3
"NO!" Ratchet slammed his fist against the keyboard of the base computer. "No, no, no!" His fingers flew over the keyboard, trying to fix what had gone wrong. All of the Autobots looked up in confusion as Ratchet worked himself into a frenzy.
Bumblebee, Prowl, and Ironhide had come through the space bridge not too long before. They had taken the humans back to Peter's house to spend the night, and the Autobots were now just milling around and swapping stories. Optimus had not yet returned from his excursion. Now, everyone was jolted out of their reverie by Ratchet's outburst.
Stalk stood up and came over to Ratchet. "Ratch, what's up?" She set a calming hand on Ratchet's, and he stopped moving.
He looked up at the computer screen in despair and sighed. Then, he turned to the group of concerned 'bots. "Autobots," he said with sadness in his voice, "I have terrible news. As of a few minutes ago, Optimus Prime's energy signature disappeared from our scanners. This could mean many things."
"It could mean the Decepticons…" Skidplate didn't need or want to finish his sentence.
"Not necessarily," Ratchet said. "We need conformation before we draw any conclusions. Jazz, Prowl, I'll bridge you to Prime's last coordinates. Find out what happened."
The two Autobots stood up and strode through the ground bridge. They emerged into a rocky outcropping and began to look around. Jazz scanned the ground, while Prowl climbed the rocks like a lissome cat. Jazz scanned in ever-widening circles, but to no avail as of yet. Prowl jumped gracefully from rock to rock, seeing no sign of Optimus or the Decepticons.
"Prowl," Jazz called to the ninja-bot. Prowl jumped to the ground and raced over to Jazz.
"What?" Prowl asked. He stopped dead when he saw what Jazz had found. There was a big patch of dirt that was all scuffed up. Prowl could see some footprints from Optimus, and some from Megatron. Prowl and Jazz circled the entire fight scene three times over, but the two warriors seemed to just disappear. There was no tracks leading away from the struggle, and there were no drag marks indicating the victory of either Decepticon or Autobot.
"What do you think?" Jazz asked.
"I have no idea," Prowl deduced. Jazz nodded in agreement. "There is only one thing for sure; that Optimus isn't here." Prowl felt heaviness in his spark. "Ratchet, we need a ground bridge back."
The two walked through the newly opened ground bridge with a new drag in their step. All of the Autobots were waiting in anticipation on the other side. "Well?" hope shone in Ratchet's optics.
"There was sign of a struggle between Optimus and Megatron," Prowl said. "But from their tracks I couldn't distinguish a clear winner."
"The tracks just seem to disappear," Jazz interjected.
"The Decepticons could have flown Optimus away from the struggle," Strike suggested.
"We have to assume the worst," Ratchet replied grimly. "Some one is going to have to lead us since Optimus is gone."
"I should lead. I am Optimus' consul after all," Jazz announced.
"Me, Grimlock, leader of Dinobots. Me should be leader of Autobots," Grimlock growled.
"I'll be the leader!" Sideswipe piped up. Everyone turned to him in confusion. "What? I think I'd do a good job. I've lead plenty of missions in my day."
"Let's have a vote," Ratchet suggested. "You three, stand over here. What are your individual plans for the Autobots?"
Jazz spoke first, "I say we infiltrate the Decepticon Base, try and contact Cybertron, and help recover Optimus' body so that we can put it in a place of honor. If he's alive, we need to help him."
"I say we build a space bridge to contact Cybertron, or do whatever. We'd have a lot more mobility that way, and would give us an advantage over the Decepticons," Sideswipe explained.
"Me, Grimlock, want to crush Decepticons!" Grimlock explained simply.
"Alright," Ratchet looked at the rest of the Autobots, "you've heard what they have to say. Now let's vote. All those in favor of Jazz?" The hands of Prowl, Blurr, Stalk, and Strike rose into the air. "Raise your hand if you're in favor of Sideswipe." Mirage, Arcee, Bumblebee, and Skidplate all raised their hands. "All in favor of Grimlock?" Ironhide and Bulkhead raised their hands.
"How are we going to have a leader if we don't have a majority?" Ratchet asked.
"Jazz's idea was the best," Stalk growled.
"Sideswipe's was better," Arcee told her matter-of-factly.
"Let's not quibble," Ratchet started.
"Quibble?" Skidplate said in disbelief. "This is the leader of the Autobots we're talking about!"
"I say we go our own ways!" Sideswipe roared. "Come on," he signaled for his followers to follow him into one of the various tunnels of L3. Grimlock went his own way with Bulkhead and Ironhide in tow. The trio went down a totally different tunnel from Sideswipe.
"Let's go," Jazz led his band of followers up to L2 to get away from the other two groups.
Ratchet remained in the main part of the base all alone. He shook his head, knowing that splitting up would not help their cause. They would probably still be friends, but would follow different leaders. "Oh, Prime," he sighed, turning to his computer, "we need you now more than ever."
