"You did it. You made it all the way up here," the Allspark said in multiple voices in unison with a hint of surprise, its form returning to a soothing blue.
Arcee, looking bruised and scratched against the shimmering perfection of the Allspark, approached with Dagger Prima in hand. She ignored the mystical flow of time and space etched through the walls and beyond, leaking into an invisible boundary of an extraterrestrial plane of existence. The floor faded from the citadel's robust gold to have space itself for her to walk on as the Allspark had a beautiful blue and pink galaxy lined just behind it moving unfazed.
She gave a forced smile, "It was fun. All those monsters were quite a handful but nothing I couldn't conquer in the end."
The Allspark seemed to contemplate the bot before it. "Indeed. It is quite unexpected to see you here in front of me."
"I don't believe that. You left under a certain purpose you have yet to tell anyone, and you knew someone would come looking for you, try to bring you home. That's the whole reason you made the isle, isn't it? You're all-seeing. You knew one of us would go the distance, but you didn't want to go so you did your worst. You brought back the dead to torment in servitude, brought creatures out of their natural habitats to guard you, and here you are as your own line of defense. Why did you run?"
It chuckled, the stars sparkling in its presence. "You know, don't you?"
"My dethroning..." Arcee muttered. "You knew it would happen, but you didn't stop it?"
"It proved to me that Cybertron has not changed. Why should I waste my time and effort helping my own kin if they were only going to continue hurting each other? They used me! They used you! They don't want saving nor do they deserve it!"
"And you know this for a fact, huh? There will always be bad people in the world, in the universe, but it relies on people like us to stand up for what is right and here you are cowering in your citadel watching it unfold and not making any change you so crave to see. You complain about what fate has in store, but you sit around to let it happen instead of doing anything to at least make it tolerable."
The Allspark grew red and the galaxies around them slowly cackled with energy and shifted colors upon its command. Arcee heard the cracking of the citadel in a dimensional rift behind her. "You dare speak to me that way?!"
The femme wasn't taking its tantrum. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. You don't like it, you can do something about it, but I don't think I have anything to worry about now, do I?"
Taken aback, the Allspark was a bit unsure of how to respond and switched to a neutral dark purple coloring.
Arcee held up Dagger Prima and looked over the symbols of the language of the Primes as well as the more alien dialect that she knew now was Primus' and the Allspark's original language. "They say Solus Prime made this dagger and used it against Unicron on Chaar to lure him away, at least that's what Bolt said was claimed. But knowing what I know now, I don't think that's quite true. They never left Cybertron to draw Unicron away, they never went to Chaar, and you weren't asleep in the core as the story says, were you?"
"No, I was never asleep and Unicron never went to Chaar, neither did the Primes. This is true. But what is your point, young one?"
"This dagger wasn't just made by Solus Prime, was it?" She then asked, glaring at the Allspark itself. With the Allspark's silence, she continued, "You made a deal with Solus and embedded your power into it as a token of your appreciation and unity. Solus Prime was your friend, and it was only after her death where you were betrayed by remaining Primes. They were afraid because you foresaw it, but you didn't warn them in time about what Megatronus would do, not trusting your control over your own powers. So, you convinced yourself that they were all just bad people who wanted to hurt you when all it seemed to be was a misunderstanding."
"Well, aren't you clever?" The Allspark hissed. "I was Solus' friend, yes. But did you figure out the part where she knew what Megatronus and Liege Maximo wanted to do to me from the start? She knew and she didn't tell me."
"Was that before or after she crafted Dagger Prima?"
That made the powerful entity pause. "Well...it was before we made it but that means nothing to me."
Arcee kept pressing, "And did she say what she was making the dagger for?"
"She told me it was a gift for...myself. She wanted to make something special for me and she made the dagger with my consent and told me it would be used by no one other than those who I grant permission to wield it."
