Transformers Prime Season 3 Episode 2: Prime

by LuisJM

With news that Optimus is alive and held captive by the Decepticons, the team needs to do anything they can to reach the fortress and free their leader. But dark forces are in play as Megatron welcome a key player into the fold. Will Team Prime succeed? Jack x Arcee Pairing. (Editing by FictionFan1024) COMPLETE!

14. No Escape

Well, just about finished with this episode, just a few more chapters and I'm good to go. You know, I'm still debating on whether I want to continue with the season or put up an extra episode regarding the invasion of Jasper. See while I have this season to get to, I do have one episode coming up that would involve John and Elsa (Which by the way you guys should read my other Transformers Prime story if you don't know what I'm talking about.). But I have to see what's bound to happen depending on how long these chapters take and the time I finish with my TFP/GG crossover. But hey, I'm gamed and there's always time for what's to come. Now on the last chapter, still as strong as ever. A total of nineteen reviews, both logged in and guest, and over 1,300 hits. Good times… Still a few people asking for an update, but I'm not complaining. At least Gazorscreen was grateful in shutting those neigh Sayers up. Just to let you guys know, my next update could get long as well so hang on tight. I need to make sure that this epic final battle needs to be right. Now on this next chapter, Team Prime just about made it to the courtyard to prepare to leave, unaware that their recruits were taken to Megatron for questioning. Will they be able to make an escape on time or will they suffer the wrath of the Decepticon's latest Autobot hunter? The suspense is killing me.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime.

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Chapter Fourteen: No Escape

Back on the twentieth floor, the Wreckers and the Elite Guard member were making a Beeline to a nearby elevator that could take them down. But then, a group of Vehicons blocked their path, firing their blasters at them. Bulkhead still had his Apex Armor on, as the projectiles bounced off him like nothing. Wheeljack and Smokescreen lacked special armor, so they hid behind Bulk while performing a little covering fire. Thus, they managed to take down a few troops, but it still wasn't enough to get rid of them all. But given that bulkhead was in the middle, he decided to finish it all off. Charging right in, he plowed through the drones and knocked them all into deep stasis.

Bulkhead: "Creature feature coming through!"

Just as he burst through the opposition, he saw a Combaticon in his way and was ready for a bout. The Wrecker smirked, knowing that he had the armor on him, and gladly accepted the challenge.

Bulkhead: "Now this is the kind of fight I want!"

Immediately, both Bulk and the Combaticon charged right in and the two delivered a straight up punch to the helms. Both of them were a little dazed for the moment, but quickly recovered as they got back into fighting. They then went into a grapple, performing a test of strength against each other. The two remained in this type of struggle for a few moments until the Combaticon gave him a knee jab to the gut. The Wrecker grunted but the armor prevented a deeper impact from occurring. Bulk recovered quickly and gave the brute a head butt to the helm, getting him a little dizzy and immobile. With him temporarily stunned, the Autobot went on ahead and pounded a heavy left and right with his punches, trying to knock him out. But after the last punch, the brute just about had it and activated his prods on his back, charging it to full power. Tightening his fist, he gave the Wrecker a stiff uppercut, sending him flying from the impact and landing on the ground back first. Bulkhead moaned and didn't expect that to happen one bit. While knocked down, the Combaticon approached the fallen bot, ready to deliver the final blow. Smokescreen and Wheeljack looked on, shocked to see the big lug get taken down so easily, especially with the armor on. Jackie decided to come in and rescue his friend.

Wheeljack: "Hang on Bulk! I'm coming!"

But Smokescreen intervened and told him that he'll handle it.

Smokescreen: "Stand down Wheeljack. I got this one."

He then activated his phase shifter and jumped up high in the air, phasing through the ceiling. Jackie stood back, waiting to see what the Elite Guard member was planning. Just as he disappeared, the Combaticon approached the downed Wrecker and was ready to finish the fight. Charging his prods to full power, the brute lifted his fists up for the kill as Bulkhead looked up in fear. However, before the huge Con could even strike, Smoke came down from the ceiling upside down and used his blasters to shoot the brute in the back. The Combaticon felt that and turned to see the Autobot phasing back in. He tried to get to him and smashed the ceiling, but left nothing but metal in his place. Bulk looked at him and noticed that he was distracted. Quickly taking out his Immobilizer, he pointed it at the drone and hit him on his back. The Con felt that and went on the attack, but for some strange reason he couldn't move. That's because he was frozen in place since the immobilizer froze any Cybertronian on contact. Now that he was unable to move, the Wrecker got up and turned to his friend to finish the job.

Bulkhead: "Jackie!"

Wheeljack heard him and knew what he wanted him to do. Smirking to himself, he got his Katanas out and his mouth guard closed, ready to finish this.

Wheeljack: "Got it Bulk!"

Running to him, he jumped over his friend and struck his swords on the prods, causing them to overload to critical. Both Wreckers ran as the Combaticon overloaded and exploded with body parts flying everywhere. Once the smoke cleared, all that was left were remains and blue fire. The two looked back as Smokescreen came down through the ceiling and landed on the floor. Observing the damage, he whistled to himself.

Smokescreen: "Wow! Now that was some Kodak moment."

Wheeljack look down the hall and realized their path was blocked.

Wheeljack: "You can say that again. Too bad we blocked the path to one of the elevators. That was pretty stupid."

Bulk looked at that too and decided to take an alternate route.

Bulkhead: "Oh well, no use crying over spilt energon. We've got plenty more elevators to go to. Let's find another route and get off this floor to meet up with the rest of the team."

They all turned to the hallway next to them, and were about to get ready to leave. But just as they were about to go, they saw a group of Airadicons flying to their position, transforming and landing on the ground. Once they deployed their blasters, the group fired and tried to hit the three Autobots. Bulkhead stood his ground, the shots deflecting off of his heavy armor while the other two hid near the wall and returned fire.

Smokescreen: "Easier said than done, Bulk. These Cons are doing anything they can to prevent us from escaping."

The group continued to shoot until Wheeljack noticed a small batch of Energon canisters close by. Thinking of a plan, he retracted his blaster and took his Polarity Gauntlet out, activating it for combat.

Wheeljack: "Then it looks like we need to start clearing a path."

Pointing his gauntlet to the canisters, a yellow glow wrapped around them and lifted them up off the ground. The Airadicons noticed this and ceased firing, fearing that hitting one of the canisters would blow them all to bits. Yet Wheeljack had another plan as he clicked a button and threw the canisters right at them while telling Smokescreen to fire.

Wheeljack: "Your move kid! Show them what you got!"

Smoke looked at him and nodded, seeing his plan unfolding. Getting out of cover, he charged up his blaster and fired a straight shot at the barrels. Once it connected to one of them, they all exploded, sending flames right at the Airadicons, burning them all to death.

---

Down on the main floor, the other half pushed through with whatever they had. Blocking their path were a few Vehicons and two sentry guns. They were shooting the Autobots as they were trying to get into cover. Arcee and Bumblebee were doing everything in their power to break through their defenses, but with just their blasters, it wasn't going to be an easy feat. Not to mention that Ratchet and Altra still had their servos full carrying Optimus the whole way through since his legs were temporarily disabled. Looking at the group, Arcee got her head behind cover as it was bombarded with multiple energy shots.

Arcee: "These Cons certainly don't know when to give up. They seem to be pulling out all the stops."

Ratchet looked on and sighed in desperation.

Ratchet: "We still have to keep going! If Optimus is to escape, we have to reach the courtyard and bridge back to base."

Altra heard that and was a little worried about Jack and the others.

June/Altra: "I just hope you're right, Ratch. I'm concerned about the kids being up there all by themselves, especially my son."

The medic turned to her and assured her that everything was going to be all right.

Ratchet: "Don't get too worried about them, Altra. They have been trained to fight. They know how to defend themselves."

June turned to him and was still concerned.

June/Altra: "Whatever you say, Ratchet. It's just that my son is the only precious thing I have in my life."

Optimus listened to the conversation and was feeling a little confused. Did the Autobots find young recruits? This Altra has a son? How much has he really missed since his imprisonment? There were a lot of questions that needed answers. But first they needed to get out of this crazy place and maybe he'd get his answers. Meanwhile, the group continued to fire as they were having a hard time trying to dispose of the Cons. As they were doing that, Bumblebee was performing a little covering fire behind the wall and was blasting away on all cylinders. Just then, more projectiles came at him and he got back into cover with his back to the wall. Taking a breather, he and the others had to think up something that could get them out of this predicament. Just as he was thinking about it, he noticed something the others didn't see coming. So with optics bugging out, he tried to warn them all what was coming.

Bumblebee: (Guys, we've got trouble!)

Arcee heard him and told him that she already knew.

Arcee: "Yes Bumblebee. We already know that we've got trouble. You don't have to warn us."

Bee was a little annoyed by this and decided to tell them as clearly as possible.

Bumblebee: (No! I mean we've got trouble from behind us! Look!)

The femme turned around, wondering what he wanted. But as she turned around, she was surprised to see a Tankicon in his tank mode targeting them. Seeing this, she muttered the one word she was made famous for.

Arcee: "Scrap…"

Once it aimed at the team, the cannon fired a shell right at them. As the shell flew to them, the femme turned at the other and told them to duck.

Arcee: "Hit the floor!"

Quickly, every medic and soldier got down as the shell flew over them. Though the projectiles missed, it hit the squad and sentry guns and blew them up on impact, destroying everything in one shot. The group got up, relieved that one threat was gone. But now they had another threat on the other side, as the Tankicon was ready to blast them again. Quickly, the ninja bot turned to Ratch and Altra and told them to get to someplace safe.

Arcee: "Get Optimus to a safe spot! We'll handle this Con!"

The two medics nodded in agreement as they pick up the Prime and dragged him away from the battle. Once they were away, Cee and Bee got into a stance and were prepared for battle.

Bumblebee: (So… Do we have a plan?)

The two-wheeler looked at the tank as it prepared to fire another round.

Arcee: "Keep him distracted. I'll handle him personally."

The scout nodded as the Tankicon fired another shot at them. The two split up as Arcee transformed and sped straight to the target. Bee then armed both blasters and shot the tank up as much as he could. The tank's armor was heavy and he targeted the Autobot and fired away. Bee simply ran to avoid each shot as he pivoted and parried his way out of the predicament. There was one time he jumped off the ground with the explosion from behind and landed on the wall with one foot. Jumping off the wall, he somersaulted upside down and fired away. The Tankicon saw this and fired yet another shot at him. In slow motion, Bumblebee was completely upside down with the shell close to his helm while he was firing away at him. Returning to normal speed, the scout landed upright on the ground and kept on firing at him. While he was distracting him, Arcee sped like a Bat out of Hell and was nearing the heavy drone. Just as she was close enough, she popped a wheelie and made a drastic jump in midair. As she was getting close, she did a flip and transformed only to land on top of the tank. The Tankicon felt that and immediately knew he was caught by surprise. Immediately, he transformed into his bipedal mode and used his arms to smack her down. With her quick agility, she avoided the knock down. Seeing Cee in danger, Bee charged in and fired his blasters at the brute and the Tankicon felt each one. Using the shielding on his arm, he blocked each of those shots while using his free servo to slap the femme. Arcee ducked low and got into a position with her legs wrapped around his neck. Once in place, she wrapped around the main cannon and used her strength to lift the cannon up in the air. The Tankicon fired blankly as it hit the ceiling over his helm. Looking up to the cracking ceiling, she knew it was time to get out, but not before she performed one more move. Getting her legs in position, she did a quick twist and cracked the Con's neck to the opposite angle, shutting him down completely. Once it was done, she freed herself and jumped into an upside down position, seconds before the metal debris buried him, covering him completely. She then landed gracefully on her pedes as she observed the burial of the Tankicon. Once the fierce battle was over, Bumblebee approached her and whirled in a whistle.

Bumblebee: (Smooth moves… Never really thought you could pull that off.)

The two-wheeler looked at him and had a sly grin on her face.

Arcee: "What can I say? I'm a natural of what I do. Now let's find Ratch and the others."

Just as she said that, they heard a voice from the distance.

Vehicon 20: "Looking for someone?"

The two Bots turned to the voice and couldn't believe what they were seeing. They saw Ratchet and June carrying Optimus, but around them were a squad of Vehicons, blasters pointed at them. The nurse looked at them and apologized for what happened.

June/Altra: "Sorry guys, but they caught us by surprise. We didn't have time to escape."

The two armed their blasters and were about to take the enemy out. But then the Vehicon approached the two and gave them a proposition.

Vehicon 20: "This is your last warning. Surrender now or watch as we terminate your leader. What's it going to be?"

