They shrieked and roared in surprise, throwing their bodies in every direction to lash out at the enemies. Shadows were torn into halves and disappeared, but more kept coming, rising from the shadows of the standing dead. Predaking swam upward over the clawing crowd, screeching. He burst open his wings, but shadows still clung. He barely made it off the ground, turning and burning the attackers below into smudges.
And then something huge smacked him in the back. He fell onto the shadows, hard. Unrealistically long fingers curled around his wings, back and tail, and he was pinned to the ground. Something sighed next to him, and he could barely turn his head to the side to see it. A purple optic about the same size as his own glared as it opened mouth to reveal crooked an outward facing fangs. Darksteel screeched when another one of these raced forward from its hiding place among the bodies, and wrapped fangs around his neck. It was like a winged, shadow Predacon, and it was very strong. The sound of ripping metal rang out and a spray of energon gushed out.
Skylynx, hearing the choking of Darksteel, summoned an incredible strength out of nowhere. He pounced upon the large shadow beast and tore it off on him, freeing its grip on Darksteel's neck. Immediately the two Predacons flapped into the air, scraping smaller shadows off of each other before soaring over Predaking, both bashing the shadow Predacon off him.
It slid across the ground before rising and growling. Ripclaw smashed it back down with a blow from her heavy tail. Without having to deliver the message, all four fought like slag to get airborne. Darksteel was weak from the blood loss, Predaking literally had to grab him in his claws until he was free from the claws of the dark.
They flapped off into the sky where the moon made their armor glimmer black, and yellow veins were highlighted. But behind the shining Predacons a chorus of yowls came. The moon showed the outlines of black pumping wings and viscous faces. Darksteel, who was lagging behind croaked in concern. If it weren't for him, they could just fly faster and escape. But none of the Predacons wanted to leave one of their own behind.
Two of the flyers struck Darksteel and he dropped like a stone. The three Predacons whipped around, wings pressed to their sides as they plummeted after the fallen. The beasts were tearing wounds into him, slashing his underside and wings. Skylynx and Ripclaw arrived first, and they ripped apart the attackers while Predaking beat off the rest of them.
But now Darksteel was far too weak to fly. They helped him to the ground, where he collapsed with exhaustion. He transformed into his bot form, it was a reaction most did when in pain. He lay groaning while the ring of Predacons towered protectively around him. Predaking decided now would be a good time to respond to Megatron's offer.
The groundbridge cut through the black around them. The horror seemed to be over for now. But Darksteel was very hurt, and in their bipedal forms, the Predacons helped him inside the Nemesis and into the med room.
Starscream was there when Megatron was talking to Predaking. Megatron and some of the other Autobots had been recharging while Cliffjumper and him stood guard outside their rooms. The sudden sound alerted them, and they ran into his unlocked room. He had heard about what happened to Darksteel, but Starscream was most concerned that they had one less Predacon to fight for them in the final battle. Everyone hoped beyond everything that Shockwave would soon have all the Predacons cloned and the Nemesis would be back into the air.
"We need to have a meeting. Now," Megatron said to the two.
"You mean, with the Predacons , I assume?" Starscream grimaced.
"We need to know what happened and what Unicron is preparing for us," Cliffjumper said. "If one of them was injured in the warm-up run, we really need to get it together."
"But both our worlds are connected now, doesn't that give them full access to harm me?" Starscream said, before adding. "I agree, this needs to be done. But I refuse to go. Don't even say a word to them about me!"
Cliffjumper turned to Megatron before looking back at him. "Okaay . . . then we won't even tell them anything about the spirit world merging with this one. They don't need to know that I'm dead too."
"Thank you," he sighed. "I'll stay with some of the troopers until it's over then."
Team Prime plus Megatron met on the roof with the three Predacon, minus Ratchet, who stayed with Darksteel. Skylynx started the story.
"Darksteel and I were sleeping but we awoke when we heard this sound. Like a whisper or something. Both of us looked outisde, but we couldn't see anything. It was completelydark . . . and it still is. I think we should go inside!"
"Then make it brief," Ultra Magnus said. "This is the only place large enough where we can all meet away from others and off the ground."
"Al-alright," Skylynx stumbled. "I let out some fire to see, and I swear there was about one hundred dead um, clone workers and Insecticons just standing there. With their optics torn out."
