Inside of Unicron, Spiders Trap
"Be reasonable, little sister," cooed Black Arachnia. "I don't even want to hurt you. All I want to do is find the answer. And somehow, you're it. You have it inside of you. You've got to."
Sari stumbled backwards weakly, unable to manuver well on the webbing, but at least she wasn't pined down anymore. She moved back from Black Arachnia, not replying just yet. In honesty, she couldn't think of how to reply. This was her dad in danger, after all. She had to save him. And yet equally strong was her desire to survive. She knew Black Arachnia, she'd heard all the horror stories from Optimus and Bumblebee about her experiments. She'd seen one of them up close and personal. Having no desire to spend the rest of her life with a speech impediment and a pair of mandibles, she desperately tried to think up a solution.
She stumbled back, and her hand brushed against the wall. Or rather, brushed against Unicron.
Back when she had been a little girl eager to learn more about the Autobots, Sari had once stumbled across the All-Spark, and with a single touch, opened it up to her. She had been greeted with a flash of information detailing Cybertronian life. It spoke to her on an unconscious level. And it had been painless.
This was not.
It was too intense and too fast for her to scream, but in that brief instant where she touched Unicron, she saw him. She saw his burning hatred for all life. She saw his unbridled ego, his smug superiority. But worst of all, she felt his terrible hunger, a hunger that could never be quenched, no matter how many planets and stars he devoured, how many worlds or peoples he destroyed. He was, for lack of a better terminology, pure evil.
She stumbled, wincing at the pain in her head, trying to keep her wits about her lest Black Arachnia pounce on her.
"Just come with me..." hissed Black Arachnia, unaware of all of this. "Just come with me and daddy dearest goes free. I'll even take him with us. We'll be safe somewhere. Somewhere nice. I promise. I swear by the All-Spark," she added desperately, her voice starting to show strain. She was starting to get hysterical, seemingly without realizing it. "Just come with me so I can find a cure and rid myself of this wretched organic contamination once and for all."
Sari glanced up at her, her thoughts snapping back into the here and now immediately at the insult. "Don't knock it until you've tried it, sis-..."
Optics widening in shock, she was cut off in mid-sentence as she caught sight of something.
And in a nanoclick, a plan had come to her.
"Say Black Arachnia, I am just curious about one thing..."
Four crimson optics narrowed dangerously. She was in no mood for games. "Yes?"
"Did Dad ever happen to mention... he happened to have a lot of tools and such on his person for his work? Like, throughout most of his jacket? I mean, he even, even added some pockets to his gloves for crying out loud so he'd have more places to hide all those tools. All those metal tools," she stated, emphasizing the one word with a great deal of significance.
Black Archnia frowned at the odd line of questioning, wondering what on earth had gotten into the tiny techno-organics head. Then, after a moment, she remembered reading the files on Optimus Prime's crew, and remembered the one Autobot amongst them she'd never actually met in combat (or any other capacity for that matter).
Ratchet.
As if this was his cue, the older medabot used his magnetic clamp and his good arm to yank hard on Professor Sumdacs body, tearing him free of his spider-webbing and into the safety of Arcee's arms, who caught him. As Sari had said, the Professor had multiple tools and other metal nicknacks seeded throughout his suit, even in a patch on one of his gloves he'd made himself, on the off chance he would need it. It was evidently enough for Ratchet's magnetism.
Thwarted, Black Arachnia screamed. "You wretched little...!" she started, but was cut off as one of Sari's hands unfolded and she fired an energy blast at the spider who had threatened her father. It hit her square in the face. The Decepticon helmet she wore shielded her from the worst of it but it still left her seeing sparks in all four optics. Blinded, Black Arachnia lashed out with her vicious claws, hoping to grab Sari or tear her apart, but the little girl leapt nimbly out of the way at the last moment.
