I would like to thank Elizabeth Jaris for the favorite to this story.
Chapter 14
As I was waiting for Agent Fowler to arrive, I looked at Arcee, Bulkhead, Flare, and Bumblebee and asked, "Umm, where's Nurse Darby and Raf?"
"Nurse Darby thought that it would be best for Raf that he be removed from this conflict," Arcee answered.
"I see," I said. "What's taking Fowler so long?"
"Who knows kid," Flare replied.
"It could be this crazy weather," Arcee said.
Bumblebee left all of a sudden and I looked inquisitively at the other three. "He must've had somewhere important to go to," Bulkhead said.
"Must've," I said.
Bumblebee arrived back at base with Nurse Darby and Raf in tow. I frowned and I walked around. I was still trying to figure out what Ratchet had meant when he said that the Dark Energon was fusing with my cells. Agent Fowler arrived and said, "What have you learned Prime and you better not blow smoke in my ears!" He paused when he saw Nurse Darby and he said, "Miss Darby, what a nice surprise."
"Special Agent Fowler," Nurse Darby replied.
"We have learned this," Ratchet said, "as with the so called magma from the volcano these earthquakes have originated far below the earths crust. From the very center of the earth's core, in fact."
"Quakes don't start there," Fowler said. He looked at Nurse Darby and asked, "Do they?"
"Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern, almost like a," Ratchet took a long pause as he looked at the monitor and I looked at it as well. I saw that it resembled a heartbeat. I didn't speak up though as Ratchet said, "By the AllSpark. If I convert these data points to audio files."
"What," Fowler asked. "What is it?"
"Listen," Ratchet commanded us.
We all listened and my suspicions were correct, and I suppose Ratchet's were as well. I was confused for a bit though, how could the earth's core have a heartbeat?
"A Cybertronian heartbeat?" Jack asked.
"How is that possible?" his mother asked. "A heart pumps blood, there's nothing inside the earth to pump except,"
"The Blood of Unicron!" Raf exclaimed.
My eyes widened and I looked over at Optimus to see what he was thinking. As ever, I couldn't get a read on him.
"Okay, hold on," Miko said. "You mean something's living down there inside our planet?"
"I fear that the earth's core is not comprised of magma as your scientists have said," Optimus spoke up finally. "But of Dark Energon."
"And if we're hearing a spark," Ratchet thought out loud, "then Unicron is the rising darkness the prophecy foretold."
"So, how do we stop this thing from rising?" Agent Fowler asked.
"We don't," I spoke up.
Everyone looked at me and I regretted speaking up. "If Unicron is our earth's core or there's Dark Energon down there, destroying Unicron or that Dark Energon source will destroy the planet," I said.
"Beau's right," Flare said.
"How can something be in our planet's core and be alive?" Ms. Darby asked.
"Such a thing is not unprecedented," Optimus answered. "Before the beginning there was Primus and there was Unicron. One the incarnation of creation, the other of destruction. For eons Primus and Unicron battled. The balance of power shifted between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the Thirteen, the original Primes who proceeded me, was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life from the Well of AllSparks. While Unicron was never to be heard from again, until now."
"Meaning we can find the hole this über con dug and fill it full of explosives," Fowler said.
"Didn't you hear what I said?" I asked.
"What?" Fowler asked.
"Destroying Unicron will destroy earth! Sometimes I wonder how you became a Special Agent," I said. Fowler looked extremely shocked and I felt a bit of regret for what I said, but not much.
"So what happens when Unicron wakes up from his billion year nap?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, does he stretch and kapow, earth goes to dust?" Miko asked.
"You don't know, do you?" Ms. Darby and I asked at the same time, directing the question towards Optimus.
"My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it," Optimus said. "Nonetheless, we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends upon it."
"Wonderful, do we sing the big guy a lullaby?" I asked sarcastically.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ratchet chided me.
"Well, what do we do then?" I asked.
"Ratchet, open a ground bridge," Optimus ordered.
"To where?" Ratchet asked.
"Anywhere close to the vicinity of this base."
I narrowed my eyes and watched as Ratchet prepared the ground bridge. I walked over to Fowler and pulled him aside. "I need to talk to you in private about something," I said.