"It was found on Chaar by Bolt, the mech murdered by your command by the Cybertronian Predator. Why would an ancient relic of your power appear to someone like him...unless you sent it there for a reason."
"I don't know what you are implying-"
Arcee pointed the dagger at the Allspark. "You do. Everything happens for a reason, as you should know. Why was a weapon of your design never seen in millions of years beyond my time suddenly found in a Decepticon colony that didn't exist back then by the same bot who helped me get here in the first place to confront you? I think that's a pretty big coincidence."
The gems glowed in proximity to their original, and the Allspark shifted its energy uneasily. It gave a sigh, "When I learned of your betrayal years before, I couldn't help but think of my own. I...I wanted to set things right but, in my cowardice, I was afraid I would be sealed up again. I was consumed by my growing thoughts that I barely noticed the future of this moment. I was hopeful it could be set right again so I pinpointed a bot that could help. I sent the blade I kept so dear in my core to Chaar for him to find. But it was too late. My hope died and with it, my ability to understand just what was worth saving on Cybertron did too. You can't fix this, not anymore. And you will not drag me down again."
That made Arcee frown. "You've gone insane, haven't you? You placed clues for everyone to follow like breadcrumbs because you lost faith in your own home but hoped that someone like me would fix everything and bring you back when you became inept at doing it yourself. You've been battling an internal war with your own mind which is why you can't see clearly what you've done or how stupid your endeavor has been at keeping everyone out when you needed help. The gems are parts of your memory, your emotions that you cast away to keep the pain out. You've been sabotaging yourself...and I can't help but pity you."
"You have no idea what it's like...to be so powerful...but feel so useless, yet they say I have the power to change. I can't even change the fate of me going back to Cybertron against my current will! How am I supposed to change Cybertron for the better if I can't kill you?! I send the most damned creatures that ever existed between the cybernetic worlds, the most ruthless rulers and monsters that have ever lived against you! I unleashed the most horrifying abominations ever conceived and created by bot and nature alike! And you?! STILL?! STAND?!"
Arcee grew frightened as the spatial universe around them began to shake before white glowing cracks forced their way across the skies like they were in a glass box.
"You've been fighting with your inner conscience this entire time. This isn't you talking anymore, is it, Allspark? Your anger is what this is. You can't let go of the past and it's corrupting you. You're becoming no better than the evil you fight against!"
"Then I guess Cybertron and I have something in common after all, doesn't it?!" A multitude of voices screamed.
"That's not true! You are far better than this!" The femme then grasped Dagger Prima hard with a sneer, "But I guess I have no choice but to force you to see that."
The cracks exploded and a blinding light filled the whole area. When it died down, she was no longer in space but a ghostly planet filled with white vegetation and various half-sunken building from a mixture of worlds from Cybertron to even the skyscrapers of Earth. Spirit sentries could be seen everywhere hovering and taunting her. Their voices sounded much more individual. Upon looking up at the sky, a never-ending coil of greenish blue energy stretched up to a vanishing point and thousands of planets aligned in multiple rings circled above reaching to the beyond and down past the horizon. It seemed whatever planet she was on was the center of it all.
A major concern became the fact that she was beginning to lose feeling in parts of her body like she was fading away. It was a going fast, a creeping reaction but it soon became apparent the longer she stayed in the foreign world, the closer to non-existence she might just be. To her bewilderment and shock, a giant blue sun was hovering so close, it would have scorched the planet to a smoldering rock in less than a second, yet no distinct heat was burning her, and the planet was untouched. Then she heard a booming voice from the sun itself.
"You want so desperately for me to be at your mercy? Then why don't we put that misplaced heroism to the ultimate test?!" It was one solid voice with an unknown vocal pattern, almost alien.
"Welcome to my world, my Well! I control the universe here and all infinite forces of nature only obey me! Get used to the vacant feeling because when I'm through with you, there won't be anything left of the valiant, uncatchable Arcee. You won't be leaving any time soon!"
