Disclaimer: See previous stories for my full disclaimer.
Author's note: After this, I promise that my Transformers stories will be original, not scripted versions of somebody else's stories. Plus, I may do one, maybe two more screenplays before I start writing them in regular story format. But don't worry, these screenplays and my future Transformers stories will all be related to each other, unless I state otherwise. I will continue to continue the story of the original Transformers cartoon, just not in screenplay format.
ETERNITY'S DAUGHTER-PART 2
(We start out with Arcee facing one of the bug-like creatures alone. It screeches and sends its sword towards her head. The sword is mere centimeters from her when it stops. We pan out and see that it was actually a hologram. The fight was apparently all in her head. Chromia is filling in the other Autobots at the meeting table on what the creatures are.)
CHROMIA: They call themselves the Waruders. And if this one looks dangerous, that's only the half of it. They average a height of nine feet on their own, the smallest and weakest of which could give Devastator a run for his money. They attack in mass by the billions and . . .
ARCEE: (Interrupting) Swarm over everything, destroying it like it was never there.
(Arcee never takes her eyes off the hologram. Chromia looks at her, puzzled.)
CHROMIA: (Slowly) Yes. (She then turns to Optimus Prime) They aren't from this reality, Prime. They conquered their home dimension, then spread to another and another. Elita once told us that the Waruders were possibly what the Decepticons might have become, if Megatron had won the war.
OPTIMUS PRIME: And now they're here.
POWERGLIDE: But what do they want?
OPTIMUS: Conquest.
(Arcee still hasn't taken her eyes off the hologram.)
ARCEE: No. The Waruders aren't conquerors. They're destroyers. They ravage a Universe until there's nothing left and then move on. Like a swarm of locusts on Earth.
(Arcee reaches over and deactivates the hologram. She looks up and sees that everyone is staring at her. She bows her head.)
ARCEE: (Quietly) I've had . . . dreams about them. Nightmares about them devouring a planet and someone calling for help. I thought . . . I hoped . . . it was just some strange malfunction.
(Firestar and Moonracer looked at each other worriedly. Chromia pauses a moment before continuing.)
CHROMIA: Elita-1 learned they were coming here from Vector Sigma and where they would establish a beachhead. She struck a deal with him, that we would go and stop them if we could.
OPTIMUS: What sort of deal?
CHROMIA: She wouldn't say, but we all knew the Waruders couldn't be allowed to establish a foothold in our Universe. We stole a shuttle from the Decepticon Impound Yard and came out here to try and stop them any way we could.
OPTIMUS: But what happened? Why the time field? Where is Elita-1?
PERCEPTOR: Not to interrupt, but there is another matter to consider. Long-range scans of Dia indicate that their sun is in the process of going nova. Why, had the time filed not been in place, it would have long since-
(Before Perceptor can finish his sentence, the shuttle begins to rock.)
(Commercial)
(The shuttle is being rocked. It soon stops. Somehow nobody manages to fall over. Arcee looks around.)
ARCEE: What was that?
PERCEPTOR: I'm not precisely . . .
(He stops when he sees Arcee looking out the viewport. We see a large red flames. Perceptor goes to a nearby computer and starts working.)
ARCEE: Is that . . .?
PERCEPTOR: (Interrupting) Dia. It appears we've experienced a momentary glitch in the time-stasis field. Time began running normally for approximately 3.5 astro-seconds. We are now in orbit of the planet Dia Trion, our intended destination.
SUNSTREAKER: Why does it look like that?
PERCEPTOR: During the chronal burp, the star appears to have seriously accelerated its rate of decay. It has begun its final nova burst.
OPTIMUS: If the field were to fail again while we're in orbit?
PERCEPTOR: If it were to fail for any longer than .0501 astro-seconds, the explosion would overtake us. We would be incinerated instantly, along with the planet and this solar system. I strongly suggest we retreat to an extra-system position and make any further plans from there.
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly) No. Not when we're so close.
PERCEPTOR: I understand your reluctance, but the danger is . . .
OPTIMUS: (Angrily interrupting) NO, PERCEPTOR! I'm not leaving until we've found her! I WON'T leave her behind again!
(Momentary pause.)
CHROMIA: Prime? There may be another option. Our shuttle is still in the Solace's hangar. If it were fitted with one of Perceptor's anti-time devices, you could take that to the planet with one or two hands, while the rest move the main ship back to a safer distance.
