More than meets the eye (7/8/2007)
Author's note
Chapter 13: The Star Sword
Inside a cargo ship heading for China, six Autobots sat in the large cargo hold in a circle. In the middle of the circle was a Toyota Cellica, which the Autobots were standing guard over. Inside the Toyota slept Tendo Kasumi in the back seat. A soft music was being played for her.
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer;
sticking little white flowers all up in her
hair; "Walk beside the pony, Daddy, it's my first ride."
"I know the cake looks funny, Daddy, but I sure tried."
In all that I've done wrong I know I must
have done something right to deserve a hug
every morning and butterfly kisses at night…….
"The poor dear had a rough night. I hope she will be sufficiently rested for whatever awaits us when we reach China," Optimus said to Cologne.
"Indeed Optimus Prime. In the mean time is there anything I can do to make your trip comfortable?" Cologne asked.
Ratchet said, "Not for us. However it would be wise to provide some food for Kasumi, Ranma and Akane. I sense that the boy's gastric juices are about to make an audible growl."
True enough Ranma's stomach growled from having no dinner, making him blush in embarrassment. "Alright Cologne, what do I have to do to get some food around here?"
Cologne shook her head. "None at all Ranma. We're all in Kasumi's debt now so you can have all the food we can cook for you. This ship is hardly a place to cook our finest but it will suffice. Shampoo, go to the mess hall and get some food for all three."
"Yes, Grandmama!" Shampoo said excitedly at the thought of feeding Ranma.
Akane stood up. "Can I come too?"
"Of course not. Kitchen destroyer will destroy food before even reach frying pan," Shampoo taunted.
"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Akane shouted.
"Enough. Kasumi mentioned that Akane has gotten better at handling food. Last night would have been not only her first properly cooked dinner but our introduction to Japanese cuisine as well. So tell me Ranma, did she do it?" Optimus asked.
Ranma gave a wide smile. "Oh she did it alright. She made a pot of Miso soup that tasted great. Best of all, she prepared and cooked it all by herself with only my instructions and Kasumi's."
Shampoo face vaulted. 'The end really must be near,' she thought, horrified at the thought of Ranma praising Akane's cooking.
Akane smirked then took Shampoo's hand and dragged her out of the cargo hold to find to the mess hall.
While waiting for the meal, Ranma had a staring match with Jazz. "Soooooooo, where's the guy who was driving you that day?" Ranma asked.
Jazz rolled his eyes. "Dude, I was the guy. You don't think we travel around in our car modes driverless do you? People would panic if they saw cars moving around without a driver."
"I don't get it. So was the other guy a ghost or something?" Ranma said confused.
"Aww man, I heard Kasumi was pretty daft when it came to science fiction but don't you know about holograms these days?"
"A ho ho ho ….. ho-what?" Ranma said intelligently.
Jazz put his palm in his face. He put out his left hand in front of Ranma and from it, the hologram of Tom Cruise appeared in front of him.
"EEEAAAGGGH!!! OBAKE!!" Ranma screamed and scrambled up the Ratchet's left shoulder.
The Tom Cruise hologram and Jazz rolled their eyes again. "So much for an interesting challenge. No way I'm going to spar with a girly girl like you," Jazz mocked.
Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Who's a girly girl? I'm willing to bet you don't even have the….. equipment all real men possess," Ranma smirked.
Jazz's gave a big Cheshire cat smile. "Oh but I do Ranma, and believe me compared to you, you are a little pony. Allow me to introduce you to my little friend…."
The next thing Jazz knew, five massive guns were pointed at his head. He gulped as he received the death glares of all of his Autobot comrades.
"Don't even think about it Jazz. We've already got one horrible memory of a naked shrivelled fossil of an Amazon to keep us awake all night thanks to you. We don't want to see yours as well. There's such a thing as modesty you know, especially in Japan. So spare us your little friend please," Hound said sternly.
"OK OK OK!" Jazz said while throwing up his hands. "Jesus, why do you all have to be such squares? Can't you all take a joke?"
"Not from you Jazz. You haven't made a funny joke in the last five centuries," Prowl said.
Ranma smirked. "Who's the girly girl, now?"
Jazz grinned. Before Ranma could blink, his left arm had transformed into a shield-gun again and with it, he shot a stream of cold liquid at Ranma who was still hanging on Ratchet's shoulder.
