert for five hours, hitchhiked… and not a single kaiju attacked you in their territory?”

Her deadpan stare made Duncan’s stomach twist. He needed another excuse ,and fast.

“Honestly, Mom… I don’t remember much after I hit the ground in the desert. My head still hurts from the fall.” He rubbed the side of his temple for effect.

Margaret growled under her breath, nearly storming to the front door to scream at Blitz, but stopped when Duncan spoke again.

“Actually, Mom… I’m really tired from everything today. I think I’m just going to bed early.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, showing her his exhaustion.

With the day he’d had, it wasn’t even a lie. He was drained.

“Good night, Mom.” He hugged her.

“Good night, honey.” Margaret held him tight, pressing a kiss to his head.

When Duncan pulled back, he started down the hall toward his room.

“Duncan,” his mom called softly.

“Yeah, Mom?” He turned back to her.

“Love you.” She signed the words with her hand.

“Love you too, Mom.” Duncan signed back, then disappeared into his room, shutting the door behind him.

As the latch clicked, Margaret stood in the hallway, troubled. She had a sinking feeling her son wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

She wanted to walk into Duncan’s room and demand that he tell her the truth. But the day had already been long and stressful ,especially with Blitz once again ignoring her wishes.

Margaret sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose just as her son had done, and went into her room to get ready for bed.

She thought about writing in her journal for a few minutes, but she was simply too tired to lift a pen.

As she slipped into her nightgown, Margaret’s thoughts circled around the many new challenges she and her son would have to face. Now that Duncan’s father ,her ex-husband was back, everything felt more complicated.

That’s a question for tomorrow, Margaret told herself as she crawled into her king-size bed. Pulling the blankets over her, she wrapped her arms tightly around two pillows.

And at last, she drifted to sleep.

Outside The  Rosenblatt House - 8:28

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” Margaret Rosenblatt shouted at Blitz as he stumbled hard onto the concrete patio.

“But Mar—” Blitz started to explain, but before he could finish, Margaret slammed the door in his face.

“Temperamental woman,” Officer Jones muttered with a smirk as he offered a hand to his colonel.

“You don’t know the half of it, Jones,” Blitz groaned, taking the young officer’s hand and letting him help him to his feet.

“Did you learn anything from the hybrid, sir?” Jones asked.

“Jones, not here,” Blitz snapped as the two men hurried off the Rosenblatt’s yard and toward the street. His voice lowered but was sharp. “Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? You know we don’t use those words anywhere near the former Major.”

“Oh, crap,” Jones muttered, suddenly remembering. Agent Simmons had once made the mistake of calling Duncan a hybrid worse, a bastard hybrid.

The moment the former Major heard those words, she spin kicked him in the eye, leaving Simmons with a black eye that lasted for weeks.

From that day on, everyone in the organization avoided using the words hybrid or bastard near the former Major—unless they wanted the same treatment.

“To answer your question, Jones,” Blitz said irritably, “I didn’t get anything from the boy. Margaret ,Mrs. Rosenblatt never let him answer a single thing.

He hated to call her that , it was admitting that Margaret was married to that monster. 

“On the lair or whoever brought him home.” Jones asked.

“Both. “ Blitz said bitty.

If Margaret could stop being stubborn and actually see that using her son could benefit humanity in ways we couldn’t imagine, the war might be in our favor.

Both of the Rosenblatts were the only humans in history to have seen the main kaiju lair. Blitz had a feeling that Margaret knew more than what she was saying.

How could the best MEGTAF agent not share what she had learned from that damned kaiju?

 Had she forgotten the code she swore when she joined the organization to defend humanity no matter what happened to the individual?

“I agree with you, sir,” Jones said, thinking to himself that the former Major had a duty to protect humanity. 

The kaiju were mindless creatures that destroyed everything. If they used the information the Major had been given, they could kill all the kaiju,even their king.

But, as the Colonel said, the woman was too damn stubborn for her own good.

“Until she changes her mind, we need to send out more troops into the desert to find  the main kaiju lair, “ the colonel told the younger officer.

