Disclaimer: I have terrible news, my friends. I just had both my arm amputated and I'm now resigned to using my tongue to type up the remained of this story. I apologize any future mistakes.
I don't own the rights to Transformers. I miss my arms. (crying) I want my arms back. (crying loudly) I'M IN A GLASS CAGE OF EMOTION. (rolling on the floor in a puddle of man tears)
Chapter XXVI
Optimus Prime pulled on the hilt of the Star Saber with every bit of might and effort he had in his circuits. But it was to no avail as the Star Saber seemed to refuse its release from the stone. Unwilling to give up, and knowing he was needed back in Autobot City, Optimus Prime doubled his efforts. Then he tripled them, even placing his right foot onto the stone for leverage while ignoring the freezing Arctic water. Still, the Saber couldn't be moved. Optimus dropped to his knees in frustration and exhaustion and the near freezing temperatures seemed to have little to do with it.
He inwardly wondered what he had to do to release the Star Saber from its underwater stone pedestal, even wondering what Primus himself would have him do. Bowing his head in defeat, Optimus Prime initially failed to notice the faint glow within his chassis. That was where the Matrix of Leadership was stored and within it was the collective wisdom of the Primes that had held it, including the Thirteen. Optimus soon took notice of the glow as it lightened the darkness around him.
It was as if he could hear their voices; the voices of the Thirteen of which he'd learn that he was one only recently. The light grew and grew, lighting the darkness further, and Optimus Prime looked up at the Star Saber. He stood up, approached the Star Saber and grasped the hilt again. This time, the Star Saber began glowing in the same light as the Matrix within Optimus Prime's chassis. He couldn't explain it to Arcee had she been present, nor could he fathom it himself, but Optimus Prime could feel the collective consciousness of the Thirteen within him and he began to speak...
"With the collective wisdom of the Thirteen Original Primes which lies within the Matrix of Leadership with which you commune, I ask you, the great weapon of Prima, to aid my race in this most dire time of need. I ask that this mighty weapon, this Star Saber, light our darkest hour."
The Star Saber's light glowed brighter against the dark, frigid waters and then disappeared just as quickly. Optimus Prime was left in a state of confusion mixed with despair, unsure of what he'd said or done wrong. He went to remove his hand from the Saber's hilt, only to discover that he couldn't do so. The light returned, bathing Optimus Prime and illuminating the wider area around him and chasing away any local sea life. Optimus Prime had gone stiff and rigid, not from the icy water but by something within him. He began to speak again, only this time it was involuntarily and it wasn't just his own voice….
"We are Prima. We are Vector. We are Alpha. We are Solus. We are Micronus. We are Alchemist. We are Nexus. We are Onyx. We are Amalgamous. We are Quintus. We are Maximo. We are Megatronus. We are Optimus. WE ARE PRIME!"
The light around Optimus Prime brighten second by second, illumination the ocean depths and engulfing Optimus. Optimus screamed out but it wasn't out of fear. He felt a certain degree of calmness, as if the sparks of the Primes were gathered around him. Alignment didn't matter. The transgressions of certain Primes were hardly considered. They're all still the Thirteen, and Optimus had always been one of them. He hadn't even registered the fact that through all the excitement, he'd only just removed the Star Saber from its stone prison. An immense change was happening to Optimus Prime, both spiritual and physical.
"Optimus Prime, do you read me? Optimus, say something so I know you're okay," Arcee had been trying to contact Optimus since he'd fallen through the ice. He hadn't responded and her joints were freezing up. She didn't have much time left. "Optimus, please. If you can hear my voice, you have to respond. Please."
At first, Arcee heard garbled static and some white noise before Optimus Prime finally responded, "Optimus Prime to Arcee…"
"Optimus, are you okay," Arcee frantically asked before she noticed the dark water in the ice hole steadily brightening. "What is that?"
"Arcee, you may wish to stand aside." Optimus Prime claimed as the bright light grew beneath the surface.
