Disclaimer: Transformers: Animated and everything related belongs to the rightful company Hasbro. I am in no way shape or form making money off this.
Author's Note: This is the end (literally and figuratively) of my story. I can finally cross this off my list and with it, the poll are officially closed. For the results, please stay tuned as the winner will be reveal in the epilogue. I would also like to thank everyone who been followed me, whether you were here when I first posted or joined part way in, thank you for your endless patience. I hope I brought the story justice. And once more thank you, JazzTheTiger. I may not have been the best or the most original, but thank you for letting me run with your idea.
"Nightmare"
Written by: Beloved Shadow
Inspiration by: JazzTheTiger
A mysterious glow surrounded an oil can as it slowly lifted into the air, hovering without anybot holding it up. Jazz watched with an impressed look on his faceplates and turned to prowl who was sitting a short distance away, humming lowly.
"Master Yoketron had it pegged; you're the real deal, Prowl. So, how come you never wrapped up your Cyber Ninja training?" Before the black and gold mech could answer, there was the squeal of tires tearing across the concrete outside. Unfortunately, the noise broke Prowl's concentration and the oil can dropped heavily, slipping the oil it contained.
"Guys! Big news—whoa!" That's when a large green SWAT vehicle followed by a large white shuttle came racing in, only for the truck to start skidding in the large puddle of oil. Both ninjas swiftly jumped out of harm's way just as the bulky car crashed against the wall where Prowl had just been sitting.
"That's one reason right there," he explained. He looked over as Bumblebee came in from where their rooms were located, smiling as he carried Dawnbreaker who was chirping happily. He didn't say anything, but those two were other reasons he never finished.
Before anybot could ask what the rush was about, Bulkhead transformed and exclaimed, "I just picked up Omega Supreme's energy signature and-"
"-he's on the moon!" The shuttle transformed to reveal a winged mech, optics bright. "Earth's moon."
It didn't take long to gather everyone before the command console and after making some adjustments, scanned the surface of the planet's moon. Not only was it able to pick up the energy signal, it has remained stationary.
"That just confirms that Megatron's got control of Omega Supreme," Ratchet said gruffly. "I say we go rescue him and Arcee. And we need to use the Magnus Hammer." Turning to Optimus, the veteran medic held the long-range weapon to the Prime. But the red and blue mech could only stare at the weapon, remembering the time when Ultra Magnus had called upon him and Sentinel when they returned from the unauthorized trip to Archa Seven, and returned without Elita-1.
"Optimus? Are you alright?"
"!?" The Prime shuddered his optics, shaking himself from his memory file. "I-We can't use that." Or rather, he couldn't use it.
"So, are we supposed to take on megatron?" Bulkhead asked.
"We gotta even the odds somehow," Jazz brought up.
"We will, but not with this. What I had in mind was an upgrade, some kind of rocket booster so I can keep up with megatron."
"… are you outta your motherboard and processor? Autobots don't fly!" All optics immediately turned to Skyfire who tried to hide the slight smile behind his servo.
"And what about Jetfire and Jetstorm?" Bulkhead asked.
"And Prowl's rocket sidecar thingie," Bumblebee said to which his sparkling babbled as though agreeing with her carrier.
"Heck, even I've got a jet pack," Sari pointed out.
"You can take my armor to study it's boosters," the ninja said as he began removing pieces of his armor.
"And I know my dad will want to help, he's a whiz at reverse engineering."
"I know with all our collective knowledge, I believe we can help our friend became the first ever flying Prime," the large shuttle said to which everyone agreed.
Ratchet vented, briefly closing his optics. "I ought to have my processor examined." But he knew they needed the edge if they were going to win and finally put an end to this blasted war.
"Thank you everybot. Meanwhile, we'll need to find out what Megatron's up to." Prowl offered to go, but Jazz turned it down, saying that he was too close to completing it. That only left a question of who would spy on the Decepticon's when Bumblebee spoke up, surprising everybot there.
"I'll go." Everyone stared at him with wide optics but before they could argue why he shouldn't, he spoke up once more. "No offense to anybot here, but I'm the best mech for this. I'm small and kinda stealthy. You bots, you're too big. And we can't send the seekers 'cuz they need to help Prime learn to fly."
"But what about Dawnbreaker? She needs you; what happens if you get caught?" Sari exclaimed.
"I'm doing this for her. Look, I'm not trying to be mean, but we've been lucky every time we go against the Decepticons. But, Megatron came so close to eliminating us… we lost Blurr, Thundercracker, Ultra Magnus, Starscream…" He looked down at his little seeker's innocent faceplates, holding his digit up and smiled softly as she gripped it firmly. "We need every advantage we can get, so we can win. I don't want my sparkling, or that of anybot else to grow up under megatron's rule." He looked up, seeing the concerned looks. "I promise to be careful and let's be honest, what other choice do we have?" No one said a thing because they knew the minibot was right; what choice did they have?
On Earth's moon, Megatron's plans were well underway. Using the crashed remains of the ship, Nemesis, the Decepticons. Shockwave was still attempting to locate the access codes from Arcee's processor but all he did was trigger her old teaching unit program. But when Megatron made a comment about the double agent being his most loyal soldier, Starscream used that as a way to create discord among the troops.
"Looks like Megatron has a new favorite, and I'll give you a hint—it ain't you!" Watching the way the bomber turned green with envy made the seeker grin. When the femme continued rambling about ancient lessons plans, his smirk grew when Megatron made a comment about Blitzwing.
"You see? Now he even likes Blitzwing better than you."
Lugnut's engine was revving so loudly, it barely covered up his indignant shout as he knocked Shockwave to the side, making him strike a console. "No! I am the most faithful!" he shouted right in the seeker's faceplates. Before Starscream could say anything the slightly dented mech stormed up to the bomber, clearly irate.
"Have you blown a diode?! I'm trying to work here!" Less than an astrosecond later the two were trying to beat the other like a pair of rowdy, immature sparklings. Megatron's servo meet his faceplates, muttering under his vents so none of them noticed as Starscream's helm, which had been knocked to the ground, rolled out of the room and down the hall. After several kliks, he finally made it to the room he was looking for.
"Ah! Be there ever so humble, there's no bot like clones," he chuckled. "And now, for the secret ingredient… protoforms." A mechanical claw moved across the room, opening one of the stasis pods to retrieve a blank protoform, placing it in the empty frame similar to his previous frame. As the CNA filled out the framework, the claw turned and picked up the helm, and literally, screwed it into place. An audible click followed by a spark of electricity. The newly created seeker sat up and was pleased to see that everything was functioning perfectly.
"Ah, so nice to have a real body again," he remarked, flexing his claws.
"Enjoy it while you can, Starscream. It's the last one you'll ever have." Without another word, megatron raised his fusion cannon and open fired. The seeker threw himself from the table, narrowly avoiding being blasted, but the Decepticon Warlord continued to open fire, destroying the additional seeker frames, making certain they would never be of any use ever again. Once the smoke cleared, there was nothing left.
