I am finally posting my story's sequel! To those of you who haven't read my first story, Of Hope and Destruction, don't worry. I'm pretty sure that you can still follow along with this just fine. This story is going to be more my work with the occasional reference to the series. I plan to edit and fix my original over Christmas break, so you could just follow along with this one, and I will announce when the corrections are done.

Also, I intend to start each chapter with song quotes, so if you haven't heard the song, please look it up! It is normally how I set the tone for a chapter. This chapter, however, will have no song quote.

Finally, a special thanks to Poet of Mercury for proofing this chapter and the next!

Anyway, onto the story!

Shattered

Shattered remnants left behind,
Shattered remnants of my mind.
Falling beyond the angel's grasp,
Not caring how long I last.
Darkness slowly ebbing in,
Unbeknownst to my forgotten kin.
Lost and feeling left behind,
Lost within my shattered mind.

In death there are always variables. Many people claim to know what to expect. On Earth, most believe in heaven and hell, eternal salvation or eternal damnation. On Cybertron, you have similar equivalents called either joining the Allspark or going to the Pit, respective versions of heaven and hell.

Where I currently am, I'm not quite sure. In all the stories from both of my families, both of my fathers, neither had told me anything that quite compared to this. I had visited this place once before, and I had met her. The shadowy angel. At first, I thought I was dead. That she was meant to lead me to the Allspark. Then she told me it wasn't my time, that I still had work to do in my world.

I didn't think I would come back here so soon.

If I had to put a name to here, I would call it the Nothingness. It's the best description of this place. There is literally nothing here. Just white, the absence of color, and occasionally an undeterminable ground appears, though the ground is hard to keep track of. Occasionally, it happens to disappear on us.

Well, I'm not completely alone. I look to the mech sitting next to me. He looked… tired. Considering that he waited all these months in the Nothingness for me, I can understand why. But he had said it wasn't my time, that I wasn't meant to be dead yet. I think that's adding to why he looks tired.

"You don't have to take it," he says. "You don't have to take her deal."

Looking at the red mech, I can't help but vaguely think of how much I love the strong crimson shade of his paint job and the ostentatious horns upon his head. Primus, I think of how much I love him. "I can bring you back. I can finally atone for your death."

"Ev, that wasn't your fault. You couldn't do anything—"

"And now I can! I have to do this Cliff. I have to try."

"But at what cost?" I'm at a loss of what to say. Her offer… I could give back Cliffjumper's life. But the cost… She could take anything from me. My sight, my voice… And I won't know. Not until I'm reborn. For all I know, I could lose a body part! But I could revive him if I take the deal. But she warned me… I was destined to endure. Endure pain, heartache, and loss…

And she said I would be fighting for my sanity the entire time.

I look at Cliffjumper. Primus, why did it take me so long to see it? The spark fracture wasn't because he was like a brother to me. I'm in love with him. Just like I'm in love Wheeljack. I need them both, and one had been left behind while this one remains in this realm, waiting for me to guide me to the Allspark.

He had said it wasn't my time. Maybe it isn't.

"I'm sorry, Cliff. When she comes back, when she starts the ceremony with my body in our world, I'm going to go with her, and I swear on my spark, I will bring you back."

He sighs, his shoulders slumping down. Then, he chuckles lightly. "Primus, you always were a stubborn one." Looking at me with one of his signature grins, he adds, "At least I'm going to be able to take you driving soon. I miss those drives. Remember the time when you and I went on that three day road trip and didn't tell the others?"

I snort. "You mean when you kidnapped me after school one day because you didn't want to go back to base since you had broken one of Ratchet's tools? You do realize that plan would have been way more successful if you hadn't of taken me with you, right?"

"Like I'd want to go anywhere without you." He got a thoughtful look on his face. "Prime sure was pissed when we finally came back to base, though."

Laughing, I sarcastically ask, "Ya think? I missed two days of school because of you."

He smirks. "How has school begin going? You know, before all, well all this."

My smile fades. "I haven't been in a week or two… injuries. Everyone believes I'm out for being in a car crash." I sigh. "I wonder if they announced me dead yet."

With a sympathetic look, he asks, "Well, what about before the injuries?"

Shyly, I add, "That bike I had been working on, the solar powered one I rebuilt: I finished it and entered it in the science fair and got first place."

His grin grows back onto his face. "Ha! That makes up for all the times searching those numerous junk yards for parts." He scoops me up into his hand, then lays flat on his back, sits me on his chassis, and props himself up with his elbows. "And Vince? He wasn't still bugging you at school, was he?"

With a bit of bitterness to my tone, I say, "He's still breathing, isn't he?"

His jaw clenched. "I should have run the fragger off the road."

My eyes roll as I respond, "I would have yelled at you like I did with Knockout."

"Wait, what about Knockout?"

I guiltily look away. "I… may have went racing with Knockout. Didn't go so well because we got into a fight and then some idiot who had been hitting on me earlier scratched his paint right before the race. He was… not very happy by that point. The man ended up getting run off a cliff."

"Yeah, that sounds like Knockout. What were you two fighting about?" I refuse to meet his eyes. "Ev, what's wrong?"

"He… was upset. About my necklace."

"Okay, now I'm confused."

I sigh. "I… was wearing an Airrant and refused to tell him who it was from."

He was silent for a minute, but then after releasing a long sigh, he said, "So 'Cee gave you the present, huh?"

I nod. "She did but… my birthday was long after this. Actually, my birthday was the night before I died…"

His eyes widened, and then turned sad. "Someone… Someone else gave you an Airrant? Who?"

An Airrant. In English, it means an After Stone. Airrants are like a prequel to spark bonding. The shards are found attached to Cybertronian sparks, and when a Cybertronian finds someone that they love, they offer them the stone. If the person accepts it, a bond is created from the receiver to the giver, and the giver can now sense the other, sense their emotions, their sparkbeat, their pain... so long as the receiver is wearing the stone.

Fortunately, I wasn't wearing my stone when I died…

"He… His name is Wheeljack. A Wrecker. Joined the team soon after… Well, soon after everything went to the Pit." I look to Cliffjumper and his sad eyes. "Cliff… I love him. Primus, I love him so much, but… I love you, too. Not as a brother like I had led myself to believe, but more deeply then I ever could have imagined. When I found your Airrant in that box… I realized how much I love you. And Primus, it hurt!"

I throw my gaze down to my hands in my lap, unsure of what else to say. I felt his large finger suddenly begin to stroke my head. I look over to him and see that he has a happy, faraway look in in his eyes and a soft smile on his face. "I love you too, Everon."

A sound of disgust comes off from the side of us in the Nothingness. I look to see the shadowy figure, a Cybertronian with glowing violet eyes. "How… touching. So have you considered my deal? I have some very impatient friends of yours waiting on the other side who aren't very happy with me for… disturbing your body."

I look to Cliff's face as he shifts to his feet while cradling me in his servos. I can tell how he feels about this. Looking at the shadowy figure, I say, "Swear to me, swear on your very spark, that you will abide by the contract we discussed earlier. Some sacrifice from me in the living world in exchange for ensuring Cliff's revival."

She rolled her optics but laughed wickedly all the same. "Smart little girl, aren't you? Fine. I swear upon my very spark that I will uphold my end of the bargain." She looks to Cliff. "Just make sure you don't cross over in the next week or two."

He nods, and then his gaze turns down to me. "Are you sure about this? Imagine what you could be losing and the pain you might endure in the living world. I would gladly join the Allspark with you should you not want to return."

Without hesitation, I respond, "I love you too much not to try." He gives me a soft smile, and then nuzzles me close to his face, a gesture I recognized in Wheeljack. I kiss him lightly on the cheek, and then he sets me on the ground.

Striding to the figure, the closer I drew, the more her shape became defined, until I finally recognize her. "You."

"Yes, me. Took you long enough to recognize who I was." Before I could respond, she scoops me into a tight grasp. A sinister look came to her eyes. "Now… this might be a bit… uncomfortable."

I guess she forgot the word excruciating.

I woke to voices. They seemed disjointed, mixed in my mind. I couldn't quite tell what they were saying at first. Then, the haziness drifted away, and I gained clarity.

"How much longer?"

"Patience, Knockout. This work takes time. Coaxing a soul into a damaged body isn't exactly easy—"

"You were the one to rip her open—"

"I needed access to her spark! And her body already needed healing, in case you didn't notice the crude human bullet hole through her chest—"

"Will you both shut up!" a third voice interjected. "She does not need to be woken up to the sounds of you two yelling at each other." A pause. "Primus, she's breathing again… Never thought I would miss seeing that human trait of hers."

The one previously identified as Knockout spoke again. "Are you sure it was wise to inject her with Energon… it doesn't bode well with human systems."

"In case you haven't noticed," this voice was the only female in the group and the one who had been arguing with Knockout, "I do know what I'm doing. She is breathing again." Knockout mumbled something under his breath about 'Primus forsaken evil spider femmes.' "Breakdown, stop hovering. I doubt she wants you're ugly mug to be the first thing she sees when she wakes up—"

"Hey! She loves her big bro, Breakdown!" Still, I hear a heavy step backwards, which I assume is the Breakdown character moving back. "When is she going to wake—"

I gasp in pain. Rolling on my side, I begin to shake and hyperventilate. "Slag it," the one named Knockout yells. "What's going on? Is she dying?"

The femme seems startled. "I… I don't know. Shiaron said nothing of this… she wouldn't allow me to create life only to take it so soon…"

Pain pulled across my skin as I felt what seemed to be some sort of… metal begin to seep over my skin through my pores. "By the Allspark…" Knockout said in a whisper. The metal continued to coat my skin as I felt my body grow and expand in size. The areas with metal already coating it began to have what felt like metal sheets slip through unseen slits in my skin, covering me like…armor. Every part of me ached, unfamiliar with this transition.

Then, the true agony started.

My shoulder blades felt like they were on fire. I could feel something pulling, expanding from my back. I had no idea what was going on. I was terrified. But I couldn't scream. I couldn't seem to bring myself to scream. Strange, animalistic gasps were the closest I came to making a sound.

That and the mixing sound of scraping metal and splitting skin.

Then, as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped. My eyes were still closed, but now I had them clenched tightly shut. I heard someone step hesitantly forward. "Shadow?... Shadow, are you al—"

My eyes flew open when I felt a hand on my shoulder. My gaze was met with a large… Cybertronian I think is what they were. Blue armor, orange faceplates, glowing yellow optics. Next to him was a red armored Cybertronian, this one looking more ostentatious and with whitish faceplates and red on black optics. Each of the two looked worried concerned.

The last of the three was the femme. Armor as black as night, purple and gold details along her form along with long and thin appendages sprouting from her back, and glowing violet optics that seemed so… familiar. Whereas the others seemed worried, she seemed… intrigued.

"Shadow?" My gaze shifted to the red one. His voice belonged to the one named Knockout. "I know this might be a bit… disorientating, but it's alright little sister, we won't let anything else happen to you."

I don't know them. I don't know this place, this dark and dreary room. I don't know anything. All I know in this moment is my instinct and what it was telling me to do. And it was telling me to attack.

So I did.

Alright, this chapter is way shorter then my normal chapters, but I didn't really want to add much more then this. So, likes and dislikes? I love to hear honest opinions for this story because it's going to be more my work then the series, but it will have aspects from the series in it.

Also, the poem in the beginning is mine.

Review please!