This is the prologue to the beginning of the Infinity War, so it won't be as long. I hope you all enjoy this. Speaking of enjoying, if any of you are interested in Doom and/or Warcraft, I have a challenge posted for a crossover story. Check it out if you want.
(Xandar)
Home to the Xandarians and many other species, Xandar was the headquarters of the Nova Empire and its military, the Nova Corps. At least four years ago, Xandar had nearly been destroyed by the mad Kree Ronan the Accuser. Fortunately, it had been saved thanks to the Guardians of the Galaxy. Unfortunately, no such aid would come for the plane today.
Thanos, the Titan warlord, stoop on top of remained of the Nova Corps' headquarters. He surveyed the surroundings of the ruined capital as his army, the Chitarui, began executing half the planet's population, as was his way to bring balance to the universe. He wore a unique gauntlet over his left hand. Behind him were the four members of the Black Order, Thanos' adopted children and lieutenants. One of them, Ebony Maw, approached his lord with a purple orb in his hands. Thanos turned around as his adopted children kneeled.
"As you have ordered, lord Thanos. The Power Stone is now yours." Ebony said as he held up the orb.
Not saying anything, Thanos took the orb with his right hand. Then with a strong squeeze, crushed the orb and revealed a purple stone. Taking the stone, Thanos placed the stone in the gauntlet, flinching as he felt the surge of energy going throughout his body. It only lasted a moment as Thanos let out a satisfied sigh before looking at his lieutenants. "Gather the Chitarui and head back to the ship. We're leaving." He ordered.
Suddenly a new voice spoke. "I see you are still up to your usual doctrine, Thanos."
Turning around, the Titan Warlord looked up at the sky as a metallic female floated towards his position. The Black Order immediately got into defensive positions but Thanos paid them no mind. Behind her, an animalistic-like battleship transformed into a large grey, purple and aqua colored mech around the same size as Infernocus. He had red optics and sharp teeth in his mouth, forming a wicked grin almost. A shark fin was on top of his head that seemed to twitch at every noise made. The mech's optics stared at Thanos and his children as his mistress floated towards them.
Thanos pushed aside his lieutenants and walked towards the Cybertronian femme. "Quintessa, it's been a while." The Titan said calmly. "I was under the impression that you were still on your people's dead world."
"Former dead world." Quintessa said. "Cybertron has been restored but Unicron still lives. Which is why I need your assistance."
Thanos gave her a questioning look. "And why should I help you?" He asked. The mech growled at the Titan, who merely flexed his gauntlet. The Power Stone glowed briefly.
"Down, Gnaw." Quintessa ordered the mech. Gnaw seemed unsure but complied with his mistress's demands. She then looked back at Thanos. "Do not forget our history, Thanos. True, it was you that saved me from my exile at the edge of the universe during your search of the Infinity Stones. But in return, I gave you the Mind Stone before you allowed it to be taken from you." The Cybertronian sorceress summarized. "You owe me, Thanos. And Unicron is just as a threat to you as he is to me."
The Titan warlord remained silent as Quintessa continued. "As entities born in the beginning of the universe, Unicron and Primus are some of the few beings immune to the Infinity Stones. However, in Unicron's weaken state, all six stones can kill him before he is revived. And you know what will happen if he is fully restored: Unicron will bring chaos and death to the universe. That will go against your desire to bring balance, won't it?" Quintessa said.
That made Thanos think. The Cybertronian Sorceress did indeed make a good point. If Unicron was fully revived, then not even all six Infinity Stones together would be able to stop the Planet Eater. He would only bring more chaos to the universe, the opposite of what Thanos sought. Plus, from what he knew so far, at least two of the Infinity Stones were on Earth, that Quintessa said was Unicron. Then there were the Autobots who could possibly be on the planet. They would prove a hindrance for his forces along with the other obstacles on Earth.
Seeing how Thanos was planning to accept, Quintessa decided to make on more push. "I also have this, too." Quintessa said as she raised her right hand. Opening it up, she revealed an orange stone floating just slightly above her palm.
That object made the Black Order gasp. Even Thanos seemed surprised. "The Soul Stone." The warlord murmured. The one stone he could never find. The one that Gamora had apparently failed to locate.
"The only of the six that had been guarded. Feared for its power to manipulate life and death of all sentient beings…well, except for Cybertronians." Quintessa said as she pulled back the Soul Stone. "That's the agreement: You help me destroy Unicron and I give you the Soul Stone. Plus, not attacking Cybertron once I claim rulership over it." Quintessa raised a slim hand. "Do we have a deal?"
Thanos looked at the hand and then thought about the Soul Stone as well as Unicron. After a few seconds of inner debate, the Mad Titan took the Great Deceiver's hand and shook it.
(Earth, Outskirts of London)
It was a normal day at the Burton Castle. The birds were chirping, wind was blowing against the leaves, and finally the Autobots were playing with their human friends. Sqweeks was currently rolling across the inner courtyard. Riding on his head were the sparklings Gasket and Daystar. The young Cybertronians were chirping excitedly as the diminutive Autobot moved on the pathway and grass. The other Autobots at the castle were Canopy, Evac, Brains, Ramhorn, Wheelie, Bumblebee, Cogman, Hot Rod and Arcee. The Dinobots were also present, seeming to prefer Earth rather than Cybertron.
It had been over a year since Cybertron's restoration. Iacon had been fully rebuilt and was serving once more as the Autobot's headquarters. Refugees were still pouring in and energon continued to flow from the planet's core. There was so much to do that the Autobots had started to construct drones to deal with most of the labor, in order to make up for the lack of numbers. Though many of the Autobots who had once been on Earth now chose to live on Cybertron again, some decided to stay with the humans, in order to be near their friends and improve relations.
Shane, Tessa's boyfriend, was there as well for one of his usual visits. He was riding a scooter as he raced Sqweeks. The two were doing this activity to keep the sparklings entertained. Izabelle was waiting not to far away with a makeshift race flag. With her was Canopy, as well as her older step-sister, Tessa, and Ramhorn, who was resting beside the girls with Sidelock, Rampjump, Axewide, Firefly and Terrquake leaning against him.
Sqweeks and Shane had just turned a corner and were heading towards the finish line. Shane had gotten the lead and was now ahead of the blue mech. Letting out a couple of clicks, Sqweeks reached out with his weapon arm and grabbed the back of Shane's scooter. The man yelped as he lost control and flew off his vehicle, landing in the grassy field. Sqweeks let out a rapid string of clicks as he crossed the finish line.
"Winner! Sqweeks with Gasket and Daystar!" Izzy announced. The other sparklings let out their own clicks and squeaks of excitement while Ramhorn gave a huff of approval. Sqweeks stopped to let his passengers off. The mechling and femmeling ran off to join the others. By now most of the sparklings were able to toddle now, their leg circuitries and motor-functions working as their processors were able to compute complicated tasks.
"Hey! That was cheating!" Shane yelled as he got up. He wiped the dirt off his clothes and took of his helmet. "The little bastard grabbed my scooter."
"Watch the language, hot shot. We got kids present." Cade said as he walked out of the shed recently built. It was for him to work on his inventions without disturbing the castle. Cogman had been quite adamant about it, saying how he didn't want the 'Neanderthal' making more of a mess for the Headmaster to clean up. "Just accept your defeat like a man."
"Yeah! What he said!" Izzy shouted in agreement. She rubbed Sqweek's head when the bot rolled over to her.
Shane just grumbled while Tessa helped him out, a small smile on her face. Across the field Hot Rod and Bumblebee were keeping X-Grid, Equator, Ironbolt, Riptide, Aurora, Strongback and Nightflare occupied by playing different music from Bumblebee's radio. Meanwhile the French speaking robot was performing various dance moves in rhythm to the changing music.
"Etre surpris tout le monde! Back spin!" Hot Rod declared as he begun to spin on the grass, flattening it hard against the dirt ground. The sparklings all clicked excitedly at seeing this strange and yet interesting thing that Hot Rod was doing. Aurora and X-Grid even tried to do it themselves, though they only landed on their backs in the process. Bumblebee clapped his hands as he helped the two young ones back onto their little afts.
"You think you two could try to teach them something other than breakdancing." Arcee commented as she carried Matchstick. The sparkling had several small fingers inside his moutplate, watching the action from a distance. Behind her was Canopy. He was carrying Flipside, Big Wire, Skylock, High Cloud and Dusthorn in his massive arms, keeping them entertained by allowing the little ones to see from great heights in the safety of his servos. Outside the castle walls, the Dinobots were roaming about, Paddles with them of course.
Back with Cade, the man walked into the library. It had been modified by Adam, the actual owner of the castle. The young man had put up several computers, large and small screens, cameras, controllers and dozens of wires were placed on one end of the large room, not disturbing the hundreds of books on the shelves. Many parts of the walls were covered with pictures of various ancient drawings, Cybertronian glyphs and most of all, the horns of Unicron sticking out of the Earth.
After the battle, Adam had been suffering visions of Unicron, even in his sleep. Optimus had theorized that being so close to the Chaos God has allowed him to try and attack Adam mentally. Wheeljack and Perceptor were able to create blockers for Adam so the attacks would stop, but the Prime of Life had decided to get into researching ways into sealing Unicron without destroying Earth. With the Autobots more focus on Cybertron and trying to locate the Decepticons, they had to put the Planet Eater into the backburner for now.
And said hybrid was currently hovering in the air. His lower legs and feet were metal and releasing small heat from the soles, while the rest of him was human and currently engrossed in a book. To be more precise a notebook related to Dark Energon that previous members of the Witwiccans order had discovered. Cogman had entered through another door, carrying a tray with a bowl of chips and a soda bottle.
"Geez, how many of these books have you actually read?" Cade asked as he looked at the pile lying on the table. Several data pads were also there, sent from Cybertron's archives, courtesy of Optimus.
"I'm pretty much through a quarter of them. It works when you can access 100% of your brain and even higher, you know." Adam said as he finished the book. He lowered himself to grab some potato chips and the soda bottle. "These are the Lays brand, right?" Adam asked Cogman.
"Of course, sir. Just as you requested." The Headmaster replied.
"Awesome" Nova Prime replied as he put several into his mouth. "Anyway, what brings you here Cade? Usually you're either in your shed or with Mrs. Yeager out in London, helping with mechanical stuff at Oxford."
"Probably bringing in dust and germs into the castle." Cogman muttered as he picked up some books.
"Hey, I wash my hands." Cade retorted, earning an optic roll from Cogman. "And, I'm just making sure that you aren't getting too buried in this stuff. I mean, when was the last time you hanged out with Izzy anyway?"
"For your information, she and I went out on a date last week." Adam countered. "Went to Legoland Windsor. Cogman drove us there."
"One of my personal favorites, I must admit. Combines various cultural themes with construction blocks. Brilliant." Cogman added.
"Fine, fine. Just remember we have a trip to Manhattan in a few days." Cade reminded.
"Got it. I presume we'll be taking the Steelhaven?" Asked Adam. "Took us forever to clean that ship up. I still need to complete inspecting it. Be cool if we could add a stealth drive to it."
"Yeah well, maybe you could figure out a way for us to park it better." Cade said before turning around to leave. However, the image of a large being on a nearby data pad caught his attention. This one was huge, bigger than even Omega Supreme, but it did not appear to be Cybertronian. "Hey what's this?" Yeager asked curious.
Adam floated near him, looking over Cade's shoulder. "Oh that? It's a Celestial, a race of powerful entities. Apparently, they came to Cybertron to try and conquer the planet because they feared Primus's power. They lost obviously, they were no match for the Thirteen and their followers of the first generation Cybertronians. They even tried to use something called an Infinity Stone." Adam explained.
"Infinity Stone?" Cade repeated.
"Six stones that are tied with an aspect of the universe. They are immensely powerful and be quite dangerous in the wrong hands." Cogman answered. "The Celestials tried to use one known as the Power Stone on Primus. However, as an entity born at the beginning of the universe, Primus was completely immune to the stone's power."
"Fortunately, we don't have to worry about the Decepticons using them. I did some research and it seems like Infinity Stones can't be used by Cybertronians." Adam revealed, pleased. He had read what each stone could do, and if someone like Megatron could use them, then the Autobots would've lost a long time ago. And what are the chances of them encountering one anyway?
I'm sure I don't have to explain what they will be seeing in New York City. And Quintessa has formed an alliance with Thanos. Next chapter will be the Autobots meeting the Avengers, as well as what the Decepticons and Unicron's forces are doing. Be sure to review!