-Sometimes you have to go through darkness to get to the light.-

~~|||~~

Optimus:

"Optimus-"

Amy's, along with her three other friends' head turned to look towards Ratchet, especially Optimus and his team. He walked up to his old friend.

"I'm detecting a huge amount of Dark energon." Ratchet stated sternly, tapping his computer something.

"Megatron..." Was Optimus' statement. Amy stood up from her place, walking past the drawing Miko who clearly was drawing Megatron and Optimus there, fighting. Amy replaced her place to stand near the way down, watching Optimus who turned to his team. "Megatron has barely emerged from stasis, and it would seem he's already making up for his lost time-" His servo clintched to fist, Amy watching it with narrowed eyes. "Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Ratchet, prepare to roll out."

Amy's eyebrow couldn't be higher.

"Me?" Ratchet questioned also, and had to turn look up at his Leader.

"If we are dealing with Dark energon, I might require your experties, Arcee-" Optimus was saying, but Arcee was faster.

"Bridge-operator, got it."

"Go get them, Bulkhead. Bring the heart."

Jack, Rafael and Amy turned to look at Miko. How was she so calm? Usually she complains about wanting to go with them, but this..

"That's not like Miko don't want to go.." Jack whispered to Rafael, but even Amy and Miko heard it.

"She's definitely up to something." Rafael replied, but Amy's attention got the opened bridge. If Dark energon wouldn't be what they're dealing with she would've asked to tag along, but by witnessing it's power to wake Megatron's liveless body up.. she desided to remain still this time.

Every single one of the bots transformed, eventually droving through. Amy sighed, turning to prepare to wait once more for his Guardian to make it back to base. But, as Miko launched towards the stairs, Amy was quickly on her heels. She saw that face.. that curious face of hers, which didn't promise any good.

"Making a break!" Jack said, trying to run after the two girls but trimped into some boxes, but was quickly up on his feet.

Miko ran and ran jumping the stairs down, until she made it to the ground, Amy quickly right behind her. At running she might be faster than them, but in physical consition.. nahh. Miko launched towards the bridge, three people on her heels. And Arcee didn't notice anything.

Just right before the bridge Amy had grip of Miko's arm, she slowing both of them down.

"It's not safe!" Amy protested.

"I'm not gonna miss my first zombie-countdown go down!" Miko yelled back, brushing Amy's hand away and running through the bridge.

"Miko!" Jack groaned, he and Amy running quickly through the bridge. Now, forgetting everything they promised for Optimus: Do not, leave the Ground-bridge without any bot with.

Miko jumped out, having Amy once more trying to grab her hand and pull her quickly back to the bridge but failed. Miko ran a hill up all the way until she stopped, Jack, Amy and Rafael following her.

Amy's eyes widened to watch the sceneario below them.

"That's not Megatron." Bulkhead's voice stated sternly, Amy staring the Con right in front of their bots. Who was he? Why was he glowing, from middle of his chest?

.. Is that high-heeled frag Megatron's SIC?

Things must be bad.

With him, I mean.

"Rise, Skyquake! Rise!" The seeker yelled out loud, commanding towards the glowing ground beneath him.

"Let's see some fighting in the living-dead already!" Miko squealed, kneeling down on the ground. Amy was shocked the bots didn't hear that, and maintained her position to stand as all three of them went down.

"Miko, what were you thinking!?" Jack whispered with snarl, the girl having a glare from Jack and followed by Rafael and Amy also.

"She wasn't." Rafael added, Amy was too busy to keep watching the bots.

"Hey! I totally miss out last time, this time could be my only chance to take some snaps." Miko pointed with grin, reaching to her back-pocket. Only for her eyes to froze as she tapped both sides. "My self-phone-!" She stood up. "It must've dropped back at base.."

"You kidding!?" Amy groaned, but soon turned to look immediately down as Optimus' voice spoke up.

"Starscream."

The seeker looked over his shoulder, his grasp turning into fist. It wasn't hard for him to guess who it was.

"Autobots." He snarled. Until Optimus' blaster was out, directly pointing at Megatron's SIC.

"Stand down."

"You stand down!" Starscream loaded his own rocket up, aiming it directly towards Optimus and his team but for Amy's luck they split in half to hide on right and left. The rocket exploding there. "You can not harm me, when Dark energon floads through my veins!" His expression tried to be scary, but as Optimus shot once:

Starscream no longer had his right arm.

That must hurt!

The arm flew three meters away from him, landing down quite heavily. The seeker looked at what was left of his arm, until he gasped/groaned and ran forward, grabbing his arm and hiding behind a rock. Amy grinned secretly, even by being only one of the humans that hadn't witnessed bots fighting -because Optimus' overprotective, but still she knew that Megatron's SIC was screwed.