Jones nodded in agreement

“Talking about the hybrid, did you see who dropped him off?” Blitz asked the young officer, who shook his head no.

“They took off after I demanded that him or she get out of the car, probably because they were scared of being late for curfew.”

Biltz groaned at the statement.

“But I took a picture of the license plate and send it to the tech team to track down. We will get the identity of the person who brought the hybrid home. 

“Good man, Jones”. Blitz said, patting the younger man on the shoulder.

“Hopefully we can discover who gave the hybrid a ride home before they ask too many questions—or interfere in things they shouldn’t be involved in,” Jones said. The Colonel only nodded.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Both Blitz and Jones glanced at their watches.

8:30 

Curfew had begun.

“Alright then, Jones,” Blitz ordered. “Make sure the troops are fully mobilized. I want tanks rolling up and down the streets every second. No one should be out of their house. If they are arrested them on sight.”

“Yes, sir.” Jones snapped a nod, signaling to another soldier, who immediately released a pair of drones into the sky to patrol for anyone foolish enough to break presidential orders.

Outside the borders of Utah, soldiers poured out of military trucks, armed with advanced missiles and heavy weapons, ready to defend themselves and the town against a kaiju threat.

But then—

The rumble of an engine echoed in the distance. A vehicle was approaching.

That wasn’t possible. No one was supposed to be out here. By presidential order, every citizen should have been inside their homes.

So who was dumb enough to ignore curfew?

Weapons raised, the soldiers formed a blockade.

“Stop in the name of the law!” the female commander shouted, her troops aiming their rifles squarely at the approaching car a red, green, and white Mustang.

But the Mustang didn’t stop. It accelerated. Even as bullets tore into the wheels, it only picked up speed, barreling straight through.

I don’t have time for this,” Wheeljack thought to himself as he sped forward past the soldiers, who ran out of the way of the Mustang.

“Ratchet, I need a groundbridge, now!” Wheeljack yelled through his comms.

“Is anyone near you?” the Medic asked.

“No,” the Wrecker said, as he went deeper into the desert, where the soldiers couldn’t see him or the groundbridge.

But unfortunately, one of the soldiers silently followed the Wrecker deeper into the desert on his light cycle; he had his lights turned off so the driver wouldn’t detect him.

The soldier stopped when he saw a portal of light come out of nowhere. He was shocked by this; he was even more shocked when the Mustang entered the portal.

He tapped the side of his helmet, taking a video of the portal before it closed.

“Commander, I think you and the Colonel would want to see this,” the soldier said as he rode away on his light cycle.

But he wasn’t the only one who saw it, as a pair of green reptilian eyes had been watching the whole scene.

The kaiju growled as ve saw both the portal of light disappear and the light cycle vanish. Ve wanted to attack both foolish creatures, but the Lord Commander’s orders were crystal clear watch and protect the abana and his mother 

And ve was going to follow vis master’s orders.

No matter what.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four:  The Wrath of Margaret 

The Road Near Utah - 8:15

Duncan didn’t know what was worse his forced lava bath, or his trip through the ground bridge. Wheeljack jumped out of the portal and sped past the sign that said Welcome to Utah, heading straight toward the town.

Then he growled at another sign: Speed Limit 30. Earth customs were infuriating. They never had anything like this on Cybertron. Miko was right, some of these human laws were just plain annoying. If the Prime had done his job and scrapped Megatron when he had the chance, they wouldn’t even be stuck on this marble of a planet.

“Wheeljack,” Duncan said. By this time, he had recovered from his  trip through the ground bridge.

“Yeah, kid?” Wheeljack answered as he turned onto a street.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Duncan remembered earlier, during a conversation with his new friends,  Miko had told him that Wheeljack was supposed to meet an old friend named Seaspray before he landed on Earth. But Seaspray had been blown up by a Decepticon named Dreadwing.

Duncan hoped he got those names right.

Wheeljack scoffed at Duncan’s words, which shocked the teen.

