Song: Dreaming While You Sleep - Genesis

Megatron and Arcee had scoured the junk across several hills until they found chains and a metal plate that appeared to once be a part of a tank or a small ship. They placed the vault and the remains of the Metal Heads on the slab with the chains around holes they believed were bullet impacts. Dragging the items proved easier and they smiled at one another at their improvised sled.

"A lot less strenuous, huh?"

The warlord laughed, "You can say that again. It feels kind of good not having to use my strength for everything."

"If anyone says anything, I'll just tell them you have back problems," she snickered.

"You better not," he warned with a whimsical tone. "I'll tell Optimus you once a had a crush on-"

"No, no! Don't, Megatron, I would murder you. He does not need to know that!"

"Oh, well, now I have to tell him," he smirked. "I say I'm merely going to oust your secret and you want to kill me. Really feeling the love, Arcee."

"We're both jackasses who can't express love well. How does that surprise you?" The queen joked.

Megatron laughed, "It doesn't. I've done far worse. I, uh, I once got jealous of Orion spending time with Ratchet and Ironhide that I may have tormented the latter by ruining his life. Ratchet I couldn't touch because of tenure in his position. So, there are a few worse things than murder when you think about it. Not my proudest moment."

"You were the one who derailed Ironhide's life? That explains why that guy had severe trust issues. That…that's bad. But I can't say I haven't ruined other people's lives either like Nightbird. I drove her insane to an obsession to find me. I used that to get her killed by luring her to an Autobot ambush. I still kind of feel bad about that but she could have stopped. Nothing else I could do except not exist, but that would've been too easy."

The smile Megatron had lowered slightly to a neutral expression. "I suppose we just have a way about us that hurts some people and helps others. I mean I can live with my conscience most of the time so there's not an incredible guilt to me about what happened, but I do wish some things did work out differently."

Arcee pondered that and then asked, "What was it like when you and Optimus were close? I know certain details but never heard your side of the story. You can admit you still love him. I understand."

Passing a hive of distillers arguing over food, Megatron ran the servo not pulling the vault's sled on his cheek and tapped the side of his faceplates. "Orion was nice, sweet for someone considered a high caste member. He treated me with a resolve that I craved, never having experienced it before in my life. I fell hard and I wanted us to be together forever. But we all know how that turned out. Before the fallout, we loved to read. I used every moment I had between fighting in the Gladiatorial Pits to use the great halls of Iacon's library to learn every chance I got. Alpha Trion hated me there. We also loved seeing the eclipses when the moons passed the sun and each other. It was like watching a glimmer of hope that things could be ours, nobody to govern our lives. When we would go out for walks among the populace, we got these stares like they were unsure of what to make of us."

Then he gulped, holding back the stronger emotions as he slowly shook his head. Arcee knew it was the part he dreaded to tell, the real reason for their departure regardless of their feelings. She waited for the worst, silent but ready to be there to comfort him if he wanted her to.

"What...really split us wasn't the choice to inherit the Matrix of Leadership. It contributed to the final straw, for sure, but the moment I knew that it wasn't meant to be, despite all that we did together, was during a moment in the Hall of Records. I was going over a speech I planned on presenting to a crowd in Kaon and Orion agreed with my point of view, he knew I was right, but he made a few suggestions that solidified the undeniable fact that we were from two different worlds on the same planet. He wanted to romanticize it to appease the people I knew who wouldn't understand, and it dawned on me that his agreement didn't come from experience, it came from a position he believed was the right thing to do."

Arcee understood the moment he said that what he was talking about. Optimus, no matter how noble he was, was born into a privileged life so the hardships as leader were still not the same as those born in a hell most foul who had to rise to the occasion to be better though some, like Megatron, had lost their way when the lines between right and wrong got blurred in a world that didn't care overall.

"He wasn't wrong to think that way but the rights of the oppressed must be presented by the oppressed," Megatron said. "Hearing the rights of the people through a mere supporter is not the same and loses its meaning because someone else is speaking for you; you aren't speaking for you. The intentions were pure, but it held no real loss to him if it didn't work. That type of person, no matter how kind, cannot represent us."

"The love you felt was real but the position you were in made it impossible," she muttered back.

Megatron huffed, "We convince ourselves we can do the impossible all the time, but have you noticed with every attempt to achieve the impossible, something always gets sacrificed in the end? I refused to sacrifice my purpose for him, so I planned to part ways with him after the meeting with the Council. Then everything went wrong. This high-class data clerk of the infamous Alpha Trion makes a speech about freedom and rights of all beings and suddenly, he's chosen as a Prime? The biggest insult of my career, and the most heart-wrenching betrayal of my life. What's funny is that...I think that was the most Decepticon thing Orion...Optimus ever did."

When he gave a soft laugh, Arcee saw that he wasn't entirely saddened by how things turned out. Maybe it was for the best, but Arcee didn't want to be proud of that thought. She wanted him to be real with himself; her opinion didn't matter.

"This is a little weird to ask but would you have gotten back together with him if certain things occurred differently?"

Megatron gave a sincere smile. To her surprise, he said, "No. The damage is done. I found myself thinking about that very question quite a few times and the more I thought about it, the more painful it was. He and I, especially now, are a far cry from each other. I can never forgive him for that. If I went back to him...every time I look at him for too long, I start to grow unstable. I can feel the urge to kill him grow more than my love for him has ever reached, and that scares me. I don't want to hurt him anymore. You, I have no ill-will towards you regardless of what you've done, but Optimus will forever be my greatest mistake."

"We all make mistakes, but we move on and accept them. That's all we can do. And I don't think Optimus will hold anything against you for that. He's forgiven you quite some time ago." She offered him her servo and he took it, exchanging simple smiles. "Besides, big guy, I think he will always love you too and he wants you to be happy. He just wanted you to find someone who can tolerate you."

"Oh, okay, back to the sass. I see how it is," he said, continuing to grin. "My bleeding spark. What happened with Cliffjumper and Tailgate?"

"You..." She pointed a digit at him choking back laughter. "Okay, alright, you got me there. I'll stop."

"I don't mind really. It's good to get it out anyways. Never had anyone but Soundwave to listen to me."

They both began laughing and continued doing so despite the sore subject. It wasn't insensitivity on their part, especially Arcee's, but she understood seeing the humor among it helped to cope with it easier.

When they finally reached the tribe, the inhabitants, including the two younglings, waved at them and greeted them like friends. The society Wreck-gar had created was certainly what most dreamed of. No hatred, no greed, and no arrogance. They acted like they had more than enough to share despite being on a planet full of scraps. The humblest of bots were the ones with nothing in their name.

Megatron swung the sled in front of Wreck-gar and Seacore who both peered at it stunned. Bolt lifted his pedes as it went by to not get hit while Moonhunter merely went higher up to lie on one of the huts. The rustic green mech approached the contents on the sled first and picked up the remains of the Rhyno with an analytical expression.

