-01-

Battlefield Cybertron

-part 1-

How could things have gone like this? The Decepticons have learned Stonehenge was actually a space-bridge, the ancient Cybertronian transportation device. They have been gathering Earth technology to make it operational in order to bring Megatron Absolute's army to conquer Earth. There was only one thing missing- the Element. And there was only one thing on the entire planet they could get it from- the Hate Plague. But the Autobots managed to destroy the bridge, so Megatron released the contained substance. Optimus Prime, in order to stop the plague from infecting the planet, used the power of the Matrix of Leadership to destroy it. Unfortunately, enough of it survived to infect him.

Now, as Nemesis Prime, he runs who knows where. For all the Autobots know, he could be hurting the innocents. Yet for some reason Teletraan I can't locate him. Ratchet came up with a theory that the Hate Plague must've corrupted his signal too much. Just what they needed.

It's been two days now. Ironhide and Bulkhead looked at the container in which they placed their lost comrade- Hot Ride. He gave up his spark to rescue Optimus, proving himself in their optics he truly was no longer the 'Con spy Sideswipe. The red-and-dark grey sergeant slammed his fists together in rage.

"My fluids are boiling!" he growled. "We already lost a good soldier! How long must it take before we are forced to add Prime to the list?!"

That question got Bulk's attention. "Uh, Ironhide? You're not thinking of taking Optimus down. Are you?"

Ironhide turned to face the ex-Wrecker. With that scar on his faceplate, he really made Bulkhead step back. The sergeant snarled, before calming down a bit. "No... I mean... What I mean is: will we be able to save Optimus? Or will we be forced to add him to our dead comrades? I am not looking forward to it if we'll have to take him down."

"I am sure Ratchet will come up with something." Bulkhead said, trying- key word 'trying'- to sound optimistic. However, Ironhide scoffed.

"He'd better get the job done. Or the doc will need a doc." He growled, walking out of the room of the fallen. He shook his head, growling again. Bulk sighed in some relief. He couldn't blame the sergeant for his pessimism.

As the ex-Decepticon entered the command room, he found Ratchet and Jazz both working by the panels, while Teletraan I was working on locating Optimus. They've been working virtually none stop. Ratchet would stay by the panel typing, while Jazz, the minute he found something, would open the ground-bridge and go to investigate and confirm whether or not it's their leader. While Ironhide was all ready to step in as well, the other Bots were uneasy. By the looks in the chief medical officer and the Autobot second-in-command's optics, the two did not have any rest. But unlike humans, the Cybertronian fatigue was in the form of low level of energon and system overheating. And these two were in a serious need for rest.

Decepticon Island

Soundwave kept typing at the computer panel as well. Megatron Absolute demanded the Prime to be found. The communications officer did not know what the Lord of Decepticons had planned, but he was not foolish enough to ask.

Unlike some other 'Cons.

"Lord Megatron. I must ask- why search for the Prime?" Starscream, the Decepticon second-in-command asked. "Now that the Autobots are without him and are surely to seek him, we should take the opportunity and gather energon by raiding the human power facilities."

"Because, Starscream, Prime will prove to be a great asset." Megatron answered, as he entered the room, which once was a bridge of his once-great flagship- the Nemesis.

"The way I see it this is stupid." The Seeker said. And that was exactly why Soundwave proffered to keep things to himself. The comment earn Starscream a powerful slap. One that sent him flying through the wall. Little sparks flew in comparison to the pain the flyer felt from the assault. When he hit the floor he could barely move. The pain nearly overloaded his systems. He managed to focus his optics to find Megatron stand before him with his fusion cannon aimed right at him. Starscream yelped at the sight, trying to pass through the wall he hit just a few seconds ago.

"Never. Question. Me. Again. Starscream." The silver-and-black Decepticon warlord threatened, before he lowered his weapon and turned back to Soundwave. "Soundwave. How goes your search?"

"Reporting: Search for Optimus Prime, now identified as Nemesis Prime, results in a negative." Sooundwave reported in his usual, more synthetic and emotionless for a Cybertronian voice. "Observation: Target may have found an alternative vehicle mode to repair damage. Suggestion: We should deploy Ratbats programmed to search for energon."

