29- Orion Pax (part 3).
On Cybertron, Ash, Pikachu and Hot Rod continued walking through the streets of Kaon when the key card glowed more frequently.
"Pika?"
"We must be close." Ash observed.
The two entered the arena with a statue of Megatron at the entrance. They continued until some kind of earthquake started. The ground started to crack as the key glowed even stronger. Suddenly, a giant structure emerged from the ground in front of them, some kind of entrance. When Ash approached it, the door glowed in blue and revealed a passage.
"Pika." Pikachu said amazed.
"So Vector Sigma's down here?" Ash asked surprised.
"I'm as surprised as you, but now that it comes to me, I remember that before I joined the Autobots Kaon wasn't under Decepticon domain. We knew that Megatron took it as their capital, apparently without ever realizing what lay beneath their feet." Hot Rod explained.
Suddenly, they heard a crumbling noise and looked up to the top of the entrance. They spotted some giant cybertronian creature: it had a long body, with some insect legs and other legs larger that acted as a tail, but its most terrifying aspect was its big insect mouth. The creature jumped down to attack, but Hot Rod grabbed Ash and Pikachu and jumped out of the way. He started to fire at the creature, but the shots seemed to not do even a single scratch. It recognized his symbol and tackled him against the wall.
"Hot Rod! Pikachu, give him a hand. Use Thunderbolt."
Pikachu's attack hit the creature, but because if its enormous size it seemed to not cause any damage, only slowed it down. Although, the creature turned at them, and once it spotted the key of Vector Sigma went after Ash. He and Pikachu tried to get away, but it caught up with them very easily, until Hot Rod continued firing as he jumped above it, earning its attention again.
"We're being attacked by some kind of giant cybertronian large bug!" Ash reported to the team through com-link.
"A corrupted worm." Ratchet recognized.
"A what?" The gang asked.
"Formerly known as a space slug, native creatures which acted as part of Cybertron's natural defenses. But when the core was poisoned, one of them mutated and acted wildly." Ratchet explained (the boss from the antepenultimate mission of War for Cybertron).
"That's impossible. Ironhide and I helped Optimus to defeat it when we helped him to reach Cybertron's core." Warpath argued.
"Maybe when Galvatron sent that dark energon meteor through the space bridge it may have caused its remains to reanimate." Elita theorized.
"Or maybe it created another one." Ratchet added.
Hot Rod jumped onto higher ground continuing firing at the creature, but it fired a purple projectile from its mouth, but he jumped first and changed to vehicle form, forcing the creature to chase him. He slid underneath the creature, returning back to robot form and continued shooting.
"Guys, I will keep it busy! Go!" Hot Rod yelled.
"Seriously?!" Ash said.
"Without Hot Rod? He is his guide."
"No, Miss Ketchum. Hot Rod is Ash's backup, the keycard is his guide." Elita corrected.
Hot Rod managed to push back the creature with his shots. "Do it!"
"Listen to him, Ash. You've made it this far. Optimus is counting on you." Delia told him though the com-link.
"You can do this. We know you can." Serena added.
"Roger that." Ash nodded before he and Pikachu headed to the entrance.
Vector Sigma's door started to close as Ash saw Hot Rod get tackled by the monster. Meanwhile, at the Nemesis…
"Orion, have you made progress with Project Iacon?" Galvatron asked visiting him again.
"It seems I am a bit rustier than I thought."
"Might that have anything to do with the nature of your after-hours research. Did I fail to mention that we'd be tracking your activities?" Galvatron revealed as he pressed a button, showing what Orion was doing.
"Why does history portray me siding with the Autobot aggressors? And why did Darkscream call me a Prime? I must know, who am I?"
"You are my clerk. Now get back to work and decode that database."
Orion started to doubt about his old friend's intentions.
"No. I would rather erase my findings than making them available for your questionable use." Orion decided before pressing a button, which erased all the screen's data. He was about to leave when he heard Galvatron laughing and pressing another button, making everything reappearing.
"Did you really think that we wouldn't be tracking and documenting every iota of your valuable research?" Galvatron smirked.
