Haywire reeled back when a brief shocking noise was heard from the panel. "Stupid commlink bullshit! Shockwave, are you sure that's what the soldier said? Technoplaza District?"
Shockwave nodded as The Matriarch began to talk with the other leaders. "Yes, we'll have both Grimlock and Predaking search with Ultra Magnus just to make sure. Matriarch has her doubts but any clues on her whereabouts will help."
The red mech didn't say anything as he tried desperately to get the communications bay to read his access before trying again to reset the panel.
"Whatever Rockrider did with this, it fried the main motherboard, and it can't sustain its functions. I think she sabotaged it right before we took over to prevent us from attempting to contact Arcee just in case."
Haywire moved to try and lift the key panel to see if anything else was blown out or damaged but found it extremely heavy. Suddenly, Shockwave appeared beside him and using his one arm to help before jamming his cannon in the space to lift the rest, he evened out the load to give Haywire less stress. They leaned it against the wall as the mech scanned for any potential damage.
"Everything looks functional except for part of the cooling. If we try running this thing with a fixed motherboard but keep the cooling in disarray, this thing will end up combusting from overheating. Do you know where the repair ward is? The mechanic's room?"
Shockwave shook his head, "I'm afraid not."
"It's down the hall from the throne with a red overlaying pattern on the door. They deal with all these instruments and have plenty of parts. I need a motherboard, cross-shaped and rotating cylinder for the cooling. I'm going to see if I can boost this thing's power supply to transmit to the isle and try to break through what I assume is the Allspark's signal scrambling tendencies that I've infamously heard from tall tales back in the day. You get me the parts and I can fix it. Heh, my graduate classes as a qualified communications technician is finally going to pay off for a moment of truth hopefully."
Shockwave obeyed and reached the throne in less than two minutes before diverting right and slowing to look at all the doors. Some had green symbols and some had blue but no red. Nearing the end, he finally saw a door with a red symbol, a wrench and bolt insignia. He went in and found Haywire wasn't joking.
The mechanic's room had parts lined on shelves all organized from panel parts to even ship parts farther back in the secondary and third rooms. He quickly scanned for what he needed and found both a motherboard and a cylinder. He noted spare levers were also in the basket farther down. Haywire did mention the space bridge's lever was broken...
Grabbing the lever as well, he ran back and found Haywire digging inside the panel and connecting the overlaying power with an exterior generator. It would temporarily boost it but maybe not by much.
Without missing a beat, Haywire spoke without looking at Shockwave. "I can't find the power converter to do this properly so...I'm improvising. It won't damage it but it's going to be a bit cranky upon start up. Do you have the parts?"
Shockwave handed them over. "Do what you feel is best."
Replacing the motherboard and cooling cylinder didn't take long even though Haywire hardly looked happy about it. As Shockwave already knew, he was under a lot of pressure to do this right once without everything going wrong.
As Haywire worked, Shockwave set his sights on the broken space bridge controls in the other room. He walked into the rockier terrain, a far cry from the Crystal Palace's beautiful halls, and saw a pit with an ever-present space bridge's entrance ring lying horizontally. If he could recall, Crystal City was abandoned then used as a hideout for Autobot troops for a while. It was bombed and the space bridge just above the blast zone fell from its place among the wall with the ground giving away from the rumbling. Its structure laid vertical to peer up at the ceiling with only the buildup of metal to keep it from detaching entirely, hence why its entrance became famous, and no one had since dug it out nor did they ever remodel the room.
Haywire had his hidden talent and so did Shockwave. Breaking loose the panel that resided over the snapped off lever, he switched them out by simply undoing the bolts and part of the framework delicately. Unlike a cooling cylinder and motherboard, it was a simple fix. When he was done, he came back to Haywire only to jump back in surprise.
"YEAH BABY! WHOOO-HOOO!" Haywire exclaimed, softly pounding the panel of the communications bay back into place but in fast motions. "I did it! It's reading, Shockwave! Oh, I feel like I'm going to cry! What are you holding in your hand?!"
The change of subject came in a flash though Haywire was still happy, so Shockwave mused, "Fixed your space bridge."
"You did?"
"I did."
