Shockwave clambered through the crowded exterior filled with citizens and, to his surprise, Combiners and Sentinels overlooking soldiers who had graciously surrendered. He held his cannon arm with a grimace as it sparked.
"Shockwave!" A voice called out to him.
He turned to see The Matriarch run to him before immediately noting the sparks coming from his cannon. She gently held it up, even when he showed being uncomfortable with the motion.
"Oh, you poor baby. What happened to the others?"
"Wrathzone was too powerful, left me to take care of them. I wanted to stay but Scythe was very insistent on me being the one to go. I...left them," he spoke low.
The Matriarch tilted her helm. "It proves we are dealing with more than we think, but what's worse, maybe, is that Bumblebee left us to go confront them himself. We lost track of Tyrus too, and Windblade got separated. They knew we would pursue."
Suddenly, The Matriarch scoffed and stomped her pede harsh on the ground causing a few bots in the background to look at her. "I shouldn't have left you! So worked up wanting a real fight that I didn't help you infiltrate the palace when I should have! Idiot..."
Shockwave placed a servo on her shoulder with a reassuring voice, "It's in your nature to go where you feel is right even among war. I expected nothing less but maybe this is a valuable lesson, one we can use against Rockrider now."
"How so?"
"We storm it as a unit. No one goes off on their own and I guarantee you will be able to get close enough to Rockrider to kill her and take out Wrathzone. I promise that."
The Matriarch seemed to purr at that. "You really know how to get a girl's engines revving."
The purple mech drew her close and pressed the edge of his helm against hers. "Of course, why wouldn't I indulge your desires? I would do anything for you, you know that."
"Sweet talking only gets you so far, scientist."
"Never bothered you, Vehicon," he purred back.
Haywire got between them with slight annoyance. "Hey, starstruck lovers, we have a job to do! Let's get moving!"
Grimlock and Predaking approached them when the latter said, "If Bumblebee and Windblade are on their own, they won't last. We have to go after them now!"
Shockwave nodded to his sparkmate and leader, "You want me to take point or you?"
The Matriarch thought about it before crossing her arms with a laugh. "It was you and Bumblebee who started all this, you're finishing it. I'll be your support this time."
"Logical," Shockwave said. "Let's end this."
The gems were not as bright as they once were, and they knew why. All the power in them was practically drained from bridging past the isle's shield that hindered their communications to reach Aquatron to retrieve them. Bolt was quick to hug Arcee and offered Megatron one, but he turned it down in favor of giving Bolt Quintessa's staff.
"No way did you get this," he muttered.
Arcee smirked as Moonhunter hoped into her arms despite being almost half her size. "Believe it, Bolt. Oof, that's the leader of the Quintesson's staff. Now you have something to brag about in that collection of yours that every Cybertronian would be interested in."
"How did she die again?"
"She was eaten by a Leviathan Queen. Ironic, isn't it?" Megatron laughed.
The Vehicon gave his own hearty laugh, "Payback's a bitch. Oppressing Aquatron to where even the animals and creatures that live in the depths don't like you, that's pretty sad. I'll find a spot for this next to Xerophorus' swords. Good job, guys! Heh, I bet the Allspark is running out of warlords to send out against you, can't think of anyone else it could get to fight off the top of my head."
As Bolt left to place the staff, Arcee stretched upon letting Moonhunter down. She yawned, "I'm going to go get some rest. We'll go to Cyber Meadows in the morning."
Megatron nodded and watched her leave with Moonhunter following. Then Bolt reappeared and saw her go into her room quietly before crossing his arms and peered between her room and Megatron. He knew what the mech was thinking, he was thinking it too.
"You know, if you want to tell her you love her straight up, you're going to have to do it soon. I mean I love you both but that's because I'm crazy enough to say it without even remotely thinking of the consequences or anything. But if you love her...don't hold it back for too long or your regrets will catch up to you at the worst moments. Or worst-case scenario, you say it far too late, and the feeling is no longer mutual."
Megatron side-eyed him a bit annoyed.
