Watching "Of Metal & Flesh: The Power of Family (Transformers Prime)"

Part 2: The Beginning

On an old, desolate road a red Dodge Challenger (aka Cliffjumper) howls as he revs his engine kicking up gravel and dirt as he passes through rural road. "So, there I am on a lookout when out of nowhere these high beams light up my rear view. And then it hits me, I'm illegally parked!"
"Another parking ticket?" Arcee asked her partner dryly.
Everyone chuckled at that, though Agent Fowler looked gruffly amused. Cliffjumper smiled softly at that and returned the trio to their carrier. But the kids were a little hesitant before they left.
"Better. The boot." Cliffjumper's voice held a touch of mischief.
"Big metal tire clamp, impossible to remove," replied Arcee.
"Bingo!" An amused smile could be heard in his voice as he spoke. "So, the local police do their thing and I let 'em get all the way down by a block. That's when I kick off my new shiny shoe and BANG!"
"New York's finest soil themselves," Arcee said in reply.
"You know me, Arcee. Mess with Cliffjumper—" started the Dodge Challenger playfully.
"And you get the horns," finished Arcee. His laughter was smooth, rolling laugh that made her smiled at him inwardly. His voice is like that too, calm and smooth so that when he talked, his voice rumbled with warmth. "Not sure how that complies with Autobot rule number one 'Keep a low profile'."
Many of the people in the theater chuckled at their playful banter.
"What can I say?" Cliffjumper replied. "Patrolling for Energon out here in Dullsville gets lonesome, almost makes me miss the Decepticons."
"I think hit my head when I heard that," commented Nova dryly.
"Jasper, Nevada, the entertainment capital of the world?" Jack asked playfully.
"Yeah, well, the brochure lied." His human friends chuckled dryly at the old joke.
"Like Jasper, Nevada's a party?" The somber was almost enough to bring down the car's jubilant mode. "We're alone wherever we travel on this rock, Cliff."
A mad beeping from the dash interrupted any reply that could be thought up. "I'm getting a signal." A more serious attitude took over as Cliffjumper's tires screeched to a halt. "Two of them?"
"What you find?" Arcee asked him, concerned.
"Not sure," admitted Cliffjumper. "But one of these signals is on the move."
"Need back up?" asked Arcee.
"Do I ever need back up?" Kicking into maximum overdrive, Cliffjumper sped off to follow the moving signal. Blurring past his intended destination and towards the moving signal.
"Not a good idea to go alone mate," said Nova.
Finally catching up to the signal, he stalled behind a black pristine Ford Mustang 2008 highlighted by silver chrome, giving the vehicle an edgy look. 
"Jack?" Nova whispered to her older brother.
"Sorry, just want some fresh air," Jack whispered back.
Knock Out let an impressed whistle. "Nice alt mode."
Pulling up beside it, he let out an appreciative whistle. "Where were you when I was picking out my alt-mode?" The car beside him came to an immediate halt as he over shot passing the car as he continued to drive. The mysterious black car's tires squealed as it peeled off taking an alternate road heading for a more urban area. As it drove, the secondary signal followed. "Arcee, about that back up."
"'Cons?" Arcee asked.
"Don't know. But we are moving in your direction." Racing off to catch up with his target Cliffjumper pulled alongside the mystery car, only to see there was no Decepticon badge maring any of his body work. But he was surprised to see there's an Autobot badge on the front of his hood. "So, who are you?" The only sound breaking the silence was the hum of an engine as another burst of speed put his racing partner in the lead as they drove closer to a residential area. "The silent type. Well, that's annoying."
"You always thought the silent type annoying," Arcee teased him playfully.
Cliffjumper let out an amused chuckle at Arcee's playful tease. It took him a while for him to help Arcee recover from her late partner's death.
"Cliff, Bulk and me are moving in your direction now and Bee's ground-bridging Optimus and Ratchet," reported Arcee.
"Get ready to cut him off this route, he's moving into a populated area," replied Cliffjumper. He once again pulled up by his speedy new friend that he had just met. "You don't wanna talk. That's fine. I can talk for both of us, but you need to pull over."
The black car gunned for the shoulder of the road gaining an impressive air time before the thud of hitting rock bottom could be heard.
Many of the audience gasped and their gazes widened at the sight.
A brilliant flash of light could be seen before Cliffjumper could even get a peek at the bottom, looking around, he only saw an empty canal that ran underneath the highway. Baffled and confused, with no one, but himself to vent his thoughts to he aired out. "What the...?"