“I don’t need your pity,” the Wrecker said harshly. He was already mad, still bitter at Optimus for forcing him to be a Wrecker, to play babysitter.

And now this kid, this human, who’d never lived through a fraction of the pain he had, was giving him pity?

Well, he didn’t need it.

“Especially not from a human who’s had an easy life, never knowing what real problems are.”

That made Duncan’s blood boil.

“Easy? Easy?!” Duncan exclaimed, and to Wheeljack, it almost sounded like a roar.

“My life is anything but easy!”

“Oh, please, kid,” Wheeljack said, scoffing. “I don’t think your orange skin counts as a real problem. I’ve seen problems you can’t even begin to imagine.”

For a moment, Wheeljack’s mind wandered back to the Great War, remembering how many of his Wrecker buddies he’d lost over the years, and all the cities that he had seen had crumbled, taking millions of lives with them.

“I have real problems!” Duncan exclaimed, his voice rising.

He remembered all the times he and his mom had been forced to move,constantly, whenever someone found out about his secret. And all the times he’d been dragged to the MEGTAF Base for check-ups. Even though he liked Dr. Ptyel, who felt more like an aunt than a doctor, he still hated those visits.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

There were times people tried to kill him for something he had no control over.

Duncan shivered at the memory of a soldier pointing a gun at his head.

He had only been five.

BANG!

And after sixteen years of being absent, his monster of a father had suddenly shown up, just like that. After all those years. That alone made Duncan’s blood boil more than Wheeljack’s claims about him living an "easy life."

But his thoughts were cut short by Wheeljack’s harsh voice.

Which made Duncan even angrier than what he was.

“Oh? What problems do you even have, kid?” Wheeljack asked sarcastically, clearly not believing a single word Duncan had said.

Duncan was about to respond, but shut his mouth and turned to stare out the window instead.

“Just like I thought, kid. You don’t—” The wrecker was cut off by an honk.

“Honk, honk.” From a military truck close from Wheeljack’s right side, which made the Wrecker swerve to the left. The truck pulled up to the Mustang and the window came down. A soldier’s head popped out, glaring at the mustang.

“Learn how to drive, you moron!” the soldier yelled from the military truck, which looked very advanced, as it passed the Mustang.

This made Wheeljack angry. He wanted to yell or shoot at the truck. But the annoying words of the Prime came into his processor:

“The people of this world are unaware of our existence, and it must remain that way.”

Wheeljack groaned at the words, rolling his speedometer in annoyance, as he turned into a street—and what he saw shocked him to his core.

There were military trucks everywhere, going up and down the street, with groups of soldiers marching along the sidewalks. He even saw a couple of humans around Duncan’s age running to their houses.

One boy ran to his house where his femme sire (mother) was waiting for him on the porch. She yelled at him before grabbing him by the audio receptors(ear). And dragging him into the house.

“Primus, all of this for some stupid creatures,” Wheeljack thought as he watched the humans scramble in every direction.

His thoughts were interrupted when Duncan spoke up.

“Wheeljack, my house is down this street, the last house on the block,” Duncan said, pointing ahead, hoping Wheeljack could get him home in time.

It was 8:20. He only had ten minutes to make it, or hell would break loose. And his mom’s worry would be over the top just like it was Sunday night. She was probably already reaching for her dagger to skin Blitz.

Wheeljack sped down the curving street and raced toward the house as fast as he could , only to slam on the brakes when he saw an advanced military truck parked in the driveway behind a hybrid car. Surrounding the truck with their advanced guns in their hands standing in watch were soldiers. 

But the soldiers flinched when they heard yelling from the house.

“WERE YOU BORN DUMB, OR DID YOUR MOTHER JUST DROP YOU AND YOU BECAME DUMB?” a femme yelled from the house.

The yelling was so loud that the neighbors on both sides of the house were peeking through their curtains.

Wheeljack even flinched when he heard the yelling ,it was even louder than Arcee’s voice when she got mad. Whoever made this femme mad was going to get sent to the scrap yard.

