Chapter 23-Danse Macabre
The Autobots crowded around Optimus as he held the mighty Temenos Blade, a weapon of the Primes believed to hold incredible power originally thought to have existed only in cybertronian legend. It was thousands of years old, but somehow it looked good as new, with a spotless steel blade and a crimson cross guard handle etched with ancient cybergliphs, an ancient language. There was a small spherical compartment in the center of the hilt, a grove that originally held the Matrix.
"Unbelievable." Ratchet breathed. "I never thought that such a relic would be found by us."
"You should have seen Optimus! One slash and he cut a boulder the size of Omega Supreme in half!" Bumblebee said. "With just one swing at that!"
"It was pretty wild." Jazz nodded.
"What's the big deal about this sword?" Cliffjumper said. "I mean, sure it looks kick ass and all, but it just looks like a fancy weapon to me."
"Cliffjumper, this sword is a historic relic, a piece of our forgotten history. It's a relic of the Primes that may actually prove the existence of the Thirteen Primes themselves." Lifeline said.
"Meh." Skyfire shrugged. "One Prime is more than enough for me, thank you."
Optimus stared at the sword reverently, running a finger along the blade. "I've only seen carvings and heard stories of the sword from Alpha Trion, but to actually see it here is still surprising."
"Maybe we should all be asking how did an ancient cybertronian weapon end up on Terra of all places." Prowl said.
"I would say that it was a form of cosmic coincidence, but I'm not one to believe in such circumstances. Not this time at least." Optimus replied.
He turned the sword in his hands and saw his reflection in the blade. He blinked once and saw his reflection change to another one—Alpha Trion.
"What?!" Optimus exclaimed in shock. Glancing away from the sword, he was shocked to find himself standing inside a dark void, no sign of his Autobots, the Ark, or even the planet itself anywhere to be found. "What is this?"
"Calm yourself, Optimus Prime. You are safe."
A warm glow manifested behind Optimus, who turned around and found himself staring at a face he thought he'd never see again.
"Alpha Trion?" Optimus gasped.
Alpha Trion smiled at him. "It is good to see you again, Optimus."
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"Annie, stop picking at it."
I'm sorry, but I'm just trying to process this!"
Annie rubbed the stump where her right had been, feeling smooth skin and a couple of bones that actually weren't there an hour ago. Even her left eye felt different. It was still gone, but she could feel something…growing inside her eye socket.
Ratchet's news that Annie's arm and eye were slowly growing back had hit her like a freight train. She spent the rest of the day after that in a daze before running into her friends and telling them the good news.
"I'm so happy for you, Annie." Gina hugged her friend tightly, mindful of the small bone spikes poking her. "You deserve something good after everything that's happened."
"Now your powers don't seem so bad anymore, huh?" High Wire said.
"I guess." Annie shrugged. She flexed her arm and three bone claws slid out of her knuckles at a painfully (literally) slow pace. "They're not terrible at least."
"So you're growing back both your arm and eye. How does that work?" Darren asked.
"It might be Annie's body trying to return to normal. Annie wasn't born like this, so her body's healing factor must be working to repair any lingering damages. It's sort of like how the Catalyst repairs and upgrades the human body based on schematics within the brain." Gina said.
"So what should we expect?" Sureshock asked.
"Annie's probably going to regrow her skin and muscles first before the bones grow back." Darren said. "Kind of like some species of lizards."
"And I think I can already feel my eye growing back!" Annie said, already working on untying her eyepatch. "How does it look?"
"Wait, Annie, don't—" Darren tried to stop her, but Annie had already taken the eyepatch off.
Darren had enough foresight to shut his eyes, but the others weren't so lucky. The Minicons and Gina got a disturbingly good look at Annie's eye wound, which was only partially covered by a ruptured eyelid that didn't even completely cover her eye. It was not a good sight to see.
"For Primus's sake, Annie, don't go showing that around!" Grindor yelled.
"I just wante to see if anything's changed." Annie said as if it was normal.
"Annie, please cover your eye up." Sureshock said.
