Jack O Lantern

Summary: The night after Darkness Rising, Jack has a rather interesting dream where he meets Primus. The spherical god gives him a certain green ring and the path of time takes a bit of a detour.

1. New Abilities

Story Start: The Night After Darkness Rises

Jackson Darby shifted in his bed. He was currently asleep but his eyes were moving about under his lids and his brows furrowing like he was taking the hardest final exam any college professor could make. And his dream was just plain weird.

Jack's Dream

He was in a massive chamber that held an orb that seemed like it could be mistaken for the Death Star given its size, massive cables attaching it to the far-off walls of the chamber. The weirdest thing though was how the massive orb seemed to give off a sense of extreme wisdom. And then it spoke.

Jackson Darby, you have been shown that the world is much larger than you have originally thought. And though you hesitated, you still managed to rally your Will to help the Autobots. But though your conviction is great, your limitations as a human still remain. Therefore, I grant you this power so that you may now help your new friends.

There was a bright flash of green from up above and Jack looked up to see an orb of green light float down towards him. Instinctively raising his hand, his eyes widened as a green ring landed on his finger and he breathed out "No way!"

Use it well young Jackson Darby, for the road ahead contains great strife, and you shall be caught in it. But keep your Will hardened and you shall prevail.

The world began to white out and Jack quickly looked from the ring back to the orb and said "Wait, who are you?!" He received no answer though as there was a roaring sound drowning everything out.

Back In Jasper

Jack shot up in his bed panting. Running his right hand through his hair, he sighed and said "What a weird…dream?" He trailed off in confusion when he felt something other than fingers rubbing along his head. Pulling it back to look at it, his eyes widened and he said "It wasn't just a dream?!"

Quickly hopping out of bed, Jack took a stance in the middle of his room and took a moment to remember a line he has heard on TV a few times. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to settle his nerves, he snapped them open and chanted:

In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight.

Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power…Green Lantern's light!

Green light surged around him, filling his room and throwing beams of it out his windows and under his door, fortunately not waking either his sleeping mother or neighbors. When it cleared, Jack looked down at his changed clothes and grinned as he said "This, this is awesome!"

Quickly moving to his garage, he said "Arcee, look at this!"

"Jack? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Arcee asked as her lights turned on and her front wheel turned towards him before she suddenly transformed into bot mode and looked at him incredulously as she asked "Jack, why are you glowing?"

Time Skip: Autopost Omega 1, Thirty Minutes Later

Arcee drove into the Autobot base with Jack flying right beside her. On top of the expected presence of Optimus and Ratchet, the two were also surprised to see Bulkhead with Miko on his shoulder. Miko's eyes widened and she grinned as she said "You too huh?"

Jack blinked and said "You got a ring as well?"

"Oh Jack, Jack, Jack, I got something way cooler than a ring!" Miko said as she stood up on Bulkhead's shoulder before leaping off as far away as she could. Jack yelped but before he could even think of catching her, a smart watch shaped device on her left wrist suddenly unfolded around her forming an exo-suit with large pistons on the legs that easily absorbed the impact and she held the device on her wrist up proudly as she said "Any weapon or armor I can think of, this little beauty can make!" Proving her claim, the exo-suit turned into a general Gundam suit before turning into the MJONR armor from Halo before folding back into the device and it spat out a lightsaber hilt that she activated showing its purple blade, Miko letting out a pleased grin and giggle as she waved it around a little before deactivating it and allowing it to be reabsorbed into her device.

"Well we're all doomed." Jack said with a flat look on his face.

"Hey!" Miko said indignantly before she caught Jack's lips twitching up and she punched his shoulder and said "That wasn't nice Jack!"

"Ow!" Jack said exaggeratedly rubbing his shoulder a bit before he grew serious again and said "I wonder if Raf got anything?"

Almost as if he had been waiting to be summoned, Bumblebee pulled in. But instead of opening his doors to let Raf out, he immediately transformed showing that Raf wasn't with him. Seeing this, all of the Autobots frowned and Optimus asked "Bumblebee, where is your charge?"

"I'm here Optimus!" The base's speakers said causing everyone to look around in confusion before Ratchet's main work station glowed brighter for a moment before a bolt of electricity shot out earning a "By the Allspark!" from the medic. The bolt of electricity shot towards Bumblebee who raised his hand and Raf formed out of the bolt holding a hand to his head and said "THAT's going to take some getting used to." Shaking it once, he looked up with a grin and said "Apparently I can enter anything that uses electricity in any of its parts. You would not BELIEVE what the internet looks like from the inside!"

