▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

(Y/N) stumbles back while the gorilla roars loudly,before groaning when another shot of fire shoots through her leg. Noah grips his arm around her waist tightly, and gently hands her over to Elena before standing infront of the two.

The researcher tries her best to support (Y/N)'s weight but fumbles a bit when the ground shakes once more from the beast. (Y/N) looks up and scowls, but closes her eyes as sweat begins to pool around her cheeks and forehead.

"Who are you?!" The gorilla yells, and bends down slightly to glare at the trio. Noah aims his arm at him, but dosnet fire while he shakes in his spot. "And why are you hunting for the key?!"

(Y/N) waves her arm at the beast. "Okay calm down Donkey Kong-!" She's cut off when Mirage breaks through the tree line, with a harsh glare on his face while he aims his gauntlet at the gorilla. "Yo, Donkey Kong! Stay away from my friends!"

"Uh, Mirage?!" Noah calls out to him, and his optics widen when he sees (Y/N), almost passed out, leaning against Elena's shoulder, with her head hung low and hair running down her face. "Don't worry, your boy's got this!" He tries to ease them, but his eyes continues to glance worriedly towards the bleeding women from time to time.

A loud growl catches his attention to late before he's tackled to the ground by a large cheetah. It pins him to the rock, and his screech makes (Y/N) flinch at the noise. "Stranger danger! Stranger danger!" He yells again when his blaster is pinned to the rock, and the beast growls in his face.

The humans look back in relief when they hear WheelJack. "Hey, hey, hey!" He aims his blaster at the gorilla and looks between Mirage and his new friends. "Hold it right-!" But he is also pulled off his feet when a giant metal rhino collides with his back, and flings him towards another hilltop.

It looks at the trio and roars loudly, with the gears in its mouth turning and lighting up green. WheelJack groans from his crouched position, and fixes his glasses atop his head. "..ay, ay, ay.."

"Hey!" Arcee's voice pulls their attention up while she spins onto the ledge beside Mirage and points her blaster at the cheetah still pinning him down. "Here, kitty kitty!"

"STAND DOWN!" Optimus' voice yells out while he jumps over the tree line and slams into the ground, his face plate covering his mouth while he points his own blaster at the gorilla.

The beasts roars and thumps his fists against the ground. Optimus glares harder, with his blaster turning a bright orange. "I won't ask a second time.." he threatens. The beast thumps a fist against his chest, and they all glare at one another heavily.

(Y/N) feels her knees buckle, and Elena gasps and gently sets herself down with the women, allowing her to rest against her chest. Noah turns back and looks over his friend worriedly, tears beginning to sting his eyes when he sees her dazed out expression. He was to caught up he had barely noticed Airazor swoop down to break up the tension.

"Prime, these are my fellow Maximals." The falcon nods towards each of her friends. "Rhinox." The beasts huffs in greeting. "Cheetor." The cat tilts his head sheepishly towards Mirage. "Sorry about scaring you, brother." He gently gets off the bot, who then scoffs. "Scared? Please, I'm not scared."

He hops to his feet, and chuckles sheepishly when water drops from his legs. "It's just engine oil." He pats himself down, and the beast tilts his head in confusion.

"And our leader." Airazor finally introduced the most important men ever of her team. "Optimus Primal." Prime looks up at the name, and immerses puts his blaster away. "Optimus..Primal?" he says in disbelief, and his attention moves down.

The gorilla nods. "Named after you, the legendary warrior of Cybertron." He bows his head. "It is an honor."

Turning back, he softly speaks. "Airazor, it is good to see you, old friend. But bringing others here was not part of our plan. I fear you bring dark tidings." The falcon shakes her head.

"Scourge has come to Earth, and he has half of the key. We must find the second half before ge does."

"But it wasent in the cave!" Elena yells, a little calmer now that (Y/N) was breathing normally from having given rest on the floor.

"It was." Primal speaks up. "But we moved it long ago to keep it safe."