Arcee knew something was coming up from the icy depths and rushed clear of the hole as Optimus Prime instructed. It had to be Optimus Prime making his way up from below, but he was coming up too fast. Impossibly fast. Arcee had less than a millisecond to figure out the sheer impossibility of his rapid ascent before the icy water suddenly shot out of the hole. Like a geyser, the water rose into the cold. Much of it froze instantly while the rest of fell back to the tundra. The sheer force of the explosion sent Arcee falling to the ice. When she was able to look back, she couldn't come close to believing what she was seeing.
"Optimus…?"
Computron and Abominus continued their struggle, each of them trying to physically manhandle the other into submission. It didn't end until Abominus head butted Computron and sent him staggering back toward the walls of Autobot City. Computron stumbled and his back hit the wall, sending a tremor through the city and dropping a few of the Autobots still on the ramparts. Abominus advanced, but Computron had a surprise. He deployed a series of turrets on his shoulders and sent out an electrical charge that stunned Abominus and pushed him back. As soon as he recovered, Computron moved forward.
Abominus was completely unprepared for the sheer pummeling Computron gave him, with strikes hitting him on the face and chassis and back again. Computron continued his assault with an ever-increasing sense of urgency. It was as if he knew something was going to happen that would result in loss. Watching from the rampart, Brainstorm saw the movements Computron was taking as he wrestled with Abominus again. The way Computron moved told Brainstorm what he already knew; Computron was fighting on borrowed time.
Meanwhile, the Wreckers continued their assault against Megatron… and they were losing. Megatron had been singlehandedly beating each Wrecker as they cam at him. From slugging Bulkhead, tossing Roulette into Drift, shooting at Airazor anytime she flew toward him or completely outmatching Depth Charge, it was all Megatron. The Wreckers refused to be so easily defeated, especially after the death of Stratosphere, and they press their numbers advantage.
Megatron merely sneered at them and motioned them to come at him once more. Depth Charge moved in first, still enraged by the loss of Stratosphere. Sword and shield in hand, he attacked Megatron with reckless abandon. Megatron blocked and dodged the varying attacks while landing heavy hits to Depth Charge's shield before eventually shattering it. Depth Charge was surprised before he was backhanded to the ground and Megatron prepared to finish him off.
Drift and Bulkhead ran into the fight, collectively attacking Megatron. Drift made use of his duel swords and took swipes at Megatron. Bulkhead deployed his mace and tried to pound Megatron into the ground any change he got. Roulette soon entered the fray with a whirlwind of strikes while Airazor hovered in the air taking shots from above. Megatron paused for a less than a second and took a shot at Airazor, forcing her to dodge to the side. Then she was taken out of the air when Megatron tossing Drift into her.
Bulkhead and Roulette continued to fight Megatron but they were no match for him. Megatron tossed Roulette into Bulkhead and sent both tumbling over each other. Depth Charge battled back with his sword, driving Megatron backward before Megatron beat him back. Depth Charge fell to the ground on one knee as the Wreckers regrouped around him. Megatron, unfazed, smirked at the team.
"It's been said that the Wreckers were some of the roughest Autobots around, but from what I've seen, I find that to be a dubious claim. I expected more." Megatron taunted the Wreckers.
"You want more, Megatron," Depth Charge growled and stood up, sword in hand and twisting. "I'll give you more."
Megatron didn't respond and instead motioned Depth Charge to him. Depth Charge rushed forward heedlessly but with purpose. The anger from watching Stratosphere die in front of him drove Depth Charge to send an onslaught of slashes and swipes. Each attack narrowly missed Megatron and he seemed to be taunting Depth Charge without uttering a word. He eventually grabbed Depth Charge's sword with his free hand and snapped it in half before kicking Depth Charge away.
The other Wreckers pushed forward with Drift and Roulette in front, Bulkhead in the rear and Airazor in the sky. Drift and Roulette teamed up against Megatron, using a combination of strikes to try to wear him down. Megatron easily fought back, grabbing Roulette and tossing her into Drift. They tumbled over each other and Megatron stalked them before Bulkhead slammed right into him and they fell to the ground. Megatron drove his elbow into Bulkhead face to get him off his back, but he also allowed Airazor to fire a few rapid-fire shots from the air.
Megatron roared in rage and fired his cannon directly at Airazor, hitting her in the shoulder and clipping her left wing. She fell to the ground hard, which Roulette saw happen. Roulette rushed toward Airazor but Megatron cut her off, bashing her in the chassis and flinging her into Drift and Bulkhead. Megatron advance on Airazor and stood over her damaged frame. He deployed an old tool from his left hand; the chained energon mace. Airazor looked with fright at the glowing violet weapon while Megatron sneered down at her before he reared the mace back behind him.
He thrust his arm forward, but something caught the weapon and he looked back at the source. Depth Charge, Roulette, Drift and Bulkhead all had a hold of the mace and they were pulling on it for all they were worth. Megatron pulled on the chain as hard as he managed, putting every bit of strength into his effort. The Wreckers pulled their end and it appeared as if they were going to win out. But Megatron spun around and fired his fusion cannon, sending all but Depth Charge scurrying out of the way. Then Megatron pulled the mace, taking Depth Charge with it.
Depth Charge deployed his sword at the last second but Megatron still caught him by the neck and held him there, right where Airazor could see him. "Such heroic nonsense." he snarled as he placed the cannon barrel to Depth Charge's chassis.
"NO!" Airazor screamed as Megatron pulled the trigger, and a burst of violet fire and chunks of metal flew into the air.
Megatron threw Depth Charge's charred frame to the ground where it faded to gray and the optics dimmed to black. "Would anyone else like to step up?" he asked.
Before answer was heard, a loud, piercing and primal scream sounded across the sky. Megatron, the Wreckers, the Autobots in the city; all looked toward the source of the scream that sounded utterly unnatural. Megatron knew what was coming without even focusing the lenses of his optics. In the distance, he saw the winged dragon form of Thunderwing approaching faster than the fastest Seekers from the Golden Age of Cybertron. Once he was within reach, Thunderwing dropped to the ground and transformed where he faced down Megatron.
"MEGATRON!" he bellowed.
Megatron ignored the rest of the Wreckers as they retreated back toward the city with their dead, and he said to Thunderwing, "I've been waiting for you to arrive."
"You stole my ship." Thunderwing snapped.
"It was NEVER your ship, and it never will be." Megatron declared before he and Thunderwing rushed. Then they came to blows…
Breakaway went back first into the wall after Apeface threw him across the corridor. The ape-like robot pounded his massive chest and roared before charging forward, but Breakaway managed to move aside. Apeface ultimately slammed headfirst into the wall. Breakaway looked around. Tigatron and Snapdragon where engaged in a literal beast war, while Dark Steel combated Shockwave on her own. Shockwave seemed to outmatched Dark Steel at every turn and eventually got her down on the floor.
"Stay down, Dark Steel." he said coldly.
"Rot in the Pit, Shockwave." Dark Steel said in defiance.
Shockwave didn't respond and reached down for Dark Steel, only to be shot in the chassis repeated by Breakaway. After taking the shots, Shockwave returned fire with a larger blast from his arm cannon. Breakaway moved clear of the shot and fired back, peppering Shockwave again and giving Dark Steel a chance to fight back. She landed a strong punch to the single optic that made up Shockwave's face before she and Breakaway started working together.
Tigatron continued fighting off Snapdragon in his tiger form, swiping at the dragon bot with his claws and roaring as he did. Snapdragon, as his name seemed to suggest, snapped his jaws at Tigatron and sent the tiger recoiling for a moment. Tigatron pounced and landed atop of Snapdragon, swiping away at his back and biting into it. It wasn't long before Apeface rushed forward and tackled Tigatron. They transformed simultaneously and Tigatron wailed on Apeface with a series of strikes to his face. Snapdragon transformed and joined Apeface, but Tigatron managed to fight them off at the same time before tossing Apeface into Snapdragon. Before they had a chance to recover, Tigatron fired a shot of his gun at Snapdragon's face from point-blank range. Snapdragon's face rained pieces of metal to the floor while the rest of his corpse dropped in a heap.