"These were...in the Howling Wastes?" Seacore asked carefully.

Arcee nodded and picked up another portion of armor. "These are deadly creatures known as the Metal Heads. They've been spotted on other worlds too hunting for resources and to kill anything that gets in their way."

A few other mechs looked over the sled before Wreck-gar nudged past them with small apologies in his wake. Once he got to the front and saw the vault, he froze up like a deer in headlights. Arcee didn't know what he was thinking, couldn't read his faceplates either and that worried her that bringing the vault might have been a bad idea. She didn't know if Wreck-gar could get furious or show any other rare emotion besides that.

He was hesitant to grab it but when he did, his smile grew back. To Arcee's dismay, he seemed oblivious to the claw marks. "My vault is here! See? I told you it was okay! It could be found at any given time!"

"Um, Wreck-gar, it's been tampered with," she said as she pointed to the lock.

The orange and red mech looked over it and scoffed, "Oh, nothing but a few dragons probably messed with it. It's a-okay!"

Bolt stood up and gestured a bit peeved, "No, it's not okay! That mech or whoever you talked to, don't you think it's suspicious that you met this guy and suddenly your vault turns up where you couldn't find it?! That tells me something's up!"

"Actually, it's down. Wrong direction there, buddy." Wreck-gar pointed down at the same as the Vehicon facepalmed.

Arcee held up a servo to diffuse Bolt's growing irritability and replied, "Okay, okay, maybe, Wreck-gar, we should look in the vault to see if everything is still in it. We wouldn't want anything to happen to...whatever's inside there."

"Not a bad idea. I'll open it in a little while, no need to rush," Wreck-gar said, setting down the vault next to his hammock.

Bolt then turned to the other Cybertronians and whispered, "This mech is lazy. He thinks he has all the time in the world. He knows he's not in any danger so he's not going to do anything to help us move forward with our plans. The only thing I got out of him while you were away was I found out there's someone named Nancy whom the contents of the vault belong to. He swore to protect it for them. He went into some type of confused hysteria like he wanted to remember something but couldn't. I guess he finally did because he snapped out of it and was smiling for about thirty minutes."

Megatron muttered, "Psychological damage? Past trauma?"

"Possibly, but I know one thing: he's not going to be any help. If the Metal Heads invade, none of these Junkions are going to know what to do. Use the Earth expression 'farmers with pitchforks' against a tyrannical legion of monsters. We are probably way over our heads here."

"We aren't just going to leave them to face the Metal Heads alone though," Arcee stated. "If we find out what's in the vault and if it's missing, we can figure out the Metal Heads' next move and go from there."

"Three bots and a Nitrotiger against an army has bad odds, Arcee."

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

Seacore examined the remains and asked, "These creatures you call the Metal Heads, they are malicious enough to attack us? How do we repel such a pest?"

The bots tried to find the nicest way to put it without invading the tribe's peaceful atmosphere, but no response held the true terror of what the virus was capable of destroying.

"They are best if they are...killed off," Arcee said distastefully, wincing as several of the Junkions began talking among themselves.

Seacore was the most reasonable and she believed he had previous experience with such matters. "We are simple folk; we don't have weapons powerful enough to harm another-"

"Then you need our help. The Metal Heads aren't going to stop until you are dead, or we kill the commander in charge. That's how they work. Take, destroy, infect, and kill."

A Junkion with spiked wheels and torso commented, "How do we know you didn't bring them here to undo our lives?"

Bolt came to her defense, "They are hunting all the cybernetic worlds. Yours, Velocitron, Caminus...many of them are in their warpath. We are trying to prevent them from harming you, but we can only do this with your help. We don't have an army, no reliance on anyone but ourselves usually to spread this truth, but we don't want to see anyone hurt."

More mutterings among the crowd seemed to tip against their favor. Wreck-gar didn't look like he agreed with Bolt either which solidified his mindset of how the reality of the situation wasn't important to him. That pissed off Arcee more than she cared to admit.

Seacore noticed this too and coughed, "Perhaps, we need a little while to talk about this sudden development. Here, for your efforts, I have a power source I found in the scrapyard that could be useful to you. We have no need of it."

He handed her a Radiant Core and Arcee nodded as she placed it in her subspace before turning towards her two teammates.

"Not going to plan, of course."

Megatron remarked, "When has it ever?"

Arcee shrugged, "For now, we just wait and keep an eye on things around here. Get to know the locals so we know who we're dealing with and how to motivate them if need be."

"I doubt we have that much time..." Bolt complained.

"Shh, everything will be okay. Keep a positive attitude, come on."

The Cybertronians let Wreck-gar and Seacore talk to one another as the other locals went back to enjoy their carefree lives. The younglings ran around Megatron's pedes a few times trying to chase one of the hira hyena pups that ran about. From the warlord's point of view looking directly down, all he saw was a potato-shaped object hobbling across the ground at a fast pace. He lifted his pede as the pup gave a small laughing bark as the children caught it, snuggling with the little animal with affection.

While Megatron observed their playing, Arcee got to talking with a few of the mechs outside their huts, asking questions about the landscape and what happened. She came to find out that the chaos that occurred on Junkion with the Autobots and Decepticons did decimate half the world, but the Junkions had forgiven the incident as they had no need of the half gone anyways. It was a twisted concept, but the residents thought nothing of it despite the tragedy. She couldn't decide whether they just didn't care or found doing something about it was just not favorable to their way of life.

Moonhunter was touching noses with the hira hyenas who curiously sniffed back. Watching them circle one another, Bolt laughed as the Nitrotiger was then endlessly licked by his new friends. He didn't hiss but showed slight discomfort, only letting the hyenas continue once he backed himself against a hut trying to escape the social greetings he was otherwise unfamiliar with.

Arcee sat beside Bolt once he was done laughing and watched the village peacefully go about its day. One thing she noticed when she peered up at the sky was the Milky Way Galaxy had not moved from its position. Junkion must not have a rotation cycle, but she found that it suited the planet greatly. A never-ending view of a beautiful entity of space.

"The locals told me about what happened here. I can't believe I didn't get to see any of that."

Bolt chuckled, "Well, you didn't miss too much. Along their travels, they also encountered the Quintessons who almost fed both Bots and Cons to the Sharkticon pit in a kangaroo court."

"…Oh," she mumbled, "I would have probably been killed first then."

"Why?"

"I would have fought them and they would have just tossed me in to get rid of me."

The Vehicon said nothing at first, then made a mediocre sigh. "You would have, wouldn't you?"

Arcee still watched the village as some of its inhabitants began to use scrap to make sculptures. The younglings were quick to base it off of the animals that resided on Junkion while the adults went more surreal in their methods.

One rusty grey mech offered them a boxful of junk. "Would you like to make something?"

Arcee waved them off with a stifled laugh. "No thank you, I'm not the creative type."

He gestured with the box towards Bolt and after a second, the purple mech relented. "Alright, I'll try and make something."

