Megatronus was startled when something he presumed was large dropped onto his desk as he was staring out at Iacon's Hall of Records. He turned to see Tigressa and Captain Silos, blood-covered yet again, standing across from him while Solus' forge lay with Energon leaking from its crevices.

"I assume Solus is no more?" He purred.

Tigressa nodded with no smile or happy emotion, just a void line of a mouth. "I found it odd she just so happened to be muttering about you when I stormed in. But then again, it was against you rather than wanting to heal bonds with you."

This made the Prime frown greatly before he suddenly barked, "What she was discussing with herself was none of your damn business in the first place! Whatever was mentioned about her and me is private and you should be wise to remember that when I send you on my personal missions, techno-organic, before you find yourself alongside her."

Right as he turned back to the window, Tigressa's pupils narrowed as her brows were tilted towards the bridge of her nose. But she refrained from speaking out of place or making any sudden movements. Her optics shifted towards her SIC who was growling lightly.

Being threatened was not an uncommon ground among those she helped before, why should the present alliances be any different? Still, something was off and it was making her spine stand on edge.

"Have you ever heard of Precursor metal, Megatronus?"

The Prime didn't turn around but rather focused on the Hall of Records again. "I've heard of it but I certainly don't know where to find it. Why? Do you need some for one of your ghastly projects that will no doubt fail miserably if Kronos gets involved with them?"

"Somewhat but I can't go back on Kanjis to retrieve those materials personally nor can the Metal Heads as Kronos will still be provoked enough to keep defenses high and alert. If I pay you, will you send some of your lackeys to get it for me? The metal pieces are stored in a private hangar outside of the security walls surrounding Gemelo; a swamp land if you will."

"And if I refuse your offer?"

Tigressa scoffed, "Then I won't be able to 'help' you gain any more political power which is still at a stalemate, mind you. To pay you, I can get my Metal Heads to storm Crystal City's depositories as they are the best kept currency on Cybertron if not the most valuable. And I can also create a blow to Solus' charity sparkling chambers she had provided for before her untimely demise. An eye for an eye after all."

When Megatronus finally faced her, he wore a disturbing grin, "Deal!"

Prometheus growled at the Council-members as they kept arguing over his children's fate. The arctic representative, an orca-based Transformer named Springlock, seemed the most consumed by the conversation. She was also the most distasteful of King Kronos' proposal to give the fifteen heirs a second chance. Although Kronos himself couldn't blame the distrust, it angered him that she was pointing out even the meaningless flaws of his children.

"Why should we put out futures on the shoulders of these wrongdoers? They chose their side! I will not tolerate my life or my family's in the servos of…them!" Springlock hissed, "If Tigressa was able to manipulate them before, who's to say some of that manipulation isn't still in them? Something does not seem right."

Another Council-member by the name of Wildwing, a blue and green striped tiger-dragon who represented the industrial-jungle lands, surprisingly disagreed, "They didn't choose a side, they were forced by Tigressa. Plus if you didn't notice while you were cowering behind these walls with most of the other Council-members, they helped us fight the Metal Heads when she wasn't looking. I'd consider that worthy of a second chance at the very least. If they do something bad without Tigressa, then banish them but don't suddenly jump to conclusions!"

The mech's ears folded to the back of his helm when Springlock roared at him. She then shook her head with a somewhat sorrowful face, "Let's just say they get a second chance but Tigressa returns while one of them is in power. If they easily submitted to her before, what happens to them when they cower before her in the future? Tigressa has their sanity in her claws forever more and that throne and all its rights fall to her. They may not be the danger but they are its magnet which will lead the dark forces to our doorstep every second one of them rules the Serpent Sector."

Her expression turned neutral as she continued, "I'm sorry but I just can't risk even that. The needs of the many shall always outweigh the needs of the few. In this case, our citizens before our leaders."

Wildwing and the other Council-members were quiet now, pondering on her words. Even Kronos could not help but think about her statement now. She was right. Tigressa could in fact take command and terrorize the entire empire pretty damn easily if one of his children were to rule as they have already surrendered to their fears of her and what she could do.

Reluctantly, Prometheus bowed his head in defeat and said, "Let us take a vote now."

Several alarms blared as Crystal City's depository chambers were blown open. The guards could only widen their optics in horror as distinctive pairs of golden eyes became visible through the smoke before their owners changed, jaws open.

The guards shrieked as teeth were embedded in their body, ripping out armor and protoform alike prior to them instantly feeling their organs being crushed. They could only scream as they died, some bloodier than others as the Metal Heads grinned with dark satisfaction at their cries. As soon as the guards' sparks no longer beat, the abominations went to work.

A rare but powerful species of Metal Head known as a Flying Spider climbed through, rushing towards several control panels before hijacking the system to open all vaults. The Metal Heads then swarmed each cell while the Spider fed itself network data and account numbers. To these types of Metal Heads, knowledge was power and power was control. The best knowledge was like a fine cooked meal and they wanted every piece they could devour.

Containers upon containers of credit currency were thrown up to the awaiting cargo ship, three Metal-saurus' above ready to catch each vessel with a wide mouth. By the time they cleared out the depositories, more guards made their way down to the area. Guns fired upon the Metal Heads quickly, attempting to nail at least a few before they got away.

The Flying Spider grew outraged with the disturbance, unhooking itself from the control panels before deciding to use its own fast-fire weapons mounted on its jaw. It hit five of the guards killing two on impact. Knowing it and its kin were about to be overrun with angry Cybertronians, it retreated. Spitting webbing towards the aircraft they had the currency in, the Spider watched as it was drawn away from Crystal City while it hung upside down on the ship's belly. It gave a tawdry chuckle at its victory.

In the actual ship, Captain Silos activated the comm. links to both Tigressa and Megatronus. "Objective en route," he rumbled. "Second objective is required."

"Good job, boys, get that cargo to Iacon before the sun rises to keep our advantage. We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to all our hard work, now would we?"

"Aye, aye, Mistress."

Megatronus suddenly butted in, "And make sure you don't lose any of it! I am not very forgiving with these types of tasks. My forces are going to Kanjis now to retrieve your stupid portal so if you mess up transportation as much as you do stealth, I'll either call them back or alert Kronos that you are here, understood!? Megatronus out."

Silos' second comm. beeped before no sound could be heard; the indicating light turned black. He bellowed slightly before snorting, "Tell me again why we even bother to help this bastard?"

"I needed someone to get me the necessary parts for the Rift Ring as I couldn't go back to Kanjis. After he plays his role, we go back to that organic planet with anything we stole from Cybertron. This will be the last time we help him, rest assured. What can I say? I like it when I can manipulate others to doing my work for me."

The Metal Head Captain smirked.

Demon peered down from his chamber balcony at the progress of restoration of Gemelo and its outskirts. It may have been rebuilt in appearance but mentally, it wasn't right. Its citizens, Kanjis' citizens, were probably scared of him…of his siblings for what happened. And how could he say it wasn't his fault?

The most ironic thing about this situation was the fear. His abilities fed on fear to make him stronger, and yet he never wanted anybody to fear him for any reason whatsoever. It made him upset that now while everyone felt powerless and afraid, he felt invincible, all vigorous to his core. His capacities were at the max which if he used them, he would practically be unstoppable. But he didn't want to.

What made this even worse was the fact that he could sense Draco, Spike, and the other younglings' fears as well. Draco was doing his best to seem tough and emotionless, but he could see beyond the rough exterior that showed the Seeker's true thoughts. The youngling was frightened to the spark as he respectfully should be.

"Demon?" a voice sulkily called from the open doors to his chamber.

Among the framework where his door would be was his father, a saddened frown upon the older mech's snout. Kronos sighed as he approached his son whom he already knew could guess why he was in the room in the first place.

"I'm sorry, I did what I could but…um…it just wasn't enough," he grumbled.

The black and red dragon moved his optics in thought before peering to his side where his father stood beside him. "I knew it was only a matter of time. Nobody gets that lucky and scot-free. So when will you tell the others? Or have you already?"

The King shook his helm, "I have not because I don't know how to tell them. It'll break their sparks as well as my own and your mother's; that isn't something I can bear easily. You were the first to be told because I knew you would handle it better than your siblings with being the oldest sans Tigressa."