Apeface managed to ambush Tigatron from behind and toss him into the wall. Dark Steel noticed this while she and Breakaway continued to battle Shockwave and she slid beneath his legs while deploying his gun. She fired a shot that caught Apeface perfectly in the back. Apeface turned to face Dark Steel but took another shot and then another from Breakaway. Tigatron recovered and snapped Apeface's neck, sending sparks and oil flowing and dropping the newly dead bot to the floor. Tigatron regrouped with Dark Steel and Breakaway and they quickly surrounded Shockwave, who appeared unafraid of his sudden numbers disadvantage.
"Three against one, Shockwave. You ready to give up?" Breakaway taunted Shockwave.
"Though you may possess the tactically advantageous of superior numbers, I would advise you that numbers alone would be something of an illogical belief." Shockwave claimed and readied himself for battle.
Tigatron exchanged glances between himself, Dark Steel and Breakaway before saying, "Let's see if that logic proves trues."
Shockwave took a fighting stance and said, "You will try; you will fail."
Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Triage did everything they could against Josie Beller's electrically-charged rampage while defending their human allies. They fired their guns in rapid succession, but Beller had erected some kind of electrical field to deflect the shots. The shot bounced from the field and cracked into the wall, while Beller advanced on the three Autobots. Spike, Carly and Marissa had gun and they fired on Beller, but the bullets did next to nothing again her field. Beller stopped, focused the energy around her and screamed, sending a pulse out from her body and throughout the corridor.
The lights in the city flickered wildly before suddenly shutting down, and the only light emanated from Beller. Whatever the pulse was that burst from Beller affected the Autobots; Magnus, Jazz and Triage all dropped to the floor but they didn't turn gray. They weren't dead when Marissa checked them, but the optics were dimmed and she ultimately determined that Beller used an electromagnetic pulse.
"No more Autobots to help you, traitors." Beller snarled and stalked the group.
"Spike, take Carly and head back to the infirmary." Marissa said while aiming her gun toward Beller.
"We're not leaving you by yourself, Marissa." Spike replied.
Marissa reared back and shot the floor in front of Spike, which clarified that she was dead serious. "GO! NOW!"
Reluctant as they were to leave Marissa behind, Spike and Carly had no choice but to bolt back down the corridor. Beller was unconcerned when she said, "They can run all they want; won't make a difference."
Marissa aimed her gun at Beller with her healthy arm, the other still in a cast. "I'll stop you if I have to, Beller."
Beller tensed up and sent out another pulse, unknowingly affecting Triage as he tried to rise. "What are you going to do, shoot me? I'd say you'd be doing me a favor. Look at me, Fairborne… YOU THINK I WANT TO KEEP LIVING LIKE THIS? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE LOST?"
Her enraged scream sent a massive pulse throughout the corridor and caused the lights around them to shatter. Marissa could only instinctively shield her head from the shards of glass and sparks that flew down from the ceiling. Beller didn't flinch. She sent electricity crackling from her flesh and metal body and her eyes crackled along with the rest of her. Marissa raised her head, her face having been scraped by falling glass, and she watched Beller's tantrum seem to reach its breaking point. Thinking back to what Beller told her, a case could've been made that maybe, just maybe, Marissa could reason with her.
"I know what you've lost, Josie. I've experience the harshest pain anyone could imagine. We're alike, you and I." Marissa said in a scared but calm voice.
"DON'T! Don't you fucking pretend to understand what I've lost. You couldn't possibly understand. How could you at all," Josie snapped, but Marissa sensed and break in her voice. Josie was ready to break down. "Dylan died in Seattle and I wasn't there for him. He died in Seattle because of the robot's war."
"His name was William Lennox. He was my fiancé and I had to watch him die on the Moon, right in front of me. Believe me; I know the feeling of a loved one to a war I never wanted." Marissa stated, all while she inched herself toward her gun.
"And you still fight for the aliens." Josie accused.
"I fight for the Autobots, against the Decepticons and any other threat to Earth. I do it because it's the same thing William would've done." Marissa added.
"The alien's war caused this; turned me into a freak. A walking circuit breaker."
"Humans turned you into this thing. I believe the Autobots can fix what was done to you. Stand down, Josie. Let us help you." Marissa pleaded, all while moving closer toward her gun.
It appeared the Marissa's words were getting through to Josie since her electrical field was dissipating. Marissa remained cautious and careful to not give her intentions away. Josie looked distressed, broken down and ready to cry or snap or whatever her feeling intended for her. Then she caught sight of Marissa reaching for her gun and snapped off a bolt of energy. The gun disintegrated into small bits while the blast from its destruction pushed Marissa back. She looked and saw Josie Beller stalking toward her with electricity jolting out of her hate-filled eyes.
She snarled, "You almost had me."
Soaring high in the sky but flying with brutal malice, Dreadwing prepared another dive bomb maneuver toward the ramparts where the Autobots were stationed. He specifically targeted the point where Sunstreaker and Sideswipe were stationed and fired a missile in their direction. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe along with Crosshairs caught sight of the missile and fired on it. The missile blew apart in the sky but another one was just fired by Dreadwing. The three Autobots managed to shoot down that missile as well but a third missile was already too close to be shot down. It hit the panel in front of Sideswipe and caused the flooring to collapse under him.
Sideswipe lost his balance and would've fallen down to the hills below had Sunstreaker not caught him into time. Struggling to pull him up, Sunstreaker joked, "Sideswipe, you really gotta lay off those energon goodies."
"If we get through this, I'll share the wealth." Sideswipe replied.
Sunstreaker smirked at Sideswipe as he started to pull him up, but the approach of Dreadwing from above caught their attention. Crosshairs was still shooting anything mobile and he opened fire on Dreadwing as he came. Dreadwing returned fire and shot up the ramparts and although most of the shots missed their marks, Crosshairs took a shot to the leg and doubled over. Dreadwing transformed and stormed toward Crosshairs, who barely managed to rise to his feet to fight. He threw a wide punch but Dreadwing countered, spun and finally tossed Crosshairs clear across the rampart into the unsuspecting Highbrow and Bumblebee. Sunstreaker, with only one hand, shot at Dreadwing and struck him in the back.
Dreadwing stalked toward Sunstreaker, who managed to pull Sideswipe up enough for him to get a shot in. The shot struck Dreadwing in the side of the face, and that should've bought Sunstreaker enough time to completely pulled up Sideswipe. Except, it wasn't enough. Sunstreaker pulled with both hands but without warning, Dreadwing impaled him from behind with his sword. Sideswipe could only watch as Dreadwing hoisted Sunstreaker up, all while Sunstreaker lost his grip on Sideswipe. Dropped back down and hanging by the edge, Sideswipe watched Dreadwing drop Sunstreaker over the edge to the hills below, ironically reaching for his deceased brother.
"No, no, NO," he shouted before he looked back up at Dreadwing and the barrel of his gun. "You killed my brother."
"Do not fret, Autobot. You will join him soon." Dreadwing replied coldly as he cocked his gun.
Then all forms of battle came to a halt at the sudden sound of something unknown. The combined stop their fights, as did Megatron and Thunderwing. The Autobots on the ramparts ceased their firing as well. Everyone looked up at the sky. Something was coming toward the city and from the sounds of it, it was coming fast… impossibly fast. Megatron stepped forward on the ground once he caught sight of an object quickly approaching and he knew it wasn't one of his Decepticons.
As the object drew closer toward the city, there were signs of familiarity about it, particularly the red, silver and blue color scheme. Then Megatron stared in completely and utter disbelief. He knew the identity of the new arrival. Thunderwing was in equal shock as were the Autobots atop the rampart, until Elita One cracked a joyful and hopeful smile. The new arrival flew over the city, dropping a blue object down into the inner courtyard, before taking up a stationary position above it and there was no more denying that it was Optimus Prime complete with a new, more robust and flight capable form… and in his right hand was the Star Saber.
Author's Note: APRIL FOOL'S! (laughing maniacally… like Megatron)