The traitorous SIC looked up at his former leader as he slowly got to his peds, wings dropping in an attempt to look small and non-threatening. "Have mercy, Megatron! I… was merely building you an army to serve our great Decepticon cause," he said quickly, watching as the mech came closer and closer.
"Ah, but you think too small, Starscream. I have plans for these protoforms," he said as he walked past the cowering seeker to stare at the stasis pods that contained the remaining stolen protoforms. "Much bigger plans."
"No doubt to make a clone yourself," the seeker muttered, flinching slightly when the warlord let out a low chuckle. That never went well for the listener.
"Bigger."
'Bigger?' Starscream frowned and glanced out the window where the two quarreling glitches were trying to disassemble another piece of the ship. "Not that idiot Lugnut," he responded, watching as the piece that the large bomber was pulling at suddenly gave way, causing him to go falling back on his backplates. Shockwave sat there, pointing and laughing like a loon.
"Bigger..." Crimson gaze turned to the window and looked past the two warriors to the large frames being created from the remains of the Nemesis, modeled after the massive form of Omega Supreme.
"Oh." This was not a good idea at all.
A short distance away, in one of the planet's many craters, there was a burst of transwarp energy to reveal a yellow minibot, holding a device in his servos. Looking around and making sure he wasn't seen, Bumblebee placed the component in his subspace.
"Just keep your helm down, plant the transmitter, and transwarp home to your sparkling." He still remembered entrusting her care to the seekers, who were not happy about him going on a dangerous mission, but he was the best choice for this. And should anything happen… they would protect his sparkling with their very sparks. Inventing deeply, Bee climbed out of the crater and tried to remember everything Prowl had tried teaching him about being stealthy.
Even in the darkness of space, the Decepticon warship loomed over him like an ominous shadow as it was slowly being dismantled. But making sure he was silent as could be, the yellow minibot moved as close as he could, peering around a particularly strange structure. He quickly looked around when he picked up what sounded like something sparking. "What's that?" Bee asked himself, looking around only to discover the noise was coming well above his helm. He looked up and immediately muted his vocalizer as he realized the structure he was hiding behind was the stretched stabilizers of the traitor Shockwave. Said mech continued cutting a piece of the ship, pulling the piece loose and letting it drop to the ground. Even with less gravity than on Earth, it could serious harm the Autobot.
"!" The repair-bot-turned-scout immediately transformed and took off just in time to avoid getting hit by the piece of metal, however in his haste, he had dropped his transmitter, where it was crushed in his place. The small vehicle drove over to where omega Supreme was standing, swerving behind one of his peds and transformed, glancing where he could have possibly been spotted. Internally cursing himself, Bumblebee forced himself to push on. Remembering what Ratchet had said, Bee located the hidden hatch and climbed inside, relying on the schematics he had been given prior. Soon he came to the end and pushed the hatch open, peering out. No sign of any Decepticons which meant he was safe. For now, anyway.
"Primus, that was too close," the mech exvented, pushing the hatch open but he jumped when he heard somebot behind him and whirled, blinking at the sight of a dark pink and white femme sitting on a medical berth, the plating on her helm pulled back with wires plugged directly into her processor. "Whoa! You almost scared the spark outta me," he said as he carefully closed the hatch behind him. "Wait… I, I think I know you… aren't you Arcee?"
"The first day of school is very scary," she said, her optics not really focusing in on the other bot as he moved closer. "You're no longer protoforms, so I'm sure you have a million questions."
Bee frowned, waving his servos in front of her but nothing. What was the term Sari used? 'The lights are on but no body's home.' "What did they do to you?" he asked softly, wishing there was a way to rescue her here and now, but what if the wires and cables were keeping her online? He knawed on his bottom lip plate, glancing at the door before he came up with an idea. "I wish I could do more, but maybe you can help us listen in on Megatron." Carefully reaching up, he activated Arcee's comm link so anything being said around her, it would be picked up by them. As he pulled back, he reached out and gave her servo a reassuring squeeze. "We'll be back for you, I promise." Stepping back, the Autobot pulled the plasma dynamic thruster from his subspace and activated it. Within mere kliks, he was back on Earth atop Sumdac Tower.
Meanwhile, in the factory Ratchet was working on the jet pack he and the others had created. Using schematics from Skyfire and Slipstream, Professor Sumdac's talents in reverse engineering, and Sari's own unique talents, they had made a great deal of progress with it. Soon it was ready to go and they watched as the neutral shuttle helped the Prime put the newest modification on.
"Okay Optimus, everything has been hooked up but try to go easy. Start at 5% power," he cautioned, stepping back. "And if you do run into any trouble, the others will help."
"Right. Here goes nothing." Locating the button, Prime pressed and it and braced himself. Unfortunately, even at 5%, he took out with a scream of terror. Everybot was immediately knocked onto their backsides and watched as he went flying out of control, crashing into the side of the factory but never stopping. In the air, Sunstorm, Ramjet, and Slipstream were having a hard time trying to catch the runaway Autobot without being crashed into themselves.
"… maybe the throttle needs adjusting," Ratchet pointed out.
"I got him! I got him!" Ramjet shouted, flying up to intercept the Autobot leader, but he clearly missed him and Optimus crashed in the middle of the courtyard. "…"
"You glitch! Why didn't you stop him?!" Slipstream yelled at the white and dark grey seeker.
"I did stop him!" he declared, only to yelp and was now flying away from his "sister" who threaten to tear off his wings and beat him with them.
"… stabilizers?"
"Stabilizers."
Adjustments were made and wings were added to the jet mode. Luckily, Optimus sustained minor injuries, but he was willing to try again. But he was still uncertain.
"M-Maybe Autobots weren't meant to fly," he said, seeing that everyone was further away than before.
"But you did such a wonderful job before! Your screams of joy as you narrowly avoid crashing into that magnificent tower! Oh, and the way you flew around the hovering entertainment screen before landing with such flourish! It was-" A fist struck him in the back of his helm, putting a halt to his flattery.
"Will you shut up?!"
"… alright. Let's do this. Again." Pressing the button Optimus was once more airborne, but this time it was a success. There was obvious joy instead of fear as he began flying, looking much more at ease. From the air, Skyfire was keeping an eye on the Autobot and relaying it to the others below. Even though he was in shuttle mode, he was smiling.
:Never thought I would see a flying grounder before,: Slipstream commed him.