"Okay, fine." Annie huffed and put her eyepatch back on. "You don't have to be so dramatic."
"Dramatic she says." Grindor grumbled.
"Look, Annie, just give it a few days." High Wire said. "Even for a gecko, a limb could take up to 2 weeks to grow back."
Annie groaned and slumped in her chair, wincing as the spikes on her back stabbed into the metal.
"And while we wait, let's go help you practice some more with those bones of yours." Darren said. "You up for another training session?"
Annie sighed and stood up. "Might as well. Got nothing better to do until I have two hands again."
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Optimus stood before the apparition of Alpha Trion, unable to find the right words to say. The last time he had spoken to the Archivist was just before the Siege of Iacon.
"Alpha Trion," Optimus whispered. "Is that really you?"
"I am merely an imprint, Optimus, left behind to give you a message in the event that this sword reaches you on Terra." Alpha Trion said. "I wish we could meet in person, and under better circumstances, but we both have business that requires our attention."
"If you are wondering about how the legendary Temenos Blade reached your location, then know that it is I who sent it to Terra. I cannot go into specifics of how I know, just that all I can tell you is that I am proud of you. Four million years of war and you still keep striving for a better future. Not just for your people, but also your friends as well." Alpha Trion continued. "The sword, as well as other ancient relics, were locked away in a hidden part of the Hall of Records, deep in a section of the Archives I personally oversaw. You will need this blade for the trials ahead, Optimus, because even though things are tough now, you have yet to encounter the truly harrowing trials."
'That's reassuring.' Optimus thought.
"As for me, my mission has taken me to old parts of our former colonial empire I never knew existed. At the moment I am researching a mysterious energy source called quintessence, which may be the key to revitalizing Cybertron. I know it cannot completely erase the ravages of the war and cosmic decay, but I have made a breakthrough in possibly clearing the planet of at least most of its radiation. I won't stop until our home is alive again, Optimus, so just know that I am safe. Never lose sight of your goal. Fight not just for yourself, but for others who can't."
Alpha Trion's image faded and with it the glow that illuminated the darkness.
"Till All Are One, Optimus Prime."
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"Optimus!"
Optimus's eyes shot pen and he found himself back in the Ark with his team surrounding him, looking concerned and worried.
"What happened?" He asked confused.
"You tell us. The sword started glowing and suddenly you were in a trance." Arcee said. "Nothing could get you out of it."
"Not even Ironhide slapping your face!" Sideswipe said.
"That explains why my face is stinging." Optimus muttered, sending a look towards Ironhide.
"What happened, Optimus?" Ratchet asked.
"I was receiving a message," Optimus replied. "From Alpha Trion."
"The Archivist?" Bulkhead said. "He's alive?"
"Yes, and working hard to fix the damage our war brought upon Cybertron." He said. "He sent the Temenos Blade to Terra so that I may use its power for the trials ahead."
"That's reassuring." Jazz remarked.
"My words exactly." Optimus said. "He is off on his own mission in researching ways to restore Cybertron to a somewhat habitable state."
"Good to know the old mech is off on his field trip while we're fighting and dying in this war." Sunstreaker said.
"Shut it, Sunny. Show Alpha Trion some respect." Armorhide growled.
"Don't talk to me like that, rookie." Sunstreaker sneered.
"Down, bro." Sideswipe whispered to his brother. "Not now."
"Remain vigilant, Autobots. These new developments will have made Megatron desperate." Optimus warned his team. "And it is when he's backed into a corner that Megatron is at his weakest."
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Unknown to the people of Terra and their cybertronian visitors, another danger was rapidly approaching Terra.
The newcomer arrived out of foldspace in a sleek, bullet shaped ship that would make any interstellar ship collector swoon. The vessel was built using radar resistant materials, masking its heat signature and making it practically invisible to electronic sensors. Without even waiting for the wormhole to close behind it, the ship flew straight into Terra's orbit, right past the ring of human satellites.
