So, I saw The Last Knight on Tuesday night. Despite the critical thrashing it's received, I actually didn't find it that bad. Out of all the sequels, I actually liked it the most out of all the Transformers films. There were, however, some points I felt were unnecessary or didn't live up to what they could be. In all, though, I would say go see it. It's a fun time.
One last thing before I get into this story: I didn't take notes when I saw the movie. So as a result, some finer details are not as they happen in the movie. This is either because I forgot them, or I decided to adjust them to fit what I wrote here. Also, just a head's up, I didn't proofread this. Don't mind the misspellings you might encounter.
Also: major spoilers for the film. Just an additional warning.
Disclaimer: Transformers belongs to Hasbro.
Edmund Burton was getting too old for this.
So far today, he'd had a young woman kidnapped, harbored a fugitive wanted by every government on Earth, entrusted those two people with the survival of all mankind, and run from MI6 and TRF.
Rather productive day, if he did say so himself.
At last, Burton reached the book he'd searched for far too many years of his life. If circumstances were any different, he'd have taken a moment to appreciate what was in front of him, hidden for so long right under his nose in Trinity Library. But there was no time to appreciate the moment. He had a species to save.
He sat down in the chair, eyes taking in the elegantly written words, beautiful illustrations, and remarkable pages inlaid with gold and silver. He spoke quickly, with purpose, to the annoying American on the other end of the phone. He gave the boy his precious title at last. Said a few words of false praise, and hung up.
Burton hastily took in as much information as he could of Unicron, the approaching Cybertron, and the impending colliding of the two worlds. One would drain the other. One would live, the other would die. That was how it was to be. Either way, someone lost their home. An expected tragedy, in the End of All Times.
He heard sirens getting closer. Time was up, it seemed.
Burton rose—more stiffly than he would have thirty years prior, he noted—and left the Library.
Had he taken but one more moment, he would have seen how the book shimmered with Magic, its pages changing, its words altering, before vanishing with a flash.
Rare was the day Optimus Prime experienced something new.
For thousands of years, he'd traveled. First, at the beginning of his life, with the second generation of Cybertronian Knights. Then as leader of the Science Division. Then as supreme commander of the Autobots. He'd seen hundreds of thousands of planets, stars, black holes, and, once, even a quasar up close. He had seen what total war looked like, seen what it did to worlds and peoples.
Even so, being inside a building as it fell from the sky was not an event he had experienced before.
Cade, Viviane, and his Autobots tumbled as the massive room fell. Quintessa remained unmoved, surrounded by raw energy. Optimus searched for Megatron. He found him near Quintessa's conduits, gripping to the floor, riding out the free fall. He and Optimus locked optics from across the room—one floating in the air, the other anchored to the ground.
Where once there was once mutual respect and admiration for the other, there was now only hatred.
The room began righting itself, a slow movement that returned gravity to its proper state. Optimus landed heavily on his feet, using the still-tilted room to let him slide downward, toward Megatron and Quintessa. Behind, him, he heard his Autobots following.
The room finished its rotation.
Then he and his Autobots picked up where they left off.
Bumblebee and Hot Rod went left, meeting Nitro Zeus and Barricade head-on. Hound, Drift and Crosshairs went right, cutting off Onslaught and Dreadbot's attempted flank.
Optimus went straight ahead. Right at Megatron.
They clashed together. Blade and cannon, armor and shield, they fought. The two of the three most experienced warriors the Cybertronian race had ever seen. Every attack was calculated. Every assault the first in a sequence of a planned dozen. Every block, parry, and dodge made without thought, without urgency, as they anticipated the other's every move.
It had been this way since the start of the War. And until one of them fell for the last time, or the universe ended due to its own expansion, this was how it would always be.
Megatron knocked away Optimus' blade and brought up his cannon. Optimus was already rolling to the side as Megatron fired his infamous Fusion Cannon—the bane of countless lives over countless years. The shot went wide, blasting a hole into the floor behind him. He retaliated with a shot from the Blaster in his shield.
Unlike him, Megatron simply allowed his heavy armor to absorb the round. He advanced on Optimus again, knocking him back with a kick to the lower chest, his Fusion Cannon coming up once again.
Optimus raised his shield in time to deflect the Cannon's powerful projectile. He went to charge in again.
But Quintessa had other plans.
The command she gave was given with no emotion. No concern. No care. As if it were a matter infinitely beneath her. "Megatron—kill her."
Optimus looked to Viviane at the same time as Megatron. The young human woman was approaching the Staff, avoiding the chaos around her as Cade destroyed miniature drones deployed by Quintessa. He looked back to Megatron. Megatron looked back to him.
They both ran for Viviane.
The room began turning again. Megatron used that to throw Optimus off his feet, continuing on his own, bringing up his Cannon.
Crosshairs, Hound, and Hot Rod chose that moment to intervene, their battles finished. Optimus got up as his three Autobots fought together against the Decepticon leader, protecting Viviane and Cade. Hound used an opening from Hot Rod's Time Blaster to unleash a full burst from his Triple Phalanx. Crosshairs unloaded clips from both of his SMGs into Megatron's back, earning a growl.