Megatron thought about that. Indeed, Optimus suffered some damage during the fight at Stonehenge. Since he had no access to the CR chamber, finding and scanning for a new vehicle mode was the only thing he could do for repairs. Of course, the repairs would not be full, but if the damage was small enough...

"Deploy the Ratbats immediately, Soundwave." He ordered. "Also, inform Barricade and Ravage on the new information."

"Understood." The communications' officer replied, reprogramming the bat-like drones. As their optics flashed after the upload, they detached from their stations and took off. Even if they had to search the whole planet, they would find the Prime.

Jasper

Mr. Ting, or Mr. Farting as Miko dubbed him due to his name, was still talking about the Siege of York Town during the American Revolution. As that took place, the said Japanese student just turned on her MP3 player and, as usual, pretended to listen. If one thought she was just ignoring the world, that someone would be mistaking. She was more concerned about the Autobots and their leader, Optimus Prime. There was no news for a month now. The Bots rarely showed up, which meant rarely being at the base. She started to fear the worst.

So, Miko reached for her phone and typed a text message to Jack, asking if he got any news from Arcee or any of the Autobots. It took a few minutes before she got the response: 'The same as the last few hundred- no'. Did she really send this many? She shrugged.

Finally, the bell rang. The students were exiting the classrooms, filling the hallway. Miko locked her locker after putting back a notebook and leaned on it. Soon she saw the very people she was waiting for.

One of them was a twelve-year-old genius, Rather short for his age. Rafael Esquivel, for that was his name, had spiky brown hair and red glasses. He also wore an orange vest over a white shirt, blue jeans and red sneakers.

Next was a very tall and muscular African American with long dreads- Terry O'Neil. He was wearing a green T-shirt, army-type pants and boots. The guy had investigator skills, yet for all his work, he found no trace of Optimus as well. But it was the teen between the two she was looking forward to seeing to.

Jack Darby, her ex-boyfriend, a super-genius, and the one who still had some actual contact with the Bots. All because of Arcee, who was clearly attached to Jack. The teen was of average height, with black hair and a little paler skin tone than anyone else living in this town. The teen was now wearing a black T-shirt, the usual blue jeans and black sneakers. Also, Jack cut down his hair just the previous day. Now they were much shorter. That made Miko quite sad as she liked his hairdo.

Putting that aside, she approached the trio. And they easily saw her. Miko Nakadai, the hyperactive rebellious- no, wild- Japanese exchange student. She had shoulder-long black hair with pink dyed highlights, tied loosely in a pony-tail and two pig-tails. Also, she was dressed in a pink T-shirt under a blue top, blue shorts with a black-and-pink belt decorated with some doll-like ornaments, pink-and-black striped stockings and boots.

"So, any luck in helping the Autobots, dudes?" she asked.

"No." Raf's shoulders dropped.

"Nothin'." Terry answered.

"Unfortunately not." Jack finished. As that wasn't what she wanted to hear, the punk girl gave the three a glare so intense, the two younger teens actually backed a bit, while Terry just arced his brow, finding her glare amusing.

"Dudes. Are you serious?" She barked. "If Optimus isn't back quick and the Bots don't start coming for us like they did before this mess, I'm gonna go crazy!"

Terry just had to comment on that. "So, you weren't all crazy before then?"

Miko humped at the comment. The nerve.

"M-Miko. I-I'm sure the Bots a-are trying their best to f-find Optimus." Raf said.

"I know." Miko said, surprisingly calmly. Now worry was present on her face. "I just don't want to think Megatron-teme may do just that before us." Her shoulders dropped. "And I miss Bulkhead already." Now she was on the verge of tears.

"Hey, hey no, Miko." Jack started, embracing her in a reassuring hug. The two may have broken up, but were still surprisingly close. "It's okay. We'll be back at the Ark soon. You'll see."

She sniffed, finding comfort in his embrace. "Promise?" she asked, looking up at him.

Jack chuckled. "Hey, if we're not there when they find Optimus, you can always give Ratchet your musical performance." He joked. Miko returned the hug now. Then he pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open. "I gotta get to work. Remember: Anyone gets the news from the Autobots calls the rest." The raven teen instructed the rest, making his way to the exit. Once outside, Raf coughed.

"You think he's right?" the preteen asked.