Bolt took the box and set it between his legs before scurrying through it. He made a bunch of little noises in thought, then made a hum signifying an idea popping into his head. Arcee just monitored his genius as did a few other bots as piece by piece, he put together an animal-like body. Bending a few scraps for the curvature of the design's limbs and back, he molded it as best as his memory served. While he worked on it, Megatron leaned against the wall of a hut intrigued.

"Arts and crafts? What are you making there?"

Bolt huffed, "If I told you, it would ruin the surprise. Charades. What do you think I'm making?"

"Monogoliath," Megatron spouted randomly.

Arcee followed with, "Dragon?"

"No and no," he sang.

Before Arcee could guess a second time, a portal opened beneath her with spirits whispering. She fell into it cursing under her breath. The Junkions looked terrified while the two Cybertronians glanced at one another.

After a second of pause, Megatron resumed guessing. "Distiller dragon."

"Here's a hint, not a dragon type! I know everyone loves dragons but goddamn!"

As her freefall sent her through the cosmos, she nosedived expecting a platform to appear any second. The galaxies she passed sparkled across the warped perception of the vortex. When her freefall began to draw out, she started to think something was wrong and looked around cautiously.

"Allspark?! Hello?! Still going! Still falli-umph!"

She regretted her decision to look away when she slammed into a stable platform on her front. Arcee lied motionless with a small groan of frustration and defeat. Finally, she got up scowling and popped her spine and shoulders. The comets and sight of space gave her a headache.

"You really are milking the ability to throw me wherever you want with those portals. This is revenge for what I did to you in the Well, isn't it?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that. Call it a test of your flexibility," the Allspark said as it spawned with a brief light as its rings readjusted to rotate around it like normal.

"Ha ha ha, very funny. You're the reason I'm going to have back problems when I get to be Ratchet's age. You're paying for my medical."

It hummed, "I can live with that. I called you here to retrieve more of the relics I seek."

"Lay it on me, as per usual," she said tired.

"In the world of lost items across the galaxy, two relics of old are sought. Wielding the power of a black hole, a devastating ruin will consume and obliterate all with a single blast; no soul can survive its wrath. The many parts cannot survive without each other but can be used separately if necessary, though unwise is the user who dares to keep the five blades of unity apart for too long."

"Why must you do riddles?"

"Mostly to torment at this point. I find the anonymous nature of them to be enlightening," the Allspark chirped pleasantly. "Who doesn't like a riddle every now and then?"

Arcee then paused. "Wait, you only said two clues, right? How many relics are on Junkion?"

"Only two. The rest were disrupted by the arrival of the Cybertronians beforehand. The first relic you seek is the Requiem Blaster. Solus Prime created a weapon that could absorb the light of a quasar and unleash the atom-blended abominable power on anything or anyone. Megatronus Prime ordered her to make it in their fight against Unicron, but the weapon proved too much and was sealed away until the gunship supporting it vanished. It was later discovered here depleted of energy. Used between the Autobots and Decepticons, it could not destroy either enemy and was discarded. It returned here after an incident where it overloaded a Decepticon cruiser's core. Junkion lost its half from the removal of their weapon in their battle."

"That's the detail I was missing. Okay, that explains a lot. What's the second one?"

"The second relic I seek: the Cyber Caliber, a set of five pieces each with a conscience of their own. The blade was made for Liege Maximo by Solus Prime but his arrogance led to the repossession of it and handed off to Nexus Prime for safe keeping. It can repair or destroy any shield and could break into five separate weapons. However, the consciousness of each piece was designed to relay information between one another as well as different wielders to notify them all of similar targets and positioning of said targets. And if separated farther than several million miles, Solus put a transwarp feature in them so they could teleport back within radius of one another by choice. During the encounter on Junkion, the blade's components were launched similar to the Requiem Blaster by the Autobots but one piece made it back here where the others decided to rejoin their resting counterpart instead. Nexus Prime had sent his vessels to distribute the pieces back into outer space but he never knew about the reunification feature, his efforts all for naught."

Arcee mused, "What were the chances of both weapons returning here?"

"Slim, but not impossible. Perhaps a few other coincidences brought them back but who's to say," the Allspark laughed. "Solus Prime knew all her relics would risk such encounters so she did the best she could to keep them in reach. I will take them back to the Well like the others so they will never be lost again."

She frowned at that. Something wasn't adding up. If Nexus Prime scattered the Cyber Caliber after the Autobots used the weapon, that gave other intruders the potential to use it unethically. Did Solus herself interfere with the weapons' locations? If the Allspark was all-seeing, it could have alerted her about the situation and, like Nexus, used a spiritual projection to return the Requiem Blaster and the Cyber Caliber to Junkion. But why interfere with Nexus' attempts? It was more than likely the same reason Arcee ended up with Dagger Prima. Solus and the Allspark wanted the items in reach for her to retrieve, but then that contradicted the Allspark's ability to send the dagger to Chaar for Bolt when it couldn't touch the other relics...unless it was Solus' doing the entire time.

Refusing to press the issue any more than need be, Arcee gave a thoughtful nod and said, "Your wish is my command. I'll find the Requiem Blaster and all five pieces of the Cyber Caliber for you."

"Just...be careful, Arcee. Things take a little patience sometimes."

"I have everything under control. We're good!" She boasted despite the slowing of the rings of the Allspark seemed to imply it thought otherwise. Her demeanor changed to a neutral frown. "We're okay, right?"

The Allspark seemed withdrawn and it moved in a way like it was shaking its head...core...energy. "It's hard to say. Be prepared for anything, things that may haunt even you."

"I can handle it. I already pissed off the Metal Heads by killing Tigressa. I doubt anyone can top that."

The confidence she had in herself was from her own creditability but as she saw the Allspark shy away, she scoffed at the idea it was doubtful. When a portal appeared to relieve her, she entered it without another word, leaving behind a disappointed Allspark muttering to itself.

"I hope you can too."

Bolt added the horns and the snout to his creation as the two Junkion younglings tried to mimic him. He gleamed at their participation. Megatron still glared at the sculpture unsure until the final pieces were set. At knee height, the creature resembled one most familiar.

"It's a Cybertronian Predator?"

Bolt exaggerated as he gestured in faux amazement. "Yes, finally! It's a Cybertronian Predator! Good job!"

The glare quickly shifted to Bolt before Megatron stated blandly, "That's a dragon-esque creature."

"That's...that's not a dragon, Megatron! The Predators aren't dragons!"

"It is! An animal that existed around Predacons with the exact same features who are what humans described as dragons! Therefore, it's a dragon! Four limbs, claws, reptilian appearance, thick chassis meant to take a lot of damage, agile but durable...it's a dragon! A wingless dragon but still!"

"It's not a...!" Bolt sighed, "You are going to die on that hill, aren't you?"

"Then what would the Predator be then? What is it closely related to?"

"They are similar to Predacons, yes, but-!"

