To Firewolves16: Yes, that was the evil Optimus.
Chapter 21
Honor is not Loyalty
The mass of robots landed roughly onto the ground in front of the Stunticon and his partner. The extra set of mandibles on the newcomers' jaws clicked irritably, as though studying the two Decepticons before them.
"Well, don't they look friendly?" Breakdown offered sarcastically, as the both of them slowly backed away. When the larger Decepticon stood between the insecticons and Airachnid, their demeanor suddenly became more aggressive as the lead one charged at him.
"Alright, bug. Time to get squashed-" Breakdown cut himself off, sparing a glance at Airachnid. "Er, no offense," he amended. He unsheathed his hammer from within his arm, ready to clobber the giant once it got closer.
"None taken," Airachnid deadpanned, obviously not impressed with Breakdown's insult of choice.
Breakdown's hammer collided with the lead Insecticon's faceplate, clearly staggering him, but not knocking him down. Airachnid, wanting to help, quickly surveyed the area. Knockout and Arcee were still too far away to reach just yet. Noticing that the rest of the group were beginning to close in on Breakdown, she launched a web at the nearest insecticon's shoulder like a rope and pulled, causing it to fall forward and subsequently felling a couple more.
The brutes apparently didn't appreciate the gesture and they all snarled loudly, beginning to take to the air by transforming.
"Legs, now is about a good time as any to get out of here," Breakdown said to her. There wasn't much he could do in combat, now that all of their opponents were out of reach.
"Scrap!" Airachnid complained. First, she had to rescue the Autobot she hated most right next to Ratchet, then a processor ache, and now Insecticons? "I wish all of this madness would stop!"
Although she wasn't expecting an external response of any kind, the Insecticons suddenly grew quiet. They quickly reverted to robot form and landed on the ground without showing any sign of resistance.
Then they kneeled.
In front of Airachnid.
"Uhh..." Breakdown stuttered. Well, that happened. Airachnid didn't know what to make of the situation either. Idly, she leaned to the side, noticing that the Insecticons were following her movement with their heads.
"Er...What are you all doing?" Airachnid decided to ask. It wasn't every cycle that Insecticons suddenly kneel before you.
"We await your command, your highness..." the Insecticon at the head of the group, apparently the leader of the crew explained. Airachnid didn't know how to really react to that proclamation.
Breakdown and Airachnid glanced at each other momentarily. The Stunticon shrugged, urging her to say something, so she settled on asking his name.
"I am known as Hardshell. Me and my brothers relocated here after Cybertron's core shut down."
"Where did you live before?" Airachnid inquired. The Insect like robots continued kneeling and Hardshell spoke up again.
"The Badlands, before it became uninhabitable due to Optimus Prime," the Insecticon sneered as he said the Autobot leader's name.
"As much as I can relate to snuffing a certain Autobot's spark," the femme drawled, drawing a tired sigh from Breakdown, "I'm not your...Queen or master or anything."
The Insecticons appeared to be unsettled by this statement.
One of the other large beings stepped forward, his mandibles clicking in uncertainty. "But, what do we do without your orders?"
Airachnid must have been feeling quite irritable that day if her dismissive statement of "Figure it out" was anything to go by.
The hapless hive took her statement- an order to them- to heart, the hive communicating through some manner of speech using snarls and screeches.
"At least allow us to assist you, mistr-...ma'am." Hardshell nearly slipped, continuing to kneel.
"And another thing, stop kneeling," Airachnid added as an afterthought. The beastly Decepticons hesitated before standing up. "I'm looking for some..." Airachnid paused. Even though Arcee looked alot like the evil sadistic glitch she swore to destroy, she wasn't going to senselessly get her killed by Insecticons by suggesting she was also looking for an Autobot as well as a Decepticon.
"I'm looking for some...friends" hesitating only slightly at the use of the term. "Maybe if you could help me look for them. They should be nearby."
"Don't worry, we will find them quickly," Hardshell claimed. He was the first to jump into the air and transform into his alt mode, a giant beetle. The other insecticons followed suit, and they all spread out a bit, quickly surveying the forest.
Breakdown and Airachnid looked on at the sight, the Stunticon visibly impressed.
"You did mention one time you wanted a lot of kids, right?"
Airachnid glared at the mech, resisting the impulse to slap him. Hard.
Breakdown sighed at her irritated expression. "It was a joke...Jeez."
The Dinobot commander charged at Optimus full speed, his legendary Energon Blade at the ready, prepared to bisect Optimus' dishonourable frame.
Optimus stood as calm as ever. At the last possible moment, he unsheathed the Star Saber. It was a mirror image of the Heroic Optimus' blade, sans the power lines running across the sides, which were red as opposed to the iconic blue. Fitting, as it matched Optimus' hateful red optics. Optimus' battle mask clamped in place, as though in preparation for the coming battle.
Both the Star Saber and the Energon Blade crashed against each other, and to the Dark Lord's suprise, the Energon Blade did not give and cut in two. Grimlock scoffed, as though he already knew it would happen.
"Your blade may be a relic, but the Energon Blade is not a simple physical blade. It's core component is Energon!"
"Don't believe you have me cornered," Optimus warned, their blades distancing from each other and clashing again.
