Author's Note

Before I begin, I'd like to give a shoutout to Bricklayer for helping me finish this first chapter, really appreciate it.

And uh... yeah, new Transformers story. I'll be honest, gonna try and start fresh this time. Emphasis on try. We'll see how things go from here. Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Morning Routine

The year was 2030; a warm evening in California. The crickets were chirping as the moon began to rise high into the sky over the timberlands. Red and orange were a painted cascade above a young couple.

“Alright, I got the stuff! I got the chips, I got the soda, I got it all!”

“Great! Oh, I really hope she loves it,” The girl said.

“Are you kidding? She’s going to love it. And you know me, I’m a master behind the grille.”

The two of them were prepping for a big barbecue, and sadly the special brand of chips and steak they needed were far away. Of course, there was question of why waste so much gas just to pick something up from so far, but they went anyway. The two heard flames rocketing in the distance, enough to make them turn their heads. Looking behind, they saw something small but fast shooting right at their direction. Instinctively, they jumped out of the way, just as the rocket impacted upon the store, exploding it in a fiery inferno.

Pieces of metal and materials from the store flew everywhere. Thankfully the two humans weren’t hurt, but they were shocked, startled… and admittedly felt like they were going to have heart attacks.

"Wha... what was that!?" She shrieked.

"I don't know, but we better get--"

A flash of lights blared behind them. The two of them turned around and saw the high beams of a police car slowly drive towards them, but the siren lights weren't flashing.

"Oh thank goodness, the cops are here. Maybe they can--"

"--Um... Dave? Look!"

Another car began to pull into the area, even though it was still dark, there was enough light from the flames to identify the other car. A black and blue muscle car with an exposed engine sticking out from the hood slowly rolled into the chaos and stopped to the side of the police car.

The frightened couple was confused until they heard noises come from both cars. Both of them began to shift and change shape right before their eyes. Pieces of metal and plating moving around and folding themselves away from the vehicle they once were. But one thing they could make out was the cars were changing and transforming into... robots. Pairs of legs unfolded and arms stretched out, attached to completed torsos and heads.

“Modesto… So this is the place,” The police robot boomed.

The blue robot turned his head at the partner next to him. “The indigenous life always fascinates me. They’re so primitive, so multicultural. Yet…” he turned his gaze towards the girl while his arm transformed into a glowing cannon. “So stupid.”

The girl shivered and waved hi. “H-Hi…”

And in seconds, she was no more. She was reduced to a vat of liquid that popped like a water balloon, scaring the presumed boyfriend who just stood in shock.

“No… B-Baby…” The groceries in his hand dropped to the floor. He didn’t even care anymore.

“Mmm…” the blue robot grunted, wiping the exploded residue on his thighs. “I like the way they pop.”

“You said that about the last 100 people we bumped into on our way here, Dropkick,” The police car rolled his eyes. “Anyways.” He displayed a holographic projection from his wrist. “The Energon signature was located somewhere on the southern coast, shouldn’t be too far out from where we need to be. Only four hours to get there.”

“Then lets hit the road,” Dropkick said, transforming back into the blue muscle car he rolled as before.

The police car transformed as well and followed close behind. The boyfriend was left in the dust, with the liquidfied girlfriend, fallen groceries, and a burning supermarket. He couldn’t do a thing but just drop to his knees and lower his head, crying softly and mourning the loss of the one he loved…

6:30 AM

The sun was just pulling itself over the horizon, blessing the city for a brand new day. Many people were struggling to pull themselves up out of bed, get ready for the day, get some breakfast, etc. Some people who lived here all their life were more accustomed to this, others not so much.

But one family that was accustomed to it was the Sweet family. Sour Sweet, an adult woman in her early 30s was helping her wife, Smallfoot get some luggage into the back of their pickup truck, although it was a little hard with her keeping an unborn child in her belly. The pickup was old, about over 50 years old, but it still worked fine. It helped the family, some children had been born in the back as grandma liked to say. Or at least conceived in the back. In any event, the little truck that could had helped the family through the years, carrying just a little of everything around the farm. And standing close to the door was their son, Betamax, and the family babysitter; Cyberwarp.

