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

The death of Bolt shook Arcee. Her spark tightened with dismay as she heard the Predator's call. As she was tinkering with the gems, her best friend was fighting a monster and died. She felt ashamed; she shouldn't have listened to Megatron and joined in as she knew she needed to.

Now ignoring Megatron's command, she raced towards the Predator without any hesitation. She ran up its tail and kicked its jaw when it turned to look at her. The hit barely landed and it snapped back as Megatron yelled out her name.

"How could you?!"

She didn't expect it to understand, not that it would want to anyways, but she did hope it understood how much she loathed it. She assumed the feeling was very much mutual.

"You kill everything you can fit in your greedy belly, you son of a bitch!"

The Cybertronian Predator sprayed blood from its mouth as it roared at her in response. It didn't splash on her but she could tell it was Bolt's, making her breathe harshly. She was about to chastise it more when Megatron grabbed her as it came down to eat her as well. The impact blinded it from keeping track and caused it to lose visual of its prey. With a growl, it frustratingly stomped around breaking any rocks in its path. More cracks upon the ground formed with a groan.

Megatron held a servo over Arcee's mouth which she struggled against as they hid behind a large boulder. When she bit him, he made silent snarl and whispered angrily, "What is with you?! Do you want to get killed?!"

"What's the point, Megatron?!" She whispered through her fury, "We can't win against this thing! It's killed Bolt and now we're next like we always are! We always lose our friends and family because of one simple mistake!"

"Don't tell me you are blaming yourself here because this is not the time for it! If we could control everything, we wouldn't be in this situation...but we are and right now, we are the only bots capable of stopping it as the world crumbles around us! We can't be pointing fingers, Arcee, not now. If we don't do anything, we're dead regardless. Bolt made his move and that's that. I wanted to stop him but I couldn't...knowing him. We'll talk about this later when we aren't in danger!"

Arcee frowned as Moonhunter looked between them when suddenly, a hiss made them freeze and press against the rock, keeping still as the Predator's snout came into view leaking Energon and water, stained with crusting blood upon its neck and head. However, the side of its face with the offline optic faced them so it was blind to their presence for the time being.

It sniffed around, grunting with a twitch of its frown. Slowly, it opened its jaws to reveal all its teeth, even the rows that weren't visible normally. With a clattering noise of contemplation, it moved back when it grew uncertain of whether or not they were really among the area.

When it disappeared, Arcee immediately growled at Megatron. "How do you expect me to feel knowing by not doing anything to help Bolt, I technically killed him!"

"Again, not the best time for this," Megatron whispered. "You get so caught up with death that you blame yourself or you fixate on avenging them. Expecting the clock to reverse isn't going to make our situation any better, Arcee. You have to understand that. How many nights did you stay awake wondering what happened if you stayed with Cliffjumper, hmm? How many years did you live thinking that you could have saved Tailgate from Airachnid? You cannot condemn yourself to the past; that's how great bots like you lose themselves. And I'm not innocent of this either. Look what happened when I wouldn't give up the fact that I didn't become a Prime and I lost Orion."

Arcee slowly reeled back in slight shock upon hearing her partners' names knowing Megatron was right about how she acted.

"Maybe we did screw up, Arcee, I especially, but we cannot dwell on the past forever. Megatronus turned insane because of his actions, Tigressa let revenge consume her after instigating a war she lost, Quintessa became obsessed with power and perfection, and the Cybertronian Predator believes it still is the ruler of a lost animal kingdom Cybertron no longer has and will kill anything that moves. The difference between us and them is that despite our choices, we still made an attempt to fix what we've done. And we still have a chance to do so but only if you believe you can."

The queen sighed and looked to the side contemplating her options. Then she thought about the situation, really narrowed down the aspects of everything that could and would go wrong with the Predator still hunting them against what she could use to her advantage. Then something clicked.

"Maybe I suck at keeping my emotions in check...but maybe that's exactly what I need at the moment. Watch and learn," she said with sudden confidence.

Megatron grinned, "There's the Arcee I know."

Arcee leapt out from behind the boulder as Megatron followed, then yelled, "Hey, why don't you eat something more on the lighter side?! Give your jaws a break?!"

The Cybertronian Predator whipped its head to glare as her with a low rumble.

"Come on, you overgrown tyrant! You've been on top of Cybertron's food chain for too long but you of all things should know, everything falls eventually!"

She then looked to the mountain top area and remembered the various pits among the rock layout. They fell into a shadowed valley beneath the citadel...and that's where she was going to send this thing if it killed her. She looked at Megatron who immediately caught on to her plan with a nod and they both stared down the Predator as it shook with rage bleeding heavily. The blood loss from all its previous and current injuries seemed to be making it slower and that's the advantage they needed now.

Suddenly, a random portal opened beside the Predator and a Predacon appeared...only for the larger of the two to immediately grab it, throw it to the ground and break its neck before tossing its body in mere seconds. Megatron and Arcee were terrified upon seeing the Predator do that. It seemed to not be in any mood but to kill, that's how enraged it was. No wonder none of the Thirteen Primes could take it.

Arcee took out the last of her grenades, a mere seven of them left. She knew she had to make them count. Together, they could do damage to most things so she only had one shot that mattered. The cracks on the ground from the Predator stalking and fighting both Bolt and Megatron previously made her grin.

"Game on."

The Predator sneered in return, stepping on the remains of the Predacon as Arcee and Megatron jumped in unison to kick it right in the head. It was enough for the beast to blink and shake its head with a confused grunt before Arcee littered the ground with the remaining grenades among its furious stomping.

After lying the last of it down, Arcee whistled to Megatron to vacate with Moonhunter as the Predator's attention was drawn to her alone. It peered down beneath itself and snarled as she ran at it, suddenly swiping the dagger right into its face. The creature jolted and clutched its face as the tip of its snout was cut off, making it rear and stumble back barely missing the grenades. The red gem on it flew quite a ways before embedding into the ground with a thud. Megatron grabbed the red gem as the Predator was leaking blood like mad.

"Hey, freak of nature!"

The Cybertronian ceased its painful whine and glared at her now walking backwards away from it behind it with Moonhunter hissing as he ran.

She leveled her blaster to aim at one of the grenades and frowned, "You may be indestructible but you will never be anything but a stupid animal. On Cybertron, most bots don't believe you even existed and I'm going to keep it that way."

Optic flaring as the other sparked with the axe in it, the Predator roared at her right at she fired. Right as the Predator took a step forward, the rock blew apart, shaking the mountain as ground began to collapse. Into the heart of the mountain did the rocks fall and the Predator tried to outrun the crumbling area.

Upon seeing it actually succeeding, Arcee gave a battle cry and ran at the Predator as Megatron ran after her. She grabbed the nearest movable object, a boulder from the carved rockface among the citadel, and threw it right at the beast. "See you never again!"

The Predator stalled in its tracks from the hit long enough for the ground to catch up to it. With one last bellow, the Cybertronian Predator clawed at the rock as its footing was lost before succumbing to the fall. Its bellow echoed upon its disappearance into the great chasm, and Arcee backed away until the ground stopped falling apart with only a few pieces breaking off afterwards. With a boom, the sound of rock and the body of the Predator hit the bottom of the pit echoed, deep silence following. She heard it no more and peered over the edge to merely see a faint outline of it. She couldn't tell if it was dead or unconscious but it no longer posed a threat to them.

Megatron looked over her at the newly widened pit and huffed, "To think that could have been me once."

Arcee, however, didn't share the humor this time and Moonhunter whimpered as he sensed her depression. As the rain slowed to a drizzle and the lightning staying above the clouds more despite the portals still cracking open above them, she merely closed her optics.

