Chapter 5: The Lost Ark

“You know, I’d really like to get settled into my apartment…” Ron complained as he and Orion walked back toward the central tower of Metroplex.

It had only been four hours since the meeting with the Council, and he was still trying to give his small apartment the ‘Ron-Treatment’.

“I’m sorry, Ron, but we could use your help on this mission,” Elita One stated with a small smile toward the human.

“What’s the sitch?” Ron asked, crossing his arms.

“How knowledgeable are you with the Yamanouchi School, Ron?” Elita asked with a small frown.

“I’ve been there a few times…” Ron said, glancing away awkwardly.

“A little over a week ago… it was attacked by Decepticons,” Elita said carefully, and as she expected, Ron stiffened and turned his full attention on her.

“Yori… what happened?” Ron asked in concern.

“We don’t know, and that’s why we’re going,” Elita answered, “And the reason we would like you with us is to reassure them that we’re not like the Decepticons.”

“Alright, let’s roll out, then,” Ron nodded, concern for his Asiatic ally filling his mind.

“Excellent,” Elita nodded, “the rest of our squad is already at the Shuttle Pad.”

The three made it the short distance to where a shuttle was being prepped. “You’ve already met Ironhide,” Elita said as they approached the small group of Autobots. “And the others coming with us are Ratchet, Prowl, Jetfire, and Arcee.”

“Arcee… Ar… Cee… RC?” Ron said, glancing up at the red-and-silver fem.

“Uh … Hi, Ron,” Arcee smiled awkwardly, lifting her hand to wave. “Good seeing you again…”

---

“Kim! Stop!” Bumblebee called as the former teen hero jumped onto the back of the much-taller Decepticon.

“He’s not getting away!” Kim replied as Starscream transformed into a fighter jet and took to the sky with Kim, using energy spikes on the gauntlets of her battle suit to hold onto the robot-turned-vehicle.

Kim held on and raised an energy shield around her as the jet took off, spinning in the air, before Starscream transformed again, coming to a sudden stop that sent Kim flying. She cried out as she hit the hard ground shoulder first and bounced a few times before coming to a stop. She tried to get up, and by the pain and difficulty in moving her left arm, she knew her shoulder was either broken or dislocated, despite the added protection of her battle suit.

“Aw, did that hurt?” Starscream taunted as he approached her. “You insects are so fragile…”

His metallic lips curled up into a smile as he glanced around them. “Looks like your Autobot friends aren’t anywhere around … just you and me, Kimmie.”

Kim growled, transformed the gauntlet of her battle suit into an energy launcher, and fired a blast of blue energy into Starscream’s chest.

Starscream chuckled as he looked down at where it had struck, “You scratched my paint.”

“Stay away from me,” Kim yelled as she tried to crawl away, only to be scooped up by the Decepticon’s massive hand.

“You are such an adorable little creature, Kimmie,” Starscream said as he squeezed her hard once, making her scream out in pain. “So squishy…”

Starscream smiled down at her in his hand before he noticed her shoulder and arm were at an unusual angle. “Aw, are you hurt? Let me help…” he said as he wrapped his fingers around her body and took her hurt arm between his other hand’s thumb and index finger.

She felt pain and pressure as he began to pull. It got worse and worse till she had no choice but to scream from the severe pain coursing through her body from her arm’s socket. She felt a warm liquid splash her cheek and chest before Starscream laughed. “Oops, my bad,” he said, and through the pain-caused haze, she looked in horror as Starscream held her limp, disembodied arm before her face, “You broke."

“And such pretty hair, I’ve always been fascinated by you fleshling’s coat of fur…” He said as he dropped her arm and touched her hair with his free hand, gripping it tightly. She screamed out again as he began to pull and tug.

“Bumblebee!! Elita!! RON!!” She cried out as pain coursed through her body.

The torment stalled a moment as he looked closer at her. “Ron? Who is this Ron? Your mate perhaps? Don’t worry, Kimmie, I’ll find him and have fun with him, too… but first… I’d like to take a lock of your hair to remember you by…” Kim screamed out as he gripped all her hair and pulled...

Kim sat up, screaming in her cushioned pod in what could be called her apartment. She screamed for several moments as phantom pains from the torture she experience haunted her body. With a trembling hand, she looked over and saw small button eyes staring at her. It was all coming back, all of it. She grabbed Pandaroo and crushed the stuffed toy to her chest as she cried. While some comfort came from the first gift Ron had ever given her, the torment didn’t fade.

