Chapter 22-The Sword in the Stone
Annie's head hurt.
That shouldn't have been too much of a problem, had it not been happening for almost a week straight.
It started out small, headache that came out of nowhere at first. It steadily got worse as the week went on, but Annie just ignored it, chalked it up to stress. Until she passed out in Gym Class (she was even more pissed afterwards because she missed Brittany carrying her to the nurse's office). She then spent the next two days after that in bed with the headache at its worst.
After those two days of pure hell, Annie returned to school healthy as a horse, loud as ever. Then her entire body started to itch. Not like she took a dip in poison ivy, but like something was constantly shifting under his skin, trying to break free. It was most prevalent along her joints and her spine. This was followed by aches along her bones which made her feel like crap. Annie felt like an old woman who stood out in the cold too long and had arthritis. By the end of the week she felt miserable and in pain, and prayed to any god, Terran or alien, that it stopped.
It came as a massive relief to her one Tuesday morning when she woke up completely free of any aches and pains, though she did feel strange. Something sharp was poking at her arms and legs that she could identify in her half-asleep state. Didn't she drag Grindor into her bed again? And why couldn't she feel her robot arm?
"Annie?" Debbie's voice came through the door as she knocked on it. "Annie are you up yet?"
"Leave me alone, Debbie." Annie groaned. She rolled onto her back and felt her pillow stick to her face. "What the hell?"
"Annie, if you don't get up, you're going to be late!"
Debbie's shouting woke Grindor up from his sleep and he transformed to robot mode, stretching his stiff limbs.
"Annie, just get up before she—ah!" Grindor screamed, eyes wide as he stared at Annie. "Annie!"
"What? What's wrong?" Annie shot up in bed, her hair a complete mess.
"Grindor?" Debbie opened the door and looked around. "I heard scre-eem! Oh my god, Annie!"
"What's all the screaming about?" Annie used her right arm to brush her hair out of her face. "And why isn't my prosthetic working? Did it freeze up or something?"
Grindor and Debbie shared a troubled look, and Grindor pointed to Annie's bed. Annie looked down and saw that her prosthetic arm was lying on her sheets in pieces, completely shattered as if something tore it apart. That was enough to wake Annie up, but what really horrified her were the three large white bones sticking out of the stump where her arm used to be.
"What the fuck!" She screamed.
Annie scrambled off her bed, falling to the floor in a tangled heap before she got to her feet and ran to her closer mirror. All over her body were bones of varying sizes sticking out of her skin, some completely tearing through her pajamas. Three large bones had pierced right through the stump where her arm used to be, ripping apart her cybernetic implants. Four small bony protrusions stuck out her forehead like horns and spikes ran along her right arm. There were even bones sticking out of her scalp through her hair. She turned around and saw four more bones sticking out of her back.
Annie's scream could be heard throughout the entire neighborhood.
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"This is…outstanding." Ratchet muttered.
"Not in the mood, doc." Annie grumbled.
Debbie and Darren had rushed Annie to the Ark as soon as possible to have Ratchet look her over. They stood by her side with Grindor, High Wire and Bulkhead standing nearby.
Longarm ran diagnostic scans along Annie's body, noting the immense growth of bones all along her skeletal system.
"The four bones sprouting from your spine are amazing. Fifteen centimeters, fully ossified, spawned of the eight rib on the left side." Longarm poked at the large bones sticking out of her back.
"I had four spokes sticking out of my ass this morning. Had to have Darren break them off so I could sit down." She grumbled.
"Does it when they…pop?" Longarm asked. The glare Annie gave him could have frozen a glacier twice over.
"Use your imagination."
"Be nice, Annie." Debbie scolded her.
"So what's the verdict, Ratchet?" Asked Bulkhead. "Is it anything serious?"
"Aside from the fact that her skeleton is experiencing rapid, abnormal growth…yes. Annie, those headaches, aches and other symptoms you've been experiencing over the past week are a result of your meta-gene activating." Ratchet said, giving her a smile. "So…congratulations! You're an esper, Annie."
Annie stared up at him blankly. "I'm an esper?"
He nodded. "Yes."
"And this is my power?" Annie looked at the bones all over her body. "This?!"
