Promotional artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333

Haywire sat with his arms crossed in his cell, leaning against the wall. It had been over four days since his imprisonment along with Scythe's. He was gritting his dentae together irritably. "When I get out of here, I'm going to kill her. This is bull! We can't just sit here!"

Scythe, who had lost his weapons upon being arrested, scowled clawing his berth, sitting on the other side of the same wall Haywire was leaning on. "And, for the hundredth time, do you have a way to get us out of here?"

"Nope."

"So, why are you still preaching to me?"

"I'm bored and I'm an advisor, it's my job to motivate and...all that," the red mech said.

Scythe muttered, "Well, you are right but there is nothing we can do. The energy shields are impregnable, even from mechs as powerful as Megatron."

Haywire raised a brow, "You still hold quite a respect for your former leader. I take it, despite his flaws, he was very effective at his job? What made you leave the Decepticons, by the way?"

"Megatron was one of the best leaders I have ever seen. He was proud, could do exactly as he claimed and more. The only reason I left was because I knew he had lost his way, became what he fought against, and near the end after he was stuck on Earth and my team was still on Caminus awaiting his orders, I finally gave up. I abandoned my squadron and waited on Moon Base Two until one of the factions came home. The Autobots came back victorious, so I went to Optimus Prime and offered my life in service to repay what I did. The rest you know."

"I remember when I was younger," Haywire said, "they told us horrific stories of the Decepticons and that we were Cybertron's last line of defense. That's all they told us though. We did as directed and I came across a seeker, Skywarp, who had been brought down. I aimed by blaster at him, and he just stared back, and I thought to myself, 'this is just another bot like me. Why am I doing this to him?' I couldn't pull the trigger, and I saw Con reinforcements coming down from the sky towers. I left him there. I stayed with the Autobots but I transferred to communications after that. I couldn't bear the thought of harming someone then. Now..."

When Haywire shrugged with a smile, Scythe began to laugh, "You want to blow Rockrider's head off, don't you?"

"Absolute zero hesitation if given the chance, I assure you."

"You might just get your chance after all," an exterior voice spoke.

They both turned in unison to the outside of the cells. A dark blue mech walked up to them with a smirk and lifted the cell keys.

"Tyrus! Look at you, you beautiful bot!" Haywire hollered.

Tyrus made a shushing motion, "Alright, calm down! Look, my head is going to roll for this! I'm not supposed to be here."

Scythe frowned, "Then how did you get to us?"

"What? You think all the guards obey Rockrider? I have quite some authorities of my own being the Head of Council around here, I hope you know. On top of that, do you know what misery I've been through since she took over? 'Yes, my Queen. No, my Queen.' I've been sucking up to her so I wouldn't end up here with you."

The red mech chuckled, "What happened to the nice, sophisticated Tyrus we always knew?"

"That bot? Took a hike, won't be back for some time. Now, do you want out or not?" He said, waving the security keys.

The shields went down and both Haywire and Scythe were quick to leave. Tyrus took point and navigated them towards the back way.

"I'm telling you now; as soon as word gets out you two are gone, Rockrider is going to have a damn fit. I can cover myself. A friend of mine in the guard is going to alter the surveillance and make it look like I was only visiting my 'initial' prisoner whom I talked to just before I got to you. He'll edit us in our current positions, make it look like you two broke out on your own. No one knows how I got ahold of the spare keys, and no one ever will, understood?"

Scythe nodded, "We appreciate this greatly."

Tyrus spoke quickly, "No, don't thank me yet. You two still need to get out of the building. Go to Iacon, find the communications terminal and summon any Autobot or Decepticon available. This isn't going to be an easy ride so prepare for any resistance from Rockrider."

"Tyrus?! Haywire! Scythe!"

All three paused right as they passed a hallway and slowly backed into view. Haywire was the first to run down it when he spotted a familiar paint job of red and blue. "Optimus?"

Sure enough, Optimus was there shackled to the wall. Bumblebee was in the cell across from him sitting on his calves.

"Well, don't you two look sorry. What happened?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Bumblebee said. "After all, we got into this situation trying to find out what was going on. You weren't available and not managing operations like normal, Arcee wasn't responding to our calls, and we decided to visit the Crystal Palace."

Tyrus rolled his optics, "Let me guess, Rockrider arrested you two to keep her secret for the time being?"

"Yep!"

"I don't know if I can break you out. These keys only work for their cell block. Yours would most likely respond to a different code-"

Scythe suddenly punched through the security terminal on Optimus' cell and the console began to spark. The shield evaporated and Scythe shook off the slight shock with a roll of his shoulders. "There's that key. You want me to unlock in the other one?"

