Chapter 8-Legacy
It was a bright and sunny Tuesday afternoon and Annie was spending her detention writing her history report-again. It was a strange sight if you knew the young girl, whose only favorite part of school was physical education. Not many people gave her credit, but she did care about her schoolwork-so long as it was something she cared about. In this case, it was Norse culture.
Annie always had a fascination with the Norse tribes who inhabited the snowy wastelands of Belka. The two tribes, the Aesir and the Vanir, who warred for many years before uniting their tribes as one force to protect their homeland from foreign invaders. There were stories of gods fighting giants, world encircling serpents and Ragnarock, things that was just the kind of thing to catch the attention of the hyperactive girl. Funny enough, the war between the Autobots and Decepticons reminded her of those myths.
Annie had written a seven page report on the Asguardians (the united Aesir/Vanir tribes) and was supposed to submit it today, but she somehow misplaced it. Of course the teacher didn’t believe her genuine truth, and now she was rewriting the damn thing. Fortunately, she knew her report by heart at this point, and was already almost finished. Though she would rather be off-roading with Bulkhead than wasting away in this place.
Annie lifted her head when she heard her favorite rock band blasting from the school parking lot and smirked. That was her signal to get the hell out of there. “Right on time.”
With the skill and stealth a ninja would be envious of, Annie snuck out of the classroom when the teacher was away on a bathroom break and ran for her locker. She quickly threw it open and pulled out Grindor, who was roused from his nap when he was placed on the floor.
“Whoa, hey Annie. What’s the rush?” He asked.
“Nothing, just trying to get the hell out of dodge.” Annie whispered hurriedly.
She ran down the hall and practically burst through the front doors as she made her way towards Bulkhead, who popped open his door for her. She tossed Grindor into the back seat before jumping into her favorite position in the front seat.
“What’s the hurry?” Bulkhead asked.
“Nothing, just happy to see you.” Annie said, lying through her teeth. She leaned back and listened to the music. “Hey, crank this up, will you?”
Bulkhead did the opposite, lowering the volume until it was barely audible. “That was quick. Did detention end early?”
“Well…” She glanced out the window and cursed. It was her detention teacher sprinting out of the school looking for her. “Oh damn, here comes the wicked witch and she does not look happy.” She muttered. The teacher spotted the green SUV and marched towards them. “Step on it, Bulk!”
Bulkhead grumbled but kicked it in gear, driving out of the parking lot and down the street. Once they were far enough from the school, Bulkhead scolded Annie.
“Annie, I’m not your getaway car. You can’t just cut detention like that. What would your parents say?”
“Bulk, my parents are dead and my big sister is too busy to really give a damn about what goes on in my school life.” Annie said bluntly.
“Oh…uh…” Bulkhead had nothing for that. Seeing that the Autobot was getting uncomfortable, Grindor entered the conversation.
“Well, don’t you want to go to that uni…what’s it called…collage?”
“College, Grindor. And it wasn’t my fault I got detention. I had a report but then lost it. As far as I’m concerned, I’m innocent.”
Bulkhead sighed, wondering if this was what Wheeljack had to deal with when they first met.
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Gina stood on a platform next to the ground bridge controls with her laptop hooked up to the console. She was on bridge duty under Ratchet’s watch while he monitored Teletran-1. It was something she had taken to doing, acting as Ratchet’s little assistant whenever Longarm or Bumblebee were busy.
“Gina, I’ve got a bridge request from Bulkhead.”
“Got it.”
She typed in a command and pressed ENTER, activated the ground bridge and allowing Bulkhead to drive out of the portal. Once he let Annie and Grindor out, he transformed and followed after them. Gina then noticed they were in a heated conversation.
“Look Annie, I’m only looking out for you. Your sister and I just don’t want you doing something that’s going to get you put in jail or worse.” Bulkhead said.
“Ugh, you sound just like Debbie. I’m not going to turn into a delinquent, Bulk, so spare me the weepy speeches.” Annie sighed. She tried to walk away, but Bulkhead stepped in her path.
“Annie, you don’t pay attention, you might not get a choice at what you want to be in the future. Like me.” He said. He bent over her and jabbed a thumb at his chest. “Before the war, I was a laborer, construction. I could build stuff, I could break stuff. That’s it. It was something I was chosen to do because of my alt mode, not because I wanted to.”
“You were a demolition bot? That’s sweet!” Annie grinned. “I wanna be just like you, Bulk!”
“Wha-no! I’m saying that I didn’t have a choice in choosing my job. They forced it on me without any regard for my personal preference. I liked it, sure, but I never had a say in my future. But you do and I want you to still have that choice when you grow up.”
Annie pursed her lips and was about to reply when Ratchet’s voice spoke up. “Hmm, that’s odd.”
“What is it, Ratchet?” Gina asked.
“I’m detecting some odd energy readings from Belka. It’s not energon, but it’s not any known terrestrial sources I have in Teletran’s records.” Ratchet said. “I might need someone to check it out.”
“I can do that, doc. I’m still running on a full tank.” Bulkhead said.
“Belka? Sweet! I get to see the homeland of the Asguardian tribes!” Annie cheered. Bulkhead tried to talk her out of coming along, but Gina cut in.
“Let her go along, Bulk. Annie’s a big girl who knows when to be careful.” Gina said and looked at her friend. “Annie, you better bundle up. The mountains in Belka are very cold around this time of year.”
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Belka was a country in eastern Europa with a horrible history in warfare that left a dark legacy on the country. Bulkhead had heard little about the small but once powerful country, but according to Annie, there was a major war of conquest between Belka and the surrounding nations, which ended in its defeat and the subsequent nuclear bombings of their own territory in 1995. It was a dark moment in human history, and even today, much of the land south of Belka’s Waldreich Mountains were irradiated from nuclear fallout.
Bulkhead had taken Annie and Grindor to a little town near the mountains where Ironhide was supposed to be. Since they had to wait for the Autobot, Annie figured that their time would be best spent at the local museum.
Bulkhead didn’t think that Annie would want anything to do with museums after that little scuffle at the last one a few days ago, but she was more excited about seeing what the homeland of the Asguardians had in store for them. She practically dragged his Holomatter into the building and they made their way to the Norse exhibit, which was full of old artifacts like stone tablets, weapons, paintings and relics dug up from ancient battlefields and the like.
They stood together in the room looking at a display showing a small golden hammer with intricate carvings on it. Grindor was in his skateboard alt mode sitting snug in a harness on Annie’s back, and he could hear everything that was going on.
“So what’s so special about a tiny hammer?” Bulkhead asked, looking at the hammer weirdly. “You can’t even use that thing with it being so short.”
“That tiny hammer is the weapon of one of the mightiest warriors in human history. Mjolnir, the thunder hammer. Legend says it allowed the warrior Thor to harness the power of thunder itself to smite his enemies. Made him practically unstoppable.” Annie smiled. “Granted, this is only a supposed replica of what the real hammer is supposed to look like, since the real one has yet to be found.”
