CHAPTER 9
The first thing Optimus became aware of when they entered the crypt was how cold it was. "Why do they have it so cold in here?" he asked Devcon. He rubbed his arms, feeling uncomfortable. Unusually cold air didn't bother him but this kind did, it was seeping into his joints making it hard to move.. "What's is supposed to do anyway?"
"I have no idea," the older robot replied, totally unfazed by the temperature. He was used to it.. "Most crypts are like this." he stopped walking and looked around, taking in the dimly lit halls and the unnerving silence. "Well, none are this cold but they are cold. There must be a reason for it, I just can't figure out what it is."
Optimus couldn't either and it really bothered him. I'm probably just being paranoid. It's not like cold air is keeping them from being zombies or something, he thought. That doesn't even make any sense. There's no such thing as-
A sudden noise interrupted his thoughts. "What was that?'
Devcon stopped. "What was what?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at him.
"That noise."
"What noise?"
There is was again, a kind of thumping noise. "That!" he exclaimed. When Devcon gave him a confused look he demanded. "Didn't you hear it?"
"I didn't hear anythi-"
THUMP!
The older robot jumped. "What was that?"
"Shh!" Optimus ordered, suddenly. "Listen."
Both fell silent.
Thump, thump... THUMP!
Devcon turned around. 'There!" he said, pointing down the hall. "It's coming from over there." he started down the hall. "Let's see what it is, but be quiet."
As if I didn't already know that.
They walked toward the sound, trying their best to make as little noise as possible, which was next to impossible in this echoy hall. When they reached the spot where the noise was coming from they stood before a closed door. Devcon put out his hand and gently pushed it open. It made no sound as it opened just enough for them both to look inside.
"By the All Spark!" Optimus gasped.
Prowl led Sari into another area of the building. This room had no furniture or items of any kind in it. It was just a flat floor surrounded by doors that had been busted out a long time ago.
"You need to learn patience." the voice seemed to echo off the bare walls. "There is more to being a ninja than fighting. Patience is the key. Without it you are nothing."
Prowl looked around the room. Yes, it was empty of items but not of memories. He'd learned a lot here. Somethings willingly others not so much. Just being in the room brought it all back... or most of it. Some things were long forgotten but not the lessons he'd learned. Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing if I never came here, he thought. Well.... more like was never brought here.
He hadn't always been there. His protoform might have come from the dojo but he hadn't been brought online there. That part of his memory was foggy in many areas and he couldn't remember much besides an explosion and wicked laughter.... and a looming black figure. Aside from that nothing. Maybe it was best he didn't. Remembering might just be painful. Too painful.
I wish you haven't died. You were like a father to me...
"Prowl?" Sari's voice brought him out of his thoughts. He'd almost forgotten she was there and even why they were even there. Now he looked down at her, noticing her curiosity. "What was this room for?" she asked.
He looked away as he answered. 'Training."
"Training?"
"My Master trained me here," he explained. "I spent a lot of time in this very room learning how to fight as well as other things."
"Like what?"
"Discipline, respect, the way of the universe."
"So, weird things."
"Maybe to you but they aren't to me. They're..." he sighed and tried to explain himself. "important lessons we should all learn."
"Like how, exactly?" she wanted to know. "I mean respect and discipline are useful in life but how is the way of the universe and all that weird New Age stuff useful? How can being told you're one with something be useful? If I were one with something wouldn't that mean life shouldn't be as bad as it is? Wouldn't it mean that nobody should act the way they do? Shouldn't we all have the same kind of thinking? Shouldn't we all be immortal?"
"It's hard to explain."
"Tell me about it."
"Are you just going to make fun of everything?" he asked, irritated.
"No," she replied. "But if you want me to understand where you are coming from don't use the whole Cosmic mind tripping woopy doopy approach." she folded her arms. "Just be straight with me."
This is going to be harder than I thought. How in Cybertron am I going to explain this to her?
By putting it Simply, Prowl. She isn't like you.
That's obvious. "Sari, has your father ever told you about Fate?"
Devcon and Optimus watched two Decepticons carrying open coffins into the room and removing the shells from them. They would then move the shells out of the room, leaving the coffins where they were. "What are they planning on doing with those?" the younger Autobot whispered.
"It looks like they're going to take them out of here or move them to a lower level," Devcon replied.