“Wheeljack, you asked me earlier what problems I have,well, that’s one,” Duncan said, quickly getting out of Wheeljack. 

Before the Wrecker could answer, Duncan ran at an inhuman pace toward his house, something that shocked the Wrecker.

‘Primus, that boy can run,’ Wheeljack thought as he saw Duncan enter the house, where the femme was still yelling.

“That’s one of the problems Duncan has to deal with. Tch, that was nothing compared to his own problems during the Great War. Just as he told Duncan on the road, he had no problems. Humans, expect for Miko, overreacted to everything.

‘But then why was there a military truck in the driveway? And why were there only soldiers on Duncan’s lawn? There were no soldiers in any other human’s yard. So why were they in the boy’s yard?’

BAM

BAM

BAM

‘WHAT THE FRAG!’ Wheeljack thought to himself. Who dared to hit his hood?

He looked forward and saw a human soldier banging on it.

“Hey, you roll down your window, now!” Officer Jones shouted. He needed to know who gave the hybrid a ride home. Colonel Barnes wouldn’t like anyone learning about the hybrid’s secret.

They needed to keep the hybrid’s existence limited at all costs, even if it meant arranging an accident to keep the secret from the public. It wouldn’t be the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

He needed to know who dropped the hybrid off, but before he could ask more questions, the driver sped away from him. Jones quickly tapped a small device on his vest, taking pictures of the Mustang. He didn’t see the driver’s face, but he got the license plate number.

Later, the tech team could track it and give the information to Colonel Barnes. Jones knew the Colonel was inside the house but decided not to go in, not with the former major in there. Everyone in the organization knew her temper.

He wouldn’t want to go in there.

Inside The Rosenblatt House 30 Minutes Earlier 

8;00

Margaret was livid,angry, enraged, furious, and downright pissed at the dumb Colonel standing before her. For the third time this week, Blitz had ignored her wishes.

First, he took Duncan to the base without her permission, earning a tongue-lashing he wouldn’t soon forget. Clearly, he hadn’t learned.

The second time was this past Sunday. Blitz and half of MEGTAF couldn’t find Duncan or, worse, her ex-husband. In her mind, they could have deployed the entire army to track down a 600-foot giant.

But even then, they wouldn’t have found Belloc, no matter how many armies MEGTAF threw at the problem. No one could find him, Belloc was the master of staying hidden.

Margaret had to step in and find her son herself. She located him at one of his new friend's house. When Duncan was brought back, she unleashed another fierce tongue-lashing on Blitz this time over the phone and didn’t even let him get a word in.

Again, he still hadn’t learned.

 But when she got that phone call this afternoon, she almost went full ballistic at the museum.  

Flashback

Nevada National Museum – 3:05

“Mrs. Rosenblatt, we’re so excited you’re joining the team here at the museum,” said Mr. James, the museum director, smiling at the redheaded woman.

The new exhibition manager returned the smile.

“I’m so happy to be here. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about this place and the incredible artifacts it receives every day,” Margaret said, shaking his hand.

Margaret had admired the Nevada National Museum since she was a child—long before she joined MEGTAF, met Belloc, and had her baby boy, Duncan. Now, she was finally about to do the job she had always dreamed of.

She would miss her old life: soaring through the air as one of MEGTAF’s greatest agents, hunting down kaiju… but those days were over, for obvious reasons.

Before she could shake the hands of the staff members, her phone rang.

Margaret glanced at the screen and saw it was Gira. Why was Gira calling her now? Margaret had told her about this meeting, and she knew how important it was.

“Would you excuse me, Mr. James? This is the nurse at my son’s new school ,she probably has a million questions about his medicine,” Margaret explained, though it was a lie.

She had learned to lie when necessary , first as an agent, and later as a mother protecting her son.

Stepping out of the meeting room, she answered.

“Gira, I’m in a meeting. Can’t Duncan’s test results wait until I get to the base?” Margaret asked.

“Margaret, Duncan is missing,” Gira said, her voice tight with worry.

