Descension

By: Starath

PG-13 V

Note: Finally, this thing is DONE! I don’t own the Beast Warriors in this fic, but I do own my characters. Please let me know what you think of this; very rarely do I write fics of this nature. Oh, and just so you know, the character name Barrikad is pronounced like ‘barricade’. This is a PG-13 fic for violence. Special thanks to Lady Venom for bein’ my proofreader!

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What if this whole crusade's

A charade?

And behind it all there's a price to be paid

For the blood

On which we dine

Justified in the name of the holy and the divine?

Just how deep do you believe?

Will you bite the hand that feeds?

Will you chew until it bleeds?

Can you get up off your knees?

Are you brave enough to see?

Do you want to change it?

-- Nine Inch Nails, “The Hand that Feeds”

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

He wanted to scream, but didn’t. He knew it was pointless. No one ever came for him anyway. He didn’t want to hear his voice either. He was afraid of it. It sounded nothing like it used to, but instead was low and grave, haunting, with a touch of insanity to it….

But still, I want OUT!

His voice was a change among many since they had gotten a hold of him and started the experiments. His memory drive was wiped clean and he was left with no past, a tormented present, and an unknown future of hell… And the pain….

Has even Primus forsaken me…?

He paced the small pitch-black cell. Five steps wide, eight steps long. He forced himself not to think about the fact that, over the time he had been there, it took less and less steps to cross the cell, as though he kept growing larger. The pacing hurt, but he kept moving only because it hurt more not to. The pain of his slow transformations had engulfed his mind and body and nearly drove him mad in the beginning, when all he could think to do was huddle in the corner and wish the nightmare would end. He was used to the continuous pain by now, but still he paced the cell out of fear. If he stopped moving, he would then hear the popping and cracking of his changing body, along with the pulsing of his spark that was now an alien within him.

Why me? What have I done to deserve this? What kind of people would do this to a fellow Transformer?

What were they doing to his spark, anyway? Whatever it was, it gave him pain that only those in the depths of the Pit should feel. The pain dulled only slightly after the terrible procedures were done. His spark always ached horribly now, compounding on the pains of his changing body. Whatever they were doing to his spark forced his body to start changing to house the new ‘power’ source. He had heard the name “Starscream” being mentioned several times, but thanks to the memory wipe they had done on him, he had no idea who that was and what it had to do with him. All he knew now was that he was a scientific experiment named X.

It’s so dark in here… I would kill to see the sun again…

X looked up the far wall of his cell where there was a crack near the ceiling. A thin, weak stream of light pushed through. He often wondered if that was the sun, yet doubted it, because from what he could tell the facility he was in was deep underground. But still, he held onto that hope that the light was indeed the sun…. Crossing his arms over his chest, X sat down on the small shelf protruding from the wall, studying the crack by the ceiling. He yawned, pressing his back to the wall so he could stretch out one leg at a time. A sudden SNAP! CRACK! startled him as the shelf gave way and he fell with a heavy thud to the floor, smashing the thick slab flat. For a moment he sat on the floor, annoyed.

“Terrific…”

Yanking it out from under himself, X tossed the metal into the cell corner where he was sure to trip on it later. Such are the exciting things I have to look forward to in here…

“It should be illegal for science experiments to be kept BORED out of their MINDS,” he grumbled, deciding that talking to himself was better than listening to the sounds of his changing form, and that he’d better get used to his new voice anyway. “At this point I wouldn’t mind counting spots on the ceiling. If there ARE spots on the ceiling. I mean, not that I’m being fussy. There could be squares to count instead. Or even triangles! I won’t mind! Just something other than sitting here waiting for the next time they’ll drag me out for another needle session! Heck, I’ll paint the spots up there myself if they’d let me! I’m almost tall enough to reach the ceiling anyway!” X yawned again, blinking emerald optics sleepily. He scooted over to a corner and settled into it, annoyed upon discovering his shoulders were becoming too wide to sit in the corner comfortably. Sleep came to him rarely, and it seemed the luxury of being comfy while asleep was about to leave him.

“At least I am able to sleep anyway, instead of waiting in terror… You know, I honestly don’t understand these people. They are scientists, so one would THINK they’d want their experiment in a brightly lit room where they could watch and observe the changes instead of pulling me out of the dark and saying, ‘wow, look at that!’ as if they want some sort of surprise every day. One day I may grow claws from my back and surprise them with dismemberment! Bwa ha, I can dream, can I not?”

After several moments of fidgeting X settled down. At one time, thoughts about hurting others scared him terribly; as though they were evil, forbidden thoughts. By now they were just playful notions, things he’d thought about before but without any need to act on the ideas. The fact that he was a science experiment didn’t really bother him as much anymore either, although he wished the surging pain he always endured would stop. It still disgusted him though, and he still hated to think about what was really happening to him. He couldn’t remember his past, but he remembered freedom and wanted to go home… He must have had a home at one time, and someone to greet him there…

Stop thinking, you idiot, and sleep…

As he calmed his mind, X started sensing something. A pull, a slight tug in the direction of the cell door. Footsteps echoed through the hallway on the other side and receded into silence. What was that? His sleepy mind wondered, but dismissed it. When it happened again, then a third time, he started waking up and waited for it to happen once more when someone passed by the door. Nothing happened until he started falling asleep again. This time he felt the hard pull of some pulsing force along with an overwhelming feeling of… nervousness? Why was he nervous? No, it wasn’t him; it was the feeling of the pulsing thing that kept yanking on his mind. Then who’s nervous? What IS this? There was a sound of something being dropped, then a low voice came from the other side of the wall, and X recognized it as one of the scientists he regularly encountered. Is he nervous? Frowning, he focused on the emotion and found it was attached to the scientist’s pulsing force of his… spark? Is that what it is? Eventually the scientist left and X patiently waited for someone else to walk by in the hallway. When someone finally did, he found that he felt the pulsing force again, but it was different, an individual from the last spark. The emotions attached to it were weariness and dull frustration.

Interesting…

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Hurrying down the corridor, Griffon struggled to juggle the massive file-folders he was carrying without dropping them while keeping the brisk pace. He was late. His boss HATED it when people were late, and he was supposed to be meeting him ten cycles ago. He thought fast to make up a believable excuse. His boss was scary when angry... Well, he was always scary. Drake scared Griffon slagless since the day he met him and started on the Protoform X project. There was just something about that bot…. It wasn’t just that he had an overwhelming presence or a glare that threatened eternal punishment to anyone who crossed him. He had an ambitious mind that let nothing stand in its way, even if it meant crossing moral boundaries to get what he wanted. Griffon didn’t doubt that he was a brilliant scientist, but he often wondered if Drake pursued his goals with a streak of mild insanity. It didn’t seem like he was doing the experiments on X for the pursuit of scientific knowledge. He’d watched his boss work on Protoform X in the lab, and it was as if he enjoyed what he was doing a little too much. Even the bot’s smile was unnerving, like he knew something you didn’t, and that something meant life or death for you in the future.

Griffon turned the corner too fast and tripped over his feet and dropped the file-folders. They clattered across the floor, spilling data sheets everywhere. Grumbling under his breath, the small Maximal started gathering the sheets and stacked up the file-folders. Calling this nightmare he was in 'The Protoform X' project was laughable. In the beginning they used protoforms and their sparks in experiments to replicate Starscream’s indestructible spark, but every attempt ended in disastrous results. For as long as Griffon lived he would never forget the twisted mutated monstrosities the protoforms became before expiring. Protoforms were too unstable to handle the changes that the tampered spark forced upon its holding vessel. Those who supported the project didn’t know using protoforms had been abandoned several months ago when the leading scientists— especially Drake— decided to pick some poor fool off the street and use him for a test subject. Griffon sighed, crawling on his hands and knees to retrieve the rest of the scattered file-folders. All they had to do then was wipe him out of all databases, including the memories of those who knew the guy. He sighed again, standing up slowly to avoid dropping all the important documents. He blinked, realizing where he was. Griffon was right in front of the cell door where X was kept.

“What we’re doing to you is wrong, I know,” he muttered, “And I’d help you if I could, but Drake— SLAG! I am SO late!”

The door chirped as someone requested entry to his office. Drake took a slow breath, gazing at the plain wall in front of him with his back to the door. So that buffoon Griffon decided to show up after all? Late as usual…I loathe people who are late…

“Enter.”

The door slid open and he heard the small Maximal step hesitantly inside. Drake turned to face him and stared silently at Griffon for several long moments until his associate found his voice.

