Warning: Contains scenes readers may find upsetting
Chapter Three
The following evening...
Halls of Iacon
Ariel stood on the inside balcony inside the main hall of Iacon, she had been waiting for Orion to return so they could go home together.
But she wasn't alone, for another Mech was tidying up some data pads nearby, he was a tall mech like Orion and his colour scheme was golden yellow and blue.
"When's Orion gonna be done with the old bot?" asked the mech "I'm running out of things to do here."
"He won't be long Dion." Ariel answered as she leaned on the balcony "I think Alpha Trion is still trying to convince him of his worth as a Prime."
"The humble bot still not let in sink into his spark that he has been named to be the next Prime?" Dion chuckled "If I were in his pedes I'd be soaking up the glory!"
Ariel laughed and shook her head.
"I'm proud of my best friend!" Dion said "He should say it loud and proud he's the next Prime!"
"He's never been the proud type." said Ariel dreamily "That's what I love about him, so humble." she then looked a little worried "Megatronus wasn't happy though, and I think that's what's worried Orion."
"So the all mighty Gladiator didn't get what he desired?" asked Dion "Frag the big metal beast, his opinions were nothing like Orion's! Control and Force? Slag! I don't think so!"
"I agree." said Ariel softly "But...after what I saw at the High Council, there was something in his eyes, he wasn't just disappointed, he was furious...he didn't stick around after the Council Members named Orion the next Prime, and no-ones seen him since."
Dion streched his arms.
"More than likely headed back to the Kaon Pits!" he said "Forget him!"
Ariel was about to respond when a shadow suddenly passed over the large window behind her, she looked around to see what it was, but there was nothing there, as if there never was.
"You okay?" she heard Dion's voice.
"Huh?" Ariel responded "Oh yes, I just...I thought I saw something." she looked back at Dion who had started to go towards the main doors.
"I'm gonna head back." he said "I'm beat, tell Orion I'll see him back here tomorrow."
"Dion, wait!" said Ariel, a worrying niggle in her spark, since that passing shadow at the window, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Dion touched the doors and they opened, as they did, a dark shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Megatronous standing there.
Dion nearly glitched in shock at the sight of the red-eyed grey and black Gladiator wondering why he was there.
"Megatronous?" he choked, he then saw the Gladiator smirk, showing razor sharp denture then a whirr was heard, and looking down he saw a gun pointed at his mid section.
Dion didn't even have a chance to run nor even shout before Megatronus shot him in the midsection!
"DION!" Ariel screamed in horror as the mech fell backwards choking as he tried to gasp for air and blue energon pooled around him.
"It's Megatron actually." Megatronus snarled as he stepped through the door, the smirk still present on his face, stepping on Dion's arm as he did so making the mech yell out in pain as it snapped.
"Oh Primus! Dion!" Ariel sobbed, then her grief turned to fear as she saw Megatronus's optics look up at her and narrowed.
"Good evening Ariel." Megatronous snarled as he morphed his arm cannon into a clawed servo and started to walk towards the stairs.
"ARIEL!" Dion managed to scream despite the pain and his strength ebbing away as he lost more energon "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"
Ariel stepped away from the balcony and looked around for an escape route, she knew she couldn't take the Gladiator on by herself for he had taken on other fighters and creatures in the Pits of Kaon, some even bigger and stronger than him and he had defeated them without so much of a scratch.
A small femme like her didn't stand a chance.
Turning away from the balcony she ran into the labyrinth of data records, hoping to loose the Gladiator and find a way out so she could get help for Dion before it was too late.
Seeing her disappear into the Iacon library, Megatronous smirked.
"You're playing hard to get." he said "This will be interesting!" he started to walk up towards where Ariel had run.
"Leave...Leave her alone! You..You monster!" Dion choked after Megatronus "You won't get away with this!"
Megatronus looked back at Dion.
"Will I not?" he asked then flexed his clawed servos "Just wait and see, Orion took away what was important to me, I'm just returning the favour, and you were only the first part!"
"You...you Fragger!" Dion choked "Spawn of Unicron!" he then gasped as he started to feel drained due to the energon pooling around him.
"Orion...where are you?" he breathed "Help us..."
Meanwhile Ariel ran through the halls, her spark pulsing in fear as she looked around for another exit or at least somewhere to hide.
Her spark then stopped and she yelped in shock as the lights suddenly went out, plunging the entire library into darkness! The only light left was Cyberton's moons casting a few beams witin.
"Come out Ariel!" she heard Megatonus's voice called out "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Ariel squeezed her optics tightly as she tried to stay calm.
"Primus...please...help me!" she pleaded as she listened out for Megatronus and find out where he was so she could get away from him.
"Why do you run Ariel?" Megatronus called "You know you can't escape me!"
"Orion." Ariel cowered into a shadowed corner and tried to feel for her spark mate through their bond, "Please hear me! Help me!"
As she tried to connect she suddenly felt a large hand grab her from behind and she screamed as she saw Megatronus's face appear from the darkness.
"Got you!" he growled.
Ariel glared and tried to get out of his grip yet he held her tightly.
"Let go!" Ariel screamed, yet Megatronus pulled her close.
"Your sparkmate will pay dearly for what he did!" the Gladiator snarled, Ariel grimaced as she felt his hot breath on her cheek "He took away what I desire and now he will feel the same thing one I terminate you!"
Ariel then felt a surge of anger within her spark and she pulled her head back and head butted Megatonus with all her might making the Gladiator recoil in shock and loosen his grip.
Seeing her chance, Ariel uppercutted him in the jaw then turned to run again.
"Slagging femme!" Megatronus snarled as he watched Ariel get a good distance away before transforming into her vehicle mode to go faster.
"You can run." Megatronus smirked as he saw her disappear into the darkness "But you can't hide!" he then started to walk in the direction she drove away.
Ariel drove away fast down the winding halls, data pads flying everywhere as she went, she then transformed back into her true form and looked around for somewhere else to hide from the Gladiator, all the time trying to reach Orion through their bond.
She turned another corner as she heard Megatronus's footsteps and to her horror, it was a dead end.
"No!" she breathed, then looked behind her with terror as she heard a whooshing sound then a transforming sound followed by footsteps.
It was then she saw Megatronus appear around the corner.
"Ah!" he smirked "Found you!"
"Stay back Megatronus!" Ariel snapped and getting into a fighting stance, yet the Gladiator stepped towards her, the look of victory on his face as he cornered his prey.
"What did you do to Dion!?" Ariel demanded.
"I extinguished his spark!" Megatronus answered, his red optics glowing "He must have bled out by now as I've been hunting you."
Ariel felt a sob escape her lips as she thought of her friend laying there bleeding to death.
"And now I'm going to do the same to you my pretty femme." Megatronus smirked "Yet yours won't be quite as quick!"
He flexed his clawed servos in a way that made Ariel feel more scared, he was doing to do more than just kill her, he was planning to torture her first.
"No...please! No!" she begged as her back touched a wall and she slid down it cowering.
"I know how much Orion cares for you." Megatronus smirked as he stepped closer and he grabbed Ariel by the throat and pulled her close "As part of my revenge, I will give him your head!"
Ariel struggled in his grip and tried to kick but to no avail.
"Pity it had to end like this!" Megatronous held up his other servo and produced a long blade "A pretty little femme like you."
Ariel closed her optics and prepared for the worst when a gunshot was heard and Megatronus growled in anger.
"MEGATRON!" Orion's voice bellowed "LET HER GO!"
Ariel opened her optics and saw to her joy and relief, her sparkmate standing a few feet away with a large muscular red and black mech, both looked furious and were armed with their guns. He had heard her plea through their bond and they were here, and hopefully had gotten help for Dion.
"Orion, Ironhide!" Megatronus snarled "Come to save your precious Sparkmate hmmm Orion?"
"Let her go Megatron!" Orion Pax hissed, his denture bared and his optics flashing "She has nothing to do with this!"
Megatronus lowered Ariel down yet he didn't let go of her.
"Release her!" Orion Pax ordered.
"You took everything from me Orion." Megatronus growled "You convinced those Council Members to listen to your ideas instead of mine!"
"It's not my fault!" Orion argued "I didn't know they would agree with me! I only spoke the truth! What I believed in! I never meant..."
"To take away what was rightfully mine?" Megatronus finished "Take away what I truly desired, what I left the Kaon Pits for!? What I have worked had to achieve!? Even mentored you to be where you are!?"
"I'm sorry!" Orion tried to reason with the Gladiator, anything to save his sparkmate who was still struggling in Megatronus strong grip "I'm sorry okay? I never meant for it to happen! I understand your wrath! But if you want to punish me, deal with me! Just leave Ariel alone!"
"You think you can convince me to give her up?" Megatronus asked.
"You coward!" Ironhide spat as he held up his gun "You shot Dion! And you plan to hurt Ariel as well? They did nothing to you!"
Orion shushed Ironhide and stepped towards Megatronus lowering his gun.
As much as he was furious and devastated that the mech he had considered a brother had turned on him and shot Dion and now Ariel was in danger of suffering the same fate, he wanted to try and reason with him.
"Look, you can deal with me okay? This is between us! Not her!" he said "Just let Ariel go!"
Megatronus looked at Orion Pax and gritted his denture, then he looked at Ariel and smirked.
Ariel saw his intentions and before she could make a sound, the Gladiator grabbed her face then turned to Orion!
"Say goodbye to your precious Ariel, Orion Pax!" he snarled.
"MEGATRON NO!" Ariel heard Orion's terrified voice before the Gladiator gripped her cheek plates then he twisted her head!
Ariel felt her neck snap with a loud crunch then she choked as she felt energon erupt through her mouth.
"NOOOOO! ARIEL!" she heard Orion scream followed by Ironhide's gasp of horror and she was dropped to the floor like a piece of scrap.
Megatron as soon as he dropped the pink femme he jumped and transformed into his Flying Jet form.
"This is only the start Orion!" he shouted as he flew away "You haven't heard the last of Megatron!"
"YOU FRAGGER!" Ironhide shouted as he shot after Megatronus "You Cowardly piece of Unicron Slag!" but the jet flew out of sight and smashed through a large window before flying into the distance to Kaon.
Ironhide glared after him then turned to see Orion drop to his knees next to his broken Spark-mate.
"Ariel!" Orion held her face and looked into her dimming optics "Sweetspark? Oh Primus, Ariel!"
Energon poured from Ariel's mouth as she tried to speak, she tried to keep her optics open as she looked at her devastated Mech but before long it started to get dark and the last thing she felt was Orion cradling her close to his chest and then his heartbroken howl filled the whole library filled her audio receptors before all went silent...
Megatronus was so angry that Orion Pax was named the next Prime by the High Council that he decided to get back at the Future Prime and Commander of the Autobots by taking away the femme he loved along with his best friend.
It was a small story I would have thought would have worked in 'Transformers Prime', and it would have been something Megatron would have done. Pity they didn't have Elita 1/Ariel in the show, she would have been a good character.
Still not the end of the story yet! Stay tuned for another chapter!