First Impressions - Into the Darkness
Title: First Impressions - Into the Darkness
Fandom: Transformers/Kingdom Hearts
Characters/pairings: Ensemble
Rating: PG
Summary: Man meets Machine - a story old as time. But how many ways could the story have changed?
Warnings: AU, occasional disturbing imagery, language
Notes: Old writing, from back in the day, in it's mostly original format (very minor corrections may have been made) A set of AU's and crossovers of all of the different directions the main story could have gone.
Table of contents
o o o
The figure was tiny, not even up to his knee, a smooth, seamed construct of black material that a private comm to his medical officer labeled as 'organic' - carbon, water, nitrogen and a few other things, as far different from the cold metals of his own form as possible. There were layers to the thing, his MO said - tough black outer layer, smooth inner layer, some kind of fiber around the head, numerous inner mechanics that were disturbingly flexible.
Megatron dismissed the scans his MO sent him with a flicker of will, studying the creature with his own optics. It appeared bipedal under infrared, shaped almost as they were, though where its face should have been, there was only an empty hole, unless it had a face in the shadows beneath the hood of its outer covering. /Soundwave/ he sent, not looking at the communications officer at his left. /You are sure the thing is intelligent?/
/Affirmative. Language: strange. Intelligence: unquestionable/ A moment's pause, before a file was nudged over the comm line. /Language translation: carried on physical disk/ The language was strange indeed, slow and full of slick, rounded sounds, suitable to a vocal method made of carbon and water rather than silicon and copper. Megatron studied it for a moment, and then refocused on the organic, which hadn't moved. "Who are you?" he demanded.
The creature bowed, fluid and smooth, with only a slight creak of it's outer skin and a clink of the metal beads it wore betraying it's movements. "My Lord, I am a traveler," it said, it's voice low and rich as it held it's supine pose, but there was no submission in it's form. "I follow the Paths between Worlds, for the purpose of knowledge and worth."
"Worth," Megatron mused, tasting the word. "What worth do you seek?"
"I seek one who is worth serving," it said. "I have seen many Worlds, and none have revealed to me a King whose power and might is greater than my own. My Lord, I tired long ago of leading, and seek only to serve." Blackout let out a derisive snort from Megatron's right, which the creature ignored. "And, I feel, that I have finally found one whose power exceeds my own.”
Megatron sat back in his seat, optics narrowed. "So, you wish to serve the Decepticon cause," he said slowly. "You speak of 'power finally exceeding your own', what power do you have that we can use?"
It raised its hand, and though Megatron knew from the scans that it lacked any weaponry, he still felt the need to draw his own cannon in return. It's fingers twitched, and at first, none could see any change, though they all felt it; a presence on the air, undetectable by the normal senses but there just the same, felt more by the Spark than any scanner, not exactly malevolent but hungry.
It was Starscream who called his attention to it, information in an arc-fast burst, and Megatron realized that the creature's shadow was moving, writhing about his ankles and stretching out, no longer the creature's shape but something many-limbed and wispy. It stretched, further and further, and there was a rumble of disquiet when one wisp lifted from the floor, like an actual object, hovering and slowly growing longer yet.
One of Soundwave's little creations was the first to investigate, bouncing down from his creators shoulder to prod the inky blackness. His fingers passed right through it, as if it didn't exist, and the tiny mech made a questioning noise, cocking his head.
The shadow lashed out, wrapping around Rumble's arm and if it hadn't been substantial before, it certainly was now, wrenching him forward. Frenzy shrieked and went to his twin's rescue, clawing viciously at the blackness, his flailing limbs passing through it as his brother's did before it latched onto him as well, and both minibots found themselves in a web of clinging shadow. Megatron wondered idly if Soundwave would go to his creation's rescue, but the communications officer didn't twitch.
"You have ways of determining a material's substance," the newcomer said calmly, its stance never changing as the twins rolled and snarled and fought its creation. "Tell me, what am I controlling?"
There was a choked sound from the MO, and the comm that came through was nearly garbled in panic. /My Lord, on every frequency that isn't visible light, there's nothing there/ Megatron snapped around to stare at the quaking bot, who was staring at the blackness with horror. /Nothing, not material, not electrical, nothing, as if his very shadow was trapping them/
"It doesn't exist, does it?" At the soft question, Megatron turned back to the creature. "There are many things beyond the material," it continued. "My mastery over them is great, my knowledge of them, absolute." It was looking at him, Megatron knew; faceless, blank, and it was looking at him. "Your physical might is great, your technology is without parallel. I would teach you of those powers beyond what exists on the material plane, such that your power on any world is without equal." His fingers flexed, once, and the shadows clinging to Frenzy and Rumble disappeared without a trace.
As one, the twins rolled to their feet, and with infuriated screams, they leapt at the stranger, multiple limbs splayed for killing strikes. Something appeared out of the creature's shadow, a twisted white thing shaped as its master was. It swiped one limb at the twins, knocking them back with incredibly little effort, and they fell at Soundwave's feet. They bounced back up to continue the attack, but Megatron held up a hand, forestalling them. The white being disappeared in a blur of the same shadowy substance that had wrestled the twins, no trace of it left behind, and Megatron didn't have to ask his MO if the thing had appeared on any scans outside of visual.
/What do they say about it?/ Megatron sent to Soundwave.
There was a hesitance, brief but there. /Cold/ came the answer. /Dead, cold, no shape, no substance. Suggestion: Eliminate the creature/
Studying the smooth black form, Megatron made his choice. "I would hear more about these 'powers' you speak of," he said softly, dangerously.
