Illusions
Hot Rod cocked his head as he listened to the others around him. The Autobots had just returned from yet another battle just minutes before and were discussing what had happened. He wasn't really interested in any of it so he stood and turned away, intending on leaving the room altogether.
"Rod?" Springer was surprised at his friend's actions. In the five weeks since Optimus had returned, the boy had been acting rather strange. He was never in his quarters, stayed away from his friends and he'd even started cutting out in the middle of his shift. And now he was leaving in the middle of a briefing.
"What?"
All optics were on him. Why were they all looking at him like that?
"Hot Rod," Optimus calmly spoke. "Sit down, we're not finished."
Hot Rod stared at him. "I don't want to sit down."
They were all astonished. While Hot Rod was brash and at times immature, he never disobeyed an order unless it was necessary. And leaving a briefing for no reason was totally unlike him.
"Hot Rod..."
Suddenly, the boy chuckled. It was low in his throat. "I never knew that the ceiling was tiled..." he said as his chuckle turned into a laugh. He staggered back and laughed harder as Kup and Ultra Magnus started for him. "Did you all know that there are millions- no, billions of stars in the sky?" He found this very amusing and he continued to laugh. Then, as Kup got within reach, he froze. Then he threw himself into his mentor's arms and cried out, "Make it stop!"
Optimus stood and called for First Aid, feeling anxious. "I want to know what's wrong with him... And I want to know NOW!"
***
Hot Rod lay on the table moaning. He had been like that for the past five minutes while the Protectobots tried to discover what was wrong with him. He turned his head and stared at Ultra Magnus because he was closest. "Magnus?"
The large robot looked over at him. "How are you feeling?" he asked in concern.
Hot Rod shrieked, "Get away from me!" and struggled against his restraints. His struggles grew in intensity and he managed to break free. Leaping up, he spun around and laughed. He summoned his weapon from subspace and fired several reckless shots. In the confusion, he was able to get close enough to Ultra Magnus. He then blew a hole in the wall, pushing Ultra Magnus through it. He jumped after him and raised his weapon.
"Don't even think about it…"
Ultra Magnus stared at the weapon. It was fully charged and he actually felt fear. He knew that whatever was wrong with Hot Rod was causing this strange behavior. And he knew that he might be killed. He slowly stood and froze in place.
Laughing hysterically, Hot Rod walked up to him, keeping an eye on the others. "Now, we're going to take a little trip…" He pointed towards a nearby shuttle. "Let's go…"
Ultra Magnus had no choice and they all knew it. Hot Rod was one of their own, they couldn't just shoot him. The larger robot walked to the shuttle and boarded it while Hot Rod set the controls. In a matter of minutes they were off.
"Optimus! I can't believe you just let them go!" Blaster exclaimed.
"I had no choice…" Optimus sighed. "What were the test results?" They all gaped at him. "Ultra Magnus is resourceful. He'll do what he can to get Hot Rod to come back. The best way to help him is to figure out what's wrong with Hot Rod. Now," he was determined to get answers. "The results."
Perceptor and First Aid exchanged looks before the former replied. "He's insane."
***
They landed on a small organic planet with no signs of intelligent life. Camp was set up in a cave and Ultra Magnus was shackled to a rock.
Ultra Magnus watched him silently for a few minutes. "What are you going to do?" he asked quietly. If he died, he prayed that the others wouldn't hold the boy accountable. Something was seriously wrong with Hot Rod and he knew that if he were in his right mind, he would never think of hurting him or the others.
Hot Rod surprised him by smiling gently. "I can hear them." He tapped the side of his head. "They want me to kill him, but I told them that I couldn't, that you and the others wouldn't like me if I did that." He knelt by his friend and touched his face in wonder. "I won't hurt you, Magnus. But you have to help me. Will you?" He had a hopeful expression on his face and Ultra Magnus had the feeling that if he refused he wouldn't live long enough to find out what the boy wanted from him.
