Disclaimer: This is it... this is the end.
As usual, I don't own the rights to Transformers.
Chapter XXV
It seemed like the end. The metallic avatars of Unicron seemed to number in the thousands. Along them stood the constructs resembling Galvatron, Thunderwing, Sideways, Scourge, Cyclonus, Tempest… and Nemesis Prime. At close inspection, they each seemed devoid of optics, devoid of Sparks. Unicron himself stood front and center of his army, his arms morphed into his signature spiked instruments of destruction.
Standing across from the army of clones, the last remaining Cybertronians didn't even number in the hundreds. They consisted of Autobots, Decepticons and Maximals and they couldn't make up the sheer scale of avatars standing across from them. They were face to face with the embodiment of the apocalypse, then very real end of Cybertron and the greater universe itself. Optimus Prime and Megatron stood side by side, ready to lead what was obstinately a suicide mission.
"There's so many of them." Airazor mused.
Bulkhead quietly replied, "There's so many of him."
"I don't think we're coming out of this one alive." Roulette said.
"Then, let's make sure we take as many of them down with us." Drift said as he readied his sword.
Having been listening to the Wrecker's exchange, Rattletrap could only weakly laugh and mutter, "We're all gonna die."
Outback replied, "Yep."
Optimus Prime and Megatron surveyed the scene of seemingly endless avatars of the Chaos Bringer. For his part, Optimus looked toward the sky for any sign of Optimal Optimus. He found no sign of the Maximal leader, and he felt a sense of dread that he'd been exterminated. Optimal was supposed to be the best and the last hope for Cybertron. Even after thoroughly beating Unicron nearly into submission, Optimal was still apparently bested. Now, Unicron was still standing and he had with him an army of avatars plus the lifeless constructs of long dead enemies. Optimus couldn't help but think he was leading his allies to their doom. Then Megatron looked to him with a glare that seemed to display a hundred different emotions, and trepidation was not one of them.
"You know what needs to be done, Optimus." Megatron quietly said.
Optimus offered no words to Megatron but nodded his head in agreement. He then turned to the rest of the Cybertronians that stood behind him. "We have for eons fought one senseless conflict after another We fought for resources, for territory or for glory. The Autobots fought in the name of freedom while the Decepticons fought for conquest. But now, we can no longer be separated by our differences. Now we must fight for one common goal: survival of the universe itself. We must stand, stand strong and stand together... until all are one."
Megatron stepped closer to Optimus with a smirk on his face and a nod in approval. Optimus returned the nod, and the two leaders stood ready with their allies against the hordes of avatars. Several of the avatars came together, not unlike a combiner. They grew however to near titan size, and they too resembled Unicron. Unicron himself stood amid the horde with his personal heralds flanking him. Across the battlefield, the Cybertronians stood ready for potentially the last great battle for all of existence. Optimus Prime took one more glance at Megatron before he started taking that one final step forward.
But then... "Opti... ear me? Optimus, thi... hide? Do you read me?"
Optimus appeared to be frozen in place as he listened to the garbled reply, and it sounded like the familiar voice of an old friend. "Ironhide?"
This time, the voice was clear and it replied, "We're coming in hot, Optimus."
Optimus Prime looked back toward a short distance to see several objects approaching, all appearing to resemble Earth-based ground vehicles. It didn't take long for Optimus Prime to recognized the vehicle in the center, and then his Spark pulsated with hope when that vehicle transformed into a newly resurrected and newly pristine Ironhide. Megatron was surprised at the sight of the one Autobot he once killed in cold blood, but he also relieved to see Ironhide standing alive and well. He wasn't the only one to return, as the other two vehicles transformed into Trailbreaker and Hound. Another trio of vehicles appeared and they transformed into Grapple, Hoist and Mirage. A loud sonic boom was heard overhead, and the Cybertronians looked up to see the Aerialbots flying above with Silverbolt leading the restored Slingshot, Air Raid, Sky Dive and Fireflight.
