Chapter 17-Still Standing
A purple glow washed over Flamewar's face as she held the oddly colored energy crystal in her hand to the light of the sun. She could feel its charged energy within its crystal lattice. She could feel it all around her. This was what real power felt like, and it felt nice.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Airachnid said as she walked up to Flamewar. "Funny how powerful one little rock can make you feel."
"It's even more stable than that red energon scrap those morons in the Decepticon research division keep making." Flamewar tossed the energon into the air before catching it. "Didn't think we'd hit a gold mine like this."
"These guys can sniff out it out even better than they do energon." Airachnid smiled. "My hive continues to surprise me."
Her "hive" in question was busy exhuming ultra-energon, known to the wider world as Ore-13, from every corner of the small cave they stumbled upon an hour ago. Insecticons mined ore-13, flew off back to the ship, and returned to gather more. It was like watching a hive of cybertronian bees at work, only their royal jelly had the power to strength a single mechanoid tenfold.
"Glorious, isn't it?" Airachnid chuckled.
"Why do you think they can sniff this out so easily." Flamewar asked.
Airachnid shrugged. "These are Shockwave's pets. He probably programmed them that way before sending them here."
"Figures something this good was made by Shockwave." Flamewar said.
"So you said that this ore-13 can empower us?" Airachnid said curiously.
"Chatter on the Con's radiowaves said that it turned Starscream into a powerhouse. Megatron too. We've already collected enough to last us at least two months." Flamewar looked at the shard in her hand with a contemplative expression, making Airachnid's smirk grow.
"I know that look. You're thinking of something naughty, aren't you?"
"Possibly." Flamewar replied. "Arcee and I have been locked in this dance of death for over a year now since running into each other on this planet. Things are heating up now that we have the humans gunning for us, and I want to end this pissing contest before Prime and Megatron go full throttle at each other."
"An instant strike against both sides?" Airachnid said curiously.
"No, more along the lines of giving them something to worry about while Arcee and I finish things." Flamewar crossed her arms. "How many soldiers do we have?"
"About five hundred, and growing. All the vegetation and organic matter they're munching on is helping with their reproduction." Airachnid said. "Never seen a cybertronian reproduce like that."
"Now you know why Shockwave likes to play with them so much." Flamewar said.
Insecticons were a unique species in many ways. Their hive mentally allowed them a strong bond that increased their combat effectiveness and made them a coherent fighting unit, especially in the presence of an alpha. Furthermore, the insecticons would reproduce at a faster rate than regular Cybertronians, using the energy gathered from their food to spawn protoforms via budding.
"So what do you want to do first?" Airachnid asked. "There are plenty of human cities to hit to draw Arcee out."
"Actually, I was thinking of starting small." Flamewar grinned. "Why go straight to the action when you can have a little foreplay first?"
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'This is depressing.' Darren thought with a sigh. He didn't think he'd feel this lonely sitting by himself in the library.
He was supposed to be having a study session with Gina, Annie, and Kevin to prepare for an important science exam. As per usual, plans fell apart when Kevin had to go help Penny out with something at the ruins of Civ-Alpha. Then Annie bowed out to study with Brittany, though Darren was sure they were doing everything but studying. Gina…canceled at the last minute. Her excuse was that she to help her father with something, but Darren knew that she needed to have some time to herself after that whole mess with Pandora.
And that left him…and Brianna.
Though her grades were rather spot on to begin with, Brianna had been out for a few days due to having a very bad sickness that laid her out pretty badly. Darren thought that was kind of odd, considering he thought that Brianna was a rather well-developed girl for her age.
'Almost like Gina.' Darren thought wearily. He got rid of that thought almost immediately, knowing he was treading dangerous territory. 'Bad Darren! You already have a very attractive girlfriend. Don't go window shopping!'
"Hey, Darren!"
Darren looked up and saw Brianna walking up to his table with her usual bright smile and an armful of books under one arm. She was wearing a tight green sweater and jeans that she did a really good job looking good in. Darren pinched himself hard on the arm.
"Hey, Bri." Darren said, using her nickname. "How are you feeling?"
"Better after spending a few days in bed." Brianna said. She put her books down and sat next to him. "Feels good to be up and about again."
"Yeah, but it's odd to see you absent for so long. You're, like, the healthiest person I know." Darren said.
Brianna gave him a small smile and looked away. "W-Well, everyone gets sick once in a while. We're only human after all."
Darren looked at the books she brought along and cocked an eyebrow at her.
"Weapons that changed the world?" He read. "Tanks: Past, Present, and Future? Talos of Tomorrow—what are these books?"
"I'm a bit of a weapons freak. Guns, cannons, tanks, you name it, I love it." Brianna said sheepishly.
"Never pegged you for a gun-girl." Darren smiled.
"They kind of grew on me. That's what happens when your dad's in the army." She said.
"Really, what rank?"
"He's a weapons designer. His job keeps him busy, but I have my mom, so everything's cool."
"Good to hear."
Talking to Brianna now, Darren struggled to understand why Gina was so frosty towards her. She was a sweet and kind girl, smart but feisty, though it only added to her charm. In fact, a lot of the things he liked about Brianna could also be applied to Gina.
"So what exactly are you having problems with?" She asked.
"Math." He answered.
"Math? But that's not too hard." Brianna said.
"Some of it is. I was never too savvy for numbers and neither was Annie. That's more up Gina's alley."
Brianna's brow twitched at the mention of Gina, but she put on a smile and moved closer to Darren so that their shoulders are touching. "Well, since you're helping me out, I can put you through a crash course in the easy learning of mathematics."
Feeling a bit flustered at her close proximity, Darren smiled and said, "Thanks, Bri. Gina was supposed to help me out, but she was busy."
"Well, I'm not too busy for you, Darren." Brianna said, placing a hand on his wrist. "And I can always make time for-"
They were interrupted by Darren's cellphone vibrating in his pocket. Not noticing the hellish glare Brianna sent his phone, he took it out and flipped it open, seeing Debbie's number on the screen.
"Huh, I wonder what Debbie wants. She should be at the hospital right now." Darren wondered and pressed the call button. Hello? Debbie?"
"D-Darren…"
Darren straightened up in his seat. Something sounded wrong in Debbie's voice.
"Debbie, what's wrong? Did something happen?" He asked. "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Darren, but…she…" Debbie sniffled and whimpered. "She wanted to speak to you."
Darren's blood ran cold. "Who wants to speak to me? Debbie, what happened?"
"Hello, Darren." Flamewar's voice answered this time. "Why don't you come on home? I'm sure your sister could use some moral support right now."
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Darren had barely taken the time to tell Brianna to call anyone she had in her contacts before running out of the library, ignoring her calls. Calling upon his telekinesis, Darren ran at top speed that would make an Olympic runner jealous. His legs burns and he almost ran over several people, but he didn't dare slow down even a bit as he ran all the home from downtown, not caring at all if anyone saw him using his powers.