But still the Decepticon leader kept going, fighting all three Autobots at once. Optimus opted not to rejoin the fray immediately, instead watching. Waiting for the right moment. When others interfered in the battles between he and Megatron, one of them was bound to leave a part open for the other.
Megatron revealed his when he pointed his Cannon at Crosshairs.
Optimus jumped forward, bringing his sword down. The weapon cleaved through Megatron's armor at its weakest point, severing the arm at the elbow.
Megatron roared, more from rage than pain, and grabbed Optimus' sword. Optimus resisted, but Megatron headbutted him, forcing him down, sparks flying as they slid across the floor. Optimus' own sword cut into the armor at his neck. Even with one arm, Megatron was formidable.
Megatron knew better than others that Optimus was, too.
"We were brothers, once." The words from Megatron were angry and frustrated. Almost sad.
Optimus' respond was hard. "Once."
He twisted, breaking free and throwing off Megatron's balance. Optimus was up on his feet in a split-second. Then with all his considerable might, he kicked Megatron in the gut.
The Decepticon leader flew into the wall, the metal breaking at his impact. Then he fell outside, and Optimus lost sight of him.
Then it was just him, his Autobots, and Quintessa.
He didn't need to say a word to get his Autobots to form up with him, nor did he need to provide a plan for them to understand what was about to happen. They were going to kill Quintessa. That was an obvious fact.
They charged forward as one, weapons firing, swords shining, as Viviane grabbed the Staff and Cade tumbled to the floor, the room tilting too much for his tiny human body to remain upright.
As they did, Quintessa—floating with energy sparking around and through her—opened her hauntingly blue optics. Cold. Beautiful. Horrifying. "Enough!"
A shockwave of raw, untamable energy and unknowable power swept the room, bolts of lightning arcing through the air. Anything not attached to the floor was thrown backward, humans and Autobots included.
Optimus slammed back into the floor, his sword and shield ripped from his grasp. He got up, only to be immediately secured with bolts of lightning. He suppressed the urge to cry out as the lightning began to burn him. He saw that the others, including Cade and Viviane, had not fared better. They were all lined up, suspended by the bolts.
They were trapped.
"I tolerate this insolence no longer." Quintessa's voice did not possess volume, yet projected unlike anything Optimus had heard in his long life. She floated down from her conduits, lightning continuing to arc around her. "You stand before your god. You shall be awed."
The room righted, gravity normalizing quickly yet gently. Optimus could see that they were no longer falling. No longer being hit with radiation from the human's nuclear weapon strike.
Quintessa had not even moved a finger.
"What arrogance you possess, daring to stand against me." Quintessa floated down further, so that she was less than thirty feet from them all. "Do you not grasp my power? Do you not understand? All you have done, all your fighting, all your progress, I have allowed. Not once have you surprised me. Worried me. Hurt me. You are my creations. You do not frighten me."
Lightning concentrated in five locations around the room. In each, an Infernocus appeared. Standing armed. Ready. Loyal.
"And just as easily as I allowed my Vessel to give you life, I can take it back."
The five colossus' suddenly crumpled to the ground, their very bodies crushed by an unseen force of tremendous power. Their dead forms disappeared in five flashes of lightning.
Optimus went flying back from some unspoken or gestured command by Quintessa. Before he knew it, they—the Mad Goddess included—were floating right at the edge of the room, looking down at the Earth twenty thousand feet below.
"Now be still," Quintessa said with the authority all things. Her words chilled Optimus' spark. "Know that I show you kindness in allowing you to witness this glorious moment where Cybertron lives again, and Unicron is forever destroyed." The lightning around her intensified, arcing further and faster than ever before.
This was the end.
"I am sorry, Cade, Viviane," Optimus said, quietly. "I failed you."
"We all did, Prime." There was no blame in Cade's eyes. Optimus took no comfort in that.
Below, the beam connected to the Knight's Eternal grew brighter and brighter. Great bolts of lightning lashed out at the air around it, some striking Dragonstorm, whom Optimus saw flying below, attempting to reach the Eternal.
Then all became light. The beam below vanished, a wave of blue light spreading out on the planet below, extending beyond his sight. The lightning around Quintessa faded, and the Prime of Life closed her optics and smiled.
Optimus knew then it was done. The Earth's core had been drained, its energy transferred to Cybertron by Quintessa's immortal power. He slumped his head forward, waiting for the terrible moment where the price of his failure was realized. Where Cade and Viviane began to scream in agony, their bodies bombarded with solar radiation and unbearable heat. They would be the first of billions to die the same death.
He waited. And waited. And waited. Only the screams never came. The air did not grow hotter. Solar radiation did not hit them with full force. The pleasant breeze did not even cease.
He saw Quintessa slowly open her eyes. Then he saw something he did not expect.
The Mad Goddess frowning.
Director James Marcus waited for the end of the world.
His plan to stop the energy transfer failed. Physics failed. Science failed. Impossibly, despite being separated from the beam from the alien ship, the Incubator continued sucking the heat from the Earth's core.