“If it exists.” Grindor whispered.
“It totally does!” Annie huffed.
“Hey!”
Ironhide’s voice rang loudly in the quiet hall and some people shushed him. He grunted at them and walked over to his friends.
“Took you long enough.” Annie quipped. Ironhide glared down at her.
“Watch it, kid.” He said. “Ratchet just located the energy surge again. It’s quite a long ways off from here.”
“Then we better get a move on, then.” Annie chirped and made her way to the exit with Grindor. Ironhide glanced at Bulkhead with a frown.
“Why is she with us again?” He asked.
“Well…she did ask to come along.” Bulkhead replied. He didn’t want to admit that Annie used her cute little girl charms to weasel her way onto the mission.
“Let’s just get this done before the kid freezes her aft off.”
The two Autobots disengaged their Holomatter avatars and drove away from town into the frozen wilderness of Belka. They had no idea of the powerful forces awaiting them in the icy tundra.
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It was early morning in Belka, and what a sight it was as the rising sun shined its radiance over the mountaintops on the scattered towns and cities down below. The light coating of snow on the landscape sparkled faintly as the Autobots drove along the countryside. Annie was not a girl to get teary eyed at a sunrise or something, but she did appreciate a little natural beauty every once in a while if she felt like it.
“Ugh, I don’t know how humans can live in a place this cold.” Grindor said, leaning back in his seat. “I’m made of metal and I’m freezing my aft here.”
“Perseverance, Grindor. The Norse tribes of Belka didn’t come this far into the mountains unless it was for religious rites or during the summer. We’re lucky winter is almost over in this part of the world or else we’d be knee deep in snow by now.” Annie said. “Out here, only the strong survive. And the Norsemen were the strongest warriors of their age.”
“You really like these guys, don’t you?” Bulkhead noted.
“Hell yeah! These guys embody everything I want to be. They’re strong, they’re fearless, and they’re heroes. They have great power and use it to help people, like gods.” Annie sighed and leaned her head against the window. “It’s why I want to be an esper. So I can have the power to help people, like a hero.”
“Annie, you don’t need powers to be a hero. Look at us, we’re doing pretty damn good without fancy powers.” Grindor said proudly.
“And aren’t espers discriminated against?” Bulkhead asked. “They’re getting a pretty bad rap these days from almost everyone.”
“I know that, but I’m going to be different. I’ll use my powers for good and show them that not all espers are evil. Unlike some people, I won’t hide my powers and pretend to be something I’m not.” She said bitterly.
Bulkhead noticed her sudden change in demeanor and knew they were treading personal territory. He definitely didn’t want to get involved in those kinds of issues.
“Word from the wise, kid, you’re better off without any powers.” Ironhide said. “You rely on them too much and they’ll konk out on you when you need them the most. The only thing power does is corrupt, and I’m sure those Belkan heroes you worship are as squeaky clean as you like to think.”
‘Sure, sometimes power corrupts, but it’s still better than holding it back and doing nothing with it.’ Annie thought.
It was a constant source of contention between her and Darren. She was annoyed that he would hide his powers and not even use them most of the time. She hated that he would pretend that he was normal, when he had a chance to be so much more. And she really despised how he preferred to be some weak human instead of a powerful espers who would never be bullied or threatened ever again. Annie didn’t want to be like Darren.
She didn’t want to be weak like her brother. She wanted to be strong. Strong so that she would never feel pain ever again.
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Deep in the frozen wilderness of eastern Belka laid the temple of the Aesir. A holy place of in Asguardian culture, the temple was a place of worship where Aesir tribes would travel great distances to offer prayers to their pagan gods of old, long before the creation of the Chantry and the rise of Andraste. It was a mighty, imposing structure sitting atop a cliff, built in a time where Mother Earth met Father Sky by mortal and immortal hands.
Since the fall of the Norse tribes centuries ago, humans stopped coming to the temple, leaving it forgotten and abandoned as a monument of a time of gods and men. However, it was still inhabited by forces nowhere near human, or even mortal. The temple was now home to a powerful being whose true name was incomprehensible to human tongue. Translated by terran language, his name among many was Michael. His body was large and strong, made of stone with various pieces of ore sticking out of his body. His skin was like marble, and his face was that of an old wise man with one eye that gleamed like the north star. To a human, he would look like a statue…if not for the fact that he was moving.
He sat on his throne, his awareness spread across the eastern mountain range of Belka, extending to the very edge of his domain. He sat like this for thousands of years, long after the fall of the two tribes and the nuclear razing of the southern regions of the Waldreich Mountains. Nothing of interest had caught his attention, until now.
When he sensed two powerful auras enter his domain, Michael sat up in his throne of gold. A vision came to his mind, images brought back to him through the life stream of the world. They flickered into existence without warning, and their appearance and very nature caught him off guard…something he did not like. He didn’t like the abnormal nature of these beings, and he certainly didn’t like this oddly familiar feeling their presence invoked within him. It stirred emotions he hadn’t felt for ages, the strongest among them being rage. Who were these false gods who entered his kingdom of ice? What did they want?
“Raphael,” He said in a very deep, booming voice that sounded like thunder. A tall, slender yet masculine form appeared next to him. This being was made of stone just like him, but his skin was mostly formed of a type of sapphire that reflected light off its smooth surface. “Find these intruders and eradicate them. Bring their bodies to me so that I may see what manner of creatures they are.”
“As you command,” Raphael’s body began to shimmer as it vanished into thin air. “So it shall be done.”
Michael watched his fellow god disappear and leaned forward on his throne. Whoever chose to make the mistake of intruding upon his sovereignty while portraying themselves as gods will pay dearly…with their lives!
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It wasn’t long before the novelty of watching the sun-soaked snowy landscape and the mountainous scenery pass by wore off and Annie started getting bored. It got to the point where she gave the age old question, “Are we there yet?”
“Almost, Annie. Don’t worry, we’ll get there soon. Right, Ironhide?” Bulkhead asked. Ironhide didn’t answer, instead the red Autobot rolled to a stop and fell behind, forcing Bulkhead to do the same. “Ironhide?”
“Shh! Quiet!” Ironhide hissed. He switched to robot mode and fired up his arm cannons. Bulkhead let Annie and Grindor out before doing the same.
“Ironhide, what’s wrong?” Grindor asked.
“Something’s coming.” He said.
“Cons?” Bulkhead asked, looking around.
“No, something else.” Ironhide replied. “Get the two out of the firing range, Bulk. The fireworks are about to start.”
“Grindor, you know the drill.” Bulkhead said to the Minicon.
“Will do, big guy.” Grindor saluted and pulled Annie away from them over to a snowy drift, ignoring the girl’s cries of protest.
Bulkhead and Ironhide looked around, waiting for whatever was coming. The winds died down and everything seemed to go quiet, which made everyone tense. Then they heard a loud roar that sounded like a high powered engine, and a stream of fire burst from the ground and shot towards them.