It was a standoff between the two Autobots and the group of Decepticons as Arcee narrowed her optics, not sure what to do. After a bit of contemplating, she came to an immediate decision.

Arcee: "Bee, stand down. We don't want anything happen to Prime."

Bumblebee looked at her and was a little shocked.

Bumblebee: (But Arcee!)

She turned back to him and retorted back.

Arcee: "But nothing! If Prime dies, the Cons win. So stand down."

Scout nodded and decided to follow her orders.

Once they retracted their blasters, they put their servos in the air and surrendered temporarily. The Vehicon looked at them and smirked behind his faceplate.

Vehicon 20: "I knew you would do that. Bring them in."

The few Cons approached the two with stasis cuffs and wrapped them around their wrists. As they were doing that, Arcee was contemplating a way of getting out of this mess. For if they didn't escape, then they would all be terminated.

---

Jack's POV

Argh… This was pretty much an embarrassment. First my broadsword got broken and now I'm beaten by this Shockwave guy. Miko was right about him. He's one tough Con to beat. In fact, the last thing I remember was him punching me hard in the face and knocking me out. And then nothing… Damn, that Con knows how to pack a wallop. Question is, where am I?

Looking around, I could tell that I am in a light blue area with nothing around me. Looking down to myself, I could see my servos are replaced with human hands, flexing them a little to get a little confirmation. Seeing myself, there was only one thing that came to my mind. I was in this world the Primes know, alive and dead. I'm back to where it all started, when Vector Prime told me to find and rescue Optimus. I just don't get it. Why am I here? Why am I back? Just then, I heard a voice that was familiar to me.

Vector Prime: "Jackson Darby."

I looked up and saw a big Cybertronian with armor that was a combination of black, silver, purple, and gold, wings slanted down to his back that resembled solar panels, and a crater-like circle on his chest plate with a glowing orb in the middle. I stared at him for a brief second until I said his name.

"Vector Prime? What am I doing back here? Wasn't I fighting Shockwave?"

Vector nodded and explained about it.

Vector Prime: "Indeed, you just were. Don't worry though, you are in temporary stasis. You will be awakening shortly. Which is why I have to deliver this message to you before you regain your consciousness."

I looked at him strangely and wondered what he wanted to speak to me about.

"Okay… What is it you want?"

Vector looked at me with narrow optics and explained to me what he wanted to say.

Vector Prime: "Be forewarned Jackson, for I've foreseen a fierce battle ahead for you and the Autobots. The outcome is uncertain, but it will be the most difficult the Autobots will ever face."

Listening to him, I was a little worried about this battle he stated. Just then multiple questions swirled around my head as I asked him about that battle.

"What's so bad about this battle? Who are we facing? Will we be victorious? I need to know!"

Yet of the questions I gave, Vector lifted his servo up and responded in an answer I didn't quite understand.

Vector Prime: "Patience, Darby. You will get your answer once you face your greatest enemy. However, you should know one thing and one thing only. Upon entering this battle, you will face your true destiny. That destiny will tip the scale to this war. A destiny will change everything on your planet."

I listened to that and was quite surprised. My destiny is coming? And it will come in this great battle the Autobots are going to face. That seems quite impossible. I don't even know about this destiny that Vector states. What destiny? And what does it have to do with me? Thinking this through, I asked Vector about his words of wisdom.

"This destiny you talked about. What is it? And what does it have to do with me?"

Vector looked at me and asked what he told me before.

Vector Prime: "My dear Darby, have you forgotten? You already know your answer. Now it is time you leave this world and prepare yourself for what's bound to come. Wake up!"

Immediately, the image of Vector Prime vanished and the light engulfed the entire area, blinding me completely. Now I don't know where I was or if whether I was returning. That's when I heard another voice that was awfully familiar to me.

Raf/Firewall: "Rodimus! Rodimus wake up! Wake up!"

End of POV

---

Jack groaned as he slowly regained consciousness.

Raf/Firewall: "Rodimus! Rodimus wake up! Wake up!"

Rodimus slowly fluttered his optics as he regained his consciousness. Finally up, he looked around and noticed that he was in an elevator ascending high up in the air. In front of him, he saw Shockwave, Knockout, and Soundwave stranding there with their backs turned to him. Looking at himself, he noticed that he was on his knees. Looking at his back, he saw that he was locked in stasis cuffs with a group of Airadicons behind him. It would seem that he was caught and held against his will. Seeing this, he heard the voice of Raf yet again.

Raf/Firewall: "Finally, you're awake. Thank goodness. I thought for certain that you were long gone."

Jack turned to his left where the voice came from. What he saw was Raf in the same position as he with stasis cuffs on and on his knees. But then, he saw the hacker's chest plate cracked as if someone punched him hard. Looking at him, he was completely shocked.

Jack/Rodimus: "Firewall? Is that you? What happened?"

Raf slowly turned to him and explained in a weak manner.

Raf/Firewall: "Blame Soundwave for that. I had him on the ropes when I got him down for the count. Then he pulled a fast one on me and took me down with a sonic blaster of his own. Nearly cracked my chest in the process. Good thing it wasn't worse."

As soon as he said that, there was a female voice that Jack was familiar with as well.

Miko/Kaosu: "At least you got lucky. Look at me! Those slagging Cons did a serious number on me!"

Jack heard the voice and turned to his right to see Miko cuffed as well, who was in far worse shape than the hacker. She had dents and scratches on every part of her body with energon slowly seeping from a few wounds and a little dribbling at the side of her mouth. Rodimus was shocked the most by her condition and didn't know what to say.

Jack/Rodimus: "Kaosu?! How the- What in the- What got into you!?"

Kaosu looked at him and explained what happened to her.

Miko/Kaosu: "Knockout happened, that's what. That crazy doctor zapped me and then awakened every Decepticreep in that factory. Had to hold them off as much as I could, but they overwhelmed me and beat me six ways till Sunday."

Rodimus looked up and down at her damaged body and was smirking by her condition.

Jack/Rodimus: "Well, this is what you get when you get too cocky."

The Wrecking cadet glared at him and threatened him a little.

Miko/Kaosu: "Watch it, pretty boy. I may be beaten, but I still have enough energy to whoop your aft around."

Suddenly, Jack heard another voice right next to her.

Sari: "Don't know about it Kaosu. I don't think you're in any condition to fight."

Jack looked behind the cadet and saw three humans trapped in the same capsules he and the others were in during the Omega Lock incident. Those humans were Sari, Sam, and Vince trapped, while three Airadicons were carrying them. He was shocked the most about them and didn't know what to think of next.

Jack/Rodimus: "You three got caught too?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders and explained the situation they were in.

Sam Witwicky: "You could say that. Those three Cons got to us and nabbed us from the console. Sparkplug tried to hold them off, but it didn't do much. Scraplet fled to safety while we got caught with our pants down."

Vince looked at Rodimus and could tell that he was in worse shape than the others. He looked dented as well from the many hits from the science officer and looked like he'd been through Hell. Looking at this, he rubbed his chin and came to a conclusion.

Vince: "Let me guess… The fight with this Shockwave guy didn't go well, did it?"

Rodimus grunted to himself and explained his failure.

Jack/Rodimus: "Yep. Pretty much. Shockwave certainly was one tough opponent. Been giving me quite a workout along with destroying my broadsword. Long story short, he beat me to my limit."

Kaosu sighed to herself and couldn't believe what happened to them.

Miko/Kaosu: "That's just great… We took on MECH and Cons and we get beaten by Megatron's top cronies. How embarrassing…"

Jack sighed and told her that everything will be all right.

Jack/Rodimus: "It's going to be okay Kaosu. We'll figure out a way out of here and get to the Autobots. We just need to find a way of getting these cuffs off of us."

As he was thinking of a plan, Shockwave overheard their talk and turned to tell them to shut it.

Shockwave: "Quiet all of you. There will be no conversation. Don't even bother trying to escape. It is all futile."

Rodimus looked up to the science officer and gave him a very deep glare.

Jack/Rodimus: "Exactly where are you taking us?"

The Con stared him down with his one eye and explained it.

Shockwave: "As I said before… We're taking you straight to Megatron for questioning. He wants to know how you Neutrals managed to reach Darkmount and why you joined the Autobots. I'm just hoping that what he has planned is as bad as what we did to you."

The former teen stared him down and responded in a much more threatening voice.

Jack/Rodimus: "Whatever Megatron is planning, we will never say anything."

The Con just turn back and murmured something under his breath.

Shockwave: "We shall see…"

The group rose higher and higher on the lift until they stopped at the top floor. Upon reaching upwards, a door opened up from above them like a photo snapping. Once the lift stopped, the Neutrals and humans were at an observation area where they saw the whole view of the desert. Just as the lift stopped, one of the Airadicons approached the Neutrals and told them to move.

Airadicon 14: "Get up! Time to go."

He aimed his blaster at Rodimus's back and tapped on it a couple of times. The young mech looked back and gave off a deep glare before sighing and getting up from his kneeling position. The other two followed suit as they walked off the lift while the drones carried their human companions. During their walk, they noticed that they entered what appeared to be the throne room with huge pillar-like structures all around them that glowed red in some places and had an eerie field to it. In the front were a small group of Vehicons with their blasters armed and ready to fire the intruders if they tried to escape. But as the three top Cons departed, they all looked at the one thing that caught them the most. In front of them was a huge throne that was curved at the top. But sitting on that throne was none other than Megatron himself, looking down at the three Neutrals and three humans with a pleasing look on his faceplate. Next to him was Starscream with his servos clasped behind him and had that devious look on his face. Shockwave got to his leader and started the introductions.

Shockwave: "My liege, allow me to introduce to you the Neutrals that have caused problems with our armada."

The three recruits looked on and didn't like where this was going. But the humans, they were pretty much fearful for their lives. The second in command looked at the humans and remembered what the Vehicon captain said during that questioning. What he knew was that there were two humans present during the Jasper incident and looking at the capsules, there were now three. So he turned to Knockout and asked with a confused gesture.

Starscream: "I thought there were suppose to be two humans that were with the Neutrals, not three."

The medic looked at him, and shrugged his shoulders for a bit.

Knockout: "Haven't you heard? Humans multiply."

Megatron simply ignored the red Con's remarks and looked at the three recruits with a sinister look.

Megatron: "So you are the Neutrals that have made a mockery of my army."

He then got up from his throne and approached the three, explaining what they have done recently.

Megatron: "I have to say, what you all did was far more impressive then I can imagine. Breaching the barrier, laying waste to my troops in that pathetic human town, destroying that Insecticon hive underground, sneaking your way into Darkmount, and reaching the comm. facility to bring the Autobots through. You three are quite the unique bunch. Though there are still questions regarding your… unexpected arrival. If there was a ship you three came in, Soundwave would've detected you by now. But for some odd reason, you never made much of an appearance until your energon signatures appeared unexpectedly one earth week ago. So tell me Neutrals, where did you come from and how did you get here?"

He bent down to Jack and asked him that, since he looked at be the leader of this small group. The former teen looked at him and asked another question himself.

Jack/Rodimus: "Why would you be so interested in that?"

The leader looked at him coldly and explained it all in detail.

Megatron: "Because I need to know my enemy. Normally Neutrals don't last long in battle and those who don't want to join tend to get shot on site. But you three, you've managed to survive this long and resisted our cause. It's obvious that the Autobots found you and trained you, but I need to know more about you. So tell me boy…"

Shockwave: "Rodimus."

Megatron was rudely interrupted by Shockwave and turned with a displeasing taste in his voice.

Megatron: "What?"

Shockwave: "His designation is Rodimus. He told me while we were fighting."

Megatron rubbed his metallic chin a little bit and find that to bit intriguing.

Megatron: "I see…"

He then looks down to the recruit's level and asked again.

Megatron: "Tell me, Rodimus, where did you come from and how did you join forces with the Autobots?"

Jack looked up to him and retorted back.

Jack/Rodimus: "Like we would ever tell you about us."

The leader though stood his ground and wasn't pleased with that response.

Megatron: "You've certainly got some spunk, youngling. But you are nowhere close to my league. Do you know the penalty for assisting the Autobots in rescuing their leader? Do you?!"

Jack just stared him down with a disgusting looked at his face.

Jack/Rodimus: "Why would you commit us to any crimes after what you have caused?"

The warlord raised an optic ridge and found that to be a bit confusing.

Megatron: "Oh really? And what crimes have I committed?"

Before Rodimus could even say something, Miko busted in and said it straight away.

Miko/Kaosu: "You attacked a small town close by and killed many innocent people! That's what you did!"

Megs turned to Kaosu and found her sudden snappy explosion amusing.

