Given to Fly

Darkness Rising, Part 1

"You may be in danger because you are one of the few, one of the only who have ever seen us." The robot woman said with a serious tone.

"Dude," Miko said, a wide grin on her face. "What are you waiting for? Go with!"

"Miko," Marty groaned.

"Scrap." The robot woman said as her mechanical shoulders slumped.

)()()()()(

The next thing Marty knew she was in the backseat of a yellow and black muscle car with Raf Esquivel, who sat in the front seat.

"Um, I'm Raf." The boy said, peering back at her. "Your Marty Walker, right?"

The brunette nodded. "That's me."

A beeping and buzzing sound emitted from the car. It sounded cheerful.

"He says his name is Bumblebee." Raf said. He must have noticed Marty's confused look, because he added, "I can understand him."

"Hmm." Marty sat back against the seat, her mind whirring with all the strange things that had happened to her in that day.

Bumblebee drove on until they reached a fork in the road, right in front of a huge bluff. But instead of turning, him and the motorcycle behind them, Arcee, drove straight on.

"Uh, Bumblebee?" Raf said nervously.

Instead of answering, Bumblebee drove on right into the bluff. Marty thought they were going to crash and braced for impact. But it never came. The front of the bluff opened to a well lit tunnel with concrete floors. Marty looked on in astonishment. Who had created this?

They drove on until they came to an open room. Another robot glared down at them, with red and white paint and marks that looked similar to an ambulance. There's was another who walked in. He was big and green, but somehow seemed nicer than the other one.

Marty and Raf exited right before Bumblebee transformed with Arcee.

The white and red bot peered down at them. Marty was suddenly aware of how small she actually was.

"I thought there were two." He said.

"Haven't you heard?" Arcee asked with a hand on her hip. "Humans multiply."

"I'm Raf." Said the boy, holding out his hand as if to shake.

Miko's eyes went wide as she ran up to the bug green bot. "I'm Miko. Who are you?"

"Bulkhead." He replied.

The energy radiating off Miko was intense. "That's my friend Marty." She pointed to the brunette. "Are you a car? I bet your a truck, a monster truck! Do you like heavy metal? How much do you weigh? Ever used a wrecking ball as a punching bag?!"

Marty watched the interaction with interest. With each question, Bulkhead seemed to grow more and more wary.

Raf looked up at them. "So if you guys are robots, who made you?"

A reasonable question, but the white and red bot rolled his eyes. "Oh, puh-lease."

Heavy footfalls shook the floor. Marty and the other three turned to see the biggest of the robots walking up to them. He was red and blue and had an aura of leadership and power. "We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron. Also known as Autobots."

"Why are you here?" Jack asked.

"To protect you planet, from the Decepticons." His voice was deep, but oddly comforting. Marty almost felt as if she was talking to an old friend.

"The jokers who tried to bump is off last night?" Arcee said, seemingly reminding Jack of something.

The older boy furrowed his brow in confusion. "Okay. Why are they here?"

The big bot kneeled down as close as he could to the four teenagers, and even then he towered over them. "A fair question, Jack. In part they are here because our planet is uninhabitable. Ravaged by centuries of war."

"Why were you fighting a war?" Raf asked.

"For most, control of our world supply of energon. The fuel and lifeblood of all Autobots and Decepticons alike." His eyes held the story, as if he had witnessed every part of the war. "The combat was fierce and endured for centuries. In the beginning I fought alongside one whom I considered a brother. But in war, ideals can be corrupted. And it was this that Megatron lost his way."

Miko yawned and played with her hair. "Is there gonna be a quiz?"

Marty elbowed her in the ribs before turning back to the Autobot leader. "So what does Megatron, or any of this, have to do with us?" She asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Megatron has not been seen or heard from in some time. But if his return is imminent as I fear, it could be catastrophic."

)()()()()(

Somewhere in deep space, a Cybertronian portal opened in a space bridge. Out flew a single jet-like vehicle that transformed into a fully armored Decepticon.

"Decepticons!" He cried, his eyes glowing crimson. "I have returned."

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