"Raf can enter machinery." Miko said flatly before she let out a massive grin and punched her right fist into her left palm and shouted "THE CONS DON'T STAND A CHANCE!"

"But how could this happen? None of you had these abilities before." Ratchet said in confusion.

As Bumblebee put Raf on the ground, the three traded looks and Jack said "I had this weird dream where this massive orb connected to the chamber it was in by giant cables gave me the ring."

"Same here." Miko said and Raf hummed and nodded his head in agreement.

"Massive Orb?! Surely you can't mean Primus?!" Ratchet said with wide optics and hand over spark.

"It never said who it was." Jack said with a slight frown.

"None the less, it would stand to reason that Primus would be the one most likely to grant you these new abilities." Optimus said as he walked over and knelt to be closer to their level and continued "However, I must urge that you three do not abuse these new powers, for it is very easy for them to be misused."

"Only for good, scout's honor." Jack said.

Miko snickered and said "You were a scout?"

Jack rolled his eyes but didn't deign to answer to the barb. A few minutes later, Optimus had the kids return home since it was still late in the night.

Time Skip: The Next Day

The next day, the kids brought their science projects that were due the next day with them to put the last details on them as their guardians watched, well, Miko was putting the last touches on her solar system. Raf was having a bit of trouble getting his chemical balance right for his paper mache volcano while Jack was shamelessly abusing the hell out of his Green Lantern ring to rapidly disassemble his basic of basic motorcycles, using an atomizing machine to break the parts down further and then reconstruct them into slightly better grade tech which he then assembled into another motorcycle that he got the specs for from his ring's computer. He didn't go for extremely high quality parts simply because he didn't want to have to explain just HOW he got said expensive bits but the new bike WAS a step up from what he originally had. And no, it couldn't be called cheating because he actually understood how to assemble said bike, he had done it before without the ring after all. That was his rationalization and he was sticking to it.

He was just using a green drill to tighten the last screw of his handle bars when Raf decided to test his volcano. The thing went off with a loud banging sound before there was the sound of a lot of fireworks going off and a LOT of smoke. The commotion brought Ratchet and Optimus running over as the medic yelled "Decepticons! We're under attack!"

"It's no attack, Ratchet. It's my volcano." Raf said even as he waved away the last of the smoke. The volcano promptly sagged in on itself and Raf followed its example, sagging his shoulders as he said weakly "Or was."

Jack, having made a volcano of his own when he was Raf's age said "Too much vinegar, not enough baking soda Raf. Here." He pointed his ring at Raf's volcano and under its light, the paper mache reshaped itself before the light turned into a list holding the required ingredients and the various measurements for them. Raf adjusted his glasses as he studied the list for a minute before he slapped his forehead with a palm and said "I can't believe I used fl oz rather than tbsp for the vinegar measurement, thanks Jack!"

"Mhm hm." Jack hummed as he gave the drill he had kept materialized one last trigger pull before nodding in satisfaction as he dismissed it and said "Miko, how are you doing over there?"

"Just need to give Jupiter it's Red Spot." The girl replied, the green tarp hanging under the orbs Bulkhead was holding up covered in drips of paint. Jack had insisted that she work on top of the tarp he had made for her and to her slight shame it looked like he had been right to.

"What, is going on in here?" Ratchet asked, having finally found his voice after seeing everything that was going on.

"Science Fair's tomorrow, so we're finishing our projects." Jack said, dismissing all of the fancy equipment he had made with his ring. Feeling a set of heavy eyes on him, he glanced up and chuckled while rubbing the back of his neck at the slightly disappointed look Optimus was giving him, though he relaxed when the stare lightened and Optimus twitched his lips in a smile, clearly willing to let the use of the ring to aid in his building go.

"Well, you can't work on these projects in here, you're making a mess." Ratchet said indignantly drawing Jack's attention to the medic.

Jack waved his hand at the tarp he had made and the stand Raf was working on and said "Why do you think I had them work on those? Easier to clean up then the floor."

Ratchet gave an awkward cough and said "Uh, well, that is…" Finally, he threw his hands up and said "Fine!" And stalked back to his station. There was a spark of amusement in Optimus' optics as he nodded at them before he too walked away.