In that moment, Soundblaster entered the room showing on his screen a map of Cybertron with a strong signal emitting from one region.
"One of our sensors have detected movements, on Cybertron?" Galvatron asked surprised.
"You told me our planet was dead." Orion recalled.
"That is beside the point, guards!" Galvatron called as he pulled out his sword and threatened Orion, putting it near his neck. "You will finish Project Iacon by the time I return, or I will carve out your spark before your very eyes."
Back on Cybertron, Hot Rod continued shooting at the creature as it tried to smash him. He jumped above it and kicked its head. After dodging its hind legs, he climbed on top of a pillar and continued firing at it. Enough of playing around, the creature started to charge a lot of energy on its mouth and fired a purple beam of energy which hit Hot Rod. He felt to the floor unconscious, but instead of finish with him, the beast headed to the entrance and ripped the door before crawling inside, searching for Ash and Pikachu. Speaking of them, they walked through the tunnel, using the key as a light source. However, they passed a scraplet, which followed them attracted by the light. Even with the suit on, Pikachu was able to heard its crawling with his ears.
"What is it, Pikachu? Did you hear something?"
"Pikachu." He nodded.
Ash saw a large rod sticking out which pulled out to use as a weapon. "Just in case."
But they didn't know that were a lot of scraplets following them. Meanwhile, Soundblaster was showing another thing to Galvatron.
"The activity log indicates my space bridge was set for Cybertron, and remains open. The only possible reason the Autobots would take such a risk would be to restore their precious Optimus Prime."
Meanwhile, the duo seemed to reach a dead end. Fortunately, the key glowed again, which made the door activated and opened. It revealed a huge chamber that had a bridge connecting with a circular platform in the middle.
"Everyone, we're here. We are in Vector Sigma." Ash communicated to everyone.
"Great." Dawn celebrated.
"You made it, Ash." Ritchie congratulated.
"That's Ash." Tracey added.
"That's our boy." Serena said to Delia, who sighed in relief.
Ash crossed the bridge and walked to the center of the platform. A part of the floor glowed like the key, so he placed the key on it. The key started to change, turning at the same size it had when Optimus gave it to Ash, so he stepped back a little as the whole area started to glow. The floor where they were started to move, making them fall. Next, it started to rise, forcing them to jump off the platform. In front of them, the platform opened, revealing a huge shining core of energy floating on the air. They observed that some lines of energy started to flow to the key.
"Whoa, that is amazing." Ash admired.
"Pika." Pikachu added.
"Commencing download. I think." He reported.
"Soon, Optimus."
"Indeed, Elita. Almost there." Ratchet supported putting a hand on her shoulder.
Speaking about Orion, he was forced to continue his job by two Decepticon heavy soldiers who were watching him.
"No one told you to stop, Pax." One of them said walking toward him with his weapon ready.
But Orion did not continue, even when both Decepticons aimed their weapons at him. Instead, he turned at them.
"I believe Galvatron intends to use whatever he finds in Project Iacon to harm the Autobots. Please, we can warn them." He said approaching them.
But one of the guards simply punched him on the torso and the back, making him to collapse on the ground, followed by a kick. He looked at them in shock, as they aimed their guns at him. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu continue watching how the matrix flowed back into the key from Vector Sigma. But it seemed to be a very long process.
"This is taking a while."
"Of course it is. We are talking about the collective wisdom of the Primes." Ratchet replied.
Pikachu's ears sensed something, which made him turn at the entrance.
"Pikachu!" He said alarmed.
Right behind them, the swarm of scraplets made their way into the chamber, eating metal on the way. Until they saw that the terminal where the key was downloading the matrix was full of tasty energy, which caused them to fly right at it with their jaws ready.
"Stop them with Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded.
Pikachu tried to contain them with his electric attack, but despise that it managed to take them down, there were too many scraplets for him to contain. Ash helped his friends trying to smash all he could, but the ones who managed to survive passed them and started biting Vector Sigma.
"We cannot risk using electric attacks. Run them over with Quick Attack." Ash instructed.
"Pika." Pikachu nodded before he started to move through the structure charging against the scraplets.
"What is it, Ash?" Elita asked.
"Scraplets!"
"What's a scraplet?" Solana asked.
"Smaller bots from Cybertron which like to eat metal, specially from living robots." Misty explained.
"What? They are inside there with you?" Max asked alarmed.
"Why did it have to be scraplets?" Sideswipe cursed.
"If they chew through Vector Sigma before the matrix is fully reloaded…" Ratchet started.
"So, Vector Sigma is more than legend." A familiar voice said behind them.
The Autobots and pokémon saw Galvatron emerging from a ground bridge, making them to put into battle positions.
"You Autobots have gone to impressive lengths to recover your leader. Be assured, I shall never underestimate you again. Now, I assume the one called Hot Rod will be stepping through that portal, with the reloaded Matrix of Leadership in hand." Galvatron deduced.
"We hold the space bridge at all cost." Elita declared as all Autobot charged against Galvatron, firing their weapons.
Galvatron did the same, and punched Warpath so hard that sent him flying toward the space bridge. Wheeljack tried to use his swords against him, but Galvatron blocked both of them with his own before pushing him aside. Ratchet tried to do the same, but Galvatron grabbed him by the head and threw him out of the structure. Bumblebee and Sideswipe continued shooting at him as they ran around him, until Galvatron intercepted both of them, grabbed and threw them against the ground. He readied his sword with intention of finish them, but Elita blocked him before he could and both started clashing their swords. Arcee took the chance to jump to his back and started punching his head from behind while Moonracer grabbed him by the neck with her electric whip, which allowed Elita to start punching Galvatron in the torso multiple times. Until he managed to shake Arcee off, grabbed Moon's whip and threw her at Elita One, knocking them out. And before Arcee could get up Galvatron stomped hard on her, trying to crush her totally. But fortunately, the pokémon started to attack him: Zippo and Ash' Charizard fired their Flamethrowers at his head, blinding him enough so Mamoswine used Ice Shard to freeze his feet, that allowed Gyarados to coil around him and try to attack his face with Crunch, but Galvatron's hands were still free and managed to contain the pokémon's head. Piplup and Braixen tried to weak his hands attacking with Bubble Beam and Fire Blast, but Galvatron managed to pulled out his fusion cannon and fired a shot which impacted in front of them, sending them flying out of the structure. Next, as one of his hands contained Gyarados's head, he started punching him until he was forced to release him, also stunned. Immediately, Galvatron saw Mamoswine charging at him ready to use Ice Fang, so he grabbed him by his fangs and tried to push him back. As he tried it, until he started to receive hits from many sides, that was because Scyther, Blaziken, Luxray, Sceptile, Greninja and Krookodile were attacking him using X-Scissor, Blaze Kick, Wild Charge, Leaf Blade, Aerial Ace and Dragon Claw from different sides. As he roared in fury, Galvatron managed to lift Mamoswine up and used him to hit Scyther, Luxray, Sceptile and Blaziken, so hard that they were not able to continue fighting before smashing Mamoswine against the ground. Greninja and Krookodile jumped on Zippo and Charizard' backs and started attacking Galvatron with Water Shuriken and Stone Edge, but Galvatron covered himself with one of his arms while he pulled out his gladiator bowler in the other and wheeled it around to take down the pokémon. It hit both Charizard and Zippo, but Greninja and Krookodile managed to land intact. Greninja jumped from one support of the space bridge to another in an attempt to confuse Galvatron while Krookodile started to dig underground to attack him from below. But Galvatron simply jumped and hit the ground hard, making Krookodile to come out of the ground by the impact and grabbed him right before throwing him against Greninja. The ninja frog pokémon managed to evade Krookodile and jumped at Galvatron ready to use Cut, but Galvatron took advantage of the distraction to punch him hard, sending Greninja against one of the supports, leaving him and the rest of the pokémon unable to battle. With everyone out of his way, Galvatron returned walking to the space bridge.
"You're going down, Buckethead." Wheeljack said tackling him out of the space bridge.