His house looked the same, completely untouched from the outside, but Darren wasn't fooled. He kicked the door open and ran inside.
"Debbie!" He yelled, running into the living room. "Debbie, where are—"
He froze in the doorway as he spotted Debbie sitting on the couch with another woman. His sister's hair was messed up and she had a bruise on her cheek with a bloody nose and split lip. Tears ran down her face as the other woman held her close, wearing tight leather biker's clothes with short violet hair and green eyes. Darren immediately recognized the familiar sneer on her face as he laid eyes on her.
"Flamewar." He growled.
"My, you got here fast. I thought it was going to take a while for you to get back home." Flamewar grinned. "Shame. I was looking forward to having a nice chat with your sister here."
"If you touch here, I swear—"
"You'll do what? Fight me?" She chuckled. "You're not fast enough to stop me before I snap her neck and burn your house down. I have the advantage here, and you'll do well to remember that."
"Please, don't hurt him." Debbie cried.
"Hush now, dear. As long as he behaves, I won't hurt him, or you, too much." Flamewar said, patting Debbie's shoulder.
"What the hell do you want, Flamewar?" Darren demanded.
"Want? You know what I want, boy. I want Arcee's head, and yours by extension. Did you think I was going to forget out last encounters together? Fun fact about me, Darren—I can hold a grudge for a long time." She said.
"Arcee's going to stop you." Darren growled.
"She couldn't even kill me when I was running solo, and I have a swarm of insecticons at my command." Flamewar said. "I can assure you, Arcee will die, but not before I've broken you first."
Darren glanced at Debbie before taking a step forward. "I'm not afraid of you."
"Of course you are, you're trembling." Flamewar pointed out.
"I'm afraid for my sister, not that you've ever known that feeling. You're just a jaded, second rate huntress with an inferiority complex." He said. "You've already had everything, but you threw it all away for nothing!"
"Keep talking, boy. It'll only make your death more painful." Flamewar hissed.
"I told you, you don't scare me!" Darren yelled.
Flamewar snarled and backhanded Debbie across the face, and Darren shot forward to punch her. Flamewar caught his first and kicked him in the stomach before throwing him to the floor. Darren coughed and wheezed before Flamewar grabbed his shirt and threw him onto the couch, standing over his sister.
"See what you made me do?" She sneered. "You made me hurt this poor creature. I'm trying to refrain from making a mess for the time being." She grabbed Debbie by her hair and painfully pulled her to her feet. "Keep bad mouthing me and your sister will start losing some limbs!"
Darren hunched over, holding a hand to his bruised limbs as he caught his breath. "Why…"
"Why what?"
"Why are you doing this?" Darren asked.
Flamewar rolled her eyes. "I already told you, it's to make Arcee…"
"I'm asking you what's your probably with Arcee? She's never done anything to you!" He spat. "What could she have done to drive you to cause so much pain and torment her like this? Killing her sister, torturing her, coming after her friends…what's the fucking point?"
"Envy." Flamewar's answer was so quick and abrupt that it made Darren pause for a second.
"Envy?"
"Yes. Arcee and I loved each other, there was no doubt about that. We were the power couple in Ky-Alexia, a pair of fighters who protected our home wanting nothing more than to just live our lives together. But no matter what I did, everyone just seemed to gravitate around Arcee, praising her as if she did everything singlehandedly. They'd never notice me, and if they did, I was just some bottom feeder who paled in comparison to sweet, beautiful Arcee."
Flamewar scowled and threw Debbie to the floor, her expression scornful, yet her eyes were a little…sad. "It eats away at you, you know. The constant whispers and jeers, the insults and blasé mistreatment. Even Arcee grew tired of me and began drifting away when I needed her the most. Her, Moonracer and I were equal in skill, but they'd rather take that sharpshooting little slut over me! Arcee's little dalliances with that moronic Wrecker Springer was the last straw!
"I was sick of it all, sick of being treated like trash by the people I was supposed to protect. People I've risked my life time and time again to ensure that they lived to see the next sunrise!" She continued. "Megatron's rhetoric at the time spoke to me, as did the goals of the Decepticons. But Arcee and Moonracer chose the Autobots, and I couldn't let that stand."
"You did all of this just because you were jealous?" Darren shook his head. "You're sick."
"I wouldn't expect a child like you to understand my situation." Flamewar scoffed.
Darren spat at her. "Oh, I understand—"
"No you don't!"
Flamewar grabbed Darren, pushing him onto the couch and wrapping her hands around his neck to strangle him.
"What could a hairless ape like you understand? You're just a sniveling little coward who got lucky in the gene pool and can't even see it!" She roared.
As she strangled Darren, Debbie grabbed a lamp and ran up to Flamewar, smashing the lamp into the back of her head. Flamewar lashed out at Debbie, pushing her arm back and slamming the limb over the coffee table. Debbie screamed as her arm bent at an odd angle and snapped painfully, falling to her knees.
"You…arm…" Debbie groaned, unable to feel her arm.
"I'll break more than that after I'm done with your brother." Flamewar growled. "I'm going to break you. I'm going to break Darren. I'm even going to break that loudmouth little whore of a sister of yours! Then I'm going to—"
"SHUT UP!"
Darren slammed into Flamewar, encased in a TK aura as they smashed through the window and flew outside. They landed in the street, where Flamewar kicked him off and hit him with an uppercut to his face that threw him onto his back. She stood over him, glaring down at him like he was source of all her problems.
"You're going to fight back now, boy?" Flamewar sneered. "You're going to try and be a man?!"
Darren leapt up, swinging a first at her face, which she batted aside and punched him to the ground. Darren's vision swam as his left cheek and jaw ached painfully.
"Go ahead, Darren, fight back!" She shouted. "I want to tell Arcee how you fought back like a dying animal when I give her the heads of you and your sisters!"
Darren lunged at her and threw some more punches at her, but she handled him more easily this time, deflecting his punches and slugging him in the face again. Darren felt his nose go numb with pain and his teeth rattle as he crashed back into the ground, blood pouring from his mouth and nose.
"At least you had the balls to fight back, Darren. Most of my prey just stand there and scream while I rip them apart." Flamewar said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to send your sisters along with you to hell."
"You…first."
He clenched his hand and a piece of asphalt flew from the ground at Flamewar's back, ready to impale her. However her holoform vanished before it could touch her. Darren heard an engine roar and saw a black and red motocycle speed down the street, transforming into Flamewar's true form.
"Nice try!" She cackled and pointed her exhaust blaster at him. "But you're too slow."
Before she could incinerate him, two cars sped down the street at full speed—Sunstreaker and Mirage! They transformed and pointed their weapons at Flamewar, who grinned and transformed to drive away.
"Sunstreaker, chase her!" Mirage said and ran over to Darren, who was just barely conscious. "Mirage to base, we need medical in Tranquility for Darren and Debbie. And step on it!"
