Authors Note: Be prepared for some big things in the Darkmount Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, The Owl House or their characters

At the flaming wreckage of what used to be the Autobot base, the Nemesis still hovered above and a pair of Insecticons flew down for some scavenging work. Two Vehicons were also searching the rubble with Megatron overseeing them, still missing a right arm.

"Leave no stone unturned!" Megatron ordered, determined to find the bodies of the Autobots and Hexside Squad.

"Master, look who we found." Starscream said as he approached his leader, with Thundercracker and Skywarp trailing behind and carrying a weakened Autobot prisoner. "Pulled from the wreckage of his ship, Seaspray."

Seaspray let out a weak groan as he was unable to do anything with all the damage he took from the crash landing.

"So, one survived. Take our guest back to the citadel for questioning. Back to Darkmount." Megatron said, looking at his giant fortress ahead.

"Will do, Lord Megatron." Thundercracker replied before he and Skywarp dragged Seaspray away.

"Let's hope we'll be able to make this Wrecker squeal." Skywarp said, smirking down at their prisoner.

"This is the dawning of a new age, my liege. The reign of Megatron." Starscream announced in triumph.

"You do have a way with words, Starscream." Megatron commented before turning to his other minions. "Make haste! And unearth the Autobot corpses and the remains of their Witch pets!"

As the Decepticons kept searching through the wreckage, the scene moved away from them to reveal the body of Optimus Prime, which appeared to be slightly online even with his severely damaged condition. Later on, the Vehicons and Insecticons showed up out of the destroyed base with only two unearthed items. The Forge of Solus Prime and the pod that contained Airachnid. Megatron showed up in front of them and was very unpleased.

"The Forge of Solus Prime?! How is it that you have managed to materialise that, yet not the remains of a single Autobot or organic?!" Megatron asked angrily.

"Answer your lord and master!" Starscream demanded with a glare. "Where are their bodies?!"

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile in an open underground area, Smokescreen suddenly phased through the stone walls and looked around as Skara appeared on his shoulder.

"This looks like a good place to stay. It's got plenty of air." Skara said.

"Yeah, and the Cons will definitely not find us here." Smokescreen added before phasing back into the wall, dragging Optimus' gravely injured body in with him.

Skara hopped off Smokescreen's shoulder with Cayenne in tow, chirping sadly at the sight of Optimus in such a bad condition. Smokescreen then laid Optimus against a boulder as the Autobot leader breathed weakly.

"You're hurt, but you probably look way worse than you feel." Smokescreen admitted.

"We weren't able to find any medical stuff back at the base. It was completely destroyed." Skara said with a sad frown.

Both of them noticed Optimus groaning a little bit as he attempted to move.

"No, don't move or talk. Just power down. Get your strength back." Smokescreen instructed. "We got you covered."

"We'll do our best to fix you, Optimus. We promise." Skara assured as Cayenne chirped in agreement.

(Linebreak)

Back on the surface, Megatron and Starscream were walking away from the destroyed base as the fires had finally disintegrated.

"The Autobots and their magic pets clearly Ground Bridged from their base before it was destroyed. They could be anywhere." Megatron theorised.

"We must initiate global surveillance, my lord. Send search and destroy teams to every sector of this planet." Starscream suggested. "We are able to track the energy frequency those Witches' magic emits, now."

"Soundwave, monitor all Earth-bases and magic-based transmissions for any sign of Autobot or Witch communication, with each other or with any known allies." Megatron ordered on the com-link.

"Master." Starscream said, looking directly ahead.

Megatron followed his gaze and saw a bunch of military helicopters, jets and tanks charging straight at them for a full-on attack.

"Foolish humans." Starscream scoffed. "I shall deploy the armada."

"That won't be necessary, Starscream. Not when we can engage our enemy with new found might." Megatron replied as he looked at Darkmount, mainly the ginormous cannons that were located at the top.

One of the cannons lowered down so that it was aiming at the military army and it started to gather an immense amount of green energy at the front end of it's firing position before shooting a humungous energy beam. When the beam hit the ground right in the middle of the army, all the vehicles were halted in their positions and they floated off the ground before being pulled into a single green pulse that then blew them away in a huge blast. In only a few minutes, Gravesfield was shown to be destroyed from a Decepticon attack with military vehicles laying around the town in damaged states and every building being deserted. On Darkmount, Megatron was seen sitting on the throne of his fortress with his old cannon arm back on him.

