1 - Return

Like most of the things on Cybertron, the forests were made of thick titanium metals. As such forces of weather on Cybertron were a rare event, nothing stirred the metallic compounds of the junk that lay about on the mystic planet. The metal was towered up like trees on the planet Earth, but many times larger than that of any tree. Silent as a windless night, a black cloak wound around a figure of titanium (like the rest of the planet) that ran like the non-existent winds though the junkyard. It made hardly a sound; a shadow of the night.
His golden optics swept the area, taking in the destruction. Seeing the glow ahead, the figure increased his speed. Unusual was it for a transformer to run instead of using it’s alternate mode, he didn’t have time.
His quarry was close…

***

Flames spewed from the towers as they burned. Great blue, petrol-powered flames that cast the area in an unholy blue glow. Screaming and the sound of heavy footsteps sounded though the blistering heat of the metal underfoot. The buildings were going to fall soon…
The attackers were mechanoids of a different sort. New and improved, as the saying went. Sleek and powerful and identical to the core: It seemed all they wanted from this place was the ‘fun’ of chaos, but that was not the case. They were searching for something …
A femme screamed as she was grabbed by the throat and slammed against the wall by one of them. A fist smashed into the side of her face as her captor spat, “Quit screaming you wrench! You’re coming with me!”
The femme was too terrified to see that her assailant had diverted his attention. But he was no longer there when she looked next.
She blinked. It happened so fast that she didn’t have time to register what had happened. But a black figure now stood not far from where her attacker had once been.
“Get out of here.”
That was all it said before he was gone as quickly as it had come.
After getting over the shock, the white femme ran.

***

“Oh my this is what fun is all about!”
Gloating over their success, about 15 strongly built transformers had circled around a group of the cities inhabitancies. These were the normal ones … but the others were not of them…
Suddenly, a clattering of metal on metal alerted the captor’s attention. Twisted, beaten and broken was one of them …
“W-what is this? What happened to him?!” One of them cried.
How could an ordinary transformer do this?!
Another sound alerted their attention. Footsteps; echoing in the sudden silence of the night.
A figure clad in a black cloak walked slowly towards the captors and the frightened city-folk. Tall as it was, it seemed to be strongly built by transformer standards. But it wasn’t one of them. Hanging by its cords; sparking energon up the figure’s hand, was one of their heads …
“You’ll pay for this!” One of them snarled.
He continued to amble towards them.
They looked at each other, slightly unnerved, but even more so when he stopped.
He tossed the head of the one he had destroyed towards its owner’s body. Landing with a dull clank, it rested by its body; red energon seeping out in gullets.
They recoiled slightly. The city folk remained paralysed.
The shadow addressed them: “Run.”
He raised a cloaked arm, “Let them go, or I will do what I did to your friend … to you.”
His voice was deep, but had an edge of a seasoned warrior.
“Wise guy eh?” One of them said, “Would you like to test that?”
His golden optics flickered. “I pity you.”
Quicker than they could prosess, he whipped out a round barrel gun with a very peculiar contraption attached and shot down the nearest mechanoid.
Scared, the rest were shocked at the speed of this new assassin. Just who was he?!

One of them charged, his sleek form allowing him to move like the wind. But the shadow figure merely dodged it as easily as if he was facing a drone. The bot next found himself staring at the barrel of a gun.
A BOOM echoed though the stunned silence.

Enough games.

The shadow flipped up into the air and shot down every one of the transformers. Such grace could only be acquired from many millions of years of battle. Once the last of the silver transformers had fallen by the assassin’s hand, he stood up from his crouch and turned his attention to the city folk. They had not moved or made a sound as he destroyed their captors, but now, the leader (it seemed) moved forward.
“Thankyou very much stranger. We are in your dept.” He bowed to the shadow.
“You owe me nothing.” Was the response.
One of the little ones ran up to the leader and asked the assassin; “Who are you, sir?”
He stood still for a moment in adhesive silence. The child shied away from him behind the leader.
Slowly, he reached up and lifted the hood of his cloak off of his head. His head was blue with a yellow piece embedded in the middle of his forehead. Ear-like pieces sat on the side of his head that framed his face. Golden optics shone though the night at the city folk. His nose was mostly covered by a silver faceplate, as was his mouth.
“I am Optimus.”

***

The smoke ceded as the bright sun of Cybertron made its appearance known. It lit up the road that a familiar truck roared by on. He was already many miles from the wreck that was once the great city of Polyhex.
‘They will know by now … when they find them. I am back.’

***

Picking up the shredded piece of blue alloy, another figure smiled. Not the smile of welcoming; a smile of sinister intentions.
“Welcome back, Optimus Prime.”