Disclaimer: At this point, I'm starting to sound like a broken record... broken record... broken record... broken record... (SMACKS HEAD) sorry 'bout that. What I was about to say was that 2020 has been a disaster but I've been saying that for a while now. Anyway, I present the next chapter of the story. Enjoy.

I don't own the rights to Transformers.


Chapter XXI

Scattershot, Strafe and Lightspeed traversed across Cybertron on route to the exact location of the ship Breakaway mentioned. He called it the Alchemor, which wasn't a name with which Scattershot was familiar. Familiarity was hardly the issue as the three Technobots raced on, with Scattershot and Strafe in flight and Lightspeed racing groundside when he caught a sound approaching from behind. Three more ground-based vehicles caught up to him and both bore the Autobot insignia. Lightspeed was quickly able to determine that the vehicles were both Rattletrap, Cliffjumper and Outback.

"What're you guys doing here?" Lightspeed asked.

Rattletrap pulled up next to Lightspeed and tried to keep up with him. "We're not about to let you morons get yourselves killed."

"Cliffjumper intimidated you into coming along, didn't he?" Lightspeed surmised.

"Now, why would ya even consider somethin' so... okay, he did!" Rattletrap admitted.

"He was frequently whining about everything going on, so we persuaded him to accompany us." Cliffjumper implied.

"You held a gun to his head, Cliff." Outback revealed.

"It worked, didn't it?" Cliffjumper said.

"We're all gonna die." Rattletrap claimed in distress.

Having been listening to the conversation from above, Strafe shouted, "Shup up, Rattletrap."

"Optics up, guys. I've got a visual on that Alchemor ship. Let's turn and burn." Scattershot said before jetting ahead and with Strafe following close behind.

Lightspeed raced off and then Cliffjumper and Outback followed, leaving Rattletrap to fall behind. "There's not gonna be enough left of us to make toasters." he muttered before racing ahead.


Amid the crashed Alchemor, Afterburner managed to get rid of a large piece of debris. He helped Nosecone out of the wreck, who in turned helped Dinobot. The rest of the crew started to emerge, and the Maximals spread out to maintain a small parameter. Arcee and Brainstorm were the last to emerge, each of them sheltering Spike, Zarak and Sari respectively. As they all collected themselves, Night Scream was the first to see Skorponok and Fortress Maximus standing off in the distance. Sky-Byte joined him as did Arcee.

"You guys are seeing what I'm seeing, right?" Night Scream said.

"I'm seeing it but I''m still working on believing it." Sky-Byte replied.

Zarak and Spike approached the scene to get the best possible look at the two titans, and Zarak said, "I'm not certain how, but Unicron seems to have Skorponok acting on his own."

"What should we do?" Spike asked.

"I have to get back inside Skorponok to regain control of him, but the sheer height of him could be a problem." Zarak explained.

"I can get you up there." Sky-Byte said.

"No offense, Sky-Byte, but I think a more flight-capable Transformer would fare better to get Zarak up to Skorponok." Spike said.

"I'll do it." Dark Steel said.

"No, it has to be me," Sky-Byte exclaimed. "I'm responsible for nearly giving the Maximals to that mad scientist. This is my chance to atone for that betrayal."

"You're not the only one looking for atonement, Sky-Byte. Let's get to it." Zarak said.

On the battlefield, the Autobots and Decepticons backed away as Skorponok faced off with Fortress Maximus. Skorponok didn't wait for his new adversary to make the first and charged forward. Every step taken caused the entire planet to quake. Fortress Maximus braces for the inevitable collision. Then, the Titans clashed into each other. Fortress Maximus managed to hold his ground without budging as he grappled with Skorponok. The Transformers on the planet's surface watched as the titans struggled against each other. Then, Skorponok broke away and landed a single punch that caught Fortress Maximus off guard.

