Hello everyone! I'm back with an all new story! Keep in mind, this is not a sequel to Cyber-Ninja. It takes place just after Optimus and Megatron defeat Unicron, but this time Optimus doesn't lose his memories. Instead, the lord of the Decepticons decides to kidnap Jack after noticing he has the key to Vector Sigma.

Chapter 1

As he came to, Megatron, leader of the Decepticon army, staggered to his feet. After forging a rather uneasy alliance with Optimus Prime and his Autobots, they journeyed to planet Earth's core in order to stop Unicron, the Chaos Bringer from awakening and destroying the planet. Of course, Megatron could care less if the pitiful humans and their planet were destroyed. But, as Optimus put it, no one but him would have the honor. As tried to shake the cob webs out of his CPU, Megatron looked over to Optimus, who had also gotten to his feet.

"Megatron," the Prime rumbled, "Are you okay?" "Fine," he spat out. Just like Optimus to worry over others, even his arch-nemesis. Of course, it had not always been so. But that was a long time ago.

"Optimus," Bulkhead radioed, "Are you alright?" "We are fine, Bulkhead." "So I take it Megatron is still functioning?" the Wrecker made no attempt to hide his malice toward the 'Con. "Indeed," the sound of lasers in the background drew Optimus' attention, "Do you require assistance?"

"Just some of Unicron's antibodies," Arcee chimed in, "Guess a few didn't go down with their host." "Hold your ground, we are on our way!" Optimus ran toward the door, but it didn't budge. "Since Unicron is back in stasis," Megatron sighed, "It's safe to assume that the dark energon in me won't be able to open the door and neither of us is in any condition to bust through." "Agreed," Optimus activated his commlink, "Ratchet, bridge us back." A portal of swirling energy opened behind Megatron.

"Can I count on your assistance in dealing with Unicron's remaining antibodies?" The Decepticon leader shrugged, "I suppose I don't have a choice, do I?" "I would not leave you here," the Prime stated, "I would merely have Ratchet bridge you to a far off location so you can contact your troops and have them retrieve you." Megatron merely groaned, "Would you drop the 'big hero' act already?" He was getting tired of seeing Prime act like a hero all the time.

They were at war, not playing some game, or acting on what the humans called 'cartoons.' In war, all being a hero gets you is one way trip to the Well of AllSparks. But Optimus always managed to come out on top by acting that way. But little did the Prime know, Megatron had something planned to knock him and his soldiers down a few notches, especially that annoying femme, Arcee. "Very well," he finally said, "I will prolong our truce for a little while."

With that, entered the vortex, leaving Unicron's spark chamber.

Web of Shadows

No sooner than when they entered the silo was Optimus met by the greetings of Ratchet and those pathetic humans. "Optimus," Ratchet paused, sending a glare towards Megatron, which he gladly returned, "Where are the others?" "They are still engaging Unicron's antibodies," he answered, "Megatron and I will go and-" The Prime was cut-off when Megatron threw him into Ratchet, sending both mechs into the wall. "Optimus," the humans cried, running to the 'Bots.

Megatron ran over to the ground-bridge controls. Despite their primitive design, he was able to learn what was what by sneaking glances at Ratchet when he typed in the coordinates. With the location locked, Megatron turned to the business at hand. Running over to the humans, who were distracted by trying will Optimus and Ratchet up. In one swift motion, he scooped the human, Jack, he remembered off the ground.

"Jack," the older female gasped. "Let him go," the male with dark skin demanded. The other two tried to glare at Megatron, but with their guardians gone and Optimus and Ratchet still down, he looked far more intimidating. Megatron laughed, "Did you really think I wouldn't notice you give this youngling the Key to Vector Sigma?" The Prime tried to struggle to his feet, but he was still weak from using the Matrix of Leadership to place Unicron back in stasis.

"Let me go!" Jack struggled in his grip. The mech merely laughed, "Not until I find a way to use the key to my advantage." "You don't even know what it does?" Ratchet growled. Again, he laughed, "When it comes to the ancients, knowledge can be power." Pulling the lever, Megatron quickly exited the silo and entered a jungle where he could hide from view in case they followed him.

