Chapter 46

A/N: alright! Almost there…I think? Sorry for the wait, this summer was extremely busy for me.

Review responses:

Alright, I know I don't normally do this, but I figured since it's been a bit since my last update I should at least give y'all this.

Jinxxs—Thanks for your awesome reviews and reminding me to update, I have a bad habit of procrastinating.

ThatOneGuyUptairs—I welcome your critical reviews, however, I do ask that you remember this is a fanfic, I'm just following whatever weird path my imagination decided to start skipping down. And don't worry, the next part will get into some of your questions a bit more. As for cloning Cybertronians, do remember Starscream, in ever single fragging verse of Transformers (besides Bayverse) he basically goes "MEET MY CLONES!" so cloning a cybertronian is possible.

Coronadomontes—thanks for the compliment on the story!

Mimzy94—I'm just as excited as you are, I'm already figuring out when exactly I want to introduce them, trust me, the wait will be worth it…I hope.

Twilightnite13—thanks for all the reviews! I really enjoyes reading them! And as for Wally thinking Strafe's a dragon think about it like this: bigger than dinos he knows, different planet, two heads, and has basically metal plates for scales. Sounds more like the definition of a dragon—and knowing Wally West, he probably wanted dragons to be real at somepoint in his life. Who can say no to that?

Legianreader2003—sorry for the wait, and thanks for the great reviews!

SpiritFighter2008—man, I loved reading all your reviews. Hope this chapter answers some of your questions. As for your other questions, well…just wait and see. It'll get explained more at a later date.

Apex—get an imagination.

Rubeneliasrivera—in reply to you, that was a typo I forgot to correct, my bad.

InterCosmicBooks—Sorry to say this, but I'd been planning the Emerald-Robin ship from the start. Trust me a lot of people were shipping her & 'Bee, my sis included (she nearly throttled me when I dropped the chapter), but trust me, I have my reasons.

That and I wanted to be a little evil! :D

To Guests & others I did not address—thanks for all your reviews! I loved hearing them!

Anyways, I own nothing!

/comm/

Telepathy

'Bee/Soundwave speaking

'Bee and someone else speaking at the same time

January 6, Cybertron

The team walked down the alleys of the once prosperous city, they all had to admit being in such a big city that was so silent was eerie. A shadow passed above causing Zatanna and Rocket to jump, looking up they all saw it was just Strafe flying above.

Bumblebee held out the keycard as they came to a junction, turning one-way the glow dimmed, turning the other it lit up. "We're getting close."

Coming out of the alley they all stared at the massive structure before them, it was an arena that made the big ones for the football teams and the Olympics look small, and on the flat part above the entrance stood a statue of Megatron with his sword and shield and next to him was a woman who held a sythe.

"The Gladiator Arena," Arcee gasped.

"Whoa," all the teens said as they walked in.

"Where to now?" Arcee asked.

As if in answer, the ground began to rumble, cracks spread along the ground, and the shaking caused parts of the grand arena to fall. Before their eyes, a structure rose out of the ground.

"I am totally whelmed now," Robin said and the others nodded as they walked up to the new structure. Bumblebee held out the key and the door glowed, before retracting, leading into a tunnel. "So wait, Vector Sigma's down there?"

"Kaon didn't always belong to the Decpticons, Megatron took it as a capitol, apparently without ever realizing that the sacred city laid beneath his feet," Arcee said. A few rocks fell from the top and they looked up to find a being, with mandibles and two extra arms equipped with pinchers covered in exosuit-like armor glaring down at them, his four solid red eyes norrowing.

"WHAT IS THAT?!" Artemis shouted notching an arrow, firing it exploded, and the being landed and rolled to its feet, proving to be much bigger than any of them thought, it was about Bulkhead's size when he was in his vehicle armor standing up.

Arcee began firing and it lunged at her, swatting her to the side.

"Arcee!" they called making it turn towards them, looking at the fresh morsels it stopped at the sight of the Key to Vector Sigma.

Roaring, it lunged at them, only for Arcee to blast its face and slam it aside.

"Yo! We're being attacked some kind of giant bug-thing here Doc, any clue how to defeat it?" Kid Flash commed.

/An Insceticon!/

/Why is a Decepticon still on Cybertron?/ Black Canary asked.