Ratchet retracted his magnetic clamps and readied his EMP blaster, taking aim, but was reluctant to fire. Sari and Black Arachnia were both Autobots, after all, and while their organic components provided some shielding to the Cybertronian circuitry, it was still dangerous. A suitable blast to knock one out might also damage them rather severely.
"Ratchet!" she shouted, jolting him out of his musings. "Reconfigure your EMP blaster to... eee!" she screamed as she dodged a wickedly sharp set of claws. "... to setting six-six... ackt!" and again when Black Arachnia's stingers nearly impaled her. "-six!"
"But..."
"Just do it!" she yelled, in a voice well accustomed to getting what she wanted.
He grimaced but began retooling the settings of his EMP generator, all the while muttering about "ungrateful little young bots." Arcee worked to undo Professor Sumdac's bindings, helping free him from the spider webbing. After a moment's tinkering, Ratchet finally took aim again and called out "Set!"
Professor Sumdac ripped the remaining webbing from his mouth, nearly cosing him his moustache. "Sari, get out of there! What are you doing?"
Black Arachnia blinked away the last of the sparks flying behind her eyes, clearing her vision. "Just what are you wretched...?"
Sari didn't give her a chance to recover, she leapt up and performed a spin as she unsheathed one of her energon blades, lashing out at a conduit of Unicron's which vented liquid plasma. Her brief flash of insight about the great destroyer gave her exactly the information she needed to end this once and for all. This was all part of her plan, as the liquid splashed down over Black Arachnia, soaking her.
"Ratchet, fire! And whatever you, don't let up!"
The older medabot obliged, his blast hitting the Decepticon spider dead center of her torso, and she gave a wicked scream as the energies coursed through her, amplified and altered by the goo now covering her chassis. She felt like she was being torn apart from within.
Sari's faceplate slid down to cover her features as she powered up her energy blade, letting it vibrate at a very specific frequency. Between the three factors, the goo, the energy, and now the vibrating blade, she had exactly what she needed. "Here's your cure, you spider witch!" she screamed, leaping up into the air and giving a mighty cry as she swung her arm and the blade down, hitting Black Arachnia and cutting her almost completely in half, or so it seemed to Ratchet. A bright light burst into being, forcing him and Arcee and even Professor Sumdac to shield their eyes. When their vision cleared, they beheld an odd sight indeed.
Kneeling on the ground, clutching her face tightly in her hands, was Black Arachnia. Her helmet had come free in the chaos, and lay trapped in the webbing, but that was not all. Her entire coloration had changed from blacks and purples to golds and cerulean, albeit faded and dark. She moaned out of pain, unwilling to face the light. Her hands covered her face, unwilling to bare it.
Twitching beside her on its back was a monstrosity, a purple alien spider of enormous size which promptly righted itself and looked about with its crimson orbs. Then it scuttled away and vanished down one of the nearby tunnels and out of sight.
None of the Autobots had any desire to go after it.
Sari landed with a dull thud behind her, joining her Autobot friends and her human father as her blades retracted back into place and her faceplate slid out of view. Her expression was as cold as Megatron on a really bad day. "There's your cure. I hope it was worth it." Without another word, she turned back to her family and again smiled. "Let's go find Prime and lend a servo."
The Autobots and Professor Sumdac took off down another corridor, following the Autobots signatures deeper within Unicron, leaving Black Arachnia all alone.
After a moment, her hands slowly slid down to reveal her face. Not the twisted, spider-warped, ugly monstrosity that she had been for the last thousand stellar cycles... but the arguably pretty faceplate of Elita-1, blue optics and all. A quick internal scan confirmed there wasn't a trace of organic residue in her completely technological form.
She had been cured. She was whole again.
So why did she feel so utterly, completely... miserable?
The Heart of Unicron
Optimus Prime was starting to wish he'd installed some missile turrets along with his jetpack. Or grabbed an ion blaster last time he'd been on Cybertron. Oh sure, he'd said. We were Elite Guard but we didn't need fancy weapons or military upgrades. We weren't Decepticons, after all.