“What?!” Margaret nearly shouted, catching herself before she scared her new coworkers. She took a sharp breaths and pressed the phone to her ear.

“What happened?” she demanded, forcing her voice to stay level despite the rage boiling inside her..

“From what I heard, Blitz tried to use Duncan to find the kaiju lair, but their ship got attacked by a kaiju who was throwing rocks. When Biltz woke up from being unconscious, Duncan wasn’t anywhere near him.” Gira explained 

Margaret put her phone down and took a couple of deep breath, calming her anger,  fear, and most importantly, her blood pressure.  she wanted to punch the wall or better yet, punch Blitz in the face for his dumb choice.   

"Gira, tell Blitz if he comes to my house without Duncan,  I’m going to skin him alive after I disembowel him with a spoon,” Margaret said in a serious tone that the other woman knew all too well.

 Margaret hung up her phone and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down,even though in her mind, she was screaming. She hurried back into the room and told the staff there was an emergency at her son’s school. 

Even though that was a lie she told to go home early to get her daggers ready if Blitz dared to come into her house without Duncan. 

End of Flashback 

8:20 – Ten minutes before Curfew

Blitz was standing before her in her kitchen, but there was no Duncan. Her son wasn’t with his guardian. The man who was supposed to protect him had lost him, again.

“Blitz, what the heck were you thinking!” Margaret shouted, her anger finally boiling over. This was the third time he had ignored her wishes.

“I was only doing my job, Margaret!” Blitz shouted back, though his  voice wasn't as loud as Margaret's voice. 

“Your job was to take Duncan from his school straight to the base, where Gira could see what Belloc did to him on Saturday not use him as a tracker to find kaiju!” the redhead snapped at the idiot.

“My job is to keep this world safe from those monsters, so I have to use everything we’ve got,” Biltz shot back. “Every asset we have, every tool. If we can find the main kaiju lair, humanity might finally have a chance to win this war. Destroy the main nest, and the rest of them will fall. Earth would be ours again, as it should be.”

“Duncan isn’t an asset or a tracker he’s a child. My child. You were supposed to protect him. And because of your idiotic plan, he’s missing. Again. And once again, your men can’t find him.”

The thought made Margaret tighten her grip on the handles of her daggers,her Big Daddy’s daggers, the ones she had inherited when he died. He had told her once: when your prey or some stubborn fool refuses to yield, use these daggers to skin them alive.

She would have brought out the ones Belloc had forged for her during their marriage, but those carried a green glow she couldn’t risk revealing.

And Blitz would ask questions, forcing her to get rid of Blitz,oh, how she wanted to get rid of him. But with soldiers stationed outside her house, hiding his body was impossible.

“Maggie—” Blitz began , using her childhood nickname.

“Don’t you call me that. You lost that right years ago,” Margaret said with venom, remembering how Blitz had cost her another of her loved ones because of his reckless plans.

“Margaret,” Blitz said, trying to calm her down, “don’t you see? Now that Belloc is back, we can use Duncan to our advantage to take him down, maybe even wipe out the whole kaiju race.”

He ran a hand through his hair, his voice tightening with urgency. “When we were in the desert, I swear we were close to their lair. So close I could almost smell it, especially when Duncan did that funky kaiju thing of his.”

If Blitz thought that would calm Margaret down, he was surely mistaken, as the former major pulled out her daggers at the man in front of her, her face turning red like a thermometer at its highest reading. Margaret pulled out her daggers, which made Blitz's eyes widen in shock.

Blitz knew those daggers; they belong to old man Witwicky. Or In MEGTAF records Captain Archibald Witwicky. It was rumor that the old man use the daggers to skin Kaiju alive. If circumstances were different, another person would have owned those daggers.

But it wasn't to be.

If the hybird didn’t come soon he would be the next one to be skin alive.

Now 

“WERE YOU BORN DUMB, OR DID YOUR MOTHER JUST DROP YOU AND YOU BECAME DUMB?” Margaret shouted at Biltz, who flinched and started to walk backwards, narrowly avoiding the daggers as she waved them dangerously close to his chest.