"Oh, please tell me you learned how to do that among the Decepticons!" Haywire said a bit tantalized and awestruck.

"Maybe," the dark green bot smiled, before turning around without a hitch and striking through Bumblebee's terminal. He pulled out a fistful of wires and shrugged off another small shock.

They broke Optimus from his chains and helped Bumblebee up. As the latter stretched, the Prime aided his wrists. "Thank you. Since we now can confirm Arcee is no longer in charge, we must create a counter offense to Rockrider's rule."

Tyrus nodded, "That's my plan. Iacon is the most powerful communicator of any city. If you want to make a point across to the rest of Cybertron, Iacon has everything you need. But considering my plan originally was supposed to be a silent approach, I'm afraid I must cover you. Scythe, your method of breaking them out just sent a silent alarm to the entire prison. I can't help you any further except buy you time. Take my ship at the prison courtyard platforms. My assistant knows you are heading to Iacon. She'll meet you there."

Haywire, saddened by the realization, spoke solemnly, "Are you sure you can't come with us?"

The Head of Council shook his helm and put his arm on his chest as a salute, "Try to bring back our queen by any means necessary. In case my cover goes horribly wrong, it was an honor serving you all. Now go!"

Optimus bowed respectfully before running past Tyrus to the escape route he led the others towards. Tyrus stood there alone after all four left, sighing to himself. Certainly, this wasn't anywhere close to his first plan but sometimes sacrifices had to be made. It was no later than two minutes afterwards standing in front of that same route to the exit did he hear the guards behind him.

"Halt! You are under arrest!"

He turned toward them, but they weren't the guards he was expecting. Instead, they were Rockrider's elite. The prison guard who had helped him to break out Scythe and Haywire was held with a gun pushed against his temple.

"I'm sorry," the guard said.

Tyrus knew there was nothing to apologize for. It was his orders alone to override Rockrider's decree that led to this situation. As he studied the bronze guards, her personal guards, he could tell it was the end. Oh well.

"Did you really think we wouldn't be wise to the other Councilmembers taking a risk and helping the accused?"

"Accused?" Tyrus spoke calmly, "I don't remember any trials or claim of evidence to condemn them to that title, therefore they are innocent until proven guilty and cannot be kept under arrest unless with an accurate purpose. Is that not one of our bylaws?"

The leader of the troop threateningly pressed his fists together. "The queen commanded it, unless you have a problem with that?"

Tyrus sneered and put his servos behind his back, his arm transforming into a blaster. "Oh, I do."

"By order of the Queen of Cybertron, you're under arrest for conspiracy of a coup and the unjustified bail of wanted criminals!"

"Dear boy, you have no idea what those charges even are. Let me explain them to you."

Suddenly, Tyrus whipped his blaster out from behind his back and lunged.

In the airship courtyard stationed outside of the prison, all four escapees passed numerous ships knowing any point in slowing down might just lead to meeting with the guards.

"I feel really bad for leaving Tyrus after how he risked his entire life for us!" Haywire said.

Optimus huffed, "Tyrus is capable of handling himself, and he made it clear he wanted us to continue. As much as I do not like it either, we need to carry out his wishes. His sacrifice will not be in vain."

Bumblebee nodded, "I agree with Optimus. It's terrible, I know, but we need to get to Iacon and contact Shockwave. He can help us."

As soon as they reached what they recognized as Tyrus' ship, they didn't hesitate to board it. Scythe took the helm, and the others went to the essential available stations. Bumblebee became the co-pilot, Optimus took on defense protocols if needed, and Haywire became communications.

"Wait," Haywire paused mid-push of a button, "Bumblebee, you have been in contact with Shockwave?"

"Yes? He's been telling us how crappy Rockrider's meddling with the laws has made the Decepticons angry. The Decepticon leader themself is why Shockwave is even talking to us. Whatever Rockrider's been doing, she really pissed them off."

Scythe moved the ship around to prepare takeoff. "Well, put it this way, Rockrider is posing as Arcee for now. She's dragging Arcee's name and credibility into the dirt by making Arcee look like she's becoming a tyrant."

"That's awful," Bee growled. "We definitely need to alert everyone of this scam before it starts a whole new war."

"Something you'll need to be in charge of. Haywire and I can be labeled traitors and everyone on Cybertron can believe it, but you and Optimus? If 'Arcee' deems you two traitors, that would give Rockrider's ruse away and make everyone question everything. By escaping, you two now have authority we don't because she can't arrest you for anything. That would derail her whole plan. She can't claim you kidnapped Arcee, you're her oldest friends. Neither of you would kill Arcee even if it was the last choice you had, so it would make no sense."

