Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers, only my character Vullana and this story.
Genre: Romance/Drama/Horror
Rating: T - MA
Warnings: Profanity, Violence, Sexual Content (non-consentual and consentual)
Pairings: BumblebeexOC, BarricadexOC and StarscreamxOC
Summary:
Alt movieverse setting established friendship with OC and
Bumblebee. Girl with formidable powers joins Autobots but events see
her lose her memory and morph into a Cybertronian, story is a journey
to reclaim her memories when she is captured and tortured by
Starscream. Can she regain her memories to remember the alien threat
and warn the others before they come and destroy everything? Will the
threat prompt the two opposing sides to join forces? Characters:
OC, Bumblebee, Barricade, Starscream. Small roles for Optimus,
Ratchet, Ironhide, Thundercracker. Later: Megatron, Shockwave
and aliens.
Author's Notes: My first attempt at a
Transformers story, I used to watch the cartoons when I was a kid
(still do!) and am totally obsessed with the new movie, this idea
came to me and I had free time, so I thought I would write it down!
Chapter One: New Beginnings
Waking up groggily, Vullana's first vision was a moonless night sky, the stars shining bigger and brighter than she remembered, though the stars seemed to lack their usual lustre. In the background, the sounds of suburbia could be heard, distant but distinct and song from the odd night bird or crickets seemed louder than usual. A strange, gentle hum could also be detected, no, two separate humming noises, similar in frequency but both pulsing to a slightly different beat. She had heard something like it before but at that moment was having trouble placing from where.
'Weird' Vullana thought before she felt something touch her left forearm and a familiar face came into her field of view – Bumblebee. She smiled at him but it was short lived, something was wrong with how she could perceive her most trusted friend and on top of her hearing complications, this began to worry her.
'Are you alright?' Bumblebee quizzed her softly
'I-I feel alright… but something is wrong… you look... different, like... like I've lost my colour-vision or something...' Vullana started to try to sit up, she was lying on the ground but she had no idea of how she became to be there. Two firm hands pushed her shoulders back down; Bumblebee refused to let her up, Vullana looked at him and saw he was shaking his head at her suggestion. 'Okay... is it me or does he look smaller than usual?... And why can't I hear him?' Vullana shook her head in confusion.
'Stay where you are. Ratchet wants to check your vitals first' Vullana complied with him; she had no reason not to trust what he said, so she regained her lying pose and Bumblebee released his grip on her.
'Ratchet is here too...' Vullana began noticing how her voice sounded different before her statement was confirmed as the medic's head popped in her line of vision on the opposite side to Bumblebee. He leaned over to peer into her eyes as his hands felt her head, turning it from side to side; it seemed as if he was making sure it was screwed on. Strange sounds where being emitted as the good doctor worked his magic before he disappeared from her sight to look over the rest of her body, she could feel him manipulate the joints in her arms and legs, accompanied with the odd poke or prod. He appeared in sight again to speak to Bumblebee.
'In my opinion, there is nothing physically wrong with her body and her systems are functioning properly. There is no reason she will need assistance in moving, we just need to tell her...' Ratchet's voice trailed off in the cool night air. He focused on Bumblebee the whole time, not regarding Vullana at all.
'Damnit! What on Earth is going on?' Vullana exclaimed suddenly irritated by Ratchet's total disregard for her presence, her outburst alarming both Autobots who both stared shocked at her.
'What is the last thing you remember?' Bumblebee's expression softened as he placed a hand on her shoulder, changing the subject.
'Uh… I'm not sure...' Vullana began, relaxing by the soothing touch the Autobot offered, her irritation dissipating rapidly. Most of her irritation arising from the fact she was having troubles hearing the thoughts of the Autobots next to her, but with Bumblebee's touch on her once more the connection would enable her to mentally draw out the information easily of what had occurred. She was wrong – her mental connection wasn't contacting with Bumblebee's mind and she couldn't see his memories. This revelation alarmed Vullana more than her hearing and vision issues, but she forced herself to remain calm not wanting to upset those around her any further.