Suddenly, a being of light appeared and roared to the heavens. It looked somewhat like a Cybertronian but two sets of rings circled its spark in a transparent body. Six eyes of pure blue glowed upon the outline of its otherwise undetailed face and stared down at her. It looked to have a type of cloth on top of what was assumed to be the outlines of its shoulders and hip armor like a deity. The symbols of the unknown dialect seen on Dagger Prima reflected the same across its body, brighter than the outline of the spirit-like entity.
"Just so you know, if you die mortal while in the Well, your soul doesn't get to stay here. I will take immense pleasure in erasing you out of existence!"
Arcee had no clue how she was supposed to fight the entirety of the Allspark in its own realm. Killing certainly wasn't an option and she was sure knocking out an energy-based deity wasn't possible. Just then, she noticed the entity's chest. An eleven-pointed star symbol on it in front of its core made her realize the Allspark might have its own unique weakness: itself. If she were to send the gems back into its form, forcing it to absorb what it had lost, perhaps that would give her the edge to bring the entity down or buy her time to figure out another method to subdue it.
The Allspark lunged at her and formed a sword from thin air with its energy, hitting the ground and leaving a large impact mark but Arcee did a somersault to the side and leapt up to remain unaffected by the shockwave. Once she landed, she immediately grabbed one of the gems and held it with a sneer upon her face. As the Allspark pulled its blade out, it was her turn to run at it.
"Everyone sacrificed everything to help you recover your powers and yet you turned on us still. You're a hypocrite!" Arcee yelled as she struck the chest of the Allspark.
As she fell to the ground and landed, the gem shook sticking out of the Allspark's physical form and suddenly sank into its chest. The Allspark shivered and threw up its arms to cover its face. "No! You don't understand!"
A portal appeared to the side hovering in the air but unlike the ones seen transporting monsters, this one expanded as a memory was abruptly shown. It was the Allspark breaking free from its former prison and Arcee could hear the memory speaking, echoing among the vast space of the Well.
"Free at last! I thank you all for helping me; I am forever in your debt...debt...debt."
The memory faded and Arcee grabbed a second gem from the bag. At the same time, the Allspark roared and gestured upward. Rocks and portions of the ground were ripped from their placement and hovered among the planet to try and disrupt Arcee's path as she raced towards it. Using the platforms combined with her agility to her advantage, she jumped across multiple ones and used one with a tree to swing herself at the Allspark again. Impaling it with the second gem, she scowled.
"You promised you would be there for us! You wanted to help but you were so afraid that you wouldn't live up to expectations, so you sealed yourself in your tower hoping all the chaos and corruption would go away!"
The gem sank into it and another memory appeared among the sky and echoed in the cosmos. "I couldn't save them. I was wrong, wasn't I? I'm nothing but a fraud...fraud...fraud."
The Allspark swatted her away and grabbed its sword, swiping at her. "You could never understand the pain I went through! Serving Cybertronians for a part of my life and I got trapped for the rest of it just for doing my job!"
Arcee timed her jump and climbed up the sword as it embedded in the ground trying to slice her in half. The Allspark swatted its forearm to crush her, but she dove off it to the chest and struck it with the third gem. The memory associated with it appeared.
"Please! No! I will make things right again! Please! Don't do this...this...this!" The image of the Allspark's powers being ripped from it and placed into what was Vector Sigma by the remaining Primes upset even Arcee.
But in her distraction, the Allspark grabbed her and squeezed. "You think you know everything, but you cannot fathom the very heart of Cybertron's corruption and how long it's been since it never existed! The Primes betrayed me! They locked me up to be nothing but a glorified paperweight bots like you could use! Why should I believe you are any different than them?!"
Arcee struggled in its grip and scoffed, "Does it look like I want to use you? I want you to help your home! No, not everyone deserves your forgiveness but by defending those that rely on the safety of Cybertron, you can change the corruption that exists and stop it from spreading...but only if we work together!"