"Hey, at least he's holding onto faith." The Japanese girl scolded. "We can't lose our faith."

"Maybe." The muscular African American said. "But it doesn't mean that tomorrow they will find him."

"Why so negative, dude?"

"Think about it, Miko. Why do you think the Bots still haven't found Optimus?"

The two gave it a thought. "Um... they lost his number?" Miko asked.

"Maybe... Optimus changed his appearance." Raf guessed.

"Well that's out of the way." Terry agreed.

Then Teletraan will lock onto his energon signature." Miko said out loud. And that's when it hit Raf.

"Not if the Hate Plague somehow is interfering with the broadcast."

"You mean it, I dunno, changed its frequency or something?" Terry asked.

"Exactly." The short kid answered. "So basically Optimus is invisible to their systems, because his like a completely different Cybertronian."

"Oh. So finding him will take time..." Miko looked down at her feet, again. She was now feeling defeated. Raf pulled her arm and gave her a warm reassuring smile. And Terry padded her on the shoulder, looking at her with confidence.

"We just have to be patient. Otherwise, we lose it." Terry said. Miko smiled again, wiping a single tear off her cheek.

Darby house

Jack put down the needle. How he hated the energon injections. He loathed them. He looked in the mirror, watching as his veins and eyes glowed blue for a few seconds, before returning to normal. But the sensation of his body suddenly burning and freezing at the same time did not pass just as soon. That took longer. How he wished he didn't had to take them. However, it was thanks to these shots that he was still alive. The Mechanists of Evolution and Cybernation of Humanity- a.k.a. M.E.C.H.- the terrorist group of fanatics intending on ascending humanity to godhood, were responsible for his condition. In an attempt to create a perfect being, they altered his genes, causing them to be unstable. Now the energon was the only certain thing to stabilize him.

"The shot, Jackson?" a feminine voice asked. Jack turned to his door, to find his older sister and legal guardian, Kelly, enter his room. She was an inch or taller than her brother, with shoulder-long raven black hair and tanned skin and athletic, but no less attractive body.

Jack sighed as the burning/freezing sensation finally passed. "Just took it." He responded. "But hearing about Optimus would make me feel better." His voice was filled with sorrow. Kelly noticed that and felt bad. She quickly approached her brother and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry. I'm sure the Bots are doing their best to find him." She reassured her little brother. Jack felt a little more at ease hearing that, though he was clearly rather not so convinced. So, she wrapped her arm around his neck and wrestled him into submission. "Hey! I said they'll find him! Have some faith, for cryin' out loud!" she yelled. Jack struggled for a bit, unable to break free at first. It's been a while since the two last wrestled like this. In the past, Kelly would often assault him like that, mainly to keep his skills taught by grandpa and dad sharp. After all, both were military.

Jack decided that was enough of that. He grabbed Kelly's arm and freed himself. Despite his skinny appearance, Jack was much stronger than that. Not as strong as Terry, but still impressively strong. Strong enough to break Kelly's hold on him with some ease. Then the situation turned and he was the one to have a hold on her. Kelly tried to break free, but her brother actually wouldn't let go.

"Okay, okay. I give." She submitted, feeling a little pain. Jack saw that and quickly let her go.

"Sorry." He apologized. He got up and helped his sister get up. "Anyway, I do trust them, sis. You know I do. It's just..." he paused, thinking a bit.

Kelly finished the thought for him. "You wish you could do something to help. Is that it?"

"Y-yeah." The raven haired teen answered. Kelly ruffled his haired.

"I'm sure that you'll come up with something, Jack. All four of you. But, as grandpa would say, if you truly want to help them, you must first believe in them. While it's normal and noble to support your close ones, sometimes you need to let them do things without you. Otherwise they will lose their independent strength."

Jack remembered these words. Their grandfather used them sometime before his death. He knew what they meant. Yes, the Bots could do this on their own. They were not like children. They knew what they were doing. So unless him, Miko, Terry or Raf had anything that might help the Bots in their search, it'd be for the best not to distract them.

"Thanks sis."

"You're welcome." She smiled. "Now I need some rest. I have to go take an early shift tomorrow at the hospital." With that, she exited Jack's room.