"I'm just saying," Bolt defended.
"I know what I have to do but how do I go about it? I've never fallen in love with anyone since...well, I'm not even sure that it was love back then or something else we both didn't understand at the time. But this is different. I actually feel like she is the one. It took so long for me to find it."
Bolt shrugged, "You didn't know then. Not every relationship will be right or even if it's truly love, there may be still something about it that doesn't feel right. You loved him at the time and a part of you still does, but it's not in the same way as before and it never will be because of the war, and that's okay. Arcee is someone you've built a genuine relationship with by having things to relate to you didn't have in your past relationship. That's why it feels real; you have someone who knows the real you and she understands it because you know the real Arcee who is not much different from you aside from motives."
Megatron smirked, "Didn't think you would be quite the counselor. Where were you when I was a miner? You would have set me on a far better path had I known you earlier."
The Vehicon snickered, "I wasn't even created until the war, buddy, I don't know how I would have helped. But what's in the past is done. Now, you should only focus on the present and there's a certain bot here who wants the present Megatron to be who she needs. So, who are you?"
Rubbing the claw marks on his arm from a previous encounter on the isle, the warlord said, "I am Megatron...the queen's partner and Arcee's...um?"
"Boyfriend?"
"I was going to say something much cooler but alright, I'll take that."
Bolt patted Megatron's arm lightly. "Get some sleep, big guy, you earned it."
They both acknowledged one another before going to their respective rooms to rest. As they left, the gems on the shelves started to pulse with eerie whispers.
The Allspark saw Quintessa's unfortunate death. With a heavy sigh, more like a computerized drawn-out beep, it became uneasy about its failure. It was at a loss of what to do. Arcee and Megatron would be onto it in no time now that so little of its remaining defenses were intact. Cyber Meadows and the Primal Jungle had their predators and monsters but, at this point, there wasn't a whole lot of confidence it could give the areas.
Still moping at your losses? And here we thought you would have gotten wise by now; they will resist everything you throw at them.
The Allspark was a bit surprised to see its sentries reappear. Its consciences always could be counted on to make its existence less lonely. If only they wouldn't be so passive-aggressive as they wanted to be but that came with being a part of it.
"I thought you all didn't want to talk to me?"
Stubborn as you are, we are still you therefore we are responsible for keeping you content. But we come to you not as a gift to ease your sadness but as a warning. Our energy was required to help fix what you've done and if we fade, you will lose us forever. Arcee must reunite us before it's too late. You must stop this madness.
"I did what I had to do to create the shield, to protect myself...didn't I? I-I remember what I did. I separated us by encasing you all into the gems to help spread my power to the ecosystems across the island...what have I done?!"
You meant well but now we are suffering. By fusing us, the bane of your almighty conscience, to the gems, you tampered with your own emotions and memories. You must remember the rest before we are destroyed indefinitely. We don't have much time. Please.
One of the sentries began to flicker slightly and the Allspark was uncertain if they were lying or telling the truth. If they were fading, the voices would go away but maybe so would a piece of it, and it was already shattered mentally. If they were lying, it was just another tactic probably to get it to back down, but it didn't want to. The war wasn't over and Arcee still had not reached the citadel therefore the deal made was not broken, not yet.
Against its better judgement, not that it was good to begin with, it refused to heed its sentries' cries. "No, I don't believe you. If the gems fade, you'll return. We are indestructible! You just want me to relent, admit I was wrong but-but I am the Allspark! I am never wrong!"
The animal-based sentries seemed to simultaneously shake their heads, not out of malice or sadness...just disappointment. It was like they were ready to accept their fate and the Allspark couldn't help but feel unnerved that something was missing.
"I am right...I'm always right...right?"
The sentries didn't respond and merely bowed their heads at the main body of their consciousness.
"Two gems left, and we can finally give the Allspark a taste of its own medicine! Oh, I can't wait to see the look on its face when we kick its ass for this embarrassment!"
Arcee stifled some laughter, "Bolt, the Allspark doesn't have a face."
