CHAPTER ONE | DISCLOSURE

"I would ask you the same question," Megatronus Prime looked at the Autobot that had supposedly invaded their base. Airachnid, Breakdown, and Soundwave stood behind their leader, slipping into defensive stances and warming their T-cogs, preparing to fight once the medic gave them a single excuse to do so.

"What do you mean, the same question?" Ratchet demanded. "You are in my base. And if you have hurt any of my team members I swear to Primus I will be the one to end you, Megatron!"

He glared into the blue optics of the Decepticon leader. The medic was not stupid, nor blind, he realized the Decepticons were sporting vastly different color schemes than they normally did, but at the moment he was scared, cornered, and outnumbered. Something as menial as colors did not matter at the moment.

Megatronus looked at him with utter confusion, wondering if "Megatron" was supposed to be an insult to him. The Autobot was oddly painted, sporting a purer chroma than his typical self. Though his rather feisty and cold attitude did not seem to have changed. What put off the Decepticon leader even more was the lack of corruption normally shown in his optics. They were blue and pure, like that of any other well-meaning Decepticon.

"I see you 'bots have already done some interior decorating," Breakdown gestured to the floor, where the large Autobot symbol stood out proudly. "I'm only going to ask you this one time, Autoscum: where is Knock Out?"

"Breakdown, wait," Megatronus held out a servo, surveying the base. "Something isn't right."

"Yeah, there's an Autobot in our base," Airachnid snarked, flaring her servos and pointing them at the medic, preparing to web him to the computers.

Like a poorly-timed joke, Miko's head popped up from behind the couch.

"Whoa, who did you pay for the new paintjobs?" She quipped, Ratchet hissing her name as she leaned over the backside of the furniture. "'Cuz I would go back and demand a refund. They look ugly."

"Miko?" Breakdown looked at her, absolutely flabbergasted. He immediately recognized that her purple hair had been switched to pink, her hair also changed from a single braid to two ponytails and a bit of extra hair tied in a loose pony behind her. 

"Something isn't right," Soundwave played the audio of his leader, re-iterating what they were all thinking. Their mass confusion lead to higher tensions, Ratchet sliding into a defensive position as the Decepticons pulled their EM fields in tight, preventing him from getting a proper reading on their emotions. Megatronus took a step forward, raising a servo to gesture that he meant no harm. 

"I believe we all need to take a moment to relax," he stated slowly, staying between his Decepticons and the Autobot, his gaze focusing on the three human children as they slowly made their presence known - aside from Miko, who had already revealed herself. "Jackson, where is your mother?"

That earned him a peculiar look. "What does it matter to you?" The young man could not help the snap, just as apprehensive and on edge as the rest of them. Decepticons in their base - regardless of what they claimed their intentions were - meant that the Autobots were not where they were supposed to be. 

Megatronus did not dwell on the retort, continuing. "We believe it would be best if our liason was here to sort things out," he explained.

"Liason?" Miko laughed. "Ha! She's a nurse."

"Miko! That was not-need-to-know information!" Jack snapped at her, the girl realizing her mistake and immediately shutting her mouth. Megatronus, nor the other Decepticons, sneered or took advantage of that in the slightest; instead, they looked at one another with the upmost confusion.

"Is William Fowler not . . .?" Airachnid asked carefully.

"He is our liason," Ratchet shared, finding that if he at least told them something, they could sort out this absolute mess. "And I don't see how he could assist you."

There was silence as the gears turned in everyone's heads. Clearly, something was incredibly amiss. Their information was jumbled, things were not making sense, and neither party seemed to have intentionally ill intentions. While Ratchet was apprehensive about the Decepticons being in their base, and the fact they were concealing their emotions from him - though he could not blame them, his EM was pulled in tight too - their body language was not . . . Decepticon-like.

Something was amiss indeed.

