Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, The Owl House or their characters
The Nemesis was seen flying it's way through some thundering black clouds as Starscream was currently in a lab room with Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider, whining about his misfortune since coming to Earth.
"Oh, will my torment never end?!" Starscream asked in frustration and annoyance as the other Cons simply did their best to ignore him. "First, I had to fight for Megatron's favour against that treacherous harpy, Airachnid. Now I must contend with Shockwave and his incorrigible beast."
"Oh, look on the bright side, Starscream. At least one of them is currently on ice, locked up tight in the vault of our warship." Knock Out reminded, trying to cheer him up.
"But let's not forget about Sharpshot and Kickback hanging out with us on the Nemesis." Thundercracker said.
"Those two are so annoying." Skywarp muttered. "They just ramble on about eating Autobot metal or how they just love to stalk us like wild Scraplets."
"I especially hate how Kickback keeps repeating his last words three times." Wildrider added.
"Oh, how I would love to stuff Shockwave, his mangy abomination and those two sadistic vermin right into that stasis pod beside Airachnid." Starscream commented, frowning grumpily. "The only reason his Project Predacon is currently in full swing is because I supervised the acquisition of his dozens of Predacon bones."
"And we're basically the only ones who've been collecting them for him like a bunch of rusted scavengers." Breakdown commented annoyingly, only for all of them to head groaning from a nearby lab specimen of Knock Out's.
"Hey, Knock Out, can you keep your lab rat quiet while we're talking amongst ourselves?" Thundercracker asked.
The six Decepticons then turned to a nearby table to see that restrained to it was the disfigured body of Brawl, but this wasn't really the brutish tank Decepticon.
"Starscream, help…me…" Silas begged weakly, struggling in his restraints.
Starscream simply chuckled at the sight of the once dangerous M.E.C.H now being reduced to a pathetic science specimen.
"My, my, my, whatever have you been inflicting upon poor Silas?" Starscream asked Knock Out.
"It definitely looks agonising." Skywarp said while smiling pleasantly.
"Ha! Well, anything that merits the need for a living Petri dish." Knock Out replied before he held up an injector that contained a canister of green liquid.
The Decepticon doctor then injected the green liquid into Silas and his eyes shot open in a green colour, making him gasp in agony.
"That's right! It's not so fun when you're the lab subject, is it?!" Wildrider asked mockingly, enjoying seeing the former M.E.C.H go through such torture.
"You're really liking this, aren't you?" Breakdown asked in teammate.
"I sure am." Wildrider answered.
"Despite your justifiable lack of regard for his human side, it doesn't trouble any of you to watch what remains of our fallen comrade endure such scientific endeavours by our hand?" Starscream asked.
"To be honest, not at all." Thundercracker replied with a casual shrug.
"Besides, Silas had me strapped to his lab table before. I think Brawl would've been happy to he a part of it." Wildrider said. "You know how much he liked causing pain for humans."
"Too true to that, my friend." Knock Out agreed.
"Did you at least manage to sample any of the magic that was stored in Silas' body?" Thundercracker asked.
"Sadly, no. All of the Glyph magic had faded away without a trace by the time I started my experiments." Knock Out admitted.
Just then, Silas gasped faintly and then went offline.
"That was a bit strange." Skywarp admitted.
"What just happened?" Starscream questioned.
"You recall that Synthetic Energon I recovered from the Autobots? Well, I've been reproducing the formula to test it's viability as an alternative energy source." Knock Out explained. "However, the compound remains erratic, and there have been side effects."
"Such as?" Starscream asked, a little bit curious.
Suddenly, Silas woke up and he let out a very vicious yell at the Decepticons.
"STARSCREAM, I HOPE YOU REPLACED YOUR T-COG BECAUSE I'M GOING TO TEAR IT OUT ALL OVER AGAINS AND FEED IT TO KNOCK OUT!" Silas yelled at the top of his lungs. "AND AFTER THAT, I'M GOING TO RIP OUT BREAKDOWN'S LEFT EYE AND TEAR THE HEADS OFF THE REST OF YOU!"
"Shear unrivalled aggression." Knock Out said.
"That's got to be the biggest rage-filled mouthful I've ever heard." Skywarp quipped.
"Such power and fury." Starscream said with an intrigued smile, imagining what he could do to gain Megatron's favour with Knock Out's experiment. "Megatron has long desired a beast machine super soldier. And we now possess the means of delivering one to him."
"Let's hope he's interested in hearing your idea, Starscream." Breakdown replied.
(Linebreak)
At the Nemesis' main deck, Megatron was currently calling Shockwave to hear how the progress of Project Predacon was going.
"Tell me of the Predacon Protoforms. What is the status of their incubation?" Megatron asked as Shockwave began telling him the results. "Mm-hm. Uh-huh. And I assume Shatter and Dropkick are overseeing the project well?"
Just then, Starscream walked up to his master to inform him for his new project.
"Master, if I do say so myself, I have made the most intriguing discovery." Starscream told his leader. "It appears that-"
"Not now!" Megatron interrupted firmly. "Please continue, Shockwave. No, no one important."
Hearing this made Starscream scowled frustratingly and took his leave through the exit, where the other five Decepticons were waiting.
"So how did if go?" Skywarp asked.
