Realm of Souls
Chapter Three: Weeping Heart
Firola: I'm so glad people are enjoying this story; I'm enjoying it too. It's so mysterious with the strange events taking place…
Berry: And now we know what the name of that group of people is, The Shadows!
Miku: I don't think those were humans Berry; they were more like demons to me!
Fiorla: WRONG!! They are not demons Miku they are Shadows. You know, like the ones you get behind you when the suns just right? They're those except with a darker, more blood thirsty form.
Zoris: You mean soul thirsty.
Fiorla: Yes. Hey, as interesting as this conversation is, let's start the chapter; I really want to read to find out what happens next!
Berry: But you wrote it, why read it?
Fiorla: Many reasons Berry, but no time to talk, on with the story!
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Voices was the first sound that April heard as she slowly came to, but they were muffled and quiet, her ears could barley pick out their vibrations. But it was enough to wake April from her sleep. Focusing on the voices, she opened her eyes and watched as the world around her became less blurry. When she did this however, the voices stopped, leaving silence inside of the cab.
April yawned; feeling very refreshed from the long needed sleep, and sat up, surveying the interior of the truck. 'The Hero Truck.' She reminded herself with a grin. She was still on the red leather seats, with the heat turned on low, and somehow, someone had turned the radio on. It was currently playing some very relaxing, soothing music, as if beckoning her back to sleep. April looked at the radio for a time, wondering how it turned on in the first place, before glancing outside the window.
The area the Hero Truck had taken her to was actually quite beautiful, with wavering grass and green trees, and the cloudless blue-sky overhead. When she peeked over the hood, she saw that this was actually a hang over that looked out across a city…was that Los Angels? It didn't look like it the buildings were too small. 'Then…where am I?' She thought with dread clipping her throat.
Thinking that she might recognize the area if she stepped outside, she opened the door and climbed down towards the grass, something she hadn't seen in a very long time. In fact, the only things she had seen since her parents died, was alleyways, buildings, and other man made objects. The only time she had ever been able to see trees and grass was at the park. But she didn't spend much time in that place. Feeling like a five year old again, she rushed towards the nearest tree and started to climb, using each available branch to her advantage. When she finally got a comfortable seat among the canopy, she leaned against the trunk of the tree and watched the city below with great interest, trying to recognize anything that was familiar to Los Angles. She didn't notice the other cars that were approaching until the rumble of many engines from below almost made her fall from the tree.
Catching herself before she could tumble onto the ground below, she glanced downwards towards where the sound had come from, and when she didn't see anything, glimpsed the four approaching vehicles. One was a small yellow car with two black racing strips on its hood, which came to a stop next to the Hero Truck. Then a black truck with an extremely large backside and the bold red letters GMC on the front parked behind both the much smaller yellow car and the larger Hero Truck. After those two came, and the one that surprised her the most, was the police mustang, whose engine bellowed over all the other of it's brethren, and drove over to the shade of the tree she was in, not even noticing the wide eyed girl in the tree above. There was one last vehicle though, and…today surprises never ceased to amaze her. The green emergency hummer she had seen in the parking lot last night came up beside the yellow car.
'Like I should be amazed, weird things seemed to be attracted to me now days. First I'm being hunted by creepy shadow-like monsters who want my old grandmother's key, then the truck comes up and rescues me from a horrible fate, which a normal truck would never do, and now a hummer has supposedly gotten a mind of it's own and decided it wanted to come to the party. Yeah. Just try to scare me now god, pile it on me!' she thought bitterly, her frown deepening when she spotted two people, more like teenagers, open the doors of the yellow car and walk to the truck's front. Then they start to talk to it! 'Oh, this has just gotten interesting! A bunch of crazy teenagers talking to a truck like it's alive! Priceless!'
"So, what's with the sudden call, Optimus? Did another Autobot crash land nearby?" The boy with darkish brown hair asked. 'Optimus? Who the heck is Optimus? Does he believe in optimism, or what?' April mused to herself.
What happened next really did knock April off the branch.