'Um, I guess the last thing I remember is going for a drive with you Bumblebee – you took me to the lookout so we could watch the sunset...' This time it was Vullana whose voice trailed off – it was completely dark now, she had no idea what time it was but she guessed the sun had set long ago.
'It seems she is suffering from short term memory loss' Ratchet spoke again to Bumblebee 'Better you tell her. She will regain her memories when she is ready, hopefully' with that, Ratchet left the reach of her view.
'I see' Bumblebee said blankly with nervous anticipation in his eyes 'Then what I'm about to tell you will come as a shock... but first you must know that you have the support of everyone and we will do everything in our power to make sure we can accommodate you...'
'Bumblebee what is it? You're beginning to scare me.'
'If indeed driving to the lookout is the last memory you possess, then you have missed out on some most important events...' Bumblebee moved closer to Vullana before continuing 'you have changed your form. You are no longer the person you once where, instead you have become a member of our race.'
Vullana had never seen Bumblebee look so determined, yet hesitant, so serious but anxious and what he was saying was absolutely ludicrous that her only reaction was to giggle at him.
'You're having me on! Stop it!' she chuckled but soon stopped as that same expression remained on Bumblebee's features. 'You're... not... joking are you...?' Concern began to rise in Vullana and she tentatively raised her arm to confirm Bumblebee's words and saw the truth for herself. What she saw was not the flesh and blood humanoid arm but something that resembled a prop from a sci-fi movie or amazing special effects work. Smooth and sleek rods curved to form a shape like a forearm, some appeared thick, while there where a couple that where smaller, thinner that looked like supports for the larger rods. One of the larger rods didn't connect to her wrist but extended outwards over her wrist, it ended in a blunt point. Her hand looked like a metallic skeleton hand, each digit being made from multiple parts to allow for flexibility, the joints in each finger rounded with a gleaming golden/bronze colour while the rest of parts almost shimmered from a dark coppery brown to dark silvery grey hues.
While the sight was amazing to look at and even considered stunning, Vullana couldn't believe that this is what her arm looked like now. The test came when she moved her hand and arm and was stunned to see it respond just, if not better, then her real arm would have, the articulation and fluid movements she performed was done with incredible ease and speed that Vullana initially thought it might not be such a negative outcome.
'Are you okay?' Bumblebee's question shook her out of her daze.
'I-I... uh... well... w-what happened?' Vullana managed.
'I have been sworn not to tell you. Optimus thought it best for you to remember in your own time.'
'What!? You can't tell me anything?' Vullana snapped her head up to pursue her point further but knew better than to chase the matter – Bumblebee was the obstinate one when he wanted to be.
'I'm sorry. I would love to tell you, but a promise is a promise' He sounded a little more perky this time but Vullana remained silent, her internal thoughts swelling to denial and awaited for her to awaken from this warped dream.
'So how are you feeling? Are you ready to try standing up? Bumblebee rose and looked down to Vullana, he extended a hand for her that she weakly gazed at.
'… I don't understand, this has to be all wrong, I don't feel like I belong in this...' Vullana spoke as she reached for his hand, the contact making her realise that her sensitivity was heightened, while gaining instinctive knowledge of his surface temperature and exerted pressure from his grip. She slowly stood up distracted from her current thoughts, instead mulling over the facts presented to her as a fact of nature. Bumblebee slipped an arm around her waist to steady her as she began to sway when fully upright. It took her a moment to adjust her equilibrium as ambient temperature from the air was received, as well as humidity and air pressure before Vullana glanced around to view how the world looked now. Her optics scanning the area showed her that she could see in the dark, the lack of colour must be a type of night vision as she could see perfectly, better than anything she could have even imagined in fact. Vullana detected a tracker in her vision that locked onto different types of matter as she gazed around the area before her vision fell on Bumblebee. Vullana noticed that she was almost his size now, coming in to stand around at his shoulder level andthat's when she realised he still held onto her, making her suddenly self-conscious of the closeness but thankful he was keeping a firm hold as the overwhelming situation made her mind spin.
