CHAPTER 58

You've already taken the Crown of Solomus, you won't get that one either!

In his processor, the same thought kept turning over and over. Wing blocked the various blows struck by Hardshell. His pedes slid on the floor and he almost lost his balance. But as Hardshell swooped down on him, his fists clasped to flatten his face, Wing managed to dodge and kick him head-on in the jaw.

Hardshell groaned in pain. Again, Wing held his sword horizontally to cushion a new punch from the Insecticon. Unlike Saberhorn, Hardshell did not use weapons. It made him much faster and threatening. Wing let out a groan when the Insecticon hit him in the rib. The white bot winced before taking a new breath and standing up straight, charging again.

By now Wing knew he was not focused. He was not focused on Hardshell, Saberhorn or any other possible enemy. He only thought of the Diamond. He only thought of protecting it, protecting the people of Arkus. And he knew that with this state of mind, he would certainly lose.

"You should have finished me!" growled Hardshell. "The last time we clashed, you should have finished me! "

Wing lifted his pede to ward off again. Hardshell hissed in anger.

"But to believe that the Circle of Light is filled with cowards who are not able to kill their opponents! Or else, your human vermin gave you the motivation to claim greater strength than me!"

Wing tried not to react to the mention of Father John. The last time he'd defended him against him and he'd managed to win the fight.

But now it was about defending an entire population. And Wing cursed himself for having so many difficulties. But he knew that the fight before with Saberhorn had already exhausted him enough to go the distance against Hardshell.

He had to calm down… he had to forget the fatigue and postpone it. The next moment, his sword was gripped. The white bot widened the optics and a smile appeared on Hardsell's lips. Wing tried to extricate himself, but the Insecticon's grip was too powerful to allow it.

"I wanted revenge ... but obviously I may have overestimated you. You will join the Allspark now."

"I do not think so!" cried a voice behind them.

Hardshell's attention was diverted for a few seconds. A few precious seconds that allowed Wing to rush on Hardshell to get into it, sending him an uppercut in the throat. This slowed down the Insecticon, and the next moment Wing walked around it and released his sword from its grip, before hitting his back in the shoulderplate.

Bumblebee fired. With his laser-gun, he aimed Hardshell at the chassis. The Insecticon rumbled in fury and rushed towards the yellow Autobot, who moved to shoot right into its left shoulderplate.

Hardshell screamed in pain. Wing frowned, noticing a trail of energon flowing from his shoulderplate. The Insecticon lost its balance and was on its knees, servo pressing on its wound to stop the bleeding.

For a moment, Wing wanted to respond to his instincts. He wanted to help Hardshell and treat his injury. But nevertheless, he was cut by the Insecticon who had turned to Saberhorn, standing close to the Diamond. Wing widened the optics and was struck by horror when he saw the pirate holding Rung hostage.

"No!" he shouted immediately.

"Saberhorn, get this Diamond now!" Hardshell yelled. "This is your chance! Do it!"

The white bot straightened, retrieving his sword.

He had to ... he had to stop him. Hardshell was down now. And Saberhorn was not to be taken lightly.

However, the latter did not move. He made no move towards the Diamond. Wing discerned the beetle's expression. A blatant expression he knew only too well, but hadn't expected to see on the face of someone like Saberhorn.

The hesitation. Resignation.

"I can't," said Saberhorn.

Hardshell's face twisted in rage.

"How so 'you can't'" ? Are you kidding me?"

Saberhorn looked down at Rung. The white and brown bot did not detach his optics from Hardsell, an air of defiance in his optics.

"... If we recover it, we destroy Arkus. We can't do that, Hardshell."

Wing squinted the optics at the pirate's statement. Shock and surprise filled his being, baffled by the pirate's response.

"It's a lie" replied his interlocutor.

"I do not think so. We can't take it that easily. The mission must be abandoned."

He… gave up? Did he give up when he fought for the Diamond? In the same way as the Crown?

A slight smile appeared on Rung's lips. He had known. He had known how to find the words. And it had worked.

Hardshell made a loud howl. A howl of intense rage that echoed across the room. This startled both Bumblebee and Wing, who remained closest to him.

Then his howl gradually turned into laughter. A sardonic laugh that replaced his anger gradually. After a seemingly endless moment, his voice rose.

"But you think I have something to do with it? The future of a City filled with repugnant standards practicing a sect?"

He paused. His tone became darker.

"… I don't care about the fate of this City. The Queen doesn't care about the fate of this City. As long as we reign together over the universe and we can crush all of these Autobots to regain our place ..."

Suddenly, Hardshell stood up.

The next moment, despite Rung's cries and pleas, he rushed towards the altar on which the Diamond was stored.

Again, Bumblebee fired several times in order to stop the trajectory of the Insecticon. He managed to target Hardshell's right leg. This barely destabilized the Insecticon, who sped up with its arm outstretched, ready to remove the Diamond from its base.

Wing in turn ran to block his way in any means.

His optics briefly met Saberhorn's.

For a moment, Wing begged him with a look. He begged him to react, to stop Hardshell. Or at least release Rung for him to intervene.

But Saberhorn did not move. Even though his blades were down and he was no longer threatening Rung, he still didn't release the brown and white bot.

It was like he was paralyzed by hesitation.

Wing looked up and returned his attention to Hardshell, who was slowly moving away from him. He finally let go of his sword and transformed into his aviator mode.

Hardshell was only a few yards from the artifact, ready to reach the Diamond when the white plane sank and hit him violently, deflecting it from his path.

Hardshell was thrown into the distance, his weight almost making the ground shake under their pedes when he landed hard on his back. Wing transformed again, aiming with both pedes at the chassis of the Insecticon. Hardshell howled in pain when his pedes crushed him in an unbearable crunch.

Wing hurried to withdraw. Turning around, he realized that his gesture had almost split the Insecticon's chassis. Breathing out, Hardshell's mouth moved without a word coming out. Wing lowered to his height, his optics lingering on the Insecticon's injury which had started to sink again.

"Stop this madness," Wing said seriously.

After struggling to respond, Hardshell managed to express himself between two bouts of coughing.

"Don't look down on me, dirty Autobot."

"I'm not…"

Wing couldn't finish his sentence.

He just had time to see Hardshell's fist hit him.

The next moment, Wing was struck in the face, at the optics, and he was in turn thrown back, his back and his wings hitting the wall hard.

On his knees, wheezing, Wing hardly raised his chin. His vision was fractured from the left optic while a black curtain covered the other, indicating that the latter was badly damaged.

Still, still struck, he managed to discern Hardshell who got up before rushing at him.

A yellow spot was planted between them, blocking his way. Wing realized that it was Bumblebee who was protecting him, his arms stretching out to grip the wrists of the Insecticon and keep him from advancing further.

He had come ... He was risking his life to help him ...

"Enough is enough, Hardshell!" Bumblebee growled.

His pedes slid back, his forearms shaking. But he persisted. Hardshell groaned before forcing the passage further.

"I will die before I obey to an Autobot!"

Hardshell sent an uppercut to his jaw, sending Bumblebee off who fell next to him. Despite the difficulty in watching, Wing crawled to grab Bumblebee and help him up.

Hardshell was approaching again. Bumblebee tilted his head to whisper something in Wing's audio.

"Throw me."

"What?"

"Throw me!"

Bumblebee discreetly pointed at something. Wing blinked, desperately trying to get his vision to work.

Despite the cracks in his left optic, he noticed what the yellow bot was aiming for. The laser-gun, just a few meters away but too far for them to reach it.

The Insecticon's pedes appeared in their field. Wing winced, feeling an acute pain take him to the helm.

He shouldn't be thinking about that ... he shouldn't be focusing on the pain. As Hardshell raised his arms to crush their heads, Wing grabbed Bumblebee by the waist.

They would only get one try.

Wing still had the strength to kick the Insecticon's knee powerfully before he attacked them. Then, using all of his remaining strength, Wing threw Bumblebee in the desired direction.

"you stupid-" Hardshell growled.

Bumblebee grabbed the laser-gun. And as Hardsell turned toward him, Bumblebee shot him straight into his already opened wound at the shoulderplate.

A strangled cry answered, a cry that made Wing start, even though he couldn't see the painful expression of the Insecticon. However, he was able to discern a few spurts of energon spurting from Hardshell's body as the latter fell back to the ground, immobilized by the shot.

The sight of the white bot sizzled. Hardshell was trembling with all his limbs, almost to the point of convulsion. Bumblebee hadn't killed him. But he needed treatment quickly. Just like them.

The heat took him to the head. For a moment, the white bot thought he was going to pass out. Wing noticed the yellow Autobot's servo stretched out in his direction. He didn't even realize he had come back to him.

