Author's Note: Well, I'm off writing the next chapter! A huge thanks goes to my buddy Maelstrom1 for helping me out with this chapter!
Oh, and to answer Firestar Yume Chi's question. There's two ways to pronounce Jhiaxus' name. The only difference is in the beginning, though.
Either 'Hi-Ax-Us' or 'Gee-Ax-Us'. The first one was made up by me, since I originally thought that was how it was pronounced.
Kinda funny story on how that name came about. See, Simon Furman (the greatest TF writer EVER) was writing the Generation 2 comics, and needed a name for the villain. As a joke, he came up with Jhiaxus, which was saying 'Gee, axe (cancel) us'. Funny that the Transformers mythology did anything but that, eh? ;D
Anyways, enough of me, on with the fic!
Chapter Two: Trust
Jhiaxus yelled out as he lunged towards Starscream. He threw his hands down in an attempt to slam them onto the turncoat's shoulders, but found them landing on the ground, and his body following.
"Wha…?" Jhiaxus slowly looked up, and saw Starscream still there. "What the Pit did you do!" He exclaimed as he stared at the seeker. He was there alright, but he was… transparent. Like a ghost.
Starscream chuckled as he placed his hands on his hips. "Things are different this time around, Jhiaxus." With that said, he quickly rematerialized, and slammed his foot into the Decepticon commander's chin.
Jhiaxus gave off an 'Augh!' sounding grunt, as he started falling backwards, but quickly got back on his feet. He snarled at the smirking Starscream, and quickly threw a left punch. Then a right. Then another left, then another right. However, each time, Jhiaxus only found himself hitting air. As he looked up, he found Starscream reappearing, the smirk still plastered on his face.
Tidal Wave grinned, as he held Cyclonus in the air by one of his legs.
"Ehehehe… Hey there… Big guy." The 'Copter 'Con said nervously.
Tidal Wave continued grinning, and responded by lifting Cyclonus up over his head; this only made the smaller mech that much more nervous.
"Wh- what're you gonna do?" Cyclonus asked timidly.
"Have some… fun." Tidal Wave replied. A chuckle followed, as he curled his free hand into a fist, and raised it high enough for Cyclonus to see.
"WAH! Please don't hurt me! Y-you know you were always my favorite Decepticon! I told that to all the guys! You and me, we were pals! We were-"
"Cyclonus…" Tidal Wave said calmly. "You're a terrible begger." Cyclonus whimpered slightly as the giant reared back his hand; but then, reinforcements arrived.
"What's going on in here!" Demolishor yelled out as he barged into the room.
The white and green mech known as Tidal Wave snapped his head to the side, and his grin increased. "More toys are here!" He then lowered his empty hand, and pulled back his other arm as Cyclonus dangled helplessly; Tidal Wave then violently threw Cyclonus at Demolishor.
"What? Tidal- OOF!" Demolishor was immediately knocked over when the Copter collided with him.
"Ugnh…" Cyclonus groaned as he held his head, unmoving from his spread out position over Demolishor. "My heeeaaad…"
Lake SuperiorUnited States, Earth
Overload sat on the edge of a cliff side overlooking the massive Lake Superior. He came here to think, and hopefully to remember. These other mechs… The Autobots… They seem friendly enough, but their current situation is less than desirable. He peered down at the surface of the lake. There was a small group of animals. They were feathered, had wings, webbed feet, and a bill… Ducks, that was their name. The group of ducks…there was one larger one, with several small ones trailing behind it… They knew who they were… They knew where they belonged… They knew what to do…
"Who am I…?" He wondered out loud. "What am I doing here…?"
"That, my friend, is a question not easily answered." A voice from behind replied. Overload whirled around, to see two mechs step out from the woods. One orange and green, who was sharp and angular, while the other was black and purple, with a sleek, feminine look.
"…Who are you?" Overload asked.
"I am Terrorsaur." The green and orange one replied. He thumbed over to his partner. "This is Airazor." Overload wasn't sure, but he thought he caught a wink from her. "And you are Overload." Terrorsaur finished.
