(The Ghost of Christmas Past is about to arrive. Let us return to Megatron Scrooge and see what will happen in the chapter. Also, we shall see some OC's of mine I have made just for this chapter; Aurora and Moon Gem.)
It was the witching hour of the hour of darkness, and Megatron Scrooge had succumbed to the spell of slumber and wen tot his bed and pulled in the curtains that surrounded it, keeping all traces of light form the luminous moon from outside, and to lessen the risk of meeting with any spirit as Starscream Marley had warned him about. There was little noise about the room and home, and the muffled howls of the wind outside were enough to lull the miser into an instant slumber.
After two hours had past, the clock tower form beyond the homestead, and the grandfather clock form inside the room began to chime the arrival of midnight, and Megatron Scrooge awoke in an instant. HIs sight was still blurred by his slumber, and he could hardly make out all that was inside; from the window to the opaque walls and furniture. His audio receptors listened to the chimes of the clock; both inside and far, and counted the number of times the bells stuck to be sure that it was midnight. It went from 7, to 10, and finally to 12. But, as soon as the chimes hit the number of decision, the grandfather clock suddenly stopped its motion; not a gear was heard clinking, nor did the hands upon the face twitch.
Megatron Scrooge waited, apprehensive and half prepared for what ever was to come. His hands griped the edges of his heavy cover, his head moved about to look upon the room, and his optics blinked furiously so as to sharpen the focus of each lens.
Nothing. No translucent light, no sounds of chains, and no painful cries. "Humbug!" Megatron Scrooge huffed as he laid himself once more upon the bed, settling his head upon the satin pillow.
A femmine chuckle was suddenly heard from beyond the shadows, and the miser sprang up. "Who is there?" he called out, but there was no one to be seen or answered. Again, the chuckles came back, but they sounded as if the laughter was being moved about form each part of the room; from the fireplace, to the window, to the door, and even up upon the ceiling. The white mech was almost close to believing that he had slipped into madness, and was about shut himself away from the whole atmosphere entirely, when all the curtains from the bede flung open, and at the foot of the bed a bright and cheerful figure appeared.
What appeared to be a very cheerful, beautiful, pink and white femme with blue, bright optics, wearing a long, flowing dress that was decorated with diamonds and jewels along the neck line and skirt, stood before the foot of the bed with a lovely grin upon her face plate, her smile looking so much like that of an infant sparklings first smile. She too, like the ghost of Starscream Marley, was glowing with a bright aura, but it was much softer and much more friendly in a way as Megatron Scrooge observed her. She looked almost resembled the image of a well-fashioned doll, fit for any youngling femme.
"Who are you?" spoke Megatron Scrooge, to which the spirit giggled in a sweet tone, a tone that was sweet as Earth's honey.
"I am the Ghost of Christmas Past, Scrooge." she answered.
"Of Long past?" Megatron Scrooge inquired.
The spirit shook her head and giggled again. "Your past, Scrooge."
Megatron Scrooge found the child-like personality of the ghost to be quite unbearable to hear, and he growled. "As much as I am grateful to know that the visit from my pertness was a reality, I am much more in need of my rest. So, leave me."
"If all Cybertronain life was to be measured by their kindness and pure sparks, you, Scrooge, would be no larger than a micro speck." the Ghost of Christmas Past countered, and floated over to his side as he turned around to look away. "I am here for your welfare, Scrooge. So, take heed and come follow me." She then offered her hand to him.
"What is the use of joining you on this journey into the past, Spirit? I have no desire to be next to one so unnaturally cheerful and spry as you." the miser sneered, but then he felt his hand being clasped by the ghosts hand. It felt warm and gentle, like the grasp of an embrace.
"There is much to be seen and remembered, Scrooge. With a touch of my hand, you shall be immortal, such as me. You will fly away." As she said this, Megatron Scrooge was suddenly pulled upwards, up, and up, and up, and up, unit lye saw the foundations of the roof and Megatron Scrooge shield his optics with his free hand, in fear that they were to smash through.
