Promotional artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333
"Alrighty then, the Nemesis Forest isn't very big. But what it lacks in size, it makes up for in density. That'll be your enemy above the creatures you may encounter including that turretmonger from Chaar I believe I told you about once. I don't know what else is in that forest, so promise me you'll tread lightly."
Arcee laughed, "You sound like a concerned carrier. We'll be fine. We made it this far, didn't we?"
"You still have plenty more to deal with, don't get cocky now."
Megatron sighed, adjusting his black cannon, "Bolt, you're doing it again...the excessive talking?"
"Well, I'm sorry! Not my fault I have a billion and one facts of the creatures and environment you traverse in! Would you rather I shut up and leave you two to figure out how to deal with any creature you come across blindly, life or death?"
"No, Megatron, no," Arcee growled. "Your advice is well needed and respected, Bolt. You're a valuable member of this team. We are lucky to have you."
"Thank you, Arcee. If I detect something, I'll give you a holler."
As the two walked to the edge of the marshlands to the forest in the morning, far before the sun was due to rise, Arcee sighed, "Do you really have to be cranky today? Why are you being an aft?"
Megatron shrugged, "In the back of my mind, I remember he once was my soldier and I get the urge to tell him to shut up. I'm not used to treating a soldier as equal to me."
"Yeah, well, get over it. You're not a warlord anymore; you are a mech as equal as everyone else."
"Not going to lie, you saying it in that way really makes me want to become a warlord again just so I can torment people," he joked.
Arcee didn't seem to share his sense of humor this time and stared him down harshly. He quit smiling at his supposed joke and coughed awkwardly.
As they reached the forest, the light of the stars was quickly cancelled out. Twisted tree trunks covered the area and the ambience it left behind almost seemed ghoulish. A faded echoing noise of some type of animal emitted in the far background like howling but ghostly.
"This place is like a horror film, by Primus," Arcee said nervously. A snap of a branch behind her immediately made her jump and even when she saw it was Megatron, she began mindlessly gripping the air in her nerves.
Megatron held up his servos in a mockery of being at peace. "Jumpy, are we?"
"Just...! If you please tread lightly, I would be so much more at ease," she said, faking a Cheshire grin.
"Is it because of Airachnid?" He asked immediately, a more amused expression growing on his faceplates.
"Noooo...it is not because of Airachnid. It's because...of...uh," Arcee stalled, tapping her digits together.
The warlord nodded in fake agreement that it totally didn't have anything to do with Airachnid. When she couldn't think of an answer, he mused as he passed her, "First heights and now woods? Boy, you're a basket case if I ever saw one."
Arcee tried to correct him. "I'm NOT afraid, I just don't like loud noise in claustrophobic areas."
"Claustrophobic? In the forest?" He sneered with a bland glance.
"Don't give me that look. The forest may be outdoors but it's a pretty condensed area with all its trees, and it becomes worse when you are being chased in a life-or-death situation. Just ask Jack. Couldn't get him near the woods for five months after that incident, not that I stepped foot in it either."
"I'll put it on my to-do list. Can't wait for him to tell me all the good stories of your adventures. I've heard they are very comical...at least in my perspective," he grinned.
Arcee paused as he continued, growling, "You really are an aft when you want to be, huh?"
"You like it."
Faint mist crept across the ground and Arcee shivered as she trekked through it. Not the most ideal adventure she had in mind but if it was necessary, then she just had to get over it. She activated her scanner to see if she could pick up the signature of the gem but other than a few fleeing energy spots, nothing solid was appearing.
Megatron stopped and signaled her to slow down. When she did, she heard a small stampede and saw boar-like creatures weaving through the trunks, oblivious to them with several litters of babies following. The creatures snorted and when they encountered brush in their way, their metal tusks lit up and sliced through the foliage like it was nothing. Their blue bio lights and optics lit a direct path northbound.
"Definitely not Earth-based. Bolt, are there any species akin to swine we should know about? Are they dangerous?"
Bolt answered fast, "Well, other than techno-organic forms, there's not many. Velocitron has Terrarollers. They turn into little balls to roll and get around easily on the roads. Nuisances if anything. Caminus has mudboars, distinctive by an array of bio lights and excellent trophy décor potential."
"I think they are mudboars."
"Mudboars only pose a threat when you get too close to their singular. Babies are a high defensive trigger too...but then again, what species doesn't defend their young? Caminus is a metal planet like Cybertron but it has a type of water-based ecosystem in the core of the planet where a lot of its more exotic life is found. Mudboars are one of them. Rust mixes with the water, that isn't the cause by the way, and it turns it a murky brown leaving those like the mudboars to hide in and play around."