“I… uh, sorry for being late sir, I, uh…”

Drake’s haunting yellow optics rested on the massive pile of file-folders arranged in a hasty mess under Griffon’s arm. “You dropped the data folders and had to clean them up?”

Relieved his boss had made up the excuse for him, Griffon nodded. “Y-yes sir! I did it as quickly as I could, I’ll arrange them in order later, I just wanted to get here on time!”

“I see… And you hope to give me a meaningful status report on the Project right now with that mess…?”

His bronze face became pale. “Uh… yes sir…”

Drake sighed in exasperation. It amazed him how such a brilliant scientist could also be a bumbling idiot…

“Very well. However, I suggest you do not drop those again.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

Drake smiled humorlessly and sat down into his chair. “Come now Griffon, no need to be so nervous. Let me know of the progress we’ve made on Protoform X.”

Although the smile didn’t reassure him, Griffon relaxed a little as he put the file-folders down on his boss’s desk and went straight to business. Luckily he had a good memory and didn’t need to look up all the information he was about to report.

“The changes X is going through seem to be in their final stages since we’ve completed the enhancement procedures on his spark. The changes will continue for at least two, maybe three weeks more. Before that time I suggest we move him to a larger cell. At the rate of his size increase percentages are continuing, he may become more than twice his original size in due time.”

“We have a healthy growing boy, then.”

“To say the least, sir. The current cell he is kept within will be too small very soon. His weight gain is proportionally correct for his body changes as well, as we predicted. But we may want to hire bigger guards soon if we want to keep him under control.”

“Despite the fact, from what I hear, he has stopped resisting our scientific processes on him and hasn’t said a word to anyone for a month.”

Can you blame him? Griffon wanted to say, he’s probably decided it’s futile to resist by now…He instead started digging in the file-folders until he found what he wanted.

“Yes, well, we should be careful anyway.”

“Dully noted.” Drake didn’t bother keeping the dangerous edge out of his voice. Griffon looked up from the data pad in his hand and saw the chilling glare in his boss’s optics. He swallowed. Drake hated to be told what to do.

“N-no sir, I am merely concerned for everyone’s safety. We don’t know how strong X has become as a part of the changes. Usually there are external changes to a subject after the spark enhancement procedures, but X doesn’t seem to have changed much other than his size. Other changes may have occurred that we don’t know about because they may be internal. And I am concerned about X’s mental stability; The amount of continuous pain he is in is substantial. We have no way of measuring it other than his reactions to our procedures, plus there has been evidence of effects to his mental processes due to our experiments—”

“And what does that have to do with anything? He is a test subject. It’s his job to be in pain.”

The apathy Drake had for X sometimes stunned Griffon. While he was indeed a test subject, he was still a living creature… Sadly though, Drake’s opinion was shared by most of the other scientists that experimented on X. He shook his head to clear it and continued:

“As it is my job to know these things, sir. I am merely reporting to you what I know. I simply worry that one thing may push him over the edge and break him—”

“Which we will worry about IF it occurs.” Drake waved a hand dismissively. “Things are running very smoothly since we’ve started on him. Luckily all of our mishaps with the past protoforms gave us enough practice of spark enhancement that we were able to refine it to perfection, allowing us to work on Protoform X without any problems. And soon we will finally be able to test our results.”

“How?” Griffon hadn’t been a part of the team that designed the tests.

“How would one normally test for immortality?” snapped Drake, “We have to see how well he handles damage of any sort!”

“So we’re going to SHOOT at him?” Griffon’s data pad clattered to the floor. “Sir, I object to that methodology! We could hurt him!”

“By now he should be used to it. A few more stings won’t matter. He’s supposedly immortal now anyway, right?” Drake said sarcastically, unfazed by the outburst. “It’s not like we will be firing a megacannon at him." he paused then added with a smirk; "Yet." he turned to look back at Griffon, "His levels of endurance must be tested in all ways. We must see what the true effects of our procedures are.”

“So you’re going to TOTURE him too?”

“ ‘Torture’ is such an ugly word, Griffon. We will be testing him, that’s all.”

“Yes, but this is a living being we’re talking about, not some… some drone! There must be a better way than that—”

“He is our experiment, Griffon. He can’t be considered a person anymore because he isn’t. Now, how long until his spark and body stabilizes enough for such tests?”

For a moment he stared at the data pad on the floor, speechless. Drake growled impatiently.

“How long, Griffon?”

“A… a few days, a week at the most… Tests will have to be run soon for absolute certainty…But we shouldn’t do anything until his changes are complete.”

“Good. Is there anything you’d like to add to this update, then?”

“No.”

“Very well. You are dismissed. I’ll see you in the lab.”

Wordlessly Griffon stooped to pick up his data pad and gathered up the huge stack of file-folders, neglecting to tell his boss the last bit of information he had discovered. X’s memory drive still had fragments of memories on it. But Drake doesn’t deserve to know, he thought, and X will need them… The door slid open and he left without looking back.

Drake stared at the door for a long time after it closed, lost in thought. The last thing he needed was Griffon stirring up compassion among the scientists for their test subject; it was plainly obvious that he cared for Protoform X. At least those who sympathized with Protoform X— and he did know who they were— kept their mouths shut about it and did what they were told. They were doing what no one had tried to do before. So what if they were trying to play Primus? Somebody had to do it, even if it meant disregarding moral values to do so. Luckily Drake had learned to push those aside long ago. Griffon had yet to do the same. But he wasn’t going to wait for something that wouldn’t happen anyway. Nothing was going to get in the way of his ultimate goal, to create the ultimate Transformer. It could be done now, despite the criticism he received from other scientists. He had succeeded before. They said it couldn’t be done, but they were simply too afraid to try. Yes, it meant using countless innocent protoforms and one fool who happened to be at the right place at the wrong time. Yes, it meant twisting their forms and giving them unspeakable pain, but in the end, X may thank Drake for what he was giving him. In the meantime he had to make sure things kept going smoothly. His associate Griffon was a brilliant bot, but it seemed that he just offered to make himself expendable. Leaning forward to his desk, Drake pushed a button to open a communication link.

A hissing voice answered. “Yesss?”

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Police Chief Pierce groaned when he saw the small green femmebot stomping through the door and marching towards his desk in the corner of the bustling police station. Not her again… it’s like clockwork! And at the worst time, too, with the new Head of Colony Security here! He set aside the police report he was filling out and braced himself for the onslaught of questions he received daily.

“Have you started the investigation yet? Who’s leading it? Have you found anything yet? Have there been any leads—”

He held up a hand to halt the questions. “Celestie, we haven’t found anything because there is nothing to find. There are no grounds for an all-out investigation.”

Her orange optics sparked in anger. “He’s been missing for four months! Isn’t that enough of a justification?”

“We started looking for information about him long ago and found nothing at all. He isn’t in any of the databases. As far as we’re concerned he never existed.”

“He DID!” Celestie shrieked, startling the busy police station into silence. “Hunter was my boyfriend for almost a year, then suddenly disappeared. He couldn’t have just dropped off the face of the Colony! We HAVE to find him!”

“No one but you seems to have known him,” said Police Chief Pierce calmly, repeating the same things he always told the fuming girl. “We asked around. No one recognized his name or description.”

“Everyone must have been brainwashed or something! I remember him! Isn’t that enough?”

At times he wondered if ‘Hunter’ was the femme’s invisible friend. Brainwashed, indeed… “Perhaps he decided to go back to Cybertron for awhile,” he suggested.

“He would have TOLD me!” She was about to slam her fists on the desk when a large silver hand rested on her shoulder.

“Celestie?”

“WHAT?” She spun around and nearly ran into the tall blue mech standing behind her. Police Chief Pierce stood up quickly.

“Depth Charge! I am sorry, she must have interrupted your very important work, allow me to escort her out.”

“Not at all. I’m sneaking a break right now.” Depth Charge’s red optics seemed to smile as he gazed down at the small green femmebot. “Even a Head of Colony Security needs one every once and awhile. How are you doing Celestie? It’s been awhile.”

He led her away from the desk. Police Chief Pierce sighed with relief and slumped back into his chair, watching them go. Celestie felt sad relief at seeing a familiar face and she clung to her old friend’s hand.

“You’re head of security now? Does that mean you’re, like, everyone’s boss?”

He shrugged, puzzled. She’d never been interested in police work before. “I guess so. Why do you ask?”

“Do you remember Hunter?”

“Who?”

“Hunter!” Celestie dug out an old holopad and activated it. It was a picture of her standing with a red mech about her size with bright green optics. She handed it to Depth Charge. “Here. He was someone you knew in Academy, remember? You two were friends before he met me.”

He studied the holopad’s image. “I don’t recall the name or face. Why? Did something happen to him?”