Megatron: "Is that what you think? That I destroyed that town. Those humans have been protecting the Autobots and keeping them from our reach for a long time. They all deserved to be punished for what they have done."

Jack turned to him and told him that he didn't need to do that.

Jack/Rodimus: "But those people had nothing to do with the Autobots. They didn't even know that the base was close to their town. They were just living their everyday lives until you decided to put this tower close to them and went on the attack. None of them deserved to die!"

Megatron looked at him and explained his actions.

Megatron: "They didn't? Anyone that sides with the Autobots, be they human or Cybertron, deserve to die. You, of all Neutrals, should've known about that since you joined forces with them."

Suddenly, Vince interrupted him and yelled out loud his actions.

Vince: "You sorry bastard! How can you say that when you killed those that I was close to!? What about my family!? My mom… Dad… My little sister… They are all dead because of you and your army! Did they deserve to die? Did they?!"

The Decepticon looked at the voice and found the bully trapped in the container. Walking to him with loud stomps, he bent down to his position and explained to him his reasons.

Megatron: "Your family, along with many miserable humans, kept the Autobots from us for so long. Due to their act of kindness to them, they had already accept their fate, and died at the hands of the Decepticons. They all should've known better. But that is of no consequence. What happened to that human town was just the beginning. Soon, the Decepticons will be victorious on this planet. Once the Autobots on this planet have been eliminated…"

Jack/Rodimus: "You are going to take over Earth."

Megatron looked at the recruits and wondered what he meant by that. Rodimus then continued in explaining about the plans the warlord had.

Jack/Rodimus: "I saw what you're planning. The way you want to attack all the military bases across the globe before you invade Earth. That's your plan, isn't it? First to place a base of your own on this planet, then you can rule it. That's your whole shtick."

Now that got the leader's attention and explained his reason for his plan.

Megatron: "Indeed, we didn't want to use this planet as our new home. But after what Optimus did on Cybertron, when he struck his sword into the Omega Lock, we had no other choice but find an alternative planet to call our own. This planet is the perfect replacement, but this species dominates it. That will all change soon enough. Once the Autobots have been exterminated and the puny military the planet has is dismantled, then we will burn this world to the ground and rebuild it with my own image. Maybe all of this wouldn't have happened if Optimus hadn't destroyed our only hope. The Prime should've known better then to-"

That's when Raf had it and exploded in pure anger.

Raf/Firewall: "He was saving this planet because you were using the Omega Lock as a weapon to turn Earth into a new Cybertron! You were threatening to kill all life on this planet just because you wanted to rule both of them!"

Both Kaosu and Rodimus looked at him and realized the mistake he had made. He just told Megatron about what he was really planning and that he knew this because they were the humans who were captured in the first place. But the egomaniac didn't know that, because he was looking at a group of young Neutrals, not three of the Autobot's human companions. Marching toward him, he told the hacker what he had said.

Megatron: "And how do you know about that? Who told about what happened on Cybertron?"

The moment he approached him, he pointed his blaster at him and charged it to full power. Firewall went from a serious looked at completely scared as he realized what he had done. Kaosu decided to intervene and tried to save him.

Miko/Kaosu: "Leave him alone! He's too young. He doesn't have anything to do with this!"

Turning to Miko, he moved his blaster to her and threatened her as well.

Megatron: "Then perhaps I should take up Earth's customs and give the first shot to you, my dear femme."

The Wrecking cadet gulped and didn't like the sound of that. Yet Jack decided to stop this and told Megatron to not hurt them.

Jack/Rodimus: "No! Don't you dare do this, Megatron! Don't you dare harm them! They're my friends! They have nothing to do with this. You're fight is with me, not them! Just spare them, please..."

The Decepticon warlord looked at the boy and found that to be a bit witty.

Megatron: "You? Challenge me? No Autobot can defeat me, not even Optimus. What makes you think that you can surpass what others have failed to do?"

The recruit looked at him with a deep glare and told him why.

Jack/Rodimus: "Because unlike the last time, I wouldn't hesitate in destroying you."

The leader was confused by his words, hearing that he faced Rodimus the last time, yet he had never seen him before in his life.

Megatron: "I have never faced one such as you. Nor have I seen the likes of you since the war on Cybertron. Who are you and why do you say such things?"

Rodimus looked on and realized that he had slipped off his own tongue as he told him about their last encounter when they were buried in that unstable mine and encountered him when he was at his weakest. Jack silently gulped and didn't know how to recover from that. During the interrogation, Soundwave looked at the scene and found what they were saying a bit off. Yet during that time, the only thing he was focusing on was their faces. There was something familiar about them, yet he couldn't quite but his digit on it. Out of curiosity, he accessed his memory banks to see where he'd seen them before. After his continuous scanning, he found something about these Neutrals that could be of some interest to his leader. Approaching him, he tapped Megs on the shoulder to get his attention. It worked as he turned to his Intel officer and demanded what he wanted.

Megatron: "What is it Soundwave? Can't you see that I'm in the middle of something important?!"

The Con turned on his visor screen and showed the leader something very important about the intruders. The three recruits looked up to Soundwave and wondered what he was doing. When the screen changed into some random picture, their mouths were agape and knew what it was.

Miko/Kaosu: "Uh guys, is that..."

The former teen sighed to himself and could tell that they were in some serious trouble.

Jack/Rodimus "Oh yes it is, and we are in big trouble."

Megatron took a closer look at the picture his Intelligence officer was showing and saw what the former teens knew. On that screen, it showed Jack, Raf, and Miko back when they were human when they were within the giant sized array radio telescope in Texas, preventing the Cons from setting spacebridge coordinates to Cybertron at the end of the Dark Energon predicament. Just after Soundwave managed to lock on to those coordinates and sever the cable, the children rushed to him as he was leaving. Miko did take a picture of the Con, but then he took a picture of them and flew off. Megatron stared at the picture and was a little confused by what he was looking at.

Megatron: "What is the meaning of this? Why are you showing me the Autobot's human pets when we have a few intruders that have been causing my squad problems?"

Soundwave then pointed to the Neutrals and gestured to look at them. Turning back, he could see their worried faces, yet staring at them, their faces did look very familiar. Checking the screen again, he saw the faces of the humans that were just as identical as the recruits. He went back and forth a couple of times just to get a clear look at the details. After one last look around, a small grin appeared on his face and he gave out quite a chuckle.

Megatron: "How unexpected... I have seen many things in this Great War, but never in a million stellar cycles have seen something quite as shocking as this. So the young Neutrals that caused chaos in Darkmount were nothing but the Autobot's precious human pets."

He then bent down to Rodimus's level and knew who we really were.

Megatron: "And you, my dear boy, you were the human that spared my life in that cavern when you could've taken me at my weakest. Let me take a quick guess... Jackson Darby was it?"

Jack's optics was wide as saucers and couldn't believe what he heard. Megatron found out who they really were, thanks to Soundwave's actions. Vince heard this too and was completely bewildered by what he had heard, calling out his name.

Vince: "Darby?!"

He turned to Rodimus and was still in that state, trying to let the news get absorbed into his brain. Jack turned to the bully and sighed, knowing that the secret was now out.

Jack/Rodimus: "Hey there Vince... Nice to see you, too."

Looking at the two other recruits, he found out who they really were as well, based on their faces.

Vince: "Raf? Miko? Is that you?"

Both the hacker and the Wrecking cadet were silent until they spoke up.

Raf/Firewall: "Yeah Vince, it's us."

Kaosu gave a bit of a groan and didn't like all of this from the start.

Miko/Kaosu: "So much for keeping our secret on the DL."

The bully then turned to Sam and Sari and asked them a question.

Vince: "And you two, did you know about this as well?"

The two humans looked at him and nodded with no other choice in the matter.

Sari: "To tell you the truth, we didn't know about this until our trip through Jasper. In fact, we didn't know any of this since getting rescued from captivity."

Sam Witwicky: "And since we now know the secret, we decided to keep it in the dark since they know who you are."

Vince look back to Jack and felt betrayed by what he experienced.

Vince: "Well gee... Thank you for telling me this. That would've been really appreciated if you TOLD ME ABOUT THIS SOONER!"

Rodimus turned away and felt sorry for what he had done to him.

Jack/Rodimus: "None of us knew you were alive in Jasper until we found you and the remaining survivors underground. In truth, we had no clue that you even survived from the start. We had no choice but to protect our identity to you. Please understand we did all of this to keep you safe."

Vince bowed down and still felt a little pissed off.

Vince: "Safe, huh? That's pretty much an understatement."

As the argument was going on, the Decepticons were also shocked when Megatron found out about the truth behind the Neutrals. Starscream was the first to hear of this, and didn't expect it from the start.

Starscream: "Those Neutrals, the ones that caused me issues over the past few hours, are in fact the Autobot's human allies? Impossible!"

Shockwave approached the second in command and had to be in agreement.

Shockwave: "For once I could agree with Starscream. Having the humans being genetically turned into Cybertronians seems both highly illogical and inhumane."

The warlord turned back and nodded about his.

Megatron: "Indeed... The fact that these humans got turned into our kind seems to be questionable. Almost like they have been turned forcefully, against their will. I understand that the Autobots would never do such a thing to them, no matter how desperate they were. Someone else is pulling the strings, a third party no less."

Megs turned to Jack and wanted to get some answers.

Megatron: "So tell me boy, who created you? Who turned you into the abomination that you are?"

The former teen looked down and was very silent about the whole thing. However, Megatron didn't have much patience as he grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him to a nearby pillar, demanding it.

Megatron: "Answer me!"

The recruit groaned in agony as his back felt extremely sore. The others looked on and were scared for their friend's safety, so they told the warlord to stop.

Raf/Firewall: "Leave him alone!"

Miko/Kaosu: "Yeah! He doesn't know anything!"

Starscream approached the two and told them to shut it.

Starscream: "Be quiet, both of you! Or do I have to rip your voice boxes out of your throats?!"

Just as he said that, Soundwave approached him and tapped his shoulders. The commander looked at him and wondered what he wanted.

Starscream: "Yes Soundwave, what is it."

At the same time, Megatron had Jack by shoulders, wanting to know why he was changed.

Megatron: "You better tell me now, and I promise that your death won't be painful."

The young mech looked at him and was being brave about the situation.

Jack/Rodimus: "Forget it Megatron. I'm not going to tell you anything! I'd rather die than talk!"

Megs smirked with his sharp toothy grin and liked the sound of that.

Megatron: "That can be easily arranged."

He started to extend his blade, pulling it back to deliver the huge blow. Rodimus stood back and was ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Before the leader could even strike, he was interrupted by Starscream himself.

Starscream: "Lord Megatron, I got word from one of the squadrons that they were able to capture half of the Autobots. It would seem that they were escorting Optimus out of Darkmount."

The warlord was annoyed by the fact that Starscream interfered with his moment. Yet for some reason, he was pleased with the news. He turned to Scream, while letting go of Rodimus by the shoulders.

Megatron: "And the rest of the Autobots? What about them?"

Starscream shook his helm and explained.

Starscream: "Still no word. But reports indicate that they are still on the twentieth floor looking for an escape. There have been reports of them using the Iacon relics we recovered underneath the remains of the Omega Lock to protect themselves. Cowards, all of them."

Megatron looked on and thought this was disappointing.

Megatron: "How unfortunate."

Starscream: "Shall I send the Autobots to the throne room, including Optimus? Perhaps we could conduct an execution of each of them, including the former humans and new ones."

Megatron looked at the Neutrals, knowing now that they are the humans and thought it would be an impressive idea. But given that they are all here, he came up with a better idea.

Megatron: "As much as I enjoy seeing Optimus and his rag-tag Autobots die at the blade, that won't satisfy me to the fullest. Perhaps it's time we take this execution to a much different level."

He turned to the commander and told him what he wanted.

Megatron: "Tell the unit to escort the Autobots to the main courtyard. Keep them on guard but don't destroy them unless it's necessary. I think we're ready to release Shockwave's latest weapon."

Starscream's optics were wide and backed away, fearing the creature Shockwave brought into the citadel. The recruits and the humans looked at each other, confused with what the leader said.

Sari: "Secret weapon?"

Raf/Firewall: "What secret weapon?"

Megatron approached the group and answered back with a sinister expression.

Megatron: "That is for me to know, and for all of you to find out."

The moment he stood up, he turned to Starscream and continued with the orders.

Megatron: "Take these so called Neutrals to the Autobots. It's time they are all reunited."

He then walked away with Shockwave joining him to someplace completely secluded. After they left, Scream turned to Knockout and told him to do the leader's plea.

Starscream: "You heard our glorious leader. Get these humans and former humans to their friends. I fear what he has planned for them once he releases that monstrosity."

