(Loosely based on the action figure "Draculus" by Hasbro, Inc.)

(Storyline inspired by the 1897 novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

(The following is a nonprofit work of fanfiction and is outside of the original canon. All names, characters, businesses, places, events, and/or incidents of any kind depicted within this story are being used for entertainment purposes only.)

(Transformers and all related characters were created and are owned by Hasbro, Inc.)


"...the world seems full of good men-even if there are monsters in it." ― Bram Stoker, Dracula.


01.

The Planet of Cybertron.

Kaon, the former capital state of the Decepticons...

The soft humming of the train could be heard all around, along with the rumbling of the steel tracks that resounded outside, as the monorail zoomed on through. Sparker gazed outside the thick-layered glass window from his cabin, his bright blue optics casually scanning the Kaonian countryside and its dark looming mountains in the horizon. The young Autobot would be lying if he were to say this didn't make him feel quite unnerved, considering that Kaon was once the main stomping grounds of the Decepticons, which was more than highly understandable.

But even though the Autobots had banished the Decepticons from Cybertron countless stellar cycles ago, it did very little to keep Sparker at ease. As far as he was concerned, there were still a number of Decepticons out here, hiding somewhere up in those dark mountains of steel and rock—if not all over Kaon—biding their time for when they would strike again.

It was here that he had also learned the entirety of Kaon happened to be brimming with many ancient myths and legends, most of them about monsters from archaic lore, dating even as far back during Cybertron's First Golden Age, before the Autobots and Decepticons were even concepted into existence. During this lengthy trip, while staying at an inn—the Sharkticon's Maw—located in a small Kaonian village situated between the mountains of Gyrum just the other solar cycle, he heard some of the neighboring patrons whispering these tales.

Tales of those cursed to transform into vicious energon-thirsty mechanical werewolves under the full bright light of one of Cybertron's two moons, as well as others about undead robots who were constructed from the body parts of long dead Cybertronians and then brought back to life by the dark and twisted miracles of mad science. But what really got Sparker's attention was this one myth about these creatures named ergos; undead sparkless robots who feast on the energon of the living, sleep in their statis pods by day and stalk their prey at night, taking the shapes of giant robotic bats.

But in the end, Sparker found himself casually brushing them off in complete disbelief. There was no way things like those were real. No way at all. He was an Autobot who believed in reality and facts, not in superstitious nonsense told to frighten misbehaving sparklings. If anything, Sparker was more fearful of the possibility of a Decepticon's loaded plasma blaster aimed directly at his face than encountering Cybertronian monsters of ancient myths and legends.

And yet, there was one moment which seemed to have stuck out lately, one he couldn't get out of his brain module as he tried to relax in his cabin.

It was sometime later in the next solar cycle, as he was about to make his departure with his traveling storage case in hand, he was then unexpectedly stopped by two other bots who seem to have followed him outside. One was a nimble looking fembot and the other was the innkeeper of the Sharkticon's Maw. What perturbed the young Autobot was how they tried to urge him in staying for one more solar cycle until the night had passed, but he quickly picked up on the clear sound of worry in their voices.

"Do you know what tonight will be, mister?" the fembot questioned him.

"Should I?" Sparker asked, raising a confused optical ridge.

"Tonight, at midnight, will mark the eve of All Spark Day," the old innkeeper explained, "when the evil spawn of Unicron come out and hold sway over these lands! It would be much safer if you were to stay until the next sunrise."

"I'm afraid that I cannot stay for one more solar cycle," he remembered saying, trying to reason with the pair. "I'm on a tight schedule to meet with Count Draculus tonight." Instantly, their bright blue optics widened, demeanors changing and faces twisting into looks of indescribable shock.

"Count... D-Draculus?" the fembot stammered, her voice fortified with dread. Sparker blinked a couple of times before furrowing his optical ridges.

"Yes, I'm here on business with the Count," the Autobot stated. "I am to meet him in his castle up north in the Kolkularian Mountains." The two Kaonian villagers practically fell to their knees as they desperately begged him not to go. Sparker was completely taken aback, unsure of how to make of this dramatic reaction. He would never forget the utterly terrified look on their faces, especially on the fembot when she gently grabbed his left servo.

"Don't!" she pleated with the Autobot. "Please, don't go! The Count! He is a monster!" Sparker's optical ridges furrowed even further to the point of practically connecting with one another.

"A monster?" he inquired. "How do you mean?"

"We simple bots of the mountains believe…" he remembered the innkeeper explaining in a very frightened tone. "At Draculus' castle, there are ergos, the count being one himself! Draculus and his fembot sparkmates, they take on the forms of giant cyber-wolves and bats! They rise from their stasis pods at night, and they feast on the energon of all living Cybertronians!" Sparker half-smirked and lightly scoffed, though not in a cruel and disbelieving way. More like baffled.