"Where is it now?" Airazor asks, and her friend huffs before moving forward. He glares at the trio lowly, but halts when he spots (Y/N).

"Cheetar." Said beast perks up from his spot. "Help this human." Primal moves his head and gestures to the still slumped over human, before walking off.

Mirage stammers. "H-hang on! I can-!" He's not heard when the cheetah hops down from the ledge, his paws going ankle deep into the stream, before he walks up to (Y/N) and crouches down.

He moves his nuzzle under her arm, and the women dosnet say anything as she carefully pushes herself up and hops onto his shoulders. The blue Autobot can only watch with a pout but rushes to stay by the animals side. "I-I'm right here (Y/N) okay? Right here!"

Noah watches them move for a moment, but chuckles slightly while he watches Mirage fumble over his words to stay up with (Y/N), now lying against the animals back.

...

Airazor screeches from above as she glided over the trees, making sure no harm came to either her old friends or new ones. Her right wing however was damaged, and turned into an ugly bronze mold that spread and burnt right through the metal.

Below, in the stream, Mirage kept glancing every so often at Cheetor, who was laughing at something the sleepy women had said atop his back. The bot scoffs lowly when he sees (Y/N) run her fingers through the fur that stuck out the animals back, and his eyes sharpened when he saw the beast react with a purr.

"Hey, back there you called me and (Y/N) Sonic and Blaze!" Noah's voice catches his attention while he hops down from a rock. "Uh, yeah! Your little bros got this thing about using real names over the airwaves, so.."

"Wait!" The boy looks up at him with a raised brow. "You been talking to Kris?"

Mirage nods with a smile. He lifts up his arm and removes a pice off of his forearm, and shows off the small walkie talkie that was shoved snuggly between his circuits. "He gave me this to keep tabs on you, make sure I'm keeping my promise." He smirks, and Noah's squints his eyes when he sees a destiny feature on the walkie talkie.

It had (Y/N)'a initials scratched onto the front.

"Yo, is that (Y/N)'s walkie?" Noah asks with a laugh, but Mirage only looks down sheepishly. "Oh, i-is it? I had nooo idea!" He taps his metal finger against the walkie, but Noah shakes his head and chuckles.

"Oh, here!" He unclasps the gauntlet from his hand and holds it up. "Next time, include warning labels." Noah jokes, but Mirahe shakes his head and points to the device. "Nah, go ahead, keep it!"

The boy smiles boyishly and hooks it back on. "I guess it does look better on me." Mirage scoffs, and stares ahead to continue to watch Cheetor and (Y/N). "Just don't ask what part of my body it came from." He mumbles, not really paying attention and misses the look that Noah shoots his way, disgusting.

...

"So..who are you?"

Elena asks the question from her place on a small cliff side protruding out of a side of the hill. Primal slowly walks next to her, his build continuing to be much larger than hers while Optimus and Cheetor walk behind the two.

"We Macimals are an advanced race, dedicated to the expansion of life throughout the universe." He looks up to the sky for emphasis. "We use the Transwarp Key to visit young worlds." Elena watches him with stars in her eyes.

"The Nazca Lines, the Temple at Tikal-that was you guys right?" She asks and moves to the side to avoid a large dent in her path.

Primal all but chuckles. "Not us, we cannot claim credit for human ingenuity."

"But you had the key!" Optimus speaks up from his spot, and stares at Primal with disbelief and wide optics. "Why stay on this world?"

"When Unicron destroyed our world, we took an oath dedicated to the preservation of life." The gorilla dosent turn around to speak, but spares Elena a glance. "No matter the cost."

"And Earth has been a safe refuge." (Y/N) listens quietly from her spot, and sits up slowly to roll her shoulders. Cheetor perks up when he feels her shift. "Are you alright?" He asks gently, and the women smiles down at him before pushing her leg into his side.

"I'll be fine.." she sighs, and moves her leg up and down like a little kid. Mirage watches them from the side with a scowl, and huffs before kicking a piece of rock to the side with folded arms.

