Chapter 25: Scourge

Nightshade had been too many worlds and had seen many different people in her years of traveling. Nothing prepared her for what she was seeing on Animatron. The Ground Bridge that Soundwave had opened within the Space Bridge had opened up in a small market place within the shadow of a huge palace. The market place on a first glance looked like a normal market place. Mechs and Femmes who had beast alt. modes instead of vehicle alt. modes walked about in their daily business. There was very few Younglings walking not running not playing as they followed adults about the market. There was something wrong with the picture that Nightshade was seeing.

Nightshade looked over at Dreadwing the large blue and yellow Seeker along with Barricade and Soundwave were getting a lot of strange looks. Nightshade however looked like she belonged on Animatron. "We need to move into the shadows! We are to easily exposed out here!" she whispered to the tallest Mech.

"Halt!"

Nightshade and Dreadwing both looked around to see a Mech who had the alt. mode of Spinosaurus. The Mech was rather small compared Dreadwing and he didn't look as sturdy as Barricade. But the way that his yellow optics jumped from Soundwave to Barricade and then to Dreadwing to her she had a feeling that he was the Starscream of this planet. "We are just passing through!" she said the Dinobot before she used her wings to start pushing Barricade away from the street with Soundwave following beside the Mech who had taken the same form as Prowl. Dreadwing had taken a protective stance beside Nightshade as the Mech who was taller than her approached her.

The Dinobot stared at her with yellow optics as he kept on approaching. He jumped back when Dreadwing stomped his large pede on the ground. "You have no honour on how you treat ladies!" Dreadwing snapped at the native of Animatron.

"Forgive me! We have many Femmes on Animatron but none who have taken the same alt. mode as Scourge! He will wont to meet you?" the green Dinobot said taken another step closer to Nightshade. He leapt back when Nightshade's teeth came into full view along with sparks of black lightning. "It is my duty to report to Scourge on all new arrivals even if they are passing through! I am sure that once you meet him malady you would not want to leave our planet!" the Dinobot said trying again to walk closer to Nightshade.

Dreadwing then had enough. He stepped in between Nightshade and the green plated Dinobot from Animatron. "You should have respect for a warrior who has been in more fights than you!" he snapped at the Dinobot. The Spinosaurus Mech jumped backwards and away from Dreadwing but suddenly he found Nightshade behind him.

"Well I want to also see Scourge! I want to have a word with him!" Nightshade said when the Mech turned around and faced her. "So how about this you take us to Scourge and then you will leave so that I may speak to him!" she said keeping her voice level. While on the outside she was calm, but on the inside something was wrong. Nightshade would say that she was a calm person. She had to be when dealing with Ghouls and Ghosts on a daily basis and they could smell when someone was not calm. But this was not that. It was something else. It felt like a small worry at the back of her mind. Deciding that it was not of any importance she forgot about it and looked over at Dreadwing. "We are not here to start a fight! I just want to speak to Scourge and then be on our way!" she said still keeping a calm voice.

The Dinobot looked at all the Decepticons behind her and then back at Nightshade. His yellow optics brightened as he kept on looking at her. "Why do you want to see Lord Scourge?" he asked her after a good few seconds of just looking at her.

Nightshade let out a hiss and then moved in closer to the Dinobot who was being annoying to her. Her metal claws left a lasting imprint on the ground and many of the locals looked on to the scene that was being made between Nightshade and her team along with one of Scourge's top dogs. "That is not of your concern! Now take us to Scourge!" she demanded.

The Dinobot looked at all of them one more time before he focused once again on Nightshade. "I can take to see him but if he wants to talk to you that will have to be up to you! He only listens to the strong and powerful!" the Mech said to her. Nightshade responded only with a grunt and motioned for the Mech to show them the way to Scourge's palace. The palace that looked down at the market place.