On board the ship, the pilot smiled in sadistic glee as she breached the stratosphere and flew towards land. She was eager to experience all the fun she heard this planet could provide. The sights to see. The people to kill.
'Watch out, brother.' The former Seeker commander thought murderously. 'Big sis is coming to pay you a surprise visit!'
The Immortal had come to Terra, and she wasn't leaving until she got what she wanted—the death of Starscream!
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Mount Olympus was believe to be a place where the earth touched the sky, and was home to the gods who ruled over the world. Stories they may be, but the mountain was no less impressive to look at, looming over the entirety of Elladas for hundreds of years. Thus, it would only make sense for it to be the resting place of a particularly powerful weapon.
Ever since Nightshade had acquired Gandiva from the temple in Sunehra, Megatron had been obsessed with finding more ancient weapons of the old world—weapons created by the dolems to bestow upon the primitive humans with the genetic temple that allowed them to fully harness their power. He had seen what Excalibur and Mjolnir could do in the hands of mere children, and Megatron wanted that power for himself.
"So what exactly are we looking for, Megatron?" Starscream asked, looking up at the broken statue of the god king Zeus, ruler of the formerly great city of Omphalos. "Being vague isn't going to make finding your toy any easier."
"Watch your mouth, Starscream." Megatron said. "This city was once the seat of power for a mighty nation ruled by a king worshipped as a god by his people. If this city is his resting place, then clearly the weapon that made him so powerful is buried with him."
Starscream rolled his eyes and continued with his aimless search. "This is embarrassing. I'm a Seeker, not a search dog."
"You're whatever Megatron tells you to be, Starscream, and if you don't want a repeat of his curb stomping of you then you'll get on your knees and bark on his command." Knockout said, not looking up from his scanner. "Be glad you only got demoted and not put on trial for treason. Strika's been itching to see to your punishment personally."
"I bet that bloated whale is just waiting for the chance." Starscream growled.
"That's wat happens when you're an arrogant piece of slag who burns more bridges than you build them." Knocking grinned at him. "Everyone wants you dead. Not the kind of popularity you were hunting for, eh Screamer?"
"Shut up, Knockout." Starscream hissed.
As they bickered, Soundwave stood in the middle of a small group of houses, ignoring the chatter around him as he looked up at Mount Olympus. The spymaster's enhanced senses blocked out everything else as he focused on the mountain's peak. Storm clouds had gathered around the peak, and quick flashes of lightning flickered against the clouds.
To the casual observer this would be normal, but Soundwave was able to see and hear things better than most organics and cybertronians. He could see through the clouds and saw lightning bolts not coming from the clouds, but from the summit itself. Something on the peak was causing that storm.
"Megatron, I believe I have found something you may be interested in." Soundwave said.
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With the Decepticons' foothold on Terra becoming more uncertain each day, the Decepticons were working on gaining any advantage they could get, even harvesting more Ore-13 deposits. Megatron wasn't taking any chances anymore after Prime retrieved the Temenos Blade.
"We've found another ultra energon deposit, Lieutenant." Demolishor said. "It's smaller than anticipated, but I think if we dig deeper we'll find more."
"Carry on, Demolishor, but be careful." Nightshade said.
Demolishor saluted her and ran over to help Guncannon and Wreckage with the dig. The quarry they had "liberated" from a Belkan mining detail held a decent portion of Ore-13 crystals the humans had accidentally uncovered. It wasn't hard to run them out with Demolishor and Guncannon on their tails. Nightshade and Darkshadow were running the operation while Megatron went on a mission of his own.
"Lieutenant, if this ultra energon has such debilitating side effects, why do we continue to harvest it? Obvious reasons aside, of course." Darkshadow said.
"Taking it in small doses doesn't have as much an effect on us as if we took it in large doses. Not to mention ultra energon can also be used to power our base's weaponry." Nightshade said. "Megatron already has Knockout running tests to see if we can power the Nemesis with it."
"The Nemesis running on ultra energon. If that doesn't put fear into the Sparks of our enemies, ten I don't know what will." Darkshadow smirked.
