BACK ON NEBULOS, THE NEXT SOLAR CYCLE…
"What do you all say to exploring the city, everyone?" asked Megatron. All eight of them were seated in the hotel's lobby, discussing what they should spend this new solar cycle.
"Okay with me." Tomato shrugged and put his arm around Blueberry, who nodded enthusiastically.
"There's an interesting shopping mall down there," Blackarachnia told them. "We can buy all sorts of necessary pampering upgrades. After all, this vacation is pre-paid."
"Shopping is boring and stupid!" yelled Lugnut angrily.
"What are you going to do about it, Lugnut?" Blackarachnia asked him smoothly.
"I still think we should go downtown today," Megatron repeated fiercely. "This vacation is only one week long, so we have to make the most of it."
DOWNTOWN…
Most of them split up when they got downtown. Megatron and Lugnut went into the weapons store; Starscream and Blackarachnia went to the shopping mall; Blitzwing went to the music store; and Shockwave, Tomato, and Blueberry decided to hang out in the library.
Blueberry returned On the Origin of Species. Even though she didn't check out a new book, she picked a whole stack of books from the shelves and read through them for a few megacycles, while Shockwave and Tomato explored the library too, looking at the DVDs, CDs, and many, many books.
After exploring a little while, everyone met in the street. Megatron had bought lasers, but Lugnut hadn't bought anything (he had just come along to keep Megatron company, apparently). Starscream had enhanced his paint job—he now had gold highlights and his chest was less pink and more red. Also, he looked more like his Cybertronian mode. Blackarachnia had her nails done and her finish buffed to an impressive shine. Blitzwing was holding some CD's and had some new dancing shoes in hand.
They were about to take their new things back to the hotel when an all-too-familiar ninja star whipped past their heads. Almost instinctively, the Decepticons and Blueberry turned around, and there was the Elite Guard, fully armed, with Team Prime proudly standing next to them. They all looked angry, and they all looked ready for a fight.
"Is that the Cybertron Elite Guard?" cried Tomato, remembering what had happened last time he had encountered them.
"Yes," said Megatron calmly, fueling up his cannon, glad he'd thought to buy a new weapon.
"If I were a filthy Decepticon like you, I wouldn't pick downtown Nebulos to perform your dastardly deeds, Megatron," Ratchet said firmly.
"What are you talking about?" asked Starscream, looking angered and a little confused. "We were just here on vacation."
"Oh, give us a break, Starscream!" called Ironhide, putting on his silver armor. "Do you honestly think we're dumb enough to believe that?"
"You are all complete imbeciles," Megatron told them flatly. "It just so happens, though, that we really are only here on vacation."
"Call us imbeciles, will you?" asked Optimus Prime.
"Well, let's see who the real imbeciles are," Ultra Magnus added. "Attack!"
"No, wait!" Tomato suddenly saw Blueberry rush out from behind all seven Decepticons, a panicked note in her voice. "He's telling the truth!"
"Blueberry!" Blueberry's mother rushed to her daughter, embracing her and kissing her head. "You're all right, thank Primus you're all right."
"Of course I am, Mother." Blueberry smiled weakly.
"How dare you capture my daughter, Megatron!" Blueberry's father hollered, walking up to Megatron, servos balled into fists.
"You don't scare me, Autobot," Megatron said disgustedly.
"Surrender my daughter or prepare to go offline!" Blueberry's father demanded, shooting his revolver at Megatron.
"You leave me no choice!" Megatron yelled back, as he tried out one of his new lasers on the Elite Guard trooper, who winced with pain but tried to ignore it.
Tomato didn't want to have anything to do with the Elite Guard, now or any time, so he went after the members of Team Prime, who had no idea who he was. By now, he was pretty much full-size, so he could attack anyone he wanted. Since Decepticons are naturally bigger in size, he was almost the height of Bulkhead.
Even though Tomato wasn't firing at the Elite Guard, most of the other Decepticons were. Before he knew it, shots were flying everywhere. Blueberry, looking scared, ran for cover, her arms over her head. Her mother met up with her and held her close, both of them looking terrified.
By now shots from all kinds of weapons were firing; Megatron had fired his fusion cannon at Ultra Magnus, who looked damaged but still functional as he summoned thunder and lightning with his Magnus Hammer.
Tomato decided to just go for Optimus Prime, the leader of Team Prime. Why not? He was bigger, after all. And he wasn't a dropout from the weak Autobot Academy; he was a warrior, trained by Megatron himself.