At first it looked like the little car, the black GMC, the green hummer, and the police mustang were just shaking, but after a one second, their frame broke apart, they fell in on themselves, they were literally falling to pieces! Only, instead of collapsing to the ground like any parts would've, these loose parts rearranged themselves, shifted, and April watched in stunned silence as the four cars STOOD UP to a size that easily towered over her little secret hiding spot in the tree. Though she was still in the awkward position of hanging on for dear life on a branch, she glanced at the teenagers, expecting them to be screaming and running around the place calling for 911. She almost lost her grip when they completely ignored them, though they shot a few nervous glances back at the demon police car that was standing just a few feet away from the terrified April. Just being near the thing sent jitters up her spine, but she didn't utter a single sound in fear of being found out.
"What's wrong Optimus? Transform already!" the used-to-be green hummer paced over to the Hero Truck, standing not too far away from the flame design. It growled in an annoyed tone, "Don't tell me you got something stuck in your underside again!"
"No, Ratchet. I'm perfectly capable of transforming if I wish." A deep voice rumbled, surprising April even more, her legs scrambling to touch anything that would give her some ground.
"Then why aren't you doing so?" The hummer asked again.
"I think my guest is too shocked as she is." April knew immediately that the truck was the source of the voice, and was now trying to drag herself back onto the branch, and getting prepared to climb deeper into the canopy. But was unsuccessful.
"Guest?" This time, a younger, more cheerful voice responded to the truck. April guessed it was that yellow and black robot, since that one was the smallest of the bunch.
"Yes, she's just climbed up that tree that Barricade is standing by." April froze. 'DANG IT! Why did it tell them where I was?!"
She was still dangling from the branch, and was embarrassed enough when she felt multiple eyes staring right at her. This made her face blush very badly, as if she had sunburn there, and gave up on kicking her legs randomly around the place, knowing it wasn't doing her any good. April didn't even have to guess that the police car demon was looking at her in distaste, she could feel her back singe under its glare. Tossing her head to the side, and glaring right back, she almost cowered when she saw those red eyes, and quickly peeked at the others. Good thing too, the rest of them had blue eyes. Releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding, the memory of that creature faded away. She hadn't been too fond of being reminded of that guy, he nearly killed her last night.
Looking at the yellow robot, she whispered, "Hey…could you…. you know, get me out of this tree? I'm about to fall…" She still wasn't too sure about these things, and whether she could trust them or not.
The robot blinked, or did what looked like a blink, and quickly moved over to April to assist her. It brought its hand under her feet, allowing her to slowly let go of the branch she was clinging to. As soon as her hands were free, she fell into a heap in the robots hand, and blew on her raw arms to cool down the stinging feeling. But once she brought her eyes up and looked into the robot's hazel optics, she couldn't help but notice how most of the robots were staring at her.
Nervously, she brought a hand up, and waved. "Um…hey. Nice to see you too…" she almost shivered under the pressure she received from the robot's surrounding her.
"Optimus, who is she?" the robot holding her asked. April could almost see the curiosity in those blue optics of its face. Frowning when she realized it had asked someone other then her; she crossed her arms and pouted.
"My name is April, I'm fourteen years old, and that truck over there saved my life, thank you so much for asking me!" She almost glared at the young robot, but kept if soft enough so that the thing wouldn't start crying all over her…if it could cry that is. It's glow dimmed like a wilting flower, and a whistle came from its throat.
"April? That's your name?" the green hummer stared at her as if she had grown another limb.
"Yeah, that's what I said, right? What's the big deal?" April glanced over at the robot, inquisitive as to why the robot was acting this way. 'Maybe his bolt is loose or something…'
"Would your last name happen to be Hevana?"
April's brow furrowed and her pupils became small in surprise. "How do you know my last name?"
"There are missing posters all over the city, asking for your return. They also explained what happened on the news." This time, the black robot replied. April watched in fascination as two ridiculously huge cannons came from its arms, and the robot started to tinker around with them.
"Wait, what? She's missing? You mean that as in run away?" the boy's voice could barley be heard, but April was able to understand what he was asking. Knowing now that he probably wouldn't stop asking that question until he got answers, as all boys did, she leaned over one of the fingers, and glared down at the teenager's far below.