Cyberwarp's every day appearance was that of a woman in her mid 20s, sporting a blue short sleeved jacket with yellow stripes, blue jeans, heeled boots, and a sash hanging down in the middle of her waist, almost like a warrior's sash. And it hung from a belt with a buckle that had an insignia of a silver face with a triangular design. Though on her jacket, she did share a patch with the same insignia, athough atop of a heart and diamond graphic; the insignia carried by the Sweet family for years.

“Okay, so Cyberwarp, we’re only going to be gone for a few days, are you sure you can watch Betamax on your own?” Smallfoot asked.

“I’ve watched him before, haven’t I?”

“I know, but he’s got tests coming up this week, the poor guy’s a little nervous. If you can, give him some help, or help him with studying, okay?” Smallfoot asked.

Cyberwarp smiled. “I promise. But isn’t he a little young?”

“They’re spelling tests, Cyberwarp,” Smallfoot corrected. “I know he can do it, but the little guy needs a bit help refreshing some particular words.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“You won’t be gone long, will you Mama?” Max asked.

Sour smiled and kneeled down, ruffling his hair. “I promise kiddo, we’ll only be gone a few days, and we’ll be back soon. And you know we can always talk with the video chats, or over the phone if you want.”

“Okay,” Max nodded.

Sour kissed the top of his head. “Everything will be okay, sweetheart.”

“Okay, so you have the emergency numbers, you know where the medicine is—”

“—And I got the list of things I need to do while you’re gone, I know,” Cyberwarp chuckled. “You remind me of that Twilight Sparkle, I swear.”

“Except we don’t freak out,” Sour corrected.

“That too.”

“Think you’re all packed, babe?”

“I think so, yeah,” Sour nodded. “Okay, so,” she addressed the two in front of her. “A few days without the parents. It’ll be hard, I know it’ll be a bit tough, but it’ll be okay. We’ll be back before you know it. And that surprise I promised? Well... you'll see it soon.”

“Got it,” Cyberwarp nodded again. “Now don’t you have a long drive ahead of you?”

“Oh shoot, you’re right. Come on babe, we should get going,” Smallfoot said. "Hospital's a long drive from here."

“Wait!”

Before the two went to their truck, the little boy leaped and hugged Smallfoot. She smiled before picking him up for a proper hug.

“Oh, you are getting so big,” she giggled.

“Hey, how about a little sugar for Mama?” Sour pouted.

Smallfoot passed her son over to Sour who gave him an even bigger hug.

"Please tell me you'll be okay," Betamax whispered, a little fearful.

“I’ll be okay kiddo,” she said, stroking his cheek. “I promise.”

She gave a quick peck to his cheek just before Cyberwarp picked him up.

“Have a good trip, you two. We’ll see you when you get back!”

“Okay, bye guys!” Smallfoot waved.

“Bye Mommy! Bye Mama!”

Sour waved back just before getting into the red pickup. Once the engine activated, the truck drove off from it’s driveway, and into the street. The truck honked twice just to say bye before they left the area, and before they knew it, they were out of sight.

Cyberwarp kept Max close to her as she walked back inside the house.

“Now don’t you worry about a thing, buddy. Like they said, they will be back before you know it.”

“I know,” he said with a small frown.

Cyberwarp smiled softly before moving her fingers towards his ribcage, making him giggle and spasm in her grip.

“I’mma tickle you! I’mma tickle you!”

“Hey, no, stop it!” he laughed.

“I’mma get cha!”

"Hey, no fair!"

"You surrender?" Cyberwarp teased.

"Never!"

Sometime later, after breakfast and getting dressed, the bus pulled up to it's stop.

"Max! Bus is here!"

