This chapter is a long one, hope you enjoy the fight all the way to the end.

Side note: Happy Autism Awareness Month!

Ch12: Harbinger Showdown

In their second confrontation with the Decepticons, the dragons found this encounter much more dire than the last. They were surrounded and outnumbered on all sides, even with the whole group of Autobots now present with them. The scaly members of the Union Alliance were unsure of what to do right now, for even if their two young heroes and their human allies joined them, they weren't sure if it would make much of a difference, especially with Megatron himself here.

"Does anybody have some sort of plan?" Sephpyr asked aloud.

While he wasn't his mentor, Terrador took charge as the senior guardian present and replied, "just keep still Sephpyr, as we agreed, our Autobot compatriots take point on this one."

His cannons still armed, Ironhide gave a subtle answer, "...just wait for it."

Megatron addressed Optimus again and said, "...make your choice Optimus Prime, either stand down and surrender, or be eliminated all at once, including your new 'fleshling' friends."

The dragon guardians scowled at his insult while the acolytes angrily growled, and Saphira spat at him, "we are not fleshlings! We…are DRAGONS! Remember that!"

"Saphira!" Cyril scolded her outburst in a hushed tone. While he understood why she was angry, he more so did not want to put their young ones lives at risk.

"Just cool off Saphira," Arcee calmly told the blue dragoness while glaring at the Leader Con, "don't let him get under your skin, trust me, he's not worth it."

Megatron scoffed, "and as always, the two-wheeler has to add in her own two credits, like they're worth anything."

Arcee scowled at the warlord before he replied to the acolyte's outburst, "...Dragons eh? I've met with one of your kind already, and he gave quite the performance, as well as a most interesting story of how you exiled him."

Realizing he was referring to the Dark Master, the bodies of the dragons all tensed up and Terrador spoke on behalf of them, "If you're referring to Malefor, his punishment was justly deserved…"

The guardian continued speaking in an angry tone, "...and from what we've heard about you, you deserve it just as well for what you've done to your own people."

Megatron rebuffed his statement and said, "all I've done…is whatever is necessary, to ensure my race reaches its next Golden Age."

"ENOUGH!" Optimus bellowed out, stunning everyone silent, "I've heard all these deceitful lies before Megatron, and I will NOT hear them again! Now, Stand Down!"

His angry tone stunned even his fellow Autobots, whereas Megatron merely raised an eye before calmly replying, "and why would I do that? In case you failed to notice, I have the upper hand, and you are surrounded."

"Not for long," Optimus muttered before turning his head to the guardian standing behind him, "Volteer…"

"Yes?" Volteer replied to the Prime.

"Their bodies are durable, but they are vulnerable to your natural element," Optimus muttered so only they could hear.

Volteer's eyes lit up, as did their entire group, and the electric guardian nodded in saying, "understood…" He turned toward his protege, "...Zaxto?"

Zaxto nodded to his mentor while casting a mischievous grin toward the Cons along with his fellow acolytes. Unknowing what they were up to, Megatron gave one last threat, "...So, any last words?"

"I've got two!..." Zaxto said as he jumped ahead startling the metallic monsters, "...Think fast!"

In the blink of an eye, he fired an electric orb straight into the air, causing every Bot and Con present to watch it with stunned intrigue, while the dragons watched with grins. As the orb landed at his feet, Brawl bent down to observe the strange sphere with a raised optic. His curiosity was short-lived as it quickly charged and inflated, terrifying the three Decepticons as the orb prepared to explode.

"What the?!" Knockout spat out.

BOOM!...ZAP!...

The three cons were engulfed in a high voltage shock, paralyzing them as they cried out in pain. At the same time, Volteer pushed himself clear of his group and caught a group of Airadicons off guard as he released an electric stream at them, doing the same thing. Enraged at the sneak attack on his men, Megatron roared, "DESTROY THEM ALL!"

Airadicons opened fire, but the Autobots fought back with a combination of their own blaster fire and close hand combat. Arcee and Sideswipe engaged the Cons at close range, slicing through their metallic bodies with their arm blades which finished them off. Bumblebee, Ironhide, and Jazz engaged the temporarily paralyzed Barricade, Brawl, and Knockout by rushing and tackling them. Their preemptive strikes knocked them back past Megatron and Shockwave. The warlord angrily watched as the Autobots blindsided his men, before turning forward to see Optimus rushing him with his right arm blade drawn back.

With a battle cry, the Prime and the Leader Con kicked off their showdown with a blade clash as Megatron deployed his own sword from his cannon arm just in time to block Optimus's strike. The two archenemies engaged in combat, Megatron knocking Optimus back with a hard left punch, forcing the Prime off of him. Optimus regained his bearings to block another attack from Megatron, and from there, fell into one of their iconic battles.

All of the dragons, guardians and acolytes together, attacked the remaining Airadicons. Each acolyte was backed up by their guardian teacher, save for Sephpyr who aided Saphira and Cyril's ice attacks with his fire. Though the combination proved to be deadly against these metallic invaders, as the fire acolyte's fire breath heated up their hulls, setting up for the ice dragons to finish it with their element…

Sephpyr had unleashed a full firestream against two Airadicons that were closest to him, making their bodies glow a cherry orange red with the heat. He turned to his fellow acolyte, "Saphira! Help me freeze them!"

The ice dragoness nodded and stepped up next to him and unleashed an ice stream which enveloped them, causing the Con drones to groan in pain at the instant temperature drop. Steam was kicked up following the attack, though it quickly disappeared revealing the two drones were now frozen in place. After freezing another drone, Cyril noticed it himself and instructed, "Finish it young ones! Break them!"

Sephpyr and Saphira nodded to each other before they each rammed a frozen drone with a horn headbutt, shattering them to pieces. While successful with their combined attack, breaking these Decepticon drones apart proved to be a little harder than they thought, as they shook their heads clear of stars…

"Whew…well that worked. Ugh…though I'm not sure I want to repeat ramming them head on again," Sephpyr groaned while shaking his head clear.