Unfortunately for him, Margaret stepped right into his face, her shouting so loud that Blitz almost peed himself as he backed into the breakfast table.

“Do you really think your plan of taking Duncan to the middle of the desert to find the kaiju lair would work? That’s the most idiotic plan I’ve ever heard.”

Blitz flinched again as the daggers came close to his neck, but Margaret wasn’t done, swinging the daggers sharply enough to make him duck.

“Do you believe that Belloc would let you use his child to find his lair? 

He would have made sure there were patrols in the desert to stop dumb people like you from finding it. And do you think any kaiju would let you near their lair without a fight?”

She swung her daggers again near the man's head, who ducked back up to the breakfast table only to find Margaret pointing her daggers straight at his throat.

“THINK, BLITZ, THINK, YOU MOTHER F—”

“Mom!” Duncan shouted as he burst through the front door and into his new house.

“Duncan!” Margaret cried in relief, shoving Blitz to the side as she put her daggers in her pockets. 

“Ow!” Biltz groaned as his hip smacked the table.

“Oh, baby,” Margaret said, her fury forgotten in an instant, replaced by the worried tone of a mother as she hugged her son tightly, as if he were life itself. Kissing him all over his face, he even tried to pull away, but she kept going.

“Where have you been, Duncan? I’ve been worried for hours,” the redhead asked, before he could answer, Margaret bombarded him with more questions.

“Why didn’t you call as soon as you landed?”

“Do you have any bruises?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“What happened to your jacket?”

And who gave you a ride home? 

Margaret knew she was overreacting. Her child’s wounds healed quickly, but after last weekend’s events, she couldn’t help but worry. She needed to see for herself that Duncan was truly alright.

“I would have called you sooner, but—” Duncan said as he pulled his phone from his back pocket. The screen was cracked beyond repair.

“Your phone got cracked again?” Margaret exclaimed, latching onto yet another reason to skin Biltz alive.

“Yes. When I was falling out of the jet, Blitz grabbed the collar of my jacket, and it ripped. When I hit the ground, my phone cracked into a million pieces,” Duncan explained angrily. This was his second favorite jacket—his first had been burned by his father the night they met.

His thoughts were interrupted when Blitz’s voice cut in.

“Who brought you home, kid?” Blitz asked. He needed to know for the sake of national security. No one outside of MEGTAF or the government should know about Duncan’s secret.

But the colonel flinched when Margaret turned her furious glare on him.

 “You don’t get to ask him that,” Margaret snapped, her voice sharp. She was still furious that Blitz had dragged Duncan out to the middle of the desert, which led to her son’s phone and jacket being ruined.

“As a Colonel of MEGTAF,and Duncan’s guardian, I need to know who gave him a ride home. And I need it, now,” Blitz demanded.

“Well, you’re not about to get it tonight,” Margaret shot back, stepping right into the man’s face with a glare so fierce it made him shiver.

“But Mar—” Blitz started, only to backpedal toward the front door as Margaret advanced.

“After what you pulled today, you don’t get to ask him any questions. Not until tomorrow. And you’d better show up with two new jackets.” She held up two fingers in his face, making him flinch again. 

“One to replace the red jacket Belloc burned last weekend, and the other to replace the one you tore apart during your stupid plan to find the kaiju lair.”

She raised a third finger. “And a new phone. To replace the one that cracked when you dragged my son out into the desert,which, may I remind you, goes against the contract I signed with MEGTAF.”

Biltz kept edging back, the redhead’s fury driving him step by step toward the door.

“And if you ever try this bullcrap again with my son,” Margaret hissed, her voice low before it erupted into a roar, “not only will I skin you alive, Blitz—I’ll make sure your body is buried somewhere no one will ever find it.”

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” she screamed, making the colonel stumble out of the house. Even the soldiers in the yard flinched at her voice, and nosy neighbors peeked through their curtains.

“But Mar—” Blitz tried again, but the door slammed in his face before he could finish.

Inside, Margaret stood fuming, chest heaving.

“You alright, Mom?” Duncan asked gently as she drew in deep breaths to calm herself.

“I’m alright, baby,” Margaret said, finally easing as she pulled him into another hug. When she let him go, she looked him square in the eyes, her tone serious now.

 Blitz was right about one thing:, they, or in this case, she needed to know who gave her son a ride home for their sake.  As a former Major of MEGTAF,  she knew her former colleagues were deadly when top secrets got out. 

“Duncan… who gave you a ride home?”

Duncan grew nervous. He had promised Optimus he wouldn’t tell anyone about their existence ,especially not his mom. Keeping her safe meant keeping that secret.

For the first time in his life, Duncan was about to lie to his mother, just as she had so often lied to protect him.

“I… hitchhiked,” Duncan said, forcing the words out. “After I woke up from being unconscious for hours, I walked until I found the road. It was a long walk, Mom.” He tried to sound casual, but Margaret wasn’t buying it.

“You’re telling me,” she said flatly, her eyes narrowing, “that you walked through the desert for five hours, hitchhiked… and not a single kaiju attacked you in their territory?”

Her deadpan stare made Duncan’s stomach twist. He needed another excuse ,and fast.

“Honestly, Mom… I don’t remember much after I hit the ground in the desert. My head still hurts from the fall.” He rubbed the side of his temple for effect.

Margaret growled under her breath, nearly storming to the front door to scream at Blitz, but stopped when Duncan spoke again.

“Actually, Mom… I’m really tired from everything today. I think I’m just going to bed early.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, showing her his exhaustion.

With the day he’d had, it wasn’t even a lie. He was drained.

“Good night, Mom.” He hugged her.

“Good night, honey.” Margaret held him tight, pressing a kiss to his head.

When Duncan pulled back, he started down the hall toward his room.

“Duncan,” his mom called softly.

“Yeah, Mom?” He turned back to her.

“Love you.” She signed the words with her hand.

“Love you too, Mom.” Duncan signed back, then disappeared into his room, shutting the door behind him.

As the latch clicked, Margaret stood in the hallway, troubled. She had a sinking feeling her son wasn’t telling her the whole truth.

She wanted to walk into Duncan’s room and demand that he tell her the truth. But the day had already been long and stressful ,especially with Blitz once again ignoring her wishes.

Margaret sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose just as her son had done, and went into her room to get ready for bed.

She thought about writing in her journal for a few minutes, but she was simply too tired to lift a pen.

As she slipped into her nightgown, Margaret’s thoughts circled around the many new challenges she and her son would have to face. Now that Duncan’s father ,her ex-husband was back, everything felt more complicated.

That’s a question for tomorrow, Margaret told herself as she crawled into her king-size bed. Pulling the blankets over her, she wrapped her arms tightly around two pillows.

And at last, she drifted to sleep.

Outside The  Rosenblatt House - 8:28

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” Margaret Rosenblatt shouted at Blitz as he stumbled hard onto the concrete patio.

“But Mar—” Blitz started to explain, but before he could finish, Margaret slammed the door in his face.

“Temperamental woman,” Officer Jones muttered with a smirk as he offered a hand to his colonel.

“You don’t know the half of it, Jones,” Blitz groaned, taking the young officer’s hand and letting him help him to his feet.

“Did you learn anything from the hybrid, sir?” Jones asked.

“Jones, not here,” Blitz snapped as the two men hurried off the Rosenblatt’s yard and toward the street. His voice lowered but was sharp. “Are you insane? Do you have a death wish? You know we don’t use those words anywhere near the former Major.”

“Oh, crap,” Jones muttered, suddenly remembering. Agent Simmons had once made the mistake of calling Duncan a hybrid worse, a bastard hybrid.

The moment the former Major heard those words, she spin kicked him in the eye, leaving Simmons with a black eye that lasted for weeks.

From that day on, everyone in the organization avoided using the words hybrid or bastard near the former Major—unless they wanted the same treatment.