(Optimus ponders this before nodding.)
OPTIMUS: Perceptor, you have command. Prepare to take the shuttle back to a safe position and wait for me there.
CHROMIA: I'm coming too. Ironhide would have my carburetor if I let you do this alone.
ARCEE: And me.
(Prime steps forward, about to object, but Arcee holds up her hand, stopping him.)
ARCEE: (Gently) Please. I need answers. And it seems that Dia is the only place to get them.
(Prime sighs.)
OPTIMUS: Very well.
A/A
(The shuttle lands on the planet. The door opens and the three of them step out. They look around. The planet is a barren wasteland, with destroy cities, trees, etc.)
ARCEE: What happened here?
CHROMIA: From what we could tell, the Waruders wiped out three-quarters of the native population in the first two hours of their assault. By the time we got here, there was nothing left to save.
(They walk along the surface, looking at the destruction as well as frozen Waruder monsters. Chromia is leading the way, followed by Optimus and then Arcee. Arcee hears something amongst the rubble. She about to walk off and ignore it, but then she remembers that time is supposed to be frozen!)
ARCEE: PRIME!
(Just as she screams, a Waruder, twice as big as Optimus Prime, bursts out from the wreckage screeching. Arcee fires her gun, but the shots bounce off its body. Chromia and Prime now have their weapons.)
CHROMIA: Aim for the head!
(All three of them fire. The Waruder either deflects the shots with its sword or lets them bounce off of it. It screeches and begins to charge. We then see Chromia fire two more shots. One of them misses, but the other hits it right between the eyes, causing the head to explode and the creature to fall dead.)
CHROMIA: Usually, they aren't that easy. He must have been new.
ARCEE: (Fearfully) But . . . how was he moving?
(Chromia bends over to examine the body. She pulls something off of its chest then turns back to the others.)
CHROMIA: This look familiar to anyone?
(Both Prime and Arcee look at it knowingly.)
CHROMIA: They must have stolen this in one of their conquered dimensions. (She crushes it) As far as we could determine, the Waruders are not intelligent, nor technologically advanced. I think it's safe to say they're instinctual.
(Optimus is looking around.)
OPTIMUS: Come on, Autobots. Let's move out.
(They start walking. It's not long before Prime pulls them to a stop. We see down a long clearing three more Waruders. They seem to be about the size of Prime.)
ARCEE: (Whispering) Do we go around?
(All three of them turn and see the three Autobots. They screech and start charging.)
OPTIMUS: Too late! They've seen us!
(All three of them aim their guns. The creatures get closer.)
CHROMIA: Not yet.
(The Waruders are about halfway there, they're swords held high.)
CHROMIA: Not yet.
OPTIMUS: If they begin to push us back, I'll hold the position while you two retreat to the shuttle. That's an order.
(The Waruders are almost there.)
CHROMIA: NOW!
(All three of them fire away. The shots don't harm them, but they do either stop them or push them back. The one in the middle screeches and charges. Optimus throws down his gun and charges back. They collide and wrestle each other to the ground, both struggling to gain the upper hand. The other two screech and get ready to attack again. Chromia smiles.)
CHROMIA: Hey, Arcee, you had enough of these fellas, or do you want a second date?
(Arcee just stares at her, trying to also look at the Waruders at the same time.)
CHROMIA: Let's take em down. Hard. Follow my lead.
(Chromia charges forward, Arcee on her heels. They transform to their vehicle modes and go right between them, their swords slamming into the ground. While they try to recover, Chromia and Arcee transform back to robot mode and fire, hitting them in the backs of their heads. Both of them screech as their heads explode and fall dead. Chromia and Arcee look over their handiwork, Chromia smiling.)
CHROMIA: Now THAT'S how you deal with bugs.
(Arcee can't help but smile back. Optimus then rejoins them. He's missing the smokestack from his left arm, but otherwise seems undamaged.)
CHROMIA: (Innocently) Next time, maybe you should wait for us back at the shuttle.
(Prime shakes his head. It is plain to see that he would smile if he had a mouth.)
OPTIMUS: Let's go. We can roll from here.