/A few remained as sentries, should the other party ever return, we left our own form of sentries, the Dinobots/ Ratchet replied.

Arcee transformed and drove towards the side, the Insecticon ran after, only for her to transform again, roll under and continue firing as it ran itself into a wall. "YOU KIDS GO!"

"WHAT?!"

"YOU HEARD ME!" she snapped. Hearing a roar, they saw Strafe flying in a circle above them and she smirked. "I've got back-up! You all just get into the temple!"

"Let's go," 'Bee said running in, the other reluctantly turned and fallowed Watching the door close behind them, seeing a flash of Arcee getting slammed back by the Insceticon, along with a slam from two long tails landing just after.

-.-

Nemesis

"Orion, have you made progress with Project Iacon?" Megatron asked walking into his workstation.

"It seems I am a bit rustier than I thought," Orion replied curtly.

"Perhaps that has to do wih the nature of after-hours research," Megatron snarled. "Did I fail to mention that we'd be tracking your activities?" He pressed a button and the files on Optimus Prime and Bumblebee appeared.

"Why does history portray Moonrider, Solarflare and I siding with the Autobot agressors? Why did Solarflare mention this youngling when I contacted her? And why did Starscream call me a Prime?" he said whirling on Megatron with a glare. "I must know: who am I?! And what the pit aren't you telling me?!"

"You are my clerk, Orion," Megatron growled. "Now get back to work and decode that database!"

Orion looked at him before looking at the screen. "No. I would rather erase all my findings than make them available for your questionable use," he said pressing the delete button, wiping out all the data he recovered.

Looking away from Megatron's glare, Orion bit back the twinge of shame in his gut. This was for the best, Megatron was not the same as he once remembered, his motives were now questionable.

He began to turn and walk away, before stopping as Megatron began laughing. Orion turned back as Megatron pressed a button and all his findings were there on the screen. "Did you really think we wouldn't be tracking and documenting every detail of your invaluable work?"

The door opened and Soundwave walked in with a picture of Cybertron on his visor. "My Lord, I apologize for the disturbance, but one of our sentries on Cybertron has been activated."

"You told me our planet was dead," Orion growled.

"That is beside the point! Guards!" Megatron snapped and two men walked in at attention. Turning back towards Orion he pulled out his sword and held it at Orion's throat. "You will finish project Iacon by the time I return, or I will carve out your spark before your very eyes and destroy your precious sparkbonds."

-.-

Cybertron

Arcee jumped as the Insecticon slammed its claws down where she was a moment before. Running towards one of the side structures she jumped up, swinging off one level to reach the top, where she continued firing.

As she anticipated, he turned into beetle mode, it flew at and slammed into her, landing on the ground she groaned before passing out. The Insecticon landed and went to bipedal mode, going to the now closed doors he started to pry them apart when something big landed behind him. Slowly turning, he froze as he saw one of the Dinobots before him, its two heads glaring at him. The right head lifted into an s-shape before it lashed out and grabbed him by the waist. The other head grabbed the top part and they began pulling, ripping the smaller Decepticon creature apart.

-.-

The Team made their way down the large tunnel, the only light being from Emerald's glow, Robin's glowsticks, and the keycard.

Grooves marred the walls, indicating the presence of scraplets. Hearing scuttling, they all stopped and looked around.

"Keep your eyes open, we don't want any scraplets ambushing us," Aqualad said.

"What's a scraplet?" Zatanna asked.

"Nasty, little, Cybertronian creatures, they look cute, but are extremely dangerous to Cybertronians," Wally shivered.

"Have you ever seen The Mummy?" Emerald asked and they nodded. "Just think of the flesh-eating scarabs, but bigger, can fly, and have big anime eyes."

"Yikes."

"That definitely describes them," Robin shivered. "We had to deal with a whole swarm a few months ago, Base was nearly totaled."

Gulping, they all made their way down the dark, foreboding path lined with massive statues of Cybertronian knights in imposing armor that was carved into the metal in incredible detail, and every now and then there'd be a massive tunnel on either side leading into darkness.

"This place must've taken centuries to carve," Zatanna whispered.

"Where do those other halls go?" Wally asked pointing at the one they were passing.