'If you are able to travel, I would like to take you back to headquarters where you can get some rest and I know Wheeljack wants to conduct some tests on you later.' Ratchet had appeared on the scene again and Vullana nodded absent-mindedly 'I just... I just need a moment though...' her mind trying to gather a reality check on what was happening to her before touching on what Ratchet had said, 'What sort of tests?' she added curiously knowing Wheeljack was the mad scientist of the group.
'He wishes to check your cerebral cortex for any damage the orb may have caused and conduct a MRI scan to compare with your previous ones.'
'Damage? Orb? What happened to me? Are you saying some orb did this to me?' Vullana was staring wide-optics at Ratchet; this new information hit home with her and caused her to become alarmed. She faltered slightly when Bumblebee released his hold on her in his rush to shove the Doctor.
'Ratchet! We have strict orders not to mention anything. She needs to remember in her own time, remember Wheeljack's theory?'
'Nonononono – look whatever has happened; you guys know about it, so spill it!' Her voice rang out loud over the relatively silent backdrop, her agitation with both the Autobots showing as she became panicky. 'I mean, what am I for goodness sake? How is this part of your race?' she gestured to herself as her voice becoming strained and mechanically sounding the more hysterical she became and she started trembling from the foreign sound and surrealism of being awoken as a strange new creature.
Bumblebee approached her once more, taking her hands into his own and staring at her directly, 'It's all right, you will be fine.' His calm voice doing nothing for the well of emotions raging in her as she shook more intensely and hoarsely whispered to him 'How can you say that?'
'You're a Cybertronian Protoform.' Ratchet's statement rang out clear above other sounds, temporarily halting Vullana's hysterics as she considered his words. She had been told accounts of the Protoform structure from Bumblebee and seen his Protoform image when she scanned his memories years ago but hadn't connected this was what she was confronting now.
'Cybertronian Protoform? I thought that was only for space travel. And this doesn't resemble you guys.' She thought was a valid point to her argument, her bewilderment muddling her knowledge that all Cybertronians have a Protoform too.
'We look exactly like you underneath our local camouflage. At the core of us all is a Protoform, it's our basic structure that enables us to reformat ourselves to adapt to an environment.' He gave her a moment as she calmed, being a doctor, he understood she was in shock and rightly so – he doubted he would be in a calm frame of mind if he woke up to be a different being, but he knew the sooner she was back at base, the sooner Wheeljack could perform his tests. Ratchet was worried, as they all were, three days ago they had an alien sighting and now they did this to the girl. Optimus knew it was connected somehow to Vullana; she was an exceptional human and her talents second to none by possessing psychic capabilities beyond comprehension. Earlier that evening, the aliens appeared from nowhere and demanded she enter the orb but for reasons only she was told of and now she was suffering from amnesia. So to find out what they wanted with her or why they were on Earth in the first place was near impossible until she regained her memories. In addition, he hoped Wheeljack's theory was right; if the test results from her new MRI scan compared to her old human results show that her new cerebral cortex functions around a similar pattern to her human synaptic transmission, she still may possess her clairvoyant powers, a skill that had proved very useful to them during their time here on Earth and one they hoped wasn't lost due to the advantage it gave them.
'May I suggest we find you a native camouflage to adapt to... when you feel ready of course.' Ratchet didn't want to pressure her as she began to calm herself sinking into a casual embrace with Bumblebee – more like resting her head against his chest as he held her arms – but he thought he should voice the idea for them to begin moving.
'All right, how do we do that?' Vullana softly queried finally raising her head, surrendering to reality. She didn't have much of a choice, but she could suspend her thoughts and disbelief until she was back in the safety of the Autobot base. Being in the open they where vulnerable to exposure where they could be discovered and after the precautions the Autobots took to hide their status and newly erected base amongst the humans after the city battle, she didn't want to blow their cover because she didn't have the guts to get the necessary things done so they remained concealed. Her attention attuned to concentrate on the procedure of becoming a vehicle, she understood that Cybertronians trans-scan vehicle data to assume that form but she had no real knowledge of how to undertake such a task.
