SERIES: Imperfection Deviation
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: hard R (maybe light NC-17)
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money :)
Author's Voice of Warning (aka Author's Note):
English is not my first language; it's German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are....
FEEDBACK: Loved
BETA: okami_myrrhibis
ppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppp
With his new powers, Will Lennox had seen the need to train what had previously never been at his disposal: creating energy masses in his hands. Energy balls, as he sometimes called them, though they weren't perfectly round, nor as dense as a ball. More like a bubble filled with a very explosive and lethal form of energy. Flung at something they could scorch, crack or even fracture, and maybe even more.
It was what Will had come out here to train.
'Here' was the deserted landscape of the Yuma desert, more specifically the KOFA Range Complex of the Yuma Proving Ground. It was where all the firing ranges were, so an explosion more or less didn't really matter. He had been given free choice of where to go and Will had decided on a rocky terrain, near the mountain range, where he would be left undisturbed. A wide area around it had been declared a no-go zone and surveillance had been shut down.
He was alone.
The way he wanted it.
Dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, wearing sturdy hiking boots, and only carrying a backpack with him, Lennox didn't look like a soldier out for a fight. He looked like a tourist. If not for the plainly visible runes, he might have passed as one.
The heat of the day didn't affect him. Not in a way it would affect a human. He was a hybrid, able to withstand the most extreme of climates without needing to dress appropriately, and if the situation got life-threatening, his body had a rather alien but very handy way of protecting itself. His skin would turn the color of the Allspark, his eyes would morph into a bright glacial blue, and the final stage, one he controlled very well by now, was the transformation into a protoform.
Right now, none of that was needed.
Safely away from the jeep he had been given as his ride Will prepared himself for a new training session.
That Ironhide was not around was mainly because Lennox didn't know what could happen if he increased his energy output, something he did according to an exercise plan he had created himself. He didn't know if he might hurt his partner. He had to be alone and Ironhide had accepted it. The weapons specialist was at the Autobot base in Nevada, which was a huge step for him. A few years, hell, even a few months ago he might have insisted on coming to Yuma, too.
Will smiled to himself as he chose a spot. He was surrounded by sand, rock, scarce vegetation, and insects. A few miles to the north were the mountains. A rather lonely formation of rock stood about a quarter mile from him, about the size of Optimus Prime, several times his width, and very, very hard.
He opened his right hand, palm up, and concentrated on the energy he could collect there. Blue light followed his summoning, beautiful but deadly.
Regarding the bubble that flickered and fizzed, he willed it to condense, forming more of a ball than before, then he spread his fingers wide. His finger tips sparked and he brought up his left hand to let it hover over the energy bubble. It enlarged, filling the space, and he willed it down again.
His body began to thrum. He knew the signs. He was amassing too much energy and he had learned the hard way that reabsorbing it was a) painful and b) not a good idea.
Not at all.
He had the bruises to prove it and to get bruises, the hybrid had to be hit hard. There was also a rocky outcropping that had undergone reconstruction due to impact not two miles from here.
So Will let the energy go.
It hissed across the plains and struck the ground, creating a crater the size of an Olympic size swimming pool, though more shallow.
Lennox felt his body relax, but the energy lines were open and he had access to much more than this.
Day 5 and he was getting a lot better at control.
Again he let the energy coalesce, again he released it. Again something was struck hard and was remodeled. While it was violent, it wasn't the strength of an armor-piercing round; mech armor, that was. He could do those, too. He had once punched a hole through Ironhide's shoulder armor and that had been the end of that particular sparring. But today he had come here for another experiment, one that was more than dangerous to his surroundings, and he was glad Ironhide trusted him enough not to sneak after his partner and watch.
Will scanned the horizon.
No one around.
Good.
Concentrating on the energy in his body, eyes on the once again visible, unmoving runes on the back of his hands, he let it rise.
Not in his hands.
Not around his fingers.
He let his whole body turn into a super-conductor that amassed energy until he could feel his nerves screaming with it. Will's eyes glowed a bright blue, inhuman and still nothing like an Autobot's optics. He raised his hands, arms trembling under the effort, and directed the mass of energy at the rock formation.
Lennox didn't know if he screamed as the energy raced along his arms into his hands. He didn't know if he actually saw anything real or just images created by the intense light. He could only hear the screech of energy as it disturbed the otherwise silent desert, then the resounding boom of something big exploding.
Silence again.
Only the sound of tiny pebbles raining to the ground, the 'whoosh' of sand and dust.
Nothing else.
Finally the cracking of cooling stone not far away.
Will staggered, feeling weak and drained, but he wasn't anywhere near a collapse.
He gazed through the dust and when it had finally settled enough – the rocks were gone. Obliterated. Liquefied in places.
"Geez," he whispered, voice rough.
Something crunched behind him.
High-strung on adrenaline and whatever else was coursing through his hybrid body, Will whirled around and raised his hands, palms thrust outward. A shockwave blew across the desert, flattening bushes and trees, whirling up sand in tiny dust storms – and pushing a twenty-two foot mechanoid off his feet and onto his back. A startled noise escaped the mech in question and red optics flared in a dark face.
No weapons came out. No aggressive moves were made.
Will panted, tension sizzling through him, muscles locked in a fighting stance, energy lancing around his fingers. Finally his mind came out of the battle lock mode and his eyes widened. Back to their normal color once more, only the stationary runes speaking of his hybrid status, he stared at the newcomer.
