Author's note
Sigh, due to a complaint from a reviewer, who objected that I used the word nigger, I will probably have to remove the Omake pending his reply. If I have any other African American readers out there, please tell me if Kool Moe D is overreacting or not. I know nigger was a derogatory term but seriously, I'm using a comedic context to make fun of George W. Bush the second here, not African Americans. To the rest of my readers, please do not respond to this question and enjoy the story.
Chapter 24: Tabula RasaMegatron watched in horror as Optimus Prime's Peterbilt Carrier form emerged from the city, escorted by his five loyal Autobots and drove into the Tiannanmen Square, placing themselves between the Forbidden City and the Decepticons.
"IMPOSSIBLE! I SAW YOU DIE!" Megatron screamed.
"It was not my time yet. By the grace of Primus and the love of Kasumi, I have been released from the Matrix and given a second chance of life and redemption."
Megatron twisted his face in disgust. "You still rant about the old religion? And you all call ME insane. You think you can face me and my army with your five puny Autobots? FIVE PUNY VEHICLES AGAINST THE MIGHTIEST ARMY I'VE CREATED IN THE GALAXY!" Megatron guffawed and his fellow Decepticons also laughed, jeered and threw insults at the six vehicles at them.
Optimus replied in a mildly patronising tone, "You do realise you've not even converted half of China's military don't you? Not to mention the rest of this world's governments, which even your Decepticons had to hide from for fifty years while searching for you."
"Their forces are irrelevant. I possess the Key to Vector Sigma. I have a country's worth of machinery to mould into my new army. And an ample number of Decepticons to lead them AND crush your pathetic squad. Oh, did I mentioned I have hostages?" Megatron smirked as he grinded his clawed feet at Hound and aimed his Key To Vector Sigma cannon at the Nerima Wrecking Crew, who while looked extremely surprised and glad of Optimus presence, also felt that the situation was grossly imbalanced: on the one side was Optimus with six of his finest warriors, and on the other side, Megatron armed with the Key To Vector Sigma, two teams of Decepticons who could transform into massive gestalts leading countless military ground attack vehicle drones, and a team of Decepticon Jets leading innumerable Cybertronian technology enhanced jet drones.
The Autobots transformed then, dramatically becoming their humanoid selves and the NWC couldn't help but notice their now pristine shining condition; a sharp contrast to their heavily damaged state before Hound with the NWC and Autobots went their separate ways. All the Autobots immediately armed themselves except for Optimus and Ratchet.
"I ask you again, brother, to stop this madness. It's not too late to rebuild Cybertron together. The humans have proven themselves to be valuable allies. Even the smallest and weakest of them have thrown themselves against you fighting to protect their family, friends and country. Kasumi is the prime example of this. Let us end this Megatron, peacefully," Optimus pleaded while walking towards Megatron with his right arm stretched towards Megatron.
Megatron's face twisted in disgust. "You always were a dreamer were you? You really think the humans will be our friends and we can all sit down, hold hands and sing kumbayah? You stand on a ground stained with the blood of innocents and still you talk of friendship with the humans? They are not only a weak race, they are an evil race even by the standards YOU judge me by. Closer to home, even Kasumi's family has abused the one known as Ranma."
"You see the worst of them. I see the best of them. The Nerima Wrecking Crew has proven their valour already by fighting your Decepticons. Even now their enimity and rivalry has vanished for the sake of the greater good," Optimus replied.
"This is your last warning Megatron. Surrender and we will leave this planet together, with both the Key and the Matrix. Continue your conquest, and we will be forced to stop you."
Megatron snorted. "Which part of 'outnumbered', 'outgunned', and 'hostages' did you not understand Prime? PAH! Stop us? Yeah right, you and what army?"
"Me and THAT ARMY," Optimus said sternly, crossing his arms.
The Decepticon leader was about to ask what army when he thought he saw a flash of red, pink and blue-green pass by him and suddenly the area exploded in thick black smoke. Even with their optic sensors, they could not see through the fog which seemed to be made of a chemical that confused even Soundwave, as well as jamming any extrasensory devices they might have used.
"Soundwave, what's going on?" Megatron growled.
"Warning, strong interference caused by unknown organic induced compound. Sensors scrambled. Rumble, Frenzy, Ratbat, Laserbeak. Eject, Operation Clear Weather," Soundwave said as the four smaller Decepticons emerged from his chest. Ratbat and Laserbeak started to flap their wings to clear the smoke while Rumble and Frenzy transformed their arms into massive fans and did the same.