"I thought you'd be happy, Annie." Darren teased lightly. "Wasn't being an esper something you always dreamed about?"
"Fuck off, Darren, I've got bones growing out of my ass!" Annie shouted.
"So this is Annie's power? She grows bones all over her body?" Debbie inquired, trying to keep her little sister from stabbing their brother.
"For the most part. Annie's bone structure is experiencing an accelerated growth rate. The process is out of her control of course, but I believe she can learn how to control it. But that's not the most shocking feature of her abilities." Ratchet said and nodded to Lifeline.
Lifeline pointed to the monitor showing an x-ray of Annie's body. "See the spots where you had Darren sever those growths? The skin where those bones emerged have already healed over. And the skin around your bones have also healed around them, which is why you aren't continuously bleeding."
Annie looked down at her hand, where she had a pair of bone spikes slowly growing out of her knuckles. She realized that though her knuckles were stinging slightly, the bleeding had stopped as soon as it started.
"Wow." She said. "That's kind of awesome."
"You body's adapted to your powers so you aren't bleeding out right now." Lifeline said.
Annie frowned and looked at the bones all over her body. There were two on her elbows that grew so large that it actually covered her elbow like a plate. Some of them were easy to ignore, but the spikes growing out of her shoulders were troublesome.
"What about my prosthetic? Can you fix it?" She asked.
"I need to remove the bones first, and make sure you don't grow new ones in their place." Ratchet frowned. "I'm sorry, Annie, but you'll have to go one armed until then."
Annie sighed and sagged in her seat. Bulkhead leaned down and nudged her with his finger. "Cheer up, Annie. You got powers now! It's not all that bad."
"Yeah, he's right." Darren patted Annie on the shoulder, but jumped back to avoid getting skewered by the bone spike that jutted out of her shoulder blade. "First order of business is to work on controlling your bones first."
"Yay, training." Annie droned. "This is going to be hell."
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Annie didn't fancy spending her morning stripped naked by a giant robot doctor to have him laser cut the excess bones off her body, but it was better than looking like some demonic porcupine. When Ratchet was finally done, the skin had healed over the stumps and stopped bleeding within seconds, leaving Annie looking almost as good as new.
Now here she was, in the forest with Darren, High Wire, Grindor and Bulkhead. They wanted to get started on training right now before she accidentally turned her friends into pin cushions just by hugging them.
"All right, let's get started." Annie cracked her neck and rolled her shoulders. "Teach me, sensei."
"Okay." Darren rubbed the back of his head. This was new territory for him, as unlike Justine, he had no clue about the full scope of Annie's powers. "Well, do you know how you first started growing your bones?"
"Darren, I was sleeping when it happened. I don't know how I did it the first time." Annie said.
"Try thinking about it. Visualize your bones growing out of your arm or something." Bulkhead said.
Annie shut her eyes and pictured bones growing out of her arm, tensing her muscles to trigger some kind of reaction. There was a slight tingle in her arm before she felt a sharp pain in her forearm.
"Ow!" Annie opened her eyes and looked down at her body. There were no bones in her arm, but there were three curved bone spikes jutting out the left side of her rib age. Thin trails of blood leaked from where they pierced her skin, but slowly healed around the blood. "Fuck!"
"Annie, calm down. It's hard, I know, but that's why we're practicing." Darren said. "I was born an esper, so helping you is going to a bit harder than I thought."
"You think? I don't even know what the hell caused this." Annie growled. A sharp pain in her hand made her wince and she looked down at it to see a bone slowly pierce the skin over her knuckle. It was almost enchanting to watch in a grotesque way. "See? I can't even freaking control it!"
"Annie…" Darren took a step back as more bones grew out of her one, tearing through her shirt.
Annie angrily grabbed the bones growing from her ribs and snapped them off, ignoring the pain that action caused. She didn't even realize how easily she was tearing off her bones in her anger.
"Annie, calm down. Your anger is just making more bones grow." Grindor said.
Annie threw the bones away. "I don't care. At least I know how to make more, huh? That counts for something this god forsaken morning."
"No one said you were going to get this on the first try, Annie." Bulkhead said. "Just take a breather and try again."
