//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Stopwatch // by N o - F a c e //------------------------------// Whirl died like he never dared dream he would - surrounded by loved ones. When he was young, naive, and just a tad romantic, he’d thought maybe he might have a lover to hold him as he passed, if he was lucky. But by the time he lost his hands, he had never thought the two most wonderful mechs he’d ever met would be there. His health had been declining for a while now. The docs said it was probably the result of all the times he got blown up and badly repaired and stuff, alongside just plain old age. It wasn’t that surprising, really. He may have aged better, but he actually wasn’t that much younger that Ratchet, who had passed a fair while ago. Really, given how awfully he took care of himself before Cyclonus and Tailgate, it was more of a surprise that it hadn’t come sooner. He wished dearly he had more time with them. It seemed like he had just started to finally be truly happy. At least Cyclonus and Tailgate would have each other. When he offlined his optic, cradled by his weeping husbands, he didn’t expect to online them again. And technically? He didn’t. ——— It was warm. Warm and wet and weightless. And kinda loud. Not in an annoying way, actually. The loud sound was in fact quite soothing. A deep “BAH-DUM, BAH-DUM, BAH-DUM” permeated the area Whirl was in. ...where was he? ...he didn’t know. Whirl tried to online his optics, but failed. What was going on? Then he remembered offlining them. Panic and sadness filled him, and he instinctively kicked out. He paused, confusion overwhelming him. His legs felt weird. Should he be feeling them at all? He was dead. Wasn’t he? Wasn’t this the Allspark or something? It wasn’t what he expected (not that he expected much), but it had to be, right? ... He was feeling sleepy all of a sudden. ...... Bah-dum. ......... Bah-dum. ............ Bah-dum. ——— When Whirl awoke, he didn’t online his optics. Again, he couldn’t. And again, panic throbbed through him. He twitched his head weakly, trying in vain to see around him. Again, he felt weird when he moved. He felt sluggish and... wet. Defensively, he tried to snap his claws, and failed. Was even that taken from him? Whirl curled into a tiny ball, wanting desperately to be back in the arms of his conjuxes. His body felt alien. Growling, tired at his fear and exhaustion, he kicked out again. This time, his feet hit a wall. It was round, smooth, and gave way under his foot. Not much, but enough that he could feel it’s elasticity. The surprise caused him to halt what he intended to be his beatdown on absolutely nothing. Where the absolute slag was he? Tired, he was again lulled to sleep by the sounds around him. ... Bah-dum. ...... Bah-dum. ......... Bah-dum. ——— The next time Whirl woke up, he heard a voice. “T b sc m, j cd.” It was loud, but muffled by the walls and the liquid he floated in. The voice was indecipherable and came from above. What the slag? ...was that Primus? The voice was high pitched, and didn’t sound very godly to him (whatever god would sound like, it just didn’t seem like this). Whirl squirmed uneasily. “H! Nk r mtn h! S rr f ng? B! Tn! V! Bf s rn, t!” The voice took on a different tone then it had previously. Now it sounded... happy? Actually, rather ecstatic. Whirl paused. Was that a reaction to his movements, or...? He wriggled again. “H! Th g gn! B, m l!” Whirl startled as the room began to bob. Soon after, he felt a pressure against the wall. He lashed out, kicking the wall. “F! H h! Lt y! N ct l h... B! K! Vr!” The voice only sounded happier. The room began to bob faster, with a sound like... laughter? “H h h h!” Farther away, Whirl heard a much deeper echo of that laughter, disorienting him as the room continued to jerk. Disgruntled and exhausted, he went to sleep this time on purpose. ... Bah-dum. ...... Bah-dum. ......... Bah-dum. ——— A similar pattern of waking up, attempting to make sense of his situation, then falling back asleep continued. Unfortunately, he hadn’t determined much. He had found that his legs felt roughly the same, but his arms oddly proportioned, he had no claws or digits, he had moveable ears, and oddest of all, two additional limbs. But he still didn’t know where he was. At least that annoying voice and the confusion over his body distracted him from contemplating whether he’d see his husbands ever again. The things he thought about still weren’t comforting. Eventually, it occurred to him, something he had heard about. Something from an Earth movie. A fictional tale about a man reincarnated as another. It... sounded too wild to be right, but that was true of many things that had happened to Whirl. He’d defied the odds time and time again, so what were the chances that he was being reborn? ...and as an organic of all things? At least, if he was being reborn, he thought it was as an organic. Maybe he was, and this was... what was the word? A “womb”? Weird... ——— Confirmation for his theory of rebirth didn’t come for quite awhile. When it did, it came quite suddenly. It felt as though one moment he was half-asleep, listening to the voice, and the next he was cold, wet, and very awake. “S t!” Voices, clearer than they’d ever been rushed around him. Disoriented, Whirl tried to lift his head and see, but he was still blind and feeble. He was feeling weak, and his chest burned. Limbs twitched and face scrunched as the feeling got worse. “T k nt bh!” “G mrn, h!” “N t!” The voices in the air rose. After what seemed like forever, a pressure rubbed roughly against his back, and cleared his face of liquid. And suddenly he was coughing. Air rushed into him, filling him with both it and relief. Involuntarily, he cried out at the odd sensation. His mother’s voice responded. “H, by! M lt Rb!” His father’s voice followed. “Y cr s, Ds! Y r s ck, th s q!” He was lifted through the air and into the grip of something warm and fuzzy. “M! B! Nm! V! L l hr t - Rnw Dsh!” His mother sounded... so happy. Whirl opened his eyes. Bleary and teary, he could only see an orange and blue blob at first. “! B! H ys r p!” Eventually his sight resolved enough that he could see a bright grin on an alien-looking organic. She was covered head to foot in pale blue fur, with a frizzy fluff of orange for hair. Instinctively, something inside him felt awed. This was his mother. Weakly, he turned his head towards a sobbing noise. His father stood next to them in a quadruped stance, weeping openly, a smile on his face as well. Was... this what parental love looked like? Exhausted and confused, Whirl fell asleep within the hold of his cooing mother.