Journey to the Light
Journey to the Light
Disclaimer: Transformers Animated or its canon characters do not belong to me. Transformers in general belongs to Hasbro. Although Valiant/Deus Ex Machina/Shadowtreader belongs to me. His profile is on my pen name profile. I would like to thank Devious Decepticon for serving as the beta reader of my story. Hope you enjoy this story and please leave reviews as this is my first story to be posted on!
Chapter 1: A Valiant Arrives
"Warning! Warning!" blared the ship's onboard navigation system. "Planet approach imminent!"
"The cruiser's drifted into the planet's gravitational pull," a figure muttered to himself, flipping a switch in a desperate attempt to manually control the vehicle. His attempts remained futile, his approach toward the foreign planet growing faster and faster.
"It's no use, I'm going to crash!" the figure cried out as the ship began to deteriorate in the intense heat of atmosphere entrance.
Before long, the entire cruiser had been burned off, nothing more than ashes, now, as the poor mech hurtled through the planet's outermost defense at breakneck speed, his chassis glowing red from the tremendous friction.
"I guess this is it for me." He thought mournfully. "My mission was a complete failure."
He shuttered his optics tight in preparation for impact; hopefully, his demise would be swift and painless…
"Hey, look Bumblebee! A shooting star!" exclaimed Sari, pointing to the sky in excitement.
"Here on Earth, people say when you see a shooting star, you get to make a wish. And if you're lucky, your wish will come true!" The puzzled look on Bumblebee's face was too priceless: confusion, wonder, anticipation; she barely suppressed her giggles as he continued to watch the meteor.
Seeming to understand, he mumbled, "Okay, Sari." The yellow mech shuttered his optics. "I wish-"
"You're not supposed to say it out loud!" she shouted, waving her hands at him as his optics flew open. "Otherwise, the wish won't come true! Hurry, before you lose your chance!"
Without a second thought, Bumblebee snapped his optics closed again.
"I wish...I could prove that he really didn't disappear." Bumblebee thought to himself, reopening his optics only when he was positive that his wish had been made.
"Much better." Sari nodded in satisfaction before yawning hugely. "We'll find out if your wish came true, but for now, we should get some sleep."
Without another word, Bumblebee transformed into his alt-mode, allowed his friend to step inside, and swiftly headed to Sumdac Towers, where he dropped the weary human at the door, before returning back to the Autobot base.
Slightly tired, he stumbled his way through the silent common area, up the stairs, and to his private quarters. On the way, he bumped into Bulkhead.
"Sorry there, Bulkhead." He apologized weakly. After a moment of thought, he added, "Say, do you really believe that he was offline since he didn't show up at the recruiting ceremony?"
"Well, that crossed my processor a few times, but I feel that he is offline since he never appeared again after a few stellar cycles." Bulkhead replied, curious about the sudden new topic.
"Okay." His voice seemed too cheerful for the situation, even forced. "See ya, Bulkhead." Though he'd never admit it, his friend's opinion only served to further dash his hopes of him ever returning; it felt like a sucker-punch to the spark.
"Someday, I'll prove that he didn't disappear. Just like how I proved Wasp was a spy at the academy." Bumblebee thought to himself, making his way into his quarters, and to his recharge berth.
The next morning dawned clear and warm outside Detroit. A forest surrounded a pristine lake, which was surprisingly untouched by human activity; however, the normally seamless pattern of the foliage was marred by a long rut in the earth, the object creating it also splintering several trees like toothpicks, and coming to rest at the base of a particularly large pine. Its head resembled a helmet of some kind, with a golden yellow visor and a grey faceplate locked firmly in place to conceal its identity.
A collar-like feature protected his small neck, and the front edge of the squarish border that surrounded his head bore a small glass piece, which was most likely represented a window. Its shoulders were either covered or replaced with three metal plates on each shoulder; the headlights on the front of his body had a clear color to them, revealing that the lights were not currently active. The rest of its body had a gray color to it, but contrasted sharply with the sheathed katana that was seen behind its back, and the folded mechanical wings that shone with an unearthly aura, their appearance almost mimicking the organic form of angel wings. It was unknown if the figure was currently conscious or not, but due to the nature of his headlights and current body position, the latter could currently be assumed.
