Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers, The Owl House or their characters
In the hallways of the Archives, King was walking his way through by himself and arrived back at the main hall before he gasped when seeing Odalia trying to untangle the strings of the puppet figures.
"Oh, it's getting tangled." Odalia grumbled annoyingly, picking up a puppet that was special to King.
"Hey, wait." King called, earning her attention as the young Titan pointed at the puppet she held. "Could you, uh…give me that one?"
Odalia was slightly confused by his request as she was holding the puppet figure of King's house demon friend, Hooty. Later, King was seen making his way down another part of the Archives while carrying Hooty and he soon approached an area that had all the other Coven Head Witches in their own puppet figure forms standing in front of a broken cage. Standing next to them was Eda Clawthorne, who's hair was much shorter than it usually was and her attire was a bit more dirty as well as having a bandage wrapped around the arm area that her previously disintegrated hand used to be. Eda had a blank expression on her face and then made it into a silly gagging one while posing in a ridiculous way.
"Eda, come on. Not right now." King pleaded as he approached the Owl Lady.
Eda glanced at the puppets on her side and she slowly moved her foot over a line on the floor, causing it to trigger an alarm as the Head Witch puppets immediately started activating their magic abilities while aiming at the Owl Lady.
"Wait!" King called as he got in front of them, causing the puppets to stand down as King turned back to his friend. "You gotta stop leaving your room. The Collector thinks you're still in beast mode."
"I know." Eda replied with a sigh as they walked through the open cage, but the Owl Lady took one quick glance at the puppet that was her childhood friend/crush. "I just like visiting Raine."
The two of them left the room with puppet Hooty and Odalia then showed up at the end of the hallway, dragging the puppet figures with very slow success as Thundercracker and Skywarp were much more heavy than the usual ones. Odalia then came to a stop and cracked her back while groaning in pain before taking a look at the Coven Heads puppets in front of the cage, gaining an idea.
(Linebreak)
Back with Eda and King, they walked through a forest-like area and eventually arrived at a spot that was filled with a couch and a cauldron of magical potion liquid, which was being stirred by Eda's sister, Lilith, who's hair was back to its natural orange colour and much more shorter than before. Eda and King then showed up at the hideout with the Hooty puppet.
"Lily, guess who King found?" Eda called with a smile, knowing her sister would be very pleased to see what they brought back.
"In a moment, Edalyn." Lilith replied, dipping a cup into the cauldron and holding some of the magical liquid in it. "Drink this. I think I got it right, this time."
Eda accepted the cup and she drank every last magical liquid in it, causing some feathers on her neck and arms disappeared.
"Ugh! Lily, it's actually impressive how the taste keeps getting worse." Eda admitted, slightly disgusted before smiling once again. "But it does work! Keep it up and you'll put Morton out of buisness."
"Great. Now can you do something about this guy?" King asked as he showed Hooty.
As soon as she set eyes of the puppet figure of the Owl House's door demon, Lilith let out a scream of shock and delight before kneeling down to hold Hooty by his face.
"Hootsifer! Is he okay? Can you hear me?" Lilith asked desperately. "Hootsifer! Can. You. Hear. Me?"
The puppet Hooty slightly twitched in response, which was quite creepy and surprising at the same time.
"Sequestered at a darkness like unto death, the dulcet tones of an angel wakes me." Hooty's voice said from somewhere inside the puppet. "Be it you, Lulu?"
"It be! It be!" Lilith cried happily, snuggling with her best friend.
"Hooty, you keep finding new and impressive ways to creep me out." Eda commented.
"Maybe the Collector can release him too, like you and Lilith?" King suggested hopefully.
"No!" Lilith declared. "You are already putting yourself at enough risk just for us."
"Oh, Lily's right. If the Collector finds out you're lying, we could all turn into puppets for good." Eda agreed with a sigh before she felt something and saw King hugging her leg. "Huh? What's the matter?"
"I don't know…I just miss Luz." King replied, sounding quite depressed.
"I miss her too, kiddo." Eda said as she bent down and petted King on his head, looking down in sadness. "But she's in the Human Realm now, with…you know, her real family."
"Don't say it like that! You know you don't mean it." King protested with his eyes softening.
"What Eda means to say is…we'll find a way to defeat the Collector." Lilith replied assuringly while still looking at Hooty. "At least Luz and her friends are safe and far, far away from this madness."
"But that's the thing. Earlier, the Collector and I got threatened by two giant metal people that could change into strange transportations and there's no way they're native to the Demon Realm." King told the Clawthorne sisters.
"Seriously, King? You sure they weren't just a pair of advanced-looking Abomatons?" Eda asked, unconvinced.
"I definitely know they weren't those stupid things because they didn't have any purple slime on them." King replied.
"If they don't come from the Isles or anywhere else in our realm, where could they have come from?" Lilith asked.
"I'd say from somewhere way farther from our world." King admitted, getting his hopes up that Luz and her friends will have found a way back.
