Promotional Artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333
As Arcee and Megatron refueled, Moonhunter stretched and a gave a purr towards Arcee. The femme smiled and pet him. When Megatron gave the animal a rise of the brow, he then hissed at the warlord. Megatron was hardly threatened and simply crossed his arms.
"Don't hiss at me, I will dropkick you out of this ship."
Arcee giggled, stroking Moonhunter's ear. "Oh, he doesn't mean it."
The large cat was content to sit by Arcee's side until a bang sounded down the hall. Megatron swallowed the remainder of his Energon and frowned, "You didn't leave the door open, did you? That might be the jaggerstripe again."
"Except...that thing would be too big to fit in here. That sounded like it was inside the ship," she said. Both bots exchanged looks, then another noise rang out.
Both hunkered down as Moonhunter snarled in the direction it was coming from. A shadow walked up and appeared on the wall, the silhouette of a mech. Arcee was confused and called out, "Hello? Who am I speaking to? If you don't answer, we will fire!"
The body of the mech came into view walking into the hall. Arcee blinked and slowly muttered, "Megatron, I think we've seen that mech before."
Megatron scoffed, "Yes, because the dead somehow rose. I don't believe in ghosts."
The disjointed, ghoulish mech turned their helm towards the sound of their voices, no optics lit and a hanging jaw. Slowly, they started clambering after them.
"I think you better start believing now because that's no Terrorcon."
As Arcee could now confirm, it was the same dead mech she had taken the gem from. What got her was the limping, nearly floating walk the corpse was doing. She had met Terrorcons, true Cybertronian zombies, before and they weren't this sluggish. In fact, if she didn't know any better, it almost looked like the corpse was being dragged, not walking. The mech passed under a direct light and there was a flux of a shimmer behind it, like an outline of another being. That's when she knew.
"Megatron, shoot behind it," she whispered.
"What?"
"Just do as I say. Trust me, you're right, it's not a ghost."
The warlord looked between her and the zombie before prepping his weapon. He never believed in spirits, not ever, and this wasn't going to change it. Fortunately, he loved it when he was right. In a flash, he raised the cannon at the mech and fired just past it. His blast hit something, and it pushed the zombie to the side and made whatever was there back off. A piece of armor or shoulder was sparking like mad before falling off it as the light around that area started to bend oddly.
The shield or cloak the mysterious entity possessed failed and to the two bots' terror, it revealed none other than an Iacon Cloaker holding the corpse which he then threw to the ground in rage.
"Bolt, we have a problem!"
"I leave you two for five minutes and you already get into trouble."
"Iacon Cloaker, here!" She yelled out, releasing her katanas.
"What?! That's impossible! Those cloned soldiers were deactivated after everyone left Cybertron. Mirage made a deal with both Megatron and Optimus to use his powers to gain ground in the war; those things were only supposed to be temporary, delicate Decepticon scouts. They were designed to hunt down members of the other side but lacked the durability of a normal Cybertronian so they were only brought out for stealth missions. The remnants of them were locked away by Alpha Trion and Shockwave in a pact for emergencies, seldom few knew where they were kept."
"Well, trouble with that theory is, I'm staring one down right now and he's pissed," Arcee said. "So, unless Shockwave messed up, I think whoever overthrew me wants to make sure I'm dead and stole one."
"Insidious bastards. In fact, just name him that out of spite. Insidious can suck it. Show him who's the true queen, Arcee."
The Iacon Cloaker brought out his ion weapon and both bots grew wide eyed. Megatron pulled Arcee down as he fired, and the blast bounced around the room. Moonhunter took cover under a berth and the two bots pressed against a wall holding their audio receptors as the blast damaged most of the room with a pulsing screech. It finally escaped by breaking a window before exploding in a ball of light, the ship shaking from the blast wave.
Arcee breathed hard in fright, then she punched Megatron in the arm. "What the hell were you thinking creating that monster?!"
Megatron sighed in an exaggerated manner, "I wanted to win the war, got desperate and made the Cloaker. Optimus overheard me tell Shockwave in a stray communication and countered with his own. However, he merely gave copies of Mirage's power to volunteers. I...was the one who made the clones."
"Is nothing sacred with you?!"
"To be fair, Mirage was the one who allowed us to do it. He was neutral in most of the war so technically-"
Part of the wall beside Arcee's head exploded, making her press against Megatron in shock, and Megatron shut up immediately, side eyeing the impact in concern. Then another shot almost nicked the gem which Arcee, upon realizing it was still exposed, snatched up and hid on her person.
Overturning one of the berths with his might, Megatron barricaded the door and used it as a shield to try and snipe down the Cloaker. Insidious jumped from wall to wall, crawling abnormally on them to dodge his blasts. When he got close to the makeshift obstacle, the clone didn't hesitate to run full speed into it. It felt no pain barging in as Megatron swiped at him with awaiting claws.
Insidious moved lightning fast, dodging each blow before grabbing Megatron's arm and twisting. It hardly did anything to the likes of the larger mech but it annoyed Megatron enough to distract him and get his arm blades ready which one good slice on Megatron's chest had the Decepticon leader backing away. The Cloaker aimed higher but was blocked by two katanas that met its blades halfway.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" She growled.
Insidious detached from the deadlock and performed a handstand whirl kick that Arcee managed to avoid by recognizing the move. He posed upright and sliced at her. She was fast enough to evade until he managed to catch her off guard and sliced into her waist. She winced and fell, backing away. Megatron stepped over her in defense, not that it stopped the mindless Cloaker from pursuing.
Arcee abruptly smirked despite being down, "Let's see how you deal with this, you cheap knockoff!"
She whistled and Moonhunter jumped out of hiding just as the Cloaker looked behind him. The Nitrotiger leapt at him and Insidious grunted in surprise. Whipping around, the clone tried desperately to dislodge the Nitrotiger biting and clawing at it. Teeth sank into his neck, and he threw the animal off just as he turned back invisible. However, that didn't stop Moonhunter as the cat could still sense him and climbed up on his back, tearing up his spine and breaking the door wing kibble he had. One paw scratched up the mech's arm, breaking the blade off.
Arcee got up despite her injury and grabbed the nearest sharp object which happened to be the Cloaker's own weapon on the ground. As Insidious finally managed to toss the Nitrotiger off again, this time pointing his weapon ready to put the animal down, he didn't see Arcee coming. She blindly sank the blade into his abdomen before pulling out and watching the Cloaker stumble back wounded.
The Decepticon couldn't react fast in his shock to prevent Arcee from lunging and bringing the blade down between the armor on his side. More Energon burst out as Arcee kept stabbing him until he toppled over. Trying to crawl away, the mech didn't get far when his backside was brutally impaled. Arcee forced him to flip to see the blade come down. His invisibility wore off just in time for her to see the sheer terror he was experiencing.
Their shadows were intertwined as a spray of blood hit the wall. Repeatedly, Arcee gave no quarter in her assault. Her optics of light blue were dark and on the verge of tears, not caring that even when the Cloaker's chassis stopped moving, she kept at it.
She wanted him dead, destroyed, decimated no matter what. The only thing on her processor was to kill her assassin. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with one, this wouldn't be the last, but she would be damned if she was going to let him dare cross her.
"You stupid, traitorous piece of-!" She screamed as she continued to stab Insidious.
It took Megatron picking her up and avoiding the recurring gesture to breach metal to get her to stop. "Okay, Arcee, it's dead. It's definitely dead. Calm down, that's enough!"
When they were a fair distance, she threw the blade at it as Megatron carried her away and pointed at the corpse angrily, "I hope you rot in the Pits! You and your employer and your brothers and your-!"
"Enough!" Megatron snarled as he forced her to sit down, kneeling in front of her.
Arcee gave a whine, but the warlord didn't cease his hold on her.
"What's gotten into you, Arcee? This is not like anything I've ever seen you do before." Megatron thought about the reaction and came to a pitiful conclusion. With a sigh, he said, "Your rage against your betrayer makes sense, but don't take it too far. You start snapping like that towards the wrong person and you may just kill one of your friends by accident or even me."
That made Arcee quickly look up and stare at him, a sense of dread overwhelming her as she spotted the body of Insidious only to imagine Bumblebee or Megatron in his place. If she didn't calm down, if she let it go too far, there was no telling what she would do and who she might accidentally hurt.
