#21: Curiosity
I noticed something catch the corner of my eye which gleamed in the shadows. I got close to it and barely touched it before I retreated for a second unsure of what it would do. I stood there puzzled and finally continued towards it again. My hand grabbed, what I assumed was, the existing base of the object. I brought the object close to my line of vision carefully, and I opened the top which concealed the entrance to the jar-like item. I saw what lay inside and widened my eyes; a ruby about as big as my palm slept inside the shining article I held. I knew my curiosity paid off this time, but I should think ahead before doing anything, for next time I may not get away with something like this so easily.
#22: Want
Captain Silos lay on the jungle floor pondering on what to do next, but he stopped for a moment listening to an unusual sound awake from the North. The silver metal-covered rhino reluctantly got up and headed towards the noise's location with caution. The noise grew louder until he reached the end of the vast jungle, and the Captain stared wide-eyed at what looked like a huge 2016 LoneStar semi-truck with a trailer that oddly seemed immovable from its owner on display under the bridge of a huge city. Silos, however, realized that it had the color combination of his former master and friend, Tigressa.
Oh, did he love her, but he never got the courage to confess this to his Princess. The masculine truck looked divine as it turned on the rotating platform, but his master existed only in his dreams for she had died by the hands of the wretched Human girl, Artemis! The Captain clenched his fists at the mere thought of the human and how he would get his revenge on her for killing his beloved friend. Silos returned his attention to the truck, clicking his talons together angrily as he watched the Human scum touch and photograph it, no, her. The mere sight of their loitering made him feel like he had never endured before.
That LoneStar reminded him so much of Tigressa that he perceived that he should take it and hide it from the world; he backed off for a second, for he began to receive a voice in his thick minded head which sounded like...Tigressa! The Captain grinned nastily as he realized his master never truly died but rather her soul possessed a different vehicle and transformed it to her color scheme. He knew that the time to attack the Humans would commence as soon as Tigressa had awakened. The thought of his long lost friend coming back to him and him alone sent shivers down his spike-covered spine. At long last, his love had returned after two dreadful years and now, the tyranny could continue! He then ran on all fours into the city and plowed through the immense crowd towards the displayed truck.
He went onto the moving platform and opened the truck's hood to find that the engine now had a blueish-white glowing orb pulsing and beating like a heart exposed with only a few engine parts covering it. The spark, or heart, began to illuminate, as he backed up and the truck then transformed into the same enraged, beautiful face Captain Silos grew to love. Tigressa peered down at her Captain and thanked him for returning for her. He bowed happily as the tiger-dragon let out her iconic roar. She stretched her ripped dragon-like wings (which had stayed crunched inside her back for some time) and hovered over the ground for a minute. She looked even more gorgeous now with all her appendages in working order. Silos still stayed quiet about his love for her but it had never hurt to dream about getting her.
#23: Mystical
The Precursor robot launched itself at Jak as he pulled out his blaster. It circled the boy on all four limbs with his tail swinging viciously as a warning. Silent and concentrated on the robot, Jak fired, and he hit the metal being in the eye. It screeched madly as oil and Eco drained from the destroyed optic. Jak sprinted at the robot while the robot hissed and turned to the boy in rage. It charged just as Jak aimed his blaster's sharp tip at the monster's faceplates. Its face was mere inches from the boy before…
Jak swerved the toy robot to his small bed and pretended to collide it with one of his action figures. He made sound effects as the "battle" continued in his room. He lowered a red and black toy tank on the floor and faked a shot at the Precursor robot. Jak impersonated an animal falling; the robot tumbled to the bedroom floor in defeat. The boy shouted a victory cry as he placed his action figure on top of the robot as if to claim his prize.
#24: Rock N' Roll
Tears For Fears' "Shout" played in the background as everyone versed one another at the arcade games in the recreation room. A few soldiers sang with the song while others just spoke to each other ignoring the music. Some of the soldiers even asked a majority of the Cybertronians to play the song on their own radios forcing the base to fill with loud lyrics which annoyed most trapped inside. The song continued to the chorus, and already, the others grew tired and tried to break down the locked doors. Some of the Cybertronians' speakers busted but still resumed playing. Finally, the music died and everyone collapsed on the metal floors holding their ears. A few Transformers converted back to their robot modes to examine the damage they had inflicted upon their stereo and speakers.
It wasn't that the song itself was bad, quite the contrary actually, but when one played it loud on multiple speakers creating an involuntary echo, it could get a little frustrating and irritable. Then again, some couldn't handle the music in general which was a shame when one thought about it.
#25: Ancients
The underground ruins crepitated as the team walked in. The leader shined his flashlight towards the walls where several stone legends imprinted in another language rested. By the epigraphs, painted pictures from an older era inhabited the cracked rocks with faded colors barely visible. Each canvas had a timeline attached to it as if someone wanted the future to find them. The art revealed unknown creatures attacking different parts of the world. One painting held a grey and black winged, human-like monster that fed on Ancient Egyptian citizens; another showed a water abomination hunting Native Americans. Very mysterious indeed the past was.