:Neither did I. Though, sometimes I do wonder what it would be like to travel as they do,: he admitted. :What about yourself?:
:As if!: Even in jet mode, he knew the femme was making a face but he chuckled silently to himself. But as they continued flying they noticed something on their radar. :Something's approaching us.:
:I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. But perhaps we should head back-: The white shuttle stopped when he heard the sounds of a rotary aircraft coming closer. Without realizing it they were flying just over downtown New Detroit and there was a helicopter in the area. And Optimus was unknowingly heading for it. :Optimus! Look out!:
"Huh—W-WHOA!" Lost in his memory files, blue optics flickered and he caught sight of the humans' shocked/terrified faces piloting the helicopter. He panicked and tried to steer away, but at the same time the pilot was doing the same but in doing so the main rotor blade struck the back of Optimus jet pack which caused him to start losing control. Unfortunately, one of his wings destroyed the tail rotor, causing both of them to start plummeting.
"Fragging Pitt!" Slipstream cursed, transforming in mid-air.
"Get Optimus, I'll get the humans!" Skyfire ordered and immediately flew towards the helicopter, transforming at the last minute. For once he was grateful for his large size and the accompanying strength, guiding it down to an empty parking lot. No one was harmed but he looked up quickly when he heard the sound of two jets tearing across the sky.
Normally the femme would have bristled at being ordered, but instead she yelled for Ramjet and Sunstorm to help her catch the Autobot. One thing she would never admit was thanks to Starscream's CNA and choice in alt-mode, it made them the fastest beings in the air. It took the three of them not only to catch the panicked Prime, but steer him away so he didn't crash into the river, but they still hit the ground with a painful screech of metal skidding across concrete.
"… so, that was fun," the sycophant seeker muttered as they heard sirens of their friends rapidly approaching their location.
Megatron smirked as he gazed about that which would bring down the fall of those accursed Autobots once and for all. "Starscream. Lugnut. The protoforms," he ordered his two subordinates. The two said nothing as they placed the blank forms in the chassis in each of the massive sentinels; within moments the forms synced to the frames, systems coming online they each took a scan of the original sentinel, adjusting until they took on the exact likeness. "Shockwave. The recognition codes."
The slender mech said nothing, his antennas sparking as he leaned over the motionless form of the intelligence soldier. After many cycles, he had managed to isolate the specific memory and activated, causing her optics to online and watched as she sat up, transforming into his Autobot disguise.
"Change in plans: Omega needs a new mentor bot to imprint upon. Give me the codes, agent Arcee," Longarm Prime ordered.
The femme was prepared to follow the orders, but she could only stare at the large mech standing before her, a cold, cruel smirk at he stared at her with optics the resembled the deepest depth of the Pitt.
"But… that's Megatron. If I give up the code-"
"Then Omega Supreme will blindly follow my commands." The cruel smirk grew, knowing that he would still get what he wanted.
The Autobot felt as though he had her spark in his servo, ready to crush it and end her. But she refused to back down, shaking her helm. "No… I-I can't, I won't do it! I can't!" she exclaimed, getting off the berth to face her superior officer.
"In that case, I'll just have to extract it manuall…" Seeing how his disguise was no longer needed, Longarm Prime activated his transformation into that of his true form of Shockwave, his color nanites changing from grey to violet. An electrical charge hit the femme, making her cry out but it was too late as she fell silent, the plating on her helm opening as her systems began the process to upload the recognition codes onto another.
"How I've waited for this moment," the Warlord said, just before he was abruptly knocked onto his faceplates by another frame.
"No, me! Let Omega imprint on me!" Starscream said, already bracing himself for the upload. But just like he had done, he was taken down himself.
"I will protect you, Master!" Lugnut declared and looked up just in time for the upload to hit him. Starscream looked on with a smirk as he watched the process.
"Ha! Once again, the mighty Megatron has failed!"
"Have I?" the warlord asked, rising to his peds and made his way to his traitorous seeker.
Something in the mech's tone, his attitude, the fact that he was so calm didn't sit well with the seeker, especially when those large black servos capable of crushing frames grabbed his helm and pulled him up. "Instilled with my own powerful personality the clones might try to overthrow me, but not so my most loyal lieutenant."
One could almost see the bomber's helm swelling from the praise as he bowed. "I am honored, my lord." But of course, he couldn't help but rub it in Shockface's faceplates about being the most trusted of the two.
"Perhaps… but your clones are just sparkless shells without my AllSpark fragment to bring them online."
"Who needs your fragment when the ones I found inside Omega Supreme's spark chamber should do just fine." Shifting his grip so he was holding the seeker with only one servo, he moved the other so his fusion cannon was aimed right for his chassis. "You are no longer any use to me." And he fired, shattering the frame into several pieces.
For all the time Ratchet complained about having to repair reckless glitches after some idiotic stunt, but for every wince and flinch meant they were still online and would live for another solar cycle. He grunted as the young Prime flinched as he tended to his most recent injury. "Serves you right for going off half-cocked like that, I told you we need the Magnus Hammer," he scolded.
"I-I just don't feel that using it is in my programming," Optimus said quietly, looking at where the hammer lay, waiting to be picked up.
Prowl could see that the other mech was troubled and said, "Sometimes fate makes its own programming." The Prime said nothing, losing himself in his memory files but he was brought out of his past when Skyfire said he was picking up several energy signatures coming from the moon.
"That can't be right. Maybe there's interference from sun spots, or something," Bulkhead said.
"No… no, I think that's the problem. Look! Now those same energy signals are heading this way!" That was cause for alarm as everybot rushed outside, optics zooming in to see three very familiar spaceships heading directly for the city.
"B-But I thought Omega Supreme was destroyed?" Skywarp asked nervously, cowering behind his siblings.
"Somethin' doesn't feel right about this," Jazz said with a slight frown.
Ratchet zoomed in as much as he could, focusing he watched as the ships transformed, with a familiar helm shape that made his spark drop into the bottom of his tank. "… we're definitely gonna need that hammer," he muttered aloud. Emergency sirens were blaring loudly, humans panicking but all optics were on the three massive frames as they landed in the middle of New Detroit.
"What is the name of the AllSpark are those?" bee asked
"Megatron must have used Starscream's cloning technology to make more Omega Supremes," the medic explained quietly.
"… So, why aren't they attacking?" Bulkhead asked. No one could answer that but they knew it was only a matter of time.
Inside one of the cloned sentinels, Megatron sat in an imitation of his former throne, satisfied in the way things were going so far. "Lugnut, let's begin this field test with Sumdac tower. I want to see my former prison crumble to the ground," he ordered.
"As you command, your grand and glorious Megatron! Your genius exceeds all others and I am but your humble and obedient servant. Furthermore-"
"Shockwave! Is there anyway to bypass this endless pontificating and command these clones directly?" Already he could feel his oil pressure reaching critical levels.
From the original Omega, the Decepticon spy was working on Arcee's processor. "Still working on the data patch, my liege. Until then you'll just have to relay all. Orders. Through. Lugnut." It was times like this he was grateful he didn't have faceplates to express himself.
Back in New Detroit, the Lugnut Supremes lifted their upper stabilizers and unleased a barrage of missiles, their targeting systems locked directly onto Sumdac Tower. Luckily, the bright blue force field was activated so the missiles exploded upon contact. Sari was looking on in fear as the missiles continued to explode upon impact.
