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

Bumblebee and Shockwave flew back to Nova Point with Tyrus to meet Optimus and the others. When they got there, they were quick to notice the abandoned station had a few more members than previous among its halls.

"Bulkhead?! Ratchet! You're here!" Bumblebee exclaimed dumbfounded but excited at the same time.

Perceptor stepped aside to let Bulkhead run up to Bumblebee high five the mech before giving him a rough hit on the shoulder playfully.

"Long time, no see, Bee! When we got that salty message from Optimus towards Rockrider, we just had to see what situation you got yourself in."

Ratchet waved off the greeting impatiently, "Yes, yes, it is always good to see you, Bumblebee. However, if it is true Arcee is missing alongside Megatron, we must find her immediately."

Bee nodded, "We already know where they are. The Isle of the Allspark, but it won't let any space bridge land in its premises. How one got past it to send them there brings up many theories like Rockrider being in league with the Allspark but it doesn't make sense from a political standpoint. The Allspark hated anything to do with the old caste system and yet, Rockrider's trying to bring Cybertron back into using it."

"Maybe the Allspark wanted to use Arcee and Megatron as an example," Haywire shrugged.

"How so?" Bulkhead asked.

"Arcee sent ships there to retrieve it, right? Maybe it sensed Arcee was near a portal and let it spawn knowing she would be forced through as a type of revenge tactic. After all, the Allspark can predict the present and future. At least, that's what we perceived so far of its mythical abilities. Why else would it let a space bridge spawn if it was so intent on isolating itself?"

Bumblebee and Shockwave looked at each other before Bee slowly had an epiphany. "You're a genius, Haywire!"

"Really?" The advisor said amused, "I only thought I was known for my attitude and stiff nature?"

"The Allspark knew about everything that was going to happen! That's why it left. It knew Rockrider would take the throne and try to get rid of Arcee. It knew Arcee was going to send ships to get it. Maybe it's not revenge per say but it saved them? If it could communicate through lightyears of space to Cybertron, it could contact one of Rockrider's guards and trick them into telling her to send them there."

Shockwave shook his head suddenly, "But that doesn't account as to why the Allspark never returned them home."

Ratchet scowled, "Who cares? We need to get to the isle ourselves and find them."

Bulkhead interrupted, "But we can't leave Cybertron unguarded. If we leave with Rockrider in a fury, who's going to stop her from turning the newbies born from the Well against us? They didn't live through the caste system like we did. They have no clue what it was like and by the time they figure out how bad it was, Rockrider will already have full control of Cybertron and another war will start...if not already considering you guys did just expose her scheme to the world."

Optimus approached and everyone gave him the proper space for a leader. Scythe and Haywire stood by his side. He then said, "I agree with Bulkhead. If we leave Cybertron in search for either Arcee or Megatron, we could leave it vulnerable to a worse leadership than perhaps even the old Council."

Tyrus raised his servo. "If I may speak, Optimus Prime, Rockrider is a bit farther than that. What I learned being her prisoner is that she already has an army prepared. While we've been lollygagging around her scheming this entire time trying to get her to desist, she's made a deal with a Cybertronian colony just out of our system who she tricked into believing that we were the enemies. If she uses that army of followers against Cybertron, there will be a war and this time, I'm not so sure we'll win."

"It's not like we can send a spy in to infiltrate them, right? Scythe?" Haywire mused.

Scythe side eyed him before frowning, "You realize my undercover days are behind me, plus it's not my fault two Autobot bases couldn't keep tabs on a whistleblower amongst them, especially when one already found out but somehow failed to alert the other."

Bumblebee rolled his optics. "No, we don't need undercover...but what we do need is an army of our own. If Cybertron's so bent out of shape by our announcement, I think we should redirect that anger towards the obvious source, wouldn't you think?"

Cunning and proud smiling faces appeared across the room as Shockwave spoke, "If I may, I might have a basis for your army among my own. Do you still wish to meet the Decepticon leader?"