"I know that." Overload replied. "I know that's my name… But who is Overload? Is he just another fighter in this war? Just another generic soldier to be lost in a random battle?"
"The answers will come to you. Maybe in a form you wouldn't expect." Airazor's almost seductive voice chimed in.
Overload eyed the two, before standing up, and facing the two. "What do you mean?" He asked.
"We can answer your questions." Terrorsaur said. "We know who you are."
Overload blinked once, then twice. "You do?" He asked. Receiving a nod from each, relief flooded his system. "Well… Tell me all I need to know about myself."
"Hold on." Terrorsaur said, while holding up his hand. "First, we need you to do… a little job for us."
Overload sighed; he knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Decepticon Lunar Base, The Moon
Skywarp held onto the back of Tidal Wave's helmet, balancing himself shakily on the giant's shoulders. He swiped at the back of the behemoth's head, but yelled out as Tidal Wave grabbed him around his torso, and threw him across the room. True to his name, Skywarp zipped back across the room so fast, it was as if he warped there. However, the somewhat-young seeker met Tidal Wave's palm, then slammed into the ground.
"You're too predictable." Tidal Wave mocked. "Rookie."
A stinging sensation in his leg caused Tidal Wave to look over, and spot Cyclonus and Demolishor back in action; the two were firing rapidly upon him. He turned to fully face the two, and let lose a grin across his face. The green panel in his right bicep opened up, and out from it came several dozen Ramjet drones. They all immediately flew towards Cyclonus and Demolishor like a swarm of bees, and latched onto their frames.
"YEOW!" Cyclonus yelped. "The little buggers bite! OW!" The Copter 'Con proceeded to run around, cursing like no tomorrow, while Demolishor did what he could to shake them off.
"Grrr…" Demolishor uttered as he brushed off a handful, but they just leapt back up, and sank their tiny teeth back into his frame. "Get off me!" He yelled out as he transformed, effectively removing most of the Ramjet drones. He immediately charged up his weapons, and spun around, firing them off wildly.
Tidal Wave chuckled at the two idiots, as he considered them, and turned around to check on his partner. "How are things, Starscream?" He called out over Cyclonus' cries.
"Pretty well." Starscream commented, as he grinned at an infuriated Jhiaxus. "But I'm getting…" He paused. "… A little bored."
"As am I." Tidal Wave said as he kicked back and advancing Skywarp. "Let's just get what we came here for and get back."
"Yes, let's." Starscream replied. He turned to Jhiaxus again, and threw out his right hand. His green energon-saber materialized in it, and he set his optics on the Decepticon. "So… Where is it?"
"Where is what?" Jhiaxus asked, as he painfully slowly reached back, towards his subspace pocket. "Whatever you're looking for, I won't tell you where it is." He said, trying to stall Starscream long enough. If he could just… subtly get it… There!
In the blink of an optic, Jhiaxus pulled out his machinegun-like blasters, and unleashed a volley of blasts at the ghost-like seeker. To his surprise, The Decepticon Commander found Starscream jumping to his left, effectively and quickly dodging the attack. The seeker then ran up the wall, and peered over his shoulder, towards Jhiaxus. He was near the very high ceiling, and in an instant, Starscream stopped running, and pushed himself off of the wall. He quickly turned around in the air so he was facing Jhiaxus, and raised his sword above his head with both hands. He yelled out as he brought the sword down, but growled when he found that Jhiaxus had blocked it with his gun.
Starscream strained while chuckling; his sword was slowly cutting through Jhiaxus' weapon. "You know what I'm looking for." He said. "Where is the head of Megatron?"
AutoBase, Earth
"A what?" Optimus asked. He was in the command center with most of the other Autobots.
"A valley." Overload said. "It's very beautiful… The grass is as green as can be, the skies are completely clear… I thought you and the others would like to see it."
Optimus smiled slightly. "Beauty on a planet overrun with war is rare."