She quickly climbed from the pod, dressed, and left with no actual desired direction or reason, only a sense of urgency inside her inner most being. It was night time in Metroplex, and a steady shower was falling as she ran through puddles and let the rain soak her synthetic skin, hair and clothing. She continued to cling to the toy, almost as if it was her guide through the stormy night.

She entered the humans' tower, and ran up the stairs, traveling the many levels till she finally found herself before an apartment door. Her mind had no clue why she was here, but her inner self and perhaps the half-panda/half-kangaroo held to her chest knew where she needed to be.

She rang the door bell and knocked frantically on the metallic door before it finally slide open. “Kimmie?” Dr. Anne Possible asked, dressed in a bathrobe, any sleepiness driven away at the sight of the soaked and tearstained face of her daughter.

“Momma…” Kim whimpered, sniffling, “Help me…”

---

The red-and-blue Dodge Dakota roared as it lead the group of automobiles up the steep rocky path, with the two jets flying overhead. “Here we are,” Ron said as they approached a small-but-sturdy rope bridge. “Better go one at a time…” he suggested, and Orion slowly crept across the wooden bridge.

“Bad feeling coming online…” Ron said as he noticed the ancient walls still stood but the giant doors were hanging barely on their hinges. “Oh, no…” Ron whispered as Orion pushed through the broken gates and entered the school grounds. Ron remembered how it was, and its current state filled him with dread and despair.

Ron climbed out of the truck as Orion transformed back into his Cybertronian form. “YORI?!” Ron called out, “MASTER?!” He called, looking over the various bodies littering the devastated ruins of the once mighty school.

“Oh, no… NO!” He called out when he saw the familiar form laying next to the large crater in the center of the school. “MASTER!” Ron rolled the robed body over and closed his eyes in pain and sadness. “Master…”

“Ron…” Orion said, standing beside his friend.

“The Decepticons…” Ron growled softly, “They’ll pay for this…”

A short while later, it was agreed among the group to use the crater in the center of the school as a grave for the fallen ninja. “First, Kim’s killed… then, Master Sensei… and I have no idea about Yori…” Ron shook his head.

“What do you mean Kim’s been killed?” Ratchet asked as he gently laid a ninja’s body into the grave. “She was with you when the Decepticons attacked you Orion and your family,” The Autobot medic turned toward the human and tilted his head. “What gave you that idea?”

“Kim told me that the real Kim was killed, and that she was just… what did she call it… a Pretender,” Ron replied. “She just had Kim’s memories and was pretending.”

“Oh, dear me,” Ratchet rubbed his chin, “I had hoped she had recovered by now…”

“Granted, Kim is now using an Autobot Pretender’s body, but…” Ratchet went to one knee to be closer to Ron’s level. “You have to understand she went through a great deal of physical and emotional stress. Starscream came very, VERY close to extinguishing her life, but her spark was still just strong enough to survive a transfer into an empty protoform shell.”

“Spark?” Ron squinted his eyes.

“You humans refer to it as your soul, the immortal energy that makes you who you are.” Ratchet explained. “Starscream greatly damaged her body; human technology would have not been able to save her. Cybertronian medical technology barely was able.”

“We were not able to save a great deal of her original body, but the protoform was able to duplicate much of it,” Ratchet continued. “Several of her human organs were saved, especially her brain and a large portion of her heart, but a few were not. The rest of her body, while horribly damaged, was ninety-nine percent able to be repaired and implanted into the protoform, or scanned and duplicated into a human alternate form. The only ones that were unable to be properly duplicated or repaired were the organs you call her kidney, gallbladder, and ovaries.”

“So, what you’re saying…” Ron's head began to wrap around the concept.

“While she’s not entirely the same body as the young female you are familiar with,” Ratchet nodded, “She is still the same Kim Possible.”

“Then, why did Kim tell me she’s not?” Ron asked, rubbing his face.

“That could possibly be partly my fault…” Ratchet said, glancing away.

“I was rather in a hurry to save her life. When we got her back to Metroplex, even on life support, she was fading fast. Not all of her original body went into the protoform; we kept the original alive long enough to harvest the salvageable organs and have Teletran-1 scan the rest for the protoform to properly duplicate. I wasn’t even sure it would work. We have only been able to scan and duplicate metallic and non-living objects. But for what she had sacrificed for us, it was the least we could do to do everything in our power to save her. After we had finished formatting the protoform with Kim’s mind and remains… she came online faster than I expected her to…” Ratchet looked away with a shamed look.

