"Why is the Blood of Unicron erupting from beneath the Earth?" Optimus questioned as Dark Energon rained down around him. A question, Optimus, that you shall take to your grave!" Megatron said. Before he ould kill him, a Ground-Bridge activated and Bulkhead bashed into him. The Wrecker began beating up the warlord.
Arcee and Chromia jumped through the portal and were shocked when they saw the Blood of Unicron erupting from the volcano. "Quickly, we must get him through." Ratchet said as he joined them. They carried the wounded Prime through.
Megatron attempted to freeze Bulkhead, but only git a part of his mace. "Bulk! Now, now, now!" Chromia shouted. Bulkhead transformed and drove for the portal as Megatron chased him.
Bulkhead transformed again and jumped through as Megatron unsheethed his wrist blade, which was now on fire. Megatron attempted to stab Bulkhead, but his blade met the ground.
He sheethed it and snarled, then wiped some Dark Energon from his mouth plate. "This is merely the beginning! I not only have godlike powers now, but I also possess enough Dark Energon to reanimate Unicron himself! HAHAHAHAHA! YEEESSS! HUAHAHAHAHAHA!" Megatron laughed maniacally.
Cyclonus activated the Ground-Bridge, allowing Chromia, Arcee, Optimus, Ratchet, and Bulkhead to come through. "Easy, Optimus. From the looks of things, you've been exposed to a massive amount of Dark Energon." Ratchet said.
"I am not the only one." Optimus said and looked at Raf and Anna. The Autobots helped him sit down. "Hi, Optimus." Anna said. "They're lucky to be alive." June said with a shaky voice. "Megatron found more of the dark stuff?" Jack asked. "A volcano full." Arcee said.
"The question is how?" Bulkhead said. "No. The question is what? As in what in the world is the Blood of Unicron doing here on Earth?" Ratchet asked. "The 'Cons killed a unicorn?" Miko asked. The Autobots stared at her. "White horse with a horn on its head? Prances around all sparkly?" Miko asked.
"Unicron. An ancient evil whose fossilized blood comprises the matter which we call Dark Energon. As legend would have it." Ratchet said. "So, you're saying this Unicron is some kind of Boogeyman?" June asked. "Boogeyman?" Cyclonus asked. "Make-believe creepy guy who hides in your closet?" Miko said.
"No, nurse, Darby. Unicron is very real. Was. That is. While I do believe he once existed, I just don't subscribe to the theory that his primordial lifeforce is the substance which harmed Anna and Raf and is the very same blood that flows through Elsa permanently." Ratchet explained.
"I've heard enough. Jack, please help me get Raf and Anna into the car." June said. Bee buzzed in confusion. "Mom, I thought they were doing better." Jack said. "Raf and Anna need to be examined by real doctors. And Raf's family needs to know what's happened. His real family." June said.
"Mom, Raf's family can't protect him. Not like they can." Jack said. "June, it deeply grieves me that I have failed. But, I will do everything in my power to ensure that no harm comes to our human friends. Or any human ever again." Optimus said.
"Optimus, they're children. They do not belong in your world. They should be worrying about grades, prom dates, pimples. Not their own survival." June said. "Mama, Dark Energon is pouring out of the volcano. It's bad. We should be worried about everybody, not just ourselves." Elsa said. "You're coming with me, all 5 of you. And they will not be coming back." June said.
"What?!" Elsa asked. "I understand." Optimus said. "That's it? After all we've been through together, see ya? What about our freedom to choose?" Miko asked. "That may fly on their planet, but not here on Earth." June said. She lifted Anna off the gurney, and much to her surprise, Anna ran to be with Jack, Miko, and Elsa. "Anna, come back here." June said.
Anna shook her head and hit behind Jack. "Get in!" June said again. "Do you really expect me to ride in a non-transforming vehicle?" Miko scoffed. "Miko, I'm serious." June said. "You're not my mother." Miko retorted.
"Miko." Bulkhead started. "Neither are you." She shot him down. "Well, I am yours. Let's go, kids." June said. Jack looked at his sisters, then Arcee. "She is your mom." She said.
"We're staying. Sorry, Mama." Elsa said.
June looked defeated. She closed the door with Raf inside. "Ratchet, activate the Ground-Bridge." Optimus said. "No, thank you." June said. She backed the car up and drove out. Raf wiped a few tears from his face.
The monitor beeped. "Prime, do you copy?" It was Agent Fowler. "I hear you, Agent Fowler." Optimus replied. "Mother Nature's got a twitch in her britches." Agent Fowler said. "We know about the volcano." Cyclonus said. "And the quakes? Seven major tremors of the exact same magnitude at the exact same time as the volcanic eruption. All over the globe, on different techtonic plates, in theory, unrelated, if they didn't happen -" Agent Fowler continued.
"- At the exact same time." Ratchet finished. "Check it out. More good news." Miko said and pointed at the TV. "Freak storms. Unlike any the region has seen. Tsunamis threaten the Canadian coast, while lightning storms pummel the Gobi Desert. Meanwhile electromagnetic anomalies plague urban power grids. These abnormal global phenomena are leaving most to wonder, 'why now? And what next?'" The news reporter said.
