Song: Land of Confusion - Disturbed

Arcee placed the Radiant Cores she gathered from Chaar on the table with the growing collection to Haywire's confusion.

"What do you intend on doing with all these anyway?"

"It would be a bit rude to turn them down so maybe save it for a rainy day? Fireworks anyone?" Arcee grinned.

The red mech rolled his optics as Optimus and Bumblebee held equal amusement over the idea. Nevertheless, she remained proud of her actions. Perceptor, on the other hand, was sitting at his communications bay listening to Nighthawk detail the extensive battle with imagination, and he shot Arcee a plea for help when the youngling wouldn't stop talking. She ignored it in favor of watching his expression change from desperate to bored with a servo over his optics to eventual acceptance of the youngling's description. As he sat there, she pointed a finger at him to show Optimus how she was indirectly torturing the guy by setting him up to talk to the Seekerling.

Once he got all his information needed, Perceptor turned slowly to Arcee with a displeased grimace. "If you ever set me up to hear events from a sparkling again, I will kill you in your sleep."

Snickering, Megatron across from him asked, "Why? Haven't you ever thought about having kids?"

Without missing a beat, Perceptor glared at him while stating boldly, "No. And now, I don't think my opinion will ever change after that."

"Not a sparkling person," Bumblebee taunted, "oh no, hide your kids before peeved Perceptor boots them off a building."

The scientist sneered, "Yeah, and I'll start with yours."

"Jokes on you, I don't have any."

"I was talking to Optimus, baby scout," he said with a wicked grin.

Bumblebee grew silent before narrowing his optics suspiciously. "Nah-uh, you ain't throwing me off nowhere."

The Allspark appeared and laughed upon hearing the exchange even when it wasn't physically present to see it. "I'll catch you, Bumblebee."

"See?! Thank you! Try it, Perceptor, I dare you!"

The red and black mech chuckled, shaking his head. Optimus took a seat beside him and Arcee leaned against the wall. Moonhunter immediately leapt onto the Prime's lap with a purr and welcomed the pets of his master's former commander.

The Allspark then called out, "Arcee, what world are you travelling to next?"

The bots looked at her as she replied, "Junkion."

Multiple different reactions made her raise a brow at them all. Megatron looked awkward as hell, biting his lip which told her he had done something stupid over there when he had pursued the Ark after their exodus from a dying Cybertron in the war. It also confirmed it was another world he may have screwed up relations with also. Given, both Optimus and Megatron mentioned to her once Aquatron was among the chase, that made for three planets they had beef with, all of whom she had or needed to fix. She couldn't wait to hear the story on Junkion of all places. Bumblebee was smirking, so it had to be somewhat funny in his experience or knowledge of the event. Optimus was hesitant and Haywire was rubbing his optics.

"What did you guys do to that poor planet?" Arcee asked in disappointment.

"U-Us?! You're blaming us off the bat, no context whatsoever?" The Autobot leader scolded.

"You all look like you did something either really bad or really stupid and since I wasn't there but know you all enough, I think I'm entitled to make some assumptions. Prove me wrong or forever be judged."

Megatron tapped his claws hissing in self-depreciation, "It was both really. When I pursued Optimus, I forced Wreck-gar, the Junkion leader, to build me a functioning new system for the Nemesis. We also destroyed part of the planet's core so it kind of looks worse than it already was. I left him and his tribe alone afterwards."

Optimus concurred, "Before Megatron did that, I was trying to find the Star Saber, turns out we were chasing a fairytale depiction of the weapon, not the actual relic itself. There was a spy among us who tried to convince Wreck-gar to turn on us. He didn't oblige because he was, for a lack of a better word, quite lazy. He only wanted to make friends, not particularly harm anyone unless necessary."

Arcee peered between the two of them before closing her optics trying to process all of that. "So, you basically decimated part of his world, a literal chunk of his world, and left him to rot there after using his hospitality and drawing danger to him for a sword? I can expect something of that of Megatron, but not you, Optimus."

Megatron grunted slightly pissed by the accusation, even though he quickly changed his expression to considerate when he realized it was technically true and lied back in his seat with his arms crossed.

"We didn't make the right decisions in that regard, no," the Prime muttered.

The Allspark mused, "This may be the perfect opportunity to repair the relationship with Cybertron. But Arcee, things grow ever concerning. The terrible forces that drive these deadly invasions are growing stronger, their plan is nearly complete. Do tread wisely with what you do. I fear reckoning is upon us each day."

Arcee waved it off, "No problem, we'll take care of it!"

"Yes, but regarding the other worlds...your care might be in danger of-"

"I got it!" She huffed, "We will fight again for them, if need be. Just one planet at a time, you know?"

The Allspark didn't reply with anything more with a mere cackle of energy among its core, its body turning violet. She didn't remember what mood that conveyed but she didn't dwell on it before turning to Haywire.

"How long until we're ready to depart?"

Her assistant nodded, "Thirty minutes, give or take."

"Perfect." Arcee then gestured to Megatron. "Ready to rock and rumble?"

"As always," her sparkmate gleamed with his sharp fangs on display. "Let's break the cyberbiologist from his lab work and get back into the field."

As Arcee smiled at that, the Allspark was less than pleased.

Bolt typed on his computer logging all the data received from Chaar into his system. He ignored some of his assistants calling his name as he simultaneously brought up a star map of the known cybernetic worlds he knew were so far not in danger. Gigantion, Combatron, and Lithone were planets he had yet to visit but always wanted to. The downside to Combatron was it was war-plagued just the same as Cybertron and wasn't nice to outsiders. Paradron was another interest. As he rotated the planets' holoforms each to get a look at their surface structure, a whooshing sound made him pause and his assistants went silent.

"Bolt, may I have a word with you?"

He whipped his head around and found the Allspark hovering close with its energies slowly moving among its rings instead of its faster-paced lively movements. He saw that as a sign of concern and ignored his research instead to heed the Allspark's request. "Shoot."

