Arcee looked up sharply at the sound of someone pounding on the door to Megatron's office. Both she and Megatron were on the immediate alert when a Decepticon drone burst in the office, not bothering to explain itself or with any formalities.
"Sir! The Selected Autobots and Decepticons are under attack!" the drone exclaimed, snapping to attention.
Megatron's optics narrowed as he rose from his seat. "Attacked? How?"
"We are unsure sir," the drone answered. "The transmission requesting an emergency ground bridge was cut off."
Arcee was already running out of the office, her destination in mind. She had processed enough from the drone to know what was at stake. The Selecteds on the hunt were under attack. Bumblebee was at that hunt. He was in danger, and she was not there for him.
Her spark beat quickly in panic as she ran down the halls. She was aware that troops were already flooding to the ground bridge station, and she intended to be there, if only to be sure that Bumblebee was alright.
Bumblebee, the Autobot Heir.
He was the Autobot Heir! The answer to all her problems was right there within easy reach. It had been so simple! All her worries and anxiety were for nothing! She had agonized about her situation for nearly a year, all when it had a simple solution and answer.
She wanted to laugh at the irony of it all, for not being able to see her easy way in. Yet at the same time, she wanted to cry at the very thought of what this attack could mean. It would just be like fate for her to find out who Bumblebee was, only for him to be snatched from her at that very moment.
"No!" she shouted, banishing those thoughts away as she careened into the room. Her blasters were already out as she ran with the troops, ready to jump into the emergency ground bridge that was already open.
"Arcee!" Barricade shouted, but she ignored the mech's calls as she ran into the swirling green vortex.
She did not stop running as she went through and her pedes touched the energon soaked ground. Nor did she hiss in pain when the first drops of acid rain touched her armor. Her optics scanned the scene around her with wide optics, not daring to believe the carnage around her.
Torn bodies were scattered before her, energon seeping from their open wounds as dead optics looked upward at the dark sky.
"Attend to the wounded!" Barricade ordered as he thundered through the ground bridge. "Search for survivors!"
Arcee's first instinct was to look away from all the death, not wanting to see the mangled features of yellow armor that she might stumble upon. Yet she steadied her resolve and pressed on with the others, blasters still out should whatever attacked this hunting party still be around.
"What could have done this?" one trooper within hearing range muttered in shock as they passed by one mech whose guts were clawed out.
"No blaster wounds," another fellow trooper muttered. "Deep gashes and twisted metal, like they were burned or something."
Indeed, along with the torn metal, there were some forms of Cybertronians that had been melted away beyond recognition. But the entirely bizarre situation was that there were more than a few bodies that looked whole, yet there was no living spark. It was as if the very spark inside of them had been snuffed out.
A choked gasp from behind fallen wreckage caught her attention, and her deliberate steps quickened towards the sound. She came to a stop as she noticed a wounded, dark Decepticon mech clutching at his bleeding side. He coughed, energon spurting from his mouth as his breathing grew more labored.
Arcee knelt down at his side in an instant, calling for help while pressing her servos at his side to stop the flow of energon. "Help is here," she said quickly, hoping to keep him awake and alert. "Just stay with me, optics on me," she ordered.
"It...came so...quickly," the mech gasped, optics wide with terror. His chassis rose and fell as he struggled to get his words out. "From...the sky!"
She focused on him, her gaze intense. "What came from the sky?" she demanded.
"Beasts," he gasped. "Fire." His optics flickered for a moment, and Arcee feared that he would not awaken, but he still spoke in a low, breathy whisper. "Screams...death."
She gripped his face, forcing him to look at her as his optics flickered open at her touch. "There was a yellow mech here. An Autobot by the name of Bumblebee. Where is he?"
"Bumblebee," the mech murmured tiredly. "Good mech." His speech became more slurred and harder to understand, yet she still strained to hear every word that escaped his mouth.
"Where is he?" Arcee demanded desperately.
"Bumblebee...is gone," the mech said with a final sigh.