At the same time, on Cybertron, Hot Rod was still laying on the floor, until a painful feeling brought him back online. He slowly sat up and saw what was the cause: there was a scraplet chewing his foot, which he eliminated easily.
"Ash?"
He spotted the entrance of Vector Sigma with a big hole. Knowing what could only cause that, he transformed and drove inside the tunnel. In Vector Sigma, Ash and Pikachu continued trying to dispose of the scraplets, but there were too many. And the damage they were inflicting on the terminal was starting to affect the matrix downloading process: the noise of the process was slowing down.
"No, no no no no, don't stop now!"
Then, they heard a noise coming from the entrance.
"Hot Rod."
But it was not their Autobot friend, because it was too big. It was the corrupted worm, which managed to make its way into Vector Sigma. It stood in front of them.
"Back off, bug!" Ash yelled as he held his rod.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu said charging electricity.
But when the beast was about to strike, suddenly it stopped when it spotted the scraplets. Ash noticed that, which gave him an idea. He grabbed one of them.
"Hey guys, the main course!" He said throwing the scraplet at the creature.
The rest of the scraplets noticed it and swarmed at it. The corrupted worm roared in pain as the scraplets were eating it alive. They practically disassembled it before falling to a certain death into the deeps, with the scraplets behind it's remains. With that solved, Pikachu noticed that the terminal beeped, signaling that the process was complete. And just how it came, Vector Sigma disappeared, allowing Ash to take the key, once again to his size. They started to head to the exit when Hot Rod arrived and transformed.
"We have the matrix." Ash announced showing the key, now with a little different glow.
"Good job, guys. Let's roll." Hot Rod said.
Back at the space bridge, Galvatron was finishing his fight with Wheeljack, by grabbing him and throwing him against a boulder. Now, the same as the pokémon, all the Autobots were lying unconscious on the floor. Galvatron turned his attention at the space bridge portal. Meanwhile, Orion Pax was being kicked constantly by his captors.
"You have to admit: it's a privilege to stomp the former leader of the Autobots." One of the soldiers opined.
At hearing that, Orion finally realized that what he found was true, he was an Autobot. The Decepticons continued to beat him.
"No, please. Stop, enough." He pleaded, until his hands turned into his cannons, which surprised both him and the Decepticons. "I'm…armed?"
The Decepticons pulled out their weapons and fired at him, so Orion did the same. And he succeeded in hitting them first. At the same time, Hot Rod, Pikachu and Ash were heading back to the portal which they came first.
"We're almost there." Ash saw.
"Elita, we have the matrix. We're coming through." Hot Rod announced, but no one responded.
Once in front of the portal, Pikachu and Ash got out of Hot Rod before he returned to robot form. "Elita? Ratchet? Anyone there?" The young Autobot called again, but received no answer. "Something is wrong."
And he was right, because at the other side, Galvatron was waiting with his sword ready and a smirk on his face.
"We can't not go through, can we?" Ash asked.
"Pika." Pikachu said shrugging his arms.
Hot Rod looked at the vortex with suspicion. Meanwhile, at the other side…
"Come Hot Rod, so that I might end the lineage of the Primes for all times."
"I cannot allow that to happen, Galvatron." Orion Pax declared as he walked out of a ground bridge, surprising him.
"And why should you care, Orion Pax? You are no Prime."
"That may be true, or yet another deception, but this much I do know: for what I remember, I saw that Ariel was also with the Autobots, and one thing I know is that she never hangs out with bad company, which means she's siding with the good ones. So, my sympathies lie with the Autobots, and you are not one of us."
Orion pulled out his swords and charged against Galvatron, who blocked the attack easily and punched him hard at the torso, making Orion fall to his knees.
"Your spark may be in the right place, Orion." Galvatron said before hitting him in the back of his head, making him to collapse on the ground. "But you have much to learn before you can hope to ever again stand your ground against me. A moment sadly which should never come."
Galvatron pulled out his bowler and raised it to finish with his former rival once and for all, but Hot Rod passed through the space bridge at high speed, changed to robot form and tackled Galvatron from the back, sending him flying across the platform. As they fought, Orion saw Ash and Pikachu coming through the portal, who approached him. He widened his eyes in shock as he saw Ash hold the key card.
