Transformers Robots in Disguise (RID): Rise of Devil Z
Created by: ShadowHawk
Written by: Marik7410
Chapter 38
Departure
Over in Antarctica, the land was in its summer season and yet the temperatures stay a little above zero. A sound of a jet roaring in the air startled some the penguins walking on the ice. As it turns out the jet was Omega Prime and he was carrying Arcee in his arms. "Are you sure you know where you're going?" Arcee asked.
"Don't worry Arcee, I know exactly where it is," Omega Prime said.
"A typical manly answer," Arcee teased.
The two were heading to the geographical South Pole. When they reached the area, there was a hole about a mile and a half in radius. From the hole, six panels were embedded into the ice. Omega Prime set Arcee down as he split into Optimus and Ultra Magnus. "No matter how long I look at this, it still sends me chills," Arcee shuddered.
"I know the feeling," Optimus agreed.
"Right now, nothing is happening," Magnus said. "Nothing has changed since the day it was implanted here."
"I still remember that day vividly," Arcee said.
Several weeks earlier…
There was a rush of flames as Optimus, Ultra Magnus and Arcee appeared with Wilson. He was upset that his presence was required but…
"AH-CHOO!"
"Bless you," T-Ai said.
"Damn it T-Ai, I thought I told you that I don't do the cold," Wilson fumed.
"Sorry but you have to see this," T-Ai said. "Besides, does wearing your armor keep you warm?"
"Not in extreme weather."
"What are we looking at?" Optimus wondered.
"When we arrived, we talked to two scientists who saw the whole thing," Prowl said. "The tower entered the ground like the drills but it took a different route. Instead of burying itself, it's embedded."
"I called Towline so he can lower T-Ai into the hole but there was nothing," X-Brawn said.
"Maybe T-Ai didn't reach the bottom," Wilson shrugged.
"That's the thing, there was no bottom," T-Ai said. "After Towline used up all of his line, I went down personally to find the bottom but nothing."
"From the scans T-Ai took, we believe that this tower has attached itself to the Earth," Sideburn said. "It's like the drill is the main artery and it divides into smaller arteries."
"Question is this, is something suppose to go in or out?" Arcee wondered.
"Most likely out," Wilson said.
"You're wrong my friend, something is coming in," T-Ai said.
"Out."
"In."
"Out!"
"In!"
"OUT!"
"IN!"
"OUT!"
"IN!"
"OUT!"
"IN!"
"You guys," Arcee said.
"So Optimus, how do you elect to destroy this thing?" Magnus wondered.
"Remember it is attached to the planet," X-Brawn reminded.
Arcee was in a loss for words. "You guys, Wilson and T-Ai are arguing and you're worrying about how to destroy that thing?" Arcee said.
"We can't worry ourselves about simple problems," Optimus said. "Right now, the planet is in danger and we have a duty as Autobots to protect the inhabitants of the planet. If this device is created to destroy the planet from the inside, we have to remove it right away."
"But we don't know what it does," Arcee said.
"OW"! T-Ai cried.
The Autobot advert their attention to a weird situation. Wilson had pinned T-Ai on the ground by sitting on her back. "Get out of me!" T-Ai demanded.
"No way," Wilson refused. "Besides, removing the device might cause more harm than good. Remember, it's embedded into the planet."
Then Wilson felt himself being lifted. Before he knew it, Wilson was thrown high into the air. "Finally," T-Ai sighed.
"That was too excessive," Arcee said.
"Anyways, I just remembered something," T-Ai said. "If you think about all the drills that have been buried into the ground, the device is at the center of the cluster."
Sideburn started to think. "She's right," he agreed. "Don't you remember that there was a lot of drilling near Bangladesh and the device is in that city?"
"Now that you mentioned it, it does make sense," X-Brawn pondered.
There was a faint scream as Wilson landed on the ice hard. "MY LEG!" he cried.
"That was excessive," T-Ai smiled.
"So most likely, they're not trying to destroy the planet but harvesting it," Optimus said.
"Could it be the natural resource Slipstream was talking about?" T-Ai wondered. "Too bad he didn't know what it was but then again, that happened centuries ago."
"We better keep an eye on them for any changes," Optimus said. "Any activities can lead to their function."
Antarctica
"So far nothing has happened," Arcee said.