"But why?" Optimus wanted to know. "What are they going to do with those shells? What can they do with empty shells?"
"I don't know," Devcon replied. "But I intend to find out."
He moved quickly and quietly, stepping into the room and crossing the floor until he reached a large pile of coffins stacked on top of each other. He then turned back to the door and beckoned for Optimus to come. Optimus hesitated a moment, his optics focused on the two Decepticons moving the shells then quickly followed the older transformer, also stopping to hide behind the coffins. Both peeked over the top of the pile.
Yes, they were indeed moving the shells but Optimus' guess had been wrong. It weren't two Decepticons but three. A purple one with a helmet that made him look like he had rabbit ears, a green, and black, and yellow one with a snow globe type jar over his head, and smaller purple colored femme who looks like she had wings on her back. All three were carefully carrying the shells down a flight of stairs. The two Autobots ducked back down before they could be spotted.
"Where do you think those stairs lead to?" Optimus asked, looking at Devcon.
"I don't know," he replied. "It could be the lower level or it could lead outside. Either way..." he stood up for another peek then ducked back down. "It's up to us to find out and put a stop to it. We can't have Decepticons stealing the shells of our comrades."
"What are we going to do?" Optimus questioned.
"We're going to stop them," Devcon replied. "and then we're going to make them tell us what this is all about."
The figure in the cloak entered the pod room a few minutes after Prowl and Sari left. "Hasn't changed a bit," he said out loud, looking around himself. He smirked. "I guess whoever else is here isn't here to play janitor-bot."
He studied the room carefully, his scanners once again picking up the energy signatures. "I wonder who you are? I wonder what you're doing here."
He walked to the edge and jumped over the side on the railing, landing on a lower level. He spotted the corpse in the capsule and stopped to stare at it a moment. Looks like somebody tried to give you a burial. Didn't do a very good job, though.
He touched the window, smirking at the gray face. "Don't worry, though. Once I'm through here you won't be needing one."
Sari cocked her head to one side. "Fate?"
"Yes." Prowl replied. "You know. Destiny."
"Not really," she replied, shaking her head. "Dad wasn't really into religions. I learned a few things from friends and Saturday morning cartoons but that's about it."
Prowl sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought. "Has he ever explained life and death to you?"
I should have known that's where he was going with this. "Sorta," she replied, carefully. "Not when I was little anyway."
"How about when you were older?"
"Well he told me that all life has to end eventually," she replied. "He said sometimes you're ready for it and sometimes it happens suddenly and without warning and you don't have a chance to say good bye." she looked away. "Kind of like when you died. None of us got to tell you good bye. It hurt really bad."
It must have. Prowl nodded with understanding, he knew full well about sudden deaths. "Any kind of death hurts," he replied. "Be it a pet or a person. It hurt when my master died. It hurt a lot."
"And you brought him back," she reminded him.
"Only to have him die again a short time later," he added.
"Yes..," she said, looking away. "You played God and lost." then added. "But it wasn't the same with you. You know that. We've gone through this before."
He knelt down to get more into her eye level. "But you know it was similar," he told her. "Neither of us should have done what we did."
"I know what you're saying, Prowl," she retorted. "You're saying I should have just let you stay dead. I told you already I couldn't let that happen."
"But Sari," he said, forcing himself to be calm and not get angry again. "You shouldn't have done it."
"Why?"
"It wasn't the right thing to do," he answered. "When somebody dies you can't fix it by using a magical key. You have to learn to accept the fact that that person is gone and won't ever come back. What would you have done if the key hadn't worked?"
She couldn't answer. To be honest she didn't know what she would have done if the key hadn't worked. She'd done everything on impulse. If she was totally honest with herself she'd admit that she hadn't expected the key to actually work. When it had, it had surprised her. She'd been so happy to have him back.... until he'd gotten so angry at her.
After all the trouble I went through. Doesn't he realize that the only reason I did it was because I care for him deeply? The way I feel about him I haven't felt for any of the others. My feelings for him have always been different. I didn't want him to die before I could tell him how I felt. Of course she couldn't explain it to him. She knew he wouldn't be able to comprehend it.
"You see, you don't know," he said when she didn't answer. "Would you have gone back to Earth and accepted it?"
"No," she whispered.
He heard her anyway. "No?" he was surprised by her answer.
