Disclaimer: Hey, hey, hey! I'm back with a new chapter and surprisingly quick fashion no less. I guess my arch nemesis, Writer's Block, got hit with the beer bug if you know what I mean. So here's the latest chapter of the story, and it's getting real serious.
I don't not own the rights to Transformers.
Chapter XVII
Lockdown was getting tired of the pointless argument, coldly telling Arkeville, "Last chance, Arkeville; my payment for the Maximals."
"You already had your chance to bring Optimus Primal to me and you failed. So, I say you don't see a single ounce of your payment otherwise."
"Have it your way." Lockdown said and pressed the barrel of his gun against Night Scream's head."
"No." — "Don't do it, Lockdown." Cheetor and Tigatron both said simultaneously.
"Shut up, the lot of you," Lockdown snapped and then turned his attention to Night Scream. "Just so we're clear, kid; this isn't personal."
"Seems personal to me, Lockdown." Night Scream said.
"Sky-Byte," Dark Steel called. "You can't let Lockdown do this."
"It's not my call." Sky-Byte claimed.
"That doesn't matter, Sky-Byte. You can fool yourself all you want, but we know you have a Spark of just like the rest of us. You know this isn't right." Rhinox said.
"Shut your mouth. You're next after I'm done with the kid." Lockdown threatened.
Sky-Byte's glanced over his shoulder at Lockdown, his optics pulsating from the statement that was made. He knew Lockdown wasn't bluffing. He was more than willing to blow Night Scream's head clean off, all just to prove a point. It was right at that moment that Sky-Byte became conflicted. Rhinox's words echoed through his thoughts, but he didn't know what to do. He glanced over and Lockdown press the barrel of his gun against Night Scream's head. The young Maximal didn't flinch or show any fear, but Lockdown was finished waiting and he thumbed back the hammer. Sky-Byte now knew what he had to do, and he turned around and held the barrel of his gun to Lockdown's head.
As soon as he felt the barrel, Lockdown cursed out, "Sky-Byte, you back-stabbing mechanoid."
"This has gone on long enough, Lockdown. I'm not going to let you kill an unarmed prisoner." Sky-Byte proclaimed.
Lockdown exasperatedly tilted his head before rapidly deploying his hook and swiping at Sky-Byte. The point of the hook slashed Sky-Byte's chassis and dropped him, allowing Lockdown to turn his gun on him now. "You know, Waspinator might've been an idiot, but at least he understood loyalty."
"Loyalty? You're only loyal to whoever's paying you." Sky-Byte said accusingly.
"Trust me, Sky-Byte. Arkeville will be the exception once I'm done with you." Lockdown claimed as he cocked his gun.
But before Lockdown could get a shot off, Rhinox finally managed to break free of his bounds. He managed to draw a rifle and take a shot at Overbite, striking the Seacon in the knee. The other Seacons drew their attention to Rhinox, and he responded by transforming into a robotic rhinoceros. He immediately took off running and plowed over the nearest of the Seacons, Tentakil and Nautilator. Snaptrap, Seawing and Skalor opened fire on the charging Maximal, but Rhinox wasn't slowing down and he slammed into Skalor next. Snaptrap and Seawing managed to avoid getting trampled before Rhinox turned his attention to Lockdown. Lockdown was already taking shots at Rhinox as he was charging forward, but Rhinox closed on the bounty hunter and dipped his horn down.
Lockdown wasn't ready for it and he was sent flying into the air before crashing back down onto the pile of Seacons who were haphazardly grouped together. Rhinox returned to his robot form and quickly released the other Maximals. Then, they also started to assume the own bestial forms of a tiger, a cheetah and a bat. Dark Steel was also set free and transformed in her griffin form.
Arkeville didn't like where this was going and rushed behind the broad legs of Overlord. The Maximals all went on the attack against the Seacons. Sky-Byte got up to his feet and leapt into the air, where he transformed into, of all things, a flying shark. Even Arkeville was astonished at the sight of an airborne shark, but he wasn't about to do an analysis. Overlord spirited him away as the Maximals took the fight to the Seacons. In the meanwhile, Lockdown started to recover from being catapult, and almost impaled, by Rhinox and started moving toward the Terminus.