“He’s been missing for four months now! I’ve been trying to get these police guys to look for him, but they say he didn’t exist! No one remembers him but me and he isn’t in any record databases. And you must have been brainwashed too. I think there’s a conspiracy going on here.”

“Brainwashed?” Depth Charge gave the holopad back to her. “I think you’ve been watching too many late-night movies.” He chuckled, but stopped when he saw the hurt expression on Celestie’s face. “Alright. I’ll see what I can do. But I make you no promises.”

“So long as you do something I’ll be grateful.” She smiled, hugging him around the waist. “Thanks, Depthy.”

“Shh! Don’t use my nickname around here. The guys will laugh at me.” Depth Charge checked the clock on the wall. “Slag, I had better get back to my duties. I’m finding out this job’s work is never done.” By now they were at the police station’s entrance. “It’ll be dark soon. You should go home before it gets too late. These streets aren’t always safe for a lone femme.”

“I can take care of myself just fine.” She playfully boxed him in the side. “You must be slacking off if there are still bad guys out there. What kind of Head of Security are you?”

“One who intends to clean up this place,” he assured her seriously, leaving her at the door with a short wave. “I’ll see you later. We should catch up sometime.”

“Definitely!”

Celestie didn’t go home, though. She went straight to the place she thought Hunter last was before he suddenly disappeared. It was halfway across the Colony from her home in the industrial section but she gladly made the trip to the place to scour it for clues like she did every night. Hunter had been an engineer for a building company that designed most of Colony Omicron’s buildings, plus some of Cybertron’s too. He was incredibly smart and able to think of things most could only dream of. But despite that he almost had a child’s mentality and Celestie used to joke with him that he never would have had a social life if not for her dragging him out of his stuffy office every day. He had a fierce passion for his work and everything else he did, which was part of why Celestie loved him so much. He was always thorough and precise as well, which sometimes frustrated her to no end. Yet for all his quirks she missed him terribly and couldn’t understand why Hunter had vanished or why she seemed to be the only one who remembered him. Determined to find him again, she searched the tight alleyways and secluded cul-de-sacs of the area thoroughly, but, like every night, she found nothing. She struggled to keep some hope alive that she would see him again, but as she walked home along a small river, Celestie felt another little piece of hope fade. Following the river to one of Colony Omicron’s artificial lakes, she sat down at the spot she once shared with Hunter and stared at the black horizon.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

The quiet beep of the opening locks on X’s dark cell brought him out of slumber. Shaking his head to wake himself up, he rubbed at his sleepy optics and watched the door, puzzled. He had no way of telling time, but he did know the scheduled routines he went through every day. It was far too early for what he assumed was morning, when he received his daily meal of energon cubes. Then why is someone unlocking my door? Curious, X tried focusing his new-found ability to sense sparks and the emotions attached to them. He had learned how to use it before falling asleep, but it required a calm mind, and at the moment he was too excited to sense anything effectively. Taking a slow breath, he quieted his mind and a familiar feeling hit him from the other side of the door. He had felt this spark before, and the emotions coming from its owner told him that he—whoever it was—was incredibly nervous and afraid, but had steely conviction too. The locks clicked and whined, releasing the heavy door from its hold, allowing it to slide open. X expected to see the bright glare of the hallway lights and the figures of two large guards like he always did, but instead only saw a pair of frightened blue optics in pale dimmed lights. The small Maximal glanced hastily over his shoulder before peering around the doorjamb again. X recognized him as Griffon, one of the scientists who regularly worked on him. He couldn’t help smirking. Well, this is interesting…

“Have you come to let me paint spots on the ceiling?” He asked in dry humor.

The blue optics blinked. “W-What? N-no, there isn’t much time. The security shutdown in this part of the building will only last three cycles. Come X, we must hurry!”

X didn’t move. “You’ll have to pardon my suspicion, Doctor, but why should I believe anything you say? Perhaps you’re here for a midnight experiment session, hmm?”

“I’m trying to help you!” Griffon pleaded in a harsh whisper, “To help you escape! If you don’t I can assure you that things will only get worse for you! You must believe me!”

X crossed his arms over his broad chest, narrowing his emerald optics. He could sense that the small Maximal was scared out of his mind but didn’t feel any deception or ill will coming from him. Satisfied, he stood up, towering over Griffon.

“Fine. Get me out of here.”

While Griffon was no computer wizard, he had enough knowledge about security systems to be able to program fake miniature power failures in various parts of the underground building. He and X had enough time to travel from area to area just as security camera and door locks shut down for several cycles. By the time they were gone everything powered up again. Late night security guards thought it was a momentary hiccup in power that was traveling through the security grid, which sometimes happened. When Griffon and X reached a manlift that lead to the surface of the Colony, Griffon hung back.

“This is where we part, X. This will take you to freedom at the backdoor of this facility, as it were. Take this with you.” He placed a datapad into X’s large red hand. “This holds the remaining memories you have on your memory drive. I pieced the fragments together the best I could. You have someone waiting for you X, go find her.”

Completely surprised, X clutched the datapad carefully. “Why are you doing this for me? Why now?”

“To be honest, I never liked experimenting on you. I simply could not bear it any longer, especially after I found out what my boss and his associates are planning to do with you.” Griffon sighed. “I can only hope that this act of letting you go will make up for some of my wrongdoings even though what we’ve done to you is unforgivable. This puts my job and even my life in jeopardy but it’s well worth the risk. You are still a person and deserve to live as such, not as a lab rat.”

X didn’t need his empathic sense to tell that Griffon was absolutely sincere. “Thank you.”

“You can thank me by escaping this place and getting far from this nightmare where they never catch you again. Now go, quickly, the security system in this sector will reboot soon!”

With a nod X pushed a button to open the door to the manlift, stepped inside, and disappeared as the manlift rose to the surface.

Outside it was nighttime and the only light came from a far-off city and the stars dotting the sky. X stepped out of the manlift and savored the night air, his first taste of freedom since he had been captured. His spark and fluid pump pounded with excitement but he forced himself to relax because he had to move quickly and get away from this accursed place. When he had calmed down enough he reached out with his new sense and searched for any sparks nearby. There wasn’t any, so he was safe for now. He took off running as fast as he could, surprising himself with his speed. Although he couldn’t remember his past, he was sure he couldn’t have moved so fast before. But that became a passing thought as he weaved in and out of alleyways between buildings, putting distance between him and the scientific research facility. He didn’t slow down until he came to a river. Sliding down the bank he stopped just short of falling into the water and wobbled to keep his balance. Luckily he fell backwards and landed hard on his skidplate.

For several moments he stared into the dark, letting reality sink in. He was FREE. No more experiments, poking and prodding, or sitting in that small dark cell wondering about his future. X was tempted to let out a cry of triumph, but decided against it. The last thing I need to do is attract attention to myself right now… If only the sun was up right now though, then this escape would be perfect! But with the sun came daylight, of course, and before daybreak he needed to find a place to hide. The thought sobered him up. I don’t even know what I look like after all they did to me… A surge of hatred shot through him, quickly followed by anger. What right did they have to experiment on me? X shook his head. No. There is no time for that, and there is no point in getting angry because I will never see those people again.

He turned his attention to the small datapad clutched in his right hand. Flicking on the power switch X saw a series of holographs. Some had captions, some didn’t. His gaze lingered on a powerful-looking blue mech with red optics, wondering who he was. Griffon had been very thorough in putting his memories back together, and X was happy to see the people and places he once knew even if he couldn’t remember them. He did have a home and there was someone waiting for him. X paused the holograph of a small green femmebot. The image was blurry and scrambled but he could make out the girl’s face. Her name was written at the bottom of the holograph. For the first time in his memory X felt the pain in his spark fade when he gazed her and felt… affection…? Yes, that’s what it was. It had been so long since he’d felt anything but pain and fear. She was important. He didn’t know why but simply knew that she was. He had to find her somehow, even though the sketchy picture of her was all he had. It made him excited to think he may find her, but nervousness soon took over. He had been told no one would remember him because they had wiped their memories free of his existence. She won’t know who I am. X turned sorrowful emerald optics to the city lights behind him and downstream from where he was sitting. It was going to be hard to find her there, he knew, but gritted his teeth together as he stood up and shook off his fear. So be it. I’ll try to find her before sunrise, and if I don’t, I’ll hide somewhere every night until I do. With that he walked along the river to conceal himself from sight, hoping that he wasn’t so tall that he could be seen above the riverbank.