"I think we better return to Miami," Magnus suggested.
"Good idea," Optimus agreed. The brothers combined as Omega Prime made an appearance. He picked up Arcee and carried her off the ice land.
A penguin was waddling across the ice near the strange device. Curiosity, the penguin peered inside. There was a gust of wind and the penguin lost its balance and plummeted into the hole. It wasn't long before the penguin was spat out from the hole and onto the ice. The penguin managed to stand himself up and shook off the ice. He opened his eyes and they were blood red. The penguin noticed an Albatross moving on the ice. The penguin vanished as the Albatross let out a horrify cry. The penguin had bitten into the Albatross' skin and started eating him alive.
A small black liquid mass was shot out from the hole and onto the ice. Upon contact, the ice started to melt rapidly then the surrounding ice started to turn black.
Miami
Omega Prime and Arcee arrived as everyone was putting the finishing touches to the exterior. "Hey, you guys made just in time," Rapidrun said. "He's ready to launch."
"Perfect," Omega Prime said.
Then the sound of jet engine caught the attention of the Autobots. They looked to the sky and saw Flyby coming in for a landing. "Who's that?" Black Knight wondered.
"That's Flyby," Wedge whispered. "She's a free agent like Ultra Magnus but a whole lot nicer."
Omega Prime turned his head towards Wedge. Wedge knew that it wasn't Omega Prime he insulted but Ultra Magnus. Wedge flinched for a bit. Then Omega Prime turned his attention to Flyby. Flyby landed as Talon climbed out from the cockpit. Flyby switched to robot mode and looked at Fortress Maximus. "So this is our ride home isn't it?" she asked.
"It is," Arcee answered. "Plan on coming?"
"Of course," Flyby said. "I have to save my brother somehow."
"And Talon?"
"Staying. If he came with me, he'll be slowing me down big time."
"Understandable," Arcee said.
"Just make sure you come back alive and with your brother," Talon said.
"Don't worry, I'll save my brother if it's the last thing I do," Flyby smiled.
There was a whoosh as Talon felt intense heat near him. "Who else can do that?" Talon grumbled.
"Yo!" Wilson waved.
Everyone turned their attention to Wilson but dropped their face when they saw T-Ai. "My words exactly," Wilson nodded.
"T-Ai, is that you?" Omega Prime asked.
"Of course," T-Ai giggled. "You like?"
Sure enough, T-Ai came back to the Autobots a different woman. Her skin was radiating from her day in the spa. Her hair was glistening in the Miami sun. Her hairstyle was different than usual. Instead of letting her hair flow freely, T-Ai had cornrows on the top and sides of her head and allowed her hair to flow freely in the sea breeze. Light makeup kissed T-Ai's face and small gold earring decorated her ears. T-Ai wore black fitted jeans with.
T-Ai's smile started to fade as everyone stood speechless. "You don't like it?" she said.
"It's not that," Arcee said.
"It's just that you've become more human," Inferno commented.
"In other words, they like it," Wilson concluded. T-Ai wore a big smile on her face as she can barely contain her emotions. "With all that aside, I need to talk to Optimus," Wilson requested.
"You can talk to me," Omega Prime said.
"I know but my request is directed at the leader of the Autobots and Ultra Magnus can sway your decision," Wilson said.
"As you wish," Omega Prime said. Omega Prime vanished as Optimus and Ultra Magnus stood in his place. "What is it you want to talk about?" Optimus wondered.
"Optimus Prime, I come to you as a human of this planet in a request to join your team," Wilson said.
"What?"
"I know we agreed to help each other in our quest to protect this planet and save the universe," Wilson continued. "Lately, I feel that I haven't been doing my part. I made too many mistakes, mistakes that could've won the war but it's now be prolonged. It took losing my life to realize that I've been going at this all wrong. I went after my enemy in revenge instead of justice. That act of vengeance had backfired on me big time. It even affected the ones I care about."
T-Ai touched her arm as she looked away in embarrassment.
"No more will I make the same mistake. With the Decepticons heading to Cybertron, I know it's not in my place to interfere with your task. But with Koji in their hands, I have to join you. Not because he's my friend but I made a promise to return him safe and sound. My knowledge of the enemy can help you big time; all I ask is your permission to come aboard as a full-fledged Autobot."
