Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, The Owl House or their characters
Megatron and the rest of his followers continued to look on in fear and shock at the monstrous Cybertronian creature in front of them, until the Decepticon leader grew an impressed smirk. It resembled a dragon that was mainly coloured dark-brown with some blackish-crimson highlights, large claws, a mouth full of teeth and a pair of tusk-like fangs, an extremely long tail coated in spikes, yellow-glowing eyes and a new small Cybertronian symbol on it's chest that resembled that of a dragon's face. The Cybertronian dragon let out a ferocious roar towards the Decepticons and spreaded out it's very big wings.
"Sweet motherboard of Primus." Dropkick whispered astonishingly.
"Is that really…?" Shatter began to ask in a speechless way.
"A..A Predacon." Starscream identified nervously. "They…They've been extinct since the beginning of Cybertronian history."
"Indeed. But the specimen you see before you was bred in the laboratory." Shockwave replied, approaching the Predacon and placing a hand on it. "Cloned from fossilised remains, which I discovered on Cybertron."
"Shockwave, it does my Spark good to see you once again tampering with creation." Megatron commented as he walked down from his thrown towards the Predacon.
"Master, please, keep your distance!" Starscream pleaded.
"There's no telling what that creature is capable of." Thundercracker added in concern.
"No need for alarm. The beast is completely under my control." Shockwave reassured.
Megatron stared straight into the Predacon's eyes as the Cybertronian dragon snarled lowly.
"Such primal magnificence." Megatron said, knowing the Predacon will be a perfect addition to the Decepticon ranks.
"So, how is this prehistoric beast supposed to help us find the Autobots?" Wildrider questioned.
"With this." Shockwave answered as he held up a small canister of Energon. "A sample of Energon from Seaspray. Spilled during the Autobot's failed interrogation."
"Sounds like he just used irony." Skywarp whispered to Starscream cheekily, causing his commander to growl angrily.
Shockwave held the Energon canister in front of the Predacon's eye and it scanned the entire sample, acquiring Seaspray's Energon signature and now knowing where to find him and his comrades.
"Let the hunt begin." Megatron said with a sinister smirk.
The Predacon spreaded out it's mechanical wings and flapped them about before flying away from Darkmount and roaring into the distance, fully intent on finding it's Autobot and Witch prey.
"Looks like the Autobots have met their match." Dropkick sneered.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at a small Decepticon Energon mine, the Wreckers, Willow, Gus and Boscha were seen spying on the mine's entrance from a hiding spot on the distant cliff.
"Okay, I'm completely fine with things getting blown up. But, what does taking out a simple Decepticon mine have to do with getting the team back together so we can beat Megatron?" Gus questioned.
"Simple. When we light this place up, the blast will be big and unmistakable." Wheeljack answered.
"Any Autobot within five hundred clicks will see the sky glowing with Energon and come running." Bulkhead added.
"Once the rest of the gang gets here, we can start coming up with a plan to kick the Cons' tailpipes." Seaspray proclaimed.
"This plan sounds really stupid and will most likely get us killed. I'm not doing it." Boscha said firmly, crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry, Boscha, would you like to come up with an even more better plan than this one?" Willow asked sarcastically while narrowing her eyes.
"You could always go in and ask the Cons if they've seen the others." Wheeljack quipped, causing the triclops Witch to groan in defeat.
"Fine, let's do this stupid plan." Boscha muttered.
"I'm totally ready to do this." Gus said in confidence.
(Linebreak)
At the Harbinger, Amity, Hunter, Vee, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz and Ratchet were still trying to use the Decepticon tech to try and find the others.
"The mainframe's up and running, now." Vee said, stepping on the terminal's technological buttons. "But, I'm going to need some help with putting in the operating codes."
"This place might not be really shabby, but it's still got a Ground Bridge we can use." Jazz reminded, trying to brighten things up.
"Even if the Ground Bridge proves functional, it would be next to worthless without a means of pinpointing the current locations of our compatriots." Ratchet replied.
"Why not just use the Harbinger's tracking system to detect their life signals?" Bumblebee suggested.
"Use your head, Bumblebee. If the Decepticons had the ability to track Autobot life signals, we'd all have been at Megatron's mercy here on Earth a long time ago." Ratchet proclaimed.
"Great, that means we're back to square one." Amity said in disappointment, until Ratchet thought of a new idea.
"But not if I can reconfigure these Decepticon frequencies." Ratchet said, typing down on the panel. "At the very least, we may be able to access their com-link."
"That's definitely worth a try." Cliffjumper agreed.
"Let's just hope the others ran into some friendly faces that aren't Decepticons." Hunter admitted.
(Linebreak)
At the same time, Arcee and Luz were still locked in conversation with the new Autobots, Ultra Magnus, Elita One, Ironhide and Jetfire.
"No one's seen or heard from either of you since Cybertron went dark, and I had no idea you found Ironhide and Jetfire in the outer rim. How did you find your way to Earth?" Arcee asked.
"Soldier, we may not be on Cybertron, but military protocol remains." Ultra Magnus said firmly, causing Arcee to stand straight.
"My apologies, sir." Arcee replied.
"Same old Ultra Magnus." Ironhide whispered.
"There's no need for that right now, Magnus. We should just be glad to have found her." Elita One said with a compassionate smile.