Hoist looked over to Optimus. "What are you saying, Prime?"
Optimus looked over to the Autobot. "I'm saying that it would be nice to look at this valley Overload's found. Besides, we could all use a break."
Hoist frowned at his commander. "I have a bad feeling about this… It's not a good idea."
"Don't worry, Hoist." Prime replied. "We won't be long, maybe a mega-cycle or so." He then looked to the other Autobots in the room. "Who wants to go?" He asked out loud.
"I will!" Hot Shot replied.
"Same here!" said Sideswipe.
"We'll stay here." Jetfire said, with Red Alert and Scavenger behind him. "Someone's gotta keep this base running." He joked.
Optimus gave a laugh, before nodding to him. He then turned to the other four heading out with him. "Alright Autobots, lets roll out!"
UnknownValley, Earth
The five Autobots zoomed through the warp gate, and came out at Overload's destination. Optimus was the first to transform, and take a deep breath of fresh air.
"You were right, Overload." Optimus said. "This place is beautiful." The valley was lush with nature, complete with a meadow of flowers, some woods, and a lake.
"Yeah." Overload replied. His optics scanned the area… It was as if he were looking for something…
Hoist took a step forward. "Hnn…. I still have a bad feeling about this."
"Would ya lay off of that?" Hot Shot said. "The chances of the Decepticons attacking us here aren't that likely."
"He's right, Hoist." Optimus concurred. "The Decepticons have been attacking the human settlements to flush us out. By those patterns, they most likely won't assault us here."
At that precise moment, Hot Shot felt the slightest movement below his feet. He peered down at the ground, and spotted a slight amount of rubble jumping across the ground at an increasing rate as the earth slowly moved more violently.
"Huh? What's going o-" Hot Shot was cut off, as a giant, metallic rhino, with tank treads for feet, plowed through him effortlessly.
"Hot Shot!" Sideswipe yelled out.
Hot Shot groaned as the rhino-like tank sped on, but quickly swerved around to face the Autobots.
"Transform!" It yelled out; the body shifted and twisted into the hulking form of Rhinox. He gave off a toothy grin. "I hope you haven't forgotten about us, Autobots!"
The sound of a motorcycle from behind caught Hoist's attention, and he leaped to his side just before a silver and black spider on two wheels sped right by. "Transform!" It cried, and the body reverted into the form of Tarantulas; he gave off his trademark cackle. "Because we certainly haven't forgotten about you!"
Three sounds came from the sky, alerting Overload, Optimus, and Sideswipe. They each looked up, and spotted a black and purple hawk, a green and orange pterodactyl, and a purple and orange cheetah, complete with jets from its sides.
"Transform!" All three screamed. Simultaneously the three Transformers converted into their robot modes, and Terrorsaur, Cheetor, and Airazor landed on the ground with a 'clank'.
Terrorsaur grinned. "Excellent work, Overload." He commented. "You've done well."
"What!" Hoist snapped.
Optimus looked over to Terrorsaur. "What do you mean?" He asked.
The pterodactyl crossed his arms, still grinning. "Overload here led you saps into a trap. I must say, I didn't think you'd fall for it so easily."
The Autobot commander then turned his attention to Overload. "Is this true?" He asked.
Overload stayed silent.
"Why you…" Hoist snarled at the massive Autobot. "You traitor! You sold us out!" He reared back his backhoe arm, but found Cheetor holding it in place.
"Watch it, bucko." He said warningly. "Overload's with us, now. And if you mess with one of us…" Cheetor then twirled Hoist around, socked him across his face, and kicked him in his chest, effectively knocking the Autobot over. "… You mess with all of us!"
With that, the five harbingers struck concurrently. Tarantulas quickly ducked down, and kicked out Hot Shot's feet from below him, while Terrorsaur threw his fists at Sideswipe. Airazor and Cheetor both took on Hoist, while Rhinox tackled Optimus. The husky herald grinned down at Optimus as he kept him pinned.
"Appearances are deceiving, Prime." He said as he pressed harder on the Autobot. "You just don't know who to trust these days."