"Just stay on the path," 'Bee stated coldly.

"Do they lead to the sacred city?" Emerald asked with wide eyes and a huge grin.

"If you even think of leaving this group the temple guards will kill you."

"Wouldn't anyone trapped down here be dead by now?" Rocket questioned.

"The temple guards aren't alive," 'Bee stated, "we've been walking between them for a while now."

Suddenly the size of the doors made sense as the rest of the team looked up at the massive knights.

"What..." M'gann gulped, "what are they guarding?"

"Is it the city?" Erica grinned.

"If you mean the Tombs of the Primes, then yes."

"Uh…Tombs?" Rocket said. "As in dead bodies? In a place with evil flesh-eating bugs and cursed statues? Like The Mummy?"

"Well you're forgetting about the traps and other curses as well," 'Bee stated, "from the stories Dad told me, I reckon this place is full of them."

"That's reassuring," Zatanna muttered.

"How are we sure we won't activate any?" Aqualad questioned.

"As long as we have the key we should be fine," Erica said, glancing at 'Bee, "right?"

He nodded in response glancing at the key to make sure it was leading them correctly.

Coming to the end, the key glew and the door also began to glow before it retracted back, nearly blinding them all as bright light hit them.

Walking through they all gasped, the room was covered in beautifully intricate markings and symbols of a language now known only to a few, glowing blue flames stood on either side of the bride towards a center platform.

"Hey everyone, we're in!" Emerald called as she flew around them room.

As the others admired the place, Bumblebee walked across the bridge, going to a glowing panel on the floor. Setting the Key down, he stepped back as it grew to fit the blue patterns, and the entire floor of the central podium began glowing.

The large platform he was on retracted back, and stood up, making him fall to the ground. The others ran over only to stop as the rest of the floor in the center of the large circle retracted, revealing a glowing white orb of energy with three large rings with intricate carvings circling it in different directions at different rates.

The metal around the keycard began to glow, flashing every few seconds.

"Wow."

"This is amazing."

"I've never seen anything like it."

The moment of awe was soon broken by an all too familiar sound. "Oh no," Emerald said as they all turned to see scraplets, hundreds of them coming out of the tunnel and digging into the untouched walls. Simultaneously they all turned, their gazes landing on the downloading key and Bumblebee.

"Rocket! Make a shield around Bumblebee and the key!" Aqualad ordered.

Doing as he asked, she made the large bubble, surrounding the platform with the weird spinning orb, the thing they key was on, and her teammate. "So are they going to try and eat it and you?!" she asked.

"Yep! Welocme to Cybertron, everything is deadly."

The small beasts were bouncing off the barrier, desperately trying to get through. "Les poissons, les poisons. How I love les poissons! Love to chop and obliterate little scraplets!" Emerald sang running them over a lawn mower.

/What's wrong?/ Ratchet asked.

"Scraplets! Don't worry Rocket has a bubble protecting 'Bee and Vetor Sigma!" Robin called throwing several bombs into the air. Several of the flying creatures saw the metal objects and flew over eating them, only to blow themselves up. "…And Emerald's singing songs from the Little Mermaid."

"First I cut off their heads! Then I pull out their bones! Ah, mais oui, ca c'est toujours delish. Les poissons, les poisons, Hee-hee-hee, haw-haw-haw. With the cleaver I hack them in two!" Emerald continued singing as she chased more scraplets in her Black Lantern suit.

-.-

Nemesis

"No one told you to stop Pax," a guard growled as they aimed their weapons at him.

Taking a breath, he turned towards the men. "I believe Megatron intends to use whatever he finds in Project Iacon to harm the Autobots," he said. "Please, we can warn them."

He was answered by a hit to the gut making him double over as the guard kicked him and aimed his weapon at his head.

-.-

"Activity logs indicate the spacebridge was set for Cybertron and remains open?" Megatron said looking at his TIC. "The only possible reason the Justice League would take such a risk, would be to restore Prime's memories. Activate a groundbridge."

Nodding Soundwave did as commanded and Megatron bridged into the mine.