"EEEAAARRRGGGHHH! Cold!" shouted a now female Ranma-chan as well as Ratchet. Both gave Jazz a death glare.
"I believe it's you. And….. HOT HOOOTCHIE MAMA!" Ranma-chan had never seen a robot's eyes go so wide before nor see its jaws actually drop to the ground. Then a visor dropped and covered his eyes and then an all too well known expression crossed his face. It was the expression Happosai wore all the time whenever he looked at Ranma-chan.
Ratchet quickly used his hand to cover Ranma-chan. She looked questioningly at Ratchet. "He can see through nearly everything with those optic sensors. Including your clothes," Ratchet said.
Ranma-chan's eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute, I thought he was staring at Akane just a moment ago. You mean…."
"Let's just say Kasumi slapped him while you were all in Okinawa for keeping one such image of her in his memory banks. Part of his time here has been spent stalking some of your famous Japanese porn stars," Ratchet said.
"WHAT!" Ranma-chan shouted. It was bad enough that Nabiki took her pictures when she was asleep, now here was someone who didn't even need to blink his eye to see her naked. She looked over Ratchet's fingers and saw not only a perfectly nude figure of herself on Jazz's right hand but Akane's on his left hand as well. The Autobot was currently engrossed in his images and did not or could not notice the fierce battle aura emanating from Ranma-chan.
Akane returned from the mess hall returned with Shampoo, each carrying a tray of food. "Ranma, come and eat… WHAT IS THAT!" she shouted, dropping the tray at the sight of the nude hologram of her.
Cologne sighed. "Are all the males in the universe of one kind?" she wondered aloud.
"Whoo boy, this is going to get ugly," Hound said.
Optimus sighed. "Autobots, move away from Jazz now." As one, the entire circle, including Bumblebee, shifted their positions and left Jazz sitting alone, admiring his holograms. Hound created a no-sound barrier around Bumblebee to prevent any noise from disturbing Kasumi's sleep.
"Sweeto, do I have a great catch now!" Jazz mouthed which only incensed Ranma-chan and Akane further to hear Happosai's words come out of Jazz.
"JAZZ NO BAKA!" twin uppercuts connected with Jazz's chin and sent the Autobot flying into the roof. He made a considerable dent when his head impacted the roof, and from the outside, crewmen panicked as a huge dent suddenly jutted out of the floor. The Autobot hung there for a second before gravity remembered him and he came crashing down to the floor dazed.
"La la la di da da, somebody get the number of that bus?" Jazz dreamily said as he saw stars cloud his vision.
The other five Autobots and one Toyota watched in fascination at Ranma-chan and Akane's display of strength.
"Impressive strength for organic life forms. I must study more on the physiology of martial artists. If all Amazons are like this, we may not have too worry so much about the Decepticons after all," Ratchet said.
"You do know that it doesn't bode well for us too don't you? Especially when we're being taken into the heart of their country now," Prowl said worriedly. "After all, we've only their word that they will parley with us fairly…"
"…. as we've all learnt Prowl, Kasumi's word has always been true and fair. Even her judgement on Elder Cologne was correct. In any case, whatever comes, we will face it together," Prime said quietly.
"You know, it amazes me still that of all the people you've befriended, it is Tendo Kasumi. What could she have done for you to earn your trust?" she asked.
"I do not know the exact details but according to my comrade Bumblebee, he overheard her pouring out her soul to the heavens and decided to try encourage her a little. What he didn't expect was a full car service by one who isn't even a mechanic. Yet judging by your Earth standards, she is quite a competent one. The next thing I know, both of them became good friends, a friendship reinforced by Bumblebee's rescue of Kasumi and she keeping his identity secret till now. As for the rest of us, well we're still waiting for a full Japanese cuisine to eat, which unfortunately because of you, we won't be experiencing anytime soon," Optimus actually scowled.
Cologne's jaw dropped. "Why do robots like you need to eat anyway? I thought your race drank petrol or something."
A look of disgust appeared on all of the Autobots save Jazz who was unconscious and Bumblebee who was within a no-sound barrier. "Next time, why don't YOU try drinking the remains of living beings that died millions of years ago. P.U." Ironhide spat.
Hound sniffed the air. "I feel a storm's coming. Literally and figuratively. Optimus, I've sensed some sporadic Cybertronian transmissions in the past twenty-four hours. Unfortunately the transmissions were too well encrypted and weak for me to decipher. I'm afraid that maybe the Decepticons are in China as well."