Saphira shared in the pain as she shook her own head, "I'll say…agh…at least we know a fire and ice combination works on them."

"Like it does on so many other species we know," Sephpyr noted to which Saphira nodded in agreement.

"What do you say Hothead? You flame them, I freeze them?"

Sephpyr spotted another group of incoming Airadicons and said, "works for me…but please, don't call me Hothead."

Saphira shrugged before she and Sephpyr engaged the incoming battalion with the same combination.

At the same time, the earth dragons were attacking their own group of Airadicon drones with brute force. The power of their elemental earth shots and flails were doing effective damage to the drones, and some were even powerful enough to break their metal limbs off. This was proven when Vacu fired an Earth Shot at an Airadicon aiming at him, only to have his blaster blown off along with his arm.

"Hah! You metal dopes thought you could take on a whole group of dragons?" Vacu taunted, "...well maybe this will knock some sense into you!"

He unleashed an Earth Flail, and clobbered the one-armed drone from the side, sending him flying into two others that his Master Terrador was facing. The guardian turned toward his pupil, who glanced at him sheepishly, "Oh! Sorry master, my bad, didn't mean to overstep into your fight."

Terrador shook his head, "no harm done young one. In fact, I think you've set us up perfectly for a finisher."

He eyed the fallen group of three Decepticon drones together, fumbling to get back up before the earth guardian called out, "Double Earth Flail, now!"

Vacu nodded to his teacher with eagerness, before they both unleashed Earth Flails from their mouths and held them over the fallen drones. With a SLAM, they smashed their attacks down at the same time, crushing the drones into defeat. The earth dragons released their breaths as they observed the results.

"Yes! Guess we showed them, right master?" Vacu asked, sounding cocky.

Terrador quickly noticed and said, "Indeed, but remember what I've said about overconfidence Vacu?"

Vacu relaxed and said, "yes sir, it's a warrior's fatal weakness."

At the same time, the dynamic duo of electric dragons was dealing with a large group of six Airadicons by themselves. The preemptive electric orb strike on their leading officers led the drones to realize that the special attacks of the two yellow dragons were the most dangerous to their kind. It was a fact that Volteer and Zaxto exploited as they took advantage, despite the whole armada surrounding them with their blasters drawn.

One of the drones yelled, "stand down you fleshling filth!"

Rather than respond, Volteer called out to his prized pupil,

"Tactic Number Four my young protege!"

"Yes sir!" Zaxto replied as he and Volteer were currently surrounded by the Airadicon armada who opened fire on them. The two dragons jumped into the air avoiding the shots before releasing their strategy. Volteer and Zaxto powered up their element within their bodies, and unleashed a full electricity storm amplified by their combined strength, which enveloped the whole brigade below in a lightning cloud. The Airadicons screamed in agony as the electricity overloaded their systems and shut down their sparks, permanently.

As the drones dropped dead, the two yellow dragons landed on the ground with looks of satisfaction. Volteer said, "a most riveting and splendorous act of victory, wouldn't you agree youthful upcomer?"

Zaxto cheerily replied, "couldn't agree more master! The amplified concentrations of pure electrical output destroyed their internal workings from within, which allowed them to properly function!"

All of their fellow dragons couldn't help but sweatdrop at the electrical pair's ongoing rambling.

Bumblebee and Barricade were now locked in combat for the second time on Elorin. While this was far from the first time they had thrown down, the Decepticon scout was hungry to avenge his humiliation following their last fight. Though Bumblebee wasn't about to give him the satisfaction as he blocked a punch from Barricade and grabbed him by the chassis, and threw him over his head in a lariat, causing the Con to hit the ground hard and skid to a halt.

Barricade seethed at the yellow Autobot before growling, "I'm gonna pull off your wing doors for that, Bug…"

Bumblebee reset his stance as Barricade rushed him again with a melee attack. Bumblebee's boxer-like martial arts style allowed him to evade Barricade's attacks, while giving him the openings to land a hit on his arch-rival with every missed attempt. Following a third hit from the Autobot, Barricade took a step back and unleashed his ball and chain again, swinging it over his head.

Barricade seethed, "alright, kid gloves are off, it's time I started knocking you around!"

Bumblebee beeped and taunted with a flick of his hand, '...try it Bolt Brain.'

Understanding every word, Barricade snarled and yelled, "That's it! RAARGH!"

He swung the ball around and toward Bumblebee, only for the scout to leap and roll over the swinging weapon at the last second. While midair however, Bumblebee was blindsided by a blast from Barricade's arm cannon fired from his free arm. The shot sent him flying back, and landing on his back near the cave cliff edge.

Bumblebee shook away the pain before looking up to see Barricade rushing him, swinging his ball and chain over his head into an overhead smash. The Autobot scout rolled out of the way just in time, and the ball smashed right in the position he just laid at. Barricade seethed at yet another miss, until he turned toward Bumblebee who deployed his own arm cannons and opened fire on the Con.

The Decepticon scout bent out of the way to avoid the blasts, and retracted his ball and chain to maneuver better when one blast got too close. Barricade fluidly made his way through the shots before getting up close to Bumblebee with a fist drawn back and an angry battle cry. Bumblebee quickly retracted his blasters and caught the fist with both hands before it made contact.

Barricade growled at the blocked attack before he tried punching with his left arm, only for Bumblebee to free his own left and catch it all the same. Their hands vice-gripped one another in a crossing deadlock, as the two scouts glared at one another.

Barricade snarled, "you won't walk away from this one, Bug…"

Bumblebee beeped back, 'keep telling yourself that, Cade…'

Ironhide blocked a hammer fist from Brawl, and retaliated with a right uppercut under the Con's chin, and followed up with a punch to the gut from his other arm, causing Brawl to spit up energon. Ironhide then deployed his arm cannon, and fired a shot into the Con's stomach tank, sending him flying back with a gasp. Brawl came skidding to a halt on his backside as Ironhide stood up and taunted the Decepticon tank…

"There's more where that came from Brawl!"

Brawl shook away the pain as he stood up and sneered at the older Autobot, "Ironhide…I remember when you used to hit a lot harder. Have you lost your edge?"

Ironhide seethed, "What makes you think I'm even trying yet, Huh? What do you say to that?!"

Brawl glared and prepared a little 'surprise', "I say…I'll just let my guns do the talking!" The two missile launchers mounted on his back turned over 90 degrees and took aim. One projectile each fired out of their yellow ports, flying directly at Ironhide who quickly took accurate aim at the incoming projectiles. A round of shots fired from his arm mounted mini-cannons and hit the missiles, detonating them. A dust cloud kicked up following the explosions, which Ironhide watched carefully.

He was nonetheless prepared when Brawl charged through the cloud with a dual claw strike at his arch-rival, which Ironhide blocked by grabbing both attacking arms with both hands. The two weapon heavy Cybertronians snarled at one another as they stood in their deadlock. Ironhide spitefully said first, "you always enjoyed blowing smoke, didn't you?"

"Not as much as I enjoyed…THIS!" Brawl threw back as he deployed his own melee weapon from his right arm, a deadly double-blade weapon that was just as long as Megatron's arm blade. He freed the bladed arm and prepared to cut the Autobot in half, but Ironhide countered with an overhead block, stopping his bladed hand from cleaving him. Feeling the tie was about to break, Ironhide countered again…

"My turn!" He activated his own melee weapon, forming a wrecking ball over his right hand. He slammed it into Brawl's left side, knocking him away into a skid. Brawl regained his bearings and growled at Ironhide before deploying his second set of blades from his opposite hand.

Ironhide wasn't intimidated and deployed his second wrecking ball on his opposite hand, ready to fight hand-to-hand, or ball-to-blade in this case.

Brawl said to his arch-rival, "fighting all hands barred huh? Just the way I like it."

"On that, we could always agree," Ironhide snarled before setting his stance. The two heavies roared and charged each other to resume their battle of brawns.

While everyone else including his boss was busy with their own battles, Jazz had found himself a dance partner in Knockout. He fluidly avoided each and every electrostaff strike the red Con medic tried to throw at the Lieutenant. Knockout's frustration was reaching its peak, "stand still, you dance happy Autobot!"

Knockout tried to stab Jazz through the spark, but he dodged and spun around to deliver a kick to the Con's upper torso, sending him skidding away. Jazz replied mockingly, "stand still? But I haven't even broken out my best moves! Not that I'll need them here anyway…"

Knockout scowled as slowly rose to his feet before Jazz finished taunting, "...maybe you should stick to your lab, Doc Knock, or better yet…"

Jazz surprised Knockout with a sudden rush attack, "...just get knocked!" He hit the Con with a three point combo, which included in order a hard right overhead chop, a right back hand fist, and then a full left side kick which sent Knockout flying as he lost grip on his staff.

Knockout landed hard, skidding to a halt on the rocky dirt ground. The Con medic was none too pleased with the skid marks and dents on his chassis, "NOOO! Look what you've done to my finish!"

"Oh cry me a river," Jazz rolled his optics before resetting himself, "you know, I hate getting dirty too. But unlike you, I'm not afraid to get messy if it means doing my job."

Knockout jumped back to his feet and ran straight at Jazz with an angry yell. He tried to attack the Lieutenant with a wild melee rush, but Jazz was fluent in a variety of fighting styles unlike the Con medic, and blocked, evaded and countered every strike. Jazz caught Knockout's arm in a missed attempt, and used the momentum to throw the Con over his shoulder. Knockout flew past where his fellow doctor Shockwave stood motionless, and slammed into the rock wall, indenting it.

Knockout fell to the ground and groaned in pain as Jazz stood up with a smirk, "Scratch one mad doctor…"

The sound of a charging cannon caused Jazz to glance over at Shockwave, who was pointing his arm cannon at the Lieutenant who finished his statement with a frown, "...and one more to go."

Jazz dropped his visor and prepared for the worst, for he knew that unlike Knockout, Shockwave was no pushover. The dark purple one-eyed Decepticon fired the first shot, and the lightning charged energy blast flew at Jazz, who bent out of the way just in time. He deployed his own arm blaster equipped with a crescent shield, and shot back.

The blasts made contact, but they didn't hurt Shockwave at all who barely flinched as he fired again. Jazz dodged again before following up with more blaster fire of his own, instigating a shooting match between the Autobot Lieutenant and the Decepticon Scientist. After flipping over another cannon blast, Jazz switched tactics and retracted his blaster before landing and rolling over as he transformed into his vehicle mode.

Spinning his treads, Jazz then drove straight at Shockwave who fired two more shots at him. Jazz drove around them, and once he was within range, transformed into his bipedal form and flipped over with the momentum to land behind Shockwave and deliver a roundhouse kick to his back. Jazz grinned, but was immediately surprised when Shockwave merely turned around, showing no signs of effect from Jazz's sneak attack.

Catching the Autobot off guard, Shockwave grabbed Jazz by the foot and threw him around. Jazz crashed into the cliffside near the cave, embedded in the rock wall like he did to Knockout, ironically. Jazz groaned as Shockwave addressed the stylish Autobot in an emotionless tone, "now would be a logical time to surrender, Lieutenant."

Jazz pushed himself free and fell to his knees, before glaring up at Shockwave who pointed his arm cannon at him once again. Jazz replied, "So you say, Shockwave. However, I've always preferred improvising over logic."

Jazz prepared himself as Shockwave charged to fire, and as soon as the cannon blast was let loose, Jazz pushed himself off the ground into a handstand and propelled himself back toward the wall feet first. The shot hit the cliff wall instead as he springboarded himself off the wall and propelled directly at Shockwave, pelting the mad scientist with more blaster fire. Shockwave pulled up his free hand arm to shield his eye from the blasts that were more so irritating him than hurting him.

Shockwave then blocked Jazz's head-on attack with his cannon arm, causing him to fall and land hard on his back. The Autobot Lieutenant groaned in pain as the Con mad scientist loomed over him. Shockwave planted his massive right foot on top of his chassis with a painful STOMP, making Jazz gasp in pain.

No matter how hard he pushed, Jazz couldn't free himself, though that was the least of his worries when Shockwave pointed his arm cannon directly at his head, only a few inches from its maw.

Shockwave was unimpressed, "your decision was most illogical…Commencing termination…" He droned as his cannon charged once again, and Jazz stared into its maw with wide optics, wondering if he was about to join with the Allspark.

"Denied!..." a cocky young voice cried out before blindsiding Shockwave with a kick to the left side of his one-eyed head. Sideswipe landed safely on his treads as his kick threw Shockwave off his friend and mentor. Shockwave roughly landed on both feet, but pulled himself up to gaze at the red cladded Autobot with wheel peds.

Jazz quipped with gratitude, "Nice timing, though I thought you and Arcee were busy with the drones?"

"We were," Sideswipe shrugged, "but the dragons were taking such good care of them, we figured we'd share."

Arcee joined her two fellow Autobots as she transformed and leaped to land in between Sideswipe and Jazz, "looks like we came just in time…" She offered Jazz her hand and helped him back to his feet, "...right before you got in over your head Jazz. First Lieutenant or not, you know that Shockwave is not someone you can fight on your own."

"Can't blame a Bot for trying, right?" Jazz rebuffed, causing Arcee and Sideswipe to roll their optics before all three of them faced the mad scientist.

Observing the trio, Shockwave said, "Attempting to best my superiority with a higher quantity is illogical. I've destroyed legions of Autobots in even greater numbers than the three of you."

Sideswipe retorted with a mocking hand gesture, "illogical this, superior that, blah blah blah…You know Shockwave, if there's one thing you are above anything else, it's tiresome."

Arcee followed up, "that said, you might be stronger than the three of us, but we believe in something more than just numbers…"

Jazz nodded as he concluded what they were all thinking, "...we believe in our team, so compute that."

The three Autobots set themselves into a battle stance as Shockwave merely gazed and replied, "I compute, your termination is inevitably…logical."

Atop the Dark Maker Hive still hovering in the sky, the group consisting of Jak, Cal, Spyro, and Cynder were once again engaged together in a fight with Errol. The last time they were in such a setting, their shared enemy had a mechanical body opposed to a biological one, and the revived planet traitor was showing how much of an improvement his new body was over his last. He attacked the heroes with deadly ferocity, while Daxter observed the fight from a distance, not sure what to do right now except hope that his friends would prevail.

Calidan was in the air again with his Eagle wings, strafing around the Elorin pariah while trying to hit him from a distance with his wrist blasters. Except every shot missed as Errol quickly dodged every laser shot like a wicked acrobat. As Eagle finished shooting, Spyro and Cynder lunged in to attack along with Jak in a two-pronged assault. Errol jumped away to avoid the dragon's combined hit, only to be intercepted by Jak who hit him with a gun butt to the head. Jak quickly followed up and aimed the barrel of his Vulcan Fury and fired an intense barrage of machine gun shots at the dark eco zombie, damaging him as he grunted in pain.

Jak called out to his dragon friends, "Spyro! Cynder! Let him have it!"

"With pleasure!" Cynder answered for the both of them before she and Spyro released their most potent poison and fire breath attacks at Errol. His new body's vulnerability to heat forced Errol to jump away at the last second, avoiding the dual attacks. However, he was intercepted midjump by Eagle who dive bombed him right in the face with a double kick, sending him flying back in pain.

"Eat my boots you wing clipper!" Eagle yelled in retribution for his original wing pack that Errol had destroyed in their last encounter.

Errol fell to the ground hard, but immediately righted himself with a livid expression on his face. Eagle remained in the air, with Spyro and Cynder on the ground just ahead of him and Jak off to the side aiming his gun at the Elorin pariah. All four heroes angrily glared at their shared enemy, who realized that despite the newfound advantages of his Dark Maker body, was struggling against their greater numbers. Surprisingly, Errol started chuckling to himself, his sick laughter confusing the group.

Cynder snarled, "what's so funny?"

"Pardon me my dear Cynder, but it's what one does when they are amused," Errol nonchalantly replied, making the black dragoness hiss at him, "it seems your greater numbers against me have actually given you an advantage right now, so…I'll just have to increase my own!"

The familiar sound of Dark Maker Hornets echoed through the air. The hero group turned in horror to see the whole swarm erupt from over the edge of the platform and circle around the entire platform like a dome. The heroes and the ottsel fearfully stared at the rotating swarm while Errol cast a vile grin.

The Hornets ceased flying and hovered in place with their laser apparatuses aimed right at the heroes.

"Oh slaggit…" Jak muttered.

"Now this is more like it," Errol taunted as he spread out his arms to gesture to his entire battalion, "...as you fools can now see, I am attuned with the Dark Makers down to the last molecule! I think, feel, and desire what they do, and vice versa…and what we desire most of all, is your complete, and total, annihilation."

Spyro growled, "you won't succeed, you never do."

Errol laughed and mocked, "Oh? And just what is your plan to get out of this predicament, Little Spyro?"

Recalling what Calidan had set up underneath the platform after fighting through the blockade prior to coming up here, Spyro ignored his taunt and simply said, "I don't have a plan…but Cal does."

Spyro and Cynder grinned toward their aerial friend who smirked at the bewildered Errol, and Eagle said, "I'm sure you remember this from before…"

He pulled up his wrist gauntlet, and Errol went wide-eyed in shock as he realized what he was about to do, and Eagle pressed the key on the screen while saying one word, "...boom…"

Below, three prototype weapons implanted within the tentacles of the Hive beeped rapidly, and then chimed before going off…

BOOM…BOOM…BOOOMMM!...

A cascade of explosions from below rocked the entire platform, causing the Hornet swarm to go wild, and the heroes along with their archenemy worked to maintain their balance.

Errol was furious, "WHAT THE?!"

He seethed at the aerial soldier who retracted his wings and landed next to the dragons, "What have you done?!"

"New weapon prototype, made specifically for Dark Makers and their technology," Calidan explained, still grinning. Said weapon had been developed by a combined effort of Keira, Samos, and himself. Keira's tech expertise combined with Samos's extensive eco knowledge all melded together with Calidan's explosive skills had helped create this little surprise.

"Concussion eco bombs armed with the one element in existence that's their absolute bane…Light Eco."

The Light Eco bomb not only packed a powerful punch, but its purification properties on dark eco allowed it to break down the dark substance into nothingness and cleanse it from anything it touched. Since anything created by the Dark Makers was pure dark eco, the Hive was currently dissolving as it broke apart. Calidan's explanation caused Errol's ugly face to contort with rage as the Hornets flew away from their doomed Hive.

"HOW DARE YOU!" He drew back his hands and threw another Dark Shot at Cal, who rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the blast. The shockwave from the blast forced Spyro and Cynder to jump away at the same time, while Jak took the opening and fired the Arc Wielder at Errol, enveloping him in a painful electrical discharge.

"AaaGGHH!"

"Why won't you just die?!" Jak shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Never!..." Errol yelled aloud as he broke out of the electrical arc and jumped free. Within a second, Errol activated his new warping powers and teleported out of sight in a flash of dark lightning.

Spyro and Cynder were upset at seeing him escape, yelling in tandem, "No!...Not again!"

Calidan also fumed, as did Daxter who jumped back onto Jak's shoulder and snapped his fingers in frustration at yet another missed chance. However, the shakes of the disintegrating platform beneath them immediately drew their attention. It was time to fly, and now!

"We'll get him eventually! Let's get outta here!" Jak cried out to his friends. They each took flight in their own way, Spyro and Cynder flapped their wings, Calidan deploying his Eagle pack again, and Jak releasing his Light Flight wings.

The hero group took flight above the platform that slowly started to implode under a shining light beneath them. The Light Eco bombs finished their job as the remnants of the Dark Maker Hive disappeared into the light from which the blast originated, until all that was left was the light itself, shining like an earthbound star. The light slowly faded away, and the hero group flew back toward the cave where the rest of their allies were fighting.

As his Autobots valiantly fought against their Decepticon rivals, and the dragons bravely faced the Decepticon drones in a combined effort, Optimus was currently busy while engaged in another battle with his longtime enemy, Megatron. The Prime continued to parry every strike the former gladiator threw at him. Optimus then caught the last punch Megatron tried to hit him with and used it to counter Megatron with a kick to the face which sent him sliding back.

The warlord growled and pulled up his right arm fusion cannon and opened fire. Optimus swiftly dodged each blast the warmonger fired at him, before he rushed him and reached back with a hard right to punch Megatron in the face. Megatron caught it at the last klik with his free hand, and the two enemies were caught in a deadlock once again as they grabbed the other hand.

"Don't you ever get tired of being caught in this loop, Optimus?" Megatron mocked, "one battle after another, yet never gaining any advantage, despite your most valiant efforts."

"I will never quit Megatron, not while energon flows through my veins," Optimus assured.

"A situation that CAN be remedied," Megatron wickedly promised before kneeing Optimus in the torso, stunning him and making him groan. Ceasing the open window, Megatron went on a full onslaught, and hit Optimus directly with one punch after another, causing him to stagger backward after the fourth hit.

"You're mine, Prime!" Megatron wickedly cheered as he deployed his arm blade, "...say hello to Sentinel for me!"

He charged with a war cry toward the seemingly unmoving Optimus. Just before the Leader Con struck with his blade, the Last Prime sprung his feint attack and dodged the attack, and used Megatron's momentum against him and threw him behind. Megatron cried out as he was flung up the cliffside from which the Autobots and Union Alliance came, landing hard.

Megatron grunted as he pushed himself up, only to see Optimus charging at him once again, with his own right blade arm drawn back. Prime jumped and lunged at him, ready to drive his blade through Megatron's fuel tank, but the warlord jumped back at the last klik, avoiding it as his blade dug into the ground upon impact. Optimus looked up and glared at his archenemy as he pulled the blade out of the rock. Megatron stood up and sneered as he stood face to face with his old rival.

"Bravo Optimus, but you've made a grave error…" Megatron warned, "...you've given me the high ground, and thus, the advantage."

"There's more than one way to make a battleground work to your advantage, Megatron," Optimus threw back.

"Famous last words…" Megatron taunted before getting into a battle stance, and Optimus set to match him. The two leader Cybertronians attacked each other once again, their fight resuming on the cliff that led away from the cave.

Meanwhile at the cave entrance, Shockwave was being attacked from all sides by Sideswipe, Arcee, and Jazz. The three combat trained Autobots attacked in unison against the brutal Decepticon scientist, though it did little good in hurting Shockwave since his armor was uber durable. The one-eyed Con's enhancements were of his own making from vorns ago, and had comfortably adapted to them in all that time, especially as far as his cannon arm was concerned.

Despite not being able to grab, Shockwave's cannon arm was as brutal a melee weapon as it was a gun, as was demonstrated when he knocked Arcee away with it in one swipe before firing at Sideswipe, knocking him off his feet. Jazz quickly jumped in and hit Shockwave from behind with a double kick, before flipping over him and shooting him from above. The Con was knocked off his feet, but the blasts bounced off his seemingly impregnable armor like a gust of wind.

Jazz landed on his feet while Shockwave pushed himself back onto his, while Arcee and Sideswipe did the same. The three were getting frustrated, despite their numbers evening the odds, they weren't getting anywhere with winning this fight. Every hit they landed on Shockwave, he either countered or brushed off.

"Ugh…as much as I hate to say it, he sure can take it," Sideswipe snarled.

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Sides," Arcee said with irritation.

"Focus you two," Jazz called their attention, "the moment we let down our guard, he slags us, so just keep at it."

It wasn't just the Autobots, Shockwave was also growing tired of this fight, reminding himself that he had a job to do, "I grow tired of this pointless brawl. It's time I accomplished what I came here to do, your demise will have to wait."

"If you think we're gonna let you cut and run like we did Starscream, forget it One-Eye!" Sideswipe yelled.

"I do not recall saying it was your choice," Shockwave droned before pulling up a trigger in his hand, and pressed its only button, sending a silent signal.

The three Autobots set themselves, wondering what Shockwave had just triggered. They soon got their answer, as a group of beastly metallic growls were heard from the cliff over the cave where Shockwave had entered from. Arcee, Sideswipe and Jazz turned and looked up in shock at seeing three quadruped figures run and jump over the edge, lunging at them. The three Autobots dodged, but the three new arrivals quickly gathered together and growled at their enemies like a snarling pack.

Observing these new combatants, they instantly recognized them as Arcee and Sideswipe yelled in tandem, "Ravage?!...Times three?!"

Jazz was just as shocked and finished by saying, "It can't be! He was destroyed on Cybertron!"

"From which I rebuilt him," Shockwave clarified emotionlessly as he stood behind his three new creations. "While the original Ravage was destroyed, I was able to replicate the remains of Soundwave's former pet, and create these new models with artificial sparks, Ravage Drones, to be precise."

"You twisted fragger…even you should know better than to mess with the dead!" Sideswipe yelled in distaste.

"Your ethical argument is illogical," Shockwave brushed it off before turning to the three Ravages, "now my creations, destroy them."

The Ravage drones snarled and charged at the three Autobots with their claws and long metallic fangs drawn out. Arcee, Sideswipe and Jazz quickly pulled up their defenses as the three metallic dogs knocked them off their peds. Their fight had now turned into one for survival, as the three Autobots held the Ravage drones at bay, keeping them from biting their heads off.

Sideswipe was holding the neck of his Ravage drone as it attempted to swipe, but ducked out of the way before saying, "Agh!...Slag! These knockoffs are as big a pain in the neck as the old Ravage was!..Ah!"

While the three Autobots wrestled with the Ravages, Shockwave turned back to the cave that led to the Harbinger. Transforming into his Cybertronian tank mode, he drove into the cave to begin searching for his objective. Watching him leave while trying to keep her Ravage drone off of her, Arcee cried out, "No!..."

Flying back to the cave in line from front to back were Eagle, Spyro, Cynder, and Light Jak. The sight of the rock cliff cave came into view, allowing them to see the whole layout. The dragon guardians and acolytes were busy dealing with the remaining Airadicon drones, while the Autobots were spread out amongst the cliff each locked in their own fight, Bumblebee vs Barricade, and Ironhide vs Brawl. Arcee, Sideswipe, and Jazz were on the ground wrestling with what appeared to be a pack of metallic animals their own size. However, Optimus was nowhere to be seen among them.

"I can see everyone outside the cave!" Eagle called out.

Spyro asked first, "but where's Optimus?"

Cynder then spotted him first, "Over there!"

Her head gesture to the left coerced them to look, and they saw on the mountainside ledge, their newest ally locked in combat with a large silver-gray Decepticon they recognized as Megatron. It appeared as though Optimus was forcing Megatron further up the mountain. Jak recalled the battalion they left behind further up the mountain before they flew out to the Dark Maker Hive.

Light Jak said, "we need to get back to our group up the mountain, and we also need to help the Autobots and the dragons by the cave!"

Cynder proposed, "you guys go help our friends down there! I'll head back up and meet with Keira, Torn and the rest!"

"Are you sure Cynder?" Spyro asked her.

"Yes I am, now no more dawdling! Let's go!" Cynder said aloud before readjusting her trajectory to head back toward where the human militia was. Spyro turned to his Elorin friends and said in response…

"Well you heard her, let's go!" the purple dragon dived down to engage.

"I thought I was the Commander here?" Light Jak dryly asked aloud.

Eagle just chuckled and said, "well, it's not like the dragons have a military themselves, right?"

Barricade and Bumblebee's fight was reaching a threshold, as both scouts had numerous dents in their armor from trading blows back and forth. Bumblebee edged ahead when he kneed Barricade under the chin and sent him flying with a roundhouse. Barricade rolled to recover and sneered at his opponent before transforming into his vehicle mode and drove straight at the Autobot scout full throttle. With a war cry, Barricade transformed back and used the momentum to slam into Bumblebee, causing them to roll into a grapple near the cliff edge.

Barricade struck Bumblebee across the face with his sharp hands, leaving some ugly scratches, before choking the yellow bot with both hands. "Now you're mine!…"

Bumblebee tried prying Barricade's hands apart to free himself, but they wouldn't budge!

"Ohh, what's wrong Bug? All choked up?!" The Decepticon scout mocked, "I've waited a long time for this…Now you'll die without any last words…So long, Bumblebee."

BOOM!...

"Aaargh!" Barricade was blown off Bumblebee by a missile shot to the chest. The Con rolled over and groaned in pain as he held the spot where he had been shot while assessing the damage. While it didn't fully penetrate, the missile had left a burning ugly scar, instantly earning Barricade's rage.

"Who did th-?!"

"Hey Trigger Happy!" Eagle yelled at the familiar enemy from above, getting his attention as he flew in to save his new yellow cladded friend, "...Remember me?!"

Eagle fired one more missile from his pack, striking Barricade on the shoulder, throwing him back in greater pain. Bumblebee watched as Eagle came and landed in a three-point stance, right between him and the fallen Con. Retracting his wings, Calidan turned around and said to the Autobot, "You okay?"

Bumblebee nodded and beeped in thanks, to which Calidan replied, "no problem, I guess we're even."

The yellow Autobot got back to his feet, but unfortunately so did Barricade, and he was livid at the two missile attacks which left him with two fresh ugly scars.

"YOU WRETCHED FLESHLING! I'll skin you for that!" The Con angrily yelled.

Calidan glared and threw back, "Fat chance! Nobody goes after my friends without suffering the consequences! So if you want him, you gotta go through me."

Bumblebee nodded as he and Calidan set their battle stances against the original invading Decepticon. Barricade scowled before mocking, "so the Bug has a faithful pet now huh? Fine…I'll make trophies out of both of you!"

The dragons were altogether matching the remaining forces of the Airadicons, although it was clear these metallic invaders were as tenacious as other evil armies they were familiar with. The remaining drones counted just over a dozen, but while they still outnumbered their scaly opponents, the dragons were proving that they weren't outmatched. The guardians and their acolytes had effectively defeated a large portion of this Airadicon faction, and were now focusing on the final three groups.

"Form up and stay vigil! We've already proven they can be beaten!" Terrador ordered aloud, rallying the other guardians and the acolytes to his call.

"Die you vermin!" one drone shouted before opening fire, causing the rest of the Cons to fire as well. The dragons evaded every shot as they engaged in battle. Saphira lunged for the drone who fired the first shot and pressed him to the ground.

"You dare call us vermin?!" she seethed baring teeth, "...you don't know the meaning of the word!"

She took a breath and fired an ice shard straight through the drone's head, ending it. Saphira jumped away as another approaching Con prepared to fire, and fired another ice shard at it, damaging its arm laser. The drone turned toward the blue dragoness who grinned at it before firing one more shard right at its face…

Vacu traded earth shots and laser blasts back and forth with another Airadicon, before he evaded a laser blast that nearly hit his wing. Vacu snorted as he fumed, "that does it…"

He released a full powered Earth Shot which knocked the Airadicon off its peds. Defenseless and in range, Vacu released his Earth Flail, and slammed it on top of the Con, making it groan in pain. The earth acolyte growled to himself, "I'm gonna bust you up!"

He lifted the Flail, and slammed it down three more times, smashing the drone to pieces, and Vacu released a breath and snorted in satisfaction.

The remaining drones finally realized that fighting these creatures one on one wasn't working, so they rallied their remaining troops together, and corralled the dragons. Noticing they were being boxed in, Terrador stood at the lead of the group while Cyril and Volteer defended the acolytes. With the creatures now rallied together, the Airadicon drones prepared to end them.

"Don't even think about it, Cons!" a courageous voice echoed from above, and everyone turned to see the young purple dragon heading right for them. The drones took aim at their new target and opened fire. Spyro evaded every shot as he drew closer and adjusted his trajectory to attack from the right.

Recalling his advanced lessons from the past year, Spyro charged up his electricity element, encompassing his body in a yellow lightning aura. Volteer and Zaxto's eyes lit up, aware of what Spyro was about to do while the others stood and watched. The drones just kept firing at the purple dragon, but as soon as he got into the right position, he attacked with the electric equivalent to the Comet Dash…

BZZZT!...

One strike from his Electric Charge allowed Spyro to plow through all the surviving Airadicon drones in line like a bolt of lightning, busting them to pieces. The dragons all took a breath at witnessing the remaining Decepticon forces defeated in a flash. Spyro landed on the ground near his fellow kin, taking deep breaths after expelling a great amount of energy.

"Well done young Spyro! Well done!" Volteer praised, "your execution was without any hindrance or fault!"

Spyro said in between breaths, "thank you Volteer…couldn't have done it…without your lessons."

While the rest of them were just as impressed, Terrador reminded them, "we must not waste time, this battle may be won, but the real objective has yet to be secured…"

The three Ravage drones were still trying to take a bite out of the three Autobots they had pinned down. Arcee, Sideswipe, and Jazz were each keeping one drone at arm's length, but knew they couldn't hold them for much longer. Sideswipe ducked under another claw strike aimed for his head.

"Ahh!...Hey! Nobody takes a 'swipe' at Sideswipe!" yelled the red Autobot.

Arcee avoided a strike aimed for her face before groaning at the pun, "did you really have to go there?"

Suddenly, three POP sounds echoed in the air as three yellow laser shots hit each one of the Ravage drones, drawing their attention. They turned to see, along with the Autobots, and were in awe at seeing Light Jak approaching in the distance, flapping his giant glowing wings as he held his morph gun. Elorin's original hero took aim and fired again, pelting the three beastly drones with more blaster fire.

It coerced the Ravage drones to jump off the Autobots and rush toward their new target. Light Jak retracted his wings as he landed on the ground in a three-point stance with the metallic mongrels quickly approaching him. Daxter ducked down behind his friend's back while the Autobots watched in concern.

"Look out!" Arcee cried out as the Ravage drones lunged for the Eco-human.

Light Jak quickly threw up his shield, repelling the Ravages as they clawed at the blue force field that protected him. The force and pressure from the beast drones' attempts to break through was absorbed by the shield, causing it to glow ever brighter, which made the Autobots gape in awe. Even the dragons standing further away could see it, and were astonished as well.

As the shield's energy reached its peak, the Ravages ceased their attack, but it was too little too late. Light Jak muttered to himself, "alright you mongrels…Heel!"

Light Jak released the shield energy, blowing away the Ravage drones with a massive concussive force that shattered them to pieces. The Autobots shielded their faces as drone parts flew everywhere, and the dragons shielded their faces from the shine caused by the blast. The light soon died down, and everything returned to normal, including Jak.

Jak took a breath as Daxter jumped back onto his shoulder, "Haha, well you turned out their lights! Oh yeah, that's the stuff."

Jak just shook his head at his comment while Arcee, Sideswipe, and Jazz walked up to him. Arcee said with a raised eye, "You're not an ordinary human, are you?"

"What gave it away?" Jak wittingly threw back, which the Autobots chuckled at.

"Not bad dude, not bad at all," Jazz commented, "it's not too often we meet an organic lifeform capable of shattering Cons with one attack."

Jak said, "glad you enjoyed the show, though that will be the last time I can do it for a while."

"Most astonishing!" Cyril's voice called out, getting their attention as the dragons walked over. "So that's what your light eco abilities can do, even Spyro's descriptions don't do them justice."

Jak shared a look with Spyro, who merely nodded his head to his human friend. Jak replied to Cyril, "thanks, though Samos is still teaching me how to use them to their full potential, whatever that is."

Terrador nodded and said, "that young Jak, is what training is for…right young ones?"

He addressed the acolytes behind him, stunning them for a moment before they all quickly nodded and verbally agreed…

"RAARRGH!" A war cry interrupted them, and they all turned to see Ironhide block another bladed strike from Brawl. The veteran Autobot countered with a wrecking ball strike to the Con's gut, stunning him, followed up by a three-point strike that ended with a hard uppercut, sending Brawl flying. Knockout had just recovered and was getting back to his feet while rubbing the back of his head.

"Ohhh, stupid dance happy Autobot! Next time, I'll…oh oil stains…" Knockout droned as he saw Brawl flying right at him, and landed on top of him with a SLAM! The medic was crushed beneath his assistant, and the two Cons were down and out. Ironhide retracted his wrecking ball before grunting in victory.

Whoops and cheers drew his attention as his three fellow Autobots walked up to him while their new Union Alliance allies congratulated his victory.

"Nice!...Way to go!...That was awesome!..." were all heard from the acolytes, while Jak and Daxter just gave a thumbs up.

"Hehehe, that's Ironhide for you," Jazz commented, punching the veteran's shoulder, "big and mean, yet keeping it clean."

"Clean…heh, yeah right," Ironhide playfully mocked back.

"Oh don't be such a stiff big guy!" The sound of Calidan's voice caused them to turn again, and they saw him riding atop Bumblebee's shoulder as the yellow scout walked over to join the group.

"...Nothing wrong with enjoying your victories, after all!" Calidan finished, which Bumblebee beeped to in agreement.

Arcee then asked noting the dents in Bumblebee's chassis, "what happened to you two? Where's Barricade?"

All eyes were on the duo as Calidan and Bumblebee gave each other a look, and the human said with a smirk, "He's…licking his wounds."

…Currently…

Atop a lone cliff side edge several feet below the cave ledge, laying on his back was a prone and heavily damaged Barricade whose body was sparking with pain. The Con scout growled in fury as he vented onto himself, "Ugh…As of now, I officially hate this planet…Rrgh..."

…Back up top…

Now regrouped together, Arcee gathered their attention, "we can't rest yet, we're still one Con short, and he's already inside."

She glared toward the cave that Shockwave had entered prior to them finishing their fights. Knowing that the Con Scientist was now a step ahead, Jazz took the lead as First Lieutenant present, "Arcee's right, Shockwave's ahead of us now, and we need to catch up. We'll split into two teams, the first comes inside with me so we can beat him to the prize, or beat it out of his hands if we need to."

Jazz addressed the whole group, "...the second stays out here to stand guard, and to help our remaining allies up the mountain, including Optimus, if he needs it."

"Can't Optimus beat Megatron by himself?" Sephpyr asked.

"Of that we have no doubt," Ironhide answered, "but Optimus and Megatron have been fighting long before the War of Cybertron reached its zenith. They have millenia worth of battles behind them, and after losing so many of our own, including our planet itself, we prefer not to take any chances."

Terrador nodded, "We understand. My kin and I will remain out here to help where we are needed. We leave it up to the rest of you to decide who goes inside and who stays."

Bumblebee quickly volunteered to help Jazz, and Calidan offered to join as well, "...if Bee is going, then so am I, count me in."

"Me too," Jak said without hesitation, while Daxter facepalmed himself.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Arcee disagreed, "destroying drones is one thing, but Shockwave is an elite Decepticon. Even Jazz, Sides and I struggled three on one. Despite your abilities Jak, you're still only human, both you and Officer Calidan, and Optimus already ordered that all elite Decepticons should be handled by the Autobots."

Jak frowned, "what other option is there? You Bots can't all go in, not with Megatron still out here!"

Cal argued as well, "...and just because we're small compared to you guys doesn't mean we're helpless. Plus, Jak and I are no strangers to facing threats bigger and stronger than us, believe me!"

Spyro then cut in, "if it will set your concerns at ease, I can accompany you as well."

Everyone, including his fellow dragons were surprised that the purple dragon was volunteering to infiltrate the Harbinger cave as well. Spyro set their minds at ease by reminding them that his fellow kin had already handled the Airadicons quite well by themselves. Now with Ironhide and Sideswipe backing them up, they should be well to take care of any reinforcements that could show up. Plus, it helped ensure Optimus had plenty of backup should his fight with Megatron go sideways.

Relenting to reason, Jazz agreed to let the two humans and the dragon accompany them, and Daxter by extension(much to his reluctance). The three Autobots transformed into their vehicle modes, and Calidan went with Bumblebee while Jak climbed onto Arcee's vehicle seat. It felt quite familiar as the femme's alternate form closely resembled a Haven racing zoomer. The Autobot Lieutenant took the lead in his white vehicle mode with racing stripes while Spyro took flight behind the group and they all drove into the Harbinger cave, disappearing from sight.

Sideswipe then turned to the remaining allied party and said, "well, no time to waste! We should head up top and help the boss, now let's roll!"

The dragons all nodded in agreement, though the acolytes were more enthused than the guardians. Ironhide smirked at Sideswipe as the red young Autobot took impromptu command. Apparently, Jazz's teachings were rubbing off on him, and the veteran Autobot joined the rest as they headed back up the cliff they originally came from.

As they disappeared from sight, a lurking dark figure appeared over the overlook above the cave, and leered at it with a sneer…

This one was tough, and took a long time to do, but I'm overall pleased with how it turned out. This battle isn't over yet though, as the setting shifts inside to the Harbinger itself next chapter.