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Transformers: Resurrection

The thunder roared and the lightning lit up the night sky. The rain became harder. It stung as it hit the skin. Lightning flashed again. Every time the lightning flashed a glimpse of Autobot City can be caught. Everybody is inside, staying out of the rain.
“Man, the lightning out there will fry the circuits of a Sekonian Eel Bot.” Sideswipe said.
“Yeah, it will probably eat the enamel off my paint job too.” Sunstreaker said.
“Well, you guys don’t have to worry about it. I’m the one who has to drive in it.”  Dustin said.
Dustin hung out with the Autobots ever since they saved him from Trypticon. Five months ago, Trypticon stomped his way through Pittsburgh. Casualties were somewhat light but Trypticon still destroyed a quarter of the city. Dustin was in town to watch a football game when Trypticon attacked. The Decepticon city had kicked Dustin’s 2002 Chevy Cavalier while Dustin was still inside. The impact mangled the car and trapped Dustin inside. Metroplex and Defensor had come to the rescue.  The two Protectobots: First Aid and Streetwise rescued Dustin. Since then Dustin helped out the Autobots when they needed it. Dustin was an average guy. He was about to graduate college and worked at Lucky’s Sports Tavern and Nelson Dining Hall. The 5’7”, brown haired, green eyed bartender studied the Autobots. He was fascinated by them ever since he found out about them. He used to play football for Ohio University as a wide receiver. He got most of his work outs by practicing with the Dinobots. His friend Nick Mathias also admired the Autobots. Nick was about 6’2” short blonde hair, blue eyes and goatee. He mainly helped First Aid and Perceptor with the injured Autobots. Autobot City was now located outside of Athens. It moved from its Oregon location to Athens, Ohio.  Spike and Carly had moved to Athens after Carly got a job as a doctor at Ohio University Osteopathic Center. The Autobots moved as well. They positioned Autobot City near Albany in a vacant field.  People drive out of Athens down State Route 50 towards Albany to see the massive city.
“Hey Nick, what time is it?” Dustin asked.
“Almost nine.”
“Damn, I gotta be at work at ten thirty. And I have to drop some history notes off to Liz. She and Katie are working late at Nelson. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Dustin walked out of Metroplex and got into his car, which was a 2007 Ford GT. He pulled out then drove away. His headlights flashed across the wooded area that surrounded Autobot City. The figure stood among the trees while Dustin drove off. The figure stood about eight feet tall. It stumbled towards the Autobot camp. Alarms went off inside.
“Something has tripped the proximity alarm.”  Bluestreak said.
Some of the Autobots ran outside to see what had tripped the alarm.  Mirage, Hound, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak and Cliffjumper ran outside into the rain and were stunned by what they saw.
“Holy Cybertron!” they all said at once.
The figure came into the light. It was Brawn.

Since the Decepticons were defeated and Cybertron is now in its second golden age, the Decepticons fled Charr and have returned to their underwater base. Trypticon and Scorpinok are also under water in separate locations from the main headquarters. Inside Soundwave’s lab, Soundwave and Dr. Archevil are working on a lifeless body. They room was musty and no one has been in there since before 2005. Generators are running the lights and machines in the room. One generator began to make a high pitched noise and explodes. The lights dimmed and the machines shut off. Three Decepticons walked into the room to fix the generator. The three are identical except for one who has a camera lens below his chest plate. The three are known as Reflector. They transform together to form a camera, which as helped the Decepticons on countless occasions. They repaired the generator and the lights and machines started working again. The doors to Soundwave’s lab opened again and two more Decepticons walked in. It was Rumble and Frenzy. They walked over to the table where Soundwave and Archevil were working.
“It’sits Megatron!” Rumble said.
“Yes it is, Rumble.” Archevil replied.
“But, I thought Megatron was Galvatron?” Frenzy wondered.
“Yes, that is true but when Unicron transformed Megatron to Galvatron, he made a copy of Megatron and the others for further study. When the Autobots destroyed Unicron not all of him was completely destroyed. His head and his left leg stayed intact.  Under orders from Galvatron I went searching for parts from Unicron. He wanted the parts examined to see if there were any technological advantages that we could gain from them, I only found the left leg and inside were the clones of Megatron and the others and they were intact but I had run into Starscream who was floating through space in stasis lock. I convinced Galvatron to keep Starscream even though he will probably attempt to overthrow him. That is why I installed a chip in Starscream’s head that will prohibit him from taking any hostile action towards Galvatron or Megatron. I have reactivated all but Megatron at the moment.”
Archevil went back to work on the lifeless body. Soundwave then hooked up a machine to the body and pressed a button. Soundwave and Archevil stood back while the machine sent electric shocks through out the body. Just then Megatron’s red eyes lit up and glowed full of life and hatred for the Autobots. One word was muttered from his mouth.
“Revenge.”

“So let me get this straight when the Decepticons attacked the shuttle they shot you in the shoulder which instead of killing you it knocked you out? When you came to you saw that the other three were dead and saw Autobot City in ruins and you thought all of the Autobots were dead when you found Wheeljack, Windcharger and Optimus Prime? Then you made it to Sparkplug’s old work shop in the city and stayed there until you were able enough to make it here. How did you know to come back?” Sideswipe asked as if he didn’t believe him.
Sideswipe and his twin Sunstreaker stood against the control panel, looking at their thought to be lost comrade.
“I had a feeling and I went with it. I didn’t have anything to lose. Now when are we going to beat up some Decepticons?”
“Later Brawn, but for right now let Perceptor take a look at you.” Prime said.
“Alright Prime.”
Brawn walked out of the room and headed for Perceptor’s lab.
“I thought all of the Autobots’ bodies were in the mausoleum, which was destroyed?” Mirage asked.
“There was no body for Brawn’s tomb.”
Just then the alarm sounded. The Autobots put their attention to the screen to see what was going on.
“What are the Decepticons up to now?” Bluestreak asked.
“They’re attacking Columbus. We must stop them. Autobots, transform and roll out.” Prime ordered.

While the Autobots were on their way, the Decepticons were tearing the city apart. Cyclonus flew around in his jet mode destroying everything in his path. Scourge and the Sweeps were causing havoc as well. They knocked over buildings, crushed civilians. Cyclonus landed and transformed. He pulled out his Targetmaster, Nightstick. He began to fire at the scattering humans. He hated the “flesh bags.” He wanted to destroy them. He has hated them ever since he’s been created. He wasn’t sure when that was. He has no memory before Unicron. He, Galvatron, Scourge and the Sweeps have no recollection of any events leading up to the whole Unicron disaster. The other Decepticons claim that they used to be someone else but Cyclonus is a little skeptical about it. They say Galvatron used to be Megatron but Galvatron is more ruthless by comparison.  He wanted to please his leader, Galvatron. Even though Galvatron was completely insane he would follow him to the ends of the universe.
The Sweeps flew in a triangular formation, firing. They transformed and landed. They continued their attack on the ground. One Sweep lifted his foot to crush some humans but was stopped by a photon charge that hit him in the back. He rolled over to see the Autobots attacking.
“Autobots!” Scourge yelled.
They hid behind buildings and fired at the attacking Autobots. The Autobots transformed, scrambled and fired back. People scattered and ran away from the fighting Transformers. The Autobots outnumbered the Decepticons but the Decepticons continued to fight as if they had a card up their sleeve.  Optimus Prime knew this as well. There were no significance to Columbus.
“What were the Decepticons up to?” Prime thought to himself.

As the battle raged on in middle Ohio, Dustin was dropping off history notes to one of his friends. He stood in there talking to them, killing time before he had to go to work at the bar. It was dead there. No customers had come in for awhile, so they just stood there talking. Liz and Katie were both managers. They have been friends with Dustin for a couple of years. They all met each other at work.

“Man, its like I don’t get to hang out with you guys like I did in the old days.” Dustin said.
“I know. You’re always too busy for us.” Liz replied.
“I know I am but I can’t help it. So what do you guys think of the Transformer war?”
“I don’t know. I’m kinda scared about it. People can get hurt.” Liz said.
“I agree with her.” Katie said.
Then another worker spoke up. It was Sarah Riley. She opposed the Transformer war on Earth. She was about 5’5” reddish brown hair, olive green eyes, she also had an athletic build to her. Her hair was down a little past her shoulders. She was only 21 but she was built as if she were 25. Dustin was attracted to her ever since he started working with her. She showed some affection towards him but also liked to play hard to get.
“The war is pointless. Why can’t they fight their war on their own planet? I bet the Autobots are really nice and all but fighting your own war on someone else’s land or planet is just down right rude.”
Dustin walked over to her and put his arm over her shoulder.
“Listen babe, if weren’t for the Autobots then the Decepticons would have tapped this planet dry of its energy and resources and we wouldn’t be having this conversation and you wouldn’t be able to spend this much time with me.”
She pushed his arm off of her and put her face close to his and said in a real soft voice.
“You’re right I wouldn’t be spending this much time with you. I’d be in a better place than with you.”
Liz and Katie both started laughing. Dustin grinned then reverted to his old tactics. He quickly turned towards Liz and Katie.
“But you two didn’t see us in the tower room when the Decepticons attacked a nearby town. She expressed her true feelings for me.” He said grinning as he grabbed and held her hand and held it up close to his chest.
“Why youscruffy looking.horse herder.” She said desperately trying to think of a comeback while pulling her hands away.
“Who’s scruffy looking?” He said looking offended.
He looked down to his watch and it read: Ten fifteen. He sighed.
“I gotta get going. I’ll see you all later.”
He walked out of the room. Then reappeared.
“Bye babe. I’ll come over later.” He said innocently.
She smiled sarcastically and then flipped him off. He smiled and walked away. His smile quickly faded as soon as he was out of sight. He didn’t know why he acted like that around girls. Maybe it was because he wanted to be noticed and didn’t want to be “background radiation.” That was a term he often used to describe himself. Maybe he felt insecure about things. He hasn’t had much luck with women as the average person would. The last real relationship he had was back in high school, even then his girlfriend cheated on him. Maybe that was one thing he was insecure about? He didn’t want his heart broken again.  He walked out of the building, putting his hands in his pockets and letting out a sigh of depression. He felt a strong gust of wind pick up then die down. He looked to the dark night sky as if he were looking for something. Then his eyes grew big as he realized what caused that gust of wind. He saw two mechanical birds fly towards the uptown area.
“It’s Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.” he thought to himself.
He quickly ran to his car and followed the two Decepticon spies. He followed them to the college green. He stopped his car near the green and got out to spy on the spies.  They flew around the college green, scanning. Then Soundwave landed. His hand retracted into his forearm and an energy giger counter replaced it. Dustin noticed that his anxiety level was rising. He looked at his hand, it was shaking. He didn’t know what to do. Then he figured that he may not be an Autobot but he was going to try to mess things up for the Decepticons. He went over to his trunk and pulled out his sniper rifle that he usually kept in there in case he decided to go shoot targets. He aimed the rifle at the giger counter and fired. He hit the giger counter and Soundwave looked right at him and returned fire. Dustin jumped in his car and sped off. Soundwave pointed and Laserbeak and Buzzsaw flew after him. Dustin kept swerving to miss the deadly photon beams Laserbeak was shooting at him. He knew he was in for it if he didn’t get to Autobot City. He knew he could probably out run them if he got onto the highway. So he drove to the nearest highway ramp. Dustin had made it to Stimson Avenue and was only feet away from the ramp that led to the highway. Laserbeak shot photon beams from his eyes. One of the beams nailed the rear driver side tire causing Dustin to spin out of control. He slammed into the overpass, totaling his car. The two Decepticons flew off and met up with Soundwave.