"Of course I'll help you. But," he jiggled his wrists. "You'll have to let me go."
"I didn't want to do that! I swear! They made me!" Hot Rod cried as he curled up tightly. Before Ultra Magnus could say anything, Hot Rod pulled himself together and crawled back to him. He drew out of subspace a sword. It was an old sword and one that Ultra Magnus recognized. It had been up in the archives room for centuries but had been stolen recently. Now he knew who had taken it.
Hot Rod raised the sword and calmly brought it down severing the chains and nearly causing Ultra Magnus to freak. After recovering from the shock, Ultra Magnus climbed to his feet and looked down. He remembered the first rule of thumb when dealing psychotics. Not that he thought his friend was one, but knew he couldn't rule out any possibilities. "What now?" First rule: always humor them; just pretend you're not.
Hot Rod moved closer and put his hands on his chest. "Shh…" he murmured, leaning against him. "They're all around, watching us." He slowly turned his head from one side to the other as if scanning the area for intruders. "If they hear us, then it's over."
After he was satisfied that they weren't going to be ambushed, Hot Rod started to lead him off. They moved deeper into the cave until it was so dark they had to use their night vision.
"Magnus?"
"Yes, Hot Rod…"
"It's so dark… Why do they want us to go down here?" He sounded like a small child, and he was clinging tightly to his arm.
"I don't know," Ultra Magnus said as gently as possible. "I guess we'll just have to wait until we get there."
They walked on in silence for several minutes before they saw a light. Hot Rod dragged him towards it hurriedly. "We're here!" he cried out happily.
Ultra Magnus looked around in confusion. They had come out by a waterfall. There was no one there, not that he'd expected anyone. But Hot Rod seemed happy.
They didn't even suspect that the real danger was just ahead.
***
Galvatron chuckled as he watched them. Soundwave had detected the Autobots' presence and now he watched them in amusement. Who would have thought that the Autobot's Chosen would be playing house? And with Ultra Magnus!
"Cyclonus, what do you make of this?" he queried, pointing to the 'tea party' playing out before him.
"That the brat has gone insane."
"Yes… I wonder what happened…" This was too good to be true.
***
"WHAT?!"
Optimus' voice was filled with shock as he looked to the others. "The Matrix is the reason he's insane? But how…?"
"Not the Matrix," Perceptor explained. "The lack of it is what has damaged his spark." At their perplexed looks, he continued, "When he gained the Matrix, he was linked to it through his spark. But now, his link to it has been severed."
Waves of guilt washed over Optimus. He was the reason the link was broken. If he hadn't taken back the Matrix then Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus would be there on Cybertron, safe.
"But, Optimus lost the Matrix several times before. Why isn't he affected?" Springer asked.
"Optimus had the Matrix for several more years before he first lost it. And it was gone for only a few hours. Hot Rod has been without it for weeks and had only two years to get used to the link."
"So it's my fault…" The guilt over his actions threatened to overwhelm him.
"It's no one's fault. We just have to find him and get the Matrix back inside him. At least until we can find a way to safely break the link."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jazz said. "Let's go!"
***
The Decepticons had come up behind them and there was nothing he could do. Now Hot Rod was kneeling in front of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus couldn't help him.
"Dammit, leave him alone!"
Stroking the boy's face, Galvatron leered at him. "I have no intention… You see, he has caused me so many… ARGH!" He jerked his hand away and glowered at the boy. Hot Rod was quite pleased with himself. He had bit right through Galvatron's hand. Sitting back he smiled serenely. A large purple hand struck his face and he fell back.
"How DARE you…" Galvatron grabbed Hot Rod's head and jerked it back. "Vermin… now you will pay." He pulled Hot Rod to his feet and ripped open his chest armor.
"Stop!" Hot Rod shrieked trying to pull away. He could feel Galvatron's hands inside his chest tearing at circuitry and wires. His pain receptors seemed to be on fire as his body wracked with pain.
"Galvatron!" Ultra Magnus shouted trying to get free.