Gradually the river widened as it dumped into a small lake. X was lost in his thoughts while listening to the running water, so a sudden surge of emotion caught him off guard. Someone was sad. Very sad. He sensed the spark of who was sad too, and it ached much like his own spark. Keeping to the shadows of the riverbank, X followed a gentle slope around a bend until he could see a small figure sitting by the lakeshore. She was hugging her knees to her chest, sobbing into her folded arms. X watched her, fighting to keep her sadness from overwhelming him. He quickly realized he couldn’t stay and decided to leave the girl to her mourning. It was then when she lifted her head to look across the lake. He couldn’t believe it. It was her.

“Celestie…”

She jumped with a start. A low moan carried by the wind reached her audios and she heard her name, barely audible. It was so low, so unreal Celestie wondered if she had imagined it. For some reason this made her even more miserable and she started to sob again. This was it. Losing Hunter had finally gotten to her and she was beginning to go mad.

“Celestie…”

This time she thought she could tell where it came from. Turning slowly, wiping cleaning fluid from her orange optics, she searched for the source. She saw nothing in the darkness.

“I’m alone,” Celestie said softly aloud, “there is no one here but me.”

“I am here.”

“No, I’m ALONE!” She shrieked. “There is no one HERE! I’ve been alone since he LEFT!”

Movement in the shadows of the riverbank caught her attention. Emerald green optics stared at her. She knew those optics. Her breath caught in her throat and she barely managed to choke out, “Hunter…?”

“I… I don’t know…who I am.”

“How can you not….” Celestie stood up, squinting in the darkness. “Come out where I can see you.”

“I… can’t…”

Panic gripped her and she stepped forward. “Are you hurt?”

“No. Stay where you are. I am… scared…”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“That’s not why.”

“Why, then?”

A long pause. “You might be scared of me.”

“No I won’t. Please, let me see you. I need to know… I need to know if you’re Hunter! You have his eyes! Those same beautiful green eyes…” Celestie sobbed, clutching her hands together. “You sound different but I don’t care!”

Another long pause. “Do you promise not to run away?”

“Yes, yes of course.” She nodded fiercely, hoping with all her spark that her beloved Hunter would step out from the shadows. What she saw instead made her cry out. He was massive, easily more than twice her size. His red body, although still robotic, seemed mutated and molten with cracks and scars covering the surface. Through the cracks metal pulsed as if something were trying to push through. His face had the green optics Celestie yearned to see again but his mouth was twisted sideways into a vertical line. This wasn’t Hunter; it was some kind of monster! She backed away, turning to run.

“No!” He yelled hoarsely, then pleaded like a frightened child. “Please…. You promised…”

There was something in the way he spoke that made her stop. Facing him again, Celestie slowly approached him and reached out for his hand. He let her study it, forcing himself not to flinch away when she ran her palm across his chest and rested over his spark to feel its strong pulse. Staring into his optics, she searched for something familiar in the green depths. Several moments stretched into eternity until he asked,

“Am I your Hunter?”

Standing on tiptoe, she reached for his head and he bent down, allowing her to embrace it in both hands. So many emotions overwhelmed her at once that she couldn’t speak at first. Celestie bit back a sob, then wrapped her arms around his neck and began to cry freely.

“Yes… you are!”

Relief overtook X and he hugged the femmebot tightly. He had found the girl from his fragmented memories. If he ever saw that scientist again he would be sure to thank him properly, for now he was forever in the kind Maximal’s debt. X cradled Celestie to his chest and carried her to the spot where she had been grieving only a few cycles before. They sat quietly for a while until X started shaking. He couldn’t stop himself from clinging desperately to her as if he was a child who had just wakened from a nightmare. Pitiful cries shook his entire body when he begged Celestie to protect him from them. She didn’t understand but comforted him the best she could. Whatever he had escaped from was gone now.

“I’m so happy I found you,” he eventually managed to say.

“Me too.” She smiled up at him. “I thought you had forgotten me.”

The truth struck him like a physical blow and his optics dimmed in remorse. He had forgotten her, but not by choice. He didn’t have time to say anything as Celestie continued.

“You’ve changed so much since I last saw you… back then you were almost as skinny as I am,” she laughed quietly, “And you’ve had your voice changed too. It sounds good.”

Again the truth hurt him, but he stayed silent.

“I was so worried about you… but now you’re back… and we can go home to our little place.”

“…Yeah.” X couldn’t remember anything about their home other than what it looked like from the picture on the datapad. She heard the sadness in his voice and sat up.

“What’s the matter?”

He sighed, setting her down on the sand. “Celestie, there’s a lot I need to tell you. And it’s not going to be pleasant to hear.”

X told her about everything that had happened to him in the last four months. At first she didn’t believe him, but when she learned of the unspeakable things he had been through she sat riveted, overcome by grief and anger. By the time he had finished she was ready to storm the scientific research facility and tear everyone apart with her bare hands. X was beginning to worry that he’d have to restrain her.

“No, you don’t want to go there, trust me.” He pulled her into his lap and held her close. “I couldn’t bear the thought of them getting their hands on you.”

“They won’t get the chance!” spat Celestie, squirming in his arms. “I’ll KILL them first!”

Something about her fury made him chuckle. Her fiery spirit must have been one of the reasons he liked her. His grip tightened enough so she had to stop moving. “Primus knows they deserve it, but I would prefer to start living again without looking at the past.”

“… I know, but still…” She sighed shakily, touching his cheek. “But after all they did to you…” Her fingers traced one of his scars, then followed a crack running down his arm. “So these changes will continue for awhile yet?”

“As far as I know, but it’s not as bad as it used to be. I think it’s nearly done. I’ll be glad when they stop, because then some of the pain I always have will go away. But my spark will probably always hurt me. It aches so badly…”

Celestie kissed the palm of his hand. “You know if I could I’d take your pain and make it my own.”

“Thank you, but I wouldn’t let you endure such a thing.” His gentle tone became rough. “All in the name of science… Bah!”

“Do you know what the goal of everything was?”

“Besides playing ‘Doctor’ on my spark everyday? No. All I know is that it had to do with a Starscream.”

“Starscream?” She slipped out of his arms and sat next to him. “He was a Decepticon, remember?”

X gave her a sour look, then pulled her back into his lap where she belonged.

“Oh yeah… sorry. He was a part of the Great War. He was killed, but kept coming back by possessing other ‘bots. His spark couldn’t be destroyed. It was like he was…” Celestie searched for the word, and her orange optics sparkled when she found it.

“Immortal.”

“Immortal?” He echoed. “Do you think that’s what they tried to do with me?”

“Maybe. At the very least you may be indestructible. Got a better explanation?”

“Well… no. But it’s not a theory I intend to try out any time soon.”

“I don’t blame you.” She nestled close to him and listened to his pulsing spark. “It all makes sense now, though. You were taken away from me, and all those who knew you were brainwashed of any memories they had of you just like I thought. Except for me, for some reason…”

“And for that I’m grateful. It was a fortunate mistake.”

“Yeah, but now we have to do something. The police should know of this, especially Depth Charge. I bet he can take those evil scientists down.”

“Who?”

“He’s one of your friends… or was, when he remembered you. He’s the head of colony security now. He’ll help. I know it.”

X allowed himself to hope of the possibility. “Do you really think so?”

“Yes. But first we should go home and get you cleaned up, and wait until those changes stop.”

“Home…” the word sounded so sweet to his audios. Across the lake he could see the horizon just beginning to brighten with the dawn of a new day. Everything’s going to be okay, he told himself, letting go of the tension he’d been containing with a long slow breath. Finally I’ll see the sun again… but… I can’t let anyone see me yet.

“Celestie, we should go before it gets too light. I don’t want… I don’t think… anyone should see me. I look like… a freak.” It hurt to say it, and he couldn’t look her in the optics when she cupped his face.

“No you don’t.”

As much as he wanted her comfort, X pulled her hand away. “Yes I do. I know because of your reaction when you first saw me. I have this ability to sense emotions. You were disgusted.”

Her immediate thought was to deny it, but she swallowed her protest. He was right.

“And now you’re very ashamed. But it’s okay, I understand.” X stood up, gently setting her on the ground. He went to the lake edge and peered down into the water. There was barely enough light to see by, but there was enough for him to see his reflection. He saw all too well what made her want to run away from him. Falling to his knees he gave a low moan, burying his fingers in the sand.

“What… What am I now?” he whimpered, “What did they do to me?” Reaching to the water, his hand skimmed over the reflection, distorting it. “I’m not Hunter anymore.”

“Of course you are.” Celestie knelt beside him and hugged him around the middle the best she could, snuggling under his arm. “You might be different on the outside but you’re still Hunter inside.”

