DARKNESS FALLS...

Chapter 2

"So, this is our new school," Haruhi raised an eyebrow at the school the SOS Brigade now called home, "Seems interesting..."

"Suzumiya-san," Mikuru said, "Try not to get too high on your hopes... it may prove a different world from the one we've grown used to..."

"Oh, Mikuru," Haruhi responded, "You just can't feel comfortable, can you?"

"..." Yuki observed the two.

"I don't know..." Itsuki added, "There is something... off about this."

As he looked out onto the streets, Kyon noticed a bright yellow Chevrolet Spark with a black racing stripe driving off. Kyon couldv'e sworn he didn't see anybody driving it, but he decided, 'Nah. Probably just being paranoid.'

"Yo."

Kagami did her usual greeting coming through the door. Everyone was back to their usual routine. Konata, Tsukasa and Miyuki were all sitting around the table having a conversation waiting for Kagami's arrival from her classroom.

Kagami would depart Konata and Tsukasa inside the school building to dump her books inside her homeroom and quickly rejoin her friends.

Kagami, with a pretty enthusiastic tone, asked, "How's summer?"

"Not bad," Konata replied, "I actually finished my homework during a three-day power outage."

"That's a first. Did you hear the news?" Kagami asked.

Konata simply gave a blank look.

Kagami shouted back, '"It's on the everywhere! TV, newspapers, even the internet you live on! Sheesh. It's important to know the events that go on. Who knows, it could affect even ordinary high school students like us."

"Of course I know the news. Recently, they've announced that a new anime has replaced the season 2 of…."

Kagami interrupted her, "No, I don't want to know your anime news. Tsukasa, you know about this right?"

Tsukasa gently answered prodding two fingers together.

Kagami sighed, then said, "Nishinomiya, Hyogo, an attack of unknown origin has struck a local school. Luckily, only a few people died."

Tsukasa asked, "What of the surviving students?"

Kagami shrugged, obviously not knowing that.

"Well, I'm off now," Kagami turned to enter her own homeroom, "Consider it luck that it occurred in some distant school and has nothing to do with us."

Kuroi-sensei dashed in quickly soon after Kagami's exit, with her hair in a mess. Still panting for breath she shouted as she slid the door open, "Not late!"

"Right students… You've seen the news right," Kuroi-sensei gasped and then collapsed on the table. A blank expression came across Konata and Tsukasa's face.

Konata could feel Kagami smile evilly and snicker. Told you.

The teacher continued, "Apparently the students of that unlucky high school have been transferred to other schools. Five have been transferred to this school. Three of them will now be your new classmates."

At that point, three students entered.

One has darkish-brown hair, and brown eyes. His school jacket was unbuttoned, and he wore a tie that seemed to be from his last school.

Another had yellow-ish eyes and, strangely enough, lavender hair. Her skin was so pale, it looked practically white, and her new school uniform had an added cardigan, although some students didn't remember it coming in black.

Finally, the third student had dark-brown hair, amber eyes, and a headband with ribbons attached. She wore a basic uniform, and a smile that said, "Hi. I'm here to kill you."

"Okay," Kuroi-sensei said, "How about you introduce yourselves to the class?"

"'Kay," the guy began, "Hello, my name is..."

A car drove by at this point, causing his name to be drowned out.

"... But you can call me Kyon."

"My name is Yuki Nagato," the purple-haired student said, then said nothing else.

The third student introduced herself somewhat differently, "I'm Haruhi Suzumiya, recent transfer from North High. I take no interest in ordinary humans, only aliens, espers, time travelers, and interdimensional sliders. If you happen to be interesting, feel free to join the SOS Brigade. That is all."

They selected three seats. Kyon chose a seat near the window, Haruhi chose the seat behind his, and Yuki sat down in a seat near the front of the class. Kuroi watched them sit down, then began a dull lesson about something. Kyon, sighing, looked out the window, then down.

He was surprised to see the same Chevy Spark, now accompanied by two more cars: a silver Pontiac Solstice GXP and a Ford Mustang Police Car. All three of them drove past the school. Kyon shrugged again, then continued with his notes.

3 HOURS OF BORING WORK LATER...

"Well," Haruhi noted, "That went well."

"Depends what you mean by 'well,'" Kyon replied, as he continued eating his lunch.

"I mean, nobody said anything about..." Haruhi paused. Kyon, noting her look, turned to see the same Spark, Solstice, and police car drive by again. He frowned and said, "Do you think they're stalking me?"

"Don't be an idiot, Kyon," Haruhi said to him, though, secretly, she was wondering that as well.

"... So... anybody we know die back at North High?" Kyon tried changing the subject.

"Only one person disappeared," Haruhi replied, "some girl named Emiri Kimidori."

Emiri awoke in a shock. To her surprise, several machines surrounded her. She felt a familiarity to each and every one of them.

A mechanical cat near her reminded her of Kyon's cat, Shamisen, since it seemed both dangerous and friendly at the same time.

A familiar F-22-gone-human-robot gave her a smirk that reminded her of Itsuki, but with added malice.

Near him, an black robot gave out a sense of fear, reminding her of the False God Sasaki, if she was a giant, black monster.

A hulking giant with a HUGE red optic reminded her of the Cyclops in greek myth.

Behind her, a huge blue machine with a visor and faceplate, recognizable as the F-117, reminded her of Yuki with his silence.

And finally, a giant throne was occupied by a final machine, who gave a cold gaze with a frown. It reminded her of non other then her radical ally, Ryoko Asakura, who, despite her normally good personality, regarded her with contempt. The same contempt the machine was giving now.

"What do you want from me, you... Weirdoes?" Emiri yelled.

"Weirdoes? Weirdoes you call us?" said the one on the throne. "Oh, so unwise."

"Oooooh dear, now she's done it," cackled Starscream as the lead machine stood up from the throne and started walking slowly toward Emiri, each step shaking the ground with a deep rumble.

"How little you know, Humanoid Interface," said the lead machine, "We Decepticons have existed for millennia before humans were but a blight in the cesspool of the cosmos. If any creatures are the Weirdoes, that would be those disgusting fleshlings, polluting the galaxy with your mere presence. And you are no better, taking their wretched form. The human species' existence is a blasphemy, your very genetics will be purged but before that you will be of use to me and perhaps you may live just a little longer."

"W-what do y-you want from m-me," stammered Emiri. The machine was now towering in front of him, revealing silver armor and a HUGE cannon on his arm. Yet his blazing red eyes glared straight down at the Humanoid Interface.

"You think you know fear?" said the lead 'weirdo.' "You know nothing of fear. Your Integrated Thought Entity's threats of deletion are merely a shadow of what I am, merely a taste of what fear is. My very name is synonymous with fear and you will have the honor of being the first of your kind to truly taste it. They refer to me as Megatron. And I want you to tell me everything I want to know."