Reminder: 'normal speak', 'cybertronian', /spook speak/, :Autobot communication frequencies:, /:spook comm frequency:/
Miracles - Chapter 14 - ' Challenged '
Sam hid behind a rock, quivering. He peered over the edge with trepidation and despite the terror screaming through him and eating away at his gut, he refused to back down. Not now. Not after so much running.
How the hell was he supposed to win against this thing?
If Megatron had been scary, demanding the Cube as he had perched atop the decrepid building those years ago, the Prime stalking him now was a nuclear holocaust in comparison. The Mecha treaded softly despite its size, which would have towered over Optimus had the Autobot been in their presence. Its metalic legs, oddly bird like, gently laid its toes down before its' sword came out to quickly flip a rock onto its side.
/Best to deal with me now, mortal./ the Prime said. /Or your terror will act in my favour./ A smile appeared on the Prime's face as he continued stalking the human. /I can hear your heartbeat. / A pause as it searched for his human prey. Then, without warning, the sword came down in Sam's direction, splitting the rock he was hiding behind in two. Sam bolted, his eyes rolling back into his head with sheer fright.
/Nonononono!/
How in God's name was he supposed to fight this thing? Genesis had only given him one instruction before the gate had closed his one and only escape route and it still made no sense. The Prime was dangerous and he had to survive. It would be the most difficult task he had ever done, and by the bloody hells in every Mythos he could think of, she hadn't been kidding. Her was to use his sheer will to survive, but... How the hell was he expected to do that when he had nothing. Nothing! NOTHING! And the sunuvabitch Prime behind him was hell bent on killing him. Damn near sliced his head off when they had first met, on a long, dusty road. Which explained why he was still here. He just kept running, though for how much longer he didn't know. Felt like hours and although his body ached, his mind was faltering. Sometimes he swore the Prime let him rest and just as he thought he could recover fully, the Prime attacked again.
Sam managed to dart behind several trees and stumbled head first into a steep ditch. He slid several feet, getting dirt in his eyes and mouth as he pitched down the embankment. He rolled onto his back when he finally came to a stop, ignoring the new scrapes making his metal skin bleed energon. That was one of the weird things about this dimension. He was human, but whenever he needed inspiration, like when he imagined himself doing what Ironhide or Bumblebee would have done in his same situation, his skin.. Changed. If he survived, he would ask Genesis about the weird trait. He just hoped it wasn't a permanent feature.
He looked up. The trees cast dark shadows over him and the ditch, the branches waving to some strange, alien breeze that only existed to them. The shadows danced as the moved, then trembled as the Prime strode by. Sam held his breath, staring upwards as the light reflecting off the Cybertronian cast its own mired of colors into the trees' shadows.
That's when Sam saw it. A snake. A Cobra to be more precise. He slowly shifted his weight away from it, one hand clutching the thin trunks of saplings around him as he helplessly held his balance. The snake rose, and just as the skin off Alice (back when Sam had confronted the Pretender) had peeled away, the skin of the snake sloughed off to expose the creature's true robotic form. Then it stretched meticulously towards him, untangling itself from the ground cover as if to inspect the human. Then it froze, it's gears and hood locking into place. Sam lifted an eyebrow when it didn't move. He carefully grabbed a stick from beside him, still casting cautious stares around him for the Prime, and poked the Snake. The snake had become a staff. Satisfied that it wasn't Going to add to his problems, he grunted and picked up the thing. As soon as he touched it, his metallic skin rippled as if receiving some new programming.
That's when the Prime hit.
Sam bolted, climbing up the ditch side with every ounce of strength he could muster. He pulled himself up using the foliage around him, but was knocked back onto his back by a swipe from the Prime's claws. Swipe, dodge, swipe dodge. Roll. And just when he thought the Prime was going to land a killing blow, he blocked his face with both arms and the staff and screamed.
The staff immediately sent up an energy shield that caused the Prime's aim to slide and land in the dirt beside the cowering human.
/Very Good, human. Keep trying./ It wasn't mockery, but gentle guidance in his tone.
/Huh?
The Prime smirked. /Lesson one accomplished, mortal. But the battle's not yet complete./ The Prime raised his sword for another strike.
Again Sam bolted. He made it up the side of the ditch this time, quickly fleeing to a patch of ferns. The Prime ran behind him, swerving sharply as if to cut him off. The sword came down and Sam, out of sheer frustration, swung the staff at the sword. The blade shattered. The Prime leapt back, completely flabbergasted at the move, and shouted something very unfriendly in Cybertronian. The Prime picked up what remained of his weapon and continued on after then human.
There was no continued howl of protest, no mockery, at least not like how Megatron had taunted him. There was a laughing glint in the Prime's eye, like a teacher gets when dealing with a particularly stubborn student. A slight sneer formed on the mecha's faceplate as he reached out to strike at the human with the remains of his sword. Sam found himself air born, landing with a heavy, lung-crushing thud. The Prime growled and pulled out another blade from his arm guard and charged. Sam rolled to his feet, then, taking a chance, stood his ground with the staff in his hands. If the staff had formed the shield when he needed it most and had shattered the first sword, perhaps it would help again. Like Genesis had lectured him, he focused intent into the staff and shakily, he felt the staff come alive. The staff shook, stretched out and as the Prime approach yet again, he felt the programming in the staff take hold of him. Sam suddenly found himself knowing how to use the staff in a battle. More accurately, it took over his limbs. Sam just had to direct the staff where he wanted it to go and the staff did it for him. The Prime retaliated, still attempting to strike out at the human, but Sam was able to make blows that forced the Prime to keep a respectful distance. He felt like the staff was delaying his inevitable death and he would let Mikaela and Genesis down. But hadn't Genesis been the one to get him trapped in this shit forsaken place?
Sam squeaked when the Prime barely connected with his face. Had the blades been a smidgen closer, he would have been missing half his head. Sam took off, dodging then Prime's further attacks. He bolted through a clearing and found himself almost stumbling into the deepest holes he had ever seen. The feeling coming from the dark tunnel was ... Etherial. Dark. Like if he could face the tunnel, he might find help, but what lay inside was potentially as dangerous, if not more so than the Prime. If he chose to stay and avoid the potential terror that would eat him on the other side, the Prime would kill him. Either way, he was screwed. The Prime approached him, sword gleaming. Sam passed glances between the hole and the Prime, then with no further hesitation, jumped into the abyss.
The next thing he knew, he was bolting upright and inhaling air that felt like acid in his lungs. Several NEST medics stood around him in the medical wing, their dark eyes vivid behind their masks. Mikaela sat on her aft, relieved to see Sam was moving, while a very annoyed Bumblebee glared at Genesis as her own wounds were tended. In then corner, still in his own plain where he had left him, was the Prime.
/Welcome back to the land of the living, Sam Witwicky./ The Prime said. /Consider your lessons completed for the time being./ The Prime bowed respectfully and laid the snake staff down beside the human. /You could have killed me and did not. That was your second lesson. The third was to face the Abyss. You have earned the staff./ A wink. /And I'll tell my son to lay off you before you see him. / He winked once, a sly smile on his faceplates before he and the window to his dimension closed.