Story Series: Xander in Exile
Story title: Exile's Birth
Crossovers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/ Multi-Xovers
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or plots from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Transformers, Stargate Atlantis, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Final Fantasy IX, Star Trek, Master of the Orions II, Star Wars, Marvel comics, D.C comics, Heroes of Might and Magic, Dungeons and Dragons and Harry Potter. This is just a work of fanfiction. The major crossovers are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Transformers and Stargate Atlantis. The rest just have minor cameos.
Summary: One Halloween night shattered Xander's world, when his Halloween self consumed the lives of six young children. The Powers that Be are willing to restore life to the children on a condition, that Xander be banished from his reality… forever.
OoooO
Chapter Two : Prime Beginning
The spark burnt within him, giving him form, giving him life. Images, memories of the creator were downloaded to his data banks, granting him knowledge of what he was. He was a Transformer, a cybernetic lifeform created from some unknown technological devices through the Giving Sparks spell. He knew instinctively that he had gotten his creator's memories because his creator was the one that shared his spark, to give him life.
As the memories of his creator slowed to a trickle, he began to have access to the hidden data buried deep within his data bank. Data about what his original form was meant to function as, left behind long ago by the race that built his original shell.
His two optical orbs swiveled and observed what lies before him. He towered over his carbon based creator who was staring at him with mouth agape. Behind the creator stood his sibling in spark, who only reached a height up to the shoulders of their creator.
Can you hear me? He asked, directing the question to his sibling in spark. Instinctively activating his wireless senses to communicate with his sibling.
I can. An excitable voice piped up in his head. We have been sparked! What shall we do now?
For a moment he was at a lost at how to answer the question, but it was obvious that his smaller sibling was looking at him for guidance.
We will show our respect. He replied at last.
And together, they kneel in front of their creator and asked.
"What do you wish of us? Giver of Sparks?"
OoooO
Okay... maybe he should not have created the Transformers without thinking about what he wanted them to do first. Xander stared at the two Transformers kneeling before him in part dismay and panic as he tried to think of a way to answer the Transformers' question.
"How about the two of you stand up first? There's no need to kneel or anything." Xander said hesitantly as he gave the two Transformers a nervous smile. "Maybe I should introduce myself first. I am Xander..."
"You are Alexander Lavelle Harris, Giver of Sparks." The larger Transformer continued Xander's words as it stood up. "You are banished to this reality, alone and in a new world."
"How did you know all that?" Xander asked, looking at the Transformers in shock.
"When you shared your spark with us, you also passed us your memories." The smaller Transfomer piped up. "Do you not remember this Giver of Sparks?"
"Oh... erm I am still quite new at this." Xander hedged, feeling a bit alarmed that his memories were being shared with the Transformers. This would have to be something to take note of when he use the Giving Sparks spell the next time round. "That aside, maybe we can start with your names. Do you guys have any names?"
"We are just born." The larger Transformer replied. "We are nameless."
"Oh right... of course." Xander said flushing at not having thought of that. "Then we'll have to come up with names for the two of you. Maybe we can use any of your distinctive features or functions as a guide to creating your names. Though now that I think about it, I guess both of you have no idea what you can do as well, isn't that right?"
"Actually Giver of Sparks, we are aware of what we can do with our bodies." The smaller Transformer said excitedly, shifting its two feet. "There are data buried within both of us. Left behind by the race that created our original shells, explaining about our functions."
"The race that created your original shells?" Xander's eyes widened. "Who are they? And please, just call me Xander, no need with all the Giver of Sparks names."
"As you wish Xander. As to your question, we have no idea what the race that built our shells look like." The larger Transformer replied. "In the hidden data contained in my original shell, there was a welcome message by a race calling themselves the Lanteans, as well as their language matrix package. The message congratulate whoever was able to retrieve the hidden data buried within the Astria Porta, or loosely translated into English, Stargate. Apparently the Stargate was the name for my original shell, before I was sparked. The message goes on to reveal the functions of the Stargate and where to find the Lanteans."