"A few days ago, my parents were killed by men in black suits with poisonous bullets. They also took almost everything in my house and hauled it away, except for me. For some reason, they left me alive. I don't know why, but as soon as I got the chance, I ran from my house with a sack I had hidden from the black men. Ever since then, I've been hiding from them and traveling all over L.A in hopes of losing them. Turns out they did find me, but that's where your friend over there…" She pointed towards the truck, "comes in. Right when they were about to murder me, that truck rammed into the creature, knocked down this huge machine that looks a lot like you guys, and allowed me to hitch hike inside the cab. That's all I remember before I fell asleep."
An eerie silence took over the group, as they took in all this information. When April was just about to conclude that they were all taking a nap, the girl that stood beside the dark haired boy stepped up, and asked, "Were they looking for something?"
This made April think for a moment, lowering her eyes to focus on the yellow armor on the robot's fingers. "Honestly? I don't really know. They were tearing around the house, tossing everything out of their way, but they also looked like they were…sniffing."
"Sniffing? Like dogs?" The boy asked.
"Look, I don't know your names, I don't know who you are, and you're complete strangers to me. Why am I even talking to you?" April crossed her arms again, turning away from the two teenagers on the ground.
"We're…hey, Bumblebee, you can set her down now, it would be easier to get acquainted to someone who's in front of you." The girl said, setting her eyes on the optics of the yellow robot.
"Bumblebee?" April repeated, her eyes opened and a grin spreading across her face. She looked as if she could burst out laughing any minute. 'Bumblebee? That's got to be the silliest name I've ever heard!'
Bumblebee set her on the ground, but instead of sliding her off, made her jump unexpectedly, and landing on her rear. Rubbing her sore bottom, she glared back up at the yellow robot, who was whistling an 'I didn't do anything' tune and looking around the sight, almost like a kid who had been caught in the act of feeding the dog his dinner. She shook her head, muttering to herself how weird her life was getting. When the teens helped her back on her feet, she shook their hands in greeting.
"My name is Mikaela Banes." The girl with long dark brown hair and a perfectly shaped body greeted.
"And mines Sam. Sam Whitwicky, to be exact." The boy took on the proud male pose of standing tall, and puffing out his chest at his name.
"Sam Wittlewicky?" April burst out laughing at the sudden fade of confidence in Sam's face as she purposely said his last name wrong.
"Whitwicky! Why does everyone get my last name wrong?"
"Cause they love to torture you?" After receiving the glare from both the camaro and Sam, she decided to back off and started to whistle a random tune.
A bump from behind almost sent her sprawling on the ground and cowering behind the camaro's leg, when she realized it was just the truck trying to get her attention. Lifting her head and standing on her toes, trying to glance over the towering front of the truck, which of coarse didn't work, so she settled back down her feet and waited.
"I'm very pleased to meet you, April. My name is Optimus Prime, I'm the leader of this group, which is named the Autobots." The voice rumbled through the trucks engine, demanding the total attention of everyone on the over hangs.
"My weapons expert is named Ironhide." The black robot approached, twirling his huge guns like those geeky old cowboy shows did in the fifty's, and pointed one at her.
She froze in spot at this, staring at the gun that seemed to be charging up, before pointing at the gun with a single finger, and whispering, "Big gun."
The black robot chuckled, and drew back his arm, saying, "Glad you think so."
"Ironhide…" the truck growled in an annoyed tone, as if it was scolding a five year old, before continuing. "My medical assistant's named Ratchet."
The hospital hummer kneeled in front of her, eyeing her with a skeptical optic before noting, "Her core temperature is much better then it was last night, and her body is well rested. But she is still in need of food, water, and many other natural needs for an organic."
As if on queue, her stomach began to growl in agreement, and she clutched her protesting stomach, smiling. "I haven't had much to eat except for a tuna sandwich, is there possibly something I can devour now? Oh, and a pop would be just great!"
Ratchet shook his head, muttering under his breath, "Humans, they don't even now how to eat properly."
"You've already met our spy, Bumblebee." The yellow camaro crossed his hands, and turned away from April, obviously grumpy from her previous insult about his name.
"You're a spy? Wow, that's great! I always wanted to be a spy!" April grinned as Bumblebee glanced back down at her, his optics glowing brighter in interest. "I completely idolize spies, they're so cool."