“To answer your question, Jones,” Blitz said irritably, “I didn’t get anything from the boy. Margaret ,Mrs. Rosenblatt never let him answer a single thing.

He hated to call her that , it was admitting that Margaret was married to that monster. 

“On the lair or whoever brought him home.” Jones asked.

“Both. “ Blitz said bitty.

If Margaret could stop being stubborn and actually see that using her son could benefit humanity in ways we couldn’t imagine, the war might be in our favor.

Both of the Rosenblatts were the only humans in history to have seen the main kaiju lair. Blitz had a feeling that Margaret knew more than what she was saying.

How could the best MEGTAF agent not share what she had learned from that damned kaiju?

 Had she forgotten the code she swore when she joined the organization to defend humanity no matter what happened to the individual?

“I agree with you, sir,” Jones said, thinking to himself that the former Major had a duty to protect humanity. 

The kaiju were mindless creatures that destroyed everything. If they used the information the Major had been given, they could kill all the kaiju,even their king.

But, as the Colonel said, the woman was too damn stubborn for her own good.

“Until she changes her mind, we need to send out more troops into the desert to find  the main kaiju lair, “ the colonel told the younger officer.

Jones nodded in agreement

“Talking about the hybrid, did you see who dropped him off?” Blitz asked the young officer, who shook his head no.

“They took off after I demanded that him or she get out of the car, probably because they were scared of being late for curfew.”

Biltz groaned at the statement.

“But I took a picture of the license plate and send it to the tech team to track down. We will get the identity of the person who brought the hybrid home. 

“Good man, Jones”. Blitz said, patting the younger man on the shoulder.

“Hopefully we can discover who gave the hybrid a ride home before they ask too many questions—or interfere in things they shouldn’t be involved in,” Jones said. The Colonel only nodded.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Both Blitz and Jones glanced at their watches.

8:30 

Curfew had begun.

“Alright then, Jones,” Blitz ordered. “Make sure the troops are fully mobilized. I want tanks rolling up and down the streets every second. No one should be out of their house. If they are arrested them on sight.”

“Yes, sir.” Jones snapped a nod, signaling to another soldier, who immediately released a pair of drones into the sky to patrol for anyone foolish enough to break presidential orders.

Outside the borders of Utah, soldiers poured out of military trucks, armed with advanced missiles and heavy weapons, ready to defend themselves and the town against a kaiju threat.

But then—

The rumble of an engine echoed in the distance. A vehicle was approaching.

That wasn’t possible. No one was supposed to be out here. By presidential order, every citizen should have been inside their homes.

So who was dumb enough to ignore curfew?

Weapons raised, the soldiers formed a blockade.

“Stop in the name of the law!” the female commander shouted, her troops aiming their rifles squarely at the approaching car a red, green, and white Mustang.

But the Mustang didn’t stop. It accelerated. Even as bullets tore into the wheels, it only picked up speed, barreling straight through.

I don’t have time for this,” Wheeljack thought to himself as he sped forward past the soldiers, who ran out of the way of the Mustang.

“Ratchet, I need a groundbridge, now!” Wheeljack yelled through his comms.

“Is anyone near you?” the Medic asked.

“No,” the Wrecker said, as he went deeper into the desert, where the soldiers couldn’t see him or the groundbridge.

But unfortunately, one of the soldiers silently followed the Wrecker deeper into the desert on his light cycle; he had his lights turned off so the driver wouldn’t detect him.

The soldier stopped when he saw a portal of light come out of nowhere. He was shocked by this; he was even more shocked when the Mustang entered the portal.

He tapped the side of his helmet, taking a video of the portal before it closed.

“Commander, I think you and the Colonel would want to see this,” the soldier said as he rode away on his light cycle.

But he wasn’t the only one who saw it, as a pair of green reptilian eyes had been watching the whole scene.

The kaiju growled as ve saw both the portal of light disappear and the light cycle vanish. Ve wanted to attack both foolish creatures, but the Lord Commander’s orders were crystal clear watch and protect the abana and his mother 

And ve was going to follow vis master’s orders.

No matter what.