(Prime transforms to truck mode, his trailer appearing from subspace, as usual, and drives off. Chromia and Arcee do the same. After a while, we see them stop at a bowl in the ground and change back to robot mode. We see a tall citadel at the bottom and in the center of the bowl. There are several frozen Waruders surrounding it, looking like they were attacking. The three Autobots slowly begin to make their way down.)
CHROMIA: This is where we made our final stand. This is where we knew they'd won. Elita ordered us to take the shuttle and get help. She said she had found another ship and would follow once she detonated the planet core. I think I knew she was lying even then. She must have expected us to be clear when she activated her ability. If Elita-1 is anywhere, she's inside. (She then looks at the frozen Waruders. She pulls out her gun) I'll stand guard out here . . . just in case. Don't be long.
A/A
(We see Optimus and Arcee walking through the darkened building.)
OPTIMUS: (Calling into the nothingness) ELITA! (His last words of the next sentences are echoes) ELITA, WHERE ARE YOU? ANSWER ME!
(They walk through a doorway, the doors having been torn open. Optimus steps through, followed by Arcee. There is a huge cylindrical structure in the center of the room.)
OPTIMUS: (No more echoes from now on) ELITA, PLEASE ANSWER ME!
VOICE: (The same voice we heard in two of Arcee's dreams, weakly) Optimus?
(Prime and Arcee look up and see, halfway up the structure, Elita-1.)
(Commercial)
(We see Elita-1. Only her upper body is visible. The rest of her is hidden inside many wires and conduits. She looks weak, her body chipped and tarnished.)
ELITA-1: (Weakly, but happily. She speaks weakly in most of her lines from now on) You have come at last! Both of you! I should have never doubted. There is little time.
OPTIMUS: We know. Your time field is failing. We have a shuttle and can get clear before it does and the star goes nova. Can you get to us?
ELITA: (Pleadingly) Optimus, no.
(Prime doesn't notice her pleading.)
OPTIMUS: Then we'll come get you. Arcee, help me.
(He's about to try and climb up.)
ELITA: (As strong as she can) NO! (Prime freezes) I cannot leave the Dia System. Or even this room. I have joined myself to the citadel's systems. And to the planet itself.
OPTIMUS: (Not understanding) But, Elita, we've come to save you!
ELITA: (Gently) And you have. Just seeing you two again, together, is a greater gift than I could have ever wished. But the Waruders must be stopped.
ARCEE: But the nova. It'll wipe them out, won't it?
(Elita shakes her head, no.)
ELITA: The nova is part of their plan. They care nothing about sacrificing a few million troops for the "greater good." When the star explodes, it will allow their main force to enter our reality, countless hundreds of billions strong. That must not happen!
ARCEE: We fought some outside. They had devices that . . .
ELITA: (Interrupting) I am aware. The ones you fought were only able to open portals and pass through because I momentarily shut off the field, in the hopes you would get here in time. My power core is failing, Optimus.
OPTIMUS: (Unbelieving) No.
ELITA: Yes. Even linked and drawing from the planet's core, it was simply not designed to maintain my special ability for this long. When it goes, when I go, the field will die and the Waruders I have trapped here all these years will be free . . . unless you help me to extend its ability even further. Help me alter the circuitry of my time-stop device to take this whole system and everything in it outside of time . . . forever. The Waruders are not intelligent, and with this doorway lost, it will not occur to them to make a new one. I have been planning this for a long time, but I need help to implement the changes. That is why I called out to Arcee with my mind, hoping she would come in time.
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly) Elita, no! I won't let you sacrifice yourself! Let them come! We'll fight them, together!
ELITA: Optimus, don't be foolish! This is they way it has to be!
(We now focus on Arcee's face. She scowls angrily as Elita speaks her next words.)
ELITA: (Voiceover) I will show you how to make the necessary connections and . . .
ARCEE: (Angrily, interrupting) HOW DARE YOU? How can you say that to him, after all he's been through searching for you for over twenty years! We almost DIED getting here to rescue you! Don't you care about anyone?
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly, in shock) Arcee, please!
ARCEE: (Angrily) NO, Prime! She deserves this! She's dismissing you, just like she did the other female Autobots! Just like she did ME! She wants to save the Universe without anyone else getting in the way! All so SHE can be the big martyr! And she doesn't care about those she's leaving behind who DEPEND on her!
(Long pause.)
ARCEE: (Bitterly) I'm going to wait with Chromia.