Out of the blue, to Arcee's surprise, Megatron comforted her in a hug. Her spark began to lull back to a normal pace and the rage seemed to dissipate. She bit her lip and rubbed her forehead against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry. I just...can't believe I was that bad of a ruler for someone to overthrow me," she whimpered.
Megatron removed himself from her and shook his helm, "No, no, you were fine. Even better than me, to my ego's disdain. Whoever did this is just another Starscream, wants power and will do anything to get it. You are a great leader. In fact, do you know how much Optimus praised you? I couldn't get him to shut up about you. You proved it to him and if he's impressed, I have to say I am too."
Arcee smiled at that which made Megatron give his own little smile in return. "I'm not broken, am I?"
"Broken? Hardly. We all have feelings, Arcee. Even Optimus had his moments. It doesn't make you any less of a person to express those feelings. Believe me, I would have done the same had I been betrayed...and I have. But the appropriate time to let it out will come. Just promise me you can hold off until then."
The Autobot nodded, wiping away some liquid forming in her optics. "I can do it. It's going to be tough though."
Megatron stood up and offered her a servo which she didn't hesitate to take. "Most things worthwhile are the longest waits but in the end, they pay off quite well. Now, I say we take the gem back to Bolt. Dawn is here so the forest won't be as spooky to walk through now."
"Thanks, Megatron."
Moonhunter grunted, rubbing against her and she smiled, "Yes, and thank you too."
In order to exit the ship, they had to step over the corpse of the Cloaker. Megatron took one look at the damage she did and grimaced. The Energon she spilt was a bit excessive even for him. But everyone had their demons, he supposed.
Jumping down from the ship, Arcee took the lead as she noticed the forest was much more vibrant now. The sun's rays barely ran this deep into the thick forest, but it was enough to show off faint browns whereas the forest looked grey and grim during the twilight.
However, they didn't make it more than a hundred feet when the jaggerstripe they had met before appeared in front of them. Megatron scowled at the creature. Moonhunter did the same in his own way, fangs and all. Arcee had the only calm reaction between them, but she wasn't any less hostile to it.
The jaggerstripe looked at them, then behind itself in the direction they had come after killing the turretmonger, then to the ship where the Cloaker was. It was sensing the stench of death. Being a creature of death, this was no surprise but what it wanted was a different matter entirely. It snorted like it wasn't happy, then it gave a bellow at them.
"Every time I check in on you guys, it's something deadly, isn't it? I turn on my visuals through your optics and there's the jaggerstripe...excellent. Well, my advice to you guys is avoid the antlers, watch your six and don't die. You know, the usual. Eversire will kill you if it's the last thing it does...why not make it so? End its reign of terror in this forest and bring me back a present while you're at it."
The dawn's luster made its red and pink striped coat glisten with energy. Its attempts to kill them had failed, and it was making that perfectly clear it was not there to forgive them for making it look like a fool as Bolt had pointed out.
Megatron was the first to step forward, cracking his servos angrily. "That stunt you pulled...big mistake!"
The jaggerstripe stomped the ground and blew smoke from its nostrils. Then it reared, raising its helm high and its antlers caught the light. As soon as its front hooves touched the forest floor, it charged. It lowered its helm in an attempt to ram its antlers into Megatron to impale him, but the warlord reached out and caught the horns before attempting to toss it away. But Eversire fumbled and kept low, anchoring itself while still trying to charge.
Arcee brought out her blasters and began shooting at the animal. It whined as some of them pierced its hide but not deep enough to kill it. It broke free from the deadlock with Megatron before doing a one eighty and clocking Megatron in the jaw with a back kick. With the warlord on the ground from the unexpected hit, it charged at Arcee. Being smaller than it proved useful as she timed a jump straight into the space between its head and antlers, barely squeezing through to prevent being stabbed. However, it lifted its head and pushed her off balance to tumble on its back and fall.
The jaggerstripe slid around and slowly stomped towards Arcee, its piercing eyes glaring at her. If looks could kill, this one outright murdered. Before it got close to her stunned form, Megatron was suddenly at its antlers again, grabbing both and this time used all his might to fling the creature away, succeeding. It hit the ground hard, and a loud snapping noise echoed through the autumn-colored forest.
