Chapter 2: The Trial
She found herself floating in space. Again, she felt memories ripping from her mind, threatening to leave her alone in this empty place of eternal darkness. This cold, empty darkness; it chilled her to the core of her bones... yes, bones. Glancing down at her body, she saw that she was no longer a transformer. This was her true form... or was it?
Shivering, she glanced around the emptiness nervously. What was she doing here? Strangely, however, she felt at home-no, not at home, near home-as if she were on her front porch. But why...?
--And then the memories came. Like a dam breech during a heavy storm, a thundering rush of events in her life flowed through her consciousness. It was as if a huge block that had purposely been constructed to separate her conscious and unconscious mind had disappeared with a snap of a finger.
The sudden flood of knowledge overwhelmed her mind painfully, and still something in her was used to it--used to this huge gathering of knowledge; something in her yearned for it--and more. Now, she remembered everything; the memories of herself, the memories of the duty she swore to uphold and preserve forever, the memories of the challenge. Yes, she remembered The Trial...
"We had a deal!" a voice exploded in fury. "I challenged you, the Keeper of Time, to prove yourself in The Trial; to see if you are worthy enough to hold the position. You accepted the challenge yet you do not play by the rules. And so you failed...."
Trini raised her head and glanced around. This place... so familiar, yes... this is my home!
The voice sounded very smug. "You, the Keeper of Time failed your first scenario by going against the rules! Of all the Keepers, you are the one who should know the rules best. You're not fit to be the Keeper of Time... you're only fit to be the Keeper of Slag!"
Slag? Trini frowned. What did scrap metal had to do with any of this? There wasn't even a position for Slag since... well, since for a long time. And Slag wasn't even the lowest a Keeper could go. Which hell century or hell planet did he/she pop up from?
If only she hadn't left her precious key concealed on some remote planet where some fool could come stumbling over....
"You dare blame me for not following the rules?!" Trini fired back, glancing dangerously to where she thought her opponent might be. She had never been so outraged in her life; she didn't bother to pause and allow her opponent to explain his/her accusation. "Coda 6 Section 1: When the Challenged One and the Challenger enter the play, they retain all memories of The Trial and begin fresh so as neither sides are suspicious of the newcomers.
"Who was it that dumped me into a scenario half-conscious? Who was it that blocked most of my memories and left me like an empty shell?!" she sneered. "I let you set up the board, I let you set the pieces, and I let you set up the rules. I followed the bloody rules of the Coda; you didn't!"
"Slag the Coda!" spat her opponent.
A low growl escaped from Trini's throat. Not only was this fool trying to twist the rules; he/she was intent on ignoring the Coda. "How dare you!" she cried, almost shouting. She could have sworn that her opponent was smirking at this moment.
"The Coda exists for a reason! The entire universe is based upon these rules set by the Ancient Keepers," Trini explained for the sake of his/her ignorance. "I don't care which far-out astral time plane you come from. I don't even give a damn how you managed to find the Key of the TimeKeeper; but this Trial will be based on the Coda as stated in the Coda. Nobody disregards the Coda. Nobody."
"I make my own rules here," insisted her opponent. "But if you're so insistent on following that old book, then it'll be your loss."
Trini frowned then smiled thinly. "You've not read the entire Coda, have you?"
"I've read what I need to know about The Trial; that's all I need to know," he/she gloated.
"You're an ignorant fool," she jeered. "You don't even know what kind of power you're dealing with!"
"Oh, but I do! I'll have the power to control time; I'll have the power to do anything. I'll make myself the leader of Cybertron... no, I'll make myself God!" he/she cried with anticipation holding up the Key of the TimeKeeper triumphantly. It began to glow brilliantly as if there was a powerful force contained within. Trini stood awed; in all her time as the Keeper of Time, this had never happened before. She had always treated the Key as just some symbol of her position; the other Keepers would be astounded to know about this, if she survived to tell them, that is.
Beams of white-gold light pierced the gold metal covering and traveled slowly through the vacuum-stretching out to Trini-calling to her. And at that moment the light touched her, Trini felt a wave of comforting warmth run through her. As soft and quick as the flutter of a butterfly's wing, it was gone again.
But in the place of the beam of light that had touched her, a large ancient sacred sword floated horizontally spinning round and round, faster and faster. It whistled impossibly as it spun through vacuum, until it slowed and its bright brilliant silver blade pointed defiantly at her opponent. Then without warning, the sword sped towards the shadow that was her opponent, whistling again, and then vanished into thin air just as it touched his/her chest.
"You have been warned," she whispered mysteriously to him/her, watching the ancient magical sword in wonder. These swords were a myth, used in waging of the Great War fought before the universe was form-long before time existed; so how was it that there was one before her just now?
Her opponent gulped, clutching the Key as if it would protect him/her. "Don't pull any slaggin' tricks; I have the Key...."
"The Key will not aid you should the universe decide that you are unworthy of life," she answered, almost sadly, in return.
"Alright, alright," grumbled her opponent, his/her nervousness carefully hidden. "We'll treat that round as a practice round... but the rules remain as they are. In the scenarios that I set, you must defeat all your ally's enemies; revealing anything to do with the Keeper of Time or the Key will result in your immediate loss. If you win outta three rounds, I step down; if you lose, I become the new Keeper of Time!" He/she chuckled happily.
Trini narrowed her eyes into the darkness that hid her opponent, rage filling every part of her body and soul. "It's a deal," she found herself saying.
