Chapter 17: In his head
Optimus laid stricken on the medical berth, his eye was rusting. Ratchet explained that it was the Cybercion plague, a creation developed by Megatron.
The Guardians and humans were standing up on a platform while the Autobots stood around Optimus.
"Do you have a cure?" Raf asked.
Ratchet bit her lip.
"No, cure." Even Optimus' voice sounded rusted.
"Save your strength, Optimus." Ratchet muttered, worried for her leader.
Jade felt like her mind was racing, thankfully, that made it sharp. "Why would Megatron make a virus and not have a cure?" She questioned aloud. "What if he caught it?"
Diamond frowned, "It's not like you can ask him, Jade."
"But, Jade does have the right idea." Ratchet mused, "We still have the location of the Decepticon warship."
"Bee," Arcee ordered, "Come with me." They walked over to the ground-bridge.
"Arcee," Ratchet called him back. "Take Jade with you as well."
Jade flew over and landed on Arcee's shoulder.
Knock Out was in the med-bay, her sister had placed her at the monitor for work, but Knock Out was coming up with a good argument to throw against her sister and Starscream. When they were going to come in a decide Megatron's fate.
However, she heard something behind her, as she turned around. Something hit her hard in the head, causing her to blackout.
Arcee, Bumblebee and Jade walked into the lab, Jade went from Arcee's shoulder to Bee's as Arcee went for the DATABASE.
Bumblebee looked around the room till both he and Jade spotted him. Bumblebee left off a series of beeps and chirps, to try and get Arcee to come and see.
After a few moments of arguing with Ratchet, Arcee turned to them and snarled. "What is it?!" He stormed over to look and gasped. "Megatron,"
"What?!" Ratchet almost yelled down the comlink. "Are you sure?"
Jade felt both Optimus and Raf look through her eyes at Megatron, he was lying on the medical berth, completely helpless.
"His in critical condition." Arcee pointed his blaster at him. "Time to finish this." He went to shot, but Ratchet ordered him to stop. "One good reason?"
"Because Megatron may be Optimus' only hope."
"What are you talking about?"
"Does he display brainwave activity?" Ratchet asked.
"Spiking hard," Arcee answered.
"Perfect! If a cure exists, Megatron may be the only who owns it, you must enter his brain and find it."
"Enter Megatron's brain?!" Arcee spluttered, horrified.
"The Decepticon laboratory should hold all the necessary equipment, for a cortical PSYCHIC patch."
"No way," Arcee said, putting his foot down on the matter.
"I'll do it," Jade stepped towards Arcee.
"Are you sure Jade?" Raf asked, he must have been listening.
"I'll be fine." She promised, she watched as Arcee pulled out a PSYCHIC patch made for a Transform and a guardian link up.
"Now, Jade," Ratchet grabbed her attention. "When you're linked up, you won't be able to feel the bond of your family, as it is cut off and replace with and bond to Megatron, it will head back to normal once we unplug you, alright?"
"Right," She muttered, her heart picking up speed a bit.
After getting set up, they hid in the gutter area of the med-bay, the GUTTERS were all over the ship, all linked together for storage uses.
Acree placed the patch onto Jade's back.
Jade stood on a brigde over a large smelting pool. She looked up to see a large building. Her spark felt cold, and her bond hallow, she could tell why Arcee didn't want to do it. He wouldn't be able to feel his bond with his twin.
"Jade, can you hear me?" Ratchet's voice, Jade looked around but she couldn't see Ratchet anywhere. "I'm speaking through your mind, I've patched you into the base, only you can hear us while your in Megatron's head."
"Where is she?" Vince asked.
Jade then remebered, she started to walk across the brigde. "It's Kaon, this is where Makeshift took me. Beyond that I don't remember what happened here." She reached a flight of steps which she took to the top, where she ran right into...
"Dad?" She questioned. She then saw something different, she had grown in height to about Arcee's size.
"Jade, that is not Optimus, it's only a figment of Megatron imagination, it can not see nor hear you."
"Optimus Prime!" A voice that sent chills down Jade's spine as he spoke, she looked up, along with Optimus. There was Megatron, standing tall and strong, a look of victory on his face. "Your Autobot armys are defeated, now tell me where she is and I'll spare your life."