Suddenly, Hot Rod raised his head and met the other's eyes. His cries had ceased and now he had a frightening look in his eyes. He wrenched free and shoved Galvatron back. Wires and circuits hung from his opened chest as he stood there.
"They took it from me… They took it from me… And now you want to keep me from getting it back. I will not forgive you…" His circuits overloaded, but instead of killing him, it empowered him. His body was glowing an eerie green while his eyes lost all signs of life. He started to move when his body was stopped. He began to tremble uncontrollably as the seizure took over. His head snapped to the side and he opened his mouth. All that came out was gibberish.
They all watched stunned as he fell to the ground. The light faded as he moaned softly. After a few minutes he pushed himself up. "Magnus?" He saw his friend being held by the Sweeps and frowned. When had they gotten into the city and why couldn't he remember? And why was his head pounding so much? "What happened?" he croaked out.
He felt an odd pressure in the back of his head and he reached up. His hand came back with a brown colored liquid covering it and he became afraid. He could feel more fluid running down his back and knew that he was in trouble.
Ultra Magnus watched in horror. Hot Rod needed medical attention and he needed it fast. "Galvaton… Please, help him!"
The enraged Decepticon turned his glare on him. "Why would I do that?" he snarled.
"I'll do anything!"
"No…"
Hot Rod staggered to his feet and met his friend's gaze. "Don't… give in… to them…" He then threw his head back and laughed hysterically. He spun around and around heedless to the fact that he was hurting himself more. He kept on spinning until he made himself dizzy. Then he stopped abruptly and faced them. The insanity was winning. He could feel a strange chill running through his body.
"They want me to go to them…" He smiled. "Yes, I must go to them…" He raised his arms and shouted, "I'm coming!" Then he suddenly had his weapon in his hand.
"Hot Rod…" Oh no… He wasn't, no he couldn't…
The Decepticons watched in utter shock as Hot Rod raised the weapon to his mouth. He calmly inserted it in his mouth ready to fire.
"HOT ROD!"
They were all taken off guard by the voice. Optimus, with Kup, Springer, Jazz, Blaster and the Protectotbots in tow came charging through. They fired repeatedly and the Decpticons beat a hasty retreat.
First Aid cautiously approached Hot Rod, who was kneeling on the ground banging his head onto a rock. He knelt and gently pulled a semi-conscious Hot Rod against his chest and surveyed the damage. "We got here in time…" he said quietly. "A few more minutes and he'd have done irreparable damage." He shifted and looked towards Ultra Magnus. "You okay?"
"I'm fine… Just help him."
Optimus walked over and gently lifted Hot Rod up into his arms. Hot Rod reached up and wrapped his arms around his neck and mumbled something inaudible. "All right, let's go home…"
***
Hot Rod sat up slowly. He had spent the past several days in the repair bay recovering from his wounds. Now he was fine and had the Matrix inside him. "I have to carry this all the time?" he asked weakly.
"No, just for a while," Optimus stated as he came over. "Perceptor and Skyfire are working on a plan to 'wean' you from the Matrix." He sighed deeply. "I never once thought, when I took it from you that this could happen. I'm so sorry Hot Rod."
Shaking his head, Hot Rod replied, "None of us could possibly have known. Besides," he smiled gently. "In the state the Plague put me in, I doubt I could've opened the Matrix if I tried!" His smiles faded a bit and he stepped closer to Optimus. He placed his hands on his chest and rested his head against his shoulder. "You don't need to blame yourself. I believed that it was my fault you were dead, but now I know that it was necessary for you to die. There was no other way for the Matrix to go to another. I don't like that you had to die, but I accept it as Fate."
Optimus gazed down at him in wonder. When had he gotten so mature?
Hot Rod drifted off to sleep and he lifted him back onto the bed. Perhaps one day, when Hot Rod was free of the Matrix they could talk. But for now, he was content to stay by his side.
End
Hot Rod cocked his head as he listened to the others around him. The Autobots had just returned from yet another battle just minutes before and were discussing what had happened. He wasn't really interested in any of it so he stood and turned away, intending on leaving the room altogether.
"Rod?" Springer was surprised at his friend's actions. In the five weeks since Optimus had returned, the boy had been acting rather strange. He was never in his quarters, stayed away from his friends and he'd even started cutting out in the middle of his shift. And now he was leaving in the middle of a briefing.
"What?"
All optics were on him. Why were they all looking at him like that?
"Hot Rod," Optimus calmly spoke. "Sit down, we're not finished."
Hot Rod stared at him. "I don't want to sit down."
They were all astonished. While Hot Rod was brash and at times immature, he never disobeyed an order unless it was necessary. And leaving a briefing for no reason was totally unlike him.
"Hot Rod..."
Suddenly, the boy chuckled. It was low in his throat. "I never knew that the ceiling was tiled..." he said as his chuckle turned into a laugh. He staggered back and laughed harder as Kup and Ultra Magnus started for him. "Did you all know that there are millions- no, billions of stars in the sky?" He found this very amusing and he continued to laugh. Then, as Kup got within reach, he froze. Then he threw himself into his mentor's arms and cried out, "Make it stop!"
Optimus stood and called for First Aid, feeling anxious. "I want to know what's wrong with him... And I want to know NOW!"
***
Hot Rod lay on the table moaning. He had been like that for the past five minutes while the Protectobots tried to discover what was wrong with him. He turned his head and stared at Ultra Magnus because he was closest. "Magnus?"
The large robot looked over at him. "How are you feeling?" he asked in concern.
Hot Rod shrieked, "Get away from me!" and struggled against his restraints. His struggles grew in intensity and he managed to break free. Leaping up, he spun around and laughed. He summoned his weapon from subspace and fired several reckless shots. In the confusion, he was able to get close enough to Ultra Magnus. He then blew a hole in the wall, pushing Ultra Magnus through it. He jumped after him and raised his weapon.
"Don't even think about it…"
Ultra Magnus stared at the weapon. It was fully charged and he actually felt fear. He knew that whatever was wrong with Hot Rod was causing this strange behavior. And he knew that he might be killed. He slowly stood and froze in place.
Laughing hysterically, Hot Rod walked up to him, keeping an eye on the others. "Now, we're going to take a little trip…" He pointed towards a nearby shuttle. "Let's go…"
Ultra Magnus had no choice and they all knew it. Hot Rod was one of their own, they couldn't just shoot him. The larger robot walked to the shuttle and boarded it while Hot Rod set the controls. In a matter of minutes they were off.
"Optimus! I can't believe you just let them go!" Blaster exclaimed.
"I had no choice…" Optimus sighed. "What were the test results?" They all gaped at him. "Ultra Magnus is resourceful. He'll do what he can to get Hot Rod to come back. The best way to help him is to figure out what's wrong with Hot Rod. Now," he was determined to get answers. "The results."
Perceptor and First Aid exchanged looks before the former replied. "He's insane."
***
They landed on a small organic planet with no signs of intelligent life. Camp was set up in a cave and Ultra Magnus was shackled to a rock.
Ultra Magnus watched him silently for a few minutes. "What are you going to do?" he asked quietly. If he died, he prayed that the others wouldn't hold the boy accountable. Something was seriously wrong with Hot Rod and he knew that if he were in his right mind, he would never think of hurting him or the others.
Hot Rod surprised him by smiling gently. "I can hear them." He tapped the side of his head. "They want me to kill him, but I told them that I couldn't, that you and the others wouldn't like me if I did that." He knelt by his friend and touched his face in wonder. "I won't hurt you, Magnus. But you have to help me. Will you?" He had a hopeful expression on his face and Ultra Magnus had the feeling that if he refused he wouldn't live long enough to find out what the boy wanted from him.
"Of course I'll help you. But," he jiggled his wrists. "You'll have to let me go."
"I didn't want to do that! I swear! They made me!" Hot Rod cried as he curled up tightly. Before Ultra Magnus could say anything, Hot Rod pulled himself together and crawled back to him. He drew out of subspace a sword. It was an old sword and one that Ultra Magnus recognized. It had been up in the archives room for centuries but had been stolen recently. Now he knew who had taken it.
Hot Rod raised the sword and calmly brought it down severing the chains and nearly causing Ultra Magnus to freak. After recovering from the shock, Ultra Magnus climbed to his feet and looked down. He remembered the first rule of thumb when dealing psychotics. Not that he thought his friend was one, but knew he couldn't rule out any possibilities. "What now?" First rule: always humor them; just pretend you're not.
Hot Rod moved closer and put his hands on his chest. "Shh…" he murmured, leaning against him. "They're all around, watching us." He slowly turned his head from one side to the other as if scanning the area for intruders. "If they hear us, then it's over."
After he was satisfied that they weren't going to be ambushed, Hot Rod started to lead him off. They moved deeper into the cave until it was so dark they had to use their night vision.
"Magnus?"
"Yes, Hot Rod…"
"It's so dark… Why do they want us to go down here?" He sounded like a small child, and he was clinging tightly to his arm.
"I don't know," Ultra Magnus said as gently as possible. "I guess we'll just have to wait until we get there."
They walked on in silence for several minutes before they saw a light. Hot Rod dragged him towards it hurriedly. "We're here!" he cried out happily.
Ultra Magnus looked around in confusion. They had come out by a waterfall. There was no one there, not that he'd expected anyone. But Hot Rod seemed happy.
They didn't even suspect that the real danger was just ahead.
***
Galvatron chuckled as he watched them. Soundwave had detected the Autobots' presence and now he watched them in amusement. Who would have thought that the Autobot's Chosen would be playing house? And with Ultra Magnus!
"Cyclonus, what do you make of this?" he queried, pointing to the 'tea party' playing out before him.
"That the brat has gone insane."
"Yes… I wonder what happened…" This was too good to be true.
***
"WHAT?!"
Optimus' voice was filled with shock as he looked to the others. "The Matrix is the reason he's insane? But how…?"
"Not the Matrix," Perceptor explained. "The lack of it is what has damaged his spark." At their perplexed looks, he continued, "When he gained the Matrix, he was linked to it through his spark. But now, his link to it has been severed."
Waves of guilt washed over Optimus. He was the reason the link was broken. If he hadn't taken back the Matrix then Hot Rod and Ultra Magnus would be there on Cybertron, safe.
"But, Optimus lost the Matrix several times before. Why isn't he affected?" Springer asked.
"Optimus had the Matrix for several more years before he first lost it. And it was gone for only a few hours. Hot Rod has been without it for weeks and had only two years to get used to the link."
"So it's my fault…" The guilt over his actions threatened to overwhelm him.
"It's no one's fault. We just have to find him and get the Matrix back inside him. At least until we can find a way to safely break the link."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Jazz said. "Let's go!"
***
The Decepticons had come up behind them and there was nothing he could do. Now Hot Rod was kneeling in front of Galvatron and Ultra Magnus couldn't help him.
"Dammit, leave him alone!"
Stroking the boy's face, Galvatron leered at him. "I have no intention… You see, he has caused me so many… ARGH!" He jerked his hand away and glowered at the boy. Hot Rod was quite pleased with himself. He had bit right through Galvatron's hand. Sitting back he smiled serenely. A large purple hand struck his face and he fell back.
"How DARE you…" Galvatron grabbed Hot Rod's head and jerked it back. "Vermin… now you will pay." He pulled Hot Rod to his feet and ripped open his chest armor.
"Stop!" Hot Rod shrieked trying to pull away. He could feel Galvatron's hands inside his chest tearing at circuitry and wires. His pain receptors seemed to be on fire as his body wracked with pain.