A tingle was felt shivering from the top of his head to the soles of his metal feet, and Megatron Scrooge looked in astonishment as he found himself above the dreary house he lived in, far above the city in itself. All around he could see the spires of all the churches, the domed roofs of bank houses, and the glimmer of the snow-covered roofs of many homes, penetrating the clouds upon which he and the Ghost of Christmas Past hovered over.
"Come, Scrooge." she cooed and gently led him through the vast, clouded sky, at the speed of a graceful swan or a mighty eagle, and Megatron Scrooge was gasping and yelping as they did so, hollering at the spirit when ever they almost impacted a roof top or a chimney, but the spirit only giggled and laughed cheerfully. All the buildings, structures seemed to pass below them as the spirit picked up speed in the flight, until from the horizon a bright, glowing sphere appeared.
"We are almost to your past, Scrooge. Hold on to me." the Ghost of Christmas Past smiled and the normally cynical, quiet mech, screamed in fear as the light grew brighter and almost destroyed his sense of sight as the penetrated it.
The light form the sphere had begun to diminish, and from below Megatron Scrooge looked down upon the surface, and saw that it was vastly different than the town from which he had lived in his adult life. This town of question was nothing resembling any town, but a small village.
"Why, I know this place." Megatron Scrooge sputtered his first words after leaving the present. He suddenly then felt the hand clasping him let go, and he then fell down upon the ground, but he landed softly onto the snow-covered surface. "Ack! Why did she have to do that?" the miser groaned and barked as he shook and dusted himself clean form the cold bits of frozen particles form his nightgown. The spirit then returned to him and smiled in great vigor.
"You remember this place, you said?"
"Yes, I do."
Megatron Scrooge rose form the ground and gazed upon the scenery around him and his guide. All around was a snow-covered countryside; the glimmering, silver trees toped with a winter coating, streams frozen in their endless quest to the mouth of a river, and from a distance the sounds of laughter and shouting echoed from over a hill. Form the hill, MEgatron Scrooge saw youngnling mechs charging down the hill on horseback, hollering and whooping with youthful spirit and freedom as their heel joints kicked at the sides of their steeds. The miser soon felt a great warmth seize his own spark, a warmth that he hadn't felt in such a long time.
"I was a child here. This is where I was raised." he smiled, although he was never keen on smiling, but this moment brought it back. All of the scents, the sights, and the noises all around brought back all of the dreams, thoughts, and fantastical goals he had once had as a youth.
As all of this was being taken in, he glanced back to the hill and saw that the younglings on horseback were charging down upon them like hunters after a Cybertronian fox. "Hoe! Hold your steeds, lads!" Megatron Scrooge called out to them, yet all was in vain as the party came upon them, and to the miser's astonishment the younlgings and stallions phased through him and the Ghost of Christmas Past. "I do not understand, Spirit. I shouted and they ignored my warning."
The spirit giggled in her usual child-like manner and smiled. "These are but shadows that have been, Scrooge. They have no conciseness of our presence. They cannot see nor hear us." She then turned her head to a building far off to the left in the distance and grasped Scrooge's hand. "Come, there is more to be seen."
Megatron Scrooge watched as she lifted herself, and himself, up above the ground, and soon held on as the femme glided through the countryside. Megatron Scrooge remembered every fence, street, lamp post, and every house as they glided past all of the unsuspecting Cybertronians that had once been alive; the adults he saw might already be dead back in his normal timeframe, but the younglings and sparklings he saw amongst them could be close to his own age.
Just then, the gay, lively streets of the Village disappeared, and Megatrno Scrooge found himself in a dark, and cold school room; a large board at the front of the room, and gathered about it in rows of four were severals desks and chairs. "There is one child I see here, Scrooge. Can you tell me if you recollect this younlging before us?" the Ghost of Christmas Past questioned, and she watched as the white, elderly miser walk slowly towards one desk at the left corner. A small, white younlging was sitting down and reading a book.