"Are you really aliens from outer space? How did Kasumi meet you all? Where do you come from?" Akane asked Optimus.
"Hush child, we will hear it in due time," Cologne said.
"Actually, you can hear it now. Take a seat Akane, Cologne, it's a very long story and the one who started it can't speak very well," Optimus said gesturing to the Toyota Cellica.
It took the better part of the trip to explain the whole story to Cologne, Ranma and Akane, especially when Ranma had a hard time grasping the idea of even life beyond Earth. Akane fared little better, having never even watched Star Wars. Optimus did not project his thoughts into their minds as he did with Kasumi so it was like describing Star Wars to a pair of noobies. Cologne merely listened intently even as Optimus patiently talked.
When Optimus came to the part of Megatron's betrayal, he saw that the old woman's posture had stiffened. After that, his eyes never left Cologne who became greyer as Optimus explained about Megatron, the Matrix and ultimately the Key to Vector Sigma. When he finished, he said to Cologne. "You've met Megatron, haven't you? He is the monster from the past that you mentioned earlier," Optimus said gravely.
Cologne said wearily, "Yes, I have Optimus Prime. By the way, your worst fear did come true: the being known as Megatron did find the Key to Vector Sigma two hundred and eighty years ago."
"WHAT!" all the Autobots except Bumblebee and Optimus shouted.
Cologne stood up from where she had been sitting. "Note, two hundred and eighty years ago. As for where he is, you are about to know the Amazons darkest secret, which I will not say here and now. You will have to wait until we reach China. I promise you that we will head straight for our secret."
Optimus looked at Cologne. "Tell me Cologne, how much did it cost you to subdue him?"
The Elder Amazon gripped her staff so tight that her knuckles turned white. "As I've said before, five thousand years of Amazon history was nearly destroyed that day. We lost ninety percent of our warriors and five of the seven Amazon Elders at the time, including my own mother," she said quietly before hopping away from the Autobots.
"How could such a primitive race of warrior women subdue Megatron who wields the Key?" Ironhide wondered out aloud.
"The answer to that mystery, we will all know soon," Optimus said.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The cargo ship did not stop at any major port along the Chinese coast. Instead it sailed up the Yangtze River and eventually came to a place where the forests on the side of the river were thick and no civilisation could be seen for miles around. The Autobots, Ranma, and the Tendo sisters, who were invited to come and stretch their legs and have some fresh air, were surprised when they saw the entire northern side of the riverbank and part of the forest opened up and made a new canal for the cargo ship to go through. The new canal went on for several hours until it ran straight into a huge cave at the foot of an enormous mountain.
"Ranma, how in the world did you get to Jusenkyo and the Chinese Amazon lands in the first place?" Kasumi said in wonder as they now travelled in the darkness of the cave, lit up only by the cargo ship's lights as well as the Autobots.
"I guess that's the mountain that Pop and I climbed and descended long ago," Ranma said.
Eventually, they reached the end of the long tunnel to behold a new country, the Chinese Amazons, isolated and protected from most of the outside world except for those brave or stupid enough to suffer its treacherous mountains and forests, like Ranma and Genma. The beauty of the land was astonishing and Hound immediately started pointing his telescope everywhere, using it almost like a camera except he aimed it from his left shoulder.
"It's so beautiful," Kasumi said to Hound.
"Kasumi, I think I've died and returned to the Matrix," Hound said in a dreamy voice.
The cargo ship came to a stop at a small port that was modern enough to dock the cargo ship. At Cologne's request, the Autobots transformed into their vehicular modes to get out of the ship. Optimus even obliged to carrying one of the containers bearing what remained of the Tendo belongings. Together they formed a small convoy that travelled down a narrow and beaten road through the thick forests. It was an odd sight to the Chinese Amazons watching to see a fleet of Japanese cars driving down their country.
Leading the way was the yellow Toyota Cellica. Cologne sat at the front seat while Kasumi drove the vehicle. Ranma and Akane sat at the back. All were quite surprised to see Kasumi actually controlling the wheel. Eventually, they reached the main Amazon settlement. It was actually a walled city surrounded by a moat and was connected to the outside via numerous bridges into various entrances. The denizens going in and out were mostly warriors doing marine-like marches in and out of the cities. Most of them were dressed in traditional Chinese garbs but a few who were probably officers wore metal armour. They were also the only ones who possessed any firearms. Most of them were very beautiful, leaning towards being well muscled body builders with only a few examples like Shampoo being lithe and athletic.