>><<

Knock Out was outnumbered four to one, but he was not about to let that stop him. If the Autobots had somehow gotten into this base after defeating Megatronus and all of the other Decepticons, that meant only he stood in the way of complete defeat. It had to have been a trap; but how did they get Megatronus to sound so calm, and not send a secret message that all was not well?

"Something isn't right," Optimus spoke aloud, gazing around the base. Things he had not taken notice of before now seemed out of place, the Decepticon symbol on the floor of the base an obvious giveaway, and even the way the human's dwelling was arranged was different. Their threats back and forth were typical, and Knock Out was as cocky as ever, yet he was apprehensive, even terrified. An outgunned Decepticon usually was afraid of capture, but not to this level.

It was as if Knock Out was afraid of the Autobots, and not what his master would do to him if he allowed himself to be caught.

Optimus took a step forward to try and address some issues, a blinding light in his left optic illiciting a pain response, his servo covering it quickly as he jerked back.

"Optimus - " Arcee stopped when she saw the red laser pointed in between the mech's optics, her gaze trailing to the catwalk where the humans would normally reside.

"Take another step closer and I shoot your core out," Jack Darby threatened, his right eye peering into the scope of a high-powered rifle. "This ammo is plated with Cybertronian armor, laced with anti-energon coating, and travels at a speed of 1500 meters per second, which will punch a hole through your skull before you can even process I pulled the trigger."

The Autobots stared at the young man, taking in his military garb and bullet-proof vest. It was as if Jack had aged several years, Arcee recognizing the stance of a predator her charge should not have been familiar with. He stood with trained stillness, waiting for any movement that would indicate Optimus Prime was a threat.

"Wow, who did the paintjobs?" A female voice quipped from the computers. "Because they look ugly."

"Miko?" Bulkhead gaped at his charge. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, draped over her shoulder and obscuring the rock n' roll band on her shirt, the girl's punk boots exchanged for a pair of black Chuck-Taylor's. Her hands were on her hips, cocked in their usual fashion, but her eyes shone with a different light. There was something off.

"Miko," Knock Out hissed. "Get back before they fry your circuitry!"

"They wouldn't get the chance," Jack replied. "I've got Pax in my sights. They wouldn't be stupid enough to try something."

Optimus frowned, his servo dropping. "You refer to me as Orion Pax," he stated, optics moving from Jack to Knock Out. "I no longer answer to that title."

"Oh yes, forgot," Knock Out did a mock bow while rolling his optics. "Lord Orion Pax."

"No, you fail to grasp my meaning," Optimus moved very, very slowly, keeping a scanner locked on Jack's bio-signature and reading his fluctuating levels of cortisol. The moment they would spike, he would cease movement. The young man remained as still as ever, trained to understand when an enemy had intentions to kill - and when they were purely negotiating. "I am now Optimus Prime."

Knock Out's jaw dropped while he watched the mech's chestplates slowly open, revealing a pulsing Matrix of Leadership within his spark chamber. Their worst nightmare - Megatronus' worse nightmare - had just come true.

Then why was Orion - now Optimus - attempting to make peace, instead if using the Matrix's power as he intended?

"He took the Matrix?" Rafael peeked from behind Miko, his jaw dropping in disbelief. Knock Out stared for several moments, then shook his helm.

"No, you're right . . . Something is incredibly wrong," his tense armor relaxed ever so slightly. If the Autobots truly were evil, and in possession of the Matrix, they would not be having this conversation. The strange color schemes and un-Autobot-like mannerisms left an unsettled feeling in his tanks, the medic beginning to question everything.

"I believe it would be best to tell us everything that had happened up to this point," Optimus spoke calmly as he concealed the Matrix once more. "From there, we may attempt to understand where we are - and why we have come here."

Jack finally took his bead off the Autobot leader, his eyes still narrow. His mother had told him not to trust these beings from the start, but something told him these were not the Autobots she had described to him.

Turning around, he pulled out his cellphone, and called his mother.