Annie sighed and looked at the two bone spikes sticking out of her shoulders. This was all so surreal to her; she had powers now! She was an esper. Annie would have been jumping for joy if she wasn't infuriated with how frustrating and cumbersome her bone growths were.
"This is bullshit." Annie huffed and plopped herself onto the ground. The action jostled some flowers near her and sent pollen flying into the air and into her nose. Annie sniffed a bit and sneezed loudly. Which had an unexpected side effect.
"Holy…!" Darren yelped as bone spikes shot out of Annie's spine like bullets right at him. One spike grazed his cheek before he made a TK shield that blocked the other spikes. Other spikes stabbed into the ground and trees around them. Even the Minicons jumped back on reflex at the unexpected assault.
Everyone was silent and stared at Annie in shock at what she just done. Annie herself was completely frozen as she stared at the bone spikes littering the area, all of them embedded deep into the ground and the trees. Her gaze slowly turned to Darren, who was nursing a bleeding cut on his left cheek, but was otherwise fine.
"I'm okay. Nothing's broken…or punctured." He said to alleviate her fears.
Annie didn't look very reassured, and she looked away from them. She looked spooked, and a bit horrified that she nearly impaled her brother. It didn't take a doctor to know that Annie's opinion on her powers had lessened considerably.
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"Annie?" Ratchet entered the medibay where Annie had run to after her little mishap with her powers earlier.
He found her sitting in the corner, alone and sad. Bones had grown through her skin again, but at a slower rate this time. The larger ones were in her back, growing from her shoulder blades and spine. Ratchet walked over to her and sat next to her.
"Go away." Annie grunted.
"As a doctor, I cannot just leave a patient to suffer in silence." Ratchet said. "Besides, you look like you could use a friend."
Annie was quiet for a minute before peeking up at him. "Why not? At least you're not in danger of being impaled by my tailbone or something."
"I take it training didn't go so well?"
"If by well, you mean I almost impaled my brother by sneezing, then yeah, it went about as well as you can imagine." Annie sighed.
"Annie, you literally just discovered your powers this morning. Don't expect to get a handle on them immediately. I recall that it took Darren years to get to the level of skill he's at now. These things take time." Ratchet told her. "And if you're feeling nervous about school…"
"I could honestly care less about school, Ratchet, or if other people learn about this. I just…oh you'll just get on my case about this." She growled.
"I won't judge, Annie. I'm just here to listen and hopefully provide some decent advice." He said.
"Well…it's my powers. I'm happy to be an esper, since I practically idolize them, but I'm not happy with the power I've got. Some stupid, little kid part of me always pictured having something glamorous or flashy like pyrokinesis, shooting energy blasts, or even psychic powers. Something like that. Having bones grow out of my skin that I have to constantly tear off wasn't what I was expecting." Annie sighed. "It's said that even esper twins have different powers, but sometimes I did wish that I had the same powers as Darren."
Ratchet nodded, making sure she was done venting before replying to her. "Annie, it's okay to be a bit disappointed. No one is expecting you to be jumping for joy for having the kind of powers you have. You just need to get used to them over time, like Darren and Kevin."
"Yeah, you have a point." She nodded.
"Tell me, have you learned anything useful about your powers so far?" He asked. "Anything of note that you think you may have overlooked."
"I think my bones grow bigger with my emotions. And I think I instinctively make them turn brittle just before I break them off." She said, staring at her arms, which had small bone spikes growing along them. "I think I can make them grow by tensing my muscles, but that's just a guess. I shot out, like, six spikes at Darren because I sneezed."
"See? Today wasn't a total failure if you learn from your mistakes." Ratchet smiled. "Speaking of which, I've learned a few new things myself."
"Oh really?" Annie said interested. Ratchet smiled and showed her his datapad.
"These are scans of your body I took earlier. I noticed something I overlooked because I was so focused on your bones." He pointed to the parts of her body where her arm and eye used to be. "The scans showed minute differences in the cellular structure around these areas. There were very subtle changes that I missed because I wasn't looking closely. When I looked again, I realized something astonishing."
"What is it?" Annie asked eagerly.
"I learned that your healing factor is stronger than initially realized. This is cell division, Annie, a large scale healing process that is still going on in your body. Annie, I think you're regrowing your eye and arm."