It wasn't just Autobots returning to life. Starscream looked up and saw Thundercracker, Skywarp, Dirge, Thrust, Slugslinger and Misfire. Astrotrain arrived as well, dropping a lone figure from his interior. The figure dropped in front of Megatron, and it was Soundwave. More restored Cybertronians arrived on the scene, among them the Protectobots, Constructicons, Stunticons and Combaticons. Each of those subgroups combined into Defensor, Devastator, Menasor and Bruticus, while the Aerialbots combined into Superion. Seeing the many combiner teams merging inspired the Technobots to quickly merge into Computron. Sixshot and Quickswitch were also restored, and they took a stand beside the restored Seekers.
Then a massive shuttle arrived, and it was Sky Lynx as he transformed into his bestial form and let out a mighty roar. He then dropped off Blur, Override and Blaster, all of whom remained alive up to that point. Along with them were several members of the Junkions, with Wreck-Gar leading his brethren. More of the restored arrived, including Tarn, Knock Out, Silhouette, Off Road and Clench. A massive rocket ship appeared next, dropping off the restored Ultra Magnus, Devcon, Sunstreaker, Ratchet, Inferno, Red Alert, Smokescreen, Prowl, Bluestreak, Wheeljack, Highbrow, Huffer, Warpath, Windcharger, Tracks, Skids, Gears and Triage. The rocket ship transformed into Omega Supreme. Sandstorm, Chromedome, Tailgate, Firestar and Moonracer were all restored next, as were Slipstream, Black Out, Barricade, Wreckage, Demolisher and Fracture. Across the way from the assembly of restored Transformers, Arcee was herself restored. A hand was offered to her and she was shocked to see Springer standing over her with a smile on his face. She was even more shocked to see Kup standing next to him.
"How is this possible?" Arcee asked.
Springer helped her up and replied, "Your guess is as good as mine, Arcee."
Kup stepped in and added, "Let's save it for after the big fight. Where's Hotrod," Arcee hung her head down before looking toward the horde, and Kup could clearly see Hotrod's warped visage among. "Oh no, lad."
Megatron was still stunned by the event that only just took place as Soundwave approached him. "How do I know this isn't an illusion? How do I know that you're the real Soundwave?"
In his familiar monotone voice, Soundwave replied, "Unicron inferior, Cybertronians superior."
Optimus Prime looked on the sight of nearly every Transformer returning to life, and then he found Elita One standing before him. They exchanged no words between them, but their optics told two separate stories of both confusion and relief. The planet seemed to shake relentlessly after the restoration of so many Transformers, and Optimus Prime noticed Fortress Maximus and Skorponok joining the fray. Optimal Optimus returned to the battlefield, unscathed and ready to fight. In a startling turn of events, nearly every single Cybertronian that died in battle was now restored and fully functional and ready to stand against the army of Unicron. Unicron himself actually appeared to take a step back, unsure of what to think of what he was witnessing. Opposite of Unicron's horde, the Cybertronians all readied themselves for battle.
Standing at the head of the restored army, Optimus Prime and Megatron stood side by side and shouted in unison, "CYBERTRON... TRANSFORM AND ROLL OUT!"
A mighty roar from Predaking sent the Transformers running full force, many of them assuming their alternate forms and speeding onward. A massive army of ground-based vehicles raced across the metal surface, while a large number of flight capable vehicle took to the sky. Megatron assumed his alternate form to lead the airborne vehicles, while Optimus Prime led the ground-bases vehicles. The combiners rushed forward on foot with Omega Supreme leading the charge, while Fortress Maximus and Skorponok lumbered forward with purpose. Conversely, Unicron motioned his right arm forward and clenched his fist. That was the signal for his hordes to charge and meet the Cybertronians. Instantly, Nemesis Prime took the lead with Galvatron, Scourge, Cyclonus, Tempest, Sideways and Thunderwing following. The titan-sized Unicron avatars trailed behind the horde, which rushed forward with little to no emotion. The Cybertronians however, bellowed numerous shouts and scream as they charged into the biggest battle of them all.