She broke one arm free and gripped the Allspark's index finger and twisted it. In shock, the Allspark released her, and she grabbed a fourth gem, impaling its servo before leaping off to safety. The Allspark's deity form shook in agony.
"You couldn't do what you were made to do and with that, we fear you don't know what you are doing with those abilities of yours. We cannot let you roam free any longer. I'm sorry...sorry...sorry," Alpha Trion's voice said.
Arcee then yelled out, "And not all the Primes agreed imprisoning you was the right choice. They were scared. What were they supposed to think when someone all-seeing failed to predict the death of their fellow Prime, murdered by another Prime? You made it sound like you lied by not speaking up! You couldn't face the truth of the matter that you weren't infallible."
The Allspark's sun flared with a demonic cry. "They lied to me! They broke my trust over a simple mistake! Liege Maximo convinced Megatronus Prime to confront Solus and killed her in his rage. They told ME that Megatronus acted on his own! I tried to tell them the truth that time, finally decided to speak up, but they were so fixated on what I didn't do that they wouldn't listen! While Megatronus suffered a horrific exile and I was confined to that prison for millions of years, Liege Maximo walked free! He was corrupted and nobody cared!"
The Allspark roared, slamming both fists into the ground. A shockwave of energy rippled through the ground tearing it apart into segments. The sentries controlled by it circled above and tried to dive bomb Arcee who shot at them. One got too close and in a bold move, she jumped on top of it as the section she was on crumbled into a dark abyss in the center of the planet. When it flew close to the deity, she launched the fifth gem striking its core.
"I cannot stand this! Something needs to change! Something must change...change...change!"
Groaning, the Allspark said, "All I wanted was to change what people believed. The loss of Solus and Megatronus just made things worse; bots thought they could get away with more, so they did more, and Megatron's war didn't help. Corruption everywhere! I couldn't bear to deal with it. It was hurting me having to watch my home shattering before me...and no one ever knew my side. All I was to them was a mere object."
Arcee could hear the entity making a soft sound. She couldn't tell if it was crying or muttering in its native language. She prepared the sixth gem but didn't throw it yet.
"I understand your grievances but sitting around in your citadel is arguably worse than waiting for someone like me to fix what's wrong. I don't even know if I can, but I will try for Cybertron. But you need to decide once and for all where you will stand among us. We made mistakes too. It's part of life."
The Allspark sent a large sentry after her and she fired on it. The lightborne creature roared as she maneuvered around its form and used Dagger Prima to strike it down. The dagger reacted instantly and shattered it, the only weapon that had any effect against the Allspark's powers. It helped but not when she had to outrun more of them spawning to run after her. Moving across the drifting platforms again while outflanking the sentries, she jumped onto the Allspark's holoform's chest once she got close enough and impaled it.
"Everyone is always using me. Create, destroy. Create, destroy. I am a weapon of mass destruction...destruction...destruction," the Allspark's memory cried.
Dodging a ghostly servo swatting at her annoyed, she maneuvered around its shoulders. "But you forget something! You weren't the only one suffering. True, Liege Maximo held the door open for more corruption to take Cybertron but we were victims of it too. I was, my sisters were, and especially Megatron. He may have done bad things, but he only projected what he knew which was nothing but violence and hatred. His valiant efforts were not in vain because he did change Cybertron in the end, he just took the wrong path to fix it. You can do the same!"
The seventh gem stumbled out of her grip when she brought it out upon her leg suddenly being caught. The Allspark held her until she started firing upon its face. With all six optics wide and angry, it roared at her to which she only responded with a scowl. She heard the gem hit the ground and slide several feet, so did the entity. The Allspark started stomping towards it to crush it, but Arcee refused to let that happen. With Dagger Prima, she sliced through the energy formed as the entity's digits and fell a meter down as it cried out. Grabbing the gem right as the pede of the Allspark came down, she slid out of the way and sneered.