“I didn’t even notice her sitting up as we were cutting off the life support on her original body…” Ratchet closed his optics. “She went into hysterics, and it took quite some time to calm her down… it took months for her to even respond to the name ‘Kim’. I had assumed she had finally accepted that that she was who she was.”

“I wish I had noticed sooner…” Ratchet closed her eyes. “Maybe with you and her parents in Metroplex, you can help her in a way we have failed.”

“Anything for her,” Ron nodded before a red-and-white heavily armored and modified F-16 ascended toward them before transforming.

“Toward the base of the mountain to the north I spotted some survivors,” Jetfire stated, “Looked like they were moving slowly and sticking to shadows. I almost didn’t spot them. If it wasn’t for thermal scans, I’d have missed them.”

“They should have made it to Tokyo and back by now…” Ron shook his head.

“Looked like they had a bunch of injured.” Jetfire replied.

“Any more good news?” Elita asked stepping up.

“Oh… yeah, and Decepticons are looking for them too,” Jetfire shrugged.

“Orion, let’s roll,” Ron said as Orion took his truck form, “offroad style.”

---

It took over three hours for Kim to get her story out to her parents, having to stop periodically to cry hard. She didn’t censor anything but told them all about her torture by Starscream, waking up back at the Autobot City, and seeing the most traumatic sight she had ever seen.

“I… I saw me… I saw her… I saw her eyes close when they cut off the breathing machines…” whispered Kim, wiping a stray tear running down her cheek. “I… I saw her die… and… I don’t know… I… I heard screaming… I felt so numb and scared… I just… then, I realized I was the one screaming… I think I scared the Autobots almost as badly as I was…”

“That’s why I wrote you that letter… saying I was disappearing for a while… a secret mission for Global Justice… I tried…” She stopped for a moment to sob. “ I tried to write you guys a letter telling the truth… but how could I? 'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Possible, hello, I am a Cybertronian copy of your daughter. I regret to inform you that your daughter was killed by a giant, transforming, psychopathic monster…'” she shook her head and chuckled slightly. “I couldn’t do that to you… I couldn’t do that to Ron…”

“I’m sorry…” Kim ducked her head, unable to look at either of the doctors.

“Kimmie, look at me,” Anne said, touching her cheek and turning her face to look at her. “Do you remember your Uncle Dan?”

“Yeah?” Kim replied softly.

“You remember he fought in the first Iraq war? Do you remember how he came back?” Anne asked her daughter.

“He lost both legs and an arm…” Kim whispered.

“Did he stay in a wheelchair or bedridden?” Anne pressed.

“No,” Kim shook her head. “He got prosthetic legs and a new arm. He always liked to tease Ron with his hook hand…”

“While I’ll need to talk to the Autobots for more details,” Anne said, looking deep into her daughter’s eyes. “It’s no different for your case, though yours is a bit more extreme. But regardless, listen to me carefully, Kimberly,” she said, holding eye contact with the young woman. “You are and always will be my daughter. Understand?”

“But…” Kim tried to argue.

“No buts, Kimmie-cub,” James said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “This isn’t that much different than the time Drew switched yours and Ronald’s bodies.”

“Yeah,” another voice spoke directly behind them.

Kim and her parents turned to see Jim and Tim standing in the door with their arms folded.

“You’ve got a wicked cool new body,” Jim stated.

“But you’re still the annoying older sister we love,” Tim finished.

Kim stared at them blankly; then, they strode toward her and wrapped their arms around her, hugging her tightly, before their parents wrapped their arms around all three. That was all it took to send Kim into a sobbing fit again.

After several moments in the comforting hug, they broke apart. “So, now you just have to fix things with Ron, and everything’ll be cool again,” Jim and Tim said together.

“No,” Kim said, standing up. “I can’t. I won’t.”

“What? Why?” Anne asked, standing up. “Kimmie, he loves you, and you can’t tell me you don’t…”

“Because I do,” Kim said, walking to the large window. “I do. I love him so much it hurts. That’s why I can’t be with him.”