"Sir? Excuse me, Mr Magnus? Am I assuming that you and miss Elita here are top-ranking members of the Autobots?" Luz asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You are correct, young native. I'm pleased you know how to address a commanding officer." Ultra Magnus replied.
"Uh…thanks." Luz said awkwardly, turning her attention to Arcee. "Arcee, who exactly are these two?"
"Ultra Magnus was Optimus' key lieutenant during the war back on Cybertron, buried by the book. And Elita was one of Optimus' closest commanders and she led my unit in the earliest years." Arcee explained quietly. "Just go with it."
"As for your broader question, our story is that of all Autobots since the exodus." Ultra Magnus said. "Elita and I one day encountered each other on a baron planet and we wandered the space ways in search of others."
"We reunited with a few Autobot survivors, only to often watch them fall at the hands of the Decepticons." Elita continued softly. "Ironhide and Jetfire were two of the only fortunate ones we managed to rescue."
"Ever since the commanders saved us from a Decepticon hunting party, we've been joining them on their galactic expedition." Jetfire commented. "We hoped to one day find Optimus, too."
"Until you detected the Omega beam and followed it here." Arcee deduced.
"If you're referring to the massive energy burst originating from Cybertron, that would be affirmative." Ultra Magnus answered.
"When we arrived arrived, we already understood that this planet had been invaded by Megatron and his forces." Elita said, showing a concerned expression.
"The ship's scanners also picked up a bunch of Autobot signals, with yours being the closest one, Cee." Ironhide told the blue female Autobot.
"Signals? How many were there, sir and ma'am?" Luz asked in a hopeful tone, turning towards the two Autobot commanders.
"Eight total." Ultra Magnus said.
"Out of ten." Luz muttered in depression.
"Luz, that doesn't necessarily mean what you're thinking." Arcee reassured. "Autobot signals can't be detected when they're shielded." Arcee reassured.
"Does that mean Optimus is here?" Elita asked hopefully.
"He is, Commander. But we don't know if he escaped from the Cons or not." Arcee answered.
Luz gained a curious expression after hearing this, thinking that Elita might have some kind of special connection with Optimus.
"In that case, we'd better find him and the rest of your team so we can plan a counterattack." Jetfire told the others.
"And me and my friends can help you all out with it." Luz replied.
"How exactly are you and these friends of yours supposed to help us out, kid?" Ironhide questioned.
"Because we've got magical abilities on our side, which is something that's helped us out a lot in the past few months." Luz answered while crossing her arms.
"Magical abilities?" Ultra Magnus repeated.
"We'll explain everything once we get in the ship, sir." Arcee said.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at the site of Darkmount, Smokescreen phased out from the stone ground and he looked towards the giant fortress.
"Cozy little place you built for yourself, Megatron. Finding the Forge in there may take a while." Smokescreen admitted, until he got a different idea when he looked towards the Nemesis parked at the center. "Then again, maybe you still keep your valuables in the usual place."
A few moments later, Smokescreen was seen phasing through the fortress walls and evading Vehicons from every direction before he eventually arrived at the platform that led towards the Nemesis. The Autobot rookie rushed towards the Nemesis, phasing straight into it and walking along the corridors stealthily.
"I won't let you down, Optimus." Smokescreen said to himself. "Let's just hope Skara's taking good care of you."
"I'm sorry, overreacting?" Starscream's voice questioned from the other side of the corridor.
Smokescreen quickly jumped through the wall to hide himself as Starscream walked down with Thundercracker, Skywarp and Knock Out.
"Easy for you to say, Knock Out. Nobody here wants your post. I, on the other hand, hold the most covenant position within the Decepticon ranks." Starscream proclaimed. "And no matter what he may claim, I know that Shockwave is plotting to usurp me. Did any of you see the smug look on his eye when he unveiled that vile beast to Lord Megatron?"
"To be honest, Shockwave's eye doesn't show any kind of expressional look." Thundercracker admitted.
"You're definitely just jealous that Shockwave is doing a better job at gaining Megatron's attention than you." Skywarp snickered.
"I'm not jealous! You're jealous!" Starscream yelled in anger.
After hearing the entire conversation, Smokescreen backed away and soon phased into something else before looking at both his sides. When he saw the horrified face of Airachnid on his right, Smokescreen gasped in shock and tumbled backwards in a fright while making his way out of the Insecticon pod. The Autobot rookie regained his sturdy posture and walked up to Airachnid.
"You don't scare me, ugly." Smokescreen bragged before he saw the Forge of Solus Prime in one of the containers and walked up to it. "Hello, beautiful."
(Linebreak)
As the night sky had arrived, Wheeljack planted one of his grenades on the sides of the mine's entrance and motioned Seaspray to move away once they were set. They soon arrived back at the hiding spot where the rest of the team were waiting.
"Munitions planted." Seaspray informed.
"About time." Boscha said quietly.
"Let's get this party started." Wheeljack whispered, holding up his detonator.
"Fire away, Jackie. We've got the perfect view for a big bang." Gus commented.
However, the group heard a distant screeching noise from far away and they looked ahead to see something flying their way.
"Something's coming towards us." Willow told the others.
"Megatron?" Seaspray asked.