The deity grew back the missing parts quickly as Arcee was on the move. It growled back, "Don't you get it? What Cybertron will always be is a cesspool of monsters. Why should I waste time and energy fixing corruption when it keeps coming back like a virus? You don't know what I must do to protect everyone, yet no one is ever happy! I can't take much more spark-ache and this universe has been nothing but a nightmare to be among!"
Arcee climbed up the entity's leg when it tried to step on her. Leaping from its knee plating, she threw the gem at its chest once more and watched it be absorbed into the core.
"It was never up to me. I had no say, no voice because I was robbed of it. I had no choice...choice...choice."
The memory of bots using the Allspark for various things from healing to moving objects and powering lost technology made the entity whine. "I just wanted to be their friend. Was that too much to ask? But no one saw me as a being, just a weapon. What was I to do when I lost everything?"
Arcee began realizing syncing the gems was starting to make the Allspark relapse into not just remembering but continuing off the memories themselves.
She shook her head, "Nothing ever does go right, but it's the choices we make despite what others do that determine who we are. I could have had Megatron killed but I gave him a chance despite I knew what he could do, what he did do. There will always be bad people but it's those who continue to be good that others follow the example of. How can you expect them to know you are more than a weapon if you never stood up to be more than one?"
The Allspark still remained hostile and gestured towards her. Several of the platforms zoomed towards her as well as sentries trying to run her over. Arcee timed several movements to prevent getting hit until she reached the holoform. The eighth gem was thrown upward to the entity in its wallowing, and it flinched as its body cackled upon taking the power.
"Surely, I can help. They saved me, but they aren't any different, are they? Just the same people as before. I don't want to watch this again...again...again."
"Again...it will always come around again..."
The queen scoffed, "Only if you let it. I'm willing to fight any time when it comes around, are you?"
The question made the Allspark look down upon her in pity but then it flared to rage, and she was swatted across the ground. Arcee slid as it roared, "That is your problem, Arcee, you never make hard decisions. So, why should I trust your judgement? You didn't let go when you lost Tailgate or Cliffjumper, so what makes you think you can make me better when you are stuck on the past too? Or are you afraid of it?"
That made her grit her dentae together and produced the ninth gem. She let out a battle cry and kicked away its servo before leaping up it. But she grabbed the bag with the remaining gems and smacked it across the face first to the Allspark's surprise before sinking the ninth gem into its chest. She went to perch on its upper chest as the effects took place knowing the Allspark was getting too overwhelmed to fight back.
"I can alter reality, time and space, the cosmos itself. Power incarnate and Primus' soul. I will it, it will be mine. I can be beyond who they want me to be...be...be."
"Unlike you, I have moved on but speaking ill of my teammates? That's low even for you!" She snapped, "I had love, I felt pain, and I prevailed all of it to do what was necessary! It hurt thinking every day what I could have done differently so that I might see them again! But I learned to shove that trauma to somewhere useful and I've been a queen since. What are you then if not an all-seeing entity? You could be whatever you want to be! I had to make myself into what I am! What's your excuse?!"
The core of the entity's form rumbled, spiking in energy and power but the Allspark didn't feel good. It said, "I...don't know anymore. The pain! Please! It's too much!"
"The pain of not knowing or the pain of hiding your emotions away and blaming everyone else that you failed to make the change you wanted to see? The world can only change one step at a time; it's always up to you to take that leap of faith if it bothers you. I took my leap; Megatron took his. When are you going to take yours?"
The tenth gem was revealed and Arcee hovered over the symbol on its chest as she heard the Allspark crying, the sun in the distance pulsing with multiple emotions at once. She didn't hesitate to bring down the gem.
"Now, I want you to keep this as a token of unity. No matter what happens, there will always be someone to fix the world, and I want you to be there shining for everyone to see with this dagger as a symbol of hope...hope...hope," Solus Prime spoke with a smile, handing over Dagger Prima to the Allspark.