"Are you certain I am worthy?" Orion asked with hesitation.
"You have no idea, Orion. There is more than meets the eye." Ash responded as he aimed the key card at Orion's chest.
A stream of light came from the key and entered Orion's chest. That made his chest to open and show the Matrix of Leadership. Hot Rod continued his fight with Galvatron shooting him, until he grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against a pillar.
"How nice of you to join our little reunion. Now if you please, the matrix!" Galvatron demanded.
"Wrong…guy…Buckethead." Hot Rod answered hardly.
Galvatron heard the sound of the key's effect and looked back, and widened his eyes in surprise. He released Hot Rod and ran back at them. Elita One, who was already back, tried to intercept him, but Galvatron saw her coming and simply pushed her out of the way. Once the stream of energy was gone, the key floated in the air and Orion grabbed it as his chest closed. Pikachu saw Galvatron coming at them and launched a Thunderbolt at him. Despite the pain he felt by the electricity, Galvatron continued running at them.
"NO!" He shouted pulling out his sword.
"Pikachu, no!" Ash yelled as he covered his pal.
Galvatron jumped and tried to strike his sword against them. But for his surprise, Orion managed to catch his sword with both hands.
"Galvatron." Orion said, covering his face with his battle mask. Galvatron's face showed nervousness, he knew what that meant: Prime was back. "Be gone!"
Optimus started punching Galvatron on the face multiple times, something the Autobots and pokémon witnessed as they recovered. Before Galvatron could counter, Optimus finished with a powerful uppercut that sent him flying against the wall. Ash smiled at that as he hug Pikachu, seeing that he was fine.
"Ratchet, how we did arrive here?" Optimus asked as the Autobots and pokémon gathered next to their leader.
"Long story, old friend."
"Base to Elita One, we're reading ten Autobot life signals down there. Is Prime with you?" Ranger Solana asked.
"And Ash." She answered.
"Yes, he is with them!" Serena exclaimed happy.
Delia sighed with relief, knowing that her son was alright. Galvatron as he tried to get on the space bridge as the Autobots fired at him. In that moment, a ground bridge appeared next to them.
"It's ours!" Moonracer spotted.
"Autobots, fall back!" Optimus ordered.
Galvatron charged against, only to be knocked down by Pikachu's Thunderbolt. Next, Hot Rod grabbed Ash and Pikachu and jumped into the portal in first place, followed by all the other pokémon, Arcee, Moonracer and Ratchet.
"This time, he's coming with us." Warpath declared firing his cannon, which projectile impacted in front of Galvatron before he and Bumblebee jumped into the portal.
"See ya, Buckethead." Wheeljack saluted before following the team.
"We will be ready to clean the floor with you when you want." Sideswipe mocked before jumping in.
Galvatron continued firing until Optimus and Elita jumped into the portal before it closed. Galvatron roared in fury so loud that echoed around the cave. Everyone waited for the team's return at base. Hot Rod, Pikachu and Ash, who took his helmet off, were the first ones.
"Ash!" Delia cried before running up to her son and hugging him.
Ash returned the hug to his mother before he gave another to Serena. "I told you I will be back safe."
"I know." She said before giving him a quick kiss.
The rest of the Autobots arrived too, each of them greeting with their human partner after checking their pokémon and retrieving them back to their poke balls. Then everyone looked back to see Optimus walk through the ground bridge before it closed.
"Optimus?"
"Hello, Max." He said smiling.
"Whoa, is him." Clemont breathed in relief.
"He's back." Misty added.
"And he remembers us! Whooohooo!" Bonnie yelled happy.
"Although it seems there is much I do not remember." Optimus said looking at his Decepticon emblem.
"Optimus, it has truly been our darkest hour, but know this. From every indication, your spark never ceased being that of an Autobot." Elita remarked before hugging him.
"Thank you for keeping everything in its place during my absence, dear." He said returning her the hug.
"We all want to welcome you back home, Optimus Prime." Ash declared as the entire team gathered around their leader to welcome him back.