Nightshade followed after the Dinobot with Dreadwing walking right beside her. Soundwave and Barricade took flanking positions behind them only to find that they were being followed by more of the natives of Animatron. Nightshade was keeping her outward appearance calm but on the inside there was turmoil. The last time she had felt this way had been early in the war when Orion Pax a dock worker had become the new Prime and she was to train him on what the Matrix could not teach him. The bond that formed between them was of sibling hood. Something that neither of them had when they were growing up. That bond had slowly went away when Optimus had become Sparkmate with Elita One. Now it seemed that it was her turn to form a Sparkbond with a Mech. But she had hardly been around any Mech apart from Galvatron and he was no doubt still in the Space Bridge or was orbiting the planet waiting for the right moment to attack.

Dreadwing tapped Nightshade on the wing as they came up to a huge flight of stairs. The young Dragonoid looked up at the large Seeker. "We could be walking into a trap, Nightshade!" he whispered to her. He spoke low so it was only her that could hear what was being said.

"I know! So keep your optics open! We only attack if they attack first!" she whispered back to him. She took a quick glance towards Soundwave and the faceless Mech nodded his helm. Soundwave, the Decepticons eyes and ears heard everything from everywhere had heard her like so many times during the war that had lead to her either changing plans or wining it on so many times. Barricade looked from Nightshade to Soundwave only to have the faceless Mech show him a series of images. The Trooper nodded his head in understanding.

Ten minutes of climbing later and they were still climbing up the stairs. The Spinosaurus Mech who had named himself as Undermine had tried to talk to Nightshade, only to have black sparks of lightning sparked his systems. Undermine had nearly fallen to the ground with the sudden action that he had tried to play it cool in front of Nightshade and Dreadwing. Nightshade had never been more glad for him to shut up when they got to the top of the staircase.

Undermine had given them some good information about Scourge, the issues on the planet and the traditions that Scourge had brought in to enforce his rule on the planet. It seemed that Scourge would only listen to someone if they were strong or if they had influence in the other habitats that made up his small empire. To be strong was to defeat him in battle after making them climb up the two hundred step climb while listening to Undermine talking and talking. Nightshade had to thank whatever God that this planet worshipped that she had not killed the Mech just to make him shut up. Undermine had also let it slip out that Scourge was planning on going to Cybertron to fight both Megatron for the leadership of the Decepticons and Optimus Prime for the Matrix of Leadership. Scourge had been planning this for years and had been getting all the strongest Predacons and Dinobots to be in his army on taking Cybertron. He had also let it slip that there was many leaders of the different lands who did not agree with Scourge and his leadership.

Nightshade had recalled that Undermine's brother was one of the rebel leaders along with a Mech called Leobreaker. That part of information she had saved for later. These Mechs might help them in dealing with Scourge so she could get back to dealing with Seth rather than dealing with another dimension that should be dealing with its own problems. That thought caused something like regret and anger flow through her. That feeling was coming from her and it was coming from the other end of the growing link.

Why was it forming now?

Nightshade was brought out of her thoughts when she came close to a towering Mech. He was the same size as Predaking, but unlike the Predacon who had been created in Shockwave's lab this Mech was not honourable. No he saw that everyone was beneath him and by looking at his green optics, Nightshade had a feeling that if she was not careful she was about to become his next subject. Something that she needed him to relies that she was not someone's slave. Again that burst of emotion that was not hers came through the growing bond. She needed to put that to the back of her mind as she focused on dealing with Scourge.

"Undermine who have you brought me?" Scourge asked Undermine but he was looking at Nightshade. His green optics never left her. He did not notice the three Decepticons standing beside her. He was only focusing on Nightshade.

Undermine shifted on his pedes as he looked from Nightshade back to his leader. "I am sorry Scourge, but I did not get a name of the Femme! But I know the Seeker and the faceless Mech by reputation the third Mech I do not know! But Dreadwing and Soundwave are strong supporters of Megatron!" Undermine said as he looked from Scourge back towards Nightshade.

