Chapter 0: Prologue

The Study of Other Species

Prologue

*Takes place after the episode "Metal Attraction" * [also this is a rewrite of the previous version all in one chapter. Somethings have changed, so if you're curious to know what originally happened, feel free to read the other story.]

Knockout was walking down the long, dark hallway of the Nemesis along with Breakdown. Lord Megatron called for him and the red medic wasn't sure what was going on. Walking into the control room, Breakdown and Knockout saw Megatron and Soundwave talking about something quietly. "Lord Megatron…" Knockout said, grabbing his attention.

The war lord turned to the two smaller mechs bowing to their newly returned Lord, "Ah Knockout and Breakdown, glad you could join Soundwave and I."

"If you don't mind me asking Lord Megatron," Breakdown began, "but why are we here?"

Megatron walked towards his high-class medics. "Since I have fully recovered from being in stais for many cycles, I have noticed that the Autobots have gathered some fleshy pets. As I understand, these pets are native to the planet." He walked back to a monitor and began clicking away, "I am requesting that the two of you conduct some hands-on research by collecting a variety of humans from the planet."

Breakdown and Knockout gave each other looks, then back to Megatron, "Sir, are you certain you know what you're asking for?" Knockout asked.

"Quiet Knockout." He said, fed up with the two of them. "So, go down there and get some humans. Quickly you two."

The two mechs bowed and left the room and headed for the ground bridge controls. "Where are we gonna find some humans?" Breakdown asked, sitting on a metal box.

The medic sighed, "Don't ask me! I'm a medic not a youngling sitter."

"So that's what we are now?" the blue mech asked, "Glorified youngling sitters?"

Knockout nodded, "Looks like it." He began typing away on the computer, "Lord Megatron requested that there should be a variety of humans?"

Breakdown looked at the globe of the planet Earth. "Yeah, but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't know the difference."

The medic typed away and some little blips came up, "I found some places where children go." They looked at some schools, parks, arcades, movies, and homes all across the globe.

"We should get them from America." Breakdown said, "That's where the Autobots got theirs from."

Knockout nodded, "Except for their female, she's from somewhere here." He pointed over to Asia. "Speaking of female, do we know what kind of fleshies we're getting?"

Breakdown thought for a moment, "Whatever we can get our servos on. But we at least want one male and one female."

The medic agreed and activated the bridge, transformed along with his friend and they drove right through.

*Maui, Hawaii*

The ocean was clear and the waves were perfect, which is what exactly what caused Lily Alana to wait out on her board. She was at a private part of the beach and was having the time of her life just being alone. Well, other than that she was with her younger cousin David. A strong wave started to form and Lily paddled her way out there. Getting close enough, she went for it and stood up. The sea salt hit her nose and the breeze hit her brunette hair. "Woo Hoo!" David called from his small paddle board. The younger boy was invited by Lily to join her for the afternoon, and David loved to hang out with his cousin.

She looked out onto the sand and saw something very irregular. A greenish-blue swirling vortex was coming out of the overgrown forest close to the shore. Then two giant beings walked out of it and onto the beach. Lily wiped out and fell into the ocean. Bobbing back up, she saw them looking over at them, "What the…"

Grabbing her board, she dragged to the sand along her cousin and looked at them, "What in the world?" David said, brushing the wet, brown hair from his face.

"What was that?" one of them asked Lily. She tilted her head in confusion, "What were you doing? Did you injure yourself?"

Lily shook her head, "I was just surfing, and last I check, I'm not supposed to talk with strangers."

Knockout scanned her, causing her to flinch back, "She's healthy, we'll take this one." He went over and scanned the little boy, "And this one."

Breakdown grabbed her, causing her to drop her board. "HEY PAL WATCH IT!" in his other hand he grabbed David. Knockout sprayed the children with a knockout gas which caused both Hawaiian's to pass out in his grasps.

The Decepticons turned back and walked through the ground bridge, and to their next location.

*New York City, New York*

"Yeah man," Logan said into his phone, "I'll be there soon." Logan Millers, a street kid from the heart of New York City. He was walking down one of the abandoned alley ways, taking a short cut to the rec. center. The city kid was a foster child, being passed around all over the city many times. He didn't care though, he hung out with his old 'siblings' all the time. Being a basketball star at his middle school, he had many opportunities to get out of the house and stretch his legs. The thirteen-year-old knew his way around the city like he had been doing it for years, which he pretty much had. After he got dropped off at New York's Safe Haven for Little Angels, he would always be out of the house and explore the city on his own. Logan was known to spend his days at the rec. center, either playing basketball or ditching class. He wasn't the brightest boy, which mad him dislike school. And him disliking school as much as he did make him into a little bit of a bully. People teased him for struggling and he built his walls up so high, that he would turn people away more quickly than he would get to know them

Walking further down the ally, he saw a giant, red robot standing at the end with a glowing vortex behind it. Picking up the pace he jogged up to Knockout, "Am I trippin'? What the hell are you?"

The medic knelled down, "You're not 'trippin'', whatever that means…" he looked over the kid and a smiled creped onto his face, "Come on fleshy, let's go." Logan was picked up, knocked out, and the medic walked through the ground bridge with Logan Miller in his clutches.

*Los Angeles, California*

Claire Granger walked down her long drive way carrying her new purse along with her. Her daddy was out on business, so she had the run of their mansion. She needed to go for a little walk because like her mother always says, only the beautiful get anywhere in life. The sixteen-year-old was the child of famous news anchor Joan Granger and inventor of the new social media app SpaceFace. And before that, he worked with many engineering companies. Claire was basically raised by her Nanny Renee. The woman was the one to take her to her first dance class, her first day of school, her first modeling job. Renee had become Claire's second mother.

Today, Miss. Granger had an appointment with a popular magazine to interview her about living with a great entrepreneur. Getting down to the end of the drive way, she saw a huge blue jeep parked across the street. "Oh, the paparazzi must be looking for daddy!" she squealed. Running towards the car, she fixed her strawberry blond hair and mini skirt. Getting close enough, she noticed that that the car didn't have a license plate, so it must have been from Europe, or Australia or even Mars. Somewhere not in America.

"Oh Mr. Camera man!" she squealed, getting right to the door, "I'm ready for some pictures!"