Optimus thought about that, concluding not long after, "It's why she needed us imprisoned. She knew if she let us go after we confronted her, everyone on Cybertron would be against her, not Arcee."

"And we just broke out of prison," Haywire stated. "Why would the valiant Optimus Prime and Autobot leader, Bumblebee, help two supposed traitors escape? That's not something you tell a bot and say anything bad about the likes of you two. No one in their right mind would believe it."

The ship launched off the platform and they all breathed a sigh of relief. The guards of the prison were all just approaching the landing platforms when they left.

"So...how long do you think it'll take before Rockrider screams and yells that we're traitors?" Scythe said nonchalantly.

Bee smirked, "Oh, I'm betting an hour."

"I'll take that bet: one day," Haywire said without missing a beat. "What about you, Prime?"

"Me? I don't gamble."

"We aren't even betting an actual fee!" Bee laughed. "You won't lose anything...except maybe your dignity depending on how the rest of this day goes."

Scythe refrained from busting up while Haywire already had his helm buried in the crook of his elbow coughing up a lung from the humor. Optimus cracked a small smile and grunted.

It took over an hour to reach Iacon. The flight was a mixture of tense but humorous. One because of the fact they were on the run and second because Bumblebee couldn't stop cracking jokes. When they reached the city, the humor died down fast.

Hologram billboards and signs were blaring like the lights of buildings themselves. Haywire and Scythe were on posters declaring "Wanted: Attempted Murder of the Queen" scribed on the bottom.

"Wow, she moved quite fast on that. That only took an hour...damn, I should have bet something good!" Bumblebee mused.

Haywire sent him a crossed look while Scythe side-eyed him. He sighed, "What is the next step of our plan? Obviously, everyone who spots us is going to report us."

Optimus replied instantly, "Simple, we play against her. After all, if we say you never attempted such a crime, who will believe 'Arcee's' word over mine?"

Bumblebee made an impressed expression, "That's true. If Optimus tells you something, he's never lying. Technically, he's one of the worst liars between most of the Autobots."

As they landed at the base of the Iacon's Nova Point with Tyrus' assistant to guide them in, a building once of political importance but now forgotten, Optimus made an encrypted call with Tyrus' equipment. "Perceptor, this is Optimus Prime. I need you to contact Shockwave and have him come to Nova Point. Tell him it's an emergency."

"Not the call I was ever expecting today. Okay...I'm alone, mind you...so I have to ask, this wouldn't have anything to do with the two bots I see up on every screen in the city, would it?"

Perceptor was always keen to his namesake even with little context. "It is. Perceptor, I will say now that those claims are not what they seem. We need Shockwave's help to fix something. We may be in serious trouble soon. Please."

He spoke again after a slight pause, "Optimus, I'll do anything to help you. Just tell me what you need done, and don't be a stranger. If it's life or death, tell me everything and I will do all in my power to help you set it right."

"Let's just say, we're in a situation that has turned for the worse. The queen is not Arcee. Everything that's been happening is not her doing. I've been in prison these past few days because of this knowledge."

Perceptor muttered out of the blue, "Whoa, you weren't kidding about the life and death part. That does explain a few things; I didn't think Arcee liked raising all these orders for curfew and such. I knew her when she was a youngling. Rules were made to be broken in her optics. Amazing how she's come so far."

"Shockwave mentioned the current Decepticon leader was furious, something about a revolt. If we expose the truth, there's going to be utter chaos and we need everyone we can get on our side when it comes to it. If we get loyalty of the Decepticon cause partnered with the true return of the Autobots, we will have a better advantage of finding Arcee and returning her to power."

"Okay, not to be that friend, but can I come to this meeting too? If we're talking about kicking aft, I'm going along this time. Arcee was a great pupil and an excellent bot I consider a daughter. Everyone in the science guild loved her, especially when she offered to use our experiments against the enemies at the time. No way am I going to stand around and let her name be dragged down in such blasphemy."

Bumblebee snorted, "Sounds like Arcee's way of dealing with science. That reminds me, can we also get Soundwave and Megatron, if possible? They would be excellent assets-"

"I'm afraid that's the second part of this situation," Haywire interrupted. "Arcee isn't on Cybertron nor is Megatron."

"What?" Bee said, standing up.

Optimus looked just as perplexed and Perceptor was dead silent. Scythe just looked at him with an expression the told him to continue.

Haywire gulped nervously, "I need everyone present to this meeting before I tell you the rest. Trust me."

Perceptor didn't seem to hesitate after that. "I can bring Shockwave. We'll be there as soon as possible."