“No, I’m not. Too much has been done to me. I can’t even remember who I was…”

“That’s because they erased your memory—”

“No, not in that way.” He tried to think of how to explain it, but shook his head in frustration. There was no way to explain it. His very soul had been tampered with, how could he expect to be the same as he was before? Celestie’s grip around him tightened and he felt her tremble. He could sense she still feared him but she was still clinging to him to give comfort because she loved him too. Leaning away from the water, X pressed her closer, treasuring her presence.

Celestie lost track of how long she sat hugging him, trying so hard to take some of his suffering away. She forced herself not to think of the horrors he had told her about and kept herself from crying. She listened to his low breathing and began to relax. This was still her Hunter. He was just confused and hurting from everything that had happened to him. Over time she would help heal him. Celestie didn’t realize she had started to doze off when he suddenly went stiff with tension. Looking up at him, she saw his emerald optics wide and alert.

“What’s the—” His finger covered her mouth, silencing her.

“Somebody’s here,” he hissed quietly. “Four of them. I can sense their emotions and their sparks.”

“Mph?” she questioned behind his finger.

“They’re hunting something.” X took a cautious look over his shoulder but didn’t see anything. Focusing his spark-sensing ability, he realized they were very close and surrounded him on all sides. The emotions he felt frightened him and all he could think to call it was evil, yet that wasn’t what scared him the most. It was the feeling of being hunted. They were predators hunting some prey…. And all their attention was fixed on him. Luckily Celestie was so close to him they didn’t seem to know she was there. And something about them felt familiar… they were in pain, the same sort he always felt…

“Matrix…” he breathed barely above a whisper. He glanced down at the girl against his side. “They’ve come for me. You’re in danger.” Clutching her tighter, X slowly rose off one knee, resolving to protect her with his life. To his left he could feel only one spark, so that would have to do. “Hang on.”

X jumped up and dashed down the lakeshore. It was still too dark for him to see the hunter he wanted to run past, but his spark-sense told him exactly where he was. A dark figure loomed right in front of him and spun sideways when X dodged around him. He saw a flash of silver and nearly cried out when he felt his shoulder being slashed. Clinging to his neck Celestie screamed and he thought she had been struck too.

“Are you alright?” He demanded.

“I… think so… Hunter, I’m scared!”

Relief flooded him. “I’ll protect you no matter what.”

She buried her face into his neck. “I know.”

Her trust in him propelled him to move faster. He leaped up the riverbank just as another dark figure went after him. The second hunter grabbed onto his foot and yanked him out of the air. With a yell X plunged to the ground and rolled to protect Celestie. He came out of the tumble standing up and turned to jump up the riverbank again, but he was punched soundly in the face and flew backwards. He laid in the sand for a moment, stunned until Celestie’s scream brought him back to reality. He had to get her out of here! Three of the hunters approached him while the fourth hung back in case he tried to escape again. He could sense they were feeling overconfident and cocky, sure that they had caught him.

“Think AGAIN!” he roared, rising to his feet and before they could react he barreled into them, using his massive body to his advantage. Again he saw a glint of metal before feeling something slash him across his belly, just below where he was holding Celestie. The injury didn’t stop him from reaching the riverbank and jumping to the ground above where he continued to run toward the city where he hoped to lose his pursuers.

A streetlight momentarily blinded him when he ran into its pool of light. Blinking, he kept going until he saw the welcoming darkness of an alleyway and dashed into it. Celestie’s frightened gasps of breath filled his audios when he focused to sense where the four hunters were. They seemed far off for the moment and he dropped Celestie to the ground but she immediately clung to his arm, crying.

“Who were they?”

X rubbed her back to soothe her. “I don’t know, but their sparks ache like mine does. They must be other experiments like me.”

“Other experiments?” She repeated shrilly. “There are more who’ve been used like you?”

“Apparently. And they mean to bring me back to the lab.”

“No! I won’t allow it!” Celestie moved to hug him protectively and yelped when she felt something wet touch her cheek when she leaned on his chest. “—You’ve been hurt!”

“Yes… I felt the cut, but it doesn’t bother me.”

In the darkness she felt across the wound. “I think it’s already closed up.”

“What?”

Before she could reply X’s head shot upwards. He grabbed Celestie and threw her into the street just before a huge robot falling from the rooftop landed right in front of him with an impact that made the surrounding buildings shake. He stared into the red optics of one of his hunters who was even bigger than he was. Spinning from the wall X stepped backwards to get away from his unknown enemy.

“Hunter! ”

Turning he saw Celestie under the yellow glare of a streetlight trying to escape the hands of a silver mech that had a firm grip on her left arm. She reached for him and screamed his name again. X could only stare at the bot who held her in horrified fascination. Blades came out at all angles from the serpent-like silver body, their dangerous edges flashing in the streetlights. Even his fingers were long knives and he had a blade that curved upwards like a scorpion’s tail made of metal. X’s pause gave enough time for two other robots to grab both his arms and force him between them. He struggled but couldn’t get free. Sensing the monster who had fallen from the sky standing behind him, he looked helplessly at the silver robot who held Celestie.

“You have me. Let her go.”

Sick laughter bubbled around him. When it died down, the silver robot hissed through his teeth.

“Maybe. But you’ve been a bad bot X, trying to escape from your brothersss…”

“Brothers?” He looked at the two bots who had his arms. The one to his left was smaller than him, but not by much. He seemed to be wearing a giant shell of armor of washed out grays and blacks, sharply contrasting his piercing blue optics. The robot to his right looked like a living weapon. Gun barrels riddled every part of his chest like painful mutated warts. Both arms were modified into guns and a missile launcher sprouted directly from his back, as if it grew there.

“Yess, brothersss. We are like you X. We are experimentsss, made by our creator. He commands usss.”

X jerked forward, but was snapped back. “I belong to no one!” His anger faded when he saw Celestie’s frightened expression. “Please, let her go,” he pleaded. “She has nothing to do with this. I just wanted to go home… To go home and live normally.”

“You can’t live normally anymore.” The robot behind him stepped around one of his brothers and into the light. His shadow loomed over X, completely covering him. He was solidly built, as if he had been created with poured concrete. “You don’t have a home. You don’t belong here. You’re a freak, like us.”

“No he’s NOT!” Celestie shrieked, and yanked her arm to break the silver robot’s grip. He hissed angrily and pulled her against him, pinning her hands together behind her back. One of his knifed fingers rested under her chin. “Ssstay quiet, girl.”

She spat in his face to reply. The others chuckled at her bold move.

“A lively one, eh Scythe?” asked the armored robot at X’s left side. Scythe glared at him, gingerly wiping his face off.

“Indeed, Metalhide…”

Soldat, the living weapon, grinned at X. “You must have gotten lucky and found someone the boss missed… how nice for you.”

“For now, anyway.” Barrikad, the massive robot, crossed his arms over his broad chest and continued talking to X. “Don’t listen to her. You know you are.”

He shook his head in disbelief and muttered to the ground. “No, no I’m not!”

“You are.”

“He’ll always be the man I love!” cried Celestie, ignoring Scythe’s hiss of annoyance, “He’s not like you! He ISN’T!”

“Girl, you know not what you speak. Too much has been done. He is no longer who or what he was.”

“You’re wrong!” Her optics rested on X. He gazed back, mustering up the courage to deny what they said.

“No, I’m not a freak. I’ve just changed a little. Inside I’m still normal…”

“Changed ‘a little’?” scoffed Soldat with disgust, “Don’t delude yourself. You used to be just a little bigger than your femme. And scrawny. We all have changed much because of the experiments. Funny though, you haven’t gotten any growths or anything…. What was the boss trying to do with you?”

“I don’t know,” whined X, “Just please, let Celestie go. Let her go in peace.”

Metalhide ignored his pleas, eyeing the cracks on X’s red body. “He isn’t even done changing yet. Maybe he’ll just be big and strong like you, Barrikad?”

“No one is as strong as I am.” He rumbled.

“I didn’t say that…”

“Hey you dorkbots,” yelled Celestie, “Are you going to do something with us or what? Let Hunter and me GO!” She yelped when Scythe held her tighter against him and the knives on the hand holding hers together cut through her metal skin.

“Sssilence, girl!”

X didn’t see her being hurt but he sensed it when Celestie’s fear mixed with pain. His head snapped up. Terror and self-pity disappeared. Raw anger he’d been suppressing for months surged through him. The anger shifted into burning hatred. Something inside him trembled, straining to hold together. He had lost so much already… he couldn’t stand to lose the one thing he had left…. Scythe’s hissing voice started to laugh. Switching hands, he removed the one that had Celestie’s wrists. He studied the wet mech fluid of his talons with interest.