She tapped onto the window and looked in, not seeing anyone in there. The driver door opened and out came some tentacles. Grabbing her by the waist, she was strapped into the driver seat and knocked out, Breakdown using some knockout gas.

*Madison, Wisconsin*

"Okay Belle," Oliver Jones said, holding his baby sister in his arms, "Auntie Kate should be home soon. Then we can eat dinner."

Belle looked up at her big brother and smiled, "Down!" she said, squirming in his arms.

He laughed and put his sister down so she could totter around in the grass. Living on a farm for most of their lives, the Jones kids enjoyed being outside all the time. Oliver watched Belle pull a dandelion out of the ground and look it over. "Look!" she squealed, showing him the weed.

Oliver nodded, "Yep, weeding is one of your favorite past times."

She giggled and threw the weed at her brother. Looking towards the big red barn, Oliver saw a nice red sports car come flying their way, right out of a vortex. He scooped up his little sister and held her close. After weighing the pros and cons of approaching the car, he decided to be a little adventurous and see who was in the car. Getting closer, the passenger door opened and some tentacles grabbed the two children dragging them into the car.

Oliver clutched his sister closer, looking around the interior of the car. A seatbelt wrapped around them tightly. "What's going on! Let us out!"

"Calm down flesh bag," K.O.'s voice came from the radio, "we're just going for a little ride." Some of the knockout gas Breakdown used came through and knocked the new humans out.

*Nemesis*

The two mechs had laid all of the unconscious humans onto a huge med berth and looked them over. They were all different in so many ways. "Megatron should be please, don't you think Knockout?" Breakdown said, looking at them.

"I hope so." Knockout said, running some more scans on them. "Will you go get him?"

Breakdown shook his head, "No way, I'll stay here with them." he gazed over the children.

The medic sighed, "Well at least comm. him down here. I think he'll want to see them sooner rather than later."

Getting onto his comm. System, Breakdown took a seat on one of the empty berths, [Megatron sir, we've returned with the humans]

[Excellent, I shall be down in a moment] Megatron's deep voice said, cutting the line.

Breakdown sighed, "He's comin', should we wake them?"

Knockout looked up from a data pad, "I don't think so buddy. I don't want loud fleshies when Megatron comes in."

The blue mech agreed and just looked them over again. The blond girl and the brunette one looked about the same age, but much different. Especially the cloth covering their bodies. Then there was the blond hair boy who was still latched on to the smallest female. The dark-skinned boy came next and had something covering his eyes. Then there was the last boy who must have been the youngest male. They would stir slightly, but nothing major.

Lord Megatron walked into the med bay along with Soundwave, Starscream and Airachnid. "Where are they?" he asked, going up to Knockout.

The medic pointed to the table, "They're still unconscious Lord Megatron." He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "Why are they here with you?"

"While these humans will be my pets," Megatron explained, "I cannot keep my optics on all of them at the same time."

"Will you just wake them Knockout?!" Screamer said, hitting his fist on the table.

Megatron grabbed his SIC by his right wing and pulled him away from the table, "STARSCREAM, you fool! I do not want screaming flesh bags here right now."

Knockout looked at Breakdown and whispered, "Told ya so."

The war Lord threw Starscream away from the children, making sure to be as quiet as possible. "We should at least wait for one of them to wake up." Breakdown suggested.

"We wait all the time," Airachnid said, taking a seat on top of a counter, "what's another long wait?" And so, the Decepticons all sat, no one was talking, no one moving.

That is until the older brunette girl sat up, "Oh God my head…David, did we wipe out harder than we thought? The waves weren't that bad, right?" she rubbed her eyes, waiting for a response. None came, "David? David, you there?" She opened her eyes and saw more than just her cousin, but four other kids and more robots, and all of them watching them. Her eyes widened and she stood up, jumping over some kids to get to him, "DAVID ELI GET UP!"

David groaned, "Lily, stop yelling at me! I wanna sleep!" He rolled over on his side, trying to gain a few more moments of sleep.

"GET UP DAVID!" she said, shaking him and making him sit up, "PLEASE GET UP!"

The boy opened his eyes and looked behind his cousin, seeing two familiar robots and four unfamiliar ones. "Lily, where in the world are we now?"

She rolled her eyes, "THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY?!"

Logan hit Lily on her arm, "Can ya turn it down?"

"Yeah, I need beauty sleep." Claire said, looking over at the cousins, then up at the giants watching them.

Oliver stood up next to Lily, holding Belle in his arms. The baby in his arms was still sleeping, "Is this Disney World or Disney Land or whatever?" he said looking around.

Claire walked over to the older boy, "I've, like, been there so many times. This isn't it."

Megatron stood and walked over to the children. "You are all aboard my ship, the Nemesis."

Oliver's eyes widened and the grip on his sleeping sister tightened. "What are you?"

"Decepticons from the planet Cybertron." The Lord answered, looking down at the humans, "Scouting your planet for energon, the fuel and blood life that runs through our veins."

Lily looked up at them all, "Decepticons? Why are you called that?"

Starscream scowled, "Those accursed Autobots gave us the name early in the war. The name came with a bad reputation, but we honor it with pride."

"Now, who are you humans?" Megatron asked, observing the children looking up at him

Logan went first, "I'm Logan Miller. I'm thirteen years old and from New York City."

"I'm David, I'm eleven." David said from behind his cousin, "And this is Lily, she's fifteen." He smiled, "We're from Hawaii!"

Claire pulled her pony tail tighter around her head, "I'm Claire Granger, sixteen, from Cali and I'm a Pisces."

Oliver shifted Belle in his arms, unsure if he should truthfully answer the aliens, "I'm Oliver. I'm sixteen in a half and his is my sister Belle, she's one and a half."

Breakdown's eyes widened, "Knockout, you took a sparkling!?"

"I didn't know!" he said, holding up his hands in defense.

Megatron stood in-between the two, "Enough, we do not want to set a bad example for the children." Lily rolled her eyes. She's not a child. "What's done is done. And now we must decide on guardians."

Chapter 1: Guardians of the Galaxy

The Study of Other Species

Chapter 1: Guardians of the Galaxy

Megatron looked down at his new pets. Of course, they were all his, but he couldn't watch them all at the same time, that would not be beneficial when it came to observing the humans carefully. So, guardians were in order to keep the peace, and he would get first dibs.

