Optimus Prime woke up in his recharge chamber, cold mercury sweat clinging to his armour. Every night since he had been resurrected, he had had that same dream: nothing had changed in it, except that that voice...his spark wrung within him as he remembered the plaintive, helpless plea for rescue.
Primus, why do I keep having the same dream? he thought as he went to his window and overlooked the restored city. Some two million years ago, this city was swamped with Decepticons. Now, with the Decepticons gone, the citizens were returning by the thousands, and all of Cybertron had reached a new Golden Age, even more wonderful and peaceful than the previous one. I only hope that it will last this time around, he thought cynically as he remembered the first time the Decepticons invaded.
And he remembered his years spent on Earth, protecting the humans from the Decepticons. Looking out over the city, he thought that no planet could be as beautiful as Earth in the dawning of the sun. A golden hue would hang on every object, creating an image of brilliance and hope, the beginning of something new and magical.
The other Autobots were still there, maintaining the peace on Earth. Only Hot Rod, Ironhide and Springer had stayed in Cybertron. Hot Rod volunteered out of the sheer goodness of his spark; having being Rodimus Prime, he knew the cares that rested on his shoulders. Ironhide also stayed for the same reason. Why Springer chose to stay, though, really baffled him. He had seen the way he and Arcee had been getting along. To volunteer to stay away from her was anything but Springer.
But when I left...he stopped in his mid-thought, as mercury tears welled up in his optics. When he had left Cybertron with the others on that fateful journey, he had left behind the other Autobot femmebots to fend for themselves. Even though he had no idea that the Decepticons would attack, he still felt partially responsible for their near-extinction. And Alita One...
The tears fell freely, and he wiped them away. Even after more than a century, he still mourned her. He remembered the day that he had been told of their death: a surprise Decepticon raid had all but wiped out the femmebot population. If she had perished by a laser blast, it would not have been as bad. But to hear that she had been personally deactivated by Megatron himself...
If he weren't on Charr right now, I would seek him out and he would pay tenfold for what he did to her! he thought in his rage. He could have resurrected her himself, but she deserved her peace. After millions of years of fighting, Alita had earned the right...the privilege...to be at peace. Even though he still loved her, he couldn't be so selfish as to wrench her from her peace. The peace that he had had to leave to save everyone.
He still heard the voices of those Quintesson scientists who had used his corpse as a mockery and a trap. He still had fleeting memories of darkness and knives, and jeering, alien faces. Aside from that nightmare, he had some seconds-spanning nightmares of himself being tortured.
At that moment, the Matrix glowed softly inside him. He looked at his chest armour and smiled behind his mask. He swore he could almost translate the strange gesture: Don't despair. There's still hope.
The sun was fully up now. The city seemed to glow with metallic brilliance. Sighing, Optimus polished himself up and went to his office, a few blocks from his living quarters. On his way there, he met a group of Autobot soldiers that had just joined the army. They had been chatting away until he showed up. On seeing him, they scrambled into a single file and saluted him with trembling hands. Optimus saluted them back, grinning away behind his battle mask.
Once in his office, he was greeted with the ever-growing pile of documents, meetings and appointments that never seemed to end. Sighing, he plopped himself on his chair and was about to work when an intercomm message interrupted him.
"Hey there, Prime!" came a jolly, almost irritatingly cheerful voice.
"Hello, Hot Rod," Optimus replied, trying not to sound as miserable as he did. "What's up?" "Nothing much. Just wanted to come in and say hey. Unless you're busy, then..."
"No. Not at all. You can come over," he replied hastily. He wanted to escape the giant stack of papers, even if it was only for a couple of minutes. "All right, then! Give me two Earth minutes!" In less than that amount of time, Hot Rod burst in, without knocking as usual. He looked unusually cheery, and Optimus began to grow suspicious. When Hot Rod looked like that, it meant, usually, that he was in his prankster moods.
"Prime, I came to talk to you about something. You've been working too hard."
"You think?" came the sarcastic, but good-natured reply. Prime rolled his optics and stared at the huge stack of papers. Hot Rod ignored him and continued. "Anyways, I've been thinking that maybe you should take a little time-off. You know, a little vacation, perhaps?"
Prime looked at him even more suspiciously. "All right, which unfortunate femmebot is it this time?" Everytime Hot Rod suggested a vacation, it was usually because he used Prime's quarters to "entertain" his frequent dates with other femmebots in the city.
"No catch this time, I swear to Primus!" he replied. "You've been looking stressed, you've been having this weird nightmare..."
"How did you know that?" said Prime. Hot Rod merely patted his chest, and Prime relaxed. For some reason, there was a bond between them through the Matrix: whatever the one was experiencing, the other would feel as well. "Anyway," continued Hot Rod. "I know that you have to be here, but what's gonna happen if you can't live with these obligations of yours? You need to relax once in a while, Prime."
"I see your point, Hot Rod. But where exactly can I go?"
Hot Rod smiled a bit too innocently. "How about Earth? You did say once that there was nothing like the nature of that planet to keep you at peace. And we have been losing touch with the others. It'd be nice to see them again, wouldn't it?"
Optimus sighed and sat back in his chair. "I know where this is going Hot Rod, and the answer is no. You can't possibly leave Cybertron when you want to."
"But Prime...!"
"No buts, Roddy," Prime replied firmly. "It's just being two years since the war ended, and we still have to deal with problems from Charr. To leave right now would be unthinkable."
"But what about Ironhide and Springer?! They could manage on their own. Come on Optimus! Don't you miss Earth at all?"
"I do, but right now I don't have the choice to leave. Neither of us is leaving Cybertron, and that's that. Now go to your room, young man." Optimus couldn't resist throwing in that last bit, for Hot Rod did look like he was on the verge of a temper tantrum. Wearing a miserable, puppy-dog face, Hot Rod left Prime's office.
Aside from that, nothing else happened that day. Optimus managed to finish his work, and he planned to do nothing but relax for the evening. Upon getting to his apartment, however, he found that he was even more tired than usual. Climbing into his recharge chamber, Optimus shut down and drifted off to sleep.
...And he found himself inside a white void with no barriers. In front of him stood a small, Autobot femme child. She had on an actual blazing-white dress, and she had a full head of snow-white hair, and even her optics were blazing white. Aside from that, she looked like a normal Autobot.