"A new power dominates your world. Any further attempts to attack me will be met with even greater force." Megatron declared, speaking to a certain special agent on the communicator. "Your leaders should be advised that my Fusion Cannons possess enough fire power to decimate any densely populated area of my choosing. I would in all likelihood set sights on your nation's capital for starters.

"Point taken. Now what do you want from us?" Agent Fowler questioned on his side.

"Nothing, Agent Fowler. The Decepticons mean no harm to humanity." Megatron replied, using a fake sincere tone. "We merely desire a place to call home."

Starscream was listening to his master's conversation nearby, smirking sinisterly at how good Megatron was at being a liar.

"No offence, Megatron, but I'm having a tough time swallowing all this." Fowler said, unconvinced. "Since you seem so bent on plastering humankind of any living species under molten steel."

"Agent Fowler, I admit that war brings our the worst in me, but the conflict with the Autobots is now over. And our quarrel has never been any other kind, including yours." Megatron explained. "Now that the one true enemy of the Decepticons is no more, my only wish is to coexist on this planet with the human race…peacefully. Together, Agent Fowler, I believe that you and I can make that dream a reality."

When he ended the call, Megatron stood up from his throne and began walking towards the edge of the platform while Starscream began to clap for him.

"You too have a way with words, master." Starscream complemented with a sly smile. "I almost believed you myself."

Megatron laughed to himself as he stopped at the edge of the platform and looked into the darkened sky with Starscream by his side.

"Earth is our planet now, Starscream. And we shall finish what we started." Megatron proclaimed. "Not only that, but we will also search this entire world for a buried secret that will lead us to the Boiling Isles world where the Witches come from and annihilate anything that attempts to defy us there. All living beings of both worlds have no idea what lies ahead for them."

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile at a far away military base, Fowler was currently having a phone call with his superiors.

"Yes, General Bryce. Special Containment Protocol G-1000 has been executed as planned. Evacuation of Gravesfield, Connecticut was one hundred percent successful. As far as it's citizens or the media are concerned, the threat was a meteor shower and the town is to remain quarantined until the resulting radiation levels can be dissipated." Fowler explained as he got the next words from his leading general. "Sir, any form of retaliation will be too risky. I just need more time."

After a few more seconds of hearing from his superior, all Fowler could do was frown in defeat.

"Yes, I understand." Fowler said before hanging up and sitting back in his seat, less than happy at the moment.

Just then, Camila barged into the office with a notepad in her hand.

"Agent Fowler, those medical supplies we asked for still haven't arrived." Camila told the special agent. "There's a lot of injured men who need-"

"Doing the best I can, Miss Noceda! Been a little busy juggling a bunch of nuke happy generals who don't seem to care if they blow Connecticut sky high, and a Decepticon warlord who wants to make nice now that the Autobots are in the scrapyard!" Fowler complained frustratingly as he stood up again before calming himself down. "Megatron's opinion, not mine. He's feeding me a load of horse pucky, trying to crush our spirit."

"You still haven't heard from them? Not a single clue to where they are?" Camila asked, slightly in distress.

Fowler could see how worried the Hispanic woman was for the Hexside Squad, mostly Luz, and knew she needed some words of assurance.

"Listen, no contact only tells me that the main com-link went down when the base was pounded down into pancake batter." Fowler said.

"But if I could just try to call Luz once-" Camila began to say protestingly.

"You know it's too risky, so do the Bots. The Cons could trace any cell phone signal, wether it's digital or magical." Fowler reminded.

"Then take me back home. If Luz isn't able to call me, then she'll definitely come looking for me at the house." Camila stated.

"Gravesfield's under complete Con lockdown. Nobody's getting back in there. The only ones who can fix this mess are Prime, his Bots and the kids." Fowler said, looking out the office window hopefully. "I'm sure they're out there, keeping a low profile. They've gotta be."

(Linebreak)

At the same time, a lone aerial Vehicon was flying above a grass field in vehicle mode and he started to scan nearby vehicles on a roadway for the Autobots.

"Scanning." The Vehicon said as he scanned three vehicles, but none of them were identified as Autobots. "Negative. No Autobot recognition."

