Chapter 7: The Nemesis
Nightshade rolled to the side. Her wings folded close to her as they could possible go. Behind her Galvatron and Optimus Prime both had taken cover behind the computer consoles in the throne room in the Nemesis. The two large mechs then came out of their hidding places to start shooting at the Decepticons that they had meet. Megatron and Starscream along with Soundwave lead the defense as they kept the three of them away from the labs and Shockwave.
Focusing back into the fight Nightshade let lose a blast of black lightning. The black lightning zapped and snapped at any of the Decepticons that it touched. Megatron and Soundwave were both smart to take cover, but Starscream took a shock. The arrogant Seeker wobbled on his legs before falling flat on his faceplates.
Jumping back in behind a computer console, Nightshade ducked as Megatron fired at her. His plasma cannon making loud nosises against her sensative hearing. She could feelbthe power that came from that weapon go up her legs and right through her bones. Tbere had been plenty of times that she had been shot by tnat canon while on Cybertron. The wounds that it inflicted upon her caused Ratchet and Wheeljack no end of Sparkace to see the damage that she could take before it got to much for her. Being of the Undead did have its advantages.
"What where you hoping of achieving Optimus? Where you looking for your human pet?" Megatron laughed as his attention moved from Nightshade to Optimus. "I will say that the human body is so weak that after a second on intergation the boy started to bleed!" he continued to gloat.
Nightshade looked to Optimus from her hiding place. "Optimus go!" she shout3rd at him. She ducked back down a laser fire just missing her horn. "Me and Galvatron have this! Get Spike!" she shouted as she sprang out of his hiding spot. Black lightning danced out of her teeth towards the Decepticons. Megatron stepped back but Soundwave and all of his cassettes were struck by lightning.
"You dare stand in my way Nightshade!" Megatron roared. Aiming his cannon at her he was ready to blast Nightshade into the arms of Primus when Galvatron leapt out in front of her. He too brought up his plasna cannon. "Get out of my way deserter!" he roared before firing at Galvatron.
Galvatron took the blast full on as Nightshade leapt out from her hiding place behind him to blast both Megatron and Soundwave with black lightning. The two Decepticons dropped to the ground. There systems groaning as they powered down. Another good thing about being Undead. She could force Mechs and Femmes into stasis lock and force feed them their worst nightmares. Shaking her skull to get that thought out of there. She thought that would never surface up again after her teacher and Alpha Trion both started training her to keep the Beast at bay.
"Are you alright?" she asked Galvatron as she looked back round at the silver and black mech. Her red optics filled with worry that the plan was not going to work if one of them was hurt.
They all knew the risks. She and Galvatron along with Optimus had taken a lot of beatings through the years. Galvatron having been a gladiator of the Pits of Koan before he became the warlord leader of the Decepticons. Optimus he had fought forbthe freedom of all and that had lead him to fight in a lot of battles. She had not only fought in the Cybertronian War but also the two human wars and the Time War.
They all could take a punishment but Spike could not. He was just a boy. A boy who had just found out that his dad had fought alongside Captain America as one of the Howling Commandos. That in itself was enough to cause a sane person to rethink what they knew. But that was what happened when the Undead was involved. Everything that made sense was no longer regarded as magic and science joined at the hip.
Shaking himself down he looked down at the small Dragonoid. "I'm fine Nightshade! I'm use to taking a beating!" he replied. He looked over at Megatron and Soundwave. The two were not moving at all. "But what about them?" he asked. He had never seen powers like Nightshade's before. He had heard that the 13 Primes who were created by Primus to fight Unicron had powers.
Nightshade looked over at Megatron. "They have been forced into stasis lock! It will take a couple of days for Hook and Shockwave to get them out of it!" she replied looking back at Galvatron.
"Why not finish them here and now, Nightshade?" he asked looking at her. The Decepticons were all but finished now thanks to Nightshade and her magic. "You have the power to end the war!" he stated. He watched Nightshade as she stared at him. Her wings twicthed and a growl escaped from deep within her chest.
"You have no idea what my powers can do Galv'! I'm afraid of them!" she stuttered looking at her clawed paws that had gained a few chips from her fighting the Seekers to get in to the Nemesis. "No! As far as I use my powers is to break curses and to control the Shadow Network!" she finished saying before walking away from Galvatron.
Galvatron watched her walk away. He felt that being around Nightshade there was going to be a lot of secrets that she was not going to tell him. Secrets that not even her closest friends knew about. Venting air through his systems he followed her as they went after Optimus. His large pedes hitting the ground as he followed Nightshade out of the throne room in the Nemesis towards the corridor.