Meanwhile in Columbus, the battle continued. The Autobots fired at the Decepticons. Soundwave radioed Cyclonus.
"MISSION COMPLETE CYCLONUS, RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS.”
Cyclonus and the Sweeps pulled out. Scourge stayed an extra five seconds to distract the Autobots. He shot out the legs of a billboard causing it to fall. A few people were under it. Optimus ran to catch the falling billboard. He was able to catch it before it caused any harm. He looked at the billboard. It had five faces on it. It was dedicated to the five students that died in a fire in 2003. As he set it aside the other Autobots walked up.
“They pulled out?” Prime said confused.
“Yeah and with nothin’ not even Energon cubes” Sunstreaker said.
Just then Prime received a transmission from Headquarters. He held his hand up to the left side of his head as he listened.
“Dustin was attacked by Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.” Prime told the others. “Let’s roll out.”
They transformed and headed back to Autobot City.

They arrived at Autobot City moments after Hoist and Dustin arrived. They transformed and walked into the mighty transforming city. The GT was a table and Dustin was nearby talking with Nick. Dustin was relatively calm considering that he almost died again.
“So, have you heard about Brawn?” Nick asked.
“Brawn?” Dustin asked raising an eyebrow. “As in the Brawn that died in the shuttle massacre?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t die, he was just unconscious. He came back right when you left for work.”
“Yeah and I’ve been looked over by Perceptor ever since then instead of kickin’ pig iron.” Brawn said as he walked into the room.
“How are you feeling Brawn?” Silverbolt asked.
“I feel like beating up Decepticons”
“You may get your chance soon enough. They’re up to something and we don’t know what. I don’t like mysteries. They give me surges and I have a beauty right now.” Prime said.
“Hound, are the Dinobots still on Cybertron?”
“Yeah Prime.”
“Ok, Hound go get the Dinobots and bring them down here.”
“Optimus Prime, I want to go to Cybertron. I want to take Dustin and Perceptor and work on Dustin’s car. With your permission of course.” Nick said.
“I see no problem with that. I approve.”
Moments later Perceptor, Hound, Nick and Dustin boarded Skyfire. Hoist loaded the GT into Skyfire’s cargo bay. They cargo bay’s doors closed.
“Alright everyone, buckle up for safety. Next stop: Cybertron.” Skyfire reported.
Skyfire blasted off and headed for his home planet.

On Cybertron Jazz walked along the outer perimeters of the headquarters, his steps were slow and deliberate. He looked around then gazed up at the sky. The black and white Autobot usually didn’t let anything mar his sunny nature, but he was simply too depressed. Jazz loved Cybertron; it was his home planet after all. But even before the Ark crashed, he had always thought the place to be a bit dull, and his experiences on Earth only served to reinforce the sentiment. He knew what lay underneath Cybertron’s golden metallic crust: wires, electric currents, all of them unchanging. Even the great super computer Vector Sigma was set and immovable in the center of the planet. But on Earth everything was alive and changing, teeming with mystery, you never knew what organisms, what treasures lay underneath your feet, what natural powers were at work. Not only that, but the humans were wonderful despite obvious flaws, their different cultures fascinating. They had dances, languages, poetry, things the war on Cybertron had killed for its mechanized inhabitants. Jazz loved that inscrutable energy and life, loved the kaleidoscope of diversity. Cybertron was boring by comparison. But now he tardily made his way to his quarters, the surge of elation didn’t come. The situation on Earth had changed too, much to his disappointment. The days when the Autobots worked out of the Ark had disappeared when Autobot City was constructed and new recruits had been sent from Cybertron before it was conquered to help the humans kick the Decepticons off. This wouldn’t have been so bad, for Jazz was affable and made new friends easily, except when the new people came in and the old went out. The worst year for Jazz was 2005. In that terrible time, some of Jazz’s oldest and dearest friends had been killed in what felt like one fell swoop. Prime was killed in battle, the youngster Hot Rod suddenly became Rodimus Prime, Cybertron was retaken and everything was turned upside down in general. Jazz adapted to the best he could to these new conditions and superficially he seemed the same as he ever was. He joked and pulled a few pranks, hung around with Rodimus and Springer, often going with them to tip back a few drinks. Sometimes he felt comfortable and firmly situated, but then those times of doubt and confusion always came when he was alone, putting him off balance. And Among the many faces, he hadn’t seen one that was really familiar to him. All of his remaining old friends were down on Autobot City working on repairs, a place he hadn’t been to in years. No only that, but something strange had happened to him after he escaped from Unicron. Gradually over the weeks, his voice had begun to change and there wasn’t a single reason why. His voice, a mixture of talking and singing, vibrant and vivacious, had lost its musical qualities, rendering it common and flat. He had seen First Aid about the problem but the medic had found nothing wrong. Jazz had given up all hope of it ever returning to normal. But then Optimus Prime came back twice. The first time he almost destroyed the entire Autobot race by leading the into a Quintison trap. Not only did he almost destroy the Autobots but he destroyed the Autobot Mausoleum that held his old buddies. The second time his leader came back for good. The scientists that found him spread a heat plague that nearly wiped out everything on Earth, Cybertron and the rest of the galaxy. He smiled a bit at the thought of Prime coming back. He hoped the others would come back but he knew that would never happen. He even comforted Chromia when she heard about Ironhide. She went to the site of the mausoleum after Rodimus had told her that Optimus had destroyed it. She wanted to be sure. She found a bent up piece of red metal with the Autobot symbol. It now lies in her quarters. She often goes to that site, only the Matrix knows what she does there. Jazz couldn’t help but brood about these things as walked and soon he realized why it never paid to sulk, it was a bad thing to do. The Autobots may have retaken Cybertron and it being in its second golden age but small roving bands of Decepticons were still around, just waiting to pick off unsuspecting victims. A flurry of laser fire burst from behind him. Jazz, startled out of his wits, gave a yelp and dove for the nearest entrance, slamming his hand on the keypad. A sharp jolt flared up in his right leg, making him wince, but Jazz kept a cool head as he quickly punched in the entrance code and zoomed into safety. Panting a little, Jazz gingerly set himself down onto the floor and looked at his injury. One side of his knee was burned and the joint was smoking. He ran an internal scan on the injury and his fear was realized: his knee was blown out. The Autobot groaned. He would have to make the trip all the way to the other side of HQ to get to First Aid’s repair room.
“Man, I’m getting’ soft. I can’t believe it.” He muttered, slapping himself on the cheek. “Bad Jazz. Well no use in staying here. Time to haul my sorry can to First Aid’s Medical Bay, ho!”
He painfully got to his feet and transformed into his Porsche mode with just as much discomfort. It would take less time to get to First Aid if he drove, and it would be less painful, since he wouldn’t be limping on his bad knee. The black and white Porsche rowed down the hallways of Autobot Headquarters nearly smashing into several hapless personnel, much to their disgust.
Jazz rolled into First Aid’s waiting room which in reality just a modified garage. He slowly transformed back into his robot mode. As he limped forward, he cocked his head to one side in surprise. Sitting quietly on a metal crate, nursing a cracked arm that was leaking bio fluid in a small but constant stream, was an olive-green Autobot, the front end of a jeep as his chest cavity, sporting a rocket launcher on his shoulder.
“Hound! Long time no see, man. What’re you doin’ here?”

Jazz limped and gingerly set himself down on the ground leaning his back up against the wall.
“Prime sent me to get the Dinobots and drop off Dustin, Nick, Perceptor and Hoist, so that they could work on Dustin’s car. Laserbeak attacked him and now they’re up here working on it. But I’ve got good news, Brawn is back” Hound said. His voice excited and friendly as it ever was despite his injury. “But I met this unfortunate accident by losing my balance and cracked my arm against the side of the cargo bay loading ramp. Man, that thing is sharp. And so here I am. So, what’s your story Jazz-o?”
Jazz had an astonished look on his face.
“Well for starters a sniper got me, but Brawn is back, eh. How?”
“When the Decepticons attacked he was knocked out could and when he came to he thought the Autobots were dead. He ended up staying in Sparkplug’s old garage in the city.”
“Man, that’s cool.”
Jazz cocked his head and looked into the window that led into First Aid’s operating room.
“Looks like First Aid’s kinda busy right now, though, since you’re having to hang out here.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be awhile before he gets to us, I hate to say.”
“Aw, well I don’t have anything to do anyway.”
Jazz put his hands behind his head band proceeded to count the cracks in the ceiling. He had gotten to number thirty when Hound interrupted the reckoning.
“Jazz? You all right? My scout’s intuition tells me that something’s not quite right with you.”
The Autobot flinched in surprise, but he immediately recovered and gave a small smile.
“How can you tell?”
Hound lifted a finger and wagged it.
“Well for one, you’re never this quiet. Second, your voice is lacking something. Thirddo I really have to go on? If I were Red Alert, my circuits would have blown out by now. You want to talk about it?”
Jazz regarded his companion for a few moments. He and Hound had known and worked with each other for a long time and Jazz was quite fond of the green guy. Though Hound wasn’t the most talkative mechanism in the universe, he was a good listener and often provided Jazz with a willing audience. In addition to that, they shared a mutual love for Earth and its wonders. Hound, unlike some Autobots, was truly fascinated with the humans and didn’t think of them as mere “flesh creatures” and this thinking suited Jazz very well. On Cybertron they had been well-meaning acquaintances, when they crashed on Earth, they soon became good friends. Now Jazz became filled with the urge to confide everything, he needed someone to talk to.
“I got reassigned today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Hound said as he gave a truly sympathetic look.
“It’s alright. Life goes on m’man. I guess it’s for the better.” Jazz shrugged.
“Why’s that?” Hound asked.
Jazz glanced down at the ground, thinking on how to put his jumbled feelings into words.