She was glaring at him. "Why didn't you just listen to him, you ninny?" The question caught Optimus by surprise. He had expected some other-wordly, sage-like voice to escape from her lips. She sounded like a normal little girl.
"Who are you?"
"You should know that by now, considering I've been living with you more or less for the past nine million years." His optics grew wide with disbelief and wonder. He hastily opened up his chest, and found that the Matrix was glowing an impossibly bright light that nearly blinded him.
The Matrix Spirit sighed. "Men. Why are all of you so utterly hopeless? Do we need to spell it all out for you?" "What have you brought me here for?" he asked, standing up, for he had fallen in his surprise to hear that he was talking to the Spirit of the Matrix.
"To tell you to take a hike. A vacation to Earth."
"I already told Hot Rod this, and I am telling you now. I don't need a vacation. I can't take one."
"WELL, I AM TELLING TO DO SO!" thundered the child suddenly. "Look, Prime, you're too tensed up and worried that your precious Cybertron will crumble about you all over again the minute you actually try to have a life. Slag happens, all right?"
Optimus gasped in surprise to hear her swear like that. She smiled at his face. "What do you expect after nine million years? I'm not completely unaware of your customs, you know. Anyways," she continued as she suddenly vanished and appeared in front of Optimus' face. "Go to Earth. As Spirit Of The Matrix, I order you to go to Earth. NOW."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because I said so," she replied smugly. "Oh, and incidentally, you're needed there for something. Good-bye." And with that, the child vanished, and so did the void. Prime found himself falling like before, but it wasn't as dark as it had been...
Prime woke up the next day, feeling unusually calm. Feeling much better than he had been in a few weeks, he went into his office to tackle yet another pile of documents. Sitting down, he was about to work when an unexpected visitor popped in.
Well, what in the name of Primus are you waiting for, you lump?!
Prime fell out of his chair. Where had that come from?
It's me, you ninny. Did you actually think that you could just forget about last night? The dream replayed in his head, and Prime groaned. Just what he needed: a child (who just happened to be nine million years older that what she should have been under normal circumstances) who was telling him to leave. Do I have to? he thought plaintively.
The Matrix glowed all of a sudden inside him, and he lurched in pain. He knew the implications of that little display. "Fine!" he said, throwing his hands up. "I'll go away for a while then."
Good, came the child's voice. Oh, one other thing. You're taking Hot Rod with you.
What?! he bellowed. Him taking off was one thing, but for Hot Rod to leave as well was unthinkable. I can't take Hot Rod! Two of us can't go! What about Ironhide and Springer?
I'll look after them, don't worry. Now go and pack. You've got a lot of catching up to do.
Yes, dear, Optimus returned sarcastically. The Matrix glowed again briefly, and during the short time, he heard a giant raspberry in his head. "Prime to Hot Rod, over," he said.
"Hey, Prime! What's up?" Hot Rod sounded cheerful again. "Hot Rod, I've been doing some rethinking, and I think maybe we do need a little time off..." The connection went off suddenly, and before he knew it, Hot Rod was in his office, and he was carrying a backpack filled with all his stuff. "When do we leave?" he said breathlessly.
Prime groaned. Oh Primus, what do I do with this boy? "Would 'right now' offend anyone?"
The day was very lovely. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky as Orion watched her young daughter run around screaming with a creature that never strayed from her side. The little creature was a floating, pink-coloured animal that resembled...nothing in particular. She was distinguished by the only noise she made: Mew.
The little girl ran up to her mother and collapsed on the picnic cloth, laughing hysterically. Mew, as she liked to call her, flew up to Orion's shoulder and perched herself there, making happy Mew! noises.
"Mommy, I'm hungry! Can we eat now?" she said. At the word "eat," two other creatures were soon hovering near the energon-flavoured snacks. One of them, a little orange dinosaur, tried to reach for a sandwich and immediately received a smack on his nose. "OW! What did I do?" he yowled as he rubbed his pink nose. "This isn't for you, Agumon," Orion replied. "Lunera and I are having a picnic, and you'll get yours at dinner, all right?"
The little girl made a face. "I don't like that name, Mommy!" She got up and started to play-punch Orion. "My name's Lu! Why'd you give me that yucky name?!" Laughing, Orion picked up the tiny girl and threw her in the air. As she was about to crash, she glowed blue and stopped in mid-fall, and she slowly made her way back to her seat. "No fair, Mew!" Lu exclaimed, and she made as though to grab the creature. Mew, of course, flew out of the way and took cover behind a dragon with a little flame at the tip of his tail.
"Can we have something to eat, please?" said one other animal, a white cat that wore green gloves and green flip-flops that hid pink claws. "Sorry, Gatomon. Not till dinner." Grumbling, but only half-heartedly, the two of them raced back to the village that they had called home since they were hatched. The dragon had woken up when Mew landed on his belly, and he too was now looking at the picnic.
"No, Charizard. Now go home!" The dragon pouted and flew off, regardless of Mew, who had fallen off him. Luckily, she didn't panic and floated gracefully to the grass.
Orion smiled at her little daughter, sitting contentedly eating an energon-flavoured turkey leg. She was extremely tiny for her five years of age, but she was twice as hyper. She didn't have any armour on; there was no need to. Instead, she wore hand-made blue jeans and a white T-shirt. The "clothes" were made so that they were now part of her skin. Another unusual thing about Lunera (or Lu, as she preferred) was that she had actual hair. Her "hair" was slightly darker than her gray-coloured metal skin, and was tied in two little tails that hung loosely around her face.
Orion was also like Lu: she had on dark jeans and a white T-shirt that was made to be part of her skin, and she also had dark, long hair. Orion had been part of an experiment by the Quintessons when they tried to regain control of the robots. She was among those taken, and she had suffered cruel experimentation. Luckily, the Autobots had rescued them before the worst happened. The Quintessons had been trying to make the Autobots more enhanced so that they wouldn't need any armour, and look more human than Autobot. The idea itself was madness, and such a genetic mixture would have caused them to permanently shut down. Autobot genes were almost completely pure, and couldn't mix except with those of their structure, like Decepticons. However, such a union was blasphemy to both races.
Orion had been a blue and white femmebot before she had been kidnapped. She'd needed to rest in a recharge chamber, and she'd worn armour. She didn't mind the changes at all, though. Neither did Lu, who had inherited them from her.