“Break!” Bulkhead shouted and they jumped apart to avoid the streams that crashed into the spot they jumped from.
The mass of flames slammed into the ground and swirled around in place before dispersing to
reveal a creature they’ve never seen before. It was vaguely humanoid, but had a hunchback form with a lean body frame. Its skin was made of smooth stone and covered in deep red and gold armor that leaked flames from glowing veins of what looked like rubies in its skin. On its forearms were a pair of massive red and gold gauntlets coated in flames. Gold plating covered much of its torso, winding up around its neck and connecting the eyeless golden bird-like mask on its face. This creature’s name was Grace.
“What the hell is that thing?” Ironhide said in shock. This thing looked really freaky, definitely unlike anything they’ve seen on Terra so far. And that was troubling coming from a mech with tons of off-world experience like him.
Bulkhead also didn’t know what to do, but then he saw something flickering behind Ironhide and pulled him away. “Watch out!”
A massive lightning bolt hit the spot Ironhide was just standing in and tore up the ground as
it formed near Grace. A pillar of powerful lightning bolts spun around and formed another physical being that looked just like Grace, though its armor was gold and blue with electricity crackling from its claws. Its name was Glory.
Grace and Glory, the swords of Raphael.
The Autobots and creatures didn’t move, waiting for the other to make move first. Annie and Grindor watched, also keeping still out of some belief that they didn’t set things off. Then Bulkhead moved his foot a couple of centimeters back and that was the signal to kick things off.
Grace gave a loud roar that sounded like a motorcycle revving up and leapt at Bulkhead with inhuman speed. Bulkhead had no time to raise his blaster as Grace brought its large claws down on him. Flames licked at his armor as he desperately tried to dodge each strike, and he retaliated with strong blows from his wrecking ball, slamming it into the creature’s lithe body. Grace was thrown back by the strong attack, but its body turned into flames and swirled around Bulkhead, rematerializing behind him. Bulkhead couldn’t move fast enough to block it as it dug its claws into his back, leaving burning gouges into his armor.
Bulkhead grunted in pain, but still spun around and punched Grace in the chest. The punch was strong enough to knock some pieces of Grace’s armor off as it was sent rolling through the snow.
Ironhide was also having a difficult time with his opponent. Glory was fast like lightning, its movements quick yet also precise, landing attacks on Ironhide before zipping to another location to deal another blow. Ironhide had already forgone using his cannons and just focused on using his war axes, swinging them at Glory whenever he appeared.
Glory appeared behind Ironhide and lunged at him, only for him to spin around and bury the blade of his axe into Glory’s side. The energized blade easily cut into its stony hide, causing its flesh to crack, but the blade was stuck in its body. Glory grabbed Ironhide’s arm and delivered a strong electrical shock into his body.
“Oh my god, they’re getting they’re asses kicked out there!” Annie gasped. She knew Bulkhead and Ironhide were no slouches when it came to combat, so seeing them get outmatched so easily was unnerving. “Isn’t there anything we can do?”
“Like what? We’ll get killed if we get involved!” Grindor said. “Bulkhead said to hang back, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“Damn it.” Annie growled. She hated being useless like this!
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Michael stood in front of a giant clean cut crystal watching the battle going on miles from the
temple. Grace and Glory were living up to their reputations to the letter. He was overjoyed that they were winning against the invaders, but questions still plagued his mind.
What were these metal giants? Where did they come from? He instinctively knew they were not of this world, for they did not synch with the planet’s energy. What was more frustrating was that something about them was a bit familiar, yet he had no idea. So many questions and no answers!
Then he noticed something. Not too far from the battle were two smaller beings, a girl and some tiny automaton. Michael bristled; not only did these invaders intrude upon his territory, they also dragged a mortal along as some twisted plaything! Inconceivable! Did these creatures have no shame?
Michael waved his hand and two giant birds, one made of gold and the other made of silver, appeared on the arms of his throne. Veins of crystalline ore ran along their bodies and their eyes were gemstones.
“Cherubim, retrieve the mortal and her toy. Make sure no harm comes to them.” He ordered.
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Bulkhead ducked another flaming swipe from Grace’s claws and reached out to grab its thin neck
in his large hand. He winced as he felt its extremely hot stone skin burn even his thickly armored hands but didn’t let go. Grace didn’t even care that it was being strangled and grabbed Bulkhead’s arm to dig its claws into his wrist. The green Autobot gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the searing pain as he tightened his grip on the creature.
Ironhide was grappling with Glory, his body still affected by the constant electrical jolts that it sent at him. A lesser Autobot would’ve collapsed from such an assault, but Ironhide was a stubborn old fool who had been through worse injuries in his career and wasn’t going to let this freaky thing smack him down. Breaking the grapple, he grabbed Glory’s right arm and squeezed as hard as he could until he felt its skin crack under his grip.
“Alright! That’s how you do it, Ironhide!” Annie cheered from the sidelines.
Bulkhead was still trying to choke Grace with his hand, while Grace was still trying to burn his arm into molten slag. Having had enough of this monster trying to melt his arm, Bulkhead raised his other hand and slammed his fist onto his head. Dazed, Grace lost its hold on his arm and Bulkhead used his strength to crush its neck in his hand, hearing a sickening crunch that sounded like a boulder being smashed. Grace went limp and its body fell apart from its body.
Ironhide grabbed Glory’s arms and kicked it hard enough in the chest to tear its arms off as it flew back. Sparkling crystalline powder spewed from the stumps as Glory stumbled back from its drastic injuries.
“That’s right guys, show them whose boss!” Annie shouted as she ran from cover to cheer them on.
“Annie, stay back!” Bulkhead ordered.
Grindor went to get her as she stood there in the snow snorting as his supposedly unneeded concern. “Oh please, Bulk. You guys won! What else can happen out-ahhhhhh!”
“Annie!” Bulkhead exclaimed as a giant bird made of gold swooped down from out of nowhere and grabbed Annie and Grindor in its talons.
“Slag!” Ironhide raised his cannons to shoot the bird down, but a bolt of lightning hit him in the shoulder, throwing him off balance and knocking him to the ground. Behind him, the armless Glory wobbled towards him, electricity still lancing off its body. Snarling, Ironhide took out his war axe and buried it in its head, tearing it off.
Bulkhead pointed his blaster at the bird to shoot it down, but it hesitated. With how it was moving, he wasn’t sure if he could shoot without harming Annie and Grindor. He failed to notice the other bird, Silver, attack him from behind, slicing into his shoulder with its talons. This gave Gold enough time to get higher into the air and fly away with its partner.
“Bulkhead!” Annie cried out.
“Annie!” Bulkhead yelled back.
All he could do was stand there in energon stained snow and watch as the two birds flew off
with his friends.