"You might want to stay tuned. I get the feeling we'll be encountering a few more species here."
"Noted."
They continued, passing old rivers that no longer flowed and the uprooted, older trees that most likely just lost grip on their roots one day. Arcee walked on a log crossing a dried-up moat, but Megatron merely leapt across it. She took her time, enjoying the little balancing act she put on.
"You would think a forest would have more life in it?"
"Don't jinx it, my dear, I really don't want to deal with any unruly creatures today," Megatron scoffed. When she did a flip at the end of the horizontal log, he merely rolled his optics with an amused shake of the helm.
Just then, the sound of hoof beats made both of them tense up. They turned behind them as it grew louder just to see something horned leap over them. When it landed and turned to the side to look at them, it gave a shrill as what seemed to be a warning. The large buck-like quadruped that dwarfed Megatron showed off its antlers and its pink, glowing eyes sparked up. A stripe from its nostrils curving down its body to its rear shined a pink hue by the angle of the limited light reflecting off it. Its ruby red coat seemed to pulse its color as well.
"Is it warning us of something or is it telling us to leave?"
"That's a Kanjian jaggerstripe! These things are solitary and very territorial. Not common creatures. They appear in front of people only in times of warning. Unfortunately, they are known as omens of death as when you see one, it generally means you might die relatively soon or something that can and probably will kill you is heading your way. Take note of that last part fast, please! They also have a very twisted nature in personality."
Both Arcee and Megatron quickly scouted their surroundings. However, in the midst of their frantic searching, the jaggerstripe had vanished. The danger it warned them of had yet to come. But then Arcee grew worried even more so.
"Twisted nature? What does that mean?!"
"Uh, well, there have been reports from survivors that the jaggerstripes weren't warning them of danger, they were luring the danger towards the people themselves. It is believed jaggerstripes like to watch death, not prevent it. Jaggerstripes..."
Megatron frowned uneasily, "Jaggerstripes what?"
Bolt hissed to himself in a pained tone, "...They also tend to hunt down prey themselves to impale if they find no satisfaction in the death they try to induce as a few survivors had scuffles with these things after avoiding the danger. Basically, if you survive whatever it's luring to you, it's going to come back and kill you itself. I would say good luck...but I don't think even luck will help you."
Arcee gasped, "Once again, why is nothing on Kanjis like a sweet bunny or capybara? I would love to encounter a capybara right about now."
"The question that is most relevant right now is what exactly is that jaggerstripe luring to us."
"I don't know but I'm going to kill it one way or another," she said.
They both shot to attention when the sound of leaves rustling nearby spooked them. Suddenly, another noise emitted just behind them. Neither of them could pinpoint the origin of it, which raised the eerie tone of the forest higher. If that Jaggerstripe was watching them, waiting for whatever it brought to kill them, Arcee hoped it was enjoying the show because she was going to give it one hell of a performance.
A few grunts and a stream of air to her right made her freeze. "Please tell me that's you, Megatron?"
"I'm on your left."
Sure enough, Megatron had his back to her left side. So, if he was there, then what was on her right? She hesitated to peer to her right side and when she did it, instant regret flooded her processor along with terror as a monstrous bear-like cybernetic creature stood bipedal to a huge height and growled at her.
It immediately tried to mow her down only for Megatron to swipe her out of the way and push her up onto his shoulder to protect her. The creature whipped around and staggered forward imposing. Megatron bared his teeth when it showed its own.
"You have no idea how happy I am that you're here on this island with me! Now, if you please, kill that thing!" Arcee commanded.
Megatron normally would have barked at that, but he wanted just as much to take this thing out as she did.
"That's the damn animal I've been seeing on the cameras I steaked out there! That's the turretmonger! Big paws, ungodly snout with fangs! Stay clear of both! Oh, and try not to antagonize it because true to its name, it has...you guessed it...turrets hidden on its body!"
"Too late!" Megatron growled as he charged.
Arcee steadied herself on his shoulder as he threw a punch straight into the chest of the creature. It staggered back onto all fours, shaking off the hit before returning to bipedal mode and swiped at them. A few claws caught Megatron on the arm and he snarled before aiming his cannon. The turretmonger ran at him and the blasts missed.
They went tumbling and the turretmonger managed to get ahold of Megatron's arms, lifting the Decepticon up to eye view with a loud bellow. Megatron didn't flinch but smirked instead. The creature grew concerned when it noticed the femme was no longer on his shoulder. It frantically searched for her until it yelped as a blast went into its backside.