Three days after the battle against Megatronus Prime...

They were both tired, neither of them rested until everything was perfect...until she was secure and repaired. Megatron knew very little medically, and Bolt was only going by what he could read up on and by as much memory as possible. It was her only chance.

The end result was Bolt sluggishly watching her monitors, barely moving with claws twitching every so often. Megatron refused to leave her side, sitting against the wall with his helm propped up on part of it. Arcee lay on the berth, as still as could be. They stayed that way for however long it took before they heard slight movement from her. Neither of them hesitated to fight off their drowsiness to be there for her. Moonhunter even got out from under the berth at hearing the shuffle.

"Arcee...can you hear me?" Bolt immediately said.

Her optics fluttered open, and she groaned. "My...body..."

Megatron gave a half smile, "Bolt fixed you. It's going to be a little uncomfortable for a while, but you should be functioning a lot better soon."

Slowly, she looked around the medbay, gulping at the dryness of her throat. She tried to sit up abruptly but Bolt was quick to put a servo on her chest. "Easy, easy, you...uh...you don't want to do that maybe for a bit longer."

"M-Megatronus...Prime...I had no...choice."

Both mechs glanced at one another before Megatron put up his servos, waving them drastically. "Hang on, that dead bot next to you...was Megatronus Prime?!"

"Megatronus Prime?" Bolt said in disbelief, "One of the Thirteen? What a dick move by the Allspark sending you to face him! And yet...you managed to kill him? Blow him up into pieces?...Remember when I doubted you? I think I can safely say that will never happen again...EVER."

That got a smile out of Arcee. Megatron readjusted the berth so she could sit up at an angle, not enough to stress her body out. Bolt was quick to get a mirror from another room and placed it adjacent to the berth. Arcee then studied exactly what she was seeing in the reflection.

"Let me, uh, explain, Arcee. When we found you, half of your armor was so burnt it had holes in it. The damage to the interior wiring was thankfully protected because your armor did its job. However, I wouldn't be saying that if whatever Megatronus did to you lasted any longer."

He then pulled out the melted remains of her crown. "This was so scorched that it started fusing onto your helm. The gems it had probably fell off in the scuffle."

Megatron brought her the katana that had been on her back. Only half of it remained, and he gave a sad frown. "We managed to salvage your gatling gun and your arm blasters but this...your sword was melted as well. In some respect, it protected your spine from being damaged we think."

Arcee stared down at the mirror. Her original blue paint on her chassis was merged with various spots of a different shade, an obvious indicator of where her armor had been burned. Her helm had an off blue line where the crown had sat, and her helm fin was fused back together with the red gem she always had still there. She looked like a blue calico.

"I tried to match the color to yours with some spare paint I had but I didn't have the right mix to do it. I promise I'll pay for your paint job and all that when we get home, but...for now, this is the best I can do."

Arcee showed no malice for Bolt's work, no regret for what she had to do. Instead, she sent him a sweet smile and regained her voice. "Thank you. I guess I got my wish, to get back into the action with all the injuries to boot. So, I take it we aren't going anywhere for a while."

The Vehicon burst out laughing as he left the room, his voice echoing the whole way, "Go back into the field?! Ha ha, hell no! You will stay here until you are one hundred percent healthy! Not seventy, not ninety-five! One damn hundred! And nothing you say is going to change my mind!"

"Yes, sir," she said with a faux serious tone.

Megatron shook his head in amusement, "Glad you're alright, Arcee. It hasn't been the same without your sharp wit and snappy comebacks. I've had to deal with Bolt's crazed panics for the past three days...and maybe my own concerns."

She gave him an intrigued look as Moonhunter settled at her pedes.

He coughed, "So, Megatronus Prime, huh?"

"It's a long story."

Glancing at where Bolt left, then at Arcee with a raised brow, he clicked his glossa. "Well, given the circumstances, it appears I have plenty of time for a long story."

In an abandoned wing of Nova Point, Bumblebee rocked back and forth in a spinning chair, his legs on the table idly. Haywire had already gathered data pads and reactivated the computers though they found they were slightly outdated. All they needed was the draw screen at least operational.

Scythe had found a temporary replacement of a weapon lodged in a wall when Nova Point was once the headquarters of an Iacon assault team. As it turned out, Decepticon troops raided the place during Megatron's takeover and a fierce fight had left some weapons discarded, perfect for him. He dwindled the blade on the tip of the floor, slowly carving it into the faded decorative plating.

As for Optimus, he stood staring through the window. Watching Iacon flowing with ships and movement in general still felt like a fever dream. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last saw it at peace like this. The war lasted almost forever it seemed.

