I love how on this site that if you have a problem you can usually find a creative way to go around it. My problem: FFN wouldn't let me upload a document into the document manager. My solution: I exported the last chapter of my story and a copy of it went to my document manager. I deleted what was in the document and pasted in the new chapter. XD
Chapter 12: Decepticon Demands
A voice, from deep inside her own heart, told her she didn't want to wake up. Elizabetta struggled to fall back to sleep, but she was too well rested and sleep didn't come. Sighing heavily, she rolled onto her back and stared lazily up at the ceiling, which felt like it was a million miles away from her.
Wait a minute…
Elizabetta's eyes flew open as she sat up and looked herself over. She was stunned to see she had resumed her human form. She clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to get a grip on what was going on. "I did fall asleep as a transformer, didn't I?" she questioned herself. She swallowed hard and looked to her right. Optimus' giant form was still there, he was still sound asleep. It had to be the Allspark's doing, there was no other explanation for her sudden transformations. But…why did it make her a transformer, if only for a night?
She shook her head, trying not to overwhelm herself with so many thoughts so early in the morning. Instead, she looked back over at Optimus, trying to decide what she would say when he woke up. They had had a very romantic evening, and while neither of them had expected her to suddenly turn into a femme, it clearly had its advantages.
"Good morning, Elizabetta."
Elizabetta looked up to him, surprised. "How long have you been awake?" she asked.
"Not very long," he replied, "Why are you human again?"
"I wish I knew…I'm sorry Optimus."
"Do not be sorry for something you cannot control, we can still love each other," he reassured her as he gently rubbed a finger up and down her back.
She smiled gently, "Even though I'm a human?"
"It was your human form I fell in love with," he stated, "Now what do you say we get up? We have a lot of stuff to do today. The sooner we get the new base completed, the better."
Elizabetta nodded, "Alright. Just help me get down from here. I just want to shower and change my clothes first. Then I'll join you in the command center."
He sat up before scooping her up in his hand and setting her gently on the floor. "Try not to take too long," he said as he got up himself and headed for the door, "I don't want to miss you too long."
She smiled, "I'll try not to keep you waiting too long Optimus."
He nodded and left the room. Elizabetta left the room as well and wandered down the hall until she reached her own room where she went inside and grabbed an outfit before heading into the bathroom to shower. As she showered, she couldn't help but notice she was grinning from ear to ear. She couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy. She hugged herself tightly, trying to keep from squealing in delight. More than ever she wished she could have texted her friends or called her parents and tell them all about the wonderful man she had met, the wonderful man that she had fallen in love with, the wonderful man who saved her life…
"Mom, dad," she imagined herself introducing the Autobot leader to her parents, "This is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots and my new boyfriend!" She could just picture the shocked expressions on their faces for knowing she was romantically involved with a giant robot, but after she explained everything to them, about how she was immortal, about how he had a holoform, about how they could make it work, they would understand.
"Lizbee, are you sure this is what you want?" she could hear her mother saying.
"He makes me so happy mom," she envisioned herself answering.
"Well then, that's all that matters."
Elizabetta sighed heavily; she missed her parents so much. She wished she could tell them that she was okay, but it was better that she didn't. There would be so many questions, none of them which she could answer. Maybe someday, if the Decepticons were defeated again, she would go to them and tell them she was okay, she had always been okay. She just didn't want them to worry about her, especially if she had Optimus and the rest of the Autobots to protect her.
After turning off the water and drying herself off, Elizabetta wrapped the towel around her thin form and stepped out of the shower. She dried her hair and then got dressed. Her outfit consisted of blue jeans and a nice blouse. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. After she left the bathroom, she quickly packed up the rest of her things. She didn't pay much attention to the time, not until she glanced at the clock and realized almost two hours had passed.
She was just about to leave for the command center when there was a knock at her door. She went to the door and answered it, only to see Optimus' holoform standing there. She smiled softly as she said, "Sorry, I got packing my things and lost track of time."
"Did you need help with anything?" he asked.
She shook her head, "No, I pretty much got it taken care of. Did I miss anything in the command center?"
"Not really, my men have been working diligently on the new base. It is almost done."
"So you have a few minutes to spare?" she asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist and guided her into the room, allowing the door to close behind them. "I have more than just a few," he breathed as he leaned forward and kissed her.
Elizabetta sighed as she relaxed against him, accepting his kiss. His kisses were so perfect, his lips were warm, wet, delicious...and he kissed so much better than any other human boy she had been with.
"What happens after we get to the new base?" Elizabetta asked as their kiss ended.
"We hunt down and destroy the Decepticons," he answered.
"Be careful."
"I will," he said, "As always. Now shall we get going? We need to tear this place down."
She nodded, "Alright, just help me carry my stuff."
Optimus proceeded to help her carry her things into the hallway where they sat them down. Once they had everything, the Autobot leader resumed his robot form and picked up all her stuff with one hand before placing it in his subspace. He then picked up Elizabetta and set her on his shoulder. He walked to the exit of the base before he sat her down, transformed, and allowed Elizabetta inside his vehicle form. Once inside, Optimus revved his engine and drove out of the base.