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Annie and Grindor were roughly dropped onto the cold, icy ground inside the main hall of the temple they were taken to. The two birds dropped them into a hole at the top of the mountain fortress that sat near the edge of a cliff. Grindor helped Annie to her feet and they glared up at their kidnappers, who were already flying away from the chamber.
“Stupid turkeys! Take us back right now!” She yelled after them. Obviously they didn’t listen to her as they vanished back out the hole they came through. Annie sighed and looked around at the ominous looking chamber they were now in. “Great, how are we going to get out of this one?”
“Fear not, my lady. You are safe here.” A multi-faceted voice said from behind them.
“Ah! Who said that?” Grindor asked. He and Annie looked around at their prison. It was a large cavern made of finely polished ice and crystal, though it felt really warm inside despite the freezing temperatures outside. “Show yourself!”
“Do you presume to command me, machine?”
The ground shook as large footsteps neared their position, and soon a large form, one a head taller than Bulkhead in height, entered the chamber through the two massive wooden doors. Annie and Grindor looked up at the tall being that approached them with trepidation and knew they were in big trouble. The being was clearly male from its muscular, humanoid physique, but he looked more like a finely carved statue with swirling patterns of crystal lining his hard skin. Angelic wings were folded on his back, and his face was impassive even as he spoke to them.
“Who are you to speak to Uriel, the angel of war, as if you were his equal?”
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The weather outside in the valley where the two Autobots just had their battle was slowly getting worse by the second. It started to snow and the wind was picking up. They took refuge under a cliff as they planned their next move.
“How’s your arm?” Bulkhead asked.
“It’s fine, don’t worry. Looks worse than it feels.” Ironhide said, rolling his wounded shoulder. The bolt tore into his armor and grazed his inner circuitry and hydraulics. Had his armor not been as dense, he would’ve suffered more damage to his shoulder. “What about you? That thing did a number on you?”
Bulkhead definitely had it worse than Ironhide. Grace’s attacks riddled his body with burns and gashes along his back and arms, warping his armor where its heated claws burned through. Bulkhead was a sturdy, hardy mech, so seeing him so damaged after one battle after those things showed just how strong they were.
“I’m fine, but I’m more worried about Annie and Grindor. Those birds took to off to Primus knows where, and we need to find them!”
Bulkhead tried to transform, but Ironhide stopped him. “And how do you plan to do that exactly? You don’t even know where they were taken.”
“Well, I’m not just going to stand around while they could be hurt or worse!” Bulkhead shouted.
“Bulkhead, you will stand down! That is an order!” Ironhide said with a hard tone. “You saw how easily those things threw us around. If there are more of them where they came from, we could be walking right into a slaughter. Then what will you do? Acting recklessly is not going to help anyone!” His eyes softened and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We will get them back,
Bulk, but we need to do this the smart way. Can you calm down for me?”
Bulkhead, who was silent throughout the scolding, took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah…yeah, I can do that. sorry.” He apologized and looked out at the weather, which was getting worse. “So what do we do now?”
“First, we need to focus on what direction those birds took Annie and Grindor. Once we get that sorted out, then we have something to go on.” Ironhide said.
“I think they went north. I saw them going toward the mountains before I lost sight of them.”
“North, okay. Maybe I can track Grindor’s biosignal. Hopefully the weather isn’t screwing around with the scanner.” Ironhide took out his locator and pointed it north. He was expecting the device to give him a positive reading on Grindor’s energon signal, not for it to go all the way to the red zone and start beeping erratically. “Ah scrap.”
“What is it?” Bulkhead asked.
“Bulkhead, remember how we were tracking that energy surge Ratchet detected earlier?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“I just realized that those birds flew in the same direction we were tracking the surge.”
Ironhide said grimly.
Neither of them said anything for several minutes as they processed the weight of that
revelation. Bulkhead groaned and rubbed his forehead. This planet was quickly going up his slag list.
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“Uriel, the angel of war.” Annie said, looking the giant being up and down. “You’re certainly no angel I’ve ever seen.”
That was an understatement. Uriel looked more like a walking statue made in the likeness of a warrior god than some pretty angel. The wings were the only thing he had that supported his claim, everything else looked more akin to Norse-made armor that seemed to have grown from his skin. Her eyes trailed to the sword in his hand.
The sword was a masterpiece that looked like it was forged from all the riches of the world. The cross guard was in the shape of a traditional broadsword hilt, lined with precious jewels, and the blade was long and smooth and made of stainless steel. The face of what Annie believed to be another angel stared at her from the hilt, cold and expressionless, just like the being who held it.
“You are right, I am no angel. But this name I carry belonged to what you mortals considered angels and thus I adopted it for my own in ancient times.” Uriel said. “And as the emissary of Lord Michael, I believe such a moniker as angel of war is fitting for me. For I am a warrior who dispenses justice on the unworthy Filth that populate this land.”
“Yeah, and I’m Micronus Prime.” Grindor snorted. He screamed when Uriel slammed the blade of his sword next to him.
“I did not give you permission to speak, worm!”
“Back off, goldenrod! He’s my friend!” Annie barked. Uriel looked at her perplexed.
“Friend?” He echoed, as if the term was alien to him. It probably was. “You consider this…thing, to be your friend? He is an automaton created by dark magics!”
“No, he’s not. He’s a living being just like you, Venus!” Annie replied.
“Those creatures have bewitched you, child.”
Annie and Grindor froze as Michael’s large form marched into the chamber. Uriel bowed his head and stepped back as his master stood over their two captives, his smooth, marble face looking down at them with a critical stare from his one eye.
“Whatever spell they cast on you must be strong if you see them as anything more than machines. No mortal would dare talk back to us in the old times.” Michael growled. Annie cleared her throat.
“Okay, listen, I am not under some spell or anything stupid like that, Cupid. Those “automatons” as you call them are my friends. And you sent those monsters to kill them!” She said.
“They should’ve have known better than to intrude upon my domain. Here in the roof of the world, I am king, and I will not have usurpers trying to steal my throne!”
“We didn’t even know you people even lived here, you asshole!” Annie shouted, finally losing her temper. “And you’re no god, nor are you angels or whatever the hell you see yourself as. You’re all just a bunch of freaky talking statues with weird powers. I bet you bozos wouldn’t even last five seconds against Optimus Prime! Let me give him a call and have him come here so he can shove his metal fist up your stony, prismatic-“
“SILENCE!” Michael boomed. His flared his power and blasted Annie and Grindor against a rock wall, lightly dazing Grindor but knocking Annie out. “I will not be insulted by some petulant child! If you want to meet your ancestors so badly, then you’re welcome to see them. Uriel, send them to the inner sanctum. Let Fenris deal with them.”
Grindor held onto Annie, praying that they would be rescued soon as Uriel reached down to grab them. ‘Bulkhead, Ironhide, please hurry.’