“We’re just a brain surgeon, a rocket scientist, and two engineers-in-training, Kimmie-cub,” James said awkwardly. “Care to explain?”

“Because he’s better without me,” Kim stated, staring out the window.

“How can you say that?” Anne asked in confusion.

“Mom, look at the proof!” Kim turned them, holding out her arms. “Back when we were together… he was barely making it. He barely graduated high school! I know now it was all my fault. I held him back!” She shook her head. “Then, when I left for school overseas… Mom, he took off; he’s an honor student in college… a college football star… Mom, I have boxers with his face and number on them!” She hugged herself and glanced away, “I’m not going to mess that up.”

“Kimmie, you know none of that matters to him,” Anne said softly. “He’d give that up and more for you.”

Kim looked back at her with a steady gaze, “Exactly.”

---

“At this rate, we should make it to the refuge by tonight,” Hirotaka said as he and Yori lead the ninja through the twisting trails in the forest.

“Do you hear something?” Yori asked, pausing and looking up. She narrowed her eyes before the ground exploded next to them sending her and Hirotaka flying.

“Hiro-kun!” Yori called out as she sat up and shook her head.

“I’m ok, Yori-chan; what was that?” he asked, and they turned to see a large, green tank approaching in the distance.

“As Stoppable-san would say… that’s not good…” Yori gulped.

“Brawl and I have stopped them!” A large, black helicopter, the same that attacked the school, flew over them hovering just above. “DECEPTICONS! ATTACK!”

Something evil's watching over you

Comin' from the sky above

And there's nothing you can do

Yori screamed when the large, mechanical scorpion leapt from the ground, grabbing two of her friends in its claws and crushing their bodies, stabbing them with its jagged tail.

“NO!” She screamed, jumping out of the way of gun fire from the chopper above them

Yori saw the tank taking aim again. She gripped the wrapped blade in her arms hoping by some chance the ancient blade would protect her, or at least provide a miracle.

Prepare to strike

There'll be no place to run

When you’re caught within the grip

Of the evil Decepticons

“Hiro-kun… I…” Yori glanced to the ninja.

“I know,” He said as he limped toward her.

A moment later a red-and-blue pick up roared, flying over them, transforming in mid-flight into a giant humanoid, and the Kunoichi’s eyes widened when she recognized the human in the robot’s hand being tossed toward the tank.

“RON-SAN!!” Yori screamed happily as Ron landed on the front of the tank just as it was preparing to fire. He flashed blue a moment before he shoved the barrel up, making it miss the ninjas completely.

Transformers

More than meets the eye

“AUTOBOTS!!” Elita-One called out as she transformed and landed among the ninjas. “Repel the Decepticons!!”

Transformers

Robots in Disguise

“Yori, look out!” Hirotaka yelled shoving the girl out of the way as a volley of bullets from the chopper hit him in the shoulder and back.

“No!” Yori called out, running to his side.

“That was a mistake,” Elita said, drawing her ion blaster and firing on the chopper. The Decepticon screamed as the blast sent him falling to the ground, transforming as he went.

“I hope that’s not the best you can do,” Ron said as he easily jumped to the side as the tank tried to drive over him. “How do you except to beat me like that?”

The tank quickly transformed in to a towering monstrosity, armed to the teeth.

“Good answer!” Ron said, smiling awkwardly.

“Ron! Hold on!” Orion ran to his side and shoved the Decepticon known as Brawl back, firing his blaster into his chest repeatedly. “Back off!”

Strong enough to break the bravest heart

So we have to pull together

We can't stay worlds apart

“You sorry…” Orion said, firing on the Decepticon at point blank range. “…Piece of…” He threw down his blaster, extending his glowing energy blade. “Scrap... metal!” He exclaimed as he slashed off the Decepticon’s arm, then his shoulder cannon.

To stand divided we will surely fall

Until our darkest hour

Orion leapt forward, sinking his blade into Brawl’s chest. “Goodbye!” Orion growled out, jerking it upwards through his chest and head then shoving the now-dead Decepticon backwards. “Piece of cake,” He said as he retracted his blade.

When Optimus Prime will save us all

Prowl quickly roared in, transforming and grabbing Scorpinok by the back. The smaller Decepticon roared and lashed out with his claw. “I hate bugs…” Prowl said, grabbing the Decepticon with both hands and pulling it in two.

“Protect the humans,” Elita commanded as Ironhide and Arcee transformed and stepped between Blackout and the ninjas.

