[Early Next Morning]
Aria laid in bed for a few minutes, thinking about the previous day. She had finally officially met the Autobots and seen a little bit of their everyday lives. In comparison, it wasn't that different from her weekends and winter and summer vacations. But she wasn't reguarly involved in explosions.
She finally climbed out of bed and pulled out her outfit from the previous day- a simple white shirt with a gray pullover and black jeans with gray converse. She examined it for a few seconds before tossing it into her dirty clothes and walking over to her closet, pulling out a few things and putting them on.
She gave a pleased hum as she examined herself in the mirror. She now wore the outfit that Issac and Reyna had given her- a long-sleeved magenta shirt with slightly trailing sleeve cuffs, a black vest with a hood that had a small hole in the back to compensate for her hair, slightly tight-fitting blue jeans with gray knee pads, and gray boots with silver tie-cords and black soles. Completing the outfit was a pair of black, fingerless, leather gloves with small wrist ties and metal, silver-colored bits on the back of her hands, as well as her silver-edged blue stone necklace. She examined herself in the mirror for a few seconds before nodding and checking the clock, seeing that the time was 7:00. Time to head out to Optimus.
She headed out of her room, placing a note to the Chavez on the kitchen table and heading outside, where she saw Optimus waiting for her. She gave a small wave and jogged over to him, climbing into his cab as he opened his passenger side door for her. "Sleep well?" he asked as they started up the street.
"Yup," she replied, stretching slightly in her seat, "but I decided to go for an outfit change."
"You look nice," he complimented.
"Thank you." She then asked him, "Ratchet find anything out about that stuff on Arcee's hand?"
"Not yet," he told her, "But I've already had a few suspicions about it."
Arianna nodded and leaned back in her chair, waiting until they reached the base.
()
Ratchet looked up as Optimus rolled into base, letting out Aria before transforming. "Good morning," said Ratchet, nodding respectfully to Optimus before turning back to his examination of the purple goo.
"Anything?" asked Optimus.
"No," said Ratchet, "I've never seen anything like this before. But I'll figure it out."
Aria gave a small shiver as she watched him move the sample to what looked like an cybertronian-sized microscope. She couldn't help rubbing her fingers together. Ratchet looked back at her and asked, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she replied, "I just get a bad feeling looking at that stuff."
Ratchet nodded before getting back to the sample.
Optimus knelt down, extending a large servo for her to climb onto. As soon as she was on, he lifted her up and allowed her to hop onto his broad shoulder. "Thanks," she said to him.
"Would you like a tour?" he asked.
"Sure. At least we'll have something to do until the others get here."
()
Optimus had concluded the tour at the training room, where they now sat together and talked a little bit about yesterday. "I'm still not sure why that happened," Aria said to Optimus, "My hands just lit up, and I felt a bit sick too."
"It didn't look like it happened to the others," mused Optimus, "That, or Ratchet didn't get close enough to them."
"I think it might only be me," she told him, "But whatever that stuff was, it has a negative effect on me. Same for you guys too."
Optimus seemed to think for a few seconds, the they both perked up when Ratchet gave a loud, panicked yell from the main room. The two of them looked at each other before they rushed out of the training room, Aria using her powers to keep up with Optimus as he drew his blaster. When they got to the main room, Aria's eyes widened.
Ratchet had backed up, slamming into a nearby wall as he was viciously assulted by what looked like a metal spider with a glowing purple optic. As it leapt through the air at Ratchet, Optimus raised his blaster and fired, hitting it and causing it to fall to the floor.
Ratchet gave a relieved sigh and straightened as Optimus put his blaster away. The spider-bot stood back up with a few powering-up noises and gave an angry hiss before Optimus slammed his ped on the top of it, completely crushing it and turning it off. "And stay broken!" snarled Ratchet. Looking back up at Optimus, he asked, "Now what could've caused that?"
"Wait," said Aria, peering at it closely, "Isn't that the tool that Bulkhead broke when Fowler came?"
Ratchet looked at it again and said in a shocked tone, "I didn't even recognize it! It was just some kind of... creature. But how come it came to life and attacked me?"
Optimus' shoulders sagged slightly. "I have a grave suspicion, Ratchet. Dark Energon."
"What?" chorused several voices in Aria's mind at the same time that Ratchet exclaimed, "What?"
"Well, that certainly would explain a lot," said Prima, "Sparks often reacted like Cliffjumper's did whenever their bodies were infused with Dark Energon."
"Do you think Megatron brought that to earth?" asked Amalgamos.
"Could you keep your observations to yourselves?" asked Aria as Ratchet used a pair of pincers to put the broken piece of equipment in a small container, "I'm trying to listen here."
"We'll try to keep it in the back," said Solus.
Aria looked back up as Optimus said, "If the residue Arcee found on Cliffjumper brought your broken equipment to life, it would stand to reason that the very same substance brought Cliffjumper back from the dead." He closed the container and turned to the other two.