"Shockwave, thank you, man! Oh, this day is brightening for me, I tell you! Okay, but let's not lose our heads here. We still need to test it to try and communicate with Arcee. You ready to try?"
Shockwave placed his fisted servo on his hip, still clutching the broken lever. "By your lead, Haywire."
"Alright, last area on the map is the Primal Jungle. This sector is smaller than the others because it merges into the marshlands and it's denser as well. Uh, I know there are Chaar Mallibi in the jungle as well as various breeds of Earth monkeys and apes."
Arcee smirked, "Ah yes, the Mallibi I met sat on me while we were walking over here the first day we arrived. It was nice creature but heavy."
The Vehicon nodded, "Yeah, Mallibi are quite heavy indeed. But the reason for their nice personality is because other than a few predators on Chaar, they don't really have any problems with any other creature. They simply just don't see the point of acting aggressive unless you attack them first then they will no doubt tear you apart in defense. They won't ever throw the first punch, that's for sure.
"Fun fact about the Mallibi, they are incredibly social and intelligent. Despite most Decepticons hating organic or techno-organic life, we ended up liking them. These creatures were so kind and often hung around the outskirts on our bases that I remember we made a little gimmick of their presence. We found out they love to trade. We hand them some spare parts or stuff we didn't need, and they would give us stuff in return like native dry plants of Chaar that grew in the desert, dead vipers that they thought we wanted to eat, and they would even bring us various objects from past civilizations buried or uprooted by the desert grains over time. It was quite cool."
The queen paused and furrowed his eyebrows. "Wait, if they lived in the Chaar desert, why did they take to the jungle if Chaar has no trees?"
"Mallibi are actually ground animals. They prefer to live in underground caves and if the caves are large enough, you can see them climbing and swinging on stalactites with their iron gripping four arms. The reason why they probably took to the jungle is because they made friends with the monkeys there. If you get two different species with similar qualities together, the greater number of one species will influence the other sometimes. Why would a Mallibi hide in a cave with stalactites all alone when its organic friends are swinging from trees instead out in the open without a single care in the world? Wouldn't that make you want to join in on the similar but new behavior?"
"Okay, yeah, that's a fair point," Arcee said.
Megatron sneered, "You make it sound like it's the equivalent of wanting to hang around the stupid apes that run this planet."
Facepalming, Arcee scowled back at him, "You cannot let the human race have some peace from your insults?"
"Nope, they will always be miserable pests in my optics...but that doesn't mean I hate every single one of them like I used to. I'll admit now that we are together than those humans you had among you were decent. The obnoxious little femme though has a few screws loose."
"Funny, people have compared you to similar personalities when you were younger, I heard. Even Optimus said you were quite the-"
The warlord growled annoyed, "Nah-uh, we aren't getting into this! Past is past, I was younger! Forget about it."
Bolt snickered, "Remind me to ask Optimus about that. I'm curious now."
"Any one of you ask Optimus a thing about some of my younger exploits that I told him, and I will murder both of you in your sleep."
"Make another threat, Megatron, we've heard it all before and you have yet to act on it despite all we've said since being here," Arcee mused. "Besides, you wouldn't murder your girlfriend now, would you?"
"Debating slowly."
"Okay, settle down you two. Let's get back to business. Since the jungle is right next to us, it's only a walk away. No ground bridge this time. I'm going to let the gems rest since they've done so much so when we finally have all eleven, we can use them to get into the citadel without any issues. Like always, be careful...and take the fleabag to bring me something cool!" The Vehicon stated.
Moonhunter merely raised a brow, but no longer did he seem to growl at Bolt, hoping down from the perch he made in the remains of the scaffolding of the main deck. He sauntered past the Vehicon with his tail up.
"Yeah, walk with pride. Strut that stuff. You aren't impressing me but points for trying," Bolt remarked sarcastically.
As the bots stepped outside to splash into the murky water of the marshlands, they both noticed the sun was setting. The jungle was probably not safe to traverse at night so Megatron and Arcee understood each other's concern by nodding together with Arcee leading the way. Moonhunter trailed behind jumping through the water that was almost neck-deep to him.