Bulkhead let out a sigh of relief as he said "Nice job Jack, I was afraid that two volcanos were going to erupt."

"Mt. Ratchet remains dormant yet." Arcee said in agreement from where she was leaning against a wall watching everything. Bumblebee also beeped his agreement next to her causing Jack to suddenly focus on him.

Cocking his head, Jack said "Hey Bumblebee, do you want me to see about doing something about your voice? I'm sure I can come up with SOMETHING to help you speak in a way Miko and I can understand."

Bumblebee stiffened with wide optics for a moment before he nodded energetically. He quickly pushed against the wall and got on his hands and knees in front of Jack in order to give him better access to his vocal cords. Jack quickly scanned the area and his ring's computer provided a diagnostic. The sound of it saying out loud what was wrong with Bumblebee's neck and mouth region had Ratchet walking over in medical curiosity. He got back over just in time to see Jack create a green cloud of nanites that swarmed over Bumblebee's neck area in a shimmering mass.

"What are you doing Jack?!" Ratchet asked in alarm.

"Using nanites to turn the replacement voice box you gave Bumblebee into something that matches his original one." Jack calmly stated.

Ratchet blinked and said in wonder "Your ring can do that, just replace any body part needed?"

"Long as it has something to convert into said body part." Jack confirmed with a nod as his Will constructed nanites pulled back away from Bumblebee before being dismissed.

There was a tense moment from the gathered kids and Autobots as Bumblebee rubbed his neck before he said "Testing, testing." His optics lit up as the pieces of metal over his mouth retracted and he shouted happily "I've got my voice back!" He pulled Jack into a hug, barely remembering not to hug too hard as he said "Thank you Jack!"

"Y-yeah, no problem." Jack said before he watched as Bumblebee sprung up to his feet and rushed over to Optimus and said "Optimus, Jack fixed my voice!"

Optimus let out a heartfelt chuckle and said "So I see Bumblebee, that is most excellent news."

Ratchet was giving Jack's ring a contemplative look before he said "Jack, are you finished with your project?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Jack asked with a cocked head. He paled a little at the large grin Ratchet began to sport.

The Medic let out an only slightly creepy chuckle as he said "I want to see what else that thing can do."

Time Skip: Two Hours Later

It was official, Ratchet loved Jack's new accessory. Medical equipment had been scanned then atomically disassembled before being recombined into better, more efficient and more effective versions. Thanks to the Ring's computer, the Ground Bridge got a major overhaul and was not only now a Space Bridge, but was fifty percent more fuel efficient. Ratchet's work station got some upgrades so that way it was more in line with a proper Cybertronian computer rather than a computer made by a Cybertronian using Earth resources.

But that had been a while ago, and what Ratchet was seeing on his newly improved monitors had him frowning as he said "Optimus! We've got exposed energon on the move!"

Bulkhead stepped up and said "And since we ain't moving it, guess who must be."

"Decepticons." Arcee said stepping up as well.

"Without Megatron?" Miko asked.

"There were more Decepticons than just Megatron you know. Someone had to take over after his destruction." Bumblebee said as he came up on Ratchet's other side.

"Bumblebee is right. Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy will live on as others rise to take his place. And I believe I know who has done the rising. Jack, Miko, Raf, I am reluctant to bring you into the field so soon after you have gained your weapons and abilities, never the less, the choice is up to you."

"I'm in!" Miko said eagerly to no one's surprise.

"I'll come too." Jack said after a moment's consideration.

When everyone turned to Raf, he frowned and said "I believe that my expertise in computers means I'm better served as a Tactical Officer here like Ratchet."

"Very well." Optimus said with a nod of recognition before he turned to the Bots and said "Autobots, Roll Out!"

Ratchet quickly activated the Ground Bridge and the Autobots transformed. Miko joined Jack on Arce in case they had to dismount quickly and then they were rolling through the bridge. Raf watched them go with a bit lip for a moment before he looked at Ratchet as the Medic said "If it gives you any consolation, I believe you made the right choice. Not all of us were made to make a difference on the battlefield, rather, some of us were made to aid the others away from it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Raf said with a smile and he quickly shot up to Ratchet's shoulder as the Medic went to his work station.

Scene Change Canyon Country

The combat group came out of the bridge and saw in the middle distance Starscream and Soundwave in front of a large metal container with the blue glow of energon coming from it. As Miko and Jack dismounted, the Autobots all transformed and Bumblebee said "Well that could be bad."