"And what does the Stargate do?" Xander asked, eyes shining with interest at this new piece of information. This might be the key for him to discover more about the reality he was dumped in. He had actually been dreading the prospect of not finding anyone else in this reality. He had been hoping that he could find humans in this strange reality... but if he encountered any non-humans, he was not adverse to meeting them.
"According to the message, Stargates are devices, built by the Lanteans that create artificial subspace wormholes, allowing for near-instantaneous transportation between two distant points in space." The larger Transformer replied. "Stargates are placed by the Lanteans on thousands of planets. There are also Stargates designed for space, placed in orbit around planets. A Stargate device is connected to the Stargate network, allowing Stargates to connect to each other by broadcasting their positions in space. I have already tried accessing the network and have determined that there are 2,785 Stargates positioned in large expanses of space and planets. I am also able to send an equivalent of a ping to any Stargates to determine whether they are located in space or planet side."
"That is so cool! So you're telling me that we can travel to other planets?" Xander asked in amazement.
"Yes. However, it seems that my current energy level only allows me to establish a wormhole to the nearby Stargates. In order to reach any further Stargates, gate hopping will be required." The larger Transformer revealed.
"That is okay, we can always explore the other planets nearby first." Xander said nodding at the larger Transformer. He turned to the smaller Transformer. "So what about you? You said you were also able to access the hidden data within you?"
"Yes Xander." The smaller Transformer chirped up. "The hidden data within me also contained a welcome message from the Lanteans, as well as their language matrix package. However, instead of information on the Stargate, most of the message contained data about the Dialer device, which was my original shell. The Dialer device is what the Lanteans used to power Stargates placed on planets. A Dialer device is able to transmit enormous amount of energy to targeted Stargates wirelessly, enabling them to open wormholes across a great distance."
"So you're an energy generator." Xander concluded as he looked at the smaller Transformer.
"That is part of my function. I am able to produce massive amounts of renewable fusion energies. The Dialer device also serves the purpose of telling the Stargate which location in space to connect their wormholes to. So if we come across any Stargates, I will be able to control it wirelessly." The smaller Transfromer revealed as he turned to look at the larger Transformer. "In theory, I should be able to pass more energy to my spark sibling to open wormholes across large distances, assuming the role of the original Dialer device."
"I see." Xander said looking at the two of them. "Now that I know your functions, what about your gender? So that we can best give a name best suited to your gender."
"We are male Transformers, according to human physiology." The larger Transfomer answered.
"Very well then, we will start with you." Xander said looking at the larger Transformer. "Since you can open wormholes between points in space... how about Starbolt? A name that says you can travel across the stars like a lightning bolt."
"That sounds nice. Starbolt will be my name." The larger Transformer said nodding to Xander.
"As for you." Xander said as he turned to the smaller Transformer who was already hopping from leg to leg excitedly. "You can produce massive amounts of renewable energies and you're so... energetic ... how about Hypernova? A hyper Transformer who can produce energies as impressive as a nova."
"I will be called Hypernova, thank you Creator." The smaller Transformer cried happily.
"Just call me Xander." Xander insisted with a sigh. He turned his head up to look at the sun which was beginning to rise overhead. "You know what, there's still time to spare. How about exploring our surrounding areas before deciding if we want to travel to another planet? Starbolt, you were saying that the hidden message within you also reveal the locations of these Lanteans? Or at least how to contact them?"
"Yes Xander." Starbolt replied. "I have the Stargate addresses leading to their cities."
"Alright, we may have to consider approaching the Lanteans if we can't find anyone else in this reality." Xander said as he came to a decision. "But I would rather we do that as a last resort. I have no idea if they are good or bad aliens, and seeing as they are the ones that build powerful devices like your original shells, I would rather have more information on them before arriving at their doorsteps."
"As you wish Xander." Starbolt said with a nod. "If we are to explore the surrounding area, from which direction should we proceed?"
"How about that way?" Xander suggested, pointing at a random direction before setting off, his two Transformers following behind him.
OoooO
Hunger caught up with Xander a few minutes into their trek. Xander flushed as his stomach gave a loud growl, reminding him that it had been hours since he last ate anything. For a moment Xander felt homesickness coming onto him before shrugging it off. He would probably have to be like the men of old. Obtain food by some good old hunting. It was just too bad he knew no spells to create food.
Then he paused. His mind flashed back on his Blue Magic repository. There was one spell that might work... the Halloween spell that he had absorbed. His Blue Magic ability was able to instinctively let him know that the Halloween spell he possessed was not the breakable spell that had been cast on him and everyone wearing costumes during Sunnydale's Halloween night. Instead it was a permanent form of magic, more of a reality warping spell that could bring what he imagined, fantasized and visualized to life. Its only requisite was that it needs to be cast on an object which would then change into the one he had visualized.
"Is something the matter Xander?" Starbolt asked as Xander stopped walking.
"Give me a minute, I need to think about something." Xander said with a frown. He could essentially create food from the Halloween spell. But that seemed like a waste of good magic. After what he had learn from Starbolt and Hypernova, it seemed that in this new reality he was in, the race that called themselves Lanteans were the creators of the Stargate and Dialer devices which spans thousands of planets. They were a race that travels the stars. It was not a short leap of faith to imagine that they would have starships, seeing as they would need to travel to different planets to place the Stargate and Dialer devices on them.
If he met up with these Lanteans, what would they think of him? The Lanteans must be a very technological advanced race, to be able to create wormhole devices. The Lanteans might not even be humans. What if they are bad aliens or xenophobic ones? He and his two Transformers might land in deep trouble if they just blindly bumble around. They need a position of power to talk to those Lanteans with, power that his Halloween spell could grant them, given enough time. This power could also create food.
Xander's eyes gleamed with suppressed emotions. He had been so confused and frightened since his entry into this new reality that he had been just reacting to his surroundings for the past few hours, not putting thought to what he could actually do with his new abilities. He had been lucky that he was not eaten up by some wild predators during the time he was sleeping in an unknown forest.
"Xander?" This time Hypernova was looking at him cautiously, with an air of vulnerability. Xander's heart soften. The two Transformers looked formidable, but in truth they were only newborns, even though Starbolt had been trying to act more mature. Xander was the one that created them, they were his responsibility. And he would protect them... with a powerful starship.
"I am going to cast a spell." Xander said with a gleam in his eyes as he looked at them. "A spell that would make things much easier for us."
"Oh!" Hypernova piped up happily. "Are you going to give us more siblings?"
Xander gave Hypernova a considering look. "Hmm... that might not be a bad idea as well. Let's sit down and give me sometime."
Xander choose a grassy spot to sit down, with the two Transformers following his actions. He needed to organize his thoughts as he creates his own... starship. Luckily for him, he was a nerd. Comics and science fiction, those had been his daily dietary intake... when Jesse was around.
Xander's heart clenched. Jesse had been dead... but he was planning to warp reality with the Halloween spell... He could always re-create Jesse, the Jesse before he became a vampire. Xander's heart wavered, for a moment pondering the cons of such an action. There might be a very good chance that the Jesse he created would turn out to be different from the original.
For a second, he hesitated, then his resolve firmed again. He had to take the chance. He did not want to be alone out here. And it was not as if Jesse had anything holding him back in Sunnydale, his parents were as bad as Xander's. There had been times when Jesse, Willow and him had talked about becoming runaways, living on their own, best friends forever...
And if he really create Jesse, what about Willow? Willow would have wanted to stay with Xander if he was exiled. The three of them were that close. But he had to draw the line at Buffy or anyone else like Giles or Joyce. They have family that care about them. He seriously doubt that they would be happy about losing contact with their friends and associates forever. Willow and Jesse were the only ones that could possibly understand. Willow and Jesse were the ones that have few enough connections in Sunnydale to let go of. Willow and Jesse were his only real family before he met Giles and Buffy. Making up his mind to re-create his two best friends, Xander began to turn his attention to what he original intended to do.
A look of fierce concentration crossed Xander's face as he began to rift through the memories of all the science fiction shows, books and games he had access to throughout his childhood to teenager years. There was the starship Enterprise from the Star Trek shows, having technologies such as transporter, shields, replicators that can create almost anything, phasers weapons, warp drives... Then there were the ships and technologies from the Master of Orion II game, android technologies, powerful shields utilizing space/time, cloaks, holographic technologies, ability to create planets out of asteriods, even medical technologies that could enhance evolution... And of course there was Star Wars with its light saber, clone armies, galaxy guns and so much more...
He could not just visualize the exterior of let's say the exterior of the starship Enterprise and be done with it. The spell requires him to visualize not only the exterior but also the interior of the ship, room by room if the spell was to work. Which means that the number of rooms on the ship has to be few, and the ship has to be small. Small and simple... Xander's mind wandered, could he squeeze a lot of space in a small starship? That way the exterior shell of the starship can be just a simple shape while the interior is filled with numerous rooms. His memories flickered and settled on a solution...
Magic could accomplish what he had in mind. Especially magic from the Harry Potter books that Willow had been so fond of reading, which she had similarly forced Jesse and him to read during the time they were waiting for high school. Harry Potter books were about a young boy whose lineage extends to the hidden Wizard Societies in his world. He was tossed into it, learning magic and battling dark wizards.
The magic of the Harry Potter world had a very wide range of appliance, with many incredible spells that cause various effects like enlarging objects or shrinking them. Xander also distinctively remembered that the magic in the books could affect space. The interior of a small luggage might contain a large living room with four small rooms when one enters it for example. If he could combine technology with magic he might actually be able to create enormous amount of space in a small object. And if he was going to combine Harry Potter magic with technology, what about magic from other sources, like magic from Dungeons and Dragons game guides, or even magic from the Heroes of Might and Magic games, one of the old classic staples of his teenage years with Jesse...
What was to stop him from doing all that? What was to stop him from making the exterior of the ship as small as possible? Or create something that do not look like a ship entirely... Or even visualize something workable purely out of his imagination. Perhaps he could also create magical weapons that he could use in this new reality, or a way for him and others to gain new abilities. Having the abilities of comic book heroes would be cool... like those from the Marvel and D.C. comics. And then there was Hypernova's request for more siblings...
The crux and limitation of the Halloween spell was to keep things simple. The human mind does not have the capacity to visualize too many complex objects at one go. One way of going around the limitation was to recreate objects that he was familiar with, and tag his existing memories to the spell. Adding a highly customized living quarter would mess things up because he needed to focus on too many small things. But recreating his own room... that was easier, it was something he had lived in everyday of his life after all. The memory of his room was clearly defined in his mind and the Halloween spell could pull and create the room based on that memory. Using this shortcut to creating the starship with the spell, Xander began tagging his various old memories, linking them to the spell, building up his inner vision.
Xander did not know how long had passed before he was ready. Even though the Halloween spell does not require precise visualization, he needs to at least have a rough idea of what everything are and where their places in the ship will be before he casts his spell. As his eyes snapped open, he gave no hint that he saw the two Transformers seated beside him. All his focus was on the image of the starship he had built with his mind.
Reaching deep within him, Xander cast the powerful Halloween spell, flinging the potent magical energies out from him, into the trees standing in the distance before them. Xander gasped as he felt the spell pulling more magic from him then he thought was possible, rapidly draining magic that Xander realized in shock that he could not stop. In a moment of horrified clarity, Xander realized he simply did not have the amount of power to create the starship in his vision. He could not stop the spell halfway, he had to cut corners, leave out things he originally wanted to put in.
But it was hard, to alter his visualized image half way... His vision was dimming... darkness...
As Xander slumped to the ground in a dead faint, he thought he could hear the cries of Hypernova and Starbolt.
OoooO
Starbolt felt wonder as he and his sibling watched Xander casts his spell in awe. White ripples of energies ripped into the trees, tearing into them, changing them. A shape of something took form, something that the Xander memories within Starbolt identified as a red cab over truck. A very large red cab over truck, almost ten times larger than the original vehicle. Higher and bigger than any vehicle humans or even Starbolt could possibly drive. The same red truck as... Starbolt froze in shock as he turned to look at Xander. He could not have possibly...