'Not we, you' Ratchet begun 'Firstly, the chosen camouflage must be a similar dimension to your own body mass, otherwise the procedure will not work You will need to access the replicant processors that do the scanning after finding a suitable camouflage. Once activated, the processors take the total dimensions of the vehicle and make a 3D image to store in your memory circuits. Your vision tracers work on the finer detailing of the vehicle before—' Ratchet knew he was losing her in information overload from her blank look.
'All right, focus your optical receptors onto the vehicle and concentrate on becoming it, envision yourself with those panels and body work... attempt it at least please.'
'And what vehicle do you suggest Doc?' Vullana sarcastically shot at him – apart from the three of them standing in the lightly dense outskirts of suburbia, there was nothing about.
'Ah...'
'I do recognise this area...' Vullana began as she took notice of where they were, moving away from Ratchet and Bumblebee to scan the area. She turned to face both the Autobots when her audio receptor caught Bumblebee muttering, 'What are you looking for?'
'Local camouflage.' Came the simple declaration, she knew where to hopefully find a suitable car to scan with minimal risk of begin spotted by an unsuspecting witness. 'This area, if I'm correct, is near the Wilmont Estate and Jack Wilmont is known to have a garage full of cars. I'm sure something suitable will be there and it lets us travel with minimal risk of being spotted.'
'My sensors indicate the property you refer to and you are correct that it isn't far from our current position.' Bumblebee offered 'This way' He began to traverse the paddock they where in with Ratchet and Vullana in tow, heading further away from the bright glow of suburbia located over the next rise. Once over the crest, they stood looking down to the vast estate, garden lanterns illuminating the expansive house and grounds to bathe it in shadows to create an air of romance and exquisiteness.
'Very impressive dwelling.' The comment from Ratchet was genuine as they surveyed the breathtaking estate. It looked out of character for the sparse landscape to house such a magnificent house and garden, much like an oasis in a desert. Vullana's scanners had already located the garage to the left of where they stood outside the high cement rendered walls, though not high enough to hinder the 'bots to easily observe the grounds. Vullana was already making a grab to clamber the walls when a tug on her shoulder caused her to cease what she was doing and glanced around to face a concerned looking Bumblebee.
'Would you like me to come with you?' He gently offered, still holding onto her shoulder, his touching display of concern would have made her blush if she was still organic.
Before she could form words, Ratchet intervened 'Let her do it for herself Bumblebee. She will be fine.' His words giving Vullana confidence knowing he had faith in her. Bumblebee removed his hand from her and Vullana scaled the fence, albeit clumsily as her toes tore into the structure, crumbling the cement in patches before she made her way stealthy for the garage.
'You sure she will be all right?' Bumblebee quizzed softly as he watched her stalk to the perimeter of the garage, leaving large indentations in the grass that will greet and horrify the home's occupier in the morning. Bumblebee always held a strong sense of wanting to protect her but that sense of duty was even stronger now after the recent events that had played out hours earlier.
'She needs to learn self-sufficiency my friend.' Ratchet patted Bumblebee's shoulder good-naturedly and Bumblebee lowered his head in forlorn as they both became silent.
'She doesn't remember Ratchet, doesn't remember anything...' Bumblebee's head was still looking downwards as he shook it in disbelief.
'I realise you have taken a blow because of her amnesia, but I believe she will recover her memories in due time... ... and more importantly the memories of what you shared before she entered the orb.' Ratchet slapped Bumblebee's back in an act to cheer him up.
'Thanks, I too believe that. Even if she doesn't remember what we spoke about, I know it will be wondrous to experience it all again.' Mild contentment filled Bumblebee and he corrected his posture to his usual relaxed stance, optics gliding over the scenery as he patiently waited for Vullana to return.
'Bumblebee, I just received a com from Prime.' Ratchet's voice was carefully lowered so only he and Bumblebee could share the conversation; he didn't wish the chance of Vullana accidentally overhearing them talk.