Ranma scratched his head. "That's strange, never saw this city before," he said.
Cologne chuckled, "You only got to the edge of our territory where we were having our annual martial arts competition. That's where you defeated Shampoo and got the kiss of death."
"Speaking of which Cologne, can I ask you to put off enforcing the Kiss of Marriage law for now? I believe we have more important things to discuss," Kasumi said suddenly, realising that she had yet to protect Ranma from that threat.
"Have no fear, Son-In-Law, no Amazon will lay a hand on you or Akane. I've made it quite clear that night," Cologne said.
The convoy eventually came to a small castle built into a cliff and entered it through a gate. Inside was pitch dark however.
"Autobots, do not use your lights. Form a line behind the Cellica and follow him. I will guide you all to our secret," Cologne said.
"If you think we're going to let you lead us blindly into a trap……" Prowl started.
"Autobots offer no resistance. Follow Bumblebee," Optimus ordered.
The Autobots lined up behind Bumblebee and then shut off their lights. It seemed as though Cologne was leading them deep underground. Eventually, Kasumi and Ranma began to notice there was something thick in the air…. Chi. It made their hairs stand and even Akane was beginning to feel nervous.
The convoy saw a light as they neared the end of their tunnel. When they exited the tunnel, they were astonished to find themselves in a huge underground cavern. A huge lake of water in the middle took half of the cavern up. Kasumi looked up and saw that the cavern's roof was so high, it could barely be seen with the various electric lights that had been installed throughout the cavern.
The lake appeared artificial and looked more than a gigantic swimming pool, the edges of it seemed to be made of steel. On top of that, there was something transparent covering the surface of the lake, preventing anyone or anything dropping into it.
Kasumi then realised the source of all her uneasiness. It was the lake. It began to dawn upon her what was about to be shown to her. Beside her, Cologne exited the car.
"Autobots, in that water lies what you seek. At all cost, do not fall or even touch a single drop of it," she instructed. Kasumi, Akane and Ranma exited the car and the Autobots proceeded to transform into their humanoid forms. As they moved forward towards the lake, Kasumi was frozen and terrified.
"Do….. not….. fear…… Kasumi. We….. are with…. you," Bumblebee must have sensed Kasumi's fear. The yellow Autobot knelt beside Kasumi and put his finger on her shoulder, which she grabbed with both hands.
"Please Bumblebee, I'm scared," Kasumi whispered. She truly was, there was something terrible waiting at the end of the tunnel, she felt in bones.
"I…. Know how… you feel….. I'm …. afraid … too…… Megatron …….reason …….I …….can't …….speak properly," he said.
Kasumi looked at Bumblebee. He then offered his hand to her and pointed at his shoulder. She took a deep breath and climbed on to Bumblebee's hand, which he then put to his shoulder for her to sit on. She hugged the Autobot's head with her right hand as they slowly walked to the edge of the lake. They then peered into it.
The lake's water was crystal clear, and something glowed in the bottom casting an eerie green light all over the cavern. At the bottom of the lake was stuff out of nightmares.
A huge and monstrous robot lay at the bottom of the lake. The image was exactly as Optimus had shown her, except it seemed much more larger, even taller than Optimus by a good five feet. The robot lay at the bottom of the lake as though it was sleeping. Then Kasumi saw the bottom of the lake and nearly puked. Numerous human bones littered the bed of the lake. On the body of the robot, two skeletons were holding on to the knees while another two held on to the elbows. The final body had thrust a sword into the middle of the robot's chest, and from that hole, came the eerie green glow. The expression on the monstrous robot was nothing short of rage, as though it embodied the very thought of anger and murder.
"Megatron," Kasumi whispered.
Kasumi had never seen the other Autobots so tense before even when they rescued her. All of them were looking at the image in different ways. Bumblebee took one look and then looked away. Prowl, Ironhide and strangely enough, Jazz looked happy at Megatron's predicament. Hound and Ratchet had scared looks on their faces.
Optimus' on the other hand, was sorrowful. In fact, he looked as though he had lost a close family.
Then Ranma said something a little too intelligent for him. "Lemme guess, Spring of Drowned Megatron."