"You cut his wing, he's grounded." Bulkhead stated, all single one of them at at time -leaded by Optimus launched forward.

"Come on, come on! Rise already!" Starscream yelled in frustrated tone. "This is commander Starscream, requesting emergency Ground-bridge to my coordinates."

Amy gasped, not knowing what was going to happen next.

"AHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU MADE ME LOOSE MY PHONE!"

And have to say; that was not what Amy though would happen. She looked at Miko with wide eyes, who was yelling at her face.

"Seriosly? That's what you're worrying about!?" Amy groaned, and just had to glance down to see all wide optics on them.

"And how is this her fault?" Jack defended Amy, but her head weren't thinking that on the moment. Her eyes were staring right at Optimus, who looked like.. she had failed him.

"Oh no..." Bulkhead groaned.

"Base to Optimus, the kids are missing." Arcee's voice heard from Amy's radiophone, she flinched as Optimus' servo reached up to his audioreceptor.

"We have a visual." He stated, not even once taking his optics off of his Charge. "Send the Ground-bridge immediately!"

One, no, two Ground-bridges opened up. One near the children, one near Starscream. Even Miko and Jack turned to look at the two bridges now, same as the bots were more than confused.

"Two?" Ratchet gasped. "You four, into our Ground-bridge, now!"

Amy sighed, grabbing Raf with him as she ran the hill down, glancing behind to see Jack dragging the difficult-Miko with. Optimus was definitely going to keep lecture to her after this. And she knew it.

Optimus watched for their safety so closely, that he noticed right in mere seconds how Starscream jumped into the other Ground-bridge at same time the four children ran through. Then, the Ground-bridges started absorving each other.

"Ratchet, what is happening?" Optimus demanded, each of them watching the sceen little bit of horror.

"The dueling Ground-bridge portals must be feeding back on each other." Was Ratchet's sentence, Optimus couldn't think but just one thing.

Amy.

"Miko... we've got to the kids out of there!" Bulkhead ran towards the absorving bridges, ignoring Optimus' warn after him. But as the first explosion happened on his point and he flew smally back, the rest of the gang embraced themselves also.

Everything was just.. fuzzy.

~~|||~~

Amy:

Ouch..

My head.

Amy's eyes barely opened by the pained groans of her friends, she raising her head up. Only to see still smokescreen everywhere, same as how grey everywhere was. Was the explosion really that bad? And were they back at the other place than base?

"Is everyone okay?" Jack quoestioned almost immediately, Amy and Miko leaning on each other to stand up.

"Yeah- I think so." Raf fixed his glasses, until all four of them looked back to see their bots standing up.

"Ahhh- woh- what just happened?" Bulkhead questioned, looking at Ratchet for an answer. Like every one of them did.

"I can't be certain." Ratchet groaned. "But if two Ground-ground bridges in the same place cross-stream, the feed back could trigger the system overload."

"Could? Hello, more like totally did!" Miko said, Amy sighed in defense.

"Yeah." Amy replied.

"The kids made it through, right?" Bulkhead said, small hope glimming in his optics. The children flinched.

"Huh?" Rafael said. Miko took steps forward to look that she stood right in front of them.

"What's he talking about?" Jack replied, now uncrossing his arms.

"Bulkhead, we're right here!" Miko groaned.

"Optimus." Amy growled, wanting this to be a joke as none of them looked down towards them nor even noticed.

"Arcee, did the children make it safely back to base?" Optimus questioned, hoping that they would.

"Negative, you don't see them?" Arcee's panicking voice asked.

"No sign." Ratchet rudely said.

"What? No sign! Okay, seriosly Bulk-" Bulkhead's ped walked right over Miko, who smally yelled as if it hurt.

"He went right through you!" Amy said, grabbing Miko's shoulders as Jack hanged onto hers and Raf on Jack's arm.

"We're not alive.." Jack protested, Amy glared smally at him.

Don't scare little children, idiot!

"I don't want to be a ghost!" Raf whined, they all then separated as Jack seemed to have an idea.

"Wait, how can we still touch each other?" He questioned, but they soon followed Amy who ran after her Guardian.

"Optimus! Stop!"

"Ratchet, could the children have been transported on to the Nemesis instead?" Optimus questioned, afraid that might even be possible. Amy hadn't witnessed any Decepticon activity as he had managed to keep her away from them, but if she would've been transported right on to the Nemesis..

"Not likely, if Starscream didn't arrive at our base, the most likely explonation is a dislocation. The children may simply be bridged to unintended destination."

Amy stopped on her tracks, having a second time to think of it.

"Another place, but in a same place.." Raf thinked about it, Amy turning to him.

"Are we.. invicible?" Amy questioned.

"Wha-what you mean?" Jack asked from Raf and Amy, but Amy only ran after Optimus once more.

I swore if you leave me in here-!

"We're probably in a different dimension, somekind of ultra-net reality, like shadowzone." But she still could hear Rafael's idea of the situation.

"Nerd-alert."

Shadowzone?

"Look, Skyquake's toom is empty." Optimus stated, he and his team finally stopped.

Amy tried to touch Optimus, but went right through him. That was frustrating, and she even tried to throw a rock at him.

"Idiot! Hey!"

"How come we missed Skyquake's 'rising and shining'?" Bulkhead joked.

"It seems Starscream got what he came for." Ratchet said in disappointed tone, Amy flinched.

Does he have his own personal zombie trooper?

"Another matter for another time. Right now, our priority is locating Amy, Jack, Miko and Rafael." Optimus said, once more raising his servo up to his audioreceptor. "Arcee, bridge us back to base."

"Grr!" Amy growled, throwing rock at him once more.

Until the roar of something earned the children's attention, even Amy's. They all turned to see a dead Con, heading right towards their bots. All of their eyes were wide.

"Zombie!" Miko warned, Amy first to run after the thing.

"Guys look out!" Jack warned also.

"Hey!" Amy yelled.

"Bulkhead!"

"It's right behind you!" Rafael whined, they watched in horror as the thing tried to hit Bulkhead. But as it went through him same as Bulkhead's ped went through Miko, they all stopped.

Amy grinned.

"Awesome! It can't touch them either." Miko squealed, but as the thing turned to look at them... they realized something.

"If that thing can't touch the bots..." Jack begun, taking a slight step back.

"Just like we can't.." Amy continued, gasping by how fast and how huge the Decepticon actually was!

"Then we're trapped in a shadowzone, with a Decepticon-zombie!?" Rafael said, their eyes widened as it stopped right in front of them.

"If we aren't ghosts now, we will be soon...!" Miko said with little shaky voice.

The Con roared.

~ Time skip ~

"Keep running guys!"

"M-my legs! I can't feel them!"

Amy falled on her side, but soon had Jack beside her to pull her up on her feet and start running again. Being chased by the huge mutant-cybetronian sure wasn't maybe the nicest experience of the Cons, and Amy didn't think of needing any excercise by it.

"Amy, hang on!" Jack groaned, not letting go of her arm and tired body.

Rafael had once dropped his glasses on their way to run away from the thing, and as Amy had gone to get them it took more than just her energy. Her mood also. She was once more feeling angry, depressed and frightened.

Not a good mix, guys..

"Maybe we could set a trap, try to crush it!" Miko suggested, trying to run for her life.

"With what? Nothing's around here solid except us and the ground!" Rafael said, Amy now groaned and run already on her own feet.

"We can't run forever!" Miko complained.

"But maybe we can hide..." Amy said, already noticing a good spot. "There!" It was enough for a hiding place, and Jack, Miko and Raf didn't complain about her idea. As soon as deep enough in the valley, they took a good break. Amy even fell on her side to ground, trying to restrain her breathing.

"The best thing about zombies- they're slow, moving." Miko acted her fact, but what really got their attention was the music. Even Amy raised up to sit.

"Is that your-?" She begun.

"Phone!" They yelled in unison. Jack quickly opened his phone up, bringing it close to his ear. "Hello, Arcee!?" He yelled, but even Amy could hear the not-so-good-singal voice. "Hello!? A-Arcee!? Argh, nothing." He shut his phone, Amy sighed in defense.

"Fuck.."

"Geez, imagine that, the fourth demension has a louzy celephone reception!" Miko said in annoy.

"Wait, guys, guys, the phone rang, we're getting a signal!" Jack said happily, tapping his phone while doing that.

"Maybe the Autobots can't see or hear us, because.. we're moving a hyper-speed or something?" Was Rafael's idea.

"Sure, why not else be the ghosts as Miko said earlier?" Amy huffed, crossing her arms and leaning one rock. Until idea hit her. "Do you think they could.. read us?"

"Texting!" Rafael suggested.

"Text me! If my phone's back at base, maybe they'll see it!" Miko quickly said, all three of them started tapping then down.

What a trip this sure is..

But once more, the familiar footsteps could be heard, Amy's gaze raised up only to widen her eyes up. She quickly jumped up on to her feet.

"Umm.. can you type, and run!?" Amy questioned, quickly there to show them the dead-Skyquake who had found them.

Once more, they made run for it.

~ Time skip, once more ~

"Déjà vú."

Amy looked at Miko like she went crazy.

"What?" She questioned, tiredly running one corner once more.

"This doesn't look familiar to you!?" Miko groaned, having Amy's eyebrow raised as she looked around.

"Not really.."

"Dude, we're just running one big circle-!"

And thump.

Whatever they hit, it caused them to fell on to the ground. With groans they looked up, only to widen their eyes.

"... Starscream's arm?" Amy was first to say, watching the ruined metal arm in awe.

"So wheat!" Miko added, raising up on to her feet.

"It must've gone trapped in here during the explosion too." Rafael said, Amy glanced back to see the thing approaching them and quickly. Her mouth twitched as she looked between both of them.

"Well, if it's solid, we can use it."

Amy stood up like someone had gave her electricity, and tried to move the heavy obstacle. But Jack, Raf and Miko had her back, all three of them quickly pushing the arm so that the rocket was towards the zombie.

"Anyone know how to fire this thing? I don't see a trigger." Miko searched through the arm.

"Starscream did something with his.. fingers." Raf stated, Amy noticed how one of them were little like a hook.

"That must be it!" Amy jumped over to it, Jack hiding behind her with the other two.

"We have one shot, we need to make it count." Jack said seriosly, having Amy's back on this. As the thing crushed one rock and came closer second by second, Amy had it enough.

She pulled the digit, sending the rocket straight at the monster. As it hit, and caused a huge smokescreen form up, each of them stood up in a hope that it was over.

"How do you like us, now!?" Miko yelled proudly, but the Con only came out of the smokescreen and roared. She gasped after that.

The arm of the Con fell off, thumping on to the ground.

Amy came little closer, as Rafael fixed his glasses. The arm moved, all the digits starting to act up until it was like a spider kind of position.. rushing towards them. Charging at them.

"Come on, come on!" Jack called out to snap the other three humans up, they quickly ran yet again for their lives.

"How can a zombie-arm, move faster than the actual zombie!?" Miko questioned, and they all knew that wasn't possible in any human-made-of-movie. It was far beyond untrust worthy.

The hand jumped now on the wall beside them, Amy took a rock from the ground and actually throwed it at it. But it most certainly didn't help at all. And they kept running.

~~~

"Oh, come on! This place's like one big mary-go around!" Miko yelled in frustration, as they had rounded the whole area up already. Amy panted and panted, leaning on to the arm now.

"Skyquake!" And they knew that voice too great, quickly hiding behind the arm. "Your master summonds you!"

"How that freak got into our dimension!?" Amy growled, grabbing hold of the arm more furiosly.

"He didn't.. he can't see us." Jack corrected her, until Miko tapped both of their shoulders.

"Forget Starscream, we got to run! Some more..." Miko whined, turning towards the approaching body of Starscream.

"For the love of my God-!" Amy groaned, running once more. But they quickly put on some breaks as a Ground-bridge opened up right in front of them.

"A Ground-bridge portal?" Rafael asked.

"That has to be our way out of here." Jack said.

"The Autobots saw our text!" Miko squealed. Amy heard Starscream's mumble 'Mine, or theirs?'

"If we go through, we'll smack on to Starscream! But if we don't-" Rafael begun, Amy gulped even by the idea of the zombie behind them.

"We're zombie-chow." Amy replied.

"Option three: we can keep running on circles." Miko's suggestion was the worst.

"Follow my lead." Jack said then, they all four smally standing in front of the bridge. Jack embraced himself, as Amy looked at him like 'I trust on you'. Miko whined as she and Rafael watched how the zombie-arm approached them and fastly, until Jack's eyes glimmed.

"Now!"

They all jumped through the bridge. As they rolled to restrain from the impact with the ground on other side, Amy had a rock in her grasp which she throwed pathetically on to Starscream's face.

"Humans? Where did you vermins-!?" But Starscream's sentence was cut off by the zombie-arm to jump right on to his face. Amy grinned of the situation behind. "No!" He barely got it off of his face. "This isn't- mine! Unhand me!"

Amy trepped then right to her feet, watching as once more a new bridge opened up. But this time, there came out familiar bots, which one made her day.

"Jack, Miko, Rafael.. Amy." Optimus stated, walking forward to grab his seriosly exhausted looking partner. By singly wrapping his servo around her waist, he could feel how hot she actually felt like. Her breathing was uneasy also.

"Autobots, again!?" Amy and Optimus glanced back at Starscream, who throwed the arm away. Optimus slowly, but surely got into the bridge.

Amy safely in his grasp once more.

Now.. for the lecture side.

《~~|||~~》

Heyo!

Long one! 3427 words.

~keep reading.