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Tranquility had been riled up thanks to the appearance of Flamewar, who somehow managed to escape. Jazz reinforced Autobot presence in the town while Ratchet attended to Darren and Debbie, while Optimus assigned Bulkhead and Ironhide to watch over Gina and Annie in case Flamewar made a go at them. In the meantime, Arcee's stress levels were at an all-time high from the sudden appearance of her former lover.
"Where the hell were you two?" Arcee shouted at Mirage and Sunstreaker.
"We were patrolling, Arcee." Mirage said. "Just like we were supposed to."
"One of you was supposed to be keeping an eye on the children so something like this couldn't happen!"
"Hey, get off our backs, Arcee. We were doing our jobs!" Sunstreaker frowned. "Those brats are still alive, aren't they?"
"Don't even try to pretend that you care, Sunstreaker. You think I don't here you muttering about how worthless humans are when you think you're alone?" Arcee sneered. "If anything happened to them…"
"That's enough, Arcee." Prowl cut in. "Darren and Debbie are safe now."
"No thanks to them." Arcee grumbled, earning glares from the two mechs in question.
Sunstreaker stepped forward, fists clenched. "Listen you—"
"What's done is done, Arcee." Optimus said, cutting Sunstreaker off with a firm look. "I already have Jazz put Tranquility under tight surveillance. Our friends are safe now."
"No they're not. Not while she's still alive." Arcee said bitterly.
"What could have possibly possess Flamewar to attack two humans in broad daylight like that?" Prowl asked. "She's psychotic, but she's not a fool."
"No, I have a feeling that this might be the start of something else Flamewar has planned." Optimus said grimly. "Have all our satellites watch out for Flamewar and Airachnid's energon signatures. We need to capture or contain them at all costs!"
Arcee bit her lip and looked away. It won't be enough. She knows that Flamewar did all this just to scare her…and it was working.
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"Ow," Flamewar hissed, rubbing her head. "I forgot how tricky fighting that boy was."
"I take it you had a great outing?" Airachnid sauntered up to her, mentally commanding the insecticons to stock up more energon.
"It got a bit…personal, near the middle, but I did what I set out to do." Flamewar looked at the insecticons feasting on their newly acquired "treat". "Are our soldiers ready?"
"Almost. I'm having a few of them stock up on ore-3. They'll be ready for a test run soon."
"Good, I want to see how a couple of enhanced insecticon warriors do against Prime's team." Flamewar grinned.
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Prowl oversaw the mining operation of another vein of ore-13 found in an abandoned quarry somewhere in the mid-west. It wasn't a large vein, but the energon was extremely potent, even in its remote location.
"You know, I still don't get how Shockwave was able to get energon to grow on other worlds." Armorhide said, cleaving off a large chunk of the magenta crystal to drop into the cart. "The engineering behind it all must be amazing."
"Amazing and dangerous." Hound said. "Don't get too enchanted by this stuff, kid. This is Shockwave's work, which means its more trouble than its worth."
"Less talk, more cutting. The longer we linger, the higher our chances of being hounded by Decepticons." Prowl said.
"Ugh, go suck a cogwheel." Sideswipe growled under his breath.
"Relax, Sides, getting agitated over Prowl is not worth it." Rodimus said, swinging his laser emitter around. "You got any update from Arcee?"
"Nothing new on that front, I'm afraid. Flamewar's attack has her shaken." Hound said. "We're still looking for her, but—"
A laser blast hit the energon crystal next to Hound, exploding it and sending him and Rodimus flying back. The others turned to the sky, where they saw a swarm of insecticons heading straight for them.
"We're under attack!" Prowl shouted.
"We know!" Sideswipe yelled.
The Autobots immediately opened fire on the insecticons, but it wasn't long before Prowl realized that something was wrong. Their attacks weren't doing much damage against the bugs, and even his well-placed headshots left no more than scorch marks in their carapace.
"Something's wrong." Prowl muttered. His fears were realized when he saw the odd purple glow in their eyes. "Scrap, Autobots disengage!"
"What?! Why?" Sideswipe dodged another laser blast and returned fire.
"Those insecticons are on ore-13. They're stronger than normal!"
One of the insecticons transformed and landed on the ground. Roaring, it charged at Hound and punched him in the chest, knocking him back several feet. Armorhide slashed his battle axe across its back, but the beast smacked him across the face, nearly breaking his jaw.
"Slag!" Rodimus transformed and sped away from the two soldiers chasing him. "Prowl, we're getting torn apart here!"
"Prowl to base, we need reinforcements right now—" Something sticky snagged his arm and yanked hard, pulling him off his face and throwing him into the air. Prowl felt something big slam into him hard and sent him crashing into the rock wall of the quarry.
Before he could recover, his arm was yanked again and he was pulled forward, being dragged along the ground for a few feet before he tore off the strand of webbing and came to a stop. He hissed in pain and got to his feet as a purple figure landed right in front of him.
"Airachnid." Prowl growled.
"Prowl, fancy meeting you here." Airachnid grinned.
Prowl took out his laser rifle, taking note of the purple glow in Airachnid's eyes. She was also on ore-13, and clearly out to gather more. He pointed his rifle at her face, earning a laugh from her.
"That's funny. You think you're little toy is going to hurt me?" She grinned. "I have ore-13 on my side."
"And I know how to handle people who've taken it." He replied.
"Oh, Prowl." Airachnid sighed, shaking her head. "You'll be dead long before the energon wears off."
Prowl pulled the trigger, but an insecticon slammed into him from the side and dragged his face through the dirt and gravel. Unable to break its strong grip, he took out his shock baton and jabbed it into the insecticon's arm, delivering a strong jolt that made the arm seize up, allowing Prowl to break free. He hopped onto its back and fired his rifle repeatedly into the back of its head, destroying it completely.
Airachnid huffed and transformed into helicopter mode before flying at him, firing her laser machine guns. Powerful laser blasts tore into Prowl's body to throw him back into the gravel slope behind him as she pressed her advance. Airachnid transformed back and kicked him in the chest before pointed her palm blasters at his face.
"Now, do be a dear and scream for me, will you?" She said.
Prowl didn't bother responding. He just stabbed one of his batons into her chest, shocking her violently before trying to punch her face. Airachnid barely avoided his attack and landed a punch on his face that rattled his skull. Another punch sent him to the ground in a daze while she stood over him.
"If this is all you can do, then you're an even bigger disappointment than I thought." Airachnid sneered. "Apparently your only strong suit is sitting behind a desk…"
Prowl lobbed a flash grenade at her face, which detonated right in front of her eyes. Blinded and mad, she recklessly starting shooting her palm blasters, scoring several hits off Prowl's body before he rammed into her and threw her to the ground. He jammed his batons into her torso and started electrocuting her with the strongest charge his batons could muster. His goal was to wear her down, make her use up as much energy healing from his attacks so that she used up more energon faster. It was his only hope of getting out of this alive—
Prowl's calculated thoughts were cut off by an agonizing pain coming from his abdomen. He screamed as one of Airachnid's claws tore into his lower abdomen. She pulled her arm back and punched again, this time puncturing his armor. Another punch dug into his internals, but Prowl did not budge from his spot. They glared hatefully at each other, refusing to yield under the pain.
