Author's Notes: Welcome gentle reader to the next exciting adventure in the Chrysalis Story; our intrepid hero Alain Desrochers, AKA Allan Rutherford during his stay on Earth 929 is about to deal with thoes pesky nightmares he's been having since his stay at Starlight Mansion. It's time for the Autobots and Decepticons to get involved big time; and you won't believe what happens next... Disclaimer: All characters outside of the main hero Alain Desrochers and his Daughter Amy are the property of their respective owners, in this case Marvel and Hasbro; I make no claims to owning either groups, I have merely borrowed them for the purposes of expressing my fantastical imagination.
And now that, that is out of the way; let's get straight into the action, or...
An F-15 Fighter streaks across the sky flying past the Transformers Logo and converts into the robot mode of the Decepticon Air Commander Starscream. "We now Return to The Transformers."
Prologue
The dream was one of darkness; Al continued to suffer it and it was intensifying, the Professor jerked awake suddenly and glanced to the clock beside his bed, he could detect the unrest easily now even from a deep sleep. Summoning his students he waited until one of them came; it was Jean, she gently helped the older man into his wheelchair and together the two of them journeyed to Allan's room.
Inside Rogue lay beside him; her eyes open as she watched her lover convulse with the night terror, no one had voiced an opinion yet surrounding these dreams and they hadn't broached the subject on Rogue's sharing a bed with him.
"Professah; isn't there anythin' yah can dah?" Rogue asked her accent thick with nervous worry for her boyfriend; Xavier sighed as he wheeled up to the opposite side of the bed and placed a hand on Al's forehead, without warning the dream seemed to come alive for everyone in that room as the Professor became psychically linked to Al, Jean and Rogue.
They saw Al standing alone atop the highest point on an alien world; completely covered in mechanical Earth, buildings, and deep recessing canyons miles long, Al was looking up to the stars. The Professor, Jean and Rogue couldn't begin to understand how Al had done it; they all turned to see what he was looking at and Rogue let out a scream of fear. A massive yellow planet hovered in the night sky; a skeletal grey ring surrounding it, much like that of Saturn's gaseous rings, but this planet was completely mechanical just as the one they stood upon.
"At last, my destiny." A deep baritone voice exclaimed from the recesses of the monstrous looking planet; the twin yellowish horns located dead center the side currently facing the planet the X-Men were standing on spread wide and the grey panels located within the recess protected by these horns slid open revealing a gaping maw. Red energies began to spill forth and screams of pain could be heard; Al didn't flinch, nor did he cry out instead he seemed to look to his left and there stood a mostly red and yellow robot holding a tiny jewel encased within an odd looking device.
"Arise, Rodimus Prime." The familiar voice of Optimus Prime called from deep within the jewel. "And light our darkest hour." He continued; Al turned from this sight completely looking opposite the massive ringed planet and so too did the X-Men turn to find a shocking sight. Earth was visible; at least what was left of it, a darkened ball with no light of life to indicate anyone was even alive there. The image of a single Transformer flashed briefly over the dead world; Megatron standing triumphant and laughing manically.
"You must stop Megatron from taking the Infinity Engine and using it; both worlds depend upon it, for if Megatron wins there will be no Hot Rod, no Rodimus Prime to prevent Unicrons' destruction of Cybertron." A strange whispering voice said; Al however didn't seem to hear it as he continued to stare at the Earth and wept bitterly.
"Rogue!" He cried out. "Amy!" He added falling to his knees.
"He still does not hear me; I have tried countless times to warn him of the dangers, now I implore you, his friends who are more receptive in this moment… Tell him to listen; for you can not warn him, Unicron sees all and Unicron would destroy you if you tried to warn him." The voice spoke directly to the X-Men locked within Al's dream; Professor Xavier looked around for the source of this voice and saw no one.
"How?" He asked; not bothering to question who Unicron was, it was fairly obvious that the monster planet bearing down on what must certainly be Cybertron, was in fact this Unicron person.
"You will know when the time is closer at hand; Megatron has yet to assault the resting place of the Infinity Engine." The voice informed seeming to fade away.
"Who are yah!" Rogue cried out desperately hoping to hold onto this unseen person's presence. "Why are yah doin' this tah Al?" She demanded; the voice sighed deeply.
"Who I am; is unimportant to you Human, though if you truly wish to know ask Allan who the creator of Cybertron is." The voice replied slightly cryptic. "As for why… He is tied to the future of Cybertron now and forever; there is nothing I can do to reverse what destiny has befallen him… He is unique; two destinies await him, I am but one of those who needs him to ensure that Unicron can never win." The voice finished and then in that self same flash the Professor, Jean and Rogue were free of Al's nightmare; and the young man fell back into his pillow losing the haunted look on his sleeping face.
"Professor what just happened?" Jean wondered uncertainly; the Professor pursed his lips in thought as he eyed the young man now sleeping peacefully beside Rogue.
"I am not entirely certain Rogue, but I fear our friend has become embroiled in something beyond our possible scope of understanding." He returned with a frown; Rogue looked between the two men, tears welling up slightly in her eyes.
"How can we help him lahke the voice said?" She demanded hoping the Professor had an answer; he shook his head uncertainly.
"I'm afraid I don't know that either Rogue, but I suggest we all try to get some sleep; I have a feeling we'll know soon enough." He stated maneuvering his way towards the door. "Try not to worry about it Rogue." He added trying to cheer her up or in the least assuage her fears, Rogue sighed and cuddled up next to Al as Jean and the Professor left; she didn't know what Al's dreams meant, but she was afraid they'd tear him apart if he didn't listen to that voice soon.
Clear across the continent a little girl woke up with a start; she looked around trying to find the source of what scared her, but she failed. A light flicked on and a young woman entered the room; she was wearing what amounted to very pretty clothing, for a hologram.
"Is something wrong Amy?" Synergy asked concernedly; the Catarian girl nodded as at last she realized what was wrong.
"My daddy." Was all she said; Syn smiled slightly a knowing look entering her gaze, slipping quietly into the room she changed her image so she was wearing a purple pair of pajamas.
"Need someone to sleep beside you?" She asked; Amy smiled up at her aunt gratefully and settled back down on her tiny regeneration bed, Synergy changed a second time so she'd be big enough to fit on the bed and held the girl close in her arms. "Rest easy child; your father's perfectly fine now that, that whole Cobra mess is behind him." She whispered; Amy yawned a tired little yawn and curled up in the crux of the teenaged Synergy's arms, Syn looked down lovingly at her niece and then glanced up to the ceiling as though she could see the stars beyond.
"Primus help your father; although I fear he is the root cause of all of his problematic sleeping habits of late." She muttered to herself as the soft sounds of Amy's rhythmic purring filled the room.
The Transformers; More than Meets the Eye… The Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of, the Decepticons.
The Transformers; Robots in Disguise… The Transformers; More than Meets the Eye… The Transformers!
Crisis on Earth 929
More Than Meets the Eye
It was a perfect Wednesday afternoon in Central Park, the sky was a rich blue with several puffy white clouds around; the grass and foliage was vibrant green, with blue carnations, roses, tulips and assorted varieties of great ancient looking trees. All around the world seemed to me to be absolute perfection; and that was most likely due to the presence of Rogue, she was wearing a long sleeved shirt a forest green in color with matching black pants and her usual yellow gloves.
It was rather akin to her X-Men uniform, yet still managed to look good on her; apparently green was a favored color of hers. Her hair flowed outward around her face making it seem that her smiles were all the more radiant and her eyes twinkled merrily as she sat across from me on the picnic blanket. We had just finished a wondrous lunch that she'd prepared, roasted chicken salad sandwiches, coleslaw that wasn't too sweet just the way I happened to like it, Grapes, Strawberries, Corn on the Cob and for dessert… Chocolate Fudge Brownies.
"This was wonderful, Ah never get tah do anythin' like this. The team usually let's Jean, Ororo or Hank do most of the cooking." She exclaimed plucking a few strands of grass nervously waiting for my final opinion on the marvelous meal.
"Hmm, the chicken was a little bland." I stated teasingly and dodged the fake punch she threw my way out of reflex. "Honestly I loved every morsel; these taste buds of mine can saver everything to a magnitude of ten." I genuinely admitted with a smile; her face flushed at the compliment and my smile broadened, the blush was so suitable it made her look like an angel. There was little need to spoil the mood with remembrances of the Cobra Affair three days ago; or the constant nightmares that continuously plagued me, it seemed almost as if we were within that picturesque moment one often associated with classic films or literature.
"Yah aren't just saying that?" She wondered coyly her tone of voice eliciting pleasant thoughts and perhaps a few naughty ones to play out.
"Never my dove; honesty is its own reward… Or something like that." I muttered with a blush of embarrassment. "And I'm taking the corniness factor to new heights aren't I?" I returned with a sheepish grin; she laughed gaily and removed her glove running her hand down my own bare arm.
"It's just part of yah're nature Al; a part of yah Ah happen tah lahke." She returned nervous now; removing the other glove she placed them aside and moved close for a kiss, she'd only worn the gloves because we were in public, but also because of something to do with a special surprise she'd hinted at. I was curious to know what that might be; as our lips met in a passionate kiss I reveled at the feeling of her locks, the auburn tresses tickled my face as I caressed her and the mood seemed to expand a thousand fold.
"Is this a private party or can anyone join?" A strange voice interrupted our moment; my eyes popped open and I glanced up to find a familiar yet not so familiar face staring down on us, she was dressed in a plain top that clung to her body like a corset, it was pure white in color as was her shock of hair. She was also wearing white jeans; I didn't even know they made white jeans, but here she was wearing them, with her was a man in faded leather pants of a type I didn't recognize right away and a grey tee-shirt with the words Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters sprawled across it.
"She looks younger then I would have suspected." I remarked doing my best not to do something stupid, if this was what Rogue called a surprise I'd hate to see what her idea of an ordinary routine day was like.
"We didn't come all the way down from Massachusetts to tease our friend Rogue now did we?" The man asked; Rogue smiled at the look on my face no doubt as she put one glove back on and rose to shake hands with both individuals.
"Banshee, Emma thanks for comin'." She said offering introductions; though I was hard pressed not to recognize the likes of Emma Frost also known as the White Queen, one of the more powerful telepaths on the face of the planet.
"Thank you for the compliment." She said without batting an eye as I climbed to my feet; apparently she'd heard my thoughts. "Naturally." She added with an impish smile.
"I thought the school in Westchester was the only one operating on this Earth." I remarked curiously; Banshee chuckled his own blond hair waving slightly in the breeze.
"I wouldn't count on that young man." He began with a roguish grin of his own. "Our school has been operating for quite some time." He added; I nodded at that as I shook hands.
"I see; then that must be where the rest of the mutant teenagers are located." I returned with a brief nod as I filed that information away; so then that also meant that there were a lot more members of the X-Men, it made me wonder just how many more I'd be meeting before the end of my mission.
"Relax boy wonder; we're the last you're probably going to meet, our students are too busy to get involved with whatever you're here to stop." Emma stated once more insinuating that she was openly reading my thoughts; of course that should be expected from a former member of the Hellfire club and a villain. "I take offense at that remark." She added haughtily. "But I suppose I should stop reading your mind like an open book; I'm sorry it's a hard habit of mine to break when dealing with agents of Roma." She apologized.
"Well; I must admit you're quite talented at that, I didn't even feel your presence as I do when Xavier or Amy are inside my mind." I pointed out; she grinned slightly and tapped her temple.
"That's mostly because those thoughts are out front; I didn't have to dig for them." She stated in kind as at last we shook hands; I still thought she looked a little too young though, as if she was just turning twenty or something. "Thanks." She said; I sighed, but turned to Rogue.
"Is there a particular reason they're here; or did you just want to show me off to as many as you could?" I asked playfully; Rogue shook her head with a nervous smile and indicated that we all should sit back down; I complied without a second thought.
"Ah asked Emma tah come here because Ah'm worried about yah're nightmares." She admitted. "Ah didn't know she'd drag Kasady along." She added with a brief glance to the man known more colorfully as Banshee because of his ability to create sonic wails of varying pitches, which allowed him to fly for short distances if I wasn't mistaken.
"Nightmares I hardly think Emma Frost could help me with when Professor Xavier hasn't seemed to be able to do anything." I pointed out; Emma shook her head allowing her hair to flick back and dance slightly in the wind.
"We're not here to help you destroy these nightmares; the problem is you aren't listening to your subconscious mind, it's obviously trying to tell you something and Rogue wanted me here to see if I couldn't bring it out some how." She explained; I shrugged.
"I don't see why; aside from difficult nights and sometimes testy moods I'm not exactly hurting by them." I pointed out in turn; Rogue looked worriedly to me and I sighed. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't turn my back on the help Rogue has called here, obviously she cares a great deal for me and I don't blame her for it." I finished offering a loving smile to the southern belle, she smiled graciously and her cheeks grew enflamed once again, Emma nodded and Banshee smiled slightly.
"In which case we should get straight to the point." The telepathic woman began; I turned to her about to say something when I felt a strange prickling sensation in the back of my neck, a loud thunderous sound could be heard from high up and my eyes were drawn immediately to the source.
"I think we're going to have to postpone this." I began quickly rising to my feet.
"Why?" Banshee wondered confusedly following my gaze to the sky and seeing only three lone military jets on maneuvers.
"Because; those aren't with the military." I returned even as the jets turned and began to dive down towards the streets of Manhattan; when they reached a certain altitude lasers began to fly shattering office windows, apartment complexes and several dining establishments. "Decepticons." I growled to myself.
Alarms blared openly within the confines of the Ark; base of operations for the Autobots, once again Teletran-One had detected enemy movements somewhere on the globe known as Earth, several Autobots raced into the room.
"What now?" Cliffjumper wondered angrily; he hated the Decepticons perhaps more so then most of his fellow Autobots and would gladly kill as many of them as he could if given half a chance.
"Teletran says the 'Cons are attacking central New York." Prowl informed glancing to Optimus Prime; the leader of the Autobots and one most often called upon for the hard decisions.
"Why on Cybertron for?" Bumblebee wondered confusedly. "I thought we gave them a thrashin' a couple days ago when they tried to get to the Infinity Engine." He added referring to the battle that had torn apart half of Graceland due mostly to the presence of the Dinobots, who weren't known for their subtlety.
"Apparently Megatron didn't learn his lesson; Prowl call in as many of our scouts as you can, the rest of you… Transform, and Roll Out!" Prime ordered converting as he did so into his semi truck form; the sounds of engines revving up drowned out the alarm clarions and soon eight Autobots were driving out at top speed tapping into their innate warping abilities, which allowed them to travel beyond the limits of ordinary vehicles and reach their destinations in the blink of an eye, or so it would seem. With Jetfire currently guarding the Engine up on the SHIELD Helicarrier, the dangerous and experimental warping technologies perfected by Wheeljack were necessary in order to put a stop quickly to the endangerment of human life.
Thrust was having the time of his life; he lived for mass destruction, the more mindless the better he always said. Ramjet and Dirge were equally enamored; unlike Skywarp, Starscream and Thundercracker the three jet forces currently involved with the attack on New York were wilder when it came to missions of this type, hence why they were employed by Megatron. The three zipped down a second time in an attack run blasting away chunks of building, sidewalk and street with their lasers; Ramjet even plowed into a slow moving delivery truck for the City Post Office, he enjoyed ramming objects perhaps more then blowing things up.
"Ya think Megatron will let us keep at it much longer?" Dirge asked as he pivoted into position alongside Thrust who was hovering over Fifty-Ninth Street.
"Doubtful; our job is to distract the Autobots from the real threat, and it won't be much longer before Shrapnel's boys get here." The VTOL capable unit returned with an obvious sneer implied in his tone; many of the Decepticons held no love for their Insecticon team mates, the former gunners of the Decepticon flagship Nemesis had abandoned ship presumptuously eons ago and thus the Decepticons were obviously sore about it.
"Looks to me like we're only serving up a distraction for those costumed fleshies." Ramjet remarked as he joined the other two; Iron Man and Captain America were working in tandem with local authorities to rescue civilians placed in jeopardy due to the Decepticons attack. "Those freaks think they can match wits with us?" He added contemptuously.
"Well we should show them just how dangerous tangling with Decepticons can be." Thrust suggested with a dark laugh; Dirge took off faster then humanly possible and buzzed the Avengers on the street, he generated such a colossal wind tunnel behind him he caused a few hot dog vendors to lose their stands and many people lost their footing including Wonder Man.
"We have to get those jets out of here." Iron Man said as he hovered down next to Cap; Steve nodded, but he didn't exactly know how, Decepticons weren't common enough encounters for the Avengers.
"Allow me to be of assistance humans." A voice stated as a military jeep pulled up next to the costumed heroes; he transformed instantly into the Autobot warrior Hound and leveled his rifle on the hovering form of Thrust. Laser fire tore across the sky and connected with the Decepticons' left wing; he wound have spun out of control and crashed if he didn't transform instantly to robot mode.
"Autobot scrap!" Thrust shouted aiming his arm mounted lasers; before he could take full advantage of his aerial superiority a Studebaker crashed into his back causing his fire to go wide.
"Get out of our town Sentinel rejects!" A voice cried as The Thing alias Benjamin Grimm revealed himself to be the one throwing cars; Thrust narrowed his optics in anger, but a familiar droning sound caught his attention.
"Well; seems like our part in this little game is over." He remarked with a smirk. "Enjoy the new party guests Human filth; and do try to scream as they devour the flesh from your bones." He added with a sinister air to his tone; reconverting to vehicle form he rejoined Ramjet and Dirge in formation flying as they blasted out of city limits faster then any man made craft was capable of.
"What'd he mean by that?" The Thing wondered glancing to his partner The Human Torch as he joined him on the rooftop.
"I think those should answer your question." Iron Man replied pointing to a black cloud of roiling bodies descending upon the city; Hound's optics widened in fear.
"Insecticons." He gasped quickly tapping his wrist communicator. "Optimus Prime; Thrust, Dirge and Ramjet bugged out, but we've got some nasty new locust to deal with, I don't know if we can contain and prevent human casualties this time." He stated, which is when four more heroes joined the rescue operation.
"I wouldn't say that Hound." One of the men remarked; he was wearing an impressive black armor with matching cape. "From my understanding; if we can take down Bombshell, Kickback and Shrapnel quickly enough their drones should cease to be, as the case were." He added with a chuckle.
"Easier said then done Rutherford." Hound returned recognizing the man's voice. "Knowing those cowards they're likely miles away from the actual swarm." He added with a slight tremor in his voice.
"They ate an entire city once." Captain America added somberly; Al looked taken aback at that remark, of course he should have expected such a thing would have happened, the Insecticons were ravenous monsters worse then their Decepticon masters.
"I don't suppose the Dinobots are around?" He wondered glancing to Hound; the Autobot shook his head.
"Off limits from major cities." He informed; Al sighed at that with exasperation.
"Well that's just Prime." He grumbled turning briefly to Rogue, Banshee and Emma he wondered what help they could truly be.
"What about EMP?" Iron Man asked; Hound shook his head.
"They run on Cybertonium and other alien fuel sources; electromagnetic pulses don't have any affect." He supplied; The Thing cracked his knuckles.
"Then I guess it's clobberin' time." He quoted obviously prepared for a fight; Al glanced at the sky a slight notion entering his mind.
"Where's Thor?" He asked turning to the Avengers' leader.
"Asgard." Cap replied. "Visiting relatives or something." He elaborated; Al sighed.
"Never a thunder God around when you need one." He growled.
"Thinking of generating a little rain to cut down their visibility?" Iron Man wondered; Al shook his head.
"Actually I was thinking of deep frying some clones; unlike the genuine article Insecticon Clones aren't as tough in the armor department when it comes to overloaded circuitry." He elaborated with a slight frown; once again he was deep in thought, the Insecticon Swarm was just reaching the city when Optimus Prime, Cliffjumper, Bumblebee, Windcharger, Trailbreaker and Brawn pulled up.
"Situation report." Prime ordered converting to robot mode as he did so; Al was distracted momentarily in awe at being so close to the Autobot leader for the first time, but he quickly dashed it out of his mind as he was forced to consider what to do about the oncoming threat.
"Insecticon army rapidly drawing close with the populated center of the city Optimus." Hound reported. "No way we can evacuate it; there's over thirty thousand people in Manhattan alone." He added.
