Chapter 11
It's Time to Dance: Pt. 2
The school dance had been going on for about an hour or so. After a while, people decided to take a break from the dancing and simply chat with each other, including Prime-Rose and Yang-Tron (you're welcome).
"So Megs, you having fun?" Yang asked, leaning on Megatron's shoulder.
"I'll admit, this event has proven to be more enjoyable than I previously expected," Megatron answered.
"I'll take that as a yes," Yang said, but their conversation was cut short when team CRTT burst through the doors.
Upon entry, Thundercracker had tripped on his own foot, with the rest of the Cons falling on him.
"Augh, not again!" Thundercracker shouted, trying to pry the others off him.
"We're not late, are we boss?" Ransack asked, being the first one to get up from the Con-pile.
"Yes, you very much are," Megatron sighed, looking at his team with a mix of embarrassment and disappointment. Megatron then leaned towards Yang's ear and whispered, "if anyone asks, we don't know them."
"Oh, come on Megs," Yang said, gently pushing Megatron's shoulder, "don't be like that."
Megatron simply rolled his eyes at her in response. Once the Cons managed to get back on their feet, Megatron and Yang got a good look at their outfits. Thundercracker was still wearing his cowboy hat, as well as his boots, but his suit was grey, with the shirt underneath colored orange, and his pants were navy blue. Ransack was wearing a red suit with gold pants. Since his cap was off, you could see that his hair was colored a deep crimson, similar to Ruby's hair. Crumplezone's outfit was completely green, aside from his tie, which was colored blue. It was meant to emulate his cockpit in robot form. And, finally, Thunderblast. Her dress was mostly purple, with grey stripes running alongside it. Towards the bottom, the dress was split somewhat, revealing a good portion of her legs, and at the middle of her dress was a diamond-shaped hole, showing off part of her stomach.
"So Megatron, whatcha think?" Thunderblast said, spinning in a circle so Megatron could see her completely.
However, the answer she got wasn't exactly what she was expecting.
"I think you're trying to hard," Megatron said.
Thunderblast's mood dampened as she hung her head low and sighed, "I never win!"
(…)
While the Cons, Megs, and Yang were talking, Optimus and Ruby were talking at the other end of the room.
"Hey, Optimus?" Ruby said to her date.
"Yes Ruby?" Prime replied.
"I just wanted to say thanks again for going to the dance with me."
"It's my pleasure Ruby," Optimus said as he smiled under his mask, and Ruby smiled back, "You know, it's good to have relaxing moments like his in between battling."
Ruby nodded in agreement. However, that got her thinking about something.
"Optimus, can I ask you something?" she said.
"Of course," Optimus said in return.
"When was the last time you had a moment like this?" Ruby asked.
Optimus was about to answer, but found that he couldn't, as he could hardly remember the last time things were as peaceful as they are now.
"Honestly, it's been too long since something even remotely like this has happened. I think the last time it was this peaceful was twenty years ago," Optimus replied, recalling how in between the destruction of Unicron and Alpha-Q's first attack, things were finally at ease.
"Twenty years?" Ruby said, taken back by Prime's response.
Then she remembered how he told her that his battle with Megatron has been going on for thousands of years, which made Prime's answer more believable.
"Sadly, yes. I only wish the Megatron could see that it is possible for more than one race to peacefully coexist." Optimus seemed to mutter that last part, but Ruby was able to make it out.
"Yeah, I hope so too," Ruby said, supporting her date's opinion.
However, before they could continue talking, they got distracted when they saw Jaune standing alone by the punch bowl.
'I wonder why he's all alone?' Optimus thought before walking over to Jaune.
Ruby followed Optimus, realizing what he was going to do.
"Oh, hey Optimus," Jaune said, noticing Optimus and Ruby walking up beside him.
"Is everything alright? You seem to be alone," Optimus asked his fellow warrior.
"Naw, everything's fine, don't worry," Jaune replied, hiding the fact that things obviously weren't 'fine' as he said.
"Hey, I'm sorry things didn't work out with Weiss," Ruby said, bringing up the elephant in the room.
"Yeah, I herd about that," Optimus added, "hopefully you'll have better luck next time."
"Meh, it's fine. Neptune's pretty cool anyways," Jaune said, confusing both Optimus and Ruby.
"But, I don't see Weiss with Neptune," Optimus said, "look."
He then pointed to Weiss, who was trying to straighten the a few flowers on one o the tables. Then he pointed to Neptune, who was socializing with Sun and Blake, who had finally decided to take it easy for a bit. (Thank you Leobreaker!)
"Yeah, Weiss said she had too much to focus on to worry about boys," Ruby further explained.
Just then, Jaune's look of confusion went to a look of agitation.
"Hold. My. Punch." He said, handing his punch to Ruby.
Once Jaune walked away, Ruby took a sip of his punch, not caring who saw it.
"Ah, Ruby!" Optimus exclaimed, giving her a 'why' look.
Ruby just shrugged at him and took another sip of Jaune's drink. Now ignoring Ruby's behavior, Optimus watched as Jaune walked over to Neptune. However, he was stopped when Pyrrha walked passed him and out to the balcony. Shortly afterwards, Optimus saw Jaune follow his teammate outside.
"What's he doing?" Ruby asked Prime.
"I'm not sure," Optimus replied, "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
Now that Jaune had left, Ruby and Optimus could continue their conversation.
"It's strange, you know?" Optimus said, confusing Ruby somewhat.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Tonight is supposed to be a night where we can all spend time with each other and be at ease. But something feels… off. I don't know what it is, but there's just something missing."
For a few seconds, neither of the two spoke. But after considering Optimus' thought, Ruby decided to make a bold move. As Optimus was still thinking about what Jaune was doing, Ruby reached out for his hand and grabbed it. Optimus looked at Ruby, his cheeks starting to turn pink.
"Maybe I could help make things feel, y'know, less off?" she asked as her face turned red as well.
"What exactly are you implying?" Optimus asked, smiling at Ruby.
"Well, uh, maybe we should go somewhere more, um, p-private?" Ruby timidly replied.
"I suppose we could do that," Optimus said, his face turning redder as they walked together to the stairs leading to the balcony just above the entrance to the ball-room. Finally, they were making progress.
(…)
Meanwhile, not too far away from where the dance was held, Shockblast was currently flying over the town.
"TRANSFORM!" he said as he returned to his route mode and landed on top of one of the buildings, "Cinder, I'm at the rendezvous point. Where are you?" he questioned, talking into the communicator in his antennae.
"I'll be there in five minutes dear. Once we meet up, we wait for the signal," Cinder said on the other line.
"Good, I'd rather not wait any longer. Mercury, Emerald, how are things looking at the party?"
"Just hold out a little longer Shockblast. There's still some people alone, and we don't want to risk you getting caught," Emerald said on a third line.
Shockblast clenched his metal fist and gritted his teeth.
"You know I don't like waiting," Shockblast spoke into his communicator, "there had better be some kind of distraction, cause if we don't pull off this operation…"
"I, uh, don't think you'll have to worry about that anymore, boss," Mercury cut in, alluding to a very unusual event transpiring at the dance.
"Well, whatever it is, it had better last!" Shockblast shouted, growing more impatient.
He then looked over the academy, a smug look on his face.
"I'm coming for you, Megatron!"
(…)
Back at the dance, everyone's attention had shifted from their dance partners to something rather out of place.
"What's going on?" Megatron asked no one in particular, curious as to hat everyone was gawking at.
Megatron then leapt into the air and hovered above the crowd to find out what exactly was going on. Then, he saw it. One of, if not the most, ridiculous thing ever witnessed his whole life. Upon descension, Megatron couldn't help but burst into laughter, leaving the others mildly confused.
"Ey, what's so funny?" Thundercracker asked curiously.
Finally, they all saw it. Amidst the crowd stood Jaune Arc, and he was wearing a white dress with a large bow on his waist. The cons burst into laughter upon seeing Jaune in his new 'attire.'
"Pfft! I haven't seen something this funny in ages!" Crumplezone laughed.
"Haha, I'm with ya buddy!" Ransack agreed with his large friend.
Wanting to see Prime's reaction to this event, Megatron looked around the room or him, but found that he was nowhere to be seen.
"Wait, where's Prime?" Megs questioned.
(…)
As Megatron and the others were still making fun of Jaune downstairs, Optimus and Ruby were looking over Vale on the balcony. It was just the two of them enjoying the view, alone.
"I never realized how beautiful the city looks at night," Optimus said, gazing at the city, illuminated by the numerous colorful lights.
"Yeah, me neither," Ruby agreed.
"So," Optimus said, looking at Ruby, "what do you propose we do now?"
"Well, we are at a dance, so why don't we, you know, dance?" Ruby suggested, the redness returning in her face.
"Without any music?"
"I, uh, think I can do something about that."
Ruby then pulled out her scroll and selected a song on a music app. It was a soft, sweet song, and she felt it was perfect for the moment. The title of the song read 'Gold: Acoustic.' She set down her scroll on the wall near the stairwell and let the song play.
"This seems almost planned out Ruby," Optimus said as he and Ruby began to dance.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ruby said, despite her actually planning this out in reality.
The two remained silent as they continued to dance with each other. Optimus twirled Ruby around with his hand, but when he pulled her back towards him, she accidentally stepped on his foot. Optimus winced a little as Ruby stepped off his foot.
"Ah, sorry!" Ruby apologized.
"Heh, don't worry, I've endured worse," Optimus reassured as they continued to dance.
For Prime's first dance, he was actually pretty good at this. Granted, he practiced a bit before now, but regardless, for his first time, he was doing nicely.
"Hey, you're pretty good at this," Ruby complimented.
"Thank you, you're doing quite well yourself."
"Thanks, my dad taught me how to dance in case something like this popped up. And wouldn't you know, here we are."
"So I guess this is your first actual dance?"
"Yup, what about you?"
"Well, let's say there's a first time for everything."
The two danced for a bit more, until what Optimus said registered in Ruby's head.
"Wait, so after the, what, centuries you've been alive, you've never been dancing?"
Optimus shook his head in response.
"You're… good at a lot of things, aren't you?"
"Well, not everything Ruby."
Ruby blushed a bit as she looked down a bit.
"What is it Ruby?" Optimus questioned.
"Well," Ruby said as she looked into Optimus' eyes, "are you good at this?"
Ruby suddenly took her hands and placed them on Optimus' chest, causing him to blush heavily. Ruby blushed just as hard as he did as she slowly leaned closer to Optimus' face. She closed her eyes, and…
*THUD*
Ruby and Optimus jumped back rom each other and looked at the source of the interruption. Near the exit to the stairwell was none other than Ruby's dear sister Yang, looking up at them while on the ground. The music cut out as soon as Yang spoke.
"H-hey guys, what's up, heh," Yang laughed nervously.
"YANG! Were you watching us dance!?" Ruby questioned, stunned by her sisters presence.
"Uh, maybe?"
Ruby's face went red as a tomato when she realized that Yang saw her almost kiss Optimus. She stomped over to her sister and quickly scooted her out of the scene.
"Could you excuse us for a moment?" Ruby asked, but didn't let Prime answer as she and Yang had already gone halfway down the stairs.
But as they were walking, Ruby noticed a wide grin on Yang's face.
"What?" Ruby asked her big sis.
"You really do like him, don't you?" Yang teased.
"Ugh, fine! Yes, I do like him!" Ruby confessed, "But you ruined the moment!"
"Well, I didn't do it on purpose."
"Yang, could you just, y'know, leave us alone? Please?" Ruby pleaded.
"Ok, I'll leave you to it."
And with that, Yang began to walk away. However, before she could leave, Ruby stopped her for a moment.
"Yang, wait."
"Yeah sis?"
"Do you… think I have a shot at this?"
"Of course you've got this!" Yang said, putting her hands on her sisters shoulders, "but, if you wanna go in for the kiss, then you probably want to save it for another time."
"What? Why?"
"I'm just saying, maybe you should let him know how you feel first. Then you can kiss him!"
Ruby thought about her sisters advise for a moment.
"Ok, I'll take your word for it sis. Wish me luck!"
And with that, Ruby went back to spend time with Optimus. In the meantime, Yang went back to hang out with Megatron.
"So, what happened?" Megatron asked curiously as yang made her way to him.
"Eh, not much. Ruby and Optimus are starting to hit it off though!"
"Pardon?"
"What, you've never heard of that expression before?"
"I'm afraid not."
"It means that Optimus and Ruby might start dating!"
"Is that so? Interesting."
Megatron put a hand on his chin as the news put a nasty thought in his head.
'Hmm, perhaps I could use this to my advantage in the future, once this is all over," Megatron thought.
However, he was distracted from his thoughts when he took a quick glance outside and saw a familiar figure out of the corner of his eye, standing on one of the rooftops. He looked back outside again to make sure he saw correctly. He took a good long look at the figure this time. He was cloaked, so Megatron couldn't make out much of his appearance, but he still recognized him. What wasn't covered were two purple, metallic boots. On the left side of his body was a grey claw, with a blue orb in the center of it. But what stuck out the most was the green, glowing eye shining from beneath the hood.
"What is it Megs?" Yang asked, looking in the same direction.
"It's Shockblast," Megatron said, pointing at Shockblast in the distance.
"Ugh, this guy again?" Yang complained, "So, we gonna go fight him?"
Eager to have a rematch, Yang smirked as she cracked her knuckles. But Megatron wouldn't let he have her fun.
"No, I'll go fight him," Megatron said.
Yang groaned, disappointed that she wouldn't get to fight. But, remembering her last encounter, she silently agreed that Megatron would be most suitable for this task.
"Fine, just be careful, got it?"
"Tch, I hardly doubt he'd be a challenge," Megatron said confidently.
(…)
Unbeknownst to anyone, Mercury and Emerald were continuing to aid Shockblast and Cinder in their objective.
"It appears all the dancers have partners," Emerald said to Cinder, who had now met up with Shockblast.
"How's our time looking?" Shockblast asked.
"We should probably be home by midnight, to be safe," Mercury recommended.
"We'll keep our eyes on the clock," Cinder said as she and Shockblast started to head out.
(…)
Back with Megs and Yang, Megatron was using his aura to form lighting around his hands, getting ready for what he thought would be a fairly quick fight. However, Yang, looking back to where Shockblast was standing, now noticed a strange, masked woman sprinting across the buildings, with Shockblast hovering a few yards in front of her.
"Megatron, look!" Yang said, physically twisting Megatron's head to face the same direction of Shockblast and the woman.
"Alright, one," Megatron took Yang's hand off his head, "don't do that to me again. Two, this may prove to a bit more difficult than I thought."
"So, high and mighty you can't handle two people?" Yang asked smugly.
"Shockblast is formidable. If he keeps me occupied and allows the woman to continue their objective, then I can't stop her," Megatron explained.
Megatron then turned to the other Decepticons not to far from him.
"Ransack, Crumplezone!" he said getting their attention.
"Yeah boss?" the Cons said simultaneously.
"Come with me. It's time I introduced you two to an old 'acquaintance' of mine."
(…)
At the base of the transmit tower, both Cinder and Shockblast were hidden behind a wall, just out of sight from a guard by the tower entrance. Shockblast smirked as he dashed closer to the entrance of the tower, unnoticed by the guard. Shockblast then swiftly snuck up behind the guard and bashed him over the head with his metal fist, knocking him out instantly. Once the guard fell on the ground, the ex-con grabbed him by the arm and tossed him into one of the bushes, out off sight from anyone who may pass by.
"Good work," Cinder complimented as she walked to the entrance, "wait here, and make sure no one gets in."
"What, I can't have a little fun?"
"You'll have your bloodshed in time. But for now, you do as I say."
Shockblast rolled his eye and slumped over, disappointed that he wouldn't be killing anyone tonight. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't have a good fight. A few minutes after Cinder had entered the building, a red, flaming portal opened up in front of the cyborg. And wouldn't you know it, none other than Megatron, as well as two other Decepticons he didn't recognize.
"Well, looks like I do get to have some fun," Shockblast said as he readied for a fight.
"Ransack, Crumplezone, I'd like you to meet Shockblast," Megatron introduced his minions to his former associate, "Shockblast, meet the morons I call teammates."
"Aw, I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to us!" Crumplezone said, mistaking Megatron's insult or a compliment.
"Tch, they're dumber than Snowcat and Demolishor," Shockblast mocked.
"True, but they are good distractions. Ransack, Crumplezone, attack!"
The two Velocitronians charged at Shockblast at full speed. Shockblast just stood there as the Cons jumped at him and aimed their fists at him. Unfortunately for them, Shockblast swiftly evaded their attacks. He kicked Crumplezone in the back, sending him flying several feet. He then grabbed Ransack by his jacket and flung him in the same direction he sent Crumplezone.
"Hardly even a challenge!" Shockblast said, "Now, it's your turn Megatro-"
However, when he looked back to his true enemy, he had disappeared!
"What!? Where did-"
Shockblast looked up for a moment and saw Megatron flying up to the top of the tower. He was headed for Cinder! But that's not why Shockblast was concerned. His rage and lust for vengeance were blinding him. All he wanted was for Megatron to die. He started after Megatron, but found that he couldn't as both Ransack and Crumplezone grabbed onto his legs as he was taking off.
"Na-ah, no way! You ain't getting to the boss that easy!" Ransack said as he climbed up from Shockblast's legs and onto his back.
"Yeah, you want him, you go through us!" Crumplezone said as he used his brute strength to slam Shockblast onto the ground.
But his maneuver didn't go over so well with Ransack.
"Hey, you almost crushed me!" Ransack shouted as he got off of Shockblast.
But there was no time for chit-chat as Shockblast slowly rose in front of them, his eye glowing with anger.
"Argh, no more games," Shockblast growled, "I'll tare you to shreds! Then, MEGATRON IS NEXT!"
Shockblast then tore off his cloak, revealing the left side of his body. Now, instead of a metal stump, was a brand new silver arm. But instead of being a massive green cannon, it was a more humanoid appendage. The colors were, of course, very monochromatic as he didn't have any time to give it color. But there were four panels resting on his forearm, which appeared to serve some sort of function.
"What, you think you can beat us with some shiny arm?" Ransack mocked, further angering Shockblast.
Shockblast's only response was, "DIE!"
Suddenly, the four panels on Shockblast's new arm became detached, and started spinning around his wrist. Blue electricity surged in between the panels as a blue sphere formed in front of his fist.
"That doesn't look good!" Crumplezone said.
Once Shockblast's arm was done charging up, a massive blast of blue energy burst forth from the panels. Ransack and Crumplezone couldn't get out of the way of the blast in time, and thus, were hit dead on. The result in the blast as a massive, blue explosion, which left a crater at the point of impact. And at the center of the crater, Ransack and Crumplezone lay unconscious and defeated.
"Huh, I might have to thank Roman later for this," Shockblast said as he flexed his new appendage, "then again, I can't transform. I'm gonna have to punch him after I thank him."
For now, Shockblast would have to resort to the elevator. It's not something he was used to, but it would have to do for now.
(…)
Meanwhile, as Megatron had finally made it to the top of the tower, he saw that Cinder had already achieved her goal. Or at least, that's what Megatron assumed. But now wasn't the time for assumptions; now was the time for action! Megatron hovered back a fe feet before charging head forward into the window, causing it to shatter. Megatron's sudden appearance caught Cinder off guard, but she somehow expected something like this to happen.
"I don't know who you are," Megatron said as he used his evil aura to summon his energy sword, "but I suggest you stand down, or face oblivion."
Cinder remained silent as she too formed a pair of swords using some Dust she had on hand. She dashed at Megatron and slashed her swords towards his face. But Megatron managed to block her attack with his sword. He then retaliated with his own barrage of slashes and swipes from his weapon. But Cinder was a skilled fighter, and she managed to block every one of Megatron's attacks. Cinder then jumped back into the air and morphed her swords into a bow and arrow. She fired three arrows, but Megatron quickly destroyed them with a single slash from his sword.
"Playtime's over!" Megatron shouted as his sword dissipated.
He aimed his hands at Cinder and fired a barrage of lightning at her. Despite her swiftness, Cinder was unable to evade the lightning and was incapacitated for a few moments. Megatron walked over to her, an evil grin on his face. Just as Cinder was recovering, Megatron slammed his foot on her chest, pinning her down.
"Now, let's see who you really are," Megatron said as he removed the mask from her face, "Ah, you're one of the exchange students from Haven. Cinder, was it?"
Cinder scowled at Megatron, but remained silent.
"If you think I'm going to kill you, you're wrong," Megatron said, surprising Cinder, "I want to make a deal with you."
"And why should I believe you?" Cinder said as she tried to lit Megatron's foot off her.
"I can tell just by looking at you that you seek power. I can give you that power, and more! All I ask is one thing in return."
Now Cinder was intrigued. I there was one thing in the world she craved more than anything, it was ultimate power.
"And what would that be?" she asked.
"I want in on your little operation. And if I'm right, which I always am, you need someone to give you a constant supply of both Dust and Energon. That's how Shockblast has been able to survive here. And that someone can only be Roman Torchwick. Am I right?"
"How did you-"
"I'm smarter than I look, Cinder Fall. So, do we have a deal or not!"
Cinder thought on Megatron's proposal. Ultimate power was extremely tempting, especially to her. And she knew he could give her that. After what Shockblast told her about how he was able to control Unicron, she knew he wasn't lying. Finally, she made er decision.
"Fine, we have a deal."
"Excellent," Megatron said somewhat gleefully.
"Now, get off me," Cinder demanded.
"I would, but there's something I must do first."
Suddenly, Megatron's right hand began to glow. But it wasn't for his sword or lightning. No, it was for something even more excruciatingly painful!
"What are you doing!?" Cinder questioned.
"Just a little precaution, so you don't betray me."
Cinder was about to speak, but she was interrupted when Megatron slammed his hand onto Cinder's forehead. She screamed in pain as Megatron's hand burned her head.
"Oh don't worry, it only hurts more when you resist!" Megatron cackled.
At last, the process was complete. Cinder's screaming ceased as Megatron lifted his hand from her forehead, revealing none other than the Decepticon insignia. Megatron branded her, just like he did to Inferno and Scorponok. But the brand slowly disappeared after a few seconds.
"Welcome to my team, Cinder," Megatron said, lifting his foot off her chest, "Once I leave, tell Shockblast that both he and you work for me now."
"And, (pant) if I don't?"
"You have to! You're a Decepticon now! You are loyal to me, and if you act otherwise, your new brand will overheat, causing it to melt your mind. The only way for you to be free, is if I were to die."
Cinder was unresponsive. She knew what would happen if she tried to kill him herself, and she wasn't going to risk that. Luckily, she might not have to as the elevator door opened, letting loose a very pissed off Shockblast.
"MEGATRON" Shockblast shouted, pointing his arm-cannon at his foe.
"Nope," was all Megatron said as he opened a warp gate beneath Shockblast, causing him to fall to a new location.
Megatron then grabbed Cinder by the arm and dropped her into the warp gate, sending her to the same place as Shockblast.
"Farewell, for now."