Eventually, Airachnid's ore-13 powered punched had tore into his body so much that her fist actually ripped its way straight through his back. He felt his strength fading as energon bled profusely from his wounds, but he tried to fight, even as Airachnid's claws tore out his fuel pump and circuits. Energon spurted from his body, and his energy levels started dropping rapidly. Eventually, he had no more strength to draw on and Prowl lost his fight against stasis lock.
"That's right." Airachnid coughed, kicking Prowl's body off her. The lingering electricity in her system made her body spasm sporadically as she crawled away. "Lie down and die like the dog you are."
"Prowl!"
Airachnid shifted her lower body together and relied on her extra legs to get going, commanding her remaining insecticons to retreat. As soon as they were out of sight, Bumblebee and Ironhide ran into the quarry to help their friends. The two Autobots found Prowl's broken and brutalized body bleeding out on the ground.
"Ratchet, we need medical over here!" Ironhide yelled.
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"Prime, what the hell just happened over there?"
Barnett's voice rang throughout the empty room, worsening Optimus's already pounding headache.
"You will have to elaborate, Colonel Barnett." Optimus said.
"Don't play coy with me, Prime. I'm getting reports from a nearby town in Oregon about the local quarry going up in flames after several giant robot bugs were seen flying in over there."
"Airachnid attacked Prowl's team while they were mining ore-13 in the region. According to Armorhide, the insecticons and Airachnid were all on ore-13 during the attack." Optimus said.
"Ore-13, that super-energon Megatron tried to snuff you out with?" Barnett asked. Optimus nodded.
"The very same. Armorhide is in the CR chamber, Rodimus and Sideswipe have only minor wounds, and Prowl's condition is…critical."
Barnett noted Optimus's pause and asked, "How's Prowl?"
"He suffered seriously internal injuries fighting Airachnid. Ratchet is operating on him as we speak."
"God…" Barnett sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Prime."
"It's fine. Prowl will live, though he almost didn't make it." Optimus said. "However, I don't think this attack was a random one given how close it is to Flamewar's attack on the children."
"Aren't Flamewar and Airachnid rogues? That means they have little resources to cause serious damage to us in the long run."
"Yes, but they have a growing number of insecticons at their command. The fact that they're using ore-13 to empower themselves is very troubling. This makes them even more dangerous." Optimus crossed his arms. "Arcee thinks that these attacks are leading up to something, and I'm inclined to believe her. Arcee knows Flamewar best."
"Are we looking at a major attack, Prime?" Barnett asked. "I need to know where they're going to hit next."
"Airachnid and Flamewar are too unpredictable, Colonel. Flamewar's sole purpose is to torment Arcee by any means necessary. They're even giving the Decepticons a lot of trouble."
"There's one silver lining." Barnett said sarcastically.
"One thing I can say for certain is that those two are planning to hit us hard, right where it hurts. And I'm afraid Arcee will be at the center of it all."
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"I almost had that bastard and those fools ruined it all for me!" Airachnid raged.
"Relax, Airachnid. The fun's not over yet." Flamewar said. She looked over at the bio-organic pods that held gestating insecticons budded from adult insecticons. At the moment there were around 56 insecticons spawned, and just enough ore-13 mined to empower a little over half of their army. "I think it's time we started the main event."
"Already? You're not going to torment them some more?"
"We don't have time. As much fun as our foreplay has been, it'll run dry if we don't get to the main event." Flamewar said.
Flamewar stood up and grinned at Airachnid. "Call your strongest insecticons and feed them ore-13. We'll do the same. It's time to get serious."
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Arcee visited the kids during her down time, just to give her some peace of mind. The children were staying at Gina's house for the time being. Darren and Debbie were doing relatively fine, though Debbie kept her distance from Arcee (she tried not to take it personally, but it still stung) and Darren was instructed to stay in bed for now. Thus, the girls and Minicons hung out in the guest room while they chatted.
"Really, Arcee, we're fine. No need to keep stressing yourself out like this." Darren told her.
"I know, but this incident has me jumping at shadows. She could've killed you two." Arcee said.
"Could've, but couldn't. Because my bro's freaking awesome!" Annie punched her twin in the shoulder, making sure to avoid the bandages.
"Annie, please don't further injure your brother." High Wire scolded.
"How's Prowl? I heard Airachnid put him in critical condition." Gina asked.
"Prowl's recovering right now under Ratchet's watch, but he'll be fine. Airachnid literally disemboweled him, though, and we thought we were going to lose him." Arcee sighed.
Annie frowned at Arcee's exhaustion. "Damn, Arcee, this really has your stressed out, doesn't it?"
Arcee looked at her hands. "Flamewar came dangerously close to killing you this time. This was…one too many times. It was too close for comfort."
"I doubt she'll try it again, though." Gina said proudly. "Not when my boyfriend is protected by two inhumans and a heavily armed android."
"No, she won't try the same trick twice. She'll move onto something bigger. Flamewar is partnered with another rogue ex-Con, along with who knows how many insecticons at her command. She won't stay small scale forever."
The room was silent as everyone processed her words. This nightmare was far from over.
"I'm sorry to bring the mood down, guys." Arcee apologized, standing up. "I'll head back to the Ark for a quick recharge and—"
The door suddenly flung open and Gina's mother, Julia, came running in.
"Mom?" Gina exclaimed, getting up. "What's wrong?"
"It's all over the news!" Julia exclaimed. "London is under attack by swarms of giant robot insects!"
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Arcee had been called back to the Ark after news of the insecticon invasion of Britannia's capital city spread. Optimus was assembling everyone capable of being deployed, he even commissioned the Minicons to provide some additional service, and gave everyone a booster shot of ore-13 to have on hand in case things got difficult, which everyone was sure of.
The insecticons numbered around 56 according to reports, with the possibility of more being held back in reserve. What's worse was that all of the insecticons showed signs of being empowered by ore-13. This was definitely Flamewar's big push and she wanted the whole world to see it.
Optimus wasted no time in ordering a ground bridge and led his team into the portal. When they emerged into London, the city was already in chaos. The royal army was already mobilized, par fighting off the swarm, part evacuating civilians out of harms ways. Already there were several human casualties, with almost two dozen Britannian talos already lying across the ground in pieces.
"Autobots, assist the military in repelling the insecticons!" Optimus bellowed. "Ratchet, Lifeline, Hound, located and evac as many humans from the area as possible! The rest of you, destroy the insecticons!"
The Autobots scattered, immediately fighting the insecticons and helping local rescue teams assist in recovering any civilians caught in the fighting. The entire city, Britannia's seat of power, soon became one large battlefield between man and beast.
XXXXXX
"I must say, this is much more entertaining to watch that human dramas." Starscream grinned.
Knockout rolled his eyes. He, Starscream, and the rest of the Cons were watching the breaking news coverages on the insecticon swarm on London.
