Transformers Prime: The Sparks of the Warriors (Under Editing)

Chapter Two: A Family Reunion

This happened during "Speed Metal," but Jack wasn't part of it.
Jack Darby stepped out of the dim corridors of the school and blinked in the bright Nevada sun. His eyes were burning from more than the light as he pulled his ear buds out. The teen glanced in confusion at the empty spot where a sleek blue motorcycle should have been waiting for him with two other vehicles; a dark green SUV and a yellow and black Camaro. He scanned the parking lot quickly and started in surprise. Nobody was in the parking lot for some reason.
Probably on a recon mission or something, figured Jack with a shrug.
But he gave a slight flinch when he felt the strap of his backpack brushed over his hidden bruise on his shoulder. He was caught in another nasty fight with Vince Raider and his gang members when they were picking on a middle school kid who yelled at them for stealing his lunch money and Jack jumped in to cover the kid when he saw it. A good deal of kids (including Jack) were sent to the nurses to recover from their injuries that were given to them by Vince and his gang. After the school fight, someone had posted a video of the school fight online on YouTube, which made the ire of the parents of the injured students kick in and started having a few strong words with the lack of action from the school and the teachers.
His ears overheard a soft hum of an engine running that emanated from the parking lot. A flash of bright red at the parking lot have caught Jack's eye. He turned to see a bright red Dodge Challenger has been parked on the school's lot. The car's engine died down and the car stood there motionless.
Jack let out a low, but impressed whistle at the sight of the flashy car. "It's been a while since I have seen a car like this." He took in every detail of the car with a sad smile. "Especially due to my twin brother's driving accident." He didn't notice that one of the driving mirrors seemed to be watching him curiously.
Jack soon heard one of the school doors being opened and turned to see a familiar teenage girl around his age coming out. She is tall and slim, but she has hidden strength within her. She has long, wavy sandy-blonde hair that's highlighted in starlight silver and brilliant gold. Her striking eyes could shame a pair of blue sapphires with little effort, but seems to be glowing. Her fair skin is lightly tanned from her time in the sun, but she has a white bandage that went up to her shoulder to her elbow. She's wearing a blue and green striped shirt peaking out and her dark blue jeans are folded at her dark brown combat boots. Though, her only accessory is a simple silvery chain necklace and it had an orb like-shape; its shades can be seen as the galaxy with its mixture of hues such as cyan, aquamarine, sapphire, and a hint of emerald. But as Jack continued looking at the teenage girl. He felt as if he knows her.
Audra could see that he is about sixteen years old and a fairly tall boy for his age, maybe a few inches taller than her. He has messy black hair that swirls to the side of his face, which is covered in small freckles around his nose and cheeks. His bright blue eyes shone with empathetic compassion and steadfast courage as he gazed at her. He's wearing a gray T-shirt with dark blue pants and white shoes.
Audra's eyes widened and perked up as she recognized the kind, but brave boy. "Jack?" True to her word, she stepped into the light whilst revealing herself to Jack.
"Audra?" Jack recognized the brave and loyal girl, his stormy eyes went wide with amazed joy.
~~~~~~~~~
Laughter could be heard from the outdoors of Texas. A pair of five year old kids could be seen as they played together. The two kids were none other than Jack and Audra. Their respective families were watching them and talking to each other about something.
Then a pair voices, male and female, had spoken. "United we stand. Now and forever."
~~~~~~~~~~
The two kids both dropped off from their respective memory lanes. The two kids both smiled at each other warmly. Audra wrapped her arms around Jack and squeezed her missing childhood friend tightly. Audra felt Jack's strong arms wrap around her. She shut her eyes and let her whole body relax into the embrace.
"I thought I will never see you again," said Audra softly.
"Me too," Jack whispered.
The two kids stepped back from their reunited embrace. Jack and Audra were both childhood friends through their parents before the respective incidents. Jack and Mrs. Darby both ended up living in Jasper, Nevada while Audra and Mr. Valiente had moved to California. They both smiled at each other softly, relieved and overjoyed to see each other again.
Jack glanced at the mystery car and looked at Audra curiously. "Nice car. Where did you get it?"
Audra stiffened, but she relaxed cautiously. "I've found it when I was exploring the outskirts of town. I managed to find a tow truck fellow who had helped me bring the truck over to my house. I managed to repair it with my Dad's tools."
He nodded understandingly. "Mind giving me a lift? Mom's working overtime at the hospital and my ride seemed to be borrowed." Jack looked at the car again, feeling as if he had seen it before, when he suddenly spotted an Autobot symbol between a pair of ivory bull horns. His eyes widened with recognition. "And can we talk in private?"
Audra nodded understandingly. "Sure. Let's go."
The two teenage kids climbed into the front seats of the car. The next thing she knew, they were speeding away from the school, the car's powerful engine made Jack tremble, and they were off onto the main road.
He looked warily around at the interior, taking in the smooth, red leather seating he was sitting on that had a lighter red stripe running down it. It certainly felt like he was just riding in a regular car, but it looked like the car was driving instead of Audra. Up front, the steering wheel turned all on its own as they weaved their way through traffic, the meters outlined with a fluorescent blue, and above the radio system was a small screen that had a strange emblem on it — it almost looked like a face. There was an Autobot symbol that glowed at the center of the steering wheel.
"Jack, I want to introduce you to my friend and partner," said Audra with a smile. "Cliffjumper."
"Nice to meet you kiddo." Cliffjumper laughed. It's a smooth, rolling laugh that made the girl smiled at him and Jack gapped at him. His voice is like that too, calm and smooth so that when he talked, his voice rumbled with empathetic warmth. It reminded Jack of the thunderstorms that would roll through the mountains and valleys of Texas.
"I-It's nice to meet you Cliffjumper," said Jack, still stunned. After the craziness of joining Team Prime, Jack had learned about Cliffjumper and Tailgate through Arcee. But he was surprised to see that Cliffjumper was still alive and kicking without Dark Energon. "But I don't understand. I thought you were killed by the Decepticons."
"I don't remember much except that Starscream made a hole in my chest," admitted Cliffjumper, a bit confused and sad. "And then it all went black... I also remember joining the AllSpark, but then I woke up and met Audra."
"But how did you come back to life?" Jack asked him curiously.
Audra had spoke up with a smile. "That'll be my fault. I was exploring when I found a pit full of blue crystals and found this glowing crystal in it. But the ground gave away underneath me and found Cliffjumper's body underground. That's when it occurred to me that maybe the crystal wanted me to revive him. When I placed it into Cliffjumper's spark chamber, he started glowing brightly and, well... here he is."
Jack smiled and nodded understandingly. "But how come you didn't contact the base yet?"
"I tried kiddo," replied Cliffjumper. "But my comms are busted."
"Not to mention it made this horrible screeching sound when he first tried to use it," Audra added dryly.
That's when they had arrived to the outskirts of town. The three of them decided to hang out with each other (though, Jack sent a message to his friends and his Mom about Audra's sudden presence) at Audra's house. The two kids were both startled by Cliffjumper's sudden holoform appearing in the driver seat as they gotten to Audra's home. Cliffjumper quickly gained the nickname "Clifford" from Audra's clever, but mischievous sense of humor, which sent Jack into hysterics at it. Cliff's holoform is static into existents looking like a man in his twenties, with dark red hair and warm green eyes. He was wearing a maroon long-sleeved button-down shirt that has a light blue shirt underneath his maroon one, which is accompanied by blue jeans that stops at his dark brown combat boots. He also has a necklace shaped like a bull horn around his neck.
They decided to have a sleepover that involves them catching up, exchanging stories, and watching movies. For that matter, all three of them had brought some food; cookies, chips, popcorn, pizza, and some apple juice. The kids had prepared tons of movies to watch. Audra had put up the Chronicles of Narnia movie series, the Dinosaur movie, Quest for Camelot, Pup Star, and Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'Hoole.
After a few moments and a few bowls of chips and popcorn, the kids had started their movie marathon. They had finished the first Chronicles of Narnia movie and were right in the middle of the second one. Even if Cliffjumper agreed on watching some movies with the kids, he didn't understand it and yet was curious about human culture. Thankfully, Audra was there to explain to him that movies were about telling a story, with moving images. But it was more than just moving images, movies were about creating a story that people would see and connect with it in a certain way. In a way movies show you certain lessons of life. And also you enjoy yourself. He didn't quite get the story, but seeing the kids smiling and enjoying such a wonderful time made him happy.
Cliff paused the movie and turned the TV off before he glanced at the two kids. Cliff surveyed the scene in front of him. Jack was slumped over on the right arm of the couch, his head resting on his arm and his legs curled up under him. Audra was curled up as well, head resting on Jack's shoulder and Jack's other arm wrapped around his shoulders. Audra was half covered in the blanket normally seen on the back of the couch. It was... adorable, really.
Cliffjumper smiled softly at the sight of the two kids and silently used his optics (or eyes?) to take a picture of the scene and saving it in his processor. He cares for Audra like an uncle would for a niece while Jack is like his nephew to him. He cares for them greatly, which took a lot of inner strength and courage to open his spark to others, especially what happened to his split spark twin brother, Tailgate. Due to this, he recovered from the shock of his late twin brother and continued fighting alongside Autobots. With a content smile, Cliffjumper soon joined the kids and he sat down next to them protectively.
But as the trio slept, an unexpected wake up call had startled the two kids and the disguised Autobot awake. Cliffjumper and Jack both bolted awake, alert and assertive, while Audra accidentally fell off the couch at the sudden shake in the earth. Jack helped Audra sit up as she groaned and clutched her sore arm.
"That felt like a crash landing," remarked Cliffjumper worriedly. "Nobody should go through that."
"I guess you're right about that," Jack said softly. "Autobot or Decepticon. They don't deserve such a fate."
"Aye." Audra nodded her agreement. "Nobody deserves to suffer like that after a crash. It's part of the Autobot Code after all, and we must to heed to it."
The trio went towards the garage to retrieve Cliffjumper's vehicle form and search for the downed spaceship in the nearby forest.

They worked their way cautiously eastward, in the direction of the nearby mountains. Small birds chorused from the trees, occasionally pausing as they saw Cliffjumper, Jack, and Audra approach, and then starting again after a moment, as if they were nothing to worry about. Dragonflies and fireflies flitted around the small team. In the mild evening breeze, Audra could smell a startling scent of smoke and burnt trees.
Cliffjumper, Jack, and Audra stepped out into the bright moonlight and stopped, their eyes momentarily full of light.
There was a darkening hole blasted in the forest.
Where they stood, at the edge of it, the forest was trying to rise again. Ashes drifted like dead leaves over Cliffjumper, Jack, and Audra. Ahead of them was the crashed escape pod, all brought one their weapons in anticipation of an attack. A trail of energon leading to it, a hole bursted from the side of the pod.
Cliffjumper approached the side of the pod and wiped off some dirt to reveal an Decepticon insignia. "This escape pod is of unknown origin."
"Scrap," grumbled Audra.
"Maybe they were an Autobot who was captured and had escaped?" Jack suggested.
"Maybe." Cliffjumper shrugged.
But they tensed as they felt the ground shaking from the same path that they were in. Audra stepped backwards to the left, looking both wary and curious. Cliffjumper stood in front of them. Jack stood next to his right, looking around cautiously and ready for anything. "Who's there?" Cliffjumper's voice echoed with kindness and determination through the woods. "Show yourself!"
A femme bot soon stepped into the moonlight, revealing herself from the other side of the crashed space pod. Her slim frame is silvery-blue with bright golden-yellow on her shoulders, knees, and servos. Her striking optics were the color of bright blue sapphires and shining with a spirited fire. She was smaller than Cliffjumper by a meter or so, and has a slight car look about her.
The two kids exchanged uncertain looks, unsure of what to make of the new bot. They both glanced at Cliffjumper curiously, who was gazing at her amazement.
"Silversun!" exclaimed Cliffjumper.
"Cliff?" Silversun whispered, stunned. "Is that you? I heard you've offline."
"You can never keep a good Cliffjumper down." The red mech smirked at Silversun, who smirked at him in knowing amusement. "And thanks to a new friend, (Cliffjumper glanced at Audra) I'm back, punching and kicking."
"Have you scanned a vehicle?" Audra asked Silversun.
The new femme smiled at Audra. "Sure did kid."
"Then let's return to my place," and Audra. "We can return to the base tomorrow morning."
"Good idea sister." Jack gently nudged her shoulder playfully.
Silversun transformed into her brand new car form (a silvery-blue Porsche with bright golden-yellow highlights and darkened windows) while revving her engine and opened the passenger side door. Jack slipped inside the car and reached over his shoulders to put his seatbelt on, but he soon heard Silversun's voice, "I got it" and buckled the teenage boy in. The belt gently tightened around him and the door closed with a soft bang.
Cliffjumper transformed into his car form (a red Dodge Challenger), revving his engine and opened the passenger side door. Audra slipped inside the car and she reached over her shoulders to put her seatbelt on, but she soon heard Cliffjumper's voice, "Allow me" and buckled the girl in. The belt gently tightened around her and the door closed with a soft bang.
They soon started driving back to Audra's home. After a couple of minutes, Jack and Audra were both asked a question that they didn't expect from the new Autobot and femme Wrecker, one that made the two kids and the red Autobot double-check what they heard through the radio.
"Is Wheeljack at the base?" Silversun asked them hopefully.
"I don't know," said Cliffjumper.
"Who's Wheeljack?" Audra asked.
"He's a Wrecker who has a knack for explosives," explained Cliffjumper. "He's best friends with Bulkhead." Audra nodded understandingly, due to Cliffjumper's explanations about Cybertron, the Rank of Systems, and about Team Prime.
"He visited the base a few weeks ago," Jack admitted to them. "But he took off to find more Wreckers in space."
"Oh." Silversun became quiet for some reason while the others felt curious and sympathetic towards the femme Wrecker.
"Aren't you gonna tell Wheeljack how you feel about him yet?" Cliffjumper hit a bullseye, which made Silversun proceeded to make the engine of the Porsche turn on and the air vents blasted some heat while Jack looked surprised at the sudden temperature change.
"W-What are you talking about, Cliff?" She laughed nervously as she tried to avoid her topic with them.
"Silversun, we already know that you feel something about Wheeljack," said Jack. "You seem more shy whenever we mention him."
Was she really that obvious with her crush on Wheeljack? Well, from that they told her, she was really shy around Wheeljack. She always smiled back at him and he smiled back at her. Just the sight of the white Wrecker always makes her spark feel like it's going in a fluttering frenzy. But there was a drawback. They were both galaxies apart.
"Don't worry," Jack said with a smile. "He'll come back."
"But how do you know?" asked Silversun sadly.
"I don't." Jack's eyes shone with startling wisdom and empathetic compassion despite his teenage age. "Sometimes, you just need to have faith."
"When you feel doubt, look to the stars." Audra looked up at night sky that was glittering with stars. "Those stars shall guide the ones who are lost and back to the ones that they love."