Promotional artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333
True to Bolt's word, the marshlands were peaceful. Both Megatron and Arcee found themselves staring up at the dusk sky with nothing but birds chirping and slow trickling water of the marshes below the Endeavor. Instead of recharge, they came up top as they both found neither of them were tired but at the same time, it could be the revved-up energy of battle running through them. The fact that Arcee finally managed to get Megatron to sit and watch the stars slowly appear with her was an accomplishment.
She played with the tips of her crown she now had sitting on her lap as Megatron gave her insight on just how much free time he had on Earth in between battling the Autobots before when he surprised her with the knowledge of the stars and Earth's many constellations as well as the stories of each.
"Wow, you really are a nerd. And here I thought Shockwave was just talking out of his aft about your hobbies and engineering smarts," Arcee said with a smile.
"Of course, wha-did you think I just sat on my throne the entire time I was leader of the Decepticons and let everyone do everything for me?!" Megatron asked, pointing at the sky slightly amused and peeved. "Half of that is a yes but mainly because I already did some of that stuff myself and I was tired of it like mining, give that to the drones any day over me ever doing that scrap again."
She burst out laughing, "I suppose not. I don't know; you just never struck me as an astronomer or an engineer."
The Decepticon sighed smirking, "A rule I made for myself and anybody I let pilot my ship is that you have to know stars by heart and what to look for even without exterior technology. On top of that, I admit I didn't convert Trypticon into the Nemesis by hand myself, but I was the one who created the specs on the ship's design that we could convert his parts into and make them work."
"If Trypticon died, I assume his alt mode's systems technically wouldn't have worked so how did you manage that?"
"Simple, I built the core computer system. Trypticon's data system and functionality was fried, yes, but the physical parts were still salvageable which means with the right tampering and coding plus power, I could make him into a real ship, and I rewrote all of the ship's functions by scratch. Shockwave was responsible for making sure the engines worked but it wasn't him, or Soundwave for that matter, who made all of it connect and operate as a vessel. But if people choose to believe I simply commanded it to be done instead then so be it."
Arcee glanced at him and he returned her gaze with a raised brow.
"Still not convinced?" He spoke low, almost a whisper.
"It's hard," she answered.
"Well, let me ask you this then. For a former dancer and then a for-hire assassin, how is it you care so much about these stars, the same stars you can see at a different angle on Cybertron and you have seen for as long as you've been online? I may be an amateur astronomer, but I don't stare up at the sky in wonder each night as several of the Autobots you've worked with have noted about you. What do you see up there?"
Arcee frowned slightly, "What they represent. Freedom. The one place in the universe you can be anything you want is everywhere in the universe except that planet you live on. I am thankful every day that I do get to look up at the sky because there was a time where I never did see it except in rare fleeting moments. And I know, for a fact, that you did too. Days in the mine without being able to see anything above ground made you want the exact same thing only different. I wanted to see the sky, you wanted to see daylight again. Prove me wrong."
Megatron, in deep thought, actually began to nod at that. He curled his legs into a tight crossed position holding onto his ankles on the Endeavor's roof. "Checkmate, Arcee. It's been so long of being under my own control that I forgot about that, forgot what I sought out in my darkest dreams back then."
"Takes one to know one, right?"
"I've never really connected with anybody this close before, I hope you know this. Not even Optimus. I was close with Optimus at one time but the more I think on it, the more I realize the reason we fell apart was because he knew nothing of how to perceive my thoughts and as much as he tried, he could never understand my experiences because he never went through anything similar. We were too different that our opinions and our understanding of how things work just couldn't co-exist without everything being an argument or worse, a judgement. I know I shouldn't be pointing fingers but the war wouldn't have occurred if we hadn't met...and there's a part of me deep down that wishes we never did."
Arcee saw him gulp down the prodding emotion within and bow his helm. She knew their history to the very last detail and Optimus may have been a natural leader, but he knew nothing of the hardships people like her and Megatron had to go through to earn the smallest shred of respect and build themselves up to the top to be even looked at as people to watch out for. It made sense that Megatron and Optimus, even if they did get along and there never was a threat of war, wouldn't have made it far together.
Their dynamic was...unpredictable and mentally draining. Megatron's psyche was too unstable for Optimus to do anything about without stressing the warlord further. Optimus' morality was heavily one-sided and that conflicted with the truthful grey-black morality Arcee and Megatron were far more accustomed to because they had dealt with it first hand and seen it where Optimus failed to. She admitted they had been a cute couple at the beginning, but that's all it could be: cute.
"What would you have changed if you were given another chance?"
Megatron bit his lip, "Everything."
The answer was self-explanatory. They didn't speak much after that, but they did stay together to watch the stars. It was one of the few things they could do anyway other than hunting creatures and recharging.
Cybertron was uncertain, even more so than ever before. Haywire had never seen such confusion and anger at once, even at the beginning of the war. New rules of who could be where, new privileges or revoked rights of certain types of Cybertronian species like Predacons and Minibots were being enforced, and halted trade from expanding markets to other planets was causing stress upon the economy. The new ruler of Cybertron was hurting everyone and dare Haywire believe that another revolution might just be under way.
"You're tearing this planet apart like Megatron did. I hope you're happy!" He snarled, "Years of repairing the damage the war has inflicted on all of us and you're doing this?!"
"Sometimes, you have to break something down in order to build it back up again. Nothing wrong with some sacrifices if it's for the greater good."
Haywire couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he shook his helm disappointed. A new mandate for higher taxes and greater restrictions on trade with other planets was hurting Cybertron's delicate economy. The buyer's market was a mess now and all a curfew was bringing was more anger...exactly as the leader of Cybertron wanted.
Arcee's reputation was taking a nosedive fast. The better news, if one could call it that, was the debacle was drawing the Autobot leader's attention. If things continued, Bumblebee would investigate. Haywire hoped he did. Once it is determined Arcee is missing, Haywire wanted to have a front row seat at the fireworks show because Bumblebee will come down hard with Optimus no doubt in tow. They both were family to her.
"You best hope Optimus doesn't find out what you've done. He'll rip your spark through your mouth," he sneered.
"As if I'm scared of an old Prime. After all, I've studied each and every one of those ill-gotten fools!"
Haywire was about to say something else when Scythe stomped his staff on the ground, "You're the pitiful fool! I recognize tyranny when I see it. Don't you forget who among you worked under Megatron, the same mech you banished! I assure you, one does not get rid of Megatron that easy and from what I've seen in Arcee, she's much more resilient than you give her credit for."
Haywire nodded, "You are nothing but a coward, and I can't help but pity you. We might not be able to do much against you, but I'll be waiting when the time comes for you to face judgement and no one will shed any sympathy for you when you fall. I will make sure of it, you two-faced snake, Rockrider."
The guards grew unnerved as a sweet-smiling innocent face from Rockrider turned into a jackal frown. But then it calmed into a smooth façade of a neutral expression. "Well, that's how you feel about me taking over? I guess I can't please everyone and certainly not the Con who thousands of years ago would have probably betrayed Megatron at some point or another."
"My past is behind me, and everyone gave me a second chance because I proved it. I would never harm Arcee or Megatron," Scythe growled.
Rockrider giggled, "Oh, but your record still holds against you. What if Arcee is reported dead and it was believed by some eyewitnesses the ex-Con snapped in rage from her horrible rule and killed her, and Haywire? Nobody could save her."
"Y-you wouldn't!" Haywire yelled.
"But I can, and I would. The guards won't disobey me because they know I can have them decommissioned fast with my own loyal followers. Isn't that right, boys?!" Rockrider called out.
The present guards looked at the doors as they burst open. Gold and bronze-colored guards took their places next to Arcee's and even Scythe was a bit intimidated by the amount that stormed the room. Both him and Haywire knew their guards were going to follow the most powerful and right now, Rockrider was on top of the heap.
"This isn't good," Scythe hissed low. "We have to alert Arcee or better yet, Optimus and Bumblebee!"
"Yes! Alert them!" Rockrider laughed, "And I'll be right here waiting for them. There is no room for old leaderships here."
"W-what about your friendship with Arcee? Did that never matter?" Haywire scowled.
"I liked her like a sister, yes, but she was disillusioned. I'm just doing what she couldn't. And if her teammates get involved, I have some plans for them. But since you two seem to have become so close to her, I'll start with you first. Arrest them!"
The guards had no choice but to obey and Haywire grew frantic as they all turned their weapons on him. Reluctantly, Scythe held up his arms in surrender as they drew closer. He knew he couldn't fight them; there were far too many. It was a death sentence. He didn't even hear them read him his rights as he was too focused on glaring at the phony ruler before him as he was escorted away with Haywire.
Rockrider sneered to her new second-in-command, a faded gold mech, "Wrathzone, Scythe had a point. Arcee has survived much worse. I think it's time to send a little care package to Arcee in the Isle. Reactivate a cloaker and have it bring back her helm and Megatron's."
Wrathzone nodded and stomped away.
Bolt clapped his servos as Arcee walked in. "Oh, excellent! You're here! Come in, come, come, come! I just found out something marvelous!"
Arcee placed her cube of Energon on the side table. "Oh? What did you discover?"
"That blood you brought me of the Rozaria bloodhawk? It's not just blood."
That threw the queen off and she frowned humorously, "Mmm, pretty sure it's called blood for a reason."
If he could roll his optics, he would have. "Yeah, yeah, your sense of humor is amazing too. As I was saying, the bloodhawk's blood is not just blood. Apparently, it contains so much sulfur, it's a ticking time bomb. It also contains a form of plasma that is normally associated with mutations and yet it's common in theirs."
"Sulfur...is explosive and that does explain why it's green. How explosive are we talking?"
"Well, Rozarian species all are cold-blooded but unlike the species here on Earth, they have an actual feature that makes the term much more literal. Their natural body heat is always under 50 degrees because of the way their planet is. Coincidentally, sulfuric blood doesn't do well in heat, combined with the wacked out plasma...so if a human were to have this blood with their warm-blooded trait, they would essentially be cooked alive abruptly, very painfully. They would have to live in sub-zero temperatures for their entire lives. You put a liter of Rozarian blood in the middle of a city and ignite it, damn glob may just take half the entire block with it...maybe more."
Arcee nodded in understanding before smirking, "You're going to try and weaponize it, aren't you?"
Bolt turned his helm away almost like he was faux ashamed. "Who? Me? If it'll give us that edge, then I guess I have no choice. I can go back to the willow and see if I can take any blood that remains of Xerophorus. But I'm going to have to do it before daylight."
"Why?" She asked.
"Well, if the sun hits the blood and it warms up..." The Vehicon palmed the vial of Bloodhawk fluids then gave Arcee an indifferent look. "At least we don't have to worry about burying the body."
"Ah. That's not good."
"Better that than it explodes at random after being exposed. Imagine needing that blood tonight, going over and it just decides to explode right as you come near it in the middle of the night? At least I know when to avoid it and now you do too. After Megatron shot that smaller bloodhawk up top the other night, I cleaned that blood off immediately after I noticed it contained sulfur. The stuff that went into the water thankfully merely bubbled but it was still too cold beneath the water to do anything."
Arcee agreed, mostly because she didn't know any better. The more she learned from Bolt, the more she believed that he would be a great researcher for the archives, especially at the Hall of Records. They could use him on their team. Rockrider would certainly get a kick out of employing a cyberbiologist like him.
She wondered what Rockrider and Scythe were doing as well as her other Councilmembers. Whoever took over hopefully wasn't hurting them or forcing them to do things they didn't want to do. Haywire, her dear loyalist, certainly wouldn't stand for such an uproar.
"Is Bolt boring you with science and biology again?" Megatron asked, taking a drink of Energon and leaning against the doorframe.
Bolt turned on his heels casually and crossed his arms, "Oh, and you secretly being a science nerd of engineering and technologies expert would really be so much more fascinating?"
Arcee almost choked on her last sip of Energon as she sat down. "He's a-?!"
"I was on the same ship as him for thousands of years. Of course, I can confirm everyone on the Decepticon side practically knew! We were surprised the first time too, don't get me wrong, but it's not a secret now. You want to know why the gunning systems on the Nemesis were so dead set? This sneaky bastard right here reverse-engineered Trypticon and made a computer A.I. specifically for the auto-aim gunners to track movement and triangulate positions of the target. It was his design! The fuel-efficiency, the navigation, the-oh what was that specific system you built for the ground bridge?"
"Cross-tracking anti-displacement navigation...and the mainframe...and the ship's data output and input," Megatron said unbothered.
Bolt pointed at Megatron but addressed Arcee, "See? And he was a miner at one point. Mech's come a long way. He's certainly not just a leader. That's also just a select few things he's done. I won't get into the more complex systems he built for Darkmount which still surprise me to this day how you managed that in such a small timeframe."
The warlord snorted, "Surprised me too. I actually didn't think it was going to work considering how many shortcuts and half-assed wiring I did in a rush to get the fortress up and running WITH working shielding, mind you. I doubt that fortress is long-term livable. I'm certain if it's ever used again, it might accidentally fry itself with all the wonky cable work I did. Oh, I really need to go back and fix all that."
"You two have better hobbies than I do," Arcee said dejected, "most of our superiors on the Autobot side didn't let us do anything other than prepare for war. And even when were on Earth, there wasn't a whole lot to do at least that we found interesting."
"Well, what did you want to do?"
That was a hard call. She never pushed herself to do anything but what mattered in other people's eyes like inflicting pain and showing she wasn't to be messed with. She got what she wanted. Now what?
"I...guess I never thought about it."
The two Decepticons were dead silent for a few seconds before Bolt finally spoke with a wincing tone, "That's just sad. We really need to find you a hobby other than killing people and creatures. Not even Megatron's that bad."
Megatron shot him a glare, not that he noticed. Arcee, on the other hand, sighed with disappointment, "Being queen took up a lot of my time on top of fixing my life after the war. I forgot how fun it was to do the stupid little things like stargazing and enjoying nature."
"Being an amateur astronomer myself, I can show you everything you need to know about the stars," the warlord said quickly.
Bolt didn't take his optic visor off of Arcee as she continued to talk but his head slightly shifted in attention to Megatron's sudden outburst. True, Megatron was a self-taught astronomer but he had never seen or heard of the mech ever jumping to teach someone else, not even his own Cons. It struck odd that he would do it now but then again, people changed. Megatron had changed considerably since the war ended and Arcee did too.
The Vehicon coughed, "I would teach you cyberbiology but I think by the time we get off this island, you'll already know everything about these species enough to be an amateur cyberbiologist yourself."
"Thanks, you two. I'll eventually find something of my own. It's just time and patience, I guess."
Chuckling, Bolt checked his talons before he suddenly remembered something and fast-walked past Arcee. "While you are still here, I have to show you something."
"If it's more Rozaria blood, I swear I'm going to have damn nightmares. Nothing but the color green until I die," she scowled.
"No, you'll like this," he said, taking off something from the shelf in the backroom. "Back when Cybertron was first considered a real planet, one of the hobbies of the Thirteen Primes was craftsmanship."
"Solus Prime," Megatron answered. "Who doesn't know that?"
"Yes, well, everyone does know that and what she made. But what they don't know is a little secret about how she made a lot of her weapons and armor. The Forge of Solus Prime didn't exist yet so how did she do it? Lightning."
Arcee glanced uncertain at that. "Lightning? What, did she control the weather or something?"
"Lightning," Bolt said unfazed. "She built a weather array capable of harnessing the power of the storms Cybertron cultivated when it created its own atmosphere. The lightning was said to be harsh, able to break through metal like an asteroid falling to the surface. She harnessed this power and used it to mold weapons and ungodly masterful crafts, shaping them to her will. That was her hobby, not her job."
"And you're telling me this because...?"
"Because you are so lost in your job that you don't seem to have a hobby." Bolt handed her a blade that was a bit large for a dagger, but the Primes were much larger than her. Arcee gasped and was about to ask when Bolt raised his servo. "This is the Dagger Prima, I found it on one of our missions on Chaar, buried for millions of years. It was Solus' because the technique on the blade is not normal craftsmanship. This weapon was said to never miss its target when thrown. At least, that's the legend."
Megatron came up behind Arcee in awe, "You had this?"
"Saving it for a rainy day. Cleaned it and everything. Let me tell you, Arcee, that this blade was a part of someone's hobby. Whatever you find that interests you, no matter how mundane or epic, you can do great things with. And you can do it however you please. Solus certainly did and her weapons and armor are still seen as some of the greatest feats to this day...and it wasn't even her job to do it. She did it because she felt like it."
The dark silver blade had a curve to it, thick in width with a spine with a crafted notch. Its front bolster and handle were a dark blue with etchings of a swirling pattern like the flow of energy. Its rear bolster had an insignia, not one either of them recognized but could have been the Primes faction itself. Then she noticed on the blade's curvy sharp edge, there was an unknown dialect imprinted on it.
Arcee skimmed a digit over the blade edge and smiled, "This is amazing!"
Bolt clasped her shoulder proudly, "Now imagine what you could do. Another example is my hobby in cyberbiology and history. Do you know how hard it was to get all the information of the other planets without being able to go there myself and study them? Even when I was on the Nemesis, I studied every day and turns out my knowledge became useful for my survival as well as yours. I would have never thought I'd amount to anything more than a drone yet here I am."
Arcee smiled, placing the weapon on her lap and looked up at Bolt. "Thank you, Bolt. You're a good friend. I promise you, when we get off this island, I will get you all the access to Iacon's archives you could ask for and more so you can become an official cyberbiologist."
Bolt was a bit taken aback by that and began kneading his servos together bashfully, "You consider me your friend? You would...? No, I mean that's amazing but I don't think I deserve that. I'm just...doing what's right as anybody should...would."
"Would?" Megatron scoffed, "If this was during the war and we were stranded together, I would have killed both of you and went off on my own. Not everybody would."
"Nice, really comforting, Lord Megatron," deadpanned Bolt.
"It's the truth!"
"I know it's the truth about past you, but you don't have to say it out loud! Ever heard of internal monologuing? Practice it! You might learn something from it. And I can say that now because you aren't my superior and this is my ship-"
Arcee got between them despite Megatron didn't move and gestured to Bolt to calm down. "Okay, alright, we get it! Bolt, we appreciate your valor. Megatron, be a little optimistic, won't you?"
"No promises," snarked the warlord.
"I'll take that as an 'I'll try.' Look, we need to get back to the matter at hand. No more talking about hobbies and stuff like that. We spent too much time here already. It's crucial we go ahead and get to Nemesis Forest, try and find the second gem. Bolt, are you ready?"
Bolt nodded, "Ready, my Queen."
"Megatron?" She asked, pointing at him with a side glare.
"Ready when you are," he smirked.
"Good, let's hope we didn't give the Allspark enough time to set more traps or bring more monsters onto the island if it hasn't already. Let's go," Arcee smiled back.
The Vehicon pumped his fist excitedly, "Give them hell out there!"
AN: You might want to take notes of this chapter, many things will be important later on. And yes, the traitor is Rockrider. But don't think that's the end of the surprises now.