Megatron stared with a grin as Eversire stumbled upright. It tried to shake off the impact only for it to lurch back when one of its antlers hit the dirt broken. Its eyes were wide as it registered just what happened.
He sneered, "What's the matter, oh mighty guardian, feeling a little light-headed?"
It made a distressed noise as it sniffed its fallen antler. It stood its ground, seeing red directly at Megatron. When it charged again, this time it made sure to use serpentine maneuvers to dodge any shots aimed at it. This caught Megatron off guard and he did a silent scream when one of the antler's tips rammed into his waist vents. It dug into delicate cabling hidden behind causing him to bleed.
But did that stop Megatron? A wound from a wild animal was not his worst injury or his most life threatening. He was old but not fragile. Grabbing the antler with one servo, he made the jaggerstripe stand up on its hind legs. He ignored it kicking him with its hooves and grabbed one of his swords. He didn't hesitate to return the favor.
Eversire cried out as the blade impaled its left side. Megatron gave a twisted smirk as he dug it deeper before keeping the sword in and launching the creature into the tree that held the ship above. He limped slightly as he stood near Arcee and watched the jaggerstripe crumple in agony into a forced sitting position, dying. The ship creaked and slightly tilted towards the ground from the force.
Arcee gave him a thumbs up. "That's my partner! You okay?"
"I'll live," he laughed. "Hurts as much as it looks though."
They turned to leave Eversire to its slow and painful fate.
The Autobot gave his wound a quick glance-over. "Yeah, you need to get Bolt to look at that."
Megatron clutched his front abdomen and slightly nodded. The walk back was probably not going to be fun for him.
Just then, they heard a whine from the jaggerstripe, an unusual one and looked behind them to see, by a miracle, the imposing creature stumbling upright with Megatron's blade still embedded in it. Pink blood stained its side and left a puddle but that didn't seem to deter it as it once again stood its ground.
"Can this thing not die?" Megatron sneered.
With shaking legs, Eversire was slowly making its way with a rabid snort at them. The sword wobbled with every movement and more blood began leaking out. It wasn't until Megatron looked up and saw the ship with tree vines and limbs growing around it, holding it up, did he get an idea. He activated his cannon and aimed at the vines. As he did so, Eversire began crawling faster, determined to kill at least one of them in its remaining minutes.
Megatron shot several knots of branches and vines curled on the ship and each mess cleared made the vessel start to slide forward more. Eversire seemed so enraged, it hardly acknowledged what Megatron was doing. Finally, the ship broke loose and fell forward, not before Megatron stared at Eversire and it met his optics.
"Go to hell."
Eversire gave one last bellow in response before it immediately disappeared beneath the wreck of the ship with a loud bang and a pile of dust. Its last remaining antler was in pieces at the edge of its forced burial and the ship exterior partially in the ground.
Moonhunter snagged a piece of antler and sat like a good boy with a purr, chewing on it occasionally. Both Megatron and Arcee were taken aback but left it with a glance at each other. Then Arcee picked up the whole broken antler and a few other pieces.
"Well, think Bolt will have need of these?" She smiled.
A boom and a burst of light behind them made them flinch and turn with their weapons ready and Moonhunter, still with the piece of antler in his mouth, growling. The defensive position of Arcee's pose turned lax and into an expression of surprise as before them, a familiar bluish-green was pulsing in front of them.
"A ground bridge?! Megatron, that's a ground bridge!"
Megatron deactivated his cannon in amazement. "So, it is. Should we take a chance and go through it?"
Arcee was unsure until a shadowed silhouette was forming within the bridge itself walking towards them. Suddenly, Bolt popped out and did a pose.
"SURPRISE! The ground bridge is operational, just as I promised! What do you think?"
Arcee was nearly jumping in excitement and ran to hug Bolt, sending him wobbling in a circle as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You did it!"
Bolt laughed and steadied her as they both stumbled from the unexpected reaction of hers. "Of course, I did, inventor remember? It wasn't easy but that gem holds not just the Allspark's power but its sense of navigation...and its memories! Get this, the space bridge technology we know? It existed through the Allspark originally before we created the exterior sources for our own. The Allspark's ability to teleport was the original space and ground bridge. It was way easier than I thought."