It was a long evening. They had been drinking a lot of high grade Energon stored in the back of the ship, untouched for almost a year as Bolt mentioned once they returned. Arcee had stumbled upon it roaming the Endeavor into parts she never bothered to look at before she had that argument with Megatron and meeting Tigressa. It was a good time to use it because why not?

Defeating Megatronus and Tigressa, two deadly warriors unlike the various creatures and monsters littering the isle, was a feat both Megatron and Bolt claimed was unmatchable, most impressive against even Optimus' successes. Granted, Megatron killed Tigressa this time, but he nonetheless praised her for surviving such a foe for as long as she did.

As they sat upon the Endeavor's roof watching the sunset and drinking, Bolt said, "You know, I think we should start a monster hunting business-"

"Did I not say I'm retiring when I go back to Cybertron?" Arcee scoffed, "I'm done with this nonsense. You couldn't pay me to do this again."

Megatron laughed, "The famous Arcee, master of sass and determination, has finally reached a breaking point. I can't blame you honestly."

"You...you both realize we just had this conversation a few hours ago, right?" Bolt asked, nodding slightly from his seated position.

Arcee merely stroked Moonhunter's head who lied beside her and shrugged, "I don't know what we did thirty minutes ago by this point. But I do remember we, for some estranged reason, decided to lug Tigressa's servo into the ship as a trophy, Bolt."

"I love my collection. Call me your number one fan, baby!"

"You have a severed arm in your display case."

"I...have a memento of a battle! There is a difference in that regard," he argued as he lied on his back to point at the stars. "I think I see Cybertron from here. Or it's sun at least."

Arcee was partially leaning against Megatron's side as the latter sat upright against the ship's vertical metal navigation fin. She had another sip of the cool, zesty-flavored high grade that felt like heaven flowing down her throat. She wouldn't say they were drunk yet but it had a bit of a charge to it. Last time she had some, she was on Cybertron during the war in a ceasefire because Megatron had to deal with something off planet as did the Decepticons. It was a fun night with a lot of questionable decisions among many other drunk bots but worth it.

"Arcee, do you think we stand a chance?"

The question kind of threw her off but she acknowledged it. "What do you mean? Against the Allspark itself? I mean we made it this far-"

Megatron huffed, "No, I mean as partners. When this is over and we go back home, are we going to be the same as we are now, as teammates, or are we just going to be the Cybertronian Queen and the imprisoned Decepticon warlord?"

That hit hard and Arcee didn't know the real answer to it. He was still technically a prisoner of the Autobots for his crimes against Cybertron but she couldn't exactly pardon him out of the blue to the rest of their planet without stirring up a lot of tension, not without a solid reason. He had to repay what he did...but at the same time, maybe this was, in a sense, his payment to society. Protecting the queen would earn him a lot of credit when he could have just killed her but didn't. As for their partnership, a part of her didn't want that to end but knew there was a possibility that it must.

As for Bolt and Moonhunter, she promised Bolt would see a better future as an archivist and official cyberbiologist. He already made up his sentence by touring with a surveying crew before getting stuck on the isle. She owed him that. Moonhunter was going to be pampered like a prince if she had any say in it. The Nitrotiger was hers to keep and she would be damned if anyone was going to try and take him from her. Megatron, however, was the most complex in the situation. She had to think about that.

"I believe...we are going to be just fine."

"You don't sound sure," Megatron said. He called her out faster than she anticipated so there was no choice but to come clean.

Arcee sighed, "I'm not."

The warlord gave a grunt in thought. "Well, I guess whatever comes, we will face that judgement when it is time together. If we have to part ways after this, I only hope we don't forget what we've done here as a team. I certainly won't."

There was a sadness in his voice that was just heartbreaking to Arcee. As far as she knew, Megatron never had many real friends. Soundwave, yes, but the mech was either still trapped in the Shadowzone or he's out but not actively looking for Megatron himself. She was one of very few who wanted to be his friend and he didn't want to lose her. That was a harsh reality of his life as a miner, gladiator, and even a warmonger. He had no one except Soundwave.