Despite the pain, Wing took it.

"Thank you" the white bot rewarded him painfully.

"Please. We have to go out now."

"Yes…"

It was over… Hardshell wouldn't attack the artifact.

They heard Rung utter a muffled cry.

The two immediately turned towards their comrade.

Saberhorn no longer held their comrade. But Rung had been pressed against the wall, clawing at the servos of his jailer.

Looking up, they realized in horror that the Diamond had disappeared from its altar.

Scorponok stood before them, Rung's throat in one servo, the Diamond in the other, an evil smile on his face.

No…

At first, nothing happened.

Only silence fell on the great hall.

The shock passing through each person present in this sacred room, all the optics were aimed at the scorpion, the Decepticon fixing the Red Diamond which shone only more brightly between his digits.

"Scorponok…" Rung could only pronounce, the painful tone.

The Diamond shone as if nothing had happened, as if there were no consequences that would ensue ...

Then it started. It started with a thud. A noise they could very well not have heard.

Then the noise intensified and progressed very quickly.

A sound ... of collapse.

Like a crumbling tower ...

Where did it come from ...? From outside ... or from inside the Temple.

Nothing moved in the room.

But the terrifying noise continued. Then, little by little, the ground began to shake. Mouth wide open, an expression of terror on his face, Rung screamed.

His expression was imitated by Scorponok who immediately released the brown and white bot, looking around, horrified as Saberhorn lost his balance as the shaking became more and more important.

"What did I do ?" cried Scorponok.

"Put immediately this artifact back where you found it !" growled Saberhorn.

"No! It's too late!" Rung replied, his voice going shrill.

It was too late?

No, no… These noises ... This building ... these collapsing buildings ...

Wing realized that he was much more than familiar with this feeling.

It was not war but ...

Suddenly, a hole formed in the ground, too close to Bumblebee and Wing. The continuous shaking made the hole grow, which became like a crater. The white bot managed to grab Bumblebee so it wouldn't fall into the void.

The white bot felt something on his shoulderplate and his helm.

Dust ... debris ... The building collapsed on them ...

They would be buried alive!

"What do we do?" Saberhorn exclaimed in the direction of Scorponok, his expression frightened.

"We're leaving…"

Bumblebee and Wing froze at the voice rising behind them.

Hardshell, despite his significant injuries, straightened up to get up.

"... We leave and we take the Diamond ..."

"Are you kidding?"

Hardshell ignored the beetle's words.

A puddle of energon had formed around him. Pushing a painful buzz, Hardshell turned into his insect mode.

Another shake caused Wing's balance to lose, dragging him to the ground at top speed. Handicapped by his non-functional optics, he looked for a place to hang on.

But he couldn't see anything around him.

He saw nothing more ... he saw nothing more ...

He felt the cold air of emptiness under his pedes.

No… Father John was blind. And he got away with it.

Wing shouldn't forget that.

He turned into his aviator mode. Quickly, he threw himself over the collapsed surface. Intermittently, half the room was crumbling into a cloud of debris that buried everyone within reach.

In a few minutes, everything would be destroyed. In the place where the altar stood, there was nothing left.

He looked around hastily. He looked for his comrades.

There ... Rung. Bumblebee. The white and brown bot hoisted his comrade to get him up. They were about to rush to the elevator when they realized that the latter was already open.

Hardshell and Scorponok were already inside. As Bumblebee and Rung rushed to reach it, Hardshell smirked at them as the doors closed.

"No!"

The elevator was already going up.

The room ... the Temple ... it would all collapse before the elevator came back down. If it hadn't been destroyed before.

Hardshell and Scorponok could very well die in this elevator, trapped in the rubble.

'What are we doing?" repeated Bumblebee, his voice low.

Wing transformed and turned his attention back to the hole that had been formed.

Fresh air… He remembered that the Adaptus' Fall was a tall building on a platform overlooking the City.

Wing clenched his fists. There was only one way out of here. Jumping into the void.

Bumblebee and Rung had no aviator mode. But if necessary, he would carry them.

Wing received a shock to the head. Sharp debris had split his helmet. He endured, ready to transform.

Suddenly, he noticed Saberhorn lying on the ground, his leg buried under the rubble while the dust covered his body. He was trying to get away with difficulty.

"Hardshell! Scorponok!"

His comrades had already left the scene.

Rung didn't hesitate for a second and rushed over to clear the rubble. Wing saw Rung reach out to him and grabbed him. The beetle was put back on its pedes, with the energon flowing from his legs and wings due to the various injuries caused by the weight of the walls falling on them.

"We must go! Now!" cried Wing.

He transformed. Rung and Bumblebee guessed his plan. Immediately, they joined him, gripping each to his wings. The white bot signaled with an engine roar for Saberhorn to join them too.

They couldn't let him be buried alive. The pirate rushed and clung to the plane as Wing took off.

Then, as the rest of the Temple collapsed on their heads, the group plunged into the crater.

Around them, a red and gray sky.

Wing's vision was blurred. He could not say where the earth was, the soil.

A cloud of dust blinded them. They coughed, spit.

Still, he continued to fly, diving sharply as the deafening sound of destruction whistled his audios.

The destruction ... an all too familiar image ...

They knew they had left the Temple a long time ago ... but the noise persisted.

"Land..."

Wing did not hear immediately.

It wasn't just the Temple ... he knew it.

"Wing! Land!"

Wing came out of his torpor.

The soil ... the sand ...

He appeared right under him. Wing made sure to cushion the landing.

But unfortunately, even with all possible care, it was brutal. When Wing landed, he only had time to transform before collapsing on the ground, next to its comrades who had been ejected and had followed the same path.

They stood still for long minutes. The noise did not stop.

Wing straightened up. He managed to sit down before contemplating the disastrous scene that was happening in the distance.

The city...

Buildings that were destroyed one after the other ...

The terror, the horror, the anguish of the inhabitants who tried to escape it.

Wing wanted to say a word but nothing came. He understood that there was nothing to say.

Bumblebee, Rung, Saberhorn… all were in the same position, to contemplate the City, henceforth unprotected, to destroy itself in a long agony.

By sunset there was nothing left.

The City, which had previously been bathed in overwhelming anguish, was struck with deathly silence.

No one said a word.

Despite his reduced vision, Wing saw everything.

There was no more Adaptus's Fall.

There was no longer a City.

There were no more Arkus.

There were not even ashes left.

For little, for a traveler who had never visited the place, it was as if the City had never existed. Or it had existed millions of years ago before it died out. While the City had been destroyed a few hours before.

Rung took his face in his servos. When Wing approached, he realized he was crying.

Throat clenched, Wing tried to say something. But instead, he could only put his servo on his shoulderplate, his optics not coming off the horizon.

Nothing… Nothing.

With trembling shoulderplates, Wing tried to take several breaths to calm himself down. But that would not be enough.

In the distance, they heard the sound of an engine. Like a ship starting up. Saberhorn immediately stood alert. He turned towards the source.

An unreadable expression, the beetle seemed to know what it was.

He was not alone.

Wing looked at him, his jaw clenched. The beetle was ready to go.

"... you don't have to come with them," said the white bot, his voice broken.

"... I will not forget what you did for me" replied Saberhorn, his voice low.

It was painful. His response brought Bumblebee out of his hinges.

"You're just a bastard ! How can you get back to them after what they just did?"

Saberhorn had nothing to say.

He just walked away without a word.

"When I think that we risked our life for him ... and innocent people died instead!" Bumblebee growled.

"Drop it, Bumblebee," Rung cut him sadly. "It does not matter."

Yes… Innocent people.

The locals, the Guardian of the Temple ... everyone who had been there.

As Saberhorn disappeared on the horizon, they heard footsteps.

Someone was approaching. In the dust mist that surrounded them, a bot faced them.

One of the inhabitants of Arkus ... or rather, what was left of it.

"... You ... strangers" he said, rage evident in his voice.

None of the trio's members said anything.

The bot growled. His fists clenched, he stooped to grab something.

A stone. He threw it at them.

Bumblebee didn't have time to waver until he received it in the face.

"Bumblebee!" cried Wing, who ran towards him.

The jet left a bruise on his forehelm and a few moments later he bled.

"It's your fault ... if you were not there ... this disaster would not have happened !" the resident yelled before tears filled his voice and his face.

Wing looked down.

Yes… he understood… he knew all that…

He turned his back and walked without direction, before stopping a few meters further.

He ended up opening the frame and took out the Earth stone, given by Father John.

If you think you are about to give up, take this stone and look at it. Contemplate it as much as you need to.

He needed it now ...

Wing looked at it.

They had done their best, he tried to tell himself.

They had done their best ... and it had not been enough.