The Vehicon then flew away from the area, but the yellow and black car he scanned drove off road and underneath a tree. The driver's door opened and Hunter jumped out with his Witch staff in hand.

"We're clear." Hunter said as Bumblebee transformed and looked over the branches to see the Vehicon flying away.

"That was a really close call, wasn't it?" Bumblebee asked.

"Too close. We're just lucky your paint job disguise worked." Hunter replied.

"Bumblebee to base, does anyone read me?" Bumblebee questioned on his com-link, but got no response. "I'm not picking up any of the others."

"Your com-link's connection is still busted. Bee, I know that Optimus sent us to different places on Earth so the Decepticons won't be able to find us, but how are we supposed to find the others if we don't know where they are?" Hunter asked.

"We'll just have to assume they're planning to rendezvous at the last place Megatron would expect us to be." Bumblebee replied.

"Right, we just head back to Gravesfield. Which is where Megatron's giant fortress is also located." Hunter said, a little bit nervous.

However unknown to both Hunter and Bumblebee, a familiar dark-blue VTOL fighter jet was shown to be flying above the clouds and was watching the two of them in silence.

(Linebreak)

At a large cave where the sky was beginning to pour down a little bit a rain, Vee and Jazz were seen sitting inside with a tiny stick fire being lit.

"Okay, this'll be good shelter for us until the morning." Jazz said in a chilled-out tone. "When the sun comes back up, we're hitting the road again."

"I just wish there was a way to find the others as quickly as possible." Vee admitted with a sigh, working with her laptop. "The Cons are out there, looking for all of us."

"Don't start thinking bad things, Vee. You've just gotta focus on the good things that are gonna happen, like us finding the gang and then we go back to Darkmount to beat the metal shins off Megatron." Jazz said encouragingly.

Vee felt a bit better from her Autobot guardian's words and smiled up at him.

"You're right, Jazz. It's just that so much is happening right now and we don't have a big advantage against the Decepticons." Vee said.

"We'll find a way, kiddo. We always do." Jazz reassured.

(Linebreak)

At the middle of a stoney mountain, two Vehicon flyers were soaring around in search of any Autobots or their young friends.

"There's nothing here, either." One of the Vehicons said after scanning the area. "Let's just head back to the fortress."

"Copy that." The other Vehicon replied before they both flew away.

As soon as the Vehicons were out of sight, a large boulder on the mountain's smoother edge suddenly vanished into blue smoke and in it's place was Wheeljack in his vehicle mode, while Gus was sitting in the driver seat as he took some time to regain his energy from using that Illusion magic.

"Okay, the cost is clear." Wheeljack informed as he then started to drive away. "You doing okay back there, Gus?"

"I'll be okay, Jackie. I just need to take a five minute rest, which is what I always do if I use an illusion for way too long." Gus replied as Emmiline rested near him for comfort.

"Relax, pal. I'll just handle the driving." Wheeljack told him.

"Thanks. So, what're we supposed to do right now?" Gus asked.

"We're just following an old Wrecker protocol Bulk and I used back on Cybertron." Wheeljack said. "We just need to follow it and we'll be able to meet up with some of the others, soon."

"I hope you're right." Gus admitted, looking out the window in concern.

(Linebreak)

At a lone and small arcade building in the center of a town district, Cliffjumper was seen resting alone in the parking area with Ghost resting in the back seat. The cat Palisman let out a bored meow to Cliffjumper.

"You said it, girl. We've been resting at this random place for twenty minutes straight and Amity's still in there playing a bunch of digital human games." Cliffjumper sighed. "I get that she just needs something to take her mind off what's happened lately, but we kinda need to get going if we wanna find the rest of the team."

Just then, the red Autobot noticed Amity walking out of the small arcade building with a relaxed smile on her face and she approached her Autobot guardian, opening up the door and sitting in the driver's seat.

"Hope I wasn't gone for too long, Cliff." Amity admitted.

"Nah, it's all cool, Mittens." Cliffjumper replied, making the Abomination Witch girl roll her eyes at the mention of her nickname. "I'm guessing you had some fun in that place?"

"I sure did. There were some many digital machines in there, which humans called arcade games." Amity answered. "I had fun playing most of them, but I especially liked this game that's basically about little kids in candy-themed race karts. I really liked that strawberry-themed racer the most, probably due to the fact there was something about her that reminded me of myself."