Really regretting that choice now, he mused, as he slashed another incoming tentacle, severing it before it could grab Longar-... Shockwave. Despite his appearance he was no more an Autobot than Jazz was a Decepticon. He was not their buddy. Still, at least he had a blaster. And for the moment, he was on their side. Still, even the double agent wasn't enough, they were slowly being overwhelmed. Most of his team wasn't here. Where were they? Damnit all, he needed them.
"PRIME!"
The welcome sight of Ratchet and Arcee, as well as Sari, brought them both welcome relief and even more welcome back-up, as the beleaguered team quickly added their firepower. Particularly in the form of the pink femme, who executed a flawless flip forward and a double sword strike that left four tentacles withering about on the ground.
"Damn. Where'd sis learn how to do that?" asked Jazz, kicking away another tentacle.
"No idea," replied Ratchet, using his good arm to hold up a magnetic shield, ushering Professor Sumdac into the middle of their defensive circle where he'd be relatively safe. "But I'm certainly not about to start complaining."
"Me either. Any sign of Bumblebee?" asked Optimus, as Sari smashed an incoming tentacle with her energon hammer.
"Thought he was with you," replied the gruff medabot.
Optimus shook his head. "We got separated... again," he said in embarrassment.
Another tentacle slipped in low under their guard, and grabbed a hold of Sari's ankle, suddenly yanking the little girl off of her feet. She gave a shriek at suddenly being hoisted skyward.
"Sari!"
An audible vroom filled the air as a yellow bug came speeding down one of the corridors, executing a flawless roll and transformation as Bumblebee unleashed a stinger blast, sliding along the ground in such a fashion that he caught Sari in his servos when she fell.
"Sorry I'm late guys!" he said, setting his favorite human down and standing, albeit weakly, since one of his legs was still lame, and unleashing both of his stingers. "Time to give the big guy some sparkburn!" he said as he fired once to both sides, then crossed his arms and unleashed a second blast to either side, gunslinger style.
Unicron roared above them as the team united, forming a stronger defense, and now starting to form an offense, beating back Unicron's defenses and taking strikes at his unprotected spark. It was akin to a flea biting into a walrus, but when that flea was under your skin, at your heart, it hurt. And Unicron roared in rage. Optimus Prime took opportunity of this to try and focus on the All-Spark in his hand again, willing it to light up. Or give him a sign. A signal. Anything. He focused all of his will on it, but it remained inert. Lifeless.
Their one last hope...
"Optimus! Get your thrusters in gear! We need to finish this already!" said Sentinel, coming back-to-back with his old Academy buddy and warding off some more tentacles. "Do your thing already!"
"I'm trying, its not working! You think you can do better?"
"Hand it over and we'll see!" said Sentinel angrily, a servo reaching out to take the All-Spark without even asking. As he did, however, the artifact lit up with a tiny flash. But not in the fashion they were hoping. All it did was shock Sentinel, forcing him to yank his hand back with a rather undignified yelp.
Sentinel and Optimus regarded each other a moment, unsure of what it meant, but it wasn't good. Or rather, perhaps they did know what it meant, but neither was willing to vocalize their thoughts. Too much had always remained unsaid between them.
Mouth working soundlessly for a moment, Sentinel finally managed to grab a hold of his last shred of dignity and said "Delete this, I'm out of here!" and began to transform.
"Sentinel wait!" pleaded Optimus as the now heavy duty monster truck went speeding out of the room. "Come back here, we need you!"
Sentinel ignored him. He couldn't go back now. The All-Spark had rejected him. Him! He was a Prime of the Elite Guard, he had been Acting Magnus in the absence of Ultra Magnus. He was the best Autobot in nearly a thousand stellar cycles, and still it had rejected him. In favor of Optimus. Everyone's favor protoform. His engine rumbled as he turned down another corridor and he assumed robotic mode again, lashing out a servo to slam into Unicron's wall. It wasn't fair. He was smarter, faster, stronger. Why did Optimus keep winning?