"Galvatron!" Ultra Magnus shouted trying to get free.
Suddenly, Hot Rod raised his head and met the other's eyes. His cries had ceased and now he had a frightening look in his eyes. He wrenched free and shoved Galvatron back. Wires and circuits hung from his opened chest as he stood there.
"They took it from me… They took it from me… And now you want to keep me from getting it back. I will not forgive you…" His circuits overloaded, but instead of killing him, it empowered him. His body was glowing an eerie green while his eyes lost all signs of life. He started to move when his body was stopped. He began to tremble uncontrollably as the seizure took over. His head snapped to the side and he opened his mouth. All that came out was gibberish.
They all watched stunned as he fell to the ground. The light faded as he moaned softly. After a few minutes he pushed himself up. "Magnus?" He saw his friend being held by the Sweeps and frowned. When had they gotten into the city and why couldn't he remember? And why was his head pounding so much? "What happened?" he croaked out.
He felt an odd pressure in the back of his head and he reached up. His hand came back with a brown colored liquid covering it and he became afraid. He could feel more fluid running down his back and knew that he was in trouble.
Ultra Magnus watched in horror. Hot Rod needed medical attention and he needed it fast. "Galvaton… Please, help him!"
The enraged Decepticon turned his glare on him. "Why would I do that?" he snarled.
"I'll do anything!"
"No…"
Hot Rod staggered to his feet and met his friend's gaze. "Don't… give in… to them…" He then threw his head back and laughed hysterically. He spun around and around heedless to the fact that he was hurting himself more. He kept on spinning until he made himself dizzy. Then he stopped abruptly and faced them. The insanity was winning. He could feel a strange chill running through his body.
"They want me to go to them…" He smiled. "Yes, I must go to them…" He raised his arms and shouted, "I'm coming!" Then he suddenly had his weapon in his hand.
"Hot Rod…" Oh no… He wasn't, no he couldn't…
The Decepticons watched in utter shock as Hot Rod raised the weapon to his mouth. He calmly inserted it in his mouth ready to fire.
"HOT ROD!"
They were all taken off guard by the voice. Optimus, with Kup, Springer, Jazz, Blaster and the Protectotbots in tow came charging through. They fired repeatedly and the Decpticons beat a hasty retreat.
First Aid cautiously approached Hot Rod, who was kneeling on the ground banging his head onto a rock. He knelt and gently pulled a semi-conscious Hot Rod against his chest and surveyed the damage. "We got here in time…" he said quietly. "A few more minutes and he'd have done irreparable damage." He shifted and looked towards Ultra Magnus. "You okay?"
"I'm fine… Just help him."
Optimus walked over and gently lifted Hot Rod up into his arms. Hot Rod reached up and wrapped his arms around his neck and mumbled something inaudible. "All right, let's go home…"
***
Hot Rod sat up slowly. He had spent the past several days in the repair bay recovering from his wounds. Now he was fine and had the Matrix inside him. "I have to carry this all the time?" he asked weakly.
"No, just for a while," Optimus stated as he came over. "Perceptor and Skyfire are working on a plan to 'wean' you from the Matrix." He sighed deeply. "I never once thought, when I took it from you that this could happen. I'm so sorry Hot Rod."
Shaking his head, Hot Rod replied, "None of us could possibly have known. Besides," he smiled gently. "In the state the Plague put me in, I doubt I could've opened the Matrix if I tried!" His smiles faded a bit and he stepped closer to Optimus. He placed his hands on his chest and rested his head against his shoulder. "You don't need to blame yourself. I believed that it was my fault you were dead, but now I know that it was necessary for you to die. There was no other way for the Matrix to go to another. I don't like that you had to die, but I accept it as Fate."
Optimus gazed down at him in wonder. When had he gotten so mature?
Hot Rod drifted off to sleep and he lifted him back onto the bed. Perhaps one day, when Hot Rod was free of the Matrix they could talk. But for now, he was content to stay by his side.
End