A/N: Heyo! Bit of a shorter chapter this one, but its mainly set up for the next chapter as well as character growth! I do hope you enjoy it, keep safe out there during these crazy times and please, enjoy the show!

Chapter 16-Dream Team Part 2

In the Catacombs of Castle Ravenloft…

No One's POV

Cliffjumper and Rafael made it to the top of the stairs to stare out into a low-light chamber, a large, large chamber. Small rooms were scattered in the room to hold up the ceiling that was vaulted. A low lying fog hugged the ground and when they stepped onto the floor, a sickening squelch sounded underfoot. There were little torches lit in the room but further was hard to make out. The quiet unmistakable sounds of many, many bats ahead echoed throughout the large chamber.

The human trembled slightly, whispering, "What is all of this?"

Cliffjumper frowned, "I don't know, but keep close…"

Slowly they started making their way through the shrouded underground complex, as they passed the small rooms, large stone doors sealed shut with a metal plate that had writing that was unreadable as they passed. They passed by one such plate and Rafael stopped for a moment to read the metal plate.

It was inscribed with the following; Luna Cortanna Quartz Moonfall-The God Scorner

His eyes widened at the name, he rushed to the next one.

It read; Moon Nemesis Bulletta-The Devoted Loyalist

"Cliffjumper!" Raf yelled out, the red tiefling rushing up next to him, "Look, this plate is inscribed with Bulletta's full name!"

He frowned at this, "What does it mean though?"

"Lets see, we're underground, there was a coffin in the room we woke up in-"

"Wait, that was a coffin?" Cliffjumper cut him off, remembering the box of brass and dark wood embedded into the floor they had woken up in.

Rafael nodded his head, "Yeah, which means this entire place….is a crypt, a catacomb for the dead…"

"So," Cliff said, pondering the thought, "Why would Cenotaph make these, why make crypts for her fellow members?"

Raf frowned, "Maybe, this is her mindset? We know she is a Necromancer from the blast of info we just gotten….which in of itself we need to discuss, including the fact she raised Skyquake from the dead…"

"Oh yeah," Cliffjumper shivered, "I guess there is so much to unpack on that is there."

"That's for later, now, I want to confirm something."

Rafael began working his way around the catacomb, reading off all of the plates.

Magna 'Mage' Turan Nerium-The Deathless Thorn

Starscream-The Moon's Blade

Cliffjumper-The Saved One

Rafael Esquivel-The Hacker

Breakdown-The ***** Wrecker

"Strange, Breakdown has a redacted part on his plate." Rafael said, frowning at the plate.

Cliffjumper shivered, "Don't you think you should be more worried that Cenotaph has put our names onto plates to clearly what are crypts!?"

"Well yes, of course. But, there are so many here. And where is hers?" He said, looking around at the dozen or so more crypts.

"Maybe one of them is hers? Or she doesn't view herself as dead." Cliffjumper said, "But then, why view us as dead? Is everyone to her a dead person or something?"

Rafael was silent for a moment before answering, "I think….no, no, that can't be…"

The tiefling frowned at the man now, "What? Tell me…!"

Rafael began making his way around the others, looking at all of the plates, some had nothing on them, but others….

The Chainless Witch

The Worn Seamaiden

The Shadow Hunter

The Ruthless Servant

Then there were others that sent shivers down his spine.

The Cowardice Father

The Feeble Mother

The Baneful Tyrant

The Gluttonous King

The Lords of Hell

The Mortal Heroes

After finally going through all of them, he was left in the center of the large catacombs, a large opening that was like a hall that went to a stairwell going up and a large tomb going down on the other end.

"W-Who are these people?" Rafael wondered quietly to himself, he was now very afraid of what Cenotaph's view on the world was, if she saw so many disdainful people, was she in the right to deny them peace in death?

Cliffjumper caught up to Rafael who had ran ahead of the red tiefling.

He panted, "Raf...I think… we should move on."

The man only frowned as he stared towards the tomb, "Not before I see something."

He began to walk towards the tomb, large stairs led down and small amounts of light flickered down below. On a landing half way down the dark stoned steps was two alcoves with large bronze statues holding spears and wearing knight's armor. A shimmering wall of blue light was positioned in between them.

Cliffjumper came up behind him, "What's that?"

"I don't know, but it somehow just knows it's magical." Rafael said, staring dumbfoundedly at the curtain wall of light.

"Magical?" The tiefling remarked, "Like Cenotaph's magic?"