Now the teen sat on his bed and was in deep thought. He couldn't focus though. And some reason something troubled him. He reached to the pocket and pulled out a triangle-shaped metallic shard. It was silvery white and had blue runes illuminating his dark room. He couldn't explain it, but for some strange reason it seemed to whisper to him. And as he continued looking at it, Jack had a feeling being one with it, getting a glimpse beyond time and space. There was a moment he felt as if being outside his material body. As if the stars were right beside him, and the aspects of time, the past, the present and the future, were nothing more than words of ignorance. Jack could not get his eyes off the shard, yet felt as if floating somewhere beyond the realm. Not the realm of life and death, but a much, much bigger place. One beyond all existence.

Then something flashed. It was a bit painful and certainly unpleasant. He saw figures, Cybertronians maybe, but more primitive: as if in an early stage. Then he saw some monstrous faces and jellyfish. He felt sorrow seeing the Cybertronians shooting. Another flash passed as he saw a huge figure with spiky shoulders ripping out a spark, laughing insanely. Finally a horned planetoid on the horizon of a burning Cybertron.

Jack finally snapped out of the trans. He was sweating and breathing hard. He looked at the clock on the desk in his room. It was seven in the morning? Was he really out for over 9 hours just watching this thing? Just what was that?

His phone suddenly rang. Jack actually thought about changing the ringtone. He looked at the id flashing on the phone, surprised a little at who was calling.

"Raf?" he answered.

"/I think I know how to find him?/" the preteen answered.

The Ark

The ground-bridge flashed as Arcee and Bulkhead drove through with the humans. As the humans got off or out, allowing them to transform, Raf ran to the computer panel in the human zone. And immediately started to type. Ratchet got a little annoyed with the kids' presence. But also got very curious.

"What are you doing here?" the medic asked, as Raf continued.

Terry started explaining. "While searching the web yesterday, I ran on an image of a truck running out of the airport in Washington. The reports mentioned it to be driverless. I felt the need to do some digging and found out there was a transport for some rich man collecting trucks."

"However, there was something off." Raf continued. "After the plane landed, turns out one of the trucks was different than after loading them. We believe it's Optimus."

"So we know he's in the country." Jazz stated, rubbing his chin. "The question is how do we find him?"

"Well, we could put a energon drive-through." Arcee joked.

"Actually, I thought we may be able to isolate his energy signature." Raf said, as the big screen flashed, showing every energy signature in the country. Raf started narrowing down the search.

"Now, we know we are not looking for the cities or anything that big. Which also means we must increase the sensors' sensitivity to maximum." Jack said, as the majority of the flashing points shrank or disappeared.

"Now, we know we're looking for a truck and a Cybertronian." Raf said. "We can't focus on finding Optimus's signal specifically. However, his energy signature should still be either Cybertronian, familiar to Cybertronians or, at the very least, unusual in comparison to any Earth energy profile." Raf typed it, and pressed enter.

Slowly, yet surely, the points have been disappearing. All the Autobots were looking at the screen with widening Optics. Could they get anywhere nearer? In a matter of minutes, all the points disappeared.

All except for on.

"Got him!" Ratchet cheered, running to the ground-bridge control, typing in the coordinates.

"Autobots! Roll out!" Jazz ordered. Bumblebee bleeped 'yes sir' as he transformed. In a matter of seconds, all the Bots, aside from Ratchet, were in their vehicle modes. In a matter of seconds, the vortex of green and gold lights appeared, illuminating the golden and silver room the team was in. And the Cybertronians rode off into the ground-bridge, hoping to get to their leader.

Somewhere in Virginia

A dark blue-and-crimson LoneStar Harley-Davidson Special Edition rode down the road, towards who knows where. Dust rose as it sped up, not caring about the speed limits. There was something weird about that truck. Something dark. Malevolent. The way it rode was just vicious. If anyone was to see it, one would believe it would run over anyone without remorse.

The truck was then followed by a white motorcycle, a dark grey-and-red BISON, a yellow Suzuki Swift S-concept, a green Hummer and a white Lamborghini Vereno. The mirror of the truck shifted, finding a silver-and-red Grumman F-111B incoming from above. The truck turned and rode into the forest. The Autobots followed. There was no way they were gonna lose him. They raced with the truck, until finally Arcee and Bumblebee got ahead of it and cut off the escape route. The truck came to a sudden stop, as the Autobots transformed. Bulkhead checked the scanner, which was now glowing like a... what was it again? A Christmas tree?

