A/N:
Reminder: 'normal speak', 'cybertronian', /spook speak/
Miracles - Chapter 12 - 'Unavoidable Consequences'
Sam could only hear two sounds - the sound of his socks hitting the hard rock of the tunnel and his heart pounding in his ears. It felt like hours since he had first passed through that first tunnel and been briefed by Genesis. Now he was alone, desperately trying to find the clue that he was supposed to give Thoth at the rendezvous. He was exhausted. He wouldn't allow himself to stop or rest until he found what he needed. Genesis hadn't been kidding when she told him the gates would be the hardest things he would ever face and if being literally eaten by a Transformer sized demon and then spat out as a fully digested corpse hadn't been warning (or revolting) enough, the shadow presence chasing him wasn't any more comforting. At each door he had passed up to this point he had to give something up. His shirt. His shoes. Dears and presumptions he thought were innocent and well thought out. It was a game right now of hunter and hunted. He could feel Genesis on another level, trying to help him. Every time their minds touched, he could feel panic, but it was comforting, as if she held the key to resisting the hell he was punching himself through.
He felt the shadow touch him and he squeaked, feeling another of his internal defences collapsing under the strain of its power. Memories and frustrations he held about his parents flooded to the surface, stripping him of the unbridled fears he denied he felt about them. He felt guilty about everything he ever said to them, about them, leaving one less pile of emotional trauma on his shoulders. He hurt. It physically hurt having this emotional scar picked at, but he felt lighter and he knew he was one step closer to finding his goal as a result. If anything, the emotional pain was worse than having his skin etched away as he had been digested. That had been hours ago and it still stung even though his astral 'skin' no longer existed, leaving only a metal-like aura.
He was going to make sure Optimus shoved a foot so far up Genesis' aft after he was done that she could never transform again. Primus be damned.
He cheered with triumph when he found the room he needed. Genesis was already there, gently motioning towards the artifacts that cluttered the statue's visage.
The statue was distinctly Cybertronian in design and it was clear where the egyptians received some of their artistic influences. Sam, body so sore that his bones ached, climbed several carved heads so he could reach the inorganic creation. It was a Prime, it's miniature eyes glowing unearthly in the dark room. It looked a lot like Thoth when Sam studied it, seeing the God's influence in its delicate handiwork. Sam refused to dwell on the concept, though. He was tired, stressed and the look Genesis was giving him, a pained expression of concern and anxiety, didn't settle his nerves either.
He licked his lips and cautiously moved the artifacts out of the way until the statue was clear. When he reached out to pick it up, he was startled so badly he almost fell off his precarious perch when it slapped his hand. Hard.
/WHATTHEHELL?/
Genesis cringed.
/Think, boy! Think! The rules here aren't the same as in the real world! What did I teach you? What is it?/
Silence as Sam tried to dredge up the information he needed from all the information he was being crammed with. There were a ton of things he had to remember. What was this damnable thing called? He forced his mind to silence and he concentrated on the object's presence as Genesis had explained. It looked like a solid object, but wasn't. Its presence almost swore at him as he read it, which meant -
/Power object./
Genesis beamed, he wings flapping slightly. Why she had wings where her shoulder struts were, he didn't know. They would appear and disappear at random, seemingly when Genesis was at her most stressed.
/Right. What do you do with power objects?/
/Speak to them./
Sam felt like a moron, but he drew his hands away from the statue. If only his professors could see him now. Mr. Witwicky, the student who spoke to voices in his head. As if 'Mr. Einstein' didn't sting enough. Or had before that emotion had been stripped away during last level's purification challenge.
/I apologize./ Sam stated to the statue, blushing profusely.If it meant helping Optimus and saving his parents, he was going to do whatever it took. /I'm kinda in a hurry. Y'mind if I brought you to see-/ Sam spun to stare at Genesis . /What's his name again? The long beaked, bird head guy./
/Djehuty./
/Thanks./ He dug a small coin from out of his pockets and offered it to the statue. He placed it at the statue's feet./Dje-huty.. Um..I call him Thoth... He needs you so I can help a friend. Y'mind if I brought you along?/
The statue seemed to stare at him a moment. It didn't react after that, making Sam blush deeper. He wasn't sure if he had screwed up more than he had intended, but then it shifted... no... Literally transformed into a flat, shield-like object that looked like a cross between a carrying case and a weird, electronic mirror. He gently reached for it and when it didn't move, he picked it up. Whatever negative emotions he had been denying before that point melted away in one exhausting waft. He slumped against the statue he perched on and would have bounced off the ones below him in a nasty fall if Genesis hadn't reached out to steady him. Genesis took the coin from the place the statue stood and pressed it against the reflective surface of the object.
