'So, what will we be having today, my lord?'
Megatron frowned at Knock Out.
'Knock Out, please. I am not your 'lord' now, or ever again.'
The doctor looked at the ground in embarrassment.
'Forgive me, Megatron. After all these cycles being a Decepticon, I am still finding it a tad difficult to adapt to these changes.'
'That is understandable,' Megatron agreed.
The two robots were in Knock Out's new laboratory. Situated in the Iacon Archives, the facility was a temporary setup until Cybertron's reconstruction was complete.
'Anyway, going back to my original question, what is it you want done, my liege- I mean, ahem, my friend?'
Megatron glanced at him when he used his old title, but made no comment. He sat down on the operating table, and laid back.
'First and foremost,' he began, 'I wish for you to remove Unicron's, shall we say, modifications, to me.'
Knock Out nodded. 'Anything else?'
The silver robot paused. 'Yes, actually. I was curious as to whether the fragments of Dark Energon could be removed from my chest: I do not want it corrupting my Spark any further.'
The red doctor pondered for a moment, scratching his chin in thought.
'Perhaps,' he thought aloud. 'If I could obtain a dose of the Cybermatter used to reactivate Cybertron's core, it may have the same effect as it did on Bumblebee, in restoring your systems to their original settings... but it will involve me putting you into stasis.'
'That will be fine, Knock Out.'
He paused a little. 'However, Megatron, as the dark matter in your Spark chamber is the only substance keeping you alive, when I remove the shards, you will go offline for a few moments until I can apply the Cybermatter into your systems...'
Megatron looked over to Knock Out. 'I trust in your abilities, good doctor. I know I am in good hands.'
Knock Out nodded at the compliment. 'Why, thank you, Megatron! I shall just go and obtain a small quantity for the operation: I shall be with you shortly.'
He nodded, sitting on the table patiently.
As Knock Out left the room, he muttered to himself. 'Megatron? Compliment me? Could this cycle get any weirder?'
The doctor strolled into the main chamber of the Archives. Walking past Wheeljack and Bulkhead, who were talking by a console, he approached Ultra Magnus, who was in conversation with Arcee.
'Forgive me for interrupting, commander,' Knock Out interjected, 'but do we, perchance, have any of the Cybermatter available to us? I require a dose to administer to Megatron for his operation.'
Ultra Magnus faced him. 'At this point of time, doctor, we do not.'
'But, if we could access Shockwave's logs...' Arcee said, walking over to a nearby console, 'we could see the other half that Ratchet never obtained.'
She opened a file, and typed in an access code. A screen appeared, and Cybertronian text ran across the display.
'Scrap,' she muttered, as a Decepticon symbol flashed up. Typing furiously, she tried bypassing the security.
'Uh, careful,' Knock Out said uncertainly. 'Try not to break the console!'
Arcee glared at him, until a series of logs appeared on the screen, each coded with formulae and notes.
'Good work, Arcee,' Magnus commented.
'Thank you, Sir.' She replied, smirking at Knock Out, who held his hands up in apology.
Browsing through the files, she opened up one.
'Here we are: Cyber-Nucleic Acid.'
'That's the stuff,' the doctor confirmed.
Arcee groaned as she read the file. 'It's gonna take a while to synthesize, at least a few microcycles.'
'Firstly, you'll have to combine the Synth-En and the CNA together to form the Cybermatter,' Knock Out interjected. 'My time to shine!'
He stepped up to the console and entered a series of commands. The two molecules combined in a simulation, and with a bleep and flash of light, a virtual model of the Cybermatter popped up.
'Huh. Nice work, Knock Out,' Arcee said.
The doctor tried not to be smug, and failed spectacularly.
'Why, thank you!' He grinned, dusting his hands off. 'I pride myself on only a few things, 2-wheeler: my sublime scientific abilities, my brilliant sense of humour, and not to mention my lustrous finish.'
'And, don't forget your massive fear of scratches, Knock Out,' Bumblebee called as he walked past, grinning.
Arcee snickered, and Knock Out glared at black-and-yellow Autobot, who winked at Arcee. Bumblebee walked over and stood next to Smokescreen, who gazed out of a window with his arms crossed, watching as the occasional Spark streaked across the dusk sky.
The doctor tapped a button on the console, and said, 'there. Now synthesizing. If you need me, I shall be in the lab.'
He strolled out of the room.
Wheeljack followed Knock Out with his optics, still chatting with Bulkhead.
'... so I told the workers to hurry up, right? And guess what they said to me? 'Yes Sir'! I'm telling you Jackie, it's gonna be a while till I get used to not scrapping Vehicons every time I see one.'
He shook himself out of his reverie, and chuckled. 'Me too, Bulk. Me too.'
'Anyway, Jackie, I better get on with this reconstruction work.'
Wheeljack nodded. 'Sure thing. See you around.'
He patted his green friend on the shoulder, who walked away towards the door.
The white Wrecker narrowed his eyes in the direction that Knock Out had gone in. Glancing around the room, Wheeljack followed the red robot.
'Seriously?'
Bumblebee asked Smokescreen, overlooking Iacon through the window.
'Seriously.'
'I can't believe Optimus nearly made you a Prime!'
The blue-and-yellow Autobot looked across and raised an eyebrow.
'Why do you say that?'
'Not like that,' Bumblebee said quickly. 'I just meant that I couldn't believe that he knew who would be next.'
'Me too,' he agreed. 'I never thought that he believed I could be next in line for the Matrix. You know, seeing as he had only just met me, to be honest. Also, I hadn't been the wisest out of Team Prime: my ego was too big.'
'So, why did you turn it down?'
Smokescreen paused for a moment and thought. 'I think it was because I knew I wasn't ready. Going from security detail for Alpha Trion to the front line of the War is a step big enough, but becoming a Prime as well? That was too much for me to handle.' He looked around the room.
'Besides, can you really imagine me, leader? I can't see myself ordering Ultra Magnus around, or telling everyone to 'transform, and roll out!''
Bumblebee laughed. 'That's fair enough. What about now, though? With Optimus now one with Primus, this is your moment to step up!'
He shook his head. 'Nah, you heard what he said. No more Primes, not without the Matrix.' Looking across at the other robot, he continued. 'Anyway, since you got your voice back, you've been like a Prime: taking control of the situation when the commander was out of action; you really proved your mettle when Unicron was walking and talking.'
Bumblebee shrugged. 'I can't see myself as a Prime, either. You remember back on Earth, right? You asked me if I wanted to be a Prime then: and we both wanted to be warriors. We should let the High Council choose our leader, once they return.'
'Hey! I've just thought: Beta Prime!' Smokescreen shouted.
He looked at him in question.
'Get it? Your Prime name. Beta Prime! Bee-ta Prime? Get it?'
'Oh! Very funny, Smokescreen. But what would you be? Smokey Prime?'
They laughed, as an orange Spark flitted across the horizon.
'So, while the Cybermatter is produced, I thought I'd start with these pieces of armour, Megatron.'
Knock Out stood by the operating table, where Megatron sat patiently.
'Very well, Knock Out-'
He stopped as the door slid open, and Wheeljack walked in.
'Just thought I'd stop by,' the Wrecker explained. 'See that the operation goes... alright.'
Knock Out shrugged. 'Fine.'
Megatron lifted an eyebrow, but made no comment. He understood that given Wheeljack's personality, it would be a while until he could be fully trusted by him, and the other Autobots, for that matter.
'As we were saying,' the doctor continued, 'until the Cybermatter can be fully produced, I shall remove Unicron's modifications to you, Megatron. Shall I induce stasis?'
'If you would be so kind.'
Knock Out nodded, and hit a switch on a nearby panel. Megatron's optics slowly faded as he succumbed to sleep.
Wheeljack leant against the wall and watched.
'Let's get started, shall we?' Knock Out asked himself, turning around and picking up a surgical saw.
He started carefully with the corroded metal on his forearms, cutting thin slices in the armour, before using his pointed fingers to lever the plating off.
Knock Out then proceeded to his legs, shoulder and chest, where he encountered a problem.
'It would appear that the armour on Megatron's chest is fused by Dark Energon: this will be tricky...' he voiced aloud.
'What's the problem, doc?' Wheeljack said, talking for the first time since the operation began.
'Huh?' Knock Out had forgotten the Wrecker was still in the room. 'Nothing, really. Just need a little more power...'
He shifted his arm into his saw. Wheeljack tensed, balling his fists.
'Calm down, Wheeljack.' Knock Out sighed. 'I just need to apply more pressure to break the dark matter.'
He nodded tersely, and relaxed a little.
Sparks flew as the doctor cut into the armour, a high-pitched screeching creating agony for the two robots' audio receptors. Knock Out winced as the noise persisted, and even Wheeljack had to voice his complaints.
'Do you have to make that noise?'
'Almost... there...' Knock Out growled through gritted teeth. His saw pushed through the last of the armour, and the noise ceased.
The doctor massaged his head in his hands, and groaned. 'Ouch, that hurt.'
He picked up the bulky chest plate, and threw it into the pile of other discarded armour pieces.
'Now, just his helm...' he murmured, picking up the smaller saw. He carefully amputated the horns on his helmet and the spikes at the back of his head.
He stepped back to admire his handiwork, and Wheeljack walked forward to see.
Megatron now resembled his former self once more: admittedly there were a few scratches and dents from the surgery, but a successful process nonetheless.
'Not my best work, but nothing a bit of polish and a rotary buffer can't fix,' Knock Out commented.
A beep went off on one of the consoles.
'Ah! The Cybermatter is completed: Wheeljack, would you go and get that for me?'
He nodded, and left the room, heading for the other laboratory.
Knock Out chuckled. 'Who's errand boy now, Shockwave?'
The Wrecker returned, carrying a small canister of blue liquid: the Cybermatter. He passed the container to the doctor, who placed it carefully on a nearby table.
'Now comes the tricky part...' Knock Out sighed, picking up a plasma cutter. 'I will have to open Megatron's chest to access the fragments of Dark Energon in his Spark chamber,' he explained to Wheeljack.
'Once I have removed the shards, Megatron will go offline: and I will have to administer the Cybermatter to counteract that.'
Wheeljack raised an eyebrow. 'That sounds difficult, doc.'
'You don't even know the half of it.'
Knock Out ignited the cutter, and slid its tip along the centre of Megatron's chest. The panels slid open, revealing his Spark.
The fragments of Dark Energon were embedded in the pulsing device, the crystals a vivid purple, with a slight aura surrounding them.
A display in the background showed Megatron's life signal, pulsing steadily in his slumber. Knock Out replaced the cutter with a pair of pliers, and carefully took hold of one of the shards. He eased it out of Megatron's chest, and dropped the dark substance in a nearby container.
'Swab,' Knock Out chuckled nervously as he reached into the Spark chamber again.
'How you holding up?' Wheeljack asked.
'Like a Minicon under an Autobot Guardian,' he replied.
Wheeljack laughed.
Knock Out pulled out another piece of shrapnel, and put it with the other. He glanced at Megatron's life signal. His pulse had dropped a little.
He continued to remove pieces of Dark Energon, but each time a piece was removed, the pulse dropped more and more.
'How many pieces left?' Wheeljack asked.
'Just the one, I think,' Knock Out responded. His hand shook slightly as he reached into Megatron's chest again. As he grabbed the last shard, Megatron's pulse went into freefall. He pulled it out quickly and threw it into the container, while sirens went off and lights flashed.
'What the scrap is happening?' the Wrecker shouted.
'He's flat lining! He's flat lining!' He shouted back, panicking.
Wheeljack ran forward and grabbed the Cybermatter canister and an injector, while Knock Out ran around clutching his head in a frenzy.
Slotting the container into the device, Wheeljack plunged the nozzle into Megatron's Spark, and triggered the injector.
The Cybermatter squeezed out, but then nothing.
The sirens continued to wail, the lights continued to flash.
Wheeljack glared at the lifeless body of the former tyrant.
'Come on, buckethead,' he snarled.
Suddenly, a pale blue light began to glow from his Spark, and the sirens ended. Knock Out stopped running around, and looked at the silver robot, his fingers digging into his face.
The display began to beep as Megatron's life signal restarted, rhythmically pulsing. The light in his chest grew, becoming brighter and brighter, to the extent that the two other robots had to look away. With a flash, the whole laboratory was lit with blinding white light.
The light faded, and the two robots looked at each other in question.
'Ever considered being a doctor, Wheeljack?'
'Nah, technology over biology for me, doc,' he replied, smiling slightly at the red robot.
Megatron opened his eyes slowly, and sat up.
Rubbing his head drowsily, he looked at the others, who looked surprised.
'Well?' He asked.
Megatron was totally different. His optics was now a blue colour; and his eyebrows were now rounded, as a pose to sharp and angular. His claw-like fingers were now square-like, similar to how Optimus' had been; his shark-like teeth were square; and the scars on his face were gone.
The plates on his body that were once purple were now red; and where his Decepticon insignias had been found were now an empty space.
His voice was gentle, but carried a hint of wisdom behind it: he could've been mistaken for Optimus' brother.
'Well?' He repeated.
Knock Out had regained his composure. 'You look, er, different, Megatron.'
Wheeljack said nothing. He was shocked by how different his former enemy looked to the extent he was speechless. This was a rare event for a Wrecker.
Megatron got to his feet, but stumbled slightly.
'Steady there, buckethead,' Wheeljack told him with a smirk.
'Thanks,' Megatron replied with a smile.
The three of them left the laboratory, and headed back towards the main chamber.
Knock Out opened the door, and cleared his throat loudly.
Arcee, Ultra Magnus, Bumblebee, Smokescreen and Bulkhead looked around.
'Presenting, lady and gentlemechs, the new Megatron!'
He stepped to the side, revealing the reformatted robot.
Megatron stood in the doorway, his hands behind his back, looking intently at them with his blue optics.
They walked towards him in curiosity, looking at him with surprised expressions.
'Ok, I'm freaking out here!' Smokescreen said.
Arcee put her hand on her hips. 'This is weird. Like seeing Ratchet with a smile-'
Suddenly, a display panel lit up, and sirens lit up. Bulkhead ran over and looked at the screen.
'Guys? We've got bogeys inbound. A lot of them.'
They rushed to the window and looked up into the sky.
Hundreds of ships were descending from space.
'Autobots!' Ultra Magnus shouted. 'Mobilise! We may have a fight on our hands!'
They nodded, and headed towards the door.
'Ultra Magnus, Sir.'
Megatron stood by the window, still.
'What is it?'
'Reporting for duty,' he said, raising his arm in a salute.
Ultra Magnus smiled slightly. 'Your assistance is welcome, soldier.'
He smiled as well, and followed his new ally.
The Autobots gathered outside the Archives, and saw the first of the ships disappear behind some of the buildings.
'They're landing in the Iacon Spaceport,' Bumblebee called, pointing towards the ships.
'Autobots, roll out!' Ultra Magnus shouted.
They all shifted into their alternate forms, and raced towards the landing spacecraft.