"Indeed Bumblebee, everyone, assume covering positions, and await my command." Optimus said and began walking forward, the other Autobots scattering along the canyon floor as stealthily as they could while Jack flew up halfway up the canyon wall, Miko quickly getting to the same height via grappling hook. Both were 'powered up' at this point, Jack in the Green Lantern Corps uniform while Miko had on a fully encased exo suit and a sniper rifle that shot energon bullets rather than metal ones.

As Optimus approached the opening container, Starscream said "Awaken, Warrior. Rise and serve your new Master!"

The rather large Cybertronian inside opened its optics and stepped out of the container, clapping its fists together above its head before it leaned down and said in a booming voice "Skyquake serves only one master."

"Excellent. Your loyalty and devotion will set a fine example for the troops. No need to be timid Skyquake, you may bow." Starscream said, clearly not getting what the other flyer was saying.

Something Skyquake quickly pointed out as he said "You fail to grasp my meaning. I am here on a mission assigned to me by my one Master—Megatron."

"Yes. Him." Starscream said darkly before he put a sense of 'moving on' in his words as he said "Sadly, Megatron is no longer with us."

"Impossible." Skyquake said with narrowed optics.

Sneering, Starscream said "Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept? Skyquake, I located you. I awakened you. Thus, I, Lord Starscream, am now your Master!"

Skyquake didn't take that well, growling and hunching over Starscream which had the much smaller flyer taking nervous steps back. As the bigger flyer got right in Starscream's face, Optimus announced his presence only fifty feet away, nothing for a Cybertronian, showing off the Prime's stealth skills, though whether Soundwave had noticed him and didn't 'say' anything was up for debate.

"It has been a while Skyquake." The prime said, weapons not yet out but still ready for a fight. Scattered around in a way that would give the others clear lines of fire, the Autobots had their blasters out even as they hid behind rock outcroppings.

"Oh." Starscream said flatly when he saw the Prime only to be pushed away as Skyquake stood up and turned to face the Prime as he said "Optimus Prime. I haven't seen you since the Battle of Technar. Megatron ordered me to annihilate you."

"That was a long time ago." Optimus said as he walked a few steps closer.

"That may be, Prime, but my orders still stand." Skyquake declared. All of the hiding Autobots stiffened and Jack formed a sniper rifle of his own while Miko tightened the grip on hers, scope trained on Skyquake's head.

"Is this ancient war still worth fighting when so many comrades have been lost and worlds destroyed?" Optimus asked before he pointed at Starscream and said "If you want to be a true leader, Starscream, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons toward peace."

"I would be wiling to consider a truce…" Starscream started in a reasonable tone before he proceeded to put his stiletto heeled foot in his mouth as he continued "If you would be willing to bow before me Optimus Prime."

"Can I shoot him? I really want to shoot him." Miko whispered to Jack.

Whether Jack would have let her open fire before Optimus' order would never be known. Skyquake apparently took offense to Starscream's words as he snarled out "Again?! Bow to this!" The titan flyer back handed Starscream away and into the far canyon wall. Starscream stumbled to his feet and immediately transformed to fly away. Soundwave flew out of the canyon as well when he saw Starscream flee.

"Should have shot him when I had the chance." Miko said darkly as she watched the jet turn to fly over the canyon wall they were on.

Jack let out a noncommittal hum before they turned their attention back to the ground as Optimus said with a clenched fist "Skyquake, this is a new era on another world. Side with the Autobots, and help me end this conflict forever."

"I will NEVER side with a Prime!" Skyquake declared before he pulled out a rotary cannon from his back, only for a pair of sniper bullets to slam into his right hand making him drop the front handle and his bullets harmlessly chewed through the ground. That opened the flood gates and all of the other Autobots shot out of their cover and began opening fire. Skyquake let out a bellow of defiance but quickly fell to the barrage of four Autobots and two sniper wielding humans. Ten seconds after the barrage started, he fell on his back pockmarked with smoking holes.

"Well that happened." Bulkhead said as his blasters returned to being hands and he rubbed his head with his right hand.

"We still got Starscream and Soundwave to deal with." Arcee pointed out as the scanned she canyon tops for the two only to slacken a bit as the two flyers rapidly flew away from the area. "Or not." She said lamely.