Megatron growled and shouted to Optimus, "Just for that stupid prank, you can say goodbye to Ranma and his harem.," he then tried to fire his cannon at what he perceived to be the NWC's position (they had also vanished from his view in the smoke). Then he yelped as Hound was yanked out of his feet, causing him to fall backward. Soundwave and Brawl caught him before he could land on his butt but Megatron furiously brushed them away, seeking his target of the NWC and also to eliminate Hound.
The NWC had disappeared and so had Hound.
"I see you're still impatient and arrogant, Megatron. I would have though the years of solitude and defeat at the hands of female humans would have taught you some humility," another voice Megatron thought he would never hear again and also hated and feared spoke. He followed the voice to the top of a nearby building.
Three female Autobots stood on the building, one dark red, one blue-green and the other pink in colour. The blue-green one cradled Cologne, Shampoo and Mousse in her arms while the pink one held Ryoga and Ranma-chan in each hand. The dark red one, the largest of the three, gently held Hound's arm over her shoulder. The green male Autobot looked at Elita and weakly said, "My lady, at last I can look upon your eyes before I join the Matrix."
"Do not give up so easily on life yet, soldier. The day is not over yet. Night has passed. Dawn has come. You do not want to miss this battle Autobot Hound. Your body will soon be mended," Elita One said gently.
"Elita One! So you did survive the assault on Tiger Pax," Megatron hissed.
"With far more loss than you will ever know Megatron. Your mad ambition and lust for power had cost us Cybertron. And still you persist in your unholy quest. This ends today Megatron. For the sake of the galaxy, for the freedom of this world, for all that is good in this galaxy… for the sake of Tendo Kasumi, eternal friend of the Autobots, we will defeat you today!" So regal and majestic was Elita that all stood in awe of her.
Then Megatron caught sight of another small figure near the feet of the pink Autobot. It was holding the wounded body of Akane, who even now stared open mouthed at the figure. Similarly, his own draw dropped.
It was Kasumi.
The eldest Tendo sister was clad in shining green armour that covered her from foot to neck. Kasumi had, for all intents and purposes, become an armoured babe. The armour hugged her body tightly and still managed to show her long legs and shapely body. The only thing it did not show off was her breast, which was protected by a single flat-chested breastplate. This protected her entire upper body from neck till her waist. Like the Autobots, the armour was formed of many metal plates, which covered her arms, legs, and lower body. Where the plate armour did not cover her body, there was a mesh skin suit that protected her body beneath the plates, almost like an extremely fine chain mail. Behind her back was a small mechanical looking backpack. Her gauntlets had a rectangular device that was attached to her wrists and had gun barrels poking out of them. Her greaves were slightly oversized. She also wore a belt with numerous cartridges attached to it, like Batman's utility belt. At her left hip, was a metal cylinder about one foot long. Strapped to her waist, underneath her backpack, was a futuristic looking rifle. The rest of the armour was fairly nondescript save for one thing: The Autobot symbol with the Japanese Kanji of Tendo superimposed over it on her left side of the chest plate.
The NWC were shocked speechless, even Ranma could not believe the sweet looking Kasumi now looked like a sexy Spartan from the X-Box game, HALO. Akane even managed to forget her pain.
"Onee-chan….. how….. why……." she started to say then coughed out more blood.
"Shhhhhhh, rest Akane. You fought well today. I'm so proud of you. Mother would be so proud of you," Kasumi cried as she hugged Akane to herself. Akane responded as well, hugging her sister with all her might, her worries blown away like the wind.
"Autobot femmes, fall back," with a speed that was unknown to any Autobot within Megatron's knowledge, the three Autobot females disappeared at super speed and appeared next to Ratchet, who had transformed into his ambulance form again, enlarging the back space so that all of the NWC could fit inside on separate beds. Then from within, tiny mechanical arms proceeded to operate on their bodies. But before that, the arms offered each of the NWC a small berry-like fruit the size of a plum.
Cologne's eyes widened. "The Restoration Fruit of Zhao Yun? How did you come by this?"