Bumblebee's radio cracked on, a deep male voice saying, "So she tells us.""And our seeker, Barricade." The black and white demon glared down at April, who returned a relaxed and bored emotion.
"I can see you're quite the angel, I can sense so many good wills you have done from the past shaping your destiny." Her voice turned to stone. "If you keep glaring at me like that, your future will be very grim. Trust me."
"Not like you can do anything, squishy." His voice hissed as his red ember optics narrowed in annoyance. 'Oh yes, he's quite the angel.'
"Why do I get the feeling he's new?" April could see by the faces on the teenager's that this robot shouldn't be here. They were terrified of him for whatever reason, and Bumblebee growled when the two robots met in eye contact. Like bitter enemies.
"Barricade used to be a Decepticon, the Autobot's sworn enemy, but since he is the last one that's functioning, he joined the Autobots." Ironhide flexed his fingers as he said this, as if talking about this Decepticon disturbed him.
"For survival." Bumblebee finished.
Barricade turned from the group, giving the cold shoulder to anyone who dared to look at him. 'Like a turtle curling up in his shell, who doesn't want to face the horrible truth. He probably doesn't want to be here either.' April turned away from the former Decepticon, and turned to the truck that stood in front of her.
"Well? What do you look like in robot mode?" She questioned. She was quite curious as to how big he really was, considering he was a huge truck and all.
"Would you like to see?"
"Yep. I've already seen weird things, how much scarier could this be? Shouldn't I meet my Hero Truck?" Snickers could be heard from both Ironhide and Ratchet, but April ignored them, completely serious about her question, odd title or not.
Optimus stayed quiet for a few seconds, before his powerful engine roared to life, almost blowing April backwards from the heat wave it sent. Slowly, being careful of the giants around him, they all backed away from the truck when it too began to shiver, almost as if a chill had by passed its frame. Then, just like the others did, the flame paint job and the shape of the truck simply collapsed into different shapes and styles that resembled human parts. But Optimus's way of transforming was much more complex, twisting this way and that to retain a proper shape, and the squeal of locking tires also came from behind his bulk, and before April knew it, towering over everything and everyone in his presence, stood a thirty foot tall robot, with red and blue paint covering his skin. Way up where his head was, a helmed blue face mask that was drawn over where his mouth was supposed to be, slid away to reveal blue eyes and a grinning smile. April gawked at this new, and much larger robot, the one who saved her from a horrible death, and probably saved millions of lives before she came along. This was how she imagined a true leader would feel like, and she was honored to be in his presence.
"Surprised?" Was all he asked as the tiny fourteen-year-old girl came to his attention. His tone suggested he wouldn't be shocked if she was.
"Um…who wouldn't be?"
Ironhide chuckled at the young humans spirit. "We get a lot of that kind of behavior, especially when Optimus introduces himself."
"No kid, Sherlock. I completely agree with you." April shook her head to get rid of the need to just stand and absorb Optimus's every detail, and instead looked up into his magnificent blue optics. "So now that we've introduced each other, I have to ask…what are you going to do with me?"
"Isn't it obvious human?" Barricade surprised all of them when his snake like voice addressed April, who turned to stare at the demon police car. "We're going to take you to the nearest town and drop you off there, surely you can fend for yourself?"
"Barricade-" Before the angry Optimus could continue, April interrupted him.
"NO!! Don't, if you do that, they'll find me again! And this time, they might bring more of those Shadow things, or worse, those mean robots!" Just thinking about meeting those monsters again sent a pain down her spine; she SO did not want to meet them again.
"Mean robots?" Bumblebee leaned closer to April, along with Sam and Michaela coming closer to the shivering girl, all optics and eyes clouded with confusion.
"When I found April being attacked by those black creatures, I also saw someone…who isn't even alive." Optimus's shoulders came higher, and his eyes darkened as he muttered. "Soundwave is back."
"WHAT?!" All the Autobots shouted at the same time, including Barricade though he just muttered the word, his optics wide with curiosity.