...

Their journey slowly came to an end when the group all come across a small village nestled deep within the mountains side, with ruins to the side that led upwards towards the top of a mountain.

Stratosphere glides across the sky and moves past them, carrying careful cargo that he was sent to place somewhere safe.

...

The Autobots and humans watch as Prinal moves past the mist and trees towards the small village that laid just near a long river. Mirage still stuck tightly to Cheetor's side, and glances every so often to the women on his back nervously.

(Y/N)'s leg had since then stopped bleeding, thanks to the piece of cloth Noah had wrapped around it. She had gained what little energy she had left and looked around at the beautiful scenery in amazement.

A women weaving looks up with a smile at their arrival, and moves to go tell the rest of her home.

Children laugh while they chase after eachother with glee and joy.

The villagers all look up once Mirage moves past them and nods to them nervously before moving back to (Y/N)'s quickly.

The group all watch as Primal moves up towards the supposed Chief of the small village, and they greet eachother warmly before speaking and conversing in Quechua. Primal nods along with what the Chief spoke, and responds back before watching as he moves to speak softly towards a small girl, who then ran down the  small path from her home.

Noah and Elena watch them with small smiles but stop when (Y/N) joins their side. "You can't be walking." Noah says sternly, but yelps when his friend smacks the back of his head and clicks her tongue. "I'm older than you, I'm pretty sure I know how to take care of myself."

Her friend curses her in Spanish, which only resorts to the both of them to shove eachother in irritation. Elena watches form the side and laughs, and the two quickly break away when they see the Chief watching them and sends them a small smile.

"This is Amaru." Primal introduces. "He and his family are the last descendants of a tribe that has watched over us for hundreds of years."

Optimus looks out at the village, and he tilts his head while watching Mirage wave politely to a few people who stared at him in awe. "When we arrived, they shared their world with us."

The small girl returns with a cloth draped over her arms, and holds it out to her Chief. "And together, we protected its people..and our secret." Gently unwrapping the cloth, the three humans gasp when they see the second half of the key, well preserved and well kept.

Optimus bends down on one knee at the sight, and stares at the small girl intently. "You sided with humans.." he comments, and Primal nods.

"We did." Elena smiles down at the object, and (Y/N) breaths a sigh of relief. She looks back at Mirage and finds him already looking down at her with a small grin. They stare at eachother for a few more seconds, smiles on their faces before Optimus's voice breaks them away.

"If you give us this key, tomorrow I will light the beacon, and bring Scourge to us." Noah scowls at Optimus, and glances to (Y/N). They both share a look of worry, but they stay quite while the Maximal shakes his head.

"The Maximals have already sacrificed one home to protect the universe." He looks down. "I won't risk loosing another. As a leader, I know you understand." Primal's optics lock with Optimus', and the bot slumps down with a sigh.

...

(Y/N) stood at the edge of a small hill, and watched as Stratosphere gently lowers Bumblebees body to the ground beside Optimus and the others.

She folds her arms while she watches, and her stomach twists when she once again locks eyes with the empty shell that was once the yellow bot with a broken voice.

"..hey." A voice breaks her out, and she looks up to find Mirage crouching down at her side. "We're..um, about to eat..so." He mumbles, and (Y/N) notes his nervousness with the slight crack in his voice.

She smiles and rests her small hand against his much larger one that was folded across his lap, and the bot jolts at the touch. They lock eyes once more, and (Y/N) reaches up and caresses his cheek. Mirage shudders, but leans into her hand more. They stay quite with eachother, their eyes closed while their foreheads barely grazed.

After a moment she breaks away and clears her throat, but Mirage pulls her back in with his metal forearm. He hugs her close to him, trying to relish in the moment for as long as he could while the women slowly brought her hands up and hugged them around his neck.

Finally letting go, Mirage smiles down at her.

"No more being sad, okay?"

She nods with a content smile. The bot grins before he picks her up, and (Y/N) screams a little at the movement, but she howls in laughter when he sets her atop his shoulders and jogs back to the village.