"The tower—my dad's in there!"
"The force field will protect him, but we have to draw those clones away from the rest of the city," Optimus said, digits curling into fists.
"Our only hope here is an aerial assault with the Magnus Hammer," Ratchet brought up, stepping forward and holding said item to the young Prime. But said mech looked away, unworthy.
"Are you forgetting the last time I tried to fly? If I couldn't handle an organic vehicle-"
"The helicopter?"
"-yes, that, what makes you think I can take out three Omega Supremes?" the Prime argued.
The jump jets onlined with a burst of power, causing Prowl to hover in the air. "Because I'll be right by your side." He looked at Jazz from the corner of his optic momentarily before nodding to himself. "I know Master Yoketron would say it's the ninja bot, not the weapon." Optimus said nothing for several long moments, but slowly, hesitantly, he reached out and took the hammer into his servos.
'… this is it,' he told himself.
"I'm going too! I have a jetpack," Sari pointed out.
"No, Sari, it's-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's "too dangerous", I know. It's always "too dangerous"!" she argued, stomping her foot in anger.
"I was going to say, "It's more important for you to protect your father and your fellow organics."
"Oh. Right. Sorry." Thankfully no one gave her another look.
As Optimus continued to give out orders, Bumblebee took a moment to look at his sparkling. Dawnbreaker seemed to know something was wrong, the way she clung to him. His carrier protocols were trying to take over, that his priority was the safety of his little one, but his team needed him. The city needed all of their help.
"Bumblebee?"
"… Sari's gonna need help, and so will the people." He looked at the seekers and swallowing back a cry of his own, detached his little one from his plating and gave her to Skywarp. "Sumdac has a safe room in the tower, he created it after realizing who Megatron really was. Take Dawnbreaker and stay there until I come for her myself."
The seekers were speechless but the little one began crying, reaching out for her carrier. "B-but why? Aren't you coming?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"My team needs my help. My protocols are telling me to run and hide, to stay with my own sparkling, to protect her with all that I have. But… I'm also an Autobot." He reached out to try and sooth the sobbing seeker, resisting the urge to start crying himself. "If Megatron wins, none of us will be safe. Not here, not Cybertron, not anywhere. How can I just run and hide?"
"But he'll destroy you as well as everybot else! Who do you expect to raise your sparkling?" Slipstream demanded, trying very hard not to throttle him.
"You." Silence. "I don't know if we'll be able to beat Megatron and his army of Omega Supremes, but at least we'll have tried. If we don't win, or I'm offlined in battle, then raise her like your own. Afterall," he gave them a small smile; "you're all family." Bee wasn't sure what he expected, but he didn't fight it when the seekers pulled him into a hug. He didn't fight it and he swore he heard the femme promising him serious harm if he was destroyed in battle. Pressing a kiss to his sparkling's forehelm, he watched as Skywarp warped to safety and the others took to the air.
"Autobots, transform and roll out!" The sounds of transformations echoed around them and soon they were off. Optimus activated his newly repaired jetpack and soon joined Prowl in the sky, clutching the Magnus Hammer in servos. Their target: the Lugnut Supremes that were still opening fire at Sumdac Tower.
From his seat, the Decepticon Warlord watched as the computer picked up a flying bot wielding a very familiar weapon. "Ultra magnus?!" he exclaimed, wondering how the Supreme Commander arrived without his notice but as the screen zoomed in, he smirked and relaxed. "No, merely a cheap imitation. Lugnut, order your clones to dispose of these flying Autobot pests."
"Yes, my liege."
Obeying the bot they were programmed to obey, the three sentinels opened fire at the two flying Autobots, laser fire and missiles trying to bring them down. Prowl dodged them all with ease, using his shurikens and skills to destroy some of the missiles before they could hit him. Optimus grunted as he dodged his own share of firepower, flying higher in the sky he raised the hammer above his helm, dark clouds suddenly forming as a bolt of lightning struck the upraised weapon. Feeling the charge all the way to his very struts, the Prime swung the hammer, letting loose the electrical charge-
-which missed all three of the Lugnut Supremes by several hics.
Venting deeply, he looked at the ancient weapon in his servos. "Look, I know you don't think I'm programmed to be a hero, but work with me, will ya?" Needless to say, there was no response.
Down in the streets below, the citizens were running for shelter as laser fire erupted high above their heads. One such laser struck an antenna tower atop a building, casuing it to fall off. A scared young woman was running and looked up, her fear growing as she realized the steel structure would crush her to death. She screamed and threw her arms over her head, knowing she wouldn't make it out but thankfully her rescue was ready at hand.
Sunstorm flew down and quickly grabbed the human just in time for the structure to hit the asphalt with a crash. He set the human down with some others carefully. He looked up when he heard tires screeching and watched as the Autobot known as Jazz transformed. "Such wonderful timing! But these wonderful humans are not safe here, perhaps they would prefer the indestructible Sumdac Tower?"
::Sunstorm! Get off your thrusters and help the others!:: Slipstream shouted over their comms.
"Gotta jet." He took off once more, transformed once he was far enough away.
"You heard the bot, let's move it and groove it," the slender mech told the small group of humans. No one bothered to argue with him as they headed for the tower. All around the city, the Autobots were either saving humans, or bringing them to the safety of Sumdac Tower. In the air, Optimus and Prowl were still trying to find a way to bring the sentinels down while trying to keep from getting shot out of the sky. They knew they keep doing this for much longer.
"Taking them on individually is not working. We need to find a way to bring them down all at once," Prowl pointed out.
"I can try something, but you need to fall back," Optimus said as he readjusted his grip on the magnus Hammer. "You don't wanna be nearby when I do this." The ninjabot wisely flew back as the Prime swung it, slowly spinning in a circle he began gaining speed until he had formed a powerful tornado, heading straight for the Lugnut Supremes. With a war cry, Optimus was close enough that the charge from the hammer struck the massive bots, frying their systems. Megatron ordered the bomber to gain control of the sentinels, but Lugnut could do nothing. The storm was so powerful, it sent the three Omega Supreme clones clear out of the city only to crash land on Dinobot Island.
"Lugnut! This field test has been a complete failure! Order the other clones back to the moon immediately!" the leader of the Decepticons demanded, ignoring the internal damage the crash had done.
"Forgive me, all great one, but their flight capabilities have been disabled," the purple single-opticed soldier explained. Unfortunately, the crash also damaged one of the Supremes so severely that it was completely offline.
"Then destroy the Autobots! Destroy the city! Destroy anything that's not me!"
As the other two titans struggled to their peds, the Autobots were bringing the remaining humans to Sumdac Tower. It was also when Ratchet revealed that he was still picking up a Supreme signal from the moon, concluding that it had to be Omega himself.
