"Mika!" Miko screamed out, and just in time too, as her twin quickly rolled to the side in avoidance to the axe that came crashing down where she once lay.
Puffing in annoyance, Mika got up and with blind courage she tackled the thing again while keeping a tight grip upon the axe it had when suddenly it started pulling back. She let loose a scared scream when it suddenly wound around her waist as it retracted out of the door and the scream of Miko for her echoed through out the hall. Mika kicked and squirmed and fought, struggling to be released when suddenly a pressure began to rise.
Mika gasped and grunted before she began feeling the ground getting farther from her feet, vision blurring slightly, and she found herself dangling in the air. A black visor filled her vision and Mika's heart began beating so hard she was SURE that it would tear out of her chest! Gasping and choking, she struggled and kicked when the pressure started becoming to much! That same feeling from before attacked her body. Heart constricting, lungs straining, Mika spluttered and coughed just as the ripping feeling came and her body was awash with the same fury and sorrow before.
"S-stop!" She cried. "Please! Stop it!" Her panic rose at the prospect of feeling the same she'd felt on the Decepticon warship.
The con tilted his helm, ever so silently inquiring to what she referred while watching a watery like substance leaking from her eye's, falling one after the other.
"I can't take it." Mika pleaded with her head bowed after a moment of silence, her breath hitching and hands clutching where her human heart was. "I can't take the pain and anger... Please stop... please..." She gasped as something in her pulsed, and this time she DID see the con rear back and hold his metal chest as if he were trying to grasp his alien heart.
The con was silent as he observed her even more and Mika, while struggling against the intense pressure of whatever this... this... monster was doing to her, ever so slightly stopped her struggle when his visor began to light and she was faced with a mirror image. The image of herself was almost shocking to see, a 17 year old girl was staring back with wild and wide fearful eyes. Her black with purple streaked strands of hair was disheveled and sticking out in different places that made her look a tad wild... but it wasn't exactly THAT which caught her attention... What caught Mika's attention was both her necklace and eye's...
In Mika's reflection stared back golden eye's rimmed with purple from behind her gleaming glasses, the glow of the purple matching that of her necklace as it seemed to pulse in unison. The two stood there, or rather she hung there while HE stood there, for what seemed to them like hours of nothing but staring and for a split second she swore she saw a gleam of purple under his mask just as the visor flashed and returned to its black empty appearance.
"What do you want with me?" Mika managed to force out, and before she could inquire more there was a prick within her... a semi rough and curious prodding as if something was poking at her in wonder and semi hostile study. Mika was completely confused at this, as it felt like something her and Miko would do through their bond... but what was this? It most certainly was NOT her twin doing this and Mika curiously prodded back.
Hers was hesitant, fearful (On account of never having felt this before with anyone other than her sister), and gentle in comparison and the one doing it to her reared back just as the con flinched and with that flinch all the anger and hostility withdrew from her and she finally found herself able to breath calmly... her heart decelerating from its frantic pace and her lungs greedily sucking in the air it felt it had been deprived of and Mika felt a sense of calm wash over her while the grip of the con slackened ever so slightly.
Now the only feeling left was an intense curiosity and wonder... awe and astonishment. For what, she wasn't sure... she wasn't sure WHY she felt what she was feeling nor was she sure exactly how she knew it was coming from the con holding her... perhaps it was his reactions that clued her in? Did he have an ability to force made up feelings to other people like an empath? Or had Mika gained a freaky power?
While Mika continued questioning things mentally, and the con observing every move of her body and facial expressions, the two didn't hear the titter patter of three sets of feet racing down the hall until one of those three shouted out in desperation.
"Mika!"
Like magic all feeling snapped away, leaving Mika feeling cold and desolate as the con turned to her sister and tightened his grip making her gasp. Tilting his helm at the girl who shouted, the con took the axe he'd been holding within his tentacle and smashed it into the cord to ensure the satellites did NOT move again. Once completed, he leaped into the air much to the terror of the girl he'd been holding as she reached for the other.
"Miko!"
A snarl left Miko's body as fury arose, who did he think he was taking HER sister?! "You hurt my twin and I'll tear you apart!" Miko snarled as she bared her teeth like a wild animal.
No one touched her sister.
No one.
The con stared at the brave girl who dared threaten him and then he turned to the one in his grasp just in time for Mika to kick a sensitive wire in his wrist that caused his arm to spasm and all but throw her at the other.