All the Autobots huddled together as they discussed their decision. "Whether you come with us or not, you're a good friend," T-Ai smiled.
"Thanks," Wilson said.
"Break!" the Autobots said.
"We made our decision and decided that you can come with us," Optimus said.
"YES!" Wilson cheered.
"As long you listen to everything T-Ai tells you to do," Optimus finished.
"SLAG!" Wilson moaned.
"Yes," T-Ai smiled deviously.
"NO!" a voice objected.
Everyone turned their head as Wilson's little sister made an appearance. "He's not going anywhere," she said.
"Come on, sis, they need me," Wilson said.
"I need you," Shirley said. "You're my big brother. You're supposes to guide and protect me. Now you're leaving to go save the universe."
"I don't want to leave," Wilson admitted. "As much I despise the idea of leaving my home planet to fight in another scare me, I have no choice. And you know why."
Shirley tilts her head and stared at T-Ai. T-Ai flinched from the stare. "How much can I trust you?" she asked. "How do you value my brother's life?"
"I swear on my spark crystal that no harm will come to him," T-Ai promised. "I will do my best to protect him and bring home back to you in one piece. You have my word."
Shirley gave her brother a seldom face and hugged him. "Please return alive," she wept. "I hate to break the news to Mom and Dad."
"Don't worry, I'll tell them myself," Wilson chuckled.
"We got to go," Optimus said. Shirley released her brother as he stood next to T-Ai. "Talon," Wilson called. "Look after her and remember what I told you."
"Don't worry about a thing," Talon waved.
"Energize," Cerebros spoke. Everyone was teleported inside Fortress Maximus. Engines whined as Fortress Maximus started to hover. Fortress Maximus switched to space mode as he left the Earth's atmosphere. "What did my brother told you?" Shirley asked.
Upon hearing that question, Talon reached inside his pocket and took out a small disc.
Yesterday
"I'm going to leave it in your care from now on," Wilson said.
"WHAT?" Talon exclaimed.
"I'm going to leave the future of the Earth in your care," Wilson repeated.
"I heard what you said but I can't believe you said it," Talon said. "Why bringing this up?"
"I have a feeling that Flyby is forbidding you from tagging along, am I right?"
"Correct."
"Well, I'm going with them."
"When hell freezes over," Talon laughed.
"I'm serious."
"I am too. Everything is a game to you isn't it? I've seen your personality. You're a jokester. You love to play around. You never take anything serious. In fact, I believe because of your calm nature, you lost to Devil Z."
"You don't know me to make that assumption," Wilson said.
"Well I know you plenty enough. You're not fit to go into space and save the universe. In fact, I'm still surprise that you have that armor on your wrist."
Wilson had enough of Talon's insult so he picked up Talon by his neck and slammed him into the sand. Talon was shocked. "Listen to me, you don't want me to show my true colors," Wilson warned. "In my 2 years that I've lost, something in me awoken. I have a dark killer personality. If I were to let that out, yes I would've beaten Devil Z but at the same time, thousands of lives will be lost. Now I'm asking you to cooperate with me or you want a demonstration?"
Talon sensed the serious in his voice and the darkness in his eyes. "I'm listening," Talon said. Wilson released his grip on Talon's neck and helped him up.
"I've heard that the Decepticons had left some of their drones on the planet to eliminate the human race," Wilson said. "The number is not certain but it's in the hundreds. I've already taken out 30 of them just recently. I need you and Jackie to do the rest."
"Why not your sister?" Talon wondered.
"She's too important in my plan."
"What plan?"
Wilson reached inside his pocket and took out a small disc. "If in 3 months you haven't heard from me or the Autobots, give it to my sister and watch the message with Jackie," Wilson instructed.
"Like what is this?" Talon wondered.
"Plan B. I was told that we were going to lose the war on Cybertron so I decided to prepare for the worst. Everything is in place, it just need the gears to set things in motion."
"In 3 months?"
"Once I get to Cybertron, I'll tell all the cybertronians to contact you if we win. I'm counting on you."
"Alright," Talon nodded.
Miami
"Hello, I'm talking to you," Shirley said.
"Oh sorry," Talon smiled. "It's just that your brother had asked me to play his numbers while he's gone."
"Okay?" Shirley said. Though she knew the answer Talon gave was completely out of character, she took it anyways and left.