The two armies finally collided with each other, and every combatant spread across the battlefield. Autobots and Decepticons on the surface battled avatar after avatar of Unicron. The combiners either blasted or simply crushed countless clones under their heels. Every flight capable Transformer rained down projectiles to destroy more of the clones. The titan-sized avatars lurched forward, but Skorponok and Fortress Maximus met them and beat them back. Sky Lynx flew overhead and unleashed a torrent of laser fire that burned several avatars at a time, while Astrotrain transformed from shuttle mode to train and plowed through more then. The fully reunited Wreckers ripped other avatars apart while the Maximals went wild on several more.
In the midst of the battle, Optimus Prime attempted to work his way toward Unicron. Unicron noticed Optimus approaching and moved to confront him. Before either of them could reach the other, Nemesis Prime dropped between them. Nemesis produced a twisted version of Optimus Prime's Star Saber, a sort of Dark Star Saber. Unicron stood a distance behind Nemesis as he stared down Optimus. Then, Nemesis rushed Optimus. Their two swords clashed, sending streaks of blue and purple lights flying from the collision. They struggled in a stalemate before breaking off, and Nemesis Prime rushed Optimus Prime once again. Again, their weapons clashed and they engaged in an intense duel of slashes and swipes with heavy blows of their fists mixed within. All the while, Unicron backed away and attempted to make for the Well of Sparks.
A hailstorm of laser fire struck at Unicron from above. He saw Megatron flying toward him in his vehicle form, transforming in midflight to robot form and firing a volley from his fusion cannon. The volley struck the space in front of Unicron and forced him back. Megatron was within reach of Unicron and deployed his mace, but Galvatron suddenly stepped in the way and fired at him. Megatron managed to avoid the shot and land on the surface where he stared a hole into the entity that assumed his former persona. Wasting little time to finally do away with a dark chapter of his existence, Megatron rushed Galvatron in earnest. Galvatron met his foe and they collided in a brutal struggle replete with heavy-handed blows and close quarters shots from their guns.
Once again, Unicron attempted to reach the Well of Sparks and this time, Optimal Optimus stood in his way. "You're not going anywhere, Unicron."
"You cannot hope to stand alone against me, fool." Unicron claimed.
"Who says I'm alone," Optimal Optimus asked just as he being was joined by his fellow Maximals. "MAXIMALS... BEAST MODE!"
Almost in unison, the Maximals transformed into their respective animal forms. Rhinox led the initial charge with Cheetor and Tigatron backing him, while Night Scream and Metal Hawk. Sky-Byte quickly joined the aerial assault in his flying shark form, lunging forward and biting at Unicron's left arm. Cheetor and Tigatron ran around Unicron and swiped at his legs, managing to bring him down to a knee. Rhinox quickly charged forward and rammed into Unicron to put him down for a few moments at a time. Night Scream and Metal Hawk flew in and slashed at Unicron. Unicron was at least able to throw Sky-Byte off of him, all the while kicking away Cheetor and Tigatron. Rhinox tried another head one charge and Unicron knocked him down. All this activity allowed for Optimal Optimus to pushed forward and tackle Unicron down. The Maximals regrouped and stayed back to allow their leader to fight the Chaos Bringer, all the while waiting for the right time to strike back.
Meanwhile, Ultra Magnus and Ironhide led the restored Cybertronians against the avatars on the surface. Starscream led the restored Seekers in attacking the avatars from the air. The Seekers broke off in various trajectories, with Thundercracker and Dirge flying in direction and Skywarp and Thurst in another. Starscream noticed Megatron fighting Galvatron nearby and moved into assist, only to be suddenly accosted by Cyclonus. A dogfight ensued with Starscream and Cyclonus trading missile strikes and laser shots. At the same time, Breakaway was engaged by Tempest in another intense air battle. Tempest managed to land a glancing shot that sent Breakaway falling toward planet. He managed to transform and land safely, while Starscream landed beside him. They stood back-to-back, confronted by Cyclonus and Tempest respectively.
"Hey Starscream, let's see who can frag their target first." Breakaway said.
"Is this a game to you, Autobot?" Starscream snapped, but Breakaway had already engaged Tempest.
Annoyed but smirking all the same, Starscream fired his Null Ray at Cyclonus. Cyclonus managed to avoid the shot and fired back at Starscream, striking his knee in the process. A sudden blast from behind knocked Cyclonus down, then Slipstream appeared to help Starscream up. Breakaway was in his own sky battle against Tempest, and he wasn't holding back with his attack. This wasn't the Tempest he used to know, and so he and the clone traded shots in a back-and-forth aerial skirmish.
Elsewhere on the field, Predaking was cutting his way through the avatars before he stopped. Thunderwing stood across from him, assuming his dragon form and letting out a frightening roar. Predaking responded in kind and charged forward, meeting and grappling with Thunderwing. At the same time, Scourge was skulking around for an opening from which to attack Predaking. He was grabbed from behind and thrown down by Shockwave. Scourge recovered to meet the singularly optical Decepticon, only to notice Soundwave approaching him from behind deploying Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat, Ravage, Buzzsaw and Laserbeak.
The Wreckers continued battling avatar after avatar, with assistance from several Decepticons including Blitzwing and Fracture. Wreckage, Demolisher and Warpath all were in their alternate forms and blasting at the avatars. Blur, Override, and Chromedome raced through pockets of avatars, and those that survived were wiped out by Tarn and his team. Hound produced a series of holograms to distract several more avatars while Brainstorm, Highbrow and Sandstorm flew overhead and blasted them apart. Springer, Kup, Arcee and Crosshairs wiped out more of them. Sideways attempted to ambush the Wreckers, but Drift saw him coming and quickly confronted him as more avatars tried to swarm the Transformers. Those same avatars were swiftly bested by Sixshot and Quickswitch while Wreck-Gar and the Junkions deliberately threw themselves at another pack of avatars.
Predaking struggled against Thunderwing even as he managed to land heavy blows to the dragon-like construct. Thunderwing started gaining ground on Predaking even as the combiner fought hard against him. Eventually, Predaking was dropped to his back and Thunderwing moved in for the kill. He suddenly stopped short by Blackarachnia snagging him from behind with a net of webbing. Thunderwing was briefly able to get free, but he was caught off guard by Dinobot as he slashed his face. Predaking saw his chance and grabbed the dragon, lifting him up and throwing him back down hard. Then, Predaking pummeled Thunderwing relentlessly before Thunderwing got back up.
Brainstorm continued to fly above the battlefield with Sari in his cockpit, with him flying while she worked the weapons. They were unexpectedly knocked out of the sky by an avatar's blast. Brainstorm managed to transform to robot just in time and he scraped along the metallic surface, while Sari was no worse for wear herself. That same avatar than shot them down now loomed over them, and Highbrow and Sandstorm were both caught up in their own troubles. The avatar prepared to strike where the surface on which it stood suddenly and violently fell away from it. It managed to hold on for all of a moment before Doublecross, Grotusque and Repugnus emerged, all in monster form, and took to ripping the avatar to pieces.
"I never thought I'd be happy to see those freaks." Sari said.
"No kidding." Brainstorm said as more avatars stormed forward, and the Monsterbots rushed to meet them.
Optimus Prime and Megatron continued battling against Nemesis Prime and Galvatron respectively. They were forced back-to-back by the two constructs and met optic to optic. Both gave the other a telling nod before getting ready to continue the fight. Nemesis Prime and Galvatron rushed from either side, and Optimus Prime and Megatron suddenly switched positions. Now, it was Optimus Prime against Galvatron and Megatron fighting Nemesis Prime. Optimus Prime and Galvatron immediately came to blows, but Megatron conversely stared into Nemesis Prime's dead optics. Megatron could only seethe at the sight is this mocking visage of his arch-rival and deployed his mace before charging forward. Nemesis Prime raised his Dark Star Saber up overhead and charged to meet Megatron.
Their weapons clashed, and they were quickly engaged in wild series of attack ranging from swings from Megatron's mace and straight stabs from Nemesis Prime. Neither could gain an edge and as they traded blows and landed hits. At the same time, Optimus Prime and Galvatron clashed with Galvatron firing his particle cannon and Optimus deflecting the shots with the Star Saber. Optimus Prime pushed forward toward Galvatron as he batted away shot after shot until he was close enough. He tried to land a singlehanded overhead strike but Galvatron just caught him by the wrist. Galvatron attempted to land a straight punch but Optimus caught. They were locked in a stalemate, struggling to gain the advantage any way possible.