(Linebreak)
At New Hexside, Luz, her friends, Camila, Fowler and Mattholomule were currently standing next to a wall as Gus peeked out the corner with an illusion of himself to see a few kindergarteners charge down the other way with some deadly weapons. Boscha was currently prepping the other students for their upcoming assault on the Collector's stronghold.
"Okay, cost is clear." Gus said while giving a thumbs up to Mattholomule, who made a magic circle on the wall and made a secret entrance open up to reveal a door with a sign that said 'keep out'.
The group entered the room to see it was actually the classroom where students would pull out memory pictures from their minds and hanging them for display.
"Didn't think this place would have anymore crazy surprises." Fowler commented, looking at some glowing spider decorations.
"This is where me and Jerbo have been trying to come up with plans to make Hexside more liveable." Mattholomule explained.
"I've also helped out when I could." Skara added.
Willow approached a board displaying numerous different pictures of some important parts of her childhood and times in Hexside, gasping silently when she laid eyes on a picture showing a younger her with her two fathers celebrating what was apparently the Boiling Isles' version of Christmas. Willow closed her tear-filled eyes and turned her head away from it.
"Keep it in. Keep it in. Oh!" Willow exclaimed when she noticed a picture of Hunter holding Flapjack in his staff form, which was when she had formed the Emerald Entrails.
Willow looked back at Hunter to see him casually standing on his own while holding Flapjack's staff form closely, almost as if he wasn't going to lose him like he almost did with Belos back in the Human Realm. Willow decided to take the picture to show him later.
"Plans to convert the gym into a common space? Schedules for rotating guard shifts? Is that a dinner menu using veggies from the plant home room?!" Gus asked in amazement, looking at the idea list on the wall. "Mattholomule, you're actually a decent leader!"
"Did you ever have any doubts?" Mattholomule asked boastfully.
"Yes, many doubts." Gus replied.
"I'm starting to have my own doubts, right now." Vee added plainly as Luz sat down on a wooden stool.
"Alright, time to take a walk down memory lane." Luz said with a deep breath, prompting Willow to approach her with a pair of tweezers. "Once, I saw Phillip-I mean Belos use the teleportation Glyph to get into the skull. But it may take some digging in. I wasn't really in the best of thoughts back then."
"Hold on a second." Skara said quickly, causing everyone to turn to her. "You said that you met Belos in his non-emperor phase by going into a Time Pool, right?"
"That's exactly how it happened." Luz answered. "Why do you ask now, Skara?"
"Well, I just had this little thought. If there's still a few Time Pools at the beach, why don't we just use one of them to go back to the time when those Wittebane brothers weren't on the Isles, look for the portal that sends you to the Human Realm, find Baby Belos and then…" Skara explained before she made a rope-tightening-around-the-neck sign with her fingers.
Realising what he Bard Witch girl was implying, the Hexside Squad, Camila, Fowler and Mattholomule became very appalled and shocked as everything was quite for a bit.
"First of all, that's horrible!" Amity exclaimed.
"It's Belos." Skara replied while rolling her eyes.
"And second, we don't have time to look for any Time Pools. Teleporting into the Titan's skull and intercepting him at the Archives is our best option." Luz added as she stood straight, prepared for the memory-digging procedure. "Let's just hope Optimus and the Bots show up in time to help us."
"Remember, Luz, no schemes, no plots, no ruses." Willow told her.
"And definitely no shenanigans." Both of them finished before Willow held up the tweezers.
"I'm gonna assume those are clean." Camila said, cringing uneasily at the sight.
"Let's just hope the kid's memories won't come with earwax." Fowler replied.
(Linebreak)
At the same time in his immobilised slimy body, Belos was screaming out in pain from within his mind as Unicron continued to use his memory-searching technique on him in an extremely painful way. Eventually, Unicron had seen every image that was held within Belos' sick mind and he moved his enormous hand away from the witch hunter's forehead, causing him to pant heavily from the a punt of agony he felt from the process as he was still chained down.
"So…this island is actually the deceased body of an ancient organic being that dwarfs the life forms that roam on Earth." Unicron said. "And its very heart lies within the stronghold you constructed during your masquerade as this world's saviour?"
"Shouldn't it be quite obvious since you ransacked my own thoughts?!" Belos questioned with a low growl.
"I see. Then it would stand to reason that I shall be able to take control of this entire rotting land by taking control of its very source." Unicron proclaimed, gaining a sinister smile.
"You can't take away the destiny that is rightfully mine! I've been working for centuries to rid all of the vile witches from existence!" Belos yelled at the top of his lungs.
"And all of that plotting and lying you used to prepare your great plan has all gone to waste!" Unicron retorted, glaring down at the delusional madman. "You allowed yourself to be thwarted by mere infants and hid like a weakling ever since you arrived back in the world that I was sealed within! Clearly, you are unworthy of wiping out these primitive creatures!"
"I have every right to be worthy! I had to continue my mission by myself when my so-called brother lost his way and decided to join with one of those monsters!" Belos retorted.
"If you truly were worthy of the destruction an entire lowly species, you would have already succeeded in doing so. Yet a simple infant human was all that stood in your way to accomplishing it." Unicron said mockingly. "I shall bring destruction and chaos to this world before I finally rid this universe of Primus and then become the new ruling order of everything! But first…"
The Chaos Bringer held his hand out and it started to emit a lot of purple fiery energy before Belos found himself starting to get consumed by deadly flames around him.
"W-What is this?! What are doing?!" Belos asked in fear while struggling in his chains, beginning to feel the painful touch of the flames that affected not just his mind, but his very soul as well.
"I shall require your physical form in order to make my way to this lifeless continent's heart, but I made a mistake in my first attempt of this decision when I allowed my previous host's life force to remain so that he could watch my triumph." Unicron explained before his eyes glowed in an evil purple light. "A mistake I do not intend to make again!"
Belos could only look on in terror as the flames continued to spread and slowly destroy his body. Purple cracks began forming on his cloths and skin and it caused them to start crumbling away like pieces of dust. Belos then cried out in pure agony as his body continued crumbling apart in the flames.
"Please…D-Don't do t-this! I beg of you, great Unicron!" Belos begged pathetically. "Have mercy! Please!"
"There is no mercy." Unicron replied with a cold glare, shooting a pair of powerful beams from his eyes.
The beams landed straight down onto Belos and the combined with the deadly purple flames to cause even more fatal pain. Not able to take the terrible and excruciating punishment anymore, Belos let out a scream of pure agony before his entire life-force-made body was vaporised on the spot, leaving nothing but a blown-away pile of ash. Even on the outside, Belos' body remained lifeless and still from what Unicron had done.
"Good riddance." Unicron scoffed. "Now, to reshape this abominable, primitive form to a more fitting vessel for my use."
The Chaos Bringer's eyes once again glowed brightly and his dark energy coursed throughout the lifeless body that was once Belos.
(Linebreak)
From in the true world, Belos' numb and pale slimy body continued to remain still with no light in his eyes, until it started to twitch violently and a bunch of spikes suddenly shot out from the shoulders and legs. Belos' monstrous face also bursted out a metallic substance that revealed Unicron's evil eyes and many more steel-rusted parts sprouted out from the gooey substance of Belos' body. Soon, the horrific transformation was over and a much larger body that was concealed by the cave's darkness stood tall as the purple glowing eyes of Unicron illuminated the area.
"Finally. With this form and my soon-to-be prized possession, I shall take my revenge on Primus, his weak followers and every part of the universe itself." Unicron said to himself. "But first, I must deal with the other being that stands between me and my destiny."
Becoming surrounded by dark energy, Unicron enveloped himself in a purple-glowing spear that emitted evil electricity throughout the cave and he soon disappeared in a bright flash. However, the scene moved up to reveal Laserbeak hovering from the ceiling and having witnessed the entire scene on the ground before the Mini-Con drone flew through a hole in the wall and made his way towards Soundwave, who was standing by himself in front of the forest as Laserbeak flew back onto his torso. Soundwave could see everything that Laserbeak had witnessed in the cave and began feeling concerned on the inside.
"I shall take revenge on Primus, his weak followers and every part of the universe itself." Unicron's voice said though a recording on Soundwave's screen face.
The communication Decepticon knew that Unicron was going to do something very disastrous at some point and there were only a handful of individuals who could hopefully stop his plan. Activating his scanner, Soundwave searched through the Isles for the ones he needed and eventually discovered multiple Energon signals converging on each other, knowing he had a long way to travel if he wanted to warn them about the coming catastrophe.
(Linebreak)
Back in the Archives, Odalia was having the puppet figure of Raine organise all the common puppets, but he was doing a poor job of it.
"Put that one over there. No, no, no! Over there!" Odalia called as she pointed in an opposite direction before sighing in frustration. "Making a deal with that child was a waste of time! I wish someone would see my potential."
But then, the purple energy sphere from before started to appear behind Odalia and she turned around in shock to see Unicron appear from the sphere in his new form. He was covered in rusted armor like his previous avatars and multiple spikes were grown out of his shoulders, arms and legs. Two long devil horns sprouted out the sides of his head and underneath Unicron's armor was the same blackish green slime that made up Belos' body as if oozed through the armor. His silver-plated face opened his purple sinister eyes as he stared down at Odalia, who was standing in her spot in terror from his appearance.
"You, primitive creature." Unicron said, pointing down at Amity's ex-mother. "Is this where the being known only as the Collector lives?"
"Y-You…wish to see him? He's, uh…sleeping in his private bedroom at the moment, but I'm sure he will be interested to see someone like…you." Odalia said, flashing a worried smile at the Chaos Bringer.
"Very well." Unicron replied, turning to walk towards where the Collector was. "Once I am done with him, I shall continue with my one true goal."
"Oh, so you have big plans for the Isles? Well if that's he case, perhaps I could offer you my assistance?" Odalia suggested while smirking to herself on the inside, hoping to take advantage of this opportunity. "I mean, there are many uses I can have for you."
"I do not require the use of a lowly life form such as you. I'm beyond you and this entire world." Unicron replied coldly.
"But I…can offer you so much knowledge of my world." Odalia told him in a desperate tone. "And if I help you in whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, perhaps you can gift me with a special reward?"
"You have already outlived your use to me. But…perhaps you should have a gift from me." Unicron said before he started approaching Odalia in an unsettling way.
"Really! Oh, thank you, tall and powerful-looki-" But suddenly, Odalia was cut off when Unicron immediately grabbed her by the neck and held her up with his gooey metallic hand.
Unicron then generated a lot of dark energy into his hand and it started to infect Odalia, who gasped in horror at seeing her feet dissolving from purple cracks and it coursed to her legs.
"W-Wait, stop! STOP! What are you doing?!" Odalia questioned fearfully, struggling to free herself.
"Giving you what you deserve, you pathetic waste of organic material." Unicron answered with a sinister glare.
Odalia continued to try and free herself from Unicron's grip so she wouldn't perish, but it was all in vain as the purple energy kept making more painful cracks in her body and the Oracle Witch cried out painfully from feeling her body getting destroyed by the power of Dark Energon. With a final horrifying scream, Odalia was destroyed by a powerful burst of dark energy and the particles that remained of her disintegrated body soon faded away.
"One less lowly being to deal with." Unicron said to himself. "Now to eliminate my real obstacle."
However, the Chaos Bringer noticed puppet Raine dragging the puppet figure of Thundercracker his way and he immediately swatted Raine away on the head, making them crash against the floor.
"I shall waste my time with distractions no longer." Unicron scoffed before he began walking up the stairs to the Collector's room, not knowing that he left a small piece of Dark Energon sludge on the star on Raine's forehead and it slowly started to burn away.
(Linebreak)
At Hexside, Willow had pulled out a number of Luz's memories and she hung them up on a piece of string. Camila looked at all the memory photos and saw the one featuring Luz giving back the Matrix energy to Optimus, which made her smile proudly at how her daughter forged a great bond with Optimus, Arcee and all the Autobots.
"Are you guys almost done? Everyone else will probably be ready for the attack, by now." Vee admitted, becoming a little bit impatient.
Just then, Willow grabbed another memory with the tweezers and pulled out the one that showed Phillip drawing the Teleportation Glyph that allowed him, Luz and Lilith to get into the Titan's Skull.
"I think we found it!" Willow announced as she showed the memory to the others.
"Whoa, it's so clear. We can use it to get to the skull." Luz remarked.
"I still say we should've used my time-travel assassination of Baby Belos plan." Skara muttered to herself.
A knock on the door was heard and Boscha opened them to walk inside, earning everyone's attention.
"Have you all found a way to get into the skull?" Boscha asked.
"We did." Hunter replied.
"Good, because everyone else is ready to storm the Archives." Boscha informed. "Can somebody get them organised while we all get what we need for this plan?"
"Well, I guess-" Luz started to say.
"I'll get them get ready." Willow interrupted quickly, showing a strong smile. "It's the least I can do after being away for so long."
"Okay then. You go and do that, Willow." Luz said. "Just wait for us and keep an eye out for the Autobots if they arrive."
"Sure thing, Luz." Willow replied before running out the room, not knowing Boscha narrowing her eyes suspiciously at her as she figured she was burying something personal.
(Linebreak)
Willow ran straight down the school hallway as she continued to bury hurting feelings within, but someone else was waiting for her.
"Going somewhere, little Witch?" A voice asked as Willow stopped and saw Miki standing in front of a locker near her. "Perhaps to the Detention Pit where you and your friends belong?"
"Look, Miki was it? I know we haven't gotten off to a good start, but you could at least try to be useful by helping us take back the Isles." Willow told her firmly. "Is that too much to ask from you?"
"It is, as a matter of fact. But there is a little something you could do for me." Miki replied.
"And what's that?" Willow questioned with her arms crossed.
"Just stay still and don't look behind." Miki said, putting on a sly smirk.
Although confused at first, Willow quickly turned around and was shocked to see a large shadow looming over her.
(Linebreak)
Back in the memory collection room, Luz and her group were gathering everything they needed for their mission to attack the Archives and get themselves into the Titan's Skull. As they kept packing, Hunter walked up to Luz with a concerned look.
"Luz, I know this is gonna sound like I'm being paranoid, but I think Willow's keeping something bottled up inside her." Hunter told his human friend.
"She was acting a little bit unusual." Luz admitted as Stringbean and Flapjack spoke in agreement.
"You two think you're the only ones who noticed that?" Boscha asked rhetorically, approaching them. "That leaf-brain is obviously stressing over something."
"You kids have been through too much." Camila said in sympathy, having overheard them. "Even when we rescue your families, there's still so much to fix."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Fowler reassured.
"In the meantime, the best we can do is get ourselves ready and hope we can make everything right." Luz said.
"You read my mind, Luz." Amity replied kindly, placing a hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.
But before any of them could walk out of the room, the front door suddenly bursted open and standing on the other side was Miki and Roka, with the small red demon laughing at the group.
"Just when I thought that you couldn't have become anymore soft, Boscha." Miki mocked.
"Miki, what in Titan do you think you're doing?!" Boscha demanded with a glare. "You're supposed to be getting ready for the attack on the Archives!"
"Actually, I have a different idea in mind." Miki replied before she laughed evilly again, which was badly familiar to Luz.
"No, not you!" Luz exclaimed in dismay.
"What're you talking about, Luz?" Skara asked, starting to feel uneasy.
Miki then grabbed her uniform and threw it away to reveal who she truly was behind her little façade, while Roka's disguise also faded.
"Long time no see, human." Kikimora, Belos' former underling, said with a sinister grin.
"Kikimora!" Luz scowled.
"Oh no, not her!" Vee whispered fearfully, remembering Kiki from her time as a prisoner in Belos' castle.
"Wait, so the one I used to trust since the beginning of this whole Collector disaster was actually the Emperor's worst lackey?!" Boscha questioned in an outraged tone.
"I'm no one's lackey, anymore! I'm the new ruler of this entire school and it was all going exactly well for me, until all of you showed up!" Kiki proclaimed as she climbed onto her Automaton and into its seat. "But now, I'm going to make sure all of you meddlers stayed in the Human Realm!"
The Hexside Squad got into a fighting stance as they prepared for whatever Kikimora was gonna do. But then, something caught he corner of Luz's eyes and she slowly turned to the nearby window to see a bunch of missiles flying straight towards the school, causing the Hispanic girl to gasp in shock.
"Get down!" Luz called before the wall behind them suddenly exploded, blasting the Hexside Squad and Kiki away.
Luz, her mother and her friends all groaned painfully as they managed to recover from the sudden explosion, but Kikimora was knocked unconscious in the hallway on the other side.
"How many surprises are gonna be thrown at us today?" Gus asked, coughing a bit.
"Too many." Fowler answered.
The group managed to get back on their feet and rushed out of the giant hole in the room's wall, gasping astonishingly when they saw the Decepticons marching towards Hexside. Breakdown and Wildrider fired their respective blasters, Shatter and Dropkick flew over the school in their aerial vehicle forms while shooting down at it and Starscream launched both of his wrist missiles a Hexside, causing more damage to it.
"Leave no fleshling in this pitiful structure alive, Decepticons!" Starscream ordered as he continued to lead the assault.
"Well, this is absolutely terrible." Amity said worriedly.
"Where's Optimus and the Bots?" Luz asked while panicking on the inside.
(Linebreak)
In the distant forest, the Autobots kept making their way to Hexside in their alternate forms and they managed to spot some smoke coming from the distance in front of them.
"That doesn't look good." Smokescreen admitted.
"From the looks of it, there's a seriously big battle going on over there." Ironhide said.
"Optimus?" Bumblebee asked, hoping to get the answer he expected from his leader.
"Autobots, maximum overdrive!" Optimus ordered before they all picked up their driving speed.
"He knows we don't actually drive, right?" Swoop asked his fellow Dinobots.
"Shut up and just follow him!" Grimlock retorted as they all chased after the Autobots.
But unknown to them, Predaking and his Predacon pack were watching them from the sky in their beast forms and the Predacon leader growled curiously, wondering if following the Autobots would lead to special events.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, the Collector was still fast asleep in his bedroom with no sound disturbances, until the door slowly opened up and a menacing shadow loomed over the cosmic child. Unicron slowly approached the sleeping Collector and narrowed his eyes at him before he opened out his hand, making a bunch of slimy tendrils with purple-glowing energy within them sneak towards the Collector. Just as one of the tendrils was mere inches away from the back of his neck, the Collector's eyes shot open and he used his blanket to immobilise Unicron.
"Where did you come from?" The Collector demanded with a frown. "And how come you look slightly familiar to me, somehow?"
"You are in no position to question me, child." Unicron replied with a cold glare.
"Oh, really? And why's that, grumpy-face?" The Collector asked smugly, only to feel a sharp pain in the back of his head and scowl a bit from it.
"Because now…you are mine." Unicron said, smirking deviously.
As it turns out, Unicron's tendril had just managed to touch the Collector's back neck and a crack of Dark Energon started to grow on it. The Collector felt some great pain travelling into his head and clenched it in agony, letting out a very loud groan. Before long, the Collector's eyes widened and he let out a painful shout before darkness enveloped his eyes and he fell limply on his bed, while Unicron simply removed he blanket and stared down at him with a sinister grin.
(Linebreak)
Back at Hexside, the Decepticons continued to open fire on the entire school as the Hexside Squad looked on in worridness.
"They're going to kill everyone in the school!" Hunter stated.
"We have to stop them!" Luz told everyone, taking out a deck of Glyphs in her left hand and holding Stringbean's staff form in the other.
"Without the Autobots?!" Skara questioned worriedly.
"We can only hope they'll arrive in time to help us out!" Amity replied. "For now, we just need to keep these Cons from destroying our school!"
"I'll get everyone else out!" Boscha said before she ran straight towards the exit.
As the Decepticons kept opening fire, a fireball was suddenly launched at them and Breakdown managed to quickly deflect it with his hammer. Starscream saw the Hexside Squad glaring at them in front of the school.
"Wonderful. The Autobots' pets have finally come out to play." Starscream snickered.
"I'm guessing you insects weren't expecting us?" Wildrider asked with a smirk.
"Honestly, we weren't. We hoped you stayed in hiding after we took you down." Gus replied, glaring at his Autobot partner's rival.
"Well, you all thought wrong." Breakdown said.
"After everything you pathetic little fleshlings put us through, the least we could do was pay you all back in full." Starscream proclaimed. "And what better way to do that then claim this new world as our own and harness its magic?"
"That's never going to happen, Scream!" Luz retorted firmly, pointing her Witch staff at the Decepticons.
Starscream chuckled in response and snapped his fingers before the Hexside Squad quickly looked up to see Shatter and Dropkick fly down at them.
"Take cover!" Fowler called as the group ran away and got behind some nearby stone debris, avoiding some shots from the two Decepticons.
Just then, Sharpshot and Kickback latched themselves onto Hexside and they started tearing it apart with their mouths.
"Who knew a primitive structure could taste so good!" Sharpshot laughed sadistically.
"I can't wait to see how all the little creatures inside will taste! Taste! Taste!" Kickback stated with a psychotic chuckle.
The front doors suddenly bursted open and many of the Hexside students rushed outside with Boscha in tow.
"Everyone out, now! We are not staying in there, any longer!" Boscha announced urgently.
"You don't have to tell us twice!" Viney replied.
The Insecticon duo could see the students exiting the school and they chuckled sinisterly at their new opportunity for some snacks.
"Time for some new meals!" Sharpshot declared before he and Kickback flew straight at the students.
"Heads up!" Luz called as she fired a purple beam from her staff, making the Insecticons stop to avoid it.
"Stop playing around, you annoying insects! Attack those organics, right now!" Starscream ordered impatiently.
"Easier said that done! Done! Done!" Kickback retorted.
Boscha held up a flaming Grudgby ball in her hand and turned her attention to all the students.
"Listen up, everyone! Me, Luz and her friends have dealt with these overgrown metal heads before and our magic has always beaten them senseless!" Boscha told everyone. "If you wanna show them this is our home and not theirs, then let's do it already!"
The Hexside students looked at each other for a moment and then they put on determined expressions before generating their respective magic abilities and shouting bravely.
"I ain't afraid of no giant hunk of steel!" Ed declared.
"You're not in the best shape for this, Ed." Em told her twin brother, making him gain a disappointed frown.
As Shatter, Dropkick, Sharpshot and Kickback landed back on the ground and joined the rest of their Decepticon allies, they were surprised when all the students started attacking them with their magical powers. Wildrider sliced apart some vines that attempted to grab him and fired his blasters at some students, who managed to roll out of the way. Breakdown was locked in a hand-to-hand struggle with a plant-made Abomination summoned by Jerbo and he used his shoulder blaster to shoot off its head, making it collapse as he then charged at Jerbo, who cried out in fear. But then, Viney got in front of her friend and let out a loud whistle before her pet griffin, Puddles, crashed into Breakdown and started attacking him with her talons.
"Hey! Get off me, you feather-brained runt!" Breakdown grunted while shielding his face.
Shatter managed to avoid some incoming fire Grudgby balls and fired her dual blasters at some students, sending them flying back as the female Decepticon then kicked two students away and jumped out a large pillar summoned by a Construction magic student. Dropkick span his back rotor blades to block some Grudgby balls and then sliced apart some Abomination tendrils with his blade. The blue Decepticon was able to kick down a few students, but a crescent-headed student summoned an oracle spirit and it slashed across Dropkick's chest, making him stumble back.
"Oh, you insects are gonna get it now!" Dropkick stated angrily before he shifted his hand into a blaster and fired it at the Oracle spirit, only for it to pass through its body. "Oh, scrap. I'm starting to hate magic."
As the blue Decepticon was busy with the Oracle spirit, Starscream transformed into his Jet form and flew through the front yard before launching many missiles at some students in his sights, causing them to shield each other with Plant, Abomination or Construction magic.
"That's right, puny Witches! You are no match for the might of the Decepticons!" Starscream called out.
The Hexside Squad managed to recover a few injured students as Emira and Viney used their Healing magic on them.
"We can't hold these Cons off forever! We really need the Autobots to arrive!" Amity stated.
"Until then, I'm open to suggestions!" Vee added.
"Wait, am I the only one who's starting to realise that someone is missing?" Camila asked as everyone saw that there was indeed someone from their group missing.
"Willow! She's not here!" Luz exclaimed.
"Kiki must've gotten to her back in the school!" Gus stated in concern.
"And knowing her, she most likely threw her into the Detention Pit." Mattholomule admitted.
"What now?! We can't just leave everybody outside to battle the Decepticons while we go back inside for Willow!" Skara said worriedly.
"Then only some of us should go look for Willow!" Luz replied.
"I know a spell that can instantly get us into the pit." Boscha said, making everyone turn to her in surprise. "I learned how to do it before I got sent to the Human Realm. It should take me and anyone else straight there."
"That's good enough for me!" Luz said with a nod. "So who's going to go into the Detention Pit to save Willow?"
"Is hat a trick question? Of course I'll be going!" Gus declared.
"I'm gonna go, too! I owe Willow that much." Hunter added firmly.
"You might as well count me in, because I'm the one who needs to perform the speed." Boscha told them.
"Guess that settles it." Fowler said. "So how's about you three get over to that pit while we hold the line here?"
Boscha nodded to the special agent and she drew a special kind of symbol with magic from her fingers, making a bright circular portal appear.
"Okay, this is what'll get us there." Boscha told the others. "Boys first."
Gus and Hunter looked at each other in determination before they ran into the portal and Boscha was about to follow them, only for Amity to grab her by the wrist for a moment.
"Please, Boscha. Make sure Willow's safe." Amity pleaded, showing a lot of concern for her best friend's wellbeing.
"Got it." Boscha replied before she jumped into the portal, making it close up.
"So, what do we do now?" Skara asked.
"What we can do, right now. Smack those Cons in their ugly faces!" Luz replied as the group then rushed to join the battle against the Decepticons.
(Linebreak)
Meanwhile, Gus, Hunter and Boscha emerged out the other side of the portal and looked around to see they were now in the Detention Pit with all its teeth-filled flesh walls.
"Here we are. The belly of the beast." Boscha said. "The teleportation is completely random, so I don't know exactly which part of the Detention Pit we're in."
"Well, it's better than being at the very bottom." Gus admitted. "So, which way do we go to find Willow?"
"My instincts tell me…this way." Hunter replied as he pointed down a dark tunnel on their right.
"Really? Your instincts?" Boscha questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm working with the best I've got right now, okay?" Hunter said defensively.
"In any case, let's just get moving and find Willow." Gus told them before he walked ahead.
Hunter knew things were getting even more intense with Willow somewhere in the pit and the Decepticons attacking Hexside. Flapjack flew out of his staff form and tweeted at Hunter in concern.
"Everything's becoming even bad by the minute, Flapjack." Hunter told his Palisman. "I don't know if Bee and the other Bots will make it here in time. But…I guess we just need to focus on what we're doing now, huh?"
Flapjack simply tweeted in response and perched himself onto Hunter's shoulder as Boscha approached him after she heard everything, feeling like she had to say something.
"Listen, golden goof, I know it seems like we're all gonna get killed by the psycho alien robots, but all we've got to do is find Willow, wait for the Bots to inevitably show up and get into the Archives so we can give the Collector a permanent timeout." Boscha told him.
"I guess so." Hunter admitted. "But, why did you even volunteer to help us find Willow in the first place?"
"Probably because…I owe her after everything we've been through." Boscha replied simply as she was about to walk ahead, only to feel something tugging on her ankle.
The triclops Witch looked down to see that her ankle was being grabbed by a small vine and managed to pull her foot away from it. Hunter also noticed there was a vine wrapping around his arm and pulled it away before he and Boscha heard a familiar scream in the distance.
"Gus!" Hunter exclaimed in worridness.
"Come on!" Boscha stated as they both ran down the darkened cave.
They eventually arrived at a part of the pit where they saw some more vines sprouting out of the ground and the two young Witches gasped in shock when they saw Gus being held into the air by a large vine. Willow was kneeling in front of him with a bunch of vines tangling her and she turned around to show that her eyes were glowing.
"Oh, Hunter! Boscha!" Willow said with an anxious smile, prying her arm away from the vines. "I had a little run in with Miki and her large silent sister and got stuck down here. Gus just…surprised me."
"We kinda figured that out. But, what's all this about?" Boscha questioned, pointing at the situation the Plant Witch girl was in.
"What's going on?" Hunter asked in concern as they both ran up.
"I've got it under control." Willow assured, only for her to unintentionally summon more vines that consumed Gus.
"Uh, I don't think it's working!" Gus called out.
"I can do this! I can do this! I can do this!" Willow muttered to herself desperately while tearing at the vines.
"Okay, I think you should just chill out and-" Before Boscha could intervene, she and Hunter ended up being grabbed by more vines and were pulled away.
"I can do this! I can do this!" Willow stated as she kept ripping the vines away in a panic, until she noticed her friends were nowhere to be seen. "Hello…?"
(Linebreak)
Back at Hexside, most of the students were blocking the Decepticons' fire with some shielding spells, but cracks were already starting to form. Luz and Amity then jumped over the shield and they knocked back Starscream, Breakdown and Wildrider with an Ice Glyph blast and Abomination hammer respectively. Skara fired a musical sound wave from her mini harp and it blew back Shatter and Dropkick while Vee drained away some Energon from Sharpshot and Kickback.
"We're starting to push them back! Let's keep at it!" Luz stated encouragingly.
"Oh, I wouldn't get your hopes up yet, human." Starscream replied with a sinister smirk.
Suddenly, a purple laser shot was fired from out of the forest and it blasted apart the magic shield, sending all the students flying back. Luz and her friends gasped in shock at seeing this and went up to their fellow students to see if they were okay before seeing that the shot came from Galvatron, who emerged from the forest with Shockwave by his side.
"Wow. Somebody's gotten a serious upgrade." Vee commented with a surprised look.
"I'm guessing the big scary robot is the boss?" Mattholomule asked, feeling slightly nervous by Galvatron's appearance.
"He's technically the leader, but yeah." Skara answered.
"Nice to see you've gotten a new look, Megatron." Luz said, glaring firmly at the Decepticon leader.
"It's Galvatron now, Luz." Galvatron replied.
"You might have changed your name, but not your twisted desires." Luz scowled.
"Oh, but I have gained a clear understanding of something. After so many setbacks involving you and your Witch friends, I realised I had to strike at the very source of where you obtained such great power. And now, I can be rid of you, your pathetic friends, Optimus and his Autobots."
"No way! You'll never get access to the magic of the Isles!" Luz stated.
"Plus, you can't exactly conquer this place while the Collector's in charge of it." Amity added sternly. "It's just not possible, right now."
"You shall soon learn, young ones. I decide what is possible and what isn't." Galvatron proclaimed before he aimed his arm cannon at the Hexside Squad and the other students.
Luz and her friends prepared for him to fire, but another blast was fired from the other side of the forest and Megatron's arm cannon was knocked in the wrong direction, causing his shot to miss completely.
"What was that?!" Breakdown asked shockingly.
"I'll give you one guess." Wildrider replied with a scowl.
The Autobots then drove out of the forest and transformed into their robot forms, landing in front of the Hexside students as they all stared at the Cybertronians in amazement.
"Sorry we're late for the party." Bulkhead commented.
"Are these the…?" Emira began to ask.
"Yep. They're the giant robotic beings from another planet we mentioned earlier." Amity answered with a smile.
"About time you all got here, Prime." Fowler admitted.
"We kinda got sidetracked." Jazz replied.
"Megatron. You are functional once again." Optimus said to his old enemy.
"Never felt better, Prime. And my name is now Galvatron." Galvatron replied.
"Now I've heard everything." Arcee commented.
"Well, look who else is here." Dropkick said, glaring hatefully at Knock Out.
"Nice to see you again, backstabber." Breakdown growled.
"It's not you, Breakdown. I'm just playing for the winning team for once." Knock Out replied casually.
"The choice you have made is very illogical." Shockwave said in disappointment.
"We didn't think you Cons would wanna follow us all the way to another realm just to settle a score." Bumblebee said, staring intently at their enemies.
"You really thought we wouldn't forget all of the humiliation and interferences that you Autobot fools have caused us?!" Starscream questioned rhetorically.
"After what you did with our Omega Lock, we just had make sure you all paid a very great price." Shatter scowled.
"And what better way to end this war than to eliminate all your little friends and make this entire land a new place of Decepticon conquest." Galvatron said with a sinister grin.
"The day that happens is the day I permanently go offline." Cliffjumper declared as the Autobots brought out their weapons.
"Ratchet, tend to any injured younglings." Elita ordered. "We'll handle this."
"Understood, commander. Good luck." Ratchet replied, rushing to the injured students.
"Hope it's okay if we help out." Luz said with an eager smile, standing next to Optimus.
"We would be honoured by your support, Luz." Optimus replied kindly.
"Your combined forces will hardly make a difference in the outcome of this battle." Shockwave proclaimed.
"Why don't you just shut up and fight us already?!" Grimlock questioned impatiently as he held his giant sword tightly.
"What the big guy said." Ironhide said in agreement.
"Fine by us." Sharpshot sneered.
"I think we should take a step back for this." Camila said to Fowler with a nervous smile.
"A lot of steps back." Fowler agreed before they both moved away.
"Autobots…" Optimus started to say.
"Witches…" Luz added.
"Roll out!" The two of them ordered before both of their teams charged at the Decepticons.
"Decepticons, rise up!" Galvatron ordered as he brought out his signature wrist blade and shifted his other hand into a large metallic mace.
The Decepticons also charged straight at their foes with their weapons fully powered and both sides clashed with each other for a battle that would determine the fate of the Boiling Isles.
Next time, the true conclusion to this intense lineup.
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