"Hey, Megatron, you have to look at it this way," Bolt stated, sitting up. "If anything goes wrong, we know who we can rely on. I trust you two with my life...maybe not prior to this considering one of you was an enemy and the other was my boss at one point...and you two are some of the best bots I have ever met. I wouldn't want to be without you guys after this, only a fool would give either of you up now because you have grown."

"Wise words, Bolt," Arcee beamed.

"Nah, it's mainly the high grade talking. I'd call you lovable idiots affectionately considering you two sometimes share one miraculous processor cell in some moments, but I'm being nice tonight."

Megatron narrowed his optics with a somewhat amused expression while Arcee gave Bolt a salty glare. "Okay, have your jab at us."

"You know I love you."

As the night dwindled, they stayed in each other's company merely talking about a random assortment of things from politics, which was always a friendship tester, and mundane likes and dislikes. They had over five drinks of high grade so the conversations weren't as sophisticated as they started out. By the time it was midnight, all three were out. With no dangerous creatures patrolling the marshlands, they had little to no fear of being attacked out in the open.

Bolt ended up resting his helm on Megatron's thigh with his arm as a makeshift pillow, Arcee had shifted to lie across Megatron's lap with her head next to Bolt's, and Megatron himself gave soft engine rumbles akin to snores as he fell asleep resting upright. Moonhunter had found a comfy spot right on his left shoulder with his legs sticking out in between each shoulder prong, purring content.

The Allspark was silent as was its animal-like sentries watching Tigressa fall at the hands of Megatron. First, Megatronus and now Tigressa, two vicious leaders of ultimate power...fallen to the tactics of two over-glorified Cybertronians. At this point, fate was mocking the Allspark and it was stunned.

You can alter the realm of space and physics, but you cannot alter fate. We all foresaw this, yet you would not listen to your own consciousness again.

"We? I foresaw this! How hard is it to alter fate?"

Then perhaps you should cease your rampage and just give in. You know what is going to happen if you continue, do you not? Your pride is your greatest flaw just like the Primes. How many of them still remain? You lost your only friend to it and now you will lose too.

"You all are supposed to be on my side! And as regrettable as her death was, it was not my responsibility to watch over them like a babysitter. They destroyed themselves in their arrogance!"

The same arrogance you have? You are being a hypocrite. You see it, deep down, you are only delaying the inevitable.

The Allspark mused, "If you're my intelligent half, then what do we do when we get caught? Surely, my greater consciousness has a better plan than me if that be the case."

The spirit sentries laughed much to the Allspark's irritation. Arcee can help us. If she reaches our citadel to bring us back, she will return to Cybertron and fix our problem, will she not? You have so little faith in the mortals of your home. All we want is to see Cybertron restored, the evil within undone. You cannot stop her but by delaying her, you will destroy Cybertron itself.

The Allspark peered around the room at the sentries staring it down. It had no good comeback to that. It merely stuttered, "W-well, I...uh...I suppose that could work. But Optimus Prime wouldn't let that happen."

We thought you didn't care for any of the Primes?

"I-I don't! We don't!"

So, what purpose are you serving by denying you care all this time? You are hurting yourself and others. You are no different from Megatronus or Tigressa by being what you hated about Cybertron to begin with. You're villainizing yourself and you have become too inept at recognizing your own fall. We cannot help you if you don't want it. And we cannot help Cybertron if we do nothing to serve it as we were meant to do.

The Allspark tried to shake to dissuade the notion, but it found its consciences were right. In the end, it was only delaying what would be. It had lost its way. But maybe that's why it let Arcee and Megatron through to the isle. Its other half knew it was battling itself, so it sabotaged its own plan. It couldn't remember what its thoughts were then or what the other parts of it were hiding from its main conscience like they were trying to force it into having epiphanies about its own mistakes.

It wasn't just one entity; it was made of thousands combined into one conscious form. It was stressful to deal with, but it wasn't meant to be a singular soul at all. Primus themself used a copy of their conscience to create the brain behind the ball of energy, but that meant dealing with every other voice of reason or disdain as it had access to the Well of the Allspark to create and destroy life and death, manipulating the combined abilities of various souls to make itself an intelligent deity instead of just an object of unlimited power. Bad choice really but irreversible now. The souls-turned-living-sentries were it as much as it was itself.

Perhaps, the most reasonable solution was to just help Arcee but it still had its deal with itself. Arcee must reach the citadel with all the gems before it gives up, otherwise it would stay on the isle. It still had a few more tricks up its sleeve; it was not ready to bow to a mortal just yet.

When Arcee, Megatron, and Bolt awoke at different times, each tried to sync their tired but persistent eagerness to move onto Crystal Lake and whatever newfound horrors lay there.

"Come on, cat, you too." Moonhunter wasn't as happy being prodded by Bolt into awaking and on the third poke, the cat lunged at him. Both Arcee and Megatron ignored the yelling and hissing as Bolt sprinted across the halls with an angry Nitrotiger clinging to his back and clawing him.

When they finally separated, Bolt panted and exclaimed, "What?! No help?!"

"You poked him thrice; that's your problem," Arcee scolded with a laugh.

"Real friend, you are," he winced as he made his way to the front of the deck. "And we had a spark-to-spark and everything last night."

Megatron twirled his grosse messer swords together before placing them on his back then checked his cannon to make sure its power was up to par. "So, Bolt, tell us about Crystal Lake."

"Uh, a lot of Energon crystals and a lot of lake," the Vehicon said nonchalantly as he brought up the isle specs.

"Be serious," Megatron growled.

"Some small patches of pine trees surround one half before it blends with more water-based trees leading to Cinder's Swamp. The lake is decent sized. You just have to walk around it. There's a divide of land between the lake and the swamp. Since you're dealing with a lake, chances are the gem is somewhere in it. It probably sank when it was moved by something, eaten by any fish attracted to its glow or simply was placed there just because. The energy signature is weak so I can't tell at this point exactly where it is in the area. Hope you like water, good luck."

Megatron groaned while Arcee smiled gleefully, clapping her servos. "I love water."

"I hate water."

She stared at Megatron with slight concern. "You hate water? Is it really because you don't like water-based baths or were you joking when you said that in the canyon? Phobia?"

The warlord huffed, "No, I just don't like the element. It sucks and I don't like the idea of rusting."

"Really? Megatron, the next few areas we have to deal with have water in them!"

"And I will tolerate it but I'm not going to enjoy myself."

Bolt snickered, "Oh boy, this is going to be fun. Well, I'll send you two off to the lake. Mister Attitude and I need to learn to get along whether he likes it or not."

Moonhunter growled at him, and he growled back in mockery. Then he said, "Oh, and don't die!"

Arcee stuck her glossa out at him. "We'll try not to just for you."

"Uh huh," he muttered as he activated the ground bridge. "And bring me back something cool, maybe a head this time."

Megatron smirked and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Arcee in the background. "No severed heads!"

The warlord and the Vehicon moaned in disappointment and shrugged. The latter of whom then waved off both bots as they entered the portal.

Crystal Lake was very peaceful compared to most of the environments they had seen. Nothing but tranquility seemed to reverberate off the calm waters. It shocked Arcee and Megatron how all of it was filled with organic life instead of a mixture or all cybernetic. White-tailed deer were prominent snacking on grass and the moss on trees, horned owls cuddled close hiding among the branches, various different birds chirping, and several types of Earth-bound fish were already visible among the water and the crystals that glowed beneath its surface. Grey wolves were resting in a pack in the shade of a large oak as quiet as can be as their pups played.

As they walked around on a peaceful stroll, they spotted a few uncommon species, at least by what Arcee knew of said species' habitats. Herds of white rhinoceros and zebras were also present. Although they weren't found around the same regions as grey wolves and white-tailed deer as far as she knew, it wasn't too surprising the Allspark would teleport a random assortment of animals near one another as long as the conditions were met for their survivability.

"Wow, this is nice. Doesn't look too out of the ordinary for an Earth ecosystem."

"Yes," Megatron started, "but I don't think we're alone out here."

Arcee stopped walking and asked, "What? What's wrong?"

He peered around carefully. "I don't know but something just seems off to me like someone is watching us."

They both visually scoured the area for any abnormal species that didn't belong or anything out of the ordinary. Just then, the most beautiful voice they ever heard sand high above them like a calling card. Ghostly yet mesmerizing to the audio receptors. Both bots peered up awestruck as a winged being glided in a wide circle like a vulture. Neither could tell if it was friend or foe but as they listened to the song, Arcee grew drowsy.

The tune played louder in her processor, yet the being was still the same distance away. Her visual feed began to pulse and darken but she didn't feel her optics closing. She heard something spoken in a muffled voice presumably by Megatron, but she couldn't make it out. She just kept watching the flying being until the blackness consumed her and shifted suddenly to a blare of color dancing around.

Meanwhile, Megatron blinked and shook his attention off the creature, refusing to listen to it any longer out of annoyance and peered at Arcee who was staring blankly as the siren's song still echoed down. She looked so lifeless like a mannequin and her optics were almost hazy from their normal blue and pink edging. He quickly peered up then back at Arcee, an expression of concern hitting him hard.

"Arcee?" He asked, waving a servo in front of her. She didn't even twitch. "Bolt, we already have a problem!"

"It's been only a few minutes! What did you two do?!" Bolt sounded scandalized but Megatron didn't care.

"Arcee appears to be in a trance by whatever is singing above us! Is there any species you know who are sirens? And how do I wake her up?!"

"...I thought this was going to be an animal. Um, I got to look. How long can you hold it off?"

Megatron frowned, "It's keeping its distance so that won't be a problem. I fought the pseudo-stasis it was trying to evoke and happened to come to my senses, but Arcee listened to it for too long."

"Definitely, not a creature but perhaps a Kanjian?"

"You found something that fast?"

Bolt humbly said, "Well, by sheer coincidence, I was looking through some Kanjian creatures and prominent figures of lore after Tigressa and decided to check here first since I was already looking at it. I was looking at some of the various types of Kanjians when I caught the species 'Swansong' on one of the entries. Looking at it now."

The being in question flapped a few times before going into a dive but as Megatron was about to shoot it, he saw a very gorgeous bot. White armor with black markings around the eyes and shimmering orange optics, the Seeker-esque bot opened their rainbow-tipped bird-like wings to slow their descent and landed a mere few yards away. Other than the black tips of their feet and servos along with the rainbow tips of their aviary tail, they were pure white like the color of a cloud. It was hard to see but he noted there were faint rainbow bio lights hidden among their color scheme that seemed to make them glow with a faint aura.

"Bolt?"

"I got it! Swansongs are a bird-like Kanjian that have oddly limited vocal usage by choice and rather sing in hums and notes to communicate, but they are also considered a type of predator as they hunt by luring those attracted and controlled by their song to their deaths. They are classified as a type of Akaripa, basically a Kanjian version of a Seeker class. They are a very elusive species, very hard to find and very few seen to the point where King Kronos himself declared they were to be protected galaxy-wide as an endangered species. This is one of few cybernetic beings to exist that only have one frame type, meaning they have no distinction between one another except maybe by mannerisms if you can observe them to figure out each one's personality."

As Bolt continued, the Swansong seemed to walk closer and Megatron didn't want to hurt them.

"Oh, and get this. They were hunted by foreign worlds who sent poachers secretly to Kanjis to get them as trophies or pets because of their haunting voices and undeniable beauty, sometimes just for their wings alone which are said to be valued at over fifty million credits per wing. But many of said poachers almost always had...unexplained deaths not long after getting the extremely rare and elusive Swansongs captured or going into Swansong territory. Given the Swansong's power and how beings who are attracted to them usually are the most susceptible to it, it's safe to say they can make their victims do anything...even kill themselves or worse, kill everyone around them like puppets."

Megatron gulped as the Swansong came close with a bird-like coo. They leaned close and fluttered their wings as if to curiously examine him with a tilt of their head. The noise they made reminded Megatron of raptor chirping heard from Slash, a smaller member of Grimlock's infamous Dinobot team. He had to lean back as it leaned in. He didn't know what they were planning but he had a bad feeling about the whole thing. As much as Bolt stressed their endangered status and rarity, if he needed to, Megatron wouldn't think twice about killing it if they tried anything with Arcee or against him.

Arcee was still staring at the Swansong, mesmerized. Then the Swansong began to hum as their rainbow bio lights burned bright and their optics seemed to twinkle with a hint of faint gold among the sunset orange. Megatron peered into them and slowly, a creeping feeling of soothing calmness started to take hold. He could hear Bolt saying his name, but it started to dissipate to a mumble and his sight, filled with the Swansong's visage, began to be overtaken by color, his normal vision slowly fading...fading...NO.

Megatron lurched back and closed his optics, shaking his head erratically. "No, you don't! Get out of my head!"

"Megatron, you there?!"

"Tell King Kronos that he's about to have one Swansong wiped off the face of the galaxy because I'm killing this thing."

Bolt quickly said, "If Arcee is under their control, you may have to kill them anyway. There is no way to break their ability unless you either destroy them, convince them to let their victim go or tear out their voice box...something I know you are familiar with. You have to stop Aurora before they kill Arcee or they will use her to kill you!"

"Noted," he scowled as the Swansong Bolt named Aurora grew frustrated upon him resisting their tune.

Out of sheer instinct and primal rage, he sent a fist right into the faceplates of the Swansong who stumbled back and held their nose plating. Upon seeing Energon leaking from them, the Swansong sent Megatron a dastardly glare with a snarl. A hawk-like roar emitted from them as they raised their wings angrily before leaping off the ground to hover.

Megatron was so focused on them that he didn't expect a sudden piercing pain in his abdomen. He quickly jumped backwards in shock as he saw Arcee posed offensively with her arm blades at the ready. He peered down to see his abdominal right vents now with a vertical slice across them. Arcee tried to strike again but he twisted out of range.

She looked possessed and no doubt was given her puppet-like stance just a second ago staring at the Swansong like a lovesick puppy. The Swansong had full control which meant they wanted him to kill his partner or die trying to break her trance. He never thought it would come down to physically fighting Arcee again; the last time they did fight in a real battle, they were enemies on two sides out to destroy one another. This was not the way he wanted a rematch if anything.

With a siren tune emerging from the Swansong like a battle cry, Arcee obeyed and lunged at Megatron. The problem he always had versing her was her size. Arcee was a fast bot, and her smaller form made it impossible to capture her, let alone fight her one on one.

He got lucky once when she and the human, Jack, brought the Matrix of Leadership's power to Optimus to retrieve the Prime's memories and he managed to catch her midair. That was a feat, and he relished his victory until he realized she had tricked him by dragging his attention away from Jack. That surprised him and at the end of that day, he admitted it was quite clever even though he lost his archivist because of her.

A shrouded voice spoke through Arcee in unison with her own. "What's wrong, valiant warrior? Scared?"

"Hardly," Megatron frowned. "Leave her alone! We've done nothing to you!"

"True but I thrive on the blood and energy of the poor souls I entrap, and your friend's will fuel me as soon as I get rid of you. A pity you seem to resist my song. Yours would empower me for quite some time."

He peered between Arcee and the Swansong again to see them giving different expressions. Arcee held a twisted smile, but the Swansong remained emotionless like they only could act through another. "I won't let you harm her!"

"But you will because you have no choice. The longer she stays under my power, the less life she has to cling to. As her mind deteriorates to my melody, I grow stronger. Soon, she will be a walking shell of herself, and you'll be dead where you stand."

Arcee suddenly leapt up and pushed off his chest, forcing him to stumble backwards. She hit the ground running and twisted around to strike his arm. It barely missed but a noticeable scratch went diagonally on his lower arm near the claw marks from a previous creature.

"Fight back! I know you can," the Swansong taunted making Arcee laugh in a cruel tone.

He tensed before a dark glare in his blood red eyes sought out Arcee's focused ghost blue. He was becoming irate. He knew Arcee didn't mean it because she wasn't in control, but this reminded him too much of their real battles back when they were Decepticon and Autobot and he was getting triggered by the uncanny similarity. And seeing those words through her lips was throwing him for a loop because it was like she really was taunting him again. His processor believed it; he believed it. Arcee tried another attempted strike at him, and he snapped.

Sword clashed against arm blade with Megatron and Arcee nearly touching nose plates, both snarling. He breached her defense pushing her arm away and hitting her with the side of his sword instead of the edge to prevent any unnecessary injuries. Then came the difficulty of catching her. When he aimed to grab her, she somersaulted off his arm and jumped around him switching her blades to blasters.

Several blasts hit his side and back just like she did during their space bridge encounter. He remembered it so well; something was creeping in the back of his processor screaming for him to kill. He didn't want to hurt her, but it was like his gladiator instincts were trying to switch on after years of dormancy. His light red ringed irises grew smaller watching her repeat those past movements to where he was calculating where she was going. He knew where she was going. Two more jumps to his left and he could catch her.

Megatron waited for the right opportunity before reaching out and snagging her out of the air. Wrapping his talons around her petite waist and capturing her arms in the same grip, he slammed his servo with her against a tree instead of the metal supports of the space bridge. She gave him a harsh expression of defiance and he returned it with his own dangerous growl, baring his sharp fangs in warning. This time, there was no Jack with the Matrix, no Optimus to worry about, and nothing to distract him from her.

His spark pulsed in anticipation at the thrill of a rematch finally in his favor and the chance to repay her for that humiliation that was the Matrix incident. But when he was about to say something to perfect this ironic echo of a situation, he paused himself as he saw her become a bit neutral, almost uncertain of him. Looking at his position with her at his mercy, something inside him clicked and his eagerness melted to concern and horror. He almost dropped her at the realization of what he was about to do.

Aurora had got to him still. He may not have been in a full trance like Arcee but he had heard the tune long enough that his emotions were being manipulated into believing something that wasn't real or had already passed. He was reliving the scene of their reunion on the space bridge dock because the Swansong was reading his thoughts and pushing them forward to act on. They wanted him to kill Arcee. It was just a dance between the bots to siphon both their energy in the process like a cursed puppet show, and the Swansong was the puppeteer. He had almost killed Arcee...

Shaking his helm in distress, Megatron let go of Arcee and backed away before looking at his own servos. It shouldn't have been a problem to act with such rage, he was used to it. But doing so under another's influence on top of watching as his prey become frightened of him did not register the same as before. He felt like a monster. That wasn't him, not anymore.

Arcee seemed to stall slightly in movement recovering from being held like she was contemplating something, like the Swansong was contemplating on what to do. By that reaction, he assumed they didn't know how to handle the resistance he had. Then he heard them but not through Arcee. It was in his own mind, in his own voice mixed with a foreign overlay of another.

Kill. Kill! You know you want to. She brought down your empire, your life and destroyed all that you are. She is an Autobot and all Autobots must die! Kill her!

Megatron stared at Arcee, the darkness grew again, and he already had the memory of their encounter unlocked. His optics left her for a second to search around confused but they always came back to her. He blinked before seeing red. It seemed to be calling him and a deep scowl rose upon his face. She had helped take a lot from him, this was true, but...he shouldn't be acting on this. Maybe he should. Payback for everything that has happened because of her...

You want to. You need to kill her, or she will kill you. Is that not what you wanted this entire time? You know what needs to be done. Do it! Kill her!

He slowly lifted his cannon towards Arcee with a small, futile hesitance but it was bypassed quickly by growing anger. It was all her fault; she was an Autobot. She always put a damper on his plans, and she needed to pay. Was that not clear? Was that not his own rules, the one reason he continued for so long after starting the war? Autobots were in his way; Arcee was in his way of the freedom he deserved.

Kill her! KILL HER!

His servos were about to clench to fists to activate the cannon when he heard a crisp snap of something on the ground so close, it was almost next to him. His irises contracted slightly. The melody. The presence of something foreign in his mind. It was there right beside him and he let it stay. This was his mind, his body, and his soul. And no one was going to take his free will...ever...AGAIN!

A blare of white hit all his senses and he clamped his fangs together in a snarl. He suddenly turned around before Aurora could react and grabbed his sword from his back to fling it into their throat. The Swansong screamed and scrambled backwards. They clambered with a hawk-like cry in misery before it started to fade into a desolate baritone as their throat bled. Without their voice, a Swansong was useless, just another beautiful little fool on the isle like the many other creatures that dared to get on Megatron's bad side. Leering at him, the Swansong gargled a depressed growl as they held their neck.

He could feel his mind lightening like a weight had been lifted. Megatron cracked his own neck and grinned as he aimed his cannon at them instead. "You sang your tune, now listen to this!"

The Swansong's gorgeous orange optics were as wide as a sunburst galaxy as the cannon roared to life. A singular blast right to the head decapitated the siren, their helm clattering on the ground after several bounces which broke bits and pieces off each hit. Those bright optics weren't as haunting anymore as they faded to black once the head came to a resting point and the rainbow bio lights dimmed to a dull grey. Aurora's wings sank as they collapsed to their knees before falling flat on their front.

He hated how he had to kill them, but he had no way to convince them to let Arcee go otherwise when they refused to listen. He peered at his partner to see her fall just in time that he managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Her optics were closed like she was in an endless dream. At first, he was uncertain of what to do. She didn't seem to show signs of awaking and he feared Bolt may have been wrong, that she was now trapped forever in a songless trance without the Swansong to break the hypnosis.

Suddenly, she gasped and opened her optics before bringing a servo to her helm. "Ah, my head! Is it just me or are my audios ringing up a storm?"

Megatron laughed, "Oh, it's just you."

Arcee grimaced, hitting the side of her head to lessen the buzzing until it returned to normal. She then said, "Was I asleep because one minute I saw something in the sky and the next I could hear colors! I didn't know you could hear colors! I'm not going crazy, am I?"

She then saw the dead Swansong lying on the ground and shot Megatron a look of despair. "What did you do?!"

"Saved you," he answered cockily. "The siren's song we heard? That was it. They were going to kill you."

Stunned, Arcee peered in uncertainty between him and the corpse. "Ah...I guess a thank you is in order."

"You're welcome...so, you want to help me take their wings to Bolt before you get checked out?" Megatron mused with a grin to Arcee's slight disturbance.

AN: Yes, you finally get to meet the Decepticon leader and my hint to you is it's an original character from another story of mine. They were deemed probably the best at keeping the Decepticons from breaking apart and I loved each second of writing them previously that I had to bring them back in some way. Technically, the ending of the story they were from is a cliffhanger that now makes sense with their entrance here. You might like them too.

Also, the siren Swansong was a working idea I had for what if Cybertron had sirens. It slowly evolved into me making them a separate species and deciding that unlike most cybernetic beings, they would all be the same, not distinguishable between mechs or femmes hence why I just gave them unisex pronouns.

Featured monsters:

Aurora the Swansong (Kanjis)