The Gladiatorial stadium was packed to the point where viewers were even sitting on the rooftops and hanging on the statues that decorated the walls. Finding Swale was seemingly impossible, but they could wait it out. Knowing the tan and blue merchant, he was most likely going to retreat to his service ship and restock on shop items to sell the following evening.

Fights in the Pits didn't take too long but it depended on who was versing who and who wanted to participate in the free-for-all rounds, where bots could let out anger against one another without being an actual gladiator.

Before championship battles, other surviving gladiators dueled out to keep their audiences interested and give them an actual show rather than a single thirty-minute beat down where it ended directly after. Hadron and Diver were no doubt practicing in the Pit's underground training hall; they were probably as excited about the match as the city whom had come to observe them.

Keeping on the less crowded lower roof sectors, Phantasmos, NightHawk, and Eclipse watched the pre-championship match between Deathsteel and Solstice on one of the many shafted light poles. Too bad flying was forbidden in the arena because the dragon had to admit the fight was great and with an air-borne view, it would've been even grander.

Suddenly, Eclipse tapped his shoulder spikes and pointed at two mechs who were dodging and weaving through the standing lower roof-bound crowd. One was a dark blue with wings and the other was green with brown appendages. Both were making a retreat with what appeared to be stolen goods and to confirm it, the two techno-organics both witnessed the green one pickpocket something silver from a bystander.

A shout was heard a little ways from where the bots had just escape from. The femme who said it yelled, "Those rascals stole my necklace! Stop them!" In response, the crowd around her began searching for the thieves but as the word spread, the criminals were already gone from the section where the alert had reached.

The dragon snarled before jumping off the light stand and running after the two mechs. Eclipse, however, just lifted her arms up in disbelief and called down to her fleeing brother, "Hey! Hey, we're not here to play hero! We're supposed to find Swale! Come on, you idiot!"

NightHawk said nothing but go to the edge of the light stand and transform into her alt. mode in which she flew after the dragon boy, flying on the outside to prevent any unwanted attention.

He didn't hear his sister. Instead, he followed them to the upper roof where the seekers and other flyers hung out to watch the tournament. The closest to him was the green bot but with all the flyers around, he couldn't get within a good range to snag the evasive mech. Sliding under a large Insecticon, he continued to trail the grounder until he finally tripped him.

Growling, the mysterious mech brought his chin to rest on the ground with a puff of air flaring from his nose. Before he could get up, Phantasmos placed a pede on his back to keep him down.

"So, you and you're crime partner are the ones stealing from my merchants. My clients will gladly pay for your dismemberment. In fact, I think the crimes you've performed against them make you deserve to be torn apart in the Pits by the gladiators!"

Shocked, the green mech began to struggle and whimper, "Alright, I did it, but please don't send me down there! I'm barely a scout; I'm a youngling! I have so much to live for!"

"How so? You stole from MY clients! You are pretty much insulting ME and I do not tolerate thieves! In fact, I think my merchants would be more merciful than I in this given situation," Phantasmos snarled.

"I…I can make it up to you. I'll return the items we've stolen and I'll be your servant! How about that deal, huh?"

The dragon removed his foot from the mech's back before exhaling smoke. "Or, you can help me find one of the merchants I'm supposed to deliver new valuables to. Afterwards, we'll see what fate you deserve. By the way, what is your name?"

The mech got up and rubbed his sore back where his pursuer had his claws. He smiled a little, "Don't know really, but I gained the name Spike after both Draco and I became friends. Two lonesome bots trying to make a living, you know. Our families don't care about us; all we have is each other. We're practically brothers!"

"Hey, boys!"

Both Phantasmos and Spike peered up to see NightHawk dragging a bound Draco towards them. "Caught him after you captured the green dude. Put up a great fight, but I got him!"

She pushed him to stand in front of the dragon, who didn't respond to the seeker's presence. Draco spat on the ground before turning to the superior, "Had nothing else to do, eh? You are that concerned about your merchants' items? Techno-organics are persistent, I'll give you that. So Spike, finally gave in? I thought you knew better."

Spike lowered his head in shame while Phantasmos guarded him, "There will be no need to point digits here. You and your friend will accompany me to find Swale, whether you like it or not. As I have said to Spike, your fate will be determined afterwards. Are we clear?"

