Hot Rod’s Subconscious MindHe stood there in the darkness, not a sight nor sound anywhere around him. Was he in what the humans would call Hell? Was this endless void the punishment he was to suffer for all eternity for being the vessel of the Fallen? Was he to be alone forever, left to contemplate why he had not been strong enough to keep the fiery demigod out of his body? Perhaps if his spark had been truly pure he would’ve had the strength to prevent the chaos in Australia from happening. Maybe he wasn’t really the good bot he thought he was. He was a reckless cavalier that lived life on the edge, thinking of no one but himself. That’s what let the beast in and now his spark was tainted by that supernatural filth, corrupted by an entity that sought to destroy the entirety of the Cybertronian race and bring forth the return of Unicron, himself.
Hot Rod placed his faceplate into his hands and tried to weep, but no tears of energon came. There was nothing left to cry for now. There was only darkness and despair and loneliness. This was all that was left. He was surrounded by the same darkness that resided within his spark now. He was truly as empty as his new existence. How fitting.
“But you are not alone, child. I am here.”“No, it cannot be. We defeated you! You can’t be here!”
"Oh, but I am! You may have ripped out my spark but I am still apart of you and always will be! Hahahahahahahahh!!!!” A blazing inferno suddenly erupted all around Hot Rod as the Fallen’s gigantic visage appeared over him. The fiery demigod let out a maniacal laughter as the intense flames licked Hot Rod’s chassis. He could still feel pain. Maybe that meant he wasn’t truly dead or maybe this was all apart of his punishment. The void was only a precursor of the torment the Fallen would level upon him from this moment forward. But it couldn’t be the Fallen. His dark spark was gone. Unless because they had been together for so long they could no longer be completely separated. Maybe the Fallen would torment him forever. The eternal darkness and loneliness was looking pretty good right about now.
As the Fallen’s enormous visage continued to cackle endlessly, Hot Rod rose up to his full height and let out a deafening battle cry. “You’re not real! We defeated you! You’re not really here!”
”I am real, child. You will never be rid of me. NEVER!!!”“NOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Hot Rod screamed, pulling out his discharge rifle and firing an endless barrage into the Fallen’s hovering visage. The image wavered before exploding into a brilliant fireball, enveloping the cavalier in an endless white light. Hot Rod covered his optics to prevent them from being overloaded by the sheer brilliance of the light. The fires then receded and suddenly it became very cold, bitter even as strong winds picked up, blowing against his now shivering frame.
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”Rodimus...” The voice spoke from somewhere ahead as Hot Rod continued to shield himself. This voice was different sounding than the Fallen’s, more regal, more 'good'. However, it could still be a trick. The demigod was full of tricks.
"Don't be afraid, Rodimus. Open your eyes."“That’s what the Fallen called me. That’s not my real name.”
”The Fallen called you Rodimus Prime while he was pretending to be you reborn, and while you have not earned the mantle of Prime, the name Rodimus is still who you have now grown into whether you want to admit it or not.”“No, this is some kind of trick. You’re the Fallen speaking in a different voice. I won’t be fooled. I won’t!”
”This is no trick, Rodimus. Open your eyes and see for yourself.”Carefully and with great reluctance, Hot Rod slowly brought his hands down and onlined his optics to see that the light had diminished somewhat, exposing an icy terrain at his feet as a virtual blizzard raged all around him. Within the blowing snow, the cavalier could see the silhouettes of several great mechanoids, but he could not make out any discernible features besides the fact that they were much larger than himself and clearly not the Fallen. There was something very familiar about them even as their bodies were obscured by the snow, and something very calming about them, as well. Whomever they were, they did not seem to be evil.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
”We are here to deliver a message.”“What message?”
”Come find us, Rodimus.”“What? That’s it? Come find you? Well, where are you exactly and who are you? What are you talking about?!” Hot Rod felt very confused. Was this real or was it just a dream or perhaps it was a new kind of torment for his failing in Uluru. “I don’t understand. How do I find you if I don’t even know who you are?! A bit more information about you guys would be nice! I'm not a mind reader after all.”
”You know us, Rodimus. We are your salvation. Search deep within yourself and then you will truly know us. As for where we are....”The voice trailed off as the raging storm subsided as quickly as it had appeared, and with it the images of the mechs, themselves, vanished. The icy landscape now continued onward unabated for miles in every direction. In the distance a new light shined bright, revealing a beautiful city of metal and glass with towering spirals reaching into the sky, all glowing with the power of Primus, himself. “What is that? Is that your home? Where is that? How do I get there?”
”Look down, Rodimus. Look down and you will find the way,” the now disembodied voice responded.
“What the frag does that mean?! I’m standing on solid ice. How’s that going to....” Hot Rod’s words were cut short as the icy ground beneath him began to shake violently and brake apart. “Whoa, what the...?” Before he could react any further, the cavalier fell into a deep crevice and tumbled downwards where darkness consumed him once more. Yet another light then appeared in front of him, growing closer and closer with every passing astrosecond as he continued to fall. “What’s that? Is that a.....”
Medical Bay - Isolated Care & Decontamination Chamber“....ship?!” Hot Rod suddenly awoke and found himself restrained to a medical berth inside a decontamination chamber. “Wait! What happened?! Where am I now? What’s going on?! Where did they go? They were just here talking to me and now they’re gone. I need to get back to them. I need to find them! Someone help me find them!!!”
The cavalier struggled again the restraints of the med berth but it was no use. His power levels were very weak and his body was still wrecked with the damage and mutation that the Fallen had inflicted upon him. “Help me....please. I need to....find....them.....please......” His strength leaving him, Hot Rod off-lined his optics as he took several deep intakes of air, his spark pulse racing as he laid his head back down. “My...our....salvation....depends...on it....”