"Options." Prime requested turning to his men; Cliffjumper shrugged.
"Just keep shooting until their all gone." He returned with a hard glint in his optics.
"I doubt that'd work little buddy; some of us don't hold up so well under long term combat." Brawn pointed out; Bumblebee looked a little offended at the remark, but Windcharger had crossed his arms over his chassis and was posed in a deep thinking look.
"My force field might be able to help, but it wouldn't hold out for long." Trailbreaker commented.
"They're almost in range." Iron Man pointed out interrupting the Autobots strategy meeting; meanwhile Al was running through several quick calculations in his head, he was about to speak up when the Insecticons arrived and all time for talking was over; now it was time for action.
Weapons fire exploded all around as the Autobots began blasting Insecticons off of the buildings, in some cases they weren't fast enough however and several pieces of wall, glass and other assorted construction materials were devoured before the drones were destroyed. People screamed in terror and mass panic over swept the human populace; being eaten alive by giant mechanical insects wasn't a very welcome prospect, Iron Man's repulsor rays fired up into the sky, but his weapons only served to dent or mar the Insecticons bodies rather then destroy the drones. Human Torch and Thing began to wade in; the sheer strength and massive heat being generated by the two enough for them to hold their own, Captain America, Banshee and Rogue quickly began helping to quell the rising tide of civilians fleeing the scene.
"What kind of frequency do they operate on?" Al demanded hovering up next to Hound's face; the Autobot scout shrugged.
"You'd have to ask someone with better monitoring equipment then me." He said; Al sighed.
"Not a lot of options around here; Prowl and Red Alert are AWOL." He returned with a light chuckle.
"Then ask Prime; he might know, but I doubt you'd be able to move fast enough even if you could find the actual Insecticons." Hound stated frying a Kickback clone and marching further into the swarming army of killer mecha-bugs.
"Optimus; do you know what frequency the Insecticon Generals use to control their drones?" The armor clad hero asked the Autobot leader, Prime didn't recognize him, but he had a rough idea what he was trying to do.
"It's a rather complex code of algorithms; if we had the time I would download them to you." The Autobot leader replied raising his weapon high at a Bombshell clone about to snatch a defenseless fireman from his truck.
"I can download anything in seconds; please Prime human lives are at stake." The human demanded; Optimus eyed him briefly, and then quickly sent off a string of computer code; the hero smiled. "Thanks Prime." He said before zipping off to where Windcharger was still lost in thought and seemingly oblivious to the battle going on around him.
"What's the plan Sugah'?" Rogue asked joining her boyfriend in the air; Al smiled and tapped his temple.
"Twenty-fourth century tech courses through my veins; technically speaking, I've already got a lock, we just need somebody fast enough to get us there and Windcharger doesn't seem to be doing anything at the moment." He explained in a sly tone; the Autobot glanced up suddenly realizing what was going on and prepared to plow into the fight.
"Hold up Windcharger, we need a lift; I've got Shrapnel's signal locked on." Al revealed; Windcharger eyed the human curiously.
"You sure about that?" He asked. "They sometimes keep fakes around to dupe us."
"Positive; now transform and let's use that impressive speed of yours to put a stop to this before it get's ugly." The armor clad human ordered; Windcharger took a step back and then instantly assumed vehicle mode.
"Let's roll out." He said with a slight glimmer of hope in his tone; Al landed and hopped into the driver's seat, Rogue joined him in the passengers' seat and Windcharger rode off so fast Al looked a little sick.
"That's worse then my first time on the turbo lift." He muttered to himself.
"Say where are we going?" Windcharger wondered as he realized he hadn't gotten the directions yet.
"Lady Liberty herself." Al replied. "I hope you brought your water wheels." He added with a chuckle; Windcharger did a one eighty tight turn and Al's armored face actually managed to turn a little green.
"Strike that; that was worse then my first time on the turbo lift." He burbled trying his best not to lose the wonderful lunch Rogue had made for him.
To Be Continued: Pandemonium has struck the citizens of New York, but what is Megatron up to, why this assault? Find out in chapter two; or in other words...
A classic looking Porsche drives past the Transformers logo and converts into the Autobot Warrior Jazz... "The Transformers will be back after these messages."