"Sorry for lying to you but I can't tell you the truth just yet," Talon thought to himself. "I promised your brother that I'll wait and so I will."
Space
"WHOA!" Wilson exclaimed. "Sweet!"
"First time away from home?" T-Ai teased.
"Real funny," Wilson huffed.
Fortress Maximus was cruising pass Mars as Wilson marveled at the red planet's beauty. "I never seen anything so majestic, so beautiful," Wilson said.
"Really?"
"Then again, I've seen better," Wilson said as he smiled at T-Ai. A drop of awkwardness slithered in as Wilson and T-Ai looked away with their cheeks red with embarrassment. "Alright you two, do I have your words that there will be no trouble during this trip?" Arcee said.
"We promised," T-Ai and Wilson said.
"Good," Arcee said. "Now if you excuse me, I have to sharpen my combat skills."
"I'll help," Wilson offered.
"If it's like last time, I'll pass," Arcee chuckled.
"I'll go easy this time," Wilson said.
"Okay," Arcee shrugged. Wilson followed Arcee to the training to start their session.
"Um excuse me," Black Knight said.
T-Ai turned around and looked at Black Knight. "What's up?" she wondered.
"I was wondering if you're willing to help me with some of the repairs."
"Sure," T-Ai smiled. "I need something to do to kill some time. It's going to take a week to get there."
"Five and a half days if we're lucky with the engines," Black Knight said.
"We can slice it to four if we make a stop for supplies," T-Ai suggested.
"I never thought of that."
"Do you mind?"
"Why of course," Black Knight said as he lowered his hand. T-Ai climbed on as Black Knight escorted her to the engine room.
Spirit World
The three Higher Councilmen were having their meeting on the recent event that took place on Earth. "What are we going to do?" Joseph asked.
"I don't know," Eve answered.
"What do you mean by that?" Malachi said. "It seems that there is a lot that can be done to stop his reawakening."
"You've seen the route Devil Z has taken, there is no way of stopping it now," Eve said.
"She's right," Joseph agreed. "We can't stop it but we can delay it."
"How?" Malachi wondered.
"I've hidden the red and black pearls on Earth," Joseph said. "Without them, the ritual won't be complete."
"True but for how long is it going to be before Devil Z finds it?" Eve said.
"Right now, we have to worry about Devil Z releasing Megatronus into the universe," Malachi said. "You saw the damage he caused before we sealed him up. Believe me, I don't want a repeat."
"He's right," Joseph agreed. "We have to plan for Megatronus arrival."
"Hold it, why are we talking about him when we have a bigger threat that's ready to destroy this universe in matter of seconds?" Eve fumed.
"We can worry about him later, Megatronus takes priority," Malachi said.
"Bullshit," Eve huffed and left.
"Man, her attitude is nuts," Malachi said.
"It's not that, it's her ego," Joseph said.
"What's her ego has to do with the way she acts?" Malachi said.
"Just a hunch," Joseph said. "We'll talk about this later."
"Fine," Malachi said and left.
Sometime later, Megan was in Nicolas' office waiting for him to return. While waiting, she reclined in his chair and closed her eyes. She completely dropped her guard as she went to sleep. Then Megan felt a presence. A folder was smacked on the desk as Megan slowly opened her eyes. She looked at the folder then at the person who delivered it. "What do you want Eve?" Megan asked.
"Deliver this for me please," Eve requested.
"No," Megan refused. "I'm not the delivery girl. Do it yourself."
"But it's in a region only you can go through," Eve said. "Please, it's urgent."
"Fine," Megan sighed. "I'll deliver it."
Megan picked up the folder and opened it. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Eve warned. "He'll be mad if you peeped. It's not worth losing your life for."
"Bullshit," Megan said. "I'm already dead." Then Megan left with a huff.
"You'll be surprised what 'dead' is," Eve smiled.
Fortress Maximus
Metal rang as a fight went on inside one of the simulator rooms. Inside, Arcee and Wilson were in a middle of a duel. It was dead even. Arcee was able to keep up with Wilson or so she thought. Arcee was shoved back as she slid on her heels. She jammed her sword into the ground to stop herself and smiled. Wilson jumped back as lightning shot out of the ground from where he stood. "Dang, missed," Arcee muttered.