“Ooppsss… I squeezed a little too hard… Forgive me, my dear girl…”

Metalhide began to laugh with him but stopped when he heard a low growl from X. The red mech glared at Scythe and spoke in a deadly voice.

“If you harm her again, the creatures in the very depths of the Pit will hear your screams of agony.”

This sudden change in him stunned everyone for a moment until Soldat recovered first.

“Oooo, tough guy! Was that a threat?”

X turned his piercing stare to him. “No. A promise.” His tone assured the blue robot he was serious. Soldat couldn’t find his voice to reply. X forced himself not to smile when he felt fear overcome the confidence his captor had. He found that he liked feeling it and the fact that he was causing Soldat to be afraid. His conscience told him it was wrong to think so but he shoved it aside. He continued staring at Soldat until the other bot broke the trance and looked away, his fear having grown so much he couldn’t hide it anymore. The others watched the exchange, puzzled. Celestie looked questioningly at her trapped boyfriend until he sensed her curiosity and met her orange optics with his emerald ones. She shivered when she saw something lurking in them…. Something that was not right….

“Let the girl go,” X said in a strange voice, hardly recognizing it as his own. It sounded so cold… “You have me. I’ll go back. But not if you don’t let her go.”

“You are in no posssition to be making demandsss!” cried Scythe, but then calmed, glancing at his three brothers. They shared a secretive smile that X didn’t see. Stepping back he released Celestie, who stumbled forwards in surprise. “Alright, the girl goesss!”

X sighed in thanks and his anger dulled as it was harnessed again. She was safe. He wanted to run and hug her but the strong grasps on his arms prevented him from doing anything more than leaning towards her. They smiled sadly at each other. Celestie was relieved to see that the dangerous look in his optics was gone. She moved to go to him, but Barrikad blocked her way and she backed up near Scythe again. Her optics filled with cleaning fluid when she stared helplessly at him.

“Go,” X urged her on, “At least we saw each other again. That’s enough for me.”

Nodding, Celestie tried to speak, but grief choked her throat. She spun to run away.

After she took three steps a silver knife shot from Scythe’s hand and impaled her through the back straight into her spark. X couldn’t breathe as he watched her drop lifelessly to the ground and saw her orange optics dim forever.

“Noooo!” He howled, struggling to break free but Soldat and Metalhide dug their heels in and didn’t allow him to move, clinging to his arms tightly. Scythe hissed with satisfaction as he withdrew the knife and slipped it back into his arm.

“Did I forget to mention the boss sssaid to leave no witnessesss? And you didn’t ssspecify where ssshe should have gone, ssso she went to the Matrix!”

“Celestie!” X roared, calling her name again and again. “Primus, no!” He went limp with sorrow and sagged between Soldat and Metalhide. Staring at her body lying facedown in the street he couldn’t believe that only a moment ago she had been standing before him alive. My dear Celestie… What do I have now? You were… all I had left…

“Aww, so sorry, brother…” mocked Soldat in his audios, “But you know, we got to do what we’re told… Besides, she wasn’t much of a looker anyway.”

Metalhide laughed with him. “Not to mention a loudmouth.” He grunted, straining to hold up X’s weight and gave him a swift kick in the skidplate. “Stand up, fool, or we’re liable to let you fall on your face!”

X didn’t move and continued staring at Celestie’s fallen body. Why? Why did they take you from me? I said I’d go with them! What kind of world is this? Don’t I hurt enough? Why do they keep hurting me? He couldn’t think of a reason, and the empty void in his spark couldn’t give him an answer either. His vision blurred for a moment and Celestie’s body went out of focus. I am so…so…SICK OF IT…

“Hey, are you awake in there?” Soldat prodded him with his elbow, glancing at Barrikad questioningly. The bot shrugged, turning to Scythe.

“We should get him back right away. Dawn is nearly upon us.”

“Agreed. We have wasssted enough time here already.”

Barrikad kneeled and grabbed X’s head, jerking it up. “Time to go back to the lab, brother.” He didn’t get a response and saw X’s emerald optics were dim and unfocused. He let X’s head drop and pushed it to hit the pavement hard. “Fine, take a little nap for now. It’ll keep you quiet.”

Yes, that’s what you want, for me to stay silent and let you take me wherever you wish, just like I’ve done ever since this began four months ago…And then I let you take her away from me, when I told her I’d protect her no matter what…I’m tired of this game…

“Does that mean I have to carry him ALL the way back?” whined Soldat.

I don’t want to be nice anymore… I want to play something else…

“Stop complaining, I’ll be carrying him too.” Grumbled Metalhide.

I have nothing more to lose…

“Oh, okay…”

They killed her… They should hurt like me…They killed her… EVERYONE should hurt like me… They KILLED HER!

So kill THEM.

The same thought repeated over and over in his mind, growing louder each time as though it were in an echo chamber. Somewhere, deep inside, his last thread of sanity fought to stay together. X’s optics went back into focus and he saw Celestie’s body again lying in a pool of silver mech fluid. Nothing would bring her back. Deep fury welled up from within him, a hatred for everything so blinding, burning it threatened to burst through to the outside world. The thread of sanity resisted the anger, then frayed, tore, spun….

And snapped.

X laughed. He couldn’t help it. It was a long deranged laugh that reverberated off the buildings surrounding them. Finally he was free of any bounds of morality and reason. The four robots stared at him, bewildered.

“So…. Are you through?” X asked, lifting his head, his voice still shaking in chuckles. “Are you through trying to break me?”

“Yesss,” Scythe said boldly.

“Did you have fun doing it?”

“Yesss,” Scythe puffed up his skinny silver chest and smiled a reptilian smile.

X hauled himself up from the ground. “Good. I’m glad.” He heaved his arms together and before Soldat and Metalhide could react they found themselves flying at each other to meet with a horrendous crash. Instantly they let go of him and slumped together in a heap. X rubbed his forearms where they had been holding him, an evil glimmer shining in his optics when he eyed Scythe.

“I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your last moments alive.”

“Wha-what?” cried Scythe, backing up. “Barrikad!”

The massive robot launched himself at X with a furious yell. X easily sidestepped him and grabbed onto an outstretched hand.

“You’re going to have to do better than that!” Using Barrikad’s momentum to his advantage he threw him down with such force the pavement cracked at impact. The giant groaned and started to push himself up, then drooped down off-line. X dusted off his hands then looked back at Scythe. The rising sun lighting him from behind enveloped him in a shadow, transforming him into black demon with glowing green optics.

“Now, for you…”

Scythe, so used to being in control of situations, started to panic. No one had ever threatened him before. Usually it was the other way around. But he was one of Drake’s master creations; made for fighting. There was no way he was going to lose.

“Indeed, it isss jussst you and me, X…” Flicking his wrists, blades slid out from his arms and the knives in his fingers grew longer. The large blade in his tail curved over his shoulder and twitched menacingly. The two bots started to circle each other, watching closely to see who would make the first move. When X didn’t after several moments, Scythe lost patience and charged him. His blades found their mark and sank in deep, tearing at X’s metal flesh. Scythe’s confidence soared as X yelled in pain and tried to pry the serpent-like robot off of him. He continued cutting and slashing until finally he backed off to spin around to use his tail for the finishing blow. He expected to feel shredding metal when his tail suddenly stopped. Scythe blinked, realizing his feet weren’t touching the ground. X grinned at him and tightened his grip on Scythe’s tail when he tried to pull it back.

“Gotcha!”

“Let go of me!” hissed Scythe angrily and glared at X, who shook his head disapprovingly.

“Tsk tsk, you haven’t said please yet!”

“Let go of me!” he demanded again, and sprang on X to attack again with his blades. X quickly jerked him backwards and pinned Scythe to the ground with his foot. He watched the trapped robot struggle with pleasure until his gaze fell on Celestie’s empty shell lying a few feet away. Fury surged through him and he grabbed Scythe’s tail in both hands and ripped it free from the silver body. Scythe screamed in agony and writhed under X’s foot. Mech fluid and circuitry spewed from the broken tail as it twitched and thrashed in X’s hands, raining down on its shrieking owner. His pain struck X’s empathic sense full force and at first made him feel sick, but he quickly reveled in it. He became so engrossed in it that after awhile he looked down at Scythe, now whimpering, and the silver bladed tail, as if he had forgotten they were there. Shaking off the euphoric cloud he’d been in, X reached down and picked Scythe up by the throat. He walked over to a nearby building, fixing Scythe with a piercing stare.

“I told you I’d go with you without a problem. All you had to do was let her go. She wasn’t a part of this. She could have lived. But no. You killed her.” X’s calm voice didn’t match the fury burning in his optics. He felt fear well up in his captive and paused in his tracks, taking it in. It felt even better than pain. Scythe’s trembling voice broke through his bliss.

“We… we were just doing as we were told! We had to bring you back and there could be no witnessesss! B-besidesss, X, brother, you are one of us! You’re like us!”

“No. That’s where you are wrong. I’m not like you.” X inspected the sharp edge on the end of the limp dripping tail, then glanced back at Scythe. “I’m going to be much WORSE.”

“Wha-what? No, pleassse!”

X started to cut through Scythe’s chestplate right over where he could sense his pulsing spark. “You should have listened to me when I warned you,” he said quietly, ignoring Scythe’s cries of pain, “I warned you what would happen if you hurt her. You’ve made me do this to you.” He shoved the blade down, and the cries became wails. “Hmm, you aren’t yelling loud enough yet. Because, you see…” With surgical precision he carefully removed a section of metal and revealed the beating blue globe of Scythe’s spark.

“Pleeeassse! Mercccy!”

Taking the tip of the blade, he slowly scraped the surface of the spark and Scythe’s screams reached a higher pitch. X smiled in satisfaction.

“There… I said the creatures in the Pit would hear you. I always keep my promises.”

When Scythe’s wild optics met X’s, the cold indifference in their green depths reached to his core. X savored a new wave of pain and terror and pushed the blade down further to prick the spark’s nucleus.

“I should thank you, before I kill you,” he said grimly over Scythe’s shrieks, “Because you’ve helped me to see the reality of life… and that is…No one knows pain. Not like I do. Everyone must be taught properly, ” He removed the blade from the spark and the screams quieted, replaced by whimpering cries. Scythe panted, looking up.

“So thank you…”

He saw the blade plunge down.

“And see you on the other side!”

Soldat groaned as his optics slowly came online, allowing him to see the early morning sky overhead. It was red. Like organic blood. A bitter taste gathered in his mouth. An omen? He hoped not. His head hurt. What had happened? Just a moment ago he and Metalhide—

Metalhide? Where was he? Tilting his head Soldat saw Barrikad lying facedown in the street. X must have gotten free. He moved to nudge him with his foot but couldn’t reach. He rolled onto his side to push himself closer to his brother. The pain of moving shot through his body and Soldat froze to wait for it to fade. His gaze wandered around, looking for something to focus on while waiting. What he saw made him forget his injuries entirely. There, pinned on the building in front of him, was Scythe’s body, skewered by his tail through the abdomen, hanging limp and dripping silver mech fluid. A small pool had gathered beneath the body and was beginning to flow onto the street. He could smell the sharp metallic tang of it; so close was it to where he lay. Who DID such a thing? Was it X? Horrified, Soldat suddenly felt sick. He wormed onto his front and scooted closer to Barrikad, fueled by a growing terror. He just knew something wasn’t right when X started laughing…. And where was Metalhide? Where? Soldat sat up, shaking off pain and started checking over his many weapons for any damage. A shadow fell over him and he yelped. X had his back to him and didn’t seem to hear it, immersed in some activity Soldat couldn’t see. Shredding metal and harsh screams echoed through the air. Metalhide. He had Metalhide! Soldat was barely aware of Barrikad sitting up next to him, knowing he should do something, something other than just watching. A loud CLANG made them both jump. Part of Metalhide’s shell rattled on the sidewalk. A frenzy of screeching metal and frantic shrieks followed as they watched X rip Metalhide apart. After the bot was stripped bare of his mutated shell X held him up. Metalhide’s blue optics widened when he saw Soldat and Barrikad over X’s shoulder. He reached for them and tried to speak, but his voice had gone raw from screaming. A rasp hissed out of his voice box.

“Help… me… Please…”

But they didn’t. They couldn’t, stricken by the sight before them. Metalhide’s scream of pain pierced their audios when X did something out of their view. They heard tearing metal and a chestplate joined the other discarded pieces on the ground.

“No… Not that… Leave it—EEEEYYYAAAAH!”

X turned to them then, holding Metalhide by the throat in one hand, a glowing blue spark in the other. Staring at it, Soldat heard nothing but its steady pulse and then shifted his gaze to X’s emerald optics. And shuddered. That look, that look in his optics! Anger. Hatred. Cold, so cold… He expected to see insanity, but didn’t. He saw chilling intelligence… and… and… pleasure? Dimly he heard Metalhide’s pleading, pleading, pleading for his life, or at least, his soul. Without his spark he wouldn’t be able to join the Matrix! Pleading, more pleading… Soldat stood up, was aware of Barrikad beside him, yelling, yelling so loud and yet so distant.

“Stop him, Soldat! Stop him NOW!”

He saw X’s hand start to close over Metalhide’s spark, squeezing, snuffing out the soul in a blue puff, Metalhide’s screaming cutting off abruptly, his body going limp--

X dropped the empty shell and took a step forward, facing them fully. His hand glowed dimly from spark residue, his body covered in smeared silver mech fluid…

“SHOOT HIM, SOLDAT!”

Barrikad’s cry of desperation finally registered in his mind. Dozens of gun barrels clicked on his body and the main ones in his arms snapped forward, instantaneously loading themselves at his unspoken command. A hail of bullets sprayed forth from Soldat’s small body and struck X. He backed off in surprise, throwing his arms up for protection, roaring outrage, then stopped. Barrikad flinched when a bullet grazed his cheek. They were bouncing off of X! Soldat grunted under the strain and heat of so many firing weapons, determined to push X back further. But he wouldn’t move, staring at his hands and chest in wonder. Almost as soon as the dents and bullet holes appeared his body buckled, crackled, and healed the damage. Eventually Soldat had to stop shooting and fell to one knee in exhaustion, his systems screaming of heat overload and malfunction.

“That… should get him…”

Silence met his declaration. He forced himself to stand and glanced at Barrikad. The giant robot stared straight ahead, shaking.

“What?” Soldat looked to X, expecting to see a bloodied, ripped up mess.

X had no damage at all. Even the scars from past experiments were gone. There was anger in X’s optics but that wasn’t what scared him. It was the sparkle of amusement.

X was smiling.

They backed up at the same time, nearly stumbling over each other. He must be the one! The one their creator said was to be immortal! Panic poured through them when X took another step forward. They resisted running for their lives only because they had a job to complete. As much as they feared this new monstrosity they feared their creator’s wrath even more. They still had to bring back X to the scientific research facility. Barrikad tapped Soldat’s shoulder, nodding once. His brother understood. The bigger robot rushed forward and plowed into X’s stomach and spun around him, hooking his arms under X’s to hold him in place before Soldat.

“Now!”

A new cartridge snapped itself into Soldat’s left arm and the barrel above his wrist glowed yellow. Kneeling for leverage he aimed and a bright yellow band spewed out of the gun, wrapping itself around X’s middle, reaching up for his arms, pinning them to his sides just as Barrikad let go at the last moment. The tangler band tightened itself when X hit the ground. He yelled in protest, his words shifting to unintelligent guttural noises of fury. Barrikad stepped back from him, watching the bot struggle against the tangler bands.

“Not so tough are you now, X?”

Glittering emerald optics turned to him and with a snarl X shattered the bands. A flash-bomb thrown from the cannon on Soldat’s back exploded right in front of him. Before he could stand up Soldat kneeled again, his arm glowing red, and shot him with a dazzling crimson beam that caused his entire gyro system to overload. X lost his balance, suddenly very dizzy, and fell down, grabbing at the ground that seemed to tilt and swirl under him. He tried standing again but his dizziness wouldn’t allow it. Smiling grimly, Soldat snapped a cartridge into his arm that he rarely used but he had to get X down permanently if they were to succeed.

“Back off Barrikad, I need a wide berth in order to use this!”

Barrikad saw the sapphire glow on Soldat’s arm and hastily retreated several meters away to anything he could use as a shield. Soldat took careful aim through the small green targeting sight hanging over his right optic and fired. The concentrated electro magnetic pulse lasted less than a second but its effect was even faster than that. X screamed in agony. He made one last desperate grab at daylight before giving in, slumping off-line.

For a long moment there was no sound. Soldat and Barrikad stared at X, waiting for him to rise, only partly convinced that he was now defenseless.

Wails cut through the air.

Sirens.

From across the city, police sirens sounded. Someone must have heard and seen this battle.

They had stayed to long. It was time to go. Without a word Barrikad stooped to pick up X’s large body and heaved him over his shoulder. Soldat quickly unloaded his EMP cartridge, switching to bullets just in case. They departed as fast as they could, running back to the scientific research facility.