"Well, I'm glad you had a blast in there." Cliffjumper said.

"Thanks, Cliff. I just really needed something to get my mind off…everything." Amity said as a worried frown grew on her face and she looked down.

"You still worried about the rest of the gang?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Yeah, especially Luz. Every time she's on her own, she gets herself in all sorts of trouble or trouble ends up finding her." Amity replied in concern. "If Luz gets attacked by Cons and I'm not there to help her out…"

"Amity, relax. You're being to worried, at the moment. All you need to do is think about us finding her and everyone else so we can take the fight to Megatron and his army." Cliffjumper told her assuringly, easing Amity's nerves.

"You're right, Cliff. Thanks." Amity said kindly as she looked out of the window, only to then narrow her eyes a bit. "But…do we really need to find everyone?"

"Of course we do. Why'd you ask that?" Cliffjumper questioned.

"Nothing, just curious is all." Amity replied as Ghost purred herself to sleep in the passenger seat, but it was mostly a lie since she was still feeling a bit upset from the hurtful words of a certain Autobot medic.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile at a roadway next to a cliffside, Bulkhead was seen driving his way down the area and Willow was sitting in the passenger seat with a tired expression, while Clover was sleeping on her shoulder.

"I never knew that sitting in a moving vehicle could get boring after so long." Willow said with a sigh before she took out her Scroll and began typing on it.

"Willow!" Bulkhead exclaimed as he immediately hit the breaks and stopped, surprising the Plant Witch girl and waking up Clover. "No texting or calling on your Scroll! You know the rules!"

"Bulk, relax. I wasn't texting or calling, I was just playing this magic game app I keep on it." Willow replied, showing a Witch-based game on her magic device.

"Sorry, I…I guess I'm a little on edge." Bulkhead admitted before he continued driving again.

"I know how you feel. So, where are we even going?" Willow asked. "Do you have a plan?"

"We're following standard Wrecker protocol." Bulkhead said.

"Which is?" Willow questioned as Clover looked just as curious as her.

"An emergency plan we followed during the war. In case any Wrecker got stranded or separated from the unit, we'd always rendezvous at the exact same set of coordinates." Bulkhead explained. "I'm sure Jackie's doing the same thing with Gus. And if Sprays is still alive, he'll be there."

(Linebreak)

Speaking of Seaspray, he was seen hanging from some Cybertronian cuffs inside a cell in Darkmount and had a few injures from being interrogated, letting out a slightly painful grunt.

"Don't stop now, Screamy. I was just starting to have fun." Seaspray said with a resilient smile, earning an annoyed growl from Starscream.

"Believe me, Seaspray. There's more where that came from, and you will tell me the location of your compatriots." Starscream replied while smirking sinisterly, scrapping an electric interrogation tool against Seaspray's chest and making him shout painfully as there were now a pair of scrape marks on him. "No matter what it takes or how long."

"I already told you, they weren't expecting me. They never even bothered to inform me about this whole Omega Lock buisness." Seaspray told him, staying strong even if his injures were starting to take a toll on him. "So go ahead, take all the time you want with me. It'll just save you from boredom."

(Linebreak)

On the main platform of Darkmount, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider approached Megatron as he sat on his throne and they knelled before him.

"We're here like you requested, master." Breakdown said.

"How may we serve you, Lord Megatron?" Knock Out asked respectfully.

"Assemble a team and disembark for Cybertron immediately. While hunting Autobots and their pets remains paramount, we must not squander the opportunity to recover any Iacon relics left behind in the chaos." Megatron proclaimed. "For all we know, Optimus Prime is out there…planning to do the same."

"Whatever you say, my lord." Wildrider replied with a nod.

(Linebreak)

Back in their underground hideout, Smokescreen and Skara were sitting on the ground in silence before they heard Optimus weakly groan awake.

"It's okay, Optimus." Smokescreen said comfortingly.

"You're with us. It's Smokescreen and Skara." Skara told the Autobot leader, only to hear her Palisman chirp offensively. "And Cayenne, too."

"How did…I get here?" Optimus asked, very weak from his injuries.

"I think Smokey can explain everything." Skara replied as she looked at her Autobot guardian.

