The Technoplaza District was quiet. It was a warehouse sector more so than city but Grimlock still took precautions walking down the alleys.

"How do we know which one is hers? There's a million of these stupid buildings!"

Predaking walked behind him and made a hushing sound. "We won't know if you give away our location too. Keep stealthy."

Ultra Magnus followed to keep track of their rear so no sneak attacks were possible. He paused when Grimlock started sniffing. Just then, the Dinobot ran and both Ultra and Predaking were stunned by the sudden move. They followed regardless of their displeasure of the action.

Grimlock swerved down the alleys before pausing again, then changing direction down to his right. The others managed to keep up but he was focused on the odd scent, familiar but faint. It grew stronger when he took and right until it was the only thing he could smell. Sniffing at a door of one of the warehouses, he peered up and down it curiously.

Predaking and Ultra Magnus panted upon catching up with Predaking punching his shoulder angrily. "What part of 'keep stealthy' did you not get?!"

Grimlock ignored him and still stared down the door, the scent not leaving him. When none of his peers did anything, he whined in concern as the scent overwhelmed him. He was drawn to it but repulsed by it at the same time.

Predaking noticed this and grew worried before swiftly sending a kick right into the door. He did this several more times until it broke off its hinges and collapsed. The inner warehouse proved dark and Ultra searched for a light switch or something to ease the shadowed ambience. When he found a panel faintly glowing, he pressed its top button and the warehouse gained light. But they didn't expect what they saw.

On the floor lied over a hundred dead soldiers and one familiar body. Tyrus. Although he didn't look like he had been killed here due to the lack of blood stains in his place, it was haunting to see him lifeless. The rest of the dead were piled carelessly and they certainly were killed in the warehouse as blood from each had dried over each other and the floor beneath the pile.

"C-contact Shockwave and Haywire...tell them Rockrider...tell them..." Ultra couldn't push out the words needed to describe the horror of the warehouse.

Predaking and Grimlock both were understandably in the same boat. None of them were strangers to death but it took a certain type of bot to merely pile bodies like trash and leave them to rust without some sort of acknowledgement to their services. Even Megatron had more respect for the dead than this and he wasn't much better as they all knew.

Without argument, Predaking simply nodded and activated his comm. "Shockwave, we, uh, found Tyrus and the warehouse. Rockrider isn't here but...it's not pretty."

"Understood. I'll send for the officials to deal with it. Come back and we'll talk."

They didn't move. They still tried to wrap their heads around what they were seeing and they didn't know how to respond.

Back at the palace, Haywire and Shockwave tried desperately to get the communications to send a message. Something either was tampering with the signal or it was still damaged.

"Arcee, this is Haywire. Please respond."

Nothing was going through and he feared that maybe the other explanation was Arcee might have been no more. He knew she was a tough one but he didn't know what lied on the isle and the Allspark was said to be the key to life and death itself, the death part concerning most of all.

He sighed and sat in a stray chair, moving back slightly from his momentum. "I don't know what to do, Shockwave. We can keep trying or we can finally admit that Arcee is lost. You were right; we might be chasing corpses."

Shockwave knew what he had told Bumblebee and to hear Haywire giving in upon his own words didn't sit right anymore. He knew when he said something, he was usually right but he hoped he wasn't for once.

"Don't give up yet," Shockwave said in a reassuring tone. "Do you...want to know something about Matriarch and me? When I met her, I hated her. I did everything to try and understand why Megatron would put trust in a mere Vehicon, but I realized that she was more than just an over-glorified Vehicon. So, I pursued her. I kept trying no matter what, went through a scare of her disappearing, thought she died by Ultra Magnus and almost gave up on everything. But something kept telling me that things would get better. So, I kept hoping until we met again after the war and...well, we've been together ever since."

"Really?"

"Yes. I know we seem psychotic together but it's true. The point is I never gave up trying to understand her, never stopped believing that she was alive when I feared she had perished. There may have been a chance I could have been wrong, but you can only find out if you keep trying until you know for certain."