"Don't let it get to your head. Prime still has that sword, as well as the assistance of nearly every human nation on the planet." She reminded her. "It's going to be hard pushing the Autobots back now. The last thing we need is something else happening to us."
Darkshadow shrugged and went over to urge Demolishor and Wreckage to hurry it up. Things were going smoothly for a while before she heard the sound of jet engines in the distance. Nightshade looked up and saw something flying towards them.
"A jet fighter?" She muttered.
"I wasn't expecting the humans to retaliate this fast." Darkshadow said. She narrowed her eyes at the incoming aircraft. "Nor did I think they would send only one fighter after us."
"I don't think that fighter is human." Nightshade said. "Decepticons, weapons ready! We've got incoming!"
The aircraft was a black and silver fighter jet of unknown nationality with a rather peculiar frame nor seen in any nations' Air Force, though it was clearly Terra in design. It flew straight at the Cons without any hesitation, and loaded two missiles from its bomb bay and fired them. Surprisingly the jet didn't fire at the Cons…but at the Ore-13 deposit!
Nightshade's eyes went wide and she yelled to her team, "Take cover!"
Raw energon was volatile enough that any explosive impact could cause it to detonate like a bomb. Ore-13 was the same way, but twice as volatile.
The explosions caused by the two missiles hitting the partially exposed cluster of Ore-13 crystals was tremendous. The ground broke apart and rumbled as a massive burst of purple flames erupted from underground, with the powerful blast wave blasting Demolishor, Guncannon, and Wreckage off their feet in different directions. Nightshade and Darkshadow escaped the worst of the blast, but they were still thrown for a loop.
"Slag!" Darkshadow cursed. "Wreckage, Guncannon, get up and repel the attacker!"
Right after she said that, the black fighter flew straight through the towering pillar of flames and transformed. Its shape reconfigured into a familiar body shape and slammed hard into Darkshadow, not stopping until they slammed into the canyon wall.
"Where is he?" The femme shouted. Darkshadow kicked her away and fired her blaster at the femme, only to take a pulse blast to her chest that knocked her back.
The femme leapt back and spun around, deflecting a sword strike from Nightshade aimed at her head. the blade dug into her arm but didn't go any deeper into her armor.
"Who are you?" Nightshade demanded, pushing against the mysterious femme. "Answer me!"
"I answer to no one, slave!"
The femme pushed her away and deployed her own arm blade to slash at Nightshade. The two femmes fought ferociously as the quarry burned around them, the intense flames making even their dense armor blacken and singe. Nightshade tried to press her attack, but the femme's fighting style was vicious and aggressive, not letting up even when Nightshade landed a few blows. There was no pattern or skill to her fighting style, just pure violence.
"Tell me where he is!" She roared.
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Nightshade growled.
Darkshadow lunged at the attacker, who rolled to the side and kicked at her. Darkshadow drew two swords and joined Nightshade in repelling the intruder. To their surprise, the femme easily fought them both, somehow deflected and redirecting their attacks.
'Her fighting style is…almost the same as the Seekers!' Darkshadow thought.
The femme did a spin-kick to her chest and threw two flash bombs at Darkshadow, blinding her, before moving onto Nightshade. Nightshade, still dazed from the flash grenades, was unable to properly defend herself and was stabbed in the shoulder by one of the femme's blades.
"Tell me where he is," The femme snarled. "Tell me where is Starscream!"
"Starscream?" Nightshade grunted.
The femme jumped back as Wreckage and Guncannon emerged from the thick smoke cloud, sporting severe burns and damages. They assaulted her with laser blasts and explosive shells that tore apart her armor, but she dodged most of their attacks.
"Lieutenant, commander, get clear!" Wreckage said.
"No you fools, don't try to fight her!" Nightshade yelled.
The femme was already charging at them at full speed, throwing an energon crystal at their feet before shooting it. The crystal exploded, throwing them back into the crater, where she dived in after them. She deployed one of her blades and advanced upon Guncannon.
"W-Wait, sto—" Guncannon's pleas cut off in electronic garbles as she stabbed him in the throat.
"I don't have time to talk to side characters." She hissed.
Pulling the sword free from his throat in a gush of energon, the femme raised her blade and brought it down on his head, cutting him from head to pelvis in a single swing. Darkshadow roared at the death of one of her mechs and charged at the femme, who cackled and ran at her. Before they made contact, a silver arrow shot past Darkshadow's shoulder and sank into the femme's chest. Darkshadow covered her eyes as the femme's chest exploded from the arrow's power.
"Darkshadow!"
She turned and saw Nightshade and Wreckage at the ground bridge with Demolishor hanging off the latter's shoulder unconscious.
"Darkshadow, we must retreat." Nightshade ordered.
"But the femme—" She protested, but Nightshade cut her off.
"Is dead, and Demolishor will be too if we don't get him medical help! Now retreat!" Nightshade said and entered the bridge with Wreckage.
Darkshadow glanced at Darkshadow's bisected corpse and vowed to retrieve his remains later. She flew over to the ground bridge, not seeing the supposedly dead corpse slowly rise to her feet.
Darkshadow was almost at the ground bridge when she heard a thunderous roar behind her right before something slammed into her from behind and propel her forward.
"I'm coming for you, Starscream!" The femme howled as she pushed Darkshadow into the ground bridge, with the portal closing behind her.
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Nightshade knew immediately that something was wrong when Darkshadow didn't immediately follow after them. After sending Wreckage off to get Demolishor to the medibay, she had the rest of the Decepticons appear on site.
"All units present on the island, man battle stations. Possible intruder in—"
Darkshadow's body flew out of the bridge and landed at Nightshade's feat. She was still alive, but she had several deep cuts all over her body and large chunks of armor bitten off her arms and torso. Nightshade growled and looked up at the nameless femme who casually walked out of the ground bridge and pointed her gun at her.
"Don't move, you bastard!" She said. "Who the hell are you and why do you want Starscream?"
The femme chuckled as she held her arms out as if asking for a hug. "If you knew me as well as you did, you'd know what I want, Nightshade."
The femme retracted her battle mask to reveal a scarred grinning face that was missing some pieces of armor on her cheeks, revealing the web of mesh underneath.
"Deadscream." Nightshade whispered.
"Hello, Nightshade." Deadscream grinned. "Have you seen my brother around? I want to give him a nice…big…hug!
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Megatron and his team followed Soundwave's suggestion and took a ground bridge to the top of Mount Olympus. As Soundwave expected, there was a freak storm at the top of the mountain, and it wasn't natural.
The ground bridge deposited them on a cliff near the peak before entering a cave where they detected a strong electromagnetic anomaly coming from within. They found themselves inside a giant cave with lightning bolts arcing off the walls and the ground. But Megatron's attention was drawn to the heart of the storm where his prize was located.
The source of the electrical storm was a large sickle. Its curved blade looked like a thunderbolt and the staff was made of adamantium, the strongest metal in the world. Megatron gazed hungrily upon it and stepped forward.
"The Thunderbolt of Zeus." Megatron said.
He took a step toward the sickle, but it lashed out with a thunderbolt that blasted a hole near his feet.
"Looks like the weapon isn't as enamored with you as you are with it, Lord Megatron." Knockout commented.
"Nonsense. This weapon will be mine one way or another." Megatron growled. Before he could try again, he was interrupted by Leader-1, who was standing by the cave entrance.
"Lord Megatron!"
"This better be important, Leader-1 or I'm throwing you into one of those lightning bolts!" Megatron glared back at the Minicon.
"Sir, I'm getting an emergency call from Decepticon Island. Nightshade's team was just attacked by a rogue Seeker who followed them back to the island." Leader-1 revealed.
"What?!" Megatron roared, startling his team. "Who was able to achieve this?"
"Nightshade says her name was Deadscream."
Megatron's red eyes narrowed into slits and he slowly turned to Starscream, who also heard the name. The former aerospace commander's expression was one of such pure horror that it would've given Megatron immense pleasure to watch on another day.