"This is madness," Nightshade muttered. "Has Flamewar lost her damned mind?"
"You think she had any sanity to begin with?" Leader-1 chuckled. Nightshade glared down at him.
"Should we do something, Megatron?" Nightshade asked.
"Why waste time and energy meddling in this chaos? Let the Autobots clean up Flamewar and Airachnid's mess." Megatron said. "Whoever wins, we'll destroy without mercy."
XXXXXX
At the Harkins' residence, the children were arguing about what they should be doing in this situation.
"We've got to help them!" Annie yelled at her brother. "We can easily take a ground bridge to the Ark and get our talos. We'll be unstoppable with Mjolnir and Excalibur!"
"I'm not going out there in that hell." Grindor protested. "We'll be slaughtered!"
"He's right, Annie. Even our talos are only so strong against that many enemies, and they have ore-13 on their side." Gina said.
"We've fought against Megatron and lived!"
"Annie, we barely survived that fight." Darren said. "A swarm of hopped up insecticons will take us out if they come at us all at once."
Annie looked at her friends, human and Minicon, and saw that she was alone in this fight. No one wanted to go. "But…Bulkhead, Bee, Arcee…they're all our friends. We can't let them fight this alone."
"I know, Annie, but this time, it's too dangerous even for us." High Wire said. "I'm sorry."
"Why are the insecticons attacking a city in the first place?" Asked Sureshock.
"It's because of Flamewar and Airachnid. They command the insecticons and this attack is their idea of getting back at the world…at us." Darren said bitterly.
'Please be safe, guys.' Darren thought.
XXXXXX
The battle between the Autobots and insecticons only lasted for almost half an hour and the collateral damage caused as a result was obscene in scale. Skyfire and Tomahawk were helping the royal air force fight the insecticons in the air and it was a touch and go situation.
"Stay close to me!" Skyfire said, leading a squadron of royal fighters into the heart of the swarm, blasting apart insecticons with the other fighters. Some fighters were shot down by stray energy blasts, but Skyfire made sure to cover for the remaining pilots. "I'll try to cover you all, just shoot down as many as you can!"
"Yes ma'am!" The pilots chanted, knowing that she was their only chance for surviving this battle.
Down on the ground Tomahawk was providing support to ground units in her attack helicopter alt mode. Optimus was shooting down insecticons with his ion rifle while cutting them down with his battle axe.
"Prime, we're managing to kill them, but it's taking a lot of firepower." Tomahawk said.
"The ore-13 will wear off the harder we hit them. Just hang in there, Tomahawk." Optimus said.
Tomahawk fired two proton missiles into the chest of an insecticon, but another warrior pounced on her from a rooftop. Tomahawk tried to remain airborne, but they both crashed to the ground. Tomahawk transformed and tried to shoot it down, but the warrior rammed into her, pinning her to the ground. The insecticon roared in her face, but a missile hitting its spine made it reel back in pain.
"That's not how you treat a lady!" A Lancelot talos opened fire on the insecticon, peppering its face and chest with AP bullets that distracted it long enough for Tomahawk to behead it with her rotor blades.
"Thanks." She said.
"Anytime, ma'am." The pilot said and looked around at the devastated area. "Is there an end to this invasion? I don't think my comrades can hold out anymore."
"There is, but we've go to work for it." Tomahawk transformed and flew down the street. "I'll cover for you, but you need to regroup with your team…"
"The name's Private Ian Chesterson, ma'am. At your service." He said before following after her. Now was not the time for talk, they had a long battle ahead of them.
XXXXXX
"Come on and get some!" Cliffjumper unleashed his newly acquired rapid fire plasma cannon (borrowed from Ironhide after much begging) on the approaching swarm. The thing was power, but the bugs were tanking a lot of damage before finally dropping. "How much ammo does it take to kill these things?"
"A lot!" Wheeljack said before dodging a clawed swipe from a warrior and stabbing it in the neck. He changed his other hand into a blaster and shot at its face until its head was a smoldering wreck.
"Scrap." Cliffjumper growled and continued shooting at the insecticons. There was already a pile of bodies at his feet, but more were coming at him. "Wheeljack!"
"Throwing an EMP! Get clear!" Wheeljack made to throw an EMP grenade, but he was hit from behind by a laser blast that made him lose his grip on the grenade. "Slag!"
"Wheeljack!" Cliffjumper saw the grenade go off and engulf Wheeljack and the two insecticons near him in an EMP wave that instantly knocked them both into stasis. "No, no, no, don't screw this up for me, you nutjob!"
He ran over to Wheeljack and looked him over, trying to rouse him, but it was no use. For once, Wheeljack's grade A grenades worked against him and the engineer was out of the fighting. Cliffjumper cursed and began dragging Wheeljack out of the street.
"Of all the dead weight I get saddled with, it's you." He grunted. "Don't worry, I'll call someone up to get you out of here."
"You won't be calling anyone!"
Cliffjumper looked up to Airachnid atop a lamp post just as she shot a beam from her palm. Enhanced by ore-13 her palm blasters were more powerful, and a single blast to the chest knocked Cliffjumper across the street and into a car. Airachnid walked over to him on her six back legs and stood over him.
"I was hoping to snag someone important like Jazz or Ironhide, but I suppose you'll do for a good Bumblebee replica." Airachnid smirked. "Maybe a second place trophy. You do seem like a second place seat warmer."
"Go frag yourself—gah!" Cliffjumper screamed when she stabbed one of her legs into the sizzling hole in his chest where she shot him.
"The only sound I want to hear from you are your screams, Autobot." Airachnid said and raised her other leg to impale him in someplace more vital.
Before she could land a fatal blow, Airachnid's leg was blasted off by a laser blast. She hissed and looked down the street to see Moonracer and Rodimus running towards her.
"Finally, a challenge!" Airachnid grinned.
"Airachnid, step away from him and surrender immediately!" Moonracer commanded, pointing her rifle at Airachnid's head.
"Like I'm going to surrender to you!" She spat and lunged at the duo.
Moonracer and Rodimus jumped apart and shot at Airachnid. Their laser blasts hit her directly but she showed no damage as she lunged at Rodimus, unfolding her legs to kick him in the face before spinning around and slashing at Moonracer. Moonracer stumbled back and used her rifle to block an attack from Airachnid.
"I'm going to enjoy giving your head to Flamewar." Airachnid cackled. "It'll make this whole battle worth it."
"Where is she?" Moonracer demanded.
Airachnid kicked her away and ducked under an electrostatic blast from Rodimus. He ran into her and pinned her to the ground.
"The lady asked you a question!" He growled.
"Where do you think she is?" She smirked. "She's off to have one last dance with her lover."
XXXXXX
On the other side of the city, the fighting was just as fierce. Ironhide was leading the effort to route the enemy with his group of Autobots, though they were being stretched thin, pushed to their limits in using all their firepower just to bring the insecticons down.
Arcee and Jazz were covering the rescue teams recovering the wounded. Lancelot talos units were posted alongside them to help them fight off the insecticons. These gold and purple talos were incredibly fast and strong, and their pilots were a great help to the Autobots.
"Jazz, where's Ironhide?" Arcee asked.
"I think he's in the city square. He and Armorhide were fighting the brunt of the swarm." Jazz said, freezing two insecticons with his cryo-blaster.
Arcee jumped onto the back of a charging insecticon and leapt onto its back, swiftly beheading it before throwing her sword to impale another one in the head. She landed on her feet and heard a scream, seeing two women trying to run from another insecticon.
"Oh no you don't!" Arcee transformed and sped towards them, swerving around to sweep its legs from under it. Smoothly changing modes mid-action, she stabbed it in the neck and tore out its neck cables. She then turned to the frightened humans. "Go find a place to arrive until help arrives."
The two women nodded and ran down the street. Arcee retrieved her swords and regrouped with Jazz.
"We need to find Ironhide. He might be able to help organize the rescue effort." Jazz said, but he was cut off by Arcee.
"Look out!" Arcee pushed Jazz aside just as an insecticon crashed into her, flying off into the air with her stuck on its head.
"Cee!"
Arcee stabbed the insecticon fling off with her in the back, but it still kept flying despite its wounds. "Just die already!"
The insecticon didn't relent until it reached its destination—an old church in an area of the city that was mostly left untouched. It finally succumbed to its wounds and crashed into the ground, tearing up the street as its large body skidded through the asphalt, Arcee jumped off its body and rolled onto her feet.
"Stupid fragging bug!" She muttered angrily. "I'm going to…"
Arcee's voice caught in her throat as her expression turned into one of horror as she took a good look at the church courtyard.
There were human bodies littering the courtyard, all missing their heads. Men, women, children, all scattered across the ground like discarded pieces of trash. Arcee looked at the main building and saw a long row of metal spikes lined up in front of the cathedral, and they all had human heads stuck on them like horrific effigies. Arcee couldn't even comprehend the senseless level of violence that had been committed on holy ground.
"Like the decorations, Arcee?"
Arcee looked to the top of the church and saw Flamewar standing there, smirking at Arcee's horror.
"I wanted to put Darren's head on there, along with his sisters, but I had to improvise." Flamewar said in a disturbingly calm tone. "If you circle along back, I have some of those human army grunts crucified to liven the place up."
Arcee was filled with a burning hatred she never knew she was capable of as she glared up at Flamewar. "Why?"
"Hm?"
"Why are you doing this?" She growled.
"You know why, Arcee. It's because of you. It's always been because of you. I want to make you cry, make you scream, make you hurt, because I want the whole damn universe to know that you aren't the perfect, pretty little femme everyone worshipped back on Cybertron." Flamewar sneered. "Your beauty and strength is only skin deep compared to me, and this is the result. People die, and it's all because of you!"
Both femmes glared at each other in pure hatred. Arcee ignited her swords while Flamewar's arm blades slide out.
"I'm going to tear you limb from limb and scatter your parts across the ocean!" Arcee snarled.
"Then what are you waiting for, Arcee?" Flamewar taunted. "Come and put me in my place!"
The two femmes leapt at each other, their wrathful cries filling the air as they clashed for the final time.
XXXXXX
Moonracer and Rodimus continued to fight Airachnid, but even together they were unable to do lasting damage on her. Fully charged on ore-13, Airachnid was going strong, and the growing number of shallow cuts on their bodies was proof of that.
"It's useless, little girl." Airachnid cackled, flipping over a swipe from Moonracer's spear and kicked her in the head. "I can do this all day."
"But we know you can't!" Moonracer transformed her spear into sniper mode and fired a shot at Airachnid's head, which was deflected. "Even you and Flamewar should know ore-13's limitations."
"We do, but you'll be dead before we reach our limit." Airachnid said.
"Don't count us out just yet!" Rodimus grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground, only for Airachnid to twist her body and drag him right into her uppercut.
Moonracer rushed in and slashed at her face, but Airachnid grabbed her spear and weaved around the blade, punching Moonracer to the ground. Airachnid raised her claws to impale her, but someone else slammed into her and knocked her off.
"Payback's a glitch!" Cliffjumper hollered, raising his vibro-blade above his head for an attack.
"You little worm!" Airachnid grabbed the blade and snapped it right off Cliffjumper's arm before stabbing it into his shoulder. "I'll use you for spare parts!"
Moonracer jumped up and kicked the back of her head. Airachnid stumbled forward but she caught Moonracer's next kick and slammed her elbow into the sniper's knee, breaking it. Airachnid then threw Moonracer to the ground and began punching her repeatedly in the face.
"I have an army. I have the power of ore-13 on my side. I have twice as much experience as the three of you combined in warfare!" Airachnid screamed, punching Moonracer in the jaw. "What do you have that'll turn things in your favor, little girl?"
Moonracer spat out a glob of energon and grinned up at her enemy. "We have Mirage."
The blue and white mech appeared out of thin air behind Airachnid and stabbed his vibro-blade into her back. Airachnid gasped as the blade tore through her chest, though it didn't immediately kill her.
She tried to use her back legs to attack Mirage, but Moonracer quickly grabbed her discarded sniper rifle and pointed it at the ex-Con's head. Airachnid hissed angrily as Moonracer pulled the trigger and shot a bullet directly into her face, exploding her head in a gory mess of metal and energon.
Mirage kicked Airachnid's body away and helped Moonracer up. "Thanks for the save. You alright?"
"My legs is broken, my face hurts and I can barely see out of my left eye, but honestly," She looked at Airachnid's headless body. "I'm feeling better than her right now."
XXXXXX
Arcee didn't know what getting hit by Omega Supreme felt like, but she was sure that this was close.
When she and Flamewar collided in mid-air, there was a thunderous boom before Arcee was thrown into a building. They crashed through several rooms and smashed apart the foundations, causing the building to collapse behind them as they came rolling out of the wreckage. When the dust cleared, Flamewar was standing over a dazed Arcee with a baleful glare on her face.
"Get up, Arcee. I want you at your best when I kill you." Flamewar spat. "I want to see how hard you'll fight before I scatter your parts across this—"
Arcee leapt up and punched Flamewar in the chin, knocking her back. Flamewar grinned.
"Oh, I actually felt that."
Arcee tackled Flamewar into another building, pummeling her face hard enough to chip the metal on her fists. Flamewar dodged her next punch and grabbed her throat.
"Surely you can do better than that!" Flamewar cackled. Arcee threw dirt into her eyes and kicked herself free. "Ah, you glitch!"
"That was a warmup!" Arcee shouted.
Arcee drew her swords and began slashing wildly at Flamewar. Flamewar's arm blades came out and parried some of her attacks, but for the most part, Arcee landed most of her strikes. Sparks flew from her armor as Arcee's blades hit her body, but Flamewar remained unharmed thanks to the ore-13.
Flamewar smirked at Arcee and rammed into her. Shooting out of the ruined building and across the street, Arcee kicked her away and slashed at Flamewar's eyes, but only managed to crack her optic lens.
"Enough games." Flamewar said and threw a punch into Arcee's face.
The punch was far stronger than Arcee's previous blows. It completely shattered Arcee's left optic lens and disabled the optic completely, leaving her half blind. The Autobot herself was sent flying back a couple of blocks, crashing through cars and trashed insecticon bodies before coming to a stop after crashing into a truck.
"Slag…" Arcee groaned in pain. She tried to move, but half her face felt like it was on fire.
Flamewar, who was charging down the street like a mad bull, leapt into the air and landed on Arcee's chest, their combined weight crushing the truck under them. She threw Arcee into the ground and kicked her further down the street several feet away. Flamewar raced after her and grabbed her head before dragging it through the concrete.
"I don't know about you, but I'm having the time of my life!" Flamewar yelled, slamming her fists down into Arcee's chest, burying her deeper into the street. "Come on, keep going! When I'm done with you, I'll kill everyone else, don't you forget that!"
A red blur rushed into Flamewar's vision—it was Peppercat, who had disengaged from Arcee to attack Flamewar herself.
"Leave her alone, nya!" Peppercat hissed.
"Filthy little animal!" Flamewar growled and smacked Peppercat aside.
Peppercat landed on her feet and charged at Flamewar again…only for Arcee to rush in and grab the Minicon.
"Pepper, get out of here!" Arcee said.
"No! Peppercat can help you, nya!" The Minicon said, struggling in Arcee's grip. "We can beat her."
"No, she'll kill you!" Arcee threw Peppercat into a water fountain just as Flamewar barreled into her.
"Fool! While I was tearing that Minicon apart, you could have called for reinforcements!" Flamewar taunted. "Don't you know anything about self-preservation?"
She slammed Arcee into the ground again. "Where's that warrior's spirit people praise you for? Show me your power! Show me what everyone think you had!"
Arcee slammed her head into Flamewar's face and began punching and kicking her. Flamewar was pushed back by the assault, but she was far from seriously harmed. She caught Arcee's fist and glared at her.
"If that is all the strength you possess," She sneered. "Then this is not going to end well for you."
XXXXXX
Moonracer hissed as Ratchet welded together her broken armor on her unusable leg. Next to her, Rodimus and Cliffjumper were also receiving treatment from the good doctor.
"The brace should keep your leg supported until I can properly treat it. Just don't go sprinting in it, okay?" Ratchet said before moving onto Rodimus.
"How are you feeling, Wheeljack?" Rodimus asked.
"I'm fine, but my pride's a bit smashed." Wheeljack grumbled. "Taken out by my own grenade. Primus, that's embarrassing!"
"Quit your whining. You escape getting your ass handed to you by Airachnid." Cliffjumper said. He rolled his wounded shoulder and hissed. "Damn it, it still stings."
The battle of London was finally beginning to taper off. With Airachnid's death, the insecticons lacked the coherent unity they had under her command. Furthermore, the ore-13 was finally beginning to wear off thanks to the combined firepower of the Autobots and the royal army.
"At least Airachnid's dead. I'm sure Arcee will be happy about that, huh Moonracer?" Rodimus turned to Moonracer, who didn't look as happy as she should be. "Moonracer, something wrong?"
"It's Arcee, she's not answering my calls." Moonracer said. "And I can feel her…she's in pain. Arcee's in trouble!"
XXXXXX
"If you're not going to take this seriously, then it's over!"
Flamewar took Arcee by the arm and threw her repeatedly into the ground before throwing her straight through an apartment building. Before Arcee could hit the ground, Flamewar jumped up and kicked her in the back, digging her face through the ground. Arcee was half-buried in rubble as Flamewar stood over her, ready to slit her throat.
"Look at you. To think I once loved you. Looked up to you. Worshipped you." She spat. "Killing you will close a dark chapter in my life and finally set me free!"
"Arcee!"
Jazz landed on Flamewar from above, slamming his laser staff into her head and throwing her into a coffee shop. He starting digging his friend up to get her away.
"Come on, Cee, get up!" jazz said, pulling her out of the hole she was in.
"J-Jazz?" It hurt for Arcee to even talk. "Get out of here. She'll kill you."
"You can't fight her alone, Cee." Jazz said. "We can take her together. Just like Megatron."
"I'm no Megatron! I'm faster and stronger than that old gasket!" Flamewar got to her feet, wiping energon from her cut cheek. "Wanna see?"
Flamewar sprinted forward and was within Jazz's guard within seconds. He threw a swipe at her face, but she caught his staff and shattered it in her hand before punching him in the face. Flamewar delivered an uppercut to his chin and lifted him above her by his arm and leg.
"Do you feel your body starting to rip apart?" Flamewar growled, slowly pulling on Jazz's opposing limbs. "It starts with your spinal strut dislocating, then you'll feel your servos start straining, if you're able to focus through the pain you'll feel your mess being pulled to its breaking point. It's a surreal experience when you try it for the first time!"
"NOOOO!"
Flamewar crashed into Flamewar and they rolled across the ground. Arcee threw a punch at Flamewar, who caught her fist and headbutted her before punching her away.
"It doesn't matter who volunteers, I'll eat your Sparks all the same!" Flamewar snarled savagely.
XXXXXX
"Teletran, locate Arcee's position and bridge me there immediately."
"Autobot Arcee's signal is moving rapidly across the city, so it will take some time to pinpoint her position." Teletran-1 said. "Autobot Moonracer, your status shows that you are injured. Are you sure you still want to—"
"Just do it!"
XXXXXX
As she was being pummeled by Flamewar, Arcee realized something—Flamewar made some modifications to herself. Namely the high powerful jet boosters built into her legs. They allowed Flamewar to move at high speeds as she smashed Arcee through multiple buildings, completely demolishing everything in her path. Arcee's face smashed into a fountain before she finally broke free of Flamewar's grip on her head and punching her hard enough to send her flying back…right into the butt of a staff slamming into her jaw.
Arcee's eyes widened when she saw who it was. "No…"
"Stay away from my sister!" Moonracer growled. She was almost as beat up as Arcee was, her armor dented and cut with a brace on her right leg.
"Moonracer," Flamewar purred, purple eyes flashing sadistically. "It'll be a joy to kill you again!"
"No!" Arcee grabbed Flamewar from behind to hold her back. "Moon, get out of here, now!"
"So concerned for others' safety." Flamewar slammed her elbow into Arcee's head and broke free. "You really are pathetic."
Flamewar knelt down and chopped Arcee's left leg hard enough to break it. Arcee screamed and fell over, clutching her leg in pain.
"Sis!" Moonracer exclaimed."
"First rule of combat, girl!" Flamewar boosted at Moonracer. "Never take your eyes off the enemy!"
Flamewar landed a punch to Moonracer's face with enough force to completely sheer away the mesh on her right cheek, exposing and breaking her jaw in the process. Then Flamewar pulled her arm back and shoved her open hand into Moonracer's chest, her fingers emerging through the femme's back.