The Tyrannosaurus's subordinates were unsure of what action to take at this turn of events. Grimlock obviously wouldn't want any help fighting Optimus, but it just seemed...inappropriate to just be standing there.
Swoop was the first to come up with an idea. "Guys, I'm going to get the Jurassic prepped. Most likely, we won't be welcomed here after this. And we'll need to get Grimlock out of here quick if things go to the pit."
"But where would we go? We'll be Autobot rogues for the rest of our lives."
"We'll defect to to the Decepticons of course," Swoop retorted, shaking his head as though it was the simplest answer in the cosmos.
Slag and Snarl glanced at each other then at the Pterodactyl.
"I don't know..." Snarl muttered, loud enough for his two comrades to hear. They all ducked instinctively as rubble flew overhead, most likely rubble formed from a wild swing by Grimlock.
"Swoop, you go do that. If things go bad, we'll try our best to get Grimlock out of here. That ship needs to be ready though!"
Swoop nodded in response to Snarl's command, holding off on transforming so as not to attract attention.
Meanwhile, as Grimlock and Optimus dueled, the Prime was apparently on the defensive, but his expression remained calm, much to the Dinobot's chagrin.
"You betray everything a Prime stands for! You are nothing but a tyrant that deserves to be terminated!"
To Grimlock's suprise, Optimus only laughed. "You cannot even imagine what the matrix is capable of. None of you do. Only I am worthy of it's power."
The cryptic statement did nothing to ease Grimlock's rage, and he pressed his attack, each swing of the blade intending to cleave right through the other mech. But Optimus kept making the slightest movements to evade the swings, as wild as Grimlock's were.
Taking advantage of his momentum, Grimlock kicked forward after a deliberate swing, catching Optimus in the chest. The robot was sent flying across the room, a testament to the Dinobot's savage and legendary strength. The much large mech stalked forward, raising his Energon Blade high.
Moving quickly, Grimlock attempted to thrust his sword forward and pierce Optimus' spark chamber, but the bot in question rolled forward past Grimlock's legs just in time. Optimus had escaped his view momentarily, as though he vanished. The Dinobot heard a distinct sound, of charging energy.
Turning his head to his left, he saw Optimus swing his blade, and a red wave of energy shot toward him.
Grimlock had no time to defend.
Egypt. This is where Optimus and Cliffjumper were currently located, searching for one of the Omega Keys. The region reminded Optimus a lot of the Sea of Rust, with much of the area they were in consisting of desert.
Optimus and Cliffjumper were currently in vehicle form, nearing a temple ruin that housed one of the fabled Omega Keys.
"Cliffjumper, whatever happened to Smokescreen of this Universe?"
"Well, before I tell you...how is he doing in ours?"
"To my knowledge, he is doing fine," the Prime answered patiently. "I believe he has acclimated to the group quite well."
Cliffjumper would have nodded were he in robot form. "That's good," he answered. "But he's not doing so well here."
The two shifted back into their biped forms as they neared the entrance to the Ruin. Cliffjumper had a scanner out, while Optimus kept on the alert for any hostiles.
"One of the reasons I took so long before contacting Megatron, was because...Smokescreen tried to defect to the Decepticons first."
They continued to walk, and Optimus was all audials. "What happened?"
Cliffjumper sighed as they entered the temple. Amazingly, the space was large enough for Optimus to easily fit through. There were images of all kinds along the walls, created by humans in their ancient past.
"You already know how the Autobots and Decepticons switched roles here. But when Smokescreen came on the scene, he was like an intake of fresh air. He looked up to you, or the other Optimus, I should say." Cliffjumper exhaled, reading the data on the scanner. "Even the RC of this world seemed to be at ease around him, but things went to the pit really quick. Once Smokescreen found out what this world's Optimus was really like...he tried to defect and give the forge of Solus Prime to Megatron."
Optimus narrowed his optics in thought. The situation reminded him of Dreadwing. "Needless to say, your evil twin didn't take kindly to that. I would've blown my cover to help Smokescreen, if only I knew what happened. Next thing I know, he never shows back up, and it was one of the only times I'd seen this world's RC depressed."
Optimus was silent, thinking over everything Cliffjumper had told him. How could his own counterpart be so twisted...? That left him with only one guess. Eons before, when Solus Prime was murdered by Megatronus, did the roles of some of the original transformers change?
Did Optimus' counterpart switch roles with the Original Megatronus' eons before in this world?
"It is imperative we find this key, Cliffjumper. And hopefully, we may be able to return home soon." There'd be no point in mulling over his counterpart's motives, Optimus thought. He would probably never understand at this rate.
Cliffjumper nodded his head, acknowledging Optimus' statement.
"Well, we have a reading on the key, now," Cliffjumper announced, opening a large chest that was situated in the corner of the room. Inside was a key shaped object, adorned with jagged edges and looked distinctly metallic.
"That's it," Optimus confirmed. The both of them headed back outside, only to hear a large BOOM further ahead.
A SpaceBridge was just closing up, and the two Autobots were greeted by the menacing frame of Optimus' evil mirror.
"You will hand over the key..." the Dark Prime ordered, slowly unsheathing his Star Saber.