"Did you speak with our liege, about our little enterprise?" Knock Out questioned.
"He was…otherwise engaged." Starscream replied.
The six Decepticons began to walk back to the lab room just as Sharpshot and Kickback showed up from a side corridor.
"Well, it looks like you six are in a bad mood today." Sharpshot said with a sly smirk.
"What's the matter with all of you? You? You?" Kickback asked, laughing cheekily.
"Zip it, bugs!" Wildrider snapped.
"Whatever you say." Sharpshot shrugged.
"We'll see you all later. Later. Later." Kickback said as he once again laughed like a creep.
"You were right, Rider, that repeating thing he does at the end of his talking really is annoying." Breakdown muttered.
"Told you so." Wildrider replied.
When the Cons arrived back at the lab room and opened the door, they were very startled when Silas let out a raging yell at them from his table.
"OH, I AM GONNA MAKE YOU SUFFER IN WAYS YOU WILL NOT BELIVE!" Silas yelled.
"Yeesh, someone's seriously going through an anger phase." Thundercracker admitted, a little surprised.
"And I thought Brawl had a bad temper before." Wildrider said.
"Just how much of this Synth-En have you given him?" Starscream asked Knock Out.
"Two additional doses, three at the most." Knock Out answered, walking to a nearby table and grabbing another injector of Synth-En. "But Silas' increasingly volatile nature isn't the only wrinkle."
When he injected the Synth-En into Silas again, the human-Cybertronian abomination groaned out in even more pain as his struggles slowed a bit.
"It appears that the more green stuff I administer, the faster this monstrosity, formerly known as Brawl, burns through his own natural Energon reserves." Knock Out proclaimed.
"So at this rate, our lab rat's going to run out of energy before we can put him to good use." Skywarp said unhappily.
"This will not do! Megatron already possesses one unruly beast with that Predacon of his!" Starscream stated furiously, not wanting his super soldier project to be a failure. "Not to the mention the Autobots have acquired new allies in those monstrous Dinobots! What good is another freak of nature that cannot be controlled?!"
"Unless you can find a way to have our super soldier be fully under Lord Megatron's control, we're pretty much going to be out of buisness." Thundercracker told him.
"You don't think I know that, Thundercracker?!" Starscream asked rhetorically, until he calmed down and smirked at getting an idea. "Wait…I'm a fool."
Later on, Starscream brought in a box containing a familiar dark substance.
"Dark Energon?!" Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider asked in disbelief.
"No way! Not happening, at all!" Wildrider announced.
"You're a whole lot more than a fool, Scream!" Skywarp stated.
"That's for sure! I think your neural cluster has blown a massive fuse!" Knock Out exclaimed.
"Oh on the contrary, my fellow Decepticons, adding Dark Energon to the formula should provide Lord Megatron full control over his super soldier." Starscream reassured.
"Or end up making us all become slaves of Unicron." Breakdown muttered to himself.
"Okay, true that Lord Megatron seems to possess a symbiotic link to anyone or thing infused with the dark matter, allowing him to manipulate them as if they were puppets. But, have you forgotten what the so-called Blood of Unicron did to our warship?" Knock Out questioned.
"I already told Scream about the whole Trypticon reawakening incident we had all those days ago." Thundercracker said, shooting a frown at Starscream.
"That was the result of a massive infusion." Starscream replied. "I am suggesting a drop or two, merely enough to allow our master to command his warrior at will."
"Do you think that's a good idea while Silas still has Synthetic Energon coursing through his fleshy circuits?" Wildrider asked while showing a bit of concern. "There's no telling what the results of a Dark Synth-En could be."
"It will be absolutely fine. Stop worrying over a little infusion, Wildrider." Starscream said carelessly.
"Even so, it's too drastic a measure to undertake without Shockwave's approval." Knock Out protested. "I do, after all, report to him."
"Not on this project! Super soldiers fall under military operations." Starscream declared sternly, marching right up to Knock Out. "Meaning, dear Knock Out, that you now report to me. Are we clear?"
With no other choice but to follow the air commander's orders, Knock Out held up an injector with a canister of liquid Dark Energon and he then jabbed it into Silas' arm, slowly inserting the Blood of Unicron into the former M.E.C.H commander.
"Just so you guys know, I've got a bad feeling about this." Breakdown said.
Once the injection was done, Silas began to let our cries of pure agony as his eyes went from green to purple and he struggled roughly.
"Should something happen soon?" Thundercracker asked expectingly.
"Wait for it." Knock Out instructed.
Pretty soon, Silas ceased struggling and he fell completely motionless as Wildrider then took a look at his life readings with a scanner.
"I'm not getting any life signs." Wildrider said, causing Starscream to groan in response.
"Humans in any form cannot be relied upon!" Starscream commented bitterly.
"I guess this means we should throw this useless body in the incinerator and-" Skywarp began to say.
But suddenly, Silas reawakened as a Terrorcon and he grunted loudly in a vicious way, struggling in his restraints.
"It's alive!" Knock Out remarked.
However, Silas was able to break out of his arm restraints and the Decepticons were left shock by this before Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp got bashed into the wall by the undead hybrid.
"Scrap!" Starscream exclaimed.
"Get back! He's becoming unstable!" Thundercracker warned as Silas then broke apart his leg restraints.