Optimus Prime pushed himself up with his arms, but was knocked back down by a blow to his shoulders. He felt the object roll over his back and land on the ground a ways away. Once he recovered himself again, he scrambled to his feet and brandished his axe, ready to face whatever came at him. When he looked around, however, he was astonished.
The landscape around him was exactly the same as before he had gone through the ground bridge. It hadn't changed at all, and a chill crept into Optimus' energon. He lowered his axe slightly and looked around some more. Megatron laid a ways away, but made no move to get up. Optimus assumed Megatron's system was in shock, and that he had been the one to flatten Optimus.
Suddenly, a loud roar sounded overhead. Optimus looked skyward and saw a jet flying overhead. Optimus would know that jet anywhere. It was Starscream; with an odd red, white, and blue paintjob. The Decepticon spotted them, and landed nearby. He transformed and raced over to Megatron.
"Megatron!" he said in surprise. "I thought you were back at base. I didn't know you had come all the way out here. Let me help you." He didn't seem to notice Optimus, but Prime raised his axe in defense anyway.
As he knelt down to help Megatron, Megatron lashed out and grabbed Starscream by the head. He seemed to have regained his mobility. Megatron stood up, still holding Starscream's face.
"Megatron!" he screeched. "What's wrong? I haven't done anything, I swear!"
"Come on, you traitorous excuse for a melted sparkplug!" Megatron growled. "You will face the wrath of Megatron!" He began to walk away, dragging the pleading Starscream behind him. Suddenly, he stopped in mid-stride.
A large cloud of dust manifested on the horizon, and was approaching the trio very fast. A look of horror was plastered on Starscream's face. As the dust cloud came closer, Optimus could see a tank in front of it, with other vehicles following in its wake. The tank transformed as it reached Megatron, and Optimus nearly dropped his axe.
The tank in front transformed into an exact likeness of Megatron, but with streaks of color all over its body. It slid to a stop right in front of the real Megatron, and they looked each other straight in the eye.
"What are you doing to my most loyal lieutenant?" the pseudo-Megatron asked.
"What are you talking about, imposter?" Megatron hissed.
"Me!? An imposter!?" the pseudo-Megatron burst into laughter. "Now that's funny."
"Megatron, help me!" Starscream pleaded.
"Let him go," pseudo-Megatron said.
"Or what?" Megatron sneered.
"This must be an elaborate plot," Soundwave suggested.
"You must be an elaborate plot," Megatron roared, "orchestrated by Optimus Prime."
"Optimus?" a slight anxiety crept into the pseudo-Megatron's voice. He seemed to notice Optimus at this moment. And something else.
Optimus looked to the other side of the desert and saw another dust cloud rushing towards them. When it reached them, three Cybertronians transformed, and this time Optimus did drop his axe.
Optimus was looking at an exact copy of himself, but with a complete black and purple paintjob. Behind him were doppelgangers of Mirage and Bumblebee, both with different paintjobs as well.
"Megatron," the pseudo-Optimus growled.
"Urgh," Megatron made a fist with his right hand. "I'm sick and tired of this. I thought I'd gotten rid of you," he turned and aimed his fusion cannon at the pseudo-Optimus. He did a quick double take when he saw another Optimus off to his left.
Megatron narrowed his optics and shot at the pseudo-Optimus. The pseudo-Optimus was shot back, and his two Autobot companions caught him as he flew backwards. To the other Optimus, Megatron threw Starscream at him. Both of them tumbled to the ground. "This is weird," Megatron transformed and flew into the sky. "I'll be back to annihilate Optimus Prime!' he roared as he disappeared.
The pseudo-Optimus picked himself up and glared at the pseudo-Megatron. "You outnumber me now, but I'll be back. And I will crush you." He transformed and raced away with his Autobots in tow.
Optimus tried to push Starscream off of him, and Starscream cooperated by planting his feet under himself and pushing up as well. Once Starscream was on his feet, Optimus was able to gain his footing. The pseudo-Megatron strode up to Starscream and looked him over. "Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yeah," Starscream dusted himself off, and then realized who he had actually collided with. "Optimus!" he shrieked, ducking behind pseudo-Megatron.
"Optimus," the pseudo-Megatron growled, "I thought you ran off."
"Ran off?" Prime asked, completely confused about what was going on. His processor was racing in circles.
The pseudo-Megatron examined him. "You don't look like Optimus. Wrong paintjob and body language. You must be a clone sent by the real Optimus to catch us off guard!" The pseudo-Megatron stepped back, "Wrap him up, Blitzwing."
"Vith pleasure," Blitzwing stepped out from behind Megatron and pointed his fists at Optimus. Optimus picked up his axe, sheathed it, and got ready for a fight. Blitzwing shot out something like a grappling hook from both hands towards Optimus. Optimus stepped back, but the wire was able to wrap around his ankles and Optimus fell to the ground. The wire began snaking up his body, wrapping him tightly from his ankles to his shoulders. "Good night," Blitzwing smiled and sent a jolt of electricity down the wires. Pain washed over Optimus, and he fought it as long as he could. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore. His systems shut down and all of Optimus' senses went dark.