Betamax ran as fast as he could, trying not to miss it. “Don’t forget your homework!” She said, slipping the homework page in his backpack. “Have a good day kiddo, I’ll pick you up after school!”

“Bye Cyber!”

“See ya!”

Cyberwarp waved as he got onto the bus. And soon enough, the bus took off, on it’s way to school. The caretaker sighed contently; happy she was able to get him out just in time. Walking back inside the house, she looked at everything in front of her, hands on her hips.

“A few days…” Cyberwarp said before shrugging with a soft smirk. “Easy peasy.”

Checking the time, she grinned knowing that she still had plenty of time before she had to set off for work. Maybe there was some chores she could get taken care of before she left? Sour did leave a list of things to take care of while she was gone.

Walking back inside the house, she found a piece of paper left on the kitchen countertop for her to read (Sour and Smallfoot still preferred using pencil and paper over computers anyway despite knowing their usefulness) and picked it up. She could it tell it was written by Sour, since it looked as if it was scribbled in a rush.

Cyberwarp, while we are gone, there a few things we need you to help with around the house other than keeping an eye on Max. The baby should be due any day now, so we would like some help from you to keep the house maintained.

-Front porch needs to be swept
-Groceries to be shopped
-New baby's room needs a mobile for the crib (maybe something space themed?)
-If Max needs help on spelling, help him practice
-Keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary
-Push the boxes up into the hayloft if Steve and Space come back
-Check the basement for possible mice, I swore I heard one behind the shelves

PS: if you know someone bad is coming or near, drop Max off at his Aunt Lemon's, and if you run into you-know-who, please kick her butt, melt her down, save the head. I want to mount her head on a stick!!! But, also, please turn on the silent security systems. Hopefully Space's weapons can take care of any intruders without killing them.

--Signed, Sour Sweet

Cyberwarp raised her head up, blinking. Of course she knew Sour wasn't serious, but sometimes her sarcastic/crazy moments scared her from time to time. "Well, I hope we don't have to deal with her, but I can definitely take care of everything else."

First, she grabbed the leftover dishes from the sink and set them into the dishwasher. She'd start 'em later, wasn't full quite yet. After that, she took care of sweeping the front porch, cleaning off any dust and loose pieces of dried paint; definitely was gonna need a new coat of paint later on.

After making the final sweep, she put her elbows on the top of the broom handle, thinking for a moment. That was one chore down, anything else she could get done today? Well maybe get the groceries, but she'd have to handle them after work. Same went for clearing stuff in the barn. But maybe she could check the basement?

She went downstairs and flipped on the lights. Down below there was the regular stuff like dryer and washer for the clothes, some additional storage for food and whatever else they might have needed, earthquake supplies included. Against the walls, there was some computer tech implanted against the wall, mainly used for more urgent matters. And in the center of the room were a few comfy couches and chairs huddled together in front of a TV with some gaming consoles. Of course they had one upstairs in the main living room, but downstairs was also an option. Plus whenever they had some people over and their kids wanted to be alone, it made a perfect spot to play by themselves.

"Alright little mouse... I know you're down here. You can't hide from me, and you can't hide from Sour..." Cyberwarp taunted. "This house isn't big enough for the two of us."

She walked into another part of the basement, facing the shelves that held more food. "I swear, if you contaminated their food, we are going to have major problems..."

She picked up a broom as well as a small container with holes, hopefully big enough to contain it if it existed. Carefully she tip-toed forward, and listened carefully. It was quiet, aside from the running generators. But somewhere in that basement, she could hear a teeny squeak. And it came from the shelves.

"Show yourself, Mickey!"

Her eyes squinted carefully as she kept an eye out. Just then she saw something skitter across the shelf and she leapt forward to catch it with the container.

She missed.

"Scrap!"

She saw it climb jump across the shelf and onto another desk, she tried again. Still missed it. Now she could see it running on the floor. Now was her chance. She jumped into the air like she was about to body slam a wrestler, and slammed the clear plastic container over the mouse, trapping it.