"Megatron!" someone shouted behind him. He did not turn around thinking it was for the Megatron from this dimension. That was a mistake. He was not given a warning and felt himself falling to the ground and right on top of Nightshade. The Dragonoid grunted in pain before phasing through him as if she had a phase shifter.
Nightshade stepped away from Galvatron and dropped down into a battle position. Her wings spread out wide as possible. Her red optics narrowed on the black and golden mech before her. His purple optics locked onto Galvatron behind her who was getting back to his pedes.
: Nightshade to Prowl: she shouted into her comm.
:Go ahead Nightshade: came Prowl's respone a second later.
:Me and Galv' are going to be later than anticipated! There is another Con here that I have never seen before: she informed the SIC of the Autobots.
:Do you need backup 'Shader?: Jazz asked coming into the conversation of Strike Team 1.
Nightshade studied the Mech in front of her. Her red optics studied the purple optic Mech who towered well above her. :No keep focused on your own objectives!: she replied to both Jazz and Prowl. They needed to get Spike out of the Nemesis and back to the Ark and if that was not a good choice it would have to be either the Avengers Mansion or even UNIT Stirling. He would need medical care that only humans could provide for him.
"Who are you?" she demanded the Mech before her. He took up a lot of space as he towered above everything. He was not as big as Devastator but he was a lot bigger than Skyfire or Grimlock. His purple optics made her want to slip into the shadows and remain there while another part of her demanded to be with her own kind. Shaking all those thoughts out of her skull she kept to her battle stance. "I want ask again!" she growled. Sparks of black lightning zapped at the tips of her sharp teeth as ahe got ready to fight the strange Mech.
"Nightshade how good to see you again!"
Roaring in rage Nightshade glared at the man who walked in on the scene. Wearing a suit that was fitted to him and with his black hair filled with gel to make it stylish was Seth. Beside him was Leatherback. The huge scaly ape was the last thing that she expected to see after Edward has been on his tail since he eacaped from UNIT in New York.
"Seth!" she growled dropping lower to the ground. "I thought you were off planet with your new Dalek empire!" she hissed at the god as Galvatron finally got back to his pedes. His oltics widened when he saw Unicron along with one of the original Primes standing behind him.
Seth strolled up towards Nightshade. He was not afraid of the Dragonoid or her abilites that could turn blood to ice. No he knew that he was what made Nightshade make mistakes. Mistakes that show her saves lives and yet he got away. "No! I believe that Dalek Caan can do something right for a change! And while o the subject of Daleks how is Dalek Sec?" he asked her.
"That's none of your business, Seth! Now what are you doing here?" she demanded pointing a talon at the Choas God.
Seth smiled back at her. "That's none of your business!" he repeated with her response. Putting his hands into his suit trousers he approached Nightshade with no worries of his health. "Now you will come with me with no excuse or the kid gets it!" he demanded. He stepped to the side and alowed Leatherback to step forward holding his prize in his huge hands. Spike who was unconscious looked ready to pass into the other side but Seth was keeping him alive. The perfect shield against her and Galvatron.
Galvatron was forced to watch as Nightshade relaxed from her battle stance. Her wings folded in close to her body. "Release the boy first Seth!" she shouted at the Wereset.
Seth looked at Leatherback. The giant ape looked at the small bundle in his arms before looking back at Nightshade. "No!" he simply replied before stepping away from Nightshade and Galvatron. "But still surrender if you want the boy to live!" he grunted at Nightshade.
"Nightshade don't!" Galvatron shouted as he saw Nightshade actually thinking of surrendering to two gods.
"Silence Megatron!" Unicron snarled. His purple optics glpwed and Galvatron droppes to his knees. His red optics flickering from their usual red to purple as Unicron started to take control again. His Spark felt strange as Unicron's curse meet Nightshade's magic head on. He could feel the warmth that came with being a part of a team and knowing that they had his back to feeling alone and hated by all. He did not want that. He glanced over at Nightshade. She was focused on the scaly ape that was holding the boy.
"Seth I'm warning you! Let the boy go!" Nightshade growled. Optics narrowed as she kept focused on Leatherback. Getting a good look at Sparkplug's son she saw that he was the identical copy of the Howling Commando when he was younger. His body was broken from the experiments done by Shockwave. That cyclops of a Mech was a mad scientist. He took pleasure in tormenting his victims. She should know. She was one of his prisoners back on Cybertron before it went dark.