Kasumi held her hand, "Forgive me Elder Cologne, but I dug into of your Amazon archives as I remembered Shampoo being healed so fast after Ravage's attack. In particular I and Ratchet read your medical journals and got the information about the fruit. We also broke through your ancient vaults to get to the fruit tree. I'll pay you back later, I promise. But for now, speed is of the essence. The battle is not over. The war will end here, and I don't want you to miss it any more than myself. Now eat everyone, and then let Ratchet do his magic on you."
Hope was lifted in everyone's heart despite his or her horrible conditions and all accepted the fruit as Kasumi exited the ambulance.
"Onee-chan, are you going to be alright? I don't think you should be here," Akane said.
"No Akane-chan. For good or for worse, I want to be here. Get well fast," Kasumi whispered as she closed the ambulance doors.
Optimus then turned to Hound, who had been laid on the ground beside Ratchet. Arcee had tended to some of his wounds but stepped back when Prime approached. Hound was still in bad shape and looked weakly at Optimus Prime.
"Forgive me for failing to defend the humans Optimus," Hound whispered.
"No old friend, you did the best you could, no one could expect better. Now lay back while the Matrix restores you." Optimus then opened his chest and the Matrix once again was exposed to the outside. Hound looked in amazement as the Matrix shone a bright light at his entire body, washing him in a comforting green light. He was shocked as he saw his entire body regenerate itself nearly instantly; even his ripped arm socket sprouted an arm that grew like a plant out of his body. His internal workings mended themselves and soon Hound found himself lying on the floor in pristine condition. He gingerly stood up and gazed in wonder at his own body. Any battle scar he might have accumulated over the years had vanished, leaving the brightest and flawless armour. He even felt better and younger and longingly touched the telescope mounted on his left shoulder.
"It's a miracle, Optimus Prime," he whispered as he flexed his arms.
"Indeed it is Hound, a miracle of Primus made possible through his human servant, Tendo Kasumi. Your ready for your old role Hound?"
A sinister glint totally unlike his normal behaviour appeared in the green Autobot's eye as his entire left arm and became his sniper cannon once again. "One shot, one kill Prime," he said grimly. Then he moved away from the two groups and into the city to begin his urban sniping again.
Megatron couldn't contain himself any longer. "SO WHAT? YOU FUCK WITH ELITA AND GIVE BIRTH TO THREE NEW BITCHES INCLUDING KASUMI AND YOU CALL THAT YOUR ARMY! WHO'S THE INSANE ONE HERE PRIME?!!"
Silence accompanied Megatron's unholy cussing. Kasumi then turned to Megatron and walked in front of the Autobot line. To the astonishment of the Decepticons, she knelt on both knees and bowed her body slightly to Megatron.
"Megatron, I ask you again. For the sake of the Cybertronian race, please stop your mad bid for conquest. There's been too much blood already, Cybertronian blood to say nothing of human blood. It's not too late to start afresh. You say there are threats out there bigger than all of us. Why don't we all work together to stop them rather than kill ourselves before the threats even come?"
"Don't you see Megatron? By pursuing your purpose to create a mighty empire that can defend itself from the horrors beyond our galaxy, YOU have become your worst fear, creating this civil war that has nearly wiped out your race," Kasumi actually pleaded
"DON'T YOU SAY THAT! THAT IS INSANE! IT WAS PRIME'S FAULT FOR NOT SEEING REASON, NOT MINE! HE IS THE CAUSE OF THIS WAR! HE WAS THE ONE WHO REFUSED TO GIVE ME THE MATRIX! HE IS THE ONE WHO SAT BEHIND THE LINES ON HIS OWN LAZY BEHIND WHILE I FACED THE QUINTESSONS, THE NECRONS, THE TYRANIDS, THE FLOOD, THE YAUT-JA, THE VOX, DARKSEID'S EMPIRE, THE SAIYANS…." He screamed hysterically now, as though trying to justify to himself and not just Kasumi and the rest of the audience.
Kasumi shook her head. "Please Megatron, we've all made mistakes. Prime has made his share and you have made your share. And it has cost all of us dearly. I don't care who started it, and neither does Prime. It's time to bury it."
His terrible red eyes narrowed and Kasumi nearly gasped at the amount of venom and malice that was focused entirely on her. "I'll bury it all right, AFTER I GRIND PRIME'S SPARK UNDER MY FEET AND SUBJECT YOU TO UNENDING PAIN FOR THE REST OF YOUR MISERABLE LIFE!"
He roared like an enraged beast then shouted. "DECEPTICONS! ASSEMBLE FOR BATTLE! COMBATICONS! CONSTRUCTICONS! MERGE FOR THE KILL!
Chu chu chu cha chi, chu chu cha chi, chu chu chu cha chi! The air was thick with the sound of transformation as most of the Decepticons and their drones in the city transformed into their robot modes and assembled at Megatron's position. Behind him, the towering gestalts of the Combaticons and Contructicons emerged, seventy feet tall twin towers of destruction with murder in their red glowing eyes. From Soundwave's chest, Ravage emerged to gather in his panther form and growled menacingly at Kasumi.
Atop the buildings and skyscrapers, the Decepticon air drones perched on them like crows, ready for flight and attack.
The brown haired Tendo girl sighed as she stood up. Elita One placed a reassuring finger on Kasumi's shoulder. "Do not blame yourself for what happens now. He has made his choice. Now he must abide by them."
"Yes but I thought…. Since he was once patriotic….. he did care for Cybertron you know," Kasumi said as her armoured gauntlet touched Elita's finger.
"I know Kasumi, I know. Bear in mind Megatron courted me before. Even I can hardly believe that is the male that once meekly sought my hand. Now steel your heart and prepare for battle Kasumi," Elita said grimly. From the female Autobot leader's right hand, a small cylinder slipped into it, and then elongated into a thirty-foot pike. At the edge of the pike, a long broad sword emerged, engraved with alien runes and glowing blue as anti-matter forces enveloped the blade. The edge was also lined with a thin laser beam like Jazz's sword. She wielded the long handled blade with two hands, twirling them into the air before pointing the sharp edge at Megatron. Her shoulders also expanded and each sprouted a joint that held a small diamond shaped shield each, giving her two shields to protect her without having to use an arm.
Arcee stretched her arms forward. Her biceps unfolded and then twin blades that resembled Chinese falchions came out of them and their handles landed neatly into her palms before her arms closed up. The blades were beautiful and at the hilt of each one was the Yin and Yang symbol. One blade was black with a white hilt type while the other had a white blade with a black hilt. Red visors covered her eyes and like a ballerina, she stood one toe with her right blade aimed at the Decepticons while the other blade was pressed against her back by her left hand.
Last to arm but not least, was Chromia. Although Bruticus and Devastator barely knew any thought other than destroy, both became slightly perturbed by Chormia's Mega-cannon jutting out of her chest. Both Ironhide's and Chromia's weapons were currently focused on Bruticus. The parts of Bruticus mind that was formed from Brawl and Blast Off, the most experienced fighters of the five Combaticons, was wary of the firepower those two Autobots represented. Ironhide didn't manage to damage them the last time due to his weapons being underpowered as a result of the damage he had received. Unfortunately, the other three, who simply wanted to smash the Autobots for their humiliation at the Battle of Amazon city, overruled those two parts of Bruticus mind.
Megatron pointed a claw at Optimus. "YOU'VE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME EVERYTHING! MY WORLD, THE MATRIX, ELITA, MY HOPES, MY DREAMS, EVEN KASUMI! BY THE PIT AND EVERYTHING DIVINE, I WILL TEAR THE SPARKS OUT OF EVERYONE OF YOUR AUTOBOTS AND MAKE YOU WATCH ME EAT THEM! AND THAT INCLUDES YOU TOO ELITA, YOU TRECHEROUS SLUT!"
RRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! a deafening roar responded to Megatron's insults.
From the air, the rocket form of Omega Supreme dived from the sky, transforming mid air and landing on the ground in front of Kasumi, making the ground shake with his colossal eighty feet tall robot form. Kasumi was nearly thrown off her feet but luckily the power armour Wheeljack had dressed her in automatically balanced her body when she willed it too.
There were a large number of impacts made into the ground as the collective jaws of nearly all the Decepticons including Bruticus and Devastator but excluding Megatron, dropped to the ground at the sight of the colossal robot. Moreover it was a robot with the red symbol of the Autobots emblazoned clearly on its chest.
"MEGATRON.INSULT. KASUMI.ELITA.DEFEND.HONOUR.PAY!"
Megatron laughed maniacally. "Now who's the hypocrite? You have a monster on your side that has taken the lives of thousands of Cybertronians to say nothing of the useless races you had me protect, Prime."
