The Devil's Plaything
Disclaimer: Behold a bizarre idea that blossomed from a variety of sources; one in particular came from a frightening nightmare that I had of being trapped in darkness. I could see myself surrounded by eyes just...staring at me. I could hear whispers as well. Of course, this idea was originated from that source, I thought it would make for an interesting tale. There will be sexual references and probably disturbing imagery, so there you go. This isn't in a particular continuity as I wanted Unicron to actually be scary.
"Commit the oldest sins the newest kind of ways."
-William Shakespeare
"Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of man."
-Friedrich Nietzsche quotes
By: VampireQueenAkasha
"We have no physical form you could comprehend..."
-The Vok, Beast Wars
Interval 3
"Their sighs, lamentations and loud wailings resounded through the starless air, so that at first it made me weep; Strange utterances, horrible pronouncements, words of pain, tones of anger, voices shrill and faint, and beating hands, all went to make a tumult that will whirl forever through that turbid, timeless air, like sand that eddies when a whirlwind swirls."
- Divine Comedy, Canto III, lines 22-30.
Optimus made his way deeper into the Void, noticing that the world around him was starting to change. The trees were gnarled and twisted like bodies and he could even see faces in them. They looked lifeless and yet, moaned softly. He attempted to keep his central processor clear and not let the horrible sights get to him. He had seen plenty of war to enable his ability to become numb to gruesome imagery, but this was different.
"Hey! Optimus!"
Optimus looked up and his spark tightened at the golden and blue sight of Sentinel Prime staring back at him. There were sick, disgusting patches of black covering his body and his blue optics were cracked, seeping with violet. His mouth was split in several directions and a part of his face looked like it had been punched in, revealing a grimacing, hateful scowl of the chrome skull beneath. Overall, he looked NOTHING like the Sentinel Prime Optimus once knew.
"Sentinel?" Optimus whispered, stunned.
"I no longer know of Sentinel," the mech hissed, snarling out his words; they were mildly distorted due to the horrendous damages done of his face, "But I know you don't deserve to have your precious Elita-One. Not after what you did."
Optimus looked confused and cautious. "What do you mean, Sentinel?" he demanded.
"The Lineage of the Primes has grown weaker!" Sentinel spat, "When I passed the Matrix on to you, I had already committed the greatest sin; I had betrayed in the name of Primus Himself. That is why my soul can never find the Well. It drifted so far until Unicron eventually found me. So why should you be given a chance at redemption?"
Optimus could feel hatred coming from the soul of his brother/mentor. He held out a hand reassuringly, hoping that he could calm him. It was clear that Sentinel had spent too long in the Void and was becoming tainted by his own deep, dark emotions. It was all the reason more he had to find Elita. "S-Sentinel. Please..." he said, gently, "Please help me understand what sin I have committed. I don't know anything about it, I swear to you."
Sentinel grinned with the good side of his face. "You too betrayed in the name of Primus," he whispered, with malice, "You swore to Him that you would never betray Elita's love the day the pair of you first interfaced. But you have. Oh yes, you have indeed."
Optimus couldn't believe his audios. "What?" he exclaimed, "I NEVER betrayed her."
"You can deny it all you want, Optimus," Sentinel hissed, "The truth will remain the same."
Optimus shook his head, his hands shaking at his sides. He took a step forward. "It's a lie!" he bellowed, with a fierceness to his voice, "I would never have done anything to hurt Elita! I am loyal to her alone! I swear to-"
"You swear to who, Optimus?"
Another voice joined them and Optimus looked up. Beyond Sentinel, Unicron appeared, his claws gripping Sentinel's shoulders, forcing the former Holder of the Matrix to his knees. He was grinning broadly, eager to see Optimus ruin himself, but Optimus had no idea what he had done. Nothing came to his mind of any atrocity he could have committed to have brought this on Elita or himself. He did not know.
"Unicron, where is Elita?" Optimus demanded.
"Why do you care where she is, Optimus?" Unicron sneered, tilting his head with a grin full of fang, "After all, you could have any femme you want in the universe. Why stop at one?"
Optimus shook his head with disgust. "Be quiet! I will not hear any more of your lies!"
"Are they really lies, Optimus?" Unicron questioned, pacing over to the Prime, "Or are they your mind refusing to recall what you have done?"
Optimus didn't understand, so Unicron gave a broad sweep of his hand. Sentinel disappeared at the silent command and the forest world went with him as well. Then, another world appeared around them; it was a stone city scape with other Cybertronians who were more barbaric in nature and rough in appearance. Optimus could not recall these people, but Unicron explained for him.
"They are the Thetacons; a tribal race of barbarian scavengers," Unicron told him. A wicked grin slid across his face and he glanced at the young Prime. "Do you remember this place, Optimus? You were sent here with your comrades to negotiate peace among the people. A peace that even the council felt was impossible. Yet you traversed it anyway, hoping that you could somehow do it."
A sick feeling wormed through Optimus' spark; memory began to return to him and a part of him did not want to continue watching what Unicron was showing him. He observed himself in the illusion calling orders for Jazz and Prowl. It changed when Thetacon guards came after them and cuffed their wrists, leading them to prison cells.