With a shriek of terror Mika flew through the air and smacked into Miko who had been running to where she was going to land all the while shouting 'I gocha!' and the two collided, crashing into the ground. Miko maneuvered herself to take most of that fall before her arms greedily wrapped around Mika's waist and her body slightly tremble as her eye's stung with held back tears. She could of lost Mika... She could of... Miko held Mika tightly, who clung back in fear, before sending a dark glare at the con and snapped a picture of him for the Autobot's.
The Decepticon, leaping from the roof and taking one as well, transformed and flew off leaving the remainder two to crowd around the girls. "Miko, Mika!" Raf shouted as he dog piled them. "I'm so relieved you're okay!"
"Your not hurt are you?" Jack asked concerned as he looked over them.
"No..." Mika muttered, face buried in her sisters shoulder as nothing but waves of comfort washed over her. "No I'm okay..."
"Don't ever do that to me again." Miko hissed. "Ever."
"I won't."
"Why'd he leave?" Jack asked after a moment of silence, helping the trio up off the floor (Mika ruffling Raf's hair in friendly affection).
Raf looked around for clues and zeroed in on the axe embedded into the wires and felt a sense of dread fill him. "Because... the dish's are locked on to Cyberton." He whispered. "For good."
The others gasped before turning to the wire's as well and bowed their heads in shame... they failed the Autobot's...
...
...
...
"I don't want to hear it."
Mika bit her lip, looking guiltily up to an infuriated Chromia and Ratchet. "...sorry." When the children where bridged back to base they were met with the sight of a frantic Chromia and Ratchet practically tearing the base apart in search for their charge who offered an awkward hello. This caused them to pause and stare at her and the rest that were returning before both went off in a twenty minute scolding. This made Mika feel even worse for leaving, but she didn't completely regret it. Miko could have gotten hurt, Mika told herself.
In school, Miko always did her best to protect her from everything. When someone was yelling at Mika, Miko would shove herself right into their face and snarl back at them. When someone was threatening her, Miko would be there ready to tackle them and give them a beating of a life time. When her bullies were beating her up, Miko would always try to jump in the way and take the hits herself.
Mika felt herself tear up a little, Miko did everything for her... She just want's the roles to switch for once... Miko was her hero and Mika wanted to be the hero for once... for once Mika wanted to be the strong one and repay Miko for everything she'd ever done for her even if that meant Mika getting hurt in the process of making sure Miko was safe.
"Hey, it's not her fault." Miko defended, cutting her twin from her thoughts.
"Stay out of it missy." Chromia turned to the other sister.
"Don't tell me what to do, your not my mother." Miko narrowed her eye's just as Ratchet opened his mouth. "Neither are you."
"Well I should hope not." Mika muttered. "He'd make a weird female."
Chromia, blinking, held back her snigger when she spied Ratchet's mouth hanging open for a second before he spluttered and growled. "Don't change the subject." He said. "You had us worried, again. What if something happened to you? And from what Jack has told me it almost did. I hate to say this but from now on you're to be confined to the base."
"What?"
"We have no idea why Soundwave is so curious about you, nor why he took a snap of you." Chromia explained, eye's glinting for a moment in anger. "This could be very dangerous for you."
[When Soundwave want's something,] Optimus' voice rang through the com. [He will stop at nothing to obtain it. I advise caution little one.]
Mika frowned, "But what would he want with me?" She wondered, could it be that odd feeling she got from him? Maybe he was just as curious and was searching for answers?
"We do not know." Ratchet stated. "So for the time being, it is best you remain on base..."
"Well unless I'm on patrol." Chromia chipped in as she shifted into a more comfortable position. If she knew anything about Ratchet, it was that he could argue for hours on end and so it was better to get comfortable while arguing with the medic.
"What part of confined to the bas-"
"Sorry Ratchet but your a horrible babysitter." Chromia smirked while Ratchet growled to her.
"I'm not a baby!" Mika fumed. "I'm seventeen."
"Right, sorry." Chromia mused. "Now, as I was saying." She continued despite the growly medic. "I'll take her with me on patrol, don't bother arguing Ratch; You know I'm fully capable for protection duty."
Narrowing his eye's at her, Ratchet grumbled and mumbled to himself and as he was about to argue even more, Optimus spoke once more.
[I find I agree with Chromia's idea.] Ratchet blinked as his leader agreed with the femme. [We cannot confine her there permanently old friend... while I know you mean it for the best interest of her safety, We cannot jail her to one place least she feel it being more of imprisonment then a time among friends.]