As he walked away, the Vehicons approached the group and picked them up, taking them to the courtyard. During that time, the red medic then approached Rodimus and got him up.

Knockout: "You're lucky that Megatron was generous to you, boy, otherwise you would've been already dead."

The former teen groaned to himself and felt a little disgusted.

Jack/Rodimus: "He would rather kill me and get it over with. At least my sacrifice would've saved everyone."

Knockout looked at him and decided to give it to him straight away.

Knockout: "Even if you made that sacrifice, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. Besides, what Lord Megatron has planned for your friends is nothing compared to what he is going to do to you."

Jack looked at him as he was being dragged with his feet sliding on the floor and was a little worried about what he said.

Jack/Rodimus: "What do you mean by that? What does he have planned for us?"

The medic looked at him with a little grin and responded with a mysterious gesture.

Knockout: "Oh, you'll see my dear boy… You'll see…"

---

Minutes later, within Darkmount, Megatron and Shockwave entered the lab as the doors opened to let them in. Once they approached the console, Megs told the science officer on what he needed to do.

Megatron: "Shockwave, release our pet and show him the way to the courtyard. It's time to see what Predaking can do."

Shockwave turned to him and told him there could be complications.

Shockwave: "My liege, even if my creation is completed, we still haven't trained him for full combat. Perhaps it is wise to give him some form of combat exercise to let you know how powerful he is."

Megatron: "I understand your concern that your specimen lacked the training, Shockwave, but the Autobots are already in this fortress. The more we wait, the more they will make an escape with their only Prime. We must stop them at all cost. So ready or not, we need to bring out the big guns. Now release Predaking…"

The scientist nodded in agreement and decided to follow his master.

Shockwave: "As you command, Lord Megatron."

Turning to the controls, he pushed one button to release Predaking from his imprisonment.

---

Deep underneath the fortress, Predaking was slumbering from his struggle after trying to get out. To him, it was his personal prison since he made an appearance. He could understand that the Cons were afraid of him ever since and he couldn't blame them. Now he just rests there, motionless, waiting for something to happen to him. Just as he was thinking about it, he heard a clicking noise on his clawed hands and feet. Waking up, he looked down and saw his shackles opening, freeing him completely. Looking down at his wrists and ankles, he wondered how that happened. Just then, the metal wall opened up in front of him and showed a tunnel that would take him to the courtyard. Looking on with curiosity, he snarled and crawled his way to the tunnel, wondering where it would take him when in reality, he was heading straight to the Autobot's doom.

---

Returning to the twentieth floor, the Wreckers and the Elite Guard member ran like the dickens as they were getting to the nearest elevator. But no matter where they turned, they encountered groups of Decepticon drones. Thankfully, their Iacon relics gave them an advantage as they pounded through armies of Cons. Bulk continued to pound away on the drones and flattened them like pancakes. Wheeljack kept using his Polarity Gauntlet and either lifted the Vehicons and Airadicons off the ground, throwing them in many places or using them to deflect missiles that the Tankicons fired at them. And Smokescreen, with his Phase Shifter, pulled out all the stops. He went through walls, sank into the floor, and jumped into the ceilings, using his blaster to perform sneak attacks, shooting them in the head and spark chamber. He even made distractions for the others to bring them down a peg. So far, the fight was strong and they were winning. But then, they heard inhuman shrieks and turned to see a group of Insecticons flying towards them. Bulkhead grabbed one in the middle on the horn and held him off. After one quick throw, it flew out of control until it transformed into its monstrous hybrid and skidded on its feet. It shrieked out loud as its pincers were raised in the air. Bulk looked on and groaned loudly, remembering the feud he had with Hardshell.

Bulkhead: "Argh… I hate Insecticons!"

He charged right in as the insect rushed at him. Soon enough, the two collided, sending multiple punches and jabs into each other. The second Insecticon came in and decided to attack Wheeljack. Jackie looked at him and was in agreement with his friend.

Wheeljack: "Tell me about it Bulk. They are certainly a nuisance!"

Closing up his mouth guard, he deployed his katana swords and went in for the attack. The metal monster used its claws to chop and cut away at the Wrecker while Jackie used his swords to block off each attack. Backing away from the last strike, he went to the side and used his sword to cut off the creature's right arm. Screaming in pain, it used its other arm to swing it like that a bat. Wheeljack ducked down low and used his other sword to chop the insect's right leg off, bringing him down like a tree. The moment it fell on its back, the Insecticon was completely vulnerable. This gave the Wrecker the opportunity to finish him off. Jumping up high into the air, he did a corkscrew midway through and landed on the monster with his pedes, pinning it down completely. Bringing his one sword up with two servos, he struck it down on the Con's helm, penetrating the processor, shutting it down completely. Removing the sword to clean the energon off, he grunted, enjoying his little fun.

Wheeljack: "Well that's one bug exterminated."

A third Insecticon came in and targeted the one bot the others hadn't picked, Smokescreen. The Elite Guard member looked on and got himself into his stance to fight. But as he was doing that, he turned on his phase shifter to give him a bit of an edge. The Insecticon flew in bug mode until it transformed and ran straight at him. Ready to deliver the first punch, Smoke ducked down and rolled out of the way. The insect turned and raised its fists up to pound him. Knowing there was no way out, the Elite Guard member fazed through the floor and vanished, just seconds before the enemy would flatten him. The metallic bug looked down in confusion and wondered where the Autobot had gone. Just as he thought of that, the Elite guard phased out of the wall and ran to him with his blaster firing. He managed a couple of hits in the back, but nothing too serious. The beast felt the shots and turned around to shriek at the intruder. It switched to its blasters and fired away with its own medicine. Smokescreen saw this and jumped high in the air to avoid the incoming shots. Going upside down, he continued to fire away, aiming for its head. But the shots were a little sloppy as he didn't make a single hit. He was about to go behind his back again and make a few more shots, but the Decepticon was smart and turned around forcefully, using its huge arm to hit him hard, sending him soaring toward the wall. The Elite Guard member was hit hard, but he was able to rearm his shifter just so he could go though the wall without getting a double whammy. The Insecticon relaxed and was a little befuddled about his sudden disappearance again. It checked each wall to see if he was going to come out. What it didn't know was that Smokescreen reappeared on the ceiling upside down, looking at his target. Seeing the Insecticon from above, he decided to strike now and dropped down. With a quick twist, he sat on the insect's shoulders and hugged his head with his legs. The Insecticon panicked after feeling that and shook around violently to get the enemy off. Smokescreen held on for dear life like a cowboy riding a bull. During his little trip, three Vehicons approached and saw him riding the Insecticon. They then armed their blasters and opened fire. Smoke turned to see them firing and did his best to avoid the shots while holding on tightly to the creature he was riding. Switching his servo to a blaster, he then fired away at the group, yet was shooting a lot of blanks. But during the shooting and avoiding, he was able to get some precise shots at their chests and destroyed their spark chambers. With them dead, he now had to figure out a way of getting rid of this Insecticon. With its hard armor, it seemed impossible to penetrate the spark. But maybe he could use the relic to his advantage. While contemplating this, the Insecticon continued to thrash about, trying to get the Autobot off. After a couple of attempts, it flung the Elite Guard member off, free for the moment. As soon as it was free, it turned to him and shrieked out loud with its pincers ready to penetrate. Before it could even strike, Smokescreen got up and ran to him, plunging his fist with the Phase Shifter into its chest. His servo went through it like a ghost and reached the spark chamber. The bug looked down and wondered what he was doing. But the moment it heard a shifting noise within it, the intruder fired his blaster right at the spark, causing the creature to scream in pain before its optics dimmed and it went offline. It fell like a tree and landed hard on the ground, letting Smokescreen's blaster to phase out of the chest cavity. He looked at the blaster to shift it back to his servo and smirked to himself in success.

Smokescreen: "Now that was too easy."

Returning to Bulkhead, he and the other Insecticon were trading blows with each other. Bulkhead still had his Apex Armor on as he threw one heavy blow after another. The metal insect continued the brawl, hitting everything it could at him. But the Autobot's armor was super strong, and proved impossible to lay a dent. He was unfazed by each hit and the more he was attacked, the tougher he became. After the bout, the two gripped together in a test of strength. The two held on for a couple of seconds until Bulkhead decided to finish this off now while he had the chance. Seeing his opening, he gave the bug a knee strike with his heavy armor to its gut. The metallic monster cringed in pain as it let go of the hold. Big mistake, as Bulk got it where he wanted it. Pulling his fist back, he pushed in and delivered a final blow to the helm, hitting it hard and forcing it to spin to the back. This gave Bulk a chance to finish as he used both of his hands to grab the helm and held it on tightly. Then he did something completely unimaginable. With sheer strength of his armor, he dug deep into the creature's helm and in slow motion, split the head in half as circuits, energon, and the processor were torn up completely. Once it was ripped apart, the body had no head as circuits and energon spewed out of the neck hole. The body plummeted down to the ground and lay there lifeless while the Wrecker wiped away the Energon off his digits. Once he was done, he admired his accomplishment.

Bulkhead: "Whoa! This armor is awesome! Why didn't I use this sooner?"

Smokescreen approached him and was a little surprised that the hardcore bot was enjoying himself, perhaps too much.

Smokescreen: "And you say I get a little too comfortable with my Phase Shifter?"

Wheeljack then joined in and told them to get to the task at hand.

Wheeljack: "Let's not celebrate yet. We still need to get back at the others and get out of this place. Come on, elevator's not far ahead."

Jackie then went ahead while the others followed. The three were nearing the elevator to find a way off the floor. But just as they were near it, they saw a group of Airadicons protecting the doors and firing away at them. Bulk covered himself while the other two stood behind him, protecting themselves from the blasters that were dinging his armor. Bulk grunted and hated to see more reinforcements on the enemy's side.

Bulkhead: "This is getting way old, way fast! Time for us to even out the playing field."

Quickly, he took out his Immobilizer from his back and aimed it at the group. With the end spinning, it fired a wave of pulsing energy at the group, freezing them in an instant. Once they were all frozen, Bulkhead charged in and knocked each of them with nothing but fists. As the door was cleared, Bulk looked back and asked them to come.

Bulkhead: "Well? You guys are coming?"

The two Autobots looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, approaching their comrade. Upon reaching him, Smokescreen pushed the down button on the digital pad to call the lift and told the others about the rest of the team.

Smokescreen: "I just hope Arcee and her team managed to get Optimus out of here. I can't imagine what they are going through right now."

The green Wrecker looked at him and told him that it will be all right.

Bulkhead: "Don't get too worried about them, Smoke. Arcee, Bee, and Ratch have seen their share of battles. They've been through much worse than this. I'm a little more concerned about Altra though. Given what she once was, she's never seen many battles in her life."

While they were talking, something big was coming their way, but they didn't know it yet. Wheeljack rubbed that worry off and told him:

Wheeljack: "Don't get too worked up about that, Bulkhead. Altra may be a new comer, but when it comes to the fight, she certainly knows how to survive. I'm certain she can take care of herself."

The wrecker turned to his friend and gave him a weird look.

Bulkhead: "Right… You do realize she's married, don't ya? You can't fall in love with her being that she already has someone."

Jackie looked at him oddly and thought that was a little off.

Wheeljack: "C'mon Bulk. I was only concerned for the team. Even if I wasn't part of the team, I am an Autobot through and through."

The green Wrecker raised an optic ridge and thought that was strange.

Bulkhead: "So you say…"

Smoke rolled his optics around and was a little uncomfortable with this conversation. But as he was watching, he heard footsteps close by that were growing louder by the second. Turning to the left, he was caught off guard to see a Tankicon heading toward their position. Tapping Jackie's shoulder, he told the two:

Smokescreen: "Guys? As much as I like to hear you two bickering, we have a situation."

The two Wreckers turned to the Elite Guard member and then to the hall to see a heavy Con approaching them. The Tankicon then got into position and used his shielding to protect himself while aiming the cannon at them. Jackie went ahead and armed his gauntlet for an attack, but it was too late as the enemy fired a shell at them too quickly for him to react. With the window now closed, all Bulkhead had left to save them all was his Apex Armor. He rushed in front of the two teammates and gave them a big hug to shield them from the blast. The moment the shell hit and exploded, the impact of the blast pushed all three of them right through the elevator doors, causing them to fly over the factory, through a wall, down the hallway, knocking down a bunch of Cons on alert, and through another wall to the outside. They then started to fall down all twenty floors as Bulk hoped that the armor would protect them from the ground.