(She turns and starts to walk away, Prime watching her. Elita weakly reaches out to her with her arm.)
ELITA: Arcee, . . . I am sorry.
(Arcee continues to walking, never looking back.)
ARCEE: (Angrily) GO AWAY!
ELITA: I . . .
ARCEE: (Angrily) LEAVE ME ALONE!
(Finally, Elita closes her eyes and slumps back, defeated.)
ELITA: I am sorry . . . my daughter.
(Arcee stops dead in her tracks. She and Prime quickly turn to look at Elita. They are obviously shocked!)
OPTIMUS and ARCEE: (Simultaneously) DAUGHTER?
(Elita opens her eyes and smiles.)
ELITA: Yes. "Daughter." THAT was the deal I made with Vector Sigma.
(We begin a flashback sequence. Elita is sitting at a computer terminal, reading information and looking at pictures of things about Earth, including people, animals, trees, etc.)
ELITA: (Voiceover, as if she were speaking normally) In the months following my first reunion with Prime on Cybertron, I began to read the material he had left with us about the planet Earth and the humans that lived there. I read about their families, and how, when a male and female love one another, they have children to express that love.
(We see flashback Elita smile as she looks at a picture of a man and a woman with children.)
ELITA: (Voice) I began to wish that Prime and I would have such a child one day. The idea, the need, began to . . . sing inside of me.
(We now see flashback Elita standing in a background, similar to the background Prime stood in when he merged with Vector Sigma in "The Rebirth.")
ELITA: (Voice) When Vector Sigma gave me the visions of the Waruder invasion, I told him I would not go. That I would not sacrifice myself and my warriors for some distant world when there was so much that still needed to be done on Cybertron. I told him I would not go . . . unless . . .
(We see flashback Elita shake her head with her arms crossed. We then see her smile and touch her chin, a thought on her mind. We then switch to see her enter the ruins of a building and start looking around. She eventually finds a roll of paper, unrolls it, and smiles.)
ELITA: (Voice) . . . unless first he gave me a child of my own. It is unwise to demand things from such a being, but I HAD to. And so I was lead to the ruins of Alpha Trion's lab, to the blueprints he used to reconstruct a young dock-worker named Orion Pax and his . . . somewhat flighty girlfriend Ariel.
(We now see flashback Elita with a blowtorch, working on a body.)
ELITA: (Voice) Guided by Vector Sigma, and the Spirit of Alpha Trion within, I combined the two designs into one.
(We pan up to see, lying on a table, the finished, but inert, body of Arcee. We end flashback with a closeup of Arcee's face. We pan out to see her standing next to Optimus Prime, both of them surprised and fascinated by this discovery.)
ELITA: (Voice, weak again, this time from now on) I constructed our child, Prime.
(We focus on Elita.)
ELITA: That is why I have chosen this path. I never meant to hurt either of you. I lover you both more than words!
(We switch to Prime and Arcee. Arcee closes her eyes and hugs Prime. Optimus closes his eyes and does the same. They look like they want to cry even though they obviously can't. We pan out as they hold on, not letting go.)
A/A
(Everyone is now back on the shuttle . . . well, almost everyone. Optimus, Arcee, and Perceptor are talking through the shuttle's comm. system.)
ARCEE: Are you sure, Chromia?
CHROMIA: (Onscreen, smiling) Positive. I'm not going to let Elita spend eternity all by herself. Besides, who knows, maybe somewhere out there, ol' Ironhide is waiting for me. I can't keep him waiting forever.
ARCEE: I'll miss you.
CHROMIA: (Onscreen) As I will you. Take care of the other girls for me, OK?
OPTIMUS: Elita . . . I will . . .
ARCEE: (Interrupting) We.
OPTIMUS: WE will find you again. I promise.
ELITA: (Onscreen) I know you will. And I love you both. Always.
(The screen goes blank and switches to an outside view of the Dia System. It seems to glow blue, the glow getting brighter and brighter. We switch to see Prime, squeezing Arcee's left hand tightly, Arcee doing the same. They both look sad as they watch. Perceptor watches over their shoulder.)
PERCEPTOR: (Whispering as he watches the screen) Fascinating.
(We now switch to outside, where the Dia System glows a dark blue, and slowly fades out. Then, we see an image of Elita-1 flash across the screen, the same way they showed an image of Optimus Prime at the end of "Dark Awakening.")