Starbolt's wonderment came to a screeching halt as he saw Xander's pale face and unfocused eyes, just as his creator slumped onto the ground in a dead faint.
"Xander!" Hypernova cried in fear as both of them lunged for their fallen creator.
Starbolt carefully lifted Xander up, who remained unresponsive. Neither he nor Hypernova had sensed anything around them, so full of worry about Xander, before a shadow fell over them alerting them to the arrival of someone very large. Starbolt turned around and looked up, his mouth agape in astonishment. Standing before them was a figure straight out from Xander's memories, memories of a cartoon... of Transformers... standing before them was...
"I am Optimus Prime. But you can call me Optimus." The large Transformer, larger than even the one in the cartoons of Xander's memories, intoned in a grave voice as it towered over them. "I am your brother in spark. I am created and given life by Xander, to lead and mentor the new generation of Transformers. I am given Xander's memories... and much more."
"Optimus... Prime." Hypernova said in awe, forgetting for the moment that Xander lies unconscious in Starbolt's arms. "Xander really gave us more brothers!"
Hypernova then turned and looked at Xander with guilt. "But something happened to him. Now he will not wake up."
"I have equipments inside me that can help our creator." Optimus said as he held his hands above the heads of Starbolt and Hypernova. "Brace yourselves..."
For a moment, it seemed as the very space around them had warped, before Starbolt and Hypernova found themselves in a very large area with gleaming white walls, two upraised flat constructs, three beds and three smaller rooms.
"What is going on?" Hypernova cried out in shock. "How did we get here?"
A flicker of light orbs, and Optimus appeared in front of them, close to the same size and height of Starbolt.
"You are currently in the spaces inside me." The smaller sized Optimus replied. "Xander created me with a blend of technology and magic. I was born with powerful energy emitters that could replicate the energy signatures of the Undetectable Extension Charm from the Harry Potter books. A charm that allows me to make the internal space of an object larger than the external space appears to be. Numerous rooms were created in the magical spaces within me. However that is not our main concern right now. The room you are standing in is the Medical Lab, filled with medical equipments that can help us determine what is wrong with Xander. Lay Xander on one of the medi-bed Starbolt. I will begin running tests to locate the problem."
Starbolt nodded and moved to one of the flat constructs Optimus had pointed to, placing Xander on top of it. Instantly, the medi-bed lit up. A light began pulsing, from the bottom of the medi-bed to the top.
"The medi-bed's read out said that Xander's physically alright. He is however suffering from exhaustion." Optimus observed as the medi-bed deactivated. "The best thing we can do right now is to let him rest. Xander's room had already created so you can place him in there. Go through the door behind you, it will lead out to the living room which is surrounded by a series of doors."
"Alright Optimus!" Hypernova said as he opened the door, stepping through it, only to stop in shock at the large living room before him. Sofas, tables and chairs were neatly arranged in all corners of the room. There was also an enclosed cylindrical glass platform of some sort in the the middle of the room. The large living room was shaped like a dome, surrounded by dark grey walls on all sides. Doors were set in the walls. Hypernova turned back. This time he saw the name plate saying Medical/ Evolutionary Lab, next to the door he had just stepped out of.
"Xander's room is the first door to your right." Optimus said as he followed Starbolt who was carrying Xander out of the Medical Lab. "There is however something I need to inform the two of you of. I was unfortunately created in an incomplete form. Xander ran out of magic before he could create a large number of essential rooms inside me. The rooms for the two of you are among the rooms not yet created."
"That is alright Optimus." Starbolt said in a firm voice. "I am sure we can make do in whatever rooms are available first. But the other rooms that are not created, are they important?"
"Well they are quite important as a matter of fact." Optimus revealed. "Xander cast the Halloween spell by creating the rooms in the order of his visualized image. He started with my exterior form, gave me life as a Transformer, before starting to develop the magical spaces within me. The first room was the concealed and inaccessible Power room, an array of six Thorium Fuel Cells, the most powerful energy cells from the Master of Orion II game was created to provide power to me. The Shield/Cloak/Artificial Gravity generators room was next to be created, followed by the Medical/ Evolutionary Lab. The spell then continued with creating rooms for Xander, Willow and Jesse."
"Willow and Jesse!" Starbolt said in surprise, tapping into Xander's legacy memories within him. "Aren't they Xander's human friends?"
"Yes, Xander has re-created them with his Halloween spell. The memories I have gotten from him revealed that he does not wish to be alone without human companions in this new reality." Optimus answered. "Unfortunately as he was going to create Starbolt's room, he realized that he was running out of magical powers. He changed his focus, using all of his remaining powers to create a series of central databases with cultural information, genetic information, technological knowledge and magical information on Star Trek, Star Wars, Master of Orion II, Harry Potter, Heroes of Might & Magic, Dungeons and Dragons, Marvel, and D.C. The databases are meant for me to use as an emergency, a backup in case we run into any problems while Xander's magic is depleted. Unfortunately his magic reserves ran out half way during the spell, the information in each of the databases are incomplete."
"Is that going to pose a problem?" Hypernova asked curiously, impressed by how much power and knowledge Optimus possessed.
"Not really, unless something attack us." Optimus replied cautiously. "I have no offensive capabilities, as Xander's magic ran out before he could create me with weapons. But there was a reason one of the first rooms Xander created was the Shield/Cloak generators room, he wanted me to have adequate protection. I possess Class X shields, the best shield technology from the Master of Orion II game, with is actually a blend of space/time technology. I should be able to defend against most attacks. I am confident that once Xander wakes up and regains his magical reserves, he will use the Halloween spell to create the rest of the necessary rooms. In the mean time, let's place Xander in his room first."
OoooO
"So, um, what did you say your name was?"
The blond haired girl smiled. "Darla."
He gave a cough and nervous laughter. "Darla. You know, I haven't seen you around before. Are you from around here?"
"No, but I have family here." Darla said smiling at him.
A sense of curiosity aroused within him as he looked at the girl. "Have I met them?"
"You probably will." Darla said with a mysterious smile.
…
…
"What are you!" Fear thick in his voice as he looked at the monsters gathered before him. White fangs gleaming in the dim light of the torches.
"So... you are friends with the Slayer." The one called the Master looked at him with a vicious gleam in his eyes. "Hand him over Darla... He will be dinner, and he will be bait."
Fangs pierced his neck. Pain and darkness swallowed him.
…
Gasp!
Jesse fell out of his bed in a daze, cold sweat lingering on his body.
"Man, that was intense. I almost thought they were real." Jesse gave a nervous laugh as he pushed himself up from the floor, untangling himself from his blanket. "That's it, no more pizza dinners."
Tossing his blanket onto his bed, he gave a sweep around his room. Everything was where they were supposed to be, which means they looked like the typical untidy room of a male teenager and... Jesse froze, staring at something across the room. He blinked and stared again. Since when was there a DOOR on that side of the wall!
Chills ran down his body as he moved cautiously forward and opened the door. He tensed and gaped as he found himself looking into a toilet. A toilet that looked very much like the one at Willow's place. With Willow's favorite towel hanging on the wall.
"Oh man. I am freaking out. I am seeing things. Must be the nightmare..." Jesse closed his eyes and opened them again. Nope, Willow's toilet was still there. Attached to his room. He turned to look at his room to double check. Yup it was most certainly his room, his bed, his things...
Jesse carefully backed away from the toilet, hairs on his arm standing up. Softly he closed the door and backed away to the other side of his room. It was not disappearing. Oh god, he felt like he was in an episode of the Twilight Zone, or maybe the X-files. He need to find somebody, anybody. Turning, he rushed for the another door in his room, the one that was actually supposed to be there, he opened it, ran outside and... stopped... in a living room... a very large dome shaped living room, with doors set in its walls.
Jesse shivered, the door to his room was supposed to lead to the corridor in his home, not to some weird place.
"Oh god." Jesse muttered numbly, ready to turn any minute and run back to his safe and oh so familiar room. Never mind the toilet that was not supposed to be there.
Creak...
Jesse turned around jerkily, expecting some monster from a horror show to creep up on him. Instead his attention was diverted to the door next to his room. It was creaking open slowly and was that a name plate next to the door? Jesse's heart leap to his throat as he stared at the name plate. It read Willow's room.
Then he saw her, Willow's pale white face looking out of her room as she opened her door. Her eyes were glued to Jesse's face. Her body as stiff as a board, her breathing fast and uneven.
"Willow?" Jesse asked in relief. If he was kidnapped by aliens, at least there was Willow around...
Willow gave a whimper before her eyes rolled up and she collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint.
OoooO
Optimus was multi-tasking. Starbolt and Hypernova were following his instructions, now inside Xander's room, placing him on his bed and watching over him. It was fortunate that Xander had the foresight to create holographic emitters in the magical spaces within him, allowing him to project solid holographic projections of himself.
A soft sound behind him alerted Optimus to the presence of someone else. Optimus turned around and was temporarily shocked to see what looked like four humans in the distance behind him. Having been born with Xander's memories, Optimus knew that Xander was beginning to fear that he might be the only human being in this reality. Once Xander wakes up, Optimus would be able to put his fears to rest.
Optimus focus his optical orbs on the humans. They were moving away very fast. It seemed that they had left behind several carts of goods and pack animals who were supposed to pull the carts. But why would the humans leave their stuff in the middle of the forest? From the way they were moving, it was as though they were running away... from him. Optimus froze as he realized belatedly that his height allows him to tower over the trees. The humans had probably saw him and left.
Quickly Optimus started the cloak generators within him and activated the cloak. A shimmer and Optimus disappeared from sight visually. He debated following the humans but rejected the idea. Thick trees lie all around him. He would have to knock over them to pass if he was to follow the humans. The crashing sounds of falling trees would alert the humans to his presence, defeating his purpose of staying hidden.
Instead, Optimus tracked the direction when the humans were running to, Xander would want to know of it later. Optimus has access to data on human psychology through the central databases. It was part of the data package linked to the Star Trek database. According to it, the humans were most probably moving to a place with more humans, which means a lot of people might be coming to check out this place soon. He had to move, in the opposite direction, hoping he would not bump into anymore indigenous people of this planet.
He does have access to a series of First Contact protocols from the Star Trek, Star Wars and Master of Orion II central databases. But he doubt the humans on this planet would be very happy with a giant Transformer trying to arrange First Contact with them. Optimus decided to wait for further instructions from Xander when he woke up. For a moment, Optimus felt a hint of pity that the Sensor array room which Xander originally had in mind, was one of the room that was not yet created. If he had access to starship sensors right now, he would have been able to sense the four humans before they had seen him, and locate any possible human settlements on this planet.
His internal sensors, those already created in the magical spaces, interrupted his train of thoughts. It seemed that Xander's friends, Jesse and Willow, had woken up. Optimus sighed, it meant that he would have to brief them since Xander was still unconscious. As he made to address them, his internal sensors report that Willow had fainted. Carbon based lifeforms are so fragile.
"Jesse McNally." Optimus' voice intoned inside the spaces. "Listen to what I have to say..."
OoooO
"Teyla! Teyla! There's trouble!" Lemar cried out as he burst into the tent.
Teyla Emmagan, leader of the Athosians quickly stood up in the middle of discussing the village's season harvest with Halling.
"What happened?" Teyla asked in concern as more people poured into the tent. Athea, Rinus, and Jorben, all part of the trading team lead by Lemar, supposed to depart for a three day trading journey, were shivering as they stumbled into the tent.
"Monster..." Athea gasped, her face pale as her hand clenched at her heart. "A large metal monster!"
"And the Gateway of the Ancestor is gone." Rinus said, seemingly in shock.
Teyla tensed, the Gateway of the Ancestor was the village's livelihood. It was the device that allows the Athosians to leave their planets, to trade with the villages on other planets. To obtain products and items that the village do not produce. It was also the more common way for Wraiths to enter their planet and began their culling. Unfortunately, even though the Wraiths were a very large threat, they could not just bury the Gateway, because the Wraiths could always arrive in their Hive ships. But more importantly was that there were still Athosians traders on other planets. Jellan's trading team was supposed to return in two days, and Arda's team was supposed to return five days later. Without the Gateway, they would never be able to return to Athos again.
"What do you mean the Gateway was gone?" Teyla asked in shock. "And what do you mean by metal monster? Is it the Wraith?"
"No it's not the Wraith, it's something else." Lemar said wringing his hands in despair. "When we found the Gateway missing, we heard trees falling and the heavy thump of footsteps. Looking up... we saw a giant metal monster looming over the trees, with its back turned to us. We simply ran. Left our goods where the Gateway used to be and ran."
Teyla quickly grabbed her staff and turned to face Halling. "Get Kanaan, tell him to round up the villagers and ask everyone to begin packing the essentials, we may need to go into hiding. But wait for my signal."
"I'll do that." Halling said with a nod, looking at Lemar and the others before quickly walking out.
"Athea, Rinus, and Jorben, go help Halling." Teyla commanded before turning to Lemar. "Lemar, I need you to take me to the place where you last saw this metal monster. We may have a new threat."
OoooO
The chaotic disturbance had rippled through the galaxy, causing the energy forms of the Ascended to shudder as for a brief moment, as a hole in the reality was formed. The Ascended had gathered and they had seen the humans and the cybernetic lifeforms that should not be.
The Halloween spell. The naive human boy had named it. A foolish boy that did not realize he had attempted a great feat of quantum manipulation, not some mystical crap. He had actual tore a hole in their reality, to copy a specific numbers of targets from other realities and create them in this world via quantum manipulation. Had the quantum manipulation lasted a bit longer, he might have allowed creatures from other planes to enter. Dangerous creatures who were now alerted by what had happened, and were prowling at the edges of reality, waiting for a chance to enter, a chance where another hole in reality might be blown open again.
"He is a threat, a great danger to all life in this reality." One of the Ascended spoke up with a voice of steel. "We should wipe him and all that he had created off the face of this reality."
"He is an unknown factor. But he is also human, the Ascended had sworn since the First Ascended, not to interfere with the physical plane." Another Ascended replied calmly.
"If we do not interfere, he could destroy this reality due to his ignorance! By allowing planewalkers to cross over and consume the planets!" The first Ascended who had spoken argued agitatedly.
"Perhaps we could have a compromise." A third Ascended proposed. "The quantum manipulation the boy had done, that which he named the Halloween spell, is the source of the threat. If we were to create counter emitters in the galaxy he resides in, specifically created to counter the quantum emissions of the Halloween spell, we can effectively neutralized any future quantum manipulation of its type. This way, we will only affect the physical plane minimally, by placing the counter emitters in the physical plane and thus solve the problem."
"And if he was to leave this galaxy?" The second Ascended asked.
"Then we'll place counter emitters in the new galaxy he entered." The third Ascended answered. "This boy is a threat, not because of his heart and character, but because of the power he ignorantly possessed. But that does not call for us to wipe him from existence. I have seen... parts of what he will become. He will be the keystone to saving millions of human lives and changing this galaxy for the better. I proposed that he be constantly watched, and counter emitters be placed wherever he goes. To this end, I volunteer to be the one keeping track of him. Fellow Ascended... what will be our answer?"
The thousands of Ascended gathered on the plane broke into discussion. Hours passed and they came to a decision.
"Your suggestion has merit, Janus. The boy shall live."
OoooO
Orbs of lights, the shimmering forms of the departing Ascended, leaving only one solo Ascended looking down at the physical plane, on the planet Athos, where the boy resides.
The Ascended's form shimmered, waves of regret emitting from him. Waves of regret that threatened to consume him.
I will keep my promise to you Elizabeth. The people from Earth will survive, and Atlantis will raise again...
OoooO
Author's Note: A lot of people has been asking me to continue this one-shot. :) so here it is, a brand new chapter. Cheers! Story timeline is before the start of Season 1 Stargate Atlantis TV show.