Arc 1: In the Shadows

Chapter Ten

Pillar of Darkness

Riku leaned into the metal back of Ginryō, tensing when his robotic friend jumped over a bullet firing car, loosely rocking back and forth as the dragonoid jumped over flaming cars and screaming people.

Fleshy, their plan is to bring my home here and enslave the other fleshies!

Riku felt his aqua blue eyes narrow. "No time to waste then. Ginryō! How do we stop it?!"

Ginryō lifted his long serpentine head and looked at the tall building where a red cylinder glowed from behind stone pillars and was guarded by a tall red robot.

"Crap." Riku grumbled sourly, before calling his Keyblade to him, managing to grip Ginryō's sides with his legs to stay on.

And then, everything that was horrible and nasty hit the fan, and Riku was thrown off Ginryō's back by the blazing hot explosion.

"Ginryō!" Riku yelled, struggling to get off the rubble concrete that he had been thrown onto. With a groan, Riku used his Keyblade as an improvised cane as he limped over to where his friend had crashed.

"No, no, no! C'mon Ginryō! You can do this. Wake up buddy!" the silver haired teen hissed, touching the melted and twisted metal plating where the blast had struck point blank in the dragoniod's flanks, despite the searing heat. He glanced up at the sun and scowled darkly. His moon magic would be considerably weaker but he had to do this.

Ginryō's life could depend on it!

"Sana!" Riku gasped, feeling the instant drain on his magic reserves and gritted his teeth, nearly jerking his hand away from Ginryō's wound as the pain finally registered.

The transformer stirred slightly with a quiet but pained keen and Riku gasped again before growling deep in his throat. "No, no, no! Come on Ginryō! Stay with me here! – sana! C'mon, look at me! Look at me!"

Another pained keen, low in the ex-con's throat.

Riku's determination heightened and his mouth turned into a thin line as his aqua blue eyes bore holes into the wound that was oozing blue and was slowly but surely closing. But it had to close faster! "SANA!" Riku screamed, casting the spell despite how fast it was draining him. "S-sana! Stay alive, you hear me, Ginryō?! Stay with me!"

He was on his knees now, breathing hard, sweat covered his entire body, making his burning hands clammy and causing his vision to go blurry as dizziness hit him as if he had lost too much blood.

If only this had happened during the night! He could have done so much more than he was achieving right now with the same amount of drain!

"S….san...a!" he gasped in a lungful of air before collapsing to the ground beside Ginryō. "S-Sorry, Ginryō!" he gasped, tears mingling with sweat and dirt, making his eyes sting. "I'm not… I can't…" He swore softly, putting his head back against Ginryō's quivering metal flank, thoroughly spent.

It… is…fine, fleshy… I am…. Sorry too…

"It can't end like this." Riku murmured softly.

A shadow came over both Riku and Ginryō – and suddenly – Riku was face to face with a glowing plasma canon, the wielder having red eyes.

Riku's brain screeched to a fuzzy halt. It just can't end like this… the teen thought. Riku closed his eyes and looked away. He could feel the heat of the plasma swirling. Soon, the two of them would be incinerated from the point blank range the attack would come in at.

A tear streamed down his face.

Sorry… Sora… I guess I failed you once more…

The injured boy awoke with a wet gasp, blood leaking out of his mouth with a sickening Plop!

Riku! Riku was in trouble!

The boy bent over double as another curse was sent his way, but even as he writhed on the ground in pain, no noise escaped his lips. The boy was decidedly mute, and his mind was far away, cented on a boy with silver hair and black wings, so like his own once white and pristine feathers.

Don't give up Riku! You can make it! Find me! Find me soon!

And with that, Sora Dived into his heart to wait out the pain and drifted, knowing that with each Dive, it was going to get harder for him to return to the surface and back to reality.

His body was breaking down and the Keybearer knew it.

There was a furious roar and Riku was suddenly pushed out of the way by Ginryō's tail as the metallic dragon launched himself at his larger and decidedly deadlier enemy.

Riku collided with more sharp rubble and cried out as glass dug into his legs, nearly blacking out from the pain in his weakened condition after attempting to save Ginryō's life.

