At the Autobot base, Arcee was fast asleep when she had a horrible nightmare. She was inside of a dark ship where there were was a trophy room of severed heads of endangered species. Arcee felt horrified as she recognized the inside of this dark ship as the lair of her arch-nemesis: Airachnid.
Arcee could feel the tension in the air when she heard evil feminine laughter echoing in the dark room until she saw the spider-like fembot before her. But then came the scary part of Arcee's bad dream when Airachnid made a hand gesture and she smiled sadistically as she showed the one thing that the female blue and pink Autobot never wanted to see in her lifetime.
"You're too late, Arcee. I've added your partner to my collection." Airachnid said to Arcee.
And just before she knew it, the horror came forth with what Arcee saw next. A severed head of her dear human partner, Jack Darby, floating inside a tank. Airachnid had killed Arcee's human partner and then she added Jackson's head to her collection as a trophy. It was enough to make Arcee snap as she shouted Jack's name before her nightmare came to an end.
"JAAAAACK!" Arcee screamed as she woke up from her sad and frightening dream. "AAAAGH! NO! JACK!"
Someone opened up the door to Arcee's room and it was Knock Out who came just in the nick of time to check on her to see what's wrong. "Arcee! What's wrong?! Did something happen?!" The red medic asked feeling surprised and concerned.
Arcee was on her berth sobbing and bawling while covering her face, much to Knock Out's growing concern for her.
Knock Out carefully walked forward to check on the two-wheeler. "Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" He carefully asked.
"First Tailgate...then Cliffjumper...and now Jack!" Arcee sobbed.
Knock Out walked closer to Arcee and he wrapped his arms around her for a warm hug before comforting her with a gentle tone of voice. "Shhhh. It's okay Arcee. It's okay. Did you have a bad dream?" Knock Out asked Arcee.
"Yes. I saw Airachnid and she...she killed my human partner, Jack Darby. She added his head to her collection as a trophy." Arcee continues to cry as Knock Out began to feel sorry for the fembot. "Ohh! Ohhh. I'm so sorry. But do not worry your human pet—I mean, your partner is still alive and he is completely safe and unharmed on Earth." Knock Out assured Arcee.
"How can you possibly be sure about that?" She asked.
"Because Soundwave used a portal to banish Airachnid and the Insecticons onto Cybertron's moon." Knock Out replied. "I have no doubt that she and her mind-controlled slaves are stuck in space." He said to Arcee.
Arcee was still afraid as tears streamed down from her faceplate. "But what if...what if she comes back?! What if—"
"Calm down, Arcee. I think I know how you're feeling." Knock Out told Arcee as he began to empathize with her, "You see, you're not the only Cybertronian who's suffered the loss of a beloved partner because of that six-armed spider. She killed Breakdown." He echoed.
Arcee was surprised, "She did?! Ohh, I'm so sorry about your loss." She said sympathetically to the ex-Decepticon medic.
"Believe me; When Dreadwing informed me what became of Breakdown and what Airachnid did to him, it broke my spark." Knock Out said, saddened by the memory of his former partner before he made a hateful remark on Airachnid, "I wanted to perform a lot of severe surgery on that glitch to turn her body inside out for what she did to kill my dear partner." Knock Out said, but then he stopped himself as he took a deep breath to calm down before he proceeded, "But I knew that seeking revenge on her would mean that the Decepticons would lose their one medic if I died trying to terminate her." He said.
Arcee wiped her tears. "Knock Out? It was very kind of you to check on me to make sure that I'm alright." She appreciated the red mech. "But I'm still very worried about Jack and what would've happened if I've failed to protect him from Airachnid. In fact, I fear for Jack's life." She said worryingly.
Knock Out cupped Arcee's cheek and gave her a reassuring look as he kindly replied, "I promise you that if anything bad happens, you have my support and I will do my best to protect your partner. But most of all, I would even risk my very spark to save you and Jack. Especially from freaks like Airachnid." He declared.
Arcee was confused, "Why do you care so much about me and the ones I care for?" She asked the medic.
Knock Out paused before he answered, "Because I feel as though it's the right thing for me to do. In fact, I would rather die a thousand deaths than to see you cry and suffer more deaths of the ones closest to your spark." He said to Arcee before he revealed his true feelings for her, "What I'm trying to say is...I love you." Knock Put confessed.
Arcee was surprised, "You...you love me?" She asked.
Knock Out answered, "Yes, Arcee. I love you not because we both share the same enemy who killed our partners, but because you're the bravest and smartest warrior I've ever met." He said in all honesty, "It took me like five years to become your best friend since after I've joined the winning team." Knock Out admitted.