"How long do we have until departure?"

"Two days at most," Prometheus quivered as tears began forming around his lower eyelids. It was rare to see King Kronos cry but when he did, you knew the cause was extremely depressing and antagonistic. The only person who could make others cry in a heartbeat by simply looking at her was Queen Kiara herself. Seeing either two cry made one want to scream as well but Kiara was the greatest trigger of this.

King Kronos rubbed his temples while tears streamed down his cheeks. He closed his optics and swallowed hard. Losing his children was every parent's worst nightmare and now it was nightmare come true. They weren't leaving to live on their own, to make their own paths like every parent hoped their children would. They were being forcefully removed from their home world in Primus knows how long of a span of time, all because of a simple mistake to protect their youngest siblings from being killed. No one ever said good deeds paid off.

Would he have done the same thing to protect his family over his citizens, his kingdom? As selfish and careless as it sounded, he probably would have. Would it have bitten him in the ass a further ways down the timeline? Yes, but that one moment he had to make a decision like that would have been worth his name going down as the leader who failed his kingdom. The one moment where he could have set things right maybe too. To stop Tigressa and bring his family home without the battles they had endured. But that moment wasn't his, it was Demon's. And Demon chose right as any brother should have.

Prometheus felt Demon wrap the latter's arms around him, tears streaking the younger dragon's own face. "I-I'm so sorry! I should have stopped her when I had the chance!" Demon cried into his father's shoulder, muttering how he could have prevented the battle and the loss of lives. But to halt an event, you must give up a moment of your own which, as Kronos, could guess would have been the deaths of his younger siblings.

The King could only hug his son back and say, "You did what you thought was right, even if it didn't make sense to others. You are not at fault, I am. I let her do this to you, to make that choice. No matter where you go or what you do, I'll always be there for you as will your carrier….even if you can't see us. I promise everything will be okay. Alright?"

Demon wiped the lubricant built up among his eyes and nodded with a half-heartedly, half saddened smile, "Yes, Sire."

"And you promise to watch over your brothers and sisters for me and Kiara?"

"Yes, Sire, I'll try," he sniffled.

"That's my boy. We will always be behind you every step of the way, remember that."

Kronos continued to keep Demon close as the yellow sun set and the blue sun rose for the night. When he briefly looked up towards the starry sky, the bluish-green solar flare residues lit up the northern snowy mountain range with beauty and grace. For some reason, he felt that was a sign that his children would be alright, even if they encountered the evilest of entities in the Universe. He peered back down into his son's red optics with reassurance.

"Ah, you brought the Precursor metal pieces. Good. It should only take a few joors considering these pieces were already cut and formed to connect together. I was going to fuse this and activate it as a two way feed to the original but Kronos delayed me greatly!" She snarled.

Megatronus rolled his optics with boredom, "Yeah, whatever. Just put it together again quickly because I have a surprise for you and your Metal freaks for your dedication to my cause. The faster you get done, the faster you get to see your prize."

Tigressa purred, "Really? Never thought of you as a greet-and-give mech."

"Oh but that's the great part, I am not. But for you, my dear, I am willing to move mountains, to stir up crowds for you, trust me! You've done what nobody else has ever succeeded in doing prior to your arrival. You've become the alpha and the omega; a god like me! And a god deserves respect. I will give you what you warrant, one way or another!" The Prime sneered.

The tiger-dragon mewled but behind her, out of sight and sound of Megatronus, Captain Silos growled. There was something off about that annotation, and he wasn't very happy about it. He could sense the other Metal Heads were thinking the same, but he knew his judgement was detected by the others more prominently.

Over the next three joors, Tigressa worked non-stop to complete the second Rift Ring. Silos helped her on occasion though she kept insisting she could handle it herself. Nevertheless, he checked in to see how things were coming along. For some reason though, Tigressa refused to calibrate the Rift Ring's functions as if she was waiting to go back to Earth to do it with no technology present there. She was no doubt waiting for her transport to come to get it to the organic planet via Space Bridge, but it still didn't make sense to not use control panels and available energy sources given to her to use as such. It was like getting currency handed to you with no reasoning behind it and no catch that often came with such items. Free technology use, come on!

