Was procrastinating for a while but eventually, I came around and brought a new chapter with me. Not too proud of this one, but not all chapters can be perfect. But we're at the finish line, so stay tuned for the next one!
"It's you again," said Unicron into the void they were in.
"Thank you for the warm welcome," Blair said, drifting in emptiness. "I guess I died once more."
They were conversing as though they were old friends. Perhaps they were old friends. In his realm, time moves differently. What a day is on Earth is eternity here. But eternity is ideal for thinking before she returns. Because that's how they do things. She dies, and the god resurrects her and assigns her tasks.
So, in a nutshell, she was Satan's assistant. And she relished every second of it because she knew all she needed was him to make one mistake in order to become powerful. The reward was right around the corner and she was determined to go to any length to win it.
"I warned you not to underestimate him. And you didn't pay attention."
"I should've killed him if Elisabeth hadn't decided to shoot me," she muttered boredly as she fiddled with her hair.
"So you were killed by a human?"
"You didn't tell me Megatron was in the body of someone I knew before. And, more importantly, telling me about his redhead babe" she was enraged because instead of all this chit-chat she might have been doing something far more productive with her time.
"That woman," he remarked quietly and solemnly, "is my key to victory." He remembered the dream in which he warned the traitor in order to make him frightened. He remembered the cries and pleas. He savoured every moment of it as if it were a fine wine. He's never seen a warrior crumble like this before. Oh, this agony and sorrow made him feel alive. And he'll feel much better now that he's exacted his vengeance on everyone. "The key to my victory is Megatron's affection for her."
"Your victory could have arrived much sooner if you had given me anything that could have helped me battle her."
"You have to prove your worth first, insect," he replied in his usual threatening tone.
"I'd be happy to show you what I've built in these few months, but I guess we're out of time. Even in this place," stillness fell between them. A minor victory, but a victory nonetheless. "They are aware, and if they are aware, they will put you back to sleep if you do nothing." And if Blair understood anything, it was that he wanted nothing more than to get out of here. That is why she is his assistant. Because he is so desperate to get out that he is willing to break his own rules.
"What exactly do you expect from me?"
"Power." That was just what she required. That's what everyone in this hellhole of a world desire.
"Is that all you require?"
"There would be one more thing, but more on that later. Now, do we have a deal?" she asked, holding out her hand to be shaken.
"Very well, little insect. But only for destroying our common enemies" he said, shaking her hand.
"You will not regret this" she smiled, then suddenly woke up in the snow.
When she awoke, her body was chilly, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that her blood had turned the snow around her red. She slowly arose, having no control of her arms at the beginning. When she eventually began to walk, she resembled a zombie. She was, in fact, a zombie, a dead person brought back to life. She tried to speak, but it came out as a hoarse growl. She gave up on speaking after a few fruitless efforts and instead looked around, only to find the darksaber gleaming purple in the white snow. She finally took it up after regaining control of her arms.
"Is this body so useless that even you can't control it?" chimed in Unicron's voice somewhere in the back of her head like he was part of her conscious mind all along. He was like the voice of guilt, the voice of all her anger.
"Grrr!" she growled once more, trying to make her vocal cords work. "I came back to life a minute ago!" Finally, there was her voice. "Every time I come back, it gets worse" she muttered angrily, realising once again, that even coming back from the dead is limited.
"I'm already regretting this," he said and she could imagine him rolling his eyes inside her head.
"Maybe it would be easier if you would help me now."
"You already have powers. You just have to use them, little insect" he said as if she already knew she had these powers. "You just have to find something to test it on."
"I already know what to do…" she said, a smile appearing on her face. The revenge will be the sweetest thing she has yet to taste.
"I like your plan," he agreed, because being in her head meant he knew what she was thinking about. "So I let you in command of this body as long as everything goes as I want."
"Don't be afraid, if my plan goes as I want, you won't be spending much time with me."
"So, you're saying that Prime went on a self-discovery mission to Earth?" looked Ultra Magnus at Bumblebee.
"Yes, he did," the scout answered with a nervous smile appearing on his faceplates.
"So, he left us in one of the most important parts of our history?" Magnus asked one of his optical ridge raised.
"He said, he doesn't feel like he belongs here anymore. Of course, I told him it's not true, but he insisted on not taking part in rebuilding our planet and taking some time off" recalled Bumblebee his conversation with Optimus.
"This sounds bad. How are we supposed to rebuild all of Cybertron, without anyone leading us?" asked Arcee, crossing her servos. "We have to call him back. We need him. We need…"
"Hey, guys!" Smokescreen appeared out of nowhere. "Did you hear that Ratchet is here with two cons and Commander Elita-One?" he asked casually.
"The Commander?" Arcee asked back flabbergasted. "I thought she died in the battle of the Ark."
"Apparently not," Smokescreen shrugged. "Ratchet and Knock Out are fixing them as we speak."
"Isn't Knock Out supposed to be in prison?" inquired Bumblebee.
"Optimus put him on probation because he has shown good behaviour" answered Ultra Magnus.
"I would say I'm surprised, but I know that there's one thing Knock Out loves more than being a Decepticon. His finish. He would do anything for it" Bee said as they made their way towards the medical bay of their new base in Iacon.
"You know, Thundercracker… I'm kind of curious how this happened" said Knock Out while pointing at his missing arm and the Autobots arrived in the medbay.
"How did I lose an arm? Actually, I lost it at Aquatron and flew all the way to Earth like this. I crashlanded and that's how I became the human's prisoner. My saving grace from being taken apart was that I wrote movie scripts for them, which helped to have more money on their project."
"Really?! Does this mean that you wrote those Resident Evil movies?" he asked enthusiastically.
"Yeah, though I'm not proud of all of them. Anyway, if I'll have my arm back, and those bots stop staring at me like some damn newborn sparkling can I go and meet up with Starscream?"
"Unfortunately Scream is in a cell deep underground, and if my thoughts are right he is still complaining to Shockwave."
"Typical Starscream" let out Thundercracker a small laugh.
"And you all? Are you looking for Ratchet? Because he is really busy wielding Elita-One back together" said Knock Out looking at the bots. "And Soundwave probably fixing Laserbeak and Ravage not so far away."
"No, we actually came to ask Thundercracker about something" made Bumblebee the first move.
"Did we?" whispered Arcee to him confused.
"Really? Then just ask and I answer because I am no longer part of any side of this war. Though there isn't any war now."
"You said you were a prisoner of the humans. Why?"
"They are planning to eradicate our race, by using our own technology against us. I can't imagine what they would have done if Megatron didn't come to save us."
"Did you just say Megatron?" asked Bee, his face twisting in discomfort. This was not good.
"Yes, I did. He saved us, which means he switched sides or whatever. He's with Optimus Prime I think."
"We have to go to Earth. Now. All of us, sir." Looked Arcee up at Ultra Magnus. They all knew what needed to be done in this situation.
"Good idea Soldier" he nodded.
This was the moment when an urgent call interrupted them. Bulkhead and Wheeljack were in danger. But the real question is when the two wreckers are not in some kind of trouble?
"WHAT NOW?!" shouted Ratchet angrily as he looked out of the room he was working in, to see what was happening.
"Yes, exactly. What's happening Bulk?" asked Arcee as she pressed a button and picked up the call.
"UNICRON IS HERE IN MEGATRON'S BODY!"
"And he is hellbent on blowing us up in pieces!" Wheeljack interrupted his partner.
"The thing is, we need backup. We need everyone before Unicron poofs Cybertron out of existence!" he said, then the call suddenly ended.
"New plan. We have to call Optimus back, before what Bulkhead said happens. Because there's no way he came for the welcome home party."
"Then why aren't we calling him right now?!" argued Arcee.
"You are the one standing in front of the computer!" countered Bee. Then Arcee, by pushing some other buttons, called up Optimus.
"It is Earth, Optimus Prime speaking."
"Question. Is it true what Thundercracker said? Is Megatron with you?"
"Yes?" he answered, a little confused, unsure what to say.
"Isn't he missing something? Maybe his body?" asked Bumblebee sarcastically.
"SO YOU FOUND IT!" came Megatron's voice from the other end of the line. "Please make sure it is properly melted down."
"What does this mean?" Looked Bumblebee at his comrades in utter confusion.
"It means exactly that. I am no longer inhabiting that body and I have no need of it in the foreseeable future, Scout."
"So, that's why Unicron is using it for his plans? Because he's here and we need help. And a plan."
"Then it seems I have one last thing to do" then the call ended. "We need to fix this mistake no matter what the price is" looked up Megatron while Ambrose and Melissa were still trying to wake the fainted Elisabeth.
"We?" Optimus asked back one optical ridge raised.
"You were the one to say that we will save Cybertron together. So we are doing it right now" he answered, folding his arms.
"What about her?" Optimus pointed at Elisabeth.
"She will be safe here, for the time being, I assume. But I have to make sure that this time Unicron is offline because that's the only way to keep her safe" he explained while looking at her sleeping form.
Was everything leading to this? Optimus, now knowing that Primus himself was behind this whole ordeal, was not confused about that somehow the Cybertronian air became clear and started to fill up with Oxygen. They did not make a big hush out of it as they did not need to breathe. Maybe some bots were even delighted that their human partners could visit their homeworld.
"Then we do not have time to waste brother" he looked down to meet his eyes. And those human eyes could not hide his fear. "Because it seems Primus prepared everything for this final battle."
"The time to pay your dues has come" stood Blair in front of Starscream's cell.
The whole alien prison gave off eerie vibes, which she did not like in the slightest, but she still put on the mask of professionalism, for the greater good. Still the scraping sound on the metal, and the sound of electricity when the prisoners pound on the energy field made her stomach twist in discomfort.
This whole place was filled with savages, one uglier than the other. Loud, they shouted after her to let them out, then started to course in a language she didn't understand when she left them there.
"I don't recognise you" he answered calmly. "Perhaps you were one of those…"
Starscream was a big contrast in this prison. Not because of his colour scheme. The silver fitted well with these monsters. Rather because of his demeanour. It seemed the rumours were true.
"You don't know me. But you knew my father."
"Silas? That sparkless foul had a spawn?" he asked while looking down at her, noticing the similarities.
"You helped him and now you will help me. Your dues have come. Unicron calls you forth as you were one of those, who wielded his blood. He needs your silver tongue and in return, you will be spared when this planet falls."
"What does the Bringer of Chaos require me to do?" he asked, feeling that there was an ulterior motive behind this.
"We need to kidnap and torture a human. Don't be afraid, you will love it. Because as far as I know you also seek revenge" she looked at him smiling.
"And on whom can I take revenge by doing this?"
"The reason of all your suffering. Megatron."