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"Forgive my ignorance, Lord Megatron, but why are we here again?" Leader-1 asked as he and Megatron exited the ground bridge. "This is just a lone energon site. It's hardly worth our time."
"Darkshadow reported strange energy readings in the area, Leader-1, and you know she's hardly the type to make a mistake." Megatron said. "Unlike some soldiers I know."
The dark lord and his Minicon entered the small valley in a mountain range somewhere in the state of Wyoming. At the foot of the mountain stood Darkshadow, Nightracer (another member of Darkshadow's crew), Guncannon and Demolishor, who were working on moving the rocks.
"Lord Megatron." Darkshadow saluted.
"Darkshadow," Megatron nodded. "What do you have for me?"
"Shockblast discovered a strange energy reading after an earthquake. We thought it was some kind of energon deposit, so we came to investigate." She explained. "What we found was…not what we expected at all."
His curiosity piqued, Megatron followed Darkshadow over to the pile of boulders that Guncannon and Demolishor were pushing aside. Darkshadow pointed to the small silver object glinting in the sunlight and Megatron took a closer look.
It was a sword, or at least a sword handle. Most of the blade was embedded in the rock, but the handle itself was finely crafted with ornate designs along the crossguard. Its most notable feature was the empty hand-sized spherical indent in the handle, as if something was missing from it.
"A sword?" Leader-1 said.
"Not just any sword." Megatron narrowed his eyes as he stared at the handle. He saw that exact design before. "The Temenos Blade."
Megatron had heard many stories about the relics of the Thirteen Primes, one of them being that such relics were held within the Hall of Records. The Requiem Blaster, the Apex Armor, the mystical Conversion Cog, all created by Solus Prime and her Creation Lathe. The Temenos Blade was rumored to be one of her most powerful relics.
"A truly magnificent find." Megatron said. He walked over to the boulder and grabbed the handle before pulling hard. To his surprise, it didn't even budge. "What?"
The other Decepticons stood around uncomfortably watching as Megatron continued to fruitlessly yank and pull at the sword, which hadn't moved at all. He grew frustrated and pointed his fusion cannon at it. One blast would have been enough to blast apart the average cybertronian, but to everyone's surprise, not even a fusion blast had damaged the sword or the rock that held it."
"How is this possible?" Darkshadow breathed.
"The weapon is emanating a protective shield." Megatron growled.
"And you can't pull it out, Lord Megatron?" Demolishor asked.
"Legend says that many of the relics of the Primes were designed only to be used by a Prime. This sword is just a useless hunk of metal to anyone else." Megatron said. "Power such as this cannot fall into the hands of the Autobots."
"Orders, my lord?" Darkshadow asked.
"Get the Nemesis to our position immediately." He ordered. "I don't care if you have to move the entire mountain, but the Autobots will not so much as lay an optic on this sword!"
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When Teletran-1 announced a call from Colonel Barnett, Optimus knew it was serious. He answered the call in the command center and Barnett's face appeared on the screen looking grim.
"Prime, I've got urgent news for you. Sat images caught massive influx of Decepticon activity in a mountain range in central Wyoming. We also spotted the Nemesis heading towards that location, so whatever they're doing, it must be big." Barnett said.
"Can you verify that they've uncovered energon?" Optimus asked.
"We've already run scans for energon over that region, but nothing came up. Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with energon."
"I see. I'll send a team over to investigate." Optimus said.
"Understood. Be careful, Prime."
Optimus closed the call and called Ironhide. "Ironhide, I need you, Jazz, Bulkhead and Bumblebee to report to the shuttle bay at once. We have an important mission ahead of us."
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Optimus and his team assembled and took the ground bridge to the canyon where the Decepticons were operating in. With Optimus in the lead, the team quickly made their way through the small forest near the canyon and approached the site. Taking cover behind a hill overlooking the canyon, they saw Megatron and a couple other Decepticons awaiting the Nemesis.
"Looks like somebody's doing some landscaping." Jazz whispered. He looked up at the Nemesis in the distance. "Really heavy landscaping."
"What are they doing?" Ironhide asked. "I'm not detecting any energon, not even Ore-13."
"It most likely has nothing to do any energon, Ironhide. Bumblebee, how many hostiles on site?" Optimus asked.