"Don't tell the your 'Cons have built a weather machine." Agent Fowler said. "One that powerful? Highly unlikely." Ratchet said. "I do not believe the appearence of Dark Energon at this point in time to be coincidental." Optimus said.
The sky darkened outside. "100, 2 100." Raf muttered. "You okay back there, Raf?" June asked. "I saw lightning. I'm counting until the thunder -" Raf was cut off by thunder. "Looks like a storm. My garden will love it." June said a bit nervously. Despite being an adult deep down she was slightly afraid of storms.
Then, lightning shot down and struck near the car. June panicked and tried to dodge the incoming strikes, then she accident crashed the car into a power line. "Raf, are you okay?" She asked. Raf nodded.
Then they heard a powerful wind. "What was that?" June asked. A large tornado was moving towards them. "No!" June said and tried to start the car. The tornado started rocking the car. "Come on, come on, come on!" June muttered. As sokn as the car started she went in reverse, but it couldn't fight against the might of the tornado. The back rose off the ground.
Then, down the road appeared a yellow and black camero, which transformed. Bee grabbed the car's front and dug his pedes into the ground. He looked around, then found a power line. He forced himself to move and he grabbed it, and he held on. He buzzed urgently. "He wants us to climb into his hand." Raf translated.
They climbed out, as the power pole began to lift from the ground, and was launched into the tornado. Bee grabbed the car with both servos. Raf climbed into one servo, when June disappeared and the car was ripped from the hood and swallowed by the tornado. Raf gasped, until he saw June climb up from the back of the hood, in good condition.
Bee drove both humans away from the twister and back to base. "Thank you." June thanked. Bee buzzed in return. "He says you're welcome." Raf translated.
The Decepticons were mining the hundreds of crystals of Dark Energon, carrying them to the yellow elevator and taken to the Nemesis. "Rivers of your very lifeblood rising from the depths to become one with me." Megatron said then had another vision. He saw the volcano erupt more violently as purple cracks spread across the planet, then the Earth exploding.
Elsa was having the same vision as well when Bee entered. "We're back." Raf said when Bee opened the doors. "And we are glad." Ratchet said. June stepped out, allowing Bee to transform. "Mama, are you okay?" Anna asked. "I will be. Kids..." June started. "Mom." Jack interrupted. "I know. Me too." She finished. She, Jack, Elsa, and Anna shared a hug.
"But, you're all grounded until you're 30." June said. "Mama." Elsa groaned. "25." June said.
"World leaders are classifying these bizzare weather patterns as a global emergency." The newscaster said. "Global?" June asked. "And scientists believe the phenomena to be somehow related to the current planetary alignment." The weatherman continued.
Just then, Agent Fowler entered. "What have you learned, Prime? And you better not blow smoke up my rear -" Fowler stopped when he saw June. "Ms. Darby. What a nice surprise." He said. "Special Agent Fowler." June said.
"We have learned this. As with the so-called magma from the volcano, these earthquakes originated far below the Earth's crust. From the very center of the Earth's core in fact." Ratchet said. "Quakes don't start there. Do they?" Agent Fowler asked. "Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern. Almost like..." Ratchet trailed off.
"By the Allspark. If I convert these data points to audio files." He muttered. "What? What is it?" Agent Fowler asked. "Listen." Ratchet said. At first there was nothing, but then the room was filled with an eerie thumping. "Someone please turn it off! It feels like somebody is punching my head!" Elsa groaned as she clenched her head, her eyes turning purple and a white glow started surrounding her pupils.
Unbeknownst to them, the Decepticons were listening as well, and Megatron was having a similar reaction. "Stop, Soundwave! Turn it off! I can still hear it pounding in my brain!" He groaned.
"A Cybertronian heartbeat?" Jack asked when Ratchet turned it off, and Elsa finally relaxed. "How is that possible? A heart pumps blood. There's nothing inside the Earth to pump, except..." June stopped. "The Blood of Unicron!" Elsa finished.
At the volcano, a face with purple eyes formed from the smoke. "I awaken!" Unicron said.
"Okay, hold on. You mean something's living down there? Inside our planet?" Miko asked. "I fear that the Earth's very core is not comprised of magma, as your science has suggested, but of Dark Energon." Optimus said. "And if we're hearing a Spark, then Unicron is the rising darkness that the prophecy foretold." Ratchet said.
"So, how do we stop this thing from rising?" Agent Fowler asked. "That I am afraid was not foretold." Optimus said. "How can something be in our Earth's core, and be alive?" June asked. "Such a thing is not unprecedented." Optimus began to tell a story.
"Before the beginning, there was Primus and there was Unicron. One the incarnation of creation. The other of destruction. For eons, Primus and Unicron battled, the balance of powee shifting between them more times than could be counted. Only by creating the 13, the original Primes that preceded me, was Primus finally able to defeat Unicron and cast him out. Primus became one with the very core of our planet, creating life through the Well of All Sparks. While Unicron was never to be heard from again. Until now." He said.
"Maybe we can find the hole this Uber 'Con left when he dug himself all thr way down there and fill it full of explosives." Agent Fowler suggested. "Agent Fowler, I do not believe that Earth became Unicron's home, but rather with time and gravitational force, debris collected around the slumbering titan." Optimus started. "Forming your Earth itself." Ratchet finished.
"And he's waking up now due to the combined gravitational power created by the planetary alignment." Chromia said. "Okay, well, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion year nap?" Jack asked. "Yeah, does he stretch, and kapow, Earth poofs to dust?" Miko asked. "Yes." Elsa whispered.
Optimus stayed silent. "You don't know, do you?" June asked. "My guess is that Unicron has transcended physical form as we know it. Nonetheless we must find a way to ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends upon it." Optimus said.
Airachnid approached Megatron. "Lord Megatron, our cargo hold is nearly filled with the dark substance. I recommend a retreat. The troops are growing weak from its effects." She said. "And yet I grow stronger. Airachnid, you're in command until my return." Megatron said.
"Your return from where, Master?" Airachnid asked. "From my audience with Unicron." Megatron transformed and left the Nemesis for the volcano.
He landed at the top. "I feel your presence. Share your very Spark. I call on you as my lord and master, almighty Unicron!" He said. A giant smoke cloud erupted from the mouth, and formed into a smokey version of Unicron. "Who would speak to me?" The Chaos Bringer asked.
"Your servant most humble. Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, and your very herald. The one who wielded the Dark Energon which binds us to awaken you once again. The prophecy has been fulfilled! It is only the beginning of what we shall accomplish together! For you shall rule this planet, and those who walk upon it through me!" Megatron said.
"Prideful fool!" Unicron said. Megatron was shocked. "How dare you think yourself capable of summoning my lifeforce?" Unicron asked before his smoke face zoomed in at Megatron. "I rise because I have deemed it my time!" He said.
"Master, I did not mean to overstep." Megatron apologized. "Silence, worm! I have no need of your lowly assistance." Unicron said. "Please, my lord! I exist only to serve you!" Megatron begged. "What is this, I sense? The taint of Primus? Here?" Unicron asked.
"That is Optimus. The last of the Primes, our sworn enemy." Megatron said. "You profess loyalty to me, yet allow a disciple of Primus to live?!" Unicron thundered. "I will destroy him for you! His screams will be heard!" Megatron said.
"I grow weary of your prattle. Surely if you had the power to destroy this Prime, you would have done so already. I will deal with him myself." With that, Unicron disappeared back into the volcano.
Optimus stepped through a large canyon. "Ratchet, this epicenter is consistent with the findings of the others. Its terrain is rich in ore." He said. "So, what does that tell us?" Agent Fowler asked. "It follows that the natural metals in your Earth would be extensions of Unicron. His limbs if you will." Ratchet explained.
"What?! I've been eating food with some chaos gods hand?! Ew!" Elsa groaned. Then the monitor beeped again. "Optimus, I'm detecting a swell in Unicron's Spark activity." Ratchet said.
"Rest assured, Ratchet. I will proceed with vigilance." Optimus assured, then heard rocks crumble. He turned around, and Unicron appeared in the canyon wall.
"Do you know me, follower of Primus?" The Chaos Bringer asked. "Unicron. The Chaos Bringer." Optimus identified. "Good." Unicron said then emerged from the wall. He was much taller than Optimus. "Now know me as Unicron your destroyer!" The Chaos Bringer ran at Optimus.
Optimus readied his swords, and their weapons clashed together. Unicron tried to hit Optimus, but hit a wall instead. Optimus sheethed his weapons, and said, "I humbly request your ear, Lord Unicron."
"And what would a Prime be so compelled to say to me?" Unicron asked. "I make this appeal not for myself, but for this planet which you constitute, and the beings who inhabit it. Humankind relies upon you. For life. Sustenance. There is even one human with amazing ice magic who was exposed to your blood. Your resurrection will only result in the destruction of a species which evolved from the seeds of your very greatness." Optimus said.
"So, this humankind of whome you speak, you consider them my progeny?" Unicron asked. "Indeed." Optimus stated. Unicron thought about it for a moment, then said, "Parasites! They, too, shall know my wrathful hand once I am finished with you!" His weapons turned into hands, and Unicron sent dark lightning at Optimus, sending him flying back.
The Chaos Bringer stomped towards the Prime. "The line of Primes has grown weak in my absence. And thus you shall fall." Lightning emitted from his hands again. "That outcome is inevitable, but not on this day!" Optimus turned his servos into cannons, and he shot Unicron until he fell down.
Optimus examined the avatar before it crumbled into rocks. The ground beneath him shook as more avatars of Unicron burst forth from the ground and the walls. He was surrounded by hundreds of them.
They all chanted in unison. "Yes, disciple of Primus, on this very day. For Unicron may be one, but we all are Unicron!"
To be continued...