"It's him alright." Bulkhead confirmed. Jazz nodded in recognition.

"Optimus." Jazz started. "You're sick. We need you to come with us for treatment."

"Yeah." Jetfire started. "All we want is for ya to get back from being all dark and creepy back to your usual boring, mambo jumbo-talking, stoic self."

That's when the truck transformed. Now in the middle of the crowd, stood a 36-foot tall Cybertronian with the windshields on its chest. Prime had the smoke stacks on his shoulders, and two wheels between them, while the other four were on his legs- two formed his knee-joints and two in his calves. The figure looked at the Autobots with red, anger-filled optics, as the new face-guard plates shifted. The Autobots knew the way they positioned as a snarl.

"Me? Sick?" he asked. The Bots took their stance, ready for him to attack. All they received was a maniacal laughter. "But I have never felt better in my life."

"Optimus, please." Arcee asked.

"I am Nemesis Prime, foolish femme!" the tall Cybertronian snapped, leaping at the white Autobots. Aside from the obvious color scheme change, the voice, despite still holding its great wisdom, now sounded so full of anger. Arcee was luckily able to dodge it. Given her size and slim build, she was agile enough to outmaneuver Optimus- Nemesis as he was now calling himself. Still, the big Cybertronian managed to deliver a strong roundhouse kick to her face. As sparks flew, the cyber-ninja femme was sent flying into the trees. Bulkhead and Bumblebee stepped in, betting the two of them would get Prime off guard and outnumber him. However, Nemesis reached for the left smoke stack and it transformed into an energon axe, which he dug deep into Bulkhead's shoulder. As the ex-Wrecker cried in pain, Bumblebee got caught by the head. The scout's blaster shot in the air, as he tried to get free. Nemesis delivered three devastating blows to the scout's midsection before taking hold on his axe again. Then he tossed the scout at the incoming Arcee, who attempted a flying kick from behind.

"Oh man." Jetfire complained. "This was supposed to be just a simple 'get the little ol' Prime back home for some energon stew' mission. And now we're having a Cybertronian smack down. Oh, I knew I should of stayed at base." Oh well, he's here. Might as well do something. He pulled out his rifle, only for Nemesis Prime to toss Bulkhead at him. The two were now flying into the small cliff in the rain of sparks. The two giants rolled down, in pain.

Ironhide snarled at the sight. Normally he'd do his best to safe the Prime. But at the moment, he was actually glad to give into his Decepticon self- the lust for battle. Oh how he waited for an excuse to actually go up against the Prime. He dashed at Nemesis Prime, pulling out his shotgun in his left servo and revealing his plasma-thrower in the left. The sergeant opened fire. Nemesis Prime dashed at his opponent, clearly thrilled, unlike Optimus who would always keep a stoic face. Even though Ironhide hit every time, his enemy didn't seem to give a care. This only got Ironhide even more thrilled. Until Nemesis Prime parried his shotgun, reaching for his right smoke stack, which transformed into an ion rifle. The corrupt Prime aimed directly in Ironhide's face and was about to pull the trigger, when an energon butterfly knife hit it. Nemesis Prime turned to his right to see who attacked him and got sucker punched in the face. The dark blue-and-crimson Cybertronian stumbled back a bit, before regaining his balance. He looked up ahead and got kicked in the face. Jazz did not pause there this time. He dashed at Nemesis Prime and started to pummel him in the midsection mercilessly. The speed of his attack, considering the silver-and-black Autobot's size was astonishing even to the Autobots around. Then, for the finish, Jazz leaped back, delivering a strong kick to the chin. Nemesis almost fell, losing his balance. Ironhide rushed in, tackling the corrupt Prime and nailing him to the ground. Jazz joined in and the two held the Prime pinned to the ground, though they had to struggle real hard.

However, for all their struggle, fate seemed not so cooperative. Nemesis was slowly pushing them off. But he needed not to. A ground-bridge opened not too far from their position and the last Cybertronian they wanted to see appeared.