"I thought we KILLED him, last time I saw him, he was sinking to the bottom of the ocean, never to return!" Ironhide's guns suddenly popped out without warning, and they started to glow dangerously.
"We did, along with the other Decepticons. It was impossible for them to be alive, I made sure of that!" Ratchet seemed bewildered, taking a step back from his original position.
"If Soundwave's back…" Barricade muttered, shaken at this new discovery.
"Wait, that blue robot, the one with the hole in his chest? He's supposed to be DEAD?" April's jaw dropped, the thought of zombie robots worming around for her not sounding pleasant at all.
Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Bumblebee, and the teenagers all glanced at each other, their bodies stiffening at the memory of the Decepticons. If they were after this girl, she was in more danger then they originally thought…
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Nemesis leaned against the wall closest to the exit, his blood red eyes focused on the robed black man, who was in front of a large black hole, with purple outlining that often spun around like an untamed tiger that was attacking it's foe with ever graceful movements. Sin just stood there, staring into the inky darkness, his pupils narrowing in thought as Nemesis continued to stare at his master, waiting for him to say something. Soundwave still stood next to Nemesis, though he seriously wanted to crush the annoying little demon beneath his boot. Nemesis ignored his rival and comrade though, all senses focused on ether his master, or the occasional entrance of a minion shadow creature giving a report.
"Nemesis…" Sin's face turned towards the black man behind him, glowing in an unearthly like way. "I am not pleased with your actions. You've attracted the attention of a formidable enemy, therefore it will be more difficult to track the girl and take what is ours. My slave is also very displeased, and refused my commands to find the girl."
Nemesis snorted in disgust. "Do you think I care what that oaf of a dictator thinks of what I did? Like I said, it wasn't my fault, the girl just happens to have a guardian hidden somewhere. It just caught me off guard. But the next time I find it…" His clawed hands clenched, a dark flame encircling his right arm. "That truck won't live to see another full moon."
"Soundwave, leave us. I must speak to Nemesis alone." Sin's eyes continued to narrow when Soundwave didn't comply. "Soundwave, leave, NOW."
"I only answer to Megatron."
"How would you like to spend the rest of your live back in that dark, cold, freezing water, not able to move or do anything to relive yourself?" Sin's voice lowered to a growl, meaning every word that left his lips as a threat.
Soundwave stood still, but soon left the room, standing outside the door intent on listening to their conversation for anything interesting.
Inside the room, Sin brought up a single claw, and motioned Nemesis to approach. Nemesis did so, and stood just behind his master, at a comfortable distance so as to not displease him. Sin's mouth morphed into malice like grin, and faced the portal once again. "Have you ever tried to bring one back from the dead?"
Nemesis perked at this question. "No. You know very well that I do not have full authority to do so, Sin."
"Indeed you don't." Sin looked back at the confused Nemesis, and smirked. "I have entered Megatron's spark, I revived him and his soldiers back from the depths of the ocean, but yet I forgot one thing."
The robed man looked back at the portal, this time not turning away from it's hypnotic glow. "Deep in Megatron's spark, I found some…other life form. One much more dangerous then Megatron, and far more powerful."
"Will you be able to awaken this life form?"
"Not yet. I'm still weakened from bringing back Megatron and his minions, we have to wait and be patient if we want to gain the upper side of this war. For once we find the key…" Sin's cackle echoed through the room, evil shifting and churning around his robes. "NO ONE CAN STOP US FROM CONTROLLING THE REALM!!!!"
As his master continued his mad cackle, Nemesis's frown deepened in suspicion. If this so called life form was brought from Megatron's spark, Sin would probably use this thing to replace him in finding the girl, making his mission all the more important. He had to find the girl, and the key before Sin brought this being, if he wanted to retain as second in command of the Shadows. But he did wonder what this life force was, and why it was inside Megatron…
End of Chapter Three
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Fiorla: I'm so sorry for the late chapter, my inspirations been a bit low…
Berry: She's still working on Rain in the middle of nowhere, she running out of ideas. But no worries! She won't give up on it, no way!
Fiorla: Again, I'm sorry for late updates, you probably all want to complain, but I'm trying here! I'll do my best to bring in the next chapter now that I've gotten this one done.
Miku: So until next time!