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

Across the Isle: Short Stories of Past and Present

Transforming the Cosmos

Younglings gazed in awe as the Allspark twirled and with it, strands of energy fought to catch up leaving a mystical trail of light behind its movements. Pillars of metal with the languages of the Primes orbited it, dancing around it slow or fast depending on its mood while three rings circled it like tilted halos enflamed with blue bio lights.

The Allspark laughed in its many voices as the younglings all cheered at its dance. Seeing their happy smiles brought it much joy. But it could do more than dance, and the younglings knew this. With a shrill of happiness, the Allspark spun around fast, and a beam of energy shot directly up to open a portal in the sky. Against the daylit atmosphere, the night intermingled through cracks creating and mixture of both stars on a deep purple background and a sun on bright blue. The cracks of the night sky moved ever slightly to shift like the sky itself was an oil painting of realistic scenery.

But the Allspark wasn't done. A burst of energy erupted from it and a singlehorn appeared out of thin air, prancing past the younglings unbothered. Other Cybertronian animals came to play upon the Allspark's will. Various cyberhounds and Nitrotigers happily interacted with the younglings, letting them be pet and played with.

The Allspark made another laugh until it noticed Megatronus and Liege Maximo were not as pleased as the children. It could sense neither of them trusted it yet they were all born from Primus so it couldn't understand the whole issue. But, at the same time, it had an idea that maybe, just maybe, it may have had something to do with its powers. It didn't ask for them if that's what they were jealous of; it just was what it was.

Ignoring the Primes' stares, it focused on the Cybertronian younglings it loved to babysit. Their glee at interacting with such animals made it forget about its worries.

"Excuse me, Miss Allspark?"

The large orb of energy looked to the side and saw the youngest Prime, Thirteen, hailing it. Out of all the Primes, the two nicest were Solus and Thirteen. It would gladly help either of them because it knew they were good souls throughout.

"Yes, my dear?"

Thirteen asked, "If I may request something, do you think it's possible to make grounders fly?"

The question was asked in humor and the Allspark knew just what the Prime wanted to show these kids. It was more than happy to accommodate that request. The younglings, it noticed, perked up upon hearing that. Even the flying types who had yet to actually fly were excited.

"Very well then."

Its metal pillars rotated horizontally around it at a fast pace, and it leaped up from its normal hover to emit a burst of light. Suddenly, the younglings were all squealing and moving about as they were floating off the ground. The Allspark purred at seeing them maneuver in the equivalent of zero gravity. It then shifted its ability to make their temporary power more controlled and all the younglings flew around it. As a gesture of appreciation, Thirteen was also floating and he let out a boisterous laugh before frantically waving his arms when he found himself drifting upside down.

In response, the Allspark tipped itself upside down as well. The younglings, of course, followed of their own accord in amusement. Then, the sound of wings was heard and the Allspark turned toward it, still rotated, to see Onyx Prime glide down and hover in place beside it.

"Gravity is that much of an issue?"

"Maybe it is," the Allspark retorted. "But don't be a hypocrite now. You don't seem to like it either."

Onyx cracked a smile as his Centaur-like body kept in an immobile prancing motion to make the least amount of resistance for his wings. "Fair enough."

A few younglings flew around Onyx, and he too began to laugh. Then, in a surprising motion, he twisted himself upside down and shifted his wings to try and keep himself afloat. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up the motion for long as he drifted downward in his unstable position, but it was enough for the kids to play with him for just a moment.

Posing back upright, he turned to Thirteen. "I need you back at Iacon. There's something Alpha Trion wishes to talk to you about."

"Yes, sir," Thirteen said. "It's been fun, Miss Allspark!"

The Allspark nodded and let him down to join Onyx as the latter landed. When they were gone, the Allspark went upright as well and made sure all its younglings were present before reinstating gravity for them.

"That was awesome!" One kid cheered. "Can you change a cyberhound into a Predacon next?"

The others voiced their glee and the Allspark met their emotions. Of course, it could! And, as long as the hound was in its power, it had full control. Whatever it could do to please its audience even if it had to change the cosmos and beyond.

Paws and Claws

Moonhunter stretching and yawned, unfazed by Bolt's ramblings, before lying down to recharge. While Arcee and Megatron were out, he was happily sleeping on Arcee's berth, much to the Vehicon's disdain.