"I should have jumped into the fight sooner, maybe Bolt would still be-"

A servo gripped her shoulder. "Still be what? We had this conversation, Arcee. Still be another target while you might be in worse danger? Bolt sacrificed himself for Moonhunter, to keep the Predator from going after me, and if all else failed...to keep it from then hunting you. There's no telling how the fight would have changed if you joined in sooner or he didn't do what he did. Maybe there was a chance we would have all survived and maybe we would have all died. He knew the risks; we all did against something that not even our ancestors knew how to fight."

"It still feels so wrong. I...I promised him...everything when we got back, Megatron," she nearly cried. "I promised..."

Megatron sighed as he held up the Predator's red gem, a claw stroking its rough surface. "Things never go as planned. I would know. In a way, I'm much more guilty than you are. In fact, I would say everything that has happened is my fault."

Arcee sank to sit upon the desolate, silent rockface and muttered, "How so?"

He joined her and Moonhunter rested his head on Arcee's thigh. He then said, "Everything started with the war and with it, my desire for more. I made the war, the war led to the caste system being destroyed, you rising to power, you overthrown, the Allspark abandoning us, and all of this. None of this would have happened if I had just listened to Optimus...Orion. In a way, had I not done it, this isle wouldn't even exist and the Allspark would have never left. So, I'm responsible for Bolt's death. I'm responsible for Cybertron's death, all your friends' deaths, and my own soldiers' deaths. Regardless of what you did or didn't do, you're a saint compared to me and Bolt would do anything to protect you, that's how much you mean to him...to us."

That kind of made Arcee break a small smile. "You always find a way to blame yourself to make me feel better. You shouldn't be doing that."

"Hey, it's pretty easy when it's true. And like I said, dwelling on the past, no matter how screwed up it is, never wins battles. When I fight, I don't think about how anything would be different. I only think about what I have now. It's why I never lost myself like those we fought these past few weeks. There's a lot I should have done differently but I move on not out of disrespect but because there just can't be any room for error which is why I wanted you to forget what you could or should have done. We all have regrets; don't let it consume you or you will be destroyed by it."

She bit her lip. "You're right but after this, I will find a way to bring him back. We've had people cheat death before on both our sides, we can do it again."

Megatron snickered, "Employ Shockwave for the best results. He always comes through."

Frowning, she then scoffed, "I said I want Bolt back, not a monster that looks like Bolt. No thank you. But you know something, despite everything you did and what you told me, all the pain and torment you created for Autobots and Decepticons alike, your actions did lead to a lot of good things. Did you ever realize that?"

"Hard to look back upon those days without seeing the hardships I created. What did I do that was good, pray tell?"

"You helped Optimus get over his shyness which led him to become the Prime he is now, you created an army that has produced one of the most endearing, selfless mechs I have ever met, you brought together a faction that has shaped history, good and bad, and that is now regarded as one of the most successful military uprisings against a manipulative system ever recorded in the galaxy, and it was because of all your flaws and resourcefulness that you became the mech you are now willing to fight by my side and for Earth which you previously despised. Had the war not happened, do you think any of that could have? Had you not gone to the lengths you did, do you think I would have...found you inspiring which led to me to leave my forced career as a dancer and become who I am?"

That caught him off guard and he stared at her with an unknown expression. "I...what?"

Arcee smiled and blushed. "When you were a gladiator, there wasn't a single bot who didn't know who you were. You were an inspiration to everyone who was in the middle and low classes. A miner who became a warrior; no one ever saw anything like it. To control your own fate, to change it, those were fairytale dreams to the rest of us. You going into politics only made our hope grow and we took our leaps of faith because of you, though, yes, many of us went against you once certain factors came in about your desires being a bit too tyrannical. I followed your example, my sisters did too. And we made our names...because of you. You want to think about what wouldn't be around had you not started the war? I wouldn't be around. Am I a mistake?"

"N-no! No, I didn't think about that, but you are one of the best Autobots who have ever fought me, Arcee. Never forget that," Megatron said. "And I guess I never considered that about Bolt either."

As the tainted stars still shined the same as their normal coloring past the lessening clouds and the slow rips of the fabric of reality, Arcee gained a newfound confidence upon realizing Bolt's sacrifice was more than just an action. It was hope. He wouldn't have done it if he didn't believe they could continue on. Everything happens for a reason as painful as some things can be. She would avenge him; she mentally made that promise here and now.

"You are right; things never go as planned," she whispered.

Megatron looked at her as she stood up and studied Dagger Prima.

"Maybe we didn't plan on Bolt's sacrifice but now we have a means to do what we came here for because of it. I sure hope the Allspark didn't have any plans because I think we should give it a nasty wake up call," she then smirked. "For Bolt."

The warlord grinned and stood alongside her with Moonhunter giving an assuring growl. "For Bolt, to the end."

Arcee then wasted no more time and ran back to the slightly disturbed circle of the pulsing gems, realigning them back on the rock in front of the citadel but this time, she placed the Predator's gem in the center to match the stars above. Dagger Prima began to glow with whispers emitting from it. All twelve of them lifted off the ground and she instinctively pointed them at the wall of the citadel.

"Show me what you can do."

The dagger obeyed somehow and the gems flew to hover around the blade circling it clockwise while the red gem tilted horizontally right above the weapon to align itself like an arrow pointing north. All eleven Allspark gems the rotated quickly before they sent rays of their power into the red gem, illuminating it. A red beam of light burst out with the combined energy and hit the wall.

Suddenly, the citadel began to rumble. An outline of a door appeared before pieces of the wall sank inward. It shifted then opened to reveal a lavish hall untouched by any living being. Both Megatron and Moonhunter stared in awe while Arcee simply stood triumphant.

"Now, we're getting somewhere."

The memory was there, faint but it could feel it.

Solus Prime looked at it with her usual sweet smile and a small, gracious laugh that warmed its core. It was always like her to be this way; she was never seen without her happy demeanor. But when her face twisted into horror, the never-ending screams haunted it and its failure.

"I saw you; I couldn't stop him. It would have been so different had I just said something. My fault, all my fault."

A divine presence unable to speak, the Allspark remembered not what led to this decision but the aftermath of it along with its punishment. The same type of screams it heard since that faithful day were repeated as it was trapped for millions of years. It couldn't forget it if it tried.

"I watched them talk about you. I knew what was in his heart; it was love. You couldn't see what had tampered with it. You couldn't hear what the other said. I remained silent hoping I was wrong. How could I have been so foolish? Corruption everywhere. I had to do it for you. I had no choice but to break his spirit to punish him, the innocent...but what did I get in return? Betrayal, imprisoned with my powers stolen!"

The sentries never spoke a word in their saddened state. Many lied in a circle around it slowly drifting to sleep, one that the Allspark knew was only a matter of time before they would never again awake from. Memories and emotions each had pained it so; it was best to let them die. It was best to forget.

But it remembered this moment...why? It was horrific yet it was seeing it. The gems...they were close.

The Allspark could feel their dim energy, its own craving them back. No, it was too late! It couldn't let all of that in again. It hurt too much! It didn't want to remember anything, not the corruption and certainly not that. It was better off without them.

But a twinge of guilt plagued it, a familiar scar. Solus had been its friend, it remembered now. How could it dare forget her like their moments together didn't matter? That was worse than sending monsters to protect an isle from three Cybertronians that were in its way. Everything it was doing was bad!

"What have I done?! I didn't do anything! Yes, I did!"

Conflicting emotions scared it. Why was in feeling this now? Then it grew suspicious. This wasn't random. It was them!

Opening a portal to view down to the base of the citadel, the Allspark saw Arcee, Megatron and Bolt fighting the dreaded Cybertronian Predator. Their bravery, though idiotic, was impressive against such an unforgiving creature of nature. Hearing the Vehicon clone ranting was humorous but seeing him save the Nitrotiger was...different. It never assumed a Vehicon would be that noble over an animal or for their previously tyrannical master. Seeing that made the Allspark's red hue flicker. Then it felt the soul of the Vehicon enter its Well.

It didn't know whether to be relieved or saddened at such nobility for a mere cloned soldier. That wasn't what it expected at all. What was arguably worse was the fact Arcee did the impossible. The Cybertronian Predator was defeated after a cunning strategy no Cybertronian themselves had ever managed to pull against the greatest hunter on Cybertron. Tricking the Predator, already damaged from a worthy fight with the monstrous Klea Pakora, into taking a fall was unheard of. Everyone always relied on firepower against the titan, for nothing less could counter it, but using the environment to an advantage...Cybertron may have been a flatland fortress but maybe that was its own weakness.

Arcee stopped an indestructible monster. Now, the Allspark wasn't so sure of its choice. She was still alive and the only one capable of stopping her was the Allspark itself. Then it remembered the far promise it had made with its sentries. If Arcee made it to the citadel, it would go willingly back to Cybertron.

It refused to believe it was over and as it spotted its gems, it grew infuriated. She thought she could just waltz into its home to stop it?! No, that wasn't going to happen. The game was not over yet! It was time for her to face it and it alone. Let's see how strong she was without any assistance whatsoever.

Rumbling and shaking, the black mountains seemed to come to life even as the rips of reality tore at its own body.

Arcee, Megatron, and Moonhunter peered around as cracked light hissed upon the ground emitting from the citadel itself. Like a volcano awakening, the black mountains roared with rock breaking off in its quaking anger.

"We're out of time!" Megatron said.

He helped Arcee grab all the gems and throw them into the bag she was given by Bolt as the ground they sat on began to crumble. With a hiss, smoke escaped the collapsing rock as they hurried towards the open door.

More portals appeared above them and below within the mountain, fusing together as reality was broken apart piece by piece. The sky seemed to be calling to them with screaming whispers like it was in pain.

Grabbing Moonhunter, Megatron threw the cat first then Arcee. She slid across the pristine halls of the citadel and watched helplessly as the ground broke under him. He jumped as smoke covered the view and he let out a startled growl.

"Megatron!"

Arcee immediately ran to the ledge of the citadel's door with Moonhunter whimpering behind her. As the smoke cleared, the rock and all the surrounding area among the mountain top was gone, fallen over five hundred meters down to the lonely valley where the Predator lied. Nothing but the mountain ridges outlining its exterior remained. She didn't see Megatron and her spark began to plummet.

"No!"

Suddenly, a servo latched onto the floor scaring her. Claws dug into the silver-blue tiling as Megatron crawled up his upper half with a grunt. She grabbed one of the servos and pulled to help him. When he sat upon the ledge, he scowled at the barren valley of rock now before them.

"Well, I guess this means there's no going back after all...literally."

Arcee kneeled beside him before placing a kiss upon his cheek. "Don't ever scare me like that again, tough guy."

Megatron smirked, "I'll try not to. When I get my flight back, I assure you, you'll never have to worry about me ever again."

"Oh, I'll find something. You know me," she mused as he stood up.

"Yes, I do know you and I wouldn't want you to be anyone else in the universe. So, ready to reign hell upon the Allspark's parade, partner?"

As Megatron held out his servo, Arcee grinned and high fived it. "Let's go give the Allspark a piece of our minds for our lovely vacation. Ain't that right, Moonhunter?"

The Nitrotiger yowled in agreement.

Turning to the citadel's hallowed halls, all three of them knew it was the final stretch. What lied in the tower aside from the Allspark itself, no one could guess. But no matter what was in it, they would prevail.

AN: The fight to the top! The citadel holds its own little tricks too. Now, it's personal. This is the last monster of the series dispatched leaving only two more enemies in play and yet, you will notice we still have 7 chapters to go with 1 more set of stories, 8 total. A lot can happen in that time frame...

Featured monsters:

Cybertronian Apex Predator (Cybertron)