Still holding Megatron, it whipped around trying to dislodge Arcee crawling across its back and attacking its blind spot. Arcee didn't budge until it slammed itself on the ground in an attempt to crush her. She moved quick enough to roll off. Continuing to fire, she had to dance around the angered creature to prevent herself from being in its reach. When it dropped Megatron, that was her cue to return to him.
Megatron got up and held out his arm for Arcee to climb onto and pose on his shoulder again. The turretmonger growled in frustration and stomped in agitation before its back plating opened to reveal the turrets they were warned about. The turrets locked onto them, and both knew it was time to flee.
The forest seemed much louder with a turretmonger lighting up the place like the Fourth of July. It seemed its heavy fire gave no room for fast movements for it was forced to walk in pursuit of them as it sprayed bullets, taking out trees and leaving impact holes in the ground. Megatron ran as Arcee clung to his armor and when they were just far enough, they hid behind a small grove of trees linked together.
Arcee jumped off him and ducked, "Alright, new plan, how good is your aim?"
"Excellent when it counts," he grinned.
"Okay, here's the plan. I'll go out and lure its fire, you shoot it to kingdom come! I'm thinking those turrets, if you shoot them out, might weaken it and it'll be vulnerable enough to kill it."
Megatron nodded, even as a round of fire hit the adjacent trees next to them. The turretmonger had lost them but it was only a matter of time before it got wise on their location. "If you're going to go through with this, might I suggest you hop on it before we get shot to death?"
Arcee smirked, "Of course, I would hate to keep you waiting. I'm sure you have places to be."
The warlord grunted at her remark, and she turned to scout what the turretmonger was doing. The creature stood up whining, its turrets scouting its backside, so no sneak attacks were possible. It sniffed the air, then gave a disheartened roar.
Leaping out of the grove, Arcee quickly went to work and hopped from tree to tree. The turretmonger rearmed its turrets and fired on her. Although Airachnid was her most hated enemy, she gave the spider bot credit for a lot of her lessons in not just getting over past losses but also a lesson of agility when dealing with newfound enemies.
As planned, the turretmonger was solely focused on her. That left Megatron in the clear and the mech didn't hesitate to jump out of the grove and aimed his fusion cannon at the exposed turrets. He charged his blast for maximum damage. The turretmonger wasn't too sluggish to trail Arcee and move. It took a steady, calculated aim when he fired his shot, and the result was spectacular.
The backside of the turretmonger blew up like dynamite. The remnants of the main turret shifted and sparked as the turretmonger shrieked. Fire among its cabling caused the smaller gunners on its side to malfunction, shutting completely down and making the creature spontaneous. Yellow optics searched until they locked onto Megatron with his cannon still up. The turretmonger grew ragged, bloodthirsty even.
"You might want to run, Megatron, any day now! It's creepy how it stares though. It's like its grounding you, snaring your fear to fuel its own ambition to tear you to pieces...huh...ground...snare. Groundsnare the turretmonger. Has a nice ring to it."
"Bolt, now's not the time."
Groundsnare dragged its claws across the dirt before sprinting at Megatron faster than he could react. A sudden noise of a fast-fire weapon made Megatron flinch and the next thing he knew, the turretmonger was twitching as it was laced with blasts. Its spine ruptured in a ball of flame as its optics blew up and it flopped over dead.
Megatron stared down at the creature before redirecting his attention to the horrifying but rather enticing sight of Arcee supporting a gatling gun with smoke rising from its barrels. She was using her leg to support the weight of the weapon while smirking.
"You got that from Bolt when we first left to retrieve the marshland's gem and you didn't use it until now?"
Arcee shrugged, "Never had a reason to. I saw my opening and I took it."
Megatron wagged a digit in the air at her in uncertainty, "You...you scare me sometimes."
"You like it," she mused.
He sighed and kneeled over the corpse of turretmonger, "You would think the creatures of this island would learn."
"They don't know us and like Bolt stresses, it could be the Allspark making them do all of this. We do what we must, even if it's a rare species."
A yowl nearby to the right caused both of them to pause before preparing their weapons. It continued as they treaded towards the noise, pained and feisty. At first, they saw nothing until they realized there was a dip of ground from a drained pond with roots of the trees visibly winding through what once was the bottom of said pond. And to the side, resting its head and breathing harshly, was a creature both of them recognized.
A Nitrotiger, a medium sized animal from Cybertron, was a surprise given all the creatures thus far were from planets they knew of or not at all. Finding something from Cybertron other than the ships was a godsend...until Arcee noticed the struggle of the vents and the sparks and looked closer on the Nitrotiger's hide. Wound shots from either the turret or her gatling gun had struck it, and it was bleeding Energon. There also was a blast mark right on its shoulder-mounted weapon.