However, the former Rozarian had other concerns more major, knowing full well Tigressa could manage operating it even without the most sophisticated technology to power her Rift Ring. He seemed to notice Megatronus was nowhere nearby, probably preparing that "surprise" he wished to give his Mistress. What was even more unusual was the fact that Cybertron was hosting a rally of sorts…in Megatronus' favor. If he wasn't suspicious before, he definitely was now.

When the time came, Megatronus communicated with both of them. "Your prize waits with me near Iacon Hall of Records. I am in Chamber 870-52 next to a stage set. There will be people there so do resist on making a scene, why don't you?"

The comm. line died as Silos spat out, "Spoiled, supercilious sycophant!"

"Easy, Captain, just one more moment in this Primus-forsaken place and we are gone," Tigressa grumbled. "The transport's here so boys, you know what to do. Kill the pilot and company and take it and all its cargo to that miserable pile of rock in the Thera District. I'll meet you there in a few."

One Metal Head salute while licking its lips at the awaiting meal on board their temporary vessel. As soon as they loaded the completed Rift Ring onto the ship, Tigressa could only smile as she walked away and heard the faint screams of the previous crew being mauled to death. She even resisted a chuckle as she perceived the sound of something splattering, presumably Energon, on the ship's main deck windows with overjoyed bellows following afterwards.

When they reached the building beside the Iacon Hall of Records, it was more than obvious people were gathered around the outside for a speech probably from Megatronus himself. Tigressa couldn't help but bare her teeth at the sight. She was never one for events like these anyways. Hopefully, her prize wouldn't require her to be presented in front of all of those pathetic, lazy cowards.

"Tigressa, you arrived just in time for my announcement," Megatronus cackled with a scary amount of enthusiasm.

Uncomfortable, the tiger-dragon rubbed her left upper arm while trying to keep her sane composure. She had a bad feeling about this. "Yeah, um, where is my reward? I kind of got things I need to do so can I just grab and go, please?"

Megatronus gave another of his wicked grins that even made Tigressa want to turn away in fear. "Oh but I have something else in mind," he creepily replied. "It would be a great shame if you were to run off before I give you the greatest thing you've ever received…personally."

He slowly crept forward towards her, but as he began to get within ten feet of her did she back down and move away. Silos snarled but stepped backwards with her. Before she could stop herself, she stuttered, "U-Uh, don't you…um…want to wait until…uh…a-after your great announcement for something like t-that? A-aren't you about to g-go on in a few m-minutes?"

Suddenly, he halted his advance and scoffed, "That's true but I don't think afterwards I'll get this chance considering that your real prize is during my announcement and in fact, what it is in general. Damn, I was so close. Ah well, I tried. It'd be best for you to stand across from my position on the stage on the high balcony. It was given to you and your…monstrous…messenger here only."

Tigressa swayed herself to the side a bit taken back by the sudden mood change but she didn't question it after that, uh, interesting encounter.

"And do be prepared for anything that may be thrown your way, my dear. This speech will be a killer."

With that in mind, Tigressa took her place on the highest balcony, which was surprisingly roomy for her huge self and the Captain. Blocking the close call with Megatronus in her mind, she was indeed ready to face the hell that was this announcement. When Megatronus Prime made his appearance, everyone cheered…except her and Silos for two different reasons entirely from one another.

"Mechs and femmes of Iacon, I wish to dedicate this speech to my fallen sister-in-arms, Solus Prime, and I'd like to address a few new changes and resolutions that have come forth!" So on and on he ranted but nothing hinted at what her "real" prize was. Roughly near the end of his announcement did something come up, and it threw Tigressa off greatly.

Megatronus gave his signature smirk before briefly peering up at Tigressa then down at the large crowd, "And last but not least, I know who desecrated our sparkling and Energon chambers! I know who disturbed our peace on Cybertron, who awoke us to true terror! I know who killed Solus Prime!"

AN: Well that's a good note of suspense to leave it on, don't you think? I honestly didn't want to write Megatronus' speech because it would've been just a waste of words at this point in time but if you must know what he said, it was about "change" and you know what that implies.