As they moved on towards a larger chamber, the unusual trays beside the pictures lit up until the center of the new room glowed exquisitely. The room had fifteen modernistic canvases: six looked exactly alike but with different colors, and the others had a unique design for each. The ceiling started to explode with light and the team peered up to see a familiar face among the monsters surrounding it. The oldest enemy of a past General, Artemis Ashford, who has caused severe planetary damages as well civilizational ones; the being known as Tigressa. The crew had frightened expressions upon their cold faces.
This enemy roamed the Earth back then for unknown reasons but it was assumed she traveled the planet in search of Artemis at the time. Her and her siblings caused much fear back then but thankfully, they had disappeared before they could destroy the world. However, who in their right mind would dedicate what was assumed to be a temple in their honor? Something didn't sit right with team as the Leader quickly took out his communicator with only one goal, to contact their superiors and tell them their discovery.
#26: Pets
The Metal Head purred as Keira tossed the blue ball in the air. She caught it and twirled it on her fingers which the Metal Head responded by spinning the same direction on its hind legs. Its paws stayed in the air until Keira threw the ball backwards and captured it behind her back. The Metal Head shot itself up and twisted itself into a back flip. It stuck its tongue out happily and waged its tail as well. A few other Metal Heads watched as Keira did tricks with the ball and their fellow comrade responding to it. Their eyes watched the ball wherever it went causing their body movements to look synchronized.
The people of Haven City adopted the Metal Heads as pets, but unlike most, Keira kept most along with their leader, Metal Kor. The Metal-monsters did not mind their new companions that much, but they loved to play. A toy ball alone got them excited and urged them to chase it. Keira, however, only cared about one thing: that her friends stayed jubilant 24/7.
#27: Putrid
Artemis opened a hologram of her rival violently by slamming her fist on the control panel. The tiger-dragon's image popped up with no hesitation, and Artemis sat down with her hands over her face. She peered up at the replication but anger filled her mind, for today she had lost over seven thousand men in less than five hours to the monster upon the communicator. She could imagine Tigressa smiling from afar at her enemy's defeat and glaring at a new target to draw Artemis out again.
"Evil" did not fully define the tiger-dragon in Artemis' brain, but to her, it existed somewhere. The word itself continued to float above her competitor's head. No one had ever taken out nearly an entire army under two days before, but she did it; her victory proved the impossible did not stand in the way of the determined and the twisted.
As Artemis kept sulking in her chair, the hologram of Tigressa strolled on all fours with her tail wagging furiously and her eyes staring straight into nothing. Artemis got up and paused to watch how her enemy moved in the impersonated image. Once in a while, the hologram stopped and went on her hind legs to roar before continuing to walk on all fours to nowhere. Everything about the tiger-dragon disgusted Artemis and her expression verified the fact. She finally shut the replicated Tigressa off and headed to her quarters; she looked back for a second before closing the control center's doors.
#28: Teen
Artemis remembered her teen years when she always got in trouble by stealing from her "fellow" soldiers. She would get away with it among the ranks, but her father continuously caught her and forced her to apologize. She admitted that sometimes her actions caused others to go berserk or even lose their jobs, but she only did it for fun. She eventually straightened up and continued her father's legacy. Although her father had died a few years back, he inspired her to join the army and now, she possesses one of the top titles in the base. Her teen years failed to impress most but she made up for those years by helping her new "friends" conquer an enemy that has destroyed millions of people across more than just their galaxy.
#29: Parenting
Her mother and father now rested together in a memorial cemetery but Artemis took on the duty of parenting after they left her with her two younger identical brothers and her five year old sister, Jasmine. The twins proved they dwelled on loyalty to her and the cause, but they loved to prank anybody in their way. Jasmine, however, played like an angel throughout her lifetime so far and Artemis had no problems with her. Stress followed the guardian process, and it resumed for many years. Despite some conflicts, Artemis raised all three like a mother would. The soldiers grew to like the kids too as well as seeing Artemis' soft side. The only concern now was whether Tigressa would target them knowing that they were her last strand of sanity from a cruel world.
#30: Robotic
The scientists observed the specimen before them. There on a large platform laid a fully intact Transformer with minor bullet marks visible on its metal skin. The mech stayed quiet but moved its optics around the room in curiosity. Everyone kept still and heard the multiple whirls and hisses of gears coming from the robot as it tried to get up. Large black tubes attached to its waist and back sent blue shock waves back and forth which gave the mech a surge of energy. Multiple shards of metal scraped the floor as it moved towards twin sliding doors.
A majority of the people saw multiple pumps and springs bounce up and down as it walked. Never before had anyone witnesses one of the metal creatures up close. Two enormous gear-like appendages on the Transformer's back began to turn clockwise and two wings appeared, each the length of a fighter jet's. It snarled loudly which sounded like a mechanical rumbling. It sprung its wings up and did the miraculous: it transformed into what appeared to be a Grumman F-14 Tomcat. Surprisingly, it hovered a few seconds almost as if to show off to its human bystanders before suddenly it jolted forward and into the sky, becoming hidden among dark blue clouds once it got to a certain height.
Most of the humans had never seen one transform so gracefully. Definite memories to hold dear…for how many people could say they saw a Transformer up close and watched it perform the impossible?
AN: Another section of short stories looking into the world of my own creation which is still pretty fucked up compared to others'. In my world, there are rarely any times one could consider it a "happily ever after". Out of every victory, a loss will balance the outcome.