Location: Southern Oregon

Date: September 24, 2018

Time: 1400 hrs

The school bus drove swiftly down the long road that led to their destination. Inside, teens talked, played catch with various objects and overall annoyed the driver to no end. Fortunately for him, they soon arrived at Crater Lake and the bus was parked. The dozen or so kids dismounted in a sea of colors, most of them unhappy about having to go into the freezing cold of a mountain for school.

"I can't believe we have to stand in a stupid building for an hour," one boy said to his friend,"Why are school trips always so boring?"

"At least the view is kinda nice," his friend replied, trying to be optimistic.

"I guess there's that," the first smiled flirtatiously at a group of girls who giggled and looked away. The second boy noticed this and shoved his shoulder into the first's.

"Oscar, you swore off girls for the week," he rose an eyebrow at Oscar.

"Ah, come on, Zee, I'm just looking...and thinking about talking."

Zee rolled his eyes but didn't do anything to stop Oscar as he walked over a lone girl who was messing with something in her backpack. He put on his most charming smile,"Hey."

The girl gave a bit of a start at sudden presence of another living being,"Oh, um, hi."

"Are you from space? 'Cause your body is outta this world."

"Thanks, I guess?" now she just seemed confused and Oscar was slightly regretting talking to her. Did she not realize he was flirting? Or did she just not know how to respond? Either way, he was determined to at least start a conversation,"You're welcome. So, is there a name to go with those pretty eyes?"

"Taylor."

They stood there awkwardly for a moment; Oscar waiting for a last name and Taylor waiting for him to respond. Zee just watched with an amused smile on his face. Thankfully they were saved by their teacher, Mrs. Hideyoshi, making an announcement on the bullhorn.

"Class," she called, her sing-song voice annoying to all who heard it,"Before we go inside, make sure you pair up in groups of three. Normally it would be the usual two-person buddy system, but I feel like this would be better. Find your partners and we'll be on our way."

Seeing his opportunity, Oscar tried once again to woo Taylor, saying,"Well, what do you say? You wanna be my partner? Maybe sometime during this trip we could even get some time alone," he winked with much implied. Taylor blinked and felt her cheeks turn a faint pink, still not really knowing what to say. At any other time she might have said 'No way Jose!', but she actually didn't have many friends—or any for that matter—and she knew that everyone else was probably already in groups of their own. Just as Taylor was getting too uncomfortable, Zee came to her rescue, having heard the entire conversation.

"Not while I'm around," he laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, then turned to their on-looker,"Sorry about Oscar here. He has a habit of saying dumb things to just about everyone," Taylor laughed a little as Oscar let out a rather offended squawk,"I'm Zee by the way."

"Taylor. Nice to meet you."

The three teens headed inside behind their classmates as they noticed everyone walking away. They stood in the small observation room for a few minutes as a groundskeeper explained the history of Crater Lake and how it filled with fish, which was rather unusual. Taylor was quite fascinated with how the volcano blew its top, even asking the occasional question and taking notes. Oscar and Zee, on the other hand, had quickly lost interest because, honestly, the only thing they considered notable about Oregon was the fact that the Autobots had first crashed there back in the fifties. A park ranger was in the middle of explaining the wildlife that lived in the area when a loud wail suddenly pierced the air that they recognized as a warning siren—the specialized one that meant a Decepticon attack was headed their way.

"Attention," a man called over the speaker system,"Please return to your vehicles and clear the area immediately. This is not a drill."

"Students, return to the bus quickly, stay with your partners," Mrs. Hideyoshi said, looking very much panicked. The flood of kids began to move at first, then stopped as they noticed very large something streaking across the sky, similar to a meteor but with a strange blue tint. The group got moving again, this time with more urgency. They were halfway to the parking lot when the ground shook violently, sending several people to the dirt. The meteorite had struck down near the edge of the lake in a flaming heap. Zee and Oscar looked at each other, a secret message seeming to pass between them. They smirked. Everyone, now more fearful than ever, began to run to their cars, not caring who was in their way. Just as she passed a small tree line, Taylor's mouth was suddenly covered by a firm hand and she was yanked to the side by her two companions who were hiding there. When they finally let her go, she turned to them and shouted,"What are you doing? We're supposed to be getting out of here!"

"Not before we get a good look at that comet."

Taylor gaped at Oscar like he'd grown another head. It took her a moment of stunned silence before she was able to respond,"Are you nuts?! Not only is that reckless and incredibly dangerous, but even if you could get close, you'd get left behind—the bus is about to leave!"

"Oh come on," Oscar replied cockily,"This is first and only exiting thing that's happened around here. We're probably never going to get a chance like this again, so we're going. Either you can come with us or hold up the bus until we get back. Your choice."

With that, Zee and Oscar turned and headed down the path that led to the shoreline, Taylor looking after them. She hated to admit it, but he'd brought up some good points, and she was interested in getting a look at the meteor. Correction; her inner scientist was dying to study it. Taylor bit her thumbnail, torn between following the two and heading back to the bus.

Meanwhile, Oscar and Zee were nearly at the crash site. They slid down a small slope toward the large trail of dirt that the comet had upturned in its wake, a few areas in flames from the heat. The two crouched down a few yards away from the thing itself, not wanting to get too close. No matter how adventurous they were, they weren't stupid.

"Dude," Zee said as he leaned forward as much as he dared,"Is it just me or does that look like a Cybertronian escape pod?"

"No, that's definitely what it is."

The two gave a start at the new voice, calming once they saw that it was only Taylor as she crouched between them.

"Nice of you to join us," Oscar rose a brow flirtatiously, though it was ignored as Taylor pulled out a scanner from her backpack, letting the beam it emitted sweep over the pod,"Don't get your hopes up. I just want a scan of this thing and then I'm leaving."

He leaned around her to look at Zee with a face that was a cross between 'please help me' and 'what does she mean by that?'. His friend merely shrugged in response.

"Whoa," Taylor's voice brought their attention back to her scanner.

"What is it?" Zee asked, not really knowing what the stuff that was running across the screen meant.

"It looks like this pod is filled with some kind of Energon," she explained, though when she caught their glances of 'why is that amazing?', she decided to continue,"At first glance, it appears normal, but then I got this," she changed the image to show a data set that was much more wild and cluttered,"It's at least ten times more powerful than any other form of Energon anyone has seen before, possibly even stronger."

Both boys glued their eyes to the screen,"Whoa."

"Exactly. But I can't be sure without an actual sample and that could prove problematic, especially since I don't have the necessary equipment with me and I would need to..."

Zee glanced over to the escape pod, having heard a strange popping noise, and saw a small dribble of Energon leak from the engines and start running along the ground toward a flaming bush. Okay, now he was worried. Nervously, he tapped Taylor on the shoulder,"Hey, Taylor, isn't Energon flammable?"

"Combustible, actually," she replied, still focused on the scanner,"In fact, there's probably enough here to take down a four-story house if it were placed in the right spot. Why?"

" 'Cause I think we're about to see that."

Oscar and Taylor finally looked to where he was pointing, the small stream now on fire and spreading. A moment of terrified faces passed between them before they all shouted,"Run!"

The two boys were up and running in a flash, but Taylor had to pause for a moment in order to put her equipment away. Unfortunately, the unstable, upturned dirt she'd been sitting on chose the exact moment that she began running to give out underneath her, sending the redhead tumbling down the mini cliff with a sharp cry, alerting the others to her predicament.

"Taylor!" Oscar called. He tried going after her but Zee grabbed his arm and pulled him behind a large nearby boulder, seeing that the pod was about to go off. In the trench, Taylor had thrown her backpack up onto the ridge in an attempt to save her data, then ran as fast as she could down the trail that had been carved into the ground, knowing that she wouldn't be able to scale the loose dirt wall. But she didn't get far before the fire reached the pod's fuel tank and blew up in a spectacular fireball, the shockwave sending Taylor flying. Everything seemed to slow down as a second, dual wave burst out, one colored blue and the other yellow. As soon as they hit her, an unusual energy passed through her body and caused her hair to glow for a moment then fade away just before she hit the ground, tumbling a bit before coming to a stop.