"It's not fair, damnit!"
He wasn't expecting a response. But he got one anyway.
"It rarely is," a voice echoed out of the darkness, as a form became visible.
Sentinel's eyes widened and his jaw hung slack as a ghost from his past appeared before him.
The Field of Battle
The Earth was rumbling fiercely now, making travel on the ground difficult. Humans were losing their balance, and the Autobots weren't faring much better. The Decepticon Air Forces, up in the sky, were managing a little better, but they were being overwhelmed by the swarm that was Unicron's bat drones. Most of the original drones, the four-legged spiders, had been defeated by this point, but they had more than served their purpose.
Ultra Magnus frowned up at the great destroyer, angrily, wearily, even as he watched a Decepticon come around for another futile attack. One which Unicron batted aside like a fly, sending the dark carrier that was Lugnut crashing to the ground, tearing up a long streak through the already broken earth to crash into some military tanks that had been setting up along the perimeter of the battle. This was an evil more dangerous than all the Decepticons put together. Humanity couldn't beat it back, Pit all of Cybertron couldn't beat it back. Optimus had been right, if they did not stop him here, Cybertron was as doomed as this tiny organic world was. How could he have been so blind?
Pushing aside his doubts and harnessing his anger into a force of power, he slammed the Magnus Hammer down hard onto the ground with the haft. The head of the mighty weapon began to glow as the energy of its wielder channeled into it.
"Not on my watch," he muttered darkly, as he lifted up the Hammer and pointed it at Unicron, unleashing a massive bolt of electricity. The blast was of such force that it knocked back the head of the great monstrosity, further scarring the left side of his face with the cracked optic. Enraged, the horned transformer turned to regard Ultra Magnus, his one good optic glowing like a dwarf star. But the Autobot held his ground, charging up another blast. And when Unicron fired a beam of pure energy at him, he responded in kind, the two clashing in mid-air high above the skyline of Detroit.
It was only a matter of time before Unicron's power began to win out. No single Autobot could stand up to it, not even the Magnus with his mighty weapon.
Defeated, Ultra Magnus did the only thing he could. Grabbing up the Magnus Hammer, he hurled it as hard as he could and as far as he could away from himself before the optic blast hit. He was expendable, but the Hammer was a symbol of Autobot authority. The next generation would have need of it. And for the last few clicks of his existence, he could finally stop shouldering the name that was Ultra Magnus and remember who he had been before the Decepticon Uprising. Before the Great War.
When he had just been a humble dock worker named Dion.
A weary smiled graced his face as the energy blast hit, and his optics drifted closed. The Supreme Five Gear Autobot General was obliterated in seconds. He never felt a thing.
Inside of Unicron
Out of the shadows stepped a ghost from the past, a face that had haunted Sentinel's nightmares for stellar cycles. Elita-1, his Autobot Academy colleague. His friend. And along with Optimus, the only real friend he had ever had.
"But... you went off-line... no... you changed into..." he remembered, lifting up his energon lance. This was some sort of trick.
She started to reply, but the entire tunnel seemed to shift suddenly, violently, throwing both of them off-balance. They realized all too late they weren't in a tunnel proper, they were in a shute. Sentinel gave a yell as he suddenly pitched to and fro like one of those silly human contraptions. A roller coaster, he think he'd heard Jazz call it. Elita-1 came tunneling down behind him, neither one of them able to hold on.
The shute ended abruptly, but fortunately Sentinel had enough foresight to raise his spare energon lance and dig it into the side of the wall before he pitched over the side. Which was a good thing because the shute ended about half a mile up. And if the fall didn't turn him into so much iron goo, below was far worse. A veritable cauldron of some sort of greenish-purple liquid, bubbling and churning with a great heat. Rocks and other precious minerals and metals came pouring down in great chunks, fed by the drill arm of Unicron as it bored deeper into the surface of the Earth.
