Darkness, Rising Part 1

Darkness Rising, Part 1 is the series premiere and first episode of Transformers: Prime. It is the first part of the Darkness Rising mini-series.

Premise
After hiding for three years, the Decepticons return. They kill Cliffjumper and await their leader to return. With the Autobots having human witnesses, Jack, Raf and Miko are welcomed to the Autobot Base by Optimus Prime and tells them a informs them of their presenseon Earth. At the end of the episode Megtron returns.

Plot
As Cliffjumper and Arcee were patrolling and talking about Cliff's little scare on the police, Cliffjumper found a mine full of Energon. The Nemesis flew over the area and sent Vehicons to secure the Energon. Cliffjumper called Arcee for back-up. He then tried to fight them off, but a stray shot caused the Energon to explode and knocked him out. The Vehicons carried him over to The Nemesis, where he was later killed by Starscream.

Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee arrive to Cliffjumper's location, only to discover nothing more than a horn broken off by one of the Vehicons. Ratchet checked Cliffjumper's life signal just as it went offline. The Autobots later mourn for Cliffjumper, but Arcee goes for a run to try to keep her mind away from his death. Meanwhile, Soundwave informs Starscream of a previous conversation between Cliffjumper and Arcee, and plan to kill the other Autobot.

Two Vehicons follow Arcee, so she poses as a parked motorcycle in order to evade them. Jack Darby sees her and sits on her to know what if feels like to ride on a motorcycle, as he wants to own one someday. At that moment, the two Vehicons spot Arcee. Arcee runs away in vehicle mode with Jack still sitting on her and surprising him, as she had no other choice. The Vehicons chased them all the way to a highway, where Bumblebee arrived and distracted them.

The Vehicons followed Bumblebee and Arcee to a canal, where Raf Esquivel was playing with his remote controlled car. After a long battle, neither side was winning, until Bulkhead arrived. The Vehicons saw this as their sign to retreat, and left.

Back at the Autobot Base, Arcee informed Optimus about the battle. Optimus said that if the Decepticons believe those humans are their allies, they will attack them. Because of that, he sent Arcee and Bumblebee to pick them up from school. Raf happily went inside Bumblebee, but Jack decided to ignore Arcee. Arcee followed Jack to inform him that he must go with her, as he is one of the only to have ever seen Cybertronians out of their disguise. Just then, Miko Nakadai saw Arcee, as she was drawing her picture of Arcee in her vehicle mode, which Arcee had to bring Miko along too.

Arcee and Bumblebee take the three humans to speak with Optimus Prime. Optimus said they are on Earth to protect it from Megatron and his Decepticon army. They left their planet Cybertron as it had been destroyed from centuries of civil war. He also said he will be pairing up Autobots with the humans to protect them from any Decepticon attack.

Back at the Nemesis, Soundwave detects a signal from deep space and orders Starscream to open the Space Bridge. Megatron comes through the Space Bridge, and informs his army that he has returned.

Autobots

 * Optimus Prime (debut)
 * Bumblebee (debut)
 * Arcee (debut)
 * Bulkhead (debut)
 * Ratchet (debut)
 * Cliffjumper (debut/killed by Starscream)

Decepticons

 * Megatron (debut)
 * Starscream (debut)
 * Soundwave (debut)
 * Vehicon (debut)

Humans

 * Jack Darby (debut)
 * Miko Nakadai (debut)
 * Rafael Esquivel (debut)
 * Sierra (debut)
 * Sierra's Friend (debut)
 * Jerky Teens (debut)