In comparison to the marshlands when they first started, walking through the area proved much easier. Bloodhawks were seldom seen, monogoliaths were still the peaceful giants they normally were aside from the late Titanium who got her just dues, and not a single nightpaw seemed brave enough to come up to them. Peridrops and garden leapers were still unfazed by anything that happened in the marshlands, continuing on in their unbothered lives as usual.
The dusk was already bringing out the bio lights of the foreign trees in the marshlands with the stars above breaking through the noise of the atmosphere and the Milky Way's arm attempting to stretch across the sky like it was just awaking a deep slumber.
"I have to say, I'm going to miss this part of the isle," Megatron said. "It's grown on me a bit."
Arcee didn't say anything but agreed. The marshlands were the beginning of their adventure and once they had the last gem, it was the final place they would be stepping in before going to the Allspark's citadel.
Suddenly, Dagger Prima lit up and Arcee removed it from her back. "You used to only glow when you were controlling the gems, or I was about to kill something. What is it with you glowing at random now?"
She then got her answer when Bolt immediately contacted her. "Hey, is anything strange going on where you are because the gems in here are glowing, and your energy signature is just lighting up like a candle on my screen."
Megatron frowned, "It might be trying to tell you something important or warning you of a presence nearby. Unfortunately, we don't have the means to communicate with it still. It might be speaking that weird dialect engraved on its blade."
"Last time, it whispered to me to go in the Cyber Meadows before we were attacked by Dinobot Vulcore. But Bolt, you never saw the gems glow during that fight, did you?"
"No. Whatever it's doing, it's getting bolder, Arcee. If it's communicating with the gems, it might be the Allspark's presence growing angrier or perhaps the proximity of so many gems in one place is bringing a power back that, separated, they couldn't use."
Arcee laughed, "Well, the Allspark can throw as many temper tantrums as it wants. It's not getting its way. Not today, not tomorrow, and not anytime soon."
The Allspark could sense them close. "I hear you; I hear you calling. Your cries won't break me."
Do you not want to be reunited with us? We cannot survive without you! Please!The Sentries cried. Each form, eleven total moved frantically in circles as their animal-like forms whined and roared.
Hearing them finally lose all their taunting behaviors sent the Allspark into an unsure, unnatural mood. They were usually witty, outspoken but they now sounded desperate and miserable. Most of the gems were together but they were still apart from their main source of power.
"I can't. You must see the sacrifice I need to make. Why can't you understand that?"
By destroying a part of yourself?! By destroying us?! We need you! You need us! Stop this foolishness before we fade away forever! Help us!
As more cries rang throughout the citadel, the Allspark heard its many voices within not separated from itself joining in. The Allspark never heard all of them speaking at once like this, jabbing in all different manners uncoordinated. Normally, they spoke together in harmony, saying the same thing alongside its own true voice as it was the master of the Well. Now, there was nothing but madness.
The Allspark shook as the voices grew louder, its energy cackling through the walls as it tried to calm itself and its combined personalities.
You must do something!
Destroying us will destroy you!
It grew nervous, desperate for silence as the voices continued to yell at it. It just wanted to be left alone. It wanted order, it wanted respect, and it wanted everything to go its way.
Help us!
Please!
Do something!
DO SOMETHING!
"ENOUGH!"
A blast of red light burst from the Allspark and changed every bio light within the citadel blood red. Its halls became eerie, the exterior lights grew tainted, and the blast ran across the sky, setting the dusk seen from the isle a dark red with antagonistic colored auroras emerging from the citadel itself. The stars were scorched purple against their usual white light as a roar resonated from the citadel itself, chasing away any birds that slept among the environments below and scaring the wildlife into hiding. Even the remaining predators and monsters grew wise and kept in their shadowed places.
"THAT'S IT! I HAVE HAD IT! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! IF I CAN'T SURVIVE MY WAY, I WILL KILL EVERYTHING ON THIS ISLE AND TAKE THEM OUT WITH ME!"
The voices were dead silent as the Allspark's true voice reigned supreme; no more echoes of the voices of past or present and no sentries to speak as a conscience among decisions. Every soul and sentry it could sense was horrified beyond belief.