Dew clung to the grass around the figure and many flowers were in full bloom, creating a sense of harmony between the two beauties of the glistening dew grass reflecting the sun, and the lovely appearance of the white, pink, and yellow blossoms. A butterfly landed on a pink flower, sipping its savory nectar while flapping its wings slowly in delight. The unconscious figure grabbed the attention of the creature as it shook the flower it was on as it was prepared to take off. It flew to the red collar-like feature of the figure; as the butterfly moved towards the head of the mech, the mech seemed to turn online.
Startled, the butterfly flew away to go to a destination unknown, without a glance back. The ghostly figure became awed by the butterfly's elegance and attempted to reach out and touch it, but the butterfly flew too far away from the figure's grasp. Noticing the arm it used to reach out, it seemed confused as it pulled its arm back to examine it, unable to speak as it continued to inspect its hand. A frog croaked nearby, and the figure turned, once again trying to reach out and grab something in order to learn what it was. Frightened, the frog retreated away from the hand and hopped towards the edge of the lake, thwarting the mech's attempt once again as he tripped, and stumbled in after it. As the figure sat silently in the ripple-filled lake, the frog hopped into the water and gracefully swam away from the still figure.
"Oh…" the figure managed to mutter in monotone, an air of nonchalance punctuating his seemingly uninterested voice. "Is...Is that my voice…?" he questioned to himself, staring at the water's surface as the ripples began to subside. "A…And this is me?" the mech asked himself as he pointed a finger at his reflection. He then realized something.
"Wait! Where am I? Better yet, who am I?"
Panic began to overtake him as his thoughts raced. "I...I...can't remember! Why?" The figure answered his own question without seeming to realize it, his hands clamped firmly to his head.
Without warning, the exhuberant sound of laughter reached his audio receptors, causing him to nearly jump out of his chassis. He followed the sound curiously, eventually coming to the edge of the forest; hiding behind a few trees, he saw a couple of kids playing on the sidewalk with a mechanical dog.
"Valiant!" one of the children called aloud, unaware of their silent observer.
"Valiant...my name?" Shaking his head, the mech became lost in his own thoughts. "Either way, I have no knowledge of my name. So this word will now be my designation." the figure thought to himself, now adopting the name: Valiant. The kids and the dog had already left by the time he extricated himself from his reverie, but by coincidence, a robot that had a red and blue light on the top of its head was moving around the location, clearly on patrol.
"Maybe it has answers for me." Valiant muttered as he hovered towards the robot.
"Wait!" called Valiant, extending his arm, unintentionally creating a ball of black shadow-like energy as he did so, and hitting the unsuspecting robot. On impact, it temporarily became enveloped in the shadow energy before falling down in a stasis lock. Valiant looked in horror upon seeing what he had just done; this act appeared to have attracted attention as eight other robots headed his way.
"Halt!" All of them shouted while turning on their lights, creating a piercing wails of police sirens. Valiant retreated back into the forest, but not deep enough to disturb the tranquility of the lake; all he could do was watch as the scene unfolded before him.
A ten year-old girl wandered aimlessly around the park, desperate to get some time out of her home. She noticed a butterfly crossing her path and followed after it, curious after not having seen one in a long time. As she did, she came to notice a forest that she never saw before, littered with parts of police droids.
As she picked her way further into the forest, she witnessed the last police robot become enveloped in dark energy before collapsing and breaking in contact. She rushed over to see wires frayed and sparks crackling from deep fissures in its armor, wondering what exactly caused this damage. She instinctively backed away, failing to notice the cliff behind her.
All it took was one misstep before the rock crumbled beneath her foot, and she fell; she screamed as she plummeted downwards, knowing that no one was there to save her from what would be a certain demise. Unfortunately for her, the thought of death often made her faint, which is exactly what happened: she fainted.
The sound of her shrieking caused Valiant –who had destroyed the final robot nearby—to turn his attention in her direction. He tried to use his wings at least enough to catch her, but due to his lack of energy, he unintentionally changed into a ghost-like creature. He just barely managed to catch her in his arms before falling into trees that grew on the side of the cliff. After finally reaching the ground near the lake, he gently set her on the ground and reverted back to his armored form.