Arcee lowered her head before she looked at the red medic and politely asked, "Knock Out?"
"Yes?" asked Knock Out. "Can...can you spend a few more cycles with me? Please? I feel too scared to go back to recharge." Arcee asked Knock Out as she was too afraid and sad to go back to sleep. Knock Out made a warm smile to comfort her, "Of course, dear." He said.
Knock Out stayed with Arcee in her room for a while as he sat right next to her to keep her company until an hour later, Arcee felt a little better before she decided to sleep right next to her new partner. Knock Out blushed when Arcee gently laid her helm right onto his shoulder before she suddenly fell asleep onto his chest. Knock Out didn't mind her and he looked at his own datapad to keep himself busy as he started journaling onto it.
He made sure to make Arcee feel more comfortable while sleeping onto his chest until a few minutes later, Knock Out was just about done with using his datapad. After putting it away, Knock Out was feeling tired and then he decided to sleep right next to Arcee as he closed his optics and went to recharge with his new partner.
It was morning when Megatron arose from his sleep. He didn't have a good night's recharge as his battle-scarred face seemed to look tired and weary. Megatron surely had a hard time getting a night of good sleep, especially after what happened last night between him and his son, Orion Eclipse, who was mad at his father for hiring Overload and Barricade to hunt down and kill what's left of Optimus Prime's family. Megatron tried to explain to his son why his childhood sweetheart, Altair Comet, was put in danger, but Orion was too angry to listen to his father's excuses.
Megatron sighed deeply as he thought to himself, "I lost my son once and I don't want to lose him again. Not like this. Orion Eclipse is the only thing of my beloved - his mother - I have left. And I want to ensure that her memory is not tarnished by hatred and bitter rivalries. There has to be a way for me to fix this, to try to reason with my son and apologize for sending two of my own Decepticons after Altair Comet and her mother to kill them to get back at Optimus for the loss of my family."
Megatron walked out of his quarters when he met Ironhide who was searching for his pupil, Orion Eclipse. "Oh, hey Megatron." Ironhide greeted the former Decepticon warlord. "Ironhide. Have you seen my son?" Megatron asked the red Autobot. "Orion? Well, I haven't seen him since last night, especially after he found Altair. Is something wrong?" Ironhide asked. Megatron sighed and he answered in an unhappy tone of voice, "I got into a fight with my son the other night. You see, my son is angry with me because I was the one who hired both Barricade and Overload to track down and kill his girlfriend, Altair Comet, and her mother, Elita-One." Ironhide was shocked. "You what?! Why would you send two of your own Decepticons after Optimus Prime's conjunx-endura and daughter?!" Megatron replied, "I did it because I wanted Optimus Prime to feel the same pain I've felt when I thought that my own son had died on that fateful day. Had I known that Orion Eclipse survived the explosion before suffering from amnesia, then I would've searched for him and canceled the assassination attempt on Prime's family." Megatron lowered his head in remorse.
Ironhide paused before he told Megatron, "I'm sorry about what had happened. Do not worry though. I'm sure your son will come around." he promised the old mech. "Are you sure?" Megatron asked.
"Of course, I'm sure, Megatron. Plus, I've gotten to know your son when he became my student and I know for a fact that Orion Eclipse did had some bad blood with us Autobots at first, but as time went by he certainly came a long way since we first met him." Ironhide told Megatron, "He went from being a missing Decepticon and a stranded Cybertronian with amnesia to a brave Autobot warrior." The red Autobot mech said with confidence in his voice before he made a serious expression on his face as he began to speak with his former enemy about something.
"And Megatron? I do know what it's like to have a bereavement, to be hurt, sad and angry, but trying to make someone especially Optimus Prime feel hurt from losing a family just as you have for revenge won't make a difference since it happened many stellar cycles." Ironhide told Megatron before he continued, "And as a father, I do understand what it's like to get into conflicts with your family members, especially with your only child. The only advice that I can try to offer you is to give your son some time and space to think for a while before you two can actually start over and reconcile with each other."
Megaton replied, "Thank you, Ironhide." He said to the red, middle-aged Autobot.
Three hours later, Megatron was ready to reconcile with his son. So he went to find Orion Eclipse in his room, but he found Altair Comet in there instead. Altair Comet was scared when she saw Megatron entering the room and he was surprised to see the young fembot. Her fear suddenly turned to anger and sadness as Altair Comet stared hatefully at Megatron.
"Why are you here?!" Altair Comet said at Megatron. The former Decepticon warlord didn't respond as he could already tell that the daughter of Optimus Prime was angry with him for the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother.