"Yes, I do recollect this child. I know him all too well. It is me." Megatron Scrooge felt a small tear drip down his scarlet optics. "Poor boy. Poor me. My father was very strict upon my education, and in doing so he had forced me to be locked away in this private institution. I truly mourn for that little child that had once been me. Poor boy."
The ghostly femme placed her hand upon the miser's head, stroking it in comfort and cooed. "Let us see this little mech in another Christmas." As she had spoken, the little child the Megatron Scrooge mourned for suddenly began to age. His innocent and pure face plate began to show a firm chin that Megatron Scrooge had, the brow was now well defined although not at the firmness and serious look, and the once bright and glittering optics of the youngling began to become a sharp red. this little mech was now a young adult, almost around twenty one in human years, if there ever was a human.
A door from the front end of the classroom opened, and a lively femme of bright silver and emerald dashed inside and wrapped her arms around the younger Megatron. The younger form of the miser gasped quickly but then chuckled happily at the sight of this little femme.
"My dear brother, I am here to take you back home." the little younlging said in glee as the younger Megatron Scrooge lifted her in his arms in a warm embrace.
"Home, little Aurora?" questioned the younger Scrooge with a smirk on his lip plate as he tickled his little sister's sides, smiling as she squirmed and giggled happily before he stopped and placed her back down.
"Yes! Home, Megatron!" Aurora beamed, her optics now glowing with excitement and exuberance. "I had missed your dearly, dear brother. I had been longing to ask father if you could return home for Christmas, and he said that you could! he sent me to fetch you, and you are to join me on our journey back to the homestead."
The elder Megatron watched with a faint loving smile as his younger self followed his little sister as they left the room. "My little Aurora. She truly was a ball of life itself, and I loved her so much." he spoke.
"And she was heavy with a sparkling in her adult life, was she not? And what of the child she had left from her passing in the process of bringing it into the world?" the Ghost of Christmas Past questioned to Megatron Scrooge, and he answered with a great sorrow, for he knew all too well about her fate and the fate of the sparkling.
"Yes, she had one child. Hot Rod. Her only offspring." He then felt a sense of regret. "I have been very cross to him the moment he came to the Counting House of mine. He tried his greatest to have me join him for a gathering with his wife, and yet, I refused."
"Come, Scrooge. We must continue." the spirit said, and as Scrooge listened to her voice it sounded as if her giddiness was slipping away, her grin now a slimming smile. She seemed to be loosing a partial amount of her eager, fun, and light-sparked essence when he had first encountered her.
The Ghost of Christmas Past took his hand and Megatron Scrooge watched as the classroom fade away, and in its foundations was a large open room of a warehouse. The windows from each side gave the glimpse of a dark evening, snow was falling from he outside. "You know of this establishment, Megatron Scrooge?" the spirit asked. The way she had addressed him greatly troubled Megatron, for she always addressed him by his last name. Even with this slight change of addressing him, Megatron could still see and that the femme still had a gentle tone of voice.
"Why, yes. I was an apprentice here. I worked under the teachings of my old master, Wrek Gar Fezziwig."
Just as he had mention his masters name, Megatron Scrooge suddenly heard a old, loud, and joyful bellow from the entrance, and a lively Cybertronian of orange and red armor, and wearing a fine waist coat and watch ran over to two mechs. The mechs in question were none other than Megatron Scrooge, and his associate, Shockwave. Shockwave had been a code friend to the miser back in the early years when Megatron worked for the elder bot, and had been a great help to him in times of stress and was always around for a laugh or a joke. "No more work tonight, my boys! It is time to freshen up, sweep up the floors, and have all the decorations up. It is Christmas Eve, boys! Tonight, we celebrate!" Wrek Gar Fezziwig was always well known for his festive parties, as well as for his jovial personality; in times he was seen as a bright and cheerful elf, always light on his feet and as spry as an wound-up toy.