"How are we gonna get to the moon? I mean, I could use the Space bridge but we'd have to drop the shield for me to get a clear signal," Bulkhead explained.
"I can fly some of you up there. I have a warp drive and I was designed specifically for space travel," Skyfire brought up.
"Then what are you waiting for, an invitation?! Let's go already!" the medic shouted. The shuttle didn't hesitate to transform, opening his door Bulkhead, Ratchet and Bumblebee climbed in. Sari made to go but Issac stopped her, expressing his concerns and his fears.
"Dad, please. I can't explain it, but something tells me I need to go." Smiling she embraced him tightly before pulling back, activating her jetpack.
"B-But how will you breathe?" the flustered father asked. His daughter smiled as armor plating transformed over her head completely, leaving her more than able to breath in outer space. She quickly joined the others in the shuttle and as soon as the doors close, the neutral was off with a powerful roar of his interstellar engines.
"Ugh! This is so humiliating! But it is nothing compared to the utter devastation I have in store for you, Megatron," Starscream panted as he dragged his badly damaged frame to the scattered remains. Thanks to the power of the AllSpark fragment still embedded in his helm, he was able to fix himself but there was still heavy evidence of his battered frame. "Soon Bumblebee, I won't let anybot take you or our sparkling away from me." Getting to his peds, he made to take off but cried out in pain as a blast from behind nearly caused him to fall. "Who dares to attack me from behind?!"
"I dare," Shockwave said as he continued firing at the injured mech. "Lord Megatron believed he had disposed of you, but you prove harder to eliminate than cosmic rust."
"Better mechs than you have tried, but I will not lose to the likes of you!" Starscream snarled, firing at the other mech. Both were so busy attacking each other, they never noticed as a Cybertronium shuttle was getting closer to the moon.
"We'll be arriving to the planet's moon shortly," Skyfire told his passengers.
Sari looked out the window and gasped as she saw they were moments away. "Wow. I can't believe it we're going to be on the moon."
Bulkhead came over to look out the window as well, but he also noticed something very strange. "And I can't believe there's no sign of the Decepticons," he pointed out.
"Not quite. I'm actually picking up some signals." Skyfire said, having scanned the area he began to fly in closer and sure enough, they saw that Starscream and Shockwave were firing at one another.
Bumblebee's optics widen, not believing what he was seeing. "S-Starscream! We have to help him!"
"Hang on." The neutral shuttle flew in closer, unsure of how they would be able to help the tentative ally he cried out as laser fire peppered his wing, smoke trailing behind him. "I'm fine! But I can't keep flying like this, I have to land!"
"Then do it, just let us out." The shuttle didn't say anything but flying in low, he opened the bay doors and once everyone jumped out he managed to land and transform. Needless to say their entrance did not go unnoticed by the warring Decepticons.
"Autobots—wait, Bumblebee? What are you doing here?!" Starscream shrieked.
"Saving your aft, that's what!" Without another word the minibot unleashed his stingers and began firing at Shockwave.
Running for cover, the veteran medbot noticed a pink and white frame standing off to the side, staring at nothing in particular. A femme frame that he knew very well. "It's—Arcee!" Ignoring the shouts coming from the others he ran towards her, calling out her designation but unfortunately she had once more reverted back to her teaching program. A last of laser fire nearly hit them, kicking up moon dust and forcing them to hide behind scaffoldings and the dismantled remains of the Decepticon warship.
"I knew it was merely a matter of time before you came back to find your little friend." The shape-shifting spy said as he transformed into his Cybertronium tank mode and continued to open fire. Behind him, Bulkhead was covering Bumblebee as he tried to fix some of Starscream's injuries. Needless to say, the seeker was not happy to see him.
"Of all the blasted dangerous things, why are you here?! And where's the sparkling?!"
"On Earth with Skywarp, and saving your aft! Now quick moving, or do you wanna lose a wing here?" If this was what the ancient medic went through with his team, it was no wonder he was always so grouchy. "You doing alright, Bulkhead?"
"Yeah, it'll take more than my own wrecking ball to keep me down," the gentle-sparked giant said. Peering from their own cover, he saw that the rest of their team was pinned down. "We gotta do something to help them."
"I know, but we're not exactly Elite guard material to be taking down a Decepticon spy." It still hurt knowing that he had been played, and it was his fault that Wasp had been taken to Trypticon prison, but he was going to make Shockwave pay. Instead, he reached for his comms and managed to get the medbot's comm link. ::Ratchet, how are you all holding up?::
::We're being shot at on a dusty rock in the middle of space with no available back-up, our flyer can't fly and I got an intel bot who reverted back to her default programming, and I also have a techno-organic who's never been in a real fight before. How do you think I'm doing?!::
'Sorry I asked.' His audio's were still ringing but Bumblebee ignored them and continued. ::Listen, the three of you need to get Arcee to Omega Supreme. Bulkhead, Starscream and I will deal with Shcokwave.::
::Are you outta your processor?!::
::We don't have a lotta options here. Go, now!:: Without any warning, Bumblebee jumped up and began firing at the double-agent's backside. He ignored the way the seeker screamed at him to get back here and used his frame's smaller frame to avoid the laser fire, but he also watched as his friends ran to where Omega was standing as quickly as they could.
Bulkhead shouted as he launched his wrecking ball at the double-agent, hoping to do some serious damage but another laser blast knocked it back. Unfortunately, the green engineering genius caught it when it came back—on his helm yet again. The minibot continued firing at the tank, even as it transformed but he was blasted back when Shockwave shot him in the chassis, sending him flying back.
'Frag… that hurt,' he thought to himself, wincing as he struggled to sit up.
"No!" Starscream didn't even think and it didn't matter than one of his thrusters wasn't working or that he was still heavily damaged, all he knew was he had to protect his mate. With an almost feral scream he activated his functioning thruster and lunged at the other mech, ignoring the laser fire as it broke through more plating. "You'll pay for that!" Once he was close enough he lashed out, claw-tipped digits tearing at his upper stabilizer and ripping the cannon clean off.
Shockwave was in pain, and cursing himself for forgetting that this particular seeker was much more dangerous that he remembered but using his own claws he dug them into the mech's side, breaking the cracked plating and reaching in to pull out a servoful of wires. Caught off guard, Starscream flinched back, withdrawing his own claws but the violet soldier used his extending upper stabilizers to grab him from behind, and slam him in the ground with a crash. He pinned the traitor with a ped on his cracked cockpit. Hearing movement, he lifted his servo and had it curl around the small Autobot, pinning his own servos to his sides. They were both now at his mercy. Looking at the carrier, he could obviously tell he was no longer carrying but that didn't matter as his lord had very clear orders that the minibot was to be captured, fully online.
but glared at the Decepticon spy as he stood over him. Usually at this time Bee would let out a witty comment, but he refused to give him anything except a cold, hard, glare.