"Hey, if you're going to sleep here, you're paying a Hotel Endeavor fee."

The Nitrotiger merely lifted an ear but kept his optics closed. Suddenly, he was yanked off the berth and shoved out of Arcee's quarters. Stunned, he peered back to see Bolt shut the door from the outside and walk past him like nothing happened. The cat narrowed his optics and started scratching at the door, yowling.

Bolt came back less than a minute later and snarled, "Don't damage my ship! I helped fix that door long ago!"

Moonhunter paused, then began scratching again wanting in. The Vehicon gave a loud sigh and shooed the cat away. He leaned his back against the door, crossing his arms.

"I'm not letting you in there. Go sleep outside or something. Cats like the sun, right? It's a beautiful day out. Go outside," the mech said.

They stared at each other before Moonhunter finally wandered off. Victorious, Bolt returned to his chair on the main deck and went back to researching animals from Velocitron until...

"Me-row!"

He peered back from his chair and growled, "No, Moonhunter! I'm not letting you in there!"

"Mee-row! Meow!"

Lightly hitting the data pad against his faceplate, he stood up after a minute to assess Moonhunter's constant whining. But when he reached the entrance to Arcee's quarters, Moonhunter wasn't there. Shifting his helm from side-to-side suspiciously, he was about to leave when a large form jumped on him. He felt claws in his backside and gave a shout before tossing it off. Sure enough, there was Moonhunter giving him a dark glare and hissing.

"Really now? That's how it's going to be, just because I won't let you inside a single room out of this entire ship?!"

Another hiss and a flick of the cat's tail confirmed that.

Bolt raised his servo from a fist and opened it to reveal his own three claws. "You think you're the only one here with natural weapons, kitty?"

Moonhunter growled but didn't engage, instead throwing up his tail and striding off like Bolt wasn't worth his time. The Vehicon felt a little offended by that and flipped off the cat in response though holding up his index finger didn't have the same effect on it.

Later that day, Moonhunter approached Bolt and sat in the co-pilot's seat before settling. As much as it annoyed Bolt, he didn't do anything to stop the cat this time, merely shaking his head. Moonhunter suddenly growled at him, and he met its optics with equal dislike.

"What? What did I do now?"

The Nitrotiger yowled.

"Oh, so it's my fault you're not comfortable? In what way? You aren't supposed to be in Arcee's room and that's that. So, get used to it. We're all suffering here, and you will too."

Moonhunter gave another growl though less pronounced.

"Don't worry, the feeling is mutual. I don't like your attitude and you don't like me. We're equal."

In the afternoon, Bolt managed to coax Moonhunter to go outside with him, but the cat decided to keep on the roof of the ship instead of wandering in the marshlands. As he observed two marsupial-like creatures, Kanjian peridrops, fighting over territory, Moonhunter kept a lookout from above.

Suddenly, Moonhunter stood up and stared at Bolt. Ear twitching, he was laser focused and slowly crept down the ship onto logs and rocks that lay just above the waterline. He stalked closer, never losing sight of Bolt.

Bolt, on the other hand, was simply logging in which peridrop won and why. Watching the victory hulking over its beat rival with an outstretched pose was hilarious and the loser quickly left. He then heard a snap of a branch and turned to see Moonhunter...

A loud roar from something to his right made him scramble back as a nightpaw raced toward him. At the same time, Moonhunter sprinted too. He wasn't quick enough to grab an axe he had on him when the Nitrotiger intercepted the other cat.

They both wrestled, clawing and biting at each other. Moonhunter managed to snap at its throat making it whine before grabbing the back of its neck to drag it away from Bolt to buy the bot some time to get away. Moonhunter was quickly struck by claws right on his snout, but it hardly fazed him. It was only when he was pushed off did he pause. The nightpaw was about to lunge at him again when said axe came down right on its head, surprising the smaller cat. It stopped moving and Moonhunter looked to his savior.

Bolt ripped the weapon out of the nightpaw's skull and panted, "Sneak up on me?"

He then turned to Moonhunter and noticed the cat sit without command and let him walk up to him. Bolt slowly reached down and pet him, shocked that Moonhunter didn't flinch from his touch nor showed hostility.

"I can't thank you enough. Maybe...you aren't so bad after all," he said softly.

The Nitrotiger purred and gave a small yowl of approval.