"Sun Spurts!" Wilson shouted. The panels flew off his body as missiles were launched at Arcee. Arcee readied herself for impact but the missiles went off in front of her, sending out a blinding white light. Wilson rushed into the light to finish Arcee off. He raised his sword and made contact. "Not this time," Arcee chuckled.
"But I've blinded you," Wilson said.
"Sorry but my optics have to be functioning for that to happen," Arcee said. The light faded as Wilson saw that he had made contact with Arcee's sword. True to her word, Arcee's optics was disabled. Arcee's optics glowed as she enabled them. "Peek-a-boo, I see you," she teased.
"Damn!"
Arcee pushed Wilson's sword out of the way and dealt a power strike to the chest. Wilson stumbled backwards as Arcee spun around to land a kick to the head. Wilson caught and held on to Arcee's ankle. Arcee used her momentum to wrap her body around Wilson and grabbed his arm. Then Arcee threw Wilson over her shoulder. Wilson was aware of the situation and landed on his feet then he returned the favor and tossed Arcee over his shoulder. Arcee landed on her feet and immediately got pelted with bullets.
The door opened as T-Ai walked in the middle of the duel. "Hey Wilson, I was wondering if you could help me with this…whoa!" T-Ai said.
Arcee saw the bullets coming and started to deflect them with her sword. Seeing that his current tactics wasn't working, Wilson ceased firing. "It seems have no choice," Wilson chuckled. "I guess I have to use my finisher."
"Your finisher?" Arcee said.
"He has a finisher?" T-Ai doubted.
Wilson's left hand glowed as he hover an energy ball in front of him. Then the energy ball split into six separate balls and formed a ring in the air. With a flick of a hand, the ring started to rotate. The ring started to spin faster and faster until it was a blur. Wilson formed a gun with his hand. "Solar Revolver!" Wilson said. Wilson fired an energy beam into the ring an energy bullet was fired from the ring. Wilson start a rapid fire into the ring as Arcee was heavily pelted by the bullets. The ring stopped spinning as Wilson powered down. "I win," he smiled.
"Lucky," Arcee said.
"Teach me that," T-Ai requested.
"No," Wilson refused.
"Aw!" T-Ai complained.
Spirit World
Megan was on her way delivering the folder Eve had given her. Steamed doesn't described the fury she felt against Eve. "I'm sick and tired of being taken advantage of," she fumed. "They always to do this me treating me as a mail lady and carrying out their 'little' errands, the nerves of them. I want to know what's so important about this folder that I'm forbidden to look into."
Megan opened the folder and peered inside. To her disappointment, all she saw was a number marked, "2135".
"2135?" Megan questioned. "The hell does that mean?"
"That's none of your business," Eve whispered. Megan was frozen in fear that Eve had snuck up behind her. At the same time, she was in shock for she received a knife to the back. Megan was gasping as she felt her life force slipping. "Deliver the folder, a simple and easy job and you screwed it up," Eve said as she pulled on Megan's hair.
Megan was arching her back as Eve was shorter than she is. Megan grit her teeth in pain as blood seeped from the wound. "Why are you doing this?" Megan wondered.
"I'm cleaning up loose ends," Eve said. "I can't afford having my plans derailed by the likes of you."
"I wasn't going to tell anyone, I swear."
"LIAR! You were going to run to your boyfriend so he can warn Joseph and Joseph can warn Wilson and he warns the Autobots about the ongoing threat to the universe. But then again, Joseph wouldn't tell anyone about this."
"Please, let me go, I won't tell anyone," Megan begged. "I swear on my life that I will keep this secret."
"Sounds valid and tempting but you made one mistake," Eve said.
"What's that?"
"You have no life to give. Meet my master."
The ground vanished as Megan looked down. Her eyes peeled back with horror as she saw Eve's master. "U-U-U-U-Unicron?" Megan said. "Unicron is your master? Then that means…"
"All true," Eve smiled. Eve released her grip as Megan plummeted towards the planet eater. Unicron opened his mouth and swallowed Megan whole. "Year 2135, no month or date was set," Eve reported.
"Doesn't matter, my vengeance with this universe and its inhabitance will be fulfilled," Unicron said. "I can assure you, they will all pay for their insubordination."
"Who is actually foolish enough to defy you my lord?" Eve smiled.
"Primus," Unicron oiled.