Haywire felt a small smile play on his face but then it dropped, more so in amusement than anything. "I...don't think that's the best example of not giving up, but my condolences on your union with your tyrannical, scary sweetheart."

"I'm not good with inspirational speeches," Shockwave admitted.

"It wasn't bad, not the same subject matter technically but it worked. I'll try again for you."

Haywire pressed what he needed to resend the signal with the hope that Arcee would respond this time. He still received static but there was a pulsing between the waves like it was indeed trying to go through. Good enough.

"Arcee, if you can hear me, we need you back home. Everything has turned into a living hell since you've gone. Shockwave is here with me and he can confirm this. We need you and Megatron back. I don't know how to help you and I don't think I can, but I want you to know that we have taken back the palace and your throne from Rockrider and Wrathzone. It's here waiting for you. Please, find a way back to us by any means necessary!"

He cut the transmission when no response came.

Shockwave bowed his helm slightly and said, "Nice speech."

"I just hope now that they can return if at all."

"And if they don't?"

"Eventually, Cybertron is going to need someone to rule. We can only wait for so long. Temporarily, you and I will be co-rulers, Autobot and Decepticon each until we know for sure Arcee can't come back. Let's see if we can double our efforts in finding Optimus and the others."

Arcee and Megatron ran as they heard the thundering sound of more portals cracking open elsewhere on the isle. The jungle was getting thicker, harder to navigate and she didn't waste any time slicing down vines and foliage in her way.

When they reached a more open area, they suddenly heard monkey noises. Arcee paused and gave Megatron a deadpanned look. "No way has a batch of monkeys survived the isle for this long."

Sure enough, the same monkeys she had encountered her first day on the isle were maneuvering around the trees, some with young clinging to them, and the most shocking of them all was the fact that sitting in a tree nook between the branches and the truck was the Mallibi. It glanced at her for a second before making a howl of excitement. Apparently, it remembered her too.

The other monkeys of various breeds stopped what they were doing as the Mallibi climbed down to approach Arcee. She knew it was friendly but she still kept close to Megatron not wanting to get squished again. Capuchins and howlers started to perch on her shoulders while some climbed onto Megatron who just sighed. The Mallibi made a gesture as if to welcome her back.

"Long time no see, guys. Hate to break this to you but we really have to go," she said.

Just then, she noticed there was something enclosed in one of the Mallibi's right hands. There was a faint glow to it. Out of all the places she could have guessed the gem to be, in the Mallibi's care was not one. But she remembered what Bolt said. A Mallibi knew how to trade so if she offered something, maybe it would give up the gem in return. Problem was she didn't have anything to bargain with.

Megatron seemed to think the same thing and pulled out one of his swords and examined it. Arcee immediately caught on and gave him a horrified look.

"You are not giving the Mallibi a sword. Have you not seen Planet of the Apes? That's a terrible idea."

Megatron frowned, "What is that? Some type of self-mocking human autobiography? We already know what humans are capable of, Arcee. This is a Mallibi and I trust it more than any human."

Arcee stared at him dumbfounded but slowly just sighed, "Sure, it's an autobiography of human destruction. We'll go with that, I guess. Still, don't give it a sword."

"What else do I have to bargain with?" He replied slightly irked at the demand, shooing away a monkey on his arm.

She couldn't answer that. They had literally nothing on person to give a Mallibi.

Suddenly, Arcee's commlink turned static before she heard broken sentences. "...you can hear me, we need you...Everything has turned into...you've gone. Shockwave...with me...We need you and Megatron back. I don't know…I don't think I...taken back the palace and your throne from...It's here waiting for you...find a way back to us by any means..."

"Hello?! Haywire, is that you?!"

Her commlink died and she peered at the ground. Megatron placed a servo on her shoulder, "What's wrong?"

"I heard Haywire! He was trying to contact me! I couldn't respond though. I think the Allspark is so focused on using its powers to warp the cosmos that its blocking ability for communications is slowly being phased out. Haywire said he took my throne back, I think! I couldn't hear who did it but that's not important right now."

Megatron smiled, "Excellent, I hope they imprisoned the bastard so I can kill them myself."

