The Loud House
Rise of the Titans
Chapter 1: The Transwarp Key
In the deep depths of space, on the planet Archon, the innocent planet originally colonized by Cybertron was under attack by a dark God of legend. This was no ordinary God however, this was a massive, planet-sized God known only as Unicron, the Chaos Bringer, who consumed entire planets as fuel. To consume all life on Archon, Unicron intended to exterminate the planet's leader, Scourge, and to do so, he sent his most powerful henchmen, the Terrorcons, Battletrap, the warrior, Bloodhound, the tracker, and Nightbird, the assassin.
On Archon, the planet was under attack by large, scorpion-like heralds of Unicron known as Scorponoks. Leading the assault against them was Scourge, a powerful warrior who would do anything to see himself through on this day of darkness. When the first Scorponok attacked him, Scourge grabbed it and slammed it into the ground, killing it instantly. Another Scorponok tried to attack him from behind, but Scourge was too agile for it and was able to turn around and kill the beast with his arm cannon. Soon enough, a handful of other Archonians appeared in front of Scourge, seeking his guidance.
"Scourge! We're under attack! We need to get to the escape pods!", one of the warriors said.
"You all go!", Scourge ordered. "I will find you in good time!"
"But master, we can't leave you!", another Archonian said.
"There is no time for debate", Scourge replied. "Just go!"
Then, before any of them could think, the Terrorcons made their dissent. In doing so, Nightbird, using her ability of flight, massacred several of them by shooting them from the sky. She then landed on the ground right behind one of Scourge's allies.
"Nah, ah, ah…leaving so soon?", Nightbird asked with a smug expression before slitting her victim's throat open with her sword.
"You dare claim yourself worthy of challenging the likes of me by murdering my allies?!", Scourge yelled before blasting Nightbird away with his cannon. "The rest of you! Get out of here before I kill you myself!", he directed his attention back to his people.
"Yes, Lord Scourge!", one the Archonians said before they all tried to run away.
As they ran away, Nightbird got back up from the ground, placing her swords in her hands, ready to attack the escapees.
"You, if you want a fight, I'll be sure to make you suffer…", Scourge said in a sinister tone to Nightbird.
With this, Nightbird attacked Scourge by flying towards him, but she proved to be far too small and weak to contend with Scourge's sheer size and power. Scourge was easily able to catch her and shoot her right in the chest with his cannon again. Much to his surprise, however, Nightbird remained relatively unphased by his attack.
"How is this possible…?", Scourge couldn't help but ask. "You should have been dead within the first shot…"
"Aww, poor Scourge…are you sad that you can't kill an opponent stronger than you…?", Nightbird asked in a condescending voice. "Near invincibility is one of the many benefits Lord Unicron has given us…"
"Dark Energon…"
"Yes…and he can do the same for you as well…"
"You think I need some pitiful power-up to defend my home?! I'll show you just how wrong you are by rewarding you with a gruesome death…"
"Oh, I would not worry about yourself, dear Scourge…", Nightbird smiled. "I would worry about your underlings whom you so desperately chased away earlier…", she chuckled a bit.
Worried, Scourge looked back at his fellow Archonians and when he did, he saw there were two more pods falling down from the sky. When they made contact with the ground, the impact blew a few of them away, and when the dust settled, the pods were revealed. When they opened, two bots were revealed to have been inside them, one being Battletrap, a large black and yellow bot, and Bloodhound, red and black bot who seemed to have an infatuation with heat.
"Finally…something for me to burn…", Bloodhound said before wrapping his hand around one of the Archonian's head.
When Bloodhound did this, the heat emulating from his hand caused his victim's head to burn and melt in a painful, gruesome death in only a matter of seconds.
"Ah, that gets better everytime…", Bloodhound smiled as he looked at the smoke emulating from his palm.
"You take too much time, Bloodhound!", Battletrap added before using his wrecking ball and chain to wipe out the few remaining Archonians in one hit.
Then, Scourge fired one shot at Battletrap and Bloodhound, causing both of them to lose their footing. He attempted to shoot them while they were down, but before he could, Nightbird used one of her ninja stars and threw it at Scourge.
"Why you…", Scourge growled as the star lodged in his arm caused him to lose his aim.
Before Scourge could even think, the star blew up, taking a decent chunk of his arm with it. With Scourge disoriented, Nightbird flew at him again, but Scourge was able to grab her by her face and pummel her into the ground!