"Hmm," Ratchet mused, "That would account for his life-signal inexplicably coming back on line. And when Aria saw the signature, she said it was slightly different than mine. But," he turned to Optimus and wondered, "Dark Energon? It's so scarce that it's supposed to be virtually non-existant. What would it be doing on Earth?"
"It was transported," said Optimus, "by Megatron."
Ratchet's optics widened, "For what purpose?" he asked.
"To conquer this planet," explained Optimus.
"By using an undead army of cybertronian husks," finished Aria.
Ratchet looked at her for a few seconds, then gave a scoffing laugh. "Good theory," he complimented her, "But he will have to break quite a few toaster ovens. I mean, where on this world would he find that many cybertronian dead?"
"Uhhh..." went a few voices in Aria's mind. "Ratchet needs to stop putting his foot in his mouth." said Perceptor, "He's obviously forgetting about the energon deposits on Earth."
"... and the battles that were waged for them," Aria whispered to herself.
Ratchet looked down at her. "What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing," she quickly said, then looked at Optimus, who gave a slight nod. He knew what she said.
They were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the team with Jack, Miko and Raf, getting out or off of their respective guardians. Apparently they were doing a bit of stuff together because the other three humans were talking excitedly.
Bulkhead gave a small yelp and pulled out a guitar case from his chest. "Sorry!" said Miko, taking it from him as he handed it to her, "Must've left that in the back seat!"
Optimus looked at the group for a bit, then said, "Ratchet, Arianna. You're with me."
"What?!" said everyone, including Aria. "I'm coming?" she said in shock.
"She's coming?" asked Ratchet incrediously.
"How come she's going with you and I can't!" asked Miko.
"Why her?" asked Arcee.
"She will be needed," answered Optimus, walking over to the Groundbridge consel and typing in a few coordinates.
Aria looked at him for a few seconds, then realized what he meant. "Ohhhh! So we're doing that, are we? Alright."
"Is it because of the thing?" asked Raf. Optimus looked at him with curiosity in his eyes, then looked over at Aria. "Yeah, he knows," she told him.
Optimus nodded to Raf and said to Arcee, "We'll be out of communications range for a while, so you're in charge."
"Dude, you're biggest!" Miko said to Bulkhead, "You should be the boss!"
"Um," said Bulkhead, "He never picks me."
"For good reason!" said Cliffjumper.
"Optimus," said Arcee, "With all due respect. Bodyguarding is one thing, but babysitting's another!" She heard Jack give an annoyed sigh behind her as she continued. "And plus, Aria is one thing, but Ratchet? He hasn't been in the field since the war!"
"My pistons may be rusty, but my hearing's sharp as ever!" Ratchet said loudly to her.
"For the moment," said Optimus, "it's only reconissance."
"Then why do I hear an edge in your voice?" asked Arcee, raising an optic-brow at him.
"Arcee," Optimus said, "Much has changed in the past twenty-four hours. And we all need to adapt. Aria has good reason to come along."
"Plus," said Aria, "I can handle myself."
Ratchet flicked down the lever to the Groundbridge, allowing the portal to open. Optimus allowed Aria to climb into his shoulder and the two of them and Ratchet headed through the Groundbridge.
()
They emerged from the Groundbridge into a large canyon. Optimus had allowed Aria to climb off his shoulder and she easily kept pace with the two larger cybertronians.
After a couple of minutes, Ratchet broke the uncomfortable silence. "Optimus. Two questions. One, what exactly are we doing here? And two, why did we bring her along?" He looked at Aria as he said the last question.
"To answer your first question Ratchet," said Optimus, "We are here to find the sight of the largest cybertronian battlefield in this galaxy."
"On Earth?" asked Ratchet in shock, "You must be joking!"
Optimus asked him, "Do you recall the period late in the war when both sides began hiding their energon spoils off-world?"
"Of course," said Ratchet, "It's the reason energon deposits exist on planets such as this one."
"It is also the reason battles came to be waged on planets such as this one," said Optimus, "And I fear Megatron's memory is as long as history."
"Do you really think he'll show up?" asked Aria.
"He may," said Optimus, "I remember this battle being reported to me, and I know that Megatron knew about this site as well."
"If he does come," said Ratchet, "You know there will be a fight. So why did we bring her?" he pointed to Aria.
"You heard me say that I can handle myself, right?" asked Aria, who was walking in front of the two.
"You're a human!" exclaimed Ratchet, "As far as I can tell, there isn't anything special about you! Why in the Allspark, Optimus, did we bring her with us? A bettlefield is no place for a child!"
"I'm not exactly a child, Ratchet," Aria said, her voice suddenly very cold and sharp. When she turned, her pale blue eyes were harder than ice, "I stopped being a child when I was three years old."