Fortress Maximus was forced back a step and tried to shake off the surprise hit, and Skorponok pressed his advantage. He rushed forward and tackled into Fortress Maximus from below, burying his massive frame into that of his rival. Fortress Maximus planted his gargantuan feet down and grabbed hold of Skorponok to keep the titan at bay, and then brough him back up so they both were face to face. Fortress Maximus landed a hard strike of his own that stunned Skorponok and forced him to back away. Now with the advantage himself, Fortress Maximus pushed forward and landed another hard strike followed by another and another after that. Skorponok recovered and returned a strike of his own. Then they went for and landed a strike simultaneously, forcing each other to back away and regroup.

Within another moment, the titans charged and locked hands in the largest Test of Strength anyone alive had ever witnessed. They struggled against one another and it then looked as though Skorponok was gaining ground. Then Fortress Maximus started to push back, forcing Skorponok to dig his heels into the surface of Cybertron. All the while, the Autobots and Decepticons could do nothing but watch this very literal clash of titans. Then, Megatron started moving away toward an opposite direction. It wasn't long before Starscream noticed that Megatron was apparently leaving.

"Where're you going, Megatron?" he asked.

"We both know that Unicron is the real threat, Starscream. I intend to put him in his place... or die trying." Megatron said before transforming into his space craft form and jetting away.

Starscream inwardly hoped that Megatron would actually get himself killed, if for no other reason than to simply have him out of his way. After Megatron departed, Starscream noticed some small hint of movement nearby. He saw what appeared to be a figure desperately attempting to get away from the chaos and he moved to investigate. Starscream didn't get far enough as a deafening noise rang out. He and Shockwave looked up and saw the heel of Fortress Maximus coming down right on top of them. They quickly launched out of the way just as the heel of the titan came down.

Fortress Maximus and Skorponok were still locked in their struggle before they finally managed to break free of each other. They went back to landing brutal strikes against each other, and in doing so, they forced the watching Cybertronians on the planet's surface to scurry. Skorponok was able to gain the upper hand and drive Fortress Maximus back, landing a vicious right hook. Fortress Maximus recovered to gained his own degree of momentum and landed a hard forearm. Skorponok retaliated with a left cross and Maximus struck back with a straight jab. They just kept trading strikes back and forth and, in the process, they caused the entire surrounding area to shake violently. Then, they grappled once again.

As the titans struggled, Sky-Byte approached from above with Zarak riding atop of him. Brainstorm traveled alongside of Sky-Byte, with both Sari and Spike riding within his cockpit. They stayed as high above the battle as possible to avoid being seen, yet they still marveled at the sight of the titan's ongoing battle of wills. Fortress Maximus and Skorponok continued to struggle as Sky-Byte and Brainstorm got closer to the latter of the two titans.

"We need to get close enough so I get inside of Sporponok's head. That's where the primary controls are located." Zarak shouted to Sky-Byte.

"Then you'd better hang on tight." Sky-Byte replied.

"We'll try to draw Skorponok's attention." Brainstorm said before banking away from the mechanized flying shark.

"And, how exactly are we going to get that thing's attention, Brainstorm?" Sari asked.

"Wild guess? We just start shooting." Spike said.

"You two just hold on tight. I've got this." Brainstorm said before backing back in the opposing direction and straight toward Skorponok's face.

Brainstorm moved in as close as possible without getting swatted out of the sky while Skorponok was still locked up with Fortress Maximus. He fired several blasts directly at the titan's face. They were clearly more of an annoyance than anything, but the shots got Skorponok's attention all the same. He briefly looked in Brainstorm's general direction and tried to attack while Fortress Maximus held on to him. Then Brainstorm quickly banked away, giving Sky-Byte a chance to close in on the back of the titan's head. Zarak readied himself for possibly the most insane thing he'd ever done. Then as Sky-Byte was flying passed Skorponok, Zarak with every ounce of strength and momentum he could muster. He barely landed on the steel surface of the titan and grabbed hold of the first thing he could to stay put.

Inside of Brainstorm's cockpit, an astonished Sari asked, "Did I see that right? Did Zarak literally just ju..."

Spike quickly replied, "Yes, Sari. Yes, he did."

"Is that what Humans refer to as..." Brainstorm said.

Once more Spike quickly replied, "Yeah, Brainstorm. In a more literal sense, yeah. Let's get back to the surface."

As the carnage continued between the titans, Dr. Arkeville continued to make an attempt to get away from it all. His hover chair had taken too much damage and sputtered plumes of smoke. Eventually, the blasted machine died on him and dropped, causing Arkeville himself to drop from it in a heap. More desperate to escape, Arkeville had to crawl for any kind of salvation. Then, he seemed to freeze in place at the sight of two metallic feet standing before him. He looked up and met the cold gaze of Lockdown.

"Going somewhere, Doctor?"

"Lockdown! You can't still be upset about the whole payment fiasco." Arkeville whimpered, unable to get away.

Lockdown deployed his hook and knelt down to better confront Arkeville. "Upset isn't the fragging word for it."

"You… you're taking this a bit personal, aren't you, Lockdown?" Arkeville cowered as the blade of Lockdown's hook looped around him.

"You haven't seen personal… not yet." Lockdown snarled, and Arkeville was left quaking in fear of what the future held for him.


Primal landed and deployed his shoulder cannons and then fired two full force blast directly at Unicron. The blasts hit Unicron hard and pushed him back, but not enough to slow him down. He forced his way forward, and Primal had to sustain the attack for as long as possible until Optimus Prime flew in from behind Unicron. Unicron turned around just in time to receive a straight punch to his face, and Optimus Prime landed just a few feet away from him. He stood beside Primal and drew his plasma rifle. They both fired a sustained blast that pushed Unicron back.

Unicron still pushed forward against the intensity of the blast, and the two leaders of both Maximals and Autobots increased their assault. But now, they were taking steps back even as they sustained their attack. The was the familiar sound of conversion amid the loud sound of laser fire, but it sounded warped and misshapen. The equally misshapen vehicle form of Rodimus, still warped by Unicron's dark possession, raced forward toward the two leaders at a seemingly impossible speed.

Optimus Prime pushed Primal out of the way but could only barely avoid a head on collision. He was still grazed and knocked down, while Unicron raced away. He spun back around and raced back straight toward Optimus Prime. Primal jumped in the path and fired his shoulder cannons into the path Unicron was taking. The ensuing explosion threw Unicron off his path, but he recovered in mid air and transformed back into his robot form. Primal braced himself for the impact and Unicron landed right in front him. He moved to grab the young Maximal and Primal did the same. They were suddenly locked hand in hand in a struggle. Optimus Prime recovered just enough to see Primal actually holding his ground against Unicron.

"You are strong, but untested. Courageous but foolhardy. You shall die along with the rest on this universe." Unicron claimed.

Primal didn't reply, instead pushing himself to battle back as hard as possible. Unicron was still stronger and forced Primal to his knees. He held Primal down and kept him there, Primal wouldn't quit and pushed with all his might to battle back. In doing so, his body began to shift and change in front of a nonplussed Unicron. A moment later, a robotic gorilla stood in place of Primal and roared in Unicron's face. Then the mighty robot ape pushed back and started to stand against the Chaos Bringer.

Primal broke free and proceeded to pummel Unicron with wild, clubbing blows. Every blow pushed Unicron back a step and the great robotic ape pressed the advantage. Optimus Prime was working his way back up to feet, watching as Primal took the battle to Unicron. All the while, Primal kept hitting the Chaos Bringer with one heavy blow after another and it looked as though he was on the verge of victory… until Unicron finally blocked a blow. Primal only had a split second to register the sight Unicron's evil green optics before he took a full force blast to the chest.

The blast sent Primal airborne and screaming before he plummeted back toward the surface. He'd already returned to robot form before coming down hard near the Allspark and the Well of Sparks. Primal writhed in pain as he tried to move. His chassis sparked from where Unicron struck him, and it was a miracle he wasn't put offline. Unicron moved to finish the assault but Optimus Prime tackled him down. They struggled just before getting back up, and Optimus Prime landed several hard punches on Unicron. It wasn't long before Unicron took Optimus down and battered him from above.

"A feeble effort, even for the last of the Thirteen. You cannot stop the end of all that you know." Unicron claimed, pressing his heel down onto Optimus Prime face.

Optimus felt the face plate crack under Unicron's heel, but he defiantly replied, "As long as my Spark pulsates, I will never stop fighting to end your tyranny, Unicron."

"Then you shall die with this universe. All that you know and love shall be shredded down to their atom." Unicron claimed and morphed his right hand into a spiked weapon.

Before the final blow could be delivered, a familiar voice in the distance shouted, "UNICRON!"

Unicron spun around around just in time to see Megatron bolting straight toward him at full speed. He had no time to avoid the incoming attack when Megatron transformed and bashed him with his energon mace. The impact sent the Chaos Bringer flying a short distance away and he came back down hard onto the surface of Cybertron. He even went sliding and scraping along before coming to a hard stop. Primal was only just recovering when he saw Megatron standing over Optimus Prime, and he dreaded the worst when the Decepticon leader held Optimus at gunpoint.

Optimus Prime was to a knee when he saw Megatron standing over him with his fusion cannon aimed over him. The barrel hummed to life, and Primal was ready to make his move to save Optimus. Optimus himself subtly gestured to Primal not to intervene. He then looked up at Megatron as he shut down his cannon and offered his hand instead. Optimus Prime swiftly took the gesture and Megatron hoisted him upright, and the two rivals stood face to face.

"No one gets to kill you except for me, Optimus." Megatron said.

"So, you've continuously implied, even succeeding and yet, I still function." Optimus Prime replied.

"Well, you do have an annoying tendency to survive." Megatron claimed with a sick smirk.

The banter was cut short as Unicron was standing once again, and Optimus Prime and Megatron stood side by side to face down the Chaos Bringer. Unicron stalked toward them with his arms morphed into weapons. But then he stopped and looked toward Primal and the Allspark before turning to stalk them instead. Optimus instantly knew what was the intention of Unicron and jetted forward. He landed in between Unicron and Primal with the Star Saber in hand. Megatron was quick to join his rival and they both stood ready for battle. Primal then joined them, standing right beside Optimus Prime and Megatron standing across from him. Unicron halted his approach but didn't falter in the presence of the three leaders of the Autobots, the Maximals and the Decepticons.

"So, I assume you have a plan, Optimus?" Megatron whispered.

"We must keep Unicron from corrupting the Allspark and the Well." Optimus Prime replied.

Megatron looked back at the Allspark and smirked. "So, you actually did find it. Then again, it's hardly surprising."

"Reintroducing the Allspark to the core of Cybertron is the only way to restore the planet. We need to keep it out of Unicron's reach." Optimus Prime declared.

"Hmph, no pressure, then." Megatron quipped.

"Optimus, let me take the Allspark to the core." Primal said.

"Out of the question, little Sparkling. It's going to take all three of us to even stand a chance against Unicron." Megatron berated Primal.

"I'm no Sparkling, old timer. Besides, if all three us go down, then Unicron gets the Allspark and the entire universe is dead." Primal bit back.

Megatron glared at Primal and smile, telling Optimus Prime, "I like this one."

Ignoring Megatron's assessment, Optimus Prime said, "Primal, Megatron and I will keep Unicron distracted while you take the Allspark and bring it down to the core of Cybertron. Understand however, that there is no guarantee that you will survive the ordeal."

"If that's what it takes, then so be it." Primal said, and he back away toward the Allspark.

Just as Primal was about to the reach the Allspark, a blast of green energy hit the surface in front of him and sent him tumbling. Optimus Prime and Megatron spun around, seeing that Unicron was stalking forward once more. Primal moved for the Allspark again and another blast struck the surface just inches away from his own hand. Any closer, and Primal's hand would've been blown apart. Unicron noticeably moved faster toward Primal and the Allspark, but it was Optimus Prime and Megatron standing between him and his intended targets.

"No further, Unicron." Optimus Prime declared.

"You will not stop me, Optimus Prime. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the end of everything. I am inevitable." Unicron claimed.


Author's Note: Looks like a have another action-packed chapter in the books, so to speak. Let me know what you think and I'll be back with a new chapter soon. Peace out.

In Memory Of
Pat Patterson
1941-2020

Tom "Tiny" Lister Jr.
1958-2020