/…and Vector Sigma/

"So, Vector Sigma is more than legend?" Megatron sneered making the League turn as he and several soldiers walked through. "You Autobots and humans have gone to impressive lengths to recover Prime. Be assured, I will never underestimate you again." The League got into fighting stances as Megatron approached and his soldiers took their own stances. "Now, I assume the one called Arcee will be stepping through that portal, with a reloaded Matrix of Leadership in hand."

"We hold the spacebridge at all costs," Batman said tossing some smokebombs down, filling the area with smoke.

Megatron growled and spun as Superman attempted to jump him from the shadows, grabbing his throat he swung him into Wonder Woman's lasso as she sent it at him, wrapping it around the Man of Steel. Yanking the rope, he sent both of them into a wall. Bulkhead ran out of the smoke and he punched the Wrecker in the gut, causing him to land on Superman and Wonder Woman.

Martian Manhunter tried to get into his head, but Soundwave stepped out and released a brain blast, making them all cry out before falling unconscious. "Well done Soundwave," Megatron praised. "You and the troops return to the warship, I will eliminate Arcee, when she finally comes through and with her dead, I shall destroy the matrix and with it the Primes."

-.-

Cybertron

Arcee woke up with a gasp, looking around she saw the Insection gone, and Strafe napping near Vector Sigma's entrance with the remains of an exoskeleton around his heads and energon on his maws.

"You eat him?"

The Dinobot looked up and the left head coughed up the Insecticon's skull.

"…Good boy?"

-.-

"It's starting to get really tiring holding this!" Rocket snapped.

"We're almost done!" Wally said as he, Zatanna, and Artemis smacked them with metal rods they found. Kaldur ran past and used his waterbearers to make a mace to smash several with. Superboy sat on top, slamming a metal panel down onto the scraplets as M'gann above him making the scraplets think cannibalizing each other was a fantastic idea. Erica's lawnmower zoomed past, running over a few more as she continued singing.

Soon enough, the sound of scraplets stopped.

"Is that it?" Rocket asked.

One landed right in front of her and Artemis screamed before beating it to death with a pipe. "Now it is," she huffed.

Rocket lowered the dome and long beep sounded. Looking towards the energy ball, they watched as it slowly disappeared back under the panels, and the stationed lowered, allowing 'Bee to run over and grab the Key. "Lets go!"

Running out they saw Arcee and Strafe waiting for them. "You got it?"

"We got it!" Emerald said using her ring to pick them up.

"What happened to that other guy?" Rocket asked.

"Strafe ate him," Arcee stated.

"That's my boy!" 'Bee cheered rubbing his necks, the Dinobot crooning as he climbed back onto the saddle and Emerald made a platform allowing everyone to hop on.

Flying them over the city, they landed next to 'Bee's car. The others hopped in and they headed straight for the spacebridge.

-.-

Nemesis

Orion grunted as another kick hit his side. "I have to admit, it's a privilege to stomp the former leader of the Autobots," one guard sneered.

Orion looked at the monitor showing Optimus Prime; so it was true. He didn't have much time to ponder this new revelation as they began beatng on him again. "Please stop," he said as they continued their punishment. "ENOUGH!" Sitting up he raised his arms, which now had blasters on the ends of his armor. "I—I'm armed?"

The men began firing at him, ducking down he closed his eyes and shot back randomly, looking up he found both men on the ground, dead.

-.-

Cybertron

"We're almost there!" Robin cheered.

"Ratchet, we have the matrix, we're coming through!" Arcee called.

/…/

Stopping, Bumblebee jumped off Strafe, giving him one last pat before letting his pet fly off as they all stopped. "Ratchet? Batman? Superman?" Arcee asked again trying to reach someone.

"Something's wrong," Artemis frowned.

"We can't not go through…can we?" M'gann said.

On the other side of the bridge, Megatron stood waiting. "C'mon Arcee, so I may end the Lineage of the Primes for all time."

"I cannot allow you to do that Megatron," Orion said stepping through the groundbridge.

"Why should you care Orion Pax, you are no Prime," Megatron sneered.

"That may be true—or yet another deception. But I know this much, my sympathies lie with the Autobots, and you are not one of us," he said pulling out his swords.