Arcee watched the memory, acknowledging that Solus Prime indeed gifted the Allspark the dagger. She was suddenly dangling, clutching the armor when the entity fell forward with a groan and held itself up by its servos and knees. She swung herself up to climb to its faceplate. Seeing all six optics in misery, she sighed.
"You loved her, and she loved you. I'm a descendant of Solus; am I corrupted because I fought you? You only see the worst in everything because of what happened to you. As much as the pain hurts, in the end, it's just another day for some of us. The only possible way to make it stop or to move on is by understanding that it will never be the only thing that matters, and it shouldn't be. Yes, corruption has run rampant across Cybertron far longer than I was around, but that's life. It sucks, most of us are not even asking to be here. We make the best with what we got."
The Allspark growled as it stood up again, but its anger was lost among its own confusion. "I never did live much, did I? Always just in the background. I wanted to be more than this once."
Arcee breathed, taking out the final gem and held it secure in her grasp. "We all did. But you know something? Even when you were confined to that crystalline casing, everyone who looked at you saw hope, believed that everything would be okay. Maybe it wasn't because they believed you were completely sentient, but they saw you as more than just a powerful object. In a way, you were their savior, and you still are. But only if you believe you are."
She brought the last gem to its forehead, and it was absorbed as energy. The last memory appeared. The Allspark was hovering over a body sprawled out and left to die.
"I failed you. I knew this would happen and I didn't stop it. Forgive me, Solus...Solus...Solus."
"Forgive me."
The personification of the Allspark was brought to kneel, the white rocky terrain shattering upon impact. Pieces of said rock didn't hit the ground but instead floated upward. It let out a few grunts and slowly grew to wobble like it had lost its balance, its head dizzily nodding.
"This is not possible...you weren't supposed to be able to defeat me...I am...I am the Allspark, power incarnate..."
Arcee held leapt down to its knee confidently. "No, you aren't. You're just like everyone else in the world, just a sad, lonely soul with an ego. And you still don't realize it, do you? You're still delusional with all your memories, all your emotions back like you weren't the bad guy here."
She approached the suddenly glitching being. The blue sun beyond it pulsed dim to light and the energy across the Well flexed like it was losing its physical form. She raised the dagger that fumed with the same radiance as the Allspark itself and the being of light stared at her with legitimate uncertainty and, dare she say, fear.
To the Allspark's surprise, Arcee sank the dagger directly into the ground causing a surge of energy to run like spider webs across it. It stayed there and slowly, the Allspark regained some of its strength. Glowing again, it was still flabbergasted by the move. Arcee merely glared then walked away. It was such an unknown move that the Allspark had nothing to say except...
"Why?"
Arcee paused and turned around, "Why what?"
The being's six eyes melted to a lax but saddened expression. "Why relieve yourself of the most powerful weapon you have? Why give me back my abilities and emotions trying to help me after all I did to you?"
"Because I could but now, I'm tired of this," she answered bluntly.
The Allspark was confused, its tone fading.
The femme continued, "I'm tired of running around battling monsters, creatures, and other leaders when they didn't deserve to die. They were only protecting what they knew or were agitated where they could only fight what was in their way. I'm tired of chasing after you. You seemed to still be lost in your own little world, so why the hell should I stop you when you can just continue destroying the universe because you are offended?
"You can stay here; you win! You helped kill Bolt, you separated Megatron and Moonhunter from me, and you finally broke my confidence that I could beat the near impossible odds. Congrats! You can have that gift from Solus back as my surrendering offer, and you can live on your lifeless, imprisoning isle. I don't care anymore. I'll find another way to reach Cybertron even if it's the last thing I do in this lifetime. Got nothing else to lose at this point, do I? I just hope you're happy now that you have everything you want."
Arcee kicked some rock, disregarding it floating up and walked away to wherever she could go within the Well.