The End
Author's note: After this, I promise that my Transformers stories will be original, not scripted versions of somebody else's stories. Plus, I may do one, maybe two more screenplays before I start writing them in regular story format. But don't worry, these screenplays and my future Transformers stories will all be related to each other, unless I state otherwise. I will continue to continue the story of the original Transformers cartoon, just not in screenplay format.
ETERNITY'S DAUGHTER-PART 2
(We start out with Arcee facing one of the bug-like creatures alone. It screeches and sends its sword towards her head. The sword is mere centimeters from her when it stops. We pan out and see that it was actually a hologram. The fight was apparently all in her head. Chromia is filling in the other Autobots at the meeting table on what the creatures are.)
CHROMIA: They call themselves the Waruders. And if this one looks dangerous, that's only the half of it. They average a height of nine feet on their own, the smallest and weakest of which could give Devastator a run for his money. They attack in mass by the billions and . . .
ARCEE: (Interrupting) Swarm over everything, destroying it like it was never there.
(Arcee never takes her eyes off the hologram. Chromia looks at her, puzzled.)
CHROMIA: (Slowly) Yes. (She then turns to Optimus Prime) They aren't from this reality, Prime. They conquered their home dimension, then spread to another and another. Elita once told us that the Waruders were possibly what the Decepticons might have become, if Megatron had won the war.
OPTIMUS PRIME: And now they're here.
POWERGLIDE: But what do they want?
OPTIMUS: Conquest.
(Arcee still hasn't taken her eyes off the hologram.)
ARCEE: No. The Waruders aren't conquerors. They're destroyers. They ravage a Universe until there's nothing left and then move on. Like a swarm of locusts on Earth.
(Arcee reaches over and deactivates the hologram. She looks up and sees that everyone is staring at her. She bows her head.)
ARCEE: (Quietly) I've had . . . dreams about them. Nightmares about them devouring a planet and someone calling for help. I thought . . . I hoped . . . it was just some strange malfunction.
(Firestar and Moonracer looked at each other worriedly. Chromia pauses a moment before continuing.)
CHROMIA: Elita-1 learned they were coming here from Vector Sigma and where they would establish a beachhead. She struck a deal with him, that we would go and stop them if we could.
OPTIMUS: What sort of deal?
CHROMIA: She wouldn't say, but we all knew the Waruders couldn't be allowed to establish a foothold in our Universe. We stole a shuttle from the Decepticon Impound Yard and came out here to try and stop them any way we could.
OPTIMUS: But what happened? Why the time field? Where is Elita-1?
PERCEPTOR: Not to interrupt, but there is another matter to consider. Long-range scans of Dia indicate that their sun is in the process of going nova. Why, had the time filed not been in place, it would have long since-
(Before Perceptor can finish his sentence, the shuttle begins to rock.)
(Commercial)
(The shuttle is being rocked. It soon stops. Somehow nobody manages to fall over. Arcee looks around.)
ARCEE: What was that?
PERCEPTOR: I'm not precisely . . .
(He stops when he sees Arcee looking out the viewport. We see a large red flames. Perceptor goes to a nearby computer and starts working.)
ARCEE: Is that . . .?
PERCEPTOR: (Interrupting) Dia. It appears we've experienced a momentary glitch in the time-stasis field. Time began running normally for approximately 3.5 astro-seconds. We are now in orbit of the planet Dia Trion, our intended destination.
SUNSTREAKER: Why does it look like that?
PERCEPTOR: During the chronal burp, the star appears to have seriously accelerated its rate of decay. It has begun its final nova burst.
OPTIMUS: If the field were to fail again while we're in orbit?
PERCEPTOR: If it were to fail for any longer than .0501 astro-seconds, the explosion would overtake us. We would be incinerated instantly, along with the planet and this solar system. I strongly suggest we retreat to an extra-system position and make any further plans from there.
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly) No. Not when we're so close.
PERCEPTOR: I understand your reluctance, but the danger is . . .
OPTIMUS: (Angrily interrupting) NO, PERCEPTOR! I'm not leaving until we've found her! I WON'T leave her behind again!
(Momentary pause.)
CHROMIA: Prime? There may be another option. Our shuttle is still in the Solace's hangar. If it were fitted with one of Perceptor's anti-time devices, you could take that to the planet with one or two hands, while the rest move the main ship back to a safer distance.