"It's about Arcee."

"Oh. Did she kill anyone she wasn't supposed to?"

"...No."

"Okay, not bad then. Go on."

Its ring sunk and orbited horizontally across it instead of over and around. "I think she's in over her head. There are two fates in store for her if she doesn't correct her mistakes soon. I fear the Metal Head Leader has already won."

The Vehicon scoffed amused, "What makes you say that? We've beaten that fool's armies thrice now. They don't stand a chance!"

"A war isn't always won through combat..."

"Wha-what are you implying? I mean what could the Metal Head Leader have on us that could guarantee a victory despite the losses?" He asked confused.

The Allspark seemed hesitant to answer like it was suffering with forbidden knowledge. Then he got his answer indirectly. "I can't reveal the future entire...it would break my code of continuity. Listen, Bolt, not everything is as it seems. 'A traitor of the past condemns the traitor of the present but will not stop the traitor of the future.' That's what I told Arcee but she didn't realize what I meant either. That's the only thing I can tell you. Please, you have to believe me...I don't want history to repeat itself."

"'Traitor of the past condemns the traitor of the present but will not stop the-' what? So, there's a traitor among us?"

"So to speak. Be careful and watch Arcee closely. Don't be afraid to voice your opinion. A friendship can be mended, a life cannot."

Bolt saw its paranoia and frustration as it turned violet again, indicating one of its saddened moods. He pumped his servos in front of him as a calming motion. "Okay...okay-okay-okay, um, I will do that, but you know as well as I it's going to be a process."

The Allspark shook briefly, "I don't mean to turn you against her, but I don't know what else to do to protect you all without harming time and space. Certain events must unfold and if I tamper with them, the consequences are far dire than what can happen. If one thing is changed, the universe will unleash something tenfold to counter it. I would only be delaying the inevitable; if not the Horaquan, it will be someone else and I doubt Optimus Prime, Megatron, or even Arcee can outlast everything. I pulled a lot of strings among the afterlife bringing you back, more than you think. That was not supposed to happen, and I cannot do it again. Do you understand?"

"I...don't quite yet, honestly, but I promise I'll figure out something. It's me, remember?"

"Just do what you can. I only hope Arcee can see the problem before it consumes her."

Bolt mumbled to himself as he turned away from the Allspark. "Whatever it is, so do I."

He barely heard the hush whispers of the Allspark's energy vanishing as he sat on his thoughts about the whole ordeal.

"Bolt, you ready for Junkion?" Arcee's voice came through.

He was hesitant but replied, "Y-Yes, yes, I'll, um, be there in a few. Let me log in these last few entries and I'll meet you over at the Nexus."

"See you then, partner."

Bolt sighed to himself as he sat down in his chair with an elbow on the table and his palm cradling his chin. What was he to do to help Arcee if he didn't even know what the problem she was creating was?

Grimlock allowed Arcee to ride on his back in his Dinobot mode towards the Space Bridge Nexus followed by Predaking who walked beside him in his own beast form.

"I would think you two would be mortal enemies. I still can't get over seeing you guys get along so well. What's your secret?"

The Dinobot leader laughed, "He's still a pain in my tail but we found as Shockwave's victims of tampering and equally mighty kings, we had a lot in common. As fun as it can be to fight each other, why maim the only mech that I can tolerate?"

Predaking gave a monstrous yowl and swayed his tail pleased by the comment. Moonhunter then treaded beside him to trail his owner as well. Both beast bots looked down at him as the Nitrotiger outpaced them with equally amused expressions.

Arcee said, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. You two are great friends. Also, how's Wildwing?"

Predaking transformed and stated, "They are good and currently watching over their young. Wildwing is a sire to twins now."

"Give them my congratulations."

Haywire and Scythe along with Bumblebee and Optimus awaited her. Grimlock stopped and lowered his head to let her get down with a pleasant growl. She gestured openly at her peers without a word and Moonhunter walked next to her while Grimlock and Predaking held back. The roar of a jet engine distracted all of them until Megatron came flying in from the north, transforming after swooping near them. A ground bridge opened at the same time and Bolt walked through but his posture was lackluster. He crossed his arms like he feared the worst and Arcee eyed him out of suspicion.

"Everything alright there, Bolt?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I just am not looking forward to going to Junkion. Not really any life there aside from sand lions, hira hyenas and scrap dragons."

Arcee froze and then nervously laughed, "Oh yeah, the dragons...forgot about those."

Predaking exchanged looks with Grimlock before asking, "What's a dragon?"

She immediately countered, "You know what you are?"

He nodded slowly a bit confused.

"To the humans, you'd be considered a dragon, four-legged winged beast that can manipulate either fire or water depending on the region. Junkion has a small breed and a giant breed named after them. They are dangerous."

Bumblebee laughed and muttered to Optimus, "Sounds like his lost family."

He winced when he was given a sharp slap on the back of the head by Arcee like he was a youngling and held his arms out confused. Predaking took no offense to it and grinned, both at his remark and the slap. They all grew attentive when the Space Bridge Nexus came back online with the coordinates to Junkion in place.

"Remember, guys, try not to tear apart the world this time," mocked Scythe.

Megatron huffed, "I'm sorry for the umpteenth time! I was power hungry and arrogant. Can't I get a break for once?"

Arcee grimaced, "You killing Zeta Prime is one thing and forgivable since the Prime happened to be an asshole; you damaging an entire planet of beings...not so much. But I love you enough to accept the apology."

Scythe shook his head nearly the same as Haywire did prior. "Professional killers in love. What has the world come to? Alright, lovebirds, get going."

Bolt whistled for Moonhunter to stop rubbing against Predaking's legs and escort them into the portal. The Nitrotiger pranced to his side as Megatron and Arcee each huffed in anticipation. They walked in with the rest of their peers acknowledging their leave with praise.

When they stepped on Junkion's ground, they realized it wasn't technically a real surface. Scrap metal and random pieces of junk moved like a landscape as far as the eye could see. The scrap they stood on had been walked a thousand times to where it was flattened to appear like regular ground. The planet seemed to mostly consist of hill-shaped piles with walkways and open areas of former encampments.

"I don't know what I expected..." Bolt mumbled. "Also, I just realized, isn't this planet called just Junk? Planet of Junk? I saw it described in Optimus' journal he wrote during the Ark's travel."

"I don't know. Junkion sounds better though," the queen replied.

"That's true."

As they searched for any signs of life among the garbage, Arcee peered up at the sky and smiled. The center of the Milky Way Galaxy was completely visible. Every part of its star-dusted arms holding billions of stars among it shined bright. Every detail even to its sun-like aura at its heart was on display. She assumed Junkion rested just outside of the galaxy's reach for such an amazing view but since it had a far different atmosphere than Earth, the light filtered different leaving little to the imagination.

She remembered seeing the center of the galaxy from Earth's view from the equator on a scouting mission once. It was a bit overdone by the atmosphere also showing the various stars even beyond the tighter grip of the galaxy. Here, the galaxy took away all that noise to be the most dominant light. The only other lights that showed off their colors in other areas of the sky were a few planets that were either in the same system as it or equally floating around uselessly. Junkion had no sun whatsoever but with the galaxy being as vivid as it was, that didn't seem to bother the planet. Galaxies like Andromeda and Triangulum were also seen but were smaller, fitting as the galaxies had so much space between them. She didn't know what else could be seen, or at least not by name, but a few other specs of light as well as a few clusters randomly around emphasized how isolated Junkion really was.

Scrap was suddenly falling from a few hills, and they all pulled out their weapons prepared for anything. Moonhunter even activated his turrets with the puff if his spine armor. Arcee, however, tried to reach behind her to grab her ricochet ray only to remember she gave it up to Soundwave for the Resonance Blaster. Growling, she transformed both arms into her blasters instead and pointed at the origin of the sound.

Two shadowed heads popped up with wide, yellow optics and the small chirp coming from one set. After a moment of pause with zero movement from the bots who relaxed, a pygmy distiller dragon moved a little into the light peering at them rapidly in different angles and sniffing the air. Once it determined they weren't a threat, it climbed out completely of the shadows with its friend following. They cautiously perched on an output twisted bar that looked like the end of a light post. Flapping their wings to keep balance when leaning forward, they stared at their visitors eagerly.

"Aw!" Bolt cooed, "They are cute! I always wanted to pet one of these!"

Arcee grew disturbed. "No, no, no, I was forced to ride one of these and almost got eaten. I may have befriended the hive on the isle after killing Salvage but I ain't touching a random one. You can get your servo bitten off if you want."

"Don't mind if I do," he sang back.

Before he could get within ten feet of the creatures, they flew off and he made a depressed moan. Abruptly, his mood changed as he turned around to point at the warlord. "Megatron, buddy, light of my life...I need a favor."

"No."

"I need you-"

"Nope," the grey mech said shaking his head.

"-to get me a few distillers-"

"I am not listening."

"-for my research. Since you have the uncanny ability to tackle the little monsters, you're it this time. Maybe Arcee will be your scout."

"Unbelievable. Some cyberbiologist you are," the ex-Decepticon scoffed.

More distiller dragons fluttered about getting into random objects and playing among the wastelands, one of them peeked into an empty pot but got its head stuck and backed away. It slid down the hill with a screech and wandered aimlessly.

Megatron got behind the creature and snagged it effortlessly, though carrying something nearly as large as him was a balancing act. He placed it on the ground and used his weight to keep it still. Bolt crouched beside it and examined the structure of the chassis, noting the mismatched armor was made from the pieces of metal found throughout the area. It was a decent sized one, so it had plenty more pieces attached to it than the younger specimens.

"Good, now try finding a baby."

"I'm not going to steal a baby dragon! Are you mad?!" Megatron removed the pot from the distiller's head and let it go. "You kill yourself, not one of us!"

Bolt tilted his head disappointed before turning to Arcee. "You?"

She facepalmed before dragging it down her cheek. "Let's make enemies of everything, Bolt. Great plan."

Arcee trailed a few of the distillers flying in the area to a large pile of scrap with multiple hideaways, some within objects and some within spaces made up of several objects. She watched many of them look out before retreating into their makeshift nests again. The lower chambers she saw had several distillers laying on eggs, their heads buried among their wings or to the side in comfortable recharge as they protected their little ones.

She had no clue how she was going to get a little one without pissing off the entire colony until she heard a soft chirp to her right. A baby distiller, just born, was having difficulties walking, shaking with each step.

"Bolt, I am not touching this, so you better get your ass over here!"

The Vehicon came running but slowed when he saw some of the distiller dragons peering at him in the dark of their nests with only the yellow glow of their optics visible like predators in waiting. Arcee merely pointed at the baby and threw her servos up not wanting to disturb the life any more than they already were. Bolt took her body language in stride and kept his distance as he surveyed the baby distiller that began to give a desperate cry.

"Wings not ready for use yet until a few months, barely armored so carrier has to locate scrap to decorate the young at this time, and approximately a day or less, this hatchling was born...so, where's the hen?"

A screech had a larger form covering the baby and a distiller raised its wings to their entire span to appear scarier, rattling said wings as well as its tail in warning. Bolt backed up as Moonhunter snarled but hid behind Arcee as the mother moved back, dragging its baby alongside it until it was a comfortable position away. Grabbing its hatchling by the scruff of the neck, it took off back to its nest up high. They deduced the poor little creature had slid out of its home and the mother hadn't returned yet from scavenging. The shadow of the distiller fluffing its wings before covering its offspring made Arcee smile a little.

Bolt mused, "I wonder if there are any older or abnormally large specimens?"

"How many do you need?!"

"Just one more then I'll stop. Pretty please," he begged.

Megatron moved behind them and said, "Well, a big one would stick out a lot in a hive like this. I think we can tackle a big distiller, Arcee."

"Feels like monster hunting all over again," she retorted.

While Bolt sat in a pile of scrap, flicking a few loose parts off him that tumbled across his frame, Arcee, Megatron, and Moonhunter moved around the area in search for a large distiller. The farther they went, the more plentiful different shades of grey and rustic brown distillers there were. Some looked like they had new armor compared to others. What stood out the most was the shinier metal belonged to the larger, older distillers. The older ones seemed to take the new parts for themselves and bullied the young into taking hand-me-downs or other discarded rubbish instead. Then they saw the largest distiller dragon of them all.

As big as Megatron, the distiller didn't fit in any of the pockets in the scrap, instead having to lie out in the open while younger ones played on it. Its chirps were deeper, and its armor was far more misplaced than the others, looser to a degree. Given that the distillers only obeyed the giant, monstrous scrap dragons that were supposedly still living on the planet somewhere, it was determined that the size of this one was just a rare mutation.

"Okay, how are we going to draw this thing back to Bolt without angering it?" Arcee asked.

Megatron thought for a second before seeing a rat-like creature scurrying across some junk before it was pounced on and eaten by a distiller. It gulped down the rodent with only the tail hanging out of its mouth. Once gone, the distiller tried to see if any other rodents were around before taking off again.

"I think I know exactly how," he smirked.

Getting a rodent without it being swarmed upon by hungry distillers proved difficult. They spotted a few of them only for them to scatter when two of their group were snatched by fangs and claws. Arcee caught one when it scurried past her pede and whacked it against a hard piece of junk to kill it. Megatron got two but left them alive though he almost knocked down a pile of scrap a few distillers were resting in.

Arcee called out the larger distiller that peered at them intrigued as she waved the dead rodent. She kept a keen eye at the skies so no other distiller would snag the meal before the big one could follow them. As they backed away, the large distiller dragon hesitantly trailed them.

"That's it, big boy."

They led it back to Bolt with Moonhunter keeping his distance though halfway through, Arcee had to throw the rodent at it to catch and eat when it grew frustrated. To keep its interest, Megatron threw one of his at it too a bit further down. The remainder of the way, the dragon eagerly followed as Megatron held the last rodent. He threw it once Bolt was able to get a good look at it.

Bolt watched them lure the creature and gasped at the size. "Whoa...that's huge! Where did you find this guy?"

Arcee shrugged, "Near the nests. Apparently, it's one of a kind as far as we can tell. Might be just an abnormality."

"I mean The Matriarch's huge for my kind...and Megatron has an abnormally giant stature and weight for a Seeker class so makes sense." Bolt looked to his left to see the warlord glaring at him, narrowing his optics with a low growl, and he only responded with a raise of his servos. "What? You are a big Seeker. In general, you are a pretty big dude for a common Cybertronian anyways, embrace the uniqueness."

"I'm about to make you look unique in three seconds," Megatron said with a flash of his fangs.

"...I think that's enough compliments for today."

As the large distiller finished, it gently flapped its wings a few times with a shake of its head and a shiver down its spine with a purr. Arcee reached out carefully, and the distiller sniffed her servo before letting her pet the side of its head with a small sound of approval.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be."

Bolt checked out the massive specimen. "All body parts proportionate, no signs of any other abnormalities, multiple scratches among pristine armor...this one has definitely fought for a nest once and may have one but couldn't use it unable to fit inside. Wait, what's this?"

He kneeled and hovered a servo near its abdomen slightly protruding in comparison to its chest. The other distillers had the abdomen curve inward to match their agility. There was only one explanation he could come up with and he chuckled.

"It seems this one will be a carrier soon. It's pregnant. That's why it was fighting for a nest despite it was too big. It is getting ready to brood."

Arcee pet the large distiller's snout and gave a soft gasp. "You're going to be a carrier? I hope your babies have the best armor there is. What do they look like without armor, do you know?"

"Uh, they have what's called an exterior reverse-anatomic system. Their organs are still within, but they are born without armor entirely except the horns and all that. Have you ever seen the diagrams of Earth animals where it shows the organic muscle layouts?"

Megatron shook his head, but Arcee made a so-so motion. "I've glanced at one from Jack's biology textbooks from school."

"It's like that. Megatron, beneath the skin, there is thicker flesh that secures and moves the skeleton of the organic frame, allowing them to walk and so on. Distillers have a similar set up, but their muscles are thick, flatter cables that hide the organs within and wrap around the endoskeleton. When they are born, you basically see a mechanized version of organic interior anatomy. The cables that surround the body have controlled magnetism so when they gather parts around them, they can shed parts, they can stick parts on them like a fridge magnet, and so on. One suit of armor ready to go and if any part becomes damaged, they can switch it out no problem."

Both bots made unfavorable expressions at the description, but Arcee saw the distiller's face and noticed as it made its own little facial movements, the parts moved in various ways but had the same outcome of expressing what it needed to. She could imagine the difficulties such a creature would face on Earth being so exposed unless they lived near junkyards constantly. Junkion was a perfect fit for them.

A sudden roar had not just the bots staring on their right but the distillers as well. The big one whimpered and flew away immediately as others hid in any spaces they could find regardless of whether it was already claimed or not. The beating of wings distinctive of a larger species echoed before a massive scrap dragon soared overhead. It gave out a loud bellow as the wind produced by its wings unsettled pieces of junk on the hillsides that fell all over the place.

The scrap dragon circled the area irritably, hissing at the few distillers that flew beneath it trying to get out of its path. When it spotted the shiny armor of the Cybertronians against the rustic landscape, it snorted, optics contracting with its massive sharp teeth in full view. It twisted around and landed on the largest hill nearby, slamming its servo down and growling.

"Oooohh, we're dragon food!"

"Not yet we're not!" Arcee snarled.

An indistinguishable holler overtook the dragon's guttural noises, and it hissed as it looked at the direction of the sound the same as the bots. A figure stood on an opposite hill, making weird shrieks and chanting like mad, but not a single word could be made of the nonsense that they knew of. Even the dragon looked confused staring at the frantic gestures. When the figure of orange and red stopped with a final outcry, the area was dead silent. The scrap dragon narrowed its optics before making a huffing noise and turned its back on its potential prey. It left with one last snarl aimed at them and without any fuss to the shock of the bots as the figure stepped down the hill with curious distillers following.

"Bah-weep-Graaaaagnah wheep ni ni bong, travelers!"

While the other two looked at the savior with admiration and curiosity, Megatron swung his head around sluggish and distasteful upon hearing the familiar voice. "Primus, kill me now."

The orange and red bot with shreds of metal on his face forming a moustache and beard grinned, "I am Wreck-gar! And I see you've met our neighbors! A little noisy from time to time and I think their cat keeps wandering into our yard..."

He pointed at Moonhunter who eyed him with an unsure grunt.

"...don't know if that's it or not."

Arcee couldn't help by giggle at the ridiculous statement and said, "No, Moonhunter's with us. The, uh, scrap dragons don't have a cat...as far as I know."

"Huh," the Junkion replied, "then I wonder who's been stealing my snacks?"

Megatron was the most miserable he had ever been seen and Arcee raised a brow at this reluctance to say a word. If he was responsible for tearing apart Junkion to begin with, why did he despise the guy so much? Arcee wanted answers and decided the best possible way was to see if Wreck-gar remembered him.

"Wreck-gar, you know Megatron? The former Decepticon leader, right?"

The mech pursed his lips and stroked his beard with a hum as he got a good look at the warlord. "Wait, I know you. You are...that guy from Velocitron who brought me that pony! A dragon ate it though if you wanted to get it back. I miss Rust Sprinkles..."

"What?! No," Megatron scowled, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I'm the guy who terrorized you and broke part of your planet, you imbecile!"

Arcee frowned and muttered, "And you thought you had nothing in common with The Matriarch."

"That explains how Detritus fell off the edge of the world a few decades ago. He was a bit rude then, can't remember why. Never saw him again," Wreck-gar shrugged emotionlessly.

The others were horrified by that bit of information before Bolt loudly exclaimed, "Does this place not have gravity?!"

"What's gravity?"

"Oh my-it's what keeps you stable on the planet and not floating into space!"

The Junkion mech muttered, "I thought that was the name of three laws invented by Sir Isaac Newton?"

That made them pause, especially Megatron before he shook out of his bewildered state to ask, "A human? How do you know about the humans? About Earth?"

Wreck-gar suddenly replied in an abnormally pleasant tone, "Oh, that cluster of broadcast stations we came across a century ago? Why yes, if they are really from a planet called Earth. I have a signal catcher on my electronics and happened to come across a whole frequency full of these 'human' broadcasts."

Bolt snickered, "Everyone but you knew that, Megatron."

Arcee sighed, "I forgot Junkions had access to Earth. I remember Optimus telling me and the fact that those creatures are called dragons but it just didn't click."

The orange and red bot grinned, "Absolutely, I came across my very first broadcast from a period named 'World War Two,' sounds quite sad but there were amazing descriptions of how they fought one another like a theatre, tragedy in the dark times and comedy in the lighter years! I found all of their history fascinating too!"

Arcee winced drastically as she had never heard of the war described in any positive light aside from the liberation of the trapped ethnicities. Granted, Wreck-gar didn't know the entire extent of the devastation it created in his naïve research. Megatron hardly cared about it and Bolt was growing intrigued to know more.

"Did you know that mantis shrimp are one of very few species on Earth to be able to see all types of colors most creatures cannot perceive? I don't even really know what a mantis shrimp is but it must love to paint!"

"If I have to spend another hour here, I may just jump off the edge of this world too," groaned the former tyrant.

Arcee patted his arm, "You'll survive, I promise. So, you're not angry at him or anything?"

"Nope, totally forgiven! Why should I stay mad at someone for just making the planet more manageable? We barely used half the stuff here before. Although, those dragons weren't as close to us before."

"Wreck-gar, do you know why we're really here?" The queen asked.

"Of course, you are here to celebrate with us! It's the annual sand lions roundup! We do it every year!"

"Not…relevant to our end but maybe we can cut you a deal? We want to reunite the worlds threatened and outlasted back with Cybertron, open trade and restore communications, just like old times!"

"I…! Don't agree," he said as his voice trailed off to an unknown emotion. "Why would we need to have all that? We are quite content with the visitors we get every once in a while. Why go through the effort of establishing trade when we have all that we want right here?"

"Don't…you think that's a little selfish?" Bolt chastised.

Wreck-gar held up a digit. "Selfishness implies that I am doing this out of my own gain through my own opinion. I dare to be stupid sometimes but selfish to my peers I will never be. We've lived quite content on Junkion alone. Why would I ever change anything except expanding my welcome to any bot who wants to get away from their troubles forever?"

As a distiller nudged the Junkion leader down and stood on his lap to get a better sniff of the mech, the Cybertronians watched a bit bummed that the smallest planet on their radar would not be united so easily. Wreck-gar laughed as his nose plate was covered by the glossa of a friendly dragon and more came up to him like puppies eagerly greeting a playmate.

"What do we do now? This is going to be a waste of time if he won't do anything," Megatron whispered.

"Everyone seems to want something before they agree. We just need to figure out what Wreck-gar wants," Arcee said. She then addressed the mech in question. "Wreck-gar, you wouldn't happen to have some oil or Energon on you to spare, would you? We're a little low from our travels."

Wreck-gar perked up upon hearing his visitors in need of fuel and grinned, "But of course! There's more than enough to share! Follow me!"

As he shooed the distiller dragons to the side to make a path, the bots followed him almost a mile. From seeing packs of wild hira hyenas feasting on a dead dragon that had gotten stuck between two large pieces of scrap to the lazy sand lions basking in the galaxy's shine, none of them knew how life survived on a damaged planet but at the same time, it was similar to how Chaar, a desolate world, still had life that was evident to have existed even before the great cataclysm that made it what it was currently. Once they passed an oil pool with sand lions swimming in it, they realized that not only was Junkion a planet of discarded trash, but it was once a natural oil producer.

Wreck-gar's tribe lay just beyond the pool and there the bots saw the huts of well-crafted trash with other Junkions among them. Most shared a brownish grey or rustic orange color scheme not far off from Wreck-gar's slightly brighter coloring. There were only two younglings seen out of the entire populace who were dirty but happy as they held hira hyena pups in their servos. A few domesticated hyenas made cackling fits next to a controlled fire pit. They couldn't tell if some bots had been born on Junkion or had been discarded on the lost world by people who wanted to leave them behind out of some misguided taboo or other reason.

Just then, a rustic green and brown spiky car drove up to them before transforming. The mech had a less boxy appearance more so than the others which led Arcee to deduce the fastest he was definitely not a born resident. He clasped servos with Wreck-gar who held equal joy.

"This is Seacore, my second-in-command. He hails from a dainty little world near Vos and joined my crew after leaving it behind. He's been my best buddy ever since!"

Arcee and Bolt greeted him while Megatron merely gestured unspeaking. Moonhunter was too busy examining the hira hyenas that eyed him with mutual curiosity. Right as they did so, Wreck-gar jumped onto a hammock in the corner of the encampment and relaxed before pointing at Arcee and her team with his optics closed.

"Treat our guests to some oil, the finest mixture we have."

A few of his friends did as they were told as the Cybertronians leaned against a stable hut with only Bolt bold enough to take a seat on the ground by Moonhunter. As they were handed small drums of oil that could fit in their palms, they found the taste exhilarating. Bolt split some past the hole for his mouth in his faceplate but wiped the streak off quickly in surprise.

"Wow, that has a nice taste to it, thicker but warmer like a...what do the humans call the drink with the little spongy white things floating on it with whipped cream and some brown shavings added? I snuck into a theatre in the winter, and they were giving out free samples. Starts with a 'C' and is hot?"

Arcee snapped his fingers with her epiphany while she was taking a swig of the drink., replying, "Mmm, mmm mmm, hot chocolate...is what it's called. Very popular around certain holidays. I've wanted to try it, but I never got around to bugging Jack to get me some."

"Hot chocolate, that's what this is like!"

Arcee noticed Wreck-gar swung carefree in his hammock and redirected the conversation. "So, what do you guys do here? Salvage parts? Dig up oil?"

"Nothing," Wreck-gar said proudly.

"Nothing?"

"Nada, yes, ma'am. You see, why do anything when nothing really needs to be done? The oil beneath the remaining planet's surface replenishes itself just fine, we have no issues with living among the animals, and we have all the time in the world to just do whatever we feel like if at all. We're surrounded by junk that collects at random from passing starships to random clutter that just gets caught. Everything just falls into our laps so we don't need to do a single thing, and we're extremely happy."

The queen narrowed his optics, "So, there's not a single thing out of place for you right now?"

"I mean, I once had a vault I kept on hand. I forget where I left it but I'm sure it's fine. Nothing to worry about."

That intrigued Arcee and she pressed, "You don't know where it is, huh? That would eat me up not knowing whether my loot was safe or not. I hope you find it soon."

Wreck-gar was about to open his mouth when he paused his swinging to sit up and scratch his head. "Well...I assume it's safe...but...I can always look for it again at any time. I doubt it was stolen."

"But if it was?"

He frowned and peered rapidly across the ground trying to think. "I...I thought I left it near the oil lakes...no, that's not right. It shouldn't be...is it? Or, maybe...I don't know. I don't remember..."

"Wreck-gar, I can find it for you, would that help your worries?"

"If you wish, but I'm telling you, it's probably just around here somewhere," he said uneasily. She nodded but before she could talk to her sparkmate, Wreck-gar's brows furrowed. "But I remember...someone with a deep voice talking to me about Junkion's 'treasure'...they wanted it badly. I never knew their name..."

All three bots stared at him. Megatron narrowed his optics suspiciously. "Treasure? What treasure?"

"Junkion's treasure. My treasure. My vault! But I never told them, did I?" Wreck-gar whispered. He clutched his helm like he had a headache and slapped one side of it in frustration. "Argh, why can't I recall this right?!"

Arcee quickly went to Wreck-gar's side as the mech whimpered to himself trying to find his memory of the incident, assuming he wasn't delusional. "Someone was here looking for your vault?"

"I don't know! I remember but then I don't! I'm stupid!"

Just then, Arcee noticed there was a dent towards the back of his helm. At certain angles, it blended with the shadow of his helm structure but direct, it was clear as day. Maybe it wasn't a delusion but whoever was looking for his vault attacked him when or if he gave up its location.

"Wreck-gar, look at me." The mech calmed a little as she sent him a sweet expression and brushed her servo against his helm like a caring carrier. "You aren't stupid. Someone hurt you and I'm going to try and get some answers for you unless you want to join me?"

"I...I can't, doubtful I'll be any help."

The sudden depression among dark red optics made Arcee want to cry. She barely knew him, and he looked like a kicked kitten in the scraps, neglected and void of purpose. His normally cheery, lax attitude was nowhere to be seen.

Seacore approached her and silently gestured her over to talk. She patted Wreck-gar's servos in assurance before meeting with his second-in-command.

"Forgive my prying but I overheard that mess, and I just want to add a few details I think he didn't know he left out," the rust green mech said. "Some time ago, we had a visitor. I wouldn't know how to describe them except big and, forgive my rudeness, ugly for such an organism. We didn't really interact with them much, but I recall Wreck-gar got chatty with the fellow, exchanged a few jokes and whatnot. I thought nothing of it until they both disappeared for a while and Wreck-gar came back...forgetful."

"The bump on his head?"

"Perhaps, but what struck me as odd the most is Wreck-gar has taken some beatings before that have left far worse injuries but despite this, he still laughed through the pain. When he came back that time, he was lost, and I think he's been bothered by not knowing what he was missing. That vault, who hurt him or even what was stolen from him if he realized it."

Arcee peered back at Wreck-gar who lied on his hammock again but deep in thought muttering to himself.

Seacore sighed, "We are a peaceful race out here even if we aren't remotely the same. This is our home, our paradise. Wreck-gar never made us lift a finger to do anything but live. Some call it laziness, yet we've survived this long by doing nothing, never had trouble from anyone other than outsiders. Maybe this is the chance to broaden his horizons and help him. Admittedly, I know what it's like out there which is why I ran. You can only get hurt so many times; I don't want to see him hurt, not after those like Thundertron and Detritus did to him, breaking his trust and all."

"What do you need me to do?" Arcee asked confidently.

"Find the vault and retrieve it. Bring it back and maybe we'll both find out what happened if he were to get a glimpse of it. As for me, I would also like you to investigate the Howling Wastes farther towards the north when you get a chance. I'll give you a rough layout of the planet's topography for your troubles. This may be a bit farfetched, but I saw something a while ago retrieving parts from a recently crashed ship out there. It looked like organic residue but gross, you know what I mean? They might be coincidences, both that and the encounter with this stranger Wreck-gar met before but then again, I believe everything happens for a reason."

Arcee smirked at him, "Given what I've experienced up until now, I don't think I believe in coincidences anymore. I'll take a look at the Howling Wastes first, then work my way back here to see if the vault is around if it's not a bother."

"Whatever you think is best," Seacore stated.

"Megatron," she said turning around, "you and I are going exploring. Bolt, you and Moonhunter make some friends with the locals."

The Vehicon scoffed, "Sure, leave the sarcastic one with the 'life is rainbows' crowd. That'll go over well."

She kissed the top of his helm. "Do it for me?"

"...Aye, aye, captain."

The phrase made her freeze as she began to think about Silos. Although Silos had never treaded on Junkion previously as far as what he implied, he did mention the Metal Heads would be interested in the large abundance of oil for something and Wreck-gar met who he described was a mech...Malismar, the current Metal Head Leader, was a Kanjian bot, not a Rozarian or other species. If the virus didn't corrupt them entirely, the same as how Silos retained his mind after being subjected to it, there was a chance their physical form wasn't heavily modified aside from taking on techno-organic features. They could still pass as a bot to someone who wasn't familiar with the disfiguration. It gave her a better insight on who she might be seeking in her secondary quest to kill the Metal Head Leader whenever she finds the bastard.

She turned away and gestured Megatron to follow. They both transformed and sped towards the perceived coordinates for the Howling Wastes. As Megatron kept a look out overhead, Arcee navigated the trashed surface. Further from the encampment, it began to smooth out considerably, still covered in debris but no hills of garbage where creatures like the distillers could make their homes out of. Large debris like ship parts and other questionable things were seldom in quantity but covered a good portion of the ground by a single piece alone.

"The mech Wreck-gar saw, do you think it could have been a Metal Head or someone associated with one?" Megatron asked as she saw him in the distance scouting among the atmosphere.

"Possibly."

"Like that associate of yours?"

Arcee frowned inwardly, "He said it was a…"

She caught herself realizing she would have ousted Silos as a Metal Head which would not help her case or what she heard Wreck-gar say word for word.

"No," she then said, "because the way he described this guy sounded more like they were a robber and my informant has never been off Velocitron for some time. This incident of Wreck-gar's took place quite some time ago. The timing doesn't match."

Megatron was silent and twirled in the sky around one of the fallen ships until he did an immediate U-turn and came to hover. "Arcee, just beneath me, I think I saw something dark like webbing. Sticky, slimy even from how the light reflects off it."

The queen slid, tires rotating with a screech, and she aimed at the spot he was referencing. When she was directly beneath him, he curved before shifting back to robot mode and landed next to her. She followed suit and walked up to what Megatron had seen. The same fungus that they had seen on Velocitron crept and shivered across a deceased ship's lower hull.

As Arcee examined it, Megatron abruptly yelled, "They're here!"

She turned on a whim, activating her blasters with a battle-ready pose. Sure enough, several Grunts and a Rhyno jumped off the ledges of ship parts in an ambush. Some landed painfully, their limbs breaking, but the monsters grabbed them and forced them back into place. One dislocated their wrist before roughly handing it with its spare paw and twisted it to loudly pop. Another sickly crack and it wiggled all its claws with a bemused smirk, then clenched its fist adding another unsettling amount of popping from its previous injury.

"Kudos to that one," she said a little disturbed.

The creatures snarled before one of the Grunts made its move. Roaring, it charged first on all fours before converting to a bipedal run once it was in leaping distance to try and throw Arcee off. She ducked at the same time and fired upon its body, the blasts ridding its torso and abdomen the most. It hit the ground with its skull gem flying out. The others decided to attack in unison as Megatron targeted the largest of them, the Rhyno that huffed dragging its paw across the scrap ready to charge.

The bots swiftly stormed them with Megatron colliding with the Rhyno trying get a grip on its horns threatening to impale him to Arcee using her speed boost to outflank two of the Metal Heads, one of whom she nailed in the skull, blowing out its brains and even fragments of its gem from the point-blank range. The other Metal Head caught her arm and flipped her to pin her down, jaws right near her face with saliva dripping onto her cheek. It then heard a shout and peered up only to be struck by the mass of the Rhyno. Arcee grimaced as her arm was nearly taken alongside it from its hold on her.

"Ow, easy!"

"My apologies," Megatron said disgruntled as he held another Horaquan by the throat, "didn't mean that!"

The bodies of the Metal Heads rolled with the largest of the two flipping on the last bounce. Though that didn't kill them, both creatures looked as if their minds were spinning. Arcee had to feel bad about the trapped souls having to see their bodies being thrashed about as the virus stayed determined to kill her. The other Grunts were circling, snapping their teeth together eagerly.

Megatron slammed the one in his grip after he snapped its neck, grinning as the purple blood started leaking on the ground. He sent another Metal Head pacing a growl deep in his throat which the creature replied with a hiss.

Arcee then got a wicked idea when she saw the galaxy's light had charged her Heat Seeker ability she received from Sunstorm prior. She chuckled to herself and said to Megatron, "Stick above me!"

"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"

"Trust me," she gleamed as she diverted power to her blaster.

When he understood what she was going to do, he frowned, "What about last time?"

"I just need a little distance."

He matched her expression before running at her and picking her up. He launched himself up to transform, letting her stand on his jet's nose and gave her a clear shot at the angry Metal Heads below. She aimed and the blast did the rest.

A ray of bright orange yellow hit the Rhyno that had gotten up right as it peered at them. Its facial features twisted to horror as it was suddenly bombarded. Only using a small percentage of the power, a good radius of their battlefield lit up like a Roman candle. All surviving Metal Heads were quickly ablaze and dying from the heat alone. The explosion wasn't as high as it was devastating but it held its charm nonetheless. There were little remains of the Horaquan themselves aside from the skull gems and a few pieces of armor. Among them, the outline of the armored head of the Rhyno survived with a decent sized hole in its forehead.

"So, you want to bring Seacore the evidence?"

"Oh, absolutely."

Bolt examined Wreck-gar's confusion, still muttering as Seacore kept close beside him.

"This vault, do you know what was inside it someone wanted to steal?"

Wreck-gar mostly ignored him as he continued his madness mantra while Seacore shrugged, "He's had it for years, kept telling me that it was a souvenir from someone he called Nancy."

They both saw Wreck-gar peer at Seacore with a newfound expression of delight. "Nancy, the peacekeeper. I will defend it, I promise. No one will ever take the vault away from you."

Bolt shared a glance with Seacore who immediately addressed the strange behavior. "He sometimes talks to himself, always been like that, which is what drew me to him and his lifestyle. Societies like mine and possibly yours wouldn't accept someone as strange and disoriented as he is. Here, there's no judgement of that."

When Moonhunter can to sit near Seacore, the mech pet the cat and smiled as he purred.

"Nancy, huh? Maybe someone from the past, like a family member, lover, best friend?"

"He never spoke of his past with anyone, not even his trusted associate at the time, Detritus. No one knows where he came from or what he was like before his isolation. It's a mystery. I personally don't want to know because that's not the friend I have currently, so why does it matter?"

Bolt said nothing as Wreck-gar began mumbling Nancy's name, laughing a little to himself like he was contemplating an old memory…one Bolt doubted he would ever know.

On the way back, Arcee and Megatron had to walk because carrying the parts of the Metal Heads proved a little difficult to hang onto in vehicle mode without straps or chains at their disposal.

"You would think techno-organic parts would be lighter after they've been severed. Why does it feel like I am carrying an entire dead body with me?"

The warlord had the skull armor of the Rhyno on his shoulder as Arcee carried a few of the skull gems and a piece of chest armor.

"Well, you technically are if you consider the virus itself a living entity."

She wanted to retort but found herself instead glaring at him despite he was ridiculously right against all odds for such a statement. He chuckled at her reaction. But it died and he pointed to the border where the flatland of scrap diverted back to the hills of smaller, discarded pieces. She was confused by his interest until he pointed to a specific section.

"Do you think it's a little weird that oil is running down from a scrap pile instead of running from its base?"

There was a fountain of oil cascading down one specific pile in the area. Other scrap hills had oil pooled at their base like Megatron said but this one was rupturing oddly. As they got closer, the way the oil was spraying up top was the most unusual compared to the rest of it.

Arcee set down the parts she carried as she said, "I think something is clogging it. Doesn't it look like that?"

"Yeah, but it's not flooded so maybe the pile is collapsing on itself."

"Or something was thrown up there," she stated, pointing at disturbed scrap at the base and evidence of sinking from weight that a liquid like oil wouldn't create with such pressure it currently spewed.

Arcee decided to carefully climb up it. The oil ran past her servos and some splashed onto her chassis until she reached the top to see a corner of some type of box poking out right in the center of the activity. Not worried about getting dirty, she pulled at the object once she was stable on top. The oil made it difficult to handle but she kneeled to brush away the loose junk to give it wiggle room. Pulling again, the box creaked and more oil protruded from the clog. Upon her third attempt, it came up halfway and all hell broke loose.

The pressure finally caught up with it and a geyser of oil sent her and the box sliding down the side of the hill. Once it was released, the oil calmed after a few seconds with the cascade no longer flowing hard. It seemed to resume pooling at the base again like all the others with a hiss. The box tumbled several feet in comparison to Arcee who shook off the slide with a huff.

"That was fun."

Megatron patted her shoulder though regretted it upon his servo being coated and he sneered amused but not liking the feeling of it firsthand. His demeanor made Arcee playfully slap his abdomen, leaving an oil print to his chagrin. Upon seeing the box that had caused such a clog, both she and Megatron approached it with raised brows as it had a sealed door with a damaged combination on its side.

"Who would throw away a good box…? Is that…?"

The sudden realization had them both surprised as Megatron picked it up with a single servo. Examining it, it was a type of safe, a faint gold…and it had claw marks along the lock. They looked at each other, unspeaking as they processed the fact of the matter that they had found Wreck-gar's vault.

AN: Wreck-gar being a mixture of his G1 and TFA counterparts resonates better than what I was initially going to do. It worked out better. His oblivious nature acts as an enlightenment to the sin of Sloth yet is meaningful for the overall section. Having to remember what happened on Junkion in the novels, I had to change a few things to make the version I wanted work without straying too far from the source material.