"-But then that makes it technically a dragon if the term was acquired from humans who saw Predacon remains in the past or had unusual sightings," Megatron smirked. "You proved the wrong side of your argument."

"You didn't let me finish. But they don't have the same CNA structure. Apparently, Solus Prime did more than just convert the Apex Armor from Predator mech remains. She had Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime take samples of the creature's CNA that resided on the pre-sanitized armor by blood, and it survived all this time in the basements of Iacon. I found it after talking to Rockrider's ex-associates. They had tabs on it as they were instructed to by Alpha Trion himself. Predaking's CNA doesn't resemble it. CNA given by Shockwave from what he used to make the first clones he sent to Earth doesn't match it. It's not a Predacon, so it wouldn't be a dragon even if it lived around the so-called 'dragons' of Cybertron. It's something else, maybe more like a prehistoric Dinobot but Cybertron didn't have Dinobots up until Shockwave's tampering, so I don't know what it is per say."

Megatron mumbled, "So, a different species of dragon?"

"I'm going to strangle you," The Vehicon declared deadpan.

Another portal spawned to their right and Arcee hopped through and it vanished with a cackle. She swiped together her servos and smiled, "Who wants to go on another treasure hunt? Also, did you finish your dragon?"

The two younglings burst out laughing as Bolt wordlessly stared her down then redirected his ire to her sparkmate. Back and forth, he stared between them. Then he growled, "Screw you guys. I would say something more colorful but we have children present."

As Bolt set aside the sculpture, Arcee tapped her hips in thought. "So, we need to find the Requiem Blaster and the Cyber Caliber. You guys might know what I'm talking about, especially you, Megatron."

"Ah yes, the Requiem Blaster. We found it here trying to kill Optimus and hooked it onto our ship. It was very low on Energon but once we removed it from the planet, half of Junkion broke apart. It had its own gravity field at the core of the planet."

"The Allspark says it's still here so do we remove it if that is what's holding the rest of the planet together?"

The warlord shook his head, but for a different reason entirely. "The Requiem Blaster no longer is active. When the Star Seekers got ahold of it after I left it behind when it started consuming energy out of the Nemesis, they tried to use it against us only for it to overload and break. It was supposedly jettisoned out there but I guess not. But I am certain, one hundred percent, it's not functioning anymore."

Bolt then put in his knowledge into the mix. "The Requiem Blaster was Megatronus' weapon of mass destruction, had his color scheme of black with orange lighting to show that it was his too. Said at full power to be able to destroy anything it touched. Barely a graze can kill a person, a shot to a planet can vaporize it, and a pinch against a star can lead to a supernova, feeding on such a light to empower itself even more. Solus was said to have been horrified and forced to do it though that was also said about the Spark Extractor as well. I'm guessing that's why their relationship was rocky sometimes. Megatronus wanted too much for nefarious purposes, not always in his right mind when asking her to make them."

"And the Cyber Caliber?"

The Vehicon shrugged, "I don't know what happened to that one but it was Nexus Prime's relic. It was silver with blue-lit blades. It looked like it was made up of several different components too, very top heavy with split blades parallel to a single spear. The handle and grip I think were the other three components, don't remember what weapons they were. The story on that one is weird because it's hard to tell if it was made solely for Nexus or was for some of the other Primes as well. I assume since it is technically five separate pieces like the Star Saber was shattered as such and Optimus mistakenly realigned the wrong sword the first time, I think the other four Primes who could have used it were Prima, Micronus Prime, Liege Maximo, and Onyx Prime. They had the motivation to use such a weapon but then again, that's only speculation on my part."

Arcee processed that before asking the most absurd question. "What about Optimus? Could he have been entrusted with one of the weapons?"

"No," Bolt immediately said, "mainly because, at the time, he was not a weapons person. He was the youngest and he had no weapons made for him either. That wasn't the intention of the Primes to bring their youngest brother into a war, especially with the likes of Unicron. They did everything to keep him safe, even jackass Liege Maximo didn't really want any harm to come to him. He was kind of like the uncle that tolerates the kid but doesn't show it and still spoils him on the side without the rest of the family knowing. He wasn't going to let Optimus hurt himself as far as the old journals state. Optimus was, and will always be, the baby of the bunch."

Bolt got up from his seat as Arcee and Megatron moved into the center of the village. Moonhunter followed, getting away from the hyenas lying next to him.

Megatron then asked, "Where should we start?"

"Easy, with the leader. If Wreck-gar knows this place like he claims, he's got to know something about the weapons," Bolt stated boldly. "But he didn't remember where his own safe was so..."

They approached Wreck-gar who was recharging on his hammock and Seacore was leaning on his backside with a leg over the other peacefully. Seacore opened one optic and peered at the bots with a smile.

"Something wrong?"

Arcee sighed, "Not really but, um, you wouldn't happen to know if you've seen a special weapon or two among the debris here. We have been ordered to retrieve relics to finally get rid of them to prevent the previous harm they have done from repeating. Does anything like a large black blaster with orange lights sound familiar or maybe various weapons silver with blue blades or other blue lighting?"

Seacore sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees brought towards his abdomen. He took a second before something seemed to catch his attention in his mind. "Not the blaster...but I encountered an unusual object in the Dragonlands. It was silver, faint blue orbs engraved on its handle, but it was like a bow. You know, a weapon to shoot arrows with, had a chain or string to pull back on so I left it thinking it was something else and I could be entirely unhelpful to you."

"It's a start, that's what matters. Anyone else who may know?" The queen asked.

"Would not know. We tend to also live by the rules of find and keep first. If someone has one of those weapons, I wouldn't be able to say for sure."

As Arcee peered up from Seacore, she saw Wreck-gar appeared uneasy looking around frantically despite still lying down unmoving. He knew something about what they sought. She was sure of it. For now, she left him to stew on the idea so when she went to him with questions, he might be able to give her a straight answer.

"Thank you." Turning to Bolt, she said, "You and I are going to hunt down the relic. Megatron, see if you can find the Requiem Blaster's location."

Megatron nodded, "As you wish."

When Megatron began asking around, Arcee and Bolt transformed and headed out. The Dragonlands, as Seacore creatively called it, were less active now. The distillers and any scrap dragons in the area were resting, and she could confirm the scrap dragons were tired as a giant one with a missing horn was curled up on top of a hill. Its shape against the scrap that bended to its weight gave away the illusion but to the untrained optic that didn't ever encounter one, she could see where it could be mistaken as part of the scenery.

Thankfully, none of the dragons seemed alarmed by the sound of the bots' engines. Arcee got a little experimental with her daredevil nature and sped up a hillside to jump off it, gaining a bit of air with the lessened gravity in comparison to Earth's and Cybertron's density. She transformed back to robot mode and activated her gliding ability to get a good view of the planet. With the gravity not as strong but still there, her glide barely had her sinking towards the ground. She even was at a height to see one of many drops off the edge of the planet in the far distance. Other directions still had endless space as far as she could tell.