Running as fast as he could, Tomato punched Optimus square in the face, knocking him down onto the ground. Once Optimus was down, Tomato slashed at him with his sword. Bumblebee, coming to his leader's defense, stung Tomato in the back. Tomato didn't really feel any pain, so he ignored it. Ratchet came running over to patch up Optimus.
Once Optimus was standing on his feet again, Team Prime ran past Tomato to help the Elite Guard. Once Tomato watched his other Decepticons fighting the Elite Guard, he knew he had to take the chance of getting captured and fight right by Megatron's side…where he belonged.
Tomato pushed through the crowd and stood by Megatron, who was shooting his fusion cannon at every Autobot in sight. Tomato shot round after round from his gun as well, backing his team up. Before he knew it, the red 'bot felt a sharp sting in his chest. He looked down, and discovered that Prowl had slung a ninja star right near his spark chamber.
Raw energon was leaking out, but Tomato was undaunted. Shaking only from anger, he pulled the ninja star out and dropped it on the ground, slashing at Prowl with his sword. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a hologram, so Tomato gave up and decided to try and attack someone else.
Things were exploding everywhere. Horrified citizens of this peaceful little beachfront community were huddling in terror, clutching their sparklings close and crying out in confusion and anguish. Tomato was shooting his gun at everything, just like Megatron was, engaging Autobot after Autobot in battle, but his attention turned elsewhere when he heard Megatron cry out.
Megatron had been shot again, three times in a row, by Blueberry's father's revolver; the electricity from the Magnus Hammer shoved him hard into the concrete wall of a souvenier shop.
"Optimus Prime! Now!" Tomato heard Ultra Magnus order, and, just as Megatron was getting up to plunge himself back into the fight, Optimus ran to him and pulled out his axe. As swiftly as he could, he sliced the cannon off of Megatron's arm.
Megatron was cracked and sparking, and, not counting his new lasers and the swords, he was disarmed, but he managed to pull himself to his feet anyway, clutching his side. Anger darkening his features, he pulled out his swords.
"Shoot!" hollered Ultra Magnus, and Optimus shot.
Before anyone knew what was happening, including Tomato, a gigantic blast from the cannon hit Megatron right in the spark chamber and slammed him right back into the wall with amazing force. Optimus stumbled backwards, but stood up and shot again. This time, Megatron didn't try to get back into the battle.
"Lord Megatron!" cried Tomato, rushing over to his Master's side. Anxiously, Tomato checked for Megatron's energy signal; luckily, he was still online, but the energy signal was faint. Tomato felt his own spark pounding as he saw Megatron's open spark chamber, barely able to keep its owner online.
"Is…is that you, Tomato?" asked Megatron, looking up at Tomato weakly.
"Yes, it's me, Lord Megatron," Tomato reassured him, a lump in his throat. "Come on, we can't let the Autobots win!"
"Think kindly of me, my son," Megatron told him softly. Tomato could see his spark shorting in and out. Even though he didn't want to admit it, he knew his leader didn't have much time left.
"P-Please don't go offline, please," Tomato begged, fighting back tears. "I n-need you. We all need you."
"Be strong, Tomato," Megatron insisted, reaching out one servo; Tomato took it and squeezed it tight. "Go on and fight like the worthy warrior you have become."
"All right, then." Tomato wiped at the hot tears that were now streaming down his faceplates, no matter how hard he tried to stop them. "But first I must say one thing."
"Y-Yes, my son?" Megatron looked up at Tomato, fighting to stay online just long enough to hear his son's farewell message.
"If I were to go offline in this battle today too, I'd use my last breath to say…" Tomato squeezed Megatron's servo even tighter and whispered in a constricted voice, "I'm glad you're my father."
Megatron, unable to say anything back, slowly lifted his other servo. With a serene smile, he gently brushed Tomato's tear-stained cheek; and then he was gone.
Not listening to the sounds of the battle, not thinking of anything of anything else, Tomato flung himself over his leader's sparkless shell, letting himself cry great sobs that shook his whole body. Soon, he felt someone tapping his shoulder; he looked up, and it was Blueberry. Tears were in her optics, too; she had both hands up to her spark chamber and she was looking upset for her boyfriend.
"I tried to save him," Tomato told her, anguished, as he dropped to his knees and placed both servos over his optics. "I tried to save him, but I couldn't."
"I know." Blueberry knelt next to Tomato and placed one servo on his shoulder.
"And now he's gone forever, out of all our lives." Tomato started crying again, too devastated to feel like a sparkling.
"Maybe he isn't," Blueberry whispered, and stood up.
"What are you talking about?" Tomato stood up too, and wiped his optics some more. "His spark has been extinguished."