"It would appear you already had your sparkling. But do not worry, I am certain Lord Megatron will ensure they will be many more to come," Shockwave said, ignoring the cold, hard blue glare directed at him. His other servo lifted, ready to end the seeker's miserable existence once and for all.
Heavy peds could be heard as Bulkhead charged like an enranged turbobull. Although he was far from being stealthy, that didn't matter as the wrecker refused to let anything happen to his little buddy. He refused to stop even when Shockwave turned to face him, but the Autobot didn't give him a chance as he struck him with an almost frame-shattering punch. He went flying back, releasing both his opponents and landed with a skid; plating badly cracked with critical errors filling his HUD. His cannon lay a short distance away, wires still sparking where it had been ripped off.
"Ugh…" Although it was painful, the secret agent initiated the transformation into that of his Autobot disguise, although he was still in his original color scheme. "Mechs… buddies… you wouldn't want to, take out your old platoon mate, Longarm… would you?" he asked, slowly pulling himself into a sitting position.
The minibot wordlessly transformed his stingers back into his servos, kneeling next to the seeker as he struggled to sit up. "No, of course we wouldn't," Bumblebee said in a sarcastic tone.
"Not in a million stellar cycles, pal," Bulkhead added, waving his servo in a dismissive manner.
Digits moved closer to the discarded weapon, slowly so not to draw attention to himself, but before he could touch in laser fire whizzed by his helm, narrowly missing him and hit the cannon. It blew up in a small explosion, leaving the Decepticon spy completely at their mercy.
Starscream's null ray was still smoking, his other upper stabilizer draped over his minibot's shoulder pauldrons, trying very hard not to lean on him too much. "Luckily for me, I never trusted you in the slightest, Shockwave," he hissed lowly.
As the Autobots dealt with the shape-shifting Decepticon spy on the planet's moon, the remaining Lugnut Supremes continued to make their way into New Detroit. Flying high overhead, Optimus grunted as he lifted the Magnus Hammer high over his helm once more, the clouds growing dark before a bolt of lightning struck the weapon, charging it. This time when he swung it, the attack struck one of the sentinels, but it kept going on. Before he could make another attempt, Prowl warned him just in time for him to dodge an incoming attack from behind. A powerful, dual rotary helicopter was heading in their direction before transforming into the war frame of the tyrannical warlord Megatron.
"Get away from my weapons of mass destruction!" he demanded. Raising his fusion cannon, he blasted the Prime with a direct shot to his chassis, causing him to cry out in pain. Prowl pulled out his shurikens and threw them at the warlord's unprotected backplates, but they were destroyed when Megatron withdrew his swords and destroyed them. The cyber ninja tried striking at him with a staff, locking swords, but he was not skilled enough to take the warlord down. It took a charged electrical strike at his backplates that caused him to stumble even in mid-air.
"We need to buy Ratchet more time; get Jazz and try to slow the clones done. I'll deal with Megatron," the Prime ordered. Hesitant, Prowl nodded and flew off to tell the Elite Guardsmech of their new orders.
Furious, Megatron managed to gain control and flew at the approaching Prime, fusion cannon firing. The Prime used the hammer to deflect the laser fire, grunting with each swing as he flew to meet the warlord head on. Weapons clashed, their systems straining as they tried to push the other back.
"You're a persistent little Autobot."
"My name is OPTIMUS PRIME!"
As the two leaders continued to fight one another, both Prowl and Jazz were doing everything in their power to at least slow down the Supreme clones, but their weapons barely made a scratch. The sentinels didn't even acknowledge them as a threat in the slightest.
Jumping back, the Elite Guardsmech took a klik to vent as he activated his comm. "Prime, it's a bad scene down here. These jacked up robos are still firin' on all cylinders," he explained.
Optimus grunted as he lifted the charged hammer and swung, sending a bolt of electricity into Megatron who cried out in shock as his systems rebooted themselves. "The only thing strong enough to protect the city from these clones is the power of the AllSpark. But it's scattered everywhere."
An idea formed as Prowl, having overheard the open comm frequency, came to a realization. "Then perhaps jazz and I could use our processor over matter to bring the AllSpark fragments together," he theorized.
"You really think you can do that?"
"Do we have a choice?" Without warning for an answer, the black and gold ninja flew in low enough to grab his friend's servo before heading straight for Sumdac Tower. They were rapidly running out of time and options, so they had to make this work.
Back on the moon, Ratchet was able to restore Arcee's previous back-up thanks to Sari's ability to understand what their systems were telling her. The Intelligence Agent was confused for a moment due to her last back-up being when she and the old medic had been prisoners of the bounty hunter Lockdown. Unfortunately, they were pressed for time as they still had to regain control of Omega Supreme from Lugnut so they couldn't give her the full story of what she had missed. As Ratchet and Arcee traveled to Omega's processor to upload her recognition codes, Bulkhead and Sari volunteered to make sure the rest of the sentinel was fully functional, and Starscream was taken to the medical bay were Skyfire tended to his injuries. As much as Bumblebee wanted to make sure the seeker was okay, he had gone with his friends instead. The seeker didn't admit it, but he felt a little bit hurt by that.
Skyfire set the tool down. "How does that feel?" he asked but when they was no response he called out the seeker's designation. "Starscream?"
"What."
"I asked how you are feeling."
"Fine."
The shuttle wanted to ask more but his EM field was pulled in so tightly, he knew he wouldn't get anything from him. "… let me know if anything begins to hurt." And with that he left him alone. Looking out the window, he watched as they began moving, could hear the transformation and before they knew it, the ship was flying towards Earth. The seeker just offlined his optics, wanting to be left alone. Several quiet kliks past and the doors opened silently, allowing a bot to enter. The visitor didn't say anything but slowly he made his way to the reclinded berth, looking at the seeker laying almost peacefully, optics offlined. The bot couldn't help but fidget and made to leave but stopped when the patient spoke up.
"What did you name her?"
Bumblebee shuddered his optics, turning to face the seeker but he still had his optics offline. "What?"
"The sparkling. What did you name her?"
"… Dawnbreaker. She was born on Christmas." Reaching into his subspace, Bee withdrew a data pad and held it out. Starscream onlined his optics and seeing the pad, took it. Once he activated it he was scrolling through the numerous images that had been taken. He stopped at one where the seekerling was sitting on what appeared to be a colorful blanket. In her tiny servos appeared to be a miniture plane painted the same color scheme as his own. She was smiling brightly, her ruby red optics bright and full of life. Seeing an attached vid, he pressed play and could hear the excited chirps she was emitting, waving her toy around.
"Whacha got there, sweetspark?" came Bee's vocalizer off-screen. Dawnbreaker chirped happily, waving her plane. "I see! You like that one the most, right?" As though answering his question she hugged the toy, trilling softly. The yellow minibot soon appeared from the side of the screen and joined her on the blanket, smiling softly. "Don't worry, sweetspark. One of these cycles, you're gonna meet your sire and I know he's gonna love you as much as I do. Maybe more." The seeker watched as the Autobot reached over when she held her servos out to him and picked her up, holding her close as her little wing tubs twitched in joy.
