Heya! Finally Chapter two's on!! Yeah, took me a LOOOOOONG time to update! I apologize!! But starting from July 19th(My B-Day!! Huzaahh!!) it'll be easier for me and I'll be able to post faster than before!!
Anyways, thx for your patience! Enjoy reading!!
Chapter Two
Optimus Prime's POV:
It had been sometime now that we have the Omegalock within our possession, which we all were proud of. But unfortunately, me and my men had been having difficulties of finding the next Cyberplanet key, and time was beginning to slip out of our hands.
Returning from a short patrol, I made my way towards the computer room. I stopped in front of the door, hearing suddenly shouts and argues from inside. The first one to raise his voice was clear to recognize. It was Hotshot.
"We have no time to waste, there has got to be a way to find out where we can find the Cyberplanet key faster than this!" he shouted.
"Calm yourself, Hotshot." Red alert said, trying to reassure the other autobot, "We're trying our best to move as fast as we can."
"But it doesn't seem to be enough." Scattershot explained, "We don't have a single clue yet of where it could be, except the emblem of Atlantis, and it's not much of a help."
"And Megatron's still a step ahead of us." Overhaul added, "He has the advantage because of the map he stole."
My men began to lose faith; the doubt was impregnated in their voices. And as they kept on arguing, I decided to enter the room, to go against every judgement they made.
"You can't give up now."
Landmine and Jetfire were there as well, trying to calm all those Autobots who were starting to lose hope.
"Optimus Prime!" Red Alert stuttered, "We-"
"I know what you have been talking about." I said, approaching myself to them, "There is no need to explain. You are all worried about Cybertron and the black hole, and our search is advancing slowly, but you must know that there is still hope for us to find a clue. If we abandon now, Megatron will find the Cyberplanet Key first and use it for his own selfish purpose. No matter how hard we will try, he will continue on ignoring that not only Cybertron, but the whole universe will be sucked into oblivion through that black hole."
"We know that..." Hotshot mumbled, "But… I want to do something instead of waiting for the three kids to come back."
I went to him and placed my hand on his shoulders. "I know you're impatient to hear what's our next plan. But we can't make any moves until Lori, Coby and Bud come back to explain us about their situation. When they're here, we can head off to do the next mission. Only together will we be victorious."
Hotshot looked up to me and said with pride: "You're right! I'll wait. Like they say, 'united we are, invincible we remain'!"
For a short moment, I felt my spark fizzing and stumbled back in shock. That expression! The one I haven't heard in years. The great determination in Hotshot's optics as he spoke that phrase particular phrase, with so much pride, felt like a strong needle piercing through my armor.
I lowered my head and used my hand to hold it. Those memories... Those I wanted to forget... Unwanted, they slowly began to come back as they short-circuited every fragment of my mind, haunting with their every grieving image.
"Optimus!"
I looked at my side and saw Hotshot, worries consuming his very spark.
What am I doing? I am their leader. I have to be strong for them, especially for Hotshot.
I lowered my head, slowly regaining the balance I lost through the shock. "I'm fine... I think I need to go out for a walk..." I uttered calmly, ignoring his worried-filled eyes and acted as nothing had happened. But the young Autobot didn't seem to believe me.
"Are you sure, sir? Do you want me to come?"
"I'll go with him."
I knew that Red Alert was the next one to speak. He knew me. He knew everything. He was there where it all began and where it all had ended. He knew how I reacted to that event and how I would react when someone spoke of it.
Together, we walked out of the room, leaving the base as none of us spoke. None of us could find the words to express how we all felt.
Finally, we reached a cliff, from where we had a beautiful and thoughtful sight to the sunset. We stood there, gazing into the distance, the colorful horizon combining itself with the clear blue sky.
Landmine's POV:
It was one of the rarest sights I've ever had, our leader having the sight of a lost and saddened bot. Optimus was stern and tough Autobot, a transformer who always brought our strength when we lost it. But this time, it was his strength that seemed to fade away from his optics, along with the dimmed determination. I've already seen it before, and to be honest, it was something I would never want to see again. No one would ever want to see his or her leader so down. The only time he'd be like that would be an event that happened so long ago.
I was as shocked as Optimus when Hotshot pronounced that phrase. It was clear to me that our leader was hurting through what Hotshot said.
The young bot couldn't know, though. He knew it had happened, but he hasn't thought about it nor did he know to whom this expression belonged to.
Worried, he let his mind speak out for him. "Why did Optimus look so... sad and depressed? Did I do something wrong?"
"It's not what you did... It's what you said." Scattershot explained, saddened.
Just as I thought. Optimus and me weren't the only ones to think about it.
"What are you guys talking about?" Hotshot asked confused.
"She always used to say that." I announced with my arms crossed, "The one Autobot who managed to defeat so many Decepticons in a relatively short amount 'a time. One of our most loyal comrades, whose name has become taboo since that day. One of our… friends."
By the look of his face, he understood whom I was talking about. It ain't the greatest memory we had and besides, that great Autobot was Optimus' most loyal friend after all. That's why everything about this hero, the name included, had become taboo. Everyone hated it to see his or her source of courage, honor and strength down. We wanted our leader to forget about his friend and put that hero aside. For some of us, it was tough to never speak about that transformer again, especially me. That kind bot who became a hero was a close friend to me as well. Not as close as Optimus', though. Reason more to forget… Our friend.
To me… That courageous autobot was like a kid to me. Like family. If that one were here, everything would have been different. We wouldn't even be think of putting up that stupid taboo.
Ya fraggin' idiot. Why'd ya go out there alone…?
Angered, Hotshot walked to a wall and slammed his fist against it. "Slag it! How could I have been so stupid?! I completely forgot..." He turned around, facing us. "But then... why did Red Alert go with him?"
"Red Alert was there on the day of the Ambush, right by his side." Jetfire added, "He knows better than any of us how Optimus feels when this comes back to the surface."
"Boy, do I feel sorry for Optimus Prime..." Hotshot said.
Jade's POV:
Well, a day can't start so depressing, right? So that's why I cast these thoughts of my past aside and sat on a table, having breakfast. I drank slowly my coffee, enjoying the mild yet strong taste that wakes you freshly up in the morning. And there would only be one thing to ruin a moment like this.
The telephone across the small, same table rang. Yup, that kind of ruined the calming moment, but there was no need to get upset about it. I do prefer getting phone calls than no phone calls at all…
I picked it up and answered. "Hello?"
"Jade, it's me, Richie!" the person on the other line greeted excitedly.
Richie Whitner was my manager, a great person whom you could easily rely on. He's been there when I needed someone. Okay, he's the only friend I know, unfortunately, but he's really kind, and that's what counts.
"Hey, Richie, what's up?" I said happily.
"Listen, our meeting has been canceled today. We're gonna have to do it tomorrow."
Right. Once you're famous, people want to know more about you. And today, there was supposed to be a meeting with some reporters who wanted to interview me for their magazine. Frankly, I couldn't imagine anything better than this.
"It's no problem, I anyway wanted to take the day off." I explained, and it was the truth. The problem about being singer is that you have little time to rest and a lot of work to do.
"Really?" Richie asked, "All right then, you did work a lot, so it's only fair that you get a little break. Hope you'll get to enjoy it and tomorrow, you're gonna show them how great you are."
I giggled. "Thanks, you're real cool. But you shouldn't forget that we did this together. Like I say, 'united we are, invincible we remain'!"
"Hahah, I've always liked that expression of yours!" he laughed on the other line, "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, tomorrow all right. Bye, take care."
"You too. Bye."
I hung up the phone and breathed out a sigh of relief. That meeting had already tensed me up so much and put me under stress. So, I decided to do something, to move a bit around. Something outside, out of this house, away from this place. The weather was really nice, so sunny and no clouds in the sky, it should be worth it to go on an outing. In the mountains, maybe, towards the west of this country. There they had amazing mountains and forests, I even heard there was a beautiful lake nearby. I always wanted to go there. That trip could definitely cool me a bit off from that shocking dream and from the stressful meeting I was thinking about. Maybe it might help those headaches I've been having lately. I could almost say that I could hear some eerie sounds that are causing this unbearable pain.
I got up and put all the breakfast dishes away. After all the cleaning up, I prepared myself some lunch, since I was thinking of pick-nicking over there, and got myself dressed up for the great adventure. I was sure; it was going to do me some good. For the ride to the mountains, I might as well ask John, my chauffeur to drive me there. A place where you wouldn't expect anyone, fans especially.
Packing my stuff in my dark-blue bag, all suited and done, I was ready to go.
Western mountains, fresh air, beautiful lake, here I come!
Jade's as fresh as she'll ever be with that journey coming up. But what about the torn Autobot leader, Optimus Prime? Find out more in the next chapter of the value of true memories!!