Megatron Absolute, the Lord of Decepticons. The giant 36 foot tall, mostly black Cybertronian with a silver torso and a bucket helmet. His insignia blazed purple, whilst the other lights, like his optics, were blood red and screaming psychotic. He looked at the two Autobots nailing Optimus/ Nemesis and aimed at them. With just two shots from his fusion cannon, Megatron blasted the Autobots off of Prime, slowly making his way towards him. Nemesis Prime got up by the time his brother got next to him. The two stared at each other with strength in both their optics. Tension was building, making all organic creatures around run for their lives, as if sensing the upcoming cataclysm. But it son vanished when the two shook their hands.

"So, you finally came to have me by your side, Megatron." Nemesis Prime mocked the Decepticon lord.

He merely smirked. "Don't get full of yourself, brother." He talked back. "I merely believe our cause will benefit more with you on our side. Now come, Optimus. Or should I say: Nemesis Prime?"

The corrupt Autobot leader nodded with an arrogant smile and followed Megatron towards the ground-bridge. Arcee got back on her legs just in time to see Megatron about to enter the vortex. Her optics widened in shock and rushed towards Optimus. "NO!" she cried. She wanted him to stop. But it only earned her a shot through the right leg. She cried in pain, rolling on the ground. She tried to recall her cyber-ninja training to overcome the sensation, but couldn't focus. The last thing she saw with her blue optics was her leader, her great Prime, enter the vanishing ground-bridge.

And then darkness took her.

The Ark

Arcee's sensors finally rebooted. Slowly her optics came online. And just when she noticed the dark chamber opening. She still felt a bit heavy and painful, but at least she was done in the CR chamber. She clumsily stepped out of the cylinder-like chamber, almost falling to the floor. But managed to find support in the form of their medic. She looked up at Ratchet, who helped her up as she found her balance.

"Careful, Arcee." He said. "You suffered quite a damage. I had to change a motor and a few circuits."

"Thanks, Ratchet." She said with a smile. "And, ah, ouch."

"Don't worry, Arcee." Jack said from the human area, looking at her. "Ratchet said you'll still be in some pain. But other than that you're 100% a go."

"Still my pride is hurt." She said with a said tone. Then added with anger: "And we failed to safe Optimus."

"It wasn't your fault." Agent Fowler, the liaison between the Autobots and the government, said. "You guys were sucker-punched by the bad King Con."

"Doesn't change the fact we lost the battle." Ironhide snarled, slamming his fist in the nearest control panel, scaring everyone aside for Jazz.

Ratchet also wasn't scared. Rather annoyed. "Ironhide...!"

"What?! You needed that?!" the sergeant snapped. "You're worrying about some tools you can always fix or replace while Optimus is not only still gone mad, but also landed in Megatron's clutches right before our optics?!"

At the sound of that Ratchet turned solemn as well. Ironhide had a point. "I am... sorry. I just... am not as disciplined or... strong-willed as Optimus and Jazz." He explained himself. Then all optics turned to Jazz, who was in deep thought. Never have the Autobots seen him act serious for this long. Apparently the lost of their Prime had a stronger impact on him then they thought.

"Well, now at least we know where Prime is." Jazz started, turning to the only screen in the room which would always display the world map. And one spot was most significant. "The problem is... the electromagnetic field make it impossible for us to enter there." He growled.

The Decepticon Island

All the Decepticons assembled in a big room. The majority of them were the drones, the Vehicons. The black-and-purple sparkless robots with limited intelligence which formed the bulk of the army. But there was a small group of Decepticons who formed the brains of this army.

Two of them were the other three Seekers- Thundercracker and Skywarp. The former was blue with the cockpit window on the right arm and a more rounded helmet. The latter was black-and-purple, with his wings folded downwards rather than upwards like Starscream, had more serious expression and was a bit taller than the other two. Aside from these details, they were similar to Starscream in appearance.

Then there was Airachnid, the only femme in the Decepticon army here on Earth. She was 24 foot tall, making her two feet taller than Arcee. Had a lean build and heeled feet. Her armor was mostly dark green with yellowish highlights and purple optics. But the most distinguished feature s of hers were the horns like those of Disney's Maleficent and six spider-like legs on her back.

Next to her stood the hunter of the legion- Barricade. He was for the most part scarlet, powerful build, with golden face-plate. He made himself a reputation for toying and torturing his prey during the hunts. And the most annoying, in Airachnid and Starscream's opinion, was his antic to address himself in third person. Nevertheless, he was one of Megatron Absolute's greatest warriors.