"Mommy?" Lu asked. "Please tell me about Cybertron again."
Orion sighed inwardly. Talking about Cybertron was still too painful for her. "Cybertron's a planet, Lu."
"A big one?"
"No, Lu. It's larger than Earth, but not as big as Jupiter."
Lu nodded, while she was scratching Mew's underbelly, a pastime the small creature loved. Orion continued. "Cybertron was made by some mean people called the Quintessons. They made the people who live on Cybertron, so that they could work for them."
"But we weren't created that long ago, were we?" "We weren't. But our ancestors were."
"The other Autobots didn't like the Quintessons, and they fought them and drove them off our planet. We were very happy. And then the Decepticons came, and we had to fight once more."
"But weren't the Decepticons also made by the Quintessons?"
"Yes, Lu. But they weren't that bad. It was this one person that made them bad people. You know who that is, don't you?"
Lu nodded. The mere mention of Megatron's name was semi-forbidden around Orion. "Well, this person decided he wanted to rule the universe, and he wanted to start by taking over Cybertron. So we had to fight."
Lu nodded once more. Mew had gone to sleep, ceasing the belly-scratching for a while. "Mommy, why'd you leave Cybertron?" Orion didn't want to talk about the subject, but she drove on anyway. "The Decepticons attacked us, Lu. And I was pregnant with you. I had no choice."
"Don't you miss Cybertron, Mommy?" Every single minute that passes. "Not much. It's probably still a battleground for the Decepticons and the others. Besides, now I have you. To take you back would be too dangerous. And I couldn't leave you here, I'd miss you too much."
Lu was quiet for a while. Orion looked at the setting sun and started to pack up. "Hurry, Lu. Mewtio doesn't like it when we're late." Orion packed up the little picnic site, and, carrying Lu in her arms, made their way back to the village. The sun had set, and the moon and stars were beginning to shine. Mew came up behind them and rubbed her head against Orion's hair, making affectionate Mew noises.
"Mommy?" came Lu's voice. "What happened to Daddy?" Orion almost stopped in her tracks. She should have learned by now to expect Lu's rather personal questions regarding her heritage. "He...died when the Decepticons attacked. He was among those who died."
"Oh," came the reply. "So he's with Primus now, isn't he?"
"Yes, Lu. With Primus." They were nearing the village now. However, it wasn't a village in a sense. It was more or less a large zoo/playground that was dotted with caves, filled with all sorts of creatures, with no one being remotely similar. In the center of this place was a small little house, where Orion and Lu lived. Why this little place was dubbed a village...who knows?
As the three of them approached the "village", Lu jumped out of her mother's arms and ran straight into the square, where four of the creatures were playing a game of foursquare. One of them, upon seeing her, let out an excited Pika-pi!, and rushed into her awaiting arms. His companion, a semi-hatched Egg, waddled towards Lu, making happy chirp-chirp noises. The other two were Agumon and Gatomon. "Pikachu, it was your turn!' complained Agumon.
Pikachu didn't notice. He and Togepi were too busy cuddling up to Lu. "Sorry I held up your game," said Lu. "Mommy and me just got back. We still have leftovers, if you want any." Agumon and Gatomon immediately rushed towards Orion and gave her innocent grins. Orion sighed. "Honestly, you two, don't you ever get tired of eating?" The two of them shook their heads simultaneously, still smiling. Orion sighed again and handed them two pieces of turkey, which they happily munched. Lu, meanwhile, was giggling as Mew and Pikachu were chasing each other around her. Togepi was watching, clapping his little hands with glee.
"All right, Lu, it's high time you went to supper." "Can Pikachu and Togepi come too?" Orion seemed reluctant, but agreed, full well knowing that Mewtio wouldn't be very happy. The five of them went into the little house, and were greeted by dinner already on the table, the smell of wholesome food, and the glare of a tall, purple creature that had Mew's facial features.
"You're late," he said telepathically. "Sorry, Tio," said Orion. "I was telling Lu stories." Meanwhile, Pikachu and Togepi had hidden behind Lu nervously. Mewtio was the most powerful and intelligent of all the monsters in the little village, and that made him master of them all. Mew didn't mind. Mewtio was her big brother, but she didn't fear him. Though she was still a bit of a toddler, she was as powerful as he was, if not as smart. She hovered near him and sat on his head, giggling immensely. He ignored her.
"Don't make a habit out of it," he grumbled. "I'll be downstairs if you have any need for me." Mewtio went down to the basement, and they knew they wouldn't see him for days. Well past dinner and into bedtime, the little village was quiet. Pikachu, Togepi and Mew had decided to spend the night, and were curled up at the foot of Lu's bed.
As Orion was tucking her in, Lu asked her another question. "Mommy, what was Daddy like?" Orion sighed. "Lu, you shouldn't ask such questions so late." "But you don't like talking about him, and you always look so sad when I talk about him." Lu suddenly threw off the blankets and crawled towards Orion. "Mommy, did Daddy do something bad to you?"
"No, Lu. It's just that...I still feel sad that he's gone. Sometimes, I miss him very much." Lu nodded and hugged her. "I won't ask about him anymore, if it'll help," she said in a small voice. Orion kissed her head and tucked her back in. "Goodnight, Lunera."
Orion walked out of the house and stared into the night sky, and remembered him. A part of her still loved him with all her spark, and yet another wanted to watch him leak to death, wherever he was. I foolishly thought that we had something. I still do.
"Why did you leave me?" she whispered in the night before returning. As she was about to go to bed, a thought took her by surprise. "You should tell the child the whole truth, Orion. She needs to understand fully why you don't wish to return."
"This is none of your business, Mewtio!" she retorted angrily. "Now stay away. I will tell her when she needs to know." Mewtio didn't answer her. Orion sighed and went to bed.
"APPROACHING THE PLANET EARTH."
Optimus had never been so glad to hear that bit of information in his entire life. All through their journey, Hot Rod had done nothing but play his obnoxious rock music, horse around and basically acting like a spoiled brat. And as for the Matrix, or rather its strange occupant, she kept making loud raspberries in his head.
"WOULD YOU STOP THAT?!" he bellowed, as the loudest and by far the most disgusting raspberry resounded in his CPU. "Gosh, don't have a cow, Opti," came the reply. "Remember who you're talking to? The person who used up her major powers to save you all?" Prime sighed. "I'm sorry. But Hot Rod...he's been more or less driving me insane."
