The Diego Diaries: Inter Face (dd6 468)
-0-Mars Operational Center, Autobot City
Raptor leaped up, stepped forward, then gripped Springer by the arm. Spinning him, he slugged Shattered Glass Springer in the gut, then gripped his helm to slam his face into his knee assembly. The big drunk mech staggered, then fell to the ground stunned. Ratchet jumped up, skirted the table, then knelt to disable the big mech. Flipping the medic encoded switch on his back, Springer fell into stasis, then Ratchet rolled him to remove two parts from his chassis. He rose, then glanced at Prime. "He's not going anywhere anytime soon. I downloaded the message into him as well. If anyone wants him, they're going to have to work for it."
Prime nodded, then looked at Drift. "Which one are you?"
"This one," Drift said glancing around. "Where's Springer?"
"He's with my Prime," Prowl said. "I'm from the Peaceful Universe."
"Frag!" Drift said with emotion.
"Sit. Let's figure this out," Ratchet said gently as the big mech walked to the table to sit heavily.
"Where is everyone?" Drift asked.
"Well, you were in the Peaceful Universe if you brought back Shattered Glass Springer," Ratchet said. He grinned slightly. "Thanks for the present. We just got back Peaceful Universe Prowl after he ended up in the Shattered Glass Universe. Megatron came because he did. Springer, our Springer is in the Peaceful Universe, right?"
"I guess so. I didn't see him," Drift said. "I ended up in a bar with this slagger and we had a fight, then came here. We tore the place up. That group will probably hear about it. I don't think they even jaywalk there." He glanced around. "We have two Prowls."
"We do," Prime said. "It would appear that if they are far enough apart, the trigger is not alarmed."
"Or, because Peaceful Universe Prowl is far enough away from us energetically that's possible. You feel the buzz up close. What about if you stand side-by-side?" Ratchet asked. "It could test the system for us."
"Before I came here I was in a place that was a hellscape. There was nothing but darkness and horror, swirling black shapes and murder. I don't think I want to chance a return there at this time," Peaceful Universe Prowl said.
"What makes you think you'd be the one who would go there?" Prowl of Mars said.
"It won't be me," Ratchet said. "I have no counterpart in the Peaceful Universe." Then he disappeared.
Everyone sat a moment staring at the empty place Ratchet was, then they all stood up at the same time in bedlam.
-0-Far away, somewhere
He floated in the deepest darkness he'd ever experienced. The darkness was alive and filled with shrieking shadow figures that roiled around him. They touched him with their cold dank hands, shoving and pushing him around before moving back for other things take their turn. Even in the midst of his turmoil, he thought to turn on his sensors and cameras to take in the scene. It seemed like forever, then he was gone again.
-0-Mars, Ops Center
They looked around but Ratchet was gone. Ironhide was lit. "Why did he go? He doesn't exist in your universe," he said as he spun on both Prowls.
"He exists in two of them," Martian Prowl said.
Then Ratchet was back.
-0-Peaceful Universe, The Residence
Prime sat and the rest did including a sullen appearing young Drift. "There does not seem to be a pattern to how we come and go," he said.
"I think its localized to us," he said glancing at PU Springer, "Then Optimus and Prowl, though I don't know why," Springer of Mars said grimly. No one said a word as they pondered that.
"Your Drift is a grown up, then," younger Drift said.
Springer nodded. "He's my bond in my universe."
"He followed you then," Drift said.
Martian Springer considered that. "Maybe, maybe not."
-0-Mars Ops Center
Ironhide spun to face Ratchet who was gawking around himself before Ironhide jumped on him. "WHERE THE FRAG DID YOU GO!?"
"I don't know. It was dark and crazy scary," Ratchet said as he walked to the table to sit.
"You went where I went," Prowl of the Peaceful Universe said as he stood nearby leaning on the console of the operational center. He could feel the buzz with Prowl but he dared not push his luck. With Ratchet in play, his careful constructs about the whole process just collapsed.
"I did film it," Ratchet said, "and I scanned it."
They stared at him, then Prowl of Mars rose and plugged into Ratchet with a data wafer at an external neck line jack. "Give."
Ratchet complied, then Prowl of Mars walked to the console nearby, activating a huge screen as he slotted the disk. Hitting a switch, he instinctively stepped back to watch with everyone else.
A riot of darkness appeared implying a lot of screaming without the sound. Apparently, it was unable to be taped or it was a mental sound you had to be there to hear. It was horrifyingly awful, then it was over. Wheeljack and Perceptor were bent over a console dealing with the sensor data. Prowl of the Peaceful Universe glanced at Ratchet. "It was a big dark energy pit for me. Just like that. It happened so fast I couldn't react to tape it."
"We'll let it go this time," Ratchet said as he sat back to relax.
"Prime, we sort of have a bead on the strange creatures," Wheeljack said as he glanced toward the table. "It would appear that they're pure energy and they don't have a definite signature but appear to bear characteristics with a lot of known and unknown species."
"What do you mean, Wheeljack?" Prime asked.
Wheeljack thought a moment, then off line conversed with Perceptor. He looked at Prime. "It's pretty preliminary, Prime, but it appears that there's an energy location filled with dark features and emotions. I would say that the creatures are energetic, they appear to be made of what you and I might consider negative emotional energy, and they have malevolent intentions. I don't know why there are fragments of so many different species in their energetic signatures but there is. There's also something different as well, something that doesn't align with them, something that's dangerous. I don't know more than that but its a start. I also don't know if they have a hand in this or if they're just incidental."
Prime glanced at both Prowls who were thinking.