"Arcee!" Barricade shouted suddenly and snapping her out of her daze, though she barely heard him as she stared down at the dead mech before her. She removed her energon soaked servos, numb with shock. She barely felt the pain of the acid rain as it came down harder.
"Arcee!" Barricade shouted, reaching her. "We have to leave now!"
"Bumblebee," she murmured, not daring to believe what she had heard.
"That's it," Barricade growled, wrapping his arms around her slim waist and dragging her away from the corpse. "We're leaving."
"No!" Arcee screamed, snapping out of her stupor. "We can't leave him!"
"He's already dead," Barricade said, unfazed as he ran toward the open groundbridge.
But Arcee was not speaking about the fallen Decepticon officer who was now being eaten alive by the acid rain. She was thinking of Bumblebee, his whereabouts unknown, taken away from her just when she discovered who he really was. It was the unknown that terrified her.
He beat his massive wings, adjusting his grip on the mech that was now limp in his claws. Beside him flew the Dark One, his smaller form easily keeping pace with his brothers. Up ahead flew the Wild One of the Sky, carrying his cargo as well. Unlike his, the cargo the Wild One of the Sky was awake and kicking fiercely. She was a tough femme who had no regards for the dangerous heights above; she was determined not to be taken alive if escape was unavailable.
That caused the King to let out a rumble of amusement as his gold optics flickered to the femme captive, but he fell silent as soon as the caves they dwelled in came into view. At that point, he took the lead, the two smaller winged beings falling behind as he dived low, wings folded before flaring back up as he entered the well hidden, thin mouth of the cave.
This had been the first time he and his brothers had truly been allowed to fly out on a mission on their own. There was no witch and her noble lap dog to order them around. It was just him, his brothers, and the sky. They had been allowed only a brief moment of freedom as the wind caressed their wings as they flew.
Then, they had spotted their targets, and dove deep after them. Mechs and femmes left their talons, screams filling the air only to be cut off as the bodies hit the ground. The Dark One eagerly coated his talons with spilled energon as he leaped right into his prey. Yet so far, the mechs and femmes they felled were not the ones they had been searching for.
Then the Wild one of the Sky had launched back up into the air with a triumphant cry, carrying his cargo with him as the femme he held captive could do nothing but kick and scream as she was taken away. Yet, unlike her fellow Cybertronians, she would not fall from the sky to her death. She was one of the three they had been sent to collect. Her sent matched the spilled energon he and his brothers had been supplied with to track before leaving for this mission.
Then luck had arrived as the last two victims they were sent to collect were in the same location, both trying to escape. The Dark One had snatched the one mech from the sky, while he took care of the last. It had been a swift, and easy mission, one they completed before the first drop of acid rain had fallen to the ground.
Once in the cavern they were assigned to, he dropped his cargo, his brothers doing the same. The femme groaned as she was dropped alongside the two mechs, yet she was barely on her pedes before she was struck from behind on the helm, knocking her out. She fell to the ground with a faint moan, her red armor gleaming in the dim lighting of the cave.
"Well done," the witch crooned as she stood over the fallen femme. "My pets." She traced a clawed servo on the Dark One's snout, causing him to shiver, yet he held his ground with pride. She laughed merrily, prancing back over to her victims. She leaned over the white mech, her gaze that of a predator as she grinned. "Hm, this one looks like an Heir." Her gaze flickered over to the yellow one. "But so does that one! But wouldn't it be such a twist if the Autobot Heir was a femme?" She squealed at the thought, optics wide with anticipation.
The moment was ruined by the piercing sound of a message being transmitted, demanding immediate attention. The witch sighed, a look of displeasure flickering over her face as she marched over to the console. "What?" she snapped.
"I assume it was successful?" a warped voice said. King growled, crouching down at the sound of the voice. He knew who that was, and he despised such a mech who demanded respect without any reason for it.
"Of course it was!" the witch exclaimed. "But if I were you, I would worry more about covering your trail then whether or not my creations completed their job."