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Bulkhead and Ironhide drove at full speed through the valley without a care about losing control on the slippery, ice covered ground. They were on a tight schedule, and every second lost was another second their friends spent in danger. So focused they were that they were unable to detect Raphael monitoring them from the back of a large, red and gold serpent with a long, narrow snout harboring two rows of needle sharp teeth. The creature that served as his mount was known by Raphael as an Inspired.
“Inspired, go forth and eradicate the aliens.” Ordered Raphael.
The serpent hissed and slithered through the air on wings of pure light, moving through the air like a snake through water. The Autobots didn’t detect it until it was right on top of him, diving into the ground behind them.
“Or for the love of…!” Ironhide yelled. This was too much scrap to deal with, and it wasn’t
even noon yet!
The inspired burst from the ground and snapped at Bulkhead with its jaws wide open. The green Autobot switched forms as fast as he could and met the monster head on, grabbed its top and bottom jaws to keep them from closing down on him. His feet dug into the ground as he fought against the Inspired’s great strength.
“I haven’t come close to death in four million years of war, and today sure ain’t the day I’m kicking the bucket!” Bulkhead grunted.
While he grappled with the serpent, Ironhide drove around to flank the beat and changed forms, jumping onto its back and pulled out his axe. He stabbed it into its lengthy spine and hacked away, making sure to put a lot of strength into each blow.
The Inspired growled and thrashed its body, throwing away Bulkhead and trying to dislodge Ironhide off its back. The red Autobot held strong, digging his fingers into the wound he made and used it as a handhold to remain on. When it leaned forward to swing its tail, Bulkhead rushed in and ran forward, slamming his wrecking ball into its head. He shattered the green jewel on its forehead and caved its skull in. The Inspired reared back, dazed from the blow.
Ironhide leapt up onto its head and buried his axe into the beast’s skull, destroying whatever it had as a brain. The creature swayed side to side for a moment before falling to the ground, dead. Bulkhead sagged and whistled.
“That was easy.” He joked. Ironhide frowned, but before he could retort, he saw Raphael materialize behind Bulkhead, his sword raised to impale the Autobot from behind.
Ironhide didn’t bother yelling for Bulkhead to move. He charged forward and barreled into Raphael, sending the two rolling across the ground. Raphael kicked Ironhide off and righted himself, holding his sword aloft. Ironhide took out his axe and raised his cannons.
“Don’t even think about it, pretty boy.” He growled. No one stabbed his comrades in the back while he was around.
Raphael looked at Ironhide, then at Bulkhead, who stood on the other side. He carefully eyed both Autobots, spinning his sword in his hand…before leaping at Ironhide. Ironhide fired a missile from his cannon, but Raphael actually kicked the missile out of his path, letting it explode harmlessly behind him. Bulkhead charged at him like a raging bull and managed to hit him hard in the back with his melee weapon.
Raphael flew forward from the attack and stabbed his sword into the ground to stop his momentum, sending shards of ice and snow flying everywhere. Then with a wave of his hand, he took control of the ice shards and merged them into a dozen floating spikes that he fired at the Autobots. Bulkhead and Ironhide ran through the hailstorm and charged at Raphael.
The three-way battle was chaotic, and the stranger held his own against the two Autobots with disturbing ease. Like a master swordsman, Raphael parried their attacks with wide swings of his sword, weaving through their weapons and deflecting any strikes aimed at his vital points. Bulkhead grabbed his arm and threw him away, though he landed on his feet and lunged at Bulkhead, phasing in and out of view like a mirage.
Ironhide came at him from his right, throwing his axe, which Raphael deflected with his sword.
This left him open to the two missiles flying at him until they hit him in the chest, blasting off huge chunks of his skin. The missiles didn’t drop him, but they did enough damage to stagger him, allowing the Autobots to attack.
Bulkhead smashed his wrecking ball into his face, knocking Raphael back into Ironhide’s fist, which sent him crashing into the ground. Raphael rolled through the snow and stopped on his front. Their blows actually did enough damage to make him feel pain, which was a feat in itself. When he got up, parts of his face were actually chipping off, and red powder leaked from the cracks in his body.
“Invaders, you think you stand a chance?” Raphael grunted. “Michael and Uriel will tear you two into pieces. Just like your little pets.”
“Pets? You mean Annie and Grindor? Where are they?” Bulkhead demanded. Raphael chuckled and sat back on his knees.
“If they are lucky, they’re already dead. Even as we speak, Michael has thrown them into the
jaws of Fenris and cleansed them of the impurities you have tainted them with.” Raphael discreetly summoned three daggers behind Bulkhead’s head and prepared to run them through his skull. “But don’t worry…you will be joining them soon enough!”
“Not in the way you’re thinking.”
Ironhide came up from behind and split Raphael’s head in two with his axe. The alien’s body twitched a bit before going still and slumping. Ironhide spat on his corpse and kicked it aside.
“Cocky son of a glitch.” He said and looked at Bulkhead. “Alright, let’s get a move on. We’ve
wasted enough time fooling around with this yahoo and his-Bulkhead? What are you looking at?”
Bulkhead pointed behind him, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide. Ironhide turned around and his eyes went wide too at what he saw. They were close to the edge of a cliff that they barely saw because of the heavy snow, which had now died down into a light snowfall. Across the deep canyon was a massive temple made of stone and crystal sitting under a massive tree that looked as if it was made of pure ice that glowed in the sunlight.
This was Yggdrasil, the fabled world tree that stood over the sacred temple of the Asguardian tribes. And the place where Annie and Grindor were being held.
XXXXXX
Annie woke up to a piercing ache in the back of her head and a cold jacket. She groaned and noticed that Grindor was leaning over her.
“Annie, are you okay?” He asked worriedly.
“I will be if you’ll stop shaking me for one damn minute.” She grunted.
Grindor pulled back with a quick apology and helped her sit up. She rubbed the back of her head and looked at it to see that there was some dried blood on her fingers.
‘I’m really sick of people knocking me out.’ She thought with a grimace and looked at her partner. “Where are we?”
“Those freaks called this place the inner sanctum. That Uriel guy dumped us in here after you mouthed off to his boss.” Grindor said. “They said this was the home of someone called Fenris, our “executioner” they called him.”
Annie looked around at their surroundings. They were inside a long tunnel where the walls were lined with thick layers of ice (or was it crystal?) which had a low current of energy running through them. Annie could literally feel some kind of energy coursing through the walls of the tunnel, making her hair stand up. She was about to ask how they got so far in when she heard a howl echo throughout the tunnel.
“What was that?” She breathed.
“The thing I spent fifteen minutes running from.” Grindor whimpered.
They turned back behind them to see a large, hulking form stalking toward them. Annie gasped; it was a giant metal wolf, with the upper torso of a humanoid and muscular arms and a canine lower body. It stood taller than a man and had old, worn steel armor plating with Nordic symbols etched into its metal hide. It was missing bits and pieces of its armor, exposing the inner circuitry underneath. Its eyes were glowing an electric blue, zeroing in on the pair, and its mouth opened wide in a snarl that revealed with jagged teeth.
