Chapter Seven: Fabrication
Sam only watched as the All Sparks laughter choked off into nothing, leaving the silent figure staring up at the sky. He tentatively stepped forward, about to lay a hand on the All Sparks human shoulder when it suddenly stood. Sam pulled back sharply, surprised by the abrupt movement, and his hand was grabbed, pitching him forward into the All Sparks chest. A pair of arms held him tightly as the All Spark spoke.
"We have to leave. I have exhausted what little energy I had built up, it is not safe here anymore, Samuel."
Sam, reminded of what close physical contact they were in, flushed before he peered over the side of the All Sparks arm to where Jazz's alt. mode sat unmoving.
"What happened to Jazz? Is he-"
"He is gone, Samuel. We can only hope he does not return." It added, "Though, He will have most likely sent him back to our proper universe, to warn the remaining Autobots."
"He?" Sam questioned. The All Sparks molten silver eyes flashed dangerously.
"Primus, Samuel. He is interfering with my plans."
Jazz noticed the absence of pain, onlined his optics to find himself in his bi-pedal form, sitting back in the dark place. So that must mean…
"Jazz…" The invisible voice spoke out of the darkness, its tone kind and almost…sad. Jazz turned to his right, not knowing where the voice came from.
"Hey! Wha' was that back there? Wha's goin' on?" The voice did not answer right away, a sigh echoed through the nothing in front of him.
"So now you have seen the extent of the All Sparks corruption. It has- is a danger to everything around it. Including young Sam… I cannot send you back there."
"Wha'? But wha' was all that about savin' Sam? You said he was in trouble!"
"I did…however; young Sam is not the only friend you must fear for…" The non-entity paused, leaving Jazz tense, "The Cybertronians on Earth, your Autobot comrades must be warned of the All Sparks distorted fantasies. They need to know what has befallen Samuel."
"Alright, but before you start sendin' me places, let me ask; who are you?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I did tell you."
And with that cryptic remark ringing in his audios, Jazz fell back into the same light that had consumed him in the first place.
His body hurt.
But was that possible? Last he had known he had no body to feel hurt with. Laughter from the dark, booming voice was still resounding around him.
"What. Is…this?" He strained with the words. Fresh laughter echoed from all corners of the endless darkness.
"This Megatron… This is…life!" The voice ended almost gleefully before Megatrons offline conscious became no more.
He woke up somewhere dark. Not the total crushing black he had found himself in before, but it was dark all the same. He was surrounded by something momentarily unfamiliar to him.
Water, his processor supplied. Ah, so he was still on this wretched planet? The insects and their new Autobot companions must have dumped his body along with the rest of his subordinates. Slowly, the great silver warlord pulled himself out of the grainy rock known as 'sand' that had accumulated around his corpse in the time he had not been occupying it. Once free, he stared at his surroundings at the floor of this 'ocean'. Bodies and various parts littered the ground all around him.
Unfazed by the corpses of his followers, Megatron was preoccupied with a thought as he continued to stare at the wreckage at his feet. There were two missing from the dead.
Realizing things had…changed while he was absent, Megatron set to testing his systems; making sure everything was in perfect working order before he rocketed off the ocean floor. Heading without delay to the open air and continuing on well past the atmosphere.
The Autobots could wait. He had some other unfinished business to attend to.
Megatron would have no worries about the Autobots noticing him, as they had a problem of their own.
Yes, their problem seemed like a much bigger concern as Ratchet had entered Optimus' office, bearing the shocking news.
"Jazz's body, it's gone!"
A red light blinked one last time before shutting off. The signature the radar that the little light had been connected to had left its range on its course to the stars.
Jazz came to in the middle of another street. The screeching of tires met his audios as the black striped, bright yellow Camaro fishtailed to avoid him. Jazz imagined if 'Bee had been in his bi-pedal mode, the poor scouts' optics would be bugging out of his head. Opening a private channel on his comm. frequency, Jazz spoke to an old friend for the first time in what felt like forever,
"Sup, 'Bee?"
Amidst the chaos concerning Jazz's missing body, no one seemed to remember the scout who had been -for lack of a better word- scouting out of and around the city. That was until said scout commed his leader with one short message.
"Returning to base. Bringing guest."
The transmission ended leaving Optimus rather worried and more than a little confused. However, his confusion did not last long as a proximity alarm began beeping, announcing the imminent arrival of one spark signature recognized as Bumblebee, and another not registered in the computer systems. The guest the scout had elusively spoken of.
A Decepticon?
Perhaps another Autobot whose entry had gone unnoticed by their computers? The young Prime could only wonder.
Ten minutes later and the once still desert was kicked up by two sets of tires speeding towards the fenced off, temporary, could-use-more-work, Autobot base.
Another ten and the yellow and black paint scheme of the Camaro could be seen, followed by a glint of silver partially covered by a churning cloud of sand.
Five minutes and the outlines of the two cars were becoming clearer and clearer.
Two minutes and they finally halted. The clanking and whirring indicating transformation were all that penetrated the dust cloud a moment before it cleared to reveal a stunned looking scout and his 'guest'. Said guest was grinning ear-to-ear, figuratively speaking, as he spoke.
"Miss me?"
"W-what? What plans?" Sam asked after the All Spark had released him, only to grab him by the hand again and begin walking. The All Spark smiled with its back to Sam before answering.
"Nothing that concerns you at the moment, Samuel. We must focus on leaving this spot. It cannot be safe."
"How do you-?" Sam was beginning to question when the All Spark whirled around, grabbing him and turning him to face where they had come from. Sam found himself looking at nothing. Just curbside and half-dead grass…but something was missing.
"Jazz, where'd he go? What's going on?" The All Spark stared on grimly.
"That is Primus interfering, Samuel. The body Jazz inhabited was simply an imitation of his old one. Once his spark has left it, it can no longer exist."
"But-"
"Yes Samuel, like Jazz this is not your true body. It is but a replication of the original. It is impossible for physical entities to travel from one dimension to the next." Sam nodded blankly, his head still reeling at the thought that he was inside a body that wasn't his…but was at the same time, just not the right one.
The All Spark continued to drag him further and further away from the spot where Jazz's 'body' had been. Muttering quietly to itself in a language Sam would not be able to understand even if he could hear it, the All Spark kept a close watch on the skies above them and the roads around them. Something was stirring in the air, and it knew all too well what was coming.
But never mind that now; this was no time to begin panicking. It had to get Sam away. They needed to be well away from this area and out of this dimension as soon as it could gather up the energy needed to make the trip.
Then its plans could continue, without interference.
Ah, this took a long time to write, and it's not even that long. Feeling rather blah at the moment. Having some minor writers block and on top of that, school is starting soon, which means updates will probably become even slower within a week or two. I'll try to get as much done as I can.
Oh I hate writing the bits with NEST and the other Autobots, I'm terrible at keeping track of everyone. But, it's got to be there, or the story cannot continue!
If anyone's got any ideas, I'm all ears.
Fabrication: to invent something typically with deceitful intent; to lie.
-DrHooksTowingandCo