Suddenly, the Allspark shot a beam of energy into the ceiling of its tower and slowly, space and time began to crack revealing a warped energy subspace tainted with the same red as itself. The sentries knew what that led to. The Well of the Allspark and all the afterlives synced with it from various planets was not designed to merge into the physical world and doing so would tear up the universe like a black hole.
Cackling mad, the red Allspark growled animalistically as the power went to its head. "And to think, the Primes always feared that I would use my unlimited power to do exactly this when they trapped me in that prison! I guess they were right all along! How cruel of an irony is that?!"
In the Primal Jungle, the bots navigated the thick vine-stricken trees where the canopy was hardly visible, but starlight seemed to somehow shine through.
"You know, I feel a bit small in this jungle. The density is worse than the forest," Megatron said.
The jungle was alive with monkey calls, birds, and other various creatures that called it home. Arcee smiled as she spotted a few lemurs as well.
"Arcee, Megatron, uh, something weird is happening with my ship's systems."
"The gems?"
"...No, the gems are still glowing but I don't think it's them. Something feels a bit dense in the air suddenly. I don't know about you, but I never felt something like this bef-"
BOOM!
Every inch of the jungle went dead silent as a quick earthquake rattled it. Arcee nearly stumbled off-balance to fall towards the ground when Megatron kneeled to keep his own and caught her along the way. Moonhunter hid under Megatron's leg silently shaking. The starlight above turned purple and red making the canopies look sinister. A ghostly, echoing roar followed the end of the rumbling like a beast awakened.
"What the hell was that?!" Megatron snarled.
"The sky's red! By Primus, the sky is organic blood red! Do you guys see this?!"
"No, Bolt, we're in the jungle!" Arcee yelled.
"Here! Here! Here! Come look at this really quick!"
A ground bridge appeared despite Bolt had not wanting to use it this time. All three ran immediately though it back into the marshlands to stop next to Bolt who was staring up at the sky. They all saw what he did now in full view.
"What the-?!"
Bolt growled, "The Allspark's gone mad and I'm going to guess it's going to wipe out all of us, that probably means the isle itself and all the creatures in it!"
Red auroras danced across the tainted sky like it was preparing to rain down the cosmos on them. The citadel was lit up red from its bio lights with the Black Mountains emulating its glow, making the whole area appear like lava was brewing among its dead form. Suddenly, small cracks of light appeared to crawl along the mountain side with energy crackling among it as red as the auroras.
The Vehicon immediately turned to them. "This is worse than I thought! We're running out of time! Go back through the ground bridge and tear that jungle apart if you have to! Find the gem!"
Arcee nodded, "Megatron, let's go now!"
The ex-Decepticon leader acknowledged the direness of the situation and followed her as she sprinted at the portal.
"And hurry! For if the Allspark expands its power any faster, we'll all be dead by midnight! We might only have less than several hours left to live!"
As they disappeared inside the vortex, Bolt turned back to the terrifying sight of reality trying to tear itself apart. The Allspark was said to be able to warp the cosmos but no one alive had ever seen it do so. Now, Bolt was fearful of finally witnessing what no living being had, and he knew that there was no awe in what it would bring.
He heard a whimper and peered behind him to see Moonhunter shaking. The proud cat was no longer hissing at danger every chance he had. He was just as frightened. Bolt found he had no snappy comebacks for the Nitrotiger, no jokes, no mockery, nothing he could see as humorous in Moonhunter's wide and scared optics. He didn't even dare nudge the cat to follow Arcee and Megatron into the portal.
Then Bolt heard the monogoliaths trying to herd their organic counterparts and all the young away to the farther area of the island from the Black Mountains. Garden leapers and peridrops that were normally unmoved by even predators were silent and buried themselves among the water in the hope that the daunting light wouldn't get to them, a far cry from what Bolt was used to all these years.
He heard Moonhunter back away with his tail between his legs and said, "Yeah, I don't blame you, buddy. Come on, we'll at least be safe inside."
In the Primal Jungle, Arcee and Megatron ran through the jungle trying to speed up their search. They found many Earth animals and cybernetic all running frantically in search of safety. They pitied the creatures as no amount of hiding would save them if the whole island were to be destroyed.
"It's got to be here somewhere! It's a smaller territory, right? Less places to look!"