"Including Megatron, I see four Cons in all. Not much, but Darkshadow's with them, so I doubt it's going to be easy for us." Bumblebee said. His battle-visor was deployed and his vision was magnified to see the Cons properly. "I think I see something buried in the rock too."
Optimus, Ironhide and Jazz looked down at the foot of the mountain, where they saw the glint of the sword's handle sticking out of the rock. Optimus was the first to recognize the sword's hilt and took out his ion rifle.
"Whoa, Optimus, what's the deal?" Bulkhead asked.
"I recognize that sword, Bulkhead. We cannot let Megatron get that weapon under any circumstances!" Optimus said. "Jazz, create a distraction."
"No pro." Jazz took out a grenade and tossed it into the canyon.
Demolishor was the first one to notice it. "Grenade!"
The grenade exploded right in the middle of their group, and as they scattered the Autobots used the confusion to charge forward, shooting at the Cons.
"Autobots attack!"
"Keep them away from the sword!"
The Decepticons fought back, with Darkshadow and Demolishor taking point. Darkshadow took flight and shot herself towards Jazz, slamming him into the ground as they began fighting. Bumblebee transformed to vehicle mode and sped toward Nightracer, who opened fire on him with her plasma cannons. Bulkhead clashed with Guncannon, who took out a hefty looking magnetic hammer.
"What, no guns?" Bulkhead asked.
"Against you? It'll be quicker to smash your head open." Guncannon said.
Bulkhead smirked and switched his weapons from his blaster to his mighty wrecking ball. "Good choice."
Ironhide charged straight into Megatron, slamming him to the ground. Megatron kicked Ironhide off him and pointed his fusion cannon at him, only to have it kicked aside before taking a kick to his chest. Growling, Megatron converted his hand into his energo-mace and swung it at Ironhide, forcing him back.
"Leave it to Prime to let his dogs do the work for him!" Megatron roared.
Ironhide growled, pointing his rifle at the ground before firing a blast and kicking up a cloud of dust into Megatron's face. Holstering his rifle, he took out his war axe and lunged at Megatron through the dust cloud.
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"You're a quick girl, aren't you?" Bumblebee said as he dodged a lightning fast slash from Nightracer's armor claw. The femme said nothing as she continued to attack the scout with fast strikes that he was having a hard time avoiding. "So you're the strong silent type. That's a first for a Decepti-whoa!"
Bumblebee's legs were kicked out from under him and Nightracer grabbed one of his flailing arms to throw him over her shoulder into the ground. She stabbed down at his face but he rolled to the side and threw a punch at her head, which she caught. They grappled in the dirt, trying to overpower each other, though Bumblebee found it hard to get the upper hand.
'This Con's no joke.' He thought, and felt himself getting pushed back.
Bumblebee saw a large shadow fall over the canyon and glanced up to see the Nemesis hovering over them. "Scrap."
"Lord Megatron, we are in position." Dreading announced from the bridge.
"Do it, Dreadwing!" Megatron said, blocking an attack from Optimus.
The Nemesis pointed its laser cannons down at the mountain face where the sword was trapped and blasted a large chunk of rock loose from the rest of the mountain. Thundercracker and Skywarp flew down to attach grappling lines to the boulder and the Nemesis slowly lifted the massive rock off the ground.
"Holy—they're really going to move that thing?" Jazz gaped.
"We're playing for keeps, Autobot. Get with the program!" Guncannon yelled before swinging his hammer at Bulkhead's head, barely missing him.
Megatron, sure of his victory, swung his mace at Ironhide, who dodged to his left. But the red Autobot didn't see Megatron angling his fusion cannon at him until he nearly had his head blown off. Ironhide stumbled back to avoid the blast, allowing Megatron to punch him in the chest before grabbing him by the neck to slam him to the ground.
"Enough of this farce, Ironhide. I know you rarely go too far without Prime holding your hand. So tell me, where is your leader hiding?" Megatron growled.
Ironhide merely smirked and laughed in Megatron's face, further angering him.
"What's so funny?"
"The fact that you don't even recognize a distraction." Ironhide laughed.
"Lord Megatron!" Darkshadow's voice called out to him. "Look up on the mountain!"