Cologne raised her eyebrows. "Indeed Son-In-Law. Only in this case, Megatron wasn't drowned, he was imprisoned by the sacrifice of a hundred virgin warriors along with five of the Amazon Elders. It is a forbidden magical spell that was kept locked away for three thousands years until Megatron's arrival forced our hand. The waters are however, from the cursed springs of Jusenkyo. We needed the magical properties of those waters to create the prison for Megatron now. Unfortunately, it means that whoever has the misfortune of falling into these waters will be cursed to become Megatron. I have no idea if he or she will just have the cursed form of Megatron or really become Megatron when cursed though, due to the effects of mixing up Jusenkyo's waters with the sealing spell."
"Why is this pool still here? Why didn't you destroy the pool right away rather than leave someone the chance of falling in and waking up the beast?" Prowl said.
Cologne shook her head. "We tried to destroy the pool by drying it up but it didn't work. The Jusenkyo waters cannot be destroyed or evaporate unless it is drunk by someone else. And we can't simply collapse the cavern into the lake. This mountain is a sleeping volcano but our earliest seismologists indicated that this particular cavern, if further damaged will awaken the volcano, dooming all of the valley in Jusenkyo. And then there's also the matter of dishonouring the sacrifice we made to save our village and indirectly, the world."
The Autobot leader looked at Cologne. "He came here looking for the Key didn't he? And he found it."
"Let me tell you a story. Five thousand years ago, at the dawn of Chinese civilisation, we Amazons were still primitive even by the standards of that time. We were wild women living naked in the trees, armed with wooden bows and spears. Yet we were a scourge to the ancient Xia dynasty, the Shang Dynasty and all the dynasties until the Three Kingdoms period. We raided villages and took what we wanted. We hunted their men for sport and kept them only for breeding purposes. Because of the natural defences of our land, no army could fight us conventionally. We were the ghosts who struck terror into the heart of Chinese civilisation. Nobody who saw us returned to tell the tale to the Chinese Emperors; such was our skill in woodland warfare and martial arts. This was the time that we honed our martial arts skills to its peak until a single Amazon woman wearing nothing but loincloth and wooden spears could face an armoured Chinese soldier and tear him apart with her bare hands. And we were still a ghost legend to the Chinese until they resorted to paying tribute to us by leaving their gifts in the forests hoping that they would be spared our raids and bloody fests."
"But if there is one thing consistent about Chinese history, sooner or later the greatest powers in the land would pass its peak and fall. After the fall of the Han dynasty came the period of the Three Kingdoms. Our territory as you know is part of Sichuan province, which was the seat of power of the Shu Han kingdom. And in that kingdom, an upstart noble called Liu Bei had assembled the mightiest warriors as well as the most intelligent minds in all of China. At the advice of Zhuge Liang, his most trusted advisor and arguably the smartest and wisest man in the country, he decided to conquer Sichuan as his home base."
Cologne looked at Ranma. "Never ever think that martial arts is the only thing one needs to survive. It was true that in hand to hand combat or even weapons combat, we Amazons knew no match. But Zhuge Liang was a cunning man who did not succumb to fear at the rumours of our attacks, even when several companies of his soldiers disappeared without a trace. In our history, only two males are worth mentioning with respect and a little fear: Zhuge Liang and one of Liu Bei's Tiger General, Zhao Yun. I won't reveal the details but with Zhuge Liang's brain and Zhao Yun's unparalleled fighting skill, both in unarmed combat and with the spear, they finally captured a Chinese Amazon and became the first Chinese army to survive a battle with the Amazons."
"Zhuge Liang was a wise and magnanimous man, if a little arrogant which even he recognised within himself. But our tribal elders were arrogant and the messengers they sent to entreat with us had their eyes gouged out, castrated and returned without their hands and feet. This was one of the few cases where both Zhuge Liang and Zhao Yun practised no mercy on conquered territories. Zhuge Liang devised armours that made their soldiers invulnerable to arrows whilst Zhao Yun trained his men in anti-forest warfare. They knew they stood no chance against us one on one. So they never engaged us directly, and when we attacked, we met rows of steel shields and swords. Essentially Zhao Yun used the a creative version of the Greek Phalanx against us which had the men bunch up in close formation and prevent our warriors from picking them off one at a time."