"I'm going to enjoy gutting you…", Scourge said as he raised up his good arm which had his blade attached to it.
Unfortunately, Battletrap used his wrecking ball to knock Scourge to the ground, but he was able to quickly get back up, all be it on one knee. Behind Scourge, Bloodhound wrapped his hands around his throat to burn him, causing Scourge to endure excruciating pain.
"Aaaaaaargh!", Scourge yelled as his throat was getting burned.
"Don't worry…", Bloodhound said, "it'll only last for as long as I want it to…"
However, Scourge was still too powerful, and he was able to elbow Bloodhound off of him before quickly getting up, turning around, and giving him a cut with his blade, wounding him a bit. But since he was too occupied with Bloodhound, Scourge was pinned to the ground by Battletrap's wrecking ball again, this time taking a hit right to his head! Then, before he could regain his footing, Nightbird landed on top of him and cut her sword as deep as she could into his chest.
"Bleeeah…", Scourge groaned as he bled out from his mouth.
"This time…stay down!", Nightbird orderd. "Unless you want to endure more pain".
"I have no problems with that", Battletrap added.
"Stop standing there and restrain him, you blundering oaf!", Nightbird yelled at Battletrap.
"Ugh, fine, I was already on it", Battletrap groaned as he placed his foot on Scourge's back.
Bloodhound then approached Scourge and kneeled down to his level.
"Now, where were we…?", Bloodhound asked before he put his hands up and lifted them towards Scourge's head.
"No, no, no…", Scourge couldn't help but plead weakly.
Despite his pleas, Bloodhound wrapped both his hands tightly around Scourge's head, slowly burning his face and delivering poor Scourge into a world of agony.
"Aaaah! Grrrraaaaah!", Scrouge bellowed in extreme pain.
"Come on, burn, dammit!", Bloodhound said, given that this was taking longer than he was used to.
"Hmm, he seems to be more stubborn than most", Nightbird commented.
Eventually, Bloodhound took his hands off Scourge. "Impressive", he said.
"He is stronger than most of the warriors we have faced in the past", Nightbird added.
Then, the sky grew darker and the thunder grew louder as the Terrorcons looked up to the sky. When they did, they were met with the sight of their omnipotent master, Unicron. In his planet form, Unicron was comprised entirely of metal, similar to Cybertron, along with a large ring around him and a mouth in his center, used for consuming planets with two large mandibles accompanying it.
"Lord Unicron's here. It's been fun, but I guess we better get this execution over with", Battletrap said, referring to Scourge.
"No, he may yet be of use to us…", Nightbird suggested.
With Unicron having arrived, the Chaos Bringer used the suctioning in his mouth to consume Archon, little by little, eventually inserting his two mandibles into it. In only a matter of time, the entirety of Archon was consumed, all so Unicron could become even more powerful.
Inside of him, Battletrap, Bloodhound, and Nightbird all stood in front of a pair of Unicron's eyes staring at them, as well as a fatally wounded Scourge on his knees.
"And tell me, my disciples, why have you brought this…abomination in my sight?", the Chaos Bringer asked with fury.
"Mighty Unicron…", Nightbird began. "This…abomination you see before you is Scourge, the leader of Archon. Given that it took the combined might of all three of us to not even kill him, he could make a valuable asset in retrieving the Transwarp Key".
"Let me see him…", Unicron said before lifting Scourge off the ground.
"Unicron…", Scourge said a feeble voice.
"Hmmm…yes, he is powerful indeed…but in his current condition…he will not survive…", Unicron said. "Scourge…can you hear me…?"
"Y…yes…", Scourge groaned.
"I shall offer you a bargain", Unicron replied. "In your current condition, you will not survive, so you have two options. You could either choose to perish now and I will reward you with a painful death, or…I can restore your life and grant you great power…far beyond your comprehension. You would become…my most powerful disciple…"
"Lord Unicron…I live to serve you…", Scourge mustered his words in his weak condition.
"Then rise up…Scrouge, leader of the Terrorcons and the most powerful of my disciples!", Unicron declared before he infused Dark Energon into Scourge.
With the Dark Energon infused into him, all of Scourge's wounds were healed, and he could feel the raw power coursing through his veins. The other Terrorcons watched as Scourge groaned in agony while undergoing the transformation bestowed to him by Unicron. Eventually, all of Scourge's wounds were healed, except for his burnt face, which gave him a permanently evil and menacing look. With the transformation complete, Scourge landed on the same platform as the other Terrorcons on one of knees, and slowly got back up on his feet.