Optimus Prime glanced over to his right to see Optimal Optimus still fighting against Unicron. The other Maximals appeared to subdued, leaving Optimal alone against the Chaos Bringer. They traded blows back and forth but Unicron was the stronger of the two. He started gaining ground against Optimal while Rhinox and Tigatron were starting to recover. In their beast forms, they rushed in to aid their leader. Night Scream managed to recover and get airborne, unleashing a sonic wave to weaken Unicron. Cheetor, Metal Hawk and Sky-Byte saw their chance to attack.
Unicron stopped his struggle against Optimal Optimus and quickly unleashed a sustained optic blast on the Maximals. The Maximals scattered except for Rhinox, who continued to charge forward with Metal Hawk above him. They were able to get in close, with Metal Hawk scraping at Unicron's face while Rhinox rammed into him. Unicron batted Metal Hawk away before clubbing Rhinox and subduing him. Optimal Optimus came back and landed a brutal haymaker that surprised Unicron, followed by and another haymaker and then another one. Unicron retaliated with an optic blast that hit Optimal flush in the chassis. With the Maximals subdued, Unicron saw that he had a clear path toward the Well of Sparks and he started making his way toward it. An unexcepted blast from above nearly struck Unicron, and he looked up to see Skorponok stomping toward him.
"Unicron," Zarak was hold from inside the titan. "This is for my family and my home."
Skorponok aimed his shoulder cannons straight at Unicron and fired on him. The blasts that came scattered many of the Cybertronian on the field while also wiping out a large swath of avatar. Optimus Prime and Galvatron were thrown back from the blasts, while Unicron covered up to minimize the potential damage. He looked back up and saw that Skorponok assumed his scorpion form. Skorponok thrust his claws forward to grab Unicron, but the Chaos Bringer moved quicker than the titan. Even still, Skorponok reared back his tail before thrusting forward. This time, Unicron couldn't move in time and the point of the tail struck the surface right in front of him. Unicron fell back and recovered before cutting loose with an immense optic blast that caught Skorponok in its head. The blast was enough to subdue Skorponok and Unicron started moving for the Well.
He glared at the fallen titan and muttered, "Foolish creature."
"Hotrod." a voice called, and Unicron could see Kup standing near the Well.
"Out of my way, follower of Primus." Unicron demanded.
"I know you're still in there, lad. You beat Unicron once, and I know you do it again." Kup replied just as Springer and Arcee arrived to flank.
"We know this isn't you, Roddy. Unicron messed you up." Springer said.
Arcee stepped forward and added, "You're stronger than Unicron, Hotrod. You can beat him."
Unicron took a step forward before sudden grabbing his head and screaming in pain. He dropped to his knees and his optics changed from green to blue. "Too late... can't... stop... him."
"Fight him, lad. You can win." Kup shouted.
Hotrod struggled against the pain before looking back up, and his optics were green once again. "SILENCE!"
Unicron cut loose with a massive optic blast that flung Kup, Arcee and Springer away. He started moving toward the Well once more, all the while Optimus Prime was recovering from the prior attack from Skorponok. Seeing Unicron approaching the Well of Sparks, he gunned his flight mode thrusters and launched straight at Unicron. Unicron was at the edge of the Well when he heard a sonic boom approaching from behind him. He turned just in time to see Optimus Prime rocketing right into him. They both dropped over the edge and into the Well. Optimal Optimus caught sight of them falling into the Well and attempted to follow them, but Galvatron stopped him while Megatron was dropped by Nemesis Prime. Optimal and Megatron stood back-to-back against their rivals and continued the fight.