There was Magic. And it was about to wipe out all life on Earth.
"Sir…" The man who spoke was Trent. Good scientist. Lousy poker player.
James ignored him.
"Sir."
Was there a statistical possibility the afterlife existed? James hoped so.
"Sir!"
"What?" Slowly, James looked up to Trent. Perhaps there was some final curiosity to see before the end.
"Look at this."
James stood up and went to the screens everyone stood around. His observant eyes took in the displays for half a second, widened.
The transfer was complete. The Earth's core was cold, relatively speaking. Sensors detected the magnetosphere was gone.
Only solar radiation was still being blocked. An unknown type of energy was appearing all over the world.
And Cybertron was shifting.
The sun was frequently blocked as Cybertron began to move, countless billions of parts all in sync. Like a Cybertronian of unfathomable size. Rapidly, it grew. Not in size, but area. Stretching out, moving away.
It was not devouring Earth, but encompassing it.
Merging with it.
"No." Quintessa sounded almost… mortal in how she said that one word. Almost. "No. No. No! This is not what I command! This is not what the Texts foretell!" She moved her hands as if to direct Cybertron's movement, but nothing changed.
It kept transforming, altering itself to link with Earth. In the far distance, Optimus saw a great pillar land upon one of the Horns of Unicron, bonding with it with the shifting of trillions of individual parts.
"Stop!" Quintessa screamed, moving her hands, only for nothing to happen. "I command you! Obey me!"
The Core of Cybertron split, parts of it becoming framework for the planet's new form, and some of it moving in the direction of the pillar linked to the Horn of Unicron.
"Cease! Cease! Destroy Unicron! De...str...oy…" Quintessa blinked, her haunting eyes gaining a new, unidentified quality. She looked around, as if seeing things for the first time. She frowned for the second time.
Then she fell to the floor and went still.
The lightning around Optimus faded. He dropped to the ground along with his Autobots and the humans. He stood over the still body of Quintessa, questions ringing in his head. What was happening? What had happened to her?
Crosshairs chuckled and reloaded his SMGs. "Tough bit of luck, Crazy Lady. Makes our job easier." He placed the barrels of his weapons against her head.
Without thought or consideration, Optimus pulled Crosshair's arms back, causing him to miss.
"What are you pulling, Prime?!" Crosshairs threw him a glare, growling. "I have this!"
"Don't."
His Autobots gave him a very concerned look.
If he could do so, he would have given himself the same look. And yet, at the same time, he wouldn't. He was doing exactly as the Matrix was telling him. The Matrix had not failed him since it was found in Egypt. He had ignored it at times, and when he had, people had died. People he cared about. Friends. Soldiers. Civilians. Sam. He could not ignore what it was telling him now.
Keep her alive.
"Bind her, but do not kill her," he said. "Not yet."
"All due respect, Prime," Cade said. "But I don't think we should keep her around. Little nuts. Really powerful. Bad combo. You know what she can do."
He did. More than Cade understood. He looked outside. Cybertron was still transforming, but he could see what its form would be. A sphere. A great sphere that surrounded Earth without blocking out Sol. Such an event was remarkable. Straight from the Legends themselves. The act of a god creating art by breaking the laws of reality itself.
But the self-proclaimed Goddess at his feet had not been the one breaking those laws.
So what was?
Inside a blindingly bright white room, a figure leaned over a table.
The Figure was tall. Broad, with armor the same color as the room around it. The lone part of it that was not white was a single gold rune at the side of its armored head.
In the table the Figure looked down on, there was a silent, moving image. In that image, the Figure saw Cybertron transforming. Saw the Knights and the Prime gazing about in wonder. Saw the Mad Goddess lying unconscious. She would hate the Figure for what they did, but, perhaps in time, she would forgive it.
Afterall, it was going to provide her a reunion.
Across the room, a book appeared in a flash of Magic. The Figure looked up, noted the book's return from Trinity Library at last, and returned to the table. It observed for a moment longer, then changed the image. There were other duties it needed to attend.
It paid no mind at how, due to the book's nature, it opened itself to the page Edmund Burton had found most interesting. Only now, it displayed the correct wording.
"... upon their meeting, Unicron and Cybertron shall become One, as they were long ago. For with War's Warmth, Life will Live once again; and with their combined strength, they will combat the coming Storm. As to whether they succeed in defeating it, that is another Tale entirely…"
There you have it. A little story I wrote up. Let me know what you think, and feel free to let me know if I get part of the finale wrong. As I said above, I didn't take notes when I saw the movie. If this proves popular, I am not opposed to making this a full story.
One of the biggest inspirations for this story is this song: "Extreme Music - The Devil Always Gets Her Way." Obviously, it inspired the title, but the tone also drove me to write this. I recommend a listen.
Thank you all for reading. If you enjoyed reading, please share or recommend this to a friend or friends. And if you really enjoyed reading, please leave a comment. They are the lifeblood of all writers, and they do not take long to leave.
See you soon.