"Nah, bigger." Bulkhead replied as the huge creature with big wings flew in front of the moon, revealing to be the Predacon. "I don't remember seeing that movie in bucket-head's repertoire."
"You know, it almost looks like a…" Gus began to say, taking a closer look.
Seeing it's prey was directly blow, the Predacon descended down and let out a fierce roar before it's chest emitted an orange glow which went all the way up it's throat towards it's mouth. The Predacon then shot a massive fire blast directly towards the Wreckers, Willow, Gus and Boscha, who looked on with very shocked expression.
"Oh Titan…RUN!" Boscha screamed out.
Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Seaspray quickly grabbed their respective Witch companions and they jumped away before the fire blast could hit them. The Wreckers skidded across the ground as they looked up to see the Predacon flew higher above from the flaming spot.
"A dragon?! Where did the Decepticons get a robotic dragon?!" Willow asked in shock.
"What's a dragon?" The Wreckers questioned at the same time.
"The giant fire-breathing monster made of metal that just tried to burn us alive! How much do you metal-heads not know?!" Boscha asked outrageously.
"Hey, we're still learning about the stuff on Earth!" Wheeljack retorted.
The Predacon flew back and fired another fire blast, causing the group to immediately avoid it as Bulkhead transformed and drove to a safe distance with Willow in his seat. The Predacon landed on the ground as Wheeljack settled Gus behind a boulder and approached the Cybertronian dragon before firing both his blasters at it with a loud shout. Unfortunately, the Predacon was unharmed by the shots and smacked Wheeljack away with it's tail, making him crash against a boulder.
"Jackie!" Gus exclaimed worriedly.
"Stay here, kid!" Seaspray told Boscha as he sat her near the cliffside.
"As if I'd do anything else!" Boscha replied.
Seaspray brought out his torpedo launcher and fired two torpedos at the Predacon, hitting it before it could attack Wheeljack again. Although the torpedo explosions did hurt it a bit, the Predacon was still unfazed and it grabbed Seaspray before he could fire again, lifting the aquatic Wrecker and slamming him down onto the ground with insane strength. Seaspray groaned in pain as the Predacon prepared to finish him off with it's deadly teeth, only for Bulkhead to suddenly smash it in the face with his wrecking ball from the left. The Predacon growled at Bulkhead and prepared to use another fire blast, causing the dark-green Wrecker to immediately start running before the fire blast exploded behind him. Bulkhead crashed against the ground with flames on his body as Willow immediately saw this.
"Bulk!" Willow called out, rushing towards her Autobot guardian as Clover flew over him. "Are you alright?!"
"Easy. I maybe hot to the touch." Bulkhead warned.
Gus and Boscha joined up with the two of them along with their Palismen as they turned towards the Predacon, which wasn't attacking for some reason.
"Uh, why isn't that thing attacking us?" Gus asked in confusion.
"Who cares?! We've got an opportunity to blast away that overgrown pile of reptilian metal and I'm not missing it!" Boscha declared before she suddenly launched her flaming Grudgby ball at the Predacon.
The fire-coated ball made contact with the Predacon's face and it let out a painful snarl from the burning touch, looking towards Bulkhead and the Witches with an extremely furious expression as Clover, Emmiline and Maya hid behind their owners in fear.
"Nice job, Boscha. You've made it mad." Willow said sarcastically, glaring at her old bully.
"That was a really good idea." Bulkhead muttered.
"Zip it!" Boscha scowled.
Seaspray recovered and looked to see the Predacon slowly prowling towards the others before standing right up.
"Hey, fire-breath! You want me?!" Seaspray questioned loudly, causing the Predacon to turn to him as it recognised his Energon signature.
Acting quickly, Seaspray aimed his torpedo launched and fired a projectile, which delivered a big explosion upon making contact with the Predacon. But this still didn't seem to cause massive damage.
"We're gonna need more firepower!" Bulkhead stated.
"Good thing we're right next door to a handful of explosions, then!" Seaspray replied, running straight towards the Decepticon mine.
The Predacon started pursuing Seaspray as Bulkhead and the three Witches took this chance to help Wheeljack. Inside the mine, some Vehicon miners were cutting apart some Energon crystals before Seaspray suddenly leaped over one of their carts.
"Move it, Cons!" Seaspray shouted, running ahead.
"Autobot!" A Vehicon miner exclaimed as he and the others aimed their blasters at the Wrecker.
But before they could fire, the Vehicons noticed the mine was starting to shake and they turned around to see the Predacon crawling it's way inside while screeching furiously. The Vehicons yelled out in terror as they ran away from the rampaging Predacon, while Seaspray quickly transformed and managed to drive straight under the Cybertronian dragon before making his way to the entrance/exit. Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Willow, Gus, Boscha and their Palismen were waiting for him outside.
"He's probably dead." Boscha snarked.
"Then maybe you'd like to go in there and be dead, too." Willow threatened firmly.
Seaspray then arrived out the mine and transformed as he skidded right next to his team.
"Hit the button now, Jackie." Seaspray told the swordsman Wrecker, who brought out the detonator.
"And the walls came tumbling down." Wheeljack quipped as he pressed the button, causing all the grenades to explode and make all the Energon inside blow up in a blue fiery inferno as the mine collapsed.
"Yes! I can't believe we actually managed to slay a dragon!" Gus remarked.
"Luz will definitely want to know about this." Willow admitted.
Unfortunately for all of them, the Predacon emerged from the blue-flaming rubble without so much as a scratch and it let out a fearsome roar while spreading out it's wings.
"That's it. We're dead." Boscha said blankly. "I can't believe I'm gonna be burned alive alongside the two Witches I hate the most and their annoying robot friends."
"Feeling's mutual, Boscha." Willow muttered.
The Predacon flew back into the air for another attack and the Wreckers got themselves ready, with Willow, Gus and Boscha having their Palismen change into staff forms. But then, a powerful blaster shot appeared out of nowhere and hit the Predacon before a familiar Cybertronian ship showed up on the sky.
"One of ours?" Bulkhead asked.
"Does it matter?!" Wheeljack questioned rhetorically.
"Let's get the slag out of here, now!" Seaspray stated.
"For once, I completely agree with you!" Boscha replied.
The Wreckers began to retreat with their Witch companions as the Predacon recovered and flew right after them. The Cybertronian ship descended down to the ground, managing to get in front of the Wrecker group while the Predacon kept pursuing them. The ship's platform lowered down and skidded across the ground as the Predacon fired another fire blast behind the Wreckers, who quickly jumped onto the platform with Willow, Gus and Boscha before it brought them into the ship and it flew quickly into the sky. The Wreckers and their Witch companions turned around to see that Arcee and Luz were in the ship with them.
"Hey there, guys." Luz greeted.
"Luz!" Willow and Gus exclaimed happily.
"Arcee!" Bulkhead and Wheeljack added.
The two Wreckers brought their Witch friends towards the floor before Bulkhead enveloped Arcee in a tight hug while Wheeljack patted her on the shoulder. Willow and Gus also tackled Luz in a tight hug and Clover and Emmiline nuzzled against her legs.
"Okay, I'm really happy to see you guys as well." Luz said with a chuckle, until she noticed a certain triclops Witch walk up to her. "B-Boscha?!"
"Hello…human." Boscha replied with a grumpy frown.
"What're you doing here?! You're supposed to be back in the Boiling Isles!" Luz stated in shock.
"Well, that's an extremely long story that I don't want to tell you right now." Boscha said, crossing her arms.
"Yeah, you're right. I guess it's a little nice to have you with us." Luz replied with a sheepish smile, holding out her hand for a shake.
"Put that hand away, now." Boscha demanded.
"Oh, right. You're not a shaker." Luz muttered nervously as she pulled her hand away.
"Just for the record, I don't want her staying with us when this is over." Willow whispered, shooting a hateful glare at the three-eyes Witch.
"Okaaaay…" Luz said in a slow and awkward tone.
"Well, nice to see we've found ourselves a bunch of Wreckers." Ironhide said as he and Jetfire approached the group.
"Ironhide?" Bulkhead asked in surprised.
"Jetfire!" Wheeljack remarked, bringing the aerial Autobot in for a shoulder hug. "It's been stellar cycles, you master of the skies!"
"It definitely has, Wheeljack. We're just glad to have gotten to you all in time." Jetfire replied.
"Or you three and your little friends would've been toasted." Ironhide quipped with a smile.
"We're not friends!" Boscha argued.
"Yeah, thanks for saving our rear-axels back there." Seaspray said, ignoring what the triclops Witch said.
"Thank the commanders." Arcee replied as she gestured to Ultra Magnus and Elita in the pilot seats.
"It's to see you again, boys." Elita said kindly.
"Soldiers." Ultra Magnus greeted.
"You?" Seaspray questioned, shooting an unhappy look at Ultra Magnus.
"Ultra Magnus? Elita One?" Wheeljack asked with a very surprised expression.
"It's an honour." Bulkhead said.
"It's an honour, sir." Ultra Magnus corrected.
"Guess blowing that mine made us pretty easy to spot." Wheeljack assumed.
"Ultra Magnus and Elita already had a beat on your signals, and ours." Arcee replied.
"While we're chatting, does anyone wanna tell me what in the name of Iacon's flying after us?" Ironhide asked, gesturing to a nearby screen that was showing the Predacon pursing them.
"We think it's some kind of dragon Decepticon." Gus said.
"Or some kind of prehistoric Cybertronian." Luz theorised.
The Predacon kept chasing after the Autobot ship as Ultra Magnus and Elita saw the Cybertronian dragon on a monitor and it fired a fire blast.
"We're going to have to shake this beast!" Elita declared.
"Brace yourselves!" Ultra Magnus told everyone.
Luz, Willow, Gus and Boscha began to tumble around from the ship shaking as Bulkhead and Ironhide quickly grabbed them and strapped into the seats with the other Autobots. Ultra Magnus steered his ship high above the clouds and avoided another fire blast from the Predacon before doing a skilful loop to fly behind it, causing the Witch group to feel uneasy a bit.
"I definitely should've stayed on my seat back at the Boiling Isles." Boscha muttered, holding in her lunch.
"Firing main turrets, now!" Elita announced, pressing on a button from her controls.
Ultra Magnus' ship fire some lasers at the Predacon and one of them landed a successful hit. The Predacon then flew deep into the clouds and ship pursued it as the group saw that the Cybertronian dragon had disappeared.
"Did we lose it?" Seaspray asked.
Suddenly, the Predacon flew right up in front of the ship and unleashed a fire blast, causing Ultra Magnus to attempt to steer away. Unfortunately, the fire blast hit the left thruster caused a lot of damage as the Predacon flew after them while letting out a vicious roar. As smoke trailed from the damaged thruster, the Predacon fired some more fire blasts before it caught up and latched itself onto the ship, which everyone felt.
"It's ontop of us!" Luz stated worriedly.
"We already know that, kid!" Ironhide replied.
The Predacon came into full view at the front and it roared at it's prey, causing Luz, Willow, Gus and Boscha to scream loudly.
"I can't believe you screamed like a scared child!" Willow mocked her old bully.
"So did you, leaf-brain!" Boscha shouted loudly.
Just then, Jetfire put on a determined expression and stood up from his seat.
"Permission to fly out there and deliver some Aerialbot justice to that monster, sir?" Jetfire asked.
"Permission granted." Ultra Magnus replied with a nod.
Jetfire then got onto the platform and slammed his fist against a button, making it lower down and give the aerial Autobot a clear space for flight. Jetfire then jumped off and transformed into a Cybertronian jet, flying straight into the distance with great amount of aerial speed and coming back around before shooting a pair of missiles at the Predacon. When the missiles made contact, the Predacon was blown right off the ship and shook it's head to recover before Jetfire flew right by it.
"Pick on someone who can also fly, you ugly piece of scrap!" Jetfire yelled.
The Predacon screeched in anger and flew after Jetfire, shooting some fire blasts as the aerial Autobot skilfully manoeuvred out of the way.
"How am I gonna lose this thing?!" Jetfire asked loudly before he then noticed a large canyon area below him. "Huh, guess that'll work very well!"
Jetfire descended his way down to the canyon and the Predacon immediately followed him.
"What's Jetfire doing?" Luz asked in concern, seeing the aerial Autobot going down from the monitor.
"Not sure, but let's hope he doesn't get eaten by that beast." Wheeljack replied.
Jetfire flew straight in the middle of the canyon as the Predacon was right behind him, breathing fire blasts straight at him as he quickly avoided them.
"That's it, fire-breath. Keep following me." Jetfire muttered, picking up his flying speed.
Seeing that he was getting close to a dead end, Jetfire brought out some missiles from his bottom hatch and aimed them at the stone wall.
"Say goodbye!" Jetfire announced before he fired six missiles, which impacted against the cliff wall.
Tons of large boulders began falling from tree explosions and Jetfire was able to fly his way around them, but the Predacon wasn't so lucky due to it's larger size as it was pummelled by the stone debris and buried in a pile on the ground.
"If that thing really is prehistoric, it should've stayed extinct." Jetfire commented, making a quick turn and flying onto the Autobot ship's platform as it brought him back inside to meet with the others.
"Are you alright, Jetfire?"Arcee asked.
"Never been better." Jetfire answered.
"What about that Decepticon dragon?" Gus questioned.
"Don't worry. It's not going to be bothering us for a while." Jetfire reassured.
"In that case, let's head towards everyone else." Elita said as Ultra Magnus made his ship accelerate to the next Autobot locations.
From the ginormous rock pile in the canyon, the Predacon burst out from it and roared in pure anger for not being able to destroy any Autobot or their young companions.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile at the military base, Fowler started to hear his phone beeping and he took the call.
"What is it now, Lord Megatron?" Fowler asked with an annoyed expression.
"Agent Fowler, it's Ratchet." Ratchet said on the other side of the call.
"Ratchet?" Camila asked surprisingly as she immediately rushed in, having heard the call from nearby. "Where are the children? Is Luz with you?"
"She's not, Mrs Noceda." Amity replied, sounding a bit sad. "But, we're hopping to find her and the rest soon."
"Listen, we don't have much time. I have taken a tremendous, yet calculated, risk in contacting you." Ratchet informed. "Hopefully, the Decepticons are not monitoring their own frequencies as closely as they no doubt are those of the humans. I am transmitting our current coordinates."
(Linebreak)
Ratchet began typing in the Harbinger's console as Amity stood near him.
"Do you think they'll get here in time to help us?" Amity asked.
"We can only hope." Ratchet replied.
Just then, Bumblebee and Cliffjumper rushed straight into the room.
"Ratch, Mittens, we've got trouble outside." Cliffjumper told them.
"There's a Cybertronian ship coming our way." Bumblebee added.
"What?" Ratchet asked surprisingly.
(Linebreak)
"Ratchet, have you heard from anyone else?" Fowler asked from his side. "What about Prime?"
"Sorry, Agent Fowler, but we need to go now." Amity said quickly, ending the call as Fowler and Camila looked at each other.
(Linebreak)
Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Jazz, Ratchet, Amity, Hunter and Vee arrived outside the Harbinger and they looked towards the setting sun to see the Autobot ship flying towards their position.
"Is that Autobot or Decepticon?" Vee asked.
"Can't tell. It's too far away." Jazz replied.
"Just make sure to stay back." Bumblebee said.
The ship soon arrived at their area and it began to slowly descend for a landing.
"It's one of ours!" Ratchet realised once he got a closer look.
When the ship landed, the platform lowered itself to the ground and the group saw that standing on it was Luz, Willow, Gus, Boscha, Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, Seaspray, Ironhide and Jetfire.
"Hunter! Vee!" Willow called out in happiness as she and Gus ran up to their friends.
"You guys!" Hunter exclaimed.
Once they were close enough, Gus gave Hunter and Vee a big high-five each while Willow pulled the blonde Witch boy into a very big hug.
"I'm glad you're okay." Willow said kindly.
"Uh…thanks. I'm glad you're fine as well, Willow." Hunter replied, blushing a little bit.
When Luz and Amity looked towards each other, their eyes immediately began tearing up and they both rushed at each other with all their might before being enveloped in a very big hug. After a few seconds of hugging, Luz and Amity gave each other a passionate kiss.
"It's good to see you again, batata." Amity said, smiling brightly at her girlfriend.
"I would've gotten here sooner, but we ran into trouble on our way." Luz admitted.
"Like you always do." Amity giggled, until she gained a shocked expression from seeing Boscha approach her.
"Amity." Boscha greeted with a simple expression, crossing her arms a bit.
"Why is she with you guys?" Amity asked while gritting her teeth, trying to contain her anger from seeing the triclops Witch.
"Seaspray said he found her at Megatron's fortress and that she ended up in the Human Realm due to something she doesn't want to talk about right now." Luz replied. "Just try to cope with her, Amity. Pretty please?"
"…Fine." Amity whispered.
"Just so you know, I'm not going to enjoy being around you." Boscha told her.
"Oh, I wouldn't have it any other way." Amity retorted.
As the Hexside Squad was having their moment of reunion, the Autobots were having theirs as well.
"You're alive." Ratchet said in relief.
"Ironhide, Jetfire! I can't believe you guys are on Earth, now!" Cliffjumper remarked, noticing the two new Autobots.
"Not just us, Cliff." Ironhide replied.
When the Autobots on the ship walked off the platform, Ultra Magnus and Elita were revealed to be standing behind them.
"Ultra Magnus. Elita One." Ratchet whispered, very surprised.
"Hello, Ratchet." Elita greeted.
"Doctor." Ultra Magnus added.
(Linebreak)
At Darkmount, the Predacon arrived back at the throne platform as Shockwave was stroking it in an attempt to help it recover faster, while Megatron, Starscream, Shatter and Dropkick.
"What a grave disappointment this must be for you, master. And to make matters worse, because it cannot speak, we have no way of knowing why the Predacon failed so miserably." Starscream said mockingly. "Poor mute, mindless creature."
"You might think that, Starscream. But with a closer examination, we have confirmed the Predacon has not sustained a single injury and was in peak physical condition upon it's arrival." Shatter replied with her hands behind her back.
"What are you saying, Shatter?" Starscream asked with an annoyed glare.
"I'm saying that since it has no serious damage, that would mean the Autobots and their magical pets were no match for the Predacon's power and were forced to make a strategic retreat." Shatter answered smugly. "That is a way of telling us that the Predacon is truly a match for all of them combined and it will have a higher chance of success at the next encounter."
"So if I were you, Screamy, I'd learn to shut up." Dropkick said in a snarky tone.
All Starscream could do was growl in frustration, knowing he couldn't argue with Shatter and Dropkick at this time as he knew they were actually right. But what none of them knew was that the Predacon was growling furiously towards Starscream, seemingly understanding what he said.
(Linebreak)
Back at the Harbinger site, the Autobots and Hexside Squad were still catching up on recent events while the Palismen were simply doing their own things in the distance.
"So, what do you all think of my new paint job?" Bumblebee asked the other Bots.
"The new paint job looks good, Bee." Bulkhead complemented.
"That whole black and yellow thing is really working for you." Jetfire added.
"No kidding." Wheeljack said in agreement.
"At least you had something to work with. If I reversed my colours, I'd be pink." Arcee admitted.
"I'm sure you'd look good, but blue is better for you." Cliffjumper replied with a smile.
"So Skara's also in the Human Realm?" Boscha questioned as she reluctantly chatting with the Hexside Squad near Ratchet, Ultra Magnus and Elita. "I was wondering what happened to her all those days ago."
"Yeah, but she only came into here because of those Ground Bridges fusing into each other and creating a small fracture through the otherworldly barriers from here to the Boiling Isles." Vee said, hiding the fact she was a Basilisk from Boscha. "I just don't know how you could've gotten here, as well."
"Yeah, that's what I still wanna know." Gus added with his arms crossed.
"If you aren't gonna tell us now, we'll just keep on demanding every day if we survive the Decepticons." Amity said, slightly smirking at the triclops Witch.
"Ugh, okay! I'll tell all of you if it'll make you stop asking!" Boscha exclaimed in frustration. "One day, I was just having a normal day in our old school hiding from that crazy Collector kid and making everyone was doing as they were told since I elected myself leader!"
"Typical." Willow scoffed.
"Then, I went to get myself a drink from the cafeteria by myself, but I ended up coming face to face with a weird glowing crack that showed up out of nowhere and then it zapped me into this place, which I later found out was the stupid Human Realm!" Boscha exclaimed, getting mad from the thought of it. "I soon ran into that boat robot who calls himself Seaspray, he brought me to those friends of his and that pretty much brings us up to where we are, right now! There, I've explained everything!"
"Okay. That was a bit dramatic." Hunter said after a short moment of awkward silence.
"Wait, did you show up near a place that was most likely blown up?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, it was some kind of mountain that was up in flames." Boscha replied.
"Then that must mean that when the beam from that Omega Lock machine crossed through the Space Bridge, it became super energised enough to create another small otherworldly tear into the Boiling Isles and you got pulled in when you were too close." Vee theorised.
"Oh, it did? Well, that's just great for me." Boscha said sarcastically.
"Stop being sarcastic, it's annoying." Amity muttered with a frown.
"The communication link needs further calibrations to be compatible with Autobot frequencies." Ratchet told Ultra Magnus and Elita. "The Ground Bridge, however, is fully operational."
"A Ground what?" Boscha asked.
"It's a portal." Luz answered simply.
"Which would've been very useful when the robot dragon was trying to kill us earlier." Gus commented in a bit of a sassy way, causing Willow to instantly slap her hand over his mouth.
"The young magic-wielding visitors of this planet, do most of them display the same disregard for authority?" Ultra Magnus questioned, a little offended.
"No. Sometimes, just Gus." Ratchet replied.
"They are just children, after all. Not members of a military unit." Elita reminded.
Just then, everyone began to hear a distant soaring noise and they looked towards the other side of the sky, seeing a fighter jet heading towards them.
"We've got a bogie!" Ironhide called as he, Ultra Magnus, Elita and Jetfire aimed their blaster weapons at the jet.
"No, wait!" Jazz stated as he and the other Bots got in their way.
"Don't shoot!" Arcee told her commanders and new comrades.
"It's Fowler! He's with us!" Bulkhead assured.
As Ultra Magnus, Elite, Ironhide and Jetfire placed away their weapons, the Hexside Squad quickly rushed forward as Fowler landed his jet in front of them. Fowler then helped Camila step down from the cockpit as the Hispanic woman instantly looked towards Luz and teared up happily, rushing towards her daughter and giving her a warm hug of relief.
"Thank goodness. I thought I would lose you as well, Mija." Camila sobbed, not wanting to have her daughter be gone like her husband all those years ago.
"It's okay, Mama. I'm still alive." Luz assured with a smile.
Once she released her daughter from the hug, Camila turned her attention to the rest of the Hexside Squad approaching her.
"It's such a relief to see all of you, as well." Camila said kindly before taking notice of Boscha, who stood a few feet away. "Oh, is this another one of your Witch friends? Did she arrive here due to an unforeseen event?"
"For the last time, we are not friends!" Boscha declared in annoyance.
Camila was a bit surprised to hear this and turned to Luz and her friends.
"Yeah, she's not our friend and she never will be." Willow said with narrowed eyes.
"We'll explain later, Mrs Noceda." Amity added.
"But still, not everybody's here." Hunter reminded, referring to the lack of three members.
"The only signals Magnus was able to isolate when we arrived on the planet are right here in this position." Elita said.
"Maybe his scanner's just not that good." Seaspray replied.
"So the kid's unaccounted for." Bulkhead admitted in concern.
"Along with Skara." Gus added with a sad frown.
"Hey, I'm sure we'll find her. You do wanna spend time with her, don't you?" Willow asked, smiling in a teasingly way.
"Yeah, I do. But just as friends, that's all." Gus replied embarrassingly, turning away from his friends.
"Smokescreen and Skara bridged out at the same time, only Optimus knows where. And Optimus remained behind to destroy the Ground Bridge. To ensure…that everyone else…made it to safety." Ratchet said sadly.
Luz could only look down in depression as she feared the worst for the Autobot leader, knowing he's done so much to help her and her friends since the day they met.
"I…watched the base go down." Flower said in sympathy. "No one or thing walked out of there."
"Not that we could see from above." Camila added.
"We shouldn't believe the worst. There's still hope that Optimus is alive and planning to regroup with us." Elita replied, placing her fist onto her chest. "I know that he will return."
"Okay, Elita is definitely closer to Optimus than we think." Vee whispered to her friends, who nodded in agreement.
"Even if Prime survived, I'm not sure we could afford to wait for him to show up. Not with Megatron holding our planet hostage from his high and mighty perch at Darkmount." Fowler proclaimed.
"I would be inclined to agree with the native life form." Ultra Magnus said as he joined the group. "We must stop Megatron, with or without Optimus Prime."
(Linebreak)
Speaking of Optimus, he was still laying against the boulder in the underground hideout as Skara was currently playing her mini-harp next to him in an attempt to make things more calmer. Once she ended on her last note, Skara let out a sigh of misery.
"Even after a good tune, I still don't feel any better." Skara muttered before she turned towards Optimus. "How're you feeling, Optimus? Still functional?"
"I'm…okay…Skara." Optimus said quietly.
Just then, Smokescreen phased through the walls and was dragging the Forge of Solus Prime with him.
"Smokey, you're back!" Skara remarked as Cayenne also chirped happily before noticing the Forge. "Wow, you actually managed to get it."
"Told you I'd be back in a few seconds." Smokescreen replied with a smile, dragging the Forge to Optimus and kneeling down to him. "Optimus, I have the Forge. You can use it to repair yourself."