"She's my charge Optimus." Ratchet emphasized on charge. "I'm not here to make the human happy, I'm here to watch over her and make sure she stays OUT of trouble."
Mika frowned at the emphasis, charge and nothing else is what she was getting and Miko was getting that too! Said girl growled and clenched her fist, what was so wrong with her sister that the stupid old doody head had to be such an... an aft about? Whatever it was, it was making Miko more and more upset with him and that was NOT a good thing... the more Miko got upset with someone the more likely they were to wake up as her next prank target.
And Ratchet was looking preeeeeety good for her next target.
As Miko began formulating plans, Mika chatting with Jack and Raf, Chromia tinkering with her weapons, Ratchet and Optimus changed the subject and were now talking about the danger of Megatrons Dark energon. Mika, pausing in her talk with Jack about trivial things, perked up at the two names. She'd heard about this... Megatron and she felt rather curious about him but what caught her attention the most was the talk of dark energon.
For one thing, what was dark energon and why did it make her pulse rise? She pondered, listening intently. It was something bad, she noted, it had to be with how worried the bots were about it. Her mind raced back to Arcee and Chromia speaking of a friend of theirs named Cliffjumper, he'd been leaking it right? But don't Cybertronians have... what did Ratchet call it... Energon? That blue stuff... and the thing that her guardian and Jacks guardian had on her hand was purple. So Dark energon was purple right? Mika closed her eye's for a moment, furrowing her eyebrow's as she attempted to picture what it could possibly look like let alone why this Megatron was so interested in it.
And as her mind wandered and focused on the very thing the Autobot's were speaking of...she felt her necklace pulse, her heart beat in response, and a distant pulse of reply as if responding to her. The three pulsed together, beating as one for the briefest of moments before Mika's mind suddenly flashed and before her were dark and menacing purple eye's. Gasping, Mika forced her eye's to open and look around in fright. Jack was now off to the side with Raf and Miko, Chromia and Ratchet were now heatedly speaking with Optimus and so no one had noticed her or the reactions.
Just as a great distance away no one noticed the large intimidating grey Decepticon pause as his darkened spark pulsed in response to a distant call... His gaze casting back to earth from where he was in space and his entire being stalk still.
"My lord?" He turned to his ever cowardly second in command.
"Keep going." He growled out, shoving the call to the far reaches of his mind.
"Ratchet, we must destroy the space bridge." Chromia's voice caught Mika's attention. "There is enough live energon coursing through it to achieve the domination they seek. But, they lack the firepower to ignite it. We have to destroy it before they find the firepower and wreak havoc on this planet."
"If I knew how their space bridge worked then I could find a technical way of accomplishing that." Ratchet said. "As it is, I lack the know how of their technology." He cursed, slamming his fist down. "Damn them..."
"There must be something..." Jack frowned, but what?
"Wait..." Miko stood up, she'd sat after a while of standing there not knowing what to do. "Raf!"
Raf's eye's widened in realization before he began grinning and ran over to Ratchet who kneeled down to meet him. "Would schematics help?" He asked while holding up a familiar USB.
"How... how did you get this?" Ratchet wondered.
"When we were at the satellites trying to keep them off of Cybertron... I was able to download them thanks to the other's who distracted the con long enough for me to get it." Raf smiled thankfully at the others. "I'd probably be pancaked if it wasn't for them."
Ratchet turned to Miko, Mika and Jack who sheepishly rubbed the back of their heads. "Optimus!" Ratchet called eagerly. "I must say that the space bridge is... well our soul hope of ever returning back home." He looked to the children briefly before back to the computer. "Are you certain it's destruction is the only option left?"
A feeling of pity rose within Mika, they lost everything. They lost their home and their world... their friends and families. What would she do if she lost all that? What would she do if she lost Miko? She bit her lip in frustration, peeking over to Miko who seemed to be thinking the same as her before back to Ratchet. There was... so much sorrow and hesitance hidden within his eye's. Did no one see it?
[I am afraid so.]
Her eye's drooped and frown grew before she found herself making her way over to the medics side and hesitantly placed her hand on his pede. Feeling an oddly pleasing warmth wash over his frame starting from his pede and traveling up, Ratchet looked down and flinched as his blue met Mika's gentle gold. Shoving the feeling away, Ratchet closed his eyes momentarily before opening them and staring intently at the computer that supported the com. "Then... by all means let us light our darkest hour!" He said intensely.