The seeker gave a sadistic smirk, "Perfectly."


"You think your father would've figured out it was you by now. I mean, you created many Sauropods then suddenly those abominations are running across the galaxy with an unknown dark substance. It points fingers at you."

Tigressa scowled, "Whether he doesn't know or he does is not relevant right now. As long as he's distracted, I can manage what I want without him pestering me about each transition I do."

Silos crossed his arms, shaking his head, "What do you intend to accomplish with this? You can't take over the galaxy nor can you fully control its citizens, if there are any citizens left judging by how much your 'Dark Eco' has transformed over the last year. The planets' are looking for a new leader since they're starting to believe Kronos set this chaotic plague up to remind them of who is in command. Which means, of course, everything is working according to your 'brilliant' plan."

He cringed when she laughed at the irony, "Oh, how the tables have turned."

Before she could say anything more, the chamber doors opened to reveal her mother, Queen Kiara. Two Guards followed her through as she happily walked to where her daughter was. "There you are, my dear. Your father has requested your presence in the Command Center, something about the Metal Heads."

That caught her throat. Staring wide-eyed for a second before regaining her current facial expression, Tigressa bowed, "Very well then. Silos, we shall continue this tomorrow."

The Captain grunted but didn't acknowledge her leaving. The Queen stayed with him and when the tiger-dragon left, she turned to Silos with a confused look. "What were you talking about, love?"

"Uh…we were just…um…contemplating about Phantasmos' well-being since, you know, he's on Cybertron and all. Vanali also mentioned how he missed them…so…yeah," he gave a sheepish fake smile, "How've you been, your Majesty?"


Tigressa felt all eyes trained on her as she entered the Command Center with an expressionless King Kronos leaning over the circular control panel as his claws dug into the metal. "I thought I could trust you," he said glumly, "How dare you take me for a fool."

Did he know? The tiger-dragon approached him uneasily, occasionally sniffing the air to detect what mood he was. She gave him a side glance of uncertainty to see how he would react.

"You have disappointed me, Tigressa. I expected better of you."

She gave a low roar to stimulate whatever he was feeling. He did nothing in return which made her worry he was going to be unpredictable and attack her.

Slowly, he turned to face his daughter with no reassuring smile, no disapproving frown, just a flat line with several razor sharp teeth overlapping his mouth. "When were you going to tell me that you…of all people…were hiding the truth from me? Why did you do this?"

In order to have some shred of hope that he could be manipulated into believing otherwise, Tigressa decided to play innocent. "I'm afraid I…don't know what you are referring to. What have I done?"

That question was obscure to perhaps even Raimo. No one except her could really say and even if her father could answer correctly, it would still be shrouded in mystery to all. His expression turned dark with his slit pupils narrowing to a thin streak vertically in his optics. Obviously, the question wasn't the right one to ask.

"You deliberately upstaged me by…falsely informing me of our progress on those silos! We need those yet you decided to build contraptions that are practically useless at this time! I don't need shields of Eco; I don't need Precursor artifacts like that 'Time Map' of yours! I need Dark Eco silos, Precursor armor, and weaponry! You are wasting valuable time and resources on items that do nothing to help win this battle! Either you fix this, or I will, and I don't plan on giving you a second chance. Mess up once more and you will be stripped of your command over this project, understand!?"

She was wrong; her father knowing would be a bad thing, but thankfully, it wasn't about that. She mentally gave a sigh of relief. However, she kept her visual appearance strict, showing no vulnerability to his words. "I understand, my Liege. It will be mended and accounted for in due time. I shall not fail you."

Much to her dislike, she bowed, carefully hiding the grimace as she did so. The King didn't give any hint of sympathy and turned away, monitoring the stats for new cruiser schematics capable of resisting the lower class Metal Heads. As his back was turned, the tiger-dragon clenched her servos into fists and an immediate large scowl broke its way to the surface of her faceplates.

Not paying attention to the others whom had been watching, she stormed out of the Command Room before going to her own chamber and breaking the body off one of the metal pillars that were immobile next to her berth. Shaking her helm, she roared angrily at the ceiling, her eyes just a red and yellow blur of endless hate.