"I'll take care of him," she said. Hot Rod was singing loudly to the tunes of Green Day, a popular Earth band of the 1990s, when he and his music suddenly froze in mid-song. For the first time since they had left Cybertron, Optimus could finally hear himself think. "Thank you," he thought to Primus.
"Hello! Excuse me, but exactly whom performed that little miracle?" Prime laughed, despite himself. "Sorry. Thank you,...I'm sorry, but I don't seem to have caught your name."
"I have millions of names. Call me Eirone, it's my favorite." Eirone. Not bad, he thought. The little blue planet was getting closer and closer. Optimus felt very happy. It had been a while since he had been there. He hated to admit it, but perhaps Hot Rod may have had a point. It was nice knowing that he didn't have to go to the office today. He felt years younger already.
"Told you," came a smug voice, followed by another giant raspberry.
As the ship was landing, Hot Rod suddenly came to life, and he looked bewildered for a second. "We're here already?" he asked. Prime couldn't help but grin broadly at the young Autobot's confused face. "Yes, we are, Hot Rod. You fell asleep a while ago."
Hot Rod nodded. "Yeah, my batteries feel slightly recharged." As the ship landed, Ultra Magnus and Ratchet were waiting to greet them. Magnus didn't look much different; he still looked as though all the cares of the universe rested on his shoulders. Ratchet looked much better since his resurrection, though.
Optimus stepped out of the shuttle, with Hot Rod following behind him, showing his excitement at being back. "Long time, no see," said Ultra Magnus, shaking Prime's hand. Hot Rod, at that moment, transformed into his familiar red sports car form and drove off to the roads he loved, all the while yelling for joy.
Kup heard the yelling and stepped out of his quarters. He didn't look much different. "What in the tarnation..." Kup turned just in time to see Hot Rod zoom off. "Oh, slag! Prime, why the hell did you bring that kid back?" Optimus laughed, the first he had done in a while. "I'm happy to see you too, Kup."
Kup smiled ruefully. "Well, I was a bit rude. But the least you could do is let me grow old and die in peace. Now I'm going to have to play babysitter to that kid all over again." "I wouldn't worry about Hot Rod," said Prime, watching his young friend pull off a stunt that involved jumping over a very wide gap between two ledges. "He's just very happy to be here, that's all."
Ultra Magnus suddenly cleared his throat. Not that he needed to, he'd been on Earth for the better part of two centuries. "Prime, I know you came here to relax, but we have a bit of a problem." Optimus sighed inwardly. Just what I needed. "What is it, Magnus?" "Well...we've been getting news that the Decepticons are trying to attack the Earth. They're trying to restart the war."
Optimus groaned inwardly. Is this your idea of a vacation? he complained to Eirone. Silence. Then... Yes. I'm merely following my instructions. You're supposed to stop this. "I see, Magnus. So what's the problem?" "We need to add some facilities to Metroplex. It's been a while since he's had a weapon upgrade."
"We thought that we could construct a place where we could store the older versions of the artillery. For extra," said Ratchet. "We were thinking...right over there," he said, pointing to an empty plot of land not too far away from the main city. Prime pondered this for a moment. On the one hand, they had to be prepared for this so-called attack by the Decepticons. But on the other hand, the plan itself had some flaws in it. Why build an artillery stronghold out in the open like that? Ratchet would never do something so stupid. Unless...
"Are you doing this?" he asked Eirone. "Of course I am, Opti." "Why?" he asked. "Don't worry about it. I have a purpose for all this construction. Something significant is going to happen, and the idea that I instilled into Ratchet's head is the key to it all."
"Building an artillery stronghold out in the open?"
"Who said that it would ever be an artillery stronghold? I just want to him to build something at that exact place, and to make a lot of noise in the process. And don't pry into this, Optimus. You'll know my reasons soon enough."
Prime sighed. Why was she so impossible? She made Carla Witwicky look so demure! "All right, Ratchet. Go ahead." Meanwhile, Hot Rod had returned from his improptu drive across the Oregon mountains, and was now saying hello to everyone. "Hiya, Kup!" he said, before clapping the elderly soldier hard on his back. "Did you miss me?" Kup gave Prime a look of suffering that had "Why me?" written all over it.
At that point, Prime could no longer hold back his laughter.
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes, master. The Autobots won't know what hit them."
"Good. Find them, and then find the child. She is the one that I really want. Optimus Prime and his army belongs to you. I will take care of the others."
"As you wish, my Lord."
Soon, Primus, he thought. Soon, I shall wrest her from you, and she will be mine to control.
Terriermon wasn't having a good day. He had woken up to find himself upside down, and on the floor of his little home. Everything looked strange, even after he had turned himself the right way up. All his belongings (not much; food and some furniture) was topsy-turvy. And his bed was in an even worse state.
And when he left, he found that everywhere the little village was in a crisis. There were little cracks in the ground, trees were uprooted, and everyone was assembling towards Mewtio's home. Terriermon heard some shouting, and he saw two little feet stuck in one of the cracks. Flying over there, he lifted the helpless monster out, who turned out to be Meowth. "Hey, Meowth, what happened here?"
"What does it look like?" came the nasal, sidekick stereotypical voice of Meowth. "We had an oithquake a' some sort, and Mewtio here's tryin'-a find out what made it happen." "But how could we have earthquakes here? Is it possible?" "Nah. Mewtio already looked into it. We're in one of the most poifict, oithquake-free places in oil da woild. That's why he's holding a meetin'. Come on, we gotta go!"
When Terriermon and Meowth got there, all the other creatures were already packed outside Orion's home. Mewtio was there, floating a good ways above the crowd, waiting for them to stop talking excitedly. Orion and Lu were seating on chairs, not saying a word. The house had been shaken badly, but no one had been hurt. Pikachu and Togepi looked somewhat intimidated by the crowd. Mew was napping on Lu's laps.
"Silence!" thundered the telepathic voice of Mewtio, and everyone was quiet. "We have had a disturbance in the village. Last night, we had an earthquzke of some sort. We've all been badly stirred, and some of your homes may be damaged, but no one was hurt."
"We shall repair the village after this, and I have already pinpointed the cause of this disturbance. There is some construction going on above us. This will go on for a time, so no one is allowed to leave to go to the above world until it's over. Is that understood?"