Also, somewhere in the crowd stood Knockout, the medical officer. He was lean with broad shoulders, red in color theme with flame-pattern. He was obsessive about his looks and hardly ever truly bothered fighting, not wanting his paintjob scratched.

Aside from Soundwave, the purple Decepticon with a screen on his chest, and Starscream, there was one more Decepticon by Megatron's side. The muscles of the army- Genocide. A massive Cybertronian, towering even Megatron. He was a real giant with beast-like appearance, rather than human. And due to his size, he was the only Cybertronian who needed to split in two to switch to his vehicle mode. Another thing worth of notice to all was his inability to talk like the others. Rather he let out some growls, snarls and roars, like an animal.

Megatron looked down at his servants, taking his time before addressing them. "My Decepticons! We are on the verge of victory! Just a few days ago the space-bridge has been destroyed, yes. However, in the process, Optimus Prime has been infected with the Hate Plague. Due to using the Matrix of Leadership earlier to save this planet form it, he made himself vulnerable to it. As a result, he ended up changed. Now... the Autobots are leaderless. They are broken. And soon they shall fall. They shall be destroyed by our newest brother-in-arms..." he stepped aside, allowing a new figure to step into few. A massive gasp filled the room when the 'Cons saw the new figure.

"Nemesis Prime!" Megatron called. Silence suddenly filled the room. The Decepticons seemed to be waiting for this dark Optimus to say something. And soon they heard him speak.

"Freedom is the delusion of all sentient beings." Nemesis Prime said. "And soon, the Autobots and humans shall fall before the greatness of the Decepticons!" he slammed his fist at the railing. And the Decepticons cheered.

Megatron Absolute smiled. As well as Nemesis, sensing the upcoming victory.

Little did any of them know, the other was thinking of the victory differently.

To be conti...

Somewhere in Colorado...

Four kids were playing on the street, on their way out of school. The fat one threw a snowball at the kid in an orange jacket and a green cap and hit him. "Ha ha! You're dead." He laughed.

"No I'm not." He denied.

"Yes you're dead. Those are the rules."

"Wait you guys." The one in a brown jacket and a blue cap stopped the two. "You hear something?" he got them and the one in the orange hoodie to listen in. soon they could hear it. Something like a whistle. They looked up to see a faint light in the sky. Soon it got closer and Bumblebee's missed shot finally hit, turning the orange hoodie-wearing kid into a burning mass of blood. The other three kids were shocked.

"I MY GOD! THEY KILLED KENNY!" Stan cried.

"YOU BASTARDS!" Kyle cursed.

Now to be continued...

A.N.: Howdy, everyone. I said I'll bring in the second season by May 21st, when it's a year after I posted season I. But I decided, to hell with it. The start may not be as exciting as I hoped for, but no worries. The next parts will be written a lot better. I promise. And I bet you can tell by the chapter title what's comin' up. That's right. Cybertron's comin'. And there will be several new characters. Now, I do have some in mind, but if you'd like some of your favorites to make an appearance, at least for the sake of their existence in this universe, let me know. Until then... ciao.

My cast:

Optimus Prime/ Nemesis Prime- Peter Cullen

Jazz- Khary Payton

Ratchet- Brandon Keener (Voice of Garrus Vakarian)

Ironhide- Steven Barr

Arcee- Tara Strong

Jetfire- Scott McNeil (Voice of Rattrap)

Bulkhead- Kevin Michael Richardson

Bumblebee- Greg Cipes (Yes, 'Bee will recover his voice soon. That much I can tell you)

Megatron Absolute- Frank Welker

Starscream- Gilberd Godfried

Thundercracker- John DiMaggio

Soundwave- Frank Welker (in his G1 incarnation)

Skywarp- Corey Burton

Barricade- Ron Perlman

Airachnid- Gina Torres

Knockout- Daran Norris

Jack Darby- Josh Keaton

Miko Nakadai- Tara Strong

Raf Esquivel- Andy Pessoa

Terry O'Neil- Chi McBride

Agent William Fowler- Ernie Hudson

Kelly Darby- Hynden Walch

Agent Simmons- Steven Blum