Optimus spoke, his voice was proud and determined. "Never Megatron," He pulled out his blade. "One shall stand, and one shall fall."
"So be it." Megatron jumped down and pulled out his own blade.
It was then that Jade chose to hide behind a large rock. She watched as they charged at each other, Megatron swiped Optimus' side, causing Optimus to turn to dust.
Jade clamped a hand down to her mouth as she held back a scream. Her eyes were stinging as she held back tears.
"Calm down, Jade, that wasn't real, that never even happened." Cliffjumper.
"It's only Megatron's darkest dreams, the way he wanted to win." Ratchet explained.
Suddenly the rock beside Jade turned into Optimus, who point his gun right at Megatron.
Megatron spotted this and fired his cannon right at Prime, Jade ran out and stood in front of the blast. It must have past her as it hit the fake Optimus in the chest, he turned into mist, again.
"Guardian," Jade swallowed a lump in her throat, she turned to see Megatron standing in front of her. "Trespassing in Decepticon grounds shall be your destruction." He lifted his sword and swung.
Jade braced herself for the blow, but it passed right through her. "Huh?"
"What is this?" He swung a few more times before giving up. His eyes narrowed at her, before he started to walk around her. "Your height is all wrong and..." He reached out and waved a hand through her. "And I'm unable to touch," He continued his little walk around her, making Jade felt like a deer being taunted by it's perpetrator. "You're not wearing a phase shifter, your eyes track my movement, so your not a hologram and I do not believe in spirts. So, prey tell guardian, what are you?"
"Megatron," Both Jade and Megatron turned to face a third Optimus, this time Bumblebee and Bulkhead flanked both of he's sides. It was then that Jade spotted the female guadian hovering in between her father and Bulkhead.
"Mum?!" Jade raced over to the small figure of her mother. She was so close, her face looked so real. But it looked full of hate, glaring at Megatron.
Wait, Megatron. Jade whipped around to see him looking back and forth between them and the spot where he shot the second Optimus.
In the end it seemed to annoy him so much that he let out a howl of rage, firing his cannon at all of them.
It of course, went right through Jade, while it hit the others, her mum included.
After he stopped shouting he focused his eyes onto Jade. "You are real, they were not." It then hit him. Letting out a dark chuckle he muttered, "A cortical PSYCHIC patch, how unexpected, then again, you doing something like this, Jade, no surprise."
"You know my name?" Jade asked.
"I've know it for years," He wasn't looking at her. "If this is my subconcious...".His eyes locked back to Jade. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING INSIDE MY HEAD?!"
Suddenly Jade felt at ease, strange, but she found herself back chatting. "You didn't say please."
Arcee laid guard with Bumblebee over Jade, he gazed down at her, her face seemed at total peace. He felt Cliffjumper checking in on him through their bond. He let of a wave of lovely dovelies, when he saw Jade's face.
Arcee eye rolled, but couldn't blame him for it, he felt the same whenever he saw Jade face.
It was then that the door to the medbay opened, Starscream walked through, Soundwave and a black 'con, with orange lines on her paint job, followed him in.
"Flatline, care to give your expect medical opinion to Soundwave for the history records." Starsceam asked the femme.
"What happened to me?" Megatron rasped, he leaned right into Jade's personal space, looking her, straight in the eye. An image then flashed before the two, it was the space-brigde, with Megatron's view point of it, he was reaching out for his armada, he'd worked so hard for that, only for Prime to blow it up in his face. "The space-brigde, explosion. But I'm still alive, you wouldn't be in my head otherwise. How did I survive, Jade?"
"Jade, we are out of time!" Ratchet ordered her to finish up.
Jade's mind raced for a moment, before she chose to just ask him point blank. "I need the cure to the cybercion plague." She blurted.
Megatron frowned, for the moment he forgot his last question. "Cybercion plague? Someone besides myself, is... unwell?" At first he though that maybe his crew, but this was Jade, and she fought for the Autobots. But if a crew member of the Autobots carried the plague, Optimus would have come here. Megatron then let off a grin, his shrap teeth showing. "Optimus," He started to laugh, causing Jade to glare at him.
"It's not funny," Jade snarled, causing Megatron's laughter to halt. He looked at her, a frown on his face, but the smirk soon came back.
"Well, my apologizes, my dear. It would seemed that your memories have been removed. But allow to explain, after years of battling your father, it is only now that he shall be destroyed and by what, a virus from the past and to add a BONUS to it, it was one of many, created by his very own daughter."
For a moment, Jade thought she heard wrong. "W-what?" She spluttered. She heard gasps from the Autobots back at base as well. "You're lying."
"You may think that now, but once all your memories come back, Jade. You may find yourself working for a different side."
Jade was then through having to listen to him. She knew he had to be lying, heck she could barely get passed her middle science class. "Just give me the cure."
"What makes you think I'd save the life, of my oldest enemy?"
Jade paused, he had a point.
It was then that a another Optimus appeared, only for Megatron to shoot him mid-sentence. An idea clicked in Jade's head. "Because I know what your greatest desire is."
"Oh?" Megatron looked purely amused by her words. "And just what is that be, my dear?"
"To destroy my father with your own hands."
Megatron gave a bark of laughter once again. "Did you miss the part where I can destroy Prime at will, whenever I see fit?"
"And yet this world is nothing but a dream," Jade gave a mocking sigh. "Do truly believe that it shall satisfy your need to destroy him? If so, someday you shall live your life regretting the day you didn't give me the cure." She then smirked. "To think you'd give up, after all these years of trying to snuff out his spark, just because it would be easier."
"Twisted," She heard Miko mutter with an impressed tone.
Megatron tilted his head, thinking on it. "Well after years of battling, to not watch Optimus' spark fade away, by my own hands..." He looked down at Jade, locking eyes with her. "Well played, Jade." He opened his hand and a holographic copy of the formula. Jade's eyes shinned the moment she saw it. She reached out to grab it, but Megatron re-closed his hand. "Ah, ah, ah, not yet." He smirked as she glared at him. "You see, Jade, if I am to terminate Optimus, how can I do that while I'm stuck in this nightmare?" He waited for an answer, but Jade was unable to give one. "That's what I thought."
Ratchet quickly re-wined the video feed and pressed stop on the formula. She smirked, "Arcee," She addressed the mech over the comlink. "We've got it! Disconnect Jade, NOW!"
Jade was about to say something, when a loud bang was heard, both she and Megatron looked up to see that one of the towers had clasped, and was starting to turn to dust.
"You had this on record... you tricked me!" He snarled.
Jade then got a memory flash as her body started to turn to dust as well. "Just like you tricked me, into creating weapons that killed millions." She muttered.
Megatron lunged at her, but she disappeared at the last second.
"No!" He snarled, he looked up at the portal to Jade's mind. "Take me with you, TAKE ME!" His words seemed to echo as his own body turned to dust, and travel straight through the portal.
Jade watched with everyone else as her father rose off the berth, with Ratchet's help, instantly everyone was clapping for him.
Optimus smiled at his team, his family. "Please, save the hero's welcome for my physician," A round of claps went to Ratchet. "And my daughter."
Jade froze for a second, before seeing that everyone had started clapping for her. She blushed.
Knock Out awoke to see nothing but black, she could feel that her hands were in cuffs behind her back and her mouth was clapped down by something. She wiggled for a moment, before a sudden burst of light filled her optics. She then felt an arm grab her and pull her out. Her optics soon adjusted to see Breakdown in front of her.
He pulled the mouth clap off her face.
"Thanks," She lend on him as he removed the cuffs at the back. "Do you know who did that?"
After the cuffs were off, Breakdown led his twin down the halls of the Nemesis. "Personal I think it was the Autobots, but Soundwave has a different theory." They arrived at they personal quarters.
"Which is?"
Breakdown sighed, "You're not going to like it."
Jade's vision went blank she was suddenly facing two red eyes. :I'm out,: They whispered, but sounded more like they were coming out from beside her ear, then in front of her. A cold chill travelled right down her spine. His face appeared right in front of her. :Or should I say... in?: His laughter then went off in her head, ringing like a nightmare. She went to shout a warning to the others, but Megatron managed to somehow clamp her mouth shut. :Ah, ah, come on, Jade your team mates looks so happy with you, let their victory last a little while longer, as mine shall arrive so as well.: