Well, here it is! The epilogue of Hawk and Dove! Enjoy!
I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.
Epilogue.
Several Months Earlier.
As Skywarp reported to him, Megatron could barely contain his rage. After Thundercracracker's rampage and subsequent desertion, the two bots had gone to the Decepticons orbital satellite base in order to give Megatron the bad news.
With communications down for who knows how long, the Decepticons were losing on all their current fronts. Megatron had found out when he had been in a conversation with Bludgeon while the latter was on a mission in Russia, only for the signal to cut out. Soundwave was currently in a rush to try and get things back online.
As Skywarp finished his story, Megatron was silent.
"So, uh...what are you gonna do, boss?" Skywarp asked.
Megatron remained quiet. He clenched the armchairs of the throne he was sitting on, and his hands quivered with rage.
"Boss?" Skywarp asked.
"I can't believe this..." Megatron muttered angrily, "And also I can totally believe this. I knew Thundercracker had his doubts, but I thought,
"That Thundercracker was better than this?" Skywarp asked crossly.
"Yes. He always knew to push them aside for the greater good." Megatron continued, "He's been corrupted...
"You think he'll join the Autobots?" Skywarp asked nervously.
"I don't know. I do know having such a powerful and high-ranking Decepticon in the wind is a liability."
Skywarp suddenly got very nervous. "Uh, Megatron..." he stammered.
"What?"
"Are you gonna bring in Tarn?" Skywarp "Because...I don't want TC to die! He's just confused! We just gotta talk to him, that's all!"
Megatron paused, "...I don't know Skywarp. I do know-"
At that moment, Soundwave walked in. "Communications are back online, Megatron."
"Excellent Soundwave," complimented Megatron.
"Also. You have a high-priority message from California." Soundwave added.
"California? Isn't that where Thundercracker's been spending a lot of time lately?" Skywarp asked.
Megatron ignored Skywarp for now. "From who?"
Soundwave gestured at Skywarp.
Megatron looked at Skywarp, then looked back to Soundwave and nodded. "Skywarp. I think based on this incident, you've earned a little trust," Megatron stated. "It's time for you to meet one of our allies on Earth," Megatron said.
"We have more than Cobra?" Skywarp asked curiously.
"Yes. One of Cobra's benefactors, as a matter of fact." Megatron said.
Skywarp and Soundwave both got to two sides of Megatron's throne as all the doors to Megatron's throne room shut for maximum privacy.
A hologram flickered and then solidified in front of them—a tall and slender human with brown eyes that looked too far apart.
"Caligula." Megatron greeted.
"Megatron." Caligula greeted back, though he sounded much more venomous. "Would you care to explain why one of your own has been interfering in my business?"
"Excuse me?" Megatron asked.
"One of your Decepticons just ruined years of time, money, and work!" Calilgua threw back.
"Can you elaborate?"
"I had everything in place to ruin the father of a potential problem. Years of forging fake documents, tax fraud, and bribing officials. All we would have had to do was pull the trigger, and I could have gotten a problem out of the way with no mess! Then one of your Decepticons hacked into our system and ruined it all! For what? Some actor!?"
Skywarp froze. "Did you say actor?" he asked.
"...Yes?" Caligula asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Was his name Tristan McLean?"
"How did you know that?" Caligula asked.
"Thundercracker!" Skywarp gasped, "He's obsessed with him! He's been going to Malibu for the past two years! He must have been going to visit him!"
Everyone was silent at this.
"Well, what are you waiting for!?" Caligula finally asked. "Get that Decepticon and execute him!"
Megatron snarled, "I can't. He just deserted. And he destroyed his tracker. We don't know where he is."
"So, uh...what do we do?" Skywarp asked, "Do we kill that loser actor? That would teach TC a lesson, right?"
"Of course." Caligula said, "I tried to be merciful. I tried to be generous. Evidently, it's time to do things the old-fashioned way."
Skywarp clenched his hands into fists. "Then what are we waiting for!?" he asked excitedly. "Let's go-"
"Not yet," Caligula stated.
"What!?" Skywarp exclaimed.
Caligula smiled cruelly. "I want to wait for just the right moment. The moment that will make this Thundercracker suffer the most. Then we take everything from him."
Megatron gave a cruel smile in agreement. "I'm glad you humans are capable of thinking just like us," he said.
Caligula returned the smile. "Oh? And Megatron? Is the project still underway?"
Megatron nodded. "Project: Tidal Wave is almost ready..."
Thundercracker and Piper will Return...
I... I did it... I finished a fanfiction! WOOOOO!
To be honest, I didn't expect myself to finish this. In fact, this story was mostly a test to see if I could do it. Stay focused on a fanfiction long enough to complete it. This is why I started with what's effectively a stand-alone story in my own little Transformers Shared Universe rather than the beginning. As you can see, the test succeeded, and I am capable of finishing a fanfiction after all.
So yes, this does mean I'm hopefully going to do more stories set in this bizarre Hasbro and Riordan shared universe I've created. Although it might be a while before I get to the next one and possibly longer before I get to the follow-up to this story, Sorry to disappoint you all, but frankly, I need a bit of a break to recharge my batteries, and there are a lot of other stories in this universe I want to explore. I hope you understand.
Also, sorry, Juxshoa. No Tristan seeing the Thunderbird quite yet. But thanks for reviewing pretty much every chapter.
In fact, thanks to everyone who has left reviews, and faved and followed this story. You're the reason I had the motivation to finish this.
But with any luck, as the Jem song goes, "This is only the beginning.".
So one last time for this fic, as always, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review!