Raf shook his head, "It's different, somehow. And I don't think we'll have an issue with it."

He took a tentative step towards it and reached out a hand towards it. Slowly he pushed his hand through the light….and nothing happened. Feeling more confident, he completely stepped through and motioned for Cliffjumper to follow him further down the stairs.

Cliff frowned once again, following Rafael's lead. Something was off about the kid, he seemed more confident, more brave even. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that his new form gave him a well deserved confidence yet hidden underneath he smelt a twinge of fear.

They finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and were surprised by the tomb's contents. Tall, stained glass windows were on the far side, letting in little to no light whatsoever. It seemed like the catacombs and this part, was jutting out of the side of the mountain where the whole of it all laid on top of. In the center laid a faded symbol, unrecognizable to either and underneath the slight glow of the two of the three windows was two stone coffins with figures etched into the cap stones.

Rafael made his way to the one on the right, there he saw a woman, tall and strong carved into the stone, this was the organic form of Cenotaph. In her right hand she held her staff and in her other, her spellbook. A plate of rusted metal was on the side of the coffin that read; Fraya Stormbringer-Founder and Headmaster of Ravenloft Academy, Royal Archmage of the Barovian Council, Member of the Dragonslayers. May her rest finally find her, in the Fields of Elysium for that is the true gift for a Hero of Mia'Tshar.

Cliffjumper on the other hand, was given the stone carving of Cenotaph's current form. Her form craved with great detail and care. But instead like her other craving, she holds her staff and spell book in one hand and in the other a blazing star. A more refined and golden plate on this one read; Cenotaph, the Unholy Mistress-Founding Member of the Cabal of the Falling Stars, Queen of the Horde and Champion of Quintus Prime. This coffin shall never be used by the Great Queen, for she is undeath and will remain so, for all eternity.

"This is…" Cliffjumper trailed off, looking in horror at the coffin.

"...It is her mindset…" Raf stared at both coffins with a disturbed expression.

"I can't believe….for someone to have such zeal for the way they do things, to think she's dead already…" Cliffjumper said, looking towards the stained glass windows.

Raf sighed, shaking slightly, "We need to get out of here, come on, we've wasted enough time."

As he began to rush away, Cliffjumper called out after him.

"Raf...is something wrong?"

He stopped in his tracks, and the answer that came to mind was a firm 'no'. But he stopped himself from saying that. His mind was filled with a thousand thoughts, so many burning questions and fears. He now feared the femme he had come to a liking too. He couldn't believe that a femme who saw herself as a undead and by extension, was a necromancer, held him and talked to him.

She was a practitioner of the dark art of raising the dead, in all sense, she would be considered pure evil.

And that's where the fear came from, not only that she was a necromancer, but she believed so readily that she was already dead. Which meant, if she ever went into battle, she would freely give her life away. And the Autobots couldn't lose not a single one of them, no matter how dark their power was.

He swallowed thickly and clenched his fist, "I...we...she…"

"Rafael, I understand you are afraid, but you need to keep calm and try not to rush off. Come on, talk to me…?" He asked, slowly coming up to behind the boy turned man.

He spun around, his eyes hard with shimmering tears, "I don't want to talk about it."

He then spun back around, and walked back up the stairs, leaving a confused and slightly hurt Cliffjumper behind.

Outside of the Chapel in the Hall of Faith…

Bulletta's POV

The dark hall ahead from the doors that Nerium bashed open seemed ominous to me, with the layers of dust and cobwebs everywhere with the low light of the torches on the walls. But Nerium seemed unperturbed, and pressed on. Bronze statues lined the halls, and it took me a moment to realize that these statues were of the Primes, each other displayed in different poses. I could see all of our Primes here along with the rest as well as the Fallen Prime and the mysterious Thirteenth Prime whose statue looks vaguely like Optimus.

But, we pressed on further until reaching the end of the hall, a rusted bronze sun was above the double door of oak. Once again, Nerium kicked it open and lazily strode into the next room.

"You know you don't have to kick every door, right?" I said with annoyance.

She shot back, "Then there is the difference between us, you are a strong tall tiefling and I am the small gnome that finds every door a challenge, so thus I need to kick it in to get it anywhere."

I crossed my arms and begrudgingly followed her into the next room, mumbling curses to myself.

This next room seemed to be a foyer, with four large pillars holding up the ceiling, covered in cobwebs as well, two large double doors were opposite of us, with a large staircase leading up to our right and another small hall to our left where strangely haunting music was coming from, the low light flickering in sync with the song.

"..the hells..?" Nerium mumbled under her breath and she swiftly began walking towards the sound.

The small hall had two ways to go, a stairwell that went up and down the left and two large doors that were slightly ajar to the right. The music coming from the right made Nerium turn sharply and push the doors open. Inside was a grand feasting hall, with a large oak table and pillars on each side of the room, three crystal chandeliers hanging above and across was a large pipe organ.

Sitting at that instrument is a figure, I didn't recognize her. But as soon as she turned around to face us after letting the music drift off I recognized her, the dreaded hair and pale skin with tattoos was unmistakable, even in organic form, Cenotaph was a striking and presence commanding out of all of us.

She smiled, "Welcome, to my abode." Her voice sounded off, a little too sweet.

"Cenotaph? Oh thank the Goddess we found you, what in the nine hells is going on here!?" I asked, finally relieved at least to find her.

I began walking towards her when Nerium grabbed onto my leg.

"Wait...something's not right here." She said, narrowing her eyes at Cenotaph, her bird on her shoulder glaring as well.

"Well, aren't you perceptive." Cenotaph sneered with delight, "You should really listen to her, you never know if something is coming when you least expect, especially here."

I stared at her with confusion, "W-What? Nerium, what are you-"

"You two should get going, you have quite a challenge ahead of you in order for you to find Cenotaph." The femme at the organ said, my eyes widened as something hit me.

I stepped back, "You...aren't Cenotaph, so then, who are you!?"

She, er-it smirked devilishly, "I am merely an illusion, here to give you a warning and as I already gave it to you, my work here is done." She started to laugh to herself, that kept building until almost sounded inhuman, deranged, and then she vanished into nothingness.

Then the silence filled the empty room, leaving just me and Nerium.

"It seems she likes her mind games, good, I haven't had a proper challenge in some time." Nerium said with a smirk, cracking her knuckles and bending her neck.

I just stared at where the illusion used to be, anger boiled up.

"Of course, OF COURSE! Nothing is ever simple with her isn't it! That lying and manipulating succubus!" I growled, turning to stare at Nerium, "This is why I don't trust her as far as I can throw her! Goddess, so help me when I find her ..."

Nerium rolled her eyes, "Tsh, you need to calm down, that attitude will get you nowhere."

I gritted my teeth, "Like you miss cold and stony face!?"

"...yes…"

I groaned and stomped out of the room and back into the small hall. Staring at the stairwell in front of me and the stairs to the left in the first room I try to decide a direction. Choosing the large stairs in the foyer I began to make my way towards the steps.

Hurried steps followed me behind.

"You know, Bulletta, I believe she's doing this on purpose too you." Nerium said, I said nothing so she went on. "It seems from what I seen, she loves toying with people and uses her magic in aid of that. Both of which upsets you, unreasonably so."

I scoffed as I began to climb the stairs as they curved to the left and up, "I have my reasons."

"You are a follower of Ioun, correct?" She asked, I silently nodded, "Then I can see why you hate lies and illusions, but magic, I don't get."

"I have had people try to use magic to interfere with my creations, thus, I don't like magic." I said with a tinge of warning, trying to make her stop.

We came to a landing, where the stairs separated into two wells and two statues standing in between them, of unrecognizable figures.

Nerium stopped in front of me, "So, someone tried messing with your weapons? Seems like this goes deeper than just that."

I rolled my eyes, "Sure, sure, but here's the thing, magic in my world was out of control!"

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, waiting for an explanation.

I sighed, "I lived in a time known as the Age of Arcanum, where you could mold the world with magic, no limits whatsoever. Gods and Goddesses walked the face of the world and all was well. But...magic is corruption, many used it to gain wealth and power, some used it to become gods themselves, and many used it for ill-intent against the innocent. So, yes, I don't trust magic, as it leads to only despair and greed."

Nerium was silent for a moment, then Wendigo squawked almost speaking to her.

The gnome looked back at me and said, "Understandable, but this isn't your world anymore. Remember that."

"I know that!" I yelled, "That's why I am cautious…"

Nerium turned away and started walking towards the rest of the stairs.

"Then get with the program, just because she can use magic, doesn't mean she'll turn out like them. Yes, there's a chance, but if you are there, maybe you can change it."

I stared in surprise at the femme, "Why are you giving me advice?" I asked.

She stopped and said, "I've seen people like you before, people who don't trust anything but a stereotype and just go in gun ho about these beliefs...and I hate those types of people."

I frowned, "Why?"

Her hand started to shake slightly as it balled into a fist, "Because….I was once like that...and the very thought of others like that….was one of the reasons I saw fit to not live in that world anymore."

My eyes widened, "You…I remember now, you killed yourself and were brought here by the Primes."

Her bird nestled against her as she started shaking more, "...Yes...and I will not allow myself or anyone else make those mistakes. It's time for a cold hard look at reality, to be logical, reasonable, not emotional. Emotion leads to strife and bursts of emotion can lead to unreasonable death...so yes, I'm going to give you advice, whether you want it or not."

Silently she climbed the stairs, I stared at her for a moment, frowning.

How could she be like this? Was the question running through my head as I went after her. What caused her to take her own life, it wasn't just that one reason. What kind of life did she live before this? How did that come to mold her like this? Nerium it seemed was more mysterious than even Soundwave or Cenotaph, a strange and complex character.

But something else bugged me now, what exactly is the challenge the illusion spoke of before supposed to be?

In the Study…

No One's POV

Ratchet turned the next page in the book he held, his eyes eating up the words of the page with fervorous delight. Each word was filled with knowledge he had yet seen in his world, they talked about how to look at the universe in a completely new way, from the sight of magic.

Cenotaph stood near the fire black, the strange purple flame lighting up her entire form. Above the stone carved fireplace was a portrait hanging there, Ratchet didn't know who she was but the Necromancer knew. It was a portrait of Tatyana, the woman that Strahd loved so much, that he became vampire after she threw herself off of the Castle walls when he had killed her husband to be and brother to Strahd, Sergi.

The woman of red hair and royal purple dress was somewhat of a inspiration to Cenotaph. A woman whose love for her true lover knew no bounds, even if that love meant dying to keep what was there's pure. To Cenotaph, she was a true example of a woman who knew what she wanted in the world and would do anything to have it and keep it from anyone who would steal or taint that.

But of course, her attention wasn't on her love for the painting, but the sight of a enthralled Ratchet as he began to read the basics of magic and it's viewpoints on reality. Much of it is simply too hard for some to understand, but for intellectual minds such as himself, it was like pulling off blinders he'd been wearing for centuries.

And of course she didn't taint the material of the books either, even if this was her dreamworld, she knew that he needed to genuinely learn how to perform magic. So, she thanked her new memory that could remember literally anything and remade the books here for him to read.

Yes, it was tedious to learn this type of magic, but it was necessary.

Cenotaph smiled as he finished the book and picked up another, he was breezing through them. But she shouldn't be surprised, he was a medic after all and that required a lot of reading and studying. He was built for this. And for him to be invested was all the more reason to make him her apprentice.

"I don't believe this," Ratchet's voice snapped out into the silent Study.

She stood straighter and walked over, "What is so unbelievable, my thrall?"

"In here," He pointed to a chapter within the new book he was reading, "It says that there is something called the Weave? A tapestry of magic that overlaps reality itself, is that where magic really comes from?"

She smiled, he'd been asking questions like these here and there and she happily answered.

"Yes it does, it can vary from reality to reality, but in most cases a weave overlaps our dimension and what we learn allows us to pluck at that weave to gain a reaction. That is why it is important for those like us to learn the proper techniques and words in order to create magic."

"Interesting." He said looking at the book again, "It also says that there are beings who can control the entire weave, gods as they describe them."

"Yes, in my world though, there was a god of magic that became the weave itself, some worlds do have one or simply don't." Cenotaph replied, sitting next to him on the love seat that he sat on.

He nodded his head and kept reading, she watched with fascination at his eyes darting across the page. It lulled her in a state of comfort. It was sometime that she just stared at him before suddenly he slammed the book closed, making her jump slightly as he set it down.

Ratchet turned to Cenotaph and said, "There's something I want to ask you, I was wondering why is it that you studied magic? After reading about it, it seems like something not easy to get into too."

She was surprised by the boldness of the question, and the fact it was directed to her.

"O-Oh, well, it's kind of a sad tale." She mumbled, looking away towards the purple flame.

Suddenly a hand was placed on hers, she turned to see a small understanding smile on Ratchet's face.

"Tell me, I want to learn more about, remember?" He said, his hand closing around hers.

She sighed, "I guess it's only fair, but only if you tell me more about yourself, deal?"

He chuckled, "Deal."

She giggled along with him but it slowly subsided as she started to remember all that time ago.

"I learned magic from a man, who was captured by my tribe, I have forgotten his name but I'll never forget what he did for me. He taught me enough for me to escape from my tribe who...mistreated me and gave me the power to survive in the world. Over time I taught myself and became somewhat of a legend, signing up with a group of adventurers called the Dragonslayers." She smiled slightly, "But I'm curious, why does a medic such as yourself want to learn arcane magic?"

He seemed stunned for a moment that she redirected him like that, but chose to ignore her question in favor of his own.

"What do you mean 'mistreated'?" His voice was even and tempered, but there was a darkness to it that made Cenotaph jump in surprise and excitement.

"Well, they weren't the best...I mean, my Father basically abandoned me and Mother for another tribe woman and my Mother died shortly after giving birth to me. Then I was under the Chieftains' care...even if you could call it that…" She trailed off, looking away from him.

His voice became softer, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "No, I don't. But what I do want is an answer to that question."

He sighed but smiled nonetheless, "Well, it's complicated. Like before, I told you I wanted to learn about it because it's a part of you, but I guess you can see it goes deeper than that."

"You think?" She giggled, "I can see a spark there, where is that spark coming from."

"Well, it's the fact that there is something out there that could turn the tide of war for us. There is finally something that we can have the upper hand in. And I want to use it to help Cybertron, and the rest of my comrades." He said, standing and walking around.

She crossed her arms, "But what if you comrades see that you are practicing Necromancy?"

He looked at her pointedly, "So!? We've done more shadier things during the war back on Cybertron. In the end, we are no better than the Decepticons! This is war, there is no good and bad side, we just go about it a different way than the Cons do. And it isn't dark unless you use it for the creation of evil, that isn't me nor you."

She smiled, "Glad to see a like minded individual."

He scoffed, "So what if it's Necromancy, what we need is power to win this war and that's what I am trying to attain, power." He purred.

"Power? Hm, never knew you for a power hungry mech, Ratchet." Cenotaph purred as well, watching him closely.

"Well, I suppose you do have a point. But then again, who isn't power hungry these days? Optimus seeks the power to destroy Megatron or turn him back, not that it's even possible." Ratchet said, stalking back over to sit back down next to her.

Cenotaph laughed, "Actually, from what we learned, Nerium maybe working on that."

"Indeed." He said before looking her up and down, "I have to ask though, what is you're plan? What do you intend to do with Skyquake, now that everyone knows you raised him from the dead?"

She looked at him with a dark glint in her eye, "Oh, I have plans for him and any dead that cross my path. And I plan to make you a part of that, my thrall. I have the desire to create a force of undead to be at our beak and call, and I want you to be my General."

He looked surprised, "Ah, so there is the underlying motive. But...General does have a nice ring to it." He purred, crawling over her till their faces were hover above each other.

She laughed, "I see that you are taking initiative, very good, that's a good quality of any wizard." She then grabbed him by the shoulders and expertly flipped him over with her on top. "But you need to be quicker in order to gain the element of surprise, my thrall…."

She laughed again at Ratchet's face of defeat, she sat up and firmly planted herself on his hips to stop him from getting up. He groaned slightly at the positioning, his face heating up.

"If you can't take the heat, my thrall, you shouldn't have tried such a stunt." She said with a smug smirk.

Ratchet knew he should've been faster on the draw there, but knew he could correct his mistake easily. Being a medic meant that he knew weak spots of bots, and since technically they were still Cybertronian physically, it meant those weak spots were on their organic frames in their heads-er helms.

And since he knew of one of Cenotaph's weak spots that transferred over from her original form, he knew there were spots she wasn't even aware of in her new frame. Like for instance, of frame types that had a chevron in the middle of their helm were sensitive beyond belief.

A smirk formed on his face as a plan formed.

Suddenly, Ratchet's hands shot up towards her shoulders as he grabbed her and with seemingly new and determined strength to lift himself up to where she fell back onto the couch, but before she retaliate his lips were against the middle of her forehead where her hairline met.

She was confused for a moment, before suddenly feeling a wave of heat both mentally and physically wash through her entire frame. It was a strange feeling, both your true form and dream form both suffering from the touch. Instantly her purple and pink hue returned, she gasped in surprise pleasure.

Then, he moved back up with a dark smirk of victory all over his face.

"That was for all the times you got a drop on me, my dear Cena." He said her new nickname with dripping amounts of suaveness he could put into it.

She huffed for a few moments before saying, "Well played…"