"Tabula rasa Megatron. As of now, all our slates are clean, including Omega Supreme. He is our friend and an Autobot. Such is the grace of Kasumi's God and our Primus. You can no longer break our spirit Megatron," Optimus said sternly as his huge rifle appeared in his right hand but he did not aim it at Megatron yet.
"I'm done trying to convince you Megatron. Prepare to be defeated, once and for all Megatron," for the first time, Optimus Prime was clear of his destiny. This was the moment he had long dreaded but no longer would he regret his decisions. The paths of destiny now converged on this point. Even the air stilled and became quiet as the two forces, one side evil, the other good, faced off against each other.
"THE ONLY ONE WHO WILL BE DESTROYED BY THE END OF THIS DAY WILL BE YOU!" Megatron roared back.
Kasumi took a deep breath and then started to use her imagination. From the backpack behind her, a helmet came out and slipped itself over Kasumi's head. The helmet had a flat reflective visor, which served as its face. The rifle transformed from behind her back to her arms, which she held with both hands like an M-16. The design of the rifle was similar to that wielded by Optimus but on a much smaller scale. Then her oversized greaves also transformed and became a platform for her to stand on and started floating above the ground without any visible means of propulsion. Lastly, the backpack also became a kite-shield, which was joined to her left shoulder via a flexible joint that moved at Kasumi's whim. On the shield was emblazoned with the Tendo Kanji superimposed over the Autobot symbol. She floated beside Bumblebee, who had transformed his right hand into his trademark solar cannon whilst his shoulders sprouted a missile launcher each. The Matrix had made one more modification on him: his left hand now held an energy sword. (1) The two looked at each other silently.
"Easy there Kasumi. Remember what Wheeljack told you. Think about what you want to do before you do it. The suit will take care of the rest. Remember the battle records Arcee showed you. Stay close to me Kasumi, or any Autobot. Do not try to engage any of the large Decepticons except Rumble, Frenzy, Ravage, Ratbat and Laserbeak."
Bumblebee's eyes softened. "Be safe Kasumi. I'll never forget you pouring your heart to me in the junkyard. No matter what happens, I'm glad to have met you Kasumi."
Inside, Kasumi's eyes threatened to tear up but she fought them down, knowing now was not the time to do so. "And you'll always be in my heart Bumblebee. I love you."
The two groups faced each other. Elita pointed her long broad sword at Megatron. "Megatron, I ask you one last time. Come back to us. Let us start over."
Megatron eyes now blazed with madness. The Key To Vector Sigma cannon suddenly glowed and then transformed itself into close combat weapon. Megatron's right hand disappeared and became a chain that was twenty feet long. At the end of the chain, was a vicious and hellish looking flail. (2)
"DECEPTICONS ATTACK!" Megatron screamed as he charged at Optimus Prime like a raging rhinoceros. He was followed by Bruticus, Devastator, Soundwave and hundreds of ground drones who poured into the Square towards the Autobots like an ant swarm whilst in the air, more than a hundred drones took to the air to begin their aerial bombardment of the Autobots.
To be continued….
Author's notes
My humble apologies guys. I think I'll need more time to flesh out the final battle.
Before you guys ask what happened to the rest of Elita's team, or for that matter where in the world is Starscream, well, I guess I'll disclose that Starscream is leading the converted Jinan military forces, and the rest of Elita's team was sent to deal with him. That's all I'll say for the moment. Remember, Megatron is pissed at Starscream so robs him off the glory of conquering the Chinese capital and leaves Starscream to cover his back.
Oh yeah, regarding the citations:
The energy sword that Bumblebee has resembles that used by the Covenant Elites from HALO. Yes, I'm taking a few leaves from that game, including Kasumi's power armour which somewhat looks like a sexy Spartan Armour as mentioned above. Dragonman, hope this makes you happy.
The stupid thing about the 2007 movie, I know Megatron was using a flail but I just can't get a good look on it. So for the moment, imagine the one used by the Witch King from Return of the King when the Witch King fought Eowyn.
If I can ask your opinon, do you think my story has become boring or somewhat dry since I dropped Kasumi into the Spring of Drowned Megatron? Because I personally feel I've been lacking "ooommmph" in my story since then, mostly due to the fact that describing elaborate battles is not my strength, I prefer more on the talking, character development and drama, which is why there's additional talking in this chapter. So for those looking for action and found more yapping, I beg for your forgiveness again. To be honest, I'm very eager to get to my ending, which I intend to be a tear-jerker.
Take care and God bless.