"Your creatures could have kept the bloodshed down to a minimum," the voice snapped.
She giggled. "So what? They get the job done better then Dirge ever did. And I thought you wanted conflict! Not that a few deaths of Autobot and Decepticon Selecteds will change much. Prime and Megatron are too stubborn to watch this treaty of theirs fail."
"Which is why you need to find that Keycard from one of the Heirs," the voice said. "Lead us to Vector Sigma, and complete the next step in this plan. Until then, you are free to use whatever means you deem fit to make them talk."
The witch grinned. "Oh, I intend to. My dear creations need a few new playthings anyway."
King growled, but rested his helm on the floor. He had to admit, he was curious to see what new creations this witch would conjure up with her new victims. His gaze flickered over to the pile of three Cybertronians, all blissfully unaware of the horror that awaited them when they awoke.
"Just don't kill them before we find out about the Keycard," the voice stated, pulling him from his thoughts.
"You worry about keeping your end of the bargain," she hissed. "And I'll mind my own business."
"Watch your tone with me, Antagony," the voice snapped suddenly.
King raised his helm, suddenly interested in what was being said.
She slammed her fist on the console at the outrage. "Do not use my name on a channel like this! Do you wish to compromise me?"
"I can speak to you however I want," he growled. "I own you."
She narrowed her optics, clenching her servos as the staff she carried snapped. "You're no Prime yet."
"That will soon change," he said, signing off and ending the transmission.
She hissed, before the sound built up into a low and steady growl. No one moved as all three beings watched the witch with great caution. She turned to look at them, optics shining in such a way that made King want to cringe back, yet he remained still. She cackled, striding forward. "Now then," she said. "I am going to spend some quality time with these nice little gifts you gave me."
Bumblebee groaned as he awoke, blinking his optics. He gazed up at the dark, damp ceiling, a dim light providing the only means of seeing anything in this room.
He tried to rise up from the med berth, but found that his servos and pedes were chained. His optics narrowed as he struggled to break free from his imprisonment, only for his efforts to be in vain.
Memories of the hunt came to mind, along with the visions of Smokescreen being snatched away from him, the screams of his friend filling his audio receptors. He remembered the screams of Autobots and Decepticons alike as they fell from the sky as the beasts dropped them. He could still feel the claws of his captor around him, closing in like a stubborn phantom.
His struggling became more frantic as he tried to break free. What happened? What were those creatures? Why had they brought him here? Did they mean to eat him and savor their prey? If so, then that was all the more reason to escape.
He could only think of Smokescreen and pray that he was alright. But such a prayer and hopeful thought seemed unlikely, but it was all he could do.
That is, until he could break free and escape. Then finding out what happened to Smokescreen would be his next priority.
Faint light flooded into the room suddenly, and Bumblebee blinked his optics as he gazed at the figure who entered the room. It was certainly not a beast, but a small Cybertronian. Yet that did little to help him figure out what was going on.
"Who are you?" he demanded. "What am I doing here?" But the being did not answer as she hummed giddily, typing into a now activated console. Machines came to life as vials with blue liquid hovered over Bumblebee. He could not help but cringe, his spark thumping.
"Oh, are you afraid?" the femme crooned, touching his helm with her clawed servos as her face came into his view. He saw no sympathy in that gaze. He did not even see a fellow Cybertronian. All he saw was a shell of a now crazed, dangerous being.
"Don't worry," she said as the vials came even closer, piercing his arms and causing him to choke. "It will only hurt a little."
Bumblebee breathed heavily in an effort to calm himself down. He glared at the femme who was still smiling at him. "What are you doing?" he demanded.
She giggled. "Your companions asked the same thing. Though the white mech had the loudest screams yet." She leaned closer. "I wonder what your screams will sound like." She activated a switch, and the machines pulsed to life as the vials grew warm, and a scream tore through Bumblebee's mouth as a blinding pain filled his every being.