That evening when Arcee and Megatron returned, they were quite surprised to see Moonhunter lying his head on Bolt's lap while the latter had fallen asleep on his berth.

Xerophorus' Sorrow

Slaughtering his foes at once with his double blades made him smirk even as their blood splattered on him. The rhino-like alien warlord roared as the last of his opponents fell. His chest heaved as steam blew from his nostrils.

Xerophorus enjoyed hearing their cries as they died, relishing each of their expressions like it was a bountiful drink of elixir. He laughed at their misery and continued to the village they were protecting that was in his way. Many victims fell to his blade there too, many men and women who tried to fight him more so. The only people he left alive were a few kids knowing they were either going to starve to death, burn to death with the rest of the village, or be killed by Rozaria's many predators. Not his problem. He would love to see those little ones survive the real world without their parents.

He had terrorized his home world for thousands of years. No one could stop him except for exterior beings like the neighboring do-gooders of Kanjis. This village had arrested him three times, never stopped him from coming back though. Fourth time was a charm. He looked proudly at the burning village. It was once his home but good memories there faded long ago. It was time to burn the past...literally.

"Who's the monster when you created me?" He hissed rhetorically.

Laughing again, he walked away with the smoldering remains of his childhood home...only to suddenly fall into a void that appeared beneath his feet. He didn't know how or why or even where he was falling to. The transparent vortex shot him through space where he could see planets flying by, sun's roaring as he passed them, and nebulas stirring slowly as he fell through them. Then abruptly, a light appeared, and he hit wet grass and marsh water.

He landed face first and moaned as he struggled to shake off the harsh landing. Stumbling upright, he held his head just as his swords hit the ground beside him, barely missing him to his startlement. He peered up to see the portal disappear as rain began to pour down with thundering clouds above.

Upon examining his surroundings, Xerophorus was confused. The wildlife, like elephants, he didn't recognize at all. Monogoliaths and peridrops he did but they weren't supposed to be wherever he was. This wasn't their natural habitat among green vegetation. Kanjis had blue. And the water wasn't a normal color either. This marsh-like environment was a whole new world...and he despised it. The only thing the remotely looked comfortable was a giant willow behind him. His planet had trees like that just more red than green.

Xerophorus took his swords and stomped around looking for any intelligent life, anything at all. There was nothing but animals. He wandered into the forest where he met a dead end when he reached a canyon he couldn't cross. He traveled up a darkened mountain with an inaccessible abandoned-looking citadel no doubt where his captor was. Unable to do anything, he observed the view and realized he was on a remote island.

Tired and miserable, he finally shouted, "IS THIS FUNNY TO YOU?! RELEASE ME! NO-OW!"

The last word broke into an uncharacteristic sob that even surprised him. He peered around again and realized that he was forever alone. Rozarians like him weren't the best swimmers so unless he wanted to die a very mundane death like drowning after everything he's been through, that wasn't an option. So, he decided to stomp back to the marshlands, the closest livable environment he could tolerate compared to the others he got a glimpse of. But his woes of his predicament took a turn for the worse.

Climbing a giant willow that grew to the heavens in the marshlands, he made a temporary hideout to shelter him from the elements and that's where he stayed. Hours turned to days and days turned to weeks. He had left at one point to wander the island and dodged a few creatures he could tell were ten times more difficult to verse than mere people like himself. And in his state, he wasn't strong enough to fight them, especially not the ones in groups.

There among the willow he sat humiliated. He was once a warlord, but he felt like a prisoner without a cell. He didn't know how many times he practiced cutting up a limb of the willow to keep his training on point despite there seemed to be no means to do so. He was stuck feeding on nasty fruit and tasteless grass too. He could deal with it, but it was terrible. Multiple times, he put his head in his hands and stayed like that for hours.

The longer he stayed, the more he missed his home, but he remembered he burned it to the ground. It was his own damn fault and now, somehow, karma had caught up to him. Hell, he even wanted to go back into a real prison at this point. He just wanted to go back to Rozaria. It got to the point where he was finally fed up. Exhausted, he slept off his mental strain.

"Please, I just want to go home," he said to himself.

But did he deserve to? No, and this was the reality of it, he knew. It was fun and games to him for the longest time but now, it was his sled. He could only wait for a sign...anything...something...