"You," He pointed to Oliver, "Come here, you shall be my charge." Looking very uncomfortable, he shuffled over to the end of the berth, gripping onto his baby sister with dear life. "Arachnid, the blonde femme shall be your charge."

The spider-con looked over the humans. She wanted a female, obviously. But, she didn't want the young one, too much work. And the brunette didn't seem to be willing to cooperate. That left the blonde, spunky girl. "Claire, wasn't it?" she walked over and placed out her hand, "What a lovely name."

Claire climbed onto the Con's hand, and crossed her legs. "Thank you, and that purple is totally your color."

Airachind was flattered by the human, they would get along just fine. "Soundwave, the mech named Logan shall be your charge." Megatron ordered his greatest spy.

The silent mech nodded and noted that Starscream growled that one of the older humans was taken. Quickly, but carefully, he picked up the boy in his hands. Logan just looked up at him, then noticed that he didn't have a face, just a mask. He also noticed that the robot holding him hasn't spoken at all. Logan gave him a smile, "What up?" he asked, "I'm Logan, you're Soundwave. Sounds chill."

"Lord Megatron," Starscream said, bowing to his master, "may I please pick next."

Megatron rolled his optics, "You did nothing to help this experiment Starscream. I will assign Knockout and Breakdown their charges next."

The war lord looked over the choices, "Breakdown and Knockout, take these two." He pointed at the Hawaiians. "Knockout can take the male and Breakdown can take the female."

"David, isn't it?" K.O. said, looking at the Hawaiian boy.

He nodded, "And you're Breakdown?"

The medic laughed, "Knockout actually, but Breakdown's my friend."

The blue mech waved at the boy who waved back. Then he knelled down by Lily, "How about you're my charge and I'm your guardian." Lily shrugged and moved closer to the eye patched mech.

That left Belle to Starscream, and the Seeker was not happy. Normally, Seekers are supposed to guard over young ones overprotectively, but that was for Cybertronians, not flesh bags. Starscream looked at the sleeping child, "Give me the sparkling human." The SIC held out his servo in front of Oliver.

Oliver was apprehensive, this was a huge metal robot giant and Belle was this tiny baby. He looked over to Megatron, worry on his face. "Go on human, we need to continue on with the day." Slowly, he peeled Belle off of his shoulder and handed her to the waiting hand. Belle moved a little in his huge hand, but settled down quickly. Oliver was picked up in the hand of Megatron, "You are an interesting species."

The teen just looked up at him, not wanting to show fear of what might happen next. David spoke up from the berth, "Um, so are we goin' home? Mom's gonna be worried…"

"Yeah," Claire added, "Renee will begin to wonder where I am."

Megatron had all the eyes and optics on him, waiting for the final call. "For tonight, you shall go gather your things things. You'll all be staying here for a long while." Lily didn't look up from the table, she didn't want to stay here, she wanted to sleep in her own bed at night until she moved out for college. The war lord continued, "Take your charges, meet back here this evening." All of the Cybertronians bowed and followed Megatron out of the med bay. Transforming, they set out, even Megatron.

New York City, New York

Soundwave made sure that the alley way was clear before transforming onto his feet. Logan just looked ahead and gave his guardian directions on where his current foster home was. Unlike the others, Logan was happy to get out of the city. He liked his guardian, silent but careful. The duo got to Brooklyn and made a left quickly. Then, Logan felt something wet on his head, "Did you feel that?"

Soundwave just kept going, not giving any response to the boy. Logan felt it again, only more this time. He looked up and saw that it was beginning to rain, hard. "Quick, the parking garage is up there."

Slightly speeding up the pace, the Con made it to the garage and transformed back into his vehicle mode. Getting out of Soundwave, he patted his door and ran inside the parking garage since the Con couldn't go inside. Getting to the fourth floor, he found the stairwell for his apartment and began climbing stairs again. Finding the right floor, Logan got out of the stairwell and found his apartment.

"Ms. Young, I'm home." He said, closing the door behind him.

The little old lady mumbled something from the family room and Logan took it as an okay, whatever type of thing. He looked at the clock and found that it was almost eleven thirty, way past his bed time. Going into the small kitchen he grabbed a banana from the counter and went into his room. Seeing his still packed bag, he decided that he was ready enough for whatever tomorrow was going to bring.

He figured out that he and Soundwave could be good friends. They were both quiet and did as asked, he could even teach him some Spanish. Finding his basketball not in the bag, he threw it on top of the zipped bag and went to open the window. The old lady wouldn't notice him being gone and it was summer anyways so he didn't have to worry about school, none of them would. He threw his stuff onto the balcony first, then crawled through the tight space. Shutting the window behind him, Logan went back to the parking garage and met Soundwave there.

Los Angeles, California

Arachnid landed on the helicopter pad on top of the Granger mansion. "Wow, this is a huge home, especially for a human." The spider-bot said, "It's not as big as the ship though."

Claire got out of her new friend, "We're pretty wealthy." She said, clutching her purse, "Daddy gets me whatever we can afford and what we want."

"Obviously, now come out here once you pack the necessities." Arachnid gave an order, "Megatron expects us back promptly."

She smiled, "Don't worry, I'll be fast Arachnid!"

Walking down into the house, she passed by some maids and butlers walking around. They greeted her and she smiled back, finding her way into her large bedroom. She grabbed her makeup kit and spare brush. "Dress to impress." She said to herself. After throwing them into a large suitcase, she began throwing various clothing items into her other large suitcase. No way was she packing light, especially because she didn't have any clue what she was getting herself into.

Claire took about forty-five minutes to pack all of the things she wanted to bring back with her. The blonde peered into the hallway, looking for anyone walking around. When the coast was clear, she took her three bags (two rolling suitcases and a pink duffle bag) and made her way back to Arachnid. She was ready to try something new, even if it was with a bunch of freaks.

Maui, Hawaii

Knockout and Breakdown were almost racing down the streets to their shared home somewhere in the residual part of Maui. David was having the time of his young life, speeding down the streets like there was no care in the world, "Faster Knockout! Go faster!"

The red sports car sped up, barely missing a palm tree. Breakdown wasn't going to let it go that easily. The blue mech sped up and Lily gripped tighter on the steering wheel. "Um, Breakdown, maybe this isn't a good idea."

"Where's your sense of adventure Lily?" Breakdown laughed, turning on to were Lily gave her address.

She turned with the car and leaned onto the window, "Still in the ocean!"

Breakdown and Lily beat Knockout and David back to their home. "No fair Lily, you cut us off!" the boy whined.

Lily ruffled his hair, "Whatever David." She pushed the boy towards the house. She turned back to the cars and whispered to them, "You guys can stay in back. David's mom will be back in an hour and my mom and dad should be back then too."

Breakdown revved his engines, "Sure Lily, c'mon K.O."

"But my paint job!" he whined, following his friend.

Lily shook her head and followed her cousin up the stairs and into their home. It was a small, very colorful home. Run down, but still home sweet home. David was already in the kitchen, slicing himself a pineapple. "Dave, cut me some!" Lily called, pulling out some duffle bags that were in the closet. "And pack some other snacks! I have no idea when the next time we'll eat is."

He looked up, "Okay, just hold on."

His cousin grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and threw it on the table. She sighed, "Do you wanna go? Do you wanna live with them?" Lily asked when she entered the kitchen.

David looked up, fear in his eyes, "Not really, I'm scared."

She gave a comforting smile and messed with his hair, "Same here, but we've got each other."

He sniffled, "What's mama gonna say?"

"We won't tell them where we're going." She said, grabbing a piece of pineapple. "We'll leave a note for them, and they'll call the police. They'll know what to do."

David thought for a moment, "They'll probably call Area 51."

She nodded, "Just that, now let's go pack our stuff. I don't want them yelling at us for not being ready.

Madison, Wisconsin

Oliver sat perfectly still in his guardian's seat. This whole situation scared him, not just for himself, but for his sister. He was holding Belle now, she was surprisingly still unconscious, which meant it was going to be a long night. Oliver figured that it was because of the dose of gas and her age. "Where are we supposed to land?" Megatron questioned.

"Um, behind the barn, Auntie doesn't go near there." Oliver said, having his ears pop due to the landing.

The two jets landed and transformed, holding the humans in hand. "Get your things, we leave within the hour."

Oliver nodded, being set down on the ground. Starscream grumbled, "Why do they have to obtain their things? My human's still in recharge!"

Megatron hit the seeker in the back of his helm, causing Oliver to jump and Belle to wake right up. All of the males were quiet and as still as possible. Belle's eyes opened really wide as she looked up at them, then over to her brother. "Ollie…"

"Belle, it's alright." He said, pulling her head down, "Just go back to sleep."

He began walking towards the house and she looked back at them. The tallest one scared her more than the other one, but he still scared her too. Walking up the front porch, Oliver opened the screen door. "Okay, it's just us here right now, so let's work quickly."

Oliver placed the baby in her highchair and found her bottles in the cabinets. He grabbed his backpack and stuffed them into one of the pockets. The blonde teen also found the diaper bag and made sure that there were enough baby supplies in the pink bag. After checking the bag a few more times, he gave Belle a cookie and ran up the stairs to his room. He found an orange duffle bag under his bed and tossed some clothes from his closet into the bag.

Once it was full to the brim, he zippered it up tight and went to find another bag for his sister. Finally, he found a bag large enough for her tiny outfits. He ran into her pink painted room and tossed a lot of her PJ's, outfits and some more diapers into the bag. Before he left, he checked her bed and found the tattered monkey toy laying in the crib. Oliver gave her the toy when she was born and Belle never let her friend go.

Quickly, after he kicked the heavy bags down the flight of stairs, Oliver ran into the small office and left his aunt a quick note explaining that they had been taken away and someone needed to class the police. He didn't have his hopes up that his aunt would call anyone, but he thought he would try for Belle's sake.

The blonde found his baby sister talking to herself in the kitchen. With a smile, he set the bags by the front door and began looking for snacks that would be easy to bring back with them.

Chapter 2: Bonding

The Study of Other Species

Chapter 2: Bonding

Madison Wisconsin

Belle opened her mouth and took the food in her mouth. Oliver had twenty minutes to spare so he decided to feed his sister something. She finished about half of it and then started on her milk bottle. Her brother finished off the food then went out onto the porch, looking at the barn. Nothing was out of place, so he went back in and put the bags on the porch. "Belle, you ready to leave?"

She held up her arms, wanting to be picked up. Oliver laughed and picked her up. Walking back outside they saw two pairs of giant legs. He gently set Belle down on the grass so he could carry the bags out to their feet.

"Oliver, what kept you?" Megatron asked, kneeling down to height.

Oliver pointed to his sister, "I wasn't sure what she'd need, so I got a lot of her things." Belle looked up at the talking robots and tottered over to her brother, wanting to be held. He sighed and picked her up, "Are we ready to leave sir?"

The mechs transformed and opened their cockpits. Oliver tossed in the heavy bags with Megatron and climbed into Starscream with Belle.

After Megatron saw that everyone was ready to leave, he commed the medic. [Knockout, I need a bridge now].

[One bridge on its way] Knockout's voice said.

In front of them was the bridge, waiting for them to go through. The two flyers went right through and ended up back on the Nemesis. Soundwave was there to greet him along with Arachnid and their charges. "Lord Megatron, glad to have you back." The femme's voice sang.

"When did you all arrive?" he asked, letting Oliver empty his cockpit while Belle sat on the cold ground to watch.

Starscream transformed as well and looked at Megatron picking up his and his own charge. "About an hour ago." She said, "But the doctor and his assitant where here much earlier working on what you requested."

Megatron smiled, "Excellent." He handed over Belle to Starscream. Oliver covered his ear's waiting for his sister to flip out, but she didn't. "Meet in the med bay in one hour, we must meet soon to go over the plan. But for now, settle in your charges." They all bowed to the mighty mech and left the room.

Breakdown and Lily in Breakdown and Knockout's Shared Room.

Lily looked around the huge room. Huge to her at least. She noted that there were two metal beds and a desk. There was also a shelf with huge things on it. Lily set hers and David's bags down on the floor along with her guitar. "Nice place you guys got here."

The big blue mech looked down at the girl, "I guess so." He was working on his report due to Megatron two weeks ago.

"So, what am I supposed to be doing?" she asked, sitting on the floor Indian style.

He rolled his optics, "I don't know, entertain yourself."

Lily glared at the back of the big Con and went into her bag to find her sketch book and pencils. She looked for something to draw, anything interesting at the most. So, she decided on drawing her guardian's back view.

Getting comfortable, she sighed and got out the shape of his body. After almost thirty minutes, Breakdown turned around and saw his charge doing something with something with her tongue sticking out. He got out of his chair and knelled down to get closer, "What are you up to?"

She jumped, not hearing him get up. "Dude, don't do that! I could've gotten a heart attack!"

"Sorry," he apologized, "but can you answer my question?"

Lily sighed, "I'm sketching you." She showed him the rough sketch, "See?"

He looked at what was supposed to be him and could kind of see what she was trying to do. "Very well, now that I'm done with my report, you want to walk around Nemesis?"

She smiled, "Anything other than sitting around!" Breakdown held out his hand, waiting for her to climb on. She happily did so and the two new friends were off.

Arachnid and Claire Walking Around the Ship

"…So then, I just wait for them to dry." Clair finished explaining how she paints her nails.

Arachnid's eyes lit up, "So you can just give yourself a paint job whenever you want?"

Claire nodded, "And any color I want." She was looking over her now pink nails.

The femme looked amazed, "I'll have to ask Knockout to loan me some paint so that you can do mine."

Blondie laughed, "That sounds good…um, which one is he again?"

"The red mech." Arachnid answered, "He's the medic here…"

Claire squinted her eyes, "So, a doctor?" the femme bot nodded, "Oh, then he can keep me on my diet!"

"Diet?" the spider bot exclaimed. The human slowly nodded, "Claire, why are you on a diet?"

She looked down at her skirt and started straightening it, "Mother placed me on it for the summer. She said it's the right opportunity to change some habits in my life."

Arachnid looked down at the young human with a questioning glance, but didn't push the topic further. The femme smiled back, "Now, tell me about how you do your hair…"

Knockout and David in the Med Bay

David was sitting on the counter watching his guardian making something's on the other side of the room. "Um, Knockout…what are you doing?"

"Something that Lord Megatron asked me to do." Knockout answered, grabbing his welder that was lying next to him.

The human swung his legs back and forth, "Can I know what it is?"

Red medic glanced behind his shoulder, "Megatron doesn't want me to say anything…"

"Why?" David asked.

K.O. kept at his work, "Because I was ordered not to."

"Why?" he asked again.

Knockout tightened something, "Because an order is an order and you have to listen to them."

David was quiet for a moment, "Why?"

The medic was furious now. He slammed the welder onto the counter and ran over to his charge. "I don't know okay! Know stop repeating the same things over and over again!"

The human boy stepped back a little, fear in his eyes and face all red. "I-I'm sorry sir."

Counting to ten backwards, the medic sighed. "And I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean to." He grabbed his charge and held him up to his face. "Please don't me angered with me."

"I'm not anymore." he said, looking right into his red optics, "If you're not mad at me."

He looked at the boy's face, growing back to its original skin shade. "Your face was once red, and now it's not…why?"

Soundwave and Logan in the Monitor Room

Logan looked up at the silent giant who was watching the screens. It was very interesting for the young human, watching the whole ship in one room. He also got to see what some of the other Decepticons looked like. They reminded him of Soundwave in that they don't have a mouth or eyes. But, they could speak and had a red streak where their eyes should be.

The thirteen-year-old also noticed that everyone here, except for the blue one, had red eyes and actually talked. He looked up at the moving head of the Con and tapped his chest, "Can you speak?"

Soundwave nodded once, not looking down at the boy. Logan sighed, "Then, why don't you?"

The Con didn't respond in anyway, he only moved his head to face another monitor. The young teenager groaned and laid on the open hand, "You won't even answer me now!"

The silent mech looked down and tilted his head to the side. Then, Logan got a good idea, "Do you write things?"

Soundwave typed something onto a computer with his free hand, and then translated it into English. Yes, I do write things. Now, I do not appreciate your tone with me. Please change your attitude or I would have to result in punishment.

Logan read the message and then blushed a little, "Sorry Soundwave, I just don't like being ignored."

Apology accepted. I must finish my shift so that we can meet the others in about one half of an hour. Soundwave typed, not taking his gaze away from a monitor screen.

The boy read it again, and then snuggled into the palm of his guardian. "Okay, I'll let you work." He took out his ear buds and began blasting the latest pop song. Soundwave mentally sighed, not wanting to listen to the human music that was too loud.

Megatron and Oliver in the Control Room

Starscream and Belle in the Control Room

Megatron was sitting on his throne, pet in his lap. He was currently stroking Oliver's head with his thumb. Glancing up wards, he saw his SIC holding his charge far away from his body. All Belle wanted was to cuddle up and take a nap, but she wasn't going to fall asleep if she wasn't in a lying position. So, she was kicking her little legs and thrashing around her tiny arms in protest.

Oliver noticed this and decided to speak up, "Sir, Belle may be tired…why don't you hold her to your chest?"

The seeker glared at the human male, "I don't need your advice human."

"She is my sister though." The teen put in.

Starscream just huffed and looked at Belle. She was almost at the brink of tears, and Megatron didn't want the human crying. "Starscream, stop being so stubborn and listen to the human."

Growling, he slowly brought the girl closer and cupped her into one of his hands, putting it on his chest. Belle sighed in relief and snuggled right in. Oliver smiled, knowing that he could read his sister like an open book.

"How do you know so much about your sparklings?" Starscream asked in a whisper.

Ollie sighed, "I've been watching over Belle since the day she was born." He cracked his knuckles, "It was only a matter of time before I started catching on."

Megatron looked down at his charge, "What about your creators? Don't they care for her and let you go to your learning facility?"

The teen looked down at his boots. "Um, my creators, that's my parents, right?" The war lord nodded. "Right, well…my dad hasn't been in America since last year, and we haven't heard from him since."

"And your Carrier?" the seeker asked.

Oliver just closed his eyes, not wanting to talk about it. The older mechs let it go, knowing that it was obviously a sensitive topic. [Lord Megatron, the devises are ready] Knockout commed.

[We shall be there. Inform the others] Megatron cut the line and picked up Oliver, "Come, we are wanted in the med bay."

The two mechs walked out of the room and headed for the med bay. All of the wandering drones gave the humans look of curiosity, especially to Belle and Starscream. The seeker glared at them and edged pulled the girl farther away from his chest. Belle looked up at his source of warmness with tired eyes and a frown on her face. The mech sighed and put the girl back, feeling her snuggle her head to his spark. It was odd and awkward for him. He didn't like younger things, his species or not, that's why when one of the drones brought in a nest full of baby birds and everyone kept teasing him saying that he was their Carrier.

They arrived in the med bay right as the others were walking in. "There you are." Knockout said, turning around and watching them walk in, "Bring your humans here." The medic pointed to a berth.

The humans were set down on the berth and then Belle had a fit. This was the third time she's been woken up in the past ten minutes. She held up her arms, wanting to be held by someone she actually felt comfortable with. Oliver quickly went over to comfort his baby sister. He took her into his arms and let her rest her tiny head on his shoulder. "I told ya Screamer," Breakdown snickered, "not even other species like you."

Starscream glared at the blue mech, "Do not push me Breakdown."

K.O. walked in between the auguring mechs. "Okay mechs, can we stick to the matter at servo please?" he set down some circular devices on the berth with one in his hand. "David, come here."

The Hawaiian boy shuffled over to the waiting medic and looked up at him. Knockout opened the devise and attached it onto the boy's ankle. Lily looked at his cousin's ankle, "Are you Lolo?"

A deceives was put on her own ankle, "What does 'Lolo' mean?" Breakdown asked.

She looked down at her own foot in horror, "I said, ARE YOU CRAZY? What is this thing!?"

"A tracking device," Megatron explained, "We must know where you all are at all times."

Claire looked at the red medic attaching the thing on her foot, "Couldn't have been any uglier?"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Just be thankful it didn't take your foot off princess."

"I'm sorry that some of us care about our appearances Sea Witch." Claire responded, crossing her arms over her chest.

The Hawaiian teen cracked her knuckles, "Glad we've got a medic nearby."

Claire screamed right as Lily was about to jump. But, Breakdown grabbed Lily in his hand, "Stop, we don't hurt each other."

She glared up at him, "Fine…she won't be injured for now."

The blonde teen cowered close to her guardian. Logan was checking out his new accessory as Oliver was getting his on. Belle was being stubborn and wasn't letting K.O. touch her. "C'mon fleshy, you've gotta have his on."

"No!" she said, kicking her legs around.

Her brother sighed, "Belle, you have to listen to him. He's in charge right now. I know you're tired but once you get this on you can go night night I promise."

"NO!" she yelled at him.

Megatron knelled down to look at the girl, "You will listen and obey, understood."

Belle put her face into Oliver neck and began to whine, scared of the big mean mech. She rested her moving feet and Knockout quickly attached the circle on her ankle. "There, was that so hard?" Oliver said, bouncing her a little in his arms.

She looked up at him, frown on her face. Claire walked over to him, watching Lily's glare. "She's so cute."

He set his sister down, "I guess so…"

Belle left the talking teens and tottered over to Logan. The tracker was heavy on her tiny foot, so resorted to crawling the rest of the way over. He looked at her, "What are you doing pequeño?"

She smiled and patted his leg, "Foot!"

The seeker face palmed, "No, that's my leg." He lifted up his pointed to his shoes, "These are my feet."

Belle laughed, "Feet!"

"She doesn't know many words yet." Oliver said, peeling away from the blonde girl.

David finished looking over his new foot accessory and sighed. Then, his stomach growled and he shot a glance at his cousin. She laughed, "Was that you?"

He nodded, "I'm hungry…can't help it."

"You'll get your energon soon." Knockout said, putting away some things.

Lily looked up at the medic, "What's energon?"

Breakdown decided to explain, "It's what Cybertronians consume. It's our energy soruce."

"Then we probably can't eat it dude!" Lily shook her head, sending long brown locks everywhere. "It'll probably kill us."

Airachnid looked down at the femme who tried to attack her charge. "Then what do you consume?"

"And where can we get it?" Megatron added.

Logan looked upwards, joining the conversation, "The store like Costco or something like that."

Oliver nodded, "Yeah, everything there is in bulk. One stop shopping."

The Decpeticons looked at each other as an idea came to their leader's mind and he privately commed them the idea.

Chapter 3: Shopping

The Study of Other Species

Chapter 3: SHOPPING!

Lily sighed, leaning against Breakdown's window. "Do we have to go with you guys?"

The blue mech huffed and turned right, like the directions read, "Lord Megatron wants us to gather the right things. And we weren't going to leave you on the ship."

"But we have these stupid tracker things!" she ranted, rubbing her heavy ankle. Breakdown just kept driving, not wanting to get into an argument with the girl. Knockout drove up to his side, David sitting in the driver seat. Lily's eyes widened, "Breakdown, roll down your window!" The mech did as asked and Knockout rolled down his own. "Are you crazy? Get out of the driver seat David!"

"You're not my mom!" he yelled back, "Besides, K.O. said that this is the safest seat in the car."

The Hawaiian rolled her eyes, "At least put your seat belt on!"

Breakdown rolled up the window, cutting off the conversation. "We're pulling in, and will you relax a little? Knockout won't cause harm to David."

She sighed and leaned into the seat. "If you had to bring us, why are the others coming too?"

"Because Lord Megatron ordered it." The blue mech sighed, parking in the parking lot far away from the store so that the flyers could also land close enough.

Lily hoped out of the car and someone else came out too. A thirtyish year old, dark skinned man with dark sunglasses, blue t-shirt, worn jeans and black combat boots walked over to her. She also noticed that he was wearing dog tags around his neck, some after shave and shaggy black hair. "Impressed?" the voice was Breakdown's alright, and Lily couldn't believe it.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking him over.

The blue mech put his hands in newly formed pockets, "Holoform, Knockout made them for us."

She nodded and looked over at the oncoming duo. There was David in his normal outfit, but then there was another man next to him. The man had black hair like Breakdown but it was in a Mohawk fashion, black rimmed glasses, red earing on his left ear, and a black goatee. He also had on a red sports coat with black skin tight jeans, belt with Decepticon logo on it and black church shoes.

"Isn't that cool?" David asked, smile on his face. "He's like an exact human. I can hit him and he feels pain!"

The doctor rolled his red eyes, "That's not what I wanted to hear, but he is correct."

Breakdown nodded, "You did a nice job on this buddy."

"Indeed." A voice said from behind the medic. They all turned around and saw the flyers and their charges coming to them. Lily noticed that all of them still had their red eyes. The one who talked had to them was Megatron, walking in front of everyone. His hair was dirty blonde and he had some very noticeable whiskers. He was wearing a black turtle neck, red belt and kakis with black shoes. Megatron also had on a red belt and watch.

To his left was Starscream holding Belle in his arms. The seeker was wearing black boots, grey skinny jeans with a sliver chain on it. A grey and black striped long sleeve was covering his torso and a sliver ring was on his hand. Black short hair was on his head with red highlights.

The two girls walked behind them, only three feet back. Arachnid was in a black tank-top with a choker necklace around her neck. He long black layered hair went right to her shoulders. She had a purple mini skirt on and black high heels. Lily could have sworn that Claire and Arachnid could've been twins.

And finally, Soundwave was on Megatrons right, watching Logan closely. The silent Con was wearing a black hoodie that covered his shaved head. His eyes were covered with sunglasses and a tattoo went down the side of his face. His pants sagged a bit and they were dark grey skinny jeans. Black basketball shoes were on his feet and they were untied. It reminded Logan of some city kids he used to hang out with.

Claire smiled, "Alright, now that everyone is here, we can go shopping!"

Lily groaned and crossed her arms across her chest. Breakdown laughed, "Don't like shopping…whatever that is…"

"Shopping is when people go to a store and get things they need." Logan explained.

The Hawaiian teen nodded, "Or, in most girls' place, they get what they want. It can take them forever to do!"

"Hey, the longest I've gone was three hours!" Claire defended, "And it was for my spring wardrobe."

Knockout's eyes widened as they started for the entrance. "For new plates and designs?" Claire nodded, "Holy Primus above."

Lily just clenched her teeth and held the door for everyone. Oliver grabbed a cart and walked through the atomic door, "Starscream, if you wanna put Belle in here so you don't have to carry her…"

The Seeker jumped at the chance of getting the human out of his arms. He set her in the cart and grabbed onto the handle, "Let's get this over with…" he groaned, following behind the others.

David walked close to Oliver, pointing out things they might want to eat. Oliver grabbed a bunch of green bananas and was about to put them in the cart until Lily stopped him, "Those aren't ripe Ollie."

"How do you know?" Megatron questioned, looking over the fruit.

She rolled her eyes, "Did your family grow fruit for most of their life? I think I know fruit when I see it."

Lily grabbed some ripe bananas and placed them in the cart. Megatron grabbed the girl by the arm and dragged him over to Breakdown, "You need to teach your human some respect." He growled and shoved her over.

The blue mech huffed, "Yes sir, right away."

Megatron just walked to his main charge. Lily rubbed her arm while her guardian was glaring at her, "What'd I do?"

"You need to learn to be quiet sometimes." He said, "Now I got in trouble."

She looked at the floor, wanting to drop the subject. "Sorry Breakdown." She mumbled, following behind him.

Logan and Soundwave, on the other hand, were checking out something's Soundwave had questions about. "This is a box of Lucky Charms, one of my favorite cereals."

Claire gave a disgusting look at the box, "That's full of sugar and fats Logan."

He turned to look at her, "And your point is?"

She sighed, "You wanna get fat?" he shook his head, "Then put the box back."

Logan put the box back on the shelf, not wanting to get fat. But his mama told him that sometimes, sugar was a good thing. Soundwave just walked away from the shelf, indicating that the kid should follow him. Before leaving, he did put grab the cereal box back from the shelf. Arachnid looked at her charge, hands on her hips, "What are you guys supposed to be consuming then?"

"Healthy foods." Claire said, walking towards the vegetables, "Like these things. This is basically what I eat on a day to day basis."

Knockout walked behind them, "Aren't you supposed to eat animals as well?"

She looked disgusted, "I don't, and that's killing animals for no reason. But some people do."

"I live for bacon!" David said, popping up with a package. "It's the best thing to have for breakfast!"

Starscream ignored their pointless conversation and looked at his charge. She was smiling at him and trying to reach him, "What are you looking at human?"

She giggled and poked his face. Oliver laughed, "She just wants to play sir. Who is this Belle? What's his name?" he pointed to Starscream.

The seeker just looked at his human. A huge smile came onto her face, "Mmm…moo…mooommy." Time seemed to freeze. Belle laughed, "Mommy!"

Lily had to hide her face in Breakdowns shoulder so that the seeker wouldn't see her laughing. David and Logan, on the other hand, just let it all out and began laughing. "Oh my God!" David said, having to sit down, "You're her mom!"

The mech glared, "No I'm not!"

"Well to her you are!" Logan said, leaning on Soundwaves shoulder.

Megatron and Arachnid exchanged smirks and began walking forward, wanting to get back to the ship. Claire walked next to Starscream, "I think it's adorable that she thinks that."

-0-

After getting past most of the clothes, they walked through the furniture section. Knockout looked at some things, "You guys sleep on these things?"

He was pointing to a pile of mattresses. David nodded and hopped up onto the pile, "Yeah man, there so soft!"

"Are you supposed to be up there?" Megatron looked at the jumping boy.

He shrugged as Logan climbed up, "I do this all the time. If you don't get caught, there's no harm!"

The boys looked like they were having fun and Belle wanted to have fun too. She reached her arms up, "Out!"

Starscream looked at what she wanted and shook his head, "I do not want you getting hurt."

She pouted, "Out!"

"I said no." he kept to his word, pushing her away from where the boys were. They walked past the aisle most parents dread, the toy aisle.

Belle hasn't seen so many toys in her young life and her eyes widened. She spotted something wonderful to her, a little white stuffed bunny. She reached out for it, "Mommy!"

The seeker sighed and grabbed it, "Here, now stay quiet."

And quiet she stayed. She squeezed that toy so tight she looked like she might burst. Starscream had a small smile creep onto his face, then hid it once they met back up with the others. "Let's leave, I'm getting sick of all these human things."

"Agreed." Knockout said, grabbing David off the pile, "You all need to consume and recharge. It's almost then eight thirty."

You could tell the time by Belle, she was getting tired and fussy. Oliver patted her head and grabbed a binky from his pocket, "Here Belle."

She took it right away and snuggled with her bunny. They all went to the check out, then it dawned onto Lily, so she dared to ask, "How are we gonna pay for this?"

Megatron reached into his pocket and pulled out two full bundles of cash. Oliver's eyes widened, "Where did you get that?"

"Knockout made it." The war lord simply said.

The older kids exchanged glances and just went along with it, wanting to get back to the ship and eat.

Dinner went by pretty quickly. Lily and Oliver made simple PB and J sandwiches with juice boxes. Claire rolled her eyes, "I'm going to have to work out for thirty minutes tomorrow to lose just half of this."

"Chill out princess," Lily said with a mouth full of sandwich, "have some fun."

Claire glared, "I do have fun. I just don't wanna get fat."

The Hawaiian girl stood up and spun around, about to make a whitty remark, but caught Megatron's glare from the corner of her eye. Instead, she just sat next to her cousin and ate her dinner in peace. The boys were just watching the mini cat fight along with their guardians. Belle was sitting in Oliver's lap, drinking her night time milk.

Knockout was tired, it's been a long day and all he wanted was to recharge for as long as possible. "Okay, let's get to recharge." He stood and looked towards the two humans who would be sharing their room for the evening.

David wiped his hand across his face, "What's that?"

"Sleep, finally." Lily answered, pulling her hair back with a hair tie she had on her wrist.

Breakdown picked her and David up, leaving the med lab for their room. Claire climbed onto Arachnid's waiting hand and sighed, needing her 'beauty sleep'. Logan and Soundwave left a while ago and were already in his room. Logan was curled up on the berth right where the silent mech put him. Soundwave was sitting at his desk, finishing up his latest report.

Breakdown and the kids got to their room and set the kids on the floor. "Get ready, I'll set you up a spot." Closing his eyes, David turned around as Lily quickly got on her PJ's. They're simple; basketball shorts, tank top. David just took off his shirt and he was done. The blue mech turn back to them and look at their tired faces.

Knockout walked into the room, "Did you get them a place for their recharge?"

Breakdown nodded and picked them up. "Yeah…" he handed David over. "Take yours."

Lily didn't like being called a 'yours' so she pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. She was set down on the berth, right by where her guardians head would go. There was a small pillow and a little blanket there. She snuggled into her blanket and looked at her cousin in a similar place on the other berth. Pudge, Lily's stuffed fish, was in her arms and close to her chest.

The mechs got onto their berths and the lights began to dim. David sighed and waved at Lily. She blew him a kiss to say good night, like they used to do back home.

Arachnid placed Claire on her desk along with her things. The girl was busy brushing her hair and looking around the large room. "This is almost as big as my house alone…"

"Well, it's small in our terms." The femme bot said, sitting on her berth, "Now, let's get some recharge. We've got an interesting day of new things to happen tomorrow."

The teen snuggled into her blanket and looked at the ceiling. Claire sighed, "Does Lily hate me?" she questioned, no one really.

Arachnid was quiet for a moment, turning to face her charge, "I don't think so, and she's probably 'home sick' as you humans put it."

Claire thought about that for a moment then turned to face the looking Con. "I guess you're right."

The females smiled at each other, neither of them having anyone to talk to until now.

Megatron was sitting in his own 'captions' quarters at his desk. Oliver was sitting on the desk, looking over a book he brought with him. The boy was curious about this new place and everything to do with it. But, he was also worried about his sister adjusting to this new place. She's just a baby and now she's living with giant robots on a flying ship. And to top it all off, she called one of them mommy.

The little one didn't know her mother, and probably never would. Oliver was lucky enough to know her, she was a wonderful lady. Megatron looked down at the thinking boy and poked his head, "Are you not tired?"

Ollie shook his head, "I'm normally up late."

"Well," The war lord held out his hand, "it's getting late and you're still a youngling."

The boy climbed on and the two made it over to the large berth, big enough to hold two mechs his size. The boy was set down on one of the two pillows and Megatron laid next to him, putting both hands behind his hands. Oliver yawned, "What a day huh…"

"In deed." The mech agreed, "Now, not another sound-" The mech was cut off by a little snore. He looked down to see his main charge already sleeping, curled into a tight ball.

2:45 am.

Belle's eyes opened quickly and she looked up. There wasn't her fishy mobile, or the edges of her pink room that she could normally see. Her binky wasn't in her crib, she wasn't even in a crib. She was lying in an empty energon cube with some towels in it. What she did have was the new bunny she got today and her monkey from Ollie. Belle's tummy growled, she was hungry and awake, two things she didn't want right now.

So, the little girl did one thing she knew how to do, cry.

Starscream wasn't awaken by the cries, he was woken by the banging of the walls on either side of his room. Getting off of his berth, he walked all the way across the room and to the cube that held the girl. Reaching a hand in, he picked her up, "What could you possibly want at this hour?"

The toddler just kept crying, getting louder by the minute. The seeker sighed and began pacing around the room. That lasted for almost thirty minutes until there was a knock at his door. Opening it with his free hand he saw a very tired medic standing there with something between his fingers. "Give her this so that everyone can get back to recharge."

Starscream took the bottle and handed it to the crying child. She quickly took it and began sucking right away. A small smile formed on his face as he watched. "Aw, the seeker does have a spark." Knockout sneered.

The flyer shut his door, knowing that the medic would gossip around now. Sitting down on his berth, he watched the girl drink her milk. Getting a reminder from the back of his CPU, he slowly shifted the girl so that he was in the crook of his arm. Right next to his spark. Belle finished her milk and snuggled into the chest, smiling up at Starscream.

He held her in his arms until Belle fell back asleep. One he was certain that she was finally peacefully sleeping, he placed her back down and covered her with the spare cloth so that she wouldn't get cold, not that he cared or anything. Because who could ever love and care for another species?

Oops, rewriting this one too!