"You shot it?" Megatron asked immediately.
Arcee placed a servo on her chest, "Me? It could have been that bear thing!"
"Eh, it is curled up in a dried-up pond near where the turretmonger is. A few bullets could have ricocheted and hit it too."
Megatron jumped down and Arcee followed. The Nitrotiger hissed but didn't bother to run off, its blue chassis breathing hard. The stripes on it were a deep blue almost black coloring though currently stained by the bright blue of the Energon leaking over them.
Nitrotigers were a multi-color population. They sometimes had various colors but solely black stripes while others had various colors and different colored stripes depending on the subspecies and the location. Areas like Cybertron's underground forests were illuminate so Neon Nitrotigers themselves were colorful to help blend in to the environment. The subspecies that lived above in the Sea of Rust and the Polyhex woods, Fazer's Nitrotigers, were always black-striped as constant night and day cycles allowed their color schemes to blend with the shadows. This was a Neon Nitrotiger and it certainly was out of its element in the Nemesis Forest where the trees weren't illuminated like the marshlands. Easier target for competition and other predators.
Arcee knelt by it even as it hissed again. "It'll survive but it'll be vulnerable for attack. I wish we had Blaster with us; he has a Fazer's Nitrotiger named Stripes. He would know how to care for it."
"Care?" Megatron shook his helm, "Oh, we are not helping this thing. We are going to put it out of its misery."
"Alright, I'll take care of it."
"You aren't getting a pet Nitrotiger. We can barely survive, and you want to keep it?"
Arcee scoffed, "I'm not going to keep it. I'm going to help it, then I'm going to release it back onto the island. It has no intention on harming us."
"Yet. We treat it, it might just turn on us the minute its able to."
Arcee ignored his babbling and carefully stroked the Nitrotiger's hide. The creature growled but didn't snap at her. There was a low purr as she grew bolder and actually pet the animal on its back. "Good boy."
The Nitrotiger responded with a hesitant grunt but its dark blue, reflective optics seemed to be curious, looking between the femme who was nice and the mech who was snarling at the audacity of the former.
"Megatron, you're strong. You carry him."
A blunt "no" was all Arcee received. She then said, "Well, one way or another, we're taking him with us, and you can help or you can be his new caretaker entirely. One good deed or a lifetime pet, your choice."
Megatron grumbled something and hoisted the creature up to its confusion and slight discomfort. It hissed at Megatron but the mech wasn't taking it, growling right back. The Nitrotiger quickly assessed the warlord was far more menacing for its liking and stayed still in his arms, its tail occasionally whipping in irritation.
They walked for over thirty minutes of nothing but ambient noises and a Nitrotiger that yowled every minute or so. The leaking Energon had already begun to subside though it stained Megatron's forearms, not a foreign sight to the mech at all. An infrequent creaking noise, metal it was determined, in the distance added to the annoyance of the morning. It wasn't until they reached the height of the sound did Megatron start becoming agitated.
"If I hear another noise, I swear I will kill both of you," he sneered.
The Nitrotiger glanced at Arcee who met its gaze before staring back at Megatron, as silent as could be. The forest went silent as well. Then the creaking sounded again, this time the origin of the noise became much clearer. Megatron gave a deadpanned scowl but looked up when they all figured out it was somewhere above them.
Barely visible from the ground, stuck in the canopy, a ship resided damaged and barren. All three of them were surprised if anything but all for different reasons. Megatron was alerted that there was a lone ship with no signs of life. Arcee was surprised given they had actually found one of the missing vessels, and the Nitrotiger was shocked because it didn't even know what it was.
"Care to investigate, oh fearless queen?" Mocked Megatron.
"Ah...sure, I can-I can do that," Arcee agreed against her better judgement.
There was a chance, a small chance, that the ship had Energon and other supplies, maybe something to help the Nitrotiger. She went to work and leapt up to the tree, scaling it quickly until she reached the door that hadn't been opened it what seemed to be perhaps years. Holding onto the branches, she balanced herself so she could kick the door in. The metal gave way easily and when it busted open, the air whispered as it filled the cabin. She climbed in and looked around.
The vessel was mostly untouched, the controls looked like they were ready for use. The inside was clean as in no stains or stuff thrown about. However, that did nothing to put out the growing suspicion that behind its glorified, pristine condition, something was wrong. Then she saw a light creeping out past one of the closed doors she passed. Knowing her options, she backed up and charged to the door. She broke its hinges and it collapsed. She froze up when she saw more than just the origin of the light source.