The Vehicon shook a digit her way, "You know what I mean. So, Cyber Meadows...as you are aware, there are Dinobots there, plenty of them. My biggest concern is their leader. All herds of Dinobots have a leader. The problem is I have no clue which one it will be. Certain Dinobot leaders play by certain rules. Some you merely have to defeat in battle until surrender to win while a few believe if you want to rumble with them and/or take their throne, you're going to have to kill them before they dare bow to the likes of you. Maybe we can avoid that if we avoid them."
He brought up the lower south end of the isle where the meadows resided and pointed at the virtual map. "But...the gem seems to be moving so either a Dinobot has it or something else does. It's concentrated near the cliffsides of the meadow so do with that information as you please."
Megatron high fived the eager queen as she exclaimed, "We're so close! Can you feel it?!"
"Oh yeah, I will never step off Cybertron again after this," he smirked.
Bolt nodded and opened a ground bridge before grabbing Moonhunter and tossing the cat in. "Let's a-go! You've slept enough on this ship. Alright, just be careful and try not to get eaten. Dinobots aren't all vicious...but given our luck..."
"Don't worry, we'll be cautious as always. You don't need to keep reminding us, you know," Arcee said.
The Vehicon shrugged, "It's my favorite thing to say, come on. Besides, maybe I just want to humor myself in a prepared 'I told you so' if any one of you bite the dust? Just saying."
Megatron sneered playfully, "Ah, yes, that's why. Mm hmm, that doesn't sound fake at all."
"Bite me, overlord."
After energizing and getting all their repairs, both Megatron and Arcee were ready for anything in the meadows. They counted to three then sprinted through the portal eagerly. But upon reaching the land, they were immediately almost stepped on. As the portal closed, they peered upward as a large sauropod Dinobot walked steadily in front of them with a distant rumble. The Dinobot was unbothered by their presence and certainly unaware of Moonhunter's.
The Nitrotiger scrambled around scared as giant padded feet nearly crushed him. He ran to Arcee and hid behind her. He hissed when the sauropod was a good distance away before swinging his tail in annoyance while sniffing around.
Arcee took the shock as a warning to watch their surroundings and so she peered around to see the meadows full of grass, flowers, and various species roaming about. Dinobots were indeed the most plentiful species around with Triceratops-like ones, Barosaurus-like and so on. Then she recognized a few other species they had seen when they first arrived.
"That there is a helio-horse, native to Velocitron. With their manes of fire and flexible metal, they run with fiery streaks behind them. Thankfully, grass and other vegetation are seldom scorched because their mane and tail streak upward...but I guess if it ran in a forest or through tall enough grass there would be a problem. They usually have either blue or orange fire depending on the region of Velocitron they are from. It is possible to have other colors of fire from breeding and random genes but don't get your hopes up. Believe it or not, these things technically don't have eyes but they can see. The glow of the same color of their mane in those eye sockets are the flames projected through a layer of glass. Don't ask me how it works but they can see so...I wouldn't know where to begin logically with that."
As they watched a few blue-maned helio-horses with their young, one of which supported a rare purple flame and another had a far lighter shade of blue than normal, Megatron got it in his head to ask, "If we were to have sparklings, what do you think they would look like? You or me more?"
"If, Megatron, if I have sparklings. I am not even close to wanting them at this time...but if we were to go into specifics, I think there's a fair chance a majority of them will be femmes therefore higher chance of them being like me."
He chuckled, "Oh, you're so confident? You realize femmes are a bit rare-"
"And you realize we haven't even gone on a single date yet aside from touring Hydronix. We are in no position to be picking out China patterns right now."
"What patterns?" He asked confused.
"Earth metaphor, means settling down. It's mostly an English terminology though."
"Ah, humans customs are weird."
"Yep."
They made their way toward the direction of the gem. The meadows were peaceful, but they knew that it was taboo to think of any place on the isle as such. It was just a matter of time before something in it got the idea to attack them.
"So, you two have any romantic getaways planned? A vacation in a nice hotel? Cruise? Casino?"
Arcee grew somewhat annoyed by the pressing of their relationship and sighed, "Guys, we can work out all the details later. By Primus, how many times do I have to mention it?"
Megatron muttered, "Sorry. My question was merely out of curiosity."
"I was just going to ask if I can be your butler or anything, your Highness," Bolt snickered.
"Hey, no and no! Does that answer everybody's questions?"
Then Bolt's voice shifted to concern, "Arcee?"
"What?!" She scowled.
"Something's coming at you! Its energy signature was just detected and it's fast!"
Both Arcee and Megatron turned around as Moonhunter began hissing behind them right as something leapt at her. She was forced to the ground as she placed her arm in front of her to hold them back by the neck. Jaws snapped mere inches from her face with a raptor-like screech.
Suddenly, Megatron grabbed the creature and tossed it away from her as she was quick to get back on her feet. Staring down at the opposing being, they both glared at a giant Utahraptor-esque Dinobot that shook slightly in anger before stomping its clawed pede down with their curved claw tapping against the ground itching to pierce them.
"Ooh, that's a Dinobot raptor. That is a Dinobot raptor, my friends. I remember hearing about Slash and her speed among Grimlock's team. This one isn't any different though I'm not sure if they can talk. Some can and some can't. Hang on, let me think of a name for this one."
Arcee hissed, "Make it quick! This thing is eyeing me!"
The Dinobot tilted their head seemingly calculating their next approach on the bots in their vicinity.
"Talonbrawl, you know because they have that elongated talon and they apparently are very open to fighting? Well, my jokes are getting more and more sour by the day. Do what you need to do, I guess."
On cue, Talonbrawl roared at them and ran at the closest bot which was Arcee. She did a flip away from them as they curved to try and bite her, but she sent a knee into their chest before punching them hard in the head. When the raptor still pursued, Arcee brought out her blasters and fired upon them.
Unprepared for their prey to fight back, Talonbrawl skidded on the ground gaining traction to run away a safe distance but still circled her thinking of a new way to approach. When they went for an opening with scarce fire, Arcee quickly readjusted her aim and blasted them. The raptor backed off before snarling.
"Why can't anything on this isle be peaceful for once?!"
Bolt answered, "Because it's the Allspark driving them all mad! Its presence interferes with what they know and what they've been forced to live with! This isn't their home, and they know it! So, what happens when you take a tiger out of the jungle? It doesn't bode well for anything or anyone. Talonbrawl is attacking most likely out of desperation or because they are so agitated, they need an outlet and you two are foreigners to them."
"Makes sense, but they should know anything they attack just might have the capability of fighting back," she sneered, furrowing her brows and narrowing her optics.
Talonbrawl gave another warning hiss but right as they were about to sprint again, Moonhunter abruptly tackled the Dinobot much to Arcee's horror. The Nitrotiger climbed onto the raptor's backside biting profusely at their spine and neck. The Dinobot, on the other hand, rotated around attempting to bite at the annoyance.
Knowing she might not have another chance, Arcee instead took out her gatling gun and aimed but hesitated when she realized Moonhunter was right in the firing range. She refused to hurt him, not like what happened accidentally with the turretmonger. As Talonbrawl then reached around and finally caught Moonhunter by the leg did she shoot twice in warning. Both shots impacted the chest but didn't hit deep enough to breach the spark chamber. It was, however, enough to cause pain.
Talonbrawl cried out and pulled Moonhunter off, tossing him to the side but as the cat got back into the fray, Arcee shot at the Dinobot each time she knew Moonhunter was either a safe amount of feet away or was at an angle least likely to be hurt.
Arcee was immediately hit by Moonhunter who was tossed again by the raptor and fell to the ground making Megatron grow defensive. But she was fast enough to get up and ran at them before the warlord could act.
"Arcee! Wait!"
She didn't listen and joined Moonhunter, who ran back alongside her, by clutching their mouth shut and wrapping her legs around their throat. If she couldn't shoot them, she could damn well break their neck. As the Nitrotoger continued clawing and drawing Energon, Arcee began pushing the head of the Dinobot to the side. They jolted trying to break from her hold, but she kept going.
"You messed with the wrong bot today!"
Talonbrawl narrowed its red optics at her before making the bold move of slamming their neck and head down to knock Arcee unconscious. It half-worked, in a sense, as Arcee felt woozy coming back up, but the Dinobot didn't get a second chance to do it as Moonhunter sank his teeth in her defense right on top of their snout. That prompted the Dinobot to go into a barrel roll with a whine, forcing the Nitrotiger off but Arcee still remained.
Cracking among their armor plating was an assurance to Arcee that slowly but surely, she was causing much stress to the natural rotation of the neck and so close to twisting it from an unrecoverable maneuver. She almost smiled deviously at the idea but then she backed off when she felt that maybe she was taking things too far. At the same time, it was no different to what she had done in the past, so the feeling of satisfaction was justified.
Arcee didn't expect her grip to loosen in her pride, but it did, and the raptor was quick to take advantage of the slip up. Regaining control, Talonbrawl sank their claws into her back the same way Moonhunter was clawing it and she screamed. She could see Talonbrawl grinning, and she finally let go. But she didn't have time to run away as the raptor's clawed servo was on her neck in a cruel shift of karma.
With what sounded like a snarling laugh, the raptor held her down on the ground and pressed hard as she kicked them. Grabbing Moonhunter again and throwing him to the side, they hardly cared about Arcee's attempts to push back now that she lost her one small lead. Opening their jaws, Talonbrawl revealed their fangs barely touching her faceplates but she showed no fear. With a growl, they sought to end her for the stunt she pulled. But the raptor didn't get their chance.
Talonbrawl was hoisted up by the neck by an enraged Megatron and clawed at his arms and waist attempting to gain control back but uselessly dangling in his grasp did it no favors. They stared back into the cold, predatory optics of the mighty warlord and grew enraged but still.
Megatron smirked, "No one ever told you that you should always pick your targets wisely. You weren't that smart apparently."
Slowly, Megatron's grip tightened, and the raptor squealed the more pressure came to its neck. Arcee watched intrigued and slightly giddy at seeing Megatron display the most aggressive points of his personality as well as his deadliest. When Megatron wanted something dead and he got the tip-off in his favor for even a second, it was usually over for his opponent.
Arcee couldn't help but admire that; he was an inspiration to murderous tendencies and let her be damned if she didn't admit it was awesome to see. There were a few other feelings that she hadn't felt in some time coming up watching his true self come into the spotlight once more, but there wasn't a time for dwelling on them.
With a sickening crack, Talonbrawl's body went limp and dropped to the ground hard upon Megatron releasing them with a slasher smile adorned with his own sharp fangs and a pleased growl. Even Moonhunter was impressed. Megatron turned to Arcee and helped her up while the Nitrotiger sniffed the dead Dinobot.
"Nice," she laughed.
He matched her amusement. "I try. You should see the stunts I pulled in the Gladiatorial Pits to woo my crowd. Maybe I would have made you a fan of my work far earlier."
Purring, she placed a servo under his chin in a romantic gesture. "Maybe."
Bolt chimed in, "Well, unfortunate as that was, Talonbrawl chose their fate when they decided to pick a fight with you. Now, assuming you lovebirds aren't going to be showing off to please one another with who can kill the best, the gem has stopped moving and is currently Northeast of you."
Megatron and Arcee shrugged at the interruption and passed Talonbrawl's corpse with Moonhunter sniffing at it curiously. Arcee called to Moonhunter who quickly obeyed, not wanting to upset his owner by dwindling on a dead body. All three moved northbound to the Black Mountains, hoping to find the gem before the late afternoon.
AN: This chapter is shorter because I didn't have an extremely good monster to put in it hence a lot of padding. But next chapter has the good shit, I promise, as does the one after that. Can't have all of them special.
Featured monsters:
Talonbrawl the Dinobot (Kanjis)