"Don't be absured. That's all nothing but superstition," he tried to reason with them. "Why, I can't understand why—"

"Look!" the fembot exclaimed, pointing a finger out at the distant horizon. "The sun! It's going down!" True to her words, the setting sun came even closer to lowering down behind the Kaonian mountains until there was only more than half of it remaining. The innkeeper turned back to face Sparker and folded his trembling digits in front of the young Autobot.

"Please, for your own safety, if not your life, don't go!" he begged. "If you wish to stay online, turn back now and return home!" Sparker could see that there was no reasoning with these bots, but he had to try. He wasn't going to allow himself to be deterred by scary folktales.

"I appreciate your concern for my well-being," he remembered saying as kindly as possible. "But I'm afraid that I must go. I'm a solicitor who's traveled a long way from Iacon, and I cannot return home until I have finished my business with my new client. I assure you that you have nothing to fear, for I am not afraid of these myths and legends." The two bots seemed to have finally realized the futility in their attempt to change his mind. The fembot glanced at the innkeeper, the same thought going through their brain modules, before turning back to face Sparker.

Sparker watched as the fembot drew something from her side, and once she held it up for him to see, he realized that it was a rounded, silver steeled medallion with golden engravings on each flat surface. The engravings themselves took on the shape of what appeared to be a large cog with a dot in the middle and also four small arrows which pointed vertically and horizontally. Sparker quickly realized it to be the holy emblem of Primus, the creator of all Transformers.

"If we cannot change your thought processor, then at least take this along with you, for your Life-giver's sake," the fembot uttered. Sparker gave no resistance as she hung the chain-linked medallion over his head and around his neck and she made the sign of Primus. He may not be one to believe in superstitions, but he would not dare to deny that of the one and only creator of all Cybertronians himself. He then turned to face his train, whose many doors were slid wide open. He twisted around back to the pair.

"Thank you," he said, bowing gratefully. "Well…, take care now." And with that, Sparker approached and boarded his train and turned to see the dejected faces of the fembot and the innkeeper one last time before moving to find his place in the train. Even now, as he was many kilometers away from their location, gazing out the window and into the darkened landscape, he could not get the look on the pair's sorrowful and fear-laden faces out from his thought processor. Still seated in his respective cabin, he slowly raised his left arm up, the tip of his digits touching the edges of his medallion.

Why do I suddenly have this strange feeling in the bottom of my fuel tank...? he thought uneasily.

For reasons that were unknown to him, this made him shudder. Perhaps what those two bots said were starting to get to him or something. He was not quite sure exactly, but it was really starting to feel like it. After all, he was but a stranger traveling through a place that was not very familiar to him to meet an unknown client. He continued to feel this way for the next four megacycles as the train continued to travel upwards to the north of Kaon, heading deeper and deeper until they arrived at a small train station.

Sparker climbed outside with his one steel traveling case. With that, the doors slid close again and the train was off, leaving the Autobot all by his lonesome in this dark and dreary land. His glowing bright blue optics drifted up and he took in the sight of the Kolkularian Mountains which mightily displayed themselves before him, making him feel almost rather intimidated if not just a little bit terrified. This was the forming home state of the Decepticons, after all.

Out of his own volition, the young Autobot fished out a simple golden yellow canister-shaped cylinder from his side. He pushed down on large button on the left side, and then a seemingly holographic display appeared above it. A letter—one which he had received during his stay back at the Sharkticon's Maw. One penned to him by the count himself. His bright blue optics carefully scanned every written word that glowed before him, making sure that he would not miss anything.

My friend, Sparker...

Welcome to my home of Kaon. I trust that your journey so far was a simple one. On the next solar cycle, you will board the train which will arrive at the next station. From there, you will find yourself at the crossroads. I instruct you to take the road to the left, which will help in guiding you down through the rugged peaks of the Kolkularian Mountains. From there, you must never stop no matter what until you have finally arrived upon the metal steps of my castle. I look forward to doing good business with you, my friend.

-D.

After having memorized the holo-letter, Sparker pressed the button again, shutting it off, and then put the cylinder away. His optics scanned his new environment. The Autobot would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a bit unnerved at how eerily silent it was. He nearly jumped out of his chassis when he heard a bellowing howl echo from a neighboring distance. His spark speedily pulsed in his armor-plated chest, pumping the flowing energon even faster throughout his fuel lines.

Sparker nervously swallowed a growing wad of lubricant down his intake. Not wanting to stick around any longer and remain stranded in the dark, the young Autobot quickly transformed into his respective vehicle form and carefully sped off down the left-side path...

The chilled air nipped at his framework as Sparker zoomed on through the pathway without even stopping. To help keep himself from being blinded by the surrounding darkness, he turned his headlights on to their brightest setting, but sadly, this was not enough, for the growing fog was so thick, he could barely see anything that was out in front of him. Still, it was a lot better than having no lights at all. When this wasn't enough, Sparker activated his navigational system, which displayed a clear map of the road. By his estimation, he should be nearing his client's castle in less than a megamiles.