"No! Ginryō!" Riku screamed in horror as the bot clamped down on the other's arm, causing the shot to go wild and hit a crumpling skyscraper as it was falling sideways into another building a few blocks away, said skyscraper being crushed by what seemed to be a metallic wormlike Decepticon. Ginryō weakly but fiercely growled as the enemy yelled in pain and swung Ginryō around in an attempt to dislodge sharp teeth in Cybertronian flesh-metal.

Eventually, Ginryō was dislodged and was sent flying into a building. Then Riku was under the blazing target of the plasma canon again.

Riku felt his weakened knees buckle and then he fell to the ground, kneecaps bloody from the cement and broken glass. (He was going to die)

"Die fleshy scum!"

A furious roar, louder than ever before, and Ginryō was there again, tearing and twisting and blasting with all the strength the bot had.

No one touches my fleshy!

And then, things went from bad, to worse.

"Die you traitorous maggot!"
another bot was there, firing at Ginryō.

Luck seemed to be on their side and the bot missed Ginryō and hit the one who had first attacked them.

Ginryō snarled at the new enemy, the said enemy was staring oddly at Riku and the teen felt a chill down his spine as the Sunaena grew cold under his shirt.

"What a strange fleshling you have found…"

Ginryō snarled wordlessly and crouched to launch off but froze as the Decepticon lowered its weapon at Riku who was nearing exhausted unconsciousness.

"Just because the fleshling is different doesn't mean it will be spared with this Culling."
Riku stared up, unseeing, not hearing, not recognizing the danger as the weapon crackled with electricity.

Run fleshy run!

He was so tired… couldn't he just lay here and rest… just a bit?

Riku! Riku don't give up!

Fleshy! Run!

He wasn't giving up, he was just so tired.

Don't you dare give up on me Riku! C'mon, we'll go together! Just me and you!

Reality and past were merging, Riku swore he saw Riku in front of him with a big goofy grin on his face, holding his hand out to him so the two of them would be able to head home to the warmth Destiny Islands.

An enraged roar broke Riku out of his hallucinated daze and his teal eyes widened in horror as Ginryō Launched himself into the path of the plasma bolt and took a hit point blank in the chassis.

Riku screamed in denial as the light in ruby eyes disappeared before the metal corpse even hit the ground.

The Decepticon began to laugh at the puny human's distress.

Bad mistake. Horrible mistake. Last mistake.

Rage spikes and darkness surges under the fallen angel's skin.

He tilts his head back and screams to the sky, an unearthly sound, less human and more like an enraged demon.

The Decepticon had stopped laughing. The cold chill in his spark would be the last thing he would feel as the boy stalked forwards, silver hair casting eerie shadows over his face, malice radiating off him like a heat wave.

"You killed Ginryō. And so…" Riku glared up at him. "I'll kill you." The teen snarled, Darkness surging at the Decepticon in the form of a black fist that clutched at Ginryō's murderer and practically tore him apart, limb by limb, with Riku watching passively as the Decepticon's life spluttered, choked and died, blue eyes ice cold and still full of rage.

And then, the pain hit.

After all, using Darkness always had a price.

Sam Witwicky stumbled at the terrifying roar; behind him, Epps cursed, "What the f- was that?!"

"I don't know but whatever that thing was, it certainly wasn't human." Sam said quietly, squeezing Carly's hand tightly.

The group of humans huddled closer before mustering up their courage and heading to their destination.

They rounded a corner and a blast hit right behind Sam and Carly, causing them to run forwards instead of turning.

"We'll go this way." The young man muttered, pulling his girlfriend by the hand behind a bus before halting, listening for whatever Cybertronian would come their way.

From on high, Starscream landed with a sneer. "Oh what a treat! You and me, alone." He sneered and kicked over the bus.

"Carly!" Sam screamed as the two of them dodged the flying vehicle. "C'mon! run!" he ducked under the bus and trying to get Carly to hide away from him. "He's after you, not me!"

The two of them ran through the tipped over bus as the Decepticon cut though steel to get to them. "Run!" Sam screamed.

Carly hid behind a steel wall while Sam's hiding place behind a garbage can was crushed, causing him to yell in shock and fall back.