"Ahh, Fezziwig. I couldn't have worked for a kinder, and cheerful mech. He was an understandable fellow." Megatron Scrooge had to smile as he watched his old master laughing and helping with his apprentices set up for the party ahead.
All the shutters were shut, decorations were set, and all the tables were set by the sides of the room, leaving a large room for were the guests would dance. All the warehouse was completely changed from the compacted, dirty, and dusty abode into a warm, glamorous, and festive ball room.
It wasn't that long before knocks sounded from the door, and Wrek Gar Fezziwig sprinted to the doors like a petra rabbit, and welcomed all of the guests inside with a cheerful grin and a warm, firm handshake. The first of the guests were a troop of musicians personally chosen to come and perform for the party, a group of green and purple armored mechs with an instrument of their own. They settled upon a loft and settled in quicker than a flicker of a candles fire, and they began to play lively and jolly tunes.
Megatron Scrooge himself was almost prompted to join with the rest of the guests as they danced in great ecstasy, but he managed to keep himself well composed. He decided to stand and watch with a joyous smile, laughing occasionally when he spotted his master dancing amongst the femmes. He truly was a mech after Megatron Scrooge's own spark; he was the father that Megatron Scrooge longed to have, for he was always helpful and cheerful every single day.
On and on, more dances came about, more food and drinks than anyone could ever count, especially in expenses as Megatron Scrooge pondered. But, his pondering was abruptly halted from its cycle as his optics caught sight of a enigma of great interest. Yet, to Scrooge, this was more than an enigma. This Cybertronian dressed in blue garments was a much greater value than any piece of gold or silver, as rare as an exotic flower, and as lovely as a mortal Goddess.
"Moon Gem."
"You know of this lady, Megatron Scrooge?" asked the ghost.
Megatron Scrooge hadn't answered as he watched as the femme in blue garment came forward to the younger form of himself. This femme was of luscious violet and crimson armor, with a fine look of exquisite beauty upon her face plate, and her lips were a bright, glimmering lilac. Her voice was almost the same as everything she was on the outside; fine, pure, and gorgeous. "Megatron? May I have the honor of being your partner in the next dance?"
It was a moment that Megatron Scrooge never forgot. It was a moment where all the worries of the planet and all the hardships were placed far behind him. It was a moment that was called, 'Love'. His first love, a love that seemed like it was fit for a romantic tale of passion and noble righteousness suck as the tales of noble warriors of the past ages of Cybertron. Megatron Scrooge watched as his younger self nod his head and grasped the delicate hand of the maiden, and immediately all the lively tunes of the musicians became a slow, romantic ballad. All the couples emerged and began the dance of lovers, where the mechs led their femmes to the slow, peaceful, and majestic ballad. And certainly no other couple performed the movement so well as Megatron and Moon Gem. They were in perfect unison as their feet glided upon the floor, their bodies in perfect flexion with the fluctuation of the ballad, and their optics never parted. They smiled and occasionally spoked, but they were mostly lost in each others optics. It truly was love at first sight, and it was proven right as the maiden snuck a kiss to the younger Megatron Scrooge.
Megatron Scrooge felt his spark flutter and beat slowly as he watched this moment of rapture, placing a black hand to his chest and sighed to himself. "Oh, Moon Gem. What a fair creature she was. I will never forget how much we were in love. She was a friend to Wrek Gar Fezziwig's family, and was a very generous maiden, and was compassionate to those she cared for."
"But, how long would her compassion last for you?" questioned the spirit as she grasped Megatron Scrooge's hand. The miser turned, in hopes that she would still retain her pleasant complexion, but was surprised by what he saw. The spirits youthful, playful, and gleeful features were gone. All that Megatron Scrooge saw upon that all traces of the once cheerful and youthful features were replaced by a pair of tear filled optics, and a forlorn frown upon her lips. "Come, there is one last vision to see before I leave you."