The undead hybrid started to slowly walk down from the table and he then stumbled around a bit, only to them kneel down weakly as the Cons slowly approached him.
"Looks like he's still got no fight in him." Breakdown said in relief.
"Oh for the love of-now what?!" Starscream questioned, getting fed up with all these complications.
"I tried to tell you all before. It's a side effect of the Synth-En, he's burned through his own natural reserves." Knock Out explained.
"Best I can tell, getting infused with that Dark Energon has made his reserves even more desperate for the right stuff to keep him alive." Thundercracker theorised. "You know, since Dark Energon is literally the lifeblood of the undead."
"Then perhaps we should withhold any infusions for a while?" Starscream suggested, moving towards the others in a timid way. "Might calm Silas down a bit. Make him a tad more manageable."
"Don't worry. In the state he's in right now, I doubt he could do anything terrible to us." Wildrider reassured before Silas slightly looked up at the Cons with his purple glowing eyes.
"Need…Energon." Silas said in a creepy way.
Suddenly, his mouth split open into undead mandible ways and the six Decepticons gasped in terror when a metallic tongue with teeth-like pinchers on it slid out of the mouth. Starscream and his fellow Decepticons backed away as Silas stood up and released a monstrous roar before setting his sights on Starscream, grabbing the air commander by his shoulders. Before Silas could do anything with his Terrorcon tongue, Breakdown grabbed him from behind with a headlock technique and held him tightly in it. Silas started to lash his tongue at Breakdown, who narrowly avoided it biting down on his neck before Thundercracker slashed at Silas with his claws and made him back away. Knock Out then took the opportunity to use his electric staff on Silas and this caused the Terrorcon hybrid to shout in pain before Wildrider punched him back. However, Silas seemed unharmed and his tongue started viciously snapping at the Decepticons, causing Starscream to gasp in fear.
"Do you think he's actually trying to-" Starscream began asking.
"Suck out our Energon with that metal tongue thing?" Skywarp questioned as Silas kept snapping at them.
"Sure seem's that way!" Knock Out replied, aiming his electric staff at the Terrorcon hybrid.
Unfortunately, Silas easily grabbed the electric staff and snapped it in half with a vicious snarl.
"I've got an idea." Wildrider said. "RUUUUN!"
Without a single second thought, the Decepticons ran straight out of the lab room and down the corridors with Silas right behind them, hungry for their Energon.
"See if any of you can hold him off!" Starscream told the others.
"Wait, what?!" Thundercracker asked outrageously as Starscream then transformed.
"Wait for me!" Knock Out called, jumping onto Starscream's right wing as they both flew away.
"No way I'm staying here and fighting this monster!" Wildrider declared before he, Thundercracker, Skywarp and Breakdown transformed and followed their two comrades.
"Get back here, you cowards!" Skywarp yelled at the top of his metal lungs.
Seeing that his prey had escaped, Silas turned to the other side of the corridor and began walking down it with his tongue still out to feast on unsuspecting Decepticons. Starscream kept flying through the corridors and bashed against the walls with Knock Out still on him before the air commander transformed and threw Knock Out against the floor. Thundercracker, Skywarp, Breakdown and Wildrider soon caught up to them and transformered as well.
"I knew this was a terrible idea!" Thundercracker stated.
"Yeah, now we've got a crazy Terrorcon human-Cybertronian hybrid freak on the loose and it wants to eat all the Energon it can find!" Breakdown announced alarmingly.
"We need to…sound the alarm!" Knock Out urged.
"Out of the question! Megatron will undoubtedly hold us responsible." Starscream replied.
"But…we are!" Wildrider retorted.
"Well, Scream and Knock Out are mostly." Skywarp admitted.
"Shut that blabbering mouth of yours, Skywarp!" Starscream demanded with a glare. "Anyway, his lordship doesn't need to know that. Not if we handle this the right way."
"And what kind of way is that?" Breakdown questioned.
"Use your head, Breakdown! This ship is crawling with highly trained Vehicon troopers, armed for combat." Starscream proclaimed. "The moment Silas attempts to feed, they will neutralise him for us. Problem solved."
(Linebreak)
At another part of the Nemesis, a lone Vehicon was seen walking down the corridors as everything seemed peaceful, but the scene shifted to show that Silas was waiting behind a left-turn corner with his Terrorcon mouth wide open. Before the Vehicon even knew it, Silas appeared from his hiding spot and dragged him to the ground before immediately sucking out his Energon, making the Vehicon scream painfully.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider were making their way through the Nemesis to search for Silas.
"Okay, what's the plan for when we find the freakish Terrorcon?" Wildrider asked.
"Once we recover Silas' body, we must dispose of it as quickly as possible." Starscream instructed. "No trace of him can be allowed to remain."
"His…" Knock Out said, shivering in fear at the middle of his sentence. "Infected body."
"Well we shouldn't get too close. There's no telling if he'll be still alive and just playing offline to lure us in." Thundercracker warned.
When the six Decepticons looked to the right end of the corridor, they all gasped in horror at seeing the offline body of a Vehicon laying near them. Knock Out approached the body and kneeled down to check it.
"Is he…" Breakdown began asking.