Megatron was ashamed of all the evil things he had done shook his head and he gently spoke to Altair. "I mean you no harm, Altair Comet. I was only looking for Orion. Do you know where he is?" Megatron asked. "Your son is having a meeting with Ultra Magnus and the Autobots. But he doesn't wanna talk to you right now. He's busy." Altair Comet told Megatron.
"Okay..." Megatron paused before he started speaking to Altair Comet. "Altair? I'm sorry about your parents. I'm really sorry that you got separated from your mother...and that you lost your father." He apologized to the fembot. Altair Comet was not convinced by Megatron's sympathy for her. "Don't try to sympathize with me. You started the Great War and now my parents are gone because of you! And I hate you!" Altair cried. "Altair, listen. I—" Megatron said, trying to console her, but Altair Comet interrupted. "No, YOU listen! My father is dead and my mother is missing and I don't know if she could still be alive or not! You ruined everything!" Altair said to Megatron as she began tearing up before sobbing.
Megatron didn't reply as he made a remorseful expression and he admitted to having done all the horrible war crimes he's done which resulted in the loss of Optimus Prime and Elita-One. And now Altair Comet is an orphan and the only family and friends she has now in her life are Bumblebee, The Autobots, and her childhood boyfriend, Orion Eclipse. It was then that Megatron decided to leave his son's childhood sweetheart alone so that she could mourn for her parents.
At the vault, Orion Eclipse looked at the Sword of Primus and he thought about how he could use the ancient powerful relic to help prevent a Second Great War. But when Orion Eclipse held the sword, it was too heavy for him to hold. The young Autobot attempted to activate the Sword of Primus' power by using some kind of magic word to get it to work for Orion so that it would be less heavy and then maybe become easier for him to use. But no matter how much he tried, Eclipse couldn't get the Sword of Primus to work for him.
"Come on, work! Dammit! Abracadabra! Ugh! Come on, work! WORK!" Orion Eclipse said as he desperately tried to lift the Sword of Primus and attempted to use it and activate its power before he lost his grip and fell onto his rear. "Ow! GOD PRIMUS DAMN YOU!" Orion Eclipse cussed before he looked at his own reflection in the Sword of Primus, believing that the Spirit of Optimus Prime was inside of it.
Orion Eclipse sighed, "Optimus? If you could hear me or any of us, please...we need your help. We cannot defeat Doomsayer or stop the Decepticons from starting a second Great War without a Prime to lead us. We can't do this without you."
A door to the vault opened and the sound of its opening startled Orion Eclipse. It was Ironhide who came to check in with his apprentice. "AAgh!" Orion Eclipse squeaked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, Orion. Are you okay? You sound like you're having a lot of stress." Ironhide said to the young bot. Orion Eclipse took a deep sigh and admitted, "Yeah. I am having a lot of stress right now. I got into a fight with my dad last night. I helped Altair Comet recover from the loss of her parents. Now I'm trying to wield the Sword of Primus. Yet for some reason, I can't get this damn thing to work! It's too heavy and its power won't respond to me." He complained.
Ironhide was shocked before he told Orion the bad news hearing the sword, "Uh, Orion? I don't know how to tell you this, but I think that the Sword of Primus might not be working for you because it either won't let you use it in anger...or that the sword doesn't find your spark pure and it finds you unworthy to wield it." The red Autobot said. Orion was surprised. "What!? Why not?! Didn't Optimus Prime say to you, Hot Rod, and Ratchet once that I was going to be the Autobots' only hope at stopping the Decepticons from putting Earth and Cybertron in great danger! I thought that he meant that I could become the next Prime and succeed him to become a hero! But I guess that he was wrong about me the entire time." Orion Eclipse said in disappointment. Ironhide sat right next to his pupil and he tried to comfort him.
"I'm sorry, Orion. Sometimes, we don't meet our expectations as reality shows us that not everyone gets to turn out to be something or someone that they always wanted to be." Ironhide said to Orion Eclipse.
"But you know what I think? I think you're already special and you have a good heart. You were a lot different from the Decepticons, including your father as I believe that not all children grow up to be like their parents." Orion looked to his mentor. Ironhide smiled at his apprentice before he continued his uplifting speech to him, "You have made yourself into a fine young Autobot, especially after you saved your friends to complete your training before you graduated and joined us. What I mean to say is that I believe in you, Orion Eclipse and I know that you will help us put a stop to Doomsayer's threat."