Orion charged with a battle cry and swung down, using his arm, Megatron blocked the blades, and slammed his fist into Orion's gut. "Your spark may be in the right place Orion…" Megatron's elbow came down on his head, shoving him to the ground. "…but you have much to learn again before you can possibly hope to stand your ground against me. A moment that shall never come," Megatron snarled pulling out his sword.

Raising it to kill, Megatron failed to notice the Green Lantern shoot out of the bridge. "BUCKET LORD!" Turning the warlord's face was soon greeted with a green shoe as Erica kicked him in the face, causing energon to run out of his nose with a satisfying crack. Miss Martian flew out and lifted him into the air, allowing Superboy and Arcee to jump and punch him. Aqualad then used his waterwhips to grab Megatron's legs and hurl him into a barrage of explosive Bat-a-rangs and arrows.

Orion looked at the odd sight for a moment, before turning to see the last one come out of the bridge, the one known as Bumblebee…the one the file said was his son. In his hand, he held up the Matrix. "…Are you certain I am worthy?"

"Trust me, you have no idea," 'Bee smiled as a beam came from the keycard and shot into the Matrix.

Megatron grabbed Arcee's wrist and held her up against the wall. "Nice of you to join our little reunion, now, where is the Matrix!?"

"Not here!" Superboy said jumping down, however, Megatron rolled out of the way. Grabbing the boy's leg and tossing him to the side.

Megatron got to his feet with a growl before he froze, Orion was getting back the Wisdom of the Primes! Charging towards them, he swatted aside those who were trying to get in his way, pulling out his sword he jumped and swung with the intent to kill. "NO!"

Just like Megatron did at the Volcano, Optimus caught the blade with his hands just inches from his face. "Megatron," he growled his battlemask sliding back into place, "begone!"

Pulling back a fist he punched his archenemy in the face, sending him reeling back. Chasing after he slammed several more punches before sending his opponent flying back into the farthest wall.

"Begone? That's the best you had?" Wally commented.

"Batman? Ratchet? How exactly did we get here?" Optimus asked as the rest of the League joined them.

/Base to Team, we're getting five Autobot life signals, did you get Prime?/ Atom asked.

"We're all here."

Megatron climbed back up wiping away the blood on his lip. The League prepared to fight when a bridge opened next to them. "It's ours," Batman said. "Fall back!"

They began racing through the bridge, sending the Team first so the teens wouldn't get hurt.

"This time, he's coming with us!" Flash said quickly running out a trip wire, causing the disgruntled Decepticon leader to fall.

Watching them all disappear, Megatron roared in rage.

-.-

Autobot Base

The members of the League that stayed behind at Base ran over to the bridge, congratulating the Team as they came through.

"You guys did great."

"How was Cybertron?"

"Is Prime back?"

As if to answer their questions, Optimus walked through the bridge at that moment, removing his helmet.

"Optimus! Did you miss me!?" Emerald asked flying over him with a wide smile.

"…No."

"WHY?!" she exclaimed falling to the ground.

"Hey, at least he remembers us," Robin said consoling her.

Optimus rolled his eyes at her overdramatics. Looking at his shoulder he frowned at the symbol marring the armor covering it. "Though there seems to be much I do not remember," he sighed.

"Join the club, you missed a lot while you were gone," Superman said.

"I have?"

The entire Team groaned. "Yes."

-.-

Optimus stood on the top of the base contemplating what he had learned occurred during his absence. It shouldn't have been surprising that Megatron allied himself with individuals just as sick and twisted as he…Optimus just never thought Megatron would choose to use the League like slaves to complete whatever their mission was, considering the warlord's past…

"A little late for you to be out," 'Bee said walking out wearing a pair of loose sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.

"You're one to talk, unlike you I have not had as long days as you have," he replied raising an eyebrow.

"Well, unlike you I have been waiting for someone to have a discussion with me that they said they were going to have with me after a certain mission ended," he said sticking his hands in his pockets.

Optimus sighed, Solarflare was going to kill him. "I did tell you that."

"So…what is it?" 'Bee asked, nervously rocking on his heels. "Is it 'the talk'? Because I grew up with the Twins, Mirage, Jazz, and Ironhide so I am already versed in that horrible conversation. And I don't wish to repeat it."

Optimu sputtered. "Wh-What? No! Bumblebee, I know you know my side of the family very well…"

"What is the purpose of this?"