"Jack," whispered June fiercely.
"Sorry," Jack whispered back. "I panicked. I thought we're the only ones."
"Just be more careful in the future," June gently scolded him.
The scene soon changed to the town Jasper, Nevada. The sky is in the shade of dark blue that's twinkling with stars like diamonds and the moon shone like a bright crystal. At the center the town, the people had started to head back towards their homes, the grownups had gotten back from work and the children had started to head home. Some birds could be heard calling in the sky and flying off in the depths of the town. A few feet away, little kids played tag in the center of the city's park before they were called by their parents. The only pedestrians were a few families enjoying the late evening.
Optimus Prime smiled, feeling a sense of peace going through his spark when he saw it.
But, at the outskirts of town, were two kids (a boy and a girl) sitting at a round table in a pair of chairs. The boy's name is Greg Darby and the girl's name is Nova Darby, younger siblings to Jack Darby and children of June Darby.
"That's us," said Greg in telepathy.
Greg was writing his assignments on the table while Nova was quietly reading a "Wings of Fire" book.
But the duo became alert when they felt the inner voice of their older brother, feeling the panic in his voice. "Siblings! I need your help! We're not the only ones of our kind!"
"Dang it." Nova got up from her seat in an instant, a determined look in her fierce blue eyes. "Let's go." Greg nodded his agreement.
Dreadwing flinched as he remembered what happened to his younger split-spark twin brother. As if sensing his grief and sorrow, Skyquake affectionately nuzzled Dreadwing, in which he returns.
The scene soon changed to the highway, involving Jack on Arcee. Jack allowed himself to relax only to be startled by what came next. The situation seemed to be growing more dire, when suddenly out of nowhere appeared a yellow and black muscle car that tore its way through the offending vehicles. "Friend of yours?"
"Family." Was the curt answer Arcee supplied.
"Friends are sometimes like family," said Jack warmly. 
Weaving in and out of traffic, the battle between the three bots continues as sparks fly off metal, tires screech, and engines rev. Jack noticed that the road ahead ended and tried to steer Arcee away, but she launches herself off the highway and flies through the air. He tightened his grip on the handles, trying desperately to hold on. Arcee slammed onto the ground below and spins to a stop. Against the wall stands a startled Raf and was holding a small yellow race car.
Bumblebee buzzed an apology to Raf, who let the bot pick him up and hugged him. "It's okay 'Bee. I already forgave you. "
"Wow," he whispered and dropped the car.
"You have no idea," said Jack, trying to catch his breath. He quickly got off the bike, and fell down to the ground. They heard the sound of an engine and look up to see the purple cars hurtling through the air, transforming and landing a few feet in front of Arcee.
Arcee then transformed into a slim femme bot, sporting a midnight-blue paint scheme and a few pink highlights around her peds, ankles, and helm, with a small pink crest on the top of her helm. "This ends here 'Cons. I'll do this for you Tailgate." Her fists clenched and glared at the Cons.
"Uh oh." Nova gave a slight flinch. "Those 'Cons are going to feel it big time."
Jack rushed Raf over to the sidelines he was sitting at moments ago as blaster fire flew in their direction.
"What are they?" Raf asked nervously, watching the battle unfold.
"Giants that turn into vehicles," Jack said with a little wonder in his voice. We're not the only ones, there are more like my siblings and I, mesmerized by the battle before him. The arrival of Bumblebee saved her as a metallic foot crashed into the face of the first one and a right cross left the other dazed. Stepping off of his makeshift landing pad left a loud crunch. Looking beneath its foot revealed the crushed remains of a toy car. A trilling that sounded like an apology came from there newest rescuer as he turned to them.
Raf smiled up at Bumblebee warmly and snuggled into his chest.
Seeming to understand the bot, Raf replied, "No problem! Really!"
The Cons took the momentary distraction to shoot the yellow and black bot. He fell down and tried to get back up, but one of the Cons stepped on his chest, pinning the bot in place.
"Leave him alone!" Raf shouted. All eyes turned to look at the little boy, and he gulped. "Please?"
"That was a bold move," remarked Skyquake.
"Bad call," retorted Jack as one of the bots started walking towards their direction and put himself in front of Raf as if to shield him.
A bright light flashed blinding all who were present. The 'Cons as the warrior branded them continued to reach out only to be caught by slender digits, vision clearing it took in the sight of the fist sailing for his face just before it collided. Jack sent the 'Con coming for them crashing to the ground.