Optimus groaned as he struggled to push Rhinox off of him. His arms trembled; this guy was as heavy as he looked! Rhinox kept one hand firmly pressed onto Optimus' chest, as he reared back his other hand, curled into a fist. He then swiftly slammed it against Prime's faceplate, effectively leaving a considerable dent in his battle mask. He then curled his other hand into a fist, and embedded it into the opposite side of Optimus' face. Rhinox grinned, as he began pummeling the Autobot leader; Prime cried out each time.
Hot Shot threw several punches at Tarantulas, but only found his fists to the side of the arachnid's head. He gave out a frustrated growl, and Tarantulas had a sinister cackle. He then jumped up into the air over Hot Shot, and the Autobot followed with his optics. However, when the yellow mech's optics landed on the ground behind him, the arachnid was gone, only the light breeze was remaining. He peered around, weapon drawn… That spider wasn't getting away that easy…
Hot Shot yelped as a considerable weight suddenly slammed down onto his shoulders. He looked up, and found Tarantulas crouching low on his shoulders, peering down at him with a wicked look. The arachnid then clamped both his hands around Hot Shot's helmet, and threw himself backwards. The instant he hit the ground, he gripped the Autobot's head, and roughly threw him over himself; Tarantulas grinned as Hot Shot went flying.
Hoist swung his backhoe arm furiously at Cheetor, who just laughed at the Autobot's sluggish attacks. The purple and orange herald threw out his left hand, and effectively blocked Hoist's attack. Without letting him recover, Cheetor jumped up into the air, and twirled around, kicking his foot across the Autobot's face. The mech groaned, but quickly found himself falling onto the ground after Cheetor kicked his feet out from below him. He tensed as the harbinger's bladed tail waver almost tauntingly around his neck.
Off to the side of the battle, Overload only observed in shock as Airazor came up to him. "Congratulations Overload, you've made an excellent decision today." She purred as Overload ignored her, staring at the Autobots in battle, watching them as they gradually lost to the heralds. "What's wrong? Once this is finished we can go to Unicron, and he shall reveal your lost identity to you."
Overload simply gazed onto the battle as he suddenly whispered "No..."
Rhinox was grasping Optimus by his neck, holding the Autobot leader off of the ground. With his free hand, he mercilessly pounded his fist into Prime's heavily damaged chest several times.
"This isn't what I wanted..."
Terrorsaur currently had Sideswipe in a headlock, an evil smirk plastered on his face. The young Autobot had his hand clamped to the mech's arm, and was feebly gasping for air.
"This shouldn't be happening..."
Tarantulas had Hot Shot pinned to the ground with the eight spider legs on his back, and a dark chuckle escaped his lips. Pulling out his bladed gun from subspace, the arachnid pulled the trigger, and the blade began spinning; he taunted the Autobot by holding it dangerously close to his face.
"I... Must stop this!" Overload cried as he opened up his artillery batteries on his shoulders, showering the battle field with explosive shells. The harbingers, caught off guard, were stricken by the shells, and thrown forcefully away from their opponents.
"What do you think you're doing!" Airazor shrieked as she jumped on Overload's back, her claws drawn and around the mech's head.
Overload simply grunted and grabbed Airazor in response, throwing her over his back. She scrambled to her feet in front of him as he took a battle stance. "This symbol," He pointed to his shoulder. "Is who I am... I don't need you to tell me that!"
Airazor huffed. "You're making a mistake." She said in an attempt to reason with him.
"My only mistake was trusting you!" Overload lunged at the femme, and grabbed her head in his massive palm. Lifting her effortlessly off of the ground, and rearing his arm back, the Autobot threw Airazor into the rising form of Rhinox, knocking him back on his skidplate.