/Congratulations, Sammy-boy. Now you just have to challenge the Prime./ She picked the human up and Ruffled his hair in a playful tussle. She headed towards the next door, chuckling as she did so. /It gets pretty sticky from here. Battling demons and stuff like before? Easy. Primes don't hold anything back./ She stopped suddenly when Usat greeted her. The goddess-like woman dropped her human guise, her artificial skin burning away as it changed from the organic likeness of a human's hide to a skin of colorful metals and circuitry. Before the two students stood the frame of a powerful being in its true form. Before them stood one of the first Primes. Genesis bowed her head and kneeled briefly.
/Mother Usat./
/Enough of the human formalities, Genesis. Call me by my true name./
/Yes, Innova./
Sam lifted his head slowly, not quite sure what to make of the Femme in front of them.
/Are you the one I'm supposed to fight?/
/No. At least, not at the level you're training at. I'm far too advanced for your ... Maturity./
The human looked relieved at Innova's comment. /Then who am I up against?/
/No-one until you observe a few purifications./
Sam shivered violently with the thought of being purified yet again. Everything he thought didn't bother him was stripped clean, leaving him feeling exposed. He dreaded another round of emotions being stripped like bad paint from a weathered wall. Another round of anxiety and depression and..
He felt it. The presence chasing him up the tunnel had followed him here. He didn't know what to call them, but 'Gutters' seemed to fit them. Or 'skin snatchers' as that was what it did. It came across as an ancestor who had been recruited to help Sam through his trials. For every time Sam was faced with a new challenge, a new creature similar to the Gutter would come and literally hack away at his skin. The thing hung back, waiting, as if wanting orders from Innova. Awaiting the permission to strike at him and gut his body, leaving the human's skin hanging from the statues in the room like bad halloween ornaments. In the beginning Sam would have feared the bizarrely horrific creatre, which was stripped down to nothing but bone and random bits of flesh. Now Sam understood why it was needed and although he was wary of its presence, he respected it and its job.
/How many more of those do I need?/ He said, referring to the purifications and the 'Gutter'.
/No more, Sam. However if you lose against our Prime, it will get what remains of your spirit and boil what's left of you. /
/Disgusting./
Genesis chuckled. /I told you, you will be reborn. Your ancestors did this over three or more days. Each step was modified for each of the cultures we discovered. Some were eaten by bears. Others were boiled, eaten and the bones turned to metal. Others were sent to the Christian hell and returned as reborn angels. It's a necessary step, child. If you can handle this kind of pain, You can handle the greater challenges awaiting you./
Innova nodded her head in agreement.
/Even we Primes had to prove our worth to carry the title of Prime. These steps, although horrific in your mind, mimic what a Prime would face in the real world./
Sam was silent as he mouthed what the Primes told him when he had crossed to the astral in Egypt. One had to prove they were worthy of carrying the Matrix of Leadership.
/You also said that if I handled and survived the ... Things.. after me, it means I can handle that creature's energies. Genesis said it's like it both on the physical and this plain. I've nearly been run over, stepped on, blown up and had my head cut open by insane Decepticons./ His eyes went wide. /THAT'S why you're pitting me against a Prime? Because I've survived Transformer attacks?/
Innova looked at Genesis, one of her delicate metal eyebrows raising slightly in amusement. /He learns fast for one so young./
Genesis almost shone with Pride.
/Not just Transformer energies, Sam. Decepticon ones. /
Innova grunted, crossing her arms across her chest. /We need to know if you can survive on your own on this plain, child. We already know that you are capable of doing it on the other side. / Her gaze softened as she contemplated the human boy's future tests, then motioned towards the mirror-like item still in Genesis' hands. /Cross planes, child. And Good luck. /
Genesis placed the item on the floor. Sam approached it, not sure what he was to do until the item began to sparkle, shimmer then sent arcs of electricity over the frame. The entire front of the item turned into a type of portal, it's Cybertronian origin lighting up glyphs down its sides as it powered up. Sam eyed it with fear. Giving the portal one last look of uncertainty, he held his breath and walked through the shimmering field that looked like etched glass.
NOTE:
I have no idea what Innova Prime's real name is as she's not named in the TF Wikki. As a result, I made something up. When we find out who she is, expect that little detail to change ;) Maybe she'll appear in the third TF movie?