“Oh god, that’s Fenris?” Annie gulped. This wasn’t a mythical beast at all, it was a golem!
“Yup. A giant robot werewolf with an attitude.” Grindor said.
“What should we do?”
“What do you think? RUN!”
Grindor transformed and Annie jumped on him before he raced down the tunnel. Fenris gave pursuit and chased them through the long corridor. Entrapping Annie’s feet in straps, Grindor increased his speed with the small jets at his rear. Annie looked behind them and yelped when she saw Fenris gaining on them.
“Go faster!” Annie screamed.
“If I go any faster, you’ll fall off!” He shouted back.
“If we slow down he’ll tear us apart!” She replied.
Fortunately, they saw their salvation, a large wooden door up ahead. At this point, Fenris was close enough to snap at the hood of Annie’s coat. Just as she felt his jaws snap onto her hood, Annie shoved off her coat to let it fall back. Grindor transformed and shoved her into the doorway before landing an uppercut into the golem’s chin, stunning it before kicking off its head to fly back through the door. Annie slammed the door shut and pulled the locking bar down across it. She jumped back when the door shook from Fenris slamming into it on the other side.
“That door won’t keep him out for long.” Annie said.
Grindor looked around and saw that there was another door on the other side of the chamber. “We can head through there.”
“Yeah, but we can’t run from Fenris forever. What if it’s a dead end?” Annie said and ran a hand through her hair. The stress of the situation was finally getting to her. “At this rate, we’ll be dead before the guys can reach us.”
Grindor looked at her and pried open the door. “No, only one of us will be dead.”
Before Annie could ask what he meant, she was grabbed by Grindor and thrown into the corridor.
He shut the door and locked it shut. “Grindor! What the hell are you doing?”
“Doing my job. You go hide while I keep that thing busy.” Grindor said. She banged on the door in vain to get him to open it up.
“But you’ll die! That thing is too much for you!” She cried out.
“It’s cool, Annie. I’m fully armed and combat ready.” He said through the door. “As long as you’re safe, at least I can die happy.”
“Don’t say that! Grindor!” Annie screamed. “GRINDOR!”
XXXXXX
Bulkhead and Ironhide showed their proper manners when visiting another’s home by knocking on the front door…with a volley of laser blasts. They stormed the entrance of the temple with little regard for damaging ancient relics and carvings thousands of years old. Gina would’ve been appalled.
Ironhide took point, pointing his cannons forward while Bulkhead watched his back. They were in the main hall with the walls made of smooth crystal and ice mixed together and channeling energy into the atmosphere in dense quantities that even they could feel unaided by external equipment.
“Bulkhead, go look for Annie and Grindor. I got things here.” Ironhide said.
“You sure?” Bulkhead asked. When Ironhide gave him a look, he nodded. “Yeah, you’re sure. Stay
safe.”
“You too.”
Bulkhead ran past him and deeper into the temple, transforming to drive through the smaller doorways. Ironhide slowly walked into the hall, his keen eyes scanning for any sign of movement. He knew from his many years of combat that he was being watched, but it was a little hard to focus with all this charged energy permeating the air.
“So you came.”
He looked to his left and saw a tall figure enter the hall, and frowned when he saw it was another one of those stone beings, this one more regal in appearance and just as powerful as Raphael, if not more so. What were these things?
“I should be surprised that Raphael failed me, but somehow I am not. You creatures are very
resilient, born of metal and immune to the passage of time.” Michael said, walking towards Ironhide. “But before there was metal, there was stone, the building blocks of the world from which all the metals in the world spawned from. You’d do well to know your place compared to me, alien.”
Ironhide hated this guy already. “Are you gonna keep talking or am I going to have to make you shut up?”
“Fine, then. Allow me to return you to the hell you crawled up from, intruder!” Holding out his
hand, a long golden spear appeared in Michael’s hand and his body glowed with an ethereal power in preparation for the fight. “Come at me!”
XXXXXX
Bulkhead drove down the long halls at full speed, hoping his friends were alright. If anything happened to Annie he’d never forgive himself, much less be able to face Darren again. When he entered a large chamber that looked like a place of prayer, Bulkhead heard a loud war cry come from above.
“DIE MONSTER!”
Bulkhead transformed and rolled aside to avoid the flaming sword that almost impaled him. But before he could stand up, a fist caught him in the jaw and knocked him back into the wall. Uriel landed next to his sword and picked it up, rolling his shoulders.
“So you are the one called Bulkhead. The maiden spoke highly of you, snapping like a harpy of
your praise.” Uriel said. Bulkhead glared at him.
“Where are they?” He growled.
Uriel motioned to the doors behind him. “Through there, still trying to escape the hound. I suppose you might be able to save one of them, provided you get past me.”
Bulkhead scowled and slammed his fists together. “You don’t have to tell me twice!”
The two warriors charged at each other and threw their own punches, their fists clashing in the middle. The mountain was then filled with the sounds of thunder.
XXXXXX
Annie walked down the tunnel feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. The girl was going deeper into the inner sanctum to try to find some way to get back to Grindor, but a small part of her mind knew it was near impossible. She was trying to keep her tears from clouding her eyes but failed. Grindor was going to die and she was helpless to do anything.
‘Just like with mom.’ Annie thought bitterly. ‘Damn it! Why does this always happen to me?’
She kept on walking, knowing that standing still feeling sorry for herself was only going to make things worse. Eventually she reached the end of the corridor, and entered the cave at the end. The minute she stepped foot into the chamber, Annie forgot her sorrow for a moment as she took in the extraordinary sight before her.
The cave was laced with crystal from top to bottom with Nordic carvings etched into the walls.
To her surprise, bolts of lightning lance across the walls and randomly hit the ground, leaving behind scorch marks. A giant altar stood in the center of the room with a spiral staircase twisting around it, and at the top was something Annie thought she’d never thought she’d see.
It was a hammer; an extremely short hammer, beautifully crafted and made of solid gold with a short hand and a yellow jewel in the center of the base. Electricity shot off the hammer and was being drawn into it as well. It was also floating in the air as if held in place by an invisible force. This was the real thing, a weapon from ancient mythology.
“Mjolnir.” Annie breathed. The weapon of Thor, the man known as the god of thunder.
Annie heard stories of how it made Thor, son of the Aesir king Odin, powerful enough to be a god. If it truly was as powerful as it was hyped up to be, then it should be strong enough to at least take out Fenris. Hell, it might even take out those giants too! That is, if she could even lift it. If Mjolnir deemed you unworthy, you wouldn’t be able to lift it. If that turned out to be the case, then she was **** out of luck.
