there's a million&one ways
A/N: At the end...
Replies:
Screamer's just a Screamer- Thank you very much!
Transfan2392- Are they bondmates? That's the great mystery.
Spottedstar5158- I love writing details into the story. That's also my flaw since I get hung up on the small details, but only because that's where the symbolism lies within this story.
AutobotTwinsMudflap- I don't think the world could handle an offspring from these two! I'm being serious. That kid would be royally fucked up. I'm putting that nicely.
Xade- I did! Kind've...
Pairings: Annabelle Lennox w/ Starscream vs. Annabelle Lennox w/ Ironhide
Disclaimer: I do not own transformers © Hasbro.
He knew only to walk. The mech didn't know how far, but he knew to keep walking, keep making footsteps in the soft sand until he climbed back up to the surface. A faint blue light from his optics alit the darkness, exposing light to a place that hadn't felt the sun's warmth or joy in thousands of years. Ironhide's warm body seemed to attract the school of flashing fish in the dark depths. These schools periodically swarmed him like flies on a horse. Some pecked away at the starfish clinging to his metal, others tried to see if he edible. Ironhide curiously shooed them away, wondering what kind of world he had been abandoned in. Surely someone knew he was here, but what was here?
Here was Earth. Earth had humans, who had a well-developed civilization, society, and culture. Yes, he knew that much, but when he probed further into their databases, all the mech found was of no help to him. There were no traces of his species on this planet. He wondered if he were the only one of his species here. If so, how did he get here? Why was he here to begin with? And for Primus' sake, why the hell did he feel unwelcomed? Each step felt as if he were moving closer and closer to something evil, something that yearned to destroy him. Every fiber in his circuits told the soldier to run, retreat from this planet, but there was another force, a haunting presence that pulled at the strings on his limbs and commanded him forward. For all his worry about what lurked on the surface, he was convinced his answers would be found there.
Perhaps these humans had the answers he yearned for, or perhaps they had been the unknown force to threaten Cybertron. The second scenario would explain a lot, considering his only memory consisted of staring into one of those alien ships before being blasted offline. If that were the case, then he was most certainly an enemy of this world. He snorted at the thought of being prisoner on this world; rather, he was disgusted at the idea of losing a battle and dragged to some unknown planet. The mech's near perfect, military resume would be tarnished by this little skirmish. Perhaps not though, he pondered. If he were here, at the bottom of this watery hellhole, then maybe these humans didn't know he was here. Perhaps Cybertron's defense thought him dead. Maybe there would be a way to keep his resume halfway decent.
A wave of energy swept through his body. He lifted his head towards the sky. Though he couldn't see the surface, he could feel the presence of another, his species, lurking. Whoever this was, they were protecting their spark signature and raised only more questions. The soldier's weapons trailed down his arms, creating bubbles as the heat in the weapons evaporated the water. A great pulse of water had him stumbling forward, grasping for balance. The signature was stronger than ever and just feet away from him. He kicked up loose sand as he spun around to meet the rude intruder.
The mech stood in the water, his deep black hide easily blending in with the lack of light. Between their headlights, they were sufficiently able to alight the area and expose Barricade. Beating, bleeding red optics stared Ironhide and mulled over some darker ideas for a moment before stepping back. The mech kept one arm behind him, the other in front, a classic stance that allowed one to either flee or attack. Without thinking, Ironhide raised his weapons to the stranger. Immediately Barricade stepped forward and relaxed. "I'm not here to have a go around with you, General Ironhide," the scout informed. "I came to fulfill my part of the bargain."
Now he felt as if he had been dropped into an alternate world where everything was turned around into a new, more complicated maze. Ironhide's mind scrambled to match this mech, but his memory chip repeatedly claimed to have no match for Barricade. "What is it you're fulfilling?" Ironhide questioned. The general was stepping lightly, not trying to giveaway the fact he had no idea what this mech was talking about. Though Ironhide was used to having complicated, scholarly words thrown at him, he had never felt completely lost or out of place.
"I have what you asked for, General," he answered bluntly. He cracked open his chest and plucked out a small spark chamber. Dark engravings from the spark burning gave the chambers its own unique design. With his other free hand, Barricade reached around to his back. When he brought the shape forward, Ironhide stepped back. The sight of a dead protoform froze his circuits and paralyzed his soul. Protoforms were perhaps one of the few holy artifacts that bore more meaning than one's own bond-mate. Seeing one, cold, frozen in time with an empty hole in its chest caused his circuits to flare and scream to flee. "All you have to do is figure out how to bring her back," he added. The scout laid the artifacts gingerly on the soft floor.
He could not peel his eyes away from the sight of protoform. "And," he began hesitatingly, "What do you want? I cannot offer you much in the way of services without jeopardizing my career and integrity. Surely, you understand that?"
"Oh yes, I do know, Ironhide," he addressed. "At the moment, I do not need your services. I do need you to stay alive and keep your optics open. There is a great traitor among us, and that traitor needs to be eliminated before they destroy everything that is Cybertronian; at this same time, there is a prime among us. Where this prime is, I have no idea. Now, you being you, I expect that you would have no problems finding the bloke since you are a good judge of character. That will be it, Ironhide." Barricade precisely turned around and began heading towards a mountain ridge at second the last word left his mouth.
Ironhide, still confused, quickly gathered the protoform. He stared at the poor shell, feeling a deep pang spread through his spark. With an unnatural gentleness in his touch, the soldier securely placed the protoform near his spark chamber. Then he neatly tucked the delicate spark chamber in the same secure pocket. When he looked up to find Barricade, he only saw an empty space spread out before him.
"What the fuck do you mean I cannot fly?" Starscream bellowed with fierce hiss behind each word. "I am a seeker! I am meant to fly!" He flung out his arms wildly to extenuate his point. "We are superior to them, Thundercracker! They should be the ones grounded, not us!" He snarled as pushed his way into the nearest building; though, the building was the last place he wished to go. No, he wanted to get away from the cramped space and be free to claim the skies as his own, untouchable kingdom; yet, according to his brother, his kingdom was so untouchable that not even Starscream himself could reach up to touch the clouds without alerting the world of their location. He swore he felt like a noose slowly being pulled tighter around his vital energon lines to his spark.
"Then you can go on another suicide mission, Screamer," his brother answered in an unusually testy tone. "For being our leader, you sure aren't prepared to make sacrifices to better our cause. If you were not so impatient, then you nor I would be in this position to begin, but no, you always have to have things now!" Thundercracker slammed his fist into the beige wall, making a dent. "It is not always about you, Screamer. I would thunk having a bond-mate would have taught you that, but I guess I am wrong. It's no wonder she is gone most days with Barricade." He stalked closer to his brother, nearly breathing down the back of Starscream.
"Slipstream is busy being productive," Starscream countered as he slammed his fist around to slap his comrade in the lower mouth. The loud snap of metal on metal stirred the birds on top of the roof and sent them scattering away in a talkative state. "If you were not so enamored with the idea of keeping your best loyalties to Skywarp and not our cause, then perhaps I would not have replaced you as second-in-command with Slipstream." He pushed his brother backwards, towards the sunlight that came in from the door and lit up the otherwise dark warehouse. "You need to learn your place, Thundercracker, because you are over stepping your set boundaries."
"Go to hell," Thundercracker sneered.
"Been there already no thanks to you," Starscream reminded bitterly.
"What the hell is going on here?" The sound of a stern, sickly sweet feminine voice stirred the mechs' attentions. Slipstream stood in the doorway with the rays of the light streaming fluidly over her body and conveying her as something heavenly, but her ebon' hues with pink eyes offered a very contrasting, demonic twist to her angelic appearance.
Before she could even react, Thundercracker unleashed a swift kick to the femme. She slid into the opposite building. The shattered glass rained over her and ricocheted off her body as the pieces sadly made their way to the soggy, naked ground. She barely glanced up before his foot was planted on her chest. She gasped as she felt the pressure both on her metallic body and flesh body increase exponentially. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he shouted in her face as he reached down for her scrawny neck.
A series of soft clicks stopped Thundercracker from lifting the femme off the ground. "She is your second-in-command, Thundercracker. She is the bond-mate to your leader. She will become your sister if you do not lower your weapons," Starscream roared. He pressed the tip of his nullray to the middle of his brother's back, not holding back any of the heat from his charge weapon. The edges from where the weapon touched his brother's metal began to smolder and churn black. "She is more important than you, Thundercracker. She has the information we need to succeed this time. She has not failed me as you and your bond-mate have in the past."
"But I never left you for dead either," Thundercracker replied in a cool tone. "I have been beside you, doing what was necessary to keep you alive, brother. This femme who you have not seen since your young years outranks me? I feel insulted that you would allow someone with no military or warfare experience to replace your brother." Thundercracker calmly stepped away from her, keeping his back turned to Starscream. "Slipstream, my fight is not with you. I hope that is clear. Rather, I had to use you to prove a point."
"Point being?" Starscream questioned viciously as he moved in between Thundercracker and Slipstream. He was aware of her slowly rising up from the glass to stand behind him.
"You are even more irrational with her here," he answered neutrally. The mech turned his head around, nodding what seemed to be an apology to the femme. "I am just uncertain whether you can handle both protecting your bond-mate without jeopardizing our species, brother. The needs of our species outweigh your own personal needs. I hope you keep that in mind." Thundercracker gave one last, glower towards his brother before ducking into the thicket of trees.
Starscream stood there until his brother's heat signature was unreadable.
Dear Fans of There's a Million&One Ways,
I am sorry for not updating this. It has been over half a year since I last updated. In these eight or nine months since I last updated, I have been very busy with school. I just finished up my senior year of high school and have since applied to college—I'm actually off to orientation tomorrow. I'm now one step closer to my dream of becoming a bio-physicist!
With that said, I highly doubt that I will ever finish this story. It is not because I do not love it, but I simply do not have the time to give it the love and attention it needs. The fact that there are people who still e-mail, fav this story, put it under their alerts, or write reviews is a wonderful feeling! I am truly sorry to say this. However, there is a silver lining.
This story really is tribute to how far I've come as a writer and how to develop plots. This story has also inspired me to continue writing. As a result of this story, I do plan on publishing a book one day We Are Preparing for the Afterlife. The name was generously given to me by my real life friend and fan fiction writer Alterik. This new story is very similar to There's a Million&One Ways in terms of the twists, deception, and snarky attitude. Of course, as tribute this fanfiction story, one of the character's nickname is "22." So if any of you ever come across a book called this and find a character named "22," then you'll be able to tell your friends a little fact that no one but besides you and those who have read this will know.
Thank you for your support, love, and admiration. Of course, enjoy your summer!