Transformers

More than meets the eye

“Blackout’s shields are too strong,” Ironhide yelled out as they fired on the Decepticon.

“Ron-san!” Yori yelled out, throwing the sheathed blade toward the rapidly approaching Ron. The throw was too hard though, as it flew past his grasp.

“Got it!” Orion caught the smaller blade and tilted his head when he saw it flash brightly and felt odd energy flow into him. “Here you go, Brother,” The Autobot said, handing Ron the Lotus Blade.

Ron unsheathed the ancient weapon, “Let’s take him down, OP!” He said as the human and Autobot ran toward the last Decepticon attacker.

Transformers

Robots in Disguise

Ron leapt toward the Deception, extending the length of the Lotus Blade as he jumped, then sliced through the Decepticon’s shield on through the arm powering it. “Orion! Now!”

Orion cried out as he tackled Blackout hard, pinning him to the ground.

Transformers

Autobots wage their Battle

To destroy the evil forces of

“You’ll never win, Autobots!” Blackout coughed as he struggled against Orion’s hold. “Megatron will destroy you all! We will rule this planet before making them all suffer for siding with you!” he spat as Orion extended his blade again.

“Not today,” He said as he stabbed Blackout through the spark.

The Decepticons.

“Yori, are you ok?” Ron asked as his friend embraced him with tears running down her face.

“Ron-san! I knew you’d come for us… please, you have to help Hiro-kun!” She said, pulling him toward the ninja.

“I’m no doc, Yori; you know that,” Ron shook his head as they went down to Hirotaka’s side.

“You’re the Monkey Master,” Yori said, looking at him with full confidence.

Ron looked at the ninja. “I can’t help him, Yori,” Ron said, and saw her eyes start to well up with tears. “But I know some folks who can. Elita, how quick can we get these guys back to Metroplex?” he asked the Autobot.

“Jetfire can get them there in a few hours,” Elita said signaling for Jetfire.

“Ok, how many can ride in Jetfire?” Ron asked.

“He can house two in his cockpit and twelve in his personnel carrier pods,” Elita answered.

“Ok, I need the thirteen in the worst shape.” Ron stated.

“Thank you,” Yori said, grabbing Ron’s arm.

“Let’s get them loaded up, and we’ll get the rest to the shuttle and get them to Metroplex from there,” Ron said, standing up, and Elita only smiled and let the human Prime take command.

“Elita One,” Prowl said, walking up. “I’m picking up an unusual energon reading several clicks to the east of here.”

“You and Ironhide go check it out; contact if you need anything and meet us back at the shuttle,” Elita instructed.

“You got it,” Ironhide said as they transformed and drove off.

---

“You look that way; I’ll go this way,” Prowl said as they transformed on the far side of Yamanouchi Mountain.

“Got ya,” Ironhide nodded, and they started walking in opposite directions.

“Definitely picking up something here, Hide,” Prowl said as he approached a large cliff. The Autobot carefully climbed down, and his eyes widened at what he saw. “What in Cybertron’s name…” he said as he approached what was hidden under the ledge of the cliff: the tail end of a massive cruiser. The hull was rusted and weathered with age, but as he touched the side, he could vaguely make out the Autobot. “It… how can it be this old… but … could this be the Ark?” Prowl shook his head.

“Ironhide, I found something. Something big,” he said as the ground shook for a moment. Then again. And again.

“What was that?” Prowl turned around, “Who’s there?” he looked around, drawing his blaster. “Show yourself!”

His optics widened when the sound of a roar echoed through the valley. “I think I might just need to…” He cried out when something big and sharp clamped down on his shoulder, lifting him off the ground.

“This better be important,” Ironhide said as he approached the cliff. But just as he neared it, he saw something laying through a line of broken trees. “Great Primus, PROWL!” Ironhide ran to his friend. “Prowl, buddy, are you ok?”

“Monster… gigantic, metal monster… big teeth… claws…” Prowl managed to force out, and it surprised Ironhide he could say that much. Prowl looked like he was mauled with bite marks and claw slashes all over his body.

“What in Primus’s name did this to you?”

To Be Continued…

Next chapter: The search for the Matrix comes to an end, but who will end up possessing the ancient source of power and knowledge?

Song used with Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye originally by Lion. I edited the lyrics slightly, one particular spot for foreshadowing (wink wink)