Silent approval of Mewtio's plans. As if on cue, the monsters set about repairing the damages caused by the earthquake. Even Orion and Lu helped, though Mewtio had said they didn't have to. It was their home too. They had to help in some way.
During this time, Gatomon got bored and decided to do something. "Hey, Terriermon!" she said. "Don't say this to anyone, but I'm going to see exactly what caused all this."
Terriermon gulped. "Gatomon, you know what Mewtio said! We can't leave under any circum...circum...under any sit...situ...umm...for any reason." Gatomon humphed. "Terriermon, aren't you curious as to what's out there? In the real world? You've heard Orion telling stories about her planet and this one. Don't you wanna leave this place for once?"
At this point, Pikachu and Togepi came up, and hovering above them was Mew. "Pika-pi, pika pika, pikachu, pika pi," said Pikachu, and Togepi nodded. "I know we're safer here, Pikachu," said Gatomon, before throwing her hands up in exasperation. "But I wanna leave this place! I wanna see the world, and its people and what it's like. I'm leaving, and if you're gonna be chickens, then fine with me!"
As Gatomon turned to go, Terriermon flew and landed in front of her. "Well, if you're gonna go, you need someone to make sure you stay out of trouble." "Pika-pi!" said Pikachu, and he ran to join Gatomon. Togepi started waddling as fast as he could, but Mew thankfully used her psychic powers to make him float.
The entrance to the little village was subtle enough. It was found on a small plot of land in the middle of the lake near Metroplex. An invisible force protected the door, and was only removed if one of the underground inhabitants used their own voices to answer the quiz question. Once through, it was like a big, tumbling slide down and down and down, and through a void filled with color and stars, and from there, you were inside the underground world.
The exit was more subtle and less complex. There was a clearing in the forest filled with little holes covered with wooden boards. Upon opening the boards, it was yet another tumbling, free-wheeling slide and out you came into the real world. There was another entrance into the village, but no one save Mewtio knew of this.
Gatomon, Terriermon, Pikachu, Togepi and Mew soon reached the forest clearing. Pikachu went to one of the holes and tried to lift it open, but to no avail. Gatomon pushed him aside and swiped it open with her claws before diving in with a yell of enjoyment, for the slide began almost immediately. Terriermon closed his eyes and let himself fall. Pikachu came in next. Togepi got afraid, but Mew pushed him, ignoring his squeals of fright. Mew dived in next, making sure to nail up the boards before anyone knew the prank they were about to pull.
Soon enough, all of them were dumped inside a little hole that led to the outside world. "Ow! Pikachu, get off my tail!" yelled Gatomon, before snarling and swiping him with her claws. Pikachu got up with a yelp, and he glared at her angrily. Flowing with electricity, he let off a powerful current that threw Gatomon into the walls surrounding them. As she was about to digivolve, and as Pikachu was about to reach his maximum strength, both of them suddenly floated above the other and were promptly turned upside down. Mew got in front of them and started lecturing them. Both managed to look ashamed before she let them down.
Soon, all of them were out of the hole. "Doesn't look much different from home," said Terriermon. "We haven't seen it all yet," said Gatomon. Grabbing him, she raced across the rugged territory, with the others following behind.
"Wow! Did you ever see such big mountains before?" said Gatomon. Terriermon was sulking. "Gatomon! I wanna go..." "Yes? Terriermon, wha are you...woah!" Standing before them was a giant village like no other they had ever seen. It was large and built inside an entire wall that looked like it could withstand anything. They couldn't see any activity inside it, but they saw some outside.
Mew made excited noises and pointed to the construction site. Four giant dinosaurs were lifting beams and placing them in order. Some other robots, significantly smaller ones, were using some machines to move things and place them in the shape of a storage room. "Ha! We found them!" said Gatomon. "Great! Can we go home now?" said Terriermon. "No way! Let's see what these beings are like!" And Gatomon rushed off without warning.
"GATOMON!" yelled Terriermon, and sighing, he ran after her, the others yet again in pursuit. It was already noon, and lunch would be served. Mewtio would take five seconds to realize that they weren't there. He wouldn't yell at Togepi or Pikachu, and not Mew for some reason. But he would be very mad at him and Gatomon. Why did he get himself into these things?
Gatomon was hiding behind a pile of earth when the others caught up with her. She was dangerously close to the Dinobots, who were hauling steel not up to twenty feet away from her. She waved at the others excitedly. "Guys! Get over here, this is so cool!" "Pika-pi pika pika?!" whispered Pikachu.
"No, I'm not insane, Pikachu. Just curious." Terriermon, meanwhile, couldn't take his eyes off the Dinobots. "They're so...ginormous!" he whispered, with awe and fear. Togepi couldn't stop whimpering; Mew was doing her best to comfort him. As for the Dinobots, an argument had soon erupted between Grimlock and Swoop.
"Me Grimlock say you full of Cybertron celery! When me Grimlock say help build, Swoop build! No sit down!" "Me Swoop say Grimlock stupid jackarst! Swoop tired, Grimlock can go soak head!" came the hot reply. Grimlock roared mightily and blew fire at Swoop, who flew out of the way. The fire didn't do much. Except to scare Togepi.
He started whimpering, and then he started to wail. The other monsters virtually piled on top of him to make him quiet. "What that crying?" said Grimlock. "We're done for!" said Terriermon in terror. But just then, Optimus came over. "What's the problem?" And as the Dinobots explained their side of the story, Pikachu had managed to keep Togepi quiet.
Gatomon, who was also frightened, would have made them all turn back and run, were it not that her curiosity overrode her fear. Her eyes wide, she made her way towards a strange-looking tractor with a shovel for a head. "What's this for, I suppose?" she wondered. Terriermon saw her eyeing the buttons with curiosity. Heedless of the robots, he raced towards her. "GATOMON, NO!"
Things began to happen fast. Gatomon, in her fright at hearing Terriermon sound so angry and frightened, mistakenly pressed the start button. "Yipes!" Confused, she pressed the button that swung around the shovel-thing. Now, Optimus noticed the machine start up, and he also noticed the shovel-thing swing around. (By now, you should have realized that I don't know what it's called _).
What the slag? he thought as the shovel-head swung around and knocked him senseless.
The Dinobots had stopped their arguing when they heard a sickening Klunk! and saw Optimus on the ground, leaking at the back of his head. "ATTACK!" yelled Grimlock. "Swoop, get help! Slag, help Grimlock find person who attacked Optimus!" Grimlock and his companion were stalking over to the machine, bellowing with rage, where the other monsters were cowering with terror.
"What do we do? What do we do? WHAT DO WE DO?!" wept Terriermon, frightened that the dinosaurs would eat them all. Gatomon was also crying. Pikachu was sweat-dropping like crazy, and holding Togepi who was blubbering incoherently. And just then, all of them were floating away from the machine.
"Huh?" said Pikachu, before realizing that Mew was not with them. She was glowing blue as she floated her friends to safety. "Pika-pi! Pika-pi!" screamed Pikachu. Mew made reassuring noises, but Pikachu and the others didn't feel much better. Gatomon was still crying. She had killed someone, and now Mew was in danger. And to top it all off, Mewtio was going to kill them.
And when they had gone far enough to escape, Mew gently dropped them, and they ran. Sighing, she sat still in the machine and waited for the Dinobots to show up. Grimlock stood by the doorway off the machine, and he was sore astounded when he saw the little pink, monkey-thing seating quite peacefully there.
"Who you?" he growled. Mew didn't answer. "WHO YOU?!" he bellowed, and he grabbed her and started to crush her. And all of a sudden, Grimlock found that his paw was on fire. He let go of Mew, and was surprised that the small creature was glowing bright blue and floating just near his nose.
Mew didn't give him time to think. She formed a pink energy ball and launched it straight at him. The result was inevitable. Grimlock virtually flew from the construction site and crashed headfirst into a grove of trees. And as for Slag, upon seeing the strongest Autobot in the army felled by such a small thing, he turned tail and ran to get the other Autobots.
Mew floated over to Optimus, who had not stirred. He was leaking badly at the back of his head, and his optics were completely shut down. "Mew," she muttered, and she started to glow a slight purple color. Optimus was also glowing. The wound at the back of his head started to close up, and as the other Autobots came running up and Grimlock regained consciousness, Prime was fully healed.
Groaning, he sat up. "What happened?" he said to no one in particular. As the memory flashed back, Mew took that opportunity to introduce herself. Meaning, she suddenly appeared in front of him and said hello in the only language she knew.
Prime was startled. "What...?" To show she meant no harm, Mew rubbed her face against his faceplate. Then she formed a little pink bubble and started bouncing on it, giggling. Optimus was still suspicious of this strange little creature, but it meant no harm, thus far. Voices grew nearer.
"Prime!" yelled Ultra Magnus. "Are you all right? Slag said that you were...Primus!" The sight of Mew also left them equally stunned. Grimlock came, yelling with fury. At the sight of Mew, he immediately launched fire from his mouth, not noticing that the others were there.
"Grimlock, DON'T!" yelled Hot Rod, and he shut his eyes, expecting the fire to kill them all. He awaited the impending pain and torture and death, but was surprised when it didn't come. I guess dying by flames isn't as painful as I thought. He was yet more surprised when the fire stopped, and they were still at the construction site. "What the slag?" he exclaimed. There was the pink creature, glaring at Grimlock, and surrounded by a kind of force field. That they were all in.
This time, Mew didn't have to do anything. Kup pointed his gun at the big Dinobot and fired at his nose. Grimlock whimpered in pain. The energy ball Mew had launched at him had hurt a lot more.
"Next time, watch where you're shooting, moron!" he yelled, before turning his attention to Mew, who was inspecting them all. They weren't very comfortable with Mew, who would sit on their heads, or tug at their armour or suddenly squeal in delight, in their audio receptors. Arcee tried not to flinch as Mew started banging at her helmet. Mew stared at her for a while, before cuddling up to her.
"Hey, quit it!" she yelled, before Mew started flying all around her. Arcee was kind of frightened, then bemused and then she started laughing. Mew saw this and started giggling. "I don't think she's going to be much trouble, Prime," she said, holding Mew next to her.
"How do you know it's a she?" said Ratchet. "I don't know. It looks like a she. It's playful, like a she. And it's gentle. And it's just too adorable to be a guy."
"Hey! What are you trying to say here?" said Hot Rod teasingly. Mew had meanwhile floated over to Prime, who was still stunned. And then Mew started to glow a light blue. Then Prime started to glow blue. And the Matrix started to glow brilliantly. And somewhere, he heard a voice singing in an unknown language, and it was a song of victory.
And when it was all done, he understood what the creature said.
"Hello," she said. "My name's Mew. Sorry if I scared you. What's your name?" she said all in one breath. Prime was stunned even more. To the others, she was still making Mew noises, but she spoke like a normal person to Optimus. She sounded like a little girl.
"My name...is Optimus. Optimus Prime." And he awkwardly held out his hand to shake hers. Mew looked confused for a second, before putting her paw in his and letting him shake it up and down. "Most astonishing," said Preceptor. "Prime, I simply must analyze this specimen," he said as he strode over to Mew and transformed. Mew jumped back in surprise. "It's all right," said Prime. "He does that, it's perfectly normal." Mew nodded and floated to the advanced telescope, following the direction of the lens.
"Fascinating!" came Preceptor's voice. "This is unlike any creature on this planet! Or in fact, in the galaxy. Its DNA makeup and overall appearance does not match anything in Metroplex's database!" Preceptor changed back and stared at Mew for a second. "Wel...come. We...mean...no...harm."
Mew looked back at Prime, confused. "What's wrong with him? Is his mouth broken that he's talking like that?" Optimus almost broke out laughing. "No. He's trying to say hello to you." Comprehension dawned on Mew's face, and she glowed blue again. And then Preceptor glowed blue. And Mew started flying. And Preceptor followed her every direction, while shrieking in fear.
"For slagging hell!" gasped Kup. "Prime, call off your pet-thing!" Optimus shrugged. Mew was spinning very rapidly, and Preceptor with her. "She's just saying hello, the only way she knows how, I guess." Mew stopped spinning and let herself fall to the ground with a little plop. Preceptor crashed with a loud thud. Mew giggled and perched herself on Optimus' shoulders, Mewing quite happily.