"I would not have gone back to earth," she said, meeting his eyes. They brimming with tears she was trying her best to keep inside. "I would not have just given up so easily. I would have tried again. Only I would have used something different."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because," she said, clenching her fists. She had to tell him. "You're one of my best friends and I care very deeply for you! and-" she hesitated then blurted out. "I love you!"
"Hold it!" Optimus said, grabbing his arm before he could stand. "Are you telling me you're going to just step out into the open and order them to surrender and expect them to obey?"
"Of course not," the older robot replied. "I'm not Sentinel Prime. I know Decepticons don't follow orders." He pulled out his sword and grinned. "I intend to beat them then make them surrender."
Before Optimus could said anything either for or against the older robots plan, Devcon was already up and stepping out into the open. "Hey!" he shouted so loudly it made Optimus jump. "What do you think you're doing with those shells?"
All three Decepticons stopped in their tracks and turned their heads toward the speaker, their optics wide and their expressions like children when they're caught doing something they shouldn't. They spotted the blue and white Autobot standing by the empty caskets, his weapon drawn but other wise alone.
"What in the holy name of Primus?" The black and green and yellow one said.
"It's an Autobot!" the purple femme exclaimed, dropping the shell she'd been carrying and clapping her hands to her face.
"Thunderblast!" the tri-colored robot exclaimed. "Don't drop the shells!"
"But the Autobot!" she exclaimed, pointing at the tall robot.
"It's just one Autobot!" her partner shot back. He took out his weapon, a chain with weights on both ends. "We can deal with him easily."
He started for Devcon with the silent purple bot not too far behind. The femme held back, looking a little unsure. "I don't know, Oil Slick" she said. "You know those Autobots are sneaky. How can you be sure he doesn't have a partner hiding behind those coffins?"
"Because I've encountered this one before!" Oil Slick replied, looking over his shoulder and giving her an impatient look. "I know how he is. He works alone!"
Devcon met Oil Slicks optics, his expression impassive. "Oh, you know me so well, old comrade," he said, his tone slightly sarcastic. He activated his sword. "Or you used to. People change with time."
Oil Slick started spinning his own weapon. He would have used a canister of fear gas but he hadn't expected any trouble and had left them all at his lab. Now he was kicking himself being so stupid. "I know you well enough," he snarled, coming closer. Behind him, the purple bot with the ear-like horns pulled out his own swords. "I know you're about to become one of these shells."
Devcon didn't answer. He glanced at Optimus who by then had decided he'd best help him and pulled out his axe. He moved back, stepping around the other side of the coffins where he couldn't be seen. The cyber ninja turned his gaze back on the two Decepticons. He changed his stance, holding the energon blade in front of him. "Come and get me."
Prowl stared down at her, too shocked by her words to make any kind of comment. He had not expected this kind of reaction from her and therefore hadn't even formulated any kind of response for it. It had been too unexpected.
Finally he was able to come up with something. "E..even friends have to say good bye eventually." That sounded lame.
She glared at him. "It's not that simple," she said. "I know friends don't always stay friends and that some friends die tragic deaths like you did but the way I feel about you makes this different. It makes everything about it different." she looked down at her feet. "The key hadn't worked until then. I tried using it many times before I used it on you and nothing I did activated it. Then I took it and used it on you and it worked." she looked back at him. "It must mean something."
Prowl didn't want to discuss her key again. He was still trying to explain why letting him stay dead had been the right thing to do but it was becoming harder to put into words with everything she said. Much harder, her confession didn't help, and he was starting to get frustrated.
She's never going to understand!
I think she's starting to.
How can you say that? She keeps on insisting that bringing me back to life was the right thing.
And why does that fact bother you? Could it be because it might be true?
I thought you wanted me to make her understand my side of this.
She will but...
But?
The Voice went silent. It wasn't going to tell him anything. He returned his focus on the girl. "Sari-" he began.
"Maybe you're right," she said suddenly. "Maybe bringing you back was a mistake. Because the only thing you've been saying since I have, was that I shouldn't have. You aren't even grateful. It's like you don't care about how you're making me feel." she met his optics. "Everything you say just hurts me even more. It hurts and you seem to enjoy my pain." she turned away. "So maybe you should just kill yourself. It seems that's what you want. Maybe being dead will make you happy."
Then, before he could comment, she ran out of the room and didn't look back. "Sari!" he called after her. But she wasn't listening. She ran out of the room and back into the pod chamber, stopping there and leaning against the wall, tears starting to form in her eyes.
Her gaze focused on Yoketrons corpse inside the pod. "Is this what you wanted me to come here for?" she asked it. "So that Prowl can make it hurt worse?" she walked over to the pod. "Are you happy now?" she hit the pod with her fists, letting out her built up frustration. "Answer me!"
But there was no way he could. Even the Voice was silent. "So this is it," she said, stepping back. "This is how it's going to be. I'm not going to get any answers and I'm not going to ever understand what was so wrong about it. If it was so wrong why did my key chose to activate that one last time? Why not before?" she touched the pod, her eyes on his face. "Maybe it was you. Maybe you did it. Maybe you had a reason for it. But what? Will you tell me when I finally understand what he means? Is that what you want?"
She still didn't get any answer. She shouldn't expect one. But maybe Prowl was right, she thought, letting the conversation go through her mind. Maybe I did....
The Decepticons charged. Devcon waited for them to get close then jumped over their heads, slashing with sword. The tip of the blade clipped the purple robots ear thing and sent a small electric charge down his head.
"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH!" he yelled, dropping his own swords and grabbing his helmet in agony.
Devcon landed on the floor behind them but before he could charge he was hit from behind by a plasma shot. He roared in pain and slammed into the floor. The two Decepticons stared down at him then looked up. Thunderblast was just blowing the smoke from the top of a gun the size of her arm. "I don't like being ignored," she said. "Especially by male Autobots."
Optimus had been ready to get out and help but now he ducked back behind the stacks. He had expected to deal with the femme easily but that had been before she'd pulled out her bazooka. Now he would have to rethink his strategy. I'd better do it quickly. He noticed the support beams in this room seemed kind of old and lose. Hmm...
Oil Slick put his weapons away and walked over to where Devcon lay, trying to get up. "Lost to a femme," he said, kicking him and receiving a grunt. "That's what you get for coming here alone."
"What makes you think I came here alone?" the older bot, growled, trying to get up off the floor.
Oil Slick knelt down and looked him right in the eye. "Because I know how you work, Devcon," he said, poking his forehead. "You do things alone because you think if anyone worked with you they'd only get in your way." the Decepticon stood up and walked over to Thunderblast. "That might have worked before but you never met Thunderblast have you?" He took the gun from her hand and kissed her cheek. She giggled like a ditz. "You might look cute but she's a fiesty little spitfire." he raised the gun in the air, making sure the tall Autobot got a good look at it. "You should see her use this on clueless Autobots. She's quite the marksbot and ruthless as well."
Devcon wasn't impressed. "I don't give a slag what she is-OW!" the rest of his words were cut off by the silent purple bot stomping on his back.
"The silent one is Cyclonus," Oil Slick went on. "But, don't mistake that for stupidity. He talks, just not often and especially not to Autobots." the former cyber ninja handed Thunderblast her gun back and crossed the room. "But I can tell you're not here for introductions to my new comrades. You're here to find out what we're up to."
He knelt down in front of the ninja again and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at him. "Normally I wouldn't bother revealing our schemes to an Autobot but since you're about to die anyway it couldn't hurt." he stood up and gestured around himself. "It's for Megatron."
Behind the caskets Optimus, who was working one onf of the posts nearly dropped his axe. Megatron?!
Prowl was ticked off. "I knew this was a bad idea!" he yelled at the walls. "But you insisted I take her here. It didn't make a difference! It just made things worse!" he paced back and forth, running their conversation over in his mind. "It was going so well and then she says that! Was it intentional? Do you think this is funny? How was I going to keep my train of thought if she keeps making those kinds of confessions?" And why should that kind of confession make me so flabbergasted?!
"You sure have a sick sense of humor don't you?" he asked the ceiling.
"Now is that any way to talk to your dead master?" a familiar voice suddenly spoke up, making him stiffen. "So you're still around. I heard you were dead. I guess that was just a rumor."
Prowl turned around as a figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing somebody he knew all too well. "Lockdown."
A/N
This chapter was complicated to write. Hehehehe and yes I am not just using G1 characters.
Certain parts didn't turn out like I wnated them to. I got confused and couldn't remember what I was going to write. But now I feel like a happy dork. I have revealed the terrible truth! GASP!