"So young," Flamewar whispered, staring into Moonracer's darkening eyes and ravaged face. "Such a waste."
Flamewar tossed Moonracer's body aside like it was unwanted scrap. Arcee stumbled over to her sister, just barely catching her body and fell to her knees with a choked cry. Moonracer, half her face smashed and nearly unrecognizable, weakly looked up at Arcee and made a gurgling sound.
"Don't try to talk, save your strength." Arcee whispered, holding her close. "The others will be here soon. They'll help."
"I wouldn't count on it."
Flamewar calmly walked down the street, energon staining her hands and chest. She looked at the sisters with a mixture of disgust and pity.
"She must have really cared for you to do what she did. Surely she wasn't stupid enough to think she could actually hurt me. She only did all this for you." Flamewar said. "Love, family, friends—it all breeds weakness, and with weakness comes pain. It brings misery. Are you feeling that right now, Arcee?"
Arcee wasn't listening to her. "Moon, come on, stay with me!"
"Not long, eh? If you got anything important to tell her, better get it off your chest now." Flamewar scowled and shook her head as Moonracer's eyes finally went dark.
"You know, Arcee, I want to thank you. Really. From the bottom of my Spark. It's not very often I get to relive a cherished memory like this. Breaking you in the exact same way, and with the bonus of watching you cry. It's almost therapeutic in a sense." She said. "I loved you once, but even love is only as strong as the lovers. Listening to people constantly praise you as this perfect little femme even when you did not deserve it was maddening, and it brought me so much joy to make you suffer all those stellar cycles ago, just like it does now. So thank you, Arcee, for loving others. For giving me a chance to break you again and again and again."
Arcee said nothing, still cradling Moonracer as she slowly placed her sister down.
"Dead? Good." Flamewar said in a bored tone. "I take it I have your full attention now?"
Arcee's battered face swung around to glare at Flamewar with such burning hatred that her eyes glowed.
"I don't care how strong you are. I don't care how fast you are." Arcee snarled. "I'll make sure you won't live to see tomorrow!"
Flamewar laughed. "After everything I've done, after everything you've endured at my hand, still you threaten me. I have enough ore-13 running through my system to last me an hour. You'll be dead before your friends can help you."
Arcee stood up on her good leg and charged at Flamewar.
"Okay then." Flamewar sighed and ran at the mad Autobot. "Do your worst!"
The two femmes lunged at each other, their fists poised for strike. When they threw their punches forward, two things happened. First, Arcee's arm broke upon contact. Second, Arcee's punch completely shattered Flamewar's arm.
Flamewar stumbled back, looking at her missing arm with a shocked look before Arcee punched her again.
"Even if I die, I'll make sure to drag you with me so you'll never enjoy your victory!" Arcee roared, punching Flamewar again.
"Being enraged doesn't make you stronger." Flamewar wrapped her mismatched arms around Arcee in a bear hug and squeezed. "That's not how this wo-AHHHHH!"
Arcee sank her teeth into Flamewar's shoulder and pulled her head back, ripping out a large chunk of her armor and the circuits underneath. Flamewar pushed Arcee away and the pink Autobot spat the chunk of mess out of her mouth. She rushed forward and ducked under Flamewar's next punch before hitting her in the face and knocking her over. Flamewar fell onto her back and Arcee mounted her, reading to turn her entire face into scrap, but Flamewar caught her next punch in an iron grip.
"I've got more than enough fight in me for you, bastard!" Flamewar roared.
She increased the pressure on Arcee's hand to its breaking point and crushed it in her grip, making Arcee scream.
"See?" Flamewar rasped. "More than enough."
Arcee screamed as Flamewar continued crushing her hand, but she remained strong.
"Not enough," She growled. "Not nearly!"
Arcee slammed her head into Flamewar's face, nearly caving it in.
"When you go to hell, I want you to know who killed you!"
She headbutted Flamewar again as hard as she could.
"I want my face to be the last thing you see!"
Flamewar tried to speak, but Arcee headbutted her again and again and again and again. She didn't stop or slow down even as her vision was blinded in a haze of Flamewar's purple energon. She didn't stop when her optics shattered from the force of her blows. She didn't stop when her face began to numb from the pain. She just didn't stop until she was sure Flamewar was dead.
It wasn't until her head hit solid concrete that Arcee finally stopped. Flamewar's had was little more than a pile of metal and energon, and bits of her brain module were embedded in Arcee's face. There was nothing left.
Arcee panted, her face covered in energon. The overcharge began to wear off and fell over, her body falling to lay side by side next to the beaten corpse of her ex-lover. Rain fell over them as Arcee's body finally gave out and she fell unconscious.
XXXXXX
When Arcee woke up, she was in the medibay, her body resting on a medical slab. Her wounds, from her damaged face to her broken hands, were all mostly healed.
'Ratchet must have worked on me" She thought groggily.
"Arcee?"
Optimus walked up to her, looking down at her with a warm gaze.
"Optimus?" Arcee whispered. "How…long have I…?"
"You've been in stasis for three days. You fractured your brain case in three places and disabled your left eye. Ratchet spent several hours working to repair you, but you still have some ways to go before you're fully healed." Optimus said.
"What happened?" She asked.
Optimus narrowed his eyes. "You mean…you don't remember? Do you remember anything?"
"No, I…" Arcee's voice caught in her throat. "I remember Flamewar and…and Moonracer. She's dead and…" She couldn't even say it.
"Arcee," Optimus said softly. "Moonracer is alive."
Arcee blinked up at him. "What?"
Optimus took a datapad and showed her footage from the Rec room, which showed Moonracer, alive and well, speaking to Darren and Gina. If Arcee could cry, her face would be wet with tears by now.
"How…how is she…?" Arcee could barely get the question out.
Optimus ignored the stinging pain in his chest and managed to keep himself from wincing. "She was on the verge, but we managed to save her before her Spark extinguished."
"Thank Primus." Arcee breathed. "But…what about the insecticons? And London—"
"There have been many human casualties, and the city was heavily damaged, but we've beaten the swarm entirely." Optimus sighed. "But the fallout of this attack will be…immense."
Arcee frowned, but Optimus patted her head and stood up.
"That's an issue for another day. You must get some rest and recover. I'll send Moonracer in to see you later."
"Thank you, Optimus." Arcee said softly.
Optimus left the room and Arcee was alone again. She watched the video feed of her sister for a few minutes before lying back down and giving a sob. Flamewar was dead. The nightmare was over.
It was finally over.
That's the end of that. I was in the middle of reading the Invincible comic series while writing this chapter, and the intense fights in that comic inspired me to make Arcee and Flamewar's final clash as brutal as possible. Next chapter we'll focus on OZ as the Autobots run into Pisces and his associates once again. I would also like to add that I am currently nearing forty chapters in the rough draft of this story, so it's gonna be a long one folks. Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on Wordpress, directions to which are in my profile. Thanks for reading and please leave a review.