By this point in time, all the other harbingers had their sights set on the Autobot powerhouse known as Overload. Terrorsaur leaped up from his place on the ground, and shifted into pterodactyl mode. He swooped overhead, firing off small machine guns hidden within his wings. The Autobot shielded himself with his arm as the beast flew overhead. The second Terrorsaur passed, Overload jumped into the air; the ground shook as Overload landed in his artillery mode. Dozens of cannons, of all shapes and sizes, pointed upwards towards the orange and green mech.
By the time Terrorsaur had turned around for another dive, he was bombarded with countless blasts, and a cloud of smoke and fire quickly covered him. A few tense moments passed, and the sleek beast dropped from the black cloud in the sky, smoke and small fires littering his frame; Overload could've sworn he saw x's over Terrorsaur's optics.
Reverting back to his robot mode, the Autobot looked around at his opponents; Cheetor and Tarantulas were both slowly stalking towards him, and Rhinox and Airazor were recovering him his last assault. Turning his attention back to the black and silver arachnid before him, Overload extended his arm out to him, fingers outstretched. His fingertips slid open, and out came small barrels. Without giving Tarantulas a chance to react, all four 'guns' opened fire simultaneously, and the spider was immediately showered in a volley of small blasts. Needless to say, the light-armored mech was down for the count.
Overload immediately turned around, and grabbed Cheetor's approaching fist, and glared down at the herald. He pulled the smaller mech towards him, and pushed his knee into his abdomen. Cheetor gasped for air, but then cried out as Overload's fist met his chin. In effect, the small mech stumbled backwards, and fell flat on his aft.
Rhinox groaned, as he roughly pushed Airazor off of himself, and climbed to his feet sluggishly. He looked around, and took in the surroundings – all of the heralds were down for the count. Not a good situation at all…
"Harbingers!" Rhinox announced somewhat weakly. "Fall back! Retreat!"
"Couldn't have said that a little sooner?" Terrorsaur groaned as he finally came out of stasis lock, though the damage was still present.
"Shut up." Rhinox replied. "We're outmatched… It's time to go." With that, he activated his warp drive, and disappeared from sight. All the other heralds soon followed suit, though Airazor and Terrorsaur left a glare for Overload before doing so.
All of the Autobots present either eased, or stared at Overload's display of power. Hoist was the first to get to his feet, and he was clearly unhappy at the large, red Autobot.
"Traitor!" He exclaimed as he pushed Overload's shoulder; Overload barely moved. "I knew we couldn't trust you."
"Hoist!" Optimus called out. "That's enough!"
"No!" Hoist countered. "Overload betrayed us! He sided with Unicron! I told you this would happen!"
"You know that Overload has amnesia, Hoist. How was he to know which side he's on?"
"You know that's bull crap, Optimus! I think the whole amnesia thing is just a ploy. Overload's probably been with Unicron this whole-"
"I said that's enough!" Optimus snapped. "Now drop it before you're confined to your quarters."
"… Fine."
Overload decided to speak up. "I'm sorry…" He said. "Airazor and Terrorsaur promised to restore my memory if I helped them…"
Optimus turned his attention to Overload, and his expression softened. "It's alright." He said. "You didn't know who they were, or what they did."
"I've learned my lesson, though." Overload continued. "I just hope that I can continue fighting alongside you all." He smiled a bit. "I might not remember any of you… But I know you can be trusted."
Optimus held out his hand for a handshake; Overload accepted it. "We'd be honored if you would remain with us." Prime said.
Decepticon Lunar Base, The Moon
Shockblast sat at the controls of the ship he and Six Shot hijacked; he steered the small vessel towards the small, grey moon orbiting the Earth. He peered over to his twin brother beside him, then looked back ahead.
"How do you think Jhiaxus will react to us?" Six Shot inquired.
"Dunno. But I know a few of the others will be surprised." Shockblast chuckled at the thought of a certain seeker; he always had a bit of a rivalry with Starscream. Megatron never really allowed them to fight each other; despite the fact that everyone knew they craved to battle each other. Then Shockblast and his brother, Six Shot, were imprisoned by the Autobots, and Megatron took Starscream and his other cronies to search for those Minicons.
"Hey!" Six Shot snapped. "Keep your optic on the landing platform!"
"Don't tell me what to do!" Shockblast snapped back as he glared over at his brother.
"Hey hey HEY!" The yellow and black Cyclops cried out. "Watch out!" Six Shot frantically pointed towards the front of the ship, and there was a large, white and green warship heading straight for them.
"Gah!" Shockblast immediately grabbed the controls and quickly veered the ship off to the side; the warship mirrored the movement.
"Watch it!" The warship's brute, gruff voice shouted as it continued to fly off from the Decepticon base.
Shockblast, however, was having difficulties regaining the ship's control.
"C'mon man, pull up!" Six Shot said urgently as their transport began plummeting towards the ground.
"I can't!" Shockblast replied. "The ship's loosing altitude!"
"Then we bail!" Six Shot jumped up from his seat, and ran over towards one of the walls covered in consoles, screens, and multi-colored buttons. He raised his cannon, and quickly fired off a shot; in effect, a large hole was blown in the wall. Six Shot looked back to Shockblast. "Let's go!"
Without even responding, the purple and silver Cyclops got up, and followed suit as his twin jumped out from the new hole in the side of the ship. Plummeting for the two didn't happen, as they flew in the air, and away from the falling ship. The twins continued to fly towards the nearing Decepticon base, ignoring the explosion their ship caused when it hit the Moon's surface.
"Let's give Jhiaxus a nice 'Welcome back'!" Shockblast said, with a bit of glee in his voice.
"Yes, let's!" Six Shot replied.
Inside, however, the sight the two Decepticons saw was not what they were expecting – everyone was on the ground in some way, and damage was dealt to all of them, in addition to the throne room itself. Demolishor was on his back, twitching occasionally. Cyclonus was slumped against the wall, swaying and muttering about stars around his head. Wheeljack was in stasis lock on the ground, and Skywarp was out cold with him. Jhiaxus, however, was struggling to get onto his feet.
"You two…" Jhiaxus uttered as he saw the twins. His fatigue seemingly disappeared as anger came over his mind.
"Looks like you had one hell of a party." Shockblast said commented.
"You two just got here?" Jhiaxus asked. He then groaned out loudly after receiving two nods. "Why didn't you stop them!" He screamed.
"Stop who?" Six Shot asked.
"Tidal Wave and Starscream!"
"Oh." Shockblast replied. "We thought they were some troops you were sending out."
Jhiaxus groaned again. "You worthless slag-heaps! You could've stopped them!" The Decepticon commander then stormed off, cursing the entire way.
"…" Six Shot looked to Shockblast.
"… Wow." Shockblast said. "What Autobot crawled up his ass and died?"
Unknown, Unknown
Deep inside of Unicron, Alpha-Quintesson shut off the holo-screen, and laughed. Starscream and Tidal Wave have retrieved the last part he needed. He looked over to a work table held up by some of the many wires within his chamber. On the table was the heavily-damanged, and headless form of Megatron.
"Sssoon…" Alpha-Quintesson cooed. "Sssoon… you will be one of usss… But I will need Energon harvessstersss to bring you back." He looked thoughtful, as his face switched from the boney, skull-like face to the round, silver face. It had large cheeks, and a pointy, copper beard at the bottom, giving it an ancient Emperor-type of look.
"Some Earth creatures will do well!" His now high-pitched, almost afraid-sounding voice chimed. A holo-screen came up before him, as three dimensional images of all sorts of land creatures came up before him. "Hmm… Oooh!" He said with excitement as the screen stopped on the image of a scorpion. "This will do quite nicely!"
Unknown, Unknown…
I close my optics, and reopen them... I see myself, fulfilling my destiny… I approach the center of the chamber, and towards the most potent source of power in this, or any, universe… Unicron's core…I have been waiting for this since the day of my birth…
I hold out my hands, fully ready to take his power. It will be mine, and I will then truly be all-powerful… I place my palms firmly against the surface of Unicron's core, and it's power immediately begins to flow into my body…