“Ever since that whole Unicron mess, I haven’t been feelin’ right. I was glad to get out of that creep’s stomach alive, o’course but when I got back to Cybertron, everything was screwed up. Prime was dead; Rodimus was the new leader and all that crazy stuff. At first I thought I’d get used to it and I have a little, I suppose but something’s missin’, Hound. All of these new peopleI just can’t connect with ‘em and they can’t connect with me. I tried to talk with Ultra Magnus a few days ago and all he could do was just nod and say ‘yes Jazz’ and ‘no Jazz.’ I joked with him and he didn’t even laugh.”
“Well, Ultra Magnus isn’t the most humorous Autobot, Jazz. It’s just not his nature.”
Hound smiled, his diamond shaped eyes reflecting sly merriment.
“I don’t see how he can stand it. The guy never smiles or laughs at all. And that’s another thing, Hound. None of these new guys have any zest in ‘em. Well, except for Hot Rod and Springer. They’re cool cats. I mean, look at good ol’ First Aid, back there.”
Jazz waved an arm towards the doors towards the operating room.
“He’s a nice guy and all but he doesn’t have any spark in him. No wit, no life. Not like Ratchet was.”
The Autobot couldn’t help but grin slightly as the memories of the dead medic washed over him.
“Yeah,” Jazz drawled, his voice a bit distant. “Ol’ Ratchet was a piece or work. I remember whenever Ironhide would do something stupid and get blown up, or when anybody did something stupid. Ratchet would just go bonkers. Primus I miss that old grump. Ironhide, too.”
Hound peered closely at his companion, his scouting instincts blaring warning sirens, he was getting very close to the root of the problem now.
“Jazz. I don’t think it’s not connecting with the new Autobots that’s bugging you so much. You miss the old guys, don’t you?”
The visored Transformer didn’t answer. Hound decided t press on.
“Jazz, come on. Talk to me.”
Jazz looked up, his mouth screwed up in annoyance.
“You’re not going to let up until I squeal ain’t you?”
“Yep, it’s what you used to do when I didn’t want to talk. Time for a taste of your own medicine.” Hound lowered his voice. “I don’t mean to pry Jazz-o, but I think its better if you came clean.” Jazz wrapped his arms around his legs and linked his fingers together, huffing out a breath.
“I do get myself, if you want to know the truth. I’ve been with the Autobots a long time. I’ve seen lots of my pals get killed. It made me sad, but I always got over it. Can’t dwell on those things when you’re in a war.”
“No, you can’t” Hound nodded.
“But this time was different. I first heard the news about the shuttle massacre and the attack on Autobot City when I was on Moon Base One with Cliffjumper. I like someone had spiked a pipe through my gut, but I didn’t have time to think about it. I was too busy, and then I got eaten.”
He said the last word so comically, both robots chuckled a little before Jazz settled down enough to talk again.

“It’s really not that funny, now that I think about it. But, hell gotta laugh to keep from cryin’.”
“That’s the maxim; you’ve lived on for years, Jazz. You always laugh at the most inappropriate times.”
“Thanks, but when I was about to get dropped in that acid vat, I wasn’t laughing. And then I came to Cybertron and started back to work like nothing had happened. I tried to forget everything. But whenever I was alone, I felt funky. I didn’t know what the hell to do with myself. And then I’d think about Wheeljack, Prowl and the others. I felt like I was goin’ crazy. Everytime I heard an explosion, I’d think Wheeljack’s killed again, even though I knew he was dead. It was awful. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. You, Inferno and Cliffjumper were down on Earth. Blaster well, he’s always off on some mission or another, I hardly ever see him. And these new guys are cool, but I worked so long and went through so much with the ol’ gang. It just wasn’t the same without Prime. Man, everything was so much simpler then. With Prime, you knew you were safe, he’d pull through. Rodimus, bonafide neat guy, but he didn’t make me feel secure. But when Prime came back I felt secure again.”
“And you’ve never told anyone else, Jazz?” Hound asked patiently waiting out his friend’s ramblings.
“Nuh-uh. I didn’t think it was necessary. I thought I could deal with it on my own. You know I don’t like complainin’. I’m Jazz nothin’ makes me sad.”
“Seems like a tough act to keep up.” The green scout remarked.
Jazz let the words sink in, and he struggled for a lighthearted response, but found none. Instead he leaned forward a bit, looking a bit reluctant but also bubbling with an unseen energy.
“Jazz, would you mind if I told you something? I’ll try not to make it too preachy.”
“Nobody could ever be as preachy as Prime, I’ve talked now it’s your turn.”
“Jazz you have feelings don’t you? You’ve got a distinct personality of your own, given to you by Vector Sigma itself. Of all the millions of Transformers here on Cybertron, there’s not one other Jazz. Isn’t that correct?”
“Yeah I’m the one and only, baby.”
Jazz cracked a full grin, tapping himself on his chassis.
“And don’t we have feelings? We’re sentient beings, Jazz, no bones about it. And that sentience makes us more than fancy machines. We’ve got names and we’re called ‘he’ or ‘she’, not simply ‘it’.”
“You’re ramblin’, Hound.” Jazz reminded in a somewhat cheeric voice.
He had never seen Hound so loquacious before, and it amused him. Besides, the overall implications of his words were intriguing.
“Sorry,” Hound said almost sheepishly.
“Anyway, what I’m saying is this. Over the years we’ve spent on Earth and our interactions with the humans, I’ve been thinking, Transformers and humans really aren’t that different. Sure there are the obvious differences but when you strip it down to the bare essences, aren’t we like humans? We have the same emotions, desires and personality types. And you know what? If we share the same sentience, wouldn’t we Transformers also have souls?”
“Makes sense,” Jazz answered sitting up straight and alert. “Go on.”

“I think that all of us Transformers have something that makes us special in a certain way, the Matrix everybody talks about, I think we all have a little bit of that Matrix in each of us, even stiffs like Magnus. Even Decepticons have it, I think.”
“I can imagine it” Jazz laughed “ol’ Galvatron and Cyclonus having soft spots! Who knows? Those creeps might even be down right decent sometimes. I knew a few Decepticons before the wars started, they seemed nice enough at the time.”
“And Jazz, this is what I believe. I don’t think a Transformer truly dies. Just because Prowl, Ratchet and the others have stopped living doesn’t mean they’ve ceased to be.”
Jazz’s baffled expression made Hound laugh a little.
“Just think about it. Whenever a doctor out there takes care of a patient, a little essence of Ratchet is there, because that was what Ratchet put his whole soul into. Whenever a policeman walks the beat, there’s Prowl. Whenever a scientist blows up his lab or a man in the south lolls back in the sun, there’s Wheeljack and Ironhide. It’s like a big stream of the very essence of Primus and sometimes we can catch a glimpse of them now and then in the ripples. Don’t you see what I’m getting at, Jazz? The Decepticons can blow up our bodies and make us stop functioning, but they can’t kill us.”
Jazz felt a stirring in his chest. He looked steadily back at Hound and saw the absolute sincerity in the other Autobot’s face. He thought about all the words that had been said, and he found that they were very comforting. He hadn’t felt so good in years.
“Hound, if you were a human, I’d say you’d be the Pope or somethin’.”
“Thanks, I think.” Hound grinned a bit sourly.
Jazz leaned back against the wall once more, his visor winking with new light.
“Thanks, Hound. You really cheered me up.”
“One good turn deserves another. Primus knows you’ve got us out of some nasty funks yourself. You know, I haven’t seen that look in your visor since the time you tricked Prowl into watching Citizen Kane.”
Jazz threw back his head and burst into pearls of laughter at the cherished memory.
“Oh, yeah! His logic circuits nearly exploded. He didn’t understand the movie and why the humans loved it so much. He hated that movie. Ratchet chewed my can out for that. It was worth it. Good ol’ Prowl.”
“Well since you’re going to Earth you can come down with me when I’m fixed. Inferno, Grapple and Cliffjumper are going to meet me there and we’ll all have a few drinks together. They’ve missed you.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
The two Autobots then talked about old times, laughing, telling old tales, recounting adventures and remembering comrades. Always remembering.

Moments later Dustin walked out of the operating room with a duffle back.
“Hey Jazz, hey Hound. What’s up guys?”
“Not much m’man. How you doin’?” Jazz replied.
“Good, but I gotta surprise for y’all.”

Jazz and Hound cocked their heads at the remark. Dustin then walked out of the room and into another. First Aid’s Medical Bay was connected to Wheeljack’s old lab. The room was huge. But it was just because Dustin was tiny compared to the Autobots. He set down the duffle bag and opened it. It was some kind of body armor. He pulled it out. He put the suit on.  The exosuit was black in color. He looked like a miniature robot. The helmet was robotic looking, blue eyes, square face, the face itself was grey but the rest of the helmet was black. The top part that covered the head came down past his ears and stopped at mid-cheek, the arms looked muscular, the chest was square and flat, his stomach area looked like ripped abs. The legs looked robotic as well. He had a red Autobot symbol on the chest. He picked up the helmet and placed it over his head. He felt excited.
“Man this is cool.” He thought to himself.
He walked around the room looking. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular he just wanted to look. Mainly he was getting used to the suit. He saw a small hologram that had First Aid, Ratchet, Perceptor and Wheeljack as the image. Dustin walked back into the operating room.
“Alright Dustin, now transform.” First Aid said. Dustin jumped into the air and transformed into the head. When he transformed his legs slid up to the side of his body, his arms folded back and his head slid inside of the body.  The Ford GT transformed into the body. The front of the car were the arms, the legs slid out from underneath of the car, the rest of the car slid up and became the back of the Transformer, the rear tires came up to his hips. The head connected to the body. He stood about 9 ½ feet tall. His head was similar to Smokescreen’s, he didn’t have a mouth. His eyes lit up every time he spoke. He came out of the operating room and into the room where Jazz and Hound were waiting.
“You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.” He said walking out of the room.
“Now where are those blasted Dinobots?” Nick wondered.
While they waited on the Dinobots to arrive they repaired Hound’s arm and Jazz’s leg.
“Thanks m’man now it’s time to scat back to Earth.”
“We gotta wait for the Dinobots now. Nick has a new idea for them. So, what is your Autobot name, Dustin?” Hound said while admiring the look of the new Autobot.
“UhShortstop.”
“That’s a kickin’ name.” Jazz said while patting Shortstop on the back.
Finally the Dinobots arrived. They looked stubborn as ever.
The three Autobots continued to talk while they waited for Dinobots to get finished up. All of a sudden the view screen popped on. Optimus Prime was on the screen. Even though they couldn't see any emotion from Prime's face, they could tell that he was worried.
“Jazz, Hound,...”
“The name is Shortstop, also known as Dustin.”
Prime looked at him for a moment then got back to business.
“Punch has reported that the Decepticons are headed towards Athens. What do you think the Decepticons would want with Athens?”