"H-How…sure this is a mistake. There's n-no way she's alive." Starscream stammered.
"Oh, but she is, Starscream." Megatron said, stomping over to him. "And apparently your dead sister is tearing up my island looking for you!"
"I killed her! Everyone saw it happen," Starscream shouted. "I stabbed her through the Spark myself!"
Megatron shook his head in disgust. "Apparently you can't even kill someone at point blank range. Pathetic."
"Orders, Megatron?" Soundwave asked.
"Soundwave, you remain here. Knockout, please escort Starscream back to the island for his family reunion." Megatron turned back to Keraunos. "I'm not leaving here with my prize."
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Deadscream slammed her fist into Wreckage's face, chipping a chunk of metal off his face before he spun away from her. Fracture pelted her back with laser bolts, but Deadscream took them head on with few damages. She charged at Fracture, who threw a grenade at her face.
"This is for Guncannon you bastard!" Fracture spat.
To her surprise and horror, Deadscream caught the grenade just as it exploded, taking off her arm. Deadscream didn't seem very concerned about her missing limb, as her arm was already regenerating at a rapid pace before everyone's eyes.
"What the hell are you?" Fracture breathed in horror.
"You're worst nightmare." Deadscream lunged at Fracture like a savage animal, only for Nightshade to slam into her from the side and drag her to the ground.
Nightshade punched Deadscream's face repeatedly before pulling her sword out and stabbing it into her chest. She was expecting at least an agonized scream, but Deadscream barely gave more than a pained grunt before grinning at her.
"You have no soul." Nightshade growled.
"That is why I have no fear!" Deadscream cackled.
She kicked Nightshade away and leapt up to land a strong knee to her chin, sending her flying back. Nightrider and Shockblast both attacked her, but Deadscream handled them both easily. She twisted Shockblast's arm behind his back to the point where his shoulder joint cracked before kicking Nightrider in the face and burying Shockblast's head into the sand.
"Coe on, give me a real challenge." Deadscream growled, stomping her foot down on Shockblast's face, shattering his lone optic lens. "I want one thing and one thing only, and that's STARSCREAM!"
Two missiles slammed into her back, throwing her forward and covering her in flames. Deadscream stumbled a bit but her wounds were already regenerating. She spun around to face her attack with a snarl, but she paused and smiled. It was Starscream, stepping out of a ground bridge with his cannons trained on her.
"Brother!" She laughed maniacally. "Finally, you show your cowardly face!"
"The only thing cowardly is you, dear sister." Starscream spat. "You will die today and regret ever—"
"Shut up and fight!" Deadscream fired up her thrusters and flew at him. She wasn't leaving this planet without Starscream's head!
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Megatron quickly learned that reaching the sickle was not going to be easy. The weapon discharged powerful lightning bolts at anything that got too close to it, and judging from the dozens of black skeletons lying around it, organics were no exception. Being made of metal wasn't going to make this easier for him at all.
"Soundwave, remain here. I'm going to get my prize." Megatron said.
"How are you going to acquire it?" Soundwave asked. Megatron just smirked back at him.
"The old fashioned way," He replied. "With force."
Megatron transformed into his tank mode and sped forward. More lightning bolts were drawn to his metallic form and hit his tough armored hide, though it did little damage aside from leaving behind a sizzling scorch mark. Still, he wasn't taking any chances, lest a bolt hit someplace vulnerable.
When he got close enough to the sickle, Megatron transformed and grabbed it. Pain erupted in his body as soon as his fingers touched the sickle, thousands of volts of electricity surging throughout his body. The sickle was trying to electrocute him to death.
"You will not deny me! I will have you!" Megatron grunted, gritting his teeth against the pain. He was no stranger to pain, but this was something on an entirely different level, assaulting every circuit in his body, overloading every nerve link regulating his sense of touch.
It got to the point where he was driven to his knees, and he couldn't feel anything aside from the pain, but still he held on.
