Chapter Seven: Till All Are One
Halfway to the ground, Tess realized that there really was no other way out. She was going to die defending the world. A pretty admirable way to go out, but goodness gracious, she was too young to die! It wasn't fair! Tess looked up, seeing the mournful eyes of Ember looking down at her. Poor Ember. She would have to watch Tess die. What would death feel like? Would she die right away, or would it take hours? Oh, hopefully it wouldn't be painful. For her sake and for Angela's. Just before she hit the ground, Tess heard the sound of...wings? Was it the angel of death, coming to claim her soul? But, then she was flying higher. Looking around, Tess realized that she was alive.
And she was being carried by Predaking.
Her surprised face turned to a happy smile. "Thank you!" Tess cried, hugging his neck. Predaking growled something that sounded like "You are most welcome."
As soon as she was on the ground, Angela started to mob her sister. She hugged Tess to her chest, sobbing in relief. Her baby sister, the most important thing in her life, was alive.
"Are you okay?" Angela asked, fixing her sister's wing. The whole IGL crowded around them.
"Yeah, thanks to him," Tess said. Predaking smirked.
Geez. I'm getting a lot of mixed emotions from these Cybertronians. The last I saw him, he literally tried to kill Abby and Ratchet, Angela thought.
Abby smile disappeared. "Wait a minute! If HE'S here, then that's means-" she cried. Before she could finish her sentence, a groundbridge appeared about a block away from them.
And out of the groundbridge came Team Prime. Angela could barely withhold a squeal. She watched as Optimus, Elita, Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, Wheeljack, Neron, Ratchet, and Knockout, ran out, shooting at 'cons, much like they did when she first saw them. Will had turned visible again, his jaw dropped. Angela couldn't blame him. She had reacted the same way when she first saw the Autobots. Wait a minute. Why was Arcee fighting? She was carrying! Then, Angela noticed that Arcee was wearing a steel plate over her spark. Hopefully, it would protect her enough. They soon made their way to the group but stopped, seeing the three former 'cons with them.
"DON'T SHOOT!" yelled Jack, Angela, Abby, Raf, and Tess. They stared at each other.
"They're our temporary allies," elaborated Jack. The Autobots relaxed a little bit.
Optimus stepped forward.
"We need to stop Unicron. And to accomplish that, we will allow you to fight with us, if you choose. Megatron, Starscream, and Dreadwing, will you stand with us?" he asked.
The request was met by dead silence. Angela frowned. How hard was it to make another alliance? Sure, it was with their sworn enemies, but they'd just allied with the IGL! Which was pretty darn close.
Dreadwing was the first to step forward. "I will." he said.
"Of course he will," muttered Starscream bitterly.
"Shut up," hissed Abby. Starscream pressed his lips together.
Megatron narrowed his optics. "Fine. But just this once," he grumbled, looking mostly at Neron.
Starscream sighed. "I suppose I must, too," he said, taking a small step forward.
"Now was that so difficult?" smirked Angela.
"Yes," mumbled Starscream. Now that the alliances were sorted out, some of the bots ran over to their respective humans while a few others continued fighting.
"MIKO!" cried Bulkhead.
"I'm okay, Bulk," said Miko, purposely not mentioning her "incident" with Unicron. Angela was tempted to tell him herself, but she stopped herself.
"Bee!" exclaimed Raf, running over to give Bumblebee a hug.
"Arcee, what are you doing here? You're carrying," said Jack.
Arcee put her hands on her hips. "Well, I have no intention of being on the sidelines while you and your team are fighting for your world," she frowned.
"What does 'carrying' mean?" asked Will.
"Pregnant," answered Abby. Will started to snicker, but received an elbow to the ribs.
Angela ran over to Neron. "Hey, Neron! How's life?" she asked, not knowing what else to say to him.
Neron grinned. "Good," he replied.
Abby approached Neron, dragging Will behind her by the arm. "Will, this is Neron. Neron, this is my little brother, Will," she said.
Neron blinked. "It's nice to meet you," he said.
Will nodded hesitantly. "Um, you too," he replied.
Angela grinned. "Let's introduce him and Tess to the rest of the bots," she suggested. Both of their siblings were looking from bot to bot, eyes wide. They both walked over to Elita, seeming to be thinking the same thing at the same time.
Angela ran up to their friend. "I'd like for you to meet my sister, Tess, and Abby's brother, Will," she said, gesturing to them as she spoke.
Elita smiled. "Hello," she said warmly.
Tess waved back at her.
Will blinked. "How do you know all these bots?" he asked.
Abby laughed. "Well, I was in prison with Elita, and we met everyone else after we escaped," she explained.
"You were in prison?! Did you make shanks or something and cut your way out?" asked Will, smirking.
"It's a long story," said both Elita and Angela at the same time.
"Hey Rust Bucket!" called Abby. Angela snorted in mirth.
Ratchet walked over to them. "What do you want, shortie?" he asked.
"I just wanna introduce you to my brother," said Abby. Ratchet's optics widened, his expression seeming to say "oh my gosh, there's another one."
"Your name is Rust Bucket?" snickered Will.
Ratchet glared. "No! My name is Ratchet! Your sister is just being a bad influence!" he griped.
Abby smirked. "I'm always a bad influence. It's my occupation," she laughed.
Angela laughed, barely managing to breathe in between giggles.
A 'con flew near them, but Knockout chased it and slashed it out of the sky. He smiled at the five of them.
"Doctor Knockout, at your service," he said, giving them a flourishing bow. Ratchet rolled his optics.
"I like your paint job. It's really sleek and cool," said Will genuinely. Angela raised her eyebrows. Sure, he had the cleanest paint job out of all the bots, but the coolest design was probably Bumblebee. In her opinion, anyway.
Knockout's optics widened. "FINALLY! A human who understands me!" he exclaimed happily.
"What do you mean?" asked Will, confused.
Knockout picked him up. "No other human has noticed the illicit beauty of my finish. I like you, kid. What's your name?" he asked.
Out of the corner of her eye, Angela saw Abby's grip on her lightsaber loosen a little, now that Knockout seemed to be liking Will.
"I'm Will," said Will, a bit of the confusion leaving his eyes.
"Nice to meet, you, Will. I am Knockout, the better-looking of the two Autobot medics," said Knockout, ignoring Ratchet's annoyed sigh.
"I know. You said that already," griped Will.
Angela scanned the battlefield. Most of the bots who weren't talking to them were fighting. Except for one. "Wait, where did Neron go?" she asked worriedly.
Tess hopped on Predaking's shoulder and looked at the scene. "Um, can Neron turn into an pickup truck by any chance?" She asked nervously.
"Why?!" Megatron snapped.
Tess pointed to Unicron. Angela gasped.
Neron was driving straight into the battle. And he was heading for Unicron.
Abby watched in sheer shock for a couple seconds, as Neron charged Unicron. What was he thinking?! Unicron could see him coming! It was suicide to charge like that. Maybe Neron was thinking that if it worked with Arachnid, it would work with Unicron, but Unicron was way more powerful. In fact, she would gladly take on Arachnid right now instead of Unicron. Abby ran as fast as she could towards her bot friend, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to stop him at this rate. But she had to try. Jack, Raf, and Elita started running as well.
By then, Neron was about ten feet from Uncron. He reverted into his regular form and started blasting Unicron. "THIS IS FOR MY-"
Neron was shot through the abdomen with a chunk of dark energon, before he could finish his battle cry. He collapsed into the dirt, optics wide. Energon started to pool around him.
The world went numb. Abby ignited her lightsaber and ran even faster, the only thought in her mind being "Get to Neron!" Angela tried to go after her, but she was restrained by Dreadwing. Abby could see Optimus driving behind her, and Megatron was close behind him.
Both bots caught up to her in a matter of seconds, of course, though Optimus was still pretty far to the left. She looked up at Megatron. There was an intense look in his optics, but it was one that she had never seen before. Then, the look shifted a little. Megatron grabbed her and flung her straight at Optimus. Abby slammed straight into the Prime, forcing him to revert back to his bipedal form. Luckily, he caught her before she hit the ground. Her armor protected her from the sheer force of the blow, but she had a feeling that she would be pretty sore later.
"I'm okay," she clarified, before Optimus could ask her. In Soviet Russia, you hit the truck. Abby shook her head. Seriously?! One of her best bot friends was literally bleeding out on the ground, and she had just been thrown into a semi-truck by a former warlord. How was she making Soviet Russia jokes at a time like this? Megatron then shot at a building. It toppled right near Elita, Jack, and Raf, blocking their path. They came to a screeching halt.
"What is he doing?" cried Abby, mostly to herself. She was still reeling in the shock of the last two minutes. Optimus didn't respond. He was staring at Megatron with worry in his optics.
Elita ran over with Raf and Jack. "That was...odd," she said when she got there.
Abby didn't listen to the rest of their conversation. She watched as Megatron closed the rest of the distance between himself and Unicron. Megatron bent down and checked Neron's pulse. Then, he stood up, a look of absolute rage in his optics. Abby shivered. She could almost feel his anger, even though she was quite some distance away.
Unicron laughed. "Finally! Someone who may give me a better challenge!" he cackled.
"Oh, you will get your challenge all right," growled Megatron, extending his sword. By now, all optics and eyes were on them.
Optimus put Abby down and started towards Neron. He grabbed Neron under the arms and dragged him away from Unicron.
"Is he dead?" breathed Elita.
Optimus shook his head. "No, he is alive. Barely," he replied. Abby stared at the hole in Neron's chest, wanting to look away, but she couldn't keep her eyes off of the Energon streaming from his chest. Ratchet and Knockout arrived a few seconds later, medical kits in hand. The rest of the bots and humans crowded around him, too.
"NERON! Don't die on me!" screamed Angela.
"How is he still alive?" questioned Will.
"I believe that some of the dark energon in his system is keeping his spark beating, but I don't know how much longer that will last," answered Knockout.
Abby tore her eyes from Neron and watched Megatron. Megatron was dodging bolts of electricity that Unicron was shooting at him. The chaos-bringer had a few lacerations on his arms, but was otherwise unharmed.
But Megatron was unscathed. He flew above Unicron, shooting at him with a seemingly unending barrage of energon fire. As much as Abby hated to admit it, it was pretty much an even match. Neron coughed, sending splashes of energon dripping from his mouth. Everyone flinched, except for Ratchet and Dreadwing. Megatron's gaze snapped to his son for a second. But that was long enough for Unicron to hit him with a bolt of electricity. Megatron went spiraling to the ground, limp.
"MEGATRON!" yelled Dreadwing.
Unicron laughed. "Oh, what a shame. The mighty Megatron has fallen," he deadpanned. There was a rustling coming from a pile of debris, and a metal hand clawed its way from the bottom. It was Megatron. He wasn't in the best shape, as he moved very slowly and his optics were clouded.
"Not...Neron..." Megatron mumbled, over and over again, louder and louder.
"What was that? Talking about your dying son?" taunted Unicron. He shot another bolt of electricity at Megatron. Megatron fell to his knees. Unicron came closer for the deathblow. Abby tried to cover her brother's eyes, but he smacked her hand away. Fine. He'd better not go crying to her if he was scarred for life. But Megatron stood back up. He pointed his hands at the chaos-bringer and shot the lightning right back at him.
"AUGH!" Unicron staggered back, leaving an opening in his defense.
Megatron transformed and flew straight at Unicron's spark, dagger out. Unicron saw what was coming for him too late. His mouth opened. Megatron flew through Unicron's spark, skewering it on his blade.
The Chaos-Bringer's body fell to the ground, empty and useless.
The area was silent. Everyone stared at Unicron's body in shock, like they expected him to pop back up at any second and finish them all. Abby expected that, too. Miko ran over to the Chaos-Bringer, followed closely by Bulkhead. She bent down for a second, and then stood up.
"He's dead!" cried Miko, a wicked grin on her face.
Abby let out a whoop, punching the air. They won. THEY ACTUALLY WON! She couldn't believe it! Miko high-fived Bulkhead, cheering. Bumblebee and Arcee embraced, falling into each other's arms.
Neron smiled weakly. "W-we beat him?" he rasped.
Elita nodded. "Yes," she said, squeezing his hand. Abby was suddenly reminded of her mother. Sheldon jumped on her, licking her face and she pressed a button on his collar, making him his normal furry self.
Tess grabbed Will and flew up about twenty feet, spinning him around and around.
"Put me down!" Will yelled, more angry than scared. Abby smirked and took a picture. Will noticed, and shot her a glare.
Tess put him down. "Sorry I got excited..." she muttered sheepishly. Abby heard footsteps coming from behind her. She turned.
Megatron was staggering towards the group of celebrating bots and humans.
"So this is how I go out," he rasped, energon trickling from the corners of his mouth, "Not the way I thought, but a good way nonetheless." And with that, Megatron collapsed, unmoving, into the dust.