Elizabetta couldn't help but feel relieved.
Megatron sighed as he observed the fake Allspark his lackeys had made. It definitely wasn't the best quality. He observed that the symbols that had been carved onto it had already been worn out and weren't even readable anymore. He set it aside disdainfully and got up from his throne. Without a word, he left the throne room as well as the base. He transformed and took off towards the Heavens. The Decepticon leader had every intention of visiting with his master to find out what this other source of energy he had mentioned was.
When he arrived, he immediately found his master. The Fallen did not move, as he was confined to a chair until his systems were back up to strength. "What is it, my disciple?" The Fallen asked.
"Our plans failed to extract the power of the Allspark from the human and confine it within another source, many thanks to the Autobots," Megatron explained before adding, "And they have the female as well."
"No matter," The Fallen said calmly, patience was his virtue, "I take it you are curious about the other energy source I mentioned."
"That I am."
"Long before your time, the original Primes and I built a machine capable of harvesting the power of suns in order to maintain the energy levels on Cybertron. A sun harvester was built on Earth, under my jurisdiction. However, the other Primes did not believe in taking the sun of a planet that was inhabited. I despise the human race and tried to obtain the Matrix of Leadership, which was used to activate the sun harvester. The Primes used their bodies to hide the Matrix, forming a tomb around it. I am unaware of their whereabouts…but in order to activate the sun harvester, the Matrix needs to be found."
Megatron smiled at the idea of extinguishing the humans' sun. "Where is the sun harvester?"
"It's hidden in what the humans call the Great Pyramids of Giza, Egypt," The Fallen said.
"Do you have any clues as to where the Matrix may be?" Megatron asked.
"The symbols on the Allspark, they were a map to the location of the Matrix. Are you aware if those symbols are still in existence?"
Megatron growled, "They're on the girl."
"I say it's time we made humankind aware that they're not alone in the universe."
"Starscream, I want you to assemble a group of soldiers to attack various locations of importance to the humans on Earth. Attack their temples, their battleships, their cities, monuments, capitals, I don't care, just make sure the soldiers attack these types of locations globally," Megatron ordered once he got back to base.
Starscream looked at his commander confused, "May I ask why, sir?"
"The Fallen has a message for the people of Earth, and by carrying out these attacks; we will show them what we are capable of."
"Yes sir," he said as he went to leave and prepare the team.
"Oh and Starscream?"
"Yes?" he hissed, annoyed.
"Do not attack the Great Pyramids in Giza, Egypt; our super weapon is hidden inside one of them."
"As you command sir," Starscream said as he left the throne room. He couldn't possibly imagine what kind of super weapon was hidden on this dirt ball of a planet…or just what The Fallen wanted to say to the humans. All he knew was that something big was about to happen.
It was late in the afternoon by the time Optimus and Elizabetta arrived at the new base. Elizabetta was grateful to get out of Optimus and stretch as he transformed into his robot form. As they toured the new base though, Elizabetta was mildly upset that the base was the same layout as their old base. She knew it was so that the Autobots didn't have to take time to learn where everything was. This way they could remain up to speed without confusing themselves in the process.
After walking around a bit, Optimus took Elizabetta to her new room, which was ideally located next to his quarters now. He removed her things from her subspace and set them outside her door before asking, "Would you like help unpacking?"
She nodded, "That would be nice."
"Alright," he said, "I'll be right back."
Elizabetta watched as he disappeared inside his quarters. She knew he was assuming his holoform, and rather than having his robot form just standing in the hallway, she understood he was letting it stay out of the way inside his quarters. She grabbed a couple suitcases and went inside her room. She tossed the suitcases onto her bed before she opened them up and began putting her things away.
It didn't surprise her when Optimus came in, carrying more of her luggage, he set it next to her bed. He then went and brought in the rest of her things. Together, they spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking her things. When finished, Optimus was just about to pull Elizabetta into a kiss when something vibrated in his pocket. Curious, Optimus pulled out a device that was similar to a cellular phone. He figured it must have been his comlink and he flipped open the device. "Optimus here," he said.
"Optimus, its Ratchet, perhaps you should come to the command center."
"What's going on?"
"The Decepticons initiated a global broadcast through the human television system…it's not good."
"I'll be right there, Optimus out," the Autobot leader said as he closed the device.
"What's going on?" Elizabetta asked, concerned.
"The Decepticons are up to no good again."
"Great," she groaned, "I'm coming with you."
He nodded. Elizabetta waited for him outside her room until he came out of his quarters. He gently picked her up and set her on his shoulder. It didn't take them long to get to the command center, where the rest of the Autobots were waiting.
"Do you have the broadcast?" Optimus asked as he walked in.
"Yeah," Jazz said as he pressed a button.
The broadcast began to play and Optimus felt his temper flare as he watched. An imaged of The Fallen came on the screen. "Fleshbags…for quite some time now you've wondered if you were alone in this universe. The answer is you're not…and there are demands which I want met. You are to surrender this girl to my army," he said as an image of Elizabetta flashed on the monitor, as well as her social security number and ID, "You have witnessed destruction by our hands, and until we have the girl with the symbols, the destruction will continue. You have been warned." And the broadcast cut out.
Elizabetta wanted to faint.
"You don't happen to have any pictures of the girl, do you?"
Ross wasn't sure whether to cower in fear or actually answer Starscream's question. He looked up at the Decepticon second-in-command confused before finally saying, "You mean, Elizabetta?"
Starscream spat at him, "Who else would I mean? The symbols engraved on her arms and back are a map to the Matrix of Leadership. We need the Matrix in order to activate our super weapon."
Ross shook his head, "No…I don't have any pictures."
"But…" Starscream mused, picking Ross up and squeezing him tightly in his sharp, metallic hand, "You do know where the Autobots base is."
Ross didn't dare squirm for fear that his flesh would be cut to pieces from the sharpness of Starscream's fingers. "Y-Yeah," he stammered, "If you put me down I can tell you exactly where it is."
"I beg to differ," Starscream said as he placed Ross inside of his cockpit, "You can show me where their base is." He then headed out of the base and transformed, taking to the skies. "Tell me where to go," he said.
And he gave him directions to practically the middle of nowhere. But when they finally arrived to where the Autobot base was, Ross felt his stomach drop. The familiar hidden entrance was gone, and he could tell by Starscream's highly irritated growl that his scanners weren't detecting anything.
"You better not be playing games with me," the Decepticon threatened.
Ross shook his head, "No, I'm not. They must have moved the base in case I tried to come back."
"You don't realize how much this thwarts my plans," he hissed venomously.
"It's not my fault they packed up and left."
Starscream decided not to stick around as he quickly turned and headed back to the Decepticon base. "You're not going to like Megatron," he growled.
"What…what do you mean?"
"I don't have any use for you anymore. We really don't need a hostage right now either, and the Autobots obviously don't want you back, maybe, by slim margin of error, if anything, Megatron might find some use for you."
Ross swallowed hard. "And if he doesn't?" he asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
Starscream just laughed.
If Elizabetta hadn't been on Optimus' shoulder, she would have bolted from the room, from the base, and from the planet if she could have, but even then it seemed like the universe wasn't big enough to hide her from the Decepticons. The worst part was knowing that innocent people had died already in the Decepticons plans to obtain her…and she didn't even know why they wanted her.
"Optimus," she heard herself breathe, "I need to get out of here."
Optimus glanced quickly around the room before excusing himself from the command center. He walked down a few hallways before he took Elizabetta from his shoulder and set her down on the floor. He then assumed his holoform and hugged her tightly against him.
Elizabetta tried desperately not to cry. She felt so selfish for fearing so much for her own safety, but she knew that mankind was doomed either way, it didn't matter if the Decepticons got her or not. They would kill until they had her and the killing wouldn't stop even once they did. Their goal was universal domination through human extermination. It was like War of the Worlds had really come to life.
"We'll find a way to counterstrike," he said, "We'll figure out what they're after and use it to our own advantage."
"We have to make them stop killing innocent people first," she said, voice wavering.
"Elizabetta, even if we turned you over to them, the killings wouldn't stop. I'll heighten the security; I'll have all Autobots around the globe be prepared for Decepticon attacks against humans. We can't stop the loss of life, but maybe we can lessen the numbers killed."
"What about my family?" she breathed, "What about my friends? They're not stupid; they'll know to use that against me."
"We'll bring them here if we have to. After that broadcast, we Transformers are no longer a secret. But, we must continue to hide for fear of retaliation."
"I'm so scared Optimus…"
He looked her right in the eye. "You don't need to be afraid," he said, kissing her forehead, "I'm right here, I'll always be right here."
The tears finally spilled from her eyes and Optimus quickly worked to dry them. "We'll get through this," he tried to reassure her, "I promise you. Tears won't solve anything."
She knew he was right and she inhaled deeply, trying to relax her nerves. After a few silent moments, she finally said, "I don't know what I'd do without you."
He smiled. "Come on," he said, "Let's get back to the command center and see if we can figure out why the Decepticons want you back."
She nodded, "Alright."
"Just where in the Pit did you find this abomination?" Megatron growled as Starscream presented him the human.
"Barricade brought him in actually," Starscream said, "The Autobots cast him out."
"Cast him out?" the Decepticon leader said, surprised, then he added with venom, "Just why do you think we should have him here if he was obviously causing trouble with the Autobots?"
"I thought, by chance, we might have some use for him," Starscream explained, "If not, I can just as easily do away with him."
"Has he been interrogated?"
"Yes. He was the one who surrendered Elizabetta to us before, maybe; somehow he can do it again."
Megatron pondered Starscream's words. "We'll keep him around, just for a bit. He may prove to be useful later."
"Yes sir."
"I am curious to know why he was rejected by the Autobots."
"More or less, he was acting as a Decepticon ally."
Megatron tossed Ross back to Starscream, "I hope he enjoys being our pet."
"Why sir, he won't have a choice."
Not the best ending, but my creative juices weren't really flowing for this chapter. Feel free to give me feedback, good or bad, all feedback is welcome.