Abruptly, both bots slid to a halt when a rip of light from the Allspark's tampering appeared in front of them, and two creatures came tumbling out fighting. A Predacon and an Insecticon ran into trees knocking them over among their scuffle. As the cracked portal vanished, Arcee realized they were now in the middle of a battle.
The Insecticon let out a blast of electricity from its body snarling at the Predacon while the dragon-like beast caught fire, its bio lights blaring upon its powers emerging.
"The Allspark just let two enemies through, Insecticon and Predacon, Bolt!" Megatron said.
The Vehicon was quick to respond, "Okay, uh, let me see. Insecticons don't like high heat or strong cold, and Predacons don't really have an elemental weakness except maybe concentrated ice like every other Cybertronian. The only thing you can do is try to kill them if they look your way. Necrojolt and Zipsky are not a bother until they start targeting you so maybe move past them to continue your search for gem, and they'll ignore you."
Arcee snuck quietly around the ensuing battle as the Insecticon bit down on the Predacon's neck. The shock of the electricity following the assault made Zipsky whimper, but it retaliated by blowing molten fire at Necrojolt. Necrojolt fled backwards and hid behind a dense tree before uprooting and swinging it at the Predacon, sending it to fall to the ground with a growl.
Megatron watched with some interest, studying the animal-like attack patterns. The Insecticon was more offensive and the Predacon seemed more defensive bringing his guess to the Insecticon being the instigator of the fight. To both bots' dismay, Necrojolt and Zipsky paused nearly face to face before sniffing the air in sync. Slowly, both beasts turned their attention towards them with equally loud, guttural growls.
Arcee scoffed and didn't even try to hide behind anything. "Really? I'm so not in the mood to deal with you!"
Megatron grimaced and shook his head, "You just couldn't attempt to hide?"
"I'm pissed now. We already have a deadline on top of this? Someone's going to die, alright? We've come this far, as you said, and I'm done doubting. Do you want to kill these bastards with me?"
A neutral frown turned into a wide, sadistic grin as the warlord chuckled, "Now you're talking my language, my dear."
"Alright then," she smiled back before addressing the beasts, "we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."
Zipsky was the first to roar at them angrily and Arcee didn't hesitate to bring out glowing Dagger Prima while Megatron brought his grosse messer swords. Both creatures seemed to make a silent pact in favor of killing the bots and all Arcee could do was crack her neck.
"Hard way, just how I like it. You take the dragon, I take the bug," she said.
Megatron ran at Zipsky as Necrojolt made an insect-like bellow before stomping towards Arcee. It swiped at her which she countered with the dagger, slicing off parts of its claws. It looked at her in disarray as she merely scoffed.
"I've fought things bigger than you, don't think I haven't gotten wise since I've been here, buddy," she stated proudly as the Insecticon snarled when electricity began to run up its spine. Arcee then frowned, "But maybe also a bit prideful too."
It slammed its fist down right Arcee jumped away and the portion of the ground rippled with an electric pulse. It didn't reach the femme, but she knew just how dangerous the situation was regarding the power.
As she danced around the constant attacks, she sank Dagger Prima into Necrojolt's thigh and servo when it tried to grab her earning a squeal from the Insecticon as it stumbled back. Unlike the previous enemies, she knew enough about Insecticons to know how to deal with one in a timely manner. Bringing out her gatling gun, she aimed it right at its face which she then heard in grunt confused as she pulled the trigger.
The Insecticon lunged back as bullets scarred its faceplates and singular optic visor breaking a portion of it which made the rest of the visor cracked and flickering. The exposed damaged double optics hidden behind the visor sparked dead. Arcee was quite surprised to see the optics underneath were split as four instead of the common two other bots supported but given Earth insects often had more than two eyes, she couldn't say it wasn't possible.
As Arcee dealt with Necrojolt's rage, Megatron jumped at Zipsky and used his fist holding one of his swords to punch the Predacon right in the cheek before using the blade to cut part of its chest armor. The Predacon snarled and snapped its jaws at him trying to bite off his servo to limit him before he moved backwards each attempt. One raise of a clawed servo made Megatron move to the side and brought his blade up, slicing a wound deep into the upper arm of the beast.