"Whoa!" the mech exclaimed. He pushed himself up, a bit unsteady but uninjured. There wasn't a crack or dent in sight.
"Shit," Will whispered.
Shit for two reasons. One, he had attacked an ally. Two, the ally had no clue who he was. Actually, Lennox had never met one of the Constructicons. He was like the Autobots' last secret to be kept. With the five new mechs either at the YPG or on the Ark to work it into a satellite station, chance of contact had been minimal. Very minimal – until now.
He stepped back, aware that even if he hid his hands that were covered in runes and glyphs, the ones on his arms, crawling over naked skin, or on his face couldn't be hidden. And the mech had already seen them. Red optics scanned over him, followed by a physical scan – that was reflected right back at him with a force that told of Will's defenses still being active. Scanning the hybrid was usually a difficult matter at the best of times, when Lennox was cooperating, but now there was nothing the Constructicon could pick up. Nothing at all.
Rubbing the side of his head, the mech shook himself a little.
"Not fond of scans?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.
"No," Will answered tersely.
"Then I apologize. I was just… surprised."
And knocked flat on his ass.
Will didn't reply, not relaxing his stance.
They regarded each other. The red optics were flickering along the runes, visibly beyond surprised to see them, identifying them as what they were.
"Allspark," he murmured. "Impossible."
Will felt his whole body coil into fight mode.
"What are you?" the mech demanded.
"Not the Allspark," was the level answer.
The Constructicon rumbled uneasily, then shook his head. "No, you're not. You're also no one I or the others were briefed on."
"It's not common knowledge."
"I can see that."
Then the Constructicon that Will finally identified as Scavenger sat down. It was a surprising move and it had Lennox shift with indecision.
"You know who I am?" Scavenger asked.
"Yes. Scavenger. Constructicon."
"Then you have an advantage. I don't your name at all. You are human, correct? Despite the way you look."
Another shift and his mind was racing. Optimus Prime trusted them. Sam had been inside their minds and seen no danger. Only Lennox's unique… physical status had been the reason he had never met them.
"I'm Will."
Scavenger nodded. "Your skin reflects Allspark code and Cybertronian writing. Old languages, long forgotten."
Will blinked. "You can read the Ancient language?"
Scavenger chuckled and shook his head. "I might be old, but not that old. I don't think anyone's still left to understand most of what you reflect. The cosmic code was never understood, but the language of the Ancients was studied by only a few. They probably perished and with them their libraries. War makes no exception on that. I know a few symbols. They hardly make any sense."
Will felt his head reeling, but he tried not to show it.
"Why are you here?" he finally demanded.
Scavenger cocked his head. "I was testing a new force shield. A small version of it anyway."
"Force shield?"
"For the Ark. She has to be protected. Scrapper, Long Haul and Mixmaster are currently working on her defense systems and Hook and I devised a way to keep her from collapsing under heavy fire."
"Oh. Okay."
Scavenger kept looking curiously at him. Lennox refused to be baited. Finally something flared inside the red optics, a kind of flare that had Will on edge once more.
"You were Soundwave's target."
Lennox stepped back, a crackle of energy racing over his index and middle finger of his right hand. Scavenger raised a hand.
"No, please. I'm not your enemy, Will. But now the information we gathered all that time ago makes sense. Because of Soundwave's intrusion into the data bases we found a way to contact the Autobots and ask for refuge, for a way to heal or perish peacefully. Hook had found scraps of what Soundwave was trying to find, but it made no sense. The Allspark was destroyed, there was nothing left. The few files speaking of a shard were inconclusive and it was later reported as destroyed." He leaned forward. "It wasn't, was it?"
Lennox's mind raced and he finally exhaled sharply. The Constructicons were allies. Their allies. His allies.
"No, it wasn't. I was hit with it. Went right into me, through skin and bone, and disappeared." He held up a hand devoid of energy flickers or sparks, but covered in stationary runes. "Ever since I'm the walking bill board of ancient runes."
Scavenger nodded once. "You have… additional skills, though."
Lennox smiled wryly. "Yeah."
"You could have turned me into scrap metal like you did with the natural formation."
Will shook his head. "No. A few weeks ago maybe. I've been training on and off and it's getting easier to moderate my energy output to stun and not kill upon surprising me."
Scavenger chuckled. "A very useful skill."
"Yeah." Another wry smile. "Any damage?"
"No. Just a few shocked systems that have already rebooted."
"Sorry."
Another shake of his head. "You reacted very well. I take it the intent was to melt the rocks?"
Will nodded.
"You still used too much energy."
"Working on that."
"You need a way to measure your output. You need feedback on the strength of each blast."
Lennox frowned. "What are you saying?" he asked suspiciously.
Scavenger smiled. "Like I said, I'm testing a force shield. I think we can combine our efforts, so to speak."
Will blinked. That actually made sense…
"We can clear this through Prime or Jazz," Scavenger went on. "I'm sure Hook would be interested in the readings we get on our creation when it's put under pressure from an energy we haven't considered yet. While you don't register as Allspark energy, it's not exactly Cybertronian either."
Lennox grimaced. "I'm a hybrid. Go figure."
Scavenger rose. "So you agree?"
Will hesitated. This was a unique chance. The Constructicons knew what they were doing, were masters of their trade. If anyone could do this, it was them. And he had nothing to lose.
"Let's do it," Will finally agreed.
In his mind another option formed, one for later. Much later.
The Constructicon transformed and followed Lennox in his jeep.
tbc...