"Megatron is sending his lackeys to overthrow me? Then where in the Pit is he?" Scourge growled. His faceplates hardened as he stared at Soundwave, only for Soundwave to stare right back at him. His faceplates softened as he returned his attention back to Nightshade. "Now where am my manners? I can see that you are not with the Decepticons with your soft optics and the way that you have presented yourself before me! My name is Scourge and I am the King of Animatron! Now that you know my name I am interested in learning your name!" Scourge said as he kept in looking towards Nightshade.

Nightshade walked towards Scourge. Her metal claws clicking against the marble ground of the front of the massive palace that Scourge called home. "My name is Nightshade! I am the leader of the Elemental Guardians! I am not with either the Autobots or the Decepticons but I am here to stop you walking all over the Mechs and Femmes who you should be protecting rather than you using them!" Nightshade declared right to the point. She knew that she was pushing Scourge too much to fast but she really wanted to see what his character was like. From the way that he was leering over her she had a feeling that he was use to getting what he wanted. That was about to change. She didn't know what Galvatron had in plans for Scourge, but it would not be any worse than what she was planning.

Scourge took a step back. He looked at Nightshade with disgust before looking at Undermine. "Well Nightshade I must say that I am glad that you have decided to visit my world but I have to say that I don't like it when outsiders tell me what do to!" he said when he looked towards Nightshade. "Now leave!" he demanded as he turned his back on Nightshade.

"The Cybertronian War is over!" Nightshade shouted as Scourge walked away from her. "Now be a good leader and get your act together!" she snapped when he turned around to face her.

Scourge growled as he looked towards Undermine. "Get them out of my sight!" he ordered his lead Officer.

"I thought that you listened to the strongest Scourge? Or are you a coward that you wont fight me! You wont fight me? You never know I might be something much worse than Megatron and Optimus Prime!" Nightshade growled at Undermine who had gotten in her face. The Dinobot was not for getting out of her face and without warning she blasted a blast of black lightning. The Mech dropped the ground at her claws.

Scourge looked down at the downed Mech and then back at Nightshade. "You think a little light show will change my mind, Nightshade! It will not! Only the strong shall have their voices heard and as an outsider you will need to fight twice as hard!" he said glaring down at Nightshade as if she was a child who had done something that their parent had not liked.

Nightshade let out a growl before she stood on Undermine. The Dinobot screamed in as her long sharp claws dug in through his armour plating and into his circuits that had always been protected by the plating, but where nothing next to her claws. "Then fight me, Scourge! If I win you listen to what I say, but if I lose then we will leave without any problems!" she said. She brought out her claws from Undermine's exposed flank. The Dinobot tried to get back to his pedes but the damage that had been done was not allowing his legs to work. Nightshade placed her paw back down on the ground away from Undermine. "What do you say Scourge? Or are you a coward along with being a tyrant?" she asked not allowing her optics to move away from Scourge's optics.

Scourge snarled. "Leave! Outsiders are not welcomed!" he said looking bored at her. His boredom changed into an emotion that she had seen in humans more than she had seen in Mechs. This Mech was a madman. "But, Nightshade you are welcomed to stay and become one of my subjects!" he sneered at her.

"Nightshade lets go!" Dreadwing said as he got in between her and Scourge. "We are not going anywhere here!" he said to her. He looked towards Soundwave and the faceless Mech opened up a Ground Bridge without being ordered to. The large Seeker pushed Nightshade through the open Ground Bridge and back to the Nemesis with the rest of the team following behind them.

Scourge watched them go through the Ground Bridge before he looked down at Undermine. "You got beaten by an outsider and a Femme to top it off! What have you go to say for yourself?" he demanded of Undermine who was still trying to get back to his feet.

"I am sorry Scourge! But I felt like my systems were being shut down! I could not stop them from being shut down!" Undermine shouted as Scourge walked towards him.

The large Predacon stepped on Undermine for a brief second. "I have a feeling that we will be seeing Nightshade again! One way or another I will break her spirits so that she will be mine!" he said before walking back into his palace. Two Femmes who transformed into Gazelles ran out of the palace to help Undermine up to his pedes. Without saying anything they helped in limp into Scourge's palace unaware of a pair of green eyes watching from the shadows.