Chapter 3: Savage Scorponok
Decepticon Lunar Base, The Moon
Jhiaxus leaned back in his throne, hands clutching the ends of the armrests. Most of the Decepticons before him were kneeling in a classic fashion - kneeling down on their left knee, with their right arm across their raised thigh. However, Shockblast and Six Shot were not with the other Decepticons in bowing before their leader.
"You two." Jhiaxus ordered to the twins. "Why aren't you with the others?"
"We don't bow." Shockblast said.
"It ain't our cup of tea." Six Shot commented.
Jhiaxus scowled. "If you two wish to remain on this team, you'll not only have to follow my rules, but you'll also have to prove you're still worth something to me."
"Hey!" Shockblast snapped. "We're worth twice as much as any of these lame excuses for Decepticons!" He said as he motioned to the kneeling Decepticons.
Jhiaxus' mood lightened slightly as he laughed quietly, and the other Decepticons cast the purple and silver Cyclops dirty glares. "Are you now? You and your brother were considerable Decepticons back in the day... But now I think you might be too old to be of any use..."
"We can do anything you put us up to!" Six Shot spat arrogantly. "Anything at all!"
"Very well... You and your brother are to go to Earth, without any backup, and are to engage the Autobots. Do not come back until at least one of them is dead."
Shockblast would have grinned, had his face allowed any movement. "You got it."
Unicron, Earth's Orbit
Alpha-Quintesson scurried across the floor, laughing in excitement. He came up to a table, and hunched over the hulking figure lying down on its surface. One of the dozens of tentacles stretching out from below him rose up, and a small, wielding tool came out from between the razor-sharp pincers. Melting the two pieces of metal together, it moved to another part of the leg, and began wielding again, as the Quintesson's face switched to the calm, blue and green face known as Judgment.
"The prototype is nearly finished." Judgement said. It then switched to the round, puffy face known as Wisdom.
"Yes," Wisdom's high voice replied. "Soon, it can have its first field test." The face then switched to the angular, red and orange face known as Wrath.
"The Prototype had better work; we've put in too much effort into it!" It hissed. The face then switched back to the original, skull-like face, Death.
"Do not fear." Death cooed. "Thisss isss why we tessst the Prototype. To check it for errorsss."
Death then switched to Wisdom. "But what should we call the Prototype? It needs a name!"
The four faces suddenly began spinning around, shouting off all sorts of bizarre names, before Judgment stopped the spinning roulette of faces.
"It shall be called… Scorponok."
Unknown TownUnited States
"C'mon, Hoist!" Hot Shot called out, as he lifted up a large slab of concrete. Yet another battle took place at a human settlement, out in the middle of nowhere, several days ago, but Optimus thought it was best to help the humans clean up the mess, both because it was the right thing to do, and maybe it would help the humans trust them, even just a little. All of the Autobots present on Earth, save for Sideswipe, Rodimus and Red Alert, were in the area.
"No!" Hoist shouted back from his place towards the outer part of the town; he had his back to the Autobots. "I refuse to help anyone who doesn't treat us with respect!"
"Aw come on!" Hot Shot tried to reason. "You were in the battle as much as I was. You need to do your share of cleaning up!"
The yellow and red Autobot sighed when Hoist didn't respond; a blue hand rested itself on his shoulder, and Hot Shot looked over to Optimus. "Don't worry about Hoist," The leader reasoned. "He's made up his mind."
"I know… I'm worried about him, though." Hot Shot commented as he turned his attention to Hoist's back. "He seems to be growing more and more distant from us, and I dunno why."
"Nor do I." Prime replied. "But he's an Autobot, I'm sure he trusts us enough to let us know if something's bothering him."
"Yeah…" Hot Shot sighed again, and tossed the slab of concrete he was holding aside. It was then that bits of information blipped on the Autobot's left optic, and he looked over. "There's some Decepticon activity a few miles West of here." He said.