Preceptor got up, moaning and managed to stand up straight. "Most interesting. I see our cultural barriers are starting to break down. Come, we...go...home...now." The others transformed into their respective transport modes and were off to Metroplex. Mew was content to just hover over them, following them to wherever it was that they were going.
Big brother's going to be pretty darn mad when he finds out, she thought, pitying her friends and wondering about this strange place that she was going to. Her stomach started to growl. Hope they have food.
Veedramon came running up to the house, where he met an extremely worried Lu. "They're nowhere to be found, Lu," said Veemon breathlessly. "I think they've left the village."
"Oh no! If Mewtio finds out...Veedramon, they've just gotta be around here!" And just then, they all came running to the house, yelling excitedly. "Guys, shut up!" hissed Lu. "Mewtio's just in the next room. He's already mad that you weren't at dinner!" The talking calmed down almost immediately.
"Lu!" hissed Gatomon, witth tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry! It was all my fault, I...I didn't mean for anything to happen!" "Wait? What is it, Gatomon?" And Lu noticed something that made her feel very uncomfortable. "Where's Mew?"
And out came the entire story. When it was done, Lu was trembling slightly, and Gatomon was near hysteria. Oh no. Not Mew. "Come on," she said, running from the house. "Huh? What's up?" said Veedramon. "We're gonna find Mew, that's what's happening."
"WHAT?!" squeaked Terriermon. "Lu, are you nuts? There are giant robots and huge dinosaurs out there. We could get eaten, or worse! Mewtio would find out. Why don't we let Mewtio deal with it? Mew's his sister, right?"
"But he doesn't love her!" said Lu. All were taken aback by this. "Mewtio's jealous of Mew because she's as strong as he is. He's not the one who's gonna save her. It has to be me, and besides, I'm the only other one here who can fit through those holes. Now who's with me?"
No one budged. Sighing, Lu turned to leave. About ten seconds later, something was tugging at her leg. She looked down and saw Togepi smile back at her, making chirpy noises. Picking him up, she put him inside her backpack and kept walking. Just then, she heard noises behind her, and everyone else had joined up. "You don't really have to go, Lu," said Gatomon. "It was my fault Mew got trapped." "But Mew's my friend," said Lu. "Friends don't leave each other."
At that, all of them left the village for the forest. Lu led the way, though she had no idea where she was going. She had gone "upstairs" a few times, but that was when they needed supplies, and they never really went that far from home. This would be her first real adventure. She'd get to be a hero, and she'd get to save Mew. And her little friends would be there to help in danger.
I hope this all goes right in the end, she thought as she jumped into the hole and disappeared alongside her friends.
It had been a very long day for Optimus. First, there was that stupid tiff Grimlock and Swoop had concerning work. And then he had had a concussions, which brought him to the most astonishing part of the day.
He was in his living quarters, staring at the ceiling inside his recharge chamber. He glanced over to see the small pink creature floating to his left. She was glowing that soft blue color, and seemed to be meditating or something. Mew had so far, being just a harmless playful thing, but he was still wary of her.
At "dinner," Mew hadn't objected to eating little rations of energon. She even suggested to him that the flavour was a bit bland, which he had to agree with her. And that brought up more questions. Aside from Earth, Cybertron was the only planet with large quantities of pure energon. The creature was definitely not from Earth, but she had told him she had been born here.
And that was another thing. How in the name of Primus could he understand everything she said? To the others, she still made those Mew noises. But to him, she spoke like a normal little girl. And why him? And why had the Matrix, or Eirone,...approve of this?
"Eirone, we need to talk," he said. No answer. "Eirone, are you there?"
"Of course I'm here, you ape!" came the indignant reply. "Where else would I be? I live WITHIN you, duh!"
"Eirone, what do you know about this Mew creature? Apparently, you seemed to approve of our...meeting today." "Yes, Opti. I approved of it, because it's supposed to happen. Otherwise, all of this could fall apart."
"All of what?" he asked. Now Eirone was starting to frighten him a little bit. He had known that something was up, something concerning the Decepticons, but the way she had said that, it made it seem a hell of a lot bigger.
"All right, miss," he spoke sternly. Mew stopped floating and glanced towards him, her clear blue eyes wide with something like chagrin. "Something is definitely wrong here, something bigger than just Decepticons. I'm apparently a player in this little game of yours, and if I'm to be told what to do, I demand to know the rules!"
"You..demand, Optimus?" came Eirone's voice: cool, calm and slightly on the edge.
And blackness enveloped him.
The two battle cruisers were nearing the planet now. Galvatron was in his own flagship, the most powerful and by far the deadliest of all the Decepticon fleet. Activity was everywhere. The Decepticons were at their battle stations, making hasty, last-minute preparations.
"Is everything ready, Galvatron?" came the voice.
"Yes, master. We will be in the Autobot base in approximately one Earth hour."
"Good. Kill all of them, if you must. But bring me the child. Find her and take her, along with the Matrix. My plans will fail with but one. Fail me, and what Unicron put you through will be immense pleasure compared to what I will do to you!"
Galvatron winced. Unicron had tortured his mind for over a century, well after he had been defeated by that blasted Rodimus Prime. Every day, every hour, his ghost had entered his mind and played havoc with it, taking him beyond the edge of insanity into something much more horrible. If this being could do much worse...
"I will not fail you, Master. The Matrix and the child that you speak of will be delivered to you, by myself personally."
"Good. Now get going! The time is at hand."
"Decepticons! Full speed ahead towards Earth!"
Optimus found himself back into the white void, only it was no longer white. He found himself inside the most beautiful garden he had ever been in. Everywhere, trees and flowers of all colors bloomed. Lakes with the golden hue of dawn only accentuated the feeling of harmony and peace there. The sky was a brilliant rainbow color...
Rainbow?
"Do you like it, Opti?" came a voice behind him. Optimus turned around, and saw Eirone sitting on top of a boulder, basking in the golden rays of the "sun." What was surprising was that she was no longer wearing that bright gown. Her mass of snowy hair was plaited neatly down her back, and she wore a white shirt and white trousers, complete with white shoes. Even more surprising was that Mew was there as well, nibbling calmly on some flowers that turned out to be energon.
"Eirone, what's going on here?" he said. "You ask too much questions, Optimus," she said. "Have a drink." And before him was a glass filled with a clear blue liquid. Optimus took it and drank. It was blueberry-flavoured energon, a popular product for the Autobots on Earth. It tasted divine.