It hissed and suddenly punched him backwards before its throat grew orange showing the movement of the fire raging within that was about to melt him. But Megatron merely smirked as he peered back to see Arcee and the Insecticon. He got an idea and quickly ran at the Insecticon unaware of his presence. The Predacon followed holding in its fire until Megatron was in range.
"Arcee, move out of the way now!"
The femme was a bit stunned by the shout but upon seeing Zipsky coming towards her as well as Megatron, she knew what Megatron was planning and didn't argue. Somersaulting backwards to prevent herself from being crushed by the Insecticon's damaged servo, she made her distance quite clear which was enough to make Necrojolt focus on Megatron and Zipsky, lowering its electricity in curiosity. It made a mistake by doing so as Megatron climbed to perch right on top of it just as Zipsky released its flame.
The Insecticon gave an antagonizing cry as Megatron barely got out of range of the blast. Before he and Arcee who regrouped, the Insecticon collapsed onto the ground fried and dead. The Predacon coughed up smoke upon too much pressure being built up by holding the flame in for so long.
"One down, one to go!" Arcee smirked as she took out the blood grenades she hadn't used in a while, holding them up for Megatron to see. "Think it's time to say goodnight to this thing?"
"May I?" He asked sweetly holding out his servo. To his surprise, he received a quick peck on the cheek before Arcee handed over a few of the grenades.
"Go for it, baby," she replied.
Shaking out of his flushed state, he threw the grenades up in the air a few inches before snatching them back in his grasp with a toothy grin while staring down the Predacon. He only put away one sword to hold the grenades but kept the other out.
Charging at the Predacon, Megatron did an immediate uppercut with his sword which the Predacon dodged but he caught it upon the second swing right in part of the neck. In a fury, Zipsky turned to face Megatron with its side before swinging its tail at him. He ducked and sliced off some of the barbs lining the tail's spine.
Abruptly, Megatron was pinned in his blind spot with the Predacon looming over him. The grenades rolled from his grasp away a few feet as Zipsky's servo came down to try and crush him. He used as much strength as possible to push against the larger, beastly servo entangled with his. With the Predacon scratching on top of him, he had little options left.
In a bold and risky move, he let his strength holding up the paw of the Predacon down and focused the remainder of it into the left arm holding the sword. Stabbing the beast and being sprayed with its Energon hardly fazed him. He gave it a sizable wound in its chest as it nearly bent his right arm at a bad angle enough to snap. He forced the sword upward, cutting into its neck and enlarging the wound more before ripping his weapon out.
The Predacon roared in agony, letting pressure off his confined arm and maneuvering its own to try and cover the wound on instinct despite it being large enough that Megatron could reach anywhere vertically on its chest and touch it.
With a snarl, Megatron grabbed the blood grenades and shoved them into its wound before using his legs to push it off it. The Predacon went over his helm as he rolled upright with the movement. Upon turning to face the Predacon, he noted Zipsky was suffering badly from losing so much Energon but still willing to carry on regardless of its ailment, that was until Arcee jumped in front of Megatron and aimed her blaster right at its chest to the warlord's delight.
"You should have stayed extinct," she spoke with a massive grin as she fired.
Zipsky glared at her right as the blast made contact with its chest as it tried to rise to a bipedal, intimidating stance. In less than a second, the Predacon's chest, neck, and head exploded. The remainder of the body fell to its knees before creaking as it toppled with a splash of Energon staining the jungle floor.
Arcee blew away the smoke from her weapon and gave Megatron a wink, "That's how you get rid of a Predacon."
Megatron was grinning just as much as she was. "Where were you when I fought Predaking? You would have saved me so much time back then."
"You never asked."
"Duly noted." Megatron snagged a piece of the Insecticon's torched armor and a spinal spike from the Predacon's backside. He then said giddily, "Evidence."
Arcee rolled her optics, "Of course."
AN: The Allspark has gone insane, years of pent up anger, abuse, and being used as a weapon instead of being treated as a living creature has taken its toll. But who could have guessed, right? Combating the motions of reality before it ultimately gets wiped from existence is no easy feat. Will they stop the Allspark in time?
Featured monsters:
Necrojolt the Insecticon (Cybertron)
Zipsky the Predacon (Cybertron)