"Where are they headed?" Optimus asked.
"North… They're gonna fly by us in about ten minutes."
"Hmm…" Optimus pondered for a moment, before looking over at Hoist. He didn't seem to be busy… "Hoist!" He called out to the brown and white mech. When Hoist looked over his shoulder, Prime continued. "We have some Decepticon activity west of here. Scout it out and report back."
"Right." Hoist said with no enthusiasm. Shifting into his vehicle mode, the Autobot's treads came to life, and propelled him West-bound.
Optimus sighed, as he looked up into the sky; Unicron was still in orbit, and he was clearly visible in the light blue sky. He was right there, their ultimate adversary was right there… Yet they could do nothing about it.
"Hm?" Optimus squinted his optics slightly at the Chaos Bringer; there was a slight flicker on his outer hull, as if something were launched. A few silent moments passed, and with the exception of the slight change in Unicron's position, nothing happened. But then something bright came into view… It burned up in the Earth's atmosphere as it breached past the clouds, and zoomed towards the Autobots.
"DUCK!" Prime screamed out to all the Autobots. The others' attention turned from Optimus, to the large object that immediately struck the ground between them all. Large chunks of ground, asphalt, and concrete flew up into the air upon impact, and all the Autobots dove for cover. As all the debris landed in several random places, a few Autobots bravely peeked their heads out to see what had crash landed before them.
Strangely, it was egg-shaped. Though instead of a shell, it was covered in a strange metal, complete with several electronic parts here and there. Prime took a few cautious steps out, and came up to the large object.
"What is it, Prime?" Jetfire inquired.
"It seems to be a pod of sorts…" The Autobot commander said, as he examined a screen; it was a black screen with a green line in the middle of it. Occasionally, the green line would quickly elevate, but then return back to the middle of the screen. It strongly represented a pulsating spark beat.
Suddenly, the large pod shook, and Prime jumped back, immediately brandishing his weapon. He eyed it carefully, but then gasped as a razor-sharp, golden blade pierced through the metal, and suddenly retracted back inside. Two massive, red claws then came out from the cut, and pried it open; the metal groaned as the cut became a massive hole.
"What in the name of Primus…" Optimus uttered as he stared into the twin red optics glowing in the darkness of the egg.
Meanwhile…
Hoist was in deep thought as he made his way up a cliff side. He grumbled slightly; the Autobot cause wasn't as clear as it once was. Defeat the Decepticons, protect all life, and all that. But no matter how much they tried, it always seemed in vain. Whenever the Decepticons were defeated, they'd return more powerful than before; whenever some lives were saved, twice as many were lost. It seemed to be increasingly difficult to see the Autobots as saviors and not as laborers.
The humans were not helping, either. Every time the Autobots tried to help with the remains of a battlefield, the humans either threw things at them in anger, or ran away in fear. Sometimes Hoist just wanted to crush one or two of those unappreciative things under his foot… Then they'd at least have a reason to be scared of the Autobots…
Hoist transformed into his robot mode as he came to the edge of the cliff. It was a few miles away, and he could just make out the town the other Autobots were at in the distance. He sighed; it was just a small, human settlement out in the middle of nowhere. Why bother with it? He shook his head slightly, and cleared his mind; the Decepticons should be passing by at any time…
A cannon shot in the distance sounded, and Hoist peered over his shoulder, towards the sky. He then dived off to the side, barely dodging the light, green blast aimed at him.
"Well well, what do we have here?" the purple and silver mech known as Shockblast commented. "A little Autobot taking a stroll."
"All alone, too!" Shockblast's twin replied. "Where are his friends? Off walking an old lady across a street?"
"Great." Hoist muttered. "Just what I need." He was about to turn around and take cover, when Six Shot landed in front of him; Shockblast landed beside him.
"You're in a rough part of the woods," Shockblast said as he and his brother slowly advanced on Hoist; the Autobot was soon cornered. "Bad things happen here." With that, the Cyclops and his twin raised their left arms, and the tips of the cannons spread open; green and yellow energy sizzled and cracked in their respective barrels, and Hoist frowned.
"With my luck, Prime will say he's too busy cleaning a park to help me." The Autobot uttered.
"What was that?" Shockblast asked. "I can't hear you!"
"Just do it!" Hoist snapped. "Slag me and get it over with!"
"…" Six Shot looked thoughtful for a moment; why was this Autobot asking them to kill him… Something didn't add up. He closed his cannon, and lowering it by his side. "No."
"What?" Hoist asked.
"What?" Shockblast snapped. He glared over at his twin. "You better have a good reason not to blow this 'Bot to the pit."
Ignoring his purple and silver twin, Six Shot eyed Hoist. "You're cornered, and are facing death in the face… Why aren't you scared?"
"I don't fear death." Hoist replied. "I've faced it before."
"Then why are you so casual about this? Are your Autobot friends coming to save you?" At the mention of the possibility, Shockblast looked around slightly.
"No." the Autobot replied. "They're busy helping humans. I don't see why, either."
Shockblast lowered his cannon, and rested his hand on his hip. "Ya know, that's the great thing about being a Decepticon – you don't have to give a crap about others!"
Six Shot chuckled slightly. "Autobots gain power through understanding… Decepticons gain understanding through power."
"And what is it that you understand?" Hoist asked; this was a certainly interesting topic.
"It's survival of the fittest; nice guys finish last, that kinda game." Shockblast said.
"Only the strong survive." Six Shot said. "If you were a Decepticon, you'd truly know that."
Hoist looked down to the ground; these twin Decepticons have given him a considerable amount to think about… They would have continued, had not the Autobot's com-link come to life.
"Hoist! Hoist!" Optimus cried out. "We're under attack! We need your help immediately!"
"Sounds like the head honcho and his little amigos need help." Shockblast commented. His single optic twisted slightly, as he zoomed in on the distant town in which the other Autobots were in. "That thing sure looks ticked." He commented.
Hoist turned around, and faced the small, distant town. His optics also zoomed in so he could get a clearer image of what was happening; The massive, hulking form of Scorponok was ripping itself from the large egg it arrived in, and let out a primal roar. It immediately charged at the nearest Autobot, which was unfortunately Prime, and knocked him aside effortlessly.
"So." Six Shot said, gaining Hoist's attention once again. "What are you gonna do?" He asked.
"Hoist!"Optimus cried out into the com-link. "Please respond! Hoist! Come in!"
The said Autobot looked down at his comlink… Should he respond? Should he ignore it…? His mind was being torn in half; part of him wanted to help out his friends, but another part of him wanted to let it go, and fend for themselves… Being an Autobot was far too restraining and stressful… You were expected to do so many things, not just from your peers, but from other life forms, too. That was the main reason he was hesitating to help out. He was expected to help out; he was expected to be an Autobot… Hoist wanted freedom. To be free of the limitations of the Autobot insignia, to live his life freely…
Looking back up from the ground, Hoist proceeded to calmly walk between the twins without looking back. "They can fend for themselves." Hoist said.
Back at the town…
"KILL!" Scorponok screamed out. He rushed towards Jetfire, and the ground shook with each lumbering step he took. Jetfire didn't even have a chance to gulp as he immediately found himself lifted up off of the ground by the massive arachnid's fist, and thrown into a pile of rubble that used to be a building. Quickly turning around, Scorponok gave off a half pant, half growl as he hunched over and glared at Hot Shot over his shoulder. His crimson optics narrowed as light blue fluids began draining from his mouth, and dripped off of his chin.
The considerably smaller Autobot pulled out his engine blaster, and pulled the trigger a number of times; in effect, the blasts landed on Scorponok's armor, and left scorch marks, but the massive mech didn't acknowledge any pain as he turned to fully face Hot Shot. He grinned slightly, as a crazed look took control of his entire face, and his tail wavered slightly in anticipation.