"It took the better part of a year to do so but eventually, our very village was threatened. Still our Elders refused to surrender and refused to treat with Zhuge Liang. There came a day when the entire Shu Han army came down the mountain we went through from the Yangtze river. We were outnumbered and outmatched that day, for fighting and winning against us had made the Shu Han army strong, and it was further reinforced by another Tiger General, Ma Chao."
"If there were any gods, they somehow decided to save us that day. Our two armies were fighting when out of the sky, a star fell. All looked in wonder at the heavens as the object burnt brighter and brighter until it crashed right into the middle of the battlefield where we were fighting."
"Few Chinese, Amazons or Shu Han survived the impact. For the Amazons, only one young and wise Elder remained, Lo Ree Al, while Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao survived. Both sides only had a handful of soldiers and were evenly matched. But at the moment, all of our attention was directed at the object that had landed."
"According to ancient drawings, it really does look like an old fashioned key. But the first person to touch it was Lo Ree Al, and when she did, it became an entirely different object. Our own legends say that it merged with her and gave her the power to drive Zhuge Liang and the rest of his army away. This is the legend that is commonly told to Amazon children, but not in Lo Ree Al's own writings."
"Wait a minute, didn't you say that your tribe was primitive then? Doesn't that mean that your people didn't know how to read or write?" Prowl queried.
Cologne nodded. "You are correct. But the fact was that Lo Ree Al was a wise woman and with most of the Amazons, especially the decrepit old generation gone, she was free to change Amazon culture. She understood the value of Chinese technology and truly admired Zhuge Liang's strategies and Zhao Yun's fighting skill. She made peace with Zhuge Liang and surrendered herself to them so that they may spare the remaining Amazons in future, since the Shu Han army was still large elsewhere. Zhuge Liang accepted and for many years, Lo Ree Al was their hostage while the Amazon tribe back home rebuild. In that time, she learnt much of the mainstream Chinese philosophies and technologies. She did not fight as part of Shu Han army, Zhuge Liang respected her enough to just have her as a hostage and that the Amazons wouldn't interfere with their conquering of the rest of Sichuan. When she returned to her tribe, she returned a scholar and engineer. Thus did our tribe modernise."
"But what about the key?" Prowl continued.
"This is where Lo Ree Al's writings come in. According to her, the key was as huge as a building when it landed on Earth. But when she touched it, the key had transformed and become a sword and sheath which only she could draw. When a Shu Han soldier attacked her, she literally cleaved him in half, through his sword, armour and shield. Both she and Zhuge Liang recognised the power of the artefact from the stars and thought the gods had blessed the Chinese Amazons. This convinced Zhuge Liang to renounce his plans of the Amazon's extermination."
"This sword, which we named the Star Sword, became a symbol of our gods and we worshipped it for the next two millennia. We almost never used it in battle as most of the subsequent Chinese Emperors never bothered with us, not even Genghis Khan himself. But then there came a day when we saw the sky fell again. We thought it was the gods coming to bless us with their gifts again. We were wrong. It was a demon from hell."
"For the second time in our history, the Amazons came near extinction. Megatron was a rampaging monster that slew everything in his path, children and adults alike. No weapon could bite him, all of our best chi techniques and secret arts barely hurt him. Looking back, I think he transformed into some kind of flying machine. A futuristic jet I would say, certainly more advance and alien than anything this world currently has in existence. He was both a lion and a hawk, at times flying off into the night and swooping down to rain fire and destruction and at the same time, became a giant that trampled our homes and slaughtered our children.
"In that darkest hour, my mother hatched a suicidal plan. They understood that Megatron was looking for the Star Sword for Megatron actually tried to force them into giving it up willingly or face annihilation. But we knew evil when we saw it and the thought of that evil being wielding our Star Sword was blasphemous. We also planned to use the Star Sword against Megatron for we thought the Star Sword could kill him. Basically we baited Megatron into the mountain where we had discovered a new spring of Jusenkyo that had yet to be cursed, or rather had anything drowned in it. There we made our stand, and my mother was chosen as champion of the Amazons to wield the Star Sword against Megatron."
Tears came to Cologne's eyes. "It wasn't enough. The Star Sword hurt Megatron but even without his flying capabilities, Megatron could outmatch all of the Amazon elders. His only weakness was his arrogance and he didn't kill the Amazon elders when we fought him, choosing to leave us battered and defeated instead. Our plan failed but they had one last card up their sleeve."
"As Megatron gloated, we gathered ourselves along with one hundred of our best chaste warriors. As one, the one hundred maidens attacked Megatron and managed to push him into the waters of Jusenkyo. As each of them died and their blood stained the Jusenkyo pool, five of the Amazon Elders uttered a spell to bind Megatron and seal him into the pool. Just as the last virgin was killed and Megatron emerged from the pool, four of the Elders attached themselves to his arms and legs and effectively became his chains to the pool. As a last touch, my mother used the Star Sword to strike into what we thought was the monster's heart. She completed the ritual by sacrificing her life and sealed Megatron into the pool."
"Wait, you mean that sword…." Ironhide said in disbelief.
"….is the Key," Optimus said quietly.
All were silent as they continued to watch the grotesque sight of Megatron sleeping in the pool surrounded by human bones with a sword in his chest.
"So… what now?" Kasumi finally said.
Optimus put both hands to his head. "I don't know. I JUST DON'T KNOW!" Kasumi was shocked to hear the Autobot leader lose his composure and he stormed out of the chamber, transforming at the same time. He only stopped to pick up the container before travelling back to the surface.
Cologne finally looked away from looking at the body of her dead mother and faced the Autobots, wiping her tears at the same time. "Please Autobots, understand your leader's confusion. You have found your greatest enemy and artefact at the same time, both of which are now inseparable and inaccessible if the Amazons have anything to say about it. As I understand, you and your leaders have spent thousands of years to either recover the Key or destroy Megatron. Now he finds that he can't do either," Cologne said.
Silence reigned for a while.
"Well, this sucks," Jazz finally opened his mouth. "So much time spent and in the end we can't kick Mega-Dork's butt or get our damn Key back. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm pooped out. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some Amazon babes to check out," he said before he also transformed and went out of the cavern.
Each Autobot gazed silently at Megatron again then one by one they transformed and went out of the cavern. Last to leave was Bumblebee, Kasumi, Cologne, Ranma and Akane.
Kasumi tried to squeeze Bumblebee's shoulder. "You OK there?"
Bumblebee seemed to sigh deeply. "I ……guesss…… so…… it is… a little…… anticlimactic…. after so many…….. years of searching," he said. "I…… don't….. know….. what to….. do now……. Nor…… does….. Optimus….."
"I know but we mustn't give up hope. There has to be a solution in all of this. Everything will turn out all right in the end," she said and gave Bumblebee a smile, which warmed the Autobot's spark. He gently leaned his head at Kasumi's body and Kasumi did in kind, wrapping an arm around his head.
Kasumi said, "Can I sing you a song that my mother used to sing to me?"
Bumblebee was stunned and nodded. Kasumi then began to sing in her soft sweet voice:
Its so hard to know
The way you feel inside
When theres many thoughts
And feelings that you hide
But you might feel better
If you let me walk with you
By your side
All were stunned at the beauty of Kasumi's voice and the lyrics of Tommy Page's song, A Shoulder to Cry on. So he responded with a song of his own.
And I never thought I feel this way
And as far as I'm concerned,
I'm glad I got the chance to say
That I do believe I love you
And if I should ever go away
Well, then close your eyes and try to feel
The way we do today
And then if you can remember
Keep smilin', keep shinin'
Knowin' you can always count on me, for sure
That's what friends are for
For good times and bad times
I'll be on your side forever more
That's what friends are for
The other three people from the Nerima Wrecking Crew didn't know what to say at the friendship between Kasumi and Bumblebee. It was beyond words and deeper than any relationship that Ranma had ever found himself in, even with Akane. The sight was enough to make them go "awwwwwwwww".
Then Ranma had to open his big mouth. "Yeah, its not like those Decepti-somethings know where Megatron is or the Amazons for that matter."
"RANMA! Why can't you stop spouting worst case scenarios?!" Akane said, annoyed at her fiancé interrupting what appeared to be a tender moment between Kasumi and her Autobot friend.
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When Optimus exited the castle, he dropped the container and drove off on his own. Inside the container, Nabiki's tower PC suddenly vibrated. All of a sudden, the outer casing unfolded and four legs emerged. The tower PC became longer and from one end, a vicious panther head sprouted. The panther sniffed the air and then launched a transmission while the rest of the Autobots, especially Hound, were still below ground.
)!#(!)$)!#!)()$#()(#)()#$($!()($) / Megatron and Key to Vector Sigma found. Transmitting coordinates to Chinese Amazon Valley..