Annie climbed the stairs, trying to avoid being shocked the bolts flying over her head as she
reached the top. The hammer was small enough to be held in one hand, and was encased in what she could only describe as a magnetic field. It gave off a soft hum as it floated before her and Annie hoped her hair wasn’t standing up like an afro. She reached out with a hand and flinched as she felt tiny pinpricks of electricity hitting her hands. Taking a deep breath, Annie gripped Mjolnir with both hands.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Pain was what she felt. The minute she touched Mjolnir, electricity surged into her arms and throughout her body. Powerful bolts shot from the hammer and tore at the walls and altar below her. Her clothes had holes burned into them, and her hands started to go numb from the pain, but she still held on. If she gave up now, then Grindor was dead and there was no way she could live with herself knowing that she gave up the only chance to save him.
Annie shut her eyes and started to pull with gritted teeth. She was not going to be the weak link, not now, not ever! She was going to be the one to save the day, the hero. Nothing was going to stop her; not Darren, not those “angels” and certainly not some stubby hammer that’s been plugged in for too long. When the pain finally became too much to handle, Annie did the only thing she had the strength to do.
Scream.
XXXXXX
Grindor smashed through the statue of Thor and hit the wall. He slumped to the ground, his body
spewing sparks from the damages he sustained. Looking up, he saw Fenris barreling towards him and jumped to the side to avoid the beast.
Fenris had broken through just a few minutes after he pushed Annie through the door. The battle that followed was little more than a beating on Grindor’s end. All he had on hand were two pulse pistols and micro-missiles in his alt mode, and that did little against a supped up golem like Fenris.
Grindor fired his pistols at Fenris and pelted his armored hide with pulse blasts that tore off pieces of its armor. Fenris didn’t take too kindly to that and rushed at Grindor, smacking him away with a swipe of his arm. Grindor hit the ground and skidded to a stop, then had to jump aside to avoid its snapping jaws. Thinking quickly, he leaped onto its back and started pulling at the armor on its back.
“Come on, doggie, show me the goods!” Grindor yelled as he tore at the golem under him. He cursed when Fenris started thrashing around to dislodge him and hung on for dear life, knowing that if he lost his grip, it was game over for him. Fenris slammed into the wall and tried scrapping Grindor off. Grindor ignored the pain of the sharp rocks tearing at his metal skin as he continued to rip off pieces of armor and eventually uncovering what looked like the machine’s power core.
Fenris felt him fooling around with its power source and howled, leaping into the air and spinning around so that the bulk of its weight fell on Grindor as they landed on the ground. Grindor grunted as he was painfully crushed under the golem. Fenris rolled back onto its feet and grabbed Grindor’s leg, slamming him into the ground a few times before throwing him into the wall. Stomping up to him, Fenris grabbed Grindor by the head and started squeezing him, slowing increasing its grip until Grindor’s optic lens began to crack.
‘I’m sorry, Annie. Looks like I won’t make it.’ Grindor thought as his vision began to darken. ‘But at least I know you’ll be safe.’
Just as he resigned himself to death, a powerful lightning bolt hit Fenris in the back, completely blasting off its arm and setting Grindor free. The golem looked at the sparkling stump where its arm used to be and spun around, only for another bolt to hit it in the chest, blasting straight through its torso. It staggered back and fell to the ground with smoke rising from the hole in its chest.
“Grindor!”
Grindor, just barely conscious, looked up and felt life return to his body as he saw Annie running up to him. Oddly enough, her clothes were almost in taters and sported burnt holes in her coat and pants, and she had red burns on her arms up to her elbows. Her hair was slightly fluffed up, and her eyes were a bit bloodshot, but his attention was stolen by the small hammer in her hand. It looked like it was made of solid gold, but Annie carried it as if it weighed nothing. And was it sparkling with electricity?
“Are you alright?” Annie asked as she placed Grindor’s head in her lap.
“A-Annie? Is that y-you?” He groaned. His head hurt as did the rest of his body from the thorough thrashing Fenris gave him.
“Yeah, it’s me. I came back.” Annie smiled. Grindor looked at the remains of Fenris.
“You d-did a number on it. H-How…”
“Long story, but right now, I might have something that can help us get the hell out of here.” Annie said. “You did your part for me, so let me help you just this once.”
XXXXXX
Bulkhead and Uriel grappled with each other in a manner fitting of the most brutal of Elladan sculptures. Uriel’s sword lay in pieces thanks to Bulkhead, and they both exhibited visible damages from their heavy handed brawl. Bulkhead was doing his best, but Uriel could take some serious damage and deal it back in full.
“It’s a shame I have to kill you.” Uriel said. “You are a strong warrior.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere!” Bulkhead grunted. He put some strength into his legs and lifted Uriel over his head and tried to slam him into the ground. But amazingly, Uriel landed on his feet, still gripping Bulkhead’s arms, and heaved, throwing him instead. “Scrap!”
Bulkhead’s large form flew across the hall into a statue of Odin, smashing it to pieces and sending Bulkhead crashing into the wall upside down. Uriel walked towards the downed Autobot and cracked his fists.
“You fought well, alien, but in the end you were no match for a holy agent of Her Grace.” He said as he pressed a foot on Bulkhead’s chest. “Send my regards to your mortal friend in the afterlife.”
“Why not say it to my face?”
A lightning bolt hit the back of Uriel’s head and blew off a chunk of his head. He staggered back, giving Bulkhead room to jump up and fire his blaster into his face repeatedly. In seconds Uriel’s head was blown to dust and his body fell back to the ground.
“Get slagged.” Bulkhead spat. He looked at Annie and saw the hammer in her hand. “Annie?”
“Bulkhead!” Annie ran up to him and hugged his foot. Bulkhead smiled and patted her back with a large finger.
“Annie, I’m glad you’re all right. Where’s Grindor? And what’s with the hammer?”
“Grindor’s resting back in the last room. He’s okay, but he’s really hurt. As for this thing,” She held up Mjolnir. “It’s a kickass hammer that is super OP.”
“Okay then.” Bulkhead blinked. “Ironhide’s fighting the head honcho in the main hall and he’s not doing very well. These guys are hard to beat.”
“Then we better help our home boy before he gets fragged.” Annie grinned and lifted the electrified hammer. “Shall we?”
XXXXXX
For a giant living statue, Michael moved liked water in battle. He was quicker, stronger and just as durable as Ironhide as they battled furiously. Ironhide quickly found himself on the defensive as Michael assaulted him relentlessly with his spear, which cut through the air so fast it left streams of light in its wake.
Michael was smart enough to keep the battle close combat to avoid Ironhide’s cannons, and Ironhide was forced to used his war axes as shields to keep Michael from impaling him. The spear’s point was extremely sharp and cut through his armor like butter. Ironhide landed a few of his own blows, but Michael just seemed to get stronger by the second. The entire chamber, the crystals embedded in the walls, they were emitting an ambient energy that Michael was absorbing into himself. It gave him a home field advantage that only made Ironhide wish he didn’t wake up early in the morning.
“I did not think you’d be resilient enough to withstand my assault like this. I’m impressed.” Michael praised. “Not even Uriel can shake off my punches.”