"Let me finish," he said with a stern look as the teen sat next to him. "Primus, you're as impatient as your mother. Anyways, I know you know my side of the family well, but how much do you know about your mother's?"

'Bee blinked at that. "I, uh…well, I know she's distantly related to Onyx Prime, but other than that…nothing."

"For good reason," Optimus said making Bumblebee look at him in confusion. "Your mother's side is…different from mine to put it…" He sighed and put an arm around his son's shoulders. "Bumblebee, your mother and I agreed not to tell you this till you were old enough to understand, however considering the recent events that have transpired I believe that you deserve to know."

"Is this why Grandpa didn't like me?" 'Bee asked thinking of Sentinel. He wasn't old enough to remember much about him, the previous Prime was killed when Megatron slaughtered the High Council in the war's early years, 'Bee was around two or three at the time, but he did know that he loathed his mom and seemed to be offended by 'Bee's mere existence. Not to mention whenever 'Bee asked about him to his parents his father grew quiet and outright avoided the question before directing his attention to something else or his mom would simply say he wasn't important before cursing Sentiel explicitly under her breath.

"Yes, your mom was a descendant of more than one Prime like I am, however, she was descended from Megatronus Prime."

'Bee frowned, he knew that name, wasn't there a bad legend surrounding him? "He was one of the Origininal Thirteen, right?"

"Yes, but you know him better as the Fallen," Optimus stated grimly and 'Bee paled, "making you a member of the line of Dark Primes. It's why…why the dark energon didn't affect you, why you have your birthmarks, those are traits seen on Dark Primes."

Bumblebee's hand reached up to the back of his neck, where some of the black stripes could be seen peeking out from under his shirt only to be covered by his hair. "And…and you and Mom didn't want to tell me because…because you thought I'd turn evil?"

Optimus hugged him, resting his chin on the top of his head. "No, Little One, we never thought that, it was my fath—Sentinel who feared it. We figured my status as a Prime caused it to emerge; we just wanted to protect you. Sentinel would've had you killed if he found out."

'Bee gulped and pulled away. "…And I'm guessing Megatron figured it out?"

Optimus nodded and 'Bee put his head in his hands.

"Primus, what are the others going to think?"

Optimus gave him a soft smile and ruffled his thick raven hair. "You don't have to tell them if you don't want to, the choice is yours. Just know that true friends stick through no matter what, your uncle didn't agree with my choice to marry your mother, but he still agreed to be my best man anyways. Magnus might be a stick in the mud as you've called him, but I know he'll always have my back when it counts."

Bumblebee smiled and got up. "Thanks Dad."

"And where are you going?"

"To tell Erica, I think she already knows but I have to be sure, and like you said, true friends stick with ya no matter what like she always has with me," he replied putting his hands behind his head. "Promise me you won't stay out too late."

"It's not your job to worry about me Little One."

"Someone has to give Doc a break otherwise he's gonna blow a fuse."

Optimus shook his head smiling. "You're just like your mother you know that?"

"Funny, Mom and everyone else say I'm just like you," 'Bee smiled going inside, leaving Optimus confident that despite the new threats possibly looming on the horizon, they'd find a way to overcome them with their new friends and allies on Earth.

A/N: FINALLY! I HAVE DONE IT! I HAVE COMPLETED THE FIRST PART OF THIS STORY! THE SEQUEL WILL BE UP AT SOMEPOINT (meaning as soon as YJ is back on Netflix)! LOVE ALL THOSE WHO HAVE REVIEWED AND WHO HAVE PUT UP WITH MY INCONSISTENT UPDATES (IN ANY STORY)!

Ok, excited rant over, once again, I'm really sorry for the wait, I've edited this chapter Lord knows how many times, and it still managed to kick my aft.

I shall see you all in the next part or in any other story I have. Kudos to any who found any intended or unintended references to other things. And for those who were wondering Strafe and the other Dinobots look like they did in AoE.

Also, Moonrider—who I mentioned a few times in these final chapters—is Mimzy94's OC and Solarflare is mine, you'll be officially introduced to both in the next part. And remember Erica belongs to Sil Vaturha 98 and you can check out more of her story in Emerald Lantern, which you can find on my favorites page.