There was no doubt about it, he was in the belly of the beast. Unicron's stomach.
A scream from above reminded him he wasn't alone in his mortal peril, and he glanced up in time to see Elita-1 come flying out of the shute. Unlike him, she didn't have any kind of hook or spike to catch her fall. She'd go tumbling down straight into the juices below and in all likelihood wouldn't last more than a nanoclick.
A servo lashed out and grabbed a hold of hers, fingers digging in as he halted her fall, but only barely. His own grip strained, and his lance almost pulled loose, but some miracle, they held together.
Dangling below, Elita peered up at him solemnly. Despite the threat to spark and servo, she looked almost bored. She wasn't even hanging on, his was the only thing keeping her from falling to her doom.
"Just drop me," she whispered.
"No!" he shouted down at her. Then immediately regretted it because his grip slipped a little more.
His denial roused her to anger. "Sentinel, let go! I'm not worth it! I got what I wanted just let me go off-line! No sense in you dying too!"
"NO!" he grunted, trying vainly to pull her back up. "Not... this... time...!"
Another shudder nearly shook them both loose, and sent Elita swinging. Sentinel grimly held on, though both of his grips was becoming tenacious at best. Realizing the swinging could prove advantageous, he went with it, and pushed Elita up and onto the narrow opening, telling her to grab his lance and hold on. And despite herself, she did.
"Sentinel..."
"Save it," he replied, grimly trying to pull himself up next. "We'll discuss it after..."
Another roar, and the place shook again, and his grip weakened. Just gotta hold on a little longer, just gotta...
He slipped.
For a nanoclick time seemed to slow, stretching out to decacycles. Sentinel Prime could see Elita-1's expression, shifting from relief to surprise to horror. She screamed his name, calling out for him, reaching for him, but they both knew it was far too late as gravity seized him in its merciless grip and pulled him down. He raised his hand, but not to reach for hers. In a Autobot Academy salute, as he'd been programmed. She and Sentinel and even Optimus had often exchanged them in a mocking, almost playful manner amongst one another, teasing each other that they'd all someday be Magnus. But this one was sincere. He was telling her to live. To continue on. And as he plummeted in free fall towards the churning, deadly chemicals below, he could see her above, holding onto his lance, safe and sound. He'd saved her.
Ha. Finally beat you at something, Optimus, he thought with a smile, just before his body hit.
The Field of Battle
Nearing victory, Unicron was flushed with estacsy, he barely felt the pinprick attacks of his attackers, now far less numerous. He only felt the hunger being sated as his core reached the center of Earth. In a few more minutes, he would have it sucked dry.
The Heart of Unicron
"Jazz, this isn't working!" shouted Prime, as he held up the All-Spark, weaving it back and forth, doing everything short of smashing it against the walls to try and activate it. And then he even tried that. Try as he would, it remained inert. It was little better than a burnt out flashlight the way he waved it around.
"But you gotta know what to do, O.P. Prowl said you'd save us all with the All-Sparks power!" he cried out as he smashed another tentacle with his nunchucku.
Optimus grit his teeth. "He wasn't specific on how, was he?"
"He just said it'd... wait..." Something clicked.
"From humble origins, from the ranks of the Autobots, one brave hero will emerge to unite two worlds. And utilize the power of the All-Spark... to light our darkest hour."
"Two worlds..."
Autobot Base, Detroit
Almost a year ago.
Sari sat up, stretching out a hand, letting her fingers slid apart and back together, now with much greater control than her first time in Sumdac Tower.
"So what am I?" she asked. "Am I robot or girl?"
"Both," replied Ratchet, confused by his own readouts.
"And neither," replied Professor Sumdac.
"You appear to be... something more," added Prowl from his place on the sidelines.
Isaac chose this moment to gently embrace his confused, frightened, suddenly teenaged daughter. "Oh Sari... you may be the best of both worlds, but to me, you will always be my daughter."
"Thanks dad."
The Heart of Unicron
"Sari! Sari's the key! Sari's the one!"