'He reports that Ironhide and the twins were not able to track the alien carrier successfully. They were able to track it to the coastline but they became delayed among the congestion through the city and their scanners where not able to conclude the craft's exact position. They are positive it was heading over the ocean... but if it's destination was to another country or simply to better position itself to leave Earth's orbit is unknown.'
'Or even if it went into orbit, it could be hovering around to do this to someone else.' Bumblebee retorted, 'I do not understand it Ratchet; why would they seek to do such thing? We don't even know what they are, or where they came from much less what they want.'
'This is true; for now the only reason we have is that they came here for Vullana to become one of us. There have been many sightings of alien craft throughout human history but I could not find anything recorded that resembled what has happened here tonight. Nor are there any recordings that mention the shape of that craft. That long, segmented dark vessel looked more suited to belong in a junkyard than for interstellar travel.' Ratchet rubbed his chin in thought, still scanning the web for recently reported alien sightings, there could be a human witness that was closer to the action than what the Autobot trio where.
'Ratchet, you said the guys thought the craft was heading out to the ocean... that would be the Pacific Ocean correct?' Bumblebee's transistors humming as he too scanned the web for anything that could link to the aliens.
'Correct... have you found something?'
'Not sure, I have found various reports stating there have been many military craft sightings and disappearances in the Pacific Ocean around 200 kilometres from the shoreline. While the reports haven't confirmed what type of vessels are seen, there apparently have many witnesses from humans on ocean-going ships that observed the crafts before vanishing.' Bumblebee fidgeted while he continued to download these reports, oblivious to Ratchet giving him a sympathetic look.
'Bumblebee, how can vanishing human military craft be connected to the aliens we encountered earlier?' Ratchet didn't want to use the human phrase 'clutching at straws' but he could see his friend wanted to find some logic to explain the dire predicament Vullana was in, obviously making it his burden to solely bear.
'I guess you're right... ... couldn't we use the data that was collected from the twins and Ironhide to triangulate all three positions and make a prediction of the trajectory the craft took?' Bumblebee's optics shone bright as the sudden idea struck him and Ratchet was taken aback slightly. Bumblebee wasn't the type to concern himself with such theories – that area was usually left to the brainiac Wheeljack, so his suggestion came as quiet a shock.
'It is interesting you should suggest such a thing; Optimus mentioned a similar process earlier. One Wheeljack will attempt once the trio arrive back—'
Ratchet cut himself short as his sensors indicated Vullana was moving towards them, not that he liked to be secretive around anyone, but their orders where clear not to inform Vullana of anything to do with the craft or events – even plans to help her and he couldn't afford another slip-up.
'I-I did not realise y-you where so fast' Ratchet stammered out, feeling uncomfortable keeping the recent conversation secret.
'Fast? O-kay, I have been gone around an hour.' Vullana paying little heed to Ratchet as she clambered back over the wall with the same grace she exuded previously to tremor the ground as she landed, Bumblebee eagerly ushering to her side.
Checking his chronometer Ratchet confirmed it had been 48 minutes since she left for the garage and 0507 in the morning according to Earth time, sunrise would occur in around 80 minutes. He decided that it would be less conspicuous for them to travel while under the cover of darkness, if Vullana was successful in finding a form. Ratchet broke out of his thoughts to notice Bumblebee and Vullana had been chatting the whole time his mind was sunk in thought.
'So out of all the vehicles you've told me, which one did you end up adapting to?' Bumblebee was looking at the new panel work and contrasting colours that littered over her body, while Vullana was surprisingly buzzing with excitement.
'Check this out – while you two where gossiping I even managed to do a loop around the garage as a car'
Ratchet and Bumblebee tensed at the prospect of having their conversation overheard by her, but Vullana carried on unperturbed as she moved away and bunched herself slightly and became still, puzzling the onlooking Autobots.
'You're not going to short-out are you?' Bumblebee curiously asked and received a glare from her.
'What are you trying to do?' Ratchet trying his hardest not to laugh at the sight of her.
'Oh! It happened before, it really did!'
'You are trying too hard. Just relax while you transform, it will come very naturally.' Bumblebee again gently offering her advice to follow.
She relaxed herself and her body responded to twist, rotate and bend into a new shape, both Autobots curiously watching the alteration occur. When in vehicle mode, their puzzled expressions returned as they scanned the web in search of the automotive history to identify the sleek dark blue convertible with white racing strips up the bonnet and boot, large bulbous headlights, twin chrome side exhausts with fat chrome mags that would grip any surface.
'It's an 1960 AC Cobra; about the only car small enough to accommodate my size.' Vullana's voice carried through the speakers to proudly explain her choice to the bewildered pair.
'But... it's such a dated model.' Ratchet unwittingly slipped out, appal in every word uttered.
Whirling and hissing emitted as the panels reversed their order for Vullana to stand again, eyes blazing at Ratchet.
'Well I don't see you offering anything better.' She snapped at Ratchet, 'Besides, the specs I found show this model had been completely rebuilt, so this alt mode could keep up with you any day old man.'
'Riiight' Ratchet looked at her warily, wondering if her agitation was warranted 'Why don't we meet up with the driveway of this property to link up with the main road so we can head back to base.' Changing the subject to usher them all to Autobot base sounded like the best course, since they could remain inconspicuous whilst travelling in the dark.
Ratchet moved past the pair to locate the said driveway, Vullana's optics sliding to watch him pass as Bumblebee calmly leaned in towards her.
'What was all that about? He didn't mean anything by his comment.' Bumblebee did a double take as he stared at Vullana's optics as they shone a dark blue before she closed them. He heard a shift in her internal gearing before she opened her optics again, glimmering sky-blue rays once more.
'I know he didn't mean anything by it... I just felt irritated at his words, I am doing the best I can...' Vullana rubbed her head in confusion and exhaustion, 'let's just get back to base, I'm tired.'
'Of course.' Bumblebee could see she looked suddenly drained and he linked an arm with hers when she stumbled over her feet while travelling to the driveway where Ratchet was patiently waiting for them.
Ratchet transformed first and moved away to allow room for the others, Bumblebee watching Vullana sink into her alt mode more successfully this time around before he altered himself and rolled beside Vullana and sent her a communications link, which reminded Vullana of a similar way they used to communicate through their minds.
'Follow Ratchet, I will bring up the rear.' She heard Bumblebee transmit to her and she couldn't resist the comeback, 'Of course you will bring up the rear, that's where the best view is.' Before lurching down the asphalt roadway, hesitantly manoeuvring to remain on the road while jerking her speed to reach a comfortable pace. She was thankful there was no traffic at this time of morning as she suspected she could have run someone off the road. Driving was tricker than she anticipated as she weaved and shuddered her way slowly down the road.
The distance to the Autobot base was a relatively short distance of 23 kilometres but the act of driving in an alternate form needed Vullana to overcome her apprehension of the totally foreign scenario before maintaining control over her actions. Her pace crawling painfully along for the first couple of kilometres as she fought to control her nervousness, the longer they spend travelling the more familiar and comfortable she became with controlling her movements. No messages where sent through by Ratchet or Bumblebee but they kept pace with her the entire duration, adjusting their speed when needed. Eventually veering onto the little travelled road that lead to the base around the hilly and more densely bushed countryside outside of suburbia, Vullana knew they had nearly reached their destination, her thoughts confirmed by Ratchet breaking the silence to report their arrival time.
All three slowed as Ratchet activated the solid door via his energy signal, the door responding to the Autobot frequency as it remained invisible behind the camouflage of dense scrub of the ground before it sunk to a slope into the Earth's crust becoming a ramp that led into a brightly-lit silver tunnel to the heart of the base.
'I guess this is home now' Vullana muttered to herself feeling hesitant and sadness simultaneously wash over her as she rolled down the ramp and into the familiar base.
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Reviews would be greatly appreciated.