(Optimus ponders this before nodding.)
OPTIMUS: Perceptor, you have command. Prepare to take the shuttle back to a safe position and wait for me there.
CHROMIA: I'm coming too. Ironhide would have my carburetor if I let you do this alone.
ARCEE: And me.
(Prime steps forward, about to object, but Arcee holds up her hand, stopping him.)
ARCEE: (Gently) Please. I need answers. And it seems that Dia is the only place to get them.
(Prime sighs.)
OPTIMUS: Very well.
A/A
(The shuttle lands on the planet. The door opens and the three of them step out. They look around. The planet is a barren wasteland, with destroy cities, trees, etc.)
ARCEE: What happened here?
CHROMIA: From what we could tell, the Waruders wiped out three-quarters of the native population in the first two hours of their assault. By the time we got here, there was nothing left to save.
(They walk along the surface, looking at the destruction as well as frozen Waruder monsters. Chromia is leading the way, followed by Optimus and then Arcee. Arcee hears something amongst the rubble. She about to walk off and ignore it, but then she remembers that time is supposed to be frozen!)
ARCEE: PRIME!
(Just as she screams, a Waruder, twice as big as Optimus Prime, bursts out from the wreckage screeching. Arcee fires her gun, but the shots bounce off its body. Chromia and Prime now have their weapons.)
CHROMIA: Aim for the head!
(All three of them fire. The Waruder either deflects the shots with its sword or lets them bounce off of it. It screeches and begins to charge. We then see Chromia fire two more shots. One of them misses, but the other hits it right between the eyes, causing the head to explode and the creature to fall dead.)
CHROMIA: Usually, they aren't that easy. He must have been new.
ARCEE: (Fearfully) But . . . how was he moving?
(Chromia bends over to examine the body. She pulls something off of its chest then turns back to the others.)
CHROMIA: This look familiar to anyone?
(Both Prime and Arcee look at it knowingly.)
CHROMIA: They must have stolen this in one of their conquered dimensions. (She crushes it) As far as we could determine, the Waruders are not intelligent, nor technologically advanced. I think it's safe to say they're instinctual.
(Optimus is looking around.)
OPTIMUS: Come on, Autobots. Let's move out.
(They start walking. It's not long before Prime pulls them to a stop. We see down a long clearing three more Waruders. They seem to be about the size of Prime.)
ARCEE: (Whispering) Do we go around?
(All three of them turn and see the three Autobots. They screech and start charging.)
OPTIMUS: Too late! They've seen us!
(All three of them aim their guns. The creatures get closer.)
CHROMIA: Not yet.
(The Waruders are about halfway there, they're swords held high.)
CHROMIA: Not yet.
OPTIMUS: If they begin to push us back, I'll hold the position while you two retreat to the shuttle. That's an order.
(The Waruders are almost there.)
CHROMIA: NOW!
(All three of them fire away. The shots don't harm them, but they do either stop them or push them back. The one in the middle screeches and charges. Optimus throws down his gun and charges back. They collide and wrestle each other to the ground, both struggling to gain the upper hand. The other two screech and get ready to attack again. Chromia smiles.)
CHROMIA: Hey, Arcee, you had enough of these fellas, or do you want a second date?
(Arcee just stares at her, trying to also look at the Waruders at the same time.)
CHROMIA: Let's take em down. Hard. Follow my lead.
(Chromia charges forward, Arcee on her heels. They transform to their vehicle modes and go right between them, their swords slamming into the ground. While they try to recover, Chromia and Arcee transform back to robot mode and fire, hitting them in the backs of their heads. Both of them screech as their heads explode and fall dead. Chromia and Arcee look over their handiwork, Chromia smiling.)
CHROMIA: Now THAT'S how you deal with bugs.
(Arcee can't help but smile back. Optimus then rejoins them. He's missing the smokestack from his left arm, but otherwise seems undamaged.)
CHROMIA: (Innocently) Next time, maybe you should wait for us back at the shuttle.
(Prime shakes his head. It is plain to see that he would smile if he had a mouth.)
OPTIMUS: Let's go. We can roll from here.
(Prime transforms to truck mode, his trailer appearing from subspace, as usual, and drives off. Chromia and Arcee do the same. After a while, we see them stop at a bowl in the ground and change back to robot mode. We see a tall citadel at the bottom and in the center of the bowl. There are several frozen Waruders surrounding it, looking like they were attacking. The three Autobots slowly begin to make their way down.)