To her surprise, Dagger Prima glowed and so did something not far below her. It was blue. She commed Bolt to the location and dived, swooping back to an even level and scattering some junk in the process. Once she was in distance of the object, she made her energy wings disappear. The glowing object was silver, a shiny handle stuck in the trash. The whispers were telling her to grab it and she obeyed. Arcee reeled back when dislodging it caused the junk to topple but there were no distillers inside.

Arcee expected the sword but was stunned to see instead a spear with a blue edge and the engraved language of the Primes on its neck. Bolt met up with her and saw it with some glee emitting from his posture.

"That's the middle of the Cyber Caliber, Arcee! The two blades it has? They are separated by this! This is one of the weapons it deconstructs into! Awesome!"

"Glad you like it. You can hold onto it," she grinned. "That leaves four weapons left. If one of them is a bow, what would the other three be?"

"More than likely the two blades are two smaller swords but the last one, I couldn't think of what it would be. Maybe it's a part of the base of the blades or the handle itself like a whip or a gun," he replied.

"This isn't the weapon we were looking for though. The bow is still out here somewhere...assuming the distillers didn't take it."

Both bots moaned as they realized that could very well be the case. They went to tracking on foot as aerial views wouldn't be useful with distillers that could hide their loot in the piles of junk themselves. Within the hour, they stopped at every pile to see sleeping distillers unaware of their presence but none had a weapon among them or around their stacked nests. A few times, Bolt was dissatisfied when he saw silver and eagerly pulled at it only for it to be a random piece of twisted metal. He threw it behind him with a growl.

Bubbling noises caught their attention and they saw over a bend a pool of oil gurgling content on the planet's surface. A single distiller drank from it before yawning, stretching its arms with its wings out and droopy optics. It slowly made its way to its nest nearly by and merely tipped over. It was asleep before it even touched its nest, rumbling as an oil bubble began to form from its snout.

Right then, Dagger Prima whispered again and Arcee quickly peered around for the weapon or the blaster just in case. There were no other glowing objects around but more bubbles sounded in the pool. That caught her attention and she nudged Bolt who was also looking. They both stared at the bubbles that appeared like speech patterns. When one burst, an odd hiss rose from it unlike the bubbles they had heard previously.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Arcee sneered.

"Well...I have never experienced a natural oil bath before..."

Arcee's expression dipped into an "are you serious" gaze before she sighed and jumped in. He was hesitant to follow but did so out of respect. The oil coated them but didn't stick, sliding down their armor like water. Bolt hit a low spot and tripped which Arcee laughed at instantly once he was completely submerged. He popped back up shaking his helm and shoulders to get the liquid off.

"Wow, the oil's warmer the farther you go down!" Bolt exclaimed.

Arcee still giggled to herself as she tried feeling around the bottom for anything that stuck out. There were small scraps she kicked but nothing concrete until she felt something catch her left pede. She thought for a second it was Bolt who was almost overlapping her. "Ow, watch it!"

"That wasn't me."

They stopped and Arcee backtracked, feeling around until she felt something big. As best she could, she scouted its frame. Something long and curved for sure. Hitting the surface of the oil, she immediately went under and grabbed it. The oil cleared going back up and she saw in her servo a silver bow-like frame pulsing with the same symbols as the spear.

"Weapon number two is ours," she said proudly.

Bolt brought out the spear and examined it against the bow. "Definitely matches."

They suddenly lurched back when, like a magnet, the two weapons merged. The bow's curves pointed downward as it latched to the lower section of the spear like a decorative transition for the handle. The two alone looked like a sword already sans the blade only being the spearhead itself.

"Whoa..."

Arcee pondered the sight until a message from Megatron came through. "Arcee, just got a hit on possibly one of those weapons. Someone said they saw a silver shield on the chest of a scrap dragon that didn't look remotely like discarded junk."

"Great, but the dragons are recharging so we might be able to get away with sneaking next to the one that has it, assuming we find it at all."

"That's up to you to find. I'll see if anything else comes up."

The Vehicon shook his head, "We're not stealing from a scrap dragon. There's no way!"

"We can, and we will. Let's go."

"And we're dead..."

"Less sarcasm, more searching," Arcee's voice echoed as she ran out of the oil pool.

They traveled farther down and ran across a flattened area with less distillers but noticeably damaged hillsides with giant imprints. The edge of the world which she saw up high was barely seen from ground level but still not close enough to fall off assuming one did at all and Wreck-gar was merely exaggerating. But Detritus never did come back...

Loud breathing made them freeze, scanning the area for scrap dragons. A trail of smoke puffed up from behind a ledge of junk and they quietly scaled it as best they could only to come face-to-face with one of the beasts. Like the distillers, the scrap dragon was dead asleep, smoking rising from its vents and gently blowing it towards them with a snore. Another scrap dragon just as big was a rock throw away on its side, breathing oblivious to their scent.

Arcee got close to the first dragon which Bolt tensed at and slowly looked over its chest. No shield was visible. Sneaking back around, she headed towards the second dragon when a jagged breath emerged and a silver glitter caught her optic. Confirmed by the hissing of Dagger Prima, the shield with Cybertronian symbols and blue bio lights rested on its chest right below the merging of its neck. She carefully kneeled beside it. It wasn't that big but definitely made a good piece for a makeshift armor. The dragon had exquisite taste. Grabbing it, she tried to tug without disrupting the beast's sleep. Another breath made her pause before continuing with a harder tug.

Bolt watched her when he noticed in her blind spot a yellow optic opened and slid to peer at the blue femme, he gasped. The dragon's optic contracted and narrowed with a sneer right as Arcee broke loose the shield. She reveled in her victory until she felt eyes on her. Seeing Bolt was one thing but there was another. She slowly turned with a miserable expression only to lock optics with the dragon that began to growl and raise its head off the ground. Her optics trailed this movement as wide as they could go. It leaned forward, metal fins along the side of its helm twitching angrily.

"Um, finder's keepers?"

The sudden change of expression from simply angered to baring teeth in rage, the scrap dragon opened his mouth with a glow in the back of its throat. Arcee fled the second before a blast of fire cut through parts of the ground with scorch marks. Bolt was staring bewildered and scared until Arcee grabbed his arm and they both headed away from the dragons' home. The other sleeping dragon awoke roaring, forcing itself upright and expanding its wings peeved at its disturbed slumber. The robbed dragon snapped at it which it hissed back at before they both turned their attention to the fleeing culprits.

Bolt zoomed on the legs he was given enough to almost outpace Arcee herself. "So, now what's the plan?!"

"We need to hide! And fast!"

"Great plan! I like that plan!" He yelled worried.

The beating of wings made both almost shout as both dragons flew in their direction snarling. The distillers around the bots were drowsy but grew frantic hearing their larger neighbors up and about. Many began to take flight as Arcee gained an idea as they were getting closer to the oil pool they had scouted for the bow.

"We need to get all of them airborne! Cause a distraction and then you and I will hide in the oil!"

"Are you insane?!" She sent him a glare and his words failed him. "I guess I don't have an option."

Bringing out his axe, he swung it against the towers of scrap housing the distillers. A hundred of them came pouring out one while other had fifty to seventy occupants. The more they bashed, the more clutter in the sky stalled the scrap dragons that began blowing fire at the distillers like trying to evaporate annoying bugs. As soon as both scrap dragons were not looking in their direction anymore, Arcee swung herself and Bolt into the oil. They stuck out their heads to keep track of their chasers, ready to submerge completely if they were at risk of being found.

The distillers did their jobs well and the scrap dragons started scanning again for their prey. The bots kept low in a shadowed section of the oil, spotting the fury and confusion of both creatures. Soon, one of them gave up and turned away to fly back to its home. The other with the missing chest piece roared again, still trying to find them. Arcee and Bolt didn't know how long they stayed caked in oil until finally, the scrap dragon shook its head and hissed. It left them to bask in the warming pool.

Both bots shot up and hive fived each other before bringing out the spear-bow and the shield. Placing them together, the shield fused to the top of the bow like a 3D crest that wrapped around the spear's neck.

"Yeah baby, only two more to go! Ain't nobody can beat outrunning two grown scrap dragons like the dynamic duo!" Bolt hollered. He fell backwards uncaring into the pool, splashing Arcee in the process who shared his happiness. He walked back to the edge of the pool and leaned his elbows on it sitting with his knees above the surface. "And we get to relax a second. I love me some relaxing!"

Arcee leaned against him casually. "You can say that again."

He held up a digit as everything calmed down with the distillers flying amok as they both looked up at the galaxy staring down on them. "So, let me ask you something, do you...do you think we're doing the right thing getting involved in all this chaos? I mean, we're doing fantastic work but with Silos' demands on top of the Metal Head scourge who he will only help us fight with a price, do you think we're on the right track?"

"Why ask that now?"

"I, um, just got a hunch we might be missing something and this can go wrong really fast."

She scoffed, "You sound like the Allspark. Let me guess. You have been in communication with it?"

"And for good reason. It's worried, Arcee, as we should be. It says something's wrong, that we might have done worse than good. How do you take something like that? I don't want to usurp your pride but what am I supposed to say to you or to it?"

Arcee started to get a little upset but it died down as quick as it came, and she merely sighed, "I don't know. Maybe me killing Tigressa or Kor really set this off in a negative way. Maybe I shouldn't have done it but at the same time, both would have killed me, so what was I supposed to do? Let it happen?"

"Fair point," Bolt said quietly. "I think the main thing I got from what the Allspark told me was that it has been helping us too much. By reviving me, by saving you, and several other factors, it believes it caused a relapse in the universal boundaries. It said something like if it stops one threat, some type of karmatic threat is going to be unleashed to get Cybertron, or specifically you, that will be worse than the last.

"Things happen for a reason, Arcee. And if they get changed when they aren't supposed to, I guess something worse, something you can't defeat will finally get to you. Personally, it makes my otherwise limited previous purpose far more interesting but the Allspark is right. How many threats are we supposed to deflect before we die? If they are going to keep coming, what do we do in the situation?"

He looked at her with a soft tilt of his head as he had a protective arm hanging around over her far shoulder. She didn't seem to mind one bit. The queen finally came up with a simple response as she met his optic visor.

"I guess...we just keep fighting until we do die. We either let something destroy us and hope it stops with us or we can fight. Maybe we are only made for war, but I'm going to be damned if I'm going to let anything with deadly intentions put others at risk and not do anything."

"Optimus taught you well," he chuckled.

"Of course. Let them come. I'm ready."

Megatron tried to extract more information about the Cyber Caliber but no one seemed to know a thing. He shook his head frustrated until he realized the only mech he hadn't asked was the leader himself. But Wreck-gar was still emotionally distant and without Arcee to monitor him, he feared he might grow impatient and say something regrettable. But he needed the information. Swallowing his pride, he walked to the mech who was drumming his digits and the held vault muttering something.

"Wreck-gar, do you know-?"

"No."

The answer was blunter than expected as the mech refused eye contact with him, and it made Megatron rethink his approach. "I wonder...if a cannon of black has ever been discarded here? It seems a bit out of place for weapons to be abundant but if vaults, dragons, and ships can survive, I wonder what else could?"

"The vault...my vault...he wouldn't let my vault go and the weapon...that vile scrapheap."

The gibberish drew Seacore's attention as Megatron sat across from Wreck-gar. The rusty green mech immediately asked, "What is going on here?"

"Answers," Megatron retorted.

Seacore didn't correct him and instead looked to Wreck-gar for a reply. "Wreck-gar? It's okay. You can tell him."

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you? The Requiem Blaster? It's still here and you've seen it."

Wreck-gar slowly made a genuine smile and snapped out of his delirium. "The core of the mechanism is yours, dear friend. I don't have any need of it. Like a leader of Earth once said, 'There is nothing to fear but fear itself.'"

Megatron didn't know what the connection between the weapon and that phrase was until it dawned on him just why the planet was so shattered in the first place. "You...fear me?"

It felt weird for such a word to be distasteful to him yet it wounded him to see firsthand the power he held over those that couldn't fight back. The trauma they experienced under his care was intentional at the time but now he had regrets, especially seeing Wreck-gar's expression change again to an unusual uncertainty. He came to the world hating it, now he saw just what his hatred brought.

"I don't want to take it, just return it back to the Allspark. I'm not going to harm you ever again. That was a mistake, but I guess I've made plenty."

Wreck-gar shook his head, "No, I don't fear you. I feared for you last time, feared you would never know what you could do compared to what you can do. You aren't the same; you've changed. I am Wreck-gar and I fear no bot, only care for them to remind them that there is always another way! The weapon you seek is here."

When he didn't point to anything or give him any other clues, Megatron awkwardly laughed, "Where?"

"You know, the Howling Wastes. Did nothing there look familiar to you? If those creatures are invading, my first thought was they were after the same weapon, not my oil."

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

Wreck-gar huffed, "Nancy…she's been on my mind. It's her vault, not mine. I say it's mine but it's hers…always has been."

Megatron knew he should pry but he couldn't stop himself. "What happened to her?"

Wreck-gar started to recess back to his babbling state, still a long way from his normal, bubbly personality he had. He clung to the vault a bit depressed and muttered Nancy's name. Megatron left him with a solemn nod and to the assurance of Seacore who patted his shoulder.

"Don't take it personally. Some secrets are best left untold, and you'll find quite an abundance out here."

The warlord understood but at least he knew the location of the Requiem Blaster.

Arcee and Bolt wandered Junkion's outer section in search for any clues of the last two weapons' locations. If they were separate, that would make their job harder. What was worse was they hadn't heard anything from Megatron since before the scrap dragon debacle.

"It's got to be here somewhere. The other three were around this part of the planet but the last two aren't?" The Vehicon scoffed.

"Not as bad as when we were chasing that decoy for the Star Saber you Cons set up to distract us with."

He laughed, "Oh yeah, heh, that was funny until Optimus got a hold of the real one. I was on the Nemesis when that happened and was one of five troops in charge of monitoring the signal and Soundwave's whereabouts against yours. We had a lot of jokes going during that, some of them about specific Autobots, mind you."

Arcee smirked until her commlink went off and she dreaded the voice that came through. "Hello, my dear, do tell me you find this junk planet a haven because I've been finding some of the most intriguing items. A collector's dream."

"Glad you're enjoying yourself. Where are you, Silos?"

Bolt listened with his interest piqued as Silos snidely remarked, "Oh, among the trash where some would say I belong. The oil fields to the southern hemisphere…assuming I can even call it that. Half the planet seems to be missing."

"We are more north above the Dragonlands. While you're scavenging down there, maybe you can look for something we need. Twin blades, silver with blue lighting. Mystic aura and symbols, kind of like the Amalgama Scythe-"

"Just called The Scythe! Again, you don't seem to get the name right!"

She glared at Bolt, making a silent hush gesture before continuing, "-and we need to find it soon."

The Metal Head started to laugh which made her suspicious. "And…if I did see something like that? What would you be willing to part with for it? You don't have any weapons you want to get rid of, the chances of you having something I need is slim right now, and I don't think you're one to go less favorable lengths. Not really an incentive for me to give you anything for free now, is it?"

"That sounds like you have regrets not taking me up on that one offer on Velocitron, jackass. Don't know if I'm supposed to be flattered or disgusted."

He growled like an animal quite close to his comm. "I wouldn't start pushing where there can be severe consequences. I'm decent to a degree, not so much when taunted. Fine, you want them so bad, you can take them, girl, just don't take my hospitality for granted lest you wish to see what you laugh about up close and personal."

"Threat of a good time, Silos? Have to do better than that."

"I try. Meet me at my ship and I'll give you the weapons that you desire so."

The commlink shut down and she turned to see Bolt slightly taken aback. "You flirting with him or is he flirting with you?"

"It keeps him off my tail. I don't actually like him that way. I would never betray Megatron with that."

"Really? Because…"

"You say it, we'll be having a three-legged race back to the village with my foot broken off in your aft. Now, I have to meet with Silos to get those swords. He said he found them scavenging."

Bolt relieved the partially completed Cyber Caliber to her, mockingly snickering, "Okay...just let me know how it goes."

She swatted him in a mixture of anger and amusement. "Get-Get out of here, you little-!"

He still laughed, even as he was hit. He ran away by the fifth light punch to keep his distance. "What? Because of that, you're going to leave me in the Dragonlands? Alone?"

"Now I am. Feel free to do whatever."

"See you back at the village!"

She snarled and smirked at the same time at his audacity. As he left, she walked a bit before transforming. The Dragonlands were passed quickly as she used her speedster ability as many times as possible to get out of range of potential enemies. It took her an hour's worth of driving before she reached the oil fields near the southern edge of the world.

Silos' ship resided at the shore of a large oil lake with sand lions bathing. Its ramp was down and no sign of the Metal Head outside to be seen. She transformed at its base and walked up it back to see the sanitized ship still in mint condition. She walked past his chambers and saw him lying front down on his lounge bed with the lifted headrest and arms cradling his head. He was partially on his side from the waist down with his tail hanging over the pillow on the other end and swaying while his legs stuck out to show off the faint paw pads of his feet. What shocked her the most? His helmet was off.

His face resembled that of a rhinoceros mixed with a dinosaur's structure the same as his holoscreen picture on his desk that was still there. The skull gem on his forehead gleamed and showed off all the details among his face. The edges of the scars she could see beneath the helmet now laid bare. They traveled across his mouth and snout, some around his eyes up to his head and some were prominent among the barbs that went down the base of his spine. The barbs that began from small to large on their way down were cracked, some missing entirely from years of wearing the helmet, and his ears indeed had scarring around the skin folds. His lower jaw of blue blended to his dark blue skin found on the rest of his body, the gradient uneven in many places.

He stared at her with his gold irises and black-slit pupils as she studied his face so barren of the same life she could see in the picture. His ears moved forward and back constantly like he was unsure of what to do now that his appearance was revealed. But, in a way, Arcee suspected he wanted her to know the damage that had been done.

"Not the pinnacle of beauty, I would imagine?" He spoke crassly, yet his tone still held a shred of self-preservation. He obviously didn't truly care what she thought of him. He then grabbed the holoscreen on his desk and thumbed it with a raised brow.

Seeing the mirrored picture from her side viewing the small screen as he held it in front of her, he definitely came off as a bright young Rozarian warrior posing with the younger Tigressa and others. To see him scarred, mutilated, and infected when she looked past the image, it was quite a difference in appearance but he still retained his original self's structure in a way, just physically stronger and a bulkier muscle mass from age and experience. She could only imagine how old he was or what timeframe the picture was taken at in his life. If she had to guess, it was near the beginning of his career with King Kronos' Royal Guard.

"You're not bad, not at all."

Silos sat up with a chuckle deep in his throat and placed back the picture with a smile. "A finer moment."

Arcee then asked out of the blue, "Do you think I could see your world one day?"

"Rozaria?" Silos scoffed until he noticed she was serious. "I suppose...I could give you a tour someday. It's an organic planet though, not really anything consumable to cybernetic species and quite humid constantly throughout the year. Very uncomfortable to the likes of your kind if you're afraid of rust."

"I can handle a jungle planet."

"I'll think on it then," Silos said with a smug sneer. He suddenly got up and moved past her. "As for your weapons, I think I have what you're looking for."

She followed him to his artillery room as Dagger Prima whispered and immediately saw his collection of weaponry had expanded. Many weapons had gone through thorough cleaning very recently and he grabbed a silver and blue energetic set of swords with curved edges on the upper half and straight blades on the lower. Their symbols glowed yearning to be reunited with their three other counterparts. She brought out the Cyber Caliber in response and he pulled the swords back to her dismay.

"Ah ah, what do I get?"

"Oh, come on, you really need something for two stupid swords?! I gave you pity!"

"Technically, never asked for it, so how about a trade? I've heard that the leader of this world has something of value, something he always keeps dear to himself. You promise to get me it; I'll give you the weapons here and now."

Arcee slowly shook her head, "Not that. It seems to be the only thing he has left of his past. He needs that-"

"Not the vault or whatever lies inside that overexaggerated tin can! I want his pendant. I want to sell it. He can keep his safe, but that pendant was said to be from the late Thundertron, poor fool died before he could hide it, so this Wreck-gar character took it as a sign of rebellion, and it has been in his care ever since. Very valuable to the right buyers. I don't think he'll mind me putting it to better use."

Arcee was about to chastise him when she paused, a dark expression growing on her faceplates. "How do you know of the vault?"

Silos rolled his eyes shaking and harshly tapped his second skull gum on his chest. "Syncing minds have a bit of an echo of desire, don't you think?"

"So, it was a Metal Head that was after the vault? The claw marks on the lock. You have a two-way feed with the hive. You know what's inside, don't you?"

"And if I did, why does it matter to you? I don't care about it; it has no use to me now. Get me that pendant, or I will take that vault just out of spite, and I won't care if you get dragged down because of it."

He roughly shoved the swords into her and they immediately merged with the Cyber Caliber parts. Both blades became one with the spear in the middle, parallel as two sides to make the relic complete. But its union was bittersweet as Silos was now antagonized by her accusations. She didn't bother to apologize and stormed off without another word. So much for their spark to heart.

As she left, she received a call from Megatron. "Arcee, we found the Requiem Blaster. Meet us at the Howling Wastes once you are done."

"Copy that. On my way now."

Bolt transformed as he entered the tribe passing enthusiastic Junkions and the younglings who waved at him. He made a quick response by waving back before peering around for Megatron. Unable to see him, he started asking around.

"Have you seen the tall grey mech, Megatron?"

A shake of the head was all he received by the closest local. He asked again to another group of mechs.

"Seen a Decepticon, yay big?"

They said no too. Bolt frantically looked for his friend when a servo rested on his shoulder spooking him. Seacore jolted back too, afraid of his posture growing defensive. He apologized profusely.

"Sorry, but are you looking for Megatron? He's in the Howling Wastes. The Requiem Blaster you seek is in there. Wreck-gar supplied him the coordinates."

"Wait, if he's over there, who's watching Moonhunter?"

The Nitrotiger gave a tired yowl and the Vehicon spotted him lying among the domesticated hira hyenas in a sleep circle. It seems Moonhunter had given up delaying the advances of the other pets. Bolt was amused at the sight but regained focus.

"Thank you for caring for him and I'll be back again!"

Seacore was surprised by the mech's hurry and didn't get to respond before Bolt drove out of the village again towards the Howling Wastes. The wrecked shipyard was approached with little caution despite once holding a group of malicious Metal Heads aiming to trap the bots. His engine roared as he zoomed across the landscape trying to see if Megatron was still around if not in danger. Then he saw a glimmer of silver moving on a ship front partially buried in the trash. Shifting back to robot mode, he quickly called to Megatron as he ran up the ship's exterior.

"Megatron! Megatron!"

The mech in question perked up and grew shocked. "Where's Arcee?!"

"She's fine! Perfectly fine, decided to scout alone so I can check up on you! Seacore says you're looking for the Requiem Blaster?"

As the Vehicon panted catching up to the warlord, the latter smiled, "Looking? Try already found."

He pointed down in a sizable hole Bolt just noticed beside him and there in the rubble of the ship's interior was a large black and orange cannon heavily damaged. The detail that all but confirmed its identity was the language of the Primes written on its barrel. Without it, they would either have to wait for Arcee to bring Dagger Prima to confirm or dragged it to the village and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, the weapon was massive, larger than the both combined. Moving it would be a miracle of Primus...or the Allspark if it didn't decide to force them to go elsewhere to meet it.

"Arcee, we found the Requiem Blaster. Meet us at the Howling Wastes once you are done."

"Copy that. On my way now."

Bolt sat on the ledge of the hole and rubbed the back of his neck. "This has been a long day, and Junkion technically doesn't have days and nights. Endless days...makes a bot go insane, heh heh."

"You sound like Blitzwing when he's starving in his chaos mode."

"I am a bit thirsty now that you mention it," Bolt quipped with a fake sinister cackle.

Megatron merely glanced at him before making his pupils constrict at will with a slasher smile full of fangs and a growl. "Try me."

The Vehicon deflated his bravado quite fast even as Megatron returned to normal. "No thank you."

They waited for Arcee and sat in various places on the ship as they did so. Bolt even decided to have a scrap throwing contest on the farthest peak of the ship at its upturned rear. He made his throw go past the length of the ship itself, taking up to fifteen seconds before it hit the ground with a muffled noise. When it was Megatron's turn, he threw like a pitcher at the mound and sent it flying. Bolt crouched and held a servo above his optic visor to try and spot the object. Nearly a minute later, a noise far away barely registered to their audio receptors, echoing from the length of over three ships in the Howling Wastes.

"Oh my god!" Bolt exclaimed.

Megatron cracked his knuckles proudly, "All in the wrists."

Arcee's voice abruptly laughed, "And that's not all he can do."

The bots peered down to see Arcee climbing the ship. They met her halfway near the hole where the Requiem Blaster was resting.

The warlord asked, "Do you have the Cyber Caliber?"

Arcee held up the completed blade which appeared quite big on the likes of her small size but she held it no problem to balance on her shoulders. She grinned, "Yep, you have the Blaster?"

Bolt pointed down and coughed, "More or less, though the Allspark is going to have to give us a hand here with this one."

"And a hand you shall receive."

The bots looked for the Allspark until echoes of the million voices that comprised its own sang across the cosmos. Then a bright light had the Allspark before them with a spin and a ghostly cry of happiness.

"Took you long enough," the blue femme smirked.

"I could say the same. The relics you have brought...found I guess...they will no longer be a threat to anyone. I am glad to say that you have outdone yourselves finding these two ridiculously hard relics. You have no idea how long it took even me to locate them. The underlining balance of the universe will be restored soon."

"Balance? The relics don't pose that big of a threat, do they?" Megatron asked concerned.

The Allspark tipped its rings. "The energy of the universe feeds on the consistence of those like me with the power to change and warp the cosmos to our liking. To create as many pieces of myself through the Primes, willing and unwilling, has thrown the balance out for quite some time. By eliminating the relics, the universe will have less strain to monitor therefore less risks of a complete universe shattering cataclysm."

Arcee and the others said nothing at first until she hesitantly remarked, "So, that's a yes?"

If the Allspark could roll its eyes, it would have. Using its levitation, it gently took the Cyber Caliber and raised the Requiem Blaster from its tomb. The giant weapon slipped out of the hole in the ship with ease and both weapons stayed amid the Allspark until a flash sent their energy shooting back within it.

"I thank you once more. Take care along your journey on Junkion and remember, those that pose a threat to you are not just the true enemies of your quest."

The Allspark made one last flip before vanishing, leaving the bots to question the statement. Megatron sent Arcee a worried stare while Bolt tried to piece together who it was talking about. Even as they walked back to the village together, the Allspark's words would not leave their minds for anything.

AN: In the novels, I gave a half-assed explanation as to why the relics returned and the Requiem Blaster was indeed used by both Megatron and the Star Seekers. But, of course, I couldn't have the items anywhere but where I needed them so I made a simple explanation as to why, saves time.