"Sure thing, son," Fowler replied.
"I want to talk to you about a project that you mentioned earlier," I said looking right into Fowler's eyes.
"I thought that you said that you didn't want any part in that," Fowler said looking me up and down.
"That was before Megatron critically injured Rafael," I said in a quiet, firm voice.
"I heard that you were in Bumblebee as well," Fowler said. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine," I said waving it off. "I need your chopper to get there right now."
"Are you crazy!" Fowler exclaimed. "In this weather!"
"Yes, in this weather," I said. "I've been flying since I was eight years old."
"Alright," Fowler consented handing me the choppers' keys.
"Thanks," I said walking away.
"And where do you think you're going?" Ratchet demanded when I walked past him towards the elevator.
"To work on something," I answered.
"That isn't an answer," Ratchet said.
"It's one that you'll have to live with for now," I replied.
"Beau!" Nurse Darby exclaimed in shock.
"It's none of his business what I'm doing or where I'm going," I said.
"What about Flare? She's your guardian!" Nurse Darby shot back.
"True, but this is something that I need to do for myself," I said with an edge in my voice that I seldom experienced. I turned and entered the elevator shaft and went up. I entered the chopper and started it. I flew to Hangar E and it took me roughly half an hour with the storms brewing. I landed the chopper, and General Bryce greeted me.
"Special Agent Fowler told us that you were coming," he said as I saluted him.
"Sir," I said. "I wish to work on a certain project…"
"Yes, Agent Fowler told us about that as well," the general said. "The body has been created and all of the electronics are set, we just need a paint scheme and basically a pilot for it."
"Can I see it, sir?" I asked.
"There's no need to call me sir," General Bryce said. "You technically have a higher ranking here because of your mother and because of what you've already accomplished here."
"What have I accomplished here exactly?" I asked.
"Giving us all of those files on MECH and helping us infiltrate that on base, protect this base, serve alongside the Autobots against the Decepticon threat, and now this project that you plan on taking as your own," Bryce answered.
"I see," I said. I've found in my life that it's better not to argue with someone that is more experienced than oneself because they always tend to believe themselves the wiser. I was led to the area that they were working on the machine with and I saw the progress the agencies scientists were making. I was impressed with how it turned out that was for sure.
The body was standing up and was as tall as Bumblebee was; it looked slightly like him too. I was standing level with it on a platform and I heard Bryce say, "Impressive, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," I said. "Although, why does it look like one of the Autobots?"
"We aren't sure why, it's just how it turned out."
I looked at the thing again, this time with a critical eye, it had the color of unpainted steel and I kind of liked that but I thought about it and decided on something. "Paint it black," I said.
"What?"
"Paint the body black, finish the wiring, and then you've got yourself a pilot for the war. We can place ourselves in the war alongside the Autobots, but this is going to be the only one that we create," I said.
"And why is that?"
"You want the truth, sir?" I asked.
"Yes."
"I don't trust anybody but myself," I answered and walked towards the stairs and descended them towards the prototype. I investigated it and nodded my satisfaction.
Two Hours Later…
The wiring was now finished and I decided that I would head back to the Autobot base. I was about to head up when the guards stopped me. "What?" I demanded.
"Please follow us, sir," one of the two said. "General Bryce wishes to meet with you."
"I've met with him already," I said.
"We know," the other guard answered. "This is about something different."
I raised an eyebrow and then motioned for the two guards to lead the way. The two nodded and led me up a flight of stairs and to an elevator. They took me up ten floors to the level we needed to be at and the doors opened to a long hallway.
"The general's office is at the end," a guard said.
"Thanks," I replied and headed out. I walked the hallway's length and knocked on the door to the office.
"Come in," Bryce said.
I opened the door and saw that Bryce was sitting behind a desk and a woman dressed in a black leather jacket, blue jeans, and had something strapped to her right thigh was standing across from him. Her back was turned to me, but she had jet black hair and it was just like mine. "Ahh, there he is."
The woman turned around and I was shocked to see who it was. Her kind face looked back at me for the first time in almost ten years. "Mom?" I choked out.