CHROMIA: This is where we made our final stand. This is where we knew they'd won. Elita ordered us to take the shuttle and get help. She said she had found another ship and would follow once she detonated the planet core. I think I knew she was lying even then. She must have expected us to be clear when she activated her ability. If Elita-1 is anywhere, she's inside. (She then looks at the frozen Waruders. She pulls out her gun) I'll stand guard out here . . . just in case. Don't be long.
A/A
(We see Optimus and Arcee walking through the darkened building.)
OPTIMUS: (Calling into the nothingness) ELITA! (His last words of the next sentences are echoes) ELITA, WHERE ARE YOU? ANSWER ME!
(They walk through a doorway, the doors having been torn open. Optimus steps through, followed by Arcee. There is a huge cylindrical structure in the center of the room.)
OPTIMUS: (No more echoes from now on) ELITA, PLEASE ANSWER ME!
VOICE: (The same voice we heard in two of Arcee's dreams, weakly) Optimus?
(Prime and Arcee look up and see, halfway up the structure, Elita-1.)
(Commercial)
(We see Elita-1. Only her upper body is visible. The rest of her is hidden inside many wires and conduits. She looks weak, her body chipped and tarnished.)
ELITA-1: (Weakly, but happily. She speaks weakly in most of her lines from now on) You have come at last! Both of you! I should have never doubted. There is little time.
OPTIMUS: We know. Your time field is failing. We have a shuttle and can get clear before it does and the star goes nova. Can you get to us?
ELITA: (Pleadingly) Optimus, no.
(Prime doesn't notice her pleading.)
OPTIMUS: Then we'll come get you. Arcee, help me.
(He's about to try and climb up.)
ELITA: (As strong as she can) NO! (Prime freezes) I cannot leave the Dia System. Or even this room. I have joined myself to the citadel's systems. And to the planet itself.
OPTIMUS: (Not understanding) But, Elita, we've come to save you!
ELITA: (Gently) And you have. Just seeing you two again, together, is a greater gift than I could have ever wished. But the Waruders must be stopped.
ARCEE: But the nova. It'll wipe them out, won't it?
(Elita shakes her head, no.)
ELITA: The nova is part of their plan. They care nothing about sacrificing a few million troops for the "greater good." When the star explodes, it will allow their main force to enter our reality, countless hundreds of billions strong. That must not happen!
ARCEE: We fought some outside. They had devices that . . .
ELITA: (Interrupting) I am aware. The ones you fought were only able to open portals and pass through because I momentarily shut off the field, in the hopes you would get here in time. My power core is failing, Optimus.
OPTIMUS: (Unbelieving) No.
ELITA: Yes. Even linked and drawing from the planet's core, it was simply not designed to maintain my special ability for this long. When it goes, when I go, the field will die and the Waruders I have trapped here all these years will be free . . . unless you help me to extend its ability even further. Help me alter the circuitry of my time-stop device to take this whole system and everything in it outside of time . . . forever. The Waruders are not intelligent, and with this doorway lost, it will not occur to them to make a new one. I have been planning this for a long time, but I need help to implement the changes. That is why I called out to Arcee with my mind, hoping she would come in time.
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly) Elita, no! I won't let you sacrifice yourself! Let them come! We'll fight them, together!
ELITA: Optimus, don't be foolish! This is they way it has to be!
(We now focus on Arcee's face. She scowls angrily as Elita speaks her next words.)
ELITA: (Voiceover) I will show you how to make the necessary connections and . . .
ARCEE: (Angrily, interrupting) HOW DARE YOU? How can you say that to him, after all he's been through searching for you for over twenty years! We almost DIED getting here to rescue you! Don't you care about anyone?
OPTIMUS: (Pleadingly, in shock) Arcee, please!
ARCEE: (Angrily) NO, Prime! She deserves this! She's dismissing you, just like she did the other female Autobots! Just like she did ME! She wants to save the Universe without anyone else getting in the way! All so SHE can be the big martyr! And she doesn't care about those she's leaving behind who DEPEND on her!
(Long pause.)
ARCEE: (Bitterly) I'm going to wait with Chromia.
(She turns and starts to walk away, Prime watching her. Elita weakly reaches out to her with her arm.)
ELITA: Arcee, . . . I am sorry.
(Arcee continues to walking, never looking back.)
ARCEE: (Angrily) GO AWAY!
ELITA: I . . .
ARCEE: (Angrily) LEAVE ME ALONE!
(Finally, Elita closes her eyes and slumps back, defeated.)
ELITA: I am sorry . . . my daughter.
(Arcee stops dead in her tracks. She and Prime quickly turn to look at Elita. They are obviously shocked!)
OPTIMUS and ARCEE: (Simultaneously) DAUGHTER?
(Elita opens her eyes and smiles.)
ELITA: Yes. "Daughter." THAT was the deal I made with Vector Sigma.
(We begin a flashback sequence. Elita is sitting at a computer terminal, reading information and looking at pictures of things about Earth, including people, animals, trees, etc.)
ELITA: (Voiceover, as if she were speaking normally) In the months following my first reunion with Prime on Cybertron, I began to read the material he had left with us about the planet Earth and the humans that lived there. I read about their families, and how, when a male and female love one another, they have children to express that love.
(We see flashback Elita smile as she looks at a picture of a man and a woman with children.)
ELITA: (Voice) I began to wish that Prime and I would have such a child one day. The idea, the need, began to . . . sing inside of me.
(We now see flashback Elita standing in a background, similar to the background Prime stood in when he merged with Vector Sigma in "The Rebirth.")
ELITA: (Voice) When Vector Sigma gave me the visions of the Waruder invasion, I told him I would not go. That I would not sacrifice myself and my warriors for some distant world when there was so much that still needed to be done on Cybertron. I told him I would not go . . . unless . . .
(We see flashback Elita shake her head with her arms crossed. We then see her smile and touch her chin, a thought on her mind. We then switch to see her enter the ruins of a building and start looking around. She eventually finds a roll of paper, unrolls it, and smiles.)
ELITA: (Voice) . . . unless first he gave me a child of my own. It is unwise to demand things from such a being, but I HAD to. And so I was lead to the ruins of Alpha Trion's lab, to the blueprints he used to reconstruct a young dock-worker named Orion Pax and his . . . somewhat flighty girlfriend Ariel.
(We now see flashback Elita with a blowtorch, working on a body.)
ELITA: (Voice) Guided by Vector Sigma, and the Spirit of Alpha Trion within, I combined the two designs into one.
(We pan up to see, lying on a table, the finished, but inert, body of Arcee. We end flashback with a closeup of Arcee's face. We pan out to see her standing next to Optimus Prime, both of them surprised and fascinated by this discovery.)
ELITA: (Voice, weak again, this time from now on) I constructed our child, Prime.
(We focus on Elita.)
ELITA: That is why I have chosen this path. I never meant to hurt either of you. I lover you both more than words!
(We switch to Prime and Arcee. Arcee closes her eyes and hugs Prime. Optimus closes his eyes and does the same. They look like they want to cry even though they obviously can't. We pan out as they hold on, not letting go.)
A/A
(Everyone is now back on the shuttle . . . well, almost everyone. Optimus, Arcee, and Perceptor are talking through the shuttle's comm. system.)
ARCEE: Are you sure, Chromia?
CHROMIA: (Onscreen, smiling) Positive. I'm not going to let Elita spend eternity all by herself. Besides, who knows, maybe somewhere out there, ol' Ironhide is waiting for me. I can't keep him waiting forever.
ARCEE: I'll miss you.
CHROMIA: (Onscreen) As I will you. Take care of the other girls for me, OK?
OPTIMUS: Elita . . . I will . . .
ARCEE: (Interrupting) We.
OPTIMUS: WE will find you again. I promise.
ELITA: (Onscreen) I know you will. And I love you both. Always.
(The screen goes blank and switches to an outside view of the Dia System. It seems to glow blue, the glow getting brighter and brighter. We switch to see Prime, squeezing Arcee's left hand tightly, Arcee doing the same. They both look sad as they watch. Perceptor watches over their shoulder.)
PERCEPTOR: (Whispering as he watches the screen) Fascinating.
(We now switch to outside, where the Dia System glows a dark blue, and slowly fades out. Then, we see an image of Elita-1 flash across the screen, the same way they showed an image of Optimus Prime at the end of "Dark Awakening.")
The End