"Thank you, Eirone." Eirone humphed. "Don't thank me, it wasn't even my idea. Thank Mew." The little creature stopped eating and smiled with her eyes. "No problem, Optimus! Any friend of Lu's is a friend of mine."
"Who's Lu?" he asked. "Later, Optimus," said Eirone. "Right now, you wanted some answers, so fire away. But be quick about it. I have an appointment, and I don't want to be late."
"All right, then. What am I doing here, and what does Mew have to do with this?"
Eirone was tickling Mew on her stomach, in the same way that Lu did. Mew giggled immensely. "You're here because you're supposed to be here, Optimus. Something is going to happen, and you're one of the persons to make it happen."
"And what exactly is supposed to happen, Eirone?" he asked, with only the slightest edge to his voice. "I can't tell you...fully. I can only tell you that if you don't do as I tell you, then the entire universe will slide into eternal chaos. Now are you happy?"
Optimus was stunned. It wasn't enough he had to save Cybertron time after time, but the whole universe? "All right then. I have to save the universe. So, where does Mew come from, and what is she doing here?"
"Oh! Mew is my friend. She's been around forever, almost as long as me. When she dies, she gets reborn, like the others." "What others?" he asked. "An entire species of...her?" Mew stopped giggling and floated to Optimus. "No, silly!" she said. "I'm unique on my own, save my brother. All of us are unique in our own way. We are each the last of our kind, but we don't mind. We're family."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about all my friends in our village. We all live under the guidance of my brother. We each have special powers and are unique. Lu and her mom help Mewtio."
"Mew! That's enough for him, he doesn't need to know!" shouted Eirone suddenly. "No!" thundered Optimus. "As long as she has said it, let her finish it. Mew, who is this Lu person?"
"She's an Aut'bot, like you. Why'd you ask?"
Optimus was stunned again. An Autobot...living on Earth...and I had no idea! How is this possible? "That's impossible! There are no other Autobots here on Earth, save my friends."
Mew seemed uncomfortable, but she continued. "Well...they didn't exactly live here to begin with. Lu's mom crashed into our homes in this space ship thingy, but we didn't know about them till about a hundred years later, and we revived them, and she went into labour, and had Lu. They've been living with us since then."
They must have come here when Unicron attacked Cybertron. "Lu isn't a proper name for an Autobot. If what you're saying is true, then this Lu is no more than maybe five years old. What's her real name?"
"Well, her mom calls her Lunera." "And what's her mother's name?" Eirone groaned. "This isn't going to be good."
"Her mom's name's Orion. Why?" Optimus searched his CPU, but couldn't remember where he'd heard that name before. "Fine. When we get out of here, you're taking me to see them both."
"NO!" came a supernaturally loud voice, and Mew and Prime turned to see Eirone glowing white. From within him, Optimus could feel a lot of anxious and horrified hate. "You will do no such thing! Lu will handle it well enough, but Orion will be crushed! Try that stunt, Optimus Prime, and I swear I will rain down my power on you!"
"All right!" said Mew, floating towards Eirone. "Yeesh, don't have a cow, Pixie. He won't do it now, but I doubt he'll be able to hear you. Gosh, you were loud." "First of all, don't call me Pixie. I hate that name," said Eirone, much more calmly now. "And secondly, make sure Optimus doesn't do such a foolish thing. Just yet."
"I won't," said Mew, and cuddled up to Eirone. Optimus was standing there, his audio receptors still ringing from Eirone's tirade, and still in shock over the feelings Eirone was projecting through the Matrix. Why did the fate of the universe hinge on him not seeing two of his own kind? He didn't even know this femme called Orion!
And blackness covered him again, and he found himself back in his recharge chamber. He heard the beep of the little clock that Spike had had made for him. It was just three o'clock in the morning. He glanced over to his right, and saw Mew snoring away peacefully.
She's really an adorable little thing, he thought. The events of the night replayed in his head. If what Eirone had told him was true, then his so-called "vacation" would have to be put on hold for a very long time. This little game of hers spanned bigger than Decepticons, maybe even bigger than the Quintessons, who were still a threat to Cybertron.
Sleep, Prime, came a new voice in his head. It was very soothing. You have much to do. Sighing, Optimus turned off his optics and was soon drifting off to sleep.
And while the rest of Metroplex dozed, five small figures were sneaking towards the city. You could say there were six, considering that one of them was dozing peacefully inside a little containment. "There it is," came Terriermon's voice in the darkness. "That's the village we saw today. There's no one at the construction site, so Mew's gotta be in there somewhere."
"Some chance of that," said Gatomon. "Mew's a good fighter, but five on one's too much, even for her." Pikachu whimpered, and cuddled up to Lu, as she stared at Metroplex. Gosh, that's such a huge place! I hope we find Mew before Mommy wakes up. Lu felt bad about sneaking off without telling her mom, but the sooner she acted, the better her chances of saving Mew, if she was still alive.
They walked towards Metroplex, only to be greeted by solid shot gates, with no doorbell to ring. "How do we get in?" asked Veedramon. Everyone shook their heads. Lu walked to the gates, but could not, for the life of her, imagine what the buttons were for. She pressed one of them, but nothing happened. Another was pressed by Pikachu, but that one also did nothing.
Finally frustrated, Lu banged her fists into all of them, and at once the city whirred into life. "GREETINGS, AUTOBOT," came the booming voice of the city. Everyone cowered in terror at this unseen entity. "PLACE YOUR PALM ON THE SCREEN FOR IDENTITY CONFIRMATION." Lu did as she was told. The computer scanned her small imprint, and the gates suddenly opened. "WELCOME TO METROPLEX, AUTOBOT."
Lu's optics went wide as the gates parted. "Gosh, who'da thought it?" They all trooped inside, and beheld Metroplex. It was similar to their village. There was a boys' section and a girls' section. There was a place to take showers. What was different was that there were a bunch of places that housed really fancy weapons, and a tower that looked like the ones for the human airports. It was also more advanced.
"We have to start looking for Mew," whispered Lu. "Let's look at the big buildings first. We're gonna have to split up. Terriermon, you and Pikachu go west. Gatomon, go north. Veedramon, go south. I'll go east, and we'll see what we can find. We all know how to talk telepathic-like, so tell me if you spot anything."