"Most of those who venture to the planet never live to see the dawn," Unicron continued, "Though the matriarch of the Thetacons claimed that she would set you and your comrades free if you gave an offering to her of her own choice. If you refused, they would all be killed in front of you. Then they would kill you as well. Oh yes. The Thetacons were never known for their mercy, were they?"
Optimus moaned quietly and shook his head, trying to rebuke the images.
The image playing out before him showed himself dropped to his knees before a voluptuous figure sitting in a throne with two burly Thetacon guards before her. She was covered in tribal markings and wore a bright red waist cloth. She was also holding a gnarled scepter in her hands. They appeared to talk before the matriarch waved her scepter with a delicious smile on her face. The Optimus in the illusion hung his head and nodded, seemingly agreeing to something.
"She wanted you as an offering," Unicron purred, "She was weary of the males of her kind unable to satisfy her. She wanted a Prime to take her in her berth, a male worthy of her. And because you wanted your comrades spared from her wrath, you took her up on her offering."
Optimus slowly shook his head with anguish, watching himself in a berth with the matriarch, repeatedly thrusting into her. She was moaning with pleasure, writhing beneath him with her limbs wrapped tightly around his body.
Unicron grinned broadly and tilted his head back, admiring the sight. "You reveled in the world of sin, my dear Prime. And now, Elita is paying the price."
"No...I..." Optimus groaned. He shook his head with despair. "I-I had no choice. I had to-"
Unicron let out a deep, thunderous laugh before be began to disappear in a swirl of smoke. "I wonder if she will want you back!"
O
Elita had unfortunately seen what Unicron showed Optimus and her scream of anguish nearly pierced through the Void.
"No, it's not true! No, no, no..." she sobbed, "No, Optimus wouldn't do that to me!"
Unicron laughed softly at her suffering. "I told you before, Elita; even the purest can become corrupted. While your dear Optimus Prime vowed to remain loyal to you, he was confronted with a choice and made it. He could have done so and ended his own life, but he chose another path. He chose to let them live." He watched as she sat there on her knees, covering her face with two hands. "And in doing so, he chose them over you."
Elita moaned with despair, shaking her head. She felt Unicron's hand on her shoulder.
"Poor sweet thing..." he crooned, in a strange voice; it almost sounded as if he were attempting to comfort her, "Now you understand. Now you see that the Light leaves only pain. The Dark will only welcome and comfort you." He leaned forward, bringing his fangs close to her audio receptor. "Choose me, Elita. Choose the Dark."
Elita sobbed quietly. "I can't... I can't!"
"Then perhaps it's time I made the decision for you."
Elita's optics widened when Unicron stood up and took hold of the back of her neck. He brought her to her knees and forced her head back. Elita shuddered when she felt her body unable to move against the power of the Chaos God. She watched him upside down as he smiled and raised a finger to her forehead. It was then that she realized what was going to happen. She let out a terrified cry and her optics trembled, the pupils narrowing to dots.
"No, please..." she begged, "Don't do this!"
She was at her weakest point and felt her mind slowly peeling apart, layer by layer. A sick blackness began to fill through the cracks, suffocating her spark, and choking her. Her life played back before her in rapid procession from the day she cycled her first intake to the present. The last thing she remembered seeing was Unicron smiling down at her before her vision blackened.
O
Optimus ran until he found himself in a great courtyard surrounded by corpses of fallen Cybertronians. Before him, Unicron appeared and Optimus froze where he stood.
"Where is Elita?" he demanded.
Unicron gestured to the side. "Elita is here. Safe and sound."
Optimus looked beyond Unicron and saw something step out of the shadows. His spark sank in despair and pain when he saw who it was. It was Elita, but she looked nothing like her usual self; her dark pink armor was now an unholy black, tinged with green and gold stripes. Those lovely blue optics were now burning with violet and she had jagged contours to her body. Her fingers ended in long, deadly claws and her helm possessed slightly smaller horns, similar to Unicron.
"Elita...no..." Optimus whispered, "No!"
She only reacted with a look of hatred and contempt. It was so foreign on her that Optimus had to look away for a brief moment. He glared at Unicron.
"What have you done to her?" he bellowed.
"I opened her optics to the truth," Unicron sneered, standing behind Elita and running his hands almost possessively over her shoulders, "You should have remained faithful to such a pure, unspoiled soul, Optimus Prime."
Optimus shook his head with a soft groan. "Elita..."
She said nothing but watched him like a caged animal waiting to be unleashed. There was no peace in those optics, but evil. Pure evil. No! He refused to believe that Elita would become so swayed by darkness. She was stronger than that. Optimus knew that Elita would always fight until her last intake before turning to wickedness!
"What will it be, Optimus?" Unicron asked, "Are you going to stand against me and your lover?"
Optimus shook his head defiantly. "I won't fight her, but I will rid her of your evil!"
"Oh? How?"
"The Matrix."
Unicron let out a cruel laugh that reverberated all around them. Elita's only reaction was an inquisitive tilt of her head.
"You know very little of the Void, Optimus," Unicron told him, "This is my kingdom. The Matrix's power is utterly worthless in the Dark."
Optimus refused to show any form of falter or fear in the face of the inevitable. "No. You're wrong. It defeated you once before, it can do so again!" he promised, "I will not allow Elita to fall into Darkness! I will destroy you!"
Unicron smirked before he raised one hand and pointed at him.
"Go." he commanded.
Before Optimus knew it, Elita charged for him.