"Thought you were working for us, boy?!" insane laughter accompanied the taunt as Sam suddenly remembered the inventions that Wheeljack had forced upon him and dug out the grappling glove and shot the hook right into Starscream's eye.

The Decepticon's screams of anguish and pain mingled with Sam's screams of terror as the boy was sent flying due the hook being connected to the glove.

He crashed into one of the buildings and grabbed and activated the glowing green bomb made by the crazy Autobot inventor and jumping back out of the window onto Starscream's other eye, where Sam grabbed the glove again and swung. Lennox tried to grab him but pretty soon the two of them were swinging and screaming as Lennox tried to cut the teen loose as the bomb ticked faster and faster. Starscream tried flying to get the two humans off but then Lennox cut the two of them loose and they started falling.

Just then, Bumblebee ran and quickly caught the two screaming humans and quickly transformed into his Camaro form as Starscream exploded.

"Well he's dead."

"Uh huh." Came Lennox's quiet and dumbfounded reply.

"Hey Will?"

"Hrm?"

"Did you hear that scream earlier?" Sam suddenly asked.

Will Lennox shook his head. "No, we were still in the air, but something's here; something that doesn't belong."

The two men and one Autobot shivered, a chill running down their spines.

Optimus Prime paused mid step, his head twisting in the direction of the primal scream. "Primus hand be willing…" he murmered, eyes narrowing. It felt like something from Unicron's power.

A new enemy could be on the rise.

But something in the Prime's spark caused the thought to ring untrue.

Riku was sobbing with pain, the Sunaena burning on his skin. Shaky fingers fumbled with the chain and could not get the ancient medallion off.

Please! Oh Gods please just make it stop!

He shook and squirmed, back digging into glass, tearing his skin and wings apart, the gravel slipping into bleeding wounds and adding to his torture. His nerve ending felt like they were on fire and he opened his mouth to scream but no words could escape his throat.

Riku shook and shuddered, but no matter how hard he struggled, he could not get away from the torture, the never ending pain.

He stretched out his hand, trying to touch Ginryō's cold flank, tears streaming out of his eyes and creating two clean tracks of skin. "Gin…ryō…"

His hand fell, just a few centimeters from touching his dead friend's corpse, as Riku sagged and collapsed into unconsciousness, the darkness raising havoc on his body systems and finally – mercifully – knocking him away from pain as another seizure boldly seized his body. But this time, no one was there to help him and keep him from hurting himself even more.

Overhead, Cybertron encroached on Earth's atmosphere.

Sam and Gould grappled furiously, struggling for the fate of all mankind.

Strangely, it was the younger man who embodied the Light of his race, while the older represented all the corruption, greed and selfishness – the Dark – of Humanity.

"Don't do this!" Sam pleaded, but Gould would not heed to the man's pleas; placing the pillar upright again and once more the signal begins to bring Cybertron ever closer.

"There's only one future for me, kid."

Sam hit the man in the leg, causing him to fall. The younger man fell upon him, fists flying as he punched Gould in the face. A struggle to get to the pillar ensued when Gould hit the pillar and sent it flying up to reconnect the signal.

"You choose sides?" Gould kicked Sam in the chest, causing him to loose his grip on the rubble he was on as Gould sneered after him, "Well you chose wrong!"

Sam hit the ground with a cry of pain before slowly getting up onto his feet again and climbing back up, grasping a piece of carved cement in his hands.

Gould turned around. "I've just saved another world! You think you're a hero? Huh? You think you're a hero?!"

"No. I'm just a messenger!" and with a yell he struck the man, causing him to fall back into the pillar, electrocuting him to death.

"The Pillar is still activated! Bee!"

"Get that pillar down!"

"Bumblebee!" Sam yelled, dropping like a stone as the black and yellow bot leapt up and grabbed the device like a human footballer.

And finally, Cybertron disappeared from Earth for good, taking the Decepticon forces with it.

Sam glanced around and felt his blood run cold in his veins. "Bee! There's a kid down there – he could be still alive!" Bumblebee whistled an affirmative and the two of them reached the destroyed ground of Chicago and Sam bent over the boy, feeling the blood drain out of his face as his eyes took in the lacerations and terrible burns and how the boy's body was twisted on his side.