Ratchet looked at her, then turned to Optimus and asked, "So what's up with her? Why is she so special?"
Optimus looked at Aria and said, "You can explain it better than I can."
Aria nodded and turned forward again, saying, "Well, you wanted an explanation Ratchet, right? Here's the short abridged version. When I was ten and living in Richmond, Virginia, I started hearing voices in my head. Turns out, I'm connected to your Allspark."
Ratchet stopped and looked at her in shock. "What?" he managed to gasp out.
Aria rolled her eyes and turned around to look at him as Optimus stopped as well. "You remember that I called you 'Hatchet' yesterday? Sideswipe and Sunstreaker called you that, right? At least they called you that when you yelled after Bulkhead broke your tool."
Ratchet continued staring at her for a few seconds, then asked, "Is that how you were able to recognize the difference between Cliffjumper's life-signal and mine?"
"I've been taking classes from Perceptor," said Aria, "I'm way smarter than the average human. Plus, I have powers."
"Powers?" asked Ratchet.
"Yeah," said Aria, "How do you think I can keep up with you guys? I've got a few other powers besides speed. Strength, flight, cloaking, transformation, and a few other things. I'm still learning though."
"Well, at least I'm not too confused as to why we brought you along anymore," sighed Ratchet in relief. He cocked a optic-brow at her and asked, "How's Percy dong by the way?"
"Perceptor says he's doing fine and for you to stop calling him that." Aria gave a slight chuckle and said, "The Twins say hi too."
"Just don't start pranking me for them, alright?" he asked.
"I'm not much of a prankster," she assured him.
()
A few minutes later, the three of them came to the end of the canyon, which opened up into a stony valley. Ratchet's optics widened and Aria's shoulder's sagged when they saw all of the cybertronian remains that littered the valley. "For the first time in my life, Optimus," said Ratchet in a grave tone, "I had hoped that you were wrong."
Aria suddenly perked up and turned around. "Aria?" asked Optimus.
"We've got company," she said, her form shimmering before it vanished entirely. The two cybertronians turned to look behind them as a small cybertronian spaceship roared over them, transforming at the far end of the valley and landing on the top part of the cliff. Aria, invisible to the Decepticon's eye, instantly recognized the silver spiked figure- Megatron.
"Optimus!" greeted the Decepticon leader, his voice echoing over the vallye, "Been well? I see you brought your... trusty watch dog. I'd almost been certain that he'd be condelescing in a scrapyard by now."
"Why don't you invite him down here for a chat?" a slightly angry Ratchet asked Optimus, pounding his fists together.
Take it easy, doc, Aria thought to herself.
"I know why you're here, Megatron," Optimus said to the Decepticon leader as Ratchet continued to pound his fists together.
"Hardly a surprise, Optimus," said Megatron, "After all, you and I have been at this for a long time. And your time has come to an end!" He reached into a sub-space pocket and drew out a shining purple shard, glowing brightly. He tossed it straight at the ground.
Aria instantly reacted, reaching forward with her gloved hands and wrapping a telekinetic hold of the shard, but something flashed in her hands and she nearly cried out in pain, biting her lip before she could be heard and pressing her hands to her middle, trying to stop the pain coursing through them.
Optimus nearly knelt down to help her, but stopped as the shard stabbed into the ground and sunk into the floor. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, dark violet light emerged from the ground where the shard had struck, stretching out across the valley and touching all of the cybertronian husks that were there. When the light reached the two Autobots and the hidden human, Ratchet stepped back, wariness flashing across his faceplates.
When the glowing light hit Aria, she gave a grunt of pain as needles of pain shot up her legs. She took to the air and gave a small sigh of relief as the pain faded, but her hands were still hurting.
Optimus heard her hovering behind him. "Aria," he whispered, his mouth barely moving, "Are you alright?"
"Mostly," she whispered in reply, "but trying to grab that shard of Dark Energon wasn't a good idea. My hands are hurting and I had to fly to keep my legs from getting hurt. My body's starting to tingle too."
Before Optimus could ask her anything else, Megatron yelled out, "Rise my army!"
Hundreds of cybertronian husks rose up from the ground, their previously dull gray optics now a dark violet color, and that same violet shone from a few parts of their bodies.
"By the Allspark," whispered Ratchet.
Optimus' face grew grim, and his optics flickered to behind his back. Aria's invisible body was spider-webbed with light, and she was forced to hide behind him as she grabbed her head. "So many..." he heard her whisper.
"Get to cover," he whispered to her. He saw her nod and the light faded a bit as she rushed to a small cave for cover.
As soon as all the undead cybertronians were up on their rusted and degrading peds, Megatron yelled out, his optics and body filled with purple light "BEHOLD! THE POWER OF DARK ENERGON!"
Aria looked from the cover of her cave as the army advanced towards the two Autobots. "Oh slag," she whispered.