Chapter 14
Indominus Rex's ultimatum
Bumblebee watched as Stripes looked over the Matrix Blade. He looked troubled by something.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"...Why me?" Stripes asked, lowering the sword. "Bee, I never asked to be a hero. I never asked for... this." He motioned to himself. "Are you sure I am the one to slay Unicron? …How do you know you and the others have not made some mistake?"
Bee rested a hand on Stripes' servo. "I don't think there is a mistake. The fact that you were able to take the Matrix Blade for yourself is more than proof enough. I know it's difficult, transitioning from your earth life, the life you knew, to the life you have now… All I can say is, don't forget it, but don't let it bring you down, either."
Primal then walked up. "If you are getting ready to go back to your ship, I wish to go as well. So do some of the other Maximals. We still wish to help, and none of us have seen Cybertron for ages..."
Arcee then tacked Stripes to the ground unexpectedly.
"Woah! Arcee, get off me!" Stripes snapped. Arcee put a hand over his mouth, and pointed to a nearby tree. There was a rocket-powered dart sticking out of it with a message attached to it.
"You nearly got shot." She said flatly.
Everyone was on alert now. Cheetor, Silverbolt, and a smaller mech, Rattrap, went up and examined the missile.
"...It's from them, Primal." Rattrap said. "This is Scorpinok's handiwork."
Silverbolt picked the message off the missile, a small datapad. He proceeded to read. "Son of Primus, if you really are who you claim to be, take your team and whatever Maximals are bold enough to follow, then meet us at our base; the active Volcano several clicks southwest from here. I am eager to see if you are who you claim to be. You have three planetary solar cycles. After that, we will seek you out ourselves. You have been warned. Signed, Indominus-Rex of the Jade-Order Predacons."
"There are Predacons here?!" Ultra Magnus exclaimed.
Stripes was in a different mode of thought. "Indominus-Rex? Predacons? Seriously?"
Primal sighed. "I was afraid this would happen. Yes, Ultra Magnus, we were pursued by one Predacon ship when we left Cybertron. There was a space battle, that's how our ship became part of the cliff. It crashed into it. Their ship, however, crashed near a volcano, as the ultimatum says. At first, we had some disagreements, and there was fighting. But after several vorns, we saw we were getting nowhere, and made a treaty with Indominus-Rex and his Predacons. We've had a… mutual understanding type of relationship with them, so long as we stay out of each others' territories. However, it appears your group's arrival puts a new twist on things."
"Well, duh!" Strips said simply. "That's not a big surprise. It seems everyone wants a piece of me these days..."
"Do you think it's a good idea to go, Bumblebee?" Arcee asked.
Bee shrugged. "I don't think we have a choice in the matter. We'd better get geared up for the journey. Maybe take some backup, too."
# # # # #
Several Hours Later...
Outside the Predacon ship...
Volcano…
Bumblebee gazed at the harsh, ancient lines of the Predacon spaceship with Stripes, Megatron, Arcee, and Ultra Magnus. They had went back to the Nemesis and brought backup in the form of Mia, Razor, Cross, Knockout, and Wheeljack.
Wheeljack whistled. "Looks like a beauty with a nasty tune… for old tech, anyway."
"This is… not going to be fun." Razor said.
"Don't tell me yo' scared." Cross taunted.
"Don't tell me yo' not." Razor countered.
"Not as much as you." Cross continued.
"All right, children. Focus." Ultra Magnus said. "We need to figure out what these Predacons want with Stripes, and why."
They walked up to the spaceship's outer hull. A hatch opened in front of them.
"Enter! If you are bold enough!" A deep voice said.
"...Why don't I like the sound of that?" Stripes groaned as they made their way into the star ship at the voice's beckoning.
"Stay alert." Bumblebee cautioned. "This feels like a trap.."
They heard a loud buzzing overhead. They saw it was a giant wasp. It then transformed in front of their eyes!
"Bzzz! Lord Indominus-Rex requests your presence! Waspinator was ordered to lead you to Indominus-Rex! You follow Waspinator!"
Stripes was unsure. "Bee, I don't like this..."
"I don't see why we shouldn't why we shouldn't follow." Cross said. "He looks harmless enough."
"...Says the guy who's obviously never poked a hornet's nest." Razor muttered.
The group then followed Waspinator through the ship to a large chamber. It was very dark at first, even for the Autobot's optics, which were having trouble adjusting.
"Greetings, Autobots and Decepticons alike. Thank you for accepting my... invitation." The deep voice boomed through the chamber. A light then lit up, revealing a Tyrannosaurs Rex above them, standing next to a throne. It then transformed to robot mode, like Waspinator did! Stripes figured that was Indominus-Rex.
"Now… Which one of you is the bold individual that has claimed the title of the Descenant of Primus?" Indominus Rex asked, sitting down in the throne.
"That's none of your..." Bumblebee started, but Stripes stopped him right there by stepping forward, raising his hand. It took him every once of courage to do so, as he was unsure of the Predacon's intentions. That, and Indominus Rex seemed very intimidating, even as he sat in his throne.
"...I am." Stripes said, trying to be brave as he could as he drew the Matrix Blade off of his back. "I am the Son of Primus. What do you want with me, Indominus Rex?"
Indominus Rex raised an optic ridge, looking at Stripes as he stood there. "You carry the Matrix Blade, I see. But that still does little to reinforce your claim." He said dismissively.
Indominus Rex then waved a hand. Suddenly, force fields sprang up between all the Autobots and Decepticons, separating them from each other by four sections! Bumblebee, Ratchet, and Stripes were in one section. Knockout, Razor, and Cross were in another! Mia and Arcee were in the third section, and Ultra Magnus was trapped with Megatron in the last section!
"It is time to see if you can reinforce your claim, Son of Primus! It is time for you to face the trials!" Indominus Rex said, as he sat back on his throne. "You will now have to choose which one of your comrades will die."
Predacon foot soldiers then rushed in, followed by a giant scorpion that transformed!
"Which one shall it be, Son of Primus?" Megatron asked. "Perhaps the large blue mech? Or maybe the red one? Or maybe the lovely red and white femme?"
Stripes looked up to Indominus with righteous fury. "I am not taking part in this! I refuse to play this game, Indominus Rex!" Stripes snapped, slamming down the tip of the Matrix Blade onto the floor in a show of force.
Indominus Rex just sighed. "You are not in control here, even though you think you are. If you will not choose, then I guess I shall choose for you." Indominus Rex raised his arm canon, training a targeting laser on the Autobots and Decepticons, going from one to the next, deciding on which one.
After a few agonizing moments, the laser stopped on Bumblebee.
"Men! I want that mech dismantled. Bolt by bolt." Indominus Rex said simply. The Predacon foot soldiers started to close in on Bumblebee.
"No!" Stripes charged at the foot soldiers circling Bumblebee, hacking and slashing at the foot soldiers, assisting Bumblebee as he shot at the Predacon soldiers.
"Tsk tsk. I should have figured you wouldn't obey the rules…" Indominus Rex then trained his targeting laser on Stripes, charging up his arm cannon!
Bumblebee then looked up from firing his weapon! He saw what Indominus Rex was going for! He was going to shoot Stripes while he was occupied!
"STRIPES, LOOK OUT!" Bumblebee yelled, rushing towards Stripes just as Indominus Rex's arm cannon finished it's charge! He shoved Stripes out the way just as he fired, taking the blast with his own body! The shot burrowed deep into Bumblebee's chest, causing him to slide back across the floor, sparks flying up as metal contacted metal as he slid into the wall!
Stripes looked up, and his Spark skipped a few cycles. "BUMBLEBEE!" He yelled, running over to him with Ratchet close behind. Bumblebee's optics flickered, then faded.
Ratchet bent down over Bumblebee, his arm changed to a scanner. "By Primus… It hit him straight in the spark chamber!" He quickly changed his arm to a jump-starter tool, and hooked it hastily up to Bumblebee.
"Clear!" Ratchet ran a surge of energy through Bumblebee's spark chamber, attempting to re-start his spark. It didn't work. Ratchet tried again, and again. "Dammit, Bumblebee, don't give up! DON'T GIVE UP ON ME NOW, YOU RECKLESS PISTON HEAD!"
"Seems your followers have some devotion." Indominus Rex mused. "It's a pity that devotion led to his demise, though it does show how far they will go to protect you. I admit, this does reinforce your claim some, but you have a long way to go..."
Stripes turned to face Indominus Rex. "You killed him! YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU KILLED HIM!" Stripes yelled, lubricant running from his optics.
"Well, I was actually trying to kill you. But yes, I killed him." Indomius Rex replied. "Interesting insult, I admit as well. In all my vorns, I've never heard that one. Though if you truly are who you claim to be, you should be able to fix this. Figure it out, So-called Son of Primus."
Stripes looked back down to Bumblebee. Ratchet was stoic. He had stopped trying to revive Bumblebee. "...There's nothing more I can do." He said, saddened.
Stripes just looked at Bumblebee. The big burn on his chest where he was shot, combined with the deep pit that was left there was tearing him apart inside.
"No..." Stripes said, his optics shining a bright gold. "I won't let it end like this… I WON'T!"
Stripes' optics then shined brightly, as he raised a hand. It glowed a bright gold, just like his optics were right now. He set his hand on Bumblebee's chassis, as the light continued to brighten! Everyone in the room had to adjust their optics to compensate for the brightness as it continued to increase! Ratchet had to hold his hand up over his face as he was barely able to see! Somehow, the light from Stripes' hand was emitting a sort of energy! Then he saw on his scans, that Bumblebee had a spark pulse again! He did a double take! It was true! Somehow, Stripes had brought Bumblebee back from the brink! The light started to fade, and Bumblebee looked as if he had never been shot!
The light then completely faded, and Stripes fell to his knees, holding onto the Matrix Blade.
"Stripes!" Ratchet exclaimed, wrapping Stripes' servo over his shoulder. "… Are you alright? What happened?!"
"...I don't know." Stripes said weakly, his optics back to their normal color. "I'm just… very tired."
Indomius Rex was amazed. He had never seen anything like this in his entire existence. "Well.. This certainly proves your claim. Yesss…. Only Primus or his kin have the ability to create or tamper with life. I now see I was wrong." The force fields then dropped, and the Predacon Foot soldiers then fell back. Indominus wrex then picked up something from the arm of his throne and threw it into the pit.
"Take that with you. You will need it to bring out the Matrix Blade's full potential. I… Wish you luck with your hunt for Unicron, Son of Primus. Yes, You have much ahead of you." Indominus Rex grinned. "Now you must go. Scorpinok will show you out."