"You belong to a new king. Me!" Megatron said. "And I will make the heavens and the earth tremble with our power!"
Megatron roared and pulled the scythe free from its stone prison and raised it into the air, lightning discharging from its crystalline blade.
"Let the universe tremble under the might of my thunder!" He bellowed, and for the first time in a thousand years, Mount Olympus saw a king again.
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"Leave it to Starscream to have a crazy older sister who comes back from the dead. Honestly, that moron is the accumulation of all the bad karma the Decepticons have gained over the past stellar cycles." Knockout grumbled, powering up the CR Chamber that Demolishor was recovering in.
He could hear the fighting going on outside and it was starting to get on his nerves. They outnumbered her, so why were they having so much trouble killing her?
"If what they say is true, then she's probably an outlier of some kind. Never seen an ability like hers before, though." Knockout said to himself as he went to work on Darkshadow. "I hope I'll at least get to study her before they put her down."
As he worked on patching Darkshadow up, he failed to notice three small spider-like drones skittering past the medibay down the hall. They were no Decepticon drones, and they certainly weren't made by him. This oversight would cost the Decepticons very soon.
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Deadscream and Starscream met in a violent clash of blades. Both siblings were fighting ferociously on the beach, and for the moment Starscream was holding his own, most familiar with her fighting style than anyone else.
"How are you still alive?" Starscream demanded. "I shoved made blade right through your Spark. I watched the light leave your eyes!"
"Haven't you been listening? I'm immortal now!" Deadscream laughed. "Death has no hold over me anymore!"
She punched Starscream hard enough to throw him back a couple of feet and boosted towards him. He fired his laser cannons into her body, but she took them all head on before firing her own plasma cannon, hitting him in the chest and blasting him further back.
"I've just got my jollies off by hacking apart the bastard who made me into this. You don't even count as dessert, Starscream. You're just a midnight snack! An afterthought!" She snarled.
Deadscream prepared to move in on her brother, but she instinctively jumped back to avoid the silver arrow that exploded right where she was standing. She looked up and saw Nightshade hovering in the air above her.
"You need to learn to mind your own business, little bird!" Deadscream transformed into jet mode and shot into the air after Nightshade.
Nightshade fired two more arrows at Deadscream, who evaded them both before transforming and throwing a kick at Nightshade's head, which she blocked with Gandiva. Deadscream hooked her foot in Gandiva's string and yanked it out of Nightshade's grasp, flinging the bow back onto the beach. Nightshade drew her sword in a fluid slash, but Deadscream spun her body to avoid the attack and slammed her heel down onto Nightshade's head, kicking her back into ground and throwing up a cloud of sand.
"Is that the best you can do?" Deadscream laughed and dived towards the ground to finish Nightshade off. Her bloodthirsty grin was immediately wiped from her face when she saw a glint of silver in the dust cloud.
A blade was thrust at her face when she was close enough and she angled her body so the sword would only dig into her arm. Starscream, the owner of the blade, stared straight into his sister's eyes as she flew past him and skidded across the ground to a slow stop. Nightshade stood up next to him, still able to fighting but tiring.
"You should have let me kill him." Deadscream scowled at Nightshade. "It would've been easier for all of us."
"The only one who decides whether this moron lives or dies is Megatron." Nightshade said. "No amount of crying on your part will change that."
"Girl, you don't want me as your enemy." Deadscream growled. "Give me that bastard or I'll make your time on this planet very difficult."
"Go to hell!" Starscream yelled, emboldened by Nightshade's refusal to hand him over.
Deadscream sucked in her teeth. "And here I thought you were the smart one."
Deadscream charged the two Cons, intent on getting what she wanted and not letting anyone stand in her way.
Her plans were once again put on hold however as a ground bridge manifested right in front of her. Deadscream skidded to a stop as Megatron walked with Soundwave, holding a fancy looking weapon in his hand. The Decepticon leader looked like he had an intimate meeting with a storm cloud as burns covered his body.
"Megatron." Deadscream snarled.
