Spark

"Welcome Optimus Prime," Galvatron said smugly, "I am so gla..."

"Murderer," Katma all but shouted. She pointed her ring at the Decepticon's chest and fired a serrated arrow of Will. Galvatron swept the projectile aside with a casual wave of his hand.

"So aggressive," Parallax's host sounded disapproving, but a small smirk touched the corners of his mouth, "Do all Green Lanterns attack first?"

"You attacked first, when you killed B'Shi," the female Korguarian snarled. She clenched her fist tighter, and five more bolts appeared. This time, rather then deflect them, Galvatron let them shatter against his left forearm. Instead of dissipating, the breaking arrows turned into globs of viscous acid. It adhered to the robot and began to eat at his armor. After observing it for a moment, he neutralized the corrosive with a burst of Fear.

"Creative," Galvatron acknowledged, "But I guess this means I'll have to deal with you before I can speak with Optimus. It sounds like you were friends with the monkey. If so, I can send you to meet her."

"Stand down, Katma Tui," Sinestro stepped between her and Galvatron, "We should see what he has to say, before we start dismantling him."

"So the males of Korguar are more civilized, I will have to remember that," Galvatron inclined his head to the organic Lantern. Sinestro gave him a smile that seemed to say he was trying to determine the best way to separate Megatron's head from his body.

"You found this place faster than we expected," Parallax stated, "Not that it mattered, it took only a few hours to verify what I had told the Qwardians, but they had refused to believe."

"What was that?" Abin Sur said slowly, letting Galvatron know that the Lanterns were aware he was baiting them.

"That the Protoforms would not activate without a viable Spark," the Decepticon answered, "That there was not enough of Megatron left in here, and that without a Spark the best they could hope to do is scrap the incomplete Transformers for parts. Fortunately, for us and for the Makers below us, there is still one living Cybertronian Spark in the universe."

"And you expect me to help you?" Optimus demanded incredulously, "To turn the last of my kind into servants of Fear?"

"You don't have to help me, Optimus," Galvatron said darkly, "I can disable enough of your systems to make you unable to fight back, without killing you. Then I can use you to awaken my new slaves."

"Now you can kill him, Katma," Sinestro said calmly, gesturing subtly with his ring hand. An oversized green circular saw appeared inches from Galvatron's neck. The female Lantern acted almost as quickly, unleashing the construct she had been preparing since the moment Sinestro had stopped her. A dozen missiles, each with a different warhead, streaked towards the Decepticon. Abin Sur held back, ready to stop any yellow creations the avatar of Fear might call on counter.

A golden pulse shattered the saw, and then solidified into a reptilian maw, almost as large as its creator. The sharp amber teeth closed over the rockets, containing the flames, frost, acid, and other more exotic payloads Katma had devised. The disembodied mouth continued forward, lunging at the two Korguarians. Before it could reach them, a narrow emerald spear skewered it, pinning it to the deck. And then it broke apart as Parallax pulled back its energy. Sinestro nodded to Abin, while Katma generated a mono-filament fiber net and threw it at Galvatron.

Optimus focused his Will into a half-dozen copies of his preferred axe and sent them swinging at Galvatron, each from a different direction and angle. The Decepticon caught Katma's mesh without injury, and spun it back out to capture three of Prime's dancing weapons. He then constructed a matching number of serrated swords, three blocking the Autobot's remaining axes and the other three flying towards the organic Lanterns. Katma dismissed the web, freeing the other axes to attack Galvatron again. Abin Sur created a trio of logs, which interposed themselves between the Lantern's and the Fear blades. Though each sword cut deeply into the imitation wood, they were not able to slice all the way through and became trapped.

Sinestro, inspired by Katma, fired a blinding beam of emerald energy at Galvatron. The ray was no wider than helium atom, but held the force of a meteor impact. Parallax had his three unencumbered swords working to keep Prime's six axes at bay, tried to free his other weapons from Abin's trap, and stamped at the green rats Katma had clawing at his legs. Thus the Avatar of Fear did not notice the attack until it blasted through the passive yellow nimbus surrounding his stolen body. The bolt passed through the right side of Megatron's chest, and cracked the amber barrier blocking the starboard door. Galvatron glanced down at the new hole in his torso and snorted in amusement. He tore one of the swords out of Abin's construct, and send it spinning towards Sinestro's head. Abin continued his defensive play, dismissing the splintered log and constructing a chain that caught the claymore's hilt and crosspiece inches before it cut the Korguarian.

"Impressive," Galvatron told Sinestro, "And a fifth of a meter to the left or down and you might have seriously impaired this body."

Optimus Prime's optics watched Megatron's nanocells start to seal the ruptured conduits, only for more numerous gold copies of the microscopic machines to swarm in and start repairing the damage. To the organic Lanterns all they saw was a patch of Fear appear over the wound, and then melt away leaving no signs of Sinestro's attack behind.

"Unfortunately, non-critical damage like that is easy to repair," Galvatron said with false regret, "And that won't work again."

The axes suddenly unfolded, each transforming into an emerald Autobot only slighter smaller than Prime's organic comrades. Each dropped to the deck, and fired a wrist mounted laser at Galvatron. Two were almost instantly cleaved by the swords they had been fighting. The other four were able to dodge Parallax's construct and continued to harass the Fear Avatar.

'It's working,' Abin's voice was conveyed silently to the other Lanterns through their rings.

'Don't get cocky,' Katma countered sharply, 'We aren't exactly overpowering him.'

'Galvatron must limit the scope of his attacks,' Optimus agreed with the female Lantern in a more reasonable tone, 'If he kills me or the Protoforms, then all his plotting will have been for nothing.'

'That assumes they have not moved the Protoforms,' Sinestro added thoughtfully.

Galvatron created a giant scythe. It was half again his height, and were it made of real metal, would have weighed almost as much as its creator. Both edges of the blade were sharpened, and there was a series of wicked barbs down the back side of the haft. He swung the blade, faster than he should have been able to, and all of their Will constructs shattered. Abin was barely able to grab Katma and pull her back before the return stroke bisected her.

"Thanks," she whispered quickly, with a hint of fear.

"Katma, Abin, together with me," Sinestro announced, and then silently added, 'Optimus, he told us his weak spots. But only you have the accuracy to hit them.'

The three organic Lanterns closed ranks. Sinestro created an armored knight as large as either Cybertronian, with a winged helmet covering an expressionless face. Katma Tui formed her Will into a spear with a lightning bolt head, allowing Sinestro's construct to direct its motion while she focused on making it as strong and sharp as she could. On the warrior's left arm, Abin Sur generated an oval shield. Like Katma, he left the use of the guard up to his other ally, while he tried to make sure the shield would stand up to the Fear constructs.

Optimus stepped back and watched three part green warrior spar with Galvatron. He studied both the fighting styles, watching for a pattern he could exploit. The Autobot also observed how the Will and Fear clashed, attempting to determine what weapon would work best against the combined defenses of Megatron and Parallax. As his plan started to clarify, he glanced quickly around the bridge, looking for the best place to fade quietly out of the battle, until he was ready to take his shot. Then as his vision drifted over the intelligence officer's station, Prime noticed something that changed his plans entirely.

Galvatron angled his scythe upward, trying to get under the green knight's shield. The construct caught the weapon with the guard, and forced it back towards the Decepticon's chest. Galvatron absorbed the blade and sent a blast of golden fire towards the three Lanterns. The knight intercepted the inferno, protecting its creators. That gave Parallax a moment to conjure a flock of demonic ravens. The four-eyed birds swarmed the Will construct, pecking at its armor. Sinestro cut through the avians with broad swipes of the spear, while Katma added a number of strategic spikes to the knight's armor. Abin remained defensive, adding another layer of emerald energy to the warrior's armor. The knight broke through the ravens and charged Galvatron again.

Optimus carefully cut through the console, uncovering the treasure wedged tightly between the workstation and the chair. He wrapped his fingers tightly around the grip, and pulled his rifle free. The sympathetic circuits in his hand interfaced with the VERA, and a handful of his nanocells zipped into the weapon to repair the entropy damage that had accumulated over the millenia. Once the gun was pronounced sound, it began to draw on his Energon reserves to recharge itself. Prime sent a sliver of Will into the generator, maintaining his personal energy levels. Then he turned and pointed the VERA at Galvatron, his optics linking to the gun's targeting system, giving him a lock on the indicated spot on the Decepticon's torso.

Galvatron's eyes widened as Prime swung around bearing the rifle. The fragments of Megatron's memories swirled fiercely inside him at the sight of the weapon that had ended his life. His control slipped, and the emerald knight's spear shattered his new sword and nearly scratched his hull. Parallax recognized that Optimus was aiming for the spot he, in his bravado, had told them could shut him down, at least temporarily. A slam of the green shield knocked him against the captain's station, and he barely avoided another stab. He sent out a large of yellow fist, but it broke against the Will construct's defenses without even slowing it.

Galvatron realized he was panicking. As the Avatar of Fear, Parallax was accustomed to inspiring and controlling terror. But feeling it himself was disruptive. He had never expected that Megatron's remnants might influence him to this degree, and so had not even tried to master his host's nightmares. He tried to keep the knight between himself and Optimus, even as he struggled to create a construct to ward off the green spear. But his anxiety only deepened as he realized the Will warrior and Prime were both attempting to get the Autobot a clear shot at him.

Galvatron threw his plans to the wind, abandoning his attempt to minimize the damage to Optimus or the Nemesis. He took the fear he was feeling, and rather than try to make a construct, he released it in a wave of destructive force. The console behind him and the green knight shattered, and the walls trapping the Lanterns evaporated. Abin was just able to transfer his power to protecting his two organic comrades. And Prime rode out the wave, shaken but unharmed, its impact on him substantially lessened as he was the indirect source of most of the Fear.

Galvatron created an octet of golden Rannian wolves, and then staggered through the unblocked doors. The constructs were more complete than normal, with functioning organs and brains. So even without Parallax's control, they acted as they normally would, and began stalking Sinestro, Abin, and Katma, while ignoring Optimus.

"Go after him," Katma told Optimus sternly, "We'll follow once were deal with these."

Prime nodded, and ran off the bridge.