Luckily, it seemed Primus was smiling on him for once, as the bridge closed behind him. "So now it's just you and me, eh Jack?" The human simply glared, "What do you want? Why didn't you just take they key?" Not that Jack would have given him the device without a fight, but why? When Optimus had given him "the key to the ground-bridge power supply", Jack wondered why he didn't just leave with Ratchet as he was the bridge's main operator.

Then Ratchet informed him that the device in his possession was in fact the key to Vector Sigma, but the medic didn't go into further detail as he kept a look out for the others. Whatever Vector Sigma was, if Megatron wanted it, it must be powerful enough to turn the tide of the war. "Because I have not been recognized as the key's guardian," he said. "What are you talking about?" the human inquired. "You'll find out later," he chuckled darkly, "Right now, let's take you to your new home, shall we?"

Activating his commlink, Megatron contacted his troops on the Nemesis, "Soundwave, lock on to my coordinates and return me to base." The 'Cons bridge opened up an Megatron stepped through, Jack struggling the entire way.

Web of Shadows

"Arcee to base," the femme radioed, having dealt with the last of the antibodies, "We need pickup." Despite Optimus' promise of back up, she, Bulkhead, and Bumblebee were forced to deal with the antibodies alone. "It' not like Optimus to leave his troops waiting," she thought, "Something must've happened." The femme clenched her fist. No doubt Megatron had something to do with it.

When the Decepticon leader first offered his assistance, Arcee and others had no problem voicing their discomfort. But Optimus knew there was no other way to stop Unicron from awakening and destroying Earth in the process. While she was still dubious about putting herself in harm's way for an entire race that would never know her exploits, she was willing to embark on the adventure for the sake of her human charge, and best friend, Jack Darby. When she and Jack had first met, it wasn't under the best of circumstances. First of all, he'd groped her while she was parked in parking lot outside of his workplace.

Second of all, she had just lost her partner, Cliffjumper, to the Decepticon SIC Starscream, so she wasn't in the best of moods. She was even less thrilled when Optimus appointed her Jack's guardian. When he had tried to comfort her for her loss, she merely snapped at him. After all, he was a human, nothing they had gone through could compare to the horrors the Autobots encountered over years of conflict with the 'Cons. That was before he opened up to her about his late girlfriend, Julie.

When he described her, Arcee couldn't ignore the mixture of love and sadness in his voice. Apparently, she died in a motor cycle accident, but the circumstances were still shady. Jack had refused to go into further detail about the accident. When she questioned him as to why he didn't bring this up when she'd snapped at him, his answer would be forever etched into her CPU. "Using her to justify some argument with someone he didn't know all that well would just disgrace her memory."

After that, they soon encountered Airachnid, the 'Con responsible for killing Arcee's first partner, Tailgate. Being her stubborn self, Arcee quickly left Jack in the middle of the forest alone (Not a good idea, thinking back on it now) to exact her revenge. But Jack refused to leave her side. After hunting Jack like an animal through the forest, Airachnid was microseconds away from adding him to her "collection", but Arcee managed to save her partner. Surely enough, after these last few months together, Arcee started to view Jack in a more favorable light, but she could never figure out just what he was to her.

There was no time for quiet moments as she and the 'Bots found themselves under constant attack from the 'Cons, but she decided that with Unicron dealt with, she and Jack would have a talk after she got back. "Arcee," Ratchet finally answered, "There's been a situation, activating ground-bridge." As she stepped through the portal, she was quick to notice the sound of crying. Upon entering base, her optics fell upon a sobbing June, Fowler, Miko , and Raf doing their best to comfort the woman. She didn't need to be scientist like Ratchet to figure out the cause, "What happened to Jack?"

Web of Shadows

There you go! Chapter 1! I hope you enjoyed it! Next time: Megatron finds out about Airachind's failed attempt to take command of the Decpeticons. But rather than simply punish her, would a gift from Megatron help to ease any treacherous thoughts?