Smiling up to him, Mika made her way over to the platform within the Autobot base and walked up the stares just in time to see Agent Fowler groaning. "Mr Fowler!" She smiled as she ran over and hugged the man.
Fowler in turn hissed in reply as his wounds stung, but his eye's softened at the girl hugging him. "Kid! You're okay."
"I was worried." She murmured, she didn't know the man... not really, but seeing him so hurt had scared her... "I tried distracting them long enough to keep them from hurting you." She said. "But..."
"Hey, now hold on. Don't you worry about me okay?" He assured, pulling her off of him with a grunt. "I may be hurt but you were able to keep em occupied long enough for the bots to get there yeah?"
"I guess." She mumbled, looking down partially ashamed.
"What were you doing there anyway?" He inquired confused.
"I may have followed the bots not really knowing how much danger I'd be in." She muttered. "And some part of the ship on the outside opened while I was trying to hide and well... fell through."
"And that muscle head one found you huh?" Mika blinked, he must of meant Breakdown.
"I landed on his head." She blushed embarrassed, as if she wanted to remember such an embarrassing moment... honestly... falling right onto his head. If she wasn't so frightened then, however, she'd be a laughing mess on the floor when she remembered what their facial expressions were when she hit... More so the red one's expression. It was priceless.
Fowler blinked before he chortled. "You landed on his head?"
She blushed even more and growled under her breath, but before she could comment, alarms began beeping on Ratchet's computer just as a purple dot appeared...followed by another and another... before more were swarming and moving.
"Those things are getting closer." Fowler commented as he made his way to the railing, eye's narrowed. "That's bad right?"
"Very." Mika replied as she walked up next to him.
[Ratchet we're in position.] Arcee's voice sounded over the com.
"Okay, pay close attention." Ratchet started before beginning to describe what she needed to do, no that Mika could tell you what he said... it sounded awfully complex to her...
Nervousness set in and Mika pulled out a pocky stick to distract herself, handing one absent mindedly to Fowler who blinked at it before taking it and munching on it. Mika did the same before turning to the computer and watching the life signals of all the bots. They seemed alright for now but she also took notice of Optimus' slightly fluctuating as if he were in battle and she wondered for the briefest of moments if he was fighting this Megatron guy.
[I see it.] Arcee spoke after a moment of silence.
"Good! Now, to turn all that power against itself, all you need to do is reverse the current." Ratchet informed.
[Got it, Current reversed.]
"Yes!" Fowler cheered, being greeted by silence and then he lowered. "Right?"
Mika smirked over to him in amusement before turning back just as Ratchet went over to the bridge and typed in coordinates. Jack and Raf were quick to make their way over to the railing followed by Miko who clutched at the bar's in her nervousness as the atmosphere grew tense and air filled with complete silence.
"Do you... do you think they're..." Raf gulped as he cast his eye's to Ratchet.
Mika quickly grabbed Miko's hand in both support and nervousness as they all turned to Ratchet who looked down to a compartment upon his wrist. "Four life signals, one very faint." The four kids looked at each other and then to the bridge as it activated and the first one out was a familiar green bluky bot, but he didn't get very far into the silo.
"Bulkhead!" Miko and Mika cried happily as the two ran and hugged his hand in relief. Said bot grinned down to the worried girls and before he could reply, Bumblebee stepped through and stared at the three before rolling his blue eyes and giving a warbled beep.
"Hey, I can't help it if I got two femmes." Bulkhead joked lamely causing the two girls to laugh. "You're just jealous."
"Bee!" Raf ran over to him excitedly and hugged his legs causing the yellow bot to humm fondly, picking up the boy and hugging him to his cheek.
"Aww, so cute." Miko cooed, Mika snapping a picture with her cellphone but the small little joyful moment didn't last as the portal fluctuated. Next to come in was Optimus and within his grasp was Arcee laying limply, and as he walked through Mika caught a glimpse of the other side of the portal... seeing something that scared her...
"Arcee!" Chromia shouted horrified, Jack gasping from beside her, and the two made their way over just as Ratchet hastily rushed to check her vitals. There in Optimus' arms Arcee lay as if she were sleeping, eye's closed, but the look on her face seemed a tad pained and a few scuffs and wounds littered her small body.
Ratchet scanned over her in a rush while Chromia held her hand, eye's shifting from one wound to the other. "We lost one this week..." Ratchet murmured, causing Chromia to flinch at the reminder of their lost ally. "By the Allspark don't let it be two."