"Bolt, did I ever tell you you're a genius?" The femme asked proudly.
"Believe so but I don't mind hearing it again," he said, fanning himself like royalty in mockery which made Arcee giggle.
Megatron was impressed but when he tried to move towards Bolt, he couldn't help but wince at his injuries which the Vehicon immediately took note of.
"Ooo, you guys fought Eversire. I forgot about that. I had no doubts that you would win given the victory over a more calculative foe like Xerophorus but...the antlers. Ah, didn't think about the range of those horns. I'll patch you up when we get back."
Arcee smirked devilishly, "And maybe keep these warm on your shelf?"
She presented the intact antler and Bolt's faceplate somehow lit up. He delicately took the antler out of her servo with a gasp. "A jaggerstripe horn. Ha ha! Now that's a trophy! It's almost as rough as a diamond yet pristine despite the blood it has no doubt shed in its lifetime. I must hand it to you two, you guys are magnificent."
"Well, I didn't do anything. It was all Megatron."
Bolt looked up at Megatron who had been silent the entire time and somewhat distant. It made the slight frown upon Megatron's faceplates for Bolt to realize Megatron wasn't expecting praise but did yearn for it the same as his gladiator days. Being a warlord where mechs like Bolt could only show fear and follow orders like drones to a hive left something to be desired, something Bolt was all too aware of but had done nothing to remedy.
"Megatron, you did spectacular! I'm honored to be by your side on this adventure, partner," the Vehicon saluted.
It was gradual, almost fleeting, but Megatron swelled with pride between his praise and Arcee's acknowledgement of it. That was enough to make them all happy.
"Well, I take it one of you found the gem..." Bolt started until he saw the remains of the crashed ship. He sighed, "With some unfortunate events as well. Any sign of the crew?"
Megatron shook his helm, "The crew here had found the gem, but we think they didn't die of any type of creature or starvation. The gem may have had a role in their demise."
Clutching the antler, a grunt of disappointment was all that left Bolt in showing his mood on the situation. Just then, he all but screamed hastily as Moonhunter yowled curiously.
"Woah!? You weren't kidding when you said you found a Nitrotiger?! Is that real?! Is it real?! By the gods, it's big!"
"That's Moonhunter," Arcee said like a proud pet owner while Bolt kept his distance.
"Uh, okay. This is Moonhunter, the Nitrotiger you wanted to keep? Alright, I...guess I can live with that...but like I said, if he destroys anything, he's going outside," he snarled.
Moonhunter gave a small growl which Bolt kind of tilted his helm at in confusion and some fear.
Bumblebee frowned as he looked out to the Crystal Palace. "Arcee's been avoiding us. I tried calling her, but she didn't respond and these policies? Did the power go to her head? This is not something I would think she would do. Have you tried calling her assistant, Haywire?"
To his right, Optimus was looking over the data feeds from various individuals in the Iacon Council's chatroom. Shockwave was the only one live with him, on a screen to the side.
"Arcee has been isolating herself and Haywire is nowhere to be seen," Shockwave said.
As the executive speaker of the Decepticon faction in replacement of Megatron per their treaty, Shockwave had agreed to become an emergency member of the Council. The only reason he wasn't locked up like Megatron or the other Decepticon commanders was Optimus' doing. The treaty was signed as an understanding that if Shockwave took control and decided to make the Decepticons coexist peacefully, he would be in charge of managing them as someone needed to reel in the Decepticons from becoming loose cannons in their delicate rebuilding of their home world, but any betrayal or insufficient progress on the joint stability of Cybertron's survival would lead to Shockwave being imprisoned. Given he had a huge rap to rival Megatron's own in different criminal charges, he would suffer the same fate as Megatron...or be executed.
Shockwave, however, did what was asked of him but he was only the spokesperson. The current Decepticon leader was...someone else, but neither Optimus or Bumblebee knew who it was, just that they were being compliant and allowing the peace to be undisturbed. It was clear that Shockwave's concern wasn't him showing pity or the Decepticon Leader playing them, they both were on edge just the same as Bee and Optimus.