"We've come across a lot of beings in our confederation of which many are energetic in form or substance, without a corporeal body like you and me. They exist as light or energy creatures and tend to be astonishingly highly elevated in their dimensional forms and outlooks. Something this negative and dangerous is new to me and to our own science," Peaceful Universe Prowl said.
"We have as well," Prowl said. "Nothing this awful is known to us … but …" He paused to think.
"The Benzuli," Ratchet said as Raptor nodded. "The Dead Zone in the Benzuli is supposed to be filled with anti-energy … negativity."
Prowl of Mars nodded. "That's right but I don't know. We've never found such things as this with our scans there. Raptor, what do you know?"
"We know time is ruptured there and its as old as the universe. I wouldn't be surprised that the things that might emanate from there could be this bad but we never saw them. We were there a long, long time and we never saw this kind of slag before."
It was silent, then Drift vanished.
-0-Residence, Peaceful Universe
He appeared on the balcony, then glanced around frantically. Sitting nearby, staring at him with astonishment, Springer of Mars and the others stood. Drift rubbed his face, then stepped forward to embrace Springer, his Springer. They held each other, then Springer stepped back. "What's going on?"
"A lot. Let me tell you," Drift said as they sat again. He stared at a younger version of himself, then Ironhide and his bond. "You're both here."
"We are," Springer of Mars said. "What happened to you? Have you been back?"
"Yes. I was on Mars with your Prowl," he said glancing at Prime, then staring at Sentinel a moment. It was disconcerting to see him here as a 'good guy'. "You were there, Springer and Prowl, together in the diplomatic apartments when Prowl, your Prowl disappeared," he said nodding to the one who was sitting next to Ironhide with a tense expression. "I was sent to babysit. You then left and I was right behind you. I appeared in a bar somewhere around here where the other Springer, the Shattered Glass version was getting slag faced. I asked him to come out and he jumped me. It rather threw the evening off for everyone around us.
"The next thing I know I'm in Ops Center on Mars with him slugging it out. The others there jumped us and we put him down. If he jumps, don't activate him," Drift said. "Your Prowl from here was there along with mine. Everyone was there, then Ratchet jagged out. He ended up in some limbo place filled with bad mojo before popping back in with sensor data and images he had the presence of mind to take. That or he has awesome reflexes."
"Ada is back safely?" Springer asked with concern.
"He is. So far as I can tell we have Peaceful Universe Prowl, our Prowl and that's it. Megatron came over because someone ended up there, one of the Prowls. I get mixed up. They looked at the data and it appears that they were both in a strange universe filled with energy beings that have a lot of different elements of a lot of different species in their make up. That's all I heard before I ended up back here. I'm getting a bit tired of all of it if anyone wants to know. Oh, and the Benzuli and Dead Zone are like this a little but not this particular thing. Whatever it is." Drift vented a sigh. "Anyone got a beer?"
They did.
-0-Mars
"If we extrapolate where everyone can still be, then we can maybe get a pattern made that Teletraan can deduce even if it eludes us," Prowl of Mars said.
"Well, I'm here," Ratchet said with a slight grin. "You are, Prowl of the Other Optimus Realm. How about we call you OOR for that instead of Peaceful Universe? The abbreviation of that is PU. Among the humans it means a stinking smell."
PU Prowl grinned slightly. "Slagging humans. If it makes you happy, I don't mind consorting with the great Optimus Prime in any universe."
"We don't either," Ratchet said with a dazzling smile. He leaned back to consider the situation. "We only have OOR Prowl while they have, theoretically, both free ranging Springers and Drift. Who else is part of the merry-go-round besides you, Optimus?"
"No one so far," Megatron said. "By the way, Doctor, you disappeared the moment you said you had no counterpart in the other universe. It would appear that the walls have audials."
Everyone considered that, then Ratchet glanced at OOR Prowl. "How about it? Say something similar and lets test that."
Prowl considered that, then glanced at his counterpart nearby. "Do we have a disk with the data for me to carry if this works?"
Wheeljack downloaded it, then handed it to OOR Prowl. "Here. Don't take offense if I stand back."
"I won't," Prowl said. He stared at the data, then girded himself. "I suppose I will never get back to my own universe again." Then he disappeared.
Everyone stared at the empty place, then each other. "That worked?" Ratchet said with amazement.
"I hope so," Prowl of Mars said with a trace of anxiety.
-0-Elsewhere
"That was risky in this scenario to have them think that's all it takes, Vector," Solus said with a slight frown. "You might make this worse than it is, brother."
"I suppose so but I'm vexed, Solus. You KNOW how it is when I'm vexed," the slightly distracted and comically stuffy mech said.
Prima nodded grimly. "You aren't the only one, brother. Not by a long shot."
-0-In The Other Optimus Realm at The Residence
He appeared next to Sentinel who nearly jumped up with startlement. Turning to Prime, Prowl almost felt like weeping. "Optimus."
"Prowl? Which one are you?" Optimus Prime said as he stood.
"Yours. This is my universe," Prowl said with relief. He turned to the others. "All I had to do was say the opposite of going home and I came here. It sounds stupid but it happened. Its a long story but I have the data," he said holding up his data wafer.
Springer and Drift stood then turned toward Prowl. "Just that? Is that all it took?"
"For me. This time. I don't know. Try it. Maybe it'll work," Prowl said. "I'm not sure about anything right now."
Drift glanced at Springer, then took his servo. Holding it tightly, they turned to face each other. "We're stuck here," Drift said "Maybe forever ..."
-0-TBC 9-12-18 edited 9-13-18
NOTE: I swear that I will do notes tomorrow. Its been weirdly busy here. Tomorrow, my darlings. Your notes are holy writ and its my absolute practice to answer them. :D