He one day heard ships. All were shot down by the Allspark and he witnessed it. That was a sure sign that he wasn't leaving but neither was he willing to share his prison with the likes of Cybertronians. Watching them alone made him angry, a rage he hadn't felt for some time. He could tolerate Velocitronians, Kanjians, and Aquatronians. Not Cybertronians though.

Well, if he had to be on this pit of an island, he was going to make damn certain they learned their place in the universe and that meant taking them down a notch. Let's just see how great the Cybertronians really were.

As he clutched his swords in his clawed hands, he observed them day and night. Several fell to many different types of predators, all quite scary in their own right but when one peculiar small purple bot and a few others travelled close to his hideout, Xerophorus growled.

Fallen From Grace

"What did you do, Megatronus?! You killed her?!"

"No, I didn't...I-I didn't mean to! Liege Maximo told me-!"

"Megatronus, what you have done is inexcusable and will be tried here on this very day."

"Please, it wasn't my fault!"

"You are guilty of the murder of Solus Prime. You are hereby banished from Cybertron and from the brethren of the Primes for all eternity."

"I'll get you for this! You will all pay! You can't get rid of me forever!"

Forever.

Forever.

Four red eyes opened slowly. The memory still stung like it was yesterday. To think, it was all because he listened to Liege Maximo over a petty annoyance. Solus was right; he trusted the wrong people, his own kind. But he did feel the satisfaction, the dark and twisted pleasure, of snapping her neck. He was mistaken. He was a monster.

The purple lavalands and black soiled ground with little vegetation had been home to him for millions of years. The same old nightmarish world he knew every crevice and hideaway it stored. The only beauty of it was its fading sun and the constant red aurora that seemed to stretch across the world like a never-ending ribbon. It was fine. It was where monsters thrive, not weak-willed Primes.

He reached a rare pool of red liquid, clear enough to see his reflection on the surface but all he saw was an unfamiliar face. He would think by now that seeing such a reflection would get him accustomed to his dark appearance, but he never could wrap his mind around who he was seeing in the mirror. This wasn't Megatronus Prime, the second Prime, or the Prime of Unbridled Rage.

The monstrous being remembered, vaguely, his real self. Two orange optics, smaller helm and chest, certainly no wings, and maybe a bit slimmer. But was that truly him at all back then? Maybe this was him, the real Megatronus, staring back at the reflection he saw every waking moment of his dull and ever-growing vengeful life.

The Allspark's power transformed him as they threw him into a warp field that sent him to this pitiful planet. When he awoke then, he was nothing but a horrific monster, and he swore, no matter how long it took, that he would destroy Cybertron and everyone who stood in his path. In some way, he was quite proud of it. As he smiled, his fangs took up a quarter of his faceplates with a deep rumble.

It was funny. They always called him a usurper, a being of chaos and tyranny when he didn't even know what those words meant back then. His own brethren and his lover hated him; they must have...so, was he entirely wrong to kill Solus when she probably didn't even love him to begin with? Was it so bad to listen to Liege Maximo that the Primes didn't trust him and that he should be on his guard? If this was what he deserved, then so be it.

Insane, paranoid, murdering, tyrannical, poor Megatronus...

Like a beast of darkness, he roared at his own reflection and caused the tainted red water to ripple from the sound waves. He then swiped at it with his claws before striking several boulders, pounding them into fragments. He didn't care if he accidentally squished any lifeforms living among those stupid rocks and he could care less about how true those horrible traits the Primes claimed he had might have been true.

Megatronus kept beating one peculiar rock down, optics glowing as bright as they could go. He didn't stop even when he hit the ground. He cried out in resentment imagining each of his brethren in the forming crater's place and him violently smashing their helms one by one. His servos were beginning to leak Energon from the brutal hits, drips turned to globs being pressed into said crater the more he did so. Then he imagined Solus in its place and paused with his arms still raised.

He breathed erratically, fire in his optics like an enraged bull. He could see her look of horror, of betrayal and agony when he had wrapped his servos around her neck and nearly crushed it before harshly shaking her which resulted in it breaking instead. Slowly, Megatronus' optics shifted from bright to dull as he realized just how fragile her life was, and he shattered it with all his might.

Energon dripped on his optic ridge, and he snapped out of his trance, bringing his enclosed servos together down to a better view. Slowly and shakily, he opened them and saw all the blood coating his palms. Strands of it moved as his digits separated and it was so thick, he couldn't tell just where the blood was leaking from. His blood. Solus' blood.