But just as the fight was in the midst of ensuing, it halted just as suddenly. A loud noise almost like a sonic boom seemed to ring over the entire planet. Every single robot looked up toward the sky from where the boom came. Cheetor was the first to noticed something approaching from above and he returned to his robot form. He pointed toward the sky and everyone looked up at the massive object that was becoming visible.
A massive ship appeared and flew overhead, leaving a great wake behind the sent everyone tumbling to the surface… everyone except Overlord. He looked up at the ship as it flew overhead and his optics pulsed crimson red. At the same time, Arkeville was also staring at the ship. His face was awash with astonishment.
"Extraordinary," he mused before he looked to Overlord. "Follow that machine."
Overlord appeared to do as he was instructed and engaged a set of boot thrusters. He took into the air and followed the ship, with Arkeville in his grasp. The Maximals and the Seacons returned to fighting each other. As all this was happening, the Terminus was taking off the surface. But it wasn't leaving Cybertron. Lockdown was in the cockpit of the ship and he was setting his sights on Arkeville.
"You still owe me for the job, Arkeville, and I think I'll take that ship as my down payment."
Afterburner, Nosecone and the Monsterbots felt the tremors lessen, and Afterburner said, "Okay, that was about the weirdest thing that's happened all cycle."
"Weirder than us?" Grotesque asked.
"No, you're still pretty weird." Afterburner replied.
"Afterburner, something's got to be happening up top. We've got to wrap this up and find Brainstorm and Sari." Nosecone said.
"Wait a nanosecond," Doublecross said. "I smell someone coming."
Without waiting, Doublecross transformed to his monster form and stalked forward. Repugnant and Grotesque followed suit and followed Doublecross. Afterburner and Nosecone drew their guns and followed also. They could hear metallic footsteps approaching. Afterburner pushed ahead of the Monsterbots and held his gun close. Hugging the corner, Afterburner waited for the footstep to come closer. Then he rounded the corner but immediately refrained from pulling the trigger.
"Whoa, whoa, Afterburner. It's just us." Brainstorm shouted.
"Brainstorm. You're a sight for faulty optics." Afterburner said as Nosecone approached them.
"We've been looking everywhere for you. Hey wait… where's Sari?
"Oh, well it's complicated." Brainstorm claimed just as a hatch above his forehead opened.
Sari emerged from the hatch and nervously waved at the two Technobots. "Uh, hey guys!"
Afterburner and Nosecone exchanged confused glances and Nosecone asked, "What did you guys do?"
"Oh, uh... Brainstorm help me out here." Sari said and dropped back into Brainstorm's head.
Brainstorm, "Well, we managed to successfully execute my theoretical binary bounding thesis to merge a Human with a Cybertronian. It was just a matter of figuring out where to keep the Human while a Cybertronian was in robot form."
"Turns out, the best option was Brainstorm's head." Sari added from inside Brainstorm's head.
"So basically, you two performed what the Humans refer to as..." Afterburner was saying just before Doublecross appeared.
Brainstorm immediately drew his guns and aimed them at the creature, but Nosecone quickly got in between him and the Monsterbot. "What in the Pit is that thing?"
"Brainstorm, stop. The Monsterbots are with us; they were helping search for you and Sari." Nosecone said as fast as he could.
Doublecross was then flanked on either side by Repugnus and Grotesque and they all transformed simultaneously to their robot form. "You can put those guns away now, Autobot." Doublecross said.
"Or, you can take a shot me or Repugnus. Either way, it ought to be funny." Grotesque quipped.
"Better yet, I can only rip all of you dumb Autobots limb from limb." Repugnus claimed with too much joy in his tone and soon after, they all felt a tremor that seemed to intensify with every moment.
"I guessing you guys felt that, right?" Brainstorm asked.
"It's only second time that's happened. Something's definitely going on the planet's surface, so we got to get going as soon as possible." Afterburner said.
"You lot can go if you want, but we're staying right here." Doublecross suddenly said.
"What?" Nosecone asked.
"Whatever's happening up top has nothing to do with us, conehead." Doublecross claimed.
"So, what, you're ditching us now? Job's done, so you figure can go back to shuffling in the dark." Afterburner said accusingly.
"Doublecross, you and you friends are Autobots just like us. Cybertron needs us." Nosecone said.