"Aha! Gotcha!" Cyberwarp cackled, victoriously. "No more running in my house little one."

Reaching over for something on the desk, she moved a part of a spare cardboard flap underneath to help lift up the trapped mouse. With it now contained, she could now move it outside.

Carefully up the stairs, she walked outside, ignoring her car and went straight across the road into a field of grass. Just a few more steps. She squatted down, and set the trap down, allowing the mouse to escape.

"Now don't let me catch you in the basement again. You wouldn't want to hear Sour scream," Cyberwarp said, watching the mouse run away. "Good." She checked her watch and her pupils shrunk. She needed to get moving; it was almost time for work.

Quickly scrambling, she grabbed her purse and other items for work and rushed over to her car; an old van/minibus. The van didn't look like any typical one, as it was mostly in dark purple with a few splotches of green paint and graphic designs of diamonds on the sides and with a single word written; 'Dazzlings'. Truth be told, she found the van abandoned and left to rust in piece, probably because the owners didn't find a reason to keep it or maybe they found something bigger and better. Either way, she wanted to keep it and found it useful for driving to work as well as a few other things.

But she couldn't leave just yet; there was one more thing she needed.

"Oh! Glit!" Cyberwarp whistled. "Glit, come on buddy!"

She waited for a moment or two, and was greeted by a fluffy white husky dog charging out the door. His coat was clean, making his fur more fluffy than ever. And a blue collar was around his neck, the tags and small little keychains hanging around it jingling.

"Ready to go, bud?"

The husky nodded.

"Alright, come on bud!"

The husky climbed into the back of the van, thanks to Cyberwarp opening the door for him. Once he was inside, she pulled herself into the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. The engine hummed to life, and the built in computer in the console activated as well. It may had been an older model of a small tourbus/van, but she had some help from friends install some tech and more modern features to make it still functional in today's society.

The van pulled out of the driveway, and so Cyberwarp began to set off to work, heading down the highway. With a smile, she opened up a compartment in the middle console and pulled out a small cassette tape. She inserted it in the player, and the van began to drive.

Out of the farmlands she went, as her van was beginning to drive right into the city. Alongside, she could see a train roll on it's tracks right past her, disappearing into the city for it's destination. She softly smiled, and then looked back ahead to keep her eye on the road. As she began to drive past the buildings, her eyes moved around, looking at the sights and wonders that she was always greeted to whenever she went to work. Every day, it was usually the same thing. Lots of busy people moving from place to place always needing to go somewhere, some nice tropical sunshine with tons of birds in the air, beautiful turquoise waters that reflected from the sun.

She stopped a traffic light, eager for the light to turn red. On her left, she watched some construction workers continuing to build away for a new apartment complex. Cranes lifting heavy beams high into the sky, excavators shoveling and clearing the area so it could be paved. But her eyes turned to a steamroller which began working on making the ground nice and smooth, with a single man driving. The man looked up a smile, and he waved at her.

Good to see you too, Steamer.

Her signal was given, and she went back onto the street again.

Around her, she could see more people just enjoying daily life. People working at food vendors on the street for people to grab quick bites to eat if they didn't have lunch. Some kids playing with some remote controlled drones which they used to bother people, annoy them for their own pleasure. She just rolled her eyes and just kept going on the road. She sat idly, waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Her hands tapped against the steering wheel, enjoying the beat of the music. Completely ignoring the sound of the angry drivers behind and on the sides of her, she was in her own little world and nothing here was gonna break her. Looking on her left, she caught sight of something that made her smile.

A woman all in black, riding on a blue motorcycle sitting next to her. She knew who this person was, and just to be friendly, she waved hello to the biker, hoping she'd notice. And she did; and politely, the biker waved back to her, giving a single salute.

The signal turn green, and the two went off on their separate ways. Cyberwarp kept on her path to school, while the biker drove in the other direction. And for a split second, her head flickered in the light, as if her helmet was a holographic projection...