With a neutral but a bit saddened expression, he peered back down to the crater he had created to see only just an empty space of missing rock and dirt. He dropped his stained servos to his side, still staring down and began muttering to himself like a broken record.

"Forever. Forever. Forever..."

Hunted

The Nemesis Forest chirped with crickets, a scarce few fireflies roaming about, and some mudboars from Caminus moving in their herd across the forest grounds. The area was seldom of most creatures but one was around to make sure that this was absolute.

Ears twitched to listen to the various sounds in the night. Blue armor blended ever so slightly with the forest's cloudy, dark blue moonlit ambience. Moonhunter perched on a fallen tree before freezing, scouting for any sign of unwanted movement. Sensing the air, he waited. When it was clear as far as he was concerned, he crept across the forest floor. The territory was still unfamiliar but nothing he couldn't handle. He had already picked up a few mudboar hoglets and some small rodents. But tonight, he wasn't out to find food.

Abruptly, a scent caught his olfactory sensors and he quickly ducked under fallen debris in a dried creek bed. He kept low and refused to move. Listening intensely, he peered as far as his optics could scout. Then he heard it.

Hooves and a snort were the most notable things. They grew loud until he finally saw it. The antlers of death, the Kanjian jaggerstripe. The large deer seemed to be sensing around for him or something else within the same area. The jaggerstripe made a bellow which made Moonhunter's ear press back. He wanted to run but at the same time, he wasn't sure if he was the target. A glow emitted from the jaggerstripe before it reared, stomping the ground in frustration. The creature of death shook its head and sauntered off.

When the coast was clear, Moonhunter moved as fast as he could in a different direction. Ever since the jaggerstripe came, more animals had been disappearing from the forest. Moonhunter was losing valuable prey and a haven for him to thrive in a foreign world. Whatever this thing was, it was like an omen. He had come across several dead that looked killed by other animals yet there were always deer tracks of the jaggerstripe found around the body. Something wasn't right about it, and he didn't want to meet it.

The Nitrotiger wandered the forest until he reached the edge of it to the marshlands. He touched the water and quickly shook his paw in distaste but at least the marshlands were open. There was an unusual object stuck across the way. He remembered seeing flying machines that could carry bots but that was the only thing he could recollect it looked familiar to.

Suddenly, a pair of antlers swiped at him, and he hit a tree, crumpling to the ground. In shock, he peered up at the jaggerstripe with its fearsome optics glaring down at him. It snorted and raised itself to strike. Moonhunter ran away.

The sound of hoof beats urged the cat to go faster. He leapt over another part of the empty creek without thinking twice. The jaggerstripe followed, gracefully making the jump. He just kept running until the sound of gunfire alerted him. The jaggerstripe stopped as well but unlike the cat, it seemed to be calculating like it knew what it was. But then, using the Nitrotiger's distraction, it hit him toward the sound before prancing off.

Moonhunter skidded to a small bump of a hill when he heard the gunfire get louder. Despite all his inner warnings not to look, he was curious of the origin. Peering over the mound, he saw the vicious turretmonger and two bots fighting it. It had been some time since he had seen bots. Normally, he kept out of sight of them too but for a different reason. The smaller blue bot was fast, and the larger grey bot certainly was stronger. Together, they made a formidable team.

The turretmonger roared and activated the guns on its backside right as Arcee moved past Moonhunter. The cat panicked and ran as bullets flew. Unfortunately, one struck him good, and he went tumbling into a ditch. He yowled in pain, attempting to crawl at least to safety but the wound was freezing up some of the signals to use his limbs properly.

So, this was the other end of the food chain. Moonhunter never considered any rhyme or reason to his survival or his habits. Like any other animal, he considered only what was was. From a prey-like creature stalking him to being mortally wounded like game, this wasn't what he ever thought would happen. A part of him wasn't afraid to die if it was truly the end.

He could only lie there in silence, hoping the jaggerstripe didn't come back. But then a loud thud sounded, and the forest was quiet again. He heard voices, most likely the bots' and although he didn't completely trust them, maybe they could at least get him out. He began to sound off.

AN: Told you as more characters are introduced, you'll get to know more about them. Megatronus is probably the most tragic of the stories aside from one other because he was mentally unstable and the fact that Liege Maximo used that against him was heartbreaking to learn about. Three more Interludes will enlighten you more as more characters come.