Under his hood, Xemnas smiled.
Fandom: Transformers/Kingdom Hearts
Characters/pairings: Ensemble
Rating: PG
Summary: Man meets Machine - a story old as time. But how many ways could the story have changed?
Warnings: AU, occasional disturbing imagery, language
Notes: Old writing, from back in the day, in it's mostly original format (very minor corrections may have been made) A set of AU's and crossovers of all of the different directions the main story could have gone.
Table of contents
o o o
The figure was tiny, not even up to his knee, a smooth, seamed construct of black material that a private comm to his medical officer labeled as 'organic' - carbon, water, nitrogen and a few other things, as far different from the cold metals of his own form as possible. There were layers to the thing, his MO said - tough black outer layer, smooth inner layer, some kind of fiber around the head, numerous inner mechanics that were disturbingly flexible.
Megatron dismissed the scans his MO sent him with a flicker of will, studying the creature with his own optics. It appeared bipedal under infrared, shaped almost as they were, though where its face should have been, there was only an empty hole, unless it had a face in the shadows beneath the hood of its outer covering. /Soundwave/ he sent, not looking at the communications officer at his left. /You are sure the thing is intelligent?/
/Affirmative. Language: strange. Intelligence: unquestionable/ A moment's pause, before a file was nudged over the comm line. /Language translation: carried on physical disk/ The language was strange indeed, slow and full of slick, rounded sounds, suitable to a vocal method made of carbon and water rather than silicon and copper. Megatron studied it for a moment, and then refocused on the organic, which hadn't moved. "Who are you?" he demanded.
The creature bowed, fluid and smooth, with only a slight creak of it's outer skin and a clink of the metal beads it wore betraying it's movements. "My Lord, I am a traveler," it said, it's voice low and rich as it held it's supine pose, but there was no submission in it's form. "I follow the Paths between Worlds, for the purpose of knowledge and worth."
"Worth," Megatron mused, tasting the word. "What worth do you seek?"
"I seek one who is worth serving," it said. "I have seen many Worlds, and none have revealed to me a King whose power and might is greater than my own. My Lord, I tired long ago of leading, and seek only to serve." Blackout let out a derisive snort from Megatron's right, which the creature ignored. "And, I feel, that I have finally found one whose power exceeds my own.”
Megatron sat back in his seat, optics narrowed. "So, you wish to serve the Decepticon cause," he said slowly. "You speak of 'power finally exceeding your own', what power do you have that we can use?"
It raised its hand, and though Megatron knew from the scans that it lacked any weaponry, he still felt the need to draw his own cannon in return. It's fingers twitched, and at first, none could see any change, though they all felt it; a presence on the air, undetectable by the normal senses but there just the same, felt more by the Spark than any scanner, not exactly malevolent but hungry.
It was Starscream who called his attention to it, information in an arc-fast burst, and Megatron realized that the creature's shadow was moving, writhing about his ankles and stretching out, no longer the creature's shape but something many-limbed and wispy. It stretched, further and further, and there was a rumble of disquiet when one wisp lifted from the floor, like an actual object, hovering and slowly growing longer yet.
One of Soundwave's little creations was the first to investigate, bouncing down from his creators shoulder to prod the inky blackness. His fingers passed right through it, as if it didn't exist, and the tiny mech made a questioning noise, cocking his head.
The shadow lashed out, wrapping around Rumble's arm and if it hadn't been substantial before, it certainly was now, wrenching him forward. Frenzy shrieked and went to his twin's rescue, clawing viciously at the blackness, his flailing limbs passing through it as his brother's did before it latched onto him as well, and both minibots found themselves in a web of clinging shadow. Megatron wondered idly if Soundwave would go to his creation's rescue, but the communications officer didn't twitch.
"You have ways of determining a material's substance," the newcomer said calmly, its stance never changing as the twins rolled and snarled and fought its creation. "Tell me, what am I controlling?"
There was a choked sound from the MO, and the comm that came through was nearly garbled in panic. /My Lord, on every frequency that isn't visible light, there's nothing there/ Megatron snapped around to stare at the quaking bot, who was staring at the blackness with horror. /Nothing, not material, not electrical, nothing, as if his very shadow was trapping them/
"It doesn't exist, does it?" At the soft question, Megatron turned back to the creature. "There are many things beyond the material," it continued. "My mastery over them is great, my knowledge of them, absolute." It was looking at him, Megatron knew; faceless, blank, and it was looking at him. "Your physical might is great, your technology is without parallel. I would teach you of those powers beyond what exists on the material plane, such that your power on any world is without equal." His fingers flexed, once, and the shadows clinging to Frenzy and Rumble disappeared without a trace.
As one, the twins rolled to their feet, and with infuriated screams, they leapt at the stranger, multiple limbs splayed for killing strikes. Something appeared out of the creature's shadow, a twisted white thing shaped as its master was. It swiped one limb at the twins, knocking them back with incredibly little effort, and they fell at Soundwave's feet. They bounced back up to continue the attack, but Megatron held up a hand, forestalling them. The white being disappeared in a blur of the same shadowy substance that had wrestled the twins, no trace of it left behind, and Megatron didn't have to ask his MO if the thing had appeared on any scans outside of visual.
/What do they say about it?/ Megatron sent to Soundwave.
There was a hesitance, brief but there. /Cold/ came the answer. /Dead, cold, no shape, no substance. Suggestion: Eliminate the creature/
Studying the smooth black form, Megatron made his choice. "I would hear more about these 'powers' you speak of," he said softly, dangerously.
Under his hood, Xemnas smiled.