The girl awakened to see herself alive and on the ground, and turned to her left to see her savior lose his focus on hovering, and lightly fall against a giant tree near the lake. She became a little frightened by its appearance, mainly its strength; she suspected that it was the one that managed to take down eight police robots. She became even more hesitant when she figured out it was one of those Transformers that she had seen on the news, especially because she didn't know if it was an Autobot or Decepticon. But she knew it needed help, so slowly but surely, she walked closer to the robot.
Valiant barely managed to stay conscious when he realized he'd used more energy than he thought taking down all those police droids at once. Then, he noticed that the girl that was next to one of the destroyed robots started to walk up to him, and began to grow frantic when he realized that she could easily harm him in his current state. He tried to raise one arm to intimidate her, being mindful to be careful with his powers so to not harm her.
The girl became even more scared by the robot's action, thinking that it was going to attack her, so she remained still. Even this simple action caused him to slowly lose conscious, even that simple movement causing his energy to drain further. She saw its arm falter --probably from its exhaustion-- and continued to walk towards him. Valiant's coherent sight was the girl standing beside him, falling into unconsciousness before he could even make a sound.
Valiant woke from his sleep with the girl still by his side. He could feel himself begin to panic, but her soft voice cut through his chaotic thoughts.
"Don't be frightened," she murmured, leaning against his left leg. "I didn't intend to hurt you."
If he could have rolled his optics, he would have."Aren't you afraid I might hurt you?" Valiant asked the girl.
"A little. But somehow, I think can trust you." She smiled up at him. "By the way, my name is Chihiro Sasaki." Valiant looked up at the sky, as far away from her as he could manage.
"Why did I help her? I don't even know her." He mentally berated himself. "I don't understand, but I have to leave her to her life." He stood and started to walk away, trying to act as convincing as possible. He stopped for a moment, and slightly turned his head.
"Chi..hi…ro. I suppose I should thank you for not harming me, but I do not think we will meet again." Valiant said sternly, his optic ridges turning down in admonishment. He then continued to walk away, not even sparing Chiriro a passing glance.
"Right now, I need to find out about these 'Transformers' and what I have to do with them." Valiant muttered to himself as he walked. But as abruptly as he'd entered the forest, he'd found its end; it was a city, full of robots and humans coexisting; how he knew their significance, he didn't know…but he did.
On the sidewalk, he noticed a parked silver motorcycle, every square inch of its shimmering paint glimmering in the sunlight. Valiant's optics seemed to caress the smooth curves of the motorcycle, from the clear window in the front, to the jet black tires with rims that seemed to oddly complete its beauty. The whole thing itself seemed to interest him more than he ever knew since he had been online again.
"I wish I could turn into that machine. It looks really cool." Valiant said absently. He jumped in surprise as he watched a grid of lasers beam from his body, the lasers made contact with the motorcycle, scanning everything from the rims to the molecules of the paint. Soon, the scan was complete and the lasers faded away.
"Woah." He accidentally touched the motorcycle lightly, and felt a throbbing pain inside his head.
"Ahh….what's happening?" Valiant questioned, his voice stricken. He had clamped his arms over his head in agony, but didn't seem to realize that he couldn't show it. He had no time to even scream as something appeared in his mind.
A shadowy, featureless figure appeared to be walking in a place Valiant couldn't recognize. The figure seemed to stop in its place and seemed to be concentrating on something, yet seemingly effortlessly, the robot transformed from its bipedal mode into a strange vehicle, then transformed from the vehicle back into its robot mode.
"I must find, and be rid of Megatron." The figure muttered to itself.
"Is that some part of my memory?" Valiant asked himself in confusion. He sighed before remembering what the figure in his memory did, concentrating on transforming himself into the motorcycle.
In a flash, his body started to shift; he could feel the gears reconfiguring themselves, his window becoming wider and longer in height, parts retracting while others revealed themselves. At the end of the sequence, through optical sensors, he saw himself as the motorcycle he had scanned with a unique feature: his shoulder plates partially covering the wheel, yet attached next to the rim of the metal surrounding the wheels. The plates were symmetrical, with each side having three identical sheets of armor.
"Megatron……" He thought to himself.
Valiant headed into town in his new motorcycle form, utilizing a hologram of a human to blend into traffic more easily. After taking in the sights of the city, he went to a desolate place in order to train and learn about his powers before he would decide to go on a journey to self-realization, and this mysterious "Megatron."
A month had passed, and nothing had changed much, more specifically, the criminals.
"I am the Angry Archer! Feel my wrath, knaves!" The Robin-Hood-clad villain crowed, gripping a bag of money and releasing a flurry of explosive arrows at the group of Autobots.
"Bumblebee, get him before he escapes!" Optimus instructed over the numerous detonations.
A familiar motorcycle was hanging around the city, and noticed that a plume of smoke was billowing above a crowd of rapidly scattering people. The motorcycle drifted around a turn, and rode towards the commotion as fast as he could.
"I got you this time!" Bumblebee shouted, only a few feet away from the Angry Archer. Bumblebee brought out his stingers, ready to use their electric blasts to cut the rope that the thief was currently holding on to. Bumblebee fired a series of blasts at him, all headed right to their target.
"Nay! Observe, knave." The Angry Archer commanded with a flourish, firing his own series of explosive arrows.
A frenzy of blasts occurred as his arrows perfectly collided with Bumblebee's shots. Unfortunately for the yellow scout, one arrow left from the explosions remained in his path. If he didn't do something soon, the arrow would hit him, and his target would escape. Bumblebee froze as his computer fritzed, watching helplessly as his impending doom came to meet him.
Suddenly, a silver Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle with strange plating drove in Bumblebee's direction. Its driver looked to be about seventeen years old, but its face was covered from sight by the black helmet with its polarized visor. The motorcycle carelessly drove onto Bumblebee's body, and he managed to maintain his balance as the strange rider launched itself off of his back, groaning in pain from the speed.
"Hey watch it! You can't just use my body as a ramp!" Bumblebee yelled, shaking his fist at the unknown rider.
The rider seemed to ignore this as it took the arrow head on. An explosion occurred, and through the smoke, he the motorcycle inside of a translucent-colored force field, comprised of many patterned hexagon shapes that almost looked like a honeycomb. A couple of seconds later, the field disappeared from sight, leaving the motorcycle transforming in mid-air.
"Transform!" The transformation was complete before Bumblebee could even blink an optic, and the rider disappeared from sight, cloaked by the darkness of the city.
When the smoke dissipated, a Transformer appeared; it was clearly large, and headed right toward the Autobots.
"No, it can't be." Bulkhead said, the Transformer using his left hand to grip the handle of the sheathed sword on its back. It flung its sword straight from the sheath, the projectile immediately emitting a faint blue aura and heading towards the criminal still on the run, nearly at the end of the street.
"Hah! I can block your sword with my arrows, knave!" The Angry archer declared, turning to use his bow and arrows in an attempt to disrupt the sword's path.
"It is, Bulkhead! It's…" Bumblebee shouted over the fray, cut off by the detonations of the explosive arrows as the mysterious Transformers hacked them in half with his sword.
"Who is it, Bumblebee?" Sari asked, awed by the transformer's exceptional grace.
The Transformer stopped in its tracks, seeming to sink into the ground as a black spot came into focus. When the Transformer's body had completely vanished from sight, the shadow-like spot suddenly moved on its own, gaining speed until it was in front of the archer's path. From the shadow, the Transformer's body started reappearing to the surface, ready to fight again.
"What sort of trickery is this?" The Angry Archer asked incredulously. He couldn't react fast enough to prevent the mech from using its sword to cut the rope; as the criminal fell, he landed into the open left hand of the Transformer, the mech gripping him firmly.
At last, police squad cars arrived at the scene, Captain Fanzone emerging from the nearest cruiser. Without a single word, the mech handed the culprit over before joining the Autobots.
"Another one! Who is this guy anyway?" the Captain groaned wearily, gesturing to the nameless mech. "Sheesh…"
"It's…..it's….Deus Ex Machina." Bumblebee finally managed to blurt out, his awe clearly getting the better of his vocalize.
The mech in question gave the yellow scout an odd look. "Who's Deus Ex Machina? The name's Valiant." The Transformer informed him blandly, his monotone voice puzzling everyone present.
"Valiant? Who's Valiant?"
To be continued.