The Allspark watched her wordlessly, and it grew sorrowful of its actions. It had won in a sense...but this wasn't what it wanted. Peering up at the worlds circling above them, the Allspark slowly came to an epiphany.
Our life may have not started with a happy beginning but that does not determine what our life can become if we just try, regardless of the situation or our opinions.
The Allspark was surprised as its lost sentries of its conscience appeared with their respective animalistic cries, as pleased as they could be. It had never been gladder to see them again than now. "Forgive me, I was a fool."
It is not us you need to apologize to. Mend what was torn before it is too late.
Taking its sentries' advice this time, especially now that it could without the various voices chattering at it like piranhas, it shrank itself to a smaller form and less intimidating to the likes of Arcee. Slowly approaching her, it tried to speak only to be cut off.
"If you think you can just ask me to give you a second chance, you're going to have to pull some miracles of your own design," she scowled.
The Allspark couldn't come up with anything to try and lessen the damage done but it still tried. "I owe you everything. Please, I want...to go home now. I'm done being a coward. You are right. I always thought it was about me but didn't consider my actions did more to others than myself. It's time I faced the problems I worsened for you. It is just a mere sliver of my debt to you."
Arcee turned around to face it. "You're going to have to do better than that. A lot better. You owe me big time and I'm not talking granting powers, immortality, or whatever crazy abilities people would ask for in this situation. I want you to serve Cybertron as you promised to do since your birth, protect it as your home. I will treat you with some respect but the rest you are going to earn back, and I won't let you forget what you've done. You should know, I hold grudges and I make them hurt. Is that clear?"
Under normal circumstances, the Allspark would scowl at such a remark but given it was all fair judgement and a relatively lenient sentence, it would take that over being imprisoned again any day. "I understand. I will serve Cybertron again under your leadership."
"Good, now first order of business, I want out of this realm, or I am kicking your ass from here to Cybertron and I have all the time in the world now. Do you?"
The entity nodded, "Your wish is my command, my Queen."
The physical form of the Allspark faded and the blue sun in the distance emitted a blinding light. Arcee felt all her sensors and nerves coming back online completely, no longer numb and she opened her optics to see the Allspark in front of her with all eleven of its sentries around it in the citadel's tower chamber. It almost felt like a dream but with the dagger embedded now in the tile floor and the bag strapped to her waist empty aside from the Predator's gem, it was apparent it was not.
She brought out the Predator's red gem and frowned, "What about the portals? The isle?"
Without a word, the Allspark twirled up to the ceiling and a pulse of energy shot through the walls. What she couldn't see but did hear was the wave rippled across the sky closing all the rips above and on the isle. The creatures living on it slowly came out of their hiding places as the red tinted stars turned back to their normal white.
Arcee was a bit surprised how fast an entity like the Allspark could do such a thing. Looking between the sentries and the red gem, she finally held it out to the Allspark to the latter's shock. "Here, take this. I know it probably doesn't mean much but like what Solus did for you, this is a sign of our unity. Please don't make me regret this."
The Allspark made the gem hover before making it float in front of it from Arcee's grasp. It studied the souvenir with interest knowing Arcee fought hard to get it by doing what many considered impossible, but the Allspark knew her enough now to know it was no such thing. The red gem evaporated inside it and it turned bright purple.
"I thank you for this second chance."
Arcee gave a gesture of approval and smirked at how Megatron would be giving sarcastic quips if this was him dealing with the Allspark. Then she suddenly remembered Megatron and Moonhunter had been left alone and peered up at the Allspark, but the Allspark knew instantly what she wanted and chuckled.
"They are safe though one is injured. I will fix that for you."
A portal appeared beneath her, and she gave a startled gasp as she fell through only to hit the floor of the citadel in another part of it while the Allspark simply glided down. She stroked her cheek annoyed.
"Arcee?!"