"Gone. Completely drained of Energon." Knock Out replied as he walked back to them and shot an annoyed glare at Starscream. "Tell me something, Starscream. When you said 'problem solved', is this even close to what you had in mind?!"
"Yeah, it seems your solution to this situation is already backfiring!" Skywarp stated.
"I don't not appreciate either of your tones, Knock Out and Skywarp." Starscream scowled. "This brewing catastrophe is hardly my fault."
"Well it certainly isn't mine!" Knock Out argued.
As the Cons were arguing, they didn't notice that the Vehicon suddenly started to stand up and only Wildrider noticed.
"Uh, guys?" Wildrider asked timidly, only to be ignored.
"Oh no?! You're the mastermind who chose to experiment with Synthetic Energon!" Starscream proclaimed, pointing at Knock Out.
"In my opinion, you really should've discussed with Lord Megatron or Shockwave if those experiments were safe!" Thundercracker scolded.
"Guys!" Wildrider said, louder this time.
"And you're the monkey wrench who thought it was a good idea to dabble in voodoo!" Knock Out yelled mainly at Starscream.
"If Scream didn't decide to use that stupid Dark Energon on something that's already got a crazy substance inside it, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Breakdown stated angrily.
"GUYS!" Wildrider yelled, finally gaining their attention.
"WHAT?!" The other five Cons demanded.
However, the angry expressions faded away when they heard a chilling growl nearby and Wildrider pointed to the fully-standing Vehicon in front of them.
"Energon." The Terrorcon Vehicon said before it's mouth opened up the same way as Silas and a metallic tongue emerged.
Starscream and the others gasped horrifyingly and they began backing away.
"What the slag, Knock Out?! You said he had no Spark!" Skywarp exclaimed.
"Dark Energon. It reanimates the dead!" Knock Out realised.
"Less talking, more shooting!" Wildrider stated before he shifted his hand into a blaster and fired it at the Terrorcon Vehicon, causing Starscream and Thundercracker to do the same.
However, none of their blaster shots seemed to damage it and the undead Vehicon kept stalking towards with its tongue lashing viciously.
"Aim for the head!" Knock Out ordered.
"What?! How do you know?!" Starscream questioned.
"I've seen human horror films!" Knock Out replied, causing the others to look at him weirdly. "At drive-in theatres!"
"Breakdown, take the shot!" Thundercracker ordered.
Breakdown brought out his shoulder cannon and carefully aimed it at the undead Vehicon before firing a missile, causing a big explosion. When the smoke died down, the Cons saw that the undead Vehicon was now headless, but it was still moving and the tongue was sticking out.
"That was useful!" Breakdown stated in sarcasm.
"Forget the head! Go for the Spark!" Starscream declared, shooting his blaster rapidly.
All the shots hit the undead Vehicon's chest and caused it to back away before it eventually fell down and finally went offline, with a big hole in its chest.
"Please tell me that thing's dead now." Wildrider pleaded.
"We severed it's link to the Dark Energon." Knock Out said, scoffing at the destroyed Terrorcon body. "Human horror films, waste of time."
"This was just the first one." Thundercracker admitted, a little concerned. "There's no telling how many more have been bitten by Silas."
(Linebreak)
Speaking of Silas, he was currently walking his way through the Nemesis corridors slowly while hissing menacingly.
"Energon." Silas said, still hungry for some more.
(Linebreak)
Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider were once again walking through their ship to try and fix their Terrorcon problem.
"If the mutation is capable of infecting others with just a single bite, that means everyone on the Nemesis is in danger." Thundercracker theorised.
Heading this made Starscream whimper like a scared child.
"You're saying Silas could beget more Terrorcons?" Starscream asked fearfully.
"Sure sounds like it to me." Skywarp replied.
"And the ensuing feeding frenzy could turn this entire warship into a scrap head." Knock Out proclaimed.
"Does this mean we get to sound the alarm, now?!" Breakdown questioned rhetorically.
"I vote yes!" Wildrider replied.
Just then, the six Decepticons stopped walking when they noticed a group of Vehicons standing in front of them.
"You there! Have you noticed any unusual activity…" Starscream began asking, only for the Vehicons to turn and reveal their Terrorcon mouths as the main Decepticons grew very scared. "In…this…sector?"
The undead Vehicons started slowly walking towards the Decepticons with their Terrorcon tongues out and they all screamed out in fear before running away. When they came up to a side turn, the Cons quickly ran to the right side as Knock Out quickly did the same after he went the other way. As they kept running, the Cons came to a quick halt as they saw some more undead Vehicons slowly stalking towards them like zombies in a horror movie, causing the main six Cons to run back the way they came down. Eventually, Starscream spotted an open door to a nearby communication room.
"In here!" Starscream ordered as the and the others jumped right into the room, causing the door to close behind them.
Once they were safely inside and kneeling on the floor, the six Decepticons took a moment to catch their breath from the terrifying experience they went through.
"Okay…this getting way too out of hand." Skywarp muttered.
"Indeed, Skywarp. This situation might be a bit more dire than any of us ever imagined." Starscream said.
"Thanks for noticing the obvious, Scream." Wildrider replied, rolling his eyes sarcastically.
"Mmm, I find it rather ironic that after battling Autobots and their Witch pets all these days since coming to Earth, getting smacked down, shot at, blown up, tangled by vines, punched by ugly slime monsters, tangled in huge vines, this is how our lights go out?" Knock Out asked.