Draco wasn't much of a nuisance as Phantasmos originally thought but when he could give the dragon a hard time, he would. The seeker would step on his tail while they were searching, forcing him to stop and do everything possible to calm himself. He also made noise to attract attention and blame it on the black and blue dragon.

When the tournament finally ended, thank Primus, they gave up their search and wandered down to Swale's service ship near his shop. It was as abandoned as the stadium in the aftermath of the fights. Spike sat atop the ship's frontal wing and played catch with Eclipse while NightHawk and Draco discussed how they became what they were now. Phantasmos just laid on the nose of the ship flipping an old rusted credit and predicting whether it would land on heads or tails.

A few minutes went by before they heard someone clear their throat. All looked up from what they were doing to see the tan and blue merchant with a familiar tan and purple mech beside him; Swale and Swindle.

"I do say, what are you younglings slouching around my ship for?" He hissed.

A majority of them glanced at each other and pointed at Phantasmos, who gave them death glares in return. Reluctantly, he answered, "We're here on business. I have what you want and you have something I desire."

Swale was confused at first but he suddenly recognized who it was. "Primus, Phantasmos? Eclipse?" He clapped his hands together in delight, "Oh how I haven't seen you since the Smuggling Episode! You've grown and you have new friends who are former thieves, eh? Remarkable, simply superb. I must say I'm surprised to see you here at this time. Things have turned for the worst with those new creatures occasionally stalking the surface of Cybertron. Twenty-two mechs, fifteen femmes, and thirty-seven younglings and Sparklings have fallen prey to those monsters!"

All, including Swindle, bowed their heads in silence. Phantasmos then said, "Truly sad. I am sorry for Cybertron's loss." He opened his chassis to bring out a different colored box, one with silver detailing on the corners. To save his merchant the time, he hopped down from the ship and gave it to his son.

Swindle smiled as he took it, unsealing it to reveal several gold and silver items along with a few worn but valuable artifacts. "Thanks. You know, my father's been teaching me about how to sell beauties like these for double the price. Works like a charm when you know your customers spot on."

Phantasmos gave a soft smirk before peering towards Swale. The tan and blue bot put up a finger and ran into his shop. As fast as he went in, he came out with an unusual machine part neither the two thieves nor even NightHawk had seen in their lifetime.

"Here you go, your Highness. Rebuilt to perfection and already tested. It's yours."

The dragon looked it over in awe. "You have no idea how badly I need this. One of my inventions needs a new power module and when I fix it, my dad will be proud and my mom will be grateful. Thank you."

Swale scoffed, "Ah, don't thank me. I'm a mere merchant doing what's right. Well, I have to be going back to running my shop. I shall see you whenever you decide to make another delivery."

Phantasmos waved good-bye to both Swale and his son. He motioned for the other younglings to follow who also waved back at the merchant.

"So," Draco mused, "now that's done and over with, what do you intend to do with us?"

The dragon smirked, "I'm not going to do anything anymore. You're free to go unless you want to come with us to Kanjis. That is…if you think you can handle the organic and techno-organic life on it, with mint-blue plants, two suns that are blue and yellow supergiants, and a bunch of Eco Wells with different types of Ecos surrounding the cities on it."

"Oh, I don't think, I know I can handle it. Right, Spike?"

Spike nodded while Phantasmos frowned. "I thought you didn't like us?"

The seeker laughed, "I don't but I like your abilities, stubbornness, and frankly, I love messing with you."

"Uh huh, so you do plan on sticking around?"

"Forever and ever. Besides, you're too fun to let go. We shall help you on your quests from here on out, whether it's thick or thin, we'll be there. So, Captain, where are we off to now? Your home?"

Phantasmos' smile faded, "No, actually, I need to do one more thing, but I don't know whether he'll still welcome us or shun us after the recent Metal Head attacks, considering those horrid creatures originated from Kanjis."

NightHawk jogged to the front to meet him, "So where is 'he'?"

"He's at Iacon in one of the main archive towers."


AN: Phantasmos is meeting his future siblings alright but Tigressa is struggling to maintain control over her situation. Let's just say, you'll learn soon enough how she counters this ordeal.