Behind the rock, Zee and Oscar were recovering from the intense blast, their ears still ringing. The two groaned as they caught their breath.

"Oh, mi cabeza," the younger moaned while rubbing his temple,"Maybe we shouldn't have come here."

"No kiddin'," Zee pushed himself to his feet, causing a new wave of dizziness to cloud his already foggy mind. He turned to look at the bigger, burnt crater where the pod once was, the area now pouring smoke. A small dark dot caught his attention near the edge. Focusing on it, he realized that it was a Taylor's backpa—

"Taylor!"

The sudden cry made Oscar look up from where he was crouched over while trying not lose his lunch,"Did she make it?"

The only response he got was Zee looking at him with a worried and dreading look in his eye. Not wasting another moment, the two took off toward the crater. They stopped at the edge where their comrade had fallen, the larger boy picking up the discarded backpack, staring at the initials T.S.K.

"There!"

Zee looked to where Oscar pointing, spotting Taylor laying with her back to them, faint burn marks marring her previously spotless white dress shirt. They slid down the shifty dirt wall without a second thought, racing to her side. Gently, they turned her onto her back. She was surprisingly unharmed, just a little dirty, which was to be expected. Oscar shook her shoulder,"Hey, Taylor, you alright? Come on, talk to us."

A small moan escaped redhead's lips, her eyes cracking open the tiniest bit,"Guys?" the boys let out identical sighs of relief,"Told you we shouldn't have come down here."

"Great, just what I need right now; an 'I told you so'," Oscar crossed his arms with a pout, making the others chuckle.

"Come on," Zee said as he helped Taylor into a sitting position,"We should get back to the bus. Everyone's probably gettin' worried 'bout us."

The two boys pulled their new friend up and helped her get out of the long impact line, making sure the ground was stable this time. After a while, Taylor regained enough of her strength to walk on her own. By the time they got back to the bus, police officers and even some military personnel had arrived and were securing the place as Mrs. Hideyoshi was in a frenzy trying to locate her missing students. As soon as the trio came into view, their teacher was upon them.

"Thank goodness you're safe!" she wailed, engulfing them in a massive hug before moving back to look them in the eye,"Where were you? I've been worried sick!"

Oscar rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He was considering taking the fall for all of them—it had been his idea after all. Zee was going down a similar train of thought, but before either could say a word, Taylor spoke up,"It was my fault, Mrs. Hideyoshi," the two boys gave each other bewildered looks as the redhead stepped forward and continued,"I wanted to get a sample of the meteor to study, and I dragged them along with me," she motioned to her comrades,"I take full responsibility for what happened."

"Honestly, Miss Kelvin, I expected better from you," the teen lowered her head at her teacher's words,"As a woman of science, you should have known the risks and never ventured down there. You'll receive a week's detention," Taylor nodded, then their teacher turned to the other two,"As for you boys, you should have talked her out of it, but seeing as she is taking full responsibility, I will let you off with a warning; never do anything like this again. Now, on the bus, all of you."

Mrs. Hideyoshi turned and walked at brisk pace back to the aforementioned vehicle, the students loosely following. As they did, Oscar turned to Taylor,"You took the fall for us? Why?"

"Yeah," Zee agreed,"You don't even know us."

The redhead stopped a foot in front of them, a devious smile on her face as she turned to face them,"Simple: now you both owe me one. And trust me, I'll be sure to hold you to it."

She twisted around confidently and continued on her way, Zee and Oscar staring after her with perplexed and shocked looks.

"Did we just get played?" the latter muttered.

"Big time," Zee followed after Taylor.

Oscar gained a goofy smile,"I like her."

"Seriously, dude?"

"What? I can't help it if I'm attracted to intelligent women—especially ones with such nice features."

"I can hear you two, you know."