In which Alison becomes a demigod


For a moment, I felt nothing. Then I felt the pain. At first, it was just the expected pain of being stabbed in the chest - the splinter of bone, the carving of flesh - but then it turned into a heat. Searing, focused on my hands and chest where I was touching the AllSpark, with waves that seemed to pass through my body. I wanted to scream, but couldn't get any air to do so. I couldn't even feel my heartbeat, almost as if it had stopped.

Then the AllSpark started collapsing - no, dissolving, starting at the point where it met my chest. My arms seemed to move automatically, pushing the AllSpark closer and further into me. In a minute - an hour - a second - the Cube had become little more than a fizzle trapped between my cupped hands and my chest cavity before winking out entirely. I opened my eyes, looked down at my hands - bloodied and burned - and my heart beat again.

With the first heartbeat, a light burst forth from my chest, so bright it blinded me and I had to screw my eyes shut. And a new pain came over me. Again burning, but with an itch behind it, on my legs, my arms, across my chest, up in my brain. With each heartbeat, it grew and grew, hurting so much I was locked in place from the pain. Then it stopped in my arms and legs, leaving behind a gentle warmth, while my chest and head grew worse. Another - minute? Second? I couldn't tell time - and my chest stopped as well, but the pain in my brain built up even more. I felt my shoulders unlock themselves, and I reached up to clutch my head. My lungs started working again and after the first gasping breath in, a scream came out on the exhale. And then, as soon as I ran out of air again, the pain stopped.

Images assaulted me then, similar to the vision I'd had in Bumblebee, but much more intense. The images flickered just as fast, but a wider variety of images presented themselves, and I could comprehend them much better. More images of the Primes, first fighting some other aliens, then fighting each other. Images of a time after the Primes, when wars and factions covered Cybertron. Images of Optimus, Megatron, Sentinel and others, talking with and occasionally fighting other mechs and femmes, and a day when Cybertron was united, with Sentinel and the mech so similar to Optimus holding a staff and standing above all but a single femme, surrounded by Optimus, Megatron and the others who made that day possible.

Images of a Cybertron at peace, where Optimus and Sentinel acted as scientists and diplomats, Megatron and the unknown mech leading the defense force, Bumblebee being born in the AllSpark's temple, Coppertone falling in love with a communications officer, Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jazz acting out their duties. Images of the expedition that uncovered the Fallen's sarcophagus, and its placement in the temple. Images of unrest, bots rising in rebellion, and again the image of the unknown mech on his deathbed, followed by Megatron violently going against the rebels, only to turn into one himself.

Images of the War. Coppertone and her love secretly bonding before the war tore them apart. Jazz running Spec Ops and figuring missions. Ratchet doing all he could to save as many 'Bots as possible. Battles and destruction. Sentinel approaching Megatron and Optimus with his plans, and the supposed failed launch of the Ark. Ironhide fighting against Shockwave and a femme I didn't know. Optimus and Megatron fighting it out until Optimus turned and fled. The launch of the AllSpark, Megatron crushing Bumblebee's voicebox in rage, and his own pursuit.

Images of the AllSpark's journey through space, occasionally gathering enough passive energy to create a hatchling. Megatron following behind, collecting them, keeping them with him until he found the Nemesis. A brief flash of Megatron and the Fallen speaking before Megatron set off for Earth. The AllSpark's landing, and again, being found by the Seven and the Dam built around it. Megatron in the ice with Archibald being blinded. Megatron brought into the Hoover Dam base, and his proximity allowing a brief connection of consciousness, giving her access to his memories. And then me, arriving with Bumblebee and the others, and the AllSpark swelled with joy. ~My Chosen Bearer.~

The images receded then, and I was back in the street, kneeling with my head bowed in my hands. I pushed myself to my feet and noticed all my aches had disappeared. I didn't feel refreshed, but I wasn't hurting.

I also seemed to have better senses than before. My eyesight felt sharper, and my ears were picking up more sounds. And I could sense a kind of tingling, almost like after a shiver, but it was stronger in two spots, and each one felt different. Behind me, I could feel… wonder and fear and hope and some buried joy. In front of me… shock, with the edges of anger.

I looked up and saw Megatron staring down at me, and in his plating I could see the reflection of two blue lights. After a second, I realized they were my eyes, glowing with the same blue light of the AllSpark.

"What?..." Megatron said, his voice softer than I would have believed five minutes ago.

"Alison?" Optimus said, and I turned to look at him. "What have you done?"

"~She has done what I have asked of her.~" I said, but it wasn't really me. It was as if a woman's voice was laid over my own, and was using my mouth to talk. Like I was a step back in my own head. "~Alison is now my Bearer, and she will carry me the rest of her days in this form.~"

The shock in Megatron's field melted away, anger taking full hold, and I managed to jump back just before he swiped a servo at me with a growl. I could hear the Rangers raise their weapons up to shoot him.

"No, stop!" I yelled as I turned, my voice overcoming the woman's, and lifted my arms in front of me. I felt something leave me through my hands, and a second later, the radios on Epps's belt, as well as some cell phones and other electronics on the ground sparked and screeched before going silent and dead, while Megatron reared back from me, arm going limp at his side.

By now, I could see Mikaela and the other 'Bots arriving, but I felt myself pulled back in my head again and my body turned to face Megatron. "~Megatron, my child, listen to me,~" the woman's - the AllSpark's! - voice said, surprising me as she was speaking in Cybertronian, but I could still understand it. "~Do not let your anger blind you more. You are Lord High Protector, you have a duty to fulfill, to Cybertron, to your people, to myself and my children! My last generation was entrusted to you, and to them you must return.~"

My arms lifted up in front of me, and I watched as pink energy started flowing out of my hands, collecting together into a ball, which my hands started to morph into a cube. The cube grew to almost three times the size the AllSpark had collapsed down to before the energy cut off and it dropped into my hands. I could see it was clearly a cube of energon.

I held it up to Megatron, and the AllSpark spoke again. "~Take this to my children, that they may grow strong, and remind you of your purpose.~"

Megatron stared down at me with narrowed optics, but something in the AllSpark's words must have hit him. He took the Cube from my hands, then quickly stood and transformed, flying off into the sky before any of us could do more than cover and brace ourselves from the wind and debris he sent up.

I lowered my arms and turned to Optimus, still laying behind me. "~Optimus, my child, you were willing to sacrifice yourself today. Do not make habit of this, your Father and sire do not wish to see you so soon.~"

"My Lady AllSpark." Optimus pushed himself up into a kneeling position, looking and feeling subservient even as he towered over me. "~Is what you said of Megatron true? He has been entrusted the care of your last hatchlings?~"

"~Your brother is not as lost as you have made yourself believe, Optimus,~" the AllSpark said, switching back to English. "~He will fulfill his duty as a protector, as you will fulfill your duty as a teacher.~" I smiled up at him. "~My Bearer has my knowledge and power, but she does not have the teachings and wisdom to use them yet. Your Task is to teach her, that she may help bring peace to my children.~"

Optimus dipped his head into a bow. "I will complete this Task to be best of my ability."

"~I know you will.~" I turned again, this time facing the other 'Bots. Ironhide was supporting Jazz, who was holding one of his legs in his servo, while Ratchet was carrying Coppertone. The femme was in bad shape, her helm lolling to the side as she watched with dim lidded optics. Her chestplates were a torn mess, energon coating her and even from this distance I could see parts missing. The damage extended down to her spark chamber, where I could see faint light leaking through two deep gashes.

"~Bring her to me,~" The AllSpark said, and Ratchet instantly obeyed, kneeling in front of me so Coppertone was at my eye level. Even her EM field was muted, filled with an acceptance of the end.

"She's close to the Well," Ratchet said, in that universally grim tone of a doctor giving a fatal diagnosis. It rang in his EM field, sadness and resignation and the sharp subtle prick of guilt.

"~She will not enter it today.~" I raised my arms and the palms of my hands started glowing with a blue light, which muted as I placed my hands over Coppertone's spark chamber. In my mind, I felt a shift, as if the AllSpark had moved from in front of me to just behind me, guiding me in how to complete this task. When she spoke, my voice was equal to hers, in a dialect of Cybertronian that felt ancient. "~Coppertone, Daughter, Mate, Sire, Strong of Spark. Your place is here, to guard and protect, to watch and to guide. Take my strength to keep you whole, until the bonds you've made are made anew.~" A slight pulse coursed through me, and before my eyes, I could see the damage healing. Energon lines sealed and missing parts grew new. The gashes over the spark chamber sealed as if it had never been touched. In less than a minute, the only reason you would suspect anything was wrong with her was the fact her outer chestplates were missing, leaving bare metal exposed. I looked up at Copper's face, and her optics had brightened, though stayed lidded.

"Thank you, my Lady," she managed to say, a flare of gratitude in her field before it settled, her optics shut, and she fell into a peaceful recharge.

I don't know if it was me or the AllSpark that started to smile, but it was genuine on both our parts. "~She will rest now, and wake recovered.~" I stepped back and looked to Jazz and Ironhide. "~Come here, my son.~"

Jazz smiled, tipping his helm in a cocky nod as Ironhide limped them over. "I thank you, m'Lady. This will certainly make it easier on Ratchet."

I could feel the AllSpark's amusement as Jazz was set down, his leg put in its proper place and I knelt down, placing one glowing hand on the leg and the other on Jazz's hip. "~Fix what has been broken. Reconnect what has been torn apart, and save pain for a later time.~" Again, a slight pulse, and I could see wires and lines and cables start reconnecting. It was nowhere as dramatic a healing as Coppertone's, but it was what was needed.

As Jazz got back up, bouncing a little on his leg to test it out, I looked to Bumblebee. The AllSpark's voice took over mine again. "~I am sorry I can not heal your legs, young Knight, but I hope my gift of your voice will be enough.~"

"It- it's more than enough, my Lady," Bee said, bowing his head slightly in abashment, even more evident in his field. "But, I'm no Knight."

"~You may not have completed your training in the Temple, but your actions speak true of your spark.~" I walked towards him, placing a hand on his leg when I reached his side. "~Will you protect my Bearer, as the first Knights did long ago?~"

"Of course, with my life, my Lady." Bee nodded eagerly.

"~Then I proclaim you a Knight and Guardian. You will serve us well, my son.~" I turned to face Optimus again. "~Alison is of pure heart, her actions of pure intent, and her eyes see clear. Heed the words she tells, and trust her promises. For now, I will rest, until my Bearer has need to call upon me.~" And with that, I felt the AllSpark's presence melt away and I myself filled the space she left. My shoulders sagged as I leaned forward slightly, suddenly feeling the need to catch my breath.

"Alison?" I turned and found Mikaela next to me. I hadn't even noticed her there. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, attempting to give her a smile, though it probably looked more like a grimace. "Not entirely what I was expecting to happen today."

"Alison," Lennox said, walking up to us with Epps. "What the hell did you do?"

"The AllSpark told me to stab it into my chest, so I did," I said. "It was either do that, shove it into Megatron's and kill him while destroying it, or shove it into Optimus's and we'd be really fucked then."

"The AllSpark told you?" Will sighed and shook his head. "If I hadn't seen what we just saw, I'd call the whole thing crazy."

"It still is crazy," Epps said, looking around. Shell shocked and traumatized civilians either wandered or stared in amazement, while a couple first responder crews were trying to start the clean up. "Gonna be a hell of a time explaining all this."

"Government experiment that progressed too far, too fast, and they're gonna fire the general who was behind it," I said, shrugging. "I'll probably be a self-sacrificing soldier who bravely volunteered to get close enough to set off the reset button."

"That… actually sounds like it would work," Mikaela said.

"Let's leave that for Keller to figure out," Lennox said, looking around. "We better get moving out, we don't need to be here when the civilians come back out. Can you use the radio Epps?"

"After what she threw at it? I think we'll be pushing our luck."

"Let me see it," I said, holding my hand out. Epps looked skeptical, but handed it over. When he placed the radio in my hand, I concentrated on it, silently wishing for it to be fixed, or even improved. My palm flashed blue, and I could feel the internal mechanisms reconfiguring themselves into the proper places. Even the cracks and dents in the metal casing smoothed out, leaving it like new. Once done, the glow faded from my hand, and I sagged as sudden exhaustion hit me. "I'm fine," I said as Mikaela caught me. "I think doing all that work just wore me out." I held the radio out to Epps. "That should work now, maybe even better than before.

Epps nodded, turning it on. "Raptor, Raptor, this is Mission City Ground Forces, do you copy?"

::We copy you, Ground Forces. What's your situation?::

"Something you aren't going to believe." Epps and Lennox walked away, starting to coordinate things that I didn't want to think about right then.

"Your eyes changed," Mikaela said.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at her.

"Your eyes. When the… AllSpark was controlling you, they were bright blue, then they turned back to normal. But now they have a blue ring in the middle."

I turned and looked at my reflection in the mirror of the tow truck, and, sure enough, there was a blue ring around my pupil. I also noticed a pale white patch of skin on my cheek, and my hand when I went to touch it was also pale. "Huh. New eyes, new skin and a roommate in my head. I wonder if I'll grow a metal tail too."

Mikaela huffed out a short laugh, then another bubbled up after it. Watching her, I gave off one myself, and we joined together in hysterical laughter. A civilian would think us crazy, just laughing after everything that happened, but those around us were soldiers, and they were familiar with that sort of release. It was either laughter, screaming or crying, and of the three, I preferred the first.

As Mikaela and I calmed down, Optimus walked over to us, kneeling in front of me. "Alison, what you did today was a great risk, and because of it, I owe you my life. We are in your debt."

"You don't owe me anything, Optimus," I told him. "Just help me out the way the AllSpark said you should, and that's all the thanks I need."

"Optimus," Bee said, making us look at him. "Permission to speak freely?"

"Permission granted, Bumblebee." Optimus smiled and placed a servo on Bee's shoulder. "It's good to hear you once again."

Bee smiled. "Even if the AllSpark hadn't appointed me her Guardian, I was going to request permission to stay with Alison."

"And I would have granted it, provided you would be welcome."

"Of course he's welcome," I said. "Somethings you just can't go through without becoming friends, and I think an alien war would be on that list."

Mikaela nodded. "Agreed. And I think Bumblebee and I made a pretty good team back there, didn't we?"

"We sure did, even if Ratchet's going to complain about exacerbating my injury."

"You'll have to tell me about that later," I said, even though I knew exactly what they were talking about.

"Only if you explain what that was you gave Megatron."

"It was a cube to produce energon," I said easily. "It's for the hatchlings Megatron hid in stasis before he crashed here."

"Hatchlings?" Bee and Mikaela asked at the same time.

I nodded. "Hatchlings are baby cybertronians, like the one they showed us at the Dam. The AllSpark apparently created several while on route from Cybertron to here, and Megatron found most of them and put them somewhere safe before landing on Earth."

"Wait, so the AllSpark charged Megatron with hatchling sitting?" Bee asked.

"Yup. I mean, the 'Cons will probably help but it's mainly on him."

"Alison, did you say you have seen a hatchling?" Optimus asked, his field rippling with curiosity and a touch of unease, and I realized my momentary slip.

Thankfully, Lennox came up before I could answer, his face mostly clean and a bandage on his forehead, carrying a bundle under his arm. "Alright, we got word from Keller. We're going to rendezvous at Nellis Air Force Base and figure out what to do from there." He looked up Optimus. "We've found a trailer we think we can stick Bumblebee and Coppertone in, but you would have to pull it."

"That would be no trouble at all, Captain Lennox," Optimus said, standing. "Just direct me to it."

Lennox nodded, then held the bundle out to me and I could see it was some clean clothes. "There's a brick building back that way with a couple of my guys out front." He pointed over his shoulder. "You can duck in there and there's a bathroom on the left you can change in."

I looked myself over for a second before nodding and taking the clothes. "Thank you, Lennox." I glanced at Mikaela. "Wanna follow?"

She shook her head. "I'm gonna start unhooking Bee so we can get him in the trailer."

I nodded and left her to her task. The outfit Lennox had found for me consisted of a pair of black yoga pants, a white tank top, and a brown zip hoodie. Not the greatest thing, but better than blood-soaked clothes and they were close to my size, the hoodie being just a bit large even after zipping it. There was also a pair of sunglasses, so apparently Lennox had noticed my eyes before walking away.

I took the time to also clean myself off the best I could, and I got a good look at my chest. In the center of my chest was a large starburst patch of pale white skin, just bigger than the span of my hand and extending from my collarbone to halfway down my chest. A small dip right over my heart was the only actual scar from it, and some prodding showed me I couldn't feel the lump of my pacemaker anymore. My hands and forearms were also white now, ending in a jagged edge just above my elbows, my right cheek had a white patch, and my legs had some too. All of it seemed to be where I had some kind of injury, so I assumed it was just a mark of the AllSpark healing me. Not too bad, really, compared to how it otherwise could have looked. At least I didn't have obvious cybernetics or random pieces of metal sticking out from my skin.

When I came out, the soldiers walked away from the building with me, though if it was just coincidence or they were attempting to guard me, I wasn't sure. Optimus had gotten the trailer, and the bots were currently loading up Bee, with Ratchet still holding Coppertone nearby.

Lennox noticed me as I came up to where he and Mikaela. "You and Mikaela are riding with Optimus," he told me. "We'll keep a perimeter around you until we get to Nellis."

I nodded, reaching out to take Mikaela's hand as I stood next to her. "Right. Thanks, Lennox."

"Don't mention it, and call me Will."

It took another ten minutes for Copper to be loaded into the trailer, then Lennox called for everyone to load up and get moving. Mikaela and I climbed into Optimus's cab, sinking back into the seats with deep sighs.

The seatbelts sudden crossed us to buckle, making us look up for a second. "Your traffic laws require safety restraints be used, especially when on the highway."

I gave a small smile. "Yeah, they do. Good knowing that."

Mikaela leaned against my shoulder, yawning. "Wake me when we get there, will you?" she asked, closing her eyes.

I watched her for a few moments as Optimus pulled out, then I leaned back and closed my eyes too. A nap before facing the government wouldn't hurt, and it wasn't like I hadn't earned it.


AN: Here you go, the answer to the cliffhanger. This is where the canon divergence really kicks in, so be ready for all new content after this. I'll see you all next week, (hopefully) same Bot Time, same Bot Channel!