Journey’s log. Mobius date: April 1, 2017. Stardate: 1622185.96. After the events of last night, I started asking around for magic folk and, to my surprise, the lady who defended Elise from Blackarachnia was the one I should have asked for in the first place. She’s called Sira and she’s the Grand High Witch of Mobius. She lives in the Northern Edge of the city I was in last night and…what I saw wasn’t what I expected. Let me explain, the Grand High Witch of Cybertron, a title reserved for the most powerful Witch, usually lived in a remote cave. Sira, on the other hand? Opulent mansion. I arrived at the gate and pressed the call button. A human woman’s face filled the screen. She wore a blue pixie cut and was in some sort of maid’s uniform. “May I help you?” she asked.
“Er, this is gonna sound weird,” I stammered, “but I’m an alien robot looking for the Grand High Witch, Sira, and I was…told…she lived…here…” My voice trailed off.
“Ah! Orion Pax, correct?” quizzed the maid. My holo-form’s optics went wide. “Lady Sira’s expecting you. One minute. Parvus!”
“The Shrinking Spell?! What for?!” I yelped as I shrunk down to the size of a Mini-con.
“Lady Sira prefers to talk to young ones at the same level,” explained the maid. “Please meet me at the front door.” She ended the call and opened the gate. I transformed into my now human height and headed to the door. It opened to reveal the maid. I initially thought it was just a maid outfit, but it seemed to be a blend of maid outfit and ballgown. “Lady Sira is in her garden,” she reported. “This way, please.” She led me through the mansion and out the back door into a rose garden maze. “Now, how did she arrange the path to the center this time?”
“I beg your pardon, Ms.…” I floundered.
“Oh, how rude,” the maid admonished. “I’m Natalie, Sira’s wife.” I arched my eyebrow, again, I may add. I’ve been doing it ever since I came up to the gate. “Oh, we make it work,” assured Natalie. “Being the maid has been a hobby while being an eccentric billionaire became a hobby for Sira.”
“So, why call her Lady Sira?” I asked.
“It’s become a pet name,” Natalie explained as she led me through the maze. We hit a dead-end. “No easy path this time, eh?” she mused. “Lady Sira loves to change the path to the center after a week. She does with her eyes closed. Wants to test her brain so she can get to her favorite spot in the center. Odd though, considering she’s of the Red Order.”
“…Mages of one Order can use spells from another,” I muttered, trying to go along with it. “It’s just slightly more difficult.”
“True, I’ve used water spells from time to time,” replied Natalie as we went down another path. “And I’m a witch of the Purple Order!”
“Right,” I gulped. Soon, we found the center. Sira was sitting at a table with two chairs, looking upwards. Natalie cleared her throat. Sira turned to see us.
“Ah, young Pax,” she greeted. “That will be all, Sweet Natalie.” Natalie curtsied and left. Sira gave me a small smile. “Lovely girl,” she sighed.
“I’m…sure she makes…a fine wife for you…” I replied, still thrown off by Sira’s residence.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“This…isn’t what I expected from the Grand High Witch of Mobius,” I muttered.
“It’s our planet’s 41st century,” remarked Sira. “Did you expect the Grand High Witch to live in a cave, cackling over a cauldron of green goo?”
“Well, it’s what Cybertron’s Grand High Witch does!” I answered.
“…You’re joking, I hope,” mumbled Sira.
“No, I’m not,” I answered.
“Right then,” sighed Sira. “I need to speak with Slapdash when the Universal Council of Witches meets again.” She then shook her head. “In any case, please, sit. Tell me your woes.” Finally! Some groundwork! I sat down.
“My magic just stopped working a while ago,” I explained. “Everything I enchanted…stopped, for lack of a better term. I can’t access the wisdom of the 1st 13 Primes and the spells in my repertoire won’t even sparkle. Heck, my weapons aren’t even working!”
“Uh HUH,” replied Sira. “Let me see them, wisdom vessel and weapons.” I took out the Matrix and my weapons and laid them on the table. Sira then picked up the Matrix and looked it over, making several “hms” along the way.
“Er, it was how I…” I started to explain.
“Quiet, please,” instructed Sira, “I’m talking to Solus Prime.”
“WHAT?!” I yelped. “I didn’t tell you about the…!”
“I said, quiet!” hissed Sira. She then picked up the gun. “Was he always this bad?” she asked it.
“Are you gonna talk to…?” I quizzed.
“Button it!” snapped Sira. She then looked at my axe. “Lost cause, huh?” she asked it. “One minute, let me confirm that.” She took out six six-sided dice and one ten-sided die. She shook them in her hands and then released them. They landed on low numbers. “Oh dear,” she moaned.
“What?!” I asked.
“Shush!” hissed Sira. She then grabbed my chin and turned my head. “Yep, just as I thought.”
“Um,” I said.
“Can’t go five minutes without flapping your lips, can you?” remarked Sira. She released my chin. “But, that’s all right. It’s a classic symptom.”
“Symptom of what?” I quizzed.
“What the problem is,” explained Sira. “I’ve seen this kind of thing before, in the history books. Your implements could as well. Did you know the gun was called Pacemaker and the axe was called Blade Dancer?”
“I…well, no,” I floundered. “I’ve been trying to find out.”
“That’s because you haven’t unlocked their full potential yet,” answered Sira. “Good thing, too, in this instance. If you had, and this happened, you’d have been too far gone.”
“Meaning?” I asked.
“The problem isn’t with your magic, the problem is with you,” replied Sira.
“I don’t follow,” I said.
“All right, then, simple words for a simple bot!” sighed Sira. “You’re! Turning! Evil!” …WHAT?!
The bot that attacked the Autobot base was back in his ship. He looked a bit tired. “I couldn’t get him to use his magic!” he snarled. “I just couldn’t…! Chill out. Now’s not the time for a rampage.”
“Good mantra,” replied a woman’s voice in a permanent growl. “Welcome back, Grimlock.” A Femme red, grey, and gold with a blue face and Velociraptor bits stepped out.
“Thanks, Slash,” bid the bot, Grimlock. “How long was I gone?”
“About 48 days now,” answered Slash.
“48 days from the ship?” chuckled Grimlock. “Wow, that Energon field you made only started sparking when I saw the ship a minute ago.”
“I am already making adjustments,” reported Slash. “Were you able to get the young Prime angry?”
“No, just annoyed,” sighed Grimlock. “Apparently, he’s got a lot on his mind.”
“Grimlock? Is that you?” asked a voice. Another bot came it. It was in a color scheme like Grimlock and Slash’s and had Pteranodon parts.
“Swoop, good to see you,” greeted Grimlock.
“Ah, good, I can tell you what I found,” cheered Swoop. “I discovered footage of Optimus going toe to toe against a certain Cyclops that gave us our current alt-modes.”
“Shockwave’s alive?!” snarled Grimlock.
“Yes,” replied Swoop, “however, she was beaten, truly beaten.” Grimlock smiled.
“A kid tangled with Shockwave and beat her?” he chuckled. “Interesting.”
“Perhaps we should avoid this one,” suggested Slash.
“Oh, no, we shouldn’t,” argued Grimlock. “If this kid can take on the strongest and smartest Decepticon, it is IMPERATIVE we get his weapons up to full power. Besides, they’re the last two we need.” He looked at the wall of weapons.