"She's beautiful," he said softly, staring at the image of them together. There were other images of little Dawn: eating, sleeping, playing, some of her alone but most with her carrier, and even being cared for by the other Autobots and his clones. He paused at the image of Bumblebee holding Dawnbreaker in his upper stabilizer, the other extended out in order to take said image, both of them smiling brightly, happily. Standing behind them was the cyber ninja, Prowl. One of his servos was also curled around the sparkling, and the other was settled what appeared to be too comfortable on the minibot's waist. He was also smiling but his was a small version.
'I should be there with them, not him.' This was his family unit, not that flunky! And yet, they all looked so happy. He lowered the data pad, wanting to say something, anything, but he couldn't. Even his EM field seemed to waver back and forth, a mix of emotion threatening to drown him-
He tensed when he felt a servo cover his and he clung to it, unwilling to let go. The Autobot scout didn't say anything, spreading his own EM field to try and sooth the other, protecting that everything was alright, that everything was okay. His other servo came up, covering the side of the seeker's faceplates, gently guiding, coaxing him to face him as he leaned in until their forehelms were touching. Starscream's other servo came up and covered the one on his cheek ridge, silently begging him not to go.
"I'm here, Starscream. I won't leave you alone," Bumblebee whispered softly. "I promise."
As soon as Arcee gained control of Omega Supreme, not only was Lugnut booted out in a truly spectacular fashion, but the two Lugnut Supremes completely shut down. Megatron was enraged when not only could not establish a comm link with his loyal soldier, but they had stopped from advancing on Sumdac Tower. His anger intensified when the sentinels' turned to face him, watching in disbelief as their faceplates transformed away to reveal a screen with Starscream's image. "What!?"
"Greetings Megatron. As you can see, I decided to give your ultimate weapons a little upgrade, equipping them with a self-destruct mechanism that will destroy you once and for all!" the vocalizer cackled as chestplates split open to reveal a blinking red detonator that was blinking faster and faster with each klik that passed.
"What in the name of the AllSpark was he thinking?" Optimus asked, recognizing that the size of the bom was enough to not only take them out, but as well as a 100-mile radius. Megatron didn't bother to answer as he flew near one of them and tried slashing it with his swords, but the AllSpark fragment that powered the clone also created an electrical field that made it impossible to touch it. Furious, the tyrannical dictator turned his blazing optics to the Autobot who had been a thorn in his side since they stumbled across the AllSpark.
"If I cannot save my clones, at least I'll have the satisfaction of destroying you, Optimus Prime," he snarled like a feral beast.
"So, you can remember my name!"
At Sumdac Tower, Professor Issac Sumdac was desperately typing away at the console but the force field flickered before fading completely away, leaving the entire building all those inside vulnerable. "No, no this is no time for the force field to fail!" he cried out in despair.
The sounds of engines could be heard as several seekers and two cyber ninajs landed on the roof top, all of them looking in the direction where the Omega Supreme clones were standing still. Zooming in, their vents stalled as they realized the blinking detonator was going even faster.
"Now what? Without the force field…" Sunstorm asked quietly.
Prowl took a klik before turning to the human and asked, "Does this building have a bomb shelter?"
"Yes. Why?" When no one said anything he looked in the direction they were fixated on and paled. "Oh. Um. Nevermind."
"Slipstream-"
"We know." Turning to her "brothers" they nodded; Ramjet wordlessly grabbed the professor before he and Sunstorm flew off the roof. "… be careful." With that she jumped off the roof to join the others. They wouldn't have a lot of time to reach the shelter but they were going to try.
Once everyone was gone the Elite Guardsmech turned to his friend and nodded. "Ready to jam cyber ninja style?" Together the two get into position and began humming in sync. They focused everything they had into calling in each and every AllSpark fragment to come to them, no matter the distance. Soon, glittering shards were being drawn out from caves, building structures, the river, everywhere a shard landed was being called upon, each one glowing brilliantly with ancient power. As they came together, they shards began merging into a sphere, glowing brighter with each new piece.
From the skies the sight of the Autobot ship former known as Orion entered the Earth's atmosphere, heading straight for the remaining clones with the other members of the Earth-based team aboard. "What say we send those satellite knockoffs to the scrapheap?" Ratchet asked, his gaze focused completely on the two sentinels.
The ship began to transform and soon in its place stood omega Supreme. "It would be my pleasure," he replied and immediately dove down and struck one of the clones right in the screen, cracking it and sending it crashing to the street. As it tried to get up Omega charged forward and kept striking it with powerful punches, even aiming a kick to its chassis that destroyed the detonator, disabling the bomb. Even though it was down the last of the Guardians continued striking the doppelganger, slowly destroying it so it would never harm anybot else.
Inside the command console, the Autobots were cheering the Guardian on but Starscream was feeling pain in his processor. Clutching his helm, he happened to gaze at his reflection in the window his optics focused on the brilliant glow behind his digits. "What?" Removing his servo he found that his fragment was not only glowing brightly, it felt as though it was trying to leave him. "N-No! I still—need it!" But the pull was too strong. Casting one last look at the minibot, he activated the release hatch and left without any warning.
"I'm here, Starscream. I won't leave you alone. I promise."
'I'm sorry, Bumblebee. I would have loved to have met our sparkling.' He allowed himself to be led to Sumdac Tower where he witness countless shards merging together, calling in by the strangle hypnotic humming coming from the cyber ninjas. The seeler paused, his servo struggling to keep his fragment in just a little bit longer. He wanted to talk with the motorcycle, to let him what he really thought of him, but he also wanted him to swear to protect Bumblebee and his sparkling no matter what.
'But, if he feels the same way as I do… then I shouldn't have to threaten him to keep a promise I can't keep.' Wishing he had more time, Starscream dug a claw into his forehelm and grunted in slight pain as he dug the glowing fragment out. His optics began to flicker and the last thing he saw was his shard joining the others as his frame began to fall, landing with a mighty crash in the streets below. His optics grew dark and his frame last all its color, turning to a lifeless gray shell.
The remaining Lugnut Supreme had just tossed Omega Supreme off to the side, forcing him back into ship mode but it turned and headed to where Megatron and Optimus were still fighting in mid-air; the detonator began rapidly blinking, a red glow surrounding the entire sentinel. It was due to go off any moment and take out the entire city of New Detroit and everyone inside.
On the rooftop, Jazz stopped humming and looked up at the number of fragments they had managed to gather. However, there was a slight problem. "We're gonna need more spark to shield the city from that blast," he pointed out.
Prowl could feel himself straining. "Can't… pull in… any more fragments…" he struggled to saw, looking up at the glowing sphere of pure AllSpark energy. "… only… one way…" Murmuring a silent apology, the ninja turned his focus inward. Within moments his entire frame began to glow an ethereal blue-white color. Similar to his earlier training at the factory, he was soon levitating in the air until the AllSpark was at chassis-level.