The sound of a vortex opening drew all four bots to seek it. Scythe was the first to stand among the other two sitting. Footsteps could be heard in the vortex, distorted by bridge's light. Then Perceptor appeared and gave an open armed gesture.

"Did I miss the party?"

"Is Shockwave with you?" The dark green guardsman said.

"I am here," a darker voice echoed. Sure enough, Shockwave's signature purple color scheme was hard to miss walking though the bridge. His one eye scanned the room, imposing as always. "So, what trouble have you four gotten yourselves into?"

"That's for Haywire to explain this time," Bee said, pointing at the mech. "Apparently, we've been fooled."

As Perceptor took a seat and Shockwave preferred to stand, Haywire cleared his throat. "Alright, now that we're all here, we have a huge situation on our hands and things are going to get ugly. The Councilmember, Rockrider, has taken the throne from Arcee. She is not in the picture at this time. It's why everything is being turned on its head."

"Does anyone else know about this?" Shockwave asked, now intrigued.

"No, and the reason why I can tell you this as a truth is because Scythe and I had the unfortunate part of being bystanders. Rockrider already had some of the guards at her command. It's why Megatron isn't available either. Arcee tried Megatron a second time, offered him the redemption of retrieving the Allspark. It went AWOL on us in favor of Earth, creating a vast new island nicknamed the Isle of the Allspark. Yeah, creative naming, right?"

He brought up a map displaying the Allspark's location in one of Earth's vast oceans. "We activated the space bridge with the intent of sending Megatron to go after it. Rockrider instead pushed Arcee in, then Megatron. We've been out of communication range between both since then. We don't know if they are even alive, but one explanation is the Allspark is interfering with their signals.

"Since then, Rockrider has been disgracing Arcee's legacy by posing as her. She arrested us when we wouldn't go along with her plan, then arrested Optimus and Bumblebee when they investigated why Arcee wasn't acknowledging them. That's why tensions are high. That's why everyone is miserable. If Rockrider gets what she wants, she'll make Arcee a pariah and make Cybertron 'better' in her own image, basically using Arcee's original methods as her own and making the populace believe she's an excellent leader compared to Arcee."

Perceptor blinked, "That's...messed up."

Shockwave, however, was quick to provide a solution. "Then I guess we have no choice but to stop her."

"Well, we know what opposing her already has gotten us. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to go back to that prison," Bee said.

The one-eyed mech responded, "I would rather try than sit here and do nothing."

"That's what I said!" Haywire mused, then he turned to Scythe. "See? He gets it."

The dark green mech rolled his optics with a groan. "Once again, we're stuck here, Haywire. There's not much we can do."

"We can't do anything, but it doesn't have to be just us," Shockwave said. "If I tell our leader this information, with your permission of course, I can get the Decepticons back together as faction again, a force that Rockrider will have no choice but to face herself. But if we do this, Bumblebee, I need you to assemble your Autobots as well. If only one faction goes in, we could make more people join Rockrider against us."

Optimus nodded, "We will discuss more of a plan later. We value your cooperation, and any help will be appreciated, Shockwave. Perceptor, do you know anyone else who could help us?"

"Mm no, my field can't technically choose sides anymore as per code of being a legal neutral in any conflict...but there's a possibility that I could get the Council to delay her. Being the Head of Science, I'll make sure I still think Arcee is in charge, but I can throw a few requests and considerations their way, something Rockrider or 'Arcee' would have to investigate. Downside to being the leader, you have to be present in certain decisions. Let's see if Rockrider did her homework on how Arcee handles Council business as a queen, not as a fellow member. She screws up, we might not have to do much after all."

"Speaking of present leaders...Shockwave, why have you never told us who the new Decepticon leader is and why aren't they here instead?" Bumblebee scowled, "Like no offense but you are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Megatron made his command clear from the start as did Optimus. Here I am...counterpart...less."

Shockwave had a slight tinge of amusement hidden in his speech. "Maybe it's because they have more important things on their mind. Regrouping and sorting out all our soldiers back into a normal routine takes time. Or maybe it's just that they don't see you as a worthy counterpart."

The yellow mech grimaced, "Hey now-"

"Enough!" Optimus sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose plating. "Let's just stick with the main problem. We need full cooperation from both sides in order for this to work, or I fear we may lose Cybertron to another tyrant, one who will destroy the very foundations of our progress as an unbiased society."

AN: Just a filler episode to give Haywire and Scythe a bit more screentime as well as Optimus and Bumblebee. Also, I will introduce the Decepticon leader later on. They actually play an important role but it's not who you think. I will say it's a character from another fic of mine but that's the only hint you get.