"Here, take this." Blueberry slowly took a small, blue crystal out of her spark chamber and handed it to Tomato.
"Is this a piece of the AllSpark?" Tomato asked in amazement as the AllSpark fragment landed in his servo.
"Yes, I always keep one around for good luck," Blueberry explained quickly. "Place it in his spark chamber, and he'll be able to stay online until he can receive proper medical attention."
"I-I don't understand," said Tomato. "Why would an Autobot want to bring Megatron back online?"
"Because we're all in this together," Blueberry replied. "You know that, and I know that, and we're going to make sure Megatron knows it, too."
"Thank you, Blueberry," Tomato told her. "Thank you so much."
"Besides, Tomato," Blueberry said teasingly, "you're a nasty little thief."
"W-What do you mean?" asked Tomato confused.
"I mean you've stolen my spark," Blueberry whispered gently, "and I'm never going to get it back."
Tomato knew what was going to happen. The AllSpark fragment dropped from his servo and landed on the ground; he stared into those beautiful blue optics and grasped Blueberry's servos in his; and their lips met, the kiss resonating throughout their bodies in a way they had never experienced before. They couldn't hear the sounds of the battle blasting its way throughout Nebulos's downtown; they couldn't feel their battle wounds; all that existed for them was their spark-bonding, helpless to the power and glory of love.
Finally, the two of them gently pulled apart, but Tomato still held Blueberry's servos in his. Now he knew that their sparks had become one, something that could only happen if two Cybertronians had truly fallen in love with each other.
"Now, I hate to interrupt this moment of spark-bonding," Blueberry told Tomato, smiling slightly and nodding towards Megatron's body, "but I believe your leader needs resurrecting over there."
"Let's give it a try." Tomato's voice was shaking, but he knelt down on his knees and grabbed the AllSpark fragment. Slowly, determinedly, he placed it where Megatron's spark had been, holding it down, the radiant blue light shining on his and Blueberry's faces.
"Push harder," Blueberry whispered.
Tomato and Blueberry found themselves caught in a blast of bright blue light as the AllSpark fragment engulfed them in its power. The fragment slipped out of Tomato's servo and remained stuck fast in Megatron's spark chamber; once the light had vanished, Tomato and Blueberry sat up, wondering what they would find.
Megatron's systems were clearly rebooting. His optics turned from gray to red; the lifeless expression on his faceplates turned to ferocity and anger; his body seemed to reanimate itself as he lay against the wall of the souvenier shop.
"W-What happened?" Megatron squinted and rubbed his head a little confusedly. "Where am I?"
Tomato and Blueberry ran over to Megatron anxiously. Tomato held Megatron's head up with one arm, the other squeezing his master's hand again. "You're on Nebulos, Lord Megatron. It's me, Tomato. My spark-mate, Blueberry, too. Do you remember us?"
"Do I remember—?" asked Megatron, sitting up and glancing around. As soon as he saw the battle, he shook his head and looked up at his son. "Tomato, look at this battle! You should be fighting, not sitting around with Blueberry! Why ever would you spark-bond in the middle of a battle? We can't let the Autobots win!"
"Welcome back, my liege," Tomato whispered, fighting back a fresh wave of tears as he helped Megatron sit up.
"It worked!" Blueberry sobbed over and over, tackling the both of them, to which Tomato let out a yelp. "It worked!"
"I love you, Blueberry!" Tomato cried, shamelessly bursting into tears again himself, as the two of them hugged each other and kissed again.
"Um…excuse me?" they heard Megatron say, so they stopped their kissing and looked over to him. He was sitting there, arms crossed, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh, sorry!" Blueberry giggled, putting one servo over her mouth.
"I suppose we should go and finish the battle now," Tomato added, putting his arm around her. "Come on, Lord Megatron."
Tomato reached out for Megatron's servo and (not without difficulty), helped pull him up to stand. When Tomato let go, the Decepticon leader got his bearings quickly and prepared to charge out into battle again, but soon noticed something missing.
"What happened to my cannon?" Megatron asked, rubbing the part of his arm where his best weapon used to reside.
"Um, the Autobots took it," Tomato said awkwardly, but then smiled. "But you don't need it, my liege."
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't forget about me, did you?" Tomato shifted into alt. mode. "I scanned your cannon for my alt. mode, remember?"
"Ah, so you did." Megatron picked up Tomato and attached him to his arm. "Now, let's go kick some Autobot aft."
-the end-
P.S. STAY TUNED—THERE'S ONE CHAPTER LEFT! CHAPTER 30 ("EPILOGUE") WILL BE UP VERY SOON!