"Whoa!" Miko exclaimed. "Awesome hit!"
He immediately crouched down bring his hand back to once again shield Raf. The small boy let out another whoa, now that he was out of danger and marveled at the latest arrival. In that moment, both sides turned to regard him putting their conflict on hold. "Stay behind me."
"Good on ya kiddo," said Jazz, warm pride could be heard in his voice.
A strong, powerful roar could be heard coming from the sky. With a flourishing swoop, a massive light golden femme Predacon with blue and silver highlights had came along and joined in on the fight.
Predaking's optics widened at the sight of the young femme fighting against the dangerous bots. Skylynx and Darksteel were amazed to see a femme member of their brethren.
They soon heard a crash, quickly followed by a terrified scream. Everyone turned to see a robotic snow leopard has joined in on the battle by finishing off one of the enemy bots. It seemed like no one wanted to break the stand off as the five stared each other down. The trio was reluctant to start a fight they had never been in one before and the bad guys had lasers. Both factions withheld their actions in light of the newest development one side for the sheer shock of seeing three loners, the other because of where the new mechs and femme stood in defense of humanity aligned against them there odds looked grim.
Many of the bots were surprised to three bots from different species standing together, ready to fight alongside each other.
Finally, there attention was pulled away by a loud horn that came from a dark green SUV (aka Bulkhead), driving toward the Autobots. The car shifted like the others and took the form of a hulking juggernaut. "Who's ready to rumble?" His fist became maces. Without missing a beat the two 'Cons shifted into cars and peeled out.
"Good timing Bulky," said Wheeljack with a smirk, but it was turned into a gentle smile. He'd never admit it, (it would ruin his tough bot image), but his spark went out to those three young warriors.
Jack transformed, to prepared to drive off, he still was not willing to be cornered by the three. Greg and Nova were both wary of the three bots. "Meet me at the rando point, okay?" The duo nodded before they headed away from the bots in different directions.
Not wanting to leave Raf alone with them, he opened his door. "Get in." It took a moment, but Raf climb into the passenger seat a little reluctant. Passenger seated and buckled, Jack took off making his way back to the street. "Is there somewhere safe I can drop you off?"
"My home is close to here." Raf looked anxious as he looked around the car, all things considered that was to be expected.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Raf asked Jack.
"I was scared," admitted Jack.
Finally, Raf stilled as he stared center console. "Where's Jack?" That probably left Jack reeling in surprise. "We have to go back for him."
"Don't worry. I'll go back for him." Jack did his best to reassure the boy as he pulled up to a house that seemed to ease the tension from him. "I think it's best if you forgot what you saw. Take care kid."
He soon drove all the way towards his family's house and transformed in the garage. After seeing the flash of light, he was joined with both Greg and Nova.
"What were you doing after work?" Nova asked him curiously.
"After I was done with work, I went for a quick drive and came back quickly since I've forgotten my phone after meeting Cliffjumper," explained Jack. "That's when I spotted a motorcycle parked up front. I never really seen that motorcycle before and decided to get a closer look at her. You can imagine how surprised I was when I noticed that Arcee has the same insignia as I do. And the next thing I knew, we were being chased by a bunch of 'Cons across the road."
Everyone understood that Jack was curious about Arcee's motorcycle alt mode, but accidentally got caught in the crossfire.
The scene quickly changed to Autobot Outpost Omega One. There was a small team meeting happening in the base.
"The 'Cons would have been scrap metal if it wasn't for the human," said Arcee.
"Gee, thanks." Arcee smirked in amusement at Jack's dry sarcasm.
"Human?" A trilling from Bumblebee informed the Prime that there was more to the story then Arcee let on. "Two boys."
"I guess the second one must of caught us in the action. Things were hectic while protecting the first one," replied Arcee.
"The Lone Autobot was there too," Bumblebee added. "He was joined with a femme Predacon and a mech Maximal."
"How is that possible?" said Ratchet, stunned. "Those two species have been extinct for eons."
The triplets exchanged nervous glances with each other.
The situation was curious as Optimus took in the full report. "If the Decepticons are targeting us, anyone perceived as our ally will be a grave risk."
"Can we have that in writing?" Nova asked dryly. "Considering Miko likes hitching rides in the ground-bridge." Miko flushed in embarrassment at Nova's statement, but members of Team Prime chuckled at that.