Jazz was not the only one shocked at Optimus' declaration.
"I'm what?" asked Sari, stunned.
"She's what?" asked Isaac.
And yet, part of her recognized the truth of his words. The prophecy struck a cord deep within her. Two worlds was not Earth and Cybertron. Nor was it Autobot and Decepticon. It was the biological and the technological. It was machine and human. It was techno-organic. She was the one. She had united two worlds within herself. That was why she had been in Sumdac's lab the day she was "sparked/born." That was why the All-Spark had chosen her to wield its Key. That was why she had been given a fraction of its power.
Her entire life had been preparing her for this moment. And she knew it.
Hesitantly, she stepped forward, even as Prime turned back to her and with the utmost tenderness, handed to her the All-Spark. Although it was still nearly as big as she was, she held it effortlessly, as if it was as light as a feather. As they all watched in awe, the container they had fashioned to hold it seemed to dissolve away in the suddenly flaring light of the All-Spark, and it began to transform, shifting its crystaline dimensions to a smaller, more delicate size. It fit like a tiny star in Sari's delicate hands.
Energy began to wash over Sari, as her eyes glowed an intense cerulean, all but bathing the area. Her pupils had all but vanished in the haze of light. "This is what I was created for," she said in sudden realization. Her protoform origins. Her father's touch bringing her to life. Her meeting with and subsequent adventures with the Autobots. Every lesson she had learned at their hands.
Optimus' humility.
Bumblebee's courage.
Bulkhead's kindness.
Ratchet's wisdom.
Prowl's discipline.
"Everything in my life... has been preparing me for this moment."
"Sari!" cried out Bumblebee. Ratchet held him back. But his call seemed to awaken Sari Sumdac to the fact that her friends were still here. Still in danger.
"Get out," she said simply. Though her voice was soft, the tone brooking no argument. It resonated with the pure power of the All-Spark itself. "It's time."
Waves of brilliant energy began to expand from the All-Spark in her hands, growing stronger and stronger. Above them, Unicron shuddered, and a deep roar emanated from high above. He was in pain. The All-Spark hurt him. Unicron was the killer of life, the destroyer of all things. The bringer of life, the giver of life, the All-Spark, was his anti-thesis. His kryptonite. And it had just been brought into the very heart of him. To his spark himself.
Prime turned to the others. "You heard her, roll out! Go go!"
Transformers effortlessly slid into vehicles and rubber was burned as they high-tailed it out of the chamber. Jazz grabbed a hold of Professor Sumdac, tossing him into his drivers seat as he took off. Bumblebee, however, had wrenched free of Ratchet and remained, watching in awe the tiny little techno-organic who was saving them all.
"Bee... go," she pleaded.
He shook his head, and stepped closer. She was doing that leaking thing again, but he wasn't going to let her get her way. Not this time.
"I'm not leaving you, Sari."
She shuddered, the power and the emotions coursing through her nearly throwing her off-balance. Bumblebee was there then, the yellow mech throwing his arms around her, to support her. She leaned into the cool metal, drawing strength from it. From him.
"I love you, Bumblebee," she whispered, barely audible. He heard it anyway.
Then Sari narrowed her eyes angrily up at Unicron. Power surged throughout her, and she grit her teeth and lowered her head. Tears streaked down along her cheeks.
"Hungry?" she roared, her voice echoing with pure power. Her eyes opened, flashing brilliant white.
"Chew on this!"
Earth, Detroit
Unicron roared in pain as energy seemed to erupt from his body, a burst of light tearing through his chest. His broken arm clamped over it to cover the power coursing free of his form, but another split his back, and still another his side, nearly tearing him in half. He stood to his full height, his head lost in the clouds as he roared in defiance. In agony.
"NO! I AM UNICRON! MY DESTINY! NNNNNOOOOOOOooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuggggh! MY DES-TIN-EEEEEYY!"
Building slowly, the energy erupted in a single burst, and Unicron exploded, his body torn apart by an energy and power unparalleled in this universe. Fragments of his gray and orange form were sent in countless directions form miles on end. Most burned up before they impacted, though several hit Lake Erie. His head was catapulted with such velocity it broke free of Earth's atmosphere and, narrowly missing the moon, went tumbling out of control into space.
Far below, the humans, Autobots, and Decepticons gathered at the battle lowered their arms and servos from their shielded eyes and optics, daring to look again. Their enemy was defeated. The few remaining spider-bots had either been destroyed or lost power when Unicron was defeated, and fell lifeless onto the ground. A cheer went up. Victory was theirs.
Optimus and his crew had managed to clear Unicron with seconds to spare before the blast had hit, and even managed to pick up some unusual passengers on the way. Elita and Lockdown had been stasis-cuffed by the Autobots and was given a wide berth to one side, one unresponsive, the other unconscious. They would have to get them to the Space Bridge for transport back to Cybertron and the Stockade.
In the midst of it all, they stood on the edge of the devastation, turning back to look at the empty sky, searching for a sign of Sari and Bumblebee. But deep in their sparks, they knew she at least was gone. Her sacrifice had meant their survival. She had saved them all. One little girl from Detroit had wielded the All-Spark to save two worlds and countless peoples.
No, wait, there!
A yellow mech trudged slowly across the broken wasteland, holding in his arms the gray, lifeless body of the techno-organic who had saved them all. In death, Sari had followed her protoform roots, and all color had been washed away from her crimson locks, her tan clothes, her dark skin. None-the-less, she still wore a faint smile on her face, completely at peace. Bumblebee solemnly laid her on the ground as he kneeled in the wreckage. He explained how the energy of the All-Spark had shielded them both, even as she poured herself into it. Professor Sumdac sank to his knees, unshed tears in his eyes as he beheld his daughter.
A dull clang came, and Optimus Prime glanced over his shoulder, none-too-surprised to see Megatron there, along with some of his Decepticon warriors, though far fewer than before. Blitzwing was still intact, and they could see Shockwave had rejoined their ranks. Even the Decepticon General had his fair share of damage, his helmet was dented, his body covered in cracks. He looked almost as bad as the day they had clashed over Detroit. For a moment the two war-weary soldiers regarded one another quietly, and Megatron took another measured step towards his Autobot rival, stepping within striking distance. Ratchet and Bulkhead backed up, weapons at the ready, but Optimus Prime waved their concerns aside, allowing his face mask to slid back and out of view. He was tired from all the fighting. And he hoped Megatron was too.
Megatron and Optimus Prime regarded one another quietly.
"So... do we finish what we started, Megatron?" asked Optimus.
Megatron held up his servo, but not in a clenched fist, but with palm open. "There will be no more war today," he stated. Optimus Prime, holding a similar view, took his hand in his, and they shook in a sign of mutual respect. "You have earned Megatron's respect... Optimus Prime."
Nodding, the two quickly released servos, and Megatron turned back to his remaining subordinates. "Transform and rise up... it is time we were going," he said, his vocalize tired. The gathered Decepticons quickly assumed vehicle mode, flyers picking up their non-flying comrades for transport to the Dark Syde.
The gray warrior paused as his subordinates took flight, speaking over his shoulder at the Autobots. "However... this changes nothing between our respective factions. The Decepticons will claim Cybertron. Some day. This... changes... nothing," he added darkly, threateningly, as he also slid into vehicular mode and began to rise up in the form of the tilt-rotor shape he had adopted on Earth.
Despite himself, Optimus Prime smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way."
Authors Notes:
Ultra Magnus' origins as a humble dock worker named Dion are G1 inspired, obviously (we never did find out what happened to Dion, after all, although many fans think he later became Ultra Magnus) and frankly, his name being just 'Ultra' sounds silly, since we know 'Magnus' is a title. And don't forget the epilogue, coming soon.