"KILL!" Scorponok screamed again. He charged furiously at the Autobot, unknowing or uncaring of any Autobots that could pop out and ambush him. The colossal, green and black scorpion reared back his fist and threw it as hard as he could down onto Hot Shot; fortunately, the Autobot moved out of the way, and Scorponok hit the ground. However, his fist quickly made a small crater, and what remained of a few nearby buildings crumbled to the ground from the shockwave. His grin quickly turned into a snarl, as he roared out angrily; drops of energon flew from his mouth, and it continued to drain down his face.
"DESTROY!" Scorponok bellowed.
"What's with this guy!" Hot Shot exclaimed as he franticly scrambled for cover behind a broken-down wall.
"Who knows," Scavenger replied; he was leaned up against a wall facing Hot Shot's. "But we gotta shut this thing down fast, or there won't be enough left of us to make a toaster."
"COME OUT!" Scorponok cried. Without waiting for a response, his massive claws opened up, revealing miniature cannons within his palms. He gave out a feral scream as he began turning around in a circle, firing at anything and everything that was above ground-level.
All of the present Autobots took cover behind anything that was large enough to shield them, but whatever it was, it didn't withstand against Scorponok's onslaught for very long. Only a few moments passed, and it already appeared as if a dust storm was settling in on the destroyed human settlement.
Scorponok panted, as he once again hunched over, and let his arms dangle by his legs. He scanned the area, but couldn't spot anything through the dense clouds of dust. He growled, as the light blue energon continued to flow from his mouth.
"COME OUT!" He bellowed once again. Unfortunately for him, no one responded, and this only made the simple-minded mech that much more mad. The dense dust slowly began to clear out slightly, and he could barely make out the form of a destroyed building… Maybe they were there! "Ah!" Scorponok breathed. "TRANSFORM!"
He leaped into the air, and landed on the ground heavily and loudly in his scorpion-tank hybrid alternate mode. His treads came to life, and they spat out dust behind them as they launched Scorponok forward.
"Move it!" Prime's voice ordered from behind the heavily damaged wall. Jetfire stumbled and fell out from one side, while Prime dove out from the other; Optimus clearly pushed Jetfire abruptly out of the way. The two Autobots moved just in time, as Scorponok crashed through the wall, practically reducing it to rubble and dust. Quickly rearing back his tail, and stabbing it into the ground beside him, the large, mechanical scorpion spun around on a dime, and began speeding towards Optimus.
"DIE!" Scorponok screamed as he pulled his tail back, and threw it forward at the Autobot. This time, Prime was too slow, as the tail hit its mark, and injected a serious dosage of cyber-venom into the Autobot's shoulder. Optimus screamed out as he immediately dropped to his knees, then onto his chest. Scorponok paid no attention to him, however, as he veered off to the right, and headed towards Jetfire.
"Uh oh." Jetfire got to gulp this time, but was shoved out of the way by Scavenger. The bulldozer opened his large palms, braced himself, and slammed them down onto Scorponok's beast face the instant he came within range. Scorponok growled as the bulky Autobot managed to push against him to the point of slowing him to a stop.
"DESTROY!" Scorponok roared as he reared back his tail, fully intent on doing to Scavenger what he did to Prime.
Scavenger had almost no time to look up as Scorponok's tail launched forward. Luck was on his side, however, as Hot Shot leaped up from behind the large Autobot. Time seemed to slow down as the smaller, yellow Autobot pulled back his leg in an attempt to kick Scorponok's tail away, and avert serious damage done to Scavenger. Unfortunately, he didn't count on the fact that he could be Scorponok's new target.
Hot Shot's optics widened as the tip of the arachnid's tail pierced his stomach, easily tore through his insides, and came out of his backside. He coughed up mech fluids, and gripped the sides of Scorponok's tail as he was suspended in the air, impaled. The giant green mech only laughed, as he pulled his tail back, and pierced it into the ground before him, pushing his limb further through Hot Shot's now-prone frame. The Autobot cried out at the immense pain shooting throughout his body, and feebly tried to move Scorponok's tail from his body.
The scorpion then looked to the Autobot still holding him down, Scavenger; he had just now noticed, in that fraction of a second, that Hot Shot was attacked. Scorponok quickly moved, and grasped Scavenger in his massive claws. The Autobot cried out as the giant arachnid squeezed tightly around his waist, and he struggled to loosen Scorponok's vice-grip on him.
Scorponok yelled out as he squeezed as tightly as he could, before throwing Scavenger off to the side angrily. He then swiftly yanked his tail from the ground, and threw Hot Shot off of his tail, and onto Scavenger. He gave out a feral scream, and launched himself into the air; Scorponok landed on the ground heavily in robot mode.
His crimson optics narrowed as he looked around, growling deeply. His head quickly shifted from the left, to the right, then back to the left again. "COME OUT!" Scorponok bellowed. He slammed his massive claws onto the ground in frustration, and the earth cracked and crumbled under his might.
"Hey dirtbag!" A voice from above yelled.
Scorponok's head shot up, and he saw his next opponent. Jetfire was soaring down towards him in jet mode, cannons blazing. The scorpion only grinned as the blasts burned and scorched his armor, as he leaped up into the air.
He quickly met Jetfire in mid-air, and the Autobot's onslaught was stopped. "For the love of- " His complaint was also cut-off, as Scorponok quickly grasped Jetfire's wings, and almost easily bent them downwards; the Autobot yelled out in pain, and the arachnid smirked as they started to plummet towards the ground.
Scorponok continued to pummel Jetfire, however. He slammed his left fist into the Autobot's hull, and then wrapped his right claw around his cockpit; the metal groaned, and the glass shattered as the control center of the Autobot's alternate mode was destroyed. The scorpion then took the screaming Jetfire, tucked his legs under himself, and moved his opponent below his legs; it was then that they struck the ground, and Jetfire screamed as he was pinned and crushed.
Scorponok chuckled as he stood up, and stepped off of Jetfire, who was quickly slipping into stasis lock. He looked around again, ready for his next victim. But to his dismay, most of the Autobots were either in stasis lock, or barely able to move. That couldn't have been them all!
The arachnid growled loudly. "MORE!" He screamed out as he looked around angrily. All of the Autobots were either not moving, or twitching slightly. "MORE!" He cried out again.
"We'll give you more." A scratchy voice from behind replied.
Scorponok whirled around, and his optics lit up in bloodlust as the mech landed, chuckling.
"Much more than you'd expect." A second, younger voice replied; he landed next to the first mech.
"You different." Scorponok commented, as he noticed the matching Decepticon emblems on their left shoulders, separating them from the Autobots; these two mechs also had matching frames, but different color schemes.
"Yes we are." The crazy mech said, as he brushed the green and silver cannon replacing his left arm. "We're not pathetic like them." He said in refrence to the fallen Autobots.
The second mech cracked his neck joint slightly, as he folded his tan-colored arm and cannon across his chest. "You'll find that Decepticons are a lot harder than Autobots. Isn't that right, Shockblast?"
Shockblast would've grinned, had his face allowed any movement. "That's right, Six Shot."
"Pssh. No matter." He licked his lips, as a light blue trail of energon started draining from the corner of his lips again, and excitement filled his frame. "You DIE!" With that, Scorponok lunged at Shockblast and Six Shot.
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…
The power is almost unbearable, I am not sure if my body can withstand… It starts going through a metamorphosis, and I can feel everything change. My power, my body… my mind. Bones tear through my shoulders, as my torso grows less blocky, and more sleek. Dear Primus… This is incredible…