"As a symbol of your birthright, I shall bestow upon you this mask, as a reminder of what I have made you to be", Unicron said while causing a mask in the shape of the Terrorcon logo to float into Scourge's hand.
With this, Scourge took the mask and placed it on his face. "Your wish…is my will…my dark master…", Scourge said to Unicron.
"Excellent", Unicron said. "Your mission, Scourge, is on the planet, Maderan, there exists a primitive race of species known as the Maximals. They hold a great power known as the Transwarp Key. With it, I will be able to scour this entire universe, and reign supreme, as the Lord of the Undead. You will retrieve the Transwarp Key for me, my disciple. Do not return to me empty-handed".
"Yes, Lord Unicron", Scourge said with confidence. "You three, you take orders from me now", Scourge said as he turned around to the other Terrorcons.
Maderan was known as the home of the Maximals, beings similar to Cybertronians. The main difference was that instead of transforming into vehicles, the Maximals transformed into a large variety of animals, and were comprised of fur, scales, or feathers, as well as metal, depending on what type of animal they transformed into. Maderan's climate was similar to that of Earth, being a planet with blue sky with green plant life and green plant life. The planet's governor was the mighty Apelinq, a Maximal who transformed into a silverback gorilla, accompanied by his eventual successor, Optimus Primal, another silverback gorilla, who was named after the legendary warrior from Cybertron. The Maximals are a race that dedicate themselves to the expansion and protection of life throughout the universe. They do this by using the Transwarp Key to travel from planet to planet throughout the vast cosmos. When they are not using the Transwarp Key for this purpose, Apelinq's main directive is to protect the Key from any beings with foul intent from getting their hands on it.
On Maderan, a falcon-like creature made of metal soared in the sky as dark, stormy clouds appeared in the sky, followed by booming thunder and flashing lightning. The falcon, also known as Airazor, looked at the sky with worry as she flew. Airazor knew this could only mean one thing: there was a darkness coming. Hoping to warn her Maximal comrades, Airazor descended to the ground, where a large metal cheetah and rhinoceros were running in the fields, also known as Cheetor and Rhinox.
"Airazor, what is going on?", Cheetor asked with his Zimbabwean-like accent as the falcon landed.
"I think we both know what is happening here, Cheetor", Rhinox said in his raspy, yet articulated voice. "As much as I say it, it looks like the Chaos Bringer's come knocking our door…"
"Indeed, Rhinox, and this may be the one time I hoped you were wrong", Airazor said. "We must find and warn Apelinq. If Unicron gets his hands on the Key, then the fabric of the universe as we know will fracture into chaos", she claimed as she took off to the sky.
After Airazor took off, Cheetor and Rhinox ran in her direction.
"You think the big bots can get us out of this one?", Cheetor asked Rhinox.
"I've been around for a long time, kid", Rhinox said. "I've seen Apelinq and Primal figure out some stinky situations, but if Unicron truly has come for us, then this might just be the worst thing I've ever seen occur in my lifetime".
"So, no then…", Cheetor frowned.
"On the contrary", Rhinox replied. "We gotta have faith kid. Apelinq was chosen for a reason, and so was Primal. Now come on! Oh, and be sure to enjoy this planet while it's still alive!"
"You're joking, right? That was a joke…", Cheetor said.
On top of a hill, where the Transwarp Key was stored, Apelinq looked out the looming sky with Optimus Primal behind him, both of them in their gorilla modes.
"Apelinq, are you thinking what I'm thinking?", Primal asked his mentor.
"Yes, my old friend", Apelinq answered before grabbing the Transwarp Key. "The Chaos Bringer is coming…"
Then, as they sky grew darker, a few pods were released from the sky, all directed towards Apelinq and Primal.
"Find the others, rally them against the forces of Unicron. I will divert their attention", Apelinq ordered.
"But Apelinq—", Primal tried to say.
"Do as I say, Primal! Now, go!", Apelinq yelled. "The others need your guidance!"
"Yes, sir…", Primal agreed before running down the hill.
With this, Apelinq placed the Transwarp Key in his mouth and ran away from the pods coming at him. As the two Maximals made their moves, a much larger pod fell to the ground, and within it, emerged none other than the most powerful of Unicron's warriors: Scourge.
Shortly after, Apelinq ran through some trees to get some cover as the lasers from the pods started shooting at him, using his gorilla form to swing around and through the trees. Unfortunately, one of the lasers shot Apelinq in the shoulder, causing him to fall down and drop the Transwarp Key from his mouth. When the pod landed, a Scorponok launched itself out at Apelinq, but thankfully, the Maximal leader was saved when Optimus Primal came out from the greenery, grabbed it by the tail, swung it around, slammed it to the ground, and ripped off its head.
"I thought I told you to gather the others", Apelinq frowned.
"I did", Primal replied.
Right when he said this, Airazor swooped in from the sky and disposed of several of Unicron's henchmen coming from the sky. Subsequently, Cheetor and Rhinox came running onto the battlefield to join them.
"We've gathered all that we could find. I don't think we have much time left", the intelligent Rhinox said.
Apelinq then looked over at the forest and saw what looked to be a glowing red entity walking towards them, accompanied by a pair of barely visible red eyes.
"We have no choice. Unicron is here. It is only a matter of time until our home is consumed", Apelinq said. "You must leave our home if we are to keep the Transwarp Key from him".
"But, Apelinq, we can fight!", Optimus Primal suggested.
"No! Take the Key, find the ship, and get as far away from this world as possible. Go!", Apelinq ordered Primal. "If Unicron gets the Key, then his reign will be rendered forever unstoppable".
"What will you do?", Airazor asked.
"I'll hold him off…by you some time…", Apelinq said as he noticed Scourge was getting closer.
"Then, I am staying with you", Primal said.
"Listen…", Apelinq looked in Primal's eyes. "It is your responsibility to keep the Transwarp Key from Unicron. It is now your turn to lead the Maximals, Optimus Primal…", he said as him and Primal pressed their foreheads against each other, similar to the bond of the gorillas of Earth we are familiar with. "Now, go!"
After Apelinq gave this order, Primal, Airazor, Cheetor, and Rhinox all ran towards their escape pod. Meanwhile, Apelinq was ready to face off against Scourge, who was beginning to make himself known through the forestation.
"So, you're this planet's great warrior…", Scourge said. "Your planet…so full of life and sustenance, so savory…so pitiful…", he said as he revealed himself from the trees. "I will offer you a deal, Maximal. Give me the Transwarp Key and I will see to it that Unicron spares both you and your world".
"We'd rather die than let Unicron leave this galaxy!", Apelinq declared as he ran to attack Scourge.
Apelinq attempted to leap onto Scourge, but the power Unicron gave him made Scourge more than equipped to deal with him, evident by him using his blade to stab Apelinq in his hip, already severely wounding him.
"You're so weak…", Scourge said before blasting Apelinq's shoulder off.
Already, poor Apelinq was so wounded that he fell to the ground, and Scourge took this opportunity to rip the Maximal symbol from his shoulder.
"Benefits to serving the almighty Unicron", Scourge said before crafting the symbol to his shoulder.
On Scourge's shoulder were also other Maximal symbols, as well as other factions, such as Autobots, Decepticons, and Predacons, implying that he was a proud killer before his days as a Terrorcon.
"You're too late, Scourge…", Apelinq said in his dying words. "Your master will remain trapped in this galaxy…forever…", he said just before passing away.
When Scourge looked back, he saw the Maximals taking off in their spaceship, most likely having the Transwarp Key with them.
"No…", Scourge reacted, knowing that he failed Unicron's request.
In the Maximal's ship, the Maximals looked on as Apelinq gave his life so they could escape with the Key.
"His sacrifice will be our oath", Airazor said as Optimus Primal looked down with sadness, knowing that his oldest friend and mentor died for them.
Then, in the sky, Unicron made himself known, and to gain even more fuel and power, the Chaos Bringer began his consumption of the planet, where Maderan slowly crumbled as each and every piece of it levitated into his large mouth.
Once Maderan was consumed, Scourge was in his master's presence once again, evident by the same large pair of eyes staring at him.
"You let them escape with the Transwarp Key?!", Unicron boomed. "Find them. Scour each and every part of the universe until you have the Transwarp Key".
"Yes, my master…", Scourge said as he rose from his bow to Unicron.
"Good…once the Transwarp Key is in my possession, I will reign supreme!", Unicron declared.
Meanwhile, the Maximals' ship flew across space, where it landed on Earth in the year 1,000 A.D. Notably, the Maximals happened to land in a place on Earth known only as Scotland…