Predaking took over from there. "We have no idea how or when they arrived there. We attacked them, but we soon realized they were just the distraction. These beasts came out of the shadows, and they were shadows. There were too many, and some were winged as well as equal in size to ourselves. We had to flee, there was no end to them."
"If Unicron can make an infinite army, then why hasn't he come here yet to finish us off?" Arcee pointed out.
"Maybe he is still growing in power, or just testing it," Smokescreen said.
"But if that's the case, then why is he making these beasts instead of the zombiecons like last time? If they are so horrifying, why didn't he just use them before?" Knockout said.
"Before, he had a vessel, which was allowed his spirit form free from his body. Then he was trapped in the container, which completely torn away any relation with his body. Now, for the first time his complete spirit is free on the planet, and there is now no limit to his power. He can morph anything from the world's darkness," Megatron explained.
"We're screwed," Knockout said bluntly.
But there was basically nothing they could do. Morning came like it always did, and the seekers went out on their usual energon run. But they were extra cautious, as word spread already by the witness vehicons that the Predacons had fought and one was injured.
"Lets get this over with," Dirge said before landing into the plain. Not far away was a strip mine where they located recently-created energon.
They landed beside him, all carrying containers for storing energon on their wings. This was the easiest way to carry them in flight. Also, the City of Rust was still in view, so the only reason they weren't using a groundbridge was because they were also acting as patrol around the city as well. They took these off now and carried them in their servos. As a group, they headed toward the mine.
Dirge jumped into the pit before he realized it. He started screeching and the others rushed to the edge in panic. Dirge scrambled up the metal wall and rolled over the edge shivering. He had energon all over him.
The mine was filled with severed optics that bobbed slightly in the pool of blood. They were the more oddly shaped ones that were on the faces of vehicons and insecticons, but the horror remained. Dirge was completely in shock, and groaning as he shook the cooled energon off his body. He keened over and purged right there, but no one could judge him.
" I would blow this up," Dirge coughed. "But that would be even more . . . I think I would puke again!"
"Can we please just go?" Someone pleaded. Nods of approval were what followed. Dirge, acting as the leader, regained his composure and turned to them with a braver face.
"But where did all this come from? Isn't it our job to find out?" he said. "The gravesites for the last battle- we should check them out."
Somewhere in the city there was commotion. Vehicons crowded around out of a curious horror, while others who were more sensible and loyal reported to the nearest Autobot they could find. There were some refugees there, who pushed to the front to get a better look.
On a smaller street, still in the shadows of the rising sun. Some of the metal plating of a building's wall had been torn so there were ribbons of sharp spikes sticking out. On these spikes were four impaled vehicons. The resemblance could have been described as how a the bird known as a shrike impales its prey, mice, upon the thorns of a prickly bush. Even if the reference to Earth was not intended, the message was clear. Unicron was more powerful and could take them at any given time.
Ironhide was the first to move forward to take them down. The spikes went through their arms, legs and bodies however, so when Ironhide started pulling on one, it was a slow process. Then suddenly, a change occurred. The watchers saw it, but Ironhide couldn't as his helm was turned as he was pulling.
The optics of the dead suddenly relit. They cried out a warning, but it wasn't quick enough. The faces of the dead contorted, opening out like the ones who had been infected by the energon-sucking terrocon disease before. But instead of a tube coming out, it simply reached forward and bite Ironhide deep his thick shoulder. He yelled, punching it away, then stumbling back to hold his bleeding wound.
The terrocons were still stuck on the spikes. But they moaned and hissed, wiggling and snapping at the assembled who had leapt back in surprise. A refugee turned to a jet trooper and said, "hey, why don't you update the status to the others from dead and impaled to skewered zombies, yes?"
As the vehicon jetted away, they all promptly fired blasts at the wall until the dead were limp once more. Scorched and hanging by wires.
"It's coming," Bumblebee said. Everyone knew what "it" was. The final battle.
The seekers had come in and described their horror story. But everything added up with that of the Predacons'. There was a gaping hole where the one of the main graves were, about one hundred bodies unaccounted for. Whether they were taken or had marched out on their own remained to be found out, however.
And then they were interrupted by some excited vehicons. The news of another case for deaths in which no one had witnessed again. They were drove to another scene when a jet vehicon found them and reported that with the first case of murdered vehicons today, the victim had just become terrocons.
There was just no good news today.