The joyous warehouse and all who occupied it we soon covered in a sheath, and taking its place was the Counting House that Scrooge now worked. The foundations were new and not yet in its decomposing and ancient state as it was back in present day. "Spirit, why have you brought me here?"
"Look yonder, Scrooge. You will see." the Ghost of Christmas Past answered, her optics shedding tears as she pointed to a room that Scrooge had occupied. There he was, his younger self, now showing signs of age, sitting upon his desk. Inside with him was Moon Gem, but her smile that Megatorn Scrooge had grown to love was now gone, replaced by a subtle thin line of worry.
Megatron Scrooge suddenly remembered what this moment was. "Oh no, Spirit. Please, take me away from this. I dare not wish to watch this again." he bagged the Ghost of Christmas Past, but she slowly shook her head.
"My time is growing short, and I have no power to bring us to another vision. This is the final one, and we have to stay, Megatron Scrooge."
Megatron was about to answer when he heard Moon Gem, his love interest of ancient times, speak. "I have noticed that you have found something of much greater importance than myself."
"What importance is that, Moon Gem?" the younger Megatron Scrooge answered.
"Money, Megatron." the femme said as she went over to him and held his sleeve, her optics were close to pouring tears just as the spirit.
"Moon Gem, this is only the pursuit of our wealth and well being. If I am to abandon all my financial work to keep us in that cottage of yours, we will be left in poverty."
"Did we not make our engagement as we were in close proximities of poverty, Megatron? We made it when you were partially low in funds, when you were promising to me that our future will be changed by the time you gained enough fortune to afford the ring which I wear now. However, once we have made the engagement you have changed. You are no longer the mech that I once knew. You used to be so loving, joyful."
The younger miser pulled his arm away from the femme and with a great force slammed it upon his desk and roared at her. "I WAS A YOUNGLING! WOULD A YOUNGLING BE IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT? I AM MUCH WISER NOW, THAN THE YOUNGLING THAT HAD ONCE BEEN ME!" The youth's impatient outburst struck at Megtron Scrooge like a dart. He was feeling a great regret over what his former self was saying.
The femme pulled away, her optics now leaking a small portion of tears as she then looked down upon her hand and removed the ring. She then looked at him once more and said to him this. "Your own feeling prove to me more that you have changed, Scrooge." She then placed the ring upon the desk before she returned,"I release you, Megatron Scrooge. I had hoped that you would never change, but I see that it is not in my power. Goodbye, Scrooge, and may you be happy in the life you have chosen."
"No! Say something, damn you!" Megatron Scrooge scoped his younger self as the love of his life left through the door and out into the streets outside, her sobbing clearly heard form the walls. "Please! Don't let her go!" His pleas were all in futile, for the younger miser took hold of the ring, sneering at it, and threw it into the fire place, watching as it melted away into a silver smear.
Megatron Scrooge began to sob of his foolish action and fell upon his knee's, slamming his fists against the floor. He yelled in pain as he heard the sobs from Moon Gem echoed in his head, his self control now melted away by his hot tears. "Spirit! Take me back to my home! Why do you delightfully torture me with these painful memories? Why?"
"You have fashioned these memories by your actions, not I. These have all happened due to your ignorance, Scrooge. Do not blame me." the Ghost of Christmas Past answered in sadness.
"Remove me from this memory then! Haunt me no longer! No more!" the miser cried in a broken voice so guilty and grief stricken. There was no other answer form the spirit, for she had passed on, the room of the Counting House dissipating back to the the dark quarters of his home, his tears of woe and regret lulling him into a mournful slumber.
*Authors Note*
(Wow. To think that Megatron Scrooge had once a happy life, huh? But, thanks to his own actions, the love of his life is now gone. It is now the time for the next spirit to arrive, and pretty soon we shall see the one person that will change Megatron Scrooge's perception of Christmas and its meaning forever. Sparkling Lover out.)