The gem sat hovering on a table above a mech, unfazed. But before it, lying on the ground and propped against furniture, were five dead bodies, all Cybertronian. She couldn't tell how they died but the gem was floating in the palm of one of them face first on the desk. The others were scattered in positions like they had just given up, not from any injury.
"Arcee?" Megatron's voice called.
"You might want to get up here! It's safe...but not pretty!"
The ship eventually rumbled with Megatron's entrance. He reached down after he secured himself and lifted the Nitrotiger into his arms again. The animal growled but began sniffing the walls curiously. When Megatron made his way to her, he peered into the room and examined the sight.
"They probably died with the same idea Bolt had disabling the gem and it sucked the life out of them when they made a mistake. That or starvation."
Arcee said, "No, because I can sense Energon here somewhere further in the ship. The gem backfiring is unfortunately the most logical between the two."
"Shockwave would be proud to hear you use his way of thinking, I'm sure," he smiled. "Sometimes, the most logical explanations are the most devastating."
Taking the gem from the lifeless servo, Arcee bowed her helm in respect before leaving. She then went further into the ship until she found the cargo bay and within it, its small store of Energon. Arcee grabbed a cube and ushered Megatron to follow. The medbay was across from the cargo hold so Arcee hooked up the Energon to an IV while the warlord placed the Nitrotiger onto the closest berth. The Nitrotiger yelped when she stuck the needle feeding it Energon into its arm. She stroked the animal to keep it calm.
Before she could turn on the equipment, the gem glowed in her servo. That's when she got the idea to use it instead. The Nitrotiger would be healed in no time with Allspark energy. Ripping a panel off, she immediately stuck the gem into the machinery and watched as it roared to life. The screens lit up as the IV turned from illuminated blue to bright whitish blue.
The Nitrotiger roared as its wounds glowed before healing on their own and the Energon was quickly fused back into its body. Arcee had to cover her optics when the bright light shined across its chassis. In no time, the light died and the Nitrotiger looked brand new again. The creature stood up and shook off the needle and any excess liquid before jumping off the berth.
Megatron smiled, "Look at that. The Allspark pulls through again."
Just then, the Nitrotiger whipped back around and faced Arcee whose own smirk slowly died. It yowled before coming close to her. Megatron prepared his cannon just in case while shooting Arcee a glare as an "I told you so."
Instead of attacking, the Nitrotiger did something neither of them expected. It began to rub up against Arcee giving a low growl of approval when she reached down to pet it on its head. She kneeled and massaged behind its ears which it purred at.
"Well, would you look at that? We made a new friend," she laughed.
Megatron rolled his optics, "Great. Just what we need, a pet. It's your problem, not mine."
Arcee then activated her comm. "Bolt, what can you tell me about Nitrotigers?"
The silence was abnormal and she paused, frowning. "Bolt?"
Sudden static and a squeaked voice popped up, "Here! Here! Sorry! I was busy trying to get the ground bridge up and running. Trials are currently being held and so far, everything's a-okay! Nitrotigers, huh? Run into one?"
"You can say that..." She mused.
"She found a wounded Nitrotiger after we killed the turretmonger. She is now keeping it as a pet apparently," Megatron chastised.
Bolt groaned, "You're joking me. Arcee, come on, no pets! What are we even going to do with a Nitrotiger?! Look, they are very solitary creatures and if anything, they only respond well to one owner. Maybe two people at most, but it's not a family pet, I assure you. Thankfully, they aren't hard to keep as they are clean animals, little to no problems with whoever they form a tight bond with. My question is: why?"
"Because I like Moonhunter. He's nice, considerate, feisty, and courageous...kind of like me! He can help us find dangers and if he's trusting me with his life, he'll no doubt protect us as I would him."
"Moonhunter? That's the name you're giving him? Moonhunter. Not bad. And you said you wouldn't name a creature you encountered sparsely on the fly. You little liar," Bolt chuckled. "Alright, if you want him, I guess I can make do. But if he tears up any of my gadgets, I'm throwing his aft outside!"
"Thank you, Bolt."
In the other room, unbeknownst to them, the dead corpse of the mech that held the gem formerly twitched. Limply, their arm slid off the table and they stood up like a broken puppet. Dust blew from the ragged vents, their parts shifting strained. They turned towards the door uneasily, heading towards the intruders in the ship.
AN: How's that for monster hunters? Megatron and Arcee come through again...or do they?
Featured Monsters:
Groundsnare the Turretmonger (Chaar)