The Little Girl and the Ottomans
Chapter 16
The blackened soil and burnt trees made no attempt at making the feeling in her gut go away. The further she went in, the more robot bodies there seem to be. She felt her fingers twitch as she lifted Dark's ring.
"You are there...right?" she asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Though I am surprised you made such a bold move coming here with only me to protect you," Dark told her.
"I just...I don't know. I just really want to see this place again," Val replied.
"Whatever. This place looks cool though. I like the dark vibe," Dark said to herself. Val, however, did not. It had the stench of death and despair that she was not a fan of. Of all places where death was prevalent, she knew this island was full of it.
She walked to a puddle, looking down at herself through it. She did not fit the vibe this place had. Was it even a good idea to come here? Probably not. Especially if the dead robot in front of her had anything to say about it. It's only with her being so close to the body that is then she notices how different it looks. All of these robots...they didn't resemble any kind she knew of. They weren't Cluster, nor Cybertronian, or even whatever Jenny or Tracker's models are. They...resemble humans almost.
"There's gotta be some life signatures somewhere," Val mumbled to herself. She closed her eyes tightly. Magic flowed through her eyes and ears as she began to pinpoint energy signatures on both sides of the forest. Some had blue auras, indicating they were good, while others had red auras, which makes them the exact opposite. They seem to be getting ready for something, but she can't exactly know for sure.
As she opens her eyes, something bursts out from the non-burnt shrubbery. It was too fast for her to react, but Dark jumped out of her ring in time to grab Val and jump out of the way. That object turned out to be a missile, as it crashed into the ground and exploded on impact. Ten more missiles jumped out as the robots began to shoot balls of energy all over the place. Val covered her ears as Dark gritted her teeth.
"Who's the bad guys again!?" Dark yelled over the gunfire.
"O-Over there!" Val told her, pointing towards one group of robots. Dark grinned menacingly as she summoned a katana from thin air.
"Oh this will be fun!" she said, getting ready to charge.
However, before she took a single step, a figure zoomed past her. Despite her heightened senses, she could barely see it as it rammed into one of the robots and crashed straight through a tree, sending robot parts and splinters everywhere. Val's eyes widened as the figure stopped, wiping sawdust off his shoulder.
The figure looked mutated, with thick muscles, large, dinosaur-like claws on his toes, a long tail, a body covered in black feathers, and red reptilian eyes. His arms are way more interesting than that, as one arm had been replaced by a robotic arm. Some other robotic pieces laid about his body, and she could tell that he has some enhancements on the inside.
"By that look on your face, I can tell that's a friend of yours," Dark said.
"He...he's still alive? But...how..." she couldn't formulate words properly as the figure continued on his rampage, slaughtering the bad robots left and right with blasts of plasma, fire, ice, heck, Dark swore he even created a miniature black hole that went away quickly with that weapon of his. The thought of this man having this much power made Dark desperately want to fight him.
However, her mission was to protect Val, so she suppressed the urge. The fighting soon drew to a close as the figure finished off the last baddie with a well-placed energy spear.
"Enemy destroyed. All forces disengage," the figure ordered through a communicator. The weapon furled back, showing his true hand, which had raptor claws and some scales on it. He popped his neck as he turned towards Val and Dark. His eyebrows furled a bit as he walked towards them. He's a bit taller than Dark, who grinned at the man.
"Hey."
"You must be Val's friend, I presume?"
"I don't like to talk about it."
"I see." The man looked down at Val, offering her a hand. "It's been a while, hasn't it child?"
"Yeah...I guess so," she replied, accepting his hand. He lifts her up to her feet before getting back up to full height. "W-What happened to you?"
"A lot, actually. Lost an arm to a Redredda and had that reru to fix a crystal arm for me. And then all this machine nonsense happened and I gained a few additions to my body so I can keep up with them," he explained.
"Redredda? Reru? Machines? These are new to me," Val said, looking down.
"I recommend we get back to Flean first. It's much safer there," he told the girl. He looked at Dark, giving her a suspicious look. "Who are you, exactly?"
"Name's Dark Twilight," she replied.
"Not gonna lie, I've never seen a person with blue skin before...very interesting," the man said, putting his finger to his chin. Dark glared at the man.
"Now, before we go to this "Flean" place, I must warn you. Do anything to Val, and by god, you will be in a world of pain," she growled.
"Okay," he replied, seemingly unfazed by her threat and appearance.
"Huh-" before Dark could respond properly, he walked passed her and slashed the air with his crystal arm. A portal forms with relative ease. Val was amazed that he could do that. The other side of the portal has what she presumes to be Flean.
Flean had advanced greatly since she first came here. Instead of small buildings made of stone, they are now huge, structures of metal with flying vehicles going around them on holographic highways. They walked through the portal, it closing behind them.
"Like what you see?" he asked the little girl.
"Y-Yeah...this is...way more advanced than I thought," she said. She couldn't fathom how advanced they have grown. Dark was silent, not because she found the place beautiful, but because she found the place boring.
"Good. I'm heading back to base. The others should be back by now," he said, referring to the robots that he helped earlier. They probably could teleport like he could or through some other means. "Are you coming with me?"
"Yeah!" Val said, wanting to explore this place more. Dark rolled her eyes as the man grinned, revealing sharp teeth.
"Then follow me."
Ottoman Military Base:
The alarm is still blaring in their ears, easily masking their entry into the portal room. The group panted before getting straight to work.
"You know what you did last time, right?" Owen asked Angel. She nodded before placing her hand onto the metal object. She rewired the machine using her magic, like before. It took a few minutes due to how advanced the machine is, but, otherwise, she got it done.
"Set coordinates to..."
Damien jumped onto the computers, smacking random numbers until the location Angel mentioned was on the screen. After hitting the button to accept the coordinates, Gem prepared to press the button.
"Don't. Not yet," Angel warned her.
"What's wrong?" Damien asked. "Aren't we not going to save Val or what?"
"Only three people can go in at once. The reason why it closed so quickly when they went through was that more than three went in," Angel explained.
"Well, more like sucked in," Owen interjected.
"Who's gonna go in then?" Aggie wondered. Damien looked at Owen, then Jay. A sly grin grew on his face.
"How about Owen and Jay go? They've already been there!" he said.
"That is true, but I have no idea how much it's changed since we last been there," Owen told him.
"I wouldn't mind going there. It'd be a nice change of pace," Jay declared.
"Really? Hm...then I guess I'll go as well," Owen added.
"Great! Now that just leaves one more person, which will be me-"
"No. You'd make everyone hate us," Gem said. She stepped up to join Owen and Jay with this trial, much to a disappointed Damien. Angel closed her eyes, hoping they will be alright, before pressing the big red button to activate the portal. The three jump in, ready to tackle whatever was on the other side of the portal.
Flean:
After exploring the city a little bit, the man takes Val and Dark to his military base. He even got Val some popcorn. Dark still didn't trust the man enough, so she kept Val to her side the entire time. Val couldn't wait to see what the military base was like. And what a base it was! The base she remembered was made of wood with "buildings that could hold a sauropod." Now the buildings are made of an unknown metal and interconnected by walkways in one massive structure nicknamed "Ironrealm."
When they got there, they were met with many eyes, mostly from robots. He grinned, remembering an old memory of his, as he waved his comrades on to go back to what they were doing.
"Impressive isn't she?" the man asked the two.
"It's almost like Cybertro-" Vall stopped herself, knowing full well he doesn't know what Cybertron is. "Erm...well, it's AWESOME!"
"Pff, whatever," Dark grumbled, a mean look on her face.
"You'll be staying here while we figure out a way to get you back to your own world. I'll give you a tour of the base so you know where to go," he told them.
"Great! Can't wait!" Val says.
The giant structure reached high into the sky, dominating the forest around it. Despite this, elevators were prevalent. He showed them the few areas that normal people had access to, such as the "tourist barracks," the normal barracks, and a few other rooms. Every one Val marveled at. Of course, Dark ignored all of that. She did not care for those that she deemed worthless. Val noticed this.
"Are you okay?" she asked her clone.
"I'm good, just bored," Dark replied, looking off into the sunset through one of the windows.
"Oh...okay."
After visiting the last few places accessible to visitors, they met at the bottom of Ironrealm. The man rubbed his eyes, feeling tired after a long day. Despite his mutant look and having robotic enhancements, he is still human on the inside, and has the same needs. Remaining awake for a few days does not do good for one's health, even if he's in the military.
"Man I'm old," he joked, causing Val to giggle. Dark grumbled a bit as she glared at the man. She did not trust him one bit. Something about him...she could not exactly pinpoint it, but he has something inside him that is putting her on edge.
This man will probably tick her off enough for her to kill him in the future.
Lost in thought, the sudden roar of a creature caused the base to go quiet. The man focused as he activated his arm cannon. Before they knew it, something crashed into the ground in front of him, revealing a large creature he recognized. Val was too shocked to react as the creature launched its fist towards the man.
The creature stumbled forward when the man reappeared beside him. He didn't side-step, nor did he dodge in a traditional manner. He just...vanished and appeared beside it before they could notice. And, when he did so, the man brung his arm down on it, knocking the wind out of it, before drop-kicking it and grabbing hold of its neck.
"Stop, stop!" Val yelled. The man glared at the beast as it struggled to lift its arms to claw at his face. "That's Jay! Calm down!"
The man let go of his neck as the creature transformed into a humanoid shape that he knew right away.
"By the gods, you're here as well?! Is this a reunion or what?" he joked.
"Sorry...I just didn't recognize you at first..."
"It's okay. I presume Owen is here as well?" the man asked.
"You bet your sorry tail I am." He turned as he saw Owen and Val's cousin, Gem, standing there. "What were you doing with my niece!?"
"Come on, my friend. You knew I meant no harm when you first came to this island, what makes you think I've changed outside of looks?" the man asked.
"You...wait, you're him!?"
"Uncle Owen, who's this guy?" Gem asked.
"Oh, it's simple. Val here should've already told you or somethin'," the man told her.
"And what's that?"
"Call me Trousk."
Chapter done! Woo!
Bet you weren't expecting Trousk, eh? Well, yes. The island that Val goes to from the previous chapter is, in fact, Zlarca. However, some things have changed, most specifically the creatures. They all are now evolved creatures, part of a speculative evolution project I've been doing. There are also other hominid species, most notably neanderthals, Zlarcan Elves, and Zlarcan Goblins. In fact, Trousk and many other "humans" are actually a hybrid between normal humans, neanderthals, and elves. All of that can be found on my deviantart page, also called Sporedude135, under the title "The Zlarcan Ecosystem: Rebirth."
Also, Mariah, the robots in the previous chapter aren't Cluster or Cybertronian. They're a different breed that you'll just have to read on later to figure out.
This is Sporedude135, signing off...