"Having our precious Energon devoured by a horde of undead cannibalistic monsters." Thundercracker sighed.
"This ain't exactly the way I wanted to go offline." Breakdown admitted. "Especially knowing Bulkhead will live longer than me."
"Same goes for me and Wheeljack. I still plan to get even with that so-called Con Crusher." Wildrider muttered.
"Unfortunately, it seems none of us will get the chance to finish what we started, my friends. If this is indeed the end, if we are to become Terrorcon chow, it has been an honour serving Lord Megatron with all of you." Starscream told his fellow Decepticon, surprisingly sincere about it.
"I'll say this to you, Knock Out, being your teammate alongside Rider for so many years has been pretty nice." Breakdown admitted.
"Yeah. After we lost Motormaster, Dead End and Drag Strip in the war on Cybertron, you've actually been the next best thing." Wildrider commented, smiling a bit.
"It sure took you two a long time to say that. And while we're at it, I must say that both of you have a shiny finish I've always liked." Knock Out said kindly.
"You know what, Scream? I'm glad Thundercracker and I got put under your command at that old space station of yours." Skywarp told his commander.
"Yes, well I supposed my life has been quite interesting with both of you in it." Starscream replied.
"For sure. I don't know where we'd end up if we never met each other." Thundercracker said with a smile.
There was an extremely long moment of awkward silence between the six Decepticons as they all looked away for a bit.
"This is getting…too awkward." Wildrider said.
"Yep." Breakdown replied.
"Mm-hmm. Well then…" Starscream began.
"Should be going." Knock Out finished.
"Agreed." Thundercracker said.
"We've still got a Terrorcon mess to clean up." Skywarp added.
The six Decepticons soon exited the room and they cautiously walked their way around in search of any Terrorcons. But then, they bumped into something large and gasped in shock when they saw it was Megatron.
"Would any of you like to tell me what exactly is going on?!" Megatron demanded, glaring firmly.
"Eh, yes. Absolutely nothing, my liege." Starscream replied with a nervous smile.
"All is quiet. Too quiet." Knock Out assured.
"You might even say it's dull." Thundercracker added.
"You've got nothing to be suspicious about." Wildrider told his leader.
"Funny. Because the Dark Energon within my Spark has been pulsing." Megatron replied with an unconvinced expression, making his loyal followers feel more worried.
"Don't worry, guys. I can take care of this. Just let me do all the explaining to us." Skywarp said reasonably as he stepped forward and remained still for a bit, until suddenly pointing to Starscream and Knock Out. "It's all Starscream and Knock Out's fault!"
"Precisely, my-WHAT?!" Knock Out asked astonishingly and angrily.
"You dare sell me out, Skywarp?!" Starscream asked in fury.
"Knock Out was currently using Silas to experiment with Synthetic Energon, but Starscream had this idea to use the whole thing for an alternative super soldier project! That's when he came up with the crazy idea to infuse Dark Energon into Silas with the Synth-En stuff still inside him and that mutation ended up making a monstrous result!" Skywarp explained drastically. "Me, Thundercracker, Breakdown and Wildrider were against this from the start, but Scream and Knocks still went along with it and now we've got a mutated Energon-sucking abomination loose on the Nemesis and it's currently infecting all of our troops with it's undead bite! We've been trying to fix the problem, master! I swear!"
Once he was done explaining everything, Skywarp took some time to catch his breath and stepped back a bit, allowing Thundercracker to pat him on the shoulder.
"Still a big blabbermouth as ever." Breakdown quipped as Megatron turned towards Starscream.
"I do know what kind of game you've pulled Skywarp into playing along with, Starscream." Megatron said while narrowing his eyes at the air commander. "But if I learn that you have been dabbling with my Dark Energon stores again, attempting to infuse with it's formidable power…"
As Megatron kept talking, Starscream and the others noticed an undead Vehicon walking up to him from behind.
"Uh, my liege?" Starscream asked fearfully, pointing at the Vehicon.
"Can you turn around for just a sec?" Thundercracker suggested.
"Let me just say, you have been awarded more chances for redemption than anyone in Decepticon history." Megatron continued, until he heard the undead Vehicon growl behind him.
"Energon!" The undead cannibal said, bringing out his Terrorcon tongue as Megatron turned around.
"You there, what are you doing?" Megatron questioned. "I order you! Stand down!"
The undead Vehicon snarled in response and charged at Megatron, only to be shot down by the Decepticon leader's cannon. Megatron then turned his attention back to Starscream and the others.
"Skywarp did tell you." Starscream shrugged, with the other five nodding in agreement.
(Linebreak)
Later at the main deck, Soundwave was currently working at a terminal and studying the side effects Silas was going through with Megatron and his followers nearby.
"Then why can I not command the monster to follow my bidding?" Megatron questioned.
"While trace of Dark Energon should have granted you control over these ghouls, I believe the Synthetic component may be corrupting your link to them." Knock Out explained.
"And with those nasty tongue things, Silas is able to spread his mutated condition to others with just one bite." Wildrider added.
"Initiate high-alert!" Megatron ordered Soundwave. "Instruct all troops to keep their distance from the mutations and terminate on sight! Make sure Sharpshot and Kickback are also stationed on the front lines!"
Soundwave nodded as he began sending out the call to all surviving Decepticons as Megatron turned back to his main six followers.
"Your fate, however, remains to be seen." Megatron declared, causing them to look nervously at each other. "Why are you still here?!"
Not wanting to face Megatron's wrath, the six Decepticons immediately ran away from the main deck.
"Find this creation of yours and eradicate it, immediately!" Megatron ordered.
(Linebreak)
Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider.
"You guys do know that Lord Megatron's only doing this to punish us, right?" Thundercracker asked.
"We get that, Thundercracker. But I wish it could've just been Scream and Knock Out." Skywarp muttered. "The rest of us barley did anything."
"We're right here, you know?" Starscream reminded, frowning at the black and purple Seeker.
"I still don't think we're best suited for hunting down the undead." Breakdown admitted.
"Breakdown has a good point. How are we the best choice to hunt down Silas?" Knock Out asked rhetorically. "I mean, why not just deploy his beloved beast machine super soldier, hmm? After all, it is supposed to be the ultimate hunter."
"Absolutely not! That's a scrap-headed idea!" Wildrider announced.
"I second that. Can you imagine if the Predacon became infected?" Starscream asked, feeling dreadful from just the thought. "Nothing could stop it."
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, some of the surviving Vehicons were shooting at some mutated Terrorcons in front of them from a safe distance before Sharpshot and Kickback jumped over them.
"Don't leave a single one of these abominations alive!" Sharpshot stated, firing an electric blast at some of the Terrorcons and making them explode.
Kickback leaped tight at the Terrorcons and stabbed two of them with his insect appendages, tossing them away and then grabbing a Terrorcon tongue that tried to bite him before ripping it right out of the Terrorcon's mouth.
"Killing these things is so much fun! Fun! Fun!" Kickback laughed psychotically. "Insecticons, feel free to destroy our prey!"
Two more Insecticons crawled along the ceiling and one of them latched down onto a Terrorcon, digging it's huge claws into the undead Cybertronian's head. The second Insecticon pinned another Terrorcon to the wall and it tried to bite the bug-like Cybertronian with its tongue, but the Insecticon immediately took it offline before advancing.
"That's right! Slaughter them all!" Sharpshot ordered. "Lord Megatron wants everyone of these abominations destroyed!"
Sharpshot and Kickback kept leading their forces against the Terrorcon horde, with Soundwave following them closely behind.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Silas was still walking around the corridor and searching for a new source of Energon before he eventually spotted a nearby room and smashed on the panel next to it. The undead former M.E.C.H commander walked through the open door and looked around to see it was the vault containing many of the Iacon relics, soon setting his sights on a familiar Insecticon pod and approaching it.
"Energon." Silas said before he broke the glass container apart and started ripping the pod open, releasing a lot of cold steam.
With the pod open and the cold stasis-inducing air now gone, Airachnid's frozen body from within twitched a bit and she then fully reawakened, gasping a bit from the stasis effect. When she laid eyes on Silas, she was very shocked.
"Brawl?!" Airachnid asked astonishingly. "Did I not exterminate you once already?"
In response, Silas unleashed his Terrorcon tongue and viciously lashed it at Airachnid, who managed to avoid it in shock. The tongue tried to bite Airachnid again and she leaned back as the tongue was barely able to reach her, allowing the female spider Con to jump ontop of the pod and kick Silas in the face. Silas was unfazed and he grabbed Airachnid before attempting to bite into her, but Airachnid grabbed his tongue and slapped him away before back flipping out of her position. Silas attempted to attack again and Airachnid jumped below him and slowly tried to escape due to not fully recovering from the cryo-stasis, only for Silas to grab her by the shoulders and slam her into the wall. Silas then grabbed Airachnid, pinned her again the wall and his tongue was inches away from biting her neck before the female spider Con shot a web at the ceiling and crawled along the wall for a higher advantage.
"Energon!" Silas said mindlessly, craving for some Cybertronian lifeblood.
Airachnid shot her webs at Silas and they hit his shoulders, pinning him against the floor as he struggled to get free. Jumping down from the wall, Airachnid bared one of her spider legs and she stabbed it through Silas' neck, making him cry out before going limp.
"Second time's the charm. Heh, but to be certain…" Airachnid said before she started tearing through Silas' chest. "I shall remove your very Spark."
When she full tore through the chest, Airachnid was very surprised to see the near-dead body of Silas inside, groaning weakly from the toll of all the experiments that were performed on him.
"Silas? Whatever have they done to you?" Airachnid questioned. "Oh, but more importantly, thank you for freeing me."
"No, thank….you." Silas replied with a weak smile before he fell back and took his last breath.
"Whatever." Airachnid said simply before she stood up and decided to get back to old buisness. "Insecticons, heed me."
(Linebreak)
As Sharpshot and Kickback were still leading their soldiers against the Terrorcons, the Insecticons then stopped fighting as they were now under the control of Airachnid's hive mind.
"Your queen has returned." Airachnid's voice said.
Following Airachnid's command, the Insecticons transformed and they flew away down the corridor, much to Sharpshot and Kickback's surprise.
"Hey, where are you all going?!" Sharpshot questioned. "Get back here!"
Soundwave soon arrived and stood beside the two alpha Insecticons.
"Something is very wrong. Wrong. Wrong." Kickback said. "I'm guessing it's up to us to fix this problem?"
"Yes, I could hear someone trying to dominate my mind. But they're going to regret it." Sharpshot replied with a firm scowl, causing Soundwave to nod.
(Linebreak)
Back at the vault room, Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider arrived while seeing the opened door.
"Remember, don't let him get too close." Thundercracker warned.
The six Decepticons then walked into the vault and immediately spotted Silas' lifeless body on the floor, much to their relief.
"Holy scrap, he's actually offline." Wildrider muttered, smiling a bit.
"Our ordeal is finally over!" Starscream remarked before Knock Out noticed something.
"Or not." The Decepticon doctor said, pointing to what he saw.
Starscream and the others followed Knock Out's gaze and they all saw the torn-open Insecticon pod that previously contained Airachnid.
"Scrap!" They all shouted.
"Like we didn't have enough slagging problems!" Breakdown complained.
"Starscream!" Megatron called on the com-link, making the air commander gasp. "Have you made contact with the plague bringer?"
"Actually, my liege, I have good news. And…bad news." Starscream admitted with a sheepish smile.
(Linebreak)
"Long story short, master, we've got a certain eight-legger on the loose." Skywarp informed, making Megatron growl loudly in anger.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, all the Insecticons flew throughout the corridors and they seen met up with Airachnid, who led them through the Nemesis.
"Loyal servants, the time is now! Lay waste to all Decepticons!" Airachnid ordered. "Leave no trace of them in your wake!"
As Airachnid and her army kept charging through the corridors, the female Spider Con soon spotted Soundwave appearing from the left in front of her.
"Soundwave!" Airachnid called out as she stopped and commanded her Insecticons to do the same, while Soundwave stared silently at them. "I vow that on this day…the world will hear the sound of your screams!"
"Someone's going to be screaming today, eight-legger." A voice said before Sharpshot and Kickback appeared right behind Soundwave. "And that someone is you!"
"What do you two think you're doing with that silent fool?" Airachnid questioned with a glare. "You are both Insecticons, so you hereby serve me!"
"We don't work for anyone but Lord Megatron!" Kickback retorted. "You're just a pretender to us! Us! Us!"
"What?! That's impossible!" Airachnid stated in disbelief before Soundwave stepped forward and started playing a recorded log.
"Insecticons communicate on a specific ultrasonic frequency. I have found I can manipulate 85.7 percent of their species through this method. The exceptions being Hardshell, Sharpshot and Kickback. Those anomalies appear to be more evolved and require finesse in their manipulation." Shockwave's voice said.
"What Soundwave just said. You don't have any control over us." Sharpshot declared. "Now, how's about you stand down before I dig my claws through your worthless Spark? Unless you're much too scared to face me."
"It is who will be scared in a minute, traitor." Airachnid replied as she prepared to battle the stag beetle Insecticon.
"Can I help you destroy her? Her? Her?" Kickback asked with a giggle.
"No. She is all mine." Sharpshot answered.
Soundwave and Kickback stepped back a bit as Sharpshot and Airachnid kept glaring at each other, until the female spider Con hissed and shot her webs at her for. Sharpshot transformed into his Insecticon form and avoided the webs, flying at Airachnid and striking her swiftly with his front pincers before slashing her against the wall. Sharpshot transformed and attempted to attack Airachnid, who immediately grabbed him by the face with one of her spider legs and shot her hand blasters at him, causing the stag beetle Insecticon to crash against the floor while Airachnid laughed at the sight.
"You should have chosen to serve your queen when you had the chance, Sharpshot." Airachnid said smugly.
"There's only two people I pledge my loyalty to! Lord Megatron and Shockwave!" Sharpshot announced as he then generated electricity.
Airachnid shot her webs and Sharpshot fired his electricity, with the stag beetle Insecticon's attack burning through the webs and striking Airachnid. The female spider Con quickly recovered and started attacking Sharpshot with her spider legs, causing him to block them with his arms and jump back a bit before he suddenly turned invisible with his cloaking ability, much to Airachnid's surprise.
"What's the matter? Can't fight what you can't see?" Sharpshot asked tauntingly.
Before Airachnid knew it, she felt an electric attack hit her from the left and she swiped one of her spider legs at the side, only to hit nothing as Sharpshot then struck her with two invisible claw attacks and then kicked her onto the ground. Not giving her a chance to recover, Sharpshot bared out his claws and leaped onto Airachnid before slashing at her, dealing a lot of damage to her. Grabbing her by the throat, Sharpshot prepared to finish off Airachnid with a swift strike to the head, only for two Insecticons to tackle him away and they both transformed before grabbing him by the shoulders. Airachnid got back up and smiled sinisterly at the sight of Sharpshot struggling in her servants' grip.
"Perhaps you should've known that I don't like playing fair." Airachnid commented.
"Why that scheming-" Kickback snarled in anger as he attempted to join the fight.
However, Soundwave grabbed Kickback by his shoulders and shook his head at him, causing the grasshopper Insecticon to reluctant stand down.
"You should listen to Soundwave if you want to be spared, not that it will matter." Airachnid said, standing over Sharpshot with a sadistic smirk as she aimed her left leg at her. "As for you, Sharpshot, you'll be made an example of what happens to any Insecticon who chooses Megatron over me. Do you what your death to be quick or agonisingly slow?"
"Just shut up and do it." Sharpshot told her with a hateful glare.
"Very well." Airachnid replied.
The female spider Con raised her leg up as Soundwave, Kickback and the Insecticons watched from their sides before Airachnid then lashed her deadly leg down to Sharpshot…only to then stop and feel a pain on her upper chest that made her gasp painfully. Looking down, Airachnid slowly saw that Sharpshot had managed to free his left arm and held his palm out in front of a burning hole on her chest, which was the result of Sharpshot shooting an electric blast through her. Airachnid reverted back to her robot form and placed a hand over her hole as she stuttered painfully, while Sharpshot freed himself from the Insecticons' grip and grinned right down at her.
"You should never let down your guard." Sharpshot said, kicking down Airachnid and pinning her against his foot. "Insecticons, who is your true leader?"
All the Insecticons transformed and they looked at each other before turning to Sharpshot and Airachnid, processing what happened in the battle and confirming the stag beetle Insecticon triumphed.
"Sharpshot is our leader!" The Insecticons announced, bowing in respect.
"Indeed." Sharpshot sneered.
When he looked down at Airachnid, Sharpshot noticed something on her neck and took a closer look before he noticed it was a bite mark that Silas had left on her earlier.
"Well now, isn't this an unexpected outcome." Sharpshot sneered, grabbing Airachnid by her throat and holding her up. "You're all alone and completely weak, eight-legger."
"Then do it. Snuff my Spark and make sure that it hurts." Airachnid hissed.
"Actually, no. That's not something I'm always good with." Sharpshot replied before he turned to Soundwave. "Soundwave, open a Space Bridge for our traitorous friend."
Soundwave nodded in response and then started putting in some coordinates on his screen before a Space Bridge appeared in front of him, while Kickback chuckled maliciously as he knew what was about to him. Airachnid turned to Sharpshot with an astonished expression, while he simply grinned at her.
"There are fates worse than death." Sharpshot said before he tossed Airachnid straight into the Space Bridge.
(Linebreak)
On the other side, Airachnid flew out of the Space Bridge and crashed against a rocky surface of a large moon before she weakly stood and saw Cybertron a few miles in front of her. The Space Bridge closed up behind Airachnid and she was now stranded on Cybertron's moon, alone.
"NOOOOOO!" Airachnid yelled into the space-filled atmosphere.
(Linebreak)
With Airachnid gone for good, Soundwave walked away while Sharpshot and Kickback remained where they were and looked at where the Space Bridge used to be.
"Goodbye forever, Airachnid." Sharpshot said with a smirk.
"Good riddance." Kickback added before laughing out loud, while their fellow Insecticons stood behind them.
(Linebreak)
Later on, Megatron and the Decepticons stood at the main deck as the Decepticon leader was discussing the aftermath of the Terrorcon infestation. For their minor involvement, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Breakdown and Wildrider were punished with the job of simply cleaning up all the bodies of the destroyed Terrorcons. But the same couldn't be said for Starscream and Knock Out.
"Yes, the containment protocol you recommended to prevent any further outbreak is now underway." Megatron said on the communication terminal. "Oh, and Shockwave? Having just lost nearly half our military might, I cannot stress enough the importance of Project Predacon. See if you can speed things along, will you?"
When he ended the communication, Megatron turned his attention to Starscream and Knock Out behind him.
"Knock Out, need I remind you that as the Nemesis' medic, you report directly to Shockwave, not Starscream." Megatron reminded.
"Understood, master." Knock Out replied.
"Just to be sure, you will hand over all of your projects to him, immediately. Including the Synthetic Energon." Megatron ordered.
"As you wish, my liege." Knock Out said in defeat.
"And as for you…" Megatron said, turning to Starscream with a stern expression.
"Lord Megatron, if you would just allow me to explain things…" Starscream pleaded.
"No. Allow me to explain things…in a manner which I know you'll understand." Megatron replied before he advanced towards Starscream to give him a very severe punishment, making him whimper in fear.
"Should we do something?" Breakdown asked the other three as they stood at the very back.
"Not at all. We're just lucky to have gotten a simple cleaning duty." Skywarp answered.
"Yeah, I wouldn't wanna know what the bigger punishments would be." Wildrider added in agreement.
"Let's just go and clean up the mess Scream made." Thundercracker told them before they all began walking away.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile on Cybertron's moon, Airachnid was seen wandering the baron rock and she had a starved expression on her face.
"Must have…Energon." Airachnid said weakly before noticing a silhouette of what seemed to be a Cybertronian.
Suddenly, Airachnid's mouth changed into that of a Terrorcon's and she leaped right at the Cybertronian silhouette to feast on it, only to bash right off it upon contact and see that it was actually a weirdly-shaped stone structure. The Terrorcon Airachnid then started crawling on all fours while hissing in a hungry way as she tried looking for any source of Energon, but there just weren't any Autobots or Decepticons on the moon. In time, Airachnid's hunger will consume her, the Dark Synthetic Energon infection within her would soon fade away, she wouldn't have any new source on a baron asteroid orbiting her deceased planet and in the end…she will perish.
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