Depth Charge was among the first officers to reach the scene. The first thing he saw was the mangled body of some huge robot, then the limp silver one impaled to a building. It was gruesome to see, but not as painful as the last body he saw. His spark constricted in grief. Celestie. There had been some sort of fight, witnesses said, but what happened here?

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

“And then what happened?”

Soldat cringed at Drake’s biting tone. He’d been drilling him for explanations for several hours now, making him repeat the same things over and over again. The gun on his left arm sparked and spasmed, reminding him that it needed repair. Drake had yet to improve its operating systems so it couldn’t be damaged so easily from overuse. Yet, being the experiment he was, he was a work in progress.

“WELL?”

“We… we ran. As fast as we could. We brought him back. We put him in a new cell. But then… but then…” Soldat’s voice cracked. “He woke up. Barrikad was in the cell with him, and….” He heard the screams of anguish and X’s horrible noises of anger as if witnessing the brutal murder all over again. They would forever be etched into his mind. He took a breath, looking up at his pacing creator.

“I’ve told you. I’m the only one left.”

“You came straight here.”

“Yes. We had to.”

“And you, out of my four creations, survived.”

“Yes. He killed Scythe. He ripped apart Metalhide. He extinguished his spark.” Soldat shuddered, not willing to think about what had been done to Barrikad. “I watched him eat a spark. He took pleasure in it.” The small blue robot expected Drake to explode in rage like he had before, during the first and second time he told the tale, which was why he was puzzled to see Drake smile.

“Aw well, Scythe’s hissing was rather annoying anyway.”

“Sir? He was one of my brothers! Your first creation!”

“I can always make more, don’t worry. There are several other protoforms that were salvaged from the beginning of this Project. And I can use any number of fools from this Colony.”

Soldat seethed inwardly. He had once been one of those “fools”. So had Barrikad. Metalhide and Scythe were among the few successful protoform experiments, made long before X. Drake didn’t bother waiting for him to say anything more, cupping his hands together in the small of his back as he continued pacing.

“Didn’t it occur to you that the police may be able to follow you here?”

The question caught Soldat off guard. He took a nervous step back. “N-no, it didn’t. We came straight back like we were supposed to. With X. There’s no way they could have followed us here; they were no where to be seen when we left.”

“But perhaps OTHER people might have seen you? The very ones who called the police in the FIRST PLACE? If you hadn’t taken so LONG—” Drake’s desk buckled to the ground when he smashed his fist upon it, his deep voice rising to a crescendo. “And didn’t it occur to you that, if they find out what we’ve REALLY been doing here, I’ll be RUINED?”

“No…”

Drake pressed two fingers on either side of his nose, below tired yellow optics.

“That’s right, I designed you to be a weapon, not to think.”

Soldat bristled at the insult but didn’t say anything. He watched his creator lean against his desk, sighing, as if the whole galaxy was full of morons and he had the burden to deal with them all. Picking up his straight white lab coat off of his chair, Drake threw it over his shoulders and snaked his arms through the sleeves. He noticed a dark smudge of someone’s mech fluid on the right breast of the coat. Where did that--? Oh yes, the torture experiment earlier this evening. He waved Soldat away.

“You are dismissed. Go rest. I will repair you when I find time.”

“…Yes sir.”

-- -- -- -- -- --

The smell of death could be caught even through the dimly glowing forcefield draped over the front of the cell. The hallway lights didn’t reach far to penetrate the shadows where he could barely see the hunched form of X sitting in the corner. Barrikad’s optics, black and empty, stared at him from the other side of the forcefield. The mutilated body didn’t phase Drake one bit. He’d seen worse. He’d done worse, though not always on purpose. Sometimes his experiments didn’t turn out like he’d expected. Still, it angered him to think that three of his creations that he’d worked so hard on were now terminated. All because of this one, his ultimate Transformer, the one he’d made immortal. Somehow Drake suppressed a laugh of glee at the thought of testing the limits of X’s body and spark. That would come later. It was now time for the creator to speak to the created. One of the security guards informed him that X hadn’t spoken anything intelligent since entering the cell, but Drake was sure X would talk to him. His very presence seemed to have drawn X’s attention, as if he knew, without looking, who it was.

“Well X, you must have enjoyed your night out. Met your girlfriend, killed a few people, great fun, right? A ‘bot after my own spark, though I’ve never had time for a girlfriend. Pity. And yet for all your effort, you’re right back where you started, still my same experiment. This is where you belong.” He frowned after a long silence, disappointed at the lack of a reply. “Don’t you wish to talk? Don’t you know me? I am—”

“I know slagging well who you are.”

Drake brightened with delight. “Ah! So you DO speak! It’s been a long time since I’ve heard your voice.”

“Indeed.” Emerald optics appeared in the shadows and there were sounds of movement. “The only things you’ve heard from me are my screams of agony.”

“It was for the best, my dear X, for the best.”

“Oh?” X stepped into light that washed over him. Behind Drake, two security guards stepped back in fear. He relished the startled looks on their faces, choosing then to rub the glittering dried mech fluid off his hands. He was covered in it; blood that was not his own. A blue glow dirtied his crooked mouth. “Was it really?”

“You were to be my best creation. Finally, a replication of Starscream’s indestructible spark. It would always pulse and never fade from you. It would heal you from all harm. The ultimate Transformer. It seems that I have succeeded, but the next step is to test you. To see how much you can stand. It’s a shame Griffon won’t be able to see it all…” Drake watched for a reaction at the name. X’s optics narrowed.

“Why?”

“Well, he was the one who let you go, so he had to be…. Punished.” He didn’t miss X’s fists clenching tighter. “You do understand, I hope, because I just can’t have any compassionate associates of mine thinking they can do something like that without consequences. For some reason he just couldn’t fathom the brilliance in what I’ve done with you and others. Don’t worry, you may see him again someday.” He paused, knowing X was focused on the mech fluid stain on his lab coat. “When you go to the Pit.”

X glared death at him but didn’t move. Drake gazed at him in awe of the wonderful thing he’d made. This was the first time he’d really gotten to look at him without the distraction of doing any experiments. His spark swelled with pride at his great accomplishment. A low, rumbling sound started to bounce off the walls and it took a moment for him to realize it was X’s laughter. It started with a chuckle then grew into a defiant cackle of insanity.

“I may be your creation, but I’ve become far more than you’ve intended.” X fixed him with a mocking stare. “You think you know SO much. You think you know what has been done to me.” His voice dropped to mere whisper. “You know nothing.”

“How DARE YOU!” Drake exploded, but X cut him off.

“You think everyone should fear you. Revere you, like some sort of mortal god You are nothing compared to me. You should fear ME.”

“I fear NO ONE! NOTHING! You are nothing more than my very own monster!”

“Yes… I can feel it inside you Drake, it’s growing right now. Your FEAR. It’s there, it’s always been there; submerged underneath your hatred and loathing for everyone better than you. And now you feel it coming undone. Consuming you. Twisting into your spark… yes, yes, your spark feels it now….” X approached the forcefield barrier, stopping just inches from it. He towered over his creator who recoiled backwards with fear fleeting across his arrogant face.

“SILENCE! Stop! Stay back! You can’t know that!”

“I can. I do. I can see it. I can see right through you. Don’t deny what you feel, Drake, I can see through anyone. You emotions betray your thoughts. Mmmmm, yes, you know it now too, don’t you? Such delicious fear! It’s rising in you. Don’t bother concealing it. I can see it. I can TASTE it.”

“No, you can’t, it’s impossible! You are my creation! Mine! You’re not supposed to have such things—”

“I no longer am your ‘same experiment’. They were right; I’m not normal anymore. I enjoy fear. I savor pain. I pleasure in creating both. I am indeed a monster. I know that now. And I LIKE it.”

“NO!” cried Drake, frantic, desperate to get control, “SILENCE! I command you!”

X would not be silenced. He continued, his voice growing louder, deeper, drowning out his creator’s words.

“Killing the first one, the one who destroyed Celestie was a necessity, a need for revenge, but the others… the others…” He chuckled, “That was more for FUN, because their pain for a moment mirrored my own. It felt GOOD. And their terror! Their TERROR!” The chuckle became a mad laugh that chilled the very sparks of those in the room, “For once it was coming from THEM! I held the very essence of their lives in my hand and decided when they would DIE. What POWER!” He visibly calmed, staring intently at Drake.

“Let your tests and experiments come. Do what you will with me, but you can’t stop what has begun. Be careful, because someday I may bite the hand that feeds!”