"Deadscream. I'm sorry I couldn't greet you upon your unannounced visit to my island. I see you've been busy while I was gone." Megatron said, looking around at the battle scarred beach Deadscream left in her wake.
"I've had a rough day, as you can see." She replied, glancing at his sickle. "Nice toy. You get it online?"
"You wouldn't be calling it a toy if you saw what it could do." Megatron said. "If you know what's good for you, Deadscream, get the hell off my island."
"Not until you hand over Starscream, you rusty old bastard." She said and charged at him.
Megatron shook his head and grasped his scythe with both hands to raise it. He waited until he could see the reds of her eyes before swinging his scythe.
"Roar, Keraunos!"
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Starscream didn't know what happened at first. One minute he was watching his psychopathic zombie sister charging at Megatron like the fool she was, and the next there was a bright flash of light, followed by a deafening boom that made his head rattle and his audials turn into static for a few seconds. When the stars faded from his vision, he saw Deadscream's body lying in two on the sand, her body cut in half right under her laser core.
If Gandiva was thunder, then Keraunos was lightning. The scythe was finely carved by dolem hands and imbued with the power of lightning itself, fast and deadly. Deadscream didn't even know what happened as she fell to the ground in pieces.
With Keraunos still crackling in his hands, Megatron walked over to Deadscream's upper body and reached down to grab her, picking her up by the neck.
"You should have ran, Deadscream. Now you'll pay the price for challenging my army." Megatron growled.
"Hehe…"
Megatron frowned when she started laughing, her voice raspy and weak. "What are you cackling about now, you madwoman?"
"…When I got here…I gave you a little present…to welcome you to the neighborhood…" She said. "Three little drones…top of the line from Swindle…and both of them are in your base."
Megatron's eyes widened. "What?!"
"Don't worry…" She chuckled. "You'll only have to worry about them for long…they'll be gone in a second."
At that moment, everyone heard a loud explosion coming from the base, causing everyone to turn to the mountain where their headquarters was built.
"Oh scrap." Starscream muttered.
"Lord Megatron, our shield generators just exploded!" Wreckage's panicked voice yelled over the comms. "I don't know what happened!"
"Two of them…were designed to act as mobile bombs. They just destroyed the shield generators hiding your island." Deadscream went on. "And the third…transmits a high frequency signal. "
Megatron slowly turned back to her with a growing look of horror on his face. Deadscream gave him a bloody grin.
"As we speak, everyone now knows…where you're hiding. All of your enemies will come down on your like a storm!" Deadscream said, her voice growing stronger as her voice box healed. "You should've handed Starscream over to me, Megatron. I told you I was going to make your time on this planet a living hell!"
"DAMN YOU!"
Megatron threw Deadscream's torso to the ground, but she continued to laugh.
"Hurts, doesn't it, Megatron? Payback's a bi—"
She was cut off when Megatron stomped hard on her head, completely crushing it under his foot, before kicking her body into the sea.
"Megatron, I'm detecting Navy aerial recon drones flying over our position." Soundwave said.
Megatron looked up and saw a drone flying above them. It was vaporized with one shot from his fusion cannon, but the damage was already done.
"Nightshade, recall the Nemesis back to the island and have all our defenses ready. The island's position has been compromised!" Megatron ordered and looked out to sea. He could already see an Osean Navy just a few miles outside the island's communication range. "Prepare yourselves for an invasion!"
The entire world now knew where the Decepticons were hiding, and every military on the world, as well as the Autobots, will come down on them like wolves. Megatron was not afraid. Let them come! This battle will be fought and won, or they'll die fighting!
Rule 32 of warfare: If it looks like you're gonna lose, make sure to give one last middle finger to the enemy in a way that'll ruin their lives. Deadscream's refined that tactic into an art form. Now that their position is compromised, the Decepticons prepare for an all out attack by Autobots, humans and merfolk. It's going to get really crazy next chapter folks! Be sure to check out this story and more on the official Transformers Titan website on WordPress. Thanks for reading, please leave a review, and stay safe everybody!