Megatron spun around to look up the mountain side, where he saw the unmistakable red and blue form of Optimus's vehicle mode speeding up along the slope.
"Stop him, Darkshadow! Stop him!" Megatron roared.
Darkshadow kicked Jazz aside and transformed, flying up towards Optimus. He saw her, but instead of trying to avoid her laser blasts, he did something else completely unexpected. He transformed and used his forward momentum to leap into the air, grabbing Darkshadow and using her wings as an aerial platform to launch himself higher into the air.
Optimus's powerful leap gave him enough force to just barely reach the sword handle, and he reached out his hand. Time slowed down, and Optimus's fingers grazed the hilt before fully wrapping around it. With a mighty heave, Optimus easily slid the sword from its rock prison and let gravity take hold.
"No, no, no, damn you!" Megatron roared. "Drop the mountain on him! Crush him!"
The Nemesis released its cables and let the boulder go. It fell directly towards Optimus, who was still free falling.
"Prime!" Ironhide shouted.
"Optimus!" Bumblebee yelled.
Optimus, still falling, fell the sword warm up in his grip, and the blade started to glow a bright blue. Gripping the Temenos Blade in both hands, Optimus spun his body around and, with a mighty roar, swung the sword. The blade released a massive crescent energy wave that tore straight through the boulder, cutting it in half before continuing onward, hitting the side of the Nemesis with a tremendous explosion that actually ratted the ship.
Megatron, his Decepticons, and even the other Autobots watched in awed silence as Optimus and his glowing sword slammed down into the earth like a meteor. Megatron managed to regain his senses and scowled furiously as he turned to the Reavers.
"Decepticons…retreat."
Nothing else needed to be said as the Decepticons broke contact with their enemies and retreated into their ground bridge. Megatron was the last to leave, sending one last glance towards Optimus and the sword before entering the portal.
Today was nothing short of a defeat for Megatron, and he absolutely hated it.
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"Optimus, that was amazing!" Bumblebee hollered as he ran over to the crater the Prime fell in.
"Back off, kid. Don't crowd him." Ironhide ran over to Optimus and helped him out of the crater. "How're you feeling, Prime."
"As if I've never fallen several feet from the air." Optimus said, glancing at the sword in awe. "This sword…it protected me."
"That's a fine looking sword." Jazz complimented. "What is it?"
"This is the Star Saber, also known as the Sword of Judgement. This sword was believed to have belonged to Prima, leader of the Thirteen Primes." Optimus held the sword up, marveling at the fine symbols decorating the hilt. "Legend has it that the Matrix was once a jewel embedded within its hilt and channeled its power."
"I'd say that's a proven truth." Jazz looked over at the two halves of the boulder Optimus cut apart. "Damn, you cut right through that thing in a single slash!"
"With this sword, we might be able to turn the tide for us!" Bumblebee said excitedly.
"Possibly, however I doubt Megatron will sit still while we lord our newfound weapon over him." Optimus said. "Megatron will do anything to level the playing field again, and we must be ready for when he does."
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Megatron stomped into the command center of his base and went over to Soundwave, who was sitting at the comm station.
"Soundwave, have you found anything yet?" Megatron asked impatiently.
"Nothing concrete, Megatron, but I may have found possible clues pertaining to a weapon of great power used by the humans in ancient times." Soundwave said.
"Keep searching until you find something. Give me an update as soon as you do."
"Megatron, what's wrong?" Nightshade asked, spotting the tenseness in his shoulders. "Did something happen with Prime?"
"You have no idea." Darkshadow said as she entered the room. "Prime just carved a mountain in two with his new sword and nearly sank the Nemesis afterwards."
"What?" Nightshade exclaimed. Even Soundwave turned at that.
Megatron's expression was grim as he turned to her. "Nightshade, I fear that we Decepticons…may be facing our darkest hour."
I based the design of the star saber off the Sword of Judgement from the 4th and 5th bayformers movies, because that sword looks freaking sick. Annie's esper powers are a combination of Wolverine's healing factor and Marrow's bone manipulation. What a way to manifest your powers, huh? And the excitement doesn't stop here, as we're getting the return of a certain psychopath from the Distant Stars series next chapter! Be sure to check out the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress for this story and more! Thanks for reading, please leave a review and stay safe everybody!