She laughed, "Wait your turn, I intend to bring some pain too."

"Anything for you."

Arcee and Megatron suddenly heard a massive boom and looked up to see somewhere above the jungle the light of a cracking portal created by the Allspark appeared. Then they heard something far worse. An Insecticon-like baritone roar echoed throughout the region, and both bots realized the Allspark had brought something else to stop them, something bigger. They both hoped that they could avoid whatever was now descending on Primal Jungle but given their record of enemies and how things went, they knew it was unlikely that they would obtain the gem without meeting such a fiend.

"Here we go again!" Arcee hissed.

The portal ripped just beyond the tree where the Mallibi had been and voices echoed like a ghostly audience either cheering or violently killing one another. It was hard to distinguish but it was much more chaotic than the whispers they were accustomed to, cementing how deranged the Allspark had become. On top of that, the Allspark's energy from the portal seemed to be flowing into the atmosphere as storm clouds began to form with lightning and rain started their assault on the isle.

Unlike the portal that transported the Predacon and Insecticon through time and space, this one swirled with energy that flew out of it like a hurricane. It began taking shape as strands of it weaved to physical designs. Wings, tail, arms, legs, and body began being distinguishable. If they had to guess, this was how the Allspark reanimated those that died. However, the realization of this hit both of them hard as they then tried to deduce who it was bringing back. When a visible spark grew among its outlined chest and the neck and head finally came in, they were mortified at who it was.

Shaking from the energy as it burst to reveal a newly rebuilt body, the monstrous Insecticon leader himself bellowed to the sky as his four wings helped him hover over the jungle. Waspinator was alive!

"This guy?! Oh, we are dead..."

The dark green armor with light green stripes stood out among the red stars and auroras. The two burly arms of the beast flexed as he studied his revived form while the two smaller insect-like ones on his lower chest clutched close to his body. The limber neck and dragon-like head with two horns for antennae shook with a growl. Deep purple, pupil-less optics narrowed angrily when he then spotted the monkeys and the bots.

"Arcee and Megatron! Last time I saw you, Megatron, you rammed your warship's bow into me. Now, let me repay that favor by crushing your skull in my servos!"

Megatron looked to the side before addressing Arcee. "Huh, I remember him but I don't remember that. I've done way too many things in my life and he wouldn't be the first I killed by my warship."

"Is there anything you haven't done?" Arcee said bewildered.

"At this point, I just roll with what my enemies say I did because in all likelihood, I probably did it. It is not a far stretch of what I would do anyway so..." he mumbled as he shrugged. "If I killed Waspinator by impaling him with my ship, which I think I remember now that I did, there's no misplaced anger on Waspinator's part. I love making enemies; it puts humor into my life figuring out what I did like a trip down memory lane."

Arcee mused, "You're psychotic...but I can't help but be impressed by that."

Waspinator looked between the two annoyed at their over-friendly bickering, crossing his arms like a pouting kid at being ignored as the only noise from him was the sound of his wings flapping to keep him steady midair. He wasn't a joke and the fact that they could make one about his death was even more infuriating. He scowled before his throat lit up with purple bio lights running upward. A burst of lavender flame erupted from his mouth and both bots were quick to flee with the monkeys scattering.

The fire was much more direct than normal flames but with the rain pouring heavier now, the fire didn't spread from its impact though it left quite a mark among the jungle floor.

"Bolt, Waspinator is here! Bumblebee's brother-turned-monster!"

"Wasp?! Of course, the Allspark would bring him back! I remember when we confronted him on Earth when he came to kill Bumblebee. He hid his monstrous form well. We killed him with the Nemesis but since we don't have the ship anymore, I don't really know what will stop him!"

Dagger Prima seemed to come to life again and Arcee could feel its energy surging. They may have not had a ship to impale Waspinator with this time but they did have a mystical dagger forged by Solus Prime herself. Anything Solus made was built to endure unless it was against something of equal empowerment. Waspinator was not indestructible, and Arcee would prove that to the Insecticon leader today.

Megatron frowned, "We're running out of time. If we're going to do this, got to be quick about it."

Arcee held off from reaching for the dagger and instead wanted Waspinator to feel something before she planned on sending him back to the Well. She pulled out the Rozarian blood grenades and said, "Good, just how I want it to be. Quick and humiliating."

"Good luck out there!" Bolt said.

Waspinator dived down and landed harshly, making a few trees fall. "You took my life, Megatron! I will gain much pleasure taking yours!"

Megatron sidestepped on a tree to gain height and sent a swift punch to Waspinator's faceplates. He hit the ground running as Waspinator stomped around trying to catch him. "I know already! Can't say you didn't deserve it!"

He high fived Arcee as she passed to run at Waspinator, jumping from his leg up to his shoulder and throwing a grenade right as she leapt off. It exploded right in the beast's face as Megatron caught her upon his second runaround.

Waspinator snarled as he converted onto all fours and hit his tail onto the jungle floor, uprooting trees and stirring up dirt in his assault. He then roared, throat vibrating to make an ungodly sound until another grenade exploded on the underside of his chin which he whipped his head to look downward with a glare as Arcee flipped him off.

"Annoying bitch."

"Up yours, you ugly cockroach!" She yelled back.

Arcee frowned when his clawed servo came down in an attempt to grab her. She jumped through his fingers and pulled out her gatling gun, firing upon while dodging his attacks. The bullets put holes into the purple glass paneling that made his chest look like the face of a real wasp, the glass itself was in the shape of the eyes.

"Always have the smart mouth on you, Arcee. I could never understand why you traded your life for a job you weren't meant to do. A dancer for an assassin? You should have stuck with the former; you never would have made it had Optimus had any sense in him."

Megatron shot profusely at Waspinator's right kneecap, shattering the armor protecting it with a flurry of blasts. "Don't disrespect her, you coward!"

The warlord slid right into Waspinator's tail as its thick base coiled around him, the dragon-like bug moving his neck to peer around at him.

"And what of you, Megatron? A pathetic failure you turned out to be? You started a war but you couldn't keep up with it until it had eaten you from the inside out. Now, you are just a washed-out phony trying to relive glory days you never truly had."

Megatron growled, baring his sharp teeth and Waspinator responded by roaring at his face, his lower jaw splitting into two to emphasize the fang-infested mouth could and would shred the mech up upon being consumed.

A blast to the face again made Waspinator wince, then another one hit right as he tried to look at its origin. Arcee then threw another grenade right into his open jaws and the Insecticon leader swallowed it frowning. A muted boom was hardly made out and the only indication of its presence was a brief wide-eyed expression from Waspinator. The beast lifted his neck up and gave a loud burp, smoke and a small fireball flickered out as he then grinned in amusement at Arcee's failed attempt to kill him even though he had lost track of her.

"Is that all you got, little femme?"

Waspinator abruptly let go of Megatron when a sharp pain hit his abdomen. He looked under himself to see Arcee giving him a dark glare and Dagger Prima twisting among his protoform.

"No, I have plenty more in my arsenal."

Narrowing his optics, Waspinator sent a spew of flame directly at her. She ducked out of range between his legs and under his irate, swinging tail. She heard him yell, "You remind me of Bumblebee, just as stubborn and stupid!"

Megatron grabbed her when a second shot of flame nearly torched her from the side as Waspinator whipped around, optics blazing bright purple.

"Cutting it close?"

Arcee scoffed, "Working on it!"

"If that blade is powerful enough to breach his armor, then maybe we should take advantage of a small opportunity. Where would you like to be thrown at?"

When she realized what he was implying, she matched his murderous smile and readjusted onto his servo. "I think the head will do."

He laughed, "Always going for the critical hits warrior-style. I expected nothing less."

As Waspinator stomped towards them, Megatron threw her and she went rocketing past the bug's head as he tried to track her. Lifting up on his hind legs, he grew aggravated as she caught his horn and swung down to his head. She clutched the side of his antennae horns as he hit his chin against the floor of the jungle, dragging it enraged as Megatron kept firing into his side below leaving cracked armor in his wake. He whipped his head in every direction at blazing fast speeds.

"Get off me!"

"No, Wasp, I'm not letting go! Bumblebee never did and neither will I! You had potential! You had friends and family! You keep thinking you can just forget about them because you consider yourself a monster but we never forgot you!"

"I don't need anyone! I have always been right! You're just as much of a fool as Bumblebee was! And when I kill you, I'll fly to Cybertron if I have to and rip his spark from his chest!"

Arcee scowled at Waspinator's persistence. He was always reckless and selfish. As much as it pained her to do so, it was time to put him down again. This time, she would make sure he wouldn't come back until he repented his cruel mindset, a day that she doubted she would ever see.

"I pity you. You're just another fallen warrior like all the other great bots of our time."

"I will destroy you!" He hissed as Megatron's cannon blew a hole into his abdominal armor where the dagger had been previously.

Waspinator swung his head as he reared like an animal possessed. But as he did, Arcee let go and was sent skyward. With Dagger Prima glowing in her grasp, she came back down with a flip and a snarl as his form became parallel with the ground.

"You lost your head long ago, Wasp!"

The Insecticon leader barely glanced upward before his expression turned into pure startlement when the dagger suddenly cut right through his upper neck. His head fell still with the shocked expression permanently on it on the ground while his body lurched up, servos scrunching between open palm motions and fists. His body moved backwards a few feet before the systems finally caught up with the lack of power and the fading spark cut off from its energy supply and cognitive relays. His wings sagged as his chassis creaked and his arms dropped slowly to his sides. With an Earth-shaking rumble, Waspinator's headless corpse collapsed on its front.

Arcee took a defensive pose upon landing, twirling the blade to point behind her. When Waspinator was no longer a threat, she returned it to sit upon her backside with a smirk. "That's how it's done."

She looked at Megatron who was staring hard. She couldn't tell if he was impressed, frightened, or expressing something else entirely.

Then they both heard a single, near-silent monkey howl. They turned to their right to see a whole wall of monkeys, apes, and the Mallibi staring at them. Both bots glanced at one another unsure if what they did was good in their audience's eyes or not as the primates looked between them and the decapitated Waspinator. They were dead silent aside from the one making occasionally small noises in concern. It was unnerving to say the least.

Suddenly, all the monkeys howled happily to their shock. They were clapping, hopping up and down on the various trees, and generally excited. The Mallibi was the loudest of all even against the siamang gibbons that screamed with their expanded neck pouches.

Arcee threw up her eyebrows as Megatron yelled through the noise. "Looks like you have fans!"

Not wanting to seem ungrateful, she took a quick bow though she knew the monkeys didn't know the gesture at all. When the monkeys died down a bit, the Mallibi approached, still with the gem in its grasp. Arcee thought for a second before reaching back and tearing off both horns from Waspinator's skull. She handed one to Megatron and she offered the other to the Mallibi.

The Mallibi studied her, then the horn of the beast she had slain. It seemed to recognize what she was doing and took the horn before expanding its arm to give her the gem.

She took it slowly. "A fair trade, no?"

The Mallibi made a grunt of agreement and reached out to touch her shoulder as if to thank her for protecting its friends. She nodded as it turned to leave, howling at the others. Chimpanzees, capuchins, howlers, and various others obeyed it as it waddled back into the deep jungle and jumped into the trees.

Arcee held the gem and then gave Megatron a triumphant smile. "Who knew the power of friendship really does pay off in the end?"

"Yeah, until a situation happens when it's you or its group then it will probably gladly dismember you."

"Megatron, can't you just be nice about anything regarding others?"

"Nope, I call it as I see it," he grinned.

"You two need to get back here! Something's wrong with the gems! More portals are opening and our deadline is nearly upon it with how fast the Allspark is screwing with the basis or reality!"

Their humor died instantly as they looked at each other. With all eleven gems, they needed to find a way into the citadel and stop the Allspark or die trying.

AN: References to "The Minotaur's Labyrinth" galore, I figured it was time to bring Waspinator back, especially among a jungle setting. No other monster seemed to work for the area boss.

Featured monsters:

Waspinator the Insecticon Leader (Cybertron)