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In the Yellow Sea aboard the USS Enterprise, an F-22 Raptor received the transmission and then broadcasted a worldwide command.
)#!($!)#$B !(# $#$( !#$!()&$!()#&!)$)!(#StarScream to all Decepticons, mobilise. Assemble at transmitted coordinates and prepare to attack.
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Location: Nagasaki
An M577 Armoured Personel Carrier moved off a beach and utilised its amphibious abilities to move across the ocean.
!)$!#))$(&!#$#)(#)$!$!)()&$()!)(&($&Soundwave acknowledged. Commencing Operation Megatron Recovery
Location: Outerspace
An American Space Shuttle started to re-enter the atmosphere, leaving two astronauts stranded in space repairing a satellite.
!#)#)(!($#&()&$#$))&!(&!()#&$(!&/ Blast Off acknowledging, re-entering atmosphere now.
Location: Chendu Military Region, Sichuan, China
Crashing through the thick forests and knocking trees aside, was a Chinese Main Battle Tank Type 99. An infantry fighting vehicle WZ551 followed behind it.
)!#)#$!()&#/ Brawl on the way.
!#)!&)($#&!$#()/ Swindle coming.
Location: US military base in Afghanistan
A Pavelow helicopter carrying a M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System ("MLRS") rocket artillery via grappling hooks headed for the Himalayas.
!(#!!&$(&#&!#!/ Vortex moving out
(#!$!()$!()&&)(&!#$/ Onslaught is coming
Location: Somewhere in Russian Airspace near Siberia
The last of what used to be a squad of three MIG 29s were shot down by an experimental aircraft known as the Sukhoi PAK FA. The pilots who had managed to eject from the MIG 29s were not spared as the Sukhoi almost gleefully shot the pilots to bits as they descended. It then headed for the Chinese border.
!()#!()$!)($)#)&(!)#!))($#&$/Blitzwing acknowledged, heading for coordinates now.
Location: Nerima Ward
A Nissan Skyline GT-R police car raced across the highway heading for Nagasaki. The policeman inside mouthed a sentence in unintelligible language.
)!()#$)(#$!#!()$#()(#&!/Barricade received orders, acknowledged
The policeman then smiled and turned to the terrified girl at the back seat. Ukyo was still mummified and was struggling with all of her might to escape. Part of the seat belts had moved to give her eyes some vision and it was now staring at the policeman's grin.
"Do not fret my little pet, you are merely the first slave to the Decepticon Empire. May more will join soon. ALL HAIL MEGATRON!" he screamed maniacally. The girl could only scream as Barricade tightened the seatbelts to make her suffer.
To be continued…..
Author's notes
Again, I have no plans to put Ukyo through a depraved hell. I have no intention of doing to her what I did to Nabiki in Forging Our Own Destinies.
Whewww, finally I can get the Decepticons out of my head. The list may actually change though so watch out for it. You're going to hate me for it but I planned to have the Autobots outnumbered since the beginning.
By the way, just a note to all of you history buffs, the Three Kingdoms period of China from 184 CE to 280CE is one of the most interesting parts of Chinese history, and has been romanticised in many forms of media. I suggest you all try to look it up. Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun and Ma Chao are a part of that historical period.
It basically describes the fall of the Han Dynasty, the subsequent warlord period, which eventually resulted in the Three Kingdoms and finally the end of the Three Kingdoms in the form of the Jin Dynasty. Many great Chinese scholars, strategists, and warriors came from this period, most notable of which was Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and many other who would give King Leonidas, Alexander and the Romans a run for their money, had their empires stretched as far as China.
The best form of literature on this is the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by someone in the Ming Dynasty, about 400 years ago. Of course this is a romanticised version, there are more historical material out there but it is a splendid piece of work. Well, I didn't read it, I watched the Chinese series. :P
Anyway, for the purpose of my story, I set the Amazon territory in Sichuan, a province renowned for its extremely mountainous terrain and forests. Zhuge Liang did conquer the region and set up the Shu Han state for his lord, Liu Bei there. I just inserted the Amazons there.
Ah, great Zhao Yun. A renowned warrior who excelled in spear fighting and was also a fairly smart general. Legend has it that he single handily fought off an entire army protecting his lord's baby son who was wrapped up in his armour. To top it off, he was honourable as well and fairly smart as a strategist.