Optimus Prime and Unicron were in freefall, each one desperately trying to break off from the other. Optimus had his own thrusters on and it sent them both careening down the length of the Well. They traded hard strikes, landing blows to the face, the torso and the chassis. It was at one point that Unicron managed to kick Optimus Prime off of him. Optimus Prime recovered and launched right back into Unicron and they continued their struggle. By that point, they were falling into the wide-open chamber housing the core of Cybertron. Unicron managed to kick Optimus Prime away for a second time, and this time, reached the platform leading to the core itself. Unicron came down hard on the platform while Optimus Prime missed it and dropped from view.
Recovering and back on his feet, Unicron saw that he was literally a waltz away from the core itself, from Primus himself. It was after the first step however that Unicron grabbed his head and double over in pain. He dropped to his knees like he did on the planet's surface. Optimus Prime returned to a high above the platform to find Unicron writhing in agony. He knew it had to be Hotrod again trying valiantly to fight back, and he still had the Star Saber in hand. Optimus had a golden opportunity to finish Unicron off, but he hesitated. Instead, he hovered toward the fallen Chaos Bringer and dropped beside him. Unicron looked up at Optimus with crystal blue optics, and Optimus knew it was Hotrod again.
"Optimus... please. Kill me."
Stunned by the request, Optimus Prime replied, "No. No, I will do no such thing."
"You... have to. It's the only way." Hotrod begged amid the pain.
Optimus shook his head in denial. He said, "I will not kill you, Hotrod. We can find another way." Then, he felt a death grip around his neck.
Unicron resurfaced yet again and shouted, "DIE!"
Optimus Prime was hoisted and held up by his neck by Unicron, but he used to his thrusters to break free. They charged forward once again and clashed one more time with the core of Cybertron pulsating behind them. Countless strikes and slashes were delivered, some landing and other missing. When their weapons didn't connect, they answered with their fists and feet. Unicron was gaining ground, pushing Optimus Prime toward the edge of the platform. Optimus pushed back against Unicron, landing a glancing blow across his shoulder. Seeing his opening, Optimus Prime went on the attack and landing a few more glancing strikes on Unicron's arms and legs. Optimus Prime managed to push Unicron back toward the opposite of the platform.
Unicron tried to deflect the attacks from the Star Saber, while Optimus Prime rained down strike after strike after strike with a fury never experienced. Every blow drove Unicron further and further toward the platform's edge. It was right there at the edge that Unicron was dropped to a knee and still blocking Optimus Prime's seemingly rampant assault. Optimus Prime landed one precise blow that shattered Unicron's defenses, seemingly leaving him helpless. Gripping the hilt of the Star Saber, Optimus went to deliver the final blow only to stop once he saw the blue optics of Hotrod staring back at him. Optimus stood frozen, unable to act or even believe what he was apparently about to do. The optics turned green and Unicron blasted Optimus in the chassis, sending both and the Star Saber flying.
Optimus Prime hit the floor, slid across it and dropped over the edge. He managed to grab hold with one hand, but he was too damaged to pull himself up right away. Meanwhile, the Star Saber fell back toward the space... into Unicron's waiting hand. Examining the Star Saber and snarling at its considerable splendor, Unicron approached the edge where Optimus had dropped. Optimus managed to get both arms onto the edge. He tried to gun his thrusters but only smoke sputtered out. Then Unicron stood over him with the Star Saber. Unicron reached down to grab Optimus and forcibly lifted him up before tossing back onto the platform. Optimus was slammed down hard and within close proximity to the core as it pulsated, while Unicron stalked toward him with the Star Saber in his grip.
"Your time is over, Prime. You've failed," Unicron reached down to grasp Optimus by one of his helmet antennas. "You've failed your brethren of the Thirteen. You've failed Primus himself. You've failed Cybertron and now, it and the rest of the universe shall die because of your failure."
"Even if you destroy me, Unicron, others shall rise to defeat your evil... no matter the cost." Optimus Prime said in pure defiance of the Chaos Bringer.
"Then they too shall share your final judgement," Unicron said and threw Optimus down. Gripping the Star Saber and raising up over his head, Unicron declared, "And, your final judgement, Optimus Prime... is... DEATH!" And then, the Star Saber came down...
Author's Note: CLIFFHANGER! If you want to know how it all ends... well, you know what to do.