She found herself floating in space. Again, she felt memories ripping from her mind, threatening to leave her alone in this empty place of eternal darkness. This cold, empty darkness; it chilled her to the core of her bones... yes, bones. Glancing down at her body, she saw that she was no longer a transformer. This was her true form... or was it?
Shivering, she glanced around the emptiness nervously. What was she doing here? Strangely, however, she felt at home-no, not at home, near home-as if she were on her front porch. But why...?
--And then the memories came. Like a dam breech during a heavy storm, a thundering rush of events in her life flowed through her consciousness. It was as if a huge block that had purposely been constructed to separate her conscious and unconscious mind had disappeared with a snap of a finger.
The sudden flood of knowledge overwhelmed her mind painfully, and still something in her was used to it--used to this huge gathering of knowledge; something in her yearned for it--and more. Now, she remembered everything; the memories of herself, the memories of the duty she swore to uphold and preserve forever, the memories of the challenge. Yes, she remembered The Trial...
"We had a deal!" a voice exploded in fury. "I challenged you, the Keeper of Time, to prove yourself in The Trial; to see if you are worthy enough to hold the position. You accepted the challenge yet you do not play by the rules. And so you failed...."
Trini raised her head and glanced around. This place... so familiar, yes... this is my home!
The voice sounded very smug. "You, the Keeper of Time failed your first scenario by going against the rules! Of all the Keepers, you are the one who should know the rules best. You're not fit to be the Keeper of Time... you're only fit to be the Keeper of Slag!"
Slag? Trini frowned. What did scrap metal had to do with any of this? There wasn't even a position for Slag since... well, since for a long time. And Slag wasn't even the lowest a Keeper could go. Which hell century or hell planet did he/she pop up from?
If only she hadn't left her precious key concealed on some remote planet where some fool could come stumbling over....
"You dare blame me for not following the rules?!" Trini fired back, glancing dangerously to where she thought her opponent might be. She had never been so outraged in her life; she didn't bother to pause and allow her opponent to explain his/her accusation. "Coda 6 Section 1: When the Challenged One and the Challenger enter the play, they retain all memories of The Trial and begin fresh so as neither sides are suspicious of the newcomers.
"Who was it that dumped me into a scenario half-conscious? Who was it that blocked most of my memories and left me like an empty shell?!" she sneered. "I let you set up the board, I let you set the pieces, and I let you set up the rules. I followed the bloody rules of the Coda; you didn't!"
"Slag the Coda!" spat her opponent.
A low growl escaped from Trini's throat. Not only was this fool trying to twist the rules; he/she was intent on ignoring the Coda. "How dare you!" she cried, almost shouting. She could have sworn that her opponent was smirking at this moment.
"The Coda exists for a reason! The entire universe is based upon these rules set by the Ancient Keepers," Trini explained for the sake of his/her ignorance. "I don't care which far-out astral time plane you come from. I don't even give a damn how you managed to find the Key of the TimeKeeper; but this Trial will be based on the Coda as stated in the Coda. Nobody disregards the Coda. Nobody."
"I make my own rules here," insisted her opponent. "But if you're so insistent on following that old book, then it'll be your loss."
Trini frowned then smiled thinly. "You've not read the entire Coda, have you?"
"I've read what I need to know about The Trial; that's all I need to know," he/she gloated.
"You're an ignorant fool," she jeered. "You don't even know what kind of power you're dealing with!"
"Oh, but I do! I'll have the power to control time; I'll have the power to do anything. I'll make myself the leader of Cybertron... no, I'll make myself God!" he/she cried with anticipation holding up the Key of the TimeKeeper triumphantly. It began to glow brilliantly as if there was a powerful force contained within. Trini stood awed; in all her time as the Keeper of Time, this had never happened before. She had always treated the Key as just some symbol of her position; the other Keepers would be astounded to know about this, if she survived to tell them, that is.
Beams of white-gold light pierced the gold metal covering and traveled slowly through the vacuum-stretching out to Trini-calling to her. And at that moment the light touched her, Trini felt a wave of comforting warmth run through her. As soft and quick as the flutter of a butterfly's wing, it was gone again.
But in the place of the beam of light that had touched her, a large ancient sacred sword floated horizontally spinning round and round, faster and faster. It whistled impossibly as it spun through vacuum, until it slowed and its bright brilliant silver blade pointed defiantly at her opponent. Then without warning, the sword sped towards the shadow that was her opponent, whistling again, and then vanished into thin air just as it touched his/her chest.
"You have been warned," she whispered mysteriously to him/her, watching the ancient magical sword in wonder. These swords were a myth, used in waging of the Great War fought before the universe was form-long before time existed; so how was it that there was one before her just now?
Her opponent gulped, clutching the Key as if it would protect him/her. "Don't pull any slaggin' tricks; I have the Key...."
"The Key will not aid you should the universe decide that you are unworthy of life," she answered, almost sadly, in return.
"Alright, alright," grumbled her opponent, his/her nervousness carefully hidden. "We'll treat that round as a practice round... but the rules remain as they are. In the scenarios that I set, you must defeat all your ally's enemies; revealing anything to do with the Keeper of Time or the Key will result in your immediate loss. If you win outta three rounds, I step down; if you lose, I become the new Keeper of Time!" He/she chuckled happily.
Trini narrowed her eyes into the darkness that hid her opponent, rage filling every part of her body and soul. "It's a deal," she found herself saying.