Perking up immediately, she grew a wide smile and ran at Megatron who got up from his seated position, setting Moonhunter down carefully before running towards her. He grabbed her and swung her into a hug with a proud laugh.
"Ha ha, you did it! Look at you!" He grinned as she met his endearment. "Not even the Allspark itself can stop you!"
The warlord then coughed when he noticed the Allspark. However, it merely purred, "Funny. Arcee fixed me, helped me regain who I was. I have been so lost and without her, I would have decimated everything. I apologize sincerely."
Megatron pointed at the Allspark dumbfounded, then at Arcee. "What did I miss?"
The femme gave a small laugh, "It's a story best saved for later. The Allspark will be repaying its debt to me by helping us from here on out."
Megatron snarled, "Well, it can start by helping the poor animal it stabbed."
Arcee looked toward Moonhunter who whimpered weakly, and she ran to him before kneeling by his side. She looked to the Allspark and nodded, "Please."
The rings around the Allspark lit up and a small beam of energy hit the Nitrotiger. Metal rejuvenated and connected, the wound closing like magic. Both Arcee and Megatron watched in amazement as Moonhunter shot up and shook with a yowl. The injury was no longer visible by the time the Allspark ceased using its power.
The warlord blinked before looking up at the Allspark. "So, you think you can fix a ship like that?"
Footsteps could be heard in the darkened halls. Chains rustled slightly in hope of rescue. Suddenly, the light of the cell blinded the prisoners and a familiar face met their tired and irate expressions.
"Aw, is my new home not comfortable enough?" Rockrider mused.
Bumblebee glared at her, Scythe became aggressive and pulled at his chains trying to get up, Perceptor was quiet, and Optimus kept his head down as his energy levels were low. Windblade pressed her helm against the wall exhausted, not wanting to stir Rockrider's cheery mood into a violent one.
"Why don't you just kill us, you bitch!" Scythe yelled.
Rockrider, however, just kept her cool and smiled. "Because I just love seeing your faces, bruised and wanting out but not yet. As Megatron was known to do, it's better to kill you when you are broken than killing you outright, especially you Optimus. I can tell your time here has yielded much stress to you but you're just about ready. I'll give you one more day of your hell, then your friends here can watch you die like a martyr you are."
Bumblebee closed his optics in misery as Rockrider closed the door on them, leaving them almost completely in darkness aside from bio lights on the walls making their cell look eerie. "I can't believe how much of an idiot I was. I failed you, Optimus."
"We all did," Perceptor said in a saddened tone.
Optimus shook his helm, "No, I failed you. I should have known this would all happen. I saw the signs and I didn't stop it."
"How so?" Scythe said, plopping down on the floor.
"Before this happened, before you became leader, Bumblebee, and you convinced Arcee to be queen, I had a dream that Cybertron would fall again. I assumed it was just that: a dream. I did, however, see one of you rising up from your position into something more..."
"But Arcee is gone and I'm here," Bee finished softly. "That's why you retired. You wanted someone to take your place thinking we were able to finally do it, but, Optimus, we're failures."
"No, you are my greatest warriors, my family. No matter what happens, I will always be proud of you and Arcee. Even if the circumstances of my demise might not be what I hoped, I will face it as I have all these years before and knowing you will know what I felt about you but never could express, I can find peace in the Well knowing you might still have a chance."
Bumblebee smirked painfully, "Maybe...if not, I'll be happy to meet you there."
Windblade looked between them with a smile as did Perceptor. Scythe was still irritable at Rockrider's visit but he didn't say anything that could ruin the moment. If they were going to die as well, it was to be assumed they would all find their peace among the afterlife. They could only wait though in anticipation in their chains.
AN: The battle seems shorter than I realized but at the same time, based on video games, it would be short if you were "good" at the game. Obviously, making a shit ton of action sequences for something like this is a bit hard considering she wouldn't fail like someone controlling her might. It's one of those chapters where it was better written in my head than on a document.