“I can't think of anything except for the Haunted Athens legends. But the legends are only a myth. I really don't think that they could gain an advantage with it. If the legends were true, it's just mystical energy. That can't be converted to Energon Cubes, could it?”
“Let's not find out. Autobots, transform and meet me there.”
The screen went blank. Then the Dinobots came into the room.
“You heard the boss, roll out.” Jazz said.
The three Autobots transformed and headed for Skyfire. Skyfire was refueling. The Dinobots boarded, then Hot Rod pulled up.
“I'm coming too.”
The four Autobots boarded Skyfire and headed for Earth.

The Decepticons had just arrived in Athens. The humans scattered to get away from the giant robots. The Decepticons pushed over trees and kicked up the sidewalks. Soundwave walked around with an energy gigercounter that had replaced his hand. He had found the source of the energy.
“THE SOURCE OF THE ENERGY IS HERE, GALVATRON. THE URBAN LEGEND IS ALSO TRUE.”
“I don't care about the legend. All I care about is the energy.” Galvatron snapped. “Prepare the energon cubes.”
Transparent cubes stretched out of Soundwave's chest. Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust, Rumble, Frenzy, Scourge and the Sweeps picked up the cubes and placed them at the source of the energy. They had filled a few cubes when Dirge was hit in the back by a photon charge. The Decepticons looked back to see the Autobots charging at them.
“It's the Autobots!” Cyclonus yelled.
”Very Perceptive.” Optimus Prime said.
“You don't stand a chance, Prime” Galvatron said.
“Stick it in neutral, Galvatron.” Prime shot back.
The other Autobots pulled up and transformed into their robot mode. The Decepticons began to attack. The Sweeps transformed and flew around, firing at the Autobots. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe jumped into the air and grabbed a hold of a sweep. The two Autobots steered the two sweeps into each other. Right before they collided, they abandoned the sweeps.
“Hey, our jet judo has gotten better.” Sideswipe commented.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
The battle continued as the two brothers landed. Mirage snuck up on Soundwave, Brawn picked up a fallen tree and swung it at Thrust. He hit him in the back and sent him flying into the air.
“Man, I’ve been out of this too long. That felt real good.”
“That feeling is not going to last long, Autobot.” Said the purple jet known as Cyclonus.
Cyclonus aimed his blaster at him, getting ready to fire. Then he was tackled from behind by Smokescreen. The two wrestled around then finally Cyclonus got the upper hand. He picked up Smokescreen and through him into a building. The two brothers known as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, teamed up and pounced on Cyclonus. Galvatron and Optimus Prime faced off.
“I’ll make sure you don’t come back this time, Prime.”
“There will always be someone to take my place to fight the forces of evil.”

Galvatron shot at Prime with his arm cannon. Prime dodged it and charged at the Decepticon leader. He tackled him. Neither one could gain an advantage. Prime threw a punch then Galvatron did the same. Finally Galvatron over took Prime. He threw the Autobot leader to the ground. He put on foot on Prime’s chest and aimed his arm cannon at Prime’s face.
“Here is the end of the indestructible Optimus Prime.”
He charged up his orange arm cannon. He was ready to fire when all of a sudden a photon charge hit Galvatron in the chest, knocking him off balance and off of Prime. They all looked up to see the smoking barrel of Shortstop’s sniper rifle.
“We’ll attend to Prime and you guys handle the rest.” Jazz said while pointing to Hound and himself.
The Porsche and jeep jumped out of Skyfire.
“Ok Dinobots, do your thing.” Hot Rod said.
“Me Grimlock’s thing is to bash brains”
“Me Slag is to follow you, Grimlock”
“Me Sludge follows too.”
“Me Swoop wants to...” He was cut off by Hot Rod.
“Ok, ok, just go.”
“Us Dinobots, dinomite them to pieces.” Snarl said.
The five Dinobots jumped out of Skyfire and glided through the air.
“Dinobots, transform.” Grimlock ordered.
The five of them transformed into their dinosaur modes.
“Skyfire, cover us while we jump down there and then transform and join the battle.” Shortstop said.
“You got it, little buddy.” Skyfire replied.
“Ok Hot Rod, lets go.”
The two speedsters jumped out of Skyfire and headed for the battle. The two Autobots landed at the intersection of Court Street and Washington Street. They transformed into their vehicle modes and sped towards the battle. They ramped the sidewalk and blindsided Ramjet and Astrotrain. The Predacons and Constructicons surrounded the Dinobots. The Constructicons merged into Devastator and the Predacons formed Predaking. The Dinobots looked around and then the Dinobot leader gave the order:
“Dinobots come together.”
The five united into Titanus.  Slag and Snarl became the legs and feet. Sludge and Swoop became the arms and hands and Grimlock formed the body and head. Grimlock’s Dinohead moved down to the chest area and Snarl’s tail separated from his body and split in half and connected to both sides of the head. The actual head had a mouthpiece and triangular blue eyes. Devastator came up behind to attack. Titanus elbowed him in the face and the Decepticon combiner stumbled back. Predaking charged and Titanus clothes-lined him. Predaking fell to the ground. Titanus tapped his right elbow then elbow dropped him. Devastator came out of no where with a right hook. Titanus stumbled. He was about to charge when all of a sudden a purple photon charge hit Titanus. The new Autobot combiner disengaged. Everyone looked up to see where it had come from only to be stunned by what they saw. It was Megatron.

“It can’t be possible.” Prime said.
Megatron stood there with the three jets known as Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp.
“Prepare to meet with oblivion.” Megatron said. “Attack!”
The three subordinates transformed into their jet mode and took off to attack the Autobots. Megatron leapt into the air and landed about ten feet away from Prime.
“You remember what happened last time we faced off, Prime?”
“If memory severs I beat you.
“No, you died before I was transformed into Galvatron. This body was made by Unicron for further study and my memory and personality was put into it.” Megatron explained.
“But I came back before you did.”
That’s irrelevant, but this isn’t”
Megatron raised his right arm and shot a photon charge at Prime. Prime ducked and shot back.
“You’re irrelevant, Megatron.”
Prime charged at Megatron and tackled him.

Skywarp flew around shooting at Autobots. Shortstop raised his rifle and shot at Skywarp. Skywarp veered off and headed for Shortstop. He transformed in mid flight and came crashing down on him. They wrestled around punching each other; they appeared to be equally matched. Shortstop kicked Skywarp’s legs out from underneath of him. He fell onto his back and Shortstop jumped on him. He put his hands around Skywarp’s throat. Then all of a sudden an electrical charge went surging through both of them. It lasted for a couple of seconds but after it was over, Skywarp lay motionless but was still alive. Shortstop was still himself. He was looking at his hands trying to figure out what happened. He noticed tiny little circles on his fingers.
“What the...?” he thought to himself.
He activated his internal scanner and found out what they were. The circles were energy absorbers. Just then he was rocked by a photon charge that caused him to fall to the ground. He couldn’t move he looked up to see his attacker. It was Starscream. He came over and put his foot on Shortstop’s chest and aimed his am gun at him.
“He’s notorious for using his null ray. No wonder I can’t move.” Shortstop thought.
“Now Autobot, you will be terminated.”
Shortstop regained control of his body but wasn’t about to let Starscream know that he could move.
“Ok Cliffjumper nail ‘em.”
“What? That little no good excuse for a transformer thinks he could take on the mighty Starscream.”
The arrogant Decepticon turned around to find out that Cliffjumper wasn’t there.
“What? There is no one there.”
“No, but there is someone here.”

Starscream turned back around and was wacked across the face by the butt end of Shortstop’s pistol. Starscream stumbled back. Shortstop got up and punched Starscream, knocking him to the ground. Shortstop picked up Starscream by the foot, swung him around and launched him into the air.
“Had enough Starscream?” Shortstop yelled.
Megatron and Prime still wrestled around. Prime lost his footing over a fallen tree. Megatron raised his arm cannon to shoot Prime, but Starscream flew through the air, out of control, and nailed Megatron in the side causing him to fall over. Megatron pushed Starscream off of him.
“Starscream, you fool.”
Thundercracker came over and helped up Megatron and Starscream. Gold Bug and Cliffjumper plowed into Thundercracker, knocking him into Megatron and Starscream. They all fell over. Jazz continued to wrestle with Cyclonus, Hot Rod was trading punches with Thrust. Hot Rod looked over to see Galvatron aiming his arm cannon at Shortstop. Hot Rod punched Thrust, picked him up and threw him at Galvatron. The red Decepticon jet knocked over the evil insane leader. Galvatron shot up.
“Insecticons, attack!” He yelled.
The sky grew dark; everybody stopped fighting to look up. Skywarp was regaining consciousness. Soundwave and Bluestreak were struggling with each other but stopped to see what was going on. Bluestreak threw another punch which connected with Soundwave’s face, and knocked him over. Optimus Prime looked up in horror to see a barrage of Insecticons clouding the sky like overcast clouds. They started attacking. The Autobots tried fighting back but it was futile. Autobots were being picked up then thrown into buildings, trees and even other Autobots. A clone of Kickback landed next to Shortstop. Shortstop smashed its head in with the butt end of his sniper rifle, but another Kickback kicked him into an office building.
“Autobots, report back to Autobot City.” Prime ordered.
The Autobots transformed and rolled out. The Dinobots boarded Skyfire and took off. For once the Autobots retreated.

Description
Transformers: Resurrection

The thunder roared and the lightning lit up the night sky. The rain became harder. It stung as it hit the skin. Lightning flashed again. Every time the lightning flashed a glimpse of Autobot City can be caught. Everybody is inside, staying out of the rain.
“Man, the lightning out there will fry the circuits of a Sekonian Eel Bot.” Sideswipe said.
“Yeah, it will probably eat the enamel off my paint job too.” Sunstreaker said.
“Well, you guys don’t have to worry about it. I’m the one who has to drive in it.”  Dustin said.
Dustin hung out with the Autobots ever since they saved him from Trypticon. Five months ago, Trypticon stomped his way through Pittsburgh. Casualties were somewhat light but Trypticon still destroyed a quarter of the city. Dustin was in town to watch a football game when Trypticon attacked. The Decepticon city had kicked Dustin’s 2002 Chevy Cavalier while Dustin was still inside. The impact mangled the car and trapped Dustin inside. Metroplex and Defensor had come to the rescue.  The two Protectobots: First Aid and Streetwise rescued Dustin. Since then Dustin helped out the Autobots when they needed it. Dustin was an average guy. He was about to graduate college and worked at Lucky’s Sports Tavern and Nelson Dining Hall. The 5’7”, brown haired, green eyed bartender studied the Autobots. He was fascinated by them ever since he found out about them. He used to play football for Ohio University as a wide receiver. He got most of his work outs by practicing with the Dinobots. His friend Nick Mathias also admired the Autobots. Nick was about 6’2” short blonde hair, blue eyes and goatee. He mainly helped First Aid and Perceptor with the injured Autobots. Autobot City was now located outside of Athens. It moved from its Oregon location to Athens, Ohio.  Spike and Carly had moved to Athens after Carly got a job as a doctor at Ohio University Osteopathic Center. The Autobots moved as well. They positioned Autobot City near Albany in a vacant field.  People drive out of Athens down State Route 50 towards Albany to see the massive city.
“Hey Nick, what time is it?” Dustin asked.
“Almost nine.”
“Damn, I gotta be at work at ten thirty. And I have to drop some history notes off to Liz. She and Katie are working late at Nelson. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Dustin walked out of Metroplex and got into his car, which was a 2007 Ford GT. He pulled out then drove away. His headlights flashed across the wooded area that surrounded Autobot City. The figure stood among the trees while Dustin drove off. The figure stood about eight feet tall. It stumbled towards the Autobot camp. Alarms went off inside.
“Something has tripped the proximity alarm.”  Bluestreak said.
Some of the Autobots ran outside to see what had tripped the alarm.  Mirage, Hound, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak and Cliffjumper ran outside into the rain and were stunned by what they saw.
“Holy Cybertron!” they all said at once.
The figure came into the light. It was Brawn.

Since the Decepticons were defeated and Cybertron is now in its second golden age, the Decepticons fled Charr and have returned to their underwater base. Trypticon and Scorpinok are also under water in separate locations from the main headquarters. Inside Soundwave’s lab, Soundwave and Dr. Archevil are working on a lifeless body. They room was musty and no one has been in there since before 2005. Generators are running the lights and machines in the room. One generator began to make a high pitched noise and explodes. The lights dimmed and the machines shut off. Three Decepticons walked into the room to fix the generator. The three are identical except for one who has a camera lens below his chest plate. The three are known as Reflector. They transform together to form a camera, which as helped the Decepticons on countless occasions. They repaired the generator and the lights and machines started working again. The doors to Soundwave’s lab opened again and two more Decepticons walked in. It was Rumble and Frenzy. They walked over to the table where Soundwave and Archevil were working.
“It’sits Megatron!” Rumble said.
“Yes it is, Rumble.” Archevil replied.
“But, I thought Megatron was Galvatron?” Frenzy wondered.
“Yes, that is true but when Unicron transformed Megatron to Galvatron, he made a copy of Megatron and the others for further study. When the Autobots destroyed Unicron not all of him was completely destroyed. His head and his left leg stayed intact.  Under orders from Galvatron I went searching for parts from Unicron. He wanted the parts examined to see if there were any technological advantages that we could gain from them, I only found the left leg and inside were the clones of Megatron and the others and they were intact but I had run into Starscream who was floating through space in stasis lock. I convinced Galvatron to keep Starscream even though he will probably attempt to overthrow him. That is why I installed a chip in Starscream’s head that will prohibit him from taking any hostile action towards Galvatron or Megatron. I have reactivated all but Megatron at the moment.”
Archevil went back to work on the lifeless body. Soundwave then hooked up a machine to the body and pressed a button. Soundwave and Archevil stood back while the machine sent electric shocks through out the body. Just then Megatron’s red eyes lit up and glowed full of life and hatred for the Autobots. One word was muttered from his mouth.
“Revenge.”

“So let me get this straight when the Decepticons attacked the shuttle they shot you in the shoulder which instead of killing you it knocked you out? When you came to you saw that the other three were dead and saw Autobot City in ruins and you thought all of the Autobots were dead when you found Wheeljack, Windcharger and Optimus Prime? Then you made it to Sparkplug’s old work shop in the city and stayed there until you were able enough to make it here. How did you know to come back?” Sideswipe asked as if he didn’t believe him.
Sideswipe and his twin Sunstreaker stood against the control panel, looking at their thought to be lost comrade.
“I had a feeling and I went with it. I didn’t have anything to lose. Now when are we going to beat up some Decepticons?”
“Later Brawn, but for right now let Perceptor take a look at you.” Prime said.
“Alright Prime.”
Brawn walked out of the room and headed for Perceptor’s lab.
“I thought all of the Autobots’ bodies were in the mausoleum, which was destroyed?” Mirage asked.
“There was no body for Brawn’s tomb.”
Just then the alarm sounded. The Autobots put their attention to the screen to see what was going on.
“What are the Decepticons up to now?” Bluestreak asked.
“They’re attacking Columbus. We must stop them. Autobots, transform and roll out.” Prime ordered.

While the Autobots were on their way, the Decepticons were tearing the city apart. Cyclonus flew around in his jet mode destroying everything in his path. Scourge and the Sweeps were causing havoc as well. They knocked over buildings, crushed civilians. Cyclonus landed and transformed. He pulled out his Targetmaster, Nightstick. He began to fire at the scattering humans. He hated the “flesh bags.” He wanted to destroy them. He has hated them ever since he’s been created. He wasn’t sure when that was. He has no memory before Unicron. He, Galvatron, Scourge and the Sweeps have no recollection of any events leading up to the whole Unicron disaster. The other Decepticons claim that they used to be someone else but Cyclonus is a little skeptical about it. They say Galvatron used to be Megatron but Galvatron is more ruthless by comparison.  He wanted to please his leader, Galvatron. Even though Galvatron was completely insane he would follow him to the ends of the universe.
The Sweeps flew in a triangular formation, firing. They transformed and landed. They continued their attack on the ground. One Sweep lifted his foot to crush some humans but was stopped by a photon charge that hit him in the back. He rolled over to see the Autobots attacking.
“Autobots!” Scourge yelled.
They hid behind buildings and fired at the attacking Autobots. The Autobots transformed, scrambled and fired back. People scattered and ran away from the fighting Transformers. The Autobots outnumbered the Decepticons but the Decepticons continued to fight as if they had a card up their sleeve.  Optimus Prime knew this as well. There were no significance to Columbus.
“What were the Decepticons up to?” Prime thought to himself.

As the battle raged on in middle Ohio, Dustin was dropping off history notes to one of his friends. He stood in there talking to them, killing time before he had to go to work at the bar. It was dead there. No customers had come in for awhile, so they just stood there talking. Liz and Katie were both managers. They have been friends with Dustin for a couple of years. They all met each other at work.

“Man, its like I don’t get to hang out with you guys like I did in the old days.” Dustin said.
“I know. You’re always too busy for us.” Liz replied.
“I know I am but I can’t help it. So what do you guys think of the Transformer war?”
“I don’t know. I’m kinda scared about it. People can get hurt.” Liz said.
“I agree with her.” Katie said.
Then another worker spoke up. It was Sarah Riley. She opposed the Transformer war on Earth. She was about 5’5” reddish brown hair, olive green eyes, she also had an athletic build to her. Her hair was down a little past her shoulders. She was only 21 but she was built as if she were 25. Dustin was attracted to her ever since he started working with her. She showed some affection towards him but also liked to play hard to get.
“The war is pointless. Why can’t they fight their war on their own planet? I bet the Autobots are really nice and all but fighting your own war on someone else’s land or planet is just down right rude.”
Dustin walked over to her and put his arm over her shoulder.
“Listen babe, if weren’t for the Autobots then the Decepticons would have tapped this planet dry of its energy and resources and we wouldn’t be having this conversation and you wouldn’t be able to spend this much time with me.”
She pushed his arm off of her and put her face close to his and said in a real soft voice.
“You’re right I wouldn’t be spending this much time with you. I’d be in a better place than with you.”
Liz and Katie both started laughing. Dustin grinned then reverted to his old tactics. He quickly turned towards Liz and Katie.
“But you two didn’t see us in the tower room when the Decepticons attacked a nearby town. She expressed her true feelings for me.” He said grinning as he grabbed and held her hand and held it up close to his chest.
“Why youscruffy looking.horse herder.” She said desperately trying to think of a comeback while pulling her hands away.
“Who’s scruffy looking?” He said looking offended.
He looked down to his watch and it read: Ten fifteen. He sighed.
“I gotta get going. I’ll see you all later.”
He walked out of the room. Then reappeared.
“Bye babe. I’ll come over later.” He said innocently.
She smiled sarcastically and then flipped him off. He smiled and walked away. His smile quickly faded as soon as he was out of sight. He didn’t know why he acted like that around girls. Maybe it was because he wanted to be noticed and didn’t want to be “background radiation.” That was a term he often used to describe himself. Maybe he felt insecure about things. He hasn’t had much luck with women as the average person would. The last real relationship he had was back in high school, even then his girlfriend cheated on him. Maybe that was one thing he was insecure about? He didn’t want his heart broken again.  He walked out of the building, putting his hands in his pockets and letting out a sigh of depression. He felt a strong gust of wind pick up then die down. He looked to the dark night sky as if he were looking for something. Then his eyes grew big as he realized what caused that gust of wind. He saw two mechanical birds fly towards the uptown area.
“It’s Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.” he thought to himself.
He quickly ran to his car and followed the two Decepticon spies. He followed them to the college green. He stopped his car near the green and got out to spy on the spies.  They flew around the college green, scanning. Then Soundwave landed. His hand retracted into his forearm and an energy giger counter replaced it. Dustin noticed that his anxiety level was rising. He looked at his hand, it was shaking. He didn’t know what to do. Then he figured that he may not be an Autobot but he was going to try to mess things up for the Decepticons. He went over to his trunk and pulled out his sniper rifle that he usually kept in there in case he decided to go shoot targets. He aimed the rifle at the giger counter and fired. He hit the giger counter and Soundwave looked right at him and returned fire. Dustin jumped in his car and sped off. Soundwave pointed and Laserbeak and Buzzsaw flew after him. Dustin kept swerving to miss the deadly photon beams Laserbeak was shooting at him. He knew he was in for it if he didn’t get to Autobot City. He knew he could probably out run them if he got onto the highway. So he drove to the nearest highway ramp. Dustin had made it to Stimson Avenue and was only feet away from the ramp that led to the highway. Laserbeak shot photon beams from his eyes. One of the beams nailed the rear driver side tire causing Dustin to spin out of control. He slammed into the overpass, totaling his car. The two Decepticons flew off and met up with Soundwave.

Meanwhile in Columbus, the battle continued. The Autobots fired at the Decepticons. Soundwave radioed Cyclonus.
"MISSION COMPLETE CYCLONUS, RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS.”
Cyclonus and the Sweeps pulled out. Scourge stayed an extra five seconds to distract the Autobots. He shot out the legs of a billboard causing it to fall. A few people were under it. Optimus ran to catch the falling billboard. He was able to catch it before it caused any harm. He looked at the billboard. It had five faces on it. It was dedicated to the five students that died in a fire in 2003. As he set it aside the other Autobots walked up.
“They pulled out?” Prime said confused.
“Yeah and with nothin’ not even Energon cubes” Sunstreaker said.
Just then Prime received a transmission from Headquarters. He held his hand up to the left side of his head as he listened.
“Dustin was attacked by Laserbeak and Buzzsaw.” Prime told the others. “Let’s roll out.”
They transformed and headed back to Autobot City.

They arrived at Autobot City moments after Hoist and Dustin arrived. They transformed and walked into the mighty transforming city. The GT was a table and Dustin was nearby talking with Nick. Dustin was relatively calm considering that he almost died again.
“So, have you heard about Brawn?” Nick asked.
“Brawn?” Dustin asked raising an eyebrow. “As in the Brawn that died in the shuttle massacre?”

“Yeah, but he didn’t die, he was just unconscious. He came back right when you left for work.”
“Yeah and I’ve been looked over by Perceptor ever since then instead of kickin’ pig iron.” Brawn said as he walked into the room.
“How are you feeling Brawn?” Silverbolt asked.
“I feel like beating up Decepticons”
“You may get your chance soon enough. They’re up to something and we don’t know what. I don’t like mysteries. They give me surges and I have a beauty right now.” Prime said.
“Hound, are the Dinobots still on Cybertron?”
“Yeah Prime.”
“Ok, Hound go get the Dinobots and bring them down here.”
“Optimus Prime, I want to go to Cybertron. I want to take Dustin and Perceptor and work on Dustin’s car. With your permission of course.” Nick said.
“I see no problem with that. I approve.”
Moments later Perceptor, Hound, Nick and Dustin boarded Skyfire. Hoist loaded the GT into Skyfire’s cargo bay. They cargo bay’s doors closed.
“Alright everyone, buckle up for safety. Next stop: Cybertron.” Skyfire reported.
Skyfire blasted off and headed for his home planet.

On Cybertron Jazz walked along the outer perimeters of the headquarters, his steps were slow and deliberate. He looked around then gazed up at the sky. The black and white Autobot usually didn’t let anything mar his sunny nature, but he was simply too depressed. Jazz loved Cybertron; it was his home planet after all. But even before the Ark crashed, he had always thought the place to be a bit dull, and his experiences on Earth only served to reinforce the sentiment. He knew what lay underneath Cybertron’s golden metallic crust: wires, electric currents, all of them unchanging. Even the great super computer Vector Sigma was set and immovable in the center of the planet. But on Earth everything was alive and changing, teeming with mystery, you never knew what organisms, what treasures lay underneath your feet, what natural powers were at work. Not only that, but the humans were wonderful despite obvious flaws, their different cultures fascinating. They had dances, languages, poetry, things the war on Cybertron had killed for its mechanized inhabitants. Jazz loved that inscrutable energy and life, loved the kaleidoscope of diversity. Cybertron was boring by comparison. But now he tardily made his way to his quarters, the surge of elation didn’t come. The situation on Earth had changed too, much to his disappointment. The days when the Autobots worked out of the Ark had disappeared when Autobot City was constructed and new recruits had been sent from Cybertron before it was conquered to help the humans kick the Decepticons off. This wouldn’t have been so bad, for Jazz was affable and made new friends easily, except when the new people came in and the old went out. The worst year for Jazz was 2005. In that terrible time, some of Jazz’s oldest and dearest friends had been killed in what felt like one fell swoop. Prime was killed in battle, the youngster Hot Rod suddenly became Rodimus Prime, Cybertron was retaken and everything was turned upside down in general. Jazz adapted to the best he could to these new conditions and superficially he seemed the same as he ever was. He joked and pulled a few pranks, hung around with Rodimus and Springer, often going with them to tip back a few drinks. Sometimes he felt comfortable and firmly situated, but then those times of doubt and confusion always came when he was alone, putting him off balance. And Among the many faces, he hadn’t seen one that was really familiar to him. All of his remaining old friends were down on Autobot City working on repairs, a place he hadn’t been to in years. No only that, but something strange had happened to him after he escaped from Unicron. Gradually over the weeks, his voice had begun to change and there wasn’t a single reason why. His voice, a mixture of talking and singing, vibrant and vivacious, had lost its musical qualities, rendering it common and flat. He had seen First Aid about the problem but the medic had found nothing wrong. Jazz had given up all hope of it ever returning to normal. But then Optimus Prime came back twice. The first time he almost destroyed the entire Autobot race by leading the into a Quintison trap. Not only did he almost destroy the Autobots but he destroyed the Autobot Mausoleum that held his old buddies. The second time his leader came back for good. The scientists that found him spread a heat plague that nearly wiped out everything on Earth, Cybertron and the rest of the galaxy. He smiled a bit at the thought of Prime coming back. He hoped the others would come back but he knew that would never happen. He even comforted Chromia when she heard about Ironhide. She went to the site of the mausoleum after Rodimus had told her that Optimus had destroyed it. She wanted to be sure. She found a bent up piece of red metal with the Autobot symbol. It now lies in her quarters. She often goes to that site, only the Matrix knows what she does there. Jazz couldn’t help but brood about these things as walked and soon he realized why it never paid to sulk, it was a bad thing to do. The Autobots may have retaken Cybertron and it being in its second golden age but small roving bands of Decepticons were still around, just waiting to pick off unsuspecting victims. A flurry of laser fire burst from behind him. Jazz, startled out of his wits, gave a yelp and dove for the nearest entrance, slamming his hand on the keypad. A sharp jolt flared up in his right leg, making him wince, but Jazz kept a cool head as he quickly punched in the entrance code and zoomed into safety. Panting a little, Jazz gingerly set himself down onto the floor and looked at his injury. One side of his knee was burned and the joint was smoking. He ran an internal scan on the injury and his fear was realized: his knee was blown out. The Autobot groaned. He would have to make the trip all the way to the other side of HQ to get to First Aid’s repair room.
“Man, I’m getting’ soft. I can’t believe it.” He muttered, slapping himself on the cheek. “Bad Jazz. Well no use in staying here. Time to haul my sorry can to First Aid’s Medical Bay, ho!”
He painfully got to his feet and transformed into his Porsche mode with just as much discomfort. It would take less time to get to First Aid if he drove, and it would be less painful, since he wouldn’t be limping on his bad knee. The black and white Porsche rowed down the hallways of Autobot Headquarters nearly smashing into several hapless personnel, much to their disgust.
Jazz rolled into First Aid’s waiting room which in reality just a modified garage. He slowly transformed back into his robot mode. As he limped forward, he cocked his head to one side in surprise. Sitting quietly on a metal crate, nursing a cracked arm that was leaking bio fluid in a small but constant stream, was an olive-green Autobot, the front end of a jeep as his chest cavity, sporting a rocket launcher on his shoulder.
“Hound! Long time no see, man. What’re you doin’ here?”

Jazz limped and gingerly set himself down on the ground leaning his back up against the wall.
“Prime sent me to get the Dinobots and drop off Dustin, Nick, Perceptor and Hoist, so that they could work on Dustin’s car. Laserbeak attacked him and now they’re up here working on it. But I’ve got good news, Brawn is back” Hound said. His voice excited and friendly as it ever was despite his injury. “But I met this unfortunate accident by losing my balance and cracked my arm against the side of the cargo bay loading ramp. Man, that thing is sharp. And so here I am. So, what’s your story Jazz-o?”
Jazz had an astonished look on his face.
“Well for starters a sniper got me, but Brawn is back, eh. How?”
“When the Decepticons attacked he was knocked out could and when he came to he thought the Autobots were dead. He ended up staying in Sparkplug’s old garage in the city.”
“Man, that’s cool.”
Jazz cocked his head and looked into the window that led into First Aid’s operating room.
“Looks like First Aid’s kinda busy right now, though, since you’re having to hang out here.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be awhile before he gets to us, I hate to say.”
“Aw, well I don’t have anything to do anyway.”
Jazz put his hands behind his head band proceeded to count the cracks in the ceiling. He had gotten to number thirty when Hound interrupted the reckoning.
“Jazz? You all right? My scout’s intuition tells me that something’s not quite right with you.”
The Autobot flinched in surprise, but he immediately recovered and gave a small smile.
“How can you tell?”
Hound lifted a finger and wagged it.
“Well for one, you’re never this quiet. Second, your voice is lacking something. Thirddo I really have to go on? If I were Red Alert, my circuits would have blown out by now. You want to talk about it?”
Jazz regarded his companion for a few moments. He and Hound had known and worked with each other for a long time and Jazz was quite fond of the green guy. Though Hound wasn’t the most talkative mechanism in the universe, he was a good listener and often provided Jazz with a willing audience. In addition to that, they shared a mutual love for Earth and its wonders. Hound, unlike some Autobots, was truly fascinated with the humans and didn’t think of them as mere “flesh creatures” and this thinking suited Jazz very well. On Cybertron they had been well-meaning acquaintances, when they crashed on Earth, they soon became good friends. Now Jazz became filled with the urge to confide everything, he needed someone to talk to.
“I got reassigned today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Hound said as he gave a truly sympathetic look.
“It’s alright. Life goes on m’man. I guess it’s for the better.” Jazz shrugged.
“Why’s that?” Hound asked.
Jazz glanced down at the ground, thinking on how to put his jumbled feelings into words.

“Ever since that whole Unicron mess, I haven’t been feelin’ right. I was glad to get out of that creep’s stomach alive, o’course but when I got back to Cybertron, everything was screwed up. Prime was dead; Rodimus was the new leader and all that crazy stuff. At first I thought I’d get used to it and I have a little, I suppose but something’s missin’, Hound. All of these new peopleI just can’t connect with ‘em and they can’t connect with me. I tried to talk with Ultra Magnus a few days ago and all he could do was just nod and say ‘yes Jazz’ and ‘no Jazz.’ I joked with him and he didn’t even laugh.”
“Well, Ultra Magnus isn’t the most humorous Autobot, Jazz. It’s just not his nature.”
Hound smiled, his diamond shaped eyes reflecting sly merriment.
“I don’t see how he can stand it. The guy never smiles or laughs at all. And that’s another thing, Hound. None of these new guys have any zest in ‘em. Well, except for Hot Rod and Springer. They’re cool cats. I mean, look at good ol’ First Aid, back there.”
Jazz waved an arm towards the doors towards the operating room.
“He’s a nice guy and all but he doesn’t have any spark in him. No wit, no life. Not like Ratchet was.”
The Autobot couldn’t help but grin slightly as the memories of the dead medic washed over him.
“Yeah,” Jazz drawled, his voice a bit distant. “Ol’ Ratchet was a piece or work. I remember whenever Ironhide would do something stupid and get blown up, or when anybody did something stupid. Ratchet would just go bonkers. Primus I miss that old grump. Ironhide, too.”
Hound peered closely at his companion, his scouting instincts blaring warning sirens, he was getting very close to the root of the problem now.
“Jazz. I don’t think it’s not connecting with the new Autobots that’s bugging you so much. You miss the old guys, don’t you?”
The visored Transformer didn’t answer. Hound decided t press on.
“Jazz, come on. Talk to me.”
Jazz looked up, his mouth screwed up in annoyance.
“You’re not going to let up until I squeal ain’t you?”
“Yep, it’s what you used to do when I didn’t want to talk. Time for a taste of your own medicine.” Hound lowered his voice. “I don’t mean to pry Jazz-o, but I think its better if you came clean.” Jazz wrapped his arms around his legs and linked his fingers together, huffing out a breath.
“I do get myself, if you want to know the truth. I’ve been with the Autobots a long time. I’ve seen lots of my pals get killed. It made me sad, but I always got over it. Can’t dwell on those things when you’re in a war.”
“No, you can’t” Hound nodded.
“But this time was different. I first heard the news about the shuttle massacre and the attack on Autobot City when I was on Moon Base One with Cliffjumper. I like someone had spiked a pipe through my gut, but I didn’t have time to think about it. I was too busy, and then I got eaten.”
He said the last word so comically, both robots chuckled a little before Jazz settled down enough to talk again.

“It’s really not that funny, now that I think about it. But, hell gotta laugh to keep from cryin’.”
“That’s the maxim; you’ve lived on for years, Jazz. You always laugh at the most inappropriate times.”
“Thanks, but when I was about to get dropped in that acid vat, I wasn’t laughing. And then I came to Cybertron and started back to work like nothing had happened. I tried to forget everything. But whenever I was alone, I felt funky. I didn’t know what the hell to do with myself. And then I’d think about Wheeljack, Prowl and the others. I felt like I was goin’ crazy. Everytime I heard an explosion, I’d think Wheeljack’s killed again, even though I knew he was dead. It was awful. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. You, Inferno and Cliffjumper were down on Earth. Blaster well, he’s always off on some mission or another, I hardly ever see him. And these new guys are cool, but I worked so long and went through so much with the ol’ gang. It just wasn’t the same without Prime. Man, everything was so much simpler then. With Prime, you knew you were safe, he’d pull through. Rodimus, bonafide neat guy, but he didn’t make me feel secure. But when Prime came back I felt secure again.”
“And you’ve never told anyone else, Jazz?” Hound asked patiently waiting out his friend’s ramblings.
“Nuh-uh. I didn’t think it was necessary. I thought I could deal with it on my own. You know I don’t like complainin’. I’m Jazz nothin’ makes me sad.”
“Seems like a tough act to keep up.” The green scout remarked.
Jazz let the words sink in, and he struggled for a lighthearted response, but found none. Instead he leaned forward a bit, looking a bit reluctant but also bubbling with an unseen energy.
“Jazz, would you mind if I told you something? I’ll try not to make it too preachy.”
“Nobody could ever be as preachy as Prime, I’ve talked now it’s your turn.”
“Jazz you have feelings don’t you? You’ve got a distinct personality of your own, given to you by Vector Sigma itself. Of all the millions of Transformers here on Cybertron, there’s not one other Jazz. Isn’t that correct?”
“Yeah I’m the one and only, baby.”
Jazz cracked a full grin, tapping himself on his chassis.
“And don’t we have feelings? We’re sentient beings, Jazz, no bones about it. And that sentience makes us more than fancy machines. We’ve got names and we’re called ‘he’ or ‘she’, not simply ‘it’.”
“You’re ramblin’, Hound.” Jazz reminded in a somewhat cheeric voice.
He had never seen Hound so loquacious before, and it amused him. Besides, the overall implications of his words were intriguing.
“Sorry,” Hound said almost sheepishly.
“Anyway, what I’m saying is this. Over the years we’ve spent on Earth and our interactions with the humans, I’ve been thinking, Transformers and humans really aren’t that different. Sure there are the obvious differences but when you strip it down to the bare essences, aren’t we like humans? We have the same emotions, desires and personality types. And you know what? If we share the same sentience, wouldn’t we Transformers also have souls?”
“Makes sense,” Jazz answered sitting up straight and alert. “Go on.”

“I think that all of us Transformers have something that makes us special in a certain way, the Matrix everybody talks about, I think we all have a little bit of that Matrix in each of us, even stiffs like Magnus. Even Decepticons have it, I think.”
“I can imagine it” Jazz laughed “ol’ Galvatron and Cyclonus having soft spots! Who knows? Those creeps might even be down right decent sometimes. I knew a few Decepticons before the wars started, they seemed nice enough at the time.”
“And Jazz, this is what I believe. I don’t think a Transformer truly dies. Just because Prowl, Ratchet and the others have stopped living doesn’t mean they’ve ceased to be.”
Jazz’s baffled expression made Hound laugh a little.
“Just think about it. Whenever a doctor out there takes care of a patient, a little essence of Ratchet is there, because that was what Ratchet put his whole soul into. Whenever a policeman walks the beat, there’s Prowl. Whenever a scientist blows up his lab or a man in the south lolls back in the sun, there’s Wheeljack and Ironhide. It’s like a big stream of the very essence of Primus and sometimes we can catch a glimpse of them now and then in the ripples. Don’t you see what I’m getting at, Jazz? The Decepticons can blow up our bodies and make us stop functioning, but they can’t kill us.”
Jazz felt a stirring in his chest. He looked steadily back at Hound and saw the absolute sincerity in the other Autobot’s face. He thought about all the words that had been said, and he found that they were very comforting. He hadn’t felt so good in years.
“Hound, if you were a human, I’d say you’d be the Pope or somethin’.”
“Thanks, I think.” Hound grinned a bit sourly.
Jazz leaned back against the wall once more, his visor winking with new light.
“Thanks, Hound. You really cheered me up.”
“One good turn deserves another. Primus knows you’ve got us out of some nasty funks yourself. You know, I haven’t seen that look in your visor since the time you tricked Prowl into watching Citizen Kane.”
Jazz threw back his head and burst into pearls of laughter at the cherished memory.
“Oh, yeah! His logic circuits nearly exploded. He didn’t understand the movie and why the humans loved it so much. He hated that movie. Ratchet chewed my can out for that. It was worth it. Good ol’ Prowl.”
“Well since you’re going to Earth you can come down with me when I’m fixed. Inferno, Grapple and Cliffjumper are going to meet me there and we’ll all have a few drinks together. They’ve missed you.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
The two Autobots then talked about old times, laughing, telling old tales, recounting adventures and remembering comrades. Always remembering.

Moments later Dustin walked out of the operating room with a duffle back.
“Hey Jazz, hey Hound. What’s up guys?”
“Not much m’man. How you doin’?” Jazz replied.
“Good, but I gotta surprise for y’all.”

Jazz and Hound cocked their heads at the remark. Dustin then walked out of the room and into another. First Aid’s Medical Bay was connected to Wheeljack’s old lab. The room was huge. But it was just because Dustin was tiny compared to the Autobots. He set down the duffle bag and opened it. It was some kind of body armor. He pulled it out. He put the suit on.  The exosuit was black in color. He looked like a miniature robot. The helmet was robotic looking, blue eyes, square face, the face itself was grey but the rest of the helmet was black. The top part that covered the head came down past his ears and stopped at mid-cheek, the arms looked muscular, the chest was square and flat, his stomach area looked like ripped abs. The legs looked robotic as well. He had a red Autobot symbol on the chest. He picked up the helmet and placed it over his head. He felt excited.
“Man this is cool.” He thought to himself.
He walked around the room looking. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular he just wanted to look. Mainly he was getting used to the suit. He saw a small hologram that had First Aid, Ratchet, Perceptor and Wheeljack as the image. Dustin walked back into the operating room.
“Alright Dustin, now transform.” First Aid said. Dustin jumped into the air and transformed into the head. When he transformed his legs slid up to the side of his body, his arms folded back and his head slid inside of the body.  The Ford GT transformed into the body. The front of the car were the arms, the legs slid out from underneath of the car, the rest of the car slid up and became the back of the Transformer, the rear tires came up to his hips. The head connected to the body. He stood about 9 ½ feet tall. His head was similar to Smokescreen’s, he didn’t have a mouth. His eyes lit up every time he spoke. He came out of the operating room and into the room where Jazz and Hound were waiting.
“You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.” He said walking out of the room.
“Now where are those blasted Dinobots?” Nick wondered.
While they waited on the Dinobots to arrive they repaired Hound’s arm and Jazz’s leg.
“Thanks m’man now it’s time to scat back to Earth.”
“We gotta wait for the Dinobots now. Nick has a new idea for them. So, what is your Autobot name, Dustin?” Hound said while admiring the look of the new Autobot.
“UhShortstop.”
“That’s a kickin’ name.” Jazz said while patting Shortstop on the back.
Finally the Dinobots arrived. They looked stubborn as ever.
The three Autobots continued to talk while they waited for Dinobots to get finished up. All of a sudden the view screen popped on. Optimus Prime was on the screen. Even though they couldn't see any emotion from Prime's face, they could tell that he was worried.
“Jazz, Hound,...”
“The name is Shortstop, also known as Dustin.”
Prime looked at him for a moment then got back to business.
“Punch has reported that the Decepticons are headed towards Athens. What do you think the Decepticons would want with Athens?”

“I can't think of anything except for the Haunted Athens legends. But the legends are only a myth. I really don't think that they could gain an advantage with it. If the legends were true, it's just mystical energy. That can't be converted to Energon Cubes, could it?”
“Let's not find out. Autobots, transform and meet me there.”
The screen went blank. Then the Dinobots came into the room.
“You heard the boss, roll out.” Jazz said.
The three Autobots transformed and headed for Skyfire. Skyfire was refueling. The Dinobots boarded, then Hot Rod pulled up.
“I'm coming too.”
The four Autobots boarded Skyfire and headed for Earth.

The Decepticons had just arrived in Athens. The humans scattered to get away from the giant robots. The Decepticons pushed over trees and kicked up the sidewalks. Soundwave walked around with an energy gigercounter that had replaced his hand. He had found the source of the energy.
“THE SOURCE OF THE ENERGY IS HERE, GALVATRON. THE URBAN LEGEND IS ALSO TRUE.”
“I don't care about the legend. All I care about is the energy.” Galvatron snapped. “Prepare the energon cubes.”
Transparent cubes stretched out of Soundwave's chest. Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust, Rumble, Frenzy, Scourge and the Sweeps picked up the cubes and placed them at the source of the energy. They had filled a few cubes when Dirge was hit in the back by a photon charge. The Decepticons looked back to see the Autobots charging at them.
“It's the Autobots!” Cyclonus yelled.
”Very Perceptive.” Optimus Prime said.
“You don't stand a chance, Prime” Galvatron said.
“Stick it in neutral, Galvatron.” Prime shot back.
The other Autobots pulled up and transformed into their robot mode. The Decepticons began to attack. The Sweeps transformed and flew around, firing at the Autobots. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe jumped into the air and grabbed a hold of a sweep. The two Autobots steered the two sweeps into each other. Right before they collided, they abandoned the sweeps.
“Hey, our jet judo has gotten better.” Sideswipe commented.
“Yeah, I think so too.”
The battle continued as the two brothers landed. Mirage snuck up on Soundwave, Brawn picked up a fallen tree and swung it at Thrust. He hit him in the back and sent him flying into the air.
“Man, I’ve been out of this too long. That felt real good.”
“That feeling is not going to last long, Autobot.” Said the purple jet known as Cyclonus.
Cyclonus aimed his blaster at him, getting ready to fire. Then he was tackled from behind by Smokescreen. The two wrestled around then finally Cyclonus got the upper hand. He picked up Smokescreen and through him into a building. The two brothers known as Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, teamed up and pounced on Cyclonus. Galvatron and Optimus Prime faced off.
“I’ll make sure you don’t come back this time, Prime.”
“There will always be someone to take my place to fight the forces of evil.”

Galvatron shot at Prime with his arm cannon. Prime dodged it and charged at the Decepticon leader. He tackled him. Neither one could gain an advantage. Prime threw a punch then Galvatron did the same. Finally Galvatron over took Prime. He threw the Autobot leader to the ground. He put on foot on Prime’s chest and aimed his arm cannon at Prime’s face.
“Here is the end of the indestructible Optimus Prime.”
He charged up his orange arm cannon. He was ready to fire when all of a sudden a photon charge hit Galvatron in the chest, knocking him off balance and off of Prime. They all looked up to see the smoking barrel of Shortstop’s sniper rifle.
“We’ll attend to Prime and you guys handle the rest.” Jazz said while pointing to Hound and himself.
The Porsche and jeep jumped out of Skyfire.
“Ok Dinobots, do your thing.” Hot Rod said.
“Me Grimlock’s thing is to bash brains”
“Me Slag is to follow you, Grimlock”
“Me Sludge follows too.”
“Me Swoop wants to...” He was cut off by Hot Rod.
“Ok, ok, just go.”
“Us Dinobots, dinomite them to pieces.” Snarl said.
The five Dinobots jumped out of Skyfire and glided through the air.
“Dinobots, transform.” Grimlock ordered.
The five of them transformed into their dinosaur modes.
“Skyfire, cover us while we jump down there and then transform and join the battle.” Shortstop said.
“You got it, little buddy.” Skyfire replied.
“Ok Hot Rod, lets go.”
The two speedsters jumped out of Skyfire and headed for the battle. The two Autobots landed at the intersection of Court Street and Washington Street. They transformed into their vehicle modes and sped towards the battle. They ramped the sidewalk and blindsided Ramjet and Astrotrain. The Predacons and Constructicons surrounded the Dinobots. The Constructicons merged into Devastator and the Predacons formed Predaking. The Dinobots looked around and then the Dinobot leader gave the order:
“Dinobots come together.”
The five united into Titanus.  Slag and Snarl became the legs and feet. Sludge and Swoop became the arms and hands and Grimlock formed the body and head. Grimlock’s Dinohead moved down to the chest area and Snarl’s tail separated from his body and split in half and connected to both sides of the head. The actual head had a mouthpiece and triangular blue eyes. Devastator came up behind to attack. Titanus elbowed him in the face and the Decepticon combiner stumbled back. Predaking charged and Titanus clothes-lined him. Predaking fell to the ground. Titanus tapped his right elbow then elbow dropped him. Devastator came out of no where with a right hook. Titanus stumbled. He was about to charge when all of a sudden a purple photon charge hit Titanus. The new Autobot combiner disengaged. Everyone looked up to see where it had come from only to be stunned by what they saw. It was Megatron.

“It can’t be possible.” Prime said.
Megatron stood there with the three jets known as Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp.
“Prepare to meet with oblivion.” Megatron said. “Attack!”
The three subordinates transformed into their jet mode and took off to attack the Autobots. Megatron leapt into the air and landed about ten feet away from Prime.
“You remember what happened last time we faced off, Prime?”
“If memory severs I beat you.
“No, you died before I was transformed into Galvatron. This body was made by Unicron for further study and my memory and personality was put into it.” Megatron explained.
“But I came back before you did.”
That’s irrelevant, but this isn’t”
Megatron raised his right arm and shot a photon charge at Prime. Prime ducked and shot back.
“You’re irrelevant, Megatron.”
Prime charged at Megatron and tackled him.

Skywarp flew around shooting at Autobots. Shortstop raised his rifle and shot at Skywarp. Skywarp veered off and headed for Shortstop. He transformed in mid flight and came crashing down on him. They wrestled around punching each other; they appeared to be equally matched. Shortstop kicked Skywarp’s legs out from underneath of him. He fell onto his back and Shortstop jumped on him. He put his hands around Skywarp’s throat. Then all of a sudden an electrical charge went surging through both of them. It lasted for a couple of seconds but after it was over, Skywarp lay motionless but was still alive. Shortstop was still himself. He was looking at his hands trying to figure out what happened. He noticed tiny little circles on his fingers.
“What the...?” he thought to himself.
He activated his internal scanner and found out what they were. The circles were energy absorbers. Just then he was rocked by a photon charge that caused him to fall to the ground. He couldn’t move he looked up to see his attacker. It was Starscream. He came over and put his foot on Shortstop’s chest and aimed his am gun at him.
“He’s notorious for using his null ray. No wonder I can’t move.” Shortstop thought.
“Now Autobot, you will be terminated.”
Shortstop regained control of his body but wasn’t about to let Starscream know that he could move.
“Ok Cliffjumper nail ‘em.”
“What? That little no good excuse for a transformer thinks he could take on the mighty Starscream.”
The arrogant Decepticon turned around to find out that Cliffjumper wasn’t there.
“What? There is no one there.”
“No, but there is someone here.”

Starscream turned back around and was wacked across the face by the butt end of Shortstop’s pistol. Starscream stumbled back. Shortstop got up and punched Starscream, knocking him to the ground. Shortstop picked up Starscream by the foot, swung him around and launched him into the air.
“Had enough Starscream?” Shortstop yelled.
Megatron and Prime still wrestled around. Prime lost his footing over a fallen tree. Megatron raised his arm cannon to shoot Prime, but Starscream flew through the air, out of control, and nailed Megatron in the side causing him to fall over. Megatron pushed Starscream off of him.
“Starscream, you fool.”
Thundercracker came over and helped up Megatron and Starscream. Gold Bug and Cliffjumper plowed into Thundercracker, knocking him into Megatron and Starscream. They all fell over. Jazz continued to wrestle with Cyclonus, Hot Rod was trading punches with Thrust. Hot Rod looked over to see Galvatron aiming his arm cannon at Shortstop. Hot Rod punched Thrust, picked him up and threw him at Galvatron. The red Decepticon jet knocked over the evil insane leader. Galvatron shot up.
“Insecticons, attack!” He yelled.
The sky grew dark; everybody stopped fighting to look up. Skywarp was regaining consciousness. Soundwave and Bluestreak were struggling with each other but stopped to see what was going on. Bluestreak threw another punch which connected with Soundwave’s face, and knocked him over. Optimus Prime looked up in horror to see a barrage of Insecticons clouding the sky like overcast clouds. They started attacking. The Autobots tried fighting back but it was futile. Autobots were being picked up then thrown into buildings, trees and even other Autobots. A clone of Kickback landed next to Shortstop. Shortstop smashed its head in with the butt end of his sniper rifle, but another Kickback kicked him into an office building.
“Autobots, report back to Autobot City.” Prime ordered.
The Autobots transformed and rolled out. The Dinobots boarded Skyfire and took off. For once the Autobots retreated.