---

Around the same time, the other half of the team was having a serious problem. During the rescue of Optimus, things took a turn for the worse as a group of Vehicons caught Ratchet and Altra carrying their leader to safety and took them in. With them caught, Arcee and Bumblebee had no choice but to surrender temporarily. Now all four Autobots were in Stasis cuffs while two of the Vehicons carried the Prime, given that he was in no condition to fight, let alone stand. At first, they thought they would be taken to Megatron himself, but Starscream had ordered them to be taken to the courtyard. No one knew why they wanted the intruders brought there. But they didn't want to question authority, so they followed the commander's orders. As they were heading to the courtyard, Arcee looked back to hear the two carrying Optimus talking about something.

Vehicon 21: "So… Why do you think Megatron wants us to take them to the courtyard? I mean, the boss would like to terminate these Autoscum himself."

Vehicon 22: "Who knows? Starscream's orders state that we need to take them to the courtyard. Nothing more."

Vehicon 21: "Well, let's hope our leader knows what he's doing. This Prime weighs a ton and I don't want to be lifting some dead weight."

Vehicon 22: "I hear that."

The femme listened to the two and didn't like the sound of it. Bumblebee looked at her and asked around it.

Bumblebee: (So what did they say?)

She turned to the scout and shook her helm.

Arcee: "Nothing good. Whatever Megatron is planning will be the end of us. Luckily, we're still heading to the rendezvous point in the courtyard. We just need to find a way of escaping."

June turned to her and asked about that.

June/Altra: "And how are we going to do that? We have Vehicons watching our every move. It's not like we can pull a Houdini and disappear out of thin air."

Cee looked at her and told her she'll figure it out.

Arcee: "I'll find a way out of this, Altra. We just need a little luck on our side."

One of the Vehicons overheard this and told them to shut up.

Vehicon 20: "Hey! Quiet you three! I don't want to hear any lip from any of you."

So the group remained quiet as they approached the main doors that would lead them out. The doors slowly opened to reveal the light of the sun that blinded them. Once they got their sight back, they were amazed at how big the courtyard was. It was almost like an actual outdoor coliseum in Kaon. In the back, a hovercraft train was carrying freights of scrap metal from the warehouse to the factory. And in the middle of the court was a chrome statue of Megatron, holding his Dark Energon Sword high in the air. Everyone looked on in amazement while Ratchet felt disgusted.

Ratchet: "A statue of Megatron glorifying himself as a hero. How low can this maniac go?"

Looking at the front, he also noticed something else. All around them, they saw Tankicons in their tank modes aiming their cannons right at them. There were also Airadicons and Vehicons behind them with their blasters pointing to the Autobots. The team watched on as Arcee look at the reinforcements surrounding them.

Arcee: "Well, they certainly want to make us feel right at home."

The Vehicon looked at her and told her to move.

Vehicon 20: "Keep moving, femme. They're there to make sure you don't think about escaping. Besides, I think Megatron's got 'bigger' plans for you."

The group continued to walk down to the center of the courtyard as the Cons kept watch should any of the intruders make a move. None of them knew what was about to happen. Suddenly, and without warning, something big crashed into one of the tanks and exploded in a ball of flames, sending those around the drone to fly and scatter. The others got caught off guard as none of them expected it to happen.

Vehicon 20: "What the frag!?"

Everyone watched on and didn't know what had just happened. But the moment the smoke cleared, they saw what appeared to be some kind of moving metallic armor with a bot inside recovering from the fall. Turning around, the rest of the team knew who it was.

Arcee: "Bulkhead?"

Indeed, it was Bulkhead in the Apex Armor, trying to walk off the unexpected blast and fall from the twentieth floor. Rubbing the back of his helm, he groaned in a little pain.

Bulkhead: "Oh man… That's the last time I do that. I swear this armor can drop like a paperweight. Smokescreen? Wheeljack? Are you around?"

Just as he said that, he noticed two more bots rising from the floor like ghosts. Those two were Smokescreen and Wheeljack, in which the Elite Guard member used his phase shifter to go through the floor during the impact. Once they phase out of the floor, the two took a breather as Jackie started to complain.

Wheeljack: "For crying out loud Bulkhead! Did you really have to pull something like that off? I know the armor is tough but you can't use it as a shield against a missile. You know slag well how that will end."

Bulk turned to him and apologized fully.

Bulkhead: "Hey, we had very little time to avoiding that. Had no other choice but to protect ourselves any way we could."

Wheeljack: "Yeah? Well give us a little warning next time you do that, okay? I swear if it hadn't been for Smoke's shifter, we would've been flattened by now."

As the two were arguing, Smoke looked around and realized that they were in more trouble than they thought. So he told the others about it.

Smokescreen: "Uh, guys? You should see this."

The two Wreckers looked at him, wondering what he meant. Turning to where he was pointing, they noticed the rest of Team Prime, all shackled in stasis cuffs and surrounded by Decepticons, all of which had blank stares in their faces. Bulk and Jackie looked at them oddly too as the green Wrecker rubbed the back of his head and laughed a little weakly.

Bulkhead: "Heh, heh… Hey there guys. So I take it the rescue didn't go as planned huh? Oh boy… This is extremely awkward."

The drones stared at the three uninvited guests and had no clue on what to do next. But one of the Vehicons knew that they were Autobots and ordered them:

Vehicon 20: "What are all of you waiting for? Apprehend them! Don't let them esca-"

Before he could finish, Arcee took the diversion and even with cuffs on her wrists, back kicked the Con to the face, sending him flying. Bumblebee then used his kicks to knock down two more drones that were between him. Two of the Vehicons that were carrying Optimus looked at each other and immediately dropped him, arming their blasters at the two. Before they could fire back, they were surrounded by a yellow glow and levitated in the air. Wheeljack was using his Polarity Gauntlet to grab them in a distance. With the flick of the wrist, he threw them at the other end and smashed more Cons that were preparing to fire. Another group of Cons got their blasters and fired at Smokescreen. Quickly, Smoke ran and dived in, phasing into the floor in the process. The drones looked at the disappearing Autobot and were confused by where he went. But then, he appeared from behind and used his blaster to fire them all in the back of the helm. Once they were all dead, he ran right into a wall, fading out in the process. Meanwhile, another Vehicon noticed the battle and decided to pull out the big guns.

Vehicons 23: "Tankicons, blow them to bits!"

Half the tanks went at the team while the other half drove to Bulkhead, which was the biggest threat, and aimed their cannons right at him. Bulk looked at each one and could tell that this is going to be trouble. But given that he still had on his Apex Armor, the odds were in his favor. The two tanks were pretty close to him as he did something a little stupid. He placed his fists into the cannon's nozzles and covered them up completely. The moment the two opened fire, their centers exploded in a heap of flames and shrapnel raining down. Another tank came in and headed to his front, firing his cannon shell at him. Bulk quickly grabbed the pieces of the two tanks he destroyed and placed them in front of him as a shield, just so he wouldn't get blown up again. The shell hit the metal scraps and they protected him from the fire. Peeking out the front, he was searing in anger and charged in for the attack. The Tankicon continued to fire while the Wrecker used the metal plating to block off the attack. He came through the flames and did a big twist to throw the first scrap metal like a Frisbee. The sharp end of the metal cut the top of the tank with the cannon and it separated from the rest of the body. With the tank shut down completely, the other two tanks approached him and decided to transform into their bipedal modes to gain an advantage. Looking back, the green bot needed to bring them down fast. Grabbing the cannon on the end, he picked it up and swung it around a couple of times. During the spins, he moved forward as the Tankicons started to fire. The shells missed him though as he got closer. As he neared them, the huge round object at the end of the cannon hit each of them in the heads, completely decapitating them. With their headless bodies, they moved around on their own until plummeting to the ground. He smiled and liked what he did. But as he was enjoying himself, a few Airadicons came in with their jet modes and flew to the courtyard, firing away. The stray shots didn't hit anyone, but it got their attention. Bulkhead especially as he felt a few shots on his hard armor. Looking up to see the drones circling around for another go, he had to do something quick. Still holding the top of the tank, he decided to strike back as well. With one big swing, he let the piece of tank fly to the air the moment the Airadicons reached them for another go. But then, the cannon hit the closest Con and clipped its wings, causing it to fly out of control and collide with the others, raining them all down flames and shrapnel. As he was fighting more Cons, the rest of the team was trying their best battling them as well. There was one problem though. They were still in stasis cuffs while using their feet to knock them down. But then, more Cons showed up and realized that they could be in too much trouble. Altra run and jumped to duck down to avoid the laser fire. Just as she was on the ground, Ratchet soon followed as together they avoided all those projectiles from above. As they were avoiding the shots, June turned to the medic and told him that the situation had gotten pretty dire.

June/Altra: "This is bad! These Cons are everywhere and with these cuffs on us, we're mostly defenseless!"

Ratch looked at his cuffs and realized she had a point.

Ratchet: "You right! We got to get these cuffs off of us or we'll be sitting ducks!"

Arcee continued to kick the drones left and right while still cuffed. But giving the heat they were in, she needed to get them off and deploy her weapons before she got blasted. Looking around, she noticed Smokescreen phasing out of the wall, going on the attack against another Airadicon that was distracted by the commotion. Once he got rid of the Con, Cee called him out of a little help.

Arcee: "Smokescreen, think you can help a femme out?"

The Elite Guard member looked at her and saw her all cuffed up. Knowing she needed an assist, he nodded and pointed his blaster at the stasis cuffs.

Smokescreen: "Just hold still for me."

Firing a single shot, the blaster hit the cuffs and broke them apart completely, freeing the femme from her captivity. With her servos free, she smiled and got into position, arming up her blades. Running to the first Con she saw, she used her weapons and cut off his limbs. At the same time, Smoke fired his blaster as the rest of the bot's stasis cuffs as they were all freed. Bumblebee, given that he was out, used his fists to continue to knock out multiple drones until arming his blaster and firing at those at long distances. Ratchet and Altra were free as well and got up to see Optimus still down with blaster fire everywhere. He looked at her and said that he needed help.

Ratchet: "We need to get Optimus out of this firefight! If he gets hit, then kiss our victory in this war goodbye!"

June looked at him and nodded in agreement. But just as they were ready to help, a group of silver Airadicons flew over their heads and went high in the air. They then transformed and landed in between the wounded Prime and the medics with their blasters armed. The nurse sighed to herself and realized there were in more trouble than they thought.

June/Altra: "So much for not getting involved in the fight."

Ratchet looked on too and could tell that it was bad as well.

Ratchet: "Looks like we have to battle our way through. Follow my lead!"

Deploying his scalpels, he charged in and fought off the first few Cons. Seeing this, June sighed deeply and realized she had to join in. Arming her own scalpels she went to the nearest Con and fought her way through as well. The Con went into swiping with his sharp digits while Altra blocked them all. She was looking for a way to be rid of him; compared to the MECHicons she had faced before, these Cons were more professional. He tried to perform a swipe at her face to ruin it completely, but June managed to duck down to avoid the strike and saw her opening. With a quick swipe, she cut him in the sternum as energon leaked out of the wound. The drone screamed in pain and collapsed on the floor clinging to life. Looking down to the wounded Con, she smirked and liked what she did.

June/Altra: "Try getting up from that."

Suddenly, red projectiles came and the nurse duck down from the attack. Looking ahead, she saw more Airadicons firing at her. Switching to her blasters, she targeted the two and fired back. As the medics reached Optimus, the others were holding off on their own. Bumblebee kept firing away at a few Vehicons before another showed up from behind, attempting to stab him in the back. Yet the scout knew better and spun quickly to do a back roundhouse to his neck, pinning him down for the count and firing at his head. Bulkhead kept pounding away at the tanks with his Apex Armor, having all kinds of fun. But then, one Tankicon at a safe distance aimed at the Autobots and fired a shell. The Wrecker turned to hear the blast and saw the missile rocketing towards him. With quick reflex, he grabbed the missile with his heavily armored servo and it didn't blow on him, yet. Taking it, he felt like a football player and tossed it right back at him. The heavy didn't have the weight to hold the shell as it exploded on impact and broke him apart in pieces. Bulk saw that and fist pumped in the air in success.

Bulkhead: "Yes! Ten points!"

But that celebration was quickly over as he heard the sound of shrieking in the distance. Turning back, he saw more Insecticons flying in their beetle modes towards the group. One of them was making a Beeline to the green Autobot and used its horn to pierce the chest. Though the armor was meant to protect him, he couldn't be too cocky. So in a snap, he grabbed the horn with his ironed fist and did a quick turn to fling it away from him. At the same time, another Tankicon turned his cannon to fire at him, but it collided with the Insecticon and they tumbled into each other. Looking at the other Insecticons, he noticed one of them heading straight to Arcee. Fearing for her life, he called her out.

Bulkhead: "Arcee, look out!"

The two-wheeler turned and saw the Insecticon charging toward her from behind. Quickly, she jumped and rolled out of the way, the metal bug missing her by inches. Turning around, it transformed into its bipedal mode and shrieked right at her. She readied herself, prepared for a fight. The beast charged in and began the attack with a few swipes left and right. The femme gracefully dodged each and every attack and used her blades to cut the creature up. The armor though, was a little hard and impossible to slice, so she switched weapons to her blasters and fired away. She only managed to put up a few dings, but it was nothing for the Insecticon as it pulled its arm back and slapped her like a fly. She flew and landed hard while skidding to a complete stop. Bulkhead observed the battle and realized that it wasn't good. He had to do something to save her, and fast. Looking back to his Immobilizer, he decided that now would be a good time to use it. But looking at the two-wheeler in her prone state, he decided she needed a weapon of her own. Struggling to get up, Arcee saw the creature approaching and had its pincer raised high to finish her off. Cee readied herself and was in for the fight of her life. But then, she heard the voice of the Wrecker at a distance.

Bulkhead: "Arcee!"

She turned in the direction of the voice and saw Bulk waving the Immobilizer in the air.

Bulkhead: "You are going to need this! Catch!"

Instantly, he threw the staff in the air, heading straight toward the femme. Arcee looked up at the staff and knew what she had to do. Looking back at the Insecticon, she still had to escape. So she quickly jumped to the side and rolled away while the creature placed its pincers to the ground where the Autobot was. Once she got into a kneeling position, she lifted her servo and made a grab for the Immobilizer. Arming it, the end of the staff spun as electric energy danced at the claw end. At the same time, the Con headed toward her, prepared to slice her up. But before it could actually do anything, the Two-wheeler pointed her weapon at the bug, firing a pulse wave at it. The wave hit it and slowed it down, causing the bug to stop midway through the attack. In a matter of seconds, the Insecticon froze like a statue, impossible to move a single inch. Arcee got up and smirked about what she did. Deciding to do what she wanted to do, she extended her leg and kicked the frozen Con in the helm, knocking it down to the floor. Once down, she smiled and told it not to budge.

Arcee: "Don't move; I'll be right with you."

She then went back into the action with the Immobilizer in her servo. Seeing a few Vehicons in front of her, she decided to use her skills and her weapon to take them out. She started with run jumping to the one in the middle and kicked him in the face. She then used the staff to freeze the Vehicon on the left while using her blaster to shoot the other in the spark chamber. Once she froze the one on the left, she deployed her blades and in one quick spin, cut off his arms and helm. Looking on ahead, she spotted Bumblebee having a little bit of trouble taking on two Tankicons, beating him senseless. Deciding to help him, she pointed the Immobilizer to the two heavies and fired away. The pulse wave hit the two, making them remain completely still. Bee looked at them frozen in place and took the opportunity to give them swift somersault kicks to their chins, bringing them down like lumber. During the attack, another Vehicon came from behind, prepared to strike. The scout felt that coming and sidestepped away as the sharp digits missed his helm. He quickly grabbed the arm and lifted him with his upper body strength, flinging him over his head and away from him. The drone flew to the end until he was cut from an X shape, split into multiple pieces. From out of the cut carcass, Wheeljack was in position with his Katana swords in place. Around him were Vehicons and Airadicons in their own battle stances, ready to fight. They then charged in, giving off multiple swipes. Jackie ducked and dodged each strike, using his swords to cut off limbs. Another one went to his side, charging in to impale him. Unfortunately for him, Wheeljack did the impaling, stabbing the Con through the chest with both swords. There was blaster fire hitting his back, but it didn't stop him at all. Turning, he swung his hips and threw the dead Con at the shooters. The swing dislodged the sword to the drone's body, flying toward the other cons that were shooting, hitting them and burying them completely. Within the clearing, another set of Cons saw him fighting their comrades and decided to intervene. They got their blasters armed, ready to kill the Wrecker. But before they could commence firing, Smokescreen appeared through the wall behind the enemies. With a quick gun-slinging move, he fired his blaster at the three of them, shooting them through the backs and killing them in one shot. Two of the drones saw it and turned to see the Elite Guard member with his blaster in tow. They then returned fire in hopes of taking down the Autobot; however, he phased back into the wall and went into hiding. Not far from the action, Ratchet and Altra were making their way through Airadicons toward Optimus. The medic used his blades to cut two of them through the necks, leaving them headless until they fell down dead. Then another group charged in and attacked the doctor with blaster fire. Ratch, though he was old, and having spent most of the time in the base, was still a fighter; as he jumped and rolled down to avoid the blaster fire. During the dodge, he got into a handstand in the middle of the three and performed a break dancing move to kick all three of them to the cheeks. Though the first two, on the left and right, were put down easily, the one in front was only woozy. So Ratchet stopped and jumped off with his servos, giving him a double foot attack before landing back on his feet. He quickly got off and continued with the attack. As he was leaving, one of the Cons saw him leave and aimed his blaster to his back. But then, a stray shot came out of the blue and caught the drone's blaster. Turning around from the blast, he saw June standing there with her blaster aimed. Feeling angry, he aimed it at the nurse and fired away. Quickly, she ran away from the fire and avoided the attacks. During that time, she saw another Airadicon distracted by the assault around him. Quickly, she got her scalpel out and stabbed the Con in the back. Turning around, she used the drone as a shield as the blasters hit him in the armor. With a swift kick to the back, she pushed him to the shooting Con and both collided with each other. Just as she did that, another Con came up from behind and was ready to swipe her away with a back fist. She didn't see that coming, as she got knocked down very easily. The drone then sharpened his servos, ready to deliver the final blow. June though had to do something and quick before she was killed as well. She decided to go on the defensive and quietly shifted both her servos into her defibrillators, rubbing them together for full power. While doing that, the drone approached her, ready to tear her apart.

Airadicon 15: "Last words?"

June looked at him and was ready to counter his attack.

June/Altra: "Just one… CLEAR!"

Quickly, she jutted forward and placed the pads to the Con's chest plate, giving him an electric shock. The Airadicon screamed aloud in pain before collapsing to the floor in deep stasis. Altra got up and looked down to the Con with satisfaction on her faceplate.

June/Altra: "You know, I might be getting the hang of this Autobot thing."

The Autobots continued to battle the Cons with everything they could as the group had the advantage. However, during the battle, the Vehicon that was first knocked down decided to try a different approach, something that the team didn't see coming. Turning toward the others, he gave an order.

Vehicon 20: "Send in the Shredders. It's time to show these Autobots what we're really made of."

The Cons nodded and contacted the command center to get the weapons ready. As that was going on, Team Prime continued fighting off the Cons, close to winning. Arcee used her Immobilizer to stop the group of Cons dead in their tracks. With her free servo, she changed it to a blaster and shot each frozen con in the chests and heads. Bulkhead was punching both Insecticons and Tankicons with the Apex Armor absorbing most of the damage. With one swift move, he grabbed the cannon of one of the heavy drones and ripped it off. Using it as a bat, he kept hitting the opposition one at a time, knocking them out completely. Bumblebee continued his close combat, knocking down multiple drones while using his blasters to fire at those in the distance. Smokescreen was shooting each and every Con with his blaster while at the same time going through one wall after another for another sneak attack. Wheeljack was slashing Cons left and right as more continued to come through the woodwork. Looking at the group, he checked his Katanas and the Popularity Gauntlet attached to his waist and came up with a good plan. Throwing his swords in both directions, he stabbed two of the Cons through the chest, killing them on contact. Getting his gauntlet out, he armed it and pointed at one of his swords. The sword dislodged from the dead drone in a golden hue and flew at the other end, stabbing the next Con as it fell to ground with dimmed optics. He then pointed at the other sword and it did the same thing. It flung to the next Con and shut him down completely. He continued this a dozen times, enjoying every nano second. Back to Ratch and Altra, they were getting close to the Autobot leader, finishing off the rest of the Airadicons. Ratchet continued to thrash at the opposition with his knives, cutting them to slow them down. But then, one Airadicon used his blaster to fire away. Ratchet saw that and ducked down, deploying his blaster and firing back. Back to June, she was using whatever skills necessary to make her way through the armada. Though not as skilled as the others, she was a tough competitor. She charged in and used her scalpels to cut the Cons in places while blocking any other attacks. Then things got hairy and she had to use her defibrillators to shock them all into stasis. During the battle, she saw Ratchet trying to take down a drone in the distance and decided to help him. Arming her blaster, she targeted the Airadicon and fired away. After a few more hits, they managed to take the drone down, dead on the floor. The two then rushed in to see one last Airadicon standing there behind Optimus as he decided to take the cowardly approach, mainly aiming his blaster at the leader. Seeing this, the two rushed in and used their blades to penetrate his spark chamber, shutting him down completely. Once dead, the two approached Optimus to see if he was all right.

Ratchet: "Optimus, are you okay?"

The Prime looked at his friend and nodded.

Optimus Prime: "Still can't feel my legs, friend."

Ratch nodded and knew that he was all right, for the moment.

Ratchet: "That's good to hear. Altra help me carry him."

The nurse looked and nodded at him as she and the medic lifted the Prime up by the shoulders. Once they got a hold of him, they decided to head to some place safe.

Ratchet: "We have to get him to someplace safe until the battle is over. Come on; let's look for a place to hide before-"

But just as he was about to say something, they heard the sound of whirring coming from above. Altra was the first to know as she asked:

June/Altra: "Wait, what's that noise?"

Ratchet looked up and wondered about that strange noise too. Soon enough, the others stopped what they were doing and looked up to the sky where the noise was coming from. Suddenly, and without warning, three huge round projectiles came down and crashed to the ground with billows of smoke coming from the impact. The moment the smoke cleared, the team saw what appeared to be spheres of sharp treads, a glowing red-hot middle, and two Decepticon Insignias on the sides. It was obvious that they were the Shredders, the same ones the Neutrals faced in Jasper. The team watched on as the Shredders warmed up their engines as the visors and onboard computers had them on green. But when they spotted the Autobot decals on parts of their bodies, the color changed to red and considered them a threat. Because of that, the movable weapons turned their gears and separated into different directions, heading to the Autobots. Arcee saw one heading to her and Bumblebee and told the scout to run.

Arcee: "Move! Don't let that thing hit you!"

Quickly, Arcee jumped to the side and rolled out of the way while the Shredder missed her by inches. Bumblebee saw this and noticed the sphere-like weapon heading straight towards him. Having little time to avoid it, he turned and transformed into his vehicle mode, making a quick get away as the Shredder went after him. The second shredder then headed to Wheeljack and Smokescreen as they watched it head straight to them. Jackie was the first to leave as he told Smoke to move it.

Wheeljack: "Time to go kid!"

He transformed and sped away from the Shredder, trying to figure out a way to get out. Smokescreen though, stood there as the dangerous weapon headed to him in blinding speed. Looking at his Phase Shifter, he had to make a quick gamble on his life.

Smokescreen: "Oh well… Let's hope this works…"

Activating his Shifter, he looked at the speeding Shredder and took a deep breath through his vents. Running towards it, he jumped and closed his optics tight. The moment he approached the Shredder, he phased right through it and went at the other end, completely and utterly unharmed. Rolling to a stop, he looked back at the shredder and was surprised that he survived.

Smokescreen: "Huh, it actually worked! Who'd a thunk it?"

The Shredder stopped dead in its tracks and turned around to see if it crushed him. Turns out, it didn't and was in disbelief. Scanning the Autobot, nothing hurt him and he was in one piece. To that, the Shredder turned its gears and charged right back to him again. Upon charging in, Smokescreen stood his ground as the sphere like weapon phased through him. Turning back around, it saw the Elite Guard member still unfazed as he has a slight smirk to his faceplate.

Smokescreen: "Missed…"

Now the shredder was mentally upset as it kept going to try to rip him apart, only for him to leave unscathed. Meanwhile, Altra and Ratchet saw these so called weapons and were a little surprised that the Cons would have something like that. But then, they noticed the third Shredder looking at them and the Prime. Seeing Optimus, it turned its sharp treads and headed straight for them. Fearing for their lives and the life of their leader, Ratchet told Altra to keep moving.

Ratchet: "Go! Don't let it crush you!"

Quickly, the Shredder charged in as the medics ran away from it. But given the weight they were carrying, it was impossible for them to make a getaway. The shredder was getting close to them, about to break them down. But before that could happen, Bulkhead came up in front of weapon and held his hands out to stop the Shredder dead in its tracks. The two medics looked on to see the Wrecker holding with all of this might, telling them to continue running.