"She'll be fine." Chromia attempted to assure, either it be herself she was trying to assure or the others they didn't know, and Ratchet looked to her with a small shred of pity showing. "She's a fighter... we both are... and always will be."
"Arcee." Jack murmured as he placed his hand worriedly upon her arm, and as the warmth of his human hand made contact with the metal of hers, her blue eye's opened.
"Jack." She jokingly scoffed. "Really? There are other motorcycles in the world." She teased tiredly.
Laughing humorlessly, Jack shook his head while Chromia tossed a relieved smirk to the medic saying 'told you so' before he smiled back. "Yea but your my first one."
Ratchet, ever so glad that their friend and ally was okay, was quick to stand and upon noticing Optimus' stare at the now closed bridge, took a step forward. "And... Megatron?"
Optimus closed his eye's as pain and regret filled his spark. He didn't want it to be this way, he really didn't... perhaps if he'd tried harder he could have... "Not even he could have survived ground Zero." And with that Optimus turned from them, reigning in his feelings... his sorrows and regrets, and clenched his servo.
"Prime!"
He turned back to see Fowler walking over to the railing. "I didn't get to say thank you... to all of you for the save... you too kid." He ruffled Mika's hair. "I owe you guys one." He said to her and the bots before making his way to the elevator... and as it closed he departed with one last thing to say. "We all do."
The nostalgic feeling that washed over Miko had suddenly washed away as her mind began to work harder and harder... thoughts forming, and before she knew it she was standing in front of Optimus with a sad frown. "Is this the part where you say good bye and tell us we need to forget we ever saw you?"
Optimus blinked, staring at Miko and then to the other children. He noted their expressions and then his warriors expressions at the thought of having to part with their new friends. "I do not see a reason to, with the friendly bonds we have already created." He replied with a very small unnoticble smile. "No."
"YEAH!" Miko cheered, returning to glomping her guardian and in response he laughed just as Raf joined the hug followed by a chuckling Jack. "Group hug!"
Awkwardly the bots gathered, using their hands to hug the children followed by a very hesitant Prime. As the group hugged each other, Miko took notice of two missing people and looked to see Ratchet staring at them with the expression that just screamed out NO and off in the distance was Mika who stared at the ground bridge.
Mika stared, and she stared hard as her mind went back to what she'd seen through the bridge when the bots returned. For the briefest of moments, beyond the blackness of space and sparkle of thousands of stars, within the purple haze of what Mika had assumed was the space bridge was a large and terrifying looking gray Decepticon. His size though, was not what had scared her... but the purple of his eye's that she swore for the briefest of moments locked onto hers. It was as if the moment his dark gaze set on hers, that pulse feeling from her chest and necklace responded and it was then that his eye's intensified in color... then nothingness as the bridge closed.
First the odd feelings she had gotten from that... Soundwave and now this odd feeling both her and her necklace pulsated when she both thought and saw dark energon and that gray con? Was he Megatron? Why was her necklace and something deep within her responding to him? Mika was scared to find out... but before she could ponder this more, She felt Miko yank her in. With a yelp, she was suddenly surround by everyone and blushed madly. "M-Miko!"
"I said group hug!" Miko scolded her. "THAT MEANS YOU TOO YOU GROUCHY DOODY HEAD!"
"I don't think s- did you just call me a doody head?"
"What are you going to do about it?" Miko taunted.
"Why you little-"
"Just get in here." Arcee and Chromia chuckled.
Groaning in response and HIGH reluctance, Ratchet forced himself over to join the... hug... but he supposed it was worth it in the end as the human finally shut up... and his charge began to smile.
'I'm not here to make her happy.' He reminded himself. 'but to keep safe as a guardian.'
...
...
...
Well there you have it! The final Chapter of Darkness rising! Like I say every chappie so far I hope you like the rewrite. I've got many plans for it and changes in mind and I'm hoping each and every one of you will like them. Any questions having to do with possible future plots will not be answered as you have to read to find out... any confusion on whatever went on in this chappie I'll answer.
So! Previously I've stated that I'll do a word difference count! In my Unwanted book.. the Darkness Rising part of the story was meshed into one long chapter with a large number of 6,250 words! So, if I were to mesh THIS stories Darkness Rising the word count would be ONE LARGE HEAPING 21,901! That's a HUGE difference guys! Like woah... mkay anyway.
Tune in next time on;
Transformers Prime; Pull Me Into The Dark