“Unlike your friend, I’m not a pansy.” Ironhide growled. “Now shut up and fight!”
They both threw punches at each other and their fists met with a deafening bang. Ironhide winced as he felt two fingers break and lashed out with his other hand. They traded punches and kicks that dented armor and chipped off stone skin. Michael quickly grabbed one of Ironhide’s cannons and tore it off, smashing it into his head to bring him to his knees. Ironhide punched Michael in the chest, but Michael backhanded him and gripped his arm and pulled, tearing the limb right off.
Michael didn’t even allow Ironhide to register the pain before he lifted the Autobot over his head and threw him into the ground. Ironhide groaned and tried to fire his other cannon, but
Michael stomped his foot on his elbow and broke it at the joint.
“Why do you still persist, even after I’ve beaten you into the ground?” Michael inquired. He leaned down until his face was over Ironhide’s. “It will be less painful if you just accept your fate and concede. Do that, and I will grant you a quick and painless death.”
Ironhide spat energon into his face. “I’ve never given up or surrendered in nearly 40,000 mega-cycles, and I don’t plan to any time soon. So get fragged you freak!”
Michael grunted and raised his fist to punch Ironhide’s face in…and was hit in the head by a wrecking ball. Bulkhead jumped in and smashed his weapon into Michael’s face and sent him into the ground.
“It’s over, Michael. Uriel is dead and so is your pet doggy.” Bulkhead said. “You’re all alone, so give up.”
“Michael bows down to no one!” Michael raged and leapt at Bulkhead, crashing into him.
As they fought, Annie stood off to the side, holding Mjolnir to the wall. The hammer was drawing energy stored within the crystals to power it up for what she deemed a “super move”. If it ended badly, if she got it wrong, there was a very real chance she could end up blasting a hole straight through Bulkhead’s metal skull.
“Come on, come on.” She muttered. She looked up and winced as Bulkhead took a hard punched to his jaw and stumbled back. Michael wasn’t pulling his punches anymore. He was out for blood.
Seeing that Mjolnir was glowing like a miniature sun, Annie pulled it away and began spinning it in her hands. Like a battery, the hammer was charging up as it gained more speed. It started to hum as it spun faster and faster. When she felt it gained enough charge, she called out to Bulkhead.
“Bulk, move!”
The green Autobot rolled to the side and Annie immediately let Mjolnir loose on Michael. The hammer shot through the air like a bolt of lightning, moving as fast as a bullet as it slammed into Michael’s head, right through his rocky skull and emerged through the other side. It didn’t even stop as it crashed through the wall and landed outside in the snow. Michael stood still for
a minute before he fell to his knees, half of his face blasted off by Mjolnir.
Bulkhead helped Ironhide to his feet as Michael lay dying on his knees. Even then, he still clung to life long enough to give his dying words.
“You think that you’ve won, but you’ve only brought misery unto yourselves. As I die, others will feel my life fade and they will seek retribution. You will never have peace, for all the world will be your enemy.” Michael said as his body started turning grey. “All you have done is brought the storm upon yourselves, and the tempest will wipe away all traces of your corrupting influence. May the creator, Jubileus, bless you…”
Michael’s body sagged as the life left his form and the light faded from his remaining eye. The
last angel was dead, but his words lived on in the minds of those who witnessed his death.
“What kind of warning was that?” Annie asked.
“That was no warning,” Ironhide rasped, his entire body wracked with pain. “
XXXXXX
When the team returned to the Ark, they went their separate ways. Ironhide and Grindor took some time in the medibay with Ratchet and Longarm to get their wounds healed while Bulkhead briefed Optimus and Prowl on what happened. Annie brought Mjolnir to Wheeljack to have him inspect what it exactly was…at Prime’s request.
“Incredible…simply amazing.” Wheeljack said as he looked at the scans. “Annie do you realize what you’ve found?”
“I don’t know. It’s a kickass hammer that shoots lightning.” Annie shrugged. “I was too busy screaming in pain to wonder how it was real.”
“Annie, this hammer isn’t magical. It’s alien technology.” Wheeljack said.
Annie blinked. “Say what?”
“Can you figure out what race made it?” Liftor asked.
“No, this design is totally alien to me, and that’s saying something.” Wheeljack rubbed his chin as he looked at the hammer in his scanning chamber. Annie had to lift it inside as Wheeljack couldn’t lift the hammer without risking it punching through his hand from its sheer weight alone. He pointed to the scans on his monitor. “Look here; the hammer is lined with crystals shards no bigger than grains of sand that have been bonded to the metal on a molecular level. The crystal on the handle stores and generates energy. All in all, Mjolnir absorbs ambient electromagnetic energy all the time, giving it its extreme power over electricity.”
“Okay, but how can I lift the thing while you and Bulkhead can barely get it to move?” Annie asked. It was really embarrassing for Bulkhead as he struggled picking up Mjolnir before they left the temple. Ironhide got a good laugh out of that.”
“I don’t know.” Was Wheeljack’s answer. “I can only theorize that Mjolnir might be encoded to only accept people with a certain gene that can hold it. Anyone else tries to even tough it and the hammer uses electromagnetism to weigh itself to the ground. For all intents and purposes, only Annie can use it.”
Annie smirked. “Sweet.”
“I wouldn’t describe it as “sweet”, Annie.” Optimus said. The Prime walked into the room and looked at the hammer. “This weapon is extremely powerful, and dangerous. Perhaps it would be best if you left it Wheeljack for further study.”
“What? But-“
“Annie,” Optimus’ tone didn’t change, but he had a look in his eye that brokered no argument. “You’ve had a rough day and you need your rest. Let Wheeljack do his work.”
Annie scowled. She knew what he was doing; distancing the hyperactive girl from the dangerous superpowered hammer. It pissed her off, but she conceded, for now at least.
She allowed Optimus to place her back on the floor so she could leave the room and left without another word. No sense in arguing with them about it now. She wasn’t going to let Mjolnir go. It was hers, and hers alone.
As she walked down the hallway, Annie looked at her hands. She remembered the overwhelming pain she felt when she touched Mjolnir. She thought she made a mistake. She thought she was going to die. She felt true feat that moment and wondered if she was going to fail everyone once again.
But it went differently. Mjolnir washed away the pain and reinvigorated Annie. It broke her down and remade her into someone stronger, mightier. The hammer made her into someone who knew how to use its power for good.
It chose Thor once, too, and if it chose her, then it meant that something, some small trait
about Annie was similar enough to the man himself that it deemed her worthy. That she was strong enough to harness the power to fight a god, kill a god. To become a god.
The Autobots wanted to take away the one thing that made her strong and she wasn’t going to let that happen. Mjolnir was hers, and she was the only one allowed to use it. There was no way she was letting it go, even if she had to fight them for it.
She felt strong for the first time since her mother died, and no one was going to make her feel weak ever again.