"When we were evacuating, just as the Cons opened fire, it was our turn to Ground Bridge away." Smokescreen explained, recalling the events of how he and Skara rescued Optimus. "But I couldn't do it. I couldn't let you face Megatron's army alone. So I snuck back, with Skara immediately following me back through the Ground Bridge."

"Obviously because I didn't want you getting yourself destroyed in case there was a whole army of Cons waiting for us." Skara reminded with her arms crossed.

"Yeah. But that's when the blast hit and the whole joint came tumbling down. And we managed to pull you from the wreckage before the Cons dove in." Smokescreen continued as he showed a certain Iacon relic on his wrist. "Using the Phase Shifter, which I managed to snag in all the confusion back on Cybertron."

After a short amount of silence, Smokescreen gained a regretful expression while Skara simply rubbed her left arm.

"I'm sorry I defied your orders." Smokescreen apologised.

"And I'm sorry I didn't do anything to stop him." Skara added.

Optimus only groaned lightly, showing that he was not disappointed in them for defying his orders.

"We're safe here, but we're down so deep that no one can pick up our signals. Luckily, there's a whole lot of air for Skara to use." Smokescreen said. "I'll have to scout above ground if we wanna have any hope of finding Ratchet. Think you can watch Optimus while I'm gone, Skara?"

"You can count on me, Smokey." Skara replied. "Just stay safe up there."

"I promise." Smokescreen said before he phased through the walls for a quick search above.

"Just stay where you are, Optimus. We'll fix you." Skara told the Autobot leader assuringly.

"No…" Optimus mumbled, much to the Bard Witch girl's surprise. "No…hope."

"What're you talking about? If we can find Ratchet, he'll patch you up and we can take down the Decepticons." Skara insisted as Optimus continued to breath weakly, much to her worridness.

(Linebreak)

Back above the surface near the Gravesfield forest, everything seemed like it was unharmed in this part of the demolished town before a lone Vehicon walked across the tree-infested area on recon duty.

"This is recon unit 7-B, no signs of human life in this area." The Vehicon informed on the com-link. "It's safe to assume that all the little organics escaped the town before our attack."

But just as it looked like he was all alone, the Vehicon felt something fast move behind him and he quickly turned around to see there was nothing but a shadowy pathway in the plant-coated parts ahead of him. The Vehicon started to take a closer look in the shadowed pathway and then noticed a pair of light-blue glowing dots in the center of it.

"What the…" The Vehicon started to say, only for whatever was in the shadows to then lunge at him in the form of some scary sentient goo.

The Vehicon had no time to react and the dark goo smashed right into him, squeezing it's way into his own body. To make things even more disturbing, the Vehicon then began twitching roughly and he gagged in a dying way before collapsing down on the floor and slowly going offline in an agonising way. As the Vehicon was laying motionlessly on the floor for a few more seconds, his visor suddenly glowed in an eerie blue colour and many dark sludge marks appeared on his body, with two horns sprouting from the sides of his head and more goo coating his arms to make them longer with very sharp fingers.

"Excellent." The 'Vehicon' said in a distorted and sinister voice, standing up and looking over his metallic and goo body. "It seems this blue energy substance really does allow me to take control of these soulless machines. It's just a matter of time before I find a way back and finish what I started."

(Linebreak)

At the same time in a rocky area that was just a few miles away from Darkmount, a new figure was seen laying against a giant boulder in a very tired way. This figure was unable to be identified due to being covered by the boulder's shadow and the darkness from the thundering clouds above.

"Ugh, this is the absolute worst day of my life. Even worse than what that stupid Collector is doing back home." The figure muttered in complaint, sounding like a young girl. "I was just casually doing a fine job leading everyone, I decided to go down the halls to find something to drink, this strange glowing crack appears right in front of where I'm walking and when I touch it, I end up getting zapped straight into this rock-infested dump."

The young figure then stood up to look at Darkmount in the distance.

"And worst of all, I happened to get sent near some giant scary castle that's made of metal and filled with big murderous robots." The young figure said annoyingly as they then looked up to see three Vehicon flyers sore straight into the fortress. "But…there could probably be something in that place that'll get me home. Anywhere is better than this stupid world. I just hope no one's trying to steal my position or else they'll live to regret it."

The shadowed young figure then grabbed an object that appeared to be a Witch staff and began making their way towards Darkmount, intent on finding something that will help them get off Earth.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile at a far away fuel factory, Arcee drove into the center of the area and allowed Luz to get off her while wearing her signature backpack.

"What if she wasn't able to get out in time?" Luz asked worriedly as she was thinking about her mother not being okay, while Arcee transformed behind her. "The Cons could've attacked her or taken her prisoner for interrogation."

"Luz…" Arcee started to say.

"And even if she is still alive, she's got to be worried sick about me. I mean, I've already made her feel worried sick before when I was in the Boiling Isles, but I don't wanna make her feel that way again." Luz continued, slowly starting to get frantic on the inside.

"Luz, calm down. We'll get back to Gravesfield, find a way to reach your mother, and hopefully the rest of the team." Arcee assured, looking out into the distance.

"You're right." Luz sighed calmly.

As she kept surveying the area, Arcee then noticed a helicopter flying in the distance and figured it might be a Decepticon.

"Stay here. It could be a Con on our tail." Arcee said before she transformed and drove after the helicopter.

Seeing that she was now all alone, Luz slipped her backpack from it's current position and opened it up to reveal her Palisman Egg inside.

"I hope bringing you along was a good idea. Eggs are always easy to break when you're in a life-threatening situation." Luz admitted before he placed her backpack on her back again and pulled out her phone, looking at the message section for Camila. "Sorry, Mama. I wish I could call you without being caught. But…I'm sure a quick text will be fine. The Cons won't even have time."

Luz then started typing a message to her mother and sent it, which was a very big mistake.

(Linebreak)

In the communications room of the Nemesis, Soundwave saw that Luz's texting signal on a signal-tracking screen and Starscream was seeing it with him.

"Master, we've pinpointed a signal." Starscream informed with a smirk.

Megatron heard him on his com-link and knew that the one who sent the signal needed to be destroyed this second.

"Send in the troops." Megatron ordered, standing up from his throne. "And Soundwave, I want a live feed."

The Decepticon leader then transformed and flew down to his warship, while Soundwave released Laserbeak and the Mini-Con drone flew off towards the pinpointed signal.

(Linebreak)

At the military base, Camila was currently unboxing some medical supplies and she placed them on a nearby shelf before she heard her phone vibrating. The Hispanic woman brought her phone out and gasped at seeing who the messenger was.

"Luz!" Camila gasped before immediately reading the text, slowly tearing up from the words she saw. "With Arcee, we're completely safe. Te Amo, Mami. Agent Fowler, Luz is alive!"

Camila headed straight into Fowler's office to tell him the good news.

(Linebreak)

Back with Luz, she put her phone away in her pocket with a slightly happy smile. But then, she heard soaring noises from nearby and she looked up to see a Vehicon flyer headed straight towards her.

"Oh, Mierda." Luz said worriedly, silently scolding herself for saying such a naughty word.

The Vehicon started shooting his blasters at Luz and she ran away to safety. With Arcee, she drove up to a nearby boulder and transformed before aiming her blaster at the helicopter in her sights. The female Autobot saw in was a normal helicopter and not a Decepticon, causing her to sigh in relief.

"Civilian." Arcee whispered before she heard some explosions in the distance and turned around to see a Vehicon firing at Luz at the fuel factory, causing her to gasp in horror. "Luz!"

Arcee quickly transformed and drove back to the fuel factory to rescue Luz. Speaking of the Hispanic girl, she placed some Ice Glyphs beside her and they created a giant ice wall that shielded her from the Vehicon's laser blasts. When she looked up, Luz noticed that a second Vehicon had just arrived in the sky.

"If Arcee doesn't get here soon, I'm a goner!" Luz stated in worridness, climbing over a nearby metal fence and getting blown away by the Vehicons' blasts.

Luz picked herself up and made a run for it as the Vehicons blasted the support of the large electrical tower above her, causing it to slowly fall down to her position. Reaching into her hoodie's pocket, Luz pulled out a Plant Glyph and shot out some vines that managed to push the electrical tower in the other direction. Hiding behind a nearby building structure, Luz then noticed Laserbeak flying towards her in the distance.

"Smile and wave, Luz. You're officially on the Decepticon TV channel." Luz said to herself half-jokingly.

(Linebreak)

Megatron, Starscream, Soundwave, Thundercracker and Skywarp looked at Luz on their screen through Laserbeak's vision.

"Master, we have a visual." Starscream said.

"I was hoping it would be that human girl." Skywarp admitted.

(Linebreak)

Luz acted quickly by running straight underneath a nearby cargo box and hiding under it for cover, but the Vehicons fired their blasters and the cargo box was blown right away onto the ground, creating a massive dust cloud that made Luz cough a bit. One of the Vehicons fired at Luz again and she readied one of her Fire Glyphs for use, only for Arcee to suddenly drive up to her and transform before grabbing her human partner and crashing into the crate behind her.

"Thanks for showing up!" Luz stated, smiling in relief.

"We're not safe, yet!" Arcee reminded before firing her blasters at the Vehicons, who flew right over them.

(Linebreak)

"How long does it take to exterminate a lone Autobot and her magic-wielding human pet?" Megatron asked in annoyance, not liking the fact that Arcee and Luz were still alive.

"Well, in my experience-" Starscream started to say.

"Not a riddle, Starscream." Megatron interrupted firmly.

"Sorry." Starscream apologised, slightly embarrassed.

"They won't survive forever, Lord Megatron." Thundercracker reassured.

(Linebreak)

"Okay, how do we get rid of those Cons?" Luz asked her Autobot guardian, keeping her backpack on tightly in concern for her Palisman egg.

Arcee looked around and she then spotted a nearby fuelling station.

"Over there!" Arcee stated, transforming and letting Luz hop on her before they drove towards the station with Laserbeak observing.

Once they reached the fuelling station, Arcee transformed again and she and Luz hide behind one of the fuel posts.

"This isn't really the best cover for us." Luz admitted.

"We're not here to hide." Arcee replied with a sly smile, causing the Hispanic girl to do the same as she understood her plan.

As Laserbeak kept flying to observe, the two Vehicons flew ahead of him and they both transformed before landing on the ground with their blasters ready. They looked inside the fuelling station to see Luz unloading a pair of fuel pipes on the ground.

"How do you want it, boys?! Unleaded or diesel?!" Luz asked, causing both Vehicons to look at the large fuel pile below their feet.

Luz then tossed the pipes to the ground and ran away quickly, causing the Vehicons to look ahead and prepare to fire. But then, Luz turned around to reveal a Fire Glyph in her palm and Arcee emerged from behind a nearby van before both girls fired their respective weapons. The magical fire blast and the laser shot connected with the fuel puddle and the entire station exploded, destroying the Vehicons in the process and scorching Laserbeak when he got too close while Luz and Arcee hid behind the van.

(Linebreak)

The Decepticons could see that the screen had turned to static from the explosion and Megatron let out an angry shout.

"I feel your frustration, master." Skywarp muttered, glaring at the static-filled screen.

(Linebreak)

Luz and Arcee looked over their van cover to see the fuelling station up in flames along with their enemies.

"Let's roll before they send reinforcements!" Arcee stated, transforming and letting Luz quickly got on.

"Thanks for the save, Arcee. I'm really lucky I've still got you to help me out." Luz said kindly as her Autobot partner accelerated out of the area.

"That's what friends are for, Luz." Arcee replied, making the Hispanic girl feel even more grateful.

However inside Luz's backpack, neither of them noticed that the Palisman Egg started to shine a weak purple light from the inside.

(Linebreak)

Meanwhile on Cybertron, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider were currently scavenging through the remains of the Omega Lock with a handful of Vehicons and Insecticons aiding them.

"Come on, fellas, put your backs into it!" Knock Out ordered, supervising the entire operation.

"You could try giving us a hand, Knocks." Wildrider told him annoyingly, using his blades to cut down some rusted steel.

"And get my finish covered in rust dust? Not a chance." Knock Out retorted.

"We've already found the Immobilizer, Polarity Gauntlet, Energon Harvester, Spark Extractor and Shield Generator. Those are some good items for us." Breakdown said while holding up a large metal pile on his shoulder.

"I suppose. What's over here?" Knock Out asked as he approached two Vehicons as they moved more scrap away, looking in the hole to see another Iacon relic. "The Apex Armor. Our illustrious leader will be pleased. Now, any sign of that Phase Shifter? I really like that thing."

"We might find it quicker if you'd stop standing by and letting us do all the grunt work." Wildrider admitted.

"Sir!" One of the Vehicons called, pointing towards something in the distance.

Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider looked to where the Vehicon was pointing and what they saw made them very shocked.

"No way." Wildrider gasped in total awe.

"Is that really…?" Breakdown began asking, shocked to his very Spark.

"By the Allspark." Knock Out whispered.

(Linebreak)

Back on the Nemesis, Soundwave attached both his tentacles onto Laserbeak, who had been recovered from the fuelling station explosion and survived. Megatron, Starscream, Thundercracker and Skywarp stood beside the communications Decepticon to know if there was some recorded footage worth saving.

"Well? Did any of the surveillance data survive?" Megatron asked, only for Soundwave to give a negative response.

"Looks like we're back to square one on finding those stupid Autobots and their fleshy companions." Thundercracker said with a sigh.

"A shame. We might have at least learned the direction in which Arcee and the human fled." Starscream said.

"Clearly we need to improve our methods of hunting Autobots and Witches, and build upon the tactical advantage that we've managed to secure." Megatron proclaimed.

"Well, we only have one scientist and he's not entirely a bright one." Skywarp said. "It's not like we'll be able to just recruit someone a lot more smarter."

"Lord Megatron, my team and I are ready to return to Darkmount." Knock Out informed on the communicator. "And I'm certain you'll want to see what we've uncovered."

"Soundwave, open a Space Bridge portal." Megatron ordered.

Soundwave pulled his tentacles away and his screen displayed the Decepticon Space Bridge being activated before he and the other Cons turned around. A green Vortex appeared in front of them and Knock Out walked out of it with Breakdown and Wildrider by his side.

"Good to be back here." Breakdown quipped, dusting himself off on the arm.

"I find myself in urgent need of good news. So please, Knock Out, Breakdown and Wildrider, tell me that the three of you have found something useful." Megatron told his three followers, hoping to have a good answer.

"We've managed to find a few things on Cybertron, my liege." Wildrider replied.

"And…a few some ones." Knock Out added optimistically, stepping to the side with his teammates and gesturing to the Space Bridge portal.

The Decepticons started to hear a few footsteps from inside the portal and looked curiously at it before two new Cybertronians walked out of it and stood before them. One was a female Cybertronian and the other was a male, but their colours were opposite. The female was red with a helmet-like feature on her head and circular pads on her shoulders, while the male was blue with car door-like features on the top sides of his back and his mouth was some kind of green screen. Both of them had red eyes, which indicated they were both Decepticons.

"Well, it seems that this entire warship is still intact after all these centuries." The red female Decepticon said, observing her surroundings.

"I'm still surprised all of you managed to keep in together." The blue male Decepticon told the others, chuckling in humour.

"Shatter? Dropkick?" Thundercracker asked with a very surprised expression. "You two were on Cybertron?"

"How is that possible? We had lost contact with both of you after we departed Cybertron." Starscream reminded.

"We have simply been out of range on Cybertron while you were busy dealing with the Autobots on this world." The red Decepticon, Shatter, replied before she and Dropkick turned to Megatron and bowed respectively to him. "Lord Megatron, it's an honour to see you again."

"We're yours to command." Dropkick added.

"Ah, two of my most capable and relentless warriors have returned." Megatron said with a grin, gesturing the two new Decepticons to rise up. "I would never have imagined that you were both on Cybertron this entire time."

"We weren't the only ones who were stranded on our lifeless planet, master." Shatter said.

"There's someone else you're gonna be happy to see, too. Especially you, Starscream." Dropkick admitted while sending a smug look to the air commander, much to his confusion.

As Shatter and Dropkick stepped aside, another pair of footsteps could be heard within the Space Bridge. Starscream took a close look within and gained an astonished and terrified look when he saw a third, yet familiar, Decepticon emerged from the portal.

"He…lives?" Starscream asked breathlessly as the one-eyed Decepticon walked into the room.

"Shockwave." Megatron said before he let out an evil laugh, knowing he had a new advantage against his enemies. "Just the tactical advantage I need."

Shockwave continued walking into the room to present himself to his fellow Decepticons while Shatter and Dropkick simply stood to both sides, anxious to destroy some Autobots on Earth.

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