"Great! Now it's chow time!!"

...

With the day slowly turned to night, the Autobot and Maximals tucked themselves in for some well earned rest. (Y/N) continues to slowly chew on a pice of bread she had been offered, and watches as Noah takes a seat beside her, with Elena to her right.

Glancing up, the friends turn towards the bots while they all stuck close together near a different part of the grounds, only a few feet away from the humans.

Mirage peeks over his shoulder at (Y/N), and he gently smiles at her and waves. She waves back and holds up the pice of bread, but Mirage shakes his head, indicating that he already ate.

The two continue their little staring contest before the bot yawns and finally turns around, but not before shooting her a small wink.

"What if we didn't destroy it?"

Elena's question causes (Y/N) to turns back with confusion. "Maybe, there's another way to-to save both our homes.." the women slowly turns to a wide eyed Noah, and he shrinks back at her glare. "..you want to destroy the key?!" She hisses, but her friend quickly shuts her up and places his hand on her leg.

"Just listen!" He whispers harshly. "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, (Y/N)! This is different!" His eyes were pleading, begging his best friend to side with him on his decision just this once.

"I can't fail at this, I can't let my family.." he stammers. "I-I can't let you down..okay?" Elena and (Y/N) watch him with frowns on their faces, but his best friend looks down with a scoff. "You are..just like him, you know that?"

Noah looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "Who?"

"Optimus." Elena cuts in, and she smiles a little when he rolls his eyes at her. "I'm serious! He feels it too."

"Feels what?"

"Like a beast of burden.." (Y/N) mumbles. "..just trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders."

Noah listens carefully and looks back to see Optimus gently kneeling infront of Bumblebee. "You think he's some—some general barking orders, but when I look at him, all I see is a big brother trying to protect his family.." she finishes her small speech, and (Y/N) smiles at Elena with a nod.

She reaches down and grips Noah's hand tightly, to witch he shakily responded by gripping hers back.

He was scared.

...

The groups had since that tuckered in for the night, some turning over in their sleep while others got little to close to none due to their raging anxiety for the day ahead.

The morning mist quickly covered over the valley, and (Y/N) shivered form her small tent as it hit her. She turns over and groans, but her eyes shoot open when she hears a chitter come from behind herZ

Slowly she gets up, and locks eyes with Elena who had heard the same noise. They walks to eachothers side and stay close while looking through the fog for anything suspicious or weird.

The chittering continues, and the two glance down at a still sleeping Noah, making both women presume that maybe the noise wasent something to worry about, or perhaps they had just gone insane.

They pull their jackets close to their bodies before taking small steps into the tall grass. They make it a few paces before stopping at the uneasy sound of flesh molding and moving catches in their ears.

Looking up, (Y/N) frowns when she sees Airazor twitching and moving violently. The falcon jolts her head up and squawks loudly in pain.

"Are you okay?" She asks, and her and Elena slowly step towards her. (Y/N) moves her eyes down and stops moving when she sees the rusted dent in the Maximals wing.

"Airazor..?"

"I can feel Scourge!" The birds voice is deep and distorted as she speaks, and she moves her head in odd angles before looking towards both women. Her eyes were glitching from yellow to a dark orange that made (Y/N)'a palms go cold.

"He's in..my mind." Airazor's voice goes deep, and she slowly begins to stalk the girls, crouching at an animalistic type of way while screeching and cawing.

A horn suddenly goes off from behind them, and (Y/N) grabs Elena's hand before pulling her away while the falcon rises into the air, her feathers and claws sticking out while she screeches.

"Run, you two!" Optimus calls, and dives infront of them to shield them from the bird. He forms his arm into the blaster and brings it up, ready to fire.

"No!" Primal moves his arm down before he could fire, and his poetics widen while he watches the friend he had just gotten back, be stripped away form him once again. Her painful screeches and groans fill his ears, while he watches her fly away.

"Airazor.."

——