Bulkhead: "Keep moving! Get Optimus to safety! I'll stall it for as long as I can!"

Ratchet nodded and decided to follow his advice. The two left Bulk while carrying Optimus to find a safe spot to hide. Meanwhile, Bulkhead was holding on with all his might while the Shredder continued to crunch of its gears. Luckily, Bulk had on his Apex Armor; without it, he would've been a dead bot. Still, as he was holding, scratches were on his metallic gloves as he grunted with all his might.

Bulkhead: "Man, aren't you a tough one. Hope this armor is tough enough."

So he held on while the medic and nurse took Prime away. Meanwhile, Bumblebee was driving like crazy as one of the Shredders kept on chasing him. During the chase, there were a few stragglers in the area shooting at the scout with their blasters. Seeing this and checking his review mirrors to see the weapon, he decided to use it to his advantage. Putting pedal to the metal, he raced down to the first Vehicon and drifted to knock him down to the metal surface. The drone tried to recover, but unfortunately, the Shredder was heading straight towards him in a path where Bumblebee lay. The Con saw this and had little time to avoid it as the Shredder hit him and spewed parts all over the place. Bee then did the same with the other drones as he turned to knock them off their feet and let the weapon destroy them while they were down. On the other end, Arcee was taking out the remaining Cons on her side with the blades attracting and slicing them all over the place. Finishing chopping the head off the last one, she looked back to see her comrade having a hard time getting away from that dangerous weapon. She had to help him out before that thing would tear him apart. Looking at the Immobilizer on her back, the one that Bulk gave her, she wondered if the effect would be the same as that for the drones. Looking back, she yelled out loud to get his attention.

Arcee: "Bee, come to me! I know how to slow that thing down."

The scout turned his rear view mirrors to see the two-wheeler and decided to follow her advice. Driving in her direction, he curved behind her and transformed to see the Shredder heading straight at the two of them. Arcee then took the staff off of her back and turned it on as the pincers turned and the waves surround it. The weapon drew much closer as the femme took a deep breath.

Arcee: "What's that human saying? Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Pointing it at the Shredder, she fired a pulsing wave and it connected. It continued to head towards them but for some reason, it was slowing down. Bumblebee stood back a little and was getting nervous that Cee's plan wasn't working and they would soon be in the scrap yard. He had his optics shut the whole time and waited for the end to come. Yet seconds later, the Shredder slowed to a complete stop and remained motionless. Bee waited to enter the Well of the All Spark, but it didn't come. Opening one optic, he noticed the spiked sphere frozen in place with the middle still glowing. Curious, he slowly approached the sphere and touched it with a single digit. Noticing that it didn't budge, he turned to Arcee for an answer.

Bumblebee: (What just happened?)

Cee smiled to herself and explained what happened.

Arcee: "Why Bee, I decided to test a theory that a movable object, big or small, can be stopped by this little beauty. And low and behold, it actually works."

Bee looked at the Immobilizer she was carrying and then back to the frozen Shredder and realized she had a point.

Bumblebee: (Huh… The Immobilizer works on huge weapons like this too. Why didn't I think of that?)

Going back to Smokescreen, he was having the time of his life. With his Phase Shifter still on, he stood perfectly still while the Shredder tried to demolish him. Still, no matter how many times it tried, it couldn't destroy him in one hit. The last time, it turned around to see him still online and breathing. Smoke lifted his arms to the side and smiled very deviously.

Smokescreen: "What's the matter? Having a hard time trying to get me? I've seen rookie Cons that have better accuracy then you!"

The Shredder was fuming on the inside as it continued its barrage against the Elite Guard member. All the while, Wheeljack was now preoccupied with a few Airadicons that were around him. With his Polarity Gauntlet, he was using their bodies as wrecking balls, smashing them into each other. Those he didn't collide, he pulled to him while using the sword on his other hand to chop them up through the mid section. Once he took care of the last of them, he put his sword away and thought it was over. But then, he heard the sounds of shots and ducked down in time for a few explosive shells soaring around. The moment they missed and exploded in random places, he looked up and saw the remaining Tankicons targeting him. They then fired their cannons while the Wrecker ran for his life, avoiding as many as he could. One blast though came too close and he got pushed from behind, landing on his chest and skidding to a stop with sparks dancing around him. Getting up, he sneered as he saw the tank drones ready to go another round. Looking back, he saw Smokescreen a little preoccupied with his own, standing there with his phase shifter on while the Shredder kept missing him. However, given that the weapon was dangerous, he came up with a plan. Getting his gauntlet out, he pointed the weapon and fired it. The Shredder was about to hit him again until an unknown force stopped it. Smokescreen looked at that and realized that were was a yellow hue surrounding the Con weaponry. It then levitated up in the air and was flung to the other end. Wheeljack, who was using the gauntlet to lift the Shredder, threw it to the Tankicons and used it as his own weapon, crashing through them and breaking them into pieces. The heavy drones fired at the Shredder, but it proved to be of little effect against its tough armor. They even tried shielded themselves with their own plating, but that too was proven useless as they were torn off. Once they were destroyed, the Wrecker turned to the Elite Guard member and decided to finish it.

Wheeljack: "Yo Smoke, catch!"

With the flick of his wrist, he threw the Shredder straight to Smokescreen. Looking at that, Smoke knew what to do. With his Phase Shifter on and blaster armed, he extended his arm out as the Shredder phased through it. Immediately, he fired at the machine's core and blew it up from the inside. Luckily, his arm didn't blow up as the Phase Shifter phased within the blast and his arm was untouched. Shifting his blaster back into place, he flexed his digits and was glad that he didn't get blown up as well. Looking at the pieces of the Shredder, he turned to Wheeljack, who was approaching him, asking about the delay.

Smokescreen: "So, what took you so long?"

Jackie shrugged a little and explained his delay.

Wheeljack: "Oh you know me. Just trying to survive a Tankicon assault. What about you? I saw you standing there doing nothing while that thing tried to shred you."

Smokescreen smirked about it and told him his strategy:

Smokescreen: "Hey, when you have the Phase Shifter, it makes it easy to trick a Con to think that you got hit, but couldn't do it. I swear, if that thing had a face, it would've been seething by now."

The Wrecker looked at him and found that to be a bit cocky, even for him.

Wheeljack: "Word of advice kiddo, don't get too ahead of yourself. The last thing you want is to get over confident; that might lead you into an early grave."

While that was going on, Bulkhead was holding on with all of his might as the Shredder kept pushing forward and the gloves of his armor was beginning to show signs of wear and tear. Still, he kept holding on as he grunted with all his might. Meanwhile, Ratchet and Altra were carrying the Prime away from the battle. But with all the commotion going on, it was impossible to make a quick escape. As they were getting away, few Insecticons flew down to them and transformed, blocking their way out and surrounding them. The two medics looked around and knew this was bad as they used their free servos to arm their blasters, prepared to fight with what they had. The insectoid creatures then shrieked simultaneously and were ready for a kill. At the same time, Bulk overheard those shrieks and turned back to see the Insecticons surrounding the two and the Autobot leader while keeping the Shredder at bay. Looking on, he grew angry and had to do something to stop them and save Optimus. Looking back to the Decepticon weapon, he came up with a really good idea and switched up his battle plan. Getting his servos into position, he started to push the Shredder in the middle and used his strength and the Apex Armor. He grunted and groaned heavily as he tried to split it apart. After one final pull, the Shredder was split in half in slow motion and close up, as gears and shrapnel spilled all over the place. As he succeeded in splitting it up, he looked at the Insect hybrids and decided to intervene. However, the Medics and the Prime were in the way and it would be difficult to get rid of the enemy with his teammates blocking the path. So with no other option, he yelled to them.

Bulkhead: "Ratchet! Altra! Duck!"

Both the medic and nurse turned to see Bulk behind them as he was holding a split apart Shredder in both hands. With quick reflexes, he threw the first half at the army of Insecticons. Quickly, the two got down, taking Optimus with them, while what was left of the shredder obliterated the half of the monstrous drones. He then threw the second half of the Shredder, destroying the rest. Soon enough, every insect was exterminated but there was one that managed to survive the heinous strike. It shrieked and hurried to him, wanting revenge after what the Wrecker did. Bulk looked at him and could tell that he was in for a fight. So he too charged in and the two collided. Both gave heavy blows to one another, pretty much in a stalemate. That was until the insect drone gave a straight up right hook to knock the Wrecker down to the floor. During that time, June looked at the battle and decided to intervene. Getting up, she headed to the Wrecker's side and charged her blaster while Ratchet looked on and told her to stay.

Ratchet: "Altra, no! It's too dangerous!"

But she didn't listen as she aimed at the Insecticon's back and fired a fully charged shot. The creature felt the hit and turned to see the nurse with her blaster aimed at him. Feeling a little aggravated, he stomped on her, ready to rip her to pieces. But what the nurse did was distract it as Bulkhead recovered from the punch and started to strike back. Grabbing its shoulder, he turned it around and plunged his fist right through the chest, pulling out the circuitry and wires. The moment he crushed the spark chamber, he let go and the creature went completely offline, falling face first on the ground. With him dead, he looked at Altra and thanked her for the help.

Bulkhead: "Thanks for the assist Altra. You're certainly a life saver."

June shrugged it off and explained her reason.

June/Altra: "What can I say; I sort of get a little over protective."

To that end, she approached Ratchet and helped him out in carrying Optimus. Once they got him up, they observed the courtyard aftermath with Vehicons, Airadicons, Insecticons, and Tankicons dead or frozen in place thanks to the Immobilizer, as well as parts from the dismantled Shredders. The rest of the group managed to finish up and were approaching the medics and the Prime.

Arcee: "I got to say, this mission was certainly no walk in the park."

Bulk turned to her and agreed about that.

Bulkhead: "You can say that again. That was the most gruesome battle we've ever faced. Certainly all that trouble to rescue Optimus. You know, if you want, Cee, we could switch relics since you were the one that had the Apex Armor before."

He then pounded his armored chest to let her know that it wasn't too late to trade. But the femme shook her helm and told him she's all right.

Arcee: "Keep it, the armor certainly makes you looked tough. This Immobilizer is all I need to get through those Cons. And besides, that armor makes me look fat."

The little joke caused a bit of a chuckle until they went back to the mission. The Elite Guard member and the Wreckers noticed Optimus in bad shape and approached him to see how he was holding up. But seeing him in that condition, they could tell he'd been through a lot. Wheeljack was the first to respond as he whistled about it.

Wheeljack: "Man, these Cons certainly did a number on Optimus huh?"

Smokescreen approached the leader and could tell he's alive, with the exception of his optics flickering a little bit.

Smokescreen: "Is he, okay?"

June turned to the Wrecking cadet and explained:

June/Altra: "He's a little banged up, but he'll make it. You should've seen him when we first found him."

Ratch glared at Altra and didn't like her way of saying it. So he explained it in his own words.

Ratchet: "What Altra meant to say is that Optimus was in far worse condition at the time we rescued him. But we had to use Sari's key to repair anything that might have been fatal to him. Unfortunately, we had to stop the procedure and because of it, his legs are temporarily nonfunctional. No matter, once we get him back to base I'll take him to the ward to finish patching him up."

Arcee: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's contact our friends and get out of this fortress of death."

Placing her digits to her helm, she contacted Raf for an immediate ground bridge.

Arcee: "Arcee to Firewall, we have reached the courtyard with Optimus and the relics. Contact Sumdac so we can bridge back to our base."

She waited for a response, but for some reason there was no answer. So she contacted the hacker again, just to be sure.

Arcee: "Firewall, do you read? We are all at the rendezvous point and in need of an immediate bridge."

She waited again, but still nothing. Now she was getting worried as she turned at the others for some bad news.

Arcee: "Something is wrong. Firewall isn't responding to my calls."

Ratchet turned to her and was a little confused.

Ratchet: "Are you certain?"

Arcee: "Of course I'm certain. Someone should've responded by now."

Bulkhead thought this through and came up with one good reason.

Bulkhead: "Maybe they're under radio silence, since things started to get hairy for us."

She looked at the Wrecker and told him that wasn't the case.

Arcee: "If they were going to be in radio silence, Firewall would've told us by now. Something isn't right."

Just before she could figure it all out, out came a voice familiar to everyone that was high above.

Megatron: "Looking for something?"

Their audio receptors perked up as they looked up to the location of the voice. That's when they saw him, Megatron, up on the balcony right above the courtyard with Starscream, Knockout, Soundwave, and Shockwave in between him along with a group of silver and purple Airadicons in back. The team looked at him with a sour look on their faces. Optimus looked up with dim optics and knew it was his mortal enemy.

Optimus Prime: "Megatron…"

Megatron looked down to the wounded leader and could tell he got them right where he wanted them.

Megatron: "Optimus… And look, your Autobot allies are with you. I must say, if all of you were going to come into a precious home, I wouldn't have to send my search teams out there looking for you. I can see that you were all about to leave, but I'm afraid you are a little too late."

Arcee had a looked to kill and she soon realized what had happened to the recruits.

Arcee: "What have you done to them?!"

Megs gave the femme a coy smile and assured her he did nothing.

Megatron: "Why my dear femme, I haven't done anything to them. I just only asked a few simple questions. Here, let me show you."

With a quick wave of his servo, five Airadicons approached the front of the balcony with the three recruits held in stasis cuffs and the two drones holding the human companions in the capsules. The group was completely shocked that their friends could be taken so easily. The leader then decided to be a little generous and give them to the team.

Megatron: "As you can see, your little 'Neutrals' and your human pets are in one piece and completely unharmed. But since you're interested to get them back, you can have them."

Turning to the drones, he nodded to them, letting them know what to do. Quickly, the first three Cons tossed the Autobot recruits off the balcony with the cuffs still on. Fortunately, their hard metal bodies landed and they didn't get hurt. But the rest of the Airadicons decided to throw the capsules off the balcony as well and given that the glass was fragile and the humans were squishy, they wouldn't survive. Panicked, Arcee rushed to the recruits to see if they were all right while Bulk, Bee, and Smokescreen went on ahead to save the humans. Getting into position, they managed to grab the capsules without causing them to break as the Sari, Sam, and Vince were safe. Bulk looked at Sari, whom he was holding, and checked to see if she was all right.

Bulkhead: "You three okay?"

Sari looked at him through the capsule and smiled a little.

Sari: "Yeah, been through worse, but I'll manage."

Arcee then check to see if Jack was all right as she used her blaster to precisely fire at their cuffs, freeing them from their captivity. Looking at her partner, she wanted to make sure that he was all right as well.

Arcee: "Rodimus, are you alive? Speak to me."

The former teen looked at the femme's optics and told her what happened.

Jack/Rodimus: "Arcee, I'm sorry. He found out about the plan and sent his best soldiers to stop us. We tried to hold them off for as long as we could, but they were too much. We failed…"

Arcee looked at his pleading optics and could tell that they messed up along the way. But she was forgiving, given that they were only trainees taking on a bunch of highly skilled Cons. She got him up and told him that it was all right.

Arcee: "It's okay. You guys were still in training, none of you should have been expected a fight against some dangerous Cons. We'll find a way of getting back, I promise.

Jack then gave a deep sigh and told her the other news.

Jack/Rodimus: "There's more. Megatron knows…"

The femme raised an optic ridge and wondered what he meant by that.

Arcee: "Knows what? What are you talking about?"

That's when Raf and Miko got up from the fall and told the two-wheeler what the Decepticon leader had discovered.

Raf/Firewall: "Megatron found out about us. He knows who we really are."

Arcee turned to them and wondered what he was talking about. But then, in a matter of seconds, her optics grew wide when she realized what he meant.

Arcee: "Oh, no…"

It was then that Megatron explained about these new Neutrals and asked about them.

Megatron: "You know, I've always thought that you would be desperate for help. But this? This certainly takes the proverbial human cake. So tell me, how could your human pets be turned into Cybertronian beings? I'm dying to know."

The group was shocked that Megatron found out about who the recruits really were. Optimus though, looked on, wondering what his arch nemesis was talking about. But then, he looked at these recruits he had just now seen for the first time. For some reason, their faces seemed very familiar. Almost like the faces of the human companions he had seen many times at the old base. Looking at them carefully, he realized who they were.

Optimus Prime: "Jack? Rafael? Miko?"

Feeling confused, he turned to Ratchet and demanded answers in his weak state.

Optimus Prime: "Ratchet, what in the Primus' name is going on?"

The medic turned to him and told him to save it for later.

Ratchet: "Optimus, I'll explain everything later. Right now, we've got bigger problems to worry about."

The others quickly got into a battle stance as Arcee threatened to hurt the warlord.

Arcee: "We're not going to tell you anything, Megatron! You can forget it!"

Megs raised an optic ridge and found that to be a bit off.

Megatron: "Is that so? It's obvious that none of you had anything to do with your friend's changes. Even if it weren't true, you friends wouldn't accept it. But mark my words, I will find out about this and I will handle it personally. As for you, well… Let's just say you won't live to see this."

Just as he said that, one of the Vehicons approached the leader, wanting to give him some news.

Vehicon 24: "Lord Megatron, we found something you might want to see."

The leader turned to the drone and was curious with what he wanted.

Megatron: "Oh? And what is it?"

The Vehicon walked back to let the others come in. Just then, two more Vehicons entered the balcony with an extra one in the middle, in stasis cuffs. That Vehicon was the same Vehicon who was guarding the prison cell where Optimus was held, the same one that helped the Autobots find him and free him. It looked like he had been beaten, with his visor cracked and dents on his armor. It was obvious that he'd been in a bit of a brawl, getting beaten to the point of surrender. The team looked up from the balcony, shocked to see that his teammates had apprehended the one that had helped them. Even Optimus looked on and was shocked to see him getting captured.

Optimus Prime: "No…"

Upon approaching the leader, two of the Vehicons knocked him down, getting him on one knee. Megatron observed this and was a bit bewildered, demanding answers.

Megatron: "What is the meaning of this?! Answer me!"

He turned to the Vehicon that presented him to the drone and explained:

Vehicon 24: "We found this one trying to hide the body of a dead guard down at the prison. We have reason to believe that he helped the Autobots in freeing their leader."

There was a bit of shock from the drones and the leader's own teammates as they didn't expect a betrayal of that magnitude. Megs peered down at the guard, interested in his actions.

Megatron: "Did he now? Well isn't that a shocker."

He then approached the captured guard and asked him a simple question.

Megatron: "Tell me soldier, is it true what they say? Did you betray the Decepticon cause?"

The Vehicon looked up to his leader and explained his actions.

Vehicon 1: "Yes, I helped the Autobots in saving their leader. But do not say that I betrayed the Decepticon cause after what you did."

Megatron: "Oh really? And what have I done to betray your trust in me."

Vehicon 1: "You promised us Cybertron! You promised us our home! Yet instead, you decided to take over this planet! All these centuries of fighting, all the energon spilled, all the lives lost. And for what?! Nothing! Because your ego and obsession have driven us to the point of extinction."

The Decepticon leader looked down to him and realized why he did what he did.

Megatron: "So that is why you help the Autobots? That I've broken a promise? I've made many promises in my leadership, soldier, and Cybertron was one I intended to keep. Though I would've kept that promise if a certain Prime destroyed our only hope in restoring our planet. He was the one that doomed us all, not I."

But the drone didn't believe him as he continued to argue.

Vehicon 1: "That might be true, but maybe the Prime shouldn't have done that if you didn't decide on using that Omega Lock to terraform this planet. Optimus believed that if you turned this planet into another Cybertron, all organic life here would die. Your greed and obsession led us to our end! You threw away our trust in you just for your own self-"

Before he could finish with what he was saying, Starscream came up to him and gave the Con a swift punch to the helm, shutting him up completely.

Starscream: "That's enough from you, you traitor. How dare you point your digit to our glorious leader and tell us that he is a turncoat. He sacrificed everything just to give you victory and this is how you treat him? Prepare to be punished!"

He got his sharpen digits pointed to him and was about the stab him in the chest, just like what he did to Cliffjumper. But before he could do that, Megatron grabbed his arm and told him that it won't do.

Megatron: "That won't be necessary Starscream."

The commander looked at him, surprised that he would show mercy to a Vehicon that betrayed the faction.

Starscream: "What?! But my lord, you heard what he said. He admitted that he helped free Optimus from his imprisonment behind our backs."

The moment he let go of his arm, Megatron approached the captive Con and decided to give him a different kind of punishment.

Megatron: "True, but I don't think an execution would work in my favor. If I want to teach my armada about what happens when they betray me, then I would use a much different method."

To that end, he grabbed the drone by the throat and lifted him up in the air, carrying him off the balcony and over the courtyard.

Megatron: "And as for you soldier, you will pay dearly for you insolence! Do you have anything else to say?"

The guard looked at him and said one thing and one thing only.

Vehicon 1: "Terminate me if you like. Do your worst… But it won't be over. There will be other drones who think your new direction is wrong and will rise up to what they believe is right. Face the facts, 'my lord' your reign will soon be over."

Megs gave him a deep glare and could tell that he was serious. But he had a way of fixing that small problem as he decided to end this little conversation.

Megatron: "Is it now? Well, we'll see about that."

He then let go and the Vehicon fell right into the courtyard where the Autobots were. He landed hard on the ground with a loud thud and was out for a moment. The team watched on and couldn't believe that the drone that helped him was found out too easily. But now that he was in the same predicament as they, they had no choice but to get out of it. Arcee then stepped in and decided to stop it.

Arcee: "We've had it with these sick games, Megatron. I don't know what you have planned for us, but we will rise to your challenge. So go ahead, send as many more Cons as you can bring! We will gladly take them down!"

It was then the others grouped together as they got into their battle stances, ready to fight. Megatron looked down at the group ready for battle and was pleased that they were prepared. But they had no clue about what was coming for them.

Megatron: "Is that so? Well I'm afraid that nothing you can do will stop what I will release on this world. There is no escape…"

Just as he said that, Soundwave accessed the security doors all across the courtyard as the lights turned red and the doors are sealed shut one by one. The team looked at each door locking up and wondered what Megatron was planning for them. Just then, they all heard a strange sound in the front and turned in that direction to see what they were in for. Suddenly, part of the floor tilted upwards and opened up to reveal a dark corridor right in front of them. Meanwhile, the Vehicon regained consciousness and shook his head, wondering what had happened. Megatron looked down at the traitor and smirked at the sight of his first victim. He then turned to the armada behind him and decided to give a little reminder on the first drone's actions.

Megatron: "Let this be a lesson to all those who defy my leadership! Let his fate be an example."

The drone recovered and wondered what they saw as Team Prime watched on, wondering what fate awaited him. That was when two yellow optics glowed in the darkness. The group stepped back as they wondered what was inside that open passage. The Vehicon though didn't see it as he had his back turned. But then, he heard a low growl from behind him. Slowly turning in the direction of the growl, he looked up to see those yellow optics staring at him. Suddenly, whatever was in the opening, roared out loud and charged at the Vehicon. The guard panicked and had nothing to defend himself, since he was still stuck in stasis cuffs. Before he could react, the creature began its attack and tore the Vehicon apart. The guard screamed as he was taken apart piece by piece as the Autobots watched in complete horror. After a few seconds, the guard was silent, terminated completely. Rolling into their view was the head of the Vehicon soldier, his visor dimmed with nothing but a blank, black look. The moment the visor turned off, a clawed foot stomped on it, crushing it completely. The group stepped back and couldn't believe what they were seeing. The creature was Cybertronian in nature but bigger than any Cybertronian imaginable. It looked like a dragon with a black, orange, and gray paintjob and yellow lighting across parts of its body. It had a long spiky tail, a wingspan that surpassed half a football field with orange webbing, and a combination of razor sharp teeth and mandibles to make him more intimidating than ever. It lifted his head up to see the Autobots as Megatron introduced his pet to them.

Megatron: "Autobots, allow me to introduce to you my latest asset, and your doom."

He then looked down to this Cybertronian dragon and started to give it orders.

Megatron: "Predaking, DESTROY THE AUTOBOTS!"

Predaking looked up to the Decepticon leader, following his orders. It looked down to Team Prime and roared out loud, showing off its sharp teeth. Expanding its wingspan, it flew high in the air and was over the courtyard. The group watched on in awe, as they had no idea what they were up against. Even the humans in the capsules looked and were fearful about what they were seeing.

Sam Witwicky: "Holy shit…"

Vince: "You can say that again Sam. What the Hell is that?"

Sari stared at the creature and she noticed something glowing within its mouth. Looking onward, she had a real good answer for the former bully's question.

Sari: "That Vince is what happens when Doomsday and Armageddon have a baby. And believe me when I say this, it is ugly…"

Almost instantly, the creature opened its mouth and spat out a wave of fire right at the team. The Autobots didn't know what they were up against, but they can tell, it's going to be a living Hell.

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Chapter done and a cliffhanger to boot. Sorry if I'm cutting it too short, but giving how much I put in this story already, I need to be certain that I stop at the right moment before I continue. After all, the next chapter is going to be the epic battle between the Autobots and Predaking and it's going to end with something you won't see coming. Just hang on for a little while longer and you will love it. Please Review.