So far, everything seemed to be going smoothly, until he heard another howl echo in the distance. Only it sounded like it was much closer this time. This sent a terrible chill throughout Sparker, even while he was in his vehicle mode. His spark pulsed speedily, fear starting to creep up on him. Never in his entire lifespan has he ever felt so terrified. That same exact feeling from earlier ate away at the back of his head, the feeling that told him coming here was a mistake. His radar system suddenly picked up something, and it appeared like it was moving really fast, coming closely to his direction.

From behind...

He could have sworn that his audio receptors caught what sounded like metallic feet galloping closely behind him, which sent another wave of dread throughout his system. Before he could have the chance to shift his gears into overdrive, a moving black cloud had suddenly loomed closely above him. He noticed that it was constantly shifting very chaotically, and it made a strange noise like it was letting out a serious of squeaks and cries.

And that was when the Autobot realized he was not being chased by a cloud, but a giant flock. A flock of cyber-bats.

They let out a series of screeches as they all divebombed at once closely towards his location, inches away from almost hitting the roof of his alt mode, and almost causing him to swerve off the road. Thankfully, he kept a firm hold and sped on as fast as he could trying to escape from the swarm of cyber-bats and whatever was chasing him so fervently on foot.

Primus, help me! he mentally prayed, as he desperately zoomed down the less-than-straight road which continued to lead up to the Kolkularian Mountains. He had to make it. He just had to. If he was capable of moving his lips when he was in his alt mode, he'd be sucking the bottom one right now at this point.

And just when it seemed like he was moments away from giving up all hope, the giant swarm of cyber-bats unexpectedly slowed down, and quickly turned away towards another direction, vanishing into the night sky above. And the unknown predator that was chasing him from earlier was now no longer heard. This sudden act confused the Autobot for a moment, causing him to wonder what in all of Cybertron made them hurriedly change direction and leave him alone.

But even though Sparker wanted to figure out the logical reason for this strange change in behavior, he wasn't going to stop whatsoever. At least not until the Autobot had put a good level of distance between himself and his savage pursuers, and there was no way on this planet of rock and metal that he was going to stick around and wait for them to come back.

And with that, Sparker shifted his gears into full speed, driving down the dirt road until he sooner or later came to a good enough spot where he could finally pause for a short cycle to catch his vent. In the blink of an eye, he switched back into his robot mode, standing on both his legs and bending over slightly, his hands resting against his upper legs. He vented so heavily, exhausted and beyond terrified by what he had just experienced.

Just what in Cybertron was that all about? he mentally wondered. Some lubricant formed and then began to sweat down his steel-plated forehead, and he wiped most of it off with the back of his hand. Perhaps that was what the Count meant when he said to not stop in his holo-letter. At this point, Sparker was just about more than ready to get this task done and over with and then head straight back home to Iacon as soon as possible.

Now, if only there was something he could do about this near blinding fog. As if his thoughts were being listened to, the fog slowly began to dissipate, allowing the Autobot to see his surroundings a lot better. But despite this, it still was not enough to do away with the uneasiness he felt growing throughout his circuits and wires.

His spark pulsed again in his mechanical chest as he became more aware of the strange noises all around him. Everything that happened so far, it was like he'd walked straight onto the set of a holo-horror film. There was no longer any form of denial that Kaon most certainly lived up to its less-then-positive reputation. Now, he had something more to fear besides a possible encounter with a Decepticon. He had to keep going, he knew this. Otherwise, there was going to be no end of this living nightmare. After having picked up his handheld steel case, he made a simple gesture of gazing upward.

And what he saw immediately left him in sheer awe...

Displayed before him was a structure of immense size. A castle that towered high above, situated upon widened hilltop which overlooked the haunting valley. Sparker noted that it had a very industrial look about it. There was a steel-plated wall that curtained around the entire the place, the broken battlements were bare and uncovered. There was no form of light seen in the tall black windows. Sparker squinted, clearly seeing that the castle was indeed very old, dark red streaks of rust covering a lot of the outer walls.

The one other thing that made this ominous scenery all the more perfect was the bright light of Moonbase One that shined down upon the crumbling edifice from the near wispy clouds above, which made Sparker all the more unnerved than he was before. Once more, he swallowed another growing wad of lubricant down his intake as he tried his best to steel himself before making his way up the pathway that led to the huge steps and the towering double doors.

He craned his head around in a circle and then cleared his intake before three loud knocks against one of the doors, three knocks that seemed to echo into the quiet night. After a while of waiting, he nearly flinched when one of the doors slowly opened inward, and a terrible creaking sound bellowed like a large animal as if it was letting the residence of this ruined castle know that their guest had finally arrived, which might as well be like that.

Sparker took several easy steps through the door, and he was met with a cold breeze that brushed against his steel-plated feet. When he had finally crossed the threshold, the creaking sound of the front door returned. But just as he had turned around, it was too late, for the massive door had slammed shut, leaving him now trapped in this gloomy edifice of decay...