"Ironhide? I appreciate you trying to cheer me up with your kind words. But I'm having a different problem besides not being worthy of becoming a Prime by using that sword...it's about my dad, Megatron. I'm sure you heard about our fight." Orion Eclipse said.
"I did. I have actually spoken to your father this morning and he told me that he wanted to try to make amends with you and Altair Comet, to apologize for everything he's done." Ironhide told the young Ex-Decepticon turned Autobot. "But then he decided to just leave the two of you alone because he knows that what he did in the past was evil. You don't have to forgive your father if you don't want to, but whatever you do, don't let Megatron's crimes cloud your judgment. As for Doomsayer, we don't need to worry about that monster or hyper-focus on his threats because we will all be ready to make sure that he and his New Decepticons won't be able to succeed at finding and freeing Unicron the Chaos Bringer to bring doom upon the galaxy and destroy us all." He said.
"Thank you, Ironhide. Maybe I will consider cutting my father a little slack." Orion Eclipse told his mentor as he got on his feet with Ironhide doing the same before saying, "Besides, he may not have approved of me being in love with Optimus' daughter in the past from when we were teenagers, but maybe this time, Megatron would not be the same bad guy and overprotective father like he was before." Orion said with a bit of hope in his voice.
"Maybe tomorrow, I can help you compromise with your father," Ironhide replied.
"Yeah." Orion Eclipse said.
Meanwhile, on Earth in Boise, Idaho, Jonathan Dave Carter has bought a laptop for his stepson, Anthony. But he didn't wanna give it to him until his birthday would come soon. While he was wrapping up the gift, he was still surprised by how Megatron came back and he was now on the Autobots' side as a Neutral battle strategist after being gone for years. Jonathan even remembered the day when his stepson was sneaking out of the mini hotel to spend time with Megatron's son while befriending him at the woods. Jonathan admitted that he was angry with Anthony for keeping secrets from him that he was befriending a Cybertronian while going too far away from him just for the sake of visiting his giant robot friend. He feared that if anything happened to Anthony, that he would put himself into a dangerous situation that would get him killed, especially by one of the Decepticons or even an Autobot, then Katherine would lose her son and she would hate Jonathan for not keeping her son safe.
Later that day, Jonathan came to talk to his stepson as he knocked on his bedroom door. When Anthony didn't answer due to listening to his iPod, Jonathan knocks on the door louder which annoys his stepson. "Yes?!" Anthony said. "Can I come in?" Jonathan asked. Anthony paused before he answered, "Come in." he invited. Jonathan Dave Carter opened the door to Anthony's bedroom before he began to have a conversation with him.
"Hey, Anthony." Jonathan greeted his stepson. Anthony turned away from his stepfather rudely and in frustration. "Hey, what gives?" He asked, offended. "What gives? You and mom never told me that there were giant alien robots that can turn into vehicles." Anthony Carter said to his stepfather before ranting, "I didn't ask for any of this! I didn't expect my friend, Orin Eclipse, to be the long-lost son of Megatron—the Decepticon warlord once who tried to destroy Earth and all of humanity before he apparently turned to the good side after all the evil things he's done."
Jonathan could already tell that his stepson was upset about the fact that his Cybertronian friend was related to a former tyrant.
Anthony then added, "And now the US government has declared that all Transformers or Cybertronains are a threat to humanity, and everything thinks that the Autobots that are good are alien invaders when In actuality, Doomsayer and his New Decepticons are the ones who captured us and forced us into slave labor for their evil intentions and Orion had to risk his own life to save us!" He took a deep breath.
"Son, I get why you're upset about the whole Autobot and Decepticons situation and rivalry that's going on right now, but at least you got to see Orion Eclipse again. But I still can't believe that you would sneak out of the mini hotel at night to visit your friend. Not to mention that you visited him at a mountain where you could've frozen to death!" Jonathan raised his voice at his stepson.
"I could've told you the truth, but I didn't think you would believe me if I said that I made friends with a giant robot and plus, you would have been overprotective of me!" Anthony replied.
"Don't give me that attitude, son! Your mother and I would've been worried sick if you went to far away and then put yourself into grave danger just because you wanted to pay Megatron's son a friendly visit." Jonathan lectured his stepson. "I'm not a kid anymore. And I'm NOT your son! My dad taught me well how to survive out in the wild and to defend myself and others long before he died in a car crash that one fateful day...until YOU came into mom's life! I never asked to have a stepfather in the first place and YOU, Jonathan, will never be as good as my dad was!" Anthony's harmful words were enough to break Jonathan's heart before he snapped, "Now you listen here, Anthony! You don't talk back to me, badmouth about me, or be ungrateful to have me as your stepfather! Listen, I married your mother because we were in love! I gave you and your mother financial support! And I still wanna teach you to drive and to be independent and I expect you to not get into fights with me!"
"STOP FIGHTING BOTH OF YOU!" Katherine Carter raised her voice as she separated her husband away from Anthony. Anthony was surprised to see his mother come in to break the fight between him and his stepfather. He knew that he was in trouble now for being mean to his stepfather. Katherine comforted Jonathan and then she decided to keep him and Anthony separated for a few hours until they could apologize for their fight. Meanwhile, at Iacon, Orion Eclipse was ready to find his father so that he would cut him some slack and try to reconcile with him. But when he found Megatron, he saw that he had an angry expression on his faceplate. Orion assumed that his father was angry with him, so he took a deep breath and went over to try to talk to his father.
"Hey dad?" Orion Eclipse said to his father. Megatron looked at his son. "What is it, son?" He asked. "Well, I came to tell you that I'm sorry for our fight last night and...I forgive you for all the things you've done. Now, I wanna tell you about Altair Comet and that I..." Megatron interrupted his son, "I know what you're gonna say, Orion. You're going to tell me that you have consoled your little girlfriend with the loss of her father and the disappearance of her mother. But I want you to know that I've actually spoken to Optimus Prime's daughter this morning." He said.
"You did? What did you talk about?" Orion Eclipse asked, surprised. "Well...I tried to make amends with Altair Comet for the evil deeds I've done and for all the crimes I've committed which resulted in the disappearance of her mother, Elita-One and the loss of her father, Optimus Prime. But it seems that your girlfriend doesn't want to forgive me and not only does Altair hate me, but she also blames me for everything."
"Ohh! I-I'm sorry to hear that, dad. Well...Why don't I just explain it to her that you're not evil anymore? Also, what makes you think that Altair Comet is my girlfriend?" Orion Eclipse said. "You don't remember? You and Altair used to go on your secret dates together behind my back." Megatron told his son. "Altair even asked you to run away with her once." He recalled. "She did?!" Orion exclaimed. "Yes! And you know what, Orion Eclipse?! I still do not approve of your relationship with Optimus' daughter because if you intend on having Altair as your future conjunx-endura, then I would really hate to have a daughter-in-law who hates me!" Megatron told his son angrily.
Orion Eclipse was shocked. "Are you saying that you STILL don't want me to be in love with Altair Comet?!" He asked. "Yes! I will not allow you to be together with her. In fact, I still forbid you from ever being in love with Altair!" Megatron replied. "Why?! Because she hates you for your past villainy?! Because she's related to your former arch nemesis?! Or maybe because she's an Autobot and I'm supposed to be a Decepticon when I'm an Autobot now?" Orion Eclipse asked. Megatron paused before he answered, "Yes." Orion Eclipse mad a frown as he couldn't believe what his father was saying to him. "Unbelievable! Even after you're reformed, you're still a xenophobic hypocrite and you are a terrible father, dad!" Orion Eclipse said to Megatron. "Excuse me!?" He asked, offended. "You heard me! You're a hypocrite because you still forbid me from ever falling in love with an Autobot, when once upon a time, the Autobots wouldn't allow my mother to marry a Decepticon warlord like you! And even though you're a Neutral nowadays and you're on the Autobot's side, you are still against their kind!" Orion Eclipse said as he argued with his father. "Don't you DARE compare your love life with mine, young bot! Your mother was a nurse at Kaon who chose to be a Decepticon instead of an Autobot! And you have no right to talk back to me like that! I am your father and you will do what I say!" Megatron yelled at his son. "Then let me ask you something, dad: if you don't approve of me being in love with Altair Comet because she's an Autobot, then why did you marry my mom if she ever was an Autobot!?" Orion Eclipse said.
"Your mother was a nurse at Kaon! She was a Neutral who was about to become an Autobot before she left Iacon to be with me! I know that you want to rekindle your romance with Optimus' daughter—"
"Her name is Altair Comet! Also, didn't you and Optimus once planned on getting us together when we were sparklings so that we could unite the Autobots and Decepticons to end their war and rivalry with each other?!" Orion Eclipse asked. "Yes, we did thought of that, but then your mother died and we abandoned our idea on playing matchmaker with you and Altair!" Megatron replied.
"I don't have time for this. I'm going!" Orion Eclipse said before he bailed out of his bad conversation and unhappy situation with his father.
"W-Where are you going, Orion!? I'm not finished with you yet, young mech!" Megatron yelled. "I'm finished!" Orion yelled. He shut the doors behind him and ran to his room.