There's some cussing from Azar in this chapter. So be warned.
The throbbing in my chest had yet to disappear over the course of a day. Neither has the constant pounding from a ranging headache. Both of the twins had yet to leave and take of any of their jobs around the base. I don't think Ratchet would've let them leave if someone forced them to. I also don't think they would leave, no matter how hard someone tried.
Ratchet has been working nearly none stop doing different tests to figure out anything. A single clue in the right direction of why this was happening. Over the past twenty-four hours, he's hasn't found anything. That information had made things worse for the three of us.
Even Sunstreaker was starting to freak out, which wasn't good. His anxious ways including pacing, revving his engine randomly/growling, and putting dents in the bed and walls. Sides on the other hand has been holding me the entire time without letting me out of his grasp. I didn't blame, I didn't want to be away from either one.
Was this going to be my end? Was death finally knocking on my door? Waiting patiently for me to answer? And if I don't, they start breaking it down. But I didn't want to die. Not this time. I was going to fight this battle tooth, nail, and deadly claws. My life was finally in a content, enjoyable spot and Fate wants to rip that from me.
A pathetic whimper escaped me as I curled more into a ball. At least let me see Zayden once more before I die. What if this wasn't from the spark essence but from another factor? Human DNA isn't suppose to be divided like mine was.
Many of the creature kids that died at Jasper were from their unable to handle to the splicing of their DNA. Their body denied the change and instead let them die. Even after the shift, you had a low chance of randomly dropping dead. Yet that chance hung over your head. Is this what they felt before they died? I couldn't stop the few tears from falling.
A warm metallic digit carefully wiped away one of the tears. "Eve-rything's going to be alr-ight. Ratch's working on it," Sides cooed as if he was talking to a baby. Yet, his voice broke a couple times, like he was trying to believe his own words. A part of me wanted to believe him, his word, but the other side told me it was a lie, a ruse. He didn't know if I was going to be okay. Ratchet doesn't know himself; and he's the medic and knows more about science than him or Sunny.
I shook my head though. "No, it's not. I…" It scared me down to my soul to think about the problem with no solution. I've watched creatures drop dead without warning. "I, uh, I think I know what's happening, and it's not good news." This statement caught everyone's attention in the Med. Bay. Ratchet snapped his head to stare a blazing gaze at me. The look on his face begged me to go on.
"Well, I don't know all the details but… uh. I'm probably going to drop dead really soon if this is true. To start off, human DNA isn't supposed to be spliced and integrated with another species DNA. But Jasper made it happen. The thing is there are horrible side effects, the main one being death. My DNA could be rejecting the change even after the years. And, the worse, there's no fixing that." I nervously messed with my hands, unsure of the outcome of this.
Ratchet paused all movements for a moment to give thought about what I said. "I'll look at your DNA strands once more but I don't think that's what happening. It's something with lack of spark essence that's effecting you even though they are right there. But your DNA rejecting the dragon DNA could be a side effect. I just… I can't find anything pointing out why this is happening." Ratchet paused to take a deep breath. "But I will, Azar. I promise you that." I froze. Promises were more often than not broken. Why did you say that, Ratchet? You had to jinx it.
At his last statement, my entire mood dropped. I'm really going to die, aren't I? Oh gods, please no. Later, not now. Anytime but not this era of my life. Please just let me be happy once in my pathetic, broken, destroyed life! "Don't make promises you can't keep." My voice was low and emotionless, knowing the most likely outcome of this. I was going to die. And I didn't want that to happen.
The CMO's eyes narrowed nearly dangerously. "I will keep this promise, Azar. You aren't dying on my watch." I smile grievously with force at his words. They meant a lot to me but he couldn't stop the inevitable from happening.
If only our words meant more than action. Sorrowfully, real life doesn't work that way.
The day went on. A surprising pair appeared when the sun was a couple of hours from setting on this cold, winter day. Optimus and Prowl strolled into the Med. Bay, both looking more stressed than usual. Their walk over here tense and muscles tight.
They gave the three of us a glance that lingered on my form. I did my best to smile through the pain but only so much could be hidden. Optimus greeted his CMO with a tight smile and began speaking to him in a sort of whirls and clicks. I kept my gaze on them since they were the only thing interesting in here. They would glance over at me, Prowl doing most of the staring but was caught every time by me. Yet he never seemed embarrassed by being caught and only looked away moments after.
Before too much passed, their conversation had ended. Instead, they came over to us with the same sorrowful look on their faces. "How are you feeling, Azar?" Optimus questioned, trying to be the kind mech he is.
I smiled through the pain to act like everything is mostly alright. "As good as I can be. What about yourself?" I moved to sit up at least in Sides grasp. Said bot helped me and kept a hand on me at all times. Sunstreaker stood on guard like a protector, arms crossed and a stern expression etched into his robotic face.
"Understandable. I am doing well on this day. Not busy compared to others." His words made me feel even worse. The mech was usually busy dealing with everything that goes on around and inside the base. And here I was, mucking that up, like always.
"To start this off, I want to tell you, Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, you are fine and not in any shape or way in trouble by staying here. We will pull you two from rotation until we can figure this out. If William argues or tries to send you on a patrol, com Prowl, Jazz, or I about it," Optimus explained the situation. Sides tightened his grasp, pulling me closer to him. Sunstreaker on the other hand, loosened up slightly, relief washing over him.
Prowl rolled his optics when Optimus mentioned William. "Lennox wasn't happy about pulling you two. He's starting to prod into this." The second in command motioned a circle with his finger between Sides, Sunny, and I. Humans do like to put their noses in places they don't belong, including me. That's how I ended up here. Without going to that Jasper base, I would've never met any these bots or people. One thing I didn't regret in my life: meeting these guys, especially the twins. They… they are amazing, in their own strange ways. We are different species after all.
"Humans," Ratchet scoffed and messed his tablet until getting to the spot he wanted. "I might be onto something. It's a small if but it may be a simple fix to this. And you won't have to worry about distance or lack of connection over amounts of time." This caught my attention. I'm hoping and guessing by the way he's talking, it isn't the DNA problem. Thank all the moons. Or else, things would've turned for the worse, for everyone.
Both twins perked up at this and Sunstreaker stilled completely. "That's great. What is it?" Sides fired off and shifted off of the bed to skate closer to Ratchet. He left me on the metal bed where Sunstreaker moved and rested his hand on my tail. The CMO fake cleared his throat and motioned towards his leader and second in command with his eyes.
"We'll discuss about it once I get more information and study some more about the twelve other cases." Sunstreaker scowled at him for keeping that from us. "Don't give me that, Sunstreaker. I'm trying everything in Primus's pit archive to find anything. This fix could also kill her." The golden tin settled down, mostly, and angrily pouted. His anger filtered over the distant bond, brushing up against me. I didn't know much of what to do when he was like that. So, I timidly wrapped my tail around his pointer finger and gave a squeeze. The corner of his lips tilted up in the slightest.
Even with the comfort gesture, it couldn't wash away my chaotic emotions raging on inside of me. "Everything seems like it's going to kill me," I mutter barely over a whisper placed my head in my hands, defeat written all over me. This really is my end. A fix could kill me. Not fixing it could kill me. Or my idea could be the cause of this all. If so, I'm already a walking corpse.
Luckily, no one could understand the words and didn't press on what I had said. Ratchet turned to the newest two. "I'll comm. you if I can find anything more, Optimus." With that, Optimus and Prowl left with only a goodbye.
Irritation began to shift underneath my scales; their colors changing to different shades of orange. For once in my broken, fucked up life, I'm happy to be alive. But the moment that happens, there's death looming over my head; ready to snatch it away all that I have… It's always been there with the threat of my DNA suddenly declining the shift. This time, it was different due to the twins.
Fear pumped into my veins seconds later. This was my end. If Ratchet can't find the problem and a solution, I was going to die. No, no, no-no-no! I had to go see Zayden then before I blast off. He needs to know what's happening so he can dispose of my body. Jasper cannot get a hold of it. Over my dead body, quite literally this time.
My eyes found both of the twins. "I need to do something before I… you know." Their eyes narrowed at the silent mention towards my impending death.
"You aren't going to die," Sunstreaker stated, his hand tightening around my tail. How did he know? He couldn't foretell the future. I begged with a please to at least hear what I'm asking. His brother returned to his original position and held me closer. The yellow mech moved from being next to Sides over to in front of us. Then he placed the hand on my tail under my chin to force me to look up at him. "What is it?"
"Zayden asked for a real visit. And if I don't-" he tried to interrupt me but I stopped him by raising my voice-"And if I don't make it through this, I want to at least see… my dad one last time." Actually calling Zayden that out loud after so many years felt strange yet normal. Well, it's probably going to be last time, even without my possible death. His real daughter was dead, so there wasn't a point in calling him that anymore. It also struck that sore and irritated nerve, painfully.
Their expression's softened yet they stayed quiet, unable to find words. "I don't believe that's a good idea, Azar. I need you here so I can keep everything stable," Ratchet spoke up from his spot at his table.
I sighed and quickly moved off of Sides hand to stretch my legs. Mentioned mech went to snatch me but I blocked him with a wing. My legs trembled underneath me, the pain had caused this for some reason unknown to me. "Please, Ratchet. I'm dying, and you haven't found a solution. And if you can't, I want to see Zayden one last time." It was a simple request; and Zayden didn't even live that far away.
This seemed anger Ratchet. He threw down hands on table and caused some of his belongings to fall over. "I won't let you die! I will find something to fix this," he shouted and stared right at me with seriousness filling his eyes. I reeled back in shock of his sudden outburst; wings unfurled, ready to take off from instinct. Then his look softened. "Sparkling, you aren't going to die. Not if I have any say about it."
All I could do was shake my head at his denial. One thing caught my mind though, he wasn't denying that I was dying. "Ratchet, I swear on everything unholy, I just want to see Zayden again. He asked for a real visit instead of meeting up during our last battle."
Ratchet furrowed his brows. Did no one tell him? That's surprising. I thought one of the twins or William would tell him at least. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "For some dumb luck, Aztec showed up at our last battle against Jasper. I didn't believe at first and decided not to take my chance and headed inside to take care of the soldiers and Supers. Once it was all over, it was true. Zayden was there. He was both happy and pissed at me which is understandable. We talked and he wants me come back to their main base for a visit. Please, Ratchet." My voice broke at the end as tears threatened to fall.
The seriousness on his face slowly drained away as his façade fell away. "Azar. I… I really wish I could let you go see him but I cannot let you leave. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker will agree with on that. This is for your safety. It's a life or death situation that shouldn't be played with." A part of me understood. This situation wasn't something to play around with. It is life or death right now. Too much messing around could lead to an immature death. The other side just wanted to see Zayden. Death could happen at any time, any moment. Was it so bad to ask one simple thing?
My irritation came back nearly in full force. Heat surfaced underneath my scales. But it only took a second for it to disappear. Pain shot through my chest and forced me onto my knees and a hand. The other limb clenched at the origin, desperately wanting the throbbing to stop.
Yet, it didn't stop or pass on. "Slag! She's having another episode," Ratchet shouted and rushed over to us. My head felt little as my lungs slowed down greatly. What was in the hell was happening?!
I felt metal hands carefully pick me up and hold me firmly against one of the twins' chest. Blackness started to creep up at the corner of my vision as everything felt light, like I was flying.
The last thing on my mind was to breath. Weakly, I reached up to drag my claws across whoever's chest I was snuggled up. Distant sounds of scraping metal reached my ears, causing me to cringe. Something urged that I desperately needed to be in contact with one of their sparks at least. Worst of all, I couldn't hear the droning hum. My heart rate spiked with fear. Where was it?!
Everything faded to darkness. As my body felt like it floating through space, the stabbing never went away, nor did at least dull once-oh-ever. I felt so exhausted and refused to move. It hurt to even twitch a finger in the first place. Ratchet, if I could, I would kick your butt and turned you into clippers.
The darkness fell away. My body slammed into the ground that suddenly appeared. Air was forcefully pushed out of my lungs, making me gasp painfully. Cold bit at my scales as I laid there for a moment to gain any sense of what happened. It took a good, few long minutes to finally get up. My vision was blurry, breath returning back to normal. Good lord! What was that? This wasn't the Med. Bay, nor were any of the three bots in sight. Wait a minute… I recognized the building in front of me. The last time I saw it was when I seven… before Rue took me away.
Yep, great. Keep shoving horrible reminders in my face. Might as well have my brother ap- speak of the goddamn devil. Thirteen year old Jeremy stepped out onto the raised porch with his backpack on and a thick jacket. Irritation embedded in his features as he gazed out at the suburb street. There was snow on the ground, not enough to close down the roads or schools.
Then out appeared a seven year old Azar Dragna for her own day of school. Oh that hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. A bright smile was on her face as she gripped Jerms' hand for the walk to the bus stop. The kid happy and excited for the day while her brother trudged on through the snow. Being the good, older brother he was, Jeremy listened to Azar's crazy dream from the night before.
What does this have to do with anything that's going on?
Jeremy scoffed when she grabbed him at first but hid a smile. I remembered he, in returned, squeezed my hand even if he seemed not to like it. They carefully walked down the somewhat cleared steps and onto the icy sidewalk.
She played and kicked at the snow on the side. A few times she would purposely throw some at her older brother. Said sibling would let her get away with it to let her guard down. Right before the bus had come to pick them up, Jeremy scooped up a bunch of snow and dropped it on her. Let's just say when they got back home later in the day, both were in trouble. Azar had tattled on him. Oh how I was a tattle tale back then.
In the house after the children got yelled at, both Rue and Zayden occupied the dwelling. Rage built up inside at the sight of her. I couldn't stop myself from marching over to the door and reached for the door handle to open it. Except my hand phased through it.
It shocked me at first but I shook it off to stomp through the door over to Rue; my built up rage driving me. There she sat, in all of her ugly, bitchy, glory. I stood in front of her, towering over her small form, while heaving plumes of smoke from my nostrils. Yet, it seems like she couldn't see me. That enraged me even more. I took a swing at her to knock that honeyed smile off. She would also try to act sweet and kind to me when out in public. In private though, that was a whole different story.
My hand phased through her just like the door. Oh that's just cold. My own mind wants to tease me and hang this chance in front of me only to take it away from me. If only this was the real world. That hideous woman would be farther than any machine could reach her. Her body would be in pieces, strewn from one continent to the bottom of the deepest trench in the ocean. I would make sure of it, not caring if it hurt me in the process.
"You sick, vile woman. Do you even feel remorse for doing this to me?! For ripping apart your family just so you could get dicked down by another man who turned your daughter into something she feared. Why did you do it? What was so important to destroy not just your family's life but others? You love someone who kills and kidnaps children to be turned into monsters," I spat with so much hatred that fire licked up my arms. Rage spewed from its pot, unable to be held in. All I wanted to do was fulfill my murderous thought, without caring what others thought of me afterwards.
Yet, the woman never gave me a lick of her attention. Rue continued to talk with her husband as he worked on some paper work for his business. Zayden tried to multi-task but couldn't as she would get angry for him not giving her his full attention. Once a bitch, always a bitch.
Rue could never stop going without being the center of attention. She always had to draw drama towards her then play victim. May that be annoying so much they would yell at her to stop; or causing a scene in public and blaming it on everyone but her; or cheating and blaming it on Zayden, I felt so bad when I learned of that; or, in general, playing the victim card to everyone that didn't know the truth.
I hope people blame her for my death/disappearance. If only they could know the truth about what happened. She was the one who took me to Cyrus. She allowed him to do his experiments on me. She even taught me to kill. She forced me against my will to murder.
A deafening roar ripped from my chest as I leaned down to stare straight into her eyes. Rue paused her conversation and turned to return the gaze. What? "Sit down, child of mine," she commanded with no emotion. Huh?
Without any control, an invisible force pressured me to sit down on a dining table chair. I struggled against the unseen ropes to attack her for thinking she could control me once more. They held against my strength, not even creaking or groaning.
Everything paused as she stood up and took the needed steps to stand too close for comfort. Rue dragged a weirdly sharp nail down my jaw line before roughly grasping my horn and forcing me to bare my throat to the real monster. I could feel my pulse throbbing in my jugular as we stared each other down. A sweet, honeyed smile unnaturally spreading across her face. Fear struck me at my core.
Rue tsked and wagged her pointer finger at me. "Oh, you sweet little thing." A few, long, terrifying moments passed as she let her words sink into my scales like a wolf's fangs. "I'm coming for you. And nothing will stop in my way until you're mine once more."
My lungs gasped for air. I clawed at my throat and scrambled to get on my feet. Rue. No. Not possible. She couldn't. That couldn't have been real. It couldn't. That doesn't answer what just happened.
It took a moment to come to my senses, quicker than usual. Though, it seemed like I was back. The Med. Bay was only a little darker compared to last time I remembered. But something was off. My scales crawled at thought, a tremble raking my body.
Everyone's faces. They were crying, even Sunstreaker. Big, fat tears smashing into the ground, not making a sound. Confused, I shakily stood and stared up at the twins. "What's wrong? Why are you guys crying? Who's face do I need to cave in?" I snarled the last sentence. No one hurts my twins and gets away with it. The anger randomly appearing out of nowhere with little to no sense of why. Even if it was Optimus, him being the leader won't save his hide.
They didn't respond, let alone make eye contact. Huh? Something was obviously off. Even though they were standing in front of me, the bond didn't react to their closeness. With fear driving me, I tried once more. "Sides, Sunstreaker, please tell me what's wrong. You can tell me anything, I'm right here."
Nothing, not a sign. What was up with them? I reached out to touch them. "Seriously, what's wr-" my hand passed through Sunstreaker. Terror surged forward, taking over any and every emotion. I stumbled back and fell roughly on my butt. "Wh-wh-what the hell?!"
I stared up at the three iron giants for an explanation, but their eyes were trained on anywhere but me. "I… I-I," Sides tried to speak. "W-why did it, it have to her?" he sobbed and buried his head into his hands. None of his emotions could be felt, I was alone once more. His voice the only sound in the hangar. I could feel my pounding heart thumping but not the sound of it in my ears.
No.
No. No.
No, no, no, no, no!
It couldn't be! No! Please, no.
…
Ratchet couldn't predict the future.