"That…is not the reason…I had you retrieve the relic." Optimus admitted.
"What? I-I-I don't understand." Smokescreen said disbelief.
"Optimus, you can get back to full strength and help us defeat the Cons if you use the Forge on yourself." Skara protested.
"The power of the Forge…is not unlimited." Optimus replied weakly. "It's energy has already begun…to ebb."
"So it's running low. Who cares? All we need is enough juice to get you back into fighting shape." Smokescreen replied.
"Whatever power remains…must be used…to rebuild the Omega Lock…to restore Cybertron." Optimus said.
"Wait, use the Forge to repair that giant machine that brings your planet back to life instead of using it to heal you?" Skara asked, feeling very disheartened by the outcome that idea.
"But that would mean…" Smokescreen began to say sadly.
"The fate of all our kind…is more vital…than that of any of us…including…me." Optimus whispered as it seems he was actually willing to become one with the Allspark.
(Linebreak)
"Okay, what's the plan?" Jetfire asked as Team Prime and the Hexside Squad were discussing what to do in order to take down Megatron at Darkmount.
"We must do everything in our power to ensure Megatron's downfall. But we will need to be smart about it." Ultra Magnus said.
"Fortunately, we still have the advantage of surprise as Megatron doesn't know we've fully regrouped right now." Elita added.
"Hold on, who put Shoulder Pads and Femme Fatal in charge?" Seaspray questioned objectively.
"Temporary command, to be fair." Amity corrected.
"Ultra Magnus and Elita One are the only logical choices. Magnus was trained by Optimus and served as his secondary commanding officer throughout the War for Cybertron, while Elita has worked alongside Optimus even before the start of the war as his greatest commander on every battlefield." Ratchet explained.
"But still, we wanna help you guys out on the battlefield, too. So, we're gonna need a Commander for us Witches." Hunter replied.
"I'd be happy to fill in that role." Boscha said, smiling arrogantly. "I'm a natural leader in Grudgby, after all."
"This isn't Grudgby, this is war." Amity told her firmly.
"And there is no way you're going to be leading us." Willow declared, making Boscha frown in defeat.
"But I've got a perfect idea of who should." Gus said, turning his attention towards Luz.
"Wait…me?" Luz asked with a very surprised expression.
"He's got a good point, Luz." Arcee agreed. "You've done lots on your own and beaten enemies that wanted to cause harm, just like Megatron."
"You're honestly the most worthy person of all to ever help lead this mission." Amity said kindly, holding her girlfriend's hand.
"We totally believe in you, girl." Wheeljack encouraged. "You probably don't know it, but you're just as worthy as Optimus always was."
"So what do you say, little lady?" Ironhide asked, placing his fists on his hips.
"Please, Luz. You can do it." Vee told her adoptive sister.
Luz thought long and hard about this decision to lead her friends into battle against the Decepticons alongside Ultra Magnus and Elita. She may never have acted like a true leader before, but her time in the Boiling Isles, standing up against Belos' evil plan to wipe out all life on the Witch home and even aiding her Autobot friends in many life-threatening missions have more than proven her greatness. Luz soon put on a confident smile and stared towards everyone.
"Okay, I'll help lead you guys. It might be a bit hard for me, but I'll make sure to do the best I can." Luz announced.
"You certainly will, Luz." Camila replied, smiling in proudness.
"There really is something very special about that young human." Elita complemented, earning a nod of agreement from Ultra Magnus as he too seemed impressed.
"Now, unless there is any further objection, soldier…" Ultra Magnus said, looking directly at Seaspray. "Please follow me."
Ultra Magnus started to walk towards the open platform of his ship as the Autobots and Hexside Squad followed him.
"Whatever you say, boss." Seaspray muttered in annoyance.
"We're all going to die, I just know it." Boscha said with a deadpan expression.
When the platform lifted everyone inside the ship, Ultra Magnus pressed a button on the wall and it shifted away to reveal a lot of powerful Cybertronian weapons on the other side.
"Autobots, take your pick." Ultra Magnus said.
"That's some neat weaponry, right there." Jazz commented, whistling in an impressed way.
"Now you're speaking my language, sir." Wheeljack added.
"Megatron isn't going to know what hit him." Hunter said determinedly.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Smokescreen and Skara still didn't like the idea of using the Forge to repair the Omega Lock instead of Optimus.
"Optimus, we can't use the Forge on the Omega Lock. We really need you and you can't just go offline." Skara said pleadingly.
"She's right, the Forge is a relic on the Primes. We can't use it to restore Cybertron, not without a Prime." Smokescreen added. "Not without you."
"There will be…a new Prime." Optimus assured.
"Seriously? There's absolutely no time for you to find someone who's worthy enough to be your replacement!" Skara stated.
"You can worry about that after we get you patched up and we take down Megatron." Smokescreen declared, standing up as Optimus weakly grabbed his arm.
"The time…for a new leader…is upon us. In my Spark…I believe…that leader stands before me right now." Optimus said as he looked directly at the Autobot rookie.
Realising what the injured Autobot leader was referring to, Smokescreen and Skara were completely silent in astonishment as the Bard Witch girl looked up at her Autobot Guardian, comprehending the fact that Smokescreen was being offered the chance to become a brand new Prime.
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