Bumblebee shook his head, "Something's got to be up. What does your leader think?"
Shockwave seemed to sigh, "They aren't happy with the policies either. Without the access to the space bridge network and the supplies we were promised, our forces are growing concerned and unsettled. The Decepticons are beginning to think your friendship with Arcee is helping these policies against them come into fruition."
"That's a lie and you know it, we both do."
"Yes, but how do you intend to prove my faction wrong? The Decepticon Leader knows you aren't to blame but as you know as well as Optimus, one cannot simply change an entire faction's opinions of another person overnight, especially on such blatant assaults on the so-called freedom you and your Autobots claim to be available. I can hold out the oppression you might start to get a sense of if these policies continue for a certain amount of time, but it is up to you to figure out what's going on...and dare I say, fix it."
Bumblebee nodded, "We'll investigate. I promise, and tell your leader, I have a feeling there's something more to this going on than what we're seeing in front of the Crystal Palace walls. Behind them might be a whole different story."
"We await your findings," Shockwave said before cutting out.
Bee shrugged aggressively, "What in Primus' name are we going to do? We can't just barge in on our former teammate and suddenly jab a digit her way and force her to tell us why she's doing this!"
Optimus spoke finally, "Arcee is not one to get lost in the dark, not like Megatron."
"But she's just as mortal as he is. We all are. It just takes a wrong push, and anything can happen. I hate to say it but what if someone cracked her? You and I both know she had a lot of traumas over the years, from her forced career as a dancer to watching her friends and family die out through a war she didn't want anything to do with at first, and then Tailgate and Cliffjumper. You don't just experience all those things unscathed. What if all that...that pain...just caught up with her?"
"Arcee wouldn't have been so secret about it though. She makes sure her enemies know her rules and makes them see. She doesn't cower and she doesn't talk through another. That's not her style and no trauma or mood change would ever destroy her outspoken nature. Something is indeed wrong but it's not her that's the problem. There's one person that explains everything and we just overlooked it until now," the Prime said.
Bumblebee scoffed, "Who?"
"Haywire. Haywire is Arcee's trusted friend and associate. It's suspicious that Arcee's been silent, but Haywire concludes that it's something more. Haywire is always the lead spokesperson on anything Arcee decrees or agrees to. He went silent. Haywire never goes silent."
It hit Bumblebee just what Optimus was implying and he immediately agreed. "I guess we need to stage a little intervention then."
"Do you even have any medical training?"
"I'm the only thing you've got, shut up."
Arcee rolled her optics and Moonhunter was gnawing on the remains of Eversire's antler piece. She put the gem in an unused case, one that formerly held some of the weapons they had borrowed from Bolt at the start of their journey. Two down, nine more to go. Two steps closer to going home.
If it was ever thought she would be in this situation with two former enemies before the war was even considered, she would have never believed her conscience. Another adventure she never asked for...yet upon being on the island did she discover new things about almost everything she knew. Cybertron was isolated, there were far more to the other cybernetic worlds than any Cybertronian had thought, and she was still not a queen but a warrior. The title of Queen had never rung true in her mind.
"Arcee!" Megatron shouted.
She sighed and made her way to the medical bay where Bolt was still working on Megatron, and the latter looked disgruntled.
"Please explain to Bolt why I don't need spare support brackets!"
Bolt came to his own defense rather quickly. "He needs something to keep the patchwork stable because I don't have the necessary equipment to deal with it so he's bitchin' a fit."
"I am not! You're putting far too many!"
"And when's the last time you fixed yourself?" Bolt asked.
"I am your leader and after watching Knockout do this multiple times, I say I don't need that many brackets!" Megatron snarled.
The Vehicon pointed a wrench in Megatron's direction, "And you are not. We are equal now and as this team's designated medic, I say you do!"
"I do not!"
"Do too!"
Watching them go back and forth like a bunch of sparklings was at first humorous but got childish really fast. Boys will be boys, she supposed. Arcee finally pressed her digits to the bridge of nose plating. This was going to be a long morning.
AN: Eversire was one of the original villains that was going to be in this before I changed it to make it an area boss.
Featured Monsters:
Insidious the Cloaker (Cybertron)
Eversire the Jaggerstripe (Kanjis)