Seth looked at the boy that Leatherback was holding. He needed medical treatment. Something he knew that the Avengers could provide with Banner and Pym within their ranks. He knew how weak human bodies where and so did Nightshade. The Dragonoid was responsible for the death of hundreds of human deaths herself. "Like I said I'll give the boy to you when you surrender!" he snarled at her.
Nightshade growled once again. Her sharp metal claws scrapped against the metal floor of the Nemesis. Her tail flicked slighlty as she studied Seth. "I'll never surrender!" she replied.
Seth chuckled as he looked at Leatherback. "So predictable!" he sighed looking back. He was ready for a blaat of black lightning to crackle in his face. Jumping back he got out of the way of the lightning. His yellow eyes moved to Leatherback. "Kill the boy!" he ordered with a smile.
Leatherback grinned bearing sharp fangs but he did not get far in crushing the boy in a bear hug before a black white Porsche slammed into him. Leatherback releashed Spike as the black and white car zoomed past him. Jazz transformed and picked up Spike as carefully as he could before transforming back to his vehicle mode.
Leatherback got back to his feet just as a blast of black lightning slapped his back. Growling he whipped around only to be smaked in the face by a tail. Landing flat on his face Leatherback closed his his beady eyes.
"Jazz get Spike out of here!" Nightshade shouted as she tackled Seth to the ground. The Wereset hissed in pain and frustration as he was pinned under her paw. "Go Jazz!" she shouted over at the Porsche. With a squeal from his tires Jazz was away allowing Nightshade one less thing to worry about.
Returning her attention back to Seth. "Alright Seth start talking!" she growled. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. Her red optics narrowed into nothing but embers of rage towards the Choas God.
Seth chuckled at her. "I'm not the threat here, Nightshade! I'm just stirring the pot as it where! I just came here to give you a message for Captain America and Sparkplug!" he replied. He grunted when Nightshade put down more pressure on the paw that had pinned him to the ground.
"What's the message and who is it from?" she demanded.
"The Red Skull is back and has the aid of a scientist who has worked with the Decepticons before! I forget his name but HYDRA are planning on changing mankind from flesh to metal! But the main threat that you have to deal with is Unicron!" Seth whispered before vanishing in black smoke.
Nightshade's paw slammed into the ground. Snarling she leapt around to find Galvatron on his hands and knees. Unicron himself towered above him. A blade of purple energy raised high above his helm as he prepared to execute Galvatron. Galvatron wasn't even moving and the other Mech in the room that was dtill standing watched the proceedings with great pride.
Galvatron couldn't take any more punishment. Unicron was attacking his very Spark. He could feel the cold and hatred that for eons had been his persona as he plunged Cybertron into war. He feared that feeling. It was at this point that he felt himself being pushed out of the way. Landing heavily on his back he onlined his optics to see Nightshade taken the beating from Unicron. The Dragonoid was nearly on the ground from the gods power.
"Nightshade!" he roared. He aimed his plasma cannon at Unicron's face and without a second thought fired. An explosion of red energy exploded in Unicron's faceplate with enough force to force his helm backwards.
Unicron snarled and stopped his attack on Nightshade to face Galvatron. "You dare betray me Megatron!" he roared. His purple optics focused on Galvatron. He did not care that his former disciple had changed their name from Megatron to Galvatron, he was still a traitor. And like all traitors he was going to be punished.
"I wont allow you to punish Nightshade for a crimes that I committed! Punish me but allow Nightshade to go! Allow her to keep defending this worlds inhabitants!" Galvatron pleaded. He looked over at Nightshade. The Dragonoid was on the ground. Her legs haven given up on keeping her up after Unicron's power attacking her. Her red optics had gone dark and he was afraid that she had gone into stasis lock. He did not want to think that she was offline. He would never think of doing all this alone. It was not just her power to break curses that was allowing him to feel like his old self again. It was her. He had never thought that he would find someone like Optimus had found in Elita One. He had found Nightshade thanks to Primus and Unicron's feud.
Unicron noticed Galvatron watching Nightshade. Snapping his helm towards Megatronus. "Take the Predacon!" he ordered the Fallen Prime. Striking Galvatron hard to knock him out as the Fallen picked up Nightshade. Her wings dragged on the ground as the huge Mech walked with his prize. "Don't worry Megatron you will see Nightshade again!" he decalred before vanishing in a blight light.
Galvatron was left in stasis lock until Optimus and Prowl found him.