"We're Monsterbots first, and frankly, we don't give a damn about Cybertron. You want head back up to the surface, fine. But don't waste time trying to convince to help." Doublecross said before he, Repugnus and Grotesque turned and started walking away.
Nosecone went to follow the Monsterbots but it was Brainstorm stopped him. "Forget about them, Nosecone. Let's just get back to the surface and figure out what's going on." With that, the three Autobots started on their way.
Skorponok made its slow descent onto the surface of Cybertron and came down to a steady landing. The lower hatch opened and Unicron stepped out flanked closely by the Predacons in the beast forms. He stood in place for a moment to take in the feeling of standing on the surface of the planet that, eons ago, was previously his brother Primus. He looked up toward the star-riddled skies above the planet. There, he saw his severed head, disheveled and decayed to being nearly unrecognizable. The sight of his disembodied head in orbit above Cybertron angered Unicron, but he also recognized a bizarre bit of irony. It's was his Anti-Spark that currently possessed the body of the Cybertronian that destroyed his previous corporeal form. That was about to change.
"Ah, Cybertron," Starscream said as his ghostly form floated down onto the planet's surface. "Seems as though nothing has changed here in my absence."
"It is time, Starscream. You shall aid me now in claiming Cybertron as my new body." Unicron demanded.
Starscream replied,"And, how am I supposed to do that? I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm not exactly sporting a corporeal form of my own."
"You test my patience, Seeker." Unicron snarled.
"It's in my nature, Chaos Bringer. Now, restore my physical form and in return, I'll help you claim this planet as your new body." Starscream said.
Unicron produced a noticable sneer at the ghostly former Decepticon, but he still took to honoring the request. With his optics glowing the same sickly green hue as they always did, Unicron took a single step back and fired a beam of green light. The light bombarded Starscream, covering every inch of his ethereal visage in light that was as blinding as Earth's Sun or any star that Unicron himself consumed. Meanwhile aboard Skorponok, Megatron, Shockwave and Blackarachnia emerged from within and watched what was happening. Blackarachnia was able to locate the Predacons sitting by. Megatron was more interested in whatever Unicron was doing... or to whom he was doing it.
The green light started to dissipate little by little, and a metallic hand emerged from within it. Soon the light dissipated completely, and Starscream reappeared. He wasn't with a ghostly, ethereal form anymore, but with a solid, corporeal form. It was also his original form as he was before he was destroyed by Galvatron. He closed his hands into fists and flexed every joint in his body. Everything was as it used to be, right down the inverted Decepticon insignia on his wings. All Starscream could do at the moment with produce the familiar smirk. At the same time, all that Megatron could do was sneer at the sight of his treacherous former Second-in-Command.
"Ah, it feels so good to be fully functional and walking Cybertron once again." Starscream gleefully said as he examined his newly pristine form.
"I have honored your request to restore you to this physical plain. Now, honor your word in return." Unicron demanded.
Starscream looked over at the Chaos Bringer whom still inhabited the body of an Autobot, and he replied, "Of course, Unicron. Or course... a deal is a deal after all. But we might want to deal with our stowaways first."
Unicron narrowed his gaze at Starscream before turning his gaze back toward Skorponok. It was then that Unicron saw Megatron, Shockwave and Blackarachnia standing atop the hull of the titan ship. With Unicron's back turned for that one moment and a wry grin across his face, Starscream deployed his Null Rays and fired two shots. The shots hit Unicron in the back and sent him actually dropping to a knee, and Starscream upped his sudden assault with a barrage of laser fire. Starscream launched into the air and hovered over the rapidly forming plume of smoke where Unicron stood, and he continued to lay down as much fire as his restored body could manage. After finally halting his Null Ray assault, Starscream quickly flew over the smoke and transformed to his old Earth based F-15 Eagle vehicle form and jetted up toward the sky.
He looped around back toward the opposite direction of the smoke and then quickly looped right back. Then he fired a pair of heat seeking rockets toward the plume of smoke. The rocket struck the spot where Unicron once stood and sent a ball of fire spewing up. The fireball seemed to light up the sky as well as sending small shred of the planet's surface flying everywhere. Starscream also fired another set of rockets at the Predacons to send them scattering before he transformed back to robot form. He landed back onto the surface and kept his weapons trained on the fireball before him.
"Hm, I thought he'd much more of a challenge." Starscream mused to himself.
"STARSCREAM!" Megatron bellowed from the distance as he approached in his own vehicle form, and then transformed to hold Starscream at gunpoint. Shockwave and Blackarachnia soon joined Megatron.
Starscream held his hands up and muttered, "Well, this is certainly awkward."
Megatron stalked toward the Seeker with his fusion still pointed at him and snapped, "This is beyond ridiculous in every sense of the word. How many times must I kill you, Starscream."
"It's good to see you too, Megatron. You as well, Shockwave. Did your brand of logic factor in my return from temporal limbo?" Starscream mockingly said to both his old allies.
"As improbable as your return appears, Starscream, it was not out the realm of possibility since the actions of our one-time visitor from the future. Still, it is unfortunate that your personality has always remained intact." Shockwave coldly replied.
"Some things never change. Speaking of which," Starscream said before turning his gaze to the multi-limbed mechanoid. "Who might you be?"
"Blackarachnia," she replied and then turned to Megatron. "Megatron we've got to finish this while we've got a chance."
"What's your hurry? I just defeated Unicron singlehandedly." Starscream boasted.
"Still an idiot as always, Starscream. You may very well have only succeeded in angering the Chaos Bringer, and we few remaining Decepticons cannot hope to defeat him so easily." Megatron stated.
"The only logical course of action is to obtain the aid of the Autobots." Shockwave stated.
"The Autobots? Are you serious, Shockwave?"
Starscream didn't get an immediate response when the Decepticons suddenly felt the surface shake. It sounded like a series of heavy metallic footsteps and they were apparently approaching from Skorponok. Megatron, Shockwave and a reluctant Starscream gathered together and prepared for a fight, expecting it to be Unicron. But Blackarachnia had a different expectation, because she recognized the hulking figure lumbering toward the group was in fact Predaking. Starscream quickly aimed his weapons at the giant but Megatron held him back. Blackarachnia stepped toward Predaking, showing no fear or hesitation in doing so.
"Predaking? It's Blackarachnia, your friend. You remember me, right?"
Predaking leaned forward so he was face to face with Blackarachnia. "I... AM PREDAKING. AND, I SERVE THE CHAOS BRINGER."
"That's not you, Predaking. Unicron is manipulating you." Blackarachnia said, desperately trying to reach her friend.
Predaking drew closer to Blackarachnia and forced her back a step. "UNICRON IS MY MASTER."
"Unicron is a false god who want to exterminate all life in the universe. But you..." Blackarachnia took a step forward toward the giant combiner and finished, "...you... are no one's servant. You... are a king."
Predaking leered at Blackarachnia before rising back up to his feet and towering over her. He looked ready to attack, and the Decepticons prepared to react to any attack. Before anyone could react in any way, a sonic boom was heard in the distance. Megatron stepped out in front of Starscream and Shockwave and moved toward the source of the boom. Two unidentified objects were approaching, one on the surface of the planet and one airborne. The latter was likely the source of the sonic boom. Megatron didn't like what was approaching and readied his fusion cannon for anything. Starscream readied his Null Rays and Shockwave his arm blaster.
Then Megatron narrowed his optics in surprise upon seeing two unrecognizable vehicles approaching. The vehicles, a tank and a jet, slowed their approach before coming to a complete stop directly in front of the leader of the Decepticons. Then the vehicles began the familiar shifting of transformation and formed a single hulking robot that seemed to match the height of Megatron himself. Yet, Megatron was not impressed. He was however rather infuriated by the new arrival.
"Who in the Pit are you?" he asked.
"That is my Overlord." a voice replied, and Dr. Arkeville suddenly behind Overlord.
"You." Megatron snarled and aimed his cannon at the Human/cyborg abomination.
"It is me, Megatron, and, I've come for two things; that titanic machine," Arkeville claimed while pointing toward Skorponok. Then he added with malice, "And, my long-awaited revenge against all Cybertronians. I think I'll start with you."
Author's Note: That puts this chapter to rest and a lot went down on Cybertron. From Arkeville double crossing Lockdown to Sky-Byte turning on Lockdown, from the Maximals going beast mode for the first time to the return of Starscream, from Blackarachnia trying to save Predaking to the first meeting between Megatron and Overlord. Yep, this chapter was quite eventful. There is still much more to come so stay tuned for the next entry and don't forget to review. Peace out!
