Promotional artwork: tigressa101/art/Arcee-and-the-Isle-of-the-Allspark-Cover-931607333
Bolt was once again ecstatic over their trophies to add to the collection. Praising them like normal to swell both their egos just briefly.
The head of the Precursor Robot was the hardest item to pull into the ship given its size alone and the problem of it not having a place on the shelves, so it ended up on special display...in storage. Arcee and Megatron heard complaints from Bolt not long after that he felt like he was being watched every time he passed by the storage area.
After they gave up the gem, Queen Ceto's fin, and the tooth of the Megalodon up to Bolt, the Vehicon started procrastinating in setting up the trophies. Arcee noticed one thing that changed severely at the same time. There was something off in Bolt's voice and he seemed rushed, almost like he didn't want to dwell on the gem or the trophies for too long as he was finally coaxed into putting them in their rightful places.
"I-I can't tell you how proud I am of both of you! You two are a great team, absolutely wonderful!"
When Arcee peered at Megatron for a brief second, she could see he had a sense something was definitely weird about Bolt's pronunciation of those words the same as her. But he seemed less inclined to bring the oddity to Bolt's attention in favor of keeping some peace about it. Moonhunter looked at all of them in slight curiosity but otherwise didn't care while he lied on his makeshift bed.
Bolt then repeated with unease, "Wonderful...anyway! The next location will be Cyber Meadows, the place of your glorious entrance onto this hell-born isle."
Arcee, however, grew a bit uneasy about the way Bolt was talking. It wasn't wise to dwell on unchecked feelings and if Bolt had something against their relationship, it needed to be addressed before it turned harsh against all of them.
"Bolt, can I talk to you in private?" Arcee asked in a serious tone.
The Vehicon looked between her and Megatron and snidely replied, "Why sure! I don't-I don't see the problem with that."
The femme tried to show a smile, but it was becoming hard with Bolt's abnormal attitude. She took his servo and guided him outside into the half-cloudy night among the marshland's normal ambience. Going to one of the small willows near the ship, she gestured annoyed, "What the hell is up? What was that?"
"What was what?" He asked.
"That! That whole weird personality you have going on for you! Bolt, something's wrong and I know it. You've been acting strange since Megatron and I kind of got together under the limited time we could work with and now, you just sound-"
"What?! Desperate, crazy, jealous?! Oh yeah, that sounds perfectly reasonable! I've always had a few screws loose, let's face facts, but I always come through in the end, don't I? Don't I?!" Bolt said with abnormal glee and leaned toward her slightly unhinged. The Vehicon made the sound of a fake pout, drawing back with arm slung over his chest and the other placing an elbow on the servo of the other as he gestured madly. "Aw, am I scaring you? I commend your suspicions, but I assure you, I am fine! I'm fine. But you're looking at me like I'm psychotic suddenly, like I have abandonment issues or-or-or I'm just entitled or...GLAD...you two are together! Isn't that nice? I think it's nice. Do you think it's nice?"
As she pieced together the problem, she realized there was not just one answer to his break. It was multiple things that he was fearing at once. "You're afraid by us being together...we'll leave you and that we won't love you like you love us. That's it, isn't it?"
Bolt was about to gesture the comment off with a laugh, but he paused midway and clutched his servos together into fists before sighing. "Do you know what it's like to worry, to care for two people that trusted you to help them and then watch as they find happiness together and you just...get the feeling that you'll fade into the background...like before? I-I shouldn't be at all acting so bratty and everything but..."
He tapped his arms awkwardly in thought. "When you're a drone in an army, you know you aren't meant to do anything other than fight, work, and die. The cycle never ends and no matter the circumstances, it always comes back around even after all your adventures because that's all we were programmed to recognize no matter how our lives went. When I was among my team prior, I felt more than just another soldier in line. When I met you and Megatron, you both became my world even though I made snarky remarks and always sat behind the scenes while you were out there destroying those monsters. I cared even more than I admitted to Megatron when you had that fight between you two.
"I desired so much to be a part of your world that when I got to be an equal, I never wanted to let go. It was wrong of me to feel this way, envious and entitled, I know, but it felt real...real emotions. We drones convinced ourselves long ago, Arcee, that anything we experienced was nothing but a glitch in our system or something we pretended was real. And you think we had each other? We didn't care about one another because we knew the next time we versed the Autobots, we might not see each other again so why bother caring about cannon fodder? For the longest time, it was all I ever knew crying on the Nemesis and not knowing whether I was malfunctioning or just a weak soldier. And then when I finally knew my worth and I grew to love you both did this announcement come and...I'm scared, Arcee. I don't want to be alone again. Please...don't leave me alone."
Arcee couldn't blame him for that. She immediately placed a servo on his cheek and stroked it. "I won't leave you. Megatron won't leave you, I promise. You aren't acting entitled; you just couldn't contain your displeasure at the sudden change, and we didn't consider maybe how you felt about us too. Megatron and I aren't dead serious at the moment, so your opinion is welcome. But you realize you could have handled this different instead of gaslighting us into feeling guilty, right?"
"Also, not the best at addressing my emotions well either. Forgot to mention that little thing about me," Bolt said.
Arcee smiled sweetly, still caressing him. "Well, we can work on the little things later. But understand that this is not us leaving you. We will always be there for you to the end."
"To the end," he whispered. He placed his servo over hers. "I'm so sorry I made this about me. I just care so much about you both and I don't want to lose you too."
They were unaware that Megatron had heard the whole thing and a small smile played on his scarred lips. He agreed with Arcee that he would and will be there for Bolt. It was a bit unusual to hear a Vehicon admit such feelings but given Bolt was no longer his soldier or a clone in his optics, the feeling was mutual. He shooed Moonhunter who tilted his head at the display. Arcee reassured Bolt for the next hour that everything would be okay and Megatron didn't dare disrupt them until they both came back in on their own accord.
Bolt sighed, "Sorry for all that, Megatron, I-"
Megatron held up a servo and smiled, "I vented to you once over something I disagreed with; you have every right to vent about your issue. I should have spoken to you before blurting out my decision to date Arcee. I know you care for her as do I."
"Well...you AND her, to be precise. But I will still support you two regardless as long as I can at least be your friend...forever."
The warlord chuckled, "Forever and ever, Bolt, and that's a promise."
The Vehicon grew pleased by the response and said, "Alright then, let's get you to Cyber Meadows. Everyone's good, no problems health-wise or anything? Good!"
Suddenly, a ground bridge opened and both bots looked at Bolt who raised his servos up equally confused as them.
"I didn't do it!"
Arcee frowned and exchanged looks with Megatron. "Someone from Cybertron maybe?"
"Doubtful," the warlord argued.
Bolt clasped Arcee's shoulder reassuringly. "I think both of you should go through. I don't know what's on the other side, but you guys will survive together. If it's another one of the Allspark's tricks, I think we just might indulge it. What do you guys say?"
Megatron growled, "I'll make sure to destroy whatever awaits us."
Bolt nodded to both of them as they simultaneously agreed to enter even if it was a trap. Then he turned to Moonhunter. "Hey, cat, you chickened out last time. You want to go exploring too?"
The Nitrotiger shook his head wildly and turned his back on them to sleep in his comfy spot.
"Wuss. Alright, I'll watch for anything suspicious and Moonhunter will be my assistant instead, I guess."
They were confident enough that they feared nothing the Allspark could possibly bring forth against them. Entering the portal, they both stayed alert. Exiting, however, made them immediately freeze up.
Megatron grew panicked upon recognizing where they were while Arcee was more confused than anything.
"Megatron, where are we?" She then peered at Megatron who still stared out to the quiet city. She asked in a worried tone, "Megatron?"
"Aquatron," he muttered.
"What?"
Growing increasingly unsettled, Megatron harshly said in his distress, "Aquatron! The planet those dreaded Quintessons took over! We're here...again!"
Optics wide with immediate fear, they both tried to run back into the portal when it closed on them. They were stranded on the worst planet imaginable.
Bolt instantly yelled, "The bridge is gone! Look, you two just find out what the Allspark wants in Aquatron and try to take on anything that opposes you! I'll try and find a way to syphon Allspark energy from the gems to boost enough power to get to Aquatron but once I do, you need to get into the portal fast because I'll only be able to do it once, I think."
Megatron nodded to Arcee and turned to examine their surroundings. He didn't recognize the location within Aquatron but he did know that if the Allspark sent them there, it had everything to do with the Quintessons. No Cybertronian alive could think of Aquatron without the Quintesson empire attached to it; that's how much the destructive beings scared them and now, they were terrified.
"Oh, my system pressure is skyrocketing. I can just feel it," growled Megatron clenching his fists and closing his optics. "This isn't good for me, not at my age."
Arcee stood in front of him and gestured for him to take a breath. "Okay, okay, just breathe. Just get air flow through those vents to cool your systems. Breathe. We will be fine. Trust me, going to Megatronus' planet was no picnic either but you have me, and I have you, right? We...we can do this! We haven't failed yet. Also, since when did you have issues with system pressure?"
"Since the middle of the war actually. Starscream and Optimus are tied for the most part of its onset for reasons you can already guess knowing them. I didn't mention it because it wasn't bad as of recent sitting in a cell for two years and just getting back into action again, even when we battled the Quintessons on Earth, but now...it's a problem. It is not ignorable right now." Megatron made the gesture of breathing before pushing his servos down as he exhaled and winced. "I'm good. I'm fine. I'm good though."
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Arcee glanced up at Megatron who glared down at her slightly upset that she would laugh at his pain, except it became obvious that it hadn't been her laughing when she held such a spooked expression. Both bots then looked around frantically trying to place the origin of the laughter. The feeling of being watched rippled through both of them and Megatron activated his cannon in response as Arcee stood cautious.
"Arcee, Meg...the signal...fade..." Bolt's voice seemed to die, and they knew it was with interference by whoever was among the city.
Then a voice carried through the abandoned city, unfamiliar to them but very daunting. "Poor, lost Cybertronians. When will you ever learn? You are the outliers of your own universe, failures and frauds! I should have eradicated you when I had the chance, especially you, Megatron!"
"Megatron," Arcee asked, shocked upon hearing the voice mention his name, "what happened here on Aquatron? I heard stories when I met up with Optimus on Earth, but what's your side? What are they talking about?"
Megatron sighed, still keeping eyes on the city so no one could sneak up on either of them, "The Quintessons lured us, Autobots and Decepticons, into spending some time here thinking we were in neutral space with the Aquatronians. They planned on taking Cybertron and used me as a scapegoat to wield the Sharkticon Matrix and control the army to destroy all Cybertronians. I turned it against them and used the creatures and Sharkticons they controlled to instead go after them, decimating their Quintesson army. I made myself forget most of it, but I remember less important tidbits like the Hydratron, the living city, and the Leviacons, I'm thinking they may be related to the Leviathan, who were more whale-like than fish...also much nicer in comparison."
Arcee stared at him then closed her optics briefly and stated in a deadpanned tone, "Megatron, what the hell?"
"What?" He shrugged, "Never said it was the most sensible thing to happen in my leadership. I saved Cybertron's inhabitants though, including you, so what's the complaint?"
Arcee blinked and said, "I don't even recall an invasion of Sharkticons. I was probably on the other side of the planet, I guess...you know what, never mind. At this point, I've heard stranger things."
The mysterious voice rumbled, "That's right, Megatron, you remember at last. I dreamed of paying you back when you humiliated my kind with that trickery. You were supposed to rip Cybertron and its remaining citizens into pieces, yet you chose to help your own enemy over the power we offered you!"
Megatron snarled back to the city, "Power you may have had, key word had, but no one was to rule Cybertron except me and I was going to conquer it by my own hand, not with a foreign power!"
Arcee wanted to interject about the hypocrisy of using Unicron's Dark Energon blood in Cybertron's core and his own spark to cheat death but let it go knowing he wouldn't admit to it.
"And yet, hear you are. A washed-out warlord with nothing and serving an Autobot for your troubles. You are a pathetic being, Megatron, and I intend to torment you first...by getting rid of your beloved queen," the voice replied.
Arcee took a stance and exclaimed, "Over my dead body!"
The queen was abruptly launched backwards to the edge of the platform of the city when a grey femme with purple bio lights and optics shot through a transparent ripple out of thin air and hit her. Flying upward with a cascade of light metal shaped like a dress flowing with her, the one and only Quintessa, the ruler of the Quintesson legion, glared down at her with disdain.
Quintessa smirked, "As you wish."
Megatron slammed his fists together. "Leave her out of this! It's just you and me like you seem to want."
The Quintesson Queen placed a servo over the location of her spark and energy began glowing from it. She then pulled a beam of light out of her chest and twirled it in which the light evaporated to form a solid staff with a purple gem at the end of it.
The warlord ran right at Quintessa with his swords drawn as she ceased hovering and landed on the city street. She brought her staff to block both his swords as they sparked while clashing. Despite her smaller size, she grabbed Megatron's wrist and forced him to topple on her to throw him over her head. The mech growled as he got up.
"Stay down, Megatron, and let yourself understand that there will be no winning over me. I, Quintessa, am your superior now."
Megatron sneered, "Unfortunately for you, I don't take orders from Quintessons, especially monarchs of a fallen empire."
"Like you?" She retorted, making Megatron see red.
Quintessa wasn't prepared for the second charge and was thrown off her feet by an elbow directly to the face. She grabbed his arm again and punched him but found her hits weren't stunning him in the slightest, but they were enough to buy her time to send a kick right to his head which he didn't expect. Once he was off her, she leveled the staff with her vertically and slammed the tip of its end onto the platform. A burst of light cackled through the ground in response.
Megatron was startled as the gravity around him seemed to bend somehow and he was forced to try and keep himself upright while drifting upwards. He saw Quintessa hover with ease before going into a ripple appearing beside her. Suddenly, he felt a strike to his backside and turned quickly to see her disappear again. When she tried a second time, he got wise and managed to dodge when she appeared in front of him. When she left and tried to hit him from above a third time, he had had enough.
Twisting around for her to fall just below him, he timed it and sent a hit to her spine and forced her to impact the ground with noticeable damage. He didn't feel bad upon seeing her hit her face against the ground; in fact, he had a bit of satisfaction seeing her face down with cracks around her from her fall. She whipped up to glare at him, teeth clenching and optics burning bright purple, and Megatron smugly aligned his blade in a battle-ready pose daring her to come up and meet him as he remained in zero gravity.
While they fought, Arcee shook off the hit she received. Quintessa, despite being slightly larger than her, packed quite a punch she wasn't expecting. Seeing Megatron hold his position even among zero gravity made her smile. "Kick her ass, Megatron!"
She heard a splash behind her and looked out to the ocean. She saw the tip of something orange sink under the water but its speed and the fact that she couldn't find the shadow of it meant she couldn't tell what it was. A part of her hoped she didn't find out given she already encountered some of Aquatron's horrors on Earth; she didn't want to meet any more sea creatures it possessed.
Arcee paused when she heard a croak to her right and met the optics of the infamous annoyance that was a garden leaper. It croaked again and she merely raised a brow. "Why is it you still live here but no one else does?"
The garden leaper merely pulsed its throat blinking and she facepalmed until she looked back at Quintessa clashing with Megatron repeatedly. Frowning, she still stared at the battle and said, "Guess you and I need to find a way to bring Quintessa down a notch. What do you say?"
The frog-like creature turned to face the battle ahead and croaked. Arcee took that as a confirmation and picked it up. It gave a small cry but settled when she started to pet it. She ran to the edge of the transparent energy causing the zero-gravity phenomenon and planned her attack. She heard more croaks following her and smiled at a ridiculous plan she was starting to form.
Megatron attempted to grab the staff from Quintessa as he was growing tired of being in the air uncontrollably. She held it away from him for a second before bringing it back full force to slap him with it. That made him spin almost in a complete circle and snarled at her cheeky grin when she then slammed it right on his head in repayment for his clever tactic prior.
"You destroyed my army, my people! We thrived on the world we had perfected only for a stupid, pathetic mech like you to ruin it all in your arrogance and delusional love of that Prime! You could have been the ultimate Sharkticon and the ruler of more than just Cybertron but you threw it all away to help your enemy! How dare you live?! How dare you call yourself a leader when you have always been a second-rate failure?!"
Quintessa lifted the staff and the sky above seemed to shift as clouds began forming out of the blue. Rain trickled down as lightning became visible around the city. She aimed the staff at him, and lightning reacted to the energy of the gem on the staff. Megatron's optics went wide as a flash roared right at him. He fell to the ground upon the lightning striking him, hitting the street with a deafening crack and smoke. He lay there, to Quintessa's sinister glee, shaking slightly from the electric shock coursing through his body as his systems tried to reboot. He grimaced as she hovered over him. Gravity returned to normal upon Quintessa's will.
Shaking her head, Quintessa laughed, "Now you see, Megatron, how foolish that stunt of yours was. Ten million years of building Aqautron up from the backwater planet it was to a glorious empire...wasted. When the Allspark told me you were one of its targets, I couldn't pass that opportunity to kill you for all you've done."
"I...don't even know you," he groaned.
"I was busy doing other things during that time and I entrusted my legion to destroy you all by giving you the cloned Sharkticon Matrix of Leadership as I planned in my absence. But I failed to take into consideration your lust for power, no matter how great, was just not enough to outweigh how much you did care about your people, Optimus, and your Decepticons deep down. It was a bit comical a heartless monster like you could even care..."
Megatron growled, still lying on the ground, "I'm not heartless! I just-!"
"You what? Tell me, Megatron. The cosmos knows you are just a gladiator trying to relive the past; I know it! You have no spark in that shell of yours. You're just an unprecedented, selfish liar and that's all you'll ever be to everyone except yourself," she sneered. "And now, I'll just do you the favor of putting you out of your misery, so you don't have to go home with your shame. I may be vindictive, but I am honorable to an extent."
Before she could raise the staff again to lure the lightning back down to Megatron's already smoking frame, a garden leaper smacked against the side of Quintessa's head with a croak, and she grew confused. Right as she was turning her head, another garden leaper hit her right in the face, croaking in surprise as it fell and landed beside the other leaper on the ground before both hopped away. Quintessa growled angrily but didn't stop holding her faceplates until she assumed that there were only two garden leapers. When she lifted her sore face from her servos, she spotted Arcee and narrowed her optics.
"Why you little-!"
A third leaper smacked her right dab in the forehead making her cry out and rub at her faceplates again as the creature twirled once upon impact before falling, giving a loud croak all the way down.
Arcee tossed a leaper up mockingly in servo, the creature croaking enjoying the movement. "Hey, Quintessa, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!"
The grey femme hissed without a word, now infuriated by the audacity of the Cybertronian to throw leapers at her. She refused to be taunted by an insignificant bot. Arcee could see in her optics her growing fury and when she raised the staff again, the blue femme immediately yelled out to the leapers, "Scram, boys!"
The garden leapers seemed to sense the urgency and fled in all directions as a bolt of lightning ran right at her. Being on the ground instead of in zero gravity, Arcee had the ability to dodge the blast as it scarred the pristine white street. Quintessa clutched her servos tightly together in frustration before teleporting right at Arcee with a swing down of her staff. It missed the smaller femme and Arcee kicked her hard in the abdomen as a reflex.
Both Quintessa and Arcee exchanged punches, both as quick as they could dish out to try and bring the other to tire for the perfect strike. Quintessa forced Arcee to stumble back with one big push and she nearly tumbled over the edge of the city's platform to the ocean below. She struggled to keep her balance when a servo caught her throat and lifted her up off the ground. Levitating with Quintessa, she defiantly glared at her regardless of the situation she was in.
"A foolish effort, Arcee, is it? By your bravery, you're either dumber than you look or bolder than you should be. Who trained you? Optimus Prime? Can't be Megatron because you are an Autobot, I can tell," the Quintesson Queen said. "My next question should be: can you swim?"
Arcee didn't respond but immediately activated her right arm blade and struck Quintessa across the face. The latter dropped her as purple Energon bled from the wound. She dropped a considerable distance and was forced to roll...almost off the edge! She gripped the edge trying to lift herself back up but then she heard movement again below and a growl. Peering down, a shadow was moving around but the size seemed inconsistent from the moving waves and the position of the sun among the clouds glaring through patches of grey. The storm was making it hard to deduce.
Arcee screamed when Quintessa stepped on her servo, making her lose her grip on that one. Her remaining servo held on for dear life as the maniac Quintesson seemed to cackle at her predicament. "Tell the Primes in the Pits I wish them to suffer a horrible existence! Please pass that on from me, won't you?"
Suddenly, Megatron slammed into the side of Quintessa and immediately grabbed Arcee's servo as she slipped. "Miss me?"
Arcee smiled and crawled back onto his shoulder with his help as they both now stood between Quintessa and her desired victory. Megatron then aimed his cannon at the grey femme with utter hatred.
"Personally, I liked it better when your kind was blown to smithereens."
Firing, Quintessa was surprised by his attack and struggled to evade each blast. She was hit in the shoulder and part of her thigh in which she yelled out in agony. Trying to gain a bit of leverage, she took to the sky to hover so she could maneuver much easier. But Arcee didn't have any of it, nor did Megatron.
"Launch me!" She spoke.
Megatron opened his palm to hold her pede and threw her right at the Quintesson Queen which the latter didn't expect. Both femmes clashed and Arcee kept one servo on the arm holding the staff to prevent her from using it while the other began punching her. Quintessa frowned at first and tried to hit back but the more the Cybertronian assaulted her, the less focused she became. When Arcee jumped off above her, she looked horrified as the smaller femme used both servos together to hit her in the chest and make her fall to the ground below. They both slammed down hard with an array of rubble blowing out from the landing point.
Arcee was quicker to recover using Quintessa as a shock absorber and pulled the other up by her neck to stand with wobbly legs. She then scowled, "Your army's overrated and so are you!"
Quintessa was punched outward to hover above the open ocean doing a few uncontrollable flips along the way. Almost dropping her staff, she clutched her head and nodded off slightly disoriented. She never expected someone capable of beating her and she was shocked to look at Arcee who stood proudly at the edge of the platform of Hydronix like the queen she was.
"You...can't defeat me! This is improbable! Impossible! I...am...superior! You worthless, egotistical Cybertronians are all the same! You use violence to get your way. Stupid, self-righteous..."
Arcee didn't argue with that mostly because arguing with a person not in their right mind was quite useless. But as she was about to say something else, she noted the shadow she saw earlier slowly moving towards Quintessa and her, responding to their commotion in battle and its orange fins coming up enough to be spotted. She recognized what it was finally as the ocean seemed mellower with the storm Quintessa created less severe and smirked, looking up at Quintessa with amused pity knowing the owner of the shadow was not a fan of disruption among the territory it inhabited.
"Maybe we are a bit egotistical in how we've gone about life, Quintessa, but at least we came together when we needed to. Your Quintessons made it possible, remember? You tried to divide us when we already were, but you were a threat to every Cybertronian who came here so Megatron and Optimus got rid of your kind. You are the one who is wrong about everything. You couldn't face the truth that we are survivors and that we've beaten you once, and we would beat you again. As Soundwave would say: Cybertronians superior, Quintessons inferior."
Quintessa scowled, "You might have won today, but don't think this is over! I will destroy Cybertron and you along with it if it's the last thing I do!"
Arcee crossed her arms and simply shrugged, "Go ahead, but queen to queen, you might want to deal with one thing first."
"And what would that be, Queen Arcee?"
"You've been on Aquatron for how many years? And you still haven't got complete control over it."
Quintessa grew somewhat confused and didn't see the shadow maneuvered under her in a circle. "What are you talking about?! This world is mine! This ocean is mine! Aquatron is mine!"
"Nope," Arcee grinned pointing downward, "it's hers."
The Quintesson Queen paused and peered down, growing petrified as an orange and red Leviathan Queen surged out of the water vertically with open jaws at her. All she saw with teeth and glowing red optics engulfing her vision. She was so frozen in fear, she accepted her fate as the jaws of the Leviathan snapped shut on her, impaling and devouring her with the larger queen's shake of the head and closing all four optics in satisfaction. The Leviathan Queen sank back down and twisted to dive into the water with a splash. Her tail breached the water's surface last, showing off her vivid coloring before disappearing back into the depths with a faint rumble.
Arcee watched this and gave a small salute to the Leviathan Queen even if the latter couldn't see her. In the end, Aquatron belonged to its rightful owners, the various species the planet had been home to since the beginning and not the Quintessons. She would have killed Quintessa herself, but the appearance of the Leviathan Queen made for an unexpected but universally justified revenge she believed the Leviathan deserved for Quintessa taking over when she shouldn't have. If one believed in karma, that was certainly a moment of it.
Megatron clapped his servos together with a smile, "You never cease to impress, Arcee. Maybe that's why I have liked you for quite some time."
"Oh, a crush? Since when? During the war?"
"Ah, well, I may have considered some things, had I won and all, to be spared...okay, yes, you were-are quite a warrior."
Arcee laughed but they both suddenly heard a roar and turned to see the same Leviathan Queen that had eaten Quintessa jump right towards them. They ran a considerable distance, barely avoiding being crushed by the massive creature as she slammed hard onto the platforms. Arcee placed a delicate servo on Megatron's arm as they both kept close while the Leviathan Queen raised upright, her tail curled and slowly patting the platform in a calm manner.
The Leviathan Queen sniffed the air before grunting, peering around the abandoned city before looking down at them. Both Arcee and Megatron had their blasters prepared just in case but, to their surprise, the queen didn't seem to want to fight. She made a rather considerate growl before abruptly coughing. Leaning down, the Leviathan Queen gagged and made an upchucking snort as the metal of her throat bent and pushed. Both bots feared Quintessa was about to be seen either dead or still alive, but with a clatter, the only thing that appeared was the Quintesson's staff covered in an aquamarine slime.
Arcee and Megatron exchanged disgusted looks as the Leviathan Queen stood upright again. She looked around at the kingdom above her own before giving a bellow of dominance. Arcee smiled at that and could hear movement in the water past the ledge, assuming the hive that followed this queen was awaiting her return. Then the queen met their optics and looked at the staff. She made a grunt with a sneer until she turned herself towards the ledge and dived back into the water.
"Can y..me...Arcee, Megatron, can you hear me?! Why is it every time the Allspark sends you someplace weird, my communications go nuts?! This is bullsh-!"
"Bolt, we can hear you," Megatron laughed.
"Oh...hi! So, did you defeat Quintessa?"
Arcee smiled and said, "We didn't but someone else more worthy than us did."
Both bots watched the Leviathan Queen leave for the final time and now they had Quintessa's staff as a trophy. What made the Leviathan show gratitude like that, they couldn't guess except the small possibility that she knew who Quintessa was. Bolt mentioned Leviathan Queens having excellent memory. Perhaps the queen they encountered was around in the beginning when the Quintessons first invaded the planet.
"Who saved you?"
Arcee picked up the staff, waving off as much of the slime as she could before holding it firmly in her grasp. It pulsed purple, the same color as Quintessa, and she could feel the energy surging through it. All that power...but it was not hers to claim. Wherever the real Aquatronians were, she hoped to give them it one day.
"Thank you, Queen Nephthys."
Megatron raised a brow. "Queen Nephthys?"
Arcee shrugged, "I mean if we're naming Leviathan Queens after Earth goddesses, might as well give them some variation on the location origin of the name. Bolt called that last one a Greek goddess, I get to name this one an Egyptian goddess."
Bolt cackled like mad, "Yes! A worthy successor! I like that. Nephthys. It has a nice ring to it. Oh, and I'm nearly done collaborating with the gems to try and get you home. Being isolated from the Allspark means a limited supply of power so we have to be careful with them."
Arcee and Megatron nodded as they faced the vacant streets of Hydronix. "We're patient; take your time, Bolt. So, Megatron, while we're here, want to take a small tour while Bolt's busy?"
"Of course, my Queen," The warlord smirked and offered a servo.
It may not have been the best thing to do as a first date, but it was a start. He grew heartfelt upon her not hesitating to take his servo. Hand in hand, they walked the city together. Megatron and Arcee. Arcee and Megatron. The serenity of the small walk calmed Megatron and for once, he felt not even a rise in system pressure or any strong emotions except for peace. Just a simple stroll for a simple pleasure, and he loved it.
Arcee felt the same way, finally not having to care about anything except walking straight down the street with the waves of the vast ocean echoing distantly. Regardless of just having a battle, she enjoyed what most people would have considered boring. It was perfect for her.
Normally, people talked among walks. They didn't. It wasn't that they didn't want to, there just was no need. They knew what they wanted; they both had the same desires. They just wanted peace and quiet as they never were able to experience among their life struggles and the war that was persistent for most of their memory that erased the few rare peaceful times they may have had in the past. On top of trying to survive a never-ending nightmare, the ability to walk silently was a gift to them both that no other bot could appreciate more than them.
Bumblebee quickly left the group behind with Tyrus running to catch up with him. The latter exclaimed, "What are you doing?! Matriarch and the others can't help you if-!"
"I'm going to kill her! I can't wait around for them! You can understand that, can't you?"
Tyrus immediately stepped in front of Bumblebee and pointed a digit at him. "That type of irrational thinking will get you killed. I understand you're the leader but now you're getting desperate. You can't operate on that. We will find him but you need to keep your head on, kid. You started out good when you took control. What happened?"
Bee breathed harshly and gestured, "The more I have to hear about Rockrider and the things she's done, the more, mmmgh, I just want to strangle her!"
"Be the leader you are, not a soldier engulfed in rage. That will get you nowhere. Optimus is a strong mech though. I think he'll be hanging on no matter what and you need to take that into consideration when planning. You just fought an army. Now, you're in the Pits and we can only get through this if you are a leader."
The yellow mech slowly nodded but then Tyrus yelled, "Watch out!"
But the call wasn't fast enough as out of the shadows, someone came at Bee with his back turned and hit him upside the head with a small hammer. The Autobot leader collapsed onto the floor, his helm bleeding as the assailant turned their attention to Tyrus.
"You wretched bastard!" The bot screamed.
Tyrus only managed to jump away as he stared into the hateful optics of none other than Rockrider whose normal blue was tinted almost a green color in her fury. She lifted her weapon and tried again, breaking pieces of crystalline tilework as he moved.
Tyrus yelled back, "Are you out of your mind, Rockrider?! What happened to the archivist who always smiled passing people in the halls?! Who the hell do you think you are?!"
Like a deranged animal, she merely stared him down and gave a blunt reply. "Your worst nightmare."
Swinging again, this time Rockrider didn't miss and whacked Tyrus right in the face, drawing blood and making him reel back in shock. He clutched his jaw as it shifted unnaturally. Before he could stop her, she brought down the hammer again, knocking him to the ground. He coughed up more Energon seeping into his mouth and throat from the damages.
"You idiots ruined EVERYTHING! All my hard work tricking Arcee and the Council, going through so-o many lengths to time everything up, and having to bow and acknowledge that stupid femme who didn't even deserve to be queen! You just had to run your mouth, Tyrus! I should have killed you when I had the chance!"
"Yes, you should have!" Bumblebee exclaimed before tackling Rockrider.
They were forced into a roll before Bumblebee came out on top, her hammer sliding to their left side. He growled as he pinned her arms before raising his hand to strike but she wiggled her leg from a trapped position and kicked upward, bending herself in an uncomfortable way, not that she seemed fazed by it in her energy rush. When he bent down slightly in pain, she nailed him with a headbutt and threw him off her.
Bumblebee clutched his noseplating coated in blood before he got a swift whack in the head again by the hammer. He dropped and was barely conscious as Rockrider hissed.
"I've had enough of your games, both of you! You forced my hand in this!"
Walking toward Tyrus who was groaning in pain, Rockrider lifted her hammer, this time with no one to stop her. Glaring at the mech, she held no regard for his life.
"Tell the Allspark among its Well that you failed."
Bumblebee found it hard to even get up from his spot on the floor. He miserably turned his head to the side towards Tyrus and stared in unbridled horror as the hammer came down upon the dark blue mech. He flinched as Energon splattered everywhere but found himself in a helpless situation as he bled too.
He had been hit with weapons of varying degrees and managed to put up a fight still but none of them ever got him in the back of the head. It was the most unusual experience and quite scary, even more so when Rockrider approached him with a scowl as he shakily stood on his hands and knees for balance.
"You think that was a shock, scout? Wait until you see what I might just have in store for Optimus, and you'll be the prime witness, I assure you."
Bumblebee had been a fool. He let his impatience and his determination to end Rockrider and get Optimus back blind him. It wasn't the worst mistake any leader made, but he regretted it. He peered toward the ground as another mech approached behind Rockrider sharing her grin and carrying someone on his shoulder.
AN: A fitting end for a terrible species and its leader. It still sucks that Quintessa wasn't used right in the film. Oh well, she got her moment to shine and she got humiliated in the process. I had to add the garden leapers because I felt it was funny just to have those little annoyances back in the action. And yes, I think it's funny to name the Leviathan Queens after water gods. I mean, it fits so...why not? With Rockrider growing deranged more than ever before, what awaits the rest of the leaders? Tune in next chapter to find out!
Featured monsters:
Quintessa (Aquatron)
Leviathan Queen Nephthys (Aquatron)