Sam knelt down and put his two longest fingers underneath the boy's nostrils and nearly melted as he felt the warm puffs of breath coming out of the boy's nostrils.

"He's alive!" Sam called to Bumblebee whose reaction mirrored his own, metal gears untensing and shoulders slumping in relief.

"Poor guy…" Sam muttered, wincing as his eyes took stock of all the bleeding wounds that covered the boy's twisted body.

Then, Sam noticed something odd.

Three dead bots were in the immediate area of the boy, all bearing the marks of Decepticons.

But one – smaller than the other two and more beast like than humanoid – showed signed of two point blank shots, one in the rear flank and one in the chest, where the spark was. This Deception was the closest to the boy, who was sprawled out as it to touch the dragon-bot but had passed out from blood loss or trauma or both just before he had reached it.

Was it possible that the dragon-bot had died protecting the boy?

Memories of the eccentric old jet named Skyfire flashed through Sam's mind.

Yeah, it was possible. Unlikely, but possible.

But when did the dragon-bot pass?

Sam felt like he was missing something, something important.

Scene break

It was a lovely day on Destiny Islands.

The two of them were resting against the Paopu fruit tree as was their habit.

"…Riku?"

"Hmm?" Riku glanced over at his white winged friend, his own black wings unfurled to catch a few shades of sunlight for the same reasons a cat would do to a patch of sunlight in a lazy afternoon.

"You know you're gonna have to learn how to channel some of your Light pretty soon, or else…" Sora trailed off.

Riku closed his eyes. "I…" he licked suddenly dry lips, retracting his wings, holding them close to his back and hugging his sides, suddenly feeling very, very vulnerable. "…I know…" he whispered, choked.

"Then why are you repeating the same mistakes?"

Sora's voice wasn't accusing, but very, very concerned. He was worried about his best friend.

Riku scowled anyways. "I am not!" he denied.

"You le your anger get the best of you! You know…" Sora leaned back on his hands, spikey hair bushing against bark. "It's why we're able to have this talk… This is a Heart to Heart."

"Sora…"

Riku slumped and ran a hand through his long silver hair. "I… you're right, Sora. I need to work on my temper…"

Sora bumped his pessimistic friend on the shoulder, a bright grin on his face. "C'mon Riku! You still have time! Consider this your wake up call!"

Riku snorted. "Isn't this a little harsh of a wake up call?"

"Nah… could be worse." The brown haired Keybearer shrugged.

The two were silent for a while, content to simply sit and enjoy eachother's company.

"…Sora, where are you?" Riku asked suddenly.

Sora leaned back to look at the brilliant endless blue sky. "I… I don't know. But you're getting closer Riku. I could feel your heart screaming, so I came to help talk some sense into you."

Riku scowled again, reaching over and pulling his best friend into a head lock and giving the protesting teen a noogie . "I'm not the one needing sense talked into, Mr. I'm-A-Keyblade-Master-I-Don't-Need-To-Call-For-Hel p-When-Dark-Goons-Gang-Up-On-Me!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Riku! I wasn't thinking at the time! I didn't want your guys to get hurt!"

"Even though we had keyblades? You're as clueless and idiotic as ever Sora!" he shoved his best friend off the tree.

Sora protested. "Hey! I'm not clueless!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Who was it that had to shove the notion that you liked Kairi right in front of your nose when you were fourteen, huh?" he taunted.

Sora flushed. "Sh-Shut up, Riku!"

Riku smirked, having won this round of taunts.

Another long period of companionable silence.

"Hey… Riku? I think it's time for you to wake up." Sora suddenly spoke, turning to Riku.

Riku protested. "No –"

"Just remember what I said about someone teaching you Light techniques!"

"Sora wait! I –"

Riku's eyes snapped open, his chest seizing as he gasped for air, as if he had been drowning.

AN:

Is that a sense of impending doom that I feel? Maybe a ton of Killer Intent sent my way? Erm... *hides behind a large weapon proof sheild that reflects every kind of attack, mundane and magical* please review?