"THAT'S RIGHT YOU RUSTED TIN CANS, RUN!" Miko shouted after the fleeing pair causing Jack to sigh and drop his head in his hand.

Optimus glanced up towards the two humans before he refocused his attention on Skyquake's body and said "Had Skyquake strayed from his Master's path, we might not be burying him today."

POV Change: With Starscream and Soundwave

As the two Flyers began returning to the Nemesis, Starscream growled and said "Those blasted Autobots, they always come at the most inconvenient times! If Skyquake had survived, no one would have questioned my ability to lead!"

Soundwave kept his opinion of that statement to himself, not even bothering to play a sound clip to his new 'lord'. Instead, he idly turned his sensors towards where his true Master had perished, half in mourning, half in nostalgia. If he had been human, what he detected would have had his jaw dropping and his eyes rapidly blinking in shock. Instead, he instantly pinged Starscream with the intel.

"What?! Another signal, but Skyquake was the only warrior on this planet." Starscream said incredulously.

Soundwave resent the data, focusing more on the second signal's location.

"The site of our destroyed space bridge. You're not telling me that life signal belongs…to Megatron?" Starscream asked before he stuttered out "B-b-but he was microns from the detonation point! Nothing could have survived that blast! Your sensors must be faulty! Ignore the contact! Delete the coordinates!"

Soundwave ignored the rush of annoyance he felt even as he repinged the information he had and if he was in bot mode at the moment Starscream would have rubbed the back of his head as he said "Oh, what am I saying? O-of course this (he took a moment to chuckle nervously) must be investigated. If Lord Megatron IS up there, then we shall bring him home."

Soundwave waggled his wings in confirmation and the two immediately changed their course, turning upwards and making a sweeping turn so that they were pointed in the right direction and fired their afterburners. It took them only about fifteen minutes of high speed flight to approach the site where Megatron had lost both his undead army and supposedly his life.

As they drew closer, Starscream let out a hum of thought and said "I don't suppose you have an exact location?"

Soundwave sent over the image for radiation and a picture of the area in front of them that was incredibly blurry.

Correctly interpreting it, Starscream said "Hm, residual radiation from the explosion is keeping us from pinpointing his exact location, we'll have to do this old school style. Split up and leave no micron unsearched."

Soundwave immediately split off and deployed Laser Beak for good measure. Starscream growled in displeasure at the fact that they had to search the area for someone who he was SURE was dead before he transformed into Bot Mode and began looking as well.

Ten minutes later, Starscream tsked to himself and said "No one could have survived this." Shaking his head, he continued "The last thing I need right now are rumors that Megatron actually-" He suddenly heard a groan and if he was human, he would have paled as he finished weakly "Survived?" Quickly moving to where he heard the groan, he found Megtron's badly beaten frame, a gaping hole in his chest that lead straight to his spark chamber. Coming closer, Starscream placed his hands on Megatron's body and said "Megatron."

"Die!" Megatron barked out as he shot up and grabbed Starscream's shoulder. He glared at Starscream for a moment before he slumped back as he lost his strength again.

"But how?" Starscream questioned before he spotted the Dark Energon shard in his chest and said "Ah, Dark Energon." Leaning in, he said "I'm sorry Master, but for my plans to succeed, you must tragically die before we can get you back to the ship." So saying, he gripped the shard of Dark Energon and yanked it out of Megatron's chest, the Decepticon leader's eyes going wide before his optics dimmed and he slumped completely. Starscream studied the shard in his hands for a moment before he stored it. He waited a full minute after just staring at Megatron's corpse before he activated his com link and said "Soundwave, I have found our Master, though he is rather…unwell. I will begin transporting him out of the debris field. Once we are clear of the radiation, call for a ground bridge so that we may bring him to the ship's medical bay."

He got a single ping that showed Soundwave's confirmation of orders given and began to nudge Megatron's body out of the debris field, though he didn't take particular care to avoid some of the smaller bits of debris along the way. While he would have preferred Megatron to already be dead by the time he had found him, Starscream was sure it wouldn't be long now…

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule is on my Profile. There is also a poll up so I suggest you check to see if it's a new one.

I decided to add a bit more to this starter chapter than I had before. The tricky part had been how do I get Starscream to still rip out that Dark Energon shard from Megatron's spark chamber when Soundwave wasn't busy recording the Skyquake vs Optimus and Bumblebee fight. The answer? Radiation preventing a precise lock requiring a split up search.