The blue-visored mech quickly understood what his friend was doing and immediately jumped to his peds. "Prowl, no! We'll find another way!" he pleaded. The other ninja looked at him and gave him a serene, sad smile.
"Please tell Bumblebee, that I love him."
A brilliant flash of light, brighter than the sun itself, enveloped the rooftop and shoot into the sky. Like a falling star it arched through the sky and struck the guardian clone, creating a bubble that grew to envelope the fighting mechs as well. Slowly the bubble began to rise into the air, glimmering ever so slightly.
Prowl's frame rapidly turned a lifeless gray color, falling limply towards the rooftop Jazz was able to catch him but it was too late. The last pupil of Master Yoketron, had died by using his own spark energy to create a new AllSpark.
Frames dented, plating cracked, systems rapidly running out of energy, Megatron refused to give up. Charging at the young Prime he struck ruthlessly, he kicked Optimus into the force field, the energy shocking his system that before he could recover the warlord gripped him by the faceplates and pushed him into the field even harder, ignoring the energy as it bled into his own frame.
"It I must give up my spark, at least I get to take yours with me," he growled, watching as anger and fear battled in the brilliant blue optic. The last thing either of them heard was a high-pitch noise as the denotator counted down to zero, the explosion ripping through the titan-frame that would annihilate the two transformers. But two slightly glowing forms took shape behind them. The ghostly form of Prowl reached up and wrapping his servos around his leader, pulled him to safety. Megatron roared and made to go after them but the ghostly form of Starscream savagely dug his claws into him and pulled him back, closer to the exploding sentinel as the force filed contain the blast that could have destroyed everything. The forcefield glowed so brightly, for a moment it looked like it wouldn't be able to contain everything, but the light died and the shield disappeared, leaving nothing behind except smoke which faded in the wind.
Down in the streets below a badly injured Optimus Prime groaned and onlined his optics. 'If… I'm one with the AllSpark… why do I hurt so much?' Even he didn't have an answer but he slowly forced himself to sit up, wincing and groaning under his vents in pain, but he was alive. They had done it.
"Prime!" He slowly stood and watched as Ratchet and the others were running towards him, relief etched on their faceplates. "We did it; the shield worked!"
"The Supreme clones are history!" Bumblebee said but he looked around, the smile slowly fading. "Where's Starscream? And Prowl?"
Soft ped steps were heard, optics watching as Jazz walked towards them while carrying a gray frame in his servos. He stopped before them, unable to look at any of them. "He, gave up his spark to save us."
The sound of air displacing was heard revealing all the seekers, including a whimpering Dawnbreaker but they, too, were holding an offlined frame between them as well. "He was not the only one to make the ultimate sacrifice," Skywarp said softly.
"… no…" He couldn't believe it, even seeing both of their frames cold and lifeless, the Autobot leader refused to believe it but when he tried to take a step towards them to see if this was real when he was blasted in the side by a blast from a fusion cannon, slamming into the side railing of the freeway.
"You have interfered with me for the last time, Optimus Prime!" Megatron roared as he flew at him, refusing to give up until he had crushed the Autobot's spark with his bare servo.
Everything was happening so fast, but ratchet wasted no time in using his magnets to hurl the fallen Magnus Hammer to the Prime, who catch it and immediately charged for the warlord. Rage filling every part of his frame, he flew up and using both servos, hammered his enemy on the helm hard enough to send him crashing to the street below, broken pieces of his frame scattering upon impact. Landing heavily, Optimus charged until he was standing directly over him, hammer pulled back, ready to use it to end the miserable existence before him once and for all. But—he hesitated.
Even with imminent death before him, the Decepticon smirked, glaring up at the younger mech. "What are you waiting for, Autobot? Finish me." He still hesitated and his smirk grew. "If you don't, I finish you off and make your precious carrier mine."
Optics harden, digits tightening over the hammer's hilt, energy snapped and crackled as he brought the weapon down with all his strength. Everyone watched with halted vents, not even daring to so much as shudder their optics as the dust cleared. Had their beloved leader and friend done the one thing no one had ever done? Did he just offline Megatron?
The warlord growled lowly but his fusion cannon was completely destroyed. "That would be the easy way out, Megatron. You don't deserve it." Pulling the hammer back, Optimus calmly set it aside and reaching into his subspace, withdrew a pair of stasis cuffs and locked the warlord's servos in them.
When Sentinel Magnus received word that Optimus and his team were coming to Cybertron with Megatron as their prisoner, he didn't hesitate to tell the High Council who immediately spread the word that the war was finally over. Everybot on Cybertron watched at a massive orange and red ship entered the atmosphere and began cheering even before it landed. The cheering intensified as the bay doors opened and Optimus stepped forward, his frame still showing cracks and dents he suffered but he held the Magnus Hammer confidently, the newly crafted AllSpark hanging from his neck. Behind him, Megatron was bound to a platform since he was unable to move on his own due to the stasis cuffs. Like the Prime, he still sported his own injuries but none of them were spark threatening. The other Decepticons were also escorted down the gang plank, all of them wearing stasis cuffs as well and disarmed as well.
Sentinel couldn't believe his optics, servos crossed over his chassis, but he was smiling. He didn't think it was possible, but his old friend had really done it. He and his team of maintenance bots had taken down the most feared warlord their planet has ever known. It didn't even matter if his team also consisted of a neutral, a techno-organic, or former Decepticon clones.
'Way to go, buddy,' he said to himself and finally began clapping though not as enthusiastic as the others around him.
Sari in full armor also came down the gang plank with Arcee and Bumblebee as he held his innocent Dawnbraker close to his chassis, followed by the remaining protoforms that had survived Megatron's assault; Bulkhead, Ratchet, Jazz and Skyfire carried Prowl's stasis pod behind then followed by Slipstream, Ramjet, Sunstorm, and Skywarp with the stasis pod that held Starscream's grayed out frame as well. Once they were all off, the ship transformed and Omega Supreme stood behind those he was happy to call his friends.
The applause and cheering stopped, the crowd momentarily shocked by the sight of the massive guardian, but they once more erupted in cheers even louder than before, chanting Optimus' name and hailed everybot as the heroes they proved themselves to be.
Author's Notes: And this story has come to an end! This has been a long time coming and a lot has changed since I first started (JazzTheTiger once told me I made this much darker than she had ever intended. Sorry!) but I am so very happy to mark this story as complete and checked off my list.
I want to thank everyone who commented, left kudos, and even voted! This would not have been possible without all of your help by far! As I mentioned before, the voting/